Fair game

Harry sat there, stacks of homework ahead of him in the library, tucked away in a corner. Harry had irresponsibly let his work pile up, but who could blame him? Between Malfoy, quidditch, his lessons with Dumbledore, and petty school drama, Harry barely had time to think about school work. Now, he had a herbology essay overdue, A history of magic worksheet and what had to be a thousand readings assigned by Slughorn.

The only work Harry had bothered to touch has his Defense Against the Dark Arts work. That was only because he was good at it, and becoming increasingly better. Of course Harry refused to admit it, but he was better than Hermione or really anybody in his year. Snape knew it very very well, and hated it. Whenever they were casting their non-verbal spells in class and Harry perfected his, Snape always pretends not to notice, and proceeds to grant a slytherin twenty house points for performing half as weak of a spell.

Hermione was supposed to help him with his work, but she was late. Thus, Harry sat there in silence, not knowing how to start. Until Hermione came rushing in, placing her books on the table.

“Sorry for my lateness, I was held up.” She settled down in her seat and tucked her hair behind her ear, taking out her books. “I'm sure you’ll be delighted to hear this bad news but Dean and Ginny finally broke up, so I stayed to comfort her.”

Harry knew the pair would argue every now and again, but the way they would snog made Harry or anybody believe that their relationship would stay intact. To be fair, when they weren’t in intense snogging sessions and were just talking, Ginny often looked bored. Harry shifted in his seat. “B-but, why?”

“I comforted her because that's what friends do, Harry.” She snorts.

Harry shook his head. “No, that's not what I meant. Why’d they break up?” He inquired. He was curious to know. Was it because of him? He hoped not. Well, a part of him hoped it was him.

“Just standard relationship problems Harry. I'm not in any position to tell you their business. Now don't be so nosy.” She examined his face closely. “I see you’re happy.”

Harry cursed himself for not hiding his smirk better. “Look, ‘Mione, I know you know how I feel about Ginny, but that doesn’t mean I'm throwing a party and doing cartwheels because they broke up.”

“Whatever you say Harry…” Hermione said with a skeptical tone. “Just give her a minute before you chase after her, okay? She just got out of a relationship.”

Harry scoffed at her words. Who said he was chasing after Ginny in the first place? Maybe it was the way they would flirt, his hand placement around her, or the romantic connection people would see them share… “Gimme a break, will you? Besides, she's single now. It's fair game. Now off the topic of Ginny and on the topic of the pounds of work I have due.” Harry said, trying to sort out his priorities.

And they immersed themselves with homework, but in the back of Harry's mind was the thought of a certain redhead.

* * *

Harry and Hermione walked back from the library as curfew drew closer. Walking into the portrait hole Harry saw Ginny on the sofa staring into the fire, not saying a word. The rest of the students were transitioning upstairs to the dormitories to go to sleep, so it was just the three of them and a couple of other students.

“You okay Ginny? Have you really just been staring at the fireplace this whole time?” Hermione asked.

“I don't feel like doing anything really.” Ginny replied. Harry noticed her red eyes, her pale face, and her sunken facial expression.

“I'm going to go to sleep but tell me if you need anything. Bye Harry, see you Ginny.” And Hermione left.

Harry couldn’t stand her like this. All he wanted to do was hug her, kiss her, comfort her. But what Hermione had said earlier stuck with him, and he knows better. So he decided to do the right thing and be a good friend.

“Hermione told me what happened. Are you genuinely okay? Want me to beat him up?” Harry offered. Ginny chuckled.

“God no, Ron had already offered. But that's not the reason I'm sad. I'm actually quite happy about my breakup with Dean.”

Same here, Harry thought.

“Well I'm not elated of course, It's just nice not to be dating a jealous, selfish git. With O.W.Ls and Quidditch and the fights I would have with Dean, stress got to me. The fights are something I won't be missing. It was always over stupid stuff like me not giving him enough attention or better yet, the fact that he thought you liked me, like romantically? Can you believe that?” Ginny asked.

Harry scoffed. “No!” Harry said, knowing damn well Dean had good reason to suspect that. Ginny was just oblivious, or probably in denial. It wasn’t gonna be long until Ginny realized how he really felt, and that scared him.

“I tried to tell him that but he would never listen. I guess I should just move on and worry about my O.W.Ls more. When I was with Dean I spent more time snogging and less time studying...”

“Yeah, I know..” Harry said under his breath. Ginny slid her hands against her thighs and stood up. “Sorry for rambling to you, Harry.” They came face to face, barely a gap between them. Nobody else remained in the common room but them. “I'm glad I listened to you Ginny, it sounded like you needed it.” His green eyes met her brown eyes and it stuck. The silence between them brewed. Harry tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, and they grew closer before the tension became so unbearable–

“Oh um, I better go to sleep. It's getting late. Goodnight Harry.” She touched his arm before leaving and sent butterflies through Harry’s stomach.

Eventually he went upstairs to the dorms as well, falling asleep while wondering if the way he touched Ginny was too much, or too little.
* * *
Ginny did not abruptly wake up to her alarm clock like normal, because she overslept. She decided to skip breakfast and get dressed. She thanked Merlin that it was no-uniform day so she could wear what she wanted, and thanked Merlin again that Dean was a sixth year student so she wouldn’t have to endure classes with him. She also remembered the way Harry touched her last night.

She cursed Merlin for not being able to spend time with Harry though.

* * *

She had promised herself to focus on O.W.Ls more. As a result, Instead of spending her free period on the quidditch pitch, outside in the sun, she dedicated her time in the library, to get some studying and review done.

Ginny arrived at the library, setting down her stuff and taking a place at a large table. Nearby was Monroe and Chelsea, two people in her year. She takes notice of them and offers them a soft smile and gets to work, but they shift over to where she's sitting. Ginny looks up from her work.

“Hey guys.” She greets, awkwardly, wondering what they want from her.

“Hey Ginny, sorry about the breakup.” Monroe frowns. Ginny resists the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn’t as good as friends with these two because she knew they were shallow. “Don’t be sorry, Monroe.”

“Okay, well, we were wondering if you wanted to study with us. O.W.Ls can be a bitch.”
Chelsea says. Ginny doesn’t decline.

“So what do you wanna work on, star charts from astronomy? Or maybe we should draft some thesis statements for History of Magic–”

“So what happened… one minute you’re a power couple and the next you hate each other.” Monroe inquires.

“Y-know, I heard some people say that you cheated, and that's why you two ended things.” Chelsea chimed in. Ginny couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She realized why a lot of people assigned the “nosy bitches” title to them.

“That's just gossip, guys. Besides, I don’t think that's really your business. Now can we do what we came here for? Studying?” They simply rolled their eyes at her request, but they got to work and began their essays. Halfway through Ginny had to use the restroom and quietly got up from her seat in order not to disturb others.

“Do you know what would be so funny..” She heard Monroe whisper to Chelsea, but continued to walk to the bathroom.
* * *
“Hey ladies.” Dean greets. Seamus cringes after Dean purposely lowers his voice around girls. Honestly, Seamus hated Dean's obsession with girls and was overjoyed when Ginny broke up with him. He just didn’t know why.

“Hi Dean, sit down with us. We’re working on some O.W.L prep.” Chelsea says.

“I definitely don’t miss O.W.Ls.” Dean says. He takes his seat where Ginny was sitting and notices the tattered up book bag with the initials G.M.W on it. “Wait-”

Ginny walks back from the lavatory to the table she was sitting at. Her face falls at the sight of Dean. Monroe tries to contain her laughter, but Chelsea can’t. She addresses the pair of them. “Is this your idea of some kind of joke?” Bitches, Ginny thought.

“Get out of my seat please.” She tells Dean, tone flat. This is the first time she has seen him since their breakup, and it's like all their emotional wounds were cut open once again. She doesn’t make eye contact with Dean.

“No.” Dean says.

“Then I’m leaving.” Ginny reaches to retrieve her books until Dean beats her to it.

She still doesn’t look at Dean. “This isn’t funny. Give me my books.” But to Monroe and Chelsea this is the funniest thing. Dean holds the books out of Ginny's reach.

“Dean, I swear to God I’m not in the mood for this. Give me my books.” Her voice stays firm. Ginny's eyes welled up with tears.

“Maybe you ought to just hand her her books, mate.” Seamus inputs. Monroe giggles sadistically. “Fine, have them.” Dean shoves them into her hands.

Ginny finally makes eye contact with him. “Fuck you Dean.” Dean only smirks as she walks away. “Are you going to tell Potter to cast a spell on me now? Typical.”

Punch or slap? Ginny thought.

Punch.

SMACK.