A/N Don't kill me! I've had this written for a while, but I couldn't quite finish it right. I don't feel like it's as funny as it started off but oh well.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, obviously.
Normally, Harry Potter would wake up several times during the night, so he was accustomed to being tired in the morning. But this particular morning he felt completely rested and awake. For a moment, he had no clue why things were different, until he looked up and saw Dean glaring at him from his four poster bed. Right...Ginny! That's why he felt so good.
On his way out of the dormitory, Harry hit the still sleeping Ron, saying loudly, "We're leaving for breakfast in ten minutes, hurry up."
At this, Ron rolled over in bed groaning. Harry laughed quietly and went down to the Common room.
Upon seeing Hermione, he jogged to where she stood. "Good morning Hermione!" he said cheerily, hugging her.
"You're awfully chipper this morning, could it be that you'll see a certain redheaded girl very soon?"
Harry glared at Hermione's smirk, but his slightly red cheeks gave him away.
"I'm happy for you two, took you long enough," Hermione said, sitting down on a nearby chair.
"I only told you my feelings a few days ago!" Harry replied, bewildered.
"Yes, but do you really think I haven't known all of this time? How long have we been best friends? I know you better than anyone," Hermione stated.
"Then why did you put me through the torture of asking for advice?"
Hermione smirked. "That was for my personal enjoyment. Anyway, I wanted you to fully admit it. Then I'd have evidence."
Harry glared at her before remembering something and smiling mischievously. "Speaking of your advice giving abilities, you won some Galleons out of Ginny and I becoming a couple-is that why you told me to hurry up and ask her out?"
Hermione blushed embarrassedly. "No, I wanted you to finally be happy, winning the bet was just a nice bonus."
"Whatever," Harry said teasingly. "But I am starting to see a trend here. First cheating at the Quidditch tryouts, now on bets..."
"I did NOT cheat either of those times, Harry Potter!" Hermione argued. "McLaggen is annoying and has a bad attitude, you saw that. And this time was not cheating either, merely encouraging you to do what you wanted."
"And protecting your investment," Harry put in, amused.
Hermione glared, but then asked seriously, "You're happy now, though, right?"
"Immensely so."
"Then it worked. I'll get you a good birthday present this summer with my winnings, and we'll keep this all a little secret."
"Hermione, you are becoming devious and sneaky, just like Ron and I," Harry said fervently. "But you're completely brilliant and amazing."
"Thanks, Harry. Wait, I am NOT! Well, maybe a little."
"Ah, it warms my heart," Harry said, wiping a fake tear from his eye.
Hermione just rolled her eyes and playfully shoved Harry.
Meanwhile, Ginny had almost finished getting ready in her morning-dumb-Ginny stupor when she stopped dead, eyes wide.
"That must have been some dream," Ginny murmured, shaking her head.
"What dream?" Kendall asked sleepily from her bed.
"Nothing, nothing," Ginny muttered, but she was sure Kendall had already fallen back asleep.
Ginny finished putting her hair up in a loose ponytail and said, "I'm going to wake Demz up."
Kendall grunted in response.
"Don't go back to sleep as soon as I leave, Kendall. You need to do your History of Magic essay after breakfast." Kendall groaned.
Rolling her eyes, Ginny left and entered the fourth years room to wake Demelza up.
After Ginny made sure Demelza was good and awake (and sopping wet because of the bucket of water dropped on her face) Ginny left (while many curse words and death threats came from a disgruntled Demelza inside the room).
She made her way down to the Common Room, still in a daze. Right as she turned on to the last set of stairs, Ginny saw Hermione and Harry look up. Harry's face brightened considerably and he grinned at her.
That was when it hit her.
Then she sprinted back up to her dorm.
"What the-" Harry said.
"She just realized it was true," Hermione said knowingly.
That just made Harry even more confused.
As Ginny ran into the Fifth year room she saw that Kendall was completely asleep again in a heap on her bed.
"Kendall!" she said loudly.
"I'll get up soon," was the barely coherent reply.
"No that's not what I'm here for," Ginny said as she rushed to Kendall's side.
"Did Harry take me on the most perfect date and ask me to be his girlfriend or was a dreaming, again?"
"Ginny, if you're dreaming, then that means I'm dreaming. And trust me, my dreams aren't this uncomfortable or vivid," Kendall muttered.
"So it's all true?"
"Well since we haven't had gossip time where you tell me all about your adventures with Mr. Potter yesterday, I can't tell you if it was the perfect date," Kendall said, a little more awake now. "But from how you two were at the party, let's hope you two are dating. Otherwise I'd call you a scarlet woman. I'm kidding, of course, it would be hypocritical to say that."
Ginny laughed brightly, now in a brilliant mood.
"And because I know you so well," Kendall continued. "I bet you had made it down to the Common Room before reality hit you and you hightailed it up here, leaving Harry confused."
Ginny started to deny it, but her blush gave her away instantly.
"Go back down there and snog your boyfriend," Kendall ordered. "We can have girl talk tonight."
Ginny hugged her friend and ran back downstairs.
"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly to Harry and Hermione. "I...uh remembered something I had to ask Kendall." Then she turned to Harry, smiling.
"Hi," she said softly.
"Hi yourself," she said shyly.
After an awkward moment, Ginny shook her head, trying to clear her mind.
"Screw this awkwardness," she muttered before pulling Harry in for a kiss.
They pulled apart, both slightly breathless, leaning their foreheads against each other, to see an amused and slightly jealous Hermione looking at them.
"Now that's what I call an icebreaker," Hermione said, laughing at their goofy grins.
"Hi," Harry said after a moment, looking back at Ginny.
"You already said that, Harry," Ginny replied, beaming.
"Sorry; kissing you causes full shutdown in my brain," he admitted sheepishly.
"The feeling is mutual."
Harry chuckled and pulled back to look at Hermione but still kept his arms around Ginny's waist.
"Good morning Hermione," Ginny said finally.
"Oh, you notice me now?" Hermione said teasingly.
"Yes of course! You are my book-loving, Ron-loving, bet-cheating best friend, aren't you?" Ginny asked.
"I only agree to the book-loving best friend part."
"Denial! Trust me, I know all about that stage. Speaking of denial, where is my darling brother?"
"Still sleeping," Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"I can fix that," Ginny said smirking. She walked to the stairs of the Boy's Dormitories and went halfway up before yelling, "Ronald! The House-elves accidentally made two times as much food, how can we ever finish it?"
A red blur pushed past her and hurtled into the Common Room. Ron's hair was rumpled and he only had one arm in his shirt.
"What about more food?" Ron asked, eyes wide.
"Nothing, let's go down to breakfast," Ginny said, trying to keep a straight face. Ron looked confused and slightly sad but nevertheless left with the other three, putting his shirt fully on now. The four chatted aimlessly until they reached the doors to the Great Hall.
"You ready for this?" Harry asked Ginny as Ron and Hermione went in.
"Oh I can handle those bitches," Ginny said with a smirk.
"That makes one of us..." Harry said, sighing.
"Oh come one, you can do it. Besides, I'm right here. Ron's the only Weasley brother here so you're safe from that. And like you said, the rumours were bound to start."
Harry nodded, sighing. "You're right. Let's go." Ginny smiled and kissed him quickly before taking his hand.
In the Great Hall, everybody had just seen two thirds of the Golden Trio, and the students knew Harry had to be nearby. The Gryffindors knew all about the new couple but the other Houses had only heard gossip and were very curious to see if Ginny had finally landed Harry Potter.
The doors opened and Ginny emerged holding the hand of an already blushing Harry.
Complete silence. The only noise was Ginny leaning up to whisper something in Harry's ear. He grinned at her and leaned down to kiss her quickly. Ginny pulled back and walked toward the Gryffindor table, grinning triumphantly.
Looking around the room, Ginny noticed many glares being thrown her way. Romilda Vane was glaring so hard Ginny was certain her face would freeze like that. Most girls just looked upset; Cho Chang was looking pointedly away from the couple but had almost glared a hole into the Ravenclaw table.
"This is even more awkward than I expected," Harry muttered.
"As long as every girl in here knows you're mine, I don't care," Ginny replied. Harry laughed quietly as they reached Ron and Hermione sitting with a now dry Demelza, Luna, Parvati, and Neville. Slowly, people returned to normal breakfast.
Of course, as Romilda and all of her cronies passed by they "accidentally" bumped Ginny...in the head...with a book. Then Romilda "accidentally" ran her hand through Harry's thick black hair as she went by. Then she squealed to her friends whilst "apologizing" to the couple for bumping them. Her apology consisted of many glares at Ginny and winks at Harry. After they left Harry glanced at Ginny; she had an annoyed, calculating look on her face.
"You're thinking of something evil, aren't you?" Ron said knowingly.
Ginny smirked evilly, "Maybe."
Hermione rolled her eyes but said nothing. The rest of breakfast went on without incident as did most of the morning. Ginny and Harry had to do homework they had neglected the day before. They still sat together, Harry writing a Charms essay, Ginny doing Arithmancy.
Close to lunchtime, Ginny look at the clock and smiled. "Harry, finish up," she said to him "It's almost time for lunch, and time to put my evil plan into action."
"Do I want to know?" Harry asked warily.
"Probably not. Let's just say it involves snogging and me showing the girls of Hogwarts that you are very much mine, if you're okay with it."
Harry grinned. "I'm in."
Romilda Vane was in the Great Hall, searching for her one and only love (not a mirror), Harry Potter. She hoped that by now he had realized what a mistake being with Weasley was. (As said before, she's slightly delusional. And just a bit obsessed).
About halfway through lunch, the large doors opened and many heads turned to look at who was so late, because apparently the students at Hogwarts were feeling very punctual and nosy.
Hermione had already figured out what Ginny had planned. Ron did not know and liked staying completely oblivious of the logistics of his little sister and his best mate's relationship.
But the way they looked walking in through the oak doors left little to the imagination of what the couple had been doing all that time. Both seemed thoroughly mussed and dazed as they tripped into the Great Hall. Ginny was giggling at something Harry had said and her fiery red hair was somewhat messy but it was obvious she had tried to fix it a little. On the other hand, Harry's hair was noticeably messier than usual, sticking up in every possible direction and he made no attempt to fix it. His green eyes were clouded with lust but still managed to twinkle with adoration for the red haired girl next to him.
As the two reached the center of the hall, Ginny turned to Harry. "This is the part I didn't tell you. I hope you don't mind," she said uneasily.
"After that," he gestured to the empty classroom they recently vacated, "I don't care what you do." She grinned. "Good."
Then Ginny muttered a spell and it seemed like the hall had exploded. Colourful fireworks screamed overhead (custom made, its amazing what brothers will do when you have lots of blackmail on them) and painted arrows to Harry. On the front of Harry's shirt 'Property of Ginny Weasley' now blazed in bright yellow, red and neon green and the back said 'Hands off' in red lettering.
Next, Romilda Vane's hand turned an alarming purple colour while swelling to the size of a melon, the same hand she used to run her fingers through Harry's hair earlier. Then her face sprouted huge red and green splotches, plus random tentacles. (That was a test object of Fred and George's).
Screaming and crying hysterically, Romilda sprinted out of the hall. Her followers looked unsure of what to do, so they merely sat back down and tried not to look in Harry's direction; they were terrified of Ginny.
Smirking, Ginny sat down across from a gaping Ron and Hermione and pulled a still shocked Harry next to her. "I'm sorry," she said lowly. "I got a little carried away. Sorry if I embarrassed you, Harry."
"I'm fine with it. Not so much the attention, but I'm used to that by now. I am happy to have people know we are dating. The neon is a little...out there. But if it makes you happy, then I'm fine with it. Anyway, your jealous side is insanely hot."
"Lalalalalalala... I don't want to hear that my sister is hot!" Ron yelled, fingers stuffed in his ears. They all laughed at his obvious discomfort.
Seamus appeared behind Harry, finally awake and very hungover. "Harry, I wanted to say that I'm sorry about Dean's behaviour. He's being a git and I'm sorry if he gives you shite about dating Ginny. Also, do you know where my lucky boxers are?"
"Erm..thanks. I vaguely remember you using them as a hat when you surfed across the couches...on your schoolbooks."
Seamus grinned bashfully and paused for a moment, thinking. "That helps loads, they might still be in the Common Room."
"I'd check behind the couch closest to the Dormitories, that's where you wiped out and crashed," Ginny said.
Seamus nodded. "Thanks Ginny, Harry."
And with that, he ran out of the Great Hall, wincing at every loud noise.
"Well that was..." Harry muttered trailing off.
"Weird?" Ginny supplied.
Harry laughed. "Actually, Seamus is always like this. He loses his luck boxers, funky muggle costumes...everything. But he's never asked about them in public. Usually he'll ask all of us in the dormitory and we set out on an adventure to find them."
"Well now I know how you usually spend your friday nights," Ginny teased, winking.
All of the sudden the bickering of Ron and Hermione next to them became too loud to successfully ignore. They only caught the tail end of the argument, but it was pretty obvious what it had been about.
"-don't know why you're bringing up McLaggen now of all times! Yes, I went to the Christmas party with him, but what do you care? Oh that's right, you don't. You're just an ignoramus prat of a bloke that is too dense to see what's right in front of his bloody face! And now I think that my feelings for you are an awful waste of time because of your 'oh so high' standards." Hermione then turned and ran out of the Great Hall in tears.
Ginny gave a withering look to her brother as she stood up. "You insensitive prat! You fancy her! Why can't you just admit it instead of being an ass?" Ginny said angrily.
Then she kissed Harry on the cheek quickly and ran after Hermione, leaving a shocked Ron behind.
"Bloody hell!" Ron said after a moment. "I wonder what that's all about?"
Harry, now annoyed with his insensitive best mate, looked at him incredulously. "You really can't figure it out? Think, Ron." Harry thought it would be best to go find the girls, though he had no clue how to comfort Hermione.
The two had not gotten far; they were in an empty classroom nearby, Hermione pacing back and forth, ranting.
"Men suck!" she was saying furiously. "They're so shallow and rude and I'm sick of them!"
"I tend to agree with you Hermione, but not all men suck," Ginny replied.
"I'm sorry on behalf of my gender," Harry said quietly, stepping into the room.
"You don't suck Harry," Hermione started softly then yelled, "But ALL others do!"
"Normally I'm not good with feelings and I know I am dense, but Ron is being a git. I left to see if you were okay. Are you okay, Hermione?" Harry asked softly.
"Yes. I just don't get it. Why doesn't Ron like me?" Hermione asked desperately.
"Because he's a bloody git not worth-"
"Ginny," Harry warned. "Hermione, Ron would be lucky to have someone like you to even look in his direction. He fancies you, I promise. He just hasn't figured it out yet. I'm lucky to have you as a sister and saving you from the troll was the best decision we ever made."
"You think of me as your sister?" Hermione asked through her tears. "I've always thought of you as my brother!" She launched at Harry, hugging the life out of him.
Ginny mouthed 'Nice one!' to Harry as he patted Hermione on the back awkwardly, a bemused look on his face.
Ten minutes later, and thoroughly cheered up, Hermione left the classroom, leaving Harry and Ginny behind.
"You know that was an amazing thing you did, making Hermione feel better," Ginny said softly, standing up.
"I didn't really do anything. I just said the truth," Harry said honestly. "She is my sister basically and I love her to death, no matter how frustrating she can be. Hermione deserves the perfect bloke."
"Still, that really was sweet of you. That proves my point that not all men suck. So...for being such a kind friend, you deserve something."
Ginny was advancing on him, a blazing look on her face.
"A reward sounds brilliant," Harry said, visibly gulping.
"Well then, let's get started."
Harry had been backed into a corner by Ginny as she kissed him fiercely. Their tongues danced together, awakening new feelings in the pair. Harry moved his right hand from Ginny's back to tangle it in her long bright hair. At this, Ginny moaned slightly which caused Harry to deepen the kiss even more. This was unlike any of their other kisses, this kiss spoke of possible deep feelings for each other.
They finally broke apart, panting heavily. Ginny spoke first. "I don't know where the hell you learned to kiss like that, but thank Merlin for it."
"I only ever had one disastrous kiss with Cho, so it's all you," Harry replied, grinning sheepishly.
Ginny smiled, looked at the Marauders' Map, and began to pull Harry out of the classroom, but Harry stopped her.
"You do see what we both look like right now, don't you?"
Ginny shook her head, confused, and found a mirror on the desk nearby (normally Lavender Brown's desk, of course). Then she laughed, taking in their even more rumpled than before clothes and messy hair.
"Oh well. According to your handy map, Cho Chang and friends are right nearby, let's go, shall we?" Ginny said, smirking evilly.
"Witch," Harry said, grinning as they left.
They walked by Cho nonchalantly, who immediately tugged on Harry's arm.
"Hullo, Harry, how are you?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Fine...And you?"
"Good, I-"
"Cho darling! I've been meaning to tell you," Ginny cut in, feigning excitement. "I know you had almost nothing to do with it, but Harry is an absolutely brilliant kisser. Thank you. He is completely superb."
Cho stood there gaping until she snapped out of it. "Oh you're welcome. But it wasn't for you," Cho said sweetly, with an icy edge.
"Oh, I know," Ginny replied, still nicely. "But obviously it's me that's reaping the benefits. And I plan on continuing to do just that. Goodbye Cho Chang." And with that, Harry and Ginny walked off, leaving an affronted Cho and friends.
"You are amazing," was all Harry could say.
Late that night, Harry was finishing a History of Magic essay in the Common Room. Ginny had just gotten back from the library with some other Fifth Years and sat on his left, finishing her reading for Ancient Runes. Hermione sat across from them, translating Runes.
Suddenly Kendall flew down the stairs and perched on the couch next to Ginny. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, you were supposed to be in the dormitory fifteen minutes ago for girl talk. Some of us need to sleep soon and can't wait all night for you to say goodnight to lover boy over here!"
Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes. "Sorry, I forgot! I guess I have to go. Kendall, what do you mean when you say us? Who else is up there?"
Kendall diverted her eyes, saying evasively, "Just two or three, no one special...really..."
Ginny glared, knowing Kendall was lying, but shut her book and stood up stretching.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Harry said softly.
Ginny nodded and said goodnight to Hermione as well before heading up the stairs with Kendall.
"I should leave also, I know there are more than two people in there and I might need to keep Ginny from murdering some over curious fourth years."
"Sounds like...fun."
"It will be, as long as nobody annoying shows up. But for this big of gossip, that's not likely." As they laughed a red blur bolted down the stairs and into Harry's arms.
After Ginny finished kissing him again, she turned to Hermione. "I've been told that you have a minute to finish your conversation and get your arse up to girl talk. And I only have ten seconds." Hermione mock saluted and Ginny left again.
Turning back to Harry, Hermione was met with an almost comical sight. Harry's expression was one of someone very dazed and happy. His green eyes were still clouded, his mouth open and his hands absentmindedly ran over his lips, as if he already missed Ginny's lips (which was completely true).
"Harry," she said loudly. "Snap out of it!"
Harry turned to her but his expression didn't change.
"Hermione, have I told you today how much I love your advice?"
A/N So...there was a line in there I stole from another story called After the Kiss by Rupert22. It was the line "If you're dreaming, that means I'm dreaming. And trust me, my dreams aren't this uncomfortable or vivid." I just thought it was hilarious so I wanted to use it, but it's completely not mine. This is the last chapter of this, well except for an epilogue. I'm thinking about two epilogues. I know one will be next generation, one of the Potter kids asking Hermione for advice. And there might be another, maybe. Oh, and reviews make my day ;)...hint hint.