I finally got around to revising this, sorry I messed up so bad!
BTW I'm new to this whole deal, so how do you get formatting exactly how you want it? It always turns out different than I set it before uploading, and how do you turn the anonymous review thing off?
Chapter 7- Midnight Quidditch
It didn't seem like very long before June was coming up. Angela had made Ginny's dress by Hermione's specification. The other two bridesmaids were both cousins of Hermione's and they all had matching dresses in different colors. Since this was half a muggle wedding, there were going to be limos that took the wedding party from the chapel that Ron and Hermione had decided for the ceremony, to the Burrow for the reception.
"This will be interesting," Ginny said.
"What's that?" Jasmine inquired.
"My dad, around a whole lot of muggles. Not to mention, they are probably hiding all the magic in our house, which is quite a feat, on top of Mum cooking the muggle way."
"Aren't they hiring a caterer?"
"Yeah, you're probably right. Her parents are dentists, after all. Not to mention that since Muggle rights has become a large priority in the Ministry, my dad got a large promotion."
"I'm so excited Ginny, I've never seen London."
"Well, then we'll have loads of fun!"
After finding out that Ginny hadn't seen her family in nearly ten months, Mr. King insisted that she take a full month off, or he would pull the deal. That meant she would be there to help the last two and a half weeks of preparations for the wedding, and then for the charity Quidditch match. Not to mention, he was paying for not only her costs, but for the Putnam's as well.
Since Jasmine and Tyler were done with school in May, they would all leave at the same time. Tyler was excited about the Quidditch more than anything else. American wizards had their own game, but Tyler was a big fan of the Chudley Cannons.
"Will we get to see them? Huh, Ginny? Are the Chudley Cannons gonna be there?"
"Sorry, Tyler, the players are all old Hogwarts students, but I'm pretty sure my older brother Ron had Chudley Cannon posters he can't use anymore." Somehow Ginny doubted that Hermione would allow their entire house to be covered in orange.
"Do you think I'll be a chaser like you, Ginny?"
Ginny liked being looked up to. "I don't know, Tyler, I think you've got the arm of a beater."
"That's because I play baseball. Do you think I'll go to Hogwarts?"
"Now why would you want to do that when there's a school just outside of town?"
"So I can play quidditch." Tyler then ran off to go practice flying in their large backyard.
Ginny didn't see how it would be possible, but she did hope that Tyler could go to Hogwarts. If he were to go, he would get a letter this summer. Maybe she could put in a word with Professor Dumbledore.
Their Portkey to London left at 6am on May 25th from Salem and would arrive in London at 6:10 pm (because of the time difference). They would then take the Knight bus to the Burrow. They got a late start and almost missed their portkey.
They were rushed by a multitude of family when they arrived, Molly taking lead of course. "Oh Ginny! Ginny, it's so good to see my girl again! Mrs. Putnam?"
"Oh, no, please call me Angela."
"Thank you for taking care of her."
"Quite the opposite, Molly, she's been a huge help and pleasure to have in my home."
Molly escorted Angela into the house as Fred and George came barreling at Ginny. "Hey! Fred, do you think this is really our baby sister, or an imposter?"
"Hard to say, George, my good man, perhaps it is up to a test."
"A test? I do say that is a brilliant idea, brother of mine."
"But first, Ginny, or so you say, would you like a toffee."
"No way," Ginny stepped away from them.
"Good job, you pass."
"Can I have one?" Came a small, uncharacteristically shy voice from the small blond haired boy behind Ginny.
"Sure," from Fred
"No!" Ginny shouted and snatched the ton tongue toffee away from him.
She then went into the house to be greeted by her father, Bill, Charlie, and Percy.
"Where are Ron and Hermione?"
"They're over at Ron and Harry's. They'll be here any minute now."
Ginny didn't know why, but just the mention of Harry's name made her blush. They sat around talking until the trio showed up for dinner.
"Ginny!" Hermione squealed with joy, and gave her a tight hug.
Ron followed and whispered in Ginny's ear, "we've missed you, sis, all of us." That of course brought back the memory of Hermione's letter.
Next came Harry. He said nothing, just looked at her with a smile that could have broken her heart. Ginny decided to make the 'move' on this one. "How've you been, Harry?" She extended her hand very formally, and he grabbed it between both of his own.
"Not bad." Harry did something, then, that made Ginny blush once more. He leaned over, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Ginny tried to recover from this. 'It's because he's your friend' she kept telling herself, but Hermione's voice persisted to nag her in the back of her mind.
The rest of the evening was filled with fun and games, as Fred and George showed Tyler some of their jokes, Angelina and Molly chatting over tea and coffee, each to their own, Arthur asking about all the muggle things Ginny had learned, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Percy talking about the probability of Quidditch teams winning (with an intent Tyler listening), and Ron, Hermione, and Harry telling Jasmine all about Hogwarts while she told them of her school.
At nearly nine o'clock they all went up the stairs to find their sleeping arrangements. Mrs. Putnam told Tyler and Jasmine they had to go to bed, but since Ginny was old enough, she decided to stay up. Not to mention it was only nine am in the morning where she had been living, so Ginny was far from tired. Instead, she decided to take a walk through the garden.
Ginny stood in the mist of what, as a child, she used to pretend was a deep dark forest, that had unicorns, and dragons, and other such magical creatures. She started to laugh out loud at these memories.
"What's so funny?" came a familiar voice from behind her.
"Oh, nothing, just thinking," Ginny responded back to Harry. She sighed, "can home be in two places at once?"
Harry thought about this for a moment. "Sure it can. That is if home is where the people you love are."
"I just don't know, Harry. I grew up here, I loved it here, but now," she let out a breath, "I love Salem to. I almost feel guilty." She added as an after thought.
"Why's that?" Harry turned to her. 'God, she's beautiful,' he said to himself.
"Because the Putnams are like a second family to me, and it might seem like I'm trying to replace my life here."
"Isn't that why it's called a second family though? Not a replacement family?"
"I suppose."
"How about instead of feeling guilty, feel … blessed, to have so much family. Look at me, I grew up around my aunt, uncle, and cousin, but I didn't meet my family until I was eleven years old."
"I'm sorry, Harry, you're right. I shouldn't be complaining to you after all you've had to-"
"You don't need to apologize, Ginny, you never need to apologize to me." He took a step into her.
"So," Ginny tore her eyes away from his. "What happened with dear old Brian after I left? Did he even bother looking for me?"
"Yeah, he kept asking your family, me, and the ministry. I guess he figured you would have told one of us, but by the time we even found out, he had given up. Don't worry though, we wouldn't have told him."
Ginny merely shook her head. "I didn't even know where I was going until I got there. Then I was afraid one of my older brothers would try to come get me if I gave an exact location during that first letter. I wanted to be established before telling them, so that they wouldn't worry."
"Understandable. It was nice to finally get letters from you. I think your mum nearly fainted with the first one."
Ginny laughed. "You're kidding me!"
"Nope, you should have heard her. I think she was the most upset when she found out you left."
"Do you know who found the note?"
"I gave it to your dad after I told them what had happened."
"You told them?" Harry couldn't tell if she was upset about this or not.
"I just told them that you were upset, and left. Brian was gone by the time they came back. Probably off licking his wounds."
"Oh, come on, I didn't hit him that hard."
"No, but I did." Ginny looked at Harry with a big smile on her face, and let out a good laugh.
"Serves him right. What did he say to you?"
"Oh, nothing you don't know about already."
There was silence for a moment. "Harry?"
"Yeah."
"I did something that caused that, that I'm not sure was right to do."
"What is that?"
"I used legemency."
"Without him knowing it?" Harry was shocked.
"Well, I never told you this, but I can use it without my wand."
"Really? That's impressive." He considered for a moment the dilemma. "Do you regret knowing the truth?"
"No, I'm glad I found out, but part of me thinks it's unethical. I use it now, to find out what people want when I'm decorating for them, and, other times."
"What do you mean 'other times'," Harry looked at her again.
"When I go on dates, I like to know the guys intentions, and what he thinks, you know? I don't trust them anymore. Some go out with me because they think I'm an easy catch, others because they know I have money, or as a favor to whoever set me up on the date. Never because they think I'm nice, or because I'm fun to be around. I don't know, maybe my expectations are too high."
"No, you should wait until you find that, you deserve it."
If Ginny could have read his mind right then, she would have found exactly what she was looking for in a boyfriend. Somehow, though, she sensed that anyways. Unfortunately there were thoughts of how Brian had hurt her, and what other guys had thought, and she decided against letting herself feel any hope toward that.
Ginny jerked her mind away from all of this, and changed the subject. "I'm nervous about the tournament."
"Why? You were one of the best chasers Hogwarts had seen."
"No I wasn't, thank you though. Not to mention I haven't practiced in almost a year."
"Well, let's practice then."
"Now?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Harry, it's like, ten o'clock."
"Actually, it's closer to one, but I'm not tired, what about you?"
"Not really, I'm still on American time."
"Then let's get some brooms."
Ginny looked down at her clothes, "Harry, I can't fly in this."
"Oh good point," he said as they made their way into the family room, "I guess I
should be giving you these, then."
Harry pulled out a quidditch robes bearing the colors of black, blue and red. They were an exact prototype of the robes that Ginny herself had designed. She grabbed an edge of the soft fabric and grinned.
"We had a team meeting, and it was unanimous that these would be our robes, that is unless you count Fred and George, who opted to go on the pitch in our underwear."
"Figures," Ginny rolled her eyes, and then stared back at the brand new robe in Harry's hands. "How much do I owe you for this?"
"Not a sickle."
"Harry, I have plenty of money, now, you don't have to-"
"I want to, besides, I got one for each team member. Here, let's get started on practicing." Harry handed Ginny the robe, and met her outside.
They began by doing the passing routines. Harry would throw Ginny the ball from several positions; over her, under, to the right or left, from in front, and behind. Ginny got back up to par pretty quickly, so they moved on to goals. Harry played keeper. Ginny hurt his pride a bit by getting the quaffle through every time.
"See, you're doing just fine," Harry encouraged as they went inside at four in the morning.
"No offence Harry, but even Goyle could've gotten the quaffle past you."
"Ouch, Gin, that hurt." Harry held a hand over his chest, and faked a pained expression.
"Sorry, but I can't tell a lie." Ginny started to laugh.
As she was doubled over, Harry picked her up, cradled her in his arms, and threw her onto the couch. Then he commenced with his truly evil plan…torture by tickling!
"Stop! Harry! Stop it!" Ginny was yelling. Harry stopped and put a hand over Ginny's mouth.
"Quiet, or you'll wake them all up!" Harry tried to give her a stern look, but couldn't help himself as he started laughing, without knowing why.
They both laughed there on the couch for a while and slowly came to a hault. Ginny yawned. "Okay, now I'm tired."
"Yeah, me too. We had a lot of investigations today."
"Investigations for what?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it's been two years for me, I got a job as an auror nearly a month ago.
"Oh," Ginny looked away. "I sort of missed out on that one."
"You've been busy, though. Not to mention with Ron's wedding and all."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, I better set up the couch."
"Why?"
"I don't want to wake anyone up, so I think I'll just sleep down here. I'm sure you can get into Ron's room without waking him up. He still sleeps like a rock, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, and he still snores too. Would it be alright if I stayed down here? I'll sleep on the floor."
"No, you can have the couch, I can find somewhere else." The next ten minutes continued with an argument about who would sleep on the couch.
"No, Harry, I-I-I insist," Ginny said stifling a yawn. She laid her head on his shoulder. "You're the guest here, and-"
"Come on, Gin, I can, can, uh," Harry was losing his track of thought.
Needless to say, a very rambunctious eleven year old found them asleep on the couch the next morning.
