Sorry it took so long! I explained everything at the bottom. Anways, thanks to:
FemmeDraconis- I made this one a bit longer. Really? You think their all action packed? Yay! I'm glad I'm not boring you lol.
all improvviso amore- Hey! I'm soo happy you like it! Oooh, what Malfoy does to Ginny? Heh heh, let's just say, if you felt bad for Malfoy, your heart will go out to Ginny when you see what happens to her!
cutiepiethesecond- Your ideas are awesome! Next chapter, all the credit goes to you for the brilliant ideas! Thanks a bunch! Your awesome!
Munkiebutt- Woo, you reviewed alot of times! Thank you! I'm soo glad you like it! I loved reading your reviews!
MissBlueAngel- I'm sorry!! I updated as fast as I could. You'll have to forgive me, okay? Enjoy this chapter!
Lucy Saints- I made it to your favorites?! YAY! Thank you! You just made my day lol. Ah, and for April Fools day, my dumb school won't let me play any pranks! most of the time that day is on a school day. Not fair! Anyways, thanks for your vote on the pairing! Hope to see more reviews from you!
Chapter 8 Talks in riddles
It was starting to get late. Ginny decided she had better meet Harry as they planned. Her heart was bursting with excitement. Last time they had talked face-to-face he had kissed her. Could he possibly want to ask her out now? Ginny could feel herself blush the more she thought about it.
She finally met him near the Entrance Hall There stood Harry, smiling down at her. She felt her heart beat a thousand times faster.
'Stay calm. Don't do anything embarrassing.' She thought to herself. She stopped in front of him, smiling. 'I must look so stupid!'
"So, would you like to take a stroll outside?" Harry asked, offering her his arm, "Everyone else should be at dinner by now."
She smiled and took his arm. "I would love to."
The two walked out and closed the doors behind them. They got to the bottom of the steps when Harry stopped to look at her.
For awhile, everything was quiet, Harry spoke.
"Listen, Ginny, I just wanted to say that....well sorry. You know, for not inviting you on any of our pranks. You've proved that you have brilliant ideas, I don't know why we never thought of inviting you before."
"Well, you know, today, you three helped me a lot. Most of them were Hermione's ideas." Ginny said.
Harry smiled.
Ginny then cleared her throat. "Harry, I've been meaning to ask you something all summer."
He gave her a wary look. "What was that?"
Starting to feel uncomfortable, she looked away from him. "Well.....ever since you came back from school, you've been different. Everyone sees it. Over the summer, when we spent it at the Grimmauld Place-"Harry got a cold look on his face, but this didn't faze her, "you would spent most of the time in your room with Ron and Hermione. Sometimes even Fred and George.
"All of us thought you needed some space, but Fred and George would never tell me what you five were talking about. Then, we come back to school and its all pranks and smiles! As if last year never happened. I don't see what happened to make you change your mind."
For awhile, Harry stayed silent. A long time, actually. Ginny finally got the nerve to turn around and look at him. He wasn't looking at her; he was staring at the sky. It was a nice breezy night and some stars were starting to come out.
"Harry?" Ginny called timidly.
He sighed and turned to her. Only Harry wasn't smiling. In his eyes showed grief and pain, but he was also staring at her wearily.
"Listen, Gin, I don't know if I ever told you, but my dad and his friends—meaning Lupin and Sirius— "--Ginny didn't dare mention Pettigrew—"They were pranksters. Everyone at Hogwarts knew them. People always told me how much I'm like him. So, I don't know, I thought it was time for me to....follow in his footsteps, I guess you could say." he explained.
"But how'd you get Hermione and Ron to go along with it?" Ginny asked.
"Well, we're in a war, aren't we? Everyone at Hogwarts could do with a few laughs. Hermione wasn't sure at first, but in the end she agreed. And Ron was happy for any excuse to do something to the Slytherins. Expecially after that song they made last year during the Quidditch season. Then we went to the experts: your brothers. That's pretty much it.
"I thought that if I could block everyone from the reality of this war, even if it was for a few minutes, it would be worth losing some house points or getting a detention."
"I see." Ginny whispered. She really couldn't think of anything to say.
"Listen," Harry sighed, starting to look uncomfortable again, "I just wanted to talk to you about that—that kiss."
Ginny looked up at him, trying to push down that happy feeling that was starting to rise.
"What about it?" she asked, trying not to sound too excited.
"Well," Harry started, taking a step closer, "This is going to be a bit odd. But just listen to what I have to say, okay? Ginny, about that afternoon—"
Harry never got to finish. Just then, the doors opened to reveal Draco Malfoy staring down at them, smirking.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry snarled, as Malfoy descended down the stone steps.
"Oh, nothing." Malfoy answered, though he looked too gleeful for it to be nothing.
"What did you come out here for?" Harry asked impatiently.
"I could ask you the same thing." Malfoy retorted.
"If you came out here to spy on me—"
Malfoy gave a cold laugh. "Please, Potter, I have better things to do than to spy on you all day."
"Too bad you can't say the same for your father." Harry shot back.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes. He looked like he would have given anything to curse the black haired boy in front of him.
"Listen, Potter," Malfoy said, trying to keep his voice even, "I just wanted to say that you had better get inside before Crabbe and Goyle tear your little sidekick apart."
Both Harry and Ginny eyes widened.
"Where's Ron?" Ginny asked in a panicky voice.
Malfoy gave another one of his cold laughs.
"The prat thought he could take on Crabbe and Goyle. Please! They nearly knocked him out last Quidditch game!" Malfoy laughed.
"With all the fat that they carry around they could knock anyone off their brooms!" Ginny spat, her voice starting to rise.
"They put it to good use, you must admit. I expect the Weasel is on his way to the hospital wing by now." Malfoy sneered, a gleeful twinkle in his eyes.
Harry wasted no time. He shoved past Malfoy and ran into the castle. Ginny made to do the same thing, but before she ran two steps, Malfoy grabbed her arm.
"What?" she snarled, trying to free her arm from his grasp.
"How was your snogging session with Potter?" he asked coldly.
"Why do you care?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom.
He let her go and shrugged, but still stared at her coldly.
"Oh nothing, I just don't think Potter will be too happy when he finds out you kissed his worst enemy." He drawled.
"I haven't kissed You-Know-Who." Ginny said coolly.
"You know what I mean!" Malfoy said loudly.
"No, I don't. I'm afraid you'll have to be more descriptive than that." she replied simply.
He let out a growl of frustration.
Smiling, she proceeded to walk up the stairs until she was inside the castle. Just then, Summer came running up to her, her blonde hair flying everywhere.
"Have you heard? Have you heard?!" Summer shrieked. Ginny opened her mouth, but Summer continued.
"I couldn't believe it! It was outrageous! Two against one! Okay, well, just to be fair, he was putting up a good fight. But then that bloke Nott got involved—than she did! Wow, I didn't know Hermione could hit like that-!" Summer ranting, until Ginny put a hand up. Ginny stared at her friend in disbelief.
"Hermione hit someone?" Ginny said loudly, pride filling her voice.
Summer nodded. "Your brother, Crabbe, and Goyle got into a huge fight after dinner. Ron was putting up a good fight until Nott came around. Then Pansy Parkinson got involved! Oh, Hermione was so angry! She came up and hit Parkinson right in the nose!" Summer gave out a laugh then continued, "Ron was hitting Nott pretty hard, but then Crabbe and Goyle came up from behind! Ron's nose looked awfully funny after that hit. Then Harry came! It was pretty entertaining until Snape got involvled."
Ginny groaned. "Snape? How many points have we lost?"
Ginny and Summer began walking to the Gryffindor Tower room.
"We lost one hundred and fifty." Summer answered.
Ginny's jaw dropped. "A hundred and fifty?!" Ginny cried, making some first years passing by jump.
Summer nodded sadly, but then smiled. "Harry and Ron promised to earn us back a hundred points for winning the Quidditch game, though."
"Still," Ginny said in a defeated voice, "We'll still be thirty points behind Slytherin."
Summer frowned. "We'll have to think of a way to earn more then."
"Password?"
Ginny jumped and looked up. She hadn't realized they reached the portrait. The Fat Lady was looking down at them impatiently.
"Well?" she demanded.
"Snuffles." Summer replied automatically.
Ginny sighed sadly as the portrait opened. She had the idea that Hermione had asked the Head Girl—who was in charge of all the passwords—to name it that. Of course, no one knew what it meant besides those who knew Sirius.
They walked in and instantly spotted a large crowd of people. In the middle, she guessed, was Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The two fought their way through the crowd until they could see the trio.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked Ron, who was holding a pack of ice on his head. Blood was also dripping from his cut lip.
"He's still in pain. However, he wouldn't have been if he just would've walked way instead of fighting!" Hermione replied, shooting a glare at Ron. She had a nasty bruise on her shoulder and was attempting to brush her hair. It was so tangled it looked ten times fluffier than her usual bushy hair.
"Hark who's talking! You would've knocked Pansy out if I didn't drag you off her! You were glad to fight with her!" Harry said jokingly, smiled at his friend. His glasses seemed a little cracked and his hair messier than usual, but everything else was fine with him.
Hermione smiled. "Even the best of witches can't control their temper."
People in the crowd laughed and asked them to retell the story to those who weren't there. After five minutes of explaining, Ron finally stood up, stating he was off to bed.
"You're lucky I don't write to your mum about this!" Hermione called after him.
Before he shut the boys dormitory door, Ron called back, "You're lucky I don't tell McGonagall about this! You nearly lost Parkinson all her hair the way your were pulling!"
Harry couldn't help but laugh.
"Harry," Ginny said in a serious tone, "Summer told me you lost us a hundred and fifty points!"
Harry waved a hand dismissively. "We'll win the Quidditch game this week and win back those one hundred points."
"And what will you do to make up for the other fifty?" Ginny asked, putting a hand on her hip.
"Hermione will just have to answer more questions in class." Harry stated simply.
"Ginny, you do know what this means, right?" Hermione asked, giving up and putting down her brush. She picked up her wand, muttered a spell, and her hair went back to it's bushy state.
"What?" Ginny asked. The crowd was watching with interest.
"We'll have to lay low on the pranks on Malfoy for awhile." Hermione answered.
"That was you?! Those pranks were brilliant!" a boy called over.
"Okay, fine. I'll take a break. I think I did enough for one day anyways." Ginny said. After Harry went to bed, most everyone else did, until there was no one else but Ginny and Hermione.
"Ginny, what did Harry talk to you about?" Hermione asked.
"He never got the chance to say. Malfoy walked in and ruined it!" Ginny said angrily.
Then, she turned to Hermone.
"Did he tell you?" Ginny asked eagerly.
Hermione looked at her friend. Her face was espressionless.
"It would be best if he told you in person." Hermione said.
"When will that be?" Ginny wailed.
"Just give him some time."
Sighing I defeat, Ginny stood up. "Fine. Two days tops. I'm going to bed. Night 'Mione!" Ginny called behind her.
"Night Gin." Hermione called back. Ginny made to close the door, when Hermione called her again.
"Ginny?"
"Yeah?"
"Whatever happens, just know that I'll always be here. Everyone has Mr. Right waiting for them. He just doesn't show up fast."
After bidding each other good night, Ginny shut the door and crawled into her four poster bed, head swimming with questions. 'What did she mean? What did Harry want to tell me?'
She finally let herself drift off to sleep, not sure what the next day would hold.
A/M. Hey! Another chapter done. This chapter was supposed to be when Malfoy got Ginny back and everything, but the chaper would've been way too long. It would've taken awhile to read and I don't want people wasting what's left of their beautiful summer! But, I hope this one was long enough and not short like my other one's have been.
This one wasn't too good either, it wasn't what I wanted it to be. But like I said before, if I would've written everything, it would be way too long. I enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy reading it.
Little note: I don't know when the next chapter will be up. This is my last weekend before school starts. I won't have much time to write because I want to end my summer with a bang. I'll be working on the next chapter little by little, and with some luck, I'll have up by next weekend, or maybe even sooner! Til next time then.
Love always,
Amour-Lily
