One Year

One Year

Chapter Eight:

March

~*~

Ginny punched her pillow for what seemed like the thousandth time that night, trying to get comfortable and fall asleep. She'd gone to bed almost three hours earlier, and yet hadn't slept a wink since. The true reason for her restlessness came to mind: she had a fight with Harry during their Floo call earlier that night.

"Hi, Gin." Hermione was right, he did look terrible. His normally unruly hair was cropped short, and she could almost see his scalp. He looked like a starved monk.

"Hey." She tried to hide the bitterness in her voice, but was unsuccessful. This wasn't going to be a pleasant call.

"Look, Gin, I'm sorry." His eyes pleaded with her from the fireplace of his bedroom, and if she hadn't been so angry with him she might have felt pity toward him.

Trying to get her emotions under control, she took a deep breath. "You really hurt my feelings, you know. You told me to make all those plans and then you forgot." An angry tear surprised her as it slipped down her cheek. She hated feeling like this.

"I had a lot on my mind. I was at boot camp and was busy every day. I hardly ever got a break, Ginny."

"But you did have enough time to think about the gala, keep me from attending, and write to me about that, did you?" Ginny huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Is that what this is about? The gala? I thought you understood me when I explained it to you." Harry shook his head in annoyance. Ginny knew that look and was quite familiar with it.

"I thought I did" She paused, taking a deep breath as her anger slowly turned into bitterness. "So who did you take? Was she prettier than me? Did you fuck her, Harry?" The words were out of her mouth before she knew it and quickly realised she couldn't take them back. But a part of her really didn't care. She wanted him to hurt. She wanted him to feel as miserable as he had made her feel. "This isn't the first time in the school year that you didn't want me to go to London. Who are you hiding?"

"There is NO ONE else! I didn't want you here because of the press. I can't even go to Fortescue's without getting mobbed," Harry shouted. He stood up and paced around the room. When he returned, he wore the same look he did when he'd killed Voldemort. "I don't want to put you through that. The one time was bad enough."

"Trying to protect me again, huh, Harry? Don't think Ginny's a big enough girl?" That was low, and she knew it. When he had left to hunt for the Horcruxes with Ron and Hermione, she'd felt like she'd been stabbed in the heart. She hated it when he thought she couldn't take care of herself.

"That is not the reason, and you know it."

"Whatever. Are we done?" She checked her fingernails for dirt.

"No. I miss you." Harry looked pathetic, staring into the fire. She knew she should forgive him, but the hurt went too deep.

"Good. Why didn't you call before now?"

"Ginny, you sent Hedwig back without even reading any of my letters. I didn't think you'd even wanted to even see me." She let out a little snort of laughter in spite of herself.

"You've got a point there."

He returned her smile.

"I was a mess."

"You still are. Your hair looks terrible." He looked like a prisoner of war. Harry's soft, raven locks were gone and in their place was stubble about half an inch long. It didn't suit him in the least.

"Thanks," he muttered, running a hand over the remaining hair on his head.

"No problem." Ginny adjusted her legs underneath her as her foot was beginning to fall asleep. "So what did you do on Valentine's Day, then?"

Harry stared into the fire on his end, shifting uncomfortably. Ginny knew him well enough to know that he was hiding something. Something he was desperately trying to avoid telling her.

"Harry...answer the question."

"Hope..." He barely got the word out before she erupted in anger.

"You spent the day with HOPE?"

"Ginny, she woke up..."

Ginny swore under her breath. "And you had to be her hero, didn't you? She almost killed you and Kingsley. She almost RAPED you, Harry."

"NO! We needed to question her and debrief her about the whole thing. It took all day," he protested. His eyes were wide, giving him the look of a man possessed.

"And I suppose the fact that she's gorgeous didn't matter at all"

"Stop it! You know that's not true, Ginny." Harry looked her in the eye and took a deep breath. "I love you. You, Ginny. I've shot her down every time she asked me out."

"She asked you out? When were you going to tell me this? I knew she fancied you, but..."

"Nothing is going on between us. You're being stupid." Harry realised the error of his comment, and his mouth hung open as he tried to form words to take away his statement.

"Oh, fuck you, Potter." Ginny rose from her place on the floor and began marching toward the stairs. She felt like throwing something at him but stopped, realising it wouldn't do any good at all.

"Ginny!" His shout stopped her dead in her tracks, making her turn around, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and hurt.

"No, you listen to me, Harry Potter!" she shouted, her finger pointing at his image in the fire. "You hurt my feelings. You made the day miserable for me. You forgot our date, and I had to fight off Jonathan AGAIN while you spent the day with another girl. How am I supposed to feel, Harry?"

"That was NOT my fault!" The flames of the Floo call grew with Harry's remark. "I wanted to come right away when Tonks told me, and you knew that! Why couldn't you Floo me right away yourself? I had to hear it from Tonks the next morning!"

"Harry, I was embarrassed, okay? I was stupid believing you'd want to meet me in a cave," Ginny muttered, more for her benefit than Harry's.

"Ginny, you didn't do anything wrong. He brought this on himself," Harry told her, his anger having calmed somewhat. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Harry. I can take care of myself, you know," she reminded him yet again. "I have to go," she said, hiding a yawn behind her hand. "I have practise tomorrow morning."

"That's right! You got reinstated!"

Ginny couldn't help but notice his attempt at being cheerful.

"Yes. You can remember my status on the House team, but you forget me on Valentine's Day?"

"When's your game? I want to see it," he pleaded.

"Ask my brother. I think he has loads of free time these days. Hermione is hacked off at him, too." She couldn't quite remember why her brother and friend were fighting, but she assumed it had something to do with her brother's prat-like behaviour that had been blown out of proportion by Hermione.

"Don't remind me."

"Saturday after next," she stated calmly, not quite willing to get her hopes up.

"I'll see you then?"

"If you want." She smiled at him, failing to hide her pleasure at the prospect of a visit from him.

"I love you, Ginny."

"Mmm hmm." She watched as the flames died in front of her and Harry disappeared into his room.

Ginny wiped the errant tears from her cheeks. She hated crying. She hated what Harry had done. She hated how she treated him earlier that night. She hated feeling as if the world was against her when all she wanted was to finish school and be with him in the world they'd helped save. But she knew deep down that nothing like that would happen if she kept acting like this. She had to forgive Harry, but he also needed to know that a repeat of Valentine's Day was unacceptable.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she sighed heavily, a determined set in her jaw. "Am I a Weasley or not? Come on, Ginny, you give Fred and George a run for the money," she gloated into her curtained bed. "You can find something that will finally make Harry Potter realise that Ginevra Weasley is not a witch to be trifled with."

~*~

Ginny's spare moments were rare as she set out to find a spell that would teach Harry his lesson. Her homework took first priority, but she often found herself looking through heavy tomes of spells instead of studying for her NEWTs. She was able to sweet-talk Professor Slughorn into giving her access to the Restricted Section of the library, which she took advantage of on a particularly dreary Sunday.

Her head was buried inside Vision Spells: Beyond Correction, a rather thin book compared to the others she had found. The title intrigued her only because of Harry's pathetic vision. She shook her head wondering how the Wizarding world could do so much with magic, helping all sorts of ailments, and making life easier in general, yet they couldn't do a thing about correcting one's vision. When I'm a Healer, that'll be a definite research project, she told herself on Harry and her father's behalf. Percy could go blind for all she cared.

"Oh that's interesting." Her voice echoed in the alcove she sat in, causing her to look around in case Madam Pince was lurking about. Ginny reached inside her book bag and pulled out a parchment and quill, taking down the incantation of the spell she found.

When she finished copying the information, she made notes at the bottom to complete the spell and reread it with a smile on her face.

"The Vision Confusion Charm was developed in the early 20^th century to confuse Muggles who happened to live in close proximity to Wizards. The main purpose of the spell is to confuse the victim, making them see things that aren't there or to see what the caster desires. It has been used in various forms over the years, but has dwindled in popularity due to the rise and ease of the traditional Confundus Charm.

The incantation must specify what the victim can and cannot see. A vessel for the spell is necessary, such as spectacles. Once the victim of the spell puts the glasses on, the spell will activate and continue to work even if the glasses are removed. The effect will continue until the caster removes the spell. For this reason, among others, the Vision Confusion Charm has fallen out of favour."

Primary incantation:

Conturbo oculus

Incantation to charm the glasses:

Muto oculus

Incantation for removing items from sight:

Eximo (add specifics) Ginny Weasley's clothing!!! (He will finally see me naked!)

Reverse Incantation:

Reverto (specific item from above) Ginny Weasley's clothing

Feeling utterly satisfied with herself, Ginny shut the book and replaced it on the shelf before leaving the library.

~*~

"What? Are you crazy, Ginny? That's just...just..."

"Brilliant?" Ginny finished Hermione's sentence with a smirk.

"No. It's cruel, devious...and, well, yes, brilliant." Hermione allowed herself a tiny smile at the corners of her mouth. "He'll never forgive you."

"Yes, he will. I could have done something much more physically impairing," Ginny pointed out. She sat back on her heels and watched Hermione through the flames of the Floo call.

Ginny had contacted Hermione to enlist her help in carrying out her plan for the change in Harry's vision. The Quidditch match was in two days, and after trying out the spell on Colin and Dennis, Ginny was confident that the spell would work on Harry.

The Creevey brothers were rather amused at the lengths she was wiling to take in order to teach Harry a lesson. However, much to Dennis' chagrin, the test did not include them in being able to see Ginny sans clothing. Rather, they had seen Professor Slughorn in the buff, and that vision was enough for them to keep their mouths shut.

Ginny wanted to make sure she had all her bases covered. "I've tested it and the spell works. I just need you to bring me Harry's glasses on the way out to the Pitch, and then I'll cast the spell. He won't notice a thing is wrong until I come out onto the Pitch."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. Colin and Dennis will give you testimony to its effectiveness if you want proof," she responded.

"Ginny! What did you do to those poor boys?" Hermione's expression was a mixture of horror and amusement.

"Well," Ginny stammered, "they volunteered to help me out." Ginny was barely able to contain her laughter. "For a price."

Hermione guffawed at Ginny's statement. "Have you been channelling Fred and George? You're sounding too much like them." Hermione chuckled lightly. "Fine, I'll do it." She turned around to look into her sitting room. There was a crack, signalling someone's Apparation. "I think that's Ron. I'll see you Saturday."

"Okay, Hermione. Thanks a lot!" The fire died out as Hermione doused the flames, leaving Ginny sitting in front of the empty hearth.

~*~

Ginny shaded her eyes against the sunlight on Saturday morning. She thought she'd caught a glimpse of Harry, Ron and Hermione heading down the path to the Quidditch Pitch. The figures grew larger the closer they got to the castle, and she smiled as Harry's face came into focus. He looked better than the last time they talked; his hair was growing back but it was still unnaturally short. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his cloak, and he looked grumpy to say the least. Not wanting to appear too anxious, Ginny calmly left the area outside the changing rooms and headed toward the trio. Ron caught sight of her and waved excitedly at his sister.

"Ginny!" Ron cleared the remaining distance between them and enveloped her in a warm hug. "Whatever it is you're going to do to Harry, make him hurt. I didn't speak to him for a week," Ron whispered in her ear. Ginny's mouth fell open as he pulled away.

"You're so sweet, Ronnie!" she teased. She usually hated when Ron pulled the big brother act, but this really surprised her. "Don't worry, he will."

Harry and Hermione arrived and Ginny made a point of greeting Harry coldly. She did, however, allow him to hug her, which made her want to melt right there into his arms. While the hug itself didn't last long, it felt as if time stopped and Ginny took in every little detail about him. He'd washed his hair that morning and she could smell his shampoo and soap. He still had the leftover fragrance of cinnamon from his toothpaste on his breath that mixed with the musky scent of his cologne. Harry's skin was rough against her cheek, almost as if he forgot to shave and his warm breath against her neck sent shivers up and down her spine.

She pulled away and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "I wasn't sure you were coming."

"I said I would, Ginny. I missed you." Harry reached for her hand and she let him take it as they walked toward the changing rooms.

"Ginny! Demelza wants you back in here!" Ginny turned toward Natalie McDonald, who gave Ron an exaggerated wink, standing near the door.

"Be right there, Natalie." Ginny turned back toward Harry. "I'll see you after the match, okay? We'll talk then." She tried to put an ominous tone to her voice but wasn't sure if she had pulled it off. "See you, Ron, Hermione." Ginny widened her eyes and nodded at her friend before heading in to meet with the team.

Ginny and the rest of the Gryffindor squad listened half-heartedly to Demelza's pep talk. They were leading in the Quidditch Cup, and she kept reminding them that they needed this win to assure that Gryffindor won their third straight Quidditch Cup. Tradition, after all, was on the line.

The team had a few minutes left before they needed to head out onto the pitch, they were sitting on the benches when Hermione flew in.

"Ginny! Here! I knocked the glasses off Harry and told him I would clean the lenses, so do the spell." She was out of breath and looked nervous.

"Okay, Hermione. Calm down. You're making me nervous." Ginny removed her wand from her inner pocket and began the wand movements and incantation. "Conturbo oculus." A flash of blue light sparkled from the end of her wand. "Muto oculus." Harry's glasses glowed purple. "Eximo Ginny Weasley's clothing!" The lenses turned orange, then blue, and then returned to normal. "There. It worked. It did the same thing when I tested it on Colin and Dennis. Go!" Hermione took off, glasses in her pocket, leaving Ginny smiling broadly.

~*~

"Now entering the Pitch... the Gryffindor Team!" announced Ethan McClelland, amidst shouts of joy and boos of annoyance. "Captain Robbins! Donahue! MacDonald! Peekes! Nicholson and Wheeez-leeeeeee!" Ginny cringed at the way Ethan said her name. He started saying it that way in the halls between classes and the git knew she hated it. Ginny quickly scanned the crowd, wanting to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione and make Harry aware of his new vision as soon as possible. She mounted her broom and made her way slowly around the arena. There. She saw him, eighth row from the bottom. As Madam Hooch approached the centre of the pitch, Ginny pulled directly in front of Harry, did a small circle on her broom, and finally turned her bum Harry's way. She wiggled her hips suggestively, knowing that all he could see was her firm round buttocks with the words, "Potter is MY King," written across her backside in magical lipstick. She was completely ruthless.

All through the match, Ginny felt distracted... with good reason, of course. She knew Harry was ogling her and not because of her Quidditch skills. A few times, she flew past him and noticed his eyes resembled dinner plates; the feeling made her uncomfortable. She loved Harry, loved spending time with him and kissing him, loved his body, and what the pleasure he could give to hers. However, knowing that all he was focused on was her naked form made her feel uneasy. She didn't want him to love her because of that, and decided she'd remove the spell as soon as possible.

In her distraction, she lost sight of the Snitch and nearly cost her team the match. But a well-timed push against the Hufflepuff Seeker gave her enough time to speed up and snatch it from her opponent. Cheers rose from the crowd and she swiftly swooped to the ground, anxiously looking for Harry. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws alike immediately mobbed Ginny in the middle of the pitch, and she found herself swamped, unable to move away and look for him. The mob surrounded the entire team all the way to the changing rooms, and she barely escaped into the cavernous locker room.

"Ginny!" She turned to see Demelza at the door, holding it open. "Someone wants to talk to you!"

"Who?"

"It's Harry, Ginny," Demelza said softly. The door opened to reveal Harry with a full head of hair and a look of utter shock and embarrassment. He smiled at Demelza and walked across the room to Ginny, trying to avoid looking at her.

The rest of the team began to filter out of the changing room, and soon they were left alone.

"Hi, Harry," she said with a slight giggle. "Something wrong?"

"Remove the bloody spell, Gin. NOW!" His eyes fell to the floor and he began tapping his foot impatiently.

"Give me your glasses, okay?" He handed them over and she drew her wand. "Reverto Ginny Weasley's clothing." Harry's glasses glowed pink, signalling to Ginny that the spell had been successfully removed from them. "Put them on. They'll fix your eyes, too." He took the glasses from her and placed them back on his face. His eyes sparkled pink for an instant as well. "Better?"

"You are cruel, evil and damn sexy, you little wench!" Harry pulled her to him, kissing her hard. Breathing was secondary as she responded to his kiss. Their teeth clashed against each other while Harry continued his assault on her mouth. He removed his lips from hers with a loud noise and looked her in the eye. "Don't you EVER do that again! I couldn't look at you. I couldn't look at Ron. I couldn't sit. I couldn't even enjoy the game. Stop laughing at me!" Harry lost the battle with his own laughter and joined her now raucous laughter.

"You think I'm sexy?" she asked, looking innocently up at him.

"Do you even have to ask? Where'd you find that spell anyway?"

"The Restricted Section. I sweet-talked Slughorn," she admitted. "Will you please excuse me now so I can shower and change?"

"You want some company?" Where did that come from?

"No!" Although, if Ginny were truly honest with herself, she would have admitted that the thought was a rather delicious one. "Be a nice boy and wait for me outside. I know all sorts of vision spells now, Potter," she warned. She kissed him quickly on the cheek and watched him leave the room.

Once she was showered and freshly dressed, Ginny met Ron, Hermione, and Harry outside the changing rooms, smiling at the three of them.

"So, what are we going to do for the rest of the day?" she asked, receiving a blank look from Ron and Hermione.

"Uh, we're going home. I have a game tomorrow, remember, so I have to get back in about an hour," Ron reminded her. "Hermione leaves for Portugal tonight. Actually, love, why are we hanging around this lot when you're going to be away for three weeks? Let's go home!" Hermione blushed furiously as Ron took her hand, and the two of them dashed off toward the gates of Hogwarts with Hermione waving good-bye.

"Well, I guess we know what they'll be up to for the next hour," Harry stated. He looked over to Ginny and gave her a lopsided grin. "So...uh...it's just you and me, huh?"

She eyed him suspiciously, looking out the corner of her eye. Ron didn't have a game tomorrow. She knew he was lying, simply because she knew Natalie. If there really were really a game, Natalie would have been sure to fawn all over Ron. Harry was up to something, she just knew it.

"Master of the obvious, aren't you, Potter?" Ginny cleared the small distance between them and stood in front of Harry, her body touching his ever so slightly. "So what's your plan? Ron doesn't have a game." She watched Harry swallow and put on a smirk.

"Fine. I told Ron I wanted to be alone with you, okay. Is that so wrong?" Harry reached up and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"I reckon not. It's actually kind of nice. Lemme guess, you got another room at The Three Broomsticks?"

Harry shifted his feet and looked at her with a pained expression. "Is that really what you think I'm after? To get into your knickers?"

"Well...I, uh," she stammered. She was utterly gobsmacked. After all they'd done together, this was a surprise to her.

"Well, it's not. Yes, you drove me spare during the match and yes, I've been a right, randy bugger," he began before taking her chin in his hand, "but I love you, Ginny. You, and only you. All the other stuff is nice, but I just like spending time with you." He let his hand fall and they resumed walking again, hand in hand.

Ginny wiped stray tears from her eyes. She hated crying and Harry knew it. He squeezed her hand and she knew he was smiling. "I feel so stupid, Harry."

"No, no. It's okay. I'll survive, you know." Ginny chuckled. "Lots of people don't have sex at eighteen. I'll manage and so will you."

"Well, you always ask me to," she reminded him.

"I'm a guy. You can stop laughing at me now." She noticed that they were on the outside perimeter of the school grounds. He stopped by a large willow tree and sat down underneath it, motioning for her to sit next to him. Ginny joined him and he pulled her into his shoulder. "Gin, that's not what's important. I want to be with you. Just you, okay?"

"But what about, well, snogging?" A little giggle escaped her lips. "Don't you like that?"

"Yeah," he answered quickly and enthusiastically. "But I know you're not ready for more, and to be honest, I'm not sure I am either. From what Ron says, it's a bit addictive once you start, and I don't think I want that feeling while you're all the way up here." Harry blushed a shade of pink, and he turned away from her when he saw the look in her eye.

"So how randy do you get, Harry?" She reached over and turned his face back towards her. "How bad is it?"

"Remember how Ron used to behave whenever he saw Hermione in a bathing suit?" Ginny smiled at the recollection. "Multiply that by around a thousand." Her eyes widened.

"Really?" He nodded his answer. "Wow."

"Yeah. And Ron keeps teasing me that I'll go blind in a year if I keep it up." They both laughed.

"Ass. You just remind him about Moody's Castration Potion, and he'll shut up. He's really worried about that one." Harry pulled her in for a quick kiss.

"Don't ever doubt how I feel about you, Ginny," he began seriously. "I love you, and if I could have been here last month, I would have just to save you from what Martin put you through. You should have told me yourself."

"I know. I think I was still in shock for a while. If you remember, I was a little upset with you," Ginny reminded him.

"Will you ever forgive me for that one? Please?" Harry placed both his hands on her face, and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you if that's what it takes."

He said the rest of his life!

"Not that long, Harry. Maybe twenty-five years," she whispered, meeting him half way for a kiss that cleared her mind of all doubts. Maybe only twenty-five seconds, she told herself, but I won't let him know that.