"I can't believe I am doing this," Ginny muttered, trying to tug down the hem of her dress as Luna navigated them through the relatively crowded restaurant.

It was the first time Ginny ever came to The Merlin's Club and it was far more remarkable than she imagined. The sleek architecture and expensive decorations would have been eye catching if it weren't for the patrons, who if possible were dressed even more impressive than the room itself.

She looked down and, for the third time since entering, readjusted her outfit. She bought it months ago when she was given a bonus at work and it was by far the most expensive thing she owned. Coming to The Merlin's Club gave her a perfect excuse to finally wear it, but she couldn't shake the gut feeling that she didn't belong here.

"Tell me again why we're here? Three Broomsticks would have been perfectly suitable, you know." Ginny hissed in Luna's ear as she leaned against the bar, scanning the rest of the room's occupants. "Anyway, how did you get us in here? I've heard its reputation for being impossibly exclusive."

"Remember Mr. Heckly, the nice apothecary who helped me with that potion I needed? It worked so well that started running his ads for free in the paper. As a thank you he said he would put my name down on his guest list, so I can come here whenever I want. Besides Ginny," Luna continued watching the crowd benignly, "it is the perfect place for your assignment. The people here are wonderful. You're bound to find someone."

"Well if I have to do this, I at least am going to be happy while I am at it," Ginny smiled, turning towards the bar, leaning over in attempt to find the bartender. "What shall we have, firewhiskey or something more exotic?"

Luna looked at Ginny seriously before answering. "I, as much as anyone, enjoy escaping the stresses of daily life through alcohol, but now isn't the time. I need you to be in top form. Nothing more than Butterbeer tonight."

"You got it boss," she conceded. Luna had been adamant about this latest article she wanted Ginny to write, which was something that caught her off guard. Luna, being the free spirit she is, was always extremely lenient with what she would let Ginny write ever since she started her work at The Quibbler a year ago. Given this freedom, she never questioned the articles Luna asked her to do, as off beat as they might be she felt she owed it to her friend for letting her express all her opinions without censorship.

After graduating Hogwarts, she had hopes of a career working at The Daily Prophet, but soon found out she would never be able to write any of the pieces she wanted to. The paper was in the Ministry's back pocket and all but writing the articles for them. This had led Ginny to seek help from her old classmate, who was in charge of The Quibbler ever since her father's death during the war. She planned on only staying there for a short period until she could secure a job at another paper or magazine, possibly evenWitch Weekly, but found she enjoyed working with her friend immensely

So when Luna approached her with her latest idea for a story, Ginny found herself agreeing. Her friend was convinced that because of the positions of Venus's moons, next month women would be entering doomed relationships with wizards who were completely wrong for them. She felt she had a duty to warn her readers and her solution was simple. While she doubted anyone would respond to this warning, she did want to prepare them for getting out of their supposed disastrous relationship, which is where Ginny came in. She was to write an article about the different and most effective ways to end a relationship with a man.

Luna was determined that Ginny be the one who did this. She said that it was too important to trust with any other journalist working for her. But before writing the article she had to experiment, for Luna wouldn't let her use past experience. She would need to find a man and drive him away. According to Luna those relationships were only with boys and not men. Ginny wanted to deny this, but the truth was the last time she was in a serious with anyone was when she was nineteen which was nearly four years ago. Not having a valid argument she relented and agreed.

A wicked smile crossed her face as she sipped her Butterbeer. She could have a lot of fun with this. She was sure Fred and George would happily provide her with any supplies for the upcoming two weeks. Feeling a bit more comfortable with the mission at hand, she returned to scanning the crowd and entertaining Luna with a light conversation. Boy did she feel sorry for the poor sod that she chose. He would be running for the hills in a matter of days.

There was a roar of laughter just as another round of drinks was served. Harry thankfully accepted his Butterbeer while his friends chose more creative drinks to consume. He learned early after graduating Hogwarts to watch what he drank. If he wasn't careful on his nights out, he would find his picture on all the covers of the newspapers, especially The Daily Prophet, which had long lost his respect.

"Honestly!" Seamus boasted, "You should have seen her. I had her eating out of the palm of my hand. Knees weak, short of breath! Never even saw it coming."

"Oh, sure," Neville laughed, red in the face from both alcohol and laughing. "That's why she was seen calling you a blithering idiot and storming out of the pub!"

The others broke into laughter again and Seamus mumbled, "Thanks Nev."

Once a month Harry and his old dorm mates would get together and catch up, and they would always end up having a grand time, often ending in several of them intoxicated. Tonight it was only Harry, Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Ron unfortunately was on a mission.

"I nearly had her," Seamus whined. "Five more minutes and it would have been a done deal, but Neville here had to come by and ruin it all!"

"All I did was say 'Hello Seamus'! How was I supposed to know you told her you were Peter Peachum, world-renowned Healer?"

Harry, who was taking a sip of his drink at the time nearly choked. "You did what?!"

"Shut it, Potter," he snapped, but Harry could see amusement in his friend's face. "What do you use to get a girl – certainly not your witty personality.

"Well Finnegan ," Harry shot back, "I don't have to lie about my occupation. And I know I have better luck than you do."

"Sure," Seamus replied with an all too casual shrug, "but a witch shagging you because you're the 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' doesn't count. I'm sure the fact that you're an ex-Quidditch star doesn't hurt either. They just want to brag to their friends. No mate, I'm talking about the 'L' word."

Harry sat up straighter, "If I wanted to I could. I just haven't…found the right girl. I bet I could if I wanted to."

"You bet, huh?"

Harry wasn't sure he liked the gleam in his friend's eye. He glanced at Neville and Dean but they just watched with barely concealed amusement.

"Er, well that is – the thing is…"

"What's the matter Harry," Dean asked with a smile, "Afraid you can't do it or afraid what will happen if you can?"

"I am not afraid!" Harry huffed.

Seamus was now almost giddy. Leaning closer to him he said, "If you can get a witch to fall in love with you within two weeks, no spells, charms, or potions I will rip up all those photographs I have of you at Ron's stag party. You won't have to worry about 'em ending up in any dodgy newspaper." Seamus offered, holding out his hand.

Impulsively Harry grasped his friends hand and nodded, "Yeah I bet."

As soon as he said the words a jolt went through their clasped hands. Harry gasped and wretched his hand away, shaking the pain out of it. He gaped at Seamus. "Bloody hell! What was that?"

Seamus too, as well as Dean and Neville, was looking bewildered, but their gaze was directed towards Harry not the outstretched hand. "We bet; the magic was sealing the deal."

He cursed. He should have known. Nothing in his life was ever as simple as jesting. Harry loved magic and the wizarding world, but sometimes it seemed to exist to make a fool out of him.

"Okay," Dean said rubbing his hands together conspiratorially, "now to choose the lucky witch!"

"Oh this could be very interesting." Neville began scanning the room, bouncing slightly in his seat.

For the first time that night, Harry took notice of the other patrons. "Please," Harry begged. "Please be nice. No hags or anything. If I have to do this then help me out a bit."

Harry was eyeing a suspicious looking woman at the end of the bar. Who would let her into a place like The Merlin's Club? However, he turned back to his friends when they did not answer him.

Dean, Neville, and Seamus had their heads close together, whispering and grinning like mad.

"You think we should do it?" "It's perfect." "I don't know if Harry could handle her." "It will be too easy." "Nah, she'll make him work for it."

"Handle WHO?!" Harry huffed.

The others seemed to realize he was listening. Together, all three turned to him smiling and Seamus spoke in his best business voice, "Harry m'boy we have found you a witch."

"Over at the bar with the…damn she just turned away. Okay, middle of the bar, plum dress, the one with the really low back."

Harry turned around; scanning the bar for the woman he would be courting for the next two weeks. He didn't find her on the first sweep, but as he went over the crowd a second time, he saw her. He felt his mouth go a bit dry.

To say she was stunning was an understatement. She had long, red hair that fell in soft curls ending between the shoulder blades of her back. Harry was finding it difficult to swallow. Her dress left most of her back exposed. Her skin was milky white and looked as if it would feel like silk to the touch. His eyes traveled downward and appreciated the way her hips flared out seductively.

Grinning like a fool Harry groped behind him blindly searching for Seamus' hand. Once located, he grasped it, still not daring to look away from the vision in front of him. Shaking his friend's hand he said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You got yourself a deal!"

The same jolt coursed through his hand again, but he ignored it, already getting up to make his way over to his target. He took once step away from his table when the woman turned to face her friend and for the first time Harry saw her face. The sight caused him to stop mid stride, but it wasn't from wonderment and awe of her beauty, which in any other circumstance he probably would have. It felt as though someone had punched him in the solar plexus.

Quickly, as to not be seen staring from across the room, Harry hurried back to his seat where he was met by his friends who were barely containing their laughter. He ignored them and attempted to regain his breathing.

"What's the matter Harry?" Dean asked with a less than innocent smile.

Harry, who now had his hands in his hair, leaning on the table, was barely able to keep up with the thoughts whirling in his mind. "Did you know…how is…she can't…but she is…not possible," he rambled. His voice was several octaves higher than normal and he wasn't making sense.

He looked over his shoulder at the woman leaning causally against the bar; talking merrily to a man Harry didn't know. His face darkened at the sight. There was no denying it. That was Ginny Weasley, sister of Ron, daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley. He watched as she casually flipped her long mane of hair to one side, exposing her neck. He could see her laughing, and although from where he sat he couldn't hear it, it did not matter. He had memorized that laugh years ago; the memory of it rang in his head, taunting him.

Harry glanced quickly at his dinner mates before returning his gaze back to Ginny. They watched with amusement at Harry's shock, but that's all he saw in there eyes. They didn't know. They couldn't know. He pulled at the neck of his shirt. Why was it so warm in here?

He turned back to his dinner mates, eyes wide with what he hoped look like shock and fear.

"When…when…when did that happen?" he demanded looking around at his friends. "It can't have been even…it's only been a month since I've seen her. Surely she…there is no way that is little Ginny." His eyes were darting between the other three wizards frantically searching for answers.

Neville laughed out right. "Looks like Harry has finally seen what the rest of us knew since fourth year!"

Harry had to hold in a sigh of relief. "What are you talking about?" He was still acting confused, but at least his voice was normal again.

Neville gave him a pitying smile and Harry frowned. Having Neville pity you was never a good thing. "Ever since she was thirteen she was gorgeous! I took her to the Yule Ball. Made a fool of myself, I did. Must've stepped on her toes at least a dozen times. She never said anything but after that I was too embarrassed to ask her out again.

Harry glanced at Dean. He raised his hands in defeat, "She dated and dumped me, remember?"

Lastly he glanced at Seamus but he was only giving Harry a cocky smile. "I was too much man for her…OW!" He rubbed his arm where Dean had punched him. "Fine, the lass never even gave me the time of day. Good luck with that one Harry!"

"And why is it that I never heard you talking about her before tonight?" Harry asked through narrow eyes. He tried to control his anger at the appraising look Seamus was giving Ginny, who was now facing away from them with her bare back exposed once again. Harry had to resist the urge to conjure a blanket to cover her with, which seemed like a better option than jabbing Seamus' eyes out with his salad fork so he couldn't look at her like that again.

Dean rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you really think we were dumb enough to talk about Ginny in front of her brothers – especially Ron? The two of you were always together."

He nodded in acknowledgment and began to fiddle with his napkin. If he concentrated enough he could still feel the remnants of the spell throughout his arm. Out of all the witches in the building why did they have to pick her? Didn't they know that if he thought he could make Ginny Weasley love him, he would have done it years ago?

Harry sighed and turned back to the bar. Ginny was still there but the wizard she was talking to was nowhere to be seen. She really was striking. He couldn't fathom how she became more beautiful each time he saw her. He visited the Burrow at least three times a month since graduating Hogwarts. Granted he didn't see as much of her as he used to after she moved out of her childhood home, but when he did see her she was usually in her Weasley jumper and grass-stained jeans, and as striking as ever.

"You know," Harry said finally after his head cleared, "Ron would kill me for even thinking about this." He was still watching Ginny. Someone must have said something she found amusing because she started to laugh, throwing her head back with mirth.

Maybe this was finally the right time. Maybe this was the push he needed to act on what he felt for the youngest Weasley. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

A small smile played on his lips, "So let's not tell him, alright?"