Disclaimer-Well folks, as said before, I don't own anything. Sorry =)

A/N-Sorry haven't written for more than a week, just haven't felt the story coming to me. Thank you to all my reviewers once again, I never though I would have so many people reading and liking my story. Thanks. And now on we go =)

She that is not jealous is not in love.  ~St. Augustine

Jealousy is the dragon in paradise; the hell of heaven; and the most bitter of the emotions becomes associated with the sweetest.  ~A.R. Orage

Chapter 8- Awakening a Green Flame

Ron and Hermione sat there watching there friend and Ron's sister doze gently before deciding to wake them. The room was quiet and the only sound to be heard was the slow rhythmic breathing of the couple lying together on the bed. Ron looked over at Hermione, not wanting to be the one who had to wake them, afraid of what Ginny would do to him if she saw his face first waking up.

"Hermione, you wake them."

"Why me?"

"Because…because Ginny won't hex you for waking her up," Ron whispered back quickly.

Hermione, not wanting to wake them with their arguing, crept over gently to the bed and slowly patted Ginny on her shoulder.

"Ginny, wake up. Your mom wants you to get ready to go with her to Diagon Alley. We'll stay here with Harry while you go."

Ginny looked up with sleepy eyes at her friend and then turned her head to look down at Harry. The peaceful look on his eyes was very serene and she wished she could see that look more often. She looked back up to Hermione. "Hermione," Ginny whispered, "Let him sleep ok? Please don't wake him unless you have to."

"If that's what you want Ginny, but why? I mean, we would really like to talk to him and apologize. It's hurting us that we hurt him. I never realized how much it could bother him. He does look like he could use a little sleep though."

"He hasn't been sleeping much and is very stressed out. You heard what he has to face. I want to be here when he wakes with his gift so please don't wake him unless you have to. I'll be back soon."

"Won't it take you a while to find what you want?"

"Nope, I know exactly what I am getting in Diagon Alley for him so we won't be long. It won't take long to get everyone's things either. "

With that, Ginny crept off the bed slowly and softly and walked downstairs to meet her mother to leave for Diagon Alley.

Ron and Hermione both sat there, watching their friend sleep, both of them hoping that the coming year would be better than the ones in the past had. Both them knew however that they were both casting only hopeful wishes.

Ginny and her mother flooed to the Leaky Cauldron once Ginny arrived downstairs. Mrs. Weasley had to remind Ginny to grab everyone's shopping lists three times because she was in such a hurry and was excited to go.

Once arriving in Diagon Alley, Mrs. Weasley turned to her daughter.

"You are sure you can get this gift on your own, you don't need me to come along and help you get it?"

"No mom, I can get it."

"This gift you are getting Harry, it wouldn't happen to be anything someone would get a special someone would it?"

Ginny blushed, forgetting how easy her mother could read her. "Harry's mom told me something that she bought for James when they started going out. Harry doesn't know about it so it will be a surprise for him. His mother told me the shop she bought it from and that it should still be there."

Mrs. Weasley could see the excitement in her daughter's eyes. "What is it dear?"

"There is a shop near Gringotts that specializes in gem cutting. Lily bought a charm there of cut emerald so that James would always remember her when things weren't going right. She bought that stone because of the color of her eyes. I thought I would do the same but get it for Harry's eyes instead of mine. To let him know I am thinking about him when he looks at it, let him know his eyes mesmerize me."

Ginny said all of this in a sort of trance like daze, a smile brightening up her face at the same time. Mrs. Weasley had seen this look before, not on any of her son's, well, maybe Ron, but none of the rest yet. Hopefully she would see it on her older sons soon.

"I know exactly what you mean dear. I feel the same way about your father. Go on, I know the store you are talking about. I'll meet you there after I go and get everyone's things. Hurry along now, here is some money. If it costs more then that then wait for me and we will see ok?"

"Ok mom," Ginny said shyly. Looking into her hand, she had more money now than she ever had before.

Mrs. Weasley walked towards Flourish and Blott's as Ginny looked around for the store and finally found it.

The store was just as Lily had described it. Evidently, there was a charm on it that only allowed people who were really in love or thought they were to see the sign and door. Otherwise, the charm just pushed people bye, reminding them to try and find something to do socially, sort of pushing people towards relationships. A very good marketing tactic some would say. Ginny smiled to herself. She has never noticed it before when just having a crush on Harry, but she knew that what they had now was different.

She slowly pushed open the door, peeking inside to see if there was a crowd of people, but strangely enough, there was no one inside even though Diagon Alley was packed with people. The store had glass cases all around the sides with a counter running behind them along the sides of the store. Each case had a different type of gem in them, being separated by color and type. Diamond, Ruby, Opal, Topaz, Amethyst, Tanzanite, Onyx, Garnet, Sapphire, Jade, and Emerald winked light from nowhere at her. There didn't seem to be anyone around.

Ginny walked over to the glass encasing the emeralds and started to look at different ones. They were all almost the same; the cut's being exact in nature. The only difference was the size of the gem itself. Some of them were large, some were small, there seemed to be one that looked like it could barely fit in the case.

'I thought Lily said they came in a specific shape?'

Just as Ginny thought this, a voice came from behind the counter.

"Wondering why they aren't different dear?"

Ginny turned around suddenly, looking for who had spoken to her. An elderly woman came out from around the counter. There was something different about her, her eyes shown with a mirth that belied her age.

"Actually, yes I was. Someone told me that they bought a charm here for someone they loved and they told me about how it was shaped. All of these stones though are all cut the exact same. None of them appear to be of a specific shape."

"That's true dear. You see these gems are not cut by any man made device. These gems conform themselves to the person they are given by the person who loves them. Was the shape of the gem you heard about a special shape to the person it was given?"

Ginny thought to herself for a minute. She didn't know if the shape has had any meaning to James or not.

"I'm not sure, the gem ended up being shaped like a Stag, I was told that it would hold its head up proudly but when looked at by certain people, it would bow its head. I'm sorry to say I haven't seen it in person. The person who it belonged to died a long time ago."

At this, Ginny bowed her head a little; realizing again, that until recently, Harry had never met his parent's and didn't really experience any love except from her own family.

"Well, dear, the shape must have been important to one of the two people; don't worry. When you give the gem to the person it is intended for, your two hearts will seek out a form that is important to one of you. There is no way to tell who it is important to however. That is up to you two to find out."

Ginny thought to herself about what image may be portrayed by the stone but was pulled out of her thought by the woman.

"Now what can I do for you, is there anything specific you were looking for?"

"Actually, I was looking for an emerald, not really too big but not to small either."

"Well, the emeralds we have are right over here. Come take a look and see if there is one you like. When you find one you like I will attach a chain to it for you."

Ginny walked over to the case holding the emeralds and looked at them. She knew which one she wanted right away. There was an emerald about 2 inches by 1 inch across that had streaks of onyx in it. The onyx swirled around in circles but the green of the emerald was not to be overpowered, almost seeming to pulse with a life of its own.

"I would like that one, the one right there in the middle with the onyx."

"Very good choice my dear, very good choice. Now who would this be for?"

Ginny wasn't sure if she should tell the lady who it was actually for or not. There was something though about the lady that made Ginny feel like she could trust her.

"It's for someone I care about very much. I've felt strongly about him for a long time and we have just started our relationship together but we can both feel how strongly we feel about each other."

"What's his name dear?"

"Harry… Harry Potter."

"Lily's son! Oh…oh my. Dear, you can take this, no charge. If this is for Lily's son than I could never charge you."

"I can't do that; Harry would never feel comfortable taking something just because of his name. He gave away a set of books given to him because of who he was to me in his second year. I know he wouldn't like me to take something just because of his name either and neither would I."

"Dear, this isn't free because of Harry. I am giving it to you because of Lily. She helped me out many a time when I had trouble getting this shop setup. She helped me set up the type of charms needed for the gems. She was always good at charms you know."

'Wow,' Ginny thought. 'Lily really was good at charms. Well, no wonder, she did create the music box'

"Thank you," Ginny exclaimed as she watched the woman attach a chain to it and wrap it up.

"Here you go dear. Make sure to keep that safe, that is something special there. You will see."

"I will, thank you," Ginny said as she walked out of the store and back into the street. She basked in the sunlight for a second before going to meet her mother. She couldn't help but smile to herself, wanting to hurry up and see what shape the gem would take.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Ginny and her mom arrived back at # 12 and Ginny rushed upstairs where she knew Harry would be, probably with Hermione and Ron just ready to pounce once he woke up. She ran to the door and opened it quietly. She peered inside and could see Harry still sleeping on the bed, Hermione watching him while Ron was sitting to the side, reading his typical quidditch magazine.

"Guys, here are your things," Ginny whispered as she handed the packages over to Hermione and Ron. I have something to give to Harry, if you could give me a couple minutes I would appreciate it.

"Sure," said Hermione with a look in her eye.

Ginny could tell right away that Hermione wanted to know what it was. It would be no surprise to Ginny if Hermione had figured out that her and Harry had something going on but this was something she wanted to keep between her and Harry.

Hermione and Ron left the room but Ginny did not see that they left the door cracked so that they could see inside still. Ginny walked over to Harry's bed and slowly sat down beside him.

"Harry, wake up. I have something for you."

Harry slowly woke up and looked up at Ginny.

"Didn't I tell you that you didn't have to get me anything?"

"Yes, but I didn't listen to you," Ginny giggled.

Outside the door Hermione had a knowing look and Ron was trying to figure out what was going on.

"Hermione, what's going on?"

"Ron, you can't tell me that you haven't figured it out yet. Harry and your sister are together."

"What!"

"Shhhh…be quiet. They'll here us"

Back in the room, Ginny was handing Harry the package.

"This is for you," Ginny said as she handed the emerald on its chain to Harry. As Harry touched it, the stone began to glow and change. It slowly began to morph into a shape with wings. As Ginny and Harry watched it take its final form, they both gasped.

The emerald with the onyx swirls had taken on the form of a dragon, guarding its wearer. It appeared ready to strike at whatever tried to bother what is was protecting. Ginny explained to Harry about what the stone was and what had happened but other than the dragon that Harry had faced in his fourth year; neither of them knew what a dragon could mean to either of them.

"Thank you for this Ginny! I've never had a gift mean as much to me except for my firebolt."

"You are welcome Harry," Ginny whispered in his ear as she gently kissed him.

At this, Ron fell over in the hallway. Ginny heard this and walked over to them sitting out in the hallway by the door.

"You guys can come back in now," Ginny said, knowing they had been watching the whole thing.

Hermione and Ron came back into the room and Harry showed them what Ginny had given him. It was as if nothing had ever been wrong between them Ginny noted. Harry had someone to love too now. That was all he needed.

Later that night as Harry and Ron were lying in bed Ron spoke out to Harry.

"Harry, you know it's ok with me that you go out with my sister. Even if you didn't ask me first."

"I'll tell Ginny that Ron"

"Um… no need for that Harry," Ron whispered back quickly.

"Ok Ron," Harry whispered back grinning a little to himself.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The rest of the summer went quickly, Harry and Ginny spending more and more time together. Harry even brought Ron, Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with him and Ginny in to visit his mom. That was an interesting experience to say the least. Mrs. Weasley and Lily spent time talking while Hermione kept trying to question Lily about how she made the music box.

Out of nowhere, it was suddenly time to go to the train station to go to school. Harry had told everyone he would meet them at platform 9 and ¾ as Dumbledore wanted to talk to him first before going. He gave Ginny a quick kiss and said he would meet her on the train as they portkeyed to the platform.

"Now Harry, this will be quick. As you know your powers have changed quite a bit. I want you to be careful not to show your extra powers to much, and please, don't hurt anyone that may try to get a rise out you. Namely Mr. Malfoy. It would be hard to explain why we are missing a 6th year prefect if something were to happen."

"Yes Professor"

"Oh, one more thing. As you know, Sirius left everything to you in his will. As you also know, Sirius appointed Remus as your guardian incase of his death. I know that you and Remus haven't had much time to talk but Remus is taking the job of DADA Professor again so you will be able to have time to talk to him at school."

"Thank you Professor, and yes, before you ask, you can still use the house for Headquarters."

"How did you know I was going to ask you that Harry?"

"I don't really know sir."

"Well, we can talk about that later. Here is a portkey. Oh, by the way, where did you get such a wonderful looking emerald piece?"

The dragon that Ginny had given Harry was laying against his chest, resting as this point. All someone had to do though was start to bother Harry and the dragon could sense this and awake up. The dragon would fly up a little, growl and slashing its claws at the person it could sense was bothering Harry.

"Thank you sir, this was a gift from Ginny."

"How did she know where to get it?"

"Um…evidently my mom told her."

"Ah, yes, James had such a piece also. Take care of that Harry."

"Yes sir," Harry replied as he disappeared off to join his friends.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

As Harry appeared at platform 9 and ¾ he was not surprised to see that it was very crowded. Families were everywhere saying goodbye to there children as they left to go to school, some of them for their first time.

Harry walked forward with his things floating behind him, a charm holding them up thanks to Dumbledore thoughts that there was no reason for Harry to show off his magic just yet. People all around stared at him as they saw the boy-who-lived had grown up to become a young man. Many people had believed the stories the year before but now were looking at Harry in a new light. The boy they had seen and heard stories of now appeared to be in total control of his own future. To the people that didn't know him personally, he appeared to have sprouted almost a foot in height and gained muscle mass as well. But it was his eyes everyone was noticing. Even in the brightness of day light people could see the difference of Harry's eyes, the crackling of power seeming to come forth. People watched discretely and girls were casting admiring glances at Harry as he walked by.

Harry could see where the Weasley family was and was trying to make his way to them when he was what one would call mugged by girls from the different houses. He couldn't tell who was talking but he was getting mugged by questions.

"Hi Harry"

"How's it going Harry?"

"How was your summer Harry?"

"When did you get all of this muscle Harry?"

"Ohh…what a pretty dragon. Is that for a future girlfriend to wear Harry?"

Harry was trying to backup. He could face dark wizards, dragons, and Voldemort himself, but girls? Oh no, this was a subject Harry was not used to handling. He could see Lavender, Parvati and Padma Patil, Cho, Susan, and some girls he didn't know from other houses; there were even some from Slytherin. He looked around sharply but was unable to find a way out.

Ginny, who had been looking around for Harry saw a crowd of girls gathering near an area by the train but was unable to tell what was going on.

"Hermione, what's going on over there?"

"I don't know Ginny. Let's go see. We'll be right back Ron." It didn't appear if Ron heard or not, he was talking to a group of third years who had asked him some questions about quidditch. He was in his stride about the cannons and nothing was going to distract him now.

As Ginny and Hermione advanced towards the crowd of girls Hermione thought she saw a recognizable head of black messy hair in the center but couldn't tell. Ginny however could, it was Harry and he was being mobbed by a dozen girls or more and Ginny could hear what they were saying. It wasn't making her feel happy so to say.

Hermione saw Ginny eyes and the anger rising and took a step back. There was no way she was getting in the way of this angry Weasley, especially when it came to Harry. No way, no how.

In the middle of the group, Lavender was reaching for the dragon sitting on Harry's chest, it cringing in fear and Harry kept trying to back up but it was no good. He was against the train. Suddenly, from behind the group came what seemed almost an angry growl.

"LET HIM MOVE!"

All of the girls turned around suddenly, fearing it was a teacher, but what they saw was a very angry Ginny who was standing in front of a very scared Hermione. The Dragon on Harry's chest awoke suddenly and started glowing bright green, feeling the emotion of Ginny's jealousy and anger. Cho was the first one to attempt to speak.

"Why do you get to say who gets to talk to Harry?!"

"Why do you want to, I would think you messed that one up last year. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Maybe Harry wants to talk to us. What do you say Harry, do you agree with Ginny?"

Harry, though was still kinda stalled at the moment, not knowing what to do. He was still disconcerted with what was going on. Girls had never really paid him that much of attention, at least not that he noticed. He didn't know how to handle this. At the same time, the dragon on Harry's chest was flying around, lashing out at anything that got to close at the moment. It would seem the dragon was reacting to the fury of Ginny now more than the fear that Harry was feeling Hermione noticed.

"Harry doesn't need to answer. One can see it clearly that you girls are scaring him by mobbing him like this. Suddenly he grows up and none of you can leave him alone. Where were you people last year? He was still the same person then as he is now but none of you showed interest in him like this last year, well, except Cho. Why don't you just leave him alone." This last line Ginny growled.

"I'm not going to listen to you Weasley," Cho growled back and many of the girls nodded. Many of them wanted to get to know Harry better so to say. He had grown up quite a bit to them and he was powerful. All the girls knew this and it made Harry quite the catch.

At this point, Harry decided to say something that he hoped would appease Ginny and at the same time get the girls to leave him alone a little.

"Girls, actually Ginny has a right to be annoyed. You did trap her boyfriend on his way to give her a hello kiss."

Ginny had a very smug look on her face and Hermione was almost laughing as the girls realized that they would have to wait to have a chance at the great Harry Potter. Every human emotion could be seen on the girl's faces. Anger, regret, sadness, disappointment, and stubborn resoluteness were showing on all there faces as they backed away from Harry. The dragon on Harry's chest settled back down to look around for any sort of danger. Harry walked over to Ginny and gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head as she stared defiantly as the girls watching them. She smiled smugly as Harry walked towards the train with his back to them.

"Lets get on the train Ginny, we can talk some more after you get back from your prefects meeting."

Harry got on the train and pulled all of his things on as Ginny still stared with venom at the girls trying to take her man. Once Harry was out of ear shot Ginny let them have one more ear full.

"Stay away from Harry. Those in the D.A. know what kind of pressure Harry has gone through. Leave him be, he has enough to deal with."

A voice from the girls, seeming to speak for all of them as if one watched their faces, came from the back.

"Don't let him get away from you Ginny, if you do there are plenty of us willing to help him not feel lonely any more."

"Don't make any plans yet girls. I don't plan on ever letting Harry get away from me now that we have showed our feeling for each other. I've had 15 years or so worth of planning and now that I know the real Harry it is all the better. Go find another hero to go all googeley eyed over. The real Harry, which none of you know, has me now."

And with that, Ginny walked onto the train to meet up with her boyfriend before having to go to the prefect meeting with Hermione and Ron. If it was up to Ginny, this was going to be the best year for Harry. Even if she did have to protect him form every sticky fingered girl in the school.

As before, thank you for reading my story. Please review if you would like =)