Battle Royale
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters, places, and terms are property of J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 5: Round Four: Ginny vs. Daphne
After having her robe set on fire by Luna and watching Harry ask Daphne out, an angry Ginny Weasley stormed back to the castle by herself. As soon as she arrived at the Gryffindor tower, she went up to the dorm room that she shared with the other girls and threw herself onto her bed. Things were definitely not going as planned.
All she wanted was to get back together with Harry after the war ended but Daphne had to go and ruin it for her. While Luna had been eliminated from the contest, Ginny did not like the fact that she lost a valuable ally. Still, it did not matter much since Luna botched up the plan she had laid out. If it weren't for Harry, Ginny knew that she would be the one covered in tomato soup instead of the table's other three occupants.
No one knew that Harry had asked Daphne on a date yet and no one would know unless Daphne or Harry told someone, or unless Ginny said something herself. Ginny convinced herself that this was a temporary setback and that timing was everything. If she could somehow build some animosity between Harry and Daphne then Harry just might come running back to her. She just needed a plan. And so for the next hour, she racked her brain of different ways of how to go about ruining any relationship that Daphne might have with Harry.
The first step of that plan would probably be taken care of by Harry himself because he would tell her brother and Hermione about his upcoming date with Daphne. Knowing her brother, he would be infuriated that Harry would choose the Slytherin Ice Princess over her. Hermione would take Ron's side on this one because Ginny knew that Hermione would support a relationship between Harry and her boyfriend's sister but not anyone else. Ginny just had to make sure that Harry told them in the common room. It would create a scene and, if there was enough pressure, Harry just might call off the date with Daphne and the Slytherin girl would be eliminated from the contest.
If that did not eliminate Daphne, and Ginny suspected that it might not since Harry could be stubborn, then step two involved stunning Daphne and using some polyjuice potion to take her place on the day of the date. Ginny would try to convince Hannah or some other contestant to kiss Harry in front of her as Daphne. She would make a scene and run away with Harry close behind. She would then run to Ron and Hermione and take another polyjuice potion to change back into herself. Harry would be confused that "Daphne" disappeared and would go looking for her. The great part about the whole thing was when Harry eventually met up with real Daphne, he would apologize for kissing another girl and the real Daphne would be mad at him for that. It was brilliant.
Ginny was giddy with anticipation. By now, it was possible that everyone had returned from Hogsmeade so Ginny hopped off her bed and went down to the common room to look for Ron and Hermione.
When she got down to the common room, she saw Ron and Hermione sitting on the couch talking in quiet tones to themselves. They looked up at her when she approached, concern evident in their facial expressions. Hermione was the first to speak.
"Is everything ok?" she asked her. "We saw you run out of the Three Broomsticks looking angry and we followed you here but we thought that you might want some time to yourself."
Ginny smiled slightly at her friend but shook her head. "No, not everything is fine. Daphne set my robe on fire and to make matters worse, Harry asked her on a date."
As Ginny predicted earlier, Ron jumped up in a rage while Hermione had a troubled look on her face.
"HE WHAT!" Ron shouted, instantly gaining the attention of everyone in the common room. "I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'D ASK DAPHNE OUT! WHERE IS HARRY? I'M GOING TO KILL THAT GIT!"
"Ron calm down," Hermione pleaded from the chair. "Harry went home to Grimmauld Place remember? I don't think barging in on him at this hour is going to solve anything and you're scaring the first years."
Ron stopped to look around and saw some of the first years with scared looks huddling in a corner behind one of the chairs.
"Calm down!" Ron said hotly. "Hermione, he knew that Ginny liked him and he even dated her for a bit. Now he's just playing around with her feelings and that makes me mad. Mum would definitely hex him into next week if she heard about this. I mean doesn't it bother you that he's now dating that Slytherin instead of Ginny?"
"Of course it bothers me," Hermione insisted. "But I think that we should try to talk to him and see what's going on."
"I don't think that'll help," Ron said, plopping himself back into the chair next to Hermione. "That Slytherin's gotta be using love potions or something. Otherwise I'm sure that Harry would've asked Ginny out again. What do you think Gin? Was he acting strange earlier?"
Ginny grinned inwardly. This was going well for her so far. Just a little push and her brother and Hermione would help her snag Harry away from Daphne. "Things were just fine until Daphne came by with Luna."
It was not a lie. Everything was going well for her until Daphne and Luna stopped by her table after Neville left.
"Then that's gotta be it," Ron said, slamming a fist into his open hand. "She's using love potions on him. Next chance I get, I'll teach that Slytherin a thing or two about meddling with my best mate."
"I'll definitely help you there," Ginny readily agreed. "What about you Hermione?"
Hermione frowned. "I think I'll go talk to Harry first thing in the morning. You two don't have training tomorrow right?"
Ron shook his head. "Nope, I'll come with you."
"No, I want to do this myself," Hermione said.
"But –" Ron began to protest.
"No Ron, you stay put and I'll talk to him," Hermione said firmly. "You may be his best mate but when it comes to relationships, you're useless. I mean it took you six years to figure out how to date a girl."
Ron's ears turned pink out of embarrassment and the two girls shared a laugh at his expense. It was indeed a miracle that Ron had figured out how to handle witches and though Ginny did not know how he managed to learn, she was glad that he did.
The next morning Ginny woke up and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She realized that she had to finish a few assignments for her classes but she also needed to find time to steal a little polyjuice potion from Slughorn's office since she probably couldn't brew it in time. Daphne's date with Harry couldn't be more than a couple weeks away at most. It then occurred to Ginny that she did not know exactly when or where the date would take place. Since Harry was not in school, he was not so limited to Hogsmeade, or even the school grounds. Fortunately for her, Hermione might know that information because she would likely ask Harry himself when she talked to him.
After breakfast, Ginny went back to the common room and she saw that Hermione was waiting there. But Ginny was surprised to find that Hermione did not look too happy. In fact, Hermione was sending glares in her direction.
"What wrong?" Ginny asked her friend, in the most nonchalant way she could.
"You know what's wrong," Hermione replied harshly.
"Did you speak to Harry this morning?" Ginny asked, caught off guard by Hermione's tone.
"Yes, the Headmistress was nice enough to let me use her fireplace to talk to him," Hermione said. "You lied to us last night."
"About what?" Ginny asked, trying to sound innocent.
"Don't play coy with me," Hermione scolded her. "Daphne didn't set your robe on fire and I don't think that she's using love potions on Harry."
"Did you ask her yourself?" Ginny asked. There had to be a flaw somewhere in Hermione's reasoning.
"No, I didn't but Harry seemed to be normal. One of the telling symptoms of love potions is that the victim will be unusually obsessive about the person who fed it to him and Harry is not exhibiting that," Hermione said.
"Hermione, she's a Slytherin! Of course she set my robe on fire so that she could get Harry herself," Ginny said defensively.
"Even if she did, that doesn't explain why you would let us believe that he was under the influence of love potions," Hermione said. "Unless you're jealous of them."
"I can't believe that you're ok with them going on a date," Ginny said, frustrated by the direction the conversation was going.
"I told you before, I'm not ok with it either," Hermione shot back.
"Then why let them go ahead with it!" Ginny yelled, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Did you tell him to call off his date?"
"I told him to be careful but Daphne is not Malfoy and I'm not going to intervene as long as Harry is making the choice himself," Hermione replied.
"Hermione," Ginny said, letting herself down onto the floor. It was a good thing that the common room was empty since Ginny would be embarrassed if anyone else saw her in this state. "Ever since you got together with my brother, all I wanted was for Harry to ask me to be his girlfriend again so that we can be the one big happy family that he's always wanted."
"If he's not making a move, why not ask him out yourself?" Hermione suggested. "I mean you're far more attractive than any girl at this school. Me, on the other hand, I'm just a plain girl and other than your brother, none of the boys pay attention to me. And you're a fun person to be around."
"Did you find out when he's going on his date with her?" Ginny asked, emphasizing the last bit with disdain.
"This weekend," Hermione said. "I think he had something like a picnic planned by the lake. But promise me that you won't try to ruin it. I'm sure that this is a temporary setback and he'll come around."
"What if he doesn't?" Ginny asked.
"Then I'll see if I can do something about it," Hermione said with a grin. "Now come, let's go find your brother."
Later that night, Ginny snuck out of the Gryffindor common room and headed down to the potions classroom under a disillusionment charm to avoid detection. While it was great that Hermione was on her side, Ginny couldn't let Daphne get ahead in this contest and so she was determined to knock her out or sabotage the Slytherin's progress.
At this late hour, there was no one around in the halls except for the occasional prefect patrolling the halls. She would always duck into a classroom or hide behind one of the many suits of armor whenever one came by. Even with the charm, she was not completely invisible and an observant person might notice her.
It took her a good fifteen minutes to get to the potions classroom but once she got there, Ginny noticed that the door was ajar and Slughorn was inside going through his potions cabinet, arranging certain potions and dumping out others.
She slowly opened the door wider so that she could slip through. Fortunately, it was a little dark inside so it was possible that Slughorn wouldn't notice her if she stuck to the shadows. All she needed was a distraction so that she could get the polyjuice potion she needed. This sneaking around reminded her of some of the adventures she had with Neville and some of the other students, avoiding the Carrows in the halls and trying to create some trouble for the two death eaters.
Shaking off the nostalgia, Ginny needed to create a distraction to get Slughorn away from the cabinet, get the potion and get out. The shelves full of cauldrons on the other side of the classroom would do nicely. Ginny fired cutting charms into a few of the shelves and the entire case went down.
The noise startled Slughorn who spun around rather quickly for a man his size with his wand lit. He seemed to be listening intently for any sound in the room. Hearing none after a few moments, he moved slowly over to where the cauldrons were muttering to himself.
Now that Slughorn was away from the potions cabinet, Ginny ventured into the lit area and made her way as quickly as she could to see if she could get her hands on some polyjuice. It didn't take her long to find some since Slughorn had apparently arranged everything in alphabetical order. Grabbing a bottle of the polyjuice, she transferred some of it into two vials that she had in her robe. After plugging the vials and replacing them in her robe, she replaced the bottle on the shelf and snuck back out of the classroom.
The trip back to the Gryffindor tower was non-eventful with the exception of having to hide behind a suit of armor to avoid Mrs. Norris and Filch but she made it all the way back up to her room.
After checking to make sure that her roommates were still asleep, Ginny canceled the disillusionment charm and pulled the two vials out of her robe. She hid the vials in her book bag next to her bed and went back to sleep.
By the middle of the week, Ginny decided that she would get Lavender to help her with her plan. Her fellow Gryffindor was enthusiastic at the suggestion since the news of Harry and Daphne spread like wildfire after Ron's outburst in the common room the other day. Lavender wanted a piece of the action after not having done anything for a few months and having all of the Slytherins knocked out of the contest would make all the more fun.
It took about an hour to explain the plan to Lavender whose bubbly personality was grating on Ginny by the end of the session. However, Lavender got to kiss Harry while Ginny would be playing "Daphne." Ginny did not think that Lavender was very bright and Ginny hoped that Lavender just might get eliminated also. But, as a precaution, Ginny would have to make sure to cast a confundus charm on Lavender so that she would definitely kiss Harry, thinking him to be her boyfriend. The hardest part of the plan would be to find Daphne before she met up with Harry and stun her.
On the day that Daphne was to go on her date with Harry, Ginny first went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Lavender was difficult to wake up on a weekend but she was not needed until later. With luck, Daphne would leave by herself and Ginny could stun her and hide her in an empty classroom.
Ginny took a seat close to Ron and Hermione who were conversing to themselves. While eating breakfast, she glanced from time to time at the doorway to see if Daphne arrived.
Daphne eventually entered the Great Hall with Tracey by her side. The two Slytherin girls made their way over to their table and sat down to eat. Ginny watched the two girls so intently while thinking of her plan that she did not hear Neville ask her if he could sit with them. So she jumped up in surprise when Neville placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.
"Ginny?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.
She looked up at him.
"Is it ok if Hannah and I sit here with you guys?" Neville asked.
Ginny was rendered speechless for a moment by the question. It meant that her plan worked last time and that Hannah was no longer a threat. But she had checked the list earlier and Hannah was still on there.
"So what's going on here Neville?" Ron asked the boy. "Did you finally get your act together?"
Hannah answered for him.
"Yes he did," she said with a radiant smile, leaning into the boy sitting next to her. "Harry is nice but it was Neville who took care of me after that disaster. He even confessed that he fancied me. I thought I'd give it a try. So far he's been great."
"Congratulations!" Ginny told him. "We're all very glad for you."
"Thanks," he replied with a grin, before turning serious again. "Say, I heard that Harry was going out with that Greengrass girl. Is that true?"
"Yes, unfortunately," Ron replied sourly. "I don't like it. Harry would be far better off with someone else."
Ron threw a meaningful look at Ginny at the last statement.
"This again? Can we talk about something else?" Hermione snapped.
"But you said you're not fond of it either," Ron said defensively.
"Yes but that doesn't mean that you have to talk about it all the time," Hermione said irritably. "I let you stay with me in the head girl's suite but I could hear nothing but Daphne and Harry ever since the Hogsmeade weekend. Enough already!"
"All right, all right," Ron said, putting his hands up in surrender.
Ginny took another look at the Slytherin table to see Daphne get up and walk out of the Great Hall. Unfortunately, she had Tracey with her. This meant that Ginny would have to camp out by the Slytherin common room to catch Daphne before she met up with Harry. But first she needed to get Lavender so she excused herself from the table a short while after the two Slytherins left and headed back to the Gryffindor tower.
When Ginny arrived at the tower, she was shocked to find that Harry was waiting in the common room.
"Hey," he said from the chair he was sitting in.
"Hi," Ginny said. "I wasn't expecting you here. Aren't you supposed to be here later?"
"Hermione told you about the date I take it. I was hoping to see Ron and Hermione before I see Daphne," he said. "Do you know where they are?"
Ginny frowned at the mention of Daphne.
"I know you're not happy about this," Harry said, getting up from the chair and going toward Ginny. "Hermione wasn't pleased either when I told her about today. Anyway, do you know where she is? I'd like to say hi."
"They're down in the Great Hall with Neville and Hannah," Ginny said as she headed in the direction of the girl's dorm. "They're together now."
"That's great news. Thanks. Oh and Ginny?"
Ginny paused at the bottom of the stairway but did not turn around to face him.
"I'm sorry."
With that, Harry went out the portrait.
Ginny ran up the stairway to her dorm room and threw the door open, startling a sleepy Lavender.
"Who the hell does he think he is?" Ginny said angrily. "As if sorry could ever make up for ditching me for that – that ARGH!"
"Yes but that's why you've got your plan," Lavender replied from the bed. "I might be dumb compared to you but I have a good feeling about this. That Slytherin will never know what hit her. Now let's get ready. Do you have the polyjuice?"
Ginny nodded and the two girls busied themselves preparing to put their plan into action.
A few hours later, Ginny went down to the common room and headed out the portrait. She knew that Daphne would probably meet Harry at the entrance but Ginny had no idea where the Slytherin common room was so she patrolled the dungeons hoping to run into Daphne before she could get to the entrance. While she waited, she plucked a strand of hair from her own head and dumped into one of the vials of polyjuice that she had in her robe.
Soon enough the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway and Ginny followed the sound under the cover of a disillusionment charm.
"You sure you'll be ok?" Ginny heard a voice say, most likely Daphne's.
"Yes, now go have fun with Harry," came the reply. "I think you're lucky to have him and I hope that it turns out well for you."
She heard the footsteps head in the direction of the entrance so Ginny had to move at a brisk pace to catch up with them.
She finally caught up with Daphne who was walking alone and sent a stunner flying at the girl from behind. Daphne's stunned body fell to the floor and Ginny dragged the girl into one of the nearby classrooms. She first pulled a strand of hair from the girl, dropped into the remaining vial of polyjuice, and swallowed the potion.
Although she had taken polyjuice before when they had served as decoys during Harry's escape from the Dursleys, the sensation was still very uncomfortable. When she was done transforming, she noticed that her clothes were feeling a bit tight in certain places. Ginny had to admit that the Slytherin girl had a good figure. Changing into Daphne's clothes and leaving the Slytherin girl naked in an empty classroom would look suspicious so she settled for transfiguring her clothes into the same outfit that Daphne was wearing.
Before she left, another idea struck Ginny. She cast a memory charm on Daphne and modified the girl's memory so that Daphne would forget that she had a date with Harry today and believe that she had just taken a nap in the empty classroom after breakfast.
Once that was done, Ginny left the classroom and locked the door behind her to prevent anyone from rescuing Daphne anytime soon.
When Ginny arrived back at the main entrance, she was glad to find that Lavender was doing her part by waiting for Harry. As for Ginny, she hid herself behind a pillar but in a way that still allowed her a good view of the entrance.
Harry came by moments later with a picnic basket in his hand but Ginny noticed that his face was bruised and she wondered if her brother had decked him when Harry found him and Hermione. Lavender spotted him quickly and approached him in a flirtatious manner. Lavender attached herself to one of his arms and began to ask him questions about what the picnic basket was for and what was in it. Lavender also noticed the bruise on his face and lifted a hand to touch it. She also asked him if everything was all right.
After about a minute, Ginny was disgusted by the sight of Lavender flirting with Harry and sent a confundus charm at her to get her to kiss Harry. It worked and seconds later, Lavender had tackled the boy, pushed him up against a wall and began to kiss him. Ginny could not let her take too long so she entered the scene as Daphne and let out a loud gasp. Harry apparently heard her for he pushed Lavender away from him. Even so, Harry could only stare at her, not knowing what to do.
Ginny shook her head at him and turned to run in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, her hands over her eyes as if she were crying. She glanced back on occasion to see if Harry was following, which he was. Ginny needed to lose him first so she could drink the other vial of polyjuice. A few twists and turns later, Ginny found the opportunity to hide herself in a little alcove where she was able to finally drink the remaining vial of polyjuice to change back to herself. The uncomfortable sensation washed over her again as she changed back to herself but she was relieved when it was over because she did not like being in the body of her opponent. She then transfigured her clothes back to what they were before and headed back to the Gryffindor common room.
On the way there, she ran into Ron and Hermione who were presumably heading down to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Ginny!" Her brother called out when he spotted her. "We were going to get some lunch, do you want to join us?"
"Sure," Ginny replied.
The three of them were still making their way to the Great Hall for lunch when Harry found them.
"Hey guys, have you seen Daphne?" Harry asked. "I saw her run in this direction."
"No but I think you should be able to keep track of your girlfriend," Ron said sharply.
"What happened?" Hermione asked. "I thought you were supposed to go on your date today?"
"Yes," Harry explained. "I was waiting by the entrance for Daphne and Lavender was there. She kissed me right when Daphne arrived and Daphne saw it. She ran off and that's why I was chasing her."
"I see, well you're probably better off without her," Hermione stated.
Ginny had expected her brother to be overjoyed at the news but she was taken aback when Ron's right hook caught Harry in the jaw, sending him spinning into the wall. Another punch later and Harry was down on the floor, trying to fend off repeated punches from Ron.
"I DON'T GET THIS! HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU WANT TO HURT GINNY? HUH! FIRST THAT GREENGRASS GIRL AND NOW LAVENDER," Ron yelled as he blindly swung at Harry on the ground.
This was not what Ginny wanted. She did not want her brother to be fighting with Harry. Not now.
Suddenly Ron was thrown off of Harry by an invisible force and Ginny saw that Hermione had her wand drawn and pointed directly at her boyfriend.
"ENOUGH RON! STOP HURTING HIM!" Hermione shouted. "Harry's relationship with Daphne is over and you should be happy."
"But he is barely starting one relationship and he is already trying to get the next girl," Ron retorted. "How is it that Harry gets all of these girls while I'm only stuck with Hermione?"
Ginny wanted to throttle her brother at that point. He was really an idiot.
Hermione walked up to Ron and slapped him in the face. Harry soon followed and slammed his fist into Ron's jaw.
"Couldn't be satisfied with a girl who cares for you huh?" Harry asked angrily. "I thought that Hermione would be happy with you but I can see that I was mistaken."
Hermione was now crying and Harry moved to comfort her.
"I thought that you had changed and I thought that we had left all your petty behavior behind," Hermione said in between hiccups. "I don't know what came over me."
"I'm sorry Hermione," Ron apologized from the floor, rubbing his jaw with a free hand.
"No Ron," Hermione said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I think it's time we took a break."
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I would like to thank everyone who reviewed so far. I appreciate the feedback and would be glad to hear more of what you guys think.