It had been a month since Ginny's last incident with Carrow and for that she was grateful. She was working hard on assignments as she was a N.E.W.T level student. Things had been pretty calm recently and the Gryffindor team had been working on their upcoming match against Hufflepuff. It was on Saturday. Ginny was rather nervous about it being Hufflepuff.
They hadn't had a good student since Cedric on a broom, but this year rumors were spreading that their Seeker- Edward Brown- was meant to be a very good sixth year Seeker. The rumors didn't deter her that much though. They were doing practice and Ginny was relieved that her team seemed to be causing a lot less drama than last years'…particularly since Ron wasn't around causing trouble. This thought made Ginny first smile, and then miss her brother like crazy. It was weird knowing the trio wasn't here when they should be.
Demelza yelled from above, "YES!" Ginny shook herself out of her thoughts and saw Katie and Demelza high-fiving each other. Ginny was letting them practice so she could watch their performance and see who needed improving. McLaggen had been defending poorly all practice, making it easy for Katie and Demelza to score.
Ginny signaled time-out and they all came scooting down. The girls and Christopher looked so chuffed with themselves that she couldn't lecture McLaggen in front of them. Instead, Ginny said, "Well done guys. You deserve a ten minute break." They thanked her gratefully and Ginny pulled him aside to sit on the stands. She grabbed her water and asked him, "What's wrong?" before taking a gulp.
He shook his head and shrugged, "Nothing's wrong." Ginny raised her eyebrows and commented, "Oh please, McLaggen, don't think you're fooling me. I've got how many brothers? I can tell when something is bothering a bloke and they are too scared to show it." McLaggen sighed and glanced at her, "I just…I feel like I'm…I don't know…developing feelings for someone."
Ginny frowned and bit her lip. She grimaced, "Who? Someone on the team?" He couldn't look at her and whispered, "I…I can't say who. But I have a feeling it's not mutual." She pondered it for a moment. He'd been awfully nice to Demelza recently. Maybe it was her? Ginny asked, "Demelza?" McLaggen laughed cockily and rolled his eyes, "Yeah right!" Ginny glared at him, "Hey! No need to be so cocky! She's one of my good friends." He sighed, "Sorry. Not it's not her." She contemplated it and took another swig of water, "Katie?" She asked after a while. McLaggen shook his head, "Nope. I'm not telling you Weasley who the girl is." Ginny stood up and shrugged, "Fine. But if it's going to affect our chances in the game on Saturday…"
He grabbed her hand, pulling her back down. McLaggen sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you. It's Alicia." Ginny laughed heart-heartedly, "Wait…Alicia Spinnet? In the year above you? But…she likes Fred." She clapped her hand over her mouth for being so insensitive, "Sorry! Sorry Cormac. I mean, she's liked Fred for years. They've been on-off ever since the Yule Ball and…"
Cormac laughed, "Way to let a bloke down easy. Don't worry, I know. It's just…I'd never thought I'd finally make the Quidditch team only once she'd finished Hogwarts, you know? And she's amazing on a broom." Ginny bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She whispered, "You never told her that, right?" Cormac shrugged, "What's the point? She's only ever had eyes for Fred. I just miss her." Ginny frowned, "How did you know her?" He shrugged again and muttered in embarrassment, "I didn't really. It was just from watching her fly. I never thought I'd stand a shot."
Ginny instantly felt empathy for McLaggen. For years she'd never dreamt she'd stand a chance with Harry. But then suddenly when she was accepting the fact that he may never like her in that way he came around. Ginny whispered, "Well you know, I felt like that with Harry for years. I never dreamt he would see me in any other way apart from Ron's baby sister. At least you don't have that problem with Alicia." McLaggen shrugged and sighed with a sad smile, "Thanks Ginny, for trying to convince me. I just don't see how it will ever work out." Ginny couldn't help but lean against him in pity. She sighed, "Well…thanks for telling me. I'm sorry I can't help you any further in the matter." McLaggen shrugged, "Thanks for trying." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back sorrowfully. She was a romantic and she had been since she could remember. It was the reason she'd held on to Harry for all of those years.
Ginny sat and pondered these thoughts as she saw McLaggen join the rest of the team by the changing rooms. He had certainly made an effort to be nicer to them. He was more pleasant in general and he got on even with Neville and Seamus. But as Ginny contemplated her situation with Harry, she realized that she might never see him again. She'd known that for a while of course…but the realization was beginning to hit home. She'd tried not to think about him, and she tried not to ponder the worst outcome of this situation, but she couldn't help it. Over-thinking was a weakness of hers, and it sometimes got the better of her. The idea of not seeing Harry again went through her like an icy knife on a fairly warm summer's day. She grimaced and Demelza approached her, looking concerned, "You ok, Ginny? You look like you're going to be sick."
Ginny stood up and shook her head, "I'm fine thanks, Demelza." Demelza sighed, "You know Gin, you don't need to put on a brave face all of the time. I am here for you." Ginny nodded and whispered, "Thanks Demelza. Maybe we can talk after practice?" Her friend smiled at her and Ginny sighed as she gave her a hug.
XXX
Ginny missed Luna. She hadn't seen her much lately and she knew it's because their timetables differed and they were both in other parts of the castle during their downtime. But it was nice to have another gal pal too. In her house, Ginny was friends with Neville and Seamus and Colin, and maybe even McLaggen She was used to male company. But she felt relieved as she spilt all her feelings to Demelza on the way back up to the Gryffindor common room. She felt like she couldn't really talk about her feelings with the guys.
Of course Ginny didn't go into the reasons why Harry, Ron and Hermione weren't at school this year…it wasn't within her rights to divulge that. But as she told her about Harry's departure and how it made her feel, Demelza shook her head at the end of her sorry story and whispered as they reached the fat lady, "I'm sorry Ginny. I truly am. I thought you and Harry made the perfect couple." Ginny couldn't help but smile, "I just miss him that's all. I just worry that all of these years of pining over him only gave me six weeks of happiness. I worry that it was all for nothing."
Demelza grimaced as they took a seat in the corner so nobody could really listen to their conversation. She whispered, "I don't think you can say it was for nothing, Ginny. I mean he discovered he felt the same way. And if you look at Harry's track record of dating…he definitely didn't have a girlfriend other than you." Ginny grimaced and bit her lip while contemplating, "Uh, not entirely true. He dated Cho Chang right before me. As far as a I know, it didn't end well."
Demelza grinned and said firmly with confirmation in her voice, "You see? He only dated one other girl, and to my knowledge, they never made it official. You're the only girl he's ever made it official with, Ginny. It means he must really care about you." Ginny sighed and whispered as Romilda Vane walked past and shot her a dirty look, "It's not that I'm worried about though, Demelza. What if he comes back from doing whatever he's doing and he doesn't see me in the same light? What if he doesn't come back at all!"
Ginny buried her head in her hands and lay flat on the table. The other girl was quiet and Ginny cried silent tears onto the table top. She didn't like people seeing weakness in her. In fact, she hated it. Demelza clasped her arm gently and squeezed her shoulder, "Ginny. You have to have hope. That's all you can do. You're doing your best. Don't beat yourself up over things you can't control."
She listened to her friend, dried her tears and then sat up, "I know, I'm sorry. I just can't stand not knowing." Demelza nodded her red head in understanding, "I know…but sometimes no news is good news. If something happened to him…I'm pretty sure the world would know." Ginny bit her lip. She hadn't thought of that. She sighed, feeling better than she had in a while. Keeping all of these thoughts to oneself was exhausting. She smiled at her friend and whispered, "Thanks Melza, for making me feel better." Demelza winked at her and grinned, "Anytime, Ginny. That's what friends are for."
A/N: Hi All, sorry for the wait but I needed a break again. I was having a bit of a block and needed to wait until something decent came to mind. So here's the next one for you.
Thanks so much to those who reviewed and gave encouragement, namely: Starrya47, GinnyPotter6891, Guest, torchy22, and Dramioneshipper. You guys give me motivation to keep on.
ON A SIDE NOTE: I have started my Drinny fic. It's called Finding Juliette for those who would like to check it out. Please have a look and let me know what you think.