Chapter 4: A Shopping Trip and an Angry Ginny
She was in bed, and that was all she knew. She wasn't sure whose bed, where that bed might be, or how she had gotten there. Eventually she mustered up enough tired strength to open her eyes. "I'm in my room," she said aloud, looking around as if she had never seen it before.
"And where else would you be?" Harry asked. Ginny nearly jumped straight out of her bed. Turning her head a little, Harry came into view. He was sitting on the small, comfy chair in the corner of her room, splayed across it as though he had just recently slept on it.
"Harry, what're you doing here?" Ginny vaguely remembered she and Harry crying together, but her memories ended there. Harry sent her a roguish grin and chuckled. Ginny nearly jumped out of her bed again. Harry was laughing, and she had been the cause? Unbelievable.
"You fell asleep last night Gin, so I put you in your bed. And then I just, well, I just couldn't leave," Harry told her, his cheeks taking on a reddish tint. Ginny gaped at him in horror and shook her head.
"God dammit Harry, you're sleeping in my brother's room you ruddy git! He knew you came up here, and he'll know that you didn't go back to the room! Bloody hell Harry!" Ginny shrieked at him, not caring if the whole house heard.
At those words, Harry leapt from the corner and onto her bed, landing on top of her and jamming his palm over her mouth. "Shush up Ginny. It's only 5:00 in the morning; I was just waiting for you to wake up before I went back to Ron's room. I'll just tell him that it took you a long time to go to sleep and I didn't want to leave you."
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. "Well it's true," he muttered, and suddenly realized what kind of position they were in. His cheeks turned even redder, and he quickly removed himself from the bed. "Bye Gin," he whispered softly. He began slowly moving closer to her, and after a second of indecision, he kissed her. On the head.
And then he walked out the door.
It took Ginny a long while to fall back asleep, but she did eventually.
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Her slumber was not long, however. Only an hour later she was awake again, only this time not of her own doing. Harry was hovering over her, his mouth turned up into a radiant smile. "His eyes look so lovely and green when he smiles," was the first thought that came to her head, and she immediately blushed for it. "Good god Ginny, you have a boyfriend. Get over yourself."
"Ginny, Ginny, we're going to go to Muggle London to buy us some clothing!" Harry said, sounding like an excited five-year-old. Most boys would be in a state of utter and complete horror at being taken shopping, but not Harry. He was different from all the other boys Ginny had met, and that contributed a great deal to why she liked him.
"Calm down Harry, you sound like a five-year-old on sugar high," Ginny informed him as she politely shoved him away from her. The expression on his face was one of confusion, but it changed to one of mirth when he realized that he had been in Ginny's way. That certainly gave him a good laugh. And, once again, Ginny went red. She made him laugh.
"Well, hurry up and get ready. Breakfast's on the table, and you know how quickly Ron's going to gobble it up. I should probably get downstairs before both of us miss our breakfasts. I'll try to save some for you," he said, and with that he was gone. Ginny let out a long, drawn-out sigh, and got up.
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When Ginny bounced into the kitchen, she did it as though nothing had happened the night before. Well, what did he expect? She had treated him just the same. "Probably didn't want to tread on my delicate feelings," Harry thought morosely, continuing to eat his food.
"Morning Ginger," Bill said absentmindedly. Harry turned to look at Ginny and raised an eyebrow, but all she did was shrug and take the seat next to his at the table. A plate full of food was soon in front of her, and she too began to eat.
Breakfast went by rather quickly, especially since Harry was quite eager to go into Muggle London. He knew that he would be there for the next month-and-a-half, but he knew he would love the experience of shopping there. He had never really gone shopping before, except in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Even in those places, though, the experience hadn't been real.
Because you didn't share it with Ginny perhaps? Harry mentally slapped the traitorous voice inside his head. "You're going to have to stop that if I'm going to spend over a month with her," Harry informed the voice calmly, hoping the thing would listen to him.
Spend a month with her, hm? I wonder where they'll be. I can just see the possibilities. A Weasley and Potter all at the same time. How simply lovely.
"Oh god," Harry thought, shutting his eyes and settling his thoughts. Voldemort was there, and he had let too much slip. Ginny was in danger, and so was he. Ever so slowly, so as not to alert Voldemort of his presence, Harry closed off all the secret doors in his mind. Moments later, all was quiet. He waited until the presence of Voldemort was back to its normal level, and he opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a batch of Weasley brown eyes staring at him. "What did I do?" he asked, sending them all quizzical looks.
"You said 'Oh God,' Harry. Didn't you hear yourself?" Ron asked, sounding slightly shaken. Harry shook his head. He had spoken aloud? He had thought it was all in his head.
"Sorry, I just remembered something...unpleasant," Harry informed them, hoping the Weasleys would drop it. When he looked around the table, he saw that near everyone had bought it. They all looked at him with pity, obviously thinking that he had remembered that day in the Department of Mysteries.
But Ginny, no, Ginny was not fooled.
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She wasn't sure what had happened, but whatever it was, Ginny was going to find out. If she was going to spend a lot of time with him this summer he would have to get over this "I'm going to spare you the pain and troubles of my woeful existence" shit that he always pulled.
She honestly couldn't stand it.
Harry, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley gathered in front of the fireplace in the Burrow living room. They would be flooing to the Leaky Cauldron and walking into Muggle London from there. Ron, being a typical boy and hating shopping, had declined the invitation to go along. So, it was just these three.
"Ready dears?" Mrs. Weasley asked, grabbing a handful of floo powder from the open bag on the table. Ginny nodded, and she assumed Harry did too, since her mother quickly deposited a pinch of powder into her hand. "I'll go first, then Ginny, then Harry," Mrs. Weasley informed them, stepping up to the fire. "The Leaky Cauldron," Mrs. Weasley said, loudly and clearly, throwing her pinch of powder into the fire. Without a moment's hesitation, she stepped into the recently turned blue flames.
Ginny followed, and moments later she was in the Leaky Cauldron. She dusted off her old Muggle clothing absentmindedly, waiting for Harry to appear. It was only a few seconds before he did just that.
"Alright, let's get on with it then," Mrs. Weasley said, taking Ginny's hand in hers. When Mrs. Weasley didn't take Harry's, Ginny did, albeit nervously. She didn't feel like touching Harry right then, especially when she was quite angry with him.
He too seemed uncomfortable with this small physical contact. As they exited the Leaky Cauldron, Harry's hand kept slipping, of its own accord, from hers. Both of their palms were entirely too sweaty, and neither of them could get a good, solid hold.
It wasn't too long of a walk before they found a Muggle clothing store. It didn't seem like much, but looking in through the window gave Ginny a view of quite a variety of items.
Muggle clothing had always been interesting to her. She loved the styles of the day: the tight pants, the shirts with funny sayings on them, the cozy hooded sweatshirts, the trainers, and all the accessories that went along with them. She didn't think clothes in the wizarding world were even close to being as interesting.
Being in the store was like being in heaven. It was basically the same feeling her dad would have gotten if he had walked into a Muggle electronics store. She was surrounded by things she had always taken an interest in, and she could choose any that she wanted to buy.
Rifling even this small store's collection was like trying to look at every piece of straw in a haystack. It simply could not be done. But, Ginny was willing to try.
Within one hour of their arrival, Ginny was so laden with clothes that she could barely walk. She would have asked Mrs. Weasley to help, but she was too busy watching both of the children under her care. And Ginny did not want to talk to Harry.
She approached her mother when everything she could possibly have wanted was in her hands. "I'm ready to go try these on Mum. I'll be in the changing rooms, okay?" she asked, talking to her mother through the large pile of clothes. There was a moment of silence, but since Ginny couldn't really see her mother's face she couldn't get any idea of what was going through the woman's head.
"Okay, off you go. But do hurry please," Mrs. Weasley finally responded, and Ginny raced away from her with a smile.
Half an hour later, Ginny was done. Half of the clothes she had picked out had fit her and looked nice on her, which was not something she thought was out-of-the-ordinary. She was not at all surprised that, by the time she got out, Harry was finished.
"Find anything good in there Ginny?" Harry asked, sending her a small, friendly smile. Ginny resisted the urge to grin; she was still mad at him.
"Obviously Mr. Potter," she replied quickly, turning on her heel and walking over to the register. She wasn't quite sure that she knew how to do this whole buying clothing thing, but she had a good idea of how it was done. She quickly placed the pile of her neatly folded things on the counter. The woman behind it gave her a soft smile; Ginny wasn't sure why.
After a good five minutes of ringing up all of Ginny's purchases, the final total was announced. Ginny's mouth dropped open in horror. She didn't have nearly enough money to pay for these clothes; she would have to put some back. How would she be able to choose?
"Here, and add this stuff in too" a voice said, slapping a huge wad of money and clothes onto the table. The woman behind the counter rolled her eyes and began ringing up Harry's purchases.
"Harry!" Ginny hissed in outrage, turning on him quickly. She didn't want charity, especially from him. Harry may have been a very rich young boy, but who knew if he would ever be in a pinch?
"Look Gin, I know what you're going to say, so don't waste your breath. I brought enough, knowing this would happen, and I have more money back in that Gringotts vault than I will ever need in my life. Don't argue with me, it's too late," Harry spat out, just quickly enough to keep Ginny from getting a word in before the woman behind the counter handed him his change.
So Ginny didn't say a word, but she would. Oh yes, she would be descending upon Harry that night with such anger that he would wish he was never born.
"He already does," was the first thought that came to Ginny's mind, and she knew instantly that it was true.
It took her a full five minutes, until they were outside the store and on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron, before she realized that he had called her Gin. He had called her Gin, not Ginny. Only her close family and friends called her Gin. She was Harry's friend.
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The rest of the day passed loudly and with much entertainment. Ginny, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Bill played a few games of Quidditch. They were quite fun, and Ginny discovered that she had quite a knack for being Chaser. "I think I'll go out for the team once we're back at Hogwarts," Ginny mused over dinner.
Dinner was much more subdued than the rest of the day had been. Ginny was still mad at Harry, Harry was being deadly silent, the twins had finished quickly and returned to Diagon Alley and their shop, and Arthur Weasley was working late. That left only Ginny, Ron, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley to talk, and they had a lot harder time of it than would be expected.
Finally, dinner was over, and Ginny got a chance to talk to Harry privately. So, immediately after her plate was cleared, she walked up the stairs and knocked on Harry and Ron's door. "Come in!" Ron's voice called from the other side of the door. Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head. How was she going to get Ron to leave them alone?
Disregarding that for a moment, Ginny opened the door. Ron obviously hadn't been expecting her, since he looked quite shocked when she arrived. "Gin, what're you doing here?" he asked her.
"I need to talk to Harry," was all the information she supplied. No point not getting right to it, was there? Ron was even more shocked by this pronouncement; his mouth hung wide open.
"Harry?" he croaked, his voice barely raised above a whisper. Obviously, Ron wasn't accustomed to Ginny talking to Harry.
"Well, he better get used to it," Ginny thought sourly, her mouth moving, of its own accord, into a frown. Ron had obviously been trying hard not to think about his precious little sister living in a house alone with Harry for any amount of time. She was sure that it would be hard for him. He still thought she was 10.
"Yeah, me. Let's go Gin," Harry said, standing up from his bed. In her haste to get Ron to leave, Ginny hadn't even noticed Harry. But there he was, lying on (well now standing next to) his bed. He shot her a quick smile, one that she did not return.
She and Harry promptly walked out, leaving Ron to stare at them both in great wonder.
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She was mad at him, Harry knew, and he also knew why. The third thing he knew was that Ginny had only gotten angrier with him when he had paid for her clothes. He had a feeling that he was in for it tonight.
Resigning himself to a bout of female Weasley temper, Harry walked through the door of Ginny's room. He was ready (as ready as he'd ever be) to face the fire.
"So Ginny, what did you want to talk about?" Harry asked, beginning the conversation as soon as he and Ginny were seated on her bed. Ginny raised an eyebrow and gave him a reproachful look.
"You know exactly what I want to talk about Mr. Harry Potter," Ginny said sternly, the look not disappearing. Harry felt like running from the room; he should have addressed her anger earlier, instead of letting it fester and boil throughout the day.
He was in a bloody lot of trouble, and he wasn't sure that he knew how to get out of it.
"I really don't know of what it is you speak. Perhaps you could tell me?" Harry asked, trying to sound as not guilty as possible. Ginny rolled her eyes, muttered something about him being "too much," and began her diatribe.
"Honestly Harry, I don't know what anyone is going to do with you. First you nearly starve yourself, then you have an "episode" during breakfast, then you withdraw from everyone for the rest of the day, and then you insist upon paying for my clothes? What is it with you Harry?"
"Well, that pretty much says it all," Harry remarked, trying once again to coax a smile from the enraged Weasley. It didn't work.
"Let's address that second issue, shall we? What was that episode during breakfast?" Harry wasn't feeling particularly like saying anything about it, but he knew that Ginny was too angry with him for it to be let go. So, he would have to tell her about it.
"Voldemort was listening to our conversation through my head, and now he knows that I'll be spending the next few weeks alone with you. That's why I said 'Oh God,'" Harry informed her, his voice not wavering in the slightest. He knew that Ginny would have hundreds of questions on this particular subject, especially since she knew what he was going through; she too had been possessed by the Dark Lord.
"What do you mean he was listening?" Ginny asked, her voice full of worry and, underneath that but hidden well, fear.
And so, Harry explained to Ginny rather quickly about his Occlumency lessons with Snape, how Voldemort was in his mind, and about the prophecy.
"So let me get this straight. You've been taking Occlumency but you're still not so great at it, so He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can come into your head any time. You can go into his head too. And, you are the only one who can kill him?" Harry nodded. She had pretty much summed it up.
"So Harry, before we continue this little discussion, I have a question for you. Is the world really as heavy as it sounds?" Harry laughed at that. Ginny was the first person who had heard about the prophecy and hadn't immediately taken pity on him. Ginny knew what he was feeling; she could relate, and she did not feel pity for him. She knew that it was the last thing he needed.
"Oh, much heavier. Now, we're going to continue this, are we?" Harry asked, his face covered in a brilliant white smile. He had a feeling that this next month-and-a-half was going to be one of the most fun he had ever had.