Ginny's P.O.V.
A month later and Ginny was still dating Dean, much to Harry's immense displeasure.
However, it just so happened that Dean fell ill days before Gryffindor's Quidditch match against Slytherin. Harry, being the captain of the team, had to recruit another Chaser, which did nothing to help the team's victory. Not to mention, Ginny was acting a little on edge with worries about how Dean was going. She soon forgot that, though, when the day of the Quidditch match arrived.
As she walked with shaky legs towards the Great Hall, early that morning, she found the relentless taunting that had been occurring around her just wash over her.
Ginny was just too nervous to worry much about what the Slytherins were saying. She reached the Great Hall in minutes and walked straight to where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting.
'Hi,' she said, sitting down next to Harry.
'Oh, hello. How are you going? You nervous?' greeted Harry.
'How could I not be? But, how's Ron doing?' asked Ginny, knowing how her brother got before Quidditch matches.
'Um… yeah,' replied Harry.
Ginny turned her gaze to Ron who was as pale as plaster and Ginny could see a faint green hue to his skin.
'Don't worry Ron. We'll be fine,' Ginny attempted to reassure him.
Ron just swallowed, looking down at his uneaten breakfast.
'Come on, mate. You have to eat. It'll make it worse if you go out there with an empty stomach,' persuaded Harry.
Ron just shook his head.
Hermione looked worriedly at him before leaning in and whispering into his ear. Ron turned to look at her and Hermione gave him a small encouraging smile. Swiftly, she then leant forward and gave him a small kiss.
'I know you'll be great. You just have to have confidence,' she said bracingly.
Ron nodded.
'I-I guess so… Thanks.' He then picked a piece of toast and began eating. Finally.
Harry and Ginny turned to each other.
'Wow. Thank Merlin for Hermione,' said Harry lowly.
'Tell me about it,' nodded Ginny. 'And how about you? You feeling okay?'
Harry smiled at her.
'Yeah, I'm fine. I guess. Of course I'm nervous, I mean I'd be worried if I wasn't. But otherwise, yeah I'm good,' he said
'Good,' smiled Ginny.
Harry grinned, but then his smile soon turned into a frown and he looked as though he was about to say something. That was, until Hermione interrupted reminding them that it was about time that they should be going.
Harry nodded and shook his head, mumbling something about telling her later before Ginny and Harry stood together and started out towards the Quidditch pitch.
In the changing rooms, the atmosphere was tense and the silence ringing around the team was suffocating.
When there was a faint whistle from the changing room door, Harry stood and addressed the team.
'Well, this is it. Now, I'm not going to say you have to win, but it'd be great if you did. Just… try your best and at least attempt to play fairly, no matter what Slytherin do,' he said. There was a small murmur of agreement and Harry put his hands together. 'Let's just get out there and do our best, shall we?'
As Ginny walked out of the changing room behind Harry, who was leading, she soon felt her nerves disappearing. The familiar chorus of boos and cheers on top of the surprisingly glaring sunlight made her feel excited about the oncoming match, instead of nervous. And when Harry and the Slytherin team captain shook hands and Madam Hooch blew the first whistle, butterflies bust to life in Ginny's stomach.
Swinging her leg over her broomstick, Ginny prepared to take off. And on the last whistle from Madam Hooch, the game finally lurched into action.
Grabbing the Quaffle with surprising quickness, Ginny used her adrenaline to make a head-start on the game.
As soon as she had the red ball clutched tightly in her hands, Ginny lurched towards the goalposts whilst making sure she was aware of the flanking Slytherins.
From the corner of her eye, Ginny could see the new Chaser, Demelza Robins was a few metres away from her, providing backup.
And when Ginny was almost sandwiched between two opposing Slytherins, she threw it over their heads towards Demelza and ducked swiftly underneath them, casing the two burly lads to crash straight into one another.
Harry called from above them. 'Nice! Now get the Quaffle down the pitch!' he instructed over the roar of the crowd.
Continuing after Demelza, Ginny flew down the pitch, making great speed alongside the new Chaser. That was until a large boy, twice the size of Ginny in broadness alone, flew straight up on Demelza, causing a nasty crash.
Recovering quickly from the shock that had entered her body, Ginny dived under her entangled teammate and snatched the Quaffle right out of the air before flying up almost vertically and heading back down the pitch.
Now it was just her and Katie Bell, speeding down the pitch, the Slytherin's coming on quite swiftly. Passing neatly to Katie, Ginny narrowly avoided another crash and after the second Slytherin had launched for Katie, Ginny somehow ended up with the Quaffle again.
Surprise fuelled her actions as she dove forward, going full-out down the pitch and coming up to the goalposts, guarded by another brawny Slytherin. It now occurred to Ginny that the Slytherin team was made up of strength rather than skill.
Feinting left, Ginny turned her aim to the right goalpost and threw, hard.
It worked! The Keeper dove to Ginny's left, falling for her manoeuvre, leaving the far right post totally unguarded. The Quaffle threw straight through and the crowd erupted into cheers.
'And that's a goal, scored by Ginny Weasley. Ten points to Gryffindor!' yelled Zacharias Smith, the new commentator. Ginny, however, was barely listening. Without Lee Jordan, commentary just wasn't the same.
Ginny threw a fist up in the air in celebration and she watched Harry do the same from where he was in mid-circle of the pitch. Smiling, she flew back to her position, ready to score another goal.
Gryffindor played quite well for the rest of the match. Despite the odd few goals let in, they scored many against the opposing team.
Ginny was just high-fiving Katie after she scored a brilliant, one-handed goal when Zacharias suddenly shouted,
'Hey-! I think Potter's spotted the Snitch!' Ginny's gaze automatically flew to the sky where she spotted Harry, diving towards the Slytherin goalposts. There was a thrilling look of sheer delight and adrenaline over his features and his emerald eyes were shining brilliantly.
Ginny fought hard not to melt inside at his expression, something she had not been very successful at in the past and instead, drew her eyes to Harry's line of sight.
Sure enough, just underneath the middle hoop, Ginny could faintly see a tiny speck of golden, flashing in the sunlight.
Harry was gaining distance fast but then Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Seeker, began tailing him. Fortunately, Harry had a Firebolt, the fastest racing broom in the world. It outstripped Malfoy's Nimbus 2001 by a mile and so it was no question as to who reached the Snitch first.
Ginny felt herself leaning forward in her broomstick as Harry reached out a hand towards the tiny golden ball and she just saw his fingers clasp around it. Before Malfoy launched himself straight at Harry, tackling him clean out of the sky.
The crowd gasped collectively, including Ginny and she immediately flew towards the two boys who had landed in a heap on the grassy pitch.
Ginny landed beside them just as Madam Hooch came rushing up. The screams and protests of a foul coming from the crowd meant nothing to Ginny as Malfoy was pulled away from Harry, barely harmed.
But Ginny had no mind for him.
No, it was Harry, lying crookedly on the ground below her that had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
As Madam Hooch signalled frantically to Madam Pomfrey, Ginny dropped to her knees beside Harry, discarding her broomstick carelessly.
Reaching out, she shook him desperately.
'Come on! Wake up, Harry! Please, wake up!' she shouted feverishly.
Very slowly, Ginny watched as Harry's emerald eyes flickered open into her brown ones and relief washed over her like a releasing wave.
'Ginny? Wh-what-?' Harry was cut off abruptly by Ginny as she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
Harry froze, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Realising suddenly what she was doing, Ginny herself froze and hurriedly pulled away from Harry.
'I, er- I'm glad you're okay,' she mumbled.
Harry smiled properly before looking down at his hand. There, sitting in the palm of his hand, was a tiny golden ball. Harry had caught the Snitch.
Eyes alight, Harry held up the Snitch to the crowd who absolutely when berserk.
'Blimey! Harry Potter's caught the Snitch! Gryffindor win!' cried Zacharias and then suddenly Ginny and Harry were engulfed by the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Ginny helped as Harry was hoisted up onto the team's shoulders and carried all the way back to the castle. Everything got a little crowded when the Hufflepuffs and three quarters of the Ravenclaw also surrounded them and so carefully, Ginny ducked out of the crowd.
In a matter of seconds, Harry was right beside her. She looked strangely at him.
'What the-? How did you escape so easily?' she asked.
Harry laughed.
'It wasn't without difficulty,' he replied and at this both Harry and Ginny laughed together, until the humour died down.
Ginny then looked concernedly at Harry.
'Are you all right? You… you had quite a fall,' she asked.
Harry gave her a gentle smile.
'I'm fine. I've had worse. Remember when Lockhart rubberised my arm? Like I said. I've had worse,' he said.
Ginny giggled.
'Ah Lockhart. What a tool he was… but truly. You didn't hit your head or anything? Not going to get a concussion?' she asked, still concerned. Harry had a habit for brushing off serious matters as if they were nothing.
Harry raised his eyebrows.
'Now you're starting to sound like Madam Pomfrey,' he said.
Ginny frowned at him.
'I'm only concerned about your heath. And, er, speaking of which. We should probably get out of here before she tries to take you into custody at the hospital wing. I swear, she probably has a bed labelled, "Harry Potter", you're in there so much,' said Ginny.
Harry laughed again.
'There's the Ginny I know and love,' he said.
Brushing off his last sentence, as though it didn't make her heart pound dramatically, Ginny took a hold of Harry's hand and pulled him away towards the lake.
Halfway there, she let go, figuring he could just follow her himself, but Harry kept a hold of her hand, not even looking twice at her, acting as though it were totally normal for them to hold hands.
Ginny smiled in spite of herself and felt her heart flutter.
They reached the huge beech tree by the lake pretty soon and there, Harry finally let go of Ginny's hand. Ignoring the loss she felt at the absence of Harry's hand around hers, Ginny sat, followed soon by Harry.
'Are you sure you're not'- began Ginny, but at Harry's risen eyebrow, she shut up. 'Sorry. I'm just a little worried, that's all.'
Harry smiled at her.
'It's okay. But truly, I'm fine. Great in fact. Thanks for caring,' he said softly.
Ginny shrugged, blushing faintly. A small voice in the back of her mind told her to stay strong, continue being icy towards Harry, but she all but ignored it.
'You… you played well today,' complimented Harry.
Ginny smiled.
'Thanks. And that was a really good catch, even though you were knocked off your broomstick,' she said.
Harry bolted upright suddenly.
'Oh, my broomstick! I left it on the pitch!' he cried.
Ginny laughed.
'Don't worry. I left mine there too. I'm sure someone will get it,' she said.
Harry hesitated but then his face broke out into a grin.
'If you're so sure,' he replied.
He then smiled gently at her. Ginny smiled back, but soon Harry's smile faded into a slight frown again.
'Um… Ginny I need to talk to you about something. Something I've realised lately,' he said slowly.
Ginny looked worriedly at him.
'Yes? Is everything okay, Harry?' she asked.
Harry bit his lip and his hand automatically found its way to his hair, making it stick up more than usual. She could see he was nervous, so she put a hand to his shoulder.
'Hey, don't be scared. Whatever it is, you can tell me,' she persuaded him softly.
Harry took in a deep breath then looked her straight in the eye.
'I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I've hurt you, I'm sorry for everything that I've said or done to you to make you think you don't mean anything to me, which is not the case. Not even close. You mean everything to me and… and I just can't stand not being your friend and not being able to talk to you, or even look your way for fear that you would hate me more than you already do. I'm sorry that I called you a little girl, and I can only imagine what that must feel like. If I could, I'd take every bad thing I've said or done to you and feel it all for you instead. But I can't. So I hope, with all my heart and soul, that this apology is enough to win back your friendship. And even if it's not, there is no way in hell that I'd blame you, because if it were me, I don't think I'd forgive myself either.' At the end, Harry was breathing a little rapidly and his beautiful eyes were pleading and desperate.
Ginny just stared wide-eyed at him. She… she could… just be his friend, right? There was no harm in that, right? His apology seemed sincere enough to make her melt and she could see in his eyes that he was truly sorry.
'But how do I know it won't happen again?' she asked softly.
Harry looked desperately at her.
'I know what it's like, Gin… I know now how you felt. It's… the worst feeling in the world, I'd never wish it on anyone. So why would I do that to you again, when you mean so much to me? I couldn't bear to see you go through that once more,' he gave another heart-melting explanation.
'Harry… do you honestly care about me? Because, recently, it hasn't seemed that way,' she said.
Harry took her hands, looking deeply into her wide eyes.
'Of course I care about you. Recently… well recently I've been a jerk. And I'll admit that as many times as you'd like, for you to realise that if anyone, even myself, were to hurt you… I'd be right behind them, ready to dig their grave,' he said solemnly.
'R-really?' she asked softly.
'Really,' nodded Harry.
Somewhere in the back of Ginny's mind, she was vaguely aware that she was leaning slowly towards Harry.
After a while, she finally spoke.
'O-okay… I-I accept. I accept your apology,' she said softly.
Beautiful, shining relief washed over Harry's emerald irises and Ginny could see his body relax.
'Thank Merlin,' he said softly.
And then suddenly, Ginny was aware that she and Harry's faces were literally centimetres apart.
Very, very slowly, Harry brought his lips closer to Ginny's, his eyes drooping slightly. He gave Ginny time to draw back, but when she didn't, he let his eyes close fully and Ginny felt her eyelids relaxing to a close as well. Their noses were touching, lips almost together.
At the very last moment, Ginny pulled out, a look of pain reigning her features.
'Harry… I can't. I… I'm not going to cheat on Dean. And… and besides. We're… we're just friends. Right?' she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
Ginny could see Harry fighting hard not to show his disappointment.
'Of… of course. I'm sorry. I shouldn't… I shouldn't have done that. Th-thank you. For accepting my apology. It… it means a lot,' he said, smiling sincerely.
Ginny shook her head.
'It was nothing. But… it's getting late. We should be heading back. If I'm correct, we've got a raging party to attend to in the common room. They're sure to be missing their captain and Seeker,' she said.
Harry laughed.
'Don't worry. I'm pretty sure they're missing their star Chaser too,' he said.
Ginny blushed slightly and Harry stood, extending his hand.
'Come on,' he said.
Ginny took his hand, allowing him to help her up, but let go as soon as she was on her feet.
As they walked back to the castle together, Ginny spoke to lighten the mood.
'You know, now that Fred and George have gone, I'm not sure if anyone's going to manage to scavenge some Butterbeer,' she said, a mischievous ring to her voice.
'Hm… Well it's not really a Gryffindor party without Butterbeer, is it?' said Harry, his tone matching Ginny's.
Ginny grinned. 'Lucky for you, I might just know how to get some…'
And as Ginny shared with him one of the twins' many secrets, Harry couldn't help but feel hopeful. Hopeful that she would eventually come around. Hopeful that they would stay friends for a long time. But, most of all, hopeful that he'd finally be able to get to know her. Not as Ron's little sister, but as Ginny. Just Ginny…