Ginny, her brothers, Harry, Hermione, and Neville stood in a loose circle near the Hogwarts Lake. It was about half an hour after breakfast and they had decided to take Fred and George's suggestion of a snowball fight. The ground was thick with powdery white snow, which had been falling slowly since daybreak.
"Okay," Fred said loudly, his arms around his twin's shoulder. "We take Ginny and…"
The twins looked around, sizing the others up.
"Hermione," finished George. He grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her towards their group.
"What?" exclaimed Ron, who was standing beside Ginny. She covered her left ear and frowned at her brother as she took a few steps away from him.
"There are four of you and only three of us," protested Ron.
"Glad to know you can count," said Fred, smirking.
"And do basic arithmetic," added George.
"Anyway, it's only fair," explained Fred. "Hermione's such a bad shot anyway that she almost doesn't count."
"Hey!" Hermione protested loudly. She opened her mouth, probably to defend her throwing abilities but apparently realized that Fred wasn't too far off the truth. "I'm not teaming up with you two," she said instead, then walked haughtily back to her earlier place between Ron and Neville.
"Alright then, we're taking Neville," George said easily.
"And Ginny's with us," Harry piped up, gesturing around to indicate that he wanted him, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione to be on the same team. Ginny's stomach did a back flip at the fact that Harry wanted to team up with her, but she kept her expression casual.
"Ah, not possible Harry, old boy," said Fred. Ginny wanted to scream at him.
"You can't separate the GFGSS," explained George. Ginny's hand itched for her wand.
"What's GFGSS?" chorused Harry and Neville, both of whom had not noticed the warning look Ron had given them.
Fred smirked grandly at Harry and Neville. "The Ginny-Fred-George Snowballers Society—"
"Hey, I thought it was the George-Fred-Ginny Snowballers Society!" protested George.
"No it isn't!" argued Ginny, sounding angrier than George's statement merited. It might have had something to do with the fact that her brothers did not want her to be teaming up with Harry, but she refused to believe that particular reason. She did not like Harry, after all.
"It's Ginny-Fred-George Snowballers Society," Ginny continued pointedly.
"Either way, it's still the lamest group name I've ever heard," teased Harry.
Ron sniggered appreciatively while Ginny narrowed her eyes at Harry, who was high-fiving Neville. There was no way she could possibly like such an immature prat. She dropped to the ground and scooped two handfuls of powdery snow, forming them into one huge ball.
"I have to disagree with you, Harry," said Ron, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he glanced at Hermione. "I think sp—"
Ron stopped talking and laughed along with everyone else as Ginny stood up and took aim, hitting Harry on the side of the head with her snowball. Harry slowly wiped the snow off his face and straightened his glasses, which had gone askew. He turned to Ginny and tried to frown at her. She gave him an innocent smile, pleased that she had his attention, and slowly backed away. Without warning, Harry quickly formed a snowball and threw it at Ginny, but she was ready for it. She ducked, avoiding Harry's sloppily thrown snowball, but Ron, who was standing behind Ginny, was not as quick and the snowball hit him square in the chin.
The situation quickly deteriorated after that as Ron tried to get back at Harry and hit Neville instead. Fred and George enthusiastically jumped into the fray, aiming at Hermione. Seconds later, a free-for-all snowball fight had ensued as everyone aimed their snowballs at everyone else. Ginny aimed, formed snowballs, dodged, and aimed again. She was careful not to stand in one place for too long and stayed as far away from Harry as possible. He was chasing her, intent on getting even. If she were to be really honest with herself, she rather liked the feeling of being chased by Harry. But of course, it was only because she liked snowball fights. It did not mean that she liked him.
Ginny was good at snowball fights, and this one was no exception. She had only been hit twice, and not on the face. She had hit George a number of times, Ron and Fred twice, and Hermione and Neville once. She also managed to keep an eye on Harry, who she knew was still dogging her heels. Fifteen minutes later, however, she lost sight of him. She looked from left to right, then up ahead. He was nowhere to be seen.
Ginny frowned—there was only one place he could be. She quickly whirled around and saw him stalking towards her, only a few feet away. He stopped in his tracks and gave her a cheeky grin, knowing that he'd been caught. Ginny felt her stomach swoop at his grin, but she immediately brushed it off. She stepped back, smirking, and taking advantage of his delay, turned and ran away from him.
Ginny stopped running when she was a good few yards away from the others. Harry was still following her but at least she was safe from the others' wayward snowballs. She had two snowballs, one in each hand. Harry was now walking slowly towards her. She did not back away this time. She smirked at him and threw the first one. He ducked, like she knew he would. She threw the second snowball half a second later, sure that he wouldn't be able to avoid it, but she had clearly underestimated his reflexes. He was able to dodge both snowballs and throw a snowball at her. She ducked just in time, and the ball grazed her back. She was in no position to dodge another attack, but luckily, Harry had run out of ammunition. Ginny quickly formed two snowballs as Harry did the same and seconds later, their attack-dodge-attack exchange continued.
Minutes passed, snowballs flew back and forth, and still Ginny and Harry had not hit each other. They stood a few feet apart, a snowball in each hand and smirking at each other as they contemplated what to do next. Ginny was about to make the first move when, out of nowhere, a snowball hit Harry in the side of the head, knocking his glasses to the ground. Ginny laughed loudly but a moment later, her laughter was effectively cut short as a snowball hit her on the head with a loud 'splat'. She turned towards the source of the snowballs and saw Fred and George walking towards her with identical evil smirks on their faces. They had their wands out and more than ten snowballs were floating in front of them.
"Hey, no magic!" she shouted at her brothers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry dropping to his knees and feeling the ground for his glasses.
"Actually Gin, no rules," George said cheekily.
The twins flicked their wands and no less than five snowballs zoomed towards her and Harry. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to dodge all of them, Ginny put her arms up, protecting her head.
"Protego!" shouted Harry.
Ginny dropped her arms and watched the snowballs stop a few feet away from them and fall unceremoniously to the ground. She turned her attention to Harry. He had his wand out, but he was still fumbling around for his glasses. Ginny ran towards him and handed him his glasses, which were lying at his feet and in grave danger of being trampled.
"Thanks," said Harry.
Ginny nodded in response and immediately began forming snowballs, setting them on the ground. Fred and George stubbornly aimed their snowballs at Harry and Ginny even as the balls stopped a few feet short of their target. Ginny and Harry looked at each other, smirking as an understanding passed between them. They both stood up, Ginny scooping the snowballs she had formed in her arms and together, she and Harry walked towards the twins, protected by Harry's Shield Charm.
"Hand me one," said Harry, transferring his wand to his left hand and thrusting his right hand palm up to Ginny.
She handed him one of her snowballs and turned her attention back to Fred and George, whose smirks had widened with the challenge she and Harry had presented. The twins continued to aim snowballs towards them, probably with the intent of weakening Harry's Shield Charm. Ginny stopped walking and took aim, hitting George's hand and knocking his wand to the ground.
"Nice shot," said Harry appreciatively. He threw his snowball and hit George, who was trying to pick up his wand.
"I'll disarm Fred. You prevent George from picking up his wand," said Ginny, handing another snowball to Harry. They were only a few feet away from the twins and Harry's Shield Charm had given them a great advantage.
Ginny considered using Expelliarmus, but one of the unspoken rules in all snowball fights (even those that supposedly had no rules) was to not directly use magic against other players. She decided to disarm Fred in the same way she did George. It took two shots before she was finally able to knock Fred's wand to the ground. After that, the twins were completely helpless against her and Harry. They gleefully pelted Fred and George with snowballs, and the twins barely managed to get away, leaving their wands behind.
"Yes!" Ginny yelled triumphantly. She stuck her tongue out at Fred and George, who had turned back to look at her and Harry when they were a safe distance away. The twins shook their heads and turned to each other, whispering. Ginny laughed at her brothers. They would be harmless—for now.
Harry dropped his Shield Charm and pocketed Fred and George's wand. He turned to Ginny, his bright green eyes glinting mischievously.
"What next?" he asked. "Or, more precisely, who next?" he corrected, his lips curling up into a wide smirk.
Ginny bit her lip and returned Harry's grin with a bashful smile. She tore her eyes away from his intense gaze and caught site of Ron and Hermione over his shoulder.
"Ron and Hermione," Ginny said impishly.
Harry turned around and looked at his best friends, who were pelting snowballs at each other. If possible, his grin went even wider. Ginny exchanged another look with him and they dropped to the ground in unison, forming snowballs. When they were sure they had enough, Ginny scooped all the balls in her arms and they walked towards Ron and Hermione.
Harry put up the Shield Charm when they were only a few feet away and he and Ginny immediately began chucking snowballs at an unsuspecting Ron and Hermione. Ron muttered several expletives and Hermione shrieked girlishly, but Ginny and Harry did not relent. Ron and Hermione threw their remaining snowballs at Harry and Ginny, and quickly realized that Harry had put up a Shield Charm. Hermione started backing away but Ron immediately began forming snowballs.
"Ron, Harry's using a Shield Charm," shouted Hermione.
"I know!" Ron shouted back, still forming snowballs.
Ginny sniggered at this exchange, not missing its irony. After all, Ron and Hermione had been acting rather formally towards each other ever since breakfast. Ginny threw another snowball at her brother but he only ducked his head to prevent his face from being hit.
"What's up, Ron?" said Harry. Ginny could hear the smirk in his voice. "Ready to surrender?"
"Your red head is like one, giant, bulls-eye," teased Ginny. She and Harry had stopped throwing snowballs at him, seeing no fun in an easy target.
"Ron!" yelled Hermione.
Ron seemed to have finished forming snowballs because he finally stood up, scooped the snowballs in his arms, and ran towards Hermione.
"Go, Hermione!" he shouted, dropping to the ground near the bushy-haired girl and setting the snowballs in front of her.
"What?" Hermione asked in confusion.
Ginny shared Hermione's sentiment. She laughed, wondering if Ron wanted Hermione to kick the snowballs towards her and Harry.
"Swish and flick!" said Ron.
A look of comprehension crossed Hermione's face and Harry suddenly burst out laughing beside Ginny.
"What—" began Ginny, but she immediately got the answer to her unspoken question as Hermione muttered the levitating charm and the snowballs floated up into the air.
Of course. Wingardium Leviosa. That was what Fred and George used. Ginny had no idea why she had not used it. Probably because throwing snowballs was much better than levitating them.
"That's still no use against a Shield Charm," Harry told his best friends cheekily.
"Oh, I know," said Hermione, giving Ginny and Harry a grin that could put Fred and George's to shame.
She flicked her wand and two snowballs separated from the group floating in front of her. But instead of zooming towards Ginny and Harry, the snowballs flew upwards and over their heads. Ginny and Harry watched the two snowballs in confusion. A second later, they realized Hermione's intention as the snowballs zoomed towards them from behind, where Harry's Shield Charm was useless. Ginny and Harry dodged the snowballs, but more snowballs were coming at them and Harry had gotten distracted, his Shield Charm deactivating.
"Good one, Hermione," Ron said gleefully as he began forming more snowballs.
"I still can't do Protego Totallum!" muttered Harry.
Ginny had no idea what he meant. She took out her wand and levitated their remaining snowballs, flicking them towards Hermione. Harry followed her lead, but they were terribly short on ammunition. Harry tried making snowballs but Hermione was two steps ahead of them. Finally, after two minutes of being pelted everywhere, Ginny and Harry beat back a hasty retreat as Ron and Hermione cheered in triumph.
"Damn," Ginny muttered as she and Harry ran, Ron and Hermione at their heels.
Harry's Shield Charm could not protect the caster's back. A plan quickly began forming in Ginny's head, but it involved two people casting the Shield Charm. Unfortunately, however, she could not cast a Shield Charm. When she came to think of it, she didn't think Ron and Hermione or even the twins could cast a Shield Charm either. It seemed to be one of those dueling spells Harry learned from his father or Sirius.
"We need two people casting the Shield Charm!" she said to Harry between gasps for air.
Harry looked at her. A moment later, he grinned, apparently realizing her plan. "Neville can," he told her.
"Where is Neville, by the way?" asked Ginny. She was not surprised that Neville knew the Shield Charm. After all, his parents were two of the Ministry's best Aurors. He was bound to learn a thing or two from them.
Harry shrugged, and then looked around, which was quite a hard task when one was running. "There!" he said after a moment, pointing to his right.
Ginny followed the direction of Harry's finger and saw Neville being double-teamed by Fred and George. She immediately veered right, Harry right behind her. Fred and George saw Ginny and Harry running in their direction and burst out laughing. No doubt, the twins were incredibly amused that Ginny and Harry were running from Ron and Hermione. A moment later, the twins stopped laughing as they realized that Ginny and Harry were leading Ron and Hermione towards them.
"Oi! Don't come here!" shouted Fred.
Ginny and Harry took no heed and continued running towards Neville and the twins. Fred and George, whose wands were still in Harry's possession, knew that they were no match against Ginny and Harry or Ron and Hermione and immediately backed away, having no desires of getting caught in the crossfire.
"See ya later, Neville," George said jovially as he and Fred watched from a safe distance.
"Neville!" said Harry as he and Ginny approached the other boy. "Cast a Shield Charm!"
"What?" asked Neville, still confused from Fred and George's attack.
"Cast a Shield Charm," Harry said again.
"Why—oh, alright," said Neville, straightening up. He took out his wand, squared his shoulders and muttered, "Protego," activating a Shield Charm.
Harry cast another Shield Charm, positioning himself so that he, Ginny, and Neville were protected from all sides.
"Brilliant!" said Ginny appreciatively.
"Hey, that's cheating!" shouted Ron. He and Hermione had caught up with them and their zooming snowballs could not penetrate Harry's and Neville's Shield Charm.
Ginny stuck her tongue out to her brother and began forming snowballs as fast as she could. Harry did the same, making snowballs with just one hand. Neville also dropped to his knees and began forming snowballs one-handed, all the while holding up his Shield Charm.
"What are we doing?" Neville asked curiously.
Ginny and Harry looked knowingly at each other, and then gave Neville identical mischievous smirks.
"You'll see," Harry said airily.
A moment later, Ginny decided that they had enough snowballs and she jumped to her feet, motioning for Harry and Neville to do the same. She exchanged another look with Harry before whipping out her wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa," she shouted.
The thirty-odd snowballs they had formed floated into the air around Ginny, Harry, and Neville. She turned to Ron and Hermione, taking pleasure in giving them the wickedest grin she could muster.
"Uh-oh," muttered Ron, apparently realizing what Ginny and Harry were up to.
Ron and Hermione took a few steps backwards, turned on their heels, and ran as fast as they could, their floating snowballs flying ahead of them. Ginny, Harry, and Neville looked at each other and laughed. They positioned themselves so that they could move easily without Harry or Neville having to walk backwards or having to break the Shield Charm. Seconds later, they were running after Ron and Hermione with Ginny in the middle, her wand trained on the floating snowballs, and Harry and Neville on either side of her, their wands pointed in opposite directions so their Shield Charms covered all sides.
Ron had long legs and could have easily outrun them, but Hermione had tired quickly and soon, Ron had to slow down for her to keep up. Several minutes later, Ron and Hermione were on the ground, laughing hysterically as Ginny's snowballs floated threateningly over their heads.
"Yield!" Neville said in a half-joking manner, his voice purposefully lowered.
Harry snickered loudly on Ginny's other side, and she guessed that this must be one of those dueling standards he and Neville knew so much about.
Harry smirked at his best friends and held out his hand. "Your wands please," he said in a mock-polite tone.
"What?" Ron asked incredulously.
Realizing Harry's intention, Ginny let the snowballs float closer to Ron and Hermione. "Wands," she said, exchanging wicked grins with Harry and Neville. "It's the terms of surrender."
Hermione snorted loudly, totally unaffected by Ginny, Harry, and Neville towering over her and Ron—though it couldn't really be called 'towering' in Ginny's case.
"Surrender, my arse!" Ron spat dramatically and before Hermione could protest his use of language, he had grabbed her arm, stood up, and half-dragged, half-pulled her away from Ginny, Harry, and Neville.
Stunned by Ron's audacity, Ginny, Harry, and Neville could only stare after him and Hermione. A couple of minutes later, Ron seemed to have realized that he was still holding Hermione's hand and he immediately dropped it, his ears turning a lovely shade of red. Ginny, Harry, and Neville burst out laughing, high-fiving each other.
"We are undefeated!" Harry called to Ron and Hermione, who had retreated even farther and were now regarding them thoughtfully, as though trying to come up with a way to beat them.
"From now on, GFGSS is no longer," Ginny declared jokingly. "And in its place: the GHNSS, or, the Ginny-Harry-Neville Snowballers Society."
"Okay, what is it with you and bad group names?" Harry said teasingly. "First GFGSS, then GHNSS, next thing I know you'll be having an ABCDE-up-to-XYZSS."
"You dare insult the master of all snowballers?" she said in a mock-offended tone, her eyes narrowed at Harry.
Neville snorted loudly, and then he and Harry burst out laughing, their Shield Charms dropping. Unable to help herself, Ginny joined in and seconds later, she, Harry, and Neville were bending over in mirth. Harry caught Ginny's eye and he glanced furtively at Neville. Catching his drift, Ginny gave him a knowing grin and together, they dropped to the ground and began forming snowballs.
"Hey, what are you—" Neville began, but immediately stopped at the smirks on Ginny's and Harry's faces. His eyes widened in alarm and he straightened up, taking a few steps backwards.
"You wouldn't," Neville said disbelievingly. Ginny and Harry only smirked even wider.
"Oh no, you—"
Neville was cut off as Ginny suddenly aimed a snowball at him, hitting his arm as he threw it up to protect his head. Harry followed up with a snowball to Neville's torso and pretty soon, Neville was running away from them, screaming the words "traitors" and "betrayals". Ginny and Harry looked at each other and promptly burst out laughing.
"Well," Harry began after a while. "We should call it the HG—"
Ginny still had one snowball in her hand and the opportunity was too good to miss. She took aim, expecting that he would duck, and gasped as the snowball hit him square on the nose.
"Oops," she said sheepishly.
Harry wiped snow off his face for about the millionth time that day and narrowed his eyes at Ginny, who belatedly realized that he was holding two snowballs.
"Why you—"
"I thought you would duck!" Ginny protested as she slowly backed away, suppressing a giggle that was threatening to burst from her throat.
Harry advanced towards her and looked pointedly at the snowball in his right hand. "I haven't gotten you back, you know—"
"Harry—"
"Both for that first shot and for this one—"
"Harry, no—!"
Ginny turned on her heel and tried to run away, but Harry had already grabbed her arm. She spun, facing him, and she was suddenly aware of how close they were. Harry put his right arm around her and she felt her heart beating faster. She was vaguely aware of the fact that if she could just tiptoe and lean half an inch forward, she could kiss him. She felt the breath escape her throat and her knees were about to buckle when she felt something wet trickle down her back. At the back of her mind, she knew that it was his snowball and that it was supposed to be cold, but all she could feel was the blood boiling pleasantly in her veins and her face heating up. It was a good thing that she was already flushed from all their running around, or Harry would have known how much their closeness had affected her.
Harry stepped back, grinning mischievously and Ginny couldn't decide whether to lunge at him, melt to the ground, or die of embarrassment. She vaguely felt a snowball hitting the back of her head and the next thing she knew, she and Harry were on the ground and staring up at the triumphant faces of Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Fred and George.
"Gotcha!" Fred shouted gleefully.
Ginny wrapped her arms around herself, shivering from the cold. She was wet all over, having been on the receiving end of about a hundred snowballs from Hermione, Neville, and her brothers. Harry had also dumped a snowball down her back. The thought of that particular moment made her face heat up. She shivered involuntarily, and not because of the cold.
"I'll cast a Drying Charm when we get to the castle," said Hermione, who was walking beside her.
Harry, Ron, and Neville were walking a few steps ahead of them and Fred and George brought up the rear. The twins were singing 'Jingle Bells', their voices loud and very off-key. Ginny shook her head in amusement at her two brothers and focused on the boys walking in front of her—or rather, focused on just one boy.
Harry's clothes were as wet as Ginny's and he was loudly complaining to Neville, who had dumped a huge pile of snow on her and Harry even when they had already fallen to the ground. Neville answered cheekily, saying he only did it because of Ginny and Harry's 'betrayal'. Harry looked behind him and he caught Ginny's eye, giving her a conspiratorial grin before turning back to face front.
Ginny felt her insides flutter pleasurably at Harry's smile. She was already flushed from their snowball fight, but she felt herself going even redder. Beside her, Hermione was moaning about the quality of her Potions essay conclusion, but Ginny barely heard a word of what the other girl was saying. She stared at Harry's back, biting her lip.
There was no denying it anymore, Ginny thought as they walked up the castle's stone steps. She really did like him. Ginny felt her heart beating rapidly and erratically as the realization hit her—really hit her. She couldn't breathe. And at the same time, she felt a giddy sensation threatening to overwhelm her. She liked him.
I like him.
Ginny bit back a giggle. She was awed, surprised, nervous, excited—
She did not really know what she was feeling. All she knew was that she liked him. Harry.
Harry.
Hermione began casting drying and warming Charms on everyone as soon as they stepped into the entrance hall. Ginny barely noticed the cold seeping out of her bones or her clothes drying up. She stared at Harry, thinking that the sight of him, laughing at some joke the twins had made, was enough to keep her warm. He caught her eyes and flashed her one of his heart-melting smiles. Unable to help herself, Ginny smiled back, feeling butterflies in her stomach.
Ginny walked right behind Harry as they headed for the Great Hall. She stared unabashedly at his back. She couldn't quite keep the wide grin off her face and it was all she could do not to squeal or burst into a fit of giggles. Liking Harry just made so much sense that the realization had made her incredibly giddy. She thought that if she died right then and there, she could die happy.
About a minute later, Ginny wished she could simply die.
Harry had stopped all of sudden and Ginny, her head still buzzing, bumped right into him. She staggered backwards and was about to ask what was going on when she caught sight of Harry's face. He had stood up straighter and he had a look on his face that made her think he had just been Confunded. Curious, she turned in the direction he was staring at and immediately realized the reason for the sudden change in his demeanor.
Cho Chang and her group of friends were walking towards them. Cho passed them a moment later, giving Harry a fleeting smile before entering the Great Hall. Ginny looked at Harry, her heart sinking. He was not blushing—he was not exactly as prone to that reaction as Weasleys were—but Ginny knew. She had known all along, but Harry's reaction to Cho had reminded her. It was like being doused with ice cold water.
Harry liked Cho.
Ginny felt all the warmth escape her body.
He liked her.
Ginny wanted to crumple to the ground and scream in frustration.
Betaed by: PadfootProngs7