Chapter 1

Have you ever felt like something was missing in your life? That's how I'm feeling right now. I suppose that looking at my life from the outside, I should be happy. I've been playing professional quidditch for four years now and I have the most amazing and supportive family you could ever ask for. But even with all these things, I feel like something is missing.

I know what my mother would say if I talked to her about how I'm feeling. She would tell me that there was no rush for me to settle down and get married. She would say that I'm only twenty two years old and that what I should be doing is concentrating on my career. But for the last four years, that's all I've been doing. Sure, I've got friends and I do go out and do things that aren't quidditch related, but I don't date. I guess anyone would say that from that last statement that that's my problem. You can't expect to find someone to be with if you don't date. But the problem is, there's only one person I've ever been interested in, and I'm not even sure if he knows I exist.

Okay, so that might be a bit dramatic. I know that he knows I exist. Harry Potter has been my brother Ron's best friend since his first year at Hogwarts and he spent nearly every summer after that with my family. But what I mean is that I'm not sure if he has ever or will ever see me as anything more then his best mate's little sister.

Sighing to myself, I step into the small all night cafe that's about a block from my flat to escape the cold. It's become somewhat of a ritual for me after coming home from practice. Going home to an empty flat just doesn't appeal to me. Shrugging out of my coat, I find a table situated by the front window and order a cup of tea with honey and lemon.

The waiter winks at me when he brings me my drink and I smile. I guess you could consider him good looking. He's tall with sandy brown hair and bright blue eyes. And I guess I could take him up on his offer to take me to dinner, he's only been asking me every time I come in here for the last year. But I know it wouldn't go anywhere and I feel I would just be wasting his time as well as mine. At the end of the day, he's not Harry.

Just like clockwork, the waiter makes his way back over to my table. "When are you going to let me take you to dinner, Ginny?" he asks.

"You know I don't date, Justin," I reply dryly. It's the same conversation we have every time.

"I'll wear you down eventually," says Justin before winking again and walking away. I sigh and pick up my cup of tea, cradling it between my hands and taking comfort from it's warmth. My gaze wanders out the front window and I watch a couple slipping and sliding on the snow and ice that's covering the sidewalks. The girl looses her balance and grabs onto the guy's arm to catch herself. Taken off guard, he slips also and they both tumble to the ground, laughing. Witnessing moments like these makes me realize just how lonely I really am.

I'm just about to flag Justin down and take him up on his offer when the front door of the cafe swings open and a man steps in, bringing with him a cold rush of air. I look up at the man and my heart skips a beat when I realize it's Harry. I quickly brush my hair over my face and turn to look out the window again, praying that he didn't see me. It always takes so much out of me when I see Harry and realize once again that he's never going to return my feelings. But I hear the sound of his footsteps heading toward my table anyway.

"Hey Gin," I hear him say. I sit down my tea and tuck my hair behind my ear before looking up at him and forcing a smile on my face.

"Hey Harry," I say.

"Care if I join you?" he asks. I gesture toward the empty chair across with me with my hand and plops down into it. Justin comes over to take his order and gives me a looks as if to say, 'I thought you didn't date'. I shrug an apology and turn my attention back to Harry.

"So," I begin, "what brings you to this part of town?" I notice that his face is flushed from the cold and his usually untidy hair is even messier then normal.

"Actually, I was looking for you," says Harry.

"Really," I say, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yeah," he said. "Ron's birthday's coming up and me and Hermione wanted to throw him something of a surprise party."

Of course, Ron's birthday party. I think I remember Hermione saying something about this at the Burrow the other night. I should've known better then to think that he would actually seek me out for any other reason.

"Right, the birthday party," I said, trying to disguise the disappointment in my voice.

"Hermione was thinking we could have it at the Leaky and I was wondering if you could find out from Tom how much it would cost to reserve a private room," said Harry. "I'd do it but I have Auror training all week and I know Hermione's got a huge stack of parchment on her desk a few feet high. Would you mind?"

I consider saying no, that I can't do it because I have about a million other things I have to do. But the truth of the matter was, I really had nothing to do. Practices were starting to wind down and everyone knew I didn't have much of a social life, so I paste a smile on my face and say as enthusiastically as I can that I'd love to.

He reaches across the table and rests his hand on top of mine and I can feel my skin heat under his touch. "Thanks Gin. I owe you big time," he says, grinning madly. "Listen, I've got to run. Owl me when you find out."

"Sure," I say as I watch him jump to his feet and toss some muggle money onto the table. He waves on his way out the door and then he's gone. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and pick up my tea cup with shaking hands. Why do I let him do this to me? Why can't I just get over him? These are the same questions I ask myself after every time I see him and I ask them to myself once again. I don't have the answer.

I glance down at my watch and figure that since it's still early I could pop over to the Leaky Cauldron and check about the room. It would give me another excuse for not returning to my depressingly empty flat. Maybe I should get a flat mate, I muse to myself as I pay Justin and slip my arms back into my coat. Stepping back outside, I carefully tread down the sidewalk until I find an empty alleyway that would serve as the perfect place to apparate from. This is probably the single most inconvenient thing about living in the muggle world. Checking once again that no one is watching, I pull out my wand and turn on the spot, arriving a moment later inside the Leaky.

Tom looks up at the sound of my arrival and pulls a butterbeer onto the counter. "On the house, Miss. Weasley," he says, sliding the bottle down the bar. I catch it and thank him. I learned years ago not to argue with him. He always offers the first drink on the house to anyone who played a significant part in the downfall of Voldemort and Harry's money is good for nothing when he comes in. That's probably why he asked me to come instead of him. I know it makes him feel uncomfortable when Tom flat out refuses to allow Harry to pay anything.

"Miss. Granger is right over there," says Tom, pulling me from my musing.

"She is?" I ask in confusion. I was sure that Harry said she was extremely busy at the Ministry. Tom nods and I thank him once again as I move through the pub.

"Hermione," I said upon reaching her table. Startled she looks up at me from the stack of parchment she was pouring over.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?" she says as she clears the table and shoves her paperwork back into her bag, indicating for me to have a seat.

"Harry asked me to find out about a private room for Ron's birthday," I say as I shrug out of my coat and slide into the booth.

"Did he? That's odd," says Hermione.

"Why is that odd?" I ask. I was starting to get confused. I thought the two of them were working together to plan this party. "There is a party, right?"

"Yeah, there's a party. But I told him I'd take care of it. Actually, I already did. Oh, well," she shrugged. "Have dinner with me while you're here?"

I agree and we order the steak and kidney pie, which is nearly as good as my mothers, and fall into easy conversation about the newest gossip at the Ministry and the new witch George brought to the Burrow last Sunday for lunch. This is one of the reasons I enjoy talking to Hermione. She doesn't pressure me about my love life, or lack there of, and she always has the ability to cheer me up no matter how glum I am.

On my way home that evening, my thoughts return to the meeting I had earlier with Harry. Why did he go completely out of his way to ask me to find out about the Leaky when he knew Hermione was taking care of it? That wasn't like Harry. There had to be more to it then he was letting on and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

For the next few weeks leading up to Ron's birthday party, I watched Harry's behavior closely trying to find some clue as to why he was acting the way he was. I even once went to Hermione to see if she knew anything, but she just told me that Harry must be stressed over something at work. Now, I've known Harry during some seriously stressful situations and I've never seen him act like this. It seemed like every time I saw him he had a tendency to trip over his own feet, not to mention trip over his words. Add this to the unexplained visit at the cafe and the owls I'd started to receiving from him soon afterward, I was more confused then ever. And to top things off, I seemed to be the only one who was concerned.

While setting the table for our traditional Sunday lunch at the Burrow, I watched Harry carefully out of the corner of my eye. Maybe I had been imagining things because at that moment, nothing seems to be wrong. Harry came in and immediately started joking around and laughing with my brothers. He even got involved in the heated debate with Charlie about which quidditch team was currently in the best position to excel to the World Cup.

Yes, I must have been imagining things. By the time lunch was over and I'm preparing to leave, Harry is back to normal. And by normal, I mean that we're back to exchanging the usual pleasantries with each other like any other day. I mentally shake myself. For a while there I was starting to think that Harry was actually starting to notice me for me, and not just Ron's sister.

But then something strange happens when I'm about to leave. I make my usual rounds to hug my parents and brothers and when I'm about to wave good-bye and walk out the door, Harry looks up at me and our eyes lock. I say this was strange because it was almost like Harry wanted to say something to me. But instead he gives a small wave and quickly averts his eyes away from mine.

I tried not to dwell on it on my way home that night and instead tried to concentrate on the new move Gwenog was showing me at practice the other day. But no matter how hard I might try, my mind kept wandering back to Harry. I even considered for a moment marching over to his flat and demanding to know what was going on with him, but I quickly talk myself out of it. The problem was that I wasn't sure there was anything going on. I could still be imagining things.

Wow, I'm pathetic, I mutter to myself as I step into my now darkened flat. Get it together Weasley. You're only seeing what you want to see because you have feelings for him.

Not bothering to turn on the light, I flop down on my sofa and click on the TV I splurged on upon moving out on my own. I was in desperate need of a mindless program to distract myself with. There was no way I was going to figure this out tonight and I didn't even really know why I was bothering myself with it in the first place.

Soon enough, the soft hum from the TV lulls me to sleep and I have dreams filled with a mysterious dark haired man with striking green eyes.

Finally, after what felt like years of planning, it's the day of Ron's birthday party. I don't even know why we went to so much trouble for this particular birthday. I mean, it's not like he's turning seventeen again or anything. But who am I to argue, I really need an excuse to get out of my flat more often. I eye the simple black dress that currently hanging on my closet door warily. I didn't even want to buy the thing but Jess, one of the beaters for the Harpies', insisted I get it once she found out about the party. She said that while I'm there I might find the man of my dreams but there was no way I was going to catch his eye dressed in the jeans and jumper I was planning on wearing instead.

Sighing in resignation, I slip the dress on and use my wand to do up the zipper in the back. Stepping in front of my full length mirror, I stare at my reflection critically. Normally, I wasn't to keen on dressing up, preferring comfort over fashion. But there was no time to try to find something else to wear now. I only had thirty minutes until the party was to start and I had to be there early as it was a surprise party. I slide my feet into the heels that Jess insisted I buy to go with the dress and grab my handbag off the dresser. Taking a deep breath, I turn on the spot and apparate directly into the Leaky Cauldron.

Everyone was already there when I stepped into the private room in the back of the pub. I sigh a breath of relief when I notice that I'm not overdressed for the occasion and move over to stand next to George, who I notice came alone to the party.

"What happened to what's her face?" I ask, nudging him in the ribs.

"Who, Sara? She was getting to clingy. Had to end it," said George with a wink as he nudges me back.

I laugh and shake my head at my brothers obvious fear of commitment. In many ways, I think we're a lot alike. Even though he won't admit it, I think he's holding out for his ex-girlfriend, Katie Bell. They dated for a year after the war ended but then she left to study abroad to become a healer. I know he was crushed when she left.

When Bill approaches and engages George in talks of the joke shop, I scan the room to see who showed up for the party. That's when I notice Harry, standing off the side by himself and staring directly at me, his mouth gapping open slightly. Noticing that I was looking his way, he quickly averted his eyes and took a swig from his bottle of butterbeer. I was just about to go over to him when my mother rushes in to let us know that Hermione just arrived with Ron and that they were on their way in.

We all tried to hide, unsuccessfully I might add, and Ron was genuinely surprised when he walked in the room. After about an hour of mingling around with all the guests, my parents left for the evening and George brought out the heavy artillery - firewhiskey. We all threw back a couple of shots in celebration of Ron's birthday and the party got into full swing.

I glanced over at Harry from where I was standing chatting with Dean Thomas and noticed that he was still starring in my direction. Deciding that enough was enough, I tossed back another firewhiskey, excused myself, and approached him.

"Something wrong with your eyes, Potter?" I said jokingly as Harry was taking a sip of his drink.

"Uh . . . er . . . sorry?" he sputtered, spilling half his drink.

"Well you've been starring at me since I walked in the room," I said. I was starting to feel the effects of the firewhiskey so I give him a little wink. To my surprise, he blushes and I watch as he brings his hand up and rubs the back of his neck. It's a habit of his that I noticed he only does when he's nervous.

"Well . . . it's just that . . . you look great tonight," he says. Now it's my turn to blush and I can feel my face flush. To cover my moment of embarrassment, I grab two glasses of firewhiskey off the tray of a passing waiter and hand one to Harry.

"To Ron," I said, holding up my glass. He smiles and taps his glass against mine before we both toss back our drinks.

"I don't normally drink you know," said Harry.

"I know. Neither do I," I said, grabbing two more drinks. We continue this way for some time, each of us saying little but drinking a lot.

"Dance with me," he said suddenly, taking me by the hand and leading me out on the dance floor before I had time to protest. It was a slow song and he placed his hands on my hips and I looped my arms around his neck as we swayed in time with the music. My head was beginning to get a bit fuzzy from the amount of alcohol I'd consumed but that didn't keep my heart from beating madly in my chest in reaction to his touch.

When the song finally ended, we both downed another drink and lost all our inhibitions. I can't remember a time when I had more fun then I did right then dancing with Harry. The only problem is that that's the last thing I remember about that night.

I was groggy when I woke up the next morning and for a moment I didn't know where I was. My head was pounding and it felt like the room was spinning. I closed my eyes again and rolled over, willing my headache to go away. I knew I had some potions in the kitchen to help, but I couldn't muster up the energy to get out of bed to get them. Slowly opening my eyes again, I came face to face with the biggest shock of my life. Lying in bed next to me, sound asleep, was Harry. And it didn't look like either of us were wearing any clothes.

A/N: Let me know what you think so far. Please review!