Chapter Three: A Seedling before Dawn
“Ginny. Ginny!” came a loud voice that disturbed Ginny’s dream about drowning Harry in her cauldron. Groggily, she raised her head and glanced at her surroundings. At first she was startled. She was sleeping in an unfamiliar room with a couch and a canopy bed. But then she remembered that she had moved into her new flat.
“That’s it. I’m coming in there.” Ginny distinctly heard the front door lock on the front door click and someone rush to open her bedroom door.
“Ginny,” the figure in the doorway said with exasperation.
Ginny looked over and saw Ron clad in full Keeper attire and panting with the effort of yelling.
“Get up, Ginny. Practice starts in ten minutes!”
The sleepy redhead looked at her clock and with a start, realized that it was four o’clock in the afternoon. Her fight with Harry must have worn her out, because she had been sleeping for close to twenty four hours. With a newfound burst of energy, Ginny dressed in her Quidditch robes and brushed past Ron to enter her bathroom to freshen up.
Within minutes she was back in her room with a debate raging in her head.
The Xcelerator from Harry, or my Cleansweep, she argued with herself. In the end, just to stick it to Harry further, she snatched up her old Cleansweep and headed for her bedroom door..
“Ready,” she announced to Ron when she appeared in the doorway.
“’Bout time. Come on, Hermione’s waiting for us.”
The two left to pick up Hermione with completely different thoughts going through their heads. Ron was thinking about not screwing up on his first day. Ginny was thinking about how badly she wanted Harry to screw up, be it with her intervention or without. And when Hermione joined them, she was hoping that she wouldn’t have to patch up Harry’s face if Ginny punched him in the middle of practice. Only one person’s fears would not become reality.
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Ginny heard herself gasp as she looked around Cannon’s Stadium. The only pitch she’d seen that was bigger was at the Quidditch World Cup nearly five years ago. The walls of the pitch seemed to stretch on endlessly skyward, and Ginny was in complete awe.
“Gather ‘round, team,” said Captain and Chaser Nick Michaels.
As Ginny joined the circle, Mark ambled over, giving her a cheeky grin before standing at her side. Ginny glanced at Harry, who was scowling darkly, and turned her broom so he could read the name Cleansweep on the side.
Judging by the stunned look on his face, he had not expected this. Placing his jaw in an upright and locked position, he turned back to Nick who was giving instructions for introductions.
“Now, everyone go around in a circle, say your name, age and position. I’ll start. I’m Nick Michaels, twenty three, and I’m Captain and Chaser.
“I’m Anthony, twenty one, and I play Beater,” said a burly blonde from Nick’s right.
“I’m Daniel, twenty one, and I play the other Beater,” said a black haired man of the same build.
“I’m Mark, eighteen, and I play Chaser.” Harry again glared at Mark, especially when he heard that the ‘new’ guy would be playing Chaser alongside Ginny.
“I’m Ginny, seventeen, and I play Chaser as well.” She glanced at Harry, and saw a surprising amount of emotion behind his eyes. It was an odd mixture of insane jealousy, rage, helplessness and misery. But as soon as it registered, it was gone, lost behind the hard mask Harry had so flawlessly constructed for himself during the fight against Voldemort.
“I’m Ron, Ginny’s older brother, eighteen, and I play Keeper.” Ginny looked murderously at Ron for adding the ‘older brother’ bit and rolled her eyes. She would have to have a talk with him later.
“I’m Harry, eighteen, Seeker,” Harry said in a low, monotonous voice with only his eyes to betray his inner feelings.
“We are a very young and inexperienced team, men,” Nick started.
“And women,” Ginny added forcefully when Nick paused for breath.
“And women,” amended Nick. “Most of the teams that we’ll be playing, Puddlemere United, Holyhead Harpies and the Montrose Magpies, to name a few, have been playing for ages and will look on us as newcomers. They will underestimate us, and it will come back to bite them in the arse. We will use their cockiness against them by taking them by surprise with our speed and skill. They won’t know what’s hit them. Now, take to the skies. I want to see that speed and skill in action.”
The team swiftly mounted their brooms and the Chasers began throwing the Quaffle to each other with lots of complicated looking flips and turns.
Ginny furtively glanced at Harry, who she could tell from past games with was only pretending to look for the Snitch. He was instead watching her, and that would end up being his undoing.
A Bludger was being hit back and forth between the Beaters, and Harry had unknowingly flown directly in the Bludger’s flight path.
With a sickening crunch the ball rammed straight into Harry’s nose, shattering both it and his glasses.
Blindly, Harry flew to the ground where Hermione rushed to tend to him. The team flocked around to make sure their fallen member was all right.
“Are you okay, Harry?” asked Ginny as she knelt beside him.
“I didn’t know that you cared,” replied Harry in a muffled voice with an icy bite to it.
“Episkey,” said Hermione, effectively ending Harry and Ginny’s conversation.
“Thanks, Hermione,” said Harry as Ron helped him to his feet.
“Well,” started Nick, “I think that we should call it a day before anyone else gets hurt.”
The team nodded and left the stadium. Ginny threw Harry a dirty look, linked arms with Mark, and almost dragged him from the pitch.
Just outside their rooms, Mark pulled Ginny aside. “Is there something going on between you and Harry?” he questioned.
“It’s complicated, but to put it simply, we dated, he dumped me, I waited for him and he did something so terrible that I can never take him back.”
Mark still looked skeptical, but didn’t press the matter. “Okay. See you in forty five minutes?”
“Sounds good. See you,” said Ginny as she unlocked her door and stepped into her flat.
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Forty five minutes later, Mark tentatively knocked on Ginny’s door.
Ginny opened her door and smiled at her slightly nervous date.
“Ready to go?” asked Mark.
“Absolutely,” she said, taking his hand.
The pair walked purposefully out to the front of the building where they got a magical taxi to drive them to the restaurant.
“After you,” said Mark while holding open the door for Ginny.
Ginny shot him a smile, walked through and immediately spotted a head of black and blonde hair that she would recognize anywhere.
“Kim?” Ginny asked.
“Ginny!” Kim exclaimed as she rose from her chair to greet her best friend from Hogwarts.
Mark came to stand beside Ginny as she asked, “So, what brings you here?”
“Well,” Kim replied, “I, like you I see, am on a date.” Kim gestured to the man sitting in the chair across from her, who was none other than Draco Malfoy. Draco had joined the Order before the fall of Voldemort, and had been one of the major factors for the war’s favorable outcome.
“Nice to see you again, Ginny,” he said and turned to look at her date. “Mark Matthews? Is that you, mate?”
Draco came around the table and shook Mark’s hand before embracing him like a long lost brother. Mark returned the gesture in the same fashion.
“How do you two know each other?” asked Ginny.
“Both our parents’ were up to their eyeballs in the pureblood crap and Dark Arts,” answered Mark.
“When our mums and dads went to the Death Eater meetings, we used to play together and hang out until they decided that we were old enough for them to force us to go to the meetings as well,” continued Draco bitingly.
“Well that’s great that you know each other,” said Kim. “Hey, why don’t we make this a double date? We could all catch up on each other’s lives.”
Everyone readily agreed and the guys pulled two more chairs over to the table.
“So, did you hear about Celestina Warbeck’s breakup with Kirley McCormack, the drummer of the Weird Sisters?” asked Kim with wide eyes and a scandalized expression and tone.
“Oh I know! And the custody battle over their two month old is going to be vicious. Allegations are already flying about affairs and how they’re both unfit to be parents,” Ginny replied, throwing herself into the gossip.
The boys just stared at them, dumbstruck.
“What?” asked Kim and Ginny simultaneously.
“Girls,” Draco remarked, and he engaged Mark in a conversation about the Cannons’ chances this year while the girls returned to their gossip.
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“Hey, Kim,” said Ginny. “Could I talk to you outside for a sec?”
“Sure,” said Kim. The girls left the boys at the table with the bill and went to talk outside the restaurant’s front doors.
“So, how are you and Draco doing?” Ginny asked.
“We’re doing okay,” said Kim. “We’re just friends right now, but we’re talking about taking our friendship to the next level.”
“That’s great, Kim.”
“What about you and Mark over there?”
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I need some advice.”
“I’m all ears,” Kim said.
“Well, it all started when I found out that Harry was on the Cannons.”
“I heard a rumor about that, but I wasn’t sure if it was true or not.”
“It is, unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately?” questioned Kim. “I thought you were head-over-heels for Harry.”
“I was, until he revealed the real reason for my coma.”
Ginny told Kim about the potion and she was outraged.
“That’s so selfish! I can’t believe that he would do that to you,” replied Kim.
“It gets worse,” started Ginny. “He tried to justify it by saying he was keeping me safe.”
“That’s just not right.”
“And then I let it slip that I still love him,” Ginny mumbled. Kim’s hand flew to her mouth in shock.
“But where does that leave Mark?”
“I don’t like him the way I like Harry, but I don’t want to like Harry anymore after what he did,” said Ginny dejectedly. “This is why I need your advice. I’m so confused.”
Kim thought for a second and formed a plan. “How about you give Harry a chance to win you back?”
“What?” Ginny exclaimed incredulously. She was now formulating a plan to have Kim carted off to St. Mungo’s.
“Okay, it is so not fair to Mark to keep going out with him if you have no interest. You’ll just be using him as a pawn to make Harry jealous and that’s not right. What you need to do is get Mark in on it.”
“Okay… Confused.”
“Make a contest to win you over between Mark and Harry, but get Mark in on it. Tell Mark you just want to be friends, and ask him to pretend that you’re still going out so you can see how bad Harry wants you back. After you get Mark to play along, tell Harry he has a chance to win you back, but he has to outdo Mark.”
“So, it’s a test for Harry, and Mark just plays along so that Harry will try harder because he thinks he can lose me to Mark. That’s very diabolical. It’s almost Slytherin.”
“Well, I have been spending a lot of time with Draco lately,” said Kim.
Ginny smiled. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
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“Hey, Mark,” said Ginny as she and Mark walked from the taxi to the apartment building.
“Yeah, Ginny?”
“I think we should just be friends.” Ginny waited anxiously for his response.
“I’ve been feeling the same way,” he responded.
“You have?”
“Yeah. But I really do want to be your friend. I want to get to know you better and hang out and stuff. Besides, I saw this coming. Anyone can tell you’re still hung up on Harry.”
“I am not!” Ginny exclaimed indignantly. “Okay, maybe I am,” she conceded. “Kim had this plan, and you have a key role if you’re interested.”
“I’m listening.”
“We’re supposed to pretend to still be going out, and then Harry has to try to outdo you in order to win me back,” said Ginny.
“So, we’re just acting?”
“That’s right.”
“I’ve always wanted to be an actor,” said Mark. “I took a few classes when I was young, but never got to be in a play or anything.”
“Well, consider this your debut performance.”
“Okay, I’ll do it,” agreed Mark.
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Harry heard a soft knock on his door and rose from his chair to answer it. He had been thinking a lot about Ginny. She was dating someone new. Does that mean she’s left me behind? he mused as he opened his door. He saw a flash of red hair and Ginny’s door closing before he noticed the letter on his doormat. Harry grabbed the letter, had one last longing look at Ginny’s door, and retreated into his flat.
Harry saw his name written on the letter in Ginny’s distinctive cursive writing, and hurried to open it.
Harry,
Now listen and listen well. I’m giving you the very generous offer of ONE change to redeem yourself. Over the course of the next week, you can attempt to win me back. Use any means necessary to impress me. Keep in mind that Mark will be doing the same. This is not me forgiving you. I may never be able to do that. This is just a way for you to balance the scales. For you, they are currently hanging way over to the bad side. You’re going to have to do a lot of good to balance it out. The challenge starts tomorrow. Good luck.
Ginny Weasley
Like a seedling before dawn, Ginny’s heart desperately waited for morning, when the first sun would help the little sprout grow up tall and strong.
A/N: All right you guys, I need suggestions. Harry is desperate and this is his one shot to win Ginny back. What should he do? The best suggestions will be put into the fic and your name will be mentioned as a contributor. Betas, that goes for you too. I need a lot of ideas… 7 for each Harry and Mark. I have it planned out mostly right now, but if you come up with a better idea than what I have planned, I’ll put yours in instead of mine. Actually, most of them are Mariams, but w/e. It will be interesting… I think so anyway.