“Well - that was a wonderful party,” sighed Molly Weasley as she gathered dirty dishes from the table.
“Mum - we should do this next year as well,” said Ginny Weasley, who was gathering plates with her.
“Oh we will, dear,” said Molly, glancing over at Harry, who was bidding goodbye to the party guests. “It’s nice to have some sort of happiness in a time like this,” she added in a whisper to her daughter.
Ginny hummed in agreement.
“Sixteen - they grow up so fast!” said George from the other side of the room, Fred pretending to sob into his shoulder.
“Sod off,” said Harry, though he was grinning.
The twins laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before leaving through the kitchen door.
Ginny smiled at her mother, who returned it with a tired smile of her own.
“Mum - why don’t you go to bed,” she said, taking the plates out of her mother’s hands, setting them on the table.
Mum made to protest -
“No,” said Ginny, “you’ve done a lot already. Go to bed - I can handle this.”
Mum gave Ginny a tight hug.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” gasped Ginny from the pressure. “Mum -you’re going to kill me!”
“Oops - sorry,” said Mum, releasing her daughter.
“Go on,” said Ginny, rubbing her side.
“All right, all right!” said Mum. “Goodnight, dear.”
“’Night, Mum.”
She watched her mother give Harry yet another birthday hug before disappearing up the kitchen stairs behind the twins.
And Ginny began to notice that there were no more guests left to say goodbye to. With a click of the door, they were alone.
This is what Ginny had been expecting. She had a suspicion he had hovered behind to see her alone, and she kept blushing at the very thought. What am I - eleven?
“Harry - you should go to bed!” she said, exasperated, as he began to collect dishes with her.
“I want to help,” Harry grinned over at her.
Ginny blushed again, absently touching that spot on her ear.
For several minutes there was just the quiet, interrupted by the chinking of dishes.
“Oh,” sighed Ginny as they finally set the last in the sink. They immediately began to clean themselves with a wave of her wand, thanks to that handy spell of her mother’s.
“Would you like something to drink?” she asked. Wow - I’m even starting to sound like her.
“Sure,” said Harry.
“Would you like tea or coffee?” asked Ginny, going to the pantry. “I don’t know about you, but I’m having some coffee - tea everyday can get tiring.”
“You’re right,” said Harry. “Coffee, please.”
A few minutes later, both clutched steaming mugs of wonderful black coffee in hand, sitting at the table.
“Mmm,” said Ginny, inhaling. “Don’t you love the smell of coffee.”
Harry snorted into his cup.
Ginny chuckled. “Sorry.”
But she felt a different kind of heat begin to creep up her neck as he looked at her.
Oh stop being so swoony. . .
“Oh - creamer.”
Harry got up, leaving Ginny to let out a sigh of relief and frustration.
Merlin - what does he -
“Cream?”
A scrape of a chair and she felt him sit beside her. She inhaled at oh-so-familiar scent of his. It was on her own clothes, actually. And it was driving her crazy.
“N-yes,” Ginny stammered. Pull it together!
He murmured assent, pouring creamer into her mug. She kept her eyes on the blackness swirling to light brown. She absently added sugar, using her other hand to touch the top of her ear -
“Oops -”
One of the clips that had been holding her hair back sprang apart, falling to the tabletop.
“Oh -”
Ginny made to grab for it only to find that Harry had done so at the same time, and both of their hands landed on top of one another.
This shouldn’t be any different! She’s held his hand plenty of times - it shouldn’t be any different than the other times.
Different my arse, said a voice. You still like him, don’t you Ginevra?
Her fingers curled over the clip and his fingers curled around her hand.
Ginny was afraid to look at him as her hand slipped from his, opening the clip in her palm.
“Can I try?” asked Harry.
“Er - sure.”
He took the clip from her hand, gently easing her hair away from her ear, and opened it to set it back in it’s proper place.
“How - how does it work?” he asked.
Ginny laughed out loud.
“Got it!”
She laughed again. She could feel it was sideways, and couldn’t help but grin at the slightly flustered look on his face.
He grinned back.
“Sorry,” he sad as she made to set the clip right.
“No, it’s all right,” said Ginny.
He smiled into his coffee.
“So - I expect you’ve had a good birthday, then?” said Ginny.
He nodded.
“Well - expect another bash like that next year,” she said. “But next time - you’ll be of age, so it’ll be a little more fun.”
Harry looked over at her, astounded.
“Ginny!”
She laughed.
“Honestly, Harry! Things have be a little more exciting - trust me, you’ll have fun.”
He gave a startled laugh, setting down his cup.
“Well - I’ll just be happy if you’re there,” he said in a low voice grasping her free hand.
Ginny smiled, turning her palm upward to press against his.
“Ginny - I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me these past few days,” said Harry, still in the same low voice.
“Harry, I wanted to help, doi!” said Ginny, grinning.
“I’m - I’m really -”
She nearly fainted. . . Wamr breath against her face, softness against her lips. . .
Harry’s . . . Harry’s kissing me!
His lips brushed ever so softly against hers at first, but she responded hungrily and he seemed to get a little more confidence.
Oh Merlin, oh, Merlin, oh . . .
Ginny pressed herself closer to him, weaving her other hand around his neck, gently grasping at his hair.
“Harry - Ginny, are you in here? I -”
At the sound of a door opening, Ginny and Harry broke apart, quickly scooting away from each other with a loud scraping of chairs.
“Oh,” Hermione smirked. “I’ll just be waiting in our room, Ginny.”
Ginny silently cursed her best friend as she hurried up the staircase.
“Erm - I should be going to bed as well,” said Harry, standing up. “We’re - we’re going to Diagon Alley in the morning, aren’t we?”
“Y-yeah,” said Ginny, fighting the strong urge to pull him back to her.
“Well - g-goodnight, Gin,” said Harry.
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. “’Night, Harry.”
She watched his back retreat, up the staircase and into the darkness of the hallway, leaving a shocked, excited, and yet . . . relieved silence behind.
Yes, I know the British would prefer tea, but I was just going along with what happened in the 5th book - when Harry went on his date with Cho. She ordered coffee, didn't she? I thought it'd be all right for just once, you know?
Anyway, I'm very much enjoying writing this sequel. It's obviously more towards fun romance, and teenage awkwardness and all that good stuff. I love going into the mind of Ginny the most, as we're both fifteen (well, nearly in this fic), and I can relate with her the most - because we've both liked a boy for a very long time - even when we try to deny it *haha*. I've got about two more chapter's to put up, so please, please review so I can post 'em!