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Author: Imogen Story: Carpe Diem Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-OotP Status: Completed Reviews: 4 Words: 62,032
Early Halloween morning saw the grounds transformed by a sudden frost. The trees of the Forbidden Forest stood out starkly against the paleness of the sky, their branches gently dusted as if with finest talcum powder. Large grey footprints had been trampled into the sea of white grass, heading in the direction of Hagrid's cabin, indicating that Hagrid was already up and about, occupied with his game-keeping duties before the teaching day began. Harry leaned against the window sill of the hospital wing, staring out at the sparkling scene before him, but saw none of it. His thoughts were very firmly fixed on a certain conversation the previous night. "It has to be based on absolute trust." The words rang around in his head. Absolute trust. He knew that Ginny had that sort of faith in him, nothing else would have ever persuaded her to let him do the Imperius curse on her; but did he feel the same way? This was the fifth year he had been aware of her existence, but it was only recently that he had begun to get to know her as someone beyond the label of ‘Ron's little sister', as a person in her own right. He smiled to himself at the very thought of her; seeing her hair cascading around her face, hearing her vivacious laughter, and remembering her sheer determination on her face when he had cast that curse on her. And then there were her eyes… Harry half-blushed in spite of himself. He recalled the anxiety he had seen in them yesterday, and his heart melted. Ginny could never hurt him no more than he could ever hurt her; there was no question about that. Absolute trust? He nodded slowly to himself. Yes, he could do that. Breakfast that morning was a slightly more riotous affair than usual with the Weasley clan. Thankful to escape from the hospital wing, Harry had slid into a seat opposite Ron and was halfway through his morning porridge before he realised the reason. It was Ginny's birthday. Fred and George were sitting either side of her, grinning wickedly at each other and winking over her head. A large, elaborately gift wrapped box sat in front of her on the table. She regarded them and the parcel suspiciously. "Last year it exploded and nearly burnt my eyebrows off," she reminded them severely. "What are you planning on doing to me this year?" Fred and George shifted slightly uncomfortably on their chairs. "Would we do anything like that to our little sister?" asked George, attempting to sound hurt by the very suggestion. "Yes," laughed Ginny. "You do it every year. You open it." She pushed the box over to Fred. "Ah, yes. Well, maybe we need to rethink this," said Fred, looking nervously over at his twin. He turned to Ginny, "How about some nice canary creams instead?" Not waiting for an answer from her, they edged away from the table with the present and had just made it into the entrance hall when a terrific blast echoed around the room, followed by a yelp of pain and what was unmistakably George's voice yelling, "I told you to keep that thing shut! Now we'll have to look up the counter-charm to get your ears back to normal size. Come on! Library. Now!" The entirety of the Gryffindor table collapsed into fits of laughter. "Near miss there, Ginny," chuckled Ron as the room gradually settled back down to eating. "Here, this is from me and Harry." He pushed the narrow parcel down the table to her, and Harry felt unexpectedly nervous as he watched her unwrapping it. What if she didn't like it? He needn't have worried, as her face lit up as she saw the necklace shimmering gently against the deep midnight velvet of the box. "Ohhh!" she gasped. "It's beautiful. It's perfect to go with my new dress robes Bill and Charlie sent me. Oh, thank you both!" Harry sat, watching her glow with pleasure as she looked at the trinket again, touching it gently with her fingers as if she couldn't believe it was really there. Suddenly she got to her feet, wrapped her arms around Ron's neck and hugged him. "Thank you," she said simply, planting a kiss on the top of his head. "It's the nicest thing you've ever bought me." "Gerroff," muttered Ron, looking embarrassed but sounding rather pleased about it at the same time. "Anyway, it's only half from me." Ginny smiled at Harry, "Thank you," she said softly, her deep brown eyes melting slowly into his. *** Hermione didn't turn up for breakfast that morning, and the first time Harry and Ron saw her was when she appeared only just in time for the lesson before lunch; History of Magic with Professor Binns. She was unusually subdued and spoke little. Looking pale and tired, she scribbled notes feverishly on Urd the Norn, as the rest of the class slumbered gently in the warmth of the room, lulled by the soothing drone of their teacher's voice. "What's up with her?" muttered Ron to Harry at the end of the lesson, nodding across to where Hermione was packing her bag. Harry shrugged and they hurried to catch up with her outside the classroom. "Hermione?" Ron said tentatively. "What?" she snapped, whirling round to face him. Seeing the concern on his face, her anger faded and her voice suddenly cracked, tears flooding her eyes. "Just leave me alone Ron. Please? I can't take much more of this." She turned and fled up the corridor, books hugged tightly to her chest and headed up a staircase to the third floor. "Go after her," Harry urged. Ron ran his hands through his hair in bewilderment, then after a moment's indecision, appeared to make up his mind. Grabbing his bag up off the floor, he swung it over his shoulder and sprinted after her, a look of determination on his face. Harry chuckled to himself, and made his way down to the Great Hall for a solitary lunch. The room was half empty as it was still early, and as he glanced around his eyes focused on Ginny, sitting higher up the Gryffindor table talking animatedly to Neville, her red hair swirling around excitedly as she laughed with him. Harry found himself pushing his mashed potato around his plate hoping sincerely that Ginny hadn't started a Neville Longbottom Appreciation Society. His insides churned. He tried to reason with himself - it was ridiculous to be feeling like this about Ginny; but it was no use. Throwing his fork down in exasperation, he collected his things together and headed out of the room, with the intention of going up to the owlery to send a message to Sirius. He knew it was likely to be deserted, as most people sent their messages in the early morning or evening, and a bit of privacy was just what he needed. Hedwig would be glad of the trip to wherever Sirius was hiding at the moment, and as Harry silently closed the heavy oak door to the owl loft behind him, he felt immensely grateful to be alone. Moving behind the massive stone pillars in the owlery, Harry settled himself down, getting out quill and parchment to write his letter. Suddenly the sound of his own name broke through the silence and startled him. "But what about Harry?" It was Ron. Harry closed his eyes and groaned silently to himself. That was all he needed, to have walked into another of Ron and Hermione's arguments, and he was too far from the door to escape without being seen. "Ron, he knows already," Hermione sounded amused. "It was just you being painfully stupid about it." "What? Let's get this straight," Ron spluttered. "You know, Ginny knows, Harry knows… don't tell me; half of Gryffindor know how I feel about you?" "Do you care?" she asked him curiously. "Anyway, if Harry had worked it out Ginny was bound to. Just look at the time the two of them spend together now. You saw how close they were in the hospital wing yesterday." Harry hugged his knees towards him and buried his rapidly reddening face in them, wishing fervently he was somewhere else, but there was no escape. "No way!" Ron's voice rang round the room emphatically. "Ginny might have had a crush on him once, but Harry's got more sense." "But Ron," Hermione persisted. "Look," Ron interrupted testily. "There is no way I'll let my little sister go out with Harry Potter. If she does get close to him it'll put her in danger with You-Know-Who again, and I'm not having that." There was silence, and Harry glanced desperately at the door again. Maybe… "So what do we do now?" asked Hermione cautiously. "About us, I mean." "I know I've been a bit slow on the uptake, Hermione, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I've never felt this way for anyone before," he murmured to her. "Well, you got there in the end," said Hermione's voice softly, in a tone Harry had never heard her use before. "I was just so jealous of Krum," Ron continued thoughtfully, reproaching himself. "Shh! Forget it," came her reply, gently reassuring him. "It's all over now." "Hermione?" "Yes?" "If you're sure you can put up with me, I want to make this work," Ron's voice had become as tender as Hermione's. Harry edged carefully round the pillar, and could now see them wrapped in each other's arms. They were completely absorbed and as he backed away towards the door and freedom, he saw them sharing their very first kiss. Sliding through the doorway, and closing it silently behind him, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He took flight down the corridor, charged around the corner and crashed into someone, sending them sprawling to the floor. It was Ginny Weasley.
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