Disclaimer: Nah... 'Snot mine...

Summary: Stupid Ron and Hermione, making every place they go a nightmare. What's Harry supposed to do, now that his friends are 'missing'? Well, there is that little red-headed girl who's caught his eye more than once, and caused that annoying little inner voice to pop up more often. Hey now, there's a solution to the problem!

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Chapter Two


Harry swooped in and out of the turrets of the castle on his beloved Firebolt, enjoying the feel of the cool wind as it whipped through his hair. He decided to try something new and fly upside-down for a while, but righted himself quickly as that position made him dizzy. This is the life, he thought lazily. There were no bickering couples up here, no perpetually angry Potions professors out to get him, no random snogging...

"I spoke too soon," Harry said regretfully to himself.

"Watch it you!" shouted a pair of sixth-years snuggled on the roof that he was currently flying above. Harry grimaced and flew away. He was going to kill them if someone didn't stop him first, they had no business doing all of this, it was just plain disgusting, not to mention indecent.

He began to slow, drifting down in wide circles over the grounds. Squinting at a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hagrid's massive figure standing in front of the gamekeeper's cabin. Harry saw him waving his arms frantically at him to come over. Harry grinned and flew his broom over and landed next to the patch of large flowers blooming in front of Hagrid's cabin.

"Hello, Hagrid," Harry greeted his friend cheerfully. "D'you need anything? I saw you waving." Hagrid brought out from behind him a huge bucket of water and set it on the ground next to him. His beetle-black eyes were twinkling merrily. He then motioned over to the large golden flowers, whose pungent scent filled the air. Harry glanced at him and raised his eyebrows, "What? I don't see anything."

"Look closely," Hagrid whispered, clapping Harry on the back, nearly sending the boy to his knees. "Yeh see that?" Harry squinted again, and saw two shadows behind one of the large flowers... and then two figures... and then he averted his eyes. Hagrid chuckled.

"Hagrid, they're contaminating your garden," Harry exclaimed, horrified. "Aren't you going to do something?" He shuddered. Hagrid gestured to the bucket, and Harry looked at him quizzically.

"I need yeh to help me water the marigolds," Hagrid winked at him, jerking his huge thumb at the flower hiding the two kids from view. Harry snickered, oh this would be sweet revenge for having to look at all of the horrible sweetness, and ugh... he didn't want to think about it.

"No problem, Hagrid," he agreed. "But do you mind if I take my broom and stuff up first? I bet they'll be here for awhile. Bet they didn't even notice we were here." Hagrid nodded, and Harry swung his leg over the Firebolt and took off.

"I gotta feed Fang anyway," Hagrid called after him. "See yeh back down here in a few!" Harry looked back to see him go back into his cabin to meet his slobbering dog. It was going to be a fun afternoon after all. Maybe he'd go find Ginny and bring her back with him; she'd like dumping water over people.

Ginny, huh? Got her best interests at heart, do you?

What, don't you?

Maybe, maybe not...

Gah, lemme alone...

Harry headed up to Gryffindor Tower, gave the Fat Lady the password, and headed up to his dormitory. Throwing his belongings on his bed, he went back down the stairs, and stopped at the bottom to scan over all of the heads, looking for one that was adorned with bright red hair, preferably of a longer length. He couldn't see anyone that fit that description.

"Hey Seamus?" Harry called. Seamus looked up from his current 'engagement', with a disgruntled look on his face. "Have you seen Ginny? I can't find her." Seamus smirked a little, and pointed back at the portrait hole. Harry wondered why Seamus was grinning at him as if he knew something that Harry didn't.

"Watch out, she's a little steamed," Seamus warned him. "She just went storming out of here without a word." Steamed, Harry thought amusedly, that was an understatement for Ginny's angry moods. Ginny Weasley did not huff under her breath, she raged at the top of her lungs.

"Thanks, Seamus," Harry said, walking towards the portrait hole. Seamus didn't bother to acknowledge him, and immediately dove back down towards Lavender's mouth. Harry rolled his eyes as he clambered out. "Sorry for interrupting whatever you were doing. Keep going, don't mind me."

Harry was trudging dejectedly down the hall, realizing that now he had to go to Hagrid's all by his lonesome, not that he didn't like Hagrid, he just really liked being around the youngest Weasley.

Like, my arse... More like you revolve around her...

I do not!

Yes, you do... you jump whenever you hear her voice, and it's not because you're scared.

I do not! I'll prove it!

He suddenly heard a loud shriek and then a sound of shattering glass from one of the adjoining corridors. Harry jumped.

Ha, you jumped! You jumped!

Who's to say it's not some other girl?

You don't jump when it's another girl...

Lemme alone...

He took off running down the hall and skidded around the corner. Ginny was standing in front of a wall that now had black ink running down the grooves of the rocks. Harry's eyes widened at the frustration on her face, and jumped again as she screamed for a second time.

"AARRRGGGHHH!" the students around Harry immediately left, not wanting to risk their lives by crossing paths with angry red-head just a few feet down. Harry decided that he'd risk his life, and quickly walked towards her; she was leaning against the wall opposite the ink, breathing rapidly.

"Ginny! Are you all right?" Harry asked, worried that she had seriously hurt herself. Ginny spun around, big brown eyes staring back at him. To his surprise, she hiccupped. Really loudly. Why would she hiccup? Harry wondered, Am I scary-looking or something?

Guess not...

"Harry!" she cried, launching herself into his arms, making him stagger back a few steps. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder, mumbling little snatches of phrases. Harry bent his head to hear her better.

"... Snogging... everywhere... yuck!"

"That bad is it, Gin?" Harry asked, putting his arms around her and setting her back on the floor. She shook her head 'yes.' Harry glanced around and saw all of her books, papers, and quills scattered all around them. He grabbed her wand and stuck it in the hair piled on top of her head; picked up her books and stacked them in her arms.

"It's awful, Harry!" she moaned. Harry glanced up and was alarmed to see that she looked like she wanted to cry. "Every place I go, snogging here, snogging there, snog-snoggity everywhere!" Her words triggered a memory in Harry's head.

"E - I - E - I - O," Harry hummed quietly, grinning.

"What was that?" Ginny asked. Harry looked up at her and shook his head.

"Oh nothing. Just an old Muggle children's song," he said. "But you're right; it has gotten pretty bad. I mean, ever since Ron and Hermione 'fessed up to each other, everyone's figured that if those two could do it, it can't have been that hard, so..."

"... So everybody's jumped on the bloody bandwagon," Ginny sighed unhappily as she picked up her last book. "Harry, is it too much to ask, to expect peace and quiet once in a while?" She gazed up at him with a wide pathetic look on her face.

Okay, now don't go mushy-eyed now... Don't do anything drastic...

Well, what then? She's gotten way too pretty for my own good.

Laugh...

Harry laughed, and she grinned back at him. "So, you headed to the library?" he asked, after casting around for several things to say to hide his embarrassment. She glanced at him warily.

"Ye-es... What? Isn't it safe to go in there?" Ginny asked, her voice rising angrily. "I would've thought that with Madam Pince there..." She started to pace, but Harry grabbed the back of her robes and pulled her to a stop.

"Calm down, the library's fine," Harry told her, patting her shoulder awkwardly. He felt a tell-tale heat creep up into his cheeks at the way her face lit up with this good news.

"Oh good!" she said cheerfully. "D'you want to come with me? You could help me with this Potions essay... Unless..." she frowned suddenly and tugged his sleeve, "... you've got some girl hidden in your pocket that you'll pull out and kiss, just when I've gotten comfortable."

Harry snorted. "No, I don't have a pocket-sized snogging mate, thank you very much. I'm sorry, but I can't come and help you," Harry threw an inner tantrum. It wasn't fair! "I promised Hagrid I'd go down and help water his marigolds."

You failed to tell her why you have to water marigolds.

She'd want to come and then she'd get in trouble with Snape.

Oooh, somebody's got Ginny's best interests at heart again!

It's the same as anybody else.

Uh-huh. Sure. I believe you.

Lemme alone...

"Well, okay," Ginny said, disappointed. "Have fun." She left, humming a melody that sounded an awful lot like the funeral march that Harry had heard Fred and George sing his very first year at Hogwarts. Feeling ashamed, Harry followed her.

"Hold up! Let me carry some of that for you," Harry said gallantly, holding out his arms. Ginny turned and dumped half of her burden into them, making him stagger. His next words made his insides writhe with embarrassment. "I'll walk you there; it's on my way to Hagrid's anyway."

I can't believe you said that, you dolt!

What?

How long have you been going to Hagrid's?

More than six years.

So why don't you know by now that the library is not on the way?

Go away...

Harry decided it was time to say something else and hope that the girl hadn't heard his blunder. He had no idea why he was acting this way, all clumsy and stupid. "Merlin, what are you studying?" Harry asked, shifting the weight between his arms. "The Potions history of the entire world?"

"Nope. Even though it was bad last year with the O.W.L.'s and everything, it's not nearly as awful this time, as we're preparing for our N.E.W.T.'s," Ginny told him brightly. "But it's too bad for you. You have your N.E.W.T.'s this year." Harry grimaced and Ginny wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder. Harry fought the urge to jump at her touch. It ended up being partly a jerk, and partly a trip. He groaned inwardly.

Well, at least I know that it's good to feel sorry for myself sometimes.

Coming from the person who said he didn't revolve around the girl.

"Poor Harry," Ginny sympathized, a huge smile on her face. "Don't worry, I'll come to your funeral. What sort of flowers would you like on your coffin?"

"Ha-ha," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Thank you so much, I'm honored. Here we are." Ginny turned left, heading towards an empty table. Harry followed her and relieved himself of her books. Rubbing his arms, he turned regretfully to leave.

"Sorry I can't stay, but I promised," Harry apologized. He smiled at her and waved in what he hoped was a casual, yet cool way. It turned out to be, in his opinion, a desperate and supplicating gesture. Why, he didn't know. It was all very strange to him.

"Bye!" Ginny called after him, a dejected look on her face. "Have your wild fling out in the marigolds without me! Remember me, rotting in the library while you're out in the cool air..." Harry laughed and went out. Now that he was finally on his way, watering marigolds didn't seem to be so appealing anymore. He vaguely wondered why.

Um, because you think the sun sets and rises with Ginny...

What?

Better yet, Ginny is the sun and you are planet Earth...

Are you saying I'm revolving around her?

Despite your brilliance in Quidditch, you are hopeless in everything else. There can't possibly be anyone thicker than you.

Harry blinked. He was arguing with himself and didn't understand what his elusive other half was trying to say. Harry shrugged and walked up the path to where Hagrid was eagerly waiting, two large pails of water standing by his side.

Fifteen minutes later, after scaring three couples out of the marigold garden about six times (between stretches of running for cover, they'd steal kisses and then forget why they were running), Harry felt the first large drops of what promised to be a huge storm splatter his glasses.

"Ah, I think they're gone now, Harry," Hagrid said in a satisfied tone, setting down his bucket. "Yeh wan' ter come in fer a cup of tea? Don' look as if it's gonna stop any time soon." Even as Harry nodded, he sincerely hoped Hagrid would be wrong.

At the end of the week, Harry realized that the only person who had been wrong was himself. Horribly, terribly wrong. The rain and thunder had not stopped, but it pounded on as though determined to wash the entire countryside out. Ginny had not wanted to stay inside the common room, and so she had dragged Harry out into the downpour to show him how to slide down wet hills in big snow saucers that had been stored in an old broomshed during the dry seasons. That had turned out to be a great way to spend the afternoon, until the saucers they were racing each other in had nearly swiped the heads off another couple, a couple that just happened to be kissing in the rain right where their sleds were headed. Ginny had screamed dramatically at this seemingly horrendous sight, jumped off her saucer, and had run back into the castle leaving him and the startled snoggers behind. Shivering and soaked, Harry had abandoned the snow saucers, and followed her inside.

Since their rain activities had been so rudely tossed down the drain, Harry had decided it was time to pull out his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders' Map. It had been quite a while since he had prowled the castle, and since his two best friends were gone (even Luna was mysteriously 'absent', and Harry thought he knew with whom), he invited his newer best friend to join him. Ginny had gone into ecstasies when she saw his cloak and map, and immediately began drawing up plans for gruesome deaths that she wanted to inflict on her fellow schoolmates. Harry had protested this, but, upon receiving her glare, compromised by telling her they'd go look for blackmail material, just not murderous schemes. She had reluctantly agreed and soon they were reaping the benefits of Colin's camera.

He was now aimlessly wandering down a corridor, wondering why he was suddenly so miserable. Harry was sure that nothing could have brought him down after seeing Professor Snape with his romance novels, yet here he was plodding down the hall, a glum expression on his face.

It's just the rain... too much of it will do it...

I think not!

What now?

I believe a certain Miss Weasley is not in viewing distance.

So?

You're unhappy because she's not around you...

Harry could see the reason in this, Ginny was funny, sarcastic, and cheerful, but what did that have to do with why he was unhappy right now? He sighed and kept walking, not knowing where he wanted to go.

Don't you get it?

Get what?

You've been bitten by the bug known as love... and from the looks of it, it's bad.

Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts. What? Love? Bitten? Bad? Realization dawned, but set almost as soon as it showed itself. Nah, that couldn't be right. But if it was, that would explain the blushes, the jumping, the choking, and the tripping. Harry paused in his walking and narrowed his eyes in concentration. Could that be true? Had he actually fallen for Ginny Weasley? The whole thing seemed too incredible to him.

Oh please... don't go brushing it off now!

Well, maybe I have a teensy crush on her... I could say that much.

Teensy? Merlin, if you're using one of Delores Umbridge's favorite words, you must really be in denial. Come on, spit it out!

Okay... I have a really big crush on Ginny, but I only just now figured it out...

We've established that. What are you going to do about it?

Do? What's there to do?

Let's put it this way. More than one guy has more than a "teensy" crush on her...

Harry's stomach dropped. He was not going to just keep wandering now that he knew Ginny could be snapped up by some other red-hair loving creep. Not that he, Harry, was a creep... No, he was just a guy in love with his best friend after his other best friends. In fact, the best friend he was in love with happened to be the younger sister of his first best friend. And yes, he did love her red hair, and he wasn't going to let anyone else have his best friend with the beautiful long red hair. That made absolutely no sense, but in a way, it did, Harry thought, as he started to run at top speed back to Gryffindor Tower, as he had no intention of waiting until he lost his nerve.

Gasping for breath, he managed to get the password out between gulps (the Fat Lady seemed to be smirking at him, for reasons unbeknownst to him), and as soon as the portrait swung forward, he stumbled through, determined not to speak to anyone but Ginny, as they were likely to distract him from the daunting task ahead. But as he looked around, it didn't seem likely that he would able to distract anyone from what they were doing so that they could distract him in turn. He looked up just in time to see Ginny standing up and throwing her book on the ground, a furious look on her face. He shivered, glad he wasn't the person she was angry at, and debated whether this would be a good idea.

You know you're going to chicken out if you don't... so just do it. Don't worry if she's mad, she's not mad at you. For all you know, she could be madly in love with you too.

Are you joking?

Still, Harry thought, his stupid conscience was right. It was now or never. He quickly made his way around the throng of people by the fire to where Ginny was standing next to the window. He opened his mouth, praying that his words would come out the way he wanted them too. He remembered how his tongue would seize up and then say things he never meant to say, like that Hagrid comment.

"Ginny? Would you..." Harry began nervously. He was immediately cut off when she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down until he was looking directly into her face. Her face that was red with pent-up anger. Harry began to quake against his better judgment. She was really, really mad.

"What," she said slowly, and clearly, in a whisper that could have cut glass, "did I ever do to deserve this?"

Harry was so terrified that his answer came out two octaves higher than was necessary. "Huh?"

"Seven days and nights of this never-ending rain!" Ginny cried. "I can't stand this much longer, Harry!" Harry decided it was best to use a one word answer, figuring that would be safe.

"Right," Harry replied. Ginny spun around, took a deep breath, and addressed the people staring at her at the top of her lungs.

"A week! A whole week of having to watch the lot of you and your absolutely disgusting displays of affection!" Ginny shouted. "You'd think Merlin would reward me for my extremely strong constitution, but nooo! I ask you: WHERE THE BLOODY HELL IS MY EIGHTH WORLD WONDER?!!" She turned back to Harry, who blanched at the sight of her eyes which were narrow slits of fury, "Where?" Harry had no idea what to say, or what she was talking about, but he wanted to calm her down, and so he took a blind stab at it.

"Ehm... maybe you don't have one because you never asked for one," Harry said, letting a little pleading enter his tone. He hoped she could understand and cool down. It must have worked because now she was openly staring at him. He wondered if he minded. He decided that he didn't, just as long as she didn't stare at any other boys like she was right now.

Please say something... just don't shout it.

You have a point there... for once.

Ginny mumbled something under her breath that Harry couldn't understand, so he timidly leaned closer to here her. "What?" She looked up at him and took his hands into her own. Harry almost jumped at the contact, but restrained himself.

"Harry Potter," Ginny said solemnly, looking right into his eyes. "Will you do me the honor of being my eighth world wonder?" Harry was completely confused, and didn't know what she meant by an "eighth world wonder".

What's she saying?

I don't know, but say "yes", she's stopped shouting.

"Er... okay," Harry agreed. Ginny beamed at him, and someone who sounded a lot like Hermione Granger squealed delightedly.

"Good," Ginny smiled, reaching up and putting her hands on his shoulders. She pulled him down towards her. Harry gulped; he had a suspicious idea of where this was going, but was powerless to move. "Save me please, and put me out of my misery."

Save her? Save her how?

Like that...

Oh, I see...

Did you know that's what she meant?

No, did you?

No...but it turned out to be a good thing, right?

Whatever. Leave me alone, I'm busy.


Author's Note: I am such a bad, bad person to have waited so long, but I had my trip, was too sick to write on the plane (I actually started crying), I was delayed to come home by about eight hours because of a typhoon, and then when I finally got home, school had been in session for four days already. So then I had to catch up on all the homework, and let me tell you, my schedule is hectic. In fact, I'll prove it to you.

A-Day (we alternate schedules)

A1: Health (that's where I wrote my Ron-fic; go read it, it's good! Those of you who already read it, I put up a second chappie; it's only a paragraph long, but it's funny)

A2: Weight training (as in lifting weights)

A3: U.S. History

A4: Seminary (love it so much!)

B-Day

B1: Pre-Calculus Honors (or College Algebra)

B2: English 11 Honors (my favorite class)

B3: Physics Honors (if I die, you'll know why)

B4: German 4 (my therapy class that day; look up to see why I need it)

Anyway, that's my excuse. But here's the second chapter, and I truly hope you enjoyed it. I tried to make it look like the first chapter as much as possible, but since QuickEdit has been "improved" so that it is more retarded than it was at the beginning, it can't deal with double dashes. All in favor of beating it within an inch of its cyber-life? [raises hand and sighs] Oh well. An epilogue is coming up next. This chapter is three pages longer than the previous, and the epilogue will be the same length as this one (and it's already written and finished, so no worries!), but this author's note is ridiculously long. I wish I had the time to respond to you all, but I want you all to know how much I love you and your amazing feedback (I was overwhelmed with your reviews, 47 total for one chapter!), and that I hope you stick with me.

Please review! I love to hear what you have to say!

Oh! I just remembered! You remember how I told you (in Letters and Care Packages) about that hilarious Harry Potter song? Well, now you can listen to it for free and no hassle. Just go to my bio and you'll see it right at the top. Click on it and there will be two versions of it: Harry Potter, and then there's faux British rendition. I suggest listening to both, and I highly recommend right-clicking them and saving them as targets. Listen carefully to the dialogue in the background on the British rendition; I nearly cried, I was laughing so hard. But remember, they do say, "Harry Potter, when you grow up, what will you be? When will you marry Hermione-eeeeee?" Do not bash them, they only did that because it fit (Ginny didn't fit, and Ginny Weasley just sounded stupid; didn't work with the rhythm), and they did not know better. I wrote them and challenged them on whether that was what they really believed. They wrote back and told me that they "actually thought that Harry was going to marry Professor McGonagall". Because they are always being silly, I have deemed them mentally unfit to ask. Don't let this discourage you. It is a brilliant song! Now go and have a listen!