Title: Deserved Payback
Ship: Harry/Hermione
Name/Pen Name: Giovanni/Harry85
Word Count: 1944
Theme #/Theme: #2/ Prank someone. Anyone
Challenge count: 2/7 finished

Content: PG-13
Spoilers: Books 1-6 I guess…
Warnings: Mention of Ron/Luna, some Ginny bashing
Summary: After the war, Ginny thinks she and Harry belong together, but he is not agreeing. What will he and his friends invent to teach the redhead a lesson?

Disclaimer: I don’t own HP. I wish I did, but no, it’s not mine, it’s property of JK Rowling.


Deserved Payback

Harry Potter was a frustrated young man. Since his victory over Lord Voldemort, his life had become if possible even worse. Now he was known as the Boy-Who-Won and newspapers fought to have an interview. The Ministry kept organizing parties to celebrate the new freedom, and being the hero he was almost forced to go.

He hated to be in the spotlight, but he continuously was.

If this was not enough, he had another trouble to take care of. Ginny Weasley.

The redhead lived under the assumption that he would go back with her once the war was finished, and since it was now, she kept tormenting him.

Everywhere he would go, she would follow him and not allow girls within two meters from him, especially Hermione. That was particularly infuriating, because if he had not problems with Ginny keeping the other girls away, he did have a problem with her keeping Hermione distant, or trying to, as the brunette was not easily intimidated, especially by Ginny.

See, the boy had realized he was deeply in love with his best friend, and that he had been in denial for too long. So, once the peril was gone, he planned to tell her just that, but Ginny made it almost impossible.

Once again, Harry was walking through the corridors, going to have breakfast, and Ginny arrived, taking his hand.

“Good morning, Harry dear” she said in a sing song voice that almost made him retch right there. Pulling his hand away from hers, he glared at her.

“Ginny, what shall I do to make you understand? We.Are.Not.Together!” he hissed, but she shrugged his words off and hooked her arm with his one.

Groaning, Harry kept walking, ignoring everything she was saying to him.

Entering the Great Hall in such way, they did raise more than one interested look, especially from the other tables. The Gryffindors by now knew it was all Ginny’s doing, especially Hermione and Ron.

“Ginny, care to leave my arm so I can fill my plate?” Harry icily said, and she complied with a sickeningly sweet smile.

While they were eating, she took a bite of the sausage he was eating.

“What are you doing?” a bewildered Harry asked.

“Lovers should share everything” she smugly replied.

Harry wanted to bang his head on the nearest wall so hard that he would be unconscious for at least a month. It would be a real heaven, compared to this.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes, while Ron glared at his sister, his mouth full as usual. When they were walking to the dungeons for Potions, Ginny resumed her position on Harry’s arm, almost pushing Hermione away to do so.

“Is she your new pet, Scarhead?” Malfoy sneered seeing them.

Ron wanted to kick both Malfoy’s ass for calling his sister a pet, and Ginny’s for acting so ridiculously, but managed to keep quiet.

“He doesn’t deserve our attention” Hermione simply said, walking past the Slytherin, with Harry that followed suit, and Ron too.

“I’m sorry for her behaviour, mate. I don’t know what to say her to make her stop” Ron told Harry while they were waiting for Piton to arrive.

“It’s not your fault. Soon or later she will get it” the raven haired wizard sighed.

Later that day, Ron approached Ginny.

“Gin, we need to talk”

“What, has Harry sent you to tell me he’s going to declare his love for me tonight?” she smiled.

“Ginny, I’m serious. You have to stop acting like this. It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t fancy you back, so stop embarrassing yourself and him like this” he said.

“Oh, Ron, you’re so naïve. You really have no experience in this kind of thing, right?” she said, with a pitying look to her brother. “It’s crystal clear he’s head over heels for me. He just needs to find the courage to admit it”

“I’d say it’s crystal clear he’s in love, yes, but not with you” Ron slightly grinned.

“Nonsense. Anyhow, when I’ve finished with him, I’ll help you get your Hermione. With my help, you can’t fail”

“You’re bloody mad! Me and Hermione, that’s crazy!” Ron shrieked, and left shaking his head and muttering something like “totally mental, she is”

On his way back to the Gryffindor common room Ron couldn’t stop thinking about Ginny’s suggestion. “How can she think I fancy Hermione is beyond me. Even the walls know I’m in love with Luna” he muttered to himself, and never noticed someone walking toward him.

The collision was inevitable, and he found himself on the ground, staring at a pretty blonde girl.

“Oh, it’s you, Luna” he said, reddening. He couldn’t believe he had made a fool of himself in front of her.

“Hi, Ronald. I was just searching you, would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?” she airily said.

“What? Oh, yeah, of course. I’d love to” he smiled, and held out an hand to her so she could stand up.

“Thanks for the help, you’re so sweet” she said, before walking away. He stood there, blushing madly and grinning like an idiot. He was going to have a date with Luna!

Remembering the task at hand, he went to the common room, and found Harry and Hermione studying. They were alone, and he stood on the threshold for some time, watching them with a smile playing at his lips.

Harry had just pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, making her blush.

“Definitely in love, those two are” he thought, before the Fat Lady hissed to him to move from there, so she could resume her position.

“Hermione, sorry to steal Harry from you for a moment but I need to talk with him” the redhead said, reaching the table where they were working.

“Ok, but make it quick. We are trying to study here!” she glared at him. He nodded.

Harry followed his best mate in the boy’s dorm, curious about what Ron wanted to tell him.

“There’s good news and bad ones. What do you want to hear first?”

“The bad one” Harry said.

Ron sighed. “I talked with Ginny, and she’s bloody mental. She thinks you’re deep in love with her and just lack the courage to tell her, she even thinks I fancy Hermione!”

Harry’s eyes widened. “I thought you liked Luna!”

“That’s the good news. I bumped into her on the way back, and she asked me out for next Hogsmeade trip!” Ron ended grinning.

Harry smiled too. “Well, it’s great mate. But…she asked you out? Aren’t you the man out of the two of you?” he teased his friend.

Ron blushed and shifted his feet sheepishly.

“Just taking the mickey out of you, mate” Harry said with a clap on the redhead’s shoulder.

“Harry! Come here now!” they could hear Hermione bellowing from the common room.

“You better go” Ron said, smiling. “We’ll talk more later”

Harry nodded and went downstairs.

That night, Ron exposed his plan to Harry. He was, after all, brother of the terrible Fred and George, and he could be almost as mischievous if the need presented itself.

Harry was a bit sceptical about it, but in the end reckoned it was worth a shot. He would do anything to have Ginny off his back.

So, a couple days later, he left her a note.

She giddily took it, and read.

“Dearest Ginny,
meet me after dinner in the Room of Requirements,
we need to talk.
Your beloved Harry”

“This is it” she thought, grinning. “He’s going to declare his love for me”

That very afternoon, Harry and Ron were in the common room to get the second part of the plan going. Harry had his back to the door, and Ron alerted him with a slight kick when Ginny entered the room.

The raven haired wizard took the hint, and started talking.

“I’m going to tell her everything tonight. She needs to know the truth, it’s not time for playing around anymore” then he turned and noticed her. “Oh, hi Ginny” he said with a fake smile.

“Hi Harry” she smiled back, and went to the girls’ dorms feeling almost floating.

She started going trough her wardrobe to search for a proper attire, if everything went like she hoped they might not even come back from the Room of Requirement the whole night, so she should wear something sexy, but not overdo it.

When the time came, she felt her heart thumping in her chest. Every step to the Room of Requirement led her nearer to what she had dreamed her whole life, and she couldn’t help grinning. When she opened the door, the room was more or less like she expected.

It was cosy, and she almost laughed so happy she was.

“Hi, Ginny” Harry said with a smile. “Fancy a glass of pumpkin juice?”

“Oh, thanks Harry. I am a bit thirsty, thinking of it” she said, gladly taking the glass from his hand. Harry waited for her to drink it, and suddenly she looked at him strangely, then ran away from the room.

“Looks like Ron’s plan worked, till now” Harry grinned to himself, taking a sip. What he didn’t know was that his drink had been tampered with by Ron too, and he felt an intense need to go find a certain brunette.

He found her in the library, and walked toward her.

“Hermione, may I have a word with you?” he said, feeling bold and determined. He knew Ron had done something to his drink, but he honestly was glad for it now.

“Of course, Harry. What’s the matter?”

He then did what he had dreamed of doing for months, but had never the guts to attempt in reality. He pulled her close and met her lips with his own.

Saying that Hermione was surprised would be the statement of the century, but she regained her composure quickly enough to lace her arms around his neck and kiss him back. Their tongues met for the first time, and it sent shivers through both their bodies, like nothing they had experienced before. Pulling her even closer, Harry barely managed to keep his hands off of her, and she was feeling the same. They kept kissing till lack of air was a problem, but immediately attacked each other’s mouth again. As the kissing grew even more heated, Madame Pince noticed them, and shooed them away.

Giggling like mad, Hermione grabbed her things, and hand in hand they ran to the Great Hall. Harry had told her there was something she really needed to see in there, and she trusted him enough to follow him.

Opening the doors, they found the whole Hall laughing madly, and Ginny trying in every way to kiss Piton, who kept running away, followed by the crazy redhead, till they both left the room, almost knocking down Harry and Hermione in the process.

The Headmistress looked at the Gryffindor table where now the two new arrived had sat with mock indignation, and clear amusement in her eyes.

“It perfectly worked, mate” Ron said to Harry, grinning madly.

“It’s good enough to actually be a twins’ prank” he agreed, still holding Hermione’s hand, while she was glaring at the two of them.

“It’s not funny” she said in mock sternness.

“What? It was bloody hilarious!” Ron said, looking at her like she had a second head.

“You should have involved me too!” she said, her features changing to a wide grin.

All of them looked at each other before starting to laugh, joining the rest of the Hall in the amusement.

Nice

I your portrayal of Ginny (even if it was a bit harsh) was rather amusing.