The Secret Admirer

Chapter 2: Setting up Dates?

Ginny lounged in the common room, strumming her fingers on the scarlet chair she was sitting in. The rain was lashing against the windows outside, and she was bored.

She watched Ron and Harry play a game of chess, in which Ron was beating Harry.

"Make your move Harry."

"I am!" Harry insisted. "Just give me a second."

She watched Harry as he thought about his next move, watched the way his shoulder blade was arched and the way his green eyes were glazed with intent thought.

"Ginny," Harry said without looking up. "Please tell me that you have some of your brother's chess skills and can help me beat him again."

"You know Harry," Ron pointed out. "To beat me 'again' you have to beat me a first time, and I can't remember that ever happening."

"Just rack your brain and you'll remember once when I won." Ron thought for a moment then spoke,

"Nope. Must be such a long time ago that it has been erased from my memory. Now make your move!"

"Ginny," Harry muttered. "Help me."

"Look at your bishop," she instructed. "Then think about how you can move him."

Harry stared blankly at the chessboard, but then his face brightened and he made his move.

"Check mate."

Ron looked up at Harry. For a while, he concentrated on the board, but then he looked up at Harry then at Ginny.

"Okay, you won this one time," Ron mumbled, picked up his board, took it over to a table, and began to set it up again, presumably to practice more.

"How did you see that move?" Harry asked Ginny. She shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't know. Having a brother like Ron, who is obsessed with chess, I guess I picked up a few things about the game."

"How come you never play then?" Ginny shrugged again.

"I guess because no one asks."

****

Ginny listened on to the droning of Snape, who wouldn't shut up about Truth Potions, and their importance.

"Now class, please get out your essays that I assigned you last week."

Ginny opened her book bag and went to where she had placed her essay before. It wasn't there. She hurriedly rummaged through her bag. Snape was approaching her and she hadn't found her essay yet.

She began to panic when Snape was only a table away from her.

"Miss Weasley, where is your essay?" Snape stood in front of her, a hidden smirk on his face.

"I don't know sir," Ginny replied, in a low undertone, and bowed her head, so she wouldn't have to look of the satisfying sneer on Snape's face when he took house points away.

"You will be serving detention tomorrow night with Mister Malfoy, who also decided to lose his paper."

Ginny let out a breath. She may have received detention, but at least he hadn't taken house points away. Snape turned around.

"And that will be ten points from Gryffindor," he replied as if he had just read Ginny's mind.

Ginny groaned softly when Snape walked away. She began to think about what Snape had said before. You will be serving detention tomorrow night with Mister Malfoy, who also decided to lose his paper.

A detention with Malfoy?

Snape walked away from their desk. A small groan escaped from Ginny's mouth.

"Detention," she muttered under her breath. "This is just great."

****

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny asked at lunch.

"She's sick and in the Hospital Wing. She asked me to give this to you," Ron replied, his mouth crammed with his lunch. He handed Ginny a piece of parchment and she took it.

Harry looked at her with slight curiosity.

Ginny,

Madam Pomfrey says I have the flu. Nothing serious, but I will be in the Hospital Wing for a few days to rest.

While I am in the Hospital Wing, I am supposed to be helping Neville with a project for Herbology. Since Herbology is one of your better subjects, I would greatly appreciate it if you would meet Neville in the library seven o'clock on Wednesday.

Thank you,

Hermione

Ginny folded up the note and placed it in her pocket.

"What'd she say Gin?"

"Nothing. She just asked me to do a favor for her."

****

The next day Ginny couldn't stop thinking about Snape and her detention that night.

She sat in the common room waiting for eight o'clock, the time her detention would start, watching Ron in a corner doing homework and Harry mapping out Quidditch plans on a piece of parchment.

There was a pecking at the window, which was starting to get on Ginny's nerves. She turned around and saw that it was an owl, a school owl, with a letter. She opened the window, expecting the owl to fly to someone else, but it stayed in front of her, dropped the letter, and hooted.

Harry went to head up to his dorm, but stopped when he walked by Ginny.

"Who is it from Gin? Normal post is in the mornings."

Ron followed Harry and walked over.

"Let me see the letter. Charlie said he'd mail us, and I bet it's from him."

Ginny moved back away from them.

"Okay, Ron, this owl is for me. Harry, I don't know whom it is from. Now, I am going up to my room and taking the owl and the letter with me." Ginny held out her arm and the owl flew up and perched himself on it, his claws digging into Ginny's arm. She and the owl headed up towards her room.

****

She walked into her empty dorm room and the owl flew off her arm and landed on the bed next to hers.

Ginny sat on her bed and stared at the letter.

Open it...

Ginny's fingers fumbled to open the envelope. There was no poem this time. There was an actual letter. The writing was evenly spaced and the letters seemed to be formed perfectly.

Ginny,

I can't get you out of my head. I can't get you out of my dreams. When I close my eyes, I see you. After I sent these two letters, I had planned to stop, but now I can't get you out of my mind.

We can't meet. We just can't. I wish we could, maybe later. But, definitely not now. We can't.

Ginny stared at the letter. She still couldn't recognize the handwriting. She quickly heeded Hermione's advice and found a quill and an inkbottle and wrote a message of her own, right under his message.

Okay, so we can't meet. Can you at least tell me who you are?

Ginny

She tied the letter to the leg of the owl and muttered,

"Take this back to the person who sent me an owl." She knew the owl couldn't understand her, but the owl took off anyway.

Ten minutes later, the owl came swooping in and dropped another letter. His message was written right under hers.

I am -I can't say who I am. Maybe you could guess and I could say yes or no. Is that okay?

She madly scribbled back, feeling as if she could find out who he was at any moment

I could guess forever. Could you just please, please meet me somewhere? You wouldn't have to show your face, though you can, just let me know you're there. Just consider what I said please.

I have to go now, but please write back. Just try and meet me at eight o'clock Friday in the library.

Ginny

Ginny sent off the letter and sighed to herself. Then, she headed off towards detention.

A/N Okay, now to review, I am going to go back over the chapter and show what I did.

I had Ginny and Harry play a chess game kind of together.

I have Ginny helping Neville with a project

I have Ginny with detention with Draco.

See, I am setting her up with a lot of people, so you will have no clue who the admirer is!!

Now, about the chess game, I know I made Harry kind of stupid with his move, but that will all make sense later! Please review!