Once the water hit her face and she began to wake up for the day, Ginny decided that it was time for a change. She had been in shock for the last week (or had it been two?), but it was time to get back to real life. Ron and Hermione had headed to Australia to fetch her parents. George was coming out of his room more and more often. Her father was working all hours at the Ministry. And Harry had come back to the Burrow last night. Apparently after barely sleeping anywhere in-between the funerals he had to attend he was ready to visit all of them at the Burrow. It was time for her to pick herself up and be Ginny again.

She had experience at this sort of thing, after all. She had spent the first part of her most recent year at Hogwarts staring at things in the same way. She had stared at the spot where Harry, Ron and Hermione should have been sitting at breakfast. She had stared at the floor to contain her fury when the Carrows spat lies to their class. She had stared at the wall and tried to hold in her cries when they used the Cruciatus Curse on them. But after a while, she had slowly come out of her coma and she, Neville and Luna became the hardened leaders that Hogwarts needed. Change didn’t happen all at once, but by deciding what you wanted to be and committing yourself to it each and every day.

It was time to start that process all over again. Time to emerge from this emotional cocoon and become the version of herself she wanted to be.

It occurred to her as she started to wash herself that there had been many versions of Ginny, after all. Many people go through similar amounts of transformations in their youth, though never for the same reasons or in the same way. There was the spunky, picked on childhood version. The lonely and naïve First Year girl that she never wanted to visit again. The girl struggling to find friends, skills and self-assurance in the next few years of school. And then there was the happy, confident and fun girl who had won a Quidditch Cup and Harry Potter’s heart.

Clearly, the latter was the version of Ginny that she wanted to bring back. Perhaps a touch of the “fearless DA leader Ginny” wouldn’t hurt either. That’s it, she decided as she shut off the water. I can do this. It was time to wake up and be the person she wanted to be, step by step.

She wiped the steam from the mirror and dried herself off, inspecting her reflection. But how?

As if in answer, a tentative knock sounded from the door.

“Anyone in there?” she heard Harry ask.

“Just a moment,” she replied, and turned back to her mirror. Okay, Ginny. First chance. What would happy, confident and fun Ginny do now? Grinning wickedly, she banished her clothes back to her room (thanking everyone at the Ministry for dropping underage laws during the rebuilding time). She also took a quick moment to arrange her hair and perform one quick makeup charm . . . there. Perfect. She looked good, but still as unorganized as if she had just gotten out of the shower, with her cheeks flushed and her hair falling out in tendrils. Tightening the towel around her, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

Please be alone, she thought at the last moment.

Thankfully, he was.

Harry was standing alone in the hallway, his hair horridly rumpled, and his clothes only slightly less so. Clearly he was counting on his shower to wake him up for the day. But within a fraction of a second, it looked as though an oncoming Bludger had done the job instead. Ginny worked hard to keep her face casual as she watched his jaw drop and eyes widen.

“Morning,” she said, as though this happened every day. “Sorry I took so long. Nothing like a warm shower in the morning, don’t you think?”

Harry gulped and made a vague attempt at speech that she failed to recognize. Oh, how I’ve missed you, handsome.

Feeling perhaps a little too bold, she took a slight step towards him. “Problem, Potter?”

She saw a slight flicker of recognition in his expression, but he was still struggling to keep his eyes on her face and merely snapped his jaw shut. Of course this is all a show for you, sweet boy. Harry gave up on actual words at that point and shook his head “no”.

The power of reducing the “Saviour of the Wizarding World” to a puddle in the hallway was practically making Ginny giddy. She took another step towards him, smiling as his back hit the wall with a loud thunk. “Have a nice shower, Harry,” she whispered, before kissing him quickly on the cheek and bounding down the stairs to her room.

Yes, Ginny thought as she closed her door and leaned back against it. That was exactly what I needed to wake up the feisty girl within me.

Bloody hell.

It was nearly a full sixty seconds before Harry stopped staring at the door Ginny had disappeared into and had the sense to duck into the bathroom. Unfortunately for him, the room was still steamy with the fragrant scent that he had once picked out from Amortentia. Harry groaned and struggled to come back to himself.

Harry had been aimlessly wandering about for the last two weeks, and he was exhausted. The more he had run around trying to solve everyone else’s problems or ease everyone else’s pain, the more he longed for some comfort of his own. And to him, that meant Ginny. He had been concerned the few times he had seen her since the Final Battle. He had hugged her a couple of times, and held her hand at a funeral or two, but she had hardly seemed to notice he was there.

Well, wherever Ginny had been for the last couple of weeks, she was obviously back now.

And clearly, she was still interested in him.

Minx.

Harry cringed when the cold water hit his skin. Well, two could play at this game. And he couldn’t wait to make her as breathless as he had just been. He had never been good at charming girls, but surely he would be able to think of something. And he could just imagine the look on her face when her knees went weak. Oh, yes, this was a challenge that Harry was not backing down from. It was just what he needed right now.

That image of Ginny weak-kneed and wide eyed took him all the way through his shower and down to breakfast. As he sat down across from her to have some bangers and eggs, however, he recognized that he hadn’t actually sorted out how he was going to make her go weak in the knees.

This turned out to be a large oversight.

Come on, stop staring at her and do something charming! But the best he could do was focus on eating breakfast, or risk a loopy grin on his face when he looked at her.

“Have a nice shower, Harry?” she said cheerfully as her mother left the room.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he shot back with a smirk before cringing mentally. What does that even mean, you blockhead?

Luckily, Ginny only looked at him curiously for a moment before shrugging it off.

“So, what are you planning to do today, Harry?”

“Um, I don’t know, really,” he said. Come on, Harry, think! What could we do today that would make her swoon? “What are you doing today?”

Ginny shrugged and smiled. Yeah, I’m not getting off that easy. Think. But what can I do that is romantic here are the Burrow? Who am I kidding, I’ve never pulled off “romantic” before in my life.

“Do you want to . . . maybe . . .” Maybe you should finish thinking before you open your mouth, you stupid–

“Maybe what, Harry?”

“Erm . . .”

Ginny laughed. “You have no idea how to finish that sentence, do you?”

Defeated, Harry hung his head in answer. Thankfully she only chuckled for a moment before they were interrupted. Ginny, having already finished her breakfast, was called by her mother to help her with something or other in the next room and Harry was blissfully saved from his own incompetence for a moment. He finished his meal as quickly as he could, and then dashed upstairs to regroup.

Okay, think! Just because you don’t have Ron and Hermione to think for you, doesn’t mean you can’t do this on your own. Besides, Ron would be useless, even if he wasn’t puking at the thought of flirting with his sister. And Hermione would probably just run to a . . . . book! That’s it! Harry dug through his knapsack of belongings until he found it. 12 Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches.

The Index looked promising enough. The “Do”s and “Don’t”s of Snogging, How to Say You’re Sorry When You Really Aren’t and How to Interpret What She’s Really Telling You were all further down on the list. Harry decided he would have to read the whole thing some other time. For the time being, the first chapter looked like what he needed: Impress Her.

Assuming that you have picked out the lucky Witch you want to attract, this is the first step of all. Get her to notice you. And not just notice you exist, but want you. We’ll go through a few of your options, but remember: not every girl will be attracted to everything on our list. Get to know her well enough to know the difference first.

1. Expensive gifts.

At this point, Harry couldn’t help but laugh. Yeah, right. Thankfully, he knew Ginny well enough to toss that one out without even reading their explanation.

2. Good physique. Girls are always attracted to muscular blokes, so now is the time to show it off!

3. Sense of humor. But be warned: girls have a more refined sense of what is funny than we do! Remember to tailor your efforts accordingly.

Well, Harry could be funny when he wanted to be, he supposed. He had made Ginny laugh before. But that wasn’t quite the reaction he wanted this time. This time, her reaction had to be jaw dropping.

4. Acts of bravery. These don’t come along very often, but when they do, be ready! Girls are not impressed by wimps that hide, but those that stand up. Even if you are just standing up to a spider that startled her, be a man and take care of the situation, okay?

After reading this, Harry banged the book on his forehead for a minute. Apparently that was just an opportunity lost. In retrospect, he probably missed out on a good snog after defeating Voldemort, but he could barely find anyone in particular in the crowd that mauled him. Not to mention that her entire family was there to watch. But now, Harry had reached his current limit of bravery in the face of certain death. If that was what it took to make Ginny’s heart flutter, she was just going to have to remember his previous attempts, because he was done. For now.

5. Do something nice for her. A random act of kindness can go a long way. Maybe help her out with a chore she needs to do, or homework she is working on. Open doors for her. Carry her books for her.

Once again, this author had certainly never met Ginny Weasley. Harry didn’t fancy meeting the same fate as Dean Thomas, after all.

6. Confidence. Make sure you aren’t stuttering and nervous around her (that can be flattering to her, but not impressive). Act confident; put a little swagger in your step.

Well, that didn’t give him any specific ideas, but it did explain what he did wrong at breakfast. And what Ginny did right after her shower. He’d have to keep that one in mind.

7. Athletic ability. This only works if you have some to begin with. Do you have an impressive Quidditch move? A fancy dueling technique?

8. Now, this one is a bit tricky. You might be interested in a Third Year girl, or perhaps an older girl that swears she never wants to settle down. But even those girls will most likely be attracted to a guy with domestic potential. This is a broad category, and includes things like cooking a nice meal for her and picking up after yourself. Do you have a steady job? Do you do your own laundry? You probably don’t have access to a baby to take care of (which is guaranteed to make all girls melt), but maybe you could show her what great care and affection you have for your familiar.

Harry had to lean back and think about that one. Was that something that Ginny would go for? She spent a considerable amount of time helping her mother out around the house. The problem was, Harry couldn’t think of any way he could put that to use even if it was true. The only cooking he had ever done was slave work on a Muggle stove. He wasn’t as bad as Ron, but he wasn’t known for a tidy room either. And even if he could see how Hedwig could help, she was gone. Harry knew he would have to replace her eventually, but Diagon Alley was the last place he wanted to be right now. It seemed like every time he poked his head out of a safe house he was mobbed. A new broom and a new owl would have to wait.

Now, finally, a word of advice. We’ve given you some ideas to go on, but remember to take into account the people in question. You need to use the ideas that cater to her interests and your strengths. Are you good in potions? Maybe whip her up something you made just for her. (And this isn’t a class, people. Don’t give her Draught of Living Death. Make it a pampering lotion.) Is she interested in Gobstones? Learn how to play.

His strengths, and Ginny’s interests? Well, the problem wasn’t that Harry didn’t know how to mesh the two. The problem was that he figured he had done all of that before. They loved talking about Quidditch together, or pranking people together, or any number of other things. The problem was that he had done all of these things before. If he was going to reduce her to the speechless mess that he had been this morning, he needed something new to catch her off guard.

Harry shut the book with a sigh and fell back onto his bed. Well, that was almost no help at all. So far his own brain had proved useless, his friends were not available, and the book hadn’t told him much he didn’t already know.

“Harry, dear?” Mrs. Weasleys’ voice came muffled through the door. Harry quickly stashed his book and ran to open the door.

“Yes, Mrs. Weasley?”

“Oh, I was just wondering. It seemed as though you and Ginny had the day off, and I promised Mrs. Tonks that I would send lunch over, but I think that I best stay here with George. Do you mind going with her?”

“Uh, no,” Harry said, brightening up. Finally, something he could do with Ginny. “That sounds perfect, actually.”

“Thanks, Harry. I’ve got the parcels down in the kitchen whenever you’re ready. I think Ginny will meet you down there in a moment.”

Harry took a glance at the mirror before heading down the stairs. There wasn’t much he had ever been able to alter about his appearance, really. His clothes had always been an odd mishmash, and his hair would stick up oddly no matter what he did to it. The only thing he ever had to check for was stray dirt spots or things stuck in his teeth.

When he got downstairs, it was easy to pick out the “parcels” they were supposed to bring. In typical fashion, it looked as though Mrs. Weasley had prepared enough food for a small army, when in truth it was only going to feed one person, as the other occupant of the house was still not eating solid food.

One.

The thought made Harry sigh again. He felt terrible for Andromeda Tonks. To lose her whole family so quickly must have been —

But Harry’s thoughts were completely interrupted when he saw Ginny bounce down the stairs. She had obviously spent more time in front of the mirror preparing for their outing, and for the second time in one day Harry was left speechless at the sight.

Thankfully, he was more awake this time, and recovered much quicker.

“Hi, Ginny,” he said brightly.

“Hi,” she said, peering at him oddly. “What, do I have something sticking out of my head?”

“What?” Harry said, trying to follow her logic, before realizing that he was still staring at her. “No, just . . . you look . . . beautiful.”

Ginny raised an eyebrow, but smiled as well. “Um, I’m wearing a T shirt and jeans.” This was, of course, quite true, but Harry could still tell that some effort had gone into the look somehow.

“I didn’t mean your clothes, I meant you are beautiful,” he said, smiling his most charming smile.

There it is, he thought triumphantly, as her jaw went a little slack while she stared at him. But just as he thought he was going to win, her cheeks turned slightly pink, she cleared her throat, and she turned towards the stack of food on the table.

Blast.

“So we are supposed to carry all of this through the Floo?”

Harry sighed a moment, but figured that if he got that close, he could get her back for sure. “Yeah, should be easy enough, right? I am, after all, an expert at Floo travel.” There you go, confidence is good.

Ginny laughed, and started to pick up some of the packages. “Perhaps I should do the carrying?”

Harry made a show of sighing. “Well, if you insist.”

When Ginny picked up the last package and stuck her tongue out at him, Harry burst into laughter himself.

He had missed her, more than he had let himself admit over the last year.

In fact, he was still smiling broadly as he landed at the home of Andromeda Tonks, until he took a look around. He wasn’t sure how he could tell, but the entire house looked . . . sad. In much the same way that a glance around the Burrow made him feel cozy and loved, this house looked somehow empty and lost. And as Andromeda herself came into view, he could see that the owner of the house was at the center of the emotions that he saw.

She looked like she had aged a decade since he had first met her a year ago. And at the moment, she looked particularly exhausted.

“Hello, Mrs. Tonks,” he said. “Mrs. Weasley sent us over with some food.”

Andromeda nodded and attempted to smile before reaching out to take the food.

“We have some time today, if you . . . I mean, if it is okay with you, we wanted to visit with you and Teddy for a while, and . . . well, we can help you out with anything, if you need . . .” Ginny trailed off, not sure how much she wanted to impose.

“Oh, it is quite nice of you to offer. I’m afraid I am just too old for this sort of thing, in many ways. The only thing I really need at the moment is sleep, and I don’t think you could help me there.”

“Well, could we watch Teddy for you so you could sleep?” Ginny offered.

Andromeda considered this for a moment. “Teddy has almost finished his nap. When he wakes, he would need a fresh nappy and a bottle. Do you know how to take care of those things?”

The couple looked at each other for a moment before sheepishly admitting some defeat. “Well, we haven’t really had a lot of experience, but perhaps if you —“ Harry’s admission was cut off by the cry of the baby himself, rousing in his cot upstairs.

Mrs. Tonks sighed. “Come along then.” They followed her up the stairs and in to the source of the noise, and Harry was immediately struck by the obvious change from the rest of the house. Whereas the previous rooms had been formally decorated, the nursery was an intense splash of color. The walls were covered in moving shapes of various bright hues, and Harry nearly had to squint his eyes at the sight.

“How this baby ever manages to sleep in Nymphadora’s work of art, I don’t know,” the older woman muttered as explanation, and Harry could hear the mixture of sadness and love in the statement. As she picked up the baby, Harry was once again struck by how tiny he was. Until he had first seen Teddy at the funeral for his parents, he hadn’t realized just how tiny newborn babies were.

“Here you go, Ms. Weasley,” Mrs. Tonks said, and gingerly placed the infant in Ginny’s arms. “Remember to hold his head, as he is still quite young . . . yes, like that. Well, the nappies are over there, and he’ll need that in a moment. But first, he’ll want his bottle. I better go and get that warmed up for him now. You can either hold him or set him on his swing over there.” And with that, Harry and Ginny were left alone with their small charge.

“Hi there, little guy,” Ginny cooed as she looked at the squirming infant.

Harry, on the other hand, was still a bit unnerved by the little being. “Is he supposed to be still crying like that?”

“Well, he is still hungry,” Ginny said, shrugging, before returning to gaze at the baby.

As Harry watched the two of them, something clicked in his brain. That was his answer! The book said that human babies were guaranteed to make a girl melt. Now all he had to do was . . .

Wait, what did the book say to do with the baby to make the girl swoon?

Bugger, the book hadn’t actually said what to do! Only that it was sure to work. Great.

It had to be something to do with taking care of the baby. It was in the middle of the rest of the rubbish about cleaning and cooking and such, after all.

“Can I hold him?” Harry asked, attempting to be bold.

Ginny looked up, quite surprised. But she did look pleased as well.

“Sure,” she said, coming closer to him. I can do this, he figured. I faced down Death Eaters, surely I can hold a tiny baby.

But as she gently eased the wiggling little bloke into Harry’s arms, he nearly dropped the baby.

“Oh! Watch it there! You have to support his head.”

Harry nodded, trying to maneuver his limbs into this new position. To be honest, it would have been a lot easier of a task if he wasn’t distracted by how wonderful Ginny’s hands felt while she helped him.

Ginny eventually pulled away to inspect their work, and while Harry instantly regretted the loss of contact, he was happy that she still looked rather pleased about the whole thing.

It still felt rather awkward to him, trying to hold a tiny being that was wiggling and crying so much.

“Well, maybe I should go see what’s keeping Mrs. Tonks," Ginny said. “Do you think you can handle him?”

Harry panicked for a moment, but remembered that he was supposed to be impressing her with the ability to take care of the baby. “All I have to do is stand here and hold him, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ll only be gone a moment,” she said, stroking the baby’s turquoise hair and adding a “sshhhh” for good measure.

As she closed the door with an encouraging smile, Harry’s fake smile dropped into a more tense look.

“Okay, little guy. You’ve got to help me out here. See, she caught me totally off guard this morning, and . . . well, we can’t let her win, now, can we? So do you think you can help me charm the pretty girl that just left the room? Please?”

Teddy paused only momentarily during this request, but otherwise acted as though he had not heard it at all. Harry continued to plead with him as he paced the floor, but to no avail. They were still in the same situation by the time Ginny returned: one of them hungry, and the other frantically trying to weave a plan.

“Well, I got the bottle,” Ginny said. “But the bad news is that his Grandma is asleep. I guess she started the bottle warming and sat down for a moment. I didn’t have the heart to wake her up.”

Harry nodded that he had heard her, but mostly tried to hand off the baby so he could be fed (and, hopefully, so he would stop crying). But Ginny waved him off.

“Hang on, maybe you should hold him, and I should hold the bottle for him?”

“Well, shouldn’t he be sitting up to eat or something?” Harry had never watched a baby eat, but that was certainly how he drank his food.

“No, silly,” Ginny said, guiding the little guy back into a reclined position. “Mums always cradle them, like this, see? I mean, that’s so they can . . . feed them . . . you know?”

Of all the topics that are sure to embarrass teenage boys, the concept of a woman feeding an infant is sure to be in the top ranks. Harry blushed a bit, tried not to look at the corresponding parts on Ginny, and changed the subject quickly.

“Well, let’s try then, shall we?” Ginny smiled at him, and they both gave a sigh of relief when Teddy started gulping on the offered bottle quickly. But their victory was short lived when he coughed it out and started to wail again.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know . . .” Ginny said, before having a spark. “Wait, you’re supposed to test bottles on your arm before you give them.” And with that, she shook a drop out onto her arm.

“Um, what does that test, exactly?”

“I dunno,” she replied, staring blankly at the spot where the milk landed. “I just always remember seeing my mum do that before feeding my younger cousins.”

There was a long pause as they both looked between the drops of the milk and the screaming child.

“Helpful,” Harry said.

“Well, it feels kinda hot,” she said. “Maybe it shouldn’t?”

She shook the bottle a bit, cast a small cooling charm, and then tried again.

“What about now?”

“Um, not so hot.”

She gave the bottle to Teddy once more, and he once again sucked it greedily. But thankfully, this time, he kept on drinking.

The silence was beautiful.

“I guess it got too hot while Mrs. Tonks was sleeping,” Ginny said. “Do you want to sit down on the chair?”

The move from standing to sitting wasn’t particularly graceful, since Harry was still using both hands to hold the baby and Ginny was holding the bottle to Teddy’s mouth, but they made it eventually, and Ginny settled herself at Harry’s feet and rested her head on his knees.

“I guess there is a lot to learn about this, huh?” Harry remarked.

“Of course,” Ginny said. “I don’t know much, myself. But I’ll learn eventually.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I think we should come over and help Mrs. Tonks out a bit more, if we can.”

“Well, that too,” Ginny said, squinting as she followed him. “I was mostly thinking about how someday I’ll have to figure all of it when I’m a mum. Don’t you want to have a family of your own someday, Harry?”

Harry paused to consider this for a moment. The truth was, as odd as it may sound to the average female that starts planning her wedding at age five, the thought had almost never occurred to him before. For the last few years, he could hardly imagine a world past Voldemort’s reign. But it suddenly hit him that he was actually going to live: a long, happy life like any other, perhaps. He was going to get married someday, perhaps to the girl that was studying him intently just now. He was going to have children of his own later own, who would slightly resemble the tiny, hungry lump in his arms (minus the bright blue hair, of course). And eventually he would send them off to Hogwarts himself as life ran full circle.

It was the most foreign idea he had ever thought before, in many ways.

But it certainly wasn’t unwelcome.

“I . . . yeah,” he finally admitted, realizing that Ginny was still waiting for an answer. “I just never really allowed myself to think about it before.”

This seemed to be enough for her at the moment, and she laid her head back down on his knees with a smile. Teddy soon finished his bottle, and as they both gazed at the peaceful child Harry smiled back. He could do this.

Of course, Teddy chose that moment to begin to wail again.

“Now what?”

“Dunno,” Harry said. “But I don’t think we should wake his Grandmum just yet.” Ginny took the baby from him and started bouncing him as she paced the room, whispering calm things to him, but to no avail. It was on her third circuit of the room that a large burp finally resounded from the tiny being, and he got once again quiet.

“Oh, of course! You have to burp babies after you feed them!” Harry watched in fascination as she lifted Teddy onto her shoulder and started patting his back. Once she got one more bubble out, she looked satisfied with the idea, and Teddy seemed to be calmer as well.

“Erm, not to break up a good thing, but . . . weren’t we supposed to change a nappy, too?”

“Oh, right!” Ginny set the baby on the table that Mrs. Tonks had pointed to, and then turned around expectantly.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Ahh, I rather thought you would have that bit covered,” Harry said hopefully, but rose to his feet at the sight of Ginny’s face. “I mean, I don’t know how to do it,” he added, attempting to distance himself from the task.

“Well, I don’t either,” Ginny said, eyeing the supplies in front of them nervously. Thankfully, Teddy seemed happy enough laying there while they sorted things out.

“I suppose it comes off here . . . oh, and we should probably use this to wipe him off . . . there, that’s not so bad!” Ginny said, walking herself through the idea. But as she started to put a new one back on, Harry spotted a problem.

“No, I don’t think it went like that,” he muttered, taking it off to twist it around. “Maybe like this? Oh, bugger, I think this has to hook on here, but — HEY!”

Within seconds, Harry was drenched with his reminder that he had taken too long to replace the nappy.

And it was at that exact moment that Mrs. Tonks walked into the room.

“Oh dear!” she cried, quickly fastening the nappy (which Ginny had put on correctly the first time) and starting to clean the mess. Soon all three of them were casting cleaning charms on everything in sight, although Harry still felt rather dirty even after it was all gone.

“I am so sorry, I just must have dozed off there,” she apologized, but Ginny headed her off.

“Oh, don’t worry! It is what we offered to do in the first place, after all. And Teddy is fine. We got him fed, and burped, and I guess his nappy is taken care of too now.”

The women kept apologizing back and forth all the way down the stairs as Andromeda ushered them out, but Harry wasn’t really hearing it. All he knew was that the book had told him that babies were sure to impress a witch, and Harry had failed. In fact, he had gotten peed on, if failure wasn’t humiliating enough.

He was never going to get Ginny back for that morning at this rate.

So when they got through the Floo back to the Burrow, Harry headed off to the sitting room to regroup for a while.

Ginny however, had no intention of letting Harry mope. She followed him to the couch and plopped down next to him, despite the fact that he hadn’t quite left her enough room to sit.

“Okay, spill,” she said, turning to him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Nuthin’ to spill,” he muttered.

Ginny nearly made a smart remark back, but bit her tongue just in time. Harry seemed truly deflated about something. So instead, she took his hand gently and smiled at him softly. “Harry?”

He peered at her over his glasses dejectedly before returning to staring at the carpet. “Try’n to . .press . . “

“I’m sorry?” Ginny said. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I was trying to impress you,” he said clearer, but with no less emotion. “You know, with my ability to make my godson scream.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” she soothed, while trying to figure out why he was attempting to impress her in the first place.

“Stupid book. Full of lies.” Harry still hadn’t looked her in the eye, and was emphasizing his points with jabs of his foot at the tufts of the rug.

“Book?” Ginny abandoned her earlier question in curiosity for this one. “What book?”

At this, Harry turned even redder and shook his head.

“Harry,” she said, placing a finger on his cheek to guide his face to meet hers. “Come on, I promise not to take the mickey or anything. I care about you, and you don’t need to impress me. Now, why don’t you just tell me about this book?”

“ s’ Ron’s.”

“Ron’s book?”

“Well, no, he gave it to me for my birthday last year.” Harry sighed, as though realizing he was not going to get out of this without the whole story, and resigned himself to the task. “Twelve Ways to Charm a Witch.”

“My brother gave that to . . . my ex-boyfriend?”

Harry nodded. “Seemed a bit conflicted, since he interrupted the best birthday present a half an hour later.”

Ginny couldn’t help but grin at this. She’d spent the last year wishing she had hexed her brother for that.

“So what does this book proclaim is the way to my heart, then?”

Harry smiled hopefully at this. “Their first idea was to buy you some expensive gift.”

Ginny laughed.

“Yeah, see, I’m not daft enough to do that.”

“Well, I’m no Malfoy,” Ginny added, biting her fingernail as she chuckled. Harry seemed a bit encouraged by her reaction.

“It also said to make sure to do nice things for you. Open doors, carry your books, that sort of thing.”

Ginny groaned. “I don’t suppose Ron got this book from Dean.”

“No, the twins gave him a copy,” Harry said. “Not that they are any better.”

After putting her head in her hands, she figured she may as well hear the rest. “What else did this book tell you is sure to win me over?”

“Ah, yes, well, it did mention Quidditch skills, but . . . given that I don’t actually have a broom right now, and haven’t practiced in a year . . .”

“And given that I can fly circles around you,” Ginny said, smiling broadly.

“Oh, is that so?” Harry said, finally perking up in the challenge.

“Yup,” she said, swinging her legs across his lap and leaning back against the armrest of the couch.

“Well, we’ll just have to see about that.”

“You’re on, Potter.” Ginny was happy to see the Harry she knew emerge again. This was more like how they had been when they were dating — relaxed, and . . . happy together. “In the meantime, I still want to hear more about this book.”

“Well, there was the bit about showing off my manly muscles.”

Ginny threw head back and laughed. “Oh, poor beanpole Harry.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Harry said dejectedly.

“Oh, Harry, you know I find you attractive,” she teased, leaning forward to wrap an arm around his back and finger his collar with her other hand. Harry stared at her a moment in wonder before clearing his throat and looking away. “But that still doesn’t explain what you were trying to accomplish today,” she finished.

Harry sighed. “The book said to try and show off . . . domestic skills, I think they called it. Cook you a meal, keep things tidy, that sort of thing. I wasn’t going to try that, but none of the others really worked, and they did mention that babies were guaranteed to make a girl melt, so . . .”

Ginny smiled and leaned onto his shoulder. “Well, Teddy is quite a cute little bloke. But you might need to try gaining the skills before trying to show them off, yeah?”

Harry made a sort of grunt at this, and Ginny decided it was best to change the subject. “Any other bright ideas from this book you want to run by me?”

“The book also suggested that I do some random act of bravery,” he said calmly.

At this, Ginny was so startled that she let out a rather un-ladylike noise.

“Did you just snort?” Harry said, laughing.

Ginny waved this off, as she was having trouble breathing through her laughter. “And what . . . did you decide . . . when you heard that?” she said as she gasped for air. No matter who had written this odd book, they could never hold a candle to the man that sat next to her on the couch.

“Oh, you’re plum out of luck on that one,” he said, folding his arms for emphasis.

This startled Ginny enough that she stopped to gape at him. “I’m . . . what?” she said, laughing again. That was entirely the opposite of what she had been thinking, after all.

“I think I’m done with dangerous stuff for now, thanks,” Harry said, looking at her curiously. “Besides, I figure that after killing a twenty foot Basilisk to rescue you, the next task is quite sure to kill me.”

Ginny shuddered, remembering the size of that hideous creature. “I’m rather surprised you’re alive at the moment, actually.”

Harry looked at her oddly and blinked a couple of times before Ginny realized he might have misunderstood. “That was a compliment, Harry,” she said.

“Oh,” he muttered, looking down at where she held his hand.

“Harry, why did you feel like you needed to do something to impress me, anyway?”

He sighed heavily for a moment before stroking the fingers of the hand he held. “Well, after this morning, I just . . . wanted to get back at you, I guess. After how much you affected me, I wanted to make you feel the same way about me.”

“Ahh, I see,” Ginny said. She took a deep breath, trying to sort out how to say what she wanted him to understand. “The thing is, those are all lovely ideas, but . . . well, you’ve done a lot of them before, Harry.”

“Exactly!” he said.

“Right, those are great ideas for how to get a girl to notice you. And they did work quite spectacularly, I might add. So that part is done, see. I already am attracted to you.

“I already know that I love your gorgeous eyes, and love running my hands through your hair,” she said, taking a moment to do just that. “You, Harry Potter, have the entire market cornered on bravery, and that doesn’t mean you have to do more and more to show off. I already know how kind you are, and how much I love flying with you, and I know you are rubbish at cleaning, so you don’t have to pretend with me.”

Harry sighed again, though she could tell he was feeling a bit better. “Oh, Harry, you’ve always had the power to make me breathless.”

“I have?” he said perking up instantly. When Ginny nodded but didn’t say anything else, he added, “how?”

“Well, for one thing, you could start by apologizing for breaking up with me last year, and asking me to be your girlfriend again.” She said the sentence absentmindedly, but in truth this had been the moment she had looked forward to all year.

Harry smiled. “Well, I don’t if I really am sorry I broke up with you,” he said sadly. “I think it really is what I needed to do. But I did really did miss you last year. I missed . . . us. Do you think . . . you can forgive me? Give it another chance?”

Ginny took a deep breath, enjoying the moment. “Of course I will, Harry.”

They stared into each other’s eyes lazily before Harry began again. “So, what was step two in this process, then?”

Ginny continued to play with his hair, and brought her hand around to stroke his cheek and glance at his lips before looking him in the eye again. “I think you already know what the next step is,” she whispered.

The instant that his lips touched hers, she felt as though fire had sparked somewhere within her. It was even better than she remembered, and she lost any recollection of all of her other senses as they moved together. It was not a frantic or fierce kiss, but so achingly slow and tender that she felt her entire body go weak. She was vaguely aware of his hand cradling her head as she leaned back against the pillows, but all that she cared about was the kiss that pushed her back into the couch. She arched her back upward when he pulled away gently, as though to follow him, before accepting the release and closing her eyes contently with a sigh.

“Problem, Weasley?” he said huskily.

“Not anymore,” she replied, smiling and fingering his hair. “Not anymore.”