Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in getting this up. Real life got in the way, and I wasn't able to put as much time into writing as I would have liked. However, it's up now, and I hope you like it. It's essentially a filler chapter, but I felt like it was important to start developing their relationship a little more. And it's always nice to have a little fluffy fun.
Chapter Seven: She Killed It With Kisses
It took Harry less than twenty-four hours to adjust to life at the Burrow. It was easy to fall into a rhythm when surrounded by wonderful company and an easy sort of lifestyle. He had forgotten how nice it was to be a part of a family, even if he wasn't a biological member. The Weasleys had always treated him as if he was one of their own, and he always enjoyed his time with them.
Despite the short amount of time he had been there, he had already played half a dozen games of quidditch, eaten more than his fill, and lost at least ten games of chess to Ron. In all of the chaos that came with a large house full of people, Harry had nearly forgotten to give Ginny her birthday present. He almost felt bad, since he had been teasing her about it for a while, but at the same time, he was excited that he was going to be able to see her reaction in person.
He had found her present when he had been wandering around Diagon Alley. He had debated for ages about what to get his friend. The only other girl he had shopped for was Hermione, and he usually just bought her books. He knew he could get Ginny a book, but he wanted to get her something a bit more special.
He had finally found some things the day before he was due to leave for the Burrow. He would have loved to get her a new broom, but he knew it wouldn't go over well with the Weasleys. This had been considerably less, but he thought she would like it.
After lunch, everyone had wandered off on their own, relaxing or trying to finish homework they hadn't completed earlier in the summer. Harry couldn't help but feel relieved that his homework was finished. Ron and the twins appeared to be feeling rather stressed about the amount of homework they had left, and were scribbling as fast as they could on their parchment.
"Want to go down to the pond?" Ginny asked, as Harry was wandering around the backyard, trying to get away from the schoolwork chatter inside. He had already finished his homework, and he didn't want to hear about it anymore.
He nodded, and paused a moment. "I'll meet you down there. I just need to grab something."
He quickly ran up to Ron's room and pulled her present out from his trunk. He was glad he had thought to wrap it before leaving Diagon Alley. He just hoped that she would like it. He quickly ran down to the pond, where Ginny was sitting and waiting for him.
"Close your eyes," he told her, and she quickly covered her eyes with her hands. He went to move the present from behind his back when he noticed her peaking through her fingers. He laughed. "Hey! No peaking!"
"Well, hurry up then," she said, as she squirmed. He knew she hated surprises, but he liked drag things out a little to tease her. He pretended to think about it for a minute, making her squirm in anticipation for a little longer. Finally, he placed the gift in her lap and told her to open her eyes.
She opened her eyes and let you an excited squeal when she saw the wrapped gift in her lap. She quickly ripped the colourful paper off of the present. She let out another squeal when she saw the box of fancy chocolates, the diary, and the quidditch gloves that the package contained.
"Thank you, Harry!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her best friend. She picked up the box of chocolates. "I've never had these before. They were always too expensive, even though they looked so good."
"So why don't you open the box and try them?" he said with a laugh. She quickly ripped the packaging off of the box, and tossed a chocolate in her mouth, handing one to Harry as well. They both agreed that they were the best chocolates either of them had ever eaten.
They laid back on the edge of the pond, the box of chocolates lying between them. He wanted to leave them for Ginny, but she kept insisting that he eat more. It was a lovely day, the sun warm on their faces. He couldn't help but remember his dreams from first year, with him and Ginny swimming in the pond. It seemed like so long ago, and that so much had happened since he had first seen her image in the Mirror of Erised.
"Why the diary, Harry?" she asked, after they had been silent for a few minutes. "My parents and brothers won't let me near any notebooks. I think they're worried I'm too traumatized from what happened in the Chamber of Secrets to keep a diary anymore."
Harry shrugged. "You said you've been keeping a diary for your entire life. While you had a bad experience with one last year, it doesn't mean that all diaries are bad. I just thought that you might like to have a new one that you know is safe. I know you still have the one that I gave you last year, but now you don't have to find a new one anytime soon, so you know that you're safe for a while."
She smiled, and hugged him again. "Such a gentleman," she said, in a joking tone. "Always looking out for my wellbeing, aren't you Potter? How did I get so lucky?"
He couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know about lucky. You've also got a best friend who finds trouble no matter where he goes."
"I don't know, Harry. I still think I'm pretty lucky. I can deal with all the trouble you seem to find yourself in."
She laid her head down on his chest, and snuggled close to him. He knew that it was couples that usually lay like this, from watching the television occasionally at the Dursley's. But it was different when it was Ginny. It wasn't some sort of intimate thing, it just felt right to be like this.
They rested there for nearly a half hour in silence. Harry was starting to get stiff from his position, but she looked so comfortable that he didn't want to move. They only had a short amount of time left before they would return to the chaos of Hogwarts, and he wanted her to be able to enjoy every moment of it.
He had thought she had fallen asleep when she piped up, "So Harry, can we go try out my new quidditch gloves now?"
Ginny wasn't sure if she was imagining things, or if everyone was starting to act weird around her and Harry since he had arrived at the Burrow a few days ago. She noticed that her brothers were staring far more than they usually did, and her parents were acting funny around her. She had also noticed that people would pop up randomly when she and Harry were spending time alone.
Like the night before, for example. She and Harry had been sitting in her room. She had been working on the last of her summer homework, and Harry had been reading a book on dragons that they had found in Charlie's old room. It was completely innocent, just taking advantage of the chance to sit in the same room together. But every ten minutes or so, one of her brothers or her mum would knock on the door and look into the room. They had an excuse each time: looking for a book, object or asking a silly question about laundry or dishes.
It had seemed strange. Her brothers and mum seemed to ask a number of questions they could have easily figured out on their own. But they usually did it at random times, and definitely not all concentrated into the same time frame. She had ignored it at first, figuring it was just their usual antics and she was just being overly sensitive.
When she thought about it later, though, she realized that this was something that happened every single time that she was alone with Harry, and especially if they were alone behind closed doors. But once again, she figured it was just a strange coincidence, and that she was just reading more into it than was actually there.
It wasn't until her mum asked if there was something going on between her and Harry that she actually realized what was going on. It was clear, despite the fact she had told her mum that she and Harry were just friends, that her brothers and parents believed that there was more to it than either of the pair were admitting. She didn't know what they thought that she and Harry were doing. Her mother had given her the talk years ago, but she knew that she wasn't even close to old enough to be doing anything… like that.
She wanted to be angry with her family, but she knew that they were only looking out for her. In an annoying sort of way, she knew that they were only doing this because they genuinely cared about her and her friend. She just wished that they would realize that she wasn't dumb enough to be doing anything she shouldn't be, and leave her alone to spend time with her best friend, who she had hadn't seen in a month and a half.
She wasn't sure if Harry realized the reason for all of the interruptions. He had commented on them, and seemed to be as annoyed as she was. But she wasn't sure if he had managed to put two and two together yet. He was a boy after all, and they weren't the most aware of the reasoning behind other's actions.
She needed to talk to him about this whole situation. She had been putting it off because she still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about Harry. She knew she was too young to really have proper feelings for him, and she didn't want to get into something that wasn't real. But she knew she felt something. It was just a matter of figuring out what it was. That was the other reason that she wanted to talk to Harry about this whole thing. She needed to know where he stood on the whole situation. If he had the same feelings, maybe she wasn't completely out of line with it. She just needed the right time to initiate the conversation.
She found her opportunity the next day, while her brothers were out playing quidditch. Harry was supposed to be out with them, but he had opted out so that they could spend time together. They only had a week left before returning to Hogwarts, and he said that he wanted to take advantage of as much time as they could. Apparently, taking advantage of the time they had left together meant playing endless games of exploding snap in the living room.
As the played, she realized that this must have been how Harry felt when he was talking to Hermione. Though it wasn't exactly the same situation, she was realizing how awkward it was to approach the topic, and how hard it was to find the right words to explain what was on her mind. She had made a few false starts, and then chickened out and changed the topic. It didn't take long for Harry to notice that she was abnormally quiet.
"Knut for your thoughts?" he asked, as he laid down the last cards in his hand.
"Just thinking about stuff Mum and some others have said to me," she said, trying to sound casual despite her racing heart.
He looked up at her, a funny look on his face. Had someone said something to him as well? It almost looked as though he might have an idea as to where this conversation was going. "What have they been saying?" he asked, a little hesitantly.
"Just a lot of them have been asking if we're, you know, dating or something." She was careful not to look up at Harry's face, nervous for his reaction. If she had looked up, she would have noticed that his face had turned a bright pink.
The pair were both silent for a moment. It was clear that neither of them were entirely sure how to have this conversation. Both kept their heads down, not looking at the other, and wearing matching, pink expressions.
"Well… er… What do you… er… think?" Harry finally asked, nervously.
She was surprised by this response. She had expected the usual response her brothers gave when they were asked about girls: quickly changing the subject, or denying anything to do with the situation. But he had responded as though he might have considered it.
"I don't know," she replied, hesitantly. "We're kind of… young, I guess. Most of my brothers didn't start dating until they were at least in fourth year. For the ones they told us about, anyway."
He bit his lip. "Maybe we should talk about this next year?"
She nodded. She could feel that her face was still red, and talking about this wasn't changing that fact. "Yeah, I guess. I think twelve is too young to have a boyfriend anyway."
Harry nodded. "And I kind of like what we're doing now. It's nice to just be friends and play quidditch and all that. I guess I just don't feel that way about anybody yet. I figure I'll know when I do, but I don't think that's now."
She looked up at him, as he awkwardly dealt out a new hand of cards. She couldn't tell if he really wanted to play again, or if he just needed something to focus on other than the conversation at hand. She couldn't really blame him. She had never been involved in such an awkward discussion before.
"So, friends, then?" she asked, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
"Friends," he replied, with a smile.
"Good," she said, as she played her first card. "I don't want to catch your cooties anyway, Potter. They might make me sick."
Summer was coming to an end, and Ginny still hadn't managed to get the twins back for what they had done to her in Egypt. In the Weasley house, if you pulled a prank on someone, it was only right that they return the favour. The twins had somehow managed to make Harry's face appear on every single piece of clothing she owned, as well as her bedspread, and she had yet to figure out how to get them back for it.
The tricky part was that she needed the right idea. Their prank had been rather intricate, and she knew she couldn't match the magic it must have required on her own, since she was three years behind them in school. She would have to make up for her lack of magical skills with some creativity. That's why she had waited so long. She knew she needed the perfect idea, but she was starting to run out of time.
It wasn't until a few nights before she returned to Hogwarts that she finally thought of something perfect. It had actually been a conversation with Harry that had given her the idea. He had mentioned a film he had seen on television at the Dursley's, where the two main characters had switched bodies. While it would be rather silly to have the twins change into each other (since so few people could tell the difference between them anyway, her brothers included), it would be interesting to turn them into someone else that would guarantee a reaction.
She had contacted Bill with her idea, since she knew the magic for this was going to be harder than she had anticipated using for a prank. While the spells were by no means simple, they weren't nearly as hard as she had expected them to be. She planned to take her oldest brother's advice and charm something they would come into contact with, since it would lessen the effects of the spells if she were to do them wrong.
She set it up two mornings before they were due to leave for Hogwarts. Generally, she liked her sleep, and would be the last one out of bed in the morning, but not today. She was up with the sun, helping her mother prepare breakfast. Her mother had given her a strange look for being up so early in the morning, but hadn't said anything. Mrs. Weasley probably knew that something was going to happen, but as usual, she wasn't going to get involved until she absolutely needed to. The rules for pranking in the Weasley household were well known by all residents.
While her mother was retrieving some bread from the pantry, she quickly cast the charms on the forks placed in front of the twins' chairs. The utensils glowed a faint green, as Bill had said they would, and she felt confident that she had managed to do it correctly. Now it was time to sit back, wait, and enjoy the show.
The twins were the last to stumble down to breakfast, chattering cryptically about some plan or other. As usual, the rest of her brothers and Harry just ignored them. They were used to this unceasing chatter that made no sense to anyone but the two boys. Ginny stuffed a large forkful of eggs into her mouth to keep from smiling when they sat down and began loading their plates with food. Let the fun begin.
As soon as the twins touched their utensils, a puff of pink smoke appeared, and they emerged coughing. They took one quick look at each other and burst out laughing. One had been transformed into a spitting image of Percy, who was sitting further down the table, looking displeased and offended at his clone. The other had taken on the appearance of Snape in a Weasley jumper. The entire family stared for a moment, the room completely silent aside from the twins' laughter. But the silence quickly turned to laughter, as everyone caught onto what had happened and Percy - the real one - rose from his chair and stomped out of the room.
The twins tried to make a few jokes out of the situation they now found themselves in, but wereunable to be heard over the laughter of their family. They quickly turned to Ginny, knowing without a doubt that this had been from her hand, and bowed quickly to her.
"Now, Miss Weasley, tell us how we are supposed to turn back before I throw you in detention every night for the next month," George-Snape snarled at his younger sister.
"Don't worry," she replied, casually. "The spells should wear off in an hour or so. Bill didn't tell me how to reverse it earlier than that. He just said it was easiest to just let things go back to normal, so you both are stuck like that for a little while longer."
"Well, Perce, what you do you think?" George said to his brother. "Should we go terrorize some of the neighbours and create some interesting stories for our dear older brother?"
"Why, Snape, I do think that is a wonderful idea," he replied. "Just let me grab my books and I shall join you out front."
The twins took off, and the rest of the family turned back to their breakfast, feeling much more cheerful than they had previously. As Ginny finished her meal, feeling proud that she had been able to pull off such a fantastic prank, she caught Harry's eye across the table.
'Good job, Gin."
The night before everyone returned to Hogwarts was always marked by a big celebration at the Burrow. It was the last time that everyone would be together until the Christmas holidays, so it meant a big feast and lots of good company. It usually also meant small presents from their parents, if there was extra money once all their school supplies had been purchased. It was normally just something small for each of them that could come in handy during the school year, but it was something that each of the Weasley children looked forward to every year.
Ginny had spent most of her day reading with Harry. She had managed to pack most of her things the day before, so while her brothers were rushing around and gathering everything that had been strewn around the house, she was getting to relax and enjoy their last day of freedom before returning to school. While she wasn't entirely sure that Harry was enjoying the novels she had found in Charlie's room or if he was just reading them to spend more time with her, she was enjoying his company and their last few minutes alone.
She had considered going downstairs and helping her mother set up in the garden, but she knew she would only be shooed upstairs. It was the last time that Mrs. Weasley would have the opportunity to do something big for her children before Christmas.
When the clock struck five, she closed her book and stretched. She had lost track of how long they had been reading for. It had been so nice just to feel the heat from his body against hers, and feel him relax into her side. She knew that they wouldn't be able to do this nearly as much once they reached Hogwarts. There were too many people around the Gryffindor common room, and it wasn't as though there were many places that they could sneak off to if they wanted to spend time together. With this in mind, she wanted to enjoy every last second that she could spend with her best friend.
"Should we head down to the garden?" she asked Harry. He nodded quickly, not taking his eyes off the book. Apparently he had been enjoying the book more than she had thought. He dog-eared the page once he had finished reading and tossed the book onto her bed.
"Do you think that Fred and George are going to retaliate tonight?" he asked, as he stretched, letting her pull him to his feet.
"I doubt it," she replied, running a quick brush though her hair. It was amazing how tangled it got when she hadn't been doing anything all day. Though, now that she was thinking about it, it probably had something to do with the fact that Harry had been playing with her hair earlier. She hadn't thought to stop him, since it had felt so nice. "They would probably wait until we're at Hogwarts. They like having more of an audience." She set the brush down on her dresser. "And they know better than to mess with Mum's before-Hogwarts supper. She'd murder them."
The two kids left her room and headed down to the back garden. Mrs. Weasley had done a fantastic job decorating the garden with faerie lights and flowers. A large table covered in a white tablecloth had been set up in the middle, laden with large platters of all of the Weasley favourites and specialties.
Ginny couldn't help but let out a shriek when she saw her two oldest brothers sitting at the table. They had both said that they were unsure if they would be able to make it, because they may not be able to get off of work. She was excited that they had come, since she only got to see each of them a few times a year, now that they no longer lived at home. Being the baby of the family, she had always been closest to her oldest brothers, and she took advantage of their presence whenever possible.
She grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him over to where Bill and Charlie were sitting.
"Bill, Charlie, this is my best friend, Harry Potter," she told her brothers. Being his usual polite self, Harry held out his hand to both of them.
"Nice to meet you, Harry," Bill said, as he shook hands. "It feels a little silly being introduced to you, since I've heard so much about you, between the stories and the lengthy letters from my little sister here."
Harry turned bright red at Bill's comments, but was saved by Mr. Weasley calling everyone to the table. The garden quickly filled with exclamations about the delicious food in front of them, and chatters about a variety of topics. Ginny found herself stuck in the middle of a heated debate about the quidditch cup that had taken place earlier in the summer. The results had been less than favourable for certain members of the family, and they were rather vocal in expressing their distaste. Not wanting to get involved, she ate quietly, enjoying the fact that her entire family and her best friend were with her.
After everyone had eaten as much as they could, Mr. Weasley retrieved a small bag from underneath the table. Everyone went silent with anticipation. The gifts were handed out, and each person took turn opening their gift and showing it to the rest of the family. Most of the gifts were handy things such as nice quills, notebooks, or framed photographs.
When it came to Harry, he quickly opened his gift, simply excited that the Weasleys had been kind enough to give him something at all.
'Remind me when the holidays come to find something nice for your parents, since they have been so nice to me.'
'Will do. Now hurry up and open your present. I want to see what it is, and what's in mine.'
He removed the final bits of paper from his gift, revealing a small device on a hoop of metal that looked almost like a muggle clicker. He looked it over, but had no idea what exactly it was supposed to be used for.
Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. "Harry, your gift is a little less useful than some of the others. It's a scorekeeper for your broom. When you click the button on each side, the number will go up by ten. I know sometimes you need to keep track of score because you need a certain number of points before you catch the snitch, so I thought this might come in handy for you."
"This is fantastic, Mr. Weasley!" he replied. The device in his hand was far more interesting now that he knew what it was for. "Wood will love this."
Now that Harry had finished opening his gift, Ginny wasted no time in pulling the paper off of hers. She had never been one for patience, and waiting this long to see what was hidden beneath the paper had been driving her crazy. Removing the last of the wrappings revealed a framed photograph of her and Harry reading down by the lake.
"Your father took it when neither of you were looking," her mother explained, while she gave her a hug. "We thought you might like having a picture of the two of you. Harry, dear, we've made a copy of the photo for you as well. You can add it to the album you received first year. We have some of you and the boys playing quidditch as well."
"Speaking of quidditch," Charlie said, interrupting with a smirk. She had seen this face before, and she knew a competition was coming along. "Do you think I could steal your boyfriend for a quick seeker match?"
"He's not my boyfriend," she retorted quickly. She hated the fact that she could feel herself blushing, since she knew it wasn't helping her case at all. "And I don't care if you steal him. He's not mine."
"Whatever you say, Gin-Gin," her brother replied, dismissing her comment. He turned to Harry. "What do you say? Want to see who's the better seeker?"
"Charlie, do we really need to have this competition now?" Mrs. Weasley asked wearily, looking at the lovely set up she had so worked hard on.
"Mum, all I've been hearing about this kid is that he's the best seeker Gryffindor's seen in ages, and he could easily beat me. I just want to see if it's true," he explained. "Come on, Potter. Let's give it a go. Whoever catches the snitch first gets the glory."
Ginny knew that Harry couldn't turn down the chance to test out his quidditch skills, so she wasn't surprised when he nodded in response to her brother and took off into the house to retrieve his broom. Her brother followed suit, borrowing one of the twin's brooms from the shed.
"Wait, you can't ride a Nimbus in this," Charlie complained, when Harry returned to the garden. "Your broom alone gives you an unfair advantage. If we're going to do this right, we both need to be on the same type of broom. This is a contest of skill. We need to keep it that way."
Harry nodded, and grabbed George's broom. They would both be riding old Cleansweeps, so this really would come down to a competition of skill. Neither broom could go fast enough to allow for luck. She knew she should remain neutral as far as this whole thing went, since Harry was her best friend and Charlie was her brother. However, she couldn't help but hope that Harry showed her brother up. She loved her brother dearly, but she really wanted her friend to win.
The two boys took off on their brooms, getting a feel for what they were riding. After a few minutes, the snitch was let go, and the competition began. She knew it was only a silly competition, but she felt the same excitement that she associated with games at Hogwarts. She could only imagine how exciting it must be to actually play a real game. Maybe it would be worth trying out for the Gryffindor team.
The competition started off in a rather dull manner. The snitch had apparently taken off, and neither of the two seekers seemed able to find it. It had to be around, since Mr. Weasley had put barrier charms on the field where they played so they couldn't loose their supplies, but it was hiding from the two. Both boys circled the field, keeping an eye on each other, as well as the space around them.
Suddenly, just as Charlie was approaching Harry from behind, the younger boy turned into a high-speed dive to the ground. Charlie looked surprised, but quickly followed in the plummet. Ginny felt an instant of fear when he started getting close to the ground; he wasn't going to be able to pull out of it in time.
But somehow, he pulled it off. She breathed a sigh of relief, watching him take off into the air. Charlie hadn't faired so well. He had managed to pull out of the dive in time to keep from colliding with the ground, but had still landed on his behind. Glancing up at the young boy flying above him, he swore and kicked off from the ground again, taking off after Harry.
It wasn't long before Charlie caught sight of the snitch hovering near a far tree. Harry took off after him, but he seemed to be frustrated with how slow the Cleansweep was going. He somehow managed to catch up, but Charlie was already closing in on the snitch. Ginny saw him frown for a moment, then smile. She knew he had thought of something.
She watched him bolt upwards, until he was hovering over Charlie and the snitch. She saw her brother glance upwards at Harry in confusion, but he didn't waver. Suddenly, Harry dove downwards over the snitch, grabbing it out from in front of Charlie as he went down. The Weasleys started cheering. The two boys landed, and shook hands.
"That was brilliant, Harry," Charlie told the younger boy. "Great job with the Wronski Feint, as well. You definitely got me on that one. I'll know better than to keep on your tail next time."
Harry moved to sit back down at the table, clearly tired from the competition, while the rest of the Weasleys gathered brooms and went to play at pick up game. They invited Harry and Ginny to join, but both had declined. He was tired, and she wanted to take advantage of any time she had to spend with her best friend alone.
She loved her family and she knew she would miss them dearly, but right now, she really just wanted to spend time with Harry. It was a strange feeling, and she wasn't sure why she felt that way. She had been noticing this more and more as she spent time with him. But when Hogwarts was coming up so soon and they wouldn't have private places to sneak away to, she wasn't going to question the whole thing. That's probably all it was anyway. She was probably just dreading returning to Hogwarts and not being able to spend as much quality alone time with him.
After a few glasses of water and a little bit more dessert, the two kids left the garden, heading for Ginny's room. They weren't entirely sure how they got away with sneaking up there so often, since Ginny had been so sure that her mum would find out right away and throw a fit. Her family seemed to know about it, but as long as they were okay with interruptions, no one said anything to them.
Harry lay down on the bed, and Ginny snuggled up again him, enjoying the warmth of his skin. She was going to miss these moments where they could be alone, and no one was making comments about them. She loved her family dearly, but the jokes about Harry being her boyfriend were starting to get a little old. Of course she spent a lot of time with him; he was her best friend after all. But that didn't mean that they were a couple.
All of this talk about Harry being her boyfriend had gotten her thinking though. She was still sure that she didn't want Harry to be her boyfriend, and she knew they were too young to be thinking about things like that, but she couldn't help but wonder about certain things. In particular, she was really curious about what it would be like to kiss someone.
It didn't really matter who she kissed, since it was just the action she was interested in. The interest in kissing Harry probably only existed because he was the only boy who she might have a chance of kissing in the near future. She just couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like, how she would react, and what she would think about it afterwards. She wanted to try it, just to see.
"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked.
She felt herself blush, not really wanting to say what had been on her mind. She buried her face in Harry's shirt, hoping that she could hide her bright red face from him. She didn't want him to laugh at her.
"Just about going back to school tomorrow, and how much I'm going to miss getting to hang out with you all of the time," she lied, hoping he would accept this response.
"We'll still have time together," he replied, with a slight shrug. "We'll just be spending more of it doing homework, instead of playing games and flying."
"I know. It's just not the same."
They laid together for a moment in silence, enjoying the cool breeze coming in through the open window. Harry spoke again, breaking the silence. "That's not actually what you were thinking about, was it?"
She looked at him, and felt her face flush again. She swore in her mind, wishing she wasn't so easy to read. She buried her face in his shirt again.
"You can tell me what it is," he said, quietly. "I'm not going to laugh at you."
She took a deep breath. She was going to have to tell him, because he wasn't going to let this go any time soon.
"I was just wondering… er… what it might be like to kiss someone."
She had whispered the last part, but she knew he had heard her. She wanted to hide and never show her face again. He was probably laughing at her now, even though he said he wouldn't. He was going to tell her brothers and Hermione, and she would never be able to live it down. She was going to be mocked for this for the rest of her life.
But when she looked up, Harry wasn't laughing at her. He was smiling, and not even in a mocking way. It was more of an I-understand smile, if a nervous one. She wasn't sure why he might be nervous, but she was pleased that he wasn't making fun of her.
"Do you… er… want to… er… try it?" he asked, staring down at her hands.
He actually wanted to do it? She wasn't overly surprised when he hadn't laughed at her, since Harry was generally a nice person (she felt bad for even thinking he might be that mean). But she hadn't expected him to suggest that they try kissing. But since he had offered, she wasn't going to turn him down. She had been thinking about this for a while now, and she was ready to jump at the opportunity.
She sat up and so did he. Neither was really sure what they were supposed to do, and how they were supposed to move together. They shifted awkwardly, moving their heads closer to the other. She briefly wondered if she was supposed to close her eyes when it happened. That's what had always happened in books, but she wasn't sure if that rule applied when it was a kiss with your best friend just so you could try it.
Finally, they figured out where they should put their heads, and they pressed their lips together. Ginny closed her eyes. It made her stomach feel like it was filled with butterflies and like she was floating. His lips were soft against hers and warm. It was fantastic.
All too soon, he had pulled away, and wiped his mouth.
"Well, that was kind of weird," he said, lying back down on the bed. "I don't really get what the big deal is about snogging if that's all there is to it."
She nodded, pressing her hand to her lips. He lay back down on the bed, pulling a book off the nightstand. He may not have been impressed by it, but she sure had. If that was what it felt like every time, she couldn't wait until she kissed someone again.