I'm alive! I'm so sorry this has taken so long guys, so I hope you've stuck with me. After I finished school, I spent ten days in Cairns (which was absolutely gorgeous) with seven of my closest friends, and then spent a lot of time being very lazy and watching WAY too much Scrubs. When I eventually got back around to this fic, I had a lot of trouble getting back into it. I finally have a couple more instalments finished, though, so I felt safe returning to these hallowed halls.

A couple of clarifications:
Some people thought Ginny getting so upset was out of character (you might need to go back to the last chapter to refresh your memory!). I can definitely see where you're coming from here guys; Ginny is definitely not thin-skinned. I guess what I'm trying to get across here is that Harry is Ginny's one weakness - she's suffered a lot for him, and to hear someone constantly talking crap about him is, from her perspective, MUCH worse than if they were talking about her. I have no doubt that she defends him at the time, but Rosaria is starting to wear her down - which is, of course, what Rosaria wants. As for the "leave the work to the normal people" bit, Harry is making a name for himself as an Auror, and Rosaria is basically jealous of his success - in her mind, it's not fair, and she's taking it out on Ginny.

Also, someone *cough*Em*cough* was confused about the whole table thing. I don't mention the table in every chapter, but I imagine every chapter to be taking place in the combined kitchen/dining room/sitting room in Harry's flat, and so the table kind of "hears" everything that happens. I have of course managed to break my own rule with last chapter's scene in the bathroom, but meh. Say the door was still open.

Finally, just in case anyone is interested, I got Rosaria's name from the HP Lexicon - there was a Ravenclaw player with the last name Bradley in OotP. I imagine Rosaria to be this player, or maybe their sister... anyway, I didn't completely make her up.

Shoutouts: ark the wanderer, omegaw, glowyrm, merdarkandtwisty, You Know Who, xXMizLilyEvansXx, xxxBekaForEvaxxx, hoeoverbros, werewolfatemyphoenix, Lunaclaw14, SmileyRi and Emenemenemma! You guys rock!

Disclaimer: Whoops, I realised I haven't done one of these yet. This stuff obviously isn't mine, guys - the characters (except for Rosaria) and inspiration are purely JKR's, and the prompts are from the wonderful people at HPFC.

Okay, onward!

7. Roses
Friday

"Hi, Ginny."

Hermione looks, as usual, like she's channelling McGonagall – severe bun, sensible robes and a permanent crease between her eyebrows.

"Harry's not here," says Ginny at once.

"I know, he's out with Ron. I came to show you these." Hermione reveals a bunch of red roses, tied with a ribbon that undulates of its own accord. Ginny smirks.

"Wow, Hermione, you shouldn't have."

Hermione ignores her. "They're from Ron. He's trying to make up for forgetting our lunch yesterday."

Ginny is impressed. "My idiot brother has a romantic side?"

"That's just it," says Hermione. "He doesn't, not really. He just thinks that flowers are the quickest way to get me to shag him again."

Ginny cringes. "I really don't want the image of Ron and sex in my head."

"Sorry," says Hermione. "But seriously, I wish Ron were like Harry. I'll bet he gets you roses all the time."

"He used to," says Ginny. "After the war. He's not quite so romantic anymore."

"Well, if Harry's not romantic anymore, what hope do I have?" asks Hermione despairingly.

"At least Ron's making an effort when you're upset."

"Do you want to know what I wish, though?" says Hermione. "I wish he'd bring me roses for no reason. Just once."

Ginny ponders this as Hermione leaves. Once upon a time, after last night, Harry would have taken her to a fancy restaurant and showered her with compliments to make her feel better. Now, she doesn't even warrant a bunch of roses.

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