Strange Magic (REWRITE)

Chapter 9: The Aftermath

Ginny's POV:

I saw the spiked tail about to collide with Harry just as it was about to be too late. I screamed his name as terror gripped me like a vice. I braced myself to feel tremendous pain scream through the bond, but it never came.

A flash of golden light enveloped Harry and suddenly he was beside me. Tears of relief began to leak from my eyes, my heart caught in my throat as I reached a hand out to touch Harry's unscathed face. Adrenaline pulsed through me and my hand quaked like a leaf in a windstorm.

"Harry," I breathed and his eyes snapped open. That was all I needed to launch myself into his arms. As soon as Harry's arms twined around my waist, I went completely boneless. All the bones in my body felt like they had been replaced with jello. A hysterical laugh left my lips as I cried into his shoulder. "Don't ever do that to me again. You scared me to death," I chastised through the bond.

"I'm sorry, love," Harry responded as he pressed lips to my forehead, "it's a good thing the bond activated when it did."

I nodded into his shoulder and continued to cling to him like a lifeline. Harry and I had both blocked out the crowd and we were in our own personal bubble. As we both came back to the present, everyone was staring open-mouthed at us.

The golden egg lay at our feet. Just as Harry and I turned to face the rest of the crowd, Dumbledore seemed to regain his composure just enough to articulate a single, stuttered sentence, "Would Mr.Potter please report to the medical tent while we discuss the Champions' scores."

Shakily, Harry and I made our way to the medical tent. We both leaned heavily on each other to get to the tent. In our current state, neither of felt comfortable letting go of the other. When we finally reached the tent, Madam Pomfrey led us to a bed and we both climbed into the bed.

As soon as Madam Pomfrey left us to get us both calming potions, I slipped off my shoes and Harry did the same. I pressed my bare feet against him feeling the need to have more skin-to-skin contact. I continued to press my face into Harry's shoulder as we waited. My hands moved across his chest and face, assuring myself that he was really okay and here in my arms. Harry's hands were not idle either. He ran one hand through my ginger curls and the other pressed me as close together as possible.

Thankfully, when Madam Pomfrey came back, she said nothing of the position we were in and handed both of us a vial of calming draught. After downing the potion, I felt the calming effects take over. My heart rate and breathing returned to a normal rhythm, I took a couple calming breaths of Harry's distinct scent of pine, cinnamon, rosemary and a distinctly masculine scent that was unique to him. At the same time, I could feel Harry take a couple of deep inhales against my hair as we cuddled closer.

"I thought I was going to lose you," I sent through the bond as I stroked Harry's chest.

"I'm okay, darling. I'm right here," Harry replied as he drew my lips to his. Softly, Harry's lips caressed mine. The kiss was slow, deep and passionate. It conveyed all the emotions both of us were feeling, but couldn't find the words to articulate. All the terror, anxiety, relief, confusion, and happiness of the last several hours flowed through the kiss. We were both lost in our own little world until we both had to pull away. Softly, I stared into Harry's emerald green eyes and savoured the moment.

"What the bloody hell was that?" The enraged voice of Ronald yelled and shattered our little bubble, "You know, I was coming over here to apologize for what I said to you, but I find you taking advantage of my sister. I thought you were my best friend. I should have left you with the Dursley's," and I turned to see him about to pull his wand on Harry. Another stab of hurt laced though Harry and Ronald twisted the proverbial rusty knife that he stabbed Harry with. Even though Harry didn't like how Ronald had been acting, he hoped that they could maybe be friends again, but he now realized it was not at all a possibility at the time.

Anger quickly filled me and I slipped out of the bed in my bare feet. Solidly, I placed myself in front of him to shield as much of Harry as I could from him and snarled, "Ronald, you will stop right now if you know what's good for you. Do NOT pull your wand on my husband. If you try that again, you will have bats coming out of your nose for weeks."

In my anger, I didn't notice the magic that started to swirl and crackle around me. My hair stood on end and golden sparks flew from my fingers. Just as I was about to hex him, another one of my brothers came into the room.

"Hey firefly," my dragon tamer brother started to say as he entered the room. When he looked at the situation, he saw my furious look pointed at Ronald he turned to him and said, "Ron, you better leave before she actually hexes you."

I stayed tense until Ronald had truly left, then I slumped. Thankfully, Harry had moved just in time to catch me. "I got you," was all Harry said as he brought me back to the bed.

"Well there Firefly, that was a pretty amazing show of magic there," Charlie grinned as he walked over and grabbed me in a big hug.

"Thanks, Char," I smile at him. I wrote my older brother on a regular basis, and he knew about the soul bond. I was originally worried about Bill and Charlie's reactions but I ended up having nothing to worry over. They both seemed glad that they didn't have to worry about the boy I loved breaking my heart.

Though Harry spent a lot of time with my family, he had never met Bill or Charlie. Figuring that now was as good a time as any to formally introduce Charlie to Harry, I started right in "I know these aren't the most fantastic circumstances to meet your brother-in-law, but Charlie, this is my husband, Harry Potter. Harry, this is my brother, Charlie."

I smiled as Harry stuck his hand out for Charlie to shake. Charlie eyed Harry for a minute before he grabbed Harry's outstretched hand in a firm handshake.

"Just be good to her and we won't have any problems," Charlie stated while grinning.

"No problem there. I love her so much," Harry replied as he released Charlie's handshake and took my hand in his.

With introductions out of the way, we chatted about various things until Charlie was called back to deal with the dragons they needed to get back to Romania. Just before he left he engulfed me in a brotherly hug before pulling Harry into a manly hug and continuing on his way.

Shortly after, Fleur, Cedric, and Viktor walked over and came to chat. Everyone was now completely healed and in clean, burn-free clothing. The scores had been announced only a few minutes previous. Viktor and I had placed first with forty points, Fleur placed second with thirty-nine points and Cedric came in last with thirty-eight points. Overall we were just happy about coming out of the task mostly unharmed. Now, all we had to figure out was what the golden eggs pointed to.

N/A: I hope this makes up for last week's cliffhanger. Please like and comment. I hope you liked the new chapter
-Sarah