A/N: I've been forgetting to mention that I own nothing but the plot. So
here you have it: JK owns everything but the plot. She's one smart lady
don't you think?
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By the time Friday rolled around, Harry was ready to explode. Quidditch had gone horribly; for the first time in years Harry hadn't caught the snitch. Ravenclaw had beaten them miserably and he knew it was his fault.
Hermione and Ron had been acting strangely, always disappearing and chatting alone. It was like they had vanished into their own little world, a place where Harry didn't exist.
Neville had become very absorbed in his Herbology and was always taking Luna to see some new fascinating new plant that Mme. Sprout was growing. At first Harry tagged along, but plants didn't interest him nearly as much as they did Neville. He couldn't take another day of looking at a Cackling Cactus, and so he looked for another place to be.
It was under these unfortunate circumstances that Harry found himself hanging out with Seamus and Dean. Normally this wouldn't have bothered him in the slightest, but with current situations he felt terribly uncomfortable. His feelings towards Ginny made Harry afraid that he might attack Dean unpredictably. The jealousy was burning inside of him more and more every day.
When Harry had time to sit alone in the common room, his thoughts always drifted to the Order. What was happening with them now? What nasty scheme was Voldemort un-hatching at that very moment? He worried about Lupin, Tonks, Moody and the others constantly. If anything happened to them he feared it would be the last straw. He couldn't handle much more pain in his life.
But pain he felt. It stabbed into him when Ginny walked by chatting with Lavender. It scorched his insides when he spoke to Dean about the Hogsmeade trip. His life was an unfixable disaster. He hadn't felt so low since Sirius' death
On Friday evening things started to look better. Hermione and Ron ate with him and then invited him to come along to work on homework. They sat in the common room chatting continuously, laughing and joking like normal. Harry was positively beaming to have his friends back. It felt like things were going back to the way they ought to be.
"Hey guys! Mind if I join you? I've got loads of Transfiguration homework" Ginny asked from behind the group. Harry stiffened. He hadn't spoken to Ginny since their last chat in the common room. He had finally gotten his mind off of her.
"Sure Ginny! That's what Harry and I are working on too" said Ron cheerfully.
"Thanks" she replied, sitting down beside Harry. Her eyes darted towards his, but he quickly looked away. Why did she want to torture him?
"Ron! Give me back my pen!" squealed Hermione.
"No, it's my pen now" said Ron playfully. Hermione tackled him leaving Harry stuck on the outside again. It had been a simple illusion that things were normal again. Hermione and Ron were flirting and Ginny was here to torture him.
"Harry, could I talk to you later?" Ginny whispered. "I wanted to tell you about something".
"Tell me now" said Harry angrily. He wouldn't spend another night chatting with Ginny by the fire. Every other time had been a waste.
"Please Harry, I can't say it now. It's kind of private" she whispered back.
"Tell me some other time then. I can't tonight. I'm tired" he said grumpily. He felt horrible being mean to Ginny, but there was no other way.
"But.oh fine Harry. Forget about it" she responded bitterly.
Harry closed his book. He couldn't deal with this tonight. He waved goodnight and marched up the stairs to bed.
As he crawled under the soft covers he felt horribly guilty again. Ginny had done nothing to deserve his cruelty. She was a wonderful, amazing person who had always been kind to him. It wasn't fair that he had taken his frustration out on her. He drifted to sleep with plans of apologizing in the morning.
...............................
After Harry and Ron had gone to bed, Ginny and Hermione sat awake in Ginny's dorm. Hermione had decided to move her stuff into this room, and had taken over the deserted bed of one of Ginny's old roommates. Ginny was thrilled to not be alone in the room anymore. All of the other sixth year Gryffindor girls had left Hogwarts for one reason or another.
"He's just confused Ginny. He must think you like Dean instead of him" Hermione started.
"I told you 'Mione, he invited me to go with all of you. He didn't invite me on a date!" Ginny said sharply. "You aren't listening!"
"I am! I just think he meant it to be a date" she argued. "You always come with us. Why would he feel like he needed to invite you this time? He must have choked and changed his story last minute" she explained.
"Hmmm, I guess that's a possibility" Ginny thought aloud.
"That must be it" Hemione agreed, lying down onto her pillow.
They chatted for a few more minutes before drifting off to sleep. Ginny made a mental note to talk to Harry again in the morning.
....................................
After breakfast, Harry realized that the Hogsmeade trip was that day. Hermione, Ron, Neville and Luna planned to meet at the front Entrance of the school.
"I'm not going to come" Harry told Hermione quietly in the common room.
"But Harry you really ought to come!" she argued.
"I'm not." he said firmly.
"Oh alright" she said, accepting defeat. "I'll tell the others you felt sick" she said, and headed out of the room.
Harry flopped down on the couch. A trip to Hogsmeade might have really cheered him up. Maybe he should have gone? But it was too late now, they had already left. He decided to go down to the Great hall to see who had stayed around.
Just then, Ginny emerged from the girl's dormitory stairs still wearing her pajama pants and a big sweatshirt.
"Ginny, you've missed the trip!" he exclaimed. "You must have slept in?"
"I decided not to go Harry. I tried to tell you that last night" she said with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head.
"Oh.about that." Harry began.
"Don't worry Harry. It doesn't matter" she interrupted. "How about a game of wizards chess? Ron's left his set out" she grinned.
"Alright" agreed Harry. They sat down beside each other on the couch, placing the board in the middle. "So, why didn't you go?" he asked cautiously.
"Three reasons" Ginny answered. "Number one: I didn't want to go anymore".
"Oh" said Harry, mildly surprised.
"Number two: Dean didn't want to go with me anymore" she continued.
"What!? Why wouldn't he want to go with you?" Harry demanded.
"Discovered Hannah Abbott's got a crush on him" she said, blushing at Harry's response. "They decided they wanted to go together".
"Ridiculous" said Harry. "And what was number three?"
"Checkmate!" she shouted.
"Because of checkmate?" he asked, extremely confused.
"No Harry!" she giggled. "I've just won" she said, nodding towards the board.
"Oh, already!?" he said embarrassedly. "Well what was the real third reason?" he asked, setting the chess board on the floor. She stared deeply into his eyes for a moment.
"Well..." she said nervously. She was leaning towards him. Catching him off guard, she quickly kissed him. Fireworks erupted in his stomach. She pulled away, blushing bright pink. To Harry, the common room looked more beautiful than ever before.
"It was you Harry" she replied.
.
................................
By the time Friday rolled around, Harry was ready to explode. Quidditch had gone horribly; for the first time in years Harry hadn't caught the snitch. Ravenclaw had beaten them miserably and he knew it was his fault.
Hermione and Ron had been acting strangely, always disappearing and chatting alone. It was like they had vanished into their own little world, a place where Harry didn't exist.
Neville had become very absorbed in his Herbology and was always taking Luna to see some new fascinating new plant that Mme. Sprout was growing. At first Harry tagged along, but plants didn't interest him nearly as much as they did Neville. He couldn't take another day of looking at a Cackling Cactus, and so he looked for another place to be.
It was under these unfortunate circumstances that Harry found himself hanging out with Seamus and Dean. Normally this wouldn't have bothered him in the slightest, but with current situations he felt terribly uncomfortable. His feelings towards Ginny made Harry afraid that he might attack Dean unpredictably. The jealousy was burning inside of him more and more every day.
When Harry had time to sit alone in the common room, his thoughts always drifted to the Order. What was happening with them now? What nasty scheme was Voldemort un-hatching at that very moment? He worried about Lupin, Tonks, Moody and the others constantly. If anything happened to them he feared it would be the last straw. He couldn't handle much more pain in his life.
But pain he felt. It stabbed into him when Ginny walked by chatting with Lavender. It scorched his insides when he spoke to Dean about the Hogsmeade trip. His life was an unfixable disaster. He hadn't felt so low since Sirius' death
On Friday evening things started to look better. Hermione and Ron ate with him and then invited him to come along to work on homework. They sat in the common room chatting continuously, laughing and joking like normal. Harry was positively beaming to have his friends back. It felt like things were going back to the way they ought to be.
"Hey guys! Mind if I join you? I've got loads of Transfiguration homework" Ginny asked from behind the group. Harry stiffened. He hadn't spoken to Ginny since their last chat in the common room. He had finally gotten his mind off of her.
"Sure Ginny! That's what Harry and I are working on too" said Ron cheerfully.
"Thanks" she replied, sitting down beside Harry. Her eyes darted towards his, but he quickly looked away. Why did she want to torture him?
"Ron! Give me back my pen!" squealed Hermione.
"No, it's my pen now" said Ron playfully. Hermione tackled him leaving Harry stuck on the outside again. It had been a simple illusion that things were normal again. Hermione and Ron were flirting and Ginny was here to torture him.
"Harry, could I talk to you later?" Ginny whispered. "I wanted to tell you about something".
"Tell me now" said Harry angrily. He wouldn't spend another night chatting with Ginny by the fire. Every other time had been a waste.
"Please Harry, I can't say it now. It's kind of private" she whispered back.
"Tell me some other time then. I can't tonight. I'm tired" he said grumpily. He felt horrible being mean to Ginny, but there was no other way.
"But.oh fine Harry. Forget about it" she responded bitterly.
Harry closed his book. He couldn't deal with this tonight. He waved goodnight and marched up the stairs to bed.
As he crawled under the soft covers he felt horribly guilty again. Ginny had done nothing to deserve his cruelty. She was a wonderful, amazing person who had always been kind to him. It wasn't fair that he had taken his frustration out on her. He drifted to sleep with plans of apologizing in the morning.
...............................
After Harry and Ron had gone to bed, Ginny and Hermione sat awake in Ginny's dorm. Hermione had decided to move her stuff into this room, and had taken over the deserted bed of one of Ginny's old roommates. Ginny was thrilled to not be alone in the room anymore. All of the other sixth year Gryffindor girls had left Hogwarts for one reason or another.
"He's just confused Ginny. He must think you like Dean instead of him" Hermione started.
"I told you 'Mione, he invited me to go with all of you. He didn't invite me on a date!" Ginny said sharply. "You aren't listening!"
"I am! I just think he meant it to be a date" she argued. "You always come with us. Why would he feel like he needed to invite you this time? He must have choked and changed his story last minute" she explained.
"Hmmm, I guess that's a possibility" Ginny thought aloud.
"That must be it" Hemione agreed, lying down onto her pillow.
They chatted for a few more minutes before drifting off to sleep. Ginny made a mental note to talk to Harry again in the morning.
....................................
After breakfast, Harry realized that the Hogsmeade trip was that day. Hermione, Ron, Neville and Luna planned to meet at the front Entrance of the school.
"I'm not going to come" Harry told Hermione quietly in the common room.
"But Harry you really ought to come!" she argued.
"I'm not." he said firmly.
"Oh alright" she said, accepting defeat. "I'll tell the others you felt sick" she said, and headed out of the room.
Harry flopped down on the couch. A trip to Hogsmeade might have really cheered him up. Maybe he should have gone? But it was too late now, they had already left. He decided to go down to the Great hall to see who had stayed around.
Just then, Ginny emerged from the girl's dormitory stairs still wearing her pajama pants and a big sweatshirt.
"Ginny, you've missed the trip!" he exclaimed. "You must have slept in?"
"I decided not to go Harry. I tried to tell you that last night" she said with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head.
"Oh.about that." Harry began.
"Don't worry Harry. It doesn't matter" she interrupted. "How about a game of wizards chess? Ron's left his set out" she grinned.
"Alright" agreed Harry. They sat down beside each other on the couch, placing the board in the middle. "So, why didn't you go?" he asked cautiously.
"Three reasons" Ginny answered. "Number one: I didn't want to go anymore".
"Oh" said Harry, mildly surprised.
"Number two: Dean didn't want to go with me anymore" she continued.
"What!? Why wouldn't he want to go with you?" Harry demanded.
"Discovered Hannah Abbott's got a crush on him" she said, blushing at Harry's response. "They decided they wanted to go together".
"Ridiculous" said Harry. "And what was number three?"
"Checkmate!" she shouted.
"Because of checkmate?" he asked, extremely confused.
"No Harry!" she giggled. "I've just won" she said, nodding towards the board.
"Oh, already!?" he said embarrassedly. "Well what was the real third reason?" he asked, setting the chess board on the floor. She stared deeply into his eyes for a moment.
"Well..." she said nervously. She was leaning towards him. Catching him off guard, she quickly kissed him. Fireworks erupted in his stomach. She pulled away, blushing bright pink. To Harry, the common room looked more beautiful than ever before.
"It was you Harry" she replied.
.