Thank you PurifiedDrinkingWater for the lovely review, you're very kind :) And thanks to everyone for reading.

I would like to add that Ginny will inevitably be quite different from chapter to chapter (as will Harry), because I'm going back and forth between books. This chapter takes place during the fourth book, which serves to explain Ginny's behaviour towards Harry at this point in their relationship. Enjoy :)

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3: Trust

"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" said Hermione. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot," said Harry. "They saved my life, those cakes."

"And have you heard from -?" Ron began, but at a look from Hermione he fell silent. Harry knew Ron had been about to ask about Sirius. Ron and Hermione had been so deeply involved in helping Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic that they were almost as concerned about Harry's godfather as he was. However, discussing him in front of Ginny was a bad idea. Nobody but themselves and Professor Dumbledore knew about how Sirius had escaped, or believed in his innocence.

"I think they've stopped arguing," said Hermione, to cover the awkward moment, because Ginny was looking curiously from Ron to Harry. "Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"

Rowling J.K., Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, PDF, Chapter 5: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, page 38.

Ron and Hermione walked out of the room first, chatting idly, leaving Ginny to trail after Harry, with a hopeful expression on her face. She didn't know how to go about this, especially since she was still trying to suppress certain feelings for him, but she wanted to at least be able to talk to him normally. And she was curious as to why they'd changed the subject so quickly.

"So...um, what was that all about?" she asked quietly.

"What do you mean, Ginny?" Harry asked, feigning nonchalance.

"Just now, Ron asked if you'd heard from someone and Hermione cut him off," she explained.

"Oh...did Ron ask that? I didn't hear it," Harry lied, trying to keep his smile in place.

"I'm pretty sure you did," Ginny insisted, blushing slightly. "Hermione gave him that look of hers and you – you seemed concerned about it. I know it's none of my business, but is it important?"

Harry coughed awkwardly and shook his head vigorously.

"There's nothing to worry about, Gin. Ron didn't probably mean anyone in particular," Harry offered lamely. "I'll ask him next time."

Ginny frowned. I don't believe you, Harry.

"But-"

"And it's probably someone you don't know, either way," he added assuringly.

Ginny frowned again. How do you know that?

"Well I think," she began bravely, taking a deep breath, "I think it was someone. Someone in particular."

"Ginny-"

"But you don't want to tell me," she continued undeterred, "because it's something between you three. Which is all right, I guess, but at least... at least tell me so."

Harry sighed guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. I wish I could tell you, but I can only afford to tell so many people. It's not because of you."

Ginny blushed again and hid her face behind her hair, as she was wont to do at times. It only lasted a moment though.

She quickly looked up and smiled weakly.

"I understand. But just be honest about it. It's bad enough I'm not included."

"That's not true-" Harry interjected.

"Maybe someday you three will trust me enough to share certain things," she added, staring at her shoes.

"We do trust you, Ginny, but this is more important than that."

As soon as he'd said it he knew it was the wrong thing to say. He just knew it. But he'd said it anyways and it couldn't be undone.

Ginny fought really hard to hide the hurt expression on her face after being told she was not that important. She didn't want Harry Potter of all people to see that she cared. She didn't want anyone to see she cared about something as trivial as that. Because she understood she wasn't that important to begin with. And it pained her.

Before Harry was able to repair his mistake, Ginny smiled a forced cheerful smile and ran towards the kitchen where her mother had just started complaining about the twins anew.

When he entered the room, she and Hermione were already carrying plates to the garden. They were going to eat outside.

By seven o'clock, the two tables were groaning under dishes and dishes of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, and the nine Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione were settling themselves down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky. To somebody who had been living on meals of increasingly stale cake all summer, this was paradise, and at first, Harry listened rather than talked as he helped himself to chicken and ham pie, boiled potatoes, and salad.

Rowling J.K., Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 5: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, PDF, page 40

Still, no matter how famished he was or how heavenly Mrs. Weasley's cooking tasted, his contentment was only partial. His eyes kept travelling across the table towards Ginny, who was seated on the opposite side, next to Bill and Charlie, and who was doing a good job of avoiding him and appearing as happy and engrossed in the general conversation as ever. Considering the subject was the Quidditch World Cup, he couldn't blame her. But he had a nagging feeling in his chest that she was still upset.

There was nothing he could do about it now, though. No matter how uneasy he felt, he couldn't just shout an apology across the table. Nor could he make it sound sincere. Despite liking Ginny well enough, he had to admit he did not trust her as much as he did Ron and Hermione and it would be silly to pretend otherwise.

And yet he still wanted to do right by her. In an odd way, Harry wished she could be happy staying out of the loop. He wished they could be just as good friends without having to tell each other everything (especially without him having to tell her everything). He wished he had someone like that, someone on the outside.

As the dinner went on and Percy started blabbering about the many qualities of Barty Crouch Senior, while Fred and George discussed Bulgaria's chances against Ireland, Ron and Hermione drew closer to him, in an attempt to restart their previously interrupted conversation. They were counting on there being enough noise around them as not to be overheard.

Harry, however, was painfully aware that despite all the raucous talking, Ginny was paying close attention to them.

She laughed and cheered Fred on when he mentioned Ireland, she even made a funny comment about Bill's hair, but whenever Ron or Hermione said anything to him, she stopped whatever she was doing, looked in the opposite direction and listened closely.

Harry knew this trick all too well, having lived with the Dursleys for so long.

So when Ron edged closer, looking around carefully and asked him in a quiet voice if he'd heard from Sirius lately, he shook his head and gave him a look that warned him it was not safe to talk.

Hermione spotted Ginny across the table.

"So, Harry, have you seen Crookshanks' ingenious method of catching garden gnomes? It's quite effective," Hermione spoke out loud, rather heavy-handedly.

"Er, no, Hermione, don't think I have, is he as ferocious with the gnomes as he was with Scabbers?" Harry joked, hoping to incite Ron too.

He suddenly heard a clattering of china and he noticed Ginny from the corner of his eye getting up hurriedly. She had an impatient look on her face.

"What's the matter, sis?" Charlie asked good-humouredly.

"I'm not feeling so great. Too much ham pie, I'm afraid. I'll go lie down a bit," she said, looking down.

"Do you need an ailing draught for your stomach, Ginny?" her mother asked gently.

"No, mum, I just need to go," she mumbled crossly.

Without waiting for her mother's reply she excused herself and walked quickly towards the house.

Nobody wondered what had gotten into her, except for Harry. He knew all too well.

And he even had a fleeting impulse to go after her, but he knew it would be a mistake. What could he tell her to make her feel better?

He hated lying.

Ginny would eventually stop wanting to know everything about him. She would realize soon enough what a burden that would be.