Chapter 3

Two days later, Hermione was sitting with Ginny in the sitting room, while the boys were in town.

"Please tell me what happened," Hermione pleaded, "I told you what happened between me and Ron!"

"Well, no harm could come of it I suppose, but if it does, you're gonna pay!"

"Yes, of course, just tell me what happened!" Hermione gasped quickly, settling herself for what was bound to be the best story of the year.

"Well, after we got to the shed, as we were putting our brooms back, our hands brushed. Then, blushing really badly, I spun round. When I heard something, I turned round, and I saw Harry's bare back! I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was hot, so he had taken off his shirt. Then he said if it was making me uncomfortable, then he'd put it back on. And he did! So I, still bright red, went to leave, but he stopped me, and then, out of nowhere, he just kissed me! Of course, it wasn't as romantic as you and Ron, but I thought it was amazing!"

"Oh my word, that was way better! You actually saw your boyfriend's back! The best I've seen is Ron's arms!"

"Well, just don't ever go into details if you see any more of him, I'll go insane! He is my brother!"

"Yeah, you're right! Oh, have you told Fred and George yet?"

"No, and I never will! I don't want him black and blue!"

"Who?" George asked, entering the room.

"Yeah, who are we gonna have to beat up? Wait, you haven't got a boyfriend have you?" Fred sniggered. Ginny blushed, and leant her head forward, so her hair hid her face, then threw her head back onto the back of the sofa, and covered it in her hands.

"Ooh, she has! Who is it?" George asked, nudging Fred and winking. Through her hands, you could see Ginny get redder and redder, till a passer-by would have thought her head was on fire.

"Ohh," said Fred knowingly, "I get it. One, you don't want to talk about it cos you think he'll get beaten up, and two, it's HARRY!"

"OK, what's all the shouting about?" Mr Weasley said, coming into the room.

"Dad, they're teasing me!" Ginny yelled, standing up suddenly, and preparing to battle.

"Only cos you have a boyfriend!" Fred said in a singsong voice.

"Yeah, and it's Harry!" George said, in exactly the same voice.

"Oh, you two are IMPOSSIBLE!" Ginny yelled, storming out the room, Fred and George singing,

"Ginny and Harry sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

"AAGGHH!" Ginny screamed, running up the stairs to her room.

Mrs Weasley stormed out and said,

"Right, that's IT! You two stop teasing Ginny right now! So what if she's going out with anyone? It's none of your business! Go to your room NOW!" Fred and George stomped up to their room.

"And you!" Mrs Weasley rounded on Mr Weasley. "Why didn't you do anything about it? In the kitchen now! I want to talk to you!" She followed an ashamed Mr Weasley into the kitchen.

At that moment, Harry and Ron came in. They had obviously heard the shouting, and when Harry said,

"Did I miss anything?" Hermione burst out laughing.

"No," she managed to say between laughs, "except for the fact that…"

"Harry! Congratulations!" Fred said, coming into the room, and pumping Harry's hand.

"Yeah! We thought it would never happen!" George said, shaking Harry's other hand.

"W-w-what?" Harry stammered, looking from Fred to George and back again with a scared and puzzled expression. Hermione started giggling again.

"You and Ginny! I'm amazed you finally plucked up the courage! We always knew you were meant for each other!" Fred said, as if explaining something simple to a small child. Harry stuttered incoherently and turned gradually red.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TWO TO GO TO YOUR ROOMS!" Mrs Weasley bellowed from the kitchen. Fred and George winced, and let go of Harry's hands and trudged back up the stairs.

Harry sank down on the chair opposite Hermione, putting one hand on his forehead, a shocked expression on his face.

"How did they find out?" he asked, looking at Hermione, who collapsed back into giggles.

"Go… ask… Ginny!" she breathed, still doubled up in laughter. "She… went… to… room!"

"You go Harry, I'll calm Hermione down," Ron said, sitting next to Hermione, putting one arm round her shoulders and starting to talk to her in a calm voice Harry was sure he had learned from his mother. Harry got up and walked quietly up to Ginny's room, trying not to disturb Fred or George. His arms were still sore.

"Ginny?" he said quietly, peering round her door. She was lying on her bed, head in her arms.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Harry said gently, sitting down next to her and putting one hand on her shoulder.

"Oh Harry! It's Fred and George! They started singing the whole Harry and Ginny sitting in a tree thing! They're gonna really tease us!" Ginny said, head still in her arms, her voice shaking from all the crying she had been doing.

"Hey, don't worry about those two! They're just being twerps!"

"And how is that supposed to make me feel better?" Ginny said, not looking up.

"It wasn't meant to, but this is."

"What is it?" Ginny asked, turning her head slowly to look at the box in Harry's hand.

"Open it and find out," Harry said mysteriously. Ginny did that, and inside was a necklace identical to Hermione's. As she lifted it out, she felt something on the back. She turned it over, and, engraved in tiny writing were the words,

I love you Ginny.

Harry.

"Oh." Ginny whispered, now in a sitting position on the edge of the bed. "I – I – I think that's one of the sweetest things anyone's ever done for me."

"One of the sweetest things?" Harry asked, grinning.

"Well, there was one thing that was way sweeter that happened two years ago. A boy called Harry Potter saved my life." Ginny said. Harry's grin changed into a smile, and he blushed.

"Well, that boy should be your boyfriend instead of me," Harry said, the grin returning.

"You're right. Oh, wait, he is!" Ginny giggled, and fell into Harry's arms, whispering, "Thank you. I love you too Harry." Harry pushed her back slightly, and gently brushed her lips with his. As she gave a soft noise from the back of her throat, Harry kissed her softly. Ginny's lips parted slightly, and she felt the warmth of Harry's tongue in her mouth. As they broke apart, Harry's hand slipped from her waist, picked up the necklace from where it was on the bed, and fastened it around Ginny's neck, kissing her gently as his hand came away.

While this had been going on, Ron had taken Hermione upstairs to his room, still trying to calm her down. He had tried everything, except one thing. He took her face in his hands and kissed her exactly the same way Harry had kissed Ginny. When Ron broke away, Hermione was completely calm, and panting slightly as she once again fidgeted with her necklace.

"Ron," Hermione said, breaking the silence, "how did you afford the necklace?"

"I've been saving up ever since I saw it, last summer holidays. I had a little money then, and I asked if I could put in a deposit and pick it up when I had the rest. When Harry came, I told him and he said I should definitely go through with it. The letter where you said Love from, Hermione sealed it." Ron said, blushing slightly.

"Oh. That's really nice. Well, for Christmas, I'm gonna get you something perfect! Something just for you." Hermione said, letting go of her necklace and taking Ron's hand in her own. She leant in, and they kissed again.

Neither couples heard the gentle sniggering of one of the twins outside their door.

At dinner that day, Hermione sat next to Ron, closer than usual, while Ginny and Harry sat on her other side. Fred, George, Mr Weasley and Mrs Weasley sat on the other side of the table, Mrs and Mr Weasley smiling at the two couples, and Fred and George being idiots, occasionally earning Mrs Weasley's glare, which usually quieted them for about five minutes before they started up again.

"So, Ginny, done anything interesting today?" asked George, stressing the interesting, so Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny all knew he meant kissing. Ginny blushed and concentrated on eating her curry.

"What about you Harry?" Fred asked.

"No, nothing really interesting. I just went into town and played chess, if that's what you mean," Harry replied, blushing slightly, but keeping his composure all the same.

"Ron, Hermione? Done anything today?" George asked, quickly chancing a look at his mother, who was obviously the ignorant party, as she was actually looking at Ron and Hermione with genuine interest.

"No. Same as Harry," mumbled Ron, his ears going pink, and copying Ginny.

"Hermione?" George asked, winking at her.

"No, read a book most of the time. And I went for a walk, but otherwise, nothing really exciting or interesting at all," Hermione replied, purposely not looking at Ron, because she knew she would blush.

"Oh. I thought you had done other stuff as well, Ron and Harry," Fred said, looking slightly disappointed, "like, um, comforting people in hysterics or crying."

"No," said Harry, blushing even more, but determined not to let Mrs Weasley see.

After dinner, however, when Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry were in Ginny's room, Fred and George came in.

"We know what you four were doing earlier," George and Fred said simultaneously.

"What on earth do you mean?" Ginny said, standing up, knocking the Exploding Snap pile everywhere.

"You know!" George said, winking at his twin, "When Hermione was in hysterics and when you had just received that necklace from Harry!" He finished triumphantly, grinning.

"And? What is it of your business?" Hermione said, starting to pick up the pile, but stopping when they exploded in her face.

"Nothing, really, but I'm sure Mum would love to know what's going on around here!" Fred said.

"Yeah, because that's wonderful brotherly behaviour, isn't it, you twerps!" Ginny exploded, hitting them both on the arm, hard, before pulling out her wand and pointing it at George.

"Woah!" Fred yelled rubbing his arm.

"Look, I've had about enough! Some things are private, and if you've been nosing around, poking your faces in at keyholes, then pretty soon, I'll find a way to use permanent Bat Bogey Hexes, and you'll be the test subjects!" Ginny yelled, her wand still raised.

"Okay, okay, we'll stop!" George dissembled.

"Good! Now get out of my room!" Ginny yelled, stowing her wand away. Fred and George raised their arms in a gesture of defeat, and left the room. Backwards.

"What?" Ginny snapped, rounding on Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as they all stared at her, open mouthed.

"Well, you, you kinda blew up there, Gin," Ron said, smiling slightly, as Ginny sat back down.

"Well, so would you!" Ginny snapped, curling up cat-like, with her head on the pillow.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now," Ron said slowly, grabbing Hermione by the hands and dragging her out the door.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked quietly, putting his hand on Ginny's shoulder.

"Yeah, just really tired. I can't wait till we go back to Hogwarts."

"Neither can I. If you're tired, I'll go so you can get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay. Night Harry."

"Night Gin."

And with that, Harry left the room, as Ginny stretched out and went to sleep.