Harry came down to the common room early on Saturday morning. Ron had reserved the Quidditch pitch for try-outs, and the whole team needed to be present to vote for whom they took on as reserve players. Harry was feeling surprisingly refreshed in spite of the early hour. His headache-free nights had continued since his return to Hogwarts. He didn't think he'd had even one nightmare. In fact, since the other night, his dreams had taken a much more pleasant turn.

He paused for a moment at the bottom of the boys' stairs. Ginny was already down in the common room. Harry felt himself start to redden as he thought of the last time they'd been alone together down here. They hadn't had much of an opportunity to meet again or even say anything about what had happened. It wasn't as if Ginny had been avoiding him exactly. It was just that… He wasn't even sure. Over the past few days, she'd been managing to turn up in a seat near him at meals often enough, or to find a spot at the same table with him to do homework, but at bedtime she'd never waited for him or tried to hold him back, either.

"Hi, Ginny." That came out more easily than expected. "Are you coming to try-outs?"

"Yeah, I thought I might. I suppose I've been thinking about what you said last summer." Was it his imagination, or was she blushing?

"I'm sure you'll be great. Good luck."

Someone else was coming down the stairs. Soon most of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, along with those who were coming to try-outs, was going down to breakfast. It had been like this for the past few days. Every time Harry had managed to speak two words to Ginny, someone else happened along.

He watched her surreptitiously throughout breakfast and noticed she wasn't eating much. He wondered if she was nervous about the upcoming try-outs. He was distracted when Ralph Chapman and Kevin Graham, the Gryffindor Beaters, arrived at the breakfast table at the last possible minute. Neither of them ever spoke very much, but they mumbled apologies to Ron. They'd apparently been kept up very late at a detention for Argus Filch, who had caught them drooling on the paintings in one of the corridors.

When they'd all gone down to the pitch, and Ron had led them all through a warm-up, Harry tried to keep an eye on things down by the goal posts as Ron took his sister and the other hopefuls for the Keeper position aside to begin to test their skills. He had his own group of potential Seekers to concentrate on, however, and he was soon too caught up with them to keep tabs on how Ginny was getting along.

After a while, Ron created two teams out of the most promising hopefuls, and then they began to play in earnest. Harry was supposed to be watching the action from the sidelines so he could cast his vote later for the best players, but he was too busy watching how Ginny was doing. He found himself crossing his fingers for her. If she was on the team with him, it would mean more chances for them to spend time together. She was playing all right, he thought, but not as well as she had at the Burrow. Of course, she was going up against proper Chasers, now, not just him. She was definitely trying her best, but she still seemed nervous to him. It gave him a start to see her practically drop off her broom into the Starfish and Stick position, and even more so, when she didn't right herself as smoothly as she might have. Somehow this move had never seemed all that dangerous when Ron did it.

When the game was declared over, Harry had a great deal of trouble deciding whom he would choose for the reserve team, beyond Ginny and the Seeker, since he'd spent some time with the prospects for that position. The simplest route to take would have been to vote for the members of the winning side, but that would have left Ginny off the team. Apparently the other Keeper had performed better than she had. Or the Chasers on Ginny's side had been less effective. He had no way of knowing.

In the end, he voted for Ginny as Keeper, but the result of that particular contest ended in a tie. Ron had opted out of the votes since his sister was in the running, but now he was obliged to choose between the two. He looked suddenly uncomfortable, as he stood hesitating. Finally he cast an apologetic glance over at his sister and cleared his throat. "I'll have to go with Pinnett as Keeper."

Harry looked over at Ginny and saw her face fall. He was rather disappointed himself.

"That'll be all then," Ron announced to the team. "Regular practice will begin Tuesday after classes. All regular team members and reserves report then."

As everyone else started back to the castle, Harry stayed behind to help Ron put the balls away.

"Tough break for Ginny," Harry ventured.

"I know," said Ron. "But Pinnett was just better. She's not going to be very pleased with me, though." Ron glanced over to where the others were heading towards the castle. Ginny seemed to be lagging behind the others. "I don't know what to say to her. Wish Hermione was here. She always knows what to say."

"You're going to have to say something sometime. Just tell her the truth."

Ron finished strapping down the last of the Bludgers and straightened. "I suppose you're right. Best to get it over with."

He hurried to catch Ginny up, Harry following at a slower pace and wondering what Ginny's reaction would be. It wasn't very good, as things turned out. Harry hung back while Ginny ranted at her brother before heading off towards the Forbidden Forest. Ron watched her go, but he didn't follow. Instead he began to walk slowly towards the castle, his feet dragging.

Harry was beginning to feel somewhat responsible for her being hurt. She'd told him just this morning that she'd considered trying out for the team because he'd encouraged her. He hesitated for a moment and then followed Ginny, catching up with her on the edge of the forest. "Wait up, Ginny."

She turned on him, her face red and streaked with tears. She swiped angrily at them. "What do you want?"

In spite of her belligerence, Harry felt as if what she really needed was a hug, but he wasn't sure he dared. He put the hand that wanted to reach out and touch her shoulder in his pocket, wishing he had a better idea of where he stood with her.

"Erm…" What was he supposed to say to her, anyway? She'd just finished giving Ron an earful and didn't look ready for any more sympathy, however sincere.

"Stupid git of a brother!" It looked as if he was going to get an earful, no matter what, but then she did a complete turn around. "I… I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"No, of course you weren't. If you were really dreadful, do you think you'd have got votes from half the team?"

"No, I suppose not. And the school broom I was using didn't help matters," she grumbled. "Actually, if I'd made the team, that would have been a problem, wouldn't it?"

It wasn't very likely the Weasley family could have afforded a quality broom for her. The only reason Ron had a decent one was the twins had contributed to out of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes earnings (before they'd left school and gone to work for Zonko's), while Harry had quietly furnished a good part of the balance. It had been presented to Ron as a collective present when he'd made the house team at the beginning of fifth year, and he hadn't been able to protest much, since everyone had told him the team's chances hinged on his success.

"I'm sure someone would have managed something."

Ginny didn't look so certain of this, however. "In any case, I got so nervous," she went on, reddening slightly and looking away. "It was nothing like playing for fun at home. I would have been a wreck if it had been an actual match."

Harry felt he should say something to reassure her. "I get nervous, you know."

She looked surprised. "You do? It never shows."

"You mean you never noticed how I never eat before a big match?"

"Oh, right."

"It goes away though. The nerves. Once I'm in the air…" He broke off. She probably didn't want to hear this. "At any rate, I'm sorry you didn't make the team."

"I'll get over it, I suppose."

"I… I wanted you to make the team," he admitted. She had no way of knowing whom he'd voted for unless he told her. The voting had been carried out in secret. "I voted for you."

"I'll just…You did?"

"Yeah. Well it was a bit difficult for me to vote for Pinnett, wasn't it? I didn't see a thing he did."

Harry's face began to heat. Ginny was going redder as well, but she was looking at him again. Straight into his eyes, they way she'd looked the other night in the common room. He took a step closer. Damn, he was thinking about kissing her again, and he wasn't sure if this was a good time or not. It couldn't be, could it? She'd just been angry and crying, although that seemed to have been diffused now. He took another step. Her eyes were captivating.

Then her lips parted slightly, almost as if she'd read his mind, and it was all over. He put his hands on her shoulders and bent his head to hers. He thought she sighed in the second before their lips met. He kissed her softly, wanting to comfort her above all else. He didn't even stop to wonder where these feelings were coming from. By the time he broke off, she had slipped her arms around his waist. He rested his chin on the top of her head and held her, as he had wanted to do from the beginning. She felt good in his arms.

After a while, she stirred, and he loosened his embrace. She pushed back and looked at him again, and Harry suddenly found himself at a loss for words. What were they to each other? Not just friends, not now. Did she consider him to be her boyfriend? He thought he'd like that. He knew he ought to ask her, but he couldn't seem to get the words out.

"So do you want to go for a walk or something?" It was a start.

"After lunch, perhaps. I think I'd like to go in and get cleaned up. Maybe have a shower."

"Right." Harry hadn't really considered it, but he had been out exerting himself for part of the morning, and he'd managed to get rather sweaty. Ginny had had an even more thorough work out. "We'll go in then."

He took her hand, and they started back to the castle together.

"So where did you learn to do the Starfish and Stick?" She certainly hadn't tried anything like that when they'd played at the Burrow.

"I've been practising." She sounded proud of herself in spite of the outcome of today's try-outs. "I've seen Ron do it enough times, and I worked out how to do it, and, well…"

Harry squeezed her hand. "I'm really sorry you didn't make the team, Ginny."

"I'll get by, one way or another."

*

The following week, classes began in earnest. If the seventh years thought they'd had loads of homework the first week back, it was nothing compared to the deluge that awaited them the second. Potions class continued to be torture, and Harry never did find out what had gone wrong with his Fortitude Potion, until Hermione unearthed a footnote in some obscure potions manual, which claimed that the potion, when properly prepared, showed no effect on the taker unless he was in immediate danger. "You'd think Fletcher might have pointed that little detail out," Ron had grumbled.

Divination continued to be a thorn in Harry side, even without constant predictions of his untimely death. He'd turned in his tarot card essay, but he still wasn't sure if he'd got it right. It was all a load of rubbish to him anyway, and he couldn't possibly see how laying the cards out differently would change matters. He didn't dare ask Lavender or Parvati for help again, though. That first reading had been embarrassing enough, and he hated the knowing looks they gave him whenever they spotted him and Ginny in close proximity.

He'd also been keeping an eye on Viktor Krum in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but he couldn't find anything unusual or creepy about his behaviour. He hadn't mentioned Ginny's apparent turn-around to Ron and Hermione, since that might lead to sticky questions from Ron about what Harry and Ginny had been doing up so late in the common room together. He had a feeling Ron wouldn't appreciate the answers very much. Ginny herself had never brought up the subject again, and he'd noticed no odd behaviour from her either after she'd come from Krum's class. He wondered if they all hadn't made too much of things.

Defence Against the Dark Arts class itself was becoming very challenging. They'd begun to study various attack strategies, and class had almost become a duelling club. Viktor Krum turned out to be quite demanding, and he seemed very well trained himself. It appeared that Hermione had been right about him. That first class was merely a case of a new teacher finding his feet.

Coupled with the Quidditch practices, which Ron insisted on holding regularly in spite of his own workload, Harry barely had a moment to himself. To make matters worse, Ginny had taken to sitting with him in the evenings while they both did their homework. While he certainly didn't mind the company, her presence tended to be distracting. He was working furiously now, trying to complete an essay for Care of Magical Creatures before she returned from a prefects' meeting this evening. If he got this out of the way now, he'd be able to afford the distraction later.

Ron was scribbling away just as furiously further along the table, and Harry was sure his motivation for getting the essay out of the way was similar. He had to wonder how Ron managed to keep his marks up at times, but he supposed Hermione had at least something to do with it.

Harry turned back to his essay. He was supposed to be writing about centaurs' various strengths in the field of healing. Professor Grubbly-Plank has managed to convince a centaur from the Forbidden Forest to come into class and talk to the students. Harry had recognised the white blond hair and palomino body. It was Firenze, and Harry had not been surprised. He remembered that Firenze was a little more willing to co-operate with humans than the other centaurs. But there had been something a bit unsettling about their meeting. Harry had remembered that Firenze's eyes had been astonishingly blue, but now they seemed to haunt him. They'd been strangely piercing, seeming to look right through him, and even worse were his words to Harry. "Mars and Venus are both bright in the sky of late," he'd said in an undertone. "Guard what is most precious."

Guard what is most precious, Harry repeated to himself. What was that supposed to mean? He didn't want to mention it to Hermione, knowing how she felt about the art of divination, even if it was coming from a centaur and not Professor Trelawney, and he definitely didn't want to bring it up with Ron. The words had been embarrassing enough, and he was extremely grateful that Malfoy hadn't overheard them. As it was, he had a suspicion that Lavender may have noticed, because he'd heard a familiar giggle behind him at the time, and he'd seen her whispering to Parvati while looking in his direction as they'd all walked back towards the castle at the end of class.

Harry forced himself to scribble another sentence, but his mind was still on what Firenze had said. He continued to have trouble focussing on what he was writing, and by the time Ginny came in through the portrait hole, flanked by Hermione and a very red-faced Neville, he was sure he was going to have to redraft a good portion of his essay.

There'd be little chance of that tonight, though. Ginny had plunked herself down in the seat across from him, grinning mischievously.

Harry looked up, noticing Ron casting a glance their way out of the corner of his eye. "How was the meeting?"

"Oh, it was interesting, very interesting."

"What happened?" Her smile was infectious, and he found himself grinning back. He thought Ron might have raised his eyebrows at them, but he didn't care much what Ron thought at the moment.

"Oh, it's just Neville."

Neville had calmed down quite a bit ever since he'd almost lost his prefect's badge. "What did he do now?"

"Well, you know how he fancies Lisa Turpin?"

Harry had never really paid much attention to such things. "Erm, not really."

"Oh, come on. It's so obvious. You've never noticed how he stares at her at meals? Sits up straighter whenever she walks by the Gryffindor table? Tries to make his hair lie flatter when she's around?"

Harry had to laugh at this last question. Neville had the flattest, straightest hair in the school. "I don't suppose I have noticed any of that, really…"

Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "No I don't suppose you do… Anyway, Neville fancies Lisa, and tonight at the prefects' meeting, he kept trying to get her to notice him, but it wasn't really working. He kept fidgeting about and then sitting up very straight, as if he suddenly realised he was supposed to be sitting properly." She stopped and giggled. "I think everyone but Lisa noticed, and she was sitting right next to him. Well, the meeting went on a bit longer than usual tonight. Filch came in and decided to review the entire list of forbidden items."

"Urgh," commiserated Harry.

"Yeah, that list is up to almost five hundred items now. Ever since Fred and George got hired on at Zonko's, he's been adding items by the dozen. And he had to go through the entire thing. Honestly, some of that stuff hasn't been available for centuries. In any case, no one was paying much attention to what Filch was saying. Neville was rocking back and forth on his chair. I don't think he even realised he was doing it. At the same time, he was fiddling with his wand…" She giggled again, and Harry felt a blush start to creep over his face, as his traitorous mind immediately latched onto the double meaning of what she'd just said. He looked away quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"So Neville accidentally set Lisa's robes on fire," Ginny went on. "I have no idea how he managed to do it."

"Well, this is Neville we're talking about," Harry put in quickly.

"True. And the worst is, just as he did that, he was tilting his chair back on its hind legs, and when he saw her robes begin to smoke, he fell over backwards in surprise."

She laughed again, and Harry joined in at the mental image of Neville sprawled out on the floor. "I really shouldn't laugh," Ginny said. "He got a detention, and it was completely embarrassing for him. Malfoy will be able to tease him about that for the rest of his life. If Neville hadn't been acting like such a prat lately, I would feel sorry for him."

"This ought to take care of any revenge you still need to get on him then, shouldn't it?"

"Yeah, that was better than anything I could come up with. He's been through enough now. Time to let him off the hook. I wonder whatever possessed him to start playing with his wand at a prefects' meeting?"

There it was again, and Harry reddened. She was looking straight at him as she said it, too, as if she was perfectly aware of what she'd just said. He supposed, having six older brothers, that she just might be.

"You get your essay finished yet?" Ron had got up from the table and come over.

"Er, no, not quite…" He wondered why Ron had felt the need to interrupt at this point, but he was grateful all the same.

"Just finished mine." He pulled out the chair next to Harry and sat down. "You'd best get to work of you want to get it finished in time."

"Been spending a bit too much time around Hermione, haven't you? You're starting to steal her lines." Harry tried to keep his tone light, but he couldn't prevent a hint of irritation from creeping in. Since when was Ron so concerned about Harry's marks?

"Well, you know, seventh year. NEWTs and all that."

Harry was about to reply when Ginny cut him off. "Don't be such a prat, Ron. What's it to you if Harry gets his work done or not?"

"Nothing I suppose. But I can tell Mum if you're not getting your work done."

"Try it, and I'll tell Mum about the time you and Hermione…"

Ron cut across her quickly, leaving Harry very curious about what dirt Ginny might have on her brother and his girlfriend. "Look, I'm only trying to help. Don't come crying to me when your marks start slipping." He got up and stalked off towards the boys' stairwell.

"What's got into him?" Ginny asked. "If anyone is hacked off around here, it ought to be me with him."

"Dunno…" But Harry had a good idea. "I think it's us."

"Us? What do you mean?"

"Well, he knows…"

"Knows what?"

Harry looked around to make sure there was no one within earshot. He didn't feel like having Lavender and Parvati speculating over his love life again. "Well, about us…"

"What can he know? And what business is it of his anyway?"

Harry's face was beginning to burn again. "He asked me if I liked you the first night back," he said as quickly as possible.

"WHAT?" To his consternation, Ginny began to laugh. "MY brother, the clueless prat, asked you THAT?"

People were beginning to look over in their direction. "Keep your voice down. Yes, he asked me that!"

"And to think a how long it took him to figure out he liked Hermione… Well, what did you tell him?"

Harry swallowed. It wasn't as if she couldn't know the answer, after all. She could tell Neville fancied Lisa just by watching him. "I said yes, of course."

"And he wasn't happy about it?"

"He thought I was weird, I think."

"Thanks loads."

"Tell him that. That was his reaction, not mine. In any case, he's just going to have to get used to it, isn't he?"

"Depends on what you mean."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. Why was this so difficult? "Well, I thought you might like me back. Am I wrong about that?"

She looked down at the table for a moment before meeting his gaze again. "No, you're not wrong about that."

"So your brother is just going to have to get used to seeing us together, isn't he?" She nodded. "And if he doesn't like it," he continued, "it's just too bad."

They fell silent and looked into each others' eyes across the table. Harry found himself wishing they weren't sitting in the middle of the common room. He heard a giggle that instantly reminded him of Lavender Brown. "So," he said to break the silence. "What did you catch Ron and Hermione at? Or don't I want to know?"

Ginny smiled impishly. "I didn't actually catch them at anything. It just sounded like something good to say, and I was right. I'm going to have to find out what I could have possibly caught them at now…"

Harry stared at her. "Remind me never to let you get anything on me. Not even the hint of something."

She merely continued to smile. Then she picked up her bag, which she'd left on the table earlier, and began to take out her books. "I suppose I ought to get some work done."

Harry nodded and went back to his essay. He managed to write a bit more, as the common room slowly emptied. The curfew wasn't being enforced as strictly now as it had been the first week, but there were classes in the morning. Harry looked over and saw Hermione was still up, catching up on the study time she'd missed during the prefects' meeting. She looked up at about the same time, and caught his eye, her gaze passing from him to Ginny. She smiled knowingly. Five minutes later, she too, closed her books and headed for the girls' stairs. "Don't stay up too late," she called over her shoulder, but if anything, her tone was light.

Harry put down his quill, knowing he hadn't any more chance of getting any work done. Ginny obviously had the same thought, for she put her things away, as well. But at that moment there came the sound of tapping at the window, and whatever thoughts Harry may have been entertaining were interrupted. He opened the window to admit a strange owl, which immediately perched on the windowsill and held out its leg expectantly.

Harry took the parchment, and the owl flew back out into the night. Unfolding the letter, he saw it was from Sirius. This was the first he'd had word from his godfather since his birthday. He read it through quickly, but the expression on his face must have given something away, for Ginny asked, "It's not bad news is it?"

She had remained seated at the table, but now she rose and came over to him, looking concerned. She put a hand on his arm. "It's from Sirius," he told her. Ginny, along with the rest of the Weasley family had been informed of Sirius' innocence in Harry's fifth year. "It's not bad exactly, but…" He trailed off, hesitating for a moment. This was more likely going to affect her, than it did him. "Sirius has been involved in something secret over on the continent somewhere all summer."

"And something's happened?"

"Not exactly, although he says he's been involved in some fighting. But then that's to be expected, I suppose. It's just… Well, he's mentioned running into both Bill and Charlie. Remus Lupin, as well."

"Oh." She seemed to go paler. She, along with the rest of the Weasley family knew that both Bill and Charlie had taken up roles in the Order's forces on the continent, so the news wasn't entirely unexpected. But Harry knew she didn't like to hear that her brothers might have been involved in anything life-threatening.

Harry took the hand she'd laid on his arm and squeezed it. "No one was hurt, I'm sure of it. Sirius would have said something."

"Yes, but still…"

"I know." He didn't stop to think about what he did next; he simply acted. He pulled her into his arms and held her against him, one hand coming up to gently push her head down onto his shoulder. They stood there for a few minutes in silence, while Harry continued to stroke her back.

Then she stirred, and said into his shoulder, "Do you ever feel helpless? Well, maybe that's not what I want to say… useless, I mean. I don't know… Like we're stuck here at school, forced to watch while things happen, and we can't do anything about anything."

He tightened his hold on her. "All the time, Ginny."

He hadn't even told her everything that had troubled him about the letter. From Sirius' descriptions, he felt he should have had some sort of warning that something was going on, even over that distance. Yet this was the first he was learning about it. There'd been continued attacks in England, as well, and yet his head almost never ached anymore. Not that he wasn't grateful, but something was definitely odd about that.

After a few more moments, he touched his lips to her forehead and released her. But she didn't seem ready to let go just yet. She put her arms around his neck and was about to draw him into a kiss, when the portrait hole opened, and Dean Thomas came clambering in.

"Sorry about that," he said brightly, a broad grin on his face. He looked to be in a very good mood, and Harry surmised he'd been off on some sort of tryst.

When he'd disappeared up the boys' stairs, Harry turned back to Ginny who was looking nonplussed. "I suppose we need to find a better place for this," he commented wryly.

"Yeah. Not very private here, is it?"

"No, but I think I have an idea."

She looked intrigued now. "What is it?"

"It's late. Can't really do anything about it now. I'd have to get some things from my dormitory."

"Like your invisibility cloak?"

"Among other things. I promise to let you in on it soon, all right?"

"Looking forward to it, then," she replied grinning. "I guess this is good night. See you at breakfast tomorrow." She pulled him down for a brief kiss before heading up to bed.