A cool night breeze whispered through the trees of a thick forest about ten miles away from the Weasley home, the Burrow. Stars twinkled distantly in the navy blue sky and the soft gurgle of a tiny stream was the only sound, apart from the wind.
In the deepest part of the forest, two teenagers lay sleeping, their breathing gentle. A small squirrel peered through the trees at the slumbering humans, watching while they breathed as one.
A movement from the black haired boy startled the squirrel, and it watched as the boy moved closer to his companion, a red haired girl. Still deeply asleep, the boy wrapped both his arms around the girl, pulling her close against his body, as though to shield her from the nightly chill. She, too, moved in her sleep, pressing her back close to the boy’s bare chest.
Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley slept on, even as the squirrel disappeared deeper into the woods.
When dawn broke, the sky turning from inky darkness to misty blue streaked with orange, gold and palest purple, Harry awoke.
It took him a moment to transition completely from sleep to alertness, and when he did, realization hit him hard. What am I doing? Ginny Weasley is sleeping right here in my arms!
Fearing for his sanity, Harry tried to disentangle himself from the sleeping girl. But he had no sooner moved her arm away before she woke up. Like Harry, it took her a moment to figure out what was going on. She looked at Harry with question in her eyes, brushing his hand with hers.
“I’m sorry,” Harry muttered for the second time in twenty-four hours.
He pulled himself up and walked over to the edge of the trees to sit down upon a large rock, rubbing his own shoulders. He could still feel the sensation of Ginny against his skin and wanted to remove it from his head completely, but somehow he couldn’t ignore the half happy, half aching feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn’t eaten in almost two days. He couldn’t ignore how her face and her scent kept invading his mind. He couldn’t ignore how she told him she loved him…
Ginny stared after him. Making a sudden decision, she stood up, swaying slightly in her weakness. She was not going to wait for Harry to realize that he was being stupid. She would have to tell him.
“Harry, you’re being really stupid…What do you have to be sorry for? Voldemort’s gone. He can’t hurt us anymore. What are you scared of?”
Harry didn’t answer.
“If what you told me last year was true, you still love me. You know I love you. What are you scared of?” she persisted. She sat down on the rock behind Harry, only a few inches away.
Harry turned around to look at her. His eyes were distant, afraid.
“Ginny, everything I told you last year was true. It was true in a million ways that might take me years even to understand. I love you, but that scares me. I’m afraid to hurt you again. There will always be someone out there, after me. Not all of Voldemort’s followers are gone. I’m scared of them. I’m scared of loving you so much it hurts. That’s what happened to me last time. I’m scared of hurting you, hurting myself. I don’t want to risk that again.”
Harry didn’t say anything for a moment. He simply sat there, his eyes closed. Ginny waited. She had to literally sit on her hands because her instinct to touch Harry was so strong. When the temptation to be closer to him became too much, she brushed his arm gently and spoke softly, more sure of what she was saying than she had been of anything her whole life.
“Harry, I’m scared too. Love is scary. But think of it this way- we can spend our whole lives being scared, or we can continue being the brave people I know we are.”
Ginny thought it was rather like standing on the diving board of a very large pool. You hang your toes over the edge, feeling sicker and sicker, wondering if you should jump in. But then you realize that the pool might be cold, but it would be fun to swim- and if you turn around and leave, you’ll never know how much fun it could be.
“I’d rather spend a short life loving you, Harry, than spend all the time in the world wondering what would have happened if I had done things differently.”
Ginny turned on the rock so she was facing Harry. Slowly, as if they were in a dream, Harry brought his hand up to her cheek.
“I’m not scared anymore, Harry,” she whispered.
Harry lifted his hand from her cheek, slipping it gently around her slim neck, as his other hand rested softly on her waist. She wrapped her bruised arms around him, and his lips touched her forehead, then found her mouth.
The kiss felt beautiful to Ginny, and as it deepened, shivers ran up and down her spine. All around them, it was as if the world were holding its breath.
Harry paused the kiss for a moment, whispering in her ear.
“I’m not scared anymore.”
Hours later, when the noon sun was high in the sky, Harry knelt beside Ginny, his hand caressing her sweaty forehead. She slept fitfully, tossing and turning, every so often letting out a tiny moan of pain.
Harry had forced her to go back to sleep a few hours earlier, when the touch of her lips to his had become too hot for Harry’s comfort. She had slipped into a feverish nightmare state. Harry suspected many of her wounds were infected, because they oozed slightly, and looked very red.
He was afraid for her. He now did not fear her love, but the possibility of her death. He didn’t think he could bear having been so close to her only to have her torn away once more.
Harry reached into the his backpack, removing his canteen and a cloth. After dampening the cloth, he began to clean her face and neck, often stopping to drip water into her dry throat.
When her moaning had eased, he began to build a bigger fire. He was going to have to signal for rescue in the Muggle fashion.
As soon as the fire had sent up a significant column of smoke, he sat back and waited, nibbling on a bit of bread and staring worriedly at the redhead who lay sleeping, warmed by the glowing flames.
Little did he know that many miles away, a plump red-haired woman could see a column of smoke as she looked out her kitchen window.
What Are You Scared Of? by smiley10792
Chapter Notes: Thank you to everyone who sent in the great reviews! I'm so glad you enjoy my story.
One quick note about ch. 2 and this chapter- I am incredibly into acting, but I am also a writer. This means I tend to analyze emotions very carefully. That would be why the last chapter and this one are both very complicated as far as feelings go. If you don't like that style of writing, I'm sorry, but I hope you still enjoy the other elements in my writing.