Queen of Deception

It was after winning a Quidditch match, in a room full of on-ooking, expectant housemates, and that her childhood crush had finally built up the nerve to kiss her. And of all the dreams she had had of this moment, none of them could have prepared her for the emotional state she felt herself hanging in.

Whenever Ginevra Weasley had imagined Harry Potter kissing her in the past six years, ever since the first time she saw him step onto the Hogwarts Express, she'd always expected to be blown away by this moment, the way it happened in the romance novels she picked up from time to time.

What she had not expected was to feel cornered.

There were multiple reasons for this sway of emotion, one of them in particular being her ex-boyfriend Dean watching in - was that anger? Then there was Ron, who was acting just the way she had imagined at seeing her with a male specimen, even though it was his best friend. He was practically foaming with rage. But neither of these were her main concern. The person, or more accurately, the thing who made her feel caged was the Boy Who Lived himself, who's very same lips were smudged sickening across hers. Once the initial shock of having something wet pressing against her face, in his obvious attempt at a kiss, wore off, Ginny quickly considered slapping the prat, but decided against it.

She calculated the options in her head: if she was to reject his poor attempt (it was more like a drool, really), Dean would definitely take it as welcome back, not to mention Harry's reaction, and Hermione and Ron's inquiries. On the other hand, if she was to let him drool all over her, she would have a human shield against Dean (and others that had eyed her hungrily ever since their break-up). Oh yes, and an amazingly elegant revenge on a certain Slytherin. All this reasoning swept through her head as The Boy Wonder clamped his lips on hers, but it was the last thought that she hung on to. Ginny knew that her revenge would be sweet, and the feeling of showing him what he has missed and making him jealous made her eyes glitter with happiness that The Boy Who Was Too Angsty To Die misunderstood as permission to deepen the kiss by drooling all over her chin. Then it finally stopped and Ginny was able to breathe again. She tried to wipe his spittle off without it looking odd as he turned his gaze away.

Her eyes followed Potter's in an attempt to see whom she should thank for distracting him, and found him looking lovingly into her brother's eyes as if he was asking for permission. 'So much for his bravery,' she snickered to herself. The Boy Wonder then motioned silently towards the Pink Lady.

"Sure, why not." Ginny followed him outside of the castle. He sat down under a big oak near the lake, gesturing for her to join him. Ginny sat down a few feet away, frantically hoping this would not end up in another drool session. Well, he couldn't get to her if they were talking. Time for a conversation starter.

"So how..."

"Did you..." Harry said at the same moment. He grinned at her. "You go first."

"Alright." Ginny definitely did not feel like getting into a polite 'no, you go first' match with Harry. She has had enough of those with Dean, Michael and whoever else she dated. "So how was your detention?"

"Just peachy. You know Snape," Harry said sarcastically. 'Unlike you, I do know Snape,' Ginny thought. But she was not about to tell that to The Boy Who Lived.

"Yeah, I can imagine." She rolled her eyes. "Did he make you clean up frog guts or something equally disgusting?" she asked, hoping that she sounded concerned, which she was not in the slightest. The ship on which she had hung onto Harry's every word and action had long sailed, and he simply was too late. Way too late.

"Don't worry, I washed my hands," he murmured, eyeing her seductively.

"Right." Ginny totally did not like the idea of him pawing her. This was not good. "Um... Harry?"

"Yes?" He pulled her closer to an embrace. She stiffened.

"Well, you know how I only recently broke up with Dean?" Ginny widened her eyes and trailed off in attempt to sound sad and unconfident. His eyes darkened in return and took on a dangerous look. Harry hugged her more closely. Just how clueless was he?

"Yeah..."

"I don't know how to put this..." Ginny seemed to hesitate, following her dramatic instincts. "I'm not, uh, ready for a... a physical relationship." She looked down on her hands pitifully, watching for his reaction from under her eyelashes. She waited a couple more seconds for effect, then looked up. Harry was absolutely stunned.

"Right," he muttered, removing his hands and hiding them in his pockets shamefully.

"Um, I'm sorry?" she offered weakly, knowing too well that Saint Potter would not be trying anything now.

"It's alright, Gin." He grinned at her, although it did not quite reach his eyes. "But... what did Thomas do to you?" he continued quizzically. She had to fight hard not to laugh.

"Don't worry, Harry." Ginny stifled a giggle that almost escaped her. As if Dean, or anyone else for that matter, could touch her without having an overly protective blond]on their throats, threatening to use Unforgivables within the hour! "We didn't do anything... naughty. I'm just not ready to express myself physically," Ginny finished.

"Oh... I see. I'll wait then," Harry said, and then abruptly changed the topic. "So how was the game?"

"We kicked their arse. 190-30."

"Aw... Come on, Gin. Gimme details," he drawled.

"Sure." She started getting into a long explanation of the game in which the Gryffindor Chasers had scored four goals before she and Draco Malfoy had raced furiously, broom to broom, after the Golden Snitch. They went over every little detail, and Ginny was just re-describing how she had caught it when Ron came out of the castle looking for them. Apparently the party was shit without them. In an effort to save it, the heroes returned to the common room.