Author: Lochar

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Ginny Potter (I mean Weasley), or any of the rest of the crew. I don't own the storyline either, but I'm borrowing it to make a few changes.

AN: AU in the fact that after the Chamber incident, Harry talked to Ginny and became more of a friend to her in his third year. I hate that this plot point was never picked up. After the diary was destroyed, they all assumed all was well and good. In this story, Harry made sure. He became a friend to Ginny. Told her that the crush was nice, but he didn't know her. So Ginny attempted to put her crush behind her and be friends instead.

AN the 2nd: This story is the result of rabid plot bunnies listening to Toby Keith's 'You shouldn't kiss me like this."

Someone leaned against the chair behind me. My sixth sense kicked in, and I could tell it was Harry. Of course, since I can only sense Harry with it kinda makes it obvious. Stupid Chamber.

Marking my place in my textbook, I closed it. "What's up, Harry?" I looked up at him, looking back down at me over the edge of the chair.

He smiled at me. "Got a question, and maybe a couple of favors to ask you, Ginny."

"Okay, what's up?" I shooed him away from behind my chair, and he sat down in the chair opposite me. "No promises on any favors, but I'll try the question."

Harry grinned again as he sat down in front of me. "OK then. You heard the Headmaster's announcement this morning, right? There's going to be a Yule Ball, and I have to be one of the people to open it."

I nodded. The little voice of the crush that I hadn't managed to get rid of was jumping up and down, screaming He's going to ask me! He's going to ask me! I mentally growled back at it. We're friends, and that's good enough. For now. Stupid crush voice.

"Ok, here's the question. Since it's going to be formal dancing and whatnot, do you know how to do those dances?"

Harry's question caught me off guard. "Most of them. Mum and Dad love to ballroom dance, so I learned a lot of it from them, and Bill and Charlie sometimes danced with me. I don't think they really liked doing it though."

Harry's face brightened at that. "Oh good. Maybe you'll say yes to my favor then."

Now I was wary. "What's the favor?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Well, I know absolutely nothing about dancing, period. I was hoping, maybe you could teach me so that I won't step on my dance partner's feet when I'm forced out onto the dance floor?"

Yes, yes, yes! Funny how a little voice in my head could be jumping up and down in excitement. Harry's going to be holding onto me, and we'll be dancing and dancing! Logic reared its head though, and I saw red. "Excuse me? You want me to teach you dance moves endangering my toes while you learn JUST so you don't step on the toes of some random witch that you happen to drag onto the floor? Exactly what do I get out of this, Harry!" By now, I was standing up, halfway screaming at him with my wand pointed at him. Okay, so maybe that stupid crush was influencing my logic a bit. Just a bit.

Harry was carefully watching my wand, which was waving between his chest and his face. I think he was remembering last time Ron got me mad enough to use my Bat Bogey hex on him.

"Umm, actually… That was the second favor I wanted to ask you." He was very cautious, not moving much or giving me any reason to start hexing him.

Of course, saying he wanted a second favor, after his already ludicrous first one was pushing it anyway. I narrowed my eyes. "Excuse me? You're pushing your luck asking for one thing, and now you're going to ask for a second? What, you think I'm going to give you suggestions on who to take?" I was at full voice now, from the corner of my eye I could see my brothers backpedaling away from me, not even being subtle about it.

Harry actually stood up at that. "No actually, my second favor was since I'd be learning to dance with you, I would have asked you to go with me as a friend." He stared at me. "But whatever. If you don't want to, fine." He spun around and stomped towards the boys' dorm.

Catch him! Catch him! Don't let him get away! For once, that little inner voice that now embodied my crush was right. I ran after Harry, catching him before he had gotten two steps up the stairs.

"Wait a second, Harry." He stopped, and I took a breath. "You mean it; you want to take me to the Ball? Even if it's as friends?"

Harry turned back around. He looked at me and took a breath. "Yes. You don't gawk at me or anything and we're good friends. But seriously, you're going to have to show me how to not kill your feet while we're dancing."

I grinned madly, grabbing his hand. "C'mon then. No time like the present." I managed to pull him out of the Gryffindor common room and halfway down from the Tower before he stopped me.

"Hold on a second, Ginny. Where are we going?" His sudden stop made me trip, making Harry take a stronger grip on my wrist. I managed to not fall down the stairs by virtue of being pulled back into him instead.

I blushed, taking a step away from him. "The Charms classroom is empty right now. We can practice in there, as it's wide open." I shook my wrist free of Harry's now loose grasp.

"Alright, Ginny, just next time give me some warning." He laughed, and then pulled a piece of parchment out of his robes. "Let me make sure no one's coming." He tapped it with his wand and said out loud, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

I watched in fascination as squiggles started randomly appearing on the paper, first forming the words 'Marauder's Map' and then turning into a map of the school.

Harry looked down at it, studying it for a moment, and then looked up. "OK, looks like there are no teachers anywhere near here, Filch is on the other side of the school, and the Charms classroom is empty. Shall we go?"

He held out his arm and I laughed, swatting his shoulder and taking off running. "Race you there then." I called out over my shoulder.

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Dear Diary;

I know I don't normally update but once every month or so, but tonight I've got loads to say.

For the past two weeks, I've been teaching Harry ballroom dancing. Yes, that Harry. Don't think that the little part of me that still crushes on Harry isn't jumping up and down in glee, getting to be that close to Harry for long periods of time.

If that's not enough, Harry also wants me to go with him as friends to the Ball. I have to constantly remind said little voice that it IS as friends. Not that I wouldn't mind more, but last year Harry said he'd never know me if we weren't friends first. So friends it is. At least I'll always have that.

You know, re-reading that, I'm beginning to suspect my little crush is getting bigger.

But anyways, Harry dances like he plays Quidditch. That is, he's a born natural. After that first night, we had to sneak out a lot later past curfew after all the couples around school had come in for the night. It only took Harry a week to get down the basic moves of every dance I know, and lately we've been working on all the advanced stuff that took me over a year way back then to learn.

Of course, at this rate, Harry's going to know it all in the next couple of days. What are we going to do when I don't have anything left to teach him?

In other news, I owled Mum telling her that Harry had asked me to go with him, and I got a huge letter back from her that basically said she was happy for me. She also managed to find this stunning midnight blue evening gown to wear. Mum said it's an older fashion, but it's absolutely gorgeous. Ron's dress robes may look like crap with the lace, but there's just a hint of lace around the neckline of my dress. There's an even deeper blue pattern running down it. I can't tell what it is, but it makes the whole thing look really good. Hope Harry likes it.

Ginny

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I yawned and stretched, looking at the moon outside the window. "Merlin, it's got to be past one in the morning, Harry."

Harry hit his forehead. "Sorry Ginny, I didn't realize it was that late. I was having fun dancing." He pulled out the Marauder's Map, looking at it. "Looks like the coast is clear. Are you ready to go back to the tower then?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

We were both silent on our walk back, Harry occasionally checking the map for either Filch or Mrs. Norris. Thinking to myself, I finally spoke up. "You know Harry, you know all the dance routines I know. I guess I don't have anything left to teach you." I kept going with a big grin. "And you haven't stepped on my toes since the second night."

He coughed slightly. "Yeah, yeah. I know I tripped over you big time that night. I've been having fun, so if you want to we can keep practicing. Besides, maybe we could come up with something for the Ball, too."

I wasn't about to admit to him that I was having the time of my life as well, and I wasn't about to say no to him. So I threw him a bone. "It's been pretty fun for me too. And you think we could come up with something for the Ball? Something unique?"

I sensed him shrug as we walked along in the dark. "Even if we can't, it's still more practice for me. I still don't think I'm doing as well as you say I am, Ginny."

No, you're doing better. Divinely, as a matter of fact. Down, voice! "More practice it is."

Harry nodded. "Sounds good to me. I think we're going to need some sleep after classes today, so shall we skip tonight? Then we'll practice tomorrow, instead?"

"Sure."

We were both quiet the rest of the way, wary of any last second mishaps involving Mrs. Norris.

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Dear Diary,

At eleven, I was crushing on Harry. Now, it feels so much different. Can a thirteen year old fall in love, instead of just having a crush?

I guess you want to know why I'm updating again after only a week, but trust me. I need to get this written down on paper.

Two nights ago, we were practicing down in the Charms classroom again. We were just playing around, trying to string different moves together, see which fit. We were practicing for that something unique we wanted to try at the Ball.

We'd run through it probably a dozen times now, and had gotten the steps exactly right. Harry had swung me around in the air easily, and I'd told him I wanted to try something a little different. My fault for not telling him what I wanted to try, but still.

When he started to bring me down, instead of going back into a dance I pulled at his arms and he pulled me closer. I don't think either of us expected how close he'd pull me though, because as I came down, our faces dropped right in front of each other. I came all the way down, ending up resting my head on Harry's shoulder slightly. Harry's several inches taller than me, so I looked up at him, trying to see what he thought of the change.

The question died on my lips, as I saw Harry's green eyes staring down at me. I tilted my head up and Harry's came down slightly, our lips touching. I swear it was like being struck by lightning, kissing him. His arms went around my back, and we just stood there for- Merlin I couldn't tell you how long.

After a moment, I stepped back, looking at him. Not knowing what to think, I told him the first thing I thought of. Merlin help me, but I reminded him of what he'd said last year. I didn't want my crush to get between our friendship, and if we kissed like that again, I'd end up falling in love with him. He nodded and said he had to think. We went back to Gryffindor Tower, and Harry hasn't said a word to me since then, except to tell me that we'd still be opening the Ball together.

I think I already have fallen in love.

Ginny

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Harry and I were the last couple to be announced at the opening of the Ball.

"Representing Gryffindor and Hogwarts, the Champion Harry Potter and his guest for the evening, Ginny Weasley." Professor Dumbledore's voice was amplified across the Great Hall.

This was the first time I'd seen Harry's dress robes, and they fit him. Boy, do they ever. The voice of my crush was back, but now it seemed different. Either way.

I took another good look at Harry's robes. They seemed to be an interesting mix of what my Dad called a Muggle tuxedo and normal robes. A deep black, they were tight around his shoulders and with long sleeves. He wore a white shirt under the robes and there was Gryffindor red and gold woven into his cuffs. I don't know how he managed it, but the sash tying the middle of his robes matched the blue of my dress exactly. The robes were solid black all the way down, splitting for more movement a couple of inches down at the bottom.

The music started up, and we stood out in the middle of the dance floor. The formal steps were easy for both of us by now. After a few minutes, Harry started whispering quietly to me.

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said, Ginny." We took another few steps, and then turned. "We're friends, right?"

My heart seemed to freeze up slightly at those words. I nodded mutely to him though.

"I'm glad. I would have hated to ruin our friendship over something I don't think either of us realized was going to happen."

We were halfway through the song, and my heart seemed to be slowly breaking at Harry's words. I kept a calm face though.

"You said if we kissed like that again, you'd end up falling in love with me, right?"

I nodded again, not daring to voice anything. I don't know if I could have said anything.

Harry smiled at me. "I'm glad we're still friends." He listened to the song. "I think the song is about over. Wanna try our special part?"

I swallowed and nodded again. "The first version we practiced, I take it?" I managed to get out in a whisper without my voice breaking.

Harry just smiled at me. We started moving to the beat of the music, but moving differently than the other three couples. I stared at Harry, bound and determined that if we were going to remain just friends, I was going to memorize every last part of this night to guard against my own feelings later.

The song started towards its ending, the music swelling slightly. It seemed timed to our movements now, instead of us timing to it.

We reached the last part of our routine, and Harry picked me up, spinning me around. I was ready to land and finish off the dance, when instead Harry pulled me close to him.

My head rested against his shoulder again, and my heart beat wildly. Tentatively, I looked up to Harry, finding myself lost in the deep green pools of his eyes.

"We can still be friends though, right?"

I managed a slight nod, and Harry bent towards me. I reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck, and lifting myself to kiss him.

Harry's arms went around my back, holding me close as our lips touched again.

If I had thought a lightning bolt had struck during our first kiss, this time we might as well have been in the middle of a thundercloud. Behind my closed eyes, I swore I saw stars.

After a minute, we broke apart again. Harry kissed my forehead, then I laid my head against his chest. He held me close for the rest of the night.

I had to be told the next morning that I really had seen stars. One, or probably both, of us had released a huge burst of raw magic, dazzling everyone.

Just a one shot while waiting for my normal beta to find his way back to the internet. Review and tell me what you thought!

Beta services this time provided by Michelle from Jeconais's yahell group.