Rejecting Ginny Weasley by Vaffyu

Index

Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Slightly AU version of how Ginny and Harry end up together. The plot is a bit inspired by the Colin and Penelope romance in the Bridgerton series because Penelope is also a woman with a long-standing crush, whose heart is broken by the man she loves.

I also like fics where Harry finally pines for Ginny, paying for all the years he ignored her.

Hope you like the story!

Ginny happily trotted through the crowds, her spirits high, despite her scruffy-looking dress robes that her mother had bought from a second-hand clothes shop. Her long sleeves and the ankle-length skirt (which fell way beyond her ankles) were perhaps a bit loose for her slight figure, but at least she had asked Hermione to help magically rip off the hideous bow from the front of her skirt’s waist.

She didn’t want to complain - she was attending the Yule Ball, after all. Not many third years had gotten to even glimpse at the event. But here Ginny was, taking in the gorgeous decorations, dancing to tunes from the Weird Sisters, and on top of all this, she was lucky enough to have someone as sweet and chivalrous as Neville for a partner. Really, she couldn’t ask for more.

When Neville left her in a seat beside Harry and Ron to get drinks for them, she happily looked towards her brother and his best friend. However, both Harry and Ron looked rather sour, perhaps because their dates were nowhere to be seen. Where are Parvati and Padma, Ginny wondered. She followed Ron’s gaze and found him scowling in the direction of where Hermione and Viktor Krum were dancing, looking rather cosy. Oh, she thought to herself. It was obvious to her why Ron was not enjoying the dance. She knew that he would come to regret not asking Hermione soon enough, but Ginny hadn’t anticipated that Ron would just keep himself away from the celebration altogether. He must like her more than she thought.

She began to wonder if Harry was simply keeping Ron company in his melancholy but found that he was also staring wistfully towards the dance floor. When she followed his gaze though, her stomach squeezed painfully. He was staring at Cho Chang. Cho Chang, who was right now dancing with Cedric Diggory. Cho Chang was perhaps the most beautiful girl in the school, Ginny admitted bitterly. Of course, Harry Potter would only have eyes for Cho Chang.

Someone as popular and heroic as Harry didn’t like shabby little girls like Ginny. They wanted grown-up, slender, and classy women like Cho Chang. Ginny’s insides rumbled with pain again - she didn’t want to hold on to her childish crush on Harry anymore. She knew that Harry saw her as nothing more than Ron’s annoying little sister, so she would bury her feelings tonight.

Yes, that was a good idea. She would ask Harry for a friendly dance and perhaps stop acting like a stuttering fool around him. She would maybe even become friends with him in time, and learn to support his future relationships with other, more charming girls like Cho Chang.

Trying to feel confident about her plan, and ignoring the painful lump in her throat, Ginny flashed the most brilliant smile she could manage and tapped Harry on his shoulder, who looked a bit startled that he hadn’t noticed that she was sitting next to him.

“Harry, do you want to dance with me?”

Harry looked less like himself and more like Lockhart caught in a duel. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, perhaps trying to find the right words, but said nothing. Ginny threw up one of her eyebrows in question and gestured towards the dance floor.

“I, erm, I-” Harry didn’t seem like he knew what he wanted. Or maybe he was just trying to find a polite way to turn her down. She nodded to herself and stood up to walk away. But before she could make her way towards the refreshments table, where she now saw that Neville was engaged in a conversation with Hannah Abbott, she felt fingers close around her wrist.

She turned.

“It’s not like I don’t want to dance with you, Ginny,” Harry was fumbling with his words and Ron was curiously eyeing the interaction between his best friend and his sister. “I just thought you might be busy with Neville.”

“Neville’s taking a break,” she pointed in the direction of where Neville stood. “Look, over there. I don’t think that he’ll mind.”

“Oh.”

Ginny waited for a beat.

“Er, then I guess, yes?”

Maybe Ginny should have said no and walked away from Harry at this moment, but that regret would only hit later. For now, she smiled again, took Harry’s hand, and led him to the dance floor. The Weird Sisters had just switched to a slow song, so she and Harry swayed back and forth at a steady pace. Harry looked around a bit awkwardly, not really meeting Ginny’s eyes and only responding to her conversation topics in single syllables.

Before long, the song concluded and Harry looked way too happy and relieved to be getting off the dance floor. He stopped right before they reached Ron, who had a slight smirk on his face, and then he turned to Ginny and gave her a half-hearted pat on her shoulder.

“Thanks for the dance, Ginny.”

“Yeah thanks, Harry.”

After a few more dances with Neville, Ginny was feeling proud of her interaction with Harry. She felt lighter and seemed like she was well on her way to getting over her crush. Neville was now dancing with Susan Bones, so Ginny moved towards the refreshments table, hoping to grab a couple of sweets to make her night even better.

She stopped in her path when she heard someone say her name.

She followed the sound and saw a group of boys standing behind the refreshments table. It was Seamus who had said her name - she didn’t know the context but the rest of the boys (Dean, Ron, and Harry, by the looks of it) were laughing.

Ginny ducked behind a table and eavesdropped.

“Yeah, Neville and Ginny make quite the handsome couple. Did you see how many times Neville crushed Ginny’s toes? She must be bleeding inside her shoes, the poor girl,” someone said. She guessed it was Dean.

“Yeah, but it was funnier to see Neville trip over Ginny’s dress robes and fall right into Milicent Bulstrode’s back,” Ron said, eliciting more laughter from the group.

“Yeah, what’s up with those dress robes anyway? Ginny looked too much like a house-elf trying to dress up in witch clothing,” Seamus spoke up again, making Ginny’s eyes sting with tears at the insult.

“Oi,” Ron warned. “Lay off my sister, Seamus.”

“I’m just taking the mickey. No need to get your knickers in a bunch, Weasley,” Seamus paused for a second before speaking up again with a mischievous tone. “Plus, shouldn’t Potter be the one defending her?”

She heard Harry’s voice.

“Why would I defend her?”

“Come on Harry,” Seamus went off. “A whole host of pretty girls at the dance throwing themselves at the Boy Who Lived and you only danced with Ginny.”

“That’s only because she’s Ron’s sister. I didn’t want to say no to her.”

“Yeah, but we all know that she’s in luuurve with you.” Seamus stretched out the word, making Dean laugh and add, “Yes, didn’t she write that poem comparing Harry’s eyes to a toad?”

She heard Harry groan but say nothing.

Seamus spoke up again, “Yeah, best be careful, mate. You don’t want Ginny thinking that you’re interested in her now that you danced.”

She saw from the corner of her eye that Ron squirmed uncomfortably but didn’t say anything, making her think that even he thought that maybe she was expecting Harry to reciprocate her feelings now. Ginny held back the urge to run back to her dorm and crash into her bed, emptying her tears into her pillow.

“That’s not going to happen,” Harry said, sounding like he didn’t believe his own words.

“Are you sure?” Seamus was now getting on Ginny’s nerves. “Who knows, after all? You could always fall for Ginny.”

“NO,” Harry almost shouted. “Ginny knows I’m not interested in her. I would never date Ginny Weasley.”

Ginny sucked in a loud breath, giving herself away. The group of boys turned to look at her as she accepted that she was caught and moved into their view, as confidently as she could. She didn’t care anymore, she was hurt. She hadn’t expected Harry’s words to pierce her heart the way they did, but she felt the pain with a frightful force.

The boys looked surprised and a bit ashamed. Ginny’s hands fisted into her skirt but she tried to keep herself standing straight and tall, glaring accusingly at Ron and Harry, both of whom looked like they were rethinking everything they had said a few moments before.

“I’m sorry,” she said, gesturing towards Harry. “I don’t remember asking you to date me.”

“Ginny-,” Ron started, but she held up her hand and he shut his mouth quickly.

“Yes, Dean,” she turned towards him. “I did send Harry a poem in which I compared his eyes to a freshly pickled toad.” She glanced back at Harry. “But that was two years ago. I don’t think I’ve asked you to date me in recent memory.”

Harry looked horridly guilty, but she didn’t let it soften her. She had been made into a spectacle and her brother and the boy she had had a crush on for years had done nothing to defend her.

“I’m sorry, Ginny, I-”

She’d heard enough. From Harry, from everyone.

“Good night,” she said and swiftly turned on her heels to exit from the situation. As she walked away, she noticed that a fourth-year Ravenclaw student, Michael Corner (if she remembered correctly), was eyeing her. Before she could overthink it, she walked up to him, asked him for a dance, and led him to the dance floor, all the while feeling Harry’s eyes on her.

As she danced with Michael, who seemed genuinely interested in getting to know her, she felt a knot untie in her stomach. Yes, she was well on her way to getting over Harry Potter. She would never think of Harry Potter as anything but her brother’s best friend. She was truly done with her unrequited crush. She decided, then and there, that she would never let Harry make a fool of her again.

Ginny enjoyed the rest of the night, feeling a million times lighter than she had felt at the start of the evening.

Oblivious to her relief, Harry was heading back towards his dorm, a pit of regret forming in his stomach. He had never felt like a bully before. But the whole business with Ginny was making him feel rotten about himself.

However, his regret was quickly forgotten when he encountered Cedric and Cho on his way back. His mind began to focus on Cho Chang and the jealousy he felt towards Cedric Diggory instead.

But the regret would return. In a year or so, Harry would fervently wish that he had done things differently that night. He would come to know exactly how much he regrets rejecting Ginny Weasley.

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Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Almost one year later, we are now in the Order of the Phoenix timeline.

Harry found a strange satisfaction in teaching DA lessons - all the joy that Umbridge had taken away from Defence Against the Dark Arts was back, thanks to Hermione’s suggestion. These days, he found himself waiting to get through with lessons only to focus on what he would teach in the next DA meeting.

It was a small added benefit that he had reason to loiter around Cho, who seemed worse at performing some of the spells than other students. She would often fumble with the incantations, giving Harry the perfect excuse to pull her aside and help her figure out each spell. During those stolen moments, while Harry appreciated looking at Cho’s flushing cheeks, he found that neither of them ever said much to each other.

During one of the DA meetings, when Harry decided to divide people into pairs to duel each other, he found himself looking at Cho nervously as she faced off against the youngest Weasley.

Harry turned to Ginny cautiously.

Since that unfortunate incident at the Yule Ball, Ginny had hardly spoken more than six words to him at a time.

Harry, Mum asked for your laundry.

Harry, can you pass the potatoes?

So Harry’s dad was a Chaser?

I want to play as a Chaser too.

Those consisted of the major interactions he’d had with Ginny Weasley in the last year. And the last two were meant more for Sirius than Harry anyway.

But they were forced to spend time together since Ginny and Hermione shared a friendship that neither he nor Ron could understand. And with the Weasleys basically having spent all summer at Grimmauld Place, Harry had no choice but to share space with Ginny. But she acted aloof, barely glancing towards him anymore, which left Harry wondering whether he preferred the younger Ginny, who didn’t speak to him either but for much less hostile reasons.

He couldn’t fault her, of course.

He still couldn’t think about the Yule Ball without thinking about the cruelty with which he had dismissed her.

I would never date Ginny Weasley.

He could hear himself saying those words whenever he found himself in her presence, which happened often enough that Harry had gotten used to the uncomfortable ache in his stomach any time she was close.

Despite the guilt that still gripped him, Harry had never apologised. He wanted to, desperately. But it seemed worse to bring up the incident than to let it lie and take Ginny’s cold silence instead. He felt awful about it, but he was too much of a coward to acknowledge what he had done.

So while he could barely call himself Ginny’s friend, he knew that she was an exceptionally powerful witch. She could pull off defensive spells within a couple of tries, and usually, those spells could knock off people twice her size. She was mouthy too, as much as he knew of her. She was capable of scaring her six older brothers and keeping them in line, even the twins, who ignored all other forms of authority but somehow had what seemed like an irrational fear of Ginny’s Bat Bogey Hex.

Harry realised that he was cringing a little, anticipating that Cho wouldn’t come out of this duel unscathed. Hermione nudged him in his ribs, breaking him out of his thoughts, and he finally said, “Let’s begin.”

The girls bowed towards each other, and before Harry knew it, he heard Ginny cry, “Flipendo!”

He turned his head just in time to see Cho knocked back with force, ending up in a heap on the floor. She looked a bit embarrassed, but quickly brushed it off and stood up, releasing a Disarming Charm towards Ginny, who managed to duck and avoid the incoming spell. Ginny was quick on her feet, Harry noted impressively and sent back a Jelly-Legs Jinx, which caught Cho yet again. Harry heard a few laughs from across the room and held back his own laugh, feeling a bit bad for Cho, who was definitely not performing anywhere even close to her opponent.

Finally, Ginny was hit by at least one of Cho’s spells, which was a Stunning Spell, but a weak one, and therefore, had done very little damage except for throwing Ginny back a bit. When she straightened up, she looked just a tiny bit annoyed. Harry grimaced a bit in anticipation, knowing that the duel was almost up, when Ginny cried, “Incarcerous.”

Cho now had ropes binding and gagging her as she struggled pitifully. Ginny had a triumphant smirk on her face, and Harry shot sparks out of his wand to end the duel. Marietta ran towards Cho to free her, while Harry thought it was best to confront Ginny.

“Great work, Ginny,” he said, pulling her away a bit from her group of friends who were congratulating her. “But I haven’t taught that last spell in any of the DA meetings. Where did you learn that one?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I looked it up,” she answered, crossing her arms across her chest. “Plus, Dad’s told me about it. I always wanted to try it.”

“That was your first time casting that spell?”

Harry couldn’t help but be impressed.

“I might have cast it against Goyle once before.”

Harry held back a smile and said, “It’s good that you know it, but I don’t want you using spells that I haven’t taught the rest of the DA.”

“Why? Isn’t the point to make ourselves better at defence? Who says we have to stick to a Potter-approved curriculum?”

There was a challenge in her voice and Harry found himself feeling annoyed.

“Well, I’m the one teaching everyone the spells, so I would appreciate it if you didn’t try and introduce new spells without consulting with me first.”

“Well, if you’re going to be a tyrant about it.”

Before Harry could say much more, Ginny walked away coolly and went to stand beside Michael Corner, who Harry had just recently found out was her boyfriend.

She really is over me then, Harry thought. He didn’t know why, but he felt a surge of annoyance when Michael pushed Ginny’s hair back behind her ear and she gave him a brilliant smile. She used to smile at me like that, Harry thought. He wanted to support her moving on and dating, but he had to agree with Ron - she could find someone better to be with.

The lesson continued for another four or five duels but Harry was still thinking about the duel between Ginny and Cho. He wanted to speak to Cho after the meeting, but she quickly excused herself and disappeared with Marietta, perhaps to avoid Harry after her banal performance. He felt another surge of anger towards Ginny, who stood surrounded by Michael, a couple of her friends, and even the twins, who were appreciating her spellwork. She was laughing, her brown eyes sparkling. Harry knew he was being irrational - Ginny had only done what she was meant to, which was to duel someone and beat them - but he wanted to call her out for not going a bit easy on Cho.

“Let’s go, mate,” Ron said and clapped him on the shoulder, Hermione following close behind him. “Ginny really took it out of Cho today, didn’t she?” Ron sounded proud, and really, why shouldn’t he? Harry was also beyond impressed at how powerful and resourceful Ginny Weasley was.

“Do you think Cho is okay?” Hermione asked. Ron laughed and responded, “Who cares?” When Hermione nudged him towards Harry, Ron cleared his throat and said, “I mean, of course she must be fine. It’s not like those spells did any lasting damage.”

Harry took one last look towards Ginny, who caught his eyes for a second. Her smile immediately disappeared off her face when she looked at him, a guarded expression replacing it.

Harry knew he had no right to get bothered by whatever Ginny Weasley did, but boy was she starting to get on his nerves.

HGHGHGHG

The next time he was annoyed at Ginny Weasley, he was kissing Cho. They had just leaned towards each other, and Harry was nervously trying to enjoy the first kiss, the first kiss, of his life when he heard what sounded like a surprised gasp.

He was half thankful (he didn’t think that kisses were supposed to feel so…wet) that he had to pull back from Cho and half annoyed that someone had just witnessed what felt like the most private moment he had ever experienced in his life so far. And his irritation doubled when he turned to see the face of Ginny, who was very obviously trying not to laugh.

“I’m really sorry,” Ginny said, holding her palms up in apology. “I just left my book bag here somewhere, and I have an Arithmancy essay to finish.” She crossed the room at a quick pace and looked around. Harry wanted to ask her to leave, but instead, he felt Cho pull away entirely, standing much farther away from him, looking sheepishly at her feet. Ginny found her bag and was exiting the room again, but not before she said, “Sorry. Please continue.”

Harry felt that, at that instant, he would have loved to murder Ginny Weasley, if she wasn’t his best friend’s sister. His insides were bubbling up with indignation; why was she so happy anyway? A year ago, seeing him kiss someone else would have probably wiped that smug smile off her face in an instant. And now, here she was, snickering at his first kiss.

But just as he felt anger about having been embarrassed by Ginny, the recollection of the Yule Ball came up to the forefront of his mind. Hadn’t what he done far worse? She had looked embarrassed as well, except she had had a much larger audience. And was getting caught kissing really worse than a group of boys making fun of your clothes and then one of them proclaiming for the whole group to hear that he would never date you?

No, he had no right to feel angry or irritated at Ginny.

Not today, not ever. Not until he gathered up the courage to apologise anyway.

Neither he nor Cho shared another word, and Harry thought it was better to head back to the Common Room.

HGHGHGHG

Sirius was pacing the floor in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, while Harry and Hermione were waiting for the Weasleys to join them for breakfast. Usually, Mrs Weasley was the first one in the kitchen, preparing the breakfast. But this morning, she was visiting Mr Weasley for an early breakfast at St. Mungo’s. The Weasley kids, on the other hand, were habitually late.

Ron was the first one to make it through the kitchen door, followed by the twins, and at last, Harry saw Ginny step through the kitchen door, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her hair was still dishevelled and Harry noted that she was wearing a Christmas jumper, perhaps last year’s, on top of her night clothes. She briefly smiled at everyone, even at Harry, as she took her seat next to Hermione - both of them began whispering to each other almost instantly.

Harry and Ginny had fallen back into an uncomfortable silence since he had been a bit of an arsehole to her, yet again. He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten about Ginny being possessed by Voldemort in her first year. Lucky you, that’s what she’d said to him. There was something about this girl that Harry kept getting everything wrong around her. Harry didn’t even remember thinking too much about Ginny before that night at the Yule Ball, but since that blasted incident, he could never take her completely out of his mind. Maybe it was because there was that unresolved, unmentionable episode that existed between them. Maybe Harry should pluck up the courage to apologise, finally. Maybe he should also throw in an apology for forgetting that he wasn’t the only person whose mind had been messed with by Voldemort. Maybe he should stop offending her around Christmas time, once and for all.

“So, what are you all planning to do today?” Sirius cut through the air, his Christmas spirit still very much intact. It was driving Harry up a wall to see his godfather trying to play the fairy godmother to the entire Weasley clan. For a few days now, Sirius had been pulling Ginny to help him decorate or bake Christmas treats, spending time with the twins in their room helping with their experiments for the joke shop, or playing wizards’ chess with Ron but losing spectacularly and loudly every time. Since Hermione had just joined them a day ago, she was yet to be pulled into Sirius’s Christmas cheer. And Harry had kept away until now.

Despite his fumble with Ginny, she and Hermione had lifted a load off his shoulders. He was not possessed, at least according to Ginny. And who here knew any better than her? Certainly not him.

“Oh, we have some homework to take care of,” Fred immediately responded, winking at Sirius, their small altercation with him over Mr Weasley’s condition already forgotten.

“Yeah, I would love to take a look at it when you’re through,” Sirius laughed and offered. “Maybe I can help? After all, I did help create the Marauder’s Map.”

“Yeah, and I can’t believe that Harry didn’t tell us that before we put two and two together,” George spoke and threw Harry a dirty look. Fred and George had realised that Sirius was one of the Marauders when they had overheard Remus call Sirius ‘Padfoot’ one morning. The knowledge had much improved the relationship between the twins and Sirius.

“Ginny, should you and I try and find a few more Christmas ornaments then?” Sirius offered. “Maybe Hermione can help - I think the house still has some spots that feel like the gloomy and morbid ancient House of Black.”

The girls nodded, looking happy enough to help, leaving Harry and Ron to make their way back into their shared bedroom, where they played Exploding Snap. While playing the game, Harry could hear Ginny, Sirius, and Hermione laughing from across the corridor. Harry’s thoughts wandered to Christmas and he came up with something that might finally help fix the rocky relationship he shared with the youngest Weasley.

Equipped with an idea, Harry quickly finished his game against Ron to put his simple but perhaps effective plan into motion.

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Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Author's Notes: I am adding all three chapters at once because I have already uploaded the story on AO3. Enjoy - let me know what you guys think!

When Ginny woke up on Christmas, she quickly hugged Hermione and greeted her, before turning to her more than modest pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She was quick to unwrap the package from her Mum, which she knew was her brand-new Christmas jumper. She pulled it out - this one was a beautiful burgundy, with a golden snitch in the centre, probably her Mum’s way of showing support now that she was a Seeker on the Gryffindor team.

She had a new pack of Dungbombs from the twins, a brand new copy of Quidditch Through the Ages from Neville (she didn’t need to borrow Ron’s copy anymore), a small pack of her favourite Sugar Quills from Charlie, a few chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties from Ron, a set of new Quidditch gloves from Bill, the latest copy of The Quibbler as well as a model of what Ginny guessed was a Crumple-Horned Snorkack from Luna, a bracelet from Michael (Ginny rolled her eyes), and finally, a copy of Seeker Strategies from Hermione.

She quickly turned towards Hermione, gave her another quick hug, and thanked her for the new book, which would prove to be super useful this year. Hermione, who had started out as just the bossy girl who was friends with Ginny’s brother, had now become one of her closest friends. Ginny could never appreciate Hermione enough - she was the older sister she had secretly wanted forever. Even after Ginny’s first year, the older girl had never once been angry towards what Ginny had done or judged her for how stupid she’d been.

“I think you missed one, Ginny,” Hermione said and held up a present that must have fallen off Ginny’s bed. Ginny narrowed her eyes at the small, hastily wrapped package.

“I’m not expecting any other presents.”

“Well, it’s not one of mine,” Hermione said and gestured back at her bed, where she had neatly stacked her unwrapped presents. “And judging by the packaging, I’d guess it’s from Harry. He packed mine the same way.” She rotated the package a bit and then held up the name on the back of the wrapping. “See, it says Harry right here.”

Ginny’s eyes widened a bit in bewilderment. Hermione caught up in an instant.

“Perhaps he’s trying to make up for offending you?” Hermione offered, handing Ginny the package.

“Huh?” Ginny asked absently as she unwrapped the present with slightly trembling fingers. She hadn’t much thought about Harry in the last year - or at least, she’d tried not to think too much about him, but he hovered just beyond her consciousness at all times. She still held his cruel words at the Yule Ball close to her heart, thinking about them during rare moments of weakness, but since he never brought it up, she assumed he just didn’t care. And it’s not like she and Harry had ever been friends. Since she had stopped interacting with him, he’d never bothered to initiate a conversation with her, making her feel all the more sure that giving up on Harry was the best thing she’d ever done.

So what possible reason could he have to send her a Christmas present?

“I thought he was a bit of an arse to you when he admitted that he’d forgotten about Riddle’s diary the other day.”

Hermione only swore like this around Ginny, who had started to rub off on her. Not that Hermione would ever admit it.

Ginny waved her off.

“Yeah, he was an arse, but wasn’t that just the typical amount of arsehole-y stuff that Harry says?”

“You think he’s an arsehole in general?”

“Come on, Hermione. You can’t pretend that Harry isn’t a right git.” Giving it another thought, she added, “I know he doesn’t mean to hurt people, he’s far too noble for that. But given his limited understanding of human emotions, he can be plenty cruel at times.”

“You still haven’t forgiven him for the Yule Ball, have you?”

“I’d forgive him if he ever actually apologised.” Ginny crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively. She wasn’t the one holding a grudge. She was simply protecting her dignity. “But I don’t think it’s going to be so easy to forget, Hermione. You didn’t hear him say it. He didn’t just say that he didn’t want to date me. It’s like…” She looked for the right words. “It’s like he couldn’t imagine a scenario where he would ever even consider me date-worthy.”

Ginny’s voice closed up a bit - she still felt the stab of Harry’s words, even a year later.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt more humiliated in my life. Not even with years of hand-me-down books or second-hand robes.”

Hermione looked at Ginny with pity, but not in a demeaning way.

“Maybe this is his way of finally apologising,” Hermione gestured at Harry’s present, which was now unwrapped in Ginny’s hands. Brand new Quidditch goggles, perfect for a new Seeker. It was a thoughtful gift, Ginny had to begrudgingly accept.

“Maybe.”

HGHGHGHG

Ginny scrubbed the dishes, with a sponge that looked so dilapidated that it could have been as old as Kreacher.

She was being punished. For setting off her new pack of Dungbombs. In front of the portrait of Walburga Black. The old hag wouldn’t be able to smell the Dungbombs of course, but it gave Ginny immense satisfaction to set them off in front of the vile woman anyway. Sirius agreed, giving her what Ginny thought was the loudest laugh she had ever heard in her life. But her mother couldn’t appreciate the joke.

So she was stuck here after dinner, alone, scrubbing everyone’s dishes without magic.

Ginny sighed and continued her work until she heard a presence behind her. She turned back to look.

Sirius stood in the doorway, a glass of drink in his hand, looking just a touch guilty.

“You’re still here?” he asked, trying his best to sound breezy.

“Yes. Believe it or not, it takes a century to do dishes without magic.”

“I can believe it. Mrs Potter used to make me and James do dishes by hand. She said it ‘built character.’”

Ginny snorted.

“So mothers are the same everywhere,” she mused. “Good to know.”

Sirius was now sitting on the edge of the dining table, twirling his drink around in the glass. She could smell the liquor on him, but she held back any comments. It wasn’t her place to comment on how Sirius Black lived his life. She felt a surge of pity for Harry, who must feel awfully about his godfather losing a bit of himself to drinking every day. She shook the thought away - it wasn’t her business how Harry lived his life either.

“I can see you frowning, you know,” Sirius spoke up, making her turn to look at him. “You look remarkably like Molly when you make that face.”

“I don’t know what’s worse - that you think I’m like my mother or that you think people can’t see that you have a drinking problem.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. She really couldn’t help herself. “Oh, I know what’s worse.”

Sirius’s smug smile was quickly wiped off his face.

“You know, you are unlike any other fourteen-year-old I’ve seen.” Sirius gulped down his entire drink. “If I were to help you magic those dishes, would you lay off my drinking then? I don’t need another minder, Molly is enough.”

“I don’t fancy being your minder anyway,” Ginny kept her sponge aside, wiped her wet hands down the front of her apron, and pulled a chair to sit across from Sirius. “I’m just wondering what Harry thinks about his godfather becoming the local drunk.”

Sirius’s face flashed with a slight bit of anger, but he quickly amended his expression again, giving her a sly smile.

“Why, Miss Weasley,” he said, reminding her of the twins when they wanted to tease her. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you have a crush on my godson.”

Ginny almost winced out loud. She didn’t like to be reminded of her mortifying crush on Harry. Sirius couldn’t possibly know about it, could he? Of course, he could - she had multiple brothers who would love nothing more than to humiliate her. So she thought that the best strategy was to go ahead and admit it. She didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. And wasn’t she now completely over Harry?

“If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said yes,” she said, trying to sound as indifferent as she could.

“What changed?”

She knew that Sirius was just trying to distract from his own issues, but she had already crossed a line with him, she felt. So she just let him distract her.

“Let’s just say that he would never date me.”

“He said that, did he?” Sirius chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. “I bet you anything, that boy will eat his words.”

Ginny suppressed the small tide of hope that she felt forming in her stomach and shook her head.

“Who says I’m even waiting anymore?” She added, “Besides, I’m dating someone. He’s very nice.”

“You keep telling yourself that, darling.”

Sirius got up then, smirking at her. He held up his glass and said, “Time for another drink, don’t you think?” He then poured himself another glass from the liquor cabinet and held it up towards her before exiting the kitchen.

She liked Sirius, but he had this uncanny ability to unnerve her.

She tried not to think about what he meant - about her or Harry - and got back to work. When she heard footsteps again, she was drying the dishes with a rag, which she threw aside and turned to say, “Back for another drink, Sirius?” before she realised that it wasn’t Sirius who stood in the doorway.

It was Harry, hair standing up in all directions.

It was typical of him. It was also typical for Ginny to feel a slight flutter in her stomach, but she’d chalk it up to her being super tired from the dishes.

Harry threw her a lopsided smile and waved.

“I’m sorry, I thought it was Sirius.”

She turned back to the dishes, determined to ignore a pair of very green eyes.

“Sirius was here?” She didn’t bother answering. “Was he drinking again?”

Despite herself, she felt another twinge of emotion. She turned back and nodded, seeing her worry reflected in Harry’s face.

“Did you want something, Harry?” she asked, trying to be as kind as she could.

“Er yeah, I couldn’t sleep. I thought I’d have some leftover treacle tart.”

Ginny nodded, picked up the leftover tart from the kitchen counter, and brought it to the table, where Harry was now taking a seat. She pulled out two spoons, handing one to Harry, and took a bite out of the tart herself.

“This is nice,” she said, humming a bit.

Harry nodded absently, playing with a bite but never taking it to his mouth.

“I’m so worried about him.”

Ginny stiffened. Harry never had conversations with her. He never shared his thoughts. She doubted that Harry even knew that she was a living, breathing human being. She could have been a fixture at the Burrow and Harry wouldn’t know the difference, she knew.

Ginny didn’t know how to respond, so she just grimaced at Harry.

He continued.

“I’m just worried that he’s losing himself. To the drinks, to this house.”

“It can’t be easy being stuck here,” she commented.

“No, of course not. But I wish-.” Harry shook his head, never finishing his trail of thought.

“Why don’t you try talking to him about it?”

Harry met her eyes and the intensity of his gaze caused a swooping sensation.

“It’s not that simple.” He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Sirius only wants to talk about my parents or me. He avoids talking about his own issues entirely.”

“Yeah, I could have guessed that about him. The trick with people like that is to be insistent. Keep bringing it up, keep asking him. He’s not going to be able to ignore you for long.” She brought another bite of the tart to her mouth. “It’s been so long for Sirius - I doubt he even knows what it feels like to share his intrusive thoughts or emotions with someone else.”

She shrugged at Harry.

“But I bet he would talk to you if you gently coax it out of him.”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “You’re right.” And then his hand was on hers, squeezing softly. “Thanks, Ginny.”

Ginny quickly pulled her hand back, feeling her cheeks get warmer at the contact.

“Of course,” she said and got up out of her chair. She was just about to return to her dishes when she felt Harry’s fingers grab her wrist. Again.

She tried not to think about the Yule Ball and turned.

“Ginny, can we talk?”

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Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Author's Notes: I have kept this similar to canon in this one way - it was watching Ginny kiss Dean that Harry finally realised that he liked her. I don't want him to realise it fully just yet but seeing her kiss Michael probably made him start thinking more and more about Ginny.

Also, I know Ginny has sort of forgiven Harry, but just to be clear, she's not fully over it and won't be over it for a while. I just want them to start being friends first.

“Ginny, can we talk?”

Harry tightened his fingers on Ginny’s wrist just by a bit and her eyes darted down to where he had gripped her. Harry’s nerves were making his heart thud furiously. He knew that he had given Ginny no reason to listen to him, but he didn’t want to go around pretending that he hadn’t hurt her anymore.

They should be friends, shouldn’t they? The Weasleys were the only family he’d ever known, and it seemed wrong that one of them wasn’t on speaking terms with Harry. Not that Ginny had ever fully iced him out. She would say polite words to him, or smile at him as part of a crowd. But for reasons unknown to him, it bothered him a lot that he hadn’t had a real conversation with Ginny in years.

And he didn’t think that their lack of interaction had ever been Ginny’s fault.

Even now, Ginny looked guarded, as if she wasn’t sure what Harry wanted. As if he would never think to talk to Ginny about anything. And wasn’t she right? Had he ever, ever, started a conversation with Ginny over the years? Hadn’t their longest conversation been the one they’d shared after Tom Riddle’s demise in the Chamber of Secrets?

Ginny nodded slowly.

“Of course, what is it?”

Harry didn’t know where to start. To be honest, he had half expected that Ginny would simply storm off. Instead, she sat back down on the chair she had just deserted, and Harry let go of her wrist.

“Erm, I was wondering whether you liked your Christmas present.” That seemed like a safe starting point. At this, Ginny’s eyes widened a bit and she almost looked remorseful.

“Oh I’m so sorry I forgot to thank you for it, Harry,” she said. Harry waved off her apology before she added, “It was a very thoughtful present. Thanks a lot, really.”

“Oh great, I’m glad you liked it.” Before she could question if that was all he wanted, he quickly added, “And I was thinking that maybe I could help train you a bit when we’re back. Umbridge won’t let me fly, but I could always help you out with like a few tips and tricks, I guess.”

Ginny gave him what looked like a genuine smile because he saw her brown eyes sparkle in the dim lights of the kitchen.

“That sounds great, Harry.”

Harry jerked his head in a nod but said nothing.

“I’ll just finish the dishes, then,” Ginny said and gestured towards the dishes. “Otherwise, you know Mum.”

Harry got up with her. Ginny seemed a bit confused but picked up her rag again, drying the dishes. Harry looked around for a dishcloth and joined her to help. They silently wiped the dishes for a few minutes, Ginny stealing unsure glances towards Harry. Harry swayed a bit, still nervous, not sure how to apologise.

“I’m sorry.”

Being blunt was the only way.

“What?” Ginny either hadn’t heard him correctly or couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke a bit louder. “For forgetting about Riddle’s diary.”

Ginny smiled a bit.

“Oh Harry, I’m not angry at you. Plus, it’s not like you actually forgot. You’re going through something scary - it slipped your mind, I get it.” Ginny touched his shoulder with her hand and squeezed, making Harry feel a bubble of appreciation for her. She was perhaps the only one who could understand what he’d been scared of these past few days. Why hadn’t he thought of talking to her before? “I’m not mad at you. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“Harry, I’m not-.”

“About the Yule Ball.”

There was a beat of silence. Ginny’s ears went red. In anger or embarrassment, Harry wasn’t sure.

“Oh.”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I didn’t mean to say that. I, er, Seamus was just going on and on, and was all over me about you maybe thinking that I’d want to date you, so I just, I wanted to explain to them, that’s all.”

Harry knew he was probably doing a bad job of explaining because he saw Ginny cringe at his words.

“I know, I was there.”

Her words stung.

“I’m sorry, Ginny.” Harry kept the dishcloth aside and grabbed her shoulders to turn her fully towards him. She kept staring at the loose thread on the rag in her hand. “I was an arse to you that night. Trust me, my intention was never to hurt you. The guys were just pulling my leg and I just wanted to let them know that-.”

“You would never date me.”

“No, I mean, yes I didn’t want to date you back then. But it’s not like I couldn’t ever imagine dating you.” She looked up at that. “I mean, I don’t want to date you, but back then, I thought you had a crush on me, and I panicked and thought that if I led you on, I might hurt you.”

She nodded.

“I get it, Harry.” There was a bit of resignation in her voice. “You didn’t want to lead me on. I can’t pretend that it didn’t hurt. But I guess, it was for the best.” She shrugged her shoulder at him. He pulled back his hands and held them limply at his sides. “After that night, whatever feelings I had for you were gone. For good.” Harry blinked. “And I met Michael, who is really sweet. I like him very much.” She swatted his arm playfully. “And you like Cho, clearly. So it’s all water under the bridge.”

“Oh, erm, alright then.”

Harry looked back at the counter - all the dishes were now dry. Ginny turned her back to him and untied her apron without a word, pulling it off her neck, her red hair flying a bit in Harry’s face as she did so.

She took a last look at him, smiled, and then bid him good night, leaving him alone in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.

It was for the best.

Whatever feelings I had for you were gone.

For good.

Harry replayed her words again, and then again, in his mind. She met Michael that night. She liked Michael now. And she thought he liked Cho. He did like Cho.

Harry thought of the kiss he had shared with Cho. And the first thing that came to his mind was Ginny Weasley snickering at them, a smug smile on her face.

He did like Cho.

Didn’t he?

And now, he’d finally done what he’d set out to do. He had apologised to Ginny for hurting her feelings, for acting like a git. This was his plan to put that ugly incident behind them. He could now be free of guilt and go back to being friends (were they ever friends before?) with her again.

This apology should have undone the knot in his stomach.

Why then, he thought, did his insides feel like they were twisting into an even tighter one?

HGHGHGHG

Harry had wanted to take Ginny’s advice and have an honest conversation with Sirius about all that was troubling him, and also about his drinking habits, but Snape’s arrival ruined his plans. Sirius was more morose than ever - Snape had called him a coward and nothing could pull him out of his mood. If anything, the argument with Snape made Sirius drink even more heavily. And with Mr Weasley’s return, Harry never found the chance to corner Sirius and talk to him about anything.

Before long, Harry was on board the Knight Bus, with the package from Sirius tucked into his pocket. No, Harry wouldn’t contact Sirius. These things could only be talked about in person. And the last thing Harry wanted to do was to complain to Sirius about the lessons with Snape, perhaps encouraging him to do something stupid like venture out of Grimmauld Place on his own. No, it was better that his godfather was safe in hiding, where the biggest threat he would ever have is Snape calling him a coward.

With the village of Hogsmeade approaching, Harry’s thoughts turned towards the new term at school. He was dreading his extra lessons with Snape. And of course, there was still the unpleasantness of having to sit through Umbridge’s Defence lessons.

Maybe Harry could focus on the DA instead. Yes, that’s where he could devote all his energy. As the group walked back towards Hogwarts’ gate, Harry glanced at Ginny, who was engaged in an animated conversation with Fred and George about Quidditch. Harry had offered to help her out with strategies and training. Yes, he could always spend some time trying to help her be a better Seeker. At least that way, if they won, he could feel like he contributed. And spending more time with Ginny didn’t seem like the worst idea.

Once they were on the grounds, Harry saw Michael run up to greet Ginny, and the two of them fell behind a bit, talking to each other in low tones. Harry didn’t want to eavesdrop, but when he thought he heard Michael’s voice rising, he unconsciously zoned out from the conversation that Ron and Hermione were having and focused on what Ginny and Michael were saying instead.

“You could have worn it to show it to me, at least.” Michael sounded angry. “It wasn’t cheap, you know.”

“You know I’m not the jewellery type, Michael,” Ginny replied. “And I never asked you to buy me something expensive. I’d have preferred it if you bought me a few sweets or something from Zonko’s.”

“You’re my girlfriend, not my mate. And what do you even mean that you’re not the jewellery type?”

“That means that I would rather have a Blast-Ended Skrewt as a pet than wear a bracelet on my wrist.”

After that, Michael ran off in another direction and Harry held back a smile. What a berk, Harry thought. Clearly, Michael wasn’t as good of a match for Ginny as she thought. So maybe there was still hope that they’d split up.

For the rest of his walk up the castle, Harry wondered why he was so invested in Ginny’s relationship and then decided that now that they were sort of friends, he had the right to worry about who she was dating.

Yes, it was a friendly concern, that’s all.

Harry’s concern about Ginny’s relationship grew even more when he stepped into the Room of Requirement a few days later, a bit early for the next DA meeting, only to see Michael snogging Ginny in one corner.

Seeing Ginny kiss Michael burned Harry’s insides with a fire that he couldn’t explain. Harry wanted to pull Michael away from Ginny and hex his lips off. Ginny was way too young to be kissing anyone anyway, wasn’t she? No, he couldn’t allow this to happen. If Michael wanted to date Ginny, he would have to keep his hands, his lips, and any other parts of his body, to himself.

Harry cleared his throat as loudly as he could.

Ginny and Michael pulled apart to look at him. Ginny’s cheeks were flushed and Harry felt a slight tremor in his stomach looking at her freckles against her red cheeks. But Harry composed himself and put on his most ‘brotherly’ face.

“What are you doing?” he asked Ginny, determined not to look at Michael.

Ginny’s face was now blazing, the embarrassment at having been caught quickly abated. “What does it look like we’re doing?”

“You shouldn’t be doing that.”

“Why? Have you booked the room for you and Cho today? Is there a list somewhere that I’m unaware of?”

Harry ignored her comment about Cho.

“Aren’t you too young for this anyway?”

Ginny let out a harsh laugh and Michael threw a dirty look at Harry.

“Why do you care, Harry?” Ginny asked, draining the indignant anger from Harry’s body and replacing it with confusion. Why did he care? Shouldn’t he be glad that Ginny is finally over that mortifying crush she used to have on Harry? Shouldn’t he be glad that she had moved on, no matter how much he disapproved of who she’d moved on with?

“I don’t.”

But even as he said it, Harry knew it wasn’t true.

He cared. He cared a LOT about who Ginny was dating, for some unknown, unexplainable reason. He didn’t want Michael around her. No, he wanted no boy around her. And try as he might, he couldn’t fully convince himself that his feelings were brotherly or friendly in any way.

Would he care if it was Hermione snogging someone in Ginny’s place? He didn’t think he would.

“Good,” Ginny said, took Michael’s arm and led him away to stand in the centre of the room. More people were now starting to join them for the DA meeting. But none of them noticed that Harry was standing where he’d been, still dazed about what had happened.

Harry knew nothing for certain, save one thing. He regretted rejecting Ginny Weasley. And he wished he had done things differently a year ago. He wished he’d never said anything about her at the Yule Ball.

Because he was the one to blame. He had practically pushed Ginny into the arms of Michael Corner.

And now, she was starting to bother Harry.

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Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Author's Notes: Here's another chapter for you guys. I'm having fun building their friendship for now, but the good stuff will come soon. I want my version of Hinny to have more of a solid friendship foundation before they move to the relationship phase, which is still far away.

Let me know what you guys think! :)

The news of the mass breakout was now the only thing anyone wanted to talk about. Ginny felt like she had been transported back to her second year when the halls of Hogwarts had been filled with murmurs about the crazed murderer, Sirius Black. But it made Ginny so angry that there were so many idiots out there who believed that Sirius Black was behind this mass breakout.

Harry and Dumbledore had been screaming the truth about Tom Riddle being back for almost a year now. But not everyone believed them.

As she walked out of her Potions lesson, she spotted Michael in the distance. He always insisted on walking her from one class to the other. She tried not to feel annoyed by this - he was trying to be a sweet boyfriend, after all. It wasn’t his fault that his gesture made her feel like an eight-year-old.

“Did you see the Daily Prophet?” Michael asked her when she was close enough. “They reckon that Sirius Black has helped with the mass breakout from Azkaban. Had they caught the man two years ago, he wouldn’t be able to free his Death Eater buddies.”

“You know that it’s Voldemort behind the mass breakout, Michael,” Ginny retorted, slightly annoyed. Michael shuddered at her use of the name.

“Yeah, but he won’t be breaking them out in person, would he? I bet he sent his right-hand man to do the job.” Michael put his arm around Ginny’s shoulder, which made her want to squirm away from his touch. She knew she couldn’t defend Sirius, but hearing him talk like this made her angry anyway. “Plus, who better than Sirius Black to break more people out of Azkaban? He’s the expert, innit?”

As they turned into the Charms corridor, which was her next class, Ginny finally pulled herself away from Michael and his incessant chatter and found Luna instead. Michael looked a bit confused at Ginny’s cold parting but said nothing and walked away towards his next class presumably. Ginny wound her arm through Luna’s arm and made her way towards the Charms classroom.

Her worries did not disappear though, and only increased, when she overheard a couple of her Ravenclaw classmates discussing Hagrid’s probation. Of course, that horrid Umbridge woman had put him on probation. Ginny gritted her teeth at the injustice of it all.

Ginny was just thinking about making her way down to see Hagrid at some point that evening when someone said, “It would be such a relief to get rid of that oaf. We could finally have a real teacher for Care of Magical Creatures.”

She turned to see who it was - it was Harper Davies, a fourth-year Ravenclaw girl who had also spent the last four years tormenting Luna with her pranks and insults. Ginny didn’t think much more than two seconds before she pulled out her wand and hexed the smug bitch, making large bogey bats attack her in the middle of the classroom.

“Miss Weasley, 20 points from Gryffindor for that violent display,” Professor Flitwick said, as he undid the hex. “And I want you to serve detention with me on Saturday at ten.”

“But Professor, I have Quidditch practice on Saturday morning.”

“You should have thought of that before you hexed Miss Davies.”

By the time Ginny reached her Common Room, she was fuming. She threw her book bag with force against the sofa in front of the fireplace and kicked one of the legs of a coffee table in frustration.

It was only when she’d screamed and kicked the table a few times that she noticed that Harry was sitting in a chair facing the fireplace, watching her display with amusement.

“Don’t let me stop you,” he said and held up his hands. “It feels nice to see that I’m not the only one having a shit day.”

“When aren’t you having a shit day, Harry?”

“Good point.” He didn’t elaborate further, but asked, “Why are you having a shit day? Did you get into a fight with Michael?”

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him.

“For someone who said he doesn’t care, you sure ask me about Michael a lot.” Harry looked sufficiently ashamed, so she continued, “It’s not him. Or, it is him, but not just him.” She waved her hands around accustorily. “It’s bloody everyone! All this talk of Sirius Black helping with the Azkaban breakout and then I find out that Hagrid is on probation. And that bitch,” Harry sucked in a breath when she used the word, “Harper Davies was talking about how it’s a great thing and how we’ll get a real teacher now. Tell me, was it wrong for me to hex the smile off her face?”

Harry quickly shook his head in a no.

“Exactly. But then, Flitwick put me in detention on Saturday morning.”

“Isn’t Saturday your first Quidditch practice?”

“YES!”

“Oh.”

Both of them sat quietly for a bit, but Ginny felt a bit lighter already, having dispelled the worst of her anger.

“Why are you having a bad day?” She thought she should return the courtesy of letting Harry get rid of his anger the same way he’d done for her.

“Some of the same things as you,” he said and gave her a half-hearted smile. “Plus, I have literally nothing to look forward to. Hagrid won’t let us visit him, lest we be caught by Umbridge. I can’t have my Firebolt or play Quidditch. I now have horrifying lessons with Snape every week. I can’t write to Sirius about anything. And I have a date with Cho on Valentine’s Day that I don’t know if I’m even in the mood for.”

Ginny felt bad for Harry, she genuinely did.

Since he had apologised for the Yule Ball incident, she had felt herself softening up a bit towards him. She knew that he had a lot on his plate always, but this year had been particularly tough for him. She hadn’t entirely forgiven him for what he’d said (the words still hurt her even after more than a year had passed), but she had at least begun to be nicer to him than she had been before. And maybe she could help him feel better.

“Well, maybe we can sneak off to the Quidditch pitch at night and you can show me some of your best moves?” Harry looked up at her. “You know, you did say that you could help me be a better Seeker, give me some tips. And I know that I don’t have a Firebolt, but it flies well enough. You could at least get away for a while.”

“You want to sneak away at night for a fly?”

“I mean, I don’t think we should get caught,” Ginny defended. “I know you have an Invisibility Cloak, Ron told me. We could sneak out, you could show me some tricks, and then we’d be back before Umbridge even knew what was up.”

Harry seemed to be warming up to the idea because she could see a glint in his eyes.

“Okay, I’ll see you in the Common Room at midnight, then?”

She nodded, feeling a bit warm knowing that she’d help improve his mood, and said, “Sure. Bring your cloak. I don’t want to be serving detention with Umbitch.” This made Harry laugh and they both parted ways.

HGHGHGHG

Ginny met Harry in the deserted Common Room at midnight, as promised.

Harry was standing in front of the fire, tapping his foot nervously, a shimmery fabric draped over his arm. He turned when he heard Ginny step up behind him and flashed her a smile. Ginny didn’t want to pay attention to the way her stomach flipped at his smile.

Just because she was over her childhood crush on Harry, she hadn’t magically stopped being attracted to him altogether. His unruly hair, green eyes, and dashing smile still sometimes made Ginny’s heart skip a beat.

“So this is the famous Invisibility Cloak?” She held up the shimmery fabric with the hand that wasn’t holding her broom. “I swear Ron loves this more than he loves you. Wouldn’t stop talking about it that summer before my first year.”

“It’s been plenty useful for us over the years.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to becoming part of your rule-breaking club.” Ginny curtsied at Harry a bit, which made him snort loudly.

“Okay then, let’s go.”

With this, Harry pulled the cloak over the two of them. It was a snug fit, Ginny noted, especially with the broom also hidden under it. Ginny tried to leave some space between her and Harry, but Harry pulled her closer to him until she was basically smashed into his front.

“Stay close, otherwise you’ll flash your feet.”

Harry’s breath tickled her hairline.

They slowly began shuffling, through the portrait, out into the lonely castle corridors. Ginny tried not to think about how it felt being in a cramped space with Harry, with nothing but silence between them. She could smell his woodsy scent, which was sending shivers down her spine. She could also feel his heart thudding, her head right next to it. It sounded a bit unsteady, maybe Harry was scared of being caught.

Before long, they had made it out from the doors to the grounds, where there were fewer people likely to spot them. So they could walk a bit faster now, reaching the Quidditch pitch in no time.

When Harry pulled off the cloak from them, Ginny felt the cold night air hit her cheeks. She felt thankful for it - her cheeks were burning up now and maybe now it would look like she was red due to the cold and not due to the proximity she had shared with Harry.

It was a bit awkward in the beginning, but the conversation quickly picked up as Harry started talking about his most memorable matches and gave her a breakdown of various Seeker moves. Ginny thought that Harry looked particularly happy when he took her broom and showed a few of those moves to her.

She squinted at Harry flying in the dark. She could just about make his figure out as he whizzed through the pitch, showing her how to dive and catch the snitch if it dove towards the ground, which was what often scared a lot of Seekers, in Harry’s opinion.

Harry flew back to the ground and landed next to her.

“That felt great,” he said and handed the broom back to her. “I’ve not flown since Umbridge took my Firebolt. It really helped clear my mind.”

“I’m glad.” And she was.

“Did you actually see anything? Or was it a waste showing you that move?”

“No, it wasn’t a complete waste. I could make some things out, even in the dark.”

“Good.”

They waited a bit, both trying to come up with what to do next. There was a strong gust of wind, and Ginny shivered.

“Should we head back?” Harry asked, looking quite cold himself. “I’m afraid we’ll freeze our bits off if we keep standing here.” Then, he coughed loudly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say bits around you.”

Ginny laughed.

“Harry, I grew up with six brothers. Trust me, ‘bits’ is not the worst I’ve heard.”

They walked back under the cloak and Harry only took it off them once they were safely inside the Common Room. They shared a look, neither of them sure about what to talk about, until Harry plucked up the courage to say, “Listen, Ginny, thanks a lot for tonight. It put my mind off things. It’s just what I needed.”

“You’re welcome, Harry.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Harry said and turned towards the stairs. So did Ginny. They walked up the stairs together in silence, until Ginny’s path split towards her own dorm. She turned to Harry, wanting to say good night, but he spoke up before she could.

“Hey Ginny,” he said and waited for a beat. “We’re friends now, aren’t we?”

This made Ginny smile.

“Yes, Harry. I’d say we’re friends now.”

“Okay, good.” He smiled to himself. “Good night then.”

“Good night.”

Then Harry walked away, leaving Ginny staring after him in the same spot. The old Ginny would have been ecstatic to spend a night like this with Harry. She would have dissected every moment, memorised every word, and replayed it all again, hoping that something could happen.

Now, Ginny simply enjoyed the warmth spreading through her chest - something she hadn’t even hoped for before seemed possible now.

Harry and Ginny could finally be friends.

And that made her happy.

Back to index

Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Author's Notes: I'm not going to be writing too much about events from the book unless I'm changing them. So we will be quickly reaching the end of OOTP.

Events will start to change more and more in HBP.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :)

PS. The first dialogue is straight from the book, Order of the Phoenix.

“The thing about growing up with Fred and George,” Ginny said thoughtfully, “is that you sort of start thinking that anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”

Harry felt hopeful after a long time, Ginny simply had that effect on him. Too much had gone wrong for him - Dumbledore’s Army was finished, Dumbledore had been forced away from the school, Cho was no longer speaking to him (this one he wasn’t that cut up about), and he had messed up his Occlumency lessons beyond saving. But more than all this, it was Snape’s memory that had taken over his consciousness entirely.

He didn’t want to believe that his father could have been a bully, but Snape’s memory had shown him just that. And he couldn’t help but question his parents’ relationship entirely. His mother had looked like she had hated James, so how could they have ever fallen in love and gotten married?

He had too many questions in his mind that he needed to ask Sirius. So when Ginny suggested that they find a way to contact him, he allowed himself to feel a bit of hope. Maybe it had something to do with the chocolate he was eating or maybe it was the redhead in front of him with a determined look on her face.

He didn’t have much time to ponder it as Madam Pince chased them outside the library. By the time Harry and Ginny reached the Common Room, they were both doubling over with laughter. They collapsed into their regular chairs by the fireplace and slowly simmered down. Harry threw Ginny a very fond grin. She had this uncanny ability to pull him from his moods and he couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful.

“So,” Ginny said and held out another piece of chocolate to him. “What’s up with you and Cho? I saw her scowling at dinner last night.”

Harry groaned loudly and fell back into his chair.

“I’m pretty sure we’re done,” Harry said, looking back up at Ginny. “We haven’t really talked about it officially, but I don’t see how we can ever go back to dating after all that has happened.”

“You mean Hermione? Does Cho still think that you like Hermione?”

“Yes, but that’s not even the biggest problem,” Harry said forcefully. “It’s Marietta. Cho was defending her.”

“That snitch?” Ginny crossed her arms against her chest in indignation. “How does Cho work that one out?”

“She said that Marietta’s mother works for the Ministry so it’s not the same for her.”

Ginny sucked in a loud breath.

“Our dad works in the Ministry. None of us betrayed the DA.”

“That’s exactly what I said.”

“So that’s it then? You’re through?”

“I think it was going downhill for a while anyway.”

“Oh well, it’s her loss, isn’t it?” Ginny looked at him with a kind smile, making Harry feel better about himself.

“You think so?” Harry asked, feeling a bit vulnerable.

Ginny snorted a bit, but not in an unkind way, before saying, “Of course, Harry. There’s just someone better suited for you out there. Someone with way better duelling skills, mind you.” This made Harry laugh but also made him think just how much he wanted to be with someone who understood him, someone who made him laugh, someone who could make him forget the troubles in his life, someone like Ginny.

“And also, maybe someone who doesn’t cry while kissing you.”

Harry was taken aback.

“You saw that?”

“She was crying all over you, it was difficult not to see.”

And then, without control, Harry thought about what it would be like to kiss Ginny…

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he shook his head. No, it was just a reaction to him spending more time with her, wasn’t it? He and Ginny had been slowly becoming friends, so it was natural for him to wonder. He’d never been close with a girl before, except Hermione, who was too much like an annoying sister for him to ever have wondered about her like that. But Ginny was different, wasn’t she?

Try as he might, he couldn’t get himself to think of her as a sister.

“Harry, you OK?” Ginny snapped him out of his train of thought.

“No, er, I mean, yes, I’m fine,” Harry said, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t give away his musings about how wonderfully perfect Ginny could be for him. “My scar is just hurting a bit.” Yes, that was a good excuse, and not entirely a lie.

“Oh,” Ginny drew her eyebrows together in concern. She extended her hand and kept it on his knees; he tried to ignore the tingle he felt in his skin. “Is it bad? Are you still having those nightmares?”

“Er yeah, some nights.”

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him.

“You know you can lie to Ron and Hermione, but I can see through you.”

“I’m not-.”

“Fine, don’t tell me. But do something about them.”

“I can’t. Snape won’t give me any more Occlumency lessons.”

“Why not?”

Harry swallowed. He hadn’t meant to tell anyone the truth, but it had slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. He didn’t know what it was about Ginny that made him say things that he wouldn’t have probably said otherwise. First, his worries about Sirius’s drinking, and now, his failure at the Occlumency lessons.

Ginny waited.

“I’m rubbish at them, it’s pointless,” he said and shrugged his shoulder to try and casually disregard her concern.

“That’s why Snape is supposed to teach you,” Ginny said, her voice taking on a very Mrs Weasley-esque quality. “Is he being a greasy git as usual?”

“Yeah, sort of,” Harry began but then decided to tell her the truth. “This time, I might be the git though.”

“What did you do?”

So Harry told her how he’d spied on one of Snape’s memories. And he also told her exactly what he’d seen in it. As he recalled the tale, Ginny’s face became more and more serious. She had a hard look on her face as if she was trying to control her emotions.

“And don’t say that they were just fifteen-.”

“I won’t say that,” Ginny said, putting up her palm to stop him. “You’re fifteen and you’ve never done that to someone.”

That made Harry deflate a bit, thankful that someone understood his concern.

“I’m not saying this to defend your dad or Sirius, Harry,” Ginny began, in a soothing and patient voice, “but do you really think that Snape would have just taken that stuff lying down? I just know that there’s more to this than what you saw in that Pensieve. I think it’s best that you withhold judgment until you’ve spoken to Sirius.”

Harry wasn’t sure. He was still feeling a painful lump in his stomach at what he had seen, and he didn’t think that Ginny would understand. He had looked up to his father for so long, and now, he wasn’t sure if he could do that anymore.

Almost as if Ginny were a talented Legilimens and could see right through Harry’s thoughts, she spoke, “I know what you must be feeling, Harry. But there’s always more to a person than one incident. That could have just been one of those moments for him. A lot of people do bad things without it being who they are.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “If someone were to jump into my memory of the Yule Ball, you’d come off as pretty bad, wouldn’t you? But that one night doesn’t define who you are. I mean, look at us, we’re friends now. Who would have thought?”

Ginny bringing up the Yule Ball made Harry rethink things. He would have thought that being compared with his dad would have made him feel bad, but it had the opposite effect. He felt a bit lighter. Ginny was right - one bad day didn’t define anyone’s life. Harry had been an insensitive git that night, hadn’t he? He’d crushed Ginny’s heart in a way that he wouldn’t have wished on anyone.

“I’m not saying that it’s the same thing. I just mean that there are always multiple angles to a story. In your version, you were having a private conversation, which you never meant for me to hear. In mine, my one true crush broke my heart,” Ginny said, a bit bitterly. But then she laughed at herself to shirk off just how vulnerable she’d been at that moment. “But someone would be stupid to judge your entire life on a single bad choice.”

Harry realised that there was a part of Ginny that hadn’t forgiven him for that night. To be honest, he hadn’t expected it to be that easy either.

Harry wanted to say something. Something that would tell her exactly how much he regretted that night, how much he wanted to go back and not say what he had said. But he couldn’t manage the words. More than a year later, he was still a coward when it came to Ginny Weasley.

So he just cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Ginny.”

Ginny pulled her hand back from his, leaving him feeling bereft at the loss of touch.

“I’ll get going then,” she said and got up abruptly. “I do have to finish my Potions essay. Hermione said she’d check it for me, and I have to be honest, I’m more scared of her than I am of Snape.”

Harry laughed.

Before Ginny could leave, he said, “Please don’t say anything about me ruining Occlumency lessons to Hermione. She’ll never let me forget it.”

“Ha, I can see how she’d want to drag you back to Snape herself,” Ginny chuckled. “I won’t tell her, and I’ll help you with Sirius. But you’re raking up quite the debt, Mr Potter. Be careful, I might just encash it for something big.”

Her eyes sparkled and Harry lost himself in them for a bit.

“Whatever you want,” he simply replied.

“You might regret that,” Ginny warned.

“Maybe.”

Ginny threw him one last smile, which he returned.

“See you, Harry.”

She walked away, leaving him behind in his flurry of emotions.

He knew that new feelings were bubbling up in him that he needed to explain to himself. But he also knew that there was just too much going on for him to name them at the moment. For now, he’d make himself happy by enjoying Ginny’s friendship, which was becoming a constant source of comfort.

No matter what, he wasn’t ready to let go of that yet.

HGHGHGHG

Harry had terribly mixed feelings about meeting Grawp, but his mind wasn’t occupied by the dilemma for long. Seeing the unexpected victory Gryffindor had scraped against Ravenclaw, thus securing them the Quidditch Cup, Harry and Hermione had decided to keep Grawp’s news to themselves for the time being.

They both headed back towards the Common Room, expecting that the loud victory procession would have reached Gryffindor Tower by now. Harry walked through the portrait hole, following Hermione closely. As soon as they entered, they were greeted with loud cheers. They both spotted Ron, who was waving the Quidditch Cup proudly; Angelina was beaming at him with tears in her eyes.

Before they could even reach Ron, another redheaded figure ran towards them and embraced Hermione tightly.

“We did it, we did it,” Ginny screamed, her arms gripping Hermione, who was patting Ginny affectionately on her back. “And Ron was amazing.” Harry knew that normally, Ginny wouldn’t be caught dead praising her brother, but the occasion probably called for it. Ginny finally parted from Hermione and turned to Harry.

She almost pulled Harry into a hug with excitement, but then stopped midway. They were friends, yes, but he saw that she didn’t feel comfortable enough to hug Harry yet, no matter how much he was internally wishing that she would.

He awkwardly patted her on the shoulder and said, “Great game.”

Ginny gave him what looked like an unsure smile, and said, “Thanks.”

“I knew you had it in you, Ron,” Angelina was proudly exclaiming. “I just knew I had seen the potential. You would have made Oliver proud with your performance tonight.”

Ron blushed profusely and grinned so wide that Harry thought it must have hurt his cheeks.

Ron began to talk about the match and his various saves in earnest and Angelina joined in as well, talking about her favourite moments of the match. Everyone agreed that Cho throwing a fit after her loss to Ginny was a highlight of the match. At her mention, Harry stole a glance at Ginny, who was grinning over the rim of her butterbeer glass. Her windswept hair and sunkissed cheeks made Harry feel giddy. Why hadn’t he ever realised just how pretty she was?

Their eyes met, just for a second, before Harry averted his gaze.

Harry didn’t know whether it was the euphoria of the Quidditch victory, the fact that his dad wasn’t the bully he had thought him to be, the buzz of his butterbeer, or the fact that Ginny now regularly smiled at him the way she did, but he felt happier than he had in a long, long time.

But as was common in Harry’s life, the feeling didn’t last very long.

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Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Author's Notes: This is the end of Order of the Phoenix. This is also where some divergence from the canon story starts happening.

If someone had told Ginny that she would hex Malfoy, fly a Thestral, and infiltrate the Ministry of Magic, all in the same day, she would probably not have believed them. But here she was, riding an invisible creature, flying across the Scottish landscape, heading towards London at great speed. And she wasn’t scared, she felt determined. If Sirius was in trouble, like Harry had said he was, she wanted to help.

Harry and Ron had tried to keep her from coming along, of course. But when Ginny had looked straight into Harry’s eyes and said, “Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do”, he’d given her an almost imperceptible nod. He understood her at that moment and knew how much she cared about Sirius.

When they reached the Ministry of Magic, Ginny pinned her badge, which said, ‘Ginny Weasley, Rescue Mission’, to the front of her shirt. When they tumbled into the main hall, Ginny hadn’t expected the Ministry to look so empty. She had only come to the Ministry once before, with her father, on a Family Day when she was seven years old. The interiors looked much the same, but Ginny had never seen it so deserted.

Harry led them down to the corridor from his dreams and before they knew it, they were in a room with many doors. As they moved to try different doors, they spotted things that were beyond explanation, objects that intrigued them. Ginny was mesmerised specifically by the arch, where she thought she could hear voices. Harry insisted that he could too and Neville was also staring intently at the arch, but they were pulled away from it by Hermione.

When they finally reached the right room, Ginny wordlessly saw the dusty glass orbs that sat atop shelves upon shelves. She wondered whether she could extend her hand and touch one before Neville shot her a disapproving look.

“Keep your wands ready,” Harry warned over his shoulder. Ginny gripped her wand tighter as they moved together towards row ninety-seven. But when they reached, Sirius was nowhere to be seen. Ginny was looking back and forth between the rows, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sirius. But when Harry started fumbling as well, she knew that he had been tricked. Sirius was never here.

And then Ron pointed to something on the shelves, making Ginny look up - Harry’s name on one of the orbs. And then Harry picked it.

“Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me.”

Ginny turned around to see black figures appearing around them all. A gasp escaped her mouth before she could stop it - they were surrounded by Death Eaters. She heard a mocking laugh. She turned to look - a woman with wild hair and a crazed look in her eyes. Ginny recognised her in an instant; she was Bellatrix Lestrange. She felt Neville shudder, pressed up against her left, half his body shielding her from the Death Eaters. She felt a surge of gratitude and affection towards him.

“Very well - take the smallest one,” Bellatrix said as she pointed straight at Ginny. “Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I’ll do it.”

Before Ginny could point her wand at the woman, she felt her friends circle her protectively. Harry stepped up in front of her, his back pressing close to her. She knew at that moment that any of her friends, including Harry, would protect her at all costs. And she wanted to do the same for them. Ginny kept her wand up, ready to fight.

When Harry shouted, “NOW”, she held up her wand and threw her all into a Reductor curse. Chaos ensued and she ran right behind Luna and Ron, trying to save herself from the glass orbs that were raining down on them. She could hear the feet chasing them but she forced herself not to look back and kept running.

She knew, throwing a panicked look in the direction of where Harry and Hermione were running that Luna and Ron had taken the wrong direction. But Ginny continued to follow her brother - whether it was because she wanted to protect him or because she wanted him to protect her, she wasn’t entirely sure. But having her brother nearby was a huge source of comfort as she was being chased by Death Eaters.

She saw a green light flash next to her and she dove out of the way. She knew that this was a curse that could have taken her life in an instant. She looked over her shoulder and cried, “Confringo,” pointing in the direction of the masked Death Eater behind her. He was blasted back with force and hit one of the shelves with a groan. Ginny didn’t stay back to appreciate her handiwork and kept running, following Luna and Ron through one of the doors.

They ran into a new room, containing what looked like planets, with no light but what was emanating from the celestial bodies. The celestial bodies sparkled and glowed in colours beyond what Ginny could have imagined - if the situation had been different, she might have wanted to stop and admire the view. But she knew that she didn’t have the time. And then, everything happened rather quickly.

Ginny could hardly see anything, but she heard it when Ron was hit by a curse, followed by laughter. She felt someone grab her ankle, and Luna cursed him, but with the force with which Pluto exploded, Ginny felt her ankle crack, and then searing pain, which made her scream.

“Fuck,” Ginny couldn’t help but exclaim when she tried to put weight on her busted ankle. Luna put her arms around her and they were running again, as fast as they could manage. Ginny could hear heavy footsteps still behind her, so she grabbed Ron by his collar and pulled him along with her and Luna.

Soon, they made it back to Harry, Neville, and Hermione. But whatever relief Ginny had felt at being reunited, didn’t last long. She could see that Hermione was badly injured, making her heart thud furiously in fear. And then Ron was being attacked by a brain. Ginny screamed, watching her brother wrestle with tentacles that were grasping his entire body in a tight, painful hold. She saw her panic reflected in Harry’s eyes, but before she could do anything about it, a jet of light hit Ginny in the face, and she knew no more.

HGHGHGHG

When Ginny opened her eyes, she blinked rapidly to adjust to the bright light in the room. The first thing she saw was Madam Pomphrey hovering over her. She looked around rapidly, trying to make sense of how she made it back to Hogwarts. She saw that Ron and Hermione were passed out in beds next to each other’s. Both looked worse for wear, but alive and well on the whole, which relaxed her a bit.

On her other side, Neville sat on a bed, looking mostly okay but with some cuts and bruises on his face. Luna was sleeping in a bed next to Neville’s, little content snores escaping her nostrils.

Ginny sat up, but the movement made her ankle throb with pain.

“I would advise you to keep lying down, Miss Weasley. I’ve fixed the ankle but it will trouble you for a few hours.” Madam Pomphrey handed her a small vial of potion. “For the pain.”

Ginny drank it without question and grimaced at the horrid taste. Madam Pomphrey walked away. So Ginny turned to Neville.

“Neville, what happened? How are we here?”

Neville shifted uncomfortably.

“Well, Dumbledore was there. And a lot of other people showed up. Professor Lupin, and a few other people.” Ginny gestured for him to say more. “I think Sirius Black was there.”

“He was?” Ginny sucked in a breath. “So the Order showed up?”

“The Order?”

“The Order of the Phoenix,” Ginny explained, finally remembering that Neville knew nothing about the resurgence of the secret society. “The new one. Sirius is a part of it. So is Professor Lupin.”

“Oh,” Neville said and then nodded just a bit. “Well, it seemed like Sirius Black was friends with Harry.” Ginny said, “Yes, Sirius is his godfather. He was best friends with Harry’s dad in school.”

Neville darted his gaze back towards her. “So he wasn’t a Death Eater?”

“No, he was wrongfully sent to Azkaban.” Ginny didn’t like Neville’s tone. She was getting impatient. “Neville, where’s Harry? What happened?” It didn’t seem like a good sign that Harry was nowhere to be seen. Was he caught, hurt, or worse?

“Harry’s okay, Dumbledore took him, I think,” Neville said, making Ginny take a deep breath of relief. “But Ginny,” Neville continued with a shift of tone in his voice. “Sirius Black is dead.”

Ginny blinked, the air sucked out of her.

Sirius Black is dead.

“No,” Ginny whispered. “What do you mean, Neville?” She wanted Neville to tell her otherwise. Maybe he was confused, he didn’t know Sirius at all, did he? He could have seen someone else.

“Well, I saw Bellatrix. They were fighting each other.” Neville’s jaw was set when he talked about Bellatrix. “And then she killed him. Harry saw it. He, er, Sirius Black, he fell into that veil. And he, sort of, disappeared.”

Ginny’s eyes brimmed with tears.

“No, no, no, no,” she kept repeating. She hid her face in her hands as tears began pouring down her face. Sirius, who had always made her laugh, who had opened his house to her family, who had been Harry’s only family. NO!

Ginny had always felt a weird connection with Sirius. He was one of those few adults who had never treated her like a child. He had understood her and she had always felt that maybe she understood him. While Ginny hadn’t ever told Sirius about the incident with the diary, she had somehow felt that with how much time he had spent around dementors, he was perhaps one of the few people she knew who would understand what it felt like to have your mind invaded against your will.

And now, he was gone.

Ginny wanted to scream at the injustice of it all.

Ginny wiped her tears bitterly. She felt anger and pain, but it was nothing compared to what Harry must be feeling. She felt another wave of ache in her stomach and fresh tears poured out of her. Tears for Harry, who had lost the closest thing he had to a family, but most of all, for Sirius, who had been offered another chance at life, only for it to be wrenched away.

Neville was now standing right next to where she sat on her bed. He patted her on her shoulder gently, letting her cry it out. She had never allowed herself to cry like this in front of anyone. But somehow, this time, she didn’t care. It was too painful, too unfair!

She let herself lean into Neville’s torso and drenched his shirt in her tears.

HGHGHGHG

Ginny was hiding at the shore of the Black Lake, avoiding her parents who were visiting Ron at the hospital wing, as well as her dorm mates, who by now, had probably heard the rumours of their visit to the Ministry. She didn’t feel ready to answer the barrage of accusations her mother was sure to hurl at her or the questions her friends would pose when they realised where she’d been.

But someone did figure out where she was.

She was surprised when Michael sat down beside her. She could never have predicted that he knew that the Black Lake was her favourite spot to brood, especially since she didn’t do that very often.

“I don’t want to talk, Michael,” Ginny said, trying to be as calm as she could manage. They had broken up recently, and not in the most mature way. The last time they’d talked was when he had picked a fight with her over her victory against Ravenclaw. She had brushed him off harshly and he had rushed off to comfort Cho, who was crying after the loss. The exams had distracted them both and they hadn’t seen much of each other since. Ginny had simply assumed it was over and done with and that they didn’t need an official talk.

In other circumstances, she might have felt more of a loss at the end of her first relationship. Michael was someone who had helped heal her heart and her self-esteem, after the cruel rejection from her lifelong crush. He had been exactly what she needed - a boyfriend who made her feel wanted and popular. But she would be lying if she said that she hadn’t realised that she and Michael had never been a good match. For her, it was the thrill of being with someone that she had been chasing.

But she didn’t want to pretend anymore. Despite their differences, Michael was a good person, and she’d been anything but an ideal girlfriend. If Cho made him happy, she was no one to stop him.

“I just wanted to check if you’re okay,” Michael said. “I heard Ron is still in the hospital wing?”

“Yeah, he’s in a bit of a bad shape.”

“I’m sorry,” Michael whispered, his lips pressed into a thin line. “I, er, just wanted to talk about us.” He pulled some grass off the ground. “I don’t know if you heard about me and Cho?”

“I did.”

“I don’t want us to end on a bad note, Ginny. You were my first girlfriend, but I just, I always felt like I wasn’t what you were looking for.”

Ginny couldn’t gather the energy to be mad at him.

“It’s okay, Michael,” she said. “I’m not mad at you for moving on. We weren’t working for a while. And, it’s not like I was a very good girlfriend.” Ginny chuckled a bit. Michael smiled but didn’t correct her. “But you were a nice boyfriend. And I did like you. I just don’t think that either of us are well-matched.”

“You’re right there.”

“I’m sorry that it didn’t work out,” Ginny said and then pressed her hand to his shoulder. “But I had fun with you. And I don’t regret being with you.”

“Good, me too.”

Michael only sat with her for a few seconds more, before he gave her a brief side hug, and then walked away, disappearing into the castle.

By the time Ginny made it back to the Common Room, it was midnight. She felt relieved when she saw that the room was deserted. She settled on her favourite chair near the fireplace. She didn’t know if she wanted to be back in her dorm tonight. She simply lay back in the chair and let her head fall back.

Ginny didn’t know how long she had been asleep but she awoke to Harry leaning over her. He jerked back a bit when he saw that she was awake. Their faces were much too close, Ginny thought, and she could see the redness of his eyes. He seemed exhausted, which was probably the least of his troubles.

“I was hoping you’d be here,” Harry said, standing back up straight and stepping away from her a bit. “Dumbledore gave me this back,” he held up his Firebolt, “and I was hoping we could go for another midnight fly.”

Ginny was confused.

“Why? We don’t have Quidditch till next year.”

Ginny didn’t think it was possible, but Harry laughed.

“So you were only using me for my Seeker skills?” Harry held out his hand. “Come on, humour me. I want to get away for a bit.”

Well, if he wanted to get away, who was she to stop him?

They made their way down the familiar route. Harry hadn’t even bothered with the Invisibility Cloak this time. The term was almost at an end. And Ginny had a sneaking suspicion that Harry didn’t care if they were caught.

When they reached the Quidditch pitch, Ginny regretted not picking up her own broom before coming down. Now that Harry had his Firebolt back, they could actually fly together, instead of taking turns. Not that Ginny would mind having a go at the Firebolt.

“So I guess I’ll sit here and wait for you to come back.”

Harry gave her a bewildered look.

“Don’t be stupid. Let’s fly together.”

“I didn’t bring my broom.”

“So?”

Harry straddled his broom. He made some space for her and gestured in front of him.

“Hop on.” Ginny couldn’t believe that this was happening. Eleven-year-old Ginny would have collapsed at the idea of being on the same broom as Harry Potter. “There’s space enough for us both.” He ruffled her hair in a way that would have annoyed Ginny, had it been someone else. “You’re small.”

He was smiling too much, too forcefully, Ginny thought to herself. Maybe it was how he was trying to deal with everything. She didn’t know how to act around him. Friendly? Sympathetic?

Ginny swatted his hand away but sat in front of him on the Firebolt, trying to keep as much distance between them as she could manage. But Harry put his arms around her and gripped the broom in the front, her back fit snugly against his chest.

And then they were flying.

To say that the Firebolt was a huge upgrade was an understatement. Ginny felt like she had experienced flying for the first time again. The wind on her face, Harry’s warmth enveloping her body, and the thrill of flying in the night sky brought a wide grin to Ginny’s face. She gulped large helpings of the Scottish air into her mouth and laughed. She thought she heard Harry laugh as well, but the sound of the wind was loud enough that she wasn’t sure.

Being high in the air, the dark castle looming against the grey sky, Ginny felt lighter than she had since the Ministry. But the desire to laugh came with a helping of guilt. She swallowed back a sudden urge to burst into tears. No, you can’t be weak around Harry. He needs you more. Pull yourself together, Ginny admonished herself.

After a while, Ginny gripped the front of the broom over Harry’s hands, wanting to take over the steering. Harry must have understood what she wanted because his fingers loosened their grip on the wooden shaft slightly.

When they finally made it back to the ground, the moon had all but disappeared over the treeline. Harry got off first, followed by Ginny. They looked at each other and shared a smile and before Ginny could suggest heading back to the Common Room, Harry sat right down on the field, tapping the spot next to him. She rested his Firebolt on the ground and sat down.

Ginny wondered if she should say something. What could you say to someone who had experienced the kind of grief that Harry had experienced? Were there even any words that made someone feel better about losing family? No, there wasn’t anything.

So Ginny took his hand and squeezed, hard.

Harry looked at her in surprise and something that looked like gratitude. He squeezed back.

She wouldn’t make him repeat the pain he was going through. They could just sit together and enjoy the silence.

That night, they spent more than an hour out there, neither of them feeling the need for words. And maybe that is what Harry had wanted. To be quiet with someone, to be vulnerable. And when she heard his muted sobs in the darkness, she held his hand tighter but did not say a single word. Whatever comfort Harry had sought with her that night, she was more than happy to provide.

HGHGHGHG

On the day before they were to board the Hogwarts Express back home, Ginny was cornered by Dean in the Common Room.

“Hey Ginny,” Dean said, giving her a small wave. “I was wondering if I could write to you this summer.”

Ginny looked up at him, confused. Ginny and Dean were friendly acquaintances at best, the kind that discussed Quidditch or the latest gossip around school but had very little else to talk about. Why would Dean want to write to her?

Dean must have read the confusion on her face because he quickly explained, “I heard that you’ve split up with that Corner bloke from Ravenclaw.” Ginny felt a blush creeping up her face. Oh, she thought. “And I’ve always sort of fancied you.”

“Always?” She couldn’t help but ask.

“I mean, for a while now.”

“Did you fancy me when you made fun of me at the Yule Ball?”

“What?” Dean seemed like he couldn’t place her jab at first but then he straightened himself up and said, “Oh. No, I mean. I’ve fancied you since we started the DA meetings, I guess. You’re good at Quidditch, and you’re a great fighter.”

“So you like me for my Quidditch and duelling skills?” At this point, Ginny was enjoying seeing the man stutter, trying to find the right words.

“I just think you’re cool and that I’d like to get to know you.”

“Okay,” Ginny said, giving Dean a genuine smile. She didn’t think that she wanted to date anyone anytime soon, but the summer was going to be long, and she didn’t mind receiving letters from Dean. He was easy on the eyes, and was a fun guy to be around. “You can write to me this summer.”

Dean beamed at her and wandered away.

When she saw that Harry was looking her way, staring at the spot that Dean had just deserted, she thought nothing of it.

After all, she had no way of knowing then that Harry had spent days coming to terms with the death of his godfather and the reality of the prophecy. And during those days, Harry had reached yet another, less frightening realisation - life was too short to pretend that he wasn’t falling for Ginny Weasley.

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Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Two days after Dumbledore had dropped Harry off at the Burrow, he ran into Ginny outside the single bathroom the entire house shared. For the first time in his life, he found himself wishing that the Weasleys could afford a house with more than one bathroom.

Ginny’s hair was wet, the strands dripping water and drenching her Holyhead Harpies t-shirt around her chest. Harry averted his gaze quickly - he didn’t want to stand there and flush with the intense attraction he felt towards the youngest Weasley - and instead looked at her face. Her face split into a genuine grin, which highlighted the sprinkle of freckles on her cheeks. Harry’s stomach ached with longing.

“Good morning, Harry,” Ginny said.

“Morning, Ginny.”

Neither of them knew what else to say so they hovered awkwardly for a bit. Harry wondered if Ginny was also thinking about the last time they had spent time together - their last midnight tryst when the pain of Sirius’s death had been fresh. Harry coloured at the memory. The last time they had been alone together, Ginny had heard Harry sob, his heart breaking for his godfather. In some ways, that last night had also solidified what Harry knew he felt about Ginny. When she’d squeezed his hand with her small gentle fingers, he’d felt an immense wave of gratitude and comfort. And it was the next day, seeing her talking to Dean, that he’d realised that he was falling for her. There was no other way to see it.

Harry Potter fancied Ginny Weasley.

“I’ll just, erm-” Harry gestured towards the bathroom door. Ginny stepped to the side and said, “Oh yes.” They shared a brief look before Harry stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He let himself fall back into the door and buried his face into his hands.

It had been easier to avoid the feelings he had for Ginny when he was stuck at the Dursleys’. The grief of losing Sirius and the thought of the prophecy had kept him busy for a month and despite knowing how he felt, he had avoided actively thinking about her. At least the thoughts that he had control over.

Because Ginny Weasley had plagued his unconscious thoughts. In ways that made him glad that he and Ron weren’t sharing a room this summer. The last thing he wanted was for him to share a room with Ginny’s brother when she often visited him in dreams that were too inappropriate to repeat.

And now, being stuck in the same house as her, with only Mrs Weasley, Fleur, Ron, and Hermione to keep them company, was driving Harry crazy. He was torn between wanting to spend more time alone with Ginny and wanting to get away from her.

His conflicting feelings were making him tongue-tied around her and he was sure that she was picking up on it. She had thrown him confused looks more than a few times since he’d arrived. The two times he had been left alone in a room with her, he had found excuses to run away. He couldn’t trust himself around her yet. She was too pretty, too funny, and too comforting for Harry to be around her without him blurting out how he felt about her.

This was nothing like anything he’d felt before. The crush he’d had on Cho now suddenly felt like a slight tremor compared to the earthquake of emotions he was feeling for Ginny. She occupied so much of his thoughts that he suspected his brain was malfunctioning - the knowledge that Voldemort was coming for him, one way or another, had perhaps made Harry stop caring about anything but the fiery redhead whom he wanted with every fabric of his being.

Maybe all Harry wanted now was a taste of what normal life would be like had there never been a prophecy, had he never been marked for a destiny he didn’t ask for. An image came to his mind - Ginny and him spending the summer together, sitting side by side in the Weasley orchard, kissing…

Yes, perhaps the reason he wanted her so much, was because he just didn’t want to be the Chosen One anymore. Maybe what he wanted was to be an almost sixteen-year-old boy who was free to ask his best friend’s sister out on a date.

But Harry knew better.

Harry let his body be scorched under the hot water from the shower, trying very hard not to think about Ginny.

HGHGHGHG

“Well, it’s your turn now, Ginny,” Hermione was saying when Harry entered the Weasleys’ sitting room that evening. “O.W.L.s are no joke. I advise that you do not ignore your studies like your brother,” she threw Ron a dirty look, “and start well in advance.”

“Hermione, you would have me start revision today if you had it your way,” Ginny snorted, and put down a card that caused a small explosion, making Ron jump back with a yelp.

“Well, it’s never too early to start.” Hermione shot Ginny a look of disapproval and made space for Harry so that he could sit on the sofa next to her. “I have all my notes from my O.W.L. year. Arithmancy is particularly difficult. I can give you my notes to get started.”

“Gee, Hermione, thanks. What would I do without you?”

Hermione looked satisfied. She didn’t hear the little snort that escaped Ron. Harry did not doubt that Ginny had no intention of studying during her summer. But Hermione had entirely missed the sarcasm in Ginny’s voice and was now idly turning the pages of the newest book she was reading.

“Let’s play chess now, since Harry’s here,” Ron said, throwing the cards in his hand to the side. He turned to Harry before he said, “You and Ginny versus me. What say?”

“Me and Ginny on one side?” Harry asked, hoping he was able to mask the thrill in his voice appropriately.

“Yeah, that way, you at least have a small chance of winning.”

At this, Ginny threw one of her Exploding Snap cards right at Ron’s face, making his face singe with a small explosion.

Ginny winked at Harry and said, “Now we have to show this prat his place.” Harry nodded, trying not to think about the way his stomach was somersaulting when she’d winked at him. Harry pulled a chair and sat next to Ginny as Ron set up the wizard’s chess set. The afternoon sun was streaming in through the window next to Ginny, illuminating her hair, making it look sunkissed. Harry fought the urge to run his fingers through her locks.

The game began, taking his thoughts away from Ginny to their moves against Ron. It was no secret that Ron was the best at the game, but Ginny was good and Harry was not entirely hopeless. So with their combined strategies, which they discussed every now and then by whispering into each other’s ears (Harry tried not to think about what Ginny’s hot breath felt like against his ear), they had a decent chance at winning.

“Come for dinner, kids!” Mrs Weasley called from the kitchen.

Hermione immediately closed her book and got up, ready to join Mrs Weasley in the kitchen for dinner. But when she noticed the look of strain on Ron’s face, she paused to observe the ongoing game, which was nearing an end.

Ginny made her final move and Ron hid his face in his hands with a groan. There was a beat of silence and then Ginny screamed with glee. Harry’s face broke into a smile and he turned to Ginny, feeling way too much pride at what was just one game they had won. But he saw that Ginny looked equally happy. He pushed off from his chair at the same time as Ginny pushed off the sofa. And before Harry knew it, Ginny threw her arms around him with a squeal.

The buzz of victory fled Harry’s mind very quickly when he realised that Ginny was embracing him. He put his arms around her and squeezed back, taking a deep breath, filling his senses with her distinct flowery smell.

“Faaaaiine,” Ron groaned. “You two win once. Just because you were two against one. And I was too hungry to be in my top form.”

Hermione laughed a bit and said, “Oh, Ronald.”

“I’m serious, Hermione,” Ron protested. “I need food to think straight.”

“You’re just a spoilsport, Ron.” Ginny pulled back from Harry, but only partly, to look at Ron with a smug look on her face. Harry’s arm was still draped around her waist and he didn’t feel like pulling back. “And remind me, what did you say before we started? Oh yes. ‘I’ll wipe the floor with your and Harry’s faces even if you play two against one’. That was all talk, was it?” Ginny pulled back entirely now and Harry reluctantly removed his hands from her body. Ron simply held up his finger in response.

“The truth is, Harry and I make a great team.” Ginny threw a smile at Harry and said, “You’re now mine if I ever want to beat Ron at chess again.” Harry hummed his consent, holding back from saying that he wanted to be hers, period.

Mrs Weasley gave another shout from the kitchen and the kids made their way to dinner. Harry followed, internally counting the various benefits of spending his summer at the Burrow. He had a feeling that there would be many more opportunities to enjoy beating Ron at various chess games with Ginny as his partner. And maybe, she would hug him again?

Merlin, he sounded so pathetic. Like a love-sick puppy.

When Mrs Weasley brought out pudding, there was a tapping at the window. An unknown owl was pecking furiously at the glass pane. Ron got up to take the letter from the owl and frowned at the envelope.

“It’s for you, Ginny,” Ron said and held it out to her. “Who’s writing to you?”

“You’re the one with your entire friend circle sitting right here, Ron,” Ginny said and gestured towards Harry and Hermione. “It could be any of my friends writing to me.”

“What, you mean, your one friend, Looney Lovegood?”

Ginny’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’ve told you not to call her that, Ron.”

“Ron, lay off your sister’s friends,” Mrs Weasley said, throwing her son a look of warning. Harry peered curiously towards the letter Ginny had received. He knew that Michael and Ginny had broken up a couple of months ago. He wondered if it was Luna who had sent the letter.

“It’s him,” Ginny whispered towards Hermione. It was barely loud enough for Harry to catch what she had said. Ginny excused herself from the table and ran up the stairs, presumably to her room, to read the letter in private. Harry felt a surge of annoyance.

Him?

Was Ginny back with Michael? Wasn’t he dating Cho now? Or was this someone new? Had Ginny already started dating someone new? A thousand thoughts flew through Harry’s brain as he tried to recount every possible man that Ginny knew. It took Ron two tries to get Harry to pay attention to what he was saying.

“Harry, Harry,” Ron said until Harry looked up. “You want to help me with Quidditch practice tomorrow morning? I thought we could run some drills. I want to make sure I make the team in the tryouts.”

“Yes, of course,” Harry said and glanced at where Ginny had disappeared up the stairs. “Do you want to ask Ginny as well? Isn’t she trying for Chaser this year? I could help you both out.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

It was only when Mrs Weasley wandered away to finish some chores and Ron was too busy fiddling with the wireless to listen in on a Chudley Cannons match that Harry felt it was safe to ask Hermione, “Who wrote Ginny that letter?”

Hermione looked up from her pudding. “Oh, it’s Dean.”

“Dean? Why would Dean be writing to Ginny?” Harry knew that Dean and Ginny knew each other in passing but he could never have guessed that they knew each other well enough for Dean to be writing to her during the summer.

“Well, she told me that he sort of asked her out before the term ended,” Hermione said, curiously narrowing her eyes at Harry. “He told her that he had fancied her for a while and wanted to get to know her better. So he’s been writing to her. I think this is his third letter this summer.”

Harry felt like he’d been punched.

“And? Is she writing back?”

“Yes,” Hermione confirmed. “She said he seems like a fun guy. And he’s very fit, isn’t he? I suppose Ginny likes that.”

Fit? Ginny thought Dean Thomas was fit? Harry had a sudden urge to chuck his leftover treacle tart into the wall.

“And so, they’re dating now?” Harry tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, but it was fairly obvious that Hermione was eyeing him with suspicion. He wasn’t being subtle in any way. He was too desperate to find out more.

“No.” Hermione had a little smile tugging at her lips. “She said she isn’t ready to jump back into a relationship so soon after Michael. So she’s just getting to know Dean for now. Testing the waters, shall we say?”

“Oh,” Harry nodded at Hermione. “Good for her.”

“It is good for her.”

Harry cleared his throat and began to shovel the rest of his treacle tart into his mouth, avoiding Hermione’s piercing stare as he ate.

So this was it. He was too late, yet again. Ginny was too desirable, too popular. He had spent the entire summer moping, trying to bury what he knew he felt about her. Even now, with a few weeks of summer that he still had left, he had been trying to avoid spending time with her.

And Dean had beat him to the punch. He’d asked Ginny out. He’d put himself in a vulnerable position and admitted to Ginny that he fancied her. And he had been writing to Ginny all summer, to get to know her better. Dean wasn’t a coward like Harry.

Suddenly, the treacle tart tasted bitter in Harry’s mouth and he headed up to bed early.

HGHGHGHG

The next few days, Harry helped Ron train for the tryouts. Ginny flew with them as well, while Hermione mostly sat next to the pond and observed them from a distance, reading whatever new book she had picked out for that week. On some days, Ron forced Hermione to join them for two-a-side Quidditch, which Hermione begrudgingly accepted.

However, even the happy Quidditch practices couldn’t keep Harry from feeling a pit of resignation forming in his stomach. He had hesitated for too long. Ginny was now being pursued by someone who was far braver and far more fit, as Hermione had put it. Harry knew he couldn’t compare to the tall, dark, and handsome Dean Thomas. Wasn’t he the kind of guy all women wanted?

What did Harry have to offer in comparison? An ugly scar and a frightful destiny? Yeah, Ginny would have to be an idiot to choose Harry over Dean.

But Harry couldn’t help but longingly stare at Ginny during their summer days together. He thought he caught Hermione looking at him a couple of times, but he usually very quickly turned away from Ginny whenever that happened. The last thing he wanted was to be called a creep.

But it became more and more difficult to avert his eyes, especially on a particularly hot morning, when Ron suggested that they skip Quidditch practice and go swimming in the pond to cool off instead. Harry and Ron were already in the pond in their trunks when Hermione and Ginny walked out of the house, dressed in swimwear.

Harry took one look at Ginny and stopped dead in his tracks. She was wearing a modest swimsuit. But the way the green fabric hugged her body, Harry could see more than enough. When he saw the freckles on her shoulders, her arms, her thighs - places he had only imagined in the privacy of his room before, he was grateful that he was well hidden inside the pond.

Harry found it difficult to focus on cooling off when he saw Ginny swim across the pond, her strong legs propelling her through the water. She was graceful and at total ease, both with herself as well as with her surroundings. Harry, on the other hand, having only learnt how to swim in his fourth year with Mr Weasley, could only swim well enough that he wouldn’t drown.

Yes, the more he thought about it, the more he knew for sure that Dean was a far better match for Ginny than he was.

He was sulking, walking up the stairs towards his room. A flurry of emotions - inadequacy, envy, and so much regret - was making Harry’s insides squirm in painful ways. He opened his bedroom door and was surprised when Hermione pulled him in.

“It’s physically hurting me to see you moping around,” Hermione said, closing the door. “She’s not dating him yet. You haven’t missed your chance.”

Harry knew exactly what she was talking about, but he chose to say, “What are you on about?”

“Can you stop insulting my intelligence? I’m not Ron, you know.” Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest. “But the way you’ve been wistfully staring at Ginny all week, I think at this point, even Ron might figure it out soon.”

Harry opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to come up with an explanation that would sound believable, but he failed. Finally, he said, “You said she’s testing the waters with Dean.”

“Yes, because she has no clue that you fancy her.”

“I don’t-”

“Harry, this would be a lot faster if we pretend that you’ve already gone through the denial phase.”

“Hermione, I don’t know how to do this, okay?” Harry pulled at his hair in frustration. “She’s so popular, and funny, and pretty, and cool. And I’m just me,” he added, lamely.

“Yeah, and she’s just had a crush on you her whole life.”

“No, I ruined that the day of the Yule Ball.” Harry shook his head. Hermione didn’t know. She hadn’t heard what he’d said. And he’d been so, so stupid. If he’d only known how head over heels he’d be for Ginny in the future, he would have spent the entire Yule Ball on the dance floor with her. He wanted to travel back in time and kick fourth-year Harry repeatedly until he saw sense. “I broke her heart and she’s given up on me. She told me. She said that whatever feelings she had for me were gone.” Harry’s voice broke a little at the last word.

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione said sympathetically. “Listen, I know Ginny. She liked you very much. And I know you hurt her, but it’s not that simple to get rid of feelings that deep overnight. I’m sure if she just knows that you could have feelings for her-.”

Right at that moment, the door opened and Ginny stepped into the room, carrying what looked like a bundle of Harry’s fresh laundry.

“Who has feelings for whom?”

“Er-.”

Saying that Harry was panicking would be an understatement. Who could he say he had feelings for? He couldn’t say the truth and he definitely couldn’t say that he had feelings for someone else, because the last thing he wanted was for Ginny to think that he was unavailable.

“Erm, Ron. I think he has feelings for Hermione.”

The lie, or rather the truth (just not his truth), was out before he could stop it. Hermione couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her mouth. That should teach Hermione to meddle in other people’s lives, Harry thought smugly.

Ginny laughed, passing between Harry and Hermione to deposit his pile of laundry on the bed. Hermione glared at Harry but didn’t correct him.

“My brother get his head out of his arse, finally?” Ginny asked, turning to smirk at Harry and Hermione. Hermione was getting more flushed by the minute and looked about ready to run away from the room.

“I don’t think he knows though,” Harry said, squirming a bit uncomfortably. He hadn’t thought about the repercussions of this line of enquiry. Would Ginny tell Ron? Would this irrevocably ruin whatever relationship had been slowly brewing between Ron and Hermione over the years? Or worse, if Hermione and Ron got together, would he be left out forever?

“Well then, what’s new?” Ginny pointedly looked at Hermione, who looked up at Ginny’s comment.

“Do you really think that Ron has feelings for me?” Hermione asked, biting her lower lip, looking much less confident than she’d been before Ginny had entered the room.

“Hermione, I’ve been telling you for years. Didn’t you see him annoyingly jealous of Viktor Krum at the Yule Ball?”

Hermione blushed again but didn’t look fully convinced.

“My question is,” Ginny asked, quickly closing the bedroom door again. “Do you have feelings for my idiot brother?”

Harry’s eyes widened. Everything was escalating rather quickly. He hadn’t imagined that Hermione would ever catch up on how he felt, and he had no clue that he would force her feelings out in the open as well.

But Harry was surprised to see that Hermione moved her head in the slightest, most imperceptible nod, making a small squeaking sound that could have been a “yes”. Ginny clapped her hands in glee and hugged her friend.

“Then, you leave it to me,” Ginny said, pulling back from Hermione, who looked just as panicked as Harry felt. This wasn’t what Harry had intended. What was Ginny planning to do?

But it was too late because Ginny was dragging Hermione out the door. She threw Harry one last look before exiting.

“I’ll take it from here. Thanks for the help, Harry.”

And then they were gone.

None of that had gone the way Harry had wanted to. He was left feeling more miserable than ever. Hermione knew how he felt about Ginny, but the last thing he wanted was for her to meddle. And now, he might have pushed Ginny to help Ron and Hermione get together. If Ginny was to set her mind to it, she could have Ron and Hermione together before Christmas, or maybe even sooner.

Harry thought about what Hogsmeade weekends would look like then - Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Dean on a double date and Harry, the unwanted fifth wheel, sulking in the streets alone. He could always hang out with Luna and Neville, he thought bitterly.

Harry groaned loudly and let himself fall back in his bed.

Not for the first time that summer, Harry missed his godfather intensely. Sirius would have known just how to win over Ginny. But he was gone and Harry had missed out on any fatherly wisdom that Sirius would have had to offer.

Harry punched his pillow in frustration and forced himself to sleep.

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