“Come on Ginny, it’s only a little bit farther,” Harry encouraged, his footsteps falling lightly on the grass. His smile warmed her insides as he pulled her hand along, towards the far side of the black lake, a familiar place to both.
“Could you at least tell me where were going?” she pleaded, feeling somewhat clumsy as her footfalls loudly raced behind his.
“Are you really that blind? You can’t see it from here?” Harry questioned incredulously as he slowed to a brisk pace, still holding onto her with one hand, the other extending upward to point to a large tree a hundred metres away.
“A tree? I thought this was supposed to be a surprise! We’ve been here a hundred times,” Ginny replied, stopping all together, Harry still going forward was pulled back by her hand.
He stopped and looked back, squaring himself up with her, his hand still in hers. Ginny locked her plain brown eyes on his bright green ones, trying to look threatening, knowing instantly that it was impossible. The twilight surrounding them cast a shadow across Harry’s face, and she suspected one was across her face as well. Harry used his free hand to push a lock of Ginny’s hair behind her ear, probably hoping to get rid of the shadow.
He put his face less than a foot away from hers before saying, “Whoever said the place was the surprise?”
Harry closed the distance, his lips pressing against hers, his hand snaking around the back of her neck, as she took a sharp intake of breath. But just as she began to sink into the kiss, he pulled away.
“How do you know that wasn’t the surprise?” Harry said knowingly. He gave her another kiss very similar to the one before, though this one lasted longer. “Or that?” he asked again, before pulling her in again.
His hand left the warmth of her hand before finding her waist, Ginny’s hands reaching up to Harry’s hair. “Or that?” he repeated.
The next time Harry’s lips found Ginny was on the side of her neck. Ginny pulled Harry’s head closer to her, his kisses sending her straight to heaven without pausing for a moment. That was until she came crashing back down.
Harry pulled away and spoke clearly though still through ragged breathing, “You never know what you might miss if you settle early.”
Harry began walking again at his brisk pace while Ginny still stood in the same spot, trying to comprehend what he had just said. He turned around to look at her, a laugh on his face as he shouted, “Are you settling or are you coming?”
Ginny started running, trying to reach Harry, but he too began running. Too bad Harry’s legs were longer. They reached the spot quickly, both pumping their legs, Harry running toward the side of the lake, Ginny chasing Harry.
He leaned against the large willow, arms crossed across his chest, while he waited for Ginny to catch up.
“That was so not funny!” Ginny said indignantly as she came to stand in front of Harry.
He grabbed her hands, pulling her closer. “I think it was pretty funny actually. You’re cute when you’re mad.”
“I want my surprise. Is that such a crime?” Ginny said, quickly changing the subject.
Harry looked at her, wanting to know more, but instead said, “Now who’s impatient?”
Ginny gave him the same look she had given him before, but this time she exaggerated all the parts of her face.
Harry let his head roll back and let out a laugh.
Merlin, she loved his laugh.
“Not twice in one day Gin, not twice,” he replied smiling, adjusting himself so that their bodies were next to each other before lying back in the grass.
Ginny mimicked his movement, laying on the grass, looking up at the sun as it sank beyond the horizon, slowly sending the Hogwart’s grounds into complete darkness. She could feel his even breathing next to her, making hers quicken. Slowly, he slipped his hand into hers, squeezing it as darkness surrounded them. Seconds of silence slipped into minutes.
“What no more impatience?” Harry asked conversationally as his eyes moved from the stars above to the brown eyes next to him.
“I just love this time of day, the mystery behind it. I just hate ruining the peacefulness,” Ginny replied, her eyes to looking into his.
“Did I?” Harry asked moving onto his side.
“No, Harry. You could never ruin anything,” Ginny replied sincerely as Harry kissed her, moving slightly on top of her.
His tender kisses left Ginny breathless as he pulled away, still on top of her, his face inches from hers.
“Are you ready for your surprise?” he asked.
Ginny put her hands in his hair, asking simply, “Does it involve moving?”
“No,” Harry said laughing.
“Then yes, especially if it’s more of that,” Ginny said suggestively.
Harry laughed, “Sorry to disappoint you, but no.”
Ginny pretended to pout before smiling again, Harry’s face melting into a grin as well.
“So what is it Harry?”
“I just wanted to tell you something,” he answered hesitantly, his eyes still locked on hers.
“And that would be?” Ginny prompted.
Harry kissed her again, this time though with a sense of longing, which she happily reciprocated before he pulled his head back.
“I thought you said it wasn’t more of that?” Ginny asked, laughing.
“It’s not, I just want to make sure that I got to kiss you at least one last time.”
“One last time?” Ginny asked, dropping her hands from around his neck and sitting up as he backed off of her, both of them sitting up now. “Why would that ever happen?” She was still confused.
“It might happen if you don’t like what I tell you,” Harry stated desperately. Ginny could tell he was stalling, and then it clicked on in her head.
“You’re breaking up with me?” Ginny barely managed to say, though the words still seemed to sting Harry’s ears.
“What? No, Gin, no,” Harry said taken aback. “I don’t think I could do that Ginny, ever. I promise Ginny, I will never ever break up with you.”
“Well then what is it?” Ginny said, anticipating.
“Ginny, I, I, l-, really care about you,” it came out in a rush.
Ginny’s face fell.
“You brought me out here, to tell me that you really care about me? That’s it? Why all the suspense? You’ve told me that before,” Ginny said, slightly annoyed. “Why did you bring me out here?”
“Because that wasn’t what I was going to say, okay?” Harry practically screamed, though the intensity of his voice seemed to be aimed inward.
“Well then what were you going to say?” Ginny asked in a small voice, grabbing both of Harry’s hands in hers, looking straight into the depths of his eyes.
Harry hesitated again.
“Whatever you say, I promise that I won’t get mad,” Ginny promised.
“I know you won’t get mad,” Harry said.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I’m afraid you won’t feel the same,” Harry said hurriedly. “Because, because I love you, alright? I bloody, love you Ginny Weasley. There, are you happy?”
Ginny sat there dumbstruck, her mouth slightly open, staring at him.
“See? This is what I was afraid of! Me saying it, and then you just sitting there, not saying anything. You know what just forget it, okay?” Harry made the motion to stand up, but was pulled back down by Ginny.
“Harry, you don’t tell a girl you love her and then runaway! You don’t do that!” Ginny said. “Especially when she was going to say it back.”
And then her lips were on his.
Ginny jolted upright in her bed, breathing heavily as she looked around her familiar room. She raked her hand through her hair as she tried to come to terms with reality. She looked out her dormitory window to see the crescent moon casting light onto the floor. Three empty beds met her gaze and then next to her was her only roommate left at Hogwarts: Victoria Rosen. Tory and she weren’t exactly close, but now that they were the only Gryffindor girls left in their year, they hung out together more often.
“It was just a dream, Ginny. He never really said that,” Ginny whispered to herself. “He probably doesn’t love you. Besides, he did break up with you. That’s not true. So, there is no point in getting your hopes up.” Ginny let herself flop backwards onto her pillow, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
Especially when he may never get back, A small voice in the back of her head chirped in.
“No, he’s coming back, he’s coming back,” Ginny repeated silently to herself, hoping if she said it enough times it would true. “He loves you, even though he never said it, he does. That’s why he left you behind.”
Ginny woke up every night to a similar dream, the same stupid kind of dream. Every single night since Harry had left on his mission that Dumbledore had given him. Every night Harry told her he loved her, and every night Ginny woke up after she told him she loved him. She just wanted the dream to stop happening, or become true.
And Ginny didn’t think she could take it anymore.
She just wanted all thoughts of Harry to vanish until she could see him again.
If she ever did.
All Ginny wanted was for him to come out on top and then they could run away from this world forever, no more You-Know-Who, no more Snape, no more Death Eaters, no more war. She just wanted to be with him. She wanted the war to stop ripping her life apart. Ginny hadn’t heard from anyone in her family, except her mother, since the wedding and even her letters were annoyingly cryptic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the only one’s that made Hogwart’s worthwhile. Now it just seemed like a big waste of time.
Couldn’t I be doing something more productive? I mean school is a huge joke. Death Eaters as teachers? Snape as Headmaster? I should be spending my time helping the Order.
Helping Harry.
School had been a joke. Ginny and the rest of her class had learned absolutely nothing in her classes. With a Death Eater teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, it was more like Dark Arts. Even though the teachers that still remained were more gracious to their students, nothing was taught for Snape insisted on sitting in on almost every lesson. Add in the amount of detentions that Ginny had accumulated over the last two months and anyone could see that being part of the resistance against Snape was not an easy job. Especially when it was a solitary attempt. Especially that is, if you could call having the Cruciatus Curse put on you ten times in a row a detention and not a torture session.
Even standing up for Harry and them was no use, no one was there to hear them.
There has to be something I can do, something that would help Harry come back faster, end this war sooner.
Ginny suddenly sat upright, threw back her covers and dove to her trunk sitting stationary at the base of her four poster. Digging through piles of clothes, books, and loose bits of parchment she finally found the gold coin. Ginny grabbed her wand from her pocket and flew down the stairs into the vacant Gryffindor Common Room. She tapped the coin with her wand, making it turn a bright red.
Then, she waited. Hoping, praying, that either of them would hear her call, hear her call to help.
Ten seconds later a pair of feet could be heard coming down the stair case, racing toward the bottom.
Dumbledore’s Army is back.
Author's Note 2: So, what do you think so far? This is going to be a fairly long fic, I have it planned for almost a year and a half down the timeline though I might split it into two seperate fics. Review!
Ginny's Battle by MarauderWannabe
Chapter Notes: Beginning of my first real, long, H/G fic. As always none of this is mine, all JKR's, except the original characters, which are my characters that I am playing with in her world. R/R!