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She's Ron's sister!
So, ask her out!
No way! He'd punch me!
What if he didn't?
What if he did?
JUST ASK HER OUT!
The battle still raged inside his head. He was sitting in an armchair where he usually sits, staring at the fireplace. He was supposed to finish his DADA essay when the flames from the fireplace caught his attention. It reminded him of Ginny's fiery red hair which brought the end of the ceasefire in his mind. Would he really risk his friendship with Ron or ask Ginny out? He wasn't really sure if Ron would mind but when he remembered the look on Ron's face when he saw her kissing Dean made him shudder. He was sure Ron would kill him- or he might disown him as his best friend forever if he just held her hand or if he asks her out in front of Ron, which made it even more impossible to ask her out because he couldn't think of a moment where he sees Ginny without Ron at his side-
"Harry! Are you even listening to me? I'm talking to you," Hermione's stern voice interrupted his thoughts as she sat herself on one of the armchairs near the fireplace.
"What-? Oh, sorry," Harry started, "What're you saying?" suddenly nervous. Once, he had tried to ask for Hermione's help but he couldn't take to see that smirk every time he mentions Ginny and starts to blush and when she catches him staring at Ginny for several minutes, during breakfast, lunch, dinner and in the common room, so intense that the building could be attacked by Death Eaters and he probably won't even notice. Fortunately, Ron hadn't notice a thing.
"I was asking you if you were okay, you were staring at the fireplace blankly," said Hermione as she rolled her eyes, "you know you seem pretty odd this past few days- or weeks" she added knowingly, a smirk playing across her lips.
"No, I'm not," said Harry casually.
"Right, just spit it out Harry," said Hermione, a little too grumpily. "You've been like that this month! I know you fancy someone and I have a good guess that it's -"
"No one," Harry cut her off as a few girls from Ginny's year passed them.
Hermione snorted and said, "You know you're not good at hiding stuff, especially from me and Ron, Harry."
"I'm not hiding anything, Hermione," said Harry, starting to get annoyed. She was determined to know who he fancies, he was sure of that! But he was determined to hide it from her also.
"Harry, if you like her-" but she was interrupted by Ron's voice. "Who? Who does Harry like?" he yawned as he walked towards them carrying some books from the library, clearly satisfied with his night's work.
"No one," Harry and Hermione both said and Harry shot Hermione a glare. Ron shrugged and said, "Well, I'm off to bed." Possibly too tired to talk about it and walked to the spiral staircase which leads to the Boy's Dormitory.
Harry scowled at Hermione and Hermione scowled back. Just then, Ginny entered the room carrying some books like Ron. She walked towards them as Hermione stood up, "Good night, I think I'll leave you two here," she said, with a smile playing across her mouth, Harry glaring at her as she set off for her dormitory.
Ginny sat on the armchair where Hermione sat. "So, what're you two fighting about?" she asked. Harry, realizing that he was looking at the floor, looked at her and met her gaze. He hadn't really appreciated how beautiful Ginny's brown eyes were.
"Nothing in particular," he answered, still lost in her eyes. She doesn't seem to be sad about Dean, in fact, she's looking far better than Dean these days, who always looks like mad and sad at the same time. Suddenly, he said all these to Ginny. He flushed and looked down again. He was surprised to hear her giggle, not in a girly way but in... A 'Ginny-ish'way, and looked at her again; he was expecting angry retorts from Ginny.
"I don't know," said Ginny, suddenly becoming serious, "Dean's a nice boy but when I'm with him it's like I'm trapped in his world and I just sort of… want to fly away from that world." Harry nodded. He liked that idea, more than Ginny knew; suddenly an involuntary smile lit his face. Ginny grinned at him too.
"You weren't sad about Cho either," she said suddenly, "I thought you fancied her,"
Harry sighed, "I thought I did, but since Cedric-," the name still brings a lump to his throat, "died, it's just sort of crying." He said.
"Yeah, I kind of figured that out," said Ginny, who clearly noticed that Harry wasn't fond to talk about this subject. Harry went back to staring at the floor. There was an awkward silence and another fight started inside his head:
"Ask her out already!" shouted a voice inside his head.
"No! Just wait for the right time!" a small voice quickly interfered. Something must've shown on Harry's face because Ginny suddenly said, "Harry, are you still with me?" raising her eyebrows.
"Oh- yeah!" Harry started and turned slightly pink. He never felt this nervous with a girl before, not even with Cho.
"Harry, you look like you need some sleep, get some," Ginny said as she stood up and waved goodnight to Harry. Harry sat there for a few seconds before standing up. "Yeah, get some sleep, Harry," he said to himself as he headed to his dormitory.