Author's Disclaimers: I don't own any of the following characters... (unfortunately), and I'm just borrowing them for a little while, so please don't sue me... no offence is meant when using them.

Author's Notes: first of all, I want to thank my sister Camilla for always supporting me, and then some other friends that patiently reviewed this and honestly told me their opinion... thanks... love ya guys!

Author's notes 2:

Alright, this story hasn't got a proper beginning... I know, I know...

I just needed to to this, because otherwise I'd have spoiled the story.

In a few words, though: this is Harry/Ginny, and it's rated as "general" for now,

since it only includes hints and references to romance... maybe there will be more later on J

(this means, more chapters to come!!)

Plus, there could be some Tom appearances (in dreams, mostly) and/or Draco appearances (since I love the boy!)

Please let me know if it sucks, or anything... R&R most appreciated!

IMPORTANT: Please, keep in mind that I'm Italian, so I've probably made a lot of mistakes, and I apologize for that... reviews are always accepted, good or bad, as long as they're respectful. J

He just stared at her, open-mouthed, as if she'd just grown a second head.

"What?" she asked, noticing the surprise in his eyes.

"I –nothing. It ain't probably none of my business." She wanted to slap him. Had she known what she'd done wrong, she'd have explained to him. But he'd shut his mouth, and looked like he didn't want to talk about it.

"Come on, tell me..." she tried to get him to tell her what was wrong. "What's the problem?"

He swallowed. "I was just... you know, wondering, if what Lavender said a few minutes ago in the Common Room was... well.."

"Was what?"

"Well... true." He blurted out. Great. She still didn't know what all that fuss was about. When she spoke again, her voice was soft and soothing, as if se were addressing a five-year-old child.

"And *what*, if I may ask, did Lavender say ten minutes ago in the Common Room?"

"Well... oh Merlin, I don't think I should be the one telling you this...."

She eventually lost her temper.

"Harry, with all my respect, if you don't tell me what you're talking about, I won't understand why you're so friggin' staring at me like that, as if I were a monster! So come on, now, tell me..."

He took a deep breath and, keeping his eyes on the floor, he slowly said.

"Well, she said that you... and... and Dean Thomas..."

"Oh, *that*." she sighed with relief. Such a fuss about such a stupid thing! "Oh, but there's no need to.. I mean, I can explain, I-"

"So it's true...?" He suddenly looked directly at her, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes, it is. But I can--"

"I- I really can't believe you could do something like that, I don't know what to think...."

"Oh, but... I know I probably shouldn't have done that straight away, but... Well, I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and..." She paused for a moment. "...there's no easy way to say it... well, he invited me to go have a walk in the park, and... he told me he was kind of interested in me, so I HAD to do it."

Harry looked as pale as the handkerchief she was holding in her hand.

"You alright, Harry?" she asked, a bit worried, taking a step towards him. "I thought you all would understand..."

Harry shook his head. "Ginny, I –I thought I knew you, even if... well..."

"Harry..." she said, carefully avoiding his eyes now. "You know I had to do it, I cannot believe you haven't figured it out yet. *You*, of all people! But then again, I think even Malfoy, with his twisted mind, would see why I *had* to turn him down."

Harry glanced up from the floor. "You mean, *laying* him down..."

She looked at him, confused. "What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

Harry cleared his throat, but she interrupted him.

"By Merlin's sake, Harry! I couldn't become her girlfriend!  I *had* to tell him I didn't want to be with him, I had to refuse him! I know it was probably selfish –I can see it now, I probably hurt his feelings and I know he's a friend of yours... but I couldn't lie to him! Why can't you understand?"

Her eyes were a bit shiny with tears now. Harry, on the other hand, was caught completely off guard.

"You, you turned him down?" he asked hesitatingly.

"Of course I did!"

Harry styarted babbling: "Well, Lavender, she said Dean told her that you had... that you, you know... with him... in the forest... yesterday..."

When Ginny finally realized what Harry meant, she jumped up in surprise, dropping her handkerchief.

"W –what? He told you we did.. WHAT?!?"

Harry now was staring inetently at her.

"You mean you didn't...?"

"NO!" she screamed, a bit louder than she'd meant to. "I would never, *ever* do a thing like that. Especially with him, and... how... how could *anyone* believe I did?"

Harry's cheeks turned of a darker shade of pink. "I –I knew it couldn't be, but... you weren't anywhere to be found, neither yesterday nor today..."

"That's because yesterday I wanted to be alone with him to explain him exactly WHY I couldn't be her girlfriend, and then because I needed some... time to think."

Harry let out a sigh of relief.

"You –you believe me, right?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." He finally said, matter-of-factly.

Then all energies seemed to leave her body, and she felt so weak... She'd tried not to hurt Dean's feelings, and all he'd given her in return was... telling Lavender they'd made out –or Merlin knew what else– in  the forest. How could he... how DARE he... just because she'd turned him down?  Plus, since she knew Lavender well, by now she'd probably told it to the WHOLE school... But, most of all, how could they BELIEVE she'd do something like that? 

Then again, all pieces seemed to fit. They'd begun to spend time alone with each other... talking, right, but Dean could've easily said they were actually making out, or something... What would Harry think of her now?

Horrified, she felt a mix of emotions –fear, sorrow, anger– building up within her, until she knew she couldn't hold it anymore.

She burst into tears and ran to her room, sobbing.

Harry was left there, more surprised that he was before. How could he possibly have believed Lavender? He kicked himself mentally, then he decided he needed some time to think, to sort things out. He was about to back to his own room, when he spotted her handkerchief on the floor. He picked it up, deciding it would be better if he waited before giving it back to her.

Still, he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened, and he realized he was feeling quite angry with Dean. He felt like smacking his head with an axe... strangling him with his bare hands would do, too. He tried to cool down, but fopund out he just couldn't.

He looked down at the white handkerchief in his hand, with Ginny initials knitted on it. Suddenly he made a decision.

He ran to the Common Room, where Dean was surrounded by a crowd of people curious about his "little adventure".... including Ron.

He set his jaw and marched up to him.

Dean turned around just in time to hear a "whoosh!" directed his way. He felt an explosion of pain and found himself on the floor, blood streaming down his mouth, his jaw hurting like hell.  He'd just been punched! "Hey.. what..?"

Harry was towring above him, his fists clenched.

"You deserved it, you---! Do again a thing like that to Ginny and I swear I-"

"Oh, Are we a bit jealous?" he smirked.

"No" he slowly said. "I meant lying. You didn't do anything with her yesterday. You just couldn't get over the fact that she was dumping you..."

Everyone was on full attention now.

"You liar..." Dean began to say.

"She's my best friend's sister, and I won't let you get away with it. Now you you tell everyone the truth."

"Or else?"

"Or else I kick you to death"

"Oh, I'm *so* scared..."

A lot of students though seemed to come to their senses. Ron was the first.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!?" he roared. He was a good friend of Dean's, and he didn't mind the idea of Ginny getting Harry out of her head, once and for all... but this wasn't at all what he'd meant.

Now that they were 10 vs. 1, Dean found himself swallowing hard.

"She... she was so damn stubborn! By Merlin's beard, she's in sixth year! How can she still be drooling after Potter?" Harry stopped dead.  He glared at Dean, who was standing up, shaking.

"You're not even worth punching, you know that? Just one thing before I leave you to Ron..." He turned to Ron, and a  flash of understanding flickered in the two friend's eyes.

"You do that again, I'll *kill* you."

And with that, he slowly turned around and walked away. Once hidden from view, he stopped, and took a deep breath. He was sweating.

He quickly decided he'd better give the handkerchief back to her now. Maybe she needed it...

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Alright, what do you think?

A/N: I tried to remove all the americanisms (sorry!), so please tell me if there are any left...

My apologizes for the name "Lavanda"... it's just that in Italian that's her name, not "Lavender"... should've remembered to change it into english.. J