Harry Potter sat on his bed in Ron Weasley's room lost in thought. He and the rest of the Weasleys had returned to the Burrow from Diagon Alley several hours ago, but he could not stop thinking about what happened when they were leaving the bookstore. Draco Malfoy had been his obnoxious self, as always, but Ginny's reaction to him and his comment about Ginny being his girlfriend had been weighing on his mind since. On one hand, she was his best mate's younger sister. On the other, she had a crush on him. Still he barely knew her, because she would not stay in the same room with him, except at meals, for longer then ten seconds before running away with a red face and a squeak since he had arrived at the Burrow. Yet there was something there that he was not sure what it was. From the first time he had seen her on the platform last September, and then when he arrived at the Burrow, she had intrigued him in a way he never had been before. He needed to get to the bottom of these feelings, and the only way to do that was to get Ginny to talk to him without running away.
Harry looked at Ron, who was reclined on his bed reading a Quidditch magazine. A thought occurred to him suddenly, and a plan quickly formed in his brain. He knew he couldn't tell Ron where he was going. Ron would think he had gone mental. Harry stood, thinking of an excuse quickly and said, "I gotta go to the loo."
Harry walked out as Ron just nodded at him. He walked down the stairs to the next floor, making it sound like he was on his way to the bathroom. Harry then quietly made his way down to Ginny's room. He paused at her door, and took a deep breath. It was now or never. The curiosity was killing him. He knocked and waited.
"Come in," he heard Ginny call.
Harry entered the room, quickly looking back into the hall to make sure no one was watching. He closed the door quietly and stood in front of it. Ginny was sitting at her desk and had not even looked up from her Charms book when he entered. Harry stared at her for a moment. Now that he could see her sitting there he could see her clearly. Her hair was long and fiery red, and he suddenly felt enchanted by it, and for some odd reason wanted to run his fingers through it. He shook his head to clear those thoughts for another time.
"Hi," Harry finally said. Ginny jumped, startled. The quill she had been using for practice with, came flying out of her hand, embedding in the wall next to Harry. Her head swung around quickly to look at him and immediately her face turned as red as her hair. Her expression was one of shock and terror, her eyes wide. Harry noticed her eyes were a rich chocolate brown and sparkled in the light. He smiled at her. "Calm down. I need to ask you something, and since you keep running away I figured this was the best way to do it."
Ginny squeaked, burying her face in her hands, almost falling out of her chair. Harry sighed, pulling the quill out of the wall. This was going to be harder than he thought.
"Look, I'm not that boy from your books and stories," Harry said gently, being mindful of her feelings for him, carefully handing the quill back to her. "I'm just Harry. I hate all the attention I get from people. I don't like my fame. I don't really want to be famous."
Ginny slowly looked up, her face still red. She looked at him taking in his real appearance for the first time since Kings Cross last year. His messy black hair, his thin frame, those gorgeous green eyes. Then she saw him smile at her as the blush faded from her cheeks. "That's better," he said. Harry pause for a minute, staring at her. It was his first good look at her face in almost a year. "You really are quite cute, with or without the blush."
"Thank you," Ginny said shyly. She swallowed hard as she looked past all the made-up images she had of the book and story Harry that was her basis for her crush. Here was a boy, a young wizard, not much different then her or her brothers. His clothes were deplorable, but she just glanced at them. His eyes caught her yet again. Those shining emeralds were her downfall. They were so deep and expressive. She could get lost staring into those green orbs. At the moment they were full of curiosity, not longing for adventure. There was also a hollowness and sadness that went very deep into his very soul that she wanted to take away. "You have such gorgeous eyes," she said, finally in a normal voice that even surprised her.
