A/N: After some consideration and prodding from my reviewers, I decided to do the Harry/Ginny part of this story. I reread the end of the sixth chapter and I didn't like how I had ended it so just pretend that Harry never asked Ginny anything during the continuation of the game. It will take place a few hours after Ron carries Hermione down the stairs. Do you understand? I hope you do. Ok, well, I hope you all enjoy this… at least those of you who requested that I do this. Have fun reading and r2r (remember to review)!!!

Disclaimer: My favorite author in the whole world, Mrs. J. K. Rowling, wrote all these characters and they all belong to her!! So yeah, they don't belong to me and I hope that all of you realize that… it is rather obvious isn't it?!

Setting: Ron's room, Ginny's room.

Summary: Harry is still rather embarrassed about his little confession during the game. Ginny is avoiding Harry as much as she can. Herm and Gin have a little chat.

Spoiler warning: fourth book

Characters: Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, & Angelina.

Pairing: H/G and implied R/Hr & F/A because it is supposed to take place during a fic of those pairings.

Chapter 7

The Chapter That Almost Never Was

The day was finally over and Harry was thankful. The truth potion's power was spent and he sat alone in Ron's room, just thinking. It had been a long day; a very long day and it had been mostly centered on Ron and Hermione. Of course Harry was happy for his friends and he was happy that he didn't have to listen to them bicker, for a little while at least, but something didn't feel right. Ginny had been avoiding him since the new couple had made their entrance back downstairs. That was the thing that was bothering him the most. He had talked to Ginny a lot more since the summer began and he didn't like the feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when he realized that she didn't want to talk to him.

Why did Angelina have to ask him that? She must have known that he didn't like Cho anymore. It must have been some girly intuition she had. Harry sighed and stretched out on the extra bed inside Ron's room. He closed his eyes, forgetting to take off his glasses and just relaxed for the first time in weeks. Harry was just beginning to enjoy his free time when there was a knock on the door.

"Hey Harry, you in there?" It was Ron.

Harry groaned and called back. "Yeah, I'm in here." The door opened slowly revealing the redhead.

Ron walked in, shutting the door behind him. "So, you're just going to sit in here? Don't you at least want to play chess or do something?" He asked, sitting on his own bed.

With out looking up, Harry replied, "I was hoping I could just sit here. I'm not really in the mood for chess."

"Oh, well, ok." They were quiet for a few minutes until Ron spoke up. "Hey, Harry, I was thinking,"

"And…"

"And, well, you know if you, um, wanted to take Gin to the dance, why didn't you just ask her?" Harry suppressed a sigh. He really didn't feel like talking about this at the moment. He knew Ron was expecting an answer though, so he replied.

"I didn't really think of taking her at first. I really did like Cho, for a while, but I kind of got over that. I mean, I know she'll be a good friend if but it wasn't going to work out. It was like I already knew that it wouldn't work and I realized that I didn't like her anymore when it no longer bothered me that she didn't go to the dance with me. I guess I said I wanted to take Ginny just because I knew I would have a nice time with her if we went." Ron let this information soak in for a second.

"Harry, do you like Gin now? Taking someone to a dance doesn't always mean that you like them, that way. Ginny went with Neville and I know she doesn't like him." Ron stopped but then added. "You know Harry, I wouldn't be angry or anything if you did feel that way."

"You really wouldn't be cross with me? I mean, just saying if I did, but I haven't said that."

"Oh of course you haven't. I know. It was hypothetical." Ron told him, trying not to smile. Harry had heard that before but he didn't clue into the fact that he had heard Ron say it earlier about Hermione. He had told them that he really hadn't liked Hermione, he was only saying that he did for theoretical purposes. "I wouldn't be angry at all if you liked Ginny, even if she is my sister. You're my best chum Harry. I'd like to see you happy, even if it is kind of scary to think about."

"Thanks a lot Ron." Harry replied sarcastically. "That makes me feel much better."

"Sorry. You know, you should talk to her. It isn't really hard now that I look back at it. It was actually kind of silly for me to be worried about talking to Hermione. You should do it. I'm Gin's brother, I know she likes you." He stopped, "Ok, well, when you do talk to her, just don't tell her I said that or she'd skin me alive."

"If I talk to her, I'll try to remember that." Harry retorted, sighing deeply.

"Talk to Mione, she'll tell you I'm right. She talks to Ginny more than any of the rest of us does. She must know something."

"Can't we all just forget that I like her and," Harry stopped and growled to himself.

"Now, I understand what you must have thought about Mione and I." Ron laughed. "Just go talk to Gin. I'm sure she'd be really happy about it. Trust me, the only reason that she doesn't want to talk to you right now is because she is a bit embarrassed by the whole thing. She had expected you to say that you wanted to go with Cho too."

"I'm going to talk to Angelina. She's done this before and she got you to talk to Hermione. She must have said something right."

"Hey, Harry," Ron smiled "when you two do talk about this, remember that she is my sis. Try not to hurt her or anything. I don't think Fred and George would like you much anymore, not to mention what I'd do to you. I've always been close to Gin so I'd get a bit upset if anything happened." Harry turned a little green but nodded and smiled. "Just joking Harry. Don't worry." Ron watched as Harry left the room. 

~Inside Ginny's room~

"Ginny just talk to me please?" Hermione pleaded with her friend.

A muffled voice replied. "Hermione I don't want to talk to anyone about anything. You know I can't talk to him about this."

"I never said you had to talk to Harry I just want you to talk to me."

Ginny lifted her pillow off her head, which she had apparently been trying to suffocate herself with. "Why? There isn't anything to talk about. There was something obviously wrong with the truth potion and Harry said the wrong name. Oh well, story's over. No need to talk about anything." Then she jammed the pillow back over her face again.

"Ginny!" Hermione complained. "You know that isn't what happened! You can't just answer with the wrong reply. Why do you think it is called a truth potion? You are forced to tell the truth!"

Ginny shook her head under the pillow. "He didn't even ask me to the ball. How could he have wanted to take me if he didn't ask in the first place."

"Gin, maybe he was worried that Ron would get mad. Maybe he finally got the nerve up to ask you when he found out that Neville had already asked. It could have been anything. I think you just have to talk to him. You know Harry, he's quiet about things, even to Ron and I. You have to go up to him and talk if you want him to tell you anything."

"Even then he might not talk to me about anything." Ginny told Hermione. "I just can't talk to him. I would be too embarrassed. What if he just wanted to take me as a friend? What if he just wanted to go with someone he knew, and that's why he said me name. He could have wanted to take me even if he didn't like me."

"Oh Ginny, I doubt that is what happened. Ginny I'm sure that he likes you. He's been talking to you a lot more. What have you two been talking about? He could just like you as a friend but I highly doubt that is he feels about you." Ginny lifted her head off of her pillow and chanced a glance at Hermione. She was smiling at her.

"He's been telling me a lot about his aunt and uncle. He also told me about Sirius." Hermione looked alarmed. "Don't worry Hermione. I won't say anything. It took me the longest time to believe him. I really wanted to but it is kind of unbelievable if you weren't there to see him. I won't talk about it. I wish you had told me before. I would have loved to meet his godfather." She stopped for a second and became rather somber. "He's also been telling me a little bit about the tournament. He hasn't told me much but from what he has told me, it sounds horrible. I just can't imagine what he had to go through there."

Hermione tried not to sound too nosy when she asked, "Gin, what has he told you about the tournament?"

"He told me how he had gotten taken to that place by touching the trophy. He never told me how Cedric d-died. I never asked of course. I think it's too hard for him to talk about." Ginny let her head rest on her chest. "I just feel terrible for him. I wish he would talk to someone about it."

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I just want to make him feel better but I'm not really sure how I could do that." Hermione shook her head. "It's awful trying to help someone who doesn't want to be helped." They sat in silence before Ginny spoke up.

"You know, maybe I should talk to him. I'm a big girl now." Hermione laughed, causing Ginny to stop talking and glare at her. "I wasn't finished. This is not funny in the least bit." Hermione fell silent but bit her lip to stop herself from laughing more. "I should be able to talk to him with out acting stupid now. This is a normal thing to talk about right? Shouldn't this be easy to talk about?"

"I don't know if it is supposed to be easy to talk about. It wasn't terribly easy for me to say anything like this to Ron. I'm sure you'll be fine though. Believe me, Harry likes you."

"I'll never know if I don't try to talk to him. I believe you but I might as well talk to him about it. Sitting here complaining and worrying isn't doing me any good." Ginny got up and gave Hermione a hug.

She held her head high and walked briskly out of her room. She didn't watch where she was going and ran right into Harry, falling backwards into a sitting position. Her confidence withered away immediately and her throat closed up. She gazed up at him and felt herself beginning to blush.

"I'm sorry Ginny." He said, becoming the opposite color that Ginny had turned, white. He reached his hands down to help her up. She took them, feeling that unwelcome feeling of sickness seep into her stomach as her arms went numb.

"That's ok, I ran into you." Ginny said once she was standing. She silently brushed herself off and looked away, not wanting to even take a glance at his face.

"So, er, Ginny um-"

"Can we take a walk outside?" Ginny interrupted. She chanced a glance at him. He looked relieved.

"That would be great." He told her with sincerity. They walked silently down the stairs but Fred and George stopped Harry at the door to the back yard.

"Can we speak with you for a moment Harry?" George asked. Harry looked at Ginny who smiled and told him she would wait outside.

"What's up?" Harry asked feeling a bit more relaxed that Ginny was outside now.

"We saw you heading outside with Gin," George began. "And we wanted to remind you that she is our little sister."

"We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her. She is the only girl in the family."

"Just remember you will have six brothers to deal with if you hurt her in any way." Fred continued. Harry paled.

"We are very protective of her." George told him. "I suppose you've noticed." Harry nodded silently.

"We really wouldn't want to have to do anything to you,"

"Because you're the best seeker we've had in years,"

"But if you make us,"

"We will." Behind the twins, Angelina sighed and shook her head.

"You two are terrible." The twins turned to stare at Angelina. "How can you make Harry feel like that? You know he's probably so nervous now, he'll never talk to Gin again." The twins gave her sheepish grins.

"We were only messing around Harry." George told him, smiling broadly.

"You should have seen your face though." Fred laughed.

"White as Nearly Headless Nick I'd say." George grinned. Harry let out a sigh and some of the color returning to his cheeks.

"I can't believe you two. That was just mean. It's ok Harry. These two are being idiots. They won't do anything to you. I promise for them. I'll kill them if they do." Angelina reassured Harry, patting him on the back before smacking the twins. "I think a certain young lady is waiting for you outside Harry."

"Uh, yeah, I'll um, see you three later then." He said, walking out of the room quickly, leaving Angelina to slap the twins mercilessly.

Outside it was becoming cool. The wind blew through the trees. Harry could make out the forms of gnomes running all around the yard, chasing a few hollering chickens. He could also see a short redhead sitting by herself in the fading sunlight. Harry smiled slightly, feeling his stomach tighten involuntarily. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Ginny heard him coming from behind her and she turned. "Hi Harry. What did the twins want?"

"Oh, uh, nothing really." He didn't want to be her angry with the twins. "So, what did you want to talk with me about?" Ginny tried not to grumble. He had to make her start this conversation didn't he?

"I just wanted to talk to you. There wasn't anything in um, in particular." Ginny smiled, yelling silently at herself for losing her nerve. 'Great job Gin! Wonderful, now you'll never talk to him about it.'

"Oh, ok." Harry replied, sounding half relieved, half disappointed. He sighed and let his eyes travel to the gnomes that were scattered all across the yard. "Well, if you didn't have anything specific, I might as well bring up what I wanted to ask you about." But what he wanted to talk about, he didn't say. That was where he stopped talking allowing silence to fill in the loss in conversation.

"Look, Harry, I do have something I want to talk about. I wanted to ask you about the game this afternoon." Harry froze but let her continue speaking. "I just wanted to ask why, I mean," Ginny groaned, putting her head in her hands. With out moving from her current position she mumbled, "This will never work. Hermione was wrong. I can't talk to you about this."

"Listen uh," Harry started. "I know that we have to talk about today. I uh, did you have fun at the Yule Ball?" Ginny looked up and stared at Harry for as long as she could with out feeling awkward.

"I did go with Neville. I guess I'm happy that I went with him because if I hadn't accepted I wouldn't have gone at all. I do wish I had gone with someone who was a bit better at dancing but he tried. He was really sweet."

"But did you have fun? Look Ginny, I'm only asking because I had a terrible time." Harry told her.

"Oh, well, I suppose it was ok. You didn't enjoy yourself?"

"I was with Parvati. I didn't even dance at all except for that first dance." Harry scowled, remembering the experience he'd had, everyone watching the champions dancing around. He'd felt like an idiot then. "The thing is, I," Harry stopped and got a sudden inspiration. He grinned and, hoping that Ginny wouldn't turn him down, or worse run away screaming, he asked, "Would you like to dance?"

Ginny stared at him, clearly not expecting him to say that. "I would but, we, well, we have no music." Harry had clearly overlooked this fact.

"If it doesn't bother you, it won't bother me." Harry told her truthfully.

"In that case, sure, I'd love to dance with you." She replied then began to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying something ridiculous. She didn't want to ruin anything now. She only realized vaguely that he took her hands, lead her to the center of the yard, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and avoided his eyes.

Ginny forced herself to remember every detail of this. Part of her feared it wouldn't happen again and that part constantly told her to engrave this in her brain. Of course, remembering every part of this was making her tired and she resolved to just enjoy it. They moved from side to side slowly. Neither of them knew how long they had been doing this, they were both just happy that they had the chance to do this finally.

"Are you cold?" Harry asked, breaking the silence. It was getting cold and dark. It must have been nearing six thirty.

"I guess I'm a little cold." She replied. This was an understatement. She looked like she was freezing. She had been shivering for at least five minutes now but that was mostly from being rather nervous. Either way, Harry took half a step closer.

"Better?" He asked almost inaudibly. She nodded quietly, gently resting her head on his shoulder. He sighed and though she couldn't tell, he smiled with relief. Right now, she looked really magnificent to him. The sun was setting behind her back and it lit up her hair making it seem as if it was on fire and she was smiling but he noticed that she was looking away again. He had a sudden urge to kiss her but something inside told him that if he did, she'd whack him. Harry was brought back to real life when he realized that Ginny was talking to him.

"-tell you something but, Harry?" She had lifted her head of his shoulder and stopped, smiling at him. They were dancing slower now, almost not even dancing at all. "Is something bothering you?"

"No. I'm sorry. I was just thinking. I'm listening now. I promise."

"What I was saying was that I am going to tell you something but you have to promise not to talk until I'm finished or I'll never say it again."

"Okay, I promise. I won't say anything until you're done."

"I'm sure you know that I, um," She closed her eyes and forced herself to continue talking, "I fancied you during your second year? Well, I never really got over that." She felt like she would be sick, the only thing that reassured her was the fact that Harry hadn't removed his hands from her waist. "I just wanted you to know that if you don't feel the same way, that's fine with me because-"

"I know I'm interrupting but don't say anything else. The thing is," He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Why should he be nervous? She just told him that she liked him. The thought sunk in slowly and he smiled, feeling more confident. "The thing is, I do er feel the same way."

Ginny's eyes shot open. They stopped dancing completely. "You what?" She asked, looking directly at him now, not believing what he had said. She had expected him to say that she was a great friend but that he didn't like her that way and that he was sorry. Now she stood absolutely still staring at him.

"I uh, like you, um more than a friend." He told her carefully, thinking she hadn't understood. Ginny didn't know what to say. She began to blush, feeling awkward and very odd indeed. What was she supposed to do now? She had prepared herself for being let down. She didn't know what she was supposed to say to him now that she found out he actually did like her.

"Gin?" She looked back up at him again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah but I, I thought, don't you like Cho?" She asked.

"Well, I er, used to."

"You mean you don't like her at all anymore? I thought,"

"I don't like her at all anymore. I still think she could be a great friend if she wants to be but I, let's just say I found someone that I like better."

"Oh." Ginny said in surprise. It took several seconds for her to fully realize what he must have meant. "Thank you." She put her head down again, noticing that it was getting dark but not wanting to point it out and ruin the moment. She must have been smiling like an idiot but she didn't care. This was the best feeling she had ever had and she wasn't going to let any ruin it.

Harry wrapped his arms tighter around Ginny and, praying that she wouldn't kill him, began to lean toward her. Ginny realized what was happening and she closed her eyes tightly, hoping that she wouldn't do something terrible to break the mood.

"Hey Harry? You out here?" An inch away, Harry stopped and forced himself not to yell at whoever it was. He soon realized who had interrupted.

"Remind me to kill Ron." He sighed and let go of her waist. He took a step backwards, watching Ron's figure approach them.

"Hey mate! Angelina told me to…what?" Ron asked, a little afraid of his friend's death glares. Ron looked quickly toward Ginny and back to Harry.  He looked a little hurt. "Geeze, if looks could kill huh?" He stopped and, beginning to back away, he said, "Well, I'll say you'll be inside in a while. Oh and Harry, the twins told me what they said to you. Try to remember that ok?" He grinned at them and left quickly before Harry had a chance to beat him to death.

"It's ruined now. I'll never be able to pull off something that romantic ever again." Harry sighed.

"Uh, Harry." Ginny said in an embarrassed voice. He looked over at Ginny and blushed, realizing that he had said that with her there.

"Er, sorry."

"That's okay. Maybe we should go inside. I think Angelina wants us to eat now. I bet it will be something good. She's actually a very good cook. You'd never think it about her. I mean-"

"Ginny,"

"She is a Quidditch chaser after all. I would think she would be a terrible cook because in Quidditch you have to work hard. It's probably a lot of strain on your body and-"

"Ginny,"

"I wouldn't think she would have time to-"

"Ginny!"

"What?" She stopped talking and took a deep breath, looking at Harry.

"I thought you'd never stop talking."

"Oh, sorry Harry. I guess I didn't know I was-" Harry couldn't stand it anymore, she had started again and he wasn't about to wait for her to stop talking again. He stepped forward, took Ginny's face in his hands, and kissed her straight on the lips. She froze instantly, not expecting him to do something like that. After a second, she wrapped her arms around his neck. It was true, she hadn't ever kissed anyone but she had a feeling of what she was supposed to do. It took her less than a second to begin to kiss him back.

Ginny prayed that Ron hadn't told the twins that they were standing out in the dark, apparently doing nothing. She didn't want to be caught right now, especially by them of all people. If Ron had said anything, she knew Fred and George would be out there in a flash planning to do something terribly embarrassing.

Click, that was the sound they both heard as a blinding flash overtook them and they broke away squinting in the dark. "Hello you two!" Someone called in a cheerful voice.

"Fred!" Ginny yelled, glaring at the first twin she saw.

"Can't wait for mom to see this." George teased, showing the pair a camera they had brought along.

"I'll kill you!" Ginny shouted.

"Being killed by our younger sister is worth it."

"Don't forget the Gryffindor seeker." Harry stepped in.

"Ah Harry, we thought you'd died for a second. Nice to see you're back with us." Fred told them cheerfully.

"You won't be with us for long Fredrick Weasley!" Ginny said, running toward him and beginning to attack. Harry stayed behind and just laughed, watching as the three siblings ran inside the house, forgetting Harry. He didn't mind. Nothing could bother him right now. Harry shook his head and began to head back to the house feeling very lucky that he had fallen for someone so great.

A/N: Hi, that was my first real H/G story. I had one more but I don't think that one was very good. I hope you all liked it. I tried really, really, really hard to keep them in character. Did I do a good job?? I hope I did. Please tell me if I didn't and tell me how I could make it better. I haven't really grasped their characters yet. If you want me to review your stories tell me and I will! I love reading stories. I'm sorry, but if your parings conflict with R/Hr or H/G I'd rather not read it because I won't be able to read it with an open mind -_-…I've tried and it didn't work. Thanks again for reading and if you want to e-mail me feel free. My e-mail Addy: (minus the mailto part) mailto:dadkap@msn.com ~Addy N.