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Author: cwarbeck Story: Getting Over Harry Potter Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 19 Words: 47,538
“Hello to you too, Ginny,” said Hermione as she carefully capped her ink bottle and moved her parchment away from Ginny’s feet which were now unceremoniously propped up on the table. “Hermione, I can’t stand it. I give up!” Ginny buried her face in her hands. “I don’t want to do this anymore!” Ginny’s melodramatic declaration brought a smile to her friend’s face. “What, think about ways to get over Harry?” Hermione waved her wand at the fallen books and they stacked themselves neatly beside Ginny’s bag. “What? No! What in Merlin’s name are you talking about?” Ginny’s head shot up, and she looked at Hermione in bewilderment. “You said that you don’t want to do this anymore, so I assumed that it was about that ill-conceived getting over Harry thing again,” the brown-haired witch said matter-of-factly, the corners of her mouth twitching. “Have you decided that it’s an exercise in futility and you don't want to get over Harry anymore?” Ginny glared at her friend contemptuously. “Contrary to what you might think, Hermione, I am making very good progress in that area,” she declared hotly. Hermione continued to gaze at her with one eyebrow raised. “I am!” Ginny adamantly said. “I am eschewing Harry Potter with a firm hand.” “Excuse me? You’re what?” “I am eschewing him with a firm hand,” Ginny repeated and held up her right hand. “This hand, in fact.” She looked doubtfully at her left one and also raised it. “Or maybe this one. Do you think it matters which hand I eschew him with?” Hermione gave a chuckle. “Oh, Ginny, honestly. You’re so silly sometimes.” “Really, I’m just having minor setbacks because of these bloody O.W.L.s. Besides, it’s only the second day of my plan, so I’ve got plenty of time.” She waved a dismissive hand in the air, narrowly missing the ink bottle on the table. Hermione rescued it and Banished it into her bag. “I’m going to go stark raving mad with all the work the teachers are shoving at us, especially that evil lout Snape. How did you get through your fifth year, Hermione?” “I started studying during the summer.” Hermione shrugged and shuffled her notes around. “I made lots of notes. You can borrow them if you want. I can ask my mother to send them to me by owl.” Ginny looked at her, shock clearly mirrored in her brown eyes. “Hermione! You wasted all that lovely free time studying when you could have been having a good time? You could have been out getting a tan or swimming or something. Not staying indoors and revising all summer!” “You sound just like your brother.” Hermione gave a small tsk of disapproval. “I was having a good time. I always have a good time when I’m revising.” Hermione defended herself. “Why am I not surprised?” Ginny muttered. “You’re mad, Hermione. Barking. But since I didn’t have your fortitude when it comes to resisting the temptations of summer, I think I’ll take you up on your offer. Can I borrow your notes then? Oh dear, how am I going to get through this O.W.L. year?” Ginny wailed. “I think my head’s going to explode from all the things I’m trying to cram into it.” “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Hermione giggled. “Think of the awful mess you’d make on the floor. Who would clean it up?” “Ha ha ha. Very funny,” Ginny gave her a baleful look. “You’re an absolute laugh machine tonight, Hermione. A real riot.” “I think you are seriously stressing yourself out. Why don’t you take a break from your revising?” Hermione said in a reasonable sort of voice, as if trying to calm her friend. Ginny looked at the older girl suspiciously. “Okay, now I know there’s really something wrong with you. Hermione Granger, telling me that I should take a break from studying? What is the world coming to?” she said loudly, pretending to be unduly distressed and theatrically placing her hand on her forehead. She grinned at Hermione. “Oh, I know why you're acting so strange. Did my brother finally decide to stop being thick and declare his undying love for you?” “Oh stop it, silly,” Hermione admonished, her face a little pink. “Look, if Harry and Ron were actually able to get seven O.W.L.s each, you’ll have little trouble passing your fifth year. I do think that you should take some time off and relax. You’ll probably more receptive to studying when you’re in a more tranquil mood.” “You sound just like Trelawney,” Ginny retorted, leaning back down in her chair. “She's always blathering on about finding your ‘centre of tranquillity’ and your ‘inner peace’.” “If you don't mind, I'd rather not be compared to that old fraud.” Hermione pursed her lips and began to read her complicated Arithmancy calculations again. “I don't understand why you haven't dropped Divination, Ginny. Like Professor McGonagall said, it's a very imprecise branch of magic, and you could be taking something more suited to your talents, like Arithmancy.” “Ugh, I never liked equations, thank you very much.” Ginny took a look at the confusing scrawl of numbers and charts on Hermione’s parchment and gave a shudder. “Not really my cup of tea.” “Hi, Ginny! Hiya, Hermione!” Colin Creevey stood before them, grinning widely. “Hello, Colin,” Hermione nodded pleasantly. Ginny grinned back at her classmate. “Hi, Colin, what's up? Don't tell me you've finished revising for Transfiguration already!” “No, oh no! Have you?” Colin's eyes had a slightly manic gleam in them. “Oh no, do you think I'll ever, ever, ever finish revising? It’s only because I'm so backed up and I haven't got any sleep and I’m really dead tired but I can’t afford to sleep because I still have to revise some more and I still have to help Dennis with his homework too and Professor McGonagall said—” Ginny held her hands up, giggling at the absolute torrent of words coming from Colin. Apparently, sleep deprivation and the added pressures of studying made him even chattier than he already was. “Stop! Stop! Stop! Did you drink all the coffee in the kitchens again? Didn't Madam Pomfrey tell you that you need to cut down on the caffeine? No need to panic, Colin. I haven't got much done either.” Colin sighed in relief then grinned again. “Oh, I almost forgot. The reason I came over was to give this to you.” He held out a photograph to Ginny. “It's a picture of your teacup from Divination. I got so excited about the tea-leaf patterns that I just had to take a photo of it!” He waved at his brother, whose eyebrows were an alarming shade of magenta and who was frantically beckoning from another table. “Well, I have to go see what Dennis wants. Bye, Ginny! Bye, Hermione!” Ginny watched Colin scamper off and then glanced down at the photograph in her hands. Hermione was squinting interestedly at it. “What are we looking at?” she asked, watching as the liquid ran off the tea leaves again and again, forming indistinct shapes. “It just looks like a soggy brown mess.” “That’s what I thought too. But according to Colin and Trelawney, the pattern of the leaves indicate that I’m having problems in the romance department, but they’re about to be resolved soon, for better or for worse.” Ginny conveniently forgot to mention the lightning bolt that had formed in the picture when Hermione had looked up at her. Hermione stared at Ginny then started laughing. “What’s so funny?” Ginny demanded. “Hey! What the heck is the matter with you? Have you gone mental or something?” Hermione only laughed harder. There were actual tears in her eyes because she was laughing so hard. “Hermione! Tell me what’s so bloody funny!” Ginny waved her wand threateningly. “Don’t make me hex you!” Ginny scowled at her friend, tapping her wand impatiently on the table. Hermione finally managed to get her giggles under control. “You mean — You mean to tell me the old fraud actually got something right for once?” “And what’s put you two in such a good mood?” Ginny looked up to see Harry walking towards them. She tucked the photograph into one of her books as he took the seat beside her and ignored Hermione’s knowing smirk. Harry carelessly flung his arm on the back of the sofa, brushing against Ginny’s shoulders in the process. “Hello,” he said, smiling at her. “Hi, Hermione,” he greeted his friend. Ginny smiled back at him. Harry seemed to be making a habit of sitting beside her lately, but she did not want to put any meaning in it. Still, being this close to him made her acutely aware of the clean, crisp masculine scent that she always identified as Harry. She could recognize that smell anywhere. Nervously, she started nibbling on the end of her ponytail. “Hey, don’t do that.” Harry chided her and gently removed Ginny’s hair from her mouth. “You shouldn’t chew on your hair. It’s too pretty for you to abuse like that.” He touched the elastic keeping her hair in check. “And you shouldn’t put it up all the time. It looks better when it’s loose on your shoulders. May I?” Ginny could only stare at him in shock when Harry pulled on the hair grip, sending her hair tumbling onto her shoulders. Harry smoothed out the heavy mass and tucked some loose tendrils behind her ear. Since when did Harry Potter notice her hair? And he said it was pretty! Looking directly into Harry’s eyes however, proved to be a mistake. A big mistake. Ginny quickly became spellbound at how deliciously green they were, with little flecks of amber around the irises. Ginny recalled a Muggle magazine photograph of an island surrounded by a vast expanse of water that sparkled an iridescent green where it met the shoreline. At that moment, Harry’s eyes perfectly matched that impossible hue, and Ginny could feel herself drowning in those viridian depths. Rowena Ravenclaw’s flowery dressing gown! Look away from the hypnotic green eyes! Look away NOW! Ginny tore her gaze away from Harry’s eyes and decided to focus on his mouth instead. She realized her blunder as soon as she dropped her eyes to his lips. They looked soft and inviting, curved up in a crooked smile, and it took all of her resolve not to fling herself at Harry and snog him within an inch of his life right then and there. Think of your list! Remember! Convince Yourself that He’s Just Another One of Your Brothers! Ginny willed herself to think of Harry as just another Weasley, but it was damn near impossible when he kept smiling at her like that. She certainly was not feeling too sisterly towards Harry at the moment. The things she was thinking of doing to him were anything but fraternal. As she continued her bemused observation of Harry’s mouth, she gradually became aware that said soft and sensuous lips were now moving and that Harry was saying something to her. “Sorry?” she asked, coming out of her daze to hear a muffled giggle from Hermione. Harry gave her a strange look. “All right there, Ginny? You sort of blanked out for a while. I asked you how you were doing with your O.W.L. revisions.” “Oh fine, fine,” Ginny said, not realizing that she was still staring blankly at Harry’s mouth. “Couldn’t be better.” “Erm, Ginny, is something wrong?” He self-consciously put a hand on his chin. “Do I have something on my face?” Would you like something on your face? Like, maybe, my lips? Ginny thought a little wildly. Bloody hell. Please shut up, brain. She took a deep breath to regain some amount of self-control and pointed to his shirt. “You just have a speck of dirt on your collar.” While Harry glanced down to brush off the imaginary spot, Ginny glowered in Hermione’s direction when she noted that the brunette was hiding her face behind her parchment, trying very unsuccessfully not to laugh out loud. Ginny needed to put some distance between Harry and her so she could start thinking clearly again, but strangely enough, she could not bring herself to stand up and leave. Especially when Harry absentmindedly began playing with her hair, letting the long, cinnamon strands fall through his fingers as he talked to Hermione about one of their classes. She randomly opened one of her books to hide the fact that she was about to explode from sheer giddiness. Or dissolve into a puddle of Weasley goo. Maybe she would explode and then all the little pieces of her would dissolve into goo. Or maybe she would dissolve, and then the entire mess would spontaneously combust like one of Fred and George’s Wildfire Whizz-Bangs and set Gryffindor Tower and then the rest of Hogwarts on fire. Ginny could feel herself becoming slightly hysterical as Harry continued to idly toy with the ends of her hair. “Oi! Harry!” Ron called out as he came down from the boys’ dormitory. “Stop trying to fix my sister’s hair and come take a look at the new Quidditch magazine I just got from George.” Ginny silently vowed to reacquaint her brother with some of her more creative hexes and jinxes, or her foot with various parts of his anatomy when Harry abruptly removed his hand from around her shoulder as if he had been caught doing something illegal and not merely trying to drive her insane with happiness. Smiling sheepishly at her, Harry stood up and headed towards Ron, who was waiting impatiently by the stairwell, flipping through the pages of his magazine. Ginny let out a quiet sigh of disappointment. What she would not give for Harry to sit beside her again and continue his exquisite brand of torture. As if he had heard her thoughts, Harry suddenly halted a few steps away from her. Ginny watched as he bent over to pick something off the ground, giving her an excellent view of his well-toned derriere. She was in the midst of appreciating the finer points of how Harry’s trousers stretched snugly over his bum when he straightened up, clutching a small square piece of paper in his hand. Reluctantly shifting her attention from the more delectable parts of Harry’s figure, Ginny was horrified to discover that Harry was holding the photograph Colin had handed her earlier. “Um, that’s mine, Harry.” She watched anxiously as Harry tried to figure out what the picture was about, but thankfully remembered that he was rubbish at Divination, just like Ron. He would never be able to make out what it was supposed to be. “Could I have it, please?” After a few more moments of intense scrutiny, wherein he scrunched up his far too attractive eyebrows, Harry shrugged and handed the photo over to Ginny, sending little tingles through her as his fingertips brushed her palm. “Interesting picture. Those tea-leaves almost look like they form a lightning bolt, eh?” His brilliant emerald eyes twinkled behind his glasses. Ginny had the distinctly unnerving feeling that Harry was taking the mickey out of her. “See you later, Ginny.” Harry winked at her and then went to join Ron, leaving a very confused Ginny and a now openly chortling Hermione behind him. Wordlessly, Ginny pulled out the parchment containing her Get Over Harry Potter techniques. She had taken to attaching it to her body with a Semi-Permanent Sticking Charm just to make sure she didn’t lose it. As Hermione amusedly looked on, Ginny brought out her eagle quill and bent over the parchment. Right after Number 2 – Imagine Him Wearing Really Manky Old Y-Fronts All the Time she scribbled: Number 3 – Avoid Staring Into Those Impossibly Sexy Green Eyes FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR OWN SANITY!!! *
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