Fifth Year

Chapter Five: A "Small" Favor

A/N: Ron tells Harry his, "idea" in this chapter. Read along to find out what his reaction is and what he decides to do. Oh yeah, and the ball is coming up in the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.

When Ginny finished eating her lunch, she stood up and nonchalantly walked over to the entrance of The Great Hall. She acted as if she were leaving to prepare for her next class(for Ron's sake) but turned and stood just outside the door instead. She waited for another five minutes before Draco appeared. She felt her heart begin to beat very fast.

"Hey," He said, sounding mischievous.

Ginny wondered why this was so.

"Hi," She answered back, giggling a bit.

"Let's go to the quidditch field,"

"Alright..."

They walked outside towards the quidditch field, Ginny glancing behind her to make sure that, "someone" wasn't following her. When she saw that he wasn't, she smiled and walked with Draco, wondering what he had in store for her. As they walked, Draco took hold of Ginny's hand. Ginny became even more nervous at this but happier at the same time.

When they reached the bleachers, Draco climbed onto one and helped her up. They sat down and looked into eachother's eyes for a few moments before Draco grabbed her and kissed her, this one a bit more intense than the others. Ginny felt like she was melting. She was starting to burn up, but in a good way. Draco's kisses were like being in a dream. She suddenly began to think naughty thoughts as he continued kissing her, now starting to force his tongue between her lips. Ginny couldn't suppress a moan as he began to explore her mouth. She leaned back a bit before he pulled away. Ginny was rather disappointed and wondered if there was something wrong.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I don't know if this is right, I mean you're still really young, and if someone finds us..."

Ginny just grabbed him and kissed him back. This nonsense talk of his would not be tolerated. When she pulled back, she said, "Draco, I'm not still really young. I'm 15 years old, and you're only a year older than me. I've already got my brother on my tail. I'm allowed to kiss guys!"

"Okay okay, I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it," He said, chuckling.

"Well, know that I'm more than okay with it," She smiled at him.

Draco looked her into the eyes and smiled back. He couldn't believe all of this was happening. It was like a dream come true. When he was with Ginny, he felt differently. Being with her made him feel like he could do anything. She made him feel special, and...dare he say it? Happy.

"Ginny, you're wonderful," He told her.

Ginny was surprised at the sudden comment. A sudden blanket of joy swept over her.

"So are you," She said back.

"When I'm with you, I feel like I can do anything. Like I can try anything, and you make me feel special and happy. I've never felt those things in my entire life,"

Ginny couldn't take it anymore as tears of happiness welled up in her eyes. No one had ever said such a thing to her, ever.

"I've never been happier than I am now," She said, her tears overflowing.

Draco smiled and kissed her tears away.

"I think we'd better go, but I don't want to leave without talking about when we will see eachother again,"

"Okay," She said, smiling uncontrollably.

"How about tomorrow, after breakfast. We can talk for a little bit,"

"That would be wondeful,"

Draco grinned at her. They walked back to the castle, hand in hand. Ginny broke her hand away before they entered the castle. Draco looked at her curiously.

"It's Ron," She confessed.

"I don't want him-"

"It's okay, Ginny. I understand,"

She smiled at him as they entered, Ginny whispering, "bye" and him doing the same. They caught up with their friends and walked in different directions.

Draco was unbelievably happy, and Crabbe and Goyle had never seen him so. But, although Draco was very glad to be with Ginny, he couldn't help but feel angry when he thought of Ron trying to break them apart. He didn't like the fact that because of this, they had to keep their relationship a secret.

He shook his head and continued walking with his friends.
~*~
Harry and Ron were up in the common room, playing chess. When Ron remembered that he was going to tell Harry his idea, he stopped playing and said, "Harry, remember earlier when I said I wanted to talk to you?"

"Yeah..." Harry answered.

"Well, can we talk right now?"

"Okay,"

They stood up and sat down in chairs across from one another.

"Okay, you know how I hate Malfoy and I don't like the fact that he's been around my sister a lot lately, right?"

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit as he nodded his head.

"Well, I think I've come up with a way to keep them apart,"

"How?"

"I want you to date Ginny," He said abruptly.

Harry was in complete shock. He couldn't believe that Ron had come up with such a plan. What if Draco and Ginny were happy together? What if they weren't even dating, and Harry got himself stuck into something he'd regret? He liked Ginny a lot as a friend, but not really as a girlfriend.

"Ron...I don't know if I can do that," He told him.

"Why not? It's perfect,"

"Well...it might mess up a lot of things," Harry said, trying to avoid telling him that he didn't like Ginny in that way.

"All it will do is keep Ginny and Malfoy away from eachother,"

"I know, but..."

"So will you do it?" Ron asked impatiently.

Harry was quite unsure of this. He didn't like the fact that Ron was using him, and that he would be dating Ginny just because Ron insisted, not because he really liked her.

"I don't know, Ron-"

"Harry, please!" He begged.

Harry sighed and decided to do it, his instincts telling him that this was a bad idea.

"Alright, Ron..."

"Excellent! Here's the plan. I think for a first date, you could ask Ginny to the ball..."

The ball! Harry had completely forgotten, and he needed a date anyway.

"When is the ball??" He asked.

"It's in three days, so you've got to ask her soon,"

"Okay..." Harry said stupidly.

Ron grinned and said, "Let's finish our chess game,"

Harry nodded his head and stood up, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.
~*~
The next morning at breakfast, Ginny looked happier than she had the day before. Hermione noticed this and wondered what had happened between her and Draco.

"Hi, Ginny," She said.

"Hey Hermione,"

"Why so happy?"

"Oh, no reason. Just another good day!"

Hermione didn't believe this but served herself anyways and began eating. Ginny did the same and once again glanced up to see Draco smiling at her. She didn't blush this time, to her surprise, and she smiled back.

Collin strolled into The Great Hall and looked at Ginny. He was curious as to why Draco Malfoy was talking to her yesterday at lunch. He was a slytherin and she was a gryffindor. He hoped that Draco wasn't harassing Ginny in any way as she was his best friend, and if he found out that he was, he would pay. He wondered if it was him she was thinking about during transfiguration a few days ago. He made sure he sat away from Ginny as they had not made up yet, but once they did, he hoped to find out what she had to do with Malfoy.

Harry and Ron came into The Great Hall. Harry had an apprehensive look on his face and Ron looked incredibly happy. Hermione wondered what was going on with those two.

"Harry, what's wrong?" She asked him quietly as he sat down next to her.

Harry thought about whether he should tell her about Ron's plan. He decided he would tell her later because they were best friends, but not now because there were so many other people around.

"I'll tell you later," He told her.

She nodded her head and finished up her lunch.

"I'd better be going, I've got to study,"

"Okay, see ya later,"

She rose and walked away. Ginny was still eating her lunch when Collin decided to come over and try to apologize. He sat down in Hermione's seat.

"Look, Ginny, I'm sorry I was so nosy yesterday, but I thought we were always able to tell eachother everything,"

"That's okay, Collin. I was just mad because I'm fed up with my brother, and I took it out on you. I'm the one who should be sorry," She said, smiling at him.

Collin was relieved.

"Thank you," He told her.

"Let's talk later tonight, okay?"

"Okay," She said.

He stood up and walked back to his seat to finish his lunch. Ginny was glad that they had made up, but she was still mad at her brother. She hadn't talked to him since yesterday at lunch, when he blew up at her. She had been trying to avoid him. She looked over at Ron and Harry and saw that Ron whispered something into Harry's ear and Harry nodded his head. He scooted over into Hermione's seat and said, "Ginny, can I talk to you later?"

Ginny wondered what was going on. He had never ever asked her to talk with him alone. She was surprised that she didn't develop butterflies in her stomach like she should've when she saw him. 'Maybe I'm getting over him,' She thought.

"Um, sure Harry," She answered.

Harry gave her a small smile.

"Okay...how about this evening in the common room?"

"That would be fine,"

He nodded his head and moved back to his seat, where Ron and him began conversing about something deeply. Ginny was curious as to what they were talking about, but remembered that she had to meet Draco. She stood up and walked out of The Great Hall.

When she was right outside the door, she saw Draco standing there, waiting.

"Hey, I thought you had forgotten," He chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I was just talking to my friends and got a little carried away,"

"That's okay. So, you still want to go to the ball together, right?" He asked.

"Definitely!" She replied.

"Great. Let's meet eachother at the bottom of the staircase at 7:30, okay? And Ginny...let's try not to let your brother get in the way of us at the ball,"

Ginny was relieved that he had said that.

"Sounds perfect. I'll see you then!"

He smiled at her and walked away. Ginny just stood there, glowing, when Ron came up to her.

"Ginny, I'm sorry about yesterday. You know I have a short temper,"

She looked up and saw her brother there.

"Umm...that's okay," She told him, and quickly walked away. She really didn't feel like talking to him right now.

Ron sighed and stood there, waiting for Harry.
~*~
Later that evening, Ginny sat in the common room, reviewing her potions.

"Damn it!" She said aloud.

She couldn't take it anymore. She absolutely hated potions.

"What's wrong?" Asked Harry, who had just walked into the room.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just studying potions and it's getting to me,"

"I know how you feel. Listen, I told you earlier I wanted to talk to you. Do you think we could right now?"

Ginny's face reddened a bit before she said, "Sure,"

Maybe she still did have a few feelings for him, but she would have to get rid of them fast, as she was now dating Draco. "I'm dating Draco!" She thought happily.

Harry sat down across from her.

"You know how the ball's coming up in three days?" He asked.

"Yeah," She said.

"Well...er...I was wondering if you wanted to go with me,"

Ginny couldn't believe it. She should've been dancing for joy, but instead she was grieving. "Perfect timing!" She thought angrily. There was no way she could go with him, and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to go with him, even if she could.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I'm already going with someone else," She said shyly.

Harry was relieved.

"Oh, that's okay. I'll ask Parvati or something,"

He stood up quickly and walked away. Ginny was in complete shock. "Why did he have to ask me now, of all times? When I'm seeing someone else," She thought.

Maybe he liked her. Maybe he was actually starting to come through...not that it meant anything now. She was taken, and she was happy. She knew she still had a few small feelings for Harry, but not as much as Draco. She only hoped that Harry wouldn't push these feelings and make them grow.

End of Chapter Five