A True Slytherin Chapter 16: Revelations, a harry potter fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: I haven't realized it's been ten months since I last posted! I honestly wanted to post it long ago, but something didn't feel right about the efnding, so I revised three whole scenes! I changed a lot of things I thought I had finished, but when it doesn't click, it just isn't good enough! All I can say is that I'm sorry. Now, here's a verrry long chapter to make up for the verrry long wait. I could've tormented you and split it to two different chapters (which I almost did, by the way), but I thought you waited enough for this one to be posted, so I might as well present it in one, long chapter and have you all pleased. Hope it satisfy you. Make sure you won't miss anything and enjoy :)

Beta's Note: It's really my fault. I got my new laptop for Christmas and I made her wait until I could revise it on there. Feel free to pummel me with rocks. (:

Chapter 16 – Revelations:

It was the day the new term started and it was time to go back to Hogwarts. The weather hadn't changed much; if snow wasn't falling, then strong rainstorms were pouring down. The time was five minutes to eleven and the bright scarlet train standing near platform 9 ¾ was ready to go.

Harry already said goodbye to his parents and Sirius, back at home, was accompanied to the train station with Remus, who now looked slightly ill since the next full moon was due in a few days.

The train blew out steam and began to move out of the platform at exactly eleven o'clock. While Remus chose to go rest in the staff compartment, Harry went to search for an empty one.

It wasn't a difficult task as in the beginning of the first term, considering that there were students that stayed at school during the holidays. Finally, Harry found an empty compartment at the very end of the train and closed the door behind him. He put his trunk and Hedwig's cage on the luggage rack and seated himself next to the window, watching the passing scenery.

The very obvious and unusual part of today was that for the first time since he began at Hogwarts, he rode the train alone. He didn't need to wait for Blaise or Draco to show up. Blaise informed him by owl post earlier that morning that he would meet him at Hogsmeade's train station when the Hogwarts Express arrived. He had spent the holidays at his aunt's in Ireland. He also noted in his letter that he had some big, exciting news to tell him and Harry wondered what that was about. By the sound of his letter, Harry realized Blaise knew nothing about what happened to Draco over Christmas. He was both glad and worried by that. It was good that he didn't know about it. At least one of them had a good and happy holidays break. But it also meant he had to tell him and he really did not fancy doing that.

Draco, however, did not contact Harry at all. Harry had the feeling he was trying to avoid him and any possible conversation over what had happened, not that he needed to worry about it. Harry wasn't stupid. He knew mentioning it would only make matters more difficult for his friend. Harry had thought about it a lot since the events on the first day of Christmas. He knew how to act and what to say. He just hoped Draco didn't take it too hard. He was probably already at school, coming early so he could avoid people, though Harry doubted anyone knew.

Harry spent a good hour looking out the window until the weather outside became too dark to see anything. Rain started to pound loudly against the pane. He looked up at Hedwig hopefully, thinking maybe she would like to listen to his babbling, since he was starting to feel a bit lonely, but the snowy owl had nested her head underneath her wing and was soundly asleep.

He sighed, trying to think of something better to do. He didn't feel tired, so he couldn't take a short nap, and the lunch trolley hadn't passed yet, so he had nothing to eat.

Just when he thought about going out to take a short stroll down the hall, the compartment door slid open and he looked up and groaned loudly. Pansy Parkinson was looking down at him with a smug look on her pug-like face, her hands on her hips.

"You don't have to sound so keen to see me, Potter," she said sardonically, but still closed the door and sat by his side.

"Please, Pansy, I'm begging," Harry said desperately and moved immediately to the opposite bench, trying to get as far away from her as he could. "Not now. I'm having a very foul day."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't be staying long," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I just came in to check if you knew where Draco was. He missed the Prefect's meeting and it's our turn to patrol the train, and since I couldn't find him anywhere I thought I would come and ask you."

"All right, wait a second, let me check..." Harry said, making a show of looking in all his pockets and under the seats. "Well, he's not here," he finally told her, straitening up.

She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and looking unimpressed. "Funny. I didn't know you have the sense of humor of a monkey."

"Ha-ha. I didn't know you were lying when you said you wouldn't be staying long," he replied in the same tone.

Her eyes turned into slits as she put out her lips. She got up and grabbed the door handle, but paused before she opened it. "Well, I guess there is no point to thank you. And if we are on the subject, I thought I'd be nice enough to come and show my gratitude to you for letting me know that Blaise liked me. We really bonded over Christmas." She slid the door open, walked out and closed it behind her, but not even a second had passed before she opened it again, just slightly so she could poke her head in. "And by the way, there are two gorillas answering to the names Vincent and Gregory, bullying first-years two cars down from here. Just thought you would have liked to know what your siblings are doing and where to collect them." She added a nasty smile and disappeared.

Harry was so puzzled he didn't hear her last insult at him. All he heard was something about Blaise. Did she really just say that? Did she really like Blaise after all and did that have something to do with the exciting news he mentioned in his letter earlier?

Harry jumped up, opened the door and looked around. "Pansy, wait a minute!" he called to her. She was about to move to another car.

She stopped and looked at him with a frown, her eyebrows showing slight hesitation. Then she gave in and walked slowly towards him. He got back inside his compartment, sat down next to him and waited for her to follow him in. He motioned to her to sit down and when she did, he asked her, looking completely bewildered, "What was that all about? You and Blaise?"

She sighed happily and nodded. "We started sending one to another letters during the holidays. At first it was in a friendly sort of way, then I started to see it became much more and well..." she trailed off and shrugged.

Harry grinned from ear to ear. "I'm so happy for you!" he exclaimed and without realizing it, his arms had wrapped themselves around her in a hug. It lasted about two seconds before they let go. She was smiling too, looking happy for a change, instead of the irritating girl Harry had known her to be.

About thirty minutes later, she left his compartment again to continue her stroll up and down the train. And Harry was amazed. He never talked to Pansy like they just did. She told him everything: how it all started, what they wrote to each other, and how she felt. She was completely fancying Blaise Zabini! His plan had worked; he couldn't believe it! And he couldn't have been happier for the both of them.

Now, if only his other plan would work just as easily...

It was merely two hours ago when she saw him passing by the compartment she and her friends chose. He was walking alone for a change, and he sat right in the next compartment, fully unaware she was only a few meters away. Maybe he did see her, but chose to ignore her? Or maybe that was the reason he sat so close to her; to spite her?

She remembered what had happened on Christmas day. She actually admitted to herself that she was developing feeling for him. Again. Her face flushed with the memory of him being so close to her that she could practically feel his hot breath on her skin.

She was sitting there with her friends, hiding behind a copy of Witch Weekly and pretending she was reading while she mulled things over. She was glad she was hidden because she didn't want to explain to Luna or Neville why her face suddenly matched her hair.

Still, she wondered what he wanted from her. She didn't know if she should be grateful or disappointed that they didn't kiss again. He wanted to kiss her, she saw that in his eyes, and for a minute she felt like she wanted to kiss him, too. At the time, she was thankful that Fred and George showed up and interrupted them. She wondered if she would have felt stupid and used if they had kissed again. But that was all before, and she couldn't help but wonder how she would have felt now. She remembered the first time they kissed. Sure, it didn't turn out very well, thanks to the git, but the kiss itself was good. As much as she tried to tell herself otherwise, she did like it; she just didn't like the person who gave it to her. Well, at the time, of course.

What am I thinking? Am I actually saying this? I like Potter? No, it's just a rush of old, silly feelings from the very distant past, Ginny thought frantically, trying desperately to make herself believe it was true. She just couldn't fall for a Slytherin, and certainly not the same brainless Slytherin twice. She couldn't!

And what was she doing now? She was thinking of having a repeat of that kiss! Why was she tormenting herself like this? She couldn't stand the guy, obviously, so why couldn't she get him out of her head?

He's an insensitive, irritable twat, she thought. He likes playing with other people's feelings. He's a cheater when it comes to Quidditch and he's possibly a cheater when it comes to relationships, too. He's an arrogant jerk who cares about himself and no one else, well, maybe except for his friends and family. He hangs out with Malfoy, Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle. His taste in girls is just awful, seeing as he dated Parkinson. He insults students who aren't in Slytherin, Muggleborns and well, Weasleys.

Ginny sighed and looked out the window in the compartment's door. Pansy Parkinson passed by, and Ginny wondered for a second if she's was looking for Malfoy, since he was absent from the Prefect meeting earlier. Ginny then remembered seeing Potter walking alone and wondered if Malfoy was even on the train at all.

She reached out and shut the blinds on the door, not wanting to see anymore unfriendly faces. She returned looking at an article in the magazine without much interest.

Yet, she sank in thought again. What was it about Potter that she found likeable? Well, for starters, one can't ignore his good looks. His eyes are a pretty shade of green and he has a very charming smile. His hair is too messy, though, I wonder if he ever heard of a comb... He's tall, but not too tall like Dean. I hate over-tall guys, can't reach them. I guess he has a bit of sense of humor. He's a bit of a good kisser. A good student, a good friend –

She stopped, realizing what she was doing and she could feel her blush creeping down her neck and suddenly, she was feeling way too hot. The cold rain outside wouldn't even be enough to cool her off. She needed fresh air. She needed to wash her face and she needed to close some unsettled matters with a certain Slytherin.

She excused herself and without waiting for her friends to ask where she was going, she stood in the hallway outside. She gulped hard, and turned right only to be facing something she did not expect to see.

Ginny stood frozen at the sight that greeted her. She held a frown on her face and she did not feel as giddy as she had felt a minute ago. She wanted to hit something; a wall, a pillow or a very annoying Harry Potter.

The earlier need to go and wash her flushed face had gone now. Her face had paled in a second as she saw him pull back from the hug he just gave Parkinson. He was practically all over her! Good thing she hadn't witnessed them snogging, because then she would have most likely gone blind on the spot.

She felt slightly sick, watching them together. They had no idea she was looking at them from the other side of the door. Pansy shoved his shoulder playfully, giggling, while he laughed back. Ginny had seen enough. She huffed grumpily and walked back to her own compartment, threw herself back in her seat and stared angrily into space.

How dare he? She knew! Of course she knew! She knew all along that bastard was playing with her. How else could he explain the very intimfate embrace he had shared in the arms of that cow Pansy Parkinson? He was talking with her, laughing with her, touching her, and Ginny felt the heat rush to her face, but didn't know why.

Why should she care about it anyway? He was a pig-headed jerk, that's all. Nothing to be jealous of.

The copy of Witch Weekly magazine was back in front of her face, but she did not bother to read a single word from the articles. She ignored everything else and tried to listen to the voices coming through the wall instead.

She was more confused than angry. She was hurt, too. Why would he flirt with her if he was still seeing Pansy Parkinson?

Boys! she thought crossly. Dogs are more loyal than them!

She hadn't noticed she had put the magazine in her lap and started staring angrily into space again.

Ron and Hermione finally decided to show up. Their faces were flushed and their robes crumpled. Even Neville's plants could have guessed what they had been doing.

Hermione and Ron sat in the seats in front of her. They quickly noticed her glare.

"What's wrong with you?" Ron inquired.

"I know what's wrong with her," Luna said in a matter-of-fact tone. She turned to Ginny and said, "It's the rackfets season, isn't it, Ginny?" She winked, but Ginny only looked more furious.

"What?" Ron asked, not following. He looked between Luna and Ginny and held a confused expression on his face. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Ronald. Mind your own business!" his sister retorted.

Ron let out a short laugh. "On, I get it," he said, leaning back in his seat with a smug look. "Only a boy would make her this pissed. Am I right, Ginny?"

He suddenly let out a small 'oouf' sound as Hermione stepped on his foot, Neville shifted uncomfortably in his seat next to her and Luna simply smiled dreamily.

"I said, mind your own business, Ron!" Ginny screamed.

A howl of girlish laughter echoed through the wall behind her. Ginny rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. She stood up at once. "I'm going for a walk," she said and walked out the door again. Hermione quickly followed.

Hermione reached out for her friend and stopped her from stomping off. "Wait up, Ginny."

Ginny turned at her, looking now tired than usual. "What?" she said in a dry tone.

"What's wrong? You looked fine before we left and now you're like this," Hermione said, a worried note in her voice.

"Nothing, Hermione, I'm having one of my bad days. I just want to be alone for a while." She turned around to leave again, but Hermione didn't let go so easily. She ran after her.

"Ginny, come on, tell me."

Ginny sighed. "Well, while you and Ron were snogging in the loos – Oh, don't look at me like that wasn't what you were doing – I found out something... quite disturbing. Well, no... Well, yes... I... I don't know how to put it..."

"What happened?" Hermione pressed.

Ginny looked around to see there wasn't anyone around. She continued walking, Hermione followed and they moved to another carriage. "Well, something happened over Christmas that neither you nor Ron knows..."

She told her all about Harry's visit to the Burrow and how they almost kissed, then finally, how close she saw him earlier with Pansy Parkinson.

"So now you're jealous?" Hermione asked, smiling in spite of herself. Ginny buried her face in her hands, shaking it violently.

"I don't know! I don't know what I am feeling! I'm so confused. One minute he's flirting with me, the next he's with someone else. Do you think he's back together with her? No, don't answer that! I don't want to know. I'm through with Harry Potter!"

Harry looked around the platform of Hogsmeade's train station. It was close to six when the train finally arrived. Luckily, the rain stopped, so they didn't get wet while they descended the train. Everyone was now getting onto the horseless carriages.

"Looking for me?" a voice said behind him. Harry spun around and saw a grinning Blaise standing in front of him.

"Hey! When did you get here?" Harry asked.

"Like an hour ago or so. I waited in the Three Broomsticks, since it was storming. It just stopped raining," Blaise replied. "Didn't want to go out there and get a cold. Besides, the school gates were locked."

"Great. Let's get a carriage," Harry said, leading the way.

"Wait – where is Draco?"

Harry hesitated for a moment. "Oh, he's already there. Don't know how he got there, though. Come on now, I'm starving. Can't wait for dinner to start," he said quickly, changing the subject, though he knew he had to tell him sooner or later about what happened to Draco. He knew he would have to do it, because Draco was probably trying to avoid it as much as he could. He only hoped he could stall it as long as possible.

They found an empty carriage and slowly it made the way up to the castle.

"So, what's the big news you sounded so eager to tell me?" Harry asked.

Blaise didn't stop smiling. It looked like his smile just got brighter by the second. "Harry, you wouldn't believe it. I'm in love!" he said in a dreamy voice. Harry nodded, having already heard the story from Pansy. "She's absolutely amazing, and beautiful and funny – I didn't know how funny she was! And we exchanged letters all during Christmas. I couldn't believe it at first, but she really likes me!"

Harry kept nodding, feeling happy and glad that at least one of them could find happiness with the girl they liked. "Yes, I know. Pansy told me everything," he said, sounding pleased.

"...and her family is great, She comes from a great Wizarding family, you know? And she's really – Wait, what do you mean 'Pansy told you'? What does Pansy has to do with this?" Blaise's change in tone made Harry confused.

"Who are you talking about?" he asked, puzzled.

"Julia. Who did you think I was talking about?" Blaise replied, now feeling even more confused than his friend.

"Pansy. You know, the girl who sent you all during Christmas break letters, which you replied to just as eagerly, from what I've heard, the girl you were so obsessed with for the past five months until I set you up with her, the same girl who is fancying you back now and thinks you're fancying her, too, but now you're telling me there's someone named Julia in this?"

Blaise looked dumbfounded. "Pansy fancies me?" he asked in a small voice, gulping hard.

"Yes, you prat! And where did this Julia person came from, anyway?"

Blaise looked blankly at him. "She's... she's a friend of a friend of my cousin's, Clarisse. She's in Ravenclaw, fifth year. I sent her letters, too. What did you say about Pansy fancying me?" he said slowly, as if afraid that if he would say it aloud will make it change.

Harry sighed, clearly not predicting this outcome. "She told me earlier on the train. So, what, are you with Julia now?"

Blaise looked completely lost. He ran a hand through his hair. "We said we'll meet up and see how it goes. I honestly don't know what to do now. I had no idea that Pansy liked me that way... I've never been in this situation before..."

The carriage stopped moving when they arrived at the front doors to the castle. They stepped out of it and walked into the entrance hall, dragging their luggage. They had about thirty minutes before dinner started. They decided to go to the common room until then. As they made their way to the dungeons, Harry noted, "You know, Pansy is going to expect you to ask her out on a date."

Blaise looked horrified. "Seriously, Harry, you've got to help me. What would you have done?"

Harry let out a dry laugh. "Lucky for me, I don't have that problem."

Blaise reached for something in the inside pocket of his cloak. He pulled out something and handed him to Harry. "Look at her," he said. Harry looked down at what Blaise shoved into his hand. It was a photo of a girl, holding a white cat. She had long, curly red blonde hair and light green eyes. She was smiling genuinely as she patted her cat. She was pretty, Harry had to admit. "She's gorgeous, isn't she?"

Harry handed him the photo back. "Yes, she is. Too bad you're allergic to cats; she seems very fond of them," he made a sarcastic note.

Blaise chose to ignore it. They followed a group of seventh years into the common room. They said the new password and walked inside.

They entered their dorm and found it empty. Harry looked over to Draco's bed. His belongings were already in place, and he wondered how long he would keep hiding.

"Where do you reckon he is?" Blaise asked, pushing his trunk to rest by the bottom of his bed.

Harry felt slightly uncomfortable with the question. It wasn't fair that he knew what had happened and Blaise didn't, but he just couldn't find the right words to tell him. "Dunno," he finally said, his voice lower then usual.

He put Hedwig's cage on his bedside cabinet, hoping that Blaise wouldn't see through him. He patted the owl's beak with one finger, which she nipped playfully. He suddenly felt a hard shove in his shoulder which caused him to fall to his bed, his face down. He turned around and gulped when he met the end of Blaise's wand. He knew he had nothing to worry about, so he kept his own wand tucked in his pocket. Blaise wasn't a threat to him.

"What do you know that I don't?" Blaise asked, looking down at him while his wand was still aimed at his friend.

"I'll tell you later," Harry said, pushing the wand aside, but Blaise didn't give up as easily as Harry thought. He shoved him back down, looking irritated.

"What is it?" he pressed on.

"All right!" Harry said, giving up. "I'll tell you, just get off me."

Blaise tucked his wand away; stepping back from Harry and helping him sit up on the edge of the bed. Harry thought he heard him mutter a faint 'sorry.'

"Well, it's like this –" Harry began to say, but a strong voice came from the door way and made them turn around.

"You don't need to do this, Harry," Draco said, walking into the room with slow, equal paces. "It isn't your story to tell."

Harry had the funny feeling as though cold had swept into the room once Draco stepped in. He could have sworn it was just his imagination, but the hairs on the back of his neck still stood on end and shiver went through his spine. Without a second doubt, Harry had felt a major difference in his attitude.

"Draco, what's going on?" Blaise asked the newcomer.

"I was talking with the Headmaster in his office a few minutes ago," he said. "He wanted to speak with me about what my father did. I guess Harry was just about to tell you how I was trying to kill him and his family when I was under the Imperius Curse, which none other than my own father had cast on me, so I could do his dirty work and avenge the death of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Harry grimaced, nodding slightly. "Yes, but not with those exact words..."

"Imperius?" Blaise gasped, looking between his two best friends until he settled on Harry's face, as though wanting to confirm what he was hearing. Harry nodded.

"Yes," Draco went on. "The Ministry Aurors had managed to capture my father and an entire group of Death Eaters he helped escape from Azkaban prison that night. My mother was injured. She and Father had quite a fight and he tried to kill her. The Aurors then investigated me after they'd removed the curse and that's it. I thought you shouldn't be the only one who didn't know and it needed to come from me, anyway."

"Wow," Blaise breathed, not believing his ears. "So how long were you under the curse?"

"Pretty long," Draco said. "Ever since the start of first term. You pretty much had seen me switch between my normal self to the possessed part most of the time. It was mostly mood swings, different behavior and stuff like that. The Healers who checked me after the curse was lifted were surprised I was acting normally after that."

"So you okay now?" Harry asked. "Physically and emotionally?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I mean, I want to kill my father, but that's normal I guess," he half joked and Harry laughed in spite of himself.

"Well, forget that. We're glad to have you back. Let's go down to dinner."

Once they entered the Great Hall and headed to the Slytherin table, Blaise caught Harry's arm in a painful grasp, stopping Harry on the spot and causing him to yelp in pain.

"What the hell did I do to you?" Harry demanded angrily, rubbing his sore arm.

"It's her, Harry!" Blaise hissed in panic, pointing secretly ahead at Pansy, who was already seated with her friends in the table. From what they could tell, they arrived a bit too late and most of the seats were already taken, only a few were unoccupied and they were all around her. "I can't sit next to her; I can't deal with this right now! You've got to help me, Harry!"

"Oh no, no," Harry said, still annoyed by the throbbing in his arm. "I don't want anything to do with this. It's your mess, you figure it out. I've done my share in the deal." He walked after Draco, who chose to sit beside Crabbe and Goyle, and Harry, with a small smirk, sat in the only seat left next to him. Blaise looked mortified when he found out that if he wanted to sit with them, he would either have to take the seat next to Pansy, across of them, or go and sit with a group of first-year girls. He cast Harry a dark glare, growling to himself silently and mouthed the words 'I'll get you for this later' before he sat down next to Pansy without much choice left.

She greeted him with an excited "Hi" and he returned her a polite smile as his face flashed a bright color of crimson. Harry smiled proudly to himself as he started to fill his plate with food.

During dinner, Harry had engaged a conversation with Pansy; intentionally speaking about Blaise, so his daft and currently red-eared friend would finally get the point and join in. Blaise only added a few sentences shyly, which most of the time caused Pansy to laugh, to his great surprise. He didn't even try to be funny...

Harry merely chuckled at the jokes, telling Pansy a few funny stories about Blaise. Most of their group laughed at the tales; Pansy shrieked with laughter, Goyle nearly chocked on his pie, and Draco tried to hide his snigger behind a napkin, but it seemed that the only person who did not find these stories amusing was Blaise. Twice he kicked Harry's shin under the table, but Harry hardly cared. It was for his friend's own good, after all. He did it all because he wanted to get Pansy and Blaise together. They needed to stick to the plan.

After feeling he had enough of putting up with Harry's jokes about him, Blaise's shoulders tensed and he stood up and without a word he strode back to the dungeons.

Harry knew he had crossed a line somewhere, and he mentally reminded himself to apologize to his friend later. He would try to explain to him why he did it, but he wasn't so sure that Blaise would accept his excuses. Harry was surprised to see Pansy looking after Blaise with even more interest than before as he left the Hall.

Harry and Draco left the Great Hall a few minutes later with Crabbe and Goyle tailing behind. Pansy quickly caught up with them and stood by Harry's side, joining them as well.

"Do you think he still likes me, Harry? He seemed a bit put out earlier," she said quietly.

"He's fine. He's just going through a phase or something. He should be over it soon, don't worry; it's nothing to do with you," Harry assured her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder and squeezing it lightly.

A small smile tugged her lips. "Thank you," she said. She waved him goodbye and ran down to the common room to join her friends.

It was funny somehow. Now that he knew Pansy was off his case and that she could actually be totally normal around him, he really started to like her, in a non-other-than-a-friend way, since he still believed something could still happen between her and Blaise, and also, he still couldn't forget about Ginny that quickly... He smiled fondly at the thought of Blaise and Pansy together and if he had to admit it, they could be a cute couple. Only now Blaise had to go and ruin his perfect plan, which would have worked, had he not met that Ravenclaw girl.

"Potter," a voice called coldly and Harry spun around. There was Hermione Granger standing alone, a large book in her hands, and an unfriendly glare on her face. For a moment, Harry meant to greet her kindly, but didn't know if his friends would see it appropriate or if she was faking her crossed expression, so he simply mimicked her glare and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Granger," he acknowledged her indifferently.

He could hear Draco making a disgusted groan behind his back and he chose to ignore it, while Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Potter, the Headmaster had requested I'll walk you to his office since he wishes to talk to you," she said at once, sounding cold.

Draco quickly pushed his way to stand in front of her and stood by Harry. "I'll take it from here, Granger." Harry barely had registered what she told him. What would the Headmaster want from him? Was it something to do with Draco?

"You are due to do rounds in five minutes, Malfoy. If you hadn't missed today's Prefects meeting, you would have known that." Harry was sure he saw a glint of triumph in her eyes, but her expression did not change. Draco made another assaulted sound and walked away, Crabbe and Goyle still behind him.

"Please follow me," Hermione said and walked up a staircase, not waiting up for him, and he ran up to meet her. They walked up to the second floor, until she opened a door to an empty classroom, pushed him inside and locked it behind them with a flick of her wand.

"What's going on? I thought Dumbled –"

"Are you honestly stupid or are you just pretending to be?" she asked, cutting him off, throwing her heavy book on a desk. A loud thump echoed through the dark room.

"What?" he retorted, confused. Well, at least now he knew the Headmaster didn't really ask to see him, so he could stop worrying what he wanted. However, now he was cornered, face to face with a fuming girl, in a vacant, dark classroom, and he had no idea why she was so angry at him. "What did I do?"

"Oh, don't give me that!" she said, pacing angrily about the room, muttering to herself. She stopped and looked him directly in his eyes. "I'm risking my relationship with Ron and friendship with Ginny so I can help you get together with her, but then you throw that in my face!"

"Granger, what are you on about?" he asked, puzzled.

She started pacing around the room again. "At first, I thought she was just overreacting, that maybe she misunderstood what she saw, but when I saw it myself, I just wanted to strangle you!"

"Again, what?"

"You and Pansy Parkinson!"

Harry blinked, not following. "What about me and Pansy?"

Hermione gasped, looking shocked. "Oh, don't even try to deny it! I saw you two together earlier at dinner!"

At first he didn't follow, but then the words entered his head and he gaped at her in horror. "Pansy and I are definitely, one hundred percent not together!"

She sulked. "Don't lie! Ginny said she saw you hugging her."

"Ginny said that? Where did she get it from? Are you both insane? I can barely stand her," he said, now feeling angry himself.

Then he remembered. He did hug Pansy. "Oh... the train..." he said slowly. Hermione nodded. "She's not interested in me! She told me she was fancying Blaise and I was just happy so I hugged her. I didn't even realize." Hermione didn't look convinced. "I swear! Really, why would I mess up things with Ginny after everything I've done to try and get her? Does it even make sense to you?"

Hermione huffed angrily. "I swear, Potter, if you mess this up, I won't let you see the next day's sunrise!" she said threateningly, so unlike of her.

He raised his hands up in defense. "Make sure Ginny knows there's nothing between Pansy and me, would you?"

Hermione did not say anything. She grabbed her book and stomped out of the classroom without another word.

Harry walked out of there, feeling a bit perplexed. He couldn't help but think what would happen when he and Ginny could finally start a relationship, but with no trust? Would she always think he would turn his back on her and go to someone else and play with her like that?

He felt like it wasn't the time to think about it. He knew that no matter what, he would never do that, and if a matter like that ever surfaced between them, he would have to assure her that there's nothing to worry about.

Harry chuckled to himself and ran a hand trough his thick hair. He couldn't believe he was thinking what he would do if his relationship with Ginny be at risk, when there was no relationship at all between them. Although he couldn't help but wonder if it would ever work out between them, they were two opposites after all, his mind still traveled to those places where he yearned to reach already.

He wandered the torch lit hallway and entered the loos at the very end of it. He needed a bit of freshening up before he could come back to the common room.

He flashed cold water on his face and rubbed his weary eyes, slightly smiling to himself when he couldn't stop thinking what their first date would be like. Would they constantly argue or would they be unable take a minute break to catch their breaths since they couldn't stop snogging?

Harry looked up at the mirror, examining his flushed faced. He shook it forcedly, in attempt to clear his mind from these thoughts. He reached for the paper towels dispenser, to wipe his hands and face dry, but found it empty. He entered an vacant stall to grab some toilet paper instead, just when he heard the door creak open and two sets of heavy foot steps entered the room.

"She's nice, isn't she?" He heard someone say. He didn't recognize the voice. The sound of running water in the sink was heard. "Quite a looker, too."

His friend chuckled. "I'll say. Did you see her front? Not bad for a girl her age, eh? Though I think she might be too short for you."

The first one sighed, obviously a fake sigh as Harry could tell. Harry simply rolled his eyes as he wiped his hands dry in toilet paper. "Yeah, but she's been single for quite some time now, so I thought I should just ask her out now before someone else will. Corner said she knows how to kiss and... Well... stuff."

Harry shook his head absently, not paying much interest in their private conversation, after all, boys will be boys, and he couldn't blame guys his age for checking out girls. There was the screech of the metal tap turn shut and Harry stepped outside his stall, eyeing the two Ravenclaw boys, who looked likely to be fifth years, for a minute before heading to the door.

"Just wait until breakfast tomorrow, and I'll set a date with Ginny Weasley."

Harry's feet had halted on their own record at that. He looked back to the other two boys, fixing their appearance in the mirrors and sniggering to themselves, until the tall, sandy haired one, who talked about asking Ginny – Harry's Ginny! – out on a date, had caught his eyes in the mirror and frowned. "Whatchoo looking at?" he called at Harry, his friend turned around and shot him a dark glare.

Harry did not say anything, knowing if he had, he'd be seeking trouble. So thinking better, he turned back and walked out, taking a shortcut to the dungeons.

Harry mentally kicked himself. He knew he should have acted sooner. Now someone else was going to ask her out. Someone who was more handsome than he was, who was taller than he was, who was more popular than he was, who wasn't a Slytherin like he was, and Ginny would accept his offer and agree to go out with him. He'd never have a chance to date her now. Not in this decade, at least.

He reached the entrance to the common room, said the password, walked inside and straight to his dormitory.

No one was there but him and for a second he wondered where Blaise had gone to or if he even got back here at all. He sat at the edge of his bed, kicking his shoes off, whilst thinking if Blaise was avoiding him.

He let his body fall limply back onto the bed, thinking what he should do now with Ginny. He didn't want anyone else asking her out, of course, but he couldn't just walk up to her and fight another bloke for her. She wasn't his to fight for, he had no right to do such thing; besides, he knew she was still confused about her feelings for him and he knew he should give her time to figure them out; however, time was the only thing he didn't have. Tomorrow morning, that pretty-boy would ask her to go out with him and he would lose any chance of ever being with her. He could not lose her again to another guy.

Hermione said Ginny was upset when she saw him hugging Pansy. That must mean she's starting to like him, otherwise, why would she be upset by that? And hadn't she almost kissed him back over Christmas? Even though he knew that if he walked up to her right now, she'd probably avoid him or scream at him, or both. 'Ginny doesn't know what she wants,' Hermione had said. 'She's still in denial.'

Harry sighed. How much longer is she going to be in denial? He still wasn't sure what he should do.

The door opened and Harry looked up to see Blaise walking into the room, wearing his pajamas and drying his hair with a towel, obviously having just coming back from a shower. He didn't say a thing when he noticed Harry sprawled on his bed.

"So you aren't speaking to me," Harry stated. Blaise sat on his own bed, purposely not looking at him. "Fine, be that way. I was just trying to help, you know. You asked me to do this..."

Blaise suddenly let out a huff. "I did not ask you to make me look like a fool in front of everyone!" he retorted angrily. Harry sat up so he could look at him properly. "I did not ask you to joke about me, Harry! I asked you to help me so I wouldn't need to deal with her at the moment because I was confused!" Harry opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. Blaise went on, "For the first time in my life, girls are actually interested in me. I mean, I don't know why, but they do, and the worst part is that I can't choose who I want to be with. It may have happened to you before, when you used to date three girls at the same time, but I'm not you, I'm not used to getting attention from the opposite sex. Tonight I needed some space, but instead of helping me, you kept shoving this suffocating cloud into my face, and I couldn't deal with it. Tonight, all I asked from you is to be my friend, not a bloody matchmaker."

Harry gulped. It only just occurred to him how big of a prat he was tonight toward his best friend. If only he realized earlier this is how Blaise felt, he wouldn't have acted like a complete git. "Blaise, I'm sorry, mate. I had no idea you felt that way, but you've got to see it from my point of view; I felt like you threw everything I've done for you in my face. I thought if I'd stick to my plan, you'll eventually thank me for it, but I saw it was failing and I felt like you threw it all away like I've done nothing."

Blaise sat there with his shoulders slump, looking as sorry as Harry was.

"And you know what Pansy told me?" Harry went on, "she was afraid you didn't like her anymore. See, even after I made you look like a fool, she still like likes you as you are. The question now is if you still like her?"

Blaise covered his face with the towel, blocking the frustrated growl that escaped his throat. He threw himself backwards onto the bed; his body hit the mattress with a weak thump and he stretched out. "I don't know," he muttered through the soft fabric. He removed it just enough so he could take a peek at Harry. "But it's like you said earlier, Harry, you've done your share of the deal, so it's over now for you. I need to get out of this mess by myself. Don't think I'm not thankful, Harry, because I am. I don't know if I said it before, but I really am thankful for everything you did. You're a good friend."

"Touching as this is, my fair ladies," Draco's voice rang through the room. They looked up to see him leaning against the doorframe, clearly having heard half their conversation. Harry's smile, which brightened at Blaise's speech, disappeared at once. There was something in Draco's taunting voice that Harry didn't like. He was used to been teased by him, but something felt different and Harry frowned at him.

"I don't find it so amusing when I have to do rounds with Parkinson and hear her saying how completely cute you are, Zabini," Draco said sarcastically. "Then come back here and hear the two of you blabbing about it as well!"

Blaise grabbed a pillow from behind his head and threw it in Draco's direction, not even caring if he hit him with it or not. Draco easily dodged the pillow and walked inside, kicking the dormitory's door shut behind him. He passed by Blaise's bed, lifted the towel off his face just a bit so he could see his hidden eyes. "Missed," he said with a bored note to his voice and carelessly let go of the towel, letting it cover his friend's face once again. He walked to his trunk, pulling out his fancy bottle-green satin pajamas and started to change his clothes. "You two are starting to act more like girls every passing day," he commented. "It's a real wonder you can still pee while standing."

"You could use a real good snog once in a while, too, Draco," Harry said dryly, now pulling his own pajamas out of his trunk.

"And who said I haven't?" Draco replied casually, surprising his friends.

Harry turned to look at him just as he had pulled his pajamas shirt on, catching a glimpse of his pale skinned back. Harry blinked once. He was sure he saw a raw mark scorched on his side. He shook this thought off, thinking he was either imagining it or for the more logical option, it could have probably be an outcome of the duel he had with his father. Harry chose not to say a word about it and instead glanced at Blaise's direction to see if he had spotted it too, but Blaise's head was still covered with his towel, though right now it was perked up at where Draco was standing. Slowly, he removed the towel off his face, revealing a look of complete shock. "What?" he asked with a slight emphasis.

"Just because I don't talk about girls like the two of you, doesn't mean I don't acknowledge them," Draco explained.

"Yeah right," Blaise snorted. "Who will snog you? Millicent Bulstrode is already taken."

Harry laughed at that. "Yes, I think Crabbe is dating her," he added, causing Blaise to roll around and stifle his laughter in another puffy pillow.

Draco did not look offended by that, however. He still wore a small smirk on his lips. "Laugh all you want, but just because I don't have a steady girlfriend, it doesn't mean I don't snog girls. Unlike you two, I actually get to snog girls I like, while you sit and mope all day about yours. You can't even get them on a date and you're mocking me? Tut, tut."

"Whoa, that's low," Blaise said, shaking his head slowly.

"Yeah, we're not speaking of this, it's a sensitive topic," Harry added and his ears changed a hue of pink. "Besides, I never even saw you around girls, so quit acting all macho."

"I'm not," Draco insisted, shrugging. "I just don't go and brag about it in front of the whole house. Well, obviously I haven't been with anyone lately since this all fiasco with my father happened, but that actually changed tonight..."

"Oh yeah? With whom?" Harry challenged, pulling his own pajamas shirt over his head.

"Jennifer Newport," Draco replied without even blinking.

Harry's heart skipped a bit. "No way..." he said slowly, barely managing to find the collar of his shirt to stick his head through.

Blaise sat up at once. "Harry's ex?"

It was true. A year ago, Harry dated her for a little over a month. Jennifer was a Slytherin seventh year, a pretty brunette with blue eyes, who mostly dated boys because she liked the attention it brought on her. That's who she was, another girl who liked being in the spotlight. She and Harry weren't very serious, but he still liked her despite all that. They broke up on friendly terms, though he hadn't spoken to her since.

"How? When did this happen?" Harry asked. Not that he cared, he was merely interested.

Draco shrugged. "A few minutes ago in the common room, after I got back from my rounds. We sat down and well... it just sort of happened, you know..."

Blaise looked impressed while Harry contemplated this. It surely seemed like Draco was back to his old self, and Harry wasn't sure if he likes it or not. He should be happy for his friend. After everything he'd been through, the least he could do was to accept him for whom he really was. He felt a small pang of longing for the old Draco, and he didn't know why he felt that way. The old Draco wasn't his friend. The one who stood in the room with him now was his real best friend.

"So, why is it such a sensitive topic for you, Harry?" a dull voice erupted his reflections.

Harry woke up from his daze with a quick shake of his head and looked shyly at his friends. "I'm not sure I can talk to you about this..." he said uncertainly.

"If you're not going to talk to us about it, who will you turn to?" Blaise reasoned. Harry's first choice in that case of course would have been Hermione, but giving that it was nearly curfew and that he probably wasn't her favorite person at the moment, he thought he'd better tell them now than to no one at all. Tomorrow may be a bit too late. "Come on, Harry, we're your best mates," Blaise pressed.

"Yes. And even though I know I'm going to regret it later, you should tell us what's up with your redhead," Draco said.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well... Things are a bit complicated than I thought they would be. She's doesn't know what she wants or what she feels and I can't even go up to her and talk, not to mention asking her out... And speaking of asking her out, I found out tonight that there's this Ravenclaw bloke who's going to ask her out tomorrow at breakfast, and of course he's looking so charming, she won't be able to reject him. I'm not sure what I'm going to do..."

"Well, that's easy..." Draco said slowly. "Just make sure he won't ask her until you get to ask her first."

Harry snorted. "And how am I going to do that?"

"We'll help you out."

Harry looked skeptically at them, as though they had grown a second head, but Draco looked serious and Blaise nodded his head genuinely. "Right... But let's leave the option of hexing him as Plan B, okay?"

And so it was, that for the next hour, they sat down and plotted what Harry should do...

Morning came much too soon, and yet Harry perked up early, changed his clothes and headed off to the Owlery. His body was shaking slightly and he regretted he didn't wear a sweater or a pair of gloves this early in the morning. The air was icy and his warm, unsteady breath was coming out of his mouth in small puffs of vapor. The sun had just started to shine, its warm glow casting soft beams of gold over the deep oval skies. All Harry could hear beside the echo of his footsteps on the marble floor was the squeaky cheeping of birds and the chirping of crickets.

He ascended the spiral staircase to the Owlery once he reached it and silently entered the circular room, careful not to alert the entire pack of dozing owls, hooting softly in their sleep with their heads buried under their wings. The air in the room was damp; the floor was a mess of scattered straw, owl droppings and animal bones. He looked around and spotted Hedwig nested on a low perch in the right corner of the tower. She had seemed to recognize her master's presence when he entered the room. Her big, amber eyes blinked questioningly at him, as though asking if he had come for her. He walked over to her, scratched her pale feathers affectionately while she nibbled his fingers in return. She seemed to understand he had not come for her and went back to sleep.

Harry scanned the room for the second time for a suitable school owl, one of the few that were already awake and watching him. He found one sitting on a perch above Hedwig, a tiny Scops owl, and then tried to persuade him to come down. The owl finally flew to him and landed on his outstretched arm. Harry then pulled out of his pocket a small roll of parchment he had prepared the night before with his friends' help. This parchment was actually taken out of the journal Blaise had got him for Christmas, and Blaise tipped him that it wasn't exactly an ordinary sheet of parchment, and when that got Harry interested, he refused to say another word about it.

After giving the owl the instructions to whom and where to deliver his letter, the small bird hooted once in comprehension and took off.

By now, Harry could hear the unmistakable sound of students going down to breakfast in the Great Hall, and just thinking of it, Harry's stomach gave a lurch, both of hunger and anxious. This will better work...

Ginny let out one hearty laugh just as Hermione and Ron joined her across the table at breakfast. She had been so engrossed in a conversation Lavender and Parvati were having, that she hadn't even noticed they arrived.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Hermione asked, though Ginny merely waved her off distractedly.

Ron huffed. "Earth to Ginny?" he called, waving a hand in front of her face, which she slapped away.

"What?" she absentmindedly replied.

Hermione seemed keen to know what the conversation was about and started to listen to her roommates as well. Ron rolled his eyes in boredom, filling himself a bowl of cereal and trying in all his might to look interestedly in their talk.

"She's really good. You should all go and see her," Parvati coaxed. "And not just because she's a relative..."

"Wait, see who exactly?" Hermione asked.

"Parvati's aunt is a Seer," Lavender explained excitedly, her eyes beaming. "She just opened a new place down in Hogsmeade."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and looked doubtfully at Parvati. It was a well known fact that she did not believe in Seers or anything that was future-telling related. She always said that it was rubbish and a way to scare people and steal their money. She'd been like that ever since her third year when Professor Trelawney told her that she 'doesn't have the Inner Eye.'

"No, really, Hermione, I know what you're going to say," Parvati said, eagerness clear in her voice. "But she's nothing like that. She always talks about love and friendships. She's nothing like Professor Trelawney; she never predicts death or the like. She's not using crystal balls or tea leaves and such, she just looks at you and she knows."

Ginny giggled. "Sounds like I should go and see her next time there's a Hogsmeade trip. What do you say, Hermione? Want to come?" she winked.

"You don't really believe in that, do you Ginny?" Hermione countered with a weak voice.

"Oh come on, it just for fun. What's wrong with knowing a bit about your future? She might even tell me when I will finally have a normal boyfriend..."

"I can tell you that and it will actually be true," Hermione said, leaning back in her chair. There was a small trace of a smug smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared.

"Yeah, and free," Ron added. "I'll tell you what this is," he said, pointing his dripping spoon at Ginny. "It's a waste of your money, that's what it is. A total rip-off."

Parvati made an insulted sound. "I'll have you know that last time I saw her, she told me that I will lose track of time, and the day after that my alarm clock went off on its own and my watch broke!" she interfered, sounding dramatic. Lavender gasped in disbelief, Ginny giggled again and Hermione rolled her eyes, muttering 'oh, please...' under her breath.

"Hey, speaking of Hogsmeade, did you talk to Mum?" Ginny then turned to her brother. She completely forgot to ask him about it.

"'bout wot?" he asked back, his mouth full of cereal.

"Is she still refusing to let you go to Hogsmeade or do you need to make another Polyjuice Potion, just so you could sneak you way out of the castle again?"

He swallowed and looked up at her. "As a matter of fact, she signed my form just before we came back," he answered proudly, puffing his chest.

"Really?" Hermione looked hopeful. He nodded with a pompous grin on his face. "You can come this time?"

"I can. And it was all because they took Scabbers away from me. She felt bad about it that I don't have a pet anymore. Now, how long was it since the last time we had a normal date, hua?" he asked his girlfriend, flinging a hand around her shoulders and pulling her closely to him. She looked into his eyes adoringly and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Since the last time I puked..." Ginny muttered. She threw a few grapes at them picking them from a near fruit bowl. "Really, people are eating here!" Ron stuck his tongue at her and Ginny returned the gesture immediately. Hermione laughed at the childish behavior of the two siblings.

"Okay, so where will we go?" Hermione asked Ron, shifting back the conversation to where it was in the beginning before Ginny interrupted them.

"Well, how about we go down to Parvati's aunt and predict our future?" he suggested, and Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. She turned back to her food.

Ginny wrinkled her nose. "I thought it was a waste of money, Ron," she mocked, taking a bite off the food in her plate. "Hypocrite."

"Heck, I haven't spent a Knut from my allowance since the summer holidays," he laughed nervously, noticing the dark look Hermione gave him. "Well, be...besides the money for you Christmas gift, of course," he added quickly. The answer seemed to please her. "Maybe she can tell me if we win the Quidditch Cup this year, it'd be a great opportunity to raise a bet..."

"Of course we'll win the Cup. There's no question about it," Ginny said, ignoring half the things he said.

Hermione, however, narrowed her eyes at him again. She smacked his arm. "Not pulling a Fred and George act here, are you? Think about it first before this goes down to your mother. If she's finds out you're doing illegal bets, I doubt she'll let you come back and finish your N.E.W.T.s next year," she rebuked. "Moreover, you can lose your post as Captain and you wouldn't want that, now would you?"

"Oh great, mail's here," Ron said, looking up, obviously not hearing a word Hermione said. She shook her head and Ginny smirked.

Owls flew into the Great Hall from all directions, dropping letters and parcels to their respectable receivers. A barn owl flew at them and landed in front of Hermione, delivering her the morning's paper. Ron reached to untie it from its leg, but in return, he received a nasty bite. "Oww!" he yelp, withdrawing his hand and sucking on his bleeding finger. "Grumpy, are you?" he asked the bird.

Hermione smiled in sympathy and paid a golden coin to the owl, which hooted angrily once and flew away.

Ron then snatch the Quidditch section, grumping on bloody owl bites and Hermione who meant to scan the front page's news looked up when something grey and furry caught her eye.

"Ginny, you have an owl," she said. Her redhead friend, who was reading the back of Ron's paper, suddenly looked up and focused her gaze at Hermione.

"Sorry, what?" she asked.

Hermione pointed at the owl waiting for her at the middle of the table, sticking his leg at her, a roll of parchment attached to it with a string.

Curiosity shot through her, and Ginny untied the letter from the tiny owl, giving him a small piece of her toast as a treat before he flew away. She wondered what it could be and what it was about. She didn't recognize the owl, but he looked like one of those that the school owned.

She wondered who will send her a letter. She carefully rolled the letter open. A scowl appeared on her face and she wrinkled the letter into a ball and tossed it inside Ron's nearly empty cereal bowl.

"What is it?" Hermione, who had been watching her closely, asked with concern. Ron put his paper aside and pulled out the crumpled paper ball and started to shake it from the milk that drenched it.

"A prank," Ginny said simply, reaching across the table for Hermione's newspaper and disappearing behind it.

"What did it say?" Hermione pressed.

Ginny sighed angrily. It sounded like it took her a great deal to control her emotions and not to snap at Hermione. "Nothing. It's blank."

"Whoa!" Ron suddenly called in alarm. "What the –"

Splatters of milk hit the newspaper Ginny held, and apparently milk drops flew everywhere. Ginny tossed the paper down angrily. Luckily for her, she was hidden behind it, so she hadn't been hit with milk in the face. "Could you be a little more careful when you're cleaning that? There's no need to splash milk all over the place, Ronald! You're lucky the newspaper blocked it!" she said crossly, but then she froze when she saw what Ron was holding in his hands. He did not held a crumpled ball of parchment, but a neat, smooth sheet of it, as though it was brand new.

"It – it smoothed by itself!" Ron stuttered. He cast a look at Ginny, who looked back at him with wide eyes.

"Don't touch that!" Hermione called, startling them both. Ron threw it as though his fingers had been burned. "It could be cursed," she added.

"But we've already touched it," Ginny countered, fear crossing her eyes. "If it was cursed, we should have had boils or nosebleeds or something by now, don't you think?"

Hermione shook her head. "Ginny, the least we could do is getting it checked."

Ginny sighed. "Fine, but I have to go to class now. I have Snape next. Argh, double Potions, my absolute favorite," she said sarcastically and made a sour face at that. "We'll meet after school at the library?"

"All right."

Ginny got up and swung her bag over her shoulder. "Er – So what do we do with it now?" she asked, looking down at the parchment now lying peacefully on the table.

Ron and Hermione stood as well. Hermione flicked her wand with a swirling movement of her wrist and the mysterious parchment glowed pearly white for a moment before it soared to her and she carefully tucked it into her book bag, as though it would explode any moment now. Ginny knew one can never be too careful, especially when it involved curses and jinxes. To her, it looked like just another regular parchment, quite harmless, in fact. She was sure she wouldn't have noticed it otherwise, hadn't it just straightened on its own. Ginny knew Hermione acted wisely, suggesting they would check it out, just in case.

They had left the Great Hall together and parted at the entrance, each going to a separate way.

Hermione, who meant to go up the stairs to her Ancient Runes class, suddenly felt a rough pressure on her left shoulder and turned around. With a cross glare on his face, Harry Potter was standing in front of her, looking down at her menacingly. Hermione for a second had the sudden thought that he was about to strangle her right then. His jaw was set hard and his eyes were dark and narrowed. She opened her mouth to say something, but he started first.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked at once, his voice hard and demanding.

Again, she tried to reply, only this time she couldn't find her voice at all. She glanced around them, to see if anyone was watching them. Surely, Harry knew it would look strange and suspicious if they would be seen talking together again. She was thankful for the heavy crowd of rushing students that started to get out of the Great Hall just then, mingling around them and swallowing them in it. No one cared to look at them, everyone were in a hurry to make it to their class before the bells rang, so they were left unnoticed. Hermione had the faint idea of what this was all about, why he would suddenly corner her like this – he was probably upset about her yelling at him the night before.

"Harry –" she hissed.

"Is this how you're helping me?" he spat at her.

"What?" she asked, taken aback, her eyes widening.

"Give her back the letter this second, Hermione, or I swear –" but he never got to finish that sentence since she began to laugh.

"Oh, so it's yours?" she said, looking at his face with a mixed expression of surprise and amusement. "Oh, I should have known! But then again, why would you charm it?" She tilted her head in a small angle, resembling a curious puppy.

Harry looked at her strangely. "I didn't charm it."

She folded her arms over her chest and looked straight into his eyes. "Then how do you suppose to read it?"

"You read it like any other letter!" Harry replied in frustration, his voice a bit louder than usual.

She squinted at him. "Are you sure?" she asked testily. "You didn't use an invisible ink or something like that?"

"What are you on about, Hermione?" he demanded again.

She clicked her tongue, raising her hands in defeat and shaking her head as she opened her bag and pulled out the spoken letter, this time she wasn't as careful as she was before, now knowing it wasn't jinxed or cursed.

Before she could hand it to him, he snatched it out of her hands as soon as he saw it. As he looked down at it, she could see his eyes widening in surprise, and almost popping out of their sockets as he saw a blank sheet of parchment and not the letter containing his words. "But I... There were words...!" he stammered, looking frantically at both sides of the paper. "I don't understand that." He looked up at her, "Are you sure it's the same one?"

She nodded. "I've never seen anything like that before. Maybe you sent her a blank paper instead?"

He shook his head, still glancing down at the parchment in his hands, and moving a finger across the surface, as if he would feel the ink bulging out. "There's no way I've mixed it up with another paper. Wait... Blaise did say it was quite different. You don't think it erases the words you write on it, do you?"

"Could be, but maybe you should ask him and make sure?"

Harry shook his head again. "No, I don't have time..." he muttered. Then all of the sudden he let out a loud growl. "I'm going to kill him!"

He spun on his heel and hurriedly made his way to the dungeons. Hermione, after checking she had enough time to get to her class before the bells ring, followed after him.

Harry strode in the direction of the Slytherin common room, where he knew Blaise was staying since they had a free period now. He was vaguely aware that Hermione was behind him. All he could think of was finding Blaise so he could explain this. Then he'll hex his sorry arse into a pulp. At the thought of that, Harry seized his wand and flexed his fingers over it in a firmer grip.

"Harry, wait!" Hermione called from behind, her breaths coming in short gasps. "What's that?"

Harry came to a halt and looked back at her. She was pointing at the letter in his hand. Harry gave it a quick glance before shifting his eyes back to her, meaning to ask her what she meant, but he needn't to since he noticed it himself.

Harry brought the parchment closer to his face so he could observe it better. A wide smile spread on his lips. "Oh, he's a genius!" he exclaimed and turned back to look at her. Now that he knew what Blaise had meant, the hasty need of wanting to kill him had fled away as if it never existed. "Hermione, make sure you give it back to Ginny immediately, okay? It's important that she'll read it right away!"

"Why? What's the rush?" she asked, taking back the letter he was handing back to her. She glanced down briefly at it and realized how Harry was able to read it now.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It just that... I found out last night that there is this Ravenclaw guy that likes her and he's meaning to ask her out today, if he hadn't already, and I just know she's going to agree, unless she reads this letter first."

Hermione smiled kindly. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she'll read it and that she won't even have the chance to talk to him."

"Thank you," he smiled back. He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around. "Okay, now go! Hurry! You've got to find her!"

Fortunately for Hermione, Ginny had told her earlier that she had Potions next, so she took a turn left and hurried straight to Professor Snape's classroom.

She found Ginny waiting outside with her friends and rushed over to her. To her alarm, she was talking to a tall Ravenclaw bloke, who seemed to look smug at the conversation they were having. Ginny, however, looked hesitant and let out a nervous laugh as he spoke to her.

"Ginny!" she called, waving at her. The other girl perked her head up at the sound of her name being called. She excused herself from the guy who she was talking to as she spotted Hermione coming towards her.

"Hermione?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione, panting hard again, bent down and put her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She straightened up and shoved Harry's letter into her friend's hands. Once again, it had flattened out on its own from a crumpled state. "It's okay, it's safe," she said breathlessly.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked with a frown, looking skeptically at the parchment in her hands.

"Yes!" she huffed. She took a deep breath. "Look at it in here. You'll be able to read it."

"Er – Okay?" Ginny replied uncertainly, pushing the letter into her bag, trying to understand what Hermione meant by that. The loud jingle of the bells was heard and a second later, the door to the Potions classroom had opened behind them with a swing and Snape stood at the entrance, rushing them in.

Ginny thanked Hermione and turned to enter the class. "Oh, and Ginny?" Hermione added suddenly and Ginny turned back around. "That guy you talked with earlier – Don't go out with him."

Ginny gaped at her. "How did you know he asked me?"

"Miss Weasley, come inside now or don't come at all," Snape snarled, and Ginny reluctantly turned again and quickly entered the class with a sheepish look on her face. Snape looked down at Hermione. "Don't you have a class to go to, Miss Granger? I think it would be the first time you'll be late. What a surprise. And here I thought I wouldn't be there to witness it." His voice held a definite sneer and without another word, he smiled leeringly and shut the door hard, disappearing inside.

Hermione's heart gave a wild jump as she remembered she was in fact late for her class. She ran all the way to the sixth floor, still out of breath, knowing that what she did was probably a good deed, for maybe this time Harry and Ginny would finally be able to make amends. She felt a great wave of satisfaction rush over her as she sat down in her desk and pulled out her books. And even that she was five minutes late, for the first time in all her Hogwarts years, she didn't care at all, for she knew that right now Harry was probably sitting and thinking of her and when Ginny will read the letter, both will surely be smiling.

As Ginny sat down in her usual seat, she felt slightly confused. How did Hermione know that she had just been asked out of a date? Well, Ginny told herself, making a fleet attempt of convincing, it's Hermione – she knows everything.

She sat with her friends and waited for the lesson to start. Snape walked to the blackboard, his coal black robes blowing at his wake, and with a flick of his wand, words appeared on the black surface. "Pull out your books and turn them to page 157," he instructed. "And Miss Weasley, your bag is glowing. Put that light out now or I'll take points from you," he said threateningly.

Every eye in the room was now staring at her as she tried to understand what just happened.

She looked down at her bag, lying discarded on the dungeon's filthy floor and saw that indeed a soft glow was coming out of it. She frowned, and checked if her wand was in her robe's pocket like it usually was. When she found it right in its place, she wondered what could be the source of the light. She reached for the bag to take out her book, at the same time she searched within it. She then noticed that the light was coming out of none other than the letter Hermione had just given back to her. She folded it in half and held it tight so it won't snap open and straighten itself again and quickly tucked it in another thick book she carried in her bag. She tried to ignore it the best she could until the class was over and Snape had dismissed them. It seemed to be the longest class she ever had and the anxious to look at the letter had almost broken her nerves. Only when she walked out of the room did she pull out the letter again to take a better look at it.

"What are you reading, Ginny?" Luna asked, walking beside her.

"I'm not sure..." she replied uncertainly.

She was sure she was holding the same parchment she received this morning in the mail since it smoothed right when she pulled it out of the bag she hid it in earlier, but the weirdest thing was that this parchment wasn't blank anymore – words had appeared on the surface, glowing out brightly as though fire had ignited them. Instead of what was supposed to be ink, was light, together forming letters.

As she passed by an open window and the white daylight from outside shone around her, she noticed the words disappear at once as if they never existed and what was left in her hands was only a blank piece of parchment again, that until she stepped into the shadows again that she saw the letters forming on the paper once more. Now she understood why she wasn't able to read it in the Great Hall, which was lit so brightly that morning that there was no chance she would have spotted something there. She remembered what Hermione told her earlier: 'Look at it in here. You'll be able to read it,' and for the second time that day Ginny asked herself how Hermione knew that.

She halted, lingering in a dark corner so she could read the letter carefully. Luna stayed by her side, her curious prominent eyes gazing at her.

As Ginny looked down at the letter, she could tell it was the same writing style that belonged to her so-called secret admirer. She smiled softly as she scanned the page.

Dear Ginny,

I hope that by the time you receive this letter I hadn't missed my chance yet. I know there are plenty of guys in this school that would do anything to go out with you – and I'm included. I know that by the end of the day that Ravenclaw bloke from your year will give it a try and ask you out, and I'm sad to say that I'm not him. I just hope that you won't accept his proposal before you hear what I have to say. I know that for the rest of the day I'll sit around and mope, too concerned about whether you agreed to go out with him or not. I'm also sad to say that I tried a few times myself, but you never spared me a glance, you never took me seriously enough.

So this is my last attempt of doing this properly. I would like to see you in order to do it. I can't put it in a letter and simply expect your reaction the way I want it to be, because there is the chance that I will be disappointed. I know you are most likely imagining someone who's either too hideous to walk up to you with uncertainness, embarrassment and insecurity or either he's too arrogant and good-looking that he hadn't enough of all the girls in this school that now he's trying to get to you. I'm proud to say that I'm neither of those types and if you're curious to find out for yourself, I'll be waiting for you this afternoon at five in the Owlery. I hope that you'll come and that you won't be too disappointed.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to sign with my name or initials until you see me. So I'll use what you're already familiar with,

Yours sincerely,

S.S.

"Merlin," Ginny muttered to herself. "I hope S.S. still stands for Secret Santa and not Severus Snape..."

The thought of Snape sending her love notes and Christmas gifts gave her the chills and a shiver went up her spine.

She contemplated what she had just read. Would appearance matter to her? He sounded so sincere and nice, someone with great personality. And she wasn't as shallow as some other girls she knew. She cared for people if they were different. Neville wasn't that attractive, but she still went with him to the Yule Ball, and Luna was an outsider, but she still hung out with her.

Ginny sighed, making up her mind. It wouldn't hurt to see who it is and what he's like. Maybe it would be good for her; maybe this one happened to be just the one for her. After all, all the boys she went out with thus far happened to be a disaster walking on earth.

Ginny's heart fluttered at the image of someone waiting for her in the Owlery. She felt full, content and happy. Her secret admirer wanted to meet her; he wanted to ask her out. Finally, she thought to herself contently. She would meet him; she would be able to see who it is. She imagined him looking out the window of the rounded room and into the school grounds outside with his back to the door. And as she'd step inside quietly, he'd sense her presence and turn around. He would look back so intently and flash a smile at her. As he'd tuck a stray strand of raven black hair aside, his sparkling green eyes will twinkle through his glasses as brightly as his smile grow wider –

"Ginny?"

Luna's hand rested on her shoulder and snapped her out of her daydream. She then shook her head violently, forcing the image of Harry Potter out of her mind. She didn't understand why she would imagine him of all people.

She hoped she was safe in the shadows; she didn't want Luna to see her blush.

"I'm fine," she said hastily, forcing a reassuring smile at her friend. She tucked the letter back into her bag.

"I don't think Professor Snape will send you letters, he just yelled at you in class," Luna said in her typical dreamy voice. Ginny snorted and they resumed their walk, finally reaching the Great Hall for lunch five minutes later.

She and Luna departed, each girl going to her respective House table. As Ginny sat down and helped herself for some food, she couldn't shake the buzzing excitement that the letter gave her. He can't be too creepy, she reasoned, and he said he's not arrogant, so he won't lie when he's talking about his looks, but what if he's someone I can't stand, someone like Colin Creevey?

She decided she wouldn't go alone. She would need someone to be there with her, to support her in case things go really bad. She knew who it would be and already knew what she was going to say, but Ginny won't take 'no' for an answer!

"Erm... Ginny?" someone said hesitantly from behind, tapping her on the shoulder. She glanced around to see Kris Huston, the Ravenclaw guy who asked her out earlier, just like Hermione and her secret admirer knew he would.

"Kris..."

"I was wondering if you thought about what I asked you earlier. You didn't give me your answer and..." his voice trailed off as he nervously fiddled with his fingers.

She remembered that Hermione told her not to go out with him, it sounded much like a warning. Maybe Hermione thought he wasn't the guy who will suit her. She trusted her friend completely and knew she was always right. Without a second thought, Ginny apologized. "I'm sorry, Kris, but no."

He looked disappointed at the strict answer and she felt bad about it, but she knew there must be a reason for Hermione to warn her not to go out with him.

"That's... that's okay," he said with a strong voice, waving her off. He walked away and Ginny turned back to her food, anxious for Hermione to arrive so she would ask her to accompany her to the Owlery that afternoon.

"No, Ginny, forget it. I have two essays to complete, five chapters to read in Ancient Runes and plus, I had promised Ron that I would help him in History of Magic, so no!" Hermione said stubbornly once Ginny had started to beg.

"Please, Hermione, please!" Ginny pleaded again. "I can't go there alone, I will chicken out; I know I will! You have to give me your support!"

"I can't, Ginny," Hermione insisted. "Ask Luna, I'm sure she will agree to come with you. Besides, it's your thing, Ginny. How will it look if I show up with you to meet a guy who wants to ask you on a date?"

"You won't come inside, you'll wait outside."

"I'm sure I'll feel uncomfortable there, listening and all..."

"Hermione!" Ginny gasped, sounding scandalized. "What do you think, that I'm going to snog his brains out as I walk through the door?"

Hermione blushed at that, bowing her head into her plate of food.

Ginny huffed. "Please, Hermione, come with me! I swear I won't ask you for anything else ever again – well, not ever again, but for the rest of the year!"

Ginny had started then a round of 'please's' and wouldn't stop. Hermione, who had enough of hearing 'please, please, please!' caved in and shouted, "You owe me big!"

"OH!" Ginny suddenly burst out and threw herself over the table at her best friend, knocking off goblets and baskets of rolls while flinging her hands around Hermione's shoulders, now exclaiming a round of 'I do's' and 'Thank you's.'

Hermione's face slowly contorted into a mischievous smile. Seizing the moment, she silently added, "and you lend me that lilac blouse of yours that I like?"

Ginny almost fell for it as she was still yelling "I do", then she frowned and loosened her grip around Hermione's shoulders. Looking at her friend with a sour face she said, "no, but I'll owe you something else."

Hermione's shoulders slumped down and she sighed in defeat. "Bigger?"

"Fine!"

"Okay... So when do you want to meet?"

It was around seven minutes to five o'clock, and Harry shifted his eyes from his watch, forcing himself to focus on something else beside the time or the angry hoots of the owls around him. He started feeling more nervous by the second. She should be here any moment now. Hermione had reassured him earlier that Ginny will come to meet him. He just hoped she wouldn't be late. He couldn't stand waiting for her any longer. He had anticipated meeting her and to tell her what he had been planning to say for so long.

He was pacing around the circular room, practicing what he wanted to say, choosing his words carefully. He was sure it wouldn't matter anyway, because he was sure that the minute she stepped through the door, he wouldn't remember his name, let alone what he wanted to say.

He wondered how she would react and what she'd say. He hoped her reaction would be positive. After all, hadn't Hermione said it bothered Ginny to see him with Pansy? He was sure it meant something. He also held onto the memory of almost kissing her at Christmas. He knew he had her convinced. She wouldn't say 'no' this time...

The sound of someone climbing up the stairs to the tower was echoing through the door and Harry found himself running about the room nervously, trying to find a much better spot to stand in and wait. He grew impatient as the slow rhythm of ascending feet grew louder and louder. Harry swallowed hard, feeling his heart beat ten times faster than normal. One more glance at his watch told him that she was right on time.

He leaned against a distant wall, having a clear view of the door and waited for her to show up, silently cursing himself under his breathe for the worst place he chose for them to meet. But none of that mattered now. She was here. He was going to do it, to get it done with.

"Hi," he started the second she entered the room, but a split second later he was completely chocked out and started coughing uncontrollably.

"Harry?" she asked, an evident surprise in her voice.

He finally managed to overcome his coughing fit and looked up at her. "Pansy, hey..." he said to the girl who stood before him. It wasn't who he expected it to be. "What are you doing here?" he asked hurriedly, fearing that if Ginny show up any second now, she won't like to see him together with Pansy again. He needed to get her out of there right now.

"Well," Pansy started, "Blaise is avoiding me, I'm afraid. I thought I should take matters into my own hands and stop waiting for him to come around. I decided to write him a letter and tell him exactly what I think and that I won't have it the way he's treating me anymore! I would have done it personally, but every time I come near him, he flees away," she said, a notable pain in her voice.

"Erm..." Harry wasn't sure what to say, but he made a mental note to talk to Blaise about Pansy later. "Okay... So go on then, make it quickly. You know, the sooner he gets that letter, the sooner he'll realize how stupid he was for avoiding you." Harry kept shooting glances at the door, watching out in case Ginny comes inside, while hoping he wasn't too obvious in front of Pansy.

"You know, Harry, I don't think I've thanked you enough for all that you've done. You went through so much trouble, even if Blaise is acting like prat and he doesn't appreciate what a wonderful friend he has, I, on the other hand, am thankful. I don't know what I would've done without you. Sure, things had worked for the worse, but I realized that I misjudged you all along. You're a very sweet and caring friend," she said, and without seeing it coming, she leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek, her hands resting on his shoulders.

The door suddenly slammed hard, the walls shook at the effect, scared owls flew around them hysterically and they jumped apart with a start. Pansy shrieked as owls flew passed her and out the windows. Harry looked around, the first thought entering his mind is that a gust of wind shut the very heavy door, but then he remembered why he was there in the first place. He ran for the door, not bothering to say goodbye to Pansy, and ran down the stairs until he reached the bottom. He looked haphazardly left and right and at the end of the hallway he spotted Ginny's silky red hair flying widely after her as though a great tongue of fire was soaring through the air as she and Hermione strode away. He sighed tiredly, knowing it would be best now to give her some space, instead of running after her. He would also have to explain things to Hermione, who he was sure, was siding with Ginny as before.

He walked back to the common room with slacked shoulders and a heavy feeling of defeat in his heart.

Hermione was trying to keep up after her angry friend, but Ginny was much faster, especially when she was angry. "Ginny, please, wait for a second," she called after her, but Ginny didn't slow down. They now reached the Fat Lady's portrait. Ginny spat the password at her and ran straight to her dorm room, with Hermione still behind. Ginny shut the door to her room at Hermione's face. The bushy-haired girl let out a sigh, not sure how to deal with this or what to say. It would be easier if Ginny will just admit that she liked Harry...

She pressed on the door handle and slowly pushed it open. She carefully pocked her head inside, fearing the something would come flying in her direction, but when nothing happened, she allowed herself to take a better glance at the room.

Ginny sat slumped in the middle of her bed, her back leaning against the headboard and a sour look on her face. Her knees were bent and a small black leather-covered book sat open in her lap. She had a quill twitching violently between her fingers, scratching on the paper with black ink. "Ginny..." she said tentatively, crossing over to her. Ginny acted as though she wasn't even aware that Hermione was in the room with her. She kept writing in her diary, not paying attention to her bushy haired friend. "Ginny, I'm sorry. I know you feel angry, but maybe he has an explanation..."

Ginny's hand stopped moving and suddenly her head snapped up, her eyes were narrow and dark. "'An explanation'? What could possibly be his explanation for... for..." Hermione bowed her head. She swore she would not let Harry live this through. He messed up enough. And he lied so much, she couldn't think she would want to even look at him again. She knew Ginny was upset, she saw what happened, too. And that was after he swore to her that he had nothing going on with Pansy Parkinson! He dared lie to her in the face after everything she did for him! "...for standing me up! That jerk!" Ginny finished.

Hermione blinked once and frowned as her friend's words sank in. Stood her up? What does she mean?

"And to think I had to put up with another snogging display of Potter and his pug!" Ginny added.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused. "You're not...?"

"I'm not what?" Ginny asked, annoyed.

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing..." Hermione realized that Ginny wasn't upset for just seeing Harry and Pansy together, but for being stood up by who she thought was her mystery guy, who she was sure, was not Harry. Ginny didn't even realize that the guy who waited for her was Harry himself and that he didn't stand her up. The only thing Hermione was still confused about is what was Pansy doing there, gluing herself to Harry? And if Harry did in fact waited for Ginny, why would he let Pansy kiss him when he knew Ginny was about to come and meet him?

She needed to confront him before Ginny got tired of these games and gave up, but she was too upset with him to go out and find him and besides, she still had a load of homework to get done and she had promised Ron she would meet him in the library. Guess I'll have to hex him when I see him...

Harry walked around the hallways with no purpose or idea where he was heading. His mind was whirling with anger and depression, and the portraits stared at him in concern, asking if all was well, but he merely waved them off, barely sparing them a glance as he wandered around.

He felt like he hated everyone right now: Pansy, for kissing him; Blaise, for making her act all mushy like that, which caused her to kiss him; Ginny, for running away before he even had the chance to exchange even one word with her; Hermione, who was probably siding up with Ginny like in the night they had come back to school; and he was even mad at himself, for being too foolish in believing this plan can actually work, and letting this all happen and get to this point.

He could feel his blood boil with anger, his veins expanding with each fast beat of his heart.

Muffled voices echoed around a corner, and as Harry turned, he spotted three Ravenclaw blokes he recognized as their Quidditch team's Chasers. He then remembered that on this Saturday, his own team was going to be playing against them. He hoped the weather changed because he knew for sure that his team would play like rubbish and wouldn't have a chance of winning the match in the kind of storm raging outside.

As the Ravenclaws walked past him, they all smiled mischievously at him, resembling a few Slytherins Harry was much too smart not to be associated with, and at once shouted out in union with a note of competitiveness: "You're going down, Potter! Grab your broom tightly!" Harry's head span around at them, ready to counter back, but then he was sure someone had hit him with a body bind curse: there, in front of him stood, not the three chasers who went past him just now, but three identical copies of the same tall, blond boy who wanted to ask Ginny out. "She's mine...mine...mine!" each of them echoed separately, whispering it out, but it sounded as screams to Harry's ears. He watched, perplexed and lost, as a huge, evil grin spread on each of their faces before they burst out in a harsh laugh. Harry knew it was his mind that was playing tricks on him and forced himself to shake his head vigorously. The triple vision of the blond Ravenclaw had dissolved back into the three Chasers as they walked away, laughing to themselves.

Harry stopped walking and leaned against a cold stone wall, trying to get his mind focus back to the present. He took one deep breath to clam his nerves, though it didn't help much, because he was sure he was now hearing Ginny's voice, laughing merrily. He needed a shot of cold water splashed on his face, but before he could shout Aguamenti and point his wand at himself, he opened his eyes just a crack and looked around. He found himself having a clear view of the entrance doors to the library, just when Ginny entered, having said goodbye to a friend, who passed by Harry as though he was wearing his father's invisibility cloak and she hadn't notice he was there.

His eyes lit up at the sight of Ginny and everything seemed draped with gold and perfect once again. This was his chance, he knew, the only way to calm himself and make things right. He couldn't stand the thought he almost had Ginny talking to him and then it all went down the drain... Now, the only way to find out what Ginny was feeling was to approach her and talk to her right here, right now. Knowing she was probably still upset with him, he needed to do it carefully.

As he walked into the library, for what it seemed the second time in all the years he spent thus far in Hogwarts, he started to look around the tables and shelves for the ginger haired girl he was looking for. Finally he spotted her: she was sitting alone in a table mere feet in front of him, leafing through a large book.

He couldn't believe how his luck just turned! Just less than an hour ago, she had stormed out of the Owlery, and he was sure it will take him days until he'd be able to see her again. His mind went completely blank of all thoughts as he started to move closer and closer to her, making his mind of what to tell her and how to apologize to her. The only thing in his mind was to do what he meant to do, before Pansy appeared in the Owlery– He was finally going to ask her out!

With a bright smile on his face, and the enormous feeling of happiness and joy, he took large, determined strides towards her table. All of that had disappeared as he suddenly felt a hard tug on his right wrist and a second later, he found himself being thrown against a hard wall in a dark corner of the library.

Unexpectedly, Hermione's face appeared even before he had the time to reach for his wand or even register what had happened.

"You slimy git! What are you doing here?" she hissed harshly. "Do you want to get out of here as a jar of ashes?"

Harry pushed her away from him, giving himself some room before replying. "I don't care how angry you might be, Hermione, or what you're going to do to me, but I had enough of waiting around for the right moment to come!"

"Well, it's good then that you know that you went overboard, but it's not my job to do anything to you, regardless of how mad I am at you right now!"

Harry ignored her and pushed himself off the wall and moved past her, meaning to cross his way back to Ginny's table. He didn't need Hermione to help him talk to Ginny, he could do it alone. He didn't need her breathing down his neck, telling him what to do or how to act. It was time he did it himself.

Hermione caught his wrist again to hold him back before he even reached an inch out of the shadows. He hadn't the time to resist before she whispered, "I didn't mean it would be me, although I think I ought to do something to you after what you've done. I actually meant Ron would gladly hex you. Look, he's right there! And I'm sure that if he wouldn't do it, then Ginny will surely finish the job for him." Harry looked between the shelves of a large, old bookcase. At the table Ginny was sitting in, he could now see Ron taking the seat across from her.

Besides him, Hermione continued talking. "Don't think she looks calm and giggly now because she's in a good mood. She's faking it so Ron won't notice something's wrong. Deep inside, she's seething."

"Hermione," he sighed, turning back to face her. "I don't care anymore. If I won't ask her now, someone else will and then I would lose my chance again."

"You can't do it this way, Harry. You have to stick to the plan!" she insisted.

"'Stick to the plan'? What plan exactly do you mean, Hermione? Your plan doesn't even work! I have to do everything on my own!" he whispered crossly at her.

"And you wouldn't have to if you had just listened to me. I know what I'm doing."

"So am I!"

"Right," she said slowly, crossing her arms over her chest impatiently. "And kissing other girls in front of her is a part of your plan, I assume?" She raised a warning finger at him when he opened his mouth to defend himself again. "No! Don't you even bother denying it again, I was there, remember? This time I saw it myself, so don't even say it didn't happen!"

He now mimicked her position, folding his own hands over his chest. "Oh, did you?" he countered mockingly. "Tell me, Hermione, what kind of kiss did you really see? If you had stuck around a second longer, you would have seen her giving me nothing but an innocent peck on the cheek! Nothing more! I pushed her away the second I realized what was happening." When Hermione didn't look convinced, he went on. "I'm telling you, Hermione, it wasn't in a romantic sort-of way, since Pansy, like I have told you before, fancies Blaise, not me!"

Hermione remained silent. She appeared to have nothing to say to counter that. The only thing she did was to glare at him through her narrow eyes, clearly thinking of something to say. Harry gulped, dreading her reaction.

At last, she let out a long exhale and raised her chin high in a defiant expression. "I don't know why I feel like I should forgive you again, or why I'm still bothering to help you with this, but something tells me that I should trust you." Her words had caused him to flash the widest of smiles he ever expressed in his life. "But –" she said and his grin immediately faded. "This is the last time I'm forgiving you, Potter. No more Pansy-Kissing-or-Hugging or any other girls for that matter. If you want to be with her, act like it. Ask her out when she's alone and carefree, not when her brother is right there, ready to kill you. Stop caring about your own interests and think about her for a change; how would she feel when she sees you doing this or that? Think about what you do and say before you do it. I care about Ginny as if she was my own sister and if you hurt her, I'll have to hurt you."

Harry nodded vigorously, taking the sight of her serious face. She looked really intimidating when she was angry, like one would not want to cross her. He knew he shouldn't judge her just for being a girl. This girl, after all, has probably read the entire collection of books about hexes that this library holds.

"Okay, I will. Now, can you please go and tell her what I just told you that happened in the Owlery, so she won't be mad at me anymore?"

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "I can't, Harry."

"What? Why?" he said in shock, not expecting this answer. He thought she understood and that she believed him. "You just said you forgive me!"

"I did forgive you, but I can't tell her what you said because she's not mad at that. She..." her sentence ended in an incoherent mumble and she cast her head aside to avoid looking in his eyes.

"What was that?"

"She... she thinks you stood her up," she said with a slight grimace on her lips.

"WHAT?" he practically shouted and Hermione's hand flew at once at his mouth to shut him.

Between the shelves of the old bookcase near them, she could see that almost every person in the library had lifted their head to look for the source of sound. Madam Pince had looked up from her table; her long nose had raised two inches above the book she was examining in her hands. Her large nostrils had flared up, as if she was a large mole, sniffing around to find the disturber. When she buried her face back inside her book, Hermione had looked back at Harry, who still had her hand plastered tightly over his mouth. He gently fought to remove her hand, holding her by the forearms and trying to push her away again, but to no avail.

Hermione knew he was too gentle with her and wouldn't hurt her, because then she would have to pay him back even worse.

Seeing him breathing deeply and slowly calming down as he stopped resisting and squirming, Hermione nodded and slowly removed her hand, fearing he would scream again and cause them to get caught.

"That was close..." she muttered under her breath.

"Hermione, how can she think that? I was right there! She saw me!" he hissed.

"Well, I guess that once she saw you there with Pansy and no one else was there, she thought she just happened to interrupt you on your 'Private moment' and whoever ask her to meet him didn't show up, so she left and now she's angry about that."

Harry leaned back against a wall to support himself from falling down at the news. "I can't believe it..." he said slowly. "But... it didn't even cross her mind that it could be me?"

Hermione shook her head sympathetically. "Not when Pansy was there, and especially not after she saw her kissing you."

"Maybe she was upset for seeing me with her?" Harry suggested hopefully. "After all, you said she was upset when she saw me hugging her on the train."

"It's a possibility, but she didn't say anything about it to me."

Harry sighed loudly. "How come I keep messing things up? How am I supposed to ask her out now?" He looked hopefully at Hermione for any sign of idea she might have. He needed to fix this. He needed to let her know that he was there and that he waited for her like he said he would. Pansy just happened to come in before her and things got out of hand. Ginny needed to know that he doesn't even like Pansy, he never did. It was always her. And now, his only chance of letting her know all that stood in front of him. Her face, however, was blank. Harry bowed his head. Hermione had done enough for him. He couldn't ask her that without making it look like she was helping him. It was either telling Ginny himself, or to forget all about it and not tell her at all.

Hermione seemed to read his thoughts. She put a supporting hand on his shoulder and said in a low voice, "You're the only one who can tell her that, Harry, but I'm afraid now is just not the right time or the right place for that. She's going through a lot right now. She needs some time to think."

"But what if I miss the right time and someone else gets to ask her before me?" he said in slight panic, the thought of Ginny going out with the blond Ravenclaw he hated so much gave him the chills.

"That's what I'm here for," Hermione said kindly, a small smile on her lips. "Don't worry, I won't let that happen," she added in a soothing voice, patting his shoulder in a calming manner.

He couldn't help but trust her. He knew she was only trying to help. She never owed him a thing and, yet, suddenly he has her by his side. He couldn't feel more grateful and yet sorry for ever misjudging her. He thanked her and turned around to the door.

"Harry," she called, not too loudly, but only so he would be able to hear her. He stopped and looked back, a questioning look on his face. "Can I be honest with you about something?"

"Sure," he nodded.

"Ginny told me what happened in her house at Christmas, you know, when your family came to visit the Weasleys... And frankly, she seemed excited about it at the time. So I wouldn't worry if I were you. You've still got your chance, even if it does take a while to happen, it eventually will," she said, her smile never faltering. "Who knows what tomorrow may bring, right?"

He mimicked her smile. "Tomorrow, hua?"

She nodded once with half a shrug. "Tomorrow."

He nodded quietly and walked out the door, feeling loads better than before.

Once he was out of sight, Hermione took a deep breath and made her way back to Ron and Ginny.

"Hey, there you are," Ron said cheerfully once he saw her. She sat next to him. "Took you long enough. I was just telling Ginny that I've began to think you ditched us for that book..."

"Madam Pince said someone else had already borrowed it." She smiled sweetly at him, then leaning down and kissed him fully on the lips. Deep inside, guilt crept into her heart. She knew she did it because she needed to feel better about sneaking behind his back to help Harry get together with Ginny, despite Ron's objections on the matter. She had to make herself believe that he would always act this peaceful and loving around her, even when she finally decide to tell him what she did. She at least had to hold onto something in case things get bitter, which she knew would probably will.

"What was that for?" Ron asked with a goofy smile as they pulled back. "Not that I complain, of course."

She shrugged innocently. "I just remembered why I love you so much."

Ron smile genially and kissed her again. "Aww, if I knew you liked it when I call you 'Bookworm,' than I would have called you that all the time."

She laughed lightly as he hugged her closely to his body and nibbled her neck in affection. She gave him a playful shove in the chest. "Ron! Not in front of your sister!" Hermione said lowly, a blush on her cheeks and a twinkle in her eyes.

"Exactly," Ginny chimed in, her eyes buried in her book. "Listen to your girlfriend, Ron, she's suppose to be the smartest witch of her age."

The couple laughed at the comment, but then quickly forgot Ginny was sitting with them. "Will you love me always?" Hermione whispered, putting her arms around Ron's neck as he pulled her to sit on his lap. "No matter what?"

"Always," Ron repeated genuinely. "No matter what."

She then pulled back, just enough so she could put her hand in front of him. She stuck out only her pinky. "Pinky swears?"

He drew back with wide eyes and looked between her face and her presented pinky several times before she felt his chest starting to shake with laughter. "What?" he chuckled, clearly thinking she went insane.

She sighed impatiently, little disappointed that he managed, again, to ruin a perfect moment, but she knew she oughtn't to blame him for not being familiar with this Muggle custom. "Just take the pinky."

He slowly reached his hand to grab the tiny finger, but she chuckled and before he could hold the tiny finger in his palm, she locked her pinky in his. "Like this. It's an oath to life, like an Unbreakable Vow, only it's not dangerous."

"Oh," he said stupidly as they shook their fingers together. "Well then, Hermione Jean Granger, I promise I would love you always, no matter what."

Hermione hugged Ron again, but quickly pulled away back to her seat as Madam Pince started to patrol the library.

Ginny's eyes lifted to look secretly at them. Instead of feigning to be puking, like she would do on other circumstances, a sad smile of jealousy had fallen on her lips, completely hidden behind her book.

It was Friday's lunch break and Harry, Draco and Blaise were exiting the Great Hall after a delicious meal as always. They had Defense Against the Dark Arts next. Harry was quite looking forward to that, since he could see Remus again. He had been absent from the rest of the week's classes due to his full moon transformation. He had been ill ever since they'd come back to school, and Harry felt horrible not going to visit him after the full moon ended. He wanted to go and apologize when he saw him this morning sitting at the staff table, but thought he would postpone it until the actual class, so they'd be able to talk more privately.

As Harry looked at his watch, he saw they still had fifteen minutes left until the bells would ring. Blaise decided to walk his new girlfriend, Julia, to her next class, so Draco and Harry were left on their own. They started talking excitedly on their upcoming Quidditch match they had the following morning, exchanging ideas and techniques.

"The weather is supposed to be quite stormy, so we'll have to see which way the wind blows," Draco was saying animatedly. "That way, we could avoid Bludgers and the Chasers will know how and where to throw the Quaffle without it flowing away from our possession... and you're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Not really," Harry said distractedly, his mind somewhere else. His eyes fixed ahead on a beautiful redhead witch crossing her way through the crowd.

"Right..." Draco said slowly, rolling his eyes. He clapped Harry on the back. "I'll see you in class, then."

"'kay..." Harry murmured, only half listening. All he could hear now was his own heart drumming in his ears enthusiastically. He didn't see Draco leave and suddenly looked around and found himself alone. Simply thankful he hadn't had his friends tailing him around, he went to follow Ginny through the hallway to wherever she was heading for.

He was drawn to her by an invisible force, which he couldn't understand himself. It was always like that when he saw her and he didn't mind it at all. The sight of her filled him with energy and being away from her felt like he could no longer take another breath.

"Hi Ginny," someone said to her.

Harry had looked up at the sound of the deep voice calling her name. It was none other than the two, still nameless Ravenclaw boys he saw the other night in the loos.

Harry cursed them silently, wishing they would leave her alone, so he would be able to talk to her. As they walked past her and Ginny looked up at the tall, blond one, Harry saw she was in a better mood this morning as she smiled up at them and her cheeks flashed red. She waved goodbye to them and for a second, Harry was sure he saw her rolling her eyes. His heart skipped a beat. Still oblivious he was following her, she kept walking, only a short distance away from him. Harry cast a dark look at the two Ravenclaws, but he kept walking after Ginny even so. He just had to see her the more he could and to make sure no other bloke would come five feet from her.

She stopped and turned to open a door on the end of the hallway and silently slipped inside, the door closing shut behind her.

Without even realizing it, Harry walked towards that door. Everything Hermione had told him yesterday in the library had seemed to vanish from his mind. Everything, except one word: "Tomorrow."

This is the right time, Harry told himself. She's finally alone, she's totally carefree. Finally, after so much agonizingly long time, he would be able to tell her everything and at last, ask her out on a date.

He stopped before the door, looking pointedly at the brass handle, hesitating whether to press it and open the door or to wait for her to come out. Questions flooded his mind. And what if she won't come out? And how long exactly will he have to wait outside? Is she really alone? And what if she was asked to meet someone inside?

Shaking his head and gripping the handle tightly in a shaking hand, he took one, deep breath and pressed it down. In one swing, he entered inside. The last thing he expected was to hear screams. At first, he was sure he entered a room full of Banshees, but as a red flash missed his ear by an inch, he blinked and quickly realized where he really entered – the girls' loos.

A group of furious girls were glaring at him with their wands pointed threateningly at him, a few were still screaming and shrieking hysterically at his intrusion. He quickly looked around the room. Behind the group of girls, who were now slowly closing in on him, he could see Ginny's back to him, her face only visible as she looked at him through the mirror she was facing. A frown was visible on her pretty face, as she was obviously thinking 'What are you doing here?' The next thing he knew, he was flying backwards and all his body was aching as he was knocked back into the opposite wall with a loud thud when a series of curses hit his chest.

His body crumpled on the marble floor in a hip and his eyes shut tight from the pain. The screaming girls then stormed outside. "You pervert!" a few shouted and slapped him painfully on his already swollen cheeks before they ran off; the clicking of their heels against the marble floor and their faded, outraged murmurings were all Harry could now hear in the corridor.

Harry slowly propped himself up to his feet, shaking his head from the subsiding pain. He was thankful that no one else was around to see this embarrassing episode. He was sure that he looked like a total fool.

The door to the girls' loos stayed closed and no sound from within the room could be heard from where Harry was standing. Harry lingered in the empty corridor for a moment longer, as if checking it will stay that way and at the same time afraid that if he took another step closer, it would end up with him bleeding or covered with boils. He was about to leave when he was sure that there was nobody there anymore and that Ginny had already left with the other girls, but before he even had the time to take another step, the door to the loos swung open again with a creak and a head full of red hair pocked outside. Ginny looked at the sign hanging on the door, clearly stating 'Girls Bathrooms,' a puzzled frown still on her face, then she turned to look around and spotted Harry staring back at her. She shook her head and disappeared back inside.

Harry felt even more stupid for not noticing this sign earlier before he barged inside. He rubbed his stinging cheek, which had returned to its proper size but still remained red, and walked back slowly to the door. Again, he hesitated whether he should open it or not. He decided to risk it. He now knew it would be just Ginny in there. The rest of the girls had already left. He pressed down the handle as silently and slowly as he could he opened the door, a mere crack so he could peek inside, just to be sure.

He was right. Ginny stood alone where he last saw her, still fixing her long, red ponytail in the mirror. Seeing she was completely alone, he let out an enormous sigh of relief and walked inside, the door swung shut behind him.

He didn't know whether she noticed him or not, and he wasn't sure what to say or how even start. "For a moment I thought I was the one who came to the wrong loos," she suddenly said, her voice confidant and a small smile tugged to the corner of her mouth. Her brown eyes rolled at her image in the mirror. Harry remained silent, too transfixed watching her comb her beautiful, silky hair. It was like a tongue of fire and he yearned to reach out and run his fingers through it. "I mean, I can understand that you got confused the first time, but since you're still here, I guess you have some big secret you've been hiding from everyone, hmm?" she teased, sniggering to herself as she watched his reflection through the mirror, a confused frown on his face. She turned her head to look at him and cast her eyes briefly at the direction of his pelvis, before she let out another giggle, turned back, grabbed her bag and thrust her comb inside. Harry, who felt nervous at her implying gaze, shifted in his spot.

He quickly tried to think of something to say. "It's nothing like that..." he stammered nervously. "I'm not hiding anything..."

She nodded in disbelief and hummed. "Yeah, right," she murmured under her breath.

"Hey, you can come and check for yourself, if you want!" he suddenly burst out, before he could even give it a second thought.

She looked at him then with scandalized eyes. Great, Harry thought faintly, she probably thinks I'm a complete madman. When he realized his mistake, his fingers ran through his messy hair as a raw blush covered his cheeks and ears. He hadn't meant for things to get this way. He came here to do something and he was going to do it, no matter how hard she was going to make it for him.

He stammered an incoherent apology, but she swung her bag over her shoulder and turned for the door.

"No thanks, I think I'll pass," she said sarcastically. "I'm not missing out on anything special, anyway..."

Harry pouted. "Will you ever stop mocking me? I came here to talk to you. I'm trying to be serious here, but you won't even give me a chance to –"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she cut him off with a tone of mock apology, a hand on her chest in a dramatic manner, and Harry made a 'see what I'm talking about' move with his hands. "It's just that a day without mocking you is not a very pleasant day for me."

She let out a loud snort and moved past him, walking out of the room, leaving him inside.

Harry felt angry. Why won't she just stop acting so childish and listen to what he has to say? He can't give up now; he has to do it, no matter what.

Harry opened the door and walked outside, running to catch up with her quick paces. She kept walking, not even bothering to look at him. He had enough of her ignoring him.

"Stop following me, or I'll tell the next Professor I see that you entered the girls' loos," she warned.

He ignored her comment as if she didn't say it, still walking beside her, fully determined to get this all over with. "I was thinking about something..." he started, packing up his courage and giving it a try.

"Oh really?" she interrupted once more. "I didn't know you were capable of thinking..." she teased again.

Harry took a deep sigh, taking it all in. He went on, pretending he didn't hear her. This was just another thing about her that he needed to get used to: her sarcasm.

"I... I wanted to ask you something," he stuttered, his forehead now prickling and clammy with hot sweat. Don't back out now! he told himself. "Do you think... there's a chance that maybe... you... you would go out with me? On a date, I mean," he finished rather lamely, but a great sensation of euphoria washed over him. He finally said it! He felt like he can do anything after saying that. There wasn't any way in the world that would ruin this for him now.

Ginny suddenly came to a halt, and Harry, noticing that a second later, stopped as well, only two feet away. She looked up at him with a blank look on her face. He looked back desperately at her, maybe sincere even, silently begging that she will say something in return. The anticipation hurt like a whip as the seconds rolled on. He thought he was breathing shallower or that his heart stopped beating when her lips curled into a smile. Any second now she would run to him and throw her arms around his neck and happily exclaim that finally, after all the time she waited to hear him say it, it finally become real. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in his dried throat. The realistic dream he just ran through his mind didn't happen, unfortunately. Instead of running towards him and shower him with kisses, she let out a sudden chuckle. Harry's eyes changed into a shape they never had before.

"Yeah, right," she said sneeringly, obviously not taking him seriously. He wasn't surprised; somehow he knew there is a chance she'd react this way.

She started walking again and Harry, not accepting her reaction as a proper answer, shook his head and went after her.

"I'm serious," he insisted.

Ginny held her face up, deliberately ignoring him. Occasionally, when she passed by someone she knew, she smiled kindly at them, and by that also presenting a show as if she has no idea why this Slytherin Scumbag was following her or even addressing her.

"Ginny," he tried again to get her attention.

Still not looking at him, she spoke out, as though talking to someone who's not really there. "I'm not listening to your lame attempts of winning some sort of a bet you had with your pathetic friends," she countered, she risked to look at him from the corner of her eyes before she went on. "Where are Malfoy and Zabini, Potter? Lurking around a corner or hiding in a cupboard?"

Harry was shocked at her words. Is this how she takes him for? "I didn't pull any bet with anyone!"

"Potter, if you were to ask me out for real, it wouldn't have been like this," she said. "And besides, I know for a fact that you're still seeing Pansy Parkinson and I don't care if you're denying it or not – I mean, if that's your taste in girls, than I consider her quite lucky that you even look her way – But, I just know you don't mean it, okay? So, show's over, the gloves are off, you can stop acting the part of your life, okay, Drama Boy?"

"I can believe that's what you think..." Harry murmured, shaking his head as her hurtful words sank in. He couldn't take her 'no' and end it with that. He had to convince her, somehow, no matter how desperate and foolish he'd sound. "Is it so hard to believe that I actually do want to go out with you? I mean, I know that I've done some nasty things before, but is it fair to judge me for them? Don't I deserve a second chance?"

She bowed her head, having become speechless. Her paces slowed down until she came into a complete halt. Was he really telling the truth? And if he was, why hadn't he bothered to deny his relationship with Parkinson?

"Come on, Gin," he said gently in her ear. "Please go out with me," his voice was practically begging.

She contemplated what he just said and realized this was actually the first time she heard him call her that. No one ever called her that, not even her family. She admitted to herself that it had a nice ring to it coming from his lips. She raised an eyebrow. She couldn't be serious. He couldn't be serious!

She shook her head from all the incoherent thoughts that flooded her mind. No, don't go there, again, she ordered herself. She accepted the fact that she simply relived through her childhood crush and nothing more. She should forget all about it and move forward. People like Harry Potter, especially Harry Potter, will never find interest in a girl like her. She was a simple girl; there was nothing special about her. She had a horrible hair color that matched a carrot and her eyes color was a dull, plain shade of brown, something you can see on every second person you meet. She played Quidditch and pulled pranks on people. She barely wore makeup on, and she still wasn't accustomed to the fact that somehow boys were attracted to her. If they weren't, people would think she was a boy with long hair and a skirt.

She snapped her head at him and narrowed her eyes dangerously. "How many times do I have to say 'no'? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and marched forward, hands swinging wildly at her sides.

For a moment, Harry thought the best thing to do was to leave her alone, at least for now. And here he thought he caught her on a good day, but he was clearly mistaken. Hermione was right; he should give her some time and space.

Only then, a voice spoke inside his head. He remembered something his godfather had told him over Christmas.

His eyes went wide as saucers as an idea popped to his head. He should do exactly what his father did. He never thought that his parents would help him when it came to girls' issues, but right now he couldn't be more thankful.

He quickly drew level with Ginny and called to her back, "I promise I would leave you alone if you go out with me. Only one date, that's all I'm asking."

She let out another hallow laugh. "And how does that make any sense, exactly?"

"Well," Harry said confidently, "I promise I won't bother you, chase you and won't even talk or cast a glance at you if that's what you want, ever again, if you just give me one chance."

"I still don't understand," she replied, stopping and looking doubtfully at him. Now she was sure he was complete mental.

Harry looked quite smug with himself, positively sure that his plan is going to work. "You see, I can promise you that I won't ever come near you again, but I can't promise the same thing about you to me," he said with a cheeky smile and added a wink.

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him closely. Her face supported something that looked like she was not impressed.

"Oh, you're so sure of yourself, eh, Potter?"

He nodded.

"You sure got a big ego. I don't know what made you think that I would actually agree to that? You must be really desperate to win that bet..."

Harry frowned. "I told you –"

"And I don't care!"

"So that's a 'no'?"

"It sure is!"

"You won't even consider this?"

She smiled lopsidedly. "Okay, you know what, let me think about it..." she made a fake thinking face, looking quite convincing when she started to rub her chin and look up at the ceiling as though it would help her decide. "Umm... NO!" And once again, she renewed her paces, with him still after her, still not taking rejection that easily.

He sighed, feeling tired of playing cat and mouse games. He was so sure she would agree this time. It worked for his parents, why hadn't it worked for him? Maybe things had changed in the dating world since the 70's.

"Why not?" Harry persisted.

"Because!" was her reply.

"That's not an answer!" he countered.

"Well, that's all you are going to get!"

"Just tell me why the hell not?" he now demanded.

She stopped for the fourth time. She gave up, but hadn't had the courage to look him in the face while she said it. "Because we're different, okay?" she said ever so softly. She wasn't even sure he heard her, so she spoke louder. "It's because I'm a Gryffindor and you're a Slytherin. I'm milk, you're oil. We just don't mix," she indicated with her hands between them. "It could never work between us."

He huffed angrily, not quite satisfied with her answer. "That's a rubbish way to put it," he argued, knowing that he had softened her, even a little bit. "You just scared that it might actually work between us. I am just as scared, believe me."

"You don't even know me!" she said out of the blue.

He frowned again. He wanted so much to reach out and touch her shoulder, to spin her around so she would finally look at him. He didn't find enough courage to do that, though. "What's that got to do with anything?" He shook his head. "We can get to know each other better, won't we? That's all the point of a date."

She shuffled her feet on the marble floor, thinking of what he was saying.

"Besides, I already know more than you think I do." She looked at him questioningly. Thankful for the things Hermione had tipped him off, he said, "I know you like vanilla more than chocolate. I know your favorite color is pink, even if you can't wear it because it clashes horribly with you hair." He made a reach for a stranded red lock, yearning to touch the silky texture of it between his fingers, but she tucked it behind her ear before he even got closer, and she hadn't even noticed the gesture.

"I know your favorite animal is not a cat or a dog, it's a horse, even if you never actually seen one. I really know a lot about you, Ginny Weasley."

She began to stammer. "What is that? How do you know all that stuff?"

She knew she was panicking, but why? Those things were so innocent that she wasn't sure why she was scared. Maybe she wasn't scared, but she was definitely shaking, because she knew all the things that he just said were true.

A few times before, she had played with the idea that he was stalking her. He had denied, of course. Now she wasn't sure what all this meant. How did he find out all that stuff?

"No – I –"

"Who told you that?" she shot at him, now feeling vulnerable, completely exposed. Goosebumps erupted on her skin and she didn't like the feeling at all. She wrapped her arms around herself in attempt to warm her body from the sudden cold that hit her skin. It wasn't the actual cold of February (the hallway they stood in was quite warm, in fact) but a chill that she felt suddenly around her, creeping inside, radiating from the walls, from the air itself and into her body. She couldn't help but think that she went smaller in less than two seconds. He might as well just step on her and finish it, anything just to make this frost go away.

Harry noticed her reaction, saw her shiver, felt her fear coming out in waves and crashing into him. "I'm sorry – I didn't mean to scare you. I meant – It's a good thing..."

She then felt as though sunshine was appearing behind grey clouds. The warmth of his words felt nice, somehow, securing. He did mean well, she could tell. His voice was honest, she noticed. She never heard him this honest before. It was different, that's how she knew.

"Please, all I want is one chance – and I'm gone..."

She said nothing, simple gazing into air, looking at nothing special. She still refused to look at him, not sure what she'll see or on the contrary, what she will look like.

The bells chimed loudly, signaling the start of the class. Harry couldn't believe that fifteen minutes had gone by so slowly. It looked like hours had passed since he walked after her into the loos and until this moment when they were together in the hallway.

He didn't know what she would say. She changed so many times in those fifteen minutes. The bells rang, that's it. It was time she would give him her answer. Would she nod her head and say okay, and then all the exhaustion, all the chasings, the pain and restless nights will be gone, or would she turn away and say 'no' for the last time?

He was sure he saw her head make the slightest of movements, but couldn't make of it. She shook her head more forcefully, and a glint of apology in her eyes. "You already have someone," she said in a cracked voice. "You don't need me."

Without further words, she took off again to her class, this time Harry stayed put in the empty corridor with his shoulders slacked, and feeling more of an idiot than he ever felt before.

It was time to go for dinner at the Great Hall, but Harry was too depressed to get out of his bed. He lay on his back, facing the green canvas ceiling of his four-poster, thinking how he could fix this situation he got himself into. He couldn't think of anything he could do. He knew he messed up enough and he didn't think there is a way to make it better, the damage was done. Ginny had rejected him for the last time.

He sighed and pressed his palms to his eyes, wishing it all was a dream and that he'd wake up soon.

"Can you believe her?" Blaise's voice suddenly barked from the other side of the room.

"Who?" Harry asked, not really caring.

"Pansy, that's who," Blaise said furiously. "She sends me a letter and guess what it says?"

Harry groaned loudly. "Argh! I don't care!" he snapped. Silence fell through the room at once. It appeared to be that Blaise was speechless and in a state of shock at Harry's sudden outburst. "I'm sick of hearing of Pansy! I'm sorry I ever met her, okay?"

"Yeah, so am I... But..." Blaise said slowly, now looking carefully at Harry. "Are you okay?" he asked with wariness.

Harry propped himself up on his elbows, glaring at his friend. "Just peachy," he said sarcastically. He got up from the bed and strode to the door, but bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going," Draco snapped. Harry pushed past him, not sparing him another glance. Draco looked after him and then exchanged a questioning look with Blaise at Harry's peculiar behavior and without even thinking too much about it, they followed his track.

"Harry," Blaise called just when Harry left the common room. They quickly ran to catch up with him. "What happened? What did Pansy do to you?"

Harry let out a low growl. "Only made my life miserable..." he muttered.

"Why?" Draco asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Harry retorted. He felt miserable knowing Ginny was still sure he was with Pansy. It was one of the reasons she rejected him.

They reached the entrance hall and were about to go to dinner, when a female voice called Harry and he stopped, groaning loudly. He doesn't need this right now.

"Potter, I'd like to have a word with you," Hermione said from behind, her voice sounding cold and official.

"Well, that's too bad, Mudblood," Draco interrupted, before Harry could even answer. Something inside Harry snapped despite his lack of interest in what Hermione had to say, he still felt a twinge of anger when he heard how Draco had just addressed her by. He turned to look at his friend with a glare in his eyes. Draco had a winning smile plastered to his face. Hermione, however, looked offended by the comment. Luckily enough for her, she appeared to be without Ron, for a change, or else, Draco would have probably be facing the end of his wand by now.

"Don't call her that," Harry ordered in a cool voice.

Draco's smile faltered, his face twitching angrily and Harry could hear Blaise let out a long whistle. "And since when do you care how I call her?" Draco demanded, sounding insulted.

Harry chose to ignore the question and stick to his defensive tone. "Apologize to her now," he said coolly.

Hermione glanced between them, unable to speak and not sure if it would be wise to interrupt them, she just gaped at them. Blaise looked at them as well, not sure what to say, he remained silent himself.

"I will not apologize to anyone!" Draco insisted. "I don't know what's wrong with you today, but I have the sudden feeling that you're not the person I used to know!"

"No," Harry said emphatically, shoving an accusing finger into Draco's chest, causing him to take a minor step back. "You're not the person I used to know!"

Draco gripped his wand tightly and shoved Harry's hand away with a look of disgust. "Don't touch me!"

Blaise seemed to sense the danger approaching and flung himself between his two friends, trying to separate them, but Harry was too mad. He was sure he could burst out at any second and it will not look pretty. He was sure he managed to remain clam, but still, as Blaise touched Harry's chest while trying to keep him back from Draco, a sudden force erupted from Harry's body and Blaise flew back and hit the floor hard with a struggled moan.

A crowd of students gathered around them in circle at the sight of Blaize flying through the air, all eager to watch a duel, pushing Hermione behind. A gale of anxious whispers filled the hall. Harry pulled out his wand, ready to defense himself in case Draco will shoot a spell at him first. "You don't want to fight me, Draco," he warned.

"Oh, that's right," Draco chuckled mockingly. "They called you 'The Best Dueler in School,' didn't they? I wonder if you were worthy of that name, because I think you forgot who overcame you with your own technique back at Christmas..."

Draco stood there proudly, puffing his chest with a smug grin on his lips. The crowd let out a mutual gasp. Harry shot him a fierce look. "You were under the Imperius Curse, if you can't remember, Draco! You weren't yourself!" Another loud gasp erupted from the crowd along with some murmuring and hurried whispers. People covered their mouth as they spoke into the other's ear.

It looked like all the air in Draco's lungs had gone at once. For a second, he resembled the small, scrawny boy Harry remembered him being the first time they met. Draco was nothing like that boy anymore, Harry knew; he'd grown up and so was his strength.

It was now Draco's turn to shoot him a deadly glare. Harry knew he went too far by telling the whole school what happened to Draco, especially when he made so much effort in keeping it quiet until now, but it just came out of his mouth before he could give it a second thought.

"How DARE you?" Draco screamed, red sparks shooting out of his wand. Harry tightened his grip around his own. "You've become nothing more than a... a rotten Gryffindor, that's what you are!"

"Is that your best, Draco?" Harry taunted, causing Draco to point his wand at his chest. Harry hadn't moved an inch. "Enough with the house rivalries!" Harry growled though gritted teeth. "You hate your father, Draco! You don't want to be like him, to go in his way. Why do you still bother so much to hate Gryffindors or Muggle-borns?"

"I still got my Slytherin Pride, unlike you," Draco countered. "This is me, the real me, if you happened to have forgotten. A true Slytherin should honor his house, to be proud to be chosen to be like the great Salazar Slytherin! And you – You are nothing like us. You were different from the very beginning, you never fitted in. Yet, I made sure you won't feel different. I made you my friend and this is how you repay me?"

Harry was stunned. Draco's hurtful words had stung him like knives. He wasn't sure what to say or if he should even say anything at all. Draco went on, "First you act like this, then you defend Mudbloods, oh, and yes, let's not forget how you fell in love with a Weasley."

At that, deadly silence fell about the room and Harry felt himself freeze up. His heart slowed down and he was sure it actually stopped beating completely. All the air in his lungs had ran up in one single exhale and he was sure he was shrinking to the size of a house-elf. Everything around him stood still and looked suddenly so big. Even the whispers from before had evaporated like smoke.

As his eyes shifted around, slowly searching, so slowly he thought he had aged in several years, he found Hermione's gaze locked upon him, peering from behind the crowd, her own brown orbs were now quivering and rimmed with tears, her face featured an apologetic expression. Then there was a soft sound, much like a squeal, and every head in the hall had turned around, including Harry's. Through a narrow gap in the crowd, Harry could spot a short redhead girl with a hand clapped to her mouth and wide brown eyes. A blink of an eye later, she turned on her heel and ran off, Harry hadn't seen where to. Hermione turned around as well and disappeared after her.

A pained look crossed Harry's face and he bowed his head, too ashamed to look at his surroundings at the revelation in front of the whole school. He felt himself moving. As he went, Harry caught a swift glimpse of a blonde girl wearing Ravenclaw robes helping Blaise get up from the floor. Blaise stood up and swayed on the spot before he caught his balance again. He caught Harry's apologetic look and nodded understandingly.

Not sure where his legs were taking him, he pushed his way past the crowd and disappeared back into the dungeons, not looking back at anyone else; Draco remained on his spot, still looking resentful. He may have shouted some more, but Harry hadn't heard him, or was it that refused to hear him, Harry hadn't known himself. People started talking in whispers again as they made their way to dinner, but Harry didn't care. It wasn't the first time they talked about him and it surely wouldn't be the last.

The clock by her bed was ticking too loudly, she thought irritably as she lay awake in the dark. Shifting the red curtains aside and peering out at the annoying object, she saw it was after one in the morning.

She groaned aloud; too troubled to catch a good sleep, she flung back into the bed, staring into the nothingness surrounding her.

She lay in her bed since dinner time. She didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment. She had wanted some time alone; to contemplate what happened that night. Hermione had tried to get her to talk to her, but gave up after Ginny started to yell at her to leave her alone. She even pretended to be asleep when her roommates entered the dormitory after dinner, so they wouldn't ask her any questions.

Now, the steady breathing of her roommates did nothing but make her jealous. She wanted to sleep, to simply get away from everything that happened that day, but her own body betrayed her by not being tired at all.

It was like she drank too much coffee. The energy she held in her came out of nowhere and would not fade away. She drummed her fingers anxiously, as if waiting to something to happen, but all she did was going over things in her mind that she couldn't deny or get away from anymore.

It was as though watching it all through a Pensieve, as the events swept upon her one after the other:

How they started a row, the way he suddenly kissed her, the smack of the slap when she hit his cheek still rang through her mind, how she heard him tell Snape that she put a spell on him, and how good it felt when she "rewarded" him for it.

Since then, he wouldn't leave her alone. Everywhere she went, he was there: In hallways, in the library, outside in the grounds, in Quidditch games, the hospital wing, the Great Hall, in classrooms. Everywhere. "It's like I have a tail with its own name, and its name is Harry Potter!" she remembered herself saying.

Sometimes she couldn't even stand him. He was an insufferable git. It happened to be in times like when he hung around with his friends or kissed Pansy Parkinson in front of the whole school to see. Other times, he could have been considered even as normal: like when he came to apologize for the stupid things he did or when he was nice enough to come to her and return her the diary she'd forgotten in the library, or when he stood up for her in front of Dean, and when he complimented her and called her beautiful.

She remembered how he came to her that morning, so determined that she would agree to his question, to go out with him. He wouldn't let it go. He pressed and pleaded her to consider, but all she did was to say 'no' over and over. She wasn't sure why at the time, but there was something sincere in his voice, the way he acted. Now she knew that there was actually a chance that he really meant it.

Ginny sighed. If she had a Galleon for every time someone asked her out this week, she'd had a fortune by now.

There was Potter, of course; Kris, the Ravenclaw boy Hermione had warned her about, who she would never consider of even letting him carry her books; the mystery guy, who was nice enough to send her letters and buy her a present, but she didn't forget that he also ditched her when he asked her to meet him! And of course, if you add Dean, Neville, Michael – and in case Luna was right about something for a change – Colin, too, than she might as well open a dating service!

She remembered the note she found in Lupin's class and the Christmas card when the mystery guy had called himself a Secret Santa, and finally, the letter she received from him this week, asking her to meet him in the Owlery.

She didn't know why, but the word "Sorry" suddenly popped into her head. She frowned, thinking why she would relate her secret admirer with this word.

"Do you forgive me?" It was his voice, Potter's voice. Why would she remember it now? "I've asked for your forgiveness..."

"Oh, you mean your stinky 'sorry'?"

Ginny scratched her head, still deep in thought. Suddenly, she remembered Ron saying something about seeing something in Lupin's class one day. He wouldn't tell her what he saw, but now, as she was reflecting on it she remembered that the next day she found the strange note in the same class. Could this be related to what Ron saw in there?

She thought about the Christmas card again. Then the letter she received a few days ago. 'I tried a few times myself, but you never spared me a glance, you never took me seriously enough,' it read.

"You just scared that it might actually work between us."

Then, Malfoy's voice spoke up with the words that still made her heart all flutter funnily every time she thought of it. "Oh, and yes, let's not forget how you fell in love with a Weasley."

Suddenly, Ginny's head was spinning so fast that if the case was different and she wasn't lying in bed, she was sure she'd have fallen to the ground.

She bolted upright in her bed, like having just waked up from a nightmare. Her palms were sweaty, her heart raced in her chest and her breathing were as heavy as ever.

She took a deep breath to calm herself as she pulled out her wand and a piece of parchment from underneath her pillow. With a quick Lumos charm, a soft light flicked out of the tip of her wand. She unfolded the slip of paper and stared at the words. Then she knew. Then she saw how everything made perfect sense, every piece of the puzzle had come together and the whole picture stood clearly before her eyes: It was the same handwriting. It matched perfectly to the letter he sent her months ago, asking her to forgive him for being so foolish after the Quidditch game. It was the same writing on the Christmas card and on the strange letter from a few days ago. That's why she related him to the secret admirer. They were the same person!

With an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and the sudden urge to vomit any second, Harry entered the Great Hall on the following morning with his broom in his hand, ready for today's match as he'd ever be.

He ignored the looks people shot at him, and disregarded the longing in his chest to look over at the Gryffindor table to see if she was there, if she was one of those who were watching him.

Other than that, the room was buzzing with excitement of the approaching game. Students were chatting animatedly between themselves while having breakfast. Some were supporting banners and having painted their faces in their supported team's colors.

Harry felt like he couldn't even hold a bite of eggs, and that after he hadn't even ate dinner the night before. He was sure he'd be sick if he just tried to put something in his mouth, so as he sat down at his house table, he settled for only a cup of steaming tea.

It looked like no one cared about the snowy weather that welcomed them this morning when it involved watching a Quidditch game. People were as cheerful as ever.

As he cast a glance around the room, it was obvious which team the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were supporting, giving for the banners and signs with the Ravenclaw crest and witty sentences with pun and rhymes, such as: 'The lion roars when Ravenclaw scores!'

Harry's stomach grumbled, whether it was with hunger or anxious, he wasn't sure. He looked longingly at the various selection of delicious food displayed on the table before him. He shook his head. He'd eat after the game was be over.

He was nervous because he knew it's not going to be a simple match; the weather was stormy like he'd predicted and he knew his team still hadn't acquired enough skill to play in such conditions.

His other teammates soon joined him in the table. Crabbe and Goyle, who to Harry looked like they were getting bigger by the day, stuffed their plates with everything within their reach, as usual. Blaise was chatting with the other two chasers about how he thought they should play today. Only Draco was sitting alone and quietly, playing with the food in his plate. Harry secretly glanced at him, wishing Draco would look up and catch his gaze, but he knew he was deliberately avoiding him. He was still upset about the fight they had last night. Harry thought he should feel angry with his friend as well, but he knew Draco only said those things because he was hurt. He knew some of them were true, but there was no time to talk this over right now. Harry knew the pain was just too fresh to mend before the match will start. He had already forgotten about everything Draco had said last night, but he knew for Draco it was different. He knew that no matter how much he apologized, Draco wouldn't listen. The only thing Harry was sorry about was revealing Draco's secret. He wasn't sorry for telling him what he thought, and Draco should know that.

Seeing the Ravenclaw team gathering up to leave for the pitch, Harry stood up as well and asked his teammates to join him. Together they walked to the changing rooms, while Harry tried to imagine how this game would turn out.

"Ginny, wake up! You're going to miss the match!" Hermione's voice rang behind the curtains of her bed. Ginny groaned in protest and pulled her duvet high above her head, snuggling deeper into her pillow, hoping that Hermione's voice would disappear.

"Lemme sweep, 'Mione..." she grumbled huskily. She didn't catch much sleep last night, and now, after she finally did manage to doze off for a few hours, Hermione was disrupting her again.

Hermione let out a chuckle. "Fine, I'll let you sweep later. I'll even bring Filch's cleaning tools with me, how about that?"

"'S not funny," Ginny snarled sleepily.

"Ginny, come on! You have just a bit more than twenty minutes to get ready and go down to the pitch, or else, you're going to miss everything and I know you wouldn't want that!"

"But I don't want to get out, it's cold, and my bed is so soft and warm..." Ginny moaned.

Hermione clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Ginny, you never missed Quidditch because it was cold before. Now, would you get out of there or do I have to pull you out myself? I swear that if I'm forced to do that, tickling will be included and it won't be pleasant, believe me."

Ginny heaved a sigh. Hermione knew too well how ticklish she was and to her misfortune, she took advantage of it. She pushed the covers off herself and while still in bed, she opened the curtains to see Hermione standing in front of her four-poster with a winning smile on her face.

"Fine, you win," Ginny said short-temperedly, not pleased that Hermione had won her over. "It's just... It's too embarrassing to show myself at his game after what's been said last night," she added quietly, rubbing her eyes off sleep. Her whole face flushed pink. She wasn't sure if she should tell Hermione what she had discovered.

"Ginny, you can't hide forever. You'll have to go out eventually. Besides, since when do you care what people think?" Hermione reasoned. "Weren't you the one who taught me to just ignore everything and focus on myself only?"

Ginny sighed again and propped herself on her elbows. "You're right," she said finally, looking up at her friend. "I might as well face it now or I won't ever have the guts to do it at all. What can I say? I'm a Gryffindor, after all."

"That's the spirit," Hermione said with a nod. She extended her hands towards her redhead friend. Ginny caught them and Hermione helped her get out of bed. "Now, you have five minutes to put some warm clothes on and get ready. I'll wait for you in the common room."

Ginny nodded and moved around the room in search for her clothes. Hermione crossed the room for the door, but before she reached it, she turned and looked back at Ginny. "You know, Ron was on Prefect rounds last night, so he isn't aware yet of what happened, if it makes you feel any better, and I also tipped off the boys not to say anything to him."

Ginny smiled thankfully at her. "It does make me feel better. At least he won't breathe down my neck. Thank you." And with a wave of goodbye, Hermione disappeared through the door.

Five minutes later, Ginny joined her in the common room, fully dressed and ready to go. They went through the portrait hall and took a shortcut that would lead them straight to the entrance hall.

Ginny stomach gave a loud grumble and she clutched it with her hands. "Bugger. I wish I had eaten something..." Hermione stopped walking and looked at her questioningly. "Would you mind saving me a seat? I'll just grab a toast or something from the kitchens. I'll try to do it as quickly as I can."

Hermione smiled, she didn't seem to mind at all. "No problem. I'll see you there." She waved her goodbye and went out to the snowy grounds.

As Ginny made her way to the kitchens, she looked outside the windows and wrinkled her nose. Her team was lucky not to play in such weather. She didn't fancy flying in a snow storm, freezing herself half to death while trying to find the tiny Snitch. As though reading her mind, a burst of icy wind came out of an open window. Ginny fastened her cloak tighter to her body and continued her path.

When she reached the picture with the bowl of fruits a few minutes later, she was about to tickle the pear, but before she could do so, the picture had swung open and outside emerged a group of five Ravenclaws, a few were holding trays of food and drinks, the others held two baskets full of fresh, red tomatoes. The sniggered among themselves until they spotted that Ginny was standing in their way. As she took a good look at their faces, she recognized one of them.

"Ginny," he said, surprised to see her.

"Kris, hello," she greeted, surprised herself. She felt her cheeks warm up. "What... what are you doing here? Why aren't you at the match? It's about to begin."

"Yes, we're just about heading there. You aren't coming?"

"I hadn't had any breakfast, so I thought I'd grab something from here before going," she explained. She craned her neck to look behind him at his friends. "What's with all the food, anyway?" she asked curiously, pointing at the trays.

"Well, that," he pointed at the fancy desserts and Butterbeer bottles, "is for the after-party we're having at out common room later. I would've invited you, but," he bent down to whisper in her ear, a hint of amusement in his voice, "you see, you're not in Ravenclaw."

She took in a sharp breath, feeling a bit uncomfortable with his closeness, but still managed to chuckle lightly as he pulled away.

"Oh. Why are you so sure you're going to win?" she asked just as amused.

Instead of answering her properly, he simply laughed, his friends joining him as well.

Ginny secretly rolled her eyes. "And what about the tomatoes?" she asked, indicating the basket in his hands.

His smile only brightened. "That – is for the Slytherins."

Ginny frowned. "What do you mean?"

"For the past two days those snakes had been lurking on us in every corner. Wherever we went, they stuck out their legs so we'll stumble and fall, or they would shoot jinxes at us from behind. Our Seeker, Cho Chang, had gone this morning to the hospital wing after she couldn't stop hiccupping soap bubbles. So now, we prepared them a little revenge, you see..."

Ginny looked stunned. She knew some Slytherins were slimy, but never thought they would stoop down that low. "Really?" she asked in astonishment. "So who's playing as your Seeker today?"

Kris looked smug, as he always did. "Well, we cooked them a little surprised. His name is Lance Hastings, and I know it's mean to say, but I'm glad that Chang can't play today. I just don't know why he never tried out for the team, because he's fantastic!"

One of Kris's friends cleared his throat loudly. Kris looked back at his mates for a second, wordlessly telling them to go ahead, before turning back to Ginny. "Well, sorry, love. We've got to go. Cheer for us, yeah?" He reached his hand to caress her neck. "And think about what I said the other day, okay? I won't take 'no' that easily." He added a cheeky wink before he ran down the hall to join his friends.

Ginny shuddered at the feeling of his hand on her skin. She held herself so she wouldn't be rude and flinch right before his eyes. She touched the spot where his hand had traveled and she felt goosebumps appear on her skin. Now she realized why Hermione had warned her not to go out with him. He was a big git.

Ginny ran her fingers around her neck, suddenly feeling some sort of a string moving up and down her collar. She reached for it and pulled out the pearl necklace she received for Christmas. She almost had forgotten that it was even there. She let out a groan, remembering what she found out last night. It nagged her. She knew she needed to do something about it. She needed to go and talk to him.

When her stomach gave another angry grumble, she finally stepped into the kitchen and asked an elated house-elf for a piece of buttered toast. She left with a puzzled face as her thoughts drifted off to different locations, still thinking about her discovery.

She made up her mind: She'd go see him, ask him everything she needed to know. It was now or never.

Looking at her watch and noticing the time, she had less than ten minutes before the game started. She broke in a run to the grounds, barely aware of the heavy snowflakes falling down on her, wetting her hair and soaking in her clothes. She didn't mind any of that, however. All she wanted right now was to solve this thing once and for all, to confront him and hear him say exactly what she needed to hear. She needed that strict answer.

She ran to the field, the deafening shouts and cheers thundering in her ears, reminding her that the game is only mere minutes away from getting started.

In the distance, she could hear Dennis Creevey's voice, the commentator, welcoming everyone. She knew the teams would be out any minute now.

She sprinted to the changing rooms. The soaked grass, now covered with white patches of snow, splashed as her feet hit it with every step she took.

"It's a fine, cold day, but I hope that the Quidditch spirits will warm you up," Dennis called into the megaphone. "And Madam Hooch is calling the teams. Here comes the Ravenclaws!"

Inside the hallway leading to the dressing rooms, she could still make out the cheers of the crowd, but quite muffled through the brick walls. Her own steps echoed in the small space. Strong wind blew in her hair from the open doorway.

At the other end of the corridor, she spotted the Ravenclaw team standing in a group together at the exit to the pitch. They mounted their brooms and one after the other; they soared outside as each of their names was called. Ginny needed to hurry before the Slytherin team got out as well.

Then, the echo of voices filled the small passageway and a door to her right, only about twenty feet ahead of her, was pushed open and seven boys wearing green robes emerged through it, holding brooms and Quidditch gear. The first, leading them, was a bespectacled, black-haired boy, who was evidently scolding at the rest of his teammates.

"You better win this game," he said, somewhat threateningly, and it sounded as though it wasn't the first time he said it in the past hour. "Now, Ravenclaw is already 40 points ahead of us, but we can still change that. I want you to score more points, and not the whole winning will be based just on me catching the Snitch. I want all six of you there, playing as hard as you can, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Captain," Blaise Zabini muttered.

Ginny stood behind, breathless from her run and unnoticed as she watched silently as they walked closer and closer to the exit, ready to fly out to the pitch.

Dennis's muffled voice was now introducing Ravenclaw's new Seeker. "...And Hastings is looking quite ready to catch the Snitch today. For those who didn't hear, Cho Chang was unable to play today, but it looks like Hastings is a more than a fine substituted! Just look at him on that broom! That boy can fly! I must say it looks like Ravenclaw knew what they were doing when they added him as a reserve!"

"Wait, what was that?" Zabini suddenly asked, sounding outraged. "Did you hear that, Harry? They've got a new Seeker! Those bastards! Where the hell is that Chang girl?"

At that, Crabbe and Goyle snickered to themselves.

"Oh, great. What did you do?" Harry asked the two of them. They simply shrugged, but still held a satisfied smile on their fat, ugly faces.

Ginny, who was too nervous they'll be gone before she'll get the guts to do what she came here for, took a deep breath, packed up her courage and cleared her throat loudly. "Erm – Excuse me? Pot... Um, Harry?" she stuttered, unsure of what name to call him by. She didn't know why she decided to choose his first name instead of his last like she normally would. She expected it to sound strange, that her voice somehow will quiver, but it came out nice and smooth and it surprised her that it didn't sound strange at all.

Seven intimidating and curious faces looked back at her. Harry's eyes had widened in surprise since he didn't expect to see her. She felt uncomfortable at their stares and her face warmed up. She knew that compare to their muscular figures she must look too small and scrawny.

"What she's doing here?" Malfoy leaned over to Blaise and hissed in his ear.

Blaise smiled brightly. "Probably came to kiss him good-luck," he muttered back.

Harry, who apparently heard them, cast a narrow glance their way, before he pushed his way past them, an intrigued look on his face.

"What is it?" he asked her coolly, as though not sure what else he could say to her. It was funny. Just yesterday he chased her around, and wouldn't shut up. And now he was shy because he was around other people. She wondered if maybe he was only trying to look macho around his friends. Did they know how he had talked to her just a day ago?

Ginny shifted her weight from one foot to another, still feeling nervous and shaky. Maybe it was due the fact that her hair was full of snow, her jeans were drenched with freezing water and wind blew all around her, or maybe it was only because she could finally have her answers. He was looking at her too intensely for her to speak clearly and confidently. "I... I need to talk to you," she said breathlessly.

Harry seemed to ponder this for a second. Dennis was now calling for their team, and a small amount of cheers mixed with a vast of catcalls had followed his voice.

Harry looked hesitantly back at his waiting, impatient teammates, before he looked back at her.

"Harry, they're calling for us," Blaise said.

"I know. Go, one by one. I'll be right after you. It will only be a minute," Harry replied, his back now to them.

Malfoy looked affronted. "There's no way we're –" he started aggressively.

"It's not something to argue about, Draco! Just do it!" Harry countered, cutting him mid-sentence.

Malfoy looked as if he was about to kill. He shot a nasty glare at Harry, but Zabini put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him to the exit with the rest of the team.

Harry looked at his retreating team and bounced on the balls of his feet. Slowly, he looked back down at Ginny's face, his features softening from a frown at once. "I know you want to talk, but can this wait after the game?"

No, she thought fiercely to herself. It can't! I waited too long for this and I'm going to get my answers now! And to sod with the bloody game!

But she nodded instead. "Sure. I'll wait for you out here after the game, if that's okay."

"That's fine."

She nodded again, just one nod, to confirm her agreement. He lingered a second more, just looking at her, then turned around without another word and hopped on his broom and flew outside just in time when his name was called.

The game could never have gone any worse. They had never played this terrible in all the years Harry's been on the team. Harry was so angry that he didn't say even one word to his team when they went back to the changing rooms after the game had ended: 210-70 to Ravenclaw, of course.

He took a warm shower while trying to clear his mind off his anger, but he couldn't shake the feeling off his shoulders.

Draco did it on purpose, Harry thought with a frown. He obviously was still mad at Harry from the previous night's events. He let the Quaffle enter the goal posts several times, pretending he didn't see it coming his way and Harry had called a time-out. All he could do was to shout at Draco that it was not fair for the rest of the team to lose points just because he was angry at him, and that he shouldn't let personal matters effect a Quidditch game. Draco hadn't even listened.

Blaise, too, had played poorly today. He seemed unfocused all during the match; his throws were too soft and he collided into someone else at least three times. He never even once had managed to score the Quaffle. Harry had guessed it was all because he had a row with Julia just before the game, which Harry had witnessed. They had fought about who she should support in this game. Apparently, she was confused about it since she was in Ravenclaw house, but dated a Slytherin.

Harry also knew he couldn't judge the poor performance of any of his teammates without being angry at himself as well. He knew all too well that he wasn't as focused on the game as he should have been. All he could think about was the short encounter he had with Ginny just before he flew into the pitch. He wondered why all of the sudden she wanted to talk to him. Instead of searching for the tiny golden ball, he was flying around without any actual desire to play. Without even noticing, the game was over as the Ravenclaw Seeker had caught the Snitch.

The weather didn't help them much, either. The Bludgers Crabbe and Goyle aimed at the Ravenclaw Chasers lost their track, thanks to the blowing wind, and accidentally they hit one of their own players, nearly knocking him off his broom.

And finally, the Ravenclaws had started throwing tomatoes at them, resulting yet another pause in the game as Madam Hooch blew hard on her whistle and Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape had all come to separate a large group of Ravenclaw and Slytherins who started to shoot hexes at each other.

After Harry finished his shower, got dressed in his regular clothes, he grabbed his broom and stepped outside. Out in the hall, he could hear Blaise and Julia having yet another row. She didn't looked quite pleased with Blaise and had slapped him on the cheek and quickly stormed out after he accidentally had said something really nasty to her.

Harry was on the verge of a quick getaway, wanting nothing but to avoid his teammates or any other Slytherins, for that matter. He was just about to escape from this place when a small figure appeared in front of him. For a second, he had forgotten that he agreed to meet her after the game. He halted and looked down at her, not saying anything.

"Is it a bad time?" she asked in a small voice, her slender fingers fidgeting anxiously. "I mean, I know you lost and that you're probably not in the mood to talk right now. I understand, really, if you don't want to do this."

He shook his head. He really wanted to hear what she had to say. "Yes, you're timing couldn't have been any worse, but we can still talk. Not here, though."

She gulped hard, nodding nervously. Silently, they walked back into the castle. They found a vacant bench in a nearby hallway, which was thankfully deserted and they sat together, still not sharing a word or a glance with each other.

Harry wasn't sure if he should speak first. He didn't know what to say. He glanced up at her, wanting to ask her what she wanted from him, to urge her to start, but he was transfixed by her beauty, by her closeness. There were snowflakes in her hair, dotting it in white. Her face was flushed pink and her gaze was focused on her lap.

"You have snow in your hair," was all he could say. It slipped off his mouth without even realizing it.

Then she looked up, a puzzled expression on her face. She reached with her hands to her silky red hair, trying to brush it off. When she thought she had everything cleared off, he noticed she missed a spot.

"Right there," he pointed at the still lingering flakes. When she didn't find them, he slowly and cautiously reached out and cleared them off. The touch of her soft hair on his fingers was heavenly and he resisted the urge to run his fingers through the length of it.

"Thank you," she said sheepishly, and if it was possible, her cheeks turned a brighter shade of red.

He thought it will be wise to break off the tension by making her talk. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

She sighed. "I was thinking how I should put it, so it won't sound different from what I intended, so I'll just ask it."

"What is it?" he pressed gently.

She looked him straight in the eyes when she spoke. "Why did you ask me out?"

Harry honestly didn't expect her to ask this question. Not sure what to say, his mouth let out only incoherent stuttering. "I – I – Why – Why do you ask?"

"Just answer me, please."

"I –"

"Is it because of this?" she asked, and then she reached into her robe's pocket and a second later she pulled out something brownish and wrinkly. Harry took a sudden intake of breath when he realized what it was and she must have noticed it because she than said, "What is your connection to this note?"

He wasn't sure if he didn't know what to say, or just couldn't. All he knew was that his throat had betrayed him and went completely dry. Every word he wanted to say will not perform a sound if he opened his mouth.

She didn't wait for him to reply, for she pressed on, unfolding the note and looking at it carefully. He looked down at it, remembering the last time he saw it, when it was smooth and new. "This note – Did you write it? Is it yours?"

He shifted his head away from her, unable to look at her as a pained expression crossed his face. His voice was unlike his own, throaty and dry. "What if I tell you that yes, it is mine? Would you believe me? Or would you just laugh at my face and reject me again? It doesn't matter anymore, Ginny. It's over, it's in the past now. You rejected me enough times for me to give up on this surreal dream that something could ever work between us."

She remained silent. Harry was sure she was chocked with tears, for she had wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She only emitted a lonely sniff.

Harry reached for the pocket in his robe. His fingers clutched something square and thin, fumbling with it for a moment while thinking if it would be wise to give it to her. "Here, take it," he said finally as he pulled it out and threw it at her lap, standing up at once.

Without another look back at her, he strode down the hall and disappeared behind a corner, leaving her sitting on the bench alone.

She watched him leave with tears in her eyes. She let out another loud sniff through her freckled nose and looked down at the thing that landed in her lap: another note, though this one seemed the same size of the one she kept with her, it looked quite old, but untouched, like it never been opened more than once or twice.

She carefully unfolded it, not sure what to expect to find in it. As her eyes scanned the words and the handwriting, her heart filled with emotion and a lonely, feeble sob escaped her lips.

This note was an identical copy of the one she had carried around with her, the one she had found months ago in Lupin's classroom. Inside this new note were written six familiar words which she now remembered by heart:

'I'm in love with Ginny Weasley.'

She wouldn't take it. She wouldn't let him walk away like that. He can't just toss a note like that, confirming what she had suspected and disappear. He can't leave her to just deal with it as if nothing happened.

Ginny stood up from the bench and followed his path around the corner. The hallway she had walked into was deserted. How did he disappear so quickly? she wondered to herself. Where did he go?

Checking behind every door in the hallway, she was about to give up on looking for him when she reached the last one. Pressing down the handle and pushing the door open, she found him there, in a vacant classroom, looking out through a window into the view of the frozen lake with his back to her.

He didn't look back, but by sharp intake of breath and the way his shoulders tensed, she knew he had sensed it was her when she had entered the room even before the door shut behind her. She walked closer slowly, not sure what she would say.

"You followed me," he said quietly. It was not a question, but a statement.

"Well, you're not the only one who's allowed to follow people around this school," she said half-amusedly.

He chuckled softly. "I guess you're right," he said, still looking out the window. "But there's no reason for you to be here..."

"I still hadn't got all my answers," she explained.

He didn't move, and she stayed behind, but not too far, yet not too close. Softly, she let the words escape her mouth again. "So, this is not a joke, I take it?"

He shook his head slowly and looked down at his feet. "No. I may have done stupid pranks before, but I would never joke about something like this."

"So you wrote it because you meant it?"

"Of course. I still mean it."

"Are you serious?"

His head looked up from the ground to the ceiling and it appeared to her that it took him a great deal to not burst out at her again. Another intake of breath and he turned his head to the side, his body still not moving, and he looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Never been more serious in my whole life."

She felt herself choke up again, not believing what she was hearing. It seems so hard for her to process. She started to play with her necklace absentmindedly. "So it was you all along. You sent me the letters and the necklace..." she said quietly.

He turned back to the window and nodded again. "I did. And it looks as good on you as I thought it would when I first saw it," he said peacefully.

Harry forced his legs to turn around and face her completely. She was getting closer now, and for a moment he thought she was floating. Her footsteps were so soft he couldn't hear them clicking on the marble floor.

Ginny hadn't known what had drawn her nearer to him, but she felt her blood run fast in her veins and that was enough for her. She looked down at their feet and noticed she was mere inches away from him.

When she hadn't said anything in return, Harry gulped noticeably, packed up his courage and reached out to hold her cheek. "I love y–" But then she moved away at his touch and looked down again, unsure of what had caused her to do it. It was a strange, new feeling she had never experienced before.

Harry thought he saw a stray tear roll down her cheek and fall to the floor, but the room was getting darker by the moving of the grey clouds to cover the winter sun, so he wasn't sure if he had witness it at all. She turned her back to him again. "I'm sorry... I don't..."

His hand, which he held in midair, fell down and so did his heart. He was so stupid. How could he actually think she will return his feelings? After all the things he said and done to her, he expected her to say she loved him back?

"No, I'm sorry. Forget what I said," he said and he tried to push her away and walk to the door, but she had suddenly managed to get his wrist in her hand before he would take off and disappear again and he stopped.

"Wait! Don't – Don't leave," her voice sounded somewhat pleading and he wondered why.

"Why?" he asked with pain in his voice. He refused to look at her. He didn't want to witness the pity in her eyes. "Why do you even want to speak to me after everything I've done to you? Why are you here, trying to talk to me and look me in the eye? I don't deserve been spoken to by you. I deserve to be kicked up the arse or been slapped or hexed, but instead you're standing here in front of me with your... your pretty, long red hair, and your chocolate brown eyes, and that innocent face you got and still you're here. Why?"

"Because –" she tried, but something stopped her.

"Why?" Harry pressed, more firmly and loudly.

She didn't say anything, and he was tired of waiting for an answer, there in the empty classroom, like some sort of an idiot. He tried to wrench his wrist away from her grip, but she was surprisingly stronger than he thought. Suddenly, she pushed him back against the window, his head hit the hard, cold glass with an echoing clunk and he was about to call out in pain until suddenly he couldn't see anything, he couldn't think of anything and he felt his whole body freeze. What happened suddenly registered in his fogged mind and he felt his body begin to warm up inside as he felt her soft lips pressed hard against his, softly moving, encouraging him to return the kiss. He slowly closed his eyes and obligingly gave in to her.

It was like he was lying in a field full of flowers on a sunny spring day. The warm feeling filled him up from head to toe and it was a purely, amazing feeling. The touch of her lips was so soft he thought he was sure he was dreaming. This couldn't be real, that's all his head was telling him. She felt too good to be true, and smelled incredibly intoxicating. If this was truly a dream, than he never want to wake up.

He wanted it to last for eternity, but eventually she was one who broke apart first. He thought he heard himself let out a protesting moan, but all his attention was on her and he couldn't get his mind to stop spinning.

"You can open your eyes now," she said, her voice rougher than before, but there was still a hint of amusement to it. He realized his eyes were indeed still closed and when he felt her hands caress his cheeks, he opened them to see a small, satisfied grin on her lips. She looked absolutely beautiful like that, her eyes heavy lidded and her lips still slightly parted, looking glossy from their kiss. "I was afraid you were going to slap me again," he confessed and she giggled. She shook her head and then pressed her forehead to his and let out a sigh as she hugged him around his neck. His hands slowly traveled around the small of her back and he held her tight.

"I'm sorry about before..." she whispered. "I didn't know what to think... I was so confused. I didn't mind hearing you say it, but it suddenly became real and I was scared and when I realized I really hurt you I..."

"Shh..." he whispered back just as softly and he caressed her hair, savoring the amazing feeling of finally having her in his arms. "It's okay... you don't have to say anything... It's all forgotten."

He realized words were not important right now. Just being like this with her told him everything he wished to hear for so long.

"Say it again," she said quietly, as if afraid to speak aloud.

He knew what she meant and he held her face in his hands just like he wanted to do before and he made her look in his eyes, making sure she will know it was true. This time she did not turn away from his touch. "I love you. I love you, Ginny Weasley so much."

Now the tears he thought he saw earlier came to well in her eyes, but he knew those were happy tears, very different from the ones he saw escaping her eyes the night he first kissed her.

"I wanted him to be you all along, you know. This Secret Admirer, I wished it would be you. I thought of so many guys that he could be, but I never wanted any of them but you to be him. And then you came to my house and started to flirt and you almost kissed me; I almost gave in to you right then. And after I saw you playing chess with Bill something snapped... I don't know why. I guess I expected all my brothers to hate you and I was surprised Bill did see this good side in you that I see right now..."

He didn't say anything, but just tightened his grip on her body, never wanting to let her go.

He was scared she was the one who was playing a big joke on him and that any second now she would push him with a big mocking smile on her face and start laughing at him. Her brother would come in with a camera and snap a few pictures of his bewildered face, having a laughing fit at the scene. But none of that happened and she stayed embraced securely in his arms for long before he wanted to make sure this really wasn't a trick.

The soft flowery scent of perfume entered his nose, and he planted little kisses on her cheek as he spoke. "So, does this means you'll go out with me now?" and he felt her smile broadly at the innocence of his words.

A/N: A few things I would like to add:
1. This story doesn't end here, of course. There are a few more chapters to go!
2. I'm sure some of you have noticed that I changed the summary for this story. The old one just didn't fit anymore.
3. I already started writing the next chapter. It won't be as long as this one was, but I still don't know when I will finish it. Hopefully it will be less than ten months this time...

Anyway, that was chapter 16 you've all been waiting for! Now please tell me what you think! Your opinions are really important to me.