Sometimes You Just Have To Give It Up

Ginny skipped up the steps to her room, humming softly to herself. It had been a good day, Monday or not. She was in a great mood and she refused to let anything ruin it. She thought back on her life lately... It was going well, overall, despite a few bad points here and there. She was getting good grades. She had good friends. She was enjoying school. And, best of all--Harry Potter, the one boy she thought she would never have a chance with, was now one of her closest friends.

Of course, like everything else, there was a simple reason behind their friendship. They needed each other. Ginny never had been very social since her first year, which left her insecure and nervous about trusting anyone. Harry, on the other hand, had Ron and Hermione---but of course it was to be expected that since they were going out--Harry was left a little bit out of the loop. So- Ginny and Harry unintentionally turned to each other for solace.

The results of this friendship, in Ginny's opinion, were nothing but good. She had learned to trust people, and she had made more friends than she thought she ever would. Harry had found someone he could talk to about everything, someone who always supported him--- and someone who wasn't going out with his best friend.

Lately, Ginny noticed, their friendship had become more pronounced. They weren't just loose friends, but they were really friends. Close friends. They were together in most of their spare time, walking to classes, doing homework, staring at the fire saying nothing in particular-- always together. Ginny was absolutely thrilled.

I know it's crazy to even think about, and I probably shouldn't, since I have it so good now, she thought, but I wonder if he likes me. I mean, wow, that sounds really dumb and cliché, but yeah... I mean, he spends all that time with me and he always seems glad to see me and all... She wasn't quite sure what to think.

She sashayed around the room, dancing with an imaginary partner, daydreaming about Harry... Would anything happen between them? She stopped swaying abruptly as the door opened, admitting her good friend Candace-- but everyone called her Candy for short.

"Oh--hello, Candy," she said awkwardly, embarrassed to have been caught dancing around the room with no one.

"Hey, Ginny," Candy said enthusiastically. "What's going on? You thinking about Harry again?" Candy knew how much Harry and Ginny's friendship really meant to Ginny. Everyone else assumed they were "friends with benefits," or something to that effect. Candy knew that Ginny was curbing a deep love for Harry--- curbing it because she didn't want to ruin one of the best friendships of her life. And Candy knew that some nights Ginny cried herself to sleep from the pain that loving Harry caused her.

Ginny flushed, caught. "Aw... Sod off, you troublemaker," she said good-naturedly, knowing that Candy was just teasing her.

Candy, seeing her opportunity, started up again. "Dreaming about Harry, are you?" she said in a sing-song voice. "Harry, Harry, Harry..." Ginny launched herself at her friend, tickling her.

"Aghhh!! No, don't tickle, don't tickle!" Candy said in a childish voice. Ginny laughed and ceased her friendly torture.

"I'll teach you to tease me about stuff I can't help," she said, smiling slightly. Candy sobered abruptly.

Ginny sighed. "I know," she said reluctantly. "It's just... I mean, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love being so close to Harry, but it hurts at the same time. When you really love someone, you'll do anything to make them happy. And right now--I don't know what will make Harry happy. You know what I go through with him... Sometimes he's just so sweet that I know he likes me, and then there's other times where I think oh, well, maybe not. I just don't know."

Candy nodded sympathetically. "It's tough, girl," she said. "But trust me, I have a feeling. This is going to turn out all right."

Ginny looked sharply at her. "You have a feeling? Are you a Seer or something? And you didn't tell me?! What--" Candy cut her off.

"No, I'm not a Seer. Just--trust me on this. I think it'll turn out right." Ginny nodded. "Now c'mere, and give me a hug. Don't you have any faith in your closest friend?" Ginny laughed, and fell into the offered embrace.

"Thanks, Candy. I hope you're right."

~*~

Later that night Ginny lay in bed, wishing for sleep that wouldn't come. God knows she was tired enough but she had a variation of insomnia--Harry. Try as she might, she couldn't get him out of her head, nor could she think about just friendship--it was romance that was on her mind, and she was disgusted with it.

She wasn't against thinking about romance, but at two in the morning she felt that it was pushing it a little too far.

Sleep-- she commanded herself, trying to hypnotize herself with boredom. Sleep, sleep, sleep... She lay there with her eyes shut for a few moments, then opened them with a sigh. She turned over on her side and punched her pillow to fluff it up.

This has got to stop, she told herself firmly, then sighed again. How many times had she told herself that before? It never made any difference. She turned over again. It was going to be a long night.

~*~

Ginny jumped out of bed the next morning, far from awake, but definitely frantic.

Damn! She thought to herself. Of all mornings to wake up late. She absolutely had to get to breakfast- she had to have nourishment, and fast, because she had a big test coming up first thing that morning. She flew around her room, frantically pulling on clothes (Her robes ended up only draped around her shoulders).

Grabbing for the strap on her book bag, she raced down to the deserted common room, and ran the whole way to the Great Hall, which she entered gasping and clutching at a stitch in her side. Harry caught her eye and grinned, and she smiled back a little breathlessly, still wheezing from her run. She made her way over to Gryffindor table, sitting down between Hermione and Harry where they had saved a spot for her. Harry handed her a piece of toast and some pumpkin juice.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, chewing her way through the bread.

Harry grinned. "Sleep in late again, did you?!" he asked gleefully.

Ginny frowned at him. "Lot you know about it," she said grumpily. "I couldn't sleep until around three. It's pathetical, I'm telling you."

"Pathetical?" Harry said. "Is that a word?" Ginny shrugged.

"Probably not. Who cares? Don't be a beerger." Harry's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, now I'm a beerger? Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"

"Yes," Ginny said coldly. "I'm insulting you. Just because you don't know what the words mean doesn't mean you don't know when you're being insulted. Or you should know when you're being insulted anyway."

"Hey Gin, chill out. I was just teasing. Here, eat some eggs," he said, matching his words with his actions and handing her a plateful of scrambled eggs.

"You just redeemed yourself," she said, all smiles again, lifting up her fork and eating. Harry just looked on and grinned.

"Finished," Ginny said a few minutes later, pushing back her plate with a contented sigh.

"Good?" Harry questioned.

"Extremely," Ginny affirmed. "Thanks."

Harry nodded, then said, "I think we should get to class. We're pushing our time limits a little. You ready?"

"I guess," Ginny said, remembering her test.

"Cheer up, you'll do fine. You always do." Ginny smiled at him gratefully.

"Did I ever tell you you're a pretty good bloke to have around?" she asked him playfully. Harry shook his head.

"No, but it bears repeating. I don't hear it as often as I deserve it."

Ginny swatted at him. "Oh--you!! Full of humbleness, aren't you?" Harry laughed, and they left the Great Hall, on their way to their first class.

"So," Harry commented, "Did you hear about that last Quidditch League game? Cannons versus Kestrels?"

Ginny shook her head. "No," she offered. She wasn't really interested in Quidditch that much- she figured she had a right to not like it, since she had six brothers who filled that place quite well. "What happened?" she asked, interested because he was.

"Cannons got stomped, as usual," Harry grinned. He really had a great smile, Ginny thought. His eyes lit up and they were so sparkly. Green eyes... she mused. Great color, green is... She and Harry continued walking on in silence. She brought up a new subject.

"So, this morning, when I was trying to get ready," she began, getting Harry's attention. He didn't seem very interested, but he listened nonetheless. He always seems to do that, Ginny thought somewhat irritably. He always listens but he never seems to care.

Disheartened, she said "Oh--forget it," and continued walking on in silence. Harry didn't say anything, just nodded and walked with her.

Ginny continued thinking. Why does he do this, anyway? He used to be interested in what I said. And now we're closer than ever, and yet... It's like we're not. Like he's taking me for granted or something. Something... She glanced sideways at Harry. His face showed no emotion, good or bad. She sighed silently and turned her eyes down to her feet, which carried her to a class she didn't really want to go to.

Get over it, she ordered herself. It wasn't worth ruining a whole day over something she couldn't change in the least. She changed direction, heading right towards her class, with a quick "See ya later."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement. "Sure," he said, smiling quickly. A few minutes later Ginny entered her classroom, resolutely accepting the fact that yes- she had to get through this and she would live. That's doubtful, she thought, thinking of the hour ahead with no interest. She squared her shoulders and pulled out her books, stacking them on her desk.

Lunchtime found Ginny walking with a little more eagerness in her steps towards the Great Hall, ecstatic that her worst classes were over for the day.

She sat down at her seat by Hermione. "Hey, Hermione," she said, reaching for the nearest dish. "Where's Harry?"

Hermione smiled a hello. "He'll be along. He said he had to drop something off in his room, right Ron?" Ron nodded, his mouth full of chicken. Ginny turned to look as a flash of black caught her eye- sure enough, it was Harry half running into the Great Hall. He sat down by Ginny, catching his breath.

"Hey, Gin," he said somewhat breathlessly. Ginny smiled.

"Hey, Harry. How was your test in Divination?" Harry groaned and shook his head.

"Don't even ask." Ginny laughed. Harry turned to talk to Ron about the Cannons' defeat, ignoring Ginny. She sighed, somehow not surprised, and Hermione looked at her with questioning eyes. Ginny knew she had some idea what was going on, but she didn't really want to talk about it here in front of the boys.

"I'll tell you later, okay?" she said quietly. Hermione nodded, looking sympathetic, and picked up her fork, beginning to eat her lunch. Ginny chewed listlessly on an apple, not really caring whether she ate or not.

Finally Harry finished eating, and stood up, heading to Care of Magical Creatures. He paused by the doors of the Great Hall and turned back to see if Ginny was coming. With a sigh, she gathered her bag and followed his steps. Hermione gave her an encouraging grin and nodded. Ginny smiled weakly and turned to walk with Harry.

No words were exchanged between them as they walked out the front doors of the castle. Harry was humming quietly to himself, totally absorbed in his own world, and Ginny was still complaining to herself about all the unfairness in life.

"Have fun," Ginny said upon reaching Hagrid's hut. Harry smiled as she turned and left for her Herbology class.

~*~

And so it went. Every day seemed to be a repeat of the day before- Harry and Ginny were together most of the time, but Harry continued to be absorbed in his own thoughts and took her for granted, and Ginny continued to seethe to herself.

Finally, on a Monday early in November, Ginny had had enough.

"I quit!" she announced angrily to Hermione, marching into the other girl's room, courtesy of her prefect position. Hermione looked up.

"Quit?" she asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes," Ginny said emphatically. "I quit," she repeated.

"Quit what?" Hermione asked, having some idea of what was coming.

"I'm quitting--" Ginny gestured wildly around. "I don't know. Everything! Harry! Romance! Anxiety! Trouble! All of it!" Hermione grabbed at Ginny's arms, pinning them to her sides.

"Whoa, whoa, Ginny, take it easy. Calm down. Now, do you want to explain what you're talking about in a nice, sensible, sane manner?" Ginny gave a tight laugh, and sank down onto the bed beside her friend.

"It's Harry," she said dejectedly. "I'm absolutely sick of worrying about all of this with Harry. One minute he's sweet, the next minute I can't figure out why I waste the time. 'Coming to class, Ginny?'" she mimicked. "'So, Cannons got beat again,' 'Oh, you don't want to talk? Okay by me, I don't care anyway.'"

"Ginny..." Hermione sighed. "He's not that bad." Ginny shook her head furiously.

"No," she agreed. "No, he's worse. Why does he even bother walking me to classes if he couldn't care less about being with me? Or if he really does like being with me, why doesn't he treat me better?" She threw up her hands and flopped down on her back. "He's stupid, Hermione, and he's making my life bloody miserable!" Hermione looked down at her sympathetically.

"I don't know Gin, I really don't. I love Harry and he's great, but I can't figure out where he stands on this one. He's a boy, Gin, you can't expect to understand him. And what's worse is that he's Harry. Harry, who has all the problems in the wizarding world heaped on his shoulders. He's probably just as confused as you are."

"So what?" Ginny said angrily. "He's the boy! It's his job to figure this all out!"

"Uh uh," Hermione disagreed. "Maybe it's his job to do the actual asking, but you've got to act so obvious that he'll understand."

"Hermione, what else is there for me to do? I sit by him at all the meals. I walk with him to all our classes. I do my homework sitting by him. I wear his bloody socks more often than he does, dammit!" Ginny was working herself into a fury.

"Gin. Get a grip," Hermione ordered. "And that's not a request."

"Grip? Get a grip? When he's not making me hopeful for the impossible he's ruining my life!"

"That's a little strong, don't you think?" Hermione said mildly.

"No!" Ginny said. She paused for a minute. "I sound like a little kid, don't I." It wasn't a question.

Hermione nodded. "Just a little bit." She smiled sympathetically at the distraught girl. "Look, Ginny, I think you might have something there. You want to quit? Okay, quit. I think that might be the right thing to do. Just quit. Stay away from him for awhile. A week or two. Spend time with your other friends. Leave him alone, and see if maybe you can't fall for someone else." Ginny opened her mouth to argue. "No," Hermione said, continuing before she could be interrupted. "No arguments. I'm right and you know it. Trust me." Ginny shut her mouth.

"All right," she said, defeated. "You're right. Again. I'll leave him out of my life. Starting tomorrow. I'm tired of dealing with this, and if staying away from him will help- that's all I can ask for. I won't like him anymore. I won't."

~*~

Ginny woke up early the next morning and lay there enjoying the quiet. She felt different for some reason.

What's weird? She thought to herself. Oh yeah! She thought ecstatically to herself. I don't like Harry! I'm free!

"I don't like him!" she called to the sleeping room. Sleepy grunts answered her. A pillow came flying at her from the recesses of Candy's bed.

"Sh'dup!" she heard Candy's groggy voice commanding. She giggled silently to herself, slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom, planning on taking a long hot shower. Cleanse myself of my past, she thought to herself, covering her laughter with her hand. She was giddy with the relief that came with not worrying about relationships anymore.

I'm a free woman, she thought wryly. Free of anxiety, free of trouble, free of hurt- and free of romance. I don't know if they really balance each other out. She jumped into the shower, disposing of the discouraging thoughts.

~*~

Ginny skipped down to breakfast alone, not caring if Harry was still coming or had already left. She seated herself by Candy and some other girls in her year, ignoring the empty spot by Harry. Ron shot her a curious look, and Hermione smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Ginny grinned.

"Hey, what are you doing over here?" Candy asked curiously. "Does this have something to do with what you were yelling about this morning?"

"Quite possible," Ginny said mischievously. "It's exactly what I said this morning."

"I heard it, but I don't believe it," Courtney said, shaking her head. "Somehow I never expected to be woke up at five thirty in the morning by a half-insane girl yelling "I don't like him!" when she was actually referring to the boy she liked!" Ginny laughed.

"Even more," Courtney's best friend Tori continued, "I never thought that the half-insane girl would be Ginny Weasley- and I definitely never thought the boy she was referring to would be Harry Potter!"

"Can it be true?" Abby asked in mock awe.

"Oh- sod off, you," Ginny said happily. "Becky, I've always meant to ask you- where did you end up with a name like yours?" Becky laughed delightedly.

"My name is Rachel, short for Tanya. My friends call me Tracy. Or Crazy," she added as an afterthought. Ginny stared at her.

"Rachel, short for Tanya? Your friends call you Tracy?" Rhondy nodded, as though it made perfect sense. "Rachel, Tanya, Tracy, Becky..." Ginny shook her head. "You're insane," she informed the other girl.

"I've been called that too, " Becky admitted. "I answer to anything. Except for my real name."

"What's that?" Taryn asked curiously.

"Diana." Becky said without a trace of amusement, as though her numerous names were just as normal as most people's one.

"Diana?" Courtney asked. "That's strangely--normal." Becky nodded dejectedly.

"I know," she said. "Terrible, isn't it?" She giggled, and the rest of the girls joined her.

"We should get to class," Ginny said reluctantly a half an hour later. The girls had spent their breakfast eating, laughing and talking, and Ginny had completely enjoyed it. To think she had missed out on all of this to sit by a boy who didn't even care about what she said!

"Class?" Becky said, wrinkling her nose. "What a bore. Do you really think we should?"

"Now, Becky," Candy said admonishingly. "You know that History of Magic is very important. You never know when you might win a contest on the WWN by answering the question 'What deranged, nutty warrior defeated another deranged nutty warrior in the eighteenth century?'"

"Ned the Nutty," Ginny guessed. "1734."

"Chris the Crazy," Tanya offered. "In 1703."

"Drew the Deranged," Courtney said decisively. "In 1782." Becky stared incredulously at the other girls.

"How did you know that?" she asked, awed.

"Lucky guess," Ginny said, shrugging.

"Beginner's luck," Tanya said humbly.

"Unsurpassable brain power," Courtney said, buffing her nails on her shirt.

Candy broke in. "Unsurpassable brain power, my foot," she said, smacking Courtney affectionately on her arm. "That isn't the answer," she told a bewildered Becky. "There isn't an answer."

"Then how did they know those people and the dates?" Becky asked, still not catching on. She shook her pretty blond head. "I guess I have to study more," she said reluctantly. "I do so hate to study," she said mournfully

Candy and Ginny laughed. "Come on," Ginny said, pulling the other girl's arm. "We have to get to class."

"All right," Becky said thoughtfully. "Maybe I could hypnotize myself into knowing all that stuff. Then I could win that radio contest. That'd be fun..." Candy rolled her eyes.

"There are blondes," she informed the others, "and then there are blondes." Shaking her head, she led the way to Professor Binns' classroom.

Ginny looked back at Harry. He looked a little bewildered, but the expression on his face was quickly replaced with his normal, uncaring look, as he shouldered his bookbag and headed for his first class. Ginny smiled to herself. Life was so much better without a boy complicating things.

~*~

Lunch rolled around, and this time Ginny was in a much better mood. She had spent the whole morning with her friends, enjoying their company and reveling in the fact that she no longer depended on Harry for her happiness.

"Pick up the pace, girls!" Candy called over her shoulder to Courtney and Tanya, who were lagging behind, giggling about something.

"Really, Tanya, Courtney," Ginny said admonishingly, hiding a smile. "Have some respect, and include the rest of us in your conversation!" The two girls looked up and laughed at the three girls in front of them.

"Shoo, shoo!" Tanya said teasingly. "We're sharing secrets here! You can't be around if we're talking about you, can you?"

"Really?" Rhondy said with avid curiosity. "What are you saying? Rumors? I bet if you told me I'd learn some stuff I didn't know about myself." The other girls shouted with laughter.

"You're awful, Becky!" Ginny said, giving up all pretense of a straight face. Becky shrugged.

"Thank you, I think," she grinned. The other girls doubled over.

"Becky, you're such a blonde!" Candy gasped. Becky looked dismayed.

"Is that a bad thing?" she said, looking at the other girls. "I mean, I try my best, but is that bad...?" Tanya gasped for air.

"Wow," Courtney said, sucking in a huge breath of air. "Nobody told her she was supposed to be smarter than a rock!"

"A rock?" Becky said, looking bewildered. "But I thought rocks didn't have brains?"

"God, Becky!" Ginny said, still laughing. "You're great!"

"First I'm awful, now I'm great," Becky complained. "Which one am I?"

"Trust me, Becky," Tanya said, getting hold of her sanity. "You don't want to know. Just forget it."

"Forget what?" Becky grinned. "Come on guys, we're late for lunch. Pick up the pace, girls!" she called as she ran off towards the Great Hall.

~*~

Ginny sighed happily as she settled into bed a few nights later. The whole time had been absolutely awesome, and she was thrilled with her new friends. Granted, she had been friends with them before, to some extent- but she'd never taken the time to get to know any of them other than Candy.

All four girls had great senses of humor, and were a blast to be around. Becky, obviously, was the blonde of the group, although Ginny was pretty sure she was smarter than she let on. Becky was a petite blonde of five foot two, both mentally and physically, and her hair was just past her shoulders.

Courtney and Tanya were best friends who were pretty much exactly alike- slightly ditzy, but in a good way--they were interesting, and funny. Courtney was about five foot five, and had perfectly straight jet black hair that reached mid-way down her back, a pale complexion, and blue eyes that almost hurt to look at, they were so bright. Tanya was the same height as her friend, and had tan skin, green eyes, and curly brown hair that reached to her shoulders,

Candy was the last of the group, and just as fun loving as her name sounded. She was a Californian exchange student, and she had extremely blonde hair, like Becky, except her hair was long and stick straight, down to her waist. Ginny was extremely jealous of the thick blondeness of her friend's hair, despite her own waist-length fiery red hair. Her thoughts turned to other things.

Harry's reactions lately are great, she thought to herself, grinning into the darkness. She thought back to the biggest reactions she had seen since she had started staying away from him. When Ginny had rid herself of her feelings for Harry, she had never counted on him getting jealous, which was exactly what he had done.

Ginny hardly talked to Harry anymore. She ate, walked, talked, did homework, and spent all her time with her four newest friends, and rarely talked to Harry, whom, she noticed, had begun to look extremely put out by the fact. At first he had seemed fine with being alone, and, Ginny admitted grudgingly, had even seemed a little relieved to be free, just as she had.

However, she noticed that as time went on, his actions had changed. Now, instead of cheerfully walking to class on his own, he would cast a baleful look in the direction of Ginny and her friends and walk slowly out of the Great Hall or Common Room, looking over his shoulder to see if she was coming along. She never followed him, or even acknowledged that she knew he was ever present. In short- she ignored him unless the situation pretty much demanded communication between the two of them.

Ginny smirked. She was far from a girl that liked to lead boys on, but after all she had dealt with while she liked Harry--she was kind of enjoying Harry's discomfort. Ginny smiled, and rolled over to go to sleep.

~*~

"Ginny?" Harry said hesitantly. Ginny turned around, finishing what she was saying to Candy.

"- It's just a huge relief, you know? I don't worry anymore. Everything's so much easier--What, Harry?"

Harry wasn't sure what to say, since he wasn't entirely sure that her conversation hadn't been about him.

"Uh--erm, well, could I talk to you for a minute?" Ginny looked perplexed, and was that a frown that he saw flash across her face?

"Sure Harry." She turned to Candy. "I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

"Sure," Candy nodded. "Good luck!" she mouthed as Ginny turned to follow Harry. Ginny rolled her eyes and gave the other girl a small smile.

~*~

What's he want? she wondered. Why is he seeking me out after three weeks of practically no talking? Why now? Why not earlier, why not later? Why at all? She followed him, more insecure thoughts running through her head. She wasn't sure what to think.

She was absolutely sure that she didn't like Harry anymore, and yet, now thoughts of what Harry might be about to say were flashing through her head and she was finding- that she wasn't against the idea of liking him again at all.

"So-" Harry said awkwardly, leaning against the wall in the corridor.

"So--what?" Ginny asked hesitantly, wondering what was coming.

"So--" Harry sounded flustered. "So- Could I borrow your Arithmancy notes?"

"Arithmancy?" Ginny frowned, thrown off. Harry wasn't in Arithmancy.

"Yeah, Arithmancy," Harry said, sounding a little exasperated. Ginny looked at him oddly.

"Right, right... Arithmancy. What was I thinking? What else could you have wanted to talk to me about, right? Sure, I'll get them for you, hang on... Don't know what I was thinking..." she trailed off, turning to the Fat Lady and entering the tower again.

Her mind was in turmoil- she had thought Harry was going to get a clue and straighten things out between them about their relationship, but of course he hadn't.

Stupid, she said, smacking her forehead with her palm. You are stupid, stupid stupid--Of course he wasn't going to talk to you about a relationship, even if he was going to, and you went and got worked up about it- Now you'll have to stop liking him all over again. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

"Er- Ginny?" Candy asked in an amused voice. "Why are you repeatedly hitting yourself on the forehead?"

"What?" Ginny said, coming back to reality with a thud as she walked into the table Candy was sitting at.

"Head. Hand. Connecting," Candy explained as though she were talking to a two year old. "Why?"

"Agh--never mind," Ginny said disgustedly. "Just hand me my Arithmancy notes, all right? Don't ask any questions." The laughter left Candy's eyes. She looked at Ginny with concern.

"Right, calm down. You can tell all when you're ready to. Here's your notes," she said, handing the folder to the other girl. "What do you need them for?"

"No reason," Ginny muttered, turning around and walking out of the portrait hole again. Harry was leaning against the wall waiting for her.

But wait, her brain suddenly reminded her. Why in the world did he bring me out here to "get Arith-"

"Um, Gin?" Harry asked, interrupting her thoughts. Ginny shook her head, clearing all ideas of reconciliation from her mind.

"What?" she asked, holding out the folder of notes. Harry took it and flipped through it.

"Thanks," he said. "This is exactly what I needed."

"You're welcome," Ginny turned to leave again.

"Wait- Gin-" he said haltingly.

"What, Harry?" Harry shrunk back.

"Well- I mean, that is- um,"

"What?" she said, clearly about to leave. Harry seemed to draw courage from deep inside him. He took a deep breath and continued on.

"I- that is, I've- I've missed you, the past few weeks," he said, letting out a breath. Ginny looked at him.

"Oh? Took you awhile to realize you actually did enjoy being around me, did it? Well look, Harry, I'm not going to come running back to you just because you missed me. When I did spend time with you, you couldn't have cared less about what I said or did, you just completely took me for granted."
"Ginny-" Harry pleaded.

"How do I know you wouldn't do that again, Harry? How do I know that you're just missing something you took for granted, and that as soon as you get it back again you'll go back to taking me for granted? I don't think so. I deserve better than that, even you can admit that."

"Ginny, I'm sorry," Harry said, cutting into her spiel. "No, look, I really am sorry. It just took you leaving to get me to understand that I really do value your friendship, and I miss you."

"Friendship? Is that all?" Ginny said coldly. Harry looked confused.

"Friendship, yes... I go crazy just around Hermione and Ron, I mean, I feel like a third wheel, and you went with me perfectly-" The minute he said it he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Ginny advanced on him, eyes flashing.

"Third wheel? I went with you perfectly? What do you think I am? Just some loser that you own and can pick up and dispose of at your own convenience? I don't bloody well think so, Harry."

"Wait, Ginny, I'm sorry-"
"You seem to be saying that a lot today," she interrupted him.

"But I am," Harry said, his temper running thin. "I'm sorry about everything Ginny. This isn't fair of you to not even let me get out what I want to say-"

"What makes you think you deserve that chance?" Ginny snapped.

"I do," Harry shot back.

"You're not proving it," Ginny said rudely.

"You're not giving me a chance."

"You don't bloody-" Harry cut her off mid-sentence by sealing her mouth shut with his own. She stiffened, and then responded, kissing him back. A minute later he pulled away, breathing shallowly.

"I love you, Gin," he said softly. "I'm sorry it took me so long to figure that out. I've missed out on a lot of time I could have spent with you as more than just a friend who I half ignored."

"Generally speaking," she said, still a little irked with him for the way he had treated her.

"I said I was sorry," he said quietly. "Won't you forgive me or do I have to get down on my knees and beg for you to be my girlfriend?"

Ginny gaped at him. "Girlfriend?" she sputtered. Harry nodded.

"Please?" He only said the one word, but it held more feeling than she'd ever heard in any of his conversations with her. She nodded her head slowly.

"Okay." It was all she said, but it was enough.