A/N: So apparently everyone loves Harry and Ginny on this site. (but I love them too so it's all good) I wanted to do something exploring their friendship before they got together, and this was an idea that resurfaced from my 7th grade fantasy about this ship. I like to think they spent an amount of time complaining about their ridiculous friends.

Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own HP. Never have, never will.

If Harry Potter had to hear his friends arguing one more time, he was going to lose it.

Well, in all honesty, he already had, finally losing his temper at Ron and Hermione, leaving them standing open-mouthed in the common room after a particularly heated argument. Looking back, Harry thought he was probably a little too harsh with them as he remembered the look on their faces, But the guilt was short lived, as heard them through the portrait hole as he left, blaming each other for Harry's outburst.

He'd been blindly wandering the halls of Hogwarts in his anger under the invisibility cloak, muttering to himself.

"Can't even rest for five minutes," He said. "I've got enough problems to deal with."

Bong!

The bell tower's loud clang brought him back to reality. He stopped in his tracks and groaned internally as he looked at his watch. It was curfew, he'd been striding the corridors for the better part of an hour, and he had no idea where he was. Taking the Marauders Map out of his Pocket and examining it, Harry concluded he was somewhere near the kitchens by the Hufflepuff dormitories. He let out a long sigh and made his way to Gryffindor Tower.

He was walking rather fast, eyes glued to the map, and had he been paying more attention, he would have noticed the figure that was hurrying around the corner. They collided, and Harry felt a sharp pain as his head hit the wall, his invisibility cloak slipping off. The other person had fallen to the floor with a feminine yelp, and once they had gathered their bearings, they looked at each other. His stomach did a flip as he realized it was Ginny. She, apparently, did not recognize him, because she scowled.

"Watch where you're—" she broke off, realization dawning on her face. "Oh, it's you." Harry winced.

"Sorry," he said lightly, "I didn't see you there." He extended his hand to her, and she took it. "What are you doing up so late?" Ginny sighed as she got to her feet.

"Detention with Snape," she said grumpily. "I- um - I may have said something a bit out of turn." She flitted her eyes away from his, and they caught on something. "What's that?"

Harry looked to where she was pointing. The Marauder's map laid on the ground, open. Harry picked it up. "It's a map of Hogwarts," he said folding it away, "but don't change the subject. What did you tell Snape?" Ginny scowled.

"You aren't going to let the subject drop, are you?"

"Nope," Harry said. "Come on, you can tell me. It can't possibly be worse than what I told him at the beginning of the term." Ginny sighed.

"Well, we were learning about curses and whatnot, the usual. We'd been working on a particularly hard spell, and Snape only showed us how to do it once and left us to our own devices. The git gave no further instruction, even when others couldn't get it, and I was one of them," she said in frustration. "I asked Hermione about it later, and she said my form wasn't correct or something, I don't know." She waved her hand as if to dismiss the fact. "But that's not the point. Anyway, he said something like this," And then, in a very inaccurate impression of Snape said, "Pathetic Weasley. Can't even perform a simple spell such as this. Though I can't say I'm not surprised." She continued in her normal voice. "And then I told him that I wouldn't be so pathetic if he would actually teach." She looked away, trying to hide her smile. Harry could tell he was holding something back.

"What else did you say?" Harry asked gleefully. "go on…" Ginny looked at him, smiling mischievously.

"I called him a git," she said. Harry laughed.

"Well," he said, "I can see how that landed you in detention. I take back what I said earlier. I think that what you said was probably just as bad as what I told him." Ginny sighed.

"I got a week's worth of detention. Tonight was my first night. I was writing lines. Tomorrow he's having me clean his damn storage closet." Harry winced.

"That's harsh," he said sympathetically. Ginny shrugged.

"Yeah," she said easily, "But it's kind of worth it. He'd been driving me mad for the entire year, it was only a matter of time before I snapped. Anyway, what are you doing out here at this hour?" Harry sighed.

"Your brother and- well, you know who else," he grumbled.

"Ron and Lavender?"

"No, Ron and Hermione," Said Harry as he rolled his eyes. "I swear, Ginny, the next time I hear them bicker, I'm going to go mad." Ginny nodded in understanding.

"You and me both," she said. "It's infuriating." She let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall next to him. "Maybe we could lock them into a broom cupboard and not let them out until they make up."

"That could work," Harry said, "Although I think that they would be slightly annoyed if we were to do that." Ginny gave a noncommittal shrug.

"If it works," she said.

"Not to mention McGonagall's reaction if we did that. Somehow, I don't think that'd end too well for us. And speaking of McGonagall," Harry said matter-of-factly, "We ought to get back to the common room before she finds us loitering about." Ginny shrugged.

"Or we could not do that," she said. Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What?"

"Yeah," Ginny said. "We're already late, may as well make it worthwhile." Harry stood there, an idea forming as he remembered where they were.

"The kitchens are in the next corridor," he suggested. Ginny smiled mischievously.

"I like the way you think."

When they reached the kitchens, they were met with dozens of house elves, all very eager to serve them food. They spent nearly an hour chatting merrily, and Harry was blissfully distracted from his problems.

"Hogsmeade is next week," Ginny said as she took a sandwich from a tray, "You going?"

"Absolutely not," Harry said at once. Ginny gave him a half-smile.

"Why ever not," she said in mock surprise, "I'm sure many girls would love to go with The Chosen One. Especially on Valentine's Day." Harry scowled, stabbing his apple tart roughly.

"That's the problem. I have to avoid them. About twenty girls have been trying to sneak me love potions." Ginny's smile vanished at once.

"Love potions?" she asked, grimacing. "That's…"

"Hilarious, I know," Harry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Ron thinks so anyway. The same thing happened with Slughorn's Christmas party. I believe Romilda Vane is the main culprit."

Ginny's face darkened. "Ugh. Romilda is nuts. I knew she fancied you, but I didn't think she'd be vile enough to slip you a love potion."

"Being the chosen one has its downsides," said Harry in exasperation. "Usually Ron, Hermione and I go together, but since Ron and Hermione aren't speaking, I can only go with one or the other, and I sure as hell won't go with Ron, because he's going with and Lavender, and I don't think my stomach can take that." He paused, giving Ginny a chance to speak. When she said nothing, Harry continued. "I may go to keep Hermione company, but the chances are slim. She's not a happy character at the moment."

"I wouldn't be either," Ginny said finally, "If I were in her situation. I'd talk to Ron for her, but he's being a bit of an idiot. Kind of self-righteous, really" Harry sighed deeply and cracked a smile.

"Hermione's not much better. She keeps muttering to herself, you know. Talking about how she doesn't care. She cries a lot when she thinks no one notices." They fell into a long silence, listening to the many house-elves bustling around the kitchen, already preparing breakfast for the next morning. Harry looked at Ginny, and he saw his own sadness reflected in her brown eyes.

"They'll make up Harry," she said reassuringly. "They've been friends for years. And they've fought plenty of times. It'll be fine." But Harry could sense the minor doubt in her voice.

"They're being pathetic," Harry said shortly. Ginny laughed at his tone.

"That they are," she said. Harry smiled back at her, feeling slightly better.

"Moving on from that miserable subject," He continued. "What about you? You're going with Dean right?" Ginny nodded.

"Yes," she said, although she didn't look too excited. Harry frowned at her.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Nothing," Ginny sighed. "It's okay."

"Doesn't look like it's okay," Harry said stubbornly. "Is everything okay between you two?" Ginny nodded quickly

"Everything is fine Harry," she said. "Don't worry about it." She took a bite of a nearby muffin. She leaned back in her chair, eyes glazing over. And then a thought came to him. It once again made him want to march up to Dean Thomas and punch him in the face.

"Is Dean… is he hurting you, or—"

"Like I'd let him," Ginny scoffed. "I can pull off a pretty good hex or two. He wouldn't stand a chance." Relief flooded over Harry, and he sighed, albeit feeling a little sheepish at assuming she couldn't defend herself. Ginny was a force to be reckoned with, he recalled, thinking of the redactor curse she had cast last year in D.A. lessons.

"Then what's the problem?" He asked her, confused. When she didn't elaborate, he continued. "Ginny, you can tell me."

She sighed and rested her head in her hands. "We just fight a lot. And I mean a lot. He thinks I can't do anything for myself, Harry. I'm going insane."

"Why don't you just ditch him?" Harry asked.

"Because I don't know how," Ginny groaned.

"You got rid of Michael Corner fairly well," Harry pointed out.

"Yes," Ginny said, "but as much as Dean and I argue…" she broke off and looked at the ground, "I still… I still like him. I can't explain it." Harry stared at her miserable figure. He had honestly had no idea how to help her. Emotional comfort was always Hermione's thing, she had basically told this to him and Ron herself. Nevertheless, he figured he may as well try.

"I know what you mean," Harry said tentatively. "I- well you know what happened with me and Cho, don't you?" Ginny looked up at him and blinked in confusion.

"No," she said, "I don't. Care to elaborate?" she asked dryly. Harry smiled slightly.

"Well, when we were dating, we fought all the time. We broke up a couple of times too." Ginny wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"How is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"I'm only saying that arguing doesn't mean feelings for someone automatically just end," Harry said sighing. "I mean, I've moved on from Cho, Obviously. Merlin, we can't even look at each other now, but I still fancied her at the time."

Ginny stared at him blankly and took a sip of her drink.

"When did you get so philosophical?" she asked. Harry gave a sideways smile.

"When you spend so much time with Hermione it rubs off on you," he said.

"I can tell," Ginny said yawning.

"Tired?" Harry asked.

"Very."

"Shall we head back to the common room then?"

Ginny looked up at him. "Let's."

When they reached the common room, no one was there, though the fires in the hearth were still going strong.

"Well, I'm off to bed," said Ginny, yawning widely. "Night Harry,"

"No problem," Harry replied. "And hey," Harry said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder, "even if you and Dean don't- I mean if… You know I'm always here for you, right?" Ginny's eyes met Harry's, and she smiled at him gratefully. Then, to his surprise, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Warmth filled him as he returned her embrace.

"Thanks, Harry," Ginny said. "That- that means a lot to me." They broke apart and looked at each other, and Ginny was smiling at him as she said, "And the same goes for you. If you ever need a friend to talk to when Ron and Hermione are acting…" She frowned, trying to think of an adequate way to describe the situation between those two.

"Stupid?" Harry supplied.

Ginny smiled, laughing lightly. "Yes, exactly. You know I'm always around," she said.

Harry grinned back at her. "Yeah," he said, "Yeah, I do."

A/N: Thanks for reading! If a review if you can, they give me motivation! You guys are awesome!

:)