Harry Potter and The Ginger Snap

Chapter 4

She felt as though someone had put the Stupefying Charm on her as soon as she entered the Common Room. Harry Potter sitting straight, his hands resting tensely on the arms of the red chair he sat in. 

"Looking for somebody?" he said, his tone harsher than normal but his voice breaking a little bit too.

"Yes, actually," Ava said trying to keep her voice strong and not letting it waver the way Harry's was.

"I'm sure you are."

Rolling her eyes as she stated the truth, "I'm here to see you, Harry."

He stood up, "You expect me to believe that?"

"Well yes, I expect you to believe me! I'm telling you the truth."

"Okay, then what is it you wanted to see me about?"

"I just couldn't sleep... I wanted to see if you were awake. I thought maybe you'd be up." Her eyebrows furrowed, "Wait? Why are you up?"

Embarrassed, he softened his tone, "I-I wanted to see if you were going to see him."

"I told you I wasn't going to, Harry. I gave you my word. And you still don't trust me?"

He ran his hands through his messy hair, "I do trust you, Ava. However, I don't trust him. Not even a little bit. And..." struggling with the next part but managing to spit it out, "And I don't want you seeing him." Silence rang between them loudly, neither of them daring to speak a word. The only sound was coming from their joint breathing in the darkly lit Common Room. Finally, Harry broke the silence, "And I don't want you seeing him not only because he called Hermione and you names, or because he says awful things about my parents, about me, or because he takes every chance he can get to call the Weasleys poor..." Swallowing, he continued, scared her silence would swallow him whole if he stopped speaking, "But because I don't want you to be with him... Or... Or anyone."

"You mean anyone but you?"

He stayed still, his head slightly nodding and he looked down at his feet, "Yes... Ava, I mean anyone but me."

Suddenly, the boy's dormitory door flew open and Neville Longbottom stood awkwardly in the doorway, "Is everything okay?"

Ava and Harry's eyes only remaining on each other, as Ava crossed her arms and said, "Yes, we're great. I was just leaving."

Without looking back, Ava turned around and slammed the girl's dormitory door. Unsure of how she felt, and why she felt so angry at Harry for complicating things, she finally fell asleep. Ava didn't attend breakfast in the Great Hall that morning, she couldn't stomach the thought of keeping food down after leaving things so open ended with Harry and on top of that, Draco. 

She couldn't pretend to not feel bad about leaving Draco stranded at the lake. She hoped he hadn't waited all night for her. She felt guilty for not knowing how she felt about Harry either. Every girl at Hogwarts, except for most Slytherins, wanted to be with Harry, they all dreamt of it. So why did Ava feel so confused about her feelings for him? It wasn't like she didn't have feelings for Harry, she did, that's what made it all so confusing. It was the same way she had feelings for Malfoy and George. 

But Ava couldn't avoid the Great Hall much longer when it became time for lunch. Sitting down at the Great Hall, Ava tried to avert her eyes from Harry's and Draco's at the Slytherin table. Nudging Sid's arm beside her to get her attention, Ava asked Sid, "Can we eat outside, I feel like I'm suffocating in here." 

"Sure, should we bring Fred and George?"

Ava nodded. Sid asked Fred and George to eat outside with them by the lake, which they were happy to do. On the walk to the lake, George asked the two girls, "So, who is it we are avoiding?"

Sid laughed and said, "She's avoiding Harry and Malfoy."

"Sid!" Ava said lightly pushing her friend.

"Sorry! I didn't know you were keeping it secret." 

George pretending to laugh along, "So you have little Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy pining for you?"

Ava, embarrassed and flustered said, "Not exactly... it's complicated."

Fred smiled at Sid as they walked behind Ava and George, "How about you, little Miss. Cedric Diggory?"

Sid smiled back at him, "Don't even start with me."

When they got to the lake they all sat down and laughed, eating the food they had brought with them stuffed in their robes. Fred sitting next to Sid by the lake said, "So, Sid, when it comes to the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor Quidditch game, will you bask in the triumph of Gryffindor or go cuddle your moping boyfriend, Cedric Diggory?"

Rolling her eyes playfully, Sid asked, "Who says you'll win?"

George laid his head in Ava's lap as he laid on his back, admiring the lake and the girl he was longing for, "Oh we'll win. You can bet galleons on it. We can't afford to lose, Angelina might hit us in the balls with a bludger." 

Suddenly, on George's left came Cedric Diggory. He walked right up to them, looking only at Sid and said, "Do you mind if I steal you?"

She smiled a little before standing up and walking away with him. Fred would've done anything to reach out his hand and pull her back down with him. He would've done anything to make her stay, to make her want to stay. But yet, all he did was sit in silence as he watched her leave.

George sat up from Ava's lap and said, "I have a new idea for our joke shop, there's a ban on Cedric Diggory."

Fred shook his head and laid on his back, looking up at the blue sky and the tall trees surrounding his field of vision, "Massive cock-block."

Ava laughed as she leaned into George a little, "More like massive cock."

George tilted his head to the side as he looked from Fred to Ava then back to Fred, "Looks like you're the cock block now."

Fred made an unfriendly hand gesture toward his brother and rolled his eyes while Ava tried not to let her face become a solid shade of pink. "What do you reckon they are talking about?" he asked protectively.

George trying to annoy his brother said, "Perhaps they are finding their next meeting place to snog. Or worse-" he was interrupted by Ava's hard elbow to his ribs. 

Fred couldn't take his eyes off of Cedric and Sid in the distance, "I hate it. I hate him."

George joked, "Yes, but you hate him because you loooove her."

Ava pushed George playfully, "Do you need to leave or can you behave yourself?"

George lifted one of his eyebrows to Ava, "Oh come on, darling, you love it when I misbehave."

Standing up Ava moved to sit next to Fred instead, after mimicking the same unfriendly hand gesture that was previously shown to George again.

Sid came back looking giddy, her face a little pink on her cheeks. She sat back down next to George and smiled big but said nothing.

Ava shook her head, "So, are you not going to tell us what he said?"

"Okay fine! He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him!" 

"That's great, Sid!" Ava said while Fred beside her moped, saying nothing.

George looked to Ava, "That reminds me, we wanted to show you guys something next Hogsmeade trip." Turning now to Sid beside him, "Do you reckon you can slip away from the handsome Cedric Diggory for a few minutes?"

"Sure," Sid said trying to suppress the smile that kept creeping up on her face every time she heard Cedric Diggory's name. 

Meanwhile, just across from Sid, Ava was trying to suppress that same smile creeping up on her own face every time she looked at George, and failing pathetically every time he looked back.