"Well, what can you tell me?"

Ginny watched as Harry stared into the fire beside the two of them. He didn't speak immediately, instead he tapped his wand against his knee. Ginny had recently learned that he did this in moments of anxiety. Most witches and wizards had their wand in their pockets or close by, sometimes even in another room. She had noticed that Harry kept his in his hand the majority of the time.

Ginny had begun to notice quite a lot about the wizard in front of her. She noticed he was quiet. Harry sat in the background of most conversations. He watched more than he engaged with others in his year. Even with Ron and Hermione, it seemed he allowed the two of them to take the lead in a lot of everyday situations.

He liked mental activities just as much as physical. Not only was Harry brilliant at schoolwork, from what she could see in him completing homework, but he excelled in Wizards Chess and other card games Ginny had seen him play. Even in small day-to-day magic, Harry surpassed everyone else bar Hermione, but even then, he gave her a good run for her money. Ginny had seen him move items, mend things and even conjure up anything anyone could ask for around him. He did it with such calm nonchalance that most people didn't even pay attention to it.

She had come to realize, whilst everyone knew The-Boy-Who-Lived, no one actually knew or paid attention to Harry Potter. He snuck under the radar for most.

"Tom is coming for me," Ginny was startled at the interruptions to her thoughts. Harry continued to stare into the fire as he spoke. "Tom is coming for you. Why is he coming for me? Well, that's part of the long story. But he's been coming for me ever since I was a kid. Ever since he murdered my family. I know he isn't going to give up, no matter how far I run, how well I hide. Why is Tom coming for you? Well, that I'm not too sure on but if I had to guess, he doesn't seem to like it when one of us get away... And I think it's got something to do with you, Red. I mean you are a person, as a witch."

Harry raised his face to hers, the fire reflected in them.

"You're powerful, Gin," he said. "Like... really powerful. I can sense it from you. I've seen you holding back a lot when you use your magic."

Ginny sat in silence, unsure how to respond to him. Ginny knew she was good at school work, really good. Lessons were pretty easy; all that stuff came natural to her. Sometimes, she noticed when she was reading something that it was almost like she had read it before. Was that her knowledge? Or was that something else buried deep inside... someone else?

"Tom left us atleast one present when he marked himself on the two of us, Red," said Harry. "His memories and connection sometimes allows us access to magic we did know we were capable of. I know you are strong, mentally, physically and magically."

His words flashed something in Ginny's memory. How did he know that?

"What makes you say that Harry? Have you been watching me?" asked Ginny. "Dumbledore said he had asked you to remain close to me..."

She had trailed off when Harry began to look uncomfortable.

"Well?"

He didn't answer at first and began chewing on his bottom lip.

"Dumbledore... Well, he-" Harry started. "He - um... He asked me to keep watch over you."

Ginny's face twitched. Watch over her?

"I wish everyone would stop thinking that I need watching over," she growled. Ginny hated the idea of coming across as a feeble, weak, little girl. "So, you've been keeping an eye on me?"

Harry swallowed before nodding slowly.

"And how long have you been doing that, Harry?" Ginny spoke softly. She could feel a fire warming her insides. It wasn't a pleasant kind of burn... it was harsh and scary. Ginny was trying very hard to not allow the fire to engulf her.

"Since the chamber," said Harry.

And that was it. All Ginny could see was red.

"That's right, keep going," Ron shouted. "C'mon, that's right, that's it! Keep your arms up, arms up. Harder! That's more like it."

Ron didn't see his sister or Harry until later on that evening in the common room. Ginny had stormed through the portrait hole first, trailed behind by Harry. She looked madder than Ron had ever seen her.

"I need to hit something," she snapped at Ron and with that she walked away. "Now," she called back over her shoulder at him.

Ron immediately started after her and it him a minute to notice that Harry was also following the two of them. He hadn't said a single word to either of them when they began with sparring with each other. It wasn't until Ginny almost took his head off with a well-placed kick that Ron realized he should probably just get the punching bag straight out. Clearly that was smart, as Ginny proved ready to bite just about anyone's head off tonight.

Ron watched his little sister pummel the boxing bag in front of him. She was pushing it this evening; he could see the sweat gluing her auburn hair to her forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Harry watching the two of them. Harry was pretending to be reading the book laid out in his lap, but even Ron could tell he was barely giving that any of his attention.

Ron had been trying extremely hard to decipher Harry's expression as he watched Ginny. Harry was normally easy to read, maybe not for everyone, but Ron himself has been able to suss out the boy's thoughts pretty easily for the past few years. Getting yourself into some life-threatening situations together can create a bond between friends quite naturally. Sometimes Ron found he didn't even have to look at Harry or Hermione to gauge their thoughts or feelings. But today, for some reason he was really struggling.

Ron was trying to work out if he should be angry at Harry. He could see the bloke watching Ginny as Ginny worked hard on the boxing bag, her clothes clinging to her as she sweated hard. Ginny had lost some weight over the past month or two and whilst Ron had made it his mission to slowly build back up her muscle and weight, she still had a little way to go. This meant her joggers were hanging low on her hips and her vest top swayed with every movement. Ron ignored all of that but was wondering if that was what was going through Harry's head.

Ron trusted Harry; he was his best mate. But he also was a teenage boy and Ron knew thoughts like this crossed his mind without even trying, and they were difficult to leave his mind once they were in there.

"Alright, let's slow down now," Ron moved forward to hold the boxing bag.

"No," growled Ginny. "No, I want to keep going."

Ron paused watching Ginny's face. He could see she still some pent-up anger inside of her, as she panted in front of him and made to swing at the boxing bag he was holding on to.

"Whoa, alright, easy!" he swiftly jumped back out of her way and paused for a second watching her. She carried on with gusto attacking the bag and over her shoulder Harry had dropped all pretense of staring at his book. Finally, Ron understood what was on his face… it was apprehension. It was like he had been waiting for this.

"Slow down, Gin," Harry spoke softly from his armchair.

Ron could count on one hand how many times he had seen a glare on the same level that Ginny was giving Harry right now and each time he had, he would normally flee the vicinity. Usually, it would be from his mother, but he had received it once from Hermione too. It was hands down one of the most frightening things he had experienced. And yet, the bloke stood his ground. Harry didn't look scared, or at least if he was… he was hiding it very well. Ron wasn't sure he wanted to get in the middle of this.

"I do not need anyone telling me what to do," she snarled. "Especially you, Potter."

Ron looked back and forth between the two Gryffindors, wondering if either of them were going to back down. After what seemed like hours Ginny finally turned her back of the two of them and began swinging at the punching bag again. He was trying to work out what was the smartest option. They clearly needed to work something out between the two of them.

Ginny still hadn't explained what the reason was for Dumbledore had carting her off after breakfast today. Whatever had happened with Dumbledore, Ginny was furious, and it clearly had something to do with Harry. Ron didn't want to push Ginny to talk about it whilst she was in this mood.

"Alrighty then, slugger," he grabbed a towel that had appeared on the coffee table in front of Harry and walked away from the two of them. "I'll leave you guys to it… Good luck, mate," Ron whispered to Harry before shutting the door behind him.

Ginny carried on punching the bag, ignoring the ever-growing awkwardness in the room. She could feel Harry staring at her, but she wasn't ready to talk to him. Instead she was focusing all her attention on beating the crap out of the leather in front of her. She longed for him to just leave her alone with her thoughts.

"I know what you're doing," said Ginny, still with her back to him. "I know what you're waiting for Harry, but it isn't going to happen."

He didn't respond.

"I – AM – NOT – GOING – TO – FALL – APART!" she enunciated each word with a solid punch at the bag. All that pent-up anger, she could feel it boiling upward. Past her stomach, past her chest, right into her fists, in her face. She could feel it everywhere and that made it worse… was it even her emotion? Or was it something else buried inside of her.

"ARGH!" Ginny threw one fist at the bag, lost her balance on her feet, and spun around almost 180 degrees. She was stopped by her fist connecting with the wall. Just before the rest of her body hit the ground, Harry caught her. This only made Ginny angrier.

"Get off me, Potter!" she shouted as she shoved him further from her. "I said, get the hell off me!" she repeated as he continued to hold on to her. She struggled against him, whilst he continued to almost pin her down a little and she saw red. Her hand had collided with his face before she even realized what was happening.

Harry pulled back away from her immediately, his hand holding the already forming red mark on his right cheek and his jaw had dropped. The look on his face sobered her up for the most part and they continued to stare at each other in silence for a long time. Once the red began to fade, Ginny took a long and calming breath, closing her eyes, and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Harry," her voice was very level. "I'm sorry for hitting you."

She looked up at him and her heart melted a little.

"I'm really, really sorry," she said it with more conviction this time. "But, Merlin, the next time I tell you to get off me... please… get the hell off me."

Harry nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I will, I understand. I didn't think, I'm sorry too."

Ginny nodded slowly back at him. She shifted so her legs were crossed beneath her and as she did so, recognized a sharp pain in her right hand.

"Well, that's fucked," she chuckled without mirth. Ginny's knuckles were burst open, blood was running across the back of her hand and she could feel the whole of her hand throbbing. She couldn't tear her eyes away from it. Ginny watched as the blood bubbled up at the seams and when a certain area couldn't take it anymore, the dam burst and drew lines all over the back of her hand.

"Can I help?"

Ginny managed to pull her eyes away from her hand and nodded at Harry.

"Okay, coming closer," he held his hands up as he moved with deliberate slowness and grinned a little at her. When she glowered back at him, he immediately dropped the smirk and cleared his throat. "Alright, too soon."

Harry pulled a water bottle from his bag and the room conjured up some rags for him. He held his hand out to her and waited patiently for her to place her hand in his. Gently he began to wipe the blood away, peaking at her from underneath those long eyelashes. She winced when he began to pour water over her knuckles and began to clean the lines of blood away. Ginny welcomed the pain. It allowed her to forget, even just for a minute or two, the thoughts pounding on her skull.

"You want to talk about it, Red?"

Ginny couldn't help it, the anger boiled beneath her skin again. It bubbled up at the seams and felt like the dam was going to burst again. She couldn't talk, because she knew if she did, everything would come pouring out of her and it would end in shouts again, or in tears. Neither of which she believed she had the energy for, especially seeing as she was supposed to see Malfoy later tonight. So instead, she sighed, shook her head, and stayed silent. Only when she heard a sniffle did she lift her head.

Harry was crying.

"I'm sorry, Gin," Harry's voice was barely a whisper. "I'm so sorry."

"Harry? It's okay. I'm sorry-" she started.

"No!" Harry interrupted. "No, don't try and tell me it's okay, and definitely don't tell me you're sorry. I should never have sat next to your brother on that train, Ginny."

Ginny looked at him with utter bewilderment. Where had this come from?

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Harry had finished patching up her hand but was still holding it.

"If I had never sat next to him… you wouldn't be where you are now. You'd be a normally teenager. Probably just worried about boys, or clothes or whatever. You wouldn't have any other worries apart from that."

He let go of her hand so he could run his own over his face and through his hair. Harry sat back against the wall, legs bent in front of him, he rested his forearms against his knees and hung his head low. Ginny wanted so badly to reach over and pull his chin up. She knew if she could just get a look into those eyes, she might understand what was going through his head right now. He wasn't making any sense.

"Harry, I'm so confused," she began. "Where is all of this coming from?"

Now it was his turn to look puzzled.

"Well, that's why you are angry right?" he asked her. "It's all my fault, Gin… it's my fault he's coming for you."

Ginny's heart broke. Oh, this stupid boy. This stupid, loving, broken boy.

"No, you pillock. I am angry at you because this whole friendship... us," said Ginny as she motioned between the two of them. She found herself attempting to contain her emotions again, scared of what would bubble over. "We are only where we are because Dumbledore asked you to look after me."

Ginny had trailed off to a whisper. It was a hard truth to face. She had really come to believe that Harry was supposed to be in her life, and that through all this nastiness with Malfoy had come something truly beautiful, something unique and pure. Her friendship with Harry was her most treasured possession and it was all a lie. Were Ron and Hermione in on this too? Did they only befriend her because Dumbledore had asked them all to?

"Hey, Red," Harry whispered as he placed his hand on top of hers. "Just take a breath for a second."

Ginny raised her head and looked around the room. Everything was shaking. This only made her more unnerved.

"Harry... I'm so scared."

He contemplated her for a moment and Ginny took that minute to stare at his face. He still had tear tracks on his cheeks, and Ginny noticed the boy also had bags under his eyes. Harry looked tired.

"Okay," he sighed. Harry stood and held his hand out to her. "C'mon, let's go."

"Where?" Ginny wasn't sure if her legs were prepared to take her weight and remained on the floor.

"We need to see Ron and Hermione, and I think it's about time we told you the plan, Red."