Hey Folks!
I aught to rename this story, "The Never-ending Tale of Ginny Weasley", because like it or not, this is NOT the last chapter. However, I have plotted out the rest of it, and there should NOT be (but really this time) more than one, final chapter. And that's it! Thanks for the lovely reviews, Natacha, Kungzoune, Seto.Kaibas.girl.89, EB, Katherine of Valois, Maerose899, Jade, Snowdragon, and Kiara- your feedback is invaluable... the act of writing is sublime, but your comments make it all that more surreal an experience- thanks again, and enjoy the next chapter!
Gnomes :o)
The month that followed was of both dreamlike and nightmarish quality, so much so that Ginny was unsure whether she wanted to go on sleeping or wake up at once. She had finally attained her goal of being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and though she'd been given the Chaser position, she wasn't going to gripe about it. After their very first practice the entire team came over to congratulate her on her superb playing. Whatever doubts she had had on deserving the spot dissolved, and left her close to tears, and very grateful indeed. Then Ryan had made his way unto the team as backup keeper (Ron was the main Gryffindor keeper- surprise, surprise), after tremendous pressure on Harry from the other players, so that she was able to play with him again, and things felt almost back to they way the had been that summer in Australia. Yet, things were not at all as they were. Not even in proximation. In Australia, there had been no Harry.
One of the worst aspects of "this mess" (as she'd come to call it) was that she could not bring herself to confront him. As far as she was directly concerned, Harry was his usual, fraternal self, eager to help her adjust to the rigorous Quidditch schedule, giving her tips on how to get Hermione to do her assignments by asking for help in a particular way...
But where Ryan was concerned, well, Ginny was convinced Harry was pursuing a vendetta against him. It was clear that he disliked Ryan very much, and that Ron perhaps in consequence also disapproved of him. As September wound along the animosity between Ryan and the two friends heightened, but upon reflection, the former was doing very little to change the attitudes of the latter. At Quidditch tryouts, Ryan showed up a little after the others, jogging into line behind the other keeper-hopefuls. Harry glared and marched over to him.
"What are you doing here, Buchanan?"
Ryan shrugged, looking at the girl beside him.
"Not sure now, what are you doing here?"
"Trying out for keeper," the girl said briskly.
Ryan turned back to Harry.
"Guess that's it."
Harry shook his head, his arms folded across his chest.
"You're only a temporary student. This position is full-time. Or were you unable to figure that part out on your own?"
Ryan pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to Harry, who reluctantly took it from him.
"Says here I'm to engage in all school activities. I take it this is a school activity?"
Harry skimmed the letter and thrust it back in Ryan's hands.
"Fine," he replied through clenched teeth. "Just don't expect to get picked. I'm bound to favour a player who can actually make it through the year."
Ginny tried making excuses for him; to herself, to Ryan. Harry was in a very stressful position...it was his first year as Quidditch captain...Voldemort had returned and wanted him dead...Ryan, after all, hadn't been very nice to him in the fire that day...
"He's jealous," Ryan muttered to her one evening, as they sat on the plushy sofa, in the common room by the fire. They were both doing homework, and Ginny had finally gotten lost in her Potions essay when Ryan's comment brought her quill to a halt.
"Jealous? Who, Harry?" she whispered, peering across the room at him and Ron.
Ryan nodded. Ginny gave him a dubious look.
"Just in case you haven't noticed, Harry's as good a seeker as you are keeper." Maybe better, she wanted to add.
"I'm not talking about Quid. I'm talking about us."
"Us?"
"Yeah, our, uh, friendship. Everybody knows we're mates, y'know."
"I know." It was part of "this mess"; girls of every age and house were saying hello to her in the hallways, offering to carry her books, and doing anything, basically, to befriend her in order to get Ryan's attention. Their efforts both greatly embarrassed and annoyed her.
"So, he's jealous," Ryan said again, irritated that he wasn't being understood. "He knows that... he sees what's going...how I..." He grabbed at his hair and pulled it in frustration, leaving it more disheveled than ever. Ginny watched him, shaking her head slightly, feeling anxious at his exasperation.
"What?" she urged him. "What is it?"
Without warning, Ryan leaned across the sofa until his face was inches from her ear.
"You know why I really came to Hogwarts, Ginny," he murmured. Their eyes met. Ryan's were relucent, full of feeling- leaving his heart, for once, in plain view. When he spoke again his voice sounded rough and a bit hoarse.
"I said I'd wait a year. The minute you left I realized I couldn't. I couldn't...be without you."
Ginny dropped her quill, her jaw falling slightly ajar. A tiny voice inside her piped up just then. You knew it all along, didn't you? You knew he came for you - to see if anything had changed since the night of the banquet. She found herself agreeing with it, but was still at a loss for an answer. Luckily, she was spared the agony because someone said then,
"You got a problem, Buchanan?"
Ginny and Ryan immediately turned in the direction of the speaker. Harry loomed above them, glowering at Ryan.
"No worries, mate," Ryan said drily, his keen resentment obvious. "Just talking with Ginny here; you do know Ginny Weasley, don't you?"
"Ryan," Ginny started uneasily.
"Forgive me," said Harry abruptly. "But by the way you were leaning over, it looked like you might be sick on her." And without waiting for a reply, Harry stalked back to his seat beside Ron, whose expression was a mix of satisfaction and discomfort.
Ginny did not know what to make of these episodes, for they were not uncommon, and for the first two months at least she could not breathe easy when the pair were in the same room. Ryan had said Harry was jealous, but she knew this couldn't be so. Harry's relationship with Cho was stronger than ever; every glance, word, smile passed between them confirmed it. Yet his behavior was so peculiar, and his attitude towards Ryan so fierce, that Ginny formed the following conclusions: either Harry was indeed jealous of Ryan - but because of his immense popularity- or he was acting the part of brother #7. Maybe it was a bit of both. But then again, what if...?
She had no time to confirm her speculations; Ryan, Quidditch, and schoolwork took up all of her time. She had taken it upon herself to be Ryan's guide around Hogwarts, and every moment in the first weeks of school that was not spent in class was dedicated to showing him the various classrooms and the various ways of getting to them, the spacious grounds (including the giant squid in the lake), Hagrid's hut (though Hagrid was hesitant to befriend Ryan, on account of Harry), the kitchens (Dobby gave them loads of food to take back with them), and on and on. They paid a visit to Moaning Myrtle (who pointedly informed Ryan of her particular preference for boys with black hair, green eyes and glasses), were harassed by Peeves, and were almost given detention by Filch when he caught Ryan showing Ginny a new broom trick in middle of the corridor (they ran and hid in a broom closet until he was safely occupied elsewhere). Ryan had been thrilled at the experience.
"Wicked! I've gotta include that in my paper!"
"Yes, well, you're not a true Hogwarts student if you haven't had a run-in with Filch," Ginny said, glancing behind her to make sure he was really gone. "But do me a favour? Don't try it again! We're both late for our next class."
"I'd rather be with you than in class," Ryan replied frankly.
Ginny the Tomato ignored the comment.
---
And so, all circumstances considered, if you left Harry out of it, things were going quite well for Ginny. The shock had slowly worn off, Hogwarts with Ryan was no longer a peculiar notion, as he gradually became a (central) part of her daily life. And everything stayed more or less the way it was, that is, until the 21st of December, when Ron got sick.
