I heard people coming in downstairs and could only assume it was Harry arriving. I may have stopped blushing around him, but my heart still skipped three beats in the prospect of seeing him. Even if he was going to be bitter and moody...
"Harry dear, I can't believe it but if it's possible you've gotten even more handsome!" My mum said, very hushed as not to wake up Mrs. Black. I noticed that the voices got a bit muffled after that and assumed they had gone into the kitchen.
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, quite chipper. It was a stark contrast to the dark, cold voice he had had last time he arrived at Grimmauld Place. I was quite shocked, I must say.
I stepped off the last step and rounded the corner into the kitchen. My mother was at the cauldron, cooking. Probably trying to fatten Harry up as she always was when he returned from staying at the Dursley's. Remus and Harry were at the stone table with butterbeers in hand. I had a sudden memory of one night last Christmas holiday when I had come into the kitchen to find Sirius sipping a butterbeer. He had offered me one and we talked well into the night about Harry, actually. He's been the only one I'd ever really confided in about Harry....
"Hello Ginny, having a nice summer?" Harry asked me suddenly. He must've noticed me standing there while I was off in my reverie.
The sound of his voice had startled me quite a bit actually, but I was determined to recover with a witty remark, "Oh yes. I'm having a hell of a time scrubbing down room after room to seemingly no avail, thank you Harry."
"GINEVRA WEASLEY! How dare you use such language?!" Mother. Damn. I'd forgotten about her.
"Too much time around Ron, I suppose, Mum." I watched as her eyes went wide and mouth dropped open. Remus was trying extremely hard to keep a straight face (he had heard first hand that I was telling the truth) and Harry had out right snorted very loudly into his butterbeer.
I summoned Harry quickly (to avoid the wrath of my mother) saying how Hermione and Ron would love to see him. He exscused himself with much protest from my mother ("You haven't had a decent meal! And Ginevra, don't even begin to think I'm finished with you...") and we both got out of the kitchen quite quickly. Harry was biting back what looked to be a raucous laugh with the ability to throw Mrs. Black into another one of her screaming fits full of racial slurs. I raced Harry up to my room and quickly shut the door so he could laugh freely. It felt good to hear him laugh so earnestly.
"I cannot BELIEVE you talked to your mother that way. Must be part of the courage that got you into Gryffindor, for certain." He said looking admiringly at me.
I had no help in stopping the blush that was creeping up, so I just had to say something, anything...
"Well, we're not really on best terms right now. She refuses to stop acting like I'm a baby." Anything but that, you dolt...
"Oh really...I didn't know. I guess we never talk much, huh?" he said, slightly guiltiy.
"Well, no, but it's not really anyone's fault, Harry. But it's good to see you so chipper. I thought you'd be more reserved, actually..." No wonder he never talks to me, I'm an idiot. I can't believe I would just bring that up like that. Stupid, insensitive, prat of a girl...
"Yeah. I was really quite a jerk last year. I don't want it to be that way again, it didn't help any." Harry replied somberly. "I am sorry though, for acting that way. I didn't know everyone noticed..." He looked truly apologetic, like he had been hoping that I hadn't noticed.
"Oh, don't worry, I don't think anyone else really did but me. The rest just rode it off as you being frustrated, but I knew better." Again with the stupidity.
Harry slightly raised his eyebrows at that. Don't really blame him, it was rude of me. Not to mention I just said I knew him better than my other family members did. I thought the conversation had started to take a turn and I knew at the end of it I would be a blushing idiot again, so I said we really should go find Ron and Hermione.
"Hermione said she'd be in the drawing room," I explained, "and wherever she goes, Ron is sure to follow..." I added on with a smirk.
Harry grinned back at me, so brightly my knees went very weak. "Those two haven't worked it out yet?"
Gosh he's cute... "Ha, them? No."
"Yeah, well, Hermione gave Ron quite a big hint."
Mum was right, I think he has gotten even more handsome... "Really?"
"Oh yeah. They had that widely known row at the end of the Yule Ball, remember? Well, I caught the very end of it, and she was quite blunt," he said with a genuine Harry smirk.
Maybe it's because he's smiling more...wait, blunt? Hermione? I've got to hear this, "Do tell, kind sir."
Harry explained to me what he had heard and it was quite amazing, how daft my brother could be. I mean, Harry got it and he's the blindest person I know. We were walking towards the drawing room and as we approached it, I noticed that the door was cracked open a bit. Thanks to that crack and the fact that they were yelling, you could hear the occupants of the room quite clearly. Harry and I shared a look of agreement and stood as close to the crack in the door as possible.
"What does it matter to you if Viktor writes to me Ron?! He is a very good friend of mine!" Hermione yelled.
Ron then shouted quite coldly, "Yeah, I'm sure he was a VERY good friend at the Yule Ball when he had his tongue down your bloody throat!"
There was a very brief, tense silence and then...
SMACK
Woah there. Hermione had just slapped Ron. I had to see what was going on. I opened the door ever so softly to where you could see Ron, who had just sat himself down in a chair holding his left cheek, and Hermione, walking towards that chair looking venomous. I leaned down on all fours to let Harry see over me. He took the hint and got on his knees to hover above me, one hand on my back to steady himself. It took all my might not to concentrate fully on that hand...
Hermione was talking again, "You are SUCH a huge, blind, idiotic, daft, prick of a git! You dense PRAT, I would never have kissed Krum because I wanted to be with YOU. And the fact that you didn't get that let's me see that you don't feel the same way, but it's fine. But don't you dare go thinking of me like that when the truth is that I like you and not Viktor. I cannot believe you!"
There was a steady stream of tears flowing down her face, but the only time her voice wavered was when she said that she knew Ron didn't like her back. I'd never wanted to strangle my brother more than this moment. My heart ached badly for Hermione; I know exactly what it was like dealing with dense prats; I had one leaning against me at this very moment, in fact. I briefly glanced up at Harry.
I looked back at the door to see Hermione charging towards us to leave the room. On instinct, I flew backwards away from it, but I had forgotten Harry was there, for the first time in my life, and he went crashing down first, landing on his back. I reached my hands out to break my fall, but I was falling straight onto Harry. The end result was me on top of Harry with my hands on his chest from trying to break my fall and him holding onto my waist so I didn't roll off and hurt myself. I hadn't fallen that hard, so I didn't think I had hurt Harry. We looked at each other a second and then Ron's movements brought me back to the current situation. Hermione was heading towards the door. She would spot us soon... I tensed with apprehension. But then I listened to what Ron said.
" 'Mione, don't leave," Ron said softly. He must've grabbed her because her footsteps had stopped when his did.
I sighed heavily and went limp from relief at the same time Harry did. This reminded me that I was laying on top of Harry. I tried to move but was trapped with Harry's firm grip still on my hips. I motioned towards the door as in "Let me up!" but he just shook his head. For a brief minute I thought, "Harry doesn't want me to move?! He wants me here?! He likes this?!" but then he mouthed, "They'll hear you" and I just nodded. Damn my imagination. Of course he wouldn't want me lying on top of him. Did four years not teach me anything?!
"What do you want Ron?" she asked, quiet as a mouse. I could see their feet from the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor so I watched as Ron took a step closer to her. Harry followed my gaze and did the same, his eyes widening slightly.
"Hermione, you think I don't bloody feel for you?! I do! I do and I have! I secretly like the way you're so bossy, I like the way your hair is bushy, I like how passionate you get when we fight, and the fact that I can do that to you. I like how devoted you are to spew..."
"S.P.E.W." Hermione responded weakly with a whisper.
Ron laughed, "And I love the way you could correct me even at a time like this. I do like you Hermione, even if I was too dense to see that you liked me too..."
Hermione let out a sob and Ron stepped closer; to hug her I assume, since his voice sounded a bit muffled after that.
"Hermione, do you get it? And promise never to slap me again, because that bloody hurt!" Ron said seriously.
Hermione laughed and said "Of course, but I make no promises about slapping you."
Ron said, "Alright, agreed."
Then Hermione's feet disappeared and Ron's started going in circles, indicating he had picked her up and was now spinning her around. I then loved my brother again and decided I'd kill him some other time. While Ron and Hermione's laughter filled the hall it was safe for Harry and I to get up unnoticed. We silently got up and left for my room, thinking they would need some privacy after the spinning.
"Harry dear, I can't believe it but if it's possible you've gotten even more handsome!" My mum said, very hushed as not to wake up Mrs. Black. I noticed that the voices got a bit muffled after that and assumed they had gone into the kitchen.
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, quite chipper. It was a stark contrast to the dark, cold voice he had had last time he arrived at Grimmauld Place. I was quite shocked, I must say.
I stepped off the last step and rounded the corner into the kitchen. My mother was at the cauldron, cooking. Probably trying to fatten Harry up as she always was when he returned from staying at the Dursley's. Remus and Harry were at the stone table with butterbeers in hand. I had a sudden memory of one night last Christmas holiday when I had come into the kitchen to find Sirius sipping a butterbeer. He had offered me one and we talked well into the night about Harry, actually. He's been the only one I'd ever really confided in about Harry....
"Hello Ginny, having a nice summer?" Harry asked me suddenly. He must've noticed me standing there while I was off in my reverie.
The sound of his voice had startled me quite a bit actually, but I was determined to recover with a witty remark, "Oh yes. I'm having a hell of a time scrubbing down room after room to seemingly no avail, thank you Harry."
"GINEVRA WEASLEY! How dare you use such language?!" Mother. Damn. I'd forgotten about her.
"Too much time around Ron, I suppose, Mum." I watched as her eyes went wide and mouth dropped open. Remus was trying extremely hard to keep a straight face (he had heard first hand that I was telling the truth) and Harry had out right snorted very loudly into his butterbeer.
I summoned Harry quickly (to avoid the wrath of my mother) saying how Hermione and Ron would love to see him. He exscused himself with much protest from my mother ("You haven't had a decent meal! And Ginevra, don't even begin to think I'm finished with you...") and we both got out of the kitchen quite quickly. Harry was biting back what looked to be a raucous laugh with the ability to throw Mrs. Black into another one of her screaming fits full of racial slurs. I raced Harry up to my room and quickly shut the door so he could laugh freely. It felt good to hear him laugh so earnestly.
"I cannot BELIEVE you talked to your mother that way. Must be part of the courage that got you into Gryffindor, for certain." He said looking admiringly at me.
I had no help in stopping the blush that was creeping up, so I just had to say something, anything...
"Well, we're not really on best terms right now. She refuses to stop acting like I'm a baby." Anything but that, you dolt...
"Oh really...I didn't know. I guess we never talk much, huh?" he said, slightly guiltiy.
"Well, no, but it's not really anyone's fault, Harry. But it's good to see you so chipper. I thought you'd be more reserved, actually..." No wonder he never talks to me, I'm an idiot. I can't believe I would just bring that up like that. Stupid, insensitive, prat of a girl...
"Yeah. I was really quite a jerk last year. I don't want it to be that way again, it didn't help any." Harry replied somberly. "I am sorry though, for acting that way. I didn't know everyone noticed..." He looked truly apologetic, like he had been hoping that I hadn't noticed.
"Oh, don't worry, I don't think anyone else really did but me. The rest just rode it off as you being frustrated, but I knew better." Again with the stupidity.
Harry slightly raised his eyebrows at that. Don't really blame him, it was rude of me. Not to mention I just said I knew him better than my other family members did. I thought the conversation had started to take a turn and I knew at the end of it I would be a blushing idiot again, so I said we really should go find Ron and Hermione.
"Hermione said she'd be in the drawing room," I explained, "and wherever she goes, Ron is sure to follow..." I added on with a smirk.
Harry grinned back at me, so brightly my knees went very weak. "Those two haven't worked it out yet?"
Gosh he's cute... "Ha, them? No."
"Yeah, well, Hermione gave Ron quite a big hint."
Mum was right, I think he has gotten even more handsome... "Really?"
"Oh yeah. They had that widely known row at the end of the Yule Ball, remember? Well, I caught the very end of it, and she was quite blunt," he said with a genuine Harry smirk.
Maybe it's because he's smiling more...wait, blunt? Hermione? I've got to hear this, "Do tell, kind sir."
Harry explained to me what he had heard and it was quite amazing, how daft my brother could be. I mean, Harry got it and he's the blindest person I know. We were walking towards the drawing room and as we approached it, I noticed that the door was cracked open a bit. Thanks to that crack and the fact that they were yelling, you could hear the occupants of the room quite clearly. Harry and I shared a look of agreement and stood as close to the crack in the door as possible.
"What does it matter to you if Viktor writes to me Ron?! He is a very good friend of mine!" Hermione yelled.
Ron then shouted quite coldly, "Yeah, I'm sure he was a VERY good friend at the Yule Ball when he had his tongue down your bloody throat!"
There was a very brief, tense silence and then...
SMACK
Woah there. Hermione had just slapped Ron. I had to see what was going on. I opened the door ever so softly to where you could see Ron, who had just sat himself down in a chair holding his left cheek, and Hermione, walking towards that chair looking venomous. I leaned down on all fours to let Harry see over me. He took the hint and got on his knees to hover above me, one hand on my back to steady himself. It took all my might not to concentrate fully on that hand...
Hermione was talking again, "You are SUCH a huge, blind, idiotic, daft, prick of a git! You dense PRAT, I would never have kissed Krum because I wanted to be with YOU. And the fact that you didn't get that let's me see that you don't feel the same way, but it's fine. But don't you dare go thinking of me like that when the truth is that I like you and not Viktor. I cannot believe you!"
There was a steady stream of tears flowing down her face, but the only time her voice wavered was when she said that she knew Ron didn't like her back. I'd never wanted to strangle my brother more than this moment. My heart ached badly for Hermione; I know exactly what it was like dealing with dense prats; I had one leaning against me at this very moment, in fact. I briefly glanced up at Harry.
I looked back at the door to see Hermione charging towards us to leave the room. On instinct, I flew backwards away from it, but I had forgotten Harry was there, for the first time in my life, and he went crashing down first, landing on his back. I reached my hands out to break my fall, but I was falling straight onto Harry. The end result was me on top of Harry with my hands on his chest from trying to break my fall and him holding onto my waist so I didn't roll off and hurt myself. I hadn't fallen that hard, so I didn't think I had hurt Harry. We looked at each other a second and then Ron's movements brought me back to the current situation. Hermione was heading towards the door. She would spot us soon... I tensed with apprehension. But then I listened to what Ron said.
" 'Mione, don't leave," Ron said softly. He must've grabbed her because her footsteps had stopped when his did.
I sighed heavily and went limp from relief at the same time Harry did. This reminded me that I was laying on top of Harry. I tried to move but was trapped with Harry's firm grip still on my hips. I motioned towards the door as in "Let me up!" but he just shook his head. For a brief minute I thought, "Harry doesn't want me to move?! He wants me here?! He likes this?!" but then he mouthed, "They'll hear you" and I just nodded. Damn my imagination. Of course he wouldn't want me lying on top of him. Did four years not teach me anything?!
"What do you want Ron?" she asked, quiet as a mouse. I could see their feet from the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor so I watched as Ron took a step closer to her. Harry followed my gaze and did the same, his eyes widening slightly.
"Hermione, you think I don't bloody feel for you?! I do! I do and I have! I secretly like the way you're so bossy, I like the way your hair is bushy, I like how passionate you get when we fight, and the fact that I can do that to you. I like how devoted you are to spew..."
"S.P.E.W." Hermione responded weakly with a whisper.
Ron laughed, "And I love the way you could correct me even at a time like this. I do like you Hermione, even if I was too dense to see that you liked me too..."
Hermione let out a sob and Ron stepped closer; to hug her I assume, since his voice sounded a bit muffled after that.
"Hermione, do you get it? And promise never to slap me again, because that bloody hurt!" Ron said seriously.
Hermione laughed and said "Of course, but I make no promises about slapping you."
Ron said, "Alright, agreed."
Then Hermione's feet disappeared and Ron's started going in circles, indicating he had picked her up and was now spinning her around. I then loved my brother again and decided I'd kill him some other time. While Ron and Hermione's laughter filled the hall it was safe for Harry and I to get up unnoticed. We silently got up and left for my room, thinking they would need some privacy after the spinning.