Hello!

This story was originally going to be my entry for the Harry Ginny Valentine's Day Fest, but life kind of threw a huge, depressing curve ball at me and there was just no way it was going to be done in time. Honestly, the fact that I have it up today is a miracle. this is also a result of ignoring other responsibilities the past three days in favor of writing fanfiction

I hope you enjoy! If you do, let me know in the comments, and if you don't, let me know in the comments. Thanks!

Happy Valentine's Day from my computer screen to yours. :)

He didn't even realize he was doing it at first: the staring. His eyes were just drawn to her like they were to a sunset, or a garden, or perhaps a nicely iced cake. It's normal- natural, even- to be drawn to a sight so perfectly delicate.

Ginny Weasley just happened to have very nice facial symmetry; that was certainly it. Harry remembered noting the same of Bill, and he definitely did not fancy him either. Must be in the genes, I suppose, he thought to himself, just great… structure.

So, anyway, there was absolutely no reason for Hermione to be giving him such pointed looks. She was acting awfully too smug.

"What?" Harry asked of her, irritation seeping through his voice.

"Nothing," she raised her eyebrows, "just wondering what it is you've been staring at for the past few minutes."

"I've not been staring at anything; it's just a busy common room today."

Just then, even though he definitely wasn't looking anymore, he heard Ginny's distinctive peal of laughter. The girls were rather close to Hermione and himself, and almost as if he was trained to notice the noise, he glanced over again to where she was chatting animatedly with her friends, back slightly arched and head tilted back. He loves that, how Ginny just laughs with her whole body. It was admirable to see such unrestrained joy. A pleasant change of tune for him, which definitely explained his looking- again. Shit.

Hermione's face grew even more smug, if that were possible.

"What, Hermione?"

"Hmmph. Nothing."

He rolled his eyes at her as she focused back in on her potions essay. Finally.

Alright, it was time to concentrate. Harry began the second paragraph to his essay, bitterly noting that Hermione was nearly finished. As Golpalott's Third Law states, the antidote to a blended poison is equal to…

"-and the look I got from him- I swear. I swear! I just get so angry sometimes," Ginny's voice drifted over to their table again, but the lightness of her tone had vanished, Harry noted. Aiming for more discretion this time, Harry chanced a look at her through the top of his glasses, head still trained in the general direction of his essay.

"Anyways, I'm probably just going to go at it alone this time, do some shopping by myself. It was about time we had some distance." Harry strained to hear more as they lowered their tone.

"That's sad on Valentine's Day, don't you think? Why couldn't you have just waited a few more days, then dumped him?" came an interjection from another fifth year girl Harry vaguely remembered as being named Emily.

"Right, because the aesthetic of my relationship is far more important than the health of it," Ginny bit sarcastically.

At that, Emily- or was it Emma maybe?- raised her hands in defence. "Alright, do whatever you think is best then."

"Thanks so much for your permission, Em" Ginny mocked with exaggerated sweetness.

Harry chuckled a little to himself, then immediately regretted it. His eyes snapped back to his essay before Hermione could see where his attention was really focused.

Interesting, he thought, Ginny and Dean splitting. He felt undeniably lighter at the idea, although guilty for feeling so. It really shouldn't matter to him, because he really, really didn't fancy her. He simply admired her facial symmetry.

And freckles. And hair. Smile. Wit. Attitude. Charm.

Shit. No. Not going there. It was purely aesthetic, to use her words from earlier. Harry wouldn't deny that Ginny Weasley had great bone structure, but that was it. Besides, he really wasn't having dreams about her wit and attitude, so there wasn't any reason to believe he thought of her beyond pleasant- and harmless- physical appreciation.

And honestly, Harry considered, who wouldn't appreciate the sight of Ginny Weasley? He allowed himself, for just a moment, to take in the way her uniform skirt flattered her trim waistline, and how her swept back hair exposed a little collarbone, littered with freckles, peeking through the neckline of her-

Shit. Mother fuck. She was looking at him; directly at him.

Cheeks burning, Harry hastily busied himself with his essay again. How long had she been watching him… watch her? Harry rose from the table, feeding Hermione an excuse about finding Hagrid, berating himself every step of the way.

Harry Potter was definitely staring at her.

At first, she would have chalked it up to boredom, as he seemed to be working on something or other with Hermione. Yes, that was likely it; he was spacing and happened to be looking her way.

However, that hadn't explained his silent, almost undetectable laughs at her comments to her friends. The slight exhale, upturned lips, and unmistakable glint in his eyes. He was eavesdropping!

"Anyway, how's your brother doing, Mar? I haven't heard anything in a minute," Ginny said, wanting to move the topic away from her.

Why was Harry listening to her conversation? Perhaps he was just looking for something to distract him, however trivial. This reasoning didn't quite settle with Ginny as the truth, however.

His eyes were on her again; she could feel them more dramatically this time. From her peripheral, she could tell that this was, in fact, outright staring. She decided to meet his eyes, show that boy to mind his own business, but what she saw in them did not make sense.

Lust. Just a flash of it.

Was that really what she had seen? Couldn't be… she shook her head. It made her stomach flutter, but not at all unpleasantly. In the seconds after their eyes met, Harry had the decency to look embarrassed. Ginny couldn't help but smile at that. He's flustered. He actually looks flustered. That's cute.

As Harry packed his things and rushed off towards the portrait hole, Ginny felt a little silly about finding joy in his stares. Chances are it was just a coincidence, another case of Ginny perpetually looking too far into things.

He did leave in quite a hurry though, she couldn't help but wonder.

"That jumper has always looked rather nice on you," Hermione commented, "in fact, I'm pretty sure I remember Ginny saying the same thing- what was it- two weeks ago?"

The morning of Valentine's Day, Harry and Hermione found themselves having an early lunch at the Three Broomsticks. Harry knew, of course, that Ginny would be wandering Hogsmeade by herself. That had absolutely no correlation to his choice of outfit- or his extra preening in the mirror this morning- regardless of what Hermione was suggesting.

"Huh, did she? I don't remember," he lied, feigning disinterest.

Yes, he definitely did remember. No, that's definitely not why he wore it. Although, his insides did a little dance at the memory: 'That's quite a lovely jumper, Harry. Good color on you.'

"Sure, 'course not," Hermione smiled.

Harry spared her an eye roll and instead shifted the conversation back towards her.

"Any luck on finding out more on the you-know-what's?" he asked, referring to the Horcruxes he had told her about from his last lesson with Dumbledore.

"Not a thing," she sighed, lowering her voice a little, "but I can't say that I'm surprised. If it wasn't common enough for, er- Riddle to understand without going to Professor Slughorn, then I doubted I'd find anything either. A shame, but I'm sure you'll find out in enough time, as long as you try to get what you need out of Slughorn."

"It was so weird, Hermione. He completely shifted. I've never seen him that angry, especially with me."

"Well, obviously, he'd never raise his voice at his star potions student," Hermione replied, her words laced with bitterness.

"You know what I mean, 'Mione."

Just then, Harry's attention was drawn to the window they sat beside; a flash of familiar red hair had just passed by. Harry wondered, a little wistfully, where she was headed.

"Harry? Did you hear me?" Hermione asked, craning her neck to see outside the window, "What's so interesting out- ah. I see."

A slow, knowing smile started to form on her face.

"No, it wasn't- I wasn't- it's not like that. I thought I saw Ron," he said with a shake of his head.

"Uh huh. Right," she paused thoughtfully, "Okay, Harry, I'm finished here. You go on, I think I'm going to go back to the castle and get a head start on classwork for next week."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, brow furrowed, "We've hardly done anything in town yet."

Right then, the bell on the door chimed, and Harry and Hermione were greeted with the sight of Lavender Brown forcing her way through the already thick lunch crowd, Ron in tow. Harry met eyes with him, and Ron gave a bit of a half-hearted wave in their direction.

"Oh yes, I'm very positive," Hermione said. Biting her lip, she hesitated a little before adding, "And… really Harry, I don't see the point in hiding the fact you fancy Ginny anymore. It's getting plainly obvious, and, as I'm sure you already know, she's broken it off with Dean."

Harry took a deep breath. "Alright, Hermione, first of all, I don't fancy her. Second, there are a number of completely hypothetical reasons as to why I could never, ever, ever, fancy Ginny Weasley. Star chaser on my team, only daughter of a family I'm very much indebted to, best friend's younger sister, and girlfriend- or fine, I guess ex-girlfriend, which is hardly any better- of my roommate," he finished, ticking off each item with his fingers.

Hermione was quiet for several long moments.

"What, Hermione?"

"You came up with that list awfully fast."

"You've got to be- okay, honestly," Harry sighed in exasperation, hands finding his hair, "it really doesn't matter. Can't matter."

Hermione gave him a pacifying look.

"Alright, Harry, whatever you say. Either way, I really am going to be off. I'll catch up with you after dinner, yeah?"

With that, she hugged him and made her way out.

That girl, Harry thought to himself, is so bloody stubborn.

Ginny took her time walking past each shop window, lazily looking for something to catch her interest. It felt a bit weird to be on her own, especially when the streets were practically littered with obnoxious couples.

At the very least, Ginny would normally be with her friends, but she had already decided that she wanted this trip to herself. On a whim, and perhaps on a craving for chocolate, she strolled into Honeydukes.

The candy shop, however, was definitely not spared from the Valentine's fever. A good swarm of students and villagers alike were browsing through the festive candy and treats, haphazardly crowding the aisles. Ginny almost regretted coming in here, until she spotted an inviting display of chocolate frogs. She headed straight for them, determined not to get squished along the way.

After several bumps and shuffles, she finally reached the stand and spent several minutes deciding exactly how much sugar she could consume in one day.

"Those are my favorite too."

She whipped around at the voice behind her, meeting familiar, bespectacled green eyes.

Harry left the Three Broomsticks shortly after parting with Hermione. Unsure of how to spend the rest of his Saturday, he decided to follow after Ginny. He was able to pick out the redheaded girl a block away, entering Honeydukes.

He quickened his pace, not entirely sure why he was doing so or what he was planning on doing when he reached her. He just wanted company, that was all. That's perfectly reasonable, he thought as he entered the candy shop.

The sight before him was overwhelming, to say the least. Displays and racks that were at one point probably very neat and well-stocked had been picked through and disheveled. He scanned the room quickly for Ginny and noticed her nearing a display of Chocolate Frogs.

When he reached her, her back slightly turned to him, he paused for a moment, admiring her thoughtful gaze. The fact that she's finding something to concentrate on about Chocolate Frogs is beyond me.

"Those are my favorite too."

He's not entirely sure what made him say it, but when she turned to face him, he saw recognition and relief flood her eyes at once, replacing surprise.

"I never said they were my favorite, Harry."

"Yes, true, but what else could be worthy of that much concentration, other than your favorite candy?"

"Very solid argument. They are, in fact: my favorite."

He smiled widely at her, "I knew it."

Her tinkling laugh made his heart skip a few beats.

"How's your Hogsmeade been so far, Harry?"

He pretended to consider, rocking on his heels over the excitement of talking with Ginny, "It's gone fairly well. Had an early lunch with Hermione, walked around for a bit after that. How about yours?"

"Mine's been fine too, thank you. I've just been trying to balance a budget with an extreme craving for chocolate; say, how much money would you say is reasonable to spend on an afternoon's worth of candy?"

"Hmm," Harry thought, "I really think it depends on the appetite. Also, it is Valentine's Day, so I'd say that raises the stakes a significant amount, in the spirit of the season."

"That's true! Would you like to gorge on chocolate with me? In the spirit of St. Valentine, of course."

His heart was now having a right fit.

"Absolutely." He grinned at her.

"Ooh, did I ever tell you about the time when Ron almost drowned on dry land?"

"No, please enlighten me."

"Okay so," Ginny began, unwrapping her third chocolate frog, "we were like, five and six I think? And we had been helping- and I use the term 'helping' very loosely- Mum water the garden outside, which was kind of a process with me, Ron, and the twins getting in the way. Anyway, Ron's got this huge stick, waving it around, pretending it's a sword, threatening Fred's life with it: you know, the typical stuff you do with a giant stick. So, obviously I want it; and I politely ask him for a turn, but he refuses. So, I'm chasing him, and as he looks back at me, he trips- and WHACK! Head gets stuck inside Mum's watering pail."

"You've got to be joking!"

"I swear! It was so funny- well, not for him anyway- just spluttering around, having a fit trying to get the thing off his big head. He was coughing up water for the next hour at least. Served him right for not sharing,"

"I suppose so," Harry laughed with her.

Ginny basked in the warm, rich sound- and if she were being honest, she was most delighted by the fact that she was the one making him laugh. They'd been walking around for a while, braving the crisp February air, and making a sizable dent in their stock of chocolates inside her bag. She didn't know why she invited Harry to spend the rest of the day with her, but there was just something about him- this unshakable, indescribable something- that made all resolve inside of her melt.

She was certainly glad she did run into him though. She couldn't recall ever having so much fun in Hogsmeade before. They didn't get many moments like this: moments of uninterrupted conversation, without the additions of Ron and Hermione. Ginny loved the way they talked; it was relaxed, comfortable, and the silences were just so as well.

However, the longer they'd been out, the more Ginny noticed the shift in their movements. They were definitely walking several inches closer to each other than when they started. She tried to pretend she didn't notice the accidental brushes, the radiation of his warmth onto her, and the way he leaned in, breath hot on her neck, every time he'd pluck a sweet from her bag. It sent shivers down her spine when he'd do that.

Ginny didn't quite believe that she was the only one feeling the heat, either; Harry's glances lingered longer, and his brushes seemed increasingly less accidental. Perhaps it was in her head though. Always making something out of nothing...

Shaking herself out of the thought, she looked up at him, surprised to notice his eyes were already intent on hers.

"Hey," Harry said suddenly, "it's getting a little dark. Maybe we should head back?"

Her heart fell a little. "Yeah, I guess. We should turn around here then," she said, gesturing to the split in the walkway, trying to fight down her disappointment.

Harry watched Ginny's face light up as she told another story about Ron. I'll have to remember to tease him about this one later, he thought in passing.

The bliss Harry was feeling was something he hadn't felt in a long time; had he ever felt this way? The ease with which he could talk and laugh and smile with her, the energy of his own joy returned in every passing glance, seeing how good they looked together in every store window reflection.…

Ginny made him feel weightless, hypothetical list be damned. It was the truth. Why was he hiding it again? Marveling at the crinkle in her nose and the tears in her eyes when she laughed, he couldn't be bothered to remember.

As their conversation began to trail off, Harry noted that he was just as content watching her think as he was listening to her speak. He admired the way her eyes shifted almost indiscriminately while she thought, as if a scene was playing out right before her. This, their closeness, and the flowery scent wafting toward him made any further attempts at conversation obsolete; Ginny was too distracting; the air around them felt electrically charged, tense with longing. As she shifted her hair, pulling it over her shoulder, Harry thought with a jolt to when she did that in the dream he had just last week, her coy expression aimed down at him, lips slightly parted-

As Ginny actually turned to look at him, he jumped a little, embarrassed by the provocative path his mind had taken. He quickly suggested they head back up to the castle, and immediately felt guilt not only in his thoughts but also in the disappointment he swore he saw flash in her eyes.

They started their trek back up to the castle, wind whipping Ginny's scarf every which way. She smiled up at him, and Harry could feel the flush forming in his face. I hope she thinks it's from the cold.

"Harry?"

He was never going to get used to the sound of his name on her lips, was he?

"Yeah?"

She paused, looking pensive. "Why'd you decide to go along with me today?"

For that, Harry had about a thousand answers, ones that would make his blush much deeper if he said them aloud, but he decided the safest was, "Oh. Well, I like spending time with you."

She tilted her head at him, expression unreadable. After a moment of consideration, Ginny replied, turning her gaze back to their path with a trace of a smile on her lips.

"I like spending time with you too, Harry," and with that, she laced her fingers with his and drew herself closer, fitting snugly against his side.

That's new. Their pace slowed dramatically. His stomach fluttering with joy, Harry couldn't keep the grin from spreading on his face. He was near enough that the flowery scent, now distinguishable as her hair, was intoxicating. He could feel the heat of her side pressed up against his, sending his imagination a little wild again.

He felt the need to say something, but didn't quite know what to say.

"This is nice," he settled on lightly. After a beat, he squeezed her hand in indication, "I didn't know we could do this."

"Well, we can do anything we'd like," Ginny said nonchalantly, glancing up at him.

Without understanding why he was doing so, Harry let flirtation lace his words suggestively. "Is that so? Anything?"

Ginny shook her head, trying to clarify, "I didn't mean it like that, I-" but was stopped when she looked into his eyes directly. His heart was skipping with the risk of being so forthcoming about his desire; he was almost positive it was a mistake he couldn't help but make. She turned to face him completely though. When had we stopped walking? Lightheaded as he was, Harry couldn't remember.

"That's a shame," he breathed, his face inching toward hers, "because I quite liked the idea of that."

He wasn't sure who closed the gap; maybe it was both of them. All Harry knew was that he was kissing her, kissing Ginny Weasley, lips molding into hers, tingling with the sensation of it as his eyes fluttered close. Harry decided that he quite liked the feeling of his pounding heart and cloudy head from the rush of doing what he had been dreaming about doing for months.

It was better than he could've imagined it. There was a gentle delicacy to the way he kissed her and the way she responded in turn. Harry felt like he could be doing this into the next day, into the next year, and still not get enough of her. The hand that wasn't still holding hers reached up to rest delicately on her face, thumb tracing her cheekbone. Ginny dropped his hand to rake both of hers through his hair.

Oh. I like that. Shivers raced down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold. Harry's now free hand settled on the small of her back. He drew her gently nearer to him, aching to feel more of that delicious closeness and to deepen the kiss. His tongue gently flicked against the space between her lips, and she responded more than encouragingly, parting her lips further in invitation.

He barely registered the sultry noises coming from deep within his throat, and he wouldn't have noticed at all if it didn't directly result in Ginny tugging lightly at his hair. Those tugs had sent sent shock waves deep into his stomach.

When they finally broke away, Harry was panting from lack of air, as was Ginny, he noticed. He hesitated a moment, before self consciously realizing that he should probably say something.

"Ginny, I- I really fancy you."

"You know, I think might have noticed," she smirked, gesturing at nothing in particular, " just now, with your tongue down my throat."

Harry shook his head, and let out a small chuckle, "Right. I like that we can do that," and after a pause bouncing slightly on his toes, he added, "Wait- Can we do that? Was that okay? I mean, you don't- do you-"

Ginny cut off his babbling with another swift kiss, somehow leaving him just as breathless as the first.

"Harry. It's okay. We can do that all we'd like," she assured him, taking his hand again and leading him down their abandoned path, "but for now, it's getting cold, and I'd much like to continue where we left off inside."

"I am absolutely in favor of that plan," Harry nodded with an unrestrained grin.

Ginny smiled back at him, and Harry discovered, still high on the feeling of having her, it was all the more brilliant knowing it was just for him.

Thank you for reading! Comments make my Valentine's Day spectacular. ;)