Chapter 30
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his magical world. I own no world but mine, and it's a bit strange. However, my characters seem to be adjusting to it quite well.
A/N: Okay cliffie number 1 will be resolved! Please review!
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And then a loud pop made them smile.
"Ron!" Ginny cried, spinning around to see. And screamed.
It wasn't Ron.
"Merlin, Ginny. I'm not a Death Eater," the unexpected guest said, anxiety in his voice.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here, Harry James Potter?" Ginny cried.
Harry laughed nervously, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses further up his nose. A bead of sweat had formed at his lip. "Would you believe I'm here to see you?"
Mr. Weasley smiled. "I'm glad for the company, Ginny. You should be too."
Ginny shot her father a glare strangely reminiscent of her mother. It was all Arthur could do not to cower. "Go away," she said flatly.
"Listen, Ginny…"
"Don't you DARE 'Listen, Ginny' me. I am sick and tired of that out of you."
Harry frowned. "Look, I came to apologize, okay?"
"APOLOGIZE? I think it's three years too late for that." She sighed, tears welling up in her eyes. "I still can't believe that you left me at a time like that."
"Ginny, go make us some tea," Mr. Weasley said softly.
"No."
"Ginevra Weasley, do what I say! I'm still you're father, young lady!"
Harry would have laughed if he hadn't been so terrified. Mr. Weasley was sounding far too much like his wife for comfort.
"Geez, okay. What kind?"
"Earl Grey, of course."
Ginny scurried into the kitchen.
Mr. Weasley turned to Harry and shot him a glare so malicious the younger man's hairs stood on end. "What are you doing here, Harry?"
"Er…"
"Did you come to try to shag my daughter in her vulnerable state?"
"Er…"
"Did you think I'd be okay with it?"
"Er…"
"Did you really come to apologize?"
"Er…"
"Or did you come to poke around and see what we're all up to?"
"Er…"
"Or…"
"Hey! Can you let me talk, please?" Harry cried.
"Fine. Talk."
"Listen, Mr. Weasley, shagging was the furthest thing from my mind when I came here." Mr. Weasley glared at him. "Okay, maybe not the furthest, but pretty damn far. I just came because I was lonely, and I knew Ginny was too. I was feeling guilty. I saw her happy at Christmas, so I know she can be happy. I just wanted to find out if it was all because of me."
"It's not all because of you. It's seventy-five percent because of you."
"Gee thanks."
"You're welcome."
Just then Ginny walked into the room with a pot of tea and three cups. She poured the tea, adding sugar to hers and her father's, but leaving Harry's plain. Harry suspected she did it intentionally, just to piss him off, knowing he hated the bitter taste of plain tea. Well, he more knew it than suspected it. Ginny could be very manipulative when she wanted to be.
"How are you, Ginny?" Harry asked.
Ginny took a sip of tea. "Crazy."
He laughed. "Other than that, of course. We're all crazy."
"I'm well, thank you. Now you can leave."
Mr. Weasley continued to glare at Harry, obviously not done with him. "Ginny, go make us some more tea."
"Why?" she asked, clearly exasperated, for she knew the two men were talking about her in her absence. "We still have plenty left."
Mr. Weasley then downed the rest of his cup and what was left in the teapot.
"Harry still has plenty," Ginny added hastily.
She didn't know her father as well as she had hoped. He reached over, pried Harry's mug out of his hands, and downed its contents as well, making a face as he did so. "There. Now we are officially out."
Ginny sighed and mumbled some curse words, but got up and took the teapot back to the kitchen.
"Now where was I?" Mr. Weasley asked, eying Harry like a criminal.
"Look, what do I have to do to earn your approval, Mr. Weasley?"
Mr. Weasley grinned broadly. "I've been waiting for you to ask that very question, Harry." He pulled out a magazine. "The ones circled in blue are the ones I still want."
Harry took the magazine. Spark Plugs Monthly. "There's a spark plug magazine?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Oh yes. I am not the only wizard obsessed with these marvels of muggle invention. I expect one as down payment, and another for my birthday."
Harry smiled. "Okay. Is that all?"
"No." He leaned in. "If you break her heart again, young man, I'll break your neck."
"What?"
"That is, of course, if Ron doesn't beat me to it."
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A/N: There is one of the resolutions of last chapter. I hope you enjoyed. Special thanks to jwoods471, not only for being a wonderful beta, but for helping me plow through this chapter. I am not a huge Harry/Ginny fan, or a huge fan of either of them separately, but she convinced me to write this chapter first, to "get it over with, then" as she put it. She also helped me figure out how to add comedy to it by getting me to talk about it and listening to a monologue of Mr. Weasley's behavior. Good stuff.
Thanks to all of my reviewers. Thank you to my silent readers as well, but I would like a good review every once in a while.