Disclaimer: I own nothing. Please don't sue!

Author's Notes: Thanks for waiting patiently for this chapter. Thanks once again for the reviews. I'm sorry for not updating in months. Senior year is making things really stressful for me. I hope that you understand.

Chapter 12: Harry's Feelings

Harry could feel a prickling sensation on the back of his neck. The sweet smell of lavender was slowly invading his thoughts. He knew that scent too well. He quickly spun around and was met by a pair of chocolate brown eyes that belong to one Ginny Weasley. Mortified, he closed the book that he was so occupied with.

"What're you reading, Harry?" Ginny asked, grinning. She walked even closer in an attempt to see what the book was about.

"Nothing." He replied, nonchalantly, as he placed the book on the table with its back cover up. "Are you done?" he asked grabbing her arm and ushering her away.

"Yes. I bought a romance novel for mom and chess set for Ron." Harry saw the two paper bags that she was holding.

He was about the reach for the bags but before something could register in his brain, Ginny removed herself from his grasp and was now making her way towards the book. Her hands were already on it when he snatched the book from her. Lucky for him, she still hasn't seen the title. The red headed witch would not stop pestering him about it if she did. The book was about the crazy things that guys do when proposing their love for a girl. When he saw the book, he laughed at it. Soon after, curiosity got hold of him so he started to read the first few pages.

"Harry, why are you hiding the book for?" she pouted. "Let me see what it is!" she jumped hoping to seize the book from him. Unfortunately for her, she was a few inches shorter when he held it over his head.

"Come on, Harry!" she said, her arms akimbo.

"Ginny, no!" he told her. Using his other hand, he grabbed her hands together as she once again attempted to get it.

While holding her steady, his green eyes landed on a tall bookshelf. Life would have been easy if only Ginny could somehow cooperate with him but no. She chose that moment when he was putting the book on the top shelf to lunge at him knocking him off balance. He fell, bringing Ginny and several books along with him. He closed his eyes, grunting in pain. His rear just landed on the cold hard floor. Ginny's and the books' weight only made it worse. It seemed as though he knocked a few of the books that were piled just beside the shelf. He winced as he realized that his back landed on one of the books.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a pair of brown ones looking back at him. With their faces inches apart, Harry could feel his breathing becoming ragged. He had not been in this proximity with her before. He knew that throughout the years, she evolved into a majestic beauty. Heck, all of Hogwarts noticed it. She was the only one that didn't want to acknowledge that fact. He couldn't believe that the belle was the same girl that used to stutter a lot whenever he came close.

The sudden closeness was now making his heart beat faster than it normally does. The sweet smell of lavender slowly surrounded him. He could blame gravity later as he also felt that the space between their faces was slowly decreasing. What Harry did not know is that there was a pair of grey orbs glaring at their direction.

Draco did not know what possessed him to do it but he did. He felt anger slowly taking its course in his body when he saw the position that they were in. He grabbed the closest thing that he could find and threw it. It was a book and a hard cover at that. Alas, it landed on Harry's head. He smirked when he saw that his aim was still good. He threw it so hard that it just might have a permanent damage to the boy who lived.

He felt both relief and satisfaction when the two snapped out of their "trance". He quickly turned on his heel and left before anybody could see what he did. Little did he know that a certain bracelet was emitting a faint azure glow.

"Harry, are you sure you're going to be alright?" Ginny asked, worried. She looked at him while she held the ice pack on his bruised forehead.

"Yes, Gin. Don't worry. It's not that bad, really!" he said, taking the ice pack from her hands. In truth, he could still feel his head spinning. "Did you see who did it, Gin?"

She shook her head. "No. When I turned around, nobody was there."

He sighed. If he ever found out who did it, the person is sure going to pay.

"Here are you drinks." The waiter came carrying two glasses of beverage for them. "Will you need anything else?" he asked.

"No, thanks." Ginny told him with a smile. She took the drinks from the tray and handed Harry the lemonade. Harry saw that the waiter had a slight blush before walking away.

They sat in uncomfortable silence. The tension was building up. Harry could feel that his face was growing hot. He still couldn't get over the fact that he almost kissed Ginny! Harry noticed that Ginny, on the other hand, tried to act apathetically about the earlier events. He can't believe that he was blushing over the girl that used to like him!

Ginny looked out the window watching the people passing by. She noticed that Harry was fidgeting on his seat across from her apparently still thinking about what almost happened. A part of her was worried about Harry but another part of her was glad that somebody threw that book. Harry was cute. That's for sure but he was her best friend. The incident might ruin the friendship that she treasured the most. Even right now, she could see that the earlier events were already affecting them.

When she and Harry became close, she started to prefer to have that kind of relationship with him. She wasn't reduced to a stuttering idiot when he was near her. She accepted the fact that the feeling she had for him was not something that he could return.

"Um… Excuse me." the pair heard somebody say. They looked up and saw a tall brunette haired man standing. He appeared to be in his mid 20s. He was clad in a white long sleeved shirt and was carrying a tray with a glass of drink and a piece of what appeared to be a cheese cake. "Is it alright if I could share your table?" he asked them. "You see the place was full."

"Sure, take a seat." Ginny said taking the paper bags off the chair adjacent to her seat.

"Thanks. I hope I didn't intrude on something." He said as he took the seat.

"No, it's alright." She said giving him a reassuring smile.

"I'm Michael, by the way." The brown haired guy said, holding out his hand to share hers and Harry's.

"I'm Harry and she's Ginny." Harry said shaking his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you." Michael said. His brows furrowed, he asked, "What happened to your head, Harry?"

"Oh… an accident." He lied. He wouldn't dare tell a stranger that he'd been hit by a book.

"I see…" Michael said. He moved Harry's hand away from the bruise. Muttering an incantation, he touched the bruise with his wand and it disappeared. "I didn't know that I was actually meeting the Harry Potter."

"I didn't think that that is important to know." He mumbled.

Michael laughed apparently not hearing what he just said. "I guess my day wasn't half bad as the great Harry Potter was able to grace me with his presence. Then, you must be Ginevra Weasley?" he asked looking at Ginny.

"Yes." She replied. "I'm sure the red hair and freckles gave it away."

"Yes. The Weasleys are one of the few wizarding families that still have the brilliant red hair." He told her as he drank some of his fruit punch.

Harry sat there in silence as he watched the two people seated in front of him converse. He was getting annoyed now. He didn't know why but he is. He should be grateful because the guy helped him with his bruise but the image of Ginny jovially talking to him was getting on his nerves.

"Is that a bracelet?" Harry heard Michael asked. A flash of gold was seen when Ginny hastily placed a lock of her behind her ears. Michael took her hand and lifted the sleeves. "Beautiful…" he whispered, seemingly amazed at the sight of the bracelet. "May I take a closer look at it?" he asked Ginny.

"Um…" she bit her lower lip and looked towards Harry's direction. She neither wanted to sound rude nor reveal something about the bracelet. He might bombard her with questions if she said that she couldn't take it off.

Harry saw immediately the panic in her eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea." He told Michael, grabbing his arms.

Michael smiled at him. "I see. The boyfriend doesn't want it to be taken off. I understand."

Harry was about to protest when Michael said, "I was just thinking of giving a bracelet as a present to one of my friends. He's a collector of antique jewelry. Yours is quite elegant despite its age. I see it also has the phoenix. Quite a figure in ancient times."

He took a quick glance at his watch and saw that it was almost two o'clock. "Oh my! Time sure flies. I better go." He took one last swig of his drink and put on his jacket. "Nice meeting you, Harry, Ginny."

"Same here." Ginny said shaking his hand again. "I hope we see each other again, Michael."

"Oh… we will Ms. Weasley. We will." He told her as he shook Harry's hand.

"Here, Gin." Ginny looked up from opening her presents and saw Harry holding two cups of warm coco.

"Thanks, Harry." Ginny took a sip but immediately found out that it was a bad idea. Harry laughed when he saw her fanning her mouth with her hands in an effort to cool it.

"Shut up, Harry!" Ginny said, playfully hitting him in the arm. He just gave her a defiant smile and then took the seat beside her.

"Gin! Here's a present from mom!" Fred yelled at her as he tossed the package. She easily caught it. Training for Quidditch sure has its advantages. When she opened the package, she saw the regular Weasley sweater that her mom usually knit for them. Ginny already unwrapped the presents from most of the members of her family and Hermione. So far, she found Charlie's the most interesting. It was a small clear stone, about a size of a golf ball. In it, you could see clearly an image of a bluish gray scale. From a Swedish Short-Snout, no doubt. A note came with it stating that it was a lucky charm.

She stared at the object that lay on top of her huge pile of presents. The color of the scale vaguely reminded her about somebody. She just couldn't seem to figure out right now. She took another sip of her coco as she contemplated more about it.

"Um… Gin." Harry said his voice inaudible.

"What is it, Harry?" She asked.

Harry took out something from his pockets. It was a small black box. "Merry Christmas, Gin." was all that he said before handing her the present.

With shaking fingers, she opened it. She let out a loud gasp before leaping on to him and giving him a hug. "Thank you, Harry!" she screamed. Inside the black box was a necklace. It has a silver chain with a pendant that displayed a dragon and phoenix holding a purple stone.

"I saw it in The Priscus when we first went there." He told her as he returned the hug. He felt empty afterwards when she released him to show Hermione the gift. It was worth buying the gift as he saw delight reflecting in those brown orbs. He emptied his cup of coco before heading towards the kitchen.

"Get this bloody thing off me!" Everyone seemed to stop whatever they were doing when they heard Ron yell. A huge owl was pecking him in the head and arms as he ran towards the living room. He was desperately trying to get away from it. They all saw that he already has tons of cuts from its sharp beak and claws.

To everyone's surprise, the owl stopped tormenting Ron and it flew landing on Ginny's shoulder. With murderous eyes, Ron took out his wand and was ready to cast a spell on the creature. Fred and Bill were frantically trying to hold him at bay when it held out its leg to Ginny revealing a note from its owner. It flew out right away after Ginny took the note but not after giving Ron another peck.

Weasley,

Did you speak to them yet? I had been waiting for you owl since the day we arrived at the platform. You seemed to have forgotten our agreement. I read one of the old diaries. Apparently, you have accidentally awoken the Suzaku when you were trying to save the life of your pathetic brother. It mentioned that the other beasts would soon awaken because the bonds holding them all together were already broken.

D. Malfoy

Author's Notes: Ahh.. yes. Another chapter finished. Again, I'm sorry for not uploading the chapter for months. Hopefully, I could update more frequently from now on. Please review!