Harry Loves Ginny
Prisoner of Azkaban: After Victory Over Ravenclaw
"That was quite some Patronus," said a voice in Harry's ear.
Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased.
"The dementors didn't effect me at all!" Harry said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"
"That would be because they . . . . er . . . . weren't dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see . . . ."
He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge if the field.
"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin.
Harry stared. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked like Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall.
"An unworthy trick!" she shouted. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"
If anything could have set the seal on Gryffindor's victory, it was this. Ron, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled up with laughter, as they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself from the robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside.
"Come on, Harry!" said George, fighting his way over. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"
"Right!" said Harry, as he turned to head out, but ran right into someone who had been standing behind him. They went down in a heap of tangled arms, legs and robes.
"Sorry, Harry," Ginny Weasley said sheepishly, her face turning as red as a tomato.
Harry smiled shyly back at her, "I'm the one who should be apologizing," Harry said, his face turning scarlet too. "I should have watched where I was going."
Ron had turned to walk away with George, and it was George who turned his head back to see what had become of Harry. It looked like he was about to say something, but then with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, he just smiled and turned away, making sure that Ron couldn't see.
His attention was drawn back to Ginny, when she said, "Are we going to get up any time soon?"
His eyes locked onto hers and he was taken by their wondrous colour, a deep, shade of chocolate brown, flecked with gold and bronze. Ginny noticed his scrutiny, blushed fiercely but didn't look away.
She was to busy staring into Harry's deep emerald eyes that were so captivating that she failed to notice just how long they had been lying there.
"Are you two all right?" Professor Lupin asked, a slight knowing smile on his lips.
Hearing Lupin's voice broke Harry's concentration. He glanced up at the Professor and blushing furiously stammered, "We, we're fine."
Ginny nodded in agreement and was a bit surprised when Harry reached down to help her rise, after he stood up.
"Thank you," she said softly, looking back into his eyes, smiling as she felt her heart beating what felt like a thousand times a minute.
Harry's heart was beating just as rapidly as Ginny's. He had felt himself drawn to the youngest Weasley ever since he had rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets, but had not acted on those feelings due to Ron's constant referral to her as his baby sister and his constantly hanging around Harry any time that Ginny seemed to be present.
"You're quite welcome," Harry shyly replied.
Ginny was surprised because Harry still had a hold of her hand, never letting go since he had helped her up. She was just about to say something when Harry spoke.
"I guess we should head up to the victory party," he said with a smile.
Ginny smiled back, thrilled that Harry said we, but then she was doubly shocked when he added, "Unless you'd, like maybe, wanted to take a walk with me, or something."
Ginny felt like her heart was going to stop beating all together. Screwing up her Gryffindor courage she said softly, "I'd like taking a walk with you any time, Harry."
Harry's face broke out into a huge smile, and keeping ahold of Ginny's hand he steered her away from the crowded Quidditch pitch. They walked on in silence for a bit, exchanging shy glances that were accompanied by small smiles, both feeling somewhat elated, along with the butterflies that were flying around in their stomachs.
They ended up down by the Black Lake and Harry led Ginny over to one of his favourite spots, a large beech tree that cast a wide circle of shade, making it the perfect spot to sit down and talk awhile.
Ginny couldn't believe that Harry had asked her to go for a walk, let alone that he led her away from the bustling crowds that were still celebrating the victory over Ravenclaw. So intent was she thinking, that she jumped a little at the sound of Harry's voice.
"So how's your year going?" he asked, a bit hesitantly.
Ginny just shrugged. Though her year-mates had been willing to forget about last year, they hadn't fully accepted her into their fold. Because of that Ginny had been feeling a bit like an outsider.
She heard him sigh, "I'm sorry I haven't been a better friend so far this year, Ginny. It seems every time I have wanted to say something, your brother always got in the way.
"Yeah, he can get like that," Ginny said, a bit sadly.
"I'm truly sorry, and I'm not going to allow him to dictate to me any longer," Harry said with a bit of conviction.
Ginny was slightly shocked, but she couldn't help but smile at Harry. She had also felt something special about their shared experiences down in the Chamber.
Harry could tell Ginny was remembering his rescue of her. He couldn't say how he knew, he just did.
"That's okay, Harry," Ginny said, breaking eye contact and looking down at the ground. She idly played with a blade of grass, not wanting to let Harry know what she was thinking about.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked.
Ginny's head popped up and she looked at Harry in surprise. She hadn't thought that he'd want to do anything like that.
"Do you mean it?" she asked, lowly but intensely, her eyes fastening onto his.
"Yeah Ginny, I do," he replied, never once wavering in his gaze.
Ginny was feeling a little overwhelmed by her emotions and quickly changed subjects. "That was some spell you cast. Lupin called it a . . . what, Patronus?"
"Yeah, that's right," Harry replied, blushing a little at her praise.
Ginny looked back down at the ground for a moment, before she looked back at him and said glowingly, "It was truly magnificent to see that huge Stag knock Malfoy and those other Slytherins off their brooms."
"A Stag?" Harry asked, incredulously.
Ginny got a funny look on her face, "You mean you've never seen it before? I thought Lupin had implied that you were learning it from him?"
Harry blushed further, "Well. I am, but before this all I have ever been able to produce was a beam of while light. You mean I actually cast a full corporal Patronus?"
Ginny nodded and couldn't help but giggle slightly.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"You are," she said, giggling again.
"Why?" Harry asked, a little defensively.
Ginny saw the look on his face and heard the timbre of his voice. "Harry," she said softly, resting her hand on his arm. "You just did a truly amazing thing and you can't accept that you were able to do so. It's like the Chamber all over again. You constantly downplay your part and praise Ron and Hermione, failing to see that neither one of them would have been involved if you weren't."
Harry knew her words were true, but he squirmed even now thinking about it. He felt himself frown slightly and was going to deny what she was saying, but she cut him off.
"Harry, you just can't accept that you are a truly amazing person and a real hero, at least to me you are," she said softly and emotionally.
The emotion in Ginny's voice struck Harry hard, and he looked intently at her. He could see her eyes clouding a little with her tears, that were threatening to spill out.
Harry returned her gesture, laying his hand lightly on her arm, silently telling her that he understood.
Ginny looked up into his eyes once again. "You asked about my year, how about yours. I mean with Sirius Black after you, it can't be a picnic for you either."
Harry's face darkened some but he just shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he said. "I just wish I knew the whole story, ya know? I mean it seems that no one is willing to tell me the whole truth. I just get snippets, that is if I get anything at all."
Ginny regretted bringing up Sirius at all and wished she could take what she had said back. She desperately wanted to get Harry's mind off of it. She suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Harry, do you think you could teach me how to cast a Patronus?"
Harry looked at her in shock, not believing she was asking him to teach her such an advanced spell. It wasn't that he thought she was incapable, it was more that he wondered why she thought he could teach her.
"I don't know, Ginny. I've never tried to teach anything to anybody before," he said truthfully.
"Does that mean that you won't?" she asked.
"I didn't say that," Harry said, thoughtfully. "I just said I hadn't ever done something like that before." He then looked at her intently, "You really think that I could teach it to you?" he asked.
"Yeah I do," Ginny replied, sincerely.
Harry was quiet for a moment, looking out across the Black lake, but you could see he wasn't looking at the view.
He finally brought his gaze back to Ginny, looking into her eyes. Ginny felt herself almost shivering with the intensity of his gaze, it was as if he was looking deep within her soul.
"Okay, Ginny," Harry whispered, "I'll give it a try, but I can't guarantee anything, I hope you realize that."
"I know that, Harry," Ginny replied, softly. "I'm just glad that you're willing to try."
Harry somehow felt closer to Ginny now and he really didn't know why. All he knew was that the more time he was spending with her, the more time he wanted to spend with her.
Harry smiled at her and with a grin, said, "The only requirement I have for teaching you is that you need to start hanging around with us."
Ginny looked at him sceptically, "Me? Hang around with you, Ron and Hermione?"
"Yeah, that's the deal, take it or leave it?" he replied cheekily.
Ginny felt the corners of her mouth twitching and she was trying very hard not to smile at him. How could she admit that she wanted nothing more than to be beside him, spending as much time as possible with him.
"I'm not sure Ron will like that very much," she said, wondering how he'd reply.
"Don't you worry about Ron, I'll figure something out. That's my problem to deal with, not yours," Harry said, looking at her seriously.
"He's my brother, not yours," Ginny replied.
"But I'm the one who has been letting him dictate my actions toward you, and I'm not going to allow that any more," Harry said with a sigh.
Ginny could tell that Harry was not going to change his mind, so she decided to try and steer the conversation away from the topic of Ron. "Okay, enough about him. I want to tell you how brilliantly I thought you flew today."
Harry couldn't help himself and he blushed deeply, embarrassed but pleased by Ginny's praise.
As the conversation got further and further away from Ron and his attitude about Ginny, the more comfortable they started to become talking to one another. They started to exchange stories about different Professors and how they behaved while teaching and the longer they talked the more they began to act like close friends, laughing and kidding one another until they had lost all their uneasiness about being together.
XX HP + GW XX
Up in the common room the party was in full swing. As usual large amounts of food and drink appeared, along with a seemingly endless supply of Butterbeer.
George had arrived with Ron, just a little behind Fred. As soon as Ron had spied the Butterbeer, he had made a beeline towards it.
Fred gave George a questioning look and George smiled in return, letting his twin know that things had gone as planned.
They both quickly headed off, up to the dorms for a few moments, where they pulled out a piece of old parchment from Harry's trunk, muttered a spell and then spent several moments staring intently at the parchment. Suddenly Fred pointed and George looked up into his eyes, both were smiling widely.
Fred quickly cast the counter spell and replaced the parchment into Harry's trunk, then they both headed back to the common room to rejoin the party, feeling that they had a pretty successful day, what with the Quidditch victory and their other little plan seemingly having been successful.
It was a bit later that George was the one who noticed Ron looking around with a confused look on his face, signalling Fred, they made their way over to him.
"What's the matter, Lil Bro?" George asked.
"Yeah, why the more confused look than normal?" Fred added, grinning at Ron.
Ron frowned, "What do you mean, more confused look than normal?" he asked in a huff.
Fred and George just exchanged glances and grinned at Ron's lack of comprehension.
"That's not the issue," Fred said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, what's got your knickers all in a twist?" George asked.
"I haven't seen Harry since the end of the game, when you led me away from where he was looking at Malfoy and the Slytherins who tried to sabotage the game," Ron said, still looking around the room.
It was right then that Colin Creevy came over and asked, "Any of you seen Ginny? She said she wanted to see my pictures of the game, especially the ones I took of Harry."
When Ron looked at him bug-eyed and his colour started to change to a brilliant red, Colin got a scared look on his face, he had forgotten Ginny's admonishment to never bring up Harry's name in conjunction with her if he ever spoke to Ron.
Seeing Ron begin to anger, Colin quickly said "Oh, never mind," and quickly made his escape.
Ron looked at the Twins, "You don't think. . . . Harry would never . . . . Ginny. . . . They couldn't be. . . ." he sputtered.
"Ron, if you want intelligible answers, you'll have to ask intelligible questions" George said with a grin.
"Yeah Ron, what are you going on about anyway?" Fred asked too.
Ron stared at his brothers, "You don't think Harry is off somewhere with Ginny, do you?" he asked hotly.
"As a matter of fact Ron, we know they are," Fred replied smugly.
"And if you know what's good for you, you'll leave them alone," added George.
Ron looked back and forth between his brothers several times. "You mean, you're okay with them just going off alone?" he asked incredulously.
"Okay with it," said Fred.
"We arranged it," said George.
Ron stared at them gobsmacked. He couldn't understand how they could have done something like that. "Why?" he managed to get out, after a moment.
"To help out our sister," George said with a grin.
"We've seen her moping around, staring at Harry all this year so far," said Fred.
"Plus, she's had a thing for him ever since she could talk," added George.
"Yeah, we've both read her that story at least a gazillion times," stated Fred.
"We've also seen you acting like a mother hen," George said, with a snicker.
"Yeah, trying your damnedest to keep them apart," Fred added.
"So we decided to take matters into our own hands," George said, leaning in closer to Ron.
"And we strongly suggest you keep your big nose out of it," Fred added lowly.
"Why should I?" Ron asked, looking defiantly at the Twins.
Fred and George got evil looking grins on their faces, "You remember what happened when you were eight?" Fred said menacingly.
Ron had a mental image flash through his mind, and he shuddered involuntarily.
"Yeah, and remember, we've learned a lot more since then," George added for emphasis.
Ron stared at them wide-eyed, his imagination running wild and he couldn't help but shudder again.
Looking exceedingly pale, he said shakily, "Okay, okay, I hear you." He then quickly turned and all but ran to the food table to grab another Butterbeer, leaving the Twins smiling at one another and nodding their heads.
XX HP + GW XX
Harry and Ginny were still down at the lake, they had spent so much time talking that they had both lost all traces of awkwardness at being with the other. Some time during that time, Ginny had come and sat against the tree, next to Harry.
"And then Hagrid had to lift Ron up bodily and set him on his feet again," Harry said, finishing another story for Ginny.
Ginny couldn't help herself, the mental image of Hagrid picking Ron up, started her giggling and when Harry started laughing too, they both laughed so hard that tears came to their eyes and somehow, Ginny ended up with her head against Harry's shoulder.
At first neither seemed to notice and they just kept talking, both feeling happier that they had all year. A little while later Ginny gave a small groan, and reached up to rub her neck.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, showing his concern.
Ginny replied, "Sitting like this is causing my neck to stiffen," and as she did so she realized she was leaning against Harry. At first she started to get a little afraid, but when Harry didn't say anything she calmed down, liking the fact that he was accepting her leaning against him.
"Would it help to lay flat?" Harry asked, innocently.
"I wouldn't want to lay with my hair on the ground," Ginny replied, looking at all the grass and twigs that would most likely get caught in her hair.
Harry just looked at her and shook his head, a puzzled look on his face, "Well then just put your head on my lap," he said, as if it was the most logical thing to do.
"You wouldn't mind?" Ginny asked in wonder.
"Why should I?" Harry asked, looking slightly confused.
Ginny just shrugged and spun sideways and laid down with her head coming to rest on Harry. At first she felt a little strange, but when Harry went right back to talking again, as if nothing was amiss, Ginny relaxed and returned to their conversation too, though she did comment, "This feels really nice."
Harry just smiled at her and said, "I told you it would be better."
Ginny just nodded and they continued to talk, discussing everything and anything.
It was an indeterminable amount of time later that Ginny became aware of Harry's one hand gently combing through her hair and she couldn't believe how wonderful that it felt.
"That feels really nice," she said softly, smiling up at Harry.
"What does?" Harry asked, looking bewildered, not realizing what he was doing unconsciously.
"Running your hand through my hair," Ginny said with a slight giggle.
Harry froze and stared down at his hand that was buried in Ginny's hair. He hadn't even been aware he had been doing so, but he realized he had been taking great comfort from it.
"Do you want me to stop?" he asked, after a moment.
"Don't stop on my account," Ginny replied, "I told you if felt really nice."
"Oh," Harry said offhandedly, "Okay," he added, starting to run his fingers through her hair again as they went back to talking.
Ginny though she'd died and gone to heaven, such were the feelings she was experiencing from the simple act of Harry running his fingers through her hair. It was the first time anyone had ever done something so intimate with her and it left her a bit breathless and tingly.
They sat their for quite a while longer, neither thinking anything about what they were doing. They just continued talking, laughing and enjoying being together and it wasn't till Harry's stomach gave a large growl, did they realize how long they had been there.
Ginny sat up and smiled at Harry, "Sounds like someone's hungry."
Harry couldn't help but smile back, he certainly would have had a hard time denying the fact.
Ginny stood up and extended her hand down to Harry, who took it without a moments hesitation, allowing Ginny to help pull him to his feet.
They smiled at one another, each aware that something had changed between them, though they didn't put a name to it as of yet, both just content that they were happy with the way things were now.
For a moment it looked like they would walk back to the castle hand in hand, but then Ginny got a mischievous look in her eyes. She dropped Harry's hand and took off running toward the entrance, calling back over her shoulder, "Come on slowpoke!"
Harry laughed but took off after her, finally catching her just as they climbed the steps into the school. Ginny turned and smiled at Harry, feeling so elated with how the afternoon had gone. "Looks like we tied," she said with a grin.
"Yeah, looks like," Harry replied, grinning back at her.
They slowly made their way into the Great Hall where the had their pick of seats for dinner, most of Gryffindor still up in the common room at the victory party.
Unsurprisingly, Hermione was seated at their usual spot, her nose in a book as Harry and Ginny came up and sat down.
Hermione's eyes glanced their way, but went immediately back to her book. Then her head popped up and she stared at the couple sitting across from her, looking as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Hi Hermione," Harry said, as he began to pile food onto his plate.
"Hey, Hermione," Ginny added, as she began to copy Harry.
Hermione's eyes went from one to the other and then she blinked several times.
Ginny was trying hard not to smile, but failing miserably, as she leaned over and whispered to Harry, "I don't ever remember her being speechless before, have you?"
Harry grinned back at her, "Not that I can remember," he replied.
"Why aren't you at the party? Where have you been? What have you been doing?" Hermione said in a long string, never pausing to allow an answer.
Harry looked at Ginny with an amused look on his face, "Let's see, we were outside talking. That covers all your questions, doesn't it?" he asked Ginny.
Ginny nodded calmly, while taking a bite of her dinner, "Yes, I believe it does," she said, as soon as she was able.
Both looked pleasantly at Hermione, who was staring wide-eyed at them again. "You mean. . . you two. . . outside. . ." she said in disbelief.
Nodding, Harry glanced at Ginny and then at Hermione, "Yeah, that about covers it," he said, as if nothing was unusual.
"But. . . ." Hermione began to protest.
Harry cut her off immediately, looking much more serious, he said, "Look Hermione, Ginny and I are now friends, close friends. It's something I meant to do from the first this year, but Ron kept getting in the way. Well, I'm not going to let that happen anymore. You said how we bonded when we faced that Troll in the first year, right?"
Hermione could only nod.
"Well Ginny and I shared something much more meaningful and facing Voldemort was far more dangerous. If the troll was a reason to become friends, then Voldemort is doubly so, got it!" Harry replied.
Ginny watched as Hermione cringed every time Harry spoke Voldemort's name and still with a frightened look on her face, Hermione replied softly, "Yes, Harry, I got it."
Harry nodded in agreement as if everything had been handled and smiling once again, he returned his attention back to his dinner.
Hermione glanced at Ginny, who just gave her a look that said, "What Harry said", as she went back to eating too. Hermione knew that nothing was going to change Harry's mind and she wondered how Ron was going to react.
XX HP + GW XX
The next couple of weeks were very interesting from Hermione's point of view. She was startled when Ron didn't complain heavily when Ginny started to hang around with them, though she could tell he wasn't pleased.
Her curiosity grew when she had a moment alone with him and tried to get an explanation, that and why he hadn't tried to get the Twins involved with confronting Harry. All Ron did was when she mentioned the Twins was he got a strange look on his face and began muttering to himself.
Hermione was glad in one respect, because Ginny wasn't in their classes and it seemed that Ron was much more normal during those times, but his displeasure resurfaced at every meal and in the evenings when Ginny joined them.
What surprised Hermione the most was how Harry's grades began to improve. Studying with Ginny in the evenings was one of the benefits of their hanging out together. Where she had tried to brow-beat Harry into doing his homework, he just naturally seemed to enjoy doing it, because it meant more time with Ginny.
It just seemed that now, whenever they weren't in class, Harry and Ginny could be found together. All awkwardness and hesitation was gone between them and truth be told, he was paying less and less attention to her and Ron. Not that he was doing it on purpose, it was they just seemed to get along so well. She was sure she'd never seen Harry happier than he was now.
Though in one sense it was something of an idyllic time, Hermione could see the hidden anger building in Ron and she was pretty sure that sometime in the future there was going to be a blow up, Ron wouldn't be able to contain it forever.
It was during this time that Hermione was finally able to corner the Twins one evening. She wanted answers and if Ron wouldn't give them to her, maybe she'd have better luck with Fred and George.
"Hey you two," she said as she came up to the Twins, "Could I have a moment of your time?"
Fred and George looked at her closely, as if eyeing up a mark. "What can we do for you?" Fred asked.
"I was wondering why you two haven't joined with Ron in confronting Harry about how close he has become with Ginny?" she asked outright, figuring the direct approach was best.
Looking at her shrewdly, George asked, "What's it to you?"
"Well, I've heard in the past how the Weasley brothers would treat anyone that even tried to get close to Ginny, and I was wondering why that didn't seem to apply to Harry."
"Why would we want to break them up?" Fred said with a grin.
"When we worked so hard to get them together," George added, grinning just as much a Fred.
Hermione looked at them like they both had two heads. "You mean. . . ."
"That's right, Hermione," Fred answered.
"But why?"
George got a serious look on his face, something Hermione had not seen there often. "Look Hermione, we felt bad about what happened last year."
"That, and we saw the way they looked at each other when they thought no one was looking," said Fred.
"We knew that Ron was being the stumbling block," George added.
"So we decided to intervene," Fred said with a smirk.
"And the rest as they say, is history," George finished.
"Okay, I can get that, but have you seen Ron recently?" Hermione asked, her concern showing.
Fred and George just shrugged, "It's up to Harry to handle Ron," George said.
"Yeah, he needs to prove that Ginny's worth it to him," Fred added.
Hermione let out a huge breath, "I sure hope that you two know what you're doing?"
"Look Hermione, Harry's life hasn't and isn't going to be a bed of roses, and if he fancies Ginny," said Fred.
"Like we think he does," added George.
"Then he has to be able to stand up and do what's right. He can't expect someone to jump in every time to help him," Fred said,seriously.
"He has to be willing and able to act on his own, for himself," George said, just as seriously.
"And we're pretty sure that he'll do what needs to be done, concerning Ginny," Fred stated.
"If not, he doesn't deserve her," finished George.
Hermione nodded, understanding what the Twins were saying. It was never too early to start learning to stand up for something that you wanted. "Thanks you two," she said with a small smile. "I certainly hope Harry steps up like you hope, because I've got the felling that Ginny is just what he needs."
XX HP + GW XX
The expected blow up came a week later. Harry and Ginny were sitting in front of the fireplace, talking and laughing as usual. It had been a long week and everyone was relaxing now that it was Friday evening.
Ginny was complaining about how tense her shoulders were, her last class having been Potions and she had spent a lot of time hunched over her cauldron, making sure she got the potion right.
"Turn around," Harry said with a smile.
Ginny, who was next to him on the couch, obeyed immediately, knowing what was to come. She sat kind of sideways, and groaned out in pleasure when Harry began to massage her neck and shoulders.
"Blimey, Harry," she breathed out, "That feels bloody brilliant." She closed her eyes and just gave herself over to the wonderful feelings that Harry was creating as he worked all the knots out of her tense muscles.
"Feels good, does it?" Harry said, playfully.
"Good doesn't begin to cover it," Ginny replied, languorously, relaxing totally as Harry continued to work.
Their elation was shattered by Ron entering the common room and seeing them together, with Harry's hands running up and down Ginny's back along with kneading her shoulders.
"Oi! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Ron shouted as he came over to them.
Hermione watched tensely from nearby, catching the Twins watching too.
"I'm helping a friend," Harry replied calmly, continuing to massage Ginny.
Ginny wanted desperately to turn and confront Ron, but she also waited because Harry was still rubbing her back and shoulders, and she was curious as to what he would do.
"Well I don't think it's appropriate for you to have your hands all over her," Ron said hotly. "If she's just a friend, that's going a bit too far."
Harry paused for a moment and Ginny held her breath. She was silently praying that Harry wouldn't abandon her friendship just because of Ron.
Harry stood up, but kept a hand on Ginny. He looked at Ron and then at all the people watching, taking in especially the looks on Hermione's and the Twin's faces.
He looked back at Ron and said softly, "I suppose you're right."
Ginny almost lost it at that point and Harry saw the disappointed looks on Hermione's and the Twin's faces. He smiled slowly, "I guess what you're saying is if I'm just a friend, I shouldn't be acting this way?"
Ron looked slightly confused, frowning at Harry, "Yeah, that's right," he said slowly.
"Fair enough," Harry replied. "I guess that means that only someone like her boyfriend should be doing it?"
Ron nodded, somewhat triumphantly, but still not liking the look on Harry's face.
Ginny felt like running from the room so that no one would see her tears that were threatening to fall, but just before she could turn that thought into action Harry spoke again.
He smiled wider and as he turned he caught Hermione's and the Twin's eyes, he winked at them and said to Ginny, "Since Ron insists, will you be my girlfriend?"
Ginny was sure her heart had stopped beating and she froze for a moment, wondering if her ears were playing tricks on her but when Harry added, "Well Ginny, what's your answer?" she stood and turned to him.
Looking him straight in the eyes, ignoring everyone else, she whispered, "Is this just to appease Ron?"
Harry smiled at her, "You know it's not. I guess I just needed the incentive to get up the nerve to ask you," he whispered back.
Ginny watched his eyes for a moment and then threw her arms around him, taking him into a big hug. "Yes," she whispered into his ear.
Harry hugged her back, letting the others wait as he and Ginny relished the closeness that they were experiencing, finally solidifying their feelings for one another and not just to themselves, but to everyone who was present.
Ginny finally relaxed her grip, but didn't let go entirely. Harry turned his head and looked at a stunned Ron. "Is that good enough for you?" he asked smugly.
Ron looked at Harry and then around the room. His focus landing on the Twins who were beaming at one another and sharing a high-five.
Knowing he wasn't going to get any support and not liking the look the Twins were sending his way, he hastily said, "Yeah, that's good enough for me." He then turned and headed for his dorm.
Harry looked deep into Ginny's eyes and said softly, "Now where were we?" as he gently pushed Ginny back down onto the couch and began to massage her shoulders again.
XX HP + GW XX
A/N: Well, I guess a few will be surprised by Ron's acceptance of the couple and don't bother asking what the Twins did to him, just let your imaginations run wild. Knowing the Twins, I'm positive it would be something Ron would not like to experience again. I'm sure I'll hear about how they acted once the got together, but hey, they were only 12 and 13 at this point.
As always, please review.