Thunder roared and echoed outside of Ginny's bedroom causing her to jump. The summer's air was warm, but chills went up the teenage girl's spine as rain plummeted on the rooftop. Something was wrong about tonight, but she couldn't care any less. Her red hair fell down past her shoulders and her deep brown eyes swept towards the door. Ginny actually managed a squeal when she saw the ginger-haired, bandy-legged, Crookshanks casting a shadow across the floor.



"Oh, it's just you Crookshanks," she murmured. Crookshanks sprang onto the bed covers with a slight grunt and curled made himself comfortable on Ginny's lap. Hermione was gone on vacation, and had dropped Crookshanks off with the Weasley's until she came back. Ginny scratched the animal's ears as she said, "Isn't it funny how you cats always seem to turn up when a girl needs a listening ear?"



Crookshanks meowed in reply and sat up attentively as though waiting for the girl to tell something so important it required every ounce of patience he could find. Ginny laughed lightly, then scratched his ears again. "Crookshanks, I've told you everything since the night I came home from Hogwarts, and you still seem to think there's more than this to hear." He purred softly, as though he wished to hear what she had to say anyway.



"Well . . . all right." Ginny smiled. "I'll tell it all to you again."



Ginny launched into her story. Crookshanks all the while watching her intently, maybe not listening, but obviously knowing that Ginny was in need of his attention. Lightning crashed outside, but Crookshanks didn't move an inch, waiting for a pause.



"Crookshanks, I hadn't expected it all to work so quickly. I couldn't imagine that Harry might even actually consider liking me after my little episodes in first and second year. I mean, Hermione was right. Even I thought I was creepy."



At this point Crookshanks nuzzled against her shoulder, and Ginny took it as a comforting gesture. "Yes, Crookshanks, maybe you don't think that, but it was true. Through my third year I endured Harry's goggling at Cho Chang. I was relieved slightly, but then I felt bad, when he couldn't go with her."



"It frightened me, Crookshanks, when Harry went through all those tasks. For a while, I was scared he wasn't going to come back, so I tried to forget about him. I tried to like other people, just in case he didn't come back."



"I was terrified when Harry came back clutching Cedric Diggory's body. That could happen to him, Crookshanks. Voldemort could kill him. I started dating other guys, and for a while, I forgot about Harry. He became just a good friend, and I stopped worrying, stopped hoping, and thought I had moved on . . ."



"Of course, I truly hadn't. I didn't even realize, though, that all of that year he had slowly begun to like me. You could imagine my surprise when he kissed me after our Quidditch match."



By this point, Ginny was laying down on her own hands, facing the ceiling, her red hair spread in all directions like flames. She was more talking to herself than Crookshanks, but still found comfort in it all the same. "I thought everything was going brilliantly. It was a little awkward at first, yes, but Ron seemed okay with it, and Hermione was ecstatic for me." Ginny sighed in remembrance.