A Little Push

The day after Dean's Karaoke Confession of Love, the school was ringing with talk of brand-new couples. It was an epidemic traveling through each and every student one at a time... or rather, two at a time. After Dean had finished his song, the girl he was serenading (some seventh year named Clarissa) had fallen for him automatically. Like magic... only not.

This had given a few other boys courage and, in the end, it had turned into a Karaoke Night like no one had ever seen at Hogwarts. This had amused Ginny and Harry to no end and the two of them had spent most of the night laughing so hysterically that they'd had to hold each other up. Several people spotted them and mistook their actions as romantic and so, sure enough, one of the most entertaining rumors around the school in the morning was the supposed relationship between Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.

"Did you hear about Harry and Ginny? Lavender's friend's sister told me they were making out in a corner last night. I can't wait to see what Ron does."

Ron glared and turned to a startled Neville. "I think Ron's already heard," he stage-whispered back. "And I think he would appreciate it if Neville brushed his teeth before whispering rumors about him in his ear."

Neville looked more than a little sheepish. "Sorry. I thought you were..."

"Some other tall bloke with shockingly auburn hair and freckles?" interrupted Ron in a growl.

Neville squeaked a "Yup," as he scuffled away.

Ron sighed heavily as he entered the great hall and plopped down in a seat next to a very distracted-looking Hermione. "Did you hear?"

She only nodded and picked at her food. "Yes."

Ron looked over at her hopelessly. "You think they really...?"

"Is it any of our business?" she interrupted with a sharp reprimanding glance.

Ron just put his head down onto the table and banged it a few times. "No."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "I would've thought you would... you know... Grr." She made her hands into the shape of claws and bared her teeth to emphasize the point. This caused Ron to simply raise an eyebrow.

"What happened to your extensive vocabulary?"

She dropped the creepy face and put her chin in her hand, picking at her food again. "Had a long night last night."

Suddenly, Ron went into concerned mode, giving Hermione a little bit of a shock. "What happened?"

She hesitated for a moment before deciding to just come out with it. She hated keeping secrets from him. It just made it all the more horrible when he found out anyway. "I went back to the library because I couldn't take the singing anymore. While I was in there, I got a letter from Viktor."

Ron's face turned red in an instant and he'd just opened his mouth to say something profoundly menacing when Harry and Ginny both bounded over together looking far too cheerful for so early in the morning.

"What's up?" asked Harry, sitting down a little slowly as he noticed the expressions on both Ron's and Hermione's faces.

Amazingly, the now red-faced redhead was able to switch gears faster than any of them could say gobbledygook and rounded on the two of them. "Are you two an item?"

Harry and Ginny both blinked stupidly.

"Huh?"

Ron gave them a look that clearly stated he didn't have time for playing dumb and pointed at the two of them. "You were seen last night."

"Doing what?" asked Ginny, somehow managing to tilt her head even further towards her own shoulder as Hermione looked at the two of them, trying to see through their skulls to the secrets within... Or maybe she was just concentrating hard to find just the right way to describe what they'd been seen doing. Finally, she came up with something she thought was suitable.

"Canoodling."

Ginny snorted and grabbed Harry's arm to steady herself as he hurried to balance them both. "Who said this?" he asked, grinning at Ginny's giddy amusement.

"Everyone," said Ron and Hermione together, looking tense. It was one thing for Harry and Ginny to be together. It was another thing entirely for them not to be the first ones to hear about it.

Finally, Ginny gained enough control over herself to stand up straight. "Will you excuse us for a moment?" she asked, still suppressing giggles. She and Harry went a few paces away and seemed to be discussing something animatedly. Ron and Hermione exchanged confused looks as they waited for their return and after a few moments, Harry and Ginny came back, both staring down at their two friends and nodding solemnly.

"Yes," was all Harry said before managing to walk away completely emotionless, which created the desired effect of driving his two best friends completely mad. Ginny then gave them a short grin before skipping after him and Ron and Hermione were left to stare open-mouthed at each other.

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When the newly-formed happy couple got out of the great hall, they dropped the carefree attitudes and looked worriedly at each other. Both were thinking roughly along the same lines.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Harry said, glancing back at the double doors.

Ginny thought hard for a moment. "Well... it's not like it ruins any plans."

Harry shook his head quickly, making his messy hair fall into his eyes until he ran a hand through it; the small action making Ginny feel a little lighter inside. "Yes, it does. Weren't you going to have your 'girl talk' with Hermione today?"

"Oh, yeah," she breathed, slouching a bit. "But this is better, right? Now basically everyone they know is in a relationship. It's a very subtle-but-not-so-subtle form of peer pressure."

Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Everyone's talking about this?" he asked, looking up at her finally.

"Looks like," she said as she studied him closely, but Harry wasn't giving her much of an idea what was happening behind that scar and she was starting to get a little nervous. He folded his arms uncomfortably and shifted on his feet before finally coming up with a response.

"We were supposed to work up to this."

A spark of hope! The corner of Ginny's mouth turned up in a small smile. "Were you planning anything in particular?"

Harry couldn't quite meet her gaze. She was supposed to have the plans, he thought childishly. "There's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow..."

Ginny's small smile turned into an outright dazzling beam and she kissed his cheek. "You're on, Boyfriend," she said gleefully and spun back into the Great Hall to grab some breakfast.

Harry was left to stare after her, feeling like his cheek was glowing. He let out a long breath and moved to lean against the wall... only he'd misjudged the distance between himself and the wall and fell backwards onto the floor.

------------

"I need to talk to you."

Ginny groaned. She needed to finish her work before charms class! She hadn't been able to do it last night because, well, she'd just been having too much fun. But she recognized the voice speaking to her and knew that she couldn't deny the request. She put her book down and turned to face Hermione. "About what?"

Ginny automatically sensed Hermione's intensity as she the girl sat down next to her on the couch. "There's something very strange happening at this school," she said in a hushed voice.

"Sorry?" Ginny replied, the picture of innocence.

Hermione glared and lowered her voice even more. "You see it. Don't play games."

"I would never!" gasped Ginny looking highly offended.

Hermione glanced around the common room. "Everyone's pairing up," she said in a whisper. "There's love and hormones flying everywhere."

Ginny just shrugged, trying not to form any sort of literal image of that in her mind. "The buddy system. None of us want to get lost, Hermione."

The look on Hermione's face almost made Ginny feel guilty for poking fun. "I'm completely lost."

"So get a buddy to hold hands with," Ginny said as she patted her hand in warm reassurance. She should have been prepared for the answer she would get to that.

"Shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

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At dinner, Harry and Ginny kept exchanging looks and smiles from across the table. They'd been doing this for days, but this time it wasn't for anyone else's benefit. People were certainly noticing. Two people in particular.

"Oy! Harry!" hissed Ron, nudging him none-to-gently in the ribs.

"Ow! What?"

Ron rolled his eyes and motioned to all of the other couples at the table. "What is this, Noah's Arc?"

Harry took a moment to look around as well. It was true. Neville and Luna, Seamus and Lavender, both sets of twins (Yes, Harry and Ginny had done that on purpose; comedic irony and all that.), and just about everyone else within seeing distance. "...Yup," he finally stated. "Looks like you're drowning."

Ron pouted down at his food until he heard someone clear their throat above them. Ron and Harry both looked up and behind them to see Malfoy standing at their table, looking slightly murderous and putting Ron into immediate fight mode.

"Are you blind? Wrong table, Malfoy."

Harry saw Ginny look up as well and give Malfoy a little smirk and a wink. Malfoy rolled his eyes and clenched his fists.

"Oh, my," he said in a monotone voice, looking up at the ceiling as if he wanted to be anywhere but there. "Is that Hermione Granger? Without a man? What a hottie. I would totally..." He took a deep breath before continuing. "...tap that."

The boy just had time to clench his fists once more before Ron lunged at him. The entire hall stood up to get a better look as Malfoy and Ron rolled around on the ground. Some were cheering and egging them on, while most were just pushing others for a better view. Malfoy let him get in a few punches before starting to fight back and Ron suffered a blow to the nose before Hagrid could make his way over and pull the two boys apart, wincing as Ron continued trying to reach the blonde.

"No fighting!" he bellowed. "Everyone get back to yer meals! Nothin' to see!" He set the two boys down and brushed them both off, knocking the wind out of them. "Now... I have to punish you somehow." He sighed and thought for a moment, looking nervous as he had never quite gotten used to having to punish students. "Come ter me hut tomorrow night. I'll... make yeh do lines or summut."

Only Harry noticed as Ginny caught Malfoy's gaze and nodded. Malfoy clenched his teeth in response and looked away.

Harry would have to ask her about that later.

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"Oh, Ron. Hold still!"

Ron pulled his feet up onto the couch and waved Hermione's hands away from his face. "I can hold the bloody cloth to my own face," he growled.

Harry let out a short laugh, but shut up when he saw the two of them glare over at him. "Get it? Bloody..." He coughed and looked down as his lap. "Right."

"Ronald, why do you let Malfoy get to you? He wasn't even putting any effort into it this time and you still attacked him."

"He was talking down to you," Ron grumbled, lifting his nose up to stop the bleeding.

"Looked more like he was hitting on her," Harry offered, only receiving identical glares. "Think I'll go to bed," he said, standing up.

Neither Ron nor Hermione said good night.

As Harry was heading up to his room, someone grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into a corner. "Hey! What...?"

"Shh!" Ginny put her hand over his mouth and glanced back at Ron and Hermione. "Just watch them." She leaned back a little to try and get a good look at her brother and friend, but did a double-take when she felt Harry's eyes on her. He was smiling into her hand and dammit if it wasn't the heart-flippy smile. "Don't!" she whined. "I'm working here."

"Why?" he asked, the sound muffled.

"Because..." She trailed off when he kissed the palm of her hand. "I, uh..."

He took her hand away from his mouth before she could continue with her stuttering. He had questions he wanted answered. "Why did you make Malfoy start that fight today?"

It took Ginny a moment to regain conscious thought but when she did, she wasted no time trying to conceal her smugness. "Noticed that, did you?"

"I don't think a Malfoy would ever say 'I'd totally tap that' unless they were being blackmailed or threatened in some way."

Ginny giggled. "I sent him a letter that said I know what you're hiding."

Harry waited for a moment, thinking that there was going to be more. When she didn't continue, he frowned in confusion. "That's it?"

"Well, he didn't believe me at first, but I did a little snooping."

Harry was left to wait once again. "... And?!"

"And what? I can't tell you what I found out. We made a deal. I can't tell anyone."

Harry threw his hands into the air in frustration. "Of course you can! It's me! You can tell me! And anyway, I should know if Malfoy's hiding anything."

"It's nothing, really," she said, thoroughly enjoying his annoyance. "Nothing of any importance to you anyway."

"But..."

She covered his mouth again. "Maybe you should go to bed."

Harry nodded from behind her hand.

"Good night," she said with a sweet smile.

"Gooh fighf."

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"So what did Viki's letter say?"

Hermione busied herself with conjuring up some ice for Ron's injured nose. "I don't think that's really any of your..."

"I'll keep asking. You might as well just tell me," he interrupted and winced as she put the ice pack onto his nose. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" she muttered, sitting back. "... He wants to see me."

Ron's head jerked so fast, his nose started bleeding again and Hermione was instantly at his side once more. "I think it's broken."

"When does he want to see you?"

She shrugged. "In Hogsmeade tomorrow. Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital wing?"

"Tomorrow?" Ron roared incredulously. "But... you were supposed to spend the day with Harry and me!"

"Harry's spending the day with Ginny so I figured..."

"And you were going to leave me all alone?" Ron asked, standing up. "Fine. I hope you have a fantastic time with the Witless Wonder. I'll just go find a cave to crawl into." If he'd have been more observant on his way to the staircase, he would have noticed Ginny practically ripping her hair out in frustration. She couldn't decide who she'd like to tackle first, but she knew that they would both pay for their complete lack of brains.

Oh, yes. They would pay.