Secrets Among Us

Secrets Among Us

PROLOGUE

The young man threw his quill down by the parchment for the second time since he started his Potions essay. He ran a hand through his unruly, dark hair and gave out a loud sigh and only flinched slightly when Madame Pince gave him a cold look. He was frustrated, hungry, and alone. His two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were spending time together as a couple now that Winter Holidays had finally come around. He wanted to be understanding, but most of his other friends were gone and he'd much rather be playing Gobstones with his friends than trying to figure out measurements for ingredients used in Shrinking Solutions.

The library was dead quiet and the young man was just about to pack up when a stack of books crashed into the empty seat next to him.

"Hey Harry," a voice spoke to him. He looked up and found none other than Ginny Weasley, his best friend's little sister.

"Hi Ginny," Harry Potter replied, a bit glumly. Ginny gracefully slid into her seat and leaned her cheek against her palm.

"Don't look so excited," she told him. "I thought I'd come over here to cheer you up. You looked kind of upset."

"Well, you would be too if you had a monstrous Potions assignment due and no one to distract you from it," Harry answered as he began to twirl his quill between his fingers.

"Well, I can."

"You can what?"

"I'll distract you," Ginny said, as if it were the most obvious solution.

"What about all your homework?" Harry asked, gesturing at her textbooks. Ginny looked at her books, to his books, and then back to her books again.

"It's not like I'm in an exact rush to start either," she told him, a smile forming on her face. "Besides, you look like you could use the company. I know that Ron and Hermione haven't exactly been...available to hang out."

Harry rolled his eyes and Ginny smiled at the action. She imagined it was a weird situation to have his two best friends dating; where did that leave him?

The two of them began to gather their books and set off from the library. They fell into an easy rhythm of talking back and forth, with no real serious pauses. Harry was surprised at how fast they'd ended up at Gryffindor Tower; he'd never had a real conversation with Ginny before and he'd begun to wonder why they hadn't done this sooner.

Harry and Ginny sat down in front of the fire as Ginny began to set up the Weasleys' battered Gobstones set. As they played the game, their conversation continued to go on. They both learned new things about each other and Harry was surprised at how much she was like her brothers; smart, and able to make him laugh.

The later it got, the more tired the two Gryffindors grew. After about the fifth time yawning, Ginny knew she had to pack it in for the night.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head up to bed," she said, as another yawn escaped her. She helped Harry put away their game and then she stood up to stretch out a kink in her back.

"Yeah, I think I'll go to bed too," Harry agreed, rubbing one of his eyes. "Do you want to go to the library to study tomorrow? I could help you with that Transfiguration homework you were talking about. I know McGonagall's essays are a bit tricky in sixth year."

"Sure, that would be great," Ginny smiled, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Well, g'night Harry."

"Night Ginny." His eyes lingered as she walked up the stairs, both of them thinking of one another.