She found she had no second thoughts about her decision when she went to bed that night. She was relieved Dean didn't expect them to jump headfirst into a serious relationship; if he was going to be clingy and demanding of all her free time, she was not going to go through with it. Ginny saw Lena start putting on her night things as she lay in bed reading a book.
"What did McGonagall want earlier?" Ginny asked.
"Oh," Lena replied. "I have to retake my History of Magic exam, since I failed it."
"That's rubbish," said Ginny sympathetically.
"Yeah, now I have to spend my last days of term studying while everyone else is out enjoying the weather and looking forward to summer break," said Lena bitterly.
"At least it's only one exam," said Ginny, and Lena just grunted in reply. "Anyway, just wanted to let you know that me and Dean are dating now, thanks to you." She smirked.
"Oh?" said Lena with great interest, walking over to Ginny and lowering her voice to a whisper so only she could hear her. "What about Harry?"
"What would you have me do? Give him a love potion? I can only hope he returns my feelings one day. There's nothing more I can do until then. Maybe him seeing me and Dean together will trigger something."
Lena hesitated, a curious expression on her face.
"Want me to do it?"
"Do what?"
"Give him a love potion."
Ginny gaped at her.
"I'm not going to have to Obliviate you, am I?" she said dangerously. "I really regret telling you I fancied him."
"Okay, okay, I won't bring it up again!" said Lena, looking stricken. "I was just offering to help!"
"Help?" said Ginny incredulously. "How is that helping? Love from a love potion is fake. I want the real thing! Can you imagine? I'd have to keep buying them, which I can't even afford, and then keep slipping them into his drinks without him noticing, all while knowing he doesn't genuinely love me. That would just be torture. At any rate, I could never manipulate him like that, he's been through enough bullshit already. He knows I used to crush on him something awful, too, I think he'd figure it out anyway. The only time I could see myself using one is on some bloke I wanted to use to try and make him jealous. My mum told me she did that once with my dad when they were in school and it apparently worked, but since I'm dating Dean now, there's no point."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Love potions are good for short flings, but for hopelessly lovesick puppies like you…"
She laughed genially and went back to getting ready for bed. Ginny asked if Jack Sloper had used a love potion on her, and she got a wadded-up sock thrown at her in response.
Ginny sat with Dean the next morning at breakfast. She did her habitual glance over at Michael and Cho at the Ravenclaw table, making sure they were still together, which they were.
"How did you and Michael break up?" Dean asked, who noticed where she was looking.
"He was being a humongous git about Ravenclaw losing the Quidditch match and I had to dump him," Ginny lied shamelessly. Dean and Ron shared a dorm and she figured he would tell Ron what really happened if he knew the truth, and Ginny didn't want that. "Why?"
"It's just… I notice you still look over at him a lot when we're eating. I just want you to swear you're over him."
Ginny let out a tiny groan that Dean didn't hear. This was exactly the sort of thing she was worried about. Even worse was that he was getting the wrong notion about why she always looked over towards Michael, but she couldn't correct that impression because the real reason would undoubtedly make him even angrier.
"He's dating Cho now," said Ginny. "I dumped him, Dean. I was over him weeks ago and he's clearly over me too. He's a loser," she added spitefully.
Dean mumbled a sheepish apology, but Ginny had a bad feeling about the future of their relationship already. He returned to the common room following breakfast, but Ginny went outside to the courtyard with Luna, ignoring the stares and mutterings that followed her as the school was still buzzing about the events at the Ministry.
"I guess this is what Harry has to deal with all the time," said Ginny.
"I'm used to weird looks," said Luna.
"At least people seem to be impressed rather than thinking we're whack jobs," said Ginny.
Luna gave an odd smile.
"So, you're dating Dean now?" she said, changing the subject abruptly as she often did.
"Yes," said Ginny.
"I don't think that was a good decision."
Ginny felt a twinge of annoyance.
"Harry doesn't fancy me, what am I supposed to do?"
"Give him time."
"I've given him time! Besides, I need to be more confident. Ever since I broke up with Michael I've started getting nervous around him again. Hermione thought I'd have a better chance if I was more relaxed and acted more like myself. She's the one who suggested I date other people to help with that."
"Hmm," said Luna thoughtfully. It didn't look like she fully believed in the logic. "Look over there."
Ginny looked where she indicated and saw Harry standing by himself, looking quite miserable.
"Go talk to him," said Luna bluntly.
Ginny didn't hesitate.
"Harry," she called, walking towards him. He looked around at her.
"Oh, hi," he said. He didn't look like he wanted to talk to her (or anyone, for that matter), but she expected that. At least wasn't shouting.
"Here," said Ginny, offering him the Chocolate Frog that she had left on her bedside table, which she had picked up before going down to breakfast that morning. She anticipated that she would talk to him today and wanted to be prepared. "Want one? Fred and George sent me a bunch," she added untruthfully.
"I'm not hungry," he said.
"Suit yourself," said Ginny. "Anyway, Neville told me what happened after I was Stunned. Harry, I'm so sorry. I know how much he meant to you."
He looked away and said nothing. Ginny hoped she hadn't upset him further by saying that, and she reached out and put her hand on his arm tenderly. She felt the usual squirm in her stomach when she touched him, the squirm that was dulled or perhaps even nonexistent with Dean, but she did her best to ignore it. He looked back at her, slightly startled. Ginny smiled sympathetically.
"It's not fair, you know," she said, thinking she needed to say something to prevent any awkwardness, and she withdrew her hand.
"It was my fault," said Harry in a strained voice. "If I had listened to Hermione — if I didn't have a 'saving-people-thing' —"
"She said that, did she?"
Harry didn't answer, but his silence was a clear "yes".
"To hell with her. This was not your fault, Harry. It was Voldemort's fault. It was Bellatrix's fault. Not yours. And," she added, as he opened his mouth to retort, "you should never apologize for being who you are."
She felt like she had uttered a disgusting swear word when she said Voldemort's name but thought Harry might take even more notice of her if she started using it in his presence. Nobody else in her family ever said it, including Ron. It wasn't clear if Harry detected it.
"Voldemort was counting on me playing the hero," he said, shaking his head defiantly. "He knows me. He knew I'd panic and do anything to go save him."
"So that makes it his fault, doesn't it?" said Ginny resolutely. "You can't blame yourself for being a good person, someone who cares when others are in grave danger —"
"— but it turned out he wasn't."
"My dad was, and heeding your vision saved his life. And in case you forgot, if you didn't have this 'saving-people-thing', I would be dead too!"
Harry opened his mouth and closed it again, looking as though he had been hit over the head. She knew she had gotten through to him, and he smiled at her; a smile which she returned.
"Perhaps I will take that Chocolate Frog," he said, a little abashed.
Ginny handed it to him, elated, and he plopped it into his mouth whole. Ginny forced herself to look away. She thought now was not a good time to be having inappropriate thoughts.
"Thanks, Ginny."
"Anytime, Harry."
The conversation with Harry in the courtyard was another Ginny replayed in her mind on her way back to the common room. It reminded her of both the chocolate-in-the-library day, sans the subsequent scene in the classroom, and the time when she helped convince him that Voldemort was not possessing him. Even though it went well, and she succeeded in improving his mood, she didn't dare get her hopes up. There were more signs that he fancied her when they shared laughs in the classroom that day back in April, and that ended up being nothing. She wasn't going to fall for that again; she knew better. "You're too young" was still fresh in her mind as well, and it clawed at her insides like an angry bowtruckle. She couldn't help but worry that his true feelings had slipped out in his panic. Still, having these kinds of moments where she could make him feel just a little bit happier in times of despair never failed to give her a euphoric rush.
At ten o'clock, she went to the fifth-floor corridor where Fred and George had deposited their swamp back in April. Flitwick muttered some incantations and the swamp was gone within seconds. The crowd cheered, but there was a bit of a solemn aura as well, almost as if echoing Ginny's thoughts from yesterday. To everyone's delight, however, a small patch of swamp by the window remained and was roped off. Flitwick left it as a tribute to Fred and George, telling the crowd he didn't have the heart to remove the entirety of it when it was such an impressive bit of magic.
One person apart from Malfoy who was not happy about Umbridge being sacked was Filch. Every time Ginny passed him in the corridors, he was cursing under his breath, and occasionally she caught him muttering about all the horrible punishments he would dish out to the students who had been causing trouble since Fred and George's exit, how Umbridge had been the best thing to ever happen to Hogwarts, and that the place would now be "going back to the dogs". Ginny stopped herself from Bat-Bogeying him with immense difficulty.
"What a foul, twisted git," Dean muttered furiously after he was out of earshot. "The first thing Dumbledore should have done when he got back was toss him into the lake."
Sunday's edition of The Daily Prophet contained the details of the events at the Ministry, and Ginny was spending the afternoon in the hospital wing with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Neville. Hermione was reading a blurb from the Prophet where Fudge was admitting in a formal statement that Voldemort had returned.
" 'It is with almost equal regret that we report the mass revolt of the dementors of Azkaban, who have shown themselves averse to continuing in the Ministry's employ. We believe that the dementors are currently taking direction from Lord — Thingy.'"
Hermione gave a scoff and continued reading. Ginny looked at Luna, who had her head buried in July's edition of The Quibbler and wasn't listening to Hermione at all.
" 'Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reinstated member of the International Confederation of Wizards, and reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, was unavailable for comment last night. He has insisted for a year that You-Know-Who was not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but recruiting followers once more for a fresh attempt to seize power. Meanwhile the Boy Who Lived —' There you are, Harry, I knew they'd drag you into it somehow."
"He's 'the Boy Who Lived' again now, though, isn't he?" said Ron darkly. "Not such a show-off maniac anymore, eh?"
He helped himself to a handful of Chocolate Frogs from an immense pile on his bedside cabinet, courtesy of Fred and George. Throwing a few to Harry, Ginny, and Neville, he ripped off the wrapper of his own with his teeth and stuffed it in his mouth hungrily. His arms still bore the marks of the brain that attacked him, but there was noticeable improvement from when Ginny last visited. Hermione continued reading from the newspaper, wincing every so often from the effects of Dolohov's curse, but Ginny was only half-listening. She was chancing glances at Harry while he ate his Chocolate Frogs, taking advantage of Hermione and Luna's lack of attention. Ginny's conscience nagged at her, but she had a weakness when it came to Harry eating chocolate. She watched his teeth split the Chocolate Frog in two; she watched as a little bit of the chocolate got stuck on his lips before he licked it off with his tongue; she watched as he opened his mouth occasionally while he chewed, revealing a mouthful of the yummy, melted candy and all she could think of how amazing it would be to be kissing him for all he was worth right now, tasting him, and mixing his saliva with hers.
" 'You-Know-Who's Last Attempt to Take Over, pages two to four, What the Ministry Should Have Told Us, page five, Why Nobody Listened to Albus Dumbledore, pages six to eight, Exclusive Interview with Harry Potter, page nine…' Well," said Hermione, folding up the newspaper and throwing it aside as Ginny jerked herself away from her fantasies, "it's certainly given them lots to write about. And that interview with Harry isn't exclusive, it's the one that was in The Quibbler months ago…"
"Daddy sold it to them," said Luna vaguely, turning a page of The Quibbler. "He got a very good price for it too, so we're going to go on an expedition to Sweden this summer and see if we can catch a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
Hermione seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, then said, "That sounds lovely."
Ginny glanced at Harry again automatically, hoping this time he would look back, and to her delight, he did. They grinned at each other but looked away quickly to avoid bursting out in laughter. Ginny's smile remained on her face far too long, and she looked down in an effort to hide it.
"So anyway," said Hermione, sitting up a little straighter and wincing again, "what's going on in school?"
Ginny told her about Flitwick removing the swamp, then they all had a chuckle about Filch and Umbridge. Ron made his clip-clopping noises again with his tongue, which again caused Umbridge to sit bolt upright and look around wildly like last time.
"Anything wrong, Professor?" called Madam Pomfrey, poking her head around her office door.
"No… no…" said Umbridge, sinking back into her pillows, "no, I must have been dreaming…"
Ginny and Hermione muffled their laughter in the bedclothes. They resumed chatting about school, but when the conversation turned back toward the prophecy, Harry got up and decided to go down to Hagrid's.
"You don't suppose he was lying about not having heard it?" said Ron, after Harry had left the ward.
"I was right next to him when it smashed," said Neville. "You couldn't hear a thing… there was too much chaos."
"He's still hurting over Sirius, I think," said Hermione. "He probably just wants to be alone."
Ginny's thoughts were now back on Malfoy's comments about the prophecy back at the Ministry. Why had Voldemort wanted to kill Harry as a baby? Was Malfoy telling the truth that the prophecy answered this question? She had a very bad feeling the more she thought about it. Whatever the prophecy had said, it couldn't have been anything good, but there seemed to be no way of finding out now, as what was left of it now littered the floor somewhere in the depths of the Department of Mysteries.
Ron and Hermione left the hospital wing three days before the end of term, which gave Ginny an opportunity to talk to her about her new relationship with Dean. Hermione was a lot more receptive than Luna had been, which was expected of course, as she was the one who basically told her to do it.
"Harry will definitely have to notice him," said Ginny appreciatively.
The day of their departure arrived. Ginny, Lena (who passed the retake of her History of Magic final), and Amber joined the queue of students that was leading up from the oak doors, waiting to get on the carriages that led to Hogsmeade Station.
"Going to sit with us on the train?" asked Lena.
"I'm sure she'll want to sit with Dean," said Amber.
"Dean's not here," said Ginny. "He left two days ago to attend a concert with some of his Muggle friends. Dumbledore gave him permission. Actually, I was going to sit with my Ministry comrades, I know they'll have their own compartment and I don't want to blow them off. We went through a lot that night and I should be there with them on the way back."
"I see how it is," said Lena, pretending to be offended, but her smile gave her away.
"Great, now I'm gonna have put up with Lena and Jack snogging the whole time by myself," said Amber bitterly.
"Maybe only half the time," said Lena with a cheeky grin. Ten minutes later they made their way through the oak doors and out onto the grounds. The carriages, which Ginny now knew were not, in fact, horseless, were waiting for them.
Ginny stared at them as she approached. It was hard to believe they had been pulled by the thestrals all this time and she never knew. She reached out and touched one, just to prove to herself that they were there, and they were. Her hand met an invisible something that felt rather bony. She withdrew her hand quickly as it made her slightly nervous. The thestral could be about to bite her hand off and she wouldn't have a clue.
Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Luna were lucky to get a compartment all to themselves on the way back. Along the way, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle apparently had attempted to ambush Harry while on the way back from the bathroom, but unwittingly chose to do it in front of a compartment full of D.A. members who promptly turned the three of them into something resembling large, green slugs. Ginny heard the story from Ron, who had gone to investigate the commotion.
Harry bought them all a pile of Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties from the trolley when he returned.
"Least I can do after nearly getting all of you killed," he told them ruefully.
After things settled down again, Ginny pulled out July's Quibbler and flipped through it. She found a quiz about ancient runes that looked interesting. Apparently if you took the third letter of each translation, they revealed a hidden message.
"Here's a good one," said Hermione, who was reading snippets of the Daily Prophet while Harry and Ron played wizard chess. "'I was about to leave for work and had a wary feeling for a reason I couldn't place. I went to the window to check outside for trouble, and there he was — You-Know-Who in the flesh, just strolling down the drive! Needless to say I stayed home that day!' The Prophet should know better than to report rubbish like this. Things are bad enough as it is. This will just cause mass panic, which is exactly what Voldemort wants."
Ginny examined the runes in her quiz, but couldn't decipher a single one, despite taking the class on them.
"It hasn't really started yet," sighed Hermione gloomily, folding up the newspaper. "But it won't be long now…"
Ginny suddenly figured out why she couldn't read the runes: she had to turn the magazine upside down.
"Hey, Harry," said Ron in a tone that got Ginny's attention, and she momentarily forgot about the quiz. Ron nodded toward the glass window onto the corridor.
They all looked in the direction he indicated, and Ginny saw She-Who-Must-Not-Named and Marietta Edgecombe walking past. Cho's face bore no signs of the Furnuculus Curse Ginny had used on her several weeks ago, but Marietta was still wearing her balaclava to hide the scarring from Hermione's jinxed parchment. Cho looked at Harry for a brief moment, blushed, and then kept walking, ignoring the rest of them.
"What's — er — going on with you and her anyway?" Ron asked quietly.
"Nothing," said Harry.
"I — er — heard she's going out with someone else now," said Hermione tentatively.
Ginny glanced at Harry immediately to get his reaction to this news. He did not look like he cared in the slightest. Ginny quickly buried her head back in The Quibbler to hide her smile, but kept her attention on the conversation.
"You're well out of it, mate," said Ron forcefully. "I mean, she's quite good-looking and all that, but you want someone a bit more cheerful."
"She's probably cheerful enough with someone else," said Harry, shrugging.
"Who's she with now anyway?" Ron asked.
"Michael Corner," said Ginny at once.
"Michael — but —" said Ron, craning around in his seat to stare at her. "But you were going out with him!"
"Not anymore. He didn't like Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch and got really sulky, so I ditched him and he ran off to comfort Cho instead." She scratched her nose absently with the end of her quill. Hermione gave her a very knowing look, and Ginny was furious with herself. She turned The Quibbler upside down hastily and tried to focus on her quiz.
"Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot," Ginny heard Ron saying pompously. She hated to admit it, but he was one hundred percent correct. She should have suspected what Michael was when he nearly ditched his Yule Ball date for her back when they first met, though Ginny was comforted by the memory as she still had a nagging guilt that she had essentially caused Michael to cheat by not being properly invested in the relationship, and his behavior at the ball suggested that unfaithfulness was simply a character trait of his and allowed her to take the blame off herself. She looked up at Ron just as he said, "Good for you. Just choose someone — better" — he cast a furtive look at Harry as said it — "next time."
Ginny could not believe Ron could be so stupid. Did he seriously think she was the reason they weren't together? Or that it was just a matter of her "choosing" boys, as if they had no say in it whatsoever? She had a sudden mental image of several boys lined up in a row with her pointing at one, saying, "I'll take that one." Ginny's mouth almost fell open as the breathtaking stupidity of his words sunk in further with each passing second, but she made every effort to feign obliviousness and keep her expression neutral. Ron was so incompetent when it came to relationships. Ginny glanced at Hermione, who was looking at Ron like she wanted to smack him. She tried not to laugh. Harry moved a chess piece and didn't seem to notice Ron's insinuation, nor did he seem interested in the conversation at all. Ginny had a sudden idea.
"Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas, would you say he's better?"
Again, she glanced at Harry for a reaction, but her plan failed miserably. Ron yelled "WHAT?" and upended the chessboard, startling everyone including the owls and Crookshanks, who went chasing after the pieces. Any reaction Harry might have had to that news was obfuscated by his reacting to Ron's outburst instead. Ron was so good at ruining everything. For a fleeting instant, Ginny considered that maybe Ron knew something, and that was the reason for him casting that look at Harry — maybe Harry had confided in him that he fancied her, and he wanted to nudge them together — but she quickly realized that Harry would never admit that to him, even if it were true. No, Ron was just an idiot. Ginny sighed heavily.
Hermione pulled her aside after they disembarked from the train at King's Cross.
"Okay, what really happened with you and Michael?" said Hermione.
"I walked in on him and Cho snogging," said Ginny resignedly. "I ended it right then and there. Don't tell Ron though. He'll just become way more overprotective."
"Oh, Ginny," said Hermione "I'm so sorry. You're right, he totally would. I won't tell him. Oh, and I can't believe he made that 'choose someone better' comment on the train. Did you see him look at Harry when he did?"
"Yes! Like it's my fault! He should have told Harry to choose someone better and then looked at me! Idiot."
"Still, at least he seems to be fine with the idea of you and Harry, no?"
"I really don't care if he's okay with it or not, to be perfectly honest. It's none of his business. Nobody I date is his business. If Harry ever wants me, I'm his, period. I'd dump Dean in a heartbeat."
Hermione looked a little wary.
"What?" said Ginny.
"You'd do that to him?"
"It's not like I'd want to… but what choice would I have? I love Harry. I could never reject him just to stay with Dean. It's rather pointless to think about anyway. I don't think Harry —"
Ginny felt a lump rise in her throat and stopped cold. Hermione raised her eyebrows, urging her to finish her thought.
"I don't think Harry will ever return my feelings," said Ginny hoarsely. She determinedly fought away the tears. Dream-Harry was right: she needed to grow up. Now was a good time to start.
Hermione hugged her.
"I think he will," she said confidently. "Don't give up hope, Ginny. Come on, let's go. Your brother's looking for you, I think."
Sure enough, Ron was standing with Harry in line for the ticket inspector's approval to exit through the magical barrier on platform nine and three quarters, but he had his back turned and was scanning around.
"I think he's looking for you," said Ginny slyly.
Hermione went slightly pink but said, "Yeah, maybe."
They hurried to catch up, butting their way into line as inconspicuously as possible.
"What kept you two?" Ron demanded. "What were you two talking about?"
"Some conversations don't need to involve you, Ronald," sneered Ginny.
After the inspector stamped their tickets, they made their way through the magical barrier and were promptly greeted and hugged by Mum, who was ready to take them home for what would hopefully be a much better summer than the last.
A/N: This concludes the OOTP portion of the story. Now the fun will really begin with HBP! Thanks to all my dedicated readers, I know it's been a bit of a slow burn, I didn't intend that at the start, but writing became addicting.
