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"Harry!" she gasped, one side of her face crushed against his left shoulder. He released her after a few more moments than was necessary. Ginny gazed up into his face, struck dumb momentarily. He was taller - much taller - than she remembered. His body was still incredibly lean, but she noticed that much of his lankiness had been replaced with muscle. His jet black hair was as stubbornly unruly as ever, and his striking emerald green eyes twinkled familiarly from behind his glasses. "I - hi - er..." She broke off, surprised that the drool wasn't actually coursing down her chin. "When did you get here?"

"About three minutes ago. I think your Dad's levitating our trunks up the stairs."

"Cool," Ginny remarked, mentally smacking herself on the forehead for sounding so childish. "I mean, it's great to see you!"

"You too." He was now looking directly into her eyes and she could feel heat creeping across her cheeks.

"Ginny!" squealed a very familiar voice. Hermione appeared from somewhere behind Harry dressed in Muggle clothes and looking very pretty indeed.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed back, thankful for a distraction from Harry's disturbingly intense gaze. She rushed at her friend for a brief embrace. "I've missed you two so much! How was Italy?"

"It was very lovely," Hermione replied, grinning. "I practically lived at the beach."

"I can tell." Hermione's skin tone had deepened to something akin to olive and there were a few blond streaks in her otherwise plain brown hair. "And your hair! It's so cute!' As a matter of fact, Hermione hair had lost most of its frizziness, and fell in smooth ringlets down her slender back.

"Thanks." Hermione grinned rather nervously as her eyes darted across the yard.

"Ron's in the front yard," Ginny remarked, correctly interpreting Hermione's expression, "de-gnoming the garden." She chanced a glance at Harry, whose gaze was fixed on some point above her head. Whirling around, she went red to discover her knickers and bras swaying gently on the clothesline. Harry noticed her looking and went red too. "I was doing the laundry," she explained lamely, wanting to bury her face in her hands.

Harry nodded, seemingly unable to speak due to a lump in his throat.

"Anyway," said Ginny, attempting to recover her composure, "let's go find Ron."

She led the way to the front yard, where her older brother was flinging the last gnome from the vegetable garden. "And good riddance, you ugly git!" he yelled after it with ridiculous gusto. A giggle escaped Hermione, causing Ron to turn on his heel to face her. "Her-Hermione?" he said, a grin dawning on his face. The two of them exchanged very awkward smiles.

"Is it as obvious to you as it is to me?" Harry muttered very close to Ginny's ear.

"Well, yeah," she replied. "I wish Ron would just ask her out and get it over with."

"Me too." Harry grinned suddenly - the adorable, heart-wrenching grin that thrilled Ginny to her fingertips. Out of nowhere he picked up her left hand and fiddled with the ring on her index finger. It was the ring she had inherited from her grandmother - gold with a single ruby set in the center. Molly often said that it represented the fact that she was the only girl in the family. Ginny could feel her face turning scarlet as a dizzy electricity leaped from his skin to hers. She suddenly clenched her hand and withdrew it from his grasp, scared of the emotion sweeping over her.

Hurt flashed briefly in Harry's eyes, but Ginny was too flustered to see it.

"Bill, Charlie and the twins are coming over for dinner tonight," she spouted off, painfully aware that she was babbling. "Mum said a few people from the Order might show up as well. Which reminds me, I promised her I'd make up a salad. How do you like your salads?"

Looking slightly defeated, Harry responded, "Whatever."

"Well, I best go and make it then, hadn't I? Unless you'd like to come?" Ginny could have bitten off her own tongue. Why did such stupid things have to burst forst from her mouth unbidden?

Of course Harry wouldn't want to come. He'd want to catch up with his real friends.

"That's okay," he replied. "Would you mind putting cucumbers in it, though?"

Ginny almost permitted her lower lip to tremble. "Of course not. See ya in a little while, Harry." She walked off in the direction of the house, her heart as heavy as a lump of lead. It was stupid of her to be surprised that Harry didn't want to help her with the bloody salad. Who in their right mind would? Yet something deep inside her quivered painfully and she hastily dashed away a tear that had escaped from her burning eyes.

"Stop acting like such a baby," she told herself as she gathered the ingredients for the salad. "You're acting like you're ten years old again, all goggle-eyed over him. Get over it."

As she carefully sliced the cucumber Harry had requested, Ginny pulled herself together. She was NOT that immature little girl she had been so long ago. She was an independent, self-possessed young woman. At least that's what she tried to tell herself.

"ARTHUR!"

Ginny winced as her mother's roar of rage traveled down the stairs and directly into her eardrum.

"What, dear?" she heard her father reply with unconvincing innocence.

"WHY - WHY is there this THING in my bedroom?!"

"Molly, it's not a thing," began Arthur patiently, "it's a - "

"ARTHUR! IT'S TRYING TO EAT MY CURTAINS!"

"Oh, dear...It's not...supposed to..." She could almost hear her father biting his lip.

"WELL, FIX IT, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!"

Ginny could hear a dull sucking sound coming from the direction of her parents' bedroom and her father calling out some spell. The sucking sound increased. "ARTHUR!!!!!!!"

Ginny's curiosity got the better of her and she raced up the stairs. She was greeted with the sight of some Muggle household appliance attached to her mother's curtains, while Arthur attempted to wrench it off. The sucking noise was coming from the appliance, which seemed to have a will of its own.

"Dad, what is that?"

"It's called a vakoom cleaner, dear," replied Arthur through gritted teeth. "Muggles use it to get the dust off their floors."

"Did you know, dear," said Molly with heavy sarcasm, "that I have something that performs that exact same task without destroying my great-grandmother's lace curtains? Hmm? IT'S CALLED A WAND!"

Arthur grunted something unintelligible. Rolling her eyes at her parents' antics, Ginny walked back down stairs. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing in the kitchen, talking in low, conspiring whispers. As usual. It didn't seem they were capable of chatting without using hushed tones. Scowling, Ginny stalked out of the kitchen and flung herself on the couch.

Life was so unfair.