Ginny was almost afraid to turn around in case it had been her imagination, but she forced her self to do so. She felt a powerful swell of emotions building up inside her as she watched Harry struggle to keep his eyes open and focus on her. She rushed back to the bed, picking up his glasses from the bedside table and gently putting them on him.
She carefully hooked them behind his ears and as she withdrew her hand, Harry reached up and captured it in his own, he held it gently, before bringing it his lips and gently kissing her open palm, all the while staring deep into her eyes. It was a simple gesture, yet deeply sensual. Ginny’s senses were reeling yet again. Harry was fighting sleep once again, the last of his energy spent. Ginny gently caressed his hair while his eyelids fluttered closed and he allowed a normal, deep and restful sleep to claim him once again.
As soon as Ginny was sure that he was fully asleep, she quickly went to locate the others in the hospital café. She found Remus sitting quietly on his own, staring into his cup of steaming coffee, lost in his thoughts.
Ginny gently dropped into the chair opposite him and pulled one of his hands into her own. “He woke up Professor. He only stayed awake a moment or two but he woke up and spoke,” she said quietly. She watched the play of emotions across his tired face.
“Thank God, “ he whispered giving Ginny’s hand a squeeze, “You’ve been fantastic Ginny, you’ve been a tower of strength for Harry and for us all. He is a very lucky young man to be able to count you among his friends.” Ginny nodded and blushed, grateful for Lupin’s kind words. She loved the way that he treated her as an equal, not as the youngest Weasley, the baby of the family.
“I need to go tell the others Professor, do you want to come with me?” said Ginny standing and motioning to another table in the café. Remus rose from his seat, looking around to the table that Ginny was gesturing to, but then sat down again, seeming to change his mind.
“That’s okay Ginny, you go tell them yourself, and Ginny, thanks again,” he finished, looking at her sincerely. She nodded and smiled at him before continuing to the other table. Almost immediately Remus could hear the delighted reaction of the others to Ginny’s news. He turned his head to watch them. Ron was hugging Hermione, both looking immensely relieved, Mrs Weasley was just breaking away from Tonks sniffing loudly as she beamed at the others. Tonk’s looked relieved but a little distant, her smile not lasting very long. She quickly resumed her seat at the table and happened to glance his way. He tried to summon a reassuring smile but was only barely able to lift the corners of his mouth. She looked at him for the moment, giving him the briefest of smiles that didn’t even come close to reaching her eyes, before looking away.
Remus sighed. He had hurt her so much, and yet there was no alternative. He was hurting too. If Remus had cared to investigate his feelings fully, he would have appreciated the fact that he was suffering from nothing less than a broken heart.
Over the next few days, Harry managed to stay awake for longer and longer periods, and was even able for visitors as long as they kept their visits short. Dumbledore had called to see him and had explained the parts of what had happened that Harry still didn’t quite understand.
Now Harry realised that the vision he had seen of Sirius, had been a manifestation of his inner fears and guilt combined with his subconscious reacting to being back in Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore was of the opinion that Harry had become affected by the malevolent feelings in Grimmauld Place that had been exacerbated by Hermione’s activities and all of these things had combined to produce the vision Harry had experienced.
Dumbledore was adamant that Harry should understand that Sirius would never have relayed such feelings. He told him once again how much Sirius had loved him and would have done anything for him. Harry had found his tears coming to the surface during that particular conversation like never before. He finally confided in Dumbledore his fear of not being able to complete the enormous task that had befallen him.
Dumbledore had calmly reassured him that time was a great healer, and that he would do all in his power to delay the moment when Harry would have to confront Voldemort. Harry appreciated once again just how much Dumbledore cared for him and he allowed himself the luxury of time to heal and grow.
Harry had dwelt deeply on what Remus had told him about Sirius and Darcy. He didn’t allude to the fact that he had heard every word of that conversation even though he had been unconcious. Somehow, he had the feeling that Remus knew that Harry remembered it all, but was waiting for Harry to be the one to ask any questions, if indeed he had any questions to ask.
Ginny still came to see him daily. Harry knew that all too soon he would have to push her away and concentrate on becoming a wizard with the ability to finally confront the Dark Lord. If he wished to do this, he knew instinctively that he would have to do it on his own, not with his heart torn in two with worry for Ginny.
He wasn’t foolish enough to think that by pushing her away he would cease to care for her or anything. He wanted her to be there for him when it was all over, even if he had to sacrifice their time together in the interim. However, for now, he took Dumbledore’s advice and allowed himself to heal and just be.
Now when Ginny came to see him, Harry found it hard to keep his hands to himself, his mind was currently free to wander in the same way as any other teenager, and wander it did! On the third day after he had woken up, Ginny came to visit. Harry had found himself looking forward to this visit for the last number of hours. They talked as always, Ginny sitting curled up on his bed by his knees, Harry sitting up in his bed against a lot of pillows. They found their eyes wandering over each other repeatedly, only to both blush and look away.
Harry finally had had enough, his teenage hormones couldn’t bear the sight of Ginny absentmindedly playing with her hair for one more minute. Before he knew it, he had sat forward in the bed, putting a hand at the base of Ginny’s neck and pulled her towards him. He briefly wondered what vision he would see when they kissed and realised that he didn’t care.
Closing the distance between them quickly, he kissed her intensely, deepening the kiss. No Visions, no thoughts, in fact, Harry felt like his head was full of fog and that the only thing he could see or feel was Ginny.
He felt her respond in kind, moving herself so that her body was pulled closer against his. As their kiss deepened even further, Harry was surprised when Ginny gently pushed him back against the pillows and let her body cover his, as her hands meandered through his hair.
Harry could feel all control slipping away. Crazy feelings were coursing through him, the most obvious one was causing him to feel slightly uncomfortable that Ginny was lying on top of him. Slowly he broke their kiss, not really wanting to but for once trying to listen to the tiny part of his brain that wasn’t starved for blood and contained his last vistages of common sense. They were both panting a little and were both a little red. Ginny looked at him slowly, her eyes slightly closed, her lips swollen from the intensity of their kisses.
She smiled slowly, leaned in to kiss him deeply allowing her tongue to flick along the inside of his upper lip and whispered, “Concentrate on that Mr Potter,” before easing herself off the bed, straightening her clothes and waltzing out the door. Harry lay back and shook his head smiling. Being a teenager wasn’t all that bad really.