The Dementors' Kiss

August the thirty-first came all too quickly, but the Weasleys at least had the luxury of setting off in the early afternoon for Diagon Alley. Just for a change, no-one lost their temper with anyone else as they packed their things, and apart from one minor incident when Fred tipped a whole box of Dr. Filibuster's fireworks onto George's head, everyone was ready on time.

"Now," Mrs Weasley said, having finished re-growing George's hair. "Same as before. One at a time, and don't get out until you see the others. George, you first."

"The girls are meeting us there," Fred whispered to Ron and Harry. "Can't wait to see what they think of George's new hairdo."

The boys grinned at the thought of George appearing in front of Katie and Alicia with his somewhat misshapen hair. Harry had a suspicion it would only make him that much more attractive, and gave out a half-exasperated sigh as he ran his fingers through his own unruly hair. He noticed Ginny looking at him with an impish grin on her face, and couldn't help but smile again. Ginny had amazing hair, he suddenly noticed. It was sleek, and smooth, and he could see that it was shifting colour in the glare from the fire. Did the other Weasleys have hair like that, he wondered? How come he'd never noticed Ron's hair do that?

He shook his head. He was starting to think like some silly romance novel, like the ones his Aunt Petunia sometimes read. He was glad Ron had already gone through to the Leaky Cauldron. He'd always been very protective of Ginny, as long as Harry had known him. If Ron thought for a second that Harry liked Ginny as anything more than a friend... It didn't bear thinking about.

As Harry stepped into the fire and threw his handful of Floo Powder -he was really getting quite good at it by now- he completely failed to notice Hermione looking at him very shrewdly.

*

A wonderful surprise awaited the Hogwarts students as they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. The teacher assigned to watch over this section of Diagon Alley, and ensure the students safe journey to Kings Cross the following day, was none other than Hagrid. Harry could barely conceal his joy at seeing Hagrid, who waved heartily at the group as he tried to retrieve Trevor the toad from the top of the teetering tower of trunks.

"Flaming toad," he greeted them, without a hint of rancour. "Found it in my teapot las' year. Least this time I won't be drinking frog flavoured tea for the nex' month."

With that, he swiped his hand across the top of the trunks, and snatched Trevor in mid spring. He reached across the crowded room - which seemed like nothing more than a cramped version of the Gryffindor common room - and deposited Trevor in the lap of his owner, Neville Longbottom. Neville looked up, having been lost in conversation with a pretty Gryffindor fourth year Harry and Ron recognised, but couldn't name.

"Daniella Spinnet," Ginny said from behind them. "She sits next to me in Transfiguration. She's a much better dancer than I am. I got them dancing at the Yule Ball, and it looks like Neville finally asked her out."

She pushed between Harry and Ron, and went over to talk to her friend. A few words passed between the two, and soon the two girls were hugging and laughing, while Neville looked on, half ecstatic, half embarrassed.

"Weird!" said Ron, as he and Harry dragged their trunks up to the pile. "Neville's got a girlfriend. Seamus too. Him and Lavender Brown have been together since Christmas."

Harry nodded absentmindedly as he looked around the crowded room. Neville and Daniella were together, Seamus Finnigan was sitting by a window with Lavender, and Fred was struggling to hold Angelina Johnson's attention while she, Katie Bell and Alicia fussed over George and his new hairstyle. As he continued looking, he realised that there were quite a few couples in the room, not to mention all the ones that would have formed in the other school houses, and between Gryffindors and members of the other houses.

"Y'know," Ron said, perching on the edge of a table. "I would have put money on you being the first to get a girlfriend in our year."

"Me? Why me?" said Harry, suddenly jerked back to the conversation he was having with Ron.

"Well, you know, famous Harry Potter and all that stuff. You had all the girls falling over themselves to go with you to the Ball last year."

"Yeah, well, we know how well that turned out," Harry replied, grinning ruefully. "The wrong girl, the wrong time... Hope there isn't a ball this year."

"You wouldn't want to ask anyone, then?" Ron asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Hadn't even thought about it," Harry said, wondering where Ron was going. "Besides, who would I ask? Listen, if you think that you have to set me up with someone just because Ginny got Neville a girlfriend-"

"Oh, no, it's not that," Ron said hurriedly.

"What then?" Harry asked. Just then, Hermione arrived with three Butterbeers, and the conversation was quickly forgotten, though Harry did notice, as he took his first sip, just how red Ron's ears had gone.

*

Dinner at the Leaky Cauldron was an even noisier event then Harry's meal with the Weasleys had been. Fred and Lee Jordan had a great time letting off a display of Filibuster's fireworks, while George moved around the room springing Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes on unsuspecting victims, many of whom surreptitiously became clients, much to George's delight.

"Ah, Harry," he said, pouncing as Harry stood to refill his plate. "I forgot to ask before. Tell me, did you like your birthday present?"

Fred paused in setting off a Catherine Wheel on the back of Angelina's chair, and turned to face his twin.

"Yeah, tell us, Harry," he said eagerly.

"Well, I didn't want to open it..." Harry began. "Without you here to watch!" he added hurriedly as he saw the identically hurt expressions on the twins' faces. He dived for his trunk, which still held the brightly wrapped present, and in doing so missed the identical winks that the twins exchanged.

Ron and Ginny, however, missed nothing, and waved Angelina, Katie and Alicia over to join them. Harry returned to find Fred and George pinned to chairs either side of his. Ron and Angelina held Fred down, while George was the prisoner of Katie and Alicia. Both twins looked a little apprehensively at the sparkly present in Harry's hands. As it lurched almost out of his grip, Ron nodded firmly.

"Mum told them not to send you that," he said to Harry. "She reckoned it would get you in trouble with those Muggles you live with. Sit down and open it," he added, nodding at Harry's chair. "It'll be okay."

Harry set the present on the table and looked around nervously. Taking his seat between the subdued Fred and George, Harry slowly peeled off the wrapping paper, uncomfortably aware that most of the room was now watching him. Then he remembered his decision to show what a true Gryffindor was made of, swallowed, and ripped off the rest of the paper in one sweep.

"Accio chair!" Harry felt the chair pull back from under him as the parcel exploded, and saw the air fill with sparks and streamers as he toppled back onto the ground. Everyone except Fred and George, who were still held in place by their captors, had ducked as the last of the paper came off, and the twins now faced each other with identical soot covered expressions of shock, which quickly turned to glee.

"Birthday Bombs!" Fred shouted, wrenching free of Ron and Alicia's grip. "Fourteen Sickles! Go off when they sense direct light. Perfect for surprise par- What is it, George?" he finished, turning on his brother, and then grinning as he saw where George was pointing.

"Well,

Harry looked up from where he was lying, prone on the floor. Sure enough, Ginny was standing above him, his chair in one hand, her wand in the other. She was blushing furiously as she looked from Fred, to George, to Harry, and back again. Harry found himself staring helplessly at her, as though the blow of hitting the ground had shaken something loose inside him.

Then, she turned and ran from the room, the chair clattering to the ground as she went. This triggered a chain of events, which included Angelina slapping Fred as hard as she could, and Hermione, Angelina, Katie and Alicia sweeping out of the room in Ginny's wake. Then Ron buried his fist deep in Fred's stomach, and Harry upended George's chair so that the twins ended up lying on the floor. Only Hagrid's intervention stopped them from ending up much worse off.

"Harry! Ron! Calm down," he ordered, shoving them roughly off into one corner as he swept the wounded Weasleys up with his other hand, and deposited them none too gently on the table. "As for you two..." he began.

Harry and Ron seethed in the corner as Hagrid spoke quietly to the twins. At the end of his lecture, Fred and George wandered aimlessly over to where Harry and Ron were sitting, and stood before them nervously.

"Seems as though we may have got a bit carried away," Fred said.

"We just wanted to apologise to you, Harry, before we go and let Ginny kill us," George added.

Harry glared at his two friends, but it was Ron who spoke.

"You know that that wasn't funny, Fred," he said. "You're such a git sometimes."

"Yeah, I think that's been made pretty clear," Fred replied. No one smiled.

"We'd better go and apologise," George said. For once, Harry was sure that the twins were being deadly serious.

As the twins trooped out of the room, Ron turned around, his face still bright red, and looked at Harry.

"You didn't have to get involved in that," he said, his voice under what Harry could tell was tight control. "It was a family thing."

"It already involved me," Harry said. "Look, I like Ginny, Ron. I'm not going to hurt her, I just want her as a friend. And when Fred and George made all that fuss, and when I saw Ginny's reaction... I just got angry, same way I do when Malfoy has a go at Hermione."

"Yeah, sorry... It's not like you're not a part of the family, anyway..."

Harry smiled at his friend's attempt at apology. "You think we should take some food up to the girls? They didn't finish dinner, after all..."

Ron grinned as Tom the landlord started wheeling out the first of a series of dessert trolleys. "Pudding," he said, making his way over to the sudden scrum of rejuvenated students.

"I heard Lavender Brown mention it once," he added, as he began piling a selection of desserts onto a tray. Harry got the idea, and began choosing from a second trolley.

A few minutes later, the two of them mounted the staircase Ginny had taken. Halfway up, they passed a very subdued Fred and George, who were sitting staring miserably at each other.

"They've not calmed down," George said.

"They're not mad at us," Ron replied, nudging his brother none too gently with his foot.

"Where'd you learn about the dessert thing?" Fred asked, as though from a great distance.

"Around," Ron replied, as he trod heavily on Fred's foot. Fred managed a watery smile.

"Our little Ronniekin's growing up," he said, but it was clear his heart wasn't in it.

Harry and Ron turned left at the top of the stairs, and approached the room shared by Hermione and Ginny. The door had an ominously closed look about it, and Ron and Harry could hear several female voices talking quietly beyond it. Harry knocked softly, and instantly heard Alicia shout "If that's you again, George Weasley, I'll make you wish you were never born!"

"It's, er, it's us," Harry said, exchanging worried glances with Ron.

"Oh." A chair scraped, and they heard someone walking toward the door. Hermione's voice came next. "Finite Incantatem," She said, and the door creaked open just wide enough to let them see her peering out at them.

"We, er, we thought you might be hungry," Ron said. "Er, is Ginny okay?"

Hermione looked quickly over her shoulder and turned back. "Thank you," she said. "She'll be okay, just a little bit tired with all the fuss today."

Harry and Ron decided to ignore the obvious lie, even when it was coming from Hermione. Ron set his tray down on a table next to the door, and nodded. "Right, well, I think we'll be off to bed now, eh, Harry?"

"What? Oh, yeah," Harry said. He'd been trying to look over Hermione's head and into the room, but reluctantly set his tray down next to Ron's. "Listen, tell Ginny that, well, I'm sure Fred and George didn't mean anything. Well, probably not. Um. Tell her we'll see her in the morning," he added, as Ron began to pull him away.

"I will," Hermione said. "Thanks again for the desserts."

*

"He'll hate me," Ginny sniffed, picking uninterestedly at the chocolate cake Hermione had set in front of her.

"Of course he won't," Katie Bell said. "Harry's not that kind of person."

"Yeah, there's only three people he hates," Angelina said. "Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, and Professor Snape."

"I don't think he's too fond of Fred and George right now," Alicia added, a malicious glint in her eye. Even Ginny managed a weak smile at that.

"Don't forget, there's one other person Harry really hates," Hermione added, absent-mindedly. The other girls shivered, and Ginny seemed to go even paler than she already was.

"Yeah, okay, point taken," Alicia said. "Well, Gin, there you go. Harry hates a few people, but you're not any of them."

Ginny smiled again. "You all know Harry so much better than I do," she said. "Why am I the one who feels like this?" She sighed and buried her head in her arms once again.

"Maybe because you're the only one who could, Ginny," Alicia said, sitting on Ginny's bed and laying a hand on her knee. "Us girls have been hanging around with Lee and the twins so long, it's hard to remember what normal boys are like."

"And he's been one of my best friends for four years," Hermione said. "I know him much too well to think of him like that." Katie and Angelina looked at one another over the top of Hermione's head and grinned on hearing that.

"Most of the other girls like him because he's famous," Angelina said.

"Or because he plays Quidditch," Katie added.

"But you know more about Harry than that," Hermione said. "He's saved your life, Ginny. That always creates a bond between two people. I remember Professor Flitwick saying once that it always affects those two people very strongly, like a special spell only they feel."

"Hey, if Hermione remembers it from a lesson, it must be true," Angelina said with a smile.

"So what does it mean?" Ginny said, suddenly looking up. "Because Harry saved my life, am I going to follow him around like this forever? I thought I had it all worked out. I actually got to know him a little this summer. It's just made things worse, and now you tell me I'm bound to him forever?"

The Gryffindor girls all looked at one another, squirming as they tried to think what to say.

"I don't know, Gin," Hermione said at last. "I do think you were on the right track, getting to know Harry. You just have to give it time."

"It's been four years, Hermione," Ginny said, quietly. "I don't know how much more I can take."

Katie, Alicia and Angelina got up to leave. As they were walking out of the door, Katie turned around, her expression one of curiosity.

"Gin, did you notice the way Harry was looking at you when he was on the ground?" she asked.

"That's true," Angelina said, turning in the doorway. "He couldn't take his eyes off you."

"Really?" Ginny asked, her head raising slightly off her arms.

"Truly," Angelina said. "I mean, okay, you'd just pulled his chair away from under him, so maybe he was concussed or something-"

"-but now you mention it..." Alicia went on. "He did look kind of... into you, Gin."

"Bet it was using that Summoning Charm," Katie said excitedly. "Just like he did against that dragon last year. That probably caught his attention."

"I made Fred teach me it after I saw him use it," Ginny confessed. Her expression had changed, a little. Not cheerful, nor hopeful, but it did admit the possibility that these possibilities existed.

"Of course, it might have been the way you looked, as well," Alicia opined. "Outlined against the fire, looking really powerful... A real attention grabber."

"Maybe he was just seeing you for the first time," Angelina said. "You know how it is, look at someone from a new angle, or after a surprise... Well, I think both of those apply here," she added with a grin.

After the older girls left, Ginny looked over at Hermione. "Do you think they're right? Or were they just being nice."

Hermione opened her mouth as if to reply immediately, then shut it again as she remembered what she'd seen in the Burrow, just before the Floo trip to the Cauldron. She turned the thought over in her mind, and then slowly shrugged.

"I think he has noticed you," she said, choosing every word carefully. "I'm not sure how much he still thinks of you as Ron's sister, or as his friend, or what. I'm not even sure if Harry is even thinking about going out with anyone. He tends to talk to Ron about that that sort of thing, I think. If he talks about it at all," she added, shrewdly.

"And Ron will never tell me anything. He thinks I'm too young to be going out with anyone. Sometimes I hate having so many older brothers. Mum's always telling them to take care of me. I just wish I could enjoy being fourteen. I turn fifteen in a few months, even. Ron's not that much older than me."

"If you like, I can have a word with Ron. He might tell me something," Hermione offered.

Ginny managed something close to a real smile. "Ron'd probably tell you anything you wanted."

"Well, he does tell me things..." Hermione began, not sure of what Ginny meant.

Ginny laughed, banishing, at least temporarily, her woes. "You're as bad as one another," she said enigmatically as she went to the bathroom to wash before she went to bed.

*

In Harry and Ron's room, the two friends were talking over the events of the day. They had covered most of the gossip - boys, after all, taking as great an interest in such things as girls do - when the conversation turned suddenly to the end of the evening.

"Reckon it'll take Fred and George 'til Valentines Day to get back in the girls' good books," Ron said, sleepily. "At least. Probably have to dress up as Cupid and sing a love song in front of the whole school. Maybe I'll say something about it to the girls..." he added, drowsily. He reached out to turn down the lamp on his bed stand.

"Ron," Harry said, suddenly. "What would you say if someone wanted to go out with Ginny?"

"Mmm?" Ron said, sleepily. "Did you hear Dean, then?"

"Dean! What- I mean, what did Dean say?"

"Oh, he was asking if she had a boyfriend and stuff. I set him straight. Told him Ginny was too young to start da-a-ating," Ron yawned. "That, and me, Fred and George would be watching any guy she started dating like a hawk. I think he lost interest after tha'," he finished, as he began to doze.

Harry lay awake, pondering what it was exactly that had made him ask.

*

The next morning, Harry and Ron were dressing for breakfast when Ron paused.

"Harry," he said, quietly. "Do you think Hermione is going out with Krum?"

"Haven't you asked her?" Harry said in surprise.

"Can't," Ron said shortly. "We keep on ending up arguing whenever I mentioned him. I hate it when we argue," he added, wholly unnecessarily.

Harry looked at his best friend, knowing that his long held suspicion had been correct.

"You want to ask Hermione out?" he asked.

"Shhhh!" Ron hissed. "Keep your voice down, will you?"

"Ron, it's not like anyone can hear me say it," Harry replied.

"Yeah, well, I just... You know what that lot are like," Ron said, gesturing vaguely at the door, and the rest of the Gryffindors on the other side.

"There's one way to find out if she'll go out with you," Harry said. Ron looked appalled.

"You can't mean ask her out," he said, his eyes widening in horror. "Suppose she says no? Or laughs at me? It'd be like last Christmas all over again. You said it yourself: That went well wrong!"

Harry laughed. "Well, I can't tell you if she likes you. Ask Ginny. In fact, just talk to Ginny, seeing as you're the only boy she's allowed to talk to."

"What do you mean? I don't mind Ginny talking to other boys."

"Just dating them," Harry replied, a little hotly.

"So? She's my sister. I'm supposed to protect her. Last thing mum says, every year; 'Look after your sister'. Why do you care, anyway?" he asked, looking at Harry shrewdly.

Harry's mind raced as he tried to think of something.

"Look, Ginny'll probably help you with Hermione, but only if you don't seem like you're trying to run her life."

Ron paused. "Yeah, maybe," he allowed, grudgingly. "But if anyone lays a finger on her..." he tailed off, pulling on his last shoe with a sharp tug.