It was the summer after Harry's fourth year, and he was back at the Dursleys. Having escaped his relatives house, Harry was now sitting in a secluded place in the park, anguish on his face as he recalled the events of the end of the year, the return of Voldemort and the dead of Cedric.

As he was sitting there, eyes unfocused, a sound drew his attention. Looking around, he spotted a family on the other side of the trees. Looking closer, he can't help but smile as he sees a little girl whirling around with a puppy in her arms. A memory breaks through to the surface, pushing away the bad and for the first time since that night, a genuine smile appears on his face.

Harry entered the common room, his eyes blank. It was bad enough that he had to participate in a tournament he didn't even enter but now he learned that he had to open the Yule Ball.

His mind drifts to the face of Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, thinking that maybe she would like to go with him. As he does so, he unconsciously scans the room. Suddenly, his wandering stops as his eyes catch something. Focussing, he just manages to catch a glimpse of Ginny's face before she turns away. Frowning, he looks at her. He can't be sure but the look she had was one of hope and sadness.

Forgetting about Cho, he studies the youngest Weasley and he is startled to notice two things. First, she is alone and second, she is beautiful. From her fiery hair, her gorgeous brown eyes to her freckles. Why hadn't he noticed that before?

Searching through his memories, he suddenly gasps. He had noticed her, in fact he noticed her from the very first time he saw her on the platform. But then why? He quickly answers his question, wanting to hit himself on the head as he does so. Ron, his supposedly best mate, kept telling him that she was his baby sister and he was so afraid of losing his very first friend that he automatically labelled her as such.

His mind now clear, he looks back towards Ginny, still sitting alone, and with a determined look he walks over to her.

'Hi Ginny, mind if I sit here?'

Startled Ginny looks up and nods her head, unable to speak.

'Ginny, I want to apologize for being an idiot and I want to ask you something.'

Now puzzled, Ginny turns her full attention to him, her shyness forgotten.

'Apologize for being an idiot? What are you talking about?'

'I'll explain after you have answered my question.'

'It would help if I knew the question.'

Harry chuckles and moves his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture.

'Ginny, would you… would you like to go to the Ball with me?'

Ginny stares at him with open mouth but before she can give an answer, she is pushed aside by Ron.

'Go away, Ginny, don't bother Harry.'

Without even looking at her, he pushes her off the couch and turns to Harry.

'He mate, so are you going to ask Cho to the Ball?'

Harry looks at him incredulously.

'What?'

'Are you going to ask Cho? I know you fancy her. Mind you, you probably have girls lining up to ask you.'

He laughs at his own joke, shaking his head as he does so. When he looks up again, he is just in time to see Harry leaving the common room.

Having seen Ginny quickly leaving the room, looking clearly upset, Harry ignores Ron and makes off after her.

Luckily, she hasn't gotten far, and he manage to catch up to her fairly quickly. Seeing an empty classroom, he leads her inside, locking the door as he does so to make sure that they are not interrupted.

Looking at her a bit nervously, he takes her hands into his.

'You never answered my question, Gin.'

'Why?'

Harry frowns.

'Why what?'

'Why are you asking me? Like Ron said, you fancy Cho, so why would you want to go with little Ginny Weasley?'

'Because I don't fancy Cho. I fancy you.'

'You fancy me? But I'm not as pretty as Cho. And since when do you Fancy me? If this is some kind of game, I will hex you, Potter!'

'I promise you that this is not a game, Gin. And I have fancied you since the day that I met you at King's Cross, but I have been an idiot. I was so glad to have a friend, so afraid to lose him, that I blindly accepted everything he told me about you. I didn't want to lose my very first friend, so I simply accepted that you were nothing more than his baby sister. When I saw you sitting alone in the common room, it suddenly hit me. You were alone again, and I promised myself that you would never be alone again after the Chamber, and I realized that I really care about you, that I like you, that I fancy you and always have. And you are right, you are not as pretty as Cho. You are beautiful, gorgeous, amazing. Cho couldn't hold a candle against you. So, would you go to the Ball with me?'

As Harry closes his eyes, waiting for a reply while everything he just said goes through his head, Ginny looks at him with her mouth open.

'Yes.'

The word is spoken barely above a whisper, but to Harry is sounds like a cannon shot. He opens his eyes and looks straight into the beautiful chocolate brown eyes of Ginny, mesmerized by the sparkle in them.

'Yes? You will be my date?'

Ginny smiles up at him, looking into his brilliant emerald eyes, unable to say anything and simply nods.

Harry lifts her up and twirls her around before putting her down again and giving her a kiss.

'There is something else I want to ask, Gin.'

'What is it, Harry?'

'Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you be my girlfriend?'

This time it's Ginny who throws her arms around him, kissing him soundly.

'Yes.'

For the rest of the day until dinner, they walk around the grounds and the castle, talking and kissing.

After dinner, Harry is sitting on the couch in front of the fire, waiting for Ginny to return from her dorm when he is joined by Ron.

'Where did you disappear to? No matter, so are you going to ask Cho?'

'No.'

'No? but I thought you fancied her? Who are you going with?'

Harry looks him on the eyes before answering.

'I'm going with my girlfriend.'

Ron looks at him with open mouth before spluttering.

'Girlfriend? You don't have a girlfriend. Who is she? When did you get a girlfriend?'

Just then Ginny returns, plopping herself down on Harry's lap and kissing him.

Turning bright red, Ron looks from Ginny to Harry before exploding.

'GINNY, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING! HARRY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TOUCHING MY SISTER LIKE THAT!'

Ginny looks at her brother with calm fury in her eyes.

'For your information, Ronald, I'm kissing my boyfriend. Do you have a problem with that?'

Ron can only look at her dumbfounded as he splutters incoherently.

'Y.. Your.. boyfriend? What? You can't.. he can't be your.. boyfriend! You're my baby sister! He's my best mate!'

'My best mate? You abandoned me when my name came out of the Goblet. No matter how many times I tried to tell you, you wouldn't believe that I didn't put my name in the Goblet, that I had no intention of taking part in this bloody tournament. Best mates don't do that and neither do they try to poison the minds of their best friend against their sister. I admit that it's partly my own fault. I was so glad to finally have a friend that I didn't question anything. I chose a useless class like Divination over something useful like Ancient Runes or Arithmancy because I followed you blindly. I even held back in class so that you wouldn't get jealous.'

Everyone in the common room has gone quiet as they watch the scene unfold.

Before either of the two can say or do anything more, Ginny stands in front of Harry, placing her hand on his chest. This simple gesture is enough to calm him down. Smiling, he kisses her forehead before taking her hand and leading her out, leaving a stunned Ron behind.

Harry pulls himself back to the present and shakes his head to clear it. Yes, the year ended terrible, but it also gave him something good. He remembers the smile on her face when he bought her a dress for the ball. Her laughter as she taught him how to dance. The joy of dancing with her at the ball. Merlin, he misses her. He wanted to go with her to the Burrow or at least to stay with Sirius, but Dumbledore insisted he go back to Privet Drive, that he was protected here. Protected against what? Not against the Dursleys, that is for sure. He wished he knew what these protections were. If only he could… He stops in mid stride. If only he could learn what these so-called protection were.

He smiles as an idea begins to take shape. What kind of person would be able to determine what kind of spells protected Privet Drive? A curse breaker. And he just so happens to know a beautiful young witch who has a curse breaker for a brother.

But how to ask him? From the few secret messages Ginny managed to send, it was clear that his mail was intercepted and censored. So how to get a message to Bill Weasley?

He continues walking, deep in thought.

It's as he enters his room, that a memory from his second-year services and he smiles.

He managed to enter Privet Drive without any trouble and without being noticed. That means he can probably give an insight on the protections and he could deliver a message without Dumbledore being any the wiser.

Glad to have a plan, he grabs a piece of parchment and begins to write a letter. When he is done, he quickly reads it over and figures it will do. Turning in his chair, his heart fills with hope and determination as he calls out his name.

'Dobby!'

*POP*