Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, yadda, yadda, yadda. Happy? Good.

Chapter 3

Saturday.

Quidditch practice.

With Ginny.

Harry bolted upright in bed. He tossed aside the covers and changed into his robe. It wasn't until he was brushing his teeth at the sink that he realized practice wouldn't start for another couple of hours.

Drat. He could have slept for longer.

Oh, well. At least now he was up. Might as well get some work done (it occurred to him that he had definitely spent way too much time with Hermione recently).

He grabbed his bag and headed toward the common room. As he stepped in, he noticed that Ron and Hermione were rather flushed and had guilty looks on their faces. However, he decided not to press the issue and produced a quill from his bag.

Love potions, love potions…what did he know about love potions? He sighed and prepared to write yet another load of drivel for Snape's class. Just as he put his quill tip to the paper, however, he heard a slight noise.

He glanced up sharply. Ron and Hermione were giving each other meaningful looks. He glared at them.

"Sorry," whispered Hermione. Harry rolled his eyes and tried to focus on his paper…

An hour passed. Each minute was the same: Harry would turn to his paper, then look up and see Ron and Hermione gazing at each other, or whispering.

Finally, he lost his temper. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" he demanded.

Ron and Hermione exchanged frightened looks, which only served to infuriate Harry further.

"Would someone please tell me what the deal is?" Harry asked loudly.

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Harry cut her off.

"You know what? Just forget it! I have to go anyway." He stormed out the room. It would have been a much more impressive exit had he not tripped on his way out.

"What's up with him?" he heard Ron ask.

"Well, he's on edge with Ginny, you know…" replied Hermione, though she still sounded a bit shaken from his outburst.

Talk about him behind his back, would they? He was not irritable because of Ginny! Of course not. They were the ones being touchy…right?

These thoughts fled from his head as he mounted his broom and came face-to-face with Virginia – or possibly Ginivra – Weasley.

"Uh…hi." Brilliant, Potter, he thought to himself angrily. Just brilliant…

"Hi, Harry," Ginny responded. "I thought we'd just do some drills today, you know, the usual…"

Her lips were moving, but Harry couldn't hear any sound. Her lips were perfect. How had he never noticed that Ginny had perfect lips?

"…Harry? Harry? HARRY!" exclaimed Ginny, sounding annoyed.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled. "I was just…" Admiring your perfection? Wondering if you would marry me? "….thinking."

Ginny gave him an appraising look, then turned toward the field. "All right, everyone!" she called. "Over here!"

Harry was exhausted. It had been one heck of a Quidditch practice. He and Ginny were the only ones left on the field. As he flew to the ground and dismounted, without a whole lot of grace, he heard Ginny come up behind him.

"Are you all right, Harry?" she asked him gently. "You seem sort of…off."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he mumbled, unable to look into her eyes.

She looked at him. Didn't say a word, just looked at him with those deep brown eyes…

"All right," she said finally, breaking her gaze. "So, um…what do you think of Professor Sedaya?"

Professor Sedaya was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and, shockingly enough, she seemed…normal. She wasn't insane, she had no visible fangs or other appendages, and she seemed to get along fine with the other members of the staff.

"I guess she's OK," answered Harry. "It's too bad if the Defense Against the Dark Arts curse gets her; she doesn't deserve it."

Ginny chuckled. "I wonder if she knows her position is jinxed," she mused.

"Probably not," responded Harry, "if she did she wouldn't have applied."

"Or maybe she's just exceptionally brave," suggested Ginny.

Ginny and Harry looked at each other for a minute, then said in unison, "Nah."

"Come on, we'd better head back to the castle." Was it Harry's imagination, or did Ginny sound reluctant? Was she enjoying his company? Was she –

"Harry?" He blinked. "You there?"

"Yeah," he muttered, embarrassed at the way his brain always seemed to take off when he was around Ginny.

The two of them made their way to the Gryffindor common room.

"Well, bye," said Ginny.

"Bye," Harry replied, wondering if Ginny felt as awkward as he did. "See ya."

Ginny turned and went up the girl's staircase. Harry watched her go, mentally beating up on himself for not at least having asked her out. He sighed and turned around.

The sight that greeted him almost caused him to faint.

(A/N: Thanks so much to my reviewers!!! You guys are the best!!! Please review some more, especially with constructive criticism).