Bloopers

Bloopers

Chapter Three: Reflections & Resolutions

"That bloody mistletoe tradition!" Harry thought. "Those two are going to be sorry!"

It wasn't that Harry didn't like Ginny. In fact, he liked her a lot. Once you got under that shy, quiet side of Ginny, she was quite the character. After all, she grew up with six boys. When that happens, you don't become a little princess. You learn to stand up for yourself. And that is exactly how Virginia Weasley really was. For the first few years at Hogwarts, Ginny was very bashful around Harry, but she seemed to grow up a bit. Inside, she was still very taken with Harry, but learned how to control her feelings, because she felt that her childhood crush wasn't going to last.

"I am no longer a child," she declared a week before Harry came to stay at the Burrow. "Virginia Weasley, you have got to grow up a bit. You are not eleven!"

But as Harry looked into her flushed cheeks, he realized that Ginny had nearly blossomed overnight into a beautiful young woman of fourteen. Her long, wavy ginger hair cascaded down her shoulders and surrounded her angelic face. It gave her a look of child-like innocence, yet a certain aura of maturity. Her cocoa eyes sparkled in the dim glow of the dying fire. Yet behind those soft, sweet eyes, there was a glint of spunk and attitude. And even though Harry (and Ron) tried not to notice, she had filled out in all the right places.

It took both Harry and Ginny a few moments after Ron and Hermione left to realize what happened.

They just kissed.

"But... it's not like it was a real kiss," Harry thought. "So, nothing will happen. It's not like I hurt Cho, or anyone at that."

Harry muttered an embarrassed goodnight to Ginny, and walked up to his dormitory, not realizing how mistaken he was.

"Hermione Granger!"

Trying to hold back a smile, Hermione glanced up from the book she was reading to face a beet-red Ginny.

"Why, Ginny!" she exclaimed. "Whatever is the matter?"

Heaving an exasperated sigh, Ginny flopped onto Hermione's bed.

"You know very well what the bloody hell is wrong!"

"Oh, cheer up, Gin! It's not like it was a real kiss, like it meant anything..."

"Hermione, if looks could kill, you would have about 700 bloody wands pointing at you, ready to perform the Killing Curse. Oh, what am I going to do? I just kissed Harry Potter, the boy I've had a crush on since I was eleven! And," Ginny added wretchedly, "Harry still hasn't noticed! Boys can be so damn thick sometimes!"

"Yes he has," Hermione said in a small voice.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"I mean he has noticed you!"

"How can you be so sure?" Ginny whispered.

"Well, tell me what you think of this.

'Her hair color can't be any more different from a canary's feather,

Her presence brightens the day, no matter what kind of weather.

Eyes the color of chocolate, any flavor you pick,

Beautiful is her face, sweet and angelic.

Heed my word, though I'm no Sage,

Choose the right one, with a difference in age.'"

Ginny shuddered, though the fire was blazing in Hermione's Prefect dormitory room.

"Hermione, that was entirely bizarre. Where did you get that?"

"Professor Trelawney. Ron and Harry told me about it a few months ago. She said it in class, looking at Harry the entire time."

"Oh."

"Ginny! Don't you see it? All of the clues point to you!"

"Don't get my hopes up. They also point to Cho. Besides, that old fraud's class is a load of dung. She was probably saying it to spice up class. If that's possible."

As Ginny moped out of the room, Hermione whispered, "If you say so, Ginny. If you say so."

"You should have seen the look on your face!"

Harry was welcomed with Ron's rather loud laughter as he entered their room.

"Shut up," Harry snapped, but couldn't help from grinning.

"So, what was it like to kiss my sister?" Ron asked with a hint of amusement in voice.

"You want to give it a try?"

Ron made a face. "No bloody way!"

The two boys sat in awkward silence.

"It was kind of odd," Harry broke the silence. "I kissed my friend! I mean, a good friend. It would be like me kissing... Hermione."

Seeing the somewhat appalled expression on Harry's face, Ron exclaimed in a rather offended tone, "It's not that bad!"

Chortling, Harry went on. "I believe you! But, it wasn't like kissing Cho. I mean, it was Ginny. It was just, unusual. Nothing against her, though. It was, different, in a good way..."

Harry broke off as Ron stared at him.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"D'you remember that Divination class a while ago?"

"Naturally."

"So, I've been thinking. About what Professor Trelawney said."

"And?"

"Well, what do you think?"

Sighing, Harry walked to the window and looked at the starry sky.

"Yes, Ron. I've memorized it. It was impossible to forget," Harry confessed. "I've tried countless times to figure it out. At first I thought it was Cho. All the clues added up. But even after we started going out, there was still a, a something nagging me. I've tried nearly everyone. And it can't possibly be Hermione. We're the same age, and she's yours."

Wiping a quick dreamy smile off his face, Ron half-voiced the very question Harry was mentally asking himself.

"D'you think it could be...?"

"Ron, you know that class is one of the biggest jokes I've ever seen. That old fraud is hardly ever right when it comes to me. But yeah... If I was one of those 'True Seers', like Lavender Brown, or Parvati Patil, I would believe it's her."

"Bloody hell," Ron breathed.

Completely confused in his own troubled thoughts, Harry didn't even notice the book he was still clutching.

The holidays passed quickly. The common room almost instantly filled up once more, and Harry and Ginny didn't need to worry about the uncomfortable feeling of being alone in the same room once more. Both of them tried to act as if nothing happened. But nothing would ever be the same between Harry and Ginny again.

"Harry? Are you OK?"

Cho's voice shattered Harry's contemplation. He was sitting in the far corner of the library, books all around him on the little square table. In the previously vacant seat next to him, Cho voiced the question again.

" You OK? You seemed awfully quiet these past few days. Did anything unusual happen over Christmas?"

Stuttering slightly, Harry answered. "Er, no. Nothing happened. How were the holidays by you?"

"Well," Cho sighed, a smile (that made Harry mad) spreading across her lips. "Going to my old hometown was one huge reunion! I even met a few new people. It was one of the best ways to spend the holidays!"

An odd, dreamy expression suddenly crossed her face, as if she were remembering a particular memory that pleased her extensively.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time," Harry replied. He then gave her a quick kiss before gathering his books and hurrying off to class.

After dinner, Harry rushed up to the Common Room in desperate search of Hermione. He spotted her talking in whispers to Ginny by the roaring fire.

"...And so I told him, but Ron doesn't think that Harry-"

"Hermione, I need to talk to you," Harry interrupted, slightly red at hearing his name in their conversation. "Sorry Ginny."

"Harry, what's this all about?"

"Shh... not yet."

Harry pulled on Hermione's arm, dragging her into a corner away from everyone else. The plopped down together on the small couch, and Harry immediately began to speak.

"Hermione, I need you help."

"Obviously."

"Shut up. I know this might sound strange, but I have a big problem."

"That's very natural for a fifteen year old boy of your stature."

Harry eyed her. "What are you, a psychologist? Anyway, I-I think I hurt someone."

Hermione's eyes grew wide in shock. "Physically?"
"NO!"

"I'm only joking. Hmmm... OK. What do you mean? Who did you hurt?"

"Er-, well, you see, this person, I, uh, I think I might have hurt her feelings."

Hermione smiled. "Her? Oh, so this is a girl problem! OK, so, how to fix it?"

Hermione scrunched up her face in deep thought. "Well, what is the situation like?"

Confused, Harry answered. "Well, I like her, she likes me. And I'm almost sure that I hurt her, and I want to make it up."

"Do you know her?"

"Yes," Harry replied, an even more perplexed look on his face.

"No, I mean do you really know her? Like what her hobbies are, and that kind of stuff."

"Yes."

"Good. Now we're getting somewhere! OK... So, do something really special for her, something you know she'll love."

"Great!" Harry said. "Umm, can I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure!"

Harry shifted uneasily in his seat, trying to find a way to phrase his question.

"Was there ever a time when you liked Ron and me both?"