Men Love With Their Eyes

Intimacy

Ginny smiled at Harry, her tired face lighting up. "I'm so glad it's you," she said, "I thought I might have to have another go at making Ron apologise."

He sat down beside her; taking up so much space that she turned in her seat and leant against the armrest of her sofa, her legs sitting in Harry's lap. He leant his head back against the sofa and sighed. Ginny looked at him curiously and said, "What happened anyway?"

Harry rubbed his temples with one hand and said, "Hermione didn't tell you?"

"She's been hiding in her dormitory for the last two hours. According to Lavender, not only does she not want to talk to anyone, she nearly cursed Parvati when she offered to get me. It's like second year all over again."

"Second year? Oh right--sometimes I forget that you're not..."

"I know. Anyway, what happened?"

"Oh nothing spectacular. Malfoy called Hermione a Mudblood, and Ron lost his temper, cause of everything else, you know, and punched him. Then Hermione started crying and ran away and Ron spent half an hour smashing pumpkins down at Hagrid's."

Ginny relaxed. "That's all," she said, "I thought it was something serious. They'll kiss first thing tomorrow morning and then we'll have two weeks of them acting like when they first got together. Think you can stand it, Harry?"

He laughed out loud, amused by her matter of fact summation of Ron and Hermione's relationship. Ginny waited for him to stop laughing before asking, "Did it bother you when they got together?"

He shifted uncomfortably and allowed one hand to rest in her ankle. "Maybe," he said. "A little. It felt like they didn't need me any more, you know, I mean, they didn't mean to, but sometimes I wished..."

"That you had something they didn't," Ginny said, her eyes keen. Harry nodded, feeling ashamed of himself. It was what she said next that surprised him. "But you see, you can't argue with fate. I used to drive Hermione up the wall with that, pointing out how they were meant to be together, even when she was convinced he fancied Padma."

Harry laughed. "Is that the 'meant-to-be-together' look you're talking about?"

Ginny's head snapped up and she looked at him in surprise. "How did you know about that?"

"Just something Hermione mentioned once."

"Oh. Well yeah. She swears she's going to get revenge on me one of these days."

"What kind of revenge?"

"Well you know--doing the same thing I did to her about Ron."

Harry grinned, thinking of several odd, smiling glances Hermione had sent to Ginny lately, and said, "Are you sure she hasn't started already?"

He felt Ginny tense up for a moment but all she said was, "I don't think so. She would have said something. Hermione's not the type to restrain herself to a few glances." They sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes and, just as Harry was considering going to bed, Ginny said, "So did you ever ask Susan Bones to Hogsmeade?"

He looked at her, surprised, and then she said, "You told Ron remember? And he told Hermione, who managed to tell me--in between expounding the basic principles of Arithmancy and asking me about Romanian magic."

"What do you know about Romania?"

"We visited Charlie there the year before I came to Hogwarts--me and Mum, and Dad."

"Oh. No, I didn't. I thought about it, but I don't really know her that well. Do you know her?"

"Not really. She's the one with the long hair isn't she?"

"That's every girl in Hogwarts."

"Fine. The one with the long hair that she always wears in a plait. She was in the D.A. Happy?"

He realised that he'd annoyed her. "So have you managed to browbeat Neville and Luna into perfect happiness yet?" Harry quickly said to soothe her temper.

Ginny raised an eyebrow and said very coolly, "I've never browbeaten anyone." She made to stand up, but Harry pressed her legs back down.

"Sorry. That's not what I meant."

She still looked irritated but she said, "Oh. Anyway, I think Neville might ask her to Hogsmeade this time, but he takes so long to conquer his nerves, it's hard to know."

Harry smiled at the idea of Neville and Luna and said, "So he doesn't fancy you?"

Ginny stared at him. "No. Why would he?"

Harry shook his head. "But he asked you to the Yule Ball."

Ginny laughed. "After Hermione. Not exactly proof that he adores me, is it? Anyway I only went with him because I knew no one> else was going to ask me."

Harry felt this to be a dig at him and said, "I'd have asked you!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry."

"I would have."

"After Cho, who you would have stared at all night, and we'd both have had a miserable time. Anyway, I remind Neville too much of his Gran."

Harry snorted. "Luna's the one who wears birds on her head."

He felt annoyed with himself and annoyed with Ginny for being right. They would have had a miserable, but it was galling that she thought it. He noticed that she was staring at him. "Does Luna fancy Neville?"

"Of course she does! Do you think I'd set Neville up for rejection? She thinks he's perfect--and clever and brave."

Remembering Neville's parents, Harry said, "Well he is."

"I know that! I wasn't saying he wasn't."

Harry didn't know what it was he kept doing wrong--there was definitely something. Ginny kept flaring up, but he couldn't see what it was for the life of him. He stroked her ankle slowly and said, "And you don't fancy Neville?"

Ginny's eyes were very wide and she swallowed before saying, "No. Neville and I have been friends for so long that it'd be like fancying Ron or something."

Oddly, Harry felt himself deflate a little at her words, but he clenched his hand around her ankle anyway.

Ginny said brightly, "So, we've established that we're both going to Hogsmeade alone..." Her voice trailed off and she stared into space, refusing to look at Harry. Her skin was very smooth under his palm and he flexed his fingers, liking the feel of it. He wondered if Ginny was ticklish; Ron wasn't but Hermione was, and Harry had always thought of it as a girl thing. He trailed his fingers over her skin very lightly - except for what might have been a gasp, she didn't react.

The common room was dark now; the fire was smouldering in the fireplace and they were the only people left awake. Harry knew he should go to bed--he knew that he should let Ginny go to bed but he didn't feel like moving. It was nice to sit in the dimly lit room with Ginny beside him--nice to be far away from his dormitory, Ron, and real life. Ginny, however, it being a month from her OWLs was in no fit state to enjoy quiet, warm, and dark contemplation and her head was soon nodding forward onto her chest. Harry had to shake her awake and send her to bed, though he himself was not sleepy.