A/N: Well... that's it for build-up, now we are getting straight into it!

I started writing this story about 8 years ago and most of what I had written is actually in this chapter (I had about one and a half chapters written). I only came back to this story a few months ago and it has gone through many many changes since but the origins of this story lie within this chapter.
(The characters were OCs before I made it Hinny and ironically Harry's character used to be named Dean! It was an absolute headache when I first started adapting this story. I had to be careful not to mix up New Dean (previously Brian) and Old Dean (now Harry).)

Just as for Knight of Mine, this story has a Spotify Playlist I listen to when I write. This one is really cheesy. There is also a Part II playlist. I may post it sometime but I don't use it as much. (I can't link it here so please go find it on AO3 on the same chapter or on my tumblr (GinnyW-Potter).

IMPORTANT PSA: Someone kindly pointed out that the fire blankets I mentioned in the previous chapter are unreliable and unsafe. After a quick google, that turns out to be true! I won't adapt the chapter but please know that IRL you are much better off with a fire extinguisher. Safety is important and Harry should have known better, smh...

"Come on, Ginny, Hurry up!" she heard from the end of the hallway.

She closed the door of her dorm room. Ginny dragged her suitcase behind her to the stairs. She looked around.

"Where's Ron?" she asked.

Neville sighed. "He overslept."

Ginny groaned at her brother's tardiness. "Well, then what are you rushing me for?"

"We hope he'll be ready by the time we've loaded the car," Dean said as he came down from the top floor.

"You are strangely optimistic," Ginny told him warily.

They carried their suitcases downstairs and to one of the cars that stood waiting. Harry was loading the suitcases.

"Hey Gin," he greeted her, "I hope you got everything."

"I sure hope so too," Ginny replied, searching her pockets for her wallet and phone.

"Ready?" Dean asked as he stepped into the driver's seat.

"Just looking for my phone, hang on," she replied.

"Back pocket," Harry commented without looking at her.

She frowned and felt for her back pocket. "Thanks," she said once she had her phone in her hand. She got into the car too.

"Every time." Harry shook his head.

They all got into the car. There was no sign yet of her brother.

"Look, Ron can go in the other car, they said they would be leaving a little later," Ginny offered, she felt no qualms about leaving her brother behind, especially since he got along just fine with Hermione, who was in the other car. "I'll text him."

They received a photo in the group chat after about half an hour. Ron had fallen asleep as soon as he was in the car and Seamus had been kind enough to share.

When they arrived they all hopped out of the car and explored the cottage. Ginny claimed a room for herself. She put her suitcase inside the room to unpack later and walked back into the corridor.

"There are only two bathrooms, right?" she asked Harry, who was making his way to the living room.

"Yeah, one here and one at the other end," he said, pointing to the door near them.

"So one for the boys and one for the girls, then?" she asked.

Harry shrugged in reply. Ginny went ahead and claimed the bathroom at the end of the corridor as the girls' before going to the living room too. The second car had arrived now too. Cho and Harry were chilling on the couch. Ginny plopped down on the other couch. Cho smiled at her.

"Done unpacking?" she asked.

Ginny shook her head. "Not really, I am going to do it later," she said.

"Me too."

"So, does anyone want to go for a walk? I feel a bit drowsy from the car and some air would be nice," Ginny looked between Harry and Cho.

"Well, I am going grocery shopping with Luna and Dean, I am just waiting for them to finish unpacking," Cho said.

Ginny looked at Harry.

"Sure, let's go," he agreed.

They walked around, their cottage seemed to be in a vacant spot, there was not much around in any direction as it was located in the middle of the woods. At some point, they saw Cho, Dean and Luna drive by to go grocery shopping in the town nearby. They waved at them as they passed.

"It is nice to be out and about, I am so not looking forward to the last few weeks of class," Ginny said as they took another turn back deeper into the woods.

Harry looked at her. "Maybe, if you start studying earlier, you wouldn't get so stressed out."

"So incredibly boring," Ginny replied.

"Well, I have to hear your complaining every damn year!" Harry said.

Ginny smiled at him. "Just one more year after this and then we are done." She jumped onto a fallen tree trunk and tried balancing on it. Harry offered his hand so she wouldn't drop off.

"Any clue what you'll be doing after?" he asked as Ginny walked down the trunk. She jumped off the end and let go of his hand.

"No, do you?" she asked.

"Eh. I have considered going to work for the secret service like my parents do. Seems to be an okay job," he said.

"Oh, so going missing for a few months didn't traumatise you?" Ginny asked.

"To you guys, I was missing. We were just … elsewhere," he said.

Ginny noticed the hesitation as he spoke. She knew he could not say more about it, he never had. "Right."

Harry halted and stared into the distance. "Is that a kid over there?"

Ginny laughed. "Well, this forest is haunted, maybe it is a kid that got lost in the 50s-" She stopped when she spotted the kid too. They walked closer to him, he seemed to be alone.

"Are you lost?" she tried. The boy nodded silently. "What's your name?"

"Sam."

"Okay, Sam. We are going to find your mom or dad, okay?" Ginny said.

Sam seemed to be around three years old.

"Can you wait here with him? I'll go check if I can spot anyone further that way," Ginny asked.

Harry nodded and bent down. "Hi, Sam, I'm Harry."

Ginny took off running in the direction the boy came from. She ran pretty far but there was no one to be seen. She stood there for a minute and kept looking but no one showed up. She turned on her heels and ran back to them.

When she made it back, Sam was on Harry's arm and Harry was pointing up at the trees, talking animatedly. He looked at Ginny. "Nothing?"

She shook her head. "No one."

"Should we call the police?" Harry wondered.

A light bulb seemed to go on in Ginny's head. "Hang on," she said. She came up to them and checked Sam's arms. She was glad when she found a bracelet with contact info.

"Oh, good," Harry said, relieved.

Ginny typed the number into her phone and called. "Hi! I believe we found your son, Sam… Yes! We can get back to the road and then you can spot us probably… No problem."

Ginny put the phone down as they started walking down the road. "They have been looking for him for over an hour."

"Well, let's go, Sam. Do you want to walk?" Harry asked, to which Sam shook his head. Harry carried him the rest of the way.

When they reached the road, Harry put Sam down. Two minutes later a car pulled over and a woman stepped out. As soon as Sam saw her, he took off. She picked up Sam and approached them.

"I cannot thank you enough! One second he was there and then the next… he used to walk here with his grandpa all the time, he knows the tracks better than I do."

"No problem, we're glad he's safe," Ginny said.

"Can I make it up to you?" she asked.

They both shook their heads.

"It was really no trouble at all," Harry assured her.

They waited as she got into the car with Sam and then waved as they took off.

"God, imagine losing your kid for an hour in the forest," Ginny thought out loud when they started walking back to the cottage.

"What if we hadn't been walking there?" Harry wondered.

"Did you see anything interesting?" Neville asked when they came back in.

They glanced at each other.

"Plenty of woods in all directions, a river nearby, some cows, a child," she ended.

Seamus looked up. "A ghost?"

"That's what I said!" Ginny said excitedly. "But no, a very alive human child. Got lost."

Seamus then proceeded to pull every detail of the lost kid out of them, to assure it was not a ghost.

"Are the rest not back yet from the store?" Harry asked.

Seamus checked his watch. "So I guess we are not going anywhere anymore today?" By the time the others are back… "

"I guess so. They're bringing beer and snacks though so we can have a fun night in," Harry suggested.

When the others returned from the store, Hermione and Harry started preparing dinner for everyone.

"So you're a tall, fit guy that knows how to cook? I think your talents are wasted when you're single," Seamus said as he set the table.

"That's not entirely true. You just need to find a friend that can't cook," Harry said with a smile.

Ginny looked up from her phone. "Hey, I can cook!"

Harry looked around at her. "Didn't say I was talking about you, Gin."

"Weren't you?" She cocked her head.

"Of course I was," he admitted. "You just ratted yourself out. You can cook but you don't like to cook, you know?"

She sighed. "Sure, I don't treat it as an art form, you are right. I am perfectly happy eating other people's cooking though."

"You sure are," Harry agreed.

"How are you arguing on something you're both agreeing on?" Seamus asked in confusion.

"I just need to be more right," Ginny said.

Harry pointed at her with the spoon he was holding in agreement and turned back around to the stove.

"Good morning," Ginny heard from the kitchen when she made her way down the hall. She frowned.

"I am not the first one up?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen. Dean was sitting at the table, drinking coffee and nibbling on some toast. Ginny walked to the coffee machine and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Slept well?" she asked him, reaching for the cereal.

He nodded. "Yes, it is so silent around here, or perhaps the walls are well isolated. Anyway, I slept like a baby," he said, handing her the milk.

"Seamus didn't snore too much, then?"

Dean shrugged. "I am used to him, been sharing a dorm room with him long enough."

Cho walked in and sat down beside Dean. Ginny started on her cereal.

"Morning," Dean greeted Cho.

She just nodded sleepily.

"She needs time to wake up," Ginny said with a chuckle, their last trip together had taught her that.

Cho stood up and got a cup of coffee. It took Cho another 10 minutes to wake up, but the rest of the group was still asleep so there was no rush.

"I am going to shower," Dean announced and left the kitchen.

Ginny concentrated back on the remains of her cereals. She absent-mindedly prodded around the milk for any last pieces.

"Alright, what's your deal with Harry?" Cho asked as soon as Dean was gone.

Ginny could tell by her tone that she had been waiting to ask that. "Sorry?" she asked in confusion.

Cho shot her a look. "Oh, let's go walk outside, just the two of us, so much fun!' she said, mimicking Ginny's voice, whose jaw promptly dropped.

"Woah! What's going on? Harry and I are friends, you know that. We are close but nothing is going on," Ginny defended. "Wait, do you like him?"

"He's nice," she admits with a shrug, she seemed to be backing down.

"You don't have to worry. We genuinely went for a walk, no ulterior motives," she said, before drinking the last of the milk from her cereal and downing her coffee. With another smile toward Cho, she returned to her room to get dressed.

The whole group went to the town nearby for sightseeing, stopping for food in a small cosy restaurant around lunch. After a full day of walking around the town, they all returned home for a few rounds of peer pong. She was pitted against Harry and Dean a few too many times and had to down quite a few beers but she had fun all the same.

They were going kayaking the next day and so most people decided to go to bed soon after. Ginny suddenly noticed it was just her and Dean in the living room.

"You know," Ginny started, she was quite drunk and made the horrible decision to say what was on her mind, "I always thought you were kind of cute… and you are nice, you know? Easy on the eyes I suppose and—" Her sentence was cut short when he turned his head and softly kissed her. She blinked rapidly. "Well, that was a surprise," Ginny commented.

He smiled and kissed her deeper, pulling her close. One of his hands slipped under her shirt and caressed her back. It seemed he too was drunk and their inhibitions had been lowered.

Ginny moved to sit on top of him, straddling his lap, she wasn't sure what had spurred her on. She deepened the kiss, her hands running down his back. Both his hands were under her shirt now, sliding across her skin.

Ginny leaned away to catch her breath. "Maybe we should take this to my room," she said. She saw his eyes darken at the suggestion. She didn't move this fast, usually. She had to blame the fact that she had been single for months and Dean was right there. She stood up and pulled him along. She softly kissed his lips before taking his hands and leading him into her bedroom.

He closed the door and ravished her mouth. His hands went to the hem of her shirt, caressing the skin there before pulling it over her head.

"Good thing these walls are well-isolated," Ginny commented.

He laughed at her remark and pulled her to the bed.

Ginny opened her eyes and looked beside her. Dean was staring at the ceiling. A whole bunch of memories came flooding into her brain and she promptly felt her cheeks heat up. She moved to the side of the bed, attempting to grab any clothing within reach, anything to wear.

"Oh, good. You're awake," he said with a light tone.

Ginny got a hold of her panties and shirt and put them on as elegantly as she could from her sitting position.

"You do realise I have seen it all, up close."

Ginny tried not to blush. She sat back against the headboard of the bed and Dean did the same. She stared at the wall on the opposite side of the room as she tried to form a sentence.

"So last night was… Uhm…" she started, not looking at him. It had been nice, but she realised it was just that and there was no further attraction between them.

"We were drunk," Dean said.

Ginny slowly nodded. "Yeah."

"So friends all the same, right?" Dean said.

Ginny turned to look at him. They had been good friends up until that point so if it depended on her, that wouldn't have to change after one drunken night.

"Sure," Ginny asked.

"Good."

A silence followed.

"Maybe we, and by that I mean mostly you, should get out of here before the rest wakes up —unless you want them to find out," Ginny spoke.

Dean's eyebrows raised. "Better not," he agreed.

Ginny watched as he gathered his clothes and walked out, smiling once more before he closed the door. She let herself drop down and groaned into her pillow, cursing at Drunk Ginny.

When they arrived at the river, Ginny agreed to take a kayak with Hermione. She had only met Hermione last year but they had quickly become close friends and her dorm room was across from Ginny's. She was also aware Hermione had a thing for her brother, but she wasn't sure if Hermione had figured that out for herself yet. They ended up racing down the river but no one really stood a chance when Dean and Harry decided to share a kayak. Ginny was happy enough with third place and they had a good laugh when Seamus and Neville's kayak toppled over.

After dinner, they sat in front of the tv and went through the channels, looking for something to watch. Neville brought the beer and wine. Ginny opted for the red wine tonight, but she still had a slight headache from the night before, so she only had one glass. There wasn't much on tv so Cho proposed to play a game of truth or dare.

When it came back around to Ginny for the third time, she chose 'dare'.

Cho smiled. "I dare you to be locked into a closet with Harry for seven minutes," she said, obviously wanting proof of what Ginny had said earlier.

Ginny rolled her eyes but agreed anyway. There were worse dares than getting stuck in a closet with your best friend.

They pushed both of them into the closet in the hallway and left. It was a really small closet, with no option to sit or even move. It was hard not to touch each other at all, there simply wasn't enough space.

Suddenly she felt Harry's hand on her waist. She tried to read his expression but in the dim light, it wasn't possible.

"This is going to be easier if we are hugging, rather than not trying to touch," Harry explained, whispering.

"Oh yeah, you are probably right," Ginny agreed, wrapping her arms around him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, nothing they hadn't done before.

"I don't get it. Is Cho trying to get us together?" he asked after a moment.

Ginny let out a chuckle at the suggestion. "Quite the opposite. She likes you. She was a bit upset we went walking by ourselves, even though I assured her we were just friends. I think she wants proof," she said.

Harry huffed. "Cho? She stands no chance against you."

Ginny's head shot up. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. She felt Harry shift his weight.

"Well, if I was left the choice between you and her, I'd obviously choose you," he spoke without much hesitation.

Ginny leaned back a bit, but she could not make out his expression. "Well, I didn't expect that," she commented.

Suddenly he moved closer and their lips softly touched. Ginny was too surprised to move. Harry leaned away silently.

"Or that," she added. Harry didn't date, and he had certainly never had made a move on her. She was surprised to find out she did not mind kissing Harry at all. It had been a small kiss, just his lips pressing against her for a moment, but she could not deny the feeling of longing for more.

Unconsciously she leaned closer to him again, trying to bring back the spark that had started in the pit of her stomach just moments ago. As soon as she leaned in, his lips were on hers again. Firmer this time, pressing closer, his arms holding her to him in their embrace.

She leaned in as the sparks flared up. His arms tightened around her waist as he deepened the kiss. Before too long his tongue was teasing her lips and she opened them willingly. She lost all sense of time as she kissed him breathlessly. She loved the way she was engulfed in his arms as they explored the feel of each other's lips.

They only broke apart when they heard the others yelling from the living room there was one minute left. There was no time to discuss as they tried to compose themselves because they'd be damned if someone figured out what just happened. They tried to catch their breath in the minute they had and made sure nothing was out of place. They stood across from each other, they didn't speak, barely touching and waited for the others to come and get them.