AN- Prompt coming from Iwik- a meet-cute occurring for our favorite couple due to Ginny's fear of snakes. (Actual snakes, pull your mind out of the gutter!)
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Cobras, Boas and Anacondas
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He stood leaning against the tree on the sidewalk, taking a sip of his coffee and watching how long it was going to take this one to cave and run off.
She'd been bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath for the full five minutes he'd been patiently waiting; who knows how long she'd been there before he arrived early for his work.
It was crazy how often this happened, and he didn't understand why these people with phobias would opt to come here of all places when it was clear that they were just starting into trying to get over their fear of snakes. They should be starting with garter snakes or something. There were therapists and such that would have them start out just getting near to one snake.
Coming to a snake sanctuary like this was a terrible idea.
And yet, at least once a week he would arrive to work, early like usual, to find someone hyperventilating into a paper bag.
There was only a few minutes left before he would officially be late and he couldn't stand here watching this poor girl fight dry heaving for much longer.
Harry finished his take-away coffee and tossed it in the bin as he walked over to her.
"You might want to bring a friend the next time you come here," he told her.
She raked her fingers through her hair as she looked up at him, clearly startled by his presence.
He'd place her at around his age. She was wearing those popular Muggle exercise clothes, but he noticed that there wasn't any bulge in her skin tight running trousers that would hold a cell phone or an MP3 device. Any Muggle would most certainly be carrying either one or the other.
"Didn't want to bother them with this," she replied.
"Please tell me this isn't your first attempt."
She shook her head. "We've got little snakes around my mum and dad's place. They're out in the country. I'm fine with them. It's just-" concern broke out on her face as she looked at one of the posters outside the entrance that showed the Cobras, Boas and Anacondas that were held in captivity inside.
"Just the larger one's you've a problem with," he finished her sentence.
"The one's with venom more than anything else."
He nodded in understanding; it made a lot more sense to him now why she'd come here. "They only spray it if they're defending themselves."
She shook her head again and leaned back over so her face was parallel with the pavement. "I had a bad experience when I was a teenager and trust me, it was the snake that was on the offensive."
"They wouldn't-" he started.
"This one would," she bit back.
He was sure that a great many people would think that snakes were simply slithering around looking for someone to attack, so he rolled his eyes. "And did you know this snake well then? Was it a friends pet?" He wasn't being very nice to her about it, but he hated when people jumped to the conclusion that snakes were evil.
Her breathing grew a little louder and it sounded like the dry heaving was only moments away. "Fuck. You," she gasped between heavy breaths.
He pursed his lips and turned on the spot to head inside, leaving her there.
The next day she was there again, in different exercise clothes this time, still bent over and nearly shaking with fright. He didn't stop to watch her this time, nor did he feel the urge to talk with her properly. He just walked passed her and pulled the keys from his pockets to let himself into the building.
"You're closer to the door this time," he chirped at her as he pulled the door open.
"Fuck you," she bit at him again.
For five days straight, that was their routine; he'd arrive for work, she'd be there bent over, he'd say 'hello', not using that word though, and she'd respond with a 'fuck you', in a tone that got more musical with each passing day.
After his two days off, he returned to the start of his new work week, and there she still was.
Harry let out a sigh that had his shoulders sagging when he saw her there again and was now resolved to sit on the sidewalk beside her and drink his morning coffee, maybe find out why she was so resolved to battle this fear.
"This is getting a tad ridiculous you know?" He sat with his back against the building and his legs stretched out in front of him, a full foot between them.
"Oh good, it's you again."
At least she wasn't gasping for breath this time.
"Are you really trying to work up the courage to come inside the building? Surely with you being camped out outside of it for a week straight you're comfortable enough not to be scared of the brickwork."
She turned her head toward him and glared.
"Yeah, yeah," he stopped her before she could say it, "'fuck you', I know." He took a sip of his coffee and looked out at the morning hustle of everyone else going about their day. "How is it that you can be here every morning? Do you go to jog past and then stop here for a half hour of breathing exercises before getting on to a job of some sort?"
"You've got the jogging part right."
"Figured as much by the clothes."
She ignored that interjection. "I start work at ten. And I'll likely still be doing this in a months time, then you'll never have to see me again."
He caught the whitening of her knuckles when she mentioned her time frame, she had clutched the material of her joggers at her knees when she said it.
"What happens in a month?"
"I," she swallowed and her arms started shaking, "I have to go to Australia."
"Oh," he said slowly and nodded.
As the home to the highest number of deadly snakes in the world, it would be understandable how someone with a fear of snakes might be struggling with this.
"You know, there are only an average of two people a year that die from snake bites in Australia. And it will be Australian winter when you go, so some of them will be in hibernation."
"You are not as comforting as you seem to believe you are."
"I'm plenty comforting," he said in mock defense. "I've just got a special way with snakes, so they don't bother me at all."
"If I ever get to the point of being able to actually see a live one every day, I'd probably be okay with them too. As it stands, I don't think I'm getting any closer than I already am to that bloody door."
"Would it help if you were blindfolded and brought in?"
"No."
"But you wouldn't know if you were actually going in there."
"I would recognize the heart attack I'll have once the blindfold is off though."
"Fair point."
He took another sip of his coffee and continued sitting there. He still had ten minutes before he had to go in.
"You know, once you go inside there are several hallways and such before you actually get to the live displays. First you need to get passed the docent, then there are the rooms on the history of the animals and their life cycles and such, then you get to the actual animals themselves. Do you think knowing that might help you get inside the door?"
For the first time since he'd first lain eyes on her, she straightened her back and stood up. "Really?"
"Really. We keep the good stuff, or in your case, bad stuff, at the end. Well, I mean, there are pictures of them. Are you okay with drawings of them?"
"Yes."
He stood up as well and dusted off the seat of his trousers. "Then feel comfort in knowing that bit at least."
"That actually is comforting. Maybe lead with that when it comes to the next person you see hyperventilating out here."
He shrugged. "I'm not a therapist."
"No, you're a snake charmer."
"At least I'm a charmer in one regard or the other."
"So far as I've seen, it's just the one regard."
"Well, how would you know, you're always hunched over when I see you."
"You're a prick."
"Well, will you look at that, our relationship has progressed from you saying 'fuck you' as a farewell to calling me a prick. By the time you get inside the building I'll have you swooning."
He caught her small uptick at the corner of her mouth as she tried not to smile.
"Fainting and swooning are two different things, just so you're aware."
"Sure they are." He gave her a cheeky wink and headed for the door, not daring to look back and see the glare she was likely giving him.
The next day when he showed up early for work again he stopped in his tracks when he found her not only not bent over against the wall, but standing in front of one of the posters, very near the door. The sight of her there was surprising for more than that reason; she was also not wearing exercise clothes today, but a summer dress; a very flattering summer dress too.
He'd noticed she was attractive before, she just hadn't been such a striking sight until now though, she'd always had a layer of sweat on her and been trembling. Now, here she was standing perfectly upright with her hair down and brushed, no sign of a tremor running through her at all.
He came to stand beside her and pretended to be thoughtfully staring at the poster as well. "You look like you've decided today's the day."
She turned her whole body to him then and he mirrored her stance. There was still a look of fear in her eyes, but it was slightly overpowered by the look of determination. "Do you swear that there are no live snakes that I will see if I walk in through this door?"
"There are none."
"And there won't be anyone walking around with one draped over their shoulders or anything either?"
"No."
"Promise me."
"I promise you."
She glanced at the door, then back to him. "Is there any way I could walk in there with you and stand just inside the door?"
He thought over it for a moment, sure that his colleagues would be fine with it, but thinking over any rules that might be broken if he allowed it. She likely wouldn't make it more than a few steps in.
"Yes," he said finally. Then he offered her his hand and she took it. "Do you want me to distract you with conversation?"
"Yes," she answered immediately, "but nothing about what I'm about to see."
"Okay." Her hand was warm in his, a little clammy too. "What is happening in Australia?"
"My brother's wedding. I'm in the wedding party, so I have to go."
"Okay." They had reached the door and he got his key out to unlock it for them. "And why didn't you go for a run this morning?" he asked as he led her inside.
"I… I don't… have… work today," she got out through shaky breaths.
He locked the door again, checking her overall manner as the lock clicked shut to make sure she didn't feel like he was trapping her inside a building full of her biggest fears.
"And what do you do for a living?"
"I'm on a sports team."
Interesting, he thought, considering she didn't say what kind of sport. "What do you play?"
"Oh, I'm a… er, offence on a football team."
She was lying, and poorly.
"Really? Which team?"
"Er… Arsenal."
An all male team. She hadn't thought that through.
"I might have believed you if you said you were a cheerleader for Arsenal, but a female player would have got them a lot of press."
"That's what I meant," she said quickly. "I'm an, er, offensive cheerleader."
"Ah, so you start off the crude chants then, do you?"
She now looked much more worried about being caught up in her lie than she did about being stuck in a building full of snakes.
He felt bad for her and decided it was time to show her mercy with the use of a single word. "Quidditch."
She sagged with relief. "Yes, Quidditch. Thank Merlin. I had no idea you were a wizard. I'm a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies."
"Wow, I'm impressed."
"Don't be, I haven't had any proper playing time during a game yet."
"Maybe you should try out for a football team then," he teased. "Everyone gets a turn during a football game."
"No thanks," she deadpanned.
"If you're terrified of snakes, why don't you just use a spell to repel them? I know the charm, if you're interested."
"I know the charm too, but it has to be reapplied every so often and I'm worried about when I'm sleeping as well."
"Fair enough. Out of curiosity, and now that we're on the subject, what kind of snake was it that you encountered that's terrified you?"
"A Basilisk."
His mind went blank for a moment as his jaw dropped and he tried to absorb that information.
He'd heard the story about the Basilisk that had been found at Hogwarts, and of the girl that had been discovered unconscious by it, but not dead or petrified, before the groundskeeper had let loose a rooster on the beast. For her to have come around and found a fifty-foot snake dead beside her, and know that any slight change in her circumstance would have lead to her death, it was no wonder she was terrified.
He remembered the story, but he couldn't for the life of him remember her name.
"You're her? The girl from Hogwarts that was, well, was nearly."
"Yep. That's me," she frowned as she looked around at the art that had been painted on the walls of a canopy of trees.
"Would it help you at all to know that I'm a Parselmouth?"
She turned to regard him sharply. "Are you really?!"
Harry nodded. "It's how I got into caring for snakes. They don't have much to say, but they listen to me and tell me when they want something changed in their homes that's bothering them."
"So, do you run this facility? Why not do that in our world instead of the Muggle one?"
He blushed a bit at the question. "There's some prejudice in the Magical world. Here, they just think I've got a great knack for it. I've been sent letters from renowned zoologists from all sorts of places to help with their injured or sickly snakes and been flown all about to assist them. I wouldn't get that kind of treatment in the Magical world."
"That makes sense. But, does the Ministry know? Do they give you a hard time about it?"
"I'm not breaking any laws," he told her harshly.
"I never said you were," she told him in kind.
Silence hung heavy between them as they now sized each other up. She appeared offended that he would even consider she might hand this information over to the Ministry. He had the impression that she had been simply curious, and not at all looking to turn him in.
"What's your name?" he asked finally. It had been over a week since they'd started talking outside, it was time they traded names.
"Ginny."
"Harry."
They were in too deep now to shake hands at the exchange of their names, so they just nodded at each other and she turned her attention back to the art around them.
"Think you'll make it any farther in than this today?"
"I don't know." She glanced back at the door to outside. "Shouldn't I wait until you're properly open at least?"
"If you'd like." In reality, the answer was yes, but he didn't think the others would have a problem with this. She'd been a topic of conversation in the break room, they'd all seen her hyperventilating outside.
"I just don't know if I'll be able to walk back in here by myself."
"Did you want to come with me to my office?" He had no idea why he just made the offer, he felt like he needed to offer something though.
Her brow furrowed slightly. "To what end?"
"I've no idea," he admitted.
She shook her head, the whisper of a smile on her lips. "I think I'll just stay here, if that's alright. I'll stay until the rest of the workers show up and pay the docent. I've got my whole day cleared, so I'm determined to get as close to the blasted things as possible."
"Okay. Just, when the others arrive, let them know that I let you in and I know you're here."
Ginny nodded, and he headed off, leaving her there standing sentient by the door.
He did his morning rounds, checking in on all the snakes and feeding them, double checking the times of school groups that were coming through, making sure that he still had enough yogurt for the rest of the week in the fridge, his usual bit. Then the others started coming in, each one of them taking their turn to let him know that Ginny was standing in the entrance, looking less terrified than she had every other time they'd seen her in the past week when she'd been outside in her exercise clothes.
By the next time Harry saw her she'd made it up to the desk and was talking to Shirley, the docent, as he went to unlock the doors.
It wasn't a very busy place first thing in the morning, not like it would be if they were a full sized zoo, so there was no rush of patrons coming in; he simply unlocked the doors and went to visit with Shirley.
"You've made it seven more steps inside," he commented to Ginny. "Have you been able to read any of the literature on the walls yet?"
"Don't rush her!" Shirley defended with a gentle scold. She was a woman in her late sixties that had taken up the job as a retirement gig. "You're very brave today, dear." She patted Ginny's hand. "How would you like it if I went around with you?"
Ginny cast a look at him, was this her way of asking him to go around with her?
"I'll do it," he offered. "And I promise, we won't get too near the live ones, alright?"
She bit her lip and nodded, going noticeably a shade whiter.
He walked back around the desk and intentionally to the location furthest away from the live exhibit. "We'll start over here, yeah?"
She followed along beside him and looking at the writing on the walls, the information about the Anaconda, but he could tell she wasn't actually reading any of it.
"None of the ones here are actually poisonous, are they?"
"Some are, but they are behind very thick glass that they've no interest in breaking."
Her head turned towards him and she smiled gratefully. "Do you think it's unreasonable of me to be this frightened of them?"
"After what you've been through? No. Not at all. If I'd have been in your situation, even with my ability to communicate with them, I can't say I'd be very keen on them either."
An involuntary shudder went through her. "I've had nightmares about it ever since."
"I heard that it was over fifty feet long, that must have meant it was centuries old."
"So I've been told," she responded unenthusiastically.
They moved one section over and she pretended to read the next text, meanwhile he was wondering what had been done with the body of the Basilisk. It must have been harvested, that beast may have been the last of its kind left on earth, so the ingredients that could have been pulled from it would have been worth a fortune. There were potions that required Basilisk blood or venom that hadn't been made in centuries because no one had been able to procure them.
He was honest with her about how it might have affected him to have been in her situation, but he did have the advantage of being able to talk to the beast, so even if it meant he had to walk around with his eyes closed, he wasn't sure he'd pass on the opportunity to talk to a Basilisk if the opportunity ever presented itself.
Odds were that he wouldn't be able to help himself sneaking a peek at it though, then he'd be done for.
"It's amazing that you didn't die," he said quietly.
"It's amazing that people had only been petrified up until that point."
"I read about that after the fact. How your Headmaster managed to keep it out of the papers until after the beast had been dealt with was incredible in itself."
"And he still managed to keep a lot of the story under wraps after that too." Her tone was very morose as she said that, yet he had no idea what she meant by it.
A few steps at a time they made their way around the room and Ginny seemed to have lost herself eventually in the information before her.
"So," she started after several minutes of silence, and once they were very close to the entrance to the next room, "this says if you stand completely still, a snake might not even realize that you're a person, not a tree."
"That's true. They've got terrible eyesight. Most of them can't see color either. You may as well be a rock to them. And they do like to be left alone as well."
Ginny turned to face him head on then and he mirrored her, quirking an eyebrow in question.
"Will you take my hand and lead me in to see them?"
"What?" She can't have meant that.
"I'm not going to make it in there to see them on my own. I know I said that I'd faint if someone blindfolded me and took me into a room with snakes, but it's now or never, and never isn't really an option."
"You're sure?"
She held out her hand for him to take.
"Alright then," he said, taking her hand, and she shut her eyes. "Do you want me to lie to you? Say we're going back outside instead?"
"No, just take me into the room with them. Maybe you can describe what I'm going to be seeing without mentioning the snakes?"
"Okay." He led her gently into the next room. "The room we're going through now doesn't have any snakes either. It has more information on how they care for themselves and depictions of the climates they live in." He double checked that her eyes were still closed as he guided her into the next room, they had to go through large plastic flaps that hung down from the doorway to keep the temperature in check. "Now we're in a room with terrariums. It's a bit dark in here. Each of the terrariums has a different climate type set up in them. They're really large too. You might think of them like aquariums, but instead of fish there's a dessert or a jungle or a freshly sodded lawn with those little father Christmases that the muggles like as lawn ornaments."
She giggled at that and he moved her to stand in the middle of the path between four different terrariums, then checked if any of his snake friends were laying about in an obvious spot that she would see, which they weren't.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Her grip on his hand tightened in response. "No."
"I'm right here. There's several feet between you and them and they aren't going to get any closer to you than they already are, and they've no interest in doing so either."
She pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then peaked open one eye, then two, and blinked a few times as she adjusted to the low light. He watched as her eyes darted around from one terrarium to the next, not being able to spot any of the snakes because they were too well camouflaged into their surroundings.
Her hand was still in his, her grip no where near as tight has it had been, then she let go entirely and took a tentative step towards the habitat that held a swampy marsh.
"It looks like it should be full of frogs."
"Sometimes there are a few in there," he told her. "Pedro's eaten them all for now though."
"Pedro?"
He was able to find Pedro the Anaconda easily enough, the snake was half in the water and half up a fake tree, hidden by leaves. He wasn't sure Ginny really wanted to know this though. "I've got names for all of them," was all he told her.
She nodded and then moved on to the next one, where there was a good deal of red sand and rock mixed with tall grass here and there. Harry could see that Callie, the Cobra, was curled up on the other side of the rock. She wasn't hidden enough for Ginny not to notice her though, Harry was able to tell that much by the sudden vice-like grip he felt on his arm when she'd spotted the snake.
"She's napping," he assured Ginny as she made her way to stand behind him, doing his best not to laugh at her.
"I swear, when it comes to things like flying or catching frogs, even gutting fish or needing to harvest pigs, I'm fearless. I've even got a high threshold for pain, but this! I just… I need to get over it."
"And I'm sure you will if you keep at it as hard as you've been doing," he assured her. "It's only taken you a week to go from not being able to come to the door, now you're actually standing inside the proper exhibit."
She didn't say anything back to him, she just nodded and encouraged him to lead her around to all the other terrariums, making sure that he was standing between her and the snakes the whole time.
He thought it was kind of cute. It wasn't often that he got the chance to act like some great protector. Or ever, actually. It was nice that he could come off all manly for a pretty girl like her.
After she'd seen all the snakes and they made it back into the main room, she thanked him and then headed out. He watched as she left and saw as she tried to physically shake off her willies through the glass doors before heading south down the road.
The next day, she wasn't standing outside, not in her exercise clothes and not in a pretty summer dress, and he was a bit disappointed about it. He kept looking through the door to outside in the hopes that he'd see her there, waiting to be escorted by her knight in shining armor into the building.
She didn't show up the next day either, nor the one after that, or the one after that.
It was the last day before his weekend, which was a Sunday, that she showed up again, and she was back in her exercise clothes; this time it didn't look like she'd been running five miles before she stopped to brace herself against the wall. He found himself quite appreciating the sight of her in her tight clothes this time, and he really appreciated the way her face lit up when she saw him.
"I picked up a snake!" Ginny exclaimed.
That brought him to a stand still when he was only a few feet from him. "You… you what?"
"It was only a grass snake, but still. I was helping my dad with a fence and there was a grass snake, and I managed not to scream, then I picked it up and held it for about ten seconds. I was shaking like a leaf the whole time, but I still did it!"
She was so pleased with herself that he couldn't help smiling at her and joining in on her enthusiasm. "That's fantastic! Was your dad encouraging you to do it, or did you decide you could all on your own?"
"No, it was just me! He just stood there and watched me do it. He knows I'm terrified of them, I tell him everything. He had his wand out ready to banish the thing if I really lost my head, but he didn't need to. I put the snake back down and then we went right back to work on the fence."
He grinned at her. "I feel like I should be taking you out for a drink to celebrate or something, but I've got to get in there," he gestured at the doors. "There's a science club or something coming through here near opening time today and I'm in charge of leading it."
"Would it be weird if I followed along?"
He hadn't been expecting that question from her. "Er, I suppose you could, but I think you'd stand out a bit, it's mostly going to be full of pre-teens and they usually just want to watch one of the snakes eat a mouse whole."
Ginny cringed and her shoulders shook with disgust.
"Exactly," he agreed with her sentiment. "Got to give the people what they want though."
"I get it, you know, on a childish, showboating sort of level. I will be coming in though once you're open, and I'm determined to make it through the whole exhibit on my own."
"Good for you. We've missed you the last few days."
She let out a chuckle. "I'm sure you've all gotten used to seeing me here now."
"I have, er, we have. Shirley was asking about you." Great, he thought sarcastically, very believable cover. "Well, I'll likely see you inside then, whenever you're ready."
And he did, she'd managed to get herself inside and he'd passed through the main area a few times as she once again read all the information on the walls and in the displays. She'd come into the terrarium room when he was talking to all the eleven and twelve-year-olds about the different snakes and answering their questions; she'd stood a few feet back from the group when he was talking. He'd actually wished she hadn't been there, because it was distracting, his eyes kept landing on hers when he was talking and he needed to make an effort not to stare at her as though she were the only person he was talking to.
She hadn't said anything to him before she'd left, as she'd disappeared right before he needed to climb up and around to the back of one of the enclosures to do the big finale of placing a live mouse in with Callie the Cobra, and Ginny wouldn't have wanted to watch that.
Another three days had gone by, two of which he'd spent at home, and he arrived for his second work day of the week extra early because he'd had a booking for a private tour requested for an hour before they were meant to open, and he was surprised to see that Ginny was standing there outside the doors that early.
"What time exactly to you show up here trying to work up the nerve to come in?" he asked her in amazement. He'd never wondered about it, but she was always there before him on the days that she did show up, but this was well over an hour before he normally arrived, and yet, here she was, in jeans and a t-shirt this time.
"Not long before you do," she smiled at him.
"Well, I'm not usually here this early-"
"Neither am I," she jumped it. "But I am the reason you're here this early on this particular morning."
He cocked his head at her. "Wh- hold on, you're my private tour? But you've already essentially had a private tour from me."
"I know," she came closer to him and leaned in, "but that one wasn't quite as private as I hoped this one would be."
For a mad moment he thought that she was coming on to him, then he realized she meant there had been the chance of Muggles coming in the last time he'd shown her around. And he felt an inexplicable sense of rejection at that understanding.
"Were you wanting me to teach you how to pronounce a few words?"
She shrugged, "maybe. But I was also wondering if I could come behind the terrariums and maybe, I don't know, 'pet' one of the snakes? Learning a word like 'leave' or something similar would be nice though. Do they speak in full sentences?"
"No, they haven't got much need for that. It's usually just singular words like 'eat' or 'hot'. They understand me when I give them full sentences though."
She nodded and gave him an expectant look which led him to letting them into the building. "Just follow me around then, through to the office. I normally grab something for breakfast from the break room before I feed them. I suppose you can just come with me for that. You've heard and read all the information about them and that usually takes up the majority of the tour time."
"Do you really enjoy this much more that you might by working and living in our world? What do your parents think about it? Are they Muggles?" Ginny asked casually as they walked down the plain hallway of the staff only area.
"They both went to Hogwarts actually, and my dad works as an executive at Nimbus, my mum works at an apothecary. They don't mind that I work here at all, my dad thinks its funny how much I've gotten to travel via the Muggle way because of my magical talent."
"And neither of them can talk to snakes?"
He glanced at her, not wanting to get into the whole story of how he was attacked as a child and there was some kind of magical energy transference that occurred. He didn't fully understand exactly what had happened, so he certainly didn't want to bring it up and open the subject for questioning. "No, neither of them. There's a chance it skipped a few generations on my fathers side."
"And is it why you didn't go to Hogwarts?"
He stopped what he was doing then, in the process of turning on the computer, and spun around to look at her. "Why would me being a Parselmouth stop me from going to Hogwarts?"
Ginny blushed, "well, because, you know, Slytherin and all the, erm, history there. It might have, you know, shone a bad light on you."
He frowned at her, feeling insulted at the insinuation. "If you think-"
"I don't!" she cut him off, holding her hands out in surrender. "I swear. I just… I'm surprised is all. I'm trying to figure you out. You say both your parents attended Hogwarts, but you didn't, I find that strange. I may have told you to fuck off a few times when we'd first met, but I don't really feel I can be held accountable for my mood then, I was terrified, wasn't I? I think it's brilliant that you found a way to integrate yourself into Muggle society and find a living to be made off of your… talent."
"Oh… okay." He turned back around and punched the button to get the computer started. "This way," he pointed for her to turn around and followed her out before leading her to the break room so he could grab a yogurt and a banana for his breakfast. "The reason I didn't go to Hogwarts is because I was home schooled by a family friend," he told her before he started in on his yogurt. "He was a brilliant teacher but has some health problems, so it's hard for him to keep a steady job. He did loads of tutoring before taking me on full-time. We travelled a bit too, and I wasn't all that interested in going away to boarding school and being away from my parents and uncles. I did wonder if I was missing out on things by not going off to Hogwarts, but I felt like I'd be missing out on more by not choosing to stay home with my family."
Ginny took up in one of the seats by the staff table. "I get that, but I've got loads of older brothers that were at school with me, and my parents wouldn't have been able to afford to get a private tutor for me, so there wasn't a choice."
He nodded and finished up his breakfast while she looked at the cork board where there were a few pictures of him and the others from holiday parties and the like, and some of him from the trips he'd taken.
"Alright then, ready to go behind the scenes?"
"No," she answered honestly. "But if I don't give it a go now, I'll never forgive myself."
"Need to take my hand again?" he offered, trying not to sound like he was mocking her because he hoped she'd say yes.
"I will, actually. Since you're offering."
Once again, her hand slid into his own and they walked together back through the hallway and out into the main area. It felt a tad surreal for him, to be holding the hand of a pretty girl and bringing her to meet his snakes, it was like he was about to introduce her to his friends.
Ginny walked in stride with him until they were just on the other side of the climate controlled barrier, then she began slowing and holding him back.
"They won't hurt you, I promise," he assured her.
"See, logically, I know that."
"And logically, you know you can do this." He had turned to face her now, and wasn't sure what exactly compelled him to do it, but he reached out to her and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. His hand froze at the nape of her neck, he was struck by the gesture he'd just made and the look of surprise she was giving him. "Sorry." He took a step back and turned steadfastly towards the exhibit, doing his best not to simply yank her into the room behind him so that they could move past the awkwardness of what he'd just done.
"It's so dark in here right now," she commented.
"Yes, to them, it's nighttime. We have to keep their habitats on lighting timers. I'm sure you wouldn't like sleeping when the sun is up 24/7 either."
"Good point. I hadn't thought of that."
He led her to the very end of the area where the staff door was that would access the back of the cages and brought her through with him. "Put these on," he instructed, handing her a pair of heavy gloves.
"Dragon hide?" she wondered at him.
"God, no! Some sort of synthetic leather. These aren't magical creatures, remember?"
"Right, right." Ginny shook her head and pulled on the gloves.
"Okay. I'm going to go through and wake them up one by one and distribute their food. Why don't you just stand back, but stay close enough that you can see through the door into their enclosures, alright? You can come closer if you dare to, okay?"
She looked pale, but nodded.
Harry got a trolley that had a cooler on it that was plugged into the wall and disconnected the charger, the cooler held freeze dried mice, he brought the trolley to the first door and opened the door, taking a dead mouse out of the cooler.
"$Good morning, Betty$" he greeted the Boa Constrictor.
She was laying coiled up in the corner and poked her head up to look at him, or at the mouse that he was swinging by the tail so she could see it anyhow. Her tongue poked out as she smelled the air. "$Food$".
"$Yes, food. The sun is about to start shining$." He adjusted the timer on the outside of the door so the enclosure would light up.
Betty started slithering towards the mouse and paused, turning to look towards him and poking her tongue out again. "$New smell$."
"$Yes, I've brought someone with me today. But she's not coming any closer$."
"$Mating season?$"
Harry choked out a laugh at that question. "No!"
"No what?" Ginny asked behind him.
"Oh, sorry. Sometimes I switch to English by mistake," he told her, not turning to look back at her because he knew his face would be a bit red. "$No. Not mating season. Friend.$"
Betty poked her tongue out again and Harry just shook the dead mouse again to catch her attention, then said farewell and closed and locked the door once more.
"See? No harm done."
"What did it say that made you laugh?"
"Er… it's hard to explain," he told her evasively. "But as you can see, she didn't attempt to harm me in any way, and I needed to shake her breakfast at her to gain her attention."
"Because she was distracted by you, you mean?"
"No, because she couldn't see you standing there, but she could smell you. You already know, they've got terrible eye sight. If it weren't for Betty being so familiar with what this place smells like, she wouldn't have caught on that you were standing there at all."
Ginny nodded and they moved on to the next door.
One by one, she followed him around as he fed and interacted with each of the snakes. Callie was the most talkative of the snakes and she asked if he was going to be fertilizing Ginny soon. Every other snake in the enclosures in some way or another asked if it was his mating season. Apparently they all thought that he was like them, living a solitary existence, so him bringing Ginny along meant that he would be 'having eggs soon'.
Ginny was making great progress though, and for the last enclosure she was even the one to hold out the mouse, still standing behind him when she did it, but her arm was in the enclosure and considering how much her arm was shaking, the python was able to see it just fine.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked her as he locked up the last door.
"Still not keen on the idea of touching one of them, but that wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it was going to be." She was practically glowing with how happy she was with herself for getting through it all.
"Ready for Australia then?"
His eyes trained on her lips as she moistened them with her tongue and then bit the bottom one. "Think you can teach me how to tell them to bugger off in Parseltongue? I might feel loads more prepared then."
"I can do that." He took the gloves from her and got the trolley back where it belonged and plugged in, then brought her back to the break room, where they sat knee to knee and he had her repeat the work '$Leave$' over and over again until she'd got it right several times.
The hour approached where the other staff were likely to walk in at any moment and he walked her back to the door. "You've really gotten a handle on this, Ginny. I imagine it would take some others months or years to come as far as you have."
"Well, they don't have you and your special abilities to help them along, do they?"
"It's not just that, and you know it. You were determined to overcome this, and I think you have."
He could see that she took that compliment with a grain of salt, but didn't deny it either. "I'll keep practicing saying that word, but I guess there's not much point in my coming back here if I can manage to pick up garden snakes at my parents place or try out the word on them."
It wasn't difficult to understand what she was really saying; there was a chance that they wouldn't see each other again. He didn't want that.
"You should at least stop back in after you go to your brother's wedding. Let us all know how you got on."
"Yeah, I'm sure Shirley would like to know."
He glanced over at the desk, half expecting to see Shirley sitting there, then realized that Ginny was teasing him. "Right, Shirley, can't disappoint her."
She grinned at him then, and it was brilliant smile she had.
"Maybe I'll come to one of your games sometime."
"To watch me do an excellent job of keeping a bench warm? That won't be very exciting for you."
"Well, this wasn't exactly exciting for you, and there would be other things to see at a Quidditch game, other than observing your posture on the bench."
She gave him a light shove on his shoulder. "Goodbye, Harry. And thank you. I'll make sure to come back to let you and Shirley know how it went for me down under."
He wanted to shake her hand, or give her a hug, some kind of gesture that would show that they were going to remain friends, or possibly become something more. Instead, he just opened the door for her and watched as she walked away and out of sight.
True to her word, she didn't come back any time in the next week, nor the week after that, nor the week after that. Harry tried to get his mind off of her and onto other things, but his friends in the magical world liked to talk about Quidditch when they met up, so that automatically pulled Ginny into his mind, and his Muggle friends he'd all met through work and they would occasionally wonder aloud at how she might have got on during her trip. Even the snakes would occasionally ask if he'd sired any eggs, forgetting that he had flat out told them he hadn't 'fertilized her'.
It was nearly a full month later that he showed up to work and was resting against the counter in the break room, eating his usual container of yogurt before his rounds, when he noticed there was a new picture added to the cork board and it was of Ginny, holding a Green Tree Snake. She was smiling brightly at the camera and wearing a pretty, light green dress that he gathered was her brides maid dress. Her hair and make-up were all done and she looked stunning. He took the thumb tack out of the picture and flipped it over; she'd written 'thank you for everything, love from Ginny' on the back of it.
Harry kept flipping the picture over back and forth to look at her holding the snake to looking at her words on the back, wondering how the hell it had gotten there.
He was still doing that when Shirley came in.
"Oh, you saw it! She came in with it yesterday. Apparently it was only those harmless snakes that she'd come across while she was over there. Bless her for thinking to come in and give us a thank you. She brought in muffins for us all yesterday too. Tell you the truth, I think she might have been a bit disappointed it was your day off."
He didn't dare look at Shirley then, he could feel her eyes were still on him though, she was waiting for him to show he was intrigued by this information, he knew it.
"She brought in muffins and a picture? That was nice of her. Glad it went well." He stuck the picture back onto the cork board and nodded at Shirley on his way out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shirley shake her head and mutter 'youth is wasted on the young'.
Shirley had a point.
He fancied Ginny, there was no denying it. But what was he supposed to do about it? All he could do to try and track her down was lightly stalk her Quidditch Team, and wouldn't that come across as creepy? She may have camped out in front of his work every morning when she was trying to cope with her fear, but he could hardly claim he needed to get over his fear of flying, his dad worked for bloody Nimbus after all!
He could get tickets for a Harpies game and simply situate himself to run into her though.
It took him a few days to work up the nerve to do just that, then there was a minor panic attack he had when he'd purchased the ticket, because the game was only hours away, not days, so no time to talk himself out of it.
He didn't dare invite a friend with him to watch the game, he didn't want the added pressure or teasing to make him more nervous than he already was. There was no plan thoroughly thought out; his entire 'mission' was to simply go to the game, hope to run into her and then ask if she wanted to grab a drink. He didn't need to make it seem like a request for a date even, it could be a more casual ask than that. And then who knows, maybe they'd hit it off properly and more would come of it.
Whichever way it turned out, Harry was determined not to have high expectations. Otherwise, his anxiety would get too high and he would start burping, because burping was always what happened first when he was anxious.
The tickets he'd purchased were for one of the highest seats, up in the nose bleed section, not one with the best view. He enjoyed watching Quidditch, but it had been ages since he'd gone to a game. The shirt he'd chosen had green in it, so she would see he was supporting her team if they did run into each other.
With only half his mind on the game, he sat there, playing out scenarios in his mind and scanning the benches to see if he could spot her between watching the players in the air.
The team the Harpies were playing against was the Cannons, the worst team in the league, so it wasn't long before the Harpies were well in the lead.
Then he heard it, crystal clear from the commentator; "And it looks like the Harpies have complete faith in their victory today as they are trading out long time first string Chaser Gina Moore for third string Chaser Ginny Weasley! This will be the first time Weasley has taken to the field during a league game. I don't know about all of you, but I'm interested to see what she's made of!"
He couldn't believe it! The game he chose to attend so he could potentially meet with her again, and it's the first time she's called up to play.
The game had his full attention now!
And she was incredible! The Cannons may have been the worst in the league, but with the way she was pulling off some of her maneuvers and such with her fellow teammates, she could have been playing for top position at the World Cup! It was pass after pass, shot after shot, she was completely in her element.
Ginny continued to stay as one of the Chasers on the field until their Seeker caught the Snitch, ending the game at an incredible 540-30. He was on his feet cheering with the rest of the green clad crowd while the whole of the Harpy team rushed the field in a celebratory group hug.
Harry sat back down in his seat, not in a rush to go anywhere as the rest of the spectators started filing out. Once it was just him in his area, he walked around the top level of the stadium and started down the stairs, heading for the changeroom area.
He heard his name being called out once he got to the main level and turned to see his father heading his way.
"Dad? What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" he grinned. "I'm here to talk to Gwenog Jones on behalf of Nimbus."
"Oh! I'm… I came to watch Quidditch. I didn't realize you'd be here."
"Well, if you'd have mentioned you were interested, I could have got you a seat in one of the boxes. No matter," he cuffed him on both shoulders, "we've found each other now. How about you come with me to talk to Miss Jones? Maybe we can meet this new star Chaser of hers?"
Oh super, he thought, introducing Ginny to his dad would be the perfect segue into asking her out.
Before he could come up with an objection though, his dad was pulling him along by his elbow towards the Harpy changeroom, and he could see no way out of it. Then suddenly he was standing in the Harpy changeroom with tens of women in all states of dress, mostly clothed, but in the stretchy sports bras and form fitted trousers.
And standing out from the crowd amidst all of these women, Ginny, staring directly at him with her face full of surprise. She was standing on top of one of the benches, still in complete uniform, cheeks flush with joy.
"Harry?" she called out to him over the noise, which resulted in most of the girls quieting up and looking around at him.
His dad gave him a look too, some sort of mix between curiosity and pride. "It seems you already know her then."
"Wait, is this the Harry that taught you to-"
"Shh, Gretchen, not now," Ginny bit at her fellow teammate.
"Oh, Mister Potter, right on time," Gwenog Jones greeted his dad as she stepped out of her office.
Harry couldn't pull his eyes away from Ginny though, because she'd gotten off the bench and started walking over to him as well.
"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked him quietly.
"I, er, missed you when you stopped by the other day. Thought I'd catch one of your games and see if you wanted to get a drink, tell me about your trip. I didn't think it would be such an important game though. You did brilliantly."
"Thank you," she blushed, still beaming with pride over it all. "I'm glad you came." Then her eyes darted over to his father and Gwenog, who were having their own conversation now. "I'd hoped to see you when I stopped by with the thank you gift."
"Really?" he smiled.
"Yeah."
"Well, I didn't really come here to watch Quidditch," he admitted. She said nothing, but her eyes were clearly asking him to go on. "I fancy you. And I really just came here hoping to get the chance to ask you out to drinks."
"Wow. That was a really bold thing to say."
"Well, blurting out facts is kind of my wheelhouse."
"You're good at it." She was playing coy.
"Look, you've told me to fuck off plenty of times before, you can say it again now if you want. But I'd just be kicking myself if I didn't work up the nerve to at least ask. So, do you want to go out?"
"Yes," she replied immediately.
He sucked in a deep breath only to let it out in relief. "Fantastic. So, I assume you've got some celebrating to do with your team now, but when do you think you'll be free?"
She looked back over her shoulder to where her teammates were standing, sure enough, several of them were watching the two of them with interest. "Probably not until tomorrow judging by those looks."
"How about seven tomorrow then? At the restaurant down the street from where I work? The place with the red awning."
"Looking forward to it."
"Miss Weasley." The sudden sound of his dad's voice right beside him made both of them jump. "You played excellently. I've no doubt you'll be getting a lot more time in the games from now on."
"That's the dream, Mister Potter."
"And my dream is to see your whole team do it with Nimbus as your sponsor. I think your captain and I are about to start off a wonderful relationship."
"Wow, talking 'relationship' already? Sounds a bit too soon to be jumping in with both feet like that," she cheeked, casting Harry a wink when she said it.
"Oh, give a Potter a chance and we'll win you over eventually, eh?" he said, pulling Harry into the conversation by throwing an arm over his shoulders. "We're charmers, aren't we?"
"I'd say so," Ginny agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Harry." She then came forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning around and heading back to her teammates.
"Oh, I see we both came here with relationship prospects in mind," his dad teased. "How long has this been going on?"
"Not long enough for you to be telling mum," Harry warned. "But if things go well on our date tomorrow, I'll consider telling her myself."
()()()
AN- Sorry Iwik, I know you wanted this to be a little more risqué with Harry's talented tongue. The story just didn't lead me there before the one-shot was done though.