A/N: So things are definitely going to start picking up in the next few chapters – plotwise, I mean. Enjoy!

Chapter 21

Baby Wingardium, Idiot For Short

Nearly a week had passed since Ginny and Harry's kitchen escapades. Ginny stumbled laughing into Harry's dormitory. She turned on the threshold, threw her arms around Harry's neck. She kissed him, still laughing against his lips.

"I'm completely drenched," Harry grinned, his face centimeters from Ginny's.

"That does tend to happen," Ginny said, "when one goes flying in the rain."

"True," Harry admitted, laughing as he leaned in for another bout of kissing.

"Your room is surprisingly clean," Ginny said, finally pulling away and surveying her surroundings.

Just then, they both heard something. It sounded like some small animal was moving around beneath Harry's pillow.

"What the bloody…?" Ginny said. "Harry, maybe you'd better…."

"It's only the brush. No need to curse the head off anything," he laughed when he saw that Ginny had her hand poised to pull out her wand. He walked over to the head of his bed, retrieved a brush from beneath his pillow. "You gave this to me, remember? Question is: unless you're calling me…," he looked at her, "which doesn't look likely, who is? Has someone stolen your mirror?"

Ginny laughed in realization. "I lent mine to Hermione…in case she needed to get a hold of us."

"You might have told me," Harry waved a finger at her. "What if I'd said something uncomfortable and it turned out to be your brother."

"Teach you to keep uncomfortable comments to yourself."

"Yeah, yeah. Should I…?" he gestured to the mirror.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "No, Harry, just keep 'em waiting."

Harry shrugged, grinning. "All right, here goes." He pulled out his wand, whispered a spell. The bristles of the brush drew back. The mirror reflected a swirling shape for a moment, then Hermione's face swam into focus.

"What took you so long?" she demanded, running a hand impatiently through her mousy-brown curls.

"Well, Ginny here wanted to curse the head off this thing."

Hermione looked only momentarily confused; she was used to Harry and Ginny having countless and indecipherable inside jokes. Ginny skipped over to Harry's bed, climbed onto it and rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

"Oh, there you are," Hermione said as Ginny came into the picture.

"What's up?" Ginny said, taking in Hermione's stern eyes and super-straight posture. Either Ron or hormones was making her upset.

"Where's Ron?" Harry said, seeming to have picked up on the same tell-tale signals.

"Oh, perusing some baby name book or something," Hermione said, waving her hand dismissively. Hormones, then. Ginny steeled herself.

"Have you gotten your leave yet?" Hermione said abruptly.

"Our what?" Harry and Ginny said together.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Your leave. You know, for the wedding? Ring any bells?" She sighed wearily, "No pun intended."

Ginny ignored Hermione's tone. She was pregnant, after all. "No we haven't," she replied. "We wanted to make sure you were sure about the date. April 22nd?" Ginny was lying through her teeth. Fact was, between the Cho drama and running all around Hogwarts with Harry, Ginny had forgotten all about talking to McGonagall about time off.

"Of course it's the same date," Hermione said, her face softening a little. "But you'd better go talk to McGonagall. Actually, talk to her today. That's an order. The sooner you ask, the more likely you are to get time off."

"Well, I've checked," said Harry, "and April 22nd is a Hogsmeade day. So that's convenient."

"Oh, we'll definitely be able to skip a Hogsmeade trip. Hey," Ginny turned to Harry, "isn't there a Hogsmeade day coming up soon?"

"Yeah, three weeks."

"Why do we have so many Hogsmeades all of a sudden."

"I dunno. Maybe because there's no more Voldy to worry about. Maybe because McGonagall likes to frequent the Hog's Head and needs an excuse. Who knows?," Harry shrugged. "But I don't mind - don't mind at all."

Ginny laughed at the McGonagall bit. From the mirror, Hermione cleared her throat. Loudly.

"Sorry to interrupt this important conversation," she said, her voice horribly sarcastic. "But just because it's a Hogsmeade day doesn't mean you don't have to ask. McGonagall could be shorthanded and make you go be chaperones if you ask too late. Although," she said, looking away as a thought struck her, "as McGonagall's invited, that would be a little hypocritical of her."

"McGonagall's invited!?" Harry and Ginny said, again in unison.

"Yeah," said Hermione, "And Dean, too."

"Dean?" said Harry after a pause. "Why Dean?"

"Well Dean was in Dumbledore's Army. And we've known him forever. Would seem a bit weird not to invite him. Though, now that I think about it, it might be a bit weird for you guys having him there. How's that whole thing going, by the way?" Hermione replied.

Ginny looked at Harry a little apprehensively. "It's fine," she said finally, gauging Harry's reaction. "We're all friends now." She looked up at Hermione, smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.

"Good," said Hermione, who had not, as Ginny had, observed the tightening of Harry's expression at Ginny's reply.

"So you'll both go ask today, right?" Hermione said firmly. "I'll be checking back in a few hours. I'd better go check what Ron's doing. You know, he likes the weirdest names. Have you both been brainstorming?"

"Oh, definitely," Ginny said.

"Well, I'll want to hear your suggestions after you've asked McGonagall."

"Sure thing. Bye, Hermione," Ginny said.

"Bye." The mirror swam, then settled into black. The bristles grew back over it and Harry shoved it back under his pillow.

"Okay, Harry," Ginny turned to Harry, face serious. "What's bugging you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't look happy when I told Hermione that we're friends with Dean. I thought you were okay with him now."

"Well, I am," he paused, Ginny looked at him skeptically. "But I'm not," he said finally. "I mean, seems like you forgave him pretty quickly. He said some really horrible things, Gin."

"I know that," Ginny said, "But it was sort of understandable, you know? And he's been really nice lately."

Harry frowned. "All right. If you say so. But Gin, he might not be as sincere as you think. I'm just a little uncomfortable with it, that's all."

"You don't forgive easily, do you?" Ginny said, smiling and kissing Harry on the forehead.

"No, I guess I don't," he admitted, smiling back after a moment.

"Shall we go ask McGonagall. I don't want to be empty-handed – metaphorically speaking – when Hermione checks back in."

"Neither do I. I think we'd be skinned alive," Harry said. "Poor, poor Ron."

Ginny laughed. "He brought this upon himself," she replied.

"You're not very forgiving either, are you?" Harry smiled.

"Nope." Ginny smiled back.

o.o

They made their way to McGonagall's office. Harry's dormitory was closer than Ginny's. So close, in fact, that when Harry told another hormonal-Hermione joke as they left his rooms, they were both still laughing when they got to the landing of the Headmistress' Office.

"Phew," Ginny exhaled. "Breathe in, breathe out. Got to get control."

"Can't be laughing when we ask McGonagall a favor."

Ginny shook herself, straightened her face. "All right. Ready?"

Harry grinned. "Ready."

Ginny knocked. No answer. "Maybe she's not here," she said after a few moments.

"Knock again.

"Okay." Ginny knocked.

But then they both heard voices filter out from behind the door. "…seems perfectly reasonable," someone was saying. "But if you would like me to report that the Hogwarts Headmistress is being uncooperative…," the voice trailed back into obscurity.

"Oh my gosh," Ginny stepped away from the door. "She's in a meeting," she said, lowering her voice.

"Let's go," Harry said quickly, grabbing her hand.

Just then they heard footsteps approaching the door. Ginny squeezed Harry's hand, pulled him back onto the landing. If someone was about to open the door, she didn't want it to look as though they were fleeing the scene of a prank-knock. Ginny remembered Fred and George's amateur pranking days – they had often knocked on doors and run away, leaving the room's inhabitant to stare about in confusion. Confusion and then anger.

"Professor Potter!" McGonagall's said as she peered out from the doorway. "Just who we," she put strange emphasis on the word, "wanted to see." The Headmistress did not look happy. She opened the door further, spotted Ginny. "Oh – and Professor Weasley. What a surprise."

There was an awkward pause. Ginny broke the silence. "We'll come back later, Professor, if you're in the middle of something…."

"No, no, Professor Weasley. You will come in now. Both of you."

Ginny and Harry glanced at eachother, both equally alarmed. Ginny dropped Harry's hand, went through the door first.

And almost groaned aloud. Sitting in the armchair before McGonagall's desk was Cho. Ginny resisted the urge to roll her eyes – she had hoped she could a avoid Cho now that her evaluation was over – but no. It was just her luck.

She felt Harry do a double-take as he entered the room behind her. "Cho!" he actually exclaimed. "What are you…." Ginny looked at Harry. He looked more alarmed than ever.

"Please sit, Professors," McGonagall said. Her voice was harsh – harsher than usual. Ginny would have hazarded a guess that McGonagall's meeting with Cho had not been going well.

"Miss Chang has a request," McGonagall said finally, walking back behind her desk and raising her eyebrows at Cho.

Cho creased her forehead. "I would appreciate it if we didn't make this sound like my own personal request. It's a Ministry necessity, plain and sim…."

"Right," McGonagall interrupted, "But you are the one that's requesting, so it is, in fact, your request. I would appreciate if you would present it."

"The Ministry," Cho heavily emphasized the word, "is necessitating meetings between myself and Professor Potter."

Another awkward pause. "Meetings?" Ginny said, not able to keep the shock off her face.

Cho ignored Ginny. She kept her gaze squarely on Harry. She didn't even look at Ginny.

"Because education in the Defense Against the Dark Arts department has been…disjointed in the past," she continued, "I…the Ministry thinks it appropriate that I have meetings with Professor Potter before observing his class."

"Meetings about what exactly?" Ginny blurted out again. She caught a warning look from McGonagall, softened her tone. "Meetings about what?"

Again, Cho spoke to Harry. "Private meetings," Ginny didn't like the way she emphasized 'private', "to discuss how Professor Potter will the bridging the very large gap in the students' Defense education. The changing teachers, changing curriculums…how Har…Professor Potter plans on repairing the damage."

Ginny glanced at McGonagall. The Headmistress did not look happy.

"How often…would these meetings take place?" Harry said. His tone was impossible to read.

"No set schedule," Cho replied. "I don't know how many meetings I will need to get a good idea of Professor Potter's plans."

"Wow…," muttered Ginny under her breath. She could feel anger rising in her throat. "This is ridiculous."

Finally, Cho turned to Ginny. "What was that, Miss Weasley?"

"I said," Ginny replied, her voice rising, "that this whole thing is just an excuse for…."

"Professor Weasley," McGonagall said sharply. "Speak with me outside, please."

Ginny exhaled, swallowed the words that had been about to leave her lips. She got up. She looked at Harry, but he was looking away.

As the office door closed behind them, McGonagall spoke, her voice low, but each syllable harsh and hard. "You were about to say something you would likely regret, Miss Weasley."

Ginny kept her voice low too, though she was aching to yell. "You can't be serious! She can't be serious! Private meetings whenever she wants them!? This is no Ministry 'necessity' – it's an excuse for her to get Harry alone and…and…." She couldn't say it.

"And what, Miss Weasley? Seduce him?" McGonagall let out a low, almost derisive laugh. "I thought you knew Harry Potter better than that."

"I do!" Ginny said, suddenly very, very angry at the woman before her, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. She did know Harry better than that. She knew he wasn't the type of guy that would drop everything at the sight of a pretty girl. Or a beautiful girl. Or a sexy girl. He was stronger than that…wasn't he? "Look, Professor, you knew I'd react like this. Why did you ask me to come in if you knew what she was going to say?"

McGonagall's voice softened. "Because, Ginny," her use of the first name stopped Ginny in her tracks. "I knew exactly how you would react and I wanted you to do it here, where I could stop you from saying exactly what you were about to say in there. You don't want to say something you'll regret."

"Right," Ginny said finally. The anger was quickly receding. She smiled, "but I'm not going back in there." She gestured to the office door.

McGonagall stepped back, tucked a piece of hair back into her bun. "Good, Professor Weasley. Remember what I said," she added.

Ginny nodded, started back down the stairs. On the way back to her rooms, she stopped at Harry's. She whispered the spell Harry had told her earlier – the defensive charms drew back. She went in, grabbed the mirror from beneath his pillow, and left.

o.o

Back in her own dormitory, she lay back on her bed. She whispered a spell. The mirror vibrated for a moment, then the bristles drew back to reveal the mirror. Sounds preceded the picture out of the mirror.

"Hermione, how the bloody hell do you answer this thing?" Ron was saying.

"Oh, give me it!" Hermione sighed. There was some bustling, then Hermione's face came into focus. Ron was standing behind her. His chin was on her shoulder, much as Ginny's chin had been on Harry's shoulder just half an hour ago.

"Did you ask?" Hermione said.

"Not yet," Ginny said. She had completely forgotten about the original purpose of visiting McGonagall.

"Well, why…what's wrong?" Hermione said, her voice filling with frantic concern – near panic – as she took in the look on Ginny's face.

"What? What's happened?" Ron, who was a little less adept at reading expressions than his fiancé, said in confusion.

"Nothing," Ginny said quickly. "Can I talk to Hermione?"

For once, Ron didn't ask questions. "Sure," he said, getting up and walking out of the mirror's sight. Ginny heard a door close.

"He's left," Hermione said finally, drawing her wand and placing a sound barrier on the door. "Now what's wrong, Ginny," she said, all harshness gone from her voice.

"It's Cho."

"Yeah," Hermione said slowly. "We heard that she'd been appointed a Ministry Rep for Hogwarts."

Ginny nodded.

"Oh my God, Ginny!" Hermione said, shock covering a face, "Harry didn't…!

"No!" Ginny said quickly. "Nothing like that."

"Oh, good," Hermione said, putting a hand to her chest. "I thought you were about to say that Harry had…."

"But you think it's a possibility, though?" Ginny said. Why had Hermione jumped to that conclusion so quickly? Did she think Harry was so easily capable of cheating on his girlfriend?

"No! Oh, no!" Hermione said quickly. "No! But the look on your face…."

"Well, Cho's been trying to get Harry to…you know. I've tried not to be jealous, I really have," Ginny said in a rush. "But God, Hermione, she's beautiful and I just don't know what…and now she's asked for private meetings with Harry…and…," the words flooded out.

"Ginny!" Hermione interrupted. She lowered her voice. "You know Harry loves you, don't you?"

"I know he likes me, yeah. And we're dating. And he's such a good guy that I don't even know why I'm…."

"No, Ginny, that's not what I mean. I mean, he loves you. Always has, Ginny. An ex-girlfriend that he didn't even get along with that well when they were dating is not going to make him forget you. Do you understand me?"

"He only said he loved me years and years ago. Things are different now. We haven't said…."

"Oh, Ginny, how can you be so dense!? So he hasn't explicitly stated it yet. He feels it right now, which is what's important. Everyone else can see that he feels it. Your mom is friggin' waiting for him to propose to you."

Ginny didn't know what to say to that. "Ask her not to hold her breath, will you?"

Hermione grinned. "Okay, Gin, whatever you say. Just don't worry about Cho, okay? Unless you find the two of them in bed together, I don't want to hear any more about it. Don't get your wand in a knot over wind and air."

Ginny smiled weakly, nodded.

"Okay," Hermione said finally. "Now, I want to hear your baby name suggestions. And they better be good. Can you believe Ron wanted to name the kid Wingardium? After the first spell I taught him when we sat together in Charms in First Year? He said it had 'historical significance'. Apparently he forgot that he made fun of me afterwards and I ended up crying in a bathroom and almost getting clubbed by a bloody mountain troll. I told him if he wanted significant, we could name the baby Idiot, after its father."

And Ginny couldn't help laughing.

o.o

A/N: So, what did you think? Review and let me know! But see? I'm still doing well at reforming my updating habits, right? Anyway, I'm going to try to update again before school starts. Because once school starts again, I'll only be able to write on weekends, so you'll probably have to wait up to two weeks between updates.

The next chap. will be interesting. Hogsmeade, Harry and Ginny's first fight….

Again, PLEASE REVIEW! I'm nearly at 300 reviews – SO EXCITING!