Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! Sheesh, how many times do I have to type that?

Author's Note: Well, after a month and some days I finally decided that it was time for me to update again. I know that I said I would update soon, and well, I kind of actually did seeing as how it didn't take me three or four months this time. I am so close to the end of this story, a couple of chapters away as a matter of fact. I can't believe that this fic has been as successful as it is, and your reviews have made that happen! Again I just wanted to say thank you to all the reviewers and readers out there; you're what keeps this story going! Now without further ado, the latest edition of SGNG.

Note: As for the whole Potter Estates thing in the last chapter, well, I didn't say WHICH one, did I? wink, wink

Chapter 31: We're So Close To Finals

"What do you mean he's not playing?" Ron bellowed out angrily.

Harry shrugged. "He isn't playing."

"Malfoy has to play, Harry! This is our final Quidditch match! This game will determine the best of the best!" he cried passionately. "How can you act like you don't care about this?"

Harry had never seen his friend so worked up about something before, except maybe for Hermione. "I just have more important things to worry about," he worded carefully, thinking of Stephanie and Voldemort in particular.

Ron nodded in understanding, "I know that, it's just...this could be out LAST game," his expression turned grim, thinking of what was to come, "ever," he added.

"Why would you think something like that, Ron?" Harry asked, bordering angry. Did he think they were all going to die or something?

Ron had a far away look in his eyes. "I dunno, I mean with everything that's happened. What with You-Know-Who and my father..." he trailed off, inwardly cursing himself for bringing up such a subject.

"Oh, right," Harry said, feeling like a prick for his misguided judgement.

"I just, I don't think I could handle it if I lost someone else," Ron croaked, forgetting for a moment that he was getting choked up in front of his best guy friend. He gave Harry a sympathetic smile, "I don't see how you do it, mate."

"It came with the package of being The-Boy-Who-Lived," Harry joked and Ron chuckled at his pathetic attempt to make him feel better. "We're not going to lose anyone else," he said firmly, praying to the Gods that he was right.

"I hope you're right, Harry," Ron said, echoing his friend's last thought.

"So, are you going to the Quidditch game next Saturday?" Ginny asked Stephanie when they sat down in their assigned seats, waiting for the dreaded Potions class to began. Weirdly, Professor Snape hadn't arrived yet.

"I dunno, I mean there really isn't a reason for me to go to the game," answered Stephanie.

"What are you talking about?" she asked her, confused.

Stephanie sighed, "Well, Harry and I aren't on really great terms right now, plus Draco and Blaise have decided that they aren't going to play-"

"What!" Ginny interrupted, her eyes widening in shock.

The Slytherin looked surprised. "You didn't know that they weren't going to play?"

Ginny shook her head. "Why would I know? It's not like I talk to Draco anymore and I never really talked to Blaise before anyway." Come to think of it, it had been a whole week since she'd uttered one word to Draco and that was because of a certain incident that had everyone scared shitless.

Stephanie clicked her tongue. "Right..." she dragged out the word, "I kinda forgot about that. But anyways, Draco doesn't want to play because he thinks that maybe if Slytherin wins, it will somehow make him a hypocrite or some bullshit like that," she rolled her eyes," and Blaise, well Blaise is just a lazy ass."

Ginny managed a small smile at her friend's last comment, despite the ache that seemed to grow within her heart everytime a certain someone's name was mentioned. She knew that her father's death wasn't his fault, but it didn't change the fact that he knew what was going to happen and he didn't even try to stop it. 'But Stephanie knew and you forgave her,' a voice rang. 'Yes, but Stephanie also went to Snape and didn't break my freaking heart like he did!' her inner voices argued with one another.

Thinking about the situation some more, Stephanie realized that her cousin would be making a mistake if he didn't play, at least for himself. This would be the perfect solution for getting Ginny to talk to him again! "Maybe you should try and talk some sense into him," Stephanie suggested as slyly as possible, breaking into the redhead's thoughts.

"Maybe I should," Ginny said quietly, her inner voices still going at it inside her head. "Oh, would you please just shut the hell up already!" she yelled, realizing with embarrassment that she had screamed out loud. Everyone in the class stared at her like she a crazy person, so she slumped down in her seat, trying to hide herself from the world.

"Uh, are you okay, Ginny?" Colin asked her politely form the desk located in front of her.

"Fine, just fine," she squeaked, her head the only thing in his view.

Stephanie snorted, "Yeah, cause people who talk to themselves are just fine and dandy, aye?" Colin shrugged and turned back around.

Ginny sat straight up and gave her the infamous Weasley glare. "Shut up, Anderson."

And Stephanie remained silent for the rest of class, but only because Snape had arrived a few seconds later. No, really!

"What do you want, Pothead?" Draco asked with a sneer. This had to be the first time he had ever seen Potter actually walk up to him on his own.

Harry gave the blonde a strange look. "Don't you think we're getting a little to old for these childish games, Malfoy?"

Draco smirked. "Nope, not when I get to make fun of you."

Harry gave up and cleared his throat, "Whatever. Listen, I was wondering if you knew where Stephanie was."

"If I knew, why the hell would I tell you?"

"Nevermind, Malfoy," Harry replied, waving him off in anoyance.

Draco sighed to himself, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to be nice to him at least once in this lifetime. "She's off somewhere with Blaise," he told him carelessly, picking the imaginary lint off of his shoulder.

Harry's emerald eyes darkened. "What the bloody hell is she doing with that vile, indecent prick?" he demanded.

Yes, Blaise was all of those things, but that didn't mean he liked hearing it from someone else. "Tsk, tsk, is someone getting jealous?" Draco teased mockingly.

"I'm not jealous," Harry lied quickly. "Just worried about her."

Draco shook his head in amusement. "Right. Anyway, I was just kidding, Potter," he said, ignoring Harry's glare. "She should be in the library right about now."

"Wha-" Harry started in outrage, but then pushed back his feelings of hate. He didn't have time to argue with this dolt. "Thanks, Malfoy," he said, then walked off before Draco could get a word in edgewise.

"Oh, shit! Sorry, Harry," Ginny apologized, picking up the book he dropped when she accidentally bumped into him.

"It's alright," he assured, taking his overdue library book from her hands. "Is Stephanie in there?" Harry asked, gesturing towards the doors that led straight to the library.

"Yep, she sure is." Ginny eyed him warily, praying that his intentions were of the good, otherwise she would have to hurt him. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, Malfoy told me that she was here, but you can never be too sure when it comes to him. I just needed to talk to her about some things," he replied, getting more nervous every second he stood there. This would be the first time in almost two months since he'd been completely alone with her.

Ginny nodded. "Right, of course."

He nodded his thanks. "Well, I'll see you later, Ginny."

"Oh, wait!" She stopped him before he could get through the double doors.

"Yeah?" Harry had an impatient look on his face when he turned around. He really needed to get this over with in a few minutes, otherwise his stomach was going to jump through his throat and he didn't think that throwing up on Stephanie would be a good start.

"You don't happen to know where Draco was headed when you spoke to him, do you?"

Harry smiled. Why she wanted to talk to him so soon was beyond him, but it wasn't his business, so he just gave her a simple answer. "To the Quidditch pitch."

Ginny cocked one of her perfect golden-red eyebrows. "How do you know?"

"He had his broom."

"Are you studying AGAIN?" Ron asked, taking a seat next to his girlfriend. There were at least twenty books sitting on the table in front of her.

"Yes," she replied without looking up from her notes.

"Are you going to eat supper?"

"Do you think about anything other than food?"

Ron appeared thoughtful. "Well, I think about you," he said, grinning like an idiot.

Hermione snorted, then continued to copy her notes.

"I'm hungry," Ron groaned after maybe a minute. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

Ron studied Hermione's features, oblivious to everything else. The light from the nearby window played over her skin, giving her this angelic sort of look.

"Ron! Ron! Ronald Bilius Weasley, are you even listening to me?" Hermione hit him upside the head when he didn't answer.

"Oi!" he exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. Apparently she had been talking to him for the last few minutes. "Bloody hell, Hermione, what was that for?"

"You weren't listening to me!"

"Yes I was!"

She looked doubtful, then grinned. "Oh really," she crossed her arms, "then what did I say?"

"Uh...um, well, you were...uh," Ron stuttered, "Oh! You were talking about NEWTS," he said, so sure of himself.

Hermione threw her hands up in exasperation and rolled her eyes. "That isn't the only thing that I talk about, Ron."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so maybe I've been talking about it alot lately," she admitted reluctantly. "But that's only because the NEWTS are two weeks away."

"It's the only thing you talk about," he corrected, remembering the last twenty times she had tried to get him to study in the past month, mostly consisting of him ending up with a few minor bruises because he wouldn't do what he was told.

She ignored his last comment. "Well, while you were busy not listening to me, I was suggesting that we have supper outside since it's a really nice night."

Ron gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled at the light blush that appeared afterwards. "Sure thing, Mione."

"Hello," Harry greeted timidly, his voice low and quiet.

Stephanie looked up in surprise, a strand of hair falling in her face. "Hi to you too, stranger."

Harry smiled, her joke ceasing his nervousness for the time being. "How have you been?" he asked politely, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Well, I've been better," she revealed, grabbing her pullover out of the chair so that Harry could sit down.

"I think we all have," he sighed, giving her a weak grin while taking his seat.

"What's up?" Stephanie asked, rubbing the chill bumps that had popped up on her arms. 'Damn those penetrating eyes of his,' she cursed inwardly.

"Cold?" Harry asked in concern, observing her movements.

"Just a little," she lied. She was actually pretty hot right about now, considering the heat that was rushing through her body. "So what's up?" Stephanie repeated, hoping that the feeling would go away so she wouldn't be tempted to jump him in public.

"Same old stuff," he shrugged.

"Like..." Stephanie urged him to go further.

"I'm sorry, Stephanie!" Harry blurted out, rubbing the sweat off of his palms. He'd thought that he wasn't nervous, but apparently he'd been very wrong.

A moment of silence followed.

"Stephanie?"

Silence.

Suddenly, a shriek was heard and Stephanie could be seen launching herself in Harry's arms, knocking the both of them to the floor.

"Um, Stephanie," Harry said, starting to panic. He wondered if it was that time of the month or something. "Are you alright?" he asked, eyes wide.

She pulled back from their hug, her hazel eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I love you, Harry," Stephanie whispered to him softly.

Harry grinned widely, feeling like the happiest person on the planet. "I love you too," he said, pulling her in for a long overdue kiss.

Ginny stood next to the stands watching Draco as he flew on his broom above. She smiled, imagining the peaceful and serene look that always appeared on his face when he flew alone, or with her even. She missed flying with him. She missed how he would hold her against his chest when they would go dangerously high or the way he would scare her by doing a complete nose-dive while being two hundred feet in the air. Merlin, how she missed him.

"Ginny?"

Ginny squealed, turning around to meet the site of a very amused Draco Malfoy. He must've snuck up on her while she was lost in that big sea that was called a brain. "What?" she growled, scowling at his smirk.

"I don't think I've ever seen you jump that high," he laughed.

"Well, I'm glad the fact that I was terrified makes you happy," said Ginny in a sarcastic tone. "Would you like me to do it again?"

He shrugged, searching her face for any signs as to why she was here. He could tell that she was definitely determined. "So why are you out here by yourself?" he asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"I was looking for you actually," Ginny replied.

He smiled. "Oh really?" he asked, obviously interested.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah." She sat down on a nearby bench and he copied her movements. "I needed to talk to you about something."

"What about?" asked Draco, gazing into her bright brown eyes.

She quickly avoided his gaze. "Quidditch," Ginny answered simply.

"Oh," he sighed, hiding his disappointment.

"What, what is it?" Ginny asked him curiously.

He appeared confused. "What do you mean?"

"Don't act stupid, Draco," she rolled her eyes, "I meant, what was the 'oh' for?"

His heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name coming from her sweet lips, but he ignored it. "I just thought you might be here to talk about something else," Draco replied, nonchalant.

"Oh," was all Ginny managed to say. She soon realized that the only thing he could be referring to was them. "I don't think...um," she sighed loudly, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall, "I don't really think that I'm ready for that, Draco."

Draco nodded, swallowing hard. "I understand." He stood up to grab his broom, using anything as a possible distraction, because he desperately needed it right now. "So what about Quidditch?" he asked, killing some of the awkward tension.

"Well, Stephanie told me that you weren't going to play in the last game," she replied, thankful for the change of subject.

He raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "And? What about it?"

"And I think you're making a big mistake," replied Ginny, straightfoward and serious.

"Why's that?" Draco asked, intrigued as to what her reasons were.

"You've played this game practically your whole life," she began, feeling like a passionate speech was about to take place, "and not because of you father, or because it might have made you popular." She stood up and placed a dainty palm on the side of his face. "You did it because it's something that you've always loved to do. It's a talent that not many people possess and it's something that you're damn good at. Don't let anyone take this away from you, Draco," she finished quietly, searching his grey-blue orbs. His eyes were openly filled with love and admiration...for her. To put it bluntly, 'it scared the shit out of her.'

"Thanks, Ginny," he said sincerely, covering his larger hand over hers.

She smiled. "You're welcome, Draco." Ginny turned to leave, but paused, "I'll see you at the game." She leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and before he knew it, she was gone.

"Have you decided which of the Potter Estates the students will be residing at this summer?" Professor McGonagall had been asking Headmaster Dumbledore this question ever since the day he'd told her where the teenagers would be staying.

Dumbledore nodded, then clapped his hands together in excitement.

Minerva rolled her eyes, becoming impatient. "Well?" she huffed.

The old man's eyes twinkled with amusement at the older woman's behavior. "I've decided that they will be staying in South Africa."

Miverva looked positively livid. "Albus, you cannot be serious-"

Dumbledore chuckled. "It was a harmless joke, Minerva. Now," he started again before she had the chance to reply, "obviously the safest place for them to stay would be..."

"Well, are you going to tell me?" she finally screeched.

"One of Harry's grandparents vacation estates in North America."

Professor McGonagall was speechless for the first time in her life.

Dumbledore smiled in that weird way of his and popped a lemon drop into his mouth thinking 'Voldemort will never know of their whereabouts.' He held the candies up to her. "Lemon drop?"

"I'm playing in the match tomorrow," Blaise announced when he walked into the common room, making Stephanie and Draco look up from their homework assignments.

Stephanie jumped up and in the moment of excitement, gave him a hug. "Good for you, Blaise! You've made me very proud!" she praised, giving him another hug.

"Yes, it's so bloody wonderful," Draco mimicked, then went to his room and slammed the door.

Blaise and Stephanie cringed when they heard something crash to the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Blaise wondered out loud.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, annoyed with her cousin's immature behavior. "He's been a prick ever since Ginny tried talking him into playing at the match. Now he's all confused," she sighed dramatically.

"Ohhhh...So, talked to Potter lately?" he asked, forgetting all about Draco.

"As a matter of fact, we're doing better than ever!" Stephanie exclaimed happily.

"Oh, well that's great, Steph," Blaise said with as much enthusiasm as possible, but straining hi voice in the process.

Stephanie got a weird look on her face. 'Does he sound disappointed?' she asked herself, but shrugged it off with a big smile. "It is, isn't it?"

Blaise sighed in relief. He was one damn good actor.

"So," Stephanie began with a mischievous look in her eyes, "did I see you hanging out with a certain Ravenclaw that we all know and love the other day?"

"What? No, no, of course-" he stopped when he noticed the, 'do I look stupid to you?' expression that was sent his way. "Yeah, she's kinda been tutoring me for the NEWTS," he admitted sheepishly.

Stephanie's jaw dropped. "No way! The all knowing Blaise is being tutored?" she teased.

"So!" Blaise defended himself.

Stephanie grinned. "Do you like her?"

"What? No, of course not!" Blaise cried.

"Well, you have been hanging out with her."

"She's my tutor!" he argued.

"She's also a Ravenclaw!"

"So! I hang out with your sister and she's a Gryffindor, doesn't mean I like her in that way," Blaise said, thinking that was a good enough example.

Stephanie giggled. "My sister is also a second year."

"I don't like her!" Blaise scowled.

"Do too!"

"I don't!"

"Do!"

"Don't!"

"SHUT UP!" Draco roared, his scream echoing through the entire castle. "Some people are trying to sleep, you know?"

Ron woke up the next morning, his stomach all tied in knots. Guessing that only food could cure the feeling, he woke Harry up, and after putting on their Quidditch uniforms they headed down to breakfast.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Seamus spoke up when they arrived at the table.

"Aww, you'll be okay, baby," Lavender cooed annoyingly.

Ginny couldn't help but glare at the girl. She was such a slut.

"Yeah, mate, just do what I do," Ron advised him.

"What's that?" Seamus asked him.

"Eet Sumpin," he replied with a mouth full of food.

Seamus looked confused, so he turned to Harry. "What did he say?"

Harry shrugged.

"He said to eat something," Hermione piped from the other side of her boyfriend.

Seamus snorted. "Didn't you just hear me say that I feel like I'm going to be sick? You know," he pointed an accusing finger at Ron, "you're supposed to be the smart one. You are the captain after all."

Ron paled and started choking on some of his toast.

Harry grinned, patting his best friend on the back. "I think that Ron forgot about that."

"I did not," Ron denied weakly.

"Excuse me, Harry?" a younger girl around the age of twelve, who sat beside Dennis Creevey greeted.

"Yeah, Amanda?" Harry asked his girlfriend's little sister.

"Stephanie wanted me to tell you that you better kick some ass out there. She couldn't make it to breakfast, cause she had to go to the library to study for a test," she informed him.

"Thanks for letting me know," Harry said.

She shrugged, "No, problem," then went back to conversing with Dennis.

"Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ron asked him, nodding towards the exit of the Great Hall.

"Yeah, sure."

Hermione kissed Ron on the cheek for good luck and told him that she'd see him later.

"So, what's up?" Harry asked when they were walking away from the table.

Ginny snorted hearing Ron cry that he'd forgot about being Quidditch captain.

"You're just nervous, Ron," Harry assured him.

"Yes, but-BLOODY HELL, Harry! I thought you said he wasn't going to play!" Ron yelled.

Ginny looked over to see what all the fuss was about at the exact time a hush fell over the Great Hall. Ginny gasped, "Holy shit, he actually listened to me." There stood Draco Malfoy in the doorway, looking dead sexy in his Quidditch uniform.

"I don't think I can handle any more surprises this morning," Ron groaned, feeling like he'd eaten way too much food.

"Hermione's pregnant, Ron!" Ginny joked, ignoring the girl's yells of protest.

Ron feinted.

Hermione paled.

Draco almost fell out on the floor from laughing so hard.

"Ginny, that wasn't funny!" Hermione scolded her, before tending to her unconscious boyfriend.

"Good lord, I was just joking," Ginny said, but no one seemed to hear her.

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter will consist of the Quidditch match and lots more good stuff. I'm thinking if you want the next chapter badly enough, then you'll definitely review. So, PLEASE REVIEW!

LilyK