The Weasley Ring

The fire at Number 12 Grimmauld Place burned merrily in the hearth, sending a warm glow over the kitchen. Harry sat at the old wooden table, absentmindedly sipping a butterbeer and watching the flames. The cheery cries from the Christmas party in the living room drifted into the kitchen. He couldn't believe it was already Christmastime--it'd been seven months since he had defeated Voldemort; seven months since he had graduated from Hogwarts. And although he was having a great time sharing a flat with Ron and trying to survive Auror training, he still missed Hogwarts from time to time. He missed Hagrid's Hut and the Gryffindor common room. He missed the DA meetings and Quidditch practice. Sometimes he even missed Dobby. But most of all, he missed Ginny, who still had one year left at Hogwarts.

During the summer after his fifth year, it had been Ginny who had finally yelled at him for moping, and although he had been angry at her for it, he soon realized that she was right. Harry knew that Ron and Hermione would do anything for him, but for some reason, neither of them could comfort him like Ginny could. Perhaps it was because she never pitied him--she would just squeeze his hand and smile while he recounted his memories of Sirius, and it did him wonders. Over the years Ginny had become just as close to him as Ron and Hermione, and he missed her sorely--especially when Ron and Hermione were off by themselves, doing Merlin knows what.

Harry was pulled out of his reverie as Ginny herself ambled into the kitchen, clutching a butterbeer bottle. Her face was flushed and her hair was falling out of its elegant bun.

"Harry!" she said, smiling.

"Ginny, what are you doing in here?" he asked.

"I just came in for some air. It's damn hot out there! What are you doing in here, the party started ages ago!" she said.

"Just thinking," Harry said, taking another sip of his butterbeer.

Ginny crossed the room, the green velvet of her dress swishing. She sat in the chair next to him, the orange glow of the fire illuminating her hair.

"Well, just drink some more butterbeer, and you won't be thinking for much longer," she said. Harry laughed heartily.

"Or better yet," Harry smiled, "I could drink some of the eggnog. Fred and George informed me that they had great plans for this year's batch--I think they said they were going to 'spice it up a bit'."

"Mmm, yes, I thought it tasted a bit off," Ginny said, her face glowing. "I should have been more cautious with those two around--I've already had a few glasses myself." Harry laughed as she gave a small hiccup.

"I think I should confiscate that butterbeer before you pass out right here at the table," Harry said. Ginny laughed heartily.

"Hey, I'm of age now, you can't confiscate anything!" she giggled.

Harry smiled and clinked his bottle against hers.

"Well in that case, cheers!" he said.

"Merry Christmas, Harry," she smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Ginny."

Harry watched Ginny play with her bottle, picking at the label. A stray piece of hair fell into her face, and Harry had the sudden urge to tuck it behind her ear. She looked up at him, the firelight flickering in her eyes, and she gave him a bemused little smile.

"Ginny, I..." but before he could explain why he'd been staring at her, Ginny leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Harry inhaled sharply, taken aback by Ginny's kiss. However, the shock was replaced by something much nicer as he relaxed and took it all in--her soft scent, the cinnamon on her lips. He motioned to run his fingers through her ginger locks, but was interrupted by a strangled sort of cry from the kitchen entrance.

"What the bloody hell!" Ron stood in the doorway, Hermione giggling behind him. Ginny drew back quickly.

"Ron, what are you doing here?" she sputtered.

"What am I doing?" Ron cried. Hermione was trying to conceal her smile behind her hands. "What am I doing?"

"Oh Ron, stop overreacting," Hermione said playfully, giving Ginny a furtive smile.

"Yeah, Ron it's nothing. Ginny's just a bit drunk, that's all," Harry said, laughing uncertainly. "Aren't you, Ginny?"

"What? Oh, yes, I'm quite looped," Ginny said quietly, staring intently at her butterbeer bottle.

"Ha! Well in that case, join the club!" Ron guffawed, clapping his little sister on the back and raising his butterbeer bottle over his head. He then clapped Harry on the back, who, unfortunately, was taking a deep swig of butterbeer at the moment. Butterbeer sprayed from his mouth onto Ginny's shoes. This was too much for Hermione, and she immediately collapsed on the kitchen tiles, clutching her stomach and laughing drunkenly. Apparently she too had found Fred and George's eggnog.

"Oh, Ginny, I'm sorry," Harry said, crossing the kitchen to look for a towel.

"No, no don't worry about it," Ginny said. "They're old, anyways."

"Well then take them off and come back to the party!" Ron said, helping Hermione stand up.

"Yes, everyone's here!" Hermione hiccuped, dusting off her burgundy dress.

"Actually, I feel quite sick," Ginny said, rubbing her temples. "I think I'm off to bed." She exited the room quickly and ran upstairs. Harry watched her leave and scratched his head idly. What the bloody hell just happened?

~*~

"Ginevra!"

Ginny turned around to see Luna Lovegood running across the Entrance Hall towards her, the giant Gryffindor lion once more perched atop her head. Ginny noticed that Luna had placed a green serpent in its jaws.

"Hey, Luna," Ginny said, pausing to wait for her friend.

"What are you doing here?" Luna asked, linking her arm in Ginny's and continuing towards the large oak doors. "You should have been down at the Quidditch Pitch half an hour ago! The game starts in 15 minutes, and you're captain!"

"I know, but it took me ages to find my lucky socks, and then I started thinking about the game and I just got so nervous. It's my last game at Hogwarts, after all," Ginny said sadly, opening the doors and walking onto the grounds.

"Yes, and if you win this, you win the Cup," Luna said.

"Exactly! And I really want to win that Cup!" Ginny exclaimed. "Not just for me,

but for my brother and everyone else who didn't get to win it last year, since, well, you know..."

"Since Harry was off fighting Voldemort and you couldn't very well play without him," Luna said matter-of-factly, adjusting the lion on her head.

"Yes," Ginny said, blushing.

"You know, Ginevra, I think it's rather odd that you have no problem saying 'Voldemort', but ever since Christmas, anytime the name Harry Potter enters a conversation you sputter like you just took a swig of Pepperup Potion," Luna said, eyeing her friend.

"Yes, well, Voldemort is dead and gone, and Harry Potter is very much alive. And very much coming to the game tonight with Ron and Hermione."

"What?" Luna said, stopping in her tracks, the lion slipping forwards on her head.

"Errol came to my window with a note from Ron while I was looking for my socks," Ginny said. "He said that they all managed to get the night off, and they were coming to see the big game."

"Well that's nice of them," Luna said.

"I suppose," Ginny grumbled.

"What could possibly be not nice about three of your best mates coming to support you during your big Quidditch match?" Luna asked.

"I haven't seen them since Christmas."

"So?"

Ginny didn't reply, and suddenly became very fascinated with her trainers.

"Ginevra," Luna said, "You cannot still be embarrassed about the...incident."

"I kissed Harry at the Christmas party!" Ginny exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Yes, well, everyone drinks a bit too much butterbeer during the holidays," Luna said, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Shut up."

"I'm serious. What's so bad? I thought you guys had a good laugh about it and then everything went back to normal."

"Well, it was more like he laughed at me and I blushed a lot."

"Yes, your face does tend to get very red when you drink," Luna said vaguely.

Ginny scowled at her and continued, "But you're right, everything's normal, we owl each other every week. Just good old mates, like always."

"And you're upset with that because...?"

"Who says I'm upset? Ginny said, walking towards the changing rooms.

"Because you fancy him!" Luna said sagely, the lion on her head roaring in agreement.

"I--do--not--fancy--Harry," Ginny said fiercely. "I'm just embarrassed. Very, very embarrassed."

"Why are you so embarrassed? It was an accident, after all," Luna said, staring pointedly at Ginny. Ginny stopped before the changing room door and mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?" Luna asked.

Ginny turned around. "It wasn't an accident."

"Oh really?" Luna asked casually.

"I thought I saw something...in his eyes..." Ginny trailed off. "Oh never mind, it's stupid. It was just the damned eggnog!"

"You fancy him!" Luna called after her. "Oh, and not to make you any more nervous, but there's going to be a scout from Puddlemere United in the crowd!" Luna yelled before Ginny could slam the door on her.

~*~

Ginny hovered on her broom, hastily mopping blood off of her lip. She and the other Gryffindor Chasers were dominating the game, and the Slytherins had only been able to score once. Finally, after Ginny had made a magnificent loop around the Slytherin Keeper and scored Gryffindor's sixteenth goal, one of the Beaters became so frustrated he threw his club at her and she had been rewarded a penalty shot. So now Ginny faced the Slytherin Keeper alone. She cradled the Quaffle in her arms, contemplating her next move. They were 150 points ahead, and they needed this next goal to ensure that the game wouldn't end in a tie. So Ginny pushed all the nagging thoughts out of her head, took a deep breath, and concentrated on perfectly executing the patented "Weasley Fake," as Bill had coined it. She pulled her broom upwards and to the right, and in the split-second that the Keeper's eyes followed her move, she shot to the left and put the Quaffle through the hoop. She grinned widely and zoomed back towards the middle of the pitch. She spotted Luna's lion head roaring in the crowd, its owner jumping up and down. Hermione was standing next to her, doing a sort of a jig and gripping Ron's arm, who was hollering, "That's my sister! I taught her that!" Ginny laughed, but then her breath caught in her throat. Harry was standing next to Ron, grinning and cheering. Don't think about it, she told herself and swallowed hard, turning back to the middle of the pitch, where the Quaffle had just been released. She dropped back to open up the field and called to her teammate to pass to her, but stopped as the Slytherin Seeker broke into a dive and hurtled after the glittering Snitch. Ginny held her breath. Even if he catches it, we still win, she thought, although she had always envisioned her last game as a landslide Gryffindor victory. Before she could think anymore about this, the Gryffindor Seeker came out of nowhere and snatched the Snitch up right in front of the Slytherin Seeker's outstretched fingers. Ginny hollered and did a victory roll before landing on the pitch amid a sea of scarlet and gold. She picked up her Seeker in a fierce hug and cried into her shoulder, "You did it, you did it!" Ginny was immediately engulfed by the rest of her teammates, all whooping and hollering. Ginny saw Ron and Hermione edging their way through the throng of cheering Gryffindors. Hermione's eyes were clouded over with a fine mist of tears, and Ron looked as though he could cry as well. He ran forwards and hugged his little sister.

"I'm so proud of you!" he said happily. "You guys have no idea how much this means to Harry and me!"

"Yeah, we do," she said. "This win is for you guys."

"That's pretty noble of you," a familiar voice said behind her. Ginny spun around to find Harry standing in the crowd. He smiled widely at her. "Considering this is your last year and all, I'd think you'd want to keep the win for yourself."

Ginny felt her throat closing and the ground beneath her feet spinning. Don't think about it--everything's back to normal. Best friends. "Well, I suppose we'll keep some of the glory," Ginny smiled. She punched him playfully in the shoulder. Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug. Hermione sobbed loudly behind them.

"Hermione, what're you crying about?" Harry asked, releasing Ginny.

"Yeah, you don't even like Quidditch," Ron said, confused.

"I'm just so...happy," she whimpered. "Last year, even after Harry defeated Voldemort, you were both so put out that you didn't get to finish the Quidditch season, even though it's just a stupid game. And now Ginny's gone and done it, she's won, and..." Hermione grabbed Ginny and buried her head in her shoulder. "You're incredible, Ginny!"

"Thanks Hermione," Ginny laughed, patting her on the back. Ron and Harry smiled as the Gryffindors cheered around them, Luna's lion head roaring happily in the crowd.

~*~