The Consequences of Snooping

Ginny turned under her covers for what must have been the billionth time that night, and found that they were now in a hopeless tangle around her legs. Kicking them free, she propped herself up on her pillow and sighed, staring into the darkness of her little bedroom. She had been lying in bed trying to drift to sleep for the better part of an hour, and now had to face the fact that she wasn't tired in the least. Reaching over to her bedside table, she flicked on the lamp and blinked at the sudden illumination. She was thankful for the moment that Hermione wasn't going to be able to come for another week yet, as she would have to share her room with her when she did. For right now, she didn't have to worry about disturbing anyone but herself.

She turned her head to stare at the wall which separated her room from Ron's, almost believing she could stare right through it to the bed beyond, which held her brother...and his best friend, come to stay the remainder of the summer in the Weasley household. Harry Potter - Ginny had tried so hard over the past three years to render that name meaningless to her. She wanted so badly for him to be reduced in her mind to simply 'her brother's friend, Harry'...but he wasn't. She was beginning to think, to her utter horror, that he never would be.

Rolling her eyes at her own silly thoughts, she swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Crossing the small room in two steps, she grabbed an album of wizard pictures off of her shelf and dropped back down against her pillows to thumb through it. She herself didn't own a wizard camera...but Colin Creevey, a boy in her year, had one he was all too willing to let her borrow on occasion. Of course, she hadn't asked him to use it since she'd found out he fancied her last year at the Yule Ball from her best friend Sheila. Ginny would never take advantage of someone like that, although some girls in her year would have had her do just that.

She stopped to gaze fondly at a picture someone had taken of herself and her brothers on the Quidditch pitch last spring. They were laughing and fooling around, waving and making faces at the camera. Fred, George, Ron, and herself...and Harry. He was standing slightly off to the side, as if he wasn't certain he belonged in the picture. He was smiling as well, but Ginny could always detect an underlying seriousness behind his green eyes. She supposed it was only fitting, considering the burden he had to bear every day...

She quickly flipped to the next page, recalling that her purpose in opening the book was to stop thinking about Harry Potter. There was a picture here of herself and Hermione, smiling brightly with their arms thrown about each other. She thought about how close she had become with Hermione over the past year, and smiled to herself. At first, she had thought it was simply because they were the only girls at the Quidditch World Cup last summer, and then she suspected briefly that it might have to do with Hermione's need for advice concerning Ron. Since then, however, she'd decided that Hermione truly did like her as an individual, and spent time with her because she chose to and not because it was required...she wished she could say the same for some other people.

Shaking her head to clear her mind once more, she turned another page...and her heart skipped a bit at the picture on this page. It was of herself and Harry, alone. They were sitting next to each other at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Obviously, someone had just pointed the camera and yelled "Smile!" because she and Harry both had spoonfuls of oatmeal in their hands. They were smiling though, and Harry was leaning close to Ginny for the picture. In fact, his shoulder was touching hers. It was not a wizard picture...it was taken with a Muggle camera. The images of herself and Harry stared back at her, unmoving and still...simply one moment in time, immortalized.

She was completely bewildered for a moment, wondering how in Merlin's name she could have forgotten this picture existed. Pulling it from it's spot in the book, she glanced at the back and received her answer.

To Ginny,

I thought you'd like this. I'll see you in August!

~Hermione

Ginny laughed silently at her friend...it was just like her to subtly feed her infatuation, much less to assume she still carried it. She couldn't help feeling deep down that perhaps Hermione wanted to see Harry take notice of Ginny...but she would just have to accept the fact that it was never going to happen. Lord knows Ginny had, long ago.

She sighed and resolutely stood up, sticking the heavy album under her arm as she did. Obviously this wasn't working to get her mind off of "things" as well as she'd hoped. She had decided that sitting up all night simply wouldn't do, especially since Mum was going to make them degnome the garden in the morning. She was simply going to go and pour herself a glass of milk and see if that helped a bit. Perhaps even a biscuit, as long as no one was looking. She opened the door to her room determinedly, stepped out into the narrow hall...

...and collided with someone. No, not someone, she realized with a start as she looked up into her barricade's face - Harry. He was holding a pillow in his hand.

"Harry?" she whispered.

"Yeah...sorry," he replied under his breath.

"What are you doing up so late? I thought you and Ron went to sleep hours ago," she asked, unable to think of anything else.

He shook his head slightly and in a tired voice answered, "I haven't been to sleep all night. I went down to see if I could manage better on the couch."

She furrowed her brows at this, and then it dawned on her and she couldn't suppress a silent giggle.

"Ron's snoring?"

He smiled down at her and replied, "Yeah. You've had the pleasure, I see?"

"Oh, we used to share a room. I still believe he has a medical problem."

Harry smiled genuinely at her, his face illuminated by the light from her room. He looked as though he was exhausted.

"You didn't get much luckier on the couch, I reckon?" she asked.

He shook his head ruefully, but didn't say anything more.

"Well," she concluded, "Goodnight, then, Harry."

They parted ways after one shared smile, and Ginny thought to herself that probably he believed her crush to be gone, at least. She had worked hard at being able to converse with him like a normal person, but that was exactly the trouble...she had to put forth effort, even now at sixteen years old. She couldn't express, not even to herself, how much she wished she didn't care a lick about Harry Potter.

But she did...very much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Ginny came in from degnoming the garden a bit after everyone else. The garden hadn't been tended to in so long that not only had they degnomed it, but they had also been made to do all sorts of other things to ensure the plants would live through the fall. As a result, it had taken nearly all day, and the sun was going down. The others had decided to head down to the lake for a cool swim, but she didn't much feel like changing into her suit and didn't join them. She walked through the back door and soon realized she was not the only one who had chosen to stay behind, as she found a sweaty Harry sitting on a chair by the fireplace. He was flipping slowly through the pages of her album, and she quickly came to the conclusion that she must have left it down there the night before.

A creak in the floorboards under her feet caused him to look up at her, and he smiled slightly.

"I was just glancing through this...d'you mind?"

She shook her head, her mind going through the album quickly to remember if there was anything in there that might be incriminating. She decided that no, there wasn't.

"You didn't go to the lake with the others?" he asked.

"Oh...no. I'd rather just take a shower, actually," she explained briefly.

"Hmm," he replied absently as he turned the page. She was just about to walk upstairs for that shower when he spoke again.

"When was this taken?" Harry suddenly asked her.

She leaned over to peer at the picture he was referring to, and when she saw which one it was her heart nearly stopped. It was the one with she and him eating breakfast.

"Oh...to tell you the truth, I don't know," she replied as flippantly as she could, "Hermione gave it to me...I actually didn't even know it was in there until recently."

He gazed at the picture for a moment, and then asked, "Don't you like it?"

She found the question rather odd...just the sort of thing a clueless boy would ask. Ginny found herself become inexplicably perturbed at his inquiry, and answered in the most unconcerned voice she could muster without sounding fake,

"Oh, it's alright I suppose. I think I look horrendous in it."

This was not true, of course, but there was no way on earth she was going to admit to him that this was her absolute favorite picture in the whole album, now that she knew of its existence. He studied her for a moment, his dark brows drawn together as if he were attempting to figure something out. He looked back down at the photo, and then back up at her and asked,

"As long as you don't like it...would you mind if I kept it?"

She very nearly fell down on the floor in shock.

"W-what? I mean, um...what for?"

He shrugged slightly, and then replied quietly, "I don't have any pictures of my...er, people I know at Hogwarts. I'm trying to collect some is all."

He made a move as if to close the book, and before she had time to contemplate what she was saying she blurted out,

"You can have it if you really want it."

He glanced up at her and reopened the book, carefully sliding the picture out of it's little slot and holding it up to look at it for a moment. Then, with a smile at her, he deposited it safely in the pocket of his robes.

"Thanks," he said.

Ginny nodded, but inside she was cursing her big mouth. Why did she have to agree to give that picture away? Of all the pictures in the book, it had been the one that would be the most difficult for her to part with - and now she had absolutely no pictures, wizard or otherwise, of herself and Harry. Blasted fool, she thought bitterly.

Sighing, she excused herself at the sound of pots and pans being handled from the kitchen and went to help her mother prepare dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOVEMBER

"Ron, come on! We're going to be late to the Hall again, and I'm actually hungry enough not to want to miss breakfast," Harry's irate voice came through the curtains on Ron's bed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes as Harry pulled the drapes open and glared at him.

"Come on, get dressed. I'll wait in the common room for you," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Ron groggily pulled the covers off of himself and stood up, feeling as though he wanted nothing more than to lay back down and sleep for the rest of the day. He had never been a good riser. He padded over to his trunk and pulled out some trousers and a sweater, as it was Saturday and they needn't wear robes today. Once he had dressed, he rummaged through his trunk for some clean socks but found that there were none. Sighing, he thought that he'd have to hex Ginny for pinching all his good socks, and went over to Harry's trunk to look for some to borrow.

He pulled the lid open and moved aside some of Harry's clean trousers...and was surprised to find his sister staring back at him from the bottom of the trunk. He frowned and pulled out the picture, and found that it was actually one of his sister and Harry together in what looked to be the Great Hall. At first, he thought he'd simply replace the picture and continue looking for socks to wear, but as he stared at it he found himself becoming rather uneasy. Why would Harry have a picture of himself and Ginny hidden at the bottom of his trunk? Ron contemplated the idea that perhaps it wasn't hidden at all...after all, Harry probably wasn't expecting anyone to be going through his things.

Ron felt suddenly guilty, and quickly placed the picture back in its original spot. He found a pair of plain white socks he could use, and then shut the trunk. He pulled on the socks and his shoes, all the while thinking about what exactly was making him feel that this was so odd...perhaps it was because Harry didn't seem to have any other pictures that he kept with him at school. Why would he have one of Ginny, of all people? Where did he get it? Perhaps this was exactly what was bothering him...the possible reasons for Harry having a photograph of his little sister. Why that would upset him, Ron couldn't say.

He walked down the staircase to the Gryffindor common room and caught sight of Harry standing by the portrait hole, shifting impatiently from foot to foot. He looked up and saw Ron, and called,

"It's about time. What took you?"

It was on the tip of Ron's tongue to ask him about the picture, but he didn't. He wasn't sure yet if it was something he even should be asking Harry about. It was his business what he did with that picture, and Ron wasn't even supposed to know about it. Then again...if Harry had some kind of thing for his sister...

But that was ridiculous.

Wasn't it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry and Ron were kneeling on the floor in the Potions classroom, scrubbing remnants of people's mistakes and spills off of the floor. Ron glanced up at his friend, who seemed to be in surprisingly good sorts this evening despite their situation. The detention they were currently serving had, of course, been from Snape...who else would it be but the teacher who savored giving the two of them grief whenever the slightest opportunity arose? Ron shook his head - now was not the time to start getting worked up about that again. He had been thinking about the issue of that picture he had found in Harry's trunk for two days now, and he had finally decided that he was going to ask his friend about it in the least obvious way possible. If he didn't, the curiosity was going to kill him.

"Hey, Harry?"

Harry looked up from the floor at his best friend, and replied mildly,

"Yeah?"

Ron thought a moment - he hadn't actually planned out how he was going to approach this. He decided it would be best just to say the first thing that came to his mind and work from there.

"Are you interested in photo albums?"

Oh, brilliant, Ron chastised himself. Not obvious at all, really, he thought sarcastically to himself...although Harry didn't look suspicious yet. Simply confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, er...do you think they're...useful?"

Harry eyed him oddly, as if expecting him to explode any moment.

"I guess so. If you're the type to keep a lot of pictures."

"Are you?" Ron asked, then thought that he may have said it a bit too quickly. Harry simply shrugged and replied,

"Umm...no, not really."

Ron looked at Harry closely...he didn't seem to be suspecting anything yet. Perhaps he wasn't trying to hide it. Then again, the fact that Harry didn't tend to keep photographs was not what Ron had wanted to hear. Needing to find out, he pressed on,

"But you have some, don't you? I mean, there's that album Hagrid gave you at the end of first year..."

Harry nodded slightly, replying, "Yeah, but that was a special thing. I don't usually..."

"...and the one of Ginny..." Ron interrupted before he could stop himself.

Harry didn't react violently, and to the untrained eye it wouldn't seem as though he had heard anything he considered odd at all. Ron, however, had been watching Harry for years...living with him for years...and he took immediate notice of the subtle slowing of his arm's movements as he scrubbed, the almost imperceptible furrow of his brows, and his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

"How did you know I had a picture of Ginny?" he asked with forced casualty.

"Erm...I saw it in your trunk the other day, and..." Ron broke off, knowing how this sounded even to him.

"You were in my trunk?"

It was not an accusation, nor was it said with any anger, but Ron could tell Harry was going to press until he got a full explanation for this seeming violation of his privacy.

"Well, I wanted to borrow a pair of socks...you don't mind, do you?"

Pause.

"Um...no."

"Well, anyway...I just, you know, stumbled upon it and was...kind of wondering..."

Harry stopped scrubbing completely now, and looked up to meet Ron's eyes. Ron couldn't tell by the look in Harry's piercing green eyes if he was angry or not...he couldn't read them at all, in fact. This was a worrying thought, as there had never been a time when Ron couldn't tell exactly what Harry was feeling by looking into his eyes, or by the expression on his face. He knew him too well for that...until now. As suddenly as he had worked it up, Ron lost his nerve.

"Look...nevermind. I didn't mean to pry, I was just curious. Are you sore at me for going through your trunk?"

Harry stared at him a moment longer, then sighed and answered quietly, "No."

Ron got the feeling he wasn't telling the whole truth, but there was no way he was going to interrogate Harry any more tonight. His friend remained subdued for the remainder of the detention time, despite Ron's few attempts at humor, and after a silent walk back to the common room went straight up to bed. Ron had the distinct feeling he'd hit a nerve with Harry, but he didn't know exactly which one. Although this had certainly been a setback, Ron was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day at breakfast, Ron was relieved to find Hermione sitting on her own at the table, her nose stuck in a rather large book. Shaking his head, he went to sit down across from her and pulled the book away from her face. She looked up indignantly and was about to say something when Ron cut her off.

"You wouldn't want to get banana on official Hogwarts property, would you? Madam Pince would probably never let you check anything out again."

She sighed and rolled her eyes at him, but seemingly agreed as she immediately set it aside, but did not close it. Instead, she continued reading as it lay flat on the table, much to Ron's exasperation. It was bloody impossible to engage this girl in a conversation! He stared at her for a moment and wondered how to get information from Hermione about the picture without letting her know anything incriminating about Harry. He knew she had taken the picture, as he had read the inscription on the back...perhaps she knew how it happened to be in Harry's possession.

"Er...Hermione? You have a camera, right?"

She looked up, startled.

"Well...not with me right now."

He blew out a frustrated breath, thinking to himself that she wasn't as smart as everyone thought.

"Yeah, but you own one, right?"

"Yes, just a plain Muggle camera. The pictures don't move or anything..."

Ron waved his hand impatiently, as he didn't care about the camera itself.

"Does it...er, take good pictures?"

She looked at him as if he'd just swallowed a frog. Blinking twice, she finally answered,

"Well, I don't know, Ron! I imagine it takes pictures as well as any other camera..."

"Yes, but are they good enough to, say...give to people?"

Hermione dropped her spoon in her bowl and sighed loudly, apparently tired of his interrupting, just as Ron caught sight of Harry approaching the table. He could suddenly see how this was going to end up, and was powerless at this point to do anything to stop it. Harry sat down across from Ron just as Hermione opened her immense crater of a mouth.

"Honestly, Ron...I don't know why the sudden interest in photography. If you'd like to personally examine my camera, you are welcome to do so. I'll have it to you first chance I get," she finished with a raised eyebrow.

Harry's eyes had snapped to Ron as he listened to Hermione, and when Ron had gathered his courage and taken a glance at him, he saw that there was no longer any room for doubt - Harry was furious.

"What are you on about, then?" he demanded.

"Nothing!" Ron lied badly.

"Nothing...yeah, right. What is your problem? I thought we had finished with this last night?" Harry whispered heatedly.

Ron suddenly felt a bit peeved himself. It wasn't as if Harry had told him any kind of truthful information the night before, when he had mentioned it. Anyway, wasn't he entitled to some sort of explanation?

"Finished? I never got any answers...which makes me think things I'd rather not be thinking!"

Harry's eyes blazed momentarily, and Hermione was very silent now, trying to figure out what they were talking about, her eyes darting back and forth between them.

"What exactly are you implying?" Harry asked icily.

"You tell me what I should be implying, then. Go on!" Ron's voice raised a bit, causing some Hufflepuffs across the way to glance over, interested.

Harry lowered his voice and said in a quiet, challenging tone, "If you're accusing me of something, then DO it."

Ron was just about to open his mouth to retort when he saw Harry's eyes dart away from him and focus on something to his left. His expression changed abruptly from threatening to controlled, and even slightly guilty, as he leaned slightly back in his seat. Ron felt someone sit down next to him, and realized what Harry had been looking at...it was Ginny. She hadn't seemed to notice their argument before she approached, and simply greeted them and began to fill her plate. Ron shot a look at Harry, and Harry glared back - this wasn't over until Ron was satisfied that he had his explanation.

Breakfast ended, and they went about their day - surprisingly enough, Harry and Ron managed to reach some sort of truce during the course of the day. It was probably, Ron speculated, because they had been forced to deal with a run in with Malfoy together, and their combined fury at him negated all grudges that remained from their morning encounter. By nightfall, they were playing a game of chess in the common room and it was almost forgotten...almost.

"Ron?"

"Hmm?" Ron replied, contemplating his next move intently.

"I...well, I just wanted to explain something to you before it comes up again."

Ron looked up at Harry, knowing what he was referring to...and slightly surprised that he would willingly discuss this at all after his earlier behavior at the mention of the subject.

"I wanted you to know that the only reason I have the picture is because...well, because Ginny gave it to me."

Comprehension dawned on Ron as Harry continued, making him feel like an utter git. Why hadn't he considered that possibility himself?

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so I took it. That's all."

"Harry, why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

Harry shrugged, and Ron noticed he looked very uncomfortable and even a bit guilty. He suddenly understood the entire thing. He decided to make it a bit easier on his friend, considering he'd made it so unnecessarily hard earlier.

"You didn't want to embarrass Ginny, is that it?"

Harry's eyes shot to Ron's, and after a moment he let out a breath and confirmed, "Yeah...yeah, I didn't want to embarrass Ginny."

Ron shook his head and sighed.

"Really, I'm sorry about all this misunderstanding. Ginny's a pill...but don't worry. She'll be over you completely any moment now," he smiled at Harry and added, "She's got enough boys her age to take her mind off of you."

Harry looked up then, suddenly. He nodded slowly, and after a brief pause moved his piece, taking Ron's bishop.

Several moments later, as Ron was thinking about his move, Harry cleared his throat.

"So...you think she's almost over me, eh?"

Ron nodded absentmindedly, his eyes on the board, and replied, "Yeah...it was just one of those schoolgirl things...you know."

Harry didn't reply for a second, then asked, "What other boys?"

"What?"

"I mean...she has boys interested in her? You've got to be careful...I mean, you know how they are."

Ron looked up, confused, but Harry wasn't looking at him.

"Who?"

"You know...boys."

Ron shook his head and laughed, saying, "I'm way ahead of you. We thought that, too, but Richard doesn't seem to be a problem."

"Richard?"

"Yeah...of all the limited members of her fledgling fan club, he's the president."

Nothing for a moment, then Harry asked, "Richard who?"

"Richard Hill or something...look, are you trying to distract me?"

"No," Harry said quickly, "Sorry. Go ahead."

Ron finally decided on a course of action and moved his knight, taking Harry's queen. Ron looked up, a self-satisfied expression on his face, but he let it fade when he saw that Harry wasn't even looking at the board. He was staring into space, his glasses falling slightly down his straight nose. Ron shook his head and said,

"Look, mate...don't worry about Ginny. She's got three older brothers to look out for her welfare around here. Trust me, that's enough of a deterrent for most of the bad ones - especially when two of the aforementioned brothers are Fred and George."

Harry turned his attention back to the game. He gave a silent huff of laughter and conceded,

"Yeah...yeah, you're right," he paused, his eyes wandering over the game pieces, and then cried, "Hey...where's my queen?"

"I took her on the last move. Oh, and you're in check as well."

Ron laughed at Harry's befuddled expression, and Harry couldn't help but join in. Ron went to bed that evening feeling relieved - both that things with Harry were back to normal, and also because the issue of the picture had turned out to be nothing more than him jumping to conclusions. Now, if he could only make Hermione forget the argument had ever taken place...which was going to be hard, considering she had been pestering both of them all day about it. He'd think of something tomorrow, Ron thought as he drifted to a peaceful sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER

Ron entered the common room, his whole body aching with the strain of having to step through the portrait hole. He had been asked by Professor Sprout to stay after in Herbology, his last lesson of the day, and help her prune the Hindershank Hedges...which apparently did not enjoy the activity as much as Sprout did. Ron had never seen a bush run before, but these did...and they had needed to be tackled before you could even think about trimming them. No wonder she had needed help.

"Oh, this one is adorable!" he heard a familiar voice cry from the couch in the corner of the room. He glanced over as he sat down by the fire, and sure enough, Hermione and Ginny were sitting there looking through some sort of album.

"What is that?" he called over to them as he stripped of one sodden boot.

"It's my photo album!" Ginny called back, a smile in her voice. Ron smiled in spite of his dingy mood...he was inexplicably glad to see that Hermione and Ginny had become so close over the past summer. Ginny had been through somewhat of a rough time at Hogwarts considering her first year disaster, and could use someone besides her family to discuss it with. Not that she didn't have her own friends, but Hermione, in a way, took the place of a big sister. Hermione, too, was in need of a girlfriend to talk with...Ron was somehow certain she couldn't share certain things with either he or Harry.

"Oh, Ginny...you're missing one!"

"No, I know...I gave that to someone. It was the one with Harry and I in the Great Hall...the one you took."

Ron suddenly recalled the row he and Harry had gotten into over that bloody picture not long ago, and he shuddered to think of it. He was on the verge of standing up and letting his sister have it for her continued lovesick behavior around his best friend, but thought better of it as Hermione continued speaking.

"You gave that away!? I can't believe it! To whom?"

There was a pause, and finally Ginny replied, "To Harry. I'm sorry Hermione, I know you gave that to me, but...I don't know. He was flipping through this album one day and came across it...and when he asked me if he could have it I just thought that he probably has less pictures than I do, and..."

She stopped talking abruptly as Ron dropped his boot with a loud thud onto the stone floor. He stood up, and expression of shock fixed on his face, and regarded the two perplexed girls.

"What did you just say?" he asked his sister.

Ginny furrowed her fine brows and shook her head, replying, "Ron...what is the matter with you?"

"What...I mean...did you just say that Harry asked you for that picture?"

"Yes...so what?"

"HE asked YOU?"

Ginny looked to Hermione for some sort of enlightenment as to Ron's peculiar behavior, but her friend was not looking at her, nor was she looking at Ron...she was staring intently at the empty space where the missing picture would go, moving her lips as she thought. Suddenly, to Ron's disappointment, she figured it out...her eyes shot to Ron's, positively glowing with triumph as she put the pieces together.

Ron decided he didn't want to humiliate his sister if he didn't have to, and before Hermione could open her mouth he spoke quickly,

"Ginny, didn't you have to meet Richard for dinner?"

Ginny turned her attention back to her brother, but her expression only grew more dumbfounded. She stammered,

"I...I don't think so. No, I never said anything about..."

"Well, he's down there looking everywhere for you. I ran into him on the way up...he told me to tell you he was just going to be waiting in the Hall. Seemed a bit depressed..."

Ginny jumped up, a sudden expression of horror on her face now. She grabbed her shoes and slid them on, then ran towards the portrait hole muttering to herself.

"Oh, my goodness! I swear I don't remember a thing about having told him I'd meet him tonight...whatever is the matter with me?"

She stepped through and vanished from sight as the painting closed behind her. As soon as she was out of earshot, Hermione set the album aside and stood indignantly before Ron. Ron rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what he was in for now.

"Ron! This was what that whole thing was about a couple of weeks ago, wasn't it! I don't know why you didn't just tell me what the problem was...it's so silly!"

"It isn't silly! I wanted to know the story behind his having that photograph - is that so hard to understand?" he countered.

Hermione sighed and responded, "Well, really...who cares if he DOES have it? What difference does it make to you?"

"She's my sister!"

"What? You...you don't think that THAT is the reason he...oh, Ron. That's stupid. It's not as if he tried to deny it!"

Ron was about to open his mouth and tell her what he had just found out, but thought better of it. Liar or not, Harry was still his best friend, and he wouldn't embarrass him any more than was absolutely necessary - especially in front of Hermione. Instead, he nodded stiffly and said,

"We should get down there as well, before dinner is over."

Turning his back on her impatient huff, he went through the portrait hole and headed for the Great Hall...he was going to get the truth out of Harry if it was the last thing he ever did.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table across from Harry, who was already in the middle of dinner. He looked up and became immediately curious at Ron's smug glare...he set down his fork and asked,

"What's with you? Bad time at Sprout's?"

"Yes...but that's not what's bothering me," Ron replied under his breath so only Harry could hear him. Harry's brows snapped together as he began to catch on that Ron's foul mood was directed at him, and he apparently felt he didn't deserve it. Hermione sat down next to Harry then, but thankfully contented herself with keeping quiet for the moment. Ron guessed sardonically to himself that she would rather sit back and watch how things played out rather than become involved for now. He had to admit...she was intelligent sometimes.

"Look, are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?" Harry said mildly, trying to contain his frustration.

Just then, Ginny came up to the group and sat down with a small thud next to Ron. She didn't make a move to eat, but rather turned to her brother and asked, perturbed,

"Why did you tell me Richard was looking for me? I was just over to speak with him, and he says he hasn't seen you all day. What are you trying to do, Ron...make me look like an idiot? Or was it just that you wanted to get me out of the room? I didn't even think you liked Richard much..." she trailed off, apparently realizing that she was not going to get an answer from Ron. He hadn't looked at her throughout her whole speech, but was instead focused on Harry...who now wore an irritated expression which almost matched Ron's.

"Oh, come off it!" Harry suddenly snapped.

"You're telling me how to behave?" Ron spat back, but Harry interrupted.

"That was unnecessary and you know it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

They both fell silent, eyes shooting daggers at each other. Neither moved a muscle, and they seemed to be locked in a kind of primal staring contest. Suddenly, Ron became conscious of both Hermione and Ginny looking at them worriedly, and decided he didn't like having become the main performer in some twisted version of dinner theatre.

Standing swiftly, he muttered, "Harry, come on - we're going to be late."

"Late for what?" Hermione demanded as Harry immediately stood up, not breaking eye contact with Ron. He evidently wanted this over with as well.

"Something we have to do," Ron said as they started for the door.

"What?" she persisted, knowing full well they had nowhere to be.

"Detention," Ron lied swiftly.

"Oh, well...do I get to serve detention as well?" Hermione asked sarcastically, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows infuriatingly.

"No, Hermione...you NEVER get detentions!" Ron snarled back at her, and he and Harry left to her furious glare and Ginny's expression of complete bewilderment.

As soon as they were out of the Great Hall, Ron rounded on Harry, who didn't even blink in the face of Ron's apparent hostility.

"What is this about?" Ron demanded.

"You tell me...you're the one with some kind of problem!" Harry hissed back.

"At least I haven't lied to anyone."

"That's not the impression I got from that last conversation."

Ron blushed in what was part anger, part embarrassment. That wasn't what he had meant and Harry knew it...why did he keep dodging the subject?

"Well...erm...yeah, you're damn right I have a problem! Namely, that you keep pictures of my little sister hidden beneath your underwear in your trunk!"

Harry rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in exasperation, and replied,

"I thought I explained that to you! I thought we went over this weeks ago!"

"You didn't tell me the truth, though, did you? You said Ginny gave it to you, but that was a lie, wasn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, but Ron noticed it was with much less confidence in his voice than had been there a minute ago.

"You asked her for that photograph, isn't that how it really happened?"

Harry hesitated, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. After a frustrated sigh escaped his lungs, he finally got out,

"I...look, I don't remember exactly how it went, alright? Maybe I did ask her for it."

"Why didn't you say that, then?" Ron questioned, unrelenting.

"The main question here is, who cares!? Why are you suddenly so interested in my business?"

"First of all, you're my best mate - I'm always interested in your business. Secondly, I'm NOT interested in your business, I'm interested in Ginny's business!"

"What makes you think she can't make decisions for herself?" Harry suddenly demanded.

This question took Ron aback, as it seemingly had nothing to do with the conversation they were currently having. What was he getting at?

"What do you mean?"

"It was so blatantly obvious, trying to set her up with that prat Richard."

"Prat? You haven't ever spoken to the kid! Anyway, what does this have to do with anything? What do you care who she spends her time with?"

Harry hesitated a split second before replying a bit too adamantly, "I don't! I just...you were trying to wake her interest in him so that she'd forget about me!"

Ron looked at Harry as though he was daft...he briefly considered taking him up to Madam Pomfrey for some kind of ruddy remedy - he didn't care which one.

"Are you nutters? I thought that's what we wanted...isn't it?" he narrowed his eyes and searched Harry's face closely.

"I," Harry's green eyes shot up to Ron's, and he finally replied, "I just don't like the implications of it, that's all. As if it would be the most horrible thing imaginable if Ginny were...er, interested in me."

Ron stepped back, his face going a bit slack. This certainly wasn't the direction in which he had envisioned the conversation going when he began it.

"B-but...you don't care if she IS...do you?" he asked a bit more desperately than he had meant to.

"No," Harry said, very quickly, "but this is beside the point..."

"This is ALL beside the bloody point!" Ron nearly yelled in his utter frustration, "Can I just know why you asked Ginny for that picture, please!?"

Harry sighed, looked away for a moment, then said, "Because I don't have any pictures of my friends here at Hogwarts...I just thought it would be nice to have something to remind me it really exists when I'm stuck at the Dursley's every summer."

This answer seemed honest enough, and Ron was surprised at it's straightforward tone. He had expected the arguing to go on a bit more before Harry actually gave him a direct response.

"But...Harry, why didn't you take any of the pictures with all of us in them? I've seen that album...Ginny's got loads of pictures of you, me and Hermione. Why not one of those rather than the one of just you and Ginny?"

Harry seemingly struggled to work out his answer for a moment, reaching up to impatiently swipe his bangs away from his forehead. Finally, he replied,

"It was because my scar isn't showing in that one."

Ron felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but he quickly calmed his facial expression as he caught the rather uneasy look on his friend's own face. He saw a blush creeping into Harry's cheeks, and he suddenly felt very bad for the way he had been talking to him.

"Your scar...but Harry, you're not ashamed of your scar. Are you?"

Harry looked down at the floor, and Ron almost regretted having asked. He knew how much Harry hated to openly talk about anything that had to do with his tragic past or his uncertain future, especially since the end of fourth year. Ron still cringed at the thought of it...that bloody tournament. It had almost cost Harry his life...and Ron the best friend he had ever had.

"Harry...you shouldn't think about it like that."

"It's nothing but an ugly reminder that I'm an orphan, and by extremely unnatural causes," Harry said with more than a trace of bitterness.

Ron shook his head adamantly and retorted, "It's a representation of more than that, and you know it. It's the reminder that, against all odds, you lived. I really wish you'd make sure to remember that more often."

Harry gave a short, humorless laugh.

"I try to forget the whole thing every chance I get, actually."

Ron regarded his friend guiltily.

"That's why you wanted that particular picture, then?"

Harry's eyes shot to Ron's, some strange emotion in their green depths that he couldn't read. He looked back down at his feet quickly, and nodded.

"Harry...next time, do you promise to tell me the truth? No matter how embarrassing you think it is? I don't want to have another fight like this...not when..." he trailed off, not knowing the words to finish his grim thought. He didn't want to waste any time fighting, because Merlin knew how long any one of them had these days.

Harry looked up, seemingly understanding. He sighed, and gave a little half smile.

"Yes, Ron...I promise that next time I'll tell you the whole truth."

Ron nodded, and they both laughed with an awkward sort of relief that the argument was over. Just at that moment, Hermione and Ginny came bursting out of the Great Hall, Hermione in the lead with a fiery expression on her face.

"This is ridiculous! I want you two to quit fighting this instant! Whatever this is about, it's not..."

"We're not fighting," Ron interrupted smoothly, "Are we, Harry?"

Ron turned to catch Harry's eye, but found that his friend's eyes were trained on his sister. She was standing behind Hermione, looking back and forth between the three of them, a completely befuddled expression on her freckled face. Ron decided not to dwell on this, and cleared his throat loudly. Harry's head snapped around, and he blinked and quickly added,

"No...no, we're not. Erm...chess?"

Ron smiled and replied, "Of course...how can I refuse when I always win?"

The two boys turned and headed back toward Gryffindor tower. They cast self-satisfied glances at each other as they heard Hermione exclaim,

"Well, honestly!"

Later that night, after Harry had gone up to bed and Ron and Hermione were left alone in the common room, Ron told Hermione the entire story from start to finish. He had known somehow that she wouldn't rest until she had every last detail.

"Oh," Hermione exclaimed softly, "He's ashamed of his scar!? But why? I think it's something to be proud of..."

"Yeah, but you don't have to live with it. I don't get it either, but...maybe it's not something we can ever understand."

Hermione nodded slowly, and they sat in silence for a moment, lost in thought. Hermione was apparently consumed with sympathy for Harry, and Ron was feeling a tad guilty about they way he had gone after him before - still, something just didn't sit quite right about the whole thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron sprinted across the dorm to his trunk, sweaty and hot. He had just run up seven flights of stairs, plus the staircase leading up to the dorms. He had forgotten his Transfiguration book up here this morning, and as he dove into his trunk to dig it out, he tried not to picture the look on McGonagall's face as he and Harry showed up fifteen minutes late. He found the book, and was about to run back out of the room when something caught his eye...Harry's trunk. His open trunk.

Ron cast a glance at the door as guilt at what he was about to do began to make his stomach clench, but the curiosity he felt in conjunction with the guilt won out in the end, and he walked cautiously over to the trunk. He peered inside, but there was nothing on the surface except clothes and a few books. Sighing, he resigned himself to his decision, and bent to move the top layer carefully out of the way and rummage through the mess of things he found underneath.

He did feel bad about doing this...he just had to know.

Ron found what he was looking for and drew it out, close to his face so that he could have a good stare at it...but he didn't even need to look closely. He could see what he had wanted to see from it's place at the bottom of the trunk - there, on Harry's forehead, was his bright-red, lightning bold scar...standing out in this photograph for all the world to see. Ron slowly replaced the picture at the bottom of Harry's trunk and, careful not to disturb anything else, stood up and sat down at the edge of the nearest bed. He stared at his hands with his mouth open and his eyes narrowed in puzzlement for what seemed like ages. Finally, with a sigh, he stood up - whatever the real reason was for Harry having wanted that particular picture enough to ask Ginny for it, Ron didn't want to know. It was better that some things remained secret, and he resolved not to think about it anymore. If it was...well, if the explanation was indeed the one he considered the most far-fetched (and the most disconcerting) and it turned out that Harry did have...feelings, or whatever, for Ginny...it would simply pass with time. That was all there was to it.

Ron stood up abruptly and walked to the door, fully intending to leave everything behind him. However, as he was about to step out of the room, he found himself turning back to gaze at Harry's trunk once more. If it didn't go away...he'd just have to deal with it when it became known. He thought for a moment that perhaps he ought not completely disregard the possibility...perhaps he should keep it at the back of his mind, just in case.

That way, he would be prepared when it happened...if it happened. With that thought in mind, and feeling much better, Ron strode confidently out of the dorm.

Later that night, Ron and Harry were on their way out of the common room, headed for detention, when they passed Hermione and Ginny chatting in a corner.

"We're off...we'll probably be back in five or so hours, knowing Filch."

Hermione tutted, and said, "Well, if you hadn't provoked his cat..."

Ron shrugged, as Harry reached up to scratch his forehead...and then he smoothed his hair down over it. Hermione's eyes turned misty as she watched him do this, and she said softly,

"Harry...you can barely see it, really."

Harry gave her a puzzled look as Ron snickered at a joke only he knew, and then they left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What was that about?" Ginny asked after they were gone.

"Oh," Hermione replied, "It's Harry's scar. He doesn't like it...it makes him self-conscious."

"Oh? I didn't know that."

"Yes...in fact, that's why he asked you for that picture, remember? Because his scar wasn't showing in it...Ron told me. Isn't that terrible?"

Ginny felt the blood drain from her face in shock at Hermione's words. His scar wasn't showing? Ginny didn't have to think too hard about this, as she had studied that picture seemingly every ten minutes for the brief time it was in her possession. She could say without a doubt in her mind that Harry's scar most certainly was showing in that picture...she had that image imprinted on her mind, and it was almost as if she could pull it out and look at it whenever she wanted. She had taken particular notice of the scar, she remembered, because she had felt saddened by the thought of what it meant...that, and in a very morbid way it excited her a bit. No...she must be reading too much into this.

Then again...why would Harry say that if it wasn't true? Why not just tell Ron and Hermione what he had told her? Ginny recalled with some odd feeling of trepidation that she had found it rather strange that Harry asked her for that picture instead of one of the many others...but he had only asked after she had pretended not to like it. Yes, that must be the explanation...but, why not just say that to Ron? Ginny shook her head a little, deciding that the reasons for Harry's apparent deception were probably far too complicated for her to start worrying about, and that it surely was not due to reasons which were infuriatingly making her heart beat at record speed whenever she considered them. No, no, no. She simply wasn't going to think about it anymore.

However, she thought with a small smile to herself, there was no reason she couldn't store a teensy bit of hope away at the back of her mind.

After all...who knows what could happen?