Title: "An Abundance of Third Wheels"
Author: Emmyjean
Classification: H/G, R/H, G/Other, Multiple POV
Summary: Ron and Hermione are finally a couple, and Harry is only beginning to realize his true feelings for Ginny - but is it too little, too late? Set during Harry's seventh year.
Spoilers: Through Goblet of Fire
Rating: PG
Notes: Everything belongs to Rowling.
PART FIVE
"Oh…wait, I wanted to have a look in here. Do you mind?" Ginny asked, already heading toward the little novelty shop on the corner without waiting for an answer. She decided he owed it to her after spending nearly half an hour in the "Bludgers and Broomsticks - Professional Quidditch Supplies" store.
"So, just tell me this...are we ever going to get to The Three Broomsticks, or should I just resign myself to dying of thirst?"
She looked back at him to find him smirking.
"Well, this is partly your fault anyway. Besides, this isn't for me...it's just that Ron's birthday is coming up and I want to get him something good."
Harry nodded and held the door for her as she stepped into the shop. She took her time looking around the place, and as she was examining a Screaming Stick (a walking stick that yelled in pain every time you tapped it on the ground) she felt Harry's sweater brush her elbow. Looking up, she sighed and asked,
"Why don't you go and browse? Don't you have a present to get for Ron as well?"
He raised an eyebrow at her and replied, "I've already gotten something for him. It was your idea to come in here, and anyway - there's no room to walk around, and I'm afraid I'll knock something down."
She looked at him intently, trying to show her displeasure, and she couldn't stop the smile from slowly creeping across her face - and he was struggling with the same problem.
"This is fun," she blurted out, without thinking.
He nodded, "Yeah...it is. But I still want to leave."
She put down the Stick and conceded.
"Alright, you nag! Let's go."
They left the shop laughing, and headed for The Three Broomsticks. Once in the door, they caught sight of Ron and Hermione sitting in a corner, and Hermione began frantically waving them over. Ginny waved back to indicate they saw her, and she and Harry proceeded to the bar to order drinks.
"I'll have a butterbeer please, Rosmerta," Ginny asked.
"Make that two," added Harry, and the plump bartendress turned to pour two glasses for them. Ginny took out her coin purse, bent her head, and began digging through it, annoyed that the larger coins always sank to the bottom. Suddenly, she felt Harry nudge her and looked up...he was holding two full glasses and beckoning her with his head to follow him to the table.
"Come on."
"Wait, I haven't paid yet..."
"I got it, come on," he replied, leading her away from the bar.
She looked confusedly back at Rosmerta, who had since gone on to the next customer.
"Harry, you don't have to..."
"Shh...forget it. Sit down."
She sat in a vacant chair next to Ron and Harry set one of the tall glasses down in front of her.
"Hey, you know what, mate?" Ron said to Harry, "I think your true calling is waiting tables!"
Harry shot a look at Ron and sat down between Hermione and Ginny. They all laughed, but then Hermione suddenly got serious.
"Now I wanted to talk to you...why have you two been avoiding us? Is it something we did? Are you angry?"
Harry and Ginny looked at each other, completely taken aback.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"You know what she means," Ron broke in, looking at Harry rather than Ginny, "You've barely spent a whole hour with us all year. What happened?"
Harry blinked, and then pushed his hair off his forehead, making it stand up in all directions and exposing his lightning bolt scar to the world.
"I...I dunno. I thought...y'know, that you and Hermione would want..."
"Our best friend to pretend as though we barely know each other? Honestly!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, "And you, Ginny!"
Ginny's head shot up and she met Hermione's frustrated hazel eyes.
"Where have you been when I needed a girlfriend to talk to in the past months? Nowhere to be found! What am I supposed to have done then? Talk to Parvati!?"
"Oh, Hermione...I'm...I don't know what to say!"
"We thought we were doing you a favor," Harry put in calmly.
Ron and Hermione both sighed. Ginny and Harry exchanged apprehensive glances.
"Well," Ron said finally, "Quit trying to be so damn considerate, alright? It's getting on my nerves."
"Mine, too!" Hermione added firmly, and then, "Ron, don't swear."
"See what I mean?" Ron said under his breath to Ginny. She couldn't help giggling. It was good to have her brother back. They drank their butterbeer, talking about various things and catching up on all they'd missed. After what simultaneously seemed like an hour and yet only a few minutes, Ginny suddenly remembered the one errand that she had wanted to do while roaming about Hogsmeade.
"Oh! Er...I have to go and, um...pick up something I forgot to...well, I'll see you back at the castle!" she finished cheerfully as she stood up, hoping she could make a quick escape.
"Wait a minute...I'll go along with you," said Ron, to her utter shock and dismay...she had been trying to get away so that she could buy HIS birthday present.
"No! I mean, um...what about Hermione?" she raised her eyebrows in his direction.
Ron glanced at Hermione with a bewildered look on his face, but Hermione was watching Ginny as though she was trying to decipher her motives for wanting to get away.
"Hermione can sit here for a minute with Harry...I don't understand what the fuss is..."
"It's alright, Ron," Harry interrupted suddenly, pushing back his chair and standing as well, "I'll go with Ginny, and you two can catch up to us later."
Ron's eyes darkened in annoyance as he burst out, "Now, look, I thought we'd settled this! There's absolutely no reason for..."
"No, Ron, he's right!" Hermione suddenly chimed in as a look of comprehension dawned on her face. Ginny sighed in relief as she shot her friend what was a hopefully concealed look of thanks.
"What?"
"Just, um...let's go back, alright? We can all catch up later in the Common Room, maybe play some chess."
"But...oh, alright. You girls are daft!" he sputtered, reluctantly sitting back down as Harry and Ginny said their farewells and walked out of the crowded pub. As soon as they were out on the street, Ginny turned to Harry with laughter bubbling up in her throat.
"Well, thanks for finally catching on! I was beginning to lose hope that you'd give me any help back there!"
Harry shrugged and said, "Well, better late than never, right?"
She smiled and shook her head, then muttered, "Come on, then. I know what I want to get him."
"What?"
Ginny smiled, and replied, "Well, there's this little shop over there that sells all sorts of unusual quills. I saw one a few weeks ago when I was here with...er, last time...that sings the Chudley Cannons' fight song when you write with it."
Harry didn't reply right away, and after a minute merely said, "Wow...he'll like that."
She wondered why he was suddenly so quiet, and tried to keep the conversation moving to get past the sudden awkwardness.
"Well, anyway...it'll mean spending all the pocket money I've got saved, but I think it's perfect for him - especially now that I feel so guilty about all that avoidance stuff. Can you believe that?"
He looked up at her now, a quick smile flashing on his face, and he answered a tad more enthusiastically, "No...it baffles me. Just when I think we can't possibly go wrong...well, there it is."
"All this time I thought WE were the ones who were supposed to feel like the third wheels!" Ginny laughed.
Harry shot her a look as they arrived at the shop door and he opened it for her.
"Wouldn't that be third and fourth wheels?"
Ginny rolled her eyes as she passed under his arm, which was easy as he was so much taller than her.
"It's an expression, Potter!"
He let out a strangled laugh.
"Potter!? You've been spending too much time with Malfoy, obviously. I'll have to write Fred and George about this."
"If you dare, you'll find yourself hexed into next week...you know very well I haven't spoken to Draco Malfoy in nearly three years, nor do I have any desire to do so."
They glared at each other for a moment, and then burst out laughing. She couldn't remember when she had laughed this much - well, since the summer, anyway. Somehow, she didn't enjoy spending time with anyone else as much as she enjoyed spending it with Harry...but that didn't mean she had any feelings for him that went beyond deep friendship, she reminded herself strictly. There was no use getting into that with herself again, especially not here. She had to stop constantly reminding herself of this - why did she need to, anyway? And why did she keep comparing this visit to Hogsmeade with the last one she had taken - with Justin?
And why did her memories of her time with Justin keep coming up short in comparison to the ones she was making now with Harry?
She shook her head to clear it, and marched resolutely to the back of the store to find the quill she needed to get. Harry followed close behind...apparently, he wasn't much of a browser at all unless the items in the shop were wooden and made to be ridden. She found the quill she had seen and snatched it up...and then her eyes fell on something else, hanging on a stand right next to it. A small piece of Unicorn Stone.
It was the lovliest thing she had ever seen in her life. Well...almost. She had noticed it on her last visit to this shop, and she remembered mentioning to Justin that if she had all the gold in Gringotts, she would buy things like this for herself more often. She didn't think she'd be frivolous, just a bit extravagant sometimes. It was no ordinary bit of stone...it was translucent as crystal, and shimmered in shades of silver, pink, and green. Best of all, however, was that the card that came with it explained that Unicorn Stone is mined from the walls of a unicorn cavern, this particular piece from one in France, and when it rests close to your heart it keeps you from becoming too depressed even in the worst of times.
"What's the matter?" she suddenly heard Harry say from close behind her.
She blinked, and chastized herself for her fanciful thoughts.
"Oh...nothing's the matter. I was just...admiring this. Isn't it beautiful?"
Harry didn't say anything for a moment, his eyes fixed briefly on the stone she held. He looked up into her face then, and replied, "Yes...it is."
She nodded and looked back down at the bit of heaven she held in her hands, not noticing that he continued to stare at her bent head.
"It's completely shallow and useless on my part, but I was telling Justin the last time I was in here that if I had the money, I might not be so hesitant to spoil myself a bit with something like this. I mean...I don't mind not having a fortune to buy things with. I truly don't. But...sometimes I wonder what it would be like to see something you like, decide that you don't really need it...and then buy it anyway."
She felt Harry's eyes on her, and looked up to find their green depths unreadable. He was giving her the most peculiar look...
"You told all this to Fletchley?" he asked quietly.
She blushed to the roots of her red hair - she knew that it sounded shallow and stupid, and had later been quite chagrined at having said anything at all to Justin about it. She didn't think he'd remembered, or at least he hadn't held it against her, as he'd invited her to accompany him into town again later.
"I know," she admitted, "I know it sounds horrible. I know what you're thinking...you're thinking I should keep such things to myself, and not prattle on about my problems to people I don't know very well."
Harry frowned slightly, and said, "That's not what..."
She interrupted, "No, it's alright...I agree. I came to the same conclusion myself, actually. It sounds as though I'm complaining about my lot in life, but I'm not doing anything of the kind...I'm very happy with what I have, honestly. I probably shouldn't have even bothered you with it, but...I don't know. I feel like I can tell you things, and you won't pass judgement on me. Sometimes...sometimes I feel like I can tell you things I couldn't even tell Ron."
Harry's expression changed completely at this revelation, and she wondered for a moment whether she truly had gone too far. As she searched his face for a reaction, however, she realized he wasn't angry. He was looking at her with an expression akin to having been dumbstruck...yet it was very intense. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, and he gently took the small translucent stone she was holding into his own hands, turning it over as he studied it.
Ginny suddenly and very inexplicably became very embarrassed, and realized that it had begun to grow entirely too hot in this corner of the store.
"Well...enough of this silliness. Let's go...I still have to pay for Ron's present."
Harry looked back up at her, his gaze still unwaveringly serious.
"Ginny...what did I get you for Christmas this year?" he asked suddenly.
She frowned, wondering what this could possibly have to do with anything. She supposed it had something to do with Ron's birthday, but she couldn't quite make the connection in her mind.
"Umm...you gave me a deck of Exploding Snap cards that were fixed so that the dealer never gets burned - to be used incessantly on Fred and George, you said - a box of sugarquills in my favorite flavor - coconut - and...um...oh, yes. A box of Bertie Bott's Beans that you had rid of all the nasty flavors. I was actually very impressed with that last one," she smiled at the memory.
Harry didn't smile back. He merely looked back down at the stone in his hands, and said softly, "That wasn't enough."
She felt her heart skip.
"What?"
He looked up again and met her eyes.
"Er...nothing."
At that moment, Ginny felt a light tap on her shoulder, and turned to find her Ravenclaw friend Sarah standing behind her.
"Oh, Sarah! Hi!"
Harry told her in an undertone that he was going to go pay for something, and she didn't get a chance to ask him what he was buying before he was walking away. She turned her full attention to Sarah and asked,
"I thought you were staying at the castle today?"
Sarah grinned nervously and looked behind her, and then said, "Well, I was...only...oh, Ginny, Mark practically begged me to go with him when I said I was staying behind! He told me that it would be no fun without me...I just don't know what to do!"
She lowered her voice to a whisper and grabbed Ginny's arm to pull her nearer as Mark came a bit closer, looking at something on a nearby shelf.
"I mean, do you think he has...you know...those kinds of feelings for me?"
Ginny smiled at her friend and replied, "Well, it seems like he does to me, but...well, why don't you just ask him?"
Sarah rolled her eyes and slapped Ginny's hand affectionately.
"Oh, please...that's easy for you to say. I'm the one that has to go do it, then!"
Ginny laughed, and said, "I know. I was teasing."
"Seriously...how do you know if a friend is beginning to think of you as...more than that?"
Ginny shook her head, "I have no idea, Sarah."
Sarah frowned at her, and said, "But...well, how did you know with Harry?"
Ginny felt her blood freeze.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean it's obvious that..."
But she never got to finish her sentence, because at that moment Mark came over to greet Ginny as well. Sarah turned red, and cast an apologetic glance in Ginny's direction as she was whisked out of the shop and back to the rest of her Ravenclaw friends. Ginny decided quickly that Sarah didn't know what she was talking about, and that she should simply forget the implications of her last question. After all, people make incorrect assumptions all the time. She sighed, and walked over to the counter to pay for Ron's gift. As she gave the clerk her money, she noticed Harry on the other side of the shop with a bag clutched in his left hand and wondered again what he had purchased.
Walking over to him, he caught her eye and asked, "Ready?"
"What did you get?" she asked him, nodding at the bag in his hand.
He looked down at it as if noticing it for the first time, and scratched his chin distractedly.
"Oh, um..."
"Did you find something else for Ron, too?" she asked excitedly.
"Er...no. No...actually, this is for you."
She felt completely confused all of a sudden.
"Me?"
"Yeah," he replied, and held out the bag to her. She looked inside...and nearly fainted. There was the Unicorn Stone she had been admiring, all wrapped in silver paper.
"Wha-? Oh, no...I can't accept this."
He smiled slightly, shaking his head at her.
"Oh, I think you will. Otherwise, it'll just sit in my trunk, going to waste."
"No, Harry...you can't do this! It's too much!"
He turned to regard her with the small smile still on his face.
"I had a few sickles to spend. Besides, it's already done...no use arguing now."
She felt her face growing hotter. She knew he was...well, sort of rich...but there was absolutely no reason he should be spending as much as a knut on her. She opened her mouth to make another protest, but couldn't think of the right words.
He stared at her for a moment, then said, "Besides, I decided that I wasn't entirely happy with what I got you for Christmas...it wasn't very appropriate for a girl, was it? Kind of impersonal...and besides, you never even play Exploding Snap."
She looked at him doubtfully, and then looked back down at the bag in her hand. He sighed a slightly frustrated sigh, and continued,
"Just accept it, please? I promise that I'm not doing it out of guilt or pity, alright?"
"Well then why..." she trailed off, catching an almost fearful look in his eye.
"Just because," he replied firmly, "You're my friend. I think you should have it, and if you can't get it for yourself...then I'm getting it for you."
She saw that she wasn't going to be convincing him to rethink this decision any time soon, so she simply sighed and nodded. Then, to her surprise, she felt a smile begin to creep across her face. Perhaps this wasn't as huge as she had made it out to be in her mind. Perhaps she had overreacted because she was so unused to such expensive generosity...and because she was so sensitive about anything that had to do with Harry.
She smiled up at him, and admitted quietly, "Harry…I don't know how to thank you for this."
He grinned.
"You just did. Now come on...or we'll get another lecture from Ron and Hermione."
She laughed, and agreed.
They walked back to the castle together, and Ginny was too wrapped up it whatever conversation they were having to have much time to ponder the reasons behind his fairly nice gift to her. She wouldn't have let herself do much thinking anyway, she considered later, as she was convinced it was simply a gesture of friendship from him, and he meant what he said - he wanted to expand upon her Christmas gift.
Never mind that it was nearly two months later. And forget that she hadn't gotten him anything nearly as nice as the things he'd already given her, without the recent addition. Just...never mind those things.
A few weeks later, she was staring at her reflection in the windows of the common room. She had put the Unicorn Stone on a silver chain and fastened it around her neck when she had come back from Hogsmeade that day, but always kept it hidden beneath her robes in order to avoid questions from everyone - particularly Ron. When she was all alone, however, she often admired it herself...it was too lovely to be kept hidden all the time. Suddenly, she heard a soft exclaimation behind her.
Turning, she saw Hermione standing there with a load of books in her arms, having just come in the portrait hole from a visit to the library - Ginny hadn't heard her walk in.
"Oh, Ginny...I was looking at that stone the other day! You got it at the novelty shop in Hogsmeade, right?" she asked as she set her books down in the place across from Ginny and sat down.
"Yeah, isn't it pretty?" Ginny replied excitedly, unfastening the chain and holding the pendant out for Hermione to take.
Hermione tutted, which is what she did best, and gave Ginny a look as she took the proffered pendant and turned it in her hands.
"It's not just pretty...it's Unicorn Stone! It's actually very rare, as it's very hard to succesfully enter a unicorn cavern to mine it. Now, I don't usually go for things like this...but I thought about buying this for myself, as it does contain quite powerful cheering magic. It was just a bit too..." Hermione broke off, suddenly frowning up at Ginny with a puzzled look on her face.
"Expensive?" Ginny finished, smiling.
"Y-yes. But, Ginny...now, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but...how...?"
"How did I manage to afford it?"
Hermione nodded vigorously.
"I...I didn't. Um...it was a gift."
Hermione's eyes widened, and she burst out, "Ginny! Who on earth would be so...generous...oh, wait a minute..."
Ginny looked back down at her hands and squirmed a bit in her seat.
"It was Harry, wasn't it?"
Ginny nodded in response.
Hermione didn't say anything for a moment, and Ginny assumed she was thinking it over. Perhaps this was just what she needed...someone to put her mind at ease once and for all on the matter.
"Well, you know how he is, when it comes to his...er, his friends. I mean, this sort of thing isn't unusual, is it? He gives you and Ron things all the time...right?"
Hermione blinked and then nodded enthusiastically, still fingering the crystal.
"Oh, yes...Harry's very generous. It's just the way he is, especially when it comes to his friends. I think we're all very important to him, especially this year...with everything that's going on..."
Ginny felt a strange combination of relief and disappointment coarsing through her at Hermione's words, as she closed her book, bid her friend goodnight, and climbed the stairs to bed. Where was that coming from? She had wanted her friend to say those exact words, and she had gotten her reassurance that her relationship with Harry - her friendship with Harry - was just as solid as ever, and not being shaken apart by any kind of fickle changes. So...why did she feel somewhat let down?
To Be Continued in Chapter Six
Feedback to : emmyjeanb@yahoo.com
Visit The Hidden Tower
http://www.hiddentower.50megs.com