Harry was leaning down so close to Ginny that he was touching her nose. He was totally entranced by feeling her so close to him. However, he was brought back to reality by something pounding on his chest. But it wasn't his heartbeat; it was hers. She looked pale and Harry realized she was trembling. Her eyes were closed and she looked unable to move.

It was then he realized that he was so close he could kiss her if he wanted and that that had been his intention. But he shouldn't, should he? He remembered that Ginny had never been kissed and he didn't want to scare her. He wanted her first kiss to be special. And, how could he kiss her if he didn't know how he felt about her? It wasn't right to lead her on when he felt so confused about his own feelings.

Instead Harry kissed Ginny on the cheek. The moment his lips touched her skin he dissolved into bliss. He couldn't think or feel anything that wasn't Ginny. The perfume and the softness of her skin were asphyxiating. It was in his heart, on his hands, and in his very soul. Never in his life had he felt the way he did at that moment. The emotion was so powerful that it overcame him and his desire to kiss her became uncontrollable. He had to kiss her. He had to feel her lips on his. Ginny had relaxed against him and had slipped her hands onto his shoulders. Feeling her cheek against his neck was more than he could take.

"Potty, when did you get a girlfriend?"

Both Ginny and Harry jumped. The loud squeaky voice had returned them both to reality and they let go of one another.

"P- Peeves!" Harry tried to keep his voice steady but he was still feeling Ginny's presence against him. "That's none of your business!"

"Peeves, the Bloody Baron was behind us." Ginny piped up.

Peeves gazed to the end of the corridor and disappeared.

Harry went back to looking at Ginny. She was so beautiful... Why hadn't he noticed before? Not only was Ginny simply perfection where beauty was concerned, but she had an incredible personality. Nobody could come up to her. Ginny stared at him and looked down.

"I'm sorry!" she said.

"Why? No, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have done that," said Harry in a gloomy voice.

"No it's fine. I'm just –"

"No I shouldn't assume that you would want me to kiss you," Harry said feeling very embarrassed. "I mean you probably fancy someone else," Harry said as he remembered Hermione's words of last year.

"You think I fancy someone else?" Ginny asked frowning.

"Well I know you don't like me like that anymore and –"

"What gives you that idea?" Ginny said interrupting him.

"Hermione said that you had given up on me months ago." Harry said with a feeling of dread and despair.

"I gave up on you because I knew you liked Cho. I dealt with the fact that you would probably never like me. You like Cho and I'm just Ron's sister," Ginny said blushing as she shrugged her shoulders.

It was then that he realized how much he had missed her blushes. Ginny never blushed for anything or anyone else. That blushing was his alone and he just couldn't help feeling slightly hopeful. He hated himself for all the time he had stupidly wasted on Cho. He moved closer and lifter her chin up.

"I don't like Cho anymore; I like you," Harry said slowly.

Ginny looked pleasantly surprised and gave him a small smile; he noticed she looked a bit pink. Yes, that was a blush. Ginny looked at him.

"I like you too, Harry," she said.

"Good!" Harry said unable to say anything else. SHE LIKED HIM! His heart was floating and his mind was racing. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder. It was the same feeling again. She smelled like a morning breeze with a mixture of wild flowers. He couldn't just hold her, but pulled her tightly against him.

A small noise behind them brought Harry out of his reverie and he realized it was almost time to go in. "I think it's time to go in. We are going to get caught standing out here and with my luck it's going to be Snape who catches us," Harry added with a bit of bitterness in his voice.

Ginny giggled and look up to him. "Yeah ok."

They walked hand in hand to Gryffindor Tower smiling and laughing. But when they reached the portrait hole, The Fat Lady had taken off early on one of her nightly strolls. They stood waiting with their hands glued together standing very close to one another. They talked in low voices and laughed about everything that went on around them from a bee to The Fat Lady not being at her post. They were simply too engaged in each other to even realize that Ron and Hermione were standing behind them while they were giving each other an Eskimo kiss.

"I'm afraid we'll have to take points for inappropriate behavior," Ron quipped.

Harry and Ginny jumped and release each other's hands. Harry felt as if cold water was being poured on him. His heart got caught on his throat.

"F – Fat Lady isn't here," Harry said making an enormous effort to keep his voice steady.

Hermione let out a laugh. "We know. We expected to find more people waiting out here."

"We'll go and find her and send her here. I think I know where she might be," Ron said hurriedly pulling Hermione to the stairs with both of them giggling crazily. Once they were out of sight, Harry was able to breathe again but he was still very nervous. He had not even thought of Ron. It was a miracle that he had not killed him then and there. He was probably going to wait until they were alone and hit him.

"Do you think Ron will be mad?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Why would he be mad?" Ginny asked with a bewildered expression.

"You saw how he reacted to Michael and when you pulled his leg about Dean, maybe..."

"I don't care what Ron wants. Are you interested in him?" Ginny asked with a smirk on her face.

"Nooo! And you are making fun of me." Harry said with a false hurt on his voice.

"Yes I am," Ginny said as she moved closer to him and he took the opportunity to hold her hands once again.

"I'm worried because Ron is my best friend. But I like you a lot Ginny. I've never felt this way before," Harry said staring directly into her eyes, which were looking back at him with a wondrously beautiful expression. For a moment Harry felt as if he was an open book to Ginny. He knew that at that moment their souls had connected and the most incredible feeling in the world invaded him. He didn't just like her. It was more than that. Harry was getting the feeling that he was in love with her.

Ginny must have felt it too because she was closing her eyes as Harry bent down to kiss her.

"OH DEAR! WHAT IS THIS! WHAT BEHAVIOUR!"

Harry and Ginny jumped again and saw a very disgruntled Fat Lady with an eyebrow raised.

"VENUS ALIGNED" Harry and Ginny shouted back both looking furious at The Fat Lady. She let them through as she mumbled something about their conduct. But neither Harry nor Ginny cared and went on in. Harry was almost boiling with fury. It was almost impossible to have a moment alone in the castle. It was as if you were constantly followed or watched. Harry was sure Azkaban wasn't guarded and watched as closely as Hogwarts was. All he wanted was to kiss Ginny.

Much to their disappointment the common room was far from empty. Everyone saw them come through the portrait hole hand in hand while hearing The Fat Lady shouting at them. They soon had everyone's full attention. Trying to avoid more problems, they walked straight upstairs avoiding the questions and comments.

"I guess it's impossible to have time alone in this place," Ginny said laughing a bit.

"I know," Harry said glumly. "The last Hogsmeade weekend is the week after this one. You want to go with me... alone?"

"I'd love too!" Ginny said giving Harry one of those smiles that made his heart melt away.

"Good! I guess we'll either have to go to bed or face the gossip in the common room," Harry said realizing that they were probably the main topic of discussion, but not caring one bit. He just wanted to be alone with Ginny. He didn't mind the gossip; he just didn't want to be the center of attention if they stayed in the common room.

"Yeah I know. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast." She then got on her toes and kissed Harry on the cheek. Harry ran a hand through her hair. She waved goodbye and went up to the girl's dorm.

Harry got to his room and realized that he still had Ginny's book with him. He looked at it. He looked around and made sure nobody was around to see him. After he was sure he was alone, he gave the book a long slow sniff. It smelled just like Ginny and he loved it! He threw himself on the bed and hugged the book. He was definitely in love with Ginny and he didn't want to fight it anymore.