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Category: Post-Hogwarts Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Romance Warnings: None Rating: R Reviews: 16 Summary: Harry and Ginny have been friends for so long, will anyone believe they are actually in love? They may have agreed to fake date for Ginny's protection, but what they don't realize is that it may keep Harry safe too. Hitcount: Story Total: 17812; Chapter Total: 2640 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Friday and Saturday at the Harpies practice facility felt very normal. Ginny stretched, ran, flew, listened to Gwenog, joked with her teammates, and put everything else out of her mind. It helped that there were no fans or press around and everyone was singularly focused on getting ready for the start of summer league games. Even though it was shorter and somewhat less competitive than the regular season that would begin in October, the teams still took the games seriously, using the warmer months to try out new formations, strategies, and players. It would be Ginny’s first introduction to professional Quidditch and Gwenog had told her that if she played well enough she might be able to secure a starting spot as a Chaser in the fall. Their first game, against Tutshill, would be four days after the war commemoration event at the Ministry. Gwenog scheduled several hours Saturday devoted to that team’s particular style of play, first in a huddle on the ground and then up in the air, practicing defensive and offensive moves. Afterwards, she called them for a meeting. Ginny was feeling good about how she’d played, and she walked companionably with one of the Harpies’ Beaters out of the locker room, squeezing water out of her hair and quickly plaiting it in a post-shower braid. “My drying spells always make my hair look wonky when I rush,” she said with a grimace. “I never paid enough attention about how to do them properly.” Kennedy’s hair was smooth and sleek, not a strand out of place. She grinned. “I have three older sisters; their beauty spells rubbed off on me.” “Well that explains it,” laughed Ginny. “I have six older brothers. And not one of them cares what my hair looks like.” “Six? Are any of them single?” The other Beater, Katrina Bloch, joined them as they entered the lounge where the team held most of its meetings. “Charlie is . . . I think,” said Ginny. The second-oldest Weasley’s romantic life was the subject of more than a little speculation among his siblings. Last time he’d been home he’d confessed to having sex in a dragon’s nest during a raucous game of Never Have I Ever organized by Fred and George. It had been Ginny’s question and she’d thrown it out there mostly as a joke. But then Charlie turned red and took a big gulp of Firewhiskey before refusing to say anything more. But she didn’t need to share any of that now. ‘He lives in Romania,” she said apologetically. The rest of them are pretty much tied down; even my brother Percy has a girlfriend, not that we know much about her”. “I remember Percy from Hogwarts,” said Katrina with a chuckle. “And I’ll pass. I’m not nearly enough of a rule-follower.” They all had a good laugh as they picked out seats on the comfy couches scattered around the room. Gwenog was standing and talking to the Harpies’ head of security and three people in Auror’s robes, including George’s girlfriend Angelina Johnson and, Ginny realized with a start, Gawain Robards. She tried to remember if Harry had mentioned that his boss would be here but didn’t think so; she wondered if he knew. His presence brought an immediate shift in the atmosphere, and Ginny saw more than one tense look on the faces of her teammates. Several glanced at her, and then quickly away. She sat up straight, feeling a stab of guilt. “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t what you all need to deal with,” she said, trying to make eye contact with each of her teammates. Katrina snorted. “Happens every time someone new joins the team. Some overzealous fan who thinks if he’s the first to reach out, he’ll get an ‘in’ with you.” “Or she,” said Chaser Paloma Wilde mildly. “Or she,” agreed Katrina. “Security will figure out who it is, they’ll have a little talk with him . . . or her, and then we can go back to the normal crazies who just send us their underwear to sign.” Personally, Ginny suspected the head of the Aurors didn’t get involved every time someone new joined the Harpies, but she didn’t say so; she didn’t need to amp up everyone’s nerves any more than they already were. She’d be seeing Harry in just a few hours and he’d tell her everything she really needed to know. Things his boss may have kept from her for one reason or another. As if reading her mind, Gawain Robards cleared his throat. “Can you all listen up? This won’t take long. I’m Gawain Robards, head of the British Aurors, for those of you who don’t know me, and these are two of my associates, Angelina Johnson and Justin Finch-Fletchly. They’ll be working with the Harpies ordinary security team while we track down the . . . fan who’s behind the most recent activity.” He made the situation sound like it was not much more than a prank from Fred and George, and Ginny knew Robards was downplaying the situation for everyone else. He nodded at Ginny. “Even though the current attention is focused on Miss Weasley here, the Aurors will be spending their time equally, making sure everyone is secure.” He looked around the room. “Show of hands - how many of you are familiar with basic defensive spells?” A couple of the players who’d gone to Hogwarts hesitantly raised their hands. Katrina leaned forward. “None as good as Ginny though; she probably needs less watching over than the rest of us. We didn’t fight in the Final Battle or have Harry Potter teaching us extra defense.” There was a murmur of agreement and Ginny blushed. She was the youngest on the team but it was true that she had a lot more experience fighting than anyone else. They’d even talked about it after the first strange letter had arrived. It had made her uncomfortable at first, until she realized that far from thinking she was bragging, her teammates were comforted by the fact of her knowledge and experience. The fact that she’d been taught by the Savior of the Wizarding World himself was even more reason to be impressed with her skill. What were her teammates going to say when they found out she was dating him? HPHPHPHPHP Harry paced restlessly around the kitchen, waiting for Ginny to come through the Floo. Twice he picked up the bottle of Firewhiskey, intending to pour himself a drink and then twice put it down again. He poked at the platter of cheese and crackers and fruits and things he’d ordered from a shop down the street and frowned at it, thinking his first idea pizza would have been better. The fancy food felt like a date. That thought made him finally pour himself a glass of whiskey. Ginny was his friend, one of his best friends even, but his girlfriend? He took a big drink. It wasn’t like there hadn’t been jokes about it, over the years. Not about Ginny’s childhood crush anymore; after the Chamber even Fred and George had let that particular bit of teasing die. But in the years after that, every so often someone would ask if Harry or Ginny had ever fancied the other, as if their proximity made such a coupling inevitable. Tonks had been particularly fascinated about the possibility, Harry remembered with a start. It was usually worth some laughs and denials and then Fred and George making kissing noises around them for a few days, but that was all. He and Ginny just rolled their eyes at each other, both equally confident in the other’s lack of interest. And now they were going to have to convince everyone that Guess what? Changed our minds! He’d seen the doubt on Ginny’s face at the meeting with Kingsley and Robards and he couldn’t blame her, even if he’d tried not to show it. He was an Auror, and this was his job. His job to date Ginny Weasley, right. Just then the Floo flared green and the real thing stepped through. Ginny gave him a sheepish smile, looking as tongue-tied as he felt. He handed her a glass of Firewhiskey and she took a grateful sip, and then another. “This shouldn’t be so difficult,” she said finally. “I mean, pretending to date, yeah, that’s going to be hard. But you and me talking?” She shook her head. “We can do this.” Ginny had obviously been doing some thinking about things, and Harry wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t one to run from challenges or danger, even one as odd as being forced to date her best friend. He took a deep breath and nodded. “We can,” he agreed. “Not that we have much of a choice.” She nodded. “Thank you for that honesty.” Her eyes fell on the tray of food. “Did you make a charcuterie board?” Harry snorted. “Would you believe me if I said yes?” “Not for a minute,” said Ginny with a grin. She picked it up. “Looks delicious. Shall we go up to the sitting room?” Harry grabbed the bottle, feeling a little more relaxed at the familiarity of their joking. “Yeah, I built a fire.” “Well this just gets more and more romantic,” teased Ginny. “Are you trying to woo me?” “Apparently I don’t need to,” Harry joked back. “My boss and the Minister of Magic took care of all that.” They plopped themselves down on the sofas in the sitting room and Harry shot his wand at the fireplace to build up the flames. “Well yeah, let’s start there.” Ginny obviously wasn’t going to waste time with niceties, not that she needed to. “Cause Gwenog’s right. The Harpies get crazy fans all the time. Why’d Kingsley get involved?” Harry shifted in his seat. “He was already concerned after the first letter arrived,” he said. “Because let’s face it, you aren’t just another Quidditch player.” He gave her a pointed look and Ginny sighed, unsurprised. It had been a big deal when the Harpies had signed her, and not only because of her age. Her family was better known for its activities resisting Voldemort than she’d realized, and their long relationship with Harry made it even more so. “So even if it’s a fan, it’s not ‘just’ a fan,” she said. Harry nodded. “You’ve been targeted because you’re a Weasley, and most likely because you’re Ginny Weasley, and also because you’re friends with me,” he said bluntly. His mouth twisted. “I got a letter too.” This was new information. Ginny put down the piece of cheese she’d been about to eat and stared at Harry. “When?” “After the one that came to the Burrow but before the DA,” he said. “It was waiting for me at a shop I was investigating in Knockturn Alley. The owner had no idea where it came from.” “Did you . . .?” she began, and Harry smiled. “Yes Ginny, the Aurors confirmed that the man was telling the truth.” “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “What did it say?” “Same as the other ones, your name and nothing else, and then disintegrated. But it arrived at a place you never intended to be, but I was.” He shrugged, knowing she’d figure it out. She thought for a moment. “Is that why Kingsley and Robards want us to fake that we’re together? Since whoever it is who’s sending these letters seems to be targeting both of us?” Harry nodded. “I thought it was a bad idea at first,” he admitted. “Feels like we’re walking into their trap, purposely being together all the time. If this is someone really dangerous or Dark and not just a crazier than usual Harpies fan then wouldn’t it be better to stay apart and have a different Auror watch over you?” “I thought we’d agreed I don’t need a bodyguard,” said Ginny quickly, but there was much less heat behind her words than had been during the meeting at the Ministry. She wasn’t scared, Harry knew, but she also wasn’t stupid enough to be incautious for the sake of bravado. “Personally I think having us be together is a good idea. It’ll make it easier to figure out who’s behind it because they won’t have to divide their attention.” Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes over his face. “You sound just like Kingsley.” He peered at her. “And you’re right, of course. I just needed to get over my completely rational desire not to keep putting members of the Weasley family in danger.” “Strictly speaking, I think I put myself in danger,” Ginny quipped calmly. She cocked her head at him. “It’s not a fan, is it? No matter what Kingsley said?” Harry shook his head. “That was mostly for Gwenog’s benefit. I know they questioned you about anyone you think it could be but if you think of anyone else, just let me know.” Ginny grimaced. “Most of the people I thought of are dead. Draco, Goyle, Bellatrix. And remember, Crabbe got hit with a collapsing wall after we all left the Room of Requirement and has been in St. Mungo’s since then. I tried to remember which Death Eaters I hexed when we were at the Ministry and then the night Dumbledore died, but they’re all dead or locked up too. It’s probably someone I don’t even realize I hurt.” She spoke dispassionately, and Harry understood. It was hard to feel emotional about causing the death of someone who’d brought it on themself and who had been trying their hardest to kill you at the time. Her face grew solemn. “So exactly how much danger am I in? Inquisitorial Squad? Carrows at Hogwarts? Voldemort in the graveyard danger?” She may have spoken lightly but Harry knew Ginny wasn’t making light of any of those situations, or her own. “Probably somewhere closer to the Carrows,” he allowed. Gawain had tried to insist they downplay the danger for Ginny, arguing that “crazed fan” was all she needed to know. Harry had pushed back. He knew Ginny would figure out the truth quickly, if she ever believed Robards’ version at all, and moreover, it wasn’t safe for her to not to know. “I told Robards you needed to know whatever the Aurors know.” His mouth quirked. “And that you could take care of yourself.” Instead of a smart-aleck retort that it was about time he knew it, or something similar, Ginny gave him a small smile. “I’ll admit I’m glad you’ll be there too. Taking care of yourself, of course.” “Of course,” said Harry. They both sipped their whiskey and ate fancy cheese and crackers in silence for a little while. Harry watched Ginny carefully. He believed her when she said she wasn’t scared, but there was a tenseness around her mouth that meant she had something on her mind. He leaned across the coffee table and nudged her hand. “Hey. What are you thinking about?” She huffed out a sigh. “It’s just . . . it’s stupid, actually.” Harry waited, and after a moment Ginny huffed again. “I’m just, I don’t want all this to affect my playing, and I know that should be the least of it, but all I can think about is that I’m going to have to pretend to be your girlfriend all the time and make it look real, and I have no idea how to do that and if I screw up and blow your cover then you’ll never catch the . . . whoever it is.” She said all of this very fast, looking down at her hands, and then took a big gulp of Firewhiskey when she was done. Harry stared at her for a long second, making sure he understood what Ginny was saying. She didn’t lift her head but a faint blush climbed her cheeks. There were several threads in her speech and he had to think about which one to pull first. “I won’t let this interfere with your playing,” he finally said, hoping he sounded firm. That was the first thing Ginny had mentioned. “And it’s not stupid. It’s going to be hard to pretend and I honestly don’t know how we’re going to do it.” Ginny opened her mouth but Harry held up his hand and she closed it again. “But at least for me, it’s part of my job. For you, it’s an interference.” “This is not your fault, Harry.” Ginny actually sounded amused. “They targeted me first and there’s a good chance it’s something Dark. Of course the Aurors had to get involved, and you’ve almost convinced me that this is a halfway decent plan.” She gave a little shrug. “I’m just trying to get used to the weirdness of it all.” “Me too,” said Harry fervently. He stood up. “Which gets me to the thing I wanted to show you. I went to the bookstore today. In disguise.” He didn’t mention that his disguise had been that of an older lady with blue hair and sensible shoes; she’d never let him live that down. “The bookstore?” Now Ginny sounded both amused and curious. “Did Hermione make you go?” “Nope, I did it myself.” Harry reached over the side of the sofa for the bag from Flourish and Blotts. “Why did you go in disguise?” Ginny looked suddenly horrified. “Don’t tell me you were buying sex books; I don’t care what else we have to do to fake a relationship, but I am not sleeping with you.” “Of course not,” said Harry quickly. He couldn’t even imagine such a thing. “But we’re going to have to make it look real enough, so I got these to help us out.” He dumped the bag of slim volumes on the table. Ginny picked one up and snorted. “Reparo My Heart?” She grabbed a second. “The Witch Hitch? Harry, these are cheap romance novels. How are these supposed to help?” “They have a lot about fake dating in them,” he said defensively. “Look here, ‘The Unfakeable Vow’ is about a wizard who needs to prove to his family that he’s fallen in love with a witch in order to inherit a fortune. It’s got to have something useful in it, right?” The idea had made a lot of sense at the time but now Harry was starting to feel foolish. He considered laughing and telling Ginny he’d gotten the books as a joke but then she picked up another and turned it over. “Obliviate Me, by Amor Tentia.” She grinned at Harry. “Do you think that’s her real name and she grew up knowing that she’d have to become a romance novelist?” “Better than Polly Joos,” he said, waving another volume. “Listen, it was a dumb idea, we don’t have to look at the books.” “Actually, maybe not that dumb.” Ginny had opened the Unfakeable Vow to a random page and was reading intently. “See here, the witch - Ambrosia - is afraid she blew the ruse because she couldn’t tell Spellman’s parents where they’d met.” Ginny turned the page. “Oh, he saved her; he said it was because they disagreed whether it was when he bumped into her out walking her Kneazle or later when he saw her at a pub and actually introduced himself.” She looked up. “That won’t be a problem for us since we already know everything about each other.” Harry was more focused on something else Ginny had said. “Their names are Ambrosia and Spellman?” Ambrosia was a salad with marshmallows and tinned fruit his Aunt Petunia had been fond of; Harry thought it was ghastly. Ginny flipped through the pages. “Ambrosia Apple and Spellman Strongwand,” she said with a giggle. “Can you imagine?” “No,” Harry muttered. He picked up another book. “Unforgivable: a dangerous love story.” He opened to the table of contents and then quickly slammed it shut. “I don’t think there’s anything we can learn from chapters called ‘tie me up’ or ‘wandshock’,” he said with a grimace. “Definitely not,” Ginny shuddered. “But this one looks promising - ‘For All the Gold in Gringotts.’ Looks like another pretend romance, but this time the witch told her family she has a boyfriend to get them off her back and now they all want her to bring him to her sister’s wedding. Apparently she asks her co-worker to go with her in exchange for paying off a debt he owes. Too bad none of my brothers are close enough to getting married.” She kept reading. “Yep, this one also has one half of the couple not being able to answer basic questions about the other. That’s not going to be our issue.” “We’re still going to need to come up with a story about how we started dating,” he muttered. He’d picked up Unfakeable Vow again and turned to a later chapter. “And I’d like to know how they end the ruse.” He skimmed the chapters, looking for anything that might help. A paragraph where the couple seemed to be fighting caught his eye and he began to read more carefully. “This might be it,” he said. “They get in a fight.” He was half reading and half talking to Ginny as he flipped pages. “We could fake an argument at some point once we catch the guy, right? Ginny?” He looked up. She was watching him with a familiar, half amused, half exasperated look on her face. He put the book down. “What did I do?” Normally she reserved the look for when he and Ron did something they should have known better than to do. Playing Quidditch blindfolded had earned it, as had trying to teach the gnomes to throw themselves over the garden wall. Now she sighed. “They don’t stay in a fight, Harry.” Her expression told him he was missing something but he had no idea what. He thought for a second. “So they . . . make up, and . . . don’t stop fake dating after all?” For a moment he thought he’d gotten it right; Ginny’s face lit up and then fell again. She rolled her eyes. “Harry.” Ginny’s tone was overly patient. “Do you understand . . . how they make up? Not just Ambrosia and Spellman, but pretty much every couple in every one of these books ever.” She grabbed another one. “Like, Cassiopeia Star and Ash Bigwand , who’ve grown up hating each other and don’t realize they’ve become each other’s pen pal? ‘Owl Be Loving You?’ Can you guess what happens when they figure things out?” She looked at him expectantly. “Does every bloke have a name related to the size of his . . .?” Harry began and then stopped, realizing what Ginny was asking, and that yes, he did know, given that it was how his best mate and his girlfriend resolved a lot of their disagreements. He groaned. “They sleep together? Every one of them?” “Well, maybe not sex right away,” Ginny amended. She made a face. “But they all realize they’ve fallen madly in love, regardless of whether they started out as enemies or strangers, or coworkers. It’s pretty much required in these books.” “Good thing we aren’t a book then.” Harry spoke without thinking. A beat late he realized that might be rude, even to say to Ginny, but then she huffed in agreement. “It won’t happen to us.” She spoke with such confidence Harry wondered if she’d been thinking about it before tonight. Something kept him from asking though. Instead he nodded back. “We aren’t enemies, or strangers or coworkers,” he pointed out, refraining from asking if any of the plots involved two friends. “Which means people are likely to ask a lot of questions if we suddenly show up at the war commemoration holding hands or something.” “I’ve been thinking about that.” Ginny stacked the books in a neat pile on the coffee table. “No one’s going to believe that we’ve both suddenly decided we like each other enough to show up in public out of whole cloth, and the entire thing will fall apart immediately if we try to convince them. Right?” “Uhh, right,” agreed Harry. “So where does that leave us?” Despite the fact that he’d agreed with Kingsley and Gawain that this was the best plan to both keep Ginny safe and also figure out who was behind the threat, it was feeling impossible to pull off right now. “We fake the beginning of our relationship, of course. Tell everyone you’ve fancied me for a while and finally got up the nerve to ask me out and I decided to give you a chance, even though I never really thought about you like that. That way if it’s awkward no one will think twice.” She sat back, looking pleased with herself. Harry immediately saw a flaw in the plan. “Why does it have to be me who fancied you? You actually had a crush on me once, you know.” “When I was 8 and before I knew you!” said Ginny indignantly. She shrugged. “It just makes more sense that you’d fancy me, you know, since I’m a new Harpy and getting all that attention and all.” She spoke so matter-of-factly that Harry had to throw a sofa pillow at her. “And I’m Harry bloody Potter,” he retorted. “I do know a thing or two about being fancied by the masses, you know.” He pointed at his chest. “Witch Weekly’s most eligible bachelor, remember?” He shook his head. “If anything, I think we should say that you fancied me first and I took pity on you and agreed to a date.” Harry got his shield up before Ginny could hex him so she had to console herself with a rude hand gesture instead. He laughed at the look on his face as he took down the spell. “Okay, that was maybe a bit uncalled for,” he admitted with a grin. “A bit!” Ginny huffed. “Get this straight, Potter. I have never been, and never will be, someone’s charity case.” She waved her wand in his direction and he pretended to flinch. ‘Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll come up with another idea.” “Or I will,” said Ginny pointedly. “Umm, right. Uhh, it’s a dare? Or maybe a bet?” “Did I win or lose?” asked Harry with a smirk. Then he shook his head. “No, it has to be real, or at least look real.” He considered for a moment, and then nodded. “Okay, I asked you out.” It was the most believable scenario, and as an Auror, probably his duty to take the fall anyway. Besides, Ginny was handling things better than she needed to; he could give her this at least. She nodded knowingly. “You’re thinking that it’s part of your job as an Auror to give in, aren’t you?” Harry knew better than to disagree. He sighed. “Yes.” Ginny smiled a genuine smile. “Thank you.” She gestured to the stack of books on the coffee table. “You’d better hide these somewhere before Ron or someone sees them.” Then she smirked. “But not too far away in case we need to reference them at some point.” Harry said a spell and the books winked out of sight. “Maybe I should have sent them to the Burrow; we’re going to tell your family tomorrow night, aren’t we?” Ginny looked suddenly shocked and Harry knew how she felt. It had still seemed kind of like a joke until then, and Harry’s comment made it all real, something they were actually going to have to do - tomorrow. He felt unaccountably guilty again, even though he knew none of this was his fault. Ginny stared for another second and then shook her head as if to clear it. “I guess I didn’t realize . . . yeah, we have to tell everyone tomorrow.” She tapped her hands on the table, an uncharacteristically nervous gesture for her. Harry put his hand on her arm. “It says something that you’re more worried about telling your family we’re dating than about the unknown wizard who’s threatening you.” Ginny snorted. “Aren’t you?” “Hell yes,” Harry said immediately. And then it was okay. They agreed to arrive together to dinner and let the fact that they were dating come up naturally, preferably, Ginny said, after everyone had eaten and had a drink or two. “Hopefully everyone will be tired and wanting to get home before work on Monday so they won’t question us too much,” she said, but the doubt in her voice was palpable. “Yeah hopefully,” Harry said. He walked her down to the kitchen to use the Floo there so they didn’t have to put out the fire in the sitting room. Once there awkwardness returned. “I’ll uh, see you here tomorrow night then,” Ginny said. She was very intent on grabbing a pinch of Floo powder. “Yeah, I’ll be waiting here at 5:45,” Harry said. “And then we’ll go together.” “Together,” Ginny echoed, before stepping into the fireplace and whirling back off to her flat. Harry stared at the empty grate for much longer than necessary before going upstairs to bring down the food and things. He realized he had no idea how things would go tomorrow with the Weasleys and the thought was disconcerting. But for better or for worse, he wasn’t going to be alone. If he and Ginny were going to fall, they were going to fall together. The thought gave him a small measure of comfort. |
| Reviews 16 |
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