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Chapter 13
Ginny and Josefina had returned to Garibaldi manor immediately. Josefina had gone home for the night, and Ginny had gone to pay a visit to Harry. She walked down the corridor leading to his room and entered. She had been making a habit of not knocking. When Ginny entered the room, she saw Harry and Alessio sitting on the bed, deep in conversation.
"What are you two on about?" Ginny asked.
"I'm just explaining the finer points of Quidditch to Alessio." Said Harry innocently.
"It sounds fantastic!" Alessio interjected.
"It's great fun!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Girls are allowed to play too? That sounds great, girls can't play sports around here." Said Alessio.
"That's why I'm glad I was born a hundred years from now." Ginny said sarcastically.
"Okay, so, what did you do today?" Harry asked Ginny trying to change the subject."
"We went shopping for some fabric to make my gown for the ball, it's going to be just lovely." Ginny said animatedly.
"There's a ball?" Harry's face contorted into a confused expression.
"Yes, my parents host a ball every year for the wealthy families of Rome." Said Alessio. "They'll let me bring a friend, you can come if you want."
"Are you sure your father won't get mad?" Harry asked.
"He will, but he won't do anything about it in front of all the noble guests." Alessio shrugged.
"I'd love to come." Harry smirked simply adoring the idea of making Signore Garibaldi angry in a situation where he couldn't bring out the pistol.
"Alessio, can I ask you something?" Ginny questioned, looking uneasy.
"I suppose." Alessio responded.
"Do you know what Zachariah and Lucia were planning to do with their lives? I mean, they have to get married without your family knowing, and if they ever want to have children, that would be difficult if Lucia's family doesn't know they're married." Ginny had been wondering bout this for a while now, but just hadn't managed to ask.
"Zachariah had a job, I assume it was a job in your world because he refused to tell me anything about it. They were planning to save up, and run away from here, where my parents wouldn't find them." Said Alessio.
"They probably planned to live in the Wizarding World." Harry muttered.
"I guess so." Alessio shrugged. "All I know is, none of us would get to see them again, not even those of us that support them." He said bitterly.
There was a quick knock on the door, and then the knob turned and the door opened before anyone could answer. Ginny was expecting the worst, but sighed with relief when she saw Josefina.
"Oh, Lucia, I've been looking for you everywhere." Said Josefina. "Oh, and Alessio as well, good day to you."
"Good day." Alessio nodded.
Josefina's eyes rested on Harry. "And who might you be?" She asked.
"Zachariah Butarelli." Said Harry, standing up and holding out his hand. She took his hand and shook it gently.
"I am Josefina Malone, Lucia's matchmaker." A stunned look took over Harry's face and he glared at Ginny.
"Did you need something?" Ginny asked Josefina before Harry could say anything stupid.
"I got home and noticed that I didn't have the proper thread or ribbon for the fabric you've chosen. I'll have to go back to the market tomorrow. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me, we could visit the jewelry shop and find something to go with your gown." Josefina said, hoping to coax Ginny into coming.
"That sounds lovely, but you didn't have to come all the way back here tonight, you could have asked me when you came tomorrow morning." Ginny stated.
"Well, your mother invited me back for dinner tonight." Said Josefina. "I'll see you all in a bit then. It was nice to meet you, Signore Butarelli."
"Nice to meet you too." Harry muttered, still glaring at Ginny.
As soon as Josefina had left the room, Harry released his tongue.
"You have a matchmaker?" He asked sounding very hurt.
"Well, Lucia's mum hired one for her, remember Lucia is supposed to be married by her age, and Maria doesn't know about her and Zachariah." Ginny reminded him.
"This is just getting so insane." Said Harry, sinking down onto his bed.
They were all silent for a few moments before Alessio spoke.
"Look, Ginny, we better head to dinner. We'll bring you some food later, Harry." Said Alessio, pushing Ginny lightly on the shoulder in the direction of the door. Harry just grunted in response.
Dinner had been as delightful as it could possibly be with Signore Garibaldi grunting the whole time. Josefina was back to her stern behavior in front of Maria, and Ginny and Alessio had laughed silently as the twins loosened the top on the peppershaker. The funniest part had been when Alessio used the peppershaker, only minutes later. He had forgotten the twins' prank, and ended up pouring pepper all over his dinner.
The twins were sent to their rooms for "unladylike conduct," as Maria put it. The meal soon came to an end, and Ginny took some Chicken Parmesan upstairs for Harry.
Late that night, as Ginny lay awake in her bed, she realized this was one of the few nights in the last month she had spent without Harry. She found it hard to sleep alone now. Ginny recalled the first night she spent with Harry in the common room back at Hogwarts. She had been so frightened by a nightmare, and Harry had made her feel safe. She eventually drifted off to sleep, only after hours of thinking how lonely it was that night. Harry had eventually dozed off to the very same thoughts.
The following day, Ginny and Josefina had departed very early for the market. After quickly picking up the sewing supplies that Josefina required, the pair stopped into the jewelry store.
Ginny had rested her hands on the counter, peering at some sapphire earrings, when the woman working in the shop noticed the ring on her hand.
"What a gorgeous ring that is, your fiancé has impeccable taste!" The woman gasped, grabbing Ginny's left hand and pulling it toward her face to get a closer look.
Josefina had overheard the commotion and came over to look at the ring. Upon getting a good look at it, the matchmaker took Ginny by the arm and pulled her into a private corner of the shop.
"Lucia, is that an engagement ring?" Josefina asked incredulously.
"Well..." Ginny began trying to think up a good lie. Her mind had gone completely blank and all she could get out was, "Yes."
"Why did your mother hire me then, you clearly don't require my services." Josefina questioned.
"She doesn't know." Ginny muttered, hanging her head.
"Oh." Said Josefina a look of understanding started in her turquoise eyes and spread throughout her face.
"My family wouldn't approve of this man." Said Ginny sadly.
"Is it that boy I met last night, Zachariah?" Josefina asked. Ginny nodded in response.
"I thought you might have had someone specific in mind when you were telling me what you'd like in a man. You mentioned some features that were so unusual and went into even the smallest details. It was as if you already knew the one person who was perfect for you." Said Josefina wisely.
"Really? What did I say?" Ginny wondered, unable to remember as she had really let her mouth run wild the day before.
"Well, you mentioned a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. That was the one that struck me as most unusual." Josefina stated. Ginny laughed.
"Yes, that's Zachariah alright." She said, though she was thinking Harry.
"Here's what we'll do." Josefina started. "We'll continue to spend time together every day, your mother will never know we're not doing business. At the ball I'll mingle with all the young men to make it look like I'm finding you a match. If you agree to dance with a few different men, I'm sure your mother will never be the wiser." Josefina was speaking so animatedly that a few blonde curls were falling from her tight bun.
"I can agree to that." Said Ginny smiling. She was lucky to have such an understanding matchmaker.
"I assume you have a plan for what you will do when you actually get married." Josefina inquired.
"He has a job, by the time we marry, we'll have enough money to move far away from my family." Ginny said, regurgitating what Alessio had told her the previous night.
"Well then it's settled." Said Josefina beaming.
"May I ask why you're so inclined to help me disobey my parents?" Ginny asked.
"I'm in the business of making love matches. I know a good relationship when I see one, and I can tell that you truly love this man." Said Josefina truthfully.
"Thank you." Ginny blushed.
"Don't mention it." Said Josefina. "Now, let's get back to your manor."
The moment Josefina dropped Ginny off she sprinted up to Harry's room.
"Harry! There may be hope for Zachariah and Lucia yet!" Ginny exclaimed upon bursting into the room.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"Josefina, the matchmaker, she's on our side." Ginny said excitedly. Ginny suddenly noticed all the stuff surrounding Harry on the bed.
"What's all this?" She asked, picking up a Hogwarts prefect badge.
"It's Zachariah's stuff." Said Harry proudly.
Ginny began rifling through old spell books and robes. They found a head boy badge, as well as the prefect badge they'd already looked at. Harry picked up a blue scarf, and a black Hogwarts robe with a Ravenclaw insignia on the chest.
"Looks like he was in Ravenclaw." Harry observed.
"It looks like he's a Percy clone, head boy, prefect, just look at these NEWT scores!" Ginny gasped picking up a piece of parchment containing Zachariah's NEWT results. Ginny set the parchment aside and picked up a small, leather bound book. It read Zachariah Butarelli in silver letters on the spine.
"This must be his diary." Said Ginny, trying to pry it open, but unable to do so.
"There must be some kind of protection charm in place. We can look at it more carefully later." Said Harry, tossing the diary aside.
After further digging through Zachariah's stuff, Harry pulled out a dusty old book. A book that he was sure had never been a Hogwarts textbook.
"Ah ha!" Harry cried triumphantly.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Take a look at this!" He said, thrusting the book at her.
"A Wizard's Guide to Time Travel." Ginny read aloud.
"Exactly, I'll bet we can find anything we need to know in there!" Harry exclaimed.
"Harry I could just kiss you!" Ginny giggled, reaching up to kiss his cheek.
Just at the moment Ginny went to kiss him, Harry turned to face her, and Ginny's lips hit the corner of Harry's mouth. They both pulled back blushing profusely.
Ginny found herself looking deep into Harry's emerald eyes. She was lost in him. Her common sense was gone; she couldn't rationalize her way out of doing exactly what she wanted. Not this time, anyway.
Ginny grabbed Harry's face with both hands and pulled him down until their lips met.
Harry's mind shut down as Ginny pressed her lips to his. His hands gripped her waist, instinctively, yet clumsily. He felt his lips go numb, yet at the same time they'd never felt so sensitive. His blood boiled as he felt a kind of magic he'd never experienced pulsing through his veins, yet at the same time his extremities froze. He couldn't move, and he couldn't think. Harry's mind was exploding with emotion, and all he could sense was Ginny, in this exact moment. Harry felt as if these feelings had been running through him for hours, yet the kiss had ended all too soon.
Ginny had pulled back after what had actually been less than two seconds. The kiss had been brief, yet perfect, and that short time had been enough for Harry to soak up all the feeling of it.
Harry and Ginny stared at each other for a moment. Ginny realized what she had done; she had broken her promise to herself. She had let herself be taken over by her feelings for Harry, and that could only lead to pain for him.
Ginny had felt all the same sensations as Harry. There was no denying it. Even minutes afterwards, as they sat staring at each other, Ginny still felt butterflies in her stomach, her head was achy and she couldn't quite think straight. She felt as though she had departed from her body and watched herself kiss Harry, yet at the same time had managed to feel all of the emotion. Ginny had to get out of there before she lost her self-control entirely.
She jumped up off the bed and out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She felt her eyes watering, but fought back the tears. She ran up several flights of stairs, she didn't know how many. She kept running until she had reached the top. She ran through glass, double doors and found herself on a wooden balcony. She collapsed against the railing and hugged her legs to her chest, crying into her knees. The tears were flowing freely now.
"Great, just great." Ginny thought. "I haven't cried since the chamber, but now I've cried twice in two weeks. Twice over bloody Harry Potter."
Ginny looked up into the night sky through teary eyes. She looked up at the billions of stars, and came to the conclusion that she had never seen stars shining so brightly in her entire life.
AN: This chapter would have been up a couple days ago, but ffn kept having a server error when I tried to post, so don't blame me for the wait. Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, and please continue to review! Even short reviews that are only two words long are much appreciated! Please, if anyone has not checked out my new website yet, please do so, the link is in my profile. Thanks!
I do have one thing to say about reviews though, if you're going to criticize something, don't just say 'that was stupid' it doesn't do me any good, I've done everything the best I can do it, so just you telling me you thought it was stupid, doesn't help me make it any better. If you criticize something, please tell me what specifically you didn't like about it, and how it could be done better. If you can't think of a better way to do it either, then you probably shouldn't be criticizing it. Thanks again to all reviewers!