The first task was looming and the school was anxious with excitement. You could feel it in the air as people wondered and debated over what the task would be. Ginny found herself hanging around Harry and Hermione a lot, as she was being cold shouldered by Ron. At least Fred and George still communicated with her, but not as frequently. In some ways it was a relief to Ginny because it meant she didn't have three over protective big brother's watching her every step and she could be friends with Harry and Hermione on her own terms.
People had stopped tormenting her also for siding with Harry for the most part. Only Draco Malfoy still gave her hell over it, but he was easy to ignore and she really didn't care what he thought. Harry had discovered through Hagrid that the first task was going to be something to do with a Dragon. Hagrid had also told Harry that Charlie was here because he was keeping the Dragons healthy and well.
Classes had ended for the day and so Ginny was walking down to visit him with Harry at her side. He was saying irritably, "Charlie thinks Ron's stupid for believing that I put my name in the Goblet." Harry had met Charlie the night Hagrid had bought him to see the dragons.
Ginny laughed as she replied, "Well yeah. I think that's pretty obvious. Then again, when has Ron ever been smart?" Harry shook his head and smiled, "He has his moments." She rolled her eyes dramatically, "I can't believe you still defend him even though he's acting like a turd!" Harry laughed at that and she loved the sound of his laugh. For some reason it made her feel really happy.
She was so busy listening to his laugh that she slipped down two flights of stairs and scraped her knee. Harry asked worriedly, "You okay, Ginny?" She nodded and rolled her jeans up. There was a bit of blood but nothing a quick and easy spell couldn't fix. She waved her wand over it and shook her head, "Yeah, my foot tripped. I wasn't watching where I was walking." Harry smiled as he helped her up and they continued down, "You know I've never actually seen a dragon until two nights ago? I was terrified." Ginny grinned and nodded, "I can imagine. We've only seen the pictures that Charlie brings home to show us."
Finally they arrived at Hagrid's, and from there it was just a few detours through the forest. You could find the dragon's quite easily due to the horrific noises they made. As they approached, Harry whispered, "Get down!" She did as she was told and narrowly missed being hit by a flaming fireball. The bushes in front of them sizzled strongly. Ginny shivered at the thought that that could have been them.
She turned her attentions to the dragons and shook her head in amazement as she whispered, "They're beautiful." Harry smiled at the look of awe on her face. Suddenly worry ebbed through her as she asked, "Have you found a way to fight them?" Harry grimaced and whispered, "I'm still working on that with Hermione." Ginny sighed and replied, "You better find a solution, Harry. If you need any help please just ask." He nodded gratefully and said softly, "Thanks, Gin."
Ginny whispered again, "Can we find Charlie?" Harry nodded, taking her hand and pulled her towards the campsite, a clearing away. There were ten small tents dotted everywhere, but now that Ginny knew how wizarding tents expanded, she wasn't surprised that they were so small. Harry led her to one on the end and called, "Charlie? It's Harry." Her brother opened the tent and grinned at her, "Hey Harry. Thanks for bringing my little sister!" Ginny ran at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Out of all of her brothers, Charlie was the least protective, and the one who treated with the most respect. She had always believed it was because he was so uniquely him and he didn't care what the others thought about him.
Ginny pulled back and grinned, "Your hair is so long! When you visit mum is going to want to chop it the second you step inside!" Charlie chuckled and smiled kindly at her, "Yeah I think Bill and I need to
easure our hair and see whose is the longest before she cuts it!"
They both laughed and Harry smiled, "Well I'll leave you guys to it. You probably need a good catch up." Charlie asked politely, "Don't you want to stay for some tea Harry?" Harry shook his head, "No thanks, I need to go and do some prep work with Hermione. Would you mind walking Ginny back though? Technically we're not allowed to be out this late but I asked Dumbledore and he made an exception." Charlie nodded, "Of course, Harry! It was good of you to walk her down. Thank you." Harry nodded, "It's a pleasure," before taking off.
Ginny entered the tent and it was almost the exact same as they had borrowed for the World Cup, just slightly smaller. Charlie led her to the table and made tea before asking with a grin on his face, "So is Harry your boyfriend?" Ginny groaned and shook her head, "No! He's not." Charlie laughed at her irritable facial expression and continued to pester her, "But he likes you in that way! You can't deny that." Ginny sighed, "Yeah he does." Charlie raised an eyebrow, "And that's a bad thing? Two years ago you were obsessed with the guy." Ginny grimaced and replied miserably, "A lot has happened since then. I realized that I idolized Harry more than anything else. When I grew out of that those feelings disappeared." Of course this wasn't entirely true, but Ginny wasn't about to divulge everything that happened in the chamber to Charlie. She hadn't seen him since Christmas last year, and there were so many more things they needed to talk about, apart from Harry.
Charlie grinned as he set down her tea and said quickly, "I hear from Ron that you have quite the variety of boyfriends at school." Ginny's eyes widened and she nearly spat out her sip of tea, "Never listen to a word of what Ron says about my relationships! He doesn't even know what a relationship is." Charlie laughed and grinned, "Yeah! Remember Auntie Muriel's kiss? We will never let that down!" Ginny laughed too and replied, "Yeah right? Well obviously Harry's interested in me, but I can only be his friend right now for certain reasons. Colin Creevey is one of my good friends, but he also likes me in a non-platonic way. And Cedric, well he just kisses me on the cheek occasionally, but I think he's got his eyes on Cho Chang. So I really don't know what relationship Ron's referring to because I'm not in a relationship!" Charlie was silent before he asked, "Cedric Diggory kisses you on the cheek? Sounds like he likes you." Ginny shrugged, "I don't know. It doesn't look like it's going anywhere. What about you? Still single status?"
They laughed and bantered and gossiped about their family until late. Eventually Charlie said, "I better be getting you back. You may have to direct me to the common room. I've forgotten the way." Ginny shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe you." He grinned and he hugged her goodnight when they reached the common room.
When she walked back in, Harry was sitting in front of the fire in his usual spot. He looked up as she entered and she grinned at him, "Thank you so much Harry. I really needed that." She leant down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, before running up the stairs and saying goodnight. When she reached the safety of her bedroom, she realized what she had done, and she sincerely hoped that he wouldn't over-think that gesture. She would have to wait and see in the morning.