Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue. Blah blah blah.

A/N: This is terrible. The title has nothing to do with anything until, like, the end...I just didn't have any better ideas. I just really wanted to do a Harry/Ginny fic. I actually took it down for about two seconds because I had this other version that seemed better. Then I read it over and I though 'This is worse than the other', so, back up DaLC went. -.-

Pairings: Harry/Ginny, Hermione/Ron

Dance a Little Closer

"Hey, Harry," Ginny greeted as the Boy Who Lived collapsed into a chair by the fire. Over the years, the two of them had become very close. Not as closed as Hermione, Ron, and Harry, mind you, but close all the same. Harry never seemed to mind that she was a year younger than him. Although, considering all the friends and enemies he had made over the years, she doubted that she was an exception or anything.

"Hey, little sis," he teased. Ginny beamed as he said this, falling apart a bit inside. Ever since his sixth year, he'd teased the younger girl about how he felt like he had a younger sister after spending time at the Burrow. Ever the loyal friend, she kept her disappointment inside when he called her this, realizing the boy had never had a decent family and that, crush or not, he deserved one and Ginny should feel proud to be part of it.

Even if she was playing the part of the little sister rather than the accepted girlfriend. Mentally shaking away the thought, she returned to Earth, still beaming.

"What's up?" she asked, wondering why he had come alone rather than with her brother and Hermione. The teen shook his head, rubbing his temples gently. The sixth year raised an eyebrow. "Okay, guessing games are fun. Let's see..." she muttered. "Malfoy charmed your homework to insult the teachers?" Harry snorted.

"I wish." The redhead tilted her head slightly. "Okay, let's see...Ron made a really perverted joke about broomsticks during Quidditch practice that you can't get out of your head. He really should've waited until I could hear it. With brothers like mine, I can always stop to appreciate a disgusting joke."

"No, it's nothing," he muttered, a small, pink blush tracing his features. A light went on somewhere in Ginny's mind.

Standing suddenly, she leaned over innocently, missing his new blush as she searched his wide eyes. She smirked. "W-what?"

"You caught them snogging," she declared. The seventh year paled as he hid his face. "I knew it!" She laughed slightly at his embarrassment, wondering if this would be how Ron would react if he caught herself and Harry or if he'd just try and kill his friend. Or if he'd cheer. Hermione would be glad, of course. Her reaction, however, would be similar to the reaction of her fri-

Stop it, the teen scolded herself. Stop thinking like that about Harry! Stoppit!

"I'm glad for them, really," her love interest said suddenly, sliding down in his chair. "I just...really didn't want to see-"

"I know," she interrupted. "I walked in on them at the Burrow. In Ron's room." Ginny smirked slightly as the raven-haired boy paled further. He had shared a room with Ron. She considered telling him that she caught them on Harry's bed, but decided against it, wondering if his current shade was healthy.

"Can we change the subject?" he asked lightly. Ginny smiled sympathetically and nodded.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, tucking a strand of straight, fiery hair behind her ear. She watched his lips parted. "And if it has the word 'Quidditch' in it, I swear..." Harry looked confused for a moment.

"I was going to ask if you're going to Hogsmeade this weekend." Ginny blushed as red as her hair.

"Oh...I guess I am," she muttered. "I mean, I've got nothing better to do, you know?"

"I suppose. You're going with Dean, right?" he asked, remembering that she had been dating him for quite a while. At least, she was during her fifth year. The girl laughed and shook her head.

"Honestly, Harry," she chuckled. "For a big brother, you're truly terrible at these things." Smiling at him, she continued to laugh slightly. "Dean and I broke up midway through the school year last year."

"Oh..." he trailed off, staring off into space, brow furrowed slightly as if deep in thought. "Hey, Gin..." The girl tilted her head cutely.

"Yes, Harry?" she asked, not daring to hope as she held her breath.

"Would you..." he paused, as if not quite sure how to phrase the rest of the sentence. "Do you..." Taking a deep breath and sighing, he looked Ginny in the eye. "You want to go for a ride?"

"Pardon?" she asked, released the held-in air. A ride? With Harry? Beneath the moon and stars and gorgeous night sky? Of course she wanted to go!

"Do you want to go for a ride?" he asked again. "I have Padfoot hidden in the Shrieking Shack. Give me two minutes..." Ginny was shocked to say the least. After Sirius had died, the boy had refused to go or do anything that reminded him of his godfather. Slowly, he had begun to accept the fact (much quicker than Remus had, no matter how calm he had seemed at the Department of Mysteries), but still would not allow anyone near the man's flying motorcycle, fondly dubbed 'Padfoot', much less ride it.

"But..." Every piece of the youngest Weasley was screaming for her to go. So why was she hesitating? Harry's breath caught as the young woman positively beamed at him. "I'd love to." The duo smiled as the seventh year stood to retrieve the bike.

"I'll be ba-"

"Harry!" Ron called from the other side of the Common Room, Hermione right behind him. Both had smiles larger than their faces and were watching their friend. Ginny looked at the newly paled boy standing next to her. The young man was very leggy, the long appendages proud, sure, and strong.

"We're going to study for the NEWTs," Hermione informed him, holding an armload of books, quills, and parchment, which were being taken by her boyfriend to lighten the load. "You want to come with us?" Harry looked between his old friends and his 'younger sister'.

"Go with them," the red-headed female said quietly. "Your NEWTs are more important."

"Some other time?" he suggested. The girl looked up in surprise, meeting hopeful green eyes. Softly, she nodded and he smiled. Turning, he ignored the confused gazes of his friends as Ron hand him his books. "Bye, Gin!"

"Bye, Harry!" she called back. Then, quietly, she added, "I love you..."

The two hadn't found time to go riding after that. Harry was busy with his NEWTs, Ginny was busy with homework, the two of them both had Quidditch practice... Sure, the two had passed in the hallways to class and were able to have small conversations between classes and sleep, but it was never anything serious and never anything romantic.

Of course not, Ginny thought bitterly. Why would you think it would be? He considers you his sister!

As the weekend came closer, the sixth year found herself receiving several requests to go to Hogsmeade with this person or that person. Angrily, she rejected each one, having a strange feeling she was among the last resorts. Besides, there was only one person she would accept a request from.

Unfortunately, he wasn't asking and neither was she. She would pass him in the halls and saw nothing as she listened to the rumors of who was going with whom. Several times, she thought she heard Harry's name crop up in these 'conversations', and, several times, she swore she saw Harry being mobbed by a dozen female students of all ages and one or two male students, asking to go to the popular wizarding town with him. To her relief, he had rejected all of them, as well. Of course, she could very well see why they would want to ask. He was famous, talented, bloody gorgeous, and one of the kindest people you would ever meet.

But the point was he rejected them and this made one Ginevra Weasley very pleased. However, she had a sneaking suspicion that Hermione and Ron were somehow behind it. She knew her brother knew that, although she had gotten much better at hiding it after her second year, she still had a lingering crush on his best male friend, thus, Hermione knew, seeing as her brother couldn't keep a secret from his girlfriend to save his life. Playing matchmaker wasn't their style, however.

Okay, maybe Ron's. This, however, is not the point. The point in it's whole, glorious, shiny, sparkling glory was that Harry James Potter, seventh year Gryffindor, first Seeker in a century to play as a first year, the Boy Who Lived, and the gorgeous, lean, sweet man he had grown up to be was going stag to Hogsmeade, no matter who thought what of him if he didn't have a date. As happy as Ginny was with this, she was also rather upset. Harry was going stag to Hogsmeade, but for Hermione and Ron, who would be off, in a secluded corner of The Three Broomsticks, having a good snog. The poor raven-haired boy would be bored the entire time without someone to hang out with and the sixth-year couldn't help but feel as if she was to blame.

It couldn't be helped, however. The weekend of the trip rolled around and both Harry and Ginny remained dateless. With every intention of apologizing for Harry's boredom (she never quite figured out why), she made her way to the Great Hall in her muggle clothes (Hermione had purchased them for her. She had to admit they were comfortable!) to meet with the others. Upon arriving, she searched the crowd for the green-eyed wonder to no avail.

"Where is he?" she thought aloud.

"Where is who?" a voice very near her asked. She jumped a foot into the air as she turned to face the voice. There, standing innocently as he could with a large smile plastered across his face, stood the very person she had been looked for, Hermione and Ron laughing behind him.

"You, actually," she replied coolly, surprised him and wiping the smile right off his face. "I figured those two behind you weren't going to provide you much company-"

"HEY!" Ron yelled, insulted. Even Hermione looked insult, even when she knew it was probably true.

"-and, seeing as all my other friends bailed on me, I want some company." With a smile, Harry held out his arm.

"Welcome to the Boredom Bus!" he said cheerfully as she teasingly looped the arm with her own. Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes at each other as the two began to march out of the Hall and into the crowed flocking to the town. The two watched them leave with a sigh, wishing they could just leave the other two to their own devices.

"OI!" Harry called suddenly. "ROMEO! JULIET!" The red-head and the brunette sighed once more, walking toward their friends. The four made their way to the wizarding town, laughing and teasing along the way.

"Where to first?" Hermione and Ron glanced at each other and smiled.

"The Three Broomsticks!" the replied in unison. Harry and Ginny groaned as they were dragged to the small pub, where, ever-faithful to Ginny's prediction, one Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley broke the group into two couples, heading toward a secluded corner. Rolling their eyes, the second couple glanced at one another in boredom.

"This could take a while..." Harry muttered. "What do you want to do?" The second half of the couple shrugged indifferently.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" she asked.

"I don't know." The two sighed hopelessly, ignoring the noises they heard coming from their friends' direction. After several moments of more boredom, the seventh-year looked to the sixth-year.

"So..." the latter muttered, trailing off. She knew she was making a complete fool of herself in front of her love interest, so she asked him the first thing that came to her mind. "What do you want to do?" Harry smiled.

"Now don't start that a-gain," he quipped. Ginny blinked owlishly at him as his smile faded and he shook his head, sending his messy mop of jet- black hair flying. "Muggle movie."

"Ah." Oh, that was intelligent. The young woman was furious with herself at the moment, realizing that she had no clue what she was doing. She didn't even notice Harry's intense gaze on her until he stood abruptly.

"Let's go," he said suddenly, not bothering to elaborate. The red- head stayed right where she was.

"Go where?" she asked suspiciously. The green-eyed boy only smiled and took her hand, pulling her up.

"Let's go!" he repeated, pulling her along as he left the pub. The female Weasley following in both confusion and curiosity as the two headed back to the castle in silence. As the two continued to walk, Ginny recognized the direction they were headed in.

"The Quidditch field?" she asked in surprised. "Why would you want to go there?" Harry smiled back at her.

"You'll see," was his only response. The young woman followed him to the center of the field, where he stopped and turned. "What right here. I'll be right back." Before Ginny had a chance to question him, he took off, away from the stadium. The girl sighed as she sat on the ground, running her fingers through her hair and waiting.

It hadn't been five minutes when she heard something approaching. Ginny brushed it off as one of her brothers' inventions being set off by some first years who had no clue what they had purchased. Growing impatient, the Gryffindor girl stood and brushed her clothes off, turning to leave.

"Hello," Harry said with a smirk, causing her to jump for the second time that day. She gasped as she realized what exactly she had been waiting there for.

"Padfoot..." she whispered, running her fingers across the black motorcycle. "You...you meant it?" The boy's smirk became a frown as the girl continued to look over the bike his godfather had left him.

"Of course I meant it," he told her as if it were a personal insult to be questioned about whether or not he had meant he wanted to take her flying. "Hop on." Ginny hesitated before obeying.

"What do I do...?" she asked in confusion.

"Hold on tight," he informed her. The youthful red-head screamed and threw her arms around the teen sitting in front of her as they took off without warning. Holding on tightly, she pressed her cheek against the seventeen-year old's back, squeezing her eyes shut as the took off into the air.

"Open your eyes," he yelled over the wind. She shook her head. "Trust me, Gin!"

"I don't want to!" she yelled back. She felt the boy heave a sigh as he realized she wasn't going to give in so easily.

"Alright." Ginny smiled and kept her eyes closed. After sixteen years of the Burrow and playing Quidditch, one would think she was used to heights and, don't get her wrong, she was. She just didn't enjoy being in the air on a motorcycle where it was only her and her love interest. If she opened her eyes, something would happen. Something that Harry would never forget and she would be branded for life.

She didn't count on Harry resorting to trickery, however. It came as a shock as Harry flew faster, forcing her arms to tighten around his waist and her eyes to fly open.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" she yelled in betrayal as she accidentally looked down. The view was beautiful, of course, but she wasn't about to admit it to the chuckled boy in front of her. "That was low!" The boy only laughed as he slowed and brought the bike to a clearing away from the castle and Hogsmeade. "Why are we landing?"

"Come on," he responded, helping her off the bike after getting off himself. Ginny sighed as she realized he wasn't telling her a thing.

"What about Padfoot?" she asked, looking back at the motorcycle nervously.

"He'll be fine," the Gryffindor male muttered, leading her down a path he had created personally. "There's nothing out here, really. We're not going very far, anyway."

"Where are we going?" Ginny demanded.

"Here," he responded, letting her through first. The girl gasped as she found herself in yet another clearing. This one, however, had the branches and leaves of trees stretching overhead, letting sunlight in through gaps, causing the rain-dampened ground to glisten. Taking a step foreword, she smiled as the sunlight caught her gently, basking in the warmth upon her upturned face. She turned to Harry.

"What is that place?" she asked in awe. He shrugged.

"It's nowhere," he told her. "Right now, it's nowhere." Ginny looked confused at his words. Without a word, she watched him pull out his wand and make a slight motion, whispering the word 'Cantio'. From all around them, a soft song began to play gently. Putting his wand away, Harry bowed. "May I have this dance?"

He's teasing. I'm his 'little sister'. He always teases me.

Agreeing to play along, she took the boy's hand and followed his step. Looking up at him, she saw a strange expression in his green eyes.

"You're beautiful, Gin," he whispered. Her light-brown eyes widened slightly as the words escaped his lips. Could it be...?

No. He's teasing. Little git...

"Stop teasing," she chuckled. Harry's expression didn't change.

"I'm not," he insisted. Ginny simply rolled her eyes. "Really, I'm not. You're...the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Why are you saying that?" she asked as they continued to dance.

"Because it's the truth," he told her without hesitation. "I..." He took a deep breath. "I love you, Ginny." The sixth-year gazed into his eyes and his beautiful features as a different song played in the back of her mind, still dancing in his arms.

Or is it in his face? Oh no, it's just his charms. In his warm embrace? Oh no, that's just his arms. If you wanna know if he loves you so, it's in his kiss...

Apparently the same words had been flowing through his own mind as a reminder, for the next moment, the boy had smiled. Leaning down slightly to the younger girl, he gently captured her lips with his own. The surprised girl's eyes fluttered closed as she attempted to process the new information. It was harder than it seems because, at the moment, all that existed was the two of them and the soft music.

I love Harry Potter. And Harry...and Harry loves me. ...Harry Potter loves me...

Opening her eyes as the boy pulled away gently, she frowned.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, obviously worried it was something he had done or said. She shook her head.

"It's just getting a little cold," she told him with a smile. Pausing to drape his cloak around her, her immediately continued to hold her. "Dance a little closer?" With a smile, he gently tightened his hold on her and held her against him softly. Resting her head on his chest, she closed her eyes. "I love you, Harry..."

And, continuing to dance just a little closer, the two held tightly to one another, themselves and the music their own reality.

-Fini-

[wiggles nose] Wow. That moved fast. And it was really really OOC. . Not my best work by far. Oh well. It was one in the morning and I had nothing better to do besides listen to Under Pressure (I love this song...).

I don't know anything about motorcycles except they look really cool, so I don't know if Haryy would be able to ride one. If not, Sirius taught him to ride it and, it's Harry, right? Whether he's supposed to or not, he'll do it.

Originally, I wanted them to be at, like, a Ball or a dance or something, but then I realized 'Hey! It's like my school! They don't have one!'. The Yule Ball doesn't count. That was just the one book. So I had to go in a rewrite the whole thing. Not fun, since it blew all my plans, but I wanted to write it.

And now I have. So I can get back to writing Glaring Amber, the Remus/Sirius MWPP fic I hope to have up sometime before the summer is over. See ya'll!