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SIYE Time:12:18 on 28th March 2024
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Heart's Desire
By snarky24

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Category: Post-OotP, Pumpkin Juice Challenge (2018-2), Pumpkin Juice Challenge (2018-2)
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Warnings: Mild Sexual Situations
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 20
Summary: ** Winner for People's Choice Award & Most Unexpected in the Pumpkin Juice Challenge
Harry and Ginny find new ways to defy Umbridge after drinking some special pumpkin juice at the Valentine’s Day feast.
Hitcount: Story Total: 15252; Chapter Total: 3733
Awards: View Trophy Room






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Ginny didn’t mince words as she described how truly awful her first Quidditch practice had been. Angelina had nearly been in tears after witnessing the inexperience of the new team. Harry felt a pang of guilt, realizing that his foolhardiness had left the team in a lurch.

But Ginny came alive as she described all of the new moves she’d been itching to try and how wonderful it was to play with a full team. While Harry could tell she wished she’d been playing on a better team, her love for Quidditch was undeniable. She recounted in surprisingly vivid detail the weather conditions, her broom’s performance, and every swerve and dive she made.

Her bright brown eyes danced with joy as she became more animated and enthusiastic, and her passion for the sport was contagious. Harry quickly found himself sharing in Ginny’s happiness instead of wallowing in his guilt and despair about getting banned. He’d thought that he would be jealous of Ron and Ginny for getting to play when he couldn’t, but now he realized he was more jealous of their teammates. He found himself wishing he could be on the team with Ginny–or at least just go flying with her.

Cho was a good Quidditch player, but she didn’t talk about it with the same passion and excitement. He had never thought to invite her out for an evening flight around the lake or even a quick game of catch during free periods. She just didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would find that fun.

Harry found himself smiling at that thought of flying with Ginny around the lake as they shared ideas for new plays and how Gryffindor might be able to mitigate the damage of their next match. Perhaps he could nick one of the school brooms and sneak out with her tonight…

“Ginny,” he blurted impulsively, when Ginny paused to take a bite of mashed potatoes. “Do you want to go flying with me tonight?”

The words were out of his mouth before he’d even realized he was asking. He felt his cheeks warm at his forwardness, but he didn’t regret what he said.

Ginny’s eyes widened as she swallowed her food, but she seemed to regain her composure quickly. She opened her mouth to respond–

“Alright, Ginny? Harry?”

Harry’s head snapped across the table as he saw Dean climbing onto the bench to sit opposite of Harry and Ginny.

“Hullo, Dean,” said Ginny, sounding surprised.

Harry nodded at him, feeling unaccountably annoyed that Dean had interrupted their conversation.

“I saw you out on the Quidditch pitch today,” he said to Ginny, flashing her a smile before turning to Harry. “You’d better watch out, Harry. Ginny’s a brilliant Seeker.”

Harry grimaced. He suddenly felt jealous that Dean had got to watch her play when he had spent the day with Cho in Hogsmeade.

“I’ve got a lifetime ban, so I doubt I’ll ever get to chance to challenge her for my spot back,” he replied irritably. He was sure that Umbridge would ban him from even watching Quidditch soon.

Ginny blushed deeply at Dean’s compliment, her face glowing like the setting sun. Harry felt a stab of annoyance that Dean was able to elicit such a strong response from her.

“I’ll never be as brilliant as Harry,” she said lightly, shooting Harry a lopsided smile that made his stomach flutter. “Besides, Seeker’s not my cuppa tea. I prefer Chaser, so he’s going to have to find a way back onto the team.”

Harry felt his cheeks grow warm at the thought of playing together on the same team.

“You’re a Chaser? We should go play sometime,” replied Dean easily. “Seamus has been teaching me, but he’s rubbish. I bet you could show me the ropes.”

“Is he?” replied Ginny mildly.

“Angelina’s called practice every day, so I’m sure Ginny won’t have time for the rest of term,” Harry cut in quickly, unable to stop himself. He didn’t like the idea of Dean and Ginny playing Quidditch alone, and he was having a hard time hiding it for some reason.

But Dean took Harry’s interruption in stride and nodded good-naturedly. “Ah, of course, the new team will need a lot of practice to get ready for the next match.”

“That’s right,” said Harry shortly, hoping Dean would take the hint and shove off. He was eager to sneak out for a flight with Ginny before it got too dark.

“So any Valentine’s Day plans tonight?” Dean asked, turning to Ginny and leaning toward her with interest.

Harry swallowed hard, feeling his annoyance building. He wasn’t going to flying with Dean, too.

“No, Ginny and I were just discussing–”

Dean laughed, cutting Harry off. “I think you’re great, Harry, but I was talking to the pretty one.” He gave Ginny a winning smile and a roguish wink that made Harry want to hex him. His easy manner made Harry feel like a clumsily admirer, jockeying for Ginny’s attention.

Ginny’s cheeks turned pink again, and Harry had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. Was Dean really that charming?

“Er, no, I don’t have a date planned–” she started tentatively, sending Harry a sidelong glance.

“Does that mean you and Michael aren’t seeing each other anymore?” replied Dean curiously, looking over Ginny’s shoulder at something behind her. Harry followed his gaze.

“Well, I had Quidditch practice all day, and Michael was in Hogsmeade,” she replied hastily, but then she stopped abruptly as she too turned to see what was going on behind her.

Cho was walking to the entrance hall with a small troop of boys following her, elbowing each other to get ahead. Harry couldn’t help but notice that Michael was among them. Just as she reached the doors, she turned and flipped her long, silky hair over her shoulder and giggled.

It seemed that Cho had her own fan club. It had bothered Harry earlier today to hear her brag about the other boys who fancied her, but now he found that he didn’t care. Their date had been fairly unpleasant for both of them. If dating Cho meant more trips to places like Madam Puddifoot’s, than Harry wasn’t sure how long they were going to last.

He glanced furtively at Ginny, worried that she would be upset at Michael’s inclusion in the fan club. He hadn’t even looked their way as he exited the Great Hall.

To Harry’s surprise, Ginny seemed unperturbed. Ignoring Michael, she grabbed a pitcher of pumpkin juice and poured it into a glass. “Dean, would you like some pumpkin juice?” she asked, offering him the glass.

Dean waved his hand as Harry stared at her, confused. “Oh, no thank you. I’ve always hated pumpkin juice,” he said, pulling a face.

“Hmm,” said Ginny, nodding slowly. She appeared to be studying Dean closely, and Harry didn’t like it.

“Why don’t you join me for a quick trip down to the kitchens? The house elves keep a few Muggle fizzy drinks there that I think you might like,” replied Dean smoothly.

Harry found Dean’s persistence confounding. His face must have shown his dismay because Dean quickly added, “We can bring one back for you if you’d like, Harry.”

“No, thanks. I prefer pumpkin juice,” he replied, trying to keep the irritation from his voice as he roughly grabbed the glass of pumpkin juice Ginny had offered. Ginny’s head snapped toward Harry and it looked as if she were going to stop him, but decided against it.

“Maybe another time, Dean,” she said pleasantly. “I’m really quite tired from Quidditch practice.”

Harry thought never sounded like a good time. He watched Dean over the rim of his glass as he slowly drank the pumpkin juice.

Dean furrowed his brow as his eyes darted between Harry and Ginny, looking a bit confused. “Alright,” he said slowly, finally accepting defeat. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

And with a nod, he had left them.

Harry set the glass down, happy to see him go. A scraping sound on the table brought his attention back to Ginny. She was pushing the pitcher of pumpkin juice away from them, as if disgusted by it. It was then that Harry noticed the bright red scratches on the back of Ginny’s hand.

His hand automatically closed around her wrist, stopping her from pulling her hand away. He turned the back of her hand toward him, and he felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. Five dreadful, blood red words in neat script were etched deep into the back of her hand: I must not tell lies..

“Not you, too?” he asked, his heart sinking as he examined the back of her hand.

Ginny stuck out her chin defiantly. “She’s an evil toad, and I don’t regret what I did,” she said in a heated voice.

Harry felt a surge of anger toward Umbridge as he imagined her standing over Ginny as she wrote those horrible words in her own blood. A small bead of blood trickled down the back of her wrist. The wound was still fresh.

“When did this happen?” he asked. He slipped his hand under hers and used his other hand to gently dab her wound with a cloth napkin. Her palm felt soft and warm in his.

Ginny inhaled sharply at the contact. “Er, during my detention last night,” she said in a husky voice. She interlaced her fingers with his, and Harry felt a swooping sensation in his stomach.

She continued, the same heat returning to her voice. “Umbridge told our class earlier this week that the Death Eater breakouts at Azkaban were nothing to worry about, and I told her it’s because Voldemort is back and the Ministry is just looking the other way while he rebuilds his army.”

Harry couldn’t help feeling a rush of gratitude for her bravery, even though he was unhappy that she’d suffered for it and would have preferred that she let him take the brunt of Umbridge’s ire. But he suspected Ginny would bristle at the admonishment, so he decided to keep that part to himself.

“Thank you…for standing up to her,” he said slowly, deciding it was more important that she knew what her loyalty and steadfastness meant to him, especially when Harry felt so powerless.

“Every act of resistance counts,” she said fiercely, her bright brown eyes blazing.

Harry nodded slowly. This was why he continued to stand up to Umbridge and why he had joined Hermione at the Three Broomsticks earlier that day for his tell-all with Rita Skeeter. He felt he had to do whatever he could to defy the Ministry and to defy Voldemort, even if he couldn’t stop terrible things from happening.

Harry was yanked away from his dark thoughts when he felt Ginny pull her hand away from him and grab his own. She turned it over and ran her finger over the scarred, white words on the back his hand: I must not tell lies..

“I wish there was something we could do to stop her,” he said bitterly. “This is barbaric.”

To his surprise, Ginny looked up from his hand, a small smile creeping across her face. “We might not be able to stop her, but we can give her a taste of her own medicine.”

“Huh?”

Ginny leaned toward him conspiratorially, her smile growing wider. “I’m saying we should switch Umbridge’s Black Quill with her writing quill,” she whispered.

Harry felt a thrill of excitement. “And how do you propose we do that?”

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