Chapter 13 Five Pairs Of Eyes…
“What the…” Ginny rubbed the back of the head and turned around, at the same time trying to keep the incomplete puzzle together with one hand.
“Sorry!” Sam zipped towards Ginny in the girls’ dormitory. “I didn’t mean to hit you with it!”
Spotting a paper plane on the floor, Ginny immediately reached for it, forgetting about the puzzle in her clutches that inadvertently split into two whole pieces during her struggle, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She quickly unfolded it, seemingly searching for something. But all she saw were messy scribbles of class notes, apparently a lesson from Potions, and many shocking and unflattering sketches of what looked like to be Snape. She couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the obscene drawings, even though seeing the plane reminded her of her writing that painful story and tossing it to the lake in the form of a paper plane last year, screaming for Harry to come back to her.
“Excuse me…” Sam peered at her curiously with a twinkle in her eye.
“Oh, here you go, Miss Ryan,” she closed her jaw, folded the paper and handed it back to her immediately, because the unflattering images were simply revolting. “Cool drawings, I think! Who would have known Snape is into those kinds of… activities!”
“I guess you know my name from that wretched opening feast! That dumb Filch!” she cursed and snatched the plane.
“Please call me Sam!”
“I’m Ginny. Sam, go easy on your mentor, okay?” Ginny could hear herself command authoritatively at the pale girl. Seeing Sam and realizing she was capable of drawing such horrendous pictures, she suddenly felt the need to defend Harry, remembering how exhausted he was after the first mentor session. She was afraid this girl would destroy him in no time.
With each word stronger than the last, Ginny found herself raising her voice threateningly, forgetting she was speaking to a frail little first year girl, “He’s my friend and a very nice guy! I don’t want you tormenting him, or giving him a hard time, because You.Will.Answer.To.Me!”
“Harry? He’s cool! I like him! He’s such a good listener!” she chirped happily, much to Ginny’s surprise.
“And I think he’s so adorably cute! Don’t you find?” she bent down to examine the broken puzzle and started to scoop up the loose pieces to one pile.
Ginny was blinking very quickly, her cheeks quickly deflating as all the angry air just fizzled out. She had been expecting some type of fiery wrath from Sam, similar to what she did to Filch that day. Even though Sam was much smaller, Ginny had readily herself for some kind of physical confrontation, as a precaution.
Suddenly, Sam bolted up and clenched her teeth aggressively, her cheeks quickly firing up, “It’s his best friend, that redhead git I__
“Oh, wait!” she swallowed her nasty tongue, appearing somewhat embarrassed. “The git’s your brother, isn’t he? Erm… I almost forgot. Never mind! Forget what I said.
“Goodness! I so hate Potions! Keep the plane, Ginny! I don’t want anything to do with that lousy Snape. Don’t worry about Harry! I won’t hurt him with my feathers! See ya!” Sam babbled in one breath, buried the plane into Ginny’s clutches and hopped away before Ginny could respond. She now understood why Harry called her a chatterbox.
“Why did she call my brother… a git?” Ginny grimaced blankly, bending down to gather her broken puzzle.
****
“Ginny, can you be… mine… No, I mean… my…”
He shook his head and breathed frustratingly, again drilling himself with his inflexible instructions, “Okay, Potter! Start over.
“Smile without showing teeth,” he told himself, flattening his hair.
“Ginny, I want to be…your… partner… THERE! That wasn’t so hard!”
Staring at the reflection of himself in the shower in disbelief, Harry couldn’t fathom what possessed him to do what he was doing right now. He found himself nervously rehearsing his question to pop at Ginny tomorrow, and at the same time, concerned about the appearance of his hair for the first time. An hour had already been spent, but both his tongue and hair refused to listen to his commands; both just couldn’t stay in place.
He sheepishly wiped the mist off the mirror, wondering why he was acting so silly lately when it came to Ginny, like accidentally walking away with a piece of her puzzle, and then not wanting to give it back to her after he discovered it in his palm. It was impossible, according to him, that he actually wanted her to have a piece missing, knowing she would go ballistic, since she was so obsessed with it. He was not convinced he did it because it had anything to do with one Oliver Wood, although he kept asking himself why his stomach would always start flipping when he would see them together and Ginny would always seem to have such a swell time with him.
Harry knew he had always admired Ginny, her bravery, toughness, her special talents, and genuine kindheartedness, plus a very good cook, but never in that special way. She was, after all, his best friend’s little sister.
However, as he continued to stare at the reflection of himself in the shower, his eyes were screaming at him to wake up. He could not deny seeing the intensity behind them when he was thinking about her, her fiery red hair, penetrating brown eyes, and strawberry lips. In fact, she was always in his mind for all kinds of reasons lately. Both his cheeks were radiant pink with emotions in the misty mirror now. Seeing them so worked up, he smiled deeply, because he recalled how Ginny smacked him across the face and he wasn’t even angry with her.
He remembered the first night when he arrived at the Burrow and he was in her room. She invited him to sit with her even though she was clearly busy making space for Hermione. He loved being there, as if all the anguish would vanish when he was there with her. That night, she made him feel better after receiving Dumbledore’s letter about him selected as mentor.
On her birthday, he had been jealous of Oliver and the attention she granted him. However, he was happy, because at the end, even though it was only her forehead, it was him that got to kiss her for more than ten seconds, thanks to the magic motion detector. It felt so wonderful he didn’t want to pull away.
However, what helped Harry confirm his feelings and what changed everything when it came to Ginny was what happened the day before arriving to Hogwarts, when they had lunch together at the Burrow. He had cried so hard earlier and felt so lonely, cold, and hopeless, when he surrendered to his inner demons after uncovering Sirius’ mirror, but Ginny was there for him in her special way afterwards. When he couldn’t cry anymore, that was when she called him to come downstairs for lunch, as if she purposely timed it to the minute when he was ready to come down.
No words were exchanged between them the entire time, from the first drop of soup to the last fork that was deposited into the running sink. But Harry recorded all the details of their togetherness in his mind, every single minute and every single second of it, once he sat down at the table and spotted all the food she prepared for him. It was enough to feed a Quidditch team. He believed he would have no appetite to eat after all the crying but the aroma from her masterpieces was too hard to resist.
Harry remembered how she seemingly adapted to his sadness by remaining very quiet herself, as if she knew that he was unable to speak because of the tears clogged in his throat. He was thankful to her sense of calm, because even a single utter of a word from him would unleash all his pent-up tears, those of which he only allowed to come out at night in his sleep.
Ginny might have been quiet, but Harry recalled that it was her actions that spoke volumes to him and moved him. A smile appeared across his face as the images of a very caring Ginny were playing in his mind. She was in her red apron, giving him continuous helpings of hot soup and constantly checking his bowl mindfully to make sure it was full. She must have known instinctively that the soup was the medicine he really needed at the time, because she didn’t ask him if he wanted the third and fourth helpings; she just continued to pour it for him, and it was exactly what he needed.
He had never experienced the type of special care and sensitivity from anyone before. It was as if she knew he was in pain and he needed her help. It was only chicken soup, but the soup recharged him. He felt warm again. She revived and nurtured his spirits again. She was his silent power of strength at that moment.
It may be just another lunch for her but in his eyes, every little thing she did meant so much to him. That day, she unknowingly repaired him and glued him back to his solid form, the noodles of spaghetti weaving him back together, the meatballs and sandwiches restoring his energy, and her coconut cream cake sweetening his insides. He forgot to thank her for her efforts. From now on, he would never take things for granted, especially when it came to her.
Harry was a shadow of his former self after the death of Sirius, coupled with the argument he had with Dumbledore and the discovery of the prophecy. Both Sirius and Dumbledore were his sources of strength and meaning, and he felt he had lost them both. However, after the tenderly experience with Ginny, he realized he had to survive and be strong. He had to fight on, for his friends, the Weasley family, and most importantly, for Ginny. He was determined to not let her down, because after that day, her efforts told him he was important enough for her to care for. She restored his meaning again. He no longer felt lonely.
Mrs. Weasley told him it was Ginny’s idea to invite him to the Burrow, because she felt it would be better for him to be around friendly faces. After the loss of Sirius, he thought it was one less person in his limited pool of people to care about him. He never figured Ginny would be such an important person in his pool.
No longer afraid to see his reflection in its cloudless form, he wiped the mist off the mirror again. What used to be the blemishes of anguish from Sirius’ death had finally faded, thanks to Ginny. He would be eternally indebted to her, for being there, when he needed most.
“Thank you, Ginny Weasley...
“I love you...”
****
It was a very disorderly morning and the Great Hall was buzzing with excited students who had just reviewed Oliver’s finalized posting about the flying competition that breakfast and classes became secondary. Harry was prepping himself mentally. He was determined to ask Ginny first thing in the morning no matter what happened. However, for some reason, she still hadn’t come down yet. Sitting depressingly, he kept glancing at the empty spot next to Hermione, the seat she usually took when she was here. He scanned across the hall and his eyes parked themselves at the entrance; they were eagerly watching and waiting for her arrival.
“Ron, it’s just… too close to exams dates! How can I study AND participate?” protested Hermione.
“Who cares? It’s the first time ever event! Right, Harry?”
“Uh?”
“Harry, what’s the matter?” asked Hermione worriedly.
“Do you know… erm… where’s…” he muttered sheepishly, pulling his eyes down and trying to sound as casual as possible, but his blushing could not escape Hermione’s exploring eyes.
“Oh, her? She said she’ll come down very soon,” she replied coyly. “Why? Is there something you want to ask her?”
Suddenly, from the corner of Harry’s eyes, he spotted Oliver rushing by and running towards the entrance. He immediately jolted his head up and saw Ginny standing by the entrance, slowly making her way in, and Oliver appeared to be bolting to her direction. A nasty feeling erupted in his mind for some reason and a voice in his head was yelling at him to not let Oliver reach his destination. But as soon as Harry got up, he noticed Oliver abruptly coming to a screeching halt before he was able to reach Ginny.
“Mr. Wood, can you explain again what you call that move that allows you to turn upside down in the air?” Harry could hear Sam’s sharp voice ricocheting through the hall. It appeared his mentee had just intercepted Oliver’s path.
Seizing the opportunity, he immediately sprinted towards Ginny, while at the same time, reminding himself to make sure his eyes must sparkle at her.
“Harry? Why are you running?” Hermione yelled after his heated footsteps, but as soon as she noticed where he was heading to, she figured out what was going on. But she could also spot a very agitated Oliver, who appeared to be trying to get Sam out of his way. For some reason, she had her two hands on his belly, seemingly pushing him back. A nasty feeling emerged in her head as she too, could insightfully sense that their struggle had something to do with Ginny standing by the entrance.
Unfortunately, Harry also had to come to a screeching halt when a hand from the Gryffindor table grabbed his arm. It was Ingrid Lannar.
“Harry, do you remember me? I’m Ingrid. Remember at the opening feast where I was ahead of you in the mentor thing and…” Harry could hear her choppy babbles but he wasn’t paying any attention to any of her words.
Seeing Harry trapped and noticing Sam was losing her battle with Oliver, Hermione instinctively stormed towards Harry to lend him a hand and speed him along.
“Hermione? Why are you running?” Ron shouted after her heated footsteps, but she was too preoccupied with Harry to answer.
“Lannar, you’re too tall for Harry!” Hermione screeched protectively. She immediately freed Harry’s arm and pulled him along, hoping she could be a shield against other potential girls along the way.
“Oliver, what’re you doing?” Harry could suddenly hear Sam’s protests getting louder and louder behind him. As he turned his head to look, he spotted Oliver was speeding towards them, frantically holding Sam in his arms like a doll and quickly passing them by. However, Sam seemed like she was ready to claw his eyes out.
Judging from the bizarre look on Ginny’s face, it was evident she didn’t know what to make of this, as the four of them were madly rushing towards her in the middle of morning. Hermione was grabbing at Harry’s arm and both were panting when they stopped, while Oliver was still clutching Sam, who had since stopped fighting off his arms. Instead, her eyes were interestingly darting between Harry and Ginny.
“Ginny, I want you to be my partner for the competition!” said Oliver and Harry at the same time.
“What’s going on? What’s all the running about? Did I miss the Hogwarts morning marathon?” Ron marched towards them, oblivious to the five pairs of eyes that were all desperately looking for refuge.
The Boy Next Door by gossipweaver
Chapter Notes: …each pair with their own stories…