Ginny's Take

The Burrow

The Second Day of School

Outside

"Why is it I always seem to lose at Quidditch these days?" Fred grumbled as he landed.

"That's what happens when you play against Harry," I taunted. Thankfully, I was on Harry's team while we played. The game had been much closer this time without Ron's Keeping, but Harry had managed to pull out with the Snitch when George had hit Charlie in the back with a nastily well-aimed Bludger while he was pursuing the Snitch. These pickup games were always high-tension in the Weasley household - we were a very competitive family.

George snorted. "Charlie has clearly lost his touch."

"You watch yourself, George," Charlie growled, flexing his muscles menacingly.

"Hey! Who's the one with the bat, eh? If you were really a good Seeker, you would have been able to - " George's comments were cut off abruptly when Charlie decided to tackle him, resulting in an impromptu wrestling match, wrenching George's Beater Bat away from him.

"Yeah - let's see how tough you are now, without your bat!"

"Eh! Get off me, get off! Ah - oof!" George pounded Charlie's back fruitlessly as Charlie picked him up and tossed him unceremoniously onto the ground. Charlie had always been the strongest of us, despite his physical quickness, and could easily heft more weight than George, who was taller but considerably slimmer. The rest of us laughed as Charlie grinned triumphantly over a sputtering and dirty George.

"Ridiculous! I'll get you back," George spat, suddenly throwing a fistful of white powder that had been hidden in his pocket right at Charlie, and mumbled something as he said it. The powder flashed with blinding brightness on impact, and we all reflexively covered our eyes, seeing stars, barring Fred and George, who had been prepared and shut their eyes tight. I opened my eyes slightly, tearing a little, and as the white spots of light faded, I saw...

"A turtle?" said Bill. "You turned Charlie into a turtle?" Fred and George were rolling on the floor, wiping tears from their eyes, and the rest of us were laughing as well. I had to admit, it was pretty funny. Charlie turtle just didn't look like an ordinary turtle. The body was suitable, but the head was virtually identical to Charlie's regular head, just shrunken.

"You change me back, right now, before I kill you?" Charlie squeaked. However, this only sent us into more fits of high hysterics, as, clearly as another planned effect of the spell, Charlie's voice had heightened as well. It sounded like he had just inhaled helium.

"Alright, you done your Quidditch game? It's dinner time!" Mum said as she came out. "What's so funny?" she asked, noticing our jovial state. Her eye rested on turtle Charlie. She raised her eyes at us, as she was seeing him from the back, and was unable to see the head, and had not realized it was Charlie.

"It's just a turtle, right? What's so - Good Lord!" Charlie had turned around, his expression still uncharacteristically livid, at hearing my mother.

"Mom! Make the bastards turn me back!" Charlie complained. I saw a smile twitch at Mom's lips as she heard him, but, sensibly, she concealed it quickly.

"Language, Charlie! And yes - Fred, George, turn him back right now." She put a particular emphasis on the last two words, adding what Fred and George used to call the 'danger' voice. Meaning it signified that she should not be pushed.

"Oh - well yes, I suppose that would be alright," said Fred, still chortling. Quickly, he took a fistful of white powder - the rest of us quickly covered our eyes, although Charlie had some difficulty doing this, and started to yelp, becoming off-balance - and threw it on Charlie, mumbling 'human' under his breath. Before I had taken my arm off my eyes, I heard an enraged roar - Charlie, at normal volume and pitch - and then heard two pairs of feet running at lightning speed, with a heavier pair following them. I took my arm off my eyes to see Charlie chasing the cackling twins around the yard.

Just a normal day at the Weasleys'.

Harry's Take

"All right, I'm going for a walk," announced Ginny, about fifteen minutes after finishing dinner. "Anyone want to join me?"

I'm not dumb, not really. And so, when a woman who I may very well be in love with announces she's going on a walk, and then proceeds to look directly at me and ask if anyone would go for a walk, I knew that what she really meant was 'Harry, you will come on a 'walk' with me now'. Nor was this lost on other occupants of the room.

"Yeah, right, 'anyone'," Fred snorted skeptically. "And when you say 'anyone', Gin, what you really mean is - ouch!"

Bill had elbowed him right as Fred was sure to say 'Harry'. I nodded my thanks at him, but he only grinned and continued playing chess against George, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Sure, Gin, I'll go with you," I spoke up. Ginny nodded, her face a too well-acted mask of neutrality, and went out the door as I followed her out.

The night was great, chilly but refreshing, slightly damp from the previous rain, but thankfully not humid. Not to mention the stars were out, and shining, although some were obscured by errant clouds, especially on the west horizon, where the storm clouds were moving. I could see Ginny in front of me, despite the dark, particularly her red hair, which was spread out across her back.

"Nice night, isn't it?" asked Gin as we walked. For all the times I had visited the Burrow, I had never bothered to get tremendously familiar with the surrounding terrain, preferring to stay mostly in the immediate surroundings, and preferring to Apparate when necessary (an experience I still wasn't fond of, although I had grown more accustomed to it).

"Very pretty," I responded, intending to please. I saw a fleeting smile in the dark as Ginny grinned.

"Never knew you were a...romantic, Harry," said Ginny, teasing. It was almost a challenge.

"Only sometimes," I responded ambiguously. "And with certain people," I added, much less ambiguously, and suddenly feeling very exposed.

Ginny seemed pleased, but didn't say anything. Finally, she stopped. We were at the top of a hill that overlooked the expansive forest, and I could see the lights of Ottery St. Catchpole a good distance away, so that we could see it, but not hear it. She sat down on the mildly wet grass, and I followed suit, feeling nervous but irrestisibly and embarrassingly excited.

"Harry," she said suddenly, and pensively, after a few minutes of silence. "We've been through a lot, right?"

"Yeah," I said, slightly surprised.

"And, I think, that in a lot of our lives, people don't realize how much time they waste."

I raised my eyebrows slightly. "No?"

Gin shook her head emphatically. "They don't. People fear making mistakes, I think."

"True," I admitted. I knew the feeling intimately.

"But mistakes are an inevitable part of life, I feel. If you go around fearing everything you do, you're paralyzed by inaction! You're never happy," said Ginny even more forcefully. "I think it's important for people to do what they want, even if they risk something when they do it."

"Absolutely," I said.

Suddenly, Ginny scooted closer to me, so that we were right next to each other, our sides touching. I looked at her reflexively and she looked straight back, an intense, fiery look in her eyes. Unable to pull my gaze away and unsure if I would even want to if I had the ability, I stared with intense longing, contemplating whether or not to kiss her. Ginny ended the contemplation abruptly, though, leaning in suddenly under me and kissing me directly on the lips briefly, her hand snaking up to the back of my neck. I gazed at her for a moment as she looked back and pulled away, a somewhat unreadable expression on her face. I made my decision quickly, and leaned in and kissed her again.