HP 6 - A different Half-Blood...

The Girl

Harry woke up in a pleasant mood. Since he started Occulmency, he had been getting a full night's sleep and felt much more rested in the morning. He looked over at Ron, who looked very groggy. Harry suspected that Ron did not have a lot of sleep.

As they climbed out of bed, Dean and Seamus were talking about the ball. Seamus said he was taking Lavender out again. Dean said he asked Ginny, but she turned him down. Dean shot a look of concern over in Ron's direction, but Ron was not paying attention. He seemed tense and did not say anything. Then Seamus asked Neville if he was going out with anyone.

"Yeah, I'm going to the ball with Luna," he said, and Dean and Seamus snickered. "Hey! We've been getting along well together since the DA. At least, I have someone to go with, Dean."

"I didn't finish! I asked out Parvati, and she said yes," he said, still laughing.

"Didn't you go with her at the Yule ball, Harry?" Seamus asked.

"Yeah, but it didn't go that well," Harry said, thoroughly desiring to get out of the conversation, so he turned to Ron, who finally finished getting ready. "You ready?"

Ron just nodded.

"See you guys, later," Harry said, walking out.

Neville, Dean and Seamus said goodbye and continued their conversation about the ball. Ron did not say anything on the way down to the common room. Hermione was there, waiting impatiently, for them to come down.

"What took you guys so long? We better hurry downstairs, if we want to eat before class," she said, sounding annoyed. Harry and Ron just followed her out the portrait hole.

"What were you guys doing? Why did you sleep so late?" she demanded to know.

"Well, you should be happy I'm getting more sleep," Harry said, smiling.

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry. It is good you are sleeping longer, but too much sleep is not good for you either. So, have you had any dreams?" she asked.

Harry had a flash of his dream about Ginny, smiled and quickly said no. Perhaps too quickly, because Hermione looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but then turned around to look at Ron, who was trudging behind them, down the stairs.

"Ron, what's the matter?" Hermione asked, completely stopping in the middle of the staircase.

"Oh, Ron's not feeling well," Harry said, trying to cover for Ron's current inability to speak.

"Oh! Are you alright, Ron? Maybe you should go to the hospital wing?" Hermione said, overly concerned for Ron's well-being. Harry started to regret if saying Ron was sick, but Ron managed to find his voice.

"No, I'm feeling better. Let's go get some food," Ron said, timidly.

"You sure?" she asked, still worried about him.

"Yeah," Ron said, gulping slightly and looking nervously into her eyes.

Harry was not sure if he should leave or not, until Ron started moving down the stairs. They went silently down into the Great Hall and took up their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. Ron sat on the opposite side of the table. Harry was going back and forth on how to act around them. He was not sure it would be a good idea to try to force conversation, and he did not know if Ron wanted to be alone with Hermione. He watched Ron slowly eat his food and noticed Hermione looking up at Ron occasionally, too. Harry thought they were being somewhat stupid.

Why couldn't they just admit they like each other? Harry thought, but then someone walked through the Great Hall doors.

Harry looked up and saw Ginny walk into the Hall. She was coming down on the opposite side of the table with some of her follow fifth years. Harry stared, unknowingly, at her, as if she was the only one in the room. His stomach clenched up and started doing somersaults. He watched her walk by and she saw him, smiled and looked down quickly, blushing. Then, she hurried over to her seat, glanced back quickly, and then joined her friends in their conversation.

Harry looked down at his food and smiled, and his heart skipped a few beats. Hermione was watching him, and he noticed too late. Out of the corner of his eye, he felt her stare. He then started concentrating really hard on eating his food as fast as he possibly could. When they finished, they headed out to Hagrid's hut.

Nemesis still had become too overprotective and aggressive for them to go near her, so usually they just made observations from a distance. Hagrid said the baby or babies (Hagrid was not sure) should be born within the next few weeks. The class was certainly excited.

Even the Slytherins were waiting anxiously, with the exception of Malfoy, who did not seem to participate or care about anything. His only motivation, in Harry's eyes, was not to get detention, which was hard considering he did not do his work. He thought Malfoy had plenty of time on his hands to do his homework, with no friends, as Crabbe and Goyle were still ignoring him. In fact, he remembered seeing Malfoy in the library when he was trying to figure out his mother's box and when he was looking for Occulmency books. Harry thought that was suspicious, but he turned his attention to Hagrid.

"Alrigh', now we're gonna star' on dragons soon. I'd reckon'd we've spent 'nough time on Nemesis," he said. Harry privately agreed, but he, like everyone else, had no interest in learning about dragons.

"Now, firs' we'll star' explainin' the diff'rent kind's an' 'ow ter take care o' 'em, then we'll move inter 'practical' exercises," Hagrid said, cracking a large smile. Harry definitely did not like the sound of "practical exercises" and Seamus was thinking along the same lines.

"You're going to bring a dragon here!" he said, fearfully.

"O' no! Dumbledore would nev'r let me brin' a'other dragon 'ere," Hagrid said, looking slightly disappointed, but the whole class breathed a side of relief.

"We're gonna go see 'em!" Hagrid announced. Everyone just stared at him in disbelief.

"G-Going to the d-dragons!?!" Neville finally shuttered.

"Yep, we're goin' ter Romania. There's a research facility down there an' we'll be able ter see 'em up clos'!" Hagrid said, happily.

The class was less than enthusiastic. Hagrid spent the rest of the class explaining different types of dragons and how to recognize them. After class ended, they went gloomily back into the castle, thinking about what fate had in store for them. A field trip to see dragons. Harry was mildly amused. Dragons were not that bad, compared to Voldemort. Ron, who finally regained all his speaking abilities as soon as they entered the castle, disagreed with Harry.

"WE'RE GOING TO ROMANIA!!!" he shouted.

"Calm down, Ron!" Hermione said.

"WE"RE GOING TO ROMANIA TO SEE DRAGONS, HERMIONE!!!" Ron shouted, loud enough for everyone in the entrance hall to turn and look.

"Well, it should be a good learning experience. I suppose we'll learn how to Stun and protect ourselves," she said, as though it would calm him down.

"DRAGONS!!!" Ron yelled, again.

"YES, RON!!! DRAGONS!!! Stop worrying so much, Charlie is there and he'll watch out for us if Hagrid doesn't. Now, CALM DOWN!!!" she shouted.

"WHAT'S ALL THIS YELLING ABOUT!!!" sputtered out Filch, and Ron and Hermione turned to see the wild-eyed caretaker, with a look of deep hatred in his eyes. "Sure, go around the castle, complaining and yelling at the tops of your lungs! Never mind that other people are around!"

"Mr. Filch, we're sorry. We'll try to be quieter," Harry said calmly, using his Occulmency training, and attempting to calm him down enough to get out of this situation. However, it was not likely to work.

"Potter!" he growled rounding on Harry. "You think you can get away with anything, don't you! Out of bed and bounds every year, but no, this year it will be different. You three aren't getting off that easy! You'll are getting detentions!"

However, right at that moment, Ginny Weasley showed up at Harry's side.

"Mr. Filch! Peeves is breaking the trophy cases, again," she said panting, as though she ran down to the main hall.

"That thieving, vandalizing poltergeist!" he roared. "I'll take care of you three, later!"

Without another word, Filch swept off to continue his incessant battle with the school poltergeist. After he left, Harry turned to face Ginny, who recovered instantly and was smiling.

"Thought you'd want out of that," she said, only looking at Harry.

"But won't Filch realize that Peeves wasn't in the trophy room?" Harry asked, grinning.

"Well, not after I sent a few Reductor blasts through the glass cases. That'll keep him busy," Ginny said, with a wide smile on her face, and Harry returned it and then shifted nervously in his place.

"Well, thanks," he said, trying not to smile.

"No problem, Harry, but classes are about to start, so I'll see you later, ok?" she said, looking into his eyes.

"Yeah, later," he said.

After a long moment's pause and neither of them wanting to leave, Ginny gloomily managed to pull herself away and left. Ron and Hermione just watched, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"What was that all about, mate?" Ron said, dumbstruck.

"What do you mean? She just got Filch off us. What else is there?" he said, confused.

"You mean she got you off, Harry," said Hermione, defiantly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean?" asked Ron.

"You two are ridiculous, now come on. We're going to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said, and turned on her heel and led the way to Snape's class.

Thankfully, they made it there on time for their last Defense Against the Dark Arts class before Easter break started. Snape was his usual cheery self. They started using Animomency with dueling spells, but they only took notes. They were going to start practical application after Easter break. Harry was actually surprised that they did not go over Avada Kedavra, first. He supposed that Snape was saving it for last. Harry was not sure that it was a good thing to look forward to, although it was something he did need to learn, and practice, before facing Voldemort.

Or maybe I don't need to learn it. How different could it be from the other Unforgivable Curses? he thought. It was only a spell. However, even saying the words had a chilling effect on him. There was no taking the killing curse back.

Snape gave difficult and particular notes for using Animomency when dueling, but Harry concentrated hard and understood it fairly well. Snape then made his usual rounds inspecting the class's notes and commenting on their abysmal quality of work. He did not even look at everyone's notes, either. He just knew. He arrived at Harry's table and sneered, with his lip curling slightly, ready to attack.

Harry knew Snape's style all too well, and he was certainty going to demand on the spot answers. However, Harry was ready. He was on the edge of his seat, and his mind was going over everything he had learned from reading Occulmency and even what Snape had taught him last year. He looked directly into Snape's eyes, waiting for him. The way Harry saw it, Snape wanted to know if Harry understood it or not. He wanted to probe his mind, but Harry was not going to give him the answer. Even though he did know, this was a test of Harry's ability to keep Snape out.

They stared at each other for over a minute. Snape was trying to wear him down, but Harry looked him square in the eyes and focused. The whole class was watching by now. Not one of them knew what was going on, except that Snape and Harry hated each other. They sat on the edge of their seats, too, wondering if violence was going to erupt.

However, Harry did not think about them. He thought about nothing, he tried to empty his mind of emotion. He felt some pressure in the back of his mind, as if someone was tunneling in, but he did not let him. Snape looked ready to kill, but then stopped the mental battle and glanced around at the class, who quickly pretended like they were not watching. He gave a last menacing look at Harry and swept away, without a word.

"What was that all about?" asked Ron, after Snape released them.

"Private battle," said Harry, simply.

"Private battle? What do you mean? You just were staring him down," Ron said.

"Yeah, and I think I won," Harry said, with a smile, but he remembered his Occulmency training and tried to contain his enthusiasm.

"What are you talking about Harry?" Hermione asked.

"He was using Legilimency to read my mind and I wasn't letting him," he said.

"He was trying to read your mind?" Ron asked, slightly horrified.

"Yeah, he was trying," Harry said, cracking into a smile, despite his efforts not to.

The rest of the day moved at a slug-like pace. While Ron and Hermione did make some conversation, it usually involved him, too. By now, even he was getting nervous. Ron had said he was going to ask today, and it appeared he was not even trying to make an effort. Hermione just seemed distant, as though waiting for something to happen.

By nightfall, the tension was beyond restraint. He sat with them all night in the common room in front of the fire. That night, it seemed the Easter Ball revelry had drained everyone earlier than usual today. Most of the other Gryffindors had already gone up to sleep.

Neville, who had been jittery all day, was the first to concede, and Dean and Seamus followed soon after. Hermione had insisted that they finish their Charms homework before they went to bed. Harry was almost done when he noticed that Ron and Hermione were not even close to being finished, and it was not because they did not know what they were writing about.

Harry decided to take a break and looked at the fire. It had a soothing effect on him. He was relaxed, but he kept his mind on his Occulmency. He thought about Snape trying to read his emotions.

Did I really hold him off? he thought. Snape stopped himself. Could he hold Snape off, or Voldemort for that matter, if they actually used their wands? He was not sure. Keeping Snape from scanning his emotions and truths was one thing, but holding up to the spell was another. Then another thought hit him, what if Snape read his thoughts when he was thinking about the prophecy? No, he thought. Snape would have probably needed to use the spell for that, but he still had to worry. He did not know if he could trust Snape, especially after he learned how his own father had treated him.

Movement out of the corner of his eye jolted him back to reality. A few second and third years were moving rather sleepily upstairs. He glanced at them and was about to return to the fire, when something else caught his eye.

Ginny was sitting at one of the study tables with Colin and the other fifth years, studying for their O.W.L.'s. She was facing him. His back tensed up and he could not swallow. They had just finished and were packing up, and Ginny looked up and saw him. He meant to look away, but he could not. She blushed and waved over to him. He smiled and managed to move his hand enough to return a half-wave. She crossed the room, and at the steps of the girls' dorm, she turned and gave him one last fleeting look, before she swept up the stairs.

He leaned back in his chair and smiled. He looked at his unfinished homework and glanced up to see Hermione quickly start writing. He had a feeling that she had been watching him the whole time. He did not know why, but he felt uncomfortable. He had feelings for Ginny, what was wrong with that? Moreover, she did not seem to mind it. He was not as worried about Hermione, so much as Ron. Harry knew far too well that Ron got as easy jealous as protective. Would he support a relationship between him and Ginny? He and Ron were at ends with each other once, and he hated that. Still, Hermione had not said anything to Ron, yet, and he had not done anything.

By the time he finished his homework, Ron and Hermione were only halfway, and the common room was now empty. Ron glanced around for people and looked up at Harry for a second. He paused and then looked back down at his homework. Harry realized that this would be a perfect time for Ron and Hermione to talk, and decided he should leave to and give Ron a chance to ask her out.

"I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed," he said, suddenly, trying not to be suspicious. They both mumbled a response and Harry packed up his stuff and left.

He did not know what was going to happen, except now Ron and Hermione were alone, and perhaps not by accident. He hoped that by tomorrow it would all be resolved for all their sakes. He got up to the room, changed and crawled into bed. He got ready to empty his emotions. He had slipped last night. Voldemort might have been able to gain entry to his dreams. He had to be more careful. He thought of Ginny, for one more happy minute, before he started the very difficult process of pushing her out.

He fell asleep before Ron got back, which was awhile, and he woke up before Ron did. He did not remember dreaming anything, he thought sadly. Seamus was the only one up and he waved at Harry as he went out the door. Harry nodded in response and pulled out another Occulmency book to study until everyone got up. He was keeping his studies of Occulmency from everybody but Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. He was not sure it was a good idea to let Voldemort know exactly what he was doing. In fact, that would be the opposite of what he wanted, and if he let too many people know, they might let it slip to the wrong person. He had been more careful since that day in the library when Malfoy was there. He definitely knew he could not trust him.

About a half-hour later, Neville and Dean stirred, and Ron started to move. Harry got up and got dressed, and Neville and Dean followed suit, rather slowly. Ron finally got up, and avoided looking at Harry. It took about another twenty minutes until Dean and Neville were ready and were about to leave, when Seamus bumped into them in the doorway, with a piece of toast in his hand.

When they had all left, Harry sat down on his bed, ready, and watching Ron, who was not moving fast, again, today. Harry waited awhile to give Ron a chance to speak first, but when he did not, Harry took the initiative.

"So... how'd it go last night?" he said, cautiously.

"She... she... said..." he gulped. Harry feared the worst, but then Ron finished.

"...yes..." he said and turned to face Harry, with a smile.

"Great! So... what are you worried about?" Harry asked, relieved.

"I-I don't know.... I didn't think she'd say yes," Ron said, in disbelief.

"Did she say anything else?" Harry asked.

"Yeah... what took me so long," Ron said with a smirk.

"See, everything's fine," Harry said, confidently.

"No, it isn't. What if I mess this up? What if it's not what she expected? What if something..." Ron started, panicking.

"Stop! Stop! You won't. We've all been friends for a while and have been through a lot together. You two have gotten over everything so far," Harry said, rationally.

"Yeah...but..." Ron groaned.

"Yeah, but what?" Harry said.

"Well, do you think... we'll be alright?" Ron asked, timidly.

"You'll do fine," said Harry, and with that, he reassured Ron and they headed downstairs. Hermione was waiting of them. She smiled at Ron and looked at Harry.

"Hi, Harry," she said, softly.

"Hi..." he said not knowing what else to say.

"Let's go get breakfast," Hermione said, and like that, everything was almost back to normal. Ron and Hermione were much more talkative and did not seem as edgy, but awkward moments still popped up for the next few days.

Classes had ended for break and some of the younger students went home for the break, but most of the students stayed for the Easter Ball that was being held at the end of the break. Hermione had already made Harry and Ron complete all their homework before break had even started, with the exception of Defense Against the Dark Arts, because there was so much of it.

They were just finishing their last Quidditch practice of the break, when Ron called them down. They had been practicing for an hour and everything was going well. Ron did not have any new moves for them, so practice was just review. Hermione came down from the stands to hear Ron's speech.

"Alright, everything's great, but we still have to be more careful. You guys are taking too many risks. We've all seen how the Slytherin is going to play," Ron said.

"Ron, we can take care of ourselves," said Ginny.

"Oh, really? They are gunning for you, Ginny. You've practically outscored everyone on both teams combined," Ron said, with some amount of fear.

"And we will all show them by winning. They only won the last game because Malfoy caught the Snitch! They had no defense at all!" Ginny said, crossly.

"That doesn't mean it won't change! I pulled a page out of the Slytherin playbook and watched their practices! They want to win. They changed their team again and have been working on their defense! I don't think that they'll let anyone through without seriously injuring them! You are my sister! I can't let anything happen to you!" Ron said, turning red.

"Ron! I think by now I've proven that I can handle myself!" Ginny half-shouted, also shining a little red.

"You were knocked out for ten minutes the first game! What do you think the Slytherin team will do to you?" Ron said, maintaining some composure.

"And I got right back in, didn't I?" Ginny said, fuming.

"Ginny, it's too risky, this game is too dangerous, you can't..." Ron started, but then Harry decided to join their publicly-private argument, and walked up right next to Ginny.

"Ron! This is Quidditch. We all know the risks, and I think Ginny knows that just as well as everyone else here," he said, looking Ron straight into his eyes and Ginny looked at Harry. Ron just looked from him to Ginny, not knowing what to say.

"Fine. Let's go in and eat," he surrendered, but right at that moment, the Slytherin team came across the field toward them.

Pucey was leading them and Malfoy was trailing in the rear. Pucey strode right up to Ron and was about an inch from his face. He was just as tall as Ron, and seemed to have built up more since the last time they met.

"Well, well, if it isn't the great Gryffindor Captain, Weasel. Can't rightly understand why they let riff-raff like you and your sister into Hogwarts," he said, with a smug look on his face.

"Watch it, Pucey. You don't want to go to the hospital wing again do you?" Ron sneered, gripping his wand tightly and turning even redder.

"Owww, I'm really scared! Please don't hurt me!" Pucey said, pretending to cry.

"Shove off. Let's leave these... losers... to their practice," Ginny said, and the Slytherin team flexed their muscles dangerously.

"You'd better be careful little girl, or you just might have an accident before we slaughter you all in the last match," he threatened, looking down at her. Then it was the Gryffindors' turn to flex their muscles.

"Yeah, see what happens if you do," Harry growled, pulling out his wand.

"Potter! Helping out the little blood traitor?" Crabbe said, savagely.

"Don't call her that!" Harry roared, his blood rushed to his brain, Occulmency forgotten.

"Relax, Harry! I'd rather be a blood traitor than a mindless, pureblood fanatic, anyway!" Ginny said, angrily.

"Maybe, we should just call her a mudblood, then!" Goyle said.

Harry's temper reached a breaking point. He wanted to attack, but Ginny grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him back toward the castle. He reluctantly went, as the Slytherins continued to jeer. The rest of the Gryffindors followed slowly.

Harry stared at Malfoy when he passed him. Amazingly, Malfoy had not joined in, and it did not even seem like he was paying attention. He seemed distracted and almost physically weak, but Harry was too upset to worry about him. He was still teeming when they said goodbye to Ron, Hermione and the rest of the team in the entrance hall.

Ginny was still trying to calm him down, and he did somewhat. He looked into her eyes, and he could feel his stomach start to twist.

"Thanks for sticking up for me Harry, but I can take care of myself..." she said, smiling slightly.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to stand there and do nothing," he said irritably, wondering what else to say.

He was tired of ignoring his feelings for her. Maybe I should tell her, he thought, but then Colin and Luna came out of the Great Hall to see if Ginny wanted to study more, and she left, looking sad that she had to go.

He did not feel like eating so he went straight up into the Gryffindor common room and sat by the fire. He stared into it, which helped him to focus. He started to feel guilty about losing control like that. If he lost control over the smallest insults about Ginny, how strong is he really? He tried to empty his emotions and relax. He was alone for about an hour before Ron and Hermione came in, whispering closely to each other as they approached him.

"Hi Harry, you alright?" Ron asked.

"Fine. Why?" Harry asked, eyeing the both of them suspiciously.

"Well, you didn't eat with us," Hermione said, as though he did not know.

"Wasn't hungry," he said, offhand as his stomach rumbled.

"Oh..." Hermione said, with a hint of sarcasm. "I thought it was about Ginny."

"What? Why would you think that?" Harry said, not convincing anyone.

"Come off it, mate. You two have been acting so weird around each other, it's driving me crazy," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Weird?" Harry asked, trying to make it sound as if he did not know what they were talking about.

"Harry, you like her, and she's crazy about you. So, stop denying it," Hermione said, smiling.

"There's nothing to deny," Harry said, irritably.

"Really? Didn't you come to her rescue at practice?" Ron asked.

"Well, I wasn't going to let them..." Harry started, his anger flaring up again.

"I wasn't talking about the Slytherins, mate. I was talking about when you took her side over mine," Ron said, right at the heart of the matter.

Harry did not say anything, but just returned to looking at the fire. Hermione announced she was going to go get a book from the library, and left out the portrait hole, leaving Ron and Harry alone by the fire. Harry's insides were burning. He felt guilty for his feelings for Ginny. Ron moved his chair closer to him.

"You alright?" Ron asked again, sounding a little worried about him. Harry just nodded.

"She likes you Harry. You should ask her out. You don't have to pretend," Ron said, with some confidence.

"I know," Harry managed to say. "I just wasn't sure that you'd...."

"What? That I'd agree? Of course, I would. You're my best friend, and she's my younger sister. You two would be great," Ron said, echoing Harry.

"That sounds familiar," Harry said, finally breaking his anxiety.

"Well, it's good advice. You should ask her. I know you would never hurt her and I trust you," Ron said, smiling.

Harry smiled back. He decided that he would ask her to the ball, sometime soon.

* * * * *

There were only a few days left until the Easter ball, and the furor only increased as people were looking for anyway to escape from the horrors of the outside world. There had been more rumors and whispers about people dying or missing on the outside, but no one knew what was true and what was not. However, the tension seemed to relax now that classes were over. The ball was only thing anyone was talking about.

There were a few people still wandering around for a date. The younger students were desperately trying to get a date, so they could go to the ball, too. As far as Harry knew, Ginny still did not have a date for the ball, and a few girls even managed to ask him out, but he turned them down as nicely as he could.

Rumors spread like wildfire. Ron and Hermione did their best to keep their relationship a secret, but observant eyes followed them too closely and suddenly everyone knew. The whispers and gossip followed them for a change, and it put a lot of stress on their relationship. The Slytherins were taking the most advantage of the situation and Nott led the way in taunting Ron.

Ron, of course, did not take well to it and ended up getting a detention and fifty points docked from Gryffindor, when he hexed Nott in the entrance hall, after he called Hermione a mudblood. Harry would have had a detention, too, if McGonagall had not shown up right at that moment. She gave Ron a stern lecture about being a perfect and told him that he would be helping to decorate the Great Hall for his detention.

Hermione was not pleased about Ron's reaction to it, but let it go with little argument. However, detention with Hagrid was not too bad for Ron, though, as Hermione joined him. The transformation of the Great Hall took a few days, and Harry let Ron and Hermione have some alone time as the Great Hall was emptied when they were working. He spent his time wandering around the castle thinking about how and if he was going to ask Ginny out.

Most of the time, she was studying with Colin and Luna. The three of them actually formed a multi-House O.W.L. study group and recruited others to join that were not even in the DA. It was going very well and almost all the fifth years from Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff joined, aided by several of the sixth and seventh years. Attendance at recent meetings, however, had significantly decreased, because of the ball.

One morning, he spied in on them while passing the classroom they took over. He saw Ginny deeply discussing defensive spells to a Ravenclaw girl, who had not been in the DA. As he began to walk away, Ginny glanced over by the door. He was not sure if she saw him and he did not go back. He did not know why it was so hard to make a decision.

Ron and Hermione had not said anything else to him since that night, and he had thought about it constantly. He knew what the risks were. Ron, Hermione and Ginny all believed it was ok, but what about his destiny? What about Voldemort? He had given it some thought and if he kept his emotions in check, he might be able to keep his feelings for Ginny away from Voldemort. But did she want to take the risk? She knew what Voldemort was and she was in the DA. She even lasted longer than Ron did at the Ministry.

He decided that he could at least talk to her about it. Yes. That was what he would do. He could ask her to the Easter Ball and she could decide, he said, arguing with himself.

The only problem was that every time he saw her, he lost his courage. He just needed to find the right time. He thought about how hard it had been to ask someone to the Yule Ball, but this was harder. Even if he knew that she wanted him to ask, he did not want her to get hurt. He suddenly had a completely new level of sympathy for what Ron went through asking Hermione. The day was getting closer. He did not have a lot of time left.