When Harry arrived at the Quidditch pitch at exactly two-thirty in the afternoon on Halloween, he found that Ginny had gotten there ahead of him. She was just emerging from the broom shed, Quaffle in one hand, Comet 180 in the other. Looking at it now, he realized how decrepit the Comet really was. She didn't have a choice though. The Comet was the best broom Hogwarts had. It had recently been donated by a student who had gotten a newer model. It was certainly better than the Shooting Stars, but it didn't suit her.

"Where's Ron?" she asked as he approached. He had told her earlier that week that he had invited Ron to come that Saturday.

"He was just fighting with Hermione about the Champions when I left," he told her. "I think he was too engrossed in that argument to want to come, so I left him."

He put one leg over his Firebolt and took off into the air. Ginny followed him a second later.

"The Champions?" she asked incredulously as she leveled with him. "There's no topic that's safe from them, is there? So, why did they fight?"

"Well, Hermione said that she thought that Cedric Diggory would probably be chosen for Hogwarts and Ron accused her of liking him because he's 'handsome'. And then, Ron said that he thought that pretty girl from Beauxbatons would be chosen, and Hermione accused him of thinking so only because she's pretty. Not really that simple, but that's about the short of it."

"Boy, those two have issues," she said, chuckling. She shot the Quaffle through the rightmost hoop then flew to retrieve it. "Which Beauxbatons girl did you mean? The blonde one who walks like she's floating?"

"Yeah," he replied, snorting at her description.

"She seems snobbish."

"She's really pretty though."

Ginny chuckled. "That's what my friend Edmund said this morning," she said, passing the Quaffle to him. "I guess…I can sort of see what you guys mean. She's really beautiful—you never see that sort of beauty in Hogwarts. It's different, somehow…."

"Ron reckons she's a Veela," said Harry. "Maybe she is, but I think there are still some prettier girls here in Hogwarts," he added, thinking of Cho. Sure, the Beauxbatons girl had a sort of ethereal beauty, but he thought that Cho was prettier. She had a really cute smile and, Harry thought, shiny black hair was way better than blond. Pulling himself back to reality, he tried to shoot the Quaffle through the middle hoop—it missed.

"Yeah? So, who's prettier than Veela girl?" Ginny asked teasingly as she flew back from retrieving the ball.

"Nobody," lied Harry, but he could feel the blood rising up his cheeks. He flew towards the goal posts in the pretense of waiting for her to shoot the ball, but in reality, he was just hiding his face from her. "I was just generalizing."

Suddenly, she burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh, don't bother hiding it Harry," she said. "I know you like Cho."

He turned his head sharply towards her, shocked. He heard his neck crick, but he ignored it. His face was really heating up as he started spluttering.

"Wh—what—how did, how—?"

"You're blushing," she teased, pointing at him. She was obviously enjoying his embarrassment.

"How did you know?" he finally asked. It seemed useless to deny it, and there was something about Ginny that somehow made him very open and candid with her.

"Oh, don't get mad," she began, shooting the Quaffle through the middle hoop. Harry went to retrieve it. "I was talking with Hermione about how you played last year. I wondered why you seemed like you weren't doing your best when you played Ravenclaw. There was a point when I thought you were going to let Cho catch the Snitch! I got annoyed because I thought you went easy on her because she was a girl. I mean, just because she's a girl doesn't mean she's not as good as the other Seekers," Ginny explained pointedly. "I thought you were, you know, one of those boys who think they're better than girls. I was going to give you a…er…piece of my mind, so Hermione went and told me why you didn't seem to be doing your best," Ginny said sheepishly. "Are you mad?" she asked.

"Why would I be mad?" asked Harry.

"Because Hermione told me about Cho," she said in a stating-the-obvious sort of way.

"No, I'm not mad," he said, and he really wasn't. If it had been someone else, he would probably be mad at Hermione, but he found that he didn't mind Ginny knowing about Cho—or anything about him, really. He smiled reassuringly and passed her the Quaffle, which she shot smoothly through one of the hoops.

"So who do you think the Hogwarts Champion will be?" she asked as Harry retrieved the Quaffle.

"Angelina, I hope," he answered eagerly, glad for the change of topic. Sure, he didn't mind Ginny knowing about who he liked, but he somehow felt uncomfortable talking to her about it. He wasn't comfortable talking to Hermione about it either, but more so with Ginny. He assumed that it was because he and Ginny hadn't known each other long enough.

"I hope it's Angelina too," she said. "But I think Cedric's got the best chance of being chosen. He's really quite good—and I'm not just saying that 'cause he's handsome," she added jokingly.

He chuckled at her statement. "Cedric is good," he conceded. He threw the Quaffle through the middle hoop and she went to retrieve it. "But I still hope Angelina gets chosen."

"Yeah, it'd be someone from Gryffindor…"

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"But I think Cedric would really deserve it if he gets chosen," said Ginny. "I don't know, but part of me wants to see him get chosen—"

Harry passed the Quaffle to her, and she caught it and passed it back to him in one smooth movement.

"—He's sort of Hufflepuff's 'saving grace'. I mean, I think it's good for Hufflepuff if the champion is from their house."

"I know what you mean," he said. "And I guess Cedric would have the support of all the houses. If it was someone from Gryffindor, Slytherins probably wouldn't support them, and Gryffindors probably won't want to support Slytherins too. I know I wouldn't."

"And Cedric's really good too," she said fervently. "And he's an amazing flier, isn't he? Nothing on you though," she added half-jokingly.

Harry snorted, not really knowing how to react to her statement. With Ginny, he was never sure whether she was actually complimenting or just teasing, or both. He passed the Quaffle back to her.

"And he can't do this," he said. He pulled the nose of his broom towards his head and accelerated, so that he spun vertically in the air.

He grinned smugly at her as he finished his trick. She raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

"Show off," she muttered.

"Want me to teach you?" he offered.

"Yes," she said eagerly, flying closer to him. Her excitement was evident in her eyes.

He laughed, amused at the way she changed tack so quickly.

"Alright, put your Quaffle down first," he instructed. "This is a broom-only trick."

"Yessir!" she said excitedly. She took out her wand and levitated her Quaffle towards the ground.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You know there's such a thing called gravity, right?" he said sarcastically. "You could've just dropped the ball…."

"I don't want it to get damaged," she explained.

"And you do also know that it's charmed to fall slowly downwards."

"Yeah, but still, you'll never know," she said. Harry's eyebrows rose to the heavens. "I don't want to just drop it, okay," she told him pointedly, "especially at this height."

"Alright, whatever you say," he said, grinning at her.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him, but he could tell that she was trying not to smile. This made him grin even wider.

"Oh, come one, just teach me your trick," she finally said.

"Alright, alright," Harry gave in. "How about you try to do it, and I'll tell you where you went wrong."

She huffed. "As if I'll go wrong," she said in a mock-offended tone. She accelerated and pulled the nose of her broom upwards, but she shot high up into the air instead of spinning vertically like he did.

"As if you'll go wrong, huh?" he called, chuckling.

Ginny flew back down towards him, grinning. "Okay, hit me," she said lightly.

"Right, what you did was you accelerated first before pulling the broom upwards," explained Harry. "What you should do is pull the broom upwards first before accelerating. I mean, you can accelerate before pulling up, but you have to accelerate more once you've pulled the nose up. And also, don't just pull it up, you also have to pull it backwards. And make sure the timing's right, otherwise, it won't work."

"Okay," she said, nodding slowly. "Pull first before accelerating, also, pull up and pull back. And make sure the timing's right—can you do it again?"

He demonstrated the trick, spinning vertically on the air.

"Okay, here goes," exclaimed Ginny.

She took a deep breath and tried to do the trick again, but all she achieved was shooting upwards. She tried the trick a few times more. Sometimes, she would shoot up into the air, at other times it would seem like she was going to execute the trick but she would always lose control at the peak and her broom would lean sideward, making her spin horizontally. She was getting more and more frustrated at each attempt, but she showed no signs of wanting to stop.

"Alright, stop," he called after a while. She finally stopped and turned to face him, still looking quite frustrated. "The Comet's too slow," he said, "why don't you try it with the Firebolt?"

This seemed to cheer her up. "Okay," she said eagerly, smiling at him. He returned her smile and started flying towards the ground.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"We're going to swap brooms," he said. It was quite obvious, really. "We need to get to the ground."

"Hey, why don't we swap up here," she suggested excitedly.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah!"

"No way!"

"Oh come on," she cajoled. "I never got to try it. Charlie never agrees to do it."

"Maybe because he values his life," he pointed out wryly.

"It will be fun," she reasoned, grinning at him.

He couldn't help but return her grin. "You don't want to drop the Quaffle from this height, but you suggest that we swap brooms up here," he said, shaking his head. "You're a little insane, you know that?"

"Everybody's a little insane," she said matter-of-factly. "Come on, it will be fun," she said again, wriggling her eyebrows meaningfully.

"Oh, alright," he said, giving in. It was hard to resist her when she was smiling like that, and it did sound fun.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" she exclaimed happily.

"So, how do we go about this?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know, we'll find a way," she said casually. He looked sardonically at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Alright, how about, I go this way and you go that way, and then we'll sort of get on each other's brooms," she suggested.

Harry flew towards Ginny. They tried to do what she just said, but it was a little tricky and not at all practical. They tried a number of different ways, but none of them worked. One of them would probably end up falling if they continued with them. And they would alternately burst out laughing as the other tried to maneuver their way around. In the end, he was still on his Firebolt and she was still on the Comet.

"Oh, this isn't going to work," said Harry. Ginny was still gripping the Firebolt and she couldn't stop laughing, making it wobble.

"Oh, come on, we just need to think this through," she said, straightening up and gripping her own broom.

"Fine," he said, "let's just fly lower, I don't really feel like breaking my bones."

She looked down, and realizing the wisdom of what he just suggested, said, "Yeah, alright."

They turned their brooms downwards and stopped when their feet were only inches away from the ground. She looked at him, grinning.

"I think I've figured it out," she said breathlessly. "This might actually work."

"What is it?"

She told him. He looked approvingly at her, grinning and nodding.

"Yeah, I think that would actually work!"

"Alright! Let's do it!"

They flew and positioned themselves so that they were a few feet away from each other. He was on the right, she on the left, and they faced the same direction.

"Hey, move forward," she called.

"No, you move forward," he said. "I've got a longer reach than you, I should be the one behind."

"Okay." She moved forward a little. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Go!"

Both of them lifted a leg—Harry his left, and Ginny her right—and stretch them towards each other. Slowly, they flew sideward, closing the gap between them, until their brooms were side by side. They put their legs back down simultaneously and grinned at each other. They were both riding on the two brooms, Ginny in front and Harry at the back.

"Lock," she said, and took a deep breath.

She gripped the Firebolt with her right hand and the Comet with her left. He moved forward a little and reached his left hand around her to grip the Comet. She finally let go of the Comet and gripped the Firebolt with both hands. He slowly let go of the Firebolt, but he started swaying as he did so.

"Whoa!"

"What are you doing?" she asked incredulously. "Hold on to my shoulder, you don't want to fall do you?"

"Oh, right." He brushed her hair out of the way and held on to her shoulder.

"Release?" she asked.

"Release."

They each lifted a leg again—Harry his right, Ginny her left—and started flying sideward, this time away from each other. By the time they had finished with their whole maneuver, he was riding the Comet and she was riding the Firebolt. They looked excitedly at each other, jaws dropped, and started laughing.

"We did it!" she exclaimed happily. Her face was flushed with triumph, and he knew his was too.

"Yeah," he said shakily, tightening his grip around the Comet.

"We did it!"

She started laughing again, and took off towards the goal posts. He raced after her, but the Comet was annoyingly slow. He didn't know how she could ride a broom like that and not lose her temper. She was still laughing by the time he reached her a couple of minutes later.

"This broom is really slow," he complained.

"Race you to other end of the pitch," she teased, flying swiftly around the goalposts, prompting him to roll his eyes.

"You still have that trick to master," he reminded her. It was, after all, the reason why they had swapped brooms.

She gave him one of her more mischievous grins and shifted a little on the Firebolt, readying for the trick. She took a deep breath, pulled the broom upwards, and accelerated a second later. He thought she was going to get it, but she lost control again at the peak. This time, the broom was too fast and it kept going straight while she hung upside down on it. She was heading for one of the goal posts, fast.

"Ginny!" he called in alarm and concern.

She managed to gain control, swinging herself right-side up and slowing the Firebolt down. But she was still accelerating towards the goal post. She swerved at the last instant, but her shoulder hit the post, and she spun in the air—two full spins before she managed to stop.

"Ginny! Are you alright?" asked Harry, his voice tightening with distress. His heart was beating so fast he was surprised it hadn't burst out yet.

Her face was turned down, away from him. Her knuckles were white. And then, she started shaking.

"Ginny—?"

A chuckling noise came from her. She looked up at him, grinning mischievously. Then she started laughing, a loud, mirthful laughter, and he was so relieved that she was alright that he started laughing too.

"Merlin! You almost gave me a heart attack back there," he said breathlessly. This only made her laugh harder. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she said nonchalantly.

"You hit your shoulder, though," he said, "is that alright?"

"Just a little bruise," she said, feeling her shoulder gingerly.

He frowned. She was handling it casually, and it wasn't something to be handled casually. She ran into a post, for Merlin's sake! It could've been worse…. He tried not to think of that.

"Are you really alright?" he asked again.

"If you ask me that one more time I'm going to hex you," she warned. She was starting to get annoyed but he didn't heed her, he was a little angry with himself.

"I shouldn't have let you do that on a Firebolt," he said, more to himself than to Ginny. "That trick was too hard to master on a Firebolt."

"You do it on a Firebolt," she pointed out evenly.

"Only after I had mastered it on my Nimbus!"

"Well, unfortunately, we don't have a Nimbus," she said loudly. "So there…I'll have to master it on the Firebolt. Will you stop hovering?"

"I'm not hovering," he argued. "I'm just concerned—"

"Well, I have enough of that from my brothers, and my parents, and Hermione…so please, don't include yourself in that list."

He frowned at her, stung by her words. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, alright, you are allowed to be concerned," she said half-jokingly. "But only a little. And don't be like my brothers."

He lightened up, realizing how stupid it was to be offended by what she said. It was a little childish, even.

"I really am fine Harry," she said seriously. "So don't worry."

"All right, I won't," he said complacently. He cocked his head sideways and looked at her. At first, he had thought that she was a bit like Ron in that she was hot-tempered. After seeing how mischievous she was, he thought that she was a lot like Fred and George. She was a lot like Charlie too in the sense that she was really good at Quidditch. But, he realized now, she wasn't really like any of her brothers. She had some of their qualities (they were siblings, after all) but those qualities didn't really describe her. She was, simply, herself.

"Will you stop staring?" she demanded, interrupting him from his musings.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "I was just wondering which one of your brothers you're most like—"

"I am not my brothers," she said firmly. "I am me."

"Yes, I figured that out."

Betaed by: PadfootProngs7

Some review questions and answers that everyone might like to know:

Q: There's no Voldemort, so Ginny never got to the Chamber?
A: No, Ginny was never possessed by Tom Riddle's diary, and she was never brought to the Chamber. I know that was a huge "character-development" thing for her but I just can't include it without destroying the whole premise of the story.

Q: Malfoy is not evil as usual?
A: Malfoy is still a git.

Q: Harry's an only child?
A: You'll find out in the next few chapters.

Q: Tonks and Remus are together?
A: I haven't gotten to this point. But as of THIS chapter, they're not-YET. :D

Q: No Dobby?
A: I'm not quite sure if Dobby will figure into the story, but he's "there". I have a whole backstory for him, but so far, I haven't gotten to a part where we would need him to, er, make an appearance.

Q: Harry's not into Cho?
A: You have your answer in this chapter. :D

Q: No Triwizard Tournament?
A: There is still a Triwizard Tournament, but no, Harry won't be participating in it. (Doesn't mean he won't get into some sort of trouble though. :p)

Q: Is there any particular reason why this story started in Harry's fourth year?
A: There is a reason, but it's not as exciting as one might think. Simply put, I decided to start the story in Harry's 4th year 'cause he started fancying Cho in third year. I just don't think he would fancy another girl once he's gotten to know Ginny properly (that's just me, of course), so I decided to have him get close to her 'after' he started fancying Cho. As to why I want him fancying Cho... well, to make life more exciting, of course. :p Also, it would be pretty weird for Harry to fancy just one girl his whole life. And I just couldn't get him to fancy another girl after he got close with Ginny... Hope that makes sense. :)

Q: Are Harry and Ginny gonna get together much earlier than in the books?
A: I will say that Harry started noticing Ginny much earlier than in the books. As for 'when' they will get together, well I can't answer that. Well, I've answered the reader who asked this question, but I can't bring myself to post the answer here. But you can PM me if you want an answer. I just don't want to post the answers where everyone can see. Yes, I know it's silly.