"Effloresce"

"Chapter Two: Snakes"

Harry stared into Ginny's brown eyes. The moonlight danced off her hair, all the golds and reds nearly sparkling. It was just bright enough to count all of the freckles on her face, to see the tiny ones that even peppered her lips, to see the little peek of a mole in her hairline. Their bodies moved closer, slowly and steadily. Her lips brushed against his, so soft and tender. They were sticky with her lip gloss, so warm and it felt so right.

His hand rose up and cupped her face as though on pure instinct. He tugged her closer to him, her breasts pressing against his chest as their lips glided across one another's. His palm slid back, his fingers tangling into her shimmering strands. Harry had never been happier in his life, all of his anxieties and fears slipping from his body. There was something so familiar and comfortable about Ginny's touch, something he couldn't explain for the life of him.

"Harry!"

He frowned at his name being called in the distance, so soft and indistinct. He ignored it as he didn't want to be disturbed from the moment of pure bliss he was currently partaking in. Ginny's fingers trailed down his chest and sent shivers down his spine. Lower and lower she went until…

"Merlin fuck, Harry, wake up!"

Harry's eyes snapped open and he shot up in the camp bed in Ron's room. Ron stared at him as he tossed a t-shirt at him. It was only then that Harry realized that his hand was down his boxers and he blushed a deep Weasley red. He withdrew his hand quickly and fumbled for the blanket to cover himself up.

"Who were you dreaming about?" Ron inquired.

"Nobody!" Harry said in a rush, his voice higher and squeakier than normal. "I mean, nobody. It was, you know, not anybody but just a thing. It's a thing. You know. M-morning wood. It's just… yeah."

Ron's eyebrows shot up. "You were moaning something in your sleep. Come on, we're best mates. If you can't talk about this with me, who can you talk to it about it?"

Nobody. He could talk about this with precisely nobody. There was no way in hell that he could tell his best mate that he was having dreams about his little sister touching him… there. There was nobody else in the entire world that he would even feel comfortable enough with to say anything to.

"It wasn't a… a specific person," Harry lied and tried to sneakily adjust himself underneath the blanket. "Can you stop staring?"

Ron laughed. "Well, all right. What did she look like? Black hair? Small and petite like Cho?"

"Cho?" Harry choked out. "No!"

"Oh?" Ron inquired, crossing his arms over his chest. "What then?"

"Care to share who you dream about?" Harry challenged.

Ron nodded. "All right. Fair point. See you downstairs for breakfast?"

"Give me a minute," Harry muttered.

"Just a minute? Mate, come on, you can last longer than that."

Harry reached behind him to grab his pillow and pitch it at Ron. Except Ron darted out of the bedroom door just in time. Harry growled, adjusting himself before collapsing down onto the mattress. He was so screwed.

After trying to get rid of his little problem but failing by just thinking about cringe-worthy things, Harry found himself in the loo for a quick wank where he definitely did not think about Ginny Weasley but instead thought of some faceless redhead with freckles and brown eyes and… fuck. Harry's jaw clenched and he slammed his head against the back of the shower wall. Ginny was pretty. There was no denying that, but he certainly didn't fancy her. If he didn't fancy her, then he shouldn't be thinking about her in his dreams or while in the loo or anywhere really.

He tightened his grip around himself and stared across the room. Shiny black hair had been tainted for him. Brown hair only made him think about Hermione. A blonde… okay, a blonde female. Harry bit his bottom lip and squinted. A blonde with freckles and brown eyes. A strawberry blonde. Fuck.

"Stop it," Harry hissed to no one. "Don't mess up the only good thing in your bloody life."

Harry looked down at himself and tried to suppress the groan in the back of his throat. What was the matter with him? He and Ginny were friends, had been good friends for the past year now. Their friendship had really started to blossom the summer they spent together at Grimmauld Place. She had been fun and smart during the DA meetings. She didn't hesitate to join him in the Department of Mysteries. There weren't a lot of people Harry could count on in his life, and Ginny had risen to the top of the list slowly and steadily over the course of the past year. He was going to ruin his friendship with her by thinking about her in ways he shouldn't think about her in. She had a boyfriend. She didn't have a crush on him any longer. There were no elbows in butter dishes or blushing or stammering any longer. She just saw him as a friend and he knew he viewed her as a friend. He had missed his chance with her because he had been too bloody blind to see what was right in front of him.

He bit the inside of his cheek and let go of himself. The Weasleys had been so good to him, so welcoming, so amazing. He felt like he truly belonged, like he was some honorary Weasley. He needed to control himself. Ginny was just his friend. He enjoyed hanging out with her. He enjoyed playing games with her and talking to her. She made him feel calm and happy. He didn't want to muck that all up.

He took a quick extra cold shower before he made his way down to breakfast. Hermione and Ron sat side by side. The spot next to Ginny was open. Harry took the seat, trying to discretely scoot it away from her as he moved it closer to the table. Nobody seemed to notice as he thanked Mrs. Weasley for the plate and he dug into his breakfast.

After breakfast, the foursome went outside where Harry did his best not to look over by the pond where Ginny laid out on a blanket in nothing but a bikini underneath the sun's rays. Every time she laughed at something Hermione said, her chest bounced and a smile spread across her lips. The freckles seemed to squish together on her nose. Her skin was already a soft pink. He wondered if she needed help applying more sunscreen potion.

He knew Hermione was next to her in a one-piece swimsuit, but he had zero interest in looking over at her. His eyes seemed to focus on Ginny and only Ginny. Then something large and round slammed into his face. Harry winced, cussing under his breath as he snapped his attention to Ron who threw his hands up in the air.

"You're supposed to catch the Quaffle, Harry!" Ron said in an exasperated tone.

Harry scowled. "I know."

"Look alive!" Ron said. "Merlin, it's like playing with Percy. Quaffles are meant to be caught. I know you're used to little balls, but the big balls get caught, all right?"

"Piss off, Ron," Harry snapped.

"What were you looking at anyway?"

"A bird," Harry said, his mouth suddenly dry.

Ron narrowed his eyes. "What kind of bird?"

"A… it was… red," he replied lamely.

"Not brown? With curly… feathers?"

Harry's brow furrowed. "What? No! I don't… like curly brown feathers on a bird."

"Just red feathers then?" Ron asked, his brows raising.

"I suppose red is a very nice color for a bird," Harry settled on saying.

"Not brown with a blue... erm stomach."

"What?" Harry exclaimed, looking at Ron in confusion.

"Not the one with curly... feathers then?" Ron asked. "I think I like brown curly feathers on… birds."

Harry nodded, wondering what exactly they were talking about at this point. "I think I sort of fancy red on a bird. Straight red feathers that are… long. That's… all right, isn't it?"he asked tentatively, wondering if they were really talking about what he thought they were.

"I mean, as long as it's not curly brown feathers, I'd say it's all right."

"Yeah, that's… all right, mate," Harry said, turning his eyes back to the sunlight dancing over Ginny's hair. "I'm glad we cleared that up."

"Me too,"Ron added, tossing the Quaffle up into the air.

Harry swallowed as Ginny laughed. He had never been more thankful to know that Ron bought his bizarre bird story. His friend would kill him if he knew the thoughts he was having were about his sister. The Quaffle almost hit him in the face again, tearing his gaze away from Ginny. Yes, definitely good Ron didn't know his thoughts. But what the hell had Ron been on about? Brown and blue birds? Curly feathered birds? Sometimes he had no idea what the hell Ron was talking about.

They tossed the Quaffle back and forth a few more times, but Harry's head wasn't really in the game. He kept resisting the urge to glance over at Ginny's teeny tiny flowered bikini. He caught the Quaffle, sucking in a breath as someone screamed.

Harry's heart dropped to his stomach as he whipped around to see Ginny scrambling up from the ground. The Quaffle slipped from his hands as he bolted into a sprint towards her, his hand reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wand. His eyes scanned frantically around Ginny and Hermione but saw nothing except Ginny screaming and Hermione looking confused as she hopped onto a nearby picnic table.

His eyes snapped to Ginny, his eyes raking over her pale freckled skin as she shrieked again. Their eyes locked and Harry saw the terror in her eyes. She threw herself at him, her arms encircling around his neck as her legs wrapped around his waist. His wand arm wrapped around her waist as his free hand rested down further on her bum. He blinked, realizing that his hand was on her bum, half on the cloth of her swimsuit and half on her bare skin.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

"What's wrong? Are you all right?" Harry asked Ginny before turning his attention to Hermione. "What is going on?"

"Snake," Ginny whispered, her lips under his ear as she pressed her mouth into the crook of his neck.

"Snake?" Harry asked.

Ron burst into laughter. "It's a gardener snake, Ginny!"

Ron picked it up and flung it out across the orchard before he moved to help Hermione off the picnic table. Harry opened his mouth to snap at Ron for being so insensitive to his sister's fears when Ginny pulled her head away from Harry's neck.

"Well, sorry if I'm not a big fan of them ever since I found myself in a chamber with a bloody basilisk, Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, her thighs still wrapped tightly around Harry's waist.

"You're all right," Harry said as he rested his forehead against hers. "It's gone."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Harry assured her as Ron cackled.

"Bloody mental," Ron muttered.

Harry sent his best mate a scowl. Ginny made a motion to leave his arms, and Harry frowned. She had felt so warm against him, molding perfectly into his body. He kept a hand on the small of her back as she stayed close to him.

"I think I'm going to go inside," Ginny said, her bottom lip sliding between her teeth. "In case there are more."

"What? No, that's not necessary," Harry said in a rush. "I'll look for more and tell them to leave you alone."

Ginny looked up at him, a smile dancing on her lips before she smacked him in the arm. "Don't tease me."

"I'm not!" Harry exclaimed with a crooked grin. "I can speak to snakes, you know. I'll tell them to leave and not come back. We'll look together, how about that?"

Ginny smirked. "Only if you carry me while we look."

Harry felt his heart skip a beat, his mind flashing to just the previous day when Ginny was on his back and she pressed up against him. "Whatever makes you feel comfortable. How do you, err… want me to… hold you?"

She slapped his arm again. "Turn around and bend over."

Harry furrowed his brow but did as he was told. She jumped onto his back, her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He pressed his hands on her thighs and hiked her up into a more comfortable position with ease. His heart somersaulted in his chest as he thought about how he was quickly becoming a professional at giving her a piggyback ride.

"My hero," Ginny said as she kicked out her leg.

Harry tightened his grip on her thighs as he took a step forward. "Come on, let's go investigate just to make sure."

Ginny laughed as he carried her around the back garden. It wasn't long before Mrs. Weasley came running towards the group, her wand out in front of her and looked between the teenagers.

"What's going on? I thought I heard a scream!" Mrs. Weasley said, her hand over her heart.

"I'm sorry, Mum, we're all right," Ginny assured. "I saw a snake."

"It's fine," Harry added. "We're just checking for snakes, so I can ask them to leave."

Molly stared at them for a few moments, her eyes softening as she looked between Harry and Ginny. A watery smile crossed her features and Harry shifted.

"That's lovely, dears," she said. "Carry on. I'll have lunch ready in about an hour. I'll call you in then."

Harry nodded as they continued on their hunt for snakes. Harry found one lone snake, perhaps the one that Ron had thrown earlier. He crouched down as Ginny tightened her grip around his neck. He kindly asked the snake to leave Ginny alone as she had a bad experience with a snake before and to tell all of his friends. The snake nodded and said he would avoid the area as there was a human who threw snakes for sport. He stood up and watched the snake slither away.

"See? All better," Harry said.

Ginny pressed her cheek against the side of his head. "They really don't bother you? Even after what happened?"

Harry licked his lips. He didn't have any friends growing up at the Dursleys. He thought about how he would talk to snakes, spiders, and other little critters. He had always pictured them as his friends before. Nothing really bothered him when it came to small living creatures.

"Not really," he said. "They won't harm you unless you harm them."

"Thank you, Harry," she whispered as he felt her thighs slip from his palms.

She stood next to him and she adjusted her bikini top to cover herself up properly. Harry swallowed thickly as he tried not to look at her. Her hands attached themselves to his arm and she pressed herself into his side, her head resting on his bicep.

"Anytime," he replied.

They made their way back to the Burrow hand in hand. It felt so right to be holding her hand and listening to her talk. She didn't stop talking, the words falling out of her mouth like a calming melody.

When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley had already made them plates of food. There was a letter sitting at the table addressed to Ginny. A frown formed on her face as she let go of him and tucked a piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. She grabbed the letter and ran her thumb under tape on the paper.

Tape. Paper.

Harry blinked and suddenly realized that it must have been from Dean. Only a Muggleborn would write letters on paper and not parchment and seal it with a piece of tape. A wave of guilt washed over him. He had been ogling and holding Ginny all morning. He took a seat at the table and watched as her eyes flew across the sheet of paper. There was no smile on her face as she concentrated on the words.

Harry tore his gaze away from her and stared at his plate of food. Ginny Weasley was his friend and he needed to stop thinking about her as anything but that.

Harry ran as fast as his legs would take him, down a narrow pathway covered in carved snakes. Ginny lay on the stone, her red hair fanned out around her head. Her Hogwarts skirt was twisted around her waist, the top buttons of her blouse gone, and her face so pale. She was not eleven years old but instead fourteen and so pretty. He could see the shininess on her lips from her strawberry lip gloss, the faint hint of black around her eyes, the sparkling little hoops on her ears.

His heart pounded in his chest as he fell to the ground beside her, his hand touching her neck to feel for a pulse. She was alive but just barely. He saw the leather diary peeking out from underneath her body and he snatched it up, his veins turning to ice.

No. No. No.

Not again.

His throat narrowed as tears burned his eyes. He searched around for the Basilisk, ready to kill it and stab the diary once more to save Ginny. Except there was just the carcass. He rose slowly and walked towards the Basilisk on shaky legs. All of the fangs were missing. There was nothing to stab the diary with. Harry's stomach turned to stone.

"She's dead this time," a cold voice said behind him.

Harry whipped around to see Lord Voldemort brushing Ginny's hair off her face. His red eyes stared up at him, his face so white that it looked unnatural, his handsome features gone and wasted away to nothing. He looked the same as he did in the graveyard when he rose from the cauldron.

"Don't touch her," Harry said in a dangerously low voice.

"I will kill everyone you care about," Voldemort told him, a sneer working its way onto his features. "You will have no one left, Harry Potter."

"NO!"

Harry dashed forward, his hand out.

His body collided with something hard, a loud thump sounding in his ears.

Harry forced his eyes open to find himself on the floor of Ron's bedroom in the Burrow. He rose up until he was on his hands and knees, his entire body quaking with fear or adrenaline or maybe both. He blinked down at the hardwood floor, sweat sliding into the corners of his eyes. He wiped his face before he stood up on shaking legs.

That was new.

He had had plenty of bad dreams over the years. He had even visited the Chamber plenty of times the summer after it happened. Except he had never dreamt about something bad happening that didn't actually happen. Ginny Weasley hadn't appeared in a bad dream since he was thirteen years old and she certainly had not appeared as any older than eleven. He blinked, carding a hand through his sweaty locks as he looked around the room. He grabbed his joggers and a t-shirt. He dressed quickly before grabbing his glasses and then exiting the bedroom.

His heart sank when the downstairs was completely dark. That would mean that Ginny was not up and wandering around somewhere downstairs. Their late-night talk had made him feel better before. He had a good dream for the first time in a very long time. He pushed down the disappointment in his chest as he made his way to the kitchen to make some tea.

Harry watched the kettle on the stove, his arms crossed over his chest. He was so engrossed in waiting for it to steam that he didn't notice anyone entering the kitchen until a hand touched his arm. He jumped and wheeled around to see Ginny standing before him. She looked so tiny in that moment, her body trembling and face pale.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked, instincts kicking in as he pulled her into an embrace.

She buried her face into his t-shirt. "Bad dream."

Harry rested his chin on the top of her head. "Do you get bad dreams often?"

"Every night," Ginny admitted as she turned her head and pressed her cheek against his chest. "Ever since the night he returned."

Harry sucked in a breath. "Same as before?"

"No," she whispered. "It's not always the Chamber."

"What was it then?" he asked.

She only shook her head and pulled away. She didn't look at him as she wrapped her arms around her midsection. Harry couldn't help but frown, feeling like their relationship had taken a huge step back.

"Did I… did I do something?" Harry asked, his brow furrowing.

"What?" she asked, whipping around to look at him.

"I just, last night we… we talked and I felt better, you know? I thought, I thought you felt better too."

Ginny's brows furrowed. "I did."

"All right," Harry said, feeling dumb that he didn't understand what had changed in a matter of twenty-four hours.

She shivered. "I just, I didn't think you'd want to hear about this dream."

"It can't possibly be worse than you dreaming about killing me," Harry said, trying to keep the tone light.

Ginny bit her bottom lip. "It was about… that night."

Harry's brows furrowed. "That night?"

"The night that Sirius…"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise and he nodded slowly. He didn't even consider that anyone else would have nightmares about that particular night. He supposed it was all rather traumatic. Ron had brains wrapped around him, Hermione had fallen after being struck with a spell, Ginny had hurt her ankle… they had all followed him into what very well could have been their deaths.

"I'm sorry," Harry said lamely.

Ginny's jaw clenched. "This is why I didn't want to say anything. You just blame yourself. You don't even think for a second that we wanted to go because we cared about Sirius too!"

"I didn't say you didn't," Harry replied, taking a step back.

"He was nice to me," Ginny whispered. "He sat up with me to talk to me in the middle of the night after a nightmare. He gave me advice and he wrote to me as often as it was safe. I cared for him. I hated the thought of him being hurt. I didn't go to the Ministry for you. I went for him, because I wanted to help him."

"He was fine," Harry said in a soft tone, his face falling. "He was safe at Grimmauld Place. I was fooled."

"It doesn't matter," Ginny said, taking a step forward and grabbing his hands in hers. "Anyone would have believed it."

"You don't understand," Harry bit back. "I was supposed to learn how to keep him out. I wasn't getting remedial potions lessons from Snape. I was supposed to be learning how to block him out of my mind, but I wasn't doing that. I thought it was stupid and hard and I didn't want to be stuck with Snape to learn it. I didn't try hard enough and Sirius paid the price."

"Sirius wouldn't have blamed you," Ginny said, her thumb rubbing against his knuckles.

"He doesn't have to. I blame myself enough as it is," Harry snapped.

"Do you blame him? For your parents' deaths?" Ginny asked, her brown eyes searching his. "He tried to protect them. He tried to protect you. Just like you tried to protect him. We try our hardest to protect the ones we love, but it doesn't always work out the way we planned. You were just trying to protect him."

Harry's eyes slid closed, letting her words sink into him. He felt her lean forward, her one hand cupping the back of his neck. He bent forward, his forehead connecting with hers. He felt her warmth slither down his spine and he sucked in a breath.

She was right.

Harry opened his eyes and stared at her. He wondered for the first time how he had ever survived without her. She was so kind, so understanding, so easy to talk to. He didn't feel embarrassed or awkward around her. He didn't feel like he was burdening her with his problems nor did he feel like she looked down on him.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I think I needed to hear that."

"I'll always be here to knock some sense into you," she replied with a smile.

The thought of that made Harry grin.

The kettle whistled. Ginny stepped around him quickly to grab it off the stove. She sat it down on a different burner before she grabbed two cups so she could pour them some tea. Harry grabbed the milk and honey for her and sat them down at the kitchen table. She sat down next to him, scooting her chair closer to his.

"I'm glad you're here, Harry," Ginny said as he splashed some milk into her tea. "Mum wanted you to come home with us immediately. She said you needed to be around people who cared about you and not stuck with the Muggles. I quite agreed with her. I wish you could have come home with us."

"Me too," Harry admitted as he wrapped his hands around his cup.

Ginny wrinkled her nose. "I don't know how you drink that black."

Harry let out a small chuckle. He had never had tea with anything in it before. His aunt had never allowed him to add anything to his tea before. Dudley just plain refused to have any so Harry had always felt like it was a treat as a kid. It was something he could enjoy without Dudley even if he wasn't allowed to try anything in it.

"I don't know how you drink it with all that stuff in there," Harry settled on saying as she put a spoonful of honey into her tea and then stirred it.

"With a smile," Ginny replied as she smiled and took a sip of her tea. "Ahh, delicious!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you want some biscuits?" Ginny asked. "I know where Mum hides them."

Harry only grinned impossibly wider. "You do know your mum always blames Ron for sneaking biscuits? He always tries to tell her it's you but she doesn't believe him. Here it's true! I truly didn't believe him for a while."

Ginny laughed as she picked up the chair from the table and carried it over to the pantry. She stepped up and rose on her tiptoes and leaned in to grab a basket on the very top shelf. She grunted as she attempted to rise up higher onto her tiptoes, her fingers just barely touching the rim of the basket.

"Bloody hell," she grunted. "Ron set me up. I can't reach!"

She lowered her heels and her arms crossed over her chest in a pout. Harry grinned, finding her rather adorable. He rose from the table and walked across the room and placed a foot onto the wooden chair.

"Budge over," he said.

She smiled at him as she moved over to allow him onto the chair with her. The chair creaked under their combined weight but held. Harry couldn't help but think that the only thing keeping them from falling flat on their arses was magic as he reached for the basket without having to rise on his tiptoes. He held the basket for her as she opened a few different tins to find the biscuits she was looking for. She grabbed a piece of greaseproof paper from one of the tins and piled biscuits on top of it.

"I knew there was a reason to keep you around," she said, a wide grin on her face and her voice light.

He laughed as he pushed the basket back onto the shelf, making sure to push it against the wall where it had been, to clear Ginny's name. "Yes, well, sadly I wasn't this tall last summer so I wouldn't have been much help."

Ginny shrugged as she held the greaseproof paper filled with biscuits close to her chest. "You grew last year. You could have done it."

Harry stepped off the chair. "Um, I don't think so."

Ginny handed him the biscuits so she could jump down. "I thought you were taller last year. We used to be around the same size and then last summer you were a lot taller than me."

Harry held out the biscuits to her before he grabbed the chair to put it back. "Maybe you shrank."

Ginny rolled her eyes as she sat the biscuits onto the table and grabbed one. "Don't even joke about that. I'm short enough as it is."

Harry grabbed a biscuit and took a bite. "I like that you're so short."

"Why in Merlin's name would you like that?" Ginny asked, the biscuit hovering in mid-air.

"It means you'll keep me around," Harry said with a smirk. "You need me to reach the biscuits that Ron tries to put out of your reach so he's not blamed for it."

Ginny sat her half-eaten biscuit down onto the table between them. She held out her hands to him and Harry hesitated a few moments before he sat down his biscuit. He placed his hands in hers. She drew their joined hands close to her chest and the backs of his fingers brushed against her breasts.

"I keep you around for more than your superior height," Ginny said in a very serious tone.

Harry licked his lip, his heart hammering in his chest. "Oh? Why else do you keep me around?"

A mischievous smile tugged on her lips. "Because no matter how bad of a hair day I have, I can take one look at you and feel better that I don't have your unruly mess of hair."

Harry's mouth dropped opened, a mix between a chuckle and an odd whining noise escaping his lips. He tried to tug his hands out from her grasp but she held on tightly, squeezing his fingertips with all her might.

"Oi! Rude!" Harry exclaimed.

Ginny's eyes sparkled as she dropped one of his hands and ran her fingers through his hair. "Look at this. It's sticking straight up."

"It's called bedhead," he replied with a grin.

"Hmm, permanent bedhead maybe."

"Hey!"

Harry wrenched his hand out from her grasp and made a motion to tickle her under the arms. She was faster and wiser, her body flinging from her chair and she collided with the kitchen floor.

"Ow!" Ginny said as she laughed.

Harry's body sprang into action as though he had no real control over his limbs. He was on the floor in seconds and on top of her in an instant. His fingers ghosted up her sides until he found her armpits. She thrashed immediately underneath him, her laughter louder than before and echoing.

"Stop! Stop! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed and pinned her arms at her side. "I take it back. Your hair is a masterpiece!"

"I barely touched you!" Harry said as he tried to wiggle his fingers between her arm and side.

"Stop! Harry! Please, please," Ginny gasped. "I'm sorry!"

Harry grabbed her wrists and pulled them up over her head. Her chest heaved. Harry stilled over her, suddenly realizing that he was straddling her. Her vest was halfway up her stomach and he could see the splash of freckles across her skin. He could see her ribs poking out as she arched her back. She squirmed underneath him. He had the urge to bend down and kiss her right then and there. He gulped and eased his grip on her wrists.

Harry cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."

Ginny blinked up at him. "For what?"

"I… uh… I should probably go to bed."

Harry eased himself up and off of her. He carded a hand through his hair as he stared down at her on the floor. He had no idea what had possessed him to do that. He had made it awkward between them, he was sure of it. Ginny propped herself up onto her elbows, not even bothering to fix her vest.

"We're friends, aren't we, Harry?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Harry replied thickly.

"Then we're just goofing off," she said. "It was all in good fun. It's what friends do."

Harry only nodded. He didn't agree with her on that. He had never tickled Hermione nor had he ever pinned her to the ground like that. Honestly, he hadn't ever done that with another person before. She just made him so relaxed that he got carried away in having fun with her that he lost his head.

"I didn't mean to, err, hold you down like that," he said.

Ginny stood up, fixing her vest as she stood. She took a step closer to him and her hands cupped his face. She smiled at him and Harry felt his body instantly relax.

"If you think I couldn't get out of that and be on top of you in five seconds, then you don't know me at all," Ginny told him with a smirk.

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked, eyebrows raising.

She nodded. "I grew up with six brothers. Trust me, no one can hold me down."

Ginny rose up on her tiptoes, her hands falling from his face to his shoulders. She pressed a kiss to his cheek before she pulled away. She gathered up her biscuits, leaving two behind.

"Goodnight, Harry," she said before she popped a biscuit into her mouth.

Harry gulped. "Night, Gin."

She smiled at him before she swept out of the kitchen. Harry sank down into the chair at the kitchen table and grabbed his half-eaten biscuit. He popped it in his mouth. He couldn't help but wonder when he had started to look forward to spending time alone with Ginny. There was a large part of him that wanted to see just how many nights they could find themselves getting to know one another better.

I hope you guys enjoyed the newest chapter! Don't forget to drop a review to motivate me to keep writing, to inspire new ideas, and just to plain make my day! You guys are amazing.

Special thanks to Bell for editing. Special thanks to Brie for all the inspiration. It's practically her summer before HBP wishlist come true!