Ginny finished dressing in her Quidditch robes and she walked out into the main area of the tent to find the others already gathered there, all dressed in their robes. Harry was telling the team, "…so Malfoy isn't playing the game. I saw him walking off on the way down here. He seemed to be heading back up to the castle. But that's all in our favor." Dean asked in curiosity, "I wonder what on earth he's doing up there. Malfoy has never missed a game." Ron chuckled, "Well, maybe today is our lucky day."
Ginny rolled her eyes and joined the team as Harry continued, "So we should be able to beat the Slytherin's easily then. We've got an excellent team and nothing can stop us." Demelza looked uncertain but they all nodded in agreement." The whistle blew outside and Harry nodded, "Good luck guys! Let's do this!" He nodded and then they all lined up outside the front of the tent. Ginny whispered to him, "Are you still so certain about this?" Harry nodded and she grimaced and whispered, "We'll see. Don't forget our deal." He took hold of her hand and she squeezed his tightly, "I haven't. Don't worry." They walked onto the pitch and held their hands up in the air together before kicking off. The Gryffindor stands went crazy, but Ginny cringed when she heard Zacharias Smith's voice echo across the pitch, "Annnd Potter and Weasley are on the pitch! Hands in the air! There have been rumors that they're dating! It would explain once again why the Weasley girl has been appointed the position of Chaser! But also, if they're dating, why would they hide it? There must be a reason they're covering it up…" Ginny rolled her eyes and felt like pointing a zap sign at Smith but she managed to restrain herself.
She flew to a medium height and the Madame Hooch said, "A nice clean game please, from all of you!" They nodded and then Harry shook hands with the captain. Ginny didn't know his name and she didn't know the bloke who replaced Malfoy as Seeker either, but he was a big, burly guy and that actually worked in their favor. She hoped his weight would slow him down but it wasn't guaranteed. It all depended on the wind and the speed of his broom too. Hooch released the balls into the air and then chaos erupted. Ginny was determined. She had her game face on and she was going to prove to everyone for once and for all that she deserved her position on the team.
She got to the Quaffle first and Smith expressed his surprise about it over the speaker, "Oh! Weaslette managed to get the Quaffle first! How unexpected. I wonder if she can keep it until she gets to the goal post!" Ginny just missed a Bludger which nearly hit her ribs and she swerved out of the way. If she'd been a millisecond later she would have been out of the game. She saw Demelza to her right and she had the Slytherin beater aim another one at her. She dodged it by swerving more right and then threw the Quaffle at Demelza who caught it perfectly. She got close to the goals, so Ginny sped up as fast as she could and she got in front of Demelza, because the Keeper was doing a good job of preventing her from scoring from the right hand side. Demelza chucked the Quaffle to Ginny, who moved forwards, managed to catch it, and scored through the bottom left hoop.
Smith stuttered, "And to the crowd's surprise, the youngest Weasley scores the first goal! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Ginny grinned and glanced up at Harry, who was clapping with a gigantic smile on his face. He looked more relaxed than she'd seen him in a long, long time. The Quaffle was thrown to one of the Slytherin Chasers, who appeared out of nowhere beside her and Ginny tailed him all the other way to the end of the pitch. She panicked suddenly about Ron and the panic made her slow down. He was balancing nervously on his broom and he had his hands out, prepared. Then the Slytherin got just close enough to toss the ball. Ron fell a little on his broom, but somehow turned his dive downside up and he swung high enough to catch the ball mid-air. The crowd applauded and he somewhat did a bow as the first verse of "Weasley is our King," exploded from the Gryffindor stands. Ginny laughed as he threw the ball at her and she was so prepared. She caught it easily, passed it to Demelza, who passed it back to her further along, and Ginny grinned when she heard Smith say, "Well, the Gryffindor Chaser's certainly have excellent formation I can give you that, but this is still early days, so we will see…"
Ginny sped up. Smith didn't seem to realize that the more he aggravated her, the more it fueled her fire and the more her desire to prove everyone wrong burned within her and rose to the surface. They were going to win this match if he kept his reckless commentary up. Ginny quickly reached the Slytherin goal posts, all on her own, and aimed the Quaffle through the top most hoop, because the Keeper was guarding the one closest to her with the most care. He didn't have time to swerve upwards, unlike Ron. He was much bigger than Ron too, causing him to be slow. The Quaffle went through easily and Smith commented, "And Gryffindor scores again, 20-0 to Gryffindor!" The crowd was busy cheering, "Ginny! Ginny! Ginny…!" She waved at them and couldn't help but feel a sense of pride swelling up in her. Then she zoomed off and while the Quaffle was thrown to a Slytherin again.
Half an hour into the match, Slytherin's had scored once, and they'd scored three times. Demelza had scored the third goal. It seemed like neither Harry nor the replacement Slytherin Seeker had seen the Snitch and Ginny was quite pleased about that! She wanted to keep their winning streak as long as possible. The further ahead they were in points, the better. The Slytherin chaser zoomed across the field and managed to score a goal in the flash of lightening. It happened so fast, and as Ginny felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, she saw a Bludger being aimed at her. She swerved only because Harry yelled from above, "GINNY! Look out!" She mouthed, "Thank you," to him before he nodded and then she focused back on the game.
Five minutes later, Coote had aimed a Bludger at one of the Slytherin Chasers, who tumbled down to the ground and was saved from hitting it by a professor. Ginny grinned and then noticed Dean spinning her way with the Quaffle. She easily caught it mid air and then passed it back to him further along the pitch, where he managed to score yet another goal.
Once the Keeper got the Quaffle back, he aimed at someone behind Ginny, but she managed to intercept it and she got the ball mid-air before the Slytherin Chaser could. She zoomed forwards and once again aimed the Quaffle through the middle hoop, sending the crowd into a chorus of "Weasley is our Queen." She couldn't help but beam with pride. This was going better than she could have ever hoped for. The looks on the Slytherin faces was almost comical at how disappointed they were.
Four goals later (one from Slytherin, one saved by Ron and two from Gryffindor) Ginny saw Harry speed up a little higher above the ground than her. He was following the Slytherin Seeker, who was quite clearly going to catch the Snitch. Then, he paused for a second, distracted the Seeker by yelling, "How much did Malfoy pay you to take his place?" and then Harry reached out, and caught the Snitch right under the Seeker's nose!
The Seeker still wore a look of shock on his face as Harry lifted the Snitch into the air triumphantly. They all flew back down on the ground, and Smith was commenting on how unlikely it was that Gryffindor could beat Slytherin. She suddenly had an idea. Ginny stayed on her broom, and flew hard into the commentators podium, causing it to shake and causing Smith to curse into the microphone. Her broom was a bit bust, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. Madame Hooch yelled at her, "Ginervra! What on earth do you think you are doing?" Ginny grimaced, "Sorry Professor, lost control of the broom." Madame Hooch rolled her eyes, knowing it was a complete lie.
Harry ran up to her and pulled her into a tight embrace before whispering, "We did it!" She nodded and grinned, "That we did!" before she pushed her lips against his. There was much wolf whistling from the crowd and Smith seemed to have recovered his voice, "Well, there you have it folks. It seems like the key to good Quidditch playing is having your best friend and your love interest on the same team." Ginny could feel Harry smiling as she kissed him and it felt so good. It felt good that she could make him smile like this. It felt good that she had proven herself. And it felt good that they had won.
They got to the changing room, where everyone congratulated each other. Ginny went to go and have a shower and change as Dean announced, "Party in the Gryffindor common room!" Most of the team headed up there straight away. She was surprised when she finished her shower, to find Hermione still there and crying. Ginny frowned and asked concernedly, "Hermione?" She looked up and hiccoughed, wiping her tears away with her tissue before stuttering, "S...Sorry Ginny. I didn't realize anyone was s…Still here."
Ginny asked again, "What's wrong, Hermione?" Your brother accused me of not having faith in his abilities as a Quidditch player. Well I'm sorry for thinking Harry dipped Felix Felicis into his drink this morning." Ginny nodded, "It seemed too good to be true, didn't it? Malfoy being absent and Ron saving everything. That's never happened before in the short history of his Quidditch career and he knows it. He's just being arrogant and he knows it." Hermione smiled through her tears, "Thanks, Gin. I appreciate it."
Ginny nodded, "Anytime Hermione. That's what friends are for. Let's head up to the common room, shall we?" She nodded and dried the last of her tears. When they got there, the part was in full force and Harry greeted her at the Portrait with a kiss and he grinned, "You were brilliant. No-one can dispute how good you are now." She giggled and laughed, "Thanks Harry. For your patience. For your acceptance. For everything. I'm sorry it's been so hard for you." He shrugged and grinned, "It just makes it all the better now. I can enjoy being affectionate with you in public!" Harry turned to Hermione and sighed, "I'm sorry Hermione. I thought my plan would help." She shrugged her shoulders and whispered, "Its okay. Where's prat now?" Harry grimaced and pointed in the direction of the fireplace. Hermione and Ginny looked there to find him snogging none other than Lavender Brown. In public in front of everyone.
Ginny sneered, "The filthy hypocrite! This so unbelievable!" She turned around to see that Hermione had disappeared through the portrait hole again. Ginny said to Harry, "I think you should go and comfort her. I'll sort Ron out." Harry nodded in agreement and followed Hermione. Ginny approached her brother. This was so awkward. Lavender was sitting on his lap and she could just tell where her brother began and Lavender ended.
She prodded Ron purposefully in the shoulder, said, "You're SUCH a hypocrite! Go and snog elsewhere. No-one wants to see this!" Ron glowered at her but he did as he was told and he pulled Lavender after him. That's when Demelza threw an arm around Ginny and handed her a Butterbeer, "Cheers!" she said and we clinked glasses. She giggled and said heartfully, "We make a great team, Gin. Really we do. And you played suuuper well! Was that because you're with Harry now?" Ginny tried not to roll her eyes and she replied, "No Demelza. We've been together since the beginning of this year. I just wanted to prove I can do it so I asked him to keep it quiet." S
Demelza giggled and sighed, "Ah, how romantic!" Ginny laughed, "Not really. Hiding a relationship isn't fun. And some people definitely don't think it's romantic." She nodded at Romilda, Julia and Rebecca who were throwing her looks of total disgust. Demelza actually rolled her eyes as she said, "Oh, don't mind them. They're just jealous." Ginny laughed, "I know. I don't pay too much attention to it."
However, at that moment, Romilda got up and walked over to her, a serious expression on her face as she said spitefully, "You only want to be with him for the money and the fame." Ginny rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, Vane, we all know that's what you really want! Why else would you take such a sudden interest in him? He's my brother's best friend. I'm sure I know Harry better than you do." The room had gone silent and Ginny hadn't realized that everyone was watching them.
Romilda blushed in embarrassment and said, "Watch it, Ginevra!" before walking back to the cronies. Demelza laughed. After that a couple of people came up to her and congratulated her, and only much later did Harry return, but without Hermione at his side. It was a looong evening of congratulations, well done's and politeness. Eventually, people stopped asking her questions about herself and Harry and she retired to bed early. She was exhausted, but the good feeling of exhaustion. Where you know you've done your best and no-one else can tell you otherwise.
Author's Note: Woohoo! Harry and Ginny are together officially! Didn't see that one coming did ya? Haha Anyway thank you for all of your suggestions and comments regarding Ginny's seventh year! I really do take it all into account and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!