Chapter 8

Try Getting over Harry

"Hi, Ginny!" Harry greeted, stopping in front of her.

"Hi, Harry!" Ginny replied, smiling. She immediately saw Harry's curious look at Maya.

"Harry, this is Maya. Maya, this is Harry." Ginny introduced them to each other.

"Hi!" Harry beamed, reaching out his hand for Maya to shake. His eyes looking straight at Maya's eyes which were the same color as Ginny's.

Maya smiled back and shook his hand. "So you're Harry Potter." She said.

"Yeah. What's your family name, anyway?" Harry asked.

"I'm Maya Chan. I came from Hong Kong." Maya answered with a smile.

Harry smiled back again. "Where are you going?" Harry asked Ginny but his look was still upon Maya.

"We're going to the Gryffindor tower." Ginny replied, looking at Harry, who was looking at Maya. Ginny felt heart-broken but she tried to hide it and just be happy for Maya—her best friend.

Soon, Ginny found herself walking towards the Gryffindor tower; Maya was walking beside her—talking to Harry.

"Ginny was right about you, you're so funny!" Maya giggled.

Harry looked pleased with himself, blushing slightly.

The conversation between Harry and Maya went on and on. Ginny was feeling it stronger and stronger—she already lost Harry. When they reached the Gryffindor tower, Harry said good-bye to them. Maya already entered the hole on the wall, leaving Ginny alone with Harry.

"Ginny," said Harry.

Ginny stopped walking towards the hole and looked at Harry.

"Can you eat dinner with Ron, Hermione and me later?"

Ginny felt her hope rising again. "You mean sit with you at the Great Hall?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure Ron and Hermione won't mind. They're too busy with each other anyway." Harry grinned.

"Sure," Ginny said happily. I thought Harry likes Maya already, thank goodness I was wrong, thought Ginny.

"And—um—can you tell Maya to come too?"

Ginny was shattered into little pieces. Harry's voice kept on repeating inside her head; she could not deny the truth anymore—Harry would never love her—never.

"S-sure." She faltered, trying hard not to cry.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed. "Thanks, Gin. You're a real friend." And Harry walked away; feeling happy that life was going well.

Ginny sighed. "Friend…" She murmured as she went through the hole on the wall.

Dinner was already served in the Great Hall. Harry, Ron and Hermione were already seated waiting for Ginny and Maya.

"So Harry, Hermione told me you found a girl. Hermione said it would really surprise me. Who is she?" Ron said, not starting with his food yet.

"You'll really be surprised," said Harry.

Ginny and Maya arrived soon. Ginny sat beside Hermione, facing Harry, while Maya sat beside Ginny.

"Who's the girl?" Hermione whispered to Ginny.

"She's Maya, my best friend." Ginny whispered back.

"Hi, Maya!" Harry greeted. "It's good you can sit with us here." He added.

"Ginny said you invited us, there's no reason I will say no." Maya replied, smiling.

"This is Ron, by the way." Harry said.

"Yeah, he's Ginny's brother." Maya said, smiling.

"And this is Hermione."

Hermione smiled politely at Maya and Maya did the same.

Ginny started eating her dinner gloomily; Hermione too seemed to be not enjoying hers. Harry and Maya talked the whole dinner about Quidditch and other stuffs, enjoying themselves very much.

After finishing her dinner, Ginny stood up. "I'm not feeling well. I'll go already," said Ginny.

"I better get going then," Maya said, standing up.

"No, Maya. You can stay here if you like. Besides, you're not yet finished with your dinner." Ginny said, trying to sound all right.

"Yeah, you can stay longer." Ron added. "We'll escort you to the tower later."

Maya looked at Ginny, still hesitating. "Are you sure you're going to be all right?"

Ginny smiled.

"I'll take her to her dormitory." Hermione volunteered, standing up.

"Okay then." Maya said.

Ginny and Hermione walked away from the Gryffindor table.

"It's all right Hermione, you can leave me now. I can go to the tower alone." Ginny said while they continued walking towards the Gryffindor tower.

"I won't," Hermione said resolutely. "I'm sorry Gin. This wasn't supposed to happen, I thought the girl Harry was talking about was you. I saw him looking at you and Maya but I didn't think he would like Maya instead. I'm really sorry," she said, putting an arm around Ginny's shoulder.

"You don't need to be sorry, Hermione. None of this is your fault, it's just that I'm expecting too much." Ginny said in a low, dull voice.

They reached the fat lady's portrait ("Crescent Beam.") and sat on two of the armchairs near the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room.

"You mustn't feel depressed about it, Gin. There are a lot of boys here," said Hermione.

"I don't know, every time I look for another boy, all I can do is compare them with Harry." Ginny answered. She placed her elbow on the armrest and placed her chin on her hand, staring at the fireplace.

"Try getting over Harry," Hermione advised.

"I'll try," Ginny said.

"You know, I hate Harry for being so blind!" Hermione said.

Ginny looked surprised with what Hermione had just said. She never expected Hermione to speak something bad about her best friend. She turned her head and looked at Hermione. "Huh?" She said as if she didn't hear Hermione speak.

Hermione sighed. "Don't you get me?" She asked impatiently. "Come." Hermione pulled Ginny off from the armchair she was sitting on. She pulled her up to the spiral staircase and into Ginny's dormitory. Hermione faced Ginny in a full body mirror inside the dormitory. "What do you see?" Hermione asked.

"Me?" Ginny answered skeptically, looking at Hermione for the correct answer. She was quite sure that by the way Hermione looked at her that she didn't give the correct answer nor was her answer brilliant.

Hermione groaned. "I know it's you but how do you describe yourself." She said, looking back at the mirror.

Ginny looked back at the mirror too. "I see a young lady with wild, wavy red hair and brown eyes that looked so plain that's why Harry can't notice her." She stated, looking again at Hermione.

Hermione smiled. "Good answer, but I have a better one," She placed her hands on both Ginny's shoulders and said, "In front of the mirror, I see a see a young, pretty and graceful woman that can compete with any other beautiful women here at Hogwarts." She smiled at Ginny. "That is why I say that Harry's so blind 'cause he had spent his whole vacation with this lovely lady and he still didn't notice her!"

Ginny smiled. "Hermione," she said. "Thanks. I feel better now."

"I'll be going then," Hermione said. "You can start thinking of ways how to get over Harry right now." She suggested. "Here." She handed Ginny a book. "Got that from the library, great story." And she left.

"Thanks." She whispered and looked down at the book in her hand. "Little Women." She read the title; this was the book Hermione had been telling her to read. She was about to open the book when she closed it again and stared at her reflection on the mirror. "Hermione's right, I have to get over Harry. Harry will be happier with Maya anyway. I'm Harry's best friend—and Maya's too—so I just have to be happy for them and find another guy for myself." She told herself. "Bye, Harry Potter."

* * M * *

On Saturday morning, Harry and Ron went down to breakfast together. Hermione already went down ahead of them to save seats for them.

They were half-through with their breakfast when the mails arrived. Hedwig came down beside Harry's plate and gave Harry a small piece of note. Harry gave his leftover breadcrumbs to Hedwig while he opened his letter. It was from Hagrid saying:

Can yeh come by me place this af'ernoon fer tea? Send yer reply through Hedwig. Yeh can brin' yer frends too. I want to hear some stories from yeh.

Hagrid

"Great! We can all go to Hagrid and stay there the whole afternoon!" Hermione squealed in delight, looking at Harry, who was already writing a reply to Hagrid (Yeah, we'll come. See you at three o'clock.) "And then we can invite Ginny to come with us." She added, looking happier about the idea.

"Yeah," agreed Harry, watching Hedwig fly off. "Then we can also invite Maya." He said, clapping his hand with Ron's.

Hermione sulked immediately but when Harry looked at her she immediately smiled with them. She just hid the sad thought she had for Ginny.

Harry always invited Ginny and Maya to sit with them in the Great Hall ever since he met Maya—soon the five of them always sat together every time they ate their meals.

"Speaking of Ginny and Maya, where are they?" said Ron, looking around for any sign of the two.

"I think they're in the library," said Hermione, "met them earlier in the corridor."

"Let's go there and tell them." Harry said, smiling.

Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately set off for the library.

They saw Ginny and Maya sitting on a table at the corner, books and parchments laid on the top of their table.

"You stay here, I'll go there and tell them," said Harry.

"Can we leave you here, Harry? Hermione will just borrow a book here and we'll go to the tower already. I need to read one more book for my Quidditch tryout," said Ron.

If Harry knew better, he'd say his two best friends only wanted to have some time alone. He didn't want to ruin things for the two so he said, "Okay then. See you at lunch?"

"Yeah."

Harry walked his way to the crowd of people and tables in the library.

"Hi, Ginny!" said Harry, sitting beside her. "Hi, Maya!" He smiled at Maya, who was sitting in front of Ginny.

Maya smiled then returned to the book she was reading; Ginny said a dull hello without even looking at Harry or closing the book she was reading.

"Can we talk?" Harry said to the two.

Maya nodded and closed the book she was reading; she focused her attention to Harry. Ginny sighed then she also closed the book she was reading and also looked at Harry.

"Hagrid sent me a note a while ago inviting me for tea in his house. He said I could bring some friends and so I'm inviting the two of you." Harry said, looking at Maya then at Ginny.

Maya also looked at Ginny as if the answer was all up to her. Ginny looked like she was going to say no any minute so Harry immediately added, "Ron and Hermione will come."

Ginny looked at Maya then at Harry. She sighed again. "Okay, we'll go around three o'clock. I still need to finish this book," she said simply.

Harry smiled at Ginny. Ginny just shrugged and opened her book again to read. Maya stood up and went to a nearby shelf to look for another book.

"What are you reading?" asked Harry, breaking the thunderous silence between them.

"Another Muggle book," replied Ginny casually. That's it! Don't show him any emotion; don't talk to him until he talks to you, Ginny's mind told her.

"That's good," said Harry. Silence again. Harry sighed. "Gin," He said, his voice was full of worry and emotion—and Ginny could feel that very well.

"Hm?" She said softly. Her eyes were still looking at the text written on the book but she couldn't read a single line. Her mind seemed to be blocked by Harry's voice.

"Are you mad at me?" asked Harry, looking at Ginny's face.

Ginny wasn't expecting him to say that to her. She looked at him; his face showed deep sincerity. She forced a smile. "Harry, why are you saying that?" She giggled nervously.

"I know I don't know you that well but I can feel you're mad about something," Harry said, looking into Ginny's eyes; although Maya and Ginny had the same eyes, Ginny's eyes were warmer and brighter.

"I'm not mad at you," said Ginny, smiling loosely for the first time, "in fact, I'm not mad at all."

"Good," said Harry. "At least, I still kept my promise."

"Promise?" Ginny repeated uncertainly.

"I promised myself I wouldn't hurt you," said Harry, smiling.

But you already did, thought Ginny.

"And that I will protect you and your happiness." He said.

Ginny giggled again. "You're joking me!" She exclaimed.

"No, I'm serious." Harry said.

"Well then, thank you." She said, smiling appreciatively.

"That's all right, so what's the problem of my best friend?"

"Nothing serious, I'm just sad about something." She said hazily, looking down at the table.

"What are you sad about? Did anyone hurt you? Did Malfoy insult you again?" Harry said worriedly. "Just tell me Gin who is it, I'll go straight to him and punch him even if I get a whole week detention from any teacher!" He said, punching the air in front of him.

Ginny couldn't help it; she giggled freely at Harry. "No, Harry, it wasn't Malfoy." She giggled again. She felt really important to Harry when he said he'd take a whole week detention just to punch that person who hurt her. Then, she stopped again and looked down. It was you. She thought sadly. How could you punch yourself? She thought. "It's okay, Harry. I can handle it myself." She said instead.

Harry still looked worried. "Are you sure you can handle it yourself?" He asked.

"Of course." Ginny grinned as she playfully messed Harry's already messy hair.

"Hey, Gin, cut that out!" He said grinning. He took Ginny's hand in his to stop her from messing his hair again. Their hands just stayed like that while their eyes met and their lips curled into grins.

Ginny felt warmth in Harry's touch; blushing furiously, she wished it could go on forever. She could well understand why she felt like that to Harry's touch—she loved Harry.

Harry, on the other hand, couldn't understand why he was feeling very much at ease with Ginny. Could it be because they were best friends? Or could it be more than—no. It couldn't be. Harry shook the arising feeling in his mind away again. You already have Maya and she's really fun. Not Ginny—she's your best friend and your brother's best friend. He reminded himself. "I-if you need any help, I'm just here, Ginny. I'll help you in the best that I can," He said, smiling. "Anytime and anything, for my best friend."

Ginny knew she was doing it all wrong. She mustn't talk to Harry just because he talked to her; she simply couldn't resist the boy. All she could do was stay happy about their friendship and treat Harry as her best friend and nothing more—no, she couldn't treat Harry only as her best friend because she knew deep inside it was something more. All she could do was continue loving Harry and just try to take the pain lightly; she must do all that she could to make everyone believe she was all right. I know I'll be all right when the right time comes, Ginny thought. I'll be able to forget Harry someday. She smiled softly at Harry. Maya had already returned, carrying a bulky book.

"Why don't we go now and eat our lunch," said Harry, looking at his watch. "It's almost twelve o'clock, then we can all go to the lake or somewhere to spend our time. Then at three, we'll all go to Hagrid's."

Ginny and Maya nodded. Harry helped the two girls with the books they were carrying and went to the Gryffindor tower.

"You wait for us here," said Maya as she followed Ginny up the staircase.

Harry nodded, sitting on one of the chairs in the common room. He thought he could see Ron and Hermione there but they already went downstairs.

"We're ready!" Ginny squeaked, making Harry jump off his seat. Maya was beside her, smiling.

"You scared me!" Harry said to Ginny, beaming.

"Sorry."

"It's all right. Let's go?" Harry said.

"Yes." Ginny and Maya answered together.

They saw Ron and Hermione already seated when they arrived at the Great Hall. The five started eating and discussing what they would do for the afternoon. After finishing their ice creams, they all went to the Gryffindor tower to get the two boys' brooms. They planned to go to the Quidditch stadium and watch Harry and Ron practice Quidditch.

"We're ready," said Ron when he appeared at the foot of the stairs. He only saw Hermione waiting at the common room. "Where's Ginny and Maya?"

Hermione smiled at them; she was holding a book in both hands. She looked at the staircase towards the girls' dormitories and said, "Up there."

Ginny and Maya appeared later; Ginny was carrying her sketchpad with her.

Many students were found on the grounds when the five left the castle, some were reading books, some were chasing each other and some were just sitting on the soft green grass, looking at the big lake. The five went straight to the Quidditch pitch. Hermione, Ginny and Maya found seats for themselves on one of the thousand bleachers. Harry and Ron mounted their brooms and went flying into the heavens.

Harry had been practicing dives while Ron was trying some of the techniques he had read for effective guarding of goal posts. Harry had only finished his fifth dive when his eyes caught the three girls below. Hermione, Ginny and Maya were all laughing at the drawing Ginny was holding. "Maya…" Harry murmured. He focused his look at Maya, grasping the handle to steady his broom in the air. "Is it Maya that I'm looking for?" Harry asked himself. Yeah, she is the one for you, Harry's mind said. Not her. His eyes were looking at Ginny. "Ginny," He mumbled. Then he remembered his promise. I can't hurt Ginny. If I'll love her, I'll just hurt her. She's just a sister to me—just that. This is for the better...

Harry was absent-minded for the whole afternoon—he nearly fell off his broom when he made his seventh dive. Luckily, he was able to grip the handle quickly; no one saw him though, all were very occupied with something.

Three o'clock came and they went to Hagrid to have some tea and treacle fudge. Luckily, Hagrid didn't offer them any rock cakes anymore. Hagrid listened to every story the five told; about Ron and Hermione, Ron's trying out for Gryffindor Keeper, Maya and Ginny joining Harry's group and Harry being the Team Captain of Gryffindor team.

At sunset, the five left for the castle happily.

**M**

Dear Diary,

Today, I had two important experiences I wouldn't forget for the rest of my life. First, my attempt to get over Harry—that's what Hermione told me to do. I thought it was easy enough but when I tried doing it, I only made Harry worry and I couldn't stand it. It feels good when I know he worries about me. He's very sweet and well, caring to me.

Second thing is Harry's promise to me. To protect my happiness and me—and never to hurt me. I felt important to him when he told me that promise—but that promise was already broken beyond his knowledge.

I can never get over Harry—that's the truth. I still love him but I must accept that Harry doesn't love me but instead he loves Maya. I can't forget him now but maybe when another boy comes—who knows.

The five of us visited Hagrid in the afternoon; it was so fun! Hagrid gave us some treacle fudges; Fang (Hagrid's boarhound) ate most of Ron's fudges. I think Fang likes Ron very much. We talked a lot and I forgot to tell you, Harry nearly fell off his broom (he doesn't know I saw that). I don't know what happened to him but he seemed preoccupied the whole afternoon. Nobody saw him when he nearly fell (except for me) and nobody also seemed to notice that he was busy thinking about something—I wonder what it is,

"Ginny,"

"Hi, Maya."

"Can I sit on your bed?"

"Sure," said Ginny as she continued writing on her diary.

"Writing again?"

"Almost done." Ginny said, followed by the sound of writing quill. "Finish!" She announced and smiled at Maya. She was fumbling for the key of her diary on her neck.

"Are you mad at me?" Maya suddenly asked.

"Why should I?"

"Because of Harry." She answered in a low voice almost like a whisper.

Ginny paused. "No," She said. "Don't worry, I understand if he likes you. Because you're very pretty and kind."

"Gin," Her voice was quavering.

"It's all right, really. I'm almost over him already," She lied to convince Maya. "Just give me time. I'm not mad at you and will never be mad." She said, smiling. "If you love him, then don't worry about me."

Maya smiled. "Harry's been kind to me and he's very funny too. I like him because he always makes me smile," Maya said. "But I'm not yet sure if I really love him."

"That's okay," said Ginny. "Give yourself some time to think, I'm sure Harry can wait."

"Okay." Maya nodded. "Now I can sleep peacefully." She smiled kindly.

"Me too," Ginny yawned. "After a long day for both of us, at last we can now sleep."

Ginny immediately fell asleep, a smile protruding from her lips.

A/N: Thanks for the beautiful feedbacks! Please review! ^_^'