Chapter 7: Invidia

"Honestly, Ginny, this is so simple! I don't understand why you don't understand," Hermione complained. She was sitting by the fire on a cold February evening, laying down on her stomach next to Ginny whom was doing the same. Hermione was helping Ginny with her Charms quarter-finals re-examination questions.
"Well, if you understand, then why can't you explain it to me so that I can understand?" Ginny snapped. Hermione huffed and flipped a page.
"Ginny, these are very simple household things you're going to need to learn. Here, the Elongating Charm. Useful if you've got a skirt that's too short," Hermione explained. Ginny guffawed.
"Too short? I have five older brothers. Everything I own is too long," she laughed. Hermione smiled politely and directed Ginny's back to the page.
"Diutius, Ginny," Hermione said sternly. Ginny shot her a completely puzzled look. Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand. "Stand up," she ordered. Ginny, shrugging, hesitantly rose and stood in front of Hermione.
"Curtus skirt," said Hermione firmly.
"Who?" Ginny asked. Suddenly, she felt material touching her legs. Ginny saw that her uniform skirt had risen to an almost inapporpriate length.
"Hermione!" she shrieked, almost diving behind an armchair to hide herself.
"Stand up!" Hermione demanded loudly. Reluctantly, Ginny did, trying to pull her robes like a blanket over her. "Diutius skirt." With that, Ginny's skirt length returned to normal. She smiled.
"Let me give it a go," Ginny said eagerly, whipping out her wand. Hermione took a leap to one side.
"Oh no you don't!"
"What, you want me to learn, don't you?"
"After what I just did to you? Sooner then you think I'll be standing here almost starkers. No way in hell am I letting you point that thing at me." Ginny laughed and gave a menacing smile to her wand before turning around and looking around the room.
"You've been spending too much time with Ron," she muttered with another chuckle to herself. "What else am I supposed to practice on?"
"Oh, is Ginny practicing spells? We'd better be out then, wouldn't want to be in the room when that happens," joked a cheerful voice. Hermione spun around expectantly, but was surprised to see Harry with a smirky sort of smile.
"Glad to see your in good spirits today." Hermione gave a wide smile as she walked closer to him. He was still smirking, which Hermione was quite curious about.
"Well, I did get cheered up a bit." Harry had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.
"Now what's so funny?" asked Hermione, who couldn't help laughing a bit herself. She could no longer hide her curiousity. Harry stopped laughing and slapped on a serious face.
"Oh, nothing...nothing at all. Ginny, a minute to speak with you?" Harry said quickly. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and followed Harry quickly as he raced up to the boys' dormitory.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't," Hermione jokingly called up, but there was no answer or any sign of acknowledgement. Hermione couldn't help wondering if it was about her.

"Ron spoke to you, right?" Harry asked, still smiling.
"Since I took his crumpet at breakfast? No, not so much," said Ginny kiddingly. "Why? What about?"
"About what he has," Harry said vaguely, but put enough emphasis on 'has' to spark Ginny's memory.
"He told you?" Ginny gasped incredulously. "He must be serious..."
"Do you actually think this is a good idea?" Harry asked, concern deep in his voice. Ginny shrugged.
"It's not as if it's terribly unusual," she reasoned, "but he is still really young." Harry nodded. Suddenly, a voice hollered,
"I see that's my bed. Dean's is over there." The voice was Ron, who was treading up the staircase slowly. Ginny whipped around and glared at him, but he just threw her a wink. She scowled.
"Would people stop doing that!" whined Ginny.
"Doing what?" Ron asked. He didn't get a reply.
"Are you serious?" Harry asked Ron, rushing over to talk to him as Ron threw a stack of textbooks on the bed. Ron shrugged.
"What about?" Ron asked, shaking his head slowly to express no remembrance.
"About tap dancing. No! About proposing to Hermione, that's what about," snapped Ginny, who was now also standing closely next to Harry. Ron shrugged.
"Dunno."
"You told me, you told Harry. You've gotten a ring! What do you mean 'dunno'?" demanded Ginny, stomping her foot lightly. Ron huffed and pushed past the two of them, flopping onto his bed.
"Yes, alright? Are you happy?" shouted Ron. Ginny and Harry both took in a quick breath. Ginny's hands quivered and her eyes grew wide.
"Have you thought this through enough? This is serious! Ron, it's not as if we're playing wedding with my Willa Witch dolls anymore - "
"Let me get this straight," interrupted Ron loudly. "You're snapping at me to hurry up and make a desicion, then I tell you what you want to hear and you're discouraging me?"
"No, it's not that, it's just - seventeen, Ron! You're seventeen!" Harry chimed in. Ron rolled his eyes.
"But really? Haven't been told that a quarter of a trillion times," he muttered. "I need more time to make a desicion. As for the likes of you - " he whipped around to stare at Ginny " - I am taking this seriously. Very seriously. Stop butting in my business." Ginny fell silent, as did Harry, until he made a coughing sound.
"So...erm, Willa Witch dolls? Really?" he asked, obviously fighting laughter. Ron rolled his eyes and stomped his foot.
"I was four!" defended Ron.
"You were ten!" shouted Ginny. Ron huffed.
"You used to play with my Quidditch figures."
"Really, really not the same thing." Ginny and Ron's eyes were flashing, each about to battle for the good name of their childhood. Harry waved his hands in between them to singal them to calm down.
"Alright, would the two of you stop this ridiculous fight?" Ron and Ginny sighed and backed away from each other.
"About dinner time, right?" Ron said, throwing his hands up in the air enthusiastically. Ginny stopped him in mid-throw and grabbed his arm, jerking him backwards.
"Can I please see the ring?" she begged. Ron rolled his eyes and fidgeted with irritation. He took one look at that overenhanced pout and shrugged.
"Whatever. It's under the bed." Ginny squealed with delight and fell to the floor, scrambling beneath the bed sheets hanging over the side of the bed. Ron dashed downstairs and out of sight. Harry, however, just stood there and watched Ginny, amused, as her feet kicked and you could hear her rummaging through all of Ron's things.
"Oh, this is absolutely disgusting!" cried Ginny, her voice muffled. Harry, for reasons unbeknownst to him, had the sudden urge to hop over there and help her...
"What is?" Harry asked, shaking his head as he pulled himself from his thoughts. Ginny scooched back and crawled out from under the bed, looking sickly as she held up a green sock to show Harry. Harry shrugged.
"Harry, it's not supposed to be green!" she explained. She suddenly realized this herself as she flung the sock to the other side of the bed, disgusted. Harry stuck his tongue out a bit at the sock, which, he realized, made him look quite dumb. Ginny smiled and pulled out a little black box from behind her back.
"The ring," she whispered. Harry knew it was jewelry. Just jewelry. But he couldn't help feeling excited to see the ring that might soon join his two best friends together forever. She took a few steps forward, holding the box tightly with both hands over her chest, then extended her arm to Harry with the ringbox-holding hand. Harry just looked at her. She shook the arm. Harry looked to the box and shook his head.
"Do you want me to take the ring?" he asked, not knowing what she was doing.
"Look at it," she demanded. She was smiling, but the certain sharpness in her voice made Harry dive for the little box even quicker. He opened it and took out the little ring with the glistening crystal ball on top. He held it up to a light and watched it twinkle.
"How did Ron pick out something so...decent?" Harry asked in a whisper, almost to himself. Ginny walked up to Harry and looked up to the ring. It was peaceful in the room. They stood under the ring, looking up at the rainbows bouncing off the crystal. They were caught in the center of the room, between Ron and Harry's beds, the same distance from the big, starry window from the staircase leading to the common room.
"I want to try it on," stated Ginny, breaking the pleasant silence. Harry snapped his head down so he was looking at Ginny and not the ring which he had clutched in his palm and now held at his side. Harry slowly held it up but then snatched it back down.
"It's Hermione's ring; you can't try on Hermione's engagement ring," Harry said, smiling a teasing smile. Ginny was smiling again as well.
"It's not yet, not until Ron proposes. He never will, and that ring will be up for snatching away," she laughed. Harry shrugged.
"Then it's really Ron's property for now. And I won't let you be stealing that!" He held up the ring over his head, which meant Ginny had to jump for it. She bit her lower lip as she leaped up. They both laughed and giggled when Ginny couldn't reach.
"Just give it to me!" she demanded, but her voice was almost completely incoherent because of her giggling. Harry kept his mischievous grin and held the box by his side. Ginny grabbed for it, grabbing Harry's hand at the same time, but he pulled it back. However, her grip was strong and she was pulled forward with the sudden jerk, causing her body to slam into Harry's. As they both stopped laughing, she looked up to his face. He looked down at hers. Ginny still stood too close to him and took and abrupt step back, still looking up to Harry. Their hands were still together as well. Time stood completely still and silent with them.
"Egcm," Harry coughed very quietly. He hesitantly pulled away his fist from Ginny's hand just as she snapped it away. It was all they both could do not to bolt, and they both knew that look on their faces. Ginny just turned away, crossing her arms as she looked to the starry-dark sky. In Harry's fist was the ring. He grasped Ginny's hand for just one moment as he popped the ring into her fist. After doing so, he jumped back awkwardly. "So, er, try it on." Ginny nodded and managed a weak, almost forced, smile. She put the ring on her ring finger and cocked her head as she admired it. She intook a sharp breath. "What?" asked Harry, taking a little step closer.
"It burns, oh, oh..it's cooling," Ginny stared at the ring, as did Harry. The ring's yellow band turned silver then brightened into an intense gold. The crystal ball looked like a snowglobe going mad, the flakes twisting and flying. It sparkled a pale blue, then a new substance appeared. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked at the ring closely. "C-con-confusius," she sounded out slowly as she realized the substance were words forming.
"Latin," whispered Harry.
"What?"
"Um, it's Latin. I think..and I could be wrong, but I think it means confused." Ginny turned a rosey pink. Harry didn't say anything else; he was waiting for Ginny to speak. But Ginny didn't speak although she started the breath faster.
"What, you think it's a mood ring?" she tried to say dismissively, but her voice cracked with a squeak at the end of her sentence. Harry chuckled under his breath.
"A mood ring. Ron's going to try give Hermione a mood ring when he proposes? I'm so sure that'll go over well."
"Let's see your mood," she snapped. Harry was taken aback. He'd only meant that as a joke, and he hadn't even directed it towards Ginny. "Well, go on. If it's a mood ring, what are you thinking? It's not like we ever know." Harry wanted badly to roll his eyes, but he didn't want to edge her on. He had been through a lot in his life. These past weird emotions and feelings weren't completely knew, but it didn't make him understand them anymore. This was his last year ever at Hogwarts. She had another year of safety and security. What the hell was he going to do after this? Stay with the Dursleys? Of course not, but how was he going to go about buying a house? Or getting a job? It's not as if he'd had any experience! If only Ginny could understand.
If only Ginny could understand? How was that going to help if Ginny understood? She didn't understand, and she wouldn't. All Harry wanted her to do was get out of his life and stop acting like she knew everything he was about. Although he wanted this, he didn't. He didn't want Ginny not to care. If he didn't have Ron and Hermione's support, he wasn't going to get through anything. He needed another person to care, because Ron and Hermione did have lives of their own (which seemed to be getting even more their own), despite all their efforts.
"What is it about my mood and my mind that you need to know so much about?" Harry ended up snapping back. He realized suddenly that his mouth was faster then his mind. Ginny flicked her hand again in pain - the snowglobe turned a fuschia. "Impeditus" it read. Harry could only guess what this Latin word meant - but the matching coloring of Ginny's face and the snowglobe's was a hint.
Ginny could barely control her breathing pattern. Her red hair seemed to be competing with her face. She looked from the ring to Harry quickly, then glared him down. Throwing the ring on the bed next to her, she stormed down the steps. Harry stood still until the light pounding of her feet against the stairs and floor faded away.

Harry decided against going to dinner. He didn't want another blowout from Ginny. To keep him occupied, he invented a game in which he switched Ron's and Seamus's possessions and bedsheets and was going to see who noticed first. It wasn't much of a contest - Seamus. He also put away Ron's ring for him so that it wouldn't be laying around for chance Hermione would find it.
Harry was just about to pour Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' Disappearing Blood over Hermione's textbooks in the common room, when the load of Gryffindors poured into the room. There was a much louder commotion then ever going on around them, Harry noticed. There were laughs from the boys and giggly whispering and shrieking from the girls. Ron emerged from the crowd filing into the dormitories. His fingers were laced with Hermione's, who was close behind his shoulder.
"You missed an exciting anouncement during dinner," he greeted Harry sarcastically. "Apparently, Lavender and Parvati have done it again." Harry hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about. Then he remembered - the flyers. The petition. There was going to be a Spring Ball?
"Ron, I told you we didn't have to go," Hermione insisted quietly. Ron waved her off.
"No, no, no. I saw how you were throwing yourself against the glass outside the dress robes stores last Hogsmeade's weekend. We're going," Ron insisted harder. "You are not going to be blaming me for not being able to attend this ridic - this ball." Hermione smiled shyly and attempted to cover part of her face with her hair.
"Where were you at dinner?" she finally asked. Harry shrugged.
"I'm not...in the mood for dinner," he responded absently. "So, this Ball? Who else do you know of is going?" Hermione looked to Ron and bit her lip. Ron glanced at her then sort of turned to the wall. They both shrugged unconvincingly.
"Ginny and Dean?" suggested Harry casually, but there was a very obvious bitterness in his voice that Hermione and Ron could easily detect. However, they didn't say anything about it.
"Well you weren't there...and, and so Ginny was sitting next to Dean. They both just kind of looked at each other and smiled. He didn't ask her, Harry, though," Ron said quickly, looking at Harry as if afraid of what he might do. Harry shrugged.
"So?" he snapped. He didn't do a very good job at all at hiding his anger. Hermione kissed Ron and then hugged Harry lightly around the neck.
"I'm going to bed," she said excitedly, as if this was something she'd never done before. Ron rolled his eyes once Hermione's back was turned although knowing inside how excited she was about going on a date with Ron to the Spring Ball.
"At least you have a date." Harry read Ron's mind, nodding toward the direction Hermione had just basically skipped. Ron nodded.
"You have a pick out of any girl in the school, just ask one out!" Ron cried. "Well, almost every girl. Um, most of them. Erm, a lot of them. Eh, well, a good amount of them; enough."
"I don't want every girl in the school," Harry said. Suddenly, he had a feverish flash across his body, and he knew must be blushing. He felt like he'd just admitted something huge. Ron shifted his feet nervously.
"Yeah, well...let's go to bed," Ron muttered and started off for the dormitories. Harry followed.
When they'd reached the top of the staircase, Ron walked inside and sat on his-really-Seamus's bed and looked around absently. Ron furrowed his eyebrows and bounced on the bed a bit.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Harry, this isn't my bed!" Harry laughed.
"I gave the odds to Seamus, but I guess you won," he said. Ron guffawed and hit him innocently on the shoulder.
"Then you put it back."
"No, you won, so you can put it back."
"Shut up, Harry, and help me take all this stuff out." The two were arguing pointlessly when Dean walked in some cool, popular way and sat down on his bed.
"Guess who has a date with your sister, Ron?" Dean said loudly. Ron whipped around; he didn't like it anymore when Dean flaunted his fondness for Ginny. It was mostly for Harry's sake, but he was also being a quite protective of his sister. Harry suddenly noticed his fists were clenched and he was barely moving, just staring Dean down. When he did notice, he released his breath and let himself relax. After what just happened today, he put those last few pieces in the puzzle. He wasn't going to fool himself anymore; he knew he wanted to be with Ginny Weasley.