Talking Again

By the time they got back to the Burrow, it was dark Ginny's feet were killing her. She was sure she had gotten blisters walking around so much. She limped to her favorite spot in the living room and plopped down. Micah followed suit.

"We should watch a movie" he suggested. Ginny smiled.

"We don't have movies," she said, "We don't know anything about VT's or whatever you call them."

"Right," Micah said, nodding, "Sorry, I forgot for a minute."

"Don't apologize."

"Sorry," Micah said again.

"Stop," Ginny laughed. Micah opened his mouth but stopped himself. He laughed with her. Ginny leaned up and kissed him on the lips. As he started to respond, someone sneezed and they broke apart. Ginny looked over to see who had interrupted them. It was Hermione. She walked in, raising her eyebrows at Ginny, Ron and Harry followed her.

Ginny shifted uncomfortably in her seat, avoiding looking at Harry. Ron and Hermione sat down on the rug in the middle of the floor and Harry sat down on the other side of Micah. Ginny felt Micah's hand on hers and she locked her fingers with his.

Ginny could see Hermione looking from Harry, to Micah, to Ginny and back again. The tension was probably felt by all in the room. Even Ron was looking a bit uncomfortable.

"So, uh," Micah started, "What do you like to do around here?"

"Play Quidditch," Ron answered casually.

"Oh," Micah said. Ginny could tell he was trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. She wasn't sure if anyone else heard it though.

"What?" Harry asked. Apparently, he had heard it. Ginny was surprised when she noticed Harry was at least trying to sound like he was interested in why Micah was disappointed.

"I'm just not really into Quidditch, that's all," Micah explained. Ginny looked at Harry. They made eye-contact for a second before looking away quickly.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Ginny said. She let go of Micah's hand and stood up. Usually, she would kiss him before walking off, but not in front of the present company. She smiled lightly at Micah and walked up the stairs.

In her room, Ginny took of her shoes and socks. She didn't have blisters, but that didn't make the pain go away. She layed down on the carpeted floor and put her feet up on the bed. That helped a little. She sat up a bit to grab a pillow and put it under her head. She was just starting to drift off to sleep when there was a slight knock on her door.

"Mmph," she mumbled, scrunching up her face. She heard her door open and someone stepped inside.

"Ginny?" Harry asked. Ginny's eyes snapped open and she turned her head to look at him. He was standing there holding a bag.

"Hi," Ginny said, standing up.

"You left this downstairs," Harry told her, holding out the bag.

She nodded and took the bag. They both stood there for a few seconds. Ginny wanted to say something to him. Maybe something that would make him lighten up and they could be friends. Not very close friends, of course, just 'friends' so it wasn't awkward together.

"I better go," Harry said. He started to walk towards the door.

"Wait," Ginny said. He stopped and turned around. Ginny bit her lip. She hadn't actually thought of anything to say. "Um… Thank you."

"For what?"

Ginny shrugged. "Saving the wizarding world. I doubt anyone has actually said thank you yet, right?"

Harry laughed. He actually laughed and it made Ginny smile.

"No, they haven't. I'll be expecting my 'Thank You' fruit basket from the Ministry any day now." Ginny laughed.

"You can stay," she said. "So we can talk. We haven't really had a chance to do that yet."

He looked hesitant but eventually nodded. Ginny beamed and said down on her bed. Harry sat down on the armchair in the corner.

"So how was your last year at Hogwarts?"

Ginny and Harry spent almost an hour talking. Every minute, Ginny could feel herself relax more and more. She really enjoyed Harry's company. Sometime in their conversation she had picked up her pillow and hugged it to her chest as she leaned up against the wall. Harry was slouching in the chair, looking more and more tired by the second. He kept rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. Ginny was feeling tired herself. She layed down, her head now resting on the pillow. She closed her eyes as she listened to Harry talk. She was listening to every word, and was surprised when he fell silent right in the middle of a sentence. Ginny opened one eye. He was looking at her from across the room.

"Go to sleep Ginny," he said.

"No," she protested, "I have to change first." She stood up just as Harry did.

"Then I better go. I'll see you tomorrow." Ginny started walking towards him and she saw him tense again.

"My dresser is behind you," she said when she was standing in front of him and he didn't move.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized.

"What is it with men and apologizing so much?"

Harry smiled and looked down at her. She avoided his gaze. Why wasn't he moving? She could feel his eyes on her and she finally looked up. She almost gasped when she realized how close he was. So close it reminded her of the times by the tree by the lake. The ones she had made herself push to the back of her mind during school, especially since she started dating Micah.

At the thought of her current boyfriend, she took a step back. "I have to change," she said. Harry had a look on his face that Ginny couldn't quite place. A little bit disappointed or maybe it was a look of confusion, like he didn't know what just happened. Either way, he nodded and walked out of her room.

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(Harry's POV)

Harry made his way to Hermione's room. He didn't care how late it was. He hadn't been able to talk to her all day.

"Hermione?" he said as he knocked on her door. She opened the door in her pajamas but she didn't look like she had been sleeping. She smiled slightly when she saw him.

"I was wondering when you were going to want to talk." She stood aside to let him in. He walked in and looked around. She had bought a very interesting new chair that day in Diagon Alley. It would magically fold up so you could take it anywhere but it was a very comfy chair, almost the size of a loveseat. Harry had tested it in the store. It was now in the corner next to a side table that had a book lying on it. Harry sat on the bed.

"I can't believe she has a boyfriend," Harry said. Hermione sat down on her chair, wearing a sympathetic face.

"I know. I wasn't expecting it. I mean, I knew she would date some more, I just didn't think she would actually care about anyone so much she would want them to meet her family."

Harry rolled is eyes at that. He really didn't want to hear about how much Ginny cared about Micah. He already knew. He had seen them together at Diagon Alley. It made Harry want to jinx Micah every time he put his arm around her. When they were around everyone else, they acted civil, but Harry had seen them at Flourish and Blots. He had walked around a corner into an isle and there they were, snogging right in the middle of the store. Backing up slightly, Harry knocked over a display of color-changing ink. Luckily, spells had been put on the bottles for times like that. Of course, the owner still found it necessary to keep an eye on Harry after the incident.

"How are you coping?" Hermione asked, pulling Harry out of his thoughts.

He shrugged. "I can't really say. I guess I'm doing pretty well seeing as I haven't done anything rash yet." He pushed the moment of him and Ginny that happened just a few moments ago wasn't anything 'rash'.

"'Yet'?" Hermione repeated. Harry smiled at her, realizing what he had just said, but didn't bother correcting himself.

"Well," Hermione said, "Just give it time. They won't be together forever. Just be her friend for now. Can you settle for that?"

"Do I have a choice?" Hermione smiled at him sympathetically. Harry was sick of people feeling sorry for him. "Good night, Hermione," he said and got up to go to his room.

As he started for the stairs, Micah came out of his room. Harry froze.

"Hello," Micah greeted Harry. Harry simply smiled briefly at him. Micah's gaze drifted from Harry to around the hall, stopping on Harry's scar before looking at a picture behind Harry's head.

"Well I'm gonna…" Micah pointed in the opposite direction that Harry was going.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked politely, looking in the direction Micah pointed.

"I'm just gonna go see Ginny."

"She's sleeping," Harry told him. Who cared if he didn't actually know?

"Oh, alright. Then I'll just talk to her tomorrow."

Harry nodded but didn't move. He was waiting for Micah to go back to his room and it seemed Micah was waiting for Harry to leave.

"Good night," Micah said. Harry nodded once. Not seeing any way to avoid going upstairs any longer, he reluctantly climbed the stairs. About halfway there, he turned around and saw Micah headed towards Ginny's room.

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Ginny layed in her bed, not being able to sleep. No matter what position she tried, she couldn't get comfortable. Then there was a soft knock on her door.

"Come in," she called gently.

The door opened. All Ginny saw was a silhouette of a person as they stepped in. "Hey," she heard Micah say.

"Hi," she replied. She reached over and turned on the lamp next to her bed as she sat up. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see you," Micah told her, sitting on the edge of her bed. Ginny smiled as he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She brought her hand up and ran it through his hair and felt him rest his hand on her hip.

Ginny gently pulled away and opened her eyes. "It's really late," she said.

He nodded. "Alright, I'll let you get some sleep." Ginny smiled gratefully at him and he got up and to leave.

"I love you," he told her.

She said her usual reply, "I love you too." Only this time, she felt a pang of guilt, like a wild animal burrowing into her stomach. And she thought of Harry.