All of This

"I can't believe tomorrow is the first of September already," Hermione said happily. She'd left most of her things packed the way they were upon her arrival at the burrow so with nothing better to do, she'd offered to help me get my school trunk together.

"I know," I said, trying not to sound too gloomy. There were, after all, loads of things to look forward to. Seeing friends and housemates again. Beginning N.E.W.T. level classes, prefect duties, and Quidditch.

But there would be no more Harry. Well, there would be, but things would be much different. The last week had been full of sadness and panic every time I thought about what could become of our newfound relationship. And I thought about it a lot.

Apparently, so did Hermione.

"So ..." she said, folding my black school robes into neat little squares, "you and Harry were gone an awfully long time yesterday. Perhaps I should take Ron for a stroll before we leave tomorrow."

I blushed at Hermione's sly, sideways glance. "Maybe you should. Fresh air is really good for ... er, talking," I finished lamely.

"Let's sit down," Harry said, spotting a fallen log beneath a huge oak tree.

I sat down and kicked off my sandals. Even in the soft shade of the woods it was sweltering.

"Ginny, I wanted to talk to you ..." Harry began, settling down beside me and picking up a long, thin twig and twisting it into a vaguely circular shape.

"What about?" I asked curiously, fanning myself.

"Well, we've only got a few days until school starts and I wanted to let you know ... I wanted to let you know how, er, nice this summer has been."

"Nice?" I repeated, raising my eyebrows.

"Yes. Nice. Um ..."

"I'm glad you've had a nice time, Harry," I said rather coolly, oddly disappointed and not sure why.

"This isn't going how I'd planned," Harry burst out, throwing the twig down. "Ginny, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I know, I heard you the first time."

"Ginny, please, you're not making this any easier."

"Making what easier?"

Harry took a deep breath. He seemed to be staring at my leg.

"Harry?"

Awkwardly, he reached out and took my hand in his, shifting slightly on the log so we were facing each other.

"I ... I don't really know to much about girls," he said, staring earnestly into my eyes. "But you're not really like a girl."

"I'm not like a girl?" I echoed, somewhat offended. I started to snatch my hand back but he held it locked in his grip.

"I mean other girls!" he amended quickly. "You're different. You're fun to be around, easy to be friends with. You're a damn good Quidditch player ..."

I sighed. What on earth was he getting at? "Lots of girls play Quidditch, Harry. And it's not like I'm your only girl friend. You've been friends with Hermione since your first year," I reminded him.

"That's different, Ginny. Sure, I'm friends with Hermione and yeah, lots of girls play Quidditch, but they're not you!"

"Well, I know that, Harry. What is it you're trying to say?"

He let go of my hand and began pacing back and forth in front of the fallen log.

"I'm trying to say ..." he trailed off, shoving his hands in his jeans' pockets. "Ron and Hermione are my best friends. They've been there since I started at Hogwarts and I hope they'll always be there, but ... you're my friend, too, Ginny."

"Of course I'm your friend, Harry," I said, watching him closely. He seemed so nervous and unsure of himself. Or was he unsure of me?

"Damn! I had this whole, big speech planned out!" he said, dropping onto the log again. "This is my last year at Hogwarts and I've got a bad feeling about it."

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.

"Well, you know, Voldemort and all ..."

"Harry ... is that what you wanted to talk about?" I asked gently, putting my hand on his shoulder and urging him to look at me.

"No, not exactly," he said, biting his lip.

"What is it then?"

He took another deep breath and looked as though he was steeling himself for some horrid revelation. I felt like someone had mixed a bucket of ice water with my blood. The last time I had seen Harry so worried was the night he had told us all about the prophecy.

"This," he said. Before I really knew what had happened, Harry had drawn me into his arms and pressed his lips against mine.

"Well, you two sure did have a long talk," Hermione said, archly.

"Uh huh." I moved away from her over to my wardrobe on the pretense of taking down the rest of my clothes.

"Ah well, give him time, I suppose," Hermione went on, taking up a pile of jumpers and folding them. "I'm sure Harry likes you but ... it's fair to say he has a lot on his mind right now."

"Yeah, he does."

I would never be able to figure out how long we sat on that mossy old log. The kiss was tentative at first. My hands traveled up Harry's arms and around his shoulders. He took that as a sign to deepen this kiss. His tongue brushed against my lips and a pleasant chill shivered up my spine.

"Ginny," he whispered, breaking the kiss. "I'm really sorry it took me this long to figure it out."

"Figure what out, Harry?" I asked, grinning. I felt like someone had just hit me over the head. Er ... hit me over the head, but happily. Oh, you know what I mean.

"To figure out what I was feeling for you was more than friendship."

"Harry, I --"

"That first night I came to you. I said it was because I didn't want to be alone. That I just needed to be with somebody. That was only partly true, Ginny. I could have talked to Ron, or written a letter to Hermione. But I wanted to be with you. I didn't know why at the time, but ... I wanted to be with you," he said, watching me intently to see how I would react.

"Harry, why --"

"I wouldn't recommend too many "why" questions, Gin," he said, smiling shyly at me. "I'm still kinda new at this whole relationship thing."

"Relationship thing?" I repeated, my voice a few octaves higher than normal.

"That is, if you'll have me," he said, sheepishly. "I guess I kinda left that part out, huh?"

"Harry ... are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" I asked slowly.

"Will you?" he asked softly.

I stared at him, amazed. Even after all the nights we had spent together, talking and innocently sharing the same bed, it was still hard to believe this was happening.

"Oh, Harry, of course I will!" I cried, throwing my arms around him. We tumbled off the log onto the cool grass, both of us laughing.

"There, I think that's everything," Hermione said, closing my trunk with a satisfied click.

I glanced around my room. There was nothing lying about that wasn't going to stay at the Burrow, awaiting my return on holidays. "It is."

"Hermione! There you are!" Ron said as he ran into my bedroom, panting. "Have you seen my Potions book? I've been looking everywhere for it!"

"It's in the living room, Ron, on the mantle, right where you left it," Hermione told him, exasperated. The boys had been barging in all day demanding to know where they had left their things.

"Oh, right. Thanks!" he said, and dashed back down the stairs. There was a muffled "oomph!" and seconds later Harry rushed through the door. I suppressed a laugh as I imagined Harry and Ron colliding on the stairs.

"Ginny! Have you seen my new vial set? I could have sworn they were with the rest of my potions stuff but --"

"Kitchen table, Harry. You gave them to Mum so she could clean the shop dust out of them, remember?"

"Oh yeah!"

We stood grinning goofily at each other for a few moments. He looked so adorable. His black hair standing up on end, his glasses slightly askew, a barely noticeable flush to his cheeks. I desperately wanted to run to him and kiss him.

"Harry? Your vials?" Hermione prompted, glancing between to two of us with a smug look on her face.

"Vials, right. Well, I'll just ... right then," Harry mumbled and backed out of the room, blushing.

"HA!" Hermione exclaimed triumphantly. "You two will be going to Hogsmead together by Christmas!"

I giggled as Harry playfully rolled around so that he was on top of me.

"I do believe I have you trapped in a somewhat compromising position, Mr. Potter," I said teasingly.

"Oh? Who's got who trapped?" he retorted, leaning down and kissing me again.

A sudden thought occurred to me. I sat up quickly, almost head butting Harry in the nose. "How are we going to explain this?"

"Explain this? Ginny, I'm pretty sure no one has seen this or else I would have been ambushed by at least half of your brothers by now," he joked.

"No, no, not this! This! I mean, be being your ... girlfriend and all," I said shyly.

"Ah, that. Well, that's the whole problem." Harry sat back against the log and pulled me onto his lap. "Now don't get mad, but I think it would be best all around if we kept it a secret," he said hesitantly.

I stiffened in his embrace. "Why?" I demanded.

"Lots of reasons, Ginny. For one, it would be hard to explain, since as far as everyone knows, we're nothing but friends and don't spend an unusual amount of time together. And we're not exactly like Ron and Hermione," he said, grinning and shaking his head.

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Poor Harry," I cooed, laying my head on his shoulder. "It must be awful having your two best friends be in love and neither one of them willing to fess up to it."

"Awful, yes," Harry agreed. "But funny. That's not the only reason, though. You know me well enough, Ginny. My parents are dead, Sirius is dead, Ron and Hermione have been in danger because of me so many times ... It might not be wise to parade around the fact that I have a girlfriend."

"Cho was your girlfriend," I reminded him, feeling a small, sharp pang of jealousy.

"She wasn't really my girlfriend. Not like you are," he said, turning his face to smile at me. "Really, I hardly even knew her. I know you. And care about you, too. I don't want to cause trouble for you."

"Oh, Harry, I know what you mean," I reassured him, entwining my fingers in his. "And I guess you're right. Maybe we should keep it a secret ... for a while, anyway."

"You don't mind, then?" He asked, holding me a bit tighter.

"No, I don't mind." I did, just a little. "But ... what if someone asks me out? You know, on a Hogsmead weekend or something?" I asked impishly.

"Tell them you already have plans," Harry said firmly. "And then duck while I hex him into next week!"

I started to laugh the image of Harry jinxing some unfortunate boy in the middle of the Great Hall, but he cut me off with another passionate kiss.