(A/N - Thanks so much to the people who commented on the story ; I need more! Okay, this chapter was fun to write, and hopefully will be fun to read. I love the last bit =) A bit of fighting, as well. Ginny's pretty quick. And Harry is a prat. That's about it. Enjoy everyone. Please review and leave me some criticisms, I need them! hehe.)

CHAPTER THREE____

The course of the next few weeks went by fast, with Quidditch matches, Halloween, and tons of school work. Ginny made it a point to talk to Harry everyday to keep herself content, and it was working, because he was definitely talking back. He was acting much more animated with her then she had seen him since the last school year, and everyone else was noticing this positive change in Harry's attitude.

November had passed in, it seemed to Ginny, an hour. She was flooded with schoolwork, and Potions was pretty much killing her, and she had hardly talked to Hermione, let alone anyone else for an entire month.

December first was a Saturday, and Ginny woke up to see thick snowflakes falling outside of her window, and smiled into her pillow. She put on all her warmest clothes, grabbed her hat and gloves, and went down to the common room, where she knew people were getting ready to go and have a snowball fight. She wasn't mistaken.

"Hey, Ginny! Ready for that snowball fight you've promised us since last Christmas?" Fred practically pounced on her the minute she walked down the staircase.

"You know it." Ginny said, pulling on her gloves.

It was a merry fight indeed. Ginny, Hermione, and George were all on one team; Ron, Fred and Lee on the other. Ron, of course, didn't play fair at all, and when he got frustrated, he just gave up and ran over to Fred, rubbing snow all over his face. Ginny laughed with delight and they were all generally in good moods.

When the snowball fight was over, Ginny collapsed on the ground beside Hermione and lay there for a while, looking up at the bright, white sky above them. The boys were running around, turning snowballs into different colors and such, and Hermione got up after ten minutes or so.

"I'm gonna go inside and warm up. Do you want to come?" She asked, looking down at Ginny, who was still lying.

"Only if you help me up." She said, tiredly. And with that, Hermione held out a hand, and they walked back up to the castle, dodging snowballs thrown from the boys.

****

When Ginny tried to sleep that night, there was something nudging at her brain. She kept thinking about Harry. She kept thinking about how he had come so close to her face when he was using her as a shield for a snowball. She remembered how - real - his breath had sounded so close to her ear, and remembered how the mist looked coming from his smiling lips, and how intent his eyes were looking over her head, eyeing Ron. How am I supposed to sleep now? She thought, and upon reflection, she decided to go down to the common room - she felt like that was where she should be.

Ginny plopped herself down on a couch by the fire. There was a blanket balled up in the corner of it, and she reached over to grab it, and under it she found something completely unexpected -

"Harry!"

He was curled up with his head on the corner of the couch, huddled over. He looked up, his glasses askew.

"Yes?" He asked, acting as if it were completely normal for him to be sleeping in the common room.

"Well - what are you doing down here?" Ginny asked, exasperated.

"I had a nightmare...and I came down here to read, and I guess I fell back to sleep. Why'd you take my blanket? I'm cold now." And he made a grab for the blanket she was clutching.

"Hey! I'm cold too, use that one." And she pointed to a blanket on the couch across from them, and Harry got up and laid down on that one instead, covering himself with the thick scarlet quilt. Ginny took the tip from Harry, and lay down as well.

"So - why are you up?" Harry asked her.

"I couldn't sleep...things just kept popping into my head, and now I'm wide-awake." Said Ginny, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, me too."

They sat in silence for a little bit, staring at the crackling flames.

"Erm - Ginny?" Harry said after a while.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you always try to help me?" he sounded almost accusing of her.

Ginny was confused.

"What do you mean?" She looked at him questioningly.

"I just mean, no one else noticed that I was being quiet, or whatever you thought. I just wondered why you, of all people, would care about that type of thing."

Ginny was annoyed. Of all people? What?

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ginny said sharply. "I act like that towards everyone. I was just trying to help you out, you know. Sorry if you're not used to that. I thought you would be, Harry Potter."

"Well it's just sort of suspicious if someone who was afraid of me for the first four years at Hogwarts just suddenly decides she wants to help me out with my problems. The problems that EVERYONE asks me about and I give them the same answer, so it was useless anyway." Harry spat.

But then immediately looked as if he didn't at all mean what he said, and just looked down at the ground. Ginny, however, was looking at him with piercing brown eyes.

"You have nerve, Harry. Lots of it." She said, standing up. "Maybe that's the only reason they put you in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin. Because you have nerve to say things that are totally wrong and untrue, and you know it." She threw down the blanket and stormed up the stairs. Harry laid his head back and closed his eyes, feeling totally guilty.

Meanwhile, up in her room, Ginny was fuming. How DARE he? How dare he accuse me of doing ANYTHING but trying to HELP him? Ginny was confused and angry and hurt all at the same time. It took a long while before she got to sleep.

The next day, it was still snowing. Ginny, however, did not go outside with the rest of her friends. She stayed inside in the library, keeping as far away from Harry as possible. She only left at mealtimes.

"Ginny, would you please tell me what's wrong?" Hermione asked her, for the thousandth time.

"No. Ask Harry."

But Harry wouldn't say anything either. He had been quiet all day as well. Ginny didn't care. She stormed out of the library and went outside, walking alone in the snow, just thinking to herself.

While walking up a hill, she thought she saw a black speck someplace up where she was walking. It was hard to tell through the snow, so she walked a little faster up the hill, covering her mouth with her scarf. When she got close enough to see, the person standing no more then ten feet away from her was the last person she wanted to see. Harry.

"Ginny." He said to her. She had tried walking past him, but it was as if her name was dragging her back. She stopped and turned around.

"The only thing you have to say to me right now should be sorry, and I know you won't, so if you excuse me, I'm going to go inside." She said, and turned around. Harry jogged next to her and stood in front of her.

"No," he said.

"What do you want, Harry, really?" She asked him, staring up into his deep eyes. "You put it pretty bluntly that you didn't want me worrying about you, so I'll put it bluntly to you as well." She paused. "I won't worry anymore, if you just let me know. I don't want to waste my time. And you better catch me right here because I'm pretty mad right now, if you haven't guessed."

Harry didn't say anything.

"WHY aren't you saying anything?!" Ginny was furious.

He walked close up to her, putting his cheek next to hers, and put his mouth next to her ear.

"I hope you won't stay mad, because bluntly," he whispered huskily. "I'm starting to like you as more than a friend. I hope that counts as an apology."

And he walked away briskly; leaving Ginny rooted to the spot, staring at the snow falling down in front of her face.