Hey everybody! I'm sorry I haven't updated but I started school just this week and the homework sure kept me busy, plus I didn't get a chance to sneak up in here and try and complete this chapter.

I know most of you are wondering when the real romantic stuff comes along, well I'm just taking things slowly, and I'm sorry if I pissed you off or something. Anyways, Ginny and Harry will start literally connecting in about...in about, oh yeah! In about three chapters, but that's because there's gonna be Quidditch!

Okay, here's the chapter! ^_^

Chapter 9: A Cousin's Plot For Romance

Harry and Ginny walked up to the Gryffindor Tower, still laughing their heads off at the sight of Ron and Hermione growing more and more shades redder (if that was ever possible). They made their way up to the tower and roughly fell into separate armchairs, still trying to manage their laughter, seeing as that there were a lot of people giving them weird looks.

When they had settled themselves down, they grew silent, suddenly realizing who the other was laughing with. Ginny began to turn red, but Harry was looking into the flames of the fire, trying his best not to look at Ginny.

"Hey Harry, did you finish your Potions homework?" Ginny asked.

"Nope, not yet, with the tryouts, I decided that I'd work on it tomorrow." Harry said, still looking at the flames, but concentrating on Ginny's voice.

"Oh okay. Well, I was wondering...." Ginny began.

"Wondering what?" Harry asked, looking into her eyes, causing both their hearts to skip a beat.

"I was wondering if you would like to meet me at the library after lunch tomorrow and we can finish our homework together." Ginny said a bit shyly.

"That sounds great, I mean Ron and Hermione were gonna spend another day together, Luna is busy, and Neville stinks at Potions, so either way, we're both gonna end up working together anyways." Harry said, "And besides, I like hanging out with you, you're fun to be around." He concluded, smiling widely at her.

Ginny smiled back, but her heart skipped another beat at Harry's smile.

"Okay then, great! Well I'd better head upstairs; I've got stuff to do." Ginny got up and made her way to the girls' dormitories and closed the door behind her, feeling her face, which was very hot, and fell into her bed thinking mostly about Harry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next night, Harry laid down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, wearing a lopsided grin on his face, and feeling a bit dazed.

Ginny and Harry met at the library as they planned and stayed there for the rest of the day, skipping dinner, and then heading up when Madame Pince chased them out of the library.

They had a great time, discussing politics, and trying to find out ways to convince Hermione not to continue on with her S.P.E.W.

One could say that their "study date" caused a lot of people to wonder what was going on, but Harry and Ginny didn't seem to notice, since they were both so absorbed in each other that they quite forgot about the others around them.

But there was one incident though, where Harry and Ginny would lock eyes and then suddenly look away, feeling a bit embarrassed. And as each hour passed though, their bodies moved closer and closer together, that they could inhale each other's scent.

Harry cherished every minute spent with Ginny, still thinking about her and seeing her in his dreams.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny Weasley lay in her bed thinking about their study date. Just the thought of it made her blush madly.

She decided that she would think about things tomorrow and immediately fell asleep, dreaming about more study dates in the library.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~

Monday morning came and most of the students were reluctant to get up, only getting up because they knew that they had to.

Harry and the others read their schedules over.

"Great! We finally get to see Tonks in action in this teaching thing." Neville said, reading to see that they all had double Defense Against the Dark Arts that day.

Everyone anticipated the upcoming D.A.D.A. class, and when they finally reached the classroom, they walked in to find Tonks already sitting at her table, her legs on top of the desk, resting leisurely as she waited for the class to settle down.

When everyone was seated, Tonks got up and walked over to the front of the class.

"Welcome everyone, to seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts." She began looking at all of them. "For this class today, you will not be needing your books, only your wands."

The class looked around at each other and put their books away.

"Now, I know most of you who were in 'Dumbledore's Army' as you called yourselves, already know all of the basic spells of defense and repelling spells, thanks to young Harry here." Tonks said, looking at Harry who was to her right. "There isn't really much I can teach you now that most of you know so much about what you were supposed to learn." She paused, then continued, "So what we learn for the lesson today will be to completely block and repel spells using just one spell, instead of separate ones."

Everyone looked at each other, apparently wondering what exactly they were going to do for the class.

"Now, the spell we will be using today is incantatem protego. Everyone please say it with me, so we can get the pronunciation right." Tonks said, looking around at the class.

"Incantatem Protego." The class said in unison.

"All right, good, now I need two volunteers to demonstrate for the class." Tonks said, looking around eagerly at the class.

When no one raised their hands or got up, Tonks sighed.

"Okay then," she began, "Ginny, Harry, you two will demonstrate for the class."

Harry and Ginny stood up, blushing slightly and walked up to the front of the class. Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Luna gave them reassuring smiles.

"Thank you very much you two, now Harry, stand to my right, and Ginny, you to my left." Tonks said, gesturing to the places they should stand.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other then stood their positions, facing each other across the room.

"All right, now, wands out. Ginny, you will hit Harry with any spell, as long as it won't knock him out, and you Harry, will be the one to block it." Tonks said, stepping behind the desk that in front of the class. "Remember, Incantatem Protego. Get ready." Tonks said, as Ginny and Harry fixed their posture and pointed their wands at each other. "When I say go, you will perform the spells, and please do try to be careful."

Ginny and Harry nodded and lifted their wands.

"Okay, 1, 2, 3, GO!" Tonks said.

"Expelliarmus!" Ginny yelled.

"Incantatem Protego!" Harry yelled at the same time.

A rush of wind swept the classroom as both spells were yelled at the same time. Suddenly, Harry and Ginny were thrown backwards and into the walls behind them. The whole class gasped and Ron and Hermione got up and ran to the two, trying to pull them up.

Harry got up and swayed unsteadily, rubbing the back of his neck, Ron steadying him. Ginny got up as well and leaned against Hermione, rubbing her side.

Tonks ran up to both of them and frantically checked if they had any broken bones.

"Are you all right dears?!" Tonks said, panicking.

"I think we'll live Professor." Harry said, sitting back down with the help of Ron. Ginny did the same, still rubbing her sides.

"Ginny dear, are you all right?' Tonks asked, bending over to look at Ginny.

"My ribs hurt a bit Professor." Ginny said, trying to hide the pain, but failing.

"Oh I knew I shouldn't have used students for the example. Harry, I want you and Ginny to go to the hospital wing and see Madame Pomfrey about any possible injuries. I would fix them myself, if you have any, but I don't think I would want to risk another accident." Tonks said, helping Ginny up.

"Okay then Professor." Harry said. "Come on Ginny."

"Ginny followed Harry out the door, closing it behind him, the class watching them as they left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny and Harry walked in silence to the Hospital Wing. Half way there, Ginny clutched her ribs harder and started swaying dangerously, stopping to lean on a wall, panting.

"Are you all right Ginny?" Harry asked, looking at her.

"I think I fractured my ribs, it's getting very difficult to breathe." Ginny said through ragged breaths.

"Okay then, here, let me carry you the rest of the way." Harry offered.

"No, I'm pretty heavy, I'll make it Harry, don't worry, thank you very much for the offer though." Ginny said with a smile, walking on ahead of him. She began to sway and nearly feel over, if Harry had not stuck his arms out to stop her fall just in time.

"I think Tonks underestimated your injury." Harry said, pulling her up and carrying her in his arms.

"I'm all right Harry, don't waste your energy." Ginny said, trying to get out of Harry's arms.

"No Ginny, you can't walk as well on your own, you're getting ready to collapse." Harry said, keeping a firm grip on Ginny's body.

"But what about your injuries?" Ginny asked, looking up at him.

"Oh nothing life threatening, just an aching head. Nice choice of spell by the way. I would have used another type, like the jelly-legs charm, but otherwise, good choice." Harry said.

Ginny laughed saying, "I wanted to give you a challenge."

They smiled at each other and Harry began walking away, not noticing Jesabelle standing behind a nearby statue. She had seen the whole thing, and was smiling happily to herself.

"Things are finally working well. I had better thank Tonks after class." Jesabelle thought as she walked back to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry walked at a slow pace, so as not to make Ginny feel a bit dizzy. Harry looked down at her, seeing that her eyes were closed and that she had drifted to sleep.

"She looks so innocent when she sleeps." Harry thought, looking down at her peaceful face.

Ginny had been so content in Harry's arms, finally drifting off to sleep, wishing Harry would just keep holding her close forever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny and Harry later returned ten minutes, fully healed, before the class was over. Apparently, they had not missed anything, for, in her frantic mood, Tonks had just decided that they review and practice all the spells they learned in the D.A. sessions.

They were practicing the Patronus Charm when the bell rang, signaling the end of classes.

The rest of them left, but waited outside the classroom, since Jesabelle said that she wanted to ask Tonks something.

Jesabelle came out two minutes later, smiling, a twinkle in her eyes. Harry had a strange feeling that she was up to something concerning him and Ginny, but decided that he would ask her about that later that night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry and Jesabelle sat at one of the tables near the fireplace. Harry was sitting on the right side of a couch, finishing his Astronomy essay, and Jesabelle was sitting on his left, reading a book about vampire civil wars, thoughtfully sucking on a sugar quill as she read.

A few minutes later, Harry sat up.

"I finally finished the essay." Harry said, stretching and sitting back on the couch. "That took so long. It's already late."

"That essay was assigned three days ago! See what happens when you procrastinate?" Jesabelle said, keeping her eyes on her book.

"You sound exactly like Hermione." Harry said.

"Is that bad?" Jesabelle asked.

"Oh no. But you know what is bad?" Harry asked, turning to Jesabelle.

"What is bad my dear cousin?" Jesabelle asked, still reading.

"Seeing a twinkle in my cousin's eye after class, that's what's bad." Harry said.

Jesabelle looked up from her book to find him giving her the "I know you are up to something" look.

"What?" Jesabelle asked, giving him an innocent face.

"I know you're up to something!" Harry said.

"Oh really? Then what am I up to?" Jesabelle asked, grinning.

"I don't know exactly what it is, but I know you're up to something. Something to bring me and Ginny closer together." Harry said, lowering his voice so no one could hear. There were only three other people in the common room, and they were sitting a good distance away, but he didn't want to risk anything.

Jesabelle gave him an innocent look again, but when she saw his agitated expression, she stopped and put down her book saying, "Okay, so maybe I am up to something."

"Bloody hell! See I told you!" Harry said.

"So what if I am..it's nothing bad you know." Jesabelle said.

"Wait, you set us up in D.A.D.A. today didn't you? You made a deal with Tonks! Ginny got hurt in the process." Harry said, his voice steadily rising.

"That was a bit of the back fire, but hey, at least you got to hold her in your arms right." Jesabelle said, but putting a hand over her mouth.

"Yeah, I guess so- wait." Harry said. "You were spying on us too?!"

"I'm sorry Harry, but I wanted to make sure that everything was going well for the both of you." Jesabelle said, growing sad. "Please don't be angry, I just wanted you two to be together."

Harry ran his fingers through his hair, looked at the expression on Jesabelle's face and sighed in retreat.

"Sorry about that. But thanks." Harry said.

"Quite all right mate, I would have reacted the same way if you were doing the same thing to me." Jesabelle said. "So anyways, how did it feel? Holding her in your arms like that?" Jesabelle asked.

Harry smiled at her and said, "She looks innocent when she sleeps. She's......."

"So wonderful that you can't even find the best words to describe her?" Jesabelle finished for him.

"Yeah." Harry said dreamily.

"Awwwww!" Jesabelle said, giving Harry a big goofy smile. "I think I'm gonna cry!" Jesabelle said, pretending to wipe a "tear" from her eye.

"Jesabelle!" Harry said.

"I'm just joking. That's great. Things are working well. Just keep your cool, and let me handle everything else." Jesabelle said, getting up. "I'd better head up, it's past midnight. Good night Harry."

"Okay then, good night Jesabelle." Harry said, giving her a hug and watching her walk up the stairs.

A few minutes later, Harry fixed his things and headed up as well. He changed his clothes and got into bed smiling. He was lucky to have a loving "sister" like Jesabelle.

There! Whoo! Sorry it took so long! I'll be coming up with more don't worry! Please read and review! ^_~ Thanks!