Disclaimer: It's JKR's world, I'm just writing in it.

How Not To Flirt

Ginny wrapped her freshly scorched body in a terrycloth bathrobe. The shower had revived her, allowing her to let a few tears escape without leaving her eyes puffy and swollen. Letting the singeing hot water burn her skin also allowed her mind to think freely. Her raw, red flesh required more attention than the problem lying ahead.

After her enlightening shower, Ginny came to a conclusion. She overreacted, big time. But it wasn’t her fault.These days she was always so close to tears, probably because of the war, and it was hard to keep her emotions in check. Ginny decided she would apologize to Harry and enforce the “we’re just friends” rules with him, even though it pained her to do so. This included no more light-hearted flirting; touching in any way; and never, ever, look each other in the eye. Well, at least those were Ginny’s rules. The latter was especially important because once she looked into his emerald eyes she could never go back. So that was that.

Ginny pulled out her brush and started combing her unruly knot of hair. Stupid hotel conditioners, she thought bitterly as she heard at the thump of a door . Yanking the brush out of her hair, she whirled it in front of her, momentarily forgetting that the brush was not her wand. Quietly opening the bathroom door, Ginny peered around the hotel room. She expected to see an intruder but nothing was out of the ordinary. Ron was sound asleep, spread-eagled across the bed, and Harry was…wait…Harry’s not here, she thought. But where did he go? Ginny carefully opened the hotel door to begin her search, but she saw the one she was searching for leaning nonchalantly against the wall. And there was a skimpy clothed girl standing next to him.

“Ginny!” Harry said, “Christa was telling me about this club.”

“Who’s Christa?” Ginny asked, even though the answer was obviously right in front of her.

“I am! It’s…um…nice to meet you!” Christa smiled, looking Ginny up and down.

“Same here,” Ginny replied, coolly moving her narrowed eyes to Harry. He was acting like nothing happened. “How do you two know each other?”

“Christa was looking for her friend and knocked on the wrong door. When I answered she told me about some club she was going to. I thought we might want to come,” Harry said like that justified his speaking to the bimbo.

“So you guys should totally come!” Christa said, facing Harry. Ginny simply stared openly at the blue-eyed girl in front of her.

“Well that sounds great,” Ginny said, venom dripping into the sarcasm that went unnoticed by both Harry and Christa.

“We’ll meet you in the lobby, around nine?” Harry asked, sneaking glances at Ginny to see if this is really what she wanted.

“Perfect,” Christa said, looking at Harry. She sent a smile at him and walked away. Harry turned to face Ginny, unsure of what to say next.

“Are you okay?” he asked, softly.

“Yeah,” Ginny said a little coldly. She then realized he was probably talking about her minor breakdown, and added, “I just went a little overboard. Sorry.”

“Look I should be apologizing, I didn’t even realize…”

“S’okay, just forget it,” she said stiffly, turning to go.

“No, it’s not. I promised your brother I wouldn’t drag you along, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I thought you would know by now not to listen to my brother,” Ginny said smiling, but Harry looked at her worriedly, “It’s fine.”

“You sure?” Harry crouched down so his eyes were level with Ginny’s. She turned her head away, determined to stay away from the hypnotizing emeralds, and focused on a dirt spot on the wall.

“Yeah, because friends forgive and forget.”

“And we’re friends,” Harry said. Ginny saw right through the forced smile. It actually made her feel better that this was hard for him too.

“Yep,” Ginny said firmly.

“Then we better get back inside, buddy,” Harry added, giving her a playful punch on the arm. Ginny cracked a real smile, trying not to notice the brief moment of forbidden contact, and opened the door.

“Get up!” They heard Hermione yell, tugging on Ron’s foot.

“Hermione!” Ginny shrieked, running into the room. “You look hot!” Ginny walked around Hermione, taking in the outfit. She was wearing black leggings, a black vest over a pale green tank top and strapped sandals. Her hair was less puffy than usual, falling in brown ringlets that framed her face.

“You three could not be any further from ready,” Hermione said, raising an eyebrow but still keeping a friendly smile on her face. Ginny looked down. She was still wearing the hotel’s bathrobe, and her hairbrush was hanging limply in her hand.

“Will you keep quiet?” Ron’s voice came out muffled from the pillow covering his head.

“Agumenti, ” Hermione whispered, pointing her wand at Ron.

“Aaaargh!” Ron yelled, jumping out of bed. He rubbed his eyes slowly, turning around to walk into the bathroom. “’M taking a shower!” Ron moaned, closing the door.

Hermione looked expectantly at Harry and Ginny. “I’ll go change,” Ginny said, rummaging in her bag by the bed. She picked up a bundle of clothes and turned towards Harry, waiting.

“What?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

“I have to get dressed,” Ginny explained.

“I’m not stopping you,” Harry said jokingly, laughing at the look on girls’ faces. Ginny smiled but then realized he was breaking another rule: flirting. Maybe she was overreacting again, and this was just a friendly banter.

“Out, out, out!” Hermione shooed him. Harry walked out the door, still chuckling. Ginny threw the clothes onto the bed, putting together an outfit. After deciding on and changing into skinny jeans, a white halter-top, and white pumps, she opened the door for Harry.

“You look really n�”,” Harry started, “um…not bad.” He quickly looked away, and walked over towards the bed. Ginny furrowed her brow, and then remembered they were just friends. But friends could compliment each other, right?

“Hermione, could you do my hair?” Ginny asked, closing the door.

“Sure, how do you want it?” Hermione chirped brightly pulling out her wand. Ginny looked into the mirror, across from the bed.

“Curly, please!” Ginny said, brushing her fingers through her flaming hair.

“All right,” Hermione raised her wand and pointed it at Ginny’s head. “ Crisp…ooo!”

“The spell’s Crispus,” Ginny said. Hermione just stared over Ginny’s shoulder, her mouth hanging open. Ginny waved in front of her face to try and get her attention, but Hermione just let out a little moan. Ginny turned around. Ron was wrapped in a towel from waist down.

“Wow. Hermione you look…,” Ron said, staring at Hermione, oblivious to Hermione examining his chest. Ginny rolled her eyes.

“Ron, put on a shirt!,” she ordered, pointing to his chest. Ron turned towards Ginny.

“You don’t like my muscles?” he teased, flexing his arms. Hermione let out a short breath and began to sway. Ginny grabbed onto her wrist to stop her from toppling over.

“No,” Ginny said stiffly. He turned around to grab a tee shirt off the bed. “Very smooth, Hermione,” Ginny added under her breath. Hermione snapped out of her daze, and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry,” Hermione whispered shakily.

“You don’t have to apologize for ogling my brother,” said Ginny laughing. Hermione shushed her.

“No, I mean…uh…your hair,” she whispered fingering fiery strands on Ginny’s head. Ginny turned around to face the mirror. Gold strands mixed with her standard red. It would stand out in a crowd. Of clowns. She ran her hand through her hair. It was definitely…different.

“Is there something you can do to fix it?” Ginny asked tentatively, not wanting to make Hermione feel guilty.

“Well, I don’t really know the spell that I did in the first place, but um…” Hermione flicked her wand and Ginny’s hair gently curled, making the gold shine. “I’m really sorry. I…it’s most likely not permanent,” she whispered.

Ginny shook her head letting her curls bounce and glimmer in the light. Her red hair was always noticeable so maybe this wasn’t that unusual. She saw Harry looking at her from the corner of the mirror. Ginny played with her hair a little more before facing Hermione.

“It’s not that bad,” Ginny said with a grin; she could feel Harry watching her. Ron walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed.

“So,” he said fixing his collar, “not to bad, eh?” He was wearing a blue buttoned down shirt, with his white wife beater showing, and loose fitting jeans. Ginny heard Hermione sigh.

“You clean up nicely,” Hermione said blushing slightly. She turned to the mirror to put on some eyeliner. Ron’s ears went red.

“Is that what you’re wearing tonight?” Ginny asked abruptly, turning to Harry. He had on ripped jeans and an old tee shirt.

“No, I just thought I’d put it on to annoy you,” Harry answered, rolling his eyes and putting his hands behind his head so he could lean on the headboard. Ginny smiled and grabbed Harry’s knapsack by the nightstand. “Hey! What are you doing?” Harry sat up, and swung his legs on to the floor.

Ginny ignored him, and continued looking through his bag. She pulled out clothes, placing them on the desk, searching for something.

“You need to go shopping, wait…wait…” Ginny dug around the bottom of the bag, “nice knickers!” Ginny laughed, holding up a pair of Harry’s boxers for him to see. Little broomsticks zoomed all around the green background of the cloth. Harry scowled, grabbing the boxers and threw them into his knapsack. Ginny sighed and picked up Ron’s duffle bag.

“You know you’re in need of help when you have to wear Ron’s clothes,” Ginny said, picking a jacket out of the bag and tossing it to him. Harry raised his eyebrows. “Please, put it on,” she begged.

Reluctantly Harry shrugged into the black jacket. Ginny smiled. “It looks good,” she said. “Just…hmmm.” This time Ginny went through her own bag to pull out a blue tube of hair product.

“What are you going to do?” Harry asked hesitantly. Hermione walked over to them.

“You know his hair doesn’t go down,” she said.

“I know.” Ginny smiled. “Hold out your hands.” Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she just shrugged. He unwillingly lifted his hands, so his palms faced the ceiling. Ginny squirted a little bit of hair cream in each one. “Now, run your hands through your hair.” Harry did as he was told.

“This stuff feels weird,” Harry whined, looking at his hair in the mirror.

“This coming from a guy who once sat in death gripping vines. And you think hair product is weird?” Hermione asked.

“You were in the Devil’s Snare too,” Harry said.

”She’s not the one complaining,” Ron said. Ginny cocked her head to the side, trying to decide the inevitable. His hair was sticking straight back, and she couldn’t leave it that way. She had to fix it, even if it broke a friendship rule.

“Come here,” Ginny said motioning to Harry. “I need to fix this.” Harry just sat on the bed, eyebrows furrowed. So Ginny moved to him. She held her breath as she ruffled his hair. She could feel Hermione and Ron staring at her. Ginny placed the last piece of hair flawlessly over his right eye and hopped off the bed.

“Done,” Ginny said, rubbing the access cream on her pants. She stood in front of her finished project, admiring it. Harry’s hair was perfect. It stuck up at all the right angles now. Harry looked into the mirror and gave a smile, which looked more like a grimace. Ginny laughed and patted his head.

“Are we ready to go now?” Ron asked, walking around the room impatiently, looking between Harry and Ginny.

“You know you have to go to the Burrow now, right?” Hermione asked viciously, because the mere thought of someone forgetting an important responsibility was extremely upsetting to her.

“Of course I knew that,” said Ron checking his watch. “I just didn’t realize it’s been an hour already. Well, I’ll meet you in the lobby.” He picked up his wand off the table, about to Apparate.

“Wait, Ron!” Hermione called running up to him. She started unbuttoning his collared shirt. Ron’s eyes just about popped out of his head and Ginny started giggling.

“Um…Hermione,” Harry started, sounding uncomfortable, “what are you doing?” Hermione finished unbuttoning and removed his shirt, folded it and placed it on the bed.

“He can’t go to the Burrow all dressed up! They have to think we’re about to go to bed. Ron, put on another pair of pants,” she added turning to Ron, whose mouth was still hanging open. Ginny fell onto the bed laughing. “Why did you ask? What did you think I was �”Oh Merlin!” Hermione blushed and quickly stepped away from Ron. Harry also started chuckling as Ron’s ears turned a bright red.

“Let’s go!” Hermione said, flustered. She ran past Ron and out the door. Ginny picked herself up from the bed, biting on her lip in an attempt to stop from snickering. Harry followed suit.

“Meet you downstairs,” Harry called over his shoulder before closing the door.

“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

After leaving, Harry and Ginny found Hermione already in the lobby, sitting on a couch, with a magazine in her hands. About two seconds later a giggling Christa came towards Harry, trying her best to ignore Ginny and Hermione.

“This is my friend Lana,” Christa said, flipping her embarrassingly fake auburn hair over her shoulder. “And that’s my sister Bunny.” Christa pointed towards the main desk, where the big-nosed hotel clerk was chatting up a blonde girl in a shiny top, or lack thereof.

“Her name’s Bunny?” Ginny asked, laughing. Christa turned her perfectly plucked, waxed, and tanned face towards Ginny.

“Yeah. Why is that so funny?,” she asked curtly, looking insulted.

“No, I mean, it’s just…Bunny sounds like…she, uh, works...um,” Ginny stammered, suppressing her giggles. Hermione nudged her in the side, telling her to cut it out, but Harry fought back a smile. “Never mind.”

“She works in social services,” Christa said, confused at the sudden interest in her sister’s profession.

“Oh, I’ll bet she does,” Ginny muttered under her breath, swallowing the laughs that were threatening to escape. Hermione’s eyes were watering from trying not to giggle. Harry gave up, and made an alarming sort of choking sound before firmly pressing his lips together.

“What do you mean by�””Christa started, but Lana cut her off.

“Don’t you have a friend coming?” she asked Harry, twirling a dark curl around her finger.

“Uh, yeah,” Harry got out between coughs. Lana looked around hopefully. “He should be down in a minute. He’s just…uh�””

“Getting married next week and very excited,” Ginny jumped in, smiling. Hermione and Harry looked at her in shock.

“He’s going to be married?” Lana asked, disappointed.

“Yeah, to Hermione,” Ginny said, pointing to the brunette next to her.

“No, he’s�”” Hermione started, but Ron came over to them, now in his clubbing clothes.

“Everything’s fine at the Burrow,” he affirmed, and then turned to the girls in front of him. “Uh, hey…”

“ He’s your fiancé?” Lana asked, looking back to Hermione. Ron’s jaw dropped, and Hermione turned red.

“What?” he spluttered. Lana looked confused, but then eyed Ron enthusiastically at the thought of him not being in a relationship.

“Yes, he is!” Hermione snapped, fiercely staring down Lana. To prove the point, Hermione walked toward Ron and took his hand in hers. If Ron’s mouth was hanging open then, it was nothing to what it was doing now. Ginny thought his jaw might have unhinged. Lana narrowed her eyes before storming off towards Bunny, who was now laughing and lightly touching the hotel clerk’s arm.

“We should get going!” Ginny exclaimed, grinning at Ron’s disbelieving expression. Ginny skipped forward, and the rest followed.

“Guys, we’re leaving,” Christa called towards the front desk. Bunny smiled at the clerk and walked over, Lana trailing behind her.

“Guess what? We’re now staying for free,” Bunny chortled as the group walked out the door. Ginny looked over at Hermione. She didn’t seem to hear that Bunny’s flirting abilities or other attributes had gotten her a free stay, but instead was focusing on the floor and looking anywhere, except at Ron.

“That’s Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hern�”Herninny,” Christa said pointing to each person as she said their name.

“It’s Hermione,” Harry corrected her. Christa smiled her best apologetic smile, but Ginny doubted it was sincere.

“You know, Ron and Hermione are going to be married! ” Lana said in a tone that she obviously wanted everyone to know was fake. This brought another round of pink cheeks and red ears from Ron and Hermione.

“Congratulations!” Bunny exclaimed, looking between the two.

“So, do you guys want to share a cab or, do you want your own?” Christa asked, digging through her purse. Ginny and Harry looked towards Hermione; she was in charge of the minor details, like finances. Ginny was more in charge of the main idea of their trip: fun.

“We’re a little low on money,” Hermione said in a voice a little louder than a whisper.

“Well, the club’s pretty close, so we can just walk,” Bunny suggested.

“It’s actually far and I don’t want to walk in my shoes,” Lana moaned, pointing to her stilettos.

“I think you’ll survive,” Ginny said. Lana pursed her lips.

“Fine.”

As it turned out, the club was far. Ginny’s feet were aching by the time they got to the club. But the worst part of the walk was the added company. The whole way there, Lana was grilling Ron and Hermione about their so-called engagement. Ginny could tell she was just trying to call them out on their lies.

“So, when’s the big day?” Lana asked, smirking.

“September seventh,” Hermione answered curtly.

“That soon? Are you pregnant?” she whispered. Ginny rolled her eyes.

“No!” Hermione exclaimed, shocked. She felt her belly self-consciously.

“Oh! Um…Where are you going on the honeymoon?” Lana asked.

“It doesn’t matter where we’re going. The most important thing is what we’re doing,” Ron said, snaking his arm around a blushing Hermione’s waist and pulling her closer. That shut Lana up for the rest of the walk. Ginny was impressed with her brother. He actually saw that Hermione was fed up with Lana, so he helped her out. Or he could of just really wanted pull her closer.

Christa was chatting up Harry. The entire time she was either batting her eyelashes, or laughing at his jokes like they were the funniest things she ever heard. So that left Ginny walking next to Bunny.

“And then, the girl from the bar totally lost it. She was throwing drinks like baseballs!” Bunny squealed. Baseballs? Ginny thought as she peered around Bunny’s grand arm gestures. She wanted to see if Harry was telling Christa to back off. But Ginny knew Harry was too nice for that, so maybe she could just watch him be uncomfortable that close to girl that wasn’t her. Ginny sighed. Or he could have moved on. They were broken up.

“Excuse me, Rabbit,” Ginny said, smiling politely and picking up her pace to catch Harry.

“It’s Bunny!” Bunny called after her, laughing at Ginny’s mistake.

The rest of the walk, Ginny continually butted into Christa’s ramblings. Ginny was happy to see Harry laughing at her purposefully stupid questions or muttered sarcastic remarks. Thankfully, they finally got to the club, and Ginny was able to pull her friends from Christa, Lana and Bunny’s evil clutches.