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If Harry Potter Had Game | ||||||
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Category: Pre-OotP Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley Genres: Fluff, Humor, Romance Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: G Reviews: 13 Summary: What if Harry Potter fancied Ginny back in Chamber of Secrets? What if he actually did something about it? What if there is a sarcasm feedback loop? Canon compliant, but divergent from that point on. Hitcount: Story Total: 6161; Chapter Total: 880 |
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The Dursleys left Harry alone for his second summer there since Sirius' return. Completely alone -- they spoke not a word to him. He still hated being in that house, with its oppressive atmosphere of disdain, but it was bearable. When the first letter from Ginny arrived, he laid down on his bed to read it. Dear Harry, Dumbledore came by the Burrow and told Ron and I that we needed to hardly write you and tell you no important information. He'd already been to see Hermione and got her to agree. Ron started to say okay and then I lit into him. I really thought he was going to obliviate me or something, I've never seen Dumbledore angry before but I told him I was still going to write you every day and tell you anything I knew. He said it was for your own safety and couldn't tell us why, but I said that keeping secrets from people you love never made people more safe. Knowing things means you can plan. I know if you tried some noble 'don't tell Ginny for her own good' rubbish on me I'd Bat-Bogey your sinuses raw and bleeding, so I'm not about to treat you that way myself. Of course, all that does is make it so that I never have any information to pass along but at least we'll be ignorant together. After I spoke up Ron agreed with me and I'm sure Hermione will too, don't hold it against her for listening to Dumbledore, he has this Presence sometimes and you know how she is about following rules (at least sometimes). I'll write more tomorrow and I'll see you when Sirius collects you. Love, Ginny ______________ __________________________ Dear Harry, Dumbledore is apparently starting some secret cabal of people that believe you about Voldemort returning. He was here again today, and I heard just a bit before I was noticed and kicked out. When Sirius gets you, we can gang up on him because surely he'll be more in the know. I have to go de-gnome the garden. Mum's been riding me hard since I mouthed off to the Headmaster. Worth it though. I giggled myself to sleep last night thinking about my own cheek. Love, Ginny ________ ________________________________ "S o, Sirius, Dumbledore's starting this Order of the Phoenix to fight Voldemort, he's using OUR HOUSE to be its headquarters, but I can't be part of it?" "Harry, Harry, you're still a boy. Go to school, snog your girlfriend, live your life! Let us worry about it." "Yes, well, that worked out so well when Voldemort hung about on the back of Quirrell's head for a year, or there was a dirty great snake slithering all over the school, or Dementors swarming about, or a Death Eater in disguise right under Dumbledore's nose all year. You will forgive me for not being so fulsome with my trust as you were presumably expecting." "All right Harry, I can't argue with you, but there's still a big difference between fighting the battles you have fought, and a second Wizarding War. I didn't want to have to tell you this, but Dumbledore is going to be keeping his distance from you. We're concerned about information getting out that Dumbledore has a close relationship with you -- won't be safe." "Is that why he tried to get all my friends to ignore me?" "I sided with Ginny on that one, and your other friends did too, so don't be angry with us. I'm on your side. I'm not going to pretend Dumbledore doesn't make mistakes, he's only human. But he does a lot right too, some of which you never know about because he's handled it properly behind the scenes. So cut him some slack too. It's because of him that anything's getting done at all -- the Ministry officially doesn't believe you. Dumbledore does. Voldemort is the enemy, and you know I have no love for the Ministry either. That's enough enemies for a man's life." "Okay, but you need to tell me as much as you can, or you're going to face the wrath of Ginny." "Apart from her being scary, I still owe her for her rat-catching skills. I'll tell you what I can, but that goes both directions, young pup. We're a family now and you've got to keep me informed of whatever sneaky stuff you get up to -- relevant to the Death Eaters I mean, keep your sneaky stuff with Ginny to yourself." "You're one to talk, imagine my third year if you'd just written me a letter of explanation, instead of trying to break into Hogwarts." "It's possible my brain was a little addled from oh I don't know all the years of literal torture in Azkaban." "Privet Drive." "Touché." _______________ _________________________ "It feels a little weird staying in your house," said Ginny. "I've certainly been a guest in your house often enough," said Harry. "Oh, sure, but it's different, that's mum's domain. Here Sirius is in charge, and he lets you do whatever you want, so it feels like you're in charge." "I don't feel in charge when your mum is here, no matter what." "Oh, come on, throw your weight around, tell her to stop cleaning or something." "I choose life." "Once you've got her humbled and acting like a guest, then, if I should happen to be in your room--" "With the door open--" "Harry! The whole point is to get mum to stop making rules for us!" "That's not her rule, it's mine." "What do you think's going to happen if the door is closed?" "Some time in the future I'm going to ask you that question and you're going to be in for an epiphany." "Harry!" ______________ __________________________ "Sirius, my scar has really been hurting me lately. Again. I know Dumbledore doesn't want to see me, but you'd better talk to him about it. It's different since he's back in a real body." "Thanks for telling me, Harry. And tell Ginny I said thanks for her making you tell me." "I'll pass that along." _____________________________ ___________ "I can't believe they made Ron a prefect but not you!" "Ginny, it's fine. Why would I want to be a prefect anyway? Extra responsibilities? Let Ron and Hermione have that." "If they find time to do anything as prefects instead of abusing their power to 'inspect' every broom cupboard in the castle." "We've got the Map, we can stay three cupboards ahead of them on rounds." "Don't say things like that Potter, unless you mean it," growled Ginny. "Sorry. Besides, Ron has really gotten more responsible these last few years." "Since you threw him at Hermione, you mean." "He jumped; I just gave him a boost." "I've caught him reading. On his own, alone." "Wow, he has changed." ___________________________ _____________ "Ginny, you're the one that told me to tell Sirius and Dumbledore about my scar hurting." "I didn't think he'd give you detention for it!" "It's not detention, it's Occlumency lessons." "With Snape! Anything with Snape is detention." _________________________ _______________ "Harry. You know the truth. I know the truth. Our friends know the truth. Umbridge doesn't care about the truth. And anyone who pays her any mind at all too stupid to understand the truth. Please just let it go. No one worth thinking about listens to a word she has to say. Don't give her the satisfaction of letting her kill all your free time. Because that's MY free time you're throwing away, Potter." "I will try. I can try to just chew the inside of my cheek and stay silent. I can try. That's all I can do." ________________________________ ________ "Ginny, what about trying out for chaser? With Ron going out for Keeper, we could have four Weasleys on the team." "Angelina, Alicia, and Katie have been playing together for so long. Even if I can fly better than one of them--" "Or any of them--" "It's not just about flying skill, but teamwork. Except for Keeper, this year's team will be the same lot that won the cup last year. I don't want to mess about with that. Next year when Angelina and Alicia have gone, I'll join you on the pitch. Besides, if I'm up there flying around with you… will you really be able to concentrate on looking for the snitch?" "Oh, don't worry about me, when it comes to Quidditch, I can focus really well." "I was trying to--you know what, never mind. You spoiled it." ________________________________ ________ "That utter prat!" yelled Ginny. "Who?" said Ron. "Percy!" shouted Ginny. "Oh, he wrote to you, too?" asked Ron. "I thought he'd have more of a sense of self-preservation than that." "He's got his head so far up the Ministry's bum that he's wearing its sphincter as a muffler!" "Don't let Harry hear you talk like that--" "He's bought the Ministry's story hook, line, sinker, rod, and reel. Harry's a deranged liar, attention seeker, might even get violent with me if I don't pretend to believe his lies about 'you know who' being back." "Did Fred and George's pranking turn him into this big a pillock, or did they prank him so much because he was always going to turn out like this?" "I would be DEAD if it wasn't for Harry!" "I know." "Percy's concerned for my safety as well as my virtue." "That utter creep!" "Oh yes, if I don't stop hanging about with 'Potter' then 'some people' will start calling me a 'scarlet woman.'" "So, it's revenge time." "Oh yes." "You're not likely to let this out of your system and then calm down." "Oh no." "All right. I'll grab Fred and George, and we can all strategize." "They can go for the obvious, you go for the subtle, but I'm going straight for the violent." "Best not tell Harry about this." "Then you run interference for me with him, until my hot anger settles into cold malice." ____________________________ ____________ "Ron, Hermione, if Harry gets into any more trouble with Umbridge I am going to hold YOU responsible. I can't be in all his classes and keep him from mouthing off to that toad. That is YOUR job. Jinx him if you have to. If he complains, tell him it was on my orders." "Since when do you give me orders?" muttered Ron. "What?" "I said 'yes ma'am." _____________________________ ___________ "Hermione wants to start a student club so we can teach ourselves Defence." "She's right." "Not you, too." "Harry, remember when we studied extra with Lupin and learned the Patronus? That was actually really good." "Good? It was terrifying. And the dementors all got recalled after that anyway." "Harry, you know you're not just a regular boy. You're the Boy Who Lived. You know he's going to come after you. We can't afford to flitter away a whole year of Defence training because of that polliwog. You're going to be fighting Voldemort whether you like it or not, and I'm going to be fighting right next to you, so let's just do the bloody work and learn how to do it properly." __________________________ ______________ "You are NOT going back to lessons with Snape. This is ludicrous!" "Ginny, wait!" "If you want to talk me out of it, talk on the way and talk fast. I'm off to fight the Headmaster again." "You can't get away with that forever--" "I'll die trying then." "My scar is hurting because of my connection to Voldemort! I NEED to learn Occlumency!" "YES! You do! Which is why having Snape fail to teach it to you is a bloody great waste of our time!" "Ginny! Slow down!" ______________________________ __________ "This is brilliant! We can use this room for our Defence meetings, and the toad will never know!" "It's not even on the Map. Wait until I rub it in Sirius' face!" "Although I'm tempted to say let's meet in an unused classroom and save this room for ourselves… if it can really give us whatever we need." ______________________________ __________ "Ron, you were brilliant!" said Harry. "If Oliver Wood could see you now, he'd turn over in his grave!" "But he's not dead." "The excitement of that game would have killed him. We destroyed Slytherin!" "Thanks, Harry. But would you mind repeating all of that in front of Hermione? Here she comes." _____________________________ ___________ Harry and Ginny entered the Room of Requirement to prepare for the next DA meeting. "What. Is. All. That." Ginny was frozen, staring at a hundred golden baubles, hung about the Room, all with Harry's face on them and the motto, "HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!" "Dobby. Argh. Dobby, I am going to…" Ginny laughed until the tears came. Harry was already ripping down the decorations. "Help me with this, quick!" "Are you kidding? Leave them up! I'm going to nip off and borrow Colin's camera!" ____________________________ ____________ "Harry, Harry, that wasn't possession. I know what that feels like, remember? You saw things, you experienced things, but you didn't DO things. It was all him. You're just seeing him, that's all. It's horrible, but it saved my dad's life, after all." "Thanks, Gin." "What if you learned to control it? What if it's a weapon you can use against him?" "Or what if he learns to use it against me?" ________________________________ ________ "This wasn't what I had in mind for Christmas this year." "Me neither. St. Mungo's is possibly the least romantic place on earth." Harry stood behind Ginny, his arms around her, his chin resting on her shoulder. "I love you." "I love you." She turned to him. Their kiss was tender rather than passionate. _________________________ _______________ Harry, with a lot of help from his friends, had managed to swallow his anger enough to stay out of too much trouble with Umbridge. The DA meetings continued, and Harry also had started Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore, rather than Snape. The next Hogsmeade weekend was on Valentine's Day. Harry took Ginny to the Hog's Head, because she found the dodgy atmosphere more exciting than the Three Broomsticks. Also, they were the only Hogwarts students there. Hermione tried to get Harry to tell his story and have it printed in The Quibbler, but he refused. He'd told it to everyone he cared about, and if the rest of the Wizarding World was fool enough to believe the blatant lies in the Daily Prophet, they could all hang. Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff in the next Quidditch game, to little fanfare. Hermione had suggested that Harry and everyone else on Umbridge's list of enemies should endeavor to look miserable at all times, unless they were safe in Gryffindor Tower. She reasoned that Umbridge would do less harm if she felt she had already won. Harry spent his time revising for O.W.L.s, at Quidditch practice, at Defence practice, having his Occlumency lessons, and most importantly spending time with Ginny, while also trying to find enough time for the rest of his friends. He did his best to block out Umbridge's ever increasing foolishness. Gryffindor won their last game Quidditch game against Ravenclaw, securing the Quidditch Cup. The House Cup, however, went to Slytherin. __________________________ ______________ Despite the progress Harry was making in learning to block the connection he shared with Voldemort, after his O.W.L.s were finally over, a vision came to him while he dozed. Panicking, Harry searched for the communication mirror that Sirius had given him. "Sirius! Are you there?!" Harry shouted at the mirror. "Harry, what's wrong?" replied Sirius. "Where are you?!" demanded Harry. "I'm just at home, what's the matter? What's going on?" Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "I saw you, surrounded by Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries. It was just like when I saw Mr. Weasely attacked, but worse." "Well, I'm not there. Was it a regular dream, or a vision from you know who?" "Not a dream. Not a chance." "What if there really are Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries, with a polyjuiced Death Eater pretending to be me, and it's all a trap? I'll alert all the members of the Order that I can. Harry, you STAY SAFE at school, and call me back on the mirror if anything else happens. Stay in Gryffindor Tower until you hear from me. Gather up your friends." ___________________________ _____________ The next morning saw a lot of changes. Umbridge was recalled to the Ministry, and Dumbledore addressed the school in the Great Hall, telling them, again, that Voldemort had returned, and relaying a rather abridged eyewitness account of it, ending with the sad news that Alastor Moody lost his life in the fight. Ginny borrowed a copy of the Daily Prophet from someone (she refused to pay a knut for it herself on general principle). "Look, Harry," said Ginny. "The Daily Prophet is finally admitting Voldemort is back." "It only took him fighting nearly the entire Order, at the Ministry itself, to make them finally print the obvious." "At least he didn't get the prophecy he was after." "I wish I knew what it said. Dumbledore is keeping that under wraps." "At least he told you what all happened in the battle. That's something." "It sounded horrifying. I'm glad I wasn't there. When I thought Sirius was really there, I was about to try and fly my Nimbus the whole way there!" "I know I of all people have no right to complain about you charging headlong into danger, but this is one time I'm glad you weren't there. Mad Eye was killed -- you're good, Harry, but that was Mad Eye Moody. It's a miracle they didn't lose anyone else." "I know. But I also know, somehow, that eventually I'll end up in fights like that. If the adults could keep order, they'd have done it by now. It'll end up being up to us at some point." "That's why we've got to keep the DA going. So we'll be ready." "Speaking of ready, I've got to give Kreacher his orders, we need the house prepared for the whole Order for Mad Eye's Remembrance. It's weird, though. I didn't really know Mad Eye well at all. I only met him a few times. It was Crouch that I knew. It's bizarre to mourn Mad Eye when Crouch is still out there." "Yeah. It doesn't seem quite real to me either." ____________________________ ____________ Author's notes: Ron is just straight up good at Quidditch because in canon his problem was confidence, and at this point he has so much support from Hermione that it's not a problem for him on the pitch. Due to Ginny's influence and the ease with which Harry can communicate with Sirius (since he's not on the run), Harry is more open about his scar hurting, which leads to earlier Occlumency lessons, but also less Snape overall because Harry doesn't stoically put up with as much nonsense when Ginny is around. This doesn't mean Harry is immediately good at Occlumency though, or able to keep it on all the time without effort, so he can still get Voldemort visions as the plot demands. Harry rebels against Umbridge a LOT less, never gets scars, never gets banned from Quidditch. He hates Umbridge and she hates him, but without him fighting her, she has less reason to go after him. She never set dementors on him because she never had the opportunity, so he was never in trouble with the Ministry, other than having "lied" about Voldemort's return early on. No relationship with Cho means Marietta Edgecombe never rats out the DA, which means Dumbledore is not run out of the school. Voldemort has enough informants to know that Sirius is the most important person to him (apart from Ginny) and he still tries the bait, but this time Harry actually has no problem contacting Sirius. Sadly, Mad Eye did die because I just couldn't bring myself to have everything always work out 100% perfectly, even if things are overall more positive. Sorry, fans of Moody. |
| Reviews 13 |
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