Disclaimer: You all know I do not own Harry or anyone else…

Author's note: Sorry it has taken so long with this chapter. I have been really busy this week and haven't really found that 'spark' of inspiration. Thank you for the reviews I've received. They are so appreciated. Now, you all know that you should review once you get down there! *hints*

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Ginny felt her heart pound against her ribs. To feel Harry's hand brush against hers was almost too much. Did he even know what he did to her? She needed to think. To run.

Ginny had taken up running. Back in the summer she had been running once a week. To clear her head. She felt at peace when she ran. But back at the Burrow her brothers (Fred and George mostly) teased her ("Shaping up for Harry, are we?"). They had all received several black eyes for the comments at first, but she figured they only needed to pass the time and decided that she wouldn't let them get to her. They were right. Partially.

A part of her wanted to look good this year, so maybe Harry would notice her. But she had taken up running because of him. He occupied her dream and every waken moment and she just wanted some peace. Pushing her body to the limit of what she was capable of was something she needed. When her legs felt like they would fold beneath her, when her heart was pounding madly against her ribs like it wanted to jump out of her chest, when she was just so close to exhaustion she found that it was in that moment she could think the clearest.

"Harry?"

Ginny's voice trembled slightly, but Harry didn't seem to notice it. He seemed startled by her voice.

"Yeah?" The boy's emerald eyes turned from the stone floor to look questioning at Ginny.

"D'you mind if we play that game of Snap some other time?" she asked.

"Sure…" Harry replied, slightly confused. He hadn't really been counting on playing once back, he had just been glad for the break from the endless stream of homework.

"Thanks", Ginny said, feeling a wave of relief go through her body. With that she jogged off, heading up to her dormitory to fetch her clothes.

Within minutes she was looking over the lake, wondering which path she should take. If she took the left she would take the path she always took, around the lake. That would give her a good 10 minutes. But Ginny knew it was really too short for her today, she had a lot on her mind. She looked over to the right, her eyes trailing the path all the way until it disappeared around the castle. She needed time, a lot of time, to think, so she started jogging to her right, soon disappearing around the corner of the castle.

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"She should be here by now!" Ron exclaimed for what must have been the seventy-first time in two minutes. He was pacing the Gryffindor common room, muttering to himself. "10 minutes, then she gets back…" he mumbled. "Only 10 bloody minutes!"

"Ron, would you stop it!" It was Hermione that spoke. Ron had been pacing ever since Harry told Ron that Ginny was out running and hadn't come back for fifteen minutes. He had gone mad, his eyes coming out of their holes. They all knew of Ginny's running-habit and knew she never ran more than 10 minutes, top. And it had now been over a half an hour.

"I'll go look for her", Harry offered, as he just couldn't take Ron's pacing anymore. He got a short nod from Ron and a pleading look from Hermione, asking him to hurry. He knew that she was annoyed with Ron too. Harry climbed out of the portrait hole and headed for the Entrance Hall.

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Ginny felt as if her legs wouldn't carry her any further. They were aching like hell and her breath had gone from controlled to irregular and fast a long time ago so her chest was aching just as much as her legs. She was practically hyperventilating. But she couldn't stop and rest now. She had the front doors in sight and aimed for them. Every step she took seemed to take a million years and Ginny started to wonder if she was moving forward at all.

All Ginny wanted now was to be back in her bed, resting. She had come to realize a lot of things during her run, but at the end she hadn't been able to think about anything else but the castle. She knew what she had to do later on, but all of her strength was needed for this last part and she had turned off her mind a long time ago.

She was just a few feet away from her goal when she tripped. Ginny hadn't seen the little stone in the ground and her foot got stuck. She had no time to react; she just fell face forward to the ground…

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Author's note: Well, well… Sorry a thousand times it took so long! Thank you again to all of you who reviewed! I promise the next chapter won't take so long! But it might not be up until like Monday, I'm away in a basketball cup this weekend. Wish us luck! *crosses fingers*