Ginny headed down towards the Quidditch pitch, the wind wipping her hair across her face. She reached back to tie her hair up, out of the way, when she saw him, standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch. He was back at Hogwarts.
Tentatively, she walked out onto the pitch to meet him. No one else was here yet, she was always early for practice. Harry grinned at her as she approached. She smiled hesitantly back.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, looking him up and down.
"McGonagall asked me to fill in for awhile." Harry shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea, and I wasn't doing much else."
"Besides becoming an Auror?" She asked, looking skeptical.
"Applications are closed till next year." Harry smiled at her. "So, I decided to help our here."
Ginny turned, looking out across the pitch, avoiding his gaze. The Battle of Hogwarts had happened over a month ago, yet the wizarding world was still very much wounded. The recovery process would take ages, and Hogwarts was no exception. Harry was just one of the many young, talented witches and wizards who had been called in by McGonagall to fill in for the teachers who had died in the battle. Madame Hooch was one such teacher.
As much as Ginny liked seeing Harry, she wasn't sure she wanted him around. She hadn't yet figured out exactly what she felt for him, what with the drama of the battle, and then the sorrow that followed, with all the funerals. She'd hardly seen him in the last few weeks, as he had been kept busy between public appearances with Kingsley, interviews for the Daily Prophet and finding the Dursleys, convincing them it was safe to return to Privet Drive. He was playing the role of public hero, but she could see that it was getting to him. That was probably why he'd come to Hogwarts, she mused. Last time she'd seen him, he was all set on becoming an Auror, as was her brother Ron. Hermione, her best friend, had returned to Hogwarts, and was now in the same year as Ginny, completing her N.E.. She'd thought Harry would have found some way to get past all the Ministry's rules on applications and such, especially since he was friendly with Kingsley. Apparently not, though.
"I'd better start warming up." She murmered, heading towards the change rooms. She left Harry on the pitch, looking slightly confused.
Harry watched Ginny walk away, feeling even more confused than he had before he talked to her. He'd thought that coming here, a big bold move, would surely show her that he was serious about her. Yes, he still wanted to protect her from harm, and he always would, but that no longer meant excluding her from his life. True, he hadn't quite figured out exactly what he felt for her, but he definetely felt something. And for the moment, that would have to do, at least until he figured out what she felt in return.
Ginny rested her head against the cold tiles of the change room wall. Harry was back. Part of her wanted to march right back outside and demand the real reason why he was here, the reason that, she hoped, was to do with her. But she knew she wouldn't. She'd had a crush on Harry since second year, but she'd never had the guts to tell him. She might be able to cast a bat bogie hex that scared off even fully grown wizards, but she couldn't talk about her feelings. Especially not those concerning a certain celebrity. He was everywhere, in the papers, constantly the topic of conversation. Now that he was physically here, it would only get worse. She needed time to figure out if she really wanted to be with the famous Harry Potter. Maybe in 5 years she'd be ready for that kind of pressure. But now, at 17? All she wanted to do was finish school, get a respectable amount of N.E. and figure out what she wanted to do for a living.
The sound of the door slamming open and laughter made Ginny jump. The rest of her team entered, laughing about some joke one of them must have told. They called out their greetings to her, before heading off to get changed. Not one of them commented on the fact that Harry Potter was outside, so Ginny concluded that he must have gone off to do something other than confuse her. So with that comforting thought, she grabbed her broom and headed onto the pitch.
She launced herself into the air, enjoying the feeling of wind wipping through her hair. Flying was the one thing that always made her calm down, and she could often sort through her mess of thoughts whilst flying. This time, however, it would be a little harder. It wasn't until she'd almost entirely circled the pitch that she saw Harry, sitting in the stands, his eyes following her around. She sighed. Somehow, him dissappe[aring had seemed too good to be true. She was in half a mind to go down and tell him to leave, this was a closed practice, even though he was apparently the new Madame Hooch, but her team's arrival on the pitch stopped her.
Ginny, turning away from Harry, went to land next to her team. She glanced one last time at the stands before starting practice, doing a double take when she saw that Harry had dissappeared. Typical. Only he could annoy her even more by dissappearing than being present.