*Hey – glad you're liking it. The reference to Susan in the previous chapter is my little tribute to the literally epic-length story by LavenderBrown, "The Book of Morgan Le Fey" – now that's a Harry Potter fan fiction …

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"Alright, boys and girls, here we are," said Fred grandly, as he led the way through The Leaky Cauldron. "George, I think you'd better do a headcount."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny groaned simultaneously. This was the third elaborate headcount of the hour.

"Sorry," Ginny muttered in Harry's ear. She was standing behind him.

"That's OK," he muttered back. "Let them have their fun."

"George?" cried Fred.

"All present and accounted for," announced George.

The patrons of The Leaky Cauldron were staring at them, but Fred and George were unaware – or blatantly uncaring.

This had been the condition for Ginny's trip to London – that Fred and George accompany them. They had strict instructions (apparently) not to let the four out of their sight, and had been following these orders to a T.

"Why exactly did we have to invite Ginny?" Ron was saying gratingly in Hermione's ear.

She hushed him as Fred and George led the way into the back courtyard, tapped the correct bricks, and stepped back.

The wall into Diagon Alley opened.

Everyone was silent a moment, even the twins. This was a piece of magic that never lost its – well, magic.

"There we are," said George in reverent tones.

Fred exhaled heavily. "Thank Merlin. We're back in town."

"The street can't hear you," George pointed out.

"That man did. Hello, there!" Fred waved cheerfully to a warlock in a pointy hat, who hurried away. He shrugged, and turned to the others. "Come on, what are we waiting for?"

He and George pushed their way into the crowd. Ron grabbed Hermione's arm, and Harry, after a moment's pause, gently took hold of Ginny's. The gesture seemed a little medieval at first, but was actually a fairly good idea – at least that way they couldn't all get separated. And there was no small danger of that. It was a very busy day in Diagon Alley. Harry recognised a few Hogwarts students, and all who saw him stared. He flattened his hair over his forehead in a habitual movement. Bloody scar.

Ginny was looking at him.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," he said, a bit awkwardly. "People staring at me."

"They're bound to after last term."

"I know. I know that."
The words But I still don't like it were left unsaid. Ginny didn't pursue the issue. Harry had kind of been hoping his scar might disappear if he killed Voldemort, but no such luck. It was still there, plastered across his forehead for everyone to see.

Within a few minutes, they were standing outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes – the twins' already legendary joke shop. People were going in and out in a constant stream, and most of them with paper bags and parcels bearing the Weasley slogan: "We make 'em, you use 'em to annoy others."

Inside, Harry craned his neck to see who was at the counter. It was Lee Gordon, Acting Manager in the twins' absence. He'd shaved off his dreadlocks, too, and was looking very suave and professional. There was another girl helping him – it looked like Angelina. Was it Angelina?

"Is that Angelina Johnson?" Hermione said shrilly.

The girl looked up at the sound of her name. "Hermione?" she said enthusiastically.

Hermione shook off Ron's hand and run up to hug her. They embraced. Ron looked confused.

"I didn't know they were such good friends," he muttered to Harry, even as Ginny went forward to do the same.

"I don't think they are," Harry replied. "I think it's a girl thing."

While they exclaimed over Angelina's hair – which was short – and asked what she was doing working in the twins' joke shop of all places, Fred and George approached Lee. Lee was run off his feet serving customers and had to speak between payments. Harry and George stood behind the twins, constantly jostled by people passing.

"How goes it, Lee?" said Fred tensely. "No problems?"

"That's 3 galleons," Lee said. "No, it's been fine. Busy, busy. I'm glad you're here. Do you want that wrapped?" He turned to shout at Angelina. "Oi! I need you, hurry up!"

"In a minute," Angelina said vaguely. She was still talking animatedly to Hermione and Ginny.

"Merlin," Lee said. "Thanks very much. 1 galleon, thank you." The next person paid, and the twins waited as patiently as they could, but pretty soon they'd stepped up behind the counter to help serve.

"Right," George said to Harry and Ron – Hermione and Ginny bid farewell to Angelina, and moved to join them. "You lot go off then."

"Don't you want to headcount us?" Hermione asked, looking confused.

"Don't be ridiculous, we've got work to do," said Fred, very business-like. "That's 5 knuts, thanks."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," said Hermione uncertainly.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed. "Come on! Let's go while we can!"

"Go, go," said George. "You're in the way, and we have a business to run. We'll meet you at The Leaky Cauldron, five o'clock this afternoon."

"If you're not there, I'll slaughter you, because Mum'll slaughter us," Fred added. "Bag or parcel?"

The four of them made their way out onto the street, and stood awkwardly for a few moments.

"Well," Ron said. "I think we should go and get ice-cream. Hermione?"

"I don't know about changing the plan," she said, sounding worried.

"What," Ron scoffed, "did you really think Fred and George were going to stay with us all day? Ginny, Harry, are you coming?"

Ginny made a face. "No thanks, I don't feel like it. I think I'll go and get my books."

"Well Harry, you'll have to go with Ginny, too," Ron said matter-of-factly. "She can't run off all by herself."

"Er – um – right," said Harry. Well, there goes the master plan, he thought desperately. I'm going to be all alone with her and I won't know what to say. But Ron was right – Ginny couldn't just wander off by herself. 

"You don't have to," Ginny said quickly. "Not just for my sake." She frowned at her brother. "I'm fine, Ron."

"No," Harry said immediately, "it's OK. I don't want ice cream. And we'll have fun."

Ginny eyed him suspiciously. "Please don't come if you don't want to," she said.

"I do," he replied firmly. He turned to Hermione and Ron. "We'll meet you – where?"

"Outside the library at one o'clock," Hermione said promptly. Ron grimaced.

Harry nodded. He realised he had taken hold of Ginny's arm again, without having noticed. He hoped she didn't mind.

"Don't get lost, will you?" Hermione said anxiously as Ron bustled her away.

"We'll be fine," Harry called back. "Don't worry about us!"

"Well," Ginny said when they were gone. "I'm sorry. If you want to go and do your own thing, I understand."

"Ginny, it's fine," he said hurriedly. "I meant it. I'm happy to go along and get books and things." He paused, and shrugged. "Besides, they're hopeless when it comes to each other. They'll end up snogging in the corner of some pub while I sit all on my lonesome."

She smiled wryly. "I doubt that."

There was a brief silence. Harry wasn't sure what she'd meant.

"Well," she said, "we should go, then, shouldn't we?"

"We should."
~

They reached Flourish & Blotts not long after. It was still only the beginning of summer, so there weren't as many students as Harry was used to, and it was much quieter than Fred and George's. There were perhaps twenty people in the store. Harry and Ginny approached a shelf full of quills, and stood in silence for almost a minute before Ginny spoke.

"Um, Harry," Ginny said.

"Yes?"

"You can let go of my arm now."

"Oh, right," he said, dropping it like a hot potato and blushing furiously. He was about to apologise when somebody spoke behind him.

"Potter."

He turned. He knew that voice. It was a rather subdued Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy," Harry said. "Hello."
They shook hands.

"How are you?" Malfoy asked cordially.

"Not too bad. You?"

Malfoy held up his left arm, which was bandaged. "You know," he said. "Getting there."

Harry nodded. Ginny looked at her feet. No matter what had happened the previous year, she still didn't like him. Harry could understand that – but he'd gotten to know Malfoy a little better in 7th Year.

Malfoy had made a swift conversion to the side of Dumbledore's Army with the death of his mother on his father's command. Apparently, he'd been having doubts for some time, and that sad event cemented those doubts. There'd been much discussion among the ranks of students and staff alike, but nobody could deny that Malfoy, whilst still cool and aloof, lost most of his nastiness and all of his bullying. He'd fought alongside Harry and the other DA members, and – despite their history – Harry trusted him.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"Stationary."

"Ah."

"Ginny Weasley, isn't it?" Malfoy said then, turning to her.

There was a very awkward silence in which Ginny said nothing, and still did not look up.

Eventually Malfoy nodded, a bitter sort of smile twisting his lips. He shrugged at Harry as if to say 'Well, what can you do?' Harry returned the gesture, and Malfoy, raising a hand 'goodbye', walked away.

Ginny breathed out. "I'm sorry," she said. "That was rude."

"It doesn't matter."

"I just don't like him. I can't forgive him."

"I know. It's OK."
She shook her head. Clearly, she was angry with herself.

"Ginny," he said gently. "It's OK, really. Come on, what do you need?"

Calmed a little, she pulled out her list, and they went looking for her equipment and textbooks. Harry found it very strange not buying anything for himself, but also sort of liberating. 

After paying, Ginny went out the door carrying all her books, under her own insistence. Harry was still trying to get her to give a few over to him when she stumbled on the pavement and everything tipped to the ground.

She went crimson with embarrassment and bent to gather it all up, just as Harry did the same. Like some kind of Three Stooges movie, they bumped heads. Both of them, still bent over, looked up at each other in surprise.

"Sorry," said Harry.

At that point, they burst into laughter. It felt so good to laugh like that – Harry barely remembered the last time he had. He was literally clutching his stomach, he was laughing so hard. People on the street were looking at them. And whenever he looked at Ginny, and saw her laughing too, it just started him off again.

Still in the throes of serious amusement (*oh, an oxymoron – sorry, no more A/N right in the middle hehe), they knelt and began to pick things up properly and pile them on the pavement.

"This must look pretty funny," Harry said. "I mean, us like this, and all these books and quills and things …" He trailed off and stopped laughing. He'd just reached for a quill, and so had Ginny, so that they had both grabbed it and his hand was over hers. Neither of them let go. It was a similar situation to the bumping heads, but somehow very different. It wasn't amusing, for one thing. It was – sort of exciting, and intoxicating, and frightening.

The longer the moment stretched in which they held the quill, the stranger he began to feel. His pulse was racing. He was looking right into her eyes – they were partly surprised, party scared, partly he didn't know what, and there was a little crease between her brows. Her eyes were green like his, with a spattering of brown – hazel, he supposed, but it didn't seem right to define it like that. Her eyes – they were a colour unto themselves. He became very aware of how close her face was to his.

She had her hair in a ponytail that day, and it was coming loose about her temples. Quite unconsciously, without any real awareness of what he was doing, he stretched out his free hand and tucked a strand behind her ear. She shivered when he touched her.

"Hey!" came a startled voice. "Potter, you alright?"

Neither of them moved for a moment, and then Harry stood slowly. Ginny sat back on her heels.

It was Draco. He'd clearly just stepped out of Flourish & Blotts, and was striding over to them.

"Looks like you had a fall," he said to Ginny, a bit uncertainly.

Ginny nodded.

"Yeah," Harry said lamely, thinking (not for the first time in his life) Damn you, Malfoy.  "She – fell. We were just picking everything up." 

"Right," said Draco. He bent down and began to gather her texts, and this simple motion launched Harry and Ginny into action too. They had everything in hand in a matter of seconds.

"Well, goodbye again," Draco said when they were done, a bit stiffly.

"Bye, Malfoy."

He left.

Harry began to wish he'd come back, because he really didn't know what to say. Clearly, neither did Ginny. Quite frankly, he wanted to kiss her, but he was afraid of what she might do – that she might slap him and then tell her brothers to beat him up (which he had no doubt they would do if asked). Or maybe just look embarrassed and say she only wanted to be friends.

He was scared, basically. Shitless. He was scared that after so many things going wrong in his life, this would end up being just another one for the list.

Harry's conscious mind didn't know this, of course. Harry's conscious mind only knew that he couldn't think of a thing to say to Ginny, and that the situation was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"Ginny …" he said finally.

She cut him off. "It's nearly one o'clock," she said, not looking at him. "Let's go find the others."

She walked briskly ahead of him, and all he could do was follow, mentally slapping his forehead.

~~~

A long one… I'm tired now, I'll update again soon for anybody who's out there reading this thing … Review, chickens! ~no more 3x5s~  Shezzly XXOO