Harry strummed his fingertips against the tabletop, sighing deeply. In about five minutes, a certain redheaded witch was to appear at his flat. He had made sure that Alex would be out of the way so the two could have a talk. A talk about . . . Things.

It was weird, really. After three years of his friend being in a coma, she just suddenly . . . woke up. How was that even possible? And right after he signed the papers for her release. What if that Healer had been correct? No, that would be preposterous. After all, that was the reason Harry hadn't told anybody else about the theory. Besides, the fact was that it wouldn't have helped anyway . . . Not after what he had discovered.

Harry sighed again, running his fingers through his hair. Where the heck was Ginny? What if she didn't want to come . . . No, she had to come. He had to ask her something. Just as he was about to get himself a glass of water, there was a knock on the door.

Okay, relax. It's going to be fine.

He opened the door slowly to see Ginny. She was wearing a nervous expression on her face, hands in her pockets.

"Erm, hi. Ron said you wanted to see me?"

Harry nodded, opening the door wider. "Yeah, come on in." He turned, leading her into the kitchen. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

Ginny sat down in the chair adjacent from his, plucking imaginary lint off her shirt. "No thanks, I'm still a bit peaky."

Harry sat down too, trying to keep a light conversation going. "Oh, that's right. You were at that pub yesterday."

"Yes. Yes I was."

Silence blanketed the room, both young adults looking at their hands. "Look Ginny. The reason I asked Ron to tell you to come here, was because I know we have some things to discuss."

Ginny raised her eyebrows, cocking her head to the side. "Obviously."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. He didn't like that tone ov voice. "Right. Okay, first of all, I wanted to ask you if you remember anything from that night."

"Nope, not a thing." She coughed, biting her bottom lip.

He sighed. "Come on Ginny, this isn't easy for me either. I know what happened must be hard for you, but--"

"Hard for me?" She stood up, voice shaking with anger. "No shit it's hard for me! I wake up after being in a coma to find that my life had taken a turn for the worst! I missed everything! I didn't get to see my brother and best friend's wedding! I missed getting a job! Hard for me? Well duh! And most of all, I lost my boyf--"

She stopped mid-word, realizing what she had almost said. Harry however, finished it for her.

"Boyfriend." He looked into her eyes now, truly feeling sorry for her. "That's another thing we need to talk about."

Ginny sat back down, crossing her arms. "No, we don't need to talk about it. Yesterday was enough of an explanation."

Harry blushed, looking away. "That's not what I meant. Besides, how is that an explanation?"

She laughed, though Harry noticed she didn't really find the situation funny. "Come on, Harry. Don't you think seeing someone clean another's tonsils is explanation enough?"

"All right, stop it! I didn't ask for you to come here for no reason! I asked you to come here to have a civilized conversation! But obviously you don't act your age!"

Ginny glared at him, a lone tear trickling down her hair. "Obviously I'm not 'mature' enough to hang around the likes of famous people. Good day to you, Mr. Potter." She started to stand up, the hurt burning in her eyes.

Harry calmed down, realizing what he had just said. It wasn't exactly her fault that she acted like an eighteen-year-old. She had been in a coma. "You don't have to call me that," he whispered, reaching out to pull her back down. "In fact, I wish you not to call me that. You're my best friend, Ginny. Even a coma couldn't take that away from you. I'm sorry, okay?"

Ginny bit her lip, allowing herself to be pulled back into the chair. "Thank-you. I-I guess I owe you an apology as well."

She swallowed, eyeing Harry warily. "I was kind of rude earlier."

Harry raised a hand in a mocking elementary school way, grinning. "That one's me. The first time in three years that you see me and Alex's head is blocking the way."

Ginny gigged, remembering something. "Technically, the first time I saw you was after the kiss when you were wearing lipstick."

"Seriously?" He blushed, self-consciously wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "There's something I never thought I'd hear. Hey, you learn something new every day."

She laughed, "That's for sure. Yesterday I learned not to drink more than two glasses of Whiskey."

Harry's facial expression hardened for some reason. "Yeah . . . At least What's-his-face was there when you learned."

"Yeah, Jack." She eyed Harry, searching for the reason of his sudden change in mood, but he kept his eyes cast down.

"I'm glad it was him and not somebody who would take advantage of me. I mean, some prick could have had their nasty way with me."

Under the table, Harry's fist clenched. "Yeah. But it didn't happen, right? This guy Jack . . . who's to say he did have his way with you, and then brought you home to make it look like he didn't?"

Ginny furrowed her eyebrows. "No, I don't think so. Well, besides the obvious facts, I know he didn't."

"Obvious facts?"

"Oh, um, Ỳknow . . . I would be, erm, soar." She suddenly found her fingernails very interesting.

Harry blushed, running a hand though his hair. "But with you being unconscious, maybe you wouldn't be."

"I still know he didn't." She sighed, shifting slightly in her seat. "Not after the note he left."

"Note? What do you mean?"

She shrugged, grimacing at the way Harry seemed so interested in Jack. "He wanted to see me again."

Harry's mouth dropped slightly, but he closed it before Ginny noticed. "He asked you out? He hardly even knows you!"

"Actually, we had a long talk before I passed out. He knows about my current situation. Besides, it was just a note. It's not like he was even asking me out. More like he wanted to be friends."

He sighed, shaking his head. "Ginny, no guy ever wants to be 'just friends'. They always want something more. Watch, in a few months, it'll turn into 'friends with benefits'."

"But Harry . . . Isn't that what we were?" She said it in a whisper, almost as if she hadn't meant to say it at all.

"No . . . That was . . . That was different. We were at war, times have changed."

She nodded, folding her hands in her lap. "What's the difference? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Friends with benefits? It's all the same. Honestly, have you looked at your erm, wedding script? Is that what you call it?"

"You mean what we say at the altar?"

"Yes. Don't you say, 'my best friend'? After all, most marriages where one marries their friend it turns out better." She gave him a small smile. "Which is why I'm happy for you. You're marrying your friend."

"Yeah, I'm marrying my friend." Not your best friend.

"So," Ginny coughed, looking around the kitchen. "When are you and Alex getting married?"

"Oh, in about four months. We've been engaged for two."

She scratched the back of her neck, fingers snagging on the necklace. "That's nice. Are you excited?"

Harry grinned. "Who wouldn't be?"

She smiled back, strumming her fingers against the table. "Who's going to be your best man?"

"Ron of coarse. Hermione's going to be a bridesmaid. I also have all of your brothers as groomsman. Should be a nice picture, eh? One black-haired wizard in a mass of red."

"Yes, it'll be a keeper." There was a pause before Harry voiced exactly what Ginny had been thinking.

"Listen, Ginny. There's something I want to ask you. I would, that is, Alex and I, would be honored if you would be a bridesmaid in our wedding." He paused, waiting for her reaction.

Something inside Ginny clenched, but she ignored it. Harry was happy with Alex. If he was happy, so was she. "Of coarse I will be in the wedding."

Harry sighed, grinning as he pulled her into a hug. "Thank-you. You don't know how much this means to me."

Oh no . . . I can't do this anymore. I have to give it back to him, especially if I'm actually going to be in the wedding. It just feels like the right thing to do.

Ginny bit her lip, bringing her hands behind her neck to unclasp the necklace. She slowly folded it before setting it onto the table.

He seemed to freeze for a moment at the sight of it, picking it off the wood. "Is this . . . I gave this to you. The night that we, well . . ."

She gave a small smile, before turning toward the door. "I'll see you later. I promised Mum I'd meet her today. "

He only nodded, still fingering the heart hanging on the silver chain. The door closed with a snap, leaving him to his private thoughts and the necklace.

XoxoxoX

Ginny got back to Ron and Hermione's flat around eleven at night, happy and filled with Mrs. Weasley's turkey. She set down her wand and the leftovers that she had been assigned to give to Ron.

"Ginny, is that you?" Hermione walked into the kitchen wearing a bathrobe. "How was your meeting with Harry? Ran awfully late, didn't it?"

"Hermione! I left his flat around 2:30! I was at the Burrow, remember?"

Hermione sighed. "Oh, that's right. Too bad . . ."

Resisting the urge to smile, Ginny handed the turkey to Hermione. "For your prince charming."

"Hardly charming," she grumbled, taking the package and putting it into the refrigerator. "You should see him right now, drooling all over my pillow."

This time Ginny really did smile. "Good old Ron, he never changes. Well, I'm tired . . . long day."

"Hey, you have to tell me all about your meeting with Harry!"

"I will in the morning, okay? G̀night." After hugging her friend, Ginny walked down the hall to the guest bedroom. She was surprised to find an envelope with a small note sitting on her bed. She picked up the note and read:

I meant for you to keep it.

Then, tipping the envelope upside-down, a silver necklace fell onto her bed.