An Unexpected Juncture

Everyone in the castle slept in late the day after the ball. It was a lazy day about the castle. Not many people felt like doing much despite the fact that exams were only a few weeks away. Ginny didn't get up until almost noon. She went down to the common room and plopped down on the couch opposite her brother, who was looking just as ragged as she did.

"You look like hell, Gin," he said to her when she sat down.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically and glared at him. "So do you."

"Sure you didn't have any of that spiked punch last night?"

"I didn't drink any punch, just butterbeer."

"You're lucky," he groaned rubbing his head.

Ginny gave him a smile. "Why Ronald, do you have a hangover?" He glared at her. She smiled wider. "You do, don't you. The prefect has a hangover." She laughed loudly. He winced.

"Shut up, Ginny. You're making my head pound."

She giggled. "Sorry. So where's Hermione?"

"I'm not sure. She might still be sleeping, actually. We didn't get back until really late. Least, I think we did."

"Then why are you up?"

He grimaced. "Dean and Seamus talking and moving around. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. Neville was already up when I came down here."

"What about Harry?"

"As far as I know he's still sleeping. I don't know how though. I think he was still awake when I came up. I don't remember much. But his curtains were closed this morning, so I don't know."

"Urgh," it was Hermione. She was holding her head and squinting against the light as she sat on the other side of Ron. "I feel horrible." Ginny giggled.

"You two are the last people on earth I would expect to get drunk."

"Drunk?" said Hermione alarmed, eyes wide open.

"The punch was spiked," said Ron plainly.

"What!" Ron winced. "Oh, no. What am I going to do? I'm a prefect! We're supposed to set an example. Oh-"

"Hermione calm down, I'm in the same boat," he said grabbing her hands which were flitting around nervously. "Don't worry about it. We didn't do it on purpose. Calm down." She was breathing heavily. "Take a deep breath. That's it."

The whole time Ginny was fighting laughter. Harry came and sat next to her, still dressed for bed, but looking much less tired than the other three. "What's so funny?" he asked Ginny quietly.

She caught her breath and said, "They both got drunk last night from the punch and Hermione's freaking out."

Harry chuckled. "Oh, boy. Hey, wanna head down to the kitchen's for some food? I know we missed breakfast."

"Sure, let me go get dressed." She jumped off the couch and went upstairs to change. Five minutes later she met Harry by the portrait hole. Hermione and Ron were still sitting on the couch, secluded from everyone else, still talking. They hadn't even noticed Harry come down the first time, let alone the second time. Just like they didn't notice Harry and Ginny leave the common room.

"Think we should get some food for them too?" Ginny asked.

"I was going to anyway. And something for their headaches." Ginny giggled.

"Those two are the last people I'd expect to see like that, especially Hermione."

"Tell me about it," Harry said as they rounded a corner. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "You okay about the Stephen/Cho thing and all?"

Ginny shrugged. "I'm still kind of sad about it, and a little jealous, and confused," she added. "But I know I'll get over it. Hopefully we can stay friends."

"That's good. It was a bit cruel of him to do that to you, though."

"I know, but I don't really blame him. I blame Cho. Sometimes I think she may have slipped a love potion into his pumpkin juice at dinner," she joked. Harry laughed.

"Well, that's something else we have in common then: a distaste for Cho." They both laughed at that. They had reached the portrait of the fruit bowl by now. Harry reached up and tickled the pear. They stepped inside and were greeted by the house elves. Dobby was quick in getting them some food and they were on their way back up to Gryffindor Tower within ten minutes.

Ginny munched on some toast out of the basket Dobby had given them as they walked back. She was thinking about the previous night. Stephen hadn't abandoned her. He was quite a good date actually, very attentive to her. But not always there. She was grateful to him for not making her night miserable like he could have done. She also knew it would have been better had he not been dating Cho. But there was really nothing she could do about it. Maybe after they broke it off, he'd give Ginny a chance. It was all she could hope for, really. She vowed to herself then that she wouldn't dwell on it. She would put thoughts of Stephen that weren't of him being just a friend in the back of her mind.

She'd been so occupied with her thoughts that she hadn't realized they had reached Gryffindor Tower until Harry said the password. They entered the common room and found Ron and Hermione still sitting on the couch, though now dressed and looking much more awake.

"We brought you some food," Harry said as they sat down across from them.

"Oh, thank you, Harry," said Hermione. "I only just realized we missed breakfast." She reached in the basket and took out some bacon and toast, still warm from the charm Harry put on them. Ron stuffed his face with everything, at least being decent enough to wait until everyone to take their share before eating the rest.

"Geez, slow down, Ron. You'll choke," Ginny said looking at him and rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," he said with his mouth full. This caused Hermione to roll her eyes. "I'm just really hungry," he added when he had swallowed.

"Yeah, we can see that," Ginny said. Ron only shrugged and ate some more toast.

"So what time did you two get back last night?" Hermione asked taking a sip of orange juice.

"Maybe around eleven thirty? Right Gin?" Harry said unsure.

"That sounds right," she nodded.

"Wait, you two came back together?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, why?" Ginny asked confused.

"I don't know, I just figured you'd be back at different times, having different dates and all," Ron shrugged.

"Well, I nicely left my date after about the tenth stare in the direction of Cho and went to find Harry and Luna for company," Ginny said.

"And Luna left shortly after because she was tired," Harry added. "So Ginny and I hung out until we were tired. Which was sometime after eleven."

"Oh," Hermione said lamely. "Did you two have fun, though?" They both nodded.

"What about you two?" Ginny asked, surprised when they both blushed and paid rather close attention to the food in front of them than before.

"Yeah," Ron said shrugging his shoulders as if that would cover up his furious blush.

"Ron, you're blushing," Ginny stated plainly, which only made him turn redder. "I thought you couldn't remember much from last night," she smirked at him.

"I, I remember a little," he said quietly. Hermione cleared her throat.

"Oh? And what was that little bit you can remember?" Ginny asked teasingly.

"Just the normal stuff. Dancing, talking. You know." He was still looking at his food and looking rather uncomfortable. Hermione, Ginny noticed, looked the same. She shot a sideways smirk at Harry who smirked back.

"If I remember correctly, you two left me and Luna rather early in the evening. Care to tell me what for?" Harry asked in mock inquisitiveness.

"Um, I'm not that hungry anymore," Ron said quickly, standing up and wiping his hands on his trousers. "I think I'll head up to the dormitory to study a bit." He left and went up the stairs.

Harry turned to Hermione and raised his eyebrows. She was looking flustered as well. "I, um, have a book I want to finish. I'll be up in my room," she said a little nervously. And she too got up and went up the stairs.

"Think she knows she went up the boys' stairs?" Ginny asked with a smirk.

"I think she does, but we'll have to wait and see if she comes back down to find out," he said back.

"Think she'll come back down?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Doubt it, actually." Ginny laughed and rested her feet on the table in front of her.

"Oh, those two," she said shaking her head.

Harry copied her and reclined on the couch closing his eyes.

"What's on you're mind, Harry?"

"Just the ball last night."

"Oh? Care to explain what, exactly, about the ball?"

"Just that I didn't get to go with the girl I really wanted to go with. Not that I didn't have fun with Luna, though. I did share a few dances with the girl I wanted to go with. That was nice."

Ginny smirked again. "So, who is this girl you keep talking about?"

Harry opened one eye and looked at her. "Can't tell you," he said and closed his eye again.

"Oh, come on, Harry," she pleaded. "I want to know. Just tell me."

"No, you'll laugh at me."

"No I won't," she promised. Harry shook his head resolutely. "Fine, I'll guess," she said stubbornly.

"Lavender."

"Not if I had a choice between her and eating flobberworms."

"Amanda? No she never got a date, you could have gone with her. Hm. Leslie?"

"Nope. I don't know who she is. You're never gonna guess it, Gin."

"Oh, so it's someone I wouldn't expect, then. Pansy Parkinson.

"Not a chance in Hell."

"Millicent Bullstrode."

"Okay, now you're just getting ridiculous," he said opening his eyes and looking at her.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Just stop. You're not going to guess her, trust me."

"Oh, fine. But I'm not giving up," she said folding her arms and settling back on the couch. "I will find out who you like."

"No you won't. The only way you will is if I tell you. Ron doesn't even know. He'd hex me to pieces if he knew."

"So it's someone he wouldn't want you to like," she said contemplatively. "Hermione?" she asked her face screwed up in confusion.

"No, she's like my sister," he said exasperatedly. "Now will you stop? I'm not going to tell you."

"You don't have to tell me who she is, just if I'm right when I guess. So she's someone Ron knows and won't approve of. So I must know her too. Its not Parvati, she's too much like Lavender. Katie? No, too much like-" She was interrupted by something on her mouth. Something she noticed was Harry's mouth. She would have gasped in surprise, but her mouth was obviously otherwise occupied. So she widened her eyes instead. She was too stunned to even push him away; in fact, she didn't even remember that she could until he had pulled away himself.

She was too surprised to even speak so she stared at Harry with surprised eyes, breathing heavily.

"Shut up," he said quietly, looking into her eyes, and got up and walked away. He made to go up to his room before he remembered that Hermione was still up there. He made an about turn and headed for the portrait hole instead and left the common room.

Wow, Ginny thought touching her lips softly with her fingers, still staring at the place Harry was just sitting. So he liked her. That's why Ron didn't know. But did he really like her, or was that just the only way she could think of to shut her up? She quickly shoved the remainder of the uneaten food into the basket and took it up to her room for Dobby to get later. She quickly ran back down and out the portrait hole to go find Harry. She had to know.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny searched every floor of the castle, every room on every floor of the castle, and she still hadn't found Harry. He wasn't in the Library, he wasn't in the kitchens, or any of the classrooms. She even peeked inside the staff room. She didn't find him in the Great Hall or the dungeons, though she didn't know why he would want to go down there. She did a quick search of the grounds, quick because it was raining, and she couldn't see him flying over the Quidditch pitch or by the lake. No lights were on at Hagrid's, so she ruled that out. She had searched everywhere for him and hadn't found him. Of course there was always the possibility that he snuck into Hogsmeade, but he didn't have his Invisibility Cloak with him, so he would surely have been caught.

Ginny was about to give up and go back to the common room when she remembered there was one room she hadn't looked in. She rushed inside and out of the rain and ran the whole way up to the Room of Requirement. She paced back and forth three times thinking of finding Harry in there and the door appeared. Ginny took a deep breath and slowly opened it. She stuck her head in first to see if he was there, and, sure enough, he was there, sitting by a warm, crackling fire, on a large, overstuffed couch. A scene reminiscent of the Gryffindor common room. He was staring into the fire as though expecting it to give him answers to some particularly difficult questions. He hadn't noticed the door open.

Ginny slowly came the rest of the way in and closed the door behind her. He heard the door close, though, and turned around. When he saw her she saw his Adam's Apple dip up and down as he swallowed.

"H-h-hi," he stammered nervously.

She gave him a warm smile, returned the greeting and walked over to sit next to him on the couch. The whole time he stared at her in disbelief, almost warily, like she was some strange creature he wasn't sure was going to attack him or not. She noticed him swallow again as she took her seat. She faced him and sat in silence for a few minutes.

Then, she looked down at the hands in her lap, as she asked, "Harry, why did you kiss me?" in a small, quiet, almost shy voice. She looked back up at him for the answer.

"I-uh. Well, er, see, I uh," he said stammered again. It was his turn to look away. But Ginny wouldn't have it.

"Harry, look at me," she said firmly leaning toward his face. He looked up. "Just tell me. Do you like me?" she asked looking him in the eye. Slowly, he nodded, eyes not leaving her face. She smiled at him again and scooted closer to him. She pulled his right arm around her shoulders and snuggled into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. She felt him tense at this , so she said, "Relax, I'm not mad at you." She felt him relax slightly, but not completely. He still hadn't said anything, so she sat back up and looked him in the face.

"How long?" she asked plainly. He seemed a little surprised but answered anyway.

"S-since around August," he said, voice a bit higher than normal with nervousness.

Ginny sat up all the way now and faced him again, which only seemed to make Harry more nervous. "Listen to me. I gave up on you a long time ago-" he looked crestfallen "-but," she added to calm him, "that doesn't mean I'm going to just blow this off like I don't care." He looked slightly more hopeful now. "To tell you the truth," she said getting a little nervous herself, "I've always kind of hoped you'd feel this way about me." She gave him a small smile. He smiled back at her.

"It just took me a bit longer than you hoped, huh?" he asked grinning. She nodded. He pulled her into his arms this time and together they watched the fire burn down.

"Harry?" Ginny asked when the fire got low.

"Hmm?" he answered lazily.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"You were into Stephen. I was scared. There's a million reasons."

"What about Ron? Why not him?"

"I was afraid of what he'd say. More afraid of what he'd do. Especially after how he acted toward Dean, and Dean's a friend."

"But he's not a best friend. He trusts you."

"I know, but there's always the possibility." He shrugged.

"I'm glad you did that," she said quietly, readjusting herself so she was more comfortable and closing her eyes.

"Me to," he murmured as he caressed her arm. Ginny felt so comfortable like this, with Harry, by the fire, even though it was May.

"Will you do it again?" she asked as she lifted her head to look at him. His eyes were closed and he looked utterly content.

"Do what?" he asked back, eyes still closed.

"Kiss me," she said shyly.

He opened his eyes at that and searched her face to see if she was joking. He sat up straighter and nodded. Slowly, very slowly, they leaned in, faces getting closer and eyes drooping with every inch. The kiss was softer than the last one. It wasn't used as a way to shut someone up this time. It was gentle, slow. Ginny kissed back harder after a few moments and Harry responded by placing a hand at side of her face and bringing her body closer to him. She felt his tongue on her lips and she opened her mouth to him. It was like no kiss she had ever had before. This was with someone who truly cared about her. It made her stomach lurch in a pleasant way and sent tingles up and down her spine. The kiss intensified and they only broke apart when they felt short of breath.

They looked at each other, both dazed. Ginny smiled and blushed, something she hadn't done around Harry in almost two years. "You're so beautiful when you do that," he whispered which only made her blush harder and become extra-aware that his hand was still on her face, the other around her waist, and hers were resting on his lap.

"We should get back to the common room," he said moving slowly away from her. "It's been hours since anyone has seen us. They'll begin to worry."

She nodded silently and allowed him to pull her to her feet. He led the way out and down the hall. She walked by his side, knowing that she hadn't felt this shy around him for quite a while and not completely understanding why she felt so now. She mustered up her Gryffindor courage and entwined her hand in his. He looked at her in surprise, then smiled and squeezed her hand. This is how everyone in the common room saw them as they walked through the portrait hole. Smiling, happy, and holding hands.