Harry let himself and Ginny inside the front door and lighted some very bright lanterns around the room, then glanced toward Ginny.

"See, everything's alright, honey," he said comfortingly, because she looked kind of out of it.

She looked over and nodded at him, rather distractedly. "I think I'll go to bed now..." she said. "I've got to wake up early tomorrow, after all. It's supposedly a big day, but I don't know. I probably won't have a single thing to do." She allowed her eyes to travel up to meet Harry's, because they'd fallen down to the floor, and saw him looking rather worried. "Really," Ginny said, "it's supposed to be important." She noticed he was still looking at her as though she needed to be comforted. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he did, she thought to herself.

Harry seemed to read her thoughts and he walked over and put her arms around her. "Are you still on about that waitress, Gin?" he asked.

"Well...no," Ginny answered. "I mean, she's no good, honestly. But that's not it. There's something else that I can't quite place."

"Does it have to do with her?"

"I don't know yet."

"Does it have to do with me?"

"Most likely."

Harry let her go and held her slightly away, looking down into her eyes. "You know...you can always tell me anything."

"I know," said Ginny, sounding like she didn't. "I will, once I figure it out."

Harry sighed and let her arms go. "You can go to bed now," he offered.

"I think I will." And with that, Ginny walked off to the bathroom. In a few minutes, she entered the bedroom, changed into her nightclothes, and got in bed. Harry didn't feel like joining her until she'd fallen asleep, so he walked over to the kitchen table, where there might be something to keep him occupied for a short while.

He shuffled through pieces of parchment, looking around for something new or interesting. He found hidden under a pile of Ginny's office work an older copy of the Daily Prophet, and opened it up to have a look. One story caught his eye, and he wondered why he'd never seen it before. It was about Ginny. Nothing bad, nothing outstandingly exceptional either, but Ginny's work had made the Daily Prophet. He looked back at the date on it. It'd been when he was away for a day, visiting Hogsmeade. He felt sort of hurt Ginny hadn't shown him.

He walked back over to look in the bedroom. He could clearly see Ginny wasn't asleep. He walked in holding the newspaper.

"Gin," he whispered, and she turned around to face him. "Gin, how come you never showed me this?" He held up the article for her to see.

"Oh," she said, and looked away. "I don't know. You didn't see it?" She looked up to see Harry shaking his head. "I thought you had, see."

"I was gone in Hogsmeade."

"I know, but I still thought maybe you saw it. You never said anything, so I thought maybe you didn't care."

"Of course I care, Ginny. I didn't know. D'you think I'd read this about you and not ever say anything about it?"

Ginny shrugged. "I wouldn't."

"Ginny, don't act like this." Harry bent over to hug Ginny. "I'm proud of everything you do."

"Are you, Harry?" Ginny asked, looking up into Harry's eyes.

Harry frowned slightly. "'Course I am, Gin. What makes you think I'm not."

"Oh, nothing," she said, turning over. "Good night, Harry."