Work Text:
Ginny stared at the boy who had just tripped over in the snow, at the blood that was painting the snow the colour of strawberries. She was used to injuries, that came with the territory of being a Quidditch player and of having six brothers, but she had never had someone hurt themselves over her. This was completely new to her and she didn't know what to do.
"Are you just going to stare?" Michael asked as he used his scarf to wipe the blood from his knee. Once he cleaned it off Ginny could see that it wasn't that bad after all and she managed to unfreeze.
"I.. sorry." She mumbled before she cleared her throat and crouched down to his level. She hadn't spoken much to Michael since they had broken up years ago, especially not since he had moved on so quickly with Cho. She knew that she couldn't hold that against him, not when she had fallen out of his arms and straight into Dean's - and then out of Dean's and into Harry's. She'd been on her own now for almost a year and it had been one of the best of her life. She had made it as a professional Quidditch player for the Holyhead Harpies fresh out of college and she had done all that without anyone by her side.
Michael just gave her a half smile, his eyes meeting hers for a moment before he looked back down at his knee. "Looks like I'll live anyway." He said with a soft chuckle as she took out her wand, healing it without another thought.
"Why were you running?" She asked slowly, a small frown on her lips as she stood up again, dusting off her coat as Michael did the same.
"I recognised you." She heard Michael admit, which shocked her somewhat, not that she hadn't expected him to recognise her because she hadn't really changed all that much, but because she didn't expect him to care all that much. They had been over for a long time, after all.
"Uh huh." She said slowly before glancing over her shoulder at the Quidditch supplies shop that she was all too aware was closing in five minutes time. She decided that she wasn't going to worry about that however as she turned back to face him. "And what was so important that you had to spill blood?"
"Well that part was an accident." Michael said with another chuckle and Ginny remembered just how much she loved that laugh, just how much that laugh made her feel good about herself which no-one else's laugh had ever managed to do before or since. "It got your attention though."
"And here's me thinking that you Ravenclaws are meant to be smart." Ginny hummed before she paused for a moment. "Fancy a drink?" She asked as she told herself that it was for old times sake. She was curious as to what he had been up to for the last few years, curious enough that he had piqued her interest enough to get in between her and the sport that she loved so much.
Michael's face seemed to split with a grin as he nodded a bit too enthusiastically. She didn't know why spending time with her was so exciting, but she supposed she couldn't turn it down. "That sounds great. It'll give us a chance to catch up!"
Ginny had to admit that she found his enthusiasm refreshing; she'd have been lying if she said that she wasn't desperate for any sort of company that wasn't pitying her for any sort of reason (namely her brother being dead). She also knew that she hadn't changed all that much and she knew that now she had received the slightest bit of male attention, she was craving some more. She really hoped that she wasn't going to fall back into old habits, but she knew that if she did it couldn't be helped.
They headed into the Leaky Cauldron and after buying a couple of butterbeers, they found a booth at the back and settled down into it. Ginny listened to him talk about his work, discovering that he was now training as a healer which she found hilarious considering he hadn't immediately healed his own leg. She told him all about her Quidditch career, how she was now seeker for the Harpies, and how she was pretty sure that this was the best thing that she had ever done.
It didn't take Ginny long to confess that she and Harry had broken up the summer that she had graduated, the summer that they had found that they were far better suited as pen pals than lovers, which had been one of the most painful realisations of her life so far. She didn't tell him that last part, she didn't need him to think that she was lonely and pathetic after all, even if that was exactly how she felt in that moment when she looked back on the year that she had been apart from Harry in this light.
Michael was able to wipe away almost all of her thoughts about Harry with that smile and that laugh, fortunately. She couldn't think about the past, not even the distant past and what had gone wrong between herself and Michael himself. They had been children and it didn't matter. They were new people now and that did matter.
"So," Ginny began once they were a few drinks in and she was pretty sure that it was dark out in the Alley now. It amused her that she had only come for a quick errand before the shops shut for the day and yet she was somehow still here. She didn't normally do anything that wasn't in her daily plan - not that she didn't know how to be spontaneous, it was more that she had a strict schedule where her training was concerned. "What made you want to talk to me?" She asked.
"I dunno." Michael admitted, his smile just that little bit smaller, softer now. "I saw you walk past Eeylops and I guess I just… hard to talk to you? I guess seeing that red hair, that red scarf, go past the window. I just needed to talk to you." He gave a small shrug before his eyes flickered downwards for a moment. "And I'm glad that I did. There's always been something special about you, Gin."
Ginny could feel herself blushing furiously as she mulled that over. The thought that he was just trying to get into her pants did flash through her mind, but she decided not to let it linger. If nothing else, she could use a friend that wasn't someone who had been her brother's friend first. It was difficult; she didn't remember at all what it was like to make friends by herself - she hadn't been able to do that since Michael. She knew that was probably the real reason (or maybe just one of the reasons) that she was so drawn in by Michael wanting to be her friend now.
"And it's taken you… five years to remember that?" Her tone was half-teasing. She couldn't exactly deny that she was a little bit hurt that it had taken him all that time to come forward.
"Well, no. It's not that I didn't remember. It's that every time I've tried to talk to you, you've been surrounded by other people and, I don't know if you remember or not but I'm not actually that confident a person." Michael told her, his hand creeping across the table to take hers which told her that he was a little bit more confident than he gave himself credit for.
Ginny watched his hand, letting him hold her and stroked his thumb along the back of her hand. She could tell that he was looking for more than friendship, or at least that was the impression that she was getting today.
"Not even confident enough to say 'hi' to your ex girlfriend?" Ginny asked, an eyebrow raised and her head tilted as she looked him up and down before she shook her head slightly. She couldn't understand that one if she tried and she supposed that there wasn't that much point in beating around the bush to get him to explain.
"I'm saying hi now." Michael pointed out, his voice slightly shaken in a way that made Ginny think that maybe he was putting on a front for the most part. "And I was hoping that maybe I could say hi again, say tomorrow night? There's this lovely little Italian place next to St Mungo's."
Ginny blinked a couple of times. Going for drinks was one thing, but he was actually asking her on a date? And what's more was that she found that she wanted to go. It was a strange notion, but she wasn't going to turn her back on the promise of a date with someone who actually made her feel good about herself.
"I - yes. I'd like that." Ginny didn't mean to stutter or to sound unsure, because she did actually want to go out with him. "I finish practice at four so I can meet you after six?"
"Shall we say seven then?" Michael suggested. His eyes were sparkling in a way that Ginny didn't think that she could understand, but she definitely wanted to.
"Seven it is." She agreed. That would give her plenty of time to get ready and time to explain to both her mother and George where she was going. It was just the four of them living at the Burrow now; her parents, George, and herself. Her other brothers had flown the nest and the Burrow had never felt so empty or quiet, but it was still home.
Michael went to order them another round of drinks and Ginny finally allowed herself to look out of the window as she leaned back against her seat. The snow was falling again now and she found herself hoping that it covered up the blood-stained snow that they had left behind a few hours before. She let out a soft sigh as she let herself think about how much of a weird day this one had become.
When Michael returned and set her drink on the table in front of her, she gave him a smile and they fell back into conversation about the upcoming Quidditch season and how training in these conditions, in the snow, was one of the most exhilarating experiences of her life. Ginny found it strange that she was able to be so at ease with him, but it wasn't at all unwelcome and she was happy that she was going to get to continue this tomorrow.