Gwenog Jones was standing at her front door, dressed in robes for flying and greeting each of her brothers individually. They all shook her hand profusely and Ron went slack-jawed and speechless, which was pretty hysterical. For someone who was famous and well off, Gwenog dressed in a pretty average way when she wasn't all done up for one of Slughorn's parties. But Ginny liked this about her. It showed that she hadn't let the fame and fortune go to her head. However, clearly it had gone to Ron's.
She pulled him away eventually, when his speechlessness had become embarrassing. He literally just stood there, shaking her hand and his mouth hanging on the floor in the doorway. "Okay, Ron, I need to get going now," Ginny said firmly. He stood aside and Harry kissed her cheek, "You'll be brilliant, Gin! Are you playing with the whole team?" he asked Gwenog curiously. Gwenog shook her head, "Nope. First I want to see if Ginny can actually fly a broom. We'll be practicing in the forest. I'm sure she can though, given how Horace has been raving about her!" It was a Friday afternoon, and thankfully the weather wasn't too drowsy.
They walked outside, Ginny with a broom over her shoulder and her brothers watching her enviously. Gwenog commented seriously, "I don't know how you put up with so many brothers!" Ginny smiled, "They're alright. They want what's best for me so the look out for me all the time. It can just be a little…" Gwenog filled in, "Exhausting?" she asked. Ginny nodded and laughed, "How did you know?" Gwenog grinned, "I have two older brothers. I find them exhausting and it's not even half of what you have."
Ginny found it fascinating that already they had so much in common and they hardly knew each other. Gwenog continued, "I bet they give you hell over Harry?" Ginny nodded in agreement, "They do. But it's mostly just teasing. So far, it hasn't been excessive."
Gwenog turned to her and replied, "You're lucky. One of my brothers once punched my first boyfriend for snogging me. We were just snogging. That's it. I guess I was fifteen at the time, but still." Ginny sighed, "I hope it never comes to that-although Ron did catch me and Harry snogging in a school hallway. He didn't like it at all. Went totally ballistic!" Gwenog chuckled, "Well I'm warning you, this isn't the last time it's going to happen." Ginny groaned.
Finally, they were far enough into the forest and Ginny already had decided from her short conversation that she really liked Gwenog. She liked her as a person. She wasn't full of heirs and graces like some famous Quidditch players. Krum was a bit more full of himself, and she knew it was one of the reasons Hermione had broken up with him. When she told Ginny that she had broken up with Krum, Hermione had said precisely, "He's quiet, yes. But he's also a little demeaning. He didn't understand how I wanted to talk about things other than Quidditch. It became such a boring and monotonous relationship! We had nothing in common except that we fancied each other, and so that's why I ended it."
Ginny didn't fully understand Hermione's lack of obsession with Quidditch. In this sense, Ginny supposed she was more like Krum. Her being revolved around Quidditch, so much so that she had purposefully held off making her relationship with Harry public much longer than necessary-just to prove for once and for all that she was good at it
Ginny was lost in thought when Gwenog asked, "Is this the clearing you were talking about?" Ginny looked around and nodded, "Yup. This is where we always play." Gwenog nodded and said, "Fantastic! Hop on your broom then!" Ginny did as she was told and Gwenog got on her broom too. They were standing one of the far side of the clearing and Gwenog said, "We're both going to fly to the far end of the clearing. Then we're going to do relays and fly back and forth a total of six times. I want to see that you can keep up and that you're fitness is where you should be." Ginny nodded, "Sure, of course. I'll do my best." Gwenog nodded, "I like your positive attitude Miss Weasley! Right, on the count of three!" One two…" she blew a whistle in her mouth and they were flying through the clearing, with nothing to stop them.
Ginny put pressure on her broom by leaning closing to stick. She was not lying flat chested, to prevent her body from flying everywhere and to gain more control as well as speed. It was a pretty uncomfortable position but she pushed herself to hold it for as long as possible. It took seven minutes for them to fly back and forth between the edges of the clearing." Gwenog blew her whistle at the end of the last leg and Ginny hopped off, a little out of breath, but otherwise she had survived.
Gwenog clapped proudly, "That was a good job, Ginny! Really great! Some of my team members tire after the first four laps, but you did wonderfully! I have to say I'm fairly impressed." Ginny couldn't help but grin in her own self-pride and said, "Thank you so much! And for giving me the chance to try!" Gwenog waved her off and said, "The pleasure is all mine. Okay, let's get back to your house. I think your mother said she was making dinner and I don't want to make you late."
They walked back to the house where indeed some delicious smell of food was wafting it's way across the fields and back to them. Harry was the first to greet her as she walked in and he asked her, "How did my Quidditch champion fly?" Gwenog laughed and smiled, "She's brilliant, Potter. Good thing you put her on your team, regardless of what other people say." Ginny blushed and asked, "You knew about that?" Gwenog nodded and smiled kindly, "Horace likes to gossip, as I'm sure you know." Ginny shook her head, "To be fair, I didn't know but I suspected."
Gwenog laughed and her mother came hurrying through, "Miss Jones, would you care to stay for dinner?" Gwenog looked at the time on her watch and said, "What you're making smells positively delicious, Mrs Weasley. I wouldn't want to intrude, though." Her mother shook her head, "No, not at all. We have more than enough, and I'm sure the boys would love to have you!" Ron, who was still agog said irritably, "Mum!" she laughed and nodded in agreement, "Alright then, thank you for your hospitality. I'd love to stay."
Fred, George, Ron, and later Bill pretty much ogled the poor woman for most of the evening, pestering her with constant questions about Quidditch. She didn't seem to mind, but maybe she was used to it. They were in the lounge for a long time. This gave Ginny some alone time with Harry, but she was surprised when he suggested another walk.
They went outside and he held her hand as he said, "I'm so proud of you, Gin. You've really come so far!" Ginny smiled appreciatively and said, "Thanks, Harry. I can't really believe that I just flew with her!" He grinned and they sat down behind her dads barn shed, backs against the wooden wall. He turned to her suddenly and asked, "What do you want to do when you've finished school?" Ginny shrugged and replied, "I'm not sure. When I was younger, I wanted to be a healer. Mum really liked the idea. She was all for it. But the more I improve at Quidditch, the more inclined I am to go that way." Harry nodded and she asked, "Why?" He shrugged and replied, "I've never actually asked you. Strange, isn't it? Most couples seem to know the other's plans for the future before they even get involved in a relationship."
Ginny shrugged her shoulders and said morbidly, "But we're not like most couples." He nodded in agreement, "That's for sure. I can't plan my future." Silence fell between them. He never usually spoke about his past, or the future. Harry was someone who very much lived in the here and now and she could understand why, but she didn't know what to say to his statement. It was the truth that got to her every other minute of every other day, and the nagging feeling that he would have to leave was getting worse the longer she grew to love him and the longer they stayed together .
Ginny whispered suddenly and fearfully, "We're going to go our separate ways at some point, aren't we?" She couldn't even look at him as she said it. She hadn't wanted to bring it up, but the more the idea filled her mind, the more it kept tugging at her heartstrings. She didn't know what she wanted him to say. She knew she wanted him to lie to her and say that would never happen. But she also knew, deep down, that this wasn't the truth. Ginny wasn't entirely surprised when he didn't say anything at all.
They were staring ahead into the forest ahead of them, avoiding eye contact with each other. It felt like she was staring into her future because she could see nothing but darkness in those trees. The trees that she knew so well which could actually lead her astray. Her idea of what she wanted for her future, wouldn't necessarily become a reality. She had always seen herself in a white, lace wedding dress, heading up the aisle and Harry on the end of it, smiling at her, even when she was eleven years old. And now she was sixteen and she still desperately wanted that vision to become true. However, the more she thought about it, the more she felt like it never could.
The two of them sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Ginny suddenly felt tears in her eyes for the first time in a long time. She didn't like thinking that they didn't have a future. They were silent tears, but Harry seemed to sense her crying. He put an arm around her and pulled her towards him. She placed her head on his shoulder and cried tears for things that hadn't yet happened, but that right now seemed inevitable. He whispered throatily, "Gin…if you want, we can end it now? If it makes it easier for you, I don't mind." She shook her head furiously and yelled, "Damnit, Harry! How can you be so…so noble at a time like this! I hate it!" It wasn't true. She loved how noble he was. It was Harry-to be noble. Now just wasn't the time for it.
He nodded, somewhat realizing he had overstepped his mark. He held her tightly as he moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, needing some form of comfort. She squeezed him tightly as her arms linked around his back and she whispered, "I'm going to stay with you for as long a I possibly can. I want as much time as I can get with you, regardless of what happens."
Harry was quiet as he rubbed her back soothingly, his hand running up and down. For some reason, this comforted and she pulled him as closer as she could get, her chin resting on his shoulder. That's when she saw George appear behind Harry's back. She glared at him warningly. She knew he was coming to tell them supper was ready, but he also sensed that now was not the time to tease her, or interrupt. He must have seen the tears in her eyes. He nodded as he retreated back to the house.
Dinner went without a hitch and in fact it was nice to have someone new at the dinner table. Although Ginny wasn't in a particularly chatty mood after her epiphany, she nonetheless forced herself to participate in the conversation and when spoken to. Harry sat opposite her and the barely spoke throughout the meal. Gwenog happily chatted to all of her different family members and enthralled them of tales of places she'd been to on her Quidditch journeys. On any other evening, Ginny would have been as equally enthralled. This evening was a different story.
She was grateful when her mother chose herself and Bill to go and wash up. They had pitched when Ginny had finished her conversation with Harry, and Fleur had been fascinated by Gwenog. They'd gotten along like a house on fire, which surprised Ginny to know end. She hadn't thought Fleur was the type to be interested in Quidditch.
When they were washing dishes, Bill said to her, "Gin, what's going on? You're so somber and its worrying me." He had sat next to her during dinner and he had tried to get her to make conversation which had been slightly futile. Ginny grimaced, "Yeah. I just feel like my relationship with Harry is doomed to failure." He paused while drying and frowned, "What would make you think that?" Ginny shrugged and replied, "Just a feeling." She hadn't told anyone in her family about the prophecy. She knew her mother would firstly freak out and secondly, she wasn't sure who she could trust to not tell their mum. So only herself and Ron still knew that it had existed and what it said.
Bill sighed, "You must have a reason to feel that. I know you. You're not someone who thinks purely on intuition. Do you think he's…cheating or something?" Ginny shook her head furiously, "No no! Nothing at all like that!" He grimaced and sighed, "I don't know what to tell you, Gin. If something did happen between you though where you had to break up, I feel like it wouldn't be because either of you wanted it to be that way. If it happens though, you're a strong girl. I know you can handle it. Not everyone could handle being in a relationship with Harry. But you've handled it perfectly. You really have." She laughed even though she still felt down. Bill was always a good person to speak to about these kinds of things. He didn't try and tease her-only on a rare occasion-and he didn't give her a hard time about it. He just wanted her to be happy, and that's that. Ginny smiled, "Thanks Bill. You're the best. Really. I can't talk to Ron about this because it's just weird-me discussing my relationship with his best friend to him, and then the twins…well, you know how they get." Bill grinned and nodded, "Anytime, Gin, anytime."
Author's Note: And another one up! That was actually fairly quick to write. I quite like writing when I can make up my own plot as I go along. Sometimes it's really hard to put yourself in the characters shoes and think "what would they do?" and not think, "What would I do?" It's what I struggle the most with in writing-to completely lose yourself and your own voice. Sometimes, your own voice helps, but not always. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!