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 SIX
Mid-August
"Alright, I've got another one," Ginny said, trying with her tongue to stop the drip of melting ice cream from going any further down her arm. Harry handed her a napkin, and she accepted it. Normally, she thought, she would have been embarrased, but not now. Not anymore.
"Go ahead," he prompted.
Ginny looked at him smugly and asked, "If you were to be forced to participate in dancing lessons with either Severus Snape or Argus Filch, which would it be?"
Harry closed his eyes and made a kind of funny groaning noise before chuckling and leaning more fully on the rock at his back. They were on the beach right below the house...it had been quite dark for awhile now, but the full moon and the lights from the house combined provided enough illumination for them to see each other.
"You don't hold back with these, do you?" he asked her.
She shrugged, and replied, "What would be the point of the game if I did? Now come on...no more stalling."
He sighed and, after another moment's consideration, finally decided, "It'd have to be Filch."
"Really? Why?"
"Because...at least he's a squib and couldn't do anything truly horrible to me."
Ginny laughed, wiping her mouth. She didn't know what was making her so sloppy in eating this ice cream cone, but there was no helping it now. She was hopelessly sticky already.
"He could kiss you or something," she suggested, and then burst out laughing at the horrified look on Harry's face. Inspired, she continued, "Yes...I mean, imagine how romantic it would be. You and Filch, dancing in the moonlight, twirling around..."
"Oh, yeah...it's my turn now," he interrupted, a wicked look gleaming on his face.
"Hit me with your best shot, then," she said defiantly.
"Alright...you have to kiss either Crabbe or Goyle. Choose."
Ginny gasped, and said, "Now come on, that's not fair. They're...practically the same person!"
"Are they people? Hmm...I hadn't realized..."
"Harry..."
"Nope," he cut her off, smiling, "You have to pick, it's the rules."
She sighed, thinking it over for a moment.
"Alright then...Goyle."
"Why?"
"I dunno...I just picked the first one I thought of."
"Alright, wait...how about Malfoy or Goyle?"
She thought for a moment, and then shook with laughter.
"Malfoy, no question."
Harry scowled, and asked, "Why's that?"
Ginny stuck her chin out at him and replied haughtily, "Just because he's a git doesn't mean he's not good-looking."
The look on Harry's face was so distressing that she broke down into fits of giggles.
"I'm joking!" she gasped, and soon he started laughing softly as well.
He nodded, and after a short pause said, "Your turn."
She looked up, and their eyes caught...along with her breath. He was standing at such an angle that the moonlight was reflecting off his green eyes, but not his glasses, and his inky black hair was lined with blue where it, too, was illuminated.
"Hmm?" she asked distractedly.
"It's, um...your turn to ask a question."
"Oh, right...um...okay," she silently cursed herself for regressing into her second-year mentality, and continued, "You have a choice between being locked in a room with a Hungarian Horntail or a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Which would you choose?"
"The Horntail," he replied immediately.
She blinked.
"You don't even want to think about it?"
"No...I got past a Horntail once. I never did quite learn how to beat those damn Skrewts of Hagrid's."
She laughed, conceding that he was right, and then yawned loudly.
"Come on," he said, brushing her arm lightly with his fingertips, "Let's go in. We can continue this later...you need a bath or something."
"What?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a slob when it comes to ice cream?"
She shot him a look and realized his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. Grinning, she shot back, "Oh, really? Well, here's what I have to say to you, Harry Potter..."
She took her sticky hand and mussed his already messy black hair. He yelled in protest, but the damage was done.
"Now it looks like YOU are the one who needs to clean up!" she said with a smirk.
Smiling at her as they walked up the wooden stairs to the cottage, he commented wryly, "You'll pay for that."
"Oh, I have no doubt...but it was worth it."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry glanced again over at Ginny, who was sitting a ways down from he and Ron as they ate dinner in the Great Hall. He hated it when she decided to sit with her own friends at meals, as silly as it may sound. It meant she didn't sit anywhere near them.
He sighed and went back to his stew, only half listening to an argument Ron and Dean were having about the finer points of curse-breaking. He personally didn't know what either of them knew about it, as he was surely clueless, but refrained from saying this in the interest of not appearing to be a complete arse. Just because he was in a bad mood didn't mean he had to spread the misery around.
It wasn't just because Ginny was sitting elsewhere today, as this would have made even Harry ashamed of himself, but it was all tied in. He had been pensive and moody since his visit to Hogsmeade with Ginny, and had been a bit short with everyone - everyone except her, that is. He couldn't get her words to him out of his mind. I feel like I can tell you things and you won't pass judgement on me...sometimes, I feel I could tell you things I couldn't even tell Ron. Harry had never in his life been so touched by someone expressing a sentiment to him. It had taken him completely by surprise, as he and Ginny's conversations were rarely so self-revealing. To know that she trusted him enough to tell him this was mind-boggling, and it also made him more certain that ever that he couldn't keep his rampaging emotions a secret for much longer. He had managed to explain away the purchase of that Unicorn Stone to make it seem as though it was simply an act of friendship...but he knew better.
He had bought her the small bit of stone because he had suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to provide her with nice things that she couldn't afford to give to herself. He had felt a rush of...something, and remembered thinking fiercely that if people like Parvati Patil and Hannah Abbott could surround themselves with pretty, girlish things, then Ginny deserved to have the same privilidge, even more than they did. Not only that, but he wanted to be the one to give them to her. He had never felt there was much purpose in having all the money he did, as he never bought anything for himself, really...but that day, he did think of something he'd gladly spend every last galleon in his vault on.
And it most definitely was not because he considered her a good friend.
Glancing at Ron, he felt the heat rise in his face as he pictured what his best friend would say if he knew Harry were having such inappropriate thoughts about his younger sister...but then Harry considered that it was partially Ron's fault in the first place that he had even become close to Ginny at all. He'd have to thank him later, if he lived through this.
Suddenly, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the head table, and the Hall fell silent without him having to say a word. He looked brightly around the room, smiling, and everyone breathed a small sigh of relief that he was obviously not going to make a grave announcement - this time.
"I have just been informed," he began, "by the heads of the houses that each of their respective dormitories are in excellent standing with points well over the 500 mark."
There was a cheerful applause as the house tables reacted to this news. After they quieted down again, Dumbledore continued,
"We have been chatting up here, and we - Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, and myself - have decided to reward your good behavior. I am pleased to announce that we will be holding a Spring Festival on the first weekend of May this year."
A great cheering erupted from the house tables, but Harry didn't hear any of it. He realized Dumbledore was still speaking, but decided he could get the details from Ron later. His eyes were roaming the Hufflepuff table, and they soon fixed on Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry somehow wasn't surprised to see that he was staring right back at him. Their eyes locked, and an unmistakable challenge was issued. Whatever Fletchley's assumptions about Harry's relationship with Ginny were before, it was safe to say that now there was no room for any misconceptions.
Harry smiled somewhat maliciously as he cast his eyes in Ginny's direction, noting that she was only a few paces from where he was sitting but all the way across the room from Justin. He noticed that Justin was realizing the same thing, and a panicked look flickered across the other boy's face. Just as Harry was about to stand and walk over to her, Ginny shot up from the table, gathered her things, and hurried toward the door. He overheard her muttering something to her friends about needing to stop at the library for something.
Harry watched her go, and then looked over at Justin again. She was going to pass the Hufflepuff table as she went, and Justin was smiling triumphantly at Harry as he, too, summed up the situation. After Ginny had walked out the large doors, Fletchley stood and followed her out.
Harry shot out of his seat and started to go after them, but Ron's voice stopped him short.
"Hey, mate, where do you think you're going?"
"I've...erm, I've got to go see to something."
Ron laughed slightly and shook his head, cramming another bite of roast potato in his mouth and talking around it, "Not right now, you're not. We've got that detention to serve for Snape, remember? In fact...we should probably get going. Snape's already left the Hall."
Harry felt his heart plummet to the cold stone floor...Ron was right. They did have detention to serve - and even Harry didn't dare ditch out on a detention, particularly if it was from Severus Snape. That prat Fletchley was going to get to Ginny first, and there was no way she'd refuse an invitation to the dance from him. With feet that seemed as though they were made from lead and a deep resentment compressing his chest, he followed Ron slowly out of the Hall and into the dungeons.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whew...finally," Ron breathed as they walked out of the dark Potions classroom and headed back toward Gryffindor Tower, "I can't believe he made us scrub every last one of those disgusting cauldrons clean. I mean, they must have been about a hundred years old! And what's he been using 'em for, anyway, with all that gunk caked on there?"
Harry shrugged, not in the mood for friendly banter.
"Hey, Harry...what's the matter? You've been quiet all evening."
I have feelings for your sister.
"Nothing...I'm just not relishing going to this dance, that's all."
Ron shook his head and replied, "Well, me either, but I suppose I have to go...Hermione'll need someone to take her, her being Head Girl and all. But I know what you mean - I'd rather spend the night playing chess. Ah, well...who're you going to ask, then? Ginny?"
"No, I don't think so."
"You ought to, you know. It'd be easy...you wouldn't have to worry about feeling weird because she's not a girl...I mean, she is of course, but not to us. She's just Ginny."
Little did Ron know that Ginny was more "girl" to Harry than anyone else in the damn school.
"Well, I'm pretty sure she's going with someone else, anyway."
Before Ron could answer, they heard footsteps behind them.
"Harry? Um...Harry?" a female voice caused him to turn, and he found himself staring into the face of Hannah Abbott, the pretty blonde Hufflepuff in his year.
"Umm...I was just wondering if you had asked anyone to the dance yet," she inquired, her cheeks coloring a bit.
"It's two months away," Harry said a bit testily.
"Yes, well...I was thinking we could go together- that is, if you didn't already have someone in mind."
Harry was about to say no, but then remembered that the only girl he had wanted to take was already being taken by someone else. He felt a rush of anger as he pictured Fletchley dancing with Ginny, his hand on her waist...and suddenly decided that he'd be damned if he was going to sit in the Common Room wallowing in self-pity that night. He'd sure as hell go - if only to keep an eye on her.
"Sure, why not?" he replied simply to Hannah, who beamed at him and then went on her way.
"Harry," Ron ventured a few moments later as they continued on their way back to the dormitory, "if you wanted to avoid having to take a self-important, vain, prissy girl to this ball...Hannah Abbott was the wrong way to go."
Harry shrugged, and replied, "Eh...I probably won't see much of her. I don't plan on participating."
"Then why go at all?"
"I dunno...because I'd rather sit moping at a table with my friends than sit moping alone in the Common Room that night."
Ron shrugged and shook his head, as if he didn't understand Harry's reasoning but wasn't going to try and get any more information out of him.
When they got back to the portrait hole and had given the Fat Lady the password, Harry climbed in after Ron only to be greeted with the sight of Ginny and Hermione sitting by the fireplace talking. They both turned and smiled as he and Ron approached.
"What took so long?" Hermione asked, moving aside on the sofa so Ron could plop down next to her.
"You have no idea the grime that exists in Snape's filthy little world," Ron replied, yawning.
"Ron, you shouldn't say such things about a teacher," the Head Girl in Hermione spoke up.
Ron grinned in response, and then asked, "You two waited up? You shouldn't have...it's nearly midnight."
Hermione looked at the clock and clarified, "Well, I waited up. Ginny was kind enough to offer to keep me company."
Harry glanced at Ginny, who just happened to choose that moment to glance at him. She quickly looked away, and Harry wondered what she was suddenly so shy about...maybe she was just afraid that he had found out about Justin taking her to the dance. He scowled unconsciously at the truth of that statement.
"Anyway...are you going to ask me to the ball or not, Ronald Weasley?" Hermione asked haughtily.
Ron opened one eye and frowned at her, "Why should I? It's not like everyone doesn't already assume we're going with each other...including us."
Hermione glared, and said, "It's customary for a gentleman to..."
"Alright, alright!" Ron interrupted with a sigh, "I don't want a lecture right this minute. Hermione, would you do me the supreme honor of attending the Spring Festival with me?"
Hermione sighed in exasperation at his tone, but then smiled slightly and replied, "Well...alright then. Even though I think you asked me like a prat."
He guffawed in response and put his arm around her to make up for it. Then he looked at his sister and asked,
"So, who is this you're going with, now?"
Harry turned and headed discreetly towards the stairway leading to the dorms. He didn't want to hear the details of her little romantic encounter.
"Oh...well, no one's asked me yet."
Harry stopped dead in his tracks, frozen. He didn't think he could have heard right, and looked over his shoulder and the back of Ginny's chair. Slowly, before anyone had even noticed that he had tried to make his exit, he edged back to where he had been standing before.
"But I thought you had a date already?" Ron asked.
Ginny shook her head, her red ponytail bobbing back and forth, "No...for pity's sake, Ron! It's only just been announced tonight!"
Ron furrowed his brows, and conceded, "Hmm...I suppose you're right."
"Not everyone can get a date right away, Ron...most people won't even start thinking about it until a month from now," Hermione commented sagely.
"Right...I guess everyone can't be like us," he smiled at her, and then turned to look at Harry, "or Harry, of course."
Hermione and Ginny both turned to regard him...he kept his eyes trained on Hermione, because he couldn't bear to look at Ginny Weasley right now. The disappointment roiling in his stomach was enough to make him sick already, without his having to see her face. Justin had somehow never caught up to her in the corridor, Harry realized.
"You have a date already, Harry?" Hermione asked, a bit perplexed.
He cleared his throat, but his voice still cracked as he managed to respond with a low, "Yes."
There was a brief silence, and then Ginny asked quietly, "Who is it?"
Harry turned to face her then, and the look in her eyes nearly made his heart break in two. She was looking at him as if he had just slapped her in the face, and worst of all, he could see clearly that she was struggling to look neutral.
"Hannah Abbott," he nearly whispered.
She didn't say anything else, merely nodded and smiled as if this didn't bother her at all. Ron was laughing, as the thought of Harry attending anything with Hannah Abbott was obviously very funny to him. Harry briefly considered wiping the smile off his face by announcing that he was falling for his sister...but decided that would be a bad idea, as the sister in question was sitting not five feet away from him.
Ginny stood up suddenly, and said, "Well, it is pretty late, so I think I'll just go up to bed. Goodnight, everyone."
Ron and Hermione bid her goodnight, but Harry couldn't force another sound out of his throat. He simply watched, miserable, as she turned and, without another glance at him, climbed the stairs slowly up to the girls dorm. He swallowed, still feeling as though he was going to be sick. He would have been able to go with her to the dance. If he hadn't been such a damn fool and accepted Hannah Abbott on a whim, he would have been able to take the only person he had ever wanted to take, since Dumbledore had made the announcement. The most unbearable thing about the entire situation, however, was that Ginny had been expecting him to ask her - had been counting on it. He could read it all over her face, in her eyes, when he had said he was going with someone else.
And now, if she did go with Justin Finch-Fletchley, it was nobody's fault but his own.
He stood, not able to stand sitting in that room another second, and mumbled, "I'm going up, too. G'night."
He vaguely heard Ron and Hermione respond, and thought that they were probably glad he was leaving them alone. As he got to the landing, he turned and stared at the door to the girls dormitories. He fleetingly considered simply barging in there and explaining the whole thing to her, but rejected this idea as completely daft. Sighing, he trudged the rest of the way to his own room, quickly undressed, and got into bed.
He didn't fall asleep for a long time that night.
To Be Continued in Chapter Seven
More Fanfic by Emmyjean at
The Hidden Tower
www.hiddentower.50megs.com