we last left them in canon, so they all have had some growing up to do (Harry, Ron and Hermione are sixteen). And
Ginny…well, I like her best because there's so much we don't know about her, there are just so many possibilities for her.
And plus, I was getting really sick of the whole "Ginny is a suicidal maniac" portrayal done by others. Besides, I never took this
story seriously, which is why it was so much fun to write in the first place.
Ok, this is the last chapter. I have to say that I have been astounded and utterly amazed at how many wonderful reviews I've
received over something that was written just to take my mind off my troubles, and give myself a cheap laugh. Had no idea so
many people had the same sense of humor that I have, that is sort of scary actually : ) Anyway, you guys are the best! Love
you all! : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ok, team. This is it." Fred eyes scanned over each of them inside the locker rooms located under the stands.
"You all know what to do." George chimed in.
The first Quidditch match was about to start and while Ginny had once been excited about the game days ago, she now felt
very, very sick. Her brothers and Harry had all ganged up on her at breakfast, making sure she ate at least half of her sausage,
bacon, and toast. It now felt like lead inside her stomach. She sneaked a glance at Harry out of the corner of her eye. He
looked so calm, so indifferent, as he leaned up against the wall, but she could see the excitement and barely concealed thrill
sparking in his eyes. Her brothers had that exact same look in theirs; so did Angelina and Alicia. Ginny hoped she didn't look
as nervous as she felt and tried to be as nonchalant as she could, by copying the same stance as Harry, by leaning back up
against the wall, sticking her hands in her new scarlet Gryffindor Quidditch robes, as Fred and George droned on and on about
how important this game was and reviewed the last minute strategies.
Harry must have noticed her nervousness and leaned over to her. "Don't worry," he whispered in her ear. "You'll be great."
His soothing voice did manage to calm her a bit and she gave him a tiny smile. He took her hand in his and squeezed it. Ginny
turned her attention back to her brothers, who were still giving their pep talk.
"….we've got the tightest Chasers in the whole school, we've got a pretty good Keeper, George and I are damn good Beaters,
if I do say so myself." Fred said, while George pretended to blush and shuffled his feet.
"Our Seeker's ok as well," Ron said, giving Harry a piercing look. "When he's not snogging my sister, that is."
"RON!" This was the last thing she needed just before the game! Ginny started towards the bullheaded prat, intending to give
him a beating he'd never forget, but Harry must have sensed what she was planning to do and held her back. She tried to shrug
him off, but his grip was too tight.
"Save it for after the game, Ginny," Harry murmured. "And I promise I'll hold him down for you." Ginny had to settle for
giving Ron the worst of her murderous glares, which must have been pretty effective as he turned away from her staring straight
ahead at the twins.
Silence reigned over the locker rooms. Fred cleared his throat, then said, "Right! Let's go then!"
Ginny stomped over to her Nimbus grabbed it. The rest of the team was quiet, as the tension in the air thickened. Ginny made
no attempts to lower her voice as she called Ron just about every name she could think of in several languages. She was so
furious she didn't even see the rest of the team file out. She whipped around smacking into Harry who was standing right
behind her.
"Easy there, tiger. Don't let him upset you, ok?" Harry gave her a hug.
"Stupid idiot!" She hissed into Harry's robes as he held her to his chest. "Why does he have to be like that?"
"Don't think about it." He grasped her face in both of his hands and stood back. "Close your eyes." Ginny shut them.
"Now," Harry continued, "I want you to picture yourself in the air, can you see it?" Ginny nodded. "Can you feel the wind on
your face, blowing through your hair as you score a goal?" She nodded again. "Good." He said. "Now keep that image in
your head, ok?" He gave her a long searing kiss and then whispered against her lips, "You are going to do great."
Ginny opened her eyes and gave him a dreamy smile. "Thanks, Harry."
They left the locker room and joined the others outside. Ginny didn't even look at Ron as she marched straight past him.
Noticing no one was following her, she stopped and turned around.
"Well? Are we here to play Quidditch or do we just stand here all day?" Sarcasm laced her voice.
Harry was the only one brave enough to tell her, "Uh, well…the pitch is over this way, Gin." He pointed in the opposite
direction. They all snickered behind their hands.
Ginny's face went as scarlet as her robes. "Well! The pitch is that way! Why aren't you moving?" she asked them, trying to
save a bit of her pride as she swept past them, head held high, this time heading in the right direction.
Fred and George guffawed. Angelina and Alicia chuckled.
Ron still looked sullen. Harry just grinned engagingly.
*******************
Ginny's stomach felt like she had eaten a flobberworm whole as the
pitch came into view and the roar of the crowd filled her
ears. The first Quidditch match of the season was always one
of the biggest, since by that time everyone was practically
starving for the game. The Gryffindors were the loudest by far,
and Ginny could just make out a huge banner, obviously made
by Hermione that flashed "Go Ginny!"
"And here are the Gryffindors!" Lee Jordan, the commentator announced.
"Potter, Johnson, Spinnet, and the Weasleys times
four. Yep, looks like the youngest of the bunch joined the team,
little Ginny, the new Chaser, a very attractive redhead,
although its probably not wise to mention that in front of her brothers.
Or Potter for that matter."
"JORDAN!" yelled McGonagall.
"Just an aside, professor." Lee said. "And now the Slytherins,
as usual, they seem to be going for more brawn than skill—"
Boos from the Slytherin end drowned out Lee's sentence. He ducked
a few flying objects thrown from the opposite end of the
pitch where the Slytherins were, a sea of green against the stone colored
seats.
The Gryffindor Team faced off with the Slytherins, who were sneering
at them. Madame Hooch was in the middle of the two
sides. "Captains! Shake hands!" she ordered.
Fred and George had flipped a coin to see who would be shaking hands
with the Slytherin Captain, Melton Carrington, as
neither one wanted to touch a Slytherin. Fred lost.
The two captains shook hands, or rather tried to see who could break
the other's fingers first.
"Mount your brooms!" said Madame Hooch. "Three, two one…" The
whistle signaled the start of the match.
And Ginny was off! It was amazing how fast the anxiety left once
she was in the air, her mind on the game. All thought left her,
save for getting the Quaffle, passing it to one of the other Chasers,
catching it again, ducking a Bludger zooming past her,
streaking through the other players as she took the Quaffle from Alicia,
ducking another Bludger, whizzing in between the two
Slytherin Chasers. The Slytherin goal posts were in sight,
the Keeper tried to block her…wait…she got past…she's ready to
score, she aims…SCORE!
"…of course, she's the fifth Weasley out on the pitch," Ginny heard
Lee tell the crowd. "And appears to have the same talent
as well. She's also the best looking of the lot, if you ask me."
"Jordan! I'm warning you!"
"Sorry professor." Lee said, although he didn't sound very apologetic.
"TEN TO ZERO GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry nearly stopped dead in mid-air when he saw Ginny score.
He'd been trying really hard to search for the Snitch instead of
keeping an eye on Ginny. Malfoy, up to his usual game of follow-the-leader,
saw where Harry was looking.
"Looks like you found you a bit of arse, eh Potter?" he jeered.
"Although, she don't look like much to me."
Harry whirled around and streaked past Malfoy, nearly knocking him
off his own broomstick. The Firebolt was capable of
turning 180 degrees at a moment's notice, and Harry made good use of
this particular feature.
"And Potter's must have spotted something as he nearly sweeps the Slytherin
Seeker Malfoy off his Nimbus. Of course, that
broomstick is no match for the Firebolt as it has a special feature
which—"
"JORDAN! Keep your comments to the game, please!" shouted McGonagall.
Harry, now on the other side of the pitch, listened to Lee as he searched
around looking for the familiar glint of gold.
"Gryffindor takes the Quaffle again with a really nice interception
from Alicia Spinnet, who then passes it to Ginny—duck,
Ginny that's a Bludger! Nice roll there as Ginny neatly avoids that
one. She hands it back to Alicia who then tosses it to
Angelina—she's in scoring position—YES! Slytherin Keeper Alexander
had no chance of getting to that one! TWENTY TO
ZERO GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry saw Ginny blow a kiss to him as she, Angelina, and Alicia soared
around the pitch. Damn, she's good. He saw Malfoy
behind him, still trailing him.
The match continued and Gryffindor scored two more times, increasing
the lead by forty points. Slytherin never even had a
chance. "And it's Slytherin in possession—no, wait Gryffindor
in possession as the Slytherin Chaser Malcolm gets hit by a
Bludger. Good work there George or Fred! Alicia with the
Quaffle, passes it down to Angelina, who throws it behind her to
Ginny—great Reverse Pass there, ladies! These Chasers have excellent
timing! And it's Alicia with the Quaffle tossing it back
to—YOU DIRTY, FILTHY BAST—"
Harry looked up just in time to see one of the Slytherin Beaters bash
Ginny in the head with their club, sending her into a
downward spiral. Apparently, they had come to the conclusion
that the Gryffindor Chasers were just no match for their own,
and had decided the best way to win was to take one of them out.
"FOUL! FOUL!" cried the Gryffindors. Fred quickly called a time
out so they could check on Ginny. Harry sped towards
them. Ginny was clutching her head, surrounded by Angelina and
Alicia, shouting at Ron, who looked very, very pale beneath
his freckles.
"I'm alright! Ron!" he heard her yell. "I'm fine!" A large,
black and blue bump was rapidly forming on the right side of her
forehead.
Ron rounded on Fred and George, who were just as white as he.
"Where the bloody hell were you two at when this
happened?"
"Don't you dare take it out on them!" Ginny yelled, still clutching
her head. "I'm alright. You've all told me how hardheaded I
am, now let's get back up there!"
Ron wasn't convinced. He turned towards his brothers. "Let's
back out. We can forfeit the game. We won't be out of the
running. She's gonna get really hurt." Everyone gawped
at him. Harry was flabbergasted. Out of all of them, Ron was
always
the most passionate about Quidditch. And for him to even think
about forfeiting the game….it was just inconceivable.
"Are you crazy!" Ginny shrieked. "Have you totally lost
your mind!" she turned to the twins. "You two aren't really
considering this are you?"
Fred and George looked at each other. "Look, Ron," George patiently
explained. "I'm just as worried about her as you are,
but she's going to be fine. Besides," he added, "If she was hurt
too badly, she wouldn't be yelling bloody murder at us!" He
and Fred grinned at their little sister.
Harry stood next to Ron, studying him. Ron face was still ashen
as he stared after his little sister. Ron, noticing Harry, turned
to
him.
"Just get that Snitch, Harry before they try to kill her!" he pleaded
quietly so the others wouldn't hear him. It was the first time
Ron had spoken to him directly in a long while. Ron's blue eyes
were frantic with worry.
"I will." Harry told his friend. Ron nodded, clasping him on
the shoulder.
Back up in the air, Harry searched madly for the little glint of gold.
He blocked his mind from the game going on below,
concentrating only on one thing—getting the Snitch before Malfoy.
He was lucky that Malfoy didn't think about using the
Gryffindor's time out to look for the Snitch alone; Malfoy wasn't that
bright. The loud cheers coming from the crowd told
Harry that Gryffindor must have made the penalty shot they had been
given.
Ginny's head hurt like holy hell. That was the only way to describe
it. She expected that she most likely wouldn't come away
from the game completely unscathed, but damn! she didn't think
she'd be attacked in such a devious way. That club the
Slytherin hit her with was ten times worse than what a Bludger could
do, no matter how hard it was hit. White spots were still
dancing before her eyes, but she was determined to prove to everyone
that she could do this, no matter what happened to her.
She scored again, taking her penalty shot against the Slytherin Keeper.
The game resumed and she was forced to do a quick
roll to avoid a Bludger hit her way; George neatly knocked it back
towards the Slytherins. Taking no more chances, one of the
twins was constantly trying to keep up with her, which was sort of
difficult, with the speeds she was flying at.
She ripped through the Slytherins like parchment, keeping up with Angelina
and Alicia as they neatly tossed the Quaffle back
and forth between them, dodging Bludgers, Slytherins, and Fred and
George who tried to stay with them. Alicia scored again
and Ginny cheered and waved at her as she did a victory flight around
the goal post.
"WAY TO GO ALICIA!" yelled Lee, as he danced around holding the magical
megaphone to his mouth. "And the score is
now sixty to zero!"
Harry saw the Snitch, just a few yards beneath Ron. He kicked
his Firebolt into high gear, knowing Malfoy was still frowning at
the Slytherin Keeper, who almost had blocked the last goal. He
was almost on it, he could see the tiny white wings fluttering as
the Snitch flew out from under the posts, heading towards the other
end of the pitch. He could hear Malfoy behind him; he
could see the markings on the Snitch's wings; he could feel Malfoy
try to push him away as he closed in on Harry. Harry
reached out, his fingers stretched out to the point of pain, and then….
"I'VE GOT THE SNITCH!" The tiny wings were beating in his palm,
tickling him. Harry felt six other beings smash into him
as they all glided down to the ground, screaming at the top of their
lungs. The other Gryffindors rushed the pitch and Harry
could barely hear Ron tell him, "Good one, Harry!" over the noise.
Fred and George lifted Ginny on their shoulders as they
marched back to the castle, while she yelled good-naturedly for them
to put her down.
*************************
Ginny swore if just one other person patted her on the back, she was
going to rip their arm off. She was sick from eating so
many sweets that Fred and George nipped from the kitchen in celebration
for the party the Gryffindors were having and her
head was throbbing, although not as badly as before, and it could very
well be from the volume of the noise in the common
room rather than from the injury.
She was sitting on the sofa, a cold compress against the bump to help
from the swelling. She was laughing hysterically at the
antics of her brothers, who thought it might be fun to test out their
latest creation on the unsuspecting Gryffindors.
"Come on Harry, try one!" urged Fred. Harry, upon examining the
offered candy, shook his head.
"No way! Don't really care for Ginny Gems, although I am rather
fond of the namesake," he said, giving her a wink. She felt
her cheeks heat up.
Fred's face fell. "You told him!" he accused his sister.
"He's already had one," she grinned. "Turned him green for about
three minutes."
Fred laughed. "Good one!" George came over to Harry, extending
his hand. "No hard feelings, eh Harry? We were just having a bit of a laugh
at you."
"Yeah, Harry," Fred joined in, "We didn't mean too much by it….can't say that for our youngest brother though…"
Harry just smiled and returned the handshake. He'd figured as much with those two.
Ginny laid her head on Harry's shoulder, wishing for a bit of peace
and quiet, just to soothe her headache. She smiled as she
watch Ron and Hermione fight their way through his fan club, with Ginny's
friends Amy and Patricia in the lead. Ron had
seemed to be nicer to Harry, which Ginny thought darkly, was more likely
because of the win today than anything else.
Harry gently checked her injury. "Does it hurt," he asked, his
emerald eyes alight with concern.
"I'm fine," she assured him. "You were great today."
He beamed. "So were you!"
Ginny leaned in closer to him to teasingly whisper against his lips,
"I bet I can kiss you senseless before you can kiss me
senseless."
She watched Harry's eyes flare. "You're on," he replied just
before taking her mouth in a hot kiss.
Ginny was well on her way to being quite senseless, when she started
to hear her name being called out through the slight haze
that settled into her head.
"Ginny!"
"Ginny!!"
"GINNY!!!" Ginny jerked back, ready to kill whoever was interrupting
her when she saw Ron's grinning face right above them.
"What?" she hissed.
Ron smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," he explained, "But you had a
bit of Harry on your face. He's gone now though." Ron and
Harry both broke into gales of laughter, especially when Ginny placed
a well aimed kick to Ron's shin. She supposed that was
his way of apologizing, the silly prat. She snuggled back up
against Harry, who was still chuckling.
Well, this is it, Ginny Weasley. You've won the guy, you've
won the game, what else is there? Ginny snickered at the
thought.
"What are you laughing at?" Harry asked, throwing an arm around her.
"Nothing. Just the voices in my head. They make me laugh
sometimes," she explained.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Wish mine did that," he told her. "They
normally drive me insane." What? We got you the girl
didn't
we? See if we ever help you again! I agree.
If it wasn't for us, you'd still be floundering around, you twit.