The Raven and The Phoenix
A/n:
The Students of Hogwarts arrived around 12:00 in the afternoon okay? J
Thanks for the two reviews… well it's better than nothing… : )
So here's chapter 2!!!!
Chapter 2
Settling Down
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"Okay since I am Head Girl, the new password is 'Nunquam Titillandus' " Hermione said proudly as she lead the pack of Gryffindor first years towards the Fat Lady's portrait. Harry, Ginny and Ron walked behind the rest of the Gryffindors while Hermione gave them the information about the moving chairs.
"Hermione is perfect for this, she knows practically everything about Hogwarts. Don't you think so?" Ginny asked while she grinned at Ron who was busy watching Hermione, "Ron?"
"Huh? Uhm.. yeah great!" Ron said distractedly.
"Ron! Eew…" Ginny exclaimed, "You're drooling!"
"What?!?" Ron cried out.
"Just kidding!" Ginny laughed, "It's kinda hard to catch your attention you know when you are too busy watching Hermione's every move."
"I am not!" he said defensively.
"Why don't you just admit it and stop giving yourself a hard time." Harry said putting an arm around his best friend.
"Easy for you to say." Ron said sulkily, "I mean, all you have to do is ask and the girls will fall to your every plead."
"That's not true." Harry said, "Come on Ron, the worst she could say is that she is not interested."
"That is exactly what I am avoiding!" he exclaimed.
"You aren't exactly bad looking and by the looks of it she might possibly feel the same way about you." Ginny said.
"I agree with Ginny," Harry said, "I mean just add bit of courage mate and maybe, who knows, by next week you'll be snogging each other silly." He laughed the last bit out.
"Oh eww." Ginny said hitting Harry playfully on the shoulder, the Gryffindors had finally reached the Fat Lady's portrait and one by one they all piled in.
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It was still early afternoon when the Gryffindors had finished packing , Harry was in the common room with Ron playing wizards chess, Hermione was on the couch running through her Potions essay and the first years were busy mingling with the other students.
Ginny skipped down the stairs and stopped right in front of Harry and Ron she craned her neck and smiled.
"I'm going out to the field to teach Blair and Zoë some Quidditch." Ginny announced, "I was wondering if you'd like to come help me?"
"Yeah wait a minute." Ron said not looking up from the board, "Alright Harry prepare to meet thy doom! Knight to H3." Ron's silver knight inched forward and since it was Wizards chess the knight magically knocked down the queen shattering it to pieces.
"Checkmate!" Ron said simply.
"I really don't know how you do it Ron." Harry shook his head.
"It's the only thing he is actually good at." Ginny sniggered, "So are you guys coming or what?"
"Yeah, sure." Harry said smiling up at her causing Ginny's stomach to rumble.
'Man I must be hungry.' She said thoughtfully.
" 'Mione we're heading down to the field? You want to join us?" Ron asked making Ginny giggle, he shot a glare at Ginny and she pursed her lips innocently making Harry snort.
"Uhm… yeah… sure." Hermione said smiling. She gently placed her notebooks and books in her bag and left it on the couch.
Just as they were about to exit the portrait Ron noticed that Ginny was wearing a pair of black jogging pants with 'Ginger' stitched on her butt in bright red and a white baby tee that showed her midriff.
"Are you going out like that?" Ron asked Ginny in a horrified tone.
"No, I'm going to strip before I go out the door." She said sarcastically. She eyed Ron then she grinned. Ron looked shocked and Harry just laughed, Hermione was shaking her head.
"I like what she's wearing." Harry said, "There is nothing wrong with it."
"Thank you Harry." Ginny said simply.
"Yeah because she is practically naked." Ron said pointedly at her midriff.
"Just wait 'til you see Blair and Zoë." Ginny said wiggling her eyebrows.
"But you're my sister." Ron exclaimed.
"This is my body! I'll do whatever I want with it my way!" she said walking out of the door. Ron huffed loudly and angrily.
"Ron stop being so protective. She's mature enough to know what's wrong and right alright?" Hermione said thoughtfully.
"That is precisely what I am worried about." He sighed.
"Ginger!" a voice squealed down the hall. The four of them turned to see Zoë and Blair walking towards them. Zoë had worn a pair of white jazz pants and a pink top that stopped just above her bellybutton. Blair wore black shorts and a black spandex halter, which had 'Mess with me and DIE' inscribed in big silver letters, which hung inches above her bellybutton. Both of their bellybuttons were pierced and they had their hair up in a messy bun similar to Ginny's.
Ginny turned to her brother and shrugged. Ron gaped at the girls and it was obvious that the three of them worked out.
"Don't tell me yours is pierced?" Ron said turning to Ginny.
"Okay." Ginny said snorting.
"Gin!" he said exasperated.
"Hey-o! English people." Zoë said smiling as Blair and her approached.
"Hi." Ron, Harry and Hermione said forcing a smile.
"Oh Gin! You'll never believe who I just met!" Blair said hooking her arms into Ginny's and Zoë's as they walked ahead of Ron, Hermione and Harry.
"What?" Ginny asked grinning.
"Pansy! It was sooo funny! She went up to me with a smug look on her face and she goes "So your friends with the little red head?" and I'm like "Yeah. You? Do you actually have friends?" she was so shocked like her little green eyes popped out then she looks at the chips I have in hand and she goes, "Are you going to eat that?" maybe she has a problem with her diet, then I go "Yes. But I'd rather stick it up your nose!" and she went ballistic because the other Slytherins were laughing their butts off!" Blair said bursting into a barrel of laughter. Ginny burst out laughing and so did Zoë, Ron, Hermione and Harry.
"Nothing beats mine. Mandy that seventh year with blonde hair I think. She goes up to me and says "You are simply the most horrid thing I have ever laid eyes on" in this hoity-toity voice. I guess she expected me to gasp but I didn't I was reading my Cosmo and I tell her plainly "I guess you've never looked in the mirror." She thinks for about five minutes and goes, "I always look in the mirror and there is nothing wrong." I just laugh and say, "I guess you're probably so used to it that you don't run away screaming!" It was so mean of me I couldn't help it." Zoë said shrugging.
"What happened to her?" Ginny asked in between gales of laughter.
"She cried." She said plainly, just before Ginny was about to say something a voice echoed from behind them.
"Harry!"
They turned to see Cho walking daintily up to them with a smile on her face, her long black hair trailing behind her. She wore a pair of flared jeans and a white halter and a big beautiful smile on her face.
"Cho!" Harry said happily and he made his way towards her. He gathered her up in hug and smiled at her brushing her hair out of her face.
Ginny bit her lip and turned away, Zoë gripped her elbow while Blair put an arm around her shoulder together they walked down the stairs unnoticed.
When Ron, Hermione, Harry and Cho had reached the field Ginny and her two friends were already up in the air. Ginny had bought a new broom and it was called the Wind runner 300 made in the U.S. while Blair and Zoë had the similar brooms but with their names inscribed on the side. Seeing the four walking towards them they flew down and mounted off their brooms in mid air landing gracefully on the ground.
"Wow. How did you do that?" Cho asked.
"We'd tell but then we'd have to kill you." Blair said looking at Cho. She smiled and looked at Harry for introductions.
"Oh. Yeah. Cho this is Blair Kennedy and Zoë Walters their friends of Ginny." Harry said simply as he smiled at the three girls.
"Oh. Ginny. You've grown, I see" Cho said eyeing the girl while she slipped her hand into Harry's.
"Yeah and you haven't changed a bit." Ginny grinned. Nobody noticed the tension between the two except Zoë and Blair.
"We were just going to teach Blair and Zoë how to play Quidditch." Ron said interrupting obviously oblivious to what was happening.
"I'm sure I could help." Cho said excitedly, Harry grinned at his girlfriend's enthusiasm.
"Knock yourself out." Ginny said simply as she handed her broom to Cho. Cho looked at it then she raised her other hand up it the air.
"Accio! Firebolt." She said grinning smugly at Ginny as her broom flew towards her and landed perfectly into her hands.
"Suit yourself. I'm a bit drained." Ginny said making her way towards one of the benches. She stubbornly sat herself and crossed her legs. She bit her lip while she watched her friends fly off into the air, Zoë and Blair looked at her worried, she shook her head and smiled.
"Hey. Gin, you okay?" Hermione asked her as she made her way towards the girl who sat cross-legged on the bench.
"Yeah. Why shouldn't I be?" Ginny shrugged.
"Well maybe because." Hermione wondered, "After an entire year of not being here you thought Harry would be free or maybe because you thought you were over Harry?"
"Oh I don't know!" Ginny said pulling the ponytail out. She shook her head as her long her fell to the middle of her back, "I'm not even supposed to be feeling like this."
"Sometimes your mind doesn't want you to be in love, but deep down you know you are." Hermione whispered putting an arm over her shoulder.
"That's precisely it." Ginny said exasperated, "I don't know anymore." She desperately wanted Hermione to change the topic. Hermione saw this and sighed.
"It's just so strange looking at you now you know." Hermione said smiling at her.
"Why is that?"
"Because, you are so much different than the Ginny I knew then." She said smiling.
"Am I?" she asked biting her lip.
"Well, let's just say that we are a bit miffed that we didn't get to watch you grow up into the beautiful young girl you are now."
"Let me just say that I had some help along the way" Ginny said laughing pointedly at the two girls who flew up in the air practicing Quidditch.
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Ginny had just finished dinner and she decided to go up earlier than the rest. After she had said good night to Zoë and Blair she hastily made her way towards the Gryffindor room.
Upon reaching the portrait hole she whispered the password "Nunquam Titilandus" slowly she made her way through the portrait as it slid open. She hadn't noticed Harry sitting on one of the big red chairs that when she made her way towards the stairs she gasped when she saw his shadow.
"Oh, hey Ginny! Didn't frighten you now did I?" he asked smiling up at her.
"Oh no! You just gave me a heart attack." She said nodding, "No biggie." She shrugged.
Harry smiled at her, she tilted her head which made the fires light dance in her light brown eyes and the moonlight reflect on her hair.
"You okay?" she asked swallowing hard, "You kinda spaced out for a second."
"Oh yeah I'm fine just noticing how grown up you are" He said honestly. Much to Ginny's relief she didn't blush.
"You notice me?" she laughed, "That'll be the day!" she grinned jokingly, Harry grinned back.
"Night." Harry said simply, smiling before he turned to look at the fireplace again.
"Night Harry." She whispered her voice sending chills up his spine. He turned to her but she was already walking up the steps.
After Ginny had taken a warm shower, she pulled on the big red sweater of Taylor and a pair of shorts, Hermione was already asleep in her bed when she got out of the shower. Ginny yawned and stretched and decided that she too had to go to bed. She slowly climbed into her bed and felt sleep drown her. She sighed and closed her eyes.
Ginny woke up with a start and stared at her alarm clock drowsily. 12:00 a.m. 'What the hell?!' she thought to herself. She quickly decided to sit in front of the fireplace until she felt sleepy. She climbed out of bed quietly and headed downstairs and she came face to face with Harry.
"Why are you awake?" he asked staring at her, his glasses glittering against the moonlight.
"Four out of five voices say go back to sleep." Ginny said shrugging, "The other one was still wide awake." She grinned at Harry.
"Care to join me?" he asked.
"Well since we're both heading in the same direction," Ginny shrugged again she grinned, "Sure why not." She waltzed past him and skipped down the steps her long hair swinging behind her.
"Nice jimjams." Harry said following her down the steps.
"Oh, this?" she said turning around pointing at her sweater that fell two inches under her waist and sleeves that fell past her hands, "They're Taylor's." she turned not seeing the look on Harry's face. She walked towards the couch and sat down on the big couch. Harry was about to make his way towards the big armchair when Ginny patted on the couch motioning him to sit beside her. He cautiously walked towards the couch and sat himself beside her.
"So why are you awake?" Ginny asked with a curious look in her eyes.
"Me?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows in an oh-you-know-why way.
"Oh…yeah..My bad." Ginny said softly. Ginny didn't need to push the topic any farther, she smiled at Harry understandingly then she turned to look at the fire.
Harry appreciated this gesture. Most people would torture him with questions like 'What are your dreams about?' 'Is it you-know-who?' 'Does it hurt?'.
He stared quietly at Ginny, she had grown up, she filled out properly not fully but it suited her. She wasn't the chubby-cheeked little Ginny he knew. She was thin and tall and had high cheekbones and a nice girly chin.
"Why are you staring?" she asked him softly, "Do I have dirt on my face or something?"
Harry laughed at her.
"What?!?" she demanded, "Are you laughing at me?"
"I just realized something. That's all." Harry said turning to stare at the fire, "I'm not laughing at you."
"What?" she asked referring to the thing that he said he realized.
"What, what?" he asked looking at her. She giggled at the look on his face.
"What did you realize?" she said asking him seriously.
"That I've known you for almost eight years and I don't know you know you, you know?" he said seriously. She giggled softly making Harry grin.
"Well what do you want to know? I mean I can't be that interesting." Ginny shrugged again.
'Oh you are Ginny Weasley, more than you'll ever know' Harry thought he was shocked to be actually thinking about Ginny like that, she was Ron's sister.
"Well you are Ron's sister and Ron is my best friend." Harry said simply, he quickly added, "No offense." Ginny smiled, Harry noticed she seemed to be doing that a lot and it comforted him.
"Well maybe you should start thinking of me as Ginny Weasley, not as Ginny Ron's sister." She said seriously before laughing.
"Okay. I'll do that." Harry said nodding his head.
"Well.." Ginny asked.
"Well what?" Harry asked and just Ginny laughed.
"What do you want to know?" Ginny said inching towards him her eyes sparkling brightly.
"Taylor."
"What?"
"I want to know how you met Taylor."
"I know I was just shocked." Ginny said suddenly interested in her hands. After what seemed like forever she turned to Harry sitting crossed legged (Indian sit) on the couch, "Well," she tucked a strand behind her ear while looking at Harry, "It's funny really. Well you see how Quidditch here is played both girls and boys can play. In the States in quite different. Girls, well, the professors preferred it if girls didn't play such a sport, it wasn't appropriate for girls to be uhm.. let's say 'Manly'. So anyway, what girls would do they would hold cheerleader tryouts. Cheerleaders are a group of girls who cheer the players of their school. Well anyway, since Blair was the captain I tried out and it turns out I'm the lightest so I was in. Well anyway skip that part when we were cheering for our school… oh yeah Quidditch in America it's against other schools then there is the season championship. Anyway when we were cheering for our school one game, Taylor was the Captain and the seeker of our team which is called the Tigers. Well he saw the snitch and he when he tried to catch it the other seeker rammed into him and sent the snitch flying towards my direction and I was on top of a pyramid it's a bit complicated to explain, it's a routine that we do. Well the snitch was heading towards my way and I couldn't see it then there were two brooms, T.J pushed the other seeker away and tried to turn his broom." Ginny bit her lip blushing to the shade of a cute tomato,
"I got so shocked that I completely lost my balance and fell to the floor. I woke up in the clinic just like the infirmary and he was there, sitting beside me. He said he was sorry even if it wasn't even his fault and from there it gets weird. I just know that we started walking to class together and he asked me one night, "Is it okay if I ask you to be my girlfriend?" well not exactly that way it took him about five minutes to say it, he kept stuttering and it was absolutely adorable. I was there and I was staring and blushing harder than I could ever imagine. I stepped back and fell into a bush and Taylor tried to grab my hand and he tripped and fell right on top of me. I managed to squeak out a yes. So there. Then it was time for me to leave, I really didn't want to, but I missed my home. I had this very strong feeling that I needed to be home. So he spent the whole summer with me. When he dropped me off at the airport, I suppose you know what that is. I told him that he couldn't, he shouldn't wait for me. Then he says that he will, if he has to. I told him that I couldn't handle a long distance relationship so we ended it there. He is by far the best I've ever had." Ginny said softly, she blushed.
"It's really nice to hear." Harry said thoughtlessly.
"Well, what about you?"
"What about me?" He asked curiously. Ginny laughed again.
"What about you and Cho silly." Ginny asked smiling at him.
"Oh… Well, it's a long story really."
"I've got a lot of time." Ginny stated, "But you don't have to tell me you know, not unless you want to."
"No. It's okay," Harry said turning to her, Ginny smiled and leaned back on the arm rest of the couch and drew her knees to her chest, "So where do I start. Well, as you know Cho left, yeah and well when she returned we were all quite shocked. She said she had gone to a psychologist and that she was better. Well I started to notice that she was smiling more and well one night I finally got the courage to ask her out to go to Hogsmeade. She said yes, I was kind of shocked though at first because I half-expected her to say no because of what happened the past year. Well we went out and one of these new girls that came in last year, her name is Gabrielle Woods. A real bitch if you ask me" Ginny laughed, "Well she went up to me and asks, 'Is this sixth year repeater your girl friend?' and I said yes. Then Cho made this whole joke about me being a knight in shinning armor. Well yeah, but it's been getting hard lately. You know, especially with all these Voldemort stuff going on. Like last year Cho and I got into this fight that lasted for about a month and it turns out that she was just scared that bad things will happen and that she wouldn't be able to be there for me, because she is too weak and she's not brave. Well let's just say I managed to talk her out of it." Harry said laughing at the memory. Ginny felt a sudden twist in her heart and mentally kicked herself for feeling that way.
"Wow, Harry the smooth talker." Ginny said jokingly. Harry smiled and turned to look at the fire. After a moment of silence Harry spoke up again, Ginny turned her attention to him.
"I've been having those dreams again." Ginny looked hard at him and he turned to look at her.
"About Voldemort?" Ginny asked, the way she said Voldemort it was like she wasn't afraid to say it.
"I probably shouldn't be telli-" Harry said looking at her.
"It's okay Harry. You can tell me." Ginny said looking at him a small smile on her lips. She put down her feet and inched closer to him, "I've met him too. He possessed me too. I am most likely the only one who will understand. I know you can't tell Cho because she'll freak and Hermione has got so much going on and she'll probably just say, "You should really tell Dumbledore" and Ron well Ron will flip, freak, and panic and he's also too busy thinking what he should tell Hermione. Since I know you good enough Harry, you just want your friends to live a normal life. Unlike me I'll never have a normal life. But I'll always be willing to listen." She said smiling at him.
"Well, I can sense that Voldemort is near and his power is much stronger than before." He said staring into the fire again. He watched the flames dance and crackle against the wood. "I'm scared you know. Voldemort took everything away from me and I don't think I can take it if he takes away all my friends, the people who have stood by me are the only ones I have left." He said sadly.
"No matter what Voldemort does, he can't take them away." Ginny said softly. Harry turned to her, their faces were so close to each other. "Harry, even if your parents are dead, they'll always, always be here," she said placing her hand on his chest above his heart, "Right here." She smiled and pulled her hand away form his chest.
"Have you outgrown me?" Harry asked before he realized it came out of his mouth, "I'm sorry…" Ginny just laughed.
"I've outgrown you enough to be just your friend." She said grinning at him. He laughed and grinned back suddenly Ginny felt tired and her eyes started to droop. "You know what? I think the fifth voice is starting to snore."
"Oh, well it's okay." Harry said standing up, "I am starting to droop too." She smiled as she stood up. Together they walked up the steps and when they were about to part they turned to face each other.
"If you ever need to talk, if the rest aren't available." Ginny said looking at him, she took his hand and squeezed it, "I'm here okay? Even if it's not about dreams or whatever." He nodded, she dropped his hand and smiled. "Night Harry. Sweet dreams." She grinned and turned around.
"Gin?" Harry called out her name when she placed her hand on the doorknob.
"Yeah?" she asked turning around a bit her hand still on the knob.
"Thanks." Harry said simply.
"No biggie!" she smiled and walked into the room.
Ginny lay on her bed the blankets covering her up to her chest. She thought about the conversation she had with Harry. She sighed.
'Don't bring back the past Gin. You were over him already. All your efforts will go to waste and you'll end up getting hurt.' Her mind said reprimanding her.
'I'm not… were friends. Just friends.' She smiled and closed her eyes.
In the other room Harry Potter lay awake looking up at the ceiling. Thoughts about what Ginny had said, how different she reacted to him now compared to the way she turned red before during her second year. Her answer when he asked her if she had outgrown him and the way she said it, she had indeed outgrown her school girl crush over Harry.
But deep inside Harry didn't want to admit to himself that he wished that Ginny had not outgrown him.