AN- I've had a few requests that are along the same lines; older Ginny, Harry pining over her, she doesn't take him seriously... and then she does.
In this A/U Ginny was born between Percy and the Twins, and Harry is a year younger than her and is best friends with the Twins instead of Ron; they plus Lee are the next generation of Marauders. No YKW. Changed up the ages of they Gryffindor Chasers too.
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Convincing
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"Okay," Harry looked at himself in the mirror, "this is it. You are going to do it. She hasn't believed you before, but things are different now. You're different now," he pointed his index finger at his reflection. "She's been single for a bit, and you know that she wasn't in love with the last guys she's dated anyways. She just needs to see you in that light."
It wasn't the first time he'd tried to psyche himself up about this. In fact, he'd done it every time he found out that Ginny Weasley no longer had a boyfriend.
She was it for him, and he'd known that for years.
It was convincing her that was the problem.
He hadn't gone about it the best way in the past, so that was on him. It didn't help that he was best friends with her twin brothers, Fred and George. Those two plus himself and Lee had managed to surpass the Marauders for the highest number of detentions during their time at Hogwarts so it wasn't like he was known for being straight with people.
His dad and godfather had been so proud, his mum had been so exasperated.
But it wasn't like Harry and them had hurt anyone, a few select Slytherin's aside, but even those guys weren't permanently injured. He and his friends caused trouble and made McGonagall go gray a little quicker, but all in all it was good fun.
Harry had made the Quidditch Team in his second year, alongside the twins who were made Beaters. Ginny had made the team in his first year as a Chaser and it was like she'd been born to it. He'd been super impressed by her then, and he supposed he'd always had a bit of a thing for her. It wasn't until she'd set her sights on their Quidditch Captain in his third year that he realized just how much he liked her.
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"Good game!" Oliver patted Harry heavily on the back after they'd just won their first game of the season, against Slytherin. "Glad you paid attention to me. Did you find the search pattern more helpful?"
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Yes, he loved Quidditch, but he wasn't quite as obsessed as Wood was with getting the Quidditch Cup, he just wanted to play the game, and yes, he wanted to win, but the practices were way more intense than they needed to be; Wood was way more intense than he needed to be.
Truthfully, Harry thought Wood could do with a shag or something to focus his energy elsewhere, since apparently his OWL studies weren't cutting it. It was Wood's first year as Captain, and he was taking that role far too seriously.
"Yeah, Harry," George started with a cheeky grin. "Was it the grid search, or the zig-zag that gives you the best advantage?"
"You know, there's also simply tailing the other Seeker," Fred told him importantly. "Not that Higgs really knows what he's doing. Surprised he sat on his broom the right way."
"Yeah, alright," Wood gave up and moved on.
They'd all made it back into the change room and were eager to get out of their Quidditch kit and back up to Gryffindor Tower to enjoy the party that was being thrown together in their honor.
