AN- This one is rather more of a filler chapter than anything else. But needed to set some things up.
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Chapter 23- Valentine's
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"Hello" Hermione greeted Ginny and Luna when she found them in the Library. "Can I join you?" She asked, already set her books down on the opposite side of the bench from them.
Luna and Ginny's friendship seemed to have gotten quite strong over the past few weeks. It made sense since their boyfriends were such good friends as well, and they had been friends before Luna started Hogwarts. It looked like their old friendship had just grown stronger in Hermione's 'absence'.
"Of course!" Ginny looked surprised to see her there.
Ginny's surprise at her being there was justified. It was true, Hermione had been spending most of her time in the dorm room as of late. She was still getting all of her studies done and assignments, but the effort she was putting into them now a days wasn't anywhere near the amount of effort she was putting into her other project.
She'd been Owling back and forth with a few different departments at the Ministry to get more information, and she was hoping that the requests were spaced out far enough between all the various departments that the people she was corresponding with weren't connecting any dots. The requests she was submitting might have seemed odd; such as requesting wizarding land title records for properties in and around Little Hangleton from the Muggle Liaison Office that dealt with potential overlap of property lines and also arrest records for Morfin Gaunt from the Wizengamot Administration Services.
Hermione wasn't done researching things from the Muggle side either.
See, she'd asked her father to assist her with her project by looking up the name Tom Riddle and any news articles related to him beginning a few years before Tom Riddle Junior would have been conceived and spanning a full twenty year's into the future. That way there might be something about his marriage to Merope, as well as anything that the Muggle's might have found to go on with the cause of death.
Now she had a wedding announcement with a photo of the groom, not one of Merope however, and the announcement of the annulment citing irreconcilable differences. Her father had also found the information about his death and its suspicious circumstances that had several articles on it since the whole family had been high society for their area.
Hermione fibbed a bit when she told her father why she needed it. She'd admitted to him that yes, it had been a wizard who had done that to them, but she claimed it was for a school project about appropriate Muggle excuses and differences in their publications. Telling her father that they had that same story in their newspaper as well in the archives at school.
"Ginny tells me that you were hoping to speak to me about a possible article?" Luna brought up, making room on the table surface for Hermione to spread out her books.
"Yes! Thank you for reminding me. And I'm sorry," She prefaced. "I feel like I have to admit this to you. The reason I was thinking about the Quibbler for this is because the type of publications your father publishes are outlandish." Hermione admitted. She'd wondered if it was even worth while admitting that to the girl, particularly since they only interacted a few times and she'd seemed just as outlandish as the publications. But she was also Neville's girlfriend, to Hermione that meant that Luna was someone she would be able to be open and honest with.
"Oh, I don't mind you saying that. Everyone is welcome to their own opinions. I know you wouldn't simply say mean things about it to people about it at random." Luna told her easily. "Is your article 'outlandish'?" She asked.
"Um. No?" She wasn't sure to be honest. It was an amazing tale, but a true tale. The search for as yet unconfirmed creatures of substantial size with magical properties like what the Quibbler does carry stories about, those stories were outlandish. Her story could actually be verified. "It's entirely true. But I was wanting to turn it into a series piece. It is just that I have it reading like a fabricated story, and have it ending with a grand reveal." Hermione told her quietly.
"You decided then?" Ginny asked.
Hermione nodded. Last they properly spoke about it she wasn't sure how she was going to approach it. A proper book, a point of fact feature or the manner she'd decided to run with which read as a series of short stories. It was suspenseful, it was informative and she really hoped that it would generate enough interest if told this way.
"Father is always interested in new pieces for his magazine." Luna confirmed, sounding sure of herself. "I am sure he would be happy to give your story a look over. You don't really need me to be a go between for it."
"Well." Hermione started, "I couldn't help but look over some of the more recent issues and found that they read rather better than the issues we had been given from your archive." She hadn't been able to help it. If she was looking to publish something there because it would be the easiest way to get her crazy but true story in there, then she had reasoned that perhaps not everything in there was crazy make believe and wanted to give the publication another chance. "And I noticed that you had a hand in editing some of the articles."
"Yes." Luna stated, staring at her blankly with a soft smile on her face.
Ginny beside her had some red coming to her cheeks as she stifled her laughter. She at least had heard the question in Hermione's statement.
Hermione herself thought it best to simply move past that and ask out right. "I was hoping that once my story is done that you would look over it and edit it?"
"Oh, I'd love to." Luna told her sincerely. "Are you nearly done? As I understand it you've been working on this since November when Ginny asked for the Quibbler's from the last war." Her intense, yet somehow vacant, stare was something Hermione wondered if she'd ever get used to. It was like she was acting as a human lie detector test.
"I'm still collecting a few more facts, but I've done up a timeline of events. Trying to get my head around how to come at it all from the story angle." She told them both. "The beginning of the first part starts out like a fairy tale. Well, the beginning of the second one does too." She mentioned off hand. Her first part was going to be about Merope, the second was going to sound like Oliver Twist because it was about Tom at the Orphanage. Except a dark Oliver Twist. "I'm having some trouble actually." Hermione admitted to them both. "I feel like I'm... sympathizing." She turned to Luna specifically. "How much do you know about what my story is about?"
"I have my assumptions based on what material you had been collecting." She told her plainly.
"So then, you know it's about... Him." Hermione stressed.
"But isn't that something that you are going to be revealing later?" Ginny asked. "So, you should be painting the picture however your emotions guide you to." She suggested.
"If you are writing about someone when they are a child, then it should be reading like they are a child as well." Luna agreed. "Children are innocent. They make mistakes, yes, but it is how they learn. Perhaps simply tell how this child didn't learn."
Hermione nodded. It would be a good idea to write with her emotions about the subject as though it was simply a child that lived in an orphanage. That approach could help fuel her forward. She just needed to keep those emotions in check when she was switching over to her schoolwork, which was the reason she'd coming into the library in the first place and now she'd been sidetracked by her project again.
"Have you seen Harry and Neville around?" Hermione asked pulling her parchment out and setting it on the table. She hadn't seen them since before lunch due to their alternate schedules. She hadn't seen them much at all lately because of her Tom Riddle obsession. And yes, she was admitting it was becoming a bit of an obsession.
"They're probably panicking over Valentine's Day being so close and having forgot about it until this morning." Luna told her as she continued reading through her textbook.
Hermione frowned. It was near the middle of February? They were halfway to Easter break already! She couldn't help letting out a sigh. Yet another Valentine's was coming and going without someone of her own to share it with. Not something that had bothered her before, but it was now.
It hadn't escaped her how Ron was now properly in a relationship with Lavender, nor how Lavender had mentioned a few things in their dorm room about him. She'd been gossiping with Parvati at the time, but it was with in her earshot. She hadn't needed to hear what they'd gotten up to in different empty classrooms and alcoves, and it did upset her to hear it. Even if she had tried to move on and tell herself that they were wrong for each other, she missed him.
It might have been the bit of distance they were keeping between themselves right now, but she'd been thinking back over their relationship and growing wistful about it. She'd liked how when they were together he would silently nudge her out of her studies every now and then, or simply place kisses on her neck or cheek when he couldn't get her attention. And she'd liked how he'd looked at her. Even Victor hadn't looked at her like that, like she was the only girl he wanted to be looking at. And she missed how he'd held her when they kissed.
She shook her head. No point wishing she could change the past.
"So, they are all freaking out and ordering flowers from Hogsmeade?" She forced a chuckle.
"I hope not." Luna said. "I'd much rather a potted plant than a bouquet of flowers, at least that way the plant doesn't suffer."
"But the plant doesn't die when the flower is clipped off." Ginny reasoned. "Simply the flower itself doesn't stay alive as long."
"I'd still rather something that has the ability to continue blooming and thriving longer than a week."
Hermione granted that Luna had a point, but she still would have appreciated any kind of gesture.
()()()
The pressure was on.
Harry, Neville and Ron were feeling it. They only had two days after all, and it had almost completely slipped their minds.
Slowly the girls around the school had gotten a little gigglier and whispering amongst themselves slightly more. Lavender especially. Luna and Ginny not so much, but Harry had seen a teasing glint in Ginny's eye when he'd finally realized he was duty bound to do something to acknowledge the day. And it wasn't like he didn't want to, he'd just never had to think about this 'holiday' before. So he'd forgotten about it.
Because it wasn't a real holiday.
Neville was lucky when it came to all this, Luna would just outright tell him her expectations. Poor Ron was expected to guess at what it was he was meant to do, but he knew it had to be something that drew attention to her. Harry though. He wanted to do something for Ginny, but he didn't think she wanted a lot of attention brought to her. She'd be too down to earth about that. From that earlier look in her eye she wasn't expecting him to be a lovey-dovey about it. She'd probably have appreciated something cheesy, or a joke product.
That was what this brainstorming session was all about in the boy's dorm.
It was Operation Valentine's Day.
For Harry and Neville these were the first girlfriends they'd ever had, and they cared about them immensely. Ron on the other hand didn't feel as strongly about Lavender, but he liked her enough that he wanted to at least attempt to meet her expectations.
"Alright." Ron started. "So, Valentine's Day is all about hearts and candy and jewelry, right?" He asked rhetorically. "I'm pretty sure I can get away with sending Lavender some flowers and chocolate." He reasoned.
"Yeah." Harry started slowly. "But you should probably draw it out."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked him dumbly.
"Well, like, you should space it out over breakfast, lunch and dinner." He shrugged. "Give her a flower with breakfast and some sappy card or something. Then give her a few more flowers at lunch, then another few flowers at dinner with a box of chocolates."
Ron's eyes lit up at that. "Yeah. Yeah, she'd go all gushy over that!" He seemed really happy with the idea.
"No kidding." Neville scoffed from where he was sitting on the floor between Harry's and Ron's bed. "She'll be expecting you down on one knee by the end of the day."
Ron paled at that. "What?"
"No, she won't." Harry threw a balled-up piece of parchment at Neville for scaring their friend.
"You don't think." Ron continued to look panicked.
"No." Harry assured him. "You guys have been going out for a month. There's no way. Have you ever indicated anything of the sort even slightly?" Harry knew for sure Ron wouldn't have, he wasn't so sure what Lavender had been reading from Ron's words and gestures over the past month however. Not that Harry was going to say anything like that to Ron though.
"I don't think it'll matter." Neville continued with a scoff, still looking down at the catalog in his hands. The wad of paper Harry threw hadn't given him the hint to stay quiet. "She was a sappy romantic before you two got together, now that you've been official for a while it's like she thinks that two of you are 'meant to be' and wanting you to act accordingly." Neville still hadn't looked up to realize the effect his vocalized version of Lavender was panicking his friend. "She's easily going to think that you're head over heels for her if you do that much for her. Then we'll have to hear about it all the time. And when you break up, she'd going to get even more psycho." He droned on while flipping a page.
"Neville!" Harry cut him off loudly, gesturing so his friend's attention would be drawn to Ron's now completely stricken face.
"Uh. I mean. Maybe just get her one flower and a card or something." Neville offered, trying to make light of his mistake.
Harry didn't want to have been the one to say it, but Neville's description was pretty accurate. If Ron did play the day out like Harry had suggested there was a very real possibility that Lavender would think Ron was professing his love for her. And Ron was absolutely not in love with her, he was just enjoying... her company.
Harry hadn't been giving enough thought of the recipient when he suggested that. He'd thought it might have been an option for him to do for Ginny if he was trying to take it seriously, but Ginny didn't really come off as the hearts and flowers type of girl. That was too bad too. He'd had the hardest time finding her a Christmas present, and he really wanted to do something perfect for her for their first Valentine's Day as well but spreading out a bouquet of flowers over the space of the day just didn't feel right for her.
"What about for Luna?" Harry asked. Luna was a different type of girl too. Flowers would probably be alright with her, but only if they were really strange and held some kind of meaning behind them.
Neville had a book out in front of him and had been consulting it. "I was thinking something like this." He flipped the book around and showed it to Harry.
The book was Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, it was open to the page for a Puffskein. They were small animals covered in soft fur and spherical in shape. They were scavenger animals that would eat insects and their fur was used for making laughing potions. They were cute though.
"You want to get her a pet?" Harry asked surprised.
"Yeah. I think she'd like it. She can easily take it with her when she goes travelling with her dad. And she'd mentioned that sometimes when they go camping on their travels, she doesn't like the bugs and such she's had to put up with. I think she'll love it." He sounded proud of himself.
Harry had to admit, that would be perfect for Luna. And practical as well. "Great. So, it's just me at a complete loss." He pouted. "Come on Ron, you know her best. What should I do?"
Ron had managed to shrug off his horror at what Neville had said and had taken the book to check out the Puffskein. "I don't know mate. She like's Quidditch."
"Thanks." Harry deadpanned. "That's so helpful."
"Think she'd like a Puffskein?" Neville asked optimistically.
"I don't really want to get her a pet." Harry shook his head. He took the book back from Ron and kept flipping through Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them absentmindedly as he thought over potential gestures he could make. She didn't like 'things', this was exactly the same problem he had a month and a half ago. "Maybe I should just stock up her snack compartment in her trunk." He suggested. Sending in an order to Honeydukes would be easy enough. He knew she had a stash of treats in her trunk so she'd have something sweet to munch on while she was studying.
"Oh!" Ron sat up straight. "She loves those Muggle biscuits! What are they called?" His brow knit together. "Nob-something. They've got chocolate on them."
"Hob Nobs?" Harry asked.
"Yeah! That's the one's." Ron said excitedly. "I bet you could get Sirius to send you a bunch of those. Ginny'd be over the moon about it."
"Perfect!" Harry exclaimed. It was a small gesture, but not easily obtainable and she wouldn't chastise him for spending too much on her. He went to his desk right away to send off the request for them to Sirius. There was just enough time between then and now for his Godfather to get to a Muggle grocers and send them back to the castle.
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Sirius was in a predicament much the same as the three Gryffindor boys.
Except that he was a grown man in a mature relationship with a woman he'd been seeing regularly outside the confines of a castle and had a whole world of possibilities as to things he could do for and give his paramour.
He chuckled when he received a request from Harry for Hob Nobs, the reason why tripped him up though.
Valentine's Day.
He'd completely forgotten about it.
Amelia didn't really seem like a gushing schoolgirl type to him, so he'd decided pretty quickly that he was simply going to invite her to dinner at his and cook something up for her himself and give her some flowers. Perhaps sending her an Owl in the morning with a card and some flowers as well.
Her office didn't yet know about their relationship, but he wanted them to at least know she had someone.
Sirius had been thinking about their relationship lately too. They had a few secrets from each other, they always would considering her job. But they'd been spending nearly every weekend together and met up at least once during the week. And their time together was comfortable. The sex was certainly nice. He just didn't know if it was going to last forever, and he got the impression she was in the same boat.
They'd been together for near three months and he knew he wasn't in love with her, but he wasn't ready to break it off with her either. All in all, he'd simply come to the conclusion that if she decided they were over, then he'd be okay with that. He would really like to remain friends with her though. Her company he really enjoyed having, sex or no sex.
All of this was brought about when he'd had a visit with his best mate a week previously.
Sirius had checked in on Remus after the Full Moon and his friend was in high spirits. He looked just as happy as when they'd had that first night together again, when they were getting drunk in his sitting room. And Sirius knew why as well.
It was Dora Tonks.
Apparently, his little cousin had worn the old Werewolf down in record time. Remus had told him that they'd gotten into it after she'd talked to his classes about the Shadow Program and that was it for him. He still hadn't told her about his condition but thought she might be receptive to it once they were further along in their relationship and he was more comfortable telling her.
Sirius was happy for him. Remus had had so few women in his life, and none that made him seem as vibrant as he had looked when he relayed the news. The two new love birds had been exchanging Owls almost daily and meeting up in Hogsmeade for dinners as often as their schedules allowed.
It was that that made Sirius take a look at his own relationship and realize that he'd never been that head over heels for Amelia. They'd shared an attraction for each other and acted on it. That was it.
Sirius hadn't understood how his James could have been so completely smitten for Lily for six bloody years before they'd gotten together. It had been an attraction that ran deep in his best friend. And their's had been a relationship where everyone knew that they were going to make it. It was almost as soon as Lily finally admitted to returning his affections that they couldn't not be touching, or kissing, or even just looking at each other.
He couldn't imagine being in a couple like that. It must feel wonderful.
Sirius hoped he'd be a part of a relationship like that one day.
In the meantime.
Sirius got up from his breakfast table and pulled on his 'Muggle' jacket, the one that had his muggle wallet in it. He would need to go to a Waitrose or something to get Hob Nobs and flowers. They'd probably give him some inspiration for a special dish he could cook for Amelia as well.
They might not have a forever relationship, but she still deserved to be treated right.
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Hermione was jolted awake on the Friday morning that the couple's holiday fell on by a squeal of joy coming from the other side of the dorm room.
Lavender had received something from her boyfriend and felt the need to share it with the world.
Hermione groaned as quietly as she could manage and pulled herself out of bed. Pulling back her drapes she was there was a sense of comradery between she and Ginny as her friend rolled her eyes at her over the exuberance from Lavender. It looked like Ginny had been awoken by the same noise.
Slogging through her morning routine she hoped that the Lavender and Parvati would have gone down to breakfast by the time she was out of the bathroom. She took her time in the shower and attempting to do something to tame down her hair before pulling it back in a ponytail.
Mercifully the girls were all gone by the time she'd gone back into the dorm. She went to her dresser as there was a tap at the window. With a building resentment she went to open it up and the owl flew through the room coming to perch on her desk chair with a small box tied to its leg.
Hermione's shoulders sagged as she untied the box and gave the owl a few treats before it flew out the window again.
Looking at the box she flipped up the card to find out who the gift was supposed to go to so she could dump it on their bed, allowing herself to be bitter about it in the privacy she currently had.
Her name was written on it though.
She stared at it in disbelief. She couldn't think of anyone that would send her something today.
With an indulgent smile on her face she opened the box and found a delicate mini bouquet, small enough that it could have been for a boutonniere. Another card was inside the box; Heather for Admiration, Aster for Patience and Amaryllis for Splendid Beauty.
She took out the card and the flowers looking back and forth between the two at a loss for words. She'd been sent flowers on Valentine's Day. Flower's with their meaning written out on a card and no further explanation.
Feeling suddenly much better about this made up holiday she conjured a vase to set her flowers in and grabbed her bag before heading downstairs to breakfast.
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Ginny was enjoying her breakfast as she watched all the girls that were in a relationship gush over what their boyfriends had gotten them. It was interesting to her to watch the faces of the boyfriends in particular. The girls would all just smile prettily and blush or gush, but the boys, well they had all kinds of different emotions showing on their faces.
Neville was looking at Luna adoringly as she thanked him for her Puffskein. Initially Ginny was confused by the gift, but his explanation for it was so practical, and the little creature was so cute. He had put a lot of thought into getting that for her.
Ron seemed to have chosen correctly for his girlfriend too, though he looked more pained than pleased with the whole deal. It wasn't that hard to please Lavender it seemed. The card and chocolates that had been delivered to their dorm room was just the start as he'd also handed her a single yellow rose. She had to wonder if he'd chosen the color yellow knowing that it meant friendship. He'd told Lavender that it was because everyone else would be getting red roses, and she should have something that stood out.
Ginny highly doubted that.
She hadn't seen Harry yet though, and she had something for him. Something cheesy that she hoped would make him laugh.
Hermione came and sat across from her looking rather pleased.
"What's going on with you?" Ginny asked, a smile coming to her face. Hermione hadn't been too pleased with the wake up they'd gotten than morning.
Hermione's eyes darted around to see if anyone might be listening in before she leaned forward. "Someone sent me something." She whispered.
Ginny's eyes lit up in interest. "Really?" She asked excitedly. "What is it? Who was it from?"
"I don't know who sent it." She blushed, but Ginny saw her eyes dart over to Ron with an almost hopeful glint to them. "It was something small, but there was a card with the meaning behind it attached."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked confused. She was picturing a bracelet or something with a book charm on it.
"It was a few sprigs of different flowers. Each flower holds a different meaning. You'll see it on my nightstand later." She was almost vibrating with pleasure.
Ginny thought that was adorable. Her friend was so pleased by it, receiving a secret admirer's valentine. Hermione had been so busy lately and Ginny was hoping she would come down from her craziness and enjoy herself a little bit. Having a secret admirer might help her act more like the teenage girl she was supposed to be. It looked good on her. This blush she was sporting reminded Ginny of when they'd just met and Ron had been giving her all his attention.
"Any ideas on who it might be from?" She asked with an eyebrow waggle. "Or anyone you might be wanting it to be from?"
"Well." Hermione's blush deepened, but she didn't give a name, nor lift her eyes from her breakfast. She didn't answer however.
"Alright. Keep your secrets for now. I'll pry it out of you later." Ginny allowed. She was distracted then anyways by the sight of her boyfriend coming into the Great Hall.
He gave her a big smile and made his way over to her. "Sorry I'm late." He kissed her cheek. "I was waiting for Hedwig."
"Oh?" She asked with intrigue. "Did she bring you anything pretty?"
"Well, she herself is a pretty bird, but I believe this is actually for you." He handed her the box he'd been carrying.
Ginny gave a mock gasp. "Oh. You shouldn't have." She teased and opened the box, her eyes going wide and her grin large. "Oh Merlin!" She laughed. "That's fantastic!" She pulled out one of the packets of biscuits. "These are my favorite. How did you." She looked up at Harry and realized how he would have known. "Ron told you."
"That he did." Harry beamed. "Thought you might like those more than flowers."
"You really do know the way to my heart." She feigned a love-sick voice.
"Through your stomach." He nodded decisively. "I suspect it's the same with all the Weasley's." He leaned over and gave her another kiss then started making himself a plate of breakfast looking proud of himself.
"Hob Nob's?" Hermione asked from the other side of the table when Ginny showed her what it was. Her tone relaying her feelings about receiving a packet of cookies for a present.
"Six packs of Hob Nobs." Ginny clarified. "And they're the ones with chocolate on top." She turned back to Harry. "Thank you. I love it." She gave him another kiss before digging in her bag. "And now I have something for you." She was so relieved he didn't get her something over the top like he had with her Christmas present. Honestly, the cookies were the perfect gift for her.
Finding what she was rooting around for in the bottom of her bag she pulled it out for him. "For you!" She handed it over with a flourish. The wrapping on it was a little crumpled from it being in the bottom of her bag for about a week, but when she'd come up with the idea to get it for him as a joke it had been at the end of January and she'd wanted to make sure that it showed up in time.
Harry started ripping off the wrapping paper and unfurled the t-shirt. It was a casual shirt that looked just like his Gryffindor jersey, but there was a little something extra added on the back.
"Thanks' Gin." He smiled and turned it over to see his number displayed prominently then started laughing when he saw the block letters at the bottom reading 'Property of Ginny Weasley'. His laughter rang out loudly and she felt even more proud of herself. He leaned over and gave her a kiss to her cheek. "I'll wear it all the time." He promised.
"What is it?" Hermione asked and Harry held it up for her to see. She gave a chuckle.
"You don't have to actually wear it in public." Ginny assured him. "I just thought it would be funny."
"Oh, I'm wearing it." He assured her and started taking his button down and tie off right then.
"Harry!" Hermione and Ginny called him out at the same time.
"What? It isn't like I don't have another undershirt on." He told them unabashed and pulled the shirt on over his head, over top of his other undershirt. "Fits perfectly." He gave Ginny another kiss and shoved his uniform top and tie into his bag.
It was a Friday and they all still had class today. He was going to have to put his button down back on for class, but Ginny was rather pleased with how he'd whole heartedly entertained her gift like that.
"Whipped much, Potter?" Malfoy called from the table behind them.
Harry ignored the jab and shifted closer to her. "Yeah I am." He whispered in her ear.
Ginny gave him another kiss. "Think we can manage to get the Room of Requirement to provide us dinner later?" She asked quietly, her eyes sparkling.
"That was the plan I had in mind." He pulled back slightly and grasped her hand, giving it a squeeze and tracing her fingers. "Make sure you don't eat all those biscuits this afternoon." He grinned.
"No promises, but I'll try to refrain." She winked.
"Urgh, you two." Hermione scoffed and tried to put her focus back on her meal.
Ginny shook her head at Hermione, knowing the girl would be just as dorky as the two of them were being if she had her secret admirer there beside her. Not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable though she started talking about their next class so her friend wouldn't be stuck staring at the two of them being all 'couple-y'.
The rest of the day passed with more heart shaped boxes of chocolates and flowers being delivered during lunch and a good mixture of gushing and crying girls in the corridors.
By dinner time Ginny was ready to be away from it all and alone in a quiet space with Harry.
Their dinner plans were dashed however when they approached the Seventh floor and caught sight of two people making their way into the Room of Requirement right before the door closed and vanished.
"Damn." Harry exclaimed. "Guess that changes that."
"What that Professor Lupin?" Ginny asked with genuine interest. He'd been seeming in rather good spirits lately; she hadn't thought too much about it though. That had certainly been a woman going in there with him and she must have been the reason for the high spirits.
"Yeah." Harry was rather disappointed that his plans had been dashed. "I'm pretty sure he's seeing Tonks, or Dora. And has been since she came to talk to us all. Glad he's happy, but couldn't they have gone to Hogsmeade?"
"You mean with all the other couples that are currently filling the tables at the Three Broomsticks and the like?" Ginny challenged. There was a planned Hogsmeade visit for the next day, but they'd decided they'd just go down and pick up supplies and go for a stroll so they didn't have to deal with how busy the pubs and tea rooms would be.
Harry sighed. "Yeah. But still." He was pouting.
"Hey." Ginny tucked herself up against his front. "Buck up soldier. Why don't we just go down to the kitchens? Maybe we can get something to go and find an empty classroom or something?"
"Yeah. Alright." He still sounded rather morose about it. "Guess I was just looking forward to creating an intimate setting for us." He tucked a lock of her hair over her ear and gave her a quick kiss.
They made their way down to the kitchens and managed to get a few goodies from the elves before checking a few classrooms for a private space all to themselves.
Unfortunately Harry hadn't thought to bring along his fathers map since he'd had the Room of Requirement plan. As they wandered looking for a secluded spot it looked like several couples had the same idea they did. Each classroom they's stopped for a listen at the door of, or poked their head into already had one or two couples, including a classroom by the Divination tower Lavender and Ron who'd been getting into a row in.
"Why would you say that to me?!" Lavender yelled. Harry had his hand poised over the knob on the door as her voice rang through clearly.
"I didn't. I mean. I just wanted you to know." Ron tried to explain.
Harry and Ginny were just outside of the classroom staring at each other and essentially daring the other with their eyes to suggest that they leave first. Ginny wasn't big on spreading gossip, but that didn't mean she didn't want to listen to it. This was her brother and his girlfriend too, she could argue that if it concerned Ron, then it concerned her. Particularly when it also concerned a girl she slept eight feet from as well.
"Well maybe I didn't want to know! Maybe today OF ALL DAYS was not the day to tell me." Lavender continued angrily.
"I thought that today of all days would be the best day to tell you." Ron was trying to reason.
"WHY?" She screeched.
"Well, you had expectations. And I'm just don't think I'm as invested in all this as you want me to be. But I didn't want you to misinterpret my gifts."
Ginny cringed. Her face must have resembled having just sucked on a lemon. Telling a girl on Valentine's day that you didn't like her as much as she liked you was certainly a mood killer. Possibly a relationship killer.
"Are you breaking up with me?" Her tears could be heard through the door and Ginny saw how uncomfortable Harry was getting. She took his hand and guided them away from the door.
They heard Ron telling her that wasn't the case, but he may as well have been saying that.
"Honestly." Harry started once they were far enough away from the room. "I'm surprised they've lasted as long as they have."
"I know." Ginny nodded her head. "I feel kind of bad for Lavender though."
Harry nodded then looked around. "We're near the Divination classroom." He started. "There's some nice seating and candles in there." He grinned with a wink.
"And a batty professor." Ginny told him quietly, concerned that their voices might carry.
"I saw her leave the castle earlier." He told her equally as quiet with a smirk.
"Then I'm in."
He guided her towards the ladder and opened the trap door for them after a quick scan of the area.
She'd never seen the Divination classroom. There was an excess of comfortable seating for them to choose from, and it was nice and warm in there. Harry gathered some candles from a shelf nearby and charmed them to float around them.
"There." He said. "This is as close as I think we're going to get to what I had in mind."
Ginny grinned up at him from where she was seated on her pouf. "Why don't you come down here with me and I'll show you what I had in mind."
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AN- Warned you at the top. Fluff chapter