Menace

Chapter Two

Harry stormed out of the house, ignoring the catcalls he got from some of his friends as he looked furiously around for Ginny. He swore loudly when her trail disappeared and he couldn't see her, and he moved through the throng of people, looking towards the lake. A small movement to one side of it made him narrow his eyes. There she was, heading home and thinking she was safe, no doubt.

He started to go after her when a hand descended on his arm. "Going somewhere?" Charlie asked him, raising one eyebrow knowingly.

"Going to try and stop me?" he asked, his voice hard.

Charlie shook his head. "I'm not suicidal, even if my sister appears to be. Just a word of advice," he said, looking serious. "Don't do anything stupid and don't you dare hurt her. I may not be able to fight you on my own, but there are a lot of accomplished wizards here, and most of them are friends with Ginny. If I asked them to, they would defend her."

Harry looked taken aback, frowning at Charlie. "Are you threatening me?" he asked incredulously.

"If you hurt Ginny, yes I am."

The taller man slowly nodded, giving a wry smile. "I'm not going to hurt her, but she is going to pay for all these little 'accidents' that have been happening," he said, cocking his head to one side. "Any objections?"

Charlie shook his head. "Like I said, don't hurt her."

"I can promise to try not to hurt her," Harry said, grinning cockily.

"Not good enough. Tell me what you have planned."

"I hadn't really planned anything, to be truthful. I just thought I'd play it by ear, although that spanking hex of Ron's is pretty tempting," Harry said, shrugging.

The other man nodded, his eyes darkening. "That's pretty much what I thought. You and Ron are a lot alike. But as far as I'm concerned, that would constitute hurting her. Oh and Harry, you can't use your hands either. You can't hex or hit her... period."

"Oh come on!" Harry said in exasperation. "You can't be serious. I can't even use a spell to brand her backside?"

"Nope."

Harry stared at him for long seconds, debating what to do. He could just go ahead and spank the daylights out of her, but then Charlie would probably never speak to him again, and they had been friends for some years now. He didn't want that to happen. Taking a harsh breath he nodded.

"Okay, I won't use the hex on her."

"Promise?"

"Dammit!" he said, frowning with disgust. "Okay, I promise. I promise I won't use it on her today."

"Meaning that you will some other time?" Charlie asked, grinning at Harry's taut expression.

"Maybe," Harry said, shrugging and then returning the grin. "You have to admit she deserves it."

Charlie shook his head. "I said no, Harry, and no, she doesn't deserve it. She hasn't done anything to you on purpose. You just don't want to believe that they could all be accidents. But they are, Harry. She's just a little...clumsy."

"A little?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows. "She's a lot clumsy and you know it."

"Then maybe you should try staying out of her way?"

"Merlin, I try. She has a knack for finding me, even when she's not looking," Harry muttered, looking down at his drenched outfit and swearing. His eyes met Charlie's again and he gave a feral smile. "I am going to get her back for this, and you can't be there every second of the day."

"True," Charlie said, nodding and raising his eyebrows, starting to look resigned to his sister's fate. "Why can't you two just get along? My life would be so simple then."

"Why would you want a simple life?" Charlie's wife, Rebecca asked as she came up to him. Her enormous bump making her movements slow.

Charlie wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I just want Harry and Ginny to stop fighting for once."

"Fat chance!" she said, laughing at Harry's appearance. "Went for a dip did you?"

"Courtesy of your sister-in-law, yes," he said fiercely, scowling.

"And he wants to get her back for it," Charlie said, pursing his lips as he studied the taller man who was positively vibrating with rage now.

"But...he's not going to, right?" Rebecca said, biting her lip and looking worried.

Harry looked disgusted with the whole business and brushed back his wet hair once again, shooting a hard look at Charlie. "Not according to your husband, but he isn't around all the time, now is he?"

"Harry, don't...er...look, Ginny is already scared of you, it wouldn't be a good idea to..."

"Scared of me?" Harry asked, looking at Rebecca with faint shock.

"Well of course she's scared of you, look at the size of you!" she said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, okay I'm a bit bigger than her, but I've never done anything to make her scared of me," he said, not liking the idea of Ginny feeling that way, for some unknown reason.

"Apart from bellowing at her all the time, chasing her up trees, throwing her in the lake, threatening to rip her head off... gee, no, nothing there to scare her," Charlie said, grinning and cocking his head to one side as he watched Harry's reaction.

"I didn't..." he started slowly, looking like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer hex. "She never said anything."

"To you? Why would she? You're the one she's scared of remember?" Rebecca pointed out, raising her eyebrows at him.

"This is ridiculous!" he said, fiddling with his hair again. "She's just... it's not like I'm going to actually... dammit!" he snarled and walked off. Charlie was glad to see it was into Ron's house and not towards his, he didn't want Harry getting his hands on Ginny, at least not until she was more prepared.

Rebecca looked up at him and smiled. "You can't protect her forever, you know," she pointed out gently.

"I know. It's just...why did she have to choose Harry Potter to piss off? There are thousands of wizards out there who she could irritate, but she chooses the most temperamental man she sees." Charlie shook his head. "I guess he's going to get to her sooner or later, and I won't be able to stop him."

"Don't worry so much," his wife said, smiling when he looked down at her huge stomach and patted it affectionately. "You have other things to be thinking of at the moment!"

Harry changed into jeans and a T-shirt and towel dried his hair, frowning as he thought of Ginny. He seemed to do little else nowadays, he thought, the frown getting worse. If he didn't stop his face would stay like this permanently. Giving an impatient growl, he slammed out of his room and walked down the stairs, giving a reluctant smile when Fred and George Weasley came in the front door, flashing him identical dazzling white grins.

"Potter," they said in greeting, still smiling as Fred cocked his head to one side and studied the anger that was still apparent on his face. "Something wrong?"

"No," Harry said a little too fast, then let his shoulders slump comically when Fred's grin got even bigger.

"We know you too well, mate. Come on, tell Fred and George all about it," Fred invited, folding his arms over his chest and waiting.

"Why the hell is it that you two and Ron all think you have a right to know every single little thing about my life?"

George shrugged. "We're your mates, that's why."

"Yeah, well, that gives you no rights at all," Harry grumbled, moving past the twins and heading into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of butterbeer from the refrigerator and pulling the cap off.

"Hmm, being a little...secretive, are we?" George said, narrowing his eyes.

"Let me see if I can guess. Does your present bad mood have anything - anything at all - to do with our ickle sister?" Fred asked.

Harry shot them a disgusted look and took a long swallow of the butterbeer. "I suppose every single person out there knows all the details of our latest encounter?"

"Hardly surprising, what with you stalking through the crowd dripping wet and with murder in your eyes." Fred pursed his lips and perched on a stool.

"Why don't you just have a little word with her?" George asked.

"Because Charlie won't let me anywhere near her! And believe me, when I do get near her I won't be doing any talking," he said in a hard voice, gritting his teeth.

The twins both laughed, studying their friend. "I'm guessing someone's backside will be plenty red when you're through with her." George replied.

"If I can get close enough," Harry said, nodding in agreement. "Then I'll get a real apology out of her and maybe even a promise that she won't come near me again!"

"Charlie doesn't want you to hurt his baby sister, neither do we," Fred said, and Harry knew that he had known everything all along.

"But there are other ways." George elaborated.

"Yeah, like what?"

"You're the-boy-who-lived, you work it out," George continued, patting him on the shoulder while Fred nodded knowingly and then motioning for his twin before leaving the kitchen, whistling through his teeth as they went.

Harry sat for a while, thinking about what the George had said. What the hell had he meant by that? He finished his drink and sighed, knowing he was going to have to find them and ask, and also knowing that they would be enjoying his discomfort and fully expecting him to seek them out. That meant that they would be hard to find. He wasn't in the mood right now, he thought, and he slammed the empty bottle down on the work surface, walking outside when he heard some cheering going on.

Ron was handing Hermione into a limo, about to leave for their honeymoon, so Harry moved over to the driveway where he could say goodbye again. He gave Hermione a dazzling grin, which set her off laughing and then rolled his eyes, shaking Ron's hand.

"Have a good time, and don't do anything I wouldn't do," Harry told him, getting a wicked smile from the redheaded man.

"That means I can pretty much do whatever I like, then. Take care of our house," Ron told him, raising one eyebrow. "And don't kill Ginny."

"I can only tell you I'll try," Harry said, shrugging.

"Good enough. See you, mate," Ron punched him gently on the shoulder and ducked into the car with a final wave to the assembled crowd, then the car moved away and Harry found himself in charge of the party.

Ordinarily he would have enjoyed a good party, but he didn't drink anymore and Ginny had put him in a foul mood. Which, he thought with resignation, meant he had to fake being happy so everyone else had a good time. Dammit. Of course, if Ginny came back he could guarantee he could make his mood better, simply by tanning her hide. Other ways of punishing her popped into his head, and each one was progressively worse than the last.

He was so lost in thought he didn't see the twins come up next to him and watch the car drive off, their identical hazel eyes looking at Harry with amusement. "Haven't figured it out yet, huh?" George asked.

Harry started at the sound of his voice and looked at him blankly. "Figured what out?"

"How to punish that stunning witch without hurting her," Fred said, smiling and then narrowing his eyes.

"Merlin, you must have lost your touch, or have you forgotten how to make a woman beg?" George asked.

"Beg?" Harry asked, frowning. "You can't mean..."

The twins nodded in unison. "That's exactly what we mean. You want payback, you want an apology, get her to the point of begging and she'll say anything you want her to. You know that as well as we do." Fred answered.

"We're talking about Ginny, your little sister..." Harry reminded them, thinking back to the times he had made women beg for his body. It hadn't been all that difficult, but he hadn't felt the need to humiliate anyone for a very long time, and the times he had didn't sit well with him anymore. He had done it purely for amusement, and nearly always when he had been drinking, but he had never done it to make someone say something he wanted to hear.

"Yeah, so?" George said, raising his eyebrows.

"Little sister or not, she's a woman isn't she?" Fred put in.

Harry shook his head taking no notice of the fourth figure looming in the darkness. "She's just a kid, she's family," he murmured, trying to blot the sudden image of a naked Ginny out of his head. He could only imagine what was beneath her underwear, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

Family. Draco Malfoy halted at the word just as he was about to butt into the conversation. It was a word Draco had tried in vain to drive out of his mind. The idea of it all seemed so distant, too painful to recall. What had happened years ago, when his heart was still blackened with evil and Mein Kampf-ish ideals of purity, when he was a vastly different person, had driven the comfort of the word from his mind. Pureblood was always a necessary term to burn into his brain, it was a part of his upbringing, it was indoctrinated into him as naturally as grooming, dark arts and hate, something that his mother had never been able to stomach fully. His mother. He tried not to think of her, but the last sight of her, the night she died, haunted him. It was her eyes, those lifeless, wide eyes. They never allowed him a moment of reprieve.

* * *

"Pumpkin Juice! That's what I need!" the boy said happily as he stepped out of his room, closing the door quietly behind him. He walked silently down the hallway, the soft blood red carpet squishing under his feet. He reached the dark butler's staircase and slowly began to descend to the kitchen below when he heard a sound that pierced through him like shards of glass making his blood run cold. He stopped frozen in his tracks and listened intently.

"NOOOOO! PLEASE" he heard his mother scream. The fear in her voice sent shivers down his spine. He began to run down the remaining steps, daring not to call out to her and passed through the doorway to the dining room, only stopping just before the opposite door into the parlour when he heard the sound of another voice, a familiar voice, the voice of someone he knew. He quietly got down on his stomach and peered through the crack beneath the door. He gasped and quickly clapped his hand over his mouth at the sight of his mother laying six feet away. Her head was turned to one side, eyes agape and pupils distended, looking into his. Her face was permanently fixed with a look of distinct horror. There was no sign of breath. No sign of life. She was dead.

The man began to speak, his drawling voice full of animosity and anger. "You will head to Figg's now, and begin the steps to lure Potter away from his home. Use the Polyjuice Potion to impersonate her for his arrival tomorrow night. I will take shelter in the woods behind the Play Park and use the boys to lure him to me, and there! There is where we shall have our revenge on Potter! My Master will be so pleased. He will reward me beyond my most euphoric dreams."

Another voice spoke; also familiar, which the boy could not place. "Could we not use your son, would he not come in - useful?"

"No," Lucius snarled. "The boy is treacherous and must die. He will betray his bloodline, and align himself against the Dark Lord. It was foretold to his mother, in a prophecy, which she so handily kept secret."

The man's attention turned to the lifeless woman on the floor as his foot drew back and kicked her in the side. The cracking sound of her bones echoed the room under the dull impact of his foot.

"I will put an end to that ungrateful FILTH. GO NOW!"

Deliberate footsteps drew nearer as the boy jumped to his feet and proceeded to run. Being not so sure footed in the dark room caused him to fall down to the floor. He leapt up and turned, but it was too late. The hooded figure stood over him, breathing down his neck and calling for his death. The boy had seen that sinister smile before, as he bore it himself. It was not one of insanity. The man before him was fully composed, and had a task to complete.

"I always knew something was wrong with you, sickly and weak, feelings and disobedience. I should have left you on a windswept crag to die, but SHE wouldn't have it." His voice came even and unstrained, the words rolled off of his lips like poetry as he spoke. "I tried to make you right, but I knew you'd always be a disgrace!" he stepped backward and raised the wand high above his head.

"PLEASE FATHER! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I WILL STAND BY YOU! I WILL BE A LOYAL SERVANT TO THE DARK LORD! PLEASE! I LOVE YOU FATHER!" The boy pleaded, his white cheeks stained with tears as fear danced in his pale grey eyes.

"LIAR! FILTH! SCUM! YOU ARE NO SON OF MINE!" the man roared. "AVADA KEDRAVA" his father roared again, as his wand came down in one long motion sending bright green light toward the boy's chest.

"Protego," Draco managed to whisper before the spell hit him, sending him off of his feet and across the room where he landed on the corner of the sideboard and fell to the floor. He felt the man kick his side, and the distinct loud cackle of his evil laugh as he faded into bright white light.

The boy opened his eyes and sat upright, he was in a bed in the hospital as a pretty medi-witch in a green uniform turned to him. "You need to take it easy, you've been through quite an ordeal." she said softly.

"THEY'RE GOING TO KILL POTTER! ALBUS DUMBLEDORE - I NEED TO SEE ALBUS DUMBLEDORE IMMEDIATELY!" Draco Malfoy yelled as the medi-witch turned and hurried off down the corridor.

* * *

That night had been so long ago, years, even before the final battle. After witnessing his mother's murder a new man emerged, a new heart grew from the misery and torture of the past. Now he was here with his friends, the men that had welcomed him, though reluctantly, into their small circle. Draco shook the memories from his head and veiled his thoughts, as was his nature, behind cool sarcasm and honest retorts. Potter will never change, he thought, noting Harry's dismissive comment of Ginny being a kid.

"A kid? She's got all the packaging as far as I can see," Draco finally butted in as he banished his wayward thoughts. He laughed inwardly at Harry's murderous expression as he pushed himself off the wall of Ron's house. Draco had known Ginny since she was a child, just as Harry had and he had never thought of her as anything else. Harry didn't know that though, and Draco was enjoying stirring things up because it was blatantly obvious to everyone, save Harry, exactly what he actually did think of Ginny.

"See... Young Malfoy here isn't daft." Fred said amicably.

"Well at least not in that respect." George added, clapping the blonde on his shoulder in friendly fashion as Draco rolled his eyes.

Harry looked at the shorter blonde man and scowled. "You shouldn't have been looking!" he snapped, not liking the thought of Draco raking her with that lustful glance he'd patented.

Draco's eyebrows shot up and he grinned. "Getting possessive are we?"

"Have you got some claim to her that you haven't told us about?" Fred and George said in unison then grinned at one another.

"No!" Harry snarled, hating the way he was feeling and not knowing how to cope with it. He did feel possessive about her, and protective, and he had never realised it before now. The thought of someone else treating her as badly as he wanted to made him furious, and that fact shocked him. He brushed his black hair back from his face and scratched his chin. "I need a drink," he said finally, grimacing.

Draco laughed. "Got you twisted in knots hasn't she?" he said, shaking his head.

"I guess that means you won't be using sexual torture to extract an apology then?" George inquired.

"Pity that." Draco said, smiling at the twins.

"What is this a conspiracy?" Harry asked. "I told you, she's just..."

"A kid, yeah, we know, but she isn't, Potter, not anymore, and you damn well know it," Fred murmured, smiling sardonically as they all walked away.

Harry stood there and watched them go, trying in vain to stop his mind from coming up with various different images of Ginny, each one with her wearing something very small or nothing at all. He swore and shook his head. What in the bleeding hell was the matter with him? He hadn't resorted to dating his best mates little sisters just yet, and Ginny was definitely in the hands off zone as far as he was concerned. So then why did he keep thinking like this? He grimaced and turned back towards the throng, forcing a smile onto his face and going in search of the Firewhiskey. Today his no drinking policy could go to hell.

Ginny used a drying charm on her clothes and sat looking out of the window at the distant house, seeing the people milling about having a good time. A sigh made her shoulders rise and fall and she bit her lip. She would love to go back again and have fun with them, but she didn't feel like she could, not with him there.

"You should go back, you know," Charlie said from the doorway, startling her.

She shook her head. "I can't."

"Sure you can. You realise Harry will be expecting you to just stay here and hide. Why don't you show him you don't give a damn about his threats, and get back there and have a good time?"

Ginny thought about it for a second. "I don't know...what if he gets hold of me?"

"Try staying away from him. You're usually quite adept at that, when you put your mind to it. Wouldn't you like to go and enjoy yourself?" he asked, smiling gently at her worried expression. "Come on, I came back to get you anyway, so you can walk back with me."

"But I'm not dressed for it anymore," she said, indicating her jeans and T-shirt. "And my hair's still wet."

"No one's going to notice, and Harry has equally wet hair. Stop making excuses and lets go," he said, holding out his hand for her.

Ginny let him pull her up and then she put her arm through his and left the house, wondering if she was suicidal to be getting anywhere near Harry Potter right now.

Neville Longbottom was the first person they saw when they walked back and he gave Ginny a grin, putting one hand on her shoulder. "I heard what you did to Harry. Nice going."

She gave a small smile and her eyes darted around, trying to see Harry. "I don't think he thought so."

"Yeah, well I would have paid to see it, that's for sure." He shrugged and grinned at her again. "How about a dance?"

Ginny measured him up and giggled remembering how he'd stepped on her toes when she'd accompanied him to the Yule ball when she was thirteen. "Okay, why not?" she said and he pulled her with him into the middle of the crowd of people already dancing. She went to lift her arms to his shoulders but he picked her up instead, making her squeal with shock.

"Neville!"

"Hey, you're still a short one, plus I don't want to be stepping on your toes" he said, laughing when she blushed. He took one of her hands and started swaying about, his other arm holding her around the waist so she wouldn't fall. The way he fooled about made her burst out laughing and they attracted the attention of several people nearby. Including Daphne, who stared at them briefly, before turning and moving away. Neville and Ginny both saw this movement, and he gave a grim smile.

"What's wrong with Daphne?" she asked him, frowning slightly.

"Maybe she's jealous?" he asked, raising his eyebrows innocently.

"Jealous? You...oooh, you did this on purpose!" she accused him, frowning. "Why did you do that?"

"Because she keeps ignoring me and she doesn't seem to want to be with me. So I'm just showing her I can have fun without her," he said, shrugging. "Now, let's enjoy our dance!"

She grinned at his enthusiasm and let him dance her around the garden, not really having much choice in the matter anyway. After making her thoroughly dizzy, he put her down and gave a surprisingly elegant bow, walking off in search of a butterbeer. Ginny didn't have time to be lonely as first Dennis Creevy and then Rodger Davies little brother Connor appropriated her for a dance, both of them making her laugh and easing her tension a lot.

To the green eyed man watching them it looked like she was enjoying every second of each man's company and he scowled as he watched her, his eyes narrowing at the way Connor was holding her. Where are her damn brothers to protect her this time? He thought, looking around impatiently. But Charlie, Fred, and George were nowhere to be seen. Fine, he thought, then that leaves it up to me to make sure she doesn't get herself into any trouble. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he went to walk over to them, but Draco materialised in front of him and gave him a grin. "Something bothering you, Potter?"

"No," he said tightly, forcing himself not to go over and rip Ginny from Connor's arms.

Draco saw the look and laughed. "My, my. You're not...jealous are you?"

"What?" Harry said, looking at him in shock as his words sank in. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous? I hardly think so," Draco said, raising his eyebrows and staring over at Ginny, who was laughing at something Connor had said to her. "She looks very enticing, doesn't she? Even in jeans. Hmm."

Harry's eyes snapped to the blonde man and he narrowed them on his expression. "Hmm what?"

Draco slowly shook his head and gave him an innocent smile. "Sorry? Oh, hmm, well...."

"Well, what?"

"Just thinking about you not being jealous. You'll excuse me?" he asked, putting down his drink and sauntering through the dancers until he was next to Ginny.

Harry watched as Draco gave her one of his killer grins and then took her in his arms, starting off the next dance with her. He stood gaping as his friend pulled Ginny's small body right up against him and started moving her around the other couples, occasionally sending Harry a wicked glance. Even though he knew what Draco was up to, he couldn't help the anger that suddenly coursed through him and he found himself glaring viciously at the couple. When he saw Draco dip his head and appear to be nuzzling Ginny's neck, he felt his temper snap, and he strode over to them and tapped Draco none too gently on the shoulder.

"May I?" Harry asked tightly, gesturing to Ginny.

Draco hesitated for a second and then nodded. "Sure," he murmured, dropping his arms and gently pushing Ginny's resisting body towards Harry, ignoring the small 'no, no, no' noises she was making. He gave her a wink and walked away, blatantly laughing.

Ginny looked up at Harry as he grabbed her hand and her waist, and then just as quickly dropped her eyes, wishing she hadn't come back. Now she was caught. There was no way she could get out of his grasp this time.

"Relax, we're just dancing," he muttered, starting to move slowly to the music because other people had started looking.

"I don't want to dance with you," she said, shooting him an angry glare before looking away.

"Why? Worried you might catch something? Like manners and intelligence?" he shot at her.

"Intelligence? Ha!" she snorted, trying her best to pull her hand out of his. He squeezed her fingers harder and pulled her closer to him, the arm at her waist tightening so she couldn't move.

"Stop trying to make a spectacle of yourself, and dance, dammit!" he growled softly, trying to steady his heartbeat at the feel of her pressed up against him.

"Me? You're the one..." she started.

"And while we're on the subject of attracting attention, why did you find it necessary to let Draco hold you like that?" he asked her, glaring down at her.

"What? He was only dancing with me, there was nothing..."

"Save it! I saw it with my own eyes. The only way you could have been closer is if he was inside you!" he said in a low, harsh voice, his eyes flashing.

Ginny stared up at him with her mouth hanging open, and her temper caught fire. "What the hell has it got to do with you? If I wanted to let half the men here have me, it would be up to me!"

"You're a little young to be acting like such a slag aren't you?" he asked, incensed by what she had said.

Ginny gasped and went still for a second, wondering where all this had come from. "That's a horrible thing to say!" she hissed at him.

"Truth hurts doesn't it?" he said, smiling with such smugness that she couldn't contain herself any longer, and she lifted her foot, stamping hard on his toes so that he loosened his hold on her. As soon as her arms were free she swung at him, delivering a surprisingly powerful slap to his face that made his head whip sideways. She had only been able to reach because he was bent slightly, and she was thankful that he was, otherwise she wouldn't have had the satisfaction of wiping that smug look off his face. She didn't wait around for him to retaliate, pushing through the crowds and running as fast as she could back towards her house.

The loud crack of someone apparating, and then sound of pounding footsteps made her look behind her and she nearly tripped over when she saw him giving chase, obviously not content to just leave it this time. Her breath was trapped somewhere in her throat as she tried to get away from him, but he was so much faster than her that she didn't have a hope in hell of escaping the big hands that grabbed her and spun her around.

"That's one time too many you've slapped me!" he snarled, grabbing her arms and giving her a shake that made her head snap back and forth on her shoulders.

She struggled to get away and he growled, losing what little control over his temper he had, and his hands grabbed her waist and she found herself lifted off the ground, her feet kicking uselessly at thin air. She didn't know what she expected him to do, maybe throw her in the lake again as he had done once before, so it was an intense shock when his lips came down on hers to stifle the small sounds she was making.

Ginny's eyes widened as he parted her lips even more and starting kissing her with rough abandon, his tongue exploring her mouth expertly. She had been kissed before, by the one or two boys she had ever been out with, but never like this, and her eyes fluttered closed under the wash of sensation. When he drew her tongue into his own mouth and sucked on it, she was startled to hear a small moan work it's way out of her throat, unable to stop herself from responding to him. The fact that this was Harry Potter kissing her, the man who had rejected and apparently hated her, made no difference whatsoever. Her hands crept up to his shoulders and clutched at his shirt when he pulled her closer to him and moved one hand from her waist to wrap his arm around her body, the feel of his muscled chest pressed against her torso making sharp pleasure stab through her.

Harry didn't even think about what he was doing. His eyebrows drew together in a frown as he devoured her mouth, finding himself helplessly pressing against her as he dived into the kiss and lost himself. Only the faint sound of laughter behind him made him start to regain some sense, and he forced himself to stop the kiss, drawing reluctantly back from her and then putting her back on her feet, his expression one of extreme shock. What the hell had just happened? The laughter came again and he turned around to find Fred and George standing behind him.

"Well, well," Fred said, grinning as he elbowed his brother in the ribs and gave him a smug grin.

"We came to make sure you weren't hurting her, but I see that our concern was misplaced." George added.

Harry gaped at them and then looked back down at Ginny, seeing that she was staring back at him in a daze, her eyes wide and unfocused and her lips slightly swollen. She looked decidedly sexy to his eyes, and he had to mentally kick himself and look away again. He had been following her so he could finally get some retribution, and he had ended up kissing her instead. And what a kiss, he thought. He had never lost control like that before, not that he could recall. But if the twins hadn't come along when he had...he shuddered to think of what he might have done, and right out here in full view of whoever came along. He swore under his breath and stepped back from Ginny like she was contaminated, his movement finally breaking her out of her trance.

She gasped as she stared at him and then put her hand over her trembling lips, going bright red before she whirled and ran the short distance towards her house and let herself in so she could hide from everyone.

George looked at Harry and grinned again. "I thought she was just a kid?"

"She is... she... Merlin," he muttered, staring numbly towards her house, still looking stunned.

"Mmm-hmm," George murmured, patting Harry's shoulder sympathetically.

"I've seen that look before. You don't see her as a kid, you just think that you should." Fred said

"She's...I don't know how that happened," he mumbled as the twins led him back to the party like he was a child. "One minute I was grabbing her and the next...I don't even remember thinking about it, I just did it."

"Was it good?" Fred inquired.

"What?" Harry asked, shocked all over again as he relived the kiss.

"Was it good? Was - the - kiss - good?" George said slowly, knocking on Harry's skull and rolling his eyes.

"It was..." Harry began and then stopped, blinking. "It was fantastic."

"What was fantastic?" Neville asked as he lumbered up to them.

"Harry just kissed Ginny," George supplied helpfully, grinning gleefully at the man's discomfort.

"Go ahead and tell everyone why don't you?" Harry said, glaring at him.

Fred grinned even wider. "Okay, if you insist," he said, and raised his fingers to his mouth, letting out a

piercing whistle to attract everyone's attention.

Harry's eyes widened and he grabbed the other man's shoulder. "If you dare, I'll break your neck!" he snarled, but both twins merely laughed.

"Come on, Potter, you know us by now, and never did pay any mind to your threats." George said

"What's wrong? Worried that you'll blush?" asked Fred.

"It's not me I'm worried about," he said, looking stunned all over again. "It's Ginny, she'd never be able to face anyone again, you know how shy she can get..." he broke off and swallowed as he realized how much he knew about her.

George waved everyone back to what they were doing and cocked his head to one side as he studied his friend. "And you care about her feelings?"

"I... don't..." Harry swore again and raked his fingers through his hair, shooting all three of them a filthy look before he stalked off into the house and slammed the door behind him.

"Hmm, this is going to be interesting," Fred said.

"That it is, brother dear... that it is." George replied as he stood next to Fred and Neville, all three of them looking at the door Harry had disappeared through.

"You're telling me," Neville agreed, smiling. "Harry and Ginny, huh? Who would've thought it?"

"I disagree, Longbottom... " Fred said.

"Those two have been besotted since the first day..."George started.

"Harry Potter ever stepped onto the Hogwarts Express." Fred finished as the twins grinned at one another and walked away.

Ginny spent the rest of the day and that evening sitting in her room staring blankly at the television Ron had given her. Harry had kissed her, she kept thinking, stunned by what had happened. Why had he done that ? she wondered. He hadn't looked too pleased about it, either. She put her hands on her flushed cheeks and groaned, closing her eyes. If anything, she was just as guilty as he was, because she had responded without even thinking about it. What must he think of her? And the twins, she thought with another groan, they had seen it. Crikey, she would never be able to look any of them in the eye again. She would bet all the gold in Gringotts that they went back and told everyone, too. Well, if she ever needed a good reason to stay out of Harry's way, this was it. If he kissed her again she wouldn't be able to resist, because it had been that good. She knew his reputation with women, and it seemed it was well earned, because she had never ! felt like that before in her life, and if she were honest she wouldn't mind feeling like it again. But did it have to be with him? She groaned even louder and then jumped when someone knocked on her door.

"Ginny?" Charlie's voice floated through the door to her and she grimaced. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said quietly, not bothering to open the door.

"Are you sure? Someone said something about Harry chasing you," Charlie continued, and she could hear the concern in his voice. Reluctantly she got up and pulled the door open.

"I'm okay," she told him, staring up at him.

Charlie frowned as he looked down at his little sister, his eyes taking in her high colour and the fact her mouth looked odd. His eyes narrowed. "Did he get hold of you?"

"Yes."

"What did he do Ginny?" he asked, his tone a dangerous one, and she knew that he would go and hex Harry if he had hurt her, regardless of the fact that he was larger, more powerful and would probably hurt her brother.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she repeated, trying to smile.

"What did he do?" he asked again and she knew he wasn't going to leave it alone until he got an answer out of her. But she couldn't bring herself to tell her brother what had happened it was too embarrassing. "Tell me, or I'll go and ask him."

She stared at him and tried to tell him, but the words wouldn't come and she lowered her eyes and shook her head. To her brother, it looked as if she had something serious to hide, and he could only imagine what that might be. Before she could stop him, he turned on his heel and stormed off, making his way out of the house and along the road to where the party was still being packed up now that everyone had left. He found Harry sitting on the back steps, sipping a butterbeer and staring morosely into the distance.

"What the hell did you do to my baby sister?" he snapped when he got close enough, and Harry's head shot up, his eyes refocusing as he stared at Charlie.

"What?"

"You heard me! What did you do to Ginny?"

"Nothing," he said, frowning and looking faintly guilty, which made Charlie even angrier.

"Try again! She looked embarrassed and you look guilty. I know you chased after her, now I want to know what happened!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake! There's no need to get bent out of shape, I just kissed her, that's all," Harry said impatiently, standing up to his full height and glaring.

"That's all?" Charlie asked, shocked that Harry had laid a finger on Ginny. "What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Harry relaxed his stance and gave a small smile. "If you want the truth, I wasn't thinking at all," he admitted, shaking his head. "I didn't mean to do that, especially not with her."

Charlie stared at him for a few seconds and then nodded. "Tell me it won't happen again."

"It won't, don't worry," Harry said straight away, almost shuddering at the thought.

Charlie smiled. "Was it that bad?"

"No, that's the problem. Just...don't worry, I won't touch her again, but you'd better make sure she stays out of my way," he warned.

Charlie chuckled. "From the look on her face just now, I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"What look?"

"Mortification," Charlie said dryly.

"Bleeding hell, I didn't mean to embarrass her," Harry said, sitting back down and sipping at his beer.

"Yeah, well you did. I think Ginny will be keeping her distance from now on," Charlie said, shaking his head. "Which will be interesting considering Rebecca asked me to invite you to dinner tomorrow."

"She did?"

"Mmm. I wonder what Ginny will do when she finds out you're coming round," he mused.

"I haven't said yes, yet," Harry pointed out, raising one eyebrow.

Charlie looked at him narrowly. "So you're not coming?"

"I didn't say that."

"So I say again, I wonder what Ginny will do when she finds you're coming round?"

"Probably hide, like a coward," Harry said darkly, scowling. "You're the one telling me to keep away from her and here you are inviting me to dinner!"

"Yeah well, maybe the time has come for both of you to start acting civilised around each other," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"I've known you for years, and I still can't work you out. You're constantly contradicting yourself where Ginny's concerned," Harry said, pursing his lips.

"I know," Charlie said, grabbing a butterbeer for himself and sitting next to the taller man. "It isn't easy looking after a baby sister. Maybe I get a bit overprotective, but sometimes she confuses the hell out of me."

"At least I'm not the only one," Harry muttered, staring at the ground in front of his big feet with a contemplative expression. He made a disgusted snort. "I got jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?" Charlie asked him, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Of Ginny," Harry admitted, scowling. "She was dancing with people."

Charlie hid a smile. "It was a party, she was allowed to dance," he pointed out. "Who did she dance with?"

"Neville, Dennis, Connor...and Draco," he said, trying to stop himself from gritting his teeth.

"Hmm, and you got jealous? Why?"

"Damned if I know," he muttered, still frowning as he thought of his unstable emotions. It wasn't like him to act this way about anything or anybody. "I just didn't like it."

Charlie studied him from the corner of his eye, sipping his beer and nodding. "And then you kissed her?"

"I danced with her first," he said, his shoulders slumping as he sighed. "Merlin, I think I'm going crazy... I've known your family so long, she's like my sister!"

"From what I can see your feelings towards her are anything but brotherly. What I would like to know," Charlie said, sending Harry an arch look, "is what you plan on doing next time you see her?"

Harry snorted. "You just told me to stay away from her, so I guess you have your answer."

Charlie stood up and put his empty beer bottle on a table. "Dinner will be at seven tomorrow, don't be late. And one more thing," he said, smiling in an odd way, "I didn't tell you to stay away from her." He gave a smug grin when Harry looked up at him and then he walked away, laughing to himself. Okay, so he was overly protective towards his sister, and he had thought that having Harry interested in her might be a bad thing, but now he wasn't so sure. He would let things play out for a while, and be there if she needed him. It was all he could do.