A/N: Okay so this chapter is kind of messy... I wrote a lot of snippets months ago and now struggled to make it look less like several moments stacked on top of each other in a trenchcoat pretending to be a chapter. I think I managed more or less but some of these still seem like throw-away moments and are quite short. I promise they do have a point and they'll be relevant later so I just had to keep them in here! (I already deleted plenty, trust me. These were essential).


Ginny woke up in Harry's bed on Monday, his arm resting over her as if he needed to make sure she was right beside him as he slept. She guessed he'd sleep for at least another hour, so she crept from under his arm and went to the bathroom. She was about to walk back into his bedroom when she heard a hoarse little 'Gin?'.

She tried not to smile too wide as she opened the door, leaned against the doorframe, and watched a lazy smile spread across his face as he sleepy looked at her.

"Where did you go?" he asked, patting the spot she had vacated.

"Sometimes I have to pee," she said, crawling back under the covers. "I thought you'd be asleep for a little longer."

"No, I think I woke up because you left," Harry said, his arms snaking around her, his legs entangling with hers.

"Are you going to make me feel bad about waking up early?" she asked, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she put her arm around him.

"Yes, check my study schedule, it says sleep until nine," he mumbled.

"Well, go back to sleep then," she said, her fingers toying with his hair.

He closed his eyes again but immediately opened them again. "This is not going to work out."

"Us or you sleeping?" she asked.

"Sleeping, evidently. Us? Yeah," he said, pulling her closer and attacking her with kisses.

She giggled as she pushed at him with no real intention of pushing him away.

"Get your tiny hands off— No, Gin! I swear to god!" Harry objected as she started tickling him.

"Or what?" she sat, halting her movements just a second.

Harry leaned over her. "We both know you can't handle tickling at all."

She peered at him innocently, her fingers going to his sides and then started her next tickling attack. Harry collapsed half on top of her as he tried to get her hands away from his sides to no avail. His hand found her side, right above her hip and started tickling.

"No!" she let out dramatically, trying to keep the giggles in. "Ah! Haha, please stop!"

"Do you give in?" he asked.

"Never!" she said even though she was barely containing her laughter. "No, not there, that's worse!" she objected as his fingers moved up. "I— Harry, I am begging you— Fine, fine! I admit defeat! You win!"

Harry halted his movements and looked down at her triumphantly.


Ginny moved her hair to the side when she saw Harry glance at her. She would have found it funny she had such an effect on him if she didn't feel the same way about him.

She knitted her fingers through her hair, seemingly nonchalant and ran her fingers down to the ends, carefully watching Harry's reaction. By the time her fingers reached the ends, Harry was looking at her. With a smug smile, she looked back down to her laptop and casually scrolled to the next chapter.

Harry sighed loudly, looked at her for a moment and then stood up. He pushed his books across the table, to the spot left from her. Then he walked around the table and sat down beside her. His left arm folded over his lap so he could hold her hand while keeping his right hand free to write. Ginny looked up at him with a satisfied grin, like a child on Christmas.

"You're so annoying," he muttered, bending back over his book with a shake of his head.

She leaned over and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek before turning back to her screen.
"Hey," she spoke softly.

"What." He sounded a little annoyed.

Ginny looked up and their eyes met. She blinked at him innocently. She pointed at her screen. "I found a summary online for chapters four to six, do you want me to send it to you? I just read through it and it is pretty good."

Harry's eyes softened. "Yes, please."

Ginny winked at him and squeezed his hand.


"We're done for the day," Harry said, crossing a thing off his list.

"It's only 2 PM," Ginny replied, used to his longer studying sessions.

Harry shrugged and stretched his arms above his head. "I always stop this early…"

"No, whenever I studied with you…" She shook her head in denial.

"I knew you were behind so I'd study longer with you so you'd catch up." He offered her a smile. "It's why my grades are so high, I often end up studying things double so you could study along," Harry admitted.

Her jaw dropped. "You're joking?"

"Am not."

Ginny slammed her head down on the table and mumbled to herself.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

She sat back up. "I am finding it harder and harder to believe you had no clue you had feelings for me."

Harry frowned. "You're my best friend, I was just looking out for you and gaining something from it myself. Now you actually started early so we can … relax and have our afternoons free."

She sighed and closed her book. "Great. Now your grades will suffer because I took your advice for once."

"You keep taking my advice these days, it's going wonderfully." His eyes lit up.

Ginny stood up and swung her leg over him, her back leaning against the table. "And what do you advise for this afternoon then, Mr Potter?"


Her book lay discarded beside her as Harry came up from between her legs. He released his grip on her thighs and licked his lips.

"What were you saying about diplomacy?" he asked casually.

Ginny breathed out. "Oh, so you were listening?"

Harry grinned, coming up to her eye level. "I always listen when you talk."

"Who is distracting who now?" Ginny teased him.

"You showed me the wiki article, clearly I had to put it to the test!" Harry said smugly.

She chuckled. "Well, you said you never went down on a girl before, I was just trying to be helpful."

Harry picked up his phone. "They're asking to rate their article."

Ginny pulled the phone out of his hands. "Ha. Was this helpful? I dare say that it was."

Harry put his glasses back on. "We have to get up soon, we have the group paper meeting."

When they arrived at the communal area, their group partners had already arrived. They settled down on the couches.

"Ginny, my cousin is single again," Robin said.

She looked at him warily.

"I am just saying if you are looking…" he trailed off.

She could see Harry shift beside her but he said nothing. "No, thank you," she said with a smile.

Robin looked slightly offended. "Why not? Is my family not good enough for you?"

Amy decided to come in between. "Well, I haven't seen Ginny much around her dorm this week, so my guess is she's seeing someone."

Ginny grinned, wondering if they'd figure it out.

"And judging by the fact we haven't seen her much…" Amy shot her a knowing look.

Ginny looked at Harry. "You're right, I have a boyfriend, so I've been at his dorm instead."

"Dorm? So he goes here too? Harry, do you know him?" Charlotte piped up now.

Harry chuckled. "You could say that."

"Tell us who, do we know him?" Robin asked with interest.

"Yes, you do," Ginny confirmed, smiling wider.

"Is he in our class?" Amy asked.

Ginny nodded.

"It's me, I am the boyfriend," Harry said, putting an end to their guessing.

Three pairs of eyes shifted from Ginny to Harry.

Amy frowned. "But Harry, you don't date."

Harry shrugged. "Yes, I know."

"So, what happened?" she asked.

"Ginny has been making me break rules since the start," he said with much amusement.

Ginny took out her laptop with a small smile. "I thought you were going to say something nice, but I guess that will do." She put it on her lap and opened it.

"Well, how long have you been together, I don't think there was anything going on before break?" Amy asked.

"You're right, it's just since last week," Harry replied.

Ginny reached out and squeezed his knee.

"How?" Robin asked now.

Ginny met eyes with Harry. "Our friends finally had enough and decided to stick us in a closet together. Unfortunately, it worked."

Robin chuckled. "Clearly."

"Can we do the paper now?" Ginny asked.

"Right," Amy said, opening her laptop to note down who would be doing what.


Harry scrolled through the document he set up, trying to sort out the chapters of the paper now they knew how the work was divided.

Ginny suddenly shot up and came to the table and took her phone off the table.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he noticed her determined face.

"Deleting Tinder," she said, her thumb moving across the screen.

"Ah, right. Not an app I'd like to see on your phone," he said with a wink. He had often been put in charge of swiping.

"I'm deleting my account while I'm at it," she said casually, her thumb dancing over the screen.

Harry looked up at her. She had deleted the app before but she never deleted her account, it was a safety net, something to come back to when it went south.

She met his eyes and smiled. "Done."

Harry closed his laptop, he had entirely lost track of what he was doing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she said.

"Ginny, don't play with my feelings. You never delete your account." He frowned.

She shook her head with a smile. She pulled up the confirmation email and showed it to him. "I really want to find out what comes after phase three," she said softly, their eyes meeting.

Harry wondered if Ginny knew what she was doing to him. He pulled her onto his lap and she curled into him. "That's not funny."

She chuckled as she rested against him. "Your face is a little funny right now."

His hand came to cover her eyes. "It's not."

"I will bite your hand," she said.

Harry lifted his hand and met her eyes. "Phase four, huh?"

"Eventually." She smiled.

He kissed her forehead. "Okay. I'll also delete my Tinder — Wait."

"You swiped mine, you had the fun parts and I had to keep up conversations and go on dreadful dates," Ginny argued.

"You're going to make it seem like I forced you!" he said.

She sat up straight and nodded. "Absolutely. The troubles I went to..." She shook her head. "Terrible."

"My sincerest apologies," he said in a mocking tone. "I promise I will never do that again."

"Why not?" she asked, trying to get a cute answer.

"You just deleted your account, Weasley. How could I possibly select terrible men for you?"

She hugged him to her. "Harry...! That's not the right answer!"

He chuckled. His voice dropped a little. "Do you want me to tell you because I will never let you go? And only go on dates with me from now?"

She lifted her head and looked at him with her eyes sparkling. "Yeah."

"I want to take you on dates until we're old and grey." His face dropped. "That's good enough?"

She grinned. "I really felt like you meant that," she said with sarcasm. "Felt it in here." She touched a hand to her heart.

"Ah, dear Gin. I wish you to date men you genuinely like and that they may be kind to you and treat you well. If that's me, it would be my honour."

Her eyes lit up. "That was somehow better."

"Because I actually meant that." He raised his eyebrows.


Ginny was on her way back to her dorm at the end of the first week of classes after vacation, when Hermione called her into her dorm.

Ginny looked around. "Where's your roommate? I haven't seen her in ages."

Hermione looked up, "Your guess is as good as mine, I hardly ever see her."

"You called?" Ginny said.

Hermione nodded and pulled her to the couch. "Go on, spill the beans," Hermione said.

Ginny stared at her innocently. "About what?"

Hermione gave her a stern look, as if she had to ask. "Harry, of course! We gave the final push but ... when did you really realise you were into him?"

Ginny gaped at her. "I swear, I had no clue until he kissed me. I had never considered it seriously before then."

Hermione's eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"I think I may have had feelings for a while or maybe they grew over time? But it was a total surprise when I figured it out. For Harry it was too. I don't know what you guys saw between us, but we did not see it."

"So you kissed in the closet, then?" Hermione pried.

She nodded, at least to Hermione she could admit it. "Yes. That unleashed a whole lot of feelings, and not just for me I believe." She paused; she hadn't told anyone this yet. "Obviously I want answers because he kissed me first. So later that night I went to his room to talk and…"

Hermione's expression was somewhere between amused and judging.

"Don't look at me like that! You know… it's Harry," she defended herself.

"Yes, but it is Harry. How long have you known him for anyway?"

"Well, I've known him for longer, but we've been friends since we were fifteen," Ginny replied.

"And you never…?" Hermione asked, she still didn't seem convinced.

"No! …. But just wait until you find out who you're in love with!" Ginny said, standing up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her brows knitted together.

Ginny smiled; it was her time to play. "Oh, you'll find out. Bye, Hermione, good talk!" She waved as she walked through the door, ignoring Hermione's further questions on the matter.


Ginny was on Harry's bed, she was scrolling through her phone as he changed into his pyjamas. He made space for himself between her legs, his head landing on her stomach. She put her phone down.

She ran her fingers through his hair softly, her legs wrapping around his waist. She watched as he closed his eyes at the sensation.

"Remember when Michael broke up with me right before graduation and then we just ended up going to the party as each other's date?"

"Yeah…?" he replied without moving.

"I'm glad we did that, we had a great time. I mean who breaks up with a girl right before graduation?" Ginny wondered out loud.

Harry shifted. "I know why."

"And you never told me?" Ginny said, her hands still playing with his hair.

"I was trying to save you more heartbreak," he mumbled. "I found out he was cheating on you. I told him he had to tell you or I would. So he broke up with you."

Harry looked up at her. She smiled, of course he was always looking out for her. She picked up her phone, looking for old pictures. Harry put his head back down and she squeezed him a little closer with her legs.

"Aha, here we go. Found our graduation pictures," she said. She scrolled until she found a particular set of pictures from the end of the night. She zoomed in on one and showed Harry.

"What am I looking at?" Harry asked.

"Yes, what are you looking at in the picture?" Ginny responded. They were both laughing, she was looking at the camera, but he was looking at her, an arm around her shoulder.

"I mean I am looking at you, but what's your point?" he said.

Ginny sighed and zoomed closer to his face. "Look at the way you look at me?"

Harry pushed onto his hands. "You think I already liked you then?" His face appeared above hers.

"I think something was brewing…" she admitted, it didn't feel like nothing but then she had never noticed it before.

"I mean if you want to lose that game, that's fine by me."

Ginny giggled and wrapped her legs around Harry again and he bent down to kiss her.


"What do you mean, my book isn't here? I had a reservation," Ginny asked to the library employee, anger rising inside.

"I'm sorry, someone else picked up the book a few minutes before you did," the lady told her, glancing at her screen and back.

"Is there another copy?" Ginny tried.

The lady shook her head. "Sorry, no."

She really wanted to get the chapter on their paper done today and now she wouldn't be able to. "Where can I find similar books?" she asked, attempting to swallow her anger.

The lady typed into the computer and looked back up at her. "Section 9.34."

"Thank you," she said, knowing her face read murder. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and made her way to the right section.

She walked to the correct shelf. She took a few books out and put them down on the nearest table. She sat down and pulled the books to her, hoping to find one she could use for their paper quickly.

She was trying to go fast but the girl seated at the other table was distracting her. She was chewing gum, flipping the pages loudly and also wiggling her foot constantly. Ginny tried to ignore it, focusing back on her book. Chew.

Ginny felt like she was in the girl's mouth with the noise she was making. She resisted grumbling and covered one ear in the hopes it would make it better. As soon as she found what she was looking for, she'd be out of there.

The girl's wiggling foot was caught in her peripheral vision and the more she tried to ignore it, the more she seemed to notice it. The loud flipping of pages was just an added bonus.

She went on to the next book, the chewing noise and the pages were the only things she could hear in the otherwise silent library, making them appear even louder. She glanced at the girl, but she seemed to be blissfully unaware of the grave disturbance she was causing. If looks could kill, the girl would already be dead.

She closed the book and went to the following one. The girl sniffed loudly and Ginny could feel her blood pressure rise. She found what she was looking for and jumped up immediately, ignoring the three people who looked up at the sudden movement and shoved the rest of the books back on the shelf.

She took her book and went to the counter to check the book out.

"Found what you were looking for?" the man at the desk asked her as she handed over her library card and the book.

"No," she shot back with a little too much venom, then took a deep breath. It was not this man's fault. "But it will have to do."

The man offered her a sympathetic smile.

When it was checked out, she shoved the book in her bag and made her way back to Harry's dorm. She walked in and slammed the door.

"I am almost afraid to ask how your trip to the library went," Harry said from the couch.

She huffed. "The book I specifically went to the trouble to reserve… not there! So I had to go and find other, worse options and then the girl next to me…" She put her bag down on the ground. "Was just being so loud, chewing gum, flipping pages and it just put me more on edge." She was aware she was being maybe a tiny bit unreasonable, but she couldn't help the anger that had boiled up inside her.

Harry was looking at her surprisingly without judgement. "Well, I can't stop totally crazy ladies from flipping pages in a library out of all places, but do you want a hug?"

"No," she quickly responded but then she immediately changed her mind. She walked over and pushed her head under his arm like a cat begging for attention.

She didn't miss the smile that appeared as he pulled her to him.

"Go ahead, judge me," she said, planting her face against his collarbone.

His hands rubbed her back. "No, it's fine."

"You're just fearing for your life right now, huh? That's it." She slumped against him.

"Exactly. Internally I'm shivering with fear for your wrath." His soft hands proved otherwise.

She chuckled. "You really get me."

"Yes, that's why I am winning over all your previous boyfriends," Harry said.

She looked up, wondering what he had meant by that. "Winning what," she said, inching closer to his lips.

"Your heart. I see the way you look at me. And I know how painstakingly slow you usually take it with other guys," he said.

Ginny didn't want to admit he was right but he knew her too well for her to deny it. "Why, you want to take it slower?" she teased.

"No, I am moving past phase three," he joked back but his eyes were eager. "Speaking of which. I'm going to dinner at my parents on Saturday and I thought maybe you could… join?"

"Yep, I think meeting the parents is definitely phase four material," she joked back.

"You've already met them," he responded. She had spent a considerable amount of time at the Potter house, even after they moved.

"I'm happy to join for dinner," she said more seriously.

"Okay, then I just first need to call and tell them that I have a girlfriend," Harry said.

She perked up. "Oh, do it now, I want to hear their reaction."

Harry contemplated it. "If they say something you didn't want to hear, that's on you."

"Please," Ginny begged, she just wanted to hear it.

Harry gave in and called his mom. He put it on speakerphone so she could listen along.

"Hi, mom, how are you?" he said carefully.

"Hi, my lovely son. I am fine. Did you get my text?"

"That's why I am calling." His eyes landed on Ginny.

"You can't make it?" his mom asked.

"No, I will. I was just wondering if I could bring … my girlfriend?" He sounded hesitant.

They could hear her shift and come closer to the microphone. "You have a girlfriend?"

Harry rolled his eyes. Ginny had to bite her lip to stop from laughing.

"Yes, I do," he admitted.

Lily sounded intrigued. "That must be one special girl to convince you to date."

Harry turned red, clearly regretting putting her on speakerphone. He did not respond.

"Well, tell me about her, I want to know more before I meet her. Meeting the parents is not nothing."

Harry considered his words. "You've already met her."

There was a brief silence on the other side of the line. "It's Ginny, isn't it?"

Ginny shook her head in disbelief. It seemed that literally everyone in their life had figured it out before they did.

"Well, yes. Apparently that was common knowledge to everyone except to us," Harry replied, sounding a little annoyed too.

"You didn't know you liked her? I thought you were just shoving your feelings down," she said in a surprised tone.

Harry's jaw clenched. "No, I didn't. Neither did she."

"So what happened? How long have you been together?"

He met eyes with Ginny, it looked like his mom wanted all the details. "It's been about two weeks. Look, can I bring her?" he said, unwilling to go into more detail.

"Well, you can always bring Ginny, of course!" she answered without any hesitation.

Harry smiled.

"Wait, does your dad know?" Lily asked.

"No, not yet."

"James, guess what!" They could hear her yell immediately. "Our son finally found himself a girlfriend!"

Harry looked more and more mortified as the call went on. They could hear James enter the room.

James now spoke. "Finally asked out Ginny, did you?"

Now he just looked offended. He shook his head. "Let me guess, you knew too," he deadpanned.

"Wait, was that a secret?" James asked in confusion.

"To me!" Harry let out.

Ginny tried not to laugh. She put her hand over her own mouth to mute the sound. Harry refused to meet her eyes.

"Really?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm going to go."

"Wait, wait!," James said. "I didn't mean anything by it. We just... figured that would happen at some point."

"I didn't. I had no clue," Harry admitted. "It doesn't matter, I am bringing her to dinner, as my girlfriend this time," he added at the end. She had definitely been to dinner there before.

"Say Ginny hi from us!" Lily said.

"I'll do that." He said his goodbyes and put the phone down. He looked at her. "Well, at least you're in a better mood."

"Even your parents knew." She shook her head with a smile.

"They had asked about you before but I assured them there was nothing between us." He let out a sigh.

"Yes... I may have told my parents the same. Which is why I haven't told them. I don't need the comments, really."

Harry frowned. "You should, I want more treacle tart."

She chuckled. "Oh, I am sure that can be arranged."