Loving You Secretly Chapter
18: The Challenges of Being a Boy
"Have you heard?" one boy asked the other across the table.
"Heard what?" asked the latter.
"There's a girl in our midst. Apparently she's disguised as a boy. I wonder who it is," replied the former.
Ginny Weasley entered the Great Hall, her best friend Harry Potter and her only love, Draco Malfoy walking beside her. Some how, everyone seated in the Great Hall was whispering in low voices.
"What's going on around here? Is the school going to closed for renovation or what?" Harry exclaimed.
"Haven't you heard? There's a girl in our midst," someone yelled in response.
Ginny felt her knees give way and her body go limp at the instant. Draco who was beside immediately placed an arm across her shoulder in reassurance.
"Don't worry. Just act like you usually do and pray that these blokes don't make any sudden moves," Draco whispered in her ear. Ginny regained her composure and continued to move towards their usual spot at the Pegasus table.
"Don't do that. It's embarrassing," someone among the group of 3rd years on the quidditch pitch whined.
Ginny turned around to find two boys from Centaur fooling around with each other but decided to ignore them since she didn't know what they were up to.
"Ooh…I wish they would stop it. They've been going around groping at everyone's chest on the pretext of wanting to find the girl in our midst. I can't believe they even groped me this morning," Harry pouted as he made his way towards Ginny and Draco.
"THEY'RE GROPING AT WHAT?" Ginny yelled.
"Don't worry Xav, I won't let them touch you," Harry said gallantly before stepping in front of Ginny.
"I am going to protect myself even if it means my death" thought the little red head to herself. Meanwhile, Draco noticed the red head's distress and decided to calm her down a little, in his own wayby ruffling up her hair.
"Ginny, Draco. May I have a word?" Tai Ho called out.
"What's he up to now?" Harry muttered.
"Dunno, probably wants us to try out some new secret tactics," Draco said matter-of-factly before trailing after the red head who had ran off to meet Tai Ho.
"I called the both of you here to let you know that I wasn't the one who spread anything about you Xav…I mean Ginny," Tai Ho said solemnly as he eyed Ginny and Draco
"But I do have my sources as to who did it. I'm really sorry to say that it was one of the Prefects from Pegasus. I suppose there's nothing much we can do except to ignore the matter and go about our lives as usual. I should really hate to lose my star chaser, you know that?" Tai Ho continued in exasperation, earning a laugh from Ginny and a smirk from Draco.
"Alright, let's get back to practice, shall we?" Tai Ho asked before getting up and making his way back to the quidditch pitch.
"As you all have already known, I have cordially invited the Cobras to join us in today's friendly match. The same rules apply. Mount your brooms, gentlemen," Tai Ho gave his commands confidently before starting the game off.
Twenty minutes into the game, Ginny knew her performance was lousy. The number of scores she made dipped drastically. Thoughts were running through her head randomly.
"What's up with your Star Chaser, Eagles? He's not performing up to standard. Still hung up on the girl-in-our-midst thing aren't you, little guy?" the keeper of the Cobras yelled.
Ginny felt her grip on her broom tighten considerably, and then she started to tremble at the thought that she might be discovered.
"XAV, WATCH OUT!" Harry yelled. Those were the last words Ginny heard before a buldger hit her straight in the stomach, knocking the air out of her. Ginny felt her world go black and she was falling deeper and deeper into darkness.
"OH MY GOSH! XAV!" Harry exclaimed before turning his broom around and going after her. It was only then did Draco notice that Ginny had been hit by a bludger. Turning his broom towards her direction, Draco dived at the fastest speed he could to get to her. But Harry was closer and hence was able to reach her faster, grabbing her by the collar, the brunette heaved the little red head on his own broom before landing next to one of the spectators' bench.
"Oh gosh. Please be alright, Xav. Draco would kill me for not warning you earlier," Harry muttered incoherently as he laid Ginny on the bench and started unfastening her robes. Off went the first button, then the second.
"But why's Xav wearing a vest? It's not nearly that chilly yet. I'd better unzip it so he could breathe better," thought Harry before proceeding to unzip Ginny's vest. By this time, Draco had touched down and was running towards Ginny when he noticed Harry unzipping her vest.
"HARRY, NO!" Draco called out, but he was too late. Harry had just revealed a secret that they had all tried so hard to keep, right in front of two quidditch teams. Upon realizing his mistake, Harry immediately closed Ginny's robes around her, picked her up and handed her to Draco.
"Take her to the infirmary, mate. Aunt Narcissa could help her more than we can over here. I'll be there in a while," Harry said calmly as he watched his blonde friend who was more concerned with the red head than with what he was saying. Without uttering a second word, Draco turned and ran as fast as he could to the infirmary.
"Did you see?" said one member on team Cobra.
"I didn't get a good view but it was pretty obvious," replied another.
"If I hear anything about what happened today being spread around in school, I will not hesitate to do something drastic to the rumour-monger," Harry said as he slammed fist into a nearby wall.
"MOTHER! MOTHER! HELP! IT'S GINNY!" Draco yelled as he entered the infirmary, alerting his shocked mother who came running out in her nightgown.
"What happened?" asked Narcissa as she looked worriedly at the unconscious girl.
"She took a bludger straight in the stomach. If only I had kept watch on her. How could I let myself get distracted?" Draco said in exasperation as he slumped down on the chair beside Ginny's bed, watching his mother examining her.
"Don't worry, dear. She's all right, no internal injuries what so ever. But it'll be painful for her to laugh in the next few days," Narcissa said as she rubbed medication carefully on Ginny's bruised stomach.
"How's she, I mean he, I mean Xav, Mate?" Harry asked as he entered the infirmary.
"Oh it's you, Harry dear. So you already know. Ginny's fine, no internal injuries, but she'll have to apply my specially brewed potion on a daily basis to ease the bruise," Narcissa replied as she pulled the blankets over Ginny's body.
"I think you owe me an explanation, mate" Harry asked as he sat down beside Draco, who was looking less distressed than he was earlier on.
"Xavier Weasley is actually Ginevra Weasley. She's 100 female. She came here as a boy, as Xavier, in order to join the Eagles, because she admired our skills in quidditch," Draco explained slowly, praying that Harry would understand.
"She's a girl? All these while I've been thinking I was gay," Harry muttered, earning a half-hearted smirk from the blonde.
"Me too, until my mother and I discovered the truth in second year when I carried her to the infirmary," Draco said quietly.
"I'm…I'm so sorry, Harry. I…I…I didn't mean to lie to you," Ginny said as she attempted to sit up with all the strength she could manage.
"You're awake, darling," Narcissa said as she moved to caress Ginny's head.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Narcissa. Sorry for causing you so much trouble. Sorry for making you hide the truth from everyone," Ginny muttered.
"Don't be silly, child. You were always like a daughter to me, and don't flatter yourself deary, no one can make Narcissa Malfoy do anything she doesn't want to do," Narcissa smiled as she held the red head in her arms.
"Yeah, don't be silly, Xav…I mean Ginny, you'd always be my best mate," Harry nodded.
"I won't let anything bad happen to you again, I promise," Draco said as he took her hands and brought them to his lips.
"Hey, Missy Weasley, wanna drop the quidditch team and be on the swim team? We should enjoy you parading around in nothing but a bikini," yelled some crude guys as they passed the trio along the corridor.
"How did they know anything? I swear I'd kill those Cobras," Harry muttered through clenched teeth.
"Just forget it. We'll just keep our cool and protect Gin," Draco replied as he tightened his grip on Ginny's hand. Ginny on the other hand merely nodded. They entered the Pegasus dormitory only to find the whole house and team Eagle sitting in the common room, apparently waiting for them.
"Well?" Thanos was the first to speak, "Aren't you three going to explain anything?"
"I…I…I'm sorry," Ginny said with her head bow low before turning towards the staircase which led to their dorm rooms.
"That's it, Weasley? All those months of working and living together like a family and sorry is all you have to say?" Rajan said as he moved towards Ginny.
"Leave her alone," Draco said in a warning tone before stepping between them.
"No, Draco. I think I owe all of them an explanation," Ginny sighed before turning around to face the common room of people.
"I'm sorry for keeping this from all of you. My real name is Ginevra Weasley. I came to Durmstrang because I really wanted to be on team Eagle, to play quidditch alongside Harry and Draco. At least that was my very initial reason. Then I got to meet everyone of you. All of you who shared my best memories and moments with me, then I knew the secret must be kept locked up in an even deeper corner, because my new aim is to graduate with all of you," Ginny said with tears in her eyes.
Turning to the Eagles, she continued, "To see your happy faces when we win the inter-schools quidditch competition again and again, year after year."
Turning to the rest of the house, "To be there for every single one of you when you needed help, academically or emotionally or mentally and much much more."
"Most of all, to see your happy faces when you receive 'Os' in your final year examinations. I really don't want to miss any of those," Ginny said before turning around and made her way up to her dorm room. Tears flowing uncontrollably from her eyes.
"Ginny, we just want you to know that we'd want to graduate with you too. No matter what happens, you'd always be our best mate and our star chaser," the entire team Eagle spoke in unison, with perfect timing and all, earning a huge grin from Ginny who had just entered the Eagles' changing room.
"We'd better hurry up; match is starting in 3 minutes. Tai Ho would have our heads if we screwed today's finals up," Harry mumbled as he checked his watch.
"And they're off again. It's the Eagles against Gryffindors this year. Who would emerge the champs?" Thanos' voice boomed across the pitch. Fifteen minutes into the game, the Eagles were leading with a score of 80 to 20. Finally, Draco managed to catch the snitch again and the Eagles won another year of the Quidditch inter-schools match again.
"Tai Ho, can I have a word with you?" the headmaster said as he stepped into the Eagles' changing room.
"What does he want, Cap?" Vill asked as he saw Tai Ho enter the great hall.
"Just asking some random questions about Xav, nothing much," Tai Ho replied as he took his seat at the Eagles' table.
"I'm sorry if I got you into any trouble, Tai Ho," Ginny muttered as she kept her eyes on her empty plate.
"Don't be silly. They can't do anything to me, can they? I'll be graduating in a few months for that matter. They won't expel me at this moment, and I doubt they'd expel you either. Too much trouble and unnecessary publication to the school," Tai Ho said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, and there's something that I would like to say. Since I'd be leaving the team next year, I have the responsibility of electing a new captain, which is what I have done. I'm proud to announce that Xavier Weasley, or Ginny Weasley if you prefer to call her that would be the new captain of the Eagles. That would show that we treat all gender equal," Tai Ho said with a smirk before handing his little golden eagle sculpture, which was the symbol of team captain, to an utterly shocked beyond words Ginny.
That night, back in their room.
"Draco, I don't think I can do this. I can't risk the school's reputation much less the Eagles' reputation just to stay on the team and be team captain. Someone will be bound to announce to the world that the new captain and chaser of the all-boys team Eagle is a girl dressed as a boy," Ginny muttered
"But I really do wish to do all that. You know, be on the team and be captain of the team. It's just that I…I…," Ginny stopped in mid-sentence, attempting to find words to express herself.
"I understand. I understand everything perfectly. You don't have to say anything at all if you don't want to. Just do what you want, I'll just be here for you always," Draco said as he embraced her.
"Draco, can I…can I…can I bunk with you tonight?" Ginny finally said.
"Sure," Draco smirked.
With that, the little red head crawled her way into the blonde's bed. Turning around to face him as she felt him ease himself beside her. It was then did she realise the close proximity of them. Draco bent his head, attempting to kiss her, but he pulled back before he could touch her lips, causing Ginny to eye him inquisitively.
"I'd better not. I am not confident of controlling my raging hormones and I don't want to hurt you," Draco said as he held her close to him. Ginny nodded quietly and before long they were asleep.
"Headmaster, I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused the school. Thank you for giving me a chance to study here and to be on the quidditch team, but I fear the situation is getting out of hand. I should leave before the school and the team's reputation is at risk," Ginny said as she handed Lucius her leaving letter.
"No trouble at all, dear. All you did was brought more glory and honour to the school than anyone in history ever had. We're all proud of you. But if you're adamant on leaving, I have no rights to keep you back. You will do well in the wizarding world, with proper guidance. You may leave anytime you want, no hurries," Lucius said, and with that he watched the little red head step out of his office for the last time.
"Gin, you didn't have to do that you know. There's nothing wrong with a girl on the team, it just goes to show that we're fair to all gender," Harry pouted as he saw the red head emerge from the headmaster's office, then finally giving in to his emotions, Harry pulled Ginny into a bear hug.
"Weasley, great to have you on our team. We're going to miss you. Draco's going to be captain while you're away, but I promise we'd win the inter-schools champion again," Rajan said before shaking Ginny's hand.
"I enjoyed every minute and second to the fullest, here with all of you. I'll miss you all, but I promise I'll write," Ginny said as she made her way to the port key.
"Ginny! Wait!" Draco called out as he ran towards her. Then he whispered something in her ear, waited for her to nod in response and finally wrapped his arms around her for the final time. The school watched as they're only ever female student disappeared through the port key.
End of Chapter
Took me long enough. I noe you're mad at me. So here I am groveling at the feet of all my readers. I had to wait for the final book of Hanakimi to be published before I can end this story Hanakimi way. Fear not, I will not leave it at this point. I promised fluff and a prologue in chapter 19 and 20 respectively and I will not break that promise. This chapter may seem a little rush cos I'm trying to squeeze at least 100 pages worth of story into a tiny 7 page chapter. But I guess it explains most stuff that needs be explained. Do let me know if you're a little unclear here or there. Working on Chapter 19 and 20 and a new story about Ron and Hermione with a little bit of meddling Harry. I pray to Almighty up high that all of you continue supporting my stories.
tgimd