Bat-Bogey Hexes and Snogging

By PepsiAngel

Disclaimer: It's all JKR's. Behold her brilliance and bow down. I just borrow her characters, ruin them shamelessly, then give them back.

Author's Note: First post-OotP fanfic. Wish me luck! Oh, and I'd like to take this opportunity to dedicate it to

She's A Star. If it weren't for her constant badgering I would never have finished this.

"Can you believe him?" demanded Ginny Weasley as she paced around the Gryffindor common room in a most frightening manner.

"Er-" Harry Potter, her very reluctant listener, tried to answer.

She shot him a death glare that immediately shut him up. Apparently, when she asked him a question, she didn't necessarily want an answer. He made a mental note of this, figuring it would come in handy if he were to survive this encounter.

Ginny slumped into the oversized chair closest Harry and let out a gigantic sigh. He decided to take advantage of the momentary lapse in her ranting and bravely asked, "What, exactly, did Dean do?"

As soon as he said the words he regretted ever opening his mouth.

He gulped but managed to say, sounding very much like he did before puberty, "Er, because you never really said . . . "

"Please, Harry," she held up her hand. "I'll tell you everything, from the beginning, but only if you promise not to interrupt me."

Better to just do what she says, he thought, nodding quickly.

"Well, I admit I have been sort of distant lately and haven't been spending much time with Dean. But, in my defense, I have been quite busy. And does that mean I deserve to have him off snogging her behind my back?"

She looked at Harry expectantly but he didn't say anything.

"Oh, so you think I deserved it, do you?" she asked hotly.

"No, I just didn't know I was supposed to answer," he replied anxiously. He had started glancing around the room desperately for an escape of some sort.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him, as if he had just said something particularly unintelligent. "Oh, don't be thick, Harry."

He bit his lip to stop himself from pointing out that she was making it extremely difficult to know when to talk and when not to.

"Shall I continue?" asked Ginny absentmindedly.

He knew that she would do so without his consent but he humored her by nodding, his jaw set tight. He was determined not to say another word throughout the rest of this argument.

"Well, I wanted to ask Dean for a walk around the grounds, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I did find Seamus, who was nearly mauling Lavender Brown by the way, and I asked him where his prat of a friend was. He told me that he thought Dean was still in the Great Hall."

"It was more like the broom closet near the Great Hall! I was walking by on my way to check for him and I found him, all right. He was in there snogging the face off of Parvati Patil."

Harry gasped indignantly and Ginny looked appropriately pleased.

Sure, he had said he would not say another word but a gasp was a sharp in take of breath, not a word, thank you. Besides, he really was getting quite good at this whole listening thing.

"What did you do then?" Harry asked and was surprised at the fact that he genuinely cared.

She smiled sheepishly, "At first I just stood there like an idiot, with my mouth hanging open, but I recovered quickly."

He raised an eyebrow curiously and watched her impatiently. It seemed she knew she had his interest now and was taking her sweet time in coming to the end of her tale.

Oh, the cruelty.

"I gave a loud hem hem that caused them to nearly jump out of their skin. I'm certain they thought Umbridge herself was back. Well, when I saw the look on Parvati's face I knew she didn't know we were going out so I calmly informed her that I needed to speak with Dean and would she leave us alone. After she left, I explained to Dean I never really liked him that much anyway and I hexed him."

He gaped at her openly. "You what?"

"I used the Bat-Bogey hex on him," she replied modestly. "It's sort of my specialty."

He couldn't do anything but shake his head at this, even though he did feel bad for his friend, in a detached way. She spoke of it in such a calm, confident manner as if she went around hexing her cheating boyfriends all the time.

For all he knew, she did.

"I don't believe you," he told her, now smirking. "Poor Dean didn't know what you were capable of."

Ginny shrugged nonchalantly but the grin on her face gave her away. Despite the claims that she was not smitten over Harry anymore she certainly seemed pleased enough to have his approval.

"Well, he's paid the price of underestimating me!"

At this moment, there was the sound of the portrait hole swinging up and Ginny and Harry winced even before they spotted Dean stumbling through the opening, still sporting a trace or two of the fluttering wings that had been on his face just minutes ago.

He didn't even look at her as he trudged past them and into the boys' dormitory.

"Well, he's actually lucky someone knew the counter curse," Ginny pointed out.

She started giggling and eventually Harry joined in her laughter. It was the first real laugh he had for a long time.

Funny, how bat-bogey hexes and snogging can bring people together.

*

A/N 2: For such a short story it sure did cause me a lot of pain. I feel a bit silly about the Ginny and Dean relationship, as I don't think she was entirely serious. However, if I had not used Dean I would have just used some other guy so it doesn't make much of a difference.