Author's Note: So after writing a few Harry/Ginny fics, I decided that I needed a refresher on the two. I reread Order of the Phoenix to study how they became "normal" around each other, and now then Half Blood Prince to remind myself how Harry fell for Ginny. I think we can all agree that their relationship was thin, but that does leave room for interpretation.

While rereading I was looking for gaps where scenes could be added, and yet still keep with Harry's thought process throughout the literature. I've got three in my head. Here's the first.

I'm starting with a long clip from HBP in order to give some context.

...

Harry and Hermione had just returned to the Common Room after spending Ron's Birthday in the hospital wing after he was poisoned with Professor Slughorn's mead. The Weasley family had come to check on Ron and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shared their gratitude, because Harry had now saved Ron, Arthur and Ginny. Harry and Hermione left them all to be together, and ran into Hagrid on their way back to the Common room, who let it slip that he had overheard Snape and Dumbledore arguing. Hermione has gone off to bed, leaving Harry alone in the Common Room.

So Dumbledore had argued with Snape. In spite of all he had told Harry, in spite of his insistence that he trusted Snape completely, he had lost his temper with him. . . . He did not think that Snape had tried hard enough to investigate the Slytherins ... or, perhaps, to investigate a single Slytherin: Malfoy?

Was it because Dumbledore did not want Harry to do anything foolish, to take matters into his own hands, that he had pretended there was nothing in Harry's suspicions? That seemed likely. It , might even be that Dumbledore did not want anything to distract Harry from their lessons, or from procuring that memory from Slughorn. Perhaps Dumbledore did not think it right to confide suspicions about his staff to sixteen-year-olds. ...

"There you are, Potter!"

Harry jumped to his feet in shock, his wand at the ready. He had been quite convinced that the common room was empty; he had not been at all prepared for a hulking figure to rise suddenly out of a distant chair. A closer look showed him that it was Cormac McLaggen.

"I've been waiting for you to come back," said McLaggen, disregarding Harry's drawn wand. "Must've fallen asleep. Look, I saw them taking Weasley up to the hospital wing earlier. Didn't look like he'll be fit for next week's match."

It took Harry a few moments to realize what McLaggen was talking about.

"Oh . . . right. . . Quidditch," he said, putting his wand back into the belt of his jeans and running a hand wearily through his hair. "Yeah ... he might not make it."

"Well, then, I'll be playing Keeper, won't I?" said McLaggen.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah, I suppose so. ..."

He could not think of an argument against it; after all, McLaggen had certainly performed second-best in the trials.

"Excellent," said McLaggen in a satisfied voice. "So when's practice?"

"What? Oh . . . there's one tomorrow evening."

"Good. Listen, Potter, we should have a talk beforehand. I've got some ideas on strategy you might find useful."

"Right," said Harry unenthusiastically. "Well, I'll hear them tomorrow, then. I'm pretty tired now ... see you . . ."

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Chapter 19

Once Harry had convinced Cormac that they would not be discussing quidditch strategies, Cormac shrugged off and went to bed. Leaving Harry alone once more in front of the dying fire of the Gryffindor Common Room. After the strange events of what was supposed to be a lazy Saturday, his pensive mood returned to him.

Harry sat, hunched forward on the overstuffed couch, watching the flames flicker and embers glow. Thoughts of Snape and Dumbledore's conversation were running furiously through his mind. Harry was sure if he just kept at it, kept thinking of why Snape would be refusing to do as Dumbledore asked, then the answer would come to him.

Harry was not sure how long he had been sitting here before he was startled out of his reverie to the sound of the portrait hole swinging open. Reflexively Harry pushed himself up to sit straight, when a very distracted Ginny Weasley came wandering into the dim room. Harry felt his pulse quicken, as the beast in his chest perked in interest.

"Ginny," Harry greeted quietly, standing from the couch. Ginny who seemed not to notice Harry's presence, gasped in surprise as she turned to look at him. When their eyes met Harry couldn't help but notice hint of sadness behind her brown eyes. Panic started to set in. "Ron's doing okay?" He asked hurriedly, moving towards her. A sinking feeling seized Harry's chest.

"Yes," Ginny answered quickly, and Harry felt the hold around his chest loosen. "Yes, I'm sorry. He's doing just the same," Ginny explained, shaking her head, as if she were trying to shake off her mood.

Harry stood there feeling slightly awkward as Ginny seemed to lose herself in thought again. She stared off over his shoulder, her features beautiful but tense. It was one of those very early hours of the morning, those hours that still felt like night. "He's going to be alright, Gin." The words of comfort flowing out of his mouth, as he jammed his hands deep into his trouser pockets.

This seemed to bring her back to the Common Room, and her brown eyes fixed on Harry's. A look on her face Harry couldn't quite decipher. Then she was in his arms. Ginny's arms fixed tightly around his waist, and her head pressed firmly against his chest. For a moment Harry was frozen. Not that he hadn't dreamed of this very occurrence. Fantasized of Ginny Weasley throwing herself into his arms, but in his fantasies her brother had not just almost been killed.

She's upset. She's afraid and upset for Ron. She needs a friend. Harry reasoned with himself, as his hands left the safety of his pockets to return the embrace. She's dating Dean. Be her friend! He warned himself, as the beast in his chest roared with delight. Harry was finding it difficult to not notice how well she fit against his chest; the perfect height to tuck under his chin, as he inhaled her flowery scent. "He'll be fine." He added, guilt settling in his stomach that he hadn't really thought of Ron during this exchange.

"I know he will," Ginny admitted after a moment. She pushed herself back, but to Harry's jubilation, not out of his arms.

"Thanks to you," she added, shaking her incredulously.

"Like I said before, I was just lucky," Harry told her, uncomfortable being a hero.

Ginny shook her head stubbornly, "Mum and Dad were right. We all owe you a huge debt. Saving Ron and Dad...saving me." Harry felt his hands grip her a bit tighter at this. All thoughts of Ron, Dean, even Malfoy's secrets far from his mind at the moment. Completely consumed in the girl in his arms. "Merlin, it seems like a lifetime ago. We were so young. Harry you were just a boy," Ginny told him fiercely, and Harry was surprisingly relieved to not see the familiar wonder that she used to look on him with, but rather deep pity.

Shared understanding, of the feeling of having something precious stolen from each of them that night four years ago. "You're just a boy," Ginny whispered out sadly, bringing a hand a up to brush Harry's cheek.

Harry swallowed thickly, and couldn't stop himself from leaning closer. "I'm not a boy anymore," He answered, his voice low and quiet.

Harry could feel his rapid breathing matching hers. Ginny's cheeks were pink, as she stared at the buttons on his shirt. "Yes, I know," Ginny replied, her voice quiet and breathy. The very sound of it causing the beast in his chest to roar and thunder, causing every muscle in his body to tense. Harry looked down into her brown eyes. An overwhelming desire to pull her closer, shooting electricity down to his fingertips. Surely she felt it too.

"You are all the closest thing I have to family. I'll always do whatever I can to protect you," Harry told her earnestly, and his eyes couldn't seem to tear themselves away from looking at her pink lips.

Harry could tell at once that he had said the wrong thing. For Ginny suddenly stiffened in his arms, and shook her head as if trying to clear something out of her mind. "Yes...of course," she started, the sound of new understanding in her tone. She pulled away, and stepped back a few feet back. Harry had no choice but to let her go. The beast in his chest roaring in disapproval.

Harry opened his mouth to retract whatever idiot thing he had just said, but was cut off by Ginny. "Yes, Harry," she began, a smile on her face, a forced cheeriness in her tone. "You are family to us. I hope you know we feel the same way. I never thought we had room for another brother...but I'm glad I was wrong," Ginny told him, with a sad sincerity.

"Ginny-" Harry started, taking a step towards her, wanting to clear up this glaring misunderstanding.

"I'm so sorry for this," she interrupted, holding up her hand in some sort of surrender. Harry stopped short at her obvious barrier she wanted to put between them. She laughed uncomfortably as she added, "I'm just tired. I'm sure I'll be back to normal after I get some sleep." All the time saying this, she had been backing her way to the girl's staircase.

Harry remained in place as he watched her retreat. Unsure what had just happened.

"Goodnight, Harry," she called over her shoulder as she sprinted up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Ginny," he replied quietly to the empty staircase, before grabbing a pillow of the overstuffed couch and chucking it across the room.

...

Discussion: I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to let Ginny and Harry have a chance to be alone. It occurred to me that Mrs. Weasley reminding them all of Harry saving Ginny, would have put Ginny to thinking. Harry was already in one of those surly pensive moods, and with both their temperaments a moment like this would not have been too far fetched.

The aftermath, and how it fits. So if you recall, Ginny and Dean have been on the rocks for weeks now. I think Ginny, (because we know she's not afraid to ditch boys) would have ended things around this point in the novels, but after Harry makes the comment of them being family, she takes it as he sees her as only a sister. So, in her effort to get over her feelings for Harry (which she's annoyed because she had already gotten over him once), she holds onto the relationship for a bit longer. (That's why she snaps at Dean for little things, like helping her through the portrait hole). And why she goes to see Harry while he's unconscious after the McClaggen knocks him out during the quidditch match. (She's obviously likes him, but doesn't want to make Harry uncomfortable). Harry fantasizes of Ginny weeping over his body, to prove that what had happened between the two, really meant something. Why she gets so riled up at Dean when he jokes about Harry being hurt.

So when she fixes him with a hard blazing look, and throws herself into his arms after the last Quidditch match, it's because she's ignoring what she's sure is Harry's way of "letting her down nicely."