Author's Note- I started this story while my fountain of Second War ideas was clogged. I'd like to thank my awesome Beta, the one, the only, Ingrid. Now, with out further ado- Orange Crush.
Orange Crush
By MalusMagus
Chapter One
Ginny Weasley was underneath the nearly ancient oak tree in the clearing near the Burrow. She lay on her back on top of the blanket she brought out with her nearly three hours ago. Her eyes were lightly shut and fluttered every few seconds as she dreamed.
Ginny gracefully climbed down the stairs of the Burrow, the morning sun shining in her eyes for a second and she moved fractionally. Someone was coming towards her, their body merely a shadow in front of the sun. When he got closer, she saw it was Harry walking towards her. He held his hand out to her and his fingertips trailed down the side of her face. "Ginny," he whispered, his voice pitched like the wind. She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of his touch.
When she opened her them again, she was no longer in the Burrow, nor was it morning. It was the middle of the night and she was at Hogwarts, in the Astronomy tower. She paced back and forth, seemingly under stress, when someone came behind her and placed their hands on her shoulders. Ginny tensed for a minute, before realizing whom it was. It was Harry again. He was rubbing her shoulders gently and whispering words of encouragement. "I know you can do it Ginny. You're more prepared for your O.W.L.s than Hermione was," he said softly in her ear.
She closed her eyes once more, before opening them again to find yet another change of scene. She was on the Quidditch pitch. She looked around. The quaffle was coming towards her. She plucked it deftly from the air and sped towards the left goal post. She swerved at the last second and the quaffle went straight through the center hoop. The crowd roared its approval. Just as she was back at the center of the pitch again, awaiting the quaffle, another cheer went up. She looked around. She spotted Harry, snitch in hand, heading for the ground, along with the rest of the team. She joined them. "We did it, Ginny! We won!" Harry shouted to her above the other noise. Before she knew it, she was wrapped in his arms. She closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes the last time, she was back under the oak tree. She closed her eyes again, wanting to be wrapped in Harry's arms once more, but to no avail. She sighed and sat up.
The sun was getting closer to the west horizon, so Ginny assumed it was almost time for dinner. She got up and stretched her back rather sore from the bumpy ground. "No more fantasizing, Ginny. It'll never happen," she muttered to herself as she picked up her blanket and book. "Plus, you're over him!" she said forcefully, as she started for the Burrow.
"Hermione, Ron," Molly Weasley called from the kitchen. "Dinner is nearly ready!"
Ron groaned stretched in his chair. "Be there in a minute, mum!" he shouted, turning back to the game he was playing. Hermione was actually proving to be quite a Chess opponent. Ron's brow furrowed as he looked at the possibilities. Then he smirked and moved his bishop. "Ha! Checkmate!"
Hermione scowled at the board. "Almost," she muttered as she started to clear the pieces up.
"You're really good, Hermione!" Ron said in an appreciative voice. "Let's do this again tomorrow." Hermione blushed, nodded and continued to clean up the board. Ron stretched again. This time, his leg brushed up against Hermione's. They both blushed and hid their faces. "Er… um…" said Ron, at loss for words. "I'm – uh, hungry." He got up quickly and made for the kitchen, face as red as a tomato.
Hermione came in minutes later. "Wow, Mrs. Weasley, this smells really good!"
"Oh, thank you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said kindly, putting Hermione's plate in front of her.
"Yeah, mum," Ron said, licking his lips subconsciously as he looked at Hermione's plate.
"Oh, Ron, you'll get your plate in a minute, the compliments don't speed things up," Mrs. Weasley said with a mixture of irritation and laughter.
"It doesn't hurt though," Ron said under his breath. Hermione heard him and smiled, turning away and trying – rather unsuccessfully – to hide it.
"Has anyone seen Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley said as she set Ron's plate down. Ron promptly stuffed his face with steak.
Hermione was busy thoroughly chewing her food as Ron spoke, bits of food flying from his mouth. "Las' time I saw, she was 'eadin' out the door,"
"Ronald, as much as I want to know, next time it can wait until your food has been chewed and swallowed."
Ron swallowed his food and grimaced. "Sorry, mum."
"It's alright, dear," she said exasperatedly.
"Mrs. Weasley, she told me, well, it must've been four hours ago now, that she was heading out to the oak tree to read," Hermione said.
"Thank you, Hermione, dear," Mrs. Weasley said.
The three heard the door slammed shut and they were confused until they heard a loud, "I'm back!" Each breathed a sigh of relief. What with the war starting, one could never be certain…
"Hi, mum!" Ginny said brightly. "Hermione, Ron, how'd the Chess go?" she asked, sitting down at the table.
"Ron won," Hermione said in a defeated voice. "Again."
"Well, that's good for you Ron," Ginny said, as she cut up the food her mother had just place in front of her.
"'Mione was close though!" Ron said just before he opened his mouth and stuck in a large piece of broccoli.
Hermione rolled her eyes. For his behavior or comment, Ginny didn't know. "Not really. I messed up and he caught the mistake. It was easy."
Ginny shrugged. "Have another match tomorrow, Hermione. Loser has to read a book, okay?" she said with a smile.
"Okay, then," Hermione smiled back. "When's Harry coming over?" she asked randomly.
"Well," Ron said, swallowing a large amount of food before continuing. "Dad asked Dumbledore. Dumbledore said okay. The Order's picking him up tomorrow at five in the morning. Ridiculous if you ask me. Honestly, 5 am!" Ron trailed off.
"He's going to be in a right state, you know," Hermione said knowingly. "After Sirius… He's going to not want to talk about it and shut himself out. We've seen it in his letters already… He only says what he needs to… I suppose he might be doing that so no one finds out anything about the Order or his whereabouts, but still…"
"I'm done," Ginny said, pushing her nearly empty plate far in front of her. "I'll be in my room. Unless you want help, mum," she directed to her mother at the other end of the table.
"No, Ginny, dear. It's quite all right. I'll handle it. It's just the four of us after all," Mrs. Weasley said kindly.
"Okay, see you tomorrow!" Ginny said quickly, before leaving the room.
Hermione and Ron stared after her. "That was odd…"
Hermione was thinking though. Thoughts raced through her head. She's acting like she's eleven again. No… She said… No…
"Hermione…?" Ron said, waving his hand in front of her face. She swatted at his hand.
"Oh, quit it, Ron. I'm thinking," Hermione said irritably, before looking up at him.
"She's acting like she's eleven again," Hermione said plainly.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
"Like she's eleven. Remember?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I remember when she was eleven. She had a crush on my best friend, for crying out loud, Hermione! What are you getting at?" Ron asked.
"That's exactly what I'm getting at, Ron. She had a crush on Harry. She's acting like that again. Just by mentioning him, she's bolted out the door…" Hermione reasoned.
A look of horror and realization came upon Ron's face. "No… Hermione, she can't like Harry!"
"And why not. She's a fifteen-year-old girl. It's normal. Isn't it, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked, turning to the redheaded witch.
"Yes, dear, it is," she said, getting up to clean her plate off.
"See, Ronald?"
Ron frowned, but nodded. "So now, what are you getting at?"
"Well," Hermione dropped her voice so Ginny couldn't possibly hear. Mrs. Weasley came over and sat down with them. "Harry's not going to want to talk to anyone, I'm guessing. He'll be very withdrawn after what happened. But if Ginny gets close to him, she can help him more. He'll talk to her. They have so much in common… Plus, I think that Harry might actually like her. And Ginny likes him already."
"I'm not letting my baby sister's heart get broken! If he doesn't like her-," Ron began.
"Harry's not the heart-breaking type, Ron. You know that…" Hermione said.
"And how do you plan on getting them together?" Ron asked.
"Well, I don't know. We'll have to play that out as we go along, see how they react," Hermione said.
"There's something you two – and Ginny – doesn't know. He's going straight to Grimmauld Place. We're going there in a little while," Mrs. Weasley said. "That's why I didn't let you unpack earlier," she added.
"This is better," said Hermione as she sat back in her seat confidently. "Now I know how he'll react."
"Got your things, then, Harry?" Tonks said as she and Harry scaled the staircase on their way to his room.
"I just need to get it downstairs," Harry said blandly. Ever since he got back to Privet Drive, he had barely said anything. All the Dursley's had heard from him all summer was, "yes, Uncle Vernon," and "no, Uncle Vernon," and, "of course, Uncle Vernon." Uncle Vernon was the only one that dared to talk to him. Dudley wasn't about to talk to him after the Dementor incident the summer before and Petunia didn't bother. She just brought up meals to his room three times a day and left with out a word.
"Right, then, allow me," Tonks said as she caught sight of his trunk. "Wingardium leviosa!" The trunk levitated six inches off the ground and Tonks directed it out of the room. "You just take care of Hedwig."
Harry nodded as Tonks left the room. "Do you want to fly then, girl?" he asked softly. Hedwig gave a soft hoot and nipped his finger affectionately before taking off out the open window.
The sun had just risen and part of the sky was still rather dark, he noticed as he looked out the window after his beloved owl.
Harry closed the window and picked Hedwig's cage up. He walked out the door and down the stairs.
"Ready?" asked Moody, his magical eye spinning around. "Arthur's in the front with the car. Let's go out the back –," he began. Tonks cut him off.
"We'll go out the front, Moody. It's, what, twenty feet from there? What's the probability that we'll be attacked as soon as we step out the front door?"
"It could happen. You're too young and reckless to realize that though," Moody growled. "And you call yourself an Auror," he added.
"We'll go out the front, Alastor," Remus cut in, bored with their bickering. Moody scowled and started for the front door, making a loud 'clunk' every other step.
Harry readjusted his grip on the cage and followed the retired Auror through the house and over the threshold. When he stepped outside, he instantly spotted the car Moody had mentioned. As promised, Arthur was in the front seat waiting for them. He promptly stepped out of the car and made to greet Harry.
"Good morning, Harry," Mr. Weasley said brightly.
"Morning, Mr. Weasley. How are you?" he returned politely, yet there was no spark in his eyes, his voice didn't match his greeting. He was unhappy, they could tell.
"I'm just fine, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, his voice much less chipper than it was before. Harry could tell he was going to say something, but he closed his mouth just after opening it. Harry supposed someone gave him a signal of some sort, clearly stating, 'don't push it!' "Let's get your things in the car, eh?" he asked, taking the cage from Harry and opening the trunk with a swish of his wand.
"Careful, Weasley," growled Moody. "Don't want any muggles to see."
Mr. Weasley looked at Moody then scanned the surrounding area before looking back to the old Auror and nodding once.
"Best get in the car then, Harry," Remus said gently. Harry nodded and opened the door to the car before climbing in.
Upon entering the car, he noticed the inside was much larger than one would think from the outside. On the outside, it was a fairly new, green car. On the inside, though, it resembled a limousine. The seats were along the length of the car as well as row in the back. Harry took a seat on one of the sides close to the front. Tonks took the passenger seat in the front and Moody and Remus took the seats closest to the doors in the back row. Mr. Weasley resumed his spot behind the wheel.
It was almost silent as Mr. Weasley started the car except for Tonks, who was kindly offering to drive instead. "I know I could. I've done it once before," Tonks said to Mr. Weasley, who politely declined and started pressing a few buttons. He mumbled to himself as he pressed the buttons, "Invisibility, magically enhanced speed," were some of the words Harry caught.
Harry looked outside as Mr. Weasley stepped on the gas. Things went by quicker than they would normally and Harry felt as if they were going the speed limit. Harry's thoughts were broken by Moody's voice.
"I heard you want to be an Auror," he growled. Harry's head snapped to the Auror's direction. His expression was a mixture of pride and amusement, Harry would say. It was hard to tell with Moody, though.
Harry nodded.
"Hard job, that is," he growled. "But rewarding, no less."
Harry nodded again and looked back out the window.
"James was lined up to be an Auror," Remus said quietly, but Harry heard him clearly.
He instantly had Harry's attention. "Really?" he asked as he looked at the werewolf.
Remus nodded. "He was nearly finished with the training. He was set to start officially just after the winter holidays."
Harry nodded, still looking at him, waiting for more. Whether it was more information about his father, or information about Auror training, he didn't know for sure.
"When I said 'officially,' I meant that he had already started going on a few missions for them. He was so good at what he was training to do, the department believed, that he only needed part time of the rest of his training and he could go on missions with them the rest of the time. So the missions he went on were always really short. But he had a lot of fun with them. He'd go track down Death Eaters with the rest of the department," Remus said reminiscently.
Moody spoke next in his usual low growl. "That was before I retired. I actually went on a few missions with him. Quite a fighter, he was. But when the two of us were fighting on the same mission, those Death Eaters didn't have a chance in Hell."
Harry almost smiled. After Snape's pensieve, he'd had doubts about his father. But this conversation was helping. He settled with a nod.
Remus was about to speak, when Mr. Weasley's voice sounded from the front. "We're here."
Harry looked out the window and instantly paled, the little colour left in his face draining quickly from it. He'd been told they were going to Grimmauld Place, but upon arriving, he found it was much worse than he imagined.
Ron and Hermione both sat on the window seat in Ron and Harry's room at Grimmauld Place. "So, when he gets here, he'll probably want to go be alone, you know," Hermione said. "He'll probably want to come in here or something."
Ron nodded, barely listening as he looked out the window. He'd heard this four times already. He was thinking. I suppose I do like her, even if she is the smartest girl of the year.
"So we should probably go downstairs to greet him when he gets here instead of like last year when he came up and found us," Hermione went on.
Ron nodded again. I wonder if she likes me too.
"Do you think we should go downstairs and wait now or later?" she asked.
Ron nodded again. I'll have to ask. He stopped nodding half way through. "What?" he asked. He tuned her out and wasn't ready for a question.
"Do you think we should go downstairs and wait now or later?" Hermione repeated.
"Later, I suppose," Ron said, shrugging.
"Okay," Hermione said quietly, turning to look out the window as well.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. "'Mione?" Ron asked, as he turned to look at her.
"Yes, Ron?" she asked.
What if she doesn't like me? I'll look like a bloody idiot. How do I ask? Do I just say 'Do you like me?'
"Ron?"
"Do you like me Hermione?"
"Yes, Ron, of course I like you. Why would I be hanging around you if I didn't like you?" Hermione asked.
"I mean, as more than one of your best friends," Ron specified, blushing. This is so stupid! Of course she doesn't like me as more than a friend!
Hermione blushed as well. I am so obvious that he knows? "I- I-," she stuttered helplessly.
"Oh, never mind, then," Ron said, defeated, looking back out the window.
"Y-ye-," Hermione was still stuttering.
Ron looked at her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes again, composure regained. "How did you know?" she whispered.
Ron's eyes widened. "I didn't, Hermione. I just – Well, I – I like you and I wanted to know – If you felt something for me too."
Hermione blushed again and nodded.
"Well, then…" Ron said, taking a deep breath and leaning back. "I suppose that just leaves one more question, then. Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked, wondering how the hell he got so brave.
Hermione nodded again and reached for his hand.
Ginny starred solemnly out of the window, thinking. Harry is supposed to be here soon. How is this going to play out? How can I be around him? I had to leave the room last night as Harry came up in the conversation. I'll end up sticking my elbow in the butter dish again if I keep this up! He'll end up knowing that I like him again. Wait. Do I like him again? I can't…
A minute later, the car appeared on the street next to the house. Ginny jumped and her heartbeat rose. She took in several deep breaths before leaving to go to Ron's room.
She knocked on the door and with out waiting of an answer, entered the room. Hermione and him were both sitting on the window seat, hand in hand, looking out the window. She stopped for a second, shocked. At the same time she thought, 'Which one of them got a clue?'
"You must not have seen, from where the window is positioned," Ginny said. "Harry's here."
They both let go of each other's hand and blushed, having been so comfortable, they forgot they were holding hands. Ron and Hermione both got up and then Ron said, "Thanks, Gin."
Ginny nodded and left, going back to her room. As soon as she got there, she shut the door and collapsed on her bed. That was odd, she thought. I'll be in here, though. That way, it won't be awkward.
Harry stepped inside Number 12. A dreadful feeling washed over him. Sirius should be here. Sirius should be the first one to say hello.
But Sirius was not the first one to say hello. It was Hermione, who at that moment, was coming down the stairs. "Hello, Harry!" she whispered excitedly and through her arms around him in a bear hug. "How was the ride here?" she asked as she stepped back.
"Okay," Harry said. "Where's Ron?" he asked.
Hermione looked at the stairs. "Well, he was right behind me when we left. He's probably just taking his time," she said.
As Hermione said, he was taking his time. He started down the stairs just a moment later, he might as well have been whistling as he strolled down the stairs. He had a huge, content grin plastered on his face and his hands were in his pockets as he walked down.
"Hey, Harry. How've you been, mate?" he asked as he extended his hand for a handshake.
Harry shook his hand and almost smiled at his friend. "Fine," he said. "When did you guys get here?" he asked.
"Well, we got here last night," Hermione said.
"Hermione came to the Burrow yesterday, though," Ron said. Hermione nodded in agreement.
Harry nodded. "Where's Ginny?" he asked.
Ron looked upstairs. "Must be upstairs. I didn't hear her go down the stairs after she told us you came," he said.
"Oh," said Harry.
"Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley came into the hallway and gave Harry and bone-breaking hug. "Oh, all of you, in the kitchen. Don't want to wake up the portraits," she said and ushered them all in the kitchen.
"You must all be hungry! It's only 6:15. I'll have breakfast ready in a minute," Mrs. Weasley said kindly. "Ron, is Ginny up yet?" she asked as she went to the stove, where eggs and potatoes were already cooking.
"Yeah, mum," he said.
"Go get her, will you?" she asked.
Ron sighed and stood up. "Yeah, mum." Ron left the kitchen.
"Good morning, Molly," growled Moody. "I haven't seen you since the platform. How've you been?"
"Just fine, Mad-eye. And yourself?" she asked.
"Nothing unusual… My eye still gets sticky every so often, ever since that bastard wore it… But I suppose I should be used to it by now," he growled.
"Yes, I suppose you should," Molly said as she finished with some toast and brought it to the table. Hermione and Harry sat down at one end of the table, saving two spots in between them. Ron came into the kitchen moments later, Ginny trailing behind him tiredly.
"G-good morning, Har-ry," she yawned.
"Morning, Ginny," he said.
"Good summer? No, of course not… Nevermind… Sorry," she apologized.
"'S fine," he said, as he got a piece of toast from the middle of the table. "It actually hasn't been too bad, I suppose," he said, truthfully. He didn't have any chores to do all summer, nor did he talk to the Dursley's often. The only bad thing was Grimmauld Place.
"That's g-good," she yawned again as she spoke.
"Here, Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she put a heap of eggs and potatoes on his plate.
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, he said as he sluggishly got his fork, wondering if he could eat half of that.
"It's no problem at all, dear," she said, giving everyone else in the room eggs and potatoes.
Harry took a few bites and was already feeling a bit full. He ate a bit more. He put down his fork and decided to wait a bit before he attempted to eat more.
He looked around the room. Remus and Tonks were sitting side by side. Rather close, he noted. Moody sat on the other side of Tonks and would occasionally talk to her about being an Auror and give her some 'useful' tips. Then on the other side of the table, across from those three sat Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, talking quietly to one another and smiling. On his end of the table, Ron and Hermione sat together, just as close as Tonks and Remus, he realized. Each of them was eating with opposite hands, and one of each of their hands was under the table. Ginny sat next to Hermione and Harry sat next to Ginny.
"So which one of you got a clue?" Harry directed his comment at Ron and Hermione. The whole table stopped talking and looked at the other end of the table.
Ron and Hermione blushed equal shades of scarlet and let go of each other's hands under the table.
Harry sat back and watched. He wasn't angry. He was actually rather amused.
Ron spoke up. "I did."
Hermione was nearly petrified. "You don't mind, do you, Harry? I mean-," she was cut off by Harry.
"I don't mind at all. I was just wondering. You know, everyone knew except you two…" Harry said with a smirk.
The two flushed again as the table laughed.
Harry sat on the bed in Sirius's room. He sat thinking. Sirius should be here. He should've be sleeping here tonight and last night and the night before… And he isn't… He isn't because of me…
He had been there since breakfast. He wasn't hungry for lunch, he told Ron and Hermione when they came to fetch him. They nodded and left him in the room.
I wonder… Is Buckbeak still here? I'll check later… His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Harry? Harry, I have your dinner here. Mum didn't think you were going to want to come down. Can I come in?"
Harry strode across the room and opened the door. Ginny was standing there. She had a tray in her hand, filled with more food than he'd eaten all summer. "Yeah, come in. Here, I'll take that," he said as he took the tray from her and set it on the desk across the room. "Thanks, Ginny," he said.
"It's no problem, Harry," she said with a small smile. "I know you read it in the letters from Ron and Hermione earlier in the summer, but you know that people are willing to listen if you want to talk. I'll listen too…" she trailed off.
Harry gave her a small smile. "I know, Ginny."
"Good," she said.
"I wanted to thank you. You know, for coming to the Ministry and all…" Harry said, looking at the floor.
"It's no problem, Harry. You trained us all year and you needed help, even if you didn't want it," Ginny said softly.
"Yeah…" Harry agreed. He looked around the room: anywhere but her face. If he looked at her face, he'd probably turn into a mess. He remembered the food he'd set down and looked at it. There was a mountain on top of the tray and he was surprised Ginny was able to carry it up the stairs. "Hey, you want to eat with me? There's too much food and your mum will probably throw a fit if half of it isn't gone."
Ginny was caught off guard by the offer. She was actually going to leave because things seemed to be a bit awkward. But then she thought, 'He's already trying to close himself off! At least he's willing to be around someone. Ron and Hermione will kill me if I let him eat by himself…' "Sure, Harry."
"Great," Harry said, actually, quite a bit happier by the sound of his voice. They walked over to the desk where the tray was. There was a chair there and one on the other side of the room. "I'll go get the other chair, then," he said and walked over to the other side of the room as Ginny sat down.
"Wow," Ginny marveled at all the food. "That is a lot of food." Harry came back with the chair.
"Yeah," Harry said.
"It's almost as if she planned on me eating with you," Ginny said, dishing out the food. She looked at Harry with wide eyes. "Do you think she did?"
"I'd rather have her plan on us eating together than me eating it all," Harry said.
"I suppose you would," she said, "I'll go get another plate." Ginny left and a few minutes later returned with another plate and cup, more silverware and napkins.
"Okay, then," she said brightly, setting herself in her chair. Oh my god, oh my god, I'm eating dinner with Harry! Of course she'd eaten dinner with Harry on a number of occasions. But this was better, special even; it was just the two of them.
So they started eating their dinner in silence. It was still a bit awkward between them, but they were slowly getting comfortable in each other's presence.
About five minutes into their meal, Harry had the feeling that they should be talking. It shouldn't be so… strained. It was hard to pick out what to say. Should I tell her that she's the prettiest girl ever? Should I say that I like how her hair is done today? No… She was just wearing her hair in a ponytail. It's not that special… but it does look nice. What should I say? "Thanks for eating with me," was going to be the next thing he was going to think, except that he said it out loud.
Ginny looked up from her plate, which she'd been staring at, thinking of conversation starters as well. "What? Oh, it's no problem. It's nice," she said.
"Yeah," Harry said.
"Can I ask you something, Harry?" she asked.
"Sure," he said.
"Are you okay with being here?" she asked. She was mentally kicking herself afterwards. He's going to get angry. Ron'll kill me.
Harry didn't expect her to ask that. Actually, he didn't know what to expect. He didn't hang out with her often. At least she isn't as afraid to bring up things around me as Ron and Hermione are… as everyone is…
"I suppose. It's… it's just a bit hard you know. It's my fault that Sirius isn't here and now I'm here… I just think it's wrong. If we could change places…" Harry didn't know what he would do to change places with Sirius. He'd love to do that. He knew it wasn't possible. But he would…
"Harry, listen to me," Ginny said rather forcefully. "It's not your fault. I know you read it in the letters, but it's the truth. We wouldn't lie to you. Not Ron, not Hermione and not me either. We're your friends. And it's not your fault. Don't even think about 'swapping circumstances' with Sirius either. You're here. We'll see the old dog later on. But for now, you have to live; or at least try to live. Sirius would want you to." Ginny was standing up with her hands on her hips when she was done. She promptly sat down. "Sorry. But you have to realize that."
Harry nodded and looked at his shoes. "I know. It's taking time. I'm better – and worse, too – now that I'm back here. I'm better 'cause I'm with you and Ron and Hermione and just back in the wizarding world. It's worse to be here though. The memories. Not that there are many… But there are quite a few…"
Ginny nodded understandingly. "You know, Sirius and I got kind of close too. Not as close as you two were, but he did talk to me quite a bit. He said I was easy to talk to because I looked a bit like- like your mum… He told me a bit about your parents too. He said that I brought back memories to him… So he told me what he remembered when he looked at me…" She said. It was true, though. Before Harry came to Grimmauld Place last summer especially. When they were cleaning and were away from everyone else he'd talk to her a lot.
"Could you tell me?" Harry asked.
Ginny nodded and started talking. It was like the conversations were flowing out of her. She'd tell every detail she could remember. And Harry sat across from her, giving her his undivided attention.
About two hours later, they stopped, promising to save the rest for later.
"I should go to bed now," Ginny said, standing up and stretching. Harry stood up too. "Oh, I'll take that down stairs first, for you."
"Thanks," Harry said. "For everything, you know."
Ginny nodded and smiled at him. He noticed for the first time that he was more than a few inches taller than she was, thanks to the growth spurt he'd undergone, and her petite size, probably inherited from the Weasley matriarch. "It's no problem, Harry. I'll come by tomorrow morning with breakfast if you like," she said, almost jokingly, yet not joking.
"Okay," Harry said. "G'night."
"Night, Harry," she said and closed the door behind her. She sighed happily as she headed downstairs. Maybe there was a chance that Harry would like her after all.