The Right Thing

    "Look, Ginny. I'm sorry bu–"

    "But this just isn't working out, right?"    

    I stared, unblinking, into Dean's eyes, as if daring him to disagree. He didn't.

    "Well..erm, yeah. I mean, it's nothing against you Gin. I jus–hey! Where are you going?"

    "Dormitory," I said, without looking back. Jerk. Dinner wasn't even over yet, but my appetite and my relationship were. Staying would be pointless; I had heard enough. I pushed open the doors of the Great Hall and walked back to Gryffindor, mumbling "wolfsbane" at the portrait. The fat lady obliged, knowing better than to question an upset Weasley; we're an awfully volatile bunch. I climbed into the common room, expecting it to be empty, but stopped short at the sight of a lone figure sitting by the fireplace. The soft flickering light danced across Harry's solemn face. I found myself watching him for a moment when he turned his head and saw me.

    "Hey Ginny."

    He managed a small smile, which I could tell took a great deal of strength on his part. Harry rarely smiled these days.

    "Hey yourself."

    I sat down in the chair next to him, noticing something glint in his lap. It looked like a shard of glass.. I was curious but didn't ask. Instead, my eyes wandered to the fire. Maybe if I stayed there long enough my anger with Dean would melt away. I didn't suspect Harry to be much up for talking anyways.

    "So..er, why aren't you down at dinner with everyone else?"

    I glanced back at him, slightly surprised. He seemed so tentative.

    "Well..um, I just didn't want to be around Dean. We kinda, y'know..broke up."

    "Oh..I'm sorry."

    "Yeah, well.." I trailed off, hoping he'd drop the subject.

    "How did it happen?"

    I frowned. The anger I had hidden so carefully was beginning to surface.

    "What's it to you?"

    "I dunno. I guess I–"

    "Oh, I get it. You decide to isolate yourself from everyone, making us all feel so sorry for you, and then turn around and try to bring us down?"

    I told you we were volatile.

    "Ginny, what are you talking about?"

    The complacent tone in his voice was gone.

    "I'm talking about this, Harry! This is the longest conversation you've had with anyone since term started. Why do you suddenly care what happened between Dean and I? Do you get some sort of sick pleasure from feeding off misery besides your own?"

    I was standing up now. Harry stood up too, his eyes flashing.

    "Don't you talk to me about misery! You have absolutely NO idea what I'm going through! You just wouldn't un–"

    "Understand?" I cut in. "No, of course not! Little Ginny Weasley can never understand anything. I'm fifteen! God, Harry. You're just like everyone else; you think everything goes over my head!"

    "I never said that!"

    "But you think that, don't you?"

    He didn't say anything, only shoved those untidy bangs out of his face. I hastily took this silence as a ‘yes'. My blood was boiling with fury and my vision was starting to blur. It was becoming increasingly hard to maintain a steady voice now.

    "Well, y-you're all wrong. I saw Dean snogging Daphne Greengrass a few nights ago..s-so I obviously don't miss everything."

    I could feel hot tears running down my cheeks as I spoke. "You're not the only person in this universe with problems, Harry, so stop acting like it."

    That said, I turned on my heel and fled to my dormitory, not even waiting for his reaction. I collapsed onto my four-poster sobbing in frustration. What the hell was wrong with me? I had just turned a quiet conversation with Harry into a bitter, unnecessary battle. And once again, I had a boyfriend leave me for another girl. Ugh. I hated myself. I didn't leave my dorm for the rest of the evening and when my roommates came up for bed, I pretended to be sound asleep. They apparently believed me; I heard Maura say, "The poor girl". I gripped my sheets tighter. The last thing I wanted from anyone was pity. Eventually the sound of creaking beds reached my ears and the voices stopped. In the lull, I feel asleep.

    Around midnight I awoke to a growling stomach. I tossed in bed for a bit, hoping the hunger would wear off, but it only persisted to the point where I thought my stomach was eating itself. Not pleasant. Slowly, I got up, still fully-clothed, and put my slippers on. They made less noise. I climbed quietly through the portrait hole, leaving the door barely ajar so as not to wake the fat lady. The pain in my stomach was deepening as I snuck toward the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief once inside, but it didn't last long. Harry was sitting there eating a treacle tart while the house elves bustled about. It never occurred to me that he'd be here. The moment he noticed me, he stood up.

    "Thanks," he said to them curtly, "but I've gotta go now."

    "Harry Potter is most welcome!" one voice chirped back. I recognized it as Dobby's. A wooly striped hat was perched crookedly on his head. I grinned, thinking of Hermione and ‘spew'. Harry, however, gave me a huffy look before exiting the kitchen.

    "Harry..I.." I tried fruitlessly, but he was already gone. I turned back to the house elves who stared at me with mild fascination. "Er, could I just have a few pumpkin pastilles..to go?"

    I hurried back down the corridor eating and hoping that Harry wasn't too far away. I needed to talk to him. Shoving the rest of the pumpkin pastille into my mouth in a most unladylike fashion, I practically tumbled into the common room. Harry was standing there, looking as if he were waiting for me, but the second I said his name he headed for the boys' dormitory, his invisibility cloak clutched tightly in one hand.

    "Erg..Harry..please wait."

    I fought to swallow down the rest of my food before speaking again. "I'm sorry."

    Those seemed to be the magic words (no pun intended). He stopped suddenly in his tracks, though he didn't turn around to face me. I picked myself up from the floor, eager to have his ear.

    "Harry, could we please just talk for a bit?"

    He stood still for a moment, as if contemplating my request, then slowly walked over to a chair. I settled into one beside him, taking a deep breath.

    "Look, I'm really sorry for rounding on you like that. I was still really mad with Dean; I needed to vent. I didn't mean to upset you, Harry. You never did anything wrong."

    He cleared his throat anxiously, wringing his hands. "Actually, I did."

    "I know, I know. It was dumb of me to–wait, what?"

    "Ginny, I thought about what you said earlier and you were right."

    "I was?"

    "Yeah," he said, a bleak smile set on his face. "I've been pushing everyone away, acting as if my life were over and the thing is..it isn't.. And I'm not the only person suffering. I have no right to mope around like this all the time."

    "Oh Harry, don't say that. You have every reason to be upset.. You've been through the worst."

    "Maybe, maybe not, but I can't keep doing this, Ginny. I'm losing feeling. I've felt so disconnected ever since the prophecy and.." He carefully pulled the piece of glass out from his robes. "..and Sirius."

    My expression softened. This was the first time he spoke of his godfather in a while. I could only watch as he turned the glass over in his hand.

    "This was from a two-way mirror he gave me to contact him whenever I needed him for something.. I ended up breaking it, like a prat, but..God, I don't think a day goes by I don't look at it and.."

    His green eyes were shining. I reached out to touch his shoulder; he didn't brush me away. A moment later, he inhaled deeply, collecting himself again, and looked at me.    

    "Well, enough about this.. What about you, Ginny? Are you ok now?"

    I paused, then shook my head. Harry was finally opening up again. I had to be honest with him.

    "It's just..well, have you ever found someone you thought you'd be so happy with, only to have them pull a ‘corner' on you?"

    He blinked. "Er..sorry?"

    "Oh, that's the term I use for people who leave you for someone else..y'know, named after Michael.."

    Comprehension dawned on Harry's face. "Oh, right. Yeah, I guess you could say I've been ‘cornered'."

    "Yeah? Well, it feels like I've been ‘cornered' twice now.. I wish they'd just save me the agony and tell me I'm a hideous girlfriend and be done with it."

    "But you're not hideous."

    "Harry, you're Ron's best friend. I'm sure he'd never beat you up if you said one out-of-turn thing about his little sister."

    "But I don't want to.. Ginny, there is nothing wrong with you."

    "You're just saying that."

    "No, I-I..er, I think you're loads smarter than other people think." He grinned. "I've never seen anything go over your head, really. And...well, y-you're pretty too.."

    "Sure.." I folded my arms, trying to sound unconvinced, but at the same time I could feel myself blushing to the roots of my hair. Harry, who had been looking at the floor all this time, finally looked me straight in the eye, causing my stomach to do a somersault.

    "I'll prove it then."

    And what happened next was the last thing I ever expected. Harry leaned in and his lips caught mine in the sweetest kiss imaginable. It wasn't all hungry like Michael's or slobbery like Dean's. It was just..right. After the initial shock wore away I took to enjoying the soft pressure of his mouth. When we pulled apart I thought I would melt into a puddle right there. And a steaming one at that. I was convinced that my face now resembled the color of a lobster in a boiling pot of water. Harry's face appeared flushed too, though probably not to the extent of mine. He smiled sheepishly.

    "Was that enough proof?"

    I nodded dumbly, unable to say anything yet. Harry Potter just kissed me. I was very tempted to pinch myself right then and there to verify this historical moment in Virginia Weasley history. I didn't, of course, because that would look kind of stupid, but that's not to say I didn't consider it.

    "Er..Ginny?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Are you ok?"

    "What? Oh–oh! Yeah, just a bit..well, shocked. I-I mean.." I did myself the favor and shut up at that point. My speech was coming out all jumbled, like someone just put all my thoughts in a box and shook it hard. Apparently Harry could translate ‘jumble' because he simply nodded in return.

    "Yeah, honestly, it was a surprise for me too.. I never thought I'd work up enough nerve to..well, y'know, do this..now."

    I gaped at him, my stupor quickly unraveling. "What do you mean?"

    "Well..y'see, th-the thing is.." Harry was floundering for words. This was great. At least we were both fluent in ‘jumble'. I decided to help the process along by smiling at him encouragingly.

    "It's ok, just say it."

    "Alright," he said with finality. "Ok. The thing is, Ginny, all that time I was..er, distancing myself from everyone..well, I wasn't thinking just about the prophecy and Voldemort.. I was thinking about you and..er, Cho, actually.. I mean, I thought I really liked her, but when we finally got together..it just never worked. It was kinda weird after that because I liked her for a while, y'know?"

    "Yeah.. Um, not to sound vain or anything Harry, but what has any of this got to do with me?"

    "Sorry, I'm getting there," he smiled apologetically. "After things ended up a disaster with Cho, I really didn't think I would bother with girls for a while.. No offense to you. Your lot is just, eh, really confusing sometimes. I wasn't about to consider anyone else with all these other problems going on, but then Ron.."

    I rolled my eyes. "Uh-oh.. This can't be too good, can it?"

    Harry just grinned. "Actually, ever since the train ride back from Hogwarts, he's been hinting you to me.. I think it's because of what happened with that Corner guy.. He didn't want you to get hurt, so I guess he thought I would be a worthy choice for you...and plus..er, he said you'd liked me for years."

    Harry's face was turning crimson again. So was mine. I sighed.

    "Yeah, he was right, sort of. I liked you until the end of my third year.. I gave up because, I mean, I just didn't think anything was possible. Then fourth year came and I was really happy with Michael, but that flopped.. Then there was Dean. My crush on you really was over."

    "Don't you mean ‘is'?" He asked this with a hint of anxiety.

    "...no, I mean ‘was'. But we're getting off-topic. Continue."

    "Fine," he said, now smiling a bit wider, or was that my imagination? "Well, I thought about what your brother said. I felt like kind of a git, really. It took me this long to notice you. Pretty thick. I never took much time to think about you as someone besides Ron's little sister, but when I finally did I realized..well, that you're the kind of girl I could really..get used to.. From there on, I guess you could say I've liked you."

    He was fiddling with the sleeve of his robe for what had to be the hundredth time. Just like Hermione's chronic hair twisting around Ron. Obviousness usually annoys me, but for Harry it was working.

    "I can tell I just tapped a whole lot of nervousness out of you..so if this is any compensation..well, I really like you too, Harry."

    "Really? Er..what about Dean?"

    "What about him?" I asked back with a grin. "I'm not the rebound type of girl, but I think it's all good and fair enough. He's got Daphne to comfort him.. The important thing is that I truly like you. It's not just one of those little crushes, Harry. When I dated those other two, I thought I was happy, but I'm finding that time spent with them doesn't even parallel with you.. It's all leading back to you. Harry, I have never felt something so real until tonight."

    At that very moment, I knew this was the right thing because he didn't even get nervous at those words. No, he just leaned in and hugged me tight. It felt wonderful being wrapped in his warm arms. I couldn't help but smile to myself. Who needs blankets when you've got Harry Potter?

    "Ginny.." he whispered in my ear.

    "Hm?"

    "Y-you do know this year will probably be a tough one? I mean, I might have loads of things to deal with.. Are you going to be ok with that?"

    I snuggled closer to his chest, giving him a gentle squeeze. "Of course.. I know it will be hard, but I don't care. I just want to be here for you."

    We pulled back and those beautiful green eyes looked right at me again. My stomach did flips. I had a feeling that would never change, but then again, I didn't want it to.

    "Thank you, Ginny. I promise to always be there for you too, no matter what."

    "I know you will," I said, trying to keep the corners of my mouth from twitching. Harry sensed this hint in my expression and raised a suspicious eyebrow.

    "What?"

    "Well..eh, I was just thinking.. Regarding your question to me earlier, I've changed my mind. I don't think you gave me enough ‘proof'."

    He didn't disagree.

A/N: Now really, who could disagree that these two aren't adorable together?? Please review me if you liked (or not, either way is fine with me!). Gracias. Love, sn0bunny