Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, places, school supplies, or anything else you see pictured here. All I own is...well, come to think of it, nothing. We should all give Jo Rowling a great big thank you for letting us play in her magical world. THANK YOU! Also, song lyrics courtesy of Edwin Mccain.

"It's sixth year!" Ron said jovially. "And you know what that means!"

"No O.W.L.s," Harry said.

"No N.E.W.T.s," Ron added.

"You two are so juvenile," Hermione opined absently, scratching her quill across her parchment.

Ron looked stunned. "Hermione, it's our first day of classes. You can't be doing homework already."

"I like to stay caught up," Hermione said, still writing.

It had been like this all summer. Ron had been unusually tactful towards Hermione, and she had met his eyes maybe twice. Harry was starting to wonder if they'd had a huge fight before he arrived. Wouldn't be the first time.

Just then, Ginny stumbled into the common room, looking rather shell shocked. "This year is going to be hell," she said succinctly, throwing her book bag on one of the tables before flinging herself across a couch.

Harry and Ron grinned at each other, and a small smile threatened to explode on Hermione's face.

"Well, O.W.L.s aren't so bad," Harry offered.

"Yeah, they're only the most important exams you've had yet," Ron said with a nod.

"And they determine the course of your future, practically," Harry added.

"But hey," Ron finished. "No pressure."

Ginny threw a pillow in their general direction. It was a mark of how tired she was that it flopped half-heartedly at Harry's feet. Harry picked it up and threw it back at her. She caught it deftly; apparently she wasn't that tired.

"I hope you both rot in the bowels of Satan," Ginny grumbled.

"Ginny!" Hermione said, looking scandalized.

"What? I do," Ginny defended herself. "And you would too if you were being terrorized."

"I'm terrorized on a constant basis," Hermione said, returning to her homework. "I just don't care anymore."

Again with the passivity.

"Ron, pass me that Transfiguration reference, would you?" she said.

"Which one?" Ron asked, looking down at the assortment of tomes on the table.

"The big green one," Hermione told him. Ron picked it up and handed it to her. She flashed him a smile of thanks before continuing with her homework.

"So, Harry," Ron said, "d'you want to get in a little Quidditch tomorrow?"

"You can't," Hermione said immediately. "We're patrolling the third floor corridor straight after classes."

"Then we'll go after," Ron said with a shrug.

"It'll be dark by then," Hermione pointed out.

Ron fell back in his seat. "Being a prefect isn't as easy as it looks."

"Yeah, well, it's a lot easier than seeing Mum's face when you don't get made prefect," Ginny said darkly. "Honestly, I thought she was going to kill me."

Ron grinned. "Fred and George were happy, though."

"Yeah, that was a plus," Ginny said. "Not like last year when they took the mickey out of you for so long."

"They were just jealous," Hermione said immediately.

Ron rolled his eyes. "They were not. Prefects and the twins just don't mix."

"They were jealous," Hermione said firmly. "Because you got made prefect and they didn't."

Ron pretended to blush. "Oh, Hermione, don't flatter me like that."

It was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes, though Harry could tell she was fighting a smile. "I wouldn't dream of it, Ronald."

That was more like it, Harry decided. That was almost bickering. Except…it wasn't.

"That old toad!" Ginny seethed under her breath.

"Who?" asked Harry.

"Dumbledore," Ginny said, taking off her tie and flinging it across the common room, where it landed on the head of an unsuspecting second year. The poor boy went bright red, but Ginny took no notice.

"What'd he do?" Harry asked.

"Oh, it's all well and good for you," Ginny ranted. "You don't have to do it. Just the fifth years. What on earth was he thinking?"

"It would help if you tell me what it was," Harry pointed out.

"Singing," Ginny said. "We all have to sing! That bat. He just wants to humiliate us!"

"I take it you can't sing?" Harry asked.

"Of course I can," Ginny said distractedly, pulling her homework out of her school bag and flopping it on the half of the table Harry's schoolwork wasn't on. "That's not the point."

At that moment, Ron entered the common room, chuckling to himself. Hermione followed right behind, biting her lip to fight a smile.

"Dumbledore is a great man!" Ron announced to the common room at large. That poor second year fell out of his chair.

"Ginny is being incoherent," Harry said. "So tell me why Dumbledore is a great man."

"The fifth years," Ron said.

"They have to sing," Hermione added. "In front of everyone!"

"One at a time!"

"To Muggle songs!"

"Next month!"

Harry and Ginny stared at them.

"You two are doing that Fred and George freaky twin thing," Ginny said. "Did you know?"

"You have to sing," Harry said. "This is great."

"A bit of a treat for the school, my fanny," Ginny grumbled. "Dumbledore has never liked me."

"I think you're overreacting," Hermione said. "I've heard you sing, and you're pretty good."

"That's not the point!" Ginny insisted. "The point is that I don't want to sing in front of everyone. What if my voice goes? What if all the Slytherins laugh at me? What if I make a fool of myself and have to endure Malfoy's smug smirk for the next millennia?"

"Ginny, calm down," Ron said. "You'll do fine."

"Says you," Ginny muttered.

The next month flew by quickly. Classes were as usual, even if the fifth years one met in the hall were looking particularly stressed out. In Transfiguration, McGonagall was teaching them how a variation of the Switching Spell could be used to switch souls between bodies, although she said it was very difficult.

In History of Magic, Professor Binns had assigned them all new seats. Ron's eyes lit up mischievously when he found that he'd be seated right behind Hermione, with Harry on his left.

Halfway through one of their classes, Ron nudged Harry and gave him a distinctive 'Watch this' look. He then took his quill and began to tickle the back of Hermione's neck, exposed because of the bun Hermione had tied in her bushy hair.

Hermione shivered. Ron tickled her again. Then she rubbed the back of her neck. He tickled her once more. Without warning, Hermione shot her hand back and grabbed Ron's wrist, turning to give him a death glare.

"Stop it," she whispered.

Ron stuck his tongue out at her, but obligingly dropped his arm. Hermione turned back towards the front of the class, picked up her quill, and began to take notes again. Ron leaned forward as far as he could and blew on her neck.

She shivered again.

He blew once more. She turned abruptly, causing her and Ron to come face to face, inches apart.

"Stop it," she breathed.

"Yes ma'am," Ron said cheekily.

"I mean it, Ronald Weasley," she warned.

Ron blew in her face. She scrunched up her features, then grabbed Ron by the nose and glared at him. "Stop."

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley," Professor Binns said sharply. "Please pay attention."

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said meekly, turning back to face him with cheeks flaming.

Ron was grinning at the back of her head. She kept shooting him looks all through the lesson, hardly taking notes at all.

Which was when Harry realized something. They weren't bickering anymore. His two best friends were…flirting?

"Dear Godric," Harry said hollowly, plopping down on one of the couches in the common room. Before he could say cheese, Ginny sat down beside him.

"Dear Godric what?" she asked

"Ron and Hermione," Harry groaned, shaking his head as he stared into the fire.

Ginny cracked a grin. "And what about them?"

"All through class," Harry said weakly. "She hardly took notes. It was so weird. Then they were…they were…" He swallowed.

"Flirting?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded. Ginny laughed, then said, "Oh, come on now, Harry, it was bound to happen sometime. They've fancied each other since the Dark Ages."

"And why didn't you tell me?" Harry demanded. He was rather surprised.

He and Ginny had gotten to be good friends this past year. She knocked sense into him when he was moping around being depressed, he teased her mercilessly, and she shot back with equal or more teasing. He had begun to confide in her like Ron or Hermione, and yet she had kept this from him.

"It was more fun not to tell you," Ginny said, giving him a cheeky smile. "The shell-shocked look is perfect for you, Mr. Potter."

"Miss Weasley, I hardly think you're in a position to poke fun," Harry retorted. "What about your singing debut?"

Ginny hummed a few bars of a song Harry didn't recognize. "It's going absolutely great."

Before Harry had time to even stop for breath, September was over. On the first day of October, Ginny came down for breakfast with the look of someone being led to the gallows.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said weakly.

"Oh, that's right," Harry said. "You have to sing tonight!"

"Not if I jump off the Astronomy Tower first," Ginny said despairingly.

"What happened to everything going great?" Harry wanted to know.

"It all went down the drain when the stage fright set in," Ginny groaned.

"Really?" Hermione asked. "Because I heard you practicing. The song is quite nice" - she shot an odd look at Harry - "and you sing it well. You don't have any reason to be frightened."

"It's the song, actually," Ginny admitted. "I'm not sure if it's the right one."

"What is it?" Ron asked.

Ginny hummed a few bars. Harry still didn't recognize it. This was probably because he didn't listen to much Muggle music, but it made him curious.

The first three kids stunk. Colin Creevey was laughable. The next two weren't so bad. Luna Lovegood did surprisingly well. A few more that Harry didn't really take notice of. Then it was Ginny's turn.

She got up to the magical microphone that the decoration committee had stolen from the Quidditch pitch, and cleared her throat nervously.

"C'mon, Weasel, show us what you've got!" Malfoy yelled.

"Weasley is our Queen!" Pansy shrieked. "She cannot sing a single note, her dearest pet is a dust mote, Weasley is our Queen!"

Ginny flipped them the bird. The whole Great Hall let out a simultaneous gasp, aside from two smirking Gryffindors. Harry and Ron just laughed.

"Miss Weasley!" McGonagall said, scandalized. "Please contain yourself, or I will be forced to take points from Gryffindor."

"Yes, Professor," Ginny said, at the same time shooting a glare towards the Slytherin table that could have melted cold steel. Then she nodded at Dean, who was working the CD player, and the notes of a slow song filled the Hall.

When Ginny began to sing, the entire crowd began to whisper among itself.

"The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful, stop me and steal my breath," she sang, in a low, husky, syrupy voice that wove it's way through Harry's senses, making him feel the most at peace he'd felt in months. At the same time, it thrilled him to no end.

"Emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky, never revealing their depth. And tell me that we belong together," she continued, swaying slightly on the spot. "Dress it up with the trappings of love. I'll be captivated," - she closed her eyes, getting into the song - "I'll hang from your lips, instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above."

Then she burst into the chorus, and the Great Hall went utterly silent, except for her voice. Even the Slytherins were enraptured.

"I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival, you're my living proof
My love is alive and not dead

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

I've dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in, turned on, remembered the things you said

I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life."

Half the Hall was singing with her as she finished the last chorus, her face lit up and her voice still weaving it's magic. As she finished, she looked down and met Harry's eyes.

"The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful, stop me and steal my breath," she sang in the most husky tone of all, causing Harry's heart to do flip-flops in his chest.

He started clapping, his hands striking together sending sharp beats through the still silent room. Then the whole audience joined in, creating a roar that went on for ages, everyone jumping to their feet, some of the more enthusiastic ones yelling, a few wolf-whistling. Ginny just stood on the stage and beamed down at him.

Then her eyes flickered and she scrunched up her nose. Harry followed her line of sight to see Ron and Hermione looking at each other in an entirely too soppy manner. He snapped his fingers between them.

"Earth to Ron and Hermione," he said. "Ginny just brought down the house."

They were waiting for Ginny to come down, so they could all go up to Gryffindor Tower together. Ron and Hermione were shooting looks at each other that made him want to roll his eyes.

Ginny ran up, sufficiently distracting him with her bright smile. "What did you think?"

"I thought it was wonderful," Harry offered. "Really wonderful."

"Absolutely corking," Ron said.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, uncharacteristically monosyllabic.

Malfoy emerged from the Great Hall, talking loudly so that the Gryffindors would be sure to hear. "I mean, it is a step up from, 'His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad.'"

Ginny blushed slightly.

"But she really was just a bit obvious," Malfoy decided. "Still harping on about Potter's eyes and all that."

Ginny turned red as a beet as Malfoy disappeared towards the dungeons.

Hermione's eyebrows threatened to fly off her face. Ron was stifling a laugh into his fist. Harry was staring at Ginny, dumbstruck.

Ginny was staring expressionlessly at the ceiling. "Ahem. So, how about them Cannons?"

Harry couldn't help it. He started laughing. Ron's control broke and he started laughing as well. Hermione was shaking, fighting a smile, and looking anywhere but at her best friends. Ginny's lips were twitching.

"Um, Ron? Hermione?" Harry said, laughter subsiding. "Could you…give us a minute?"

Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and made quickly for the dorms. But alas, it was not to be.

"Harry," Ron said in a warning tone. Harry took this to mean, "Lay a finger on my sister and I'll hex you so badly you won't be able to piss for a month."

"Ron, come on, I have something to show you," Hermione said, pulling him up the staircase. Ron looked highly disgruntled, but followed her.

Ginny was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall, looking lost and a little forlorn. "Harry, listen," she began.

"No," Harry said immediately. "You listen. I'm going to assume, from the look on your face, that Malfoy hit a nerve there?"

Ginny nodded, her face solemn. "Yeah."

"So, that song, you were really singing it…"

"About you, of course," Ginny said, a faint smile on her face.

"Me?"

"It's always been you."

"Right then," Harry said with a nod. "Just making sure." Then he took two steps towards her and put his hands on her slight shoulders. "You know what, Gin? I think I need a crying shoulder."

"I was thinking more along the lines of better when I'm older, actually…"

Harry laughed. "Regardless, I'd rather it be you than anyone else on the planet."

Ginny went still. Then she looked up at him, her eyes wide. "Really?"

"Of course," Harry said. Then he kissed her.

About half an hour later, Harry and Ginny walked into the common room, only to be met with a sight that would scar them for life.

Ron and Hermione. On one of the couches. And he was snogging her for England.

"EW!" Ginny yelled, clapping a hand over her eyes. "Didn't want to see that!"

Ron and Hermione fell off the couch.

"Ouch," Hermione said. "Ron, you're squashing me."

"Sorry," Ron apologized, picking himself off the ground and extending a hand to Hermione, who took it and hauled herself to her feet.

Harry and Ginny were staring at them in speechlessness.

"Um," Hermione said, a blush setting in on her cheeks. "Ah. Ginny. Liked your song."

"Yeah," Ron agreed, nodding vigorously. "It was excellent."

"I thought so, too," Harry said, giving Ginny a smile.

"I'm glad."

Author's note: Yes. I know. This takes place in 1996, the song "I'll Be" doesn't come out until 1997. Call it author's license.