A Tap on the Shoulder Category: Books » Harry Potter Censor: G Genre: Romance Reviews: 18 Author: RosieB Font Size: Bigger (+) - Smaller (-) Disclaimer: I don’t have anything, including the rights to these characters. A/N: This is just a little fluff fic I thought of while writing Secrets and Stars (feel free to r/r that one too! : P ). It’s my first fluff fic though, so be kind, or try to be anyway. Please R/R! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Harry pushed off the ground, feeling the air scream through his hair as he rose higher and higher on his broom. He loved this sensation. It was so relaxing, and if he ever needed to relax it was now. Final 7th year exams were next week and all the teachers had been warning their students how hard they would be. But that wasn’t really what he was worried about; Harry was concerned that he would graduate without telling his crush he loved her. Eventually, Harry set down and started walking towards the school. Soon, he thought, I’ll be going to the Quidditch summer camp. Three short months and he would officially be a part of a professional Quidditch team. The scout had said he was almost assured a position as starting Seeker, perhaps on the Chudley Cannons, who were looking for a young, yet experienced player. Harry nearly laughed out loud when he thought of Ron’s face when Harry had told him what the scout said: a definite mixture of admiration and jealousy. Ginny had told Ron to be happy for Harry. A sudden tightness seized Harry’s heart as he thought of her. She had looked so excited for him; Harry could hardly help thinking that she looked TOO happy. If she still cared for him, she wouldn’t have been so excited to see him go. At this thought, Harry hung his head and trudged up the castle stairs. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Ginny was laid out on her bed, staring upwards. She had put on a brave front in front of Harry and Ron, but, in truth, it was killing her that Harry would be leaving so soon. On the other hand, she reminded herself, what had she expected? For Harry to wait in Hogsmeade while she finished her final year at Hogwarts? He had to get a job, to support himself and, she gulped, whatever family he might have in the future. Suddenly, tears were streaming down Ginny’s face. She had wasted six years waiting for him to say or do something and now he was leaving! How stupid she was! Why couldn’t she have taken the initiative and said something to him? She had ruined everything… ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Ron put his arm around Hermione, who was shivering, despite the warm night air. He leaned over and whispered, "What’s wrong ‘Mione?" "I don’t want to leave," she whispered back, "I’m going to miss everyone so much, especially Ginny. I won’t even see you and Harry as much." Ron put his hand under her chin and turned her head towards him, "I’ll always be there, however much you want me to be." Hermione smiled but still had unvoiced doubts. After all, Ron would be working as an Auror while she would be joining the staff at the Ministry of Magic. She sighed, "I think that the people we should really worry about are Harry and Ginny." "What? Why?" Ron said, looking over at her. Hermione looked at the tall, young man next to her, wondering how the male race could be so imperceptive. "Because… they’re in love Ron!" "They are?" Hermione sighed again, this time in exasperation. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Harry went into Double Potions, for the last time ever before exams started. He was almost smiling, to think he would never enter this classroom again after next week. He went to the back and sat down with Ron and Hermione and ducked his head down. Snape had been taking a lot of cheap shots at Harry lately, probably because this was his last chance to do so. Twenty minutes later, the class was cutting up bulsh weeds to add to some potion whose name Harry couldn’t even pronounce. Hermione sidled up to him, pretending to help him cut the weed into squares. "Harry," she whispered, "I have something to show you after class." With that, she went to her own station again. After class, Hermione pressed a piece of paper into his hands. "I found this last night in Ginny’s room. I know I shouldn’t have taken it but I thought you might want to see it, before we graduate." Harry raised his eyebrow at her. "Okay, Hermione, I’ll read it. It’s not anything that Ginny wouldn’t want me to read is it?" Hermione suddenly became very interested in how many notes she had taken during Potions and wandered off to the library, to get "background notes." Harry shrugged and opened up the piece of paper. It looked like a leaf from a notebook or diary. In fact, that’s exactly what it was, Harry realized. Dear Diary, It’s two weeks until graduation and the end of school. I don’t know if I’ll go to watch Hermione, Ron, and Harry graduate, I know that if I do, I’ll start crying. Yesterday, Harry told me and Ron he might play for the Chudley Cannons after they graduate. I nearly broke down right in front of him. I will miss him so much! I know he only views me as his best friend’s sister, or worse, like his own sister, but I care about him so much more than that. I don’t know what I’ll do next year when he isn’t here. Who’s going to make me laugh and help me with my Potions homework? I’ve got to go, Harry says he’ll let me fly on his broom today, since he’s… leaving soon. I’ve got to stop, or I’ll start crying again. Ginny Harry stared at the entry, shoved it into his bag and started to look for Ginny. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Ron was lurking in the common room alone when the person he looking for came in the portrait hole. "Ginny!" he cried to the short, pretty redhead. She looked up, "Oh, hello Ron." "Um, I found this in my room, Ginny, and it has your name on it so I thought it might be yours," he said. Ginny took the paper and watched Ron amble away. She examined it, and saw that it was a letter, from Harry but… it was to Sirius. She shook her head, Ron had made a mistake. She was about to fold it back up to give back to Harry when she noticed her name in Harry’s familiar scrawl. Sirius, Well, I’m graduating in about a week. Exams are coming, but I’m not too worried. Maybe a little about Double Potions. I hope everything is going well at home, did those gnomes ever leave the garden? They’re destructive little devils aren’t they? I need your advice, Sirius. I think I like Ginny Weasley, Ron’s little sister. She’s a year younger though and I don’t think she even suspects that I care for her. What should I do? After graduation, I’ll almost never see her. I don’t want that. Write back soon. Harry Ginny closed her eyes in disbelief. She stuffed the letter into her pocket, grabbed her cloak and headed down to the lake. She needed to think. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Harry went outside. He had been looking for Ginny for hours, and there was nowhere left to look, except Hagrid’s house and the edge of the Forbidden Forest. As he stepped into the cool evening air, he noticed a bright patch of red to his left. The setting sun was hitting the hair of a young redheaded woman. He walked over to her tentatively, wondering what he going to say, now that he had found Ginny. She turned to look at Harry and smiled slightly. His hand went to his bag and he pulled out the page of the diary Hermione had given him. Ginny looked startled but then pulled out the letter. "I don’t really think of garden gnomes as especially destructive," she said, looking straight into his eyes. Then, Ginny broke into a gorgeous smile. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back. From the Astronomy Tower, Ron and Hermione watched their handiwork as Harry and Ginny embraced. Hermione held Ron’s hand and muttered, "They just needed a little push I guess." Ron grinned, "I think they just needed a tap on the shoulder." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Three years later… A cork flew into the air as champagne flowed over and onto the floor. "Here’s to the happy couple! Enjoy your last months of freedom, my boy!" "Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley chastised. But she was smiling too, beaming at Hermione and Ron, as they celebrated their engagement. Harry laughed and put his arm around Ginny, who was standing next to him. He was a popular Seeker now and a very happy man. Now, with his friends engaged and happy, he felt like life was just about perfect. "This stuff is pretty good considering it’s a Muggle drink," Ginny commented, breaking into his thoughts. Harry laughed again, leaned down to her and whispered, "Then maybe we’ll have to have it at our engagement party someday." Ginny looked at Harry for a second and broke into the smile that he loved so much. She nodded and kissed him quickly. They turned their attention back to the party, where everyone was assured of a bright and long-lasting future. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: Wasn’t that cute? J I thought so. Oh, and just so you don’t think Ginny gets gypped of a "real" proposal – that wasn’t a proposal, it was a… suggestion (my way of foreshadowing I guess). LoL. Well, please, please, please, R/R! Thanks! Review Story ( be a responsible reader and write a review) Title: A Tap on the Shoulder Name: Email: (optional) Review: If you feel that this entry violates any of the guidelines set by FanFiction.Net please click here to notify the staff.