Disclaimer: I just own this fanfic, the Harry Potter franchise belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!

Author's note: A Harry/Sophie pairing one-shot. Sophie Roper is a mentioned canon character. Whichever house she was sorted into remains a mystery, but I'll leave that up to you to decide. Heavy Ginny bashing. AU fifth year, no Umbridge, no high inquisitor, no educational decrees and no slandering of Harry in the Daily Prophet. Since Umbridge isn't the defence teacher in this one-shot, you'll have to use your imagination to decide who it may have been. Rated T for obvious reasons.

Dueling For Harry

Fanfic by Brockster550

"It's not fair," Ginny pouted, stamping a foot on the ground one Friday afternoon. "It's just not fair!"

Harry had been spending the last four weeks or so hanging out with Sophie Roper, a student in the same year as the Golden Trio. Sophie had shiny-brown hair in a high ponytail and green eyes. It appeared that they had the hots for each other, but there was no way Ginny would ever accept that. Harry was her's and her's only, or so she thought. Ginny had been desperately trying to get Harry to notice her, forseeably to no avail. Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes at Ginny's irrational behaviour, with the rest of Gryffindor house doing the same (as they were getting tired of it). The other fourth year Gryffindors had to put up silence wards around the Weasley girl's four corner poster in order to sleep peacefully. Fred and George kept pranking their sister to get her to stop that rambunctious behaviour of her's, but it never worked (even with their best friend, Lee Jordan's help). Ginny spotted the couple and found it hard to believe when she spotted Sophie giving Harry a kiss on his cheek. When Ginny spotted Harry giving the back of one of Sophie's hands a kiss in return, she felt extreme anger and jealousy. She appeared as though she was going to vomit, but she just stomped back to Gryffindor Tower in a sour mood. As she passed by Professor McGonagall, the deputy headmistress noticed Ginny's arrogant behaviour and rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Miss Weasley," scolded the head of Gryffindor house. "What in the world is your problem?"

"Harry won't notice me," whined Ginny, which inevitably did nothing to diffuse the situation. "That Sophie is spending time with him."

"Yes, I can tell," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "You're being irrational about that. They seem to be enjoying each other's company."

"But Harry's mine," Ginny continued belly-aching. "I've been planning my wedding with him since I was five."

"Now Miss Weasley, don't be silly," said Professor McGonagall, getting more agitated. "A five-year-old can't possibly plan a wedding with somebody, surely you're just exaggerating."

"No professor, I'm not," Ginny professed. "Harry's the only one for me."

"Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, raising her voice. "That'll be enough. Ten points from Gryffindor and if I see any more of this behaviour of yours, I'll give you a weeks worth of detention."

Ginny reluctantly quit her complaining, then Professor McGonagall walked back to her classroom. Once the head of Gryffindor house was out of sight, Ginny went back to her sour mood and she began wandering the corridors, looking for Harry and Sophie.

'Why won't anybody take my side?' thought Ginny bitterly. 'Surely somebody is willing to agree that Harry is mine!'

She finally spotted the happy couple sitting in the courtyard. Before walking up to 'confront' them, Ginny pretended to be all concerned that Harry was 'falling victim to a trap.'

"Harry, there you are," said Ginny as she walked up to him, oblivious that Harry and Sophie were irritated. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Uh huh, sure," said Harry, who obviously wasn't fooled. "I know what your intentions are, and you're not gonna get it. I would never even think of dating you."

"Oh come now, Harry," said Ginny, trying make her voice as sweet as possible. "Surely you're joking about that."

"No, I'm not," Harry tried to clarify, but Ginny ignored it. "Now if you'll excuse us, Sophie and I…"

"I know you wanna date me," Ginny claimed. "You know it, too."

"Yeah, why didn't I see it coming!" said Sophie sarcastically. Then she changed her tone of voice into an angry one. "Now leave us alone Ginevra, before you make it worse."

"Don't call me that wretched name," snapped Ginny. "I demand respect…"

"Respect is earned," Sophie snapped back. "Not given like a box of sweets. Right now, you don't have Harry's respect, nor mine."

"Why don't we settle this then," Ginny challenged. "Since tomorrow is Saturday, we'll fight for Harry."

Sophie's eyes widened in surprise at the revelation, as did Harry's. This was the first time somebody called up a duel to fight for him (something Harry wanted to avoid at all costs). Ginny didn't notice that Professors McGonagall and Sprout heard her.

"Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "What did I tell you earlier?"

"She wants to fight me for Harry." said Sophie.

"Well, if a duel is what Miss Weasley wants," said Professor Sprout. "Then a duel she'll get."

"Yes, I suppose I can't argue with that," said Professor McGonagall, exasperated. "If a wizard or witch calls up a duel with someone, the two people are obligated to participate or else either one or the other will end up forfeiting."

"We'll do this duel without the use of magic," said Ginny to Sophie. "Fist fighting, is that clear?"

"Yes, it's clear," said Sophie. "Where should the duel take place?"

"The Great Hall," stated Ginny. "Before breakfast, that's when we'll settle this once and for all."

"You're on, Ginevra." said Sophie, accepting the duel.

Then Ginny walked away with some kind of smug grin on her face. Sophie started getting a worried look on her face.

"Miss Roper, are you alright?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Yes professor," said Sophie. "I'm just worried that I'll lose the duel."

"You'll do fine, Miss Roper," assured the deputy headmistress. "Don't let Miss Weasley's antics get to you."

"I'll remember that, professor," said Sophie. "I'll do anything to let Ginevra know that I deserve Harry more than she does."

"Just don't overdo it, Miss Roper." Professor McGonagall advised.

"I know you'll win the duel, Sophie," said Harry. "I believe in you."

"Thank you, Harry." said Sophie, giving him a smile.

Word about Ginny calling up a duel with Sophie to win Harry's heart spread very quickly throughout the castle. Alot of people were ecstatic to watch it since Ginny wasn't popular within the school. Ron, Fred and George rolled their eyes in exasperation at their sister's stupidity.

(The next morning)

Once everybody woke up, they started getting ready so they could make it to the Great Hall as soon as possible. As Sophie passed by alot of the students, they were wishing her good luck or telling her things that they know she was going to succeed in teaching Ginny a lesson or anything similar. The house tables were stacked against the wall to make room for the duel. As soon as Ginny entered the Great Hall, Sophie flashed a dirty look at the Weasley girl.

"Alright," announced Professor Dumbledore. "As we all know, the purpose of this duel is to see if Miss Roper or Miss Weasley will win Mr. Potter's heart. It will be a fist fight, according to Miss Weasley." (Then he used his wand to draw some kind of black ring). "Now Miss Roper and Miss Weasley, if either of you stray out of the ring or forfeit, you lose. Madam Hooch has volunteered to referee the duel."

"In five, ready," said Madam Hooch, indicating the countdown with her fingers. "Five… four… three… two… one… GO!"

Sophie and Ginny got into fighter stances, with their fists raised up. Madam Pomfrey was also attending the duel as a spectator, but also to treat the injuries once the duel was over. Harry couldn't understand why Ginny refused to accept that he would never be interested in her, but he still watched the fight ecstatically. Ginny delivered the first strike, but the fight between her and Sophie was a pretty intense one. A few times, Ginny gained the upper hand but then Sophie would turn it around and vice versa. The duel went on for fifteen minutes when it looked like Sophie was on the verge of losing. She was on her hands and knees while breathing as if she was exhausted.

"I think it's time you forfeit," Ginny taunted, in an attempt to compel Sophie into throwing in the towel. "I told you me and Harry were meant for each other, but you ignored that now, didn't you!"

What Ginny didn't take into account was that all she was doing was increasing the adrenaline flow in Sophie. She got back up and continued the duel with Ginny for another five minutes. That was when Sophie managed to push Ginny outside of the ring Professor Dumbledore drew with his wand. Ginny fell on her bum as she stumbled outside of the ring, with everybody clapping and cheering for Sophie (especially Harry).

"We have a winner," Madam Hooch blurted out. "Congratulations Miss Roper!"

"Now Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonagall. "You'd better get those injuries treated, I expect to see you in my classroom after breakfast."

Ginny nodded in understanding, then she had Madam Pomfrey look over her injuries and left the Great Hall (but not before giving Sophie a paralyzing glare). After getting her injuries looked over and treated, Sophie walked over to Harry and gave him a hug.

"I knew you could do it, Sophie," said Harry ecstatically. "You sure showed Ginevra!"

"I did," said Sophie, feeling proud of herself. "She didn't even consider that she was increasing the flow of my adrenaline."

"Her loss," said Harry. "Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me after breakfast?"

"I'd be delighted, Harry." said Sophie, giving him a smile.

Once breakfast was over, Harry and Sophie made a beeline for the carriages to Hogsmeade Village. They went to the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer to celebrate Sophie's victory.

The End!