First kisses
Harry looked out over the frozen lake. The ice and the snow almost made it invisible. If Harry hadn’t known it was there he would have believed it was just another valley. He was completely submerged in his own feelings and thoughts and didn’t even notice that someone approached him from behind. Suddenly he felt something cold and hard hitting him in the back of his head, immediately followed by the sound of giggling. Harry spun around and saw Ginny, almost folded double with laughter.
"What was that for?” Harry demanded, but the answer he received was just another snowball thrown at him. This one missed his face only because Harry made a last minute dive into the snow, rendering even more laughter from Ginny. Well at least there is nothing wrong with her aim, he heard a little voice say in the back of his mind, but two can play that game! Before he knew it Harry found himself up on his feet, a snowball in his hand. He aimed, threw then heard Ginny shriek as it hit her.
“Why, you…oh I’ll get you for this!” screamed Ginny as she made another snowball to throw at him. Harry wasn’t late to catch on and soon snowballs were flying high and low as Harry and Ginny tried to hit each other and duck for the snowballs at the same time. To his annoyance Harry soon noticed that a lot fewer of his snowballs hit their mark than Ginny’s. He was an excellent seeker, but Ginny was a superb chaser, and her aim was nearly perfect. Determined to get her as wet and cold as he himself was, Harry started to run straight at her. By the time Ginny realised that he wouldn’t settle for just throwing the snow in his hand she had no chance of escape. Harry caught her as she tried to make a run for it, successfully stuffing the snow inside the back of her robes. Ginny screamed and laughed at the same time as she tried to get out of Harry’s grip. Her tries however were useless and the only result from them was that both she and Harry went tumbling down in the snow while still trying to put snow inside each other’s robes. In this struggle however Harry had the upper hand and Ginny soon found herself lying on her back trying to beg for mercy while under a huge fit of laughter. Harry happy to finally have the upper hand was not in the mood to give in easily. He effectively held her down with one hand while throwing snow at her with the other.
It was then he suddenly felt the urge to kiss her. The feeling came so fast and was so strong that Harry completely forgot why he was holding her down in the first place. Still holding her he stopped throwing snow at her and just stared at her instead. Lying down, laughing and fighting at the same time, with roses on her cheeks and snow in her hair Ginny suddenly stroke him as the prettiest girl he ever seen. Ginny ceased fighting the moment Harry stopped throwing snow at her. Even though she was still giggling a little, she looked at Harry rather curiously, as if she wondered what he was doing still holding her if he wasn’t fighting her.
“Harry?” she said rather hesitantly. Harry looked at her and as if he awoken from a dream immediately let her go and sat down in the snow next to her.
“Are you alright, Harry? You look like you are somewhere else,” she said softly and gave him a worried look as she sat up.
“I’m fine,” Harry managed to squeeze out although his mouth felt as dry as a desert. What was he thinking? She was Ron’s little sister for crying out loud! And here he was thinking of kissing her! Ron would probably kill him if he knew. And what was so special about her anyway. He had known her for almost six years after all. Why did he suddenly feel like he would have to drink a whole bucket of water to be able to speak again?
“Are you sure you’re alright? You’re acting really strange, Harry.”
Alright, no he wasn’t alright. He was thinking of kissing his best friends sister! A girl he knew didn’t fancy him, she had, but Hermione had been clear on that point “ she didn’t fancy him anymore! Why couldn’t he have seen how pretty she was before?
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said hoarsely but he refused to meet her gaze or even to look at her. Instead he stared firmly straight forward, out over the invisible lake. He heard her stirring next to him, the cold wind hitting him when she moved away. She will leave, and I will forget that this ever happened and put this nonsense out of my head! he thought angrily at himself. But to his surprise Ginny didn’t leave, instead she sat down right opposite him so that he found himself looking into her by now really anxious-looking face.
There was no way for Harry to avoid looking at her now, not with her sitting straight in front of him. He looked into her eyes and he could see that she was really worried about him. He tried to fake a smile to reassure her, but managed only to make a grimace that made her look even more worried than before. Not being able to meet her gaze anymore, Harry looked up at her hair instead. It was red like fire but with white snow covering it like sprinkles. Harry couldn’t help to notice how some strains of her hair had gotten tangled up, one in particular that fell down over her right eye.
He wasn’t really aware of what he was doing when he stretched out his hand and gently stoked the lock out of her face. The only thought that went through his mind was How could I not have noticed? Slowly, like in a trance, not fully aware of his actions, he pulled her face closer to his, leaned forward and somehow managed to keep his cool as his lips touched hers.
To his great surprise Ginny didn’t move away from the embrace. As he let her go she looked more surprised than angry, and she blushed heavily when their eyes met before she averted her gaze and fixed it firmly on the ground in front of her. The full impact of what he had done hit Harry as a bolt of lightning the moment Ginny looked down. She didn’t want this! he found himself thinking, she was worried about me, nothing more. Why wouldn’t she be, I’m acting like a complete idiot! It’s not like she kissed me back, and now she won't even look me in the eyes, and Ron is going to kill me for kissing his little sister...
“I’m sorry! I…”
“I didn’t expect…”
They spoke at exactly the same time and both grew equally quiet when realising that the other one had spoken. It took a while but then Harry took a deep breath and started over:
“Ginny, I’m really sorry! I shouldn’t have. I know you don’t fancy me and I understand completely if you’re angry, you have every right to be…” He was babbling. He knew it but he couldn’t stop himself. If he stopped talking then she would speak and she would tell him what he already knew, that he made a mistake, that she didn’t fancy him, that she still fancied Dean. He closed his eyes to avoid looking at her, still babbling to make sure she didn’t speak. Then, suddenly Harry found himself being silenced by Ginny’s lips pressed firmly against his. Harry was both shocked and confused and barely collected himself enough to respond to the kiss, and then before he knew it, it was over and Ginny sat back down in the snow.
Harry stared at her, mouth open, not knowing what to say or even where to begin. Ginny still concentrated her gaze at the snowy ground and her face was now glowing red, but she was smiling. Harry tried to speak, but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat and he gave up the try and just smiled at her instead. Ginny however didn’t se his smile, she still didn’t look at him and Harry realised that they could be sitting there in the cold wet snow forever if he didn’t do something. Harry stretched out his hand and grabbed Ginny under her chin to raise her face until her eyes met his. They both smiled and Harry again tried to speak and again failed to do so. Instead he leaned forward, slowly this time, letting her meet him halfway in their first mutual kiss. Softly their lips pressed against one another, moving slightly under the pressure. Harry desperately wanted to kiss her more than this, but he didn’t dare to. Instead he let go of her face and smiled at her again.
“So where do we go from here?” Ginny’s voice sounded deeper than usual, and she spoke so softly and quietly that it was more like a whisper than her normal tone of voice. It was almost as if she didn’t dare to speak aloud for the fear of spoiling everything.
“I dunno,” Harry said in the same kind of low whisper, he too afraid to spoil the moment. Ginny looked at him and smiled once again.
“I really didn’t see that coming,” she said with another smile, a little gutsier and louder this time. Harry smiled back.
“Actually, neither did I,” he then said. Their eyes met again and then they both started laughing. It was as if someone opened a dam, once they had started they couldn’t stop. For Harry it was as if there just weren’t enough laughter in the world to express how happy he was. He wanted to tell Ginny that. He wanted to tell her that she to him was the most beautiful girl in the world. That he wanted to be with her, to hold her and never let her go, and yet he couldn’t say anything, just laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Ron’s voice came from just behind Harry’s back. He had completely forgotten about Ron for the moment, and now his eyes caught Ginny’s again in sudden fear. Ron hated that Ginny dated. He had so far hated everyone she had dated, even Dean whom he had liked perfectly fine before Ginny started to date him. Ginny seemed to know what was bothering him, she smiled reassuringly at him and then they both knew. They wouldn’t tell Ron, at least not yet; they had things to figure out between them before telling anyone else.
“What have you been doing? Look at yourselves! You are completely soaked through,” Hermione spoke just seconds after Ron had, but she gave them the perfect excuse for their fit of laughter.
“Snowball fight,” Harry and Ginny said instantaneously. Harry got up and gave his hand to Ginny and pulled her up from the ground. He looked at her and then down at himself. Hermione was right, they were completely soaked through. Suddenly he felt very cold, and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t been cold at all less than a minute ago.
“Seriously, you two! Do you want to get sick? This is exactly what you should do if you want to catch pneumonia!” Harry felt a surge of extreme guilt run through him. He didn’t care about his own health but he definitely did not want Ginny to get sick because of him.
“Lighten up, Hermione! They were only having some fun. And they can dry up quickly enough.” Ron grinned at Harry before turning to his sister “What’s that spell that mum always use when we have snowball fights at home?” he demanded.
“Ron, don’t say you don’t remember? Mum must have done that spell on you at least a thousand times, not to mention all the times she had to use it on Fred and George.”
“Well if your memory is so good then why don’t you do it?” Ron said in irritated voice.
“Ok I will!” Ginny raised her wand, pointed it at Harry, then she seemed to search her memory a little before going on “Ok, let’s see…Arificus Actutum,” she waved the wand and Harry’s robes were dry at once. In fact he didn’t even feel cold anymore. Instead he felt rather warm, as if a warm summer breeze had swept over him. Ginny smiled at him before she turned to Hermione.
“Could you do it to me?” she asked and then added with a smile “It’s a little hard to do it to yourself.” Hermione double checked that she had gotten the spell right; then she pointed her wand at Ginny and in less than a second Ginny was as dry as Harry was.
Together they went back to the castle and to the Gryffindor common room. Harry tried not to think too much on what have happened just a short while ago. Still every time his eyes fell on Ginny a tingling feeling of joy and happiness arose inside him and he had to fight the laughter that lay just beneath the surface trying to emerge. It was a long time ago since he felt this happy and at peace. The death of Sirius had taken him hard and the grief had been lurking in him even in his happiest moments the past months. This time however Harry felt like nothing could spoil his mood.
Ginny seemed to feel something similar, because for the rest of the evening she spent her time either smiling or humming happily to herself. Ron and Hermione however didn’t seem to notice. They spent their time playing wizards chess together, which took a lot longer than it used to do in the past. Hermione had practiced a lot lately and were actually pretty close to Ron’s level now. Eventually however she still found herself being beaten by Ron. Harry, who was reading Quidditch through the ages, looked up as Ron happily declared check mate to Hermione, who didn’t look happy at all.
“One of these days I will beat you Ron, you know that, don’t you?” she exclaimed irritably.
“Actually I don’t!” Ron answered her teasingly “But you’re of course always welcome to try. Anytime you want to be defeated “ just let me know and I’m there!” He grinned. Hermione looked absolutely furious at this and was just about to shoot her mouth of when Ginny interrupted her.
“Let’s see you beat me!” Her voice was calm and controlled, and a little smile was playing in the corners of her mouth. Harry was once again taken by how pretty she was and had to force himself to concentrate on the book to wipe a very stupid grin of his face.
With the grace of a cat Ginny laid down on the floor in front of the chessboard. Ron smiled triumphantly and set up his pieces. Ginny coolly smiled back and made her first move as she continued to watch her brother. The game went on for quite some time, and Ron’s smile soon turned in to a very concentrated look, since he obviously had underestimated his sister’s capability at chess. Wouldn’t be the first time he underestimated her, Harry thought to himself with a smile as he started to watch the game more intently. After almost two hours, Ron was starring at the board in disbelief. He was losing! He never lost at chess, it was the one thing he was better than everyone else at, including all of his brothers. However Ginny had the upper hand, and kept smiling as she calmly and thoughtfully made her moves. Harry wondered where she learnt to play like that and thought that he would have to remember to ask her next time they were alone. By now he wasn’t the only one that was watching the game. Several people had interrupted themselves with whatever they were doing to watch the game “ mostly because no one was used to Ron being defeated in chess. In the corner of his eye Harry could see how Dean moved closer to get a better look. He however did not look at the chessboard but stared fixedly at Ginny. Harry felt an unexpected sting of jealousy, and he looked at Ginny to see whether or not she had noticed. Ginny however was concentrated on the game. Although that didn’t stop her from raising her head enough to give Harry a quick glance and a smile before making her next move. Harry’s stomach twisted funnily and he couldn’t help but to smile back.
“Checkmate!” Ginny smiled at her brother when she said it. Ron looked more stunned than anything else, staring with scepticism at the chessboard.
“Well I think I’m going to bed now,” continued Ginny in the same happy voice as before, “Goodnight.” She smiled a little extra towards Harry as she said that. At least Harry imagined she did even though he wasn’t completely sure that it wasn’t just wishful thinking. Hermione, who seemed even more delighted than Ginny about her winning, said goodnight shortly after and followed Ginny upstairs. Before she closed the door behind her, Harry thought she gave him a very strange look. Could she know? Or guess? What had happened earlier? He pushed the thought out of his mind. There was no way for her to know. Ron hadn’t seen anything and Hermione had arrived after he had. He decided that his mind was playing tricks on him because he was tired and that he too should go to bed.
Harry and Ron went up together, Ron still mumbling something about Ginny being lucky. Harry smiled. He had watched Ginny play, and luck had nothing to do with her beating Ron. Of course he didn’t say that to Ron. They changed into their pyjamas and Harry lay down thinking about what had happened earlier. He didn’t even bother to close his hangings and as he closed his eyes he could see Ginny in front of him, smiling, blushing and covered in snow. And then, suddenly, he knew what he wanted and what he had to do.
“I think I fancy Ginny!” he said aloud. The room was completely quiet as Harry waited for Ron’s reaction.
“As in my sister, Ginny?” Ron had sat straight up in bed and pulled away the hangings around it. He was staring at Harry.
“Well I don’t know any other Ginny, do you?” Harry said calmly. Ron kept staring at him, obviously not knowing what to say. “I think she fancies me too,” Harry then went on, hoping for some sort of reaction from Ron. “And I want to ask her out, if that’s ok with you.” Harry went quiet. Did he mean that? he thought. He certainly was sure that he wanted to ask her out, but what would he do if Ron said no? Was he prepared to let her go? He didn’t think so. Actually he was quite sure that he wasn’t.
“You’re asking my permission to ask my sister out? On a date? And this isn’t a joke, right?” Ron looked at him as if he didn’t know what to believe, or how to react. Harry thought he knew what was going on inside Ron right now. He liked Harry and he had been urging his sister in his direction. But seeing it actually happening was a different thing, and he didn’t like the idea of his sister dating at all.
“No joke,” Harry shook his head and waited, barely breathing.
“Well, I guess better you than anyone else…” Ron said hesitantly, he still wasn’t completely sure. “I mean, Ginny is dating, whether I like it or not, and at least with you I know that she’s getting a great guy, but then again…” he bit down on his lower lip and stopped himself from going on.
“But then again, what?” Harry asked cautiously. Then he decided that it was time to go out on a limb. He took a deep breath to brace himself and then asked with more assertiveness: “Are you ok with me dating Ginny or aren’t you?”
“You’re dating Ginny?” Harry and Ron both looked up in shock at Dean standing at the foot of their beds staring furiously at Harry. Neither one of them had heard him come in, but it was obvious that Dean had heard what they been talking about.
“So what! What do you care? You’ve broken up, haven’t you?” Ron snapped at him quickly.
“That’s none of your business!” Dean shot back “Not that that matters! You always made it you business didn’t you? Poking your nose where it didn’t belong.” This was clearly something that Dean had been thinking about for some time and now when he got a chance to actually say what he been thinking it came pouring out of him.
Ron got up from his bed and faced Dean. “Well Harry thinks it’s my business,” he said with the threatening sort of low whisper that Snape always used. “He asked if it was ok with me first. Now maybe if you had done the same thing then I might not have opposed it so much!” Harry knew that was a lie the moment Ron said it, but it seemed to have its effect on Dean who went dead quiet and just stared at him. Then he turned his back to both of them, changed into his pyjamas and went to bed, still angry.
“I guess I don’t mind if you date Ginny,” Ron turned and faced Harry with a victorious grin on his face, “It may actually be kind of cool.” Harry smiled back at him, with a feeling of great relief. He still wasn’t sure what he would have done if Ron had said no. He laid back down on his bed, said goodnight and closed his hangings. Harry could hear Ron breathing and it took a while before he heard him move in to bed and close the hangings. He wondered if he should tell Ron about kissing Ginny, but then soon decided not to. If he got to kiss her again, then he would tell Ron.
That night was the first since Sirius death that Harry fell asleep with a smile. Lingering in his mind was the image of Ginny and the thought that the next Hogsmeade visit was only a weak away.
NOTE: This is my first fanfic, so please take the time and write a review. I'm working on a longer one and need all the help I can get.