I'm sure J.K. doesn't mind that I'm playing with 
her toys.

Penance

Harry dashed from his last period class without 
even a look back. From behind him, he could 
hear Ron shouting, "Oi, Harry! Where are you 
going?" But he didn't pause. If he waited even a 
second longer, he would miss her. He pelted 
down toward the Charms corridor at a 
breakneck pace, hoping fervently that Filch was 
occupied with a rule breaker at the other end of 
the castle. He had tucked the Marauder's Map 
into his robes that morning just in case, but 
there was no time to check it now. The halls 
were beginning to fill with students on their way 
out of classes, and he dodged just in time to 
avoid smacking into a second year Hufflepuff 
who had paused to rearrange her school bag. 
"Excuse me!" he tossed over his shoulder, made 
one final turn, and skidded to a halt outside the 
Charms classroom just in time to see the door 
being flung open, and the students beginning to 
file out. 

Panting, Harry scanned the crowd for bright red 
hair, but Ginny was nowhere in sight. 
Recklessly, he fought his way through the crowd 
at the door, all of whom were looking at him 
curiously, and into the classroom, where he 
found himself face to face with Professor 
Flitwick. 
"Mr. Potter?" said the tiny wizard. "Did you need 
something?"

Yeah, thought Harry, but I don't think you can 
help me. "Sorry, Professor. I was just looking- bit 
of an emergency, actually- and I thought--"

"Harry?" It was Ginny's voice behind him. He 
abandoned Flitwick, who was regarding him, 
bemused, and turned to face her. "What are you 
doing here?"

"Looking for you." He said urgently. "Will you 
come take a walk with me for a minute?"

The confusion on her face gave way to surprise, 
and then to worry. "Is there something wrong? 
Has something happened to Ron?"

"Ah- no." He was acutely aware of their 
audience. The crowd at the door was hanging on 
their every word, and even Flitwick was 
watching them with open interest. Still, there 
was no help for it- he wasn't waiting a single 
moment longer. "I just need to talk to you. Ok?" 

"Ok." Her brown eyes were intent on his face, 
and he felt himself flushing. The crowd at the 
door parted to let them through.

"What's going on then?" Ginny asked as they 
made their way toward the front doors. 

Now that Harry finally had her alone, he had no 
idea what to say. It was Monday afternoon, and 
Harry had not seen Ginny since the disastrous 
Hogsmeade trip on Saturday. She had avoided 
him completely for the rest of the weekend, 
driving Harry into this obvious act of 
desperation. 

"I-I just wanted to talk to you, I guess." Harry 
fumbled for a logical explanation. "I haven't seen 
you since Saturday."

"So you burst into Flitwick's classroom at a dead 
run?" Ginny gave him a sidelong glance. There 
was definite amusement in her voice. 

"Yeah. I guess." Harry's stomach gave a lurch. 
This was either the best idea he had ever had, or 
the worst one, and he was getting a little bit 
shaky now that the adrenaline was wearing off. 
"D'you want to walk down by the lake?" 

"All right." There was the suggestion of a smile 
on her face, although she was holding her body 
as tensely as Harry. This was somehow 
reassuring. They were approaching the front 
doors, now, and he stepped aside to let her 
through first. 

The blinding light of the late afternoon sun was 
reflecting off the lake as they made their way 
toward it. Everyone had already gone into 
dinner, and the grounds were deserted. They 
stopped on the shoreline, and Ginny turned to 
face him. The sun was glinting off her hair, 
turning it into a nimbus of living copper. Her 
face was apprehensive and curious, a piquant 
combination, and there were two bright spots of 
pink on her cheeks. Harry had never seen her 
look prettier. 

"Harry?" Ginny prompted. "What did you want to 
talk to me about?" 

"I just- wanted to see you. I sort of missed seeing 
you."

"Really? I didn't notice that you saw me at all." 
She ended the sentence abruptly, as if she 
caught it a second too late to stop herself. She 
ducked her head, and started walking again.

Harry found himself blushing furiously. "I do. I 
just- I don't know. I thought that you weren't- 
and so I didn't-" He drew a deep breath. 
"Remember what you said in Hogsmeade?" the 
words came out in a rush.

"Yes." The word was barely audible. 

Harry forged ahead blindly. "Well, I just wanted 
you to know that I am an idiot."

Ginny's face was a puzzle for a moment, and 
then she broke out into laughter. "I'm sorry, 
Harry," she gasped. "It's just of all the things you 
could've said, I didn't expect that."

Harry grinned back, relieved. They were 
approaching a large oak tree with great, raised 
knobby roots just made to sit on. "Should we?" 
He said, gesturing to the tree, but Ginny was 
already heading toward it. 

"I love this tree," she confided, making herself 
comfortable. Harry felt a little awkward. He 
wanted to sit right next to her, but the root was 
rather small, and he thought it might look 
strange. As if she could read his mind, she 
budged up closer to the trunk and patted the 
seat beside her. He couldn't help himself- he 
smiled. She blushed even pinker and looked 
away as he settled himself next to her, their 
shoulders almost touching. 

Silence stretched for a few moments. Well, it 
should have been silent, but there seemed to be 
a strange ringing in Harry's ears. He turned a bit 
on the root so that he was facing her, almost 
bumping her knee. He was very, very aware of 
how close they were now, and oddly, this seemed 
to give him the burst of courage he needed to 
actually speak.

"Ginny, I..." Ginny turned her head back toward 
him, and he found himself looking straight into 
her eyes. He cleared his throat and glanced 
down at his hands, twisting in his lap. Perhaps 
he hadn't planned this very well, as he now 
realized he had no idea exactly what to ask her. 
"Ginny, I was wondering if- I was wondering if 
maybe you wanted to- er, go for a walk with me 
sometime?" As soon as the words were out of his 
mouth, he realized how stupid they sounded. 
Take a walk? What were they doing right now? 
He looked over at her quickly, hoping that 
maybe she hadn't noticed what an idiot he was, 
and his heart sank into his stomach. Her face 
was a curious and shiny mixture of emotion, but 
she looked like she was choking back a giggle. 

He turned back in his seat so that they were 
both looking straight ahead once again. If she 
didn't say something soon, he honestly thought 
he might burst into flames from sheer 
humiliation. Suddenly, he felt something touch 
his hand, and he looked down to find Ginny 
Weasley's small hand in his. His heart leapt out 
of his stomach and started pounding furiously in 
his chest. 

"I'd really like that, Harry." Her voice was shy. 
His eyes flew up to her face, and she held his 
gaze although her entire face was rosy with 
blushes. Now, thought Harry. Kiss her now. 
Should he ask her first, though, or just go ahead 
and do it? No, he was just going to do it. Asking 
was the excruciating bit; he'd learned that the 
hard way. 

Taking a slightly tighter grip on her hand, he 
leaned in. Her eyes grew wide as he moved 
toward her, and he heard her catch her breath. 
She moved at the same time, and their lips met 
slightly harder than Harry had planned. He felt a 
brief flash of embarrassment at his clumsiness, 
but now his lips were on hers, and a sharp, 
sweet feeling seemed to be radiating out from his 
bones. When he pulled away at last, he found 
that his other hand was resting on her cheek. He 
thought that was as good a reason as any to kiss 
her again. This time, their lips met softly, and 
Harry was now certain that this was the best 
idea he'd ever had. 

Author's Notes: So this is my penance for having 
unintentionally tortured people with "The Decisive 
Moment".