Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter
Summary – The Weasley brothers, realising that they didn't want their little sister to just end up with any old git (that they didn't know), decided to try and set her up with a git do they know.
A/N – This isn't anything serious, just a little fun while mucking around with plotline, trying to get my mind of school work and working out the next chapter for A Slight Mishap. Enjoy!
Domino Effects
"Michael Corner."
"Git."
"That's what I said when I heard. He had a bit of a shifty look about him. Don't know what she sees in him. Didn't like him from the start."
"I hope we aren't being to biased here."
"No. Corner is a git. I can see that plain as day."
"Not just because out little sister insists on keeping up a relationship with him?"
"She could do so much better then him."
"I agree."
"I think we all agree. Raise your hands and say 'aye' if you do."
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
"Should we say 'aye' again to make up for Percy's absence?"
"No. He's a bigger git then Corner. He'd just lecture us about fooling around with Ginny's love life. Which we aren't!"
"Too right little brother!"
"Truer words never spoken!"
"Shut it you too. Now… what do we do about it?"
The five Weasley boys fell into silence at once. How could they prevent their little sister from going out with horrible prats if she kept fighting them the whole way?
Suddenly Charlie's eyes lit up and he smiled mischievously.
"Ron, Harry is coming to the Burrow tomorrow night isn't he?" he asked all-too-innocently.
"Yeah," sighed Ron, thinking of his best friend, who was more then likely still mourning Cedric's death. "Why?"
"What time?" asked Charlie, ignoring the question.
"Around midday," said Ron frowning now. "Why?"
"Could we trust Hermione's help?"
"If she thinks that the situation warrants her help. Why!"
Charlie looked at his four brothers, all of whom were looking back at him cluelessly, including Bill, who was supposed to be the bright one in the family. He rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.
"It's simple," he said. "Obviously we don't want Ginny going out with gits we don't know will take of her. Let's face it; we don't want her to go out with anyone at all. But she will date and one day she will get married."
"And?" chorused four voices.
"Ginny will marry a git of some sort," he continued. "But we have to make sure this git will take care of her."
The other four waited patiently.
"We set her up with a git we know of course!" declared Charlie triumphantly.
Blank looks met his statement.
"Harry?" he prodded.
Their expressions cleared.
"Brilliant!" exclaimed the twins.
"But, what if Harry doesn't like her?" asked Ron.
"Fair point," said Bill, frowning. "What then Charlie? Last I heard he liked that Cho Chang girl."
"The pretty girl in Ravenclaw?" asked Charlie in surprise and Ron nodded. "Does he even know her?"
"No," said Ron with a small smile. "But I've heard what she's like so I don't really want Harry getting together with her. She'll probably just cry about Cedric."
"Well, Cho…" started Fred.
"Cho?" asked Mrs Weasley, coming in with shopping bags, Ginny trailing behind her. "Cho who?"
"Cho Chang," said Ron.
Mrs Weasley smiled.
"Oh yes, I know her mother," she said with a nod. "Which reminds me. She and Cho are coming for dinner tonight."
CRASH! Ginny had dropped a shopping bag and now scrambled to pick up all the cans rolling away, her face bright red.
"Sorry mum, lost my grip," she mumbled.
"Quite alright dear, not noticing the murderous look on her daughter's face. "I want all of you to make Cho feel welcome tomorrow night. It will be a bit cramped with Harry and Hermione arriving too, but we may as well make the most of the night!"
The Weasley boys looked at each other, each inwardly wincing. This would take some serious planning. An impromptu visit from Cho Chang was not on the agenda.
Harry forgot to fling out an arm to stop himself so he came hurtling out of the fireplace at the Burrow the next day at lunch, landing with a bang, his trunk crashing through afterwards and narrowly missing his head.
"Harry dear, are you alright?" Mrs Weasley asked worriedly, rushing over to help Harry stand.
"I'm fine," said Harry through a fit of violent coughing from all the ash, barely noticing when Mrs Weasley began to brush all the soot of his clothes. "I hate floo travel."
"Most do Harry," said Mr Weasley with a chuckle as he apparated into the room after having gone and picked up Harry (alone this time).
Harry adjusted his glasses, blushing as he realised that all the Weasleys and Hermione were all in the room and had just witness him hurtle out of the fireplace.
"That was the coolest thing that I've ever seen you do!" Fred said in awe. "And you didn't even mean to do it!"
Harry's blush deepened as Mrs Weasley started to scold Fred, taking a moment to inform Harry he was staying in Ron's room. Harry hastily dragged his trunk out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
When he came back down Fred winked at him and he smiled weakly, sitting in the spot between Ron and Ginny.
"Hi Ron, hi Ginny," he said casually, then proceeded to say hello to the rest of the table too.
"We're having guests tonight," Mrs Weasley said to Harry and Hermione and the Weasleys turned to watch Harry, which he found odd.
"Who?" asked Hermione curiously.
"Cho Chang and her mother."
Harry had just taken a sip of juice and swallowed it the wrong way at hearing this news, causing him to go into a violent coughing fit once more. Ron whacked him on the back with a sympathetic expression on his face.
Harry cleared his throat, red-face at having caused another scene.
"Um… I'll just go unpack," he muttered and ran from the room as though a pack of dementors were at his heels.
Harry stood awkwardly with the rest of the Weasleys as Cho and her mother walked in the door. But then he frowned slightly as he saw Cho look around the room in disdain, covering it so quickly he wasn't sure he had seen it. But suddenly Cho spotted him and made a beeline for him.
"Hi Harry," she said quietly.
"Hi," he said back and waited, noting the absence of the usual flip-flop in his stomach.
"Um… how's your summer been?" asked Cho, clearly not used to starting the conversations.
"Fine. You?"
"Oh they've been okay."
Harry nearly audibly sighed in relief when Mrs Weasley announced that they should get up the table for dinner and made sure to claim his usual seat between Ron and Ginny before Cho could sit next to him.
Dinner went smoothly with Cho trying to talk to Harry from across the table while he spoke to Ginny, who was inwardly smirking. During dessert silence descended a table. The only one's uncomfortable with it was Cho and Harry.
After dinner the adults went into the living room and left the teenagers to their own devices in the dining room. Everyone but Cho started talking happily. She was looking at Harry with a thoughtful expression.
Then, quite suddenly, she burst into tears, just quiet enough so the adults wouldn't hear her and come running.
The teenagers froze, not at all sure what to do. So Harry, being the person that he was, approached her cautiously in an attempt to find out what was wrong. What he didn't expect was that she would fling herself at his neck and sob into his shoulder.
Alarmed Harry stared down at Cho's head, then awkwardly patted her on the back a bit.
"Wh- What's wrong?" he stammered.
"I'm sorry Harry!" Cho cried, though she made no attempt to move, making Harry more uncomfortable. "But I lied! I said that my summer was okay, but it wasn't!"
"Why?" asked Harry, his brow furrowed.
"I could stop thinking about…"
Ginny and Hermione exchanged alarmed glances. She wouldn't!
"…Cedric dying and the Triwizard Tournament."
She would.
Harry immediately stiffened and pain filled his eyes. The back-patting became almost mechanical.
"And then I thought about how you had to witness it!" Cho continued to Harry's shoulder. "And I felt so awful feeling so bad because he died in front of you and you would feel so much worse." She lifted her tear-stained face. "I'm so sorry Harry!"
In the background the Weasleys and Hermione were silently telling Harry not to buy it because she obviously wanted something. But, not hearing these silent pleas, Harry relaxed slightly. He could be so naïve sometimes.
"It's alright," he said quietly, looking in the distance. "Cedric was someone special to you… you have more right to feel awful then I do."
Cho stared up at him and wiped her face dry. But when she didn't stand back, even when Harry dropped his arms, he started to tense again. Cho, for her part, seemed to have forgotten that there was anyone else in the room.
"There's just a problem though," she said softly.
"Like what?" asked Harry, frowning.
"Well, I have someone else that means something special too me now," she said, looking away.
A smile spread across Harry's face.
"Great!" he said somewhat happily. "Make sure you go and tell him before it's too late, alright?"
And to the shock of the observers Harry attempted to disentangle himself from Cho's embrace (key word being attempted), obviously not realising what Cho was getting at. Ginny covered a giggle with her hand. Harry's naivety could be such a blessing.
Cho recovered from her shock quicker though and giggle, tightening her hold.
"Well, alright," she agreed. "I really like you Harry."
Harry blinked at her for a moment.
"Sorry?" he asked blankly, abandoning his escape attempts.
"I really like you Harry," repeated Cho.
Harry rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"Um Cho?" he said.
"Yes?" asked Cho happily.
"Uh…" Harry cleared his throat. "You should have told me that last year."
"Why?" asked Cho, her eyes wide.
Harry sighed.
"To clarify; you should have told me that when I still had a crush on you," he said gently. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way anymore."
To say Cho was shocked would have been a severe understatement.
"What?" she asked in shock.
"You heard me," said Harry, shifting uncomfortably. "And before you decide to start screaming at me I am going to go upstairs."
Harry pulled away from Cho's and ran up the stairs away from the murderous-looking Cho Chang, not hearing the mental cheers of the spectators.
"You didn't say you didn't like Cho anymore," said Ron over breakfast the next morning.
"I didn't realise until last night," Harry shrugged, but didn't elaborate.
"Do you all want to come to my room for a game of exploding snap?" asked Ron.
"Sure!" agreed the Weasley boys readily while Hermione and Ginny agreed after a moment's hesitation.
Harry however look sceptical.
"Wouldn't there be more room down here?" he asked, thoroughly convinced that they were up to something.
"No," chorused Ron and the twins, rising Harry's suspicions.
But then he looked at the two oldest Weasley brothers watching in amusement and his suspicions died. The two of them wouldn't be childish and mature. He could trust them not to plot against him… hopefully.
"Alright," he said reluctantly.
They trooped up to Ron's bedroom, then decided the room was indeed to small. Harry decided he preferred Ron's room to where they were going.
The attic.
Harry had never liked attics. He'd been locked in the attic quite a few times when his relatives asked him to get something for them and then shut and locked the door behind him.
So, needless to say, he had a very big paranoia about the attic door being shut and insisted they left it open.
Two games later and they all got bored.
"Why did you want to keep the door open Harry?" asked Ron curiously.
"What if it shuts and locks?" asked Harry.
They all laughed, and then realised Harry was completely serious.
"A door can't lock itself Harry," said Hermione gently.
"Er… news flash," said Bill. "We're in the wizarding world. Of course the doors can lock themselves!"
Hermione shot him an angry you-aren't-helping look. Bill muttered an apology.
"But this one won't," said Charlie with a nod. "So why are you so frightened about the attic door being locked?"
"Not frightened!" said Harry defensively. "Just… um…"
"Frightened," said Ginny bluntly.
Harry made a face and sighed, rolling his eyes.
"If you must know…" he said. "When I was little my aunt and uncle used to send me up into the attic when they wanted to get me out of the way, conveniently not noticing that Dudley would always lock the door, without fail. Well, there was no windows in the attic and the only lightbulb was never replaced so it would be really dark and the constant creaking noises didn't really help much."
He shrugged as though it wasn't a big deal.
"I've never liked attics much either," said Hermione with a small smile. "They were always so spooky and I hated the creaky floorboards. I never went up there if I could avoid it."
"How old were you Harry?" asked Bill curiously.
"Probably from when I was about five 'til when I was nine," said Harry, thinking. "Then Dudley tired of locking me up there and forgetting about me for a few days so he put all his energy into 'Harry Hunting', which was so much more fun according to him."
"Wait, they left you up there?" asked Charlie incredulously.
"Yeah," said Harry with a shrug. "So?"
"What was 'Harry Hunting'?" asked Ginny hurriedly.
"I had to run from Dudley and his friends and I couldn't let them catch me," said Harry, leaving no doubt in anyone's minds what would happen if he was caught.
"Hey, remember that girl we always used to chase around when we were younger?" asked Fred.
"Oh yes, Sophie," Bill teased.
"We all thought Sophie and Fred would marry one day," said Charlie with a grin, explaining to Harry and Hermione. "Before she moved away. Fred and Sophie were really close, as close as George and his invisible friend at the time."
"Hey!" said George in mock-anger. "Don't tease Brett!"
Just then Mrs Weasley called everyone for lunch.
"Already?" asked Hermione in surprise. "That was quick."
"Time just flies sometimes Hermione," said Ron.
Harry led the way down the stairs followed closely by Ginny. Fred and George were bringing up the rear.
As Harry neared the bottom of the steps the twins grinned at each other, saluted and gave Bill, who was in front of them, a large shove.
Flailing his arms in an attempt to right himself Bill accidently knocked into Charlie. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry had all stopped now to watch with wide-eyes. Charlie made Ron lose his balance, who accidentally shoved Hermione, who yelled and knocked into Ginny.
Harry had turned around and prepared to catch the red-heared witch but she had been knocked into him with two much force and they both went tumbling down the last stairs, Harry landing on his back, Ginny landing on top of them.
The Weasley boys and Hermione stared, containing their delight. They couldn't have gone any better.
Mrs Weasley rushed in, but stopped at the sight of Harry and Ginny both trying to get their bearings, and stayed silent unusually.
Harry was the first to realise the predicament he was in and he blushed so brightly he probably could have glowed in the dark.
"Um… Ginny?" he asked weakly.
Ginny looked at him dazedly, then came back to her senses and went bright red too. But neither moved, funnily enough.
"You know," said Ginny quietly, not at all sure what she was doing. "I broke up with Michael Corner a few weeks ago. He wasn't my type."
"Really?" asked Harry, genuinely interested.
"Really," said Ginny vaguely.
"Um, maybe we should get up?" Harry suggested, clearing his throat and trying to force his blush down.
Ginny looked down at him oddly for a moment, her beautiful brown eyes locking with his green ones. Then she smiled.
"No, it's fine," she said.
"Oh," said Harry. "A-alright then… but we're blocking the stairs."
Ginny sighed exasperatedly.
"Forget the stairs Potter," she said sternly.
Then she did the oddest thing.
She kissed him.
When she pulled away her eyes were bright, probably quite aware that she had just shattered something in Harry's mind and had left him to pick up the pieces.
"Well?" she asked innocently.
Harry smiled shyly up at her then raised his head slightly and kissed her back.
"That an answer?" he asked just as innocently.
"It was," agreed Ginny.
"Was it satisfactory?"
"Very much so Mr Potter."
Harry looked at the stairs and saw the Weasley boys and Hermione grinning and knew they had all planned this. Probably not the part where his back was absolutely killing him and he would probably have a few bruised tomorrow, but the part where he and Ginny got together.
"The other gits not to you liking then?" Harry asked them innocently, enjoying the way their mouths fell open in shock.
"How did you…?" stumbled Ron.
Harry smiled in a way that told them they probably would never know how exactly he had known that they hadn't liked the gits Ginny dated and decided that Harry was the perfect git for the job.
"Well," said Ginny, her eyes sparkling to show that she had known this too. "All I can say is thank god for the domino effect!"
The End.