"Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!"
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Although they were in Diagon Alley for the grand reopening of WWW, Ginny and Harry had arrived early, needing to shop for Christmas presents for the family. It was pretty easy to find gifts for almost everyone, but, unfortunately, none of the shops seemed to have the right gifts for her parents, at least in Harry's mind.
"I really think my dad would like these feet-massaging slippers," Ginny tried to assure him, but he wasn't convinced.
"I don't know, Gin. I just think it should be the perfect gift, you know?"
Similar scenes repeated as they made their way through several more shops, where the employees were all thrilled to have Harry Potter shopping there until he left, unsatisfied by their offerings. After the fifth or sixth shop, Ginny finally stopped him and pulled him into a small side street.
"Harry, what's this all about? You know my parents will like anything we give them."
He frowned and absently rubbed the back of his neck as he formulated an answer. Finally, he sighed. "You're right. I just… I dunno, I feel like I owe them for everything, and they're just so great that they don't deserve anything less than the perfect presents."
On the one hand, Ginny found it absolutely adorable that he was so worked up about making sure her parents were happy with their Christmas presents. But on the other, she hated hearing the pressure that Harry put himself under for things that ultimately didn't matter. Her parents loved both of them regardless of their Christmas gifts.
"That's really sweet, Harry. But Mum and Dad love you, and you shouldn't feel like you owe them anything for that. Honestly, they're gonna be so happy that we even got them a present at all that they probably couldn't care less what it is." She paused for a moment before asking curiously, "Did you go through this when you got me birthday presents this summer?"
Harry shook his head. "No, not really. But it was like I knew exactly what to get you, like… I knew what you'd like the most. It's not that easy with your parents."
"Trust me. They will love any present we give them. As long as it's something we think will make them happy, they'll love it."
Harry furrowed his brow as he considered her point. That look was much more adorable when weighing possible Christmas gifts than in other, more dangerous times that she'd seen that expression. After a few moments though, he nodded.
"Okay. So you think the slippers for your dad?"
Ginny grinned. "I promise you, he'll love them."
"Great. Let's go back and get those then. And for your mum… did you see that pair of golden knitting needles in Twilfitt and Tattings?"
"D'you think that might be a bit much?" Ginny asked hesitantly, but Harry very firmly shook his head.
"Not for your mum. She deserves it."
She nodded, knowing that Harry felt bad about not being able to do more financially for her family, so she wasn't going to be too hard on him for spending extra on a gift for her mum. "I think that's a great gift then."
Harry smiled, relieved, and was about to head back out to finish their shopping when Ginny stopped him.
"So… purely out of concern, do you have my Christmas present already? I just wanna be sure you're not gonna stress yourself out like that over me."
Harry laughed. "I appreciate your concern, but that's not gonna be a problem with you. I haven't gotten it yet, but I do know exactly what I'm getting you. What about you?"
Ginny shrugged, maintaining an air of mystery. "You'll find out if you have something on Christmas, I guess."
"That's not exactly fair," Harry complained.
"Who ever said I was fair?" Ginny asked before whipping her head around and leading Harry back to the main thoroughfare before he could see her impish smile.
"Merlin," she heard Harry whisper, either reverently or desperately, as he followed her.
The annoying truth was that Ginny was facing a similar dilemma to the one Harry had with her parents. She'd never given him a real Christmas gift before, and all she wanted for Christmas was to give him something he'd love. It almost irked her that he was so good at giving gifts because it'd be much easier if they could commiserate together about struggling to find each other the perfect gift. And of course, it was much harder for Ginny to follow her own advice than it was to give him advice about not stressing over gift giving.
She knew she'd think of something though. That was what had happened with his birthday gifts. She'd decided to get him an owl as soon as she noticed how much he missed Hedwig, and the photo album she gave him was only an idea in the first place because he showed her his parents' photo album. Maybe she'd get lucky again and something would magically give her another idea before Christmas this year.
After they bought the gifts for her parents and hid them in her mokeskin handbag, they walked to the end of the street to the currently-covered facade of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. A crowd was slowly forming, but Ginny and Harry slipped through behind the building wrap being magically held in front of the store and through the front door to meet the rest of the family.
"It's about time," Ron exclaimed when they entered, and Ginny realised they were the last two to arrive.
"Sorry, we got a little sidetracked," Ginny explained with a half smile, not wanting to reveal that they'd used today as an excuse to shop for Christmas gifts. Although judging by the grimace on Charlie's face and George's suggestive eyebrow raise, that may have given the wrong idea.
"Happy Birthday, Charlie," Ginny added quickly, stepping forward and thrusting a lumpy package into his hands.
He seemed a little surprised to have received a gift from them, maybe because everyone else had apparently decided to wait until after the store opened, but Ginny didn't think about that until after the parcel was in his hands. Charlie quickly unwrapped it before chuckling.
"Real original," he commented, holding up the Seeker gloves that were identical to the ones he'd given Harry for his birthday, but with 'Weasley' on the cuff instead of 'Potter'.
"They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Bill offered helpfully.
"That's pretty much it. It was a great gift, so you made it easy on us," Harry said with a possibly smug grin.
Charlie shook his head, but Ginny saw the secretly pleased smile on his face nonetheless. "Thanks, you two. Appreciate it."
"We'll do the rest of the gifts tonight at home, dear," Ginny's mum promised Charlie before shooting a slightly annoyed look at Ginny, who shrugged innocently. They hadn't made it a formal rule to wait until after.
Back by the counter, George had started pacing nervously. Ginny wasn't the only one who noticed.
"George, 'ow are you feeling?" Fleur asked in a worried voice.
"George?" Ron added, a little louder, when George didn't acknowledge Fleur. That got George's attention, and he snapped his head up.
"Sorry, what was that?" George asked, very obviously distracted still.
"I asked 'ow are you feeling?" Fleur repeated.
"Oh. Good. Yeah… great, even. Just feels weird. But it's gonna go good."
Ginny was a little surprised when Percy spoke, and not just because she noticed him wearing magenta robes for the first time. "Hey, we've talked about this. We're doing the right thing. There isn't a better way to honour his memory."
George nodded before glancing up at the large portrait of himself with his brother that hung on the back wall of the shop.
"He's right, mate. Fred's gotta be over the moon that we're bringing the store back," Lee added.
George nodded again and closed his eyes as a tear slid down his face. Immediately, he was smothered in a hug from their mum. Their dad joined almost as quickly.
"We're so proud of you, son," her dad said, looking up at Percy as he spoke to both of his children who'd worked on reopening the store. Percy nodded stiffly, looking a little choked up, and Penelope stood on her toes to kiss his cheek, which made him redden even more.
Nearby, Ron put his arm around Hermione, and Ginny almost unconsciously slid her hand into Harry's. This felt like a monumental step for their family and their journey of healing. Everyone understood that things would never be the same as when Fred had been with them, but this store was proof that life had continued and that they would never stop loving and honouring Fred or each other.
It was quiet in the store for a few moments before George spoke up. "Alright, we don't want to keep everyone waiting!"
His parents released him, but not before her mum kissed George's cheek, which made him smile a little. He looked back up at Lee and Percy, his two companions in this journey to bring back the store. "We're ready, right?"
"Ready as we'll ever be," Lee replied cheerfully.
"It's time," Percy agreed.
George swallowed and smoothed out his magenta robes before donning an identical magenta top hat. "Then let's do this."
He walked to the door before stopping and turning back to Ginny and Harry, pointing an incriminating finger. "Wait… you two are missing something."
Ginny groaned at George's memory before pulling out their matching sets of magenta robes, which they pulled over their clothes, to the delight of George and everyone else in the store.
"That's really your colour," Hermione teased Ginny in a whisper, making her roll her eyes.
George grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Okay, now we're ready. Let's do this for real."
He led them out the front door, transforming into a theatrical showman as he stepped around the building wrap and into view of the crowd, which had grown substantially since Ginny and Harry had arrived. There must have been more than a hundred people crowded around the small platform that had been placed in front of the store.
They stood off to one side as George, Percy, and Lee took the stage to loud applause. George entertained the crowd for a minute before raising his hands to request silence.
"Thank you all for joining us here today. It's been… a long couple of years. It's been a hard time. I never thought we'd shut down the store for anything short of failing Ministry inspections–" several people laughed at that "– But then again, a lot of things happened in the last year that I never would've expected. I never expected that there would be a day that I'd open this store without my twin brother by my side.
"Many of you probably know that Fred– Fred was killed… in the Battle of Hogwarts, a little over seven months ago. It took a very long time for me to get to a place where I could even begin to consider reopening the store. But my family helped me realise that the best way to honour Fred's memory would be to do what he loved– spreading laughter and joy.
"It wasn't an easy journey to get the store ready, either. It wouldn't have been possible without my best friend, Lee Jordan, or my older brother, Percy. I owe them both loads, and I'll always be grateful for everything they've done for me. But now, I think it's safe to say that the store has been closed for long enough. We're back, Diagon Alley, and we're doing it for Fred! Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!"
With a dramatic flourish of his wand, George vanished the building wrap to booming cheers, revealing the garish facade that nearly made Ginny's eyes water. There was one new touch to the overwhelmingly loud exterior though. Perched over the front door were two large statues of Fred and George, laughing as they posed, facing each other with one hand down towards the door and the other extended high, holding their magenta top hats. Ginny laughed as she saw it for the first time, thinking it looked exactly like something the two of them would've done, proudly welcoming people into the store they'd dreamed of for years.
A flash bulb went off as a reporter took a picture of the three in front of the store before George hurried off the platform to open the door and welcome the flood of customers into the store. The rest of the family waited outside until the rush ended, and Ginny noticed her mum and Hermione both wiping tears away. She couldn't blame them; it really had been a beautiful speech, and they were all just so proud of George for being brave enough to reopen the store.
"That's a brilliant statue," Bill said, grinning above the door.
"Percy told me that George wanted it to just be Fred, but he and Lee convinced him to put them both up there," Penelope responded.
"It's good that they're both up there," Hermione said, and everyone else nodded their agreement. It wouldn't have been right any other way.
They finally reentered the shop, and for the first time, Ginny really looked around the colourful shop that dazzled the eyes. She immediately recognised old favourites like Skiving Snackboxes and Fanged Frisbees, but there were also some new things that caught her eye.
She remembered seeing Flavour-Flipping Teacups on an old Wheezes parchment in George's room, and it made her smile, seeing that they'd figured out how to make it work properly. Their trick brooms also looked really funny, if a little dangerous. They basically mimicked the appearance of popular brooms like the Nimbus or the Cleansweep, but they bucked their riders off as soon as they kicked off the ground. A large group of children were crowded around the Howler Hats, which seemed like they'd be a hit, randomly spouting out jokes or nonsense at the volume of a Howler.
While her dad pulled Harry over to the expanded Muggle magic section to ask questions about how the tricks worked, Ginny wandered around the store, ultimately ending up in the WonderWitch section with Hermione.
"Immersive Memory Lockets– lock in to the past and lock out the present… that's a really interesting idea. It sounds almost like a Pensieve. You know, Ginny, George really is extraordinary with magic like this," Hermione informed her, sounding incredibly impressed.
"He might get a big head if you keep repeating it," Ginny warned jokingly.
As she browsed, she was surprised and pleased to not see love potions anywhere. She wasn't sure when they'd been removed from WWW's offerings, but she suspected it had something to do with Ron nearly dying in large part due to a love potion that was actually meant for Harry. Ginny did her best to not think about the person responsible for that though, other than to smirk privately for the damage she'd inflicted on Romilda with the bat bogeys.
After spending significant time cooing over the cuteness of the Pygmy Puffs, she was about to leave the section when a new product caught her eye. She picked up the surprisingly hefty bottle and read:
Magical Makeover in a Flask! Want to impress that special someone? Tired of seeing the same face in the mirror every day? Magical Makeover in a Flask is guaranteed to beautify you beyond your wildest hopes! Just two sips will have you wowing everyone you meet! Results may vary and effects may be less noticeable on particularly attractive or ugly people.
Ginny was very intrigued by the product and its promise of a dazzling makeover. She was genuinely contemplating trying it out when a voice to her right made her reconsider.
"Don't."
She looked up and saw Harry watching her closely. "Don't?" Ginny asked, a little perplexed.
"Don't buy that," he said, his voice slightly strained.
Ginny's instinct was guarded and surprised, thinking that Harry didn't want their money going to frivolous things like WonderWitch products. In a tone that was maybe a little aggressive or hurt, she replied, "I can pay for it myself. You don't need to worry about it coming out of your vault."
He started to shake his head before stopping himself and exhaling. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. You can do whatever you want or buy whatever you want. I'm never gonna try to control you or anything. You know that. It's our vault, not my vault. I just… you don't need a makeover."
He said it so plainly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He truly was adorable, and the way he looked at her, like he was seriously concerned that she would change her appearance, made her heart flutter. She felt bad that she'd immediately assumed he was concerned about her wasting their money.
"Oh? You don't think so?" Ginny asked probingly, knowing he'd take the bait she'd so generously placed before him.
Now he shook his head fervently. "No. You're beautiful. Flawless. The last person in the world who needs a makeover is you."
She grinned and kissed him before returning the bottle to the shelf. "How are you so good at finding the sweetest things to say?"
He chuckled and laced his fingers through hers. "Magic. And… well, you're really hot," he added, blushing a little as Ginny laughed out loud before kissing him again.
"Merlin, I love you."
He squeezed her hand. "I love you too, Gin."
They walked together throughout the store a while longer, now looking for something to get since George told them from behind the counter to take one thing for free. Granted, he never made Harry pay for anything anyways, but Ginny doubted that Harry ever actually took advantage of it.
Eventually, Ginny settled on getting Arnold a girlfriend that she named Annie. Harry was slightly more practical in his choice, deciding on a Pocket Portkey, which was a small silver orb that essentially acted as a one-time Portkey for short ranges, but it didn't require any registration with the Ministry. Ginny wasn't positive about the legality of that, but she assumed that Percy would've stopped them from selling it if there was any real legal issue. Harry pocketed the device carefully– it activated by crushing it and thinking of a spot to teleport to– and they left the store with most of the rest of the family, planning on celebrating Charlie's birthday and the store's success that night.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
The last week of the term was turning out to be, unsurprisingly, very hectic. They'd put off doing homework over the weekend in favour of celebrating with the family, and they paid the price for that, working late into the night several days in a row to complete their final assignments and essays for the term. A couple days earlier, Harry had managed to transfigure a chair into a pillow in his lesson with Professor McGonagall, which was a big accomplishment because she'd thrown the chair at him as soon as he'd entered her office, not expecting to be attacked immediately. And just yesterday, Trelawney had cornered him in a corridor, prattling on about springs, circles, and slanted streets, which made him wonder when she'd last left the castle. She was starting to lose it, possibly from inhaling all those nasty fumes in her classroom for so long, and, frankly, he was still surprised that McGonagall hadn't sacked her almost as soon as she'd become Headmistress. He'd only managed to get away when she saw a first or second year Hufflepuff and started raving about some great success or terror that was in her future. He did feel a little bad about leaving them alone, but he'd done more than his fair share of listening to Trelawney's lunacy, and, at the very least, Trelawney would definitely scare the girl out of taking Divination, so it would be worth it in the long run.
Harry was currently at the last Quidditch practice of the term, which he almost regretted, considering how cold and wet it was outside. The primary upside was that the only thing better than seeing Ginny after she played Quidditch was seeing Ginny soaking wet after playing Quidditch. Visibility was already low due to the rain, and Harry didn't help himself by staring at her darkened hair and dripping face, which was why he had to make acrobatic moves to avoid Bludgers on more than one occasion.
Practice finally ended when Harry caught the Snitch– only because it flew right in front of his face– and Ginny decided that they couldn't possibly see anything else with the sun setting and rain getting worse. They returned the balls to Madam Hooch's office, and then the team flew to the doors of the castle instead of taking a longer time to walk.
Filch would probably try to wring their necks for the muddy mess they were bringing in, but it wasn't really their fault. Not that he'd hear them out if they were caught, which is why they quickly ran to the Gryffindor common room, almost causing an uproar when they stormed through the portrait door.
Mia laughed, seeing the state of her best friends, and pointed for them to go take showers. Demelza ran up the stairs with Zoe and Natalie close behind, while Jimmy and Ritchie ran up the boys' stairs, much louder than the girls. It was only then that Harry realised the mistake they'd made with drawing so much attention to themselves. Ginny couldn't possibly sneak up to their bedroom now. But he'd forgotten that Ginny had grown tired of keeping that secret because, for the second time in as many weeks, she made no effort to hide where she was going when she led him up the boys' stairs to their bedroom.
Once they were alone, Ginny put her hands out and spun around. "Get a good look," she said. "I don't know if you saw every angle while we were out there." When she looked back at him, she was grinning happily.
"Can't blame a bloke for being in love," he argued.
Ginny snorted. "I don't think it was love as much as feeling randy."
Boldly, Harry stepped forward until he was right against her. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Why can't it be both?" he asked as he leaned down to begin kissing her neck.
"Oh… well, when you put it like that…" Ginny practically gasped, and Harry smiled against her freckled shoulder. That had worked better than he'd expected.
In keeping with things winding down, the next day marked the last Defence class of the term. Harry was reluctant to teach any new material that they'd have to wait several weeks to review, so instead, they spent the first part of the period reviewing before having a demonstration that Harry had prepared with all of his leads in advance.
"I know a lot of the things we've been doing are sort of basic still, and I appreciate you all bearing with me through it. I promise that we'll be getting into more interesting stuff next term. But the goal with all this is to fully develop your defensive capabilities, and that starts with the basics. I did want to end the term by showing you where you're going though, which is why I've asked our seven leads to participate in a duelling free for all. So what we're going to do is move everyone to the sides of the Great Hall and put up shields to keep everyone safe. They aren't allowed to maim each other, but they're allowed to use spells that you haven't been taught yet, and they're out when they're disarmed or otherwise incapacitated. Hopefully, it'll be pretty interesting to watch. Does that sound like a good way to end the term?"
There hadn't been a more enthusiastic response in the class all term. While everyone moved to the sides, he wished his leads good luck, trying not to be too obvious with his wink at Ginny, even though he likely failed at that, judging by the grins on Mia and Astoria's faces. Then he took a spot next to Demelza and raised shields around all the students watching. Thankfully, she and some other sixth years raised shields of their own to help out, just in case he was stretched thin with how much space he was trying to protect. Once the shields were in place, he shouted for the competition to begin.
The competition started out about like he would've expected. Justin was the first one to be disarmed, which wasn't all that surprising, just knowing the skill levels of everyone else. He thought it might have been Dean who'd landed the spell though.
Then, even though it was a free for all, three individual duels began. Astoria swiftly stunned Mia, which wasn't much of a shock either. Astoria was sneakily proficient at Defence, and she kept her cool under pressure. It was a bit of a surprise when Owen disarmed Luna though. Harry had thought they'd be pretty equally matched, but he would've given Luna the edge, knowing that she had combat experience. It seemed that Owen just moved too quickly for her though.
The most intriguing duel for Harry, personally, was Ginny against Dean. Although, it wasn't much of a contest.
"Don't take it easy on me," Ginny demanded, seeing Dean's wary look. She cast a jinx that Dean repelled, signalling that he understood she was really fighting. But the duel was over a few seconds later when Ginny sidestepped his stunner and disarmed him with a flick of her wrist.
Dean shook his head disappointedly before retrieving his wand and moving out of the way as Owen, Astoria, and Ginny began circling one another. At this point, it felt like a toss up. They were all three very good at Defence, and they all seemed to be comfortable in combat.
Students gasped with excitement as the spells began flying, and Harry felt similarly, watching the three of them simultaneously fighting each other without giving in. Blasts of colour and bursts of energy exploded throughout the Great Hall, and with every deflected spell, Harry regripped his wand, wanting to be sure his shields held steady.
Ginny was the first to go, though it wasn't really her fault. Owen had deflected a Disarming Charm from Astoria, and Ginny hadn't had time to react to it ricocheting towards her before her wand was out of her hand. Harry saw her flush with annoyance before stepping aside for Owen and Astoria to finish it.
Once it was one on one, Harry saw the outcome before it happened. Even though it was very intriguing, especially considering they were Head Boy and Head Girl and, according to Ginny, possibly a new couple, Owen was clearly the superior duellist. Astoria was overexerting herself, and Owen knew it, patiently deflecting her attacks and waiting for an opening. That opening was finally provided when her wand arm dropped slightly, likely exhausted from the energy it was exerting, and Owen pounced, casting a Leg-Locker before disarming her.
Everyone, especially the Hufflepuffs, cheered when it was over, and Harry removed the shields. He saw Owen walk over to Astoria and lift the curse while smiling apologetically. Astoria just shook her head and laughed while Owen helped her up, and several people cheered when she kissed him on the cheek, making Owen flush, still smiling from ear to ear.
With that, Harry dismissed the last meeting of the term, but people stuck around for a while longer, celebrating since classes were officially over now and that they'd ended in spectacular fashion. When people did finally start leaving the Great Hall, Harry caught Ginny's eye and cocked his head, wondering if she was ready to go. She answered by nodding towards the door, and they met there a moment later.
"Tough loss," he commented.
Ginny huffed. "Shit luck."
"It happens. You were doing really well, too."
"Yeah, I know," she snapped.
They walked silently for a moment or two before Harry chuckled, making Ginny look over at him in annoyed confusion.
"Sorry. It's just… you've been winning so much at everything recently that I almost forgot how much of a sore loser you are."
Ginny glared at him, open-mouthed like she was shocked at his gall. Then he winked at her and she snorted. "It's a stupid thing to be annoyed about. I just don't like losing."
Feeling like it was safe to touch her now, he put his arm around her shoulders. "Then it's lucky that you're good at pretty much everything. I think the world would be a much more dangerous place if you didn't usually win."
Now Ginny fully laughed, and Harry grinned, relishing the victory he felt every time he made her laugh. There wasn't a better sound in the world.
"I can't believe Owen beat Astoria, right after they started dating," Ginny said once she'd stopped laughing.
"If she's anything like you, she would've preferred that over him taking it easy on her."
"True. Although, winning while everyone is trying their hardest is still the best."
Harry laughed again. "Never change, Blaze."
Instead of returning to the common room, Harry and Ginny went to the Room of Requirement, where they'd been spending pretty much all their free time this week when they weren't doing homework. The room had been converted into a small dance area, with moving pictures on the walls demonstrating the steps to the waltz and the tango.
They'd mutually agreed that they were both subpar dancers at best, and while they generally preferred swaying while holding each other close in lieu of actually dancing, they didn't want to completely embarrass themselves by not knowing how to dance at the Yule Ball. Ginny had come up with the idea to practise here a little over a week ago, and even though they still weren't great, they were definitely becoming competent enough for the ball.
Once they'd stretched– something they'd forgotten to do the first time they'd danced and severely regretted the next day– they started the music. Harry took one of Ginny's hands while she placed her other hand on his shoulder, and he held her waist. They moved in time with the music, rarely stepping on each other's toes. Harry just had to keep the rhythm of steps in his head, which distracted from pretty much anything other than focusing on the next step. He wished that he was more comfortable with it so that he could dance effortlessly and pay more attention to his partner.
Ginny had told him that being an athlete was supposed to make dancing easier. He supposed this was true to a certain extent. The dances would probably be even more exhausting if the dancers weren't well-conditioned. And their precise movements did feel somewhat familiar, like they were an extension of the athletic activities they engaged in on the Quidditch pitch. It just didn't help him at all with the rhythm.
He almost didn't notice until the music cut off just how tired and sweaty they both were. They'd danced much longer than usual, knowing this was their last practice before the ball, and they were beat.
"We're better than I was expecting," Ginny said as she drank some water the room had provided.
"Yeah, I don't think we're gonna get much better," Harry agreed. "But I feel good about it. I just hope we have fun."
"Me too. We can't dance this much tomorrow though if we're gonna enjoy it. I'm so tired I don't even think I can make it to the dorm."
On cue, the room provided what Harry requested– a very large, cool bed in the middle of the room.
Ginny looked over at him. "I've never loved you more," she said very seriously, and he laughed, even though it almost hurt to do that.
They walked gingerly to the bed and climbed on top of the covers. Ginny exhaled gratefully, and Harry rolled over to face her. "I must really be tired because my brain is telling me you look really sexy right now, but I haven't kissed you yet."
Ginny smiled at him. "I think we can fix that." She tilted her head slightly, and then she was kissing him, and he somehow forgot all about his exhaustion. There were much more important things to take care of first.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
The castle was almost buzzing with excitement for the night's upcoming Yule Ball. Ginny could practically taste the anticipation teeming through the Great Hall at breakfast. It was a much different feeling than the last Yule Ball, but Ginny suspected several reasons for that.
The ominous threats of violence and death had all but been eradicated, creating a generally more positive feel in the castle. The first through third years were invited this time, and their youthful energy added to the overall excitement. There was also less of an emphasis on dancing and presentation. This was meant to be a party, not a chance to show visiting schools that Hogwarts students were the most talented and refined.
It was actually hard for Ginny to focus for a large portion of the day. She and Harry had set aside some time to pack since the Hogwarts Express would be returning them to King's Cross tomorrow for the Christmas holiday. Harry's packing consisted of gathering up all his clothes and unceremoniously dumping them into his trunk. Ginny at least tried to be more organised, but she did grow tired of trying to make everything fit perfectly and ultimately settled for tossing in several things on top without any order to it. They would only be gone for a couple weeks anyways, and then she'd be packing everything again.
Once everything was packed, they spent a couple hours in the common room with Emily and her friends, playing a very large game of Exploding Snap. Emily was, unsurprisingly, one of the best players, but Zoe ended up winning most of the rounds they played due to her quick Keeper reflexes.
At one point, Ginny noticed Emily trying to explain to Harry a better strategy for winning hands by remembering previously played cards to anticipate the ones still to come. It made her smile, seeing Harry listening closely and taking the advice seriously. He didn't improve much, but every once in a while, he'd win a hand, and he and Emily would celebrate like he'd won the entire game.
Finally, around four, people started milling about, as the first wave of preparations for the ball began. This ended their Exploding Snap game, with the younger girls very eager to try out new makeup and hairstyles.
"Guess it's just you and me," Harry said, seeing the rest of the seats empty.
Ginny smiled apologetically and stood. "Actually, it's just you. I'm going to the Room of Requirement to get ready with some of the girls."
"You need three hours to get ready?" Harry asked incredulously.
Ginny crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Would you prefer I put no effort in?"
He seemed to consider the potential pitfalls of his answer. "Er– no. I just… you'll be the prettiest one there, regardless of how much effort you put in."
"If you don't want me to try so much, let me know. It'll make things way easier on me."
Harry's eyes widened in fear. "No, it's not that. I love when you put work in to–"
Ginny threw her hands up in the air. "So I need to put in effort to look good for you? Might as well just say you don't love me!"
"That's not–" Harry stopped himself and narrowed his eyes. "Hang on… you're taking the piss aren't you?"
Her act fell as she smirked at Harry. "I had you going there for a second though."
He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Can't wait to see you tonight, no matter how long it takes you to get ready."
She grinned and kissed the top of his head, ruffling his hair in the process. "Me too. Meet you in the Entrance Hall a bit before seven?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he promised before she left with a smile still on her face, thinking that his enthusiasm for this Yule Ball was so unlike his feelings about the last one.
"I'll never be able to show my face again! It was so humiliating!" Ron half-whispered and half-cried.
"It was rather brave of you," Ginny said, trying anything to make him feel better, even if it meant blatantly lying to his face.
"Why did I do it, Ginny? I knew she wouldn't say yes!"
Ginny wanted to say, 'Because your brain stops functioning when you see her.' But that wouldn't have been helpful. She didn't really understand what all the fuss was about Fleur anyways. Obviously she was beautiful, but she always seemed so stuck up and rude. Didn't boys care about anything other than looks?
Ginny was spared from having to answer Ron's question when Harry approached. Speaking of boys who couldn't get past looks, Harry was the perfect example. He and Cho Chang would be a terrible match, but he couldn't quit mooning at her anytime he was in the same room as her, so he never realised that they wouldn't actually be good together. Not that Ginny knew of anyone who would be a better fit, off the top of her head.
"What's up, Ron?" Harry asked.
Ron was still stuck on that question. "Why did I do it? I don't know what made me do it!"
Harry hadn't been caught up yet. "What?"
"He– er– just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him." Ginny did her best to not let her amusement show, but it was much harder now that there was another person here who could share in the joke.
Harry couldn't believe it either. "You what?"
Ron gasped, almost fighting his misery in order to breathe. "I don't know what made me do it! What was I playing at? There were people– all around– I've gone mad– everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the Entrance Hall– she was standing there talking to Diggory– and it sort of came over me– and I asked her! She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then– I dunno– I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it," Ron moaned into his hands.
Harry really was proving his worth as a good friend by not laughing. In fact, he was trying valiantly to make Ron feel better, but Ginny didn't pay too much attention to what he was saying until she heard Harry mention Cho. Her head snapped up, listening intently now.
"I asked her to go with me just now, and she told me."
Nothing was very funny now, and Ginny didn't even bother hiding her scowl. What on earth did he see in Cho? Sure, she was pretty, and sure, she was older, and sure, she was already on a Quidditch team, but other than that, what did she have going for her?
In her stewing about Cho, she heard Ron laughing about Neville not being able to get a date to the Yule Ball, rather cruelly in her opinion.
"She just didn't want to go with Neville… I mean, who would?"
"Don't! Don't laugh–" Ginny interrupted, annoyed and a little embarrassed. She did like Neville enough, and it had been an easy decision when he'd asked her to the Yule Ball. It wasn't like Harry was going to ask her, and she wasn't interested in any other boys, so if going with Neville ensured that she could be at the ball, she was willing to do it. At least he'd be nice and not creepy like some older boys.
Hermione entered the common room and the conversation. "Why weren't you two at dinner?"
"Because– oh shut up laughing, you two–" she added, even more annoyed that they were still laughing about Neville. "Because they've both been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" Ginny spat out, a little triumphantly, considering how quickly that shut them both up.
"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," Ron muttered.
Ginny flashed him her middle finger when he wasn't looking. Some of her sourness about Harry's attempt to ask Cho and their mocking of Neville faded as she listened to Ron pathetically realise that he should've asked Hermione to the ball all along. It was obvious that he fancied her, and Hermione was somehow even more obvious that she fancied him. If he'd asked her, she would've said yes in a heartbeat. It was only when Ron made it clear that he wasn't interested that Hermione had accepted the invitation from Viktor Krum.
Ron and Hermione's argument was rather shocking, especially since Ginny knew what Ron didn't. He was convinced that she was lying about having a date; little did he know that Hermione was going with his idol. It took everything in Ginny to not bust out laughing.
Somewhat ridiculously, Ron thought he still had a chance of going with Hermione. "Okay, okay, we know you're a girl. That do? Will you come now?"
Hermione was incensed. "I've already told you! I'm going with someone else!"
As she stormed off, Ron couldn't let it go. "She's lying," he said flatly.
"She's not," Ginny responded, not trusting herself to say more.
His head whipped towards her. "Who is it then?"
'Don't tell him. Don't tell him. Don't tell him,' she thought to herself. Ginny took a breath. "I'm not telling you, it's her business."
Ron looked even more miserable than he had before. "Right, this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just–"
Ginny felt her heart drop. Here was her opportunity to go on a real date with Harry. There were just a couple problems. She wasn't the kind of girl who would hurt a friend the way she'd hurt Neville if she told him someone better asked her. Harry also hadn't actually asked her, and she wasn't willing to look at him and see if he'd shown any interest in the notion. And, as much as she fancied Harry, she respected herself enough to not be his last resort.
That didn't make it easier to turn it down though, and she felt her cheeks reddening rapidly as she fumbled over her response. "I can't. I'm going with– with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought… well… I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She paused briefly. "I think I'll go and have dinner."
She stood and walked out the portrait hole, adamantly refusing to look at Harry. If only he'd asked her sooner, or shown any interest at all… but she had to be honest with herself and acknowledge how tedious and annoying the waiting game got sometimes. Sure, she could keep waiting and waiting, but Harry was hung up on Cho and it seemed unlikely that he'd ever notice her. That wasn't going to stop her feelings though; it just made things hurt more.
As she walked off to dinner, she found herself wishing that the Yule Ball didn't even exist. It was stupid, and there wasn't much point in going to anything like this in the future since Harry wouldn't ever want to go with her.
It felt very nice to be going to a Yule Ball, not just with Harry, but with an enthusiastic Harry. They'd both changed a lot since the first Yule Ball, both personally and in their relationship, and she was beyond excited to make new memories with him tonight.
She arrived at the Room of Requirement and found that Luna, Mia, and Demelza had already let themselves in and gotten started working on their hair and makeup.
"Took you long enough," Demelza joked when she entered.
"Were you with Harry?" Mia asked teasingly, drawing out his name exaggeratedly.
"She usually is," Luna interjected, and Ginny shrugged.
"Luna's right, I usually am."
The door behind her opened once again, and Astoria walked in, carrying several bags with her. "Sorry I'm late! I've never done one of these before and just– well, I wasn't sure what I should bring, so I brought everything," she said, dropping her bags on an open table.
Ginny dismissed her apology. "No problem, we're just having fun with it. Feel free to use anything that any of us brought, and if you're missing something, the room can usually take care of it."
"I've heard about that. I've never actually been up here before though. How does it work? Do I just ask the room for what I want?"
"Just thinking it is enough," Ginny replied.
A second later, a large mirror appeared on the table Astoria had set her begs on. She grinned. "That's so cool!"
It was a lot of fun having girl time with some of her best friends. Granted, she'd only really become friends with Astoria in the last couple months, and she and Mia hadn't ever been too close before this year, but it didn't matter. They'd all gone out of their way to help Ginny in the recent past and shown their care for her. She'd do anything to return the favour, which was part of the reason she'd suggested they all get ready together.
Besides, it was also fun to see these different people interacting socially. Mia, Luna, and Astoria all knew each other as leads of Defence but didn't really socialise beyond that, and Demelza only knew of Luna and Astoria without knowing either personally before today. In a small way, this felt like what Professor McGonagall had talked about at the start of the term– unifying people beyond houses. Three Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw, and a Slytherin getting ready together for a Yule Ball– who would have thought?
The time seemed to pass by very quickly too. They took turns styling each other's hair, which admittedly did take more time than necessary due to a competition to see who could create the most ridiculous hairstyle. Luna ultimately won when she somehow got her hair to stick straight up in all directions, looking like she'd had a run in with a Hinkypunk.
Realising that time was beginning to dwindle, they did work faster, styling their hair– seriously this time– before helping each other put on makeup. Astoria helped Ginny with hers, but she refused to do much.
"You really don't need it," she assured her sweetly, making Ginny smile gratefully.
Quicker than she would've expected, they were all ready to change into their dresses, and, sensing their need, the room created five dressing rooms that already held their dresses for them. Ginny entered hers first, smiling as she saw the dress she'd picked out with Hermione.
After they'd left WWW's reopening, she and Hermione had left the rest of the family because Hermione had really wanted to help her pick out a new dress. They'd searched in Diagon Alley, but when they didn't find anything that really fit what Ginny was wanting, they converted some Galleons to Muggle money– Hermione handled that– and they began browsing in Muggle shops.
Ginny had been surprised to find a much wider variety of options in the shops they visited, and it didn't take long at all for her to find several different options, which she modelled for Hermione, who gave very honest feedback. They decided on a deep purple strapless dress with a slit running up to Ginny's thigh that she proudly thought made the dress a little extra racy.
"Yeah, I don't think you're gonna have to worry about Harry looking anywhere else at the ball," Hermione had said with a knowing grin.
Ginny was soon changed into the dress and rejoined her friends outside the dressing rooms, marvelling at how great they all looked in their dresses. Luna was wearing a bold, bronze-coloured dress, and Ginny wouldn't have expected anything less from her. Interestingly, Astoria was wearing a soft yellow dress with a complicated series of straps at the top, making Ginny wonder if Owen would be wearing any green at the ball. Mia and Demelza had decided to forego dates completely, electing to go with each other instead, and they were wearing complementary black and white dresses. Mia's was mostly white and ran to the floor, while Demelza's was much shorter and primarily black, highlighting the contrast in their personalities quite well, in Ginny's opinion.
"You all look so beautiful," she told them and was met with four happy smiles.
"You don't look too bad yourself," Demelza replied with a wink.
With that, it was definitely time to go so they wouldn't risk being late. They hurried out of the room and began the trek down towards the Great Hall, still laughing about their hair styling competition and chatting with growing anticipation as they neared the ball.
When they reached the Entrance Hall, it took a few minutes to find their dates in the crowd waiting to be let inside the Great Hall. Noah found Luna first, likely because of how bright her dress was, and, just like when Ginny and Harry saw them in Hogsmeade, Luna awkwardly left with Noah.
Owen showed up wearing black dress robes trimmed with green, along with a green tie, and Ginny mentally commended herself for her accurate guess. It was adorable that they were wearing colours for each other's houses, and she noticed how Astoria seemed even more buoyant and happy when Owen appeared.
Then Harry was the only one they were waiting on. Ginny tried not to be too obvious that she was looking around for him, but she was relieved when Mia tapped her on the shoulder and nodded to the bottom of the far staircase. She turned and saw Harry looking for her, but he hadn't found her yet.
Even from afar, he looked very handsome in a deep green set of dress robes, and she wasn't even surprised to see that his tie was purple, assuming that Hermione had a hand in that. His hair was as unruly as ever, a wonderful reflection of how unpredictable he was. And then his eyes fixed on her, and, even though they weren't close at all, she could almost feel the warmth from his intense look of love.
He walked over to them, a little slower than Ginny would've liked, but she forced herself to be patient and wait for him. When he did finally arrive, he opened and closed his mouth a couple times, apparently trying to find words.
"You could start by saying she looks beautiful," Demelza suggested loudly, making everyone else laugh since they were all apparently watching.
Harry blushed crimson but nodded. "Yeah… she does– you do look beautiful."
Ginny grinned. "Thank you, Harry. I think you look very handsome. I like your tie," she added, reaching out to feel the silk.
"I like your dress," he responded quietly, slowly looking up and down it hungrily, making her limbs feel a little tingly before he took her hand and kissed it.
"Seems a little formal," she quipped even though she didn't mind at all.
He shrugged. "You deserve to be treated like royalty."
Now she blushed deeply and glanced behind her to see Astoria, Mia, and Demelza all suddenly seem very interested in their shoes. All three of them were smiling though, and Owen didn't even bother hiding that he was listening in, grinning happily at them.
There was a bit of a commotion at the doors to the Great Hall, but Ginny realised that it was the doors opening when she saw students start streaming in and heard music coming from within. Without hesitation, Harry extended his arm, inviting her to take it. She slipped her arm through his, finding that she was enjoying the formality of the occasion more and more.
The decorations inside took her breath away. It was like someone had taken the decorations from the first Yule Ball and decided that all that was missing was more of it. Everywhere she looked, she was in a winter wonderland of frost and snow and light. Glittering tinsel lined all the windows, while holly and garland brought colour into the otherwise white room. Ice sculptures of various magical creatures lined the walls, and twinkling lights, both from the ceiling and the lanterns on the tables, completed the picturesque image of the Great Hall.
The six of them sat at a table together and were treated to a delightful feast featuring roast goose, making it really feel like Christmas even though the actual day was almost a week away still. And it was just so fun to be laughing and talking with her friends without a care in the world. This was what parties and celebrations were supposed to be about. Then the music started playing again and the first brave couples took the dance floor.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
It had taken Harry practically no time at all to get ready, especially once he'd resigned himself to, once again, not being able to do anything to fix his hair. He pulled on the new set of dress robes Hermione had gotten from Twilfitt and Tattings. When he'd told her that she could just get whatever she thought would be good if she wanted to be involved with dressing him, she'd been a little offended, until he'd explained that it was typically easier for him if she was involved. Once she was assured that he did value her opinion, she'd quickly jumped into work and had no hesitation using the vault information he'd given her to finance her trip to Australia to purchase the robes and a tie. He hadn't bothered asking about the colour when she'd given him his outfit last weekend. Based on Hermione's previous help with fashion, he thought there was a good chance Ginny would be wearing purple.
He saw that he'd guessed right when he reached the Entrance Hall and finally found her. Perfect didn't even begin to describe her. He almost felt like he was floating as he walked to her, completely drawn in by her indescribable beauty. The dress was stunning, of course, and made her body look incredible. But he was even more fascinated by the waves she'd worked into her hair and the way her freckles somehow stood out even more against her nose and shoulders. And her eyes– they were just so full of joy and life and love that it took everything in him to not smother her in front of their friends.
"You could start by saying she looks beautiful," Demelza said, interrupting his appreciation of his girlfriend, but he nodded and went along with it, even though beautiful wasn't anywhere near enough to cover what he was looking at.
Their dinner had been excellent, and he was impressed by all the decorations, even though he was paying less attention to them this time around now that he didn't feel incredibly awkward with his date. They had a great time with the other four at the table, laughing and sharing embarrassing stories about their younger years at Hogwarts, of which Harry thankfully had several that didn't involve life and death situations.
He was in the middle of cracking up as Owen told them about an older friend of his who missed Hogwarts and thought it'd be funny to come back with him this year by hiding in his trunk when the music grew louder, interrupting the conversation and drawing all their attention to the centre of the hall. Several couples quickly appeared on the dance floor, but most people were in their seats still, more interested in hanging out with friends than dancing. Harry empathised deeply with that, but there was some oddly primal part of him that was very excited to dance with his girlfriend in front of everyone.
He caught Ginny's eye and tilted his head toward the dance floor in an unspoken question. She nodded but then didn't stand up. Recognising the need for an invitation, Harry stood first and extended a hand.
"Would you care to dance with me?"
Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him, very pleased with the request. "Absolutely."
Ignoring the wolf whistles and jokes from their friends, they walked to the dance floor and easily stepped into a waltz. The song that was playing was actually one they'd practised extensively with, and Harry felt pretty comfortable with it. Then the next song was close enough that it was easy to keep pace, and he found himself barely thinking about the steps at all, which wasn't hard to do when there was such a distracting sight in front of him.
"By the way… I wanted you to know that beautiful doesn't even begin to do justice to how amazing you look tonight. It's honestly taking a lot for me to form complete sentences right now because I feel like the luckiest bloke in the world, getting to dance with you."
She smiled so brightly that he was almost convinced that the rest of the lights in the room dimmed by comparison. "Imagine how I feel. I had to wait a very long time to come to this dance with you after I turned you down the first time."
It took Harry a second to understand what she meant. "The first– oh… you know, I'd almost forgotten about that. I guess I didn't really think Ron was serious when he suggested it."
"Well, it wasn't easy to say no. But I wasn't gonna do that to Neville… and I didn't want to go with you if you didn't really want to go with me. I wanted to be your first choice," she said with the tiniest touch of pain in her voice– the kind that could only have been acquired through endless periods of longing– and it touched Harry's heart deeply.
"You were right… and a hell of a lot smarter than me. I really, really respect you turning it down now, you know? Like… that's the girl I fell in love with– the one that doesn't ever hurt her friends and the badass that recognises her worth."
She was still smiling, but her cheeks and chest were a little flushed. "Besides, the waiting was worth it, I think. I don't think I could be happier than I am here with you now."
"And you'll always be my first choice for everything… forever," he promised.
She slid her hand from his shoulder to brush against his hair lightly. "Forever," she agreed.
Somehow, now that they were dancing together in front of everyone, it came easily. So easily that they were able to carry on a full conversation, talking about Luna's mysterious love life and the budding romance between Astoria and Owen. They got excited about their upcoming plans for the Christmas holiday, which started with getting back to the Burrow tomorrow. But a lot of the time, they just appreciated looking at each other, almost carrying on conversations through nothing but their eyes.
They were interrupted exactly once, as the tune changed to a very upbeat song. He noticed Emily laughing as she watched her friends, including himself and Ginny, dancing. She looked happy, but nobody was dancing with her.
"One second," he whispered to Ginny, squeezing her hand and nodding his head at Emily. Ginny's already gentle gaze softened even more, looking between him and Emily. She just nodded and stepped off the dance floor. She didn't move too far though, watching him as he walked over to Emily, who seemed surprised to see him standing in front of her.
"Why aren't you dancing with Ginny?" Emily asked, a hint of concern creeping into her voice.
"I needed to change dance partners for a song. D'you know anyone who'd want to dance with me?"
Emily's eyes brightened. "I would!"
Harry laughed. "Well then, may I have this dance?"
"Yeah!" Emily replied happily, taking his outstretched hand and letting him lead her floating chair to the dance floor.
Their dancing wasn't refined in the slightest. A lot of it consisted of Harry spinning Emily around because it made her laugh. They didn't follow any beat, and he was sure they looked ridiculous. But they both were laughing and smiling for the entire song.
"You'd better get back to Ginny before she steals you back," Emily giggled after the song ended.
Harry grinned. "You're probably right. But thank you for a lovely dance, Miss Emily," he replied, bowing exaggeratedly before giving her a wink and returning to Ginny, who hadn't moved from the spot she'd taken next to the dance floor. Her eyes seemed to be shining.
"I don't think I've ever loved you more," she whispered quietly to him, hugging him incredibly tightly.
Harry smiled into her hair. "In that case, I'd love to keep dancing with you."
Ginny didn't need any more encouragement. They stepped out onto the dance floor and easily resumed their dancing from earlier. His and Ginny's smiles and looks at each other had somehow grown even more heartfelt and caring, and Harry didn't want to ever stop dancing.
As they danced, they saw Astoria and Owen dance near them for a bit as well as Luna and Noah, although it seemed like Luna was leading him in a dance to a song nobody could hear, including him. But Harry knew he and Ginny must've danced for a really long time when he noticed that they'd outlasted pretty much all the couples who had started out at the same time as them, which seemed odd since he didn't feel tired at all.
"We've been dancing for a while," he commented to her.
"Do you want to stop?" she asked, and he saw a flicker of worry in her eyes.
He shook his head immediately. "Not one bit. I don't ever want to stop being with you."
Her eyes blazed at that, and they continued dancing, enjoying every possible second of this magical Yule Ball. At the end of the night, the band played one final slow song, and several more couples joined them on the dance floor for this one. After all the more elaborate ballroom dancing, Harry was grateful to have a song that they could just hold each other close and sway to. Because as much as he enjoyed dancing waltzes with her, his favourite dancing would always be what they were doing now, even though it wasn't a perfect ballroom dance.
His hands were gently placed on her lower back, while she held her hands together behind his neck. And it was like nothing else in the world mattered. She was the sun, and he wanted to spend every possible second basking in her radiance.
"You know how you said you felt so lucky getting to dance with me?" Ginny asked suddenly, with a bit of a twinkle in her eye.
"Luckiest bloke in the world," he responded with a nod.
"Well… how lucky would you feel if you kissed me?" Ginny asked, biting her lower lip hopefully.
Harry grinned. "Mistletoe. That's what was missing from the decorations."
Ginny scrunched her eyebrows together, confused as he pulled his wand out, and, in a bold gesture rather unlike him, wordlessly conjuring a sprig of mistletoe that hovered above them. Now she smiled brightly at him, understanding why he did that.
"To answer your question… somehow, I'd feel even luckier. Only one real way to find out though."
He started bending down and she met him halfway in a soft, loving kiss that still made his breath hitch and caused bells to ring in his ears. Unaware of everything around them, he pulled away slightly and couldn't help but smile at Ginny's fluttering lashes and slightly parted lips. Merlin, he loved her.
"It's official. I feel even luckier," he whispered before bending down to kiss her again, not caring if every single Hogwarts student, professor, and ghost saw. He wasn't about to waste a second of this.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
A/N: I'm a little biased, but I think this Yule Ball was a lot more happy and fun for Harry and Ginny than the last one was! Something really compelling I've found, particularly in writing this year at Hogwarts, is how Harry and Ginny are able to almost redeem memories and events for each other through doing things together. The Yule Ball was pretty miserable for Harry in GoF, but now, it's an incredibly happy memory. Going to Slughorn's parties was painful for both of them in HBP, but going together makes it more fun. Things like that have been a lot of fun to write, and there's definitely some more coming up!
I've said before that I've written so much that it's not possible for me to remember every detail, and I'm having a lot of fun rediscovering these relationship growth moments that happen on the periphery of where we're focusing our attention. In this chapter in particular, we get a glimpse at how close Mia and Demelza are as well as how Astoria and Owen's relationship is progressing through nothing but the clothes they're wearing, and small things like that feel important to me when Harry and Ginny are the focus. The boring way to convey information like that would be for characters to just sort of spout exposition about how well things are going or whatever, but I like to look for ways to change things up while still conveying the same message and hope that gets across even when I don't call it out! Again, I'm biased, but I do think there's plenty of small details mentioned that are more noticeable on reading a second time. At least, that's been my experience and what I've heard from people who have read everything more than once, which does admittedly make me rather proud.
Harry and Ginny learning to dance before the ball felt like such a sweet idea that I couldn't really shake, and I'm very happy with how it turned out. I feel like I should clarify that they're still not good dancers by any stretch of the imagination. They've grown more comfortable and confident in dancing with one another, which was really the point of it, but just for clarity, no, they did not become ballroom dance experts in the span of a week haha.
I'm really just calling out small things at this point, but I also wanted to make a point of saying that Ginny's assumption about Harry being worried about money when he asks her to not buy the WonderWitch makeover thing isn't indicative of a problem in their relationship. Even though Ginny's been using their vault for the past four-ish months, money is still a bit of an insecurity for her and her whole family, and something like that doesn't necessarily change overnight. So when Harry tells her to not buy something, her immediate thought is that it reminds her, sadly, of things she couldn't buy when she was a child. Of course, Harry isn't concerned about that at all, and I just wanted to be sure to mention what was going through Ginny's mind in that moment.
And that'll wrap up my notes for this chapter! I am so happy that WWW is open again, and Harry and Ginny have officially made it through their first term of growth! We'll be taking a break from Hogwarts for a couple chapters now, but trust me, the magic isn't going away! I will say that I'm sorry for this really, really vague teaser for Chapter 14, but it's my favourite non-spoilery line from the chapter, and I promise it makes a lot more sense when we get to it!
Coming Friday: Heart and Soul- Duct tape was honestly like a kind of magic.
P.S. I saw the news just before I posted, and I'm absolutely devastated about the passing of Maggie Smith. In my writing, I feel like I have images in my head of the characters that aren't their movie versions. In my mind, Harry isn't Daniel Radcliffe and Ginny isn't Bonnie Wright, but every time I write a scene with McGonagall, I'm seeing and hearing Maggie Smith. She was a legend, and I hope I honour her embodiment of the character in my writing because her presence was unmatched in the films. Wands up.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Finnspa: Very happy to hear that married life is treating you well and hope that continues for a very long time! Definitely an interesting take on Astoria, but, then again, it wouldn't really be a mystery if all the answers were obvious! We both know I can't say anymore about it right now haha, but I do like the willingness to be suspicious of everyone!
Guest123456: That's so crazy! My first ever Hinny fic was also Ginny Weasley and the Half Blood Prince! I think I've talked about it before, but I was sort of under the misguided assumption that all fanfiction was super skewed from canon. That was mostly based on a friend of mine who is very big into Dramione and Marauders fics, and so I just avoided fanfics altogether for forever because I didn't want anything to ruin how I viewed my favourite book series. I randomly came upon a recommendation for GW&HBP in a Reddit comment, and I was drawn to the idea of a different perspective on the books, especially through the eyes of my favourite character, and I was immediately hooked. I feel like I owe a lot to that first fic for literally changing my life. I've spent so much of the past fifteen months in this fanfiction world that I never would've created if that first fic hadn't been so amazing, so I'm very, very happy that I was able to bring you back to it through that memory of Ginny's and I hope you keep enjoying our visits to that year through her memories in the future!
Scrappy: Haha I make very few promises when it comes to my writing because I think I subvert expectations in a lot of ways and don't want to give anything away, but I will never, ever have Harry or Ginny actually cheat on each other or break up. Which I guess means I can't ever use this Polyjuice trick again, but it does sort of lose the impact after the first time I think.
Merendino and Flutterbye: Like I mentioned in the last A/N, I really didn't know how big the mystery would be when I first started writing ToG. I had a loose plan for it based on the structure of the book, but the mystery just kept growing and opportunities kept presenting themselves for me to weave them into this story. At this point, a lot has happened, and there's very few answers, which is definitely frustrating to Harry and Ginny, but it makes things very exciting for me when I know where we're going from here! I will say that by the end of this book, I believe everyone will be very satisfied and impressed with how the mystery played out. I'm biased, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong!
qUg060: I've gotta keep you all on your toes from time to time haha! You make some really good points about how easy or difficult the Polyjuice would actually be to make. I think you're right on both of your points there. The difficulty with acquiring ingredients for it in their second year feels very much like a function of them just being too young to actually go out and buy it rather than the ingredients being too complicated. I also really like the theories you have on the mystery and possible motivations behind it. It would certainly change things quite a bit if Harry got in trouble for using the Cruciatus on Amycus, and I think Harry would be nervous about that if he actually thought about it. Kingsley would definitely do his best to keep him out of Azkaban though! But you're absolutely right, there's still tons of loose ends, and tying them up, in this book and future books, is very fun for me!
With Romilda, Harry and Ginny think she didn't know, but they're not totally sure, which means we're not either. But to be honest, I can't feel sorry for her anyways… if she thought it was really Harry, she thought she was kissing someone else's boyfriend, which is just so wrong but very much what we'd expect from her. With the wand… it's not specified, but I'll say that Dennis took it with him when he took Jasper to McGonagall because I don't really have another explanation lol. And with the bat-bogeys, my thought was more that they just wore off eventually rather than someone helped her because I find it hard to believe anyone would sympathise with her after that.
Ginny and Harry's futures are so, so exciting to me. Because I really do want everything to be a surprise, I can't say anything more than that, but I do promise, being almost 20 chapters into Book 3, that you all will love it!
Nightwing: I just wanted to call back to your comment from Chapter 11 again because I couldn't say anything at the time, but I'm very happy that you were wanting to see Emily and Harry dancing together and hope it was as fun to read as it was to imagine!