A/N: This story is pre-HBP. I thought about changing it, but the premise just wouldn't work right, so think of it in the context of pre-HBP canon. This story popped into my head the moment I read the challenges.
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Way to go, Harry.
As he sprinted through the corridors of Hogwarts, dodging students, jumping banisters and taking stairs three at time, Harry wondered to himself how he was going to get out of this one. He had been in trouble before, but never like this.
She's headed to her dorm room. I have cut her off.
Harry reached the secret passage he had learned about from the Marauder's Map and, gathering all the restraint he could, softly stroked the fuzz on the peach in the painting. He waited impatiently until the painting opened enough for him to run through, then darted into the passage, around the corner and around to the exit, which placed him around the corner from the Fat Lady. He looked around the corner and, not seeing Ginny, casually walked out and towards the entrance to Gryffindor tower.
She couldn't have made it already...
Suddenly he heard a commotion from down the staircase. He spotted her just as she reached a landing. She spotted him at the same time. Her face was red, her eyes were red, and her eyes and face were soaked with tears. She shot him a look of pure venom and ran off in a different direction.
No...
Harry ran after her, noticing that the other students were quickly moving out of their way as they ran. He was having trouble keeping up; Ginny was very fast. It occurred to him where she was going.
She's going to make it to Myrtle's lavatory, and I'm not going to catch her.
Sure enough, as Harry rounded the last corner on the way to Myrtle's lavatory, Harry saw and heard the door close with a loud slam. By the time he got there, Ginny had locked the door.
Harry pounded desperately on the door and yelled, “Ginny, it wasn't what you think! You have to believe me! I can explain!”
“I hate you! I hate you both! How could you do this to me! I never want to see either of you again! GO AWAY!”
This isn't happening. “It wasn't real! I want to explain it to you! There's a perfectly good reason...”
“I don't care,” Ginny's voice bellowed again. “I know what I saw! Go away and leave me alone!”
“It's not what you think!” Harry cried desperately.
“GO AWAY!” Ginny yelled again.
Harry stood there by the door, heart pounding, mind reeling, his emotions pulling wildly at his heart. The sound of Ginny's sobs from within the lavatory made his heart sink even more, and he collapsed to his knees at the foot of the door. He listened as the sobs quickly grew faint. He knew that Ginny had retreated to a far corner of the room.
He didn't know how long he sat there before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to discover Ron standing over him and Hermione be hind him. His heart stopped for a moment and his blood ran cold.
“It's okay, Harry. Hermione told me everything,” Ron said quietly.
Harry stood up quickly. “Look, Ron...”
Ron held his hand up. “Harry, stop. There's no need to apologize. It's okay, really, I mean it.”
Harry swallowed. “So you're not mad?”
Ron shrugged. “I was at first, but I understand. Next time you two do something like this, warn me first, alright?”
Harry nodded and sighed. “You're right. We should have told you. Then none of this would have happened.”
Ron nodded and looked at the door. “Let me talk to her.”
“You can't,” Harry said gloomily. “She's locked the door.”
“Did you try the unlock spell?” Hermione asked, walking up to it.
“No, but you know Ginny,” Harry said, smiling briefly. “When she locks something, it tends to stay locked.”
Hermione smiled smugly. “I taught her that spell. Give me some room.”
Automatically, Ron and Harry took a step back as Hermione pulled out her wand. She waved it in a strange and broad pattern before her and mumbled something under her breath. Harry heard a muted click.
“There, you can go in now,” Hermione said as she turned to Ron and put her wand away.
“Wait!” Harry said sharply as Ron went for the door handle. “You know Ginny.”
Ron blinked, then nodded.
“Hermione, stand back a bit,” Harry instructed. “On three,” he said to Ron. Ron nodded.
“One... Two... Three!”
Ron and Harry pulled back hard on the door, which opened fast and wide. No sooner had the door opened than a bolt of magical energy ruptured from the lavatory and impacted on the wall across from it. Some of the larger bits of stone that broke off from the wall transformed into bats and flew away down the corridor.
“Go!” Harry barked at Ron. Ron ducked around the door and into the lavatory, and Harry closed the door behind him.
“Do you think he'll be okay?” Hermione asked as she carefully approached the door.
“I don't know,” Harry admitted. “She's very upset. If either of us had tried to go in, she'd probably hex us until we couldn't breathe. Ron's the only one who has a chance of getting her to talk right now.”
Hermione bowed her head in thought. “I'm sorry, Harry. I should never have suggested we do that.”
Harry smiled weakly. “It's not your fault. Besides, I learned what I needed to learn. If we live through this, and Ginny forgives us, it would have been worth it.”
Suddenly, Hermione got a wicked grin on her face. “Just so you know, kissing is one thing. Any other dating issues you might be facing, and you're on your own.”
It took a moment for Harry to realize what she was talking about, but when it dawned on him, he blushed and fought the smile that wanted to break. “Very funny.”
Just then, the door to the lavatory opened and Ron stepped out. Harry's stomach turned into a knot.
“She'll talk to you now,” Ron said to Harry. “I told here I had talked to Hermione, and that there was an explanation, but she wanted to hear it from you.”
Harry nodded. “Thanks, Ron.”
“Good luck,” Ron replied.
Harry glanced at Hermione who gave him a reassuring nod. He stepped into the lavatory and Ron closed the door behind him. Ginny was standing in front of the row of sinks, leaning back on it with her arms crossed. Her face was wetter than it was on the landing, and her jaw was set firm.
“This had better be good,” she said angrily.
Harry scrambled for a way to begin. “It's embarrassing, really.”
“What's embarrassing, that Ron and I caught you kissing Hermione in an abandoned classroom?”
“No,” Harry explained, not daring to move, “It's the reason that's embarrassing.”
Ginny didn't respond. Harry knew she was waiting. He sighed.
“When you asked me out after Quidditch practice yesterday, I was so happy. I had never felt like that before. All I could think about was walking around Hogsmeade with you, hand in hand, going from shop to shop and buying us candy to eat together and stuff. As I daydreamed about it, I realized that the one thing that would make it perfect would be to find a quiet spot out of the way somewhere and... you know... have our first kiss.”
“And somewhere along the way you decided Hermione would be a better choice, so you pulled her aside and got to kissing her instead?” Ginny shot back angrily as she stood up.
“NO!” Harry cried, trying to contain his frustration. “No, let me finish.”
Ginny settled back down against the sink, a fresh set of tears leaving her eyes.
“I thought to myself, if there was any possibility this could happen, then I wanted it to be perfect. I realized that the only girl I had ever kissed was Cho, and that wasn't really a kiss, much less a good kiss.”
“So you decided to get something going with Hermione so you could get some experience?” Ginny asked in shock.
“Ginny! No! You've got it all wrong...”
“Well that's exactly what it looked like to me!”
Harry went to say something but caught himself first. He gathered his thoughts for a moment. “That may have been what it looked like, but it wasn't what we were doing.”
“So what were you doing?” Ginny smirked.
Harry took a deep breath. “Like I said, if we were going to kiss, I wanted it to be perfect. I needed someone I could trust to help me. So I talked to Hermione about it, and she suggest she could tell me how to kiss properly. We decided to meet after class today.”
“I was there, Harry. She wasn't telling you anything,” Ginny shot back.
Harry nodded. “I know, I know. Once we start talking it was obvious that kissing is not something you can just tell someone how to do well. She suggested that I kiss her just once so I could get the general idea. We must have argued for several minutes before I reluctantly agreed. It was just rotten luck that you and Ron walked in just as we did it.”
Ginny stood up and slowly started walking towards Harry. Her jaw was still set.
“You expect me to believe that Ron and I walked in on you and Hermione as you were kissing for the first and only time, and that the only reason you were kissing here was because you were trying to learn how to kiss properly so that our first kiss would be perfect?”
She stopped half and arm's length from him. He lowered his head and nodded. “I don't know what to expect, but it's the truth. I just wanted you to enjoy our first kiss, thats all. I'm sorry.”
Ginny placed her left hand under Harry's chin and lifted it back up so she could look into his eyes. Before he could react, she brought her other hand up and slapped him hard on his cheek, then pointed a finger at him.
“That was for being a stupid, cowardly git! Do you really think I would expect you to be a perfect kisser? Do you really think you would have to have great kissing technique for me to enjoy it?”
“I don't know,” Harry said quickly and nervously. “I just wanted everything to be right and wonderful and enjoyable, you know? I was scared that if I screwed up the kiss that you might have second thoughts about going out with me. I want so much for us to be together, and for this to work, and I thought it was important for our first date to go right, and I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure it did.”
Ginny put her hand on Harry's shoulder. “I will forgive you if you'll promise me something.”
“Anything,” Harry said quickly.
“Promise me that you will talk to me. You keep way too much bottled up inside you. I have been around you for going on six years now. You rescued me from Tom Riddle, and I fought by your side at the Ministry. Going out means getting to know each other better, and we can't do that if you keep things like this from me. I like you a lot, Harry. You have to trust me that there isn't much in this world that would change that.”
Harry let out the breath he was holding. He didn't know what to say. Ginny was looking right into his eyes, only now the anger was gone, replaced by understanding.
“Promise me you won't keep things like this from me again, Harry,” she said softly. “Promise me.”
“I promise,” Harry replied, nodding.
Ginny smiled, then gave Harry a kiss on the cheek. “I'm sorry I doubted you, but you have to understand. It took a lot of courage for me to ask you out, and when I saw you two kissing...”
“I know, I saw it in your eyes,” Harry interrupted. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
Ginny let out a breath, then held out her hand. Harry took it, and they walked out of the lavatory together.
A thought occurred to Harry. “I hope you can forgive Hermione, too. She was only trying to help me.”
Ginny grinned wickedly. “I'll forgive her, but I have my own ways of dealing with Hermione.”
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