taking control

Chapter 8: Red-Heads In All Shapes and Colors

A/N: I have another nice and long chapter here for you. There's one part towards the end that feels really cheesey, but I was just too lazy to try to work out something better for it. So oh well. I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there.

The editing these past few chapters has actually gone much more smoothly than I had anticipated. I was expecting to have more trouble with it, but I doubt any of you are complaining since it means quicker updates. This past weekend I began writing some new content again for the first time in several weeks. I'm going to try to dedicate a good amount of time to that end from now on. Editing will probably come whenever I get stuck, which happens relatively often, so you all need not fear.

Enough rambling. Enjoy the new chapter.

Chapter 8: Red-Heads In All Shapes and Colors

Several punching bags that looked an awful lot like one of Harry's best friends had the stuffing beaten out of them that day. Harry headed straight to the Room of Requirement after exiting the common room. After Harry reduced his anger to a manageable level, he sought out Ginny. Using the Marauder's map, Harry found that she was in the library, sitting at a table with several other 5th years.

Ginny looked up as Harry walked over to the table and noticed his approach. "Hey Harry, what brings you here?"

"I need to talk to you about your brother," Harry said as calmly as possible, "in private."

Ginny looked into his eyes as he said this and must have seen something there, for her eyes widened momentarily. She closed the book she had been reading and collected her things, stuffing them into her bag. "I'll see you guys later," she said to her friends as she rose and walked out of the library with Harry. The two walked in silence up to Harry's office. Once they were inside, Ginny immediately turned to Harry and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Your brother," Harry started to say heatedly. He paused and took a deep breath before continuing in a slightly calmer voice. "Your brother turned my trunk inside out looking for the Marauder's Map so that he could spy on you and find out who you've been snogging in broom cupboards."

Ginny's eyes bugged out at that. "I haven't been snogging anybody in any broom cupboards. Never have, matter of fact."

"That's beside the point," Harry began, then changed tact. "Weren't you dating Michael Corner most of last year?"

"Yes, but we never did much. I mean we did kiss, of course, but we never really reached the full out snogging, groping stage that would require a broom cupboard," Ginny explained somewhat uncomfortably.

"Oh, er, well that's..." Harry stammered. "Right. Anyway, back on topic. Ron thinks that you've been sneaking around snogging some bloke throughout the castle, and he was determined to catch you in the act. So he went through all of my things looking for the Marauder's Map so that he could catch you with the guy that he thinks you've been snogging."

"That smarmy git," Ginny shrieked. "I swear, he is the most...ugh, he is so frustrating. Just because he's too much of a thick-headed prat to get a girlfriend, he thinks he can just go and dictate my life for me."

"Yeah, I thought you might react like that," Harry told her. "Then get this," he continued, "when I was trying to yell at him for going through my stuff and trying to spy on you, he tells me it's none of my business, that as your brother he has a right to look out for you, and that he didn't expect me to understand."

"He didn't."

"He did," Harry said evenly. "I asked him what he meant by that. His reply was: 'Well you don't exactly have any family, do you?'"