Decisions

Ginny was lounging in her room, sprawled across her light blue bed. As usual during the summer she was thinking. But this summer, her thoughts weren't as carefree as before.

Ginny couldn't think of almost anything except those last few weeks of school. You-Know-Who's return, Cedric's death, it enthralled her, kept her thinking about it. She wanted to come up with some way to defeat him, but doubted she could do much herself. Her confidence lay on Harry. She wanted to do something to help, though. After all, You-Know-Who had put her through quite a difficult time her first year. If for nothing else, she wanted to get revenge for that.

Ginny caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye and jerked her head up. Harry's snowy owl was flying towards her, aiming for her open window. Hedwig landed on the windowsill, leg thrust out. Ginny untied the letter, and Hedwig perched on the windowsill, waiting.

Briefly pondering why Harry would be writing her, Ginny flipped open the envelope. She pulled out his letter and sat on her bed to read it. She soon became glad she was sitting.

Dear Ginny,

I'm writing you for advice, something I've never done before. However, I've heard you're pretty good at it. See I've got this problem here with Cho.

Cho? What was that all about? Harry wasn't dating her or anything, was he? She shuddered at the thought. Cho, that flirtatious slut who had gone out with every guy in her year and most older. Cho, who had most certainly done it many times before. Ginny didn't put much stock in rumours, but these ones always seemed to make sense. Once last year, she could've sworn she saw Cho snogging Marcus Flint, of all people, in the hallway. She had even been going out when Cedric at the time.

Ginny dragged her thoughts away and continued reading the letter. If Harry needed help, she should put her personal feeling aside for a bit.

She wants me to see her sometime over the summer. I don't know how romantic this invitation is, but I'm scared. I know she's a nice girl, but I just can't see myself with her.

Cho? A nice girl? Maybe Harry saw something she didn't. Maybe the rumours weren't true after all. And what was all this about not seeing himself with her? Harry had a huge crush on Cho last year. Anyone with eyes could see that. It always pained Ginny a bit. She still had her old crush on Harry, although she wasn't being as obvious about it anymore. She had figured the best way to deal with it was to become friends with Harry.

Sometimes I feel like I like her that way, but I still want to refuse. I don't want my first relationship to only be based on looks.

He didn't want a relationship only based on looks. Ginny was quite impressed. Harry was a lot deeper then she ever gave him credit for. He was certainly far beyond most of his friends. Ginny looked for more, but all that was left of the letter was the closing.

Thanks a million,

Harry

Well. This was certainly a problem. Ginny would be willing to just throw this all in Cho's face, but no, she had to calm down, try to think rationally. Harry seemed to think there was more to Cho than she had realized. He could be right. She was in Ravenclaw after all. Ginny usually thought of Ravenclaws as deeper, not quite as superficial as the average girl. There could be exceptions, but a girl like Cho, according to the rumours, probably wouldn't end up there. Even more of a reason for the rumours to not be true.

Ginny sat and thought deeply. If a boy she liked was going to refuse her, how would she want him to do it? Well, she wouldn't want him to, of course. But that didn't help much. Maybe it would be easier for her to think of what she wouldn't want him to do.

She wouldn't want him to just ignore her. And lame excuses wouldn't work well either. Maybe the truth would just be the best thing.

She stood up. Maybe that's all Harry would have to do. Write back to Cho and explain how he felt. He wouldn't like that answer; who would? But that was the best option she could think of.

Ginny was about to pull out a sheet of paper to write her reply when a knock came at the door. She rushed to put away the letter, in case it was Ron at the door. She figured that Harry wouldn't appreciate Ron seeing the note.

"Come in," she called. The door was pushed open and it was indeed Ron waiting on the other side.

"Hey Gin, mom wants you to come downstairs and help with dinner. She's not feeling well right now."

"All right, I'm going." She realized too late that Hedwig was still perched on the windowsill, waiting for her reply. She tried to quickly leave the room and hope Ron wouldn't notice, but to her dismay, Ron called her back in.

"Gin? Why is Hedwig here? Is Harry sending you letters? Are they love letters?" Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother's immaturity and tried to quickly think of a good excuse.

"He was just asking me about something, that's all." She couldn't think of a proper excuse, and settled for a dim version of the truth.

"What's he asking you about? Is he having girl problems?" Damn it, how did he figure that out so quickly? "And is there anything he wants you to tell me?" he added jealously. Ginny rolled her eyes again. Why did he have to be so insecure? Thinking back to the issue at hand, she did some quick thinking to cover it up.

"No, he was asking me about some art." It was stupid, but it had to do. "He's taking a course over the summer about Muggle Art, and since he knew that I liked art, he was asking me for help on a homework assignment."

"Oh, okay. Go help with dinner now, I'm starving." She nodded slowly, and walking downstairs. It had been a close call. But what would happen if Ron asked Harry about this supposed 'Art Course'? She should probably mention it in her reply, just in case.

A few hours later, after dinner, Ginny finally had time to write her reply. She sat down and began choosing her words carefully. She had to convince Harry that this was his best option.

Dear Harry,

In cases like these, I think that honesty is the best policy.

No. Way too formal. She might be hiding any feelings, but she should at least write like she knew him, not like some stupid advice columnist. She relaxed and began over again.

Dear Harry,

I think the best thing you could do is to tell the truth. You can't avoid her completely, and I don't think she'd like stupid excuses. The only decent thing to do is to explain everything that you told me. If she's as nice of a girl as you think she is, she'll probably understand. Write me back if you have any more questions.

Yours truly,

Ginny

P.S. If Ron mentions a Muggle Art course you're taking just go along with the story. He saw your owl and I had to explain why you were writing.

There. A nice friendly letter. Straight and to the point, but still a bit personal. The only thing she had a problem with was fighting the impulse to sign the letter Love instead of Yours truly. She folded it, and slid it into an envelope. After she handed the completed letter to Hedwig, she leaned against the windowsill, watching her fly away under the moon.

She sighed deeply. Why couldn't that have been a love letter, even a regular conversation? Was she just his advice columnist, nothing else? Couldn't he see something else under the practical attitude and Weasley hair?

After one last forlorn glance out the window, Ginny sighed again and limbed into her bed, hoping to rid her mind of the problem for at least one night. After fitful thoughts and fantasies, a troubled slumber finally fell upon her.