Apologies -
Hermione gasped, covering her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
"NO!" Harry roared.
"You can't!" Ron shouted, his face blazing as vibrantly as his hair. "You just can't... but she... but Harry... he... You can't take her!" Ron shouted again looking between Will, Harry and then down at Hermione who still clung to his arm with her small hand.
Jack stared at his friend, searching deeply in Will's eyes before the Captain's expression softened. "I think everyone needs to calm down, savvy?" Jack said, pointing at Ron while looking at Harry.
"He can't take my sister!" Ron insisted.
"I think that be the Lass' decision," Jack said gravely. Ron looked at the pirate captain in surprise.
"You're honestly not going to let him do this are you?" Ron demanded, anger taking over the surprise.
"It's not my place to interfere," Jack said lazily with a flip of his hand as he moved to stand behind William again. "And if I'm not mistaken, weren't you supposed to be on a walk?" Jack asked as he turned back, now grinning at the couple. Hermione gave Jack a hard, scolding look.
"I came back to get my shawl," she snapped at him before turning to look back up at the angry red-head. "Ron, please," Hermione implored. Ron glared down at her.
"You're not in on this load of tosh are you?" Ron accused, shaking off her hand and taking a step away from her. Hermione's face fell, looking hurt at his harsh words. Taking a shaky breath Hermione look up at Ron.
"I can't believe you would think that I would want Ginny to leave us," said Hermione, her small hands clenched into fists at her side, digging her fingernails deep into her palms to fight the tears that threatened to fall.
"You might as well have with encouraging her to consort with him," Ron said, pointing towards Will while glaring down at Hermione.
"Ron, I --" Hermione began.
"Have you or have you not been encouraging Ginny to consort with Will?" Ron demanded hotly.
Something seemed to snap deep within Hermione, her face hardening and her back straightening. "I have always been loyal to Ginny's happiness, where ever that might lead her," Hermione snapped, crossing her arms beneath her breast. "I don't want to lose her, but I won't watch her remain with a broken heart if she has a chance of true happiness!" Ron seemed to lose his head of steam at hearing this. His expression went from anger to shock.
"But he'll take her away," Ron said weakly.
"I don't want her to go! If you two hadn't of been so stupid in the first place we wouldn't be in this situation!" Hermione shouted, a tear slipping down her cheek as she reached up to roughly brush it away. "Now I'm about to lose one of my closest friends and here you stand yelling at me?" Hermione said, poking Ron in the chest with a slender finger. "Why -- why I have half a mind. . ." Hermione looked around the room trying to grasp as to what she was going to say next. She glanced over at Jack before her angered gaze towards Ron. "Why I have half a mind to go with her if she agrees!" Hermione said defiantly, raising her quivering chin up higher. Jack grinned, stroking his beaded beard.
"You don't mean that!" Ron said, grabbing Hermione by the upper arm.
"You just watch me Ronald Weasley," Hermione hissed, jerking her arm from Ron's grasp, gathering the front of her gown and taking a step towards the girls' staircase. With a final sniff, Hermione jerked her head, tearing her eyes away from Ron's shocked stare and turned to head up the girls' stairs.
"Well now you've gone and made a right muck of things," Harry shot angrily at Ron.
"Shut up Harry," Ron growled, turning to face the two pirates once again. "You're not taking my sister or Hermione anywhere," he said, pointing at Will and Jack in turn.
"As I said before, that be their decisions, Lad, not yours," said Jack. Ron stared in utter amazement at the pirate Captain's nerve.
"It won't come to that," Harry said darkly, his frame silhouetted by the flickering flames of the fire behind him as it burned bright in the grate. Will and Jack turned their attention from Ron to stare at Harry. "Don't think you are the only one who has feelings for Ginny," he said quietly, his only sign that he was less than calm was the tremor of his wand hand as he clenched it at his side, staring Will down. "You'll not take her without a fight," said Harry, his voice hard as steel.
"And a fight you shall have," Will said, glaring at Harry. "Make no mistake, I will not fail." With that Will turned and walked to the hidden guest room entrance without looking back.
Jack stood for a moment eyeing the two angry Gryffindor men closely. A slow smile spread across his roguishly handsome face. With a slight tilt of his head and a minimal nod he turned and followed Will into the guest room, letting the stone door softly slide back into place.
Ginny groaned, rolling over in her soft bed, unsure of what woke her from the sweetest of dreams. Faint light behind her closed eyelids told her that morning had finally come after a night of tossing and turning in restless sleep to only settle down in the wee hours of the morning. Grabbing a pillow she buried her head beneath it and settled down deeper under the covers, hoping to slip back into sleep before she lost memory of her dream. The muffled sound of something tapping glass caught Ginny's reluctant attention. Heaving a deep sigh Ginny slipped her head out from beneath the pillow and looked over her shoulder between the large gap in the bed drapes towards the dorm-room window. Squinting her eyes against the early morning glare of the gray cloud covered sky she saw Hedwig sitting on the stone ledge of the window, tapping the glass with her beak rather impatiently.
"Hedwig, please go away," Ginny begged, dropping her head down face first into her pillow. Try as she might, Ginny couldn't ignore the incessant tapping on the window pane. She let out a frustrated sigh before tossing her covers back and pushing the bed curtains aside. The alarm clock on her night stand shown that it was in fact still early of hour, the caption beneath the numbers read -- 'Still time left to snooze.' Ginny rubbed her arms to ward off the chill in the air as she made her away across the room in bare feet to the window, cursing herself for not putting on her slippers as the cold of the stone floor caused goose bumps to race up her legs.
"About bloody time, Ginny, that owl's been at it for almost ten minutes now," said Daphne Gellar, a fellow dorm-mate with a small pert nose and long white blond hair that was tipped scarlet red at the ends. Daphne grabbed her pillow and covered her head as she rolled onto her side facing away from the window. Ginny stuck her tongue out at Daphne's back before turning her attention to the window where Hedwig waited, flapping her wings impatiently.
Ginny flipped the latch and swung half of the window out, a cold breeze sweep in causing Ginny to shiver in the cold. Hedwig hopped onto the inside ledge as Ginny shut the window behind the owl. Hedwig hooted, thrusting her leg forward to show a small note attached.
"Hold on, hold on," Ginny grumbled as she concentrated on untying the knot. "Blasted thing," she growled when the knot refused to cooperate. Hedwig flapped her wings giving Ginny a reproachful look as she waited for the girl to remove the note from its leg. Finally Ginny was able to loosen the knot and remove the note. The owl puffed up her feathers and shook herself giving Ginny a final haunting look before turning to face the window and wait for it to be opened. "I'm sorry Hedwig, I got the knot as fast as I could," Ginny said softly, she reached to push open the window once more. Hedwig turned her head around and looked at Ginny once more, this time in a more forgiving manner. Ginny reached over running the back of her finger along the snowy white feathers of Hedwig's back. The owl closed its eyes slowly, enjoying the affection before she hopped to the edge of the window and took flight.
Ginny shivered again shutting the window before hurrying back to the warmth of her covers, note still unread clutched in her hand. Throwing the heavy covers over her legs she finally broke open the seal and unrolled the small bit of parchment. Reaching up Ginny tucked a strand of long fiery hair behind her ear as she read, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. She recognized the handwriting as that of Harry's immediately. It appeared to have been written off quickly and contained a few ink smudges.
Ginny,
Could you meet me down at the pitch?
H.
Ginny flipped the parchment over, looking to see if there was anything else. Finding the back of the page blank she dropped the note onto her bed, staring at it in mild disbelief. 'What in the world is he playing at?' Ginny thought to herself, reaching up to rub the sleep from her eyes. With a yawn she looked at her alarm clock and then mournfully down at her pillow that beckoned her. She heaved a frustrated sigh. "Oh, bloody hell," she grumbled as she threw off her covers and made to quickly get dressed and find out what was going on.
The air was chilled, making Ginny wrap the cloak around her tighter as she walked through archway and out onto the browned grass of the Quidditch pitch. Her hair flew out around her with a gust of wind, reaching up she pulled a large lock of it out from in front of her eyes. Scanning the sky she caught sight of Harry leaning forward onto his firebolt, pushing it to go at breakneck speed across the length of the field. She stood frozen, hand in mid-air holding back her hair as she watched Harry reach the far end of the field and straighten up on his broom and stare off into the distance. Ginny noticed that at some point in time her jaw had gone slack and snapped it shut again, irritated with herself for being so distracted.
"Harry!" she called out, but the wind carried her voice away from him. Her frustration grew, that he would ask her to come out here and stand in the cold while he rode around. Stepping further across the field she tried shouting again, knowing her words were being blown right back at her. She saw Harry's back stiffen and his head whip around to look down behind him. Ginny felt her stomach give a slight lurch as he stared down at her, his untidy hair being ruffled further with the breeze. His face relaxed, steering the firebolt down he soon landed next to her. Ginny again felt her jaw going slack as she looked up at Harry. His eyes were bright and sparkling from his ride. The cold air causing bright pink patches on his cheeks and his untidy hair was wind sweep. Ginny's fingers twitched with the overwhelming desire to reach up and smooth it down. Quickly she balled her hand into a fist, holding it behind her to prevent her fingers from betraying her.
"Why have you called me out here so early, Harry?" Ginny asked, letting some of her irritation show through. Harry looked down at her for a moment before turning his attention to the handle of his broom, where he tightly grabbed the end with both hands.
"I. . . I wanted to apologize for last night," Harry said with a small shrug. Harry gave her a quick look before turning his head to face the oncoming wind, looking out into the empty stands. Ginny studied his profile and knew something wasn't right. His eyes which she thought to be bright from his flight just a moment before were shadowed and haunted when she looked closer, even more so than normal with the threat of Voldemort constantly weighing upon him. His entire presence seemed strained beyond anything she'd seen before and she couldn't figure it out. Harry reached up, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned his eyes to the ground between them. Ginny let out a long breath most of her anger leaving with it.
"Apology accepted," said Ginny, pulling her cloak tighter and hugging herself to try and stay as warm as possible. Harry looked up at her in surprise, clearly expecting more of an argument. "Could you at least tell me why you called me to come out here so early in the morning, in the cold, when you could have told me in the common room?" asked Ginny. A gust of wind blew her hair wildly around her, causing a lock of it to fly into her face. Ginny frowned in irritation, trying to toss her head to rid herself of the bothersome lock, which held stubbornly in place.
Harry watched her struggle with her hair. "Perhaps I wanted to see you," he said as Ginny frowned up at her stubborn hair. Ginny had to decide if she wanted to unwrap her arms and lose precious body heat to remove the lock of hair from her face.
"You could have seen me at any point in time today," she said, accepting defeat before pulling her hand away from the warmth of her side.
"Perhaps I wanted to see you, alone," Harry said, reaching up before Ginny could raise her hand, slowly hooking the lock of hair with his fingers and pulling it out of her face, gently tucking it behind her ear. Harry's fingers lingered for a moment on the side of her neck before he slowly let his hand drop. Ginny bit her bottom lip, unsure of what to say. "Dumbledore says he's on the move again," Harry said quietly, his eyes lingering on the lock of hair he had just touched before turning to look out at the empty stands. "He recons that it won't be much longer now," said Harry, his grip tightening on his broom.
Ginny felt her heart sink as she silently stood there, the fear of losing Harry to Voldemort slowly gripped her.
"I have to make sure everyone is safe," he said absently, slowly turning his eyes down to stare into Ginny's. "I have to make sure you're safe," Harry said fiercely. Ginny felt her breath catch in her throat shivering beneath his intense gaze.
"Har--" Ginny began before choking on her own words and had to stop and clear her throat.
"We should head in," Harry said quickly, taking Ginny by the elbow and gently turning her towards the exit, "You're cold."
"I --" Ginny began before Harry cut her off again.
"Thank you for coming out here Ginny," Harry said letting go of her arm to walk beside her. Ginny nodded, already missing his touch on her arm. Ginny felt at a loss as to what to say, so choose to walk along side Harry in a comfortable silence. When they reached the doors Harry stepped up and pulled the door open silently. Ginny stepped forward and paused, daring to look up into his eyes for a moment.
"Thank you Harry," she said simply. Harry stared down at her for a moment, a shadow passing over his features for the briefest of seconds.
"Anytime, Ginny," he said, his grip tightened on the door as Ginny dropped her eyes and continued in.
They made their way quietly towards the main hall where a large group of students had gathered, excitedly talking amongst themselves.
"Did you hear Harry?" Colin Creevey said as he pushed his way through the crowd of students as Harry and Ginny approached.
"There's going to be a sword dueling demonstration tomorrow evening," Dennis Creevey said as he pushed his way though to stand next to his older brother. "I can't wait to see real pirates sword fighting," Dennis said as he mimed swishing a sword. Ginny looked past the crowd to the notice board near the main hall in surprise.
"Ah, there you be, Darlin'," Jack's slurred voice called from behind. Harry and Ginny turned around to see Jack and Will approaching. Will looked between Ginny and Harry and frowned deeply. Jack smirked at the excited group before turning his attention back to Ginny. "I was hoping to tell you myself, but it appears I have missed my chance." Jack said coming to stand next to Ginny.
"So you're really going to be showing us how to duel with swords?" Colin asked, looking expectantly between Jack and Will. Harry turned his hard glare onto Colin. The younger Gryffindor shrunk back slightly under Harry's stare.
"Aye, that I will be doing tomorrow evening, lad," Jack said his smirk growing. "What say you, my bonny lass. Will you be there tomorrow evening to cheer your favorite pirate on?" Jack asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Of course I will Jack," Ginny said, glancing over at Will, who stood silently watching her.
"And what about you, mate? Care to see how real men do battle?" Jack asked, cocking a half grin at Harry.
Harry turned to look at the pirate captain for a moment before turning to stare down Will. "I can hardly wait," Harry said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.
Will glared at Harry, frowning deeply. "I look forward to tomorrow evening then," Will said darkly, continuing to stare at Harry.
Dennis and Colin's eyebrows shot up as they stood watching.
Jack cleared his throat, bending his elbow to Ginny. "Care to join me?" He offered. Ginny looked back and forth between Will and Harry before slipping her hand into the crook of Jack's arm.
"I'd like that," she said, glancing again between the two silent men as Jack led her way. Will's frown deepened for an instant before he broke eye contact to follow Jack into the main hall. Harry watched closely as they left, his jaw clenched, his knuckles white around his broomstick.
"Don't worry, Harry, you can take him," Dennis said rather soberly as he watched the pirate's back walk away.
"No doubt about that," Colin said just as seriously. Harry turned and looked at the Creevey brothers before turning his attention to watch Ginny's head as she disappeared around the main hall doors.
"He'll not succeed," Harry muttered to himself, clenching his fist at his side.