"Ginny!" Harry called, grinning at her. She dashed towards him, her sleek red hair flowing out behind her like a gleaming cape. Reaching him, she flung her arms around his neck and he pulled her close. Glancing into his beautiful green eyes, she leaned in to kiss him.
"Ginny!" He called again, louder this time. She glanced up at him, a puzzled look on her face. She opened her mouth to respond when he yelled her name again. His voice began to echo as his image faded from view. She heard her name called one final time before everything went black. Opening her eyes, she found herself looking up at a poster of the Weird Sisters tacked onto her ceiling.
"What?" She mumbled, sitting up and looking at her older brother's freckled face and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She shook her head, her brain frozen on the image of herself and Harry, eyes locked. She had been having the same dream almost every night since the war had ended, and she was starting to doubt whether it would ever come true.
"Mum said it's time for breakfast," Ron said, turning around and walking from the room without another word. Sighing, she flung the blankets off of her bare legs and stood up, stretching. She pulled a robe over her nightgown, throwing her hair up into a messy bun and stepping out of her room. At once, she could hear the numerous voices from the kitchen and she began to wonder how many people were there. She could tell by the shrieks of her mother and the loud laughter that followed that George was home. Since Fred's death, he wasn't nearly as mischievous as he used to be, but he still cracked jokes more often than not; the family just tended to laugh harder at them than before. She opened the door, seeing that George had also brought home Angelina, who he had started dating a few weeks after the war ended. Ginny walked over to her brother, giving him a hug and smiling again.
"Hello George," She said, smiling brightly as she pulled away. "Nice to see you, Angelina."
"Thanks, Ginny," She replied, smiling back. "You too."
"If I would've known you were going to be dressed like that, I wouldn't have gotten changed either," George joked, eying his sister's outfit.
"Well, I just woke up," She informed him.
"Just woke up?" He asked, shocked. "It's 8:30! Mum must be going easy on you." She laughed, as did the rest of the room, including her now pink-faced mother.
"You could say that," She responded as her stomach let out a low growl. "But can we eat? If we don't soon I think I'm going to starve to death." The room let out a chorus of agreement as everyone settled down at the too-small table, waiting for Mrs. Weasley to bring out the food. Ginny was sitting at the middle of the table, Hermione on one side, Angelina on the other, and Harry across from her. It was all she could do to keep from staring, and she kept her glance down at the empty plate in front of her. Her mom guided plates full of eggs, bacon, sausage, and every other breakfast food you could imagine in front of her carefully with her wand, setting them gracefully on the table. Ginny dug in quickly, trying to avoid Harry's gaze. Normally, Hermione would have something to say about this, but she was a bit distracted today. She had her eyes locked on Ron, talking quietly with him and giggling every so often. Ginny was glad that they had finally gotten together, she knew they had liked each other for years. When everyone finished their dinner, they left the table and sat in the living room, talking and joking. It was hard for her not to stare at Harry, and every few moments she found herself glancing over to see his own emerald eyes staring back. After a few hours of talking with the family, Harry excused himself and went upstairs. Ginny wondered what he was doing, but didn't say anything.
"Are you ever going to take a shower, Ginny?" George asked her suddenly, changing the subject from new product ideas for the joke shop. "Or have you decided that the greased pig look suits you?" Ginny rolled her eyes, but smiled.
"I thought I should take a leaf from my big brother's book." She joked before standing up. "I was just about to go take a shower, actually. How long are you guys going to be staying?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I should get to work," George said, looking at his watch. "Besides, I can tell that Angelina is getting sick of everyone. She finds you all very annoying and overly chatty." Angelina gasped, playfully smacking his arm.
"George!" She scolded him, blushing slightly. "You know that's not true!"
"Now she's trying to be bashful about her true feelings." He responded with a smile before giving his family a hug and saying goodbye. They disapparated with a pop, and Ginny rushed towards the stairs.
"I'm going to take a shower!" She called, not that anyone was listening. By now, her mother was bustling about the kitchen, muttering spells here and there to clean up, and Ron was chatting with Hermione, holding her hand with a smile on his face. Ginny shook her head, walking up the stairs. Passing by Percy's old room which Harry had taken over for the summer (it was easier than bunking with Ron all the time. He snores like a gorilla with a sinus infection.), she wasn't paying attention to anything around her and she didn't notice the sounds of the door by her opening. That is, not until she ran into something solid and almost fell backwards down the stairs. Letting out a shriek, she felt someone's strong arms grab her and hold her in place. She looked up and noticed that Harry was standing in front of her, a firm grasp on her forearm. He was shirtless, his messy black hair soaking wet, and it was apparent that he had just gotten out of the shower.
"Sorry, Harry," She said, blushing. "Are you ok?" He smiled and nodded.
"It's alright," He replied. "I'm fine." Ginny nodded, trying to figure out a way to break the awkward silence.
"Uh, thanks then," She muttered, squeezing past him and rushing up the stairs to her room. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it and sighed. The last scene seemed familiar to her, like something out of her first or second year; that awkward stage that she couldn't get enough of Harry who didn't even know she existed.
"Merlin, that couldn't have been any more awkward," She said aloud, stepping back out of her room and walking to the shower, careful to avoid Harry along the way.