"Hermione, I don't care what you think about Professor Trounce. That was a brilliant lesson," Ron said walking out of class smiling broadly.

"You only like her because she compliments you. The lesson was alright," Hermione replied tartly.

"It was good," Harry said. They walked together to the Great Hall for lunch. "Hey Ginny, Colin." Harry said with a smile, sitting down at the Gryffindor table.

"How was she?" Ginny asked slyly.

"Amazing," Ron started, but stopped when he saw Hermione shoot him a dirty look.

"Class was good," Harry said trying to keep a fight from breaking out.

"Harry the peacemaker," Ginny laughed, picking up on the fact that he was trying to undo what she had started. "Well, I'm off to the library before class starts. Apparently the professors here are under the impression that it will be a good reflection on them if their students die from stress before their O.W.L.S." She walked away, her fiery hair bouncing with her step.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Colin said quietly to no one.

"Yeah, she is..." Harry's voice trailed off and he felt his stomach lurch. His reaction to Ginny surprised him. His mind drifted far away as Ron and Hermione argued about something ridiculous. Why was he thinking about Ginny like that? She was his best mate's sister, not a girl he liked. But he still couldn't ignore the fact that he loved having her around, a lot.

"Harry, wake up. It's time for class." Hermione's voice brought Harry back to reality. But Harry had a hard time concentrating on anything the rest of the day. His mind was focused on dinner, and getting to see Ginny again. When the time finally arrived, he felt his stomach do a flip. "Stop that," he scolded himself, "this is Ginny, not Cho or someone like that."

"Harry, we need to set Quidditch tryouts. We do have almost an entire team to fill," Ron said grumpily. "The replacement beaters last year were complete rubbish."

"Don't forget three chasers," Harry added.

"Two chasers," Ginny said bringing herself into the conversation. "I was on the team last year, and I would be more than happy to move to one of the empty chaser positions."

"You'll have to tryout like everyone else," Ron said, happy to have a leg up on his sister for once.

"That's not fair!"

"I'm afraid he's right. Since we don't like the beaters, we're making everyone from the middle of the year team last year tryout again," Harry spoke up.

"Well this is different, I'm you sister and I'm not rubbish!"

"Makes no difference. We don't want to show favoritism," Ron replied cheerfully.

"Are you talking about Quidditch?" Hermione asked walking over.

"Well it is just about the best topic in the world," Ron said very matter of factly.

"Have you finished your Defense against the Dark Arts essays?" Hermione inquired. Ron turned pink. "I'll take that as a no."

"Actually, I have. Professor Trounce offered to help me with it so I finished it yesterday." Hermione looked furious.

"Wow, Ron. She must fancy you," Ginny teased, still upset over the earlier Quidditch discussion. Just as Ron looked like he was about to clobber his sister, Professor Trounce walked into the room talking to Draco Malfoy. Harry tensed at the sight of him, still blaming him (or at least his father) for the incident on the train.

"Looks like she'll help just about anyone," Hermione smirked.

"Whatever," was Ron's only reply.

Three days later Ron and Harry were hosting Quidditch tryouts. They were surprised by the large turnout. They broke everyone into groups and watched them scrimmage.

Harry felt himself watching one group more than the others. One player more than the others. One chaser. She flew with an elegance he had never seen before. Her hair whipped behind her as she darted between the other players carrying the quaffle. Her red hair. It was Ginny. Again Harry was startled at the attraction he felt towards her. She was like a sister to him. But she wasn't actually his sister...

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts when Ron blew a whistle to end the tryouts. All of the players flew down from the air and came over to Harry and Ron. Harry noticed Ginny walking over with Colin, looking very cute with her hair windblown and her cheeks flushed.

"Harry and I are going to discuss things, and we'll be back with our decision in a few minutes." They walked into the changing room and sat down on one of the benches.

"Well, Dean and Seamus work very well together as beaters. As do the Creevey brothers as chasers. So that just leaves one chaser spot."

"Ron you know as well as I do Ginny was the best one out there today. Period."

"Have it your way." Ron and Harry walked back out to the field where everyone was waiting impatiently. Ron made the announcement, and most of the hopefuls walked away.

"YES!" cried Dennis as Colin wrapped Ginny up in a tight hug.

"We did it!" Ginny said smiling.

"Well, anyone could look good playing with you," Colin said with a grin.

"Oh come off it," Ginny said embarrassed. She left Colin and Dennis and ran over to Harry and Ron. "Thanks!" She pulled each one of them into a hug. Harry awkwardly put his arms around her, not wanting to let go when she pulled back.

"You earned it, honestly," Harry said looking into her eyes. She blushed at his intimate look.

"You did," Ron added, breaking the moment. Ginny grinned and ran over to congratulate Dean and Seamus. Harry watched her, shocked at how he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. He remembered the days when she couldn't string two words together whenever he was around. She had definitely grown up since then. She seemed to have gown out of that problem, talking to him like a friend instead of the boy-who-lived. Harry felt a jolt in his stomach when he wondered if that meant she had grown out of her crush on him as well.

The next day in Defense against the Dark Arts Professor Trounce seemed to be paying Ron extra attention again. She helped him with his class work and showered him with compliments every time he did something well. Ron seemed to be caught between his feelings of flattery and embarrassment. Hermione, on the other hand, had a firm grasp on her feelings of anger. The more Trounce talked to Ron, the less Hermione liked her. By the time lunch rolled around, Hermione was barely speaking to Ron. When Ginny and Colin arrived in the Great Hall, Harry was thrilled to have a break from playing peacemaker.

"What's up with them?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Trounce."

"Oh. We just saw her talking to Malfoy again in the hall." At this news Hermione looked up. "That woman spends too much time with Malfoy to be up at any good."

"You're just jealous," Ron said, his eyes flashing in anger, "that a teacher likes me more than you!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Hermione stormed away from the table.

"Well that was an interesting start to lunch," Ginny mused.

"End of lunch." Ron sulked away from the table.

"Well you two sure can clear a room," Harry teased.

"It must be me; people seem to flock to Ginny." Colin shot his best friend an adoring look.

"I thing I'll have to disagree with Colin." Harry looked at Ginny very seriously. "You have a very distinct odor, it kind of burns your nose."

"Hey!" Ginny said slapping Harry playfully in the arm.

"Ouch! I'm only kidding!" Harry leaned in next to her and whispered in her ear. "Actually, you smell really nice. Like strawberries."

"Gin, we don't want to be late for potions. Snape will have our heads," Colin interrupted the intimate moment and drug her away from the table.

"Bye," Ginny called back to Harry, in a state confusion. "What just happened?" she thought to herself. "If I didn't know better, I'd think Harry was flirting with me."

"Earth to Ginny!"

"Sorry Colin. Come on, we have a date with Snape."