A/N: hope you guys like this chapter! please review :)


[February, 2013]

"I mean…it's…you are very close to me," Ginny observed.

Harry felt nervous; a new feeling he was not accustomed to. "Is that…bad?"

"No," Ginny breathed shortly, her forehead creased, her eyes focusing hard on Harry. "Just…stating a fact."

Harry felt his legs shaking, unsure of what to do next. They were completely alone, face-to-face, their bodies practically touching…isn't this what he'd been picturing for months? Why couldn't he move? He felt as if he were frozen, though his heart was yelling at him to do something.

Ginny's mouth lifted into a grin, causing Harry to feel as something from his stomach shot up into his throat, leaving him unable to say anything. It seemed as if Ginny could tell, for she had an amused look on her face. "What are we doing?" she asked softly.

"Um, I…" Harry attempted, but he couldn't think of how to answer. "I, er…"

"You have such a way with words, Harry," Ginny teased, her smile broadening.

Her striking smile is what sparked a bit of courage inside of his chest. He only had to move a fraction of an inch to be where he wanted to be. He stared at her hard, laughed, and said, "I… don't know what I'm doing."

Her smile softened slowly as she whispered, practically against him, "I think you do."

She had a blazing, intense look upon her face, and in that moment, Harry moved so close he was only a centimeter away from Ginny. "You're right," he whispered, and then crushed his lips against hers.

It was a winter's day, but it felt as if he had splashed head first into the warm ocean on a summer's day for the very first time, covering his entire body, inside and out, as if he were drowning in the most beautiful way imaginable. The instant warmth spreading through him as Ginny's lips reacted against his own caused him to feel as if he were going to lose his balance. Almost simultaneously, Harry put one hand on Ginny's face and the other in her hair as Ginny put her hands on his chest, both of them instinctively deepening the kiss. Harry seemed to lose all awareness besides the feel of Ginny for the next few blissful and exciting minutes.

Ginny, at some point or another – Harry had lost track of time— pulled away, breathing frantically, and her face beaming. "Wait, wait…wait one second," she told him, half laughing. "The room is spinning."


An hour passed, but now time was frozen as Ginny placed her head on Harry's shoulder and her hand across his chest, breathing slowly against him. Harry wrapped his arms around her, the warmth of her body against him feeling like a blanket. He felt like he had just gotten home after a long time away. He closed his eyes for a few minutes, breathing in sync with Ginny.

Suddenly, she looked up at him, smiled, and started to kiss him again. Harry reciprocated, then chuckled and pulled away. "You've got to give me a minute," he almost whispered, grinning at her, putting a piece of her hair behind her ear. "The room is spinning."

Ginny rolled her eyes but smiled brightly at those words, which Harry had in the past brought up time and time again as to poke fun at her for saying it after their very first kiss—But Harry felt it this time, too.

"Oh, sure, make fun of me for that again, won't you?"

"I'm serious!" insisted Harry, kissing her head and then putting his head back down on the pillow and closing his eyes. He knew he was avoiding the inevitable—a real talk—but he soaked up every moment of pure bliss he could with Ginny in his arms again, struggling to keep down the anxiety he felt over Ginny's possible answers to the questions he had.

A few more minutes passed in comfortable silence, a few soft kisses exchanged, a few synchronized sighs of happiness…Harry squeezing Ginny closer to him, Ginny tracing her finger along Harry's chest…Harry's conscious was telling him he needed to say something of value, get the conversation started so things could finally be sorted out.

As if she read his mind, Ginny suddenly put her hand on Harry's cheek, moving his face towards her. "So, this thing about not being friends anymore…"

"Right," Harry sighed, reluctantly sitting up, reaching over to Ginny's bedside table to put his glasses back on so he could look at her properly.

Harry did have a structured conversation planned out in his head, with a responsible way to approach it. But, Ginny sitting exposed in front of him, made his feelings take control.

"Why did you date Dean?"

Ginny seemed puzzled by the question, and started biting her lip: a nervous habit Harry noticed she subtly engaged in whenever they had had conversations like these in the past.

"Harry…"

"Please, just…answer the question."

She breathed, looking around the room, as if the answer was written on the walls. "A little bit to spite you," she admitted. "A little bit because I thought maybe I liked him, a lot more to get over you and finally move on…didn't work, though."

A little bit to spite you: it stung Harry even though he'd known it all along. He had just had an hour of warm bliss, and now was pulled out, back into cold reality.

He felt bitterness spreading inside of him. "To spite me," he repeated.

Ginny sighed, biting her lip again, covering Harry's hand with her own. "Harry…I just—Well, what else was I supposed to do? Watch you hook up with random girls at parties all the time—"

"It was only once," he muttered, not liking to think of his stupid mistake from the previous school year.

"—and just sit back and wait for you forever? I thought…I don't know…I thought when I'd come to school here we'd pick up where we left off…and by that I mean actually, you know, be together…not—not just this friends with benefits thing."

"I don't want that anymore," Harry told her, squeezing her hand. "I mean, that's why I came here tonight, isn't it?"

"I know, Harry," she said, sounding tired. "But…last year—that's what you wanted still, and it …hurt."

Harry's heart sank at the words. "Ginny, you know I never, ever wanted to hurt you, right? And it wasn't what I wanted—I was trying to…I don't know… I didn't want your whole college experience to be about me! Maybe you would find someone better and be happier…"

"Don't be stupid," she argued.

"I'm not being stupid," he told her. "I mean, look at you…You're like—you are the most beautiful person I've ever seen…I couldn't let you just—just settle on me, someone you've known since you were ten years old—"

She interrupted him with a very soft, mind-robbing kiss, his thoughts evaporating. He opened his eyes and saw Ginny looking more vulnerable than she usually did. "You're still being stupid."

"Gin," he murmured. "I just…I wanted you to have all your options in front of you, you know? I didn't want to be the reason you missed out on…on someone better."

"You're an idiot," she smiled kindly. "There's no one better."

"Liar," he grinned, putting a hand on her face. She closed her eyes, sighing heavily.

"Well, you know…having sex with me or kissing me any time one of us was free wasn't exactly the best method to get me to find someone better," she pointed out. "And just continually messed with my head."

"I know," he admitted, stroking her cheek. "And I'm sorry…Half of me wanted to do the right thing, and the other half of me was too selfish for my own good," he told her, smiling in spite of himself. "It was stupid, I know, I know."

"Glad you finally see the light," she mumbled.

"But just because I wanted you to have a college experience outside of me doesn't mean I didn't want to be with you…of course I did."

"Then you should have—"

"By the time I finally convinced myself," he interjected. "I found out the next day you and Dean were together." Ginny blushed, looking away from Harry as Harry let go of her face now. "I thought, you know…maybe I was right this whole time…"

"You weren't," she said strongly, looking up at him. "I told you, I did it just…just to prove something, or…I don't know—but not because you…not because you weren't good enough for me, or anything like that. Okay?"

Harry could see the honesty in her eyes, and he nodded. "Yeah…Okay. But…why did you say you needed to sort things out? What do you need to sort out, anyway?"

Ginny brought her knees to her chest, hugging them. "I'm just worried."

"About what?"

"That…that if we actually did this…for real…you'd…I don't know—get sick of me, realize you never really wanted to be with me and you just thought you did, think that you'd been wasting all this time with me, and—"

"Now you're the one being stupid," Harry said, feeling saddened by her words. Ginny was usually so confident and self-assured, and he was making her doubt herself. "How could you think that?"

"How could I not?" she retorted. "How could I not after the constant back and forth game we've been playing for years now? How could I not after having feelings for you since I was fucking ten and feeling rejected for so many years, and then when I thought you finally might want to be with me too, it was just the stupid friends with benefits game, and—"

"Ginny, how many times do I have to tell you…I did want to be with you. I told you my reasoning, I was just being stupid."

"Fine, but I didn't know your reasoning until now, you know? The whole 'friends with benefits' thing really fucks with a girl's head…like you only wanted my body, not the rest of me."

Ginny pulled her eyes away from Harry's, looking as if she were about to cry. Harry immediately put his hands back to her face, lifting her chin so she was looking up at him. "Hey," he whispered, wiping a tear falling from her eye. She hardly ever cried, so he knew how much she must have been hurting from this. "Don't you ever, ever think that again. All right? I want you for all of you…I always have…life, and illogical thinking just…got in the way. I want you because of every single thing about you. Don't ever think otherwise, alright?"

She bit her lip again, and nodded, shutting her eyes. "Alright."

"Please believe that, okay?"

She kept her eyes closed while she answered, "I believe you."

Harry wiped another tear away and placed a kiss gently against her mouth. "Ginny," he breathed, and she opened her eyes. "I just want to be with you. I want you to be my girlfriend…no more games. I want us to be together…I know it might be hard, seeing as you've somehow convinced yourself I would never want you like this…but you've got to believe me that I do… How much it's killed me seeing you with Dean instead of me…." The rest of what he wanted to say got stuck in his throat.

She looked at him contemplatively. She put a hand to his face, caressing his cheek. She stared deeply into his eyes, making his insides jump with emotion. After a few moments that seemed like eternity, she smiled slightly. "I want to be with you, too, Harry."

Harry beamed at her, his heart nearly banging out of his chest with excitement. "Really? You're sure?"

She laughed, sweeping her hand from Harry's cheek to his neck. "Yeah. Really, I'm sure. Of course I'm sure. I've been waiting for this since I was ten," she beamed back at him, and then pulled him in and kissed him in such a way she had never kissed him before. Harry felt in a daze as he grabbed her and kissed her back with all he had, laughing and smiling in between every kiss. Harry felt as if his face was stretched into a permanent smile, happiness shooting through him like he had never known.

After how long, he did not know, but he pulled away from her again, opened his eyes and smiled and simply said, "The room."

Ginny smirked and pushed him. "It's always spinning with you, idiot."


"What do you think my chances of survival are today?" Harry asked Ginny the next morning, walking with her to the dining hall for breakfast after Harry had successfully snuck back into his room, Ron sound asleep, to change his clothes from yesterday and collect his books and backpack. Harry and Ginny even went on an early morning walk around campus before going to breakfast, both feeling a lot more joyous than either of them had felt in a while.

"Hm, depends," she said, grabbing his hand. "Are you actually going to tell him?"

"Can't you do it?" he requested hopefully, squeezing her hand. "He can't kill you, you're his sister. You're safer."

"Extremely logical," Ginny chuckled, rolling her eyes at him. "It's got to be you. That was the deal."

"Do I have to tell him today? Can I have some time to prepare?"

"Prepare?" Ginny scoffed.

"I should probably wear some solid armor under my clothing, that way if anything I'll only have mild injuries."

"He's not going to kill you," she promised him. "He loves you more than me, anyway."

"No he does not—"

"Oh, be quiet. You can tell him whenever you want, I suppose," she said slowly as they entered the dining hall. "But, I'm not going to help you keep the secret."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning…I'm not going to refrain or hold myself back to help you in your cowardice—"

"I am not a coward," Harry exclaimed.

"—and so I'm going to do whatever I want around you whenever I want. Like this," she said, and then pulled his face down level to hers and kissed him hard on the mouth. Harry momentarily forgot where they were, and then after a few stolen seconds he pulled away from her.

"We're in public, Gin," Harry whispered, trying to hide the obvious smirk on his face and failing miserably.

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "So? I've got nothing to hide," she proclaimed proudly.

"Not even from, I don't know, Dean, who you only broke up with two days ago, who is entering the dining hall as we speak?"

Her eyes widened and her face became as bright as her hair, as she turned around, spotted Dean, and then turned back to Harry. "I don't know you," she said, and then ran to the cereal options.

Harry rolled his eyes, shaking his head and going to wait on the pancake line. After going through Reddit on his phone for a minute, someone came up behind him and started to hug him.

"HARRY!" they yelled, hugging him extremely tight. Harry recognized the voice as Hermione's.

"Hi Hermione. To what do I owe this pleasant suffocation?"

She let go of him and he turned around to face her. She was absolutely beaming. "I'm just so happy!"

"Yes, I can tell! What about?"

"You!" she squealed, hitting his chest.

"Ouch!" he proclaimed. "Hermione, what's going on?"

"What do you mean what's going on?" she said. "You and Ginny are going on, that's what!"

"Wait a second…How the hell do you even know that already?" he asked, confused.

"She told me, obviously. She's one of my best friends, in case you've forgotten."

"Really? Never knew," he said sarcastically. "But when did she even tell you? It just happened last night and we've been with each other since, well, until she made a bee line for the cereal when we saw Dean walk in, precisely 90 seconds ago."

"She texted me while you were asleep," she told him, going in for another hug. "Oh, Harry, I'm just so happy for you guys!"

Harry laughed as he hugged her back. "Thanks Hermione….I'm really happy, too," he said, catching himself smiling at his own words. Then he realized something as he pulled away. "Er, you didn't happen to, um, tell Ron this, did you?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked, looking a tad insulted but also amused. "That's your job, not mine. As far as he knows, I don't know a thing."

"How long do you think I can avoid telling him?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Knowing you two, maybe around 5 minutes. And heads up, he should be down any second," she informed him.

Harry suddenly got very nervous, unsure of what to do. He came down here with Ginny, and now Ron was going to be here any moment…he didn't want to upset Ron with the news that his best friend and his sister were officially dating, at least, not yet. But how was he supposed to avoid telling him?

Hermione interrupted his thoughts. "Oh, stop looking so worried, Harry! I'm sure he'll be…There he is. Make a run for it, I'll distract him."

Harry grabbed his pancakes and went to go get some orange juice as fast as he could. As he was impatiently filling up his cup, Ginny appeared behind him. "Why in such a rush, Harry?" she asked sarcastically.

"Rush? Who's in a rush?" Harry said nervously, taking his full glass of juice. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione to make sure Ron was not facing them, looked around to make sure Dean was not in sight, and then gave Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek once he knew he was in the clear and said, "I just, erm, want to get my breakfast and…and go to the library! I have that research paper I've got to edit…I'll see you later, yeah?"

Ginny put her free hand not holding her cereal on her hip and laughed. "Good one," she said, raising an eyebrow as Harry smiled at her and started walking towards the cashier.

"I'll see you later?"

"If you're lucky!" she shouted out to him.

Harry stood on line impatiently waiting to pay for his breakfast, when Ron appeared behind him, clapping him on the back. "Yo," he greeted him casually. "When did you get back in last night?"

"Back in?" Harry asked, nervously. "To our room, you mean? Oh…late, yeah really late. You were dead asleep by the time I got back."

Hermione smirked at his incapability to keep it cool, but Harry shot her a death glare.

"What were you doing?"

"Oh, I, was um, in the library writing my paper…Yeah, I, uh, actually have to go finish the paper up now, so I'm going to bring my breakfast to the library…Really busy lately, you know… trying to pull a 4.0"

"Stayed all night in the library doing work?" Ron asked, scratching his head. "You're spending too much time with Hermione."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she shot at him, crossing her arms.

Ron rolled his eyes at her, but put his arm around her anyway. "Have fun in the library, Harry. I need some bacon… Don't look at me like that, Hermione, it was just a joke before!"

"See you guys later," Harry said, relief washing over him as he handed his student ID card to the cashier to pay for his food. As he walked towards the door to head off to the library, he paused and caught a glimpse of Ginny, talking excitedly to Hermione in whispers on line to pay, Ron nowhere in sight (most likely filling up his plate to its maximum capacity, as per usual). The sight of her smiling in such a way, knowing it was because of him, because they were finally, finally doing this for real, made his stomach give a little jolt, and Ginny caught his eye and he beamed at her, before waving goodbye and heading out to the library. He suddenly became frustrated with himself for being so afraid for Ron to know that he was dating his sister.

He knew he wouldn't be elated with happiness, as Harry himself was currently feeling, but he hoped he'd be happy for them…shouldn't he be? Ron knew Harry had feelings for her, he knew they had a history…but he was so consistently on and off about how he felt about them even glancing at each other, that he was totally clueless as to how Ron would react. He didn't want him constantly on top of them watching their every move, but mostly he just didn't want anything to affect his friendship with Ron, who was like a brother to him. The thought of the possibility of their friendship being severed made Harry feel extraordinarily anxious.

Harry mulled over the matter instead of actually editing his paper…and he mulled it over all day, unable to stop his nervous thoughts over the matter. He felt a little more relaxed when he met up with Ginny for lunch, and they ate outside together under a tree…until his phone buzzed with a text from Ron asking if he was getting lunch with him and Hermione.

"Stop looking so worried," Ginny told him, closing his phone for him and putting it down. "It's going to be okay, I promise! He's your best friend, have some faith in him."

Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses, feeling tired. "You don't know how protective he is of you…"

"Harry," she said softly, putting her hand on his. "You have to relax. Okay? You can tell him whenever you're ready. I won't try to get in the way of that now, I promise…but I think you're just stressing yourself out over nothing."

He breathed deeply, squeezing her hand. "I don't know…"

She smiled at him. "Trust me."

Her confidence in Ron allowed Harry to breathe easier, giving him the slightest edge of confidence, too. "I trust you," he assured her. He took his phone back and told Ron that he couldn't make it to lunch but he'd see them for dinner. Feeling slightly guilty still but a little calmer than before, Harry laid his head down on Ginny's lap, closing his eyes as she ran her fingers smoothly through his untidy hair.


[February, 2013]

"So," Harry said, unsurely. He was alone with Ginny in her room on a Friday night. Her parents were over at one of Mr. Weasley's work friends for dinner. There had only been three times, before this time, that Harry and Ginny had engaged in their newfound physical relationship.

"So, what?" she smirked, inching closer to him. "You know, you're not very good at this whole casual thing."

He scratched his head, chuckling at his nervousness. He looked into her eyes, and suddenly his nerves seemed to relax. He put his arm around Ginny's waist, pulling her against him. "I'm working on it," he whispered, before kissing her passionately.

It wasn't long before they moved to the bed. Harry felt as if he was on fire every time Ginny deepened their kiss, or ran her fingers through his messy hair, or let her hands wander further and further down. Harry broke apart from her, gave her a knowing look, and put his hands on the bottom of her shirt. She smirked, sitting up, and let him take it off of her. She kissed him quickly before doing the same to him. He laid back on top of her, Ginny allowing him to explore her body for a bit, both with his hands and his mouth, until he reached back to her face once more, roughly kissing her lips as if his life depended on it. Ginny grabbed his face to slow down and soften the kiss, which drove Harry mad, in a good way.

His arm snaked around her back, about ready to unclasp her bra, when at that precise moment, the door was opened. "Ginny, did Mom tell you if— WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"

Harry and Ginny broke apart as fast as they could. Harry felt his ears burning in embarrassment, looking as fast as he could for his shirt. He knew if he didn't hurry, Ron would kill him.

Ginny, however, let no flicker of embarrassment cross her face. "You know, Ron. Normally before you enter a room, you're supposed to knock."

Harry threw his shirt over his head, grabbed his phone and his keys, and tried to figure out a way to get past Ron without being strangled. "Well, Gin, Ron, it was nice seeing you both! Have a good night, yeah?" He flashed a smile at Ginny, and then broke into a run.

Harry was very fast, but unfortunately for Harry, Ron was much taller than he was, and used his limbs to block every open space of the door for Harry to get through. "What—the HELL—do you think—you're doing—with my SISTER?"

Ron's face was only inches away from Harry. Harry felt scared, but tried not to show it. "Ron!" Ginny screamed, getting up and trying to get between them.

"Stay—out of this—Gin," Ron sneered, keeping his eyes on Harry, unwavering.

"Stay out of it?" she laughed. "I think if anyone, YOU should be the one staying out of this!"

"You're joking, right?" he said, snapping his head to face Ginny. "You're my sister! He's my BEST FRIEND!"

"And it's our business, not yours!" she shouted back at him, distracting him enough to finally stand in between Ron and Harry so that they couldn't hurt each other. Ron was much taller than Ginny, though, so Harry was still able to see his face.

"Ron," Harry spoke softly behind Ginny's back, trying not to enrage him anymore. "I'm sorry you…had to see that, but—"

"Oh, you're SORRY!" Ron scoffed.

"He doesn't have to be," Ginny said sternly. "Neither one of us have to abide by your wishes, Ron. We're free people, you know!"

Ron seemed at lost for words, unable to muster anything else up to shout. Harry was holding his breath, still preparing for the worst. Ginny stood her ground, her arms crossed, staring at Ron intensely. After what could have been a century of tense silence, Ron spoke again. "Fine. Fine…I should have knocked. Maybe it's not my ENTIRE business, but it's some of my business, all right? Can you just…I don't know, tell me what's going on here?"

"Nothing's going on," Ginny answered. "We're just—"

"Gin, it's okay," Harry said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "How about I…I talk to Ron about this alone. Okay?"

Ginny turned around, raising an eyebrow at him curiously. "Why?"

"Just…just trust me."

She searched his face for a moment, trying to figure out from his eyes what he was up to, but in the end resigned. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just, please don't kill each other."

"No promises," Ron grunted, storming out the door.

Harry waited until Ron was out of sight, kissed Ginny passionately but quickly on the mouth and said, "Wish me luck," before following Ron's lead away from her room.

Ron stomped heavily towards his own room up another flight of stairs, Harry behind him. They reached Ron's room, and as soon as Harry walked in Ron slammed the door.

"Ron, just hear me out."

His fists were clenched and his ears were bright red, but he resigned by grunting with a nod. Harry paced the room a bit before gaining the courage to speak.

'Look, I…I'm sorry you had to see that—"

"How long has this been going on?" Ron interrupted.

"Not long," Harry responded. "Only like, two weeks."

Ron narrowed his eyes, studying Harry's face. "All right… Go on."

Harry sighed, feeling nervous about actually being upfront and honest about his feelings with Ron. They were the very best of friends, but very rarely spoke about their feelings…they kind of just figured things out on their own or watched things play out themselves. Sure, when Harry was with Cho and Ron with Lavender, they discussed it—to an extent…but never in enough detail where either of them was pouring their heart out to one another. Harry decided, though, that desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Listen, Ron," Harry said, avoiding his gaze. "I…I have….feelings for Ginny, alright?"

Ron's face slowly shifted from angry to calm, with a hint of shock. "You…you do?"

Harry nodded, feeling a little more comfortable watching Ron's anger subside. "Yeah. I do. I've been having this…this—I don't know, internal battle, I guess, about it for a few months, because I didn't want to hurt you, and I especially didn't want you to find out this way—"

"That makes two of us," Ron said, with a tint of light-heartedness now in his voice.

Harry smirked, but continued explaining. "But…it's not like we're going out or anything. We're just…I don't know—"

"Fooling around?" Ron interjected, the anger in his voice returning.

"No! I mean, well, technically, yeah. But it's not like that! I mean, it's not like I'm using her or something. I just told you I have feelings for her, didn't I?"

"So why don't you just go out with her then?"

Harry put a hand through his messy hair, taking a deep breath. He had asked himself this question, too, many times, and though he was stubborn with his final decision, he still was upset with himself over it. "Because…Ron, we're graduating in a few months, and then we're going off to college, and Ginny will still be here. I just…I know if we get too involved, it will just be way too hard to say goodbye…and then…I don't want her to waste her senior year waiting for me or something, you know? Or for it to not work out and then it was for nothing? I don't know if I'm making sense…I just…I can't stay away from her, but I can't get too close to her either."

He met Ron's gaze. His face was unreadable. They looked at each other for a few long moments before Harry spoke again.

"Do you…understand?"

Ron looked at him, blankly. "Yeah, I understand."

"And is it…er, okay with you?"

Ron sighed. "Yeah, I mean…I guess. There's nothing I can do to stop you. Just—don't mess with her."

Harry nodded, feeling an odd mixture of relief and anxiety.

"And maybe lock the door next time?"


"And you're sure this is a good idea?" Harry asked again later that night, nervously.

"Harry," Hermione sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time. "You have to do it. You know you have to."

Harry gulped, closing his eyes. He could do this.

"If you really think that this would make Ron hate you or something, then you don't know Ron as well as you think you do," she said.

"Hey, I've known him for nine years, Hermione! You've only known him for two."

"It's not a competition," Hermione laughed, rolling her eyes. "But, if it was, I'd win anyway. See, we actually are honest with each other and talk about how we feel."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry dismissed her, just as Ron re-entered their room from the bathroom.

Ron sat on his bed, putting his head on Hermione's lap. "Remind me to never eat the tacos from the dining hall, ever again."

Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust. "Noted," she said, patting his head.

They sat there in silence for about twenty seconds, Hermione darkly glancing at Harry, who was too nervous to open his mouth. Hermione took matters into her own hands. "Ron, Harry has something he wants to tell you."

Harry threw a death glare at her, but she merely smiled as Ron sat up and looked at him. "What's up?" he asked.

Harry took a deep breath, knowing he couldn't avoid it now. "Well, I, uh, just have to tell you something…"

"Is everything alright?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow. "You sound upset or something."

"No, not upset. Everything is fine," Harry assured him. "Great, actually…Uh, I just…Well, things are great, because…because..."

There was another awkward silence, until, "Oh my GOD, Harry," Hermione groaned. "Ron, what Harry is trying to tell you is that he and Ginny are dating. Officially. For real. The end."

"Thanks Hermione," Harry sneered.

"You're very welcome," she said sarcastically.

Ron looked first at Hermione, who smiled at him and put her hand on his. Then, after he squeezed her hand back, he looked at Harry. To Harry's pleasant surprise, he did not seem angry nor ready to kill him at any moment. He seemed, well, happy.

"For real?" he asked.

"Yeah," Harry said, relief rushing over him. "For real. No more friends with benefits, or whatever…I mean, if that's okay with you."

"Okay with me?" Ron laughed. "Of course it's okay with me! This is awesome, dude! You and Gin…You're the only one for her, anyway."

Harry felt absolutely flabbergasted. Hermione was looking at Ron with admiration, beaming. Harry could not believe how well this went….and he was having mental breakdowns over it all day, flashing back to the first time Ron found out about the two of them.

"You…you're sure?"

"Yeah, man! Even if I weren't, that wouldn't stop you two, would it? This is years in the making…Took a little too long, if you ask me."

Harry, still bewildered at Ron's reaction, smiled thankfully at his best friend. "Thanks, Ron. Really, it…Thanks."

Ron smiled back at him. "Yeah, you know. I'm great."

Hermione absolutely beamed at the both of them. "See, Harry!" she said, putting her head on Ron's shoulder. "I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"Worry about?" Ron repeated, looking at Harry. "You were worried, why?"

"Because, she's your sister!" Harry exclaimed. "You've gotten pretty protective of her around me in the past…even just the other morning!"

"I—I don't—What are you even talking about—Protective…" Ron stammered.

"Oh, please, Ron," Hermione sighed on him. "Don't play dumb."

He shrugged her off his shoulder. "I'm not playing dumb!"

"You just are dumb," said Harry.

"Hey—I could take back my permission any time I want."

"Permission," Hermione laughed. "You're cute, Ron."

"Cute?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "I'm serious!"

"Whatever you say, man," Harry said, smiling. Everything was falling into place.

Until the knock on the door.

"Come in," Ron called.

The door practically burst open, and before Harry, Ron, or Hermione could process exactly what was happening, Dean Thomas was standing over Harry, and the last thing he saw was Dean's fist flying towards his face before the room started spinning, and then turned black.