Chapter 8 – Important questions

Ginny walked into the great hall at dinner, along with Lily and Bellatrix. The three girls had really started to get along, especially Bellatrix and Ginny over a mutual love of Harry. Lily hanged out with them all the time, she mostly hanged out with them and Alice but today Alice had decided to spend some time with Frank.

They all sat at the Ravenclaw table today, and started piling food onto their plates. They began a conversation that started with them discussing their favourite teachers, Lily chose Professor Flitwick, Ginny said it was between Flitwick and McGonagall while Bellatrix chose McGonagall. It then moved on to their classes.

"You were brilliant at flying" Lily complimented Ginny, she and Bellatrix had seen their flying class through the windows of their class.

"Yeah" Bellatrix agreed "you sure it was your first time on a broom?"

"Yeah it was, guess I must just be a natural" Ginny smiled "I rather liked flying, it felt so freeing"

"Ah well, each to their own" Bellatrix replied "I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground"

"Likewise" Lily nodded

"Morning ladies" Harry said as he sat down next to them "how are we doing?"

"We just had our first flying lesson" Bellatrix said "but the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were before us and we saw your girlfriend over there fly, she's a natural"

"Brilliant but I've just realised something" Harry looked to Ginny "I haven't asked you to be my girlfriend yet, I'll need to rectify that"

"Fine, go on then" Ginny sighed but smiled all the same

"Nope, if you think you can get away with me simply asking then you are very much mistaken" Harry grinned

"Uh oh" Bellatrix smiled "he has the famous 'I'm going to do something crazy' look in his eyes, I think that means that he's going to do something crazy"

"Not crazy, just unique" Harry replied before turning his attention back to Ginny "so you're a good flyer? Maybe you and me can go out flying sometimes? Who knows, maybe I'll forget my broom and we can share"

"Hmm, I'll think about it" Ginny replied but rolled her eyes as she did.

"Are all boys like this?" Lily whispered to Bellatrix

"Only the obsessed ones" Bellatrix replied "but Harry wouldn't do it if he thought it would bother her, and she doesn't seem too bothered so I see no reason to not let them continue"

Lily looked from Bellatrix to Harry and Ginny, two were currently feeding each other in a sickeningly sweet display of affection and Lily couldn't help but think the two looked good together.

Ginny was walking out of transfigurations class, she had decided to take a quick detour on her way to class to go to the toilet. A little while later she exited the toilet and rushed to class, the halls were empty and she realised that she might be a minute or two late but luckily Professor Flitwick was understanding so she probably wouldn't get in trouble or at least not too much.

"Well look here" A voice drawled from behind her, she looked back to find a third year Slytherin girl looking down upon her.

"Yes?" Ginny asked as politely as she could, while preparing to flick her wand out of her holster.

"I hear that you're Black's girlfriend" The third year replied

"No, or at least not yet. I think he's planning to ask soon"

"You're a muggleborn aren't you?"

"Yes"

"Hmm, then why the bloody hell is Black wasting time with you when he could have me?" The third year looked confused "hmm, maybe he just doesn't know you're a mudblood. Yeah, that probably explains it"

"Look" Ginny interrupted "I'm late for class, so unless there is anything else you want, I'll be leaving"

"Don't talk to me like that" The third year grabbed Ginny's left wrist, Ginny flicked her right wrist and her wand popped out of her holster and into her hand.

Ginny knew she couldn't use anything too advanced, not even an Expelliarmus, Harry could but she was supposed to be an average muggleborn witch. First she sent a stinging hex to the girls wrist to force her to let go, she followed up with a bat bogey hex that caused the fourth year to fall to the floor while screaming.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor Slughorn arrived on the scene and cancelled the hex

"She was threatening me sir" Ginny said "first she asked if I was Hadrius's girlfriend then she called me a mudblood and she grabbed me when I tried to leave"

Slughorn looked furious and started laying into the girl while Ginny was hiding a smile behind his back, although she didn't have to hide it soon as she started frowning upon coming to a realisation. The realisation that this was a perfect excuse for Dumbledore to call her up to his office.

As predicted, Ginny was called up to Dumbledore's office later in the day, she asked Professor Flitwick to come with her and he agreed. She had informed Harry and he was listening in through their mental connection.

"Ah, Miss Peterson" Dumbledore greeted her as she came in "a pleasure to meet you, please sit down" Ginny nodded and did as she was told "thank you Professor Flitwick, you may leave now"

"Actually Headmaster, Miss Peterson has requested I stay for this meeting" Professor Flitwick replied

"May I ask why?" Dumbledore said to Ginny

"Yes, I was advised to have my head of house attend any and all meetings with you" Ginny answered

"Advised by who?"

"Hadrius Black, sir"

"Ah" Dumbledore said, how many people did the brat tell to bring their head of houses with them? "Very well, I'd like to discuss what happened with you earlier today"

"Why?" Ginny asked "these types of things happen every other week, so why me?"

"Now Miss Peterson..."

"Is correct Albus" Flitwick interrupted "why, just the other day I had to deal with a worse incident between a Hufflepuff and one of my eagles which ended in both being sent to the hospital wing, you haven't enquired about them"

"There is a reason for this" Dumbledore said, 'damn them all to hell' he thought as he began sprouting his excuse "it's my belief that Miss Peterson has been attacked today due to her romantic attachment to Mr Black"

"But I'm not romantically attached to Sirius" Ginny pointed out

"I wasn't referring to him"

"I'm not attached to Regulus Black either, I haven't met him yet"

"I was referring to the other Black"

"Are you trying to say I'm romantically attached to Bellatrix?!" Ginny said with an outraged expression, internally she was laughing at the sudden shock on the headmasters face

"No, no I am referring to Hadrius Black!" Dumbledore replied

"Oh, why didn't you just say so then?" Ginny said as she sat calmly

"Miss Peterson" Dumbledore spoke "are you romantically interested in Mr Black?"

"Why do you want to know? Planning to gossip at staff meetings?"

"Miss Peterson, I am asking for your benefit" Dumbledore managed to ground out

"Yes I am" Ginny nodded

"Miss Peterson, I hope you realise that Mr Black is an incredibly well-known and amazingly powerful boy, are you familiar with the light and dark sides of the wizarding world"

"Yes, Harry explained them to me"

"Did he?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow "What did he tell you?"

"He told me that the dark side is made up mostly of evil wizards who hate muggleborns and unfortunately his family is in that part" Dumbledore nodded, approving of that message "he then told me about the light side"

"Oh? And what did he say?" Dumbledore asked curiously

"He said that they were opposed to the dark side and while most of them have good intentions, they don't really get the job done"

"I beg your pardon?"

"He said that they don't really get the job done" Ginny repeated "something about them not being willing to do what's necessary, he then told me about his side"

"What side is that?"

"The grey side or neutral side" Ginny answered "he said that they were a side that didn't take side with the light or the dark and he said that it was the side that he wanted to convince his brothers and family to join"

Dumbledore didn't like this, while he was ecstatic at the fact that the Black heir isn't going dark, he was also furious at the fact that he could be losing such a valuable asset. That plus the comment about the light side made him try harder than usual to remain calm.

"I see" Dumbledore eventually said "personally Miss Peterson, I disagree with part of Harry's statement. The light side has made great progress in reducing attacks and saving lives, although, we could do so much better with someone like Harry joining us once he is of age. Think of all the good he could do and all the lives he could save, a person with his type of talent could help change the whole war"

"Probably" Ginny shrugged "I don't think he wants to join the light side though"

"Yes, I know" Dumbledore smiled sadly, really milking the old grandfather act "such a shame, he could have been a valuable member of the light. The amount of muggleborn witches and wizards he could help with his influence would be huge, maybe if he could see the benefits of joking then he would. He does care for his friends and family, so he could probably join to protect them, perhaps you could convince him to at least consider helping"

"Nope" Ginny replied

"But why not?!" Dumbledore was so surprised by the immediate response that he forgot his grandfather act entirely, he couldn't believe that a muggleborn girl who should have heard of him as the greatest leader of the light and worshipped him as a hero, refused him without pausing long enough to consider his words.

"I don't make a habit of forcing my views on someone else, if Harry wants to join then it will be because he wants to." Ginny responded "Besides, I'm pretty sure that people will get hurt in this war and I don't want to make him join and experience getting hurt or hurting people just for my sake."

"How noble of you!" Flitwick exclaimed "That's a very rare attitude Miss Peterson, ten points for showing consideration for another student."

"Thank you Professor" Ginny beamed at the charms professor before turning back to the headmaster "if that is all sir, then I shall be on my way"

Ginny stood up and didn't bother waiting to be dismissed and walked out with Flitwick following her, leaving behind a seething Dumbledore. Flitwick and Ginny had decided to discuss charms as he escorted her back to the great hall.

Ginny saw Lily and Bellatrix sitting at the Gryffindor table with Remus and Peter, nobody questioned it as they all alternated between the house tables whenever they felt like it. She walked over to the them and sat down.

"Hi guys" She said as she plopped down next to them

"Hi" They greeted her

"Where were you?" Lily asked

"Dumbledore wanted to question me about today when I hexed that Slytherin" Ginny replied

"Wait, you hexed someone?" Bellatrix asked with surprise in her voice

"Yeah, she called me a mudblood and said she didn't know why Harry was interested in me when he could have her, she then tried to grab me when I tried to leave so I hit her with a stinging hex and a bat bogey hex."

"Bat bogey hex?" Peter asked

"It's a hex that makes your bogies turn into bats and attack your face" Ginny explained

"Cool" Bellatrix exclaimed, while everyone else looked between wanting to disagree and knowing the hex "you know Harry taught me this one really cool spell that makes a person's tongue stick to their mouth so they can't speak properly"

"Nice, by the way, where is Harry?"

"He said that he had something important to do" Remus answered

"What about James and Sirius?"

"I don't really know, Peter?"

"I don't know either" Peter shrugged

"Me neither" Lily added

"Uh oh" Bellatrix whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear "Harry, Sirius and James gone. That means that something is going to happen."

"Something?" Lily raised an eyebrow

"Well Harry will probably stop it from getting out of hand or he'll make it twelve times more interesting. It's hard to tell" Any further conversation was interrupted by what had just decided to enter the great hall.

Harry was marching into the hall, with his hands behind his back. James and Sirius were marching behind him with trumpets that they were currently playing, they weren't that good but they were definitely enthusiastic about it. Behind them was an entire band of first and second years playing a musical instrument of some sort, some had violins, some had triangles, some had trombones. The music wasn't really that good but it was so bad that it could be considered funny, the band followed behind Sirius and James like little ducklings.

Harry walked up to Ginny with James and Sirius and the band behind him, he stopped as soon as he was in front of her and everyone stopped playing. He got down on one knee and pulled out a bouquet of flowers which he held up to Ginny.

"Miss Gwen Peterson" He proclaimed loudly "I have brought to you the best band that Hogwarts had to offer" He gestured to his brother, James and the band "coincidentally they were the only band that Hogwarts had to offer and they were only formed today for some unknown reason.

Anyway, I've brought to you this band and bouquet of flowers so I could ask you two important questions. The first question, is do you realise how brilliant you look right now? The second question is will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

"Yes" Ginny laughed "yes to both" Harry handed her the flowers before jumping on the Gryffindor table.

"She said yes!" He shouted, he shot his hands into the air and fireworks flew from his fingertips.

"Mr Black" McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the hall "I congratulate you on gaining a relationship but ten points for disturbing students and will you please get off the table before I give you a detention?"

"No problem Minnie" Harry shouted, grinning at her reaction to her unwanted nickname. He flipped off the table and landed on the floor before he sat down at the table, Ginny pecked him on the lips and his smile grew even wider. "Oh yeah, band of 'getting me together with Ginny'" Harry addressed the band "I thank you for your valuable services but the purpose of our band has been completed. I hereby disband this...band"

The band who really didn't care, just smiled and laughed before walking their separate ways. Apart from Sirius and James, James sat down next to them while Sirius dropped to his knees.

"NO!" He exclaimed dramatically as he shot his arms into the air, shaking his fists as he did.

Harry and everyone else just shook their head at his antics, soon Sirius had had enough of being a 'drama queen' as James put it and joined them in eating.

"So" Sirius said "you two finalised the wedding plans yet?"

"It's a bit early for that" Lily pointed out

"Already done" Harry said as he pulled something out of his pocket and enlarged it to reveal an incredibly big and thick binder, Harry dropped it on the table.

"Whoa!" Peter said upon seeing it "that's huge!"

"That must be a lot of planning" Remus said

"Oh, this is just food my friend" Harry gestured to the binder "this is just food, Sirius NO!"

It was too late by that point as Sirius had actually bit into the binder, hoping to make a funny joke about it being food but was surprised when his teeth actually broke through the binder.

"What?" Sirius said as the binder was still stuck in his mouth "that actually tastes nice"

"Of course it does" Harry replied "it's edible. I wasn't lying when I said it was just food."

"You knew he'd eat it" Remus said to Harry "you set that all up just for a joke!"

"What?!" Sirius shouted

"It's true" Harry grinned as he ripped a bit of the binder off and ate it "worth it"

"Hmm" Ginny said as she ate a bit of the binder "really tasty"

"Hmm, I agree" Lily ate a piece, soon Peter joined in, followed by Bellatrix and James and Remus.

"Traitors" Sirius exclaimed "traitors"

"if it makes you feel better, you can have the last piece" Harry offered it to Sirus who grumbled a little before taking it.

"Hmm, that really is good" Sirius admitted "fine, you're forgiven"

"I swear I could chop your legs off and you'd be fine with it if I gave you a cake to make up for it" Bellatrix said

"Don't be ridiculous" Sirius replied "you'd have to give me at least two cakes, one for each leg you see"

"Idiot" Bellatrix sighed

'Dumbledore doesn't look too happy' Harry mentally spoke to Ginny as the rest began conversing, Ginny looked at the head table and saw that Dumbledore was looking relatively calm but their trained eyes caught the slight twitch in his right eye 'probably from your conversation earlier'

'Trust me when I say that that was the nicest I could manage' Ginny mentally replied

'Trust me, I know, I've seen you when you truly get angry. The last time you truly got angry you destroyed an entire castle with one spell' Harry replied, remembering when Ginny fired an overpowered fiendfyre spell at a rapist and burnt him and the castle behind him.

Fortunately nobody worth saving was in the castle at the time so Harry didn't really care, in fact Harry thought that Ginny was really hot, one of his greatest regrets in the life was forgetting to make that joke at the time. But then again he had sex so it sort of makes up for forgetting to make the joke.

'He is desperate to recruit you' Ginny pointed out 'makes me glad that I'm supposed to be a regular muggleborn, what do you want to do about him?'

'Nothing, at least for now. At the moment he's just being an annoyance, not really a good enough reason for blasting him in the head, unfortunately. Let's just avoid him for now, and keep him off Sirius and everyone'