A/n: Yes, I do normally place my author's notes at the end of my chapters, but I felt this one I had to put up front. Ari, thanks. I know I've not been one the best people to have to put up with over the last few days, and I thank you for being always by my side. You're my greatest support system and this all goes out to you.

'Overbearing panic attack entrenching my veins. In an hour I'll be ok I pray this pain will go away permanently someday. I've seen more than... I should have to... I've seen this on my own. This song is a, poem to myself, it helps me to live... in case of fire, break the glass, and move onto your own ' - Poem, Taproot.

Chapter Six: Break the Glass

Harry sat in his dorm, chilled. Chilled and enraged. What had he honestly been thinking? Or had he? He seriously doubted that now that the event had passed. But he had actually lied to attempt to claim Gryffindor the win. He couldn't believe he had shrunk to such an unheard of low. The thought disgusted him. He had acted stupidly.

All he had wanted was the chance to beat Slytherin. The chance to beat Malfoy, the one he was at the greatest competition with. He'd never lost to Malfoy before, at least not at Quidditch, and this one time had pushed him far over the edge. He'd fallen on confused wings and not even tried to stretch them and fly. No, Harry Potter took the bloody easy way out of this. Or what he thought was the easy way.

Nothing had been going the way he'd planned lately, and it seemed as if he was losing everything. For some reason he'd hit a point where it seemed like everything had slipped away from him. He'd lost Cho Chang only a year ago, although Harry had to really consider if he ever had her. None the less, he still lost her.

Cho Chang had only been the girl Harry had crushed on since his fourth year of schooling. He had once asked her to the Yule Ball in the same year, but she had already promised to go with the late Cedric Diggory. A year had passed and slowly Harry watched the pretty Ravenclaw recover from Cedric's murder.

He had then, somehow, even Harry wasn't sure, mustered up the courage to start talking with her. She was the Ravenclaw Captain. He was that of Gryffindor. They had common ground and Harry soon found it easy to talk to her. He thought that Cho must've enjoyed his company, for she often talked to him more than she had ever before.

After a Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game, one in late April that proved in a Gryffindor win, Harry had talked with her at the base of the stadium. She was sitting there, alone in the stands, her dark hair shimmering in the late afternoon sun. He'd approached her, nervously, and sat down next to her.

"Good game Cho," he said, engaging her in a session of small talk.

"Thanks Harry," she smiled at him. "You played really well. You'll make a fine Quidditch player someday."

Harry had then felt himself blush. Putting his hand on the bench behind him, Harry lent in and softly kissed her. Cho had kissed him back, but only shortly before pulling away. She looked at him, with a questioning glance, and then walked away. Harry had never dared to get close to her after that. He was a bit scared. He knew that he'd lost her from that moment on and had eventually come to terms with that.

He had then lost Ginny, just over the summer.

Awhile after Harry had finally given up all hopes with Cho and had gotten her image far from his mind, he moved on. He'd discovered that one girl, one simple girl, who had been sitting right next to him all this while now held the key to him. Only problem was, she was his best mate's younger sister.

Harry had known Ginny had been infatuated with him since his second year at Hogwarts, everybody knew it. But he'd only ever considered her as Ron's sibling. Nothing more, nothing less. Slowly, and gradually, he began to see her in a different light and by the end of his sixth year he had admitted to himself that he liked her, in more than a 'you're-my-mates-young-sister' way.

It was the sixth day of summer vacation. Harry was spending it at the Weasley's. He'd take it any day at the Burrow than back at Privet Drive with his nasty aunt and uncle. Ron had been showering, or perhaps still sleeping, Harry wasn't really all that sure, but he was up. He walked out in the yard, only to see Ginny leaning against a willow tree at the yard's back. Her hair burned like fire in two long braids over her shoulders, and she was looking down to a book.

"Hi Ginny," Harry said when he approached her. He ducked under the willow's drooping branches and leaves that curtained the young Weasley girl.

"Oh, hi there Harry," Ginny barely looked up at him.

"Is it all right if I ask you something?" he said almost in a nervous state. Harry wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he had to give it a shot.

"Give me a moment. There's about a half page left in this chapter."

Harry stood down the small hill formed by the tree's mass roots. He waited as she finished the chapter of her book, bent the corner in and closed it, resting it on the ground by her feet. She pulled her knees in and smiled, her faintly freckled cheeks lighting up. "What was it you wanted to ask?"

Harry walked up to her, and crouched at his knees. He put both his hands on her knees and looked at her bright, golden eyes. He had then just said it. Told her that he liked her. What else could he have done? He watched the smile fade from Ginny's face and her eyes dropped.

"Oh," she said in a tone of surprise. "Um, about that. You see Harry, I kind of, well, got on with my life. I, uh, liked you for so many years, but truth be told, I don't anymore. Not like that," she had added quickly. Harry knew she was trying to be nice about it, trying to put it in a way that would be easy for him to take. But she couldn't say that in anyway that didn't crush Harry. He had liked her since Christmas of his sixth year, and for her to say she no longer liked him, or 'not in those terms', knocked him down.

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and without any farther word with the redhead, he made his way back into the Burrow to find Ron.

He was soon to lose his two closest friends, Hermione and Ron, to each other.

Ever since his fourth year, or the end of the year, Harry had known Ron had a crush on Hermione. Ron might not have known it then, but Harry did. He picked up on that rather quickly. Ron was always nervous around Hermione, always jealous of her and any other guy. The two might disagree all the time, but as they say opposites attract.

Harry realized, Hermione shared the same feelings for Ron.

"Harry! You won!" Hermione exclaimed as Harry watched her rush up to him after the final Quidditch match of their sixth year. Gryffindor had just beat out Ravenclaw for the Quidditch Cup. "Congratulations."

"Thanks Hermione," Harry said with a great and proud grin across his face. Ron then approached, having followed Hermione. Harry watched the brunette eyeball Ron as he congratulated Harry. He had suspected it for a few weeks now. Hermione liked Ron, plain as could be, that just gave Harry a bit of added proof to the fact.

Spending practically the whole month of August together, Harry noted that the two became closer and closer. They spent too much time together. It was now like they could finish each other's sentences. It was almost too creepy for him. Harry had known, since going into the month, that eventually, sometime, his two best friends would hook up.

And add to that his marks were starting to slip and he was losing those as well.

"Mister Potter," Flitwick said as he handed a Charms test back to Harry. "Not your usual work Harry. You're going to have to bring up that mark of your's."

Harry flipped his evaluation of the Charm over to see that he had in fact passed, but not by all that much. It wasn't something that he was proud of, and his spirits sank. He'd gotten back a Transfiguration mark awhile ago and it proved he wasn't doing as well as normal in McGonagall's class either. Then there was Potions. Bloody Snape wasn't about to give him a good mark.

Thankfully there were his courses like Divination and Care of Magical Creatures that would help his marks. And of course there was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was always one of his strongest classes. But as he looked at the mark in his hand and sighed, Harry knew the truth. Even if he did have other courses to help his marks, they didn't change it as drastically as a few bad marks. He knew he was really going to have to concentrate on bringing his marks back up.

"Cheer up Harry," Hermione said in an attempt to comfort him. As if that was going to help him. Who was she, the one who got perfect marks all the time. "There's always next Charm Evaluation you'll do well on."

Harry groaned and stuffed his wand and papers in his bag.

That ugly lose to the Slytherins just made it all unbearable for Harry. He didn't want to have this one extra lose. It had pushed him.

"I've never lost to Malfoy, not at Quidditch," Harry complained as he walked from the pitch to the dressing room with his two Beaters. Harry couldn't believe he had just lost to Slytherin. Malfoy had actually caught the Snitch before he had. It was a first in six years.

"Not doing so hot, Potter?" Malfoy called outside the Slytherin dressing room. "Team not doing as well as usual?"

"Shut up Malfoy," Harry spat at the Slytherin Captain and stalked into his own House room.

"You know Harry, there is a way," proposed Riley Nickelson after a few seconds.

"Yea, you see we could beat Slytherin," the other Beater, James Chapman, added slyly. "It is possible."

Harry looked to the two with doubt. Sometimes he wondered if they were more trouble than the Weasley twins. "It's not possible, the match is over and we lost." He cursed under his breath.

"Doesn't matter, there's still away." A devilish twinkle came to Riley's eyes and he grinned. There was something on his mind, some plan. Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to know about his. He really wasn't. But then they started talking, telling him about their plans and ideas, and Harry found himself listening.

Harry laughed when the two finished telling him about calling a false call against the Slytherin team. What kind of crazy and immoral idea was that? But as time passed, a few minutes that was, Harry started to like the idea. They had a point. It did give Gryffindor a chance, and they didn't lose in the situation. He could still claim his win against Malfoy.

"All right," Harry mumbled. "I'll find Hooch and talk to her."

Riley and James grinned with satisfaction at hearing Harry's words. Harry could only guess that they had presumed he wouldn't have been up for it. Hell, Harry wasn't even sure if he was up for it. But at least he could claim this, win something. And whoever liked losing to a Malfoy?

Had he ever been wrong. He now was settled with guilt at the stupidity of his own actions. What had he been thinking? He had failed Gryffindor. There was no other way to put it, he had let them down. To have even agreed with James and Riley on that idea was absurd and he should've known better than it. What would've happened if Dumbledore had found it the truth? Surely Gryffindor would've been disqualified for the season and Harry would've been stripped of his title.

What if Dumbledore had sided with Harry? That was another question persistant on Harry's mind. Sure it was Malfoy and Slythering, but still. They'd be disqualified, Malfoy'd be stripped, and they wouldn't have done anything to deserve it. God had he ever been foolish to think that call was a wise idea.

He felt horrible for yelling at Ginny. Why he had accused her of talking to Slytherin he wasn't even sure. He was simply displacing his anger for loosing yet again onto her. He had to clear things up with her. He knew she'd never like him, not in the way he wanted, but he still felt terrible for what he did.

Walking into the Common Room he saw the portrait hole enter as Ginny and a few of her friends entered. There was no better time than now. "Ginny!" he called across the room. She looked nervously up at him, and Harry knew she was scared or nervous, but still she came. "You were right in believing it was a fake," Harry said quietly as he stood with her to the side of the room.

Ginny didn't say anything but Harry watched her eyes as she watched him, surveying his every move. This girl had such stunning eyes it was unbelievable. "Why are you telling me this?"

Harry shrugged. Was he even sure why he was telling her this? Guilt. "I feel real bad for accusing you of talking to Malfoy, for turning Gryffindor in. I want to apologize to you for that. And I wanted you to know the truth."

"Why?" she asked again, great confusion was spread across the gold of her eyes.

"Because it was stupid of me and I needed to tell someone. Anyone, and you were the one of everyone who saw through me." Harry quickly explained his reasons for why he'd done it and Ginny stared at him in disbelief. She shook her head at him, clearly displeased with the way he'd taken to the situation.

"Harry you really dropped in my eyes, you know that? For you to have brought up a fake call against your rivals, just to win? I know you say you did it because you snapped, but that's no excuse. Not a good one."

Harry's eyes slanted after her as she strolled off, returning to the sixth years she'd entered the Tower with. He'd known she was going to be upset with him, but it didn't matter any longer. At least he'd told her then. Better that there be a possibility that she forgive and forget than none at all. Right?



Wow. If that hadn't taken Ginny Weasley by surprise. She had never thought Harry would've come forward and told her the truth about the call. Of course she already had known it was a bogus one, but she hadn't imagined that Mister Potter himself would've come forward to her. And then explain the whole situation? It was just, well ... weird.

She'd known that something would've been at Harry for him to deliberately pull this kind of stunt. And she had wanted to know what, but now that she knew she wasn't sure she wanted to. He had a sort of break down, and she'd been a cause of it. Or a part cause of it. He'd 'lost' everything as he'd said, including her. Ginny found that a pang of guilt sank low in her stomach.

Never would she have thought that Harry was losing everything. Sure she'd known about Cho, and well, of course she knew about herself, and the loose to Malfoy. But putting it all together and this was really getting to Harry. She didn't really understand his reasoning, it was a lame excuse to come up with a call. All she could think of was that he snapped. In a desperation to reclaim something he'd acted in idiocy and accused Slytherin of cheating.

Always she had found it easy to be honest with him, and she'd told him the truth. Well, other than the whole her telling Blaise thing, but he hadn't asked that of her ... this time, at least. He had indeed dropped levels according to her. She'd always thought of him much higher than she did at this moment. Harry Potter was sinking to a brand new low. She would've expected something like this out of a person like Malfoy, but never from Harry. Malfoy was always one to pull this kind of thing, or at least that's what she thought. She'd have never dreamed up this idea that it would be Harry.

Ginny was comparing Harry to Draco Malfoy. This kind of struck as odd. It was another one of those things she would've never seen herself doing. But then, she guessed the world was kind of going like that now. She shook her.

At least it was over. Or as over as this ordeal would ever be. She was finished lying to Harry about talking to Blaise. She was done siding with Slytherin behind Gryffindor's back. She was finished with having to worry about anyone finding it. She was done. Harry coming to her just gave her reason to believe this was over. She sighed in relief. It was one thing she'd no longer need to fret over. Hopefully everything would return to her norm. And right in time for Christmas

Ginny could live with that idea. It was hard to believe Christmas was only a few weeks away. November had passed and the first snow had come that last week. The Hogwarts students were now a week into December and were eagerly awaiting one last week when they'd have their break.

The Weasleys would be staying at the school. Arthur and Molly were spending the holiday in Germany with three of their sons that were there; Bill, Fred and George. Ron and Ginny weren't about to go home to no one. They'd spend the two weeks vacation here in Gryffindor Tower along with Harry. It would be a much needed break away. Ginny was hoping to catch up on some of her reading. School work and the such had been getting in the way recently and she'd fallen behind with Tolkein's series.

Making her way over to the sixth years, she took a seat near Rock and pulled out her Care of Magical Creatures homework that Hagrid had assigned a few days ago. She chatted quietly for a bit with the others while working on the log sheets. After some time passed the young Weasley retired to her dorm and her four-poster. A much needed break was soon to come.

A/n: Yea, I know, it's short, sue me. I got out what I needed to get out, and that's what counts. I also started chapter seven before even looking at this one. Meaning, I'm not all that focussed on this crap of a chapter. Cleared up that stupid call and that's what I set out to do. :glares: Lizi