Green & Gray

Get a Grip!

Harry Potter

The knight bus came screeching to a halt just over the hill in front of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was waiting for me in front of the kitchen door. She was waving at me. Stanley Shunpike thrust my trunk into my arms. 

"Bye, Harry Potter," he said with a wide smile. I grinned wearily, knowing I was only being treated like this because I'm 'the boy-who-lived'. 

"Bye Stanley. Ernie," acknowledging both him and the bus driver. Ernie gave me a grunt of recognition. I hopped off and trudged toward Mrs. Weasley and her family. "Mrs. Weasley!" I called with a broad grin on my face. 

Then, Ron and Hermione appeared behind her. I dropped my trunk and steadied myself as they barreled into me.

"Hi," I said breathlessly, my smile now so wide, my jaw ached.

"Harry," Ron beamed down at me. I gaped up at him.

"Bloody hell, Ron! You fucking beanpole!" I cried. Hermione cackled from beside me as he turned a violent shade of magenta.

"Shut the fuck up, Harry!" he screeched, his face now maroon. "You're pretty tall too!" I did get quite lucky in the height department. He practically threw me off of him and stalked back to the kitchen. I saw Mrs. Weasley pinch him on his way past her. He yelped, and sped past her at a run.

I fell into a fresh fit of laughter as Mrs. Weasley hovered my belongings up to Ron's room. Hermione's face was pink from her own fit of giggles.

"Hi, Harry," she wheezed, her breath still uneven from laughter.

"Hey 'Mione," I croaked, pulling her onto her feet after I found my own balance. She turned and buried me in another hug.

"Harry, you aren't wearing a binder," She whispered in my ear. My eyes widened, then immediately softened. Just like Hermione to look out for me.

"Thanks, I had actually forgotten. The last 24 hours have been a nightmare." I sighed. She nodded sympathetically at me as she steered me inside, then passing me the book she had abandoned on the kitchen table to hide my chest. I smiled at her, grateful for her as a friend. It didn't matter that the Weasleys already knew I was trans, it was more about my comfort.

"Alright, come on mister," She called over her shoulder, steering me around pots that were scrubbing themselves, and vegetables that were chopping themselves. She pulled me up the stairs, talking about Ron playing quidditch yesterday with Ginny and the twins.

"... and then he fell off his broom, right on his face into the mud. Fred and George laughed for half the night. Kept apparating into his room, pantomiming the entire fiasco...Here we are, Harry!" She suddenly exclaimed. I snapped to attention to find myself in Ron's room. Ron was still a bit pink in the face and gave me a look of mock indignation. I grinned back at him, then bent over my trunk to find my binder.

"Honestly Hermione," Ron murmured. "The whole house could hear you retell that story. Maybe say it louder so the muggles on the other hill could hear you." 

Just then, a shard crack echoed around the room. Ron gave a most unmanly squeal and jumped nearly twenty feet. I grinned, still rifling through my trunk.

"Hey double trouble," I called from the floor, lifting a hand in greeting.

"Hey Harry," Fred and George chorused in unison. "And what was that little bro? Practicing to imitate a piglet?" Fred quipped as George chortled behind him. Ron flushed, hiding his face behind his pillow.

"Ooh, what's this?" a voice from the door sang. A fiery ponytail appeared by the door. Ginny's head was now poking into the room. "Are we bullying ickle Ronny?" she crooned in an excellent imitation of Mrs. Weasley, breezing into the room. 

"Yes we are, my dear sister," George exclaimed proudly. Ron was now so red in the face, I half expected the pillow to burst into flames. As they bullied Ron, my hand finally closed around it. I slammed my trunk and ran to the bathroom, resolving to offer hugs when I felt more comfortable.

I returned shortly after and walked into a warzone. Ginny had Fred's wand and had evidently performed a bat-bogey hex on Ron. Fred and George were howling with laughter. Her freckled face was livid as she muttered the counter curse. In a flash, the bats had disappeared, leaving Ron with little cuts on his face. 

Ginny shoved Fred's wand back to him and came towards me. I started to back away at her expression. She noticed, and she broke into a laugh.

"Don't worry Harry, I won't hex you. Ron was just being a prat." She wrapped me in a tight hug, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

This is just one of the many things Ginny does that I love. There's something so nice about those platonic kisses. So warm.

I smiled and hugged her back. When we let go, Ron was in a screaming match with the twins.

We chuckled, deciding to join a pale-faced Hermione on Harry's bed.

"Ginny! You can't do magic outside school! You'll get into trouble!" Hermione moaned, clearly worried.

Ginny and I exchanged a grin. We've been Fred and George's wands to bend that rule since last summer.

"Well, that's why I didn't use my wand. I used a wand that was registered to an adult who was right next to me when I did it. I learned from the best," she replied with a nudge to my ribs. I laughed, at the look on Hermione's face.

"Harry! You think the ministry will let you off because you're the boy-who-lived?"

"I AM the boy-who-lived, aren't I?" I asked with mock ignorance. Ginny guffawed and raised her hand for a high-five. I obliged. Hermione scoffed.

"Honestly, the pair of you are such troublemakers!" she cried, pushing us both a bit. We crumpled in a heap, laughing uncontrollably at the look of shock on Hermione's face. Suddenly, the door banged open.

"Honestly the lot of you! Get a grip!" Mrs. Weasley cried from the door holding a large wooden spoon threateningly at her kids.

We all went silent. She shut the door, then left us alone again. When I made eye contact with the others, an involuntary snort escaped my clamped lips. Soon, the room was now full of laughter again.

"I said get a grip!"