By Serendipity
Author's Note: Once again I have writer's block and once again I find myself writing a chapter over. I decided to make this a Harry/Ginny fic with Draco poking his bleached head in to keep the plot going. I have also decided that Harry will stay with Sirius seeing as he got the most votes. I'd like to thank everyone who voted and I'll be thinking of another vote for you soon.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you may recognize be it Harry Potter or anything relating to the real world.
Project DGD
°°°Hermione°°°
I didn't sleep well that night after Ginny told me that she was acquiring feelings for Draco. I tossed and turned and had many weird nightmares about Ginny marrying Draco and Harry going insane.
The morning wasn't much better, and with six people having to get ready for school and only one bathroom it's not that hard to figure out why. Fred and George got up ten minutes later than the rest of us. They walked out of their room tousle-haired and rubbing sleep from their eyes when they saw Harry, Ginny, and me standing in a line outside of the bathroom, holding our towels and other supplies, waiting for Ron to get done. They stood there for a moment, mumbled something that sounded much like 'Screw it' and went back to bed.
Breakfast was rushed and consisted mostly of Mrs. Weasley shoving toast down our throats as we walked out the door (Fred and George still in their SpongeBob Squarepants pajamas). And the ride to school was crowded and loud seeing as the guys fought over professional soccer players and our mechanical babies were disgruntled.
Binns was boring as ever. Usually he doesn't mind if we talk and goof around but he seemed to be in a particularly bad mood and it took five people to get detentions for talking before the rest of us decided to behave ourselves. Ron even put his half-eaten poptart back in his backpack.
Unable to take notes on the stupid Revolutionary War (I've learned it 100 times!) I decided to write a note to Ron, telling him our predicament with Ginny. I turned to a new page and wrote:
I talked to Ginny last night and she told me that there are two reasons why she told Harry maybe when he asked her out. The first reason is that he was sedated and she wanted to make sure that he really did want to go out with her and it wasn't really just the medications talking. This reason makes sense and I was actually proud of Ginny for thinking of it. But whatever pride I felt toward Ginny was crushed by her second reason. She admitted that she is falling for Draco. Harry better make his move soon or else...well I don't want to think about what may happen if he doesn't.
Love always,
Hermione
The door burst open as I was tearing the page out of my notebook and folding it. I glanced up to see a man in his sixties swaggering in the doorframe. His clothes were disheveled and he seemed to have trouble focusing. He was glancing around the classroom, and seemed to be looking for someone. Mr. Binns stopped his usual drone and gave this man the same look that he gave Dumbledore when he had interrupted his class.
"Shit, it's my grandpa," whispered Seamus. Turning around I saw Seamus trying to cover his face with his hands. Hiding didn't work however, and Seamus's grandpa spotted him. The older man stumbled into the room and pointed a finger at Seamus, ignoring Mr. Binns inquiries.
"Boy! Keep your seat warm!" he said loudly, but not angrily. He then turned around and walked back out of the door at an alarming pace.
There was a vast silence as everyone in the class looked at Seamus, who seemed unsure of what to say to that. But he didn't need to say anything because the door swung open once more and his grandfather walked in yet again, this time, however, he addressed Mr. Binns:
"Twelve years I went to school, and I kept my seat warm each and every one of those years!"
"That's nice," said Mr. Binns who seemed as unsure as Seamus did as to what to say.
"Dern right it is," replied Seamus's grandfather as he turned on his heals once more and left the room for good.
Mr. Binns took out a bottle of aspirin from his desk and massaged his temples.
"Class dismissed," he mumbled, fiddling with the cap.
Everyone sat stock still for a few moments, unsure of what to do.
"Just leave!" he ordered, and this time Seamus ran from the room. The rest of us followed tentatively behind. I gave Ron the note as he turned left to go to his locker.
"It's burning! It's burning!"
Fred and my rants were ignored in chemistry today. We were in lab and Fred had picked up a test tube of some clear liquid. I'm not sure what happened next but the clear liquid dripped upon our hands and began burning our skin. The tips of our fingers were turning slightly brown.
"Ahh!" Fred yelled next to me.
"What?" I asked, thrusting my hands under the cool water from the sink at our lab table.
"It almost dripped on my slippers!"
Our pj's were a big hit at school.
Some curious faces were turning toward us, causing Snape to come over to see what the commotion was all about.
"You idiot boys, you're not supposed to get this stuff on your skin!" he scolded. "Go to the nurse!"
I didn't get to read Hermione's note until between second and third period because we had a particularly hard geometry test second period. I gave it to Harry to read in the locker room as we changed for PE. When he finished the letter, Harry glared at Draco who was staring lovingly at his own reflection in the mirror, as Satan lay stuffed in his PE locker.
We had archery today while the girls stayed inside. After helping setting up, Harry and I retreated to the back of the line and sat in the grass, debating what we should do. It was cloudy and cool out, and there was a slight smell of rain in the air. I stared up at the grey sky and let my mind become blissfully blank after being confused with both geometry and the whole Ginny/Draco problem.
"Sirius showed the tape to the judge," Harry announced suddenly. "Dumbledore told me this morning. I'll be moving into Sirius's apartment today after school."
Harry and I were both silent after this. We sat and watched Hagrid as he tried to help Colin with his shooting. It was all in vain though because Colin's arrow flew only a few feet before implanting itself into the ground.
"Maybe we should just give up on this whole stopping Ginny from getting Draco thing," I suggested as I watched Draco strut up and shoot a perfect bullseye.
"I'll be damned before I let Draco hurt Ginny," Harry said, glaring at Draco with utmost loathing.
I looked at Harry curiously as he dug his nails into the soft dirt of the softball field and continued his glaring. Was Hermione right about him having feelings for my sister? Thinking of Hermione, I pulled out her letter and stared at it. It took me a few moments before I realized that I was staring at the 'Love always' and when I did realize it, I folded the letter up quickly and stuffed it into my pocket.
Harry was looking at me with a knowing smile. I didn't know why he was staring at me like that. Did he know something that I didn't? And why was he all of the sudden so protective of my sister? My head became cluttered with questions once again as I gazed back up to the sky.
"I'm going to the nurse!"
Someone had just shot Draco in the foot.
I can't believe that someone actually had the nerve to shoot me in the foot. Okay so it didn't really penetrate my fabulous skin, but it still punctured my spiffy brand new shoes. I strolled into the nurse's waiting room only to find those two Weasel Twins on the couch holding their hands out in front of them. Both sets of hands were a brownish color and I caught a faint scent of something burnt as I sat next to them. I complemented them, sarcastically of course, on their choice of clothing. Yellow really is their color. One acquired a look as though he had just thought of something brilliant.
"Don't Harry and Ginny make a good couple, Fred?" one of them (George it appears) asked the other.
Fred looked confused for a moment then realization appeared to have dawned upon him.
"Yes they do! Ginny's absolutely smitten with him!"
I was about to tell them that I didn't believe a word they were saying but Mrs. Pomfrey's door burst open as she rushed Seamus out.
"I don't know what happened to you today Mr. Finnigan but you seem perfectly fine to me and I can not permit you to go home."
Seamus scowled and stormed out, violently shoving his history book in his backpack as he did so. I wondered vaguely what happened and decided to ask Weasel III about it next hour in English. Mrs. Pomfrey turned to the rest of us.
"Who's next? Oh."
The three of us smiled up at her and asked 'Miss me?' simultaneously which made each of us glare at one another afterwards.
"Honestly, you three are in here more times than the rest of the school combined. Well alright, Fred, George, you two first."
The twins stood, holding their hands out in front of them as if they were contaminated and marched into Mrs. Pomfrey's office, leaving me with my thoughts, which I really hate. Were they just bluffing about Pothead and Weasel IV, or were they just telling me the awful news?
Ron and I spent that most of that night after soccer practice, moving my stuff into Sirius's apartment. Sirius wasn't home; he had just been re-hired at his old bartending job. I was in a particularly sour mood because I was not allowed to participate in soccer until my rib healed completely (Ron was already back on the team). I've been ball boy for the past week, and I was going to sit on the sidelines at our first game, which was the next morning.
"Appreciate your time off," Ron told me after we had finished putting my stuff away. He walked into the kitchen and applied some ice to his calves. "Haven't you seen how hard Hagrid is working us out there?" he asked.
I went to the refrigerator and took out some sodas and jerky and went to go sit by Ron at the table.
"Yeah I know, I just wish that I was out there with you guys, that's all," I replied, biting into a particularly tough piece of jerky.
"No you don't, believe me," Ron said, now applying ice to his thighs. We sat there in silence for awhile, then Ron changed the subject:
"I'm glad that you decided to continue on with Project DGD," he said. "It really means a lot to me, man."
"Project DGD?" I asked.
"Yeah, Distract Ginny from Draco."
"Oh," I replied. Did Ron still think that I was doing this solely for him? A fourth of it was for him, a fourth for Ginny, but a big whopping half of it was for me. I know that that sounded selfish, but it's true. Ron continued as I scolded myself over being selfish.
"Anyway, I was thinking, maybe you could go with Ginny to the game tomorrow, since you're sitting on the sidelines anyway."
"She'll probably go with Hermione," I said at once, remembering how I had made Hermione promise to come to our first game, but Ron shook his head.
"Hermione already promised Lavender, Parvatti, Neville and Seamus that she'll go with them to the game because Ginny was still undecided about whether or not she wants to go. So why don't you call Ginny and ask her to go with you?"
My stomach suddenly clenched up.
"What? Now?" I asked, alarmed.
"Yeah, now," said Ron reaching for the phone. "It's only 9:30, she'll be up."
He handed me the phone, but I pushed it away.
"No I'll just see her there," I replied, continuing to push the phone away no matter how hard Ron tried to shove it into my hands.
"Oh, come on, Harry!" Ron exclaimed. "Here, look, I'll dial."
Ron quickly dialed his own number and placed the receiver to his ear, listening to the rings. Suddenly he tried to hand it to me again.
"Alright, it's her."
"Hello, Ginny?" I asked, finally taking the phone.
"Yeah," came Ginny's voice on the other end.
"Hey, it's Harry." Long pause. Ron nodded, encouraging me on. "I, uh, I was just wondering if, uh, you were, um, going to the soccer game tomorrow morning?"
"Well..." she replied, drawing it out as though she wasn't sure of the answer.
"Because I was wondering," I cut in quickly before she could finish, "if you would like to go with me. I could pick you up and we can sit together, and I'll even buy you a hotdog."
"Sure, I'd love to go," she said brightly.
"Great! The game starts at nine, so I'll pick you up around eight thirty?"
"Okay, see you then I guess."
"Yeah alright."
Suddenly, Ron grabbed the phone before I could tell Ginny goodbye.
"Ginny!" he said at once. "Under my bed is my soccer stuff, could you put it in the wash for me? And don't forget the jock strap and the...hello? Ginny? Hello?" Ron brought the phone down from his ear and turned it off. "She hung up on me."
I left Harry's house late and wasn't really thinking about where I was going when I found myself in front of Hermione's house. Her bedroom was on the first floor and her window was wide open. I wondered vaguely if Harry had put anything in those sodas that we had, as I found myself climbing into her room. I was walking around her room, looking at her pictures and examining her awards when I suddenly heard her voice tell her parents good night right outside her door. I panicked and darted into the closet, which was the closest thing too me.
I left the door slightly open so I could see as she came in. She walked across her room and closed the window then proceeded to her dresser and took out a pair of pajamas and before I could even think about closing my eyes, she took her shirt off and start fiddling with trying to get her bra off. I had a slight debate with myself about whether or not I should look, then closed my eyes at the last minute.
I didn't open my eyes again, until the light was turned off and Hermione was in bed. Then I sat there, waiting for her to fall asleep. Sitting there, all I could think about was Hermione in her underwear. Then I realized what I was thinking about and told myself to think about soccer. That worked for about five minutes before I started thinking about Hermione again. Then when I caught myself a second time and wondered why I couldn't stop thinking about her. Then I wondered why I even came into her room in the first place. Hermione fell asleep during all of my brainstorming and after an hour or so of thinking things I shouldn't be thinking about, I got mad at myself and left Hermione's room, making my way cautiously to the front door and disarming the alarm (I had seen her do it before). I ran home and my pulse didn't go down until long after I went to sleep.
I was so excited that about going to the soccer game with Ginny that I woke up two hours early. I took a long shower just to be sure that I smelled good and tried vainly to make my hair lie flat though I ended up just spiking it messily like I always do. I put on my jersey shirt, just so everyone would know that I was still part of the team, and a pair of jeans before I headed to the linen closet to get out an old quilt to sit on at the soccer field.
I arrived at the Weasley house ten minutes before I said I would and met Ron and the twins on their driveway, shoving their bags into Old Betsy's trunk. Ron seemed in very high spirits but both twins looked downtrodden.
"What's wrong with them?" I asked Ron as the twins got into the car, slamming the doors behind them.
"They wanted to dye their hair red, you know, to support Hogwarts, but then they realized that they're natural red-heads," Ron told me, making a gallant effort not to laugh as he did so.
"Ron, if you're not in this car within three seconds, we're running you over!" George called out from behind the wheel seeing as he was driving today.
"Bye," Ron told me, getting into the backseat.
"Good luck!" I shouted out to all three of them, but the only answer that I got was the screeching of tires as they sped away.
Ginny was on the porch when I turned around. She was wearing jeans and an overly large sweatshirt that I recognized as one of the twins'.
"Hi," she said, coming to join me on the driveway. "Mom and Dad will take us once they finished up the dishes."
"Okay," I replied. There was an awkward silence. I looked up to the sky to avoid making eye contact with her. It was still cloudy and the faint smell of rain that I had detected yesterday in PE had grown stronger. It was also slightly cooler than what it was a week before and experience told me that it will be colder after the rain finally comes; but then again it was the first of October. I guessed that the summer heat was finally wearing thin.
"Alright you kids," came Mr. Weasley's voice as he and the Mrs. ambled their way down to the driveway, keys in hand. "Get in!"
I held the door open for Ginny and then hurried to the other side of the car and got in. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley made us listen to the Beach Boys the whole way there and Ginny and I were glad to be rid of them when we finally got to the field.
We laid out the old quilt so close to the field that I was sure that we were to get hit by a few soccer balls through out the game but I didn't care. The two teams were already there and our team was doing warm up laps. Draco looked livid when he saw us together.
The game started at nine and was very nerve racking. Our offense was great thanks to an assist by Ron and two goals from Draco, but our defense sucked seeing as they got Mouse to sub goalie for my place.
It had started raining by half time, so Ginny and I took shelter under the quilt. Draco saw us into the second half and was so angry that he tripped over the ball. Fred saved it before the other team got to it and made yet another spectacular goal for our team, winning the game 3-2.
Ginny and I walked onto the field to where Hagrid had the whole team in a huge bear hug. They were all hugging him back, excluding Draco who had a look of utter disgust on his face at this unexpected show of affection. When they saw me, they grabbed me from my sanctuary from under the quilt and pulled me into the hug too.
"Watch the rib! Watch the rib!" I warned them and Hagrid set us all down again.
"Party at our place tonight at seven!!!" the twins yelled.
Normally I wouldn't grace the Weasley house with my presence but, with the current situation developing between Pothead and way hot Weasel IV, I had no choice but to. I wore my light blue button down shirt and black pants. Given the fact that every other girl was hitting on me, I take it that I looked very good indeed. After about a half an hour of walking around being seen by people, I grabbed a beer and nonchalantly made my way to the kitchen where the Dream Team and the Soccer Team were having a slight argument about something.
"I'm telling you, he's gay, Alicia!" Weasel IV said. Potty, to my disgust, had his arm around her.
Alicia and Katie both shook their heads, while the others nodded.
"He can't be!" Katie exclaimed.
"I'll prove it," replied Weasel IV. Her eyes caught mine. "Draco, what kind of shoes am I wearing?"
"I rather talk about what kind of underwear you're wearing."
Fred hit me.
Just then Colin (who subbed for Potty for goalie today and sucked might I add) walked in.
"Colin, what kind of shoes am I wearing?"
"Uh, black ones," he replied before walking out.
Just then the French foreign exchange student walked in. "Hello Peoples!!!" he said, shaking his hips way too much and going into everyone's personal space with his 'happy hands' as he did so.
"Pepe, what kind of shoes do I have on?" Ginny asked once more.
He stared at them for a moment.
"Last season's," he said before moving into the living room.
"That still doesn't mean that he's gay," said Alicia, shaking her head. I stopped listening because Pothead had just whispered something into Weasel the fourth's ear and they began making their way out the door. I followed and stood in the doorframe, watching them as they made their way, hand in hand down to the beach.
At first I was angry, but that anger soon subsided as I thought of the look that will be on Potter's face when I steal his pretty little girlfriend away from him. This thought let me leave them to their privacy and I walked into the living room where I found Pepe making out with a very attractive girl.
On the other side of the room, Fred and George were reluctantly placing money in Katie's hand.
"What do ya know?" I asked surprised to Dean. "He really isn't gay."
Harry and I had spent most of our day celebrating with my brothers over their victory. Hermione came over several hours before the party to help us decorate, but she spent most of her time with Ron which made me remember her admitting to liking him several nights ago. I made a mental note to try to get Ron's ass in gear and just ask her out already. But at the moment, Harry and I were walking along the beach by ourselves. I was nervous. Before this year, Harry had only held my hand once, and that was five years ago when we had to cross the highway to get to Ern's Pizza (he found me lost and was taking me to my brothers). Suddenly he stopped and looked at me, taking both of my hands into his.
"Ginny, do you remember that night when I asked you out?" he asked; he was looking down at our feet.
"Yeah," I replied, consciously aware that my palms were getting sweaty.
"Well," he said, and at the same time looked into my eyes, "it wasn't the medications talking."
Then he kissed me. At first he stayed where he was and the kiss was really light, merely a brush with my lips. It was almost as though he was afraid that my brothers were looking out on us. But then he pulled me closer and deepened the kiss. And by the time that his hand was running through my hair, I was thinking, 'Draco who?'.
Another Author's Note: You guys should thank me because I considered making you wait until the next chapter for Harry and Ginny together, but I decided against it at the last moment. All I really have to say is that I'm sorry if that gay thing offended anyone. I just kept typing and didn't realize that it might hurt someone, though I think that the way it ended made it clear not to judge by stereotypes, which is what I wanted to get through.