Chapter 8

Harry woke up early the next morning, his heart thudding. He swallowed hard and tried to figure out why he was feeling this way. Then, his mind reminded him. Today was his first day at Hogwarts with Ginny as his "girlfriend." The thought was daunting in itself. He got up and got dressed before heading down to the common room.

He walked down the stairs, not really paying attention to where he was going when he heard a soft, familiar voice say,

"Good morning, Harry." He looked up and saw Ginny sitting upon the couch, reading a book. He smiled and went over to the couch and sat down beside her.

"Good morning. You're up early," he said as he played with a strand of her red hair. She smiled and closed the book.

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same."

They sat together in silence, their hands finding each others without hesitation.

"You know, we've been dating for three months now," Ginny said softly.

"Yeah. And that letter we sent really seemed to get to Dean. He isn't even acting out about it," Harry replied. The silence resumed for a moment or two.

"Do you regret it?" Ginny asked him.

"Regret what?"

"This," Ginny stated as she held their hands up so he could see their interlocked fingers. He shook his head.

"No. You needed help. I'll always help you."

Ginny's heart fell at his statement and mentally Harry was kicking himself violently for even saying it out loud.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"You're welcome."

"Come on, let's go down to the Great Hall. I can't wait for the sleepy heads to get up. Let's go," Ginny said, pulling Harry off the couch. He laughed and followed her out of the room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Surprisingly, to Harry, the day went smoothly. Only a few people had stopped and congratulated them, but other than that they were left pretty much alone. Harry was very thankful about that.

Dinner came, but Ginny did not.

"Hey guys, have you seen Gin?" Harry asked Hermione and Ron. They looked at him and shook his head.

"I haven't seen her since lunch," Hermione said.

"Yeah, that's the last time I saw her too." Harry nodded and left the table without another word.

"He's worried about her," Hermoine mumbled softly, wistfully.

"You sound like you wish something," Ron said, not looking at her.

"Well, it's romantic. The way he loves her and she loves him. I wish I had something like that."

"What? You want a guy to worry about you every second of every day?"

"No! Why do I even bother!" Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly as she went to stand up. Ron took her wrist and pulled her back down to sit on the chair.

"No, wait. I'm sorry. I'm being stupid. Tell me why you want that."

Hermoine looked at him and wondered if she should for a moment.

"I want that because I never have. Never, Ron. I just wish that once some boy would love me and show me that he loves me. That's all... You probably think it's stupid, but I'm a girl too. You seem to forget that an awful lot, Ron."

With that she got up and left the Great Hall. Ron watched as she left and sighed before returning to his food.