A/N: Sorry for the delay. School's been crazy. It's my senior year and with classes and applying to grad school and everything I haven't been able to spend much time on my writing. Hope you like this chapter! And don't worry, the delay won't be nearly as long for the next one...I do plan on having the story finished before July 16th.
The stadium went silent in as Harry fell to the ground and then a roar of noise started up.
"Do you think he's okay?"
"I don't think I've ever seen a fall like that."
"Damn Slytherins. I don't know why the professors don't put a stop to it. Those bludgers had to have been bewitched!"
The crowd continued to talk as Madam Hooch and Professor McGonagall rushed over to Harry. Only one comment broke through Ginny's shock-muddled mind.
"Hmm. Guess Potter won't be getting the snitch this game Red."
Ginny turned around to see Malfoy staring at her with a lazy smirk.
"You bastard!" she hissed, "You charmed those bludgers, didn't you?!"
"Prove it," he said confidently.
Ginny opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything horrible enough to say.
"Oh," Malfoy said smoothly as his eyes darted to her left, "You'll have to excuse me, I have a snitch to catch and a match to win."
He'd spotted the snitch. Ginny's eyes widened.
"And keep in mind Red," Malfoy said in a low tone, "I always win."
Malfoy shot off after the snitch and Ginny didn't even wait a moment before following him and going after the snitch herself.
"Malfoy's spotted the snitch!" Hooper yelled, turning the crowd's attention from Harry, who was now being lifted off the pitch, "And what's that? Weasley's going after the snitch too!"
Ginny and Malfoy were now neck and neck twenty feet away from the snitch. She was sure that he was glaring at her, but she didn't care. All she knew was that she had to beat him to the snitch. She wouldn't let him win. She couldn't.
They approached the snitch and Ginny willed her broom to go faster, reaching out her hand as far as it would go, until her fingers closed around the small fluttering golden ball.
"Weasley's caught the snitch! Gryffindor win- Wait, professor! Does…what do the rules say?" Hooper's voice faded.
Ginny flew down to the ground and moments after was surrounded by people shouting congratulations and asking if the match really was over, but all she could think of was making it back to the hospital wing and seeing if Harry was all right.
Madame Hooch called suspension of the game until she could contact someone at the IQA (International Quidditch Association), saying that she had never seen anything like this in all her days at Hogwarts or even when she was a reserve for the Magpies. Ginny ran to the hospital wing as soon as she made the announcement of suspension, not even stopping to change out of her uniform or drop off her broom.
When Ginny entered the hospital wing the all of the adrenaline drained from her body and she suddenly felt very out of place. She felt overly loud and healthy and tried to ignore the peculiar smell of the hospital wing that had always made her feel a bit queasy since her stay there first year. Ginny spotted Harry on a bed in the corner and headed in his direction, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's assertions that the boy was in a delicate condition and shouldn't be disturbed.
Ginny sat down by Harry's bedside and tried not to cringe when she saw how pale his face was, with his contrasting dark hair falling haphazardly across his forehead. Ginny hadn't exactly worked it all out, but knew that somehow this was her fault, just like everything else. She'd provoked Malfoy and she'd distracted Harry at just the wrong moment. But the thing that bothered Ginny most of all as she looked at Harry's closed eyelids, wishing she could see the brilliant green of his eyes, was that they had fought so badly before the accident.
Ginny logically knew that Harry'd been through worse before and that he'd come through this fine, but that didn't stop her heart from stilling as she looked at his unmoving body. The words of their argument rang through her head –
We're not even friends. Her unfeeling words as Harry had sweetly tried to apologize…tried to understand.
Well, I wouldn't want her to think that we were friends or anything. Harry bitterly lashing back.
I can deal with him on my own Potter! Remember when I hexed him last year? Or is it another one of those things that you forgot? She'd been purposefully belligerent when Harry had just been concerned about the match.
I already said I was sorry about that. What do you want from me?! Ginny remembered the angry flash of confusion in Harry's eyes and how badly in that moment she'd wanted to make it right between them.
Or for never, Ginny. Whichever is more convenient for you. Katie had told them to save their argument til after the match. What if Harry was right? What if they'd never got to –
Ginny shook herself out of the memories and willed herself not to think of the possibility. If…when he got better, she'd have to make it up to him. She'd at least want Harry to know that she didn't hate him, that she truly wanted them to be friends. She'd been so worried today when he'd taken the fall that he'd never know how much she cared, even if she didn't act it.
"Oh Harry," Ginny whispered as she gently closed her hand around one of his, "This is a right mess we've found ourselves in, isn't it?"
She reached up to his forehead and brushed a lock of his hair out of the way, showing his scar. Ginny traced it gently and whispered, "It always comes back to that, doesn't it? Voldemort wanting to take over the world and the two of us in the middle."
Ginny heard Harry sigh and was relieved at the audible evidence that he really was alive.
"Do you ever wonder sometimes," she asked him softly, not caring for a response, "What your life would've been like if He hadn't been a part of it? Of course you do."
Ginny gently stroked Harry's hand with her thumb.
"It would've been easier, you know, but it hurts to dwell on that. I do though, and I know you do too. I've seen it in your eyes sometimes when you think nobody's looking. I look though Harry."
Ginny couldn't believe that she was admitting all this out loud, all these things that she'd never said, but had desperately wanted to. She looked around quickly to make sure that no one else was in this section of the hospital wing and checked Harry's eyes to make sure that they were still closed.
"I've wondered Harry, if we might've been closer if none of this had happened. Or perhaps we're as close as we ever could have been because of Voldemort. It makes me cringe inside sometimes, knowing that our relationship can be defined in terms of Him."
Ginny angrily wiped a tear from her eye with the sleeve of her uniform. She hated that this was what her life had become.
"I know that I can't say it to you Harry, because that'll just mess things up, and I don't really trust my own feelings anyway, but you've always known…Please get better Harry," she finished desperately as she cried into their intertwined hands.
"Ginny!" she heard Ron shout and looked up to see him and Hermione rush into the hospital wing, "How is he?"
"Tolerable I suppose," she responded shakily, "Madame Pomfrey said that he's in a delicate condition and I didn't really listen after that."
"How'd you get here so fast?" Hermione questioned. "Ron and I rushed here as soon as we could."
Ginny shrugged and noticed that both Hermione and Ron, also still in his uniform, looked harried.
"Well," Hermione said hesitantly as she looked at the bed and noticed that Ginny was clutching Harry's hand tightly, "I'm going to go ask Madame Pomfrey how Harry is doing." She touched Ron's arm. "I'll be right back."
Ron sat down in a chair next to Ginny. The silence was deafening until Ron finally spoke up.
"Well, at least you're not fighting now. Bloody awkward, that was."
"Ron, it's not funny," Ginny responded seriously.
"I wasn't trying to be funny. I was telling the truth. I'm glad you two have made up," he finished, nodding to where Ginny's hand held Harry's.
"He isn't even conscious!" she said as she let go of Harry's hand, "We can't have made up!"
"Details, details, Ginnikins. You know that as soon as the argument's over on your end it'll be over on his as soon as he wakes up. Harry knows better than to fight with a Weasley."
"I've been terrible to him, haven't I?" Ginny asked quietly, turning her head towards her brother. Ron looked at her sympathetically and pulled her into a hug. They stayed that way until Hermione returned.
"Madame Pomfrey says that she's given Harry potions that will heal his ribs and help the concussion. She thinks he'll wake as soon as his body's recovered from the shock."
"How long?" Ginny asked.
"He'll have to stay here for at least a week, but Madame Pomfrey says that he should wake within a day or so," Hermione said as she sat down in a chair on the other side of the bed.
"Thank God," Ginny breathed.
The three of them just sat there for a while, looking at Harry's pale face and hoping for the best. The clock chimed the hour and Hermione checked her watch.
"Ron," she said gently, "We need to go on out rounds."
"Okay," he said absently as he stood up, looking at Harry before walking over to Hermione's side.
"Do you want to walk partway back with us Ginny," Hermione asked.
"No. I'll stay here." Hermione nodded in understanding and took Ron's hand to gently steer him towards the door. If she'd been holding his hand under any other circumstances she would've been ecstatic. Hermione took one last look at Ginny, whose scarlet and gold contrasted sharply with the excessive white of the hospital wing and who looked like she was about to cry, and walked out of the door with her hand in Ron's.
Ginny opened her eyes the next morning when the sun hit her and rubbed her shoulders as she tried to ease the kink in her neck. It took her a moment of blinding whiteness to realize that she'd spent the rest of the day and the entire night by Harry's side. And in an entirely uncomfortable position at that. She'd spent the entire night in a stiff wooden chair with her head resting against Harry's arm on the bed and one of her arms strewn across his stomach.
"If I ever spend the night with Harry again," she mumbled, "I'm sleeping in the bed."
"Ginny?"
She heard Harry's scratchy voice and it suddenly hit her how that last sentence could've sounded. Mortified, she could only manage a weak, "Yes?"
Ginny looked up and was stunned to see Harry's worn emerald eyes.
"You're awake! Oh Harry!" Ginny threw herself at him and hugged him with an intensity that surprised them both. "I was so scared," she said softly as she pulled back slightly.
"Well, I couldn't let you kick me out of bed, now could I?" he said jokingly.
"You twit! Teasing me when I'm out of my mind with worry." Ginny hit him gently on the arm.
"Out of your mind, huh?" Harry said softly and Ginny realized with a jolt that his arms were still around her waist.
"I'm sorry Harry," Ginny blurted out when she felt one of his hands reach out and touch her hair. His hand stilled. "I've been horrid to you. I really do want to be your friend. I just never thought…When you fell I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to tell you that I was sorry."
Ginny drew in a shaky breath as she stared down at Harry's chest, avoiding his eyes.
"Ginny." At his voice she looked up. Harry looked so unabashedly open and vulnerable that it surprised her. "Can we be friends?"
Something in Harry's tone made Ginny wonder if there was more to the question than showed on the surface. She knew that this question was one of the most important she'd ever been asked. She had to answer it correctly.
"I'd like to be," Ginny said quietly. It was the truth and probably more than she could afford, but he had to know.
Harry gave a slight smile. It gave Ginny the confidence she needed.
"Let's start over," Ginny said as she leaned back out of Harry's arms and stuck out her hand, "Hi. My name's Ginny Weasley. I'm the youngest of seven children. I hate pistachio ice cream, but love sugarquills and I'm fond of Quidditch, music, and boys named Harry Potter."
Harry laughed and took her hand.
"Hi. My name's Harry Potter. Aside from all the stuff in the history books, I'm dismal at Potions, though I've by some chance of luck made it into the NEWT class. One of my favorite pastimes is sneaking around after hours using my invisibility cloak and nipping a bite to eat from the kitchens and I'm fond of Quidditch, chocolate frogs, and girls named Ginny Weasley."
Ginny grinned as they shook hands and Harry grinned back.
"So how are you feeling?" Ginny asked when the giddy feeling had passed.
"Like I got hit by a couple of bludgers," he said lightly.
"Well that's unusual," Ginny said with a smirk.
"I know, oddest thing." Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry's pretended ignorance and gave him a playful shove.
"Hey!" Harry shouted, "Easy there. I'm not in the hospital wing for fun you know."
"Oh," Ginny said, chagrined, "Sorry about that."
"'S'okay. So how long til I get out of here?"
"Madame Pomfrey said about another week."
Harry's face fell and Ginny remembered how he hated being cooped up in here. She needed to distract him.
"So, Mr. Potter," she said smoothly as she changed the subject, "what's this about an invisibility cloak?"
A/N: As always, I can't wait to hear what you thought! Thanks for reading. :)