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Right Under His Nose
Chapter Three: Girl trouble, my dear?
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“You’re joking, mate.”
Dinner had just finished and the Hogwarts students were filing back to their respective common rooms. Harry had just told Ron and Hermione that his detention was set for this Saturday. He smiled at Ron’s indignation.
“It’s all right. I guess I deserve it,” he said, knowing it would please Hermione. She grinned.
“Well, I won’t say you don’t deserve it, because you do,” Ron gave her a light punch on the shoulder, “but I still wish it wasn’t this Saturday. I’m surprised at Professor McGonagall. Normally she’s a little fairer than this.”
“It’s fine.”
Both Ron and Hermione fixed him with looks of disbelief. “Really,” he insisted. “It’s OK. It’s not like I don’t know how to get there, right?”
All three of them grinned at this. The one-eyed witch had indeed been very useful.
“And besides,” he reasoned, “I don’t want to bother you two.”
“Oh, Harry, you could never bother us!”
“No, mate, you wouldn’t!”
Ron and Hermione spoke at the same time, and Harry used that as grounds not to answer. Despite their adamant protests that nothing had changed in their friendship, over the past year a major development had taken place. With much urging on Harry’s part, Ron and Hermione had become a couple and, while he couldn’t be happier for them, Harry was a little tired of playing the third wheel. They did a good job of keeping their feelings under control while at school, but in other places, like Hogsmeade, Harry sometimes got the feeling that he wasn’t wanted. He knew it wasn’t intentional and he wasn’t insulted by it. . . Ron and Hermione deserved to go out on a proper date, without him tagging along.
And if he had to serve a detention for them to get one, so be it.
“Holly branch.” Hermione gave the password and the Fat Lady swung open. “Honestly, Harry, I do hope you know that you could never bother Ron and me”oh, hi, Ginny.”
Ginny Weasley stood in the portrait hole, a slight flush rising in her cheeks. Harry’s stomach turned over.
He hadn’t been so near her since they talked last . . . in his dormitory. But now here she was. He tried to keep his face impassive, so Ron and Hermione wouldn’t see how much he was affected by Ginny’s mere presence. It wasn’t easy.
“Hi, Hermione, Ron . . . hi, Harry.”
“Hey, Gin,” Ron answered.
Ginny climbed down to be at their level. As she straightened up, she let a bag fall to her feet. Her hair was up in a messy knot with a quill stuck through it and she had changed into Muggle clothes. The Weasley sweater she had on looked like it had been worn many times. The fabric was faded and it had obviously shrunk from years of use. Harry tried hard not to gape openly at her chest and forced himself to shift his glance. It wouldn’t do to goggle at Ginny’s body . . . especially right in front of Ron. But Ron was doing some gaping of his own.
“Gin”what’re you wearing?” He was eyeing her tight sweater like it was a large spider. Ron hated spiders.
Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione. “Ron, it’s a sweater. Please calm down.”
“That’s not a sweater . . . that’s like a”a . . .” Ron searched for the right words. “It’s too small,” he finally finished.
Again, Ginny rolled her eyes. “Ron, it’s not too small. Stop being so overprotective.”
“I think she looks nice,” said Hermione, and Harry saw her wink at Ginny.
He hoped this conversation wouldn’t last too much longer. There was only so much he could take of discussing the tightness of Ginny’s sweater . . . it was too hard not to openly stare at her in the first place.
“Nice? She looks nice? She looks like a . . . a””
“If you say scarlet woman, I’m breaking up with you,” said Hermione in a stern voice. Ginny giggled.
“Fine. Don’t listen to me. All I’m trying to do is””
“Make sure I have no life,” said Ginny with a grin.
Ron swung around to look at Harry, his last chance. “Harry, what d’you think?”
Harry’s heart sped up in his chest and he tried to control his breathing. The three of them turned to look at him, expecting an answer.
Could he look at her sweater without looking like he was gaping at her? What would he say? Ron clearly wanted an ally, but he, Harry, didn’t want Ginny to be angry with him.
Hermione was eyeing Harry’s obvious embarrassment very closely. “Harry, don’t you think Ginny looks nice in her sweater?” she said in pointed deliberation, also giving him a small wink.
Shooting her a grateful glance, Harry nodded. He didn’t trust his voice at the moment.
“That’s settled, then,” said Hermione, speaking over Ron’s splutters of protest. “So, what are you up to, Ginny? Going down to dinner?”
Ginny’s ears went slightly pink while she answered. “I was just looking for Harry, actually.” She spoke in a deliberate tone, much like the one Hermione had just used, that meant she did not want Ron and Hermione sticking around for the conversation. Hermione nodded and smiled at Ginny, then grabbed Ron’s hand.
“Come on.”
“Wait”what. . .”
The portrait shut before Ron could finish his question. Harry felt his breath hitch as Ginny turned to face him.
“Hi.”
Harry cleared his throat. “Hi.”
The silence rang throughout the hall. Harry’s heart sped up even more as he dared a look at her. Her eyes were on the ground, so he allowed himself to study her for a bit. Her hair fell down everywhere in little wisps and her pale skin seemed to almost reflect the torchlight. Daringly he let his eyes wander lower to examine Ginny’s sweater. For the first time that night, he realized that it didn’t have the large ‘G’ he was expecting to be there, but a large ‘C’ knitted on the front.
Harry’s curiosity piqued over his embarrassment, and
he voiced his question. “Er, Ginny? Why’re you wearing Charlie’s sweater?”
He must have startled her, because she jumped, then reddened. “Oh,” she said embarrassedly. “Is it really Charlie’s?” She looked down.
“Unless there’s another brother I don’t know about.”
She gave him a surprised grin. “No, you know them all. I suppose this must be the sweater I took from his closet a while ago. . . I had no clean clothes to wear, so I was running around in my towel looking for something””
Ginny abruptly stopped, her face flaming. Harry imagined his matched. The mental image she had just given him was a little too much to handle at the moment.
“Anyway, I uh, I stole this from Charlie’s closet,” Ginny finished in a small voice.
An awkward silence descended over them. Harry shuffled his feet and tried not to look at Ginny’s sweater.
Tell her you love her! Tell her you can’t stop thinking about her! Tell her. . .
“You. . . you wanted to, er”to talk to me?”
Smooth, Potter.
“Yeah, I did. I mean, I do.”
Silence again filled the air between them. Harry wished he wasn’t so bad with words . . . wished he didn’t get so tongue-tied . . . she was just so beautiful. . . .
“Well. . . what is it?”
Great move, you prat. Now it looks like you want to get rid of her.
“I mean,” he corrected hastily, “can I help you with something?”
Ginny’s body relaxed slightly at his second question. “Well, actually, I have to give you something.” She reached down and grabbed the bag at her feet.
“Here,” she said, holding it out. “I’m sorry about getting this back to you so late. I just . . . didn’t get around to it. I’m sorry.”
Harry wondered what on earth she was talking about, but reached out and took the bag anyway. As his fingers closed over the handle, they brushed hers. At her touch, a chill ran down his spine, his hand tingled, and his breath hitched again. A few feet away, Ginny’s did the same.
Alarmed, they looked at each other. Harry noticed Ginny’s chest was rising and falling more rapidly now, just like his was.
Kiss her. Kiss her!
Harry cleared his throat.
Kiss her now!
"Er. . . Ginny, I””
Coward. Bloody stinking coward. She’s right there, all you have to do is”
“Ginny! There you are!”
The portrait hole had just opened, revealing Dean Thomas. Harry jumped away from Ginny, even though they weren’t standing very close together. He saw her try to hide her flaming face by ducking it down and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Dean clambered down to the ground.
“I’ve been looking for you,” said Dean, going over to Ginny and placing his arm around her shoulders. He was eyeing Ginny’s sweater in appreciation, and Harry’s fists clenched inside his robes. “Where’ve you been?”
“Just out here,” she said. “I had something of Harry’s I had to give back.”
Dean looked at Harry and grinned. He then turned back to Ginny. “Want to go on a walk?”
“All”all right.”
“Cool. See you, Potter.”
Harry gave him a nod while keeping his eyes on Ginny. Face still flaming, she fixed him with the look that had plagued his memories and dreams for the past three weeks. That look, that sad look of wishing, hoping, wanting, yearning.
Harry’s mouth dropped open.
Dean turned to leave and Ginny diverted her eyes away from Harry’s. Harry watched as the two of them disappeared down the corridor.
It wasn’t fair. It really wasn’t. This was the second time that she had given him that look. What did it mean? Did it mean that she wanted him to . . . to tell her he loved her? Kiss her? Did it mean that she wanted to forget about Dean and be with him?
More and more questions zoomed throughout his mind, making his head swim.
Was he just blowing things out of proportion? Was he just imagining things? And, if so, what did Dean Thomas have that he, Harry, didn’t? She had been in love with him for five bloody years, damn it! Didn’t that count for something?
Sighing, Harry shifted the bag in his hands and took a step toward the portrait hole.
The bag!
Wondering what she had given him, Harry peered inside. He couldn’t see anything. Perplexed, he stuck his hand inside and pulled out a fistful of silvery robe. His cloak! He had forgotten about it. It worried him slightly that he had gone and forgotten she had his Invisibility Cloak, something so completely out of character that Harry wondered how he even managed it.
It’s not exactly like you’ve been focused on your cloak these past few weeks, eh, Potter?
He had to tell someone about this; he was going to explode if he didn’t. All last year he had tried to keep his feelings bottled up, and he had ended up an angry, bitter mess. He had promised Remus and Mrs. Weasley that he would try to be better about confessing his feelings this year, and he wanted to remain true to his word. And seeing as he couldn’t exactly extract an objective opinion concerning Ginny from Ron, he was left with only one other option.
Harry put the cloak back into the bag and started toward the portrait hole. Once again, like it had so many times previous, Ginny’s image filled his mind.
Should have kissed her while you had the chance.
Harry inwardly kicked himself as he turned to give the Fat Lady the password.
“Holly branch,” he said through clenched teeth. She gave him a knowing smile.
“Girl trouble, my dear?”
Harry looked at her in surprise. “Holly branch,” he said more clearly.
“She obviously fancies you. A woman doesn’t blush for just anyone,” she said in a coquettish voice, batting her eyelashes.
Harry wasn’t in the mood to be flirted at by a portrait. “Holly branch!” he nearly shouted. Her face grew sullen.
“Oh all right, all right,” she said in a sulky voice, swinging forward to admit him to his common room.
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A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed! And for those of you who can't wait for Harry and Ginny to get together. . . well, you're going to have to wait just a little bit longer. But it's coming! I promise!