Disclaimer: It's all J.K.'s.

Author's Note/To My Reviewers:

Note that I changed the rating from M to T. I don't anticipate anything that would justify such a rating happening soon. I tend to automatically want to rate my stories M because I usually only read M-rated stories, but this one doesn't need the rating.

This story doesn't have any official plan. I'm not sure where it's going. It may end up quite lengthy; it may end soon. I'm open to your suggestions, if you have any.

I ACTUALLY UPDATED! After a long hiatus from fanfiction, I am back…hopefully for good. I know this is kind of a filler chapter…sorry. Expect a couple updates this weekend to make up for it.

Chapter 4

Ginny hesitantly opened her eyes. A bolt of pain shot through her body and she made a low moaning noise. Her head ached, her legs were numb, and it felt as if her left arm had been snapped in two. She blinked several times, staring up at a bright blue sky. Pressing her good hand against the hard surface upon which she rested, she deduced that she was lying in the grass. The sun glared into her eyes. She licked her dry lips and detected a faint taste of blood.

"Ginny! Thank goodness you've woken!" a familiar voice exclaimed – it was Hermione. "I've only just gotten here. Sirius said he was walking in the garden when he heard you falling. It's a miracle that you're alive! You've Sirius to thank, he saved your life."

"What happened?" Ginny asked. She tried to raise her head to look at her friend but found it immensely heavy.

"Oh, thank goodness, she's alive! You fell out of the apple tree. Put your head down and stay still; Fred and George are going to move you to your room." This time the speaker was Molly Weasley.

Magicking Ginny to a fraction of her original weight, the twins hoisted their sister over their heads and carried her up the three flights of stairs to her room.

"Open your mouth," commanded Mrs. Weasley. Ginny obliged and felt her mother tilt a spoonful of warm, syrupy liquid down her throat. Ginny caught snippets of conversation – "thank goodness you were there", "owe you her life", "let her sleep" – before drifting off into deep slumber.

The room was deserted as Ginny slept; Hermione was staying the night in the vacant guest bedroom. As dusk turned into night, a silent figure entered Ginny's room. Sirius passed much of the night watching Ginny sleep.

The next morning, thanks to many miraculous healing potions, Ginny was able to sit upright while leaning back against some pillows. The pain in her head had subsided somewhat. The feeling in her toes was starting to return. She'd learned that her left arm had, in fact, been snapped in two. The Weasleys were unable to afford the best healing potion for this ailment; thus Ginny was only able to take a cheap, slow one. In the meantime, they bandaged the area where the bone had pierced through her skin, put her arm in a Muggle sling, and gave her pain medication.

Soon after Ginny woke up, her mother came into her room to check on her. Seeing that her daughter was awake, she summoned Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione. Half an hour passed before Bill and Charlie Apparated into her room; it was a Saturday and they were off work. The less fortunate Mr. Weasley was slaving away at the Ministry. It turned into a sort of big family party. Bill and Charlie announced that they were planning to stay the night, and Mrs. Weasley hurried off to prepare the guest room for them. Hermione moved her trunks into the room that she was to share with Ginny. Fred and George announced that they planned on inviting a few of their friends to stay with them, much to Mrs. Weasley's annoyance. Conspicuously absent was Sirius.

After the required amount of family time, the Weasleys began making excuses to leave. Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie went outside to play Quidditch. Ron, irked that he was excluded, exited the room grumbling about cursing his four brothers. Mrs. Weasley went downstairs to begin preparing lunch, leaving Hermione and Ginny to catch up in their room.

"So what exactly happened yesterday? You were just sitting in a tree for no reason and then you accidentally fell out?" Hermione accused as soon as Mrs. Weasley had started down the stairs.

"Uh…yeah, I guess…" said Ginny, blushing slightly. "What did they tell you?"

"Sirius was walking in the garden when he heard you fall. He came to your rescue, performing a couple of spells to save you."

"But Sirius was in the tree with me!" protested Ginny, realising too late that this incriminated her. Hermione, however, didn't seem to notice this.

"No, he couldn't have been. He was walking in the garden, he told us himself. How else could he have been on the ground to save you?"

"He is a wizard, you know," Ginny sarcastically informed Hermione. "He can Apparate."

"But you can't Apparate in and out of number twelve…" Hermione weakly protested.

"…unless you know it exists," Ginny finished. "Sirius was in the tree with me! I remember." She was vaguely aware that she sounded like a three-year-old, but she didn't really care.

"Ah," said Hermione, grinning. "And, pray tell, what exactly was Sirius doing in the tree with you?"

"Nothing," said Ginny, in a tone that obviously signified that she was doing something.

"Uh-huh." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'll get it out of you soon enough, don't you worry. Ohmygosh, I forgot to tell you! Viktor and I are going out again! I went to Bulgaria to visit him before I came here. It was amazing."

"You did?" asked Ginny interestedly. "And what exactly did you do?"

The two girls went on gossiping for close to an hour. They only stopped when Mrs. Weasley called Hermione down for lunch.

"Sorry, Ginny, your mother said that you're still too weak to come downstairs for lunch. I'll bring you back some food," Hermione promised.

"'Kay!" Ginny cheerfully replied. The window was open and sun was streaming in, which automatically put her in a better mood. She still hadn't managed to extract details from Hermione about exactly what had happened when she and Viktor went to a luxury hotel in the Bulgarian mountains, and thus she had something to ponder and giggle to herself over.

However, she hadn't spent but fifteen minutes pondering and giggling (and occasionally reliving her kiss with Sirius) when the door opened. She didn't notice at first; when she did realise that there was a person standing in her room, she blushed furiously. She secretly loved laughing with herself, but was sure that it looked insane to onlookers.

"Ginny," Sirius stated, seating himself in a chair, conspicuously far away from Ginny's bed, looking uncomfortable.

"Sirius," Ginny replied, smiling slightly. The discomfort and awkwardness between them was almost tangible; things such as this made Ginny laugh at the foolishness of people. "Thanks for miraculously saving me. It was so fortunate that you happened to be walking in the garden at the precise moment that I fell from the tree." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, and Sirius blushed slightly.

"Listen, Ginny, about last night." Ginny raised her eyebrows at this cliché line. "Uh. I probably shouldn't have done that." She merely looked at him. He stared back at her. Locked in a staring war of sorts, their eye contact continued for a few moments until they heard a knock on the door.

"Hermione," Ginny muttered in explanation. "With my lunch."

"I should go," said Sirius, rising from his chair. With that, he exited the room as Hermione entered.

"Sirius was in here?" queried Hermione, raising one eyebrow suggestively. Ginny, suddenly finding herself starving, gulped down her soup and nodded in response.

"Yeah, it was bloody awkward. Y'know, 'I shouldn't have done that, I ought to be going now, nice talking to you.'"

Hermione shrugged, crossing her legs and making herself comfortable. "I guess you couldn't expect anything but that. Do you really actually like him?"

Ginny blushed, slightly inclining her head. "I guess, but it's kind of repulsive. I mean, he's like twice my age. He's not repulsive to me. Obviously. But isn't it gross to you?"

"Love is love," said Hermione simply. Ginny sighed, expecting another lecture reminiscent of her friend's infamous "HOUSELVES ARE PEOPLE TOO!" talks, but instead was surprised with another rather simple answer. "If I were you, I would go for it."

Hermione left Ginny's room soon after, leaving the bewildered redhead to ponder her friend's words…