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A bludger whizzed past his ear, and Harry broke out of his reverie.
The quaffle was now in Katie's hands, who just did a 360 around Coote and passed it to Demelza.
The bludger that just missed him was now zooming towards Peakes, and the other was nowhere to be seen.
The snitch was hovering around Ginny's ankle, who was laughing and imitating Ron's keeping, and Harry was mesmerised. He went back to his favourite thing to do in the past year - Ginny watching. He had already caught that snitch twelve times in the past hour. It could wait.
Her fiery red hair, which shone red, brown, and gold all at once when the sun hit it, now looked ethereal during twilight.
Her nose was now scrunched up, doing an impression of McLaggen, making her freckles bunch up, and Harry wanted to hours counting them. With his eyes. With his fingers. With his mouth.
And that arse. Her arse looked like a perfect upside-down heart that fuelled Harry's dreams for months. It still does. For what seems like the thousandth time, he felt grateful that Ron was incapable of Legilimency.
Just the other day in Potions, he daydreamed of bending her over the table and taking her from behind. Ron had to literally shake him to bring him out of imagining Ginny moaning his name.
Her lips. Merlin, he could go on about those lips forever. A couple of days ago, she sat right next to him on the couch after practice, body pressing into him, talking about different manoeuvres she wanted to try out at today's practice. All he could concentrate on was the way her bright pink lips were moving and puckering at the o's and popping at the p's. He wanted to catch those lips between his right then and there and never stop. Not even for air.
He could pinpoint the actual moment he started fancying Ginny Weasley.
It was in the library during the fifth year. He saw Snape's memory of his father and godfather dangling him by the ankle and thinking his mother absolutely hated his father. That thought plagued him for ages. Then Ginny, lovely, brave, bright, clever, talented, beautiful, Ginny was the one who gave him the idea the floo Sirius for answers. 'Anything's possible if you have enough nerve.'
Oh, how he adored her.
Now, after almost a year, a year of stolen glancing, flirting during Quidditch practice, brushing hands, deep conversations, and brilliant dreams, he was absolutely positive that he was in love with her.
She wasn't even dating anyone now. He could ask her out. But was he willing to risk Ron's friendship by doing that?
He remembered Ron's anger when they stumbled upon her and Dean in the passageway last October. He wanted to curse Dean on the spot. Hell, even he wanted to rip Dean limb from limb.
Fortunately, thanks to Felix Felices, he had the mind to try to squeeze through them coming out of the portrait hole.
But even if she was single, would she even want to date him, of all people, anyway? He was skinny, though he had put on a decent amount of muscle in the last couple of years. He had knobbly knees. His hair was messy. He had a dark wizard after him since he was a child, trying to murder him, already murdered almost everyone he loved. He had no future. With the horcruxes to find, he wouldn't even have the time to date her properly. The way she deserved. He could offer no more to her than danger.
She deserved someone way better than him. Someone with a stable future. Someone who had the time to make her happy. Someone who didn't have a power-hungry dark lord wanting to kill him. Someone who could love her the way she deserved to be loved.
He would always be the freak that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon told him he was. The freak no one loved. The freak no one would ever love. The freak that should have died with his parents.
It was then he found out where the second bludger was.
It rammed into his back, and Harry lurched forward, hands gripping his Firebolt to keep himself from falling off.
He sat straight and stretched his back as the rest of his team came flying towards him to check up on him.
Demelza and Katie had knowing smirks on their faces, and Demelza teased, "What's wrong with you today, Harry? You're being hit even more than usual."
Ron was thinking hard, and Harry desperately hoped he wouldn't find out. Ginny looked concerned. Coote and Peakes were trying to keep the bludgers away.
"'M fine," he said. It was true. He was fine. "Back in formations, everyone."
They all flew away. Ron was sceptical but let it go. Ginny lingered around for a moment and asked, her brows furrowing, "You sure?"
"Yes, I'm fine." He looked into her eyes.
She shot him a smile that had the monster in his chest roaring in giddy happiness. Before flying off, he forced down the feeling that she fancied him. Even a little. It was better this way. She would be safe. She would be happy. And that's all he cared about.
