Chapter 5: The First Day
The rest of the conversation was short, to the point, and very easy to manage. Harry was obviously not remorseful about paying for her clothes but Ginny thought that wouldn't have been much like Harry anyway.
The next day dawned bright and early (cliché but true), too early for one Miss Ginny Weasley. She felt as though she had barely gone to sleep before she was woken by a bouncing on her bed. "Ginny, Ginny, it's time to get up Ginny!" an excited voice squealed. Ginny could have sworn that the voice belonged to Harry, but...
It did. "Harry?" she asked in shock, squinting her eyes a little. Maybe it wasn't Harry after all, although who in this house but Harry could have green eyes and black hair she didn't know.
"You're up Gin? Good, because we need to leave soon," Harry said softly, pressing a hand to her side and pushing her back and forth a few times. There was a sharp intake of breath from Ginny when his hand connected with her side, but other than that she stayed silent.
She was warm, she soon realized, and it wasn't from the covers draped over her half-asleep form. No, it was from the pressure on her side, and the person it was coming from. Harry Potter. There was also a tingling sensation there, but she recognized that. It was the same sensation that she got whenever she looked at Harry, only worse.
"Ginny?"
"Ger'off me Harry," Ginny said, her words muffled from the action of turning her head into the pillow. Suddenly, there were two arms firmly around her waist, and she was being picked up. "Harry!" she shrieked, laughing and squealing as Harry lifted her off the bed and plopped her on the ground.
"Yes?" he asked with a mischievous grin, his arms no longer wrapped around her waist. She studied his face for a moment, taking in the slightly reddened cheeks, the gorgeous emerald eyes (green as a fresh pickled toad), the charcoal-black hair that always looked messy but gorgeous, and the lightning shaped scar that graced his forehead.
"Ginny, you're staring at me." Ginny's face colored slightly, and she stood up, face turned to the ground.
"Out you go then Harry. Ginny needs to get ready," a voice said, a chuckle hiding underneath the speaker's voice. Standing in the doorway was none other than Hermione Granger.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, whirling around to face the door. The bushy-haired Muggle-born witch nodded with a knowing smile.
"Yeah, that's me. Now get out Harry, before I have to clobber you with my wand." And with that, Harry was gone. As soon as he left, Hermione closed the door softly behind her and, still smiling, went to sit on the chair in a corner of the room.
"Hermione, I thought you were going to be in Bulgaria," Ginny said, her voice soft. She had a feeling that she knew exactly what Miss Hermione Granger had done, and somehow she was pleased.
"Harry needed to get away from the Dursleys and have some fun. He also needs to get to know you, be your friend, and stop thinking of you in terms of Ron's little sister. Then, he'll be able to notice you as something more," Hermione stated matter-of-factly, knowing that Ginny was aware of what the brilliant witch had done.
"Does Ron know you're here?" Ginny asked. She knew that she should say thank you, but the words wouldn't come.
"Yeah, I went up to his room to say hi and sent Harry in here to wake you up," Hermione replied. Ginny waggled her eyebrows at the girl, and Hermione responded in character; she blushed profusely.
"Now, you need to get out too. I have to get ready to go, m'kay?"
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Harry was so stunned by Hermione's arrival that he barely made it back up to his room without crashing into the walls. He opened the door and saw Ron sitting on the bed, a goofy grin plastered all over his face and a hand to his mouth. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head. He knew exactly what Ron and Hermione had been doing while he was waking up Ginny.
"So, what's Hermione doing here?" Harry asked nonchalantly, sitting down on his bed. "Or were you too busy to ask?" At those words, Ron's head whipped around and his eyes grew wide. He immediately ripped his hand away from his mouth and stood up.
"She was never going to Krum's in the first place. Ginny must have misunderstood her letter," Ron replied quickly as he left the room.
"Must be going to go take a cold shower," Harry thought, bringing a laugh to his lips. "Exactly what I need to be doing." The laughter was gone.
The feeling of Ginny's soft stomach under his hands had been quite the sensation, one that Harry would not soon forget. He had never felt it before, having never touched a girl in that area other than Hermione. With Hermione though, it was different. She was his friend, a sister-by-default, and he would never, could never, have any kind of feelings for her.
Ginny, however, was a different story.
"Ron's little sister, Ron's little sister..." he repeated inside his head as he gathered up his clothes and made his way down to the main Weasley bathroom. Soon, Ron's shower was finished, and Harry stepped inside the bathroom, ready for a nice, cold shower.
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Harry made his way slowly into the kitchen, letting all of his thoughts roll through his mind. Once he finally did reach the kitchen, everyone but him had started eating. Bill, Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and even Ginny were all munching away at some food or another (Harry wasn't being observant enough that morning to catch which food it was).
"G'morning Harry," Bill called out through a mouthful of food. Harry nodded and sat down in the only free chair at the table.
"Harry, it's July 4th; today's you and Ginny's first day in Muggle London," Hermione informed him briskly, sending him a small "I know what's going on with you" smile over her plate. Harry raised an eyebrow at her and began eating; if she knew "what was going on" she was the only one, because he sure didn't.
"Why Harry dear, I do believe I completely forgot!" Mrs. Weasley said pleasantly, getting up from the table and whisking her plate from the room. When she came back in, she continued with the discussion. "You and Ginny need to be packed and ready in about an hour. Then you'll floo into the Leaky Cauldron, where you'll meet Professor Dent and he'll give you the instructions for the day. Now, hurry up and finish eating so you can go pack."
Harry took it all in without a word, waiting until Mrs. Weasley was finished before beginning to eat once again. As he spooned the food into his mouth, not caring what it was he was eating, he felt a warm hand on his arm.
"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny whispered in his ear, her breath sending shivers down his spine. He nodded and removed Ginny's hand from his arm.
"Don't touch me please Ginny," Harry whispered, and ate.
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Don't touch me please Ginny. Her head was spinning. Why not? They were friends, weren't they? Why couldn't she put a hand on his arm? Hermione gave him comforting back rubs and playful slaps all the time; what was wrong with a little bit of that between her and Harry?
Maybe he feels the same way about you as you do for him, that mutinous voice in her head ventured.
"Maybe he's repulsed by me," she answered back, not wanting to even explore the thought that Harry might feel something for her. It would just be too much to handle at that point in time, especially since they were about to begin living together for a whole month. Having any, well, feelings would make the whole thing way too complicated.
So, Ginny returned to eating, trying to forget for a minute about all of her conflicting emotions. "I'm going to have fun with Harry on this damned trip, and if something else comes of it then so be it." And that was the attitude she vowed to take for the next month-and-a-half.
"Ginny dear, you need to start packing," her mother said. Ginny's head snapped up and she looked around the room. Everyone else seemed immersed in his or her food, not even noticing that something was going on. Ginny then looked down at her plate, saw there was nothing there, and realized that she had been staring at her plate for quite a while.
"Going up mum," she replied, getting up from her chair and making her way up the steps. She was in her room in a moment and began packing.
During the packing ritual she went through at the Burrow at least once a year, Ginny always found herself cursing the Ministry of Magic. She found it quite absurd that they couldn't even use packing charms to do this work.
"I guess this is what the next few weeks is going to be like for me," Ginny thought about an hour later, once all of her packing was finished. The minute she had crammed the last of her clothes into her suitcase and zipped it shut, her mother called to her from downstairs.
"Ginny, it's time to leave!" she yelled up the stairs.
"Coming mum!" Ginny called back, picking up her trunk and leaving her room. At the door, she turned to look back at it and waved with her free hand. She always did that, whenever she was leaving her room for a long period of time. Then, she turned around again and rushed down the stairs.
They were all gathered in front of the fireplace: Mum, Hermione, Ron, Bill, Fred, George, her dad, and (of course) Harry. They were all (except Harry) looking at her with warm, farewell smiles.
"Au revoir ma cherie!" Bill whispered in her ear as he gave her a lingering hug. Ginny smiled and couldn't resist a Fred & George like comment.
"Brushing up on your French, are you Bill?" she asked, a gleam in her eye. "Is it for anyone in particular, perhaps a certain half-Veela who name begins with an F and ends in and R?"
Bill returned her smile and rolled his eyes. "Ginger..." he murmured in mock anger, balling up his fists and shaking them in her face. She gave him another quick, tight hug and moved on to the next person in line.
"Au revoir Ginny. We'll see you when you get back. By that time, we may have a wedding to tell you about," George whispered in her ear, just loud enough for Bill to hear. The older boy smacked George across the shoulder, and George skittered away in mock fear and hurt.
"Why Mum, I do believe Bill just attacked me with malicious intent," George said, grinning the whole time. Molly Weasley just rolled her eyes and gave Bill a stern look.
"Whose wedding George, yours and Fred's?" Bill asked in retaliation, a smile breaking out over his features when he saw the identical looks of horror on the twins' faces. Fred recovered much more quickly then George did, and shot back a remark of his own.
"No, Harry and Ginny's." Ginny spun on her older brother, her eyes stormy. This time, mock anger was replaced with real anger, and Fred could see it in his sister's eyes. "Oh, I meant nothing by it Gin. See you when you get home." And with that, Fred gave her a quick hug and pushed her over to the next brother in line, Ron.
"Play nice with Harry, okay?" Ron whispered in her ear as he gave her a quick hug. When she pulled away, Ginny slapped him on the side of the face and grinned.
"You bet."
Hermione was next, and a tight hug was bestowed upon this non-Weasley. Hermione was like a sister to her, and she had set this whole thing up in the first place. Hermione didn't say a word as Ginny went on to say goodbye to her parents.
Mrs. Weasley began giving Ginny stern instructions about making sure to eat, cleaning up after herself, being careful, watching after Harry, remembering to brush her teeth, and everything else a mother finds necessary whenever her baby goes away. Mr. Weasley just stood on the sidelines in silence, preferring to give Ginny a quick hug and whispered words of encouragement.
"Honestly mum, stop worrying. You can always owl me while I'm away; Harry's bringing Hedwig I see," Ginny remarked when her mother's tirade was finally finished. She turned to Harry, and saw that he was nodding to Mrs. Weasley and gesturing towards his snowy owl.
"Okay dear, off you two go," Mrs. Weasley said, handing some floo powder to both of the teenagers. With a quick wave, Ginny threw the powder into the fire and stepped inside. Harry followed shortly after.
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"Ah, the Miss Weasley has finally arrived. I assume that you are her partner Mr. Potter?" Professor Dent asked him as soon as they popped out of the fire. Ginny looked up at her professor and shook her head. He really was a nice man; he just took some getting used to.
"Uh, yes sir," Harry mumbled, looking at the professor with a bit of confusion. Suddenly something dawned on Ginny. Harry had never taken Muggle Studies, so he didn't know who Professor Dent was! Ginny was about to lean over and tell him, but the professor beat her too it.
Holding out his hand to shake Harry's, the professor explained. "Nice to meet you Mr. Potter; I'm Professor Dent, Miss Weasley's Muggle Studies professor." Harry nodded in comprehension, the confused look gone from his face. He must have thought the professor was some kind of weird stranger or something.
The professor walked away, and moments later he was standing in front of a large group of students in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry and Ginny hurried to stand at the back of the group and listen to his "lecture," which he happened to be giving from on top of a table.
"I'm sure you all know why you're here, so there's no need to take up time with frivolous explanations. I'm just going to go over a few rules and let you students ask questions about any of the tasks on your sheets. If you didn't bring your sheets, I have to say that you are one of the dimmest of the lot. But, I do have extras for you."
Harry leaned over to Ginny's side, his shoulder lightly touching hers, and whispered in her ear. "Do you have your sheets?"
"I'm not dim Harry, if that answers your question. Now shush up," she whispered back. At that moment, the Professor began speaking again.
"Now, let's get down to business. There aren't too many rules for this project, but if you break even one than you could get in a lot of trouble. First of all, there will be no magic whatsoever. This should be something you are fairly used to, with the ban on underage magic they have these days. You are allowed to receive owls, send owls, and use some floo powder that I will be giving each of you. This floo powder can only be used to contact people via fireplace. There will be no flooing around. Also, your wands will be left here, or at home if you didn't bring them." The professor paused for a moment, taking in the expressions of his students and their partners, and continued.
"For the tasks, a complex timing schedule has been drawn up for each of you. If you took the time to look, on the sheets that you received there is a list of each of the tasks, the particulars of each task, and how to do them. Each day, a new task will appear on your paper, along with all the details necessary to complete the task. You have a certain time frame to complete the task in; if you cannot complete it within that time frame you do not get any credit. Now, before you begin a month-and-a-half with no magic but the paper with your assignments, are there any questions?"
No one said a word. With a satisfied smile, Professor Dent finally finished his speech. "I will come up to each of you and give you the keys to your flat, and the location. You do, of course, have to find it yourself, but that shouldn't be too hard. I'll point you in the right direction." And with that, the professor jumped off the table and began walking around, handing keys to the groups.
"That was boring." Ginny nodded in response, not really feeling like saying anything. This whole project was beginning to sound a bit too hard for her. How would she survive without magic for so long? Even if she couldn't do magic at home, she had always been around other people who could. Now she would have to live without magic for a month-and-a-half.
"It's not so hard Gin," Harry whispered in her ear, reading her mind. Ginny turned her head and smiled at him.
"I hope not." Moments later, Professor Dent was standing in front of them and holding out a key to Harry.
"Well, I trust that you two will take good care of each other. This flat is over in Kensington. I suggest that you take the tube, but if you'd rather walk..."
"We'll take the tube. Do we need our own money, or do you have some for us?" Harry asked, grabbing the keys from the professor. Arthur Dent smiled up at the boy (this Professor was a particularly short man) and shook his head.
"Nope, have this. It's a bag full of Muggle money; it's all you'll need for now." The professor dropped a heavy bag into Harry's hand and walked off, going on to the next group. Harry tested the weight of the bag for a moment and then peered inside.
"Wow, there's got to be at least 1000 pounds in there!" Harry exclaimed, sticking his head even farther into the bag. Something about this image made Ginny giggle, and she quickly grabbed the back of Harry's head (his hair) and pulled his face from the bag.
"Don't be getting greedy now Harry. That'll have to last us for a month-and-a-half," she scolded, taking the bag from him. He growled in mock anger and grabbed the bag back.
"Ginny, we can't just carry this thing around, and there's certainly no room in your suitcase. I'll stick it in mine," Harry said as an explanation for why he took the money. Ginny nodded in comprehension; her mother always gave her a warning speech about Muggle pickpockets whenever she went into Muggle London.
So, once Harry had the bag stuffed into his trunk, the both of them walked outside the Leaky Cauldron. "Let's see," Harry mumbled as soon as they were outside of the building. "Where's the nearest tube station?"
"Even I know that you dolt," Ginny remarked, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him in the direction she thought the tube station was in. She wasn't sure (it had been a long time since she had gone on the tube), but she didn't want to tell Harry that.
They kept walking in that direction for a few minutes, no words passing between them. Finally Harry opened his mouth to speak, probably to ask if she really knew where she was going, but at that moment she spotted the station. "Look there Harry, it's the tube station," Ginny said in a slightly excited voice, pointing out the station up ahead.
"Yeah, I see it," Harry mumbled. Suddenly, Ginny realized that her hand was still grasping his, and she snapped it away, a blush growing on her face. It had just felt so natural that she hadn't even noticed it.
They reached the station a scant minute later, and they went through all the motions of buying a ticket, choosing the right line to take, and getting on the tube. The actual ride was uneventful at best, unbearably boring at the worst. Finally they reached their destination and hopped off the tube as quickly as possible.
"So, now where do we go?" Ginny asked once they had exited the station. Harry stuck a hand in his pocket, extracted the key, held it up to his face, and squinted. After a few moments of examination, Harry took the key away from his face and put it in his pocket once again.
"It says 15 on it, so I'm going to assume that's the number of the flat. Let's just wander around and try to find it."
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Now that was easier said than done. After nearly an hour of wandering, however, they did find the flat that they were looking for. Harry extracted the key from his pocket and stuck it into the door. With a quick turn of his wrist, the door was unlocked and he pushed it open.
After perusing the flat for a few minutes, Harry soon realized that he and Ginny would be having some trouble with sleeping arrangements. From what he had seen, there were four rooms to this small flat: one bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a main living space. There was only one bed in the bedroom.
"You can have it," Ginny supplied, picking her bag up off the ground and making her way towards the room she was just talking about. Harry quickly picked up his own bag and followed her into the room.
"I can have what?" he asked.
"The bed."
"Couldn't we just share it?" Harry volunteered, hoping that she would say yes. He had no intention of sleeping on the couch, but he knew that if she said no he would have to. Sleeping on the couch was the noble, manly thing to do, so of course he would have to do it.
"Could you resist the temptation Potter?" Ginny asked, a slow smile spreading across her features. Harry was so shaken by the, well, something hidden in her voice that it took him a moment to form a reply.
"It's not you who should be worried, it's me. I'm not the one who has harbored a not-so-secret crush on you since before my first year, am I?" Harry asked. He immediately wished he could take back the words when he saw the look of annoyance come over Ginny's features.
"Uh, sorry Gin, didn't mean it that way," he mumbled, setting his trunk down in front of the dresser and opening it. "I'll take the first two drawers and you can take the second, okay?" he asked, trying to dismiss his earlier comment.
"No, you can have the drawers. I brought hangers for all of my clothes, so I'll hang them up," Ginny replied, taking her trunk and setting it down in front of the closet.
"Hangers? I didn't think Wizarding families used hangers," Harry said.
"Yeah well, you know about my dad's obsession with all things Muggle. Plus, they're convenient, and I knew that I would need them. You have no idea how many clothes I brought," Ginny supplied, opening the closet and beginning to unpack her clothes.
"My bank account does though," Harry mumbled jokingly, hoping that Ginny hadn't heard it. She had however, and shot him and scathing look. "Again Gin, I didn't mean it that way," Harry explained, using that as an excuse.
About half and hour later, Ginny and Harry had unpacked all of their things and were sitting at the kitchen table with the sheet from Professor Dent in front of them. Words had appeared on it, and they were both reading them.
Dear Students:
This is your first day, so I've decided to simply let you rest. Of course, you'll have to cook yourself dinner, but that won't be too hard for any of you. Cooking your own meals, and washing the dishes, is something that you will have to do most every day that you are staying here. I hope you enjoy it; you'll get the hang of it... eventually.
Oh yes, and food has already been provided. You will never have to go shopping for food (well, maybe for one of the tasks... you shall have to wait and find out).
Sincerely, Professor Dent
"Wash the dishes? Make dinner? I don't believe that I shall survive," Ginny quipped sarcastically, rolling up the parchment and leaving it on the table. Harry rolled his eyes, got up, and made his way to the kitchen. He knew that he could cook without magic (he had done it for the Dursleys many times). However, he wasn't sure whether Ginny could cook at all, let alone without magic.
"I can cook Harry," Ginny informed him haughtily once they reached the kitchen. "And I can do it without magic too." Harry nodded in agreement, hiding his surprise. He had not ever thought of Ginny as one the cooking type; he had obviously been wrong. Not that he minded; having help would be quite nice.
After rummaging around in the kitchen for about five minutes, Harry had everything he needed to make a nice pasta dish. Soon he was bustling around the kitchen, he and Ginny both, preparing the food.
About an hour after that, dinner was served. Ginny had actually been helpful, and all of Harry's doubts were gone. They had quite a nice conversation over dinner; Harry was not as quiet as he had wanted to be. Somehow, Ginny Weasley brought out the best (most talkative) in him.
Washing the dishes was fairly easy as well. Harry knew how to do it, and Ginny did too, so they had no trouble. The real trouble started when they got into bed.
Harry had seen Ginny in pajamas before. He'd even seen her in these pajamas before. However, Harry did have a justifiable reason why he was feeling particularly uncomfortable with a certain female Weasley that night. He may have seen her in these pajamas before, but that was two year ago.
Ginny was decked out in an old Chudley Cannons t-shirt of Ron's. When she was 12 it had gone down well past her knees. Now the shirt barely reached her knees, and was particularly tight in an area Harry did not want to be looking at.
"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny asked. A blush crept onto his face; he had been caught staring at her.
"Yeah Gin, I'm fine. Let's go to bed." Harry then slipped under the covers of the fairly large bed, thankful for its size. He praised all the gods he could think of for giving them a king size bed in their flat. He turned on his side, away from the side of the bed Ginny was standing on.
Reluctantly, Harry closed his eyes. He had a feeling that he would be dreaming tonight; dreaming about something he really shouldn't be dreaming about. Moments after this thought, Harry felt the bed shift a little as Ginny sat down on it. With a sigh, she slipped under the covers and moved around a little.
"G'night Harry," she mumbled.
"G'night Gin."