Chapter 29
"Ginny Weasley... long time no see," I nodded calmly to the first-year shifting uncomfortably in front of me. At the moment, she looked extremely awkward, trying to hide her hands somewhere and avert her gaze.
"You look good, this sweater suits you," I smiled at the girl, dropping a routine and meaningless compliment. Which, however, was quite deserved — it was clear that Ginny had prepared for this meeting, trying to dress up. Well, as best as she could anyway.
"T-thank you, H-Harry," the red-haired Gryffindor squeaked in embarrassment. "You too... um, I mean... well... I hope my brothers didn't cause you any problems?.."
"Not at all. Rather the opposite — I'm even grateful to them for preparing... our little date," I chuckled softly, deep down feeling extremely awkward. Embarrassing this girl, playing on her feelings and emotions, was so easy that it even strained me.
"True, this habit of theirs to constantly finish each other's sentences and simply confuse their conversation partner in every possible way with their absolute identicalness..."
"He-he-he, yes... the twins are true masters at that. Even Mother sometimes can't tell them apart," Ginny cheered up a bit, appreciating my slightly feigned but incredibly telling sigh and simply switching easily to a topic familiar to her. However, the red-haired Gryffindor couldn't develop it on her own, very quickly starting to return to her previous embarrassment and awkwardness...
"Sigh, and yet in her own house, in conversations with other kids, she definitely didn't have such communication problems," I winced mentally, finding such a vivid, awkward — purely teenage crush, quite... burdensome. It's hard to communicate with a person who is afraid to say an extra word in your presence. And afraid for a completely non-trivial reason!
"Yeah, I'm even afraid to imagine what it's like to live with that pair of bandits. And you have enough older brothers even without them..." however, I wasn't going to give up so easily, seeing perfectly well that with a healthy drop of interest on my part, Ginny would be ready to completely and utterly switch to talking about her family.
Which, in fact, is what happened. The girl, for whom life in such a large, active, and slightly overprotective family had become quite a trial and even a certain burden, very easily switched to discussing her older brothers, mother, and even father... Sometimes, however, remembering that I am actually an orphan and whether it's normal that we are discussing such things at all.
More precisely, Luna's peer didn't get to direct questions, but her awkward pauses and embarrassed expressions sometimes spoke better than any words. But the conversation, as well as the short walk, didn't end there. Discussing someone else's family turned out to be very fertile ground for conversation, based on which I very easily managed to shift the topic both towards the little girl's studies at Hogwarts, and towards her personal affairs in her house or specific classes.
You could say that I seriously set a goal to conduct a real date for Ginny Weasley, entertaining her with conversations and simply trying to get to know the Gryffindor better, which the red-haired little one herself really liked and was flattered by. Even if at times she didn't mind listening to something about me too, wondering, for example, why the Sorting Hat sent me to the Ravens, and not the Lions, since my parents studied in their house...
In short, everything went a little better than I could have expected when going on a date with a first-year in love with me. She turned out to be not so hopeless in terms of communication as it seemed to me initially, and the date route organized by her older brothers frankly pleased me.
In the sense that the twins arranged a real quest for us, hand-drawing a small map with a bunch of secret passages, through which Ginny and I were supposed to make our way, exploring all the "mysteries and hidden places of our castle." The latter is a direct quote from George, I think, which I don't entirely agree with, but...
The twins knew the castle a couple of orders of magnitude better than me, so strolling along the route they chose, sometimes spending ten minutes trying to get into this or that passage, because it opened, for example, only if you managed to negotiate with one of the living portraits or by entering a not-so-obvious and simple cipher... it was quite entertaining, interesting, and even fun.
The Weasleys really went out of their way for their younger sister! They also built the route in such a way that we eventually came out exactly at the top of the Astronomy Tower, which offered a simply beautiful view of the castle and its surroundings. Which, however, was already quite familiar to me personally, since we have Astronomy classes here after all, but in general... if Ginny and I were older, and the weather outside was better, this whole situation could have become quite romantic.
"Harry, I... can I hug you?" although for Ginny, obviously, there was more than enough of this romance. At the same time, the Gryffindor, to my surprise, seemed to even have some idea of what a proper couple should be doing at such a memorable stage of a date... And even if, thank all the gods, spirits, ancestors, and magic itself, this little squirt didn't dare ask me for a kiss, but... I still didn't refuse her an embrace.
Which was also quite awkward, primarily due to the fact that I was generally not enticed by any romance with the red-haired squirt, but... thoughts that she and I are practically the same age right now and I need to maintain a good relationship with this little girl for at least some time anyway reconciled me with this strange situation.
"But how much easier it would have been, after all, to take away that cursed notebook before she appeared at Hogwarts... Here you really can't pull off such a theft. Everyone is in plain sight of each other, damn it," I sighed mentally, unfortunately failing to confiscate the artifact dangerous to all of us from the Gryffindor on the very first date.
And that was exactly what the plan consisted of! After all, it's damn hard to steal anything from a stranger — at least if you're not an experienced thief, which I am not at all. But to snatch a small diary from someone's bag during a date? Yes, that would be within my power.
Only one small problem arose with the confiscation of someone else's horcrux... The youngest Weasley simply didn't bring it! And just like that, completely out of nowhere, to inquire about the magical diary of a little girl in love with me was simply inappropriate.
Even Ginny, despite her eyes clouded by pink hearts, would quickly understand that something was very wrong here, and in general, how would I know about her diary?.. In the end, Luna's former friend, upon verification, turned out to be far from a complete fool. Well, as "not a fool" as a Hogwarts first-year in love can be, who uses an artifact unknown to her without a second thought... But even so — inquiring directly about her diary and this topic was simply inappropriate. Ginny wouldn't understand. And therefore...
"I'll have to either arrange another date, which is now guaranteed to generate a bunch of rumors about my relationship with the little Gryffindor... Or, as I promised the twins, introduce this girl into my social circle almost on a permanent basis," I mentally sorted through the possible options... not so much of my actions, but of the development of events in general.
In the end, having started communicating with Ginny and not destroying her feelings on the first date, which could have been attempted had the girl had Tom Riddle's diary with her, I would still have to somehow continue communicating with this red-haired squirt in any case. My choice now was only in what format to give to this relationship... But even here, to be honest, there weren't that many options.
"Only I definitely don't want to play a couple in love any further, not to mention organizing dates with a first-year on my own... So I feel I will have to, in the near future, once again break the worldview of one arrogant ferret," I smiled mentally, finding something amusing even in such a situation.
Although in reality, of course, the task before me was highly non-trivial. Seriously, I couldn't even imagine how to reconcile Malfoy, and my other snake acquaintances, with the presence in our company of not just a Gryffindor, but a whole Weasley, with whom my blond friend somehow didn't get along on a genetic level... Hmm, yes, it will be difficult... But not impossible! And I already have a few ideas on this matter.
"True, I'll have to ask Luna for a little help again..." I sighed out loud, after the date escorting Ginny to her common room and immediately heading to one of the abandoned classrooms — for training... And to ponder over another intrigue. Which this time even begins to resemble some kind of complex multi-move combination.
In the sense that I was going to win Luna over to my side to enlist the support of Astoria Greengrass, who had recently become good friends with my ward, and then — through this spoiled little princess, influence Daphne and ultimately force Draco and all the others who disagreed with her adored younger sister's decision to be bullied into submission...
Oh yes, this plan is definitely worthy of a novice grey eminence and a great schemer... who hasn't climbed out of the sandbox yet, true, but I will prefer not to remember this small nuance for the sake of my own pride and Ego. In reality, the idea really doesn't sound too bad. I just need to enlist the support of the female part of our collective, and then even the proud and highly categorical in his dislike for "blood traitors" Malfoy won't go against all of us.
He could get offended and flare up after something like this — that's true. But Draco is generally a very forgiving and soft boy, especially when it comes not to strangers, but to his absolute friends... And even if it's awkward for me to use this very forgiving nature of my friend, there are still no clear alternatives that suit me, so the blondie will just have to endure it a bit.
"It might even do him some good... Hopefully, I'll be able to eradicate from this little shit this racism of his towards not only 'Blood Traitors', but also muggle-born wizards," I mentally evaluated the possible prospects, immediately, however, calming my enthusiasm a bit.
Otherwise, all these thoughts about how and for whom life will be better definitely won't lead to any good, and justifying my own selfishness and reluctance to take a more difficult path with some desire to re-educate Malfoy is not good. In reality, I simply don't want to mess around with Ginny Weasley alone, while also risking catching myself in some quasi-romantic relationship with her... Although the latter, if you think about it a little, is not that important.
To defend my position and the right to act exactly as it comes into my head, I have already more or less learned, having become accustomed not only to the society of teenagers, but also to some peculiarities of local upbringing and even magical traditions... So in reality, everything comes down to my reluctance to waste extra time and nerves on this whole venture. Especially since I have enough to do without it. The library and magical training, you know, take up a lot of time!
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