Disclaimer--If you like it, assume I don't own it. The Potterverse belongs to JKR, Steve Klowes, Scholastic and WB. Fanon belongs to the multitude...I'm simply paying homage. Most of this scene is from GoF by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made.

Author's Notes-- Progress has been a lot slower in this work, but I hope you'll all stick with me anyway. As you all know, I may not own it, but I work hard, and I love it, so if you read it and enjoy it, please review it! Please don't print or post this elsewhere without my knowledge.

Congratulations, all!! Book 6 is on the way!! Yay!!!

Raiining—You're welcome...I just wish I could update as frequently as I used to. I really miss this story and our discussions! But I'm still hanging in there, and I hope you guys will, too. I love all Ginny's pranks, but that one did seem particularly appropriate. ;-) I'm glad you liked the part about Krum...I hope it does help develop more of a background to his date with Hermione than we got in the book. I'm looking forward to more Neville, too! And thanks for going back to read my other stories...I hope you enjoyed them!

JamieBell—I think I remember that description, too, but I don't know where I saw it. I love the idea of Madam Pince as a slavering fangirl, so I'm glad you did too! :-) Sorry this wasn't a very quick update...hope you get to read it anyway!

HairyHen-- Luna is a very interesting character, isn't she? I agree, Malfoy is a ferret for life. I'm excited about the Yule and half-afraid of it, too...I wish I knew what was going to happen!

EEDOE—I love the family resemblance. ;-) I would love to see Ron discuss Quidditch with Hermione too...perhaps one of us will have to include that in a story. I agree...I sympathasize with Ginny, but I think Hermione's date with Krum is necessary to kick-start Ron...and Hermione probably knows it. I agree...keep stealing socks, Ginny! hugs

Bill—I love the bit about the falafel. Maybe I'll have to research that incident. ;-) You have a lot of good points about Krum...I wish JK had explained a bit more about that relationship in OotP, but you can't have everything. True...Ginny and Harry do seem to balance out. :-) I DEFINITELY do INTEND to finish this story...it's just been really slow going. Sigh. Still, keep your fingers crossed for Ginny and me! hugs

Ginny was playing chess with Ron in the Gryffindor Common Room when Errol arrived, plummeting into Ron's head like a fluffy comet, and bouncing into his lap. "Ouch! What the blo-but I haven't done anything!" Ron shouted, staring plainatively at Ginny, and clutching the black pawn in his hand a bit hard in his distraction. It swiped him with its sword, drawing blood.

"Maybe it isn't about something you've done?" Ginny suggested blandly.

"Ginny!" Ron groaned, "it's from Mum."

"Well," Ginny said after a few minutes thoughtful hesitation, "you might as well open it then."

Ron gave her a look that clearly suggested he thought he deserved better advice, but he knew as well as she did an angry letter from Mum wasn't likely to get any better with age. He untied the envelope from Errol's leg, ruffling his fingers through the owl's feathers in an absent caress, and produced a short note that hardly explained the size of the envelope.

Ginny waited curiously, but Ron read the note in silence, turning red then white, his mouth thinning into a tight angry line she'd rarely seen, and tossed the note, and too-big envelope onto the chessboard. Shouts of "Hey!", "What do you think you're doing!", and "I say, how rude!" issued from the pieces as they scattered. Ginny nearly followed Ron, who was already storming up the staircase to the boys' dorm, then sighed and bent to gather up the pieces. She'd been quite enjoying their game and wished they could have finished even if she and Ron both knew he would have beaten her anyway.

"Sorry about that," she said as she laid the pieces in their case. "I don't know what's gotten into him." They huffed crossly, but seemed somewhat mollified as she lowered the lid over them. She knew they would forgive Ron—they liked playing with him. Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, even though she knew the Gryffindors had gone back to their separate pursuits before Ron's footsteps had faded, being well used to bursts of Weasley temper and even frequent spats between other students, Ginny retrieved the ill-used note and unscathed envelope.

She smoothed the crumpled parchment across her lap.

Dear Ron,

read Mum's large galloping sort of handwriting in a tone that seemed more than unusually anxious, though Ginny couldn't have said what had given her that impression.

I thought you should see this article about Harry. I know you're not very happy with him right now, and boys will have their little tiffs, but do try to have some sympathy. He's had a rough time of it, after all.

Love,

Mum

Frowning, though she couldn't exactly have said why, Ginny reached into the envelope and pulled out a slick, glossy, slightly-used looking copy of The Daily Prophet. Harry Potter, Hogwarts Hero!!! read the largest title on the front, written in rather lurid letters. Under it, in letters only slightly less distasteful, was Rita Skeeter's byline. Ginny groaned. Ron may not have been feeling sympathetic, but—remembering Bill's experience with Rita Skeeter's idea of interviewing—Ginny was. She was strongly tempted to throw the magazine on the fire without opening it; reading that article felt almost offensive, an invasion, even a desecration, of the privacy Harry always seemed to maintain, even with Ron and Hermione.

Crookshanks bumped against her leg, issuing a purr, and Ginny felt slightly better. "You understand my curiosity at least." She bent down to scratch behind his ears confiding, "I simply don't think I can resist—I'd never sleep soundly again, wondering what I'd missed. Anyway, it can't be very private, or he wouldn't have told it to Rita Skeeter, right?" Crookshanks bumped her again, and Ginny was more than willing to consider his continuing purr as a sign of agreement.

She opened the Daily Prophet and began to read.

"That explains how Skeeter convinced him to talk to her," she muttered within the first two pages. "She didn't—Harry didn't say this—he wouldn't."

In spite of her conviction on that point, however, Ginny couldn't quite rid herself of a vague stinging intuition that some of the feelings the article described were true, even if Harry hadn't described them—or even admitted they existed. Trying to shake herself free of the sudden mood of longing empathy that clung to her like a spider's sticky web, she tossed the magazine into the fire with a hasty sniff—only realizing as it began to flame and darken she'd wanted Harry's photograph to keep. She also wished...just the slightest bit...Ron had at least looked at that article before he'd discarded it. It might have made him think.