Notes: Some Harry/Ginny romantic time, cause I don't get to write about it nearly enough. Then back to business.

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"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"I need your help."

"With what?"

"Girl help." The two of them were sitting in Ron's room at the Burrow. It was lunch time, so they didn't have to worry about him coming in on the conversation. Ginny had a class.

"Oh, I see. So, what did you mess up that you need to fix?"

"Well, I think that I've been… neglecting Ginny."

"How?"

"She's always been willing to help me, but I haven't really done anything for her. I mean, all through the whole Voldemort thing and being sick, she was always by my side."

"And you want to give her something back."

"Yeah. But I don't know what to do. I can't buy her anything because she won't accept it. She wouldn't want to go anywhere fancy either."

"Hmm…" Hermione thought for a few minutes. "Oh! I have one! Make dinner for her."

"But I can't cook."

"You don't need to."

"Then how -"

"Quiet I'm thinking." She got up and paced for a bit, muttering to herself. "Is there a night when you are both at home?"

"Tonight, after she gets back from class. But that's in three hours."

"That's plenty of time for us to -"

"I don't want us to do it. I want to do it. That's the whole point."

"Sorry, Harry, but you're not exactly the most romantically inclined person."

"I know."

"And you already said you can't cook."

"Yeah?"

"So I'll help you set it up, and then you can take it from there."

He thought about it for a second. "Alright. It's better than nothing."

"Then let's go. We don't have much time." She ran down the stairs with Harry right behind her. Ron found them at the door.

"Where are you two off to in such a hurry?"

"Not now Ron," Hermione said. "I need to help Harry be romantic."

"Oh… good luck with that." Harry pushed him.

"Stop it," Hermione said. "Come on Harry." They ran outside and apparated away.

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"Alright Harry. Go outside and clean it up a bit."

"Why?"

"Cause that's where you'll be eating."

"I'm glad I have a say in this." He headed for the door.

"Well, make it pretty out there. I'll start working on the food."

"How do you know what she likes?"

"There's going to be chocolate in there somewhere. Any woman likes that."

Harry thought that Hermione was getting a little too excited about the situation. He cleaned up the back porch of Grimmauld Place and put a table and chairs at one end. I guess the most female thing I could do is add flowers, he thought. They usually like flowers. So he added flowers, and vines, and other kinds of silly love things. Then he went back inside. Hermione was almost done with the dinner.

"That was quick."

"Amazing the things you can do with magic. Go upstairs and get changed. She'll be here in an hour."

Harry sighed and went upstairs. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to wear to something like this, but he put on something presentable, hoping it would work.

On his way back down, he had a thought. He flicked his wand. Several pieces of paper flew out and positioned themselves at the right places. He smiled and went back to Hermione. She was done with the food and was outside, changing most of what Harry had spent an hour and a half doing.

"I think you've done enough."

"I was only adding a few things."

He pointed to a decorative iron thing that she had turned the railings into. "A few?"

"Oh, you know she'll like it. I should get going, before she comes."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled.

"Sure. I love doing these kinds of things. I don't seem like the kind of person that would, but I am." She snuck off down the road.

Just then, the front door opened. Harry stopped and listened. She must have seen the notes, because she followed them upstairs. Harry knew he had a few minutes - the one at the top told her to 'make herself pretty', which usually took a while for any female to do, even Ginny.

He snuck into the kitchen and brought the plates to the table. He heard something. Music. For crying out loud Hermione…

Ginny started coming downstairs. Harry opened the doors and stood between the kitchen and the porch, waiting for her. She spotted him and then continued shyly. "Hey there,' she said.

"Hi."

"What's all the notes about?"

"Hmm?"

"Oh, don't act like you didn't do it." She came up to him, and he stepped aside to let her enter. She was obviously surprised. "Wow… Harry…"

"Sit down and eat." She sat, and she ate. Harry didn't eat. For some reason he had suddenly become extremely nervous, like it was the first time he had been alone with her. He no longer felt like eating. He didn't know what he felt like, but it wasn't eating.

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"You aren't eating. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just… not hungry. I ate when I came home." Lies, part of his brain said. All lies. But good lies.

"Oh. Well then, why did you make something for yourself?"

"I didn't." She raised her eyebrows. Harry sighed. "Hermione did. Actually, she did all of this. I just… left the notes."

"Oh."

He sighed again. "Yeah. I didn't do any of this. I – just forget it."

She scooted her chair over to him and put her arm around him. "It's okay. It was still your idea, right?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, I'm sure Hermione didn't tell you to do all this. So that much counts for something."

"Yeah, but -"

She got up and pulled his arm. "Come on. Dance with me."

"Ginny…"

"Come on." He got up and she pulled him toward her.

"You know I'm no good at dancing."

"It doesn't matter. Neither of us are professional ballroom dancers." She pushed herself up against him and made him move. He felt more nervous than ever, and still wasn't sure why. She laughed. "Stop being so nervous."

"What?"

"Come on. Relax. There's no need to be nervous." Harry felt himself relax a bit, but not enough. She sighed. "This isn't working. Neither of us are comfortable like this."

"Well, I -" She reached up and kissed him in mid-sentence.

"I'm going to go change." She walked away, then turned back. "Wouldn't you like to be in something… more comfortable?" Harry wanted to say something, but nothing would come out. His brain was too distracted to make words.

She walked away. He stayed there, until his brain figured out that he should follow her. He walked quickly and caught her half way up the stairs, turning her around quickly and kissing her.

She laughed and continued on. He pulled her toward him and then pushed her against the wall, kissing her again and again.

((I think we all know where it's going from there. I can't post anything too racy or I'd have to up the rating, and then some of you wouldn't be able to read it, and then you'd become an angry mob…))

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Harry woke up late that night (or early the next morning, whichever it was) and was extremely hungry. He got up slowly, so as not to wake Ginny, and then went downstairs to raid the refrigerator.

When he was done, he lied down on a couch, too full to want to walk back upstairs. Then he fell back to sleep. Later he woke up again and went back upstairs. Ginny rolled over and put her arm around him when he got back in bed.

"Where'd you go?"

"I was hungry."

"Oh… are you cold? I'm really cold." Harry hadn't thought about it, but it was very cold in the room. It hadn't been as cold downstairs. And as he thought about it, it got even colder.

"Something isn't right," Harry said, getting out of bed slowly. He went into the hallway. It was warmer there, but colder in the room. Ginny followed him. A shadow passed over the window.

"What is it?"

"Stay here." He started to go back into the room.

"Harry…"

"I'm just getting my wand." He left her and went slowly into the room. The shadow passed again. He grabbed his wand and went back to Ginny. "It's a dementor."

"I know, but why? It can't see us, can it?"

"No. But I think it knows we're here. It just can't see us."

"It can't get in… can it?"

"I hope not." They waited. The room didn't get any warmer. "Persistent little thing, isn't it?"

"Why won't it leave?"

"I don't know." The shadow passed one more time, and then the room warmed up a bit. "I'll go see if it's gone."

"Be careful." Harry snuck up to the window and looked out. There was nothing there. He took a deep breath and looked around again.

Suddenly, the dementor appeared in front of him. Harry gasped and fell backward, hearing a small scream in his ears. The dementor seemed as if it looked at him for a moment, and then flew on. The room grew warmer. Harry let himself fall backward.

He wasn't sure if the scream he had heard was because of the dementor or from Ginny. Either way, she was at his side quickly, handing him some chocolate. Harry leaned back against her.