Once and for All

Chapter 3

The next day Mrs. Weasley decided to go to Diagon Alley for some errands and decided to bring everyone else with. Harry suspected this was also in part that she needed a distraction as much as everyone else, but didn't complain. "Look, Harry!" Ron said excitedly, shoving Hermione's letter at him. "Hermione said she's going to be there today to get a check up on her cat-we can meet her there!"
"Great," Harry responded, trying to sound enthusiastic even though all he could think of was sick Crookshanks. "Hopefully she leaves him at the pet place though, if he's sick..."
"She will," Ron reassured him confidently. "I mean, she'll spend half her time in the bookstore anyway, and she can't bring a cat in there. Wait-we can apparate now! Mum, do we have to take the Floo powder?"
"Well, not if you don't want to," Mrs. Weasley said, though she seemed reluctant about it. "Of course I'd prefer if we go together, but-"
"Great, we'll see you there," George interrupted, grinning, and with a loud crack the two vanished. Harry, however, stayed right where he was.
Ginny gave Harry a puzzled look. "You don't have to wait for me if that's what you're doing-I still can't apparate, remember?"
"I know. I've never been a fan of apparating," Harry admitted, but they both knew that wasn't the only reason. He caught Ginny smiling as they went through the fireplace, saying "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" and after a flash of green he found himself tumbling through a fireplace, dusting ash off. George and Ron were already there in what appeared to be George's office. It was larger than Harry had expected, with a desk stacked messily with papers and a crazy assortment of decorations and products strewn everywhere, some flying around and bursting into random explosions. Harry realized it didn't look that different from the twins' room, which Mrs. Weasley must have also noticed as she frowned disapprovingly at the mess.
"May I ask why you feel the need to work at our house instead of here? This place is practically a lab anyway."
George shrugged, suddenly seeming a bit downcast. "I just need a new place to focus. I can't think of new ideas when everything here..." his voice trailed off, his eyes locked on a framed picture on the walls of an article from the daily prophet featuring both of the twins, smiling happily.
Mrs. Weasley's frown disappeared. "Of course," she said, somewhat gently. "Well, we'll just have to find you some space to work at while we're here-maybe a garage of some sort."
"Have you made any new products?" Ginny asked, glancing at the old fake wands and boxes of puking pastilles.
"Kind of. We- I made some fake razors that make your hair grow longer instead of shorter, and we updated the spell check quills so that the spells last longer, and some jelly beans that cause you to make different sounds when you eat them-like a lion, or an elephant..."
"Or a train?" Ron interrupted in confusion, inspecting the side of the box slowly.
"Yeah, it makes steam come out of your ears and a train horn come out your nose," George explained, looking more enthusiastic. "But you don't want to buy one now, when it's new-wait a couple weeks or so, when it'll be 30% off."
"Still no discount then, huh?" Ron muttered grumpily.
"Nope," George replied happily. "Only seniors, because we respect the elderly who still have a sense of humor." Harry noticed that George said 'we' again, but didn't point it out.
Twenty minutes later Ron found Hermione by Flourish and Blotts, surprising her immensely.
"Harry, Ron! What're you two doing here?"
"Mum's on some errands," Ron explained, looking a little over enthusiastic. "And she brought us along. We needed to get out of that house."
Hermione nodded, a concerned look forming in her eyes as she realized why.
"How's your cat?" Harry asked quickly, knowing that a conversation like this couldn't take place here.
"I'm not sure, he's been pretty sick the past couple of days," she said worriedly. "I mean, I thought all the symptoms were just stress, but..."
They talked for a little bit before the two disappeared into the bookshop, Ron's hand over her shoulder as he asked her which book she would like him to buy for her.
Harry watched them go, then turned to Ginny. "Looks like it's just the two of us."
"Shame," Ginny replied, though she was smiling. She looked extra nice today, Harry thought, with a Gryffindor Quidditch t-shirt and stylish ripped jeans. "Shall we get ice cream, then?"
"Brilliant."
Ten minutes later they were eating sundaes outside of the new ice cream parlor at a table under a red umbrella, which shaded them from the warm sunlight. In the middle of their conversation Ginny burst out laughing, and Harry stared at her blankly until she pointed at his nose, which he had somehow gotten ice cream on. "Great," he mumbled, fumbling for his napkin, but she wiped it off with her own instead, kissing him afterwords. "You taste like fudge," she remarked.
He grinned. "Want to taste some more?" He asked, and she leaned forward for a kiss just as he brought up his spoon full of ice cream for her to taste, getting some on her nose. "Um-sorry-" He sputtered, but then the look on her face made him laugh uncontrollably. She made a face, grabbed her spoon, and pressed more ice cream against his nose before they kissed again.
Eventually Ron and Hermione came out of the bookstore, and Ginny gestured at them with her spoon. "That started faster than I expected."
Harry didn't have to ask what she meant. "No kidding. One moment we were running around the castle during the fight, and the next they're snogging. Who knew?"
"You think they're a good match?" Ginny asked. "I mean, they're both pretty temperamental."
Harry thought about it, then shrugged. "Yeah, but they're better together than apart. Remember last year with Cormac and Lavender? That was a mess."
"That isn't your only reason, right?" Ginny asked. He didn't like the suspicious look she was giving him-it reminded him too much of being inspected by Mrs. Weasley. "For supporting them being together?"
"Course not," Harry amended quickly. "I mean, Ron's a slacker and Hermione's, you know, not, so they can balance each other out." Harry shifted in his seat, feeling guilty for some reason for talking about his best friends behind their backs. But how could he not, when it was so obvious? "And they've both seen each other at their worst and still, you know, love each other for it. It doesn't get any better than that."
Ginny looked at him. "You think we're the same?"
"Well, yeah," Harry said, a bit taken aback. He had thought this was obvious. Both he and Ginny were blunt and honest people, brave and reckless. "I mean, I'm definitely the lucky one here, but-"
"You think you're the lucky one?" Ginny asked, sounding amused. "Why do you like me, anyway?"
She put it out as a careless question, but her eyes were fixed on his, so he stared straight back at her. "You're tough, and you're not all emotional like Cho," Harry said slowly, trying to find the right words. "You don't bother with flirting either which is a relief cause I suck at it. You don't mind bending the rules, and you're-we'll, you're stunning, and... you're one of the strongest people I know."
Ginny's eyes looked at his gratefully, and she grabbed his hand, looking at him seriously before saying, "I love you. You've probably had a dozen other girls tell you the same thing and try to kiss you, but I mean it."
"Yours is the only one I care about," he replied honestly, and she smiled.

Hey so I know this chapter was a tad cheesier than the others, but hopefully it's okay ;) which hp relationship do you ship more-hinny or Romione?