Ginny was busy heading towards her first D.A meeting with a mixed feeling of excitement and nerves fluttering around in her stomach. The nerves probably stemmed from her mixed feelings about Harry. She had not been able to stop thinking about that moment they had shared in the Hogs Head and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to stop thinking about it.
As she approached the room of requirement, she checked to make sure that the coast was clear. Nobody seemed to be watching her. Ginny thought to herself, 'I need to find the place where the D.A is meeting,' three times. This is what Hermione had told everyone to think once they approached the hidden room. The door appeared magically in front of her and Ginny waltzed in.
She found that apart from Harry, Ron and Hermione, she was the only person there. She was early. They stopped and Hermione beamed at her, "Isn't it amazing?" She looked around. There were couches, pillows lined up on the floor, a desk against a wall with chairs which the three stood by, suits of armor like in the rest of the castle and a warmly lit fire as well as a small cubicle of a room to the side. Ginny nodded in amazement, "It's pretty amazing! But what's in the room over there?" Ron chuckled, "Toilet. I told Hermione we'd need one and the room seemed to agree."
Ginny couldn't help but giggle and they all jumped as Luna and Neville walked in through the door. Luna glanced around and nodded admirably, "It's quite comfy in here isn't it?" Hermione nodded in agreement, "Indeed it is. We're just waiting for everyone to get here so if you guys would like to take a seat?" Luna and Neville went to sit on the brightly colored cushions on the floor. Next to arrive were Cho and her friend Ginny didn't know with red, curly locks. Cho smiled brightly at Harry and waved at him, earning a wave from Harry in return and Ginny felt her stomach drop. These feelings were confusing her greatly as she went to go and sit on a cushion beside Luna.
The next people to arrive were the twins and Lee Jordan. Michael came in after them and sat down beside her. Ginny was surprised to see him there but she chatted happily with him none the less. Within fifteen minutes, everybody had assembled and they were all sitting comfortably on a cushion. Hermione stood in front of everyone, a grin plastered to her face as she began, "Welcome! It's good to see so many of you here and wanting to defend yourselves! I have to point out that it's thanks to Neville that we found this most secret venue. Can everyone give Neville a round of applause please?"
The room echoed with clapping and Dean clapped him on the back in pride. Hermione swallowed and continued nervously, "Right. So Harry is going to start us off by casting some simple defensive spells. That's all we're planning on teaching. We're not teaches curses such as Crucio because hopefully you'll never have to know that." Harry nodded in agreement, "Right, and I've never used one of the Unforgivables so I wouldn't know how to teach you that anyway. I don't want to put myself on the same level as Voldemort's followers." The use of Riddle's chosen name caused several to jump and Ron laughed, "You guys are gonna have to get used to hearing that name. Harry refuses to call him anything else."
Ginny watched Cho pale slightly and she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the girl. She had lost Cedric just like Ginny had and for the same reason. She must then, to some extent, believe Harry's story if the name frightened her so much. Ginny turned her attention back to Harry and he began, "Right. First we're going to learn how to stun! Everybody up and find a partner. I'll demonstrate with Ron. Some of you may know this one. It's Stupefy. This can be used to make your victim unconscious or to immobilize moving objects."
They all did as they were told and Ginny found herself pairing with Michael. He grinned at her and then she turned to watch Harry. He held his wand out and with a quick flick he said loudly, "Stupefy!" As small beam of light issued from Harry's wand and sped towards her brother. Ron fell backwards and his eyes closed to a shut. Hermione quickly swiped her wand over his still form and murmured a counter curse. He quickly came to, blinking his eyes furiously. He shook his head and grimaced, "Blimey Harry! You didn't have to hit me so hard!"
This caused some giggling from the girls and Ginny smiled. Harry shrugged his shoulders and replied, "It's how you defend yourself Ron. You can practice with Hermione and I'll walk around and watch everyone. The counter curse is Rennervate, which some of you probably know already. Just say it and swipe your wand over your partner's body. Let's all give it a go then?"
Ginny said to Michael, "Right, you go first." He nodded his pale face and pointed his wand at her before saying, "Stupefy!" Ginny was ready when she when she rebounded the curse with Expelliarmus. The curse went off in a different direction and landed against a wall. She sighed in relief. Michael grinned, "Impressive Gin! Now your turn!" Ginny pointed her wand at Michael and murmured, "Stupefy!" This caused a small ball of light to head towards Michael and he landed flat on his back with his eyes closed. He seemed to be unconscious. She giggled to herself and walked over to un-stupefy him. Michael rubbed his backside, "Ouch! Good job Gin!"
Ginny heard Harry saying from behind her with a smile on his face, "I agree! Good job Ginny. You don't even need to be here." Ginny felt herself blushing and she shrugged, "It's good to get some practice though." He nodded and grinned, "Practice makes perfect after all." Ginny watched as he turned his gaze to Cho, who was two groups away from her. She was failing horribly at Stupefying her friend and Harry nodded at Ginny, "I better go and help Cho. She's sending curses in every direction. Keep practicing though." He patted her shoulder and Ginny had never felt so belittled in her life. It made her feel angry even though she knew she didn't have a reason to be.
Michael stood up and smiled kindly at her, "Another round?" Ginny grinned, "Sure. But it's your turn now." He groaned and murmured, "I suck at stunning but I'll try." She smiled and replied, "It's the only way you'll get better." He nodded and focused all his attention on her before yelling, "Stupefy!" The light went in a wayward direction and Michael had to apologize profusely to Luna once they had revived her. However, being Luna she had commented, "Oh don't worry, Michael. I quite like the feeling of being stung. It's like going to sleep without any worries." This made Ginny giggle but she tried to nod seriously, "I…uh never thought about it like that. I suppose you're right." Luna nodded happily and Ginny continued to be Michael's target while Michael continued to shoot stupefy at her.
In an hour he had only managed to hit her twice, whilst she'd managed to hit him six times. At the end of the hour, Hermione sent red sparks into the air with her wand and this caused them all to stop and look at the three in front. Harry seemed genuinely pleased as he said, "Well done guys! You're fantastic. A lot of improvement has happened over the past hour and I hope to see more soon! Let's see, can everyone make Thursday evening same time?" They all nodded and Hermione added, "Great! Also we need to find a way to be able to communicate with everyone without it being obvious so if anyone has a suggestion please come and talk to us. Right then, we'll be leaving in our houses and according to gender due to Umbridge's new rule. Hufflepuff girls first and then the boys please." The few Hufflepuff's that were there included Hannah Abbott and a friend of hers (and two other girls Ginny didn't know) who thanked Harry and Zacharius Smith who was the only boy. Hermione continued, "Next will be Ravenclaws girls and then boys." Luna, Cho and her friend got up and bustled out of the room together. Cho thanked Harry profusely and batted her eyelids heavily at him which made Ginny feel like she wanted to gag. Luna thanked Harry politely but Cho's friend said nothing at all. Finally the Gryffindor girls were about to go but Ginny stayed. She wanted to talk to Harry alone. Eventually the rest of the Gryffindor boys were there and they all left together.
Ron, Harry and Hermione stayed and Hermione was positively beaming, "I think that was a great success! Well done Harry! If all else fails, you could easily teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. He chuckled, "Thanks Hermione. I'm not sure that was a compliment, but thanks." She nodded and replied quickly, "It was."
Harry turned then and saw Ginny watching him. He jumped, "Jeez, Gin! You gave me a fright." Ron frowned suspiciously, "We thought you had left with the other girls. What's up?" Ginny murmured, "Can I have a word please Harry?" She felt so small as Hermione stared at her smugly and Ron frowned, "Wha-? Okay…" Hermione pulled Ron's hand and told them, "We'll meet you guys back up in the dormitory."
Harry nodded and was busy frowning at Ginny in confusion. Once the other two had left, Harry asked, "What's wrong?" Ginny laughed and replied, "Nothing's wrong. Just remember when I said I'd teach you ow to flirt with Cho?" He seemed to blush a little as he smiled, "Oh yeah...thought you were joking." Ginny shook her head and replied seemingly confidently, "Nope. I was being serious. You clearly like her and she likes you. You guys need to stop tip-toeing around each other." Even though she tried to be brave her insides were twisting. She hoped she wasn't sounding desperate.
Harry frowned, thinking about it and then nodded, "Alright…how do we do this?" Ginny shrugged her shoulders and smiled politely, "Just be natural." He nodded and Ginny moved a bit closer to him. He was leaning against a desk and she couldn't help but think how cute he seemed. He was avidly avoiding her gaze as she came and leant with her back against the desk edge and she whispered, "Try asking me on a date." He swallowed and he floundered around for words but none came out.
Ginny pushed herself up off the desk and asked, "Harry…have you never asked someone on date before?" He shrugged and murmured, "I invited Cho to the Yule Ball." Ginny knew that Cho had rejected him for Cedric and she couldn't help but feel jealous of the girl for a split second. She nodded and replied, "Well it's easy. Here let's pretend I'm asking you. Harry, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me on a date?" Finally he lifted his head up and looked her in the eyes, "Um…yeah I guess."
She groaned and shook her head, "No Harry! You can't guess! You have to know what you want. When Michael asked me last time he tried to turn it into a date even though I had already told him no!" Harry raised his eyebrows and smirked, "So Corner likes you?" Ginny clapped a hand over her mouth and sighed, "I didn't mean to say that! Point is, he wanted to take me to Madame Puddifoot's and I told him flat out no. He knew what my terms for going with him were and he blatantly disregarded that. You've got to set the record straight from the get go."
Harry nodded in understanding, "Fine. Ginny, do you want to go to Hogsmead with me?" She smiled encouragingly at him and replied, "On a date?" He nodded and she replied, "Sure…where to?" He thought for a second before replying, "The Three Broomsticks!" Ginny nodded and pretended to ponder it before replying, "Sounds good. I'll see you then." He sighed and she asked, "What's wrong?" Harry shrugged and replied, "It just feels…weird and unnatural for us to flirt doesn't it?"
Ginny felt like she'd been slapped in the face but she swallowed hard. She had wanted this-just to be friends with him. She shouldn't have expected him to feel something more for her still. He probably needed to move on from her, just as much as she had needed to move on from him. But it hurt and she couldn't deny it. Her thoughts were spinning and churning and he was staring at her, waiting for her to reply.
Ginny nodded and said plainly, "Yeah…it does feel weird. Maybe we should just stop trying." Harry shook his head, "No. No we can I just need to get used to it." She sighed and whispered, "Fine. How do you want to do this?" Harry walked up to her and took her hand in his before asking, "Ginny, do you want to come to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday?" Ginny nodded and smiled kindly, "Of course, Harry." He swallowed awkwardly and emphasized, "On a date?" She tried to look surprise before saying, "Yeah sure. Why not? I hope we can find somewhere fairly private?" He looked at her in surprise and she knew she was being vindictive. He'd been surprised by such a flirty come back and he grinned as he caught on, "Oh…but we're as private as we can be Ginny…" She nodded and raised her eyebrows, "And what do people who like each other do in private places?"
He got the hint quicker than she had expected him to and he took two steps toward her confidently and he seemed as if he was going to lean in. She felt her heart hammering in her chest and she felt her blood rushing through her body because of his closeness. She couldn't deny her feelings for him anymore. His eyes were closed and she wasn't sure if he was expecting him to kiss her, but as he was about to touch her lips with his he pulled away.
Ginny sighed internally in frustration. She was frustrated with herself, as well as with him for leading her on. He smiled at her, gauging her reaction and she tried to laugh, "Well I'm quite glad you didn't actually kiss me. That would have been weird." She didn't really mean it of course, but she needed to put on a brave front. He nodded, a bit of a smirk appearing on his face, "Yeah! Would have been catastrophic for our friendship. Anyway thanks for the help, Gin. I'm retiring to the library. See ya later!"
As he left the room, Ginny let out a frustrated moan. How was she going to juggle their friendship and her feelings for him? She almost felt like fate was playing a funny trick on her and putting her in Harry's shoes. She didn't like it at all. However, Ginny had also felt like Harry had been teasing her as he leant in. Helping him at flirting been a colossal mistake and one that she would not make again anytime soon. As Ginny made her way up to the dormitories on her own through a fairly empty castle, she swore to herself that she would never make the same mistake again.
Author's note: Thank you for all of the incredible reviews! I'm sorry I haven't updated so much recently. I've had loads of assignments to do! However I should post more this weekend! Thank you to everyone reading this again! I hope to update A.S.A.P Also my internet has been really slow which is why I haven't updated much recentl.