Harry was starting to feel a little sick at his stomach thinking about Dean and Ginny. He hung his head trying to get the queasy feeling to go away. He couldn’t keep feeling like this. For heaven’s sake, he loved the girl. I’ve got to do something, he thought.
Without warning, he heard Neville’s very chipper voice in his ear. “HARRY! It’s good to have you back, mate. I was beginning to think that we wouldn’t be able to talk to you all night, the way that crowd had swarmed around you. How are you feeling? Did you get plenty of rest today?”
“Honestly, Neville…no, not really. I managed to get a few hours of sleep but that was about all. But, right now, I’m not feeling so great.” Harry spoke slowly, finding it hard to get the words out.
“Oh…do you need to lie down or something? Luna and I can help you upstairs to one of the bedrooms, if you’d like to lie down, in peace?” Neville asked sincerely.
“Thanks Neville, but I’m ok right here, I just don’t feel like moving.”
“Gosh, Harry, you look as pale as ghost. Let me get you something to drink, to see if it’ll help settle you any.” Neville spotted Ginny, as she entered the sitting room, passing out drinks and waved her over. “Oi, Ginny. Can I get a drink for Harry, here?”
Oh god…not right now…please, not right now, Harry thought. I’m not guaranteed to control my own tongue after what I saw between her and Dean. Harry whispered to him, “Neville, it’s ok, I’m fine, really.”
Whispering back, Neville said, “nonsense. You need something.”
Ginny walked over to where the three of them were sitting and she noticed that Harry was a bit pale. She looked at Neville, her eyes questioning what had happened. “Sure, Neville.”
“Harry’s just uh…feeling a little uneasy right now. I thought a drink might help him, don’t you think so?”
“Yeah, I guess, it couldn’t hurt.” Now directing her attention to Harry, “do you want punch or butterbeer?”
Harry was trying desperately not to hear her. He ignored her voice as much as he could. But then, there was a small touch on his arm, and as he glanced up, he saw that Ginny had knelt down in front of him, to see if he was ok. “Harry?”
He felt his wall fade away as he looked into her brown eyes. “Yeah?” he sighed.
“I said would you like punch or butterbeer? Hermione gave me the recipe for the punch; it has a bit of a fruity taste to it.” Ginny asked as she wiped away some of the hair out of his eyes.
“Punch is fine.”
Ginny handed Harry a small cup of punch and shivered as their fingers touched. She tried to give him an understanding smile, but he was avoiding her eye contact. She thought it was a bit odd. Not five minutes ago she had him weak in the knees and breathless. Now, he would hardly look at her. She saw Harry trying to take a drink of his punch, but his hand was shaking roughly.
“Here,” she said as she reached out and took the cup from his hand, “let me help you.” She held the cup up to his lips and watched as he slowly opened his mouth. She tilted the cup, allowing him to get a drink of the punch. Seeing him swallow, she asked, “How was that? Helping any?”
“A little,” Harry muttered.
Not being quite convinced, Ginny sat down her tray of drinks and flicked her wand, making a damp wash clothe appear in her hand. She took it and patted his forehead gently, wiping away a few beads of sweat. “Here,” she said, handing the damp clothe to him, “keep this on your forehead for a little while and make sure that you drink the rest of your punch. It ought to help you feel a little better.”
She smiled kindly at him as he took the damp clothe and his drink from her. “Thank you,” Harry said, as she stood up.
“Anytime…really.” Ginny turned to Neville as she picked up her tray of drinks, “you two let me know how he’s doing, if I don’t get a chance to make my way back over here soon.” Ginny smiled at Harry again and walked away with her hips swaying, causing her dress to swish softly.
He watched as she walked away and then slumped back into the couch again. Sighing deeply, he took a long sip of his punch and then laid the damp clothe on his forehead.
After a few minutes, Harry had finished off his punch and his once damp clothe had now begun to dry. He had to admit, though, he was feeling a little better.
“Neville… can I ask you a question?” He spoke slowly, carefully thinking over exactly what and how he wanted to ask him about Ginny.
“Sure, Harry. Shoot away…” Neville said with a tender smile.
Taking in a deep breath, he bit his lip and then blurted it out, “Is Ginny with Dean right now?”
“Umm…no, she’s with Fred. See? Right over there.” Neville said pointing in their direction.
“No, Neville,” Harry felt his temper beginning to slip. He stopped trying to calm himself. “I mean is Ginny seeing Dean right now? As in, are they in a relationship together?”
Now understanding him, Neville said, “Ooohhhh… No! Absolutely not.”
Harry sighed with great relief, but wanting to make sure, he pressed the question further. “Neville, you’re sure she’s not seeing Dean?”
Neville chuckled a little and Harry had to admit that he didn’t remember seeing him do much of that in all of the years that they attended Hogwarts together.
“Harry, I’m quite sure. I’d certainly know if Ginny was seeing Dean. But, ever since she broke things off with him back before you two got together in school, she’s had to deal with his pestering, constantly. Matter of fact, she’s had several rows with him since then. I think I overheard her saying something to Hermione, earlier, about Dean hitting on her again tonight. And from the sound of things, it didn’t end up to well for Dean. She must have hit him with some kind of spell, just look at his pants; they look like they’ve been burned.” Neville pointed towards Dean, who definitely had a burn spot on the back of his pants.
Harry and Neville enjoyed a good laugh together, finding it very hard to keep from drawing unnecessary attention to them. They both sat back on the couch, trying to catch their breath from laughing so hard.
As they sat there enjoying the silence between the two of them, realization slowly dawned on Harry. He must have reached the kitchen just shortly after Dean had walked in. He saw exactly how Dean had “hit on” Ginny and wondered how she’d felt and what was said after he had made his move on her. His blood was climbing to the boiling point again.
He felt terrible now, remembering how he had shrugged Ginny off earlier, hardly saying a word to her. How could he have been such a fool to think that Ginny would have gone back to Dean? Not wanted to be painted the fool again, Harry turned his head toward Neville. “Neville, I’ve got another question.”
“Ask away.”
“Is Ginny seeing anyone right now? I mean to say…is she involved with anyone?” Harry asked, swallowing hard.
Knowing it was coming, Neville gave a small knowing smile to Harry. “Since you’ve been gone, she’s only dated a few guys, but none of them were ever serious. At the present moment, I believe she is currently single. Plus, I think she’s kind of had her heart set on one guy in particular and I don’t think anything is going to come in between the two of them. Other than their own misguided judgments of each other,” he added amusingly.
“Huh?... Who’s the guy that she has her heart set on?” Harry asked, feeling his skin grow hot. Here he thought he’d made it safely out of the woods after hearing about the whole ‘Dean’ situation.
“You’ll have to ask her about the guy that she has in mind. She hasn’t told me anything for sure but, I think I have a pretty good idea.” Neville found it so amusing. Harry and Ginny had been dancing around each other all night, afraid that the other had moved on. He heard Harry snicker. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh…nothing. I’m just…I’m such a fool, Neville. How could I have left her? I’ve been gone and now it’s too late.” He paused briefly and said,”…I’m too late.” Harry rested his head in his hands. How had it come to this?, he thought.
Neville opened his mouth to say something but, before he could get anything out, Harry started again. “I knew it. I knew that she’d either be seeing someone or engaged or something. I even thought that if it was anyone, it would either be Dean or you-“
Neville choked at the mention of him in a relationship with Ginny. Neville stuttered through a small laugh, “You thought that Ginny and I would be…” Neville began to laugh again.
Harry thought he quite liked the laughing Neville compared to somber Neville, but right now was a bit of an inappropriate time to be laughing. “What? It’s not so hard to fathom, Neville.”
“Well, yeah…it is.” Neville said through a half smile. “Harry… Ginny and I have only ever been friends. I mean, sure…we’ve gone out together, but only as friends and nothing more. Besides,” he now said beaming, “I have someone.”
Harry frowned, his eyes searching Neville’s face. “Who do you have, Neville?”
He was now sitting up straight and puffing out his chest, trying to make himself very manly. “I have my Luna,” Neville said as he turned to her and placed a loving kiss on her cheek.
Harry’s eyes grew wide and he felt his mouth drop open. “You and Luna? I- well, I… how come you didn’t say anything to me sooner?”
“Well, Harry… I didn’t think you’d want me chatting your ear off about us when you looked so ill.”
Harry really did appreciate not having to listen to an endless conversation when he was so queasy. “Thanks, Neville. You’re a real stand up guy. You know that?”
Neville chuckled, “Luna likes to tell me that every once in a while, don’t you?”
Luna had been buried in one of her father’s papers since Harry sat down. “Hmm? Oh. Absolutely…you are my one and only gentlemen, Nevi.” Luna leaned over and kissed him full on the lips. Then, just as soon as she’d looked up from her paper, she had her nose in it again. “Harry,” she said from behind her paper, “remind me to get a subscription set up for you, now that you’re back. Hey… here’s the story about you. Did you know that Voldemort had 7 heads and you had to chop off every one of them before you finally finished him off?”
Harry rolled his eyes and ignored the last question that Luna had muttered; hoping that she wouldn’t notice that he didn’t answer her. He looked at Neville again, “so…Nevi, is it?”
Neville blushed furiously. “It’s just her short name for me.”
“Hey…at least I didn’t openly call you-“ Luna was cut short by Neville, kissing her deeply.
Harry chuckled, wondering exactly what nickname she really had for Neville, in quiet corners and behind closed doors. But, as he saw them sitting there, holding hands, he decided he was getting a little tired of their lovey-dovey-ness. He swept his eyes over the room, deciding that a nice quiet chat with Ginny was long overdue.
He was having no luck finding her. Harry got up and walked over to where Hermione and Ron were. “Hey guys, have you seen Ginny lately?”
Ron piped in, “oh! I see how it is. You spend a good hour talking to Neville and Luna and now you want to find Ginny and not talk with us, your best friends, at all?”
“Oh stuff it, Ron. We’ll get to spend plenty of time with him once everyone gets out of here, tonight. Besides, I think Ginny would like to see you, Harry. She’s only got a chance to talk to you for a second.” Hermione said now looking at Harry. “Oh…but I’m not sure where she has run off to. She said she needed to go get something, but I had Fred and George bickering at my side when she said something to me. Sorry, Harry.”
“That’s alright. I’ll see if I can find her. It shouldn’t be that hard.” Turning to Ron, before he walked away, Harry said, “Just keep your pants on, Ron. I won’t be gone too long and I’ll spend some quality time with you both. With any luck, all these people will be gone by then, too.”
Harry roamed around the house looking for Ginny and still wasn’t having any luck finding her. Deciding that he was just going to be lazy, he apparated up to the hallway, right outside of Ginny’s room. He knocked a few times and called after her, “Ginny?” He waited a few moments but never heard anything. He turned the doorknob and opening the door, he noticed that Ginny wasn’t in her room. A little agitated, he apparated back downstairs, to the kitchen. She wasn’t in here either. He was just about to leave the kitchen when a glimpse of red caught the corner of his eye. She was in the backyard just staring up at the sky.
Harry didn’t know about her, but he needed a drink, and a butterbeer sounded right up his alley, after drinking that punch. It’s was ok…but he preferred the other.
Grabbing a couple bottles of butterbeer, he walked over to the back door and quietly stepped outside. He didn’t want Ginny to notice that he was there, quite yet. He was enjoying this view of her way too much to say anything.
Lights had been placed all around the backyard and the garden, and the glow was softly illuminating her fair skin. He smiled as he took in the sight of her in the gorgeous red party dress. He always thought that a redhead wearing red might clash, but amazingly, it didn’t at all, at least not on her. In all honesty, he thought that she was the sexiest thing that he had ever laid his eyes on. His heart fluttered and he felt his skin grow warm. He saw that she had taken her heels off, probably not wanting to get them dirty, being outside, that, and probably because she just got tired of wearing them.
Harry wondered what she was finding so fascinating, as she looked up at the star filled sky and he decided to finally break the silence. “Now, this just makes me wonder, what is it up there that is so interesting, that you decided it was better than talking to me?”
-----------------------------------
Ginny was growing tired of the dull conversations that had been going around the room. She’d been hanging around Hermione, Ron, Fred and George, since right after she finished passing out the drinks.
She had been itching to tell Hermione what had just happened with Dean, in the kitchen. Ginny had the whole lot of them rolling with laughter and constantly looking over at Dean to admire the burn spot on his backside.
But now, Fred and George were incessantly bickering with Hermione about one thing or another, and she just longed for a little peace and quiet. She’d been trying to pry Hermione’s attention from the cat fight for the last ten minutes. “Hermione…” That wasn’t working. Poking her on the arm, Ginny said again, “Hermione…” Still, she wasn’t having any luck. Being more than tired of waiting on her friend to listen to what she had to say, Ginny poked her again, quite forcefully now, and spoke louder, “Hermione!”
“Huh? YEAH! What?” Hermione said, clearly having no idea why Ginny was poking her in the arm.
“Hermione….I’m going to…wooo, yoohoo, HEY!” Ginny had already lost Hermione’s attention.
“Yeah, what? I’m listening.”
“I’m going to grab a blanket and head out to the backyard. I think it’s time for a nice quiet walk around. Hermione? Did you hear me?” Hermione’s attention span usually short circuited whenever she was around Fred and George. She was determined to show them the error of their ways, or… just to prove how completely dimwitted they always were. “Oh… nevermind.” Ginny muttered as she walked upstairs to grab a blanket from her room.
A minute later, Ginny walked outside and looked up into the sky. It was a clear night and the stars were twinkling everywhere. She could get used to this feeling. No impending danger around, starry nights, and having Harry home. She breathed deeply, taking in the sweet night air. She was happier than she’d been in a very long time.
As she walked around the yard, she smiled at all of the hard work that Hermione had gone to, setting all of the lights around, making everything look absolutely perfect. Now, if only Hermione could’ve listen long enough to get the hint about me coming out here, Ginny thought. Oh well. Maybe she’d get lucky and Harry would come looking for her. Now, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself for thinking that would ever happen.
So much for my blanket, she thought. It’s too warm out here for it. Bugger! I’m sinking. And she was right. She knew she’d have a hard time walking on the grass in her heels, but now they had started to sink into the ground. Oh well, they were starting to hurt anyway. Ginny bent her left leg back, balancing herself on her right, and pulled off her shoe. Switching legs, she did the same, and removed her other shoe.
Ginny hadn’t been standing there more than five minutes, with her shoes in hand, when she heard a voice come from somewhere behind her. “Now, this just makes me wonder; what is it up there that is so interesting, that you decided it was better than talking to me?”
Harry was standing some ten feet away, with his arms crossed with two bottles of butterbeer in hand, and glaring up at the sky. Ginny flushed, knowing that she went pink and thought, Ok…was Hermione just messing with me or did I just have a bit of luck?
“Ginny? …Gin?” Harry called after her, as he looked back in the direction of where she was standing, to see her gaze fixed on him.
Oh bloody, she hadn’t answered him. “Erm….what?” she said, shaking her head and trying to focus.
Harry smiled, desperately trying to suppress a laugh. “I said, is there something up there that’s more interesting than talking to me?”
“Er… umm…” Ginny couldn’t seem to put a thought together. All she had wanted, all night, was a few minutes alone with him. Now that she finally had it, it caught her off guard. “…Nothing… I mean…I just… needed a little peace and quiet from all of the chatting going on in there.”
“Oh…. well, I’ll just go back inside then and leave you-“ Harry began saying, only Ginny cut him off.
“No! Don’t go. Please… stay.” Ginny smiled sweetly at him, and Harry felt his heart melt. “So, is that a butterbeer you have for me, or are both of those for you?”
“Um…yeah. I mean… I thought you might like one.”
“Yes, please.” Ginny said quickly. “Thanks,” she said as she closed the gap between her and Harry and took one of the bottles from his hand. She took a slow drink and Harry watched as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, enjoying the taste. He smiled again and quickly took a drink from his bottle, so that he forced himself to stop staring at her.
Ginny breathed in deeply. “Now, that’s some good stuff. Nothing against that punch drink of Hermione’s, but I’d prefer some nice butterbeer.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Harry nodded in agreement.
They both stood in silence for a moment, and then Harry spoke softly. “Ginny if I’m bothering you, I can go inside. You won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me to go.”
“Harry, you’re not bothering me.” Then she whispered, “besides, I’ve been wanting to get a chance to talk to you all night. Preferably away from all of the nosy sods in there and I’m not just talking about my family.”
They both laughed lightly at her last statement and then the more serious conversation returned. “You’ve been wanting to talk to me, all night?” Harry asked.
“Well…yeah, silly. I haven’t seen you in four years. I think I might like to get in a word or two with you.” Ginny smiled. “Plus… I’ve really missed you, Harry.”
Harry swallowed hard. “I’ve missed you too, Gin.”
She smiled, and could no longer resist it. She walked over and gave him a big hug, snaking her arms around his waist and up his back. She took in the smell of him and then sighed slowly, turning her head and resting it against his chest.
Harry sucked in a sharp breath as he felt Ginny against him. His heart was racing and he just knew that Ginny could hear it beating through his chest. He felt her hands working up his back. And in that moment, all he wanted was to stay there in her arms for the rest of his life.
He stood there frozen for a solid minute, not breathing, holding his arms out in the air. When she’d hugged him, he didn’t know exactly what to do. Gathering the strength to hug her back, he brought his arms in, placing them around her waist. He finally let out a ragged breath, as his hands caressed her back, and he heard her take in a short breath.
Harry started to reach his hand up to run his fingers through her hair, and he remembered that she’d worn it up tonight. He silently cursed to himself. He longed for her hair to be falling over her shoulders; he longed to run his fingers through the silkiness of it. Instead, he pushed back the curl that had been hanging down the side of her face. He gently smoothed the top of her hair, letting his hand fall to caress her cheek, as he placed a loving kiss on the top of her head.
Ginny felt like her heart would burst into thousands of tiny bits, as she felt his touch on her cheek and his kiss on her head. Then the thought crossed her mind, she’d worn her hair up. She was willing bet good money that it was killing him for her hair not to be down. She giggled to herself and then pulled away from Harry slightly, still staying in his arms.
He looked at her in confusion for a moment, thinking that he might have overstepped his boundaries. His mouth opened, ready to say ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that’, when he saw her reach up and pull a few small pins from her hair. She leaned her head back and shook it causing her hair to fall over her shoulders and spill down her back.
“That feels much better,” she whispered.
He made sound, much like a growl, in the back of his throat, and he thought he was going to die. He watched as her hair fell around her face, the curls still holding in the ends. She looked up into his eyes, watching him as his look grew intense. He moved his hand up again and ran his fingers, smoothly, through her long, red hair. Closing his eyes, he thought this is my heaven.
She smiled and laid her head back on his chest. They both began to rock, slowly, as they hugged.
“Hey,” Ginny said, “we’re almost dancing.” She gazed intently into his eyes and he felt the flush spreading across his face.
He removed one of his hands from her back, and reached around to pull his wand out from his pocket. Giving it a small flick, the air suddenly filled with music. Listening closely, she began to smile again and said, “This is my favorite song, how did you know?”
“Well, I knew it was one of your favorites all those years ago. I just hoped it was still one that you liked.”
They began to dance to the sweet melodic tunes that seemed to be floating everywhere around them. “hhmmm…. Hhmmmm….hmmm….” Harry looked down to see Ginny humming along to the song. He smiled and continued to listen to her. “hmmm…one honest touch can set me free…let the world stop turning…let the sun stop burning…let them tell me love’s not worth going through…hmmmhmmm…in this life I was loved by you…hmmm…hmmm…”
Please let the world stop turning, he thought. He kept listening to her as she hummed along and then a sad look came over his face. He stopped dancing and pulled away from her, he couldn’t do this, not when Neville had just sat in there and told him that she had a particular guy in mind that she liked. He wanted to be with her but he was scared to put his heart out there on the line.
“Gin, I… uh…I want to say so many things, but… oh, Ginny…I can’t do this to you or to me…I can’t. I’m sorry.” Harry started to turn and walk away as she stopped him.
“Harry, what you are talking about? What do you want to say?” She looked hurt as he pulled away from her.
“I thought I could tell you, but…who am I kidding…I’m- I’m not going to ruin things for you. If there is someone that you have your heart set on…I’m not going to stand in your way.” He started to walk away again.
Thoroughly confused now, Ginny said, “what are you on about? I don’t understand. Harry! Don’t go…make me understand, no matter how much you think that you are going to ruin things for me?” She was really hurt by his sudden change in attitude now. Here he was, the one that came looking for her, he sought her out, and now he was walking away. By Merlin, she wasn’t going to let that happen.
Taking in one deep breath, he turned and said, “Ok. Fine. You want to know what I’m talking about? I just sat in your house no longer than an hour ago and listened to Neville tell me that you had dated a couple of guys while I was away, but you weren’t seeing anyone right now, which I thought was going to be good news for me. But, then he says he’s pretty sure that you have your mind set on one particular person. At first, I thought it might be either him or Dean, but-“
“What the bloody hell? Are you insane? Dean and I are not, and will never again, be involved. Do you have any idea what he has put me through?” Ginny said hysterically. She certainly hadn’t planned on things taking this kind of turn.
Trying to calm her back down a little, “Neville told me he heard you tell Hermione that he hit on you, tonight. I didn’t know the circumstances when I rounded the corner to the kitchen and saw him put his hand on your back.”
Becoming more than agitated, Ginny’s voice began to rise. “Then if you saw him put his hand on my back, then you saw me turn around and tell him to get out of my face. You heard me tell him to leave me alone and stop with the incessant begging for me to go back out with him. And then, you certainly should have seen me hit him hard on the butt with a spell.”
Harry knew he’d made a mess of things now, and it was up to him to make sure that things didn’t stay in their current state. “Ginny, I only saw him put his hand on your back and then…honestly, then I became so furious at what I saw, that I walked away without seeing anything else that happened. I found out, only too late that you two weren’t dating and I felt horrible. That’s why you saw me, sitting on the couch, looking like I was about to be sick. I felt like such a fool, Ginny.”
His words finally making some sense, she chimed in. “Well, bloody…you should feel like a fool! God, I’ve never been so mad you.”
It was over. Whatever small chance he had, he knew it was gone now. “I’m sorry, Ginny. I’ll just…go.”
------------------------------
She stood there watching him walk away from her, just giving up. What was that all about? He didn’t give up on seeking out the horcruxes, and he didn’t stop until Voldemort was dead. But, now, all of a sudden, he’s giving up on her? If she had anything to do with it, and she did, he had another thing coming.
“Oh, no you don’t. You are not walking away from this, Harry Potter.”
Dangit. He was in trouble now. Oy. Harry turned and faced her, preparing for the worst.
“Bloody crap, Harry. Do you know why I haven’t dated many people since you left? Do you know why I constantly turn down Dean, and other guys that are interested in me?”
“No…” Harry mumbled.
“Well, get this through your thick head, Harry. I’m in love with you. Always have been and always will be, unless you keep pissing me off like you have tonight, then I might have to rethink this whole ‘I’m in love with you’ thing.” Ginny spewed, breathing heavily.
“Ginny, I don’t know what else to say. I was a fool and I-…what did you just say?” Harry was in shock. Did she just say what I think she just said?
“You heard me loud and clear, Potter. I’m in love with you. I love you! ” she said, still a little angry.
“Well, then what was all of this stuff Neville was saying about you having a certain guy in mind?”
“Harry, are you paying any attention? He was talking about you. You are the one that I had in mind.” Ginny was frustrated beyond repair. She began to pace around the yard, trying to blow off some steam.
He now realized everything. Her flirting, her words, her touches. She did love him. He closed his eyes, cursing silently. How am I going to fix this?
“Harry, if you don’t have anything to say,” she said, still pacing around the yard, “I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone, now.”
No…he shook his head. Not this time. Harry walked right over to where she was still pacing, livid at him. Closing the gap between them, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her tight against him, kissing her with such fierceness and such passion like she never imagined.
After several long moments, they broke away from each other, the need for air desperately overcoming their need to snog. “I know that this doesn’t say all that I have within me, but…for heaven’s sake Ginny, I didn’t mean to make you upset, I just… wanted to make sure that you ended up with the person that you wanted to be with.”
“Well, if you’d cut out all this unnecessary drama, we might be able to avoid more scenes like this. Plus, if you’d stop with all this nonsense, I just might be able to be with the person I want to be with.” Ginny said as she rolled her eyes and slowly started to calm down.
“You know I didn’t do this to make a scene, I just want you to be happy, whether it’s with or without me. I love you. …I’m in love with you, Gin.” Harry said, his eyes growing intense again.
“Harry…I’m happiest when I’m with you.” Ginny tried to make Harry understand this.
He kissed her again, with such a force that she would have collapsed to the ground, had it not been for Harry holding her up.
Ginny pulled back drunkenly. Regaining some kind of clear thought, “well,” she said sighing, “now that we’ve got that settled, what’s this about you thinking that Neville and I had been seeing each other?”
“Nothing, I was just…this morning I thought to myself that if you were with someone, if you were engaged, that it might be to either Dean or Neville. And, knowing what I know now, I can officially cross Dean off that list now. But, then I thought, you and Neville have always been so close …I just assumed-“ Harry was saying as he was cut off by Ginny’s laughter. “What? It’s not an impossible thing, you know?”
Ginny couldn’t stop laughing. She found this so very funny. “Neville…and me?” she said between chuckles. “Harry, trust me…it’s not going to happen, ever. Neville and I are just-“
“-friends”, they said together.
“Yeah, I know. After the whole misunderstanding about Dean, I decided to be quite forward with Neville and ask him if you were seeing someone. And when he said no, I thought, well I’ll ask one more time, just in case. I told him that I always thought that you two might hit it off since you were such good friends, but he quickly set me straight. He told me you two had been out together a few times, but only ever as friends. And then…he tells me he and Luna are together. By the way, when did that happen?” Harry asked.
Still very amused by Harry’s wrong conclusions, she said, “they’ve been together about two and a half years, now.”
“Really?” Harry asked raising his eyebrows. “Hmph…I never would’ve thought they’d end up together.”
“Well, they are quite perfect for each other. Besides, I have it on good authority that he’s going to ask her to marry him; I’m just not sure he knows when he’s going to ask her, quite yet. But, I’m willing to bet good money, it’ll be sometime soon.” Ginny smiled just thinking about her friends having a wonderful life together.
Harry looked down at her smiling face and he knew, without a doubt, that he would love her for the rest of his life. “Gin, you are so beautiful,” he stated simply.
Biting her lip, she said, “yeah? You think so?”
“Oh… I know so,” he said as his breathing became heavy.
She blushed at the way he was looking at her. “Ah...it’s just the dress. I bought it especially for you. I wanted to knock your socks off, since this was going to be the first time we’ve seen each other in four years.”
“No…it’s not the dress, it’s you. And besides, I saw you before-…doohh“ Harry stopped what he was saying. Shoot, I’ve blown my cover.
Narrowing her eyes, she lit up with a wicked smile. “Oh no, no, no. You’ve got to finish that sentence. When did you see me before?”
Harry could have kicked himself for opening his big mouth. He’d have to tell her now. “After I got the letter from your dad this morning, I was a little irritated at the fact that I had to wait until tonight to see you. So, I gave in and apparated over here. It was around noon or after. I snuck around and peered in the kitchen window as your mum asked Hermione to help her finish the cooking. Then, I heard her say you went down to the pond for a swim, so I apparated there. I watched you for a little while and then…”
Ginny drew in a long breath. “You! It wasn’t a bird that snapped that twig, it was you. And I guarantee, you sent that bird walking out, just to keep me from finding out you were there.”
Harry cringed, waiting for an even worse reaction, “Yeah. That was me.”
“Oh, you are going to be in so much trouble with Mum. When she finds out you came over here before the party, she’s going to hex you.”
His eyes grew wide, and he shook his head, “she’s not going to find out that I was over here. If she did, I really would be in big trouble.”
With a mischievous smile and an evil laugh, Ginny said, “Oh yes, she is going to find out. And, I’m going to be the one to tell her.” She started to make a run for it, but felt Harry close in on her before she could get very far.
“Oh, no you don’t. You are not ratting me out.”
“And why wouldn’t I? Hmm?” she said with one eyebrow raised.
“Because you love me too much to get me in trouble.”
Considering this, “well, you may be right, but it’s awfully tempting… Ok, fine. I won’t blow your cover. Your secret’s safe with me.”
He grinned, knowing that he won this battle.
“How is it that you do this to me? You’re the only one who could get away with this, you know? Anyone else would’ve been toast, by now,” Ginny said, shaking her head slowly.
Whispering in her ear, he said, “I know, because you do the same thing to me.” Harry paused before continuing. “You know, the one thing that I wanted, more than anything, while I was gone, was you. As long as I have you, I don’t need or want anything else.”
He felt Ginny shiver in this arms. “Gin, let’s go back to my flat, just you and me, please?”
Approaching the situation cautiously, “Harry, er…I don’t know…erm…”
“No, no, no…that’s not the reason,” he said, knowing that she thought he meant for other purposes. “I just want to have you all to myself for a little while.”
“Oh…” Ginny said, now acting the bit, “so, you want me to steal away with you to your flat and then come back two hours later, leaving me to explain why I took the guest of honor away from his welcome home party?”
“Well…you could do that, or you could skip the whole getting in trouble bit and just stay wrapped in my arms all night.”
“Hmmm….” Ginny considered the idea, and remembered how very dull the party had gotten, “ok, we’ve got a deal. But let me make one thing very clear, Harry James Potter. There will be no hanky-panky whatsoever. Do I make myself clear?”
He nodded his head. “Crystal. Besides, all that ‘hanky-panky’, as you call it, is for after we’re married.”
With a shocked look written all over her face, she said, “oh yeah? Since when did you come up with that brilliant idea?”
“Oh, it came to me a while ago. But don’t get your cart before the horse. For Merlin’s sake, we just got together again, now you want to get engaged?” Harry asked as a cheeky smile snuck on his face.
“Hey, you’re the one who brought it up, not me,” Ginny accused, swatting his arm lightly. “Well, at least we’re agreed on one thing.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“We’re both head over heels in love with each other,” she said, observing his reaction.
Taking a deep breath, he thought about what she said for a long moment. “Yeah, I think I do agree with that,” he said smiling back at her.
“Well, I should hope-,” Ginny began to say, when Harry cut her off with yet another intense kiss. Oh, she could really get used to this. The next thing she knew, they were at Harry’s flat. Oh, she thought, he thinks he’s clever. Well, now I’ll just have to snog him senseless. We’ll see how he takes to that. He won’t have his wits about him, once I’m finished.