"Grimmauld Game Night"

"Chapter Two: The Prize"

Ginny piled beans on her toast early the next morning. She sat across from Sirius who read the paper and sipped his tea. Her mother bustled around the kitchen. Ginny couldn't help but wonder what her and Harry's prize would be for winning game night. A day off from cleaning sounded wonderful, but her mother specifically said there would be a surprise announced as well. Anything had to be better than clearing gunk from rooms so dirty one could barely breathe.

"Congratulations on winning game night," Sirius said as he sat his paper down onto the table between them. "Well deserved."

"I'm just happy not to clean today," Ginny said as she grabbed her glass of pumpkin juice. "Any idea what the prize is?"

Sirius only grinned. "Molly and I may have discussed it."

"Sirius, don't you dare tell her until Harry is up and down here!" Molly said, pointing a slotted spoon at him.

Ginny rolled her eyes and continued to eat her breakfast. Harry and Ron were the last ones down for breakfast. Harry took his normal spot between Ron and Sirius, a hand carding through his hair. He looked tired like he didn't get a good night's rest. Sirius pressed a palm on the back of his neck, leaning forward and the two began to whisper. Ginny frowned into her pumpkin juice. Maybe it was a good thing they had won the night before so he could relax a bit, maybe even take a nap to catch up on some sleep. She thought he looked like he'd been up half the night.

"It's stupid," Harry muttered. "It's just a hallway."

"An important hallway, no doubt," Sirius whispered. "Try not to think on it, all right? You're off cleaning duty. Try to relax some, yeah?"

Harry scowled before he rubbed his face with his hands. Ginny noticed he barely touched his breakfast, only taking one bite of his toast and pushing around his beans with a spoon. When everyone was finished eating breakfast and sitting around chatting, Molly stepped up to the head of the table and smiled.

"Harry, Ginny, you two won game night last night," she announced. "And part of the prize is that you have the day off from cleaning. Enjoy your day off because your prize tonight will be to cook dinner for the family."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Cook dinner? That's not a prize, Mum!"

George burst out laughing. "Serves you two right!"

"Oh, Mum, your prizes are golden," Fred said, wiping a fake tear from under his eye.

"Well, I would say an entire day to yourselves is plenty prize enough. You can't lay around like lazy loafs forever. Cooking dinner is the easiest task I could have given you. You can cook whatever you like. Make it as easy or hard on yourselves as you choose!" Molly explained. "I would rather be cooking than getting up to my elbows in dust and grime while being bitten by Merlin knows what in this house! I would say that's a reward!"

Ginny groaned as she looked across the table at Harry. He didn't seem upset by the so-called prize. In fact, he merely pushed up his glasses and rubbed the corner of his eye.

The Weasleys set off to work cleaning up one of the bathrooms, the dining room, and a small study. Harry shifted awkwardly in the kitchen like he didn't know where to go or what to do. Ginny suddenly felt very self-conscious. What if he didn't want to spend the day with her? What if he wanted to just be left alone? She would understand if he did, after all, it wasn't like they were friends and his best friends were going to be cleaning all day. Maybe Harry would enjoy some alone time.

"Do you think we should help clean?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked over at her.

Ginny wrinkled her nose. That was the last thing she wanted to do. "No, it's our day off. Plus, we're on dinner duty, so it's not like we're going to be lazy loafs for long."

"It just feels wrong to not help," Harry said with a shrug.

Ginny knocked her hip against his in an attempt to make him smile. "Stop. Don't feel guilty. You deserve a day off."

He smiled down at her. Dark circles shone brightly underneath his eyes. He looked so defeated standing in front of her that she wondered what exactly he was dreaming about besides some sort of hallway. There had to be more than what he told Sirius, because a hallway didn't seem like it would keep someone up all night like it had Harry. She reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Why don't you take a nap," she suggested. "You look exhausted."

"I don't like sleeping," Harry replied. "I keep… it doesn't matter. I'm fine."

"Okay, no sleeping," Ginny said, trying to think of a reason why Harry might want to hang out with her. "Well, since we're the only ones who won't be cleaning, how about Exploding Snap in the library? It's the cleanest room in the house."

Harry nodded and let her lead him out of the kitchen by his wrist. Once in the library, Ginny opened the curtains to let some of the gloomy day brighten the room. When she turned, Harry was standing in the middle of the library. She thought he still looked a little lost. Well, she wasn't going to let him brood all day.

"Hey, did Ron tell you what happened in here the first day we cleaned?" Ginny asked.

Harry shook his head in the negative.

"It was one of the first rooms we cleaned," Ginny explained. "Professor Lupin thought some of the books may be helpful in there, given the Black's colorful history with the dark arts. Sirius said to be careful because his mother was a psychotic bitch – his words, not mine. Anyway, there was one where its pages had been dipped in poison."

"Was there really?" Harry asked, interest clear in his voice.

"Oh, yeah, Sirius' skin started peeling and melting, but luckily Bill was around to break the curse before the poison entered his bloodstream and Mum was able to regrow his skin," Ginny explained. "It was too bad you couldn't come right away. Sirius advocated for it every single day. We would hear him having words with Dumbledore after meetings. Professor Lupin had to tell him to sit down quite a few times when he said he was going to just go get you himself."

Harry smiled. "Really?"

"We all wanted you here, Harry," she said in a gentle tone. "We were all a bit peeved with Dumbledore for making you stay so long at the Dursleys. Even Mum was cross with Dumbledore, at one point saying that the blood protection was bound to have renewed. Is that why you go to your aunt and uncles? Some kind of blood protection?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess with my aunt."

"Sorry, I don't mean to pry," Ginny said.

"It's not that it's just… nobody really tells me anything," Harry replied as he moved across the room to close the door to the library. "I'm left guessing on most stuff. Sorry, you know how Kreacher likes to wander in."

"That's fine," Ginny said, slightly pleased that he wanted to be alone in the room with her. "That's awful though, about the rest."

Harry sighed as he collapsed down onto the sofa. "My mum died to protect me. Literally begged Voldemort to kill her instead of me. Somehow, I'm not exactly sure how or why, it formed some kind of blood protection. Apparently, Voldemort can't touch me if I spend time with my aunt every year. It worked before, you know. When Voldemort was in the back of Quirrell's head, he couldn't touch me. But last spring… it changed after that. I'm not exactly sure if the blood protection even still works. Nobody talks to me about it."

"Why don't you ask Sirius?" Ginny suggested as she curled up on the opposite end of the sofa.

"What does it even matter?" Harry asked. "It's not like he's free and could take me in. I have nowhere else to go."

"I may have overheard Sirius and Professor Lupin talking at the beginning of summer saying that the only reason Sirius gave Dumbledore this house as headquarters and is agreeing to Dumbledore's terms to stay put were so you could join him here," Ginny explained. "I think he's trying."

Harry nodded as he brought his knees up to his chest, facing Ginny on the sofa. He rested his cheek on his knee and looked at her. He looked exhausted, his eyes swirling with doubt and confusion. She wanted nothing more than to pull him close to her and run her fingers through his hair.

"Exploding Snap then?" Ginny asked, forcing herself to think of anything except running her fingers through his thick hair. Not for the first time she found herself wondering if it was as soft as it looked.

"Sure," Harry replied.

Ginny practically jumped off the sofa and made her way towards the bookcase. She could have sworn they placed the cards on one of the shelves. After looking on the shelves for a few minutes, she found them. She smiled triumphantly at Harry as she sat down on the floor and pulled the cards out of the sleeve. Harry slid onto the floor across from her and watched as she shuffled the cards and even bridged them. He looked mildly impressed.

"Look at you," he said with a smile. "I don't even know how to shuffle."

"It's not hard," she said as she crawled around the coffee table to sit next to him.

She handed him the deck of cards. He split the deck and tapped them on the table to settle them neatly. He placed his thumbs on the edge of the deck and the cards sloppily shuffled, most of the cards sticking together in clumps. He arched his hands but no bridge happened. She scooted closer to him.

"Do you want me to teach you?" she asked.

Harry handed her the deck. "It's all right. I like watching you do it. I don't remember you arching them like that at the end before."

Ginny smiled, remembering the time Harry had played Exploding Snap with her in the common room after the Chamber of Secrets debacle. He had been so sweet, smiled at her like she hadn't just been possessed for nearly the entire year and had blood on her hands.

"Sirius taught me this summer," Ginny explained. "I could shuffle decently but Ron would never show me how to do the bridge. Fred and George don't really play card games."

"Why wouldn't Ron teach you?" Harry asked, confusion clear on his face.

Ginny shrugged. "I'm the baby. I'm the only girl. I was often excluded. You know they would never let me play Quidditch with them? The gits."

Harry frowned. "I didn't know that."

"It's fine. I'm used to it honestly. It was so nice to finally go to Hogwarts and make friends," she said, a soft sigh on her lips as she shuffled the cards a little more. "Classic game or house of cards?"

"Uh, let's do house of cards," Harry said. "I'm sorry about Ron. I know he's a git sometimes, but it's really part of his charm."

Ginny chuckled as she split the deck. "It's fine. I mean, I had one wizarding friend growing up who lived down the road, but it was nice to get to share a dorm and make friends. Although, I think Colin Creevey and Demelza Robins were the only real friends I made the first year. Second year was better."

"Well, you did better than me," Harry said as he played with the corners of his cards. "I made exactly two friends… in four years."

Ginny arched an eyebrow at him as she placed her first card. "You have more friends than just Ron and Hermione."

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked as he placed his card. "Who?"

"Fred and George."

"Ah, so my best mate's family, you mean?" Harry asked as he glanced over at her. "I suppose I'm friends with all the Weasleys."

Ginny let out a huff as she placed another card. "Neville. Dean. Seamus. The Patil twins. Lavender."

"All right, now you're just going mad," Harry said with a smirk as he started the second tier to their house of cards. "Lavender? Come on, Gin."

"You went to the Yule Ball with Parvati!" Ginny protested.

"Out of desperation," Harry corrected. "Parvati and Lavender just gossip and giggle. You should hear some of the things that Hermione says they talk about. Not to mention the whispers I've tried to block out about myself."

Oh, Ginny was very well aware of the things that Lavender and Parvati talked about. She had heard them talking about Harry in ways that would make him blush. Just thinking about them made her cheeks burn as she placed another card and tried to hide behind her long mane of hair. She was tempted to sneak a peek at Harry but knew that would be highly inappropriate. She had felt something quite large though when they were playing Twister. Her imagination on the subject would have to suffice because she didn't want her name to escape Harry's lips in the same disgusted way as Lavender's and Parvati's.

"All right, well your dormmates then," Ginny settled.

"Acquaintances," Harry replied. "We're on friendly terms."

"The Quidditch team."

"A little more than acquaintances."

"Merlin, Harry, you're hard to please!"

Harry smiled tightly. "I just don't trust people. I mean, if I needed to talk to someone about something personal then it would be Ron and Hermione. If they weren't available, then I would go to Fred, George, or even you, but if all five of you weren't available, I'd just deal with it on my own. There's no one else I would even think to go to."

Ginny couldn't help the little flip in her stomach. She was on Harry's list of people he trusted and would talk to. Granted, she was second tier, but she would take it. Maybe one day she would be up there with Ron and Hermione. They had been having fun this summer and seemed way more friendly than normal.

"I'd go to you too," Ginny admitted. "Of course, I would go to Luna or Demelza first. Then if they weren't available, you'd be next on my list."

Harry laughed. "Are you taking the mickey?"

"No!" she replied with a smile. "What? You'd come to me but I'm not allowed to come to you?"

"I didn't, no, of course, you can come to me! I just didn't expect it. You're… popular. You're always surrounded by friends and people. I don't think I've ever seen you sitting alone in the Great Hall or the library."

"Well, yeah, I have a lot of friends, but I wouldn't trust them all with some deeply personal problems," Ginny said as she placed another card. "The thing is I can't go to a lot of my friends about stuff. I mean, Luna and Demelza know the most of it, but there are things I can't even talk to them about. You know everything. We spend our summers together and my entire family has basically adopted you. So I could talk to you about things without having to explain a bunch of stuff I don't want to explain and you're not my brother which is a plus too so I know you won't tease me."

Harry nodded, fingering a Bowtruckle card. He didn't say anything as he added his next card. Higher and higher the tower got until they were standing and circling the house of cards. They made small talk as they played, nothing heavy or important. Ginny noticed Harry yawning throughout the game, his eyes heavy.

When he placed a card onto the tower, his fingers slipped and the house exploded. Harry stumbled back, a little bit of ash on the corner of his nose and cheeks. She licked her thumb and cleaned it off. She froze mid-clean, her eyes growing wide at what she had done. He didn't seem bothered by it until he saw the uncomfortable look on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should have asked before I just…"

Harry let out a small chuckle. "It's, err, fine. I mean, look, here." Harry licked his thumb and brushed a spot on her chin. "Even."

Ginny swallowed before she looked away, eyes on the ashes. Stop it! she chastised herself. They were familiar, but not that familiar and she needed to stop and remember that. Just because she was comfortable with him didn't mean he was the same.

They waited a few moments for the ashes to settle before the magic in the deck activated. The ashes flew through the air and reformed cards started to rain down upon them. They picked up the cards. Ginny felt the heat rise in her chest and neck when she got a nice view of Harry's backside when he bent over. She bit her lip and turned away.

When they were finished, Ginny sat the cards back on the bookshelf before making her way over to Harry. He sat on the sofa, his head lolling back on the cushion. His eyes closed as his hand pushed his glasses up to rub his eyes. Ginny took a seat next to him, her hands in her lap.

"Headache?"

Harry shrugged. "A bit. I'm just tired. I'm sure it will pass."

"Mu mum did this thing when we were little where she would rub the back of our neck and play with our hair. It always helped relax me. Try it," Ginny suggested.

Harry looked at her suspiciously before he attempted to rub the back of his neck. "I guess it helps."

"No, like this," Ginny said, reaching her hand out. "May I?" At his nod, her hand touched the back of his neck and he closed his eyes. "The headache is probably from the stress of losing to me. Again."

Harry snorted as her fingers lightly danced along the short hairs at the base of his neck. "I didn't lose to you. The house of cards blew up."

Ginny grinned. "Exactly! Because I'm clearly the superior player. How does it feel to be a loser? Again? I feel like I always win when we play the house of cards version."

She stopped her fingers from massaging the back of his neck, gliding up into his unruly mess of hair as he lolled his head to the side. Merlin, his hair was softer than she had even imagined.

"I always win when we play the classic version," he said, his voice thick and eyes dark. "I'll beat you one day."

Ginny's heart beat fast in her chest. "I'll beat you when we play the classic way too one day."

Harry's chest heaved. He let his head fall a bit closer to her on the back of the sofa.

"Is this helping your headache? I can get you a tonic if you want."

"No," he murmured, his eyes half closed. "That's helping."

Ginny nodded, her eyes on his cheekbones and the dark purple under his eyes as she gently ran her fingers through his hair. She knew she loved when someone would run their fingers through her hair or even brush it. It was so nice to feel someone take care of you in such a way. Merlin knew that Harry deserved to feel that sort of contentment at such a simple gesture.

She was going to ask him if he wanted her to stop but a little noise sounded in the back of his throat. When she looked over at him, she realized his eyes were closed.

Ginny shifted as his head rested on the back of the sofa, wondering if she should sneak off if he was actually going to take a nap. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass him in some way and she wasn't entirely sure how he would feel about falling asleep with her here. But before she could make a decision, Harry let out a soft snore and his body slid towards her. Her breath hitched when his head rested on her shoulder. She carefully pulled her hand out of his hair and he made a soft sound of discontentment.

Ginny hesitated before she slowly started to stand, slipping his head off of her shoulder. She was only halfway up before he turned, snuggling into her like she was a pillow, his head falling right into her lap and his arm resting on her thigh. Ginny froze, eyes on the very sleepy Harry Potter stretched out across the sofa. Merlin, this wasn't what she had in mind.

She looked down at him, a soft smile on her lips as she let her eyes travel over his nose, his eyelashes, and the way his mouth was parted just slightly. He really was so handsome and he looked so young and innocent here, sleeping on her like he hadn't had a good night's rest in ages. Unable to resist, she reached out to touch his hair again, letting her fingers thread through his silky locks. He made a contented sigh and she couldn't help the smile from forming on her face.

"Shh," she whispered. "Sleep. You're safe here."

Ginny didn't know how long she sat there, running her fingers through his soft hair before a deep chuckle seemed to pull her from her own sleep.

A very low and amused chuckle. It took Ginny a few moments to figure out where she was, her neck aching as she opened her eyes to see a very amused Sirius Black standing in front of her. He grinned down at her.

"Merlin, you're as bad as Remus and Dora," he whispered. "You're Dora. Harry's Remus."

Ginny blinked and looked down at the mess of black hair in her lap. He was still asleep, his mouth open and a line of drool escaping his parted lips. She felt the wetness soak through her leggings. Her hand still rested in his hair. If she withdrew it, she was sure to wake him up because the strands had somehow wrapped around her fingers.

"It just happened," Ginny hissed. "I don't even know how! One minute he was talking and then he just fell asleep! I didn't want to wake him!"

"I bet you didn't," Sirius teased, winking at her. "But it's lunch time now so do you want to wake him or do you want me to?"

"Don't!" Ginny's eyes grew wide. "Just… help me sneak out before he wakes up! I don't want him to be embarrassed!"

Sirius chuckled. "Merlin, that's not going to happen. Just rip off the plaster, Ginny. Embarrassment will do my godson some good."

"I hate you," Ginny hissed.

She gulped as she slowly took her hand out of Harry's hair. He groaned when his hair pulled, his face pressing into her thighs and his glasses dug uncomfortably into her. He snuggled closer, a hand resting on her thigh and she let out a little panicked noise in the back of her throat. Harry tensed immediately. He shot up like a Snitch released from its case and looked at Ginny with wide eyes.

Ginny gave him a nervous smile. "We um… fell asleep."

Harry didn't say anything as he scooted away from her, his neck redder than red. His hand adjusted himself and Ginny couldn't help but look down at the very impressive tent he was sporting. Her mouth dropped open just slightly as she told herself to stop looking. Except it was like watching brooms collide mid-air. She just couldn't do it.

"Morning wood is completely normal," Sirius said, amusement in his voice.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed in a very high-pitched voice.

Sirius smiled at him. "It's lunch time, but we can have a talk about what's normal if you need to beforehand."

"I'm fine!" Harry insisted as he jumped up from the sofa. "I'll meet you in the kitchen."

Ginny only scowled at Sirius before she too stormed out of the library. She wasn't sure who was more mortified right now and Sirius was getting way too much enjoyment out of it.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Sirius called after her.

Ginny ignored him and hurried off to wash up before lunch.

Lunch was an awkward affair. Harry wouldn't even look at her as they ate the sandwiches her mother had prepared. Sirius grinned like a bloody fool as he nudged Harry in the side and whispered things in his ear that Ginny couldn't hear. She felt mortified that Harry was so upset about what had happened. They'd simply fallen asleep and had a nap. It wasn't like they did anything. Friends could nap together. She'd fallen asleep in the Gryffindor common room before and woken up with her head on Colin's shoulder or Demelza's head on hers. It was normal.

Ginny stared down at her sandwich and crisps. For the first time in her life, she didn't really feel like eating. Her mind was still racing as she tried to figure out why Harry would be annoyed he'd fallen asleep with her. After all, it wasn't as if they'd shared a bed, he'd just fallen asleep with his head in her lap and she'd played with his hair. He'd said they were friends and friends comforted each other when they needed to rest.

She and Demelza slept together all the time when they had nightmares and that was in a bed. More like when she woke up shaking and pale after dreaming about the Chamber of Secrets and Demelza would comfort her. Except, Harry didn't need to know it was always her having the bad dreams and needing comforted.

Harry disappeared up in his and Ron's bedroom after lunch. Ginny sighed and went off to finish some homework she had been putting off the entire holiday. The time drew nearer and nearer to the point where Ginny and Harry had to start dinner. She honestly didn't understand why Harry had been avoiding her. They were friends… or something. At least, she thought they were starting to be.

With her shoulders squared and determination splashed across her face, she knocked on his bedroom door. He called for her to enter. When she opened the door, she watched as he lay lounging on his bed and flicking through a defense book that she had never seen before. He looked up at her and scrambled to sit up in bed.

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's just that we should probably start on dinner before the masses get hangry," she said. "I can do it myself if you don't want to."

"That's not fair," Harry said, running his hand through his hair and making it stick up a bit.

"I'm sorry," they both blurted out at the same exact time.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Why are you apologizing?" Ginny asked.

Harry blinked at her. "I, uh, I'm sorry I ruined your morning and fell asleep on you. I didn't mean to. I was just… exhausted and then I drooled all over you like Fang or something."

Ginny let out a small laugh of disbelief. "Trust me, you didn't drool as much as Fang. It's fine, Harry. I fell asleep too."

"I just felt embarrassed," Harry admitted.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Trust me, I slept great and considering I've heard my brothers snore, Ron in particular, you have no reason to be embarrassed."

Harry snorted. "So, I didn't sound like a family of bears in hibernation?"

"Not even a little," she teased.

"I didn't, err, say anything, did I?"

Ginny furrowed her brow. "No, you didn't."

Harry sighed in relief. "Brilliant."

"I don't know about you, but I felt really refreshed when I woke."

Harry stared at her for a moment before he nodded. "Me too."

"Good," Ginny said, relief flooding her. "So, now that we've both enjoyed our day off, we should head downstairs and figure out what to make for dinner. It will be fun, yeah?"

Harry grinned and all of the tension between them seemed to melt away. "Sounds great. What do you want to make?"

Ginny shrugged as they exited the bedroom and made their way down to the kitchen. She hopped up onto the countertop by the stove, spreading her legs out in a very unladylike way that would have her mother hollering if she saw as she looked over at Harry. She saw him looking through the pantry at what they had and he looked absolutely adorable.

There were so many things he was clueless about in life, and she figured cooking was just another life skill the Dursleys never taught him. She didn't mind doing a bulk of the cooking. Maybe he could chop or peel potatoes. She'd seen him helping at the Burrow with those tasks.

"What do you want me to cook?" Ginny asked.

Harry's brow furrowed. "You mean what do you want to cook together."

"It's all right. I can cook. Do you want to help with prep? I reckon we have so many potatoes that a Shepherd's pie would be a good choice."

"I can cook," Harry insisted.

Ginny arched an eyebrow. "Scrambled eggs and toast isn't what we're going for here."

"You don't believe me," Harry said in disbelief. "I'll have you know, I'm actually an excellent cook."

Ginny let her legs swing back and forth. "And what, are you trying to say you think you're better than me? The only daughter of Molly Weasley?"

Harry pursed his lips before he took a step towards her. Ginny's breath hitched when he was suddenly standing between her legs. "I can not only cook, but I can do so without a recipe," he declared, a challenge in his voice.

Ginny held her head up when his hands rested on the counter on either side of her waist, hoping her face wasn't red. "Can you?"

Harry leaned forward, their faces nearly touching. "I'll cook dinner and you can make a dessert. No recipes. Let's see who does better. Winner gets bragging rights."

Ginny's lips curved. "I'll bury you, Potter. I'm a Weasley, we come out of the womb knowing how to cook."

Harry chuckled. "You're underestimating me."

Ginny shrugged. "Maybe a little."

Suddenly, Harry's hands were on her sides. She sat very still as she stared into his green eyes. His glasses slid down his nose and he…

Ginny peeled to the right in laughter as Harry's fingers tickled under her armpits. She nearly fell off the counter, but Harry wrapped his arms around her to keep her steady. There was a rare smile on his lips, his eyes sparkling in a way she hadn't seen in years.

"You're on, Weasley."

They parted. Harry pulled ingredients out and started on what looked like a Shepherd's pie. At least he had taken her advice on the meal plan. She watched as he measured the ingredients with ease, not even pausing to think about what he was actually measuring or deciding how much should go in. Ginny suddenly felt like she had been duped as she grabbed the ingredients for a treacle tart.

She had seen her mother make enough of them for Harry over the years, had seen the way he had practically inhaled them. She could remember the first summer he stayed with them when he shyly took one small piece but eyed the rest of the pie as though silently asking for more. Her mother didn't hesitant to plop another piece on his and Ron's plate. If she concentrated enough, she could picture his soft smile and the way he thanked her mother.

He didn't hesitant to grab multiple slices at dinner whenever at school. Sometimes she thought he was bound to make himself sick. She could even remember one day he seemed like he was in the foulest of moods when he was fighting with Ron the previous year. He had forgone dinner and ate an entire tart all on his own without even batting an eyelid.

He slid the pie into the oven and turned around to grin at her. She pursed her lips to the side as she brushed a piece of hair out of her face with the back of her hand. It didn't stay and she sighed, ready to head over to the sink to wash her hands when Harry stepped forward and tucked the offending strand behind her ear.

"It looks good," he commented as he gestured towards her tart.

"Put it in for me?" she asked as she held the tart in her hands.

He smiled. "You trust me not to drop this on the floor and sabotage you?"

"If you do, I'll sneak an entire canister of salt onto your pie when it comes out."

Harry winced as he took the pie. "You play dirty."

"Then don't mess with my tart, Potter!" she exclaimed with a smile as she took a seat at the table. "Besides, that's treacle and there's no way you would let it go to waste."

Harry only rolled his eyes as he placed her tart into a separate oven and set the timer. He made his way over to the table and sat down next to her. Ginny licked her lips as she stared at Harry.

"Okay, how do we decide the winner?" Harry asked.

"Everyone will vote," Ginny decided. "Whoever has the better meal wins. Deal?"

"Deal," Harry agreed. "So, what's the plan now while we wait?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I was trying to finish up my homework this afternoon. I've been putting it off."

"Anything I can help with?" Harry asked.

"Depends," Ginny said, her eyes on his. "You take Divination, right?"

"Unfortunately," Harry replied.

"Well, do you remember the summer assignment last year?" she asked.

Harry's face scrunched up. "No. Ron and I normally just make up everything. The darker the better."

Ginny tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Well, it's a Palmistry assignment. You know, palm reading. I have to read five people's palms. I read Mum's, Tonks', Sirius', and I need two more people. Hermione said it was rubbish and no. Ron and the twins were being difficult. Can I read yours while we wait for dinner to cook?"

"Uh, I guess? I think I just put a bunch of nonsense. I do remember I said my uncle would die of a heart attack at fifty."

"Wait right here. I'm going to grab my book."

Ginny rushed upstairs to her and Hermione's room. She grabbed her Divination book and made sure that her homework was in the front cover. She grabbed a few quills of different colors before she bounded down the stairs. Harry was where she left him, his finger drawing shapes into the wood. She slid in next to him and deposited her things on the table. She opened her book to the correct chapter, smoothed her half-finished homework out on the table, and grabbed a quill. She wrote Harry's name neatly after bullet point four.

"All right, your dominate hand, please," she said with a smile.

Harry reached out his right hand. Ginny took it in her hands. There were little callouses on his fingers and they were rough to the touch. She swallowed a little lump in her throat as her index finger ran along his heart line.

"So, your heart line looks like it curves from your pinky to your index finger," Ginny said as she glanced over at her book. "That means you're a very caring and giving person."

"Really?" Harry asked, his brows raising above his glasses. "You may want to put that it indicates that I'll have a heart attack or two."

Ginny rolled her eyes as she quickly wrote down the information about his heart line on her parchment before turning back to his hand. She traced his head line next with her finger and studied the way it curved before consulting her book. Around and around they went, Ginny interpreting his life.

"Oh," Ginny said with a frown. "Your life line is frayed."

"Oh, this should be good. Really make it colorful so you can get a good grade," Harry joked.

"A frayed life lines means that you'll have health issues when you're older," she said and ran her finger to the next section. "You have two circles in your life line."

Harry's brow furrowed. "Maybe I'll die twice."

"Circles mean that you get very hurt, the size representing the seriousness."

Ginny glanced back at his hand and noticed that the second circle in his life line was far bigger than the first one. Her heart beat harsh in her chest. Surely, it didn't mean anything and this was just silliness. She couldn't help the uneasiness she felt about the second circle in particular.

"Maybe I'll be close to death," Harry said in an amused tone.

Ginny looked up at him to see him looking mildly amused down at his palm. If he wasn't worried about it, why should she be?

"All right, let's get to the fun stuff!" Ginny announced, her fingers running up his palm.

"There's fun stuff involved?" Harry asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes, like marriage lines and kid lines."

Harry still looked skeptical. "I don't think you can tell how many kids you're going to have based off some lines on your palm."

Ginny just hummed as she traced the marriage line on his hand – one solid and unwavering one. She noticed the three and a half lines above the marriage line and consulted her book.

"Well, you'll have a loving marriage. No nasty love triangles or anything disappointing. You'll have three kids," Ginny concluded. "No, three and a half kids? How is that even possible? Never mind, we'll come back to that later."

Harry laughed. "Right. Are you almost done? Or are you going to tell me what age I'll die? Must be at least forty if I have three and a half kids."

"Palms don't get that specific, Harry."

His eyes danced. "You just told me I was going to have three and a half kids. Is that not specific?"

"Point taken," Ginny said as she dropped his hand. "Thank you for the help."

Harry leaned forward and looked at Ginny's assignment. "You need to put something awful in my section. She expects it. Ron and I predict my death and misery a lot. It's not going to be consistent. Ron and I had to do tarot card readings this summer and I predicted my own death at twenty-five."

"Harry!" she exclaimed, hitting him in the chest lightly. "That's awful."

"I'll get an O on the assignment though, so…" Harry bopped his head from side to side.

"You're awful."

The oven beeped. Harry only smiled as he went over to take out his Shepherd's pie. He opened the oven and mumbled under his breath. He glanced back at Ginny, his glasses fogged up completely to the point she was sure he couldn't see anything. He leaned back to take them off and cleaned them on his t-shirt before righting them on his face. Then he expertly shifted away to prevent it from happening again as he took the food from the oven.

Ginny had to admit, it smelt delicious. He caught her sniffing the air and winked at her.

"I win already?"

"Don't be so sure," Ginny teased. "You haven't tried my tart."

By the time everyone piled in, Ginny's stomach was grumbling at the smells. Ron was particularly grumpy when he sat down as apparently Fred and George shoved him into a cupboard and refused to let him out for a good half hour.

"All right, attention everyone!" Ginny said loudly before everyone dug into their meal. "Harry and I made this a competition. One of us cooked the Shepherd's pie and the other baked the treacle tart. You have to decide which one was better."

"Well, which one did you do?" Ron asked. "I want to vote for Harry."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We're not telling you. Your taste buds will just have to decide."

Ron scowled as he dug into his pie and looked suspiciously between the two as though looking for a reaction. Ginny took a bite of her pie and nearly moaned. Harry's pie rivaled her own mother's cooking! How did she not know how good of a cook he was? She looked over at Harry and gestured towards the pie. He only winked at her.

"Delicious!" she mouthed, rubbing her stomach and rolling her eyes in the back of her head.

Harry chuckled as he took a bite of his pie. The general consensus around the table was that dinner was one of the best ones all summer. Molly positively beamed as she ate. When it was time for dessert, everyone seemed pleasantly surprised. Harry grinned after his first bite before he put his fork down.

"I concede. This is the best treacle tart I've ever had, no offense, Mrs. Weasley."

Molly's smile widened. "None taken, dear. I taught my daughter well."

"Does that mean I've won?" Ginny asked, jumping to her feet.

She did a little happy dance that made Fred throw a napkin at her. When she sat back down, her eyes met Harry's and the amusement in them had her smiling back. Maybe Hermione had a point. Being herself around him and being friendly meant something. Even if they never became anything more than this, she knew she was the one who had made him smile amidst his gloomy summer.

And maybe that was enough.

For now.

Hope you enjoyed this little two-shot! Don't forget to drop a review. They motivate me to keep writing, inspire new ideas, and just generally make my weekend. I'll keep posting one/two-shots as long as you guys keep reviewing and giving them love!

Special thanks to Bell for editing this so quick. You are a machine! Special thanks to Brie. I don't even know where to begin as she not only inspired chapter two but made it what it is. I was struggling something awful with this chapter and she swooped in with her red pen and helped me make it ten times better. So don't forget to thank her because this wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her.