Disclaimer:  I give all credit to J.K Rowling, I own nothing and she owns everything.  I am mearly borrowing the characters I love so much!  The plot is the only thing remotely close to being mine! I also want to give credit to all other authors whose stories I've had a chance to read! So to all of you…. a big thanks! 

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SummerRaven, pril, StRaWbErRiEs AnD BlUeBeRrIeS, HPnLOTRrox, NCDSbookworm, rosesandgod.

Thanks you guys!

AN:  sorry for the big delay! Hopefully the next one will be faster!  Thanks to all that read and take time to review!! Oh yeah, this chapter is fluff, but I cant help it, I love fluff! 

Happy reading.

A Walk to Remember

Harry hasn't been bothered by his dreams since the demise of Voldemort.  Many times he has wakened up in the middle of the night sweating and in pain from his scar.  He had wished for those dreams to vanish and never return and after Voldemort was defeated, return, it never did.  His dreams since then had been dreams normal people had.  Like things one was anxious about, things that happened that day, things that foretold the future, worst fears, significant others, friends etc.  But for the life of Harry Potter he could not put his finger on why his dream had bothered him so much.  After all, he's dreamt of friends before, lots of times, dreaming about Ginny shouldn't be any different at all.  He sat up on his bed and glanced at his watch, it was 5: 30 AM Thursday morning. 

'What am I doing?' he asked himself

'I've been here 6 bloody days and…'  Harry didn't know exactly how to put it, what was he doing exactly? 

Fed up with himself and the fact that he was awake in the wee hours of the morning, he got up quietly from his bed and made to dress, for the idea of going back to bed was an impossible feat, he chanced a look at Ron's sleeping body careful not to wake him up.  He felt jealous that his friend was still sleeping and he, Harry was not.

Harry made his way to the kitchen ever so lightly as he took careful steps so not to wake anybody else up.  As he reached the third landing, he passed by Ginny and Hermione's room and stopped to look at the door.  He thought that the reason for he being awake was on the other side of that very door probably dreaming of God knows what and least of all, sleeping.  As he shook himself out of his reverie, he took a step forward and

"CREEEAAAKK" ……     

'Great' he thought.

Without thinking, he dashed off and made his way, not caring if anyone heard him just as long as he wasn't caught staring at Ginny's door.   When he reached the landing, he looked at the ever so empty kitchen, in a couple of hours, this kitchen will be filled with Weasley's and extended Weasley's having a happy breakfast talking and laughing.  It was quite peaceful now, the window showed bits of light as his eyes took in the surrounding.  'The sun hasn't even risen up yet' Harry thought glumly.  The horizon was only starting to show bits of color that reminded him of Ginny's hair when it caught the firelight at night.

Harry froze as soon as he thought this; he buried his face in his hand and muttered under his breath.  Ginny has been a constant companion in his head for the past week or so since he had stepped foot in The Burrow that Friday afternoon.  Not that he minded of course, he liked it actually.

But its started to dawn on Harry Potter that he would notice little subtleties about Ginny whether it was how her eyes shone in comparison to the stars when they talked at night, how her eyes would smile along with the rest of her face when Fred would say something funny, how he would smile for no other reason other than because she was smiling, how he looked forward to closing his eyes at night because he knew he would see her face.  Harry attributed those feelings as just missing a good friend, after all, they are friends, and they don't see each other often due to their work schedule.    He thought it would go away after a while, this feeling he had and attributed to nothing but friendship, but now as he stood in this quiet kitchen at the Weasley household, Harry Potter wasn't sure he wanted it to.

'I think I'll go on that walk now' Harry told himself.

Harry beckoned his jumper that was left in the sofa to come to him with a simple 'Accio'.  It was still a bit chilly outside and he had nothing but a shirt and pants on.       

He started to put his sweater on and stopped mid dress as he breathed in the new scent his sweater had acquired; it smelled of raspberry and cinnamon.  He remembered how he had offered it to Ginny last night for she was feeling a bit cold while they sat talking on the hearthrug in front of the fireplace.  He remembered how it hung loosely on her shoulders and how the sleeves went past her hands but instead of looking like an old odd rag doll she looked rather cute.  He fancied the way Ginny looked in his clothes and made a mental note to get himself in another situation where Ginny would need to be accommodated, clothes wise and he Harry would just be the person to do it.

Harry groaned once again.  He made his way out the back door from the kitchen, this lead to the yard where most of the wild flowers grew and big willow trees shaded the back yard with its massive walls of branches that looked like a frozen waterfall of buds and blossoms.  He walked a bit farther taking in the scent and view of the semi- lit back yard.  He finally found the tree he had always gone to when he needed to think when he was at The Burrow, it was placed in the middle of a group of trees, the tree was dwarfed by its massive neighbors and its own canopy was swallowed by the willows massive hangings.  It had one very low but sturdy branch that was at a convenient height for sitting; Harry wouldn't have been surprised if the branch was bewitched to stay like that.  He liked this spot, he had always come here when he was troubled more or less, and he kind of made this spot his own. 

It really was quite picturesque.  With the view facing east, he settled himself down and heaved a big sigh.  

'Mate what are you doing? You can't ignore this issue any farther you know' Harry's head told himself.

"Ignore what?" he said out loud.

Harry didn't usually talk to himself but special times calls for desperate measures. 

'The fact of the matter is my friend, that you have to face it, and I do not know what you are on about, frankly I think it's about time!'

"What?" Harry said while hitting the back of his head repeatedly on the tree in which he was leaning against. 

But Harry knew what, he had suspected on Tuesday, even on Wednesday, but this morning he knew.  All week long he had been thinking about Ginny Weasley, how the sun caught her hair, how she smiled unblushingly towards him, how she twirled her pen in between her fingers when pausing from writing something.  Harry realized that he could sit there for a very long time just naming things about Ginny that he found endearing and not care who thought what.  He likes thinking about Ginny; he likes how she made him feel when they looked at each other, he likes how she laughs, how she makes a face when she's confused, he likes... and then a sudden wave of realization hit Harry.

"I like Ginny!" he blurted out, loudly than he had intended his volume to be when he said this to the trees.  He was so taken aback by his sudden confession that he warily looked around at the lightning surrounding as to see if anyone heard him.  

"Oh my God, I like Ginny."  He repeated more calmly but with a spring to his voice and a smile on his face.  He was filled with happiness, he felt like a ton of bricks was just lifted off of his shoulders.  He got up, he could not contend to sit any longer. 

'Now what?' he thought to himself.  Since they graduated from Hogwarts Harry didn't have time to date or even make a habit of it.  With training and Voldemort, his fame and popularity he didn't want the extra baggage of having a girlfriend.  Sure he often felt lonely seeing his friends be with their special someone but he thought that his situation was not like the situation of others.  Sure he was set up on blind dates but obviously none worked out.  The fact that with all the girls that he had gone out with, none had really captured him, none filled his mind when he was thinking, not one of them made Harry want to see them again when they were apart.  He felt that these women were going out with him to date THE HARRY POTTER and not Harry.  They were beautiful by standards and anyone would probably have lined up to date these women, but there wasn't anything special with them, at least to Harry. Harry sat down again on the branch and closed his eyes, once again; he saw Ginny's face smiling back at him.  He breathed a big sigh and thought of how Ginny captured him unlike the other women.  When they were apart, Harry was thinking of when he would see her again, when she was there he couldn't take his eyes off of her, she was definitely beautiful and most of all Ginny knew him as Harry, not the Harry that defeated Voldemort and especially not the famous Harry that everyone was so fond of, just the normal Harry that is basically a part of the family and a good friend.  Harry frowned at the thought.

"Friend" said Harry, his frown turning into worry.

He had not registered the fact that they are friends.

Harry once again started hitting his head against the trunk repeatedly.  They were friends Harry thought and he was about 10 years late on the liking-her-back part.  Friend being the operative word here, Ginny probably had no idea of Harry's new found feeling and he felt sick to his stomach thinking that Ginny might reject him in reasoning that she didn't want to hurt their existing friendship.

With Harry's mind producing a hundred thoughts a second about Ginny rejecting him, he did not realize that the sun was up and that someone was looking at him from the kitchen window.

'HOLD IT!' his mind told him.

'Stop beating yourself up with this because you cannot speak for how she feels, only she can speak for herself.  So stop jumping to conclusions and think positive.  You're late enough as it is, oh about ten years, you will not bugger this up Harry Potter!  Think of it this way, the best relationships are the ones where the couples were friends before hand, so technically you're ahead.  Now get up, get some breakfast and get your girl. '

"YEAH!"  Harry said to himself.

"Who are you talking to Harry?" 

Harry froze and felt his inside slowly churn in embarrassment.  He turned around in deep mortification to see Ginny smiling at him looking confused and amused at the same time. 

'Great' he thought. 

"If you're not done talking to yourself, I can come back later." Ginny said mockingly to Harry with a huge grin on her face.

Harry tried to speak but all that came out was dead air.  'God she's pretty.'

Ginny spoke again

"Oh, so you have a friend.  In that case would your friend like to join us for breakfast?" Ginny said looking at the empty space beside Harry.

Harry still had not moved and quite frankly still didn't know how to handle the situation after all, Ginny had caught him in a pretty embarrassing situation.  Just then Ginny, seeing the confused look in Harry's face broke out in laughter and Harry couldn't help but smile and then an idea surfaced and he took action.

Harry took a step forward to the laughing Ginny, grabbed her wrist, pulled her close and………..started tickling her. 

"Harry NO!"  Ginny made an attempt to get away but Harry wrapped his left arm around her while pinning both her hands with his arms and proceeded to tickle the still laughing Ginny.

"HA…ha….rry……no…..hehahehahaha…."

"So you think that's funny?"  Harry asked not able to control his laughter as well.

"Ye..Yes…haha" Ginny answered back in between laughs.

"Oh really?"  Harry said trying to hold onto the squirming Ginny.

"YES!…Hahaha….OK..ok….NO! I give up…..I…i…..i…...give….up….Harry!"  Ginny said out of breath.

"That's what I thought!"  Harry said still holding onto her.

"You are mean Harry Potter!"   Ginny said turning around to face her assailant still smiling.

When Harry looked at Ginny it took all sense and constraint he had in his body not to kiss her then and there, damn the consequences.  He was still holding her, first of all, and given the moment they had just shared, it was inevitable.  But that wouldn't have been smart. 

'Get a hold of yourself Harry!'  his conscience snapped.

And with that, Harry let Ginny go hesitantly.  But to his surprise, instead of backing away, Ginny stood rooted to her spot and kept her stare at Harry.  Harry couldn't help but think that all this time, he'd had this wonderful being under his nose and he only took notice of it now.  Cool early morning breeze swept the trees and strands of Ginny's hair blew onto her cheek.  Harry's hand was upon her cheek and tucking the fly-aways behind her ear before he could stop it.

Ginny couldn't get herself to turn away.  It took all her strength not to go on her toes and kiss Harry then and there before the moment was lost, damn the consequences.  They had just shared a moment worthy of a kiss hadn't they?  Did Harry just flirt with her and she flirted back, openly?  Ginny's mind was racing a mile a minute to explain this moment.  But she thought instead…

'Just enjoy this Ginny!  Enjoy first and think later.' 

She gave Harry a smile that she hoped had not betrayed her feelings.  Harry returned it and just when he was about to say something Ron called from the kitchen door.

"OY!!! YOU LOT, IF YOU WANT BREAKFAST BETTER COME AND GET IT!!"

Ginny wasn't sure if she was going to be able to speak, but tried anyway.

"I think we better go."  Ginny said, coming out as nothing but a whisper, still not breaking Harry's gaze.

Harry gave her a nod for he too thought it was an impossible feat to speak and was afraid that if he did he was going to say something he wasn't prepared for her to hear.

Ginny finally succumbed and looked away to the direction of the house.  She was a couple of steps ahead of Harry and she could hear his footsteps following her.  She could smell the breakfast cooking in the kitchen and was suddenly aware that she was hungry. 

"Hey Harry?"  she said stopping on her track and turning around to face him.

"Yes, Ginny."

"Are we going to invite your friend?"  Ginny said grinning.

Harry looked at her and with a smile on his face, he started for Ginny.

Ginny saw what was coming and with a little scream made a dash for the kitchen door Ron had left open. Harry had just caught her shirt when they reached the threshold only to see that all the face seated at the table was looking at them.  Harry immediately let go of Ginny's shirt and Ginny suppressed her laughter.  They looked like two teenage couple caught at doing something they shouldn't have.  Ginny gave Harry a smile and nodded towards the inquiring minds in front of them before making their way to the two vacant seats beside Ron and Hermione. 

Ron obviously was stuffing his face to notice anything but Hermione's eyes never left Ginny's or Harry's watching for anything that might betray their actions. 

" You were up early Dear."  Mrs. Weasley said to Harry

"Err…yeah, I fancied a walk."

"A walk?  At 6 in the morning?" Ron said in between mouthfuls.

 "I used to do that, early morning walks are the best way to start the day."  Said Emma.

Ginny was curious into what Harry was up at 6 in the morning for, but was sure he didn't want everybody discussing it during breakfast.  So she made to turn the conversation to a different topic.

"So what are we doing today?"  addressing her question to the table, so anyone can answer.

"Well.  Emma suggests that we have a barbeque, muggle style."  Said Arthur happily.

And with that the table was engaged in talking about barbeques and who's preparing what and so on and so on.

Harry looked at Ginny in between bites of his eggs and sausages.  For the hundredth time that morning, he thought of how pretty she was.  He was aware that the table was full of Weasley's but that didn't stop him stealing a glance at Ginny once in a while.  He was still looking at her when Ginny caught him and gave him one of those smiles that Harry had grown to love, casually interrupting the beat of his heart.  He felt warm all over and he couldn't help smiling to himself only to find that when he looked down, his elbow was in the butter dish.

Ginny pretended not to notice for the sake of Harry, but her smile broadened and she kept on eating.  Looking forward to what else the day would bring. 

'Good start indeed!'  she thought.   'Good start indeed.'