"So, Ginny, will you be my second?" Harry asked after he related the story.
"Of course I will. Besides I doubt you will need any help anyway."
"Oh? How so?"
They were sitting in the common room. Harry in a chair, and Ginny, with two empty seats beside him, mind you, was sitting in his lap, "Because I watched you in that maze during the tournament. You kicked ass."
"Yes," he nodded, "Yes, I did," and, though he was careful not to show it, he began to think about Cedric's death. Again. And that always lead to Sirius nearly falling through the Veil.
Ron suddenly appeared from the boy's dormitories, "GINERVA WEASLEY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
"I'm spending time with my friend, Ron. Like you and Hermione? You know?"
"GET OFF OF HIM NOW!" he stepped over and grabbed her hand.
"Let go of me, Ronald, or you will regret it."
"Not till I get you away from him," he announced venomously.
"Harry has a name, Ronald, and if you don't let go of me, I'll hex you into next week. I'm in the DA too."
At this, Ron dropped her hand, of course, he'd also torn her from Harry's lap, upset several pieces of furniture, a lot of people, and, naturally, the witch most capable of performing the Bat-Bogey Hex. Must love karma, "I'm writing to Mum, Ginny," he said quietly.
"Don't bother," Ginny gave him enough time to close his eyes before punching him. Hard. And knocking him out in the process.
"Milady?" Harry offered her his arm and she giggled as if she hadn't just decked her brother.
"Thank you, kind sir. Where shall we go?"
"The library, so that I may prepare to fight for your honor."
"I think that you can forget about fighting. Ron's not going anywhere anytime soon."
XXX
"I don't get what she sees in that jerk!" Ron continued to rant to Hermione, who was busy trying to remove his black eye. They were currently in the Library because Hermionee had wanted to find a remedy for bruises.
"I heard you the first six times, Ron," she said crossly, "You needn't repeat yourself."
"Tell me why she likes him, 'Mione."
"You are hopeless, Ron. He's always been nothing but polite and Ginny likes him because he saved her life, even though no Weasley that he has ever met has liked him."
"I don't get it."
"And you never will if you don't talk to Harry and-"
"Since when do you call Potter 'Harry'?"
She smiled, "Since he was kind enough to escort me through Hogsmede."
"WHAT?"
Hermione put a hand over his mouth, "Shut up or you'll get us thrown out," she hissed.
"Is that why they wrote that article about you being with him?"
"Yes."
"Why did you go with him?"
"Oh don't be a prat. We had just broken up…"
"For the second time?" Ron asked for clarification.
"The last time. You left with Dean and Seamus and I didn't have anyone to go wit. Harry saw me on the way across the grounds and asked where you were. When I told him, he asked if I wanted company and told him yes. He was really sweet, paying for every book I bought and then treating me to a butterbeer at Three Broomsticks."
"So, first he dates my girlfriend…"
"Ex-girlfriend."
"…and then he makes the move on my sister."
"You are going to have to get over that one. She isn't going to stop hanging around with him because you order her to. She probably won't stop, no matter what anyone says."
"She will when Potter finds someone new," Ron muttered.
"What? Harry isn't like that Ron. He'd rather stay with some he hated, forever, than try to break it off. Besides, how many girls has he ever had?"
"There was that thing with Cho Chang…"
"Which lasted all of two weeks, and it only lasted that long because they only had one date. Then Cedric was killed…"
"Good thing she got out of that quick. Potter might have come after her next."
"Do you really think that he did it? Dumbledore told us it was You-know-Who…"
"Not seriously. Since when does Dumbledore lie?"
"So, we were talking about his girlfriends…there was Gina Spence. He took her to the Yule Ball."
"And she wasn't to inclined to hang around, either."
"Well, Ron, I think you've got a duel to lose, so start looking."