Chapter 6 - Reaction, Train Ride and Acceptance
Ron didn't even wait for an explanation. Before Harry could do anything, Ron had punched him hard, straight in the jaw, sending Harry flying down eight steps, landing in a heap at the bottom.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he screamed, "I warned you. I told you not to touch her but-,"
SMACK
Ginny had slapped Ron around the face as hard as she could. Ron looked at her in shock, but before he could say anything, she started yelling at him
"What the fuck do YOU think YOU'RE doing? What right have you got to tell either of us what to do? Or who we can or can't date? Just who the fuck do you think you are?" she finished, and slapped him again. By now the rest of the Weasly family had arrived on the scene. Fred and George helped Harry to his feet. Ron looked down at his brothers for support
"You actually agree with this?" he asked, incredulously
"Of course we do," spat George, glaring at his younger brother
"Who better for Ginny than Harry?" asked Charlie, "Like it or not, Ginny is going to be with blokes during her life. Don't you trust Harry or something?"
"He saved her life, Ron" said Fred, angrily, "or did you forget that if it wasn't for Harry, Ginny wouldn't even be here?"
Ron didn't say anything. He looked down at Ginny, who was checking if Harry was ok, clearly having not listened to her brothers' words. But as Ron looked at her, she turned round, and threw him a murderous glare, then went back to Harry. Finally, Ron spoke. He had no choice but to agree to it
"Alright, fine. Just don't do any.............you know......don't do it in front of me. Sorry Harry," he added, as an after-thought, but his heart certainly wasn't in it. Harry noticed
"Yeah, no worries, Ron," he said, sarcasm obvious in his voice. To gain a bit of revenge, he and Ginny shared a long, passionate kiss right in front of Ron. He glared at both of them.
"Just checking my mouth was still working," Harry said, before Ron brushed past them to get his breakfast. Ginny looked at Harry
"So much for your plan," she said. Harry laughed
"Well, I didn't really have a chance to get the words out of my mouth, did I? Thanks, Gin. You saved me from an ass-kicking there."
XXXXXXXXXXX
A couple of hours later, all four of them were on Platform 9 and 3/4. Ron and Hermione had to go off to their prefects meeting. This left Ron very frustrated, as it meant that Harry and Ginny had the compartment to themselves for at least 2 hours, probably more. Before they left to go to the prefect's compartment, Ron said to them
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do,"
"Don't worry, Ron. We won't do anything you wouldn't like to do," Ginny said, grinning wickedly. Ron left quickly.
Harry and Ginny spent the first 1/2 hour of the journey talking, laughing and kissing. Until they were interrupted by three unwelcome people.
"Well, well, well. Potty's still here. You'd think he'd have learned to just die already." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered stupidly.
"Tell me, Malfoy. Is daddy sending you lots of letters from Azkaban?" Harry asked. He turned to Crabbe and Goyle, "No point in asking if your fathers have sent you letters because you can't read and they probably can't write." It took Crabbe and Goyle about 5 seconds before they understood what Harry had said, but after that they both wore identical looks of anger. Harry took out his wand
"Now fuck off." But Malfoy had noticed Ginny
"How about you come with me, Weasly. I'll show you what a real man can do." Ginny looked at him coldly
"Why would I want to go with you, pin-dick?" Malfoy flushed, and motioned Crabbe and Goyle to follow him out. Harry lowered his wand, and as he did, Malfoy pulled his own wand out and disarmed him.
"Not so high and mighty now are we, Pothead," Malfoy smirked, "now you've never felt a punch from Crabbe or Goyle have you?"
"No, Ron's rat kicked their asses in first year." Goyle rubbed his finger, subconsciously.
"Well, now you will. Goyle?"
Goyle moved into the compartment, and Harry stood up to face him. Malfoy and Crabbe howled with laughter at the difference in size between the two opponents. Goyle charged towards Harry, and aimed a punch into his face. Harry dodged it easily, and moved past Goyle, punching him hard in the ribs as he went. Goyle looked stunned, but charged at Harry again, but Harry dodged his punch, and threw two jabs that caught Goyle neatly on the nose. Goyle attacked again and again, but couldn't touch Harry. Finally Harry decided to end it. Goyle threw his punch half-heartedly, knowing Harry would dodge it, which he did and in return, Harry rained punches into his face. He put all his power into an uppercut. It hit Goyle in the jaw, and he was thrown off his feet and landed on the floor, unconscious. Malfoy and Crabbe had stopped laughing, but Malfoy motioned for Crabbe to attack Harry, who's back was turned on them. Without even turning around, Harry elbowed Crabbe straight in the face. Crabbe collapsed on top of Goyle. This just left Malfoy. Harry turned to him, and beckoned him in with his hand, Matrix-style. Malfoy turned to run away, but a Bat-bogey hex hit him before he had moved two steps, and he fell to the floor as well.
"Well, these three don't exactly add a lot to the scenery," said Harry, as he took his wand off Malfoy, and levitated the three bodies out the compartment.
XXXXXXXXX
2 hours later, Ron and Hermione came back into the compartment. Ron scowled when he noticed Harry and Ginny snuggled together, but didn't say anything.
"What happened there?" asked Ron, "I heard people saying Crabbe and Goyle started a fight with you,"
"Yeah, that's right," said Harry
"What happened?"
"Harry kicked both their asses on his own," said Ginny. Ron looked at him surprised
"And Malfoy?"
"Ginny hexed him," Harry told them
"What did he do this time?"
"The usual, but he wanted Ginny so naturally I stepped in. How was the prefects' meeting?"
"Boring as fu-,"
"No it wasn't, Ron. It was very interesting. We get lots more responsibility this year."
"Hermione, I almost fell asleep," moaned Ron
"You did fall asleep," said Hermione sternly, "I tried kicking you, I tried shouting at you, but nothing works,"
"Maybe you should've given him the kiss of life," said Harry, innocently. They both blushed, and Ron started filling Harry in on the Quidditch season so far.
XXXXXXXXXX
The train stopped in Hogsmeade station, and the four of them got off the train. Whispers and giggles followed Harry up the platform. He looked round and found that every single girl in the station had their eyes fixed on him. He smirked at their reaction, and more girls began giggling. Ginny saw the smile on his face, and her heart sank. She obviously looked disappointed because Harry waited until they were in front of the largest group of girls, and pulled her into a long, deep kiss. The giggling stopped abruptly. Eventually, they broke apart. Ginny was slightly breathless, but smiled at Harry. He leaned down, and whispered in her ear
"I only want you. Remember that." She nodded, and he put his arm around her for the rest of the journey to the castle. When they entered the Great Hall, Ginny was the object of the glares of almost every girl. Harry also received a lot of jealous stares from the males in the hall. The feast passed with little incident, and soon they were sent off to bed. Up in the dormitory, Harry was just about to go to sleep, when Ron came up to him
"Look, Harry. I know I was a prick this morning. I know you'd never hurt Ginny, and I'm sorry. And also, thanks for protecting her from Malfoy."
"Always, Ron. I don't think he'll be trying that again," the two of them shook hands, and Harry said, "now all we need is for you to start going out with Hermione and everything is as it should be,"
"Yeah, I know but how........" Ron trailed away mid-sentence, realizing what he had just said, and hastily changed track, "I mean, what are you on abou-,"
"Get over it, Ron. Everyone in the bloody castle knows you two like each other. Right down to the new first years,"
"But I kept it secret, I didn't tell-,"
"Ron, you could walk around with a big sign on your head saying, "I love Hermione" and less people would know you like her. I was talking to a first year, and after the usual 'oh my god, its Harry Potter', she asked me if you two were going out, because you obviously like each other so much." Ron looked shocked.
"She likes me?"
"Of course she does,"
"But I can't just ask her,"
"Why not? What's the worst that could happen?"
"She might say no."
"So? She'd get over it after a few weeks. But that's not the point because she's not going to say no."
"But I can't ask her, its just........" Ron trailed away
"You only live once, mate. You'll regret it if you don't,"
"Yeah, but-,"
"Or are you just going to watch Hermione go out with other guys, maybe get married, have kids-,"
"Ok, I'll ask her. Just give me some time to figure out how." Harry sighed
"Well, at least we're getting somewhere. Night Ron."
"Night, Harry"
Ron didn't even wait for an explanation. Before Harry could do anything, Ron had punched him hard, straight in the jaw, sending Harry flying down eight steps, landing in a heap at the bottom.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he screamed, "I warned you. I told you not to touch her but-,"
SMACK
Ginny had slapped Ron around the face as hard as she could. Ron looked at her in shock, but before he could say anything, she started yelling at him
"What the fuck do YOU think YOU'RE doing? What right have you got to tell either of us what to do? Or who we can or can't date? Just who the fuck do you think you are?" she finished, and slapped him again. By now the rest of the Weasly family had arrived on the scene. Fred and George helped Harry to his feet. Ron looked down at his brothers for support
"You actually agree with this?" he asked, incredulously
"Of course we do," spat George, glaring at his younger brother
"Who better for Ginny than Harry?" asked Charlie, "Like it or not, Ginny is going to be with blokes during her life. Don't you trust Harry or something?"
"He saved her life, Ron" said Fred, angrily, "or did you forget that if it wasn't for Harry, Ginny wouldn't even be here?"
Ron didn't say anything. He looked down at Ginny, who was checking if Harry was ok, clearly having not listened to her brothers' words. But as Ron looked at her, she turned round, and threw him a murderous glare, then went back to Harry. Finally, Ron spoke. He had no choice but to agree to it
"Alright, fine. Just don't do any.............you know......don't do it in front of me. Sorry Harry," he added, as an after-thought, but his heart certainly wasn't in it. Harry noticed
"Yeah, no worries, Ron," he said, sarcasm obvious in his voice. To gain a bit of revenge, he and Ginny shared a long, passionate kiss right in front of Ron. He glared at both of them.
"Just checking my mouth was still working," Harry said, before Ron brushed past them to get his breakfast. Ginny looked at Harry
"So much for your plan," she said. Harry laughed
"Well, I didn't really have a chance to get the words out of my mouth, did I? Thanks, Gin. You saved me from an ass-kicking there."
XXXXXXXXXXX
A couple of hours later, all four of them were on Platform 9 and 3/4. Ron and Hermione had to go off to their prefects meeting. This left Ron very frustrated, as it meant that Harry and Ginny had the compartment to themselves for at least 2 hours, probably more. Before they left to go to the prefect's compartment, Ron said to them
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do,"
"Don't worry, Ron. We won't do anything you wouldn't like to do," Ginny said, grinning wickedly. Ron left quickly.
Harry and Ginny spent the first 1/2 hour of the journey talking, laughing and kissing. Until they were interrupted by three unwelcome people.
"Well, well, well. Potty's still here. You'd think he'd have learned to just die already." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered stupidly.
"Tell me, Malfoy. Is daddy sending you lots of letters from Azkaban?" Harry asked. He turned to Crabbe and Goyle, "No point in asking if your fathers have sent you letters because you can't read and they probably can't write." It took Crabbe and Goyle about 5 seconds before they understood what Harry had said, but after that they both wore identical looks of anger. Harry took out his wand
"Now fuck off." But Malfoy had noticed Ginny
"How about you come with me, Weasly. I'll show you what a real man can do." Ginny looked at him coldly
"Why would I want to go with you, pin-dick?" Malfoy flushed, and motioned Crabbe and Goyle to follow him out. Harry lowered his wand, and as he did, Malfoy pulled his own wand out and disarmed him.
"Not so high and mighty now are we, Pothead," Malfoy smirked, "now you've never felt a punch from Crabbe or Goyle have you?"
"No, Ron's rat kicked their asses in first year." Goyle rubbed his finger, subconsciously.
"Well, now you will. Goyle?"
Goyle moved into the compartment, and Harry stood up to face him. Malfoy and Crabbe howled with laughter at the difference in size between the two opponents. Goyle charged towards Harry, and aimed a punch into his face. Harry dodged it easily, and moved past Goyle, punching him hard in the ribs as he went. Goyle looked stunned, but charged at Harry again, but Harry dodged his punch, and threw two jabs that caught Goyle neatly on the nose. Goyle attacked again and again, but couldn't touch Harry. Finally Harry decided to end it. Goyle threw his punch half-heartedly, knowing Harry would dodge it, which he did and in return, Harry rained punches into his face. He put all his power into an uppercut. It hit Goyle in the jaw, and he was thrown off his feet and landed on the floor, unconscious. Malfoy and Crabbe had stopped laughing, but Malfoy motioned for Crabbe to attack Harry, who's back was turned on them. Without even turning around, Harry elbowed Crabbe straight in the face. Crabbe collapsed on top of Goyle. This just left Malfoy. Harry turned to him, and beckoned him in with his hand, Matrix-style. Malfoy turned to run away, but a Bat-bogey hex hit him before he had moved two steps, and he fell to the floor as well.
"Well, these three don't exactly add a lot to the scenery," said Harry, as he took his wand off Malfoy, and levitated the three bodies out the compartment.
XXXXXXXXX
2 hours later, Ron and Hermione came back into the compartment. Ron scowled when he noticed Harry and Ginny snuggled together, but didn't say anything.
"What happened there?" asked Ron, "I heard people saying Crabbe and Goyle started a fight with you,"
"Yeah, that's right," said Harry
"What happened?"
"Harry kicked both their asses on his own," said Ginny. Ron looked at him surprised
"And Malfoy?"
"Ginny hexed him," Harry told them
"What did he do this time?"
"The usual, but he wanted Ginny so naturally I stepped in. How was the prefects' meeting?"
"Boring as fu-,"
"No it wasn't, Ron. It was very interesting. We get lots more responsibility this year."
"Hermione, I almost fell asleep," moaned Ron
"You did fall asleep," said Hermione sternly, "I tried kicking you, I tried shouting at you, but nothing works,"
"Maybe you should've given him the kiss of life," said Harry, innocently. They both blushed, and Ron started filling Harry in on the Quidditch season so far.
XXXXXXXXXX
The train stopped in Hogsmeade station, and the four of them got off the train. Whispers and giggles followed Harry up the platform. He looked round and found that every single girl in the station had their eyes fixed on him. He smirked at their reaction, and more girls began giggling. Ginny saw the smile on his face, and her heart sank. She obviously looked disappointed because Harry waited until they were in front of the largest group of girls, and pulled her into a long, deep kiss. The giggling stopped abruptly. Eventually, they broke apart. Ginny was slightly breathless, but smiled at Harry. He leaned down, and whispered in her ear
"I only want you. Remember that." She nodded, and he put his arm around her for the rest of the journey to the castle. When they entered the Great Hall, Ginny was the object of the glares of almost every girl. Harry also received a lot of jealous stares from the males in the hall. The feast passed with little incident, and soon they were sent off to bed. Up in the dormitory, Harry was just about to go to sleep, when Ron came up to him
"Look, Harry. I know I was a prick this morning. I know you'd never hurt Ginny, and I'm sorry. And also, thanks for protecting her from Malfoy."
"Always, Ron. I don't think he'll be trying that again," the two of them shook hands, and Harry said, "now all we need is for you to start going out with Hermione and everything is as it should be,"
"Yeah, I know but how........" Ron trailed away mid-sentence, realizing what he had just said, and hastily changed track, "I mean, what are you on abou-,"
"Get over it, Ron. Everyone in the bloody castle knows you two like each other. Right down to the new first years,"
"But I kept it secret, I didn't tell-,"
"Ron, you could walk around with a big sign on your head saying, "I love Hermione" and less people would know you like her. I was talking to a first year, and after the usual 'oh my god, its Harry Potter', she asked me if you two were going out, because you obviously like each other so much." Ron looked shocked.
"She likes me?"
"Of course she does,"
"But I can't just ask her,"
"Why not? What's the worst that could happen?"
"She might say no."
"So? She'd get over it after a few weeks. But that's not the point because she's not going to say no."
"But I can't ask her, its just........" Ron trailed away
"You only live once, mate. You'll regret it if you don't,"
"Yeah, but-,"
"Or are you just going to watch Hermione go out with other guys, maybe get married, have kids-,"
"Ok, I'll ask her. Just give me some time to figure out how." Harry sighed
"Well, at least we're getting somewhere. Night Ron."
"Night, Harry"