Trigger warnings:
• Sexism
• Schizophrenia-like symptoms
...
The party was in full swing by the time she made it back to the common room. Apparently Ron and Harry had made up as they were chatting happily in the centre of the room. A few minutes in Harry spotted her and extricated himself from his friends.
He pulled her into a hug and she stiffened at the surprising contact before relaxing.
"You're a lifesaver" he whispered "Not just for the visit beforehand but that fireproofing spell saved my broom. It would have caught alight and I would have been doomed if it weren't for you".
"No problem" she smiled as he let her go, fighting a blush rising in her cheeks. Maybe she wasn't completely over the Boy-Who-Lived thing, she still couldn't believe that she saved him. Little Ginny Weasley saved the fucking Boy-Who-Lived, who would have thought?
She ignored Tom's scoff.
Ron, seemingly wanting the attention back, started chanting for Harry to open the egg. Soon the whole common room was chanting along and Harry quickly succumbed.
Instead of a clue, there was an unholy screeching that made her ears feel like they were bleeding. She clamped her hands over them and waited for it to stop. Others in the common room looked to be in equal pain and cheered again when the egg was closed amongst varied exclamations of "what the fuck". The suggestions ranged from banshees to Percy – her older brother – singing in the shower. None were particularly helpful and the party continued.
Later that night, in the privacy of her bed, Ginny unfolded the note from Charlie.
Snape can be trusted. He can use legilimancy to see your memories (like Bill)
Of course he could. Ginny thought. He seemed like the type.
He doesn't get along with Moody and will investigate. Don't let yourself be alone with Moody. We'll speak to Sirius and he'll keep an eye out too when visiting.
Love you.
Mulling Charlie's words over she put a plan in place. The best way to avoid listening ears would be to not say anything at all...
...
To the bottom of her next potions assignment, she added a slip of parchment telling the Professor to use Legilimancy on her in the next lesson. If Snape noticed anything different about her assignment when she handed it in he showed no sign. She moved along allowing the next student to turn theirs in and hoped it would work.
In the next class she was adding some stewed slugs to her cauldron when she felt a prod in her mind. It almost felt like an impatient tap. She raised her eyes to meet Snape's, just to be sure, and once confirming allowed him through. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly in surprise. She guessed he wasn't expecting so much control from her.
She stopped pondering the reaction of the potions master and pulled him into the memory of the defence class when she was held behind. Ginny felt rather awkward showing him the full memory so opted for snippets. The way his eyes had lingered on her, how he had separated her from her friends, how he had cornered her and told her to take off her shirt. She took care not to show much of her inner memories, of the fight against the imperious. It was sometimes better to hide your strengths until they were needed.
She ended the series of memories with a last one of her writing s note over and over again. She had later thrown it in the fire and watched it curl into ashes. Not knowing how good legilimancy was at reading through memories she had opted for a simple statement.
Dangerous. Not to be trusted. Help.
She played the memory until Snape broke the contact. Just in time for her to add the next ingredient, porcupine spines. He said nothing.
Ginny kept checking the map frequently and found Crouch and Moody continuing to spend time together. It was certainly odd. Perhaps they were in a relationship though she couldn't imagine either of them expressing any form of affection.
Harry soon asked for the map back. Ginny really didn't want to give it back but it was one of his only remnants of his parents . Though, she did ask him about the duplication of Crouch's name that she thought she had saw. He said the map hadn't ever made that kind of error so perhaps she mis-saw things in the crowd? She agreed, though something still didn't quite sit right with her. She told him that something about Crouch and Moody felt off and to stay away from them if possible. Harry gave her a searching glace but agreed.
...
Shortly after the first task the castle was gripped with news of the Yule Ball. Everyone in fourth year and above were gossiping endlessly about the dance and potential partners. Harry had learned that he was expected to open the dance with his partner and was horrified. He hadn't had much luck finding a date since either. His first choice, Cho Chang a very attractive Quidditch player with sleek Asian features, was nabbed by Cedric. Ginny commiserated his loss with him.
Hermione, however, looked rather smug. Though this quickly turned to anger when Ron publicly exclaimed that she was a girl, having previously failed to notice this very obvious fact, and could go with him. He only worsened the situation when Hermione explained, with a very understandable huff, that she already had a date. Ron actually laughed – the dick. Hermione was quite upset with the idiot and stormed off. Ginny didn't blame her in the slightest.
Ginny wasted no time telling him that he was a fucking dick. Instead of being chastised though, the most moronic of her brothers, instead decided to try and set her up with Harry. It was rather awkward. After all, Harry really did have his heart set on Cho and saw her as more of a little sister than a dance partner. On Ginny's side, she had already accepted a date with Neville, a lovely shy boy in Ron's year. She told them she also already had a date and walked off before Ron could interrogate her about her choice. A good decision really considering he was already going red at the thought of his little sister having secured a date. She didn't wish for poor Neville to be targeted by an angry older brother.
Neville had asked her one day when she had been walking down to the lake to meet Colin and Luna. He had rushed out of the greenhouse after spotting her, still wearing his dragonhide gloves with some earth smudged on his cheek. He was slightly flushed.
She stopped in question. They had started greeting one another since the start of the year. She had initiated it when she noticed that he was a little out of place among the boys in his year. He seemed sweet enough and although she had thought it would be nice for him to be included in Harry and Ron's adventures, it was probably best for the shy boy that he wasn't. He had helped her a couple of times in the library to find the correct book she needed for one herbology assignment or another and even knew the exact pages to look at.
He stumbled over his invitation but he was harmless. Ginny thought it would be quite nice to attend with him. She wouldn't be able to go otherwise and if anyone was going to act like a gentleman it would be Neville. She had explained that she would be attending with him as friends, she didn't want him to get the wrong impression, and he had happily agreed.
Harry and Ron eventually managed to get the Patil twins to agree to come kind of double date. Apparently Ron had completely embarrassed himself shouting after Fleur to go with him in the middle of the Great Hall. She was rather glad to have missed the spectacle.
Neither Colin or Luna had dates and since they were third years they wouldn't be allowed to attend. Luna said they would have a picnic on the astronomy tower instead which sounded quite nice.
...
On the night of the event her dormmates looked as though they were going to pepper her with questions until she told them to fuck off and let her get ready in peace. Neither of them were able to attend. They had huffed and hid themselves behind their bed curtains whispering furiously. Ginny prodded and poked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She didn't look too bad she supposed. Her very Gryffindor themed dress fitted her quite well and flowed beneath her waist. Her hair was tied gently at the top allowing the bottom to cascade freely down her shoulders.
Neville met her in the common room and looked rather nice. His robes had Earth coloured trimmings which suited him down to a tee. He stuttered that she looked very pretty and she told him that he looked good too. Ginny hated heels so stood quite a bit shorter than the older boy in her flats despite him not quite reaching his own growth spurt yet. Colin winked at her as she left and she threw him an eye roll in return.
Ron looked as though he was going to have a fit when he saw her arm I arm with Neville and even Harry raised his eyebrows. She pre-emptively cast a silencing charm on her brother, not wanting to deal with his rubbish.
"If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it" she commented.
Her charm came in handy when Ron turned at violent red at seeing Hermione accompanied by none other than Victor Krum. She looked rather breath-taking in Ginny's opinion. One shared by all the bystanders who were looking at the transformed bookworm with open mouths.
Dancing with Neville was actually quite fun. He stepped on her toes a few times out of nerves at the start but soon settled into it. He appeared to have had some lessons growing up as led her through a variety of steps without hesitation. She was glad to follow his lead, having never danced before.
His nerves returned at dinner during which Percy attended and gave her a polite hug before informing her that Crouch was ill and he was standing in for him. Percy was soon shuffled off to speak to someone else and a small silence lapsed between the two. They had barely spoken before this point and she wasn't entirely sure what to say. She soon found Herbology to be a safe topic which soon got him talking about his greenhouse at home and, shortly after that, his homelife – which was less than ideal.
He was funny and charming, and rather sweet. He asked her questions too and soon she was spilling stories about her own childhood. He never judged anything she said and it took her a moment to realise that she was being Conlin and Luna honest with him, rather than the usual closed-off persona she presented to other people.
They danced more after dinner enjoying each other's presence. Ginny rested her head on his chest during a particularly slow song. Thankfully Ron was far too busy scowling at Krum to notice when Neville placed a small peck on the top of her head. Her heart thudded in surprise and she felt a strange, but not unpleasant, fluttering in her stomach.
They danced until closing time barely noticing the ache in their feet. It was with some reluctance that they left but Ginny wasn't quite ready to end the night. She guided him through twisted hidden passageways towards the tower and stopped in an alcove.
...
"I had a great evening, Neville. Thank you for taking me".
Neville blushed in response. His blue eyes standing out against his red cheeks. Before she even registered what she was doing she stood on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss to his lips. He made no verbal response but put his hand on the small of her back and pulled her in closer.
Her eyes snapped open when she registered what was happening. The feeling in her stomach was back and her mind was almost dizzy with her thoughts. She was gay. What the actual fuck.
Neville pulled away and gave her a small smile, looking rather nervous. She blinked stupidly, head still reeling.
"I thought I was gay" she blurted.
Neville burst into peals of laughter, nerves vanished. Seemingly noticing that she hadn't said anything, and still looked rather like she'd been hit with a broomstick, he told her that she could like both.
Ginny had to stop herself from banging her head against the wall in embarrassment.
"Of course I bloody do. That's going to be great fun when the hormones continue to kick in!" She spluttered only succeeding in settling Neville off on another round of laughter.
"Oh Bill and Charlie are going to be insufferable. They tease me enough about my crushes as it is. Yet alone when there is literally double the people for them to pick from!".
Neville, rather unhelpfully in her opinion, continued to laugh.
"I don't know why you're laughing. This is a major dilemma Mr Longbottom" she mock snarled as she sunk to the floor.
Neville chuckled and followed her to the floor wrapping his arm around her.
"I like both too".
Ginny snapped her head towards him.
"Are you fucking serious? Does it get less confusing? Because I swear I won't have any time left if I'm eyeing up boys as well!".
"It helps once you get a better idea of what you like. The rest you start to tune out".
"Oh yeah, so what's your type Mr Knowledgeable?" She asked.
"Well, pretty red-haired girls for one." He cleared his throat "And, um, tall, muscular dark haired guys" he mumbled.
"I'm all out of those, I'm afraid" she quipped eliciting a chuckle back.
"Anyway, can we keep this between us for now, please? At least while I figure things out?".
"Of course" Neville agreed easily "I haven't told anyone I like boys. I thought it might be a bit awkward with the dorm...".
Ginny gave him an enquiring look.
"Plus I'm not really that close to any of them, you know? Dean Seamus are inseparable and usually off doing their own thing and the Golden Trio is kind of an exclusive club". He laughed without much humour "especially as Ron and Harry seem to have made up".
"Well, you're always welcome to hang out with me, Lu and Col".
Neville smiled warmly "Thanks, Ginny".
"My close friends call me Gin".
"Gin" he repeated, bumping her gently with his shoulder.
A few minutes of silence passed between them.
"So, umm... what are we going to do about this?" Ginny asked, gesturing awkwardly between the two of them.
"Let's just keep it between us for now and see how it goes?".
Ginny breathed out a sigh of relief. "Great! I mean, not that I'm ashamed of you or anything but...".
Neville laughed and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her forehead.
"I think we both need time to work things out. I also don't quite fancy an interrogation from your brothers just yet".
"Oh Merlin they are going to be unbearable" she whined, leaning dramatically into Neville.
...
It was well past curfew by the time they dragged themselves up from the floor and headed to the common room. It was mostly empty save for a few older students who weren't quite ready to finish their dates happily chatting by the fire, and two-thirds of the Golden Trio. Ron was waiting impatiently off to the side glaring at the portrait hole as she entered. Harry just looked rather awkward but was clearly staying out of some sort of commitment to Ron.
As soon as her feet hit the plush red carpet she was accosted by her older brother.
"And where do you think you've been?".
"Excuse me?" Ginny replied injecting her voice with a bit of heat as warning.
Ron's eyes narrowed as Neville entered behind her before turning an impressive shade of red.
"Longbottom!" He spluttered. "How dare you! That's my little sister!" He growled taking a step closer.
Ginny closed the gap before him standing between the two of them.
"The company I keep is none of your fucking business Ron!". She jabbed her finger at his chest. "Besides, we were just talking".
Ron scoffed. "Likely story".
"Neville was telling me about a new plant he read about".
"Gillyweed" Neville supplied without missing a beat "lets you breath underwater".
Ron sagged in relief.
"Goodnight, Neville" she said and the boy took his cue to leave. "Goodnight, Harry" she added.
Harry looked rather hesitant to leave a rather clueless Ron but seemed to think better of staying. She was glad he made the right choice.
Once the two were safely out of harm's way she stepped closer to her brother.
"But let me get this straight right now, Ronald. My love life is of no fucking concern to you.".
"It concerns me if you make yourself look like some kind of Scarlett Woman. Really coming in so late with a boy – you have to understand how that looks!".
It was Ginny's turn to scoff. "Scarlett Woman? This isn't the fucking fifties. Let me repeat myself: You. Have. No. Say. I could be dating Harry and it would be none of your business. I could be fucking half of Hogwarts and it would be none of your business".
Ron looked absolutely scandalised and glanced around the common room in embarrassment.
"Oh grow up!" She rolled her eyes as he half whispered-half shouted "You're embarrassing us! People are going to think that you're... doing that with everyone now!".
"You're a child, Ron" this time she spoke with icy calm "but if you dare comment on my dating in the future, or dare to question anyone you think I am dating, I will hex you. Bill taught me some lovely little curses that will make it so that, should you ever manage to convince someone to date you, you won't exactly work as you should... shall we say?" She gave a pointed nod to his lower regions.
She wasn't bluffing either. Though Akila had parted with her fair share of spells too. Even Mike had a couple of good ones to pass on...
Without waiting for a response, from a rather pale Ron, she stormed towards the stairs. Bumping into the twins along the way who had been skulking in the corner. Fred waggled his eyebrows and she muttered that the same applied to them. She ignored their mock salutes as she began the climb.
...
Ron seemed to avoid her the next day much to her enjoyment and the confusion of Colin. Harry also seemed rather awkward, though perhaps that was due to the undeniable complaining session Ron had put him through. Breakfast was rather pleasant with his presence. He was seated much further up the table than usual. She shared a small smile with Neville as she helped herself to some toast.
Unfortunately, Rita Skeeter's latest article rather ruined the atmosphere. The bitch had outed Hagrid as a half-giant. Ginny didn't care about his blood but a lot of the castle seemed to be a mixture of apprehensive, shocked and outraged. She felt her blood boil. Her previous article had been amusing, an expose on the disagreements between Sirius and Dumbledore regarding the Boy-Hero and Dumbledore deserved everything he got in her opinion. But poor, sweet Hagrid was innocent.
Ginny, Luna and Colin trudged through the snow and pounded at his door but they received no response. Perhaps the Golden Trio would have better luck. Instead they secluded themselves in the library looking up elaborate ways to get back at the reporter.
The next few weeks were met with a sense of stillness scattered with bursts of excitement. Ginny continued to meet up with Neville, often in the seclusion of the greenhouses where they talked, or kissed, or both. Ginny found something comforting about his presence. She learned about his bitch of a Grandmother, or 'Gran' as Neville called her, and the unfortunate fate of his parents. It was nice listening to someone else's problems for once. Luna and Colin were great but she did feel a bit like the resident disaster with them. Not through their fault at all, but relatively speaking their experiences felt more calm. Neville had the same sense of displacement with his family that she found comfort with.
As February approached, Ginny borrowed Harry's map more and more frequently. Moody was his usual self in lessons, and Crouch was still visiting him, so what in Merlin's name was Snape doing about it? It appeared that he had done nothing so far and she was getting rather frustrated.
Once night, she followed Harry's dot as he snuck out of the dorm, presumably to work on the egg. The second task was rapidly approaching and he seemed rather panicked. The fool had also told Hermione ages ago that he had it all figured out so couldn't even ask her for help. Ginny had offered a couple of times but the boy was stubborn. She wasn't sure how the prefects bathroom would help him solve the egg but each to their own.
While he was out she perused the map spotting a few couples in broom closets and... Mr Crouch in Snape's office? Perhaps he was confronting him before going after Moody, who was in his office – as usual. She wondered how he got away with not completing rounds at night. She swore he was the only one who never had to patrol the castle. Maybe he got away with it on medical grounds because of his leg?
Finally, Harry crept out of the prefects bathroom and was nearly cornered by Snape. She was thankful that Harry had that wonderful cloak, Snape was quite the dick to him. The two were then joined by Mr Crouch who had finished whatever he was doing in Snape's office and had re-joined the man in the corridor. Filch also joined in the fun for a few minutes before skulking off. For some reason, Snape left the two alone and Harry was escorted back to the common room by Crouch.
Ginny rushed downstairs, map in hand, to meet him and ask what happened. Surely Crouch couldn't see him through the cloak and there was no reason to take it off. So how did he get caught?
"Harry! What happened? How did you get caught?".
"I fell through a trick step" he grimaced "and dropped the egg which drew everyone's attention".
Ginny rolled her eyes. Honestly, Harry was a bit of a disaster waiting to happen at times. "But why weren't you wearing your cloak?".
"Moody's eye can see straight through it and he asked to borrow it. Couldn't exactly say no after he didn't hand me into Snape...".
"Moody?" Ginny said alarmed, checking the map.
Harry joined her in looking.
"Look" Ginny pointed at the retreating figure "It says Crouch, not Moody".
"But it was Moody" Harry insisted. "Crouch wasn't anywhere near us. Why would he be in the castle anyway?".
"Can the map be fooled?".
"I don't think so... It showed Peter when he was a rat and he didn't want to be found".
"Fuck".
"What?".
"Something weird is going on. Mr Crouch is "sick" but also visiting Moody a lot and now he's impersonating him too? What are they doing?".
"But why?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, Harry, but they can't be trusted. Trust me on this. Don't ever be alone with him again".
Harry's brow furrowed, seemingly piecing something together.
"What did he do?" He asked hesitantly.
"Just promise me, Harry, and warn Ron and Hermione too".
...
Ginny entered he next potions lesson with a plan. She needed to speak with Snape face to face and there was no better way to do it than with detention.
She masterfully exploded her cauldron and to her glee, and a bit of trepidation at Snape's livid glare, was assigned a detention that very evening.
Snape cast a number of enchantments as soon as she entered his classroom hours later.
"Now what is so important that you felt the need to blow up a perfectly good cauldron, Miss Weasley?" He drawled.
"It was Crouch who broke into your office, disguised as Moody".
"How do you know this?".
"That doesn't matter. But something is going on and I need to know what you're doing about it. The Moody Dad told me about wouldn't let anyone impersonate him and he wouldn't... well, he wouldn't act as he is doing now that's for sure".
Snape sighed "Potter must have his Father's blasted map... God knows how. It was confiscated before his little band left Hogwarts. But that's beside the point. I have spoken to the Headmaster and he didn't wish for me to... interfere at this point".
"That's bullshit!" Ginny snarled.
Snape raised a single eyebrow.
"Language, Miss Weasley".
"Oh, fuck my language. You know this isn't right. He could hurt someone, properly. He could have already done so!" She ran her hands through her hair almost frantically.
"Please, Sir. Don't make me fight this on my own" she said, voice cracking.
Snape took a deep breath.
"You're a child, you have no need to fight anything".
Ginny fixed her eyes on his.
"No, I should have no need to fight anything but that doesn't mean I don't have to". Ginny squeezed her eyes shut.
"I am afraid" she grit out. "I wouldn't come to you if I wasn't. I wouldn't come to you if I didn't think it were better to seek help. But I have fought against darkness before and I will do it again if I have to".
Sape surveyed her for a moment.
"Very well. There is no need for the melodrama, Miss Weasley. I will think of something".
Ginny let the wave of relief wash over her. She swiped at her eyes. When had she started crying?
"Now for your detention...".
Ginny snapped her head back up. She didn't seriously think she would be given an actual detention.
"I'll be teaching you how to brew an advanced healing balm. I expect your full attention".
Hours later, exhausted, Ginny trudged her way up to the dorms. Snape was a hard taskmaster but she couldn't deny that the OWL-level potion she had just been taught was useful.
...
Aaaah, sorry it's been so long. I swear my life this year is just one chaotic event after another. I hope it was worth the wait! I wonder if you were just as surprised as I was with the turn this has taken. I didn't expect Ginny and Neville either. Just to re-iterate Ginny will likely have several relationships throughout this story – just as she did in canon so don't count anyone else out just yet!
I wish I could be a bit more regular with my posting but unfortunately, I'm not in a place in my life at the moment where I can stick to that. I hope you don't mind too much.
Cross-posted on Ao3 under the same username.
Next chapter: The Second Task
Hope you all have a good spooky month if I don't post before Halloween! Take care and stay safe
~ Fiona