Harry spun around on his heel and glared at Ginny accusingly. “Why on earth is Ron going up there? He knows we are not allowed up there doesn’t he?” he asked.
Ginny shrugged her shoulders, “Don’t go getting mad with him now Harry. Ron wouldn’t go up there if it weren’t for….”
She didn’t seem to want to finish what she were saying, but judging from the look on Harry’s face, she realised that he was going to get into another terrible argument with Ron if she didn’t explain.
Unwilling to drop her friends in it with Harry, Ginny thought about her options and realised that she had no choice.
“It’s Hermione,” Ginny said quietly. Harry looked even more alert to what Ginny was saying at the mention of Hermione’s name.
“What about her?” he asked curiously.
Ginny sighed, “Ron isn’t going up to the third floor for the good of his health Harry. He has gone up there now to fetch Hermione. We all know that Mum doesn’t want us to go up there. Hell, I wouldn’t go up there even if she hadn’t laid down the law about it, but Hermione has just completely disregarded what Mum has said,” Ginny said.
“But Ginny, this is Hermione we are talking about here, she is not a rule breaker. If anything I would have thought she would be the one telling Ron to behave himself and follow Mrs. Weasley’s Orders,” Harry said in a puzzled voice, thinking of all the occasions in the past where Hermione had been the sole voice of reason when it came to Harry and Ron’s schemes.
“I know Harry,” Ginny responded, shaking her head. “I am as puzzled by her behaviour as you are. This isn’t the first time she has ventured up there you know. Ron has had his hands full for the last few weeks trying to keep his eye on her, but it is getting harder and hard for him to keep track of where she is.
“That’s why Ron always insists on working with Hermione. At least if he is working with her, then he knows where she is during the day,” she finished quietly, eyeing Harry cautiously for signs of any impending show of anger.
But Harry’s anger was gradually disappearing to be replaced by incomprehension.
He looked at Ginny in confusion, “But what, what is she doing up there? And why didn’t you tell me before now?” he asked.
Ginny shrugged again. “Now don’t start taking it out on me Harry. I didn’t want to be the cause of us having yet another argument so I didn’t say anything. It was between Ron and Hermione and wasn’t really my place to tell you about it.”
Harry had the good sense to look shame-faced at her comment about his anger but stayed silent and allowed Ginny to continue.
“Ron won’t really talk about it, Ginny continued, “when he first found Hermione up there a few weeks ago, he said she was sitting in front of a mirror in one of the bedrooms and seemed to be talking to someone. As soon as she spotted Ron she muttered something before turning on him, accusing him of not giving her any privacy. Well, you know how Ron feels about her. He was really upset with the things she said and tried to keep away from her after that.
“Soon afterwards Mum made it clear that none of us should ever venture to the third floor. She looked really worried about it. It’s the only place that Mum hasn’t made any attempt to sanitise so she thinks it’s best for us to stay away from there. Ron resolved there and then to make sure that Hermione wasn’t going to break that rule. It’s really hard on him. Hermione gives out to him constantly. But he is only doing it because he is worried about her. Hermione has really changed Harry, I feel like I don’t know her anymore,” Ginny said quietly.
“I know they have always argued about things, but this is different. Hermione says some really hurtful things. Ron is a big boy and well able to look after himself, but I know some of the things she says really hurt him. I don’t know if you have noticed Harry, but Ron rarely fights back anymore. He just lets Hermione vent her spleen and just gets on with it. If the roles were swapped and it were me, I don’t think I would be as generous, or as patient with Hermione,” Ginny finished bitterly.
Harry didn’t know what to make of all this. Hermione had never been a rule-breaker unless she deemed it absolutely necessary. He knew that she liked and respected Mrs. Weasley and would never normally go against her wishes or her rules. He felt he should go after the pair of them and give them a piece of his mind. But then again, he really didn’t feel up to a trip to the third floor. It was taking all his energy to stay away from there when he was asleep therefore he had no intention of going there willingly when awake.
“So what should I do Ginny? I can’t just pretend I don’t know that they are both breaking the rules that Mrs Weasley laid down. If there wasn’t any harm in it, I would probably keep quiet, but I get such a bad feeling up there. It’s like there is some resident evil lurking,” Harry said. Again the image of his Godfather in the library on the third floor came to him unbidden.
Ginny shivered involuntarily. “I know. The one and only time I have ever gone up there was that day that I followed you, and I had to force myself to do so even then.
“Harry, Ron is at his wits end with Hermione. Did you know that he had taken to sleeping outside our bedroom door? Hermione tried to slip out late one night to go up there and I told Ron. Since then he has taken to guarding the door at night to stop Hermione. Hermione was NOT happy with me when she found out that I had told on her to Ron,” Ginny grimaced at the memory.
A flash of understanding suddenly lit up Harry’s brain. So that’s where Ron was coming from when he caught him sneaking back into their room with a blanket in the early morning. ‘No wonder he is looking exhausted constantly,’ thought Harry.
“I still don’t know what to do Ginny, should I follow them? Make sure they are all right? They have been gone a good fifteen minutes by now,” he asked.
Ginny nodded “Yes, Ron is usually back a lot quicker than this. Lets give them anther fifteen minutes or so and if they are not back, we will both go up there,” she said.
Harry knew Ginny was more afraid of the third floor than he was and he appreciated the fact that she was willing to accompany him up there, despite her fear.
They sat together on the couch and waited, both lost in their own thoughts. “Can I ask you something Harry?” Ginny asked quietly. Harry knew immediately what the question was going to be. He nodded slowly.
“Why did you kiss me?” Ginny asked.
Harry looked surprised. He had somehow expected her to ask why he had pulled away from her and bolted downstairs as if a rampaging hippogriff was on his tail. He hadn’t considered that she might want to know why he had kissed her in the first place.
For a brief moment Harry seriously considered getting up and bolting downstairs again, wanting nothing more than to put some distance between himself and Ginny to avoid having to answer such awkward questions.
Ginny sat quietly waiting for a response. Harry could feel himself begin to blush and the room began to feel uncomfortably warm. He looked at Ginny, knowing that she deserved an answer and decided to just dive in and see what his brain came up with by way of an explanation.
“I don’t know Ginny, I honestly hadn’t thought about kissing you beforehand. I mean, I can’t say that I hadn’t noticed how you look. I’m a guy Ginny, and while short sighted, I’m definitely not blind to a good looking girl,” he said quietly. His face was now rosy and even Ginny had begun to blush.
“Despite all that though, I still don’t really know what came over me. I just felt…strange. I was attracted to you and while logically I knew it was best not to act on an impulse, unfortunately logic was failing me utterly. I was just attracted and found myself kissing you before I knew it. I’m sorry.”
“What are you apologising for Harry?” Ginny responded quickly, “I just wanted to hear it from your point of view. I’m happy to say that it matches pretty much how things happened from my point of view as well,” she said looking a little surprised at herself for being so forward.
Harry abandoned his perusal of the carpet to look at Ginny’s face to discern if she was telling the truth. She nodded at him, smiling slightly. “I didn’t plan on kissing you back. I was surprised but there was some crazy magnetism going on. I couldn’t seem to stop myself.” She said this in a low voice hardly believing that she was admitting this to her former crush, all the while remembering the feel of Harry’s lips on hers. She blushed again at the memory.
Harry found himself looking at Ginny. Watching the faint tinge of pink forming on her cheeks. His gaze dropped to her lips. Ginny could feel Harry’s stare and her breath caught in her throat. She suddenly realised just how close together they were sitting on the couch.
Her eyes strayed to his lips. It was happening again, and once again Ginny felt like someone else was in control of her, moving her ever closer to those lips.
Harry felt the intense attraction pulse through him as well, becoming suddenly very aware of the attractive girl sitting by his side. Ginny was just inches from him. He lowered his head towards her and just at the moment before their lips touched Harry realised what was going to happen when they did. That Flashback.
At the last second he turned his head slightly, feeling Ginny land a small but surprised kiss on his cheek.