Professor Dumbledore had been right. Hot Chocolate did cheer her up. A bit, at least. She was no longer crying. That, however, did not mean she wouldn't cry at all. She was afraid of the idea of facing the school. She slowly walked away from the Hospital Wing. Justin Finch-Flethcley, a Hufflepuff boy, was talking to Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, and Ernie Macmillan. They saw Ginny and quickly buried their noses in their notes. They barely seemed to notice their books were upside down.
Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington, the Gryffindor ghost, looked hesitant and went into the opposite wall. There stood Percy holding his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, close to him. Near the Entrance to Gryffindor Tower, Ginny encountered Colin Creevey. He looked at her with a blush and a terrified look. Ginny felt a pang of guilt each time she saw her victims. She had gotten them all in so much trouble.
Entering Gryffindor Tower, she saw her brother, the boy she fancied, and their friend huddled in a corner. Looking at Hermione Granger made tears come to Ginny's eyes. Hermione was her brother's best friend! Hermione was Harry's best friend! And Ginny had not spared her either!
Then, there was Harry. It was too painful to think about it, and her cheeks were already damp from the tears running down her cheeks now.
She looked around. Her roommates and classmates were all avoiding her eyes. They all pretended to be in deep conversations but, in reality, were only discussing 'that silly girl' as some people pointed fingers at her.
True, she was the one who had avoided them all year, choosing to write in that stupid diary! She had made no friends at all! She wondered if she had to spend the rest of her Hogwarts years like this. She stole a glance at each of her brothers for help.
Percy had entered the Common Room with his girlfriend. His eyes met Ginny's eyes, and a pang of guilt shot through him. He had been insufferable and careless! Ron was right when he accused Percy of being only interested in his chances of becoming Head Boy. Ron had correctly pointed out that day that Percy didn't care for Ginny and only cared about losing his Golden Chance of becoming Head Boy. He hadn't even let Ginny tell Harry and Ron anything, thinking she would tell Ron and Harry about his girlfriend and him. After finding out that Ginny was taken down into the Chamber, even then, what had Percy done? He locked himself up in his room! With sad eyes, he looked down.
Ginny turned her gaze to the Weasley twins, sitting with their best friend, Lee Jordan. It was George who first caught her eye. He looked so ashamed and miserable. She caught Fred's eyes then. He looked angry at himself and ashamed. Fred and George then locked eyes, and Ginny knew they were thinking the same thing.
"George, how could we do this?"
"I don't know, Fred. We have been so careless and dismissive!"
"We first let Ron go after that stone last year and get himself nearly killed last year."
"And this year, we let Ginny write in a diary that nearly killed her!"
"And we ignored her for the entire year, George!"
"Once we found out that Ginny was taken down to the Chamber, what did we do, Fred? We just accepted defeat and went to bed!"
"Our brother and his best friend saved our sister, George."
"We, the older brothers, should have done that! We should've taken care of her, Fred!"
"Fred! George! You okay?" Lee's voice shook them out of their reverie.
"Lee, sorry," George said.
"Yeah." Fred agreed.
Lee gave them an understanding look.
Ginny went to a corner and sat there. Sitting at a distance diagonal to her was the Golden Trio. She first caught Ron's eye. He gave every indication that a thousand emotions were threatening to burst out of him. He looked relieved that Ginny was safe, upset that Ginny had to go through all that ordeal, scared to death at the prospect of her death, angry at himself for ignoring her ever since he met Harry and Hermione when he started Hogwarts, guilty over the fact that he had virtually ignored what was going on in Ginny's life when she started Hogwarts and determined not to let danger come anywhere closer to those close to him, such as Ginny. He certainly did not have the emotional range of a teaspoon.
Ginny glanced at Hermione, who gave her a reassuring smile which turned to horror because Ginny's eyes welled up again with guilt and shame. Hermione was her brother and Harry's best friend! She had put Hermione in danger as well! Without looking at Harry, Ginny took out all her first-year textbooks, moved into the corner, and piled the books up vertically in front of her so as to hide from the others.
Just then, she heard a cracking voice that was rather familiar to her. "Want a game? Exploding Snap?"
She looked up, and tears welled up in her eyes again. It was Harry Potter! Oh, he had definitely grown about an inch taller over the last year! Harry Potter! He who had defeated Lord Voldemort as a baby and as a young boy! He who she had an embarrassing crush on! He who had risked his life and almost died saving her! Because of her! But those brilliant green eyes did not look at her with pity as she had feared.
He sat down next to her and spoke as though she had only been his long-time friend and nothing had happened between them. "You know, I'm rather bored. Ron and Hermione are fighting. That's a rather usual occurrence. They fight over everything under the sun. Let me tell you a secret I haven't told anyone, though." He leaned towards her, and she had to stifle a gasp.
"Ron and Hermione fancy each other!" Harry whispered in Ginny's ears, sending a chill down her spine that had nothing to do with Hermione and Ron fancying each other. Frankly speaking, Ginny HAD noticed her brother and the bushy brown-haired girl having something going on between them. Just because Ginny and the stupid diary were a thing does not mean Ginny didn't notice what was happening in her brother's life! She had been the first to find out Percy had a girlfriend! She knew Fred and George fancied Angelina Johnson of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Of course, she knew Ron wasn't just friends with Hermione Granger. But it was so nice of Harry eyes-as-green-as-a-freshly-pickled-toad Potter to let her in on what he seemed to think was rather a secret.
"So? Exploding Snap?" Harry asked her kindly, and she nodded. Ginny won the first round and Harry the second round. This made Ginny cheer up considerably.
As they played, Ginny's brothers glanced over in her direction. Percy, Fred, George, and Ron looked solemn as they had been so careless over the previous year and that their sister almost died because of their negligence. They looked at Harry gratefully, although Harry didn't notice this. Ron turned his attention back to Hermione, confident that she wasn't lonely now that Harry was with Ginny. Ron didn't notice, but Hermione did, was that Percy, Fred, and George glanced at Ron with pride! They were proud of their little brother! While they had stayed back in Gryffindor Tower that fateful night, their baby brother had gone with his best friend down to the Chamber of Secrets to save their baby sister!
They caught Hermione looking at them and immediately looked away. Hermione looked at Ron, once again finding something within herself that she couldn't quite explain. Harry was her best friend! Harry was her brother! But Ron… Oh, she loved his fiery red hair, his brilliant blue eyes, his tall stature that made her feel so safe, and his protective nature that practically made her forget who she was for a while!
Ron noticed that a pair of chocolate brown eyes was looking at him, and his stomach lurched. A certain bushy brown-haired angel was looking at him. He had no idea why he suddenly felt like this with this bossy girl who also happened to be his best friend. He had never felt anything like this before, and yet here he was, feeling butterflies in his stomach. He tried to hide his feelings for Hermione from his siblings, but a voice inside his head kept nagging him, "THEY KNOW!"
Ron looked up and met Hermione's eyes, and both of them blushed. Just then, Percy patted Ron's shoulders. "Good night, Ron, Hermione." They greeted him back as he left for his dormitory. Evidently, he had just given a final glance to Ginny and Harry. The Weasley twins did the same and went to bed a short while later.
Hermione yawned, and Ron's eyelids began to droop as well. They too glanced at Ginny, waved at Harry, and went to their respective dormitories.
Harry and Ginny had played for so long that they found themselves to be the last of the Gryffindors in the Common Room. Harry's, or rather Dudley's old watch, told Harry that it was half-past midnight. He put his cards down and let Ginny win. She grinned! A genuine grin had flashed across her face since the Chamber incident! Something moved within Harry that he couldn't quite place. Butterflies danced in his stomach, and he felt something in his chest as he stole a glance at the real Ginny. Not the shy, awkward Ginny who had been so taken in with him. The true Ginny Weasley!
The grin, however, vanished from Ginny's face. "I have been stupid!" She was on the verge of tears again. Harry wanted to do something.
"You and I are similar in the aspect that we have both faced Lord Voldemort!" He said.
"The difference being you fought him while I…." Tears were pouring down her face now.
"You fought him too! You chucked that diary in the toilet where it belonged! You fought Voldemort." Ginny closed her eyes briefly but neither shuddered nor told Harry off for using the name. This impressed Harry. "You think I'm special? That I fought him on my own? Absolutely not! My parents and best friends have had my back all along. You fought the filthy arse all on your own!"
"But I needed help! I nearly killed all those people, Filch's cat, and did not even spare Nearly Headless Nick!" Ginny sobbed. "Because of me, you almost died in that Chamber."
Harry wasn't very good with emotional girls but desperately wanted to do something for Ginny. "L-Look, Ginny, you don't understand. You were strong! You resisted and fought Voldemort. He made you petrify and nearly kill all the victims we spoke about. Not to mention Voldemort already killed loads of people long before he tried doing the same through you."
Ginny swiped furiously at her eyes as she seemed to consider this. A brief silence, not awkward at all, passed between them.
"W-Why do you call him Voldemort anyway?" Ginny suddenly asked. "That filthy bastard's name is TOM RIDDLE!"
"Right! Tom Riddle made you do all his dirty work! You were strong, Ginny, and innocent. Not naïve or stupid." Harry told her and patted her back encouragingly. They sat in silence for a moment. Tired, Ginny let her head droop onto Harry's shoulder. Then, as though suddenly realizing, her head shot up, "Oh, what have I done? I am so sorry, Harry!"
Harry grinned and shook his head, "No, you are tired. It's nice having someone to talk to, someone who doesn't mind your presence. Somebody who doesn't think I'm a freak who deserves to be locked in the cupboard under the stairs."
When he turned to look at Ginny, once again he saw the real Ginny Weasley. Fury erupted in her eyes, and she glared daggers into the distance. The glare obviously was not directed at Harry. She stood up, wand held tightly in her slightly shivering hand.
"HOW DARE THEY!" She growled.
"I-I don't want to cause trouble. Please, Ginny." Harry shivered. Experience had taught him that if someone looked furious, he was in trouble. Ginny saw him and her heart went out to him. "I'm so sorry, Harry." She hugged Harry and felt him relax against her chest.
As she sat down, she asked, "Anything I can do, Harry?" Harry shook his head, "Be my friend, will you?"
She grinned and rested her head against his shoulder as he had an identical grin on his face and his hand went around her waist. The two of them sat in bliss for a long time.
Do Like, Share, and Comment! Do not forget to subscribe.
_______________________________________________________________________
Inspired from a quote in "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child".
"GINNY: After I came out of hospital — everyone ignored me, shut me out — other than, that is, the boy who had everything — who came across the Gryffindor common room and challenged me to a game of Exploding Snap. People think they know all there is to know about you, but the best bits of you are — have always been — heroic in really quiet ways. My point is — after this is over, just remember if you could that sometimes people — but particularly children — just want someone to play Exploding Snap with." – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
_______________________________________________________________________
Originally posted on 19th February. Minor changes made here.