Hand in Hand
"I'm not an owl!" Hermione shrieked, and turned around and walked away with Ginny. Ron and Harry's eyes locked for a few seconds before Harry turned around and walked to the edge of the black lake. Harry sat there staring into the black depths wishing that he could just disappear. The sun began to set between the mountains in the distance and slowly everyone began to file inside for dinner.
Harry heard someone walk behind him, but figured it was just another first year trying to get a better look at him. Then Harry heard someone sigh, he looked to his left and Ginny Weasley was sitting down next to him. Harry was really not in the mood to talk to anybody at the moment, let alone someone so close to Ron, but he forced a smile onto his face.
"Hey Ginny, you should go inside, it's about time for dinner." Ginny looked at him and smirked.
"He's not really mad at you," Ginny said simply after a slight pause. They stared at each other in silence for a minute or two. A slight blush crept onto Ginny's face; she really did like Harry, and was pretty sure he didn't know it. Ginny wasn't sure if she was trying to mend up Ron and Harry's friendship for Harry, or if she was just looking for an excuse to talk to him.
"Really? Because it certainly seems that way to me," Harry replied tensely. There was an uncomfortable pause. Ginny had worked out how she was going to do this in her head. In her fantasies she helped Ron and Harry become best friends again and in doing so Harry would realize how much she liked her. It just didn't seem like it was going to work out. So Ginny did what she thought was the impossible. She reached over and grabbed Harry's hand in hers.
Harry was surprised, as was Ginny, they both looked down at their hands, which seemed to fit perfectly. Sparks, a million sparks, seemed to be flying between them. And suddenly it didn't matter to Ginny, or to Harry about Ron or the Triwizard tournament, or anything because they were there for each other. It seemed in that moment that they spoke a thousand conversations by just holding hands.
Ginny was telling him how much she liked him, and admired him from the moment she told him 'good luck' on platform 9 ¾. Harry was thanking her for being there for him when even his best friend wasn't. When Ginny and Harry looked into each other's eyes everything made sense.
"Thank you," Harry whispered. Ginny thought for a second that he might kiss her, but instead he stood up, pulled her to her feet and gave her hug. And for now, that was just enough for Ginny. They pulled away and walked together towards the castle hand in hand.
