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A Chance Encounter | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: G Reviews: 40 Summary: They met by chance, both on the run from the Dark Lord's henchmen, and she helped him to do what fate had destined him to do. ** Harry never went to Hogwarts ** Hitcount: Story Total: 9191; Chapter Total: 1298 |
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With a flick of his wand, Harry turned on the light and took a step forward. "Oh!" he muttered as the unexpected visitor stepped out of the kitchen. Amazed, he gazed at the girl in front of him. She was half a head shorter than him, but certainly not much younger, maybe sixteen and wore a Hogwarts robe with a Gryffindor emblem on the chest. Strands of her fiery red hair were poking out from under the hood. Her chocolate brown eyes were fixed on Harry and seemed to be studying him closely. Overall, she made a rather determined impression on Harry. "Okay," said Harry, gawking at the mysterious girl in front of him. "Who are you?" "I'm Ginny Weasley. And who are you?" replied the girl and hesitated briefly before she said. "I've seen you somewhere before." "I'm Harry. Harry Potter," said Harry. The girl's eyes widened. "Ah, of course. Harry Potter." She looked him up and down for a moment and nodded. "I've seen you on those wanted posters." "Which wanted posters?" Harry asked, bewildered. "In Hogsmeade, there are wanted posters with your face on it all over the town. Did you know they are calling you The Undesired Number One?" The girl snorted. "If I were you, I would complain about that nickname. I liked your previous nicknames better. Besides, the portrait isn't really well done ... but the glasses, the black hair and ..." the girl's gaze wandered to his forehead. "... well, your scar is not as prominent as on the poster... but yeah, it's you." "Damn it," Harry muttered. Was that the reason they had been attacked today? "I was hoping I could hide here for a few days," said the girl - Ginny was it, Harry remembered. And the name Weasley suddenly sounded familiar too. That was the family who had lived here last year. The girl gave him a shy smile. "I'm not as famous as you are, and as far as I know, there's no wanted poster with my face on it, but I would nevertheless appreciate it if the Death Eaters couldn't find me." "Where do you come from so late?" asked Harry. "Hogwarts," Ginny replied. "I had to leave there in a rush because ... let's say the Death Eater professors there don't really like me." She looked about. "Is there anyone from the Order here? I was hoping someone could tell me where I can find my parents." "Oh no. I ..." Harry sighed. "I just got here, too. I was hoping my godfather would come here. But ... but it looks like he won't come after all." "What happened?" asked Ginny. "We've been attacked by Death Eaters. Sirius wanted me to take my security portkey to get out of there, and he wanted to follow me, but ... I don't know what happened to him." "Sirius Black is your godfather?" asked Ginny. Harry raised an eyebrow. "You know him?" "Not really. I saw him a couple of times when we lived here." Ginny eyed Harry. "I think I know what happened to him." "How?" asked Harry, giving Ginny a sceptical look. "In Hogsmeade, I almost ran into a bunch of Death Eaters who apparently wanted to celebrate the capture of someone named Black in the Three Broomsticks," Ginny explained. "Damn it," Harry cursed. "I'm sorry," Ginny said softly. The image of Sirius being hit by a Stunner played out in Harry's head again. "I shouldn't have left him alone," said Harry, upset with himself. "Don't blame yourself," Ginny said with a worried expression. "You couldn't help him. There were too many." Unsure if this was good news or bad news, Harry absentmindedly ran his hands through his hair. "At least he's still alive," he muttered finally. "I've never seen you when Sirius Black was here." That was obviously more of a question than a statement. "We don't live here, and I've only been a couple of times in this house. You probably know your way around here much better than I do," Harry replied, shrugging. "Okay," said Ginny. "Then I'll make us some tea first. Do you, at any rate, know if there's anything edible here? I'm starving." "I really don't know," Harry replied in an apologetic tone. "As I said, I just got here, too." "Let's see if I can find something," said Ginny and headed back into the kitchen. Still feeling bad for leaving Sirius behind, Harry wanted nothing more than withdraw to his room to be alone. On the other hand, he also didn't want to be impolite and leave the girl alone in this house. Not really knowing what to do, Harry eventually followed her into the kitchen. When he was standing there, feeling as he was standing in the way, he looked about and sat down at the table to watch Ginny's hustle and bustle. She had taken off her robe. The pair of jeans and the green wool sweater she was wearing underneath went very well with her fiery red hair, Harry noticed. With her two pigtails and the tiny freckles spread over her face, she made a pretty mischievous impression on Harry. Her sparkling chocolate brown eyes added to this impression. Harry watched as she'd put on the kettle and glanced up at the cupboard. Mumbling something incomprehensible, she pushed a chair over to the cabinet and started examining the upper shelves. Harry couldn't help but grin as he watched Ginny standing on the chair on tiptoes, reaching up to search the closet. "There's only a can of biscuits in here. Better than nothing." Ginny leapt off the chair. Glancing over at Harry, she raised an eyebrow. "Quit grinning. You could really help me." "How?" asked Harry. "Plates? Mugs? You know, the things you need to have tea." "Ah, okay," Harry replied, somehow finding the situation quite amusing. Taking his wand, he called, "Accio plates! Accio mugs!" Satisfied, he leaned back and watched as the plates and mugs hovered around Ginny's head and descended on the table in front of him. "There's no need to brag," Ginny grumbled but couldn't hide a smile. "I just did what you asked me for," Harry replied with an amused grin. Ginny rolled her eyes. "Do you want some biscuits? We don't have anything else." "Biscuits are fine," Harry replied. "And I can definitely help you. I know my way around the kitchen." Ginny gave him an incredulous look. "That's new. Believe me, I have six older brothers, and they never said anything like that when I was in the kitchen. Well ..." she said, putting a box with various tea bags on the table. "Except maybe Bill. He always helped me." "I've always lived alone with Sirius. When I was old enough, we used to share the chores." Picking a bag of rooibos tea to put it in his mug, Harry snorted. "Sirius was never really the neat type, but he always said he wanted me to become a better person than him." "Looks like you're a good catch then," Ginny wiggled her eyebrows and poured hot water into her mugs. "I never thought it was anything special," Harry replied. "Maybe that's why Sirius never hired a house-elf. He wanted me to learn all of this stuff by myself." Harry glanced at his watch, wondering how Sirius was doing. "There was a house-elf when we lived here. Mum didn't like him, but that was genuine," said Ginny, chuckling. "Do you know if he's still around?" "No," Harry shook his head. "The last time I saw him was two years ago. He's not the friendliest guy. I don't miss him." Ginny took another biscuit. While chewing, she glanced over at Harry. Clearly, she was thinking about something. "I don't want to be nosy," she finally started. "But can I ask you a question?" "You're doing that right now." Harry grinned. "Brat," Ginny growled, rolling her eyes. "It's just ... back then - six, seven years ago - we were so sure you would show up at Hogwarts. But you never did. What were you doing all this time? And why did you never come to Hogwarts?" "Oh. Now you've asked two questions. Which one should I answer?" Harry asked smugly. Ginny frowned, giving Harry a sharp look. "You're lucky you're not one of my brothers." Harry was just wondering if he'd gone a step too far and was about to apologize when Ginny started laughing. "It's good to know the evil eye is still working." Relieved, Harry joined the laugh. "The answer is quite simple," he said. "I was raised by my godfather. You said you knew him, Sirius Black. And I was supposed to be going to Hogwarts, but after the whole Quirrell thing, Sirius thought it wasn't safe for me." "Quirrell?" Ginny asked thoughtfully. "I may have heard of him. He was a professor who died back then, didn't he?" "That's the short version of the story," said Harry. "And the longer one?" Ginny shot him a questioning look. "It was Voldemort's first attempt to come back. Quirrell tried to kill me," Harry said thoughtfully, deliberately leaving out some details. When he noticed Ginny's wary gaze, Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Ginny said, giving him a smile. "It's not that I don't want to tell you," said Harry. "But..." Ginny nodded understandingly. "It's okay. I get it." "Back then, Sirius decided that I should get home schooled." Harry continued to avoid the uncomfortable subject of Voldemort. "Did you at least have friends? Or a girlfriend?" Ginny asked, obviously also happy to change the subject. "Nope. Not that many. It was mostly Sirius' friends and the people who taught me." "Oh, really. There's never been a girlfriend," Ginny asked with a doubtful look. "Nope." Harry shook his head. "Well. Maybe. Yes. But she was much older than me, and she's not really a girlfriend. We're just good friends. She practised duelling with me and other Auror stuff. She's an Auror ... and Sirius' cousin, Tonks." "Tonks?" Ginny looked at him in surprise. "You know Tonks? I met her here in the house several times last year. We used to talk when she came over for the Order meetings. She was nice." Ginny grinned. "She had her eye set on Professor Lupin, but sadly, she was out of luck." "I'm not so sure about that," said Harry. "Recently, I've got the impression he gave in." "You know Professor Lupin?" Ginny asked in surprise. "He's one of my teachers," Harry replied. "But he's not been at Hogwarts in a while." "Yes. I know," said Ginny thoughtfully. "Isn't it odd that we have so many mutual acquaintances?" "Yes, it is," Harry said, watching Ginny out of the corner of his eye as he ran a hand through his hair. She was really nice and easy to talk to. Almost like Sirius, Harry thought and chuckled. Ginny shot him a look. "Do you want to share your joke?" "No. It wasn't a joke. It was ... ah, forget it," Harry shook his head and unconsciously ran his hand through his hair again. Giving Ginny a mischievous glance, Harry asked, "How about you and a boyfriend?" "Ah, now you're shamelessly taking your chance, Potter," Ginny grinned. "No. Except for a couple of Hogsmeade dates..." she bit her lower lip and shrugged. "The blokes aren't happy with me playing Quidditch. And obviously, the bloke I'd give up Quidditch for isn't born yet." "That's great. Do you really like flying?" Harry asked, fascinated. "Do you like playing Quidditch?" Ginny asked at the same time. "I'd like to," Harry replied. "We have a Quidditch pitch behind our house. But I can't play alone. I fly a lot, and I practise playing Seeker. It's the only position you can play on your own. But I've never played in a real game." "You should try someday," Ginny said. "That would be nice," Harry replied. "I think I better call it a day," Ginny said, peering at Harry's watch. She took the box with the remaining biscuits back to the cupboard while Harry put the dishes in the sink. "We don't have anything to eat tomorrow," Ginny said. "Except for the remaining biscuits." "Hmm," said Harry, glancing over at Ginny. "Can you Apparate?" "Depends on what you mean," said Ginny. "I know how to do it, but I'm not allowed to do it yet." Harry nodded in understanding. "I was wondering that you'd cast a spell outside of school earlier ..." "I'm not allowed to do that either," Ginny said, her face innocent. "But it doesn't matter in this house. The Ministry of Magic won't notice with so much dark magic lurking in this house." Harry stared at her bewildered. "Are you sure?" "Positive. We tried it last year." Ginny giggled. "We only had to make sure our mother didn't find out. Also, the house is under the Fidelius Charm; the ministry wouldn't even know where to send me a warning." "I could Apparate to our house and get us some food," Harry suggested. "I could bring some clothes too. I don't have anything here. I didn't really want to go back there because I'm pretty sure the Death Eaters are watching the place, but I have an idea how to get in and out quickly without attracting attention. " "Can I help?" offered Ginny. "You're not allowed to Apparate," Harry said. "You can side-along Apparate me," replied Ginny. "What if we run into Death Eaters?" said Harry worried. "Then two wands are better than one." Ginny met his eyes. "Believe me, if I have the choice between getting a warning for the use of underage magic or being captured by Death Eaters, I know which choice is the better one for me." "Maybe that's why you'd better avoid the Death Eaters?" Harry suggested. "It's okay if you don't want to take me with you," said Ginny, sounding slightly disappointed. Harry watched her stare at a bitten biscuit she was playing absently with before he sighed, half suppressing a yawn. "I'm not sure. Let's talk about it again tomorrow morning. " Ginny didn't seem happy with the answer but nodded, barely stifling a yawn. "Where do you want to sleep?" asked Harry. "I used to sleep in the room right next to the toilet, on the first floor. I was hoping I could sleep there again," Ginny replied. "Let's have a look," answered Harry. When they turned on the light in Ginny's former bedroom, Ginny groaned. "That looks terrible." Apparently, someone had stored bags of rubbish in this room. Not only did it look gross, it smelled awful too. Ginny looked up at him. "Does your room have a second bed? To be honest, it's pretty creepy to sleep alone in this house. The last time at least my family slept next door." "No, there's just Sirius' bed. I thought I'd sleep in his room until he returns." "If you don't mind, we could share a bed," Ginny said, giving him a pleading look. At Harry's surprised expression, she added, "I have six brothers. We often had to share a bed when we had a family feast, and the guests needed a bed because they were too drunk to travel home in the middle of the night. I promise I won't bite. And I bet it's worse to sleep here alone than in the same bed with you." |
| Reviews 40 |
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