Author Note: This story does NOT follow DH canon. It is the inbetweens of my two previous fics "Derailed" and "Adventures in Dress Shopping". This is pretty much canon through HBP and takes certain things from DH, however, I've put together different pairings and kept certain characters alive because I love them, and that's just how it is going to be. Reviews are more than welcome and I'd love constructive criticsim. I really hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not JKR. I do not own any of the characters. This story is merely my own interpretation of events based in the Universe that she created. Please don't sue.

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The sun was the enemy. And apparently they'd won the match. Those were the only two things she could figure out because there wasn't anything else she could cognitively think about beyond the pounding in her head. And if they'd lost the match, she wouldn't have been this bloody sick feeling. She threw a blanket over her head to block out the traitorous sun and control the nauseous feeling in her stomach. Maybe if she could manage that much she'd be able to piece together exactly what had happened last night. Concentrating wasn't the easiest thing at the moment and it was enough of a challenge to get herself to stop feeling so dizzy. Oh she was never drinking again.

She groped helplessly for her wand so she could take care of the treacherous light which was simply magnifying her agony at this point. For the love of Merlin's back hair, what had her teammates done to her? She'd been hung-over before, but those seemed like a mild annoyance in comparison to what she was experiencing in that moment.

Unable to locate her wand, the redhead let out a groan and clumsily made her way to the window to shut the blinds. Cutting off the direct sunlight made her feel slightly less tortured, but the dizzying headache was still ever-present. She was now, however, able to recall flashes of what had led her to this state. Helena should expect a howler for that sixth round of shots.

There was a knock at the door and Ginny cringed. She considered ignoring it. It would be easy to do. To just curl up and pretend she hadn't heard it. Whoever it was would get the hint after a minute or so. She wouldn't have to move and she wouldn't have to deal with whatever waited on the other side of the door. But what if it was her Mum? Or Gwen? Or her landlord who already she had to convince once before that she wasn't a dodgy thing and that she didn't usually keep such odd hours. Not that showing up at the door in the state she was in was going to convince any of those potential guests that she was in top form, but not answering was likely to be worse.

She grabbed the comforter off her bed and wrapped it around herself as she slowly made her way through the bedroom towards the front door. She was still in her pajamas and her hair was looking something like a tangled rat's nest, but she wasn't entirely concerned with her appearance. On the bright side, she was actually iwearing/i pajamas and not the completely trashed ones either, but the moderately worn ones that didn't have holes in inappropriate places. The day was looking better already, however when the knock came again and she groaned.

"You are loud and early. You'd better have a bloody good excuse." She threatened, though the effect was vaguely lost through the whine in her voice.

"It's two in the afternoon and I've been standing out here for the past ten minutes." Came Harry's bemused voice through the door.

"Well that was stupid. The door is open." Ginny said as she glanced at the unlatched lock. Sure enough a moment later the door opened and there stood a rather perturbed looking Harry.

"Ginny!" Harry gaped as she continued past him on her way to the kitchen. She stopped to flinch at the volume.

"Ow." Was all she said, in a low voice.

"You just left your door open? What if someone had come by?" He demanded, only adjusting his volume slightly, not enough to make a difference really.

"Well apparently they'd stand outside making a racket for ten minutes til I pointed out that the door was open. And they'd be loud." She said with a sigh, continuing towards the kitchen.

"Ginny, you can't just leave your door open!" Harry scolded with a certain shock to his voice. She was smarter than all this. So why was she acting so stupid? "What if someone other than me had come by and wanted to hurt you, or broke in and stole something?"

"Gods, Harry. What part of worst hangover of my life do you and your volume not understand?" She asked, not bothering to address what he'd said because it was so utterly ridiculous that it didn't really warrant a response from the redhead.

"Well maybe if you and your friend, oh Gods, Sandy? Was it? Right, if you and she hadn't gone and seduced all those free drinks from the poor unsuspecting bartender, you might be feeling a bit better today." Harry was turning smug at all this as he started to follow her to the kitchen.

"What? How would you…? I didn't seduce any…"Ginny paused and took a bracing hold on the counter for support as a flash from the previous night came to her mind. "Sweet Morgana in a bonfire…" She muttered to herself.

"Hmmm, having a bit of delayed recall?" Harry asked with a grin. "Let's see if I can help, shall we?" He took a breath and put on his best Ginny impersonation that he could manage. "Phil-love, really you know you're going to give in eventually and wouldn't you like to feel as though you had some part in the decision making? And look, Sandy here will give you a big ol' kiss on the cheek if you do it. And if you make sure not to skimp on the liquor this time 'round, she'll kiss on the lips." He raised his voice up to an impossible decibel and fluttered his eyelashes. "I think perhaps I should've listened to Hermione and let you go off with your teammates. Though, I did rather enjoy the bit of karaoke that occurred. I never heard Celstina Warbeck sound so good."

"I'm going to box you right in the ears. I don't sound like that. " Ginny scowled at him over her shoulder. "And at least I wasn't promising myself to ol' Phil." She pointed out. The redhead stood on her tiptoes reaching for the high cabinet, blanket still drowning her small frame. Her fingers grazed the side of a vile, unable to grab it. "Sonova…" She muttered, trying to keep her balance as she strained to reach the top shelf.

"Gin?" Harry asked standing behind her, but she ignored him still trying to grab the vile. "Ginny." Harry repeated with a smile. Finally, letting out a sigh he gently took her by the shoulders and moved her to one of the kitchen chairs and sat her down. "I'm taller than you." He said simply as he walked over and grabbed the vile she'd been trying to reach. "And you did promise yourself to poor Phil. You know he was quite upset when you welched on it too. I think you're going to owe him an apology…and possibly a few galleons to cover last night's tab." He set the vile in front of her and took a seat on the other side of the table. "Now, do you want some tea or summat? I brought over some hangover potion just in case you were out."

"No, I don't need tea. Just the potion. Which is what this is, actually." She said holding up the vile and taking a sip before pulling a face. "Rancid stuff." She shook her head, but was starting to feel quite a bit better. She let out another sigh and looked over at Harry. "Did you honestly just stop by to make sure I had the proper potions in order to not want to off myself?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Harry smiled and looked down at the table. "No, actually. You've caught me. I came over in the wild hope that perhaps in your weakened and nauseous state you might say yes to going on a proper date with me. The potion was meant to be used as a bribe." He admitted, glancing back up at her.

"Harry…" Ginny started, but Harry held up a hand to stop her and reached inside his jacket pocket.

"Before you reject me outright," He started, digging for something. "I did come prepared with a back-up plan." After another moment of searching he pulled out folded pieces of paper. As he unfolded it, Ginny realized they were pages that looked as though it had been ripped from a book. "Now, I know we're not old and grey and we're not sitting on rockers and reminiscing about the good old days and all that, but you know, I'm going to remind you of a promise you made to me." He handed her the pages and simply watched as she read them.

It took Ginny a moment to recognize where the page had come from. Until she saw her own handwriting beside his. She scanned through the pages and when she realized just when she'd written them, the grin grew wide on her face. "Draco. Nicodemus. Malfoy." Was all she said, unable to stop the giggle in her voice.

Harry let out a laugh, beaming over at her. "See? I told you. It's still funny." He grinned. "And you still make me smile. And you'd make me smile more if you'd let me take you on a proper date."

"You are…impossible." Ginny laughed, still looking at the pages from the old journal. She couldn't remember the last time she'd picked up that blasted thing. Let alone look through the old conversations and pages and everything. She'd gotten a new journal after everything. One that didn't hold old painful memories. A new journal for a new start. And then here he was, the reason she'd started over in the first place, asking her out on a proper date. Oh he was impossible.

"But you're smiling." He pointed out with a hopeful glance. "And that's never a bad sign." He just looked at her for several moments, grinning. "So is that a yes?" He asked, finally.

"No." She said with a laugh, sighing, but still smiling.

"So it's a no? But you're smiling!"

"It's not a no." Ginny said, getting up from the table and moving towards the living room, taking her blanket with her.

Harry watched after her for a moment before tilting his head to the side. "So what is it?" He asked, getting up to follow her.

"It's not anything. I haven't decided yet." Ginny said with a shrug. "It's…It's undecided. And a smile doesn't mean anything. It just means that even after a lifetime goes by, I will never stop deriving pleasure from the fact that Draco Malfoy's middle name is Nicodemus." Ginny giggled through the last part. She began rearranging pillows on the couch.

Harry got up from the table and walked over and took a seat on the couch. "Right then." He said with a puzzled look.

Ginny just rolled her eyes and moved to sit beside him on the couch, groaning in pain as her back gave an ache. So apparently that wasn't just the hangover.

"All right?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Apparently, dancing on the bar isn't the best idea straight after a match." Ginny gave a tight-lipped smile and sighed. "Either that, or I played as hard as I would've hoped last night and so I'm sore from that. If Gwenog asks? It's the latter."

"You were rather brilliant, out there, last night."Harry remarked softly. "And I mean both on the broom and the bar, mind you." He added with a teasing grin.

"I don't know whether to thank you for that or to beat you with a pillow." Ginny said, letting the blanket fall from her shoulders. She was wearing a camisole and a pair of her more comfortable and less trashy sweats that were all together too big and baggy on her as she was pretty sure they had previously belonged to a bloke.

"Beating me with a pillow takes entirely too much effort." Harry pointed out helpfully. "And besides that, I might be able to help with the back issue if you don't resort to beating me senseless." He flashed a suave smile and gave a small shrug.

"Oh?" Ginny asked, intrigued, shifting into a more comfortable position on the couch.

"'Course, you'll have to do one thing for me. Tiny, really." He said looking up innocently.

"And that is?"

"You'll have to go on a proper date with me." He answered reasonably.

Ginny gave him a roll of her eyes and sighed. She had to think about this. On the one hand, she'd been planning on saying yes to him anyhow, she just wanted to make him work for a bit so he didn't think she was giving in too bloody easily. On the other hand, however, her back really was bothering her and she was curious to see how he planned on fixing it. "How about if you make the pain go away, I'll seriously consider it, but if it doesn't work, then the deal is off?"

Harry grinned widely. That was the best offer he was going to get and he knew it so he wasn't going to push his luck. "Deal then." He positioned her so that her back was to him. She threw him a vaguely confused look over her shoulder but he waved her off and waited until she was facing the opposite wall before he gently moved her wild red waves to fall over one shoulder. He rested two warm hands on her back and began to carefully massage her sore muscles.

"Oh bloody hell, this has to be against some sort of rule." Ginny murmured, twisting and arching her back in response to his warm touch. It was cheating, was what it was. He wasn't supposed to know how to make her have to bite back moans. It was taking a surprising bit of self-control to manage that much, especially when he hit the middle of her back where it was worst. She literally had to hold her breath and bite down hard on her lip to keep from embarrassing herself.

"How's that?" Harry asked after several minutes had gone by and she could hear the smile in his voice. He knew that he was practically driving her mental. He was suddenly glad for the things he'd picked up along the way since he'd been gone. He did, after all, have a lot of time on his hands. He had read a ilot/i of books. On a ilot/i of subjects. Hermione really would've been proud.

"That's brilliant, actually." Ginny said her voice sounding just a bit strained as she struggled to keep an even tone. "So this date you keep bringing up…"

"What about it?" Harry asked, applying a fair amount of pressure to a particularly nasty knot.

Ginny took in a sharp gasp of air and braced herself for a moment before finally answering. "Would I have to get all…girly like?" She asked, almost hesitantly.

"Yes." Harry said simply. "Not a dress or anything like, but you would have to make like you were going somewhere special. Cause you will be."

"Where exactly are you going to be taking me, Mr. Potter?" She asked, curiously.

"Haven't decided yet, but trainers aren't allowed wherever it is and neither are denims or oversized jumpers that belong to your brothers. So keep that in mind." He teased. His hands moved lightly over her exposed shoulders and she turned back to look at him.

"So s'pose I did agree to this." She said, careful to keep it all in the realm of the hypothetical. "Would this mean that I would have to stop seeing all those other blokes? Because really, Harry, I don't think it's fair to kick them all to the curb simply because iyou/i want to take me on a proper date." She managed to keep a straight face through all of this, though how exactly she wasn't quite sure.

Harry, for his part, gave her a baffled look. "Other blokes?" He asked, trying to keep his shock to a minimum without much luck. Hermione hadn't mentioned any other blokes. Actually, no, she had, she'd said that there weren't any. That Ginny had gone on one or two dates with a handful of dreadful choices but that was it. There hadn't been any other blokes in months. "Well, er…I reckon that'll depend on how the date erm…goes." He was trying to keep his horror to himself and so leaving her question unanswered wasn't a viable option.

"I see." Ginny said simply. "I s'pose that's fair enough." She added after a moment.

"Well…I'm er…glad you think so?" Harry said, now very confused.

The look on his face was completely priceless and so Ginny couldn't help but give in to the smile that was now tugging forcefully on the corners of her mouth. "Merlin you get jealous quickly these days." She said with a laugh as she fell backwards into the soft cushions of the couch. "You should've seen your face!" She squealed, still laughing, "Trying to hold it all in like!" She continued laughing for a moment until she felt a soft pillow whap her in the face. "OI!"

"Oh, don't you 'oi' me, Weasley!" Harry said with a dry laugh of his own. "Here you had me going with tales of other blokes and you think it's all fun and games?" He gave a wicked grin and began tickling her. "Hmmm? Who's laughing now?"

Ginny squealed and squirmed trying to avoid him, but he kept up with his revenge tactic. Finally, after what felt like forever for the redhead, she was able to flip them both onto the ground. On the more level battleground, she had a better shot at getting away. "Can't! Breathe!" She cried out after a few more minutes of struggling. She was still laughing as she tried to squirm away, but Harry pinned her, holding her hands down on the ground beside either side of her head.

"Truce?" He asked, a bit out of breath from the struggle. He was smiling at her and she looked beautiful with her face all red and her hair tangled and everywhere at once, her honey brown eyes sparkling with laughter. This was the Ginny he remembered.

"Truce." Ginny breathed helpless at the moment. She smiled up at him, feeling a little anxious with him looking at her like that and being so close to him. "What?" She asked, laughing again, this time with a hint of nervousness to it. She could smell him and he smelt like home.

"Nothing." Harry said softly as he gently moved a strand of Weasley-red hair out of her face. "I just forgot…You're gorgeous when you laugh, you know." He qualified after a moment.

Ginny felt her cheeks growing hot, her eyes searching his for an inkling as to what was going to happen next. Then, without warning, he released her hands and quickly jumped to his feet.

"I…erm…I should go." He said quickly, shaking his head, taking a deep breath. "I just wanted to check in and make sure that you were…and you are so…" He started backing towards the door.

"Harry?" Ginny called as he reached the doorknob. She shifted to get to her feet, giving him a look that was a mix of disappointment, confusion and relief.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to glance back at her and quickly regretting it. He glanced down at the floor and then at the picture on the wall to the left of her and then back at her again. He needed to get out of there. He needed to make sure that he didn't do something he might regret later. Something that might upset her or make her shut him out again. That wasn't at all what he wanted to do. He didn't want to scare her off and being there with her and so close and teasing and acting like their old selves again wasn't going to make him control himself. Which is what he desperately needed to do.

"Owl me when you plan on taking me on this proper date." She said after a long moment of trying to catch his eye and perhaps get an explanation for what just happened.

Harry gave a smile and a nod. "I will. Hedwig could do with a bit of fattening up anyhow." He teased. "I'll see you." He said and with that he was out the door.