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Secrets and Slugs | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, Humor Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 36 Summary: While at the Burrow over Christmas holidays, Harry struggles to keep his feelings for Ginny secret, Ginny learns to let go of her secrets, and everyone is burping slugs with Fred and George’s newest invention. Sequel to "The Not-So-Lucky Potion" Hitcount: Story Total: 15221; Chapter Total: 3666 Author's Notes: Sequel to "The Not-So-Lucky Potion." This started as a missing moment, but grew into multi-chapter fic (4 chapters total). It's set immediately after Christmas at the Burrow in Harry's sixth year, but before he returns to Hogwarts (i.e. between chapter 16 "A Very Frosty Christmas" and chapter 17 "A Sluggish Memory" in HBP) |
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Bill, Fleur, and Lupin left the Burrow early on Boxing Day. Percy and the Minister’s appearance during Christmas lunch had cast a pall over the day for everyone. Percy had stormed out of the house with mashed parsnip splattered on his face, leaving Mrs. Weasley in tears. Mr. Weasley left shortly after, muttering something about needing to take care of some business for the Order. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and the twins had a subdued lunch with Mrs. Weasley, after which she set Ron and Harry to work on peeling potatoes for dinner that night while she went to run errands in Diagon Alley. Harry and Ron were standing alone at the kitchen sink, peeling a mountain of potatoes in silence. Snow was drifting past the window in front of them. Fred and George lingered to tease Ron about Lavender for a short time, but had decided moments ago to head to the village pub to flirt with the Muggle girls one more time before they headed back to their flat. “Gits,” said Ron darkly, watching Fred and George setting off across the snowy yard. “Would’ve only taken them ten seconds to peel these potatoes with magic and then we could’ve gone too.” “I couldn’t,” said Harry. “I promised Dumbledore I wouldn’t wander beyond the wards while I’m staying here.” “Oh yeah,” said Ron. Harry watched him look out the window again. He wondered if some time with the twins and a few Muggle girls might encourage Ron to move on from Lavender. “Why don’t you just go? I can finish these up while you’re out,” said Harry. “No, I don’t want to ditch you here with nobody home,” said Ron. “Ginny’s here. I’ll be fine,” replied Harry. “You can still catch them if you go now!” Ron bit his lip, fighting an internal battle with himself for a moment. Then he ran to the bottom of the stairs. “Ginny! I’m going to the pub with Fred and George!” he shouted. “Get down here and help Harry with the potatoes!” Ron came back in. “You sure you’ll be ok?” Harry nodded. He was secretly looking forward to another conversation with Ginny. “You’re ditching him here with all the work?” said Ginny, appearing at the door. “I told him to go,” said Harry. “Better go now, or you won’t catch up!” “Right,” said Ron, grabbing his cloak and running for the door. “Thanks, mate!” Ron slammed the door behind him. Ginny gave Harry a small smile and walked over to the sink. “You don’t have to help…” Harry started, stepping back to make room for her at the sink. “No, I want to help,” she said earnestly. Her fingers lightly brushed his as she took the peeler from him. Harry felt goose bumps erupt on his arms at her touch. She moved next to him, leaning against the large farmhouse sink and picked up a potato. They peeled in silence with Harry sneaking glances at her from the corner of his eye. She was wearing a midnight blue Weasley sweater and jeans. She had rolled up her sleeves, and he could see a few freckles on her long, thin arms. He caught a waft of the usual flowery scent of her fiery red hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail today. He looked down at the sink suddenly feeling awkward. They had talked so easily at the party, but now that they were truly alone, he had no idea what to say to her. As if reading his mind, Ginny spoke without looking up, “Thank you for the Chocolate Cauldron at Slughorn’s party.” “You’re welcome,” said Harry, suppressing a smile and trying to sound nonchalant. He felt a rush of excitement at the realization that she’d known he’d sent her the treat. “Did you enjoy the rest of the party?” he asked with a furtive glance at her. “Yes, I did,” she said politely. Harry nodded, unsure of what to say next. “Did you Confund Dean at Slughorn’s party?” she asked casually, as though asking about the weather. Harry’s potato slipped out of his hands and fell into the sink. He quickly picked it up. How could she know? “Why do you think I Confunded him?” Harry returned in what he hoped was a calm tone. “Because Dean left to get a drink, you cast a spell on McLaggen to keep him away, and then Dean returned without a drink and the idea that we were talking about Quidditch,” said Ginny lightly. She paused and looked at Harry, who did not look back at her. His face was heating up, and his mind was racing. He knew she’d suspected something at the party, but she still had no proof that it was him. “Seems like Dean is a little forgetful,” he said, avoiding her eyes. “Seems like a bit more than that, don’t you think?” she asked. “He seemed fine to me,” replied Harry, a little more stiffly than he’d intended. Ginny set down her potato and turned to face him. “I won’t be mad at you, Harry,” she said gently. “You’re a friend of Dean’s. I know you’d never curse him with malicious intent.” Harry’s stomach clenched. He hated lying to her, but he felt panic at the idea of admitting he’d Confunded her boyfriend for no good reason. He turned and looked into her big brown eyes, willing his face to stay impassive. “I’m sorry, I can’t help you,” he said, shrugging. He noticed a golden locket resting on her chest. He’d never seen it before. “What’s in the locket?” he asked, partly out of curiosity, but mostly out of a desperate need to change the subject. Ginny immediately put her hand over it, slightly taken aback. “Oh, it’s nothing sentimental. Mum makes me wear it. It’s a location locket.” “What’s that?” he asked, grateful to be talking about anything except Confunding Dean. “It’s a way to communicate without a wand. With Voldemort out in the open now, Mum wants Ron and me to be able to reach her if we’re in danger,” she said, tucking it into her sweater. “So how does it work?” he prodded. He sensed that she wasn’t very excited about it. “Mum cast a Protean Charm on it with a few modifications, similar to how the DA coins work,” she explained. “All I have to do is hold the locket in my fist and concentrate on a short message. Then, her locket will get hot and, when she opens it up, it will show a picture of my location on one side of the locket and the message on the other side.” “Does Ron have one, too? I haven’t seen him with a locket…” Harry replied. Ginny let out a humorless laugh. “No, he refuses to wear it! But Mum doesn’t seem to mind as long as I’m wearing mine. ” “Why’s that?” asked Harry. He knew Ginny’s parents could be a bit overprotective, but he’d always thought that was simply because she was the youngest. Ginny raised her eyebrows as if it were obvious. “Tom,” she said shortly. Harry didn’t understand. “Does she think Voldemort is going to target you because of the diary?” “No, she just doesn’t trust me to take care of myself. I let Tom possess me and drag me into the Chamber, so...you know,” she said hollowly, trailing off. Her tone was casual, but Harry noticed her knuckles were white and she was digging into her potatoes more aggressively now. They’d never discussed Harry rescuing her in the Chamber or the aftermath of her possession by Voldemort. She’d always been too embarrassed to talk to him about anything. But Harry hadn’t sought her out either, as he wasn’t too keen on reliving the experience. He’d had too many other problems to worry about at the time. “Voldemort has tricked many wizards,” said Harry, concerned that she was blaming herself. “There’s no way you could have--” “I know, Harry,” she said sharply, cutting him off. “But that doesn’t change the way my family sees me.” Harry considered her for a moment. She was taking larger chunks out of the potatoes as she went on and was dropping them more often. He’d never thought about how Ginny’s parents treated her compared to her brothers. “How do they see you?” he asked. “Don’t worry about it, Harry. It’s just the hazards of being the youngest and only girl in the family,” she said with a smile that looked more like a grimace. Sensing that she may get defensive if he continued to press, he decided to take a different approach. “Sometimes I feel like the Order doesn’t trust me to take care of myself, either,” he said with difficulty. He didn’t like talking about himself. “They completely isolated me after Dumbledore realized that Voldemort and I can share thoughts. It was like they’d thought I’d betray them just by knowing information. But Voldemort tricked me anyway in the end…” Ginny looked at him meaningfully. He expected her to urge him not to blame himself for Sirius’ death, like everyone else did. Instead, she surprised him by sharing a little more about herself. “After I’d been possessed, I felt so foolish and...almost dirty. Like I was damaged irreparably. But I didn’t want to tell my family because they already thought I was so weak. It was like I had to pretend nothing had happened, so that everyone else around me would feel better,” she said quietly. Harry nodded. He understood how she felt. He’d tried to put on a brave face after Cedric and Sirius had died. He knew his friends cared, but their concern could be oppressive at times. “I know how that feels,” said Harry mumbled. It was hard to put into words what he meant, but Ginny nodded. “My parents worried about me because I didn’t make a lot of friends first year,” she said slowly. “When I came back second year, everyone had already formed their cliques and most of the Gryffindors in my year thought I was a little weird...probably because, well, you know.” Harry nodded again. Spending first year possessed by Voldemort was not a recipe for building lasting friendships. “I made a few casual friends--like Neville, Luna, and Hermione,” she continued. “I spent a lot of time with Fred and George. But I realized I didn’t want any close friends--not in the way you’re close with Ron and Hermione. I didn’t want to confide in anyone ever again.” Harry felt a stab of guilt for not reaching out to her that year. “Ginny, I--” “I didn’t want to talk to you, Harry,” she said sharply. “I was too embarrassed to even be in the same room as you because...I thought Tom told you all of my secrets.” For the first time in years, Harry saw Ginny blush as she looked down to hide her face. It had been a long time since he’d seen this side of her. “He didn’t tell me anything,” he reassured her gently. “He just talked about his obsession with me.” Ginny gave a wry smile. “I should have known he wouldn’t be able to help himself around you.” “Nobody can. I’m just so charming,” he smirked. She bumped him with her hip and giggled teasingly. Harry felt a swooping sensation in his stomach and grinned at her. “Anyway, my parents didn’t think I was adjusting properly since I never had any close friends,” she explained. “I told them I was happy with the friends I had, but they didn’t believe I knew what was best for myself then and they still don’t now. I don’t think I’ll ever get that trust back.” “But you’ve got plenty of friends now,” said Harry, surprised that this would continue to dog her so many years later. “Fred and George really helped me learn how to be myself again over time, but I think my parents see my confidence as recklessness,” she said with a shrug. “Everyone thinks I’m reckless, too,” said Harry with a hint of bitterness in his voice, thinking vaguely of Hermione’s constant words of caution and her insistence that he get rid of the Prince’s book. He supposed Ginny didn’t like the book either, but it was clear that her misgivings were influenced by her experience with the diary. This book was obviously not a Dark object. Ginny sighed and started piling the peeled potatoes into the buckets that Mrs. Weasley had left on the counter. “Wow, we finished really fast!” said Harry, flexing his fingers. His hands were starting to get sore from all that peeling. “Of course! I peel much faster than Ron,” she said. “Now let’s go do something fun! Talking about Tom is a real downer.” “Quidditch?” Harry suggested. Nothing made him feel better than flying. Ginny’s face lit up and she let out a squeal of joy that made Harry laugh. “I’ll meet you by the broomshed in 5 minutes!” she shouted over her shoulder as she ran out of the kitchen. ~*~ Harry and Ginny didn’t have enough people to play a match, so they decided just to play catch with an apple from the orchard. It was an unusually cold day in December. There was already quite a bit of snow on the ground. The sun was shrouded by heavy, dark clouds. A light but cold wind cut at them as they darted through the air. Harry pulled his cloak closer to him, hoping to warm up after they moved around a bit more. Ginny must have been cold too, as she was blowing on her hands between throws. She rubbed the apple between her hands, getting ready for the next throw. She wound up and released, but Harry could tell right away that it would be wide and went into a dive. Harry caught it easily, just before it hit the ground. “Show off!” Ginny called to him, grinning. “Make a good throw, so I won’t have to work so hard!” he laughed. He tossed the apple back to her and she caught it easily. With a mischievous grin, she wound up again and threw the apple to Harry’s right, forcing him to dive again. Harry caught it easily with a smug smile. “Bet you can’t get this one!” He gave her a short throw, and she dove forward, just barely catching it. “My broom’s too slow for such steep dives!” she giggled. “You’re doing just fine. How did you learn how to dive like that?” asked Harry. She was an excellent Chaser, but he knew she was also a great Seeker. “Dean and I taught a few friends how to play Quidditch during my fourth year. They always made terrible throws, so we were always diving all over the place to fetch the Quaffle,” she said, still giggling. Harry felt a stab of annoyance at the idea of Ginny playing Quidditch with Dean. He was a decent player, but Harry doubted Dean was good enough to catch anything that wasn’t thrown straight to him. Ginny was too good at Quidditch to be hanging around with someone like Dean. “Let’s trade off with my broom and see how many in a row we can catch,” he called, as Ginny circled above him. He would show her how much fun it was to play with someone at her own skill level. They took turns diving and catching the apple. Harry threw in a few tricks on his broom to make Ginny laugh. Ginny was remarkably good once she was on the Firebolt. Harry had a hard time making her drop the apple. He started flying ahead on her Cleansweep to make it easier for him to throw the apple farther. It was Harry’s turn to catch the apple again when he felt a tingling sensation run through his body. He shuddered. “Did you feel that?” Ginny’s face was no longer bright and carefree. “We passed through the wards protecting the Burrow. We should go back.” Harry looked back toward the wards, exasperated. He could see them shimmering slightly if he squinted. They hadn’t ventured very far from the Burrow. He guessed there were barely 50 yards away. “But don’t you want to try some tougher dives? There’s barely enough space to do the easy ones in there!” Harry complained. He was eager to pull off a really difficult dive for her “Of course I do, but Mum already doesn’t trust me to take care of myself. If she catches me out here, she’ll have kittens,” she replied without much conviction. “But you’re with me,” Harry smiled, circling Ginny on his broom and bumping her playfully. He knew Ginny would see through this. The reason why they had to go back was because she was with him at all. Ginny laughed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t think she will be reassured to know that I’m wandering around with an underage wizard who can’t do magic if danger strikes!” “You’re right. I don’t have any experience with dangerous situations,” said Harry. “Not a daring bone in your body, I’m afraid,” giggled Ginny, playing along. Harry suddenly recalled Ginny’s desire to go on an adventure with Felix Felicis. He might not be able to take her on a proper adventure right now, but he could at least give her a little fun before they went back. “Give me one more throw. Make it a really tough one, and then we can go back,” said Harry. He was sure she’d take him up on this compromise. Ginny smiled. Harry could tell she wanted to keep going, too. She flew ahead of him, along the boundary of the wards toward a tree sitting on a hill overlooking a lake. She turned back to Harry and shouted, “Ready?” Harry turned his Firebolt toward her and tightened his grip. “Ready!” Ginny wound up and threw the apple as high and as far as should could toward the tree. As soon as the apple left her fingers, Harry took off on his broom. Her throw was a bit stronger than he expected, and he had to lay flat out on his broom to close the distance between him and the apple. As he got closer to the tree, he moved into a steep dive with his hand outstretched. He would catch the apple just as it fell through the tree branches. Maybe he would add a flip to make it look more dramatic... Inexplicably, Harry chanced a glance backward to see if Ginny was watching. In that moment, the apple slipped through his fingertips. Harry was so surprised that he pulled out of his dive late. THUMP! A tree branch collided hard with Harry’s chest, unseating him from his broom. He felt a stabbing pain in his ribs as it knocked the wind out of him. Disoriented and gasping, he groped blindly for his Firebolt, but came up with nothing. Twigs and branches scratched at his face and cloak as he fell toward the black lake below. Shielding his face with his arms, Harry took a deep breath and braced for the impact that came like a concrete wall. The icy water stung like a thousand needles piercing his skin. The chill ripped through his body and straight to his heart, causing him to involuntarily gasp. He swallowed water, burning his lungs as he clamped his mouth shut and exhaled through his nose. His cloak flew up over his head, weighing him down and blacking out the light. It settled around him like a vice. He didn’t know which way was up, and he could barely lift his arms to swim under the weight of the cloak. He kicked hard, but the cloak made it impossible to tell if he was getting anywhere. Harry started to panic as he unclasped his cloak and tried to disentangle himself. It was getting harder and harder to kick as the cold penetrated his legs. It was overtaking his body quickly, making his limbs stiffer and heavier the more he moved. His lungs were starting to burn with the need for air. He wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to hold his breath, but he knew he must keep fighting. |
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