The new face of evil - 8 years out

"Ginny. Hermione won't hurt me and I don't want to date her," Harry said forcefully.

Ginny started to respond but got a really confused look on her face.

"You know the real reason Hermione and I stopped being friends? It was because of her lying or misleading me. I could have dealt with everything else. I may not have been happy, but I would have still been her friend and stood by her. So, I think that as long as two people don't lie or mislead the other about important issues, even if things don't work out they can still be friends. Look at Kristi and me; she was honest and said what she wanted and when that couldn't happen, we broke up but still really like each other as friends. I realize that can happen as long as both people are honest with each other."

"Ok, so who did you dump Steffi for?" Ginny was really confused.

"I didn't dump Steffi for anyone, I broke up with her because she's not who I wanted to be with." Harry scooted a little closer to Ginny, took a deep breath and said, "Ginny. I'd really like it if you would go out with me sometime."

Ginny just stared at him with wide eyes and kept staring for over a minute. Harry got worried and decided to ask again. "I'm asking if you would please go on a date with me. If you don't want to, that's ok I won't be mad. I'm just tired of being too scared of rejection to say what I want. More than anything I want us to stay friends, so whatever you think, tell me honestly."

Ginny was still staring without saying anything and Harry felt his heart drop. "Oh... I guess I should have kept this to myself. If you're uncomfortable, you don't have to stay, I'll pick up." Harry started to stand but Ginny grabbed his arm very firmly.

"If you're joking with me that would be the meanest thing ever and I swear you'll regret it," Ginny said with a very serious look in her face that actually worried Harry.

"I've never been more serious about anything Ginny. I really want to go out with you. But if you say no, I promise I won't act any differently to you than I have been," Harry said staring in her eyes.

Finally Ginny did something that Harry didn't expect. She just started laughing out loud. For the next couple minutes, she just fell back and roared with laughter. Harry had about enough. "Why didn't you just say no instead of making me feel like such a loser by laughing at me?" Harry said obviously hurt.

Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled herself up trying t stop laughing. "...Not laughing at you," she said and wiped tears from her eyes. "Oh Harry. I've never been happier." She hugged him and burst out laughing again.

Harry hugged back still feeling very confused. "Um... so then will you go out with me?" he finally got out.

Ginny pushed back and said, "You are so dense! Of course I'll go out with you." She hugged him tightly again.

"Good. What's so funny about this?" he asked.

"I don't know. I was so angry and hurt when I thought you were going to go running to Hermione and you asking me out was the last thing in the world I expected to hear, it was just a shock and relief. I just couldn't help myself."

"Um...ok then," Harry replied still not sounding sure.

Ginny realized this and pushed back, gathering her composure. "Harry. I would like to go out with you very much. See, I said that with a straight face. I just can't believe this is happening."

Harry got another serious look. "I do have one favor. We can take this as slow as you want and everything, but is it all right if we don't date other people while we're trying to make this work? I wouldn't feel comfortable if we did."

Ginny hit his arm. "Wake up Harry. I don't want to date anyone else, so of course that's ok. It's not like I've got a line of guys waiting for me like you do."

"I don't have guys waiting for me," Harry replied trying to joke.

She hit him again. "You know what I mean. You could have any girl, and you just had one of the top models around. Why would you want to date me?" Ginny asked seriously.

"Because I want to be with you Ginny. I knew it five years ago and was just too stupid or scared to say anything then, and then things went weird in my life. I'm not going to mess up again."

"You wanted to go out with me five years ago?" she asked loudly and Harry just nodded. "I should kick you for not asking me then!" Harry was just looking at her when she said, "I came up here and started to hate Hermione and now I can't wait to thank her for coming back and talking to you." Ginny grabbed him again.

"Do you think we should wait to tell people? You may decide after a date or two that it's not working out," Harry asked.

"What's not to work out? We know almost everything about each other now. I know how well you treat the girls you had been dating, not a single one has ever had anything bad to say about you. Are you worried that you may not like dating me?" she asked with a concerned voice.

"Not at all!" Harry instantly replied. "I have no doubts about dating you. But you still may want to wait; I mean we haven't even kissed. What if you end up wanting to break up because you don't like the way I kiss?" Harry said sounding very much like the schoolboy she used to know.

Ginny gave him a very strange look and then quickly leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It wasn't a quick peck either and after the initial shock, Harry was overcome by a warm feeling and butterflies in his stomach. He put his arm around her and lay her on her back kissing her passionately. After a long, sensuous kiss, he pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Wow...um...there'll be no problem with the way you kiss," Ginny whispered up to him.

He pulled her back to a sitting position. "So, you want to tell people soon then?"

"Soon? I want to tell everyone right now!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Slow down. Let's tell Ron and Parvati first. Remember, you've got a bunch of older brothers that may want to kill me. And, your mum and dad may not want me back at the house so let's do them in small chunks."

"You're so stupid. Everyone in my family thinks the world of you and I'm sure they'll be happy. They'll be shocked for sure, but then they'll be happy." Ginny hesitated. "You said something earlier that I agree with. I'll never lie or mislead you about anything important Harry. I promise. So if anything ever goes bad, we have to remain friends."

"I agree. I'll never hurt you intentionally. I couldn't stand to lose you as a friend, but I'm glad you want to try and be a bit more," he said smiling at her.

"Ok, tomorrow night, Ron and Parvati at my place and we'll tell them. But, tonight we get some food, eat at my place and snuggle on the couch. Deal?" Ginny asked confidently.

"Fine by me, but that's not much of an impressive first date. I want to take you out on a real date. You deserve it."

"I know I do, but I'm too excited for anything else right now and I don't want to go home wondering if this was all a dream or anything. We'll just sit around and snuggle tonight and you can plan a date for this weekend."

"Yes Miss Weasley," Harry joked.

She smirked at him before giving him another long kiss. "I cannot believe this just happened."

Harry looked serious again. "You know this is going to get weird for a while. There will be stuff in the press; your family will treat us weird. It's just going to be weird. Can you handle all of it?"

Ginny looked deep into his eyes. "If you're with me, I'll have no problem handling it." She kissed him quickly and said, "Come on let's go."

Harry quickly picked everything up and they apparated back to the studio, where Ginny told him to wait around for her. She kept giggling and punching Harry in the arm whenever she went by. The other people in the office were looking at her like she was crazy. She walked by Harry and whispered, "I really want to kiss you again."

Harry stood and walked towards her. "We can't here, they'll all see," Ginny said looking nervous. With a flick of his hand, the area around them became very foggy so that no one could see though. He kept walking to her and pulled her into another deep kiss. "This is going to be so great," she said after the kiss. Harry moved back to his chair before clearing the air.

They picked up some food and went straight to Ginny's house in Hogsmeade. The first thing she did was change into more comfortable clothes and a pair of old socks, probably Bill's, as they were her favorite. She walked around getting things ready and giving Harry a hug each time by. They were sitting across from each other at the table eating when Harry noticed she kept staring at him. "Gin... I'm no different than I was the last time we ate together."

"That's not true. You are. I can see it in your eyes. They look like they did when you were back playing Quidditch. I don't think I ever realized they had darkened over the years, but now they're as bright as ever."

"I feel like I did back then. I'm actually happy, really happy. You don't know how worried I was about asking you. I hadn't been able to sleep for a while now. I didn't know if you'd hex me or immediately say no."

"I can't believe you were worried. Have you ever been turned down when you asked someone out?" Ginny asked.

"Sure. Cho didn't go to the ball with me remember."

Ginny laughed. "But that's it. You could have any witch you want."

"Since you said yes, I have the witch I want. Really." Harry reached across and squeezed her hand.

"I want to tell somebody right now. I can't stand waiting," Ginny said.

"Don't be too anxious. It'll be nonstop when the word gets out," Harry told her.

They spent the evening with Ginny curled up in Harry's side like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. She had actually done this quite a few times before, but it was just as friends then. Now he was her boyfriend and it felt even better. They stayed up late talking and watching TV and Harry noticed her falling asleep. "It's late, you should get to bed. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"I don't want you to go," Ginny said.

"I'll be back tomorrow and you need to get some sleep," Harry said.

Ginny looked nervous. "I'm serious. Don't go."

Harry looked at her and said, "We said we would take it slow and so far we haven't. We have all the time in the world."

"We don't have to take it that slow. I mean we're past all the awkwardness of getting to know each other. And, I didn't throw you down and shag you near the lake, so we've gone slow."

Harry's eyes got huge and Ginny continued, "I'm kidding. But really, you've stayed with me before when I've been really scared. We won't do anything, but I really don't want you to leave. I still can't believe this is real."

"I promise this is real. Get me a blanket and I'll sleep on the couch," Harry said.

Ginny looked nervous again. "Stay with me. Like you do when I'm scared. Please," she pleaded.

There was no way Harry could refuse her when she looked like that. "Fine. Go on and yell when you're in bed. This is not going slow." He kissed her forehead and she ran down the hall.

He heard some fumbling around and after a few minutes. "Ok, I'm in bed."

Harry walked in shaking his head. She was in bed, off to one side with the covers pulled up. He took off his shoes and socks and lay on top of the covers next to her. She pulled an arm out and snuggled up next to him with her arm draped across his chest. "You don't know how happy I am," Ginny said.

"Me too. Now we just have to make sure we don't do anything to mess up our friendship."

"We won't, I promise," she replied. "Goodnight Harry."

He kissed the top of her head and said, "Goodnight Gin."

Ginny woke before him the next morning and just stared at his face. She had so many wonderful dreams that night but none made her happier than having Harry next to her when she woke up. In the past, he had stayed when for one reason or another she had been very scared and having nightmares. Nothing helped except for having him stay with her. She pulled up and kissed his lips lightly. Instantly his eyes snapped open and then a broad smile came to his mouth. "You never did that when I stayed before," he said.

"I thought about it of course," she said with a sly grin. "I'm going to have a shower." She rolled out of bed and Harry saw she had on a thin nightshirt that didn't totally obscure her body.

She stepped into the bathroom when Harry said, "You never wore anything like that around me either."

She peeked back into the room, produced a sly smile and said, "Oops, I forgot," then went into the bathroom and closed the door. Harry absent-mindedly put on some socks and shoes and tried to flatten out his clothes and waited for Ginny. He watched TV until she came out wearing jeans and a loose fitting shirt. "Thank you for staying last night." She kissed him deeply.

"Thank you for that," Harry replied. "I'm going to go home and shower. Are you really sure you want this. After tonight, it will be out in the open."

"Oh, you can't get out of it now. If you do, I'll tell my brothers you asked me on a date and then spent the night in my bed before dumping me," she said with an evil look.

"Don't even kid about things like that. Besides, I have no intention of ever dumping you. See you tonight," he said before disappearing.

Ginny couldn't work that day. She just kept finding herself giggling at her desk and the other workers were really starting to look at her strangely. She decided to walk along Diagon Alley for the rest of the day. She wandered around aimlessly looking into all the shops. When she finally realized what time it was, she quickly went to the store to buy the ingredients for the meal she was going to fix and then went straight home. Ginny looked around like she almost expected Harry to be there. Two days ago and she would have felt fine being home alone. Now, she wanted him there with her. She busied herself making the meal and again found herself giggling.

Ron and Parvati appeared in her kitchen a little earlier than she expected. Harry still hadn't arrived and Ginny started getting little thoughts about him changing his mind. "Why the sudden invite for supper?" Ron asked.

"Just felt like seeing my favorite brother and his wife," Ginny said smiling.

"Who else is coming Ginny? There are four plates," Parvati asked.

"Oh, Harry said he was coming as well," Ginny said and got a huge smile on her face, glad that she was facing away from her brother.

"You drug Harry away from Steffi for one of your meals? Are you sure he said yes?" Ron joked while he was pouring the girls a glass of wine, and grabbed himself a beer.

"Ha Ha Ron," Ginny said and then heard a knock on her back door.

Ron opened the door. "Oy Mate! When are you going to learn to just pop straight in? Damn annoying having to let you in each time," Ron said.

"You can't just pop into a single woman's house Ron. It's just not right," Harry said smiling at Ginny. He walked to Parvati and hugged her. "I still don't know how he's kept you all these years." Harry told her which resulted in a smack on the head from Ron. It took all of his control not to give Ginny a bigger hug than he normally did but he didn't want to give anything away yet. He handed her a bottle of wine and said, "I hope this goes with the meal."

The conversation was nice and light during the meal. Afterwards, they were all having a drink after eating when Ron said, "What got you away from Steffi tonight?"

"Um...we broke up a few days ago and I couldn't refuse Ginny's offer," Harry said calmly.

Ron and Parvati looked shocked. "Really. No way!" Ron exclaimed.

"You two made such a cute couple," Parvati said and Harry saw Ginny flinch a bit.

"So, what happened?" Ron questioned.

"Nothing really. I just realized I wanted to try and date someone else and wouldn't feel right trying while I was dating her," Harry said and let his foot touch Ginny's under the table.

"Someone else? Man, she's one of the hottest models around. Who are you going for, that swimsuit bird?" Ron asked and was quickly hit by Parvati.

"No, I've had it with models. I'm thinking of someone whom I have a real connection with," he said and felt Ginny's food move against his.

Both Ron and Parvati's eyes got big and then Ron looked angry. "If you're thinking about dating Hermione, I'll kick your arse. She's ok as your friend, but nothing else. Please don't tell me you're going to date her."

Harry quickly held up his hands. "I have no desire to date Hermione at all. I've already asked a girl to go out and she accepted. We haven't had our first date yet but I wanted you to meet her," Harry said with a smile.

"As long as it's not Hermione I'm happy for you. Is the new girl coming over later?"

"Promise you'll be happy for me?" Harry asked and Ron looked totally confused. "Ron. I asked Ginny out on a date and she accepted."