Multitasking
"I don't want to get into trouble with Hermione," said Harry, standing up for the third time since he'd arrived in the library many hours ago. Usually he wasn't so eager to spend time in the big, stuffy room, but lately he'd been having to force himself to walk out the door. It wasn't the books he was so unenthusiastic to leave, as was often the case for Hermione. No, it was the girl next to him. "I've been a distraction."
"Nonsense, you don't need to go yet," Ginny replied. She dragged him back down onto the seat next to her, though not much dragging was needed. Sheets of parchment and thick copies of books that Harry himself had perused many times before were spread across the desk Ginny and Harry were sat at.
"Why do I have to be studying for OWLs now, when you only just saw sense and finally realised I was the only girl for you!" Ginny complained, stabbing her quill on the desk top.
"Me?" Harry said. "You were the one dating someone else until several weeks ago, and there was me sitting around alone pining for you."
"Pining?"
"Yes."
"You were not pining for me, Potter."
"Well, maybe not literally pining. Anyway, this is wasting even more time."
"Yeah, it is," Ginny replied, though she didn't look back down at her books. "But time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
"So if I just sit here and stare at you for hours, that won't be wasted time?"
"If you enjoyed looking at me, then that's not wasted time."
"How could anyone not enjoy looking at you, Gin?"
Ginny blushed, which was surprising to Harry, who thought Ginny Weasley didn't get embarrassed. She bent down over the desk to look at a book and her hair fell over her face like a curtain. "Lower your voice, or Madame Pince will realise we're still here and throw us out. And stop distracting me, Harry."
"I can't help it," he said simply.
There was silence for several minutes except the occasional scrape of Ginny's quill. The library was empty apart from the two of them, as it was the early hours of the morning and even the fifth years had retired to the common room. Ginny felt she needed to stay longer to make up for the lack of revising she had been doing, but the later she and Harry stayed, the less she wanted to revise and the more she wanted to just talk with him.
Ginny knew that if she failed any of her exams, Harry would blame it on himself, and would most likely spend days beating himself up over it. For that reason only, Ginny decided she'd banish him from the library tomorrow.
"Gin…"
"Hmm?"
"Have you ever wondered how long two people can kiss without having to break apart for air? Because it's been on my mind for the past five minutes, and I'd really like to figure out the answer."
Ginny smiled, but only because she knew her hair was covering her face and Harry wouldn't see it. "You're being a distraction again."
"Sorry." And he did sound genuinely sorry, but it was a sort of 'Sorry, but I'm going to keep doing it anyway.'
"Are you not going to help me find out the answer to my question, then?" he continued.
"Madam Pince is only through there, I'm sure she'll help you answer your question. She's always asking if she can help with anything," Ginny teased, flicking through a textbook without reading a word of it. Her brain wasn't going to register anything else tonight.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. You see, I'd much rather you help me figure out the answer."
"I'm revising," she lied, looking down at the page, her grinning face still hidden by a curtain of hair. Harry leant over and swept it back off her face, tucking it behind her ear. She kept her eyes firmly on the book, reading the same sentence four times.
"Ginny, don't taunt me like this. I can't make it anymore obvious that I want you to kiss me."
"Sorry Harry, what did you say? I was reading a particularly interesting passage. There's these gnomes, you see, and they did some pretty spectacular stuff in the thirteenth century."
"I said I want you to – "
Before he could finish, Ginny had jumped on to his lap and brought his face to hers. Maybe revising could wait for tomorrow.
A/N Thought it was about time for a nice fluffy chapter! Thanks a lot for all the reviews, as always.