Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything from the Harry Potter books. This Fanfiction is written and published for entertainment only and is not making any money. etc.

Summary: Ginny's fifth year (the trio's 6th) Ginny's lost hope in life, can her boyfriend Dean along with Harry, teach her how to believe again? (H/G with a little Dean/G too)

Rated: G

A/N: This is the first fic I've published on this name, it's a one-shot, and if you like it PLEASE review :-D

Wisps of ginger colored hair floated softly in front of the owner's face. Ginny walked casually along the quidditch field. Dean was drawing a sketch of the school, and Ginny had gone to watch, an hour and a half had passed of relaxed conversation while Dean's hand moved almost rhythmically over the rough sketching paper. First the towers appeared, and then the windows, each with their own shadows and highlights. Dean had been moving on to the great lake, which was peaking out from the very edge of the paper when Ginny had excused herself to go get some dinner. About 5:30 now, and it was getting chilly.

"You should come in anyways, it'll start getting dark soon," She had said looking up at the murky autumn sky.

"Will in a minute Gin' just have to finish this one-"He cut himself off entranced with the growing picture.

"I'll see you inside," Ginny had said a bit loudly, as if to call back his attention, he looked up that time and smiled slightly.

"Be in, in a few minutes, I promise;" But Ginny knew it would be more like an hour. It didn't much bother her though, Dean was like that, casual, nonchalant, as if time was just a little tiny aspect, like an erase mark on the corner of his drawing paper- "You have to look past the erase mark into the feeling the picture is portraying; After you realize the emotion the picture is portraying the erase marks fade into the background, there forgettable."

Ginny pushed the ginger hair behind her ear smiling to herself, Dean was so different from her other friends, Luna being so wild and sometimes even delusional, Hermione who was so organized and focused. Michael had been so ordinary, the typical boy from his overused jokes, to his jaunty haircut, suffocatingly ordinary. And of course there was Harry, who was so quiet lately, a distant look always displayed upon his green eyes. She remembered how strange it had been a year earlier when he had started going out with Cho Chang. She had been angry at first, wondering why Harry would want to go out with a girl who she had heard did nothing but cry since the death of that Cedric Diggory. What was the appeal in that? She had been going around with Michael then, and maybe that was part of the anger, he was so ordinary, the kind of boy someone like Cho should be with, not someone like her. She needed someone more interesting, someone with a future, or a past, someone with upgrades and downfalls waiting to throw themselves into their lives, not someone straight a boring arrow like Michael.

And then Dean had come along, and he hadn't been as interestingly perfect as Harry, but he had a different appeal of his own, he was free, totally unhindered by anything, speaking his mind when necessary and the rest of the time just letting life throw him about this way or that, and even better HE LIKED HER.

And wasn't that what really mattered anyways? That he liked her? Even if sometimes Ginny felt that he was too unconcerned with everything, would he be concerned if someone tried to steal her away from him? Or would he just be like: "Oh well, I suppose that's what's meant to happen..." She hoped not- but sometimes...

"What's wrong?" A low voice asked from part way across the quidditch pitch. Harry landed softly on the ground beside her, broom in one hand. Ginny looked up, she hadn't even realized how her smile had turned into a distinct frown.

"Oh, nothing" Ginny said trying to smile again but not succeeding very well.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Ginny could see the concern in his eyes, and felt herself falling back into them slightly like she used to. "Ginny?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Ginny pulling her eyes from his and starting back towards the Great Hall as she felt her cheeks glow slightly.

"What's wrong Gin'?" Hermione asked as Ginny sat down next to her.

"Nothing, I'm fine" Ginny said trying to smile, but Hermione didn't look convinced.

"Gin..."

"I'm fine, really" Ginny said, cutting Hermione off. She started piling food on her plate even though she had suddenly lost her appetite. She knew she shouldn't have snapped like that but she just wanted to think. It was that question, it had been haunting her for a while now, if someone did try to steal her would he even care? She was staring intently at her food now as if it would tell her when she felt a hand on her back.

"Hey" Dean said giving her a peck on the cheek. She smiled and made room for him. "Something wrong?" He asked glancing toward her barely touched plate.

"No, just tired" she said giving him a smile. It wasn't as hard smiling at him, as though just him being there made her feel more secure. She watched him study her face; he did that sometimes like he was proportioning each part of her. Her hair, her nose, her lips, but it seemed most of all her eyes. He finally turned to get some food and she started to pick at her own plate, her appetite slowly coming back.

"So did you finish your picture?" she asked cutting up her pork chops.

"No, it got to dark," he said heaping some mashed potatoes on his plate. "I think I'm going to go back tomorrow." Ginny smiled at him, that was something she liked about him, his art, he WAS dedicated to something, he did care about something enough to pursue it.

Ginny slid slightly away from Dean as Ron gave her a pointed look, and then directed a fiery glare at Dean who went on eating and mumbling about drawing and the such without noticing.

It was only after Ginny slid over that she noticed that Harry had fallen into place on her other side. It seemed ironic for some reason, that Harry would be on her other side. One side of what was, and the other of what she had once dreamed of. She had given up on that though. Given up on Harry, and basically dreaming in general, she wasn't the right girl so why bother dreaming she was? Why bother dreaming at all? Throughout the past few years, the wistful little girl had been falling away and a stronger blunter girl had risen, and Ginny liked that about herself. She was strong; she looked things in the face and dealt with them, instead of dreaming them away.

"What are you thinking about?" Dean asked sliding back next to her now that Ron was consumed in a heated "discussion" with Hermione. Ginny turned shrugging, what had she been thinking about?

"Nothing, just spacing out a bit, sorry," she blushed slightly crimson. Dean tilted his head to one side as if doing so would reveal something she was hiding under the surface. Was she hiding something under the surface? Harry was looking at her now too, kind of strangely. "I'm kind of tired," Ginny continued as if making an argument for her case.

"Me too," Harry said standing and yawning slightly. Ginny followed key, standing herself, not sure why she was, she wasn't really tired.

"Well I think I'll catch a game of chess with Ron if I can pull him away from Hermione, so I'll see you in the commons in a bit, ok?" Dean said still with his head slightly tilted, and still looking at her in a way that made her feel sort of guilty. Ginny smiled and nodded,

"Ok."

White noise seemed to fill the Great Hall and Ginny suddenly felt like she needed fresh air.

"Are you feeling ok?" Ron asked her, and Ginny jerked back to reality nodding slightly.

"I think I need some fresh air," Harry said as if referring to Ginny's expression.

It seemed weird, as if Harry was asking Ginny if she wanted to get fresh air with him or something. But Ginny was grateful for a reason to leave the crowded room, and wordlessly followed him outside.

"They bother me too sometimes" Harry said and Ginny looked up at him questioningly, "Ron and Hermione," Harry added, "That was what was making you uncomfortable wasn't it?"

"Well, yeah, I guess," Ginny said, the color coming back in her face "But lately it seems like I never can find the happiness I once knew. Ever since..." Ginny stopped, as all the memories were coming back. She didn't want to remember, she wished it would all just go away, but there was no escaping it. He still haunted her every now and then, she would remember him, and his voice, that awful sickening voice telling her all those awful things. She pushed the palms of her hands into her eyes as if to drive out the memory. Harry put his arm around her and led her over to one of the many walls of Hogwarts and sat down with her. Ginny took her hands away from her eyes after she regained control.

"I know how you feel," Harry said after a while, and Ginny knew that he did, of course he did. He was the only other one who would ever know how it feels. Somehow that comforted Ginny, she knew that she could talk to Harry because he could understand her. Unlike everyone else. Hermione, Ron, even Dean, would never be able to understand how awful and disgusting you feel when he-who-must-not-be-named invades your soul. The remembrance of that night was foggy, but she could still remember how she felt. How she always felt whenever he put her in that trance. But that night was worse. She felt so drained and weak that night. And it was so cold. The thought made chills run down her back. She must have shown it to because just then Harry put his arm around her shoulders as if to keep her warm. Ginny thought how when she was younger she would have flipped if Harry put his arm around her shoulder. She thought about how then by now her cheeks would be redder than her hair. But now it just seemed right. Harry and Ginny sat there for a while in complete, understanding, silence.

"Uh, hey Gin'" Michael Corner said walking up to her and Harry.

"Oh, uh, hi Michael" Ginny said, trying to sound pleased but knew it wasn't working.

"So, uh, how have you been lately?" Michael asked awkwardly. Ginny wished that he would just leave her alone. Just looking at him made her grimace. How could she have ever gone out with such a strait board?

"Hey, uh, Gin'. You know we really should get back to the commons. Angelina really wanted to, er, go over some, er, plays with us, remember?" Harry said, getting up and then helping Ginny up.

"Oh yeah," Ginny said, thankful for the excuse Harry made up. "Bye Michael." Ginny said and then practically ran towards the door. Michael was so suffacatingly boring, Ginny thought, every time he was around her she thought she would die of his regularity. "I can't believe I went out with him last year," Ginny said as soon as they were out of his hearing range. "He's so..." Ginny searched for a word that could explain how awfully boring he was and decided there wasn't one.

"Boring?" Harry said trying to help her.

"Yes, but worse." She said, smiling now. Harry laughed at her "What? He is!" She said defensively. "Well what about who you went out with last year. She couldn't have been much of a joy ride either." Ginny said, not meaning to. Those words weren't supposed to come out. She had thought them but had not meant to actually say them. But Harry smiled, which made her feel a lot better.

"Yeah, she did sorta' get on my nerves, but still, at least she had quidditch." Harry said and they both laughed.

"It's weird you know, thinking back to last year." Ginny said, "So much happened. You know, like Umbridge taking over Hogwarts, and the D.A., and how Fred and George flew off like that, and then..." Ginny stopped. She didn't want to remind Harry of that. She knew she hated remembering certain things, and knew that Harry probably would hate to remember that night. Ginny saw Harry's eyes grow darker. "I'm sorry" Ginny said, "I didn't mean to..."

"It's ok," Harry said cutting her off. "Sometimes you need to remember those things so that they won't ever happen again. You know, history repeating itself, that sort of thing." They were at the fat lady now "I just hope that maybe this year can be different" Harry said getting back to his normal self. He told the fat lady the password. The portrait swung open and Harry and Ginny walked inside. "Maybe together we can make this year better." Harry said. They walked over to where Ron and Dean were playing Wizards Chess.

"I gave up on hopes and dreams along time ago." Ginny told him, and with that she sat down next to Dean. He gave her a weird look that she couldn't interpret, but then went back to playing his game. Ginny rested her head on Dean's shoulder ignoring the evil glare Ron shot her. Dean draped his arm around her shoulders and pecked her on top of her head. Then he killed one of Ron's knights who seemed to be getting madder by the minute. Ginny just smiled.

Throughout the next few days Dean had been acting kind of strangely around her like he wasn't sure of something or didn't know her. Ginny didn't like the feeling at all it made her feel uncomfortable around him, and that's not how your supposed to feel around your boyfriend. Is it?

"You have 4th period off right?" Dean asked Ginny a couple of days later.

"Yup." Ginny said, leaning against the wall next to the door of her next class.

"Ok, so see you in commons then." Dean said sorta awkwardly, looking down as he said it as though he didn't want to tell Ginny something. It nagged at her; she had never felt this way around Dean.

"Uh, yeah." She said, looking down also. She felt herself drifting back to the meek spineless girl she had been so long ago. "Is something wrong Dean?" She asked, forgetting about that girl she used to be and changing back to the straight and upfront girl she is now.

"No, of course not" He said looking in to her eyes. "I just need to talk to you about something." After giving Ginny a peck on the cheek he started walking towards his next class. The halls were starting to get empty, but Ginny didn't even realize it until Professor McGonagal snapped her out of her daze. ("Unless you'd like to lose five points from Gryffindor, I suggest you come in and sit down, Miss Weasley.")

Ginny couldn't pay attention to any of her classes though. There was something wrong and she could feel it. Finally 4th period came. White noise filled Ginny's ears as she walked down the corridor.

Dean was waiting for Ginny in the common rooms when she got there. He was sitting in a couch off to the corner and away from everyone. Dean looked up and saw Ginny. His eyes seemed to search. They felt like they were looking into her soul. It reminded her of when they first started going out. The thought brought a smile to her lips and she walked over and sat down next to Dean.

"Hey," She said as she sat down next to him. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, uh, this is kinda hard to say." Dean said, Ginny watched him try to smile and knew something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, concerned and afraid she knew what was coming next.

"Well, I, think that it's time we stop seeing each other." Dean said, Ginny opened her mouth to say something but Dean cut her off. "I really don't want to but I just realized that I haven't been dating Ginny Weasley. At least not the Ginny I thought you were. I thought you were someone who was full of dreams, full of hope and wonder." Dean put his head down, Ginny opened her mouth again but Dean cut her off again as he lifted his head back up. "Maybe I was wrong, but I always thought of you as," he paused searching for words, "You were strong, even after everything going on you had faith, you know?

"Dean-"

"Gin' I heard what you said a couple of days ago. You were talking to Harry about something and you had walked over by Ron and I. We were playing chess. I remember because Ron was doing awful, he was to distracted, asking me all these questions. Questions about you," Dean smiled, remembering, but his smile didn't last long as he thought about what happened next. "I remember you said to Harry that you had given up on hopes and dreams a long time ago. I think I've known for a long time but I didn't want it to be true, you know? I guess that was when I realized that it wasn't you I wanted to be dating but who you used to be."

He opened his sketchbook and started ripping something out, Ginny leaned forward trying to see what but he covered the sketchbook with his arm. "I started making this for you a while ago. I just finished it recently. I thought you should have it. I hope we can be friends." And with that he got up, handing her the piece of paper he gave her one last peck on the cheek and headed toward his dormitory, leaving Ginny sitting on the couch.

Ginny fingered the paper, feeling how thin and smooth it was. She got up and walked into her dormitory. Sitting down on her bed she pulled the tapestries around it. She sat there for a long time just looking at the back of the page Dean had given her, which she had set in the middle of her bed. It wasn't like she wasn't sad, but she had sort of suspected it for a while, besides she wasn't really the sort of girl that cries. At least not anymore. Turning the paper over Ginny saw a girl with crimson hair. She was looking up at the starry sky with a dreamy look on her face. Laying back on her bed, Ginny studied all the carefully placed lines. Fingering Dean's untidy signature.

"Ginny?" The door to the girl's dormitory cracked open revealing two inches of Harry's face. Ginny jumped up, picture still in hand.

"What is it Harry?"

"Well," Harry started slowly, "Dean told Ron about, well, sorry about you guys not, um-"

"Thanks."

"Yeah, well he's furious, and he was going to come in here and, well, yell probably, and tell you about how he was right but, well Hermione and I convinced him to let one of us talk to you first, so yeah..." He trailed off and Ginny opened the door the rest of the way, leaning in the doorway.

"Thanks for the thought, especially stopping Ron, but I'm fine, really." Harry shrugged looking down.

"Well, if you do want to talk about it, I mean you could probably go to Hermione, that would make the most sense... But you could always talk to me too- If you want." He glanced back up running a hand through his black hair.

"Thanks Harry, really, I just need to think right now-"

"That's really good, did Dean make it?" Harry said tilting the paper Ginny was holding and looking down at the replica of Ginny.

"Yeah." Ginny smiled, "It's really great, don't know if it looks like me, but-"

"It does. It really does, you just look... Thoughtful, hopeful maybe," He said smiling to himself.

"Yeah, hopeful..." Ginny trailed off feeling something sink in the pit of her stomach all at once she thought she might cry.

"You seem really happy in the picture... I kind of miss that about you Ginny." Harry's voice was hardly above a whisper but the words were too loud in Ginny's head.

"Me too," She replied softly, pulling the picture back and crossing her arms.

"Ginger Dreams," Harry muttered and Ginny looked back up at him questioningly.

"What?"

"That's what it said, underneath his signature, right?" Ginny pulled the picture back out, looking at it again, Harry pointed to the line softly printed beneath the signature: 'Ginger Dreams' Ginny squinted at it, the printing was neater then his signature, soft and smooth and she wondered why she didn't notice it before,

"Ginger Dreams," She said slowly looking up at Harry and he smiled.

"Maybe it's a sign," He said almost jokingly.

"Maybe," Ginny replied smiling, Harry shrugged, walking away and Ginny shut the door and laid the picture out on her bed staring at the neat little words 'Ginger Dreams' she looked back to the girl in the picture and wondered what she could be thinking about, dreaming about, and she smiled and laid softly on the bed next to the picture, she knew how to find out.

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