AN: As always I do not own Harry Potter or the world and characters created by J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I only own the story that they are taking part in.
He awoke with a start, the scent of roses and lavender and the cream colored skin of the redhead they had belonged to dissolving into the dream that had awoken him. He sat upright and shook his head, wondering where the dream had come from. The girl in the dream he knew quite well, a strong bond of friendship lay between himself and her older brother. He was puzzled by the sudden and unexpected depth of the dream and wondered momentarily where it had come from.
Sighing, he grabbed his glasses and pressed them on his face, pushing back his messy black bangs as he did so. The clock on his bedside table stated that it was only six in the morning, the faint light of dawn splayed through a narrow gap in the curtains of the dorm room.
"What the hell?" Harry said aloud to no one in particular, hoping the answer would somehow appear.
"Sorry?" Seamus said as he rose from his four poster to look at him.
"It's nothing." Harry said with a shake of his head. "Just a strange dream."
"Well, can ya keep it down?" he said with a frown. "Some of us are still tryin' ta sleep."
"Sorry." Harry said with a sigh as he slipped from his own bed and grabbed the stack of clothes he had set aside the night before.
Crossing the room, he exited and headed toward the bathroom across the stairway from their dorm. Entering he quickly crossed over to one of the showers and began to undress, hoping that a shower would help to relieve his confusion. He stepped into the shower and sighed as the warm water began to wash over him, relaxing as he washed and the dream faded from his mind.
He dressed and proceeded down to the common room where he was not surprised to find Hermione sitting quietly in one of the armchairs near the fire. He strode over and sat down in the empty chair near her and watched while she added a few words on the parchment in her lap with a quick flourish. Looking up she blinked and smiled softly at him.
"Good morning." She said brightly as he returned her smile. "You are up early, Quidditch practices don't start for another week."
"Yeah." He said with a shrug. "I had a strange dream and it woke me." He said as the reason for his early rise returned to him and he frowned in puzzlement.
"Oh?" She asked, concern etching itself quickly onto her face. "Was it something like the dreams you had last year, when..." She asked, trailing off at the mention of Sirius and the strange vision dreams he had when Voldemort was feeling an extreme emotion. The visions that Voldemort had used to lure them to the Ministry and the battle that had lead to his godfather's death.
"No." He said, looking down at the fire with a sigh at the reminder of the loss. He still felt a hole in his heart that seemed unable to be mended since Sirius's death. "It was a good dream. But confusing." He said, looking back up at her and despite his affirmation that it was not one of those dreams she could see the pain in his eyes of the loss.
"I see." She said with a nod. "Anything I can do to help relieve the confusion?" She asked, setting aside her schoolwork and focusing all of her attention on him.
"I'm not sure." He said, the details of the dream had faded significantly by now, though he still remembered quite a bit of it. "The biggest part of the dream that confused me was the person in it."
"Oh?" She asked, and he could tell she was curious now. "Who was it?"
"Ginny." He said, feeling the confusion again overwhelm him.
"Ginny?" She asked, looking him over with a raised eyebrow. "You dreamed of Ginny?"
"Yeah." He said with a frown. "I don't understand it either. In the dream we were together." He continued with a sigh. "Not sexually or anything, just cuddling and talking." He added to quickly bypass any misunderstanding that could arise.
"I see." She said with a nod. "I don't understand, do you like her?" She asked as she continued to watch him.
"I think she is a great friend and a fierce fighter." He said, stating the obvious. "But I have never considered her in that sort of way before." He continued with a frown. "She's Ron's sister for one thing, not to mention we have never spent time together for that sort of thought to cross my mind."
Hermione smiled. "You can develop those sorts of feelings without time together like that you know." She said with a sigh. "However, you didn't answer my question, do you fancy her?"
Harry looked at her, raising an eyebrow as he thought. "She's pretty." He said with a shrug. "And she can be quite feisty at times." He said, smiling softly at the memories that arose with that statement. "But I am not sure of those sorts of things would constitute as me fancying her."
"Maybe it was just a dream then, one never can discern what the world of the subconscious may be trying to say fully." She said with a shrug and sighing. "You know she fancies you though."
"What?" He said, shock and confusion written on his face.
Hermione nodded with a faint smile. "Yes, she has liked you for a long time Harry." She said with a sigh. "Since she first met you actually." She continued with a smirk.
He was unsure what to say to this information. Ginny Weasley liked him, how had he never noticed if this were true. He sighed and briefly reviewed all of the memories he could recall about the youngest Weasley, nothing out of the ordinary came forth to proclaim the truth of this matter.
Hermione sighed. "You don't remember how she used to act around you?" She asked with a laugh. "Back when she first came to Hogwarts, always blushing and running away when she saw you?"
Harry nodded with a frown. "Yeah, but I thought all of that was because of her being used by Voldemort." He said with a shrug.
Hermione nodded with a sad sigh. "Well, part of that may have been the case. But no, she has liked you since you first came to the Burrow." She said in a soft tone. "Since the moment she first met you."
Harry thought back to that first meeting, a brief glimpse of a young redheaded Ginny who was no larger than a beanstalk. He laughed as he remembered her startled expression and how she had ran from the room. He had thought then that maybe she was shy, but that was by far the least likely word to describe the furry young woman.
He sighed pointedly. Did he like her, he was not sure but he did intend to give the matter some thought before making a final decision. Taking a moment to clear his head he shrugged the matter off for now.
"You are up early this morning." He said with a wave to her books. "Homework at this hour of the morning?"
Hermione nodded with a smirk as she caught the hint that the matter was to be dropped. "Yeah, I wanted to get a head start on the essay Professor Slughorn assigned us due in October." She said with a shrug. "I like being punctual."
Harry laughed with a gentle smile. "You are that Hermione." He said with a grin. "I will try to get on top of that soon though." He said with a shrug. Homework was not his favorite task to work on.
"You better, I am sure he would not like it if his star student were to be late with an assignment." She said with mild iritation.
Harry frowned, he didn't like how much Slughorn doted on him though he understood the reasons Dumbledore had wanted him to allow it. Despite the fact that term had only started a week ago, Dumbledore had already called him to his office and instructed him on what he wanted Harry to do. It was weird the things that he had divulged to Harry since Sirius's death. The fact that so much of the terrible things that had happened to him and were happening around him were due to a prophecy only brought a bigger dilemma to the fray.
"At least you don't have to let him do it, you know how I hate the attention it brings." He said with a sigh. He was glad that Dumbledore had allowed him to divulge all that he was learning with Ron and Hermione, he trusted them above all others not only because they were his best friends, but because he knew that they would stand by his side no matter the outcome. They were his rock and armor in this turbulent maelstrom.
She smiled softly, showing him that she knew he did not ask for the treatment. "I know." She said quietly and he could tell that she did understand fully.
A sudden commotion behind them caused the two of them to look up as Ginny and Dean came through the portrait hole arguing. He turned away to give them some privacy as the words of the argument rang out for any nearby to hear.
"Up all night, what if we had been caught!" Ginny was hissing at him with a venomous tone to her anger. "I swear, if you ever do this to me again I will hex you."
"Oy, keep your hair down." Dean said with a sigh. "I wasn't paying attention to the bloody time." He continued with a shrug. "I'm sorry Gin, I was just trying to have a good evening with you."
"A good evening!" She spat. "You call dragging me out to the Three Broomsticks with no money, making me pay for the damned meal and then proceeding to force me to stay up with you all night so that you could get your fill of snogging a good evening?"
Dean winced as her voice grew in volume. "I'm sorry for that Gin, I didn't mean to forget my money pouch." He said with a sigh. "But I was so excited for us to slip away and be alone together I must have forgotten to grab it." He said apologetically. "I didn't mean for you to have to pay, I know your fam-"
A loud grunted escaped him at the sound of her had smacking him across the face. She glared at him as he stood there dumbstruck before her, his hand slowly rising up to where she had hit him. Her wand already in her hand as she waited for him to speak. When he did not she let her wand drop to her side.
"Don' you ever speak about my family and our problems again." She said, her voice darker than Harry had ever heard it before and prayed he never would again. "I am going to bed Dean, don't bother waiting for me when you wake. I won't be joining you again today or tonight."
Harry looked up as she vanished up the stairs to the girl's dormitories and he quickly returned his gaze to Hermione. He could tell that she was just as surprised as he was by the display that had just occurred before them. He sighed inwardly, making a mental promise to himself never to upset Ginny for fear that the anger he had just seen be unleashed upon him or worse. He felt Hermione sigh as well before the sounds of Dean disappearing up the stairs to their dorm.
"Sounds like they had a rough night." He said with a raised eyebrow.
Hermione nodded quietly. "They have been having a rough time for a while now." She said with a frown. "I don't know why she doesn't just call it off, all they do is argue anymore." She continued with a sigh.
This only gave Harry pause to think as his former thoughts returned and he wondered again if he fancied Ginny. He still had no answer for the questions and forced them back to their resting place for later observation. Looking about the room he suggested that they head down for an early breakfast and they set off for the Great Hall together.