The Matchmaker

The team was done for the day, and Harry and Ron had changed out of their practice clothes and were getting ready to head back toward the castle. Harry was struggling to secure the bludgers back into the storage trunk. After double-checking the clasps, Harry slid the trunk into the bottom of the large wooden wardrobe in the locker room. Unfortunately this was not an easy task due to the spare brooms, uniforms, and other miscellaneous articles that kept falling out of the overfull cabinet. When everything was finally back in and the doors were closed, Ron handed Harry his Firebolt and the two boys trudged slowly across the grass away from the pitch. After Ginny had left, Harry had seemed to get a second wind and had really put his teammates through their paces. Both of them were exhausted but masculine pride kept them from admitting it to each other.

"Good workout today," Ron pointed out for lack of anything else better to say.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I feel kind of bad about Ginny though."

"Oh, she'll be fine," Ron said reassuringly. "She's survived much worse, growing up in our house."

"That's not what I..." Harry broke off, "yeah, you're right, it'll be fine."

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself of something. Ron gave Harry a confused look.

"Do you think I was too hard on her?" Harry asked, trying unsuccessfully to sound as if it didn't matter to him one way or the other.

Ron thought for a moment. "Well...kind of. But she handled it really well, especially for Ginny. I'm telling you, mate, I've never seen her back down from an argument before in my life!"

"Really?"

"Yeah," Ron said shaking his head, "It's really strange."

They walked along in silence for a few minutes before reaching the door to the castle. "I guess I'll have to talk to her about it when we get back to the tower," Harry said glumly. Ron was not normally very good at thinking on his feet, but decided to do a little intervening.

"Oh, I'm not sure she's back yet. You know how Madame Pomphrey is. She'll probably make her stay and rest for a while."

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Harry. "I guess I'll talk to her tonight then."

"In the common room? In front of everyone? I don't know if you want to do that, Harry. It seemed like a lot of the people on the team really respected you for taking authority with Ginny. If they see you apologizing to her --"

"Who said I would apologize?" Harry interrupted. Ron gave him a knowing look.

"Harry, Merlin only knows why McGonagall made you captain because we all know you're a big softy," Ron grinned as Harry frowned at him. "But as I was saying, it just wouldn't be good for the team to see you apologizing to Ginny. Let them think you're a force to be reckoned with, at least for a little while."

"Ok, I guess," Harry muttered. Ron decided to push his luck.

"Why don't you go to the hospital wing and see how she's doing," he asked. They stopped walking. "You can talk to her there in private."

"You think she's still there?" Ron nodded. "Ok, well, I guess should just go now then. I'll see you back in the tower later then, ok?"

"Yeah, mate," Ron answered. The two boys had started to walk away from each other when Harry suddenly turned back.

"Oh, Ron, what are we doing for the rest of the day anyway?"

Ron swallowed nervously. During practice he had completely forgotten about his little plan for the afternoon, and he hoped that Harry would be able to patch things up with Ginny. Otherwise, the activity that he had come up with might not go as well as he thought. "Oh, don't worry, I'll come up with something to keep us occupied by the time you get back."

Ron began walking toward Gryffindor tower and Harry turned to head down to the hospital wing, wondering glumly what he would say to Ginny when he got there. Harry felt horrible about how he had treated her at practice, and to make matters worse, in front of the rest of the team. He hoped that he had not embarrassed her and she would be able to forgive him.

Harry approached the double doors to the infirmary just as they began to open. Ginny came through them, red hair flying out behind her, and increased her pace as she glanced at him and kept walking. Her disregard for him was not what he was hoping for. At least, he noted, she wasn't limping anymore.

"Gin!" Harry called after her. She continued to walk away from him as if she had not heard him. "Ginny! Wait up!"

Harry jogged after her down the hallway, catching her arm to stop her as he caught up. "Ginny," he said, hating the whining beg in his voice. Normally when someone was upset with him, Harry figured it was their own problem. But for some reason, he couldn't stand the thought of her staying angry with him.

Must be because I know I'm wrong this time! Harry thought. At the contact of his hand on her arm, Ginny abruptly stopped walking and turned to face him. It was clear from the look on her face that she was in no mood to talk to him. Harry let go of her arm as if it had burned him. He suddenly understood why Ron had been so concerned about him. There was something about Ginny's unhappy glare that made you want to do anything but be on the receiving end. Harry managed to fight the sudden urge to grovel. He would get to the apology once he was sure that she was talking to him again.

"I just came by to see how you were doing," he explained. "How's your knee?"

For a moment Harry feared that she would storm off again, but then she said faintly, "It's fine."

"Good," he said softly, sounding relieved. "Look, Gin, I was just worried about you. We really need you for our first game, and I didn't want you to push yourself too hard."

Harry could see her resolve softening as he spoke. Her face relaxed as she studied him, and Harry became uncomfortably aware of how ragged and worn out he must look.

"It's ok, Harry," Ginny said, looking up at him solemnly. "I know that you think of me like a sister, and like Ron you have this need to look out for me, but trust me that I'm not a little girl anymore. I can handle myself, thank you very much."

It was ironic to Harry that she should say this to him now, at the exact moment when he was noticing her in a way that was not brotherly at all. When had she become so poised and confident? Ginny was right about one thing though. Harry agreed that she certainly was not a little girl anymore.

"I...I know that," he responded quickly. "I just...I didn't mean to lose my temper with you today. I was a bit harsh...and I'm sorry."

Ginny gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry too. I should have been more understanding." Harry gave her a quizzical look as they began walking slowly together down the hallway. "I know that you've got a lot on your mind, a lot to deal with. I'm not sure what those things are, and it's not my place to know. But I want you to know that I do understand or at least try to. And if you act like a horrid prat sometimes, I know there must be a reason."

Ginny grinned and Harry returned it, realizing that she was joking and had forgiven him. They chatted easily about Quidditch, their upcoming game against Ravenclaw, and their classes, all the way to the portrait hole. Harry was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Ginny once he got started. He realized with a sinking feeling that this was probably the first real conversation that they had ever had with just each other and no one else around to participate. She had impressed Harry with her understanding and willingness to forgive him, and although not glad about the situation that caused it, Harry was glad that they had gotten a chance to really talk to each other for once. He counted Ginny among his friends, and more than that someone that he could trust. There were not many people that he could say that about. Harry was very glad that they had gotten over this rough spot without trouble and hoped that their friendship would only grow stronger.

From the short conversation they shared before entering the common room, Harry felt as though he was only beginning to scratch the surface of how well he knew Ginny Weasley. As they parted to go to their separate dormitories, Harry was slightly astonished to find that he was eager to discover the other sides of Ginny's seemingly multifaceted personality.