The first day of school work dawned bright and early for Ginny, who waking up at the foot of the couch again had a rather large crick in her neck. Looking back at the still slumbering Harry, she made a note to herself to go visit Dumbledore's portrait, surely he'd know how to stop these dreams. But for now, Harry seemed to sleep if she was there, and she was quite happy to comply. Too happy in some aspects, but Harry didn't need to know that. The first few students began to slowly filter down from their dormitories to breakfast, and Ginny still needed to get changed, leaving Harry to sleep, she muttered a silencing charm around the couch before heading up to her own dorm.

Sometime later, in the dungeons of the infamous Potions rooms, the Harry and Ron sat noncommittally at their respective desks, heads on hands, Ron with a small trail of drool emitting from his mouth, which was opened in almost a trance like state. The cauldrons did not adorn their desks, but rather large text books which seemed to Harry to be as big as his cauldron themselves. For an hour, Harry had been listening to the voice of the Professor Frasor, who seemed to produce a monotonous drone fit to compete with Professor Binns. Even the bloody baron had fallen asleep in the corner

"Can someone tell me what the correct method of slicing a Boomslang Skin?", Professor Frasor asked, looking around the class of Gryfindors and Slytherins. Harry sighed, at least Snape had made the classes practical, even on the first day.

To his surprise, not only did the hand of Hermione Granger go shooting into the air, but so did that of the small redhead next to him. His eyebrows raised as Ginny answered the teachers question without fault and then turned to smirk at Hermione.

Hermione's expression was sour, a mixture of hurt and puzzled. Before sitting back into her seat beside Ron, who like most of the class, hadn't seen the small competition. But Harry had.

The rest of class was the same, although neither bested the other, one of the two answered the questions and got them right every time.

At Dinner, after suffering the same ordeal in his previous two classes, Harry was bewildered, not only was this the only time Hermione had been this bested in class before, but Ginny wasn't supposed to be THIS good. She was RON's little sister after-all. Harry smiled, it only made her more attractive, with her fiery temper, he was sure that he could end up with a brilliant duelling companion. Shaking himself out of his thoughts Harry dragged himself to the present where he was trying to eat his lunch, and at the same time referee a match that bested a violent game of quidditch. Ginny and Hermione had been trading facts about anything and everything, resulting in a war of knowledge between the two stubborn girls.

"Did you know, that if you drink the blood of a Gragacious Sorplackle, that you will change into a form similar to a domestic cat" Hermione had just said.

"A cat? Is that a form you're familiar with Bullstrode????" Ginny replied getting up vigorously from the table, looking at Hermione with a furious expression.

Harry who was halfway through mouthful and had started to chuckle at the uproariously funny name of the creature, stilled his jaw and swallowed his mouthful hastily. Ginny had just crossed the line. Not only was the incident of the mixed up polyjuice potion a touchy subject for Hermione, but the only people who new about that were him, Ron and Madame Promphry, leaving Ron in the spotlight as the person who spilled a whole jar of Bertie Botts beans.

Hermione's eyes welled, before she got up slowly from the table, looking between the shocked Harry to the still furious Ginny and lastly to that of her shocked and silently pleading boyfriend. Almost in slow motion, Hermione turned around and walked from the great hall.

'Just look what you've bloody gone and done, Ginny!" Ron spat, glaring at her, he turned to Harry, "Come on, she'll be in the library." Ron made to leave but when he saw that Harry was still seated, rooted to the spot he turned around.

"I-I think you should go by yourself Ron. She'll listen to you."

"Oh, so you've chosen her side, how surprising." and with a flourish of black robes he was gone.

"You shouldn't have done that." Ginny whispered.

"Yes I should, I've got your back remember?"

Ginny smiled at this. "Thankyou." she murmured before she too got up and left the Great Hall.

Harry grimaced and gulped the last of his pumpkin juice. The choice between comforting either Hermione and Ginny wasn't hard, it was the consequences of his choice that were hard. And he didn't know whether he was ready for them.

As expected, he found Ginny in her little hideout on the balcony near the astronomy tower. Tears silently trailing down her cheeks and her head resting on her knees, staring out onto the grounds.

Harry walked quietly over to Ginny, and sat down next to her.

She didn't move, just sat there. To him it didn't seem as if she'd acknowledged his presence at all. And this coupled with the seeming lack of emotion toward him, puzzled Harry.

After wringing his hands for 10 minutes Harry gently scooted closer to Ginny and pulled her into his body. Almost like a child, Ginny curled herself into Harry's embrace, her quiet crying stilling and her misty eyes, bright.

The two of them sat there for nearly an hour, not saying anything, just watching the sun disappear over the horizon and the lights of other towers in the castle dim.

Ginny sat up and straightened her now lopsided robes with a smile.

"So… can I ask what all that was about?" Harry asked quietly,

"I suppose I'm just sick of people underestimating me and thinking I'm just Ron's little sister… And then when I show you all that I can actually take care of myself I get shot down in flames."

"We never underestimated you, Gin."

"Yes you all did, even you Harry" she quietly accused. "You went and finished the war with the others, finding all the horcruxes, and only in the end I got to help. And even then I was left out of some things. All my life I've been too little, too young. And now when I know that I'm better than my brothers I still get put to the side."

"We didn't mean to leave you out , Gin. And even if I could go back in time, I wouldn't change any of it. Because when we left you behind, it wasn't because you were too inexperienced, because you and Ron especially know that you can produce a hefty Bat Bogey Hex, we did it because we wanted you to be alive in the end. We knew that you were the only one who could have rationally dealt with everything if we didn't make it. Ron knew that if he and his brothers died, you'd be the one that kept your family together, you were the strongest. I- We did it because I-I- We love you."

Ginny's eyes had misted up again. She gently kissed Harry's cheek, the tiniest of pecks.

'Thanks, Harry!" she smiled.

"It's okay Gin."

"Bloody Hell…we'd better get to the tower, its after curfew!" Ginny said, surprised after looking at her watch (A present from her father) and got up to leave.

Harry stood but didn't follow, grinning stupidly at Ginny.

"What?" she asked, once she realised he wasn't following.

"You just swore!!!" Harry said smiling.

"What? I'm too much of a girl to swear now, am I?" she asked pushing his shoulder friendly

"No, I just think it's funny. Imagine what Hermione would say?!?!"