Two days later, they had another D.A meeting. Ginny arrived a little later than she had last time. The previous morning after her attempted flirting scenario, she avoided to Harry at all costs. She now felt self-conscious and exposed, like she had let her guard down in front of him and that wasn't normal for her. Ginny's walls were usually bulletproof and nobody could enter them if they tried. The only person who'd managed to break her down in her teenage years was Cedric and look how that had ended. Cedric's death, though no fault of his own of course, had made the walls higher to penetrate than ever. Except for the other night when she had behaved recklessly and knowingly done so. She felt embarrassed, even if Harry never acted like it. Replaying the scene in her head countless times didn't help either. Every time it made her stomach squirm and she felt like she wanted to vomit up her insides.
Now, as she headed to the D.A meeting, she felt ill at the thought of having to be in Harry's presence longer than necessary and she would make certain she was surrounded by anyone else. Once she arrived at the concealed entrance and thought the sentence in her head three times, she hurried inside and made sure that Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad wasn't following.
Once inside, she glanced around and was happy to see Michael already there and waiting for her. She nodded at Ron, Harry and Hermione in greeting and then headed off towards him. As she was making her way over to Michael, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned slowly and found Harry to be watching her. He smiled at her half heartedly and asked, "Are you okay, Gin? I feel like you've been avoiding me?" He let go of her shoulder and Ginny thought quickly. She would have to lie her way out of this. Ginny hated lying ever since her first year when Riddle had taken control of her. So she put on a brave face and smiled as best she could, "Nope, Harry. I'm okay. Thanks for asking-just been busy." Her frowned and nodded before walking back to Ron and Hermione.
Ginny approached Michael and they stood and chatted with Luna until most people had arrived. Luna was busy saying, "Unfortunately there are no wrackpsurt's in this room and I can't see them without my glasses…" when Harry said loudly, "Hey guys. Thanks for coming again. So I'm going to give you five minutes to practice in your partners from last week and then we I will come and watch your pair. I just want to analyze your improvement. Don't feel nervous. Afterward's I'll teach you how to do Rectumsempra and the counter curse. Okay start practicing now."
Michael bowed to her and grinned, "Lady's first." Ginny rolled her eyes and swished her wand in his direction. He stood up just in time to cast Expilliarmus in a different direction so as not to hit her with it. Ginny beamed, "Well done Michael! You defended yourself so well there!" He seemed to blush as he shrugged, "Ah it was nothing. Luna and I have been practicing when no-one's been in the common room in the early hours."
Ginny nodded, impressed, "Well done. Just make sure you don't get caught by anyone though. You might just get detention with Umbitch." It was a name Ginny had come up with for the old toad because she had said it accidently in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione and it had stuck because they'd all laughed so hard. Michael chuckled and nodded, "Of course. I don't think anyone in our house would report us to Umbridge though." Ginny shrugged and murmured, "You never know," before she said, "Your turn Michael."
He aimed at her and whispered so softly she hardly heard him, "Stupefy!" Ginny nearly misjudged how fast the spell was heading towards her but she saved herself just in time. Michael smirked as she shot her wand out quickly and it went flying out of her hands once she had defended herself. He even laughed and at her frustrated expression and asked, "Hey Ginny, where's your concentration today? This is so not like you."
Ginny groaned in irritation. He was right. She was off her game and she knew why. She was feeling anxious about Harry questioning her before. She replied stiffly, "I'm just…distracted. I'm not sure why."
Michael shrugged and asked, "Too much work?" She nodded and smiled, "That too. Let me have a try again."
She aimed at Michael and got it went slightly better this time. However he was on the ball and he managed to defend himself easily. Two more tries of alternating later, Harry arrived at them and he nodded, "Right then, Gin you want to show me your best?" She grimaced and sighed before pointing her wand at Michael and whispering, "Stupefy!" It was completely off centre, and Michael managed to easily dodge it without even using Expelliarmus. Ginny felt her inside sink in disappointment and Harry frowned, "Gin, can I speak to you quickly?"
Ginny glanced at Michael before murmuring, "Sure." They walked away from the group to the far side of the hall and he asked quietly, "What is with you? You haven't been yourself since ever since you tried to help me flirt. Did I say or do something wrong?" He frowned at her confusedly and Ginny felt guilty immediately. She sighed again and whispered, "No…I just feel embarrassed that I tried to help you. That's not me at all. And for some reason…it hurt when you said it was weird that we were flirting, even though it was fake. I don't know, I'm just not feeling myself at the moment."
Harry slapped his head in his hand and shook it as he groaned, "Gin…I only said that because we're friends. I didn't mean that it wasn't…nice. But I know you don't feel about me that way so I was wondering why you would want to help me in that department! I didn't mean it to sound rude." Ginny shrugged her shoulders, "Don't worry. It doesn't matter. I'm just being overly sensitive at the moment. I don't really know why."
To be honest she kind of missed his presence in her life too. In between his studying for O.W.L's and Quidditch and then on top of that class work and D.A meetings, she hardly ever got to see him one on one, and she wasn't used to that at all. It was so unusual to have a proper conversation with him only every three days or so that she felt like she was missing out on his life. He looked more exhausted than ever so she quickly changed the subject, "Harry have you been having bad dreams again?" she asked quietly. He tensed and nodded before murmuring, "Yeah, but I don't really want to talk about it right now Gin." She nodded before sighing, "Alright. We better get back and let Michael have his turn."
She ended the conversation so suddenly that Harry looked surprised, but he didn't question her. Ginny also noticed him shooting several glances in Cho's direction. When they reached Michael again he was standing with his arms folded and then he loosened them as they approached. "Ready?" Harry asked him. Michael nodded and pointed his wand at her, "Stupefy!" he said and thankfully Ginny managed to perform a perfect Expelliarmus. Harry nodded in approval, "Good job Michael. It seems like Gin's taught you well." Michael smiled thankfully but Ginny wasn't sure if that sounded like a compliment or an insult. Knowing Harry though it was probably a compliment.
He continued on to Neville and Luna. After a few more tries Ginny finally got her accuracy back, when Harry had moved off to the front of the room and shot up red sparks with his wand. Everyone turned to look and he was grinning, "Well done! It seems as if a lot of you have improved! Neville, Michael and Luna have certainly shown loads of progress today. Others seem to have back tracked a little. Don't worry, we will keep practicing all of these every lesson as well as learn new ones so we don't forget. Hermione has an announcement."
Hermione seemed nervous to speak as she swallowed and said loudly, "So, we've decided we need a way to communicate with everyone easily and efficiently. It's a bit of a pain to track down every D.A member in order to send out a simple message. I've developed a bit of a system. She pulled out a bag which looked like a money bag and placed it on the table before fishing out a shining, golden coin. Hermione continued, "There is one of these for each D.A member. They are different colors from Galleon's so you know not to spend them. Harry and Ron could you hand them out please?" The boys nodded and started dishing out a coin to every member of the D.A.
When they were done, Hermione continued, "You see the numerals around the edge of the coins? On the real Galleons, that's just a serial number referring to the goblin who cast the coin. On these fake coins though, the numbers will change to reflect the time and date of the next meeting." Everybody nodded in understanding and Dean piped up, "Brilliant Hermione. Such a great idea!" She grinned and replied, "Thanks Dean. Alright Harry, when are we going to have our next meeting?" Ginny realized then that she hadn't spoken to Hermione even in that long to not know about the coins.
Harry smiled and replied, "Well its weekend so I think we should take a break, especially since there's a Quidditch match against Slytherin tomorrow evening. Let's say Monday evening same place and same time?" They all nodded in agreement and Harry smiled, "Right, let's leave in the same order as last time shall we?" The Ravenclaws went first, then the Hufflepuff's and finally the Gryffindor's. Ginny noticed that Cho hadn't left with the other Ravenclaw's and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach- Cho wanted to talk to Harry.
She tried her best to ignore the jealousy flaming inside of her, but as she did she suddenly felt guilty on her way back to the common room. It wasn't Cho's fault that she had liked Cedric just as much as Ginny. It wasn't Cho's fault that she seemed to like Harry. Ginny didn't even know if she did like Harry. She wasn't too sure of her feelings towards him.
As she walked towards the common she bumped into Draco Malfoy. He raised an eyebrow at her patronizingly and asked, "Why are you up and about so late, Weasley?" Ginny rolled her eyes and retorted, "Just returning from the library, Malfoy. I could ask you the same thing." He shrugged his shoulders and retorted arrogantly, "Surely you should know that I'm in the Inquisitorial Squad?" Ginny rolled her eyes and continued walking up the stairs. Malfoy grabbed her arm and spat at her, "Don't you walk away from me, blood traitor, I was asking you a question." Ginny rolled her eyes and said scathingly, "I told you where I was, Malfoy. If you choose not to believe my answer then it's your problem."
He pulled her towards him forcefully and told her menacingly, "If I find out that you're lying, Weasley…I'll…" here she smirked as he trailed off and she asked amusedly, "You'll what, Malfoy? Give me to Umbitch? She'll just give me detention." Draco wasn't even looking at her anymore. He was looking behind her and Ginny turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione standing behind her- Ron and Harry looking furious, and Hermione looking nervous.
Ginny turned back to look at Malfoy and Ron suddenly yelled, "Get your filthy hands off my sister!" Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled her hand determinedly from Malfoy's grasp. He released it in surprise and he scowled at her, "Strange…how your friends show up right after you. I somehow doubt that you were all studying in the library together. And I heard what you called Professor Umbridge Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor and detention for the Weaslette with Professor Umbridge." He pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote it down.
Ginny growled, "Fantastic. Get out of my way Malfoy!" She said irritably and she pushed past him once again. This time he let her go and she heard Ron behind her threatening Malfoy. She didn't know why he spent so much useless energy on him. It wasn't going to get Ron anywhere. Ginny stormed up the stairs and when she got to the common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione had caught up with her. Ron asked her worriedlyThis time he let her go and she heard Ron behind her threatening Malfoy. She didn't know why he spent so much useless energy on him. It wasn't going to get Ron anywhere. Ginny stormed up the stairs and when she got to the common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione had caught up with her. Ron asked her worriedly, "Are you alright?" She nodded and grimaced, "He suspects that we're up to something but he doesn't know what." Harry grimaced and asked Hermione, "The parchment hasn't showed any signs of betrayal has it?" Hermione shook her head, "Nope. None at all."
Harry sighed and nodded, "Alright then we better just warn everyone next time to keep quiet." They all nodded and Hermione and Ron headed inside. Harry stayed and asked concernedly, "Gin…there's something I want to tell you." For some reason this made her nervous and she felt her insides shrivel and her heart rate speed up dramatically. He sighed and smiled embarrassedly at her, "I…asked Cho out to Hogsmeade on the next trip which is two weeks away."
Ginny felt a strange twist in her stomach and a pang of jealousy echo through her. However, she needed to be a good friend to Harry so she smiled convincingly, hoping to appear genuinely happy for him as she said warmly, "Well done, Harry! What did she say?" Harry shuffled his feet and shrugged his shoulders, "She was keen to go." Ginny nodded politely because he did seem genuinely happy about this and she replied, "Well as long as you're happy Harry, then I'm happy."And that was true. If he was happy with Cho then that's all that mattered to her. Ginny didn't even know if her feelings for him were definite yet. It made her nervous to think that they were real and true and not just another phase. She didn't like to think about it too hard.
Harry smiled thankfully at her and then whispered, "I miss you though." She felt her heart strings constrict together and she nodded in understanding, "I miss you too. You need to get passed these exams though. Our friendship can wait until then." He grimaced and shook his head, "I hate that it has to be like this." Then he gave her an unexpected hug and he was about to pull away when she pulled him against her and whispered, "Don't. I've missed this." She could feel his face stretching into a smile when she said that and it made her smile in turn.
They were interrupted seconds later by someone coughing. Ginny turned to see Fred and George smirking and George chuckled, "Out of the road love birds!" This caused Harry to blush and Ginny rolled her eyes, "Oh for goodness sake George get over yourself!" He grinned at her and Fred nodded, "Bit touchy isn't she, brother?" They smirked together and Ginny put her hands on her hips, "How's Angelina, George?" He seemed a bit taken aback and Harry laughed at his expression as George Spluttered, "Uh…she's fine…why?" Ginny rolled he eyes, "I find out things. We better get inside before Umbitch shows up!"
They did and Ginny had the satisfaction of knowing that she had upstaged George. He'd been flirting with Angelina a lot recently and made it obvious that he liked her. Usually he was much more subtle. She realized that he must like her a lot, but Fred and George were never ones to divulge that kind of information.
They hurried into the common room and Ginny bid them goodnight. Harry needed to go and study, as did the twins and she had her own exams coming up soon too. Sometimes she found it far easier to study in the quiet of her dormitory. She also needed some time alone, to decide how she was going to get through this year if it meant liking Harry and still trying to stay friends around him. He had done it for her, and now she had to do it for him- for the sake of their friendship.
Author's Note: I'm sorry I know I said there would be a chapter up soon but it's been a crazily busy weekend! I haven't been on my laptop at all which is extremely unusual! Anyway to make up for it this is an extremely long chapter! Thank you to all the amazing reviewers! You guys keep me motivated! Thank you again!