The Masked Ball by HarryGinnyDestiny
Summary: You are cordially invited to the 372nd Annual Ministry of Magic Masked Halloween Ball!
Tired of being recognised everywhere he goes as ‘The Boy Who Lived’ and ‘The Saviour of the wizarding world’, Harry decides that at this years Halloween Masked Ball he’ll go that extra mile with his disguise, so he won’t get hounded by the press all evening, or stalked by fan-girls all night.
Tired of being recognised everywhere she goes as ‘the star seeker of the Holyhead Harpies’ and ‘The daughter of the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Magic’, Ginny decides that at this years Halloween Masked Ball she’ll go that extra mile with her disguise, so she won’t get hounded by the press all evening, or stalked by fan-boys all night.
What could possibly go wrong?
Rating: R
Categories: Alternate Universe
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2020.12.01
Updated: 2022.11.04
Index
Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – Let’s Be Other People.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2 – The Masked Ball
Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – When Harry Met Ginny
Chapter 4: Chapter 4 – Total Honesty.
Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – An Unexpected Proposal.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – A Series of Unfortunate Events
Chapter 7: Chapter 7 - Rita Skeeter’s Revenge!
Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – Let’s Be Other People.
Author's Notes: This story is AU piece that takes place in a universe where Ginny didn’t break up with Dean until after her time in Hogwarts, and she never realised Harry’s feelings for her.
This was actually a Challenge idea I was proposing for the month of October to Celebrate Halloween, but the Challenge Story had already been decided before I submitted my idea. (I often email suggestions for Challenge Stories) It’s based on the tvtropes ‘Masquerade Ball’ trope, a story set at a masked ball where everyone's identity is sufficiently obscured for any number of misunderstandings.
I am a huge fan of this type of story, and have read loads ranging from Lily and James falling in love during a masked ball, not realising their true identities till later, to similar themed stories with Draco and Hermione, Harry and Draco, Ron and Angelina, but very few with Harry and Ginny, though none of them really compared to the Lily / James ones I utterly adore. This is probably a very overused and overdone clichéd fiction idea. But here’s my unique take on it.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1 — Let’s Be Other People.
“You know what your problem is, Red?” smirked the blonde-headed girl. “You just need to get laid!”
Oh, here we go again! Ginny thought. Not more than five minutes in the door, and this conversation was starting again.
“Honestly, Ginny! It’s just sex! Everybody does it!” chimed in the dark-haired girl.
Ginny shook her head. Her two flatmates were at it again!
“I don’t want to know!” she replied, “Please keep me out of your sordid little schemes, especially the ones revolving around boys!”
“You have to get back on the Hypogriff, sweetie!” Continued Susanne “How long’s it been since Rupert or Ralph or whatever his name was?”
“Randall,” said Ginny, feeling the bile now rising in the pit of her stomach “And I really don’t want to hear that man’s name mentioned ever again, thank you very much!”
Out of all the flatmates she could have chosen, of all the girls on the Holyhead Harpies team, why on earth did she have to pick these two!
“Well I don’t know how you can look yourselves in the mirror in the morning, is all! I mean, a different guy every weekend? There’s a word for that!” Ginny scolded.
“Selfish?” grinned Marianne.
“Lucky?” chuckled Susanne.
“A scarlet woman!” stated Ginny.
The two girls burst into fits of laughter at that, clutching their sides and rolling around of the sofa like two giggling little school kids.
“Isn’t that three words, Red?” smirked Susanne, her face still flushed from all the laughing.
“Really, have you two no shame?” gasped Ginny.
“Honestly, Ginny! You need to lighten up!” laughed Marianne, the youngest of the three team mates. “Go out on the pull! Have a little fun! Live a little! You can’t go on hiding forever just because of a silly bit of gossip!”
“If by silly little piece of gossip” Ginny began, her temper flaring, “you mean the three pages of scandalous lies they printed about me the Daily Prophet, then, yes, I think I have a good reason for not…uhhh…going out on the pull, or, for that matter, go anywhere near members of the opposite sex ever again! Seriously!?”
It was now over three months since she had been out the front door, except to Quiddich practice and actual matches, and family meetings. The silly bit of Gossip the girls had been referring to was a three page ‘exclusive’ interview with her then-boyfriend, Randall McDuggan, a rather vile character who had swept Ginny off her feet, or so she had thought at the time, just to get his five-minutes of fame dishing the dirt on the star seeker of the Holyhead Harpies. And boy, could that man dish dirt! He was lucky to have only spent three days in St.Mungos’ after she was finished with him!
“All we’re saying, Ginny, is you need to get out more,” Susanne smirked. “Go on a few dates. Meet a few nice men. You don’t need to shag every one of them…but it helps!” she finished with a wide grin.
“Yea,” laughed Marianne. “Live a little! Just look at us, we’re out every weekend, a different guy on our arm! You only live once, sweetie!”
“Honestly! I just don’t know how you get away with it!” Ginny grumbled, shaking her head at them. “I mean, look at me? I go out with one guy since Hogwarts, who turns into a complete tosser, and have my love life practically plastered across the papers, while the two of you have guys left, right, and centre, and you’re never in the press! It’s just not right!”
The two girls glanced at each other, a wicked grin on their lips, then, stared at Ginny.
“What?”
“Should we tell her our little secret?” said Susanne, her grin spreading from ear to ear.
“What secret?” asked Ginny.
”Should we?” said Marianne, wearing the same smirk as Susanne.
“What secret?” Ginny asked again. “What??!”
“And THEN they said I needed to go out and get…get…LAID! I mean, what are those girls like! They’re a nightmare!”
Hermione was clutching her sides with laughter, while Ron looked quite nonplussed.
“And I hope you told them you would do no such thing!” he said, “No sister of mine…”
Ginny laughed. “Really, Ron, what do you take me for?”
Harry was laughing too. “Well at least someone’s having some fun these days! Mind swapping flat mates with me? Mine are like an old married couple!”
“Oh, no, Harry” Ginny laughed. “They’d eat you alive!”
“I happen to like the sound of that!” grinned Harry. “At least it would be better than my last few dates! They seemed to only be after one thing! And not the thing I’d have hoped for!”
Harry’s last few dates, if you could even call them that, seemed genuine from what he had at first believed. But he should have known better. It had always been like this since Hogwarts, since he defeated Voldemort. Not one girl had ever been interested in dating just plain old boring Harry. They all wanted a piece of ‘The Boy Who Lived’, or ‘The Saviour of The Wizarding World’, or whatever the press was calling him these days. Yes, he understood full well why Ginny was shutting herself away these days after the all that rubbish in the Daily Prophet. Indeed, the Ministry had to intervene on several occasions on his own behalf for the very same reason, stopping stories from being published just moments from printing, when many of his so-called dates, after just one dinner with Harry, had gone to the press with all sorts of wild accusations, all looking for their five minutes of fame.
There was one girl, Penelope Woods, who, after meeting Harry at a bar one night, and talking to him only briefly, had gone to the press the next day claiming to be pregnant with his secret love child! Then another, Juliette Fairfax, who Harry had met through the Ministry, who, after only two dates, had gone to the gossip rags, claiming to have ‘bedded’ Harry, and had planned on revealing their most intimate sexual secrets from their alleged wild nights of passion to the wizarding world at large, even though Harry had done no more than give her an innocent goodnight kiss. If only he could live, even for a day, as someone else. Just go out, meet a nice girl who didn’t see him as the ‘wizarding worlds most eligible bachelor’, as Witch Weekly had now started calling him, but as just as himself.
How he envied all those people, who could just be themselves and go out, and enjoy their lives without having to worry about the press analysing their every move, or their pictures being in the papers the next day. At this rate, he’d never find a nice girl, one who liked him for himself, not just for his fame or fortune.
“Oh, you haven’t heard the best part…” continued Ginny. “You know how you were asking why neither of them has been in the gossip rags, even though they’re both star beaters on the team. You’re going to love this!”
“What?” came a few of the voices around the table, intrigued to discover the next revelation, Ginny’s flatmates, and their atrocious behaviour, had been the topic of discussion at nearly all of these dinners.
“When they go out on the pull, or even to parties…they don’t go out as themselves!” Came her reply.
And then, a stunned silence, and a confused look on quite a few faces around the table.
“What?” gasped Hermione, the first to speak, “You mean they use… they use Polyjuice Potion? To pull Wizards? Oh my, well really! That’s totally wrong on every level!”
Ginny laughed “Well close, but not actually as bad as that!”
“So, what is it?” asked Neville, who had been listening to every word now with rapt attention.
“Well,” began Ginny, “They call it an ‘extreme witch makeover’! They change their hair colour, eye colour, and everything! They even change their complexion! They totally make themselves over, and get themselves all glammed-up, so that no one recognises them!”
“What??!” gasped Ron. “That’s bloody terrible!”
Harry laughed. He had been expecting something faaarrrr more devious, far far more dastardly, especially after all the stories he’d heard so far about Ginny’s flatmates.
“Yeah, Muggles do that!” said Harry, laughing again. “It’s not really that bad, they dye their hair blonde or red or whatever when they’re going out, put on makeup to cover their blemishes, maybe curl their hair if it’s straight, some even wear hair pieces, wigs, some get their teeth whitened, change their look, it’s really not that big of a deal!”
“Well, it’s a little bit different when witches do it, Harry. They use magic, after all. You should have seen Susan and Marianne after they showed me, I could hardly recognise them! Seriously!” said Ginny “I mean, they didn’t change their faces that much, but with a different hair colour and hairstyle, and a different eye colour, and you know how freckled Marianne is, she did a spell so that she wasn’t freckled at all! I would hardly have recognised her myself, if I didn’t know who she really was!”
Now THAT got Harry’s attention!
“Seriously? And you hardly recognised them?” he gasped. Wow! He thought, how awesome would that be? To be able to go out, to be able to have a little fun without everyone watching your every move, every action, pointing at you? Without being recognised. Harry liked the sound of that, and he wasn’t the only one.
“I don’t know? I am considering it myself?” said Ginny, a mischievous smile on her lips “They have asked me to go out with them next time they have a proper night out. I mean, we do have the Ministry Ball coming up in a few weeks, and while I wasn’t planning on going, I could be doing with a good night out. You know, one without everyone pointing and judging. One where I’m not Ginny Weasley, star seeker of the Holyhead Harpies, or Ginny Weasley, daughter of the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Magic! It would be good to have a little fun once in a while.”
Harry understood EXACTLY what she meant.
“Uh-uh, no way!” said Ron, shaking his head. “Sorry, Ginny. But you’re not going out with those…those trollups! You’re a Weasley! You have a reputation to keep! You know how mum feels about this stuff? She wouldn’t let me and Mione even move in together until we got engaged! Actually, I think she’d have made us wait till we were married until we even got passed second base, if dad hadn’t talked her down! She never really calmed down about us living under the same roof until we finally got hitched! And you’re her daughter! You know how she feels about this! All that ‘pure-blood family’ stuff and ‘traditions to uphold’ nonsense!”
“Don’t worry, Ron. I’m really not planning on shagging anyone!” Ginny laughed.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea!” Ron grumbled.
“Actually, I think it’s a GREAT idea!” grinned Harry. “And I think I’d like to try it too? So who’s all up for helping make me over? I could do with a night out or two where I’m not the centre of attention, one where I could mingle in the crowd and not get hassled every five minutes. Enjoy myself without the press watching my every move!”
Ron groaned. “Not you too?”
“Ron, I know how you feel about your sister’s honour and all that,” said Harry, “but you really don’t know what it’s like dating or meeting people these days, especially when you’re famous! You met Hermione in Hogwarts, and that was before either of you were big celebrities! It’s really hard. You do remember all that stuff she went through with that Randall slimeball? Or that Juliette nutter I went out with? How are either of us meant to find a nice guy or girl with our faces plastered over the papers every few days? But if we went out incognito we might meet someone nice who likes us for who we are, not what we are. Then, if we really hit it off with the other person, we can reveal our true identity, and just explain to them we’re just out in disguise to escape the press, and then hopefully see where it all leads.”
“Yeah, Ron,” said Ginny defensively “and we’re not talking about taking Polyjuice Potion, or changing how we look too extremely! It’s not like I’m really chubby, and I’m changing my appearance to make myself look like a skinny girl, or hideously ugly and changing my appearance to look pretty. We’re just talking about superficial changes here, hair colour, hair style, eye colour, and complexion, so we’re not recognised, we’re not talking about changing into completely different people!”
“Well, you have my support,” said Neville.
“And mine!” said Hannah, giving them her nod of approval. “I really don’t think it’s fair neither of you can really get out, and let your hair down once in a while, without being hounded by the press, or get weirdo fan-boys or psycho stalker groupies following you around all night!”
“Okay, okay!” said Hermione. “I’m in!”
“Can I just go on record as saying I think this is a really, really bad idea?” stated Ron, his arms crossed, looking thoroughly disapprovingly at his sister.
“Really, Ronald,” laughed Hermione, “what’s the worst that could happen?”
And that’s how it all began…
Chapter 2: Chapter 2 – The Masked Ball
Chapter 2 — The Masked BallTwo weeks had passed, and the night of the Halloween Ball had arrived, and over at Ginny’s flat all three girls were busy getting ready for the night of fun that lay ahead of them. Ginny had been last to arrive, spending longer than she had intended at Quidditch practice. The match with the Appleby Arrows was only a few days away, and Ginny wanted to make sure she was on top form for it. That last game with the Arrows had been the closest the Harpies had come to being beaten all year, and Ginny was taking anything for granted. She was so fixated on this upcoming match, she had also arranged a meeting with the Team’s Manager Gwenog Jones first thing tomorrow morning, to discuss strategies for the match. Ginny wasn’t planning anything from stopping her team’s current unbeaten run in the League this year.
She was only just through the door, and hadn’t even had a chance to take off her jacket, when Susanne immediately thrust a goblet of golden amber liquid into her hands.
“Quick Ginny!” she snapped. “Drink this! We don’t have time!”
Ginny was quick to obey, knocking the drink down in one go. “What was that?” she choked, her throat burning. “Was that the freckle-away potion you were going on about?”
“Nope” grinned Marianne. “It’s what Muggle’s call a ‘Cocktail’: Ogden's Old Firewhisky, coconut rum, Butterbeer with a splash of pineapple juice! We’re starting off this night as we mean to go on!”
And boy, were they serious! Within a few hours Ginny was six cocktails down, and onto her seventh, and feeling very, very tipsy, while her two flatmates worked their magic on her appearance, wands and spells and potions and gels and mixtures and concoctions of all shapes and sizes, simmering and boiling and bubbling away, applied with precision, as the two girls painted their masterpiece on her canvass. And when they were done, and Ginny at last got a chance to see their creation, she gasped at her reflection.
“Impressed, Red?” smirked Susanne
“Wow!” she grinned “I look amazing!”
“Only one last thing missing” laughed her flatmate, throwing her a small black mask, just large enough to cover her eyes.
“It is a masked ball, after all, but we don’t want to cover up ALL our good work!”
Ginny fixed the mask in place, and grinned at her reflection. Yes, she thought, tonight was going to be a VERY good night.
Meanwhile, over Harry’s place, Hermione was hard at work, putting her finishing touches in place to Harry’s disguise. She had arranged it beforehand for Ron to be helping George at the shop. It was best to keep him out of the way, so he didn’t see what they were really doing. He would be leaving for the Ministry Ball from there, and be meeting them at the Ministry Ball later. He was in enough of a mood this week over Ginny going through with this make-over idea, she really didn’t need to hear any more of his rants, especially if he found out she was helping Harry do it too. Still, almost there, she thought. Only one more spell, and her creation would be complete. She had left the hardest till last.
“Hold still, Harry!” she said, her wand poised close to Harry’s forehead, ready to begin the final phase of his transformation “I want to get all this finished as soon as possible, just in case Ron decides to come home first and notices I’m not there, you know he doesn’t agree with all this! He’s already gone nutters on Ginny for actually going through with it! You know what he get’s like. Now, let me know if it hurts, okay?”
Harry nodded, and then, she began her final spell. Slowly and steadily she worked, tracing her wand carefully across Harry’s lightning-bolt scar for a first, a second, third, and a fourth time, muttering the spell to ensure the effect, her transfiguration performed to perfection. She took a step back, and grinned at the result: not one trace of the lightening bolt scar remained visible! All that remained was what looked like a tiny brown birthmark, just above right eyebrow. She had to hand it to herself, she was a genius! She picked up the mask she had bought for him earlier, small and crimson and just enough to cover his eyes, she wanted to show off all her good work, not cover it up. She fixed it into place, and stepped back to admire her work. It was perfect!
“How do I look?” asked Harry nervously.
“See for yourself, Harry!” she chucked, passing him a small round mirror.
Harry gasped at the stranger’s reflection in the mirror. He had to admit it to himself, it was bloody perfect! Even he couldn’t recognise himself! I mean, he knew it was still him, same face, same cheekbones, same lips and all, but he looked so different. His hair, usually his signature messy black look, now hung in two smooth straight deep-red curtains across his face. His glasses nowhere in sight, now replaced by the contact lenses he had purchased earlier that week, but the finishing touch to this was a simple piece of elegant magic performed by Hermione on the lenses themselves, which made his eyes, which were once green, now look a shining sapphire shade of blue. He grinned at her masterpiece. It had taken hours of hard work to get to this stage, but it was worth every second. For tonight he would go to the Ministry Ball, not as ‘The Boy Who Lived’, nor as ‘The Savour of The Wizarding World’, nor even as ‘Harry Potter’, but as someone else entirely, and he liked that idea.
The Ministry Ball was already in full swing when Ron arrived. He had planned on going along with George and Angelina, but it appeared they had other plans for the night, heading off on a romantic evening for two somewhere in Muggle London. So instead he had spent the first fifteen minutes there looking around for his other half, and his best mate. He had expected them to be here already. With neither of them in sight, he decided to head to the bar, with the plan to grab a quick refreshment, and have another look around. Something he now regretted, as the queue for the bar was ridiculous. It was never like this when Harry was around, he always managed to get served no problem, no matter how busy the bar was.
It was when he had almost got to the front of the bar, trying to get the barman’s attention to order a Butterbeer, when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder.
“Hey, can I buy you a drink?” came the girl’s voice.
Ron turned to see who the speaker was, then blushed a deep shade of scarlet. The woman who stood before him was stunning. She had long straight raven-black hair, a wicked smile on her face, and a slim elegant figure-hugging black dress that left very little to the imagination.
“Ummm… No… I…” he spluttered “I have a girlfriend… errr… I mean wife… Hermione Granger… uhhh… I mean Weasley…and she’ll be here any minute! Look, I really don’t think that would be a good idea…”
The girl just laughed, her piercing green eyes shining with a glint of mischief.
“What’s up, Ron? Don’t you recognise your own sister?” she smirked.
Ron spluttered into his drink “Wha… what??”
Ginny grinned at his reaction. This night was going to be perfect! Ever her own brother didn’t recognise her!
It was half an hour later before Hermione finally arrived, a strange man by her side. She could tell by the look on Ron’s face that all was not quite right.
“Hi Ron, sorry I’m late,” she said smiling, trying to lighten the tone, “May I introduce you to James Francis Beckham…the Third” she added, almost as an afterthought.
“Alright mate” grumbled Ron, shaking the man’s hand. “Look, I don’t want to appear rude or anything, but do you think I could get a moment alone with my wife?”
The man nodded, grinning widely, and bid his farewell, before stalking off into the crowd.
“Who the bloody hell was that?” said Ron under his breath. “Bloody flash git! And did you see the suit he was wearing? Probably cost more than I make in an entire year!”
“What’s the problem, Ronald?” she asked, smirking at his jealous behaviour, which was quite funny considering who James Francis Beckham the Third really was.
“Well, I don’t like him.” He continued. “Bit of a poseur, if you ask me…by the way, where’s Harry?”
Hermione managed to stifle her laughter. “Oh, Harry’s not feeling well. He decided to have a night in, get an early night. That’s why I’m so late; I stayed with him for a while to see if he could make some potion or something, to help shake this bug, or whatever he has. I’m sure he’ll feel better in the morning. Now, what’s really got this worked up?”
Ron huffed for a while, and then, he was off on one, unable to contain his annoyance. “This bloody thing with Ginny, that’s what! I mean, it’s totally wrong on every level! You should have seen what she was wearing, Hermione! It’s just not right!”
Hermione rolled her eyes. Oh dear! Not this conversation again!
Harry left Ron and Hermione, arguing about who-knew-what this time, grinning widely at his best friend’s reaction. He had just passed the first test of his disguise with flying colours! Even Ron hadn’t recognised him in the slightest! And as for that “James Francis Beckham the Third” , Hermione was a bloody genius! Who’d have thought she could come up with a fake name like that on the spot! It was perfect, though he didn’t plan on keeping “the Third”. He chucked to himself. Tonight there would be no Harry Potter in sight, tonight he would be: James Beckham, and, possibly, ‘Jamie’ to his friends? He’d decide the details later. But for now, he just wanted to mingle, to meet new people, to make new friends, friends who didn’t judge him or want to be around him just because of who he was, and, hopefully dance with a few nice girls, ones who didn’t just want to get close to him because of the name, but for what he really was inside.
He walked through the crowd, and it was as though he had his invisibility cloak around him, as no one was pointing, no one was staring at him, no press were watching his every move, and it felt liberating. He did notice a few glances every now and then, a cheeky grin and a flutter of eyelashes, and even a few whispers and covert nods directed towards his location, a few groups of girls checking him out as he walked past. It was very flattering, not that he wasn’t used to the attention, but this time was different. This time they weren’t eyeing up ‘the boy who lived’ or ‘the most eligible bachelor in Wizarding world’, this time they were just seeing a wizard they found attractive, with no idea of his fame or fortune, and that felt good.
Harry was just about to turn, and head off in a different direction, when he was stopped by a slim red-headed girl, her face flushed in a deep shade of scarlet, glancing over her shoulder towards a group of giggling witches who were urging her on.
“I…ummm…hi…I…ummm…Look, I’m really sorry to bother you…I…wondered if I could…” she blushed an even deeper red. “Could I buy you a drink?” she finished quickly, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
“Only if you promise to give me a dance,” replied Harry, grinning widely.
Yes, he thought, tonight was going to be a VERY good night.
Ginny was having a wonderful time, she really couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to let her hair down like this, if ever. She had already danced with quite a few attractive guys, got a few Floo addresses, and even been asked out by several different suitors, though she never got the chance to take any of them up on the offer. As soon as any of the guys began to show any amorous advances, Susanne was quick to intervene.
“You can do a lot better than that, Red.” she smirked.
It soon became clear to Ginny that this wasn’t her flatmate being mean, she was just trying to let her see there were plenty more fish in the sea, and plenty of eligible bachelors here tonight, and not to grab the first frog that came her way, as she might miss out on a Prince. Indeed, she was starting to come around to Susan’s way of thinking. Merlin, she had almost accepted a date from Blake Cooper, a really nice guy who worked in Gringotts’, when only moments later, after Susanne had sent him packing, she was introduced to Marcus Ross, a rather handsome beater who played for the Cannons.
“You don’t have to jump the first guy who chats you up, sweetie!” laughed Marianne, “You’re out to have some fun, meet a lot of nice guys, and have look at the menu before eating!”
“Exactly!” grinned Susanne “After three months of shutting yourself away, you need to see what’s on offer first! Just imagine you said ‘yes’ to Blake? You’d never even have got the chance to meet Marcus, let alone got his Floo number! And who’s to say there isn’t someone even dishier for you here tonight?”
“I know, I know.” replied Ginny. “But let’s say I do meet someone here tonight?” she asked. “Someone I really want to see? I mean, really, really want to see?”
Susanne laughed at that. “Oh, Ginny! If that really happened, I hardly think we’d be able to chase him away! I mean, the guy’s you’ve met tonight have been nice and all, but if you really wanted one of them, he’d still be here!”
“How’d you work that one out?” Ginny huffed. “You keep chasing them away as soon as they even mention the word ‘date’?”
“Because...” laughed Susanne, “If you really thought any of them were really your Mr Right, and I tried to chase him away? You’d probably try to hex me!”
Ginny was laughing now, she could see the logic in that.
“So, what about the two of you?” she asked “Have you ever met someone you thought was your Mr Right? Out of all the different guys you pull every weekend? Surely there must have been one?”
“Well, I kinda met this guy once,” said Marianne smirking, “I really thought it was the real thing! He made my head totally spin, and I went all goosepimply at his touch, and I had butterflies in my tummy every time me looked at me! I mean, it was totally intense!”
“And?” gasped Ginny, “Go on, spill!”
“It turned out just to be food poisoning!” Marianne grinned.
“Merlin!” she laughed “Can you two ever be serious?!”
“We can when we need a drink, Red” smirked Susanne. “Another three cocktails, if you please! Chop chop!” she said laughing.
“Yeah, yeah.” laughed Ginny, “I know! It’s my round!”
“And remember not to use your real name if they ask!” reminded Marianne, “The press is all over this place!”
“I know! I know!” she called as she stalked off into the crowd, headed towards the bar, remembering the name Susanne told her to use: Jennifer. A name just close enough to Ginevra to remember it, close enough to her real name to know when someone was talking to her, the final piece of her secret identity. She loved that.
Meanwhile, over at the other side of the Ballroom, Hermione and Ron were still having the same argument they were having when the evening began.
"Oh for goodness sake Ron,” Hermione gasped “Can you please give this a rest? I came here to have a good time with my husband, not listen to this brother’s duty nonsense all night! Ginny's responsible enough to make her own decisions! Seriously! You're just being ridiculous now!"
“You never saw what she was wearing, ‘Mione’…” began Ron again, but he was temporarily distracted by a tall blonde bespectacled wizard who had just walked up to them, and seemed to be trying to get their attention.
"Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt.” began the blonde wizard, fixing his glasses, and looking very apologetic. “I just came over to say hello. Look, I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time?"
"Reginald!" gasped Hermione, "No, not at all! Ron, this is Reginald Clearwater, he's Penelope’s older brother! We work together at the Ministry. Reg, this is my husband Ronald. He wasn’t interrupting at all, was he Ron?" Hermione glared at Ron.
"Alright mate," Ron grumbled, shaking Reginald’s hand. "Sorry, we were just having a family discussion. It’s nothing to worry about."
“Good, good.” grinned Reginald. “I’ll just shout my wife over, then. She wasn’t sure about coming over, for some reason she thought you were having an argument?”
Hermione laughed loudly, trying to contain her annoyance. Did everyone here think they were having an argument? Merlin! She was positively mortified! Ron was in a lot of trouble when they finally got home.
“Julia, over here!” called Reginald, as a slim attractive witch with bushy red hair came sauntering through the crowd, she was wearing large horn-rimmed glasses that seemed to make her look like a bossy school teacher, but her bright red dress, which clashed with her hair, did nothing to complete that look. If anything, it made her look totally aloof. She reminded him of Luna for some reason.
“See, I told you they weren’t quarrelling!” he called as she arrived.
"So you're Percy's brother!" said the witch, grinning widely. “Don’t worry, there’s one in every family! We won’t hold it against you!”
"This is my wife Julia." said Reginald proudly, “She was actually hoping to run into George here, you know, your bother. Julia used to work in Zonko’s; product development, before they went under. She practically invented half the jokes in there! She’s a really talented witch.”
“Reg, you don’t need to…” began the witch, blushing profusely.
“No, I really do! Any wizarding joke shop would be lucky to have you!” he continued “Look, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to put you on the spot here, it’s just that, we keep asking Perce if he’d be able to arrange an interview, but you know what he can be like?”
“Yes, I know exactly what Percy can be like!” said Ron laughing. “By the way, you’re not the same Julia Clearwater who invented Nose-Biting Teacups, are you?”
Julia’s grin grew wider. “The very same!”
“Wow!” Ron laughed. “I was just at the shop today, helping George out. He’s seriously under-staffed. I’m sure he’d jump at the chance to have you working there! He’s always going on about your jokes, you know. He’s a huge fan!”
Julia blushed even redder, her complexion almost matching her hair colour, and soon they were deep in conversation about various joked and tricks and potions and sweets and powders that did the most revolting things.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pull her away now!” laughed Reginald, unable to get a word in, between Ron discussing new jokes George had planned, and suggestions from Julia on how to make them even more revolting.
“Maybe we should just leave them to it?” suggested Hermione. “I fancy having a dance or two. This is a Ball, after all?”
“I actually like the sound of that!” grinned Reginald. “As long as our other-halves don’t mind?”
“Be my guest, mate,” said Ron laughing. “Rather you than me!”
“Go, go!” Julia laughed, shooing them away. “We still have loads to discuss here.”
And, they did just that.
Harry had just managed to tear himself away from Charlotte, and her giggling group of friends, whom he had been talking to for most of the evening, and who had been plying him with drink at every opportunity. Merlin! He was starting to feel quite drunk! He was sure if he had stayed any longer she might have taken advantage of him, though part of him enjoyed that idea. She was very pretty. But he had bid his farewell, his noble streak still intact, though she had thrust her Floo number into his hand, which he gratefully accepted. Maybe he would contact her tomorrow, arrange to see her again? Maybe even take her out on a real date, but one as himself. He would love to see her face when she realised who he really was, and he would know she wasn’t just after him for his fame or any of that rubbish, because from their past few hours of conversations it was clear she liked him for himself.
He was on the way to the bar, where he had left Hermione at the start of the evening, when he noticed Ron chatting to a slim red haired witch. Harry had to laugh. When he had first been told about this fantastic make-over Ginny’s flatmates would be doing on her, he had expected something far more spectacular than this, something almost unrecognisable. But he could tell from a mile off it was Ginny! Same trademark Weasley red hair, the only difference was that it looked like she’s gone to Hermione’s hairdresser, and those glasses? What on earth had her flatmates been thinking? They did nothing to flatter her in the slightest. She should have let Hermione do the job, instead of relying on her flatmates, who were obviously not even in the same league as the smartest witch of her age. He was just about to make a detour, and go over and talk to them, maybe tease Ginny about how rubbish her disguise was, compared to Hermione’s brilliant job on him, when someone caught his eye... Harry turned, and suddenly felt like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, unable to look away, mesmerised by the beauty of the girl he had just seen. She was like a Goddess, he would have sworn she was part Veela, though no Veela he had ever met could even compare to her radiance. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
Ginny was at the bar, getting the next round of drinks in, when she caught a glimpse of Hermione on the dance floor, strutting her stuff with a bespectacled blonde haired wizard, who was obviously Harry! She had talked to Hermione earlier about what she had planned for Harry’s disguise, but she had expected something much better than this! She chuckled to herself, Harry would have been in much better hands coming over to her flat to get ready, she was sure Marianne and Susan would have made a far better job of his disguise than just changing his hair to blonde. Pathetic Potter! she smirked, was that the best he could do? She winked over at him as he looked her way, and was highly amused by the confused look he gave her. She glanced back at the barman, who was busy adding the finishing touched to the three cocktails she had just ordered, and was contemplating to herself on whether to go over and talk to them for a bit, maybe wind Harry up a little about how good her disguise was compared to his feeble attempt, when suddenly a strange feeling came over her that she was being watched. She turned slowly, looking behind her to see if her senses had deceived her, and then she saw him, her heart skipping a beat. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life, and he was staring straight at her.
The girl must have sensed Harry was looking her way, because she turned now to face him, a small grin on her lips. Merlin, she was gorgeous! She had long raven black hair, a smile that sent shivers coursing down his spine, and a slim elegant black dress that clung to her frame, leaving very little to the imagination. She took his breath away, his heart pounding faster and faster within his chest, and it was as though time had frozen between then; no one else existed in the room but they two. She continued to stare back at him, her grin growing wider with every passing moment, the same wide grin he himself wore. She gave him a small wink, her cheeks flushing scarlet as she did, and he knew right then and there that the feeling between them was mutual.
Ginny was still staring straight at him, daring him to look away, the grin growing wider on her face with every passing moment as they watched at each other, her heart beating faster and faster within her chest, but he didn’t look away, and that made her grin even wider. She gave him a small wink, unable to help herself, and he just grinned right back at her, running a hand through his deep red hair, and began to walks slowly towards her. Sweet merlin, he was gorgeous! She had never met this man in her life, but right then she knew she wanted him, badly. Maybe it was the way he looked at her, or the atmosphere in the air, or the fifteenth cocktail she’d just finished, or all of the above, but she knew if he came over here, and spoke to her, she wouldn’t be able to resist him, and why should she? She was a grown woman, why shouldn’t she have a bit of fun? She was tired of being so boring, so well behaved just to keep her family happy. Indeed, she was just able to resist the unbearable urge now gripping her, to just run through the crowd towards him, and throw herself into his arms. And on and on her walked towards her, almost there now, she couldn’t contain the excitement, the anticipation overwhelming to actually speak to this man, the most handsome man she had ever seen, who now walked towards her, who had taken her breath away.
Harry had almost reached her now, the grin on his lips mirrored on hers. Merlin! She was even more stunning up close, her beautiful emerald eyes shining with a glint of mischief, as she ran her fingers through her long dark hair. Something about her looked vaguely familiar too him, though he couldn’t place from where. But maybe he was just imagining that, as he was sure if he’d have ever met her before, he’d have asked her out on the spot. She was a Goddess, and even now, before they had even spoken two words to each other, he could tell he was falling for her. He was trembling as he now stood before her, and more nervous than he ever remembered being in his entire life. He opened his mouth to speak...
“Hi” he said, blushing as he spoke. “I’m James.”
“Hi” she replied, her face flushed too “I’m...errr... Jennifer.”
A masked ball, a night of mystery and romance, of intrigue and adventure, of mistaken identities, untold affections, and hidden desires, and, as Hermione so eloquently put it: What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – When Harry Met Ginny
Author's Notes: You may notice I am publishing the first three Chapters of this new Fanfic all at once. I wrote four Chapters of this story a while ago, but had been struggling to find a Beta for it at the time, so it just lay gathering dust. I recently dusted it off, and wrote Chapter 5 of it I a few short days, and I am working on Chapter 6 as we speak, as well as a few updates and new Chapters for a few of my other Stories, including 'The Lost Prophesy', 'Harry Potter - Season 8' and 'Kissing Lessons'.
It's really nice to be able to complete a lot of these stories, as it's been too long.
Enjoy!
Chapter 3 — When Harry Met Ginny
“We come bearing gifts!” said Ginny grinning, as she arrived back at her table with Harry in tow.
“We...?” began Susanne curiously as she turned, and was immediately struck silent as both Ginny and Harry came into view, carrying trays full of cocktails of all shapes and sizes.
“Ooooohhh..” grinned Marianne, “Who’s this, Jenny? ...and is he spoken for?” and she threw Harry a small wink as she asked.
“Girls...” began Ginny, grinning widely “I’d like to introduce you to James Beckham. He works as Flourish and Blotts. And as for ‘is he spoken for’, ummm... I.... ummm... I don’t know... are you?” she asked Harry that last part directly, a small sense off fear now rising in her.
“I don’t know?” said Harry grinning, returning her gaze. “I guess that’s up to you?”
“Well then,” said Ginny, turning back to her team mates, her grin growing even wider now, “If it’s up to me, then yes, he’s spoken for.”
“Good!” grinned Harry. “Then I’m spoken for.”
The two girls nodded, and they also understood from the look Ginny gave then, and the covert nod in the direction of her wand, which she was flexing warningly, that this one wasn’t to be chased away like the others, on pain of Hexes.
“Okay okay! We can take the hint!” laughed Susanne, “I guess we’ll leave you two lovebirds to it, shall we?”
“Oh, of course!” grinned Marianne, winking at Ginny, “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do, sweetie!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it!” laughed Ginny, and the two girls bid their farewell.
A few hours had passed before the two girls finally returned, both wearing their jackets and travelling cloaks, and getting ready to leave, and there was no sign of Ginny and her proposed suitor.
“Ahhhh... There they are, over there!” smirked Susanne, “Young love, eh?”
Marianne turned to see the new couple on the dance floor, locked in a tight embrace.
“I think we might have to prise them apart just to get a word in!” laughed Marianne. “Come on, let’s go and say our goodbyes!”
It took a while to catch their attention, and even longer to get them to break away from each other long enough to get a few words with their flatmate.
“Sweet Merlin!” exclaimed Ginny when she was out of Harry’s earshot, “I think I’m falling for him big time!”
“From where we’re standing, looks like the feelings mutual!” smirked Marianne “The way you both look at each other? Wow! I’m so jealous!”
“I’m really happy for you, Ginny” grinned Susanne, “Plus he’s frikkin’ gorgeous!”
“I know!” squealed Ginny, “He is, isn’t he!”
“Listen sweetie,” smirked Marianne, “We’re just getting ready to leave. We’ve just been invited to a party by some of the Cannon’s team! I wouldn’t expect us back till the morning!”
“Yeah, the last Cannon’s party lasted three whole days, so don’t worry, we won’t come back and cramp your style!” winked Susanne, “You should invite James back to the flat, you’ll have the place to yourself all night!”
“Shhhhh!” said Ginny under her breath, blushing heavily, “Not so loud!”
But Susanne just laughed at that, and then said VERY loudly —
“We were just saying to Jenny here that we’ll be out all night at a party, so you two lovebirds will have the flat all to yourselves!”
Harry blushed profusely at that, his red face matching Ginny’s, though that did make her smile slightly, noting inwardly that at least he wasn’t the type of guy that had been expecting that kind of offer. She waited for the girls to leave, and said her goodbyes, and then returned to Harry on the dance floor.
“Look, I’m really sorry about that!” she said, still blushing. “My flatmates are terrible! I’m really not that sort of girl.”
“Don’t worry about it!” laughed Harry, his face still flushed, thinking now about his good friend Ginny, who just happened to have two flatmates just like that! ”
Hermione was chatting to Neville and Hannah when she noticed them; Harry and the beautiful dark haired girl on the dance floor, locked in a tight embrace. Bloody Hell! She was all over him like a rash! She just hoped the girl in question was nice, Harry deserved a bit of luck on that front. Harry glanced over at her, grinning widely. She did feel really happy for him.
“Looks like Harry’s having fun!” she grinned, gesturing in his direction.
“Which one is he?” asked Hannah, being careful to check that Ron wasn’t around to hear.
“He’s the guy with the dark red hair on the dance floor, being a bit too friendly with that girl in the dark dress. Merlin! She’s all over him!”
“It looks like it’s mutual to me.” Grinned Neville, “She’s really pretty! Looks like Harry’s picked a winner there!”
Ron was on his way back from the toilet when he saw them, and his face was a mask of shock and disapproval at his sister, locked in the arms of that ponce Hermione had introduced him to at the start of the evening; Jack Percy Beckham the Third, or whatever his name was! Bloody hell, he was all over her! It was disgusting! Bloody flash git!
"People are looking," grinned Ginny.
"Let them! Have they never seen two people kissing before?"
"We are getting a little... carried away. Maybe we should take this somewhere a little more private" she teased, grinning up at him.
“I thought you said you weren’t that type of girl?” grinned Harry, winking at her.
“Sweet Merlin! I’m not! I just.... I just don’t want this night to end.”
“Me neither!” gasped Harry, “And for your information, I’m not that type of guy either.”
“I know,” smiled Ginny widely, “I wouldn’t want to if you were.”
“Well then,” grinned Harry, “I like the sound of that!”
"Do you trust me, James?" she whispered, staring into his eyes, green into blue.
"Yes," he gasped, staring into her eyes, blue into green.
And then, she wrapped her arms around him tightly and turned, and they apparated on the spot.
Ron arrived back at the table, his face a crumpled mask of fury and rage.
"Oh, what's up with you now, Ronald?" asked Hermione irritated. He had been a nightmare to be out with all evening.
"What's up!?” he growled “I'll tell you what's up! Ginny’s just left with some bloke!"
"She's... what!? That doesn't sound like her?” gasped Hermione, “I just hope she's careful."
"Yea, well, I’m really not happy about this! And you haven't heard the best part!” Ron went on, his face red with rage. "It was that ponce you arrived with: Rupert Paul Beckam the third, or whatever his bloody name was! It's just not right, Mione! No sister of mine…”
“Eh?” Hermoine looked utterly confused
“Rupert Paul Beckam the third! You know the bloke!” exclaimed Ron.
“Wait… What… Who...???” asked Hermione, looking thoroughly confused.
“That bloody ponce you arrived with!” Ron said again, his face growing redder with every word he spoke, “And you should have seen him! He was all over her like a rash! I'm really not happy about this. I mean, it's totally inappropriate!"
Hermione’s face was a mask of deep concentration, trying to figure out what Ron was actually saying. I mean, she did have an inkling of what he was trying to say, but no, that couldn’t be true. Harry couldn’t, he just couldn’t have left with...
"What did Ginny look like?” she snapped, “Describe her to me!" Hermione looked stupefied. She just hoped what she was starting to believe really couldn't be true. It just couldn't!
“I told you at the start of the night!” said Ron again for the fortieth time, “She had this tiny black dress on. I mean, it barely covered her! It was totally inappropriate!”
“Her hair, Ron.” demanded Hermione, “What colour was her hair?”
“Black!” said Ron, “Same colour as Harry’s, but I hardly see how that’s important? Her dress, Hermione, her dress! You should have seen it! I mean...It was totally...”
But everything Ron said after that point was lost on her. Hermione stared at the spot on the dance floor where they had both disapparated, her eyes growing wide. Oh bloody Hell! she thought Oh bloody bloody Hell!
Neville gasped. "You mean THAT was Ginny? And she left with..."
But Neville never got the chance to finish that sentence, Hermione kicking him under the table just before he could say the name.
"Ow!" He cried.
"What's up with you?" Ron asked, temporarily distracted, as Hermione gave Neville a glare as if to say "Don't you DARE say another word!"
“Nothing!” said Neville, “Nothing at all! I just...err had a bit of cramp in my leg!”
"Ron, could you please be a dear, and get me a drink?" Hermione butted in, giving Neville a menacing glare to silence him.
"But..." Ron protested
“Now! Ronald! And I really don’t want to hear anymore about this Ginny business, okay? She’s a big girl, she can look after herself” snapped Hermione. “Seriously! Give it a rest, okay?”
And with that, Ron stropped off, his face still bright red and fuming, in the direction of the bar.
“Oh bloody hell!” gasped Neville when Ron was out of earshot, “Out of the thousands of people here tonight, they had to choose each other to pull! What are the chances of that happening?!”
“Pretty slim, actually,” replied Hermione, deep in contemplation, thinking hard on what they should do about the situation.
“So what should we do?” asked Neville, looking panicked.
Hermione frowned deeply, contemplating all their options. And then, after a long pause, she gave her reply, a small smirk on her lips.
"Nothing" she smiled softly, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking..." began Neville, "We go after them and stop them before this gets too out of... wait! What did you just say? We do ‘nothing’?!"
"Yes!" grinned Hermione, "We do nothing! They got themselves into this mess! They are both big enough to sort out their own problems, so, we let them.”
“Don't you think that's a bit harsh?” gasped Neville, shocked at what he was hearing from the ‘smartest witch of her age’
“Nope, not really.” laughed Hermione “You do remember what we were saying about Harry and Ginny a few months back?”
“Yeah,” laughed Neville, “They're mental for each other!”
“Exactly,” grinned Hermione, “And what you said earlier about being in a room full of about twenty-thousand people; the largest ball in the Wizarding world; and out of all those people; out of all those thousands of eligible single witches and wizards; they pick each other to fall for? No, that's not chance, that's fate. So we leave it to fate to sort this out. Who knows, when they figure out who each other are, they might come to their senses!”
“But what if things go too far?” he asked, trying to convey the gravity of the situation.
“Really, this is Harry and Ginny were talking about here!” laughed Hermione “He's far too honourable, while she's far too sensible to let things get too carried away. What's the worst that could happen?”
“Well, going by the years of unrequited love and chemistry between them, quite a lot actually!” said Neville, still looking worried.
“Well then,” smirked Hermione, “Maybe we should bet on it?”
“Honestly!” said Neville, shaking his head, and looking thoroughly disapproving, “You know what, you're turning into more and more of a Weasley every day!”
They barely managed to catch their breath after apparating into her flat, and then, they were kissing again; even more passionately than they had been earlier. Being alone together, and without all the spectators staring their way, gave them a strange sense of liberation. She ran her fingers through his long red hair, as they kissed deeply, his warm arms wrapped around her, neither one wanting the kiss to end. They found a sofa, the nearest to them, and then they collapsed upon it, wrapped together, not planning to let go of each other any time soon.
She wasn’t sure how long they had been there, possibly hours now, their lips locked in each others, loving and perfect, his warm hands now running down her spine. She couldn’t even remember unhooking her dress, which now lay around her waist, exposing her bra, though she had a vague recollection of unbuttoning his shirt, which now lay open, exposing his smooth muscular chest, perfectly toned, rippling with muscles and...scars...that...looked...somehow...familiar. Indeed, one of them, the scar just above his heart, looked exactly like the one Harry had. The mark where Voldemort’s killing curse had hit him in the forest. The one he had got during the battle of Hogwarts. But, no, it couldn’t be.
She pulled back to look at him again, her mind reeling at this new revelation. No, it had to just be a coincidence. She looked at his forehead, but the small birthmark on his head was now slowly fading, her eyes going wide at what she was seeing, and in its place, slowly coming into view, like a photograph developing, was a scar; a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. No, it couldn’t be. It just couldn’t!
She stared into his eyes, and, slowly remembering how Hermione had said he had been in disguise too that evening, the reality of who he really was finally dawning on her. Oh sweet Merlin! It was Harry! It! Was! Harry!
She gasped, staring into his piercing blue eyes, now imagining how they would look in green, and how he would look with glasses fixed in place. The scar was now fully visible on his forehead. But before she could say anything, before she could tell him to stop, to ask what he was doing, he was kissing her again.
“Harry…” she gasped, groaning inwardly as he softly kissed down her neck. What was he doing? What the bloody hell was he playing at?
“Harry!” she said it again, a little louder this time, trying to get his attention. “What are we doing?” she gasped softly.
He pulled back, staring into her eyes once more, a look of confusion on his face. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? Didn’t he recognise her?
She glanced sideways at the mirror that hung on her wall, and saw her own reflection, and in it a girl she hardly recognised. And then, the awful truth came to her, now remembering the fact that she was in disguise too. That, and the fact that even her own brother hadn’t recognised her earlier. And then, before she could say anything else, his face came to the same level as hers, and he wore a cheeky grin on his face, and that made her smile back too, catching her off guard, and then, he was snogging her again. Oh my!
She knew she really shouldn’t be doing this, but it did feel so right, she could really get used to this. He was kissing her more passionately than she ever remembered being kissed before, more passionately than any guy she’d ever dated, his warm hand running down her back, sending intense shivers down her spine. Oh, Harry, she thought, Oh Harry… we shouldn’t be doing this…our friendship will be in tatters if we go any further…Oh, Harry, what are you doing to me?
“Harry!” she said again, more forcefully this time, using all of her willpower to push him back, staring earnestly into his face, trying to get him to make some sort of recognition. Hoping against hope that maybe he did know who she was, maybe wanted this too?
“It’s me!” she gasped. He looked at her confused, frowning heavily, “It’s… it’s Ginny…” she was able to finally get out, panting heavily.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4 – Total Honesty.
Chapter 4 — Total Honesty.“It’s me!” she gasped. He looked at her confused, frowning heavily, “It’s… it’s Ginny…” she was able to finally get out, panting heavily.
The frown on his face slowly dissolved, only to be replaced by a surprise, and then, a look of shock spread slowly across his face, mixed with horror, his eyes growing wider at each passing second. He hadn’t recognised her either! Oh bloody Hell, he hadn’t recognised her in the slightest!
“What the bloody Hell do you think you’re playing at!?” gasped Harry, pushing himself back away from her, looking thoroughly bewildered. “Seriously! What the bloody Hell!”
“Well, I was about to ask you the same thing!” she said in reply, the look of horror on Harry’s face mirrored on her own, “You really didn’t know it was me?”
“Of course not! Bloody Hell, Ginny! Of course not! What kind of bloke do you take me for? Oh, Bloody Hell!” Harry put his head in his hands. He couldn’t believe this was happening. One minute he was having the best night of his life with the most beautiful girl he had ever met, the next, this!
“Sweet Merlin!” gasped Ginny, a worried look now spreading across her face.
“Anyways, what the Hell do you think you’re doing anyways, inviting guys back to your flat like that?” said Harry angrily, “I didn’t think you were that sort of girl!”
“I could ask you the same question, Harry!” she threw back at him, “And I didn’t think you were that sort of bloke either!”
“I’m not!” he replied defensively, “It was...ummm... Anyways, it was you who dragged me back here, remember?”
“Well I don’t remember you doing any protesting about it?” she replied, “Anyways, I don’t think playing the ‘blame game’ is going to help here, is it?”
“Oh God!” groaned Harry, “What a mess!”
“This is REALLY bad, isn’t it?” she grimaced “I mean, this could REALLY mess up our friendship, couldn’t it?”
Her words hit Harry like a ton of bricks. He really hadn’t been thinking about that. Merlin! How would they even be able to face each other after this? How would they ever be able to still be friends after what had just happened between them? He glanced up at Ginny, sitting across from him, her dress around her waist, one bra strap almost hanging off her shoulder. Realising now how carried away they had been getting. Dear Merlin! They had been snogging for hours! The full gravity of what he had been doing, and with one of his best friends, not to mention his best friend’s sister, was starting to sink in. Sweet merlin! Their friendship was in pieces, wasn’t it! How could they have let this happen?
“I don’t want to lose you as a friend.” Harry said in a weak voice, a look of fear spreading across his face too. He wasn’t sure Ginny was listening, her face a worried mask.
No reply came.
“I said....” he began again.
“I heard you, Harry.” she replied softly, “I don’t want to lose you as a friend either. Merlin! We’ve really screwed up here, haven’t we?”
“Ummm… yeah, I think we might have.” said Harry honestly, “But on the bright side, I mean, at least we didn’t go, you know, too far. ”
“Sweet Merlin! I never thought about that! What if we had…” she gasped, her hands over her mouth in shock.
“I’m...errr... sure we wouldn’t have gone THAT far, would we?” he replied nervously.
Ginny bit her lip, unable to meet his eyes, still remembering how steamy things had been getting between them only moments ago.
Harry’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, Bloody Hell!” he gasped.”Oh, Bloody Hell!”
“Ummm…No, of course we wouldn’t have!” she replied, glancing at him for a second, before looking away quickly, blushing heavily. She was sure the look on her face deceived her.
Harry groaned. Merlin! What had they been thinking? Okay, well maybe there wasn’t a lot of thinking involved. But still, they should have both been sensible! How could they have let this happen?
“I’m sorry, Ginny. I just... Merlin! This is a huge mess, isn’t it? I just can’t believe we let this happen! I’m so sorry. I hope you don’t blame me for this?” He said worriedly, glancing up at her.
A moment of awkward silence followed, both unsure what to say to the other.
“To be honest, Harry, it was probably my fault.” Ginny relented, “If you’re going to blame anyone, blame me! I’ve just been going through a really hard time recently what with all the stuff that happened with that Randall sleazebag. My self confidence has been at an all time low as far as guys were concerned. And then, I go to this Ball, and then this handsome guy literally sweeps me off my feet...and...ummm... I really needed that, you know?” Ginny blushed, “Anyways, what’s your excuse? You know you shouldn't be going home with strange girls! What if I'd been some crazy stalker bimbo or something?! What were you thinking?”
Harry sighed.
“To be honest, Ginny, I really just wasn’t doing a hell of a lot of thinking.” He admitted. “And for the record, it’s been kinda the same for me. You remember all that nonsense I went through with that Juliette nutter? And I’m rubbish at all this relationship stuff. I only ever get girls who are interested in me for being ‘the boy who lived’ or ‘the saviour of the wizarding world’, or who see me as some sort of trophy! So, yeah, I was kinda swept off my feet too, especially by some stunningly attractive woman who liked me for who I really was, not just what she could get from me. You were very distracting, you know!”
Ginny blushed at that. “Ummm...thanks, I guess?”
“So what do we do now? You know, about our friendship?” asked Harry, “I mean, I really don’t want things to be awkward between us, Ginny. I value your friendship too much to lose you.”
“I guess we have to be totally honest with each other.” she shrugged, “You know, try to be grown up about this. I’m not going to lie, Harry, things are going to be really awkward between us for a while. I know we could lie to ourselves right now, and say we’ll be fine, but I think we both know after you leave here tonight, and we start dwelling on everything that just happened, things will be really awkward the next time we’re around each other. I mean, sweet merlin, we were all over each other, not to mention still half naked together!”
A moment of awkward silence followed, Harry trying his best not to look too much at Ginny, who still had her dress around her waist. That fact was still making it very hard for Harry to think straight. But no, he thought, they were talking about saving their friendship here, he shouldn’t be thinking about her neck, which he had been kissing softly only a few minutes ago. Or thinking about her body or the fact that... Sweet Merlin! He certainly should be thinking about that!
“What is it, Harry?” she asked, frowning slightly.
“Ummmm...nothing.” said Harry defensively, his face flushed red.
“It must be something?” she asked, looking worried, “You had a really strange look on your face just there. Do you... do you hate me for this?”
“No, sorry, it’s nothing like that, Ginny! Honestly! I could never hate you!” gasped Harry, still trying his best not to look at her.
“Well then, what is it?” she asked, looking terrified, “Total honesty, remember? We want to do our best to savage what we can of our friendship here!”
“I...ummm...it’s just that. Well...ummm... It’s just that...” Harry began nervously, “I can still see your bra!” he managed to blurt out, blushing profusely.
“Oh God, Harry!” she gasped, remembering her top was still half off, and covering herself with her hands, “I’m so, so sorry, you must be appalled! I mean, you probably think of me like a sister and all, and seeing me half undressed like this! Merlin! You must be horrified!”
“No! That’s not it at all! Bloody hell! I’m sorry, Ginny! Please don’t take that the wrong way.” he groaned, now feeling bad at her reaction.
“Then what is it, Harry?” she asked, a confused look on her face, “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
“Oh God” Harry groaned again, “Let’s not go there, okay?”
Ginny was getting more worried now. “Please, Harry. I need to understand! Total honesty, remember? Our friendship might be hanging by a thread right now. I just need you to be honest with me. It can’t be that bad, can it?”
There was another long silence between them, Harry trying to decide how best to explain himself, without making things even more awkward between them.
“I...ummm...okay, well, it’s nothing that bad. I’m just finding it really…ummm… hard to calm down over here… and seeing you… you know, like this… I think I probably need a cold shower,” Harry blushed again, “…or ten!”
“So,” said Ginny, feeling slightly confused, “You’re saying you’re not embarrassed by this because you just see me like a sister?”
“Oh God, No! It would probably be easier if I did just see you like a sister!” blushed Harry, “Sorry, it’s just that with…ummm…your bra on display and all… it’s making it really hard for me to think straight over here! Sorry...I...ummm...shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Merlin, Harry,” chucked Ginny at that, “It’s only a bra! You have seen me in a bikini before, you know!”
“Yeah, don’t remind me!” he laughed, “That was bloody distracting too!” Harry blushed again, sensing maybe he had said a bit too much, “I mean, what bloke wouldn’t be…you know… be distracted by that! Seriously! I am a bloke, you know!” he finished defensively.
“I… Merlin…I really don’t know what to say to that,” said Ginny, smirking a little at his confession, and feeling flattered somewhat, “I guess we did say we’d be totally honest? And for your information, you’re not the only one who’s finding it hard to calm down here! I mean, we were snogging pretty passionately before. I’m still trembling!” she blushed a little as she spoke “And I’m also not the only one in this room with my top half off! And, yes, if I’m being honest, I’m finding that thoroughly distracting too, Harry! Honestly, if I’m going to cover up, it’s only right that you cover up too!”
“Seriously?” he chuckled, feeling slightly relieved he wasn’t the only one feeling this way. “I thought I was the only one frustrated here!”
“Nope,” she smirked, “You had me pretty wound up earlier. I’m still pretty…ermmm… wound up too!”
“So it would be really bad if my shirt just fell off right now?” he flirted, unable to help himself. He was unsure where the words even came from, perhaps a thought in his head, but he was still surprised he had spoken it aloud. Damn it, Harry, he thought, you’re both trying to salvage your friendship here!
“Don’t you dare!” smirked Ginny, “Or I’m liable to jump on you again!” she laughed.
“Oh God! Don’t say that!” Harry groaned inwardly. “Seriously! I’m finding hard enough to calm down over here!”
“Sorry! I don’t know where that came from!” she laughed again, scarcely believing they were flirting with each other, especially at a time like this, or any time for that matter. “Anyways, you started it!”
“Sorry…” he replied, trying his hardest not to grin, and failing miserable, “I’ll try to behave.”
“Oh, you better!” she warned, though smirking heavily.
“So, ummm… how did you figure out it was me, anyways?” he asked, trying to change the subject, maybe they should try a little harder to calm down, and salvage what remained of their friendship. “I mean, I didn’t have a clue who you were.”
“Your scar.” she said simply
“My scar?”
“Yep, your scar.” she continued, “It started to appear. Didn’t Hermione warn you? Not all transfigurations last, depending on which spell she used. That’s when I realised who you were, and what we were doing! That’s when I called your name. Though it did take a while to get your attention” she blushed.
“Yeah, I did notice,” he said, turning red too, “Hey, wait a minute, you called my name a few times? Why didn’t you stop me right away?”
“I…ummm… I wasn’t sure if you knew who I was?” Ginny blushed an even deeper shade of scarlet.
“Wait, hang on a second, so if I had known who you were, you’d have wanted to keep going?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I…ummm…” her face was redder than ever now, her complexion matching Harry’s hair, “Let’s not go there! We’re trying to salvage our friendship here, remember?”
“I’m sorry,” said Harry, “I guess it’s probably a good thing the scar appeared when it did. Who knows how bad things would be now if we’d gone any further?”
“Honestly, Harry, I don’t think it would have made much difference how far we went! We crossed a line. The damage is done now, you know?” Ginny shrugged.
“Oh, now you tell me!” he chuckled, “If I knew that earlier, we could have had a bit more fun before we ruined our friendship!”
Ginny giggled at that, his sense of humour lightening her mood once more.
“Well maybe we could just put the masks back on, and forget who we really are a while longer?” she joked, “Though we’d have to pretend this last half hour never happened!” she laughed.
Then, silence. Ginny had expected a cheeky retort at that one, but nothing. She was just if she said something wrong, why he was frowning, when...
“Could we?” he asked in a small voice, a serious look on his face.
“Could we, what?” she frowned, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
“What you just said,” he asked tentatively, “Put our masks back on, and…ummm… forget who we are a while longer?”
“No! Of course not, Harry!” she laughed at that, “I was joking!” and then, in a small voice, “why, would you want to?”
“Of course not!” said Harry defensively, and then, “Ummm...why would you?”
Ginny bit her lip, Don’t you dare answer that question, she thought to herself Don’t you dare!
“Maybe?” she said in a quiet voice, blushing slightly, “If… if you want to?”
He didn’t need to give an answer, she could tell by the look that he gave her he wanted this too.
They each reached for their masks, unable to help themselves, both sensing what each other was thinking.
They fixed their masks back in place, then, smirked at each other. But before they got any further, Harry unbuttoned the last two buttons of his shirt, and let it fall to the floor, exposing his muscular arms and large budging biceps, and then winked at her.
“Oh, you’re in serious trouble now!” she laughed, her eyes growing wide, “You do know I’m going to make you pay for that? Don’t you, Potter?”
“Is that a promise?” he teased, “And for your information, the name’s James” he threw her a small wink at that.
“Why of course it is!” she grinned, “So, James, would you like to pick up where you left off?” she teased, licking her lips, and knowing soon she would be in his arms again, and back in Heaven at least for a while longer.
“Oh God, yes,” grinned Harry, and then, “I’m trembling here, is that normal?”
“I think so?” she replied honestly, “I’m trembling too. Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, really sure?” she asked again, scarcely believing what they were doing.
“Yes.” said Harry, “I mean, only if you are?”
“Yes.” she gasped, “Yes, I’m sure.”
And at that, they were in each other’s arms once more.
They had only been kissing a short time, no more than half an hour, when Harry broke off the kiss. Both panting heavily and trying to regain their breath.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, slightly worried, “You having second thoughts?”
“No, not at all…. I just wondered…” said Harry, “No, sorry, it doesn’t matter…Let’s just keep going.”
“No, Harry, if something’s bothering you, I’d rather you said. Total honestly, remember?” she said, “Do you want to stop this?”
“Merlin, No! That’s not it at all!” he gasped, shaking his head.
“Then spit it out then!”
“It’s just that. Ummm… I… can we try this with our masks off” he finally managed to blurt out.
Ginny smiled, she had been thinking of suggesting this too, though had tried to resist the urge to ask, as she knew this would be crossing a line.
“Okay, but only if we can use our real names” she whispered
He nodded, grinning back “That’s what I meant”
“Would you…ummm…like to change your hair back to black, then?” she asked tentatively.
“Only if you change your back to red” his grin grew wider, “I’d like that”
A few minutes of spell work later, and they were facing each other again, only this time as their real selves.
“Sweet Merlin, what are we doing?” said Harry, more nervous than he remembered ever being in his life.
“Second thoughts?” she asked tentatively.
“No, honestly, not at all. Just a lot more nervous that I thought I’d be right now.” He replied “But I’m still sure…if you are?”
“I think so?” she replied honestly, “Honestly, I’m really nervous now too. Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, really sure?” she asked again, scarcely believing what they were doing.
“Yes.” said Harry, “I mean, only if you are?”
“Yes.” she gasped, nodding her head “Yes, I’m sure.”
They moved more slowly this time, staring deeply into each other’s eyes, green into brown. Harry ran his fingers softly down her cheek, his eyes darting backward and forward between her eyes and her lips, as Ginny beamed back at him. No going back now, Ginny thought, it was clear from his expressions that he wanted this just as much as she did. Though Ginny, certainly more than Harry, was painfully aware that what they were doing now would have serious consequences. What they were doing now could very well destroy their friendship forever! Yet caught in this blissful sunlit moment, feeling Harry's warm arms around her body, his lips now mere inches from her own, she didn’t think she had the willpower to stop, even if she wanted to. Then their lips finally met, and they were lost in each other once more.
Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – An Unexpected Proposal.
Author's Notes: I had to chuckle at some of the reviews. One in particular, which said "I can think of a bunch of things that could go right and only a few that could go wrong". Well I can think of a million things that could go wrong, and they're all coming up in Chapter 6. But I'm sure a few of them will be obvious by the end of this Chapter. ;)
Massive thanks for all the great reviews so far. Enjoy!
Chapter 5 — An Unexpected Proposal.
They had no idea how long had passed, an hour, no more than two, though they felt like several sunlit days, their lips locked together, bodies wrapped in each other. Ginny was the first to break the deadlock, pulling back at last.
“I think we should take this to the bedroom, don’t you?” She whispered
“Are you sure?” asked Harry, looking nervous
“Yes,” she replied, and as much as she tried to hide it, a small tear slipped slowly down her cheek.
“If you’re so sure,” asked Harry tentatively, “Then why are you crying?”
“I'm not crying" she began, and then, "It doesn’t matter” she replied, shaking her head, “Let’s just go to bed, and we can figure it all out later”
“Hang on. I’m not so sure” said Harry, pulling back, and looking serious now. “Something obviously matters.”
Ginny sighed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again.
“You know what’s wrong, Harry!" She sighed again "We discussed this before…before we started. You do realise there’s no coming back from this?” she said. “Maybe before we took masks off, or when we were pretending to be other people, we could have put it down to too much alcohol, and getting caught up in the moment. But what we’re doing now.... We’ve both crossed a line.”
Harry looked suddenly fearful. This was perhaps the best night of his life, and yet, as much as he wanted to keep going, he really didn’t want to lose Ginny over this. Not with how he really felt about her.
“Okay, so what if we stopped now? You know, just pretended this didn’t happen, and try to salvage our friendship?”
Ginny laughed softly.
“Don’t be naive Harry, look what we’re doing! Friends don’t do this! We both know this will change things between us, Harry, and we shouldn’t kid ourselves it won’t!”
“But… I don’t want to lose you?” he said.
“And I don’t want to lose you either,” she sighed. “But if we are going to lose each other over this, whatever this is, let’s at least have this one night together. Okay? At least let's just have that?”
“And then?” he asked tentatively.
“Harry, let's not pretend this won't change things between us. I think we both know that, as soon as you leave here, things probably won’t be the same between us.”
“Well… then… What if I don’t leave?" He said, almost stubbornly
Ginny laughed at that.
“I’m serious!” he huffed.
“Well, then, my two annoying flatmates would probably get the shock of their lives! I mean, I’m not sure if you know this or not, but you’re just a little bit famous.”
“I mean it, Ginny” said Harry, “Look, if me leaving causes the problem, I can stay here for as long as it takes, days, weeks, however long, to sort this out. At least until we figure out a way of not losing each other?”
Ginny sighed
“Even if that were an option, which it’s not," she began, "I'm not sure my parents would be best pleased with that arrangement. You know how they get with these things! They were a nightmare even when Ron was staying overnight at Hermione’s flat, and they were practically engaged at the time!”
They sat for several long moments that seemed to stretch in time, both lost in thought. Harry was the first to speak, wracking his mind trying to find a solution, any solution, no matter how crazy, which would help salvage their friendship.
“And I don’t suppose getting engaged be an option?’ he laughed nervously “I mean, I know it’s a bit drastic, but I really don't want to lose our friendship.”
Ginny rolled her eyes.
“You planning on proposing right this second, Harry?” she said laughing at the insanity of the statement. She realised they were both still pretty drunk at this point, but even at that, this suggestion was utterly insane.
“If I have to….” said Harry stubbornly.
“Here we go! Trying to protect my honour, Potter? Bit extreme, don’t you think?” she laughed again.
Ginny shook her head at him.
“You know, Harry, you are really meant to marry someone you love.” she sighed.
Harry huffed.
“Well, so what if I do?” he replied defensively.
Ginny laughed at that.
“What? You love me? Since when?” she asked. “Since you saw me at the Halloween Ball? Dressed up like someone else? Yeah, right!” Yes, she thought, Harry has completely lost his mind.
Harry mumbled his reply.
“Sorry, Harry did you say something there…” she thought she heard his reply, mumbled as it was, but no, she had to be mistaken, because that would be utterly mental!
“Okay, Don’t get mad or anything…but…since my fifth year…” Harry said nervously
“What???!” she gasped. Yes, she HAD heard him right.
“I’m sorry harry I thought you just said since your fifth year, but that would be ridiculous!” she said, slightly angrily, a note of her temper rising. Surely he couldn’t be serious?
“Well… what if it’s true!” he said defensively, blushing slightly.
“Then, why in Merlin’s name didn’t you say anything before now? Oh, I can’t believe I’m actually hearing this!”
“Don’t be mad? Okay.” Said Harry
“Mad? Mad?? I’m not mad! I’m bloody furious! Seriously?! Sweet merlin, do you realise how much time we’re wasted??! Seriously??! I’m so angry right now I could Hex you!”
“Well, I'm just trying to figure out solutions to our...” began Harry “Wait a second, what do you mean by 'how long we've wasted'?"
It was Ginny's turn to blush now, as the truth about the depths of their feelings were slowly being revealed. Total honesty, she remembered.
"Is it not obvious, Harry?" She sighed, "I feel the same about you too. I just… I just never thought you'd ever see me as anything more than 'Ron"s little sister"
"You know, I haven't seen you that way for a long time" he replied.
"Yeah, well, that's becoming painfully obvious now, isn't it?"
"So, what do we do now?" Harry asked.
There was a moment of silence between them, both turning these new revelations over in their heads.
"Well, I suppose this solves the issue of losing our friendship,” replied Ginny. “Since we appear to both want far more than just friendship from each other"
“It certainly appears so” smiled Harry, feeling a bit more relaxed about the whole situation now.
“It certainly does”. She smiled back at this, and the air of tension between them slowly dissolving. “So, I guess we should probably have some sort of talk about what we are to each other? Or what we want to be to each other? Then move forward from there?”
“That sounds promising.” Harry chuckled. “So, I guess this means I don’t have to worry about proposing anymore?” he laughed.
“No, I don’t think so” Ginny laughed at that too. “Seriously I can't believe you were going to propose just to save our friendship! What would you have done if I said yes?”
“Ermmm… I'd probably have made the best of it I guess?” he shrugged. “Though it's really not how I pictured proposing to you…”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s not exactly how I pictured you proposing to me either, but then I...“ Ginny stopped mid-sentence, “Wait a second, so you've actually imagined us getting engaged!!? Oh, this keeps getting better and better Harry! Sweet merlin! Do you realise how much time we've wasted! Oh, I can't believe I'm here hearing this! It just keeps getting worse!”
“Well, it sounds like the feelings were mutual…” Harry noted observantly, “Since you just said it’s not how you ‘pictured me proposing either’.”
There was another moment of silence between them, the significance of these new revelations sinking in. Harry was the first to speak.
“You know, I could still propose, if you like.” Harry chuckled. “Especially since you keep going on and on about how much time we’ve wasted.”
“Oh, don't tempt me!” she replied laughing “You know, I am still pretty mad we've both wasted so much time here! We could have been married years ago...”
Another long moment of silence stretched between them. Don't say what you're thinking, Ginny, don't you dare say it, said the little voice in the back of her mind. But it just slipped out before she could help herself
“What would we do about rings?” she asked. “If we did do this?”
“Oh, so you are considering it!” Harry laughed, scarcely believing the direction this conversation, and they, were heading.
“Don’t change the subject!” she replied, laughing too.
“Okay…Well, hypothetically speaking, if we did do this, I always pictured giving you my mother’s engagement ring” Harry replied, getting serious for a moment. “I found it in my vault at Gringotts’ a few years ago, I found both of my parents wedding rings there too. But the engagement ring, it’s stunning! I think it’s probably a Potter family heirloom. It has a cluster of diamonds with a beautiful green emerald in the centre. Whenever I looked at it, I somehow always pictured giving it to you.... But, you know, if you’d prefer to pick your own ring, we could do that too.”
“No, Harry, I’d like that,” she sighed, a small tear in her eye. “Your mother’s ring. That would be perfect! I would be so honoured to wear it. And you’ve always pictured giving it to me? I really don’t know what to say to that.”
Another long moment of silence between them.
“Okay, so, are we doing this? Because it kinda feels like we are.” said Harry intently.
“Yes, I... I think so. But only if you’re sure” she replied. “But please, if you say it, make sure you mean it.”
Then, as if caught in a moment from one of her most perfect dreams, her deepest fantasies, Harry slowly got down on one knee, and she let out a small gasp.
Sweet Merlin, he was really doing this!
“Ginny Weasley..." he began
Don't say it unless you mean it, she thought. Don't do this unless you mean it.
“...will you marry me.”
He had said it!
Ginny’s mind had just jammed at those words. As if hit by a stunning spell, unable to form coherent sentences, her eyes wide, hand over her mouth in the shock of the moment, she was suddenly struck silent.
Several long moments passed in silence between them.
“Ginny…” Harry began, looking nervous.
“Errrmmm...Sorry…” she gasped. “Can you... please say that again? I’m sorry Harry….I just want to hear you say that again. Part of me still can’t wrap my head around you asking this. I mean, for real, not just in my twelve-year-old dreams.” she chuckled. "I promise you'll get the answer you deserve."
“Ginny Weasley,” he asked again. “Will you be my wife.” His heart pounding harder than ever in his chest.
And then, she said the only thing she could say, when asked that question by him.
“Yes” she gasped “yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”
And then they were kissing again.
After what felt like another sunlit day they slowly split apart, still staring intently into each other’s eyes.
“So, about taking this to bed...” she asked tentatively.
“Well, I was thinking about that,” he replied. "Maybe we should wait…”
“Harry, if you’re about to say ‘until we’re married’, you better be planning on marrying me tonight! Because, honestly, I don’t plan on waiting any longer! Not after you telling me you’ve wanted this since bloody fifth year, of all things!”
"No, I wasn't planning to wait quite that long." Harry chuckled.
“Good!” said Ginny smirking. “Because we’ve just gone from just friends to engaged within less than hour, so I’m not ruling anything out tonight!
“Yeah, I know what you mean! At this rate we’ll probably be Married by the morning!” laughed Harry. “Seriously, Ginny, at least we haven’t eloped yet!”
Ginny’s mind drifted for a second, though she could tell Harry was joking by that last comment, perhaps the alcohol still in her system, or the whirlwind of the nights events, and their confessions of their feelings for each other, or Harry's Proposal, a thought was slowly forming in her head that, as much as she tried to shut it out, it wasn't letting go.
“You know, my mum and dad eloped," said Ginny deep in thought. "Right at the end of the first wizarding war, I always thought it was so romantic”
“I was joking about eloping, you know” said Harry laughing.
“I know…” she replied. “I was just… caught in the moment… or something”
“My parents did too, you know.” said Harry. “I remember Sirius once telling me about it. It caused quite a stir at the time.”
“But it would be mental? Us just eloping.” continued Ginny, still lost in the moment. “I mean, wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t know” laughed Harry. “I mean, we have just decided to get engaged on our first date, if you can even call this a date. So probably no more mental than that!”
A long moment of silence stretched between them, both deep in thought.
“I would, you know” said Harry. “If you wanted to.”
“You would…” she said in a small voice.
“Well, yeah, I mean, I was joking about eloping.” said Harry still smiling. "But in all honesty, Ginny, it’s up to you. You're the one who keeps saying we've wasted so much time, and honestly, you are the only girl I ever pictured myself marrying" he finished sincerely.
Another long moment of silence stretched between them.
“Okay, before we go any further,” she said. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Ask me anything…” he replied sincerely.
“Okay, so, let’s say you told me how you felt about me in your Fifth Year.” Ginny began. “And we got together then. Do you think we’d be married by now?” she asked tentatively.
“Honestly?” said Harry shrugging. “Yes. I think we probably would be.”
“Okay, so then you have my answer” she replied smiling. “I kinda… think we should."
Another long moment of silence.
“So….” Said Harry. “We are really doing this?”
“I think so,” she replied. “But you have to be sure too! You know, we are still both pretty drunk here. I’m just a little worried you waken up tomorrow morning, and change your mind, or regret all of this.”
“Well, I’m more worried you waken up tomorrow and regret this.” he said honestly. “But I know how I feel about you. In all honestly, even if I was completely sober at this point, I would still marry you in a heartbeat”
“Okay.” Grinned Ginny. “So, we’re both on the same page. So, we’re really doing this! No regrets, okay?”
"Okay..." said Harry, and then. "Should we tell Ron and Hermoine?'
"No way!" she laughed at that suggestion. "They might try to talk us out of it! Or say we’re both drunk!"
"Well, we are both still a little drunk!" Harry chuckled observantly.
"Oi! Whose side are you on here, Potter? Mine or theirs!" she laughed.
"Yours of course. You are about to become my wife, after all."
“Your wife…” Ginny gasped, the reality of what they were discussing slowly sinking in. “You know, I do like the sound of that.”
"And I’ll be your Husband. You know, I do kinda like the sound of that too." He grinned, caught in the moment of it all.
"Good! Well then, let's hear no more crazy ideas! There's no way I'm letting those two gits talk us out this, no matter how insane this is!" Ginny laughed, caught in the moment too.
“Okay,” grinned Harry. “So, what’s the plan?”
It took them only a short time to pull their clothes back on, and make themselves look presentable once more. They shared a brief moment after both were fully dressed, and ready to travel, though no words were spoken, just a soft tender kiss. Then they were both ready for what the rest of the night had in store. First, they planned to Harry's home in Godrick's Hollow to collect the rings, and then, onwards on to Gretna Green to exchange vows. They took each other’s hand, and, grinning at each other and what they planned to do this night, and caught in the insanity of the moment, shared one final kiss before travelling, and at that, they both turned and apparated on the spot.
The next day…
Molly Weasley wakened up later than usual on the Sunday morning, spending an extra few hours tucked up in bed reading. It felt strange living in the Burrow after all her family had flown the coop, moving out into their own homes and flats. Ginny has been the last to leave, moving in with two of her Quidditch team mates which Molly didn't much approve of.
She missed the noise and ruckus of her children when they were still young, and living in her nest. Though they still had frequent visits from her brood bringing all of grandchildren to visit, as well as family gatherings, it was never like the rush hour traffic when her children were still at Hogwarts, and all under one roof.
Molly made her way slowly down the stairs, and began the usual routine of beginning to cook a very late breakfast for herself and Arthur. She was just tidying the last of the dishes away when she glanced up at the Weasley clock, and noticed something wasn't quite right.
The clock had been in the Weasley family for generations, and over the years had become busier and busier as her sons has all married, as had children of their own. She remembered the day of her son Bill’s wedding, when a hand had magically appeared for her new daughter-in-law Fleur Weasley on the clock. Then in the subsequent years other hands had magically appeared for Bill and Fleur’s children Victoire, Dominique, and Louis, always at the moment of their birth. Hermione’s hand had been the last to appear on the clock, on the afternoon of their wedding. However, this morning, something was amiss.
Molly scanned the clock, checking each of the names of her family, making sure every one of them was safe and accounted for. It was when she searched for Ginny, that it hit her. Ginny’s hand wasn’t there. She looked again and again, scanning every inch of the clock, checking that she wasn’t imagining things. Ginny had to be there! The consequences of her hand being missing didn’t bear thinking about. She scanned and scanned the clock, begging it to show her Ginny’s hand, and know she was safe, that she was still… No, she couldn’t think like that.
She remembered back to a much darker time in the family’s history, in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts, when she had come home to find Fred’s hand had magically disappeared from the Clock, and the reality of his loss had hit her that much harder. The only way Ginny Weasley’s name could be missing from the Weasley Clock would be if Ginny Weasley no longer existed, and there was only one logical explanation for that in Molly’s mind! If Ginny’s hand was missing from the clock, that must mean she was… No, she couldn’t bear to even contemplate that. But the reality was slowly sinking in.
Arthur heard his wife’s scream coming from the bottom of the stairs. He sprang out of his bed in a heartbeat, snatching his wand from the nightstand, and rushed down the stairs to see what was going on. He got to the living room, when he saw her: Molly Weasley’s face drained of all colour, tears pouring down her cheeks, pointing at the Weasley Clock. He rushed to her aide.
“Molly, what’s going on!” he asked fearfully. “What’s happened?”
“Oh Arthur…It’s… It’s Ginny, I think she’s… I think she might be…” she gasped through her tears.
“Don't say it, Molly" interrupted Arthur, looking worriedly at the clock, realising what his wife was getting at, and now also fearing the worst. "Don't say it, dear… Please don’t say it…”
“…Dead!” she sobbed.
It was now almost lunchtime. It had taken Arthur Weasley less than an hour to summon most of his siblings to the Burrow. The Weasley Galleons, now a family tradition following on from the Second Wizarding War, alerting his siblings that an 'Urgent Family Emergency' was under way!
One by one they had apparated to the Burrow, to hear the grim news that was now unfolding. That something may have happened to Ginny, and that all may not be well in the World.
Molly was discussing matters with Bill and Fleur, while Arthur was deep in debate with Charlie, George and Percy, when Ron finally arrived, the last of the Weasley Brothers to get the message, and still quite hung-over from the night before.
“What have I missed?” he asked breathlessly, as he arrived looking a little worse for wear.
“Where’s Hermione, dear?” Mrs Weasley asked as her son stepped through the door. “She should be here! We need all of our family here for this! We have a lot to figure out!”
“Sorry, mum.” Gasped Ron, trying to regain his breath. Getting ready this morning had been hard work, especially with how hung-over he felt.
“Hermione left early this morning." Ron continued. "She had to travel to the Ministry on urgent business.” And then, “Why? What’s happening?”
He looked around the room for an answer, and suddenly noticed how sombre everyone looked.
“It’s Ginny!” came the gruff Bill Weasley, finally breaking the silence, a deadly serious look on his face. “Somethings happened to her. We think… maybe... something bad!”
Ron’s face turned ashen, as he let out a long angry hiss.
“I knew it! I bloody knew it! I just knew he was bad news!”
Molly Weasley opened her eyes wide. Her son knew something!
“Knew who was bad news?” Molly snapped. “Ron, if you know something, you have to tell us!”
Ron let out a huge sigh.
“Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, that’s bloody who!” Ron hissed, his temper now rising. He knew that bloke was bad news, he thought, he bloody knew it!
“Who???!” came the collective voices of the Weasley clan, now all facing Ron.
“The ponce Ginny was with last night!” Ron gasped. “And he looked like a total git! And you should have seen him! He was all over her like a rash! I mean, it was totally inappropriate! He looked like a complete sleazebag!”
The whole family were now surrounding Ron, listening to his every word with rapt attention.
“Ron, tell us EVERYTHING you know!” demanded Molly Weasley sternly.
So, in doing so, Ron began his story.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – A Series of Unfortunate Events
Author's Notes: Apologies for the delay, I had intended to post an update every week, I have Chapters 6 and Chapter 7 is almost complete. I have a Beta for Chapter 7, but Beta'd Chapter 6 myself, so apologies if it's not quite up-to-scratch. I promise Chapter 7 will be better. I'd send this one off to Beta too, but don't want to delay the story any longer.
You may notice I have included a Sneek Peek of Chapter 7 in here. I included a few scenes from this Chapter in Chapter 5 as sort of a Sneek Peek too, but also included them in this Chapter for continuity, and so not to cause any confusion. It helps the flow of the story to show each scene happens in order. When Molly notices the Weasley Clock several things have already happened, so repeating them made sense so it didn't get too confusing, as a lot of things are happening in this Chapter. Hope this helps!
Chapter 6 ” A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Dawn was breaking over a small cottage on the outskirts of Godric’s Hollow. Ginny stirred, lost in a series of blissful dreams. She opened her eyes slowly, and sighed. She had the most wonderful dream the night before. It had been so real, so clear, it almost felt like it had actually happened. In the dream, or the series of dreams, she had actually eloped and married Harry. But no, in no version of reality could that actually happen! she reminded herself. No, it was all just one long, though utterly perfect, dream. She opened her eyes more clearly, and frowned. She didn’t recognise the room she was in, it certainly wasn’t her bedroom. Ginny raised her hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, to waken herself up a little more, when she noticed something on the fourth finger of her left hand...something that looked very much like the rings she had just dreamed of. A stunning emerald engagement ring encrusted with diamonds, and next to it, a beautiful diamond studded wedding band. She raised her hand, and brought it closer to her face to examine the rings in greater detail, and considered 'pinching herself' in case she was still dreaming, when she heard a soft voice behind her.
"So, you’re finally awake..." came a voice she well recognised.
Ginny turned around in the bed, and came face to face with a very red-faced Harry Potter.
"Errrmmm... morning..." her complexion slowly changing to match his.
"So..." she began. "Looks like it wasn't all a dream after all?" She sighed. "I mean, last night really happened, right?"
“It certainly appears so.” Said Harry chuckling softly, and then. “What do you remember?”
“Bits and pieces.” She began. “I mean, I don’t remember everything. Though I do remember you proposing, and us exchanging vows. Though I definitely remember our first kiss as husband and wife, but not much either before or after that.” She sighed again. “What about you?”
“About the same I think,” he replied honestly. “So, Errmmm...any regrets?”
“Nope, definitely no regrets!” She laughed at that. “I had one of the most amazing dreams of my life, and woke up to find out it was a reality. Why would I regret that?
“What about you, Harry?” she asked back, looking slightly nervous of the reply he would give. “Any regrets of your own?”
“Only that we didn’t do this sooner!” laughed Harry. “Seriously, no regrets here either. Just a little nervous in case you had wakened up, and changed your mind."
“You didn't need to worry.” She grinned. “No regrets. Though I can’t believe I’m actually your wife! That part might take some getting used to.”
"Well, it’s not like you’ve changed your name or anything…" grinned Harry. "Mrs Potter," he finished cheekily.
Ginny grinned even wider at that. She was no longer a Weasley, she thought, she had forgotten about that part of it. Yes, that might indeed take some getting used to. She sighed happily. She was Ginny Potter now, wife of Harry Potter, and what didn’t sound utterly amazing about that?
Ginny paused for a moment. The thought of how the night had ended weighing slightly on her mind. She couldn't remember anything after they had exchanged vows, though she did remember their first kiss when they were pronounced husband and wife, but nothing after that. Not even how they got home.
“We didn't.... you know...” she asked tentatively. Sweet Merlin, how could she forget that part of it?
“No, we didn't.” replied Harry, reading well into what she was hinting at. “That much I do remember. We pretty much got back here, and you passed out almost right away almost fully clothed.”
“Good!” grinned Ginny.
“Good?” he replied, a slightly puzzled look on his face.
Ginny laughed at that.
“I’m glad we waited for that part,” Ginny replied. “I do want to remember the first time I make love to my husband; you know.” She grinned.
“Mmmm… You know, I do like the sound of that!” laughed Harry.
“Oh, you better!” teased Ginny. “Because it’s happening… right now!”
At that, Ginny launched herself on top of Harry, who was just able to gasp, "Bloody Hell!!!' before their lips met once more.
After several hours that felt like several blissful days, Ginny lay in Harry’s arms, glowing in the aftermath of their love. She felt she could stay like this forever. She couldn’t remember feeling this happy, this content. It was as if nothing could spoil this perfect moment. She sighed, and wondered how she could get this lucky, this blessed, to have finally found her Happily-Ever-After.
“So…” said Harry, finally finding his voice. “What are your plans for today?”
“Honestly?” sighed Ginny. “I don’t really plan on ever leaving this bed. I just want to stay with you all day and talk about our plans for …." Ginny's mind froze for a minute...wait! She did have somewhere she had to be today she remembered. "Oh bugger! Shit! Bugger!” she gasped.
“What’s up?”
“I’m meant to be going in to see Gwenog Jones this morning! I completely forgot! Oh, bugger! Sorry, Harry! I can…probably Floo call her, and try to re-arrange...”
“No!” laughed Harry. “Don’t be silly. You should go."
"Are you sure?" She asked. "I mean, it's just to go over different strategies for the next match."
"Of course." He laughed. "Just make sure you come back here after. Maybe grab a change of clothes or two from your flat on the way? Unless you’re not planning on moving in with your husband just yet?"
Ginny sighed.
“You know you’re bloody perfect, right?” she grinned.
“Well, I should hope so!” laughed Harry. “After all, you married me!”
Ginny arrived much later than planned to the Holyhead Harpies Training Ground. Still worse-for-wear from the night before, despite several large spoonfuls of Philius Pepper's Pepperup Potion, which had always worked wonders before. She made a mental note never to go out drinking with either Susanne or Marianna again anytime soon. Not if she valued her liver!
She entered the Holyhead Harpies Training Academy, and walked past Gwenog Jones’ Personal Assistant Pansy Parkinson, who shared a bright, cheerful, “Hello!” to Ginny as she entered reception. Ginny returned the greeting somewhat reluctantly.
She had never liked Pansy while she was in Hogwarts, and the years of her working as PA at the Club had done nothing to change that perception. In truth, part of her still suspected Pansy of leaking news to the press following on from the Randall McDuggan fiasco, though she could never prove it. But she didn’t trust Pansy as far as she could throw her!
Three loud knocks, and then, “Come in,” came a curt voice within the room. Gwenog Jones had bid her to enter.
"Morning, Ginny," said Gwenog somewhat sharply. "Everything alright? Only, you're not the type to keep me waiting, my dear," she continued, a small note of concern in her voice.
Ginny held Gwenog Jones in such very high esteem. She was a very hard taskmaster, but she had moulded Ginny into the professional Quidditch Player she was today: Voted five years running the Best Seeker in the League, something that had won her the Captains Armband in both the Team and for England's National Quidditch Team. Ginny had Gwenog to thank for all that.
"Yeah" replied Ginny "Look...I'm really sorry. It was the Annual Halloween Ball last night, and I went to it with Susanne and Marianna..."
Gwenog shook her head. "Oh dear, Ginevra. I do hope all is well?”
“Yes, it’s all good now." signed Ginny. "I was just a bit more worse-for-wear than I intended to be this morning, truth be told. Sorry, it won’t happen again.”
Gwenog shook her head once more. “You know, the only reason you decided to flat-share with those two troublemakers was in the hopes that some of your professionalism would rub off on them! I do hope they’re not becoming a bad influence on you…”
“No,” laughed Ginny. “Not at all. Don’t worry, it’s not something I ever intend on repeating anytime soon! Those two are an absolute nightmare!”
Gwenog shook her head once more, and, unnoticed by Ginny, the Sneakoscope, which sat on a small metal cabinet behind her, had started spinning slowly since she had entered the room.
“So,” continued Ginny, changing the tack of the conversation. “We were planning to talk strategy ahead of the Cannon’s match on Tuesday.”
Gwenog nodded. “Good. Good. So, what are your thoughts? I hear the Chudley Cannons have had a few injuries ahead of the match. Their star Beater Cormac McLaggan seems to be side-lined, which is great news for us!”
"I heard that too, perhaps a bit too loudly" said Ginny observantly. "I actually think it’s a deliberate ploy from the Cannon’s to throw us off guard!"
"Interesting. What makes you think that?" Asked Gwenog.
"Well, I have it from a reliable source that McLaggan has been spotted going into their training ground when he’s supposed to have been in St. Mungo’s..."
The Sneakoscope was spinning much faster now, the lights on it flashed brighter and brighter as it spun faster and faster, enough to distract the train of their conversation.
“Give me a second,” sighed Gwenog. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into this blasted thing! It’s never done anything like this before!”
Gwenog took out her wand, and pointed it directly at the device, which was spinning faster and faster with each passing minute, and muttered spells and incantations, but nothing seemed to work.
“What in blazes is wrong with this thing!” she gasped.
Gwenog concentrated all her efforts on her spellwork, but the Sneakoscope just spun faster and faster. She tried again and again to silence the device, but it just kept on gaining momentum.
After ten minutes of unsuccessful spellwork, Gwenog stepped back, deep in concentration, and looked curiously from the Sneakoscope to Ginny, and back again, strange expression now spreading across her face.
"Ginny... you haven't....I mean... you couldn't be...I mean..." began Gwenog.
By now the Sneakoscope had reached its crescendo. It spun much faster than ever now, lights flashing, and whistling louder and louder and louder.
"Please tell me you aren't Married????" Gwenog finally managed to say, a deeply troubled look on her face.
Ginny grimaced. “That’s…actually... kind of a funny story…” she began.
Molly Weasley woke up later than usual on the Sunday morning, spending an extra few hours tucked up in bed reading. It felt strange living in the Burrow after all her family had flown the coop, moving out into their own homes and flats. Ginny had been the last to leave, moving in with two of her Quidditch team mates which Molly didn't much approve of.
She made her way slowly down the stairs, and began the usual routine of beginning to cook a very late breakfast for herself and Arthur. She was just tidying the last of the dishes away when she glanced up at the Weasley clock, and noticed something wasn't quite right.
The clock had been in the Weasley family for generations, and over the years had become busier and busier as her sons has all married, and had children of their own. She remembered the day of her son Bill’s wedding, when a hand had magically appeared on the clock for her new daughter-in-law Fleur Weasley. Then in the subsequent years, other hands had magically appeared for Bill and Fleur’s children Victoire, Dominique, and Louis, always at the moment of their birth. Hermione’s hand had been the last to appear on the clock, on the afternoon of their wedding. However, this morning, something was amiss.
Molly scanned the clock, checking each of the names of her family, making sure every one of them was safe and accounted for. It was when she searched for Ginny, that it hit her. Ginny’s hand wasn’t there. She looked again and again, scanning every inch of the clock, checking that she wasn’t imagining things. Ginny had to be there! She scanned and scanned the clock, begging it to show her Ginny’s hand, and know she was safe, that she was still… No, she couldn’t think like that.
She remembered back to a much darker time in the family’s history, in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts, when she had come home to find Fred’s hand had magically disappeared from the Clock, and the reality of his loss had hit her that much harder. The only way Ginny Weasley’s name could be missing from the Weasley Clock would be if Ginny Weasley no longer existed, and there was only one logical explanation for that in Molly’s mind! If Ginny’s hand was missing from the clock, that must mean she was… No, she couldn’t bear to even contemplate that. But the reality was slowly sinking in.
Arthur heard his wife’s scream coming from the bottom of the stairs. He sprang out of his bed in a heartbeat, snatching his wand from the nightstand, and rushed down the stairs to see what was going on. He got to the living room, when he saw her: Molly Weasley’s face drained of all colour, tears pouring down her cheeks, pointing at the Weasley Clock. He rushed to her aide.
“Molly, what’s going on!” he asked fearfully. “What’s happened?”
“Oh, Arthur…It’s… It’s Ginny, I think she’s… I think she might be…” she gasped through her tears. “…Dead!” she sobbed.
Ginny sat in the small office with her head in her hands. Gwenog Jones had now been yelling at her for almost half an hour. The consequences of her actions now slowly becoming clearer and clearer in her head, which was still slightly foggy from the night before.
"Seriously, Ginevra! I expected better! You've really screwed up here, haven't you?" barked Gwenog furiously.
Ginny looked up, tears in her eyes, and opened her month to speak.
"If the next words out of your month are another "I'm sorry!", then save it! You stupid, stupid, stupid girl, do you have any idea what damage you've done here??"
Ginny grimaced.
"How many times are we to go over this!" Gwenog continued angrily. "Seriously! Only Maidens are allowed to play for the Harpies! You should know all this stuff! You know our Club history better than most!"
"I said I was sorry..." Ginny said for what felt like the hundredth time, she genuinely meant it.
"Sorry? Sorry? Have you any idea the damage you've done here?" snapped an angry Gwenog Jones, her face scarlet with rage. "As Team Captain I expected far better of you!"
"But...Isn't there some solution?" Ginny again began. "I mean, no other teams in the League have any of these rules?"
Gwenog rolled her eyes. "We are talking about over eight hundred years of Holyhead Harpies History here! Not to mention Ancient Quidditch Tradition! We are an Ancient Wizarding Club with Ancient Wizarding Traditions. Do you honestly think you can re-write that, stupid, stupid girl?" she snapped.
"Well... I mean, some Traditions change. I guess, didn't we only accept Pure-blood Witches at one point, and that changed?"
"So you think we can just rip up the Rulebook for you? Is that what you think?" snapped Gwenog. "Because if you do, you are sadly deluding yourself! I'm sorry, Ginevra, but I have no other option here! My hands are tied, I'm afraid I am going to have to suspend you!"
"But... I'm Team Captain... and we have the crucial match with the Cannons coming up..." Ginny said in a small voice.
"Then you should have thought of that beforehand, shouldn't you! Utter madness!" snapped Gwenog. "This is utter madness!"
"Isn't there any other way to resolve this?" she pleaded. "I'm willing to try anything! You know how much this Club means to me," Ginny sobbed.
"Well, it may be a long shot, but you could try to perhaps annul the marriage secretly, and pray to Merlin that no-one finds out?" Gwenog said, throwing her a life-line. "But if anyone finds out what you've done, girl, we'll be back where we started, won't we?"
Ginny contemplated that for a moment, then shook her head.
"I... I'm sorry, but I... I really can't do that. Anything but that," said Ginny, still thinking of everything that had happened the night before. As important her career was, there was no way she wanted to undo all that had happened the night before, as well as this morning. She really couldn't do that to Harry.
"Then, Ginevra, Team Captain or not! I'm afraid I'm going to have to suspend you!"
"Suspend me for getting married?" Ginny said shocked.
"I'm suspending you for Gross Misconduct and a Violation of Holyhead Harpies Tradition, pending a formal investigation. You should prepare for the worst, my dear."
"Surely it doesn't need to come to this?" she pleaded once more.
"I really don't see how? You said yourself, you are unwilling to annul the marriage, so really, we have no other options. You will have to brace yourself, my dear. You will probably never play for the Harpies again!!" said Gwenog sadly. "Don't get me wrong, I'll be very sad to see you go, you are the best player in the League. But I'm not sure the fans will forgive something like this, and we do have Traditions to upkeep!"
Tears poured down Ginny's cheeks. She had worked hard for this, and the Harpies meant the world to her.
"I'm really sorry it's come to this my dear," said Gwenog, feeling suddenly parental to the tearful girl sitting before her, one she had guided and mentored for the last five years. "For what it's worth, the Harpies will be sad to see you go. I do know how much this team meant to you. But you will do well in the future, at whatever team you end up at. And the Harpies will get a decent sell-on fee for you, which should offer some recompense. For what it's worth, I am really sorry it has come to this."
Ginny got out her chair, made one final apology, and turned to exit the room. As she did so, unnoticed by either Gwenog or Ginny, an Extendable Ear slipped back under the Officer door from where it had come from. Its owner, Pansy Parkinson, acted oblivious when Ginny had finally dried her eyes and exited the room.
"Bye, then!" called Gwenog's PA smugly after her, a smirk on her lips, as Ginny finally exited the building. Pansy grinned. She had just been given the story of the century!
Pansy waited another half hour until the dust had settled, and then she called through to Gwenog Jones to let her know she was going on her break. Then, she made her way to a small empty office at the other end of the corridor where she knew she wouldn't be disturbed. Pansy checked left and right in the room, and outside the window, ensuring no one was within earshot. Then, she threw powder into the giant fireplace, and called out for, "The Daily Prophet: Rita Skeeters office!"
"What is it, sweety?" came the voice of Rita Skeeter. "You'll have to make this quick, I have less than an hour to finish these articles before the Prophet hits the press!"
"Then I'd drop what you're writing, and listen up!" Pansy grinned. "And I expect to be paid well for this information, mind! Because I think I have just landed the scoop of the century!"
It was now almost lunchtime. It had taken Arthur Weasley less than an hour to summon most of his children to the Burrow. The Weasley Galleons, now a family tradition following on from the Second Wizarding War, alerting his children that an 'Urgent Family Emergency' was under way!
One by one they had Apparated to the Burrow, to hear the grim news that was now unfolding. That something may have happened to Ginny, and that all may not be well in the world.
Molly was discussing matters with Bill and Fleur, while Arthur was deep in debate with Charlie, George and Percy, when Ron finally arrived, the last of the Weasley brothers to get the message, and still quite hung-over from the night before.
“What have I missed?” he asked breathlessly, as he arrived looking a little worse for wear.
“Where’s Hermione, dear?” Mrs Weasley asked as her son stepped through the door. “She should be here! We need all of our family here for this! We have a lot to figure out!”
“Sorry, Mum,” gasped Ron, trying to regain his breath. Getting ready this morning had been hard work, especially with how hung-over he felt.
“Hermione left early this morning." Ron continued. "She had to travel to the Ministry on urgent business.” And then, “Why? What’s happening?”
He looked around the room for an answer, and suddenly noticed how sombre everyone looked.
“It’s Ginny!” came the gruff Bill Weasley, finally breaking the silence, a deadly serious look on his face. “Something’s happened to her. We think… maybe... something bad!”
Ron’s face turned ashen, as he let out a long angry hiss.
“I knew it! I bloody knew it! I just knew he was bad news!”
Molly Weasley opened her eyes wide. Her son knew something!
“Knew who was bad news?” Molly snapped. “Ron, if you know something, you have to tell us!”
Ron let out a huge sigh.
“Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, that’s bloody who!” Ron hissed, his temper now rising. He knew that bloke was bad news, he thought, he bloody knew it!
“Who???!” came the collective voices of the Weasley clan, now all facing Ron.
“The ponce Ginny was with last night!” Ron gasped. “And he looked like a total git! And you should have seen him! He was all over her like a rash! I mean, it was totally inappropriate! He looked like a complete sleazebag!”
The whole family were now surrounding Ron, listening to his every word with rapt attention.
“Ron, tell us EVERYTHING you know!” demanded Molly Weasley sternly.
Hermione sat exhausted in her office, and sighed deeply. She had just spent a good part of her morning Obliviating most of the staff of the Ministry of Magic’s Department of Magical Contracts, not to mention many of their friends and family members, who many of them had contacted upon getting the news. She was just thankful at this point that many of those contracted out with the Ministry had thought the news was a wind-up, so she had been able to curtail it before it got too far. Heaven forbid the Prophet got the hold of this news! She could well imagine the carnage that would cause!
The news, that Harry Potter had married Ginny Weasley in the early hours of that morning, had hit the department of magical contracts with the force of a small bomb, before taking on a life of its own. She was just glad she had alerts in place, that, should any news concerning Harry Potter reach the Ministry, then she would be the first to know about it. Though, she hadn't expected anything like this! In truth, the most she had imagined, or at least hoped for, was that the couple might realise who each other were, and decide to start dating, not just decide to bloody elope! She didn't know whether to be mad at them for doing this, or overjoyed that they were finally together. One thing was certain, she needed a drink, and a large one at that!
Hermione checked her notes, and made one final check that every member who had this news had come across their paths, had been dealt with, their memories wiped of the past few hours, as well as everyone they had told, and that all records of the marriage was hidden so well no-one at the Ministry would be any the wiser. Once she was satisfied of that, she got up and pulled on her jacket, and made ready to leave. First stop, she thought, the Leaky Cauldron, to meet Neville and Hannah, and let them know what had just happened. She needed someone to talk to before she went home to her husband. There was no way he could be told, at least, not before actually speaking to Harry and Ginny first, and finding out what had actually happened! Plus, Neville owed her bigtime on their bet, she smirked.
She tidied her desk, and bid farewell to her befuddled staff, who were unsure why she was even there. She had to remind herself that she had also had to Obliviate most of them too. What a morning! she thought to herself. And at that, she picked up her bag, and left the office with a very, very sore head.
Hermione was just thankful that this day could not get any worse.
Meanwhile, over at the Burrow, Ron was filling the family in on everything he knew about the evening before.
“As I was saying, last night was the Halloween Ball” he continued. “I had arrived early, and I bumped into Ginny almost immediately at the bar, who was by-the-way wearing a dress that left very little to the imagination! I mean it was totally inappropriate! You should have seen her! You could see practically everything! And I’m also sure she was pretty drunk, even at that stage of the night!”
“Wait?” came the gruff voice of Bill. “This is our little Ginnykins we’re talking about here? Because it doesn’t sound like her!”
“Oh, dear!” sobbed Molly Weasley. “I knew it! I just knew those two flatmates would be a bad influence on her! I had warned her, but she just didn’t listen!”
“Tell us about this man,” said his father sternly. “This man, who was 'all over Ginny'. We need to know every last detail here!”
Ron slowly explained everything he could remember about the night before. How Ginny had been dressed up to hide her identity, and how it was her two flatmates’ idea, which drew angry comments from all of the family.
He then discussed how many times he had seen Ginny at the bar, with trays of cocktails in her hands, and how drunk she had obviously been. I mean, she had to have been pretty wasted to let that git be all over her like that!
And then, he came onto the subject of the man himself, Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, and the brothers all hissed and gasped as he described everything he remembered about this man. How he was obviously bad news, and at least ten years older than Ginny from Ron’s hazy recollections. Maybe fifteen? He wasn't quite sure of anything, other than he was a total git!
Ron described how he had been all over her on the dancefloor, groping her and feeling her up like a total sleazebag, before Apparating away with poor Ginny to who-knew where.
The family listened to every detail Ron could remember in rapt attention, occasionally butting in with cursory accusations: "Why hadn't he stopped this?" "Why hadn't he intervened?" "Why hadn't he dragged Ginny to safety, away from this monster!" But each one had been met with the same answer. This was Ginny they were talking about here! They all knew how headstrong she was! They knew once she had decided something, neither one of them could talk her out of it.
They all remembered warning her about her previous boyfriend, Randall McDuggan. But no matter what they said, she was having none of it! It wasn't until he had finally gone to the Daily Prophet with his sordid lies and ‘five minutes of fame’ did Ginny finally realize what her family had suspected all along: that he had been bad news.
And, when Ron had finished telling his story they all fell deathly silent, turning these new revelations over in their minds.
“So, do we think he might have… done her in?” asked Charlie, finally breaking the silence. “Because, from everything Ron described about this bloke, he sounds pretty creepy!”
“Wait?!” gasped Ron, “Done what to her? What? WHATTT?? What the bloody Hell is going on here!”
The family now described everything they knew so far. How their mother had come down late in the morning, and noticed something was amiss with the Weasley Clock. How Ginny’s hand had magically vanished from there, and what they thought that possibly meant. Ron by this point looked badly shaken.
"Why didn't I stop her..." he said sadly, his head in his hands. “I could have…”
“You couldn’t have done anything even if you wanted to, little brother!” reminded George. “We already covered that. We all know how headstrong Ginny is. Don’t blame yourself for this, okay? If anything, blame her flatmates! They got her into this mess! Or blame the psycho who abducted her from the Halloween Ball! None of this is your fault, little brother! Okay?”
“So, what do we do now?” Ron asked.
Arthur Weasley was first to speak. A plan slowly forming in his mind. They would split up into pairs, with each pair investigating a different place, and then report back to the Burrow. Arthur and Percy would travel to the Ministry, and speak to Kinsley. Perhaps they could put a team of Aurors on the case. Ron and George would try to find Hermione, and find out everything they could about this Rupert Paul Beckham the Third nutcase. Bill and Charlie would travel to Ginny’s flat, and force their way in if necessary, and see if any clues were there as to what happened to their little sister. Molly and Fleur would travel to the Holyhead Harpies training ground, where they knew Ginny spent a great deal of her time these days. She had been there training almost every day for the past month, preparing for their forthcoming games with the Appleby Arrows and the Chudley Cannons, perhaps the most important two games of the Season, as they well knew. It might be a long shot, but perhaps Gwenog Jones might be able to give them a few leads. And at that, they all said their goodbyes, and best wishes, and Apparated pair by pair.
The search for Ginny, or what had become of her, had begun!
Molly and Fleur had waited until the first members of their family had returned from their initial enquiries before setting off, which for the most part had proved fruitless.
Ron and George had been unable to find Hermione, though her office staff had told them she had left only half an hour before their arrival. None of them could tell them where she was heading to next, or even why she had been there. They had also asked several members of staff about Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, but none of the staff recognised the name, which Ron found particularly odd, given he was sure Hermione had introduced him as 'her co-worker'. They had next travelled back to Ron's flat, in case Hermione had gone back there, but there was no sign of that, so Ron had left a message for her to contact them urgently at the Burrow.
Bill and Charlie had similar luck, or rather lack of it, having had to break into Ginny's flat only to find it empty, with Ginny's clothing left messily on the living room floor, which worried them more. Had there been a struggle here? They had gone through Ginny's room, but no clues were there either as to where she might have gone, or where this Rupert Paul Beckham the Third might have taken her body, now both assuming the worst.
Arthur and Percy had the most success, alerting the Minister of Magic to the issue at hand, who had already put his best team of Aurors on the case.
At that point, Molly and Fleur had finally set off to the Holyhead Harpies Training Ground, arriving shortly after lunchtime had ended. They made their way inside, to be greeted immediately by Gwenog Jones' grinning Personal Assistant, who seemed to be in wonderful spirits upon their arrival.
"Oh, Mrs Weasley!" Pansy gushed. "Fancy you visiting today? I hear congratulations are in order! You must be sooo, soooo proud?"
This greeting caught Molly Weasley off-guard. "Proud? I'm sorry my dear, but I don't know what you're talking about? We're here to speak with Gwenog Jones."
Pansy grinned at that request, and there was a real sense of maliciousness in her look.
"Ooooh, but I'm not sure that's a good idea," Pansy replied as sweetly as treacle, her smile growing wider with each passing moment. "Gwenog isn't in the best of moods today, I'm afraid. Your daughter made quite the impression when she was in here earlier. I take it you're here to argue her case?"
Molly stopped in her tracks, looking slightly confused.
"Did you just say my daughter was in here today? Are you sure?" she asked, and then. "Why would I need to argue her case?"
"Ginny....she was in 'ere?" gasped Fleur brightly. "Today? So she iz alive and well, yes?"
"Well, of course she was here today." Pansy grinned wider, relishing every second of this exchange. "She is in here every day! Though I'm not sure she'll be in here for much longer, what with the marriage announcement, and all. She caused quite an upset to be perfectly honest"
"Ze ....marriage announce moi??" said Fleur looking slightly confused too.
"Was it a nice wedding?" Pansy continued digging. "A small family affair, no doubt? You have to keep these things tight, what with the press and all. But I bet Ginny was an absolutely adorable bride..."
Molly looked thoroughly confused by now. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, dear. We're actually here looking for my daughter."
"Oh, so you didn't know..." beamed Pansy smugly, "...that your daughter got married last night? Oh, my! I had assumed you'd all be invited?"
"Ginny... is... are you saying.... SHE IS MARRIED!!!!!" the last words came out as a shriek from Molly's lips.
Pansy Parkinson was digging hard for more information, and by the look on Molly Weasley's face, she had just struck gold! Rita Skeeter would pay top Galleon for this new information. She might even be able to quadruple her fee!
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY MY DAUGHTER IS MARRIED!!!!!???" yelled a furious Molly Weasley.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7 - Rita Skeeter’s Revenge!
Author's Notes: Apologies for the length of time between Chapters. The next two should come along a LOT quicker. This was a difficult chapter to write, but it should be smooth sailing after this - the storm before the calm.
I also just put this out for Beta editing, so apologies for any typos in this version. I will have it updated when I get the edited version back but wanted to get it to you in some form or other before the weekend. My writing has been improving, so hopefully not too many typos this time. I really didn't want to delay sharing what happens next a day longer. Apologies in advance!
Enjoy!
Chapter 7 - Rita Skeeter’s Revenge!
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY MY DAUGHTER IS MARRIED??!!!"
Molly Weasley’s scream resounded throughout the corridors of the Hollyhead Harpies training facility.
Pansy Parkinson just grinned wider. She had been digging hard for more information to sell to the Daily Prophet, and she had just struck gold!
"Oh, so you didn't know...." beamed Pansy maliciously. "I guess your family aren't as close as I imagined...."
"Ridiculos!" Fleur snorted angrily. "To whom is it that she iz married? To thees... to thees... Rupert James Beckham... the Third? Yes? Ridiculos!"
"Who else?" grinned Pansy, making a mental note of ‘the name’. She would need that later! "Mind you, I don't think they've been dating long from what I hear” she bluffed, “But... young love, eh?"
"Ridiculos!" Fleur snorted angrily. "Ridiculos!"
Pansy grinned. Rita Skeeter would pay top dollar for this new information. She might even be able to quadruple her fee!
At that point the voices had become so raised in the room that the door of the office swung open, and Gwenog Jones stepped out to see what all the commotion was about. Then she saw Molly Weasley standing there and hissed angrily.
"Oh... it is YOU!" Gwenog snapped. "The Weasley Patriarch! Come to save the day, no doubt?”
The three women were suddenly struck silent by the sudden appearance of the Harpies Coach, now looking angrier than any of them had ever seen her before.
“Am I to take it that Ginerva has sent you both here to argue for her old job back?" Gwenog continued angrily. "Because if she has, you should have Floo’d first... I could have saved you BOTH a journey!!"
"Old job back??" Molly now turned to face Gwenog, looking even more bewildered.
“Don’t play smart with me, woman! We are both better than this!” sneered Gwenog Jones, clearly having had enough of this charade.
“I can assure you” replied Molly, looking even more confused and upset, “I am not playing at anything! I just want answers.”
“Okay, So, let me bring you both up to speed." Gwenog continued. "You are obviously here because Ginerva sent you! I have no doubt of that! so let us speak plainly here. Your daughter was suspended from the Holyhead Harpies earlier today, pending a formal investigation, and nothing either of you can say will change my mind!"
"I'm sorry" came the stunned voice of Molly Weasley. "This is all news to me..."
Pansy shrieked with laughter. "Seems the whole family are clueless, Gwenog." she choked, "...in more ways than one!"
"Oh, so are you trying to tell me you weren't aware that your daughter was married last night?" continued Gwenog. "And it's just a happy coincidence that you both show up here, a mere hour after I suspend her?!"
"Ginny has been suspended?" gasped Molly. "But.... but...she's.... I mean.... isn't she.... she is Team Captain??!"
"Stop trying to play dumb with me, woman!" Gwenog snapped, clearly tired of the pretence "You are NOT going to take me for a fool!"
"I am sorry." said Molly Weasley once more. "But we are not trying to take anyone for fools!"
"Molly, you know fine well that the Holyhead Harpies have rules in place, the most fundamental of which states that no married women are allowed on our team! I remember discussing this all with you when your daughter signed her contract!"
"Yes," said Molly. "I am quite aware of the Hollyhead Harpies... ermm…Rules.. on marriage, and such like. But… I mean… Look, are you quite sure my daughter married?"
"Yes, I am quite sure." said Gwenog sharply, "she told me so herself earlier this morning, and straight to my face! The nerve of her! She was married last night in a small ceremony. And then, she tried to laugh it all off! Seriously? But she soon realised this was no laughing matter. Your daughter has sabotaged her place in this team, not to mention her Captaincy, and for what? Given her track record with men, I would have assumed she would know better than this!”
“I had no idea…” began Molly, but Gwenog Jones just cut through her.
“And then,” Gwenog continued, “Not more than an hour later, YOU both show up here, and you expect me to believe that you didn't know about any of this? That you arriving here is just a happy coincidence? No, I'm sorry, but I wasn't born yesterday!"
"Excuse me!" snapped Molly Weasley back, at last finding her voice. "We are actually here because we THOUGHT my daughter had gone missing. And I can assure you, we knew NOTHING of this... this.... marriage!"
“Missing? Missing?" Pansy shrieked with laughter again, clearly enjoying the drama. "She wasn't missing, she was probably off on her Honeymoon!” piped in Pansy, she was loving every second of this. She might even be able to quadruple her fee with this juicy piece of gossip! "Young love, eh?" she added, smirking widely.
Gwenog Jones sighed, partly regretting that her PA was even taking part in this conversation whatsoever, and she cleared her throat.
"Perhaps you two women would prefer to come into my office. We can try to speak rationally about all this in there." she finally relented. "Pansy, can you please make some tea and coffee for our guests..."
And at that, she beckoned both women into her room.
The Weasley family were in deep debate in the Burrow, with most of the members now having returned from their initial enquiries, which for the most part had proven fruitless.
Ron and George had been unable to find Hermione, though her office staff had told them she had left only half an hour before their arrival, none of them could tell where she was heading to next, or even why she had even been there. They had also asked serval members of staff about Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, but none of the staff recognised the name, which Ron found particularly odd, given he was sure Hermione had introduced him as “her co-worker”. They next travelled back to Ron's flat, in case she had gone back there, but there was no sign of that either, so Ron had left a message for her to contact them urgently at The Burrow.
Bill and Charlie had similar luck, or rather lack of it, having had to break into Ginny's flat only to find it empty, with Ginny's clothing left messily on the living room floor, which worried them more. Had there been a struggle here? They had gone through Ginny's room, but no clues were there either as to where she might have gone, or where this Rupert Paul Beckham the Third might have taken her body, now both of them assuming the worst.
Arthur and Percy had the most success, alerting the Minister of Magic to the issue at hand, who had already put his best team of Aurors on the case. It was while they were discussing the next steps that Molly and Fleur finally apparated back into the Burrow, both looking very upset.
"Ahhh... Mollywobbles, we were just discussing what we know so far, and...." but Arthur stopped short, he could sense something was not quite right by the expression of both women. At that, Molly Weasley suddenly burst into tears.
"Oh Arthur.... Ginny is.... she is...." she gasped through waves of tears, as Arthur rushed to his wife's side, wrapping his arms around her to console her.
“What is it, Mum” asked Bill. “What do you know?”
"Ginny is.... she is...." Molly sobbed on, unable to finish the sentence.
“What happened to Ginny?” came the voices around the room.
"Ginny is.... she is...." Molly sobbed.
But it was someone else who answered.
"Ginny!" said Fleur, finally clearing her voice. "She iz married!"
The Weasley family were deep in debate on the subject of Ginny's marriage, and by the atmosphere in the room, all was not well.
“So, we all think this Rupert Paul Beckham the Third has done some sort of spell or curse on her?” asked Ron looking worried.
“No doubt about it!” said Bill seriously, “I’d put good money on her being under the Imperius Curse, or at least something close to it. No, the Ginny I know wouldn’t have thrown her entire Quiddich Career away on some bloke she just met! She’s far too sensible for that!”
“We will have to figure out how to break her out of it!” piped in Charlie, “You heard what mum said about Ginny’s meeting with Gwenog this morning? She had no intention of ending this marriage, even when her position at the Harpies was put under threat. And that’s her dream-job! No. The Ginny I know wouldn’t have given that up for anyone!”
“Let along a man she just met!” said Ron looking even more worried, “No, it’s just not right! And you didn’t see him! He looked like a right creep! No, he obviously has her under some sort of mind control.”
“And with that in mind” came the troubled voice of Percy, “This just got a whole lot more complicated! Have you any idea how hard it will be to break her out of that type of spell? When you-know-who had Pius Thicknesse under his control, there was no breaking him out of it! Many Aurors tried and failed! It’s hard helping someone who’s being controlled by another. You may have to brace yourselves, but we may have to use force!”
“We are NOT using force on my daughter!” yelled Molly, finally sitting up.
“Mollly” sighed Arthur. “No one is saying we really WANT that. But, if this IS the Imperius Curse we’re talking about here, she could be a danger to anyone who tries to get through to her, including herself!”
“We could just try to stun her?” said Percy thoughtfully, “Before things get too out-of-hand. At least if we have her incapacitated, we can tie her up, and get some answers? It may seem a little harsh. But we will have to stop her before she gets back to that sleazebag that Ron was telling us about!”
“Francis Rupert the Third, or whatever his real name is!” growled Bill.
“Yeah!” said Percy, “Him! And I bet he will want to keep her close now, to stop any of us from reversing the spell!”
“He sounds like real piece of work!” said Bill grimly.
“Yeah!” replied Ron. “He was! He really was! He was an utter sleezebag! He was all over poor Ginny, and in front of everyone at the Ministry Ball! It really wasn’t like Ginny at all!”
“Here’s a thought!” butted in Charlie. “I’m not sure if this is occurred to anyone here. But, what if this Rupert character is a Death Eater? And he’s targeting Ginny to hurt the family? Everyone knows the Weasleys were one of their biggest enemies during the war!”
“Then that just makes our job that much harder!” growled Bill. “This is definitely the Imperius Curse she’s under! I am sure of it!”
“So, he’s probably had her under that spell now for at least twelve hours!” said Arthur Weasley grimly. “This can only get worse from this point. A spell like that will continue to grow in strength until it consumes her mind completely. Her every thought is now his to control. There’s a reason the ‘Imperius’ is considered an Unforgiveable Curse!”
Molly Weasley sighed.
“Okay!” she relented. “So, how do we do this? But we will have to find her first.”
Ginny had been walking aimlessly for a few hours now, tears pouring down here face, a buzz-buzz-buzzing noise in her head, thinking of all that had just happened, and trying to make sense of it all. Earlier this morning she had been the happiest girl in the world. Yet her reality had come crashing down with the force of a small bomb in Gwenog’s Office.
How could she forget the Hollyhead Harpies rules on Marriage and dating? Hadn’t she as Team Captain reiterated them every year to new recruits, and reinforced them during the off-season? She had lost count of the number of times she had told newly engaged girls to think long and hard about how long they waited to 'tie-the-knot', and consider a long engagement, especially if they wanted to continue playing in her beloved squad. Yet she had gone and done the one think she lectured countless others against. How could she be so stupid? The buzzing continued in her head.
Stupid? She thought? No, not entirely stupid. Not when she considered the reason for her lapse in judgement. She now thought of Harry, of last night, and this morning and the reason all this had happened. A tiny smile curled her lips remembering it all, which still felt like a dream. A wonderful, blissful, amazing dream, and one which she was slowly waking up to the consequences of now. It all still felt so unreal. But the silver lining of it all she thought is that she was dating Harry bloody Potter!
No, not dating, more than that, as you didn’t lose your spot on the team for dating someone. No, she was actually married! Married to Harry. The thought of that fact still took her breath away. That the scruffy boy she had a crush on when she was just 11 years old, that boy the who she couldn’t even speak to when she was in his vicinity, the boy who had saved her life in the Chamber of Secrets, that boy she had burned a candle for through her teenage years, that boy was now her husband. Her… Husband. Those two words together, and the mental picture of Harry, down on one knee, and asking her to marry him. She felt dizzy at the thought of it. Dizzy and happier than she ever dared imagine, because he loved her just as much as she loved him.
Yes, that was some recompense. She just had to make sense of it all in her head. Gaining Harry but losing her place as the Captain of the Harpies to get that future. It seemed like a cruel twist of fate.
The buzzing continued.
Ginny froze for a second. “What the bloody hell is that sound?” It had been in her head for a while now, but she had initially assumed it was just part of a migraine or just in her mind. But only now it became clear that it was actually real, and not just imagined.
She looked around for the source of the buzzing. It seemed to be coming from her robes. What the… She searched through her pockets until she found the source. A small round metallic object that was vibrating loudly in her pocket.
She took it out, examining it. The Bronze Medallion, now in her hand, was vibrating loudly. It meant only one thing: Family Emergency!
“Oh, bloody hell!" Ginny gasped.
How long had the Galleon been vibrating? What was going on? Had something bad happened? She immediately thought of her mother. She hadn’t been well recently. She had told her it was just woman’s troubles, and not to worry. But now… After the start to the morning, she didn’t need any more bad news!
Ginny tucked the Galleon back into her pocket, and, fixing herself, thought of the Burrow and Apparated on the spot.
It took Hermione longer than expected to get back to her flat, stopping off for some well-deserved lunch along the way, as well as making a pit stop at the Leaky Cauldron, to fill in Neville and Hannah about all that had happened that day. She needed someone impartial to talk to, and certainly someone she knew would react far more calmly than her husband. She could just picture Ron's face when he found out. But no, that would be for her sister-in-law and Harry to break to the family, they deserved that courtesy. Besides, Molly and Arthur adored Harry. So, she knew it wouldn't cause too much of a fuss.
Hermione made her way into the kitchen, and, taking off her coat, called for Ron, but there was no reply. She put the kettle on and called again. Still no reply. It wasn't like him to go out on a Sunday? She was just about to call a third time, when she spotted the illegible hand-written note on the kitchen table in her husband's usual scribble.
Hermione! Family emergency! Ginny's gone missing! Emergency! We think that James Beckham freak from last night! We think he might have taken her! Remember you introduced us? He looked like a right creep! Emergency! Come to the Burrow! Urgent! - Ron"
"Sweet Merlin!" gasped Hermione. "What’s he done now!?"
She hastily pulled her coat back on, switched off the kettle, and started to get ready to leave again, when she heard an enormous thud at the front door.
"Oh, bloody hell!" gasped Hermione again. "Now what is it!?"
She walked through to the door, to find a large package, addressed to her, in handwriting that seemed somehow strangely familiar.
Opening the parcel, she found herself staring at what looked like a crudely wrapped copy of the Daily Prophet, with a large handwritten note attached. She slowly read the note, now fearing the worst!
’Hello Darling!
Your old pal Rita Skeeter here! I never really got to thank you properly for reporting me as an unregistered Animagus. You caused quite an upset there! You do like being a little-miss-know-it-all, don’t you? But that's all water under the bridge now, sweetie, and I bear absolutely no grudges. You can quote me on that!
This is actually just a small gift to congratulate you on your new Brother-in-Law. He seems quite a catch! Filthy rich too! My my! Ginerva is such a lucky girl! You can thank her from yours truly for the story-of-the-century!
Pass on my best, won't you. And if you can't, pass on my worst! That's a joke btw. Honest!
Toodles!
Rita xx’
Hermione pulled the note slowly to the side, and, staring at the headline, she gasped.
"That.....bitch!!!"
An hour had passed since Molly and Fleur had returned from the Harpies Training Facility, and the family were still heavy in debate. They were discussing what steps to take next when Angela arrived at the Burrow, looking thoroughly out of breath.
"I’m sorry, George. I had to shut the shop... the place was surrounded by Press...." Angelina managed to gasp out. "Here! Has anyone seen this?" she gasped, handing the afternoon edition of the Daily Prophet to George, who's eyes went wide.
"Ginny’s in the Prophet!" Angelina continued, with every eye in the room now upon her. "It’s Front-page news!"
"Oh, Bloody Hell!" Gasped Ron, as he read the Headline over George's shoulder. "Oh, Bloody Hell!"
"Mum, I think you might need to take a seat before reading this!" said George looking pale. “Bloody Hell! This is REALLY bad!”
"Give it here!" snapped Molly. "I think I'll be the judge of that!" and then she started reading.
“EXCLUSIVE: NATIONAL DISGRACE! - Star seeker of the Holyhead Harpies Suspended!
Exclusive Report by Rita Skeeter
Ginny Weasley, Star Seeker of the Holyhead Harpies, and Captain of England’s National Quidditch Team has been suspended from all duties at the Club pending a formal investigation. As many of our Avid Readers know, Holyhead Harpies is an Ancient Wizarding Club with an Ancient and Long-Lasting Wizarding Tradition in which only Maidens are allowed into their Team. (Turn to Page 2 and 3 for news on their Team Captains’ Suspension…)
The Daily Prophet has it confirmed from a reliable source within the Club that Ginny Weasley was secretly married last night in a Ceremony at an undisclosed location. This shocking turn of events making her illegible to play any further games for the Harpies, the Team she has Captained to the Top of the League for the past two Seasons. (Turn to Middle Pages for Our Feature Story - The Rise and Fall of Ginny Weasley…)
The Daily Prophet can also Confirm that none of Ms. Weasley’s family, including the esteemed Deputy Minister of Magic, and War hero, Arthur Weasley, were invited to this event! From eye-witness reports, the family are quite distraught at their daughter’s reckless and callous behaviour. (Turn to Page 4 -An Ancient Wizarding Family Shunned!)
Sources at the Club also let slip that her Marriage may-be to none-other-than the elusive Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, the eccentric Wizarding Billionaire, womanizer and Philanthropist. Though the Beckham Estate has yet to confirm or deny this, his name was let slip by one of the Weasley family themselves during a visit to the Harpies Training Ground. (Turn to Page 5 and 6 for a Profile on the infamous Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, and his many lovers…)
Disgraced Ginny Weasley is no stranger to controversy. Many of our avid readers will remember that she put her last poor boyfriend, Randall McDuggan, into St. Mungoes’ for almost a week after his exclusive interview with this dear columnist. Mr McDuggan still suffers from recurring flashbacks and nightmares following on from Ms. Weasley’s violent assault on him using a rather vicious form of the ‘Bat-Bogey-Hex’. (Turn to Page 9 and 10 for Our Exclusive Follow-Up Interview with domestic abuse-survivor Randall McDuggan - My Lucky Escape from a Madwoman…)
Molly was halfway through reading Page 6 on ‘The Loves and Lovers of Rupert Paul Beckham the Third, the eccentric Wizarding Billionaire, womanizer and Philanthropist’, when the door sprung open, and in walked a breathless Ginny.
“I’m sorry I’m late... I just got the message!” she said, holding up the Galleon, as she stepped into the room. “Sorry, it's. really not been the best of mornings... What have I missed?”
Every face in the room now turned to face her, every face now a mixture of outrage, disappointment or disgust.
"What?" She said, a confused look on her face.
She scanned from face to face of her family, who were all glaring at her as if they wanted to throw something, until her eyes settled on her mother, standing in the centre of the group, her face contorted in a mixture of rage and fury like she'd never her seen before, as she raised her shaking hand and pointed accusatorily in the direction of her daughter.
"YOU...!!!" came the furious voice of her mother, her face red with anger. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, GINNY...!!!!!!" she cried in a mixture of fury and disgust.
Molly Weasley looked like she was about to explode.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'VE DONE!!!!!!!"
“Look!” said Ginny defensively “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’ve had a REALLY bad morning!”
“Oh, YOU’VE had a really bad morning??” shrieked Molly. “YOU’VE had a bad morning? You have absolutely NO IDEA young lady!”
“What’s going on?” asked Ginny, thoroughly confused,
“We know about Rupert Paul Beckham the Third” said her father coldly.
Ginny looked thoroughly confused by that.
“Ummm… Rupert who??”
“Don’t get smart with your father, young lady!” said her mother. "We know about the marriage! "
“Wait, how do you know about my marriage…” began Ginny, her eyes growing wide.
"Oh, so you don’t even deny it!" Snapped her mother, and there were collective gasps around the room, and loud consternation.
"No, I don’t…ummm… deny it. I just...ummmm,,," Ginny stammered.
She had not expected her family to find out about herself and Harry quite so soon. She had not expected this at all!
"How did you find out??" she asked nervously. She had not seen her mother as angry as this for quite some time.
“We spoke to Gwenog Jones this morning!" snapped her mother coldly. "That's how we know!"
"Oh..." she said in a small voice, and several of her siblings began to make loud ‘tutting’ noises under their breath, and shaking their heads angrily at her.
Ginny couldn't quite grasp what was going on here, but something wasn't quite right with her family. Something seemed very off.
"Gwenog told us that she even gave you a solution" her mother continued "and that you threw it in her face!"
"What??" asked Ginny, feeling this was more of an interrogation than a family gathering.
Ginny remembering what Gwenog had offered her. A “quick quiet divorce, and no one would be any the wiser”. She could “go on being Captain of the Harpies as if nothing had happened”. But, no, something HAD happened, and she couldn't do that to Harry!
"Oh, yeah. I couldn't do that." she said, "I just couldn't!" and there were more gasps around the room. Something was certainly wrong here!
"You couldn't??" asked her father. "You COULDN'T??? Almost like you were under… the Imperius Curse?"
Ginny was caught off-guard by that accusation. What in Merlin's name were they thinking?
"I told you he was bad news!" gasped Ron. "I bloody told you!"
"She hardly knows the bloke!" snapped Charlie, "And she's married to him! It's just not right!"
"It's a Curse alright!" growled Bill. "When I get my hands on that Rupert, he's dead meat!"
"It's terrible!" gasped her mother. "What has he done to my daughter?! He's a monster!"
Ginny felt taken aback. Something was REALLY off here!
"Wait...what??" said Ginny worriedly. "What the bloody hell are you all talking about??"
They knew about her marriage and all, thought Ginny, but they seemed to think it was to someone called "Rupert"?? She could tell she had a LOT of explaining to do!
But it was too late for that...
“Quick! Somebody Stun her!” cried Percy, withdrawing his Wand, and a jet of blue light flew over her head, missing her by inches.
Ginny gasped "What the,,,,"
Then another jet of blue light flew over her head, this time much closer than the first!
“What the bloody Hell!” Ginny gasped, as she jumped out of the way of yet a third Stunning Spell.
Ginny’s eyes went wide, especially when she saw it was not just Percy who had lost his mind. Every member of the Weasley Clan now had their Wands drawn on her, or were withdrawing their Wands, and all looked ready for battle.
"We’re doing this for your own good, dear." said Molly Weasley, and Ginny was able to cast the Shield Charm just in time as several Stunning Spells flew at her all at once. Ginny just managed to dive out of the way, as they struck the wall behind her with a loud bang!
"Somebody Stun her!" yelled Percy again. "Quick! Somebody Stun her NOW!"
Ginny was incensed. She had had enough of this madness! In her rage she cast a well-aimed Bat Bogey Hex directly at Percy. But Percy was too quick for it and managed to drive out of the way just in time, and Ginny's signature Spell hit her mother squarely in the face! Ginny gasped!
"How dare you!" yelled Bill. "How bloody dare you! Look at that you've done to your mother!"
Molly Weasley sank to her knees and spluttered, moaning loudly as bat bogeys began issuing from her nose.
"She bloody started it!" yelled Ginny, partly in regret, and partly feeling major betrayal on the way she was being treated by her family.
"I'll handle this!" said her father, and out of the tip of his wand shot a length of rope.
The rope hit Ginny a mere moment later, wrapping quickly around her like a snake, and slowly tightening itself around her slender frame. But she was too quick for it. In one swift fluid motion she brought her Wand down in a cutting action which tore through the rope before it could finish doing its job.
“What the bloody hell is wrong with you all? You’ve all gone bloody nutters!” she cried, and several more stunning spells shot towards her from every direction.
"Somebody Stun her!" Percy continued to yell, as her anger continued to rise. "Somebody Stun her!"
Ginny was able to dodge most of the spells again with the unmatched skill of a seeker, but she knew she couldn't outmanoeuvre them all, as Spells flew quick and fast.
Ginny quickly cast a Summoning Charm towards the largest crockery cabinet in the corner of room, which flew towards her. Hopefully it would offer her some shelter while she tried to talk some sense into her family! But at that moment several of the Spells and Hexes hit the cabinet at one time, and there was a loud bang!
The crockery cabined exploded with the force of a small bomb, sending Ginny flying across the room, and hitting the wall behind her with some force. She slid down it slowly, collapsing to her knees, the room spinning, feeling something wet running now down her forehead. Ginny touched her cheek, and examined the blood now flowing down her face, and felt enraged.
She looked up slowly to see most of the members of her family advancing on her, their Wands all drawn, while her mother still sat on the floor, her hands over her face as Bat-Bogeys flew around her. It was a surreal sight to behold.
"We've got her now!" yelled Charlie.
"Quick! Somebody Stun her!" yelled Percy again. “Somebody Stun her!"
Ginny felt the rage bubbling up inside her. It had been a very rough day, losing her job, losing her Captaincy from the Hollyhead Harpies, and then rushing to the Burrow to what she thought was her family needing assistance. But just when she needed her family the most, they had all turned on her. And now, laying against the wall, bleeding from her forehead, and almost slipping in and out of consciousness, they still wanted to inflict more on her. No! she thought, No more!
Ginny groaned in pain and raised her Wand high above her head.
"She's surrendering!" said Bill Weasley smugly. "I knew she would!"
"Reducto!!!!" bellowed Ginny, aiming it high towards the ceiling, and she brought her wand down in a smooth scything motion, as a crack appeared from one side of the ceiling to the other. "Reducto!!!".
For a second nothing happened. Then there was a loud crunching sound, and the ceiling came crashing down, creating a barrier between them, Ginny to one side, her family to the other.
The yells of shock, confusion and anger came from the other side of the divide, as Ginny slowly got to her feet. And then, loud blasting noises started/ They were coming from the other side of the rubble. Ginny knew it was her family trying to get to her. She had to make her escape, and quickly! She was at the front door in moments, and then, throwing it open, Ginny ran.
Hermione Apparated to a small clearing at the outskirts of the Burrow's grounds and started walking up the hill towards the Burrow's magical boundary fence, when she saw a small figure emerge from the house and run down the hill towards her. Then, moments later, more figures emerged from the house looking animated, and started giving chase to the first figure.
Hermione could sense something wasn't right, and she picked up her pace towards the boundary, where she knew magical protection spells were in place. The girl was halfway down the hill by this point, while several other figures were in pursuit, all casting Spells against her.
Hermione could see steaks of blue light fly towards her, as the girl tore down the hill at speed towards the place she now stood. Hermione hurried her spell work, unlocking the last of the magical Warding's on the boundary fence, when the girl finally reached her. She gasped. It was Ginny! It was Ginny, and she was covered from head to toe in dust and debris and blood, as her pursues picked up pace.
"Grab her!" one of them yelled, as Bill Weasley's voice came into earshot, "Grab her, Hermione!" he bellowed. "Bloody grab her!"
Ginny threw herself into Hermone's arms, blood running thickly down her forehead, and gasped. "Help!"
Hermione glanced up, as she saw the Weasley brothers, Wands drawn, all hurtling down the hill towards her, with her own husband bringing up the rear, as Ginny sobbed in her arms.
Thinking quickly on her feet, she gripped Ginny tightly, and did the only thing she could in that situation. Hermione turned, and, Apparating on the spot, they were gone.