Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, places, or quotes I used from the books.
Starts in the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter Four, just after Harry gets done shouting.
Harry glared at Hermione, and then Ron, still breathing deeply. He needed to be alone for a while, to clear his head and cool down. He turned from his friends and stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him, cutting off his friends' attempts to call him back.
It wasn't until he was in the hall that he realized he had no idea where to go next. He'd never been in this house before. He decided that his best move would be to go back downstairs. He could sit in the long, gloomy hallway on the ground floor. At least it would fit his mood. And with everyone in one of the mysterious meetings, he thought bitterly, the hallway was sure to be deserted.
And so he was taken by surprise when he reached the ground floor and spotted a small figure crouched at the other end of the hall. Taking in the long, flaming red hair, he realized it was Ginny Weasley.
"Hey, Harry," she greeted in a voice hardly louder than a whisper, barely turning her head. She appeared to be concentrating hard on something.
After a long, confused moment on Harry's part, he finally asked, "Er, how did you know it was me?"
"I could hear you shouting and slamming doors from down here. I'm surprised you didn't wake her up."
"Her?" he asked curiously, following Ginny's lead and keeping his voice low.
"Oh, just an angry portrait," she answered distractedly, and the next moment a soft thunk sounded from her direction. She sighed disappointedly and finally turned to face Harry and his still very confused expression. "I was flicking dungbombs at the kitchen door to see if mum had put an Imperturable Charm on it," she explained, moving away from the stairs and over towards Harry. "She has," she added dejectedly.
"Oh, er, that's too bad," he replied, unsure of what else to say.
There was a moment of silence in which Harry considered going back upstairs. He wasn't completely calmed down, but Ginny's unexpected dungbomb activities had distracted him enough where he felt he could talk to Ron and Hermione without losing his head again.
Just as he was about to awkwardly make his leave, however, Ginny said, "I know how it feels, you know." Harry's brow wrinkled in confusion. "To be kept out of the loop," she clarified.
"You've been here," Harry argued, feeling his earlier anger prick once more. He wanted to point out that she had been there all summer, keeping busy and being surrounded by wizards and witches involved in fighting Lord Voldemort. He wanted to remind her that while she had been doing all of that, he'd been stuck in Little Whinging, hiding out in flower beds, listening to muggle news.
He wanted to say all of this, but Ginny was quicker to respond. "I'm not talking about this past month. I'm talking about my life. I'm the baby sister to six over-protective brothers, the baby girl to over-protective parents. And then I get to school where you, Ron, and Hermione always seem to know more about things than anyone else, even the teachers. The three of you have done so much, and you especially, while the rest of us just sit by and watch."
Harry looked down at his shoes, suddenly feeling horrible with himself. Ginny was right. He had been involved with so many things in his career as a wizard, way more than anyone else his age, and the one time he's not included he starts screaming and lashing out at his best friends. And then there was Ginny, who had had to sit by for three years and watch her older brother and his two friends go off on some incredible adventures, and she'd never said a word about it.
"Wow, I really have been a prat, huh?"
"Yea, a bit," she agreed, but there was a smirk on her lips that told Harry not to take her too seriously. "I wasn't saying any of that to make you feel bad, though. I was just pointing out that I know how frustrating it can be."
"I'm sorry we've never included you Ginny," Harry said sincerely. When she wasn't all blushing and quiet and sending him singing cards, Harry realized Ginny was actually pretty fun to be around.
"It's fine, I understand. Ron will always see me as his baby sister, and you still see me as the little girl you rescued from the Chamber of Secrets two years ago."
Harry wanted to disagree, but if he was being honest she was right. To him, Ginny was still the shy, star struck little girl he'd known since he was twelve. But looking at her now, taking in her cute, playful smirk and the kind understanding in her chocolate-brown eyes, he realized she had grown up. Hell, they'd just had a full conversation, in which she had done the majority of the talking, and not once had she blushed or stuttered.
"You're right. I guess I haven't realized how much you've grown up, Ginny. I'm sorry."
"Thanks," she replied lamely, not knowing what else to say. After a brief awkward pause, she added, "I think I better go let Fred and George know about the Imperturable Charm."
"And I should probably go apologize to Ron and Hermione."
The two made their way up the stairs in companionable silence, Harry following Ginny's lead in tiptoeing up the stairs. When they made it to the second floor landing, they heard an audible CRACK, followed by Hermione berating Fred and George's apparent Apparation into the room. Ginny followed Harry into his and Ron's bedroom.
Ron and Hermione immediately bombarded Harry with apologies, which he blew off and instead apologized himself for his earlier outburst, while Ginny slipped quietly in behind him and over to his bed, spreading her tiny self out casually, as if she'd been sitting there for quite some time.
"Hello, Harry," greeted Fred from his perch on Ron's bed.
"We thought we heard your dulcet tones," added George, who was also sitting on Ron's bed.
"We didn't even bother betting whether or not it was you we heard shouting," continued Fred.
"It would've been pointless, see, since we were both so sure it was you," finished George.
Harry rolled his eyes at their teasing, plopping down on his bed next to Ginny. "What were you two doing downstairs anyway?" Fred asked curiously, gesturing to the two of them, a hint of big brother over-protectiveness creeping into his voice. Ron, who had joined the twins on his bed, and George straightened up slightly.
Once again, Ginny was the quicker of the two to respond, but this time Harry really wished she hadn't been. "Oh that. Harry just came down to confess his undying love for me, and then we proceeded to snog each other senseless."
She said the statement with such conviction that for the wildest second Harry wondered if that had, in fact, been what had happened. But then his senses returned to him, and he remembered what had actually happened. The quick wink Ginny sent him may have helped too.
But none of these things stopped the blush rising to Harry's face at Ginny's story. What was more surprising was her lack of blushing. Who was this girl?
Looking around, Harry noticed that the others seemed even more gullible than him. Hermione's mouth was agape, and she was staring at Harry with a mixture of hurt and joy on her face. Fred and George looked slightly dangerous, something Harry had never associated with the normally light-hearted boys before.
It was Ron, surprisingly, who broke the silence first.
"Oh, shut up, Ginny." Of course Ron wouldn't believe her. Harry was his best friend! He would've told Ron if he'd been harboring something like that… right? "Besides, aren't you still dating Dean?" Ron spat out the boy's name as if it were a nasty curse word.
This time, a slight hint of color rose to Ginny's cheeks. "It's none of your business who I'm currently snogging, thank you very much."
"Gee, as fascinating as this conversation is," Fred interrupted sarcastically, "how about we switch to a topic that doesn't involve our little sister and snogging?"
Harry found that he agreed with Fred, though he wasn't quite sure why. All he knew was that the combination of Dean, Ginny, and snogging made him feel rather ill. He found himself understanding Ron's earlier usage of Dean's name as a curse word.
"Ginny, what did you find out?" Harry heard Fred ask, and returned his attention back to the room and away from his confusing thoughts about Dean and Ginny.
She sighed, much like she had earlier in front of the stairs that led to the kitchen. "It's a no go on the Extendable Ears. Mum's gone and put an Imperturable Charm on the door."
"How do you know?" George asked, sounding just as disappointed as Ginny.
"Tonks told me how to find out. You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs, and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."
"Extendable what?" Harry asked, certain he'd misheard. But, as was often the case for Harry in the magical world, his ears had not deceived him. The following conversation between the six of them included an explanation of Fred and George's latest invention, what they'd found out about the Order from listening in on meetings, explaining to Harry what the Order of the Phoenix was (Fred, George, and Ginny covered most of that one, as Ron and Hermione were still nervous about setting off Harry's temper), some family drama including Bill, who had apparently moved back to England and had been spending an awful lot of time with Fleur Delacour, and Percy's current estrangement from the Weasleys, a tense discussion about what the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet have been saying about Harry and Dumbledore, and finally ended the conversation telling Harry about how they've been 'keeping busy'.
"Basically, we've been doing chores 24/7," Ginny explained, not even trying to hide her bitterness.
"Aw, come on Gin, it's not been that bad," George disagreed.
"Well of course the two of you'd say that. Been knicking all sorts of stuff for your joke products, haven't you?"
"It really hasn't been a treat," Ron agreed, causing Ginny to smirk over at the twins.
Further conversation was ended with footsteps on the stairs. Fred and George tugged on their Extendable Ear and Apparated out of the room. It turned out to be a good call on their part, because a few seconds later Mrs. Weasley entered the room.
"Do any of you know who's left all those Dungbombs by the kitchen door?"
"Crookshanks," Ginny answered without batting an eye. "He loves to play with them." Harry stared at Ginny with barely concealed awe.
Mrs. Weasley nodded, her gaze moving from Ginny over to Harry. "The meeting's over." Harry quickly looked away from Ginny, not wanting her to get caught in her lie because of him. "You can all come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you Harry." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stood up and made to follow Mrs. Weasley out the door. "Remember to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy! What have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner."
Once Mrs. Weasley turned to leave the room, Harry smirked at Ginny, who responded by sticking her tongue out at him before following her mother out of the room. There was a small jolt in Harry's stomach, and for what had to be the thousandth time that evening he was feeling confused about Ginny Weasley. One thing he was certain of, though, was that she definitely wasn't the same blushing little girl he'd known for years.
Alright, so the title of this story was basically just thought of randomly so I could post this story, and I don't really care for it. What does everyone think? Should I keep it? If any of you have title ideas, let me know. The only other ideas I have are "Including Ginny" or "Added Moments". Let me hear your thoughts.
~Jazz~