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Firsts | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP, Post-HBP, Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny, Harry/Ginny Genres: Romance Warnings: Intimate Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 102 Summary: Harry and Ginny have fun learning that there's a first time for everything. What are friends for, right? Hitcount: Story Total: 51922; Chapter Total: 9554 Author's Notes: I didn't have to edit this chapter at all for SIYE. If you want to read the story in its unedited form, it's on fanfiction.net under the pen name mhersheybar |
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December 3, 1998 “Will you calm down, mate? I swear, you’d think you were on a broom yourself, the way you keep rocking back and forth.” “Sorry,” said Harry sheepishly. He sat back down so that Ron could see past him to the game. The match had been going on for almost two hours and Gryffindor was leading Ravenclaw by only twenty points. The Chasers circled around again, Ginny in the lead. One of her teammates passed her the Quaffle and it looked like she was going to score, but at the last minute a Bludger came out of nowhere, hitting her on the shoulder and almost knocking her off her broom. “Ohhh,” sighed the crowd. A couple of people screamed as Ginny wobbled precariously for a moment before regaining her balance and streaking back towards the other goal in pursuit of the Ravenclaw Chaser who now had the Quaffle. “Do you think she’s okay? Can you tell if she’s favoring her other arm?” Harry hadn’t realized he had jumped to his feet again until Ron tugged on his arm to pull him back down. “I’m sure she’s fine, Harry. Look — she’s got the Quaffle again.” Ron elbowed him. “I’m going to tell Ginny that you were worrying about her worse than our mum.” “I am not worrying,” said Harry. “It’s just . . . well, things look different from down here, as opposed to when you’re playing. And I just want to make sure she’s okay. She has that big test in Transfiguration on Monday, you know?” “No, I don’t know,” said Ron. “I have enough trouble keeping our own testing schedule straight, thank you very much.” He grimaced. “I wonder if it’s too late to take up Fred and George’s offer to go work for them.” “Just make sure I’m nowhere near your mum when you decide to tell her,” said Harry absently, his eyes again on Ginny as she streaked across the sky. “Yeah well, if Ginny’s in the room at the time, you won’t notice anyway, will you?” asked Ron peckishly. “Cause you’ll be busy, I don’t know, making sure she doesn’t trip over a chair someone carelessly failed to push all the way under the table.” “Uh huh,” muttered Harry, his mind fully on the action in the sky. “You’re still coming out with the blokes afterwards, aren’t you mate?” Ron poked Harry in the side until he finally took his eyes off the game. “What?” “You, me, Neville, Seamus, Dean — remember? We’re all meeting at the Leaky. Seamus threatened to hex the first ‘nancy boy’ to give up and go home tonight.” “Of course I’m coming,” said Harry. “I’ve been looking forward to it all week. Merlin knows I need as much of a break as you do from training.” “Not to mention the work of running up to Hogwarts every month to teach,” added Hermione. She was sitting on Ron’s other side and had been watching Harry with an amused look on her face for most of the game. “Nah, I haven’t minded teaching so much,” said Harry. “It’s a nice break, and I get to see Ginny.” “When exactly did you become such good friends with my sister?” asked Ron, looking oddly at Harry for a moment. “Uhh, the summer after our Second Year?” Harry rolled his eyes. “Where have you been? Tom Riddle, the Basilisk, the Chamber — remember? We couldn’t exactly share something as big as that without becoming friends.” He elbowed Ron. “And didn’t we have this same conversation a couple of years ago when I invited her to the Yule Ball?” “Yeah, but I didn’t think you meant it then” retorted Ron. “I thought you just wanted to get out of asking a real girl.” “Hey!” said Hermione indignantly. “Is that the reason you asked me?” “Nah, he asked you because he knew you’d be a great shag someday,” said Harry with a smirk. He listened to his friends bluster at him for a minute and then turned his head back to the game. “At least I’ve got someone to shag,” muttered Ron under his breath. “It’s never going to happen for you if you keep hanging out with my sister, mate.” Giving another silent prayer of thanks that Ron was still completely oblivious, Harry just shrugged. That’s what you think. A moment later, Ginny had the Quaffle under her arm and was almost at the Ravenclaw goal when a roar went up from the red and gold section of the crowd. The Gryffindor Seeker had finally caught the Snitch and most of the team began celebrating their win. Ginny and the Ravenclaw Chaser and Beater racing after her were still unaware that the game was over. When the Beater hit a Bludger in Ginny’s direction, her own teammates were already landing and unable to stop the heavy ball from smashing into the back of her head. Ginny fell forward against the front of her broom and only the quick thinking of the Ravenclaw players kept her from falling off. The Keeper shot forward and grabbed Ginny around the waist, pulling her onto his own broom with the help of the Beater, a horrified look on his face. Harry was on his feet with his wand out to try to break Ginny’s fall before half the crowd realized what had happened. Next to him, Ron had stopped cheering over Gryffindor’s win and was snogging Hermione, completely oblivious to everyone around him. It took three tries before Harry could finally make his friends realize what had happened. They raced down to the pitch, eyes on the sky as the Ravenclaw players landed awkwardly with their burden. Harry couldn’t tell if Ginny was conscious or not because of the crowd of Ravenclaw (and a few Gryffindor) players that had flown up to help. “What exactly happened?” Ron asked as the trio pushed passed spectators clogging the stands. “Late hit,” Harry said tersely. Ron swore. “Those bloody bastards.” “It was an accident,” amended Harry. “They didn’t realize the game was over and the Gryffindor Beaters were already on the ground.” The crowd was surging in their same direction and he craned his neck trying to see over them to the ground where Ginny was. They finally made it out of the stands and to the grassy infield of the pitch. To Harry’s surprise, he could see Ginny sitting up, pressing a cloth to the back of her head and apparently talking to Madame Pomfrey, who was waving her wand over head. Ron stopped. “She looks okay to me. Are you sure she got hit as hard as you said?” “Yeah,” said Harry. “The Bludger really slammed into her.” They reached Ginny just as she was getting to her feet — a bit unsteadily, Harry thought — the rest of the Gryffindor team surrounding her. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” she was saying, pushing away the arm that Jimmy Peakes was trying to wrap around her waist. Harry saw Madame Pomfrey sigh and put away her wand. “Well that’s good to know,” said Ron. “Cause your brain’s cracked enough as it is.” Ginny stuck out her tongue. “Prat. You’re just mad that I disarmed you in front of the class yesterday.” Harry chuckled. “I thought you both got all of this out of your system yesterday, but if you’d like to continue your duel, I’m sure Ginny can disarm you again- this time in front of the entire school, Ron.” Ron rounded on him. “You’re supposed to be on my side!” “I’m on the side of whoever looks better with their wand, and yesterday, it was Ginny.” “Hmph,” said Ron peevishly. He looked more seriously at his sister. “You sure you’re okay? “ Ginny nodded. “Fine, Ron.” She glanced at Harry. “How did we look out there?” Harry grinned. “Really good, actually. I liked seeing that new move you were telling me about in person. That over-under throwing method really works well.” He and Ginny launched into a discussion about the finer points of the game as they walked towards the castle; it had been a long time since Harry had seen a Hogwarts Quidditch match and he realized how much he’d missed it. Hermione wandered off to talk to Luna. Ron interjected a couple of comments about the game and then began looking at his watch and clearing his throat. “Uhh, Harry? We probably need to get going soon if we want to make it to the pub on time.” Harry turned to Ron, looking at his own watch. “Merlin, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. Do you want to go into the castle and find a floo or leave the grounds and Apparate?” Ron looked up towards the castle, then across the front lawn as if to gauge which method would require less walking. “Apparate, I guess. I always bump my head on the mantle at the Leaky.” He started to walk down the hill. “That’s because you’re usually too pissed to stand up straight, Ron,” Harry called after him. “Hey, don’t you have a girlfriend you need to find and say goodbye to first?” He laughed as Ron froze mid-step and looked around before spotting Hermione with a knot of people near the path to the greenhouses. “I swear, sometimes I think he forgets he has a girlfriend,” said Harry as he turned back to Ginny. He’d been planning to say a quick goodbye and then catch up with Ron down the hill, but the odd look on Ginny’s face made the words die in his throat. “Are you okay?” Ginny suddenly looked awfully pale. Ginny put one hand to the side of her head and shuddered for a second, eyes closed. “I think so,” she said. “I just got a little dizzy for a second.” She opened her eyes. “I think maybe I’ll go lie down for a little while. Have fun at the pub.” She took two steps forward and then stopped, swaying on her feet. Harry rushed forward and put his arm around her waist as she sagged into him. “Ginny!” “I’m okay,” she mumbled. “Really, I just need to . . .” The rest of her sentence was lost in a retch as she suddenly leaned away and vomited all over the ground in front of them. Harry gulped and automatically jumped back. Ginny retched again and then groaned, her hands on her head. Doing his best to ignore the mess on the ground, Harry grabbed Ginny again, holding her up. “You need to go to the Hospital Wing,” he said firmly. He looked towards where Ron had gone but no one was around. The crowd from the match had all disappeared into the castle and the winter sun had almost dipped below the horizon. Deciding the situation wasn’t serious enough to conjure a Patronus, he tugged gently at Ginny. “Can you walk?” Her eyes were closed again, but she opened them at his question. “If you help me,” she said weakly. Slowly they made their way up to see Madame Pomfrey, who took one look at Ginny’s face and made a tutting sound with her tongue. “I told you that you needed to come up here,” she admonished. “Getting hit by a Bludger is not something to be trifled with.” “She got hit twice, actually,” said Harry. “Once on the shoulder, earlier in the game.” He wanted to bite his words back as soon as he’d said them — Ginny hated the Hospital Wing as much as he did and wouldn’t want to stay longer so the Matron could check her shoulder too. But Ginny didn’t say anything, just sat heavily on the closest bed and closed her eyes again. Madame Pomfrey bustled over and began waving her wand around Ginny, muttering spells. Ginny jerked and then sat up straighter. “That feels better,” she said. She started to get up. “Really, I’m fine.” “Hmmm,” said the matron. “That’s what you said to me down at the pitch too. And look where it landed you.” “I just got a little dizzy, that’s all,” said Ginny. “I’m fine now.” “Ginny, you practically fainted outside, and then you threw up,” said Harry. He didn’t really care if she got mad at him — she was so stubborn sometimes. Conveniently ignoring the fact that he’d always tried to get out of the Hospital Wing as quickly as possible himself, he walked over to where Ginny was now standing and pushed her lightly back down onto the bed. “I think you should stay here and get some rest.” “I can rest in my own room,” said Ginny petulantly, pushing his hand away and standing up again. “I’ll let you walk me back to Gryffindor Tower, if you insist. I just need a good nap.” “Don’t go to sleep!” said Madame Pomfrey sharply. “Not with a head injury — not for 8 hours, at least. If you don’t have anyone to help keep you awake, you’ll need to stay here.” “I’ll can do it, I’ll stay,” said Harry quickly. The words burst out before he could even think about it. Ron would probably hex him for missing the night out, but he couldn’t see any other option. “Harry, don’t be ridiculous, you’re going out with my brother,” said Ginny. “He’ll never let you live it down if you give it up to babysit me.” Harry shrugged. “What are friends for? Besides, I’ve already been vomited on by one Weasley today — I don’t need to deal with another. That’s Hermione’s job.” “Harry . . .” began Ginny. “Ginny really, it’s okay,” said Harry. To his surprise, he realized it was the truth. Yes, he had been looking forward to a night out, but really, he saw his mates at least as often as he got to see Ginny — more often probably. And she needed him right now. She was still shaking her head — gingerly. “You and your ‘saving people’ thing,” she muttered. “Honestly, Harry, I’m not in danger and I know you were looking forward to going to the pub.” “I was,” he admitted. “And you’re going to owe me a couple of pints once you’re better. Plus, I’ll expect you to take care of me next time I drink too much and help me hex your brother if he tries to take the mickey out of me for skipping out on him.” “Wow Harry, next thing I know, you’ll be asking me to sleep with you or something,” said Ginny with a grin. Harry was thankful that Madame Pomfrey had gone to the other side of the ward to get Ginny a potion. He leaned in close to Ginny’s ear anyway. “Two months, Weasley. Just don’t go getting hit by any more Bludgers in the meantime.” “So you’re going to keep an eye on Miss Weasley for me?” Madame Pomfrey was back and handed Harry a corked bottle. “Have her take some of this every hour — it does the same thing as my spell. Contact me immediately if she faints or feels worse. And don’t let her fall asleep.” “Yes ma’am,” said Harry solemnly. “I’ll do anything it takes to keep her awake.” The matron raised her eyebrows. “I’ve been around students a long time, Potter. Let me strongly warn you against doing absolutely ‘anything’. It won’t do any good if you end up rolling over and going to sleep.” Harry turned bright red. He wondered briefly if Madame Pomfey had a pair of extendable ears and had heard their earlier discussion. “Umm, right,” he muttered. He turned to Ginny and held out his arm. “Shall we?” Ginny nodded and took his arm, leaning on him to walk, but much steadier than she had earlier. As they left the Hospital Wing, she said, “We should send Ron a Patronus so he doesn’t worry.” She stopped suddenly and Harry looked at her warily. “Are you okay?” “Yeah,” she nodded. “But are you sure you want to do this? You really don’t have to, you know. I’m sure I could stay awake at the victory celebration or something.” “Completely sure,” said Harry firmly. “We’ve only talked about the first half hour of the match today — there’s still a lot we have to discuss if Gryffindor has any hope of winning the Quidditch Cup.” They walked in silence for a few minutes before Ginny stopped them again. “Harry?” “Hmmm?” “If it was reversed, I’d stay with you.” “I know.” |
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