It had been four days since Ginny had faced Gregory in the kitchens and things were going well. – Well, things were going great, actually!
When talking to Luna, Ginny had decided that her friendship with Greg was much more important than any silly crush she might be harbouring for the handsome Slytherin. So when she had sought him out on Sunday evening, she had been fully prepared to pretend like nothing ever happened and continue their platonic relationship exactly how it used to be.
Greg, however, seemed to have different plans, because somehow, between the casual chats and friendly banter, the sly wizard always managed to steer their conversations into a much more playful, almost flirtatious direction.
Ginny didn't exactly know what it meant or what his intentions were, but there was no doubt that something between them had shifted. He was more talkative than before, engaged more in their conversations, teased her jokingly, winked at her; …and every now and again, when he thought Ginny hadn't noticed him looking, he studied her – his gaze roaming across her body in a hungry sort of way; eyes hooded and bottom lip caught between his teeth… it drove Ginny absolutely mad with want for him.
But she wouldn't make the first move. She had promised herself that. She would let Greg set the pace this time.
So instead, she focused on being his friend. She had taken up joining him in the kitchens again, where she watched him experiment with new recipes while happily chatting away about mundane things like how the Quidditch training was going, and whether she had finished all her essays yet; all the while keeping an innocent face while pretending to be oblivious to the changes in their relationship.
Then, on Wednesday night, Greg asked her if she wanted to spend Thursday afternoon with him. It was rather sweet, actually. He'd been stammering around for ages, explaining how his Herbology lesson got cancelled, and how he knew she had the afternoon off, and 'wouldn't it be nice to do something together that didn't involve being stuck in the kitchen for once'.
Ginny was ecstatic. She knew just the thing for a wintery afternoon spent with a friend.
"So, are you going to tell me what we're doing, or do I have to wait until we get there?"
They had been walking for a while and the expression on Greg's face had grown more uncertain the further they got from the castle.
"Well, it was meant to be a surprise." Ginny sighed. "But seeing as you don't seem to like those very much, I'll tell you now. We're going ice skating." She supplied, excitedly skipping ahead before turning around to look at Greg's confused face.
"Ice skating?" He asked. "But there is no ice."
"Which is why we're not doing it here." Ginny explained, before shooting a quick glance at the lake beside them, which, despite the frosty temperatures was almost completely free of ice.
When Greg still looked unconvinced, she laughed. "Don't worry, you'll see. It's not much further." Before she took his hand and began to pull him down the snowy path.
It didn't take long until they reached their destination: Tucked away between the trees, where the Black Lake met the edge of the Forbidden Forest, there was a small inlet, where the water was much shallower and, with the help of a couple of spells, had frozen over completely.
"Wow…"
Ginny giggled at Greg's stunned expression. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
The tall Slytherin nodded, then scrunched up his face in apprehension. "You know I've never done this before, don't you?"
Ginny pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh. "I figured as much. But that's okay. I'll show you what to do."
Waving her wand, she transfigured both of her boots into ice skates, before doing the same to Greg's shoes.
"Here, give me your hand." She said, stretching out her arm towards him. "We'll go together."
She led him carefully towards the frozen lake, ignoring the way her heart thrummed in her chest, as he clutched her hand as if it was the only thing holding him upright, which, on second thought, was probably the case.
"Woah!" The tall wizard let out a surprised yelp as his feet came in contact with the ice, and for a few seconds he struggled to stay upright, frantically flapping his arms as he wobbled precariously; before he finally seemed to find his balance and straightened out.
"There you go!" Ginny said encouragingly. She swivelled around to face him and took his other hand, causing him to look up and meet her gaze. Ginny's breath hitched, and for a moment, she found herself distracted by the colour of his irises; - a warm, honey brown with golden flecks that turned into green around the edges; but quickly caught herself staring and dropped her gaze to their feet.
"Uhm, right," she cleared her throat, before taking in a deep breath and looking back up at him. "Let's do this. I'll lead, and you follow, okay?"
Greg looked uncertain at first, but then he nodded, eyebrows pinched in concentration as they began to move. Slowly, with her fingers wrapped tightly around his, Ginny skated backwards, guiding him carefully across the ice.
They did this for several minutes, until Gregory gained a little more confidence and Ginny let go of one of his hands, in order to turn and skate next to him instead.
"Alright, I think I need a break." Greg huffed, after they'd gone around the entire inlet several times. "This is harder than it looks."
"It's not so bad once you get the hang of it." Ginny smiled. "It's like every other sport, I guess. Practice makes perfect."
Greg hummed his agreement before letting go of her hand and dropping into the snow at the edge of the lake.
"How about you show me what it's really supposed to look like?" He said, a daring smirk on his lips. "Or are you scared you'll fall?"
Ginny scoffed. "Me? Scared of falling?" she shot the wizard an incredulous look. "You really don't know me very well if you think I'm worried about a few bruises."
And with that she shot off, hair billowing behind her as she flew across the ice in great big circles, a loud, carefree laugh erupting from her chest.
She took in a deep breath, ravelling in the way the icy breeze kissed the apples of her cheeks. If she closed her eyes, it almost felt like flying on broom.
Grinning wildly she cast a quick glance back at Greg and her heart lurched as he saw the expression on his face, hazy with desire, as he carefully traced her movements with hungry eyes. He caught her gaze and flashed her a wide grin, the glint in his eyes morphing into something kind and warm, that made Ginny's entire body thrum with affection for him.
Blowing out a deep sigh in a fruitless attempt to calm the butterflies in her stomach, she swerved around and skated back to the edge of the lake.
"Looking good, Red." Greg smirked, cheekily winking up at her.
"Thanks." Ginny huffed, feeling slightly winded. – Whether that was due to the exercise, or the new nickname she had just received, she didn't know.
"Okay, enough resting!" she demanded. "Come on, I want to skate with you."
She offered the Slytherin a hand, gesturing for him to get up, but Greg pulled a reluctant face.
"Oh, I don't know." He said, looking unsure. "I won't be able to keep up."
"So, I'll go slow! I promise!" Ginny whined, batting her eyelashes pleadingly at him. "Pleaaase?"
Greg let out a deep sigh and physically deflated, before he shook his head and pushed himself up. "Fine." He grumbled, narrowing his eyes at her. "You and your bloody eyes. You know that's not fair, right? How can a man say no, when you look at him like that?"
Ginny flashed him a triumphant smile and shrugged. "You can't. That's the point."
They went around the edge a couple more times, until they ventured a bit further into the middle, with Greg still clutching her arm tightly, as he carefully pushed one foot in front of the other.
"Go at a wider angle." Ginny instructed. "Like this." She demonstrated with ease, pushing her feet out in a couple of wide strokes. "And don't keep your legs so straight. It'll be easier to keep your balance if you bend your knees a little."
She watched as Greg followed her instructions, feeling a strange sense of pride for the wizard, as he let go of her hand for the first time and sped up a little.
"Perfect." She squealed, executing a perfect little twirl, before whooshing around him in a big circle that brought her back to his side.
It was then, that the tall wizard lost his focus and stumbled; an involuntary reflex causing him to grab hold of Ginny's coat.
Holding on to her was just enough to save him from falling, but the full force of his body weight, as he struggled to regain his balance, was too much for Ginny, and with a high-pitched shriek she fell hard onto the ice and slid several meters along the slippery surface until she came to a skidding halt.
"Ginny!" Greg shouted, rushing after her with clumsy, hurried strides. "Shit! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
By the time the distressed looking wizard had reached her, Ginny had already sat up and cast a confused look around…and then she started to laugh. She wasn't sure why, maybe it was the adrenaline kicking in, but she just couldn't help herself.
"Ginny, talk to me! Are you hurt?" Greg demanded, his expression growing more worried by the second.
"No." Ginny wheezed, clutching her hand to her side. "I'm fine."
It took her at least a couple of minutes to calm down, but when her laughter had finally subsided into silent hiccups, she looked back up at Greg, who was still hovering above her, his face etched with concern.
"I'm sorry." Ginny breathed, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "I don't even know why I was laughing. It was probably just the shock. I haven't had a spectacular fall like this in years."
"It's all my fault." Greg groaned. "I'm so sorry."
Ginny waved a dismissive hand. "Oh don't be silly." she chided. "I told you I'm fine. And it's not like you did it on purpose." She reached out for his hand. "Help me up, will you?"
Greg nodded, instantly grabbing her hand to pull her up; only Ginny hadn't expected him to be quite so strong. With a loud gasp she flew up, stumbled, and crashed straight into the wizard's broad chest.
"Ooff!" she huffed, struggling to regain her balance, but Greg was already one step ahead of her. Reacting quickly, he wrapped his strong arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him, until she finally found the ground under her feet again.
"Merlin's balls!" she cursed, placing both hands against his chest to help her straighten up. "I'm sorry. I wasn't ready for such a – " The words caught in her throat as she looked up to meet his gaze and her breath hitched.
"Hi." He murmured, a confident smirk tugging at his lips.
"Hi." Ginny breathed in response, her throat growing dry.
Merlin, he was close. So close, in fact, that she could watch the specks of olive green in his eyes be swallowed by the inky black of his dilating pupils.
"You alright?"
It took Ginny several seconds to register that he had asked her a question, but when she did, she finally tore her eyes from his, and nodded.
"Yeah, uhm… I'm sorry." She murmured, praying to all the Gods that the quiver in her voice wasn't as noticeable as it felt. "I'm just… I'm feeling a little lightheaded."
She was sure that his close proximity was at least partially responsible for her sudden spell of dizziness, and yet all she wanted was to lean in even closer. He smelled of sweet cinnamon and fresh pine; and the heat radiating off him was so strong, so comforting, that for a brief second of madness, she wondered if they should get off the ice, before they would melt straight through it.
"Ginny."
"Hm?"
"I think you might have hit your head. Maybe we should get you checked by Madam Pomfrey."
Gregs voice sounded as if it was coming from far away, and she had to shake her head several times before she managed to pull out of her trance and back to the present.
"No, I'm fine." She promised, pulling her lips into, what she hoped, was a reassuring smile. "If I hit anything at all it was my backside." She added, rubbing a soothing hand over butt.
Greg studied her for a long moment, seemingly trying to determine the seriousness of the situation, until he finally let out a relieved huff and tilted his lips into a smirk.
"Well, we best have Madam Pomfrey check that too then." He said, a teasing tone to his voice. "There are far too many wizards who would curse my balls off, if you lost a buttock 'cause of me."
"Oi!" Ginny laughed, slapping his arm playfully. "First of all, that is so not true! And secondly, I can assure you that my arse is in perfectly good shape. Thank you very much."
"Oh, that I know." Greg murmured, just loud enough for Ginny to hear.
She let out a shocked gasp, before clicking her tongue. "You're incorrigible!" she chided, swatting his chest in an effort to feign annoyance, despite being barely able to contain an elated giggle.
Greg only grinned and shrugged, looking awfully chuffed with himself.
Ginny rolled her eyes, before shaking her head, wondering whether she should be annoyed or amused.
"Either way, I think we've had enough ice skating for a day." She sighed, pulling out her wand and transfiguring their skates back into boots. "I rather fancy a cup of Finty's hot cocoa. What do you think?"
"Sounds perfect." Greg grinned, gesturing for her to lead the way.
Ginny smiled, and with a skip in her step and a flurry of butterflies in her stomach, she began to guide them back towards the castle.