MetaFic

((A/N: There is a good sized note at the bottom that I believe will be worth your time to read.))

Chapter 16 - Connections

Ginny had almost hexed Ron this morning. Despite her and her mother’s reminders to pack the night before, Ron still had left packing for the morning they were to leave for their fourth year. The only reason they had left The Burrow as soon as they had was because Ginny had gone into Ron’s room and packed for him using a few swishes of her wand. The conversation still burned in her mind.

“Ginny! You can’t do this to my stuff. You might miss something.”

“Too bad, Ron,” she told him firmly and completely unsympathetically after she had told him she was going to pack his trunk. “We’re supposed to leave in ten minutes and there’s no way you’d get done in time.” She raised her voice as he started to argue, “Furthermore, I don’t want to be late and considering you haven’t been able to see anyone for the last month, I wouldn’t think you’d want to be late either. If I missed something, Mum will just have to owl it to you.”

His eyes went wide. “Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

“Probably about as bad as needing to have your sister pack for you. We can find out on the train when I tell everyone.”

“Ginny!”

She ignored his protests and with a wave of her wand and muttered “Pack”, all of his clothes and books went flying into his open trunk. Another wave of her wand caused his trunk to start following her as she left for downstairs. Her mother had given her a questioning look when she came down with Ron’s trunk, but since they were leaving on time, nothing had been said about the situation.

Not seeing Harry on Platform 9 ¾, she quickly gave her mother and father a hug before boarding the train. Knowing that Harry preferred to sit towards the back of the train, she started searching in that direction. She said hello to the other students she knew, but her thoughts were mostly on Harry … and wondering what would happen between them this year.

Since his birthday party, she had gone over to his house at least once a week and sometimes twice. A few times, Hermione had come over as well, as had Neville. Since Ron was grounded, not only had he been stuck at home, but no one had come over to their house, either.

The Quidditch World Cup had been a lot of fun. They had camped next to Sirius and Harry’s tent. Hestia had joined Sirius when she was not on duty. Besides the general fun of the match and the party afterward, she had been very pleased to see that Harry had not reacted to the Veela mascots. She had also breathed a sigh of relief when they returned home, as there had been no Death Eater disturbance.

Ginny felt sorry for Ron missing the match, but she had gotten to know Lee Jordan a little better and had made a new friend with him. To her surprise, even Hermione had enjoyed the match.

The best part of the last month was that Harry had been very friendly to her. He still had not made any “dating moves,” but it was clear that he was enjoying being around her. He was even starting to tease and flirt with her a little. And based on what little Harry and Sirius had said about visitors, there had been no others. That meant Susan Bones had not been over, she thought with a grin.

Near the very end of the train, she finally found the compartment the rest of their mutual friends were sitting in. She quickly noted that Hermione and Neville were sitting on one bench (although not very closely), and Harry was by himself on the other bench. She opened the door to join them.

“Hi!” she called.

“Hey, Ginny!” was chorused back.

Harry sprang to his feet. “Here, let me help you.” He grabbed her trunk and put it up on the overhead shelf before sitting back down by the window.

“Thanks!” she told him with a big smile as she sat beside him, as close as felt she could without bothering him. They were almost touching.

Ron came in as well. “There you all are…”

“Hey, Ron.” Harry gave him an easy grin. “Doing better?”

“Yeah, thanks.” He looked a little sheepish for a moment. “And thanks for forgiving me for what I did at your party. Like I told you in the letter, I didn’t mean to cause a fight at your party; I just got a little carried away. I promise it won’t happen again.”

Harry gave him a wry grin, one that promised fun at Ron’s expense. “As I said in my reply, that’s good to hear, mate. It’s even better because Blaise will be joining our Defense study group this year.” Ron gulped and paled slightly; he also shifted nervously as he considered that. “As will Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass,” Harry added after a few more seconds.

A flicker of unhappiness now crossed Ron’s face, but he quickly banished it as he swallowed. “I uh, I guess I’ll need to put everything I learned into practice, then.” As if he was searching for a quick out, he looked over at the other bench. “Neville, Hermione, how’s it going?”

Neville casually smiled. “Good, Ron. I guess you’re glad to going back to school?”

Ginny thought that a little low, considering what Ron had just said, but her brother probably deserved it and Neville had been there at the disturbance Ron had caused.

“Yeah, it is good to be back.”

“It’s good to see you, Ron,” Hermione finally said in a soft voice, almost hesitantly. “I assume you have completed all of your summer lessons?”

Ron gave a low chuckle filled with chagrin. “Oh yeah. I finished them three weeks ago.” He grabbed his trunk and heaved it up to the shelf. With it in place, he sat down next to Ginny. “So, have any of you heard what the big deal at school is this year? Percy keeps dropping hints that something’s coming, but he nor Dad will say anything specific.”

Ginny looked at Harry. He knew from two different sources, one of them being her. She could not believe Dumbledore was still going to have this event. He must be in deep denial about Voldemort really being gone, she thought.

“Yeah, Sirius told me,” Harry said. “Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament…”

“Really?” Hermione asked, interrupting him. “There hasn’t been one of those in almost 300 years.”

“How do you know that?” Ron asked, as if no one should know that bit of trivia off the top of her head.

“It’s in Hogwarts: A History,” she replied as if it should have been obvious.

“But of course,” Harry smoothly said, preventing Ron for saying something that would start an argument with Hermione. “Anyway, that’s what the big deal is. Apparently, Dumbledore is trying to reach out to those at Beauxbatons Academy and at the Durmstrang School of Magic. Sirius said they should arrive around Halloween.”

“That will make the year interesting,” Neville commented.

“Yes, it could be very fascinating. Just think, we can learn about the other schools, see how they teach magic, and make new friends too,” Hermione said enthusiastically.

A quick glance around showed Ginny that each of the three boys was either rolling his eyes or restraining himself from doing so.

Hermione gave Harry a penetrating look. “Since you’ve heard that news, have you heard who the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will be this year?”

Harry gave her a smile as he paused for several long seconds. Hermione’s impatience was visible when he finally said, “Yes, I have. Professor Lupin will be returning. Sirius also said that he will be up for a day or two every couple of weeks to help out. His work as an advisor to the Wizengamot doesn’t take all of his time.”

Ginny was thrilled. Lupin returning was another sign that Voldemort was dead, as the curse on the Defense position was definitely broken. That really should have clued Dumbledore in, but perhaps the Tournament had already been arranged before Lupin had promised to return.

“That’s wonderful.” Hermione looked happy.

“It is,” Neville agreed. “Professor Lupin has been the best we’ve had in that class.”

“Has anyone else looked at the books for this year yet?” Hermione asked, leading them into a discussion on what to expect this year.

Ginny smiled to herself at Hermione’s typical tactic for learning: ask (nagging where necessary) and discuss to death. While Ginny joined in the conversation, a part of her was slowly thinking about the tournament. Considering Barty Crouch Jr was no longer among the living, Ginny thought it unlikely, but Harry would definitely not be risking life and limb in the Tournament this time around; not if she could help it.

Ginny snuck out of the Gryffindor Tower and quickly made her way down to where the Goblet of Fire was. Just before she had left, she had asked Harry to save her a seat at the Halloween Feast that was due to start in about half an hour. At Harry’s questioning look, she had told him she needed to verify that something would not hurt them later. She appreciated his quick nod and no more questions.

When she came to a section of corridor that was empty, she cast a Disillusionment charm on herself and continued on. While the charm was not perfect in hiding her, it was good enough, as most students did not watch what was going on around them too carefully.

The room with the Goblet of Fire was not empty when she arrived, as people were walking through it. Ginny hid herself in the corner and waited. When it cleared out, she quickly cast Charm and Jinx detection spells. Each came up negative, which pleased her greatly.

Ginny suddenly wondered if she could cross the age line, but she decided not to test it. As in the other timeline, her twin brothers had tried to enter their names, and -- as last time -- they had been ejected from the Goblet’s vicinity and been given Dumbledore-like beards to the amusement of all present.

With a smile on her face, Ginny removed the Disillusionment charm and made her way to the Great Hall. As she walked in, she saw her friends standing to the side, trying to decide where to sit based on which position might have the better view of the drawing of names from the Goblet. She quickly joined them just as they were sitting down near the head table.

“Ginny, there you are,” Hermione said. “I’ve been looking for you. Where have you been?”

“I wanted to go talk to someone for a minute before the feast,” she smoothly lied. A small part of her hated to do that, but Hermione would freak out and cause all kinds of trouble if she knew what Ginny had really done.

“So which of the seventh years do you think will get picked?” Harry asked, saving Ginny from further questioning.

“It could be Angelina,” Ron said. “Even though she’s only a sixth year, she’s already had her seventeenth birthday and I know she entered.”

No one had a strong feeling on who it might be and the Feast started a few minutes later.

Ginny noticed that Ron, as on the previous evening, continued to glance towards the Ravenclaw table where the students from Beauxbatons were seated. His focal point seemed to be the part-Veela. Ginny knew she had months to make a decision, but she was not sure if she should invite Bill to the final task of the Tournament or not. She knew that Harry’s participation in the Tournament had been the only reason he had come, and that was when he had originally met Fleur. Without that meeting, would he meet her again, perhaps at Gringotts? Did she have the responsibility to bring them into proximity so they could meet again? They had been happy together, but what if there was someone else for each of them? She mentally sighed at the whirlwind of thoughts on the topic.

Professor Dumbledore finally stood up, as did several other people, after the evening meal was complete. The small group came around the head table and Dumbledore made a small hand motion. Everyone quieted down for the opening ceremony that was about to start.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, stilling the last few conversations that had not already stopped. “Welcome, everyone, to the Triwizard Tournament among the champions from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts.”

At that moment, Filch slowly walked in, carefully carrying the Goblet of Fire on its stand. Everyone watched him place it at the front, next to Dumbledore.

“Thank you, Mr Filch,” the Headmaster graciously said.

The cantankerous old caretaker gave a toothy grin before he shuffled off to the side to watch.

“Before the names of the contestants are announced, I’d like introduce the judges for this Tournament. From the Ministry of Magic and the Department Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman.” There was polite applause, with a few loud claps for the former professional Quidditch player. “Also from the Ministry of Magic and the Department Head of International Magical Cooperation, Dirk Creswell.” There was more polite applause. “And finally, the heads of the three schools: Headmistress Maxime, Headmaster Karkaroff, and myself.” All the students clapped louder this time.

Dumbledore pulled out his wand and tapped the Goblet of Fire. A few seconds later, it changed colors slightly and then started shooting out many sparks. As the last of the fountain of sparks shot up, a piece of parchment was ejected from the cup. Dumbledore casually reached out and snagged it out of the air. He looked at it, and with a grin and twinkling eyes, he announced, “From Beauxbatons, the champion will be Fleur Delacour.”

The pretty girl stood and walked to the front while everyone applauded. Those from her school applauded the loudest and also shouted a few encouragements in French.

To Ginny’s amusement, she noticed that Ron was practically drooling while he loudly clapped. She also noticed that Hermione had noticed her brother too. A glance at Harry showed him to be acting very normally. She worked carefully to keep the smug look off of her face.

“Yes, congratulations, Miss Delacour.” Dumbledore turned to watch the Goblet, as did everyone else. A moment later, it started shooting sparks again, ending with another piece of parchment coming out. The Headmaster snatched it out of the air and announced, “From Durmstrang, the champion will be Viktor Krum.”

As the international Quidditch star stood and shuffled his way to the front, there was more applause; and it was louder than for the French girl. A few of the students from his school chanted, “Krum, Krum, Krum.”

Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she nodded slightly. She hoped he had really been asking if Krum had been picked last time too.

“Congratulations, Mr Krum.” Again Dumbledore turned to the Goblet, and for the third time it shot forth many sparks. Dumbledore grabbed the fluttering parchment and his smile grew slightly bigger. “From Hogwarts…” He paused for a second before he looked to the Hufflepuff table, “The champion will be Cedric Diggory.” All of Hogwarts applauded loudly.

Ginny saw Harry look at her with a raised eyebrow. It was not hard to guess that he was asking if it was the same as last time. Then, to Ginny’s infinite relief, she saw the Goblet pulse and then go dark. She flashed Harry a big smile as he looked at her again, for she had told him during the summer that he had been in the Tournament in the other timeline.

As the Feast ended and they all started going back to their common room, Ron was practically bouncing with excitement. “So, who do you think will win? I hear Durmstrang teaches the Dark Arts; that could give Krum an unfair advantage.”

“They wouldn’t?!” Hermione exclaimed, starting an argument between the two.

Ginny chuckled at the two, as did Harry. She also considered that Harry would be safe this year and that Ron would have no excuse to be jealous of Harry. The year was going well so far and the Tournament was off to a good start, she thought.

Ginny was in a good mood this morning, and there were several reasons.

Firstly, there was no class this morning, as the first task of the Tournament was today. Breakfast had even been extended by an extra hour to allow those who wanted to sleep a little extra to time to do so.

Secondly, even though she had no plans for the year, other than making sure Harry was not in the Tournament, the year was going very well. She was doing well in all of her classes, purposefully keeping her average score just a little behind Hermione. That meant she was ahead of her friend in a few places and behind her in others. Ginny has purposefully made sure she was second in their Defense class, right behind Harry.

Thirdly, Harry had recently convinced Madam Hooch to referee informal Quidditch games on two Saturdays a month. It allowed the house Quidditch teams to keep most of the rust off as well as add some entertainment to the weekends. Angelina was the Quidditch captain for the Gryffindor team now that Oliver Wood was gone, and she had let Ginny play Chaser last week in her spot to see how well she could do. After the game, Katie Bell had seemed worried that she might lose her spot on the team to Ginny.

Lastly, Harry had seen very little of Susan Bones this year outside of classes and their Defense study group. In addition, Ginny had noticed that he had spent much of his extra time with her, and he had also been giving her a lot of extra looks since Halloween. When he did not think she was looking, she would catch him looking at her for a long time, and then his gaze would jump to Ron for several seconds, followed by a brief flicker to Hermione before coming back to her. After she had first caught him doing it, she had conjured a little mirror so she could discretely observe him while she studied. He was obviously thinking something through very thoroughly, and her heart hoped it meant something romantic would be happening between them soon.

Ginny went to breakfast with her usual group of friends: Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Ron. The conversation that morning was all filled with speculation about the first task and what the champions might face. A little searching showed her that Cedric looked pretty worried. That gave her hope that someone had clued the boy in about what he was about to face.

About half an hour before the first task was set to start, the group got up and started walking towards the arena that had been set up for the task. They wanted to get a good spot to watch.

When they reached the main doors, Harry pulled her to the side and gave her a nervous look. “Ginny?” His voice held steady, despite how he looked.

“Yes, Harry?”

“I, uh, I know this isn’t something like a Hogsmeade weekend, but it’s, uh, it’s still kind of a social thing,” he said hesitantly.

“I suppose.” Ginny was not sure where he was going with this. They had just had a Hogmeade weekend last Saturday and the group had all gone together.

Harry paused and swallowed several times. “Ginny? May I escort you to today’s event?”

To say that she was shocked was an understatement. As she considered her feelings, she could not decide if she was more shocked that he had finally asked her to do something together that was potentially romantic, or if she was more thrilled that he had asked her and not someone else. As Harry’s expression of nervous hope started to fade, she realized she was taking far too long to answer. She quickly, and noisily, cleared her throat to get him to hold on just a short moment longer.

She flashed him her biggest smile as she said, “Yes, Harry, I’d like that very much.” She barely restrained herself from taking the initiative and waited for him to offer his arm. As he turned slightly and offered his left arm, she took it. They started walking and Ginny stood straight and proud. The occasional glance to the side showed Harry to be looking very happy, based on the size of his grin.

Looking forward again, she noticed their three friends were nearly fifty yards ahead, as they had not stopped walking, and had apparently not noticed that she and Harry were missing. Ginny was not sure why, but she found that amusing. The two of them walked a little faster to try to make up the difference.

“Harry?”

“Yes?” He still sounded nervous.

“Thank you,” she simply said.

“For what?” He looked over at her; she met his gaze as they walked.

“For giving me a chance; for giving us a chance.” She watched him carefully, wondering what he would say.

He did not say anything for several long seconds, but just watched where they were going. “Sirius told me that my parents were very happy together and he believed the reason why was because they were also best friends.” He paused and turned to her. “I finally decided that my dad would give me the advice to give my best friend a chance because it worked for him.”

Ginny heart fluttered and she again gave him her best smile. “You’re my best friend too, Harry, and I’m glad.”

Before he could say anything else, they both heard her brother ask in a loud voice, “Hey, what you two doing?”

They both looked up and across the remaining thirty yards or so separating the two groups. The other three were at the entrance to the arena. Ginny looked at Harry and saw a mischievous smile on his face. She figured a verbal prank was forthcoming.

As they reached their friends, Harry answered her brother’s question with a question. “What does it look like we’re doing, Ron?”

“Why is she holding your arm?” he asked, sounding as if he had no idea.

Ginny thought he probably did not at the moment. However, Hermione looked like she understood, based on her small smile, and Neville definitely did as he was grinning ear to ear.

“I don’t know about what you were told, Ron, but my guardian said it’s the customary practice when walking with a young lady.” Harry looked out over the stands, since the arena was build going down a hill like an amphitheater and they had come in at the top. “It looks like there’s space for all of us down on the second row from the bottom.” He did not wait for an answer and started leading the group, with Ginny was still holding his arm, to the place he had indicated.

“What?” Ron asked someone behind them. Ginny thought it was directed at Hermione, but no one answered him.

On the second row, Harry took a seat with her on the end and him on her left. Neville sat on Harry’s left, then Ron and finally Hermione on the other end next to some Hufflepuffs.

As more people filed in, she heard Neville quietly ask Harry, “You finally decided, then?”

She took that to mean that Harry had discussed the issue with Neville sometime in the past. She watched him nod.

“About time, mate…”

Ginny, and everyone else in the arena, could hear nothing else at that moment because of a great roar that came from nearby, though in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

“What the bloody hell?”

“Ron!”

“Hermione, that sounded like a dragon!”

“I don’t care, Ron. That’s still no reason to swear.”

Ginny couldn’t hear a reply from her brother, but she exchanged looks with Harry and they each started chuckling at Ron’s behavior.

“May I have your attention, please,” the amplified voice of Headmaster Dumbledore said. “For this task, each contestant must retrieve the golden egg from a nesting dragon.” The crowd gasped. “Each contestant has randomly drawn for a dragon and the order of appearance. While we have taken every precaution for your safety, we ask that no one leave the stands to enter the contest area. The stands are charmed to be fireproof, so if you need to, please duck behind the railing in front of you.”

They all looked at the three-foot-high wall in front of each row in the stands. “Do you suppose that will really stop dragon’s fire?” Neville nervously asked.

“I believe they hope the dragons won’t breathe fire this high up,” Ginny commented, looking thirty feet down to the floor of the arena, where a green dragon was being brought in and the contestants would stand. The dragon handlers, including her brother Charlie, were bringing the dragon through the opening on the right. A much smaller opening for the contestants was on the left.

“That wasn’t my question.” Neville still looked nervous.

Harry snorted a laugh. “I think that’s all the answer you’re going to get.”

Neville muttered something, but before she could ask him to repeat himself, Dumbledore started the task. “The first contestant is Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons.”

Everyone stood and watched the French witch enter the arena and they clapped for her. The other French students started shouting encouragements to her.

Ginny thought Fleur was trying to place some sort of sleeping charm on the dragon while she had also transfigured some rocks into what looked like rat-sized ants to try and get the egg and carry it back to her, but Ginny really did not pay very close attention. What had her attention was Harry’s right arm which had gone around her back as the task started, pulling her closer to him. As Fleur continued with her task, Harry’s hand started lightly rubbing her back and side, probably in nervousness, but she did not care. To Ginny, his ministrations felt like caresses and she enjoyed every second, even going so far as to close her eyes and revel in his touch for a couple of minutes. In fact, she was caught completely off guard as everyone started applauding again. Her eyes snapped open and she realized that Fleur was done and the dragon handlers were rushing in to work on moving the dragon out so the next could be brought in.

She looked at Harry and saw a big goofy grin on his face.

“You liked that?” she heard him quietly say.

Looking deeply into his gorgeous green eyes, she tuned the rest of the world out and nodded. “Who wouldn’t?” she asked rhetorically in a soft voice, blinking slowly. She felt like she was under a spell, perhaps under an Imperius, but she did not care.

He pulled her closer and she felt her left thigh, hip, and breast press against his body. Without conscious thought, her left hand went to his right arm and slowly moved up his shoulder. Without breaking eye contact, he turned to her a little more and his left arm came out and pulled her closer still. Her entire body was pressed against his and she was not sure if she was feeling her heart beating rapidly or if it was his, but someone’s heart was pounding.

As if in a time-slowing spell, she saw him slowly lean the couple of inches down towards her and she instinctively tilted her head up and to the right, closing her eyes just before their lips met. Even in the cool November air, or maybe because of it, his lips were warm and soft. Her right hand automatically went to his other shoulder. It was not a long kiss, but it was definitely a great start.

They each pulled back a little and opened their eyes, blinking in a languid fashion. Ginny felt her chest heave, pulling in great breaths of air. Suddenly, Harry was leaning down again and this time, the kiss was more passionate, or maybe more intense. She reveled in his desire for her, ignoring everything around them, including another dragon roar and some announcement.

To her great disappointment, Harry was pulled back and partially away from her.

“Harry! What do you think you’re doing?!”

She looked over Harry’s shoulder at her brother. He looked more surprised than angry, which is the only thing that prevented her from hexing him. Ginny was pleased to see Harry give Ron a confident look and say, “What does it look like I’m doing, Ron? I’m kissing Ginny.” She appreciated his being straight-forward and not apologizing for his action.

Ron stared at them, open-mouthed. Hermione was smiling and was obviously happy for both of them, as was Neville. Whatever Ron might have said was delayed as Dumbledore announced Viktor Krum. Ron looked torn over which activity to pursue, but finally gave them a look that she interpreted to mean that they would discuss this later before he turned to watch the Quidditch star face off against a red dragon.

Ginny smiled and moved her hand to Harry’s neck and pulled him back around and down to her. After a long kiss, with Krum and his dragon being completely ignored, she put her mouth to his ear and asked him, “What are you going to tell Ron?”

Holding her closely, Harry replied into her ear, “That it’s none of his business. We like each other and I’d never hurt you. That’s all he really needs to know.”

Deciding that she wanted to hear the magic words as soon as possible, she asked, “So what does this make us, Harry?” She felt him lightly kiss the back of her cheek near her ear and shivered from the touch.

“Will you be my girlfriend, Ginny?”

Ginny pulled back slightly and kissed him deeply in her happiness. As they broke, she told him with a sultry smile, “I thought you’d never ask,” just before the crowd roared and applauded. They both looked and saw Krum walking out with the golden egg and a burned arm. They had missed all of Krum’s task, but Ginny really did not care, and it looked like Harry did not either.

They kissed several more times while the dragons were changed. When Cedric came out, Harry pulled her over to be in front of him, wrapping his arms around her stomach and pulling her in tightly to his body. She snuggled into him and enjoyed being held. Ginny also enjoyed the light kisses he placed on her head from time to time. She was not sure if he was doing this on his own or if Sirius had given him some pointers, but either way, Ginny enjoyed the time with him. She hardly watched Cedric at his task.

Thoughts of the other timeline came back to her and gave her desires to do more, but she held firm, even if it was only by the thinnest of threads. She would let Harry lead in this relationship.

When the first task was completely done and everyone started to return to the castle, Harry stayed put, still holding her. The other three stayed too. It was obvious their relationship would be discussed now.

Looking around to see who else was in the area, Ginny saw Susan Bones looking their way. It was obvious the Hufflepuff girl saw them. She wore a disappointed look tinged with determination to hold her emotions in. Susan gave her a stiff nod before turning and leaving the arena. Ginny appreciated the gesture; she would hold no bad feelings against Susan for trying, either.

Ron spoke first. “What are your intentions with my sister, Harry?” He did not look angry, but he did look very serious.

“Honestly, it’s none of your business, Ron.” Her brother started to bristle. “But because your one of my best friends, I will tell you that she’s officially my girlfriend now, and we plan to find out if there’s more than friendship between us. All you really need to know is that I’ll never purposefully hurt her.”

Ginny was pleased to hear that. Since she was standing by his side and it was easy, she went up on her toes and gave Harry a peck on the cheek. “Thank you, Harry; that was well said.” She looked at her brother, whose look had not changed. “I know you’re my brother, Ron, and that you care about me. I appreciate it. But you don’t determine who I see and who I don’t. I want this and there’s nothing you can do to change it.”

Her brother stood there, his mouth slowly moving as if grinding his teeth. Neville and Hermione were watching it all, going back and forth as if it was a tennis match.

Finally, Ron must have come to a decision because he nodded once. “I know I shouldn’t have been surprised by this, but I was. As long as you’re happy and he’s treating you right.”

“Do you think I can’t take care of myself, Ron?” she challenged him. She wanted to pull her wand out to look more threatening, but restrained herself.

“No,” he said as he vigorously shook his head. “I know you can, it’s just … it’s just that I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“And you don’t know how to deal with me dating?” she softly asked, knowing he would never bring up his feelings first.

He nodded and looked down, shuffling his feet a little. “Er… You’re not supposed to do this first. I don’t think Fred and George are dating either.”

“It’s all right, Ron. Girls usually mature faster and the twins probably don’t want to grow up,” she told him with a wry grin to remove the sting.

Ron looked up from her and after a moment he matched her expression. “No, they probably don’t.” He looked at Harry and gave him a look of acceptance and nodded once. “Well, let’s hurry back to the castle so we don’t miss lunch.” He turned and walked away with a quick stride, leaving soft chuckles behind him.

“Way to go, you two,” Neville told them with a big grin as he slapped Harry lightly on the shoulder.

Hermione stepped forward and gave Ginny a quick hug, before giving Harry one too. “I’m so happy for both of you.”

“Thanks,” they both said.

Neville and Hermione left, walking quickly to catch up with Ron. Harry and Ginny slowly walked back hand in hand.

Ginny could not help but feel as if she was walking on air. “Harry?”

“Yes, Ginny?” He sounded pretty relaxed and happy too.

“I’m curious why you asked me today and not last Saturday when we all went to Hogsmeade. What changed in the last few days?”

Harry blushed and looked straight ahead, as if he could not look at her. “I, I had originally planned to ask you last weekend.”

“And?” She really wanted to know now.

He continued to blush. “I’m afraid my Gryffindor courage failed me.”

She could not help it, she giggled at that.

“What?” he asked, looking truly perplexed.

“Ignoring the fact that you’re one of the bravest people I know, did you really think I’d say no after everything I’ve done and said to you?” She looked at him with amusement and waited. He finally turned to look at her and a sheepish grin broke out.

“When you put it like that, no; but it’s still a big step anyway.” As they neared the castle entrance, he stopped for moment. “Do you remember what you once said to me, about wanting to be the best girlfriend and never letting go?”

“Yes; so …?” Ginny was not quite sure what he was trying to say.

“I know I can end things in the future, but that statement was still a little scary. Am I ready for this to be the last relationship I have, when it’s the only one I’ll ever have, too? I mean, what if it’s a mistake and there is someone else out there who’s better? For both of us?”

Ginny thought she understood now and she could see his point. “And yet you asked me anyway,” she told him softly. He nodded. “Thank you for your trust, Harry. I do promise you that I’ll be the best girlfriend that I can be, and more if you let me. I’ll do my best to not only make you happy, but to give you a good life and a good family, if you want that with me. If you haven’t thought about all of that yet, I mean that life won’t be perfect, but I’ll never give up on you. I will push you to do the right thing and to become a better man. We’ll argue sometimes and even be mad at each other for short periods of time. But I promise that I’ll always care for you more than anyone else, if you’ll let me.” She gave him a short and gentle kiss on the lips. “If you’ll let me, Harry.”

She looked into his green eyes as he stared into her brown ones. She wondered what he was thinking about, how he saw her after what she had told him. To her great pleasure, she saw him lean down, close his eyes, and kiss her. After a moment, she started to deepen the kiss and felt him respond accordingly. They finally broke apart after a long breathless minute and rested their foreheads against each other.

“I think I can live with that. We’ll just need to see where this takes us. I won’t make any promises now for what we might be in ten years, but I’ll promise to be the best boyfriend I can.”

Ginny took a quick kiss, not that Harry tried to prevent it or did not enjoy it too, based on his smile. “I can live with that, Harry.”

Harry broke the embrace as his stomach rumbled a little, causing them both to chuckle. With an arm still around her, he started walking her inside. “We do need to eat lunch and then there are classes this afternoon.”

“But perhaps we could discuss us some more this evening, such as … in a broom closet?” she asked with wiggling eyebrows and a smirk.

Harry laughed. “I think we can find some time for that.”

“I look forward to it,” she said with a big grin as they walked in the main doors. She would have to write her mother soon. She was sure her mother would be very happy that Harry was now her boyfriend.

---

High on the castle wall, Minerva McGonagall looked down over the grounds. She had been up here since immediately after the competition, watching everything for security and to make sure everyone went where they should.

She had almost left her post to go to lunch when a small group of stragglers left the arena: a group of three and followed by a couple -- all of them her Gryffindors. Minerva watched them fondly, as they were some of her more active and upstanding students. The couple in the back, now walking hand in hand, had been especially under her observation, as they reminded her of the boy’s parents, although without much of the angst that lasted until their seventh year.

The first three went directly into the castle, while the couple stopped short, far enough away that their conversation would not be overheard without magical means. It did not take long for the moment to turn romantic. Minerva felt almost like a voyeur, yet she stood on the wall anyway to oversee their safety. A small part of her also lived vicariously in their moment, as the memory of her husband, who had been killed early in the first war, returned to her.

After a few minutes, they broke apart and went into the castle, and so she left the wall and went to have lunch herself. Perhaps she would tell them of James and Lily’s first meeting one day, if Harry and Ginny were still together in three years.

As they started the last dance of the evening, Ginny thought back over the last few weeks.

When Professor McGonagall had announced the Yule Ball, Harry had asked her to go with him immediately after class. Being boyfriend and girlfriend meant that he had better ask her, but she was touched that he had not waited at all.

As in the other timeline, Viktor Krum had asked Hermione to go with him and she had accepted. Also, Hermione had not told Ron who had invited her to the Ball, and so her brother did not find out until the Yule Ball started. Surprisingly, Ron did not seem all that angry when he found out, and Ginny did not expect a flaming row when they all returned to Gryffindor Tower. Ginny wondered how much of that was due to her pushing Ron to grow up, and how much was Hermione not sending little signals that she cared about Ron as something more than a friend. Of course, the fact that Harry was not in the Tournament might have some bearing on it, as Ron would not be able to use the “Viktor is using you to spy on Harry” argument. For whatever the reason or reasons, Ron almost seemed to be enjoying himself with Amanda, a third year Gryffindor and one of Ginny’s former dormmates from early in her first year.

Harry had been a real surprise too, she thought as she looked into his eyes while they danced a slow waltz. He had complimented her when he saw her in her dark blue dress robes; he had also danced reasonably well. When she asked him about it, he sheepishly admitted that Sirius had made him take a few dancing lessons over the summer, knowing the Yule Ball was coming and that Harry needed to know this anyway as head of the Potter family.

Things were going well between her and Harry. They had certainly found private time in various empty rooms around the castle, but she was pleased that they had also continued to spend time talking to one another, building on their friendship. Of course, it was a lot more fun now than in the past, as she normally sat in his lap while they talked.

Ron had not said one negative thing about her and Harry’s relationship, although to Ginny’s amusement, he also always looked another direction when she and Harry did more than hold hands. She could even make Ron leave the common room by simply sitting on Harry’s lap. Ginny tried not to do that too often, but she did not restrain herself in that area much, either.

To neither her nor Harry’s surprise, her twin brothers had been very supportive of them, as long as she did not count them trying to prank him once -- just so they could say they had and as an initiation into the family, they said.

Her mother had been very happy for them, and she had written that her father was happy for Ginny as well. Harry had waited until Sirius’s next visit the castle to tell his guardian, but Sirius had beamed at them and given them both hugs. To Harry’s embarrassment, he had told Harry, “I’m glad you finally figured that out.”

As the song ended, she and Harry kissed, as many of the other dating couples did, before they started slowly walking back to their dorm rooms.

“I had a good time tonight, did you?” Harry asked her.

“Absolutely… I was with you,” she told him with a smile and a wink, which made him chuckle.

“What if I hadn’t asked you?” He hastily added, “You know, because we weren’t dating.”

She resisted teasing him. “I don’t know, it probably would have depended on what mood I was in.”

“Oh?” he asked curiously and as if he genuinely wanted to know.

“Sure. If I was having a pity party about not being asked by you, I probably would have just stayed in my dorm room.”

He looked shocked. “You’re not serious, are you?”

Ginny nodded. “I am, or at least that was the plan I had three years ago.” She smiled at him and could see that he understood her meaning about when she had first come back in time. “Otherwise, I don’t know, I might have gone with someone else. It would probably have depended on who asked and why. If someone nice had asked me to go as a friend, I probably would have. If they wanted to use that to start dating, I probably would have declined.” She looked at him carefully as she asked, “If we weren’t dating, who would you have asked?”

To her surprise, he did not look or act embarrassed by the question at all. He thought about it for a moment as they started to climb the stairs up. He finally shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I would have found someone.”

“Like Susan Bones?” she innocently asked.

Now he did blush. “Yeah, she would have been a good choice, but I haven’t really thought about her in quite some time.” He looked down at her with a half smile. “Someone else has been taking up all of my thoughts for the last few months.”

Ginny blushed ever so slightly now. That reminded her of her Christmas gift from him, which she had opened this morning. “Harry? Thanks again for my necklace; it was really wonderful.” They stopped on the stairs for a moment and held each other.

Harry briefly looked down at the gold necklace with a large ruby pendant around her neck, before he looked back up at her face. “I thought you deserved something really nice for everything you’ve done for me, starting from a few years ago until lately when you became my girlfriend.”

Ginny looked down at his chest for a moment, before she shook her hair slightly and looked back up at him. “You’re welcome, Harry. I like to hope that I had good motives, but even if they weren’t as pure as I believe, I’m glad that you’re free and can be happy.”

“I think you had very good motives,” he told her softly. “I’ve heard that love is a powerful force.”

“It is,” she whispered. Suddenly, as if by mutual decision, they both leaned forward and kissed.

A loud cough sounded behind them, forcing them to spring apart.

Ginny turned her head and saw Ron escorting his date back to the Tower. “Why do you have to do that everywhere?” Ron complained.

Ginny saw a smile come over Harry that she knew was going to mean trouble. Before she could stop him from saying anything to tweak her brother, Harry said, “Because we’re in love, Ron. I’m sure you’ll understand one day.”

Her brother looked very surprised, his eyes going wide and his mouth moved for a moment, although it emitted no sound. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I, uh… OK, er, right. Umm, can you not do that so much where I can see it though?”

Amanda giggled and they all looked at her. It was enough to break the spell of the moment though, and Ron turned and continued to take his date back. Harry and Ginny continued to stand on the landing they were on, the Portrait of the Fat Lady easily in sight two floors up.

When Harry turned back down to her, she had to ask a question. “Do you really mean it, Harry? Or did you just say that to mess with Ron’s head?”

A goofy grin came over him and he leaned his forehead down to hers. “I mean it, Miss Weasley. The last three weeks have been some of the best of my life. You have a part of my heart now. If you’re careful, you can have the rest of it too.”

Ginny kissed him again, mentally congratulating herself on all the time she had spent with Harry talking about things, getting him to open up. She might need to get him in the right mood, but he would share his feelings with her.

As they broke apart, he said, “I suppose we need to go on up before one of the professors comes along.”

She reluctantly agreed and they finished their climb. Looking back down at her necklace and pendent, Ginny decided that she would need to be vague in her description of it to her mother. There was no need to encourage the woman to start planning weddings just yet.

((A/N: I should take the time to clear up a couple of things about Sirius. Based on some reviews, I can now see that I have not been clear enough on why Sirius has done some of the things he has. I had considered explaining some of this in the conversation on the stairs at Christmas in the last chapter, but didn't write it because it made the conversation too long. I now see that was an error on my part.

To clarify... Sirius still has his fun side and has not given up on his Marauder ways. I'm not showing much of that at the moment because Harry needs to learn his upcoming place in the Wizarding world, so Sirius has been concentrating on that. Does that make Sirius a hypocrit considering how much he hated what his parents did and stood for? If Sirius believed that was the "one true way", then yes it would; but he does not believe that. Sirius knows the Pureblood ways as he was raised as such. He also knows who is in power in the Wizengamot and that to change "the game", you may have to "play the game" so you can work from the inside to make changes. That is why he is formal at times and why he is teaching Harry the old customs. Sirius is not trying to turn Harry into a Draco (not that he could); he is trying to prepare Harry to be able to hold his own when he steps into the adult world after Hogwarts. Harry will have political power as The-Boy-Who-Lived and Sirius wants him to be able to wield it as needed. To do that well, Harry needs to know the environment.

Based on another review, I should clarify 1 other thing. On the train when Harry was using Legilimency to detect if Hermione was telling the truth, he was NOT reading her mind or invading her private thoughts/emotions in any way (as Snape would have). I believe this usage is more like reading an aura, or in the Muggle world it would be using a truth detection machine that reads external signs). The reviewer thought Harry was being hypocritical as he did not like his thoughts read, but I did not mean for Harry to come across that way. Some people seem to be able to detect if a person is telling the truth by reading the subtle signs of body language, that is basically what Harry was doing, but with a little magical help. I personally don't see that as hypocritical of him.

Harry and Ginny are now officially together, Voldemort is dead, and this is basically where I had planned to end the main story. However, there are some loose ends that need to be tied up. Therefore, we have 1 more chapter still, mostly as an epilogue.))