The three of them headed to the seventh floor, the place where it all started, where Harry had discovered that he was designated for greatness. The seventh floor corridor was deserted, it seem like every body in the castle was either in their common rooms or in the great hall, celebrating or mourning. They walked silently towards the fat lady, who was asleep, but she didn’t seem upset when they woke her up asking her to open the door, she smiled at the three former kids, now adults, and without asking for the password, let them in.
Harry walked through the portrait hole slowly with Ron and Hermione in front of him; suddenly they sped up and before Harry realized, they were disappearing up the staircase.
It took Harry two more minutes to realize there was somebody else in the room. When he saw her, his world stopped. A gorgeous red headed, brown eyed girl was smiling at him, she was standing in the same spot she had when they had shared their first kiss. He remembered that glorious day, when besides winning the quidditch cup as captain, even if he hadn’t actually played, he had finally been able to accept that he was crazy for that girl.
“Harry” Ginny said. While he walked silently and slowly towards her, not stopping until he could touch her nose with his.
“Ginny” he said softly in her ear. “I’m…” but he couldn’t end his phrase, because Ginny’s finger lay across his lips, shushing him.
“Not now, Harry, not now”.
Harry moved her finger away and leaned in to kiss her, it was the most passionate kiss either of them had ever had, even better than the one they shared on his birthday. It spoke of how much they had missed each other, of the unspoken love they had for the other and of the previously banned hopes of a future together.
Harry ran his fingers through the hair he loved, and slowly, very slowly he moved his hands down her back until they reached her waist. Ginny played with his hair making it look more messed up than ever, moving her hands towards his neck, where her fingers taunted him in a very sensitive spot she had discovered last year, her hands drifted from his neck to his chest, staying there.
They end up in one of the common room’s armchairs kissing each other. Ginny was laying on her back with Harry resting on top of her, doing his best not to smother her with his weight. Harry’s hands had somehow found their way under her shirt, and he was caressing her back and stomach. While his had mysteriously disappeared revealing what a year of hiding and having next to no food had done to his body. Oddly, he had toned up quite a bit, but he was thinner. Ginny explored his chest, stroking each and every bruise or cut, hurting inside at the thought of how he had gotten them.
When they finally broke apart and caught their breath, Ginny said:
“That could fill up all the time I hadn’t been able to touch those lips” while pointing to Harry’s mouth.
“Could?” Harry asked
“Yeah, could, or did you think I hadn’t missed you and your lips?” Ginny replied smiling.
“No way, I wouldn’t have thought that during the past year, nor in a hundred more.” Harry said grinning.
“So…” Ginny whispered.
“I was only asking because I might need another ten thousand kisses like that to fill up for the past year” Harry said grinning while Ginny giggled.
A long silence followed that little laugh, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, it was the kind of silence you enjoy when you are hugging someone and you don’t know what to say.
During that pleasant silence, both of them were thinking about the same thing, they both knew they had lots of things to say to each other about all that had happened in the previous year. Harry though about the horrors he and his best friends had faced, but then he remember that school had been run by the Carrows and that Ginny as well as Neville, Luna and many others had suffered for him while he was hiding. Suddenly he felt Ginny’s eyes on him and realised that she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Ginny,” Harry said breaking the silence, “I’m sorry…” Ginny looked back at him but said nothing. “About everything,” he finished.
“Me too,” she replied.
In that moment Harry realised that behind that happy smile, that behind that happiness of being together once more, both of them hid the same mixture of feelings: sadness, desperation, need and many other sensations that were slowly coming to terms with. But they still had something that, for now, wasn’t gone, each other. Harry remembered Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin, Mad-Eye, Hedwig, Dumbledore, Sirius, Cedric, his parents and so many others that had died for him, that had died fighting for a better place to live. He knew he would show them that their sacrifice hadn’t been worthless; he would help take care of Teddy, he would show the world a little love and laugh; he wouldn’t let their names be forgotten.
Ginny might have known what Harry was thinking because her eyes were full of tears. He cleaned them and kissed her on the forehead, Ginny looked back at him and decided it was time for her to get some rest. Slowly she got up with Harry behind her and started to move away. Harry, who still had her hand in his pulled her toward him and said softly in her ear, “What happened to my good night kiss?”
Ginny giggled and kissed him softly on the lips before vanishing through the staircase.
Leaving Harry alone drowning in his thoughts of guiltiness, of despair; thoughts that made him feel like the worst person alive, yet he knew that all of those who had died during that last great battle against Voldemort did it because they believed in him, they believed he would be able to restore peace in the wizarding world, they believed he will be able to defeat dark magic because they believed he was destined for greatness. They knew he was the chosen one, but above all of those reasons they had fought because they loved Harry and he loved them back. The only thing that made Harry feel better was to think about the fact that he knew he would have died again in order to stop the war.
---------------------------------
Ron and Hermione were holding hands, entering the Gryffindor common room with Harry shortly behind them, when they saw Ginny, who with just an expression, informed Hermione of her plans.
“Let’s keep moving,” Hermione said in a soft voice so that only Ron could hear her.
“But…” Ron said trying to object, but Hermione pushed him forward and started running while pushing Ron to the staircase.
“It’ll be better if we leave those two alone,” Hermione said before opening the boy’s dormitory door to see if anyone was already in there.
“It’s empty,” Ron said. He had entered before Hermione so that if the door closed suddenly, no one would panic.
“And why did you want to know if it was empty, Mister ‘I won’t leave my little sister with my best friend’?” Hermione questioned Ron, putting her hands on her hips.
“Well, since you brought it up, Ginny is my baby sister, but we need a little ‘Harry-free’ time, don’t you think?” Ron commented, desperately hoping that Hermione wouldn’t get mad.
“And for what do we need a ‘Harry-free’ time?” Hermione asked.
“For being alone, maybe,” Ron slipped wishing he hadn’t.
“For what do we need to be alone?” she asked with a more interested tone and a knowing smile playing in her lips.
“I don’t know, to talk?” he replied.
“About what?” she asked suspiciously.
“About us, about our future” Ron answered.
“Us? Future? So you think there will be an ‘us’ in the future?” She demanded, trying to hide her smile.
“Yes I do. But I thought you kinda’ cleared that up when you kissed me,” Ron responded.
“Oh, that. I was only reacting, but I have wanted to kiss you for a while,” Hermione said.
“And would you like more?”
“Why do you even ask?”
But Ron wasn’t able to answer her last question because in that moment Hermione surrounded him with her arms and started kissing him while Ron kissed her back. When they broke apart, Ron saw Hermione in a different way. For him, she was a woman now. He touched her cheek and she closed her eyes.
“That felt good,” Hermione said without opening her eyes.
“Really good,” Ron finished while taking her hand in his.
He lead her onto one of the empty four-posters, where he sat bend over the pillows, while Hermione leaned backwards, putting her head on Ron’s chest and quickly, they both fell sleep.
Before the Happily Ever After by maisa potter
Story Notes:
NOW ALL CHAPTERS ARE EDITED.... So that you know I haven't forgotten my story... If my agenda allows it I'll be uploading the next chapter pretty soon.....
Chapter Notes: All the characters are J.K Rowling’s, not mine; I’m just having a little fun with them.
Chapter Endnotes: I would like to thank J.K, for thinking up Harry Potter; you, for reading this; and my Betas, without whom I wouldn’t have been able to write this.