Ginny struggled with her broomstick. A Bludger had collided with the tail and at least a quarter of the twigs had been bent. She wasn't horribly worried, as the twins had bought Ron a second-hand Nimbus 2001 for his birthday, so he'd probably let her use his Cleansweep, but it was difficult to walk with nonetheless. The broom was nearly as long as she was, and she found it somewhat difficult even at the best of times.
Still, it had been fun – they had won their match, which put them in an extremely strong position for the Quidditch cup. She couldn't say she was looking forward to playing Slytherin exactly – the Ravenclaw Beaters at least had some sense of sportsmanship, but the Slytherins usually went out of their way to do the utmost damage to the other team.
She sighed and decided to focus on anything other than the bruises she was sure to get in her next match. The first thought to spring to mind was, of course, about Mr Harry Potter. He was walking beside her now, his Firebolt over his shoulder and a lazy grin on his lips. Suffice to say, his Quidditch robes fit rather better now than they had in her first year.
He had been rather maddening lately. Ginny couldn't quite figure out why he had changed so much after the meeting with Dumbledore – the news, while not exactly good, was hardly unexpected. She supposed it was possible that he was lying, that Dumbledore had told him something more than he had admitted – but it didn't seem that way. She knew Harry – she didn't always understand why she knew him so well, but she could almost always tell when he was lying.
She wasn't exactly sure what it was that was different even – he didn't seem depressed. It was as if he had come to some kind of resolution, but what that could be Ginny didn't want to guess. She hated the thought that Harry might have accepted death, but it was a suspicion that occurred to her more and more frequently.
Perhaps she was foolish – he was nowhere near as depressed as he had been during her fourth year. He was just quiet, and firm, and…not Harry. She was used to his sarcastic quips and benevolently incurious attitude about other people. Not this determined young man with destiny in his eyes. He was going out of his way to spend time with people as well – he had even spoken to Colin Creevey for nearly half an hour the other night. Ginny shivered at the thought that he was making his goodbyes.
It wasn't that he frightened her, or that she didn't love this part of him. She did – she had always known that he was a hero. She had seen it in the way he avoided looking at her when she was at her most vulnerable, and in the kindness he had always shown to Neville (not that it was any less than Neville deserved.) It was just that, even though she loved the air of quiet assurance he radiated, she hated to see the hero that he couldn't help being swallow up everything else. He needed to laugh. He wasn't Harry if he didn't laugh.
He held the door open for her now, and she walked in under his arm, catching a hint of his clean 'just showered' scent, and brushing ever so slightly against him. It wasn't fair that he could reduce to some kind of quivering mess just by being nearby. Harry smiled at her, and said "Good game by the way."
She raised an eyebrow at him, and he added, "Not that you didn't know it. You are the best Chaser on the team."
"On the team?" Ginny knew she was fishing, but, well, Harry Potter, the best flier the school had seen in decades, was complimenting her flying, and she was going to enjoy it.
He slung one arm around her neck. "Probably in the school now that I think of it."
She snorted with laughter and moved away from him. "Flattery will get you nowhere Mr Potter."
"Have you no faith in me?"
She put her head to one side for a moment, pretending to think. "No. Not a jot."
"What did I do to deserve that?"
"Manhandling an innocent young woman in the Entrance Hall – that doesn't seem like civilised behaviour to me, at all."
"Manhandling! I'll manhandle you!"
Ginny stared at him for a moment before they each started to laugh. Harry shook his head. "I really just said that didn't I."
"Yeah. And here I was thinking you were witty. I'm ashamed of you Harry."
"Careful you – or I might just follow up on that threat."
Ginny giggled harder. "Go on then – manhandle me Harry!"
He looked ever so slightly disgruntled, and she eventually managed to quell her laughter enough to say, "Not that I don't think you're very, very masculine!"
At the look on his face she started to laugh again. He didn't look angry at all, but ever so slightly put-out, and the expression looked so utterly out of place on him that she couldn't gain control of herself until Luna Lovegood joined them.
She was used to Luna's unusual hats by now, but it did come as something of a shock when she said, "I'm not glad you won."
Ginny exchanged a glance with Harry. "Okay."
"I supported my House – I am a Ravenclaw."
"I know – I didn't expect…"
"But you played really well today. You looked good enough to be a professional."
Ginny flushed with pleasure as Luna turned to Harry. "And you were great – but then I knew you'd win. Our new Seeker isn't very good."
Harry didn't say anything and Luna continued, "But then Cho Chang was so good that maybe we all expected to much."
Ginny hid a snort – if she had been good enough to beat Cho Chang in her second match she didn't have any huge opinion of the older girl's abilities. Harry however was looking at Luna, and then he said something Ginny had never expected to hear him say. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next time?"
Luna's eyes widened even more than usual, and she said, "No thank you Harry," very seriously.
Harry's mouth actually hung open for a moment before he gathered himself. "It's just I haven't had a chance to talk to you much lately, so…"
Ginny wanted to hit him, hard, with her broomstick. How dare he? How dare he go round asking other girls out – in front of her!
Fortunately Luna was calmer than Ginny and she said, as if making an observation about the condition of the weather, "Harry…it's really obvious you'd prefer to go with Ginny – and you should ask her anyway. She likes Butterbeer better than me."
"Okay."
If Ginny hadn't wanted to hit him, she would have laughed at his expression. How was it he could find time to take Luna to Hogsmeade, and chat to Colin Creevey, but he still hadn't managed to tell her what, if anything, he felt for her. What the bloody hell was he playing at anyway?
Luna turned to her, her eyes bulging somewhat in her enthusiasm. "Would you walk me back to my Common Room Ginny?"
Ginny shrugged. "Of course, Luna. I'll talk to you later Harry."
He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take your broomstick for you Ginny."
"Oh…thanks." His hand met hers as she passed it to him, and as his thumb passed over the back of her hand she couldn't quite restrain a shiver. As he had sunk further into himself, she had tried to avoid close contact with him, but when it happened…she stifled a mental moan as she saw that he had definitely noticed. His eyes widened, and Ginny just knew she was going to be in for yet another week of smouldering looks and nothing else. Her life really was fabulous.
Perhaps Harry sensed some of her irritation, for her dropped her hand extremely quickly and mumbled something that sounded like 'Sorry.'
Determined to put him out of her mind, she gave him a quick wave and turned to follow Luna. It was something of a relief to be around someone who didn't fill her thoughts with a combination of frustration, love, anger and hormones, so Ginny was more than a little aggravated when Luna said, after precisely three seconds, "How long have you been in love with Harry?"
"What!"
Luna smiled, and said in a louder a voice. "How long have you been in love with Harry?"
"I can hear you Luna – I'm just amazed that you'd think that."
"Really? Why's that?"
"Because…I'm not. I'm not."
"Well then, why do you behave as if you are – and blush like you are – and look at him like you are?"
"All right! Maybe I am. So?"
"I was curious. I've been reading up on love potions…"
"Love potions?"
"Yes – love potions. Very few people actually have the courage to use them you know – they prefer to depend on beautifying potions. Like that hag Malodora Grymm who used one to ensnare a King…"
"Yes?" Ginny wasn't usually this impatient with Luna, but she had no idea what she was driving at.
"How long have you been in love with Harry?"
"I don't know, all right. I didn't just wake up some beautiful morning and realise 'Oh I'm in love with him'. I just…am. What does it even matter?"
"Well you see, I've been studying some of the old love potions, and they need hair from a couple who are truly in love, and of course I thought of you and Harry – but then I remembered I never actually asked you."
"Oh." Ginny felt rather limp – she supposed there was some kind of logic to Luna's thought processes, but she couldn't see it for the life of her.
They had reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw's tower, and Luna put her hand on Ginny's arm, saying, "He needs you much more than you know."
Ginny nodded. She couldn't think of anything else to say. It was only as Luna left that she thought to ask – "Luna – you're not actually going to make a Love Potion are you?"
"Of course not – only mad people actually believe in Love Potions."
Ginny made her way back to Gryffindor Tower very slowly – she felt as though she'd been kicked in the head several times, hard.