Was this really happening? Surely not, surely it was a dream! Was I really, truly KISSING the one and only Harry James Potter? The Boy Who Lived, the boy I'd fantasised about meeting and dating my entire life?! I stamped on my foot just to make sure, and sure enough, there he was, standing in front of me as we broke apart.
"Did that really just happen?" I asked him, still not daring to believe it. I needed him to confirm it and to see and hear him doing so, just for it to really sink in.
"Yes" he said simply
Now it sunk in. Now I knew it was true. My first kiss, had been with, of all people, HARRY POTTER! I instantly knew the clout and attention I would receive for this. It was surely not only my dream. There were surely many many girls in the Wizarding World who would have given an arm and a leg to have the opportunity I was now getting. I wasn't keen on taking advantage of this though. I, like Harry, was not one to be brash and arrogant. I didn't want to have celebrity status from this. I just wanted to be my own person. Ginny Weasley, not "Harry Potter's girlfriend". But that was obviously something that I had considered previously. I'd always known that in the unlikely event that my dream came true, I'd have to deal with newfound popularity for the wrong reasons. That didn't matter though, Harry had always been the one guy I'd had a crush on, the one guy I wanted as my partner, and now that moment had arrived. I could handle all the side effects.
"So, um, are we like, a thing now?" I asked awkwardly, blushing.
"Does it even need to be said?" he replied, winking.
"You know what" I said, my confidence returning, and a huge smile breaking out across my face "I don't think it does!"
I then ran up and jumped onto his chest, wrapping my arms tightly around his torso. He was taken completely by surprise, and we fell down onto the grass, laughing our heads off!
"What a bizarre way to start a relationship!" Harry finally said once we'd calmed down.
"Hey, it's unique at least" I said
We sat up and held each others hands, and at that point, Katie stuck her head out of the changing room door.
"Hey, are you two coming in or-" then she saw us, sat down on the grass next to each other, looks of adoration on our faces. We tore our hands apart.
"Umm, have I just interrupted something?" she asked, biting her lip
"No, don't worry mate, we were just about to come in" I said
And with that, we stood up and walked inside, Katie still chewing her lip.
After changing, Harry and I went for a walk alone together around the grounds. This had a much different feeling to the previous occasion as we were now officially a couple.
"How do you think we should go about this?" Harry asked "I mean, obviously we don't want this to be made into a big deal, so we need to work out a strategy for who to tell and when"
"Hmm" I bit my lip thoughtfully "Well, look, I think we should only restrict it for now to people we know won't make a scene. For example, I have no issues with Hermione, Demelza, Amy, Andrew and Magda knowing, as they are my closest friends, who I know won't go blabbing about it if I ask them not to"
"I knew Hermione would be fine to tell, but- oh shit!" he said, a look of horror on his face!
"What?"
"Ron, Fred, George, Percy! They're all gonna fucking kill me once they find out! You're their sister!"
He collapsed onto the grass and put his head in his hands
"I'm such a fucking idiot! Why did I not think about that first!"
I bent down and pulled his hands away from his face. I knelt down so that my face was level with his.
"Are you forgetting who I am?" I said. "You know me. I can stop my brothers from doing anything if I want to"
"What if they don't listen?"
"Well, let's just say I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Fred and George may just regret their influence on me if they try to obstruct us"
Harry still didn't look convinced, but stood up nonetheless
"Let's go back to the common room. There will probably be a big party going on, we can take some trusted people away to the dormitories to tell in private, it's unlikely it'll be noticed"
Sure enough, there was a party going on, and it got wilder as soon as we entered, as we were a big reason why Gryffindor had won. Harry and I walked over to Ron, Hermione, Demelza, Amy, Magda and Andrew who were all sitting together by the fireplace.
"We need to talk" I said to the group at large
Ron opened his mouth as though he was about to speak, but Hermione shot him a fierce look, and he shut his mouth.
"Hermione, Demelza, Amy, Magda, come with me. Ron, Andrew, stay here with Harry" I said firmly, indicating there was no room for negotiation here.
I headed upstairs, the girls following me. I sat down on my bed and the 3 other girls sat down close by, then I cast spells on the door to lock it and make it impossible to hear into the room.
"I have some very important news to share with you all. I want you 4 to know first because I trust you to first of all, take it well, and secondly, not to go ratting it out to anyone"
"Ginny, don't worry, we know already" said Demelza
"Know what?"
"That you and Harry are together"
"How?"
They all laughed
"Mate, Katie told us" said Hermione "she saw how you 2 were acting after the game, the fact you 2 stayed on the pitch for several minutes before changing and went for a walk together afterwards, told her all she needed to know. You made it pretty obvious"
"So Fred and George know too?"
"Yes, but don't worry, they don't really mind. They told us they knew it was coming for ages, they'd seen the buildup, how you'd been acting over the year. George said that there was no one better for you than Harry, and that they knew perfectly well that he'd never hurt you" said Demelza. That reminded me of the joke they'd made months previously about us snogging.
"You know how to tell them apart?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise "I've never told anyone"
"Yes"
"How?"
Demelza laughed again
"Mate, Hermione's seen them on Christmas, wearing your mum's jumpers. You know, big G and F on them. Again, pretty obvious. I didn't need that to know anyway, I know George has a birthmark on his left cheek and Fred doesn't. I listened to one of their conversations, and Fred said George's name, and that confirmed that George was the one with the birthmark"
"Fair enough, that's some great attention to detail that you've got there. Anyway, what about Ron? Does he know?"
Hermione gnawed her lip
"Well, yes he does know" she said eventually "but he, well, he's not taken it quite so easily"
"What do you mean?" I replied, my hands curling into fists
"He seems to think that any boy who gets with you will harm you no matter who they are"
At that point, we heard some shouting coming from downstairs, Harry and Ron's voices no less. It seemed like the party had stopped to watch them fight.
We all rushed downstairs, and there they were, in the middle of the common room, staring each other down, with a crowd gathered in a circle around them.
"Ron, what on earth is wrong with you? You know me, I'm Harry, I'm your best mate, surely there isn't anyone better for Ginny than me!" Harry yelled
"The only good person for Ginny is nobody at all!" Ron roared back
I decided to take matters into my own hands. I marched forward and got in between the two of them, and stared directly at Ron.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley! You listen to me right now! You have absolutely no control over when or who I decide to date!" I shouted
"Oh yes I do!" he replied, pulling out his wand
Fred stepped forward
"Woah, woah Ron, put that down, what do you think you're doing with it?"
I waved Fred away
"No, no, let him, let him show his true colours for us all to see!" I said, pulling out my own wand, in case I needed to retaliate.
"You two will end this right now! yelled Ron
"Or what?!" I challenged
Then it happened. Ron raised his wand, and a split second later, I raised mine
"Blasbergeuo!" he yelled
"Chipotera!" I replied
Both our spells missed their intended targets. I ducked, then quickly looked around and saw Ron's spell smash into a vase on a shelf across the room, spraying everyone in bits of broken ceramic, one of which lodged itself straight into my right eye! I screamed in agonizing pain and collapsed, but there was just enough time to see that my Bat Bogey Hex, the first of many I would go on to cast, had hit Seamus Finnegan instead of Ron. Seamus had bats flying out of his nose in a very painful manner. The spell that Ron had intended to hit me with was one that would have grown my head to twice it's normal size.
Harry pulled me up and we started to walk towards the portrait hole.
"Hospital wing, now!" Harry said.
However, we found our path blocked by Percy, who had gotten back from his Head Boy Patrols.
"What-what did I miss?" he said.