Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 83: Girlfriend
That same afternoon, the Weasley family was back at their house.
The first thing that the matriarch of the house did was start cooking a copious meal.
There was no doubt that Molly Weasley had missed putting food on the table, despite having only been in the House of Black for two days.
Ginny took a long bath and changed her clothes. Her home may be humble, but she felt much more at ease within its crooked walls. The House of Black felt cold and lifeless, despite its opulence.
When she walked outside to get some fresh air, she found her brother Ron admiring one of the five guardian statues that had been left surrounding their garden.
The Headmaster had explained all the arrangements he had prepared for their protection.
Of course, Ginny knew that all of this had been done by Harry. But her parents would never trust a ward made by someone they viewed as a child.
"Ginny loook! This is so cool!" Ron was tapping on one of the golems. "The Headmaster said that they were very strong, but how can I make this one move?"
"Ron, stop poking at it. They won't move unless intruders show up," Ginny told her excited brother.
"I know that!" Ron responded. "I was also there when he explained it. But there should be a way to make them move. I mean, they are ours, right?"
"They are here for your protection, not for your amusement." The voice drifted through the wind and reached their ears.
Ron looked everywhere but could not locate the person who had just spoken. "Harry?"
Ginny felt movement near her and looked up, just in time to see him descending at her side. "You took your sweet time to return."
"I was busy with some old skeleton," Harry responded as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
Ginny smiled. "I want to hear everything about your little adventure."
"I can do better than t—"
"Harry! Where did you…" Ron exclaimed. A deep frown formed on his face when he saw how close he was to Ginny. "Hey, don't get so close to my sister."
"Ron. Harry and I are together. You already knew about this," Ginny huffed at him.
"I don't care. I did not approve of this." Ron glared at them while furiously pointing at Harry.
"Since when do I need your approval? You never complained before when I was with Dean," Ginny told him.
"He wasn't my best mate. Who cares?" Ron said.
"So, it is not your sister's virtue you are trying to protect." Ginny raised an eyebrow. "You are just jealous because you think I'm taking your best mate away?"
Harry sighed, his arm still loosely around Ginny's waist. "It's not a competition, Ron. I'm not going anywhere. I'm still your friend."
"That's easy for you to say!" Ron snapped, his ears turning red. "You've got her, and you're still you! You two are off doing Merlin-knows-what, talking in your own little code, and now you're just… here, in my house, acting like it's all normal!"
"It is normal," Ginny insisted, her own temper flaring. "Or it should be. Why can't you just be happy for us?"
"Because it's weird!" Ron burst out, gesturing wildly between them. "He's Harry! My best mate! And you're my little sister! I don't want to think about… about you two… together like that!"
A tense silence fell, broken only by the distant clatter of pans from the kitchen, caused by Molly.
Harry removed his arm from Ginny's waist and stepped slightly forward, placing himself more squarely between the two siblings.
"Ron," Harry said, his voice low but firm. "I get it. It's a change. But Ginny isn't a possession I stole from you. She chose this. I chose this. And it doesn't erase twelve years of friendship. Nothing could."
Ron scowled, kicking at a pebble on the ground. "It just feels different now."
"It is different," Harry admitted. "But different isn't always bad. Look, you're my brother. In every way that matters. That hasn't changed. But Ginny… she's something else. Something important. Can you try to live with that?"
Ron looked from Harry's earnest, determined face to Ginny's defiant one. He saw the protective way Harry had positioned himself.
He saw the determination in his sister's eyes, and the fight seemed to drain out of him, replaced by a reluctant acceptance.
"Fine… but don't expect me to defend you if Mother gets angry at you," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets.
A slow grin spread across Ginny's face. "You never did…"
"And no… you know… snogging where I can see you," Ron added, pointing a warning finger at both of them. "Ever."
Harry chuckled, the tension dissolving. "Deal."
"Okay," Ron grumbled, turning back to the obsidian golem with a huff. "But I still want to know if this thing can fly. The Headmaster wouldn't tell me."
Harry stared at Ron for a long moment. "Why… would you think it can fly?"
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By the next day, the routine at the Weasley household had mostly returned to normal—except for the occasional awkward stare that Harry would receive from Molly.
The twins went to work, and Ron had locked himself in his room with a pile of Quidditch magazines. "Today it's Sunday, so I won't be doing anything at all!" Those were his words before closing the door.
Harry was sure to have spotted a few magazines with pictures of witches that were doing nothing related to Quidditch, but he did not comment on it.
When he walked into the garden, he found Ginny dressed in a floral dress and waiting for him with a basket in her hand. "Ready for our first proper date?" she asked with a grin.
Harry looked down at himself, wondering if he wasn't too overdressed for the occasion. He was wearing another one of the robes he got from the previous Lord Black, and, as expected, it was black. "Where are we going?"
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