AN – This is just a quick interlude to get the ball rolling on some Harry/Ginny. And because Harry needs (and some of you reviewer types agree with me on this) someone to kick him in the ass a bit.

So, no Ron/Nev in this chapter, but they'll be back tomorrow. I'll also respond to reviews next chapter. I'm not ignoring you guys, I promise. Thanks so much for reading!!

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Harry nearly ignored the knock. But it was too early to pretend to be asleep, and heaven only knew what drama would start if they worried he was sick or in trouble or something.

So he stood up with a sigh and opened his door.

Ginny smiled sheepishly. "Talk to you for a moment?"

Harry hesitated, but let her in. He still felt off-center, and a bit resentful, over what she and Neville had said to him about Ron.

Ron was his friend. His best friend. He knew Ron better than anyone did. He didn't need other people telling him how Ron was feeling.

Still, this was Ginny. And he liked Ginny, honestly. They had been a bit awkward at first, with Ginny's silly little crush on him leaving her unable to talk around him. But time had chased that out of her. She had proven that to be true last year.

She moved into the room and looked around for a few moments.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked, even though he didn't really feel like beginning a conversation.

"Why are you in here, anyway? You've always stayed with Ron before."

He sighed. Time to start justifying himself again. "I wanted to be alone. It's hard enough to be here, alright? I just wanted to be able to work things out on my own. It's not so evil of me, really. No matter what everyone else thinks."

She turned to him, eyebrows raised. "Harry. No one's attacked you for being in here. Have they?"

He shrugged.

She watched him as he moved to the bed. Her eyes, again, reminded him of Mrs. Weasley. Knowing and fond and annoyed, and too old to be in Ginny's young face.

He only stood the stare for a moment. "What? What do you want, anyway?"

"I wanted to apologize to you."

"Oh." Harry laughed a bit, mirthlessly. "I was wondering if maybe it was impossible for anyone to apologize to me."

She frowned at him.

His laughter vanished. "Well?"

"Harry, let's get something clear here. I don't apologize for what I said to you. Especially about Ron. He's my brother, and as much as I like you I love him. I won't stand by and let you hurt him anymore. In fact, I'm pretty angry with myself for not seeing it sooner."

"Seeing what? God, Ginny, I'm so sorry I haven't been absolutely perfect while people have been dying around me. I know how terribly disappointed everyone must be that I had some emotions of my own."

"Harry, shut up."

His jaw shut with a snap. He stood up. "If this is your way of apologizing, maybe it would be better if you didn't."

She faced him, looking up into his eyes steadily. "You're an ass sometimes. Especially if you haven't noticed how absolutely bloody understanding everyone is trying to be about those emotions of yours."

"Get out, Ginny. I'm going to bed."

"You know perfectly well that everyone in this house thinks you're bloody remarkable. I know I do. I know my entire family does. Emotions or no emotions, you're a kid. You're just a year older than me, and you've been put through so much. We understand that, Harry."

He glared at her, then looked away angrily. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

She went on as if he hadn't spoken. "Does that bother you? Hearing that we all think you're wonderful? Does it bother you not to have a reason to hate all of us?"

He turned back to her, surprised. "To hate you?"

She folded her arms over her chest. "You seem to be looking for reasons. Maybe you think if we're all angry at you we'll leave you alone to deal with these emotions you've got. That's bloody stupid, Harry. If you want them to leave you alone, just tell them. They'll let you sulk as long as you want."

"Fine. Leave me alone."

She smiled a bit. "I said they. Not me." She hesitated then, looking at him with a touch of uncertainty. "I don't understand why you're acting like this. I wish you'd tell me if my guess was right."

He frowned. "I don't hate anyone, and I don't want anyone to hate me. I just want to be alone. Why is that so hard to understand?"

"Because, Harry. You were alone for far too long, and it didn't make you happy. Why do you think it will make you happy now?"

"Ginny…" His hands clenched into fists of frustration. "My entire family is dead. I'm allowed to act a bit irrationally, aren't I?"

"Your family is right here, Harry."

"You know what I mean!"

"No, I don't. You've had years now to accept what happened to your parents. They died a long time ago, so I know that isn't what's bothering you. Not," she added quickly when his face flushed, "that it's something you can just get over, but it isn't making you feel this hostile."

He spoke through gritted teeth. "Sirius Black—"

"—was your godfather, Harry. He wasn't family. He was a friend of your father. You wanted to live with him, I know. You wanted him to be your family, but he wasn't. Not yet."

"He was my family. The only family I had!"

"Harry, you're bloody thick."

"Get out."

She stood her ground. "Can I ask you a stupid question?"

"You will no matter what I say."

She flashed a small smile. "You're learning."

Harry frowned at her.

She met his eyes, curiosity on her face. "What made Sirius Black your family?"

"He…" Harry hesitated. "What does…"

"Just answer me. Please."

"He just was. He cared about me. My parents trusted him. He gave me…advice, and he helped me. And…I don't know! It's not something I can put in words, is it."

She shook her head. "Maybe not. I just want to know what he had that we didn't have."

"We? Who's we?"

She gestured around as if to signify the whole house. "Us. Me, Ron, my parents. My brothers. Hermione. Why can he get to be your family and we can't?"

Harry blinked. "He was my godfather."

"Is that it?" She looked disappointed. "Well. I guess we can't do as good as that. We don't have any sort of titles for what we are to you. Ron does, doesn't he? Best friend, I thought. But maybe that doesn't mean as much as 'godfather'. I guess we can care about you and help you and risk our lives for you all we want, but we'll never be as good as he was. Your parents never knew us, so you can't know if they would have trusted us or not."

Harry hesitated. "Of course they would have." He had to look away from her when he said it, though. She was making a bit of sense, and it wasn't something he wanted to think about right then.

"Do you think so? Still, without that word, 'godfather', I guess we don't matter. Never mind that we all love you. If you want, I'll be the one to go and tell mum she can't love you like a son anymore, because she doesn't have the right. She hasn't got a fancy title."

"Ginny. Stop it. That isn't what I meant."

"But it's how you're acting."

He looked at her in unhappy surprise.

"You're pushing us away to mourn Sirius, because he was your family and we aren't. Well, fine. I just wanted to know where we stood." She sighed and turned suddenly, heading for the door.

He watched her, frozen, until she had her hand on the knob. "Wait. Ginny, it's not like that. You know it isn't."

She turned back, her face solemn. "I still want to apologize, though. If I had realized how unimportant we all were to you, I would never have gotten so mad that you were treating Ron so badly."

"Ron?" Harry went to her at that. "I don't understand. What have I been doing to Ron that was so awful?"

"Nothing." She shrugged. "He isn't anything to you, so you haven't done anything."

"Stop saying that! He's my best friend!"

"But that doesn't mean anything, does it? He's been there for you for over five years now. Right there at your side, helping you out whenever he could. Getting himself hurt and in trouble, nearly getting killed. He would, you know? He would get himself killed to save you. And I think you used to know that. You used to act like you knew, anyway. But all that changed because suddenly there was some man hiding out somewhere who called himself godfather, and you forgot all about Ron. You stopped thinking he was important. Because you had a real family, so why would you need him?"

"That's ridiculous. It wasn't like that at all."

"He's had nightmares, really bad ones, at least twice a week. That thing, that brain that he got all wrapped up in at the Ministry fight? Pomfrey said the brain attacked with dark thoughts. Not as obvious as a Cruciatus curse, maybe, but since then his brain has been filled with darkness that isn't his, and it comes alive at night, he says."

Harry frowned. "I…I didn't know that."

"No, you didn't. You didn't know that he stopped eating last year because he was so depressed, and me and Fred and George had to corner him in your dorm room and shame him into eating again."

Harry blinked, wordless.

"You didn't know that he never stopped blaming himself for you and the twins getting kicked off the team. Or that he thought if he was just a bit smarter he would have been able to help you figure out those dreams of yours before someone had to die. You didn't know that he really adored Percy, and that Percy leaving us hit him even harder than it hit mum."

"He didn't say." Harry spoke dully.

Ginny sighed. "You didn't ask. You didn't notice at all."

Harry turned away from her. He moved slowly back to the bed and sat, his mind whirling. "There was so much happening…"

"Yeah, Harry, I know. But there were days between. We're talking about an entire school year. There were days when you could have noticed something. How long does it take, really, to ask your best friend if he's okay?"

Harry looked down, his eyes clouding.

Her voice was full of sympathy now, a quiet sort of matter-of-factness that hurt more than yelling would have. "The moment anything happens to you, there are a hundred people around to make sure you're alright. Who did Ron have if he didn't have you?"

"He…he had you. His family?"

She scoffed gently. "When we talked to him about his eating…that was the one time any of us said anything to him. The twins…you know how they are. They're stupid about feelings. They made fun of him for the very things he was already upset about. Me…" She sighed. "I was horrible. I was too busy trying to impress you during those DA meetings. I was dreaming about being the one that helped you save the day, and…and I noticed Ron was different, but I didn't say anything."

Harry looked up at her.

Her eyes were bright. "He didn't have us. Even when we got back here. Mum and dad are so busy, and it's been just me and Ron. And I didn't…well. I've been a bad sister, anyway. It wasn't until Neville got here that Ron started to cheer up."

"Neville." Harry spoke his name quietly, remembering Neville's stammering, hesitant argument with him earlier.

She nodded. "Neville's been really good for Ron, Harry. I think they've been good for each other. And it isn't that Ron is trying to replace you. You know better than that. Ron cares about you too much."

Harry nodded, wiping at blurry eyes. "I know. I don't know why I said…"

"I think he and Neville are…well, I don't know what I think. But it's like I said before – I won't let you hurt Ron anymore. And if you try and come between him and Neville, you will hurt him."

"But…I don't understand. Neville and Ron were never close or anything."

"They are now. They make each other happy, Harry."

"And I'm making everyone miserable."

"Yes, you are."

He blinked in surprise at the agreement.

"Ron would never say it, because he's too scared of losing you. But I will. You're making everyone miserable, and it isn't fair. We're trying so hard to help you. We're ignoring each other, even, trying to help you. And you don't appreciate it at all. You don't see what's in front of you, Harry. You're too busy focusing on what you've lost. You don't see that you've got this big, loving family, and friends who would do anything for you. You keep treating us like we don't matter, and yes, it makes us miserable."

Harry sat stunned, trying to find the words to argue.

Ginny approached him suddenly. There was nothing in her eyes but sympathy. "I know you're hurt. I know it, even though I don't know quite how you feel. But you really are much luckier than you know."

He sniffled, looking at her, in shock over all of it.

She reached out and pushed a bit of hair out of his face. It was a motherly gesture that seemed….not so motherly…coming from her. She looked down at him and smiled sadly. "It doesn't matter, though. You can make us miserable, and we'll still be here to help you and to care about you. You know why?"

Harry spoke unevenly, saying words he realized were true. Words he should have seen before now. "You're my family."

She nodded. "We'll be here waiting when you're ready to join us." She smoothed his hair a bit, then turned and silently left the room.

Harry blinked as the door shut, and tears went down his cheeks. He didn't wipe them away.