It had been a really exhausting day for Harry Potter. The fifteen year old Gryffindor had to teach his Defense organization called DA, the most complex charm: the patronus charm. No one really made an improvement except for producing a wisp patroni. That too, was quite a rare occurrence. Only Luna Lovegood had been able to do that.

Harry was disheartened to see that. He knew very well it is a very tough spell but the hard truth always hurt. He walked, in solitude, to the Gryffindor Common room. It was past curfew, ten at the night to be precise. He had been out in the courtyard, wondering when he'd be able to remember the most happiest memory of spending time with Sirius to produce a patronus.

With an half mind into whatever he was doing, he crashed into the sofa in the entrance to the common room and fell down with an exclamation of pain and a thud that shook another dreaming soul out of her reverie.

"Harry! Are you okay?" A small hand was offered. He cautiously took it and stood up to gaze at the concerned eyes of his best mate's sister, Ginny Weasley. He felt warm for some reason.

"Y-yeah." She smiled, not taking notice of his stammer, and walked back to the couch in front of the fireplace before sitting down. He had second thoughts about asking her what was wrong nevertheless, he did not back down. He approached her and began with the most silliest sentence he might have ever told her. "Mind if I sit here?" Of course she would not mind, she was a very good friend.

"Of course not. Take a seat," she said, not looking up but gazing at the crackling fire. He sat down beside her and together they stared at the scarlet fire in silence. It felt rather peaceful before Harry realized he was there to make sure she was okay.

"Gin. . . is there, you know, something wrong?" he asked in as much a concerned voice he could muster. She shook her head but after a minute of pondering whether or not to tell him or not, she spoke up.

"It's just that I am not able to produce a patroni. . . I know you are disappointed in us. . . in me." Her tone carried guilt which alarmed the boy.

"Not at all! I'm more of disappointed in myself but if you want, I can teach you to cast it here. You know, it's hard to pay attention to each and everyone when there is a student body of nearly fifty people," he offered. She looked up at him, her brown eyes glinting and, when she found that he spoke of honesty, nodded and smiled enthusiastically at him.

"I would like it. Thank you, Harry!"

"Right. So, do you have a particularly happy memory you thought of when trying to produce the patronus?" She nodded. "Then think of it and say clearly 'Expecto Patronum'. Good luck."

She closed her eyes and tightened the grip on her yew wand. "Expecto Patronum."

"Brilliant!" Harry's voice forced her to open her eyes and she saw a wisp of white light before it dissipated. Her lips curled down a little and he seemed to have noticed it. He took her nearest hand in both of his. "No one gets it on their first try, Gin. Let's try harder. Do not think of any memory which might trigger a bad memory to be remembered. That will only hinder your concentration. Think of a purely blissful memory. I know you can do it," he said. Ginny coloured a little before nodding. He withdrew his hand and she closed her eyes in concentration again.

Thinking of the warm sensation in her hand where he held her and of the time when they met eyes over a joke and chuckled silently, she whispered the incantation, drawing as much magic and warmth as she could. "Expecto Patronum!"

"Gin – I-you, fantastic!" Harry stammered in delight. The redhead opened her eyes again and a grin spread on her face. Standing in front of her was a horse, rearing and shaking its pale mane.

"Thank you so much, Harry!" she exclaimed and their eyes met, glimmering with excitement. Harry felt a losing weight on his chest as he turned to look at the glowing horse, now walking around them. His hand touched Ginny's and as if involuntarily, he took a hold of it and gave it a squeeze.

Hours passed by with the light of the horse reflecting off in his eyes along with the crackling fire. It was snowing outside but Harry felt really warm. The horse suddenly died out and he felt a tickling sensation near his left thoracic region. He slowly craned his neck to see Ginny on his shoulder, snoring lightly. The fire reflected off different hues of the scarlet of her long hair. Her freckles stood out and for some reason, Harry found her form pleasing and soothing. He felt his eyes grow heavy and did not know when he fell asleep. . .

***

Ron had woken up to find Harry's bed empty. Ever since, his mind had been unrest so he went out to find his solace, Hermione. Thankfully, he met her at the foot of the steps.

"Hermione!"

"Good morning, Ron! What brings you here so early? We don't have morning patrols, do we?" she asked cheerfully. However he did not feel as fresh.

"No but Harry's missing. I did not see him going to bed and it has not been slept in either."

Hermione gasped. "Locate him on the Marauder's Map, then!" she exclaimed. Ron nodded and was about to run back to the dormitory when they heard snores coming from the common room. "Who fell asleep in here?" Hermione asked, walking towards the common room. "I'll take care of this, probably have to talk to professor McGonagall. You go find Harry!"

Ron nodded and set off towards the dormitory but again he was stopped by Hermione shouting his name. He retraced his steps and found Hermione waiting down by the stairs, her arms crossed and a weird smile striking her lips. "What's wrong? Did you tell Professor McGonagall?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't think I should."

Hermione Granger breaking the rules was a rare occurrence, no, scratch it, it was an impossibility! Ron slowly took his steps towards the snoring person only to find it was two people wrapped in a blanket, sound asleep on each other's shoulders.

"MERLIN'S SAGGY LEFT SOCK!" he exclaimed which caused the dozing pair on the couch to wake up in a start.

"What happened?! Who's here?! Wands out!" Harry shouted, breathing hard. He was holding a chocolate wrapper like a wand in his left hand and holding Ginny's hand in his right. Ginny looked equally alarmed. Hermione's laughter filled the silence and Harry calmed down.

"What the ruddy hell, Ron?" Harry and Ginny echoed in a furious tone.

"I must say the same thing!" Ron shot back. "What were you both up to? Staying awake all night and falling asleep on the couch?!"

"Falling asleep?" Harry asked and looked at Ginny. She shrugged then suddenly coloured when she became aware of holding Harry's hand. His eyes traced hers and he immediately withdrew his hand from her, his ears reddening as well.

"I'm sorry!" They echoed each other.

"No I am sorry!" They did it again.

"I mean you are with Cho!"

"I mean you are dating Corner!"

"Foul gits," Ron swore. "Be thankful it was Hermione who found you both here. If it were Professor McGonagall, you'd be doomed, mate." Harry nodded solemnly. "Now, who's up for breakfast?"

"I'm in," Hermione piped up and followed Ron to the portrait hole. "Freshen up and meet us at the Great Hall!" she said with a wink and left with him. Harry met Ginny's eyes.

"I-I am really sorry, Gin. I didn't mean to –"

"Oh, shut up Harry. It was I who fell asleep first and I don't think that is a crime. Anyways, have a great day!" she said before skipping up to the girls' dormitories. Harry watched her go with a slight trepidation about losing a part of him.

As he showered, the memories of the previous night filled his mind. The glint in her brown orbs, her blazing locks, her ecstasy at learning the patronus charm, his own euphoria at seeing atleast one of his 'student' prosper at the very same charm, the strange warmth and comfort that he felt with her on his shoulder; they were really sweet memories which he could not forget even for Cho's sake. He did feel butterflies in his stomach when he met Cho but this strange feeling that he got over one night was totally contagious. No matter however hard he tried, he could not forget it. Maybe, just maybe he was falling for an attractive redhead.

Little did he know that Ginny felt the same way. The whole time she was brushing her hair was spent thinking about how magical that night was.

They both would never admit it out loud, at least not for a year, but it was truly one of the best nights they had ever had.

Y'all, I was scrolling through my books and saw that this book hit 2k reads, so why not publish one of the shots I had already written? By the way, this one was written in the December of 2o22, so ig that's saying something...

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x