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Chapter 8

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The depression, doom and gloom that he usually felt had given way to this sort of strangling anxiety; and he knew why.

He had sat there in his first day of classes and listened as Ron had snarled at Dean about this very thing. Ron was his best friend. Again. Having this question that he needed to ask his best friend was making his heart beat fast and giving him trouble breathing.

He just needed to get it out.

Okay, it was now or never. He just needed to rip off the Band-Aid. "Er, Ron?" Harry said in a higher octave than he'd meant to and quickly cleared his throat.

Ron looked toward him at the interruption, his eyes unfocused, as they had been on his paper before that.

"I, er, I've asked someone to Hogsmeade. Like, as a date." He knew he had to bring this up with Ron before this coming weekend. He wished he'd had his run in with Ginny a day or so before the Hogsmeade trip was planned instead of the weekend before. He'd been delaying informing Ron of his date with Ginny for two days now and needed to get it over with.

Clearly Ron wasn't seeing the big deal with that right away, and why would he?

Ron's eyes were quickly coming into focus and he started grinning. "Okay, and you're looking to me for tips or something?" he asked incredulously. "Because I've got to tell you, it took me ages to figure out what dating Hermione entailed, and we've known each other for years."

Harry couldn't help giving a forced chuckle at that before his nerves took hold of him again. "No, I'm not looking for tips or anything. I… see the thing is," he swallowed. He'd only just gotten Ron back in his life, he didn't know if this was going to be a deal breaker for their friendship. "It's Ginny," he just blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Ron asked, not sounding the least bit entertained by this bit of information.

As he searched Ron's face desperately for some sign he was okay with this, he couldn't help recalling just how Ron had been with him after his name was read out off that slip of paper from the Goblet of Fire right through to after the first task. He'd thought their friendship was solid before that, he was sure that Ron would have stood by him then, but he hadn't.

It had been a long time since then, and it had been a long time since he'd thought about that and how horrible it had felt to have his best friend turn his back on him over something so trivial.

This could turn out to be another one of those trivial things that had Ron turning his back on him again.

So, was it worth it?

There was no way he was going to be able to go back in time a minute and stop himself from beginning this conversation, so he ploughed on.

"It's… Ginny," Harry repeated. He was scanning Ron's face for some sort of acceptance. Some sign that he was alright with it.

"My sister," Ron deadpanned. "My little sister? That's who you want to take on your date to Hogsmeade."

"She's hardly little," Harry defended. Ron may have had a hard time accepting that the little girl he'd grown up with had become a strong and pretty woman, but he had to have realized that somewhat, considering how she acted with them as the Captain of their Quidditch Team. "I know it's weird, but we were talking and, I dunno, connecting, and then I just asked her. It was like I couldn't control myself. And I've been, you know, growing to fancy her a bit since I got back," his face was growing very warm now. How is it that he had no problem when it came to battle, but admitting to his best friend that he fancied his sister was making him wish he had just jumped off a cliff instead?

"She's an adult," Harry reasoned. "You know, legally. And clearly she's capable of taking care of herself. It isn't like I'm going to, you know, try anything funny. I just… I just really like her, mate."

Ron was giving him a hard stare and not looking at all impressed with this new information.

"You mean to tell me you've already asked her, and she said yes?"

"Er, yeah."

"Then what the hell are you asking me for?" Ron was still frowning at him as he asked this. "She's given you her answer. If I were to tell you I had a problem with it, would you just tell her the date's off?"

Harry thought that over. If Ron decided they couldn't be friends anymore or whatever over this then he was sure that they would make up after the fact, whether the date went well or didn't.

And he didn't want to answer that question.

"Here's the thing," Harry started slowly. "I've never." He had to stop for a moment and double check that there was no one around that was going to potentially overhear this. "I've never been on a date before. I've never had the opportunity. Closest thing to it was when we took the Patil twins to the Yule Ball."

Ron let out an incredulous laugh at that memory, like he'd completely forgotten about it.

"Right, it was miserable," Harry said, agreeing with Ron's reaction but not finding it nearly as funny a memory. "And the only reason Parvati agreed to go with me was because I'm 'Harry Potter'. Since then, I've been in hiding, and not on some tropical island surrounded by women in bikini's like Sirius is now. I was stuck in Grimmauld Place, training, studying and occasionally going on potentially life-threatening missions. And you know what? I've been okay with that. But now I'm here, and I have the chance to actually build a relationship with a girl, see what that's all about. And I wish there was another girl that I fancied so this would be less awkward for you and me, but there just isn't. Ginny's, well, Ginny's just different from how I remember her. And I think we've sort of started something. I want to see where it goes. And I'd really like you to be okay with that."

Ron nodded, not in agreement, but in thought.

"She doesn't know who you are though," Ron pointed out.

"No, she doesn't." He shook his head in assurance. "No one but you, Hermione and McGonagall know who I really am here. I'd like to keep it that way for a bit longer too. And I'd really like to know if Ginny likes me for me, and not because of that hero worship nonsense. You remember what she was like around me before, Right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ron grinned again at that memory. "The summer before second year when we brought you home to the Burrow she could barely even stay in the same room as you. It was so unlike her." His forehead creased at the memory. He shook his head. "Look, I know she acted weird around you then, that wasn't really her at all. But mate, she's not really acting like herself right now either. I mean, not all the time. She's… like… darker sometimes I guess."

"We all are," Harry told him with a shrug. "We've all been through crap. That's not going to stop me for wanting to try taking her out." He was relieved to hear that Ron had noticed a change in her.

Ron nodded. "Well, I guess if it wasn't you, it'd just wind up being someone else. She's too popular for her own good."

Harry's brow furrowed. He knew that Dean had tried asking her out in the first month of school, and Michael Corner in Ravenclaw looked interested in her on the train, everyone else seemed to just look at her like she was their friend, but also in reverence or something.

"That's a yes then?" Harry asked. He wanted solid confirmation that Ron was going to be okay with this.

"That's a yes," Ron rolled his eyes.

A weight lifted off his shoulders then at Ron's approval.

He was tempted then to bring up the comment about how Ginny was 'darker' than how Ron remembered her and discuss it, see exactly what it was that Ron had noticed. It wasn't his story to tell though, he reminded himself, if he started asking then he might start talking too and wind up saying too much.

It probably shouldn't be something to bring up on their date either.

She hadn't acted any different around him since he'd asked her out on Sunday, and for whatever reason, he'd expected her to; The Quidditch practice they had on Wednesday evening had been business as usual. She hadn't tried to sit any closer to him at mealtimes or during their classes. She'd been playing it so cool that he'd been trying not to pay any attention to her either.

It was difficult though; after having kissed her and seen her in only a towel and fresh from the shower, now they had a date coming up. He was beginning to feel like the bumbling teenager he never had the chance to be.

Save for the fool he'd made of himself around Cho Chang.

The other night he'd had a chat with Sirius and told him about Ginny. Sirius had laughed over the fact that of all the girls he could have asked out, Harry had to go with the one with so many brothers that would want to rip him limb from limb.

He failed to relay back to Sirius that he was pretty sure Ginny would be the one ripping him limb from limb if he did something wrong. Instead of carrying on with that conversation he quickly changed the topic to how the Daily Prophet was reporting that even more 'suspected' Death Eaters had started disappearing around the country and were thought to be fleeing to other parts of the world before any Ministry folk could find enough evidence against them to bring them to trial.

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Harry played with the inside fabric of his pocket while he waited in the Entrance Hall for Ginny to come down the stairs.

It was his first date and he was nervous.

He had been laying in bed last night, trying to get to sleep but his eyes had stayed open and he stared at the canvas top of the four poster with his mind in a swirl of angst and second guessing whether it was too late to leave Hogwarts and join up with Sirius.

Sirius would never let him live it down though if he ran away from school because he was too scared to go on a date.

Then he rolled over and buried his face in his pillow, pressing his face firmer and firmer into the cushion, thinking that maybe if he asphyxiated himself a bit then he would fall asleep.

It took all he had to try and fake being in a good mood this morning, reminding himself to play it casual, like there wasn't the feeling of acid eating away at his stomach that was putting him off his breakfast.

Slow breaths, he reminded himself. He'd been to Hogsmeade before. It wasn't like he had to kill someone today. Although that would feel more natural.

He frowned as he realized that it did feel more natural that he would have to kill someone than possibly kiss someone.

He'd done the former of those two several times, he'd only kissed someone once; and she'd been the one to initiate it.

It was just to Hogsmeade though, so he figured they'd just hit up the shops and then grab a Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks and then that would be that. Maybe he could take her to the Shrieking Shack, but then he might have to explain how he knew where it was, what it was, and how he knew how to get inside it.

Just too many questions there.

Ginny was coming down the stairs with her friends Romilda and Anthony, from Harry's dorm. "Hey," she greeted him. She looked like she was in a good mood, and had gotten a decent nights sleep.

She looked too good for him.

"Hey," he greeted her back and then looked over to Romilda and Anthony in question.

"Oh," Ginny caught on. "They're going to Hogsmeade together. I figured we may as well share a carriage," she offered. "It's a bit cold this morning so I was hoping we could save the walking bit for the way back."

"Right. Okay." Anthony and he may have shared a dorm room, but they hadn't spoken much. Dean was not talking to him right then either because he'd found out about his date with Ginny.

To be fair, Harry had completely forgotten that it might be problematic that Dean and Ginny had dated, and that Dean had been interested in revisiting their relationship, until after Ron had mentioned their date in the dorm room. Ron had now filled him in on who Ginny had gone out with at the school now, and the list wasn't long, just Dean Thomas, Michael Corner and apparently one failed date with Richard McLaggan's older brother who was a year ahead of him and Ron before the war.

Romilda didn't look very comfortable with Anthony though, and Anthony too didn't look like he knew how he was supposed to be behaving.

As embarrassing as it had been, Harry had asked Sirius for all kinds of guidance for this date. He didn't know if they should be holding hands. They may have already kissed, but greeting her with one seemed out of order.

Sirius had agreed that if they were going to kiss, it would either be during the date if the moment felt right, or at the end. And hand holding was for relationships that had titles, not first dates. All Harry really needed to focus on was pretending he'd never been to Hogsmeade before.

Once they got into the carriage, the sound of the wheels on the gravel and dirt was noisy and he was seated looking at Romilda and Anthony.

"They don't look like they like each other very much," Harry said discretely to Ginny. It was too loud for either of the other two to hear him. He'd thought Romilda was dating Brian from Sixth Year, but it looked like that relationship was over.

"They do," she told him. "Anthony is just being very understanding with her."

He opened his mouth to ask why, but he got another sinking sensation in his stomach again over the missing details of what had gone on at the school last year. Ginny had mentioned that students had been molested last year, it wasn't a huge leap to think that one of those students had been Romilda. She was a pretty girl after all, that and the fact that she was a Gryffindor would probably have made her a target.

Again though, that made him worry about Ginny. She was a really good-looking girl, and the way that she seemed to hold some kind of authority over the other students, how they seemed to look to her as some kind of leader, would that not have made her a pretty big target too?

Plus, the fact that she was a Weasley and they were renowned Muggle-lovers.

He couldn't ask her about it though, could he? They were on a date. That is not date conversation.

The rest of the ride to Hogsmeade was spent with him transitioning between looking out the window to looking down at Ginny's hand on the seat beside him and wondering how she would react if he touched it.

Finally, they arrived in the village and all exited the carriage. Romilda and Anthony got out first and they headed straight towards the shops. Harry was the last one out and he saw Ginny looking at the Thestral pulling the carriage.

"They get a little less horrifying every time you look at them, don't they?" he said.

She turned to him sharply. "You can see them?"

Shit. "Er, yes," he said, putting on a frown.

Ginny nodded but didn't ask anything further. "I'd imagine there are quite a few people here that can see them now," she murmured. He didn't want to talk about this, but if there was a chance it was going to open some dialogue between them about what she might have done and seen last year, then it was an easy way to ease into it.

"I looked up your family," Ginny said, changing the topic of conversation on him completely once they started moving towards the village together.

"You… what?" That comment threw him for a loop.

"There were a lot of unanswered questions I had about you," she shrugged. "I wouldn't have said yes to going out with you without at least knowing what kind of family you were coming from."

He was flabbergasted.

"And what did you find out?" he wondered. How much could she have learned about his family? That his grandparents had made Sleekeazy? That was about all he knew about his family anyhow, and Dumbledore had assured him that any mention of him had been removed from the library after the Tri-Wizard Tournament so she couldn't have come across anything about his history.

"That your dad was the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Head Boy when he went here, and married the Head Girl, who was a Muggleborn." She looked over at him now. "I know that they passed away in the first war."

"They were murdered," Harry jumped in, correcting her with venom in his tone. "They were murdered by Voldemort right in front of me when I was fifteen months old."

Ginny's steps faltered as his grew more tunnel-visioned from his anger. She had to rush to catch up with him and fall back in step. "I'm sorry," she said. "He went after my friend's parents right before he went away after the first war as well. Well, he sent his minions to do it anyhow," she told him with bite in her voice.

"Who was that?" Harry asked, stopping from the surprise.

"A friend that finished up with school by doing the Ministry tests over the summer because he had no desire to come back this year," Ginny shook her head dismissively. "His name is Neville. His parents are still alive, but they were tortured to insanity. They'll never be okay enough to leave St. Mungos."

Shit, he did know that. Sirius had mentioned Frank and Alice Longbottom to him, and Dumbledore had mentioned that Neville had been another possibility for who the prophecy about him could have been referring to. How had he just never known that Neville's parents were still alive? He assumed, since Neville lived with his grandmother, that they had passed away. And he'd just never asked? In the four years they shared a dorm room he'd never talked to Neville about how they were both orphans?

Harry felt like such a conceded prat then.

"This is really bad date conversation," Ginny said with a weak laugh. "What I'm trying to ask is, why are you just now starting at Hogwarts? Why didn't you start when you were eleven?"

He'd been prepared for this question. It was an obvious one for his fellow students and professors to have. They didn't remember him, and he was clearly English with a lineage that did attend Hogwarts, so where the hell had he popped out of the woodwork from?

"I've been living with my Godfather and doing my studying at home. He was one of those that believed that Voldemort wasn't truly gone. Now that there is solid proof after last year that he's gone, and gone for good, we both agreed that I would do my final NEWT year here." It was all the truth, just a specific version of the truth that left out his early education and living with the Dursleys.

She gave him a look, one that seemed like she didn't believe that story, not all of it anyhow. "And are you seventeen or eighteen?"

"Eighteen." That was an odd question for her to ask, hadn't he just told her his parents died in the first war, when he was 15 months old? She could do math. Every child from a magical family would know how old they were when the first war ended. He moved passed it though. "I could have sat my NEWT's at the Ministry instead of coming here but I really wanted to come here. I have ever since I first heard about Hogwarts. Since the Ministry was occupied with eradicating Death Eaters last year it hardly seemed the time to sit them, and now that everyone in power isn't an insane, evil dictator hell bent on revenge and world domination, I thought it was an optimal time to see what Hogwarts was all about. And make friends and play Quidditch," he added on.

"The 'friends and Quidditch' part seems what you are most focused on," she smirked at him.

He gave her a tight smile in return. "My social life has been rather limited for several years," he admitted.

Ginny slowed down to a stop and was looking at him curiously. He didn't know why that would have given her pause. He stopped beside her and replayed what he'd just said and didn't have any warning bells going off in his mind because of it.

"Harry, is this your first time on a date?" she asked.

Oh.

He stared right back at her and felt the weight of embarrassment starting to spread through him that he was determined to suppress. "It hasn't really been high on my list of priorities while the world was falling to shit around us all," he said in a defensive tone. He knew she'd dated, but what options had there been for him in that area?

She reached out and grabbed his hand placatingly. "No, that's not… what I'm actually asking is… the other night, the other week. Was that your first time, er."

Now he felt the warmth spreading to his cheeks that wasn't from anger at being called out or from the cold. "Er, well," he started. He hadn't considered that she might wonder if she'd been his first kiss! And he wasn't hiding that fact very well either.

Her cheeks colored and her eyes grew wide with concern. "I am so sorry!" she told him sincerely. "I know I've already told you that, but. Well, I didn't even consider that. I should have though," she added, more to herself. "I mean, with everything we've all been going through, and you not going to school. But there is always Muggle girls, so that could have been an option."

She was starting to ramble now and seeing her embarrassed and regretful like this was reminding him of how she'd been before he left. He was getting a glimpse of the Ginny he remembered, and it was nice to see her again.

The war hadn't made her completely disappear.

"How about," he started, grasping her hand to try and get her to stop apologizing, "if the day goes well, you make it up to me by letting there be a second attempt at that kiss?" It was forward, but he'd been thinking about it a lot since it happened and wanted to know if their next kiss would be as good as he remembered the first one to be or if he'd been building it up in his head.

She relaxed, a resolve settled over her features again though, like she was putting her shield back up again to guard herself. "I guess we'll just have to see how this goes." Was all she promised, a light pink blush on her cheeks and small smile remained on her lips appeared promising though.

Side by side they visited most of the shops in the village including stopping into the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, all standard Hogsmeade date plans, as he understood it. With having so much of his history being, for lack of better word, classified, there wasn't much in the way of conversation that flowed between them. Everything felt so forced and there was so much that was off limits, so much that he wanted to ask her or anecdotes that he wanted to share, but those would simply lead to so many questions.

He thought she could be someone that he could trust to keep his secret considering how well she was keeping her own and everyone else's, but he also wanted to get to know her better the way she was and that wouldn't be possible after giving her the key to unlock her memory of him.

Harry could tell that she was also at a loss for what they could talk about and was starting to think that the possibility of a second kiss was going to be well off the table by the time they got back to the castle. Then it was as they were heading back that he saw the path that led off to the Shrieking Shack and he decided to go for it with this one.

"Mind if we head that way?" he asked her, pointing up the hill where the nearly dilapidated house was just out of sight.

"Uh, there's really nothing over there."

"Oh, well, I know what's over there and I wanted to see it. There's some family history with it and I'd like to check out the inside."

She quirked her eyebrow at that. "You've some family history with the Shrieking Shack?"

He grinned at her. "My dad and Godfather and their mates used to go there. My Godfather told me about how to get in and the tunnel that leads back to the castle."

Ginny looked stunned. "Excuse me? The tunnel that leads back to the castle? I know every inch of the castle and there isn't… Holy shit! The Whomping Willow!" she nearly yelled.

"Shhh," he tried to get her to lower her voice and stepped closer. "It is a secret passageway. I'm sure you wouldn't want everyone knowing about the tunnel to Honeydukes."

"They already do," she rolled her eyes. "Most of the tunnels everyone discovered last year because the ones the professors knew about were being barricaded. I didn't know about this one though!" Her eyes were shining with excitement now. "What are we waiting for? Lead on!"

He chuckled at how giddy she was and they trekked up the hill to the fence and hopped over it, trying to find the path to it that wouldn't have their footprints showing, which involved hopping from boulder to boulder until they got closer. Luckily there weren't any of the younger students 'braving' getting close to the Shack right then.

Sirius had told him about how to get in without using the tunnel; through a few panels of wood at the far side that could be popped out and led into a room on the main floor.

They crept through it and were standing in the room that Remus would use for his transformations. All the furniture was torn to shreds and the mattress that he'd found Ron on five years ago, with his leg broken and clutching his rat, was still molding away in the same spot.

"It looks like animals have been able to get in here. Big ones," Ginny noted quietly.

Harry just nodded and continued looking around and replaying that night when he'd first properly met his Godfather and how he would have done things differently if he could have gone back now. If he'd've trapped Peter, or let Remus and Sirius kill him like they wanted to, everything would have wound up differently. Peter escaping had been the catalyst for derailing his life and bringing Voldemort back.

Perhaps Voldemort would have remained some sort of non-entity in the forest of Albania forever, maybe he would have still found another way to come back, who knows.

That wasn't something to focus on right now though.

"This was a horrible date, wasn't it?" he asked her.

She was still inspecting all the remnants of items surrounding them and looked back over at him, a hesitant smile coming to her face. "Yeah, kind of."

He nodded, bobbing his head a few times more than he meant to and trying in vain to search for something else to say. "Thing is, I don't know what to talk to you about. The questions I have for you are just completely off the table. There're some things I can't tell you about either from what I've been doing the past few years and I'm having a hard time reading you. One minute you're carefree and laughing, the next you look like you're ready to take on the cavalry single handedly and looking for anyone to give you an excuse to do so. I just don't know where the line is."

He could see her biting the inside of her cheek as she stared at him and processed what he was saying.

"I know I can be difficult. I've a short temper and my resting bitch face has been my set expression for so long that it is my go-to. A lot of the people that went through the last few years at Hogwarts with me just know to see past it," she told him. "Guess I could just blame it on being a red-head."

Harry chuckled at that. "I know it's more than that though."

"It is." She took a step closer to him. "Why'd you ask me out then? Was it just because I kissed you and then you happened upon me in only a towel then couldn't resist?" She was smirking and quirked her eyebrow.

He chanced taking a step closer to her as well. "That might have been part of it."

"And the other part?"

"I like you," he admitted. "You're smart, a leader, the Quidditch captain, you don't giggle, and you're pretty. I also know you've seen some things and have some angst that you're dealing with, and I, sort of, find that familiar? Like, it's nice to know that you would understand if I'm in a broody mood."

"Sounds like you've put some thought into it." She appeared pleased by that.

"Why'd you say yes?" he wondered. She must have had other options.

She took another step closer to him and gave a shrug. "You're attractive and a decent snog."

A loud laugh escaped his mouth before he could stop it. "Is that all?"

She grinned. "Well, I don't really know much else about you, do I? This was supposed to be the opportunity to learn about you and honestly, it would have been easier to pull teeth."

"Guess we have that in common," he said. He dared to reach out and touch one of the buttons on her coat near her midriff on impulse. "Can I kiss you again?"

"Didn't we agree I'd snog you again only if the date went well?" she asked teasingly. "And you just admitted that it hasn't been great."

If she'd used any other tone of voice he would have taken a step back, instead he reached up with is other hand and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. The only sane thought that was making it to the front of his mind was Sirius' 90/10 rule, to let the girl be the one to kiss him after he closed most of the distance.

He only got 30% of the way there though when she grabbed his lapels and pulled him the rest of the way to her.

It wasn't as desperate or passionate as their first kiss had been, instead it was soft and smooth. It felt natural and, for lack of a better word, lovely.

And it was over well sooner than he wished it would have been.

"I'd have liked to do that for a lot longer, but it was a terrible date after all," she whispered.

He chuckled. She had a point.

"Now that you've taken me somewhere I've never been before, how about I return the favor?"

He gave her a cautious look, "what do you mean?"

"It'll be perfectly safe, I promise you." She pulled back from him and started to continue her little tour of the shack. "Remember when we were having that drink with Hagrid? How he mentioned my bringing him food and supplies?"

"You want to take me into the Forbidden Forest?" he asked in surprise.

"Not into the deepest and darkest parts of it," she assured him. "Just to a certain spot I know about. Show you one of the more magical sights."

He'd been in the forest before, but he couldn't tell her that. "Promise you aren't going to feed me to a Manticore or something?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. There aren't any Manticore's in the U.K.," she winked at him.

"Alright. But if I do wind up dead, I swear I will come back as a ghost and haunt you."

"Fair enough," she grinned.

Once she was done wandering around the shack they headed back out through the panel in the wall and instead of heading back towards Hogsmeade and the usual path up to the school, she led the way down through the brush and trees, likely right overtop of where the tunnel to the school led.

They had to duck under tree limbs and push branches out of the way in certain parts, it was clearly not a path that was regularly travelled.

He'd come across Centaurs, Werewolves and Acromantula in these woods before, along with Voldemort himself. He'd seen unicorns as well, so it wasn't all dangerous creatures that lived here. The part of the forest she was leading him too he wasn't familiar with though. They were now walking away from the school.

The trees weren't so dense in this part that the sun was blocked out, so he saw perfectly when Ginny turned back to him and put her finger to her lips, telling him to be as quiet as possible. She then took his hand and led him to a large tree and ducked down, tugging at his arm gently to tell him to follow suit. They tread gently like that until they were right along a ridge and below was a pool of water.

His eyes went wide when he saw all the creatures that were occupying this pool.

There were Thestral's drinking at the shore, water nymphs gathered in an area surrounded with cattails, he could see shadows of movement just below the water as well and several non-magical animals roaming around between the open grass and trees surrounding the area.

"What is this place?" He hadn't heard of Hagrid mentioning some sort of congregating area for all these peaceful creatures before. The water source for it must have come from the Black Lake, but it looked enclosed so maybe an underground aqueduct?

"I don't know," she told him quietly. "I stumbled across it last year. Nearly stumbled into it actually," she let out a little laugh. "Scared off several water nymphs and I swear there was a merman under the water yelling at me for disturbing the peace."

The way the sun was casting the light on the area made all the colors below seem so much more vibrant. It was like it was one of the obscure portraits found around the school.

He managed to pull his focus from the pond to Ginny beside him. "Did you wander the forest a lot? We're a fair way into it right now."

She turned her gaze towards him as well and the peaceful expression she had from looking at the display below slowly slipped off her face and morphed once more back into that mask and he knew that her reason for being out in the forest was not a pleasant one. He'd known before asking, but there was the slim chance that it had only been because she was bringing supplies to Hagrid and he'd moved around.

She inclined her head back towards the direction that Hogwarts was in and they both crept back from the tree they were hiding behind and got up properly to their feet once they were a yard or so away from it.

"There were a few reasons that I would go into the forest. I know you've heard rumors about how awful the detentions were last year but some of them weren't so terrible. If Headmaster Snape had to assign us a detention, he would simply cast us into the forest. And it, well, it wasn't so bad."

He heard the hesitation in her voice that meant she was leaving something out.

"I know he wasn't actually a Death Eater," Harry told her. "I knew that he was playing both sides and in the end, he was Dumbledore's man."

Ginny stopped in her tracks. "How?"

He stopped and turned to her again, weighing the choice he had before him.

This wasn't the right time to tell her though.

He liked her, but it was a fancy. They still barely knew each other.

Though, she'd shared something major with him, he could share something with her as well.

"I was in the Order of the Phoenix," he admitted.

It was small, but it was something.

She took a surprised step back. "You were? Is, is that how you know Ron and Hermione?"

That would have been a good explanation though he wasn't willing to go into that in full detail.

"There is more to it than that, but yes, I did see them at a few meetings."

"More to it? Like what?"

He shook his head at her, "there are several secrets you are keeping to yourself and I'm sure you have a good reason. It'd be great if we knew each other well enough to share those secrets, but we don't. Maybe one day soon." He hoped.

Another dark shadow washed over her entire features and she seemed to mentally shake it off. "That's fair."

They walked silently for about a kilometer, though it didn't seem as awkward as it had to be walking with her now as it had when they were in Hogsmeade together. He kept glancing down at her hand that was moving naturally to and fro at her side, wondering if he should be so bold as to take it in his like he wanted to.

She caught him looking at her hand at one point and he tried to avert his gaze too quickly, making it obvious what he'd been doing.

Then she saved him the trouble of embarrassment by reaching out and taking his hand in hers.

He'd never walked hand in hand with someone before. It felt slightly off because his movements were now hampered by her own, but it felt nice too. Her hand was warm and smaller than his which made it feel like it fit just right.

"Do you go running every morning?" she asked him when the castle was once more in their sights.

"Not every morning. Sometimes I roll over after my tempus alarm and can't be bothered."

"If you had a friend wanting to go running with you one of these mornings, would you still roll over and ignore the alarm?"

"You want to go running with me? Have you ever run before? Like, for exercise?"

"No, but I wouldn't mind giving it a try."

"Alright," he agreed. It would be strange having a running partner, but he was open to new things, hopefully good new things. "And is that what I am?" he couldn't help himself asking.

"What?"

"A friend?"

"Yeah, I guess I can call you a friend now," she shrugged nonchalantly.

"D'you snog all your friends?" he teased. The immediate feeling of regret over his words made him wish he hadn't said that. At least it came out in the manner he meant it and not like it was an accusation of sorts.

Ginny grinned up at him and he was momentarily struck by how great she looked when she gave a genuine smile like the one he was seeing on her now.

"Yeah, only the ones on the Quidditch team though and Demelza is the best of them. Jimmy I'd only give a three out of ten, way too much tongue," she joked.

He nodded as though playing along. "Good to know for next time, no tongue. I suppose I should make sure to shave close too, perhaps that was why you preferred her?" His regret went away as fast as it came with this little game of hers.

"I don't know, you're fairly baby faced as it is." Ginny came around to stand in front of him and brought them both to a stop, reaching up to run her hand along his cheek. "Maybe there's a bit of stubble there, but I don't mind."

As far as he was concerned, she could say whatever she wanted so long as she kept touching him. Having her fingers grazing along his skin was sending little electrical shocks straight to the pleasure center of his brain.

"W-where do I rate on your scale then?" he managed.

"I'll tell you in a few minutes," she said quietly and kissed him again.

He could really get used to this. Ginny slid right into his arms, locking her own around his back. There was this tenderness that he couldn't put into words that made his arms feel funny and his head go a bit dizzy as they stood there wrapped up in each other.

Time passed both quickly and slowly so that he had no idea just how long they stood there at the edge of the forest with her lips moving against his own.

Three times they'd kissed now and each time it was a completely different experience.

It was brilliant.

Eventually they did pull apart.

"And so?" he asked quietly. "Where do I fall on your scale?"

She wet her lips before tucking her bottom lip between her teeth and giving a false one shoulder shrug as she pretended to think on it. "Eight and a half?" she guessed. "Little more practice and I bet we can get you up to a ten."

He liked the sound of that.

()()()