Brie smirked. "And I'm the queen of France."
Harry forced a smile. He knew this was going to be difficult. "I'm serious."
"Yeah, sure," Brie mocked, rolling her eyes. She grinned playfully. "Prove it."
Harry took a deep breath, and looked around to make sure no one was watching. "Fine." He pulled out his wand (which received an odd look from Brie) and held his sandwich out in front of him. "Floras!" And the sandwich became a rose.
Brie's eyes flew open, but skepticism soon settled in. "Any half-decent magician could do that. Show me something incredible."
Harry thought hard. He wanted to remain inconspicuous, yet get this over with. Glancing around, he saw no one in the park. Taking a deep breath, he took Brie's hand in his left one, and grasped his wand with his right. "Levitiate," he whispered. He felt himself rise off the ground. Looking over at Brie, he saw she was floating as well. Her face was pale and her expression was stunned. She looked at Harry fearfully.
"A wizard, huh?"
***
Harry sat on his bed. Then he stood. Then he sat again. He didn't know what to do with himself. He hadn't spoken to Brie in a week. After his confession, he drove her home and she walked off dazedly. He'd called eight times in the next two days, but none of his calls were returned. "She hates me," Harry thought allowed. "Damn it, I knew this would happen." He rather felt like blowing something up, so he grabbed his wand aimed for a practice snitch lying on the ground.
Before he could blast the snitch, though, there was a knock at the door. Harry sighed. He didn't feel much like visitors, but despite his wishes, he called out, "It's open." He heard the door creak open and footsteps.
"Harry?" asked a familiar voice. "Are you in here?" It was Ginny Weasly.
"In the living room," Harry sighed. Ginny appeared in the room, holding a book.
"Just thought I'd bring this back," she said, offering Harry No Pain, No Gain: A Thousand and One Quidditch Workouts. Ever since her fourth year, Ginny had been an excellent Quidditch keeper. She even played professionally. Her brothers, of course, claimed it was their influence.
"Thanks," Harry replied hollowly, throwing the book on his bed.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "You okay?"
Harry grimaced. He didn't want to talk about it. But looking into Ginny's kind, sisterly eyes, he thought better of it and decided to explain his situation. "Well…Okay, there's this girl. A Muggle."
"Ron told me," Ginny said with a sly smile.
"Well, I told her about me...and I haven't heard from her since. I miss her so much, Gin. It's driving me crazy. I was so happy when I was with her. And now I'll never get that feeling back."
Ginny shook her head. "Harry, you've never been the type to give up. And you can't give up now. Look, I waited forever for Neville to ask me out. He was too scared, but I thought he just didn't like me. I had to suck it up and ask him myself. I didn't give up, Harry, and you can't either. You deserve someone who makes you happy, so go and get her."
Harry grinned. Ginny was right.