Ginny, Harry and Ron sat on Ginny’s bed talking to each other and to Hermione while she unpacked her suitcase.

“This year at Hogwarts is going to be great. No You-Know-Who, no Death Eaters, no danger, no worries,� said Ron, grinning widely as he thought about his seventh year.

“Ron, we’ve got NEWTs this year,� said Hermione.

Ron chose to ignore this and just kept talking. “We can do whatever we want. We’ll play some pranks. Oh, we’ll use the really evil pranks on the Slytherins. This is going to be…� He trailed off, his imagination running wild as he dreamed up possible pranks and practical jokes.

Hermione had given Ron a disapproving look when he had mentioned pranks, but she decided that she didn’t want to argue with him right now. So she stayed quiet.

“We can get away with anything! McGonagall wouldn’t dare expel Harry,� said Ron.

This time Hermione couldn’t keep quiet. “And why would she not expel Harry? He is a student at Hogwarts, just like the rest of us.� Her lips thin and pursed, and eyebrows raised, she was giving Ron a look that could match Mrs. Weasley’s.

“Hermione, Harry saved the entire bloody Wizarding World. If it weren’t for him, we’d all be dead by now. I bet all the teachers will be in awe at the very sight of him,� replied Ron, a huge grin on his face, knowing he had made a good point.

“Imagine Slughorn, drooling and staring at Harry,� commented Ginny, breaking the awkward silence. Then they all started laughing and making jokes about their various professors.

“Imagine McGonagall trying to get his autograph!� said Ron, clutching his sides and rolling around on the bed.

“Or Professor Sprout taking his picture every five minutes!� laughed Hermione, letting go, and laughing with the others.

“Imagine Madam Pomfrey—" but Harry was cut off by the sound of Mrs. Weasley’s voice, coming from downstairs.

“Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny, come down here! Dinner’s ready!� called Mrs. Weasley from the floor below.

“Food!� exclaimed Ron, as he jumped from the bed and raced downstairs.

“Food is always the most important thing on his mind, isn’t it?" asked Hermione, smiling, while she, Ginny and Harry walked down the stairs after Ron.

When they reached the bottom landing, they headed for the dinner table, to find it was covered in delicious food, with a steaming beef roast in the middle.

“Hello, Hermione, so nice to see you again,� said Mr. Weasley in his usual cheery voice.

“Hi, Hermione,� said Charlie.

“Hello, Mr. Weasley. Hi, Charlie, how’s work?� Hermione found Charlie’s job, working with dragons, really fascinating.

“It’s great. Norberta’s child has grown to be bigger than me,� replied Charlie with a cheery voice, much like his father’s.

Hermione then spotted Percy, who was sitting at a far corner of the table, with his head bent low. He was writing furiously on some parchment and from the looks of it, he had already written more than three feet.

“Hi, Percy, what are you writing?� asked Hermione.

“Oh, hi, Hermione,� Percy said, as he looked up for the first time in half an hour. “I’m writing a letter…to a friend,� he muttered, while turning red around the ears and cheeks.

“We’ll give you a hint,� said Fred, who was already seated at the table beside George.

“Her name starts with Penelope,� said George.

“And he’s not writing a letter, it’s more like an essay,� added Ron.

By this time, Percy had by-passed red, and his whole face had flushed a brilliant crimson colour.

Hermione knew they were being insensitive about Percy’s feelings for Penelope, but she couldn’t help smiling a bit, seeing the humorous side of the situation.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley came to the table and told everyone to sit down and eat, saving Percy from any further embarrassment.

During dinner, Harry was finding it extremely difficult to concentrate on his food. He was seated directly in front of Ginny, and it was taking most of his will power to restrain from glancing up every few seconds to stare at the beautiful redhead, who also happened to be his ex-girlfriend. Instead, he tried to focus on his barely-touched dinner.

“Harry, dear, are you all right? You don’t seem to be eating much.� said Mrs. Weasley in a concerned voice.

“I’m fine, Mrs. Weasley - just not very hungry.�

Halfway through dessert (blueberry pie) he chanced a glance at Ginny. She didn’t catch his eye; instead, she leaned over and whispered something to Hermione, which made them both giggle. Harry’s face grew hot, and he looked back down at his plate, suddenly very interested in his dessert.

Are they talking about me? Does she notice how hard I’m trying just not to stare at her? thought Harry. Usually, he found Ginny’s ability to be able to tell exactly what he was thinking very cute, but right now, it was just causing him embarrassment.

That night, Ginny lay in bed, wide awake. Her stomach was empty - she hadn’t eaten much at dinner - though her mind was full. It’s been months since the final battle, why hasn’t he confronted me yet? Is he just scared? Or perhaps he’s moved on? Oh, yes, he probably, met some stupid Veela on his journey and now he’s forgotten all about me!

Deciding she wasn’t going to get any sleep on an empty stomach, she crept downstairs and started satisfying her hunger with some leftover pie.

What’s wrong with me? I defeated the greatest Dark wizard of the century, so why can’t I talk to Ginny? I’ve known her for eight years, for Merlin’s sake! Oh who am I kidding? She’s probably moved on, with another guy now. And what guy wouldn’t have her, with her fiery red hair and beautiful soft brown eyes— Harry snapped out of his thoughts by a noise that came from downstairs. He froze, listening intently, trying to block out Ron’s snores…yes, there was someone downstairs, and he could hear footsteps. He crept downstairs, his wand clutched in his hands as entered the living room.

Ginny froze, her spoon halfway between her plate and mouth. She heard footsteps; there was someone in the living room. Who could that be? Everyone’s asleep upstairs, so then it has to be an intruder. She tiptoed to the entrance of the living room, and froze with fear. There was someone standing in the middle of the living room. From the looks of it, it was a man, taller than herself, with his back turned to her. Oh, bloody hell, what am I going to do? Who the bloody hell is this? A million thoughts raced through her mind. A Death Eater, or a Muggle robber, or You-Know-Who back from the dead! OK, calm down, it can’t be Voldemort. He’s gone, forever. Now what can

I do to get rid of this guy? I could call for help…no, he could kill me and make a run for it by the time anyone gets downstairs. Oh, why did I leave my wand upstairs? Stupid, I’m so so stupid…oh yes! I’ve got it!

Struck by and idea, Ginny grabbed the knife that was sitting on the kitchen counter. She crept up behind the intruder, stood on her tip-toes, and in one swift movement, she wrapped her arm around his neck, in a choking position, and pointed the knife at his throat. “Don’t move,� she whispered. She still couldn’t see his face, but at least she had him in a position where she had the advantage.

Harry’s entire body stiffened with anticipation of what could happen, none of which could be good. Someone (probably the intruder) had wrapped their arm around his neck, ready to choke him, and was pointing a knife at his throat. Who is this person? A Death Eater? What are they doing here?! Is it an attack on the Burrow? There could be more outside! Why would a Death Eater be pointing a knife instead of a wand? These were the thoughts racing through Harry’s mind, until his attacker spoke again.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?� Ginny whispered. Not wanting to reveal his identity to this uninvited guest, Harry quickly devised a plan. Putting his plain into action, Harry elbowed his opponent in the stomach - hard. Out of shock and pain of being hit, the person dropped the knife; Harry caught it, spun around and launched himself at the figure, still in a state of shock. Both of them landed on the ground with Harry on top. In less than a second, Harry had both the knife and his wand pointed at the unknown person.

“Ginny?� exclaimed a very shocked Harry. Ginny - whose eyes were shut tight, waiting to be killed - opened her eyes.

“Harry?� she whispered, also stunned.

“I thought th-that -� Harry stammered.

“- you were an intruder?*� Ginny finished his sentence.

“Me, too,� he said.

They stared at each other for a few moments, green eyes boring into brown ones. Harry’s entire body was tingling from being on top of her, his body pressed on to hers. He realised how wonderfully she fit under him. His mind was screaming at him to get off of her, but his body did not want to move. They were still just staring at each other.

After the initial shock had worn off, Ginny realised how perfectly she fit under Harry. Through the thin spaghetti-strap top she was wearing, she could feel his well-toned chest pressing into her own chest. Years of Quidditch had done his body good.

Then suddenly, Harry snapped back into reality. He hastily got off of Ginny and stood up. He offered her his hand to help her off the ground. His fingers tingled as he felt her smaller hand fit perfectly into his larger one, and he helped her to her feet.

But as soon as Ginny got up, she regretted it immensely, as her stomach seared with pain. She whimpered and fell to the ground on her knees, clutching her stomach. As Harry, shocked, watched her go down, something registered in his mind. Oh, Merlin. I elbowed her in the stomach. I hurt Ginny. Harry knelt down beside her, gathered her in his arms, lifted her and placed her on the sofa right beside them.

“Ginny, are you OK?� he whispered softly. Ginny opened her eyes and gave Harry a weak smile.

“I’m fine,� she responded, although it didn’t sound very convincing.

“Do you mind if I take a look?� he asked. He knew that what he was asking was unreasonable, but he had to check to make sure he hadn’t hurt her too badly.

She just shrugged, so he took hold of the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up about three inches. What he saw mortified him. Beside her belly button was a huge, blue bruise. When she saw the expression on Harry’s face, Ginny asked, “What? What is it?� Then she looked down at her stomach and was shocked into silence for a moment.

“It’s not that bad,� she said, trying to lighten the mood. He brushed the tips of his fingers over the bruise, which sent goose-bumps up and down her spine.

“Oh, Ginny, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I did this to you. Oh Merlin, I’m so stupid. I hurt you so badly. What are your parents going to say? I—“

“Harry, shut up. It was no one’s fault. We were both playing the hero, trying to capture the non-existent attacker. And my parents don’t have to know about this, nor does anyone else. This will be our little secret.� She winked at him playfully. “Let’s just go upstairs. OK?�

“Yeah. OK.� He stood up, and so did she. He hated himself even more when he saw Ginny wince from the pain.

“Just let me put away the pie,� she said. Harry grinned.

“So that’s why you were down here? A midnight snack?�

“I was hungry! I didn’t eat much at dinner. What were you doing down here?�

“I was in bed and I heard noises, so I came down to investigate.�

“Oh yes, the brave Harry Potter once again saves the day. Except this time, the day didn’t need saving.� She started to laugh, and so did he.

Ginny put the pie away, and she and Harry went back upstairs. As they were about to part ways in the middle of the hallway, Harry stopped abruptly. “Ginny, I…umm…err…goodnight,� he finished lamely. Something flitted across Ginny’s face. Was it disappointment? No, it couldn’t have been. She covered up quickly by putting on a large smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes.

“Goodnight, Harry.� And she walked away to her room, and shut the door quietly. Harry just stood there, in the middle of the hallway, for how long, even he didn't know. It was probably only a few minutes, but it felt like much more. Finally, he went back to his room. I’m such a coward. Why didn’t I just tell her that I still have feelings for her? That I haven’t forgotten about her. That I still love her. Was that really disappointment on her face? No, it couldn’t have been. I was probably just another wince from the pain. As he began to get sleepier, and his eyes began to close, the last thought he had was about how milky white and wonderfully smooth the skin on her stomach was. And then he fell asleep.

I hope he didn’t notice the disappointment on my face. And with that last thought, Ginny closed her eyes, and fell asleep.