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SIYE Time:13:57 on 28th March 2024
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We Had to Start Somewhere
By Rant

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Category: Post-OotP
Characters:Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Fluff, General, Humor
Warnings: Death
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 314
Summary: Some believe in love at first sight, but for Harry and Ginny first sight happened years ago and they're far from enamored. It seems they will have to settle for the gradual kind, the kind that drives us all mad but makes sense - in the end.
Hitcount: Story Total: 84146; Chapter Total: 6680







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Another Year Older
Part Five


Though Harry’s birthday passed with less fanfare than Ginny had wished for, he enjoyed it all the same. He didn’t care that it was a small party - there was something about being able to blow out sparklers and hear an off-key rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ at the same time that assured the memories would always stay clear in his mind. Sixteen or not, he wore a foolish grin all day long, from the moment Mrs. Weasley woke him with his favorite breakfast on the stove to the delight on Ron’s face when she announced that he would not have to complete any chores that day.

(Ginny managed to sneak into the kitchen and add ‘Blessed Freedom, Ron!’ underneath ‘Happy Birthday, Harry!’ on the large chocolate cake. The addition was only noticed after dinner, when the candles were being lit. Mrs. Weasley looked torn between annoyance and laughter but eventually gave into the chuckles that consumed the rest of her family.)

The day in itself was the epitome of laziness. The storm had blown out over the evening, leaving a hot sun and cloying humidity in its wake. Sticky with sweat from the moment they stepped outside, Harry, Ron and Ginny sought the cooling breeze by flying the morning away. Then, when the balmy afternoon caused beads of moisture to settle permanently on their foreheads, Ginny convinced Harry and Ron to go swimming in the pond. ‘Convinced’ meaning, of course, that she jumped in fully-clothed and splashed at them both until they found it completely necessary to follow suit.

Hedwig, laden down with several packages, found them drying off at the edge of the pond. Harry tore into them as Ginny taunted Ron with a mud fight; she was only deterred when Harry exclaimed over a new Quidditch magazine subscription from Hermione. Rather than get into a tussle over it, he let her and Ron peruse it while he read Hermione’s letter. Afterwards, he remarked that it was odd to not have his other friend with them during the summer holiday, which led to whole new taunts on Ginny’s part that were directed at Ron.

Harry was sure she mentioned mud again, but decided it was best not to know the context.

That evening, full of cake and fizzy drinks, Harry slowly climbed up the stairs after Ron. It amused him that only a week before he’d thought that the summer was doomed, with Ron being grounded and his thoughts stuck on the Department of Mysteries. Now, though, they had a month all to themselves — with Ginny included — where every day could be just as lazy, just as slow, just as wonderful as the one that was coming to a close.

Smiling to himself, Harry was at first puzzled when he saw his pillow laying flat on the cot rather than up against the wall. Upon further inspection he found that his bed was already occupied. There, settled in a small dent in the middle of his pillow, lay the languid form of Princess. The snowy white cat looked up as he approached and yawned mightily in his face before tucking her head back into her furry legs.

Harry carefully placed the tiny feline on the bedside table, before noticing the card that had been set against the lamp. Scrawled inside was “Darn that Potter, he wins over all the birds… surely cats were to follow. Happy Birthday! —Ginny

The memories of a messy mud fight and pretending to dance in Ginny’s room came fresh to his mind. Pleased, Harry rubbed his forefinger against Princess’ tiny ears. Though he would’ve never needed a reminder of that day, it was nice to have a small memento from it. Odd that.

**********


“Hey , Harry,” a voice whispered.

Looking up from his textbook, Harry gave Ginny a curious glance. Standing at the entrance to the living area, she gestured hurriedly at him while eyeing Ron carefully. Harry stood as casually as he could and walked over to her without stealing Ron’s attention from his new Quidditch Magazine.

Once he was out of Ron’s sight, Ginny pulled Harry along to the kitchen and only spoke again when they were there. “I was wondering, may I borrow Hedwig?”

“Yeah, sure,” Harry said easily. “For how long?”

“I need to get a letter to London,” Ginny explained, her face coloring a slight pink. “Just a day or two, I reckon.”

Harry’s eyebrows rose as the cloak-and-dagger routine suddenly made more sense. “Dean?”

“Dean,” Ginny said with a sheepish grin. “He, erm, he finally asked me.”

“Asked you what?” Harry cocked his head to the side in question.

“Oh, Harry,” Ginny chuckled. “Sometimes you’re worse than my brother.”

It took another second for the meaning to get across, but when it did Harry laughed at himself. “Well, I thought you were already-”

“No,” Ginny said with a shake of her head. “We were just seeing if we wanted to and… well, we do.”

Harry nodded and leaned in conspiratorially, “I guess you don’t want Ron to know.”

“Well, Ron can know… eventually. I just don’t want him to be unbearable for the next month.” Ginny shrugged and started up to Ron’s room where Hedwig was waiting in her cage. Harry followed as she said, “You’re, without a doubt, safer to tell.”

“And the fact that I have an owl that isn’t Pig has nothing to do with it?” Harry asked cheekily.

“Ponce,” Ginny said in a good-natured sort of way. “Poor Errol just isn’t up to very much these days besides eating and sleeping. Delivering Dean’s last letter really took a lot out of him.”

Harry stood by as Ginny coaxed Hedwig out of her cage and began to tie a letter to her leg. Though she listened closely to her instructions, Hedwig only took off after Harry gave her wings a good stroke and assured her it was all right to deliver letters for Ginny. After she was gone, Ginny gestured for him to follow her again. She ducked into her room for a moment before reemerging with a piece of parchment in her hand.

“You are about to witness me being a girl,” Ginny warned him.

“But you are a girl,” Harry said obviously.

Ginny laughed again as Harry unfolded the parchment to find an impressive sketch of Ginny in pencil. It was surely Dean’s work and Harry couldn’t help feel admiration for the other boy’s talent for drawing. “Wow,” Harry said, “this is really good.”

“Isn’t it?” Ginny bit her lip, her expression excited. “I just needed to show someone and Ron would, well, you know Ron. And Hermione’s not here, so…”

“It’s all right,” Harry reassured her, tilting the sketch at the same time. It was just from her shoulders up, but Dean had done a remarkable job of catching the way she smiled when she was up to something and how her hair always looked just a little messy despite her attempts otherwise. “What about your mum?”

Ginny sighed and shook her head. “The moment I show her this, she’ll want to know everything, from the names of his grandparents to his favorite loaf. I’m better off without the interrogation.”

Making a small noise of agreement, Harry handed back the parchment to her. She folded it carefully and smiled at him, “I’ll show my dad later. Like when I’m forty.”

He waited until she’d put the sketch away before they went downstairs. Side-by-side, Ginny tucked her arm into his and said, “Thanks, Harry.”

Harry maneuvered his arm so that it wouldn’t squish hers. It wasn’t as if he’d done this very often; in fact, he couldn’t remember if Hermione — the girl he knew the best — had ever been this close to him. “For what?”

“For letting me use Hedwig, for letting me be silly about a boy,” Ginny shrugged. Sensing his discomfort, she slipped her arm from his. “I’m… I’m just glad we’re friends.”

Harry gave her a long look even as Ginny turned to face the lower floor they were approaching. He never had a friend like her, that was to be sure, but Harry knew he liked it very much. This in mind, he looped her arm with his again before she could leave and said, “I am, too.”

**********


The next several days blurred together as they were all a medley of lazy mornings and undemanding afternoons. When the evenings came, it became habit to go on night rides; Harry suspected that Mr. Weasley knew but was saying nothing so they went uninterrupted. His vacation was, without a doubt, bliss. And it had everything to do with Ron and Ginny.

It hadn’t been their intention to become inseparable, but the three of them did almost everything together without planning on it. It just made sense for them to sit around on the couch and muse aloud over whether Slytherin would ever have a proper team (unlikely) or if there would be a true heir to George and Fred’s style of pranks (it had to be a Weasley, or at least a redhead). When Ginny wanted to go outside, it was only natural for Harry and Ron to follow; if Ron wanted to play chess, one of them would watch while the other played and then they’d switch.

There was that one thing, though, that Ron and Harry kept between themselves: the prophecy.

Days after telling his best mate everything that he could (and after throwing a few tools of his own), Harry was questioning himself for not letting Ginny in on their secret. She was proving just as trustworthy as both Ron and Hermione and he knew that he had hers in return. Even so, every time he considered the option, his stomach revolted slightly and Harry decided it was best to leave well enough alone.

He supposed it had to do with the fact that she was treating him like “just Harry”. There was no special treatment and she gave him as many punches to the arm that she gave Ron, never gave him leeway in games they played and always gave him hell when they were practicing Quidditch. It was a far cry from the little girl who’d hid from his only a few years before and the thought of this made him thankful that they’d gotten past that.

Dean wrote back to her at least twice, using Hedwig both times. Though he must have recognized the owl, there was never a letter for Harry along with Ginny’s, but he chalked it up to Dean’s concentration being elsewhere. After getting each letter, Ginny was of a significantly sunnier disposition, much to Ron’s puzzlement and Harry’s amusement. It was certainly not up to him to tell Ron what was going on and he liked the idea of keeping a secret, albeit a small one, for her.

There was only one true low point for Harry in the next week and that was when Mr. Weasley returned the mirrors to him. They didn’t speak much besides for the offering and Harry’s quiet thanks before he slipped away upstairs for a couple hours to himself. Ginny had been gone to the Lovegood’s again and Ron knew enough to leave Harry alone for at least a short time. Sitting alone, he considered the mirrors and played with the enchantment, speaking his own name into one mirror and seeing his face reflect in the other.

Finally he sighed and put them away.

Ginny’s own low point came three days before her birthday and it was a bad one, or at least it was for Harry and Ron. No one was sure quite how the argument started between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, but the tension at the dinner table that night was palpable. Uneasy from the beginning, Ron and Harry stayed quiet along with Mr. Weasley.

Though she’d done an admirable job of keeping from getting after her mum since their first argument over Ron, Ginny had clearly reached her wits end. It didn’t take much to push her over the edge; Mrs. Weasley simply commented on Ginny’s childish, sullen demeanor and the explosion was immediate.

“Well, I wonder what age you want me to be, Mum,” Ginny said heatedly. “Because the way you treat me, I’d say I’m about six.”

Ron and Harry exchanged anxious looks.

“I’ll treat you as a nearly fifteen year old when you start taking on your own responsibilities, Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley said with a slight scowl. “I don’t know how many times I told you to clean up your room-”

“That gives you no right to look through my things,” Ginny interrupted. Her face was turning a deep shade of red. “Those were personal letters, Mum. I can’t believe you were pawing through them!”

“I was not paw-” Mrs. Weasley stopped short and took a deep breath. Harry quickly looked down at his food when it occurred to him which letters were the most likely to be found. Her voice hitching slightly, Mrs. Weasley continued, “You should have told us.”

Ginny was livid but kept her own voice steady, “I can’t keep something to myself, not even for a little while? What is the problem with my having a boyfriend? Dean is a perfectly nice bloke. Shut it, Ron.”

Ron, who was in the process of speaking up, closed his mouth. He looked over at Harry in surprise and Harry only gave him a slight shrug.

“I knew you would get on my back about it, Mum, and tell me all the same things you told me about Michael.” Ginny started ticking off her fingers. “I’m too young, you don’t know his family, boys his age only want one thing, and I’m too young.”

She’d repeated the last one, but it was clearly what bothered Ginny the most. Beside her, Mr. Weasley lifted a hand to rub his forehead but said nothing.

“You aren’t even fifteen yet and not mature for relationships like that,” Mrs. Weasley countered.

“Mature?” Ginny scoffed. “What do you know about how mature I am? You treat me like a bleeding child even though I know I’ve proven that I’m far past that.”

“Ginny, that’s enough.” Mr. Weasley finally spoke up and Ginny clamped her mouth shut immediately. He looked over at the boys. “I think you should go upstairs. You may take your dinner with you. We need to speak with Ginny alone.”

They began to rise immediately, gathering their plates and glasses, but Ginny’s voice stopped them short.

“Wait,” she said, looking up. Her face set, she turned to her mum. “I have something to say.”

Knowing at once what she intended to do, Ron said, “No-”

“You were unfair to Ron, just as much as you were unfair to me,” Ginny said, cutting him short. “He didn’t force me to go the Ministry, he tried to stop me and it was my decision to go anyway. Even Harry tried to stop me, right Harry?”

“Er.” Harry looked cautiously at Mrs. Weasley before sighing, “Yeah.”

Ginny’s eyes stayed on her mum’s. “Ron shouldn’t have been punished for my actions, but you just can’t seem to see reason. He’s not my guardian and you can’t expect him to take care of me all the time. I can take care of myself just fine, but you refuse to see that, too.”

Mrs. Weasley said nothing, instead closing her eyes and laying her palms flat on the table in an effort to organize her response. Her husband put one of his hands on top of hers and said to Harry and Ron, “Boys, please.”

“Right,” Ron said, giving his sister a nervous look. She gave them both a grim smile and nod.

It was hard to leave her behind, but both of them knew that what was coming for Ginny was for the best. Ron half-heartedly tried to pick Dean apart once they were alone, but his concern for his sister was stronger than that and he gave up after a while. Instead, they sat on the floor of his room and finished eating and tried to decipher the random bursts of shouts from below them. Most of them came from Mrs. Weasley, though from time to time they could hear Mr. Weasley trying to calm the women on either side of him.

More than an hour after they were sent away, Harry and Ron agreed it was safe enough to venture downstairs under the guise of returning their dishes. When they opened up their door, however, it was to find Ginny standing on the other side and about to knock.

“Hey,” she said, in a tired sort of voice.

“Everything all right?” Ron asked as he moved aside and let her walk in.

“It’s…” Ginny said thoughtfully as she pulled the dishes from her brother’s hands. “It’s good, actually.”

She motioned for Harry to hand over his dishes and when he hesitated, she said, “I can’t wash the dishes without the dishes, Harry. It’s part of my punishment”

Harry’s face fell, “They grounded you?”

“Three weeks,” Ginny said, sounding oddly satisfied as she delivered the news. “I told Mum about the crying bit.”

Ron reeled back a little, “You didn’t.”

“I did.”

She started picking up a few stray cups that were still around the room and stacked them on the plates. Pausing, Ginny gave them an earnest look and said, “It’s good, really. I shouldn’t have used it in the first place and it was the only way I could make her see that I could handle whatever she dished out. No pun intended, of course.”

Ginny gestured at the plates and shrugged.

“But-” Harry said hesitantly, “that’s the rest of our holiday.”

“So it is,” Ginny agreed. “I’m sorry, but I had to do it, guys. I mean, if I want to be treated equally, that includes everything, right?”

“Yeah,” Harry murmured, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt. Sticking his hands in his pockets and looking down, he added, “It’s too bad, though.”

“We’ll help you out,” Ron announced. “I’ll take care of the Lovegood’s and Harry will help-”

Ginny shook her head, “I’ve still got the Lovegood’s for myself, don’t worry about it.”

“I still want to help,” Ron insisted. Harry nodded in agreement.

Ginny gave him a warm smile. “You will. We’ll just have to make sure Mum’s not looking.”

Just then, Mrs. Weasley called out Ginny’s name from downstairs and she gave them a funny little eye roll. “The master calls.”

It wasn’t until long after Ginny had left that either Ron or Harry spoke. When they did it, was only:

“It’s not going to be as much fun anymore, is it?”

“No.” A sigh. “No, it’s not.”

**********


They were wrong, of course. Because when it came to Ginny Weasley, there were always a fair amount of shortcuts to be taken. Unlike Ron, she got one day off a week to visit the Lovegood’s and water their plants — Harry suspected that she was taking longer than necessary but he wasn’t about to turn her in. And, as Ron had promised, they were always ready to lend a hand.

Their night rides continued and Ginny proved to be quite a chef when it was her turn to fix the meals. She’d usually call on the boys to help her out in the kitchen whenever her mum wasn’t around, which was often since Order business was constantly calling. Even if Mrs. Weasley was in the Burrow, both Harry and Ron would follow after Ginny as she dusted, swept and mopped, keeping up a steady stream of conversation. When it came to evicting gnomes, Ron made a convincing argument that there were too many for Ginny to handle for herself and so it was then she had official help.

All in all, the summer had its hitches but was still enjoyed by all. Harry was glad for it.

Ginny’s birthday came a few days after her grounding took place; though they had begged, neither Harry nor Ron were allowed to go to Diagon Alley to buy her a gift. Slightly put out, Ron scrambled to order something through Fred and George, but Harry wasn’t as trustworthy of them. Then again, Ron took his gift of sweets to his father first for a good anti-jinxing before wrapping them up, so perhaps he was suspicious too.

Harry considered ordering something from his Quidditch catalogue, even though it would come in several days after Ginny’s birthday. A part of him really wanted to give Ginny her gift they way he’d received his, but it seemed there was nothing he could do about it. And, even stranger, that same part of him wanted it to be… special. Princess was a constant reminder of how they’d become friends and it was only fitting that he’d give her something just as significant.

Despite his wishes, there just weren’t a lot of options. Giving up — and still refusing to call on the twins — Harry dove into his trunk the morning of her birthday to find the catalogue. What he came across stopped him short.

The mirrors.

Kneeling in front of his trunk, Harry mulled over whether to use them as a gift. For the last several days he’d preferred to believe them nonexistent; if he’d been pushed he would have said that it was natural for Ron to have the other. After all, they’d been the possessions of best mates in the first place: his dad and Sirius. They’d have fun with them, except for the fact that he and Ron had nearly all the same classes… and both played Quidditch… and lived in the same dorm. Hell, they almost always got detention together, too.

Smiling slightly to himself, Harry shook his head at the thought of Ginny getting in trouble in school. She was just as likely to get detention as Ron, if not more. And he’d never be able to visit her in her dorm. The reasons started to pile up in Harry’s mind. They didn’t have any of the same classes and often ate at different times. Hermione would never be the wiser if Ginny had the mirror, which was just as well because she was sure to think it a bad idea to use at any time. For Ginny, having secret means of communicating would be a source of wicked delight for her.

It was perfect, really.

That was that, Harry thought as stuck one mirror in his pocket and went to find the wrapping paper. She was going to love it.

**********


There was a knock on the door late that night; once again filled with sweets, both Ron and Harry lay heavily in their beds and it took several moments before they ventured to pay it any heed. Knowing Ron would take longer to get up, Harry stumbled towards the door and leaned on the doorknob when he saw Ginny on the other side.

“Hey,” he yawned widely. “What’s going on?”

Ginny gave him a bewildered look. “You gave me a mirror?”

Stumped for a moment, Harry had to stare at the object in her hand before it all came together. Standing up straight, he cautiously said, “Yeah.”

“Oh.” Ginny looked down at her hand and then back to him. “Um, thanks.”

“Y-you don’t like it?” Harry’s stomach sank a little.

“No, I do” Ginny said hurriedly. “It’s a nice mirror. Thank you.”

“Well, I thought it’d be useful, you know, when we’re back at school.” Maybe it was because he was still half-asleep, but Ginny was still looking at the mirror with a fair amount of puzzlement.

“Okay,” Ginny said slowly. She started to turn away but immediately faced him again. “I’m a little confused.”

Harry laughed gruffly, “So am I.”

“I figured it was from you because Tonks… but there was no note…” Ginny trailed off.

“Really?” Harry scratched at his head and stumbled back into the room. Rifling through his book bag, he found the sheet of parchment that he’d scrawled a note on and mentally hit himself on the head; he’d forgotten to leave it in her room. When he returned to the doorway, he passed it over to Ginny, “Sorry, I thought I’d left it for you.”

Ginny nodded and stepped into a shaft of moonlight from the hallway window to read the note. He knew exactly when she got the point because her face lit up brightly. Looking up at him, Ginny asked eagerly, “Are you kidding? I mean, is it really-”

“Yeah,” Harry stepped closer. “You don’t even need your wand. Your dad-”

“My dad knows about this?”

“He knows I have them, but he doesn’t know I gave it to you,” Harry reassured her. He knew it was better than the fewer people knew they had them, the better. When she nodded, he added, “Just say my name into it and the incantation and it’ll make a sound only I can hear. It’s the same if I try to find you.”

“Harry,” Ginny said quietly. “Harry, this is amazing.”

He was unable to stop the grin from growing on his face. “I’m glad you like it.”

Ginny gave him hesitant look, “Are you sure you want to give to me, though? I mean, Ron-”

“He’s everywhere I am,” Harry explained with a shrug. “I thought we’d get more use out of them.”

She was now cradling her mirror as if it was something precious and Ginny took a few seconds before replying. When she did, she stepped closer to Harry and kissed him gently on his cheek. “This means a lot to me, Harry. It means so much.”

Torn between confusion at the emotion in her voice and his own surprise, Harry could only shrug. Before he could find any words, a loud creak came from two floors below them and Ginny gave an alarmed gasp.

“I should go,” she whispered quickly. Harry nodded and tiptoed back to his room as Ginny flew down the stairs.

Only a short while later, a soft beeping noise started between Ron’s snores. Unsure of what it was Harry had to search the room before he discovered it was coming from his trunk. When he pulled the mirror out, Ginny’s shadowed face was reflecting back at him.

“Did you make it back all right?” Harry asked worriedly.

“I’m fine, it was Mum going down to the kitchen,” Ginny said back. “Didn’t see me as far as I could tell. This thing is handy, though, isn’t it?”

“I hoped it would be.” Harry settled back against his pillow. If he lay down just right, he could hold the mirror above his head without his arm cramping.

“Harry?”

“Yeah, Ginny?”

Ginny gave him a shy look. It took him a moment to realize that he hadn’t seen that expression on her face in ages. “I love it. Thank you.”

He was very, very glad that the night was dark and she was unable to see the blush creeping up on his face. “You’re welcome.”

“I’d better go to sleep,” Ginny said. “But… Harry?”

“Hmm?”

“There’s been a long running bet on what you wear to bed. Can I let the girls know that the answer is ‘boxers and nothing else’?”

Harry jerked his head down to see his bare chest and felt his face glow bright red.

“I could use the galleons.”

Harry groaned. “Shut up, Ginny.”

“Come on, I won’t let them know how I found out.”

“Good night, Ginny.”

“It’s a large pool!”

Harry said the closing incantation, cutting her off mid-cackle. Perhaps he wouldn’t be as horrified in the morning, but knowing Ginny that was a long-shot indeed.

**********


A/ N: Two weeks without an update? Blame my change of address and a bad storm that knocked out my telephone line for a couple days. New chapter should be up soon.

Mmm… are you in a reviewing mood?
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