Thanks to all those who commented! You're absolutely right, all of you, and I'll get down to it! Until then, here's then next bit. I'm planning on writing more, but I guess we'll see how this goes. I understand that it's a bit fluffy right now, but hopefully I'll strap down and get to the meat of this story. Enjoy.
Chapter Three
Waiting outside for him were Ron, Hermione and Ginny. They looked at him expectantly—Harry felt they must have waited in silence the whole time, just so they could discuss it together. Looking around at their somber faces, he made a split-second decision.
“Well, that was amusing.” He forced a smile.
“A load of old rubbish,” Hermione said tightly.
“A complete fraud,” Ron agreed quickly.
Ginny said nothing.
“So,” Harry looked around for something to say. “Anyone for some cotton candy?”
“Cotton candy?” Ron said incredulously. “What, do you make shirts out of it or something?”
“Of course not, Ron,” Hermione said. “It’s just spun and colored sugar.”
“It’s really good.” Harry nodded. “Well, I’ve never actually had it, but the way Dudley was going on about it, it must have been something.”
Ginny watched the three friends as they walked, feeling slightly detached. Hadn’t they had the experience she had? Seeing Harry come out, she would have thought he looked as uneasy as she felt. She stole a glance at him now. He was chatting easily with the others, a smile pricking at the corners of his mouth, but he seemed preoccupied. It was as if— Suddenly, Harry met her eyes.
“What do you think, Ginny?”
She gaped for a moment, then yanked her mind back on track. “Sorry? I wasn’t listening.”
“You didn’t read too much into that old hag, did you?” Ron teased. “Did she predict you would have ten kids and live in a cardboard box?”
“Why, is that what she said to you?” Ginny shot back. “I was just thinking. You should try it sometime.”
Harry watched the two with amusement, then cut in. “We were just wondering where we should go next. We could go on the Zipper. It’s that one straight ahead.”
It looked like an elongated circle of track with egg-shaped cartridges attached so they would travel up and down as they went around in a large oval. Ginny noticed that a couple of them were rocking back and forth as the kids inside pushed with wide smiles on their faces.
“Sure! That looks like fun!” said Ginny.
“Ooh, I don’t know, Harry.” Hermione looked at it uncertainly. “The last time I went on that one, it got stuck when I was at the very top.”
“Afraid of heights, are you?” Ron grinned.
Hermione slapped him on the arm. “I was six!” she protested, trying to keep a smile from creeping onto her face.
“Okay, okay,” Ron said, holding up his hands. “Look, Hermione and I will go find some fried carrots or something equally weird to eat, while you two go on the Zipper. I’m hungry, anyway.”
“Ron! We just ate an hour ago!” said Hermione. “Besides, we can’t just leave!”
“Hermione, we’re fine, honest!” Harry said with amusement. “You go take Ron to find something interesting, like a Carameled apple.”
“Carameled apples? Who thought that up?” Ron said with amazement.
Harry just shook his head and laughed. “Come on, Ginny. Let’s go before the line gets longer.”
Ginny followed, not believing her luck. Years ago, she had dreamed about doing something like this with Harry, and now it was finally happening. Granted, she was supposed to be over him. She glanced over in his direction only to find he was already looking at her. Both their eyes widened in surprise, and they looked away awkwardly.
They boarded the ride and climbed into one of the cartridges. There was only room enough for two people, and even then it was a bit of a tight fit. As the ride started, Ginny looked around in wonder. “It’s amazing that Muggles could manage to do something like this without magic.”
Harry chuckled. “Believe me, to them, it’s magic that’s amazing. So, how about we get this thing started?” He had a mischievous glint in his eye.
“You got it,” Ginny grinned back. Together, they leaned back and forth, causing their car to rock. At first it took considerable effort. Then as they got going, they eventually managed to go upside down for a few heart-stopping seconds.
They swung back right-side up, laughing, then did it again. As Ginny looked over at Harry, his face turning red and his hair sticking straight up as if he had stuck his finger in a lightning bolt, she couldn’t help but feel a rush of happiness.
Then, with a loud screech of metal against metal, the ride stopped. Their car swung back to its proper position and the two looked at each other nervously.
“What happened?” said Ginny.
Harry looked around. They were one of the highest cars up, so he could see the majority of the carnival from where he sat. He sighed. “Looks like we’re stuck up here.”
Ginny sat back, disappointed. “Does this happen often? Didn’t Hermione say that the exact same thing happened to her?”
“I don’t think so.” Harry shook his head. “I’ve got a feeling Hermione just cursed us.”
“What?” Ginny looked at him incredulously. “Hermione would never—“
“No! I didn’t mean… it was when she said… oh, never mind,” he mumbled, looking outside.
They sat in silence, Ginny mentally berating herself. She wanted to break the silence, but didn’t want to embarrass herself again. Finally, she settled for the thing that had been on her mind for the past twenty minutes.
“Harry,” She hesitated. “Did—I mean…Did the fortune teller say anything…strange? To you?”
Harry’s brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. Ginny watched him closely. “I—er, why do you ask?”
“Because,” she sighed. “She said a whole lot of strange things to me that could very possibly be true, but then she said my name and I wasn’t sure if I shouldn’t believe her, and—“
“Wait, she said your name?” Harry said, surprised. “Did you tell her it earlier?”
Ginny shook her head. “It was the strangest thing. She had finished with the telling and I started to leave, then she called me back. She said, ‘Miss Weasley.’ So, of course, I turned, and she said..well…” Ginny felt her face flush. She cursed silently and turned away from Harry in a feeble attempt to hide it.
“What did she say?” said Harry in a confused voice.
“She said—she said, ‘He’ll come around,’” whatever that means.” Ginny tried to laugh it off, but only managed a weak snicker.
“Who’s ‘he’?” Harry said slowly.
Ginny sighed and turned to face him. “When you find out, please let me know.” So I can dig myself into a hole and never show my face again…
Harry digested this quietly, then looked outside again. After sitting like that for a while, he chuckled. “I can see Ron and Hermione from here.”
“Really?” Ginny leaned over to see better. “Where?”
“Over by the Farris Wheel.” Harry pointed. “Looks like they’re arguing again.”
Ginny laughed. “Do you think they’ll ever find out that they like each other?”
Harry turned quickly to look at her. Suddenly, their faces were very close. Ginny sat back and tried to pretend her lungs hadn’t unexpectedly stopped working.
Harry blinked blankly for a second, then spoke. “How—how did you know that? I just found out myself last year…”
Ginny sniggered. “You’re as thick as Ron! I’ve known since before they even knew themselves, I expect. Well,” she stopped to think. “Not quite as thick as Ron.”
“Thanks, I think.” Harry grinned. “We’ll make a bet, then. Five galleons say they won’t get together until after Christmas of this year.”
“Right, and I think they won’t get together until after Christmas of next year!” said Ginny wryly.
“Done!” Harry held out his hand and Ginny shook it.
A half an hour later, they were still sitting in the same place. Ginny groaned. “Merlin’s pants! I was wrong, this isn’t amazing at all! What were the Muggles thinking?”
Harry was just as upset. “We’re wasting all our time up here, when we could be riding the Jet Star!”
“Well, thanks, Potter,” Ginny muttered darkly.
“What?” Harry looked over at her, confused.
“Do you really think my presence is so horrible?” Ginny scowled.
“No! That’s not what I meant at all!” Harry looked insulted.
“I’m—I’m sorry, you’re fine.” Ginny buried her head in her hands. “I’m just tired of this, that’s all. Not to mention confused about that bloody fortune teller.”
“Tell me about it,” Harry mumbled, glad he was off the hook.
“What did she tell you?” Ginny said.
“First, she told me I had nice eyes.” He raised an eyebrow at Ginny, who sniggered.
“That’s not creepy at all.”
“Yeah, but then she started telling me that I was…well, she made me sound really great. She named all these things that I’m going to do someday that sounded like it…worked. You know, with Voldemort and everything.” Ginny winced slightly at the name, but said nothing. “I dunno,” Harry sighed. “I figured it would be best to just ignore it.”
“But how can you?” Ginny looked at him as if he was crazy. “What if this is for real?”
Harry stared hard at the floor. He was quiet for so long, Ginny began to wonder if he was just ignoring her, too. Annoyed, she looked outside.
“I—I can’t handle much more of this kind of stuff,” Harry said quietly. Ginny twisted to look at him. “After the battle in the Ministry, seeing Voldemort again, and…” He trailed off, but Ginny knew what he was thinking. Sirius.
At a loss of what to say, she reached out and touched his shoulder. His head jerked up and he looked at her. Ginny searched his eyes, trying to guess what he was thinking so she could say the right thing.
Then, without warning, the ride began to move again. Harry and Ginny both jolted in their seats with surprise. Their heads came together with a sharp crack.
“Oww!” Harry held his head, his eyes watering with pain. Ginny did the same, squeezing her eyes shut. “You have a hard head!”
“You should talk!” Ginny punched him in the arm, but she was smiling. “I think you cracked my skull!”
“That’s impossible! I’m pretty sure it’s lined with metal!” Harry rubbed his head, making his hair stand up even more than usual.
Ginny giggled. “Doesn’t it ever stay down?” She reached over to try to make it lay flat. Once she touched it once, however, she had to do it again…and again. Soon she was running her fingers through his hair. Once she realized what she was doing, Ginny yanked her hand away, her face hot. “Oh! Sorry, there was…something in your hair.”
Harry opened his eyes and smiled sheepishly. “It’s no problem,” he muttered.
They sat quietly, not looking at each other, until it was their turn to finally climb out of their cartridge. Harry got out first and gave Ginny a hand to help her step onto solid ground. Ginny pulled her hand away as soon as she was out, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable.
Soon, they spotted Hermione and Ron walking toward them. Both were eating a carameled apple with obvious relish.
“You have got to try these!” Ron said thickly through a mouthful of apple and caramel.
“Have you been eating those this whole time?” Ginny raised an eyebrow.
Hermione glanced at Ron. “Um, no, actually, we just got them. How long have we been gone?”
“Nearly an hour.” Harry looked at them carefully. “The Zipper got stuck.” Ron snorted into his apple, sending bits flying everywhere.
Ginny made a face. “Oh, grow up, Ron.”
“What were you doing?” said Harry curiously.
Hermione shook her bushy hair out of her face with annoyance, but Harry could have sworn he saw a tinge of pink on her cheeks. “We were just talking,” she said briskly. “Isn’t that allowed anymore?”
“No, no,” Harry backed off quickly. “I was just asking.” He caught Ginny’s eye and they both hid a smile.
Ron wiped his face with a hand. “So you were stuck up there for nearly an hour? That must have been horrible!”
Harry hesitated, stealing a glance at Ginny, who was resolutely not looking in his direction. “It wasn’t too bad, actually.”
Ginny finally looked over at him, her brown eyes twinkling. “Now, if I had been stuck with you, Ron, then it would have been horrible. At least Harry knows not to chew with his mouth open.” Ron quickly shut his mouth to finish the bite inside.
Hermione looked from Harry to Ginny, then back again, with a strange look on her face. Harry wasn’t sure he liked it. “I think I’d like to try some of that cotton candy now, if you guys aren’t too sugared out yet.”
“Are you kidding?” Ron grinned. “I could eat a chocolate-covered Hippogriff!”
“I believe it,” Hermione and Ginny said at the same time.
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