Harry hardly ate at dinner because something in his stomach kept disturbing
him. The question on his mind disturbed him the rest of the afternoon.
Why had he said that? He couldn't kiss Ginny. She was Ron's sister!
Something was nagging at him, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
Whatever it was, it was giving him a sense of great fear and he didn't know
what it could be. He wondered if Ginny was mad at him for suggesting that
he wanted to kiss her. By the time he met Ginny to go to Occlumency
lessons he was sick to his stomach.
'Are you ok?' Ginny asked looking concerned.
'Not really. Are you mad?' Harry asked anxiously.
Ginny looked surprised, 'Why would I be mad?'
'Because of what I said, this afternoon. I didn't ...' Harry stammered.
'Oh! No of course not.' Ginny said turning pink. 'We are late for Occlumency'
As usual Ginny wished him good luck and sat down to read 'Quidditch Through The Ages.' He was glad that she wasn't mad at him. But surprisingly his sickness didn't go away. He still felt sick and didn't know why.
In Occlumency that day, Harry didn't do as good as other times. For the fifth time that day, he was on the floor feeling worse than when he came in. He wondered if it was because he kept remembering the same thing over and over and it was the conversation with Ginny that afternoon.
'Harry, is there something wrong? Last lesson you were doing so well. There appears to be something distracting you. Sit down and have some chocolate,' Lupin said as he pulled up a chair and sat down in it.
'Can we cut this short today? I can't do this today,' Harry pleaded.
'Yes, off course. I think that's a good idea. Can I ask you something?' Lupin asked in a curious tone.
Harry knew what he was going to ask. 'Why I am remembering the same thing?' Harry blurted out the question that he knew was coming.
'Yes, it doesn't look like there is anything dangerous, but it looks like you are afraid of it,' Lupin said in a casual tone.
'I don't know. Maybe it's because I did something really stupid and now I don't know what am I' going to do about it,' Harry said while rubbing his eyes.
'Does this have anything to do with Ginny?' asked Lupin.
Harry doubted whether he should say anything, but, the pressure on his chest was so intense that he feared he'd stop breathing at any point. In the end he told Lupin everything that had happened. When he finished, he felt a bit better though he was still feeling fearful.
'I don't know why I said anything like that,' Harry said in desperation.
'Perhaps it's because you do want to kiss her. Do you like her?' Lupin asked casually.
'WHAT? Have you gone crazy?' Harry said horrified.
'Why? Harry it's perfectly –'
'This is RON'S sister we are talking about!' Harry said nervously.
'Oh, I see! So you are scared that Ron may not approve of you liking Ginny,' Lupin said calmly.
Such a simple statement made Harry's head spin. He felt dizzy and confused and for a moment he felt he may pass out.
'Are you ok? Don't tell me you haven't thought of this,' Lupin said with a bit of a smile on his face.
'Well no, I hadn't,' Harry said trying to fix his eyes onto anything but Lupin.
'You haven't answered my question. Do you like her?' asked Lupin again.
'It's ... I...I don't know,' Harry said giving in to the question. He realized at that moment this was what had been bothering him all day. This was the fear he had felt all day.
He looked at Lupin and who seemed to realize what he was thinking. 'It's not like you two don't spend every moment together and you are very comfortable around her. Harry, there is nothing wrong with you feeling attracted to her, but it doesn't mean that you have to get together with her.'
Harry's stomach flopped; it was exactly what he felt. Ron and Hermione were his friends but Ginny had become his confidant, friend, spy, Quidditch partner, and everything in his life. He and Ginny were the perfect companions in everything they did. The change must have showed on his face.
'Oh, Harry, don't tell me you are in love with her and you haven't figured it out,' Lupin said showing some sympathy in his face. 'How do you feel about her?'
'We spend almost all of our free time together. I-I like Ron and Hermione and they are my friends, but – but Ginny is different. We take Potions together. She's a lot easier to talk too, she's really like Sirius and we – we – we...' Harry stopped horrified at his words. 'I can't be in love with her. I just can't.'
'Sounds like you probably are,' Lupin said looking at him with a longing expression on his face.
'I can't be in love with her. What am I going to do? I just can't. She's Ron sister. I know how protective he is of her. Besides, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley...what will they say if they find out that I'm in love with their daughter?' Harry said and the fear returned to his body faster than he expected. So that's what he'd been feeling all day.
'Harry, just take it one day at a time. Knowing your family, they will all probably approve of it. You are just feeling nervous because they are almost the only people you have left that feel like family. If you are beginning to fall in love with her, there is nothing you can do about it. Nothing can stop that from happening, not even you. Let it happen and enjoy it,' Lupin said quietly.
The problem was that Harry didn't want to let happen. He dreaded to think what Ron and the Weasleys would say if he revealed that he was in love with Ginny. He couldn't let that happend so he decided to resist it. He wasn't going to fall in love with Ginny.
However, when he went out and saw Ginny sitting in a corner reading her book and the moonlight pouring all over her, somehow the thought was driven out of his mind.
By the time they were half way to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ginny were engaged in a gentle elbow tapping game that Harry was enjoying a lot. This all started because Ginny caught Harry looking at her and asked what was wrong. Harry said nothing but Ginny kept asking him. He tapped her elbow with his. 'Nothing, honestly! Why does something have to be wrong?' Harry asked with a smirk on his face. Ginny tapped him back and they began to enjoy this rather a lot. By the time they had reached Gryffindor tower he didn't even remember the resolution he had made in Lupin's class.
They had reached the last corner before the tower when Ginny dropped her books. She stopped to pick them up and when she resumed walking Harry, saw she was going to trip on something Peeves must have left for that purpose. He quickly went to help and grabbed her before she could fall to the floor.
It was then that it happened. In his effort to grab her, Harry had not realized how close they were. In fact Ginny's long hair was all over him and his arms were around her waist. Harry couldn't explain what he felt when Ginny's head came up and she looked at him in the eyes. It was like they were entranced with each other. The feeling was the warmest he had ever had and yet the scariest too. His mind was totally entranced on how beautiful she looked he could see himself in her eyes! He could feel the softness of her hair on his face and it was the most incredible sensation he had ever felt. He wasn't really thinking when he closed his eyes and bent down...
'Are you ok?' Ginny asked looking concerned.
'Not really. Are you mad?' Harry asked anxiously.
Ginny looked surprised, 'Why would I be mad?'
'Because of what I said, this afternoon. I didn't ...' Harry stammered.
'Oh! No of course not.' Ginny said turning pink. 'We are late for Occlumency'
As usual Ginny wished him good luck and sat down to read 'Quidditch Through The Ages.' He was glad that she wasn't mad at him. But surprisingly his sickness didn't go away. He still felt sick and didn't know why.
In Occlumency that day, Harry didn't do as good as other times. For the fifth time that day, he was on the floor feeling worse than when he came in. He wondered if it was because he kept remembering the same thing over and over and it was the conversation with Ginny that afternoon.
'Harry, is there something wrong? Last lesson you were doing so well. There appears to be something distracting you. Sit down and have some chocolate,' Lupin said as he pulled up a chair and sat down in it.
'Can we cut this short today? I can't do this today,' Harry pleaded.
'Yes, off course. I think that's a good idea. Can I ask you something?' Lupin asked in a curious tone.
Harry knew what he was going to ask. 'Why I am remembering the same thing?' Harry blurted out the question that he knew was coming.
'Yes, it doesn't look like there is anything dangerous, but it looks like you are afraid of it,' Lupin said in a casual tone.
'I don't know. Maybe it's because I did something really stupid and now I don't know what am I' going to do about it,' Harry said while rubbing his eyes.
'Does this have anything to do with Ginny?' asked Lupin.
Harry doubted whether he should say anything, but, the pressure on his chest was so intense that he feared he'd stop breathing at any point. In the end he told Lupin everything that had happened. When he finished, he felt a bit better though he was still feeling fearful.
'I don't know why I said anything like that,' Harry said in desperation.
'Perhaps it's because you do want to kiss her. Do you like her?' Lupin asked casually.
'WHAT? Have you gone crazy?' Harry said horrified.
'Why? Harry it's perfectly –'
'This is RON'S sister we are talking about!' Harry said nervously.
'Oh, I see! So you are scared that Ron may not approve of you liking Ginny,' Lupin said calmly.
Such a simple statement made Harry's head spin. He felt dizzy and confused and for a moment he felt he may pass out.
'Are you ok? Don't tell me you haven't thought of this,' Lupin said with a bit of a smile on his face.
'Well no, I hadn't,' Harry said trying to fix his eyes onto anything but Lupin.
'You haven't answered my question. Do you like her?' asked Lupin again.
'It's ... I...I don't know,' Harry said giving in to the question. He realized at that moment this was what had been bothering him all day. This was the fear he had felt all day.
He looked at Lupin and who seemed to realize what he was thinking. 'It's not like you two don't spend every moment together and you are very comfortable around her. Harry, there is nothing wrong with you feeling attracted to her, but it doesn't mean that you have to get together with her.'
Harry's stomach flopped; it was exactly what he felt. Ron and Hermione were his friends but Ginny had become his confidant, friend, spy, Quidditch partner, and everything in his life. He and Ginny were the perfect companions in everything they did. The change must have showed on his face.
'Oh, Harry, don't tell me you are in love with her and you haven't figured it out,' Lupin said showing some sympathy in his face. 'How do you feel about her?'
'We spend almost all of our free time together. I-I like Ron and Hermione and they are my friends, but – but Ginny is different. We take Potions together. She's a lot easier to talk too, she's really like Sirius and we – we – we...' Harry stopped horrified at his words. 'I can't be in love with her. I just can't.'
'Sounds like you probably are,' Lupin said looking at him with a longing expression on his face.
'I can't be in love with her. What am I going to do? I just can't. She's Ron sister. I know how protective he is of her. Besides, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley...what will they say if they find out that I'm in love with their daughter?' Harry said and the fear returned to his body faster than he expected. So that's what he'd been feeling all day.
'Harry, just take it one day at a time. Knowing your family, they will all probably approve of it. You are just feeling nervous because they are almost the only people you have left that feel like family. If you are beginning to fall in love with her, there is nothing you can do about it. Nothing can stop that from happening, not even you. Let it happen and enjoy it,' Lupin said quietly.
The problem was that Harry didn't want to let happen. He dreaded to think what Ron and the Weasleys would say if he revealed that he was in love with Ginny. He couldn't let that happend so he decided to resist it. He wasn't going to fall in love with Ginny.
However, when he went out and saw Ginny sitting in a corner reading her book and the moonlight pouring all over her, somehow the thought was driven out of his mind.
By the time they were half way to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ginny were engaged in a gentle elbow tapping game that Harry was enjoying a lot. This all started because Ginny caught Harry looking at her and asked what was wrong. Harry said nothing but Ginny kept asking him. He tapped her elbow with his. 'Nothing, honestly! Why does something have to be wrong?' Harry asked with a smirk on his face. Ginny tapped him back and they began to enjoy this rather a lot. By the time they had reached Gryffindor tower he didn't even remember the resolution he had made in Lupin's class.
They had reached the last corner before the tower when Ginny dropped her books. She stopped to pick them up and when she resumed walking Harry, saw she was going to trip on something Peeves must have left for that purpose. He quickly went to help and grabbed her before she could fall to the floor.
It was then that it happened. In his effort to grab her, Harry had not realized how close they were. In fact Ginny's long hair was all over him and his arms were around her waist. Harry couldn't explain what he felt when Ginny's head came up and she looked at him in the eyes. It was like they were entranced with each other. The feeling was the warmest he had ever had and yet the scariest too. His mind was totally entranced on how beautiful she looked he could see himself in her eyes! He could feel the softness of her hair on his face and it was the most incredible sensation he had ever felt. He wasn't really thinking when he closed his eyes and bent down...
