Chapter Seventeen: Harry's Girl
The Weasleys started out of their seats and out of the stands, Harry right behind them, his eyes on Ginny.
Please let her be okay, he thought, but she wasn't moving. Harry felt his stomach plummet.
English fans were pushing and shoving to get out onto the pitch; brawls were starting in the stands among English and Scottish fans. Several loud, grunting roars announced the presence of armed security trolls and wizards. Harry gulped as the pandemonium increased. He couldn't see the pitch now, from where he stood; the Weasleys and Hermione were clumped together, trying to move even as floods of people left the stands.
"Bloody hell!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "Slow down, would you?!"
Stick together, Harry thought, stay with the Weasleys. He grabbed a Weasley's shoulder-Charlie's, and followed the lot of them down the steps, their footsteps banging against the wooden stands so hard that the whole structure was shaking.
At last, after what seemed like an eternity, Harry's feet hit solid ground. The sun had disappeared and a weak moon was up; candles and torches lit the field now. He couldn't see Ginny anywhere-there were hundreds of spectators crowding the field. Harry saw two medics carrying Radcliffe out on a stretcher; Radcliffe was awake now but he was moaning and babbling nonsensically. Where was Ginny?
"There she is!" Hermione squeaked, pointing across the pitch.
Harry's head swung round and found her, and he felt the knot in his stomach relax. She was sitting up, talking to a medic, who was handing her some kind of potion. She drank it down in one, nodded, and allowed the medic to help her up.
The Weasleys rushed over to her, Ron gripping Hermione's hand tightly, Harry at their heels, when he slowed. Hermione hung back and joined him, to let the Weasleys alone for a moment.
"Hermione, get over here!" Ron bellowed happily, beckoning to her. He stepped back from Ginny, who was pale and looked exhausted, her hair a mess. Her eyes fell on Harry, and she bit her lip. Harry took a step, and stopped. He wasn't sure how to react now. He started over to her slowly, his eyes never leaving her face.
Hermione hurried over and hugged Ginny.
"Congratulations, Ginny!" she screamed, even as Ginny gave a loud groan.
"Hermione, ease up," Ron said, "she's bruised her ribs."
"Sorry!" said Hermione, quickly letting go of Ginny.
Ginny's brothers all hugged her in turn-delicately-followed by her parents. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing and fussing over her daughter, insisting that she ought to go to St. Mungo's; Ginny shook her head, insisted she was fine, just a bit sore; then Ginny looked back at Harry.
Harry was about eight feet from where Ginny stood when he stopped. He didn't quite know what to do. He felt himself go red in the face.
Mr. Weasley cleared his throat loudly. "Why don't we, uh, just...go get the car?" His eyes swept the group knowingly, and he started away from the pitch.
"Arthur, wait!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Where are you-"
"Come along, Molly," said Mr. Weasley, who turned back to Harry and gave him a wink. Harry blushed even redder.
"Let's go," said Bill firmly, eyeing Fred and George-who were sniggering behind their hands-and Ron, who was looking from Ginny to Harry and back again.
"Come ON, Ron," said Hermione, through gritted teeth. Ron blinked.
"Oh, right," he said, "yeah." The Weasley men and Hermione all started off, following Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry watched them go for a moment, then turned back to Ginny, who was standing quite still, her arms around her middle, as if hugging herself.
He took two more steps toward her. "Hi," he said in a strangled voice.
"Hi," she said.
"You okay?" he asked. "You...you gave me a scare back there."
"I'm fine," she said, a bit stiffly. "Just a little bruised up. What are you doing here?" she added. "I thought...I thought you were with Cho."
"I was," Harry admitted, taking another step toward her. "But...uh...she went home. And I couldn't miss seeing you play. You were brilliant."
"Thanks," said Ginny. "But...wait...Cho went home?"
"Yeah."
"I thought," said Ginny slowly, "I mean...you and she were...you know..."
"No," said Harry. "No. Cho and me...it just wasn't working."
"Oh," said Ginny uncertainly. "You didn't...she didn't...I mean, uh...did you..."
"No," said Harry, understanding what she meant and saving her the embarrassment of having to ask him directly if he'd gone to bed with Cho. "Not even close. I...couldn't."
"Oh," said Ginny again. He took one more step toward her; she seemed frozen to the spot. "Why...why couldn't you?"
"Because," said Harry, taking another step toward her. He was only a few feet away from her now. "I kept thinking about someone else. I kept wishing I was with someone else."
Ginny looked at Harry and started to shake her head. "Harry..."
"I love you," he blurted, taking two more steps and closing the distance between them, putting his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes went wide. Overhead the clouds gathered, darkening the world around them.
"Wh-what?"
"I love you," he repeated. She opened her mouth slightly, but said nothing; it was as if she'd been hit with a Silencing Charm. The silence stretched; Harry couldn't stand it.
"Aren't...aren't you going to say something?" he asked, his heart constricting in his chest.
Her eyes filled with tears. "You...you bloody bastard," she whispered, her face contorting with fury. She shook herself free of him and marched past him.
"What?" Harry cried, stung, and he started after her. "Ginny, wait! What the-"
"How dare you?" she cried, whirling on him. "You...you think you have the right to show up here tonight after...after..."
"After what?" Harry cried, horrified that she'd reacted this way. "I told you I didn't sleep with Cho! I don't want Cho!"
"Dammit, Harry!" Ginny cried, tears rolling down her face. "You can't just come here and tell me you love me, okay?"
"Why the hell not?" Harry snapped. "It's true!"
"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Ginny retorted. "Because we slept together?"
"N-no!" Harry said. Ginny glared at him and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, all right, Ginny," Harry said angrily, "I'm not going to lie and say that wasn't a part of it, but...for god's sake. That's not all of it!"
"Then what is it?" Ginny asked, wiping her tears away angrily.
Harry looked at her-how could he possibly put into words all that he felt for her?
"I love you because you're you, okay?" he said. "You're smart and funny and the best Quidditch player in the world and my best friend. I love your temper and your freckles and your jokes and...and...the other night-"
Ginny stiffened and backed away. "So we're back to sex, then?" she said frostily.
"No!" said Harry desperately. "Oh, for god's sake, Ginny, I'm not going to lie and say I didn't have a really good time that night, okay? I loved it; I loved being with you and making love with you and yeah, I want to do that again! But it meant a lot more than just drowning my sorrows. It meant something-when you left that morning and...and I thought I'd never get to hold you like that again or touch you or kiss you...that I couldn't talk to you like we talked...it felt like some part of me was dying inside, okay?"
Harry swallowed; his throat hurt a bit as he fought to speak through the lump there; his heart was pounding and constricting in his chest.
Ginny shook her head and started off again, not really walking in any direction but pacing. Thunder rumbled overhead.
"Dammit," she said angrily. "I'm OVER you, Harry! I...I got over you in fourth year! I...I'm not that same stupid little girl who spilled food all over herself every time I was in the same room with you. I'm OVER you!"
"You said nobody ever gets over a first love," Harry retorted, moving in front of her again. "Or was that just bullshit?"
She stopped and stared up at him, her eyes stricken. "It...it was a stupid schoolgirl crush..."
"What is it now, then?" Harry demanded, stepping in front of her again. "Are you going to tell me you haven't felt ANYTHING between us this past month? Can you look me in the face and tell me you felt nothing the other night? That it meant nothing to you?"
Ginny's eyes filled with tears again. Overhead, the clouds broke, and rain began to fall.
"Look me in the face and tell me you don't love me, that the night we spent together didn't mean anything, and...and I'll go," Harry said, feeling his stomach clench as he spoke. "I'll leave you alone forever and never bother you again."
"Dammit, Harry, you don't GET it!" she stormed. "How many years I...I wished you'd just LOOK at me for five seconds. You have no idea how thrilled I was when you finally started talking to me, like a person, like a friend. At last, I thought, he finally sees me. But you didn't! Not really. I was always Ron's little sister, wasn't I? You confided in me about all your girl problems, didn't you? And sure, we wrote letters back and forth last year but so what? I was always Ron's sister to you! And then, when I see you last month what's the first thing that happens? You're crying on my shoulder about another girl!"
"You OFFERED to help me, remember?" Harry protested. "I never asked you to do it, you offered-"
"Because I love you, you idiot!" she screamed, and tears poured down her face, mingling with the rain, that came faster, soaking her sweaty hair, her robes.
Harry didn't feel the rain just then. He only felt an arrow pierce his heart as he replayed in his mind over and over again the words he'd just heard Ginny shriek at him.
"Oh, god!" Ginny cried out, throwing up her hands. "Don't you see? I just wanted you to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted for you! Life's been so mean to you, hasn't it, but I thought...maybe...maybe I can help. I was arrogant enough to think I could make you happy! Only I was stupid! I...I gave in, I...I went to bed with you because...because I wanted you so badly. I lied to you because...because I wanted to be with you like that, because...because I thought if I told you the truth that...that you'd...I'm sorry, Harry. I never should have agreed to...but I just wanted you to be happy, only...only I fell in love with you all over again and...and...suddenly I wasn't doing it anymore to help you, it was...to be with you. I ruined your chance with Cho because...because I wanted you for myself."
Tears spilled silently down Ginny's face as she looked at him. She looked hurt, sad, ashamed.
Harry stared at her for a moment, stunned by her confession, when slowly, comprehension filled him. He took her by the shoulders.
"You didn't ruin anything with me and Cho," he said slowly. "Cho and me ruined it by ourselves, a long time ago. And you did make me happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be."
"But I lied to you," said Ginny, looking down at her wet shoes.
"If you lied to me, then I lied to you," said Harry. "All those times we spent together, and I never told you how much you meant to me? I looked you in the face and told you I wanted her and I was lying."
"Harry-"
"I don't CARE how we came together, Ginny," Harry said fervently. "I only care that we did. You and me, we fit. I can't stand the thought of not being with you, of not being near you. I...I want to spend every day talking to you and touching your beautiful hair and holding you and...laughing at your jokes and...and watching you play Quidditch and making love to you and...and counting all your freckles and eating ice cream cones...and waking up next to you." He moved his hands to her face.
"Really?" she whispered, her voice barely audible above the rain. She moved closer to him.
"Really," he said softly, brushing a clump of her wet hair back from her forehead.
She smiled up at him, her eyes still tearful, still blinking against the rain.
"I'm scared," she said. "What if...what if it doesn't work-"
"You can take on a whole Scottish Quidditch team but you're afraid of how you feel about me?" Harry asked gently.
"Harry, you...you know what I mean..."
"I'm scared, too," he said, a bit more forcefully. "I'm terrified. I don't know what's going to happen, Gin, I can't...promise you things will be perfect or that they won't change. But I'll take that chance. I'm...I'm asking you to take it with me."
He moved closer to her. "I love you, Gin. Be with me. Be my girl."
Ginny gave a kind of strangled sob.
"Bloody hell," she croaked. "How's a girl to say no to that?"
She began to laugh.
Harry gave a kind of strangled gasp as it sank in that she was saying yes to him, she was telling him she loved him and wanted to be with him. His face broke into a grin as pure, unadulterated happiness filled his heart.
"Well," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "are you going to stand there like a lump or are you going to kiss me?"
Harry looked at her-she was soaked through and her eyes were red and puffy and she looked more beautiful than ever. He smiled even as he lowered his mouth to hers, as he put his arms round her, and then they were kissing and laughing and kissing some more and not feeling the cold as the rain pelted down on them and thunder rumbled on the air.
THE END
________________________________________________________________________
Author's Note: Another story ends! Thanks to all who read and reviewed. The story got a bit more serious than I had intended but what's young love without a little angst thrown in?
Oh, yeah, and Radcliffe, of course, is a nod to our own Daniel Radcliffe, whose day job is to play Harry Potter in the films of the same name.
I realized in looking over the story that I did not do any disclaimers, so here it is:
I do not own any part of the Harry Potter Universe; that belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling and her friends at Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros., etc.
My writing does not end here, though; I'm exploring a story-romantic, of course-about a certain werewolf and a certain Metamorphmagus, title and rating as yet to be determined.
The Weasleys started out of their seats and out of the stands, Harry right behind them, his eyes on Ginny.
Please let her be okay, he thought, but she wasn't moving. Harry felt his stomach plummet.
English fans were pushing and shoving to get out onto the pitch; brawls were starting in the stands among English and Scottish fans. Several loud, grunting roars announced the presence of armed security trolls and wizards. Harry gulped as the pandemonium increased. He couldn't see the pitch now, from where he stood; the Weasleys and Hermione were clumped together, trying to move even as floods of people left the stands.
"Bloody hell!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "Slow down, would you?!"
Stick together, Harry thought, stay with the Weasleys. He grabbed a Weasley's shoulder-Charlie's, and followed the lot of them down the steps, their footsteps banging against the wooden stands so hard that the whole structure was shaking.
At last, after what seemed like an eternity, Harry's feet hit solid ground. The sun had disappeared and a weak moon was up; candles and torches lit the field now. He couldn't see Ginny anywhere-there were hundreds of spectators crowding the field. Harry saw two medics carrying Radcliffe out on a stretcher; Radcliffe was awake now but he was moaning and babbling nonsensically. Where was Ginny?
"There she is!" Hermione squeaked, pointing across the pitch.
Harry's head swung round and found her, and he felt the knot in his stomach relax. She was sitting up, talking to a medic, who was handing her some kind of potion. She drank it down in one, nodded, and allowed the medic to help her up.
The Weasleys rushed over to her, Ron gripping Hermione's hand tightly, Harry at their heels, when he slowed. Hermione hung back and joined him, to let the Weasleys alone for a moment.
"Hermione, get over here!" Ron bellowed happily, beckoning to her. He stepped back from Ginny, who was pale and looked exhausted, her hair a mess. Her eyes fell on Harry, and she bit her lip. Harry took a step, and stopped. He wasn't sure how to react now. He started over to her slowly, his eyes never leaving her face.
Hermione hurried over and hugged Ginny.
"Congratulations, Ginny!" she screamed, even as Ginny gave a loud groan.
"Hermione, ease up," Ron said, "she's bruised her ribs."
"Sorry!" said Hermione, quickly letting go of Ginny.
Ginny's brothers all hugged her in turn-delicately-followed by her parents. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing and fussing over her daughter, insisting that she ought to go to St. Mungo's; Ginny shook her head, insisted she was fine, just a bit sore; then Ginny looked back at Harry.
Harry was about eight feet from where Ginny stood when he stopped. He didn't quite know what to do. He felt himself go red in the face.
Mr. Weasley cleared his throat loudly. "Why don't we, uh, just...go get the car?" His eyes swept the group knowingly, and he started away from the pitch.
"Arthur, wait!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Where are you-"
"Come along, Molly," said Mr. Weasley, who turned back to Harry and gave him a wink. Harry blushed even redder.
"Let's go," said Bill firmly, eyeing Fred and George-who were sniggering behind their hands-and Ron, who was looking from Ginny to Harry and back again.
"Come ON, Ron," said Hermione, through gritted teeth. Ron blinked.
"Oh, right," he said, "yeah." The Weasley men and Hermione all started off, following Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry watched them go for a moment, then turned back to Ginny, who was standing quite still, her arms around her middle, as if hugging herself.
He took two more steps toward her. "Hi," he said in a strangled voice.
"Hi," she said.
"You okay?" he asked. "You...you gave me a scare back there."
"I'm fine," she said, a bit stiffly. "Just a little bruised up. What are you doing here?" she added. "I thought...I thought you were with Cho."
"I was," Harry admitted, taking another step toward her. "But...uh...she went home. And I couldn't miss seeing you play. You were brilliant."
"Thanks," said Ginny. "But...wait...Cho went home?"
"Yeah."
"I thought," said Ginny slowly, "I mean...you and she were...you know..."
"No," said Harry. "No. Cho and me...it just wasn't working."
"Oh," said Ginny uncertainly. "You didn't...she didn't...I mean, uh...did you..."
"No," said Harry, understanding what she meant and saving her the embarrassment of having to ask him directly if he'd gone to bed with Cho. "Not even close. I...couldn't."
"Oh," said Ginny again. He took one more step toward her; she seemed frozen to the spot. "Why...why couldn't you?"
"Because," said Harry, taking another step toward her. He was only a few feet away from her now. "I kept thinking about someone else. I kept wishing I was with someone else."
Ginny looked at Harry and started to shake her head. "Harry..."
"I love you," he blurted, taking two more steps and closing the distance between them, putting his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes went wide. Overhead the clouds gathered, darkening the world around them.
"Wh-what?"
"I love you," he repeated. She opened her mouth slightly, but said nothing; it was as if she'd been hit with a Silencing Charm. The silence stretched; Harry couldn't stand it.
"Aren't...aren't you going to say something?" he asked, his heart constricting in his chest.
Her eyes filled with tears. "You...you bloody bastard," she whispered, her face contorting with fury. She shook herself free of him and marched past him.
"What?" Harry cried, stung, and he started after her. "Ginny, wait! What the-"
"How dare you?" she cried, whirling on him. "You...you think you have the right to show up here tonight after...after..."
"After what?" Harry cried, horrified that she'd reacted this way. "I told you I didn't sleep with Cho! I don't want Cho!"
"Dammit, Harry!" Ginny cried, tears rolling down her face. "You can't just come here and tell me you love me, okay?"
"Why the hell not?" Harry snapped. "It's true!"
"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Ginny retorted. "Because we slept together?"
"N-no!" Harry said. Ginny glared at him and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, all right, Ginny," Harry said angrily, "I'm not going to lie and say that wasn't a part of it, but...for god's sake. That's not all of it!"
"Then what is it?" Ginny asked, wiping her tears away angrily.
Harry looked at her-how could he possibly put into words all that he felt for her?
"I love you because you're you, okay?" he said. "You're smart and funny and the best Quidditch player in the world and my best friend. I love your temper and your freckles and your jokes and...and...the other night-"
Ginny stiffened and backed away. "So we're back to sex, then?" she said frostily.
"No!" said Harry desperately. "Oh, for god's sake, Ginny, I'm not going to lie and say I didn't have a really good time that night, okay? I loved it; I loved being with you and making love with you and yeah, I want to do that again! But it meant a lot more than just drowning my sorrows. It meant something-when you left that morning and...and I thought I'd never get to hold you like that again or touch you or kiss you...that I couldn't talk to you like we talked...it felt like some part of me was dying inside, okay?"
Harry swallowed; his throat hurt a bit as he fought to speak through the lump there; his heart was pounding and constricting in his chest.
Ginny shook her head and started off again, not really walking in any direction but pacing. Thunder rumbled overhead.
"Dammit," she said angrily. "I'm OVER you, Harry! I...I got over you in fourth year! I...I'm not that same stupid little girl who spilled food all over herself every time I was in the same room with you. I'm OVER you!"
"You said nobody ever gets over a first love," Harry retorted, moving in front of her again. "Or was that just bullshit?"
She stopped and stared up at him, her eyes stricken. "It...it was a stupid schoolgirl crush..."
"What is it now, then?" Harry demanded, stepping in front of her again. "Are you going to tell me you haven't felt ANYTHING between us this past month? Can you look me in the face and tell me you felt nothing the other night? That it meant nothing to you?"
Ginny's eyes filled with tears again. Overhead, the clouds broke, and rain began to fall.
"Look me in the face and tell me you don't love me, that the night we spent together didn't mean anything, and...and I'll go," Harry said, feeling his stomach clench as he spoke. "I'll leave you alone forever and never bother you again."
"Dammit, Harry, you don't GET it!" she stormed. "How many years I...I wished you'd just LOOK at me for five seconds. You have no idea how thrilled I was when you finally started talking to me, like a person, like a friend. At last, I thought, he finally sees me. But you didn't! Not really. I was always Ron's little sister, wasn't I? You confided in me about all your girl problems, didn't you? And sure, we wrote letters back and forth last year but so what? I was always Ron's sister to you! And then, when I see you last month what's the first thing that happens? You're crying on my shoulder about another girl!"
"You OFFERED to help me, remember?" Harry protested. "I never asked you to do it, you offered-"
"Because I love you, you idiot!" she screamed, and tears poured down her face, mingling with the rain, that came faster, soaking her sweaty hair, her robes.
Harry didn't feel the rain just then. He only felt an arrow pierce his heart as he replayed in his mind over and over again the words he'd just heard Ginny shriek at him.
"Oh, god!" Ginny cried out, throwing up her hands. "Don't you see? I just wanted you to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted for you! Life's been so mean to you, hasn't it, but I thought...maybe...maybe I can help. I was arrogant enough to think I could make you happy! Only I was stupid! I...I gave in, I...I went to bed with you because...because I wanted you so badly. I lied to you because...because I wanted to be with you like that, because...because I thought if I told you the truth that...that you'd...I'm sorry, Harry. I never should have agreed to...but I just wanted you to be happy, only...only I fell in love with you all over again and...and...suddenly I wasn't doing it anymore to help you, it was...to be with you. I ruined your chance with Cho because...because I wanted you for myself."
Tears spilled silently down Ginny's face as she looked at him. She looked hurt, sad, ashamed.
Harry stared at her for a moment, stunned by her confession, when slowly, comprehension filled him. He took her by the shoulders.
"You didn't ruin anything with me and Cho," he said slowly. "Cho and me ruined it by ourselves, a long time ago. And you did make me happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be."
"But I lied to you," said Ginny, looking down at her wet shoes.
"If you lied to me, then I lied to you," said Harry. "All those times we spent together, and I never told you how much you meant to me? I looked you in the face and told you I wanted her and I was lying."
"Harry-"
"I don't CARE how we came together, Ginny," Harry said fervently. "I only care that we did. You and me, we fit. I can't stand the thought of not being with you, of not being near you. I...I want to spend every day talking to you and touching your beautiful hair and holding you and...laughing at your jokes and...and watching you play Quidditch and making love to you and...and counting all your freckles and eating ice cream cones...and waking up next to you." He moved his hands to her face.
"Really?" she whispered, her voice barely audible above the rain. She moved closer to him.
"Really," he said softly, brushing a clump of her wet hair back from her forehead.
She smiled up at him, her eyes still tearful, still blinking against the rain.
"I'm scared," she said. "What if...what if it doesn't work-"
"You can take on a whole Scottish Quidditch team but you're afraid of how you feel about me?" Harry asked gently.
"Harry, you...you know what I mean..."
"I'm scared, too," he said, a bit more forcefully. "I'm terrified. I don't know what's going to happen, Gin, I can't...promise you things will be perfect or that they won't change. But I'll take that chance. I'm...I'm asking you to take it with me."
He moved closer to her. "I love you, Gin. Be with me. Be my girl."
Ginny gave a kind of strangled sob.
"Bloody hell," she croaked. "How's a girl to say no to that?"
She began to laugh.
Harry gave a kind of strangled gasp as it sank in that she was saying yes to him, she was telling him she loved him and wanted to be with him. His face broke into a grin as pure, unadulterated happiness filled his heart.
"Well," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "are you going to stand there like a lump or are you going to kiss me?"
Harry looked at her-she was soaked through and her eyes were red and puffy and she looked more beautiful than ever. He smiled even as he lowered his mouth to hers, as he put his arms round her, and then they were kissing and laughing and kissing some more and not feeling the cold as the rain pelted down on them and thunder rumbled on the air.
THE END
________________________________________________________________________
Author's Note: Another story ends! Thanks to all who read and reviewed. The story got a bit more serious than I had intended but what's young love without a little angst thrown in?
Oh, yeah, and Radcliffe, of course, is a nod to our own Daniel Radcliffe, whose day job is to play Harry Potter in the films of the same name.
I realized in looking over the story that I did not do any disclaimers, so here it is:
I do not own any part of the Harry Potter Universe; that belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling and her friends at Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros., etc.
My writing does not end here, though; I'm exploring a story-romantic, of course-about a certain werewolf and a certain Metamorphmagus, title and rating as yet to be determined.
