The next morning, Harry woke up to a pair of big, brown eyes staring down at him.

That's interesting, he thought sleepily, rolling over and reclosing his eyes. Then they snapped back open, and he jerked up. The blurry, but still beautiful face of Ginny giggled back at him.

"H-hey, Gin," said Harry weakly, reaching out for his glasses. Then he remembered he was still under the spell Fred and George had cast on him, and rubbed his eyes a couple of times, activating it. He rolled out of bed, thankful he had decided to wear the simple red and gold pajamas Ron had bought him, instead of the Snitch and Broomstick one piece footie pajamas the twins had got him. Harry blinked as the eye spell came into full potency. Ginny was looking at him with the oddest expression on her face.

"What?" he asked, suddenly feeling self conscious. Ginny just shook her head.

"Do you want to go boating today?" she asked, effectively changing the subject.

"Boating?" Harry said, feeling slightly puzzled. "Like fishing?" Ginny laughed slightly.

"No, no. I mean, we could just take a boat and go…sit. We have a small party boat, really easy to manage and a lot of fun. We can go swimming and have a picnic!"

In spite of himself, Harry felt a buzz of excitement race across his skin. Ginny's happiness was infectious.

"Sure," said Harry, before remembering something that could potentially cause a problem. "But… Ginny, I can't swim," he admitted, feeling a slight blush cross his face. Harry could make it across the river, if he fell in (as he had several times; that's where the Dursley's got their drift wood), but that was but a couple yards across; he couldn't stay afloat for much more than that. His aunt and uncle had taught Dudley, of course, but they had neglected to teach Harry. In his darker moments, Harry sometimes wondered if they hoped he'd one day drown.

Ginny just grinned.

"That's ok. You don't need to. We have lifejackets."

Harry almost argued one could still drown, even with a lifejacket, but then he remembered; magic. Those lifejackets would probably only activate if he panicked and they would probably lift him out of the water, instead of just make him float.

Harry, after politely booting his princess out of the room, changed into swim trunks and a shirt. Even though it was alright, fashionable, really, for men to swim without shirts, (Ron had taken to doing practically everything without a shirt, and though Hermione had pretended not to notice, Harry had caught her shooting Ron's bare chest a few appreciative glances) Harry was not nearly comfortable enough with his present company, or, in all truthfulness, himself, to do so as well.

Grabbing a pair of shoes (a strange, royal-type thing called a "flip-flop" that was easy to put on and take off, but entirely impractical), Harry ran out onto the beach. Ginny was waiting for him, with a small rowing boat pushed onto the shore. It was white, and, in black letters, the word "Nargles" was written on the side. Harry had no idea what a nargle was, but he decided not to worry about it. He had been doing a lot of the lately.

Ginny jumped lightly into the boat (in truth it was more of a scramble, but princesses should never scramble, so Harry didn't mention it) and Harry, after shoving it fully into the water, followed her. They both grabbed an oar and managed to make it to the middle of the lake. Of course, Ginny didn't usually row, but Harry had no idea what he was doing, and Ginny decided his need was greater than her own.

Finally, the pair made it out to the middle of the lake.

"Merlin, the sun feels great!" said Ginny, stretching out across a bench, her feet dangling over the side, and her head on Harry's leg. Harry chuckled slightly, leaning over and running his hand through the clear, clean water. They sat like that for a couple hours, talking and laughing, Harry forgetting, during that carefree time, their social positions and letting the two of them be just Ginny, and just Harry.

The sound of rowing interrupted their moment, and both Harry and Ginny looked over to see Fleur and Gabrielle, Fleur with a large umbrella over one shoulder and Gabrielle in a simple sundress, being rowed out by a manservant.

"Ugh," groaned Ginny, sitting up. "Why does she always have to come and interrupt everything?"

"Hello, Ginny," called Fleur primly, as their boat floated closer to Harry and Ginny's. Once more, she pretty much ignored Harry.

"You should not stay out in the sun so long," said Fleur seriously. "And without a proper chaperon or anything! It's very unladylike!"

Ginny rolled her eyes. Harry had, since Fleur's dramatic arrival, learned that she was constantly trying to shape Ginny into a "proper" princess. Ginny had a hard time putting up with it all.

"Yes, well, thank you, Fleur. I will keep that in mind," said Ginny, her polite words over shadowed by the biting sarcasm in her tone.

Fleur opened her mouth, a rather offended look on her face, but a loud splash turned everyone's attention to the side of the boat.

"Gabrielle!" shrieked Fleur, her thick, heavy skirt hindering her movements. "She can not swim!"

Harry didn't hesitate. He kicked off his shoes, and dove into the water.

Harry immediately realized this was a very stupid idea. He spotted Gabrielle immediately, but try as he might, he couldn't seem to reach her. His swimming skills, which were limited to the short length of a pool at best, did not help him in the least 6 feet under the waves. And, while at the surface the water felt warm and inviting, deeper down, the lake had turned cold and scary.

As Harry grew more and more uncomfortable, as his air supply began to run out, a strange sensation ran from his fingers to his toes. He blinked, as the darkness began to lighten, and the water became a cool, pleasant temperature. Harry looked down at his hands which, to his shock, had become webbed and elongated. The same had happened to his feet. Harry gasped aloud as a sharp, searing pain cut along the side of his throat. His strange fingers trembled as they felt the odd, flapping skin at his neck—he had gills.

What the bloody hell is going on—oh Merlin. The lifejacket! Harry had wondered what would happen if he went under. Now he knew.

With renewed strength Harry pushed himself down. He was amazed at how quickly his flippered feet propelled him, and the rushing water didn't disturb his vision in the least.

Harry caught up to Gabrielle, who was sinking slowly, her eyes closed. Harry felt a great rush of fear. Was he too late? But, as Harry wrapped his arms around her small waist, Gabrielle's eyes fluttered slightly. Harry nearly cheered, but kept control of himself. They weren't out of this mess yet.

Harry shouldn't of worried, however. As he neared the surface, both Ginny and Fleur met him, Fleur taking Gabrielle, and Ginny grabbing Harry's hand. The four of them broke the surface, Gabrielle coughing and sputtering and Harry wincing as his neck seared once more. Taking a large gulp of air, he felt assured that the gills were gone.

"Thank you, thank you!" gasped Fleur, swimming back over to them (she had just deposited a waking Gabrielle onto the boat). She threw her arms around Harry's neck, nearly causing the two of them to go under again, and kissed him on both cheeks. This frightened Harry more than his impromptu dive into the water had, but he was soon saved by another boat pulling Fleur out of the water, this one containing Bill and several other princes, which had been called for by Fleur's manservant.

"Come on," said Ginny, pulling Harry away from the commotion and back to the boat (as the flippers were gone too, Harry found this short swim much more difficult).

"These lifejackets really work," said Harry with a grin, allowing Ginny to climb aboard, before scrambling on himself. There had to be some sort of spell on the thing, Harry mused, as they had had a much easier time getting back in then they should have. This though, however, and all others melted away once he caught sight of Ginny's expression.

"What the HELL do you think you were doing?" she hissed. Harry was taken aback. Hadn't he just saved Gabrielle, Queen-to-be Fleur's sister's life? Wasn't that a good thing?

"I- I, she would have drowned!" protested Harry weakly. Ginny just glared impossibly harder.

"Someone else would have gotten to her!" she snapped, crossing her arms. Harry just gaped wordlessly. He had no idea what he had done wrong.

"I thought you'd be happy," Harry whispered, the uncertainty of his actions conflicting oddly with the euphoria he had just felt. At his words, however, Ginny's towering rage disappeared; she sighed, and her face took on an uncertain, slightly confused look.

"I know, and I don't know what would have happened if Gabrielle died, it would be so awful, it was so brave of you to save her! But… you can't swim, and you were under for so long, and I was so scared…" Ginny sighed again.

"Merlin, I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you feel bad, Harry, it really was wonderful, I just…" she turned her gaze away from him, the setting sun casting shadows across her face, and the orange sky causing her hair to shimmer. Harry felt a small thrill run through him. Something was happening, he realized dimly.

"Harry, I, I think I might love you."

Harry stared down at her in wonder. Ginny's cheeks were stained with a light pink color, but she had swung her face back toward him, staring at Harry with a determined sort of glare. Harry felt a broad grin break out across his face. There were a hundred different thoughts going though his head, but Harry just did what felt right.

He leaned down and kissed her.

AN: Okay, this chapter took forever to get out, I'm sorry, I know it's been terribly slow! This chapter was really hard for me, believe it or not, and I know it still has a lot of issues. Please note it has NOT been beta-ed, so please post any grammatical errors you encounter.

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