Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Harry Apparated to the Burrow at 12:15, which was earlier than he had hoped. He was relieved when he saw that Ginny had also worn semi-casual Muggle clothes, seeing as he hadn't planned on going anywhere formal. The freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks had been accentuated by the sun on Wednesday, and her hair seemed to glow.
"How are we getting there?" Ginny asked brightly once they had stepped away from the front door. Harry froze. He had no idea how they were going to get there.
"It's fine, there's an Apparation point by the Leaky Cauldron." Ginny took Harry's hand in her own, much more gently than she had done recently. In a moment, they were whisked away and found themselves in an alleyway just around the corner from the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny let go of his hand, and Harry felt his stomach drop in what seemed to be disappointment.
They came out of the alley and turned away from the Leaky Cauldron.
"Too bad we can't go to Diagon Alley," Ginny said.
"Yeah, I was planning on getting a new broom soon, too."
"Once you do, can you teach me some Seeker moves?"
"Of course," said Harry. "But why Seeker moves? Aren't you a Chaser?"
"I am, but I don't think whoever I find for Seeker will be nearly as good as you, so…" She trailed off with a nervous laugh.
"Whoever you find?" Harry repeated.
"I'm Captain."
"I should've guessed." Harry laughed inwardly, imagining what would happen to anyone unfortunate enough to shake her hand before a game. "And of course I'll teach you Seeker moves."
As they laughed and talked, Harry felt the awkwardness slip away from the conversation, flirtatious as it was. It was certainly better than his date with Cho, and had a different feel that ones they'd gone on in his sixth year.
"Want to eat here?" Ginny asked, pointing to a restaurant just up the street.
"Sure."
They stepped into the restaurant, which was thankfully not too crowded, and were immediately seated. They both read the menu, and were completely silent for several minutes. The uncomfortableness began to grow, and Harry felt the need to break the silence. But he soon found this job taken, when Ginny opened her mouth to say something.
"Mum says I need to be home by five."
"Ok…"
"But Ron's gonna go ballistic when he finds out we actually are dating."
"Do you know why?"
"Well, think about it. You're his best friend, and I'm his sister. If we have some really bad breakup, he's afraid you're not going to want anything to do with me, including our family."
"But that doesn't make any sense. Why would I stop talking to him if I stop talking to you? Not that I would, of course," he added hurriedly.
"Aren't you in a similar situation, though? What happens if Ron and Hermione breakup? Do you really think they'd be able to do it peacefully? And then you'd have to choose between them. It'd be really hard."
Harry's eyes widened. A newfound fear had just encased him. What if they did breakup? Then what? Ginny was right, he'd probably have to choose who to stay friends with. "How long do you think they'll be dating?" he asked.
"Knowing Hermione, about two or three years."
"Only that long? Why?"
"Hermione won't want to get married until she's got a job of some sort," Ginny said, as nonchalantly as though she was mentioning that she'd been shopping. "Though she might settle for a long engagement…"
"Yeah," said Harry nervously. Them getting married… it was a weird thought, and not one his mind had run through before.
"Oh look, the food's here."
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The rest of the date passed light-hearted and fun, and Harry soon found that he had stopped worrying about if he'd said the wrong thing. They talked about Quidditch, about how Ginny was going back to Hogwarts, and even about Auror training for awhile. Harry was once again reminded of his date with Cho, and how utterly different this one was. He even found it slightly more relaxed than his previous dates with Ginny, and eventually came to the conclusion that it was because they were older.
"I should probably be going home now," Ginny said, frowning, and the cars on the street grew thicker with people returning to their homes for the evening.
"You should," Harry agreed, sounding reluctant.
They walked back towards the Apparation point, and it was only then that Harry decided to hold her hand (something he admittedly should have done sooner). They passed the Leaky Cauldron, from which issued a small trickle of day shoppers, and turned into the alley. Ginny Apparated them a distance away from the Burrow, so that they had a short way more to walk.
They stopped about thirty feet from the Burrow, and Ginny gave Harry a most peculiar look. He wonder what that meant for a moment before it dawned on him: she wanted him to kiss her. Just as Harry was debating how he should go about completing such an action, a flash a light flared from the kitchen window.
"What was that?" asked Ginny, her face transformed into one of fear. "That looked like a curse. Do you think anyone's hurt?" Without waiting for an answer, she took off towards the door, leaving Harry to catch up.
"What's the matter?" she asked, bursting in through the door.
Mrs. Weasley stood stock-still next to the stove, looking thoroughly shocked. Ron was sitting at the table with parchment and quill near him, his mouth open.
"He just - and he - and now -" Ron stammered pointing to several broken plates lying on the ground.
"Something went wrong." Mrs. Weasley's affirmative voice scared Harry; she hardly ever sounded so serious. "Ginny, go upstairs and see if you can get George to talk to you. Ron, help me get ready for dinner. Harry, if you want to stay-"
"I'm okay, Mrs. Weasley," he said, and turned to leave despite his instinct to stay and fight if necessary. Before he left, however, he sent Ron a look that clearly said, Tell me what happened later.
Sorry about the late update. I was busy. Hope you liked the Hinny fluff. Slight twist at the end... what do you think happened? Cassandra30, Gimme'SS, thanks for your reviews. ragsweas, I'll try to include more chats with Sirius. Thanks for reading, and please review!