|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: Zelthian Story: Lady's Choice Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 12 Words: 13,374
By Monday lunch the vast majority of the girls had dates, and attention was turned towards the dance itself. The Great Hall was scheduled to close Saturday after lunch in order to allow the staff to decorate. Harry put this all out of his mind; he wasn’t going after all. Instead, he concentrated on doing his schoolwork and ignoring the angry looks he was now getting from the girls. Hermione and Ron were no help and there were times that Harry wondered if they remembered he was there. The professors had graciously decided to ease up on homework assignments during the week, knowing that everyone was thoroughly distracted. Had it not been for Quidditch practice and his detentions with Snape and McGonagall, Harry would have found himself without much to do in the evenings. The day of the big event finally came, and Harry found himself quite unwilling to leave his room. He spent the morning cleaning and polishing his Firebolt and generally being depressed. After lunch, he supervised his roommates’ preparations for the dance. At last, he saw them downstairs, if only to see Hermione. She looked absolutely fabulous. She and Ron stared at each other for a couple of minutes before recovering enough to head to the dance. Once the dust had settled, Harry realized he was alone in the common room with Ginny; they were the only two Gryffindors not going. Harry sat in his favorite chair by the fireplace and stared at the fire. Now that everyone was at the dance, he wished he was with them. He was missing out on the biggest social event of the year, he realized. So why had he not wanted to go? What was the big deal? The big deal is that you take certain things more seriously than others, he told himself. If you were going to go, it had to be with someone special, and you don’t feel that way about anyone not dating anyone else. This thought, of course, just made him more depressed. Now that Ron and Hermione were together, it emphasized the fact that Harry didn’t have someone special to spend time with. He was happy for them, and they were still his best friends, but it wasn’t the same. That’s it, he thought. That’s what I’m missing; someone special to be with. But things like that take time. It took Ron and Hermione forever. That’s not the kind of thing you can have happen in the course of a few weeks. He felt better about not going, but he was still depressed. Sure, there were lots of nice and attractive girls at Hogwarts, but he wanted to be with someone he could talk to, someone who had just the right sense of humor, someone he could enjoy spending time with, someone he liked and respected, someone like… “Hungry, Harry?” Harry looked up to find Ginny sitting in the chair next to him. He forced himself out of his thoughts. “Starving,” he replied. Ginny pulled out her wand, spoke an incantation and waved her wand at the table. A plate of sandwiches and two glasses of pumpkin juice appeared. “Where did you learn that?” Harry asked. “Mum taught it to me. She thought it might prove useful sometime.” “Thanks!” Harry said, reaching for a sandwich. He started when he felt something grab his hand as he grabbed the top sandwich. Ginny had reached for the same sandwich as the same time and had grabbed his hand instead. They glanced at each other and blushed. Ginny slowly released his hand as she said, “You’re welcome, Harry.” She quickly grabbed a different sandwich and began eating. This incident reminded Harry of something he wanted to ask Ginny about. He took a bite of his sandwich, chewed and swallowed. “Ginny, can I ask you a personal question?” Ginny swallowed her bit of sandwich. “Sure, Harry, what is it?” “Well, I know from talking to him that Dean is going to the dance with one of the Patel twins. I was just surprised you’d let him do that.” Ginny raised an eyebrow. “Why?” This confused Harry. “Aren’t you seeing him? I mean, you said on the train home last year that you were seeing him, and I hadn’t heard anything to the contrary since.” Ginny’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She turned to face the fire. “That.” Harry wanted to press, but he didn’t. Finally, Ginny continued. “I have a confession to make, Harry. I only said that to get a reaction out of Ron. He was being a git by trying to tell me how to live my life. We had a big row over it before you returned to the Burrow. I guess I forgot to tell you. I’m sorry.” Harry’s stomach filled with butterflies. Why is it doing that? He smiled. “There’s nothing to forgive. I had been wondering, though.” “Can I ask you a personal question, then?” Ginny asked. “Sure,” Harry replied. “If I had asked you to the dance, would you have gone with me?” Harry’s stomach twisted into a knot. Why is she asking me this? Hermione said she was over me. Maybe she meant as friends. What should I say? Well, tell her the truth, you prat. But what does it mean? I would have, but does that mean I like her that way? Say something! “Ginny, do you remember when I told you I needed some time to sort out my thoughts?” Harry asked. Ginny nodded. “My thoughts on the dance were like this: since I’m not romantically involved with anyone, there were only two girls I would have agreed to go to the dance with. One of those two was Hermione, but we both know she really needed to go with Ron; which she did, much to my relief. The other girl I would have agreed to go with was you.” “Why didn’t you tell me this when I asked before?” Ginny asked. “Because I thought you were still seeing Dean, and I didn’t want to say anything. I figured your relationship with Dean was none of my business, so I stayed away from the subject.” Ginny was silent for a few moments. Harry could tell she was thinking. “So, if you would have said yes, does that mean you’re interested in me? You know, as more than friends?” That’s the real question, isn’t it? Harry thought. Could Ginny be that special girl? Do I want to find out? Does she still just have a crush on me? No, that’s silly. Look at her over the last year and more. Even Dean said she was a great catch. What am I afraid of? “It’s okay, Harry, you can be honest with me. You won’t hurt my feelings.” “Honestly, Ginny, I really haven’t sorted out my feelings for you. I will say this, though; I think you’re a great person. You’re very pretty, you obviously care a lot about your family and I’ve come to think of you as a close friend. You also have a spirit that I admire, and a mischievousness that draws me to you for some reason.” Ginny blushed. “So what’s there to sort out?” Harry sighed. He’d have to ask her. “Do you still have a crush on me?” Ginny took a deep breath. “I knew you were going to ask me that.” Harry nodded. “Your turn to be honest.” Ginny paused to think a moment. “I did have a crush on you, Harry. Every witch and wizard knows your name. I can remember reading about you when I was growing up, and then, there you were, right in front of me, and you were as handsome as I had dreamed you were. Then Ron came back from his first year and told me the story about the Stone, and I can remember being in complete disbelief that my brother was best friends with Harry Potter. Then, out of the blue, there you were in the Burrow, and I was standing there in front of you in my nightgown! Can you imagine how embarrassed I was?” “Yeah, I can imagine,” Harry said. “So then I started at Hogwarts, and I can remember thinking, ‘I’m going to the same school as Harry Potter,’ and I thought I might be able to talk to you. But then I realized I wasn’t the only girl who had a crush on you, so I had to do something. Little did I know Tom Riddle would use that to his advantage. I was so sure when you found out that you would hate me for it, and I was so scared to say anything. Then I woke up in the Chamber, and there you were! I couldn’t believe it! Harry Potter had saved my life! That’s when I knew you were truly special, and I thought this incident would create some kind of bond between us. But it didn’t.” It was as if Ginny were in a trance. Harry got the impression she had practiced this speech in her mind, and he wasn’t about to interrupt her. “The next year I hardly talked to you at all, and Ron was rude to me on the train. The year after that was the whole Yule Ball thing. I thought maybe you’d ask me, but then Ron told everyone you asked Cho. I can remember that moment so clearly in my mind. It was then I knew for certain that I couldn’t wait for you, and that you were following your own path. I was depressed for a good while. But then I told myself, ‘Ginny, he’s a special guy, and if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. That doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun.’ So I forced myself to think of you as just a friend and went off on my own. I have to say I had fun on the train ride to Hogwarts last year, and having you as a friend helped more than you know during the incident with my dad. After that, I knew that if anything else threatened my family, you would somehow know ahead of time, and that made the whole thing bearable somehow. “And then Cho started hanging all over you. That made me really angry. I knew she just hung around you because you were there when Cedric died. Everyone could tell she really didn’t like you that way, she just wanted to grasp on to the memory of Cedric. It was really sad, but it still made me angry. I actually tried to lure you away from her. I challenged her every chance I got, but I guess you two finally fell out on your own. I was glad you did, but honestly not because I thought it was a sign that I might have another chance, but because she just wasn’t right for you. Catching the snitch under her nose was the icing on the cake.” “I wish I would have been there to see it,” Harry said. “And I seriously don’t know what I was thinking with Michael. He’s such a prat. He was fun in the beginning, but his personally wore on me as the year went on. When he defended Cho, it was the final straw. I didn’t feel bad at all for ditching him.” She paused, then turned to face Harry. “I had just about worked up my courage to ask you when you said you didn’t want to go. Then I defended your decision to the other girls, but part of me was afraid that if they kept pressuring you that you’d end up agreeing just to put an end to the whole thing. I actually found myself getting angry at the thought of you going with someone else. Half of me thought I was being unfair to you, and half of me wanted hex every girl who came close to you. I wanted to talk to you so badly after you came back from Hogsmeade, but I figured your reluctance to go to the dance meant you weren’t interested in romance, so I decided to let you be.” She came out of her trance and smiled. “I’m sorry, I’m rambling. Do I have still have a crush on you? No. What I feel for you is very different. I’d honestly have to say that I’m genuinely attracted to you now. You were the only one I had any intention of asking to the dance.” Harry sat back and let this all sink in. “Why do you ask, Harry? What are you trying to sort out?” Harry closed his eyes. “Ever since I started at Hogwarts I’ve been ‘Famous Harry Potter.’ I have never felt comfortable with that. I had just found out why I was so famous and I didn’t feel I deserved all the attention I was getting. I wasn’t this great, amazing wizard that everyone had made me out to be. In fact, I was way behind the curve. I wouldn’t be where I am now if it hadn’t been for Ron and Hermione’s help. And then I met you. You were pretty and nice and all, but you still treated me like this famous person, and I didn’t want anybody to like me just because I was famous. That changed completely last year, and I found myself glad you became my friend.” Harry opened his eyes and looked at Ginny. “So what I was trying to sort out is if you still liked me and why.” Ginny raised an eyebrow. “And if I liked you and it wasn’t just because you were famous, and you liked me enough to want to go to the dance with me, what does that mean?” The hidden fear he held in his heart surfaced. He found himself unable to meet Ginny’s gaze, turning to face the fire and closing his eyes. “Harry, what are you afraid of?” Ginny asked. Harry swallowed hard. “It just seems that all the people I care for end up getting hurt. I’m afraid of getting close to anyone because I know it would mean putting them at risk. I nearly lost you once; I don’t think I could take it if I were to lose you again.” Harry waited for Ginny to say something. He felt something on his face and opened his eyes to see Ginny sitting in front of him, her hand on his cheek. “You know, Harry, that’s one of the things I like about you. Even though it seems you’re being selfish on the surface, deep down you’re really trying to protect people. Ron and Hermione might not see it, but I do. That’s why I’ve let myself continue to be attracted to you. You are the kind of person I want to be attracted to. Don’t you think of all people, I would be aware of the risks?” Harry found himself not wanting Ginny to let go of him. “I can’t ask you to take that kind of risk, Ginny,” he said sadly. “You don’t have to, Harry. I chose to take the risk on my own. I care about you a lot. All you have to do is accept the fact that I want to be with you. Don’t try to explain it, don’t try to protect me from it, just accept it. If you want to be with me, that is.” A tear left Harry’s eye. He was afraid, but he knew he wanted to give it a chance. “I do, Ginny, but I’m still afraid.” Ginny put her arms around Harry and hugged him. This hug was different; she hugged him tightly as before, but this time it was if she was holding him, and he was holding her. Though the fear remained, the tension he had been keeping to himself flowed out of him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, allowing himself to enjoy the sensation of hugging her. “I’ve wanted to hug you like this for so long,” Ginny said in his ear. “I’m glad it happened after we became friends. If feels like it means more, somehow.” Harry smiled to himself. “I think so, too.” “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was afraid, but I refuse to live my life in fear, and now we can face the fear together,” Ginny said. Just then, the music started in the Great Hall. Harry could make it out easily. Ginny let go of him and stood up, pulling on his hand. “Where are you going?” Harry asked, somewhat confused. “Just because we’re banned from the dance doesn’t mean we can’t dance,” Ginny replied. “Erm, well, you see Ginny, I really don’t know how to dance really well, and…” “No better time to learn,” Ginny interrupted. Ginny had her mischievous expression on her face, and Harry found himself quite unable to resist. He allowed Ginny to pull him up and lead him out into an open area. She turned to face Harry and pulled his arms around her waist. She then put her arms around his neck and showed him a simple slow dance step. Once he had the hang of it, Harry looked into Ginny’s eyes and never looked away. Half way through the song, Harry stopped and leaned in towards Ginny. She closed her eyes and he closed his as their lips met. They spent the rest of the song kissing softly, knowing things would never be the same.
|