"Tell me something I don't already know about you." Harry requested and then took a sip of his butter beer. To her, he seemed calm, more relaxed than he had in months. He was smiling, for one thing.

"I love potions. I mean, Snape's a twat, but I'm good at it. It just makes sense to me. More than any other subject. Except flying, I guess, but that's not really a subject, is it?" Ginny replied and cringed inwardly. She was beginning to ramble. She was still a little nervous about this whole thing. But Harry just smiled wider with a sweet curl of his lips.

She still couldn't believe this was really happening. Harry had asked her out on a date! He had sneaked them out of the castle and into the Hog's Head pub, where he swore the barkeep wouldn't turn them in. That they'd be the least dodgy of his customers that night, for sure.

They had been talking like this for hours, and she was enjoying herself more and more with every passing moment.

She had learned more about him in the last little while than she'd learned in the last four years. His favourite desert was treacle tart. His Muggle relatives were horrid, though she'd suspected that for years, ever since Fred had told her about the bars on his window and the cat flap in his door. He had based his teaching style on Professor Lupin. He had an angry scar on his forearm from where Peter Pettigrew had sliced him open on that terrible night that Tom had been reborn.

"I hate potions. I can't concentrate in his lessons. I can brew well enough, I suppose, but I never learn anything in the actual classroom. And Neville has it worse than I do. Hard to learn when your teacher hates and bullies you." Harry admitted sadly.

"Like I said, he's a twat. He must have dirt on Dumbledore or the board of governors, that's the only possible explanation for why he's allowed to teach here." Ginny commiserated with him.

Then she felt the strangest thing. Harry's foot had brushed the side of her calf under the table as he adjusted his seating position. She felt heat in her ears and hoped she wasn't blushing crimson again. Then she noticed that he was blushing. Had it been deliberate? She decided to press her luck and reciprocated the gesture. Harry blushed even deeper, but his smile widened. "Smooth, Potter. Did you try that with Cho?"

It was then that it occurred to her that he was probably as nervous, if not more so, than she was. She was more experienced in the dating arena than he was, after all. Harry snorted into his butter beer at her question.

"Please, don't ask me about her. It's too embarrassing." Harry replied awkwardly. "But no. I didn't try anything with her. Our first and only official date was a tragedy from the off."

"Did you really take her to Madam Puddifoot's? Michael took me there once. And only once. It was horrific." Ginny laughed in reply, and the awkwardness dissipated as quickly as it had descended.

"I did." Harry replied through gritted teeth as he cringed. "I thought it would be romantic. Y'know, that we'd have a good time there. If that place is what romance means, then count me out."

Ginny snorted and decided to push her luck even further. She let her hand fall on top of Harry's relaxed hand across the tabletop. She expected him to withdraw, she didn't know how he was with physical touch yet. He surprised her by turning his hand over and gripping hers back.

"We should really get back to the castle, Gin." Harry said after a few moments. She was disappointed until she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was well past curfew, pushing eleven o'clock at night. She nodded in agreement, and they made their way out of the pub, saying goodbye to the oddly familiar barkeep. Their hands were still clasped between them as they walked to the Shrieking Shack. She'd had no idea about the secret passageway beneath it, and listened in rapt attention as Harry explained the true history of the building and why the tunnel beneath it had been built.

Near the exit into Hogwarts, Harry stopped beside her, and she fell in with him. He pulled a silvery-grey cloak out of his hoodies front pocket. Ginny couldn't believe it, he was sharing the secret of the invisibility cloak with her. She'd known about it since before she even went to Hogwarts for her disastrous first year, had wheedled the information out of Ron. But to see it and use it for herself was another matter entirely.

Ginny couldn't keep the blush off her face as Harry's body pressed into her side as they sneaked through the corridors and halls of the castle. It was slow-going, as they had to make a detour to avoid crossing paths with Filch and a few wandering ghosts. At some point, Harry's arm had draped over her shoulder, and she felt butterflies in her stomach.

Finally, all too soon for her liking, Harry pulled the cloak from over their heads and gave the password to the Fat Lady. The portrait tutted at being awoken at such a late hour but swung open eventually. The common room was deserted, the fire had died down, and it was rather dark, it was now well past twelve, but Ginny didn't feel tired. She was nervous again, the question of whether he would kiss her buzzing around her head. She felt like she was walking on air. It had been such a great night.

"I had a wonderful time tonight, Gin." Harry said as they paused at the staircase. Ginny smiled her agreement. "I'd love to do it again sometime. Sometime soon. Often."

Ginny nodded her head before remembering she could speak.

"I'd like that too, Harry." She eventually replied and smiled again. She could just make out his eyes in the moonlight through the window. His eyes were locked on her lips. Enough waiting. She stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his. They were so soft, and he tasted so good. He tasted like the outdoors on a fresh spring day. The kiss started deepening, but she rested back on the soles of her feet.

"Goodnight, Harry."