When Ginny returned to the common room after an afternoon of playing Quidditch with Dean, and feeling quite exhilarated about it, she arrived in the corridor with him, only to find Harry sitting alone at a desk, unaccompanied by Ron and Hermione. This was particularly unsual so Ginny patted Dean's arm and said, "Thanks for a great day!" Dean grinned and replied, "No, thank you Ginny!" He bent forward and kissed her cheek again. He beamed at her when he straightened up and he ran up the boys stairs.
Ginny quickly went over to Harry, who seemed to be busy writing and essay and she murmured, "Hey." He didn't glance up from his parchment as he grumbled, "Hey," back. Ginny sighed and asked frustrated, "Harry, what's wrong?"
Harry glanced up at her then and murmured again, "I just ended it with Cho." Ginny raised her eyebrows and gasped, "What? How come?" Harry finally put his quill down and sighed, "She wanted…to go to Madame Puddifoot's." Ginny couldn't help but giggle, then she frowned, "And you ended it because of that?" Harry shook his head and sighed, "She…she wanted to talk about Cedric." He raised his eyes to finally meet hers and she felt her jaw drop, "Are you kidding me?" Harry shook his head and groaned, "No! And then she got all upset when I said I didn't want to because I'd spoken about it with you and Hermione and she completely flipped out on me! She told me, 'Oh! So you will talk about it with Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger but you won't talk about it with me! You must fancy at least one of them, if not both-since you will speak to them about it, but not me.' She then said that I should need to speak about it too"
Ginny's eyebrows would now be on the ceiling if they could reach that far. She suddenly burst into hysterical laughter which only caused Harry to look more aggravated as Ginny clutched her stomach. It was cramping from how hard she was laughing. She didn't know why she was laughing so hard. Maybe it was her exhaustion, or the sugar in her system from her sweets, or the rush from Quidditch earlier, but she was nearly on the floor laughing. Harry waited impatiently for her to calm down as she explained, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…but you did fancy one of us-me or Hermione I mean…that's why I was laughing." She couldn't resist winking at him and he chuckled himself when he finally realized why she had lost it, "True. Cho's right about that one." Ginny grinned and Harry changed the subject, "So…Dean?"
Ginny shrugged her shoulders, "He's a good mate." Harry pestered, "And…?" She shook her head, "And nothing at the moment. Just friends. How's Occlumency going, or dare I ask?"
Harry grimaced and replied, "Not so well. I…I kind of pushed my limit yesterday." Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise and whispered, "But if anyone can do it, you can!" Harry smiled bleakly, "Thanks Gin, but it's not true. I got so fed up with Snape when he was going through my memories that I…" here he grimaced and continued, "I kind of used it on him instead." Ginny's mouth fell open and she was surprised that he was telling her this-what with him being so closed off and all. She wasn't complaining though as she whispered, "And…what happened?" Harry shrugged, "I saw some of his memories…of my dad." Harry swallowed and continued, "Of my dad humiliating Snape in front of a crowd of people, with Sirius and Lupin at his side." Ginny raised her eyebrows and gasped, "No…" Harry nodded, "They were hanging him upside down. In front of everyone…" he trailed off and Ginny felt sad. She could see Harry's downcast eyes and she instinctively took ahold of his hand and whispered, "Harry, look at me." He did and she stared into his emerald eyes and she said softly, "I haven't told you this, but I had a dream on the last night when we were in Grimmauld Place. I dreamt that I met your parents…" at this he inhaled sharply and she continued, "And it felt so real. They were in the kitchen and they asked me to take care of you. Well, it was mostly your mum who was doing the talking, but I think that was because your dad was wrapped up in his own world. I think he was worrying about you. Anyway they wanted me to tell you how much they love you-both of them." When she finished, Ginny squeezed Harry's hand tightly and he smiled as he squeezed hers back and sighed, "Thanks, Gin. Why didn't you tell me before?"
Ginny raised her eyebrows and asked sarcastically, "Really? That is the most hypocritical thing I have ever heard, Harry! I don't see you rushing to me with your latest news! You're lucky I told you at all!" Harry raised his eyebrows sky high and she released his hand as he replied stealthily, "So…you just wanted to do a tit for a tat?" Ginny pierced her lips tightly and was relieved when Dean showed up then and grinned at her, "Hey Gin! Hey Harry. Want to play a game of exploding snap?" Ginny beamed at him and said happily, "You know what, I could so with a bit of fun right now," as she got up and left Harry to his own, dark thoughts.
Ginny was surprised when the owls dropping in The Quibbler all across the hall the following morning to find an article about Harry in the magazine. She was sitting beside Dean as she picked it up and read out loud:
"Mr Harry James Potter (famous for surviving the killing curse which was used on him as a baby by He Who Must Not Be Named-and being the only known survivor of the killing curse) last year claimed to have seen He Who Must Not Be Named again in the flesh, directly following the events of the Triwizard Tournament. The two champions (Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter) both claimed the Triwizard Cup. Some speculate that Mr Harry Potter convinced Diggory to take the cup so that he could end up dead, however I couldn't disagree more…"
At this, Ginny started and she glanced at Dean, who was frowning, "Who is the article written by?" He asked. For the last year, the papers had done anything but side with Harry, and Ginny knew all too well that it was because Cornelius Fudge wanted it that way. She frowned and continued reading:
"…My reasons being that firstly how would Potter know that his own, impending death might be minutes away? If he had wanted Diggory to die, he would have let Diggory take the cup for himself. He would have chosen not to win, in order to save himself. Therefore, it seems unlikely that Potter would actually want the Diggory boy dead. The events that followed are rather sketchy, but given my previous statement which is logical, I doubt Potter killed Diggory either. So, I would like to confirm to the wizarding world as a whole that I believe Potter's story, and you probably should too."
Ginny glanced at Harry, who was sitting further across the table from her and laughing with Ron and Hermione. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him laughing like that. She frowned and walked over to him, putting the magazine down in front of her and asked, "Did you guys have something to do with this?" She raised her eyebrows skeptically and Ron shook his head with a grin on his face, "Nope. Whatever are you talking about, Gin?" Ginny glanced at Harry, and then Hermione, "You guys had nothing to do with this." She smirked and they were still laughing extremely hard. She rolled her eyes and glanced at the head table, where Umbridge looked like she wanted to throw up over her coffee she had just drunk and she rolled up the magazine in her hand angrily. Ginny watched as her eyes travel towards the four of them, and Ginny couldn't help but smirk when she saw them laughing. Umbridge raised her wand to her voice box and said angrily, "This month's magazine of The Quibbler is banned from any student or professor at Hogwarts. Any student found with the magazine will receive a week's worth of detention. That's all for announcements today."
Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise and she glanced at the three of them. Their laughter had stopped as Ginny saw Umbridge walking stiffly towards them. As she reached them, she put out her hand and asked sweetly, "The magazine, Mr Potter, Miss Weasley." Ginny raised her eyebrows in disbelief and she asked, "Seriously? You're confiscating a magazine?" Umbridge smiled evilly and said harshly, "I don't like your tone, Miss Weasley. Detention for you tomorrow at six o clock, Wednesday and Thursday evening. My office. You know where it is. Now hand over the magazine!"
Ginny clenched her fists tightly and blatantly refused to. Umbridge took both magazines from her and whispered, "Incendio!" as they shriveled from the flames. Ginny's eyes widened in disbelief and she watched Umbridge smiling sickeningly at her, then her gaze shifted unswervingly to Luna, who was happily eating her yoghurt without a worry in the world, and then Umbridge walked off. Ginny suddenly felt a bit of fear for the eerie girl-her father was the publisher of The Quibbler! She only hoped Luna wouldn't suffer for it! Hermione murmured, "Ginny…you really shouldn't have questioned her." Ginny turned and asked fiercely, "So what? She can just bully me into thinking what she's doing is right? She treats us like children!" Her voice had risen and she stormed out of the hall. She couldn't take it anymore and she needed to get away from that toad as fast as her legs could carry her.
The game versus Hufflepuff was looming. Angelina had flipped her lid when Ginny had to tell her about her detentions. Her words which she'd yelled the previous evening in front of most of the common room were ingrained in Ginny's mind, "First the boys and now YOU! We're going to have to train with you on those days for only half of the session! And Ginny I swear if you don't get the Snitch…I'll…I'll…" she seemed at a loss for words as she fumbled around.
Ginny saw Dean snickering with Seamus in her peripheral vision and Ginny said, "Don't worry, Angelina, you'll slay me alive I know. I just couldn't let her think she has so much power over me." Angelina had surprisingly not given her hell over that. She had contorted her face painfully and sighed, "I don't know what I'm going to do. Between you, your brothers and Harry it's hard to keep myself from going insane." Ginny smiled grimly, "Now you know how I feel about Umbridge." This had caused the captain to laugh and then she immediately made her expression neutral, "As soon as you're done with your detentions, you run as if your life depends on it to the pitch. Understand?" Ginny nodded and had gone to bed dreading the rest of the week.
It was just as awful as she had anticipated it would be. Ron flew terribly during practice and managed to score one goal on Tuesday. Ginny hadn't managed to catch the Snitch that day, making Angelina madder than usual. On the Wednesday, Ron managed to save two goals and Ginny had caught the Snitch once. And on Thursday, after an exhausting week between detentions-a bleeding hand as a result-mounds of homework and exams starting the following week, as well as intense Quidditch practice, Ginny collapsed in her bed on Thursday evening, ready for the week to end.
The following day was match day and Ginny was relieved that classes were ending an hour early. It meant missing potions! She hurried to the pitch, eager to get there on time, if not before Angelina. She got there just as the captain arrived and she inhaled slightly, "I'm here." Angelina grimaced as she opened up the changing rooms, "I can see. Get dressed as fast as possible." Ginny nodded and hurried into the changing rooms. She contemplated the idea that if Cedric had been alive, she would be playing against him today. He'd also been Seeker. She marveled at how they had never actually played Quidditch together-bar for fun when they were younger. Cedric had often come over and joined her brothers in their matches.
Ginny emerged from the changing room minutes later wearing the Gryffindor gold and red uniform. All the other players had now arrived and she felt nervous excitement. Ron looked as pale as a spook and another ten minutes later, Angelina gave them the final pep talk, "Listen, it's Hufflepuff. Cedric was their strongest player and without him, they will be a breeze…" at this Ginny felt like interjecting, but she was Angelina's bad side enough as it was already, "…and Ginny, get that Snitch! But make sure we have enough points to win before we do!" Ginny nodded and grimaced, "No pressure," she murmured, causing Alicia and Katie to grin at each other.
They entered the pitch to a roar from the Gryffindor's. Ginny scanned the crowd for Harry. It felt strange playing in his place. When she found him, she saw him give her an encouraging smile. She nodded and Madame Hooch prepared them with the whistle. Angelina and the captain of the Hufflepuff's shook hands, as Madame Hooch let go of the balls. Ginny kicked off into the air and soared as high as she could over the pitch-she often saw Harry doing this when a match started.
She started scanning the pitch immediately. There was no sign of the tiny golden ball. Ginny watched as one of the Hufflepuff's zoomed towards Ron, who was almost shaking. Unsurprisingly, he didn't manage to save the Quaffle. The game only got worse from there. Angelina got hit in the mouth with a Beater's bat, and Andrew fell off his broom. Ginny grimaced when she noticed the score and thought if she got the Snitch now, after such a short time with Hufflepuff so far in the lead, it would at least end this disastrous game. And at least Angelina couldn't give her trouble…
Ginny sped around the pitch and finally her eyes spotted the Snitch, a short distance away. Summerby, the Seeker, had spotted it too, and Ginny focused in on it. She pulled a face when he started sneezing so close to her and she felt her fingers curl around the golden ball. Even though she'd caught the Snitch, she knew they had lost.
Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me the whole weekend! This chapter took quite a bit of thought! Anyway, here it is and I hope you guys like it! Thank you to: CastielLunaWinchester, 123rachel123, and the lovely Guest reviewer! I've never had a nice anonymous review before! Made me smile from ear to ear! Thank you too everyone reading too! Hope you all had a good weekend!