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Author: Zelthian Story: The Gryffindor Four Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 5 Words: 31,336
The morning after Ginny's near-accident, Harry awoke and got up to take his morning shower when he was seized by the feeling that something was wrong. He looked around his room carefully. Something was different. Something was out of place, so he did a quick mental inventory of his room. After searching for about half-an-hour, he was sure everything was still there and deciding it was nothing, took his shower. When he came out, he dried his hair and looked in the mirror. Staring back at him was the usual thick mop that passed for his hair and he sighed in frustration. Reaching for his brush to resume his battle with his hair, Harry's hand grabbed nothing but air. It took only a second to realize that it wasn't in its usual place but was somehow on the other side of the sink. "Now that's odd," Harry said out loud. He picked it up and went through his normal attempt at making it presentable, finally giving up and continuing his morning routine. The next morning, Harry woke with the same strange feeling. Again, he did a quick inventory, this time remembering the bathroom sink. Sure enough, his brush was in the right place, but now his toothbrush was on the wrong side. Someone had been in his room! Harry knew it had to have been moved in the night. He always brushed his teeth before going to bed, and set his toothbrush down in the same spot each night. But who could it be? If someone had Apparated, it would have woken Harry up immediately. How had they gotten in? The door? No, it was locked, and all the doors had anti-charm spells on them. Harry was perplexed, and resolved to try to find out who the culprit was. Deciding not to tip off his visitor, Harry kept this to himself. The next night, he was set on staying awake and used a few of the Weasley Twins' Picker Uppers, which helped him stay awake in History of Magic, to accomplish his goal. Turning out the lights, and passed the time imagining himself chasing Ginny around, following her as she Apparated around the Burrow. Half an hour after he had eaten his last Picker Upper, Harry was about to nod off to sleep when he heard a soft crack. If he had been asleep, he would have missed it, but the Picker Upper hadn't worn off completely, and Harry was instantly awake. He couldn't see who it was, but there was definitely somebody next to his bed. In the darkness, it was difficult to see the person's eyes, so he was pretty certain the person couldn't tell he was awake. A dark shape leaned over Harry, presumably so he or she could see if Harry was moving. With one quick motion, Harry grabbed the person and pinned them to the bed. "Yip!" It was a female voice. Harry pulled the wand from under his pillow, pointed it to where he knew the lamp was on his night stand and whispered, "Lumos." "Ginny? What the devil?" Ginny was blushing uncontrollably. "Um, hi Harry." Harry let go of her. She sat up and watched him nervously. "Don't be mad. I just...couldn't sleep." "How on earth did you do that? I almost didn't hear you come in." "Oh, that, well..." Ginny averted her eyes. "I discovered a week ago that I could Apparate quietly. I used it to spook mum once and had to try it out to see if I could do it again, so...well..." "So you've been Apparating into my room at night and moving my stuff around to see if I'd notice?" Ginny nodded playfully. "Do you know how much trouble you'd be in if your parents found out? They'd ground you, then they'd kill me!" "I know Harry, I just...I...couldn't help myself." "Ginny Weasley, you little devil..." Harry said, and started to tickle her. She tickled back, but they both stopped when they realized they were going to wake somebody up. Undeterred, Ginny waited until Harry had put his wand down. She pointed her wand quickly at the door, cast a silence spell and turned and started tickling Harry again. Harry was at her mercy; He couldn't move, and could only gasp between breaths. "Okay.... Ginny...You win! You win! Stop!" Ginny finally stopped and let him catch his breath. He was sure Mr. Weasley was going to barge in any moment and was both surprised and relieved when he didn't. Harry took stock of the situation. Here was Ginny, sitting in his room, they were alone, everyone else was asleep, and nobody could hear them. Harry got a lump in his throat, goosebumps appeared on his arms, and butterflies squirmed around in his stomach all at the same time. He had never been more attracted to Ginny then at this moment. She was sitting there next to him in her nightgown, which consisted of a single piece and came down below her knees. For a moment he wondered what she was (or wasn't) wearing under it, but quickly tried to put that thought out of his mind. Instead his mind lingered on the image of catching her as she fell out of the tree, him reaching out and holding her hand as she did. Voldemort would not wait any longer, he realized. He had to tell her. "Ginny, I have to tell you a terrible secret." Ginny suddenly looked worried. "Harry?" Harry could see a tear. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?" Harry was confused for a second. "Oh, no, Ginny! Not even close." He put his other hand around her neck and gave her a reassuring kiss. He sat back and continued. "Before I tell you the secret, I have to tell you something else. I realized something three days ago when you fell out of that tree. I've been thinking about it ever since. At first I thought it was just...well, something simpler, and I decided to think about it some more to be sure. I knew I liked you a lot, and I wanted us to be more than friends, but I couldn't be sure how things would go, even though I wanted very much for things to work out between us. Then you fell, and I didn't even have to think, Ginny, I was just there. And I realized that I was there because I couldn't stand the thought of losing you..." Harry broke away and could feel tears forming in his eyes. "What are you saying, Harry?" Harry willed himself to look Ginny in the eye and with a final surge of courage, said, "I love you, Ginny." Ginny looked like she was about to cry. Harry didn't know how to react, but decided to wait. No need to rush, Harry thought. "You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that Harry," she said softly, choking back a tear. "It's true I've had a crush on you ever since that day at King's Cross, even though I only saw you for a moment. But when you saved me in the Chamber of Secrets, I couldn't help but fall for you. All this time I stayed away because of all that you were going through, always hoping you'd like me, but not wanting to make things worse for you. Then you and Cho got together, and I started losing hope, and then, here we were together, and I had hope again, and I thought 'If only he could love me, really love me' but I didn't dare hope for it, even if I secretly did, and now...now..." Harry let Ginny ramble on until she stopped. He felt she needed to get it all out, so he didn't stop her. She was pouring her heart out to him and he waited patiently until she was done, then brought her lovingly into his arms. Apparently she wasn't going to settle for just a hug and leaned into him, pinning him to the bed, kissing him more passionately than she ever had. She came up for breath after a few seconds and said, "Oh Harry, I love you so much..." They continued to kiss until Harry remembered the other thing he wanted to tell her. Gently, gradually, he sat back up and pulled her away. "There's something else, Ginny. I have to tell you now. I have to tell you this because I love you." Ginny settled down and took Harry's hand. "You can tell me anything, Harry. I don't think I could ever stop loving you now." Harry paused and took a breath. "Dumbledore told me what was in the prophesy. The one that was smashed in the Department of Mysteries. He was there when it was made." A look of horror crossed Ginny's face, but she quickly put on a mask of bravery. "Go ahead, Harry. I want to know." "I have to kill Voldemort." Ginny swallowed hard and said, "I was afraid of that." That was certainly not what Harry had been expecting. "I've suspected ever since the Chamber," she continued. "I'd heard about how you stopped Voldemort from getting the Stone, of course, but then there you were, in the Chamber, foiling Voldemort yet again, right in front of me. I don't think I've been a kid since that day, and I realized then that you were going to play a role in Voldemort's death. I know it's going to be hard on you, Harry, and I want to be there for you. Always." Ginny gently held Harry's face in her hands. "No matter what." She kissed him again, letting it grow more passionate, more loving, more caring, until Harry was on his back again, Ginny lying on top of him. She finally relented and hugged him tight, laying her head on his chest. Harry's heart was beating fast. His breathing was shallow. Was this what it felt like to love? It must be, Harry thought. This is wonderful. Harry lay there, holding Ginny close, letting her breath flow across his chest, feeling her heart beat against his. Harry tensed. He could feel her heartbeat! He could feel... Don't panic! Relax, you don't want to scare her. Calm down. Breathe. Merlin's beard... "Ginny, I think we should sit up now." "I don't want to let you go. Harry." "I don't either, Ginny." Harry paused. "But I think we have to." "Why, Harry?" "Because I love you, and because we should talk." Ginny lifted her head and looked at Harry. Harry couldn't quite tell what her expression meant, but he got the impression she was thinking about...resist, Harry, you have to resist... "Talk about what, my love?" Harry took a chance. "You know what," Harry said playfully. "Do we have to?" Ginny replied equally as playful, but then slowly lifted herself off Harry and sat back on the bed. Harry sat up and took her hand yet again. At first, Harry was speechless. He had wondered what this would feel like. He knew he had wanted to do it, to go further, to do the things he knew people did when they were in love. "I'm sorry Harry. I didn't mean to...to make you think I was going to..." "It's OK, Ginny. I can't say I didn't like the way it felt. It's just that..." Ginny looked at him, unsure. Harry continued, "Have you ever...uh, thought about it? I mean, thought about...um, us? Doing..." he trailed off, too embarrassed to continue. "Doing what, Harry?" Ginny asked, playful again. "Go on, don't be shy..." Harry thought this was funny. He remembered when she ran from the kitchen when she first saw him at the Burrow. He remembered her peaking from behind her door as he came up the stairs. And now here she was, sitting on his bed, having just moments before been laying on him with only her nightgown and his pajamas between them. "Have you ever imagined us making love?" It was if Ginny was just waiting for him to say it. "What do you think?" Ginny was playing with him, and he knew it. "You'd better have!" Harry demanded. They both laughed. When they'd recovered, Ginny asked, "Have you?" "Almost nightly," Harry replied. "ALMOST?" Ginny said, feigning anger. "Well, some nights I'm just tired, and I go straight to sleep..." Ginny stopped him by putting her finger over his lips. "I'm just kidding Harry." "I know Ginny. And to tell you the truth, I found myself wanting to tonight. I wanted it more than anything I think I've ever wanted. But..." "You're not ready." Ginny said. There was no anger in her voice. Harry shook his head. "Neither am I, honestly..." Ginny admitted. Harry looked at her very seriously. "I want our first time to be special, Ginny. I want it to be one of the happiest moments of your life. Anything else just wouldn't be right. And I don't want to have to sneak around to do it." "I was hoping you'd say that," Ginny said. Harry exhaled in relief. "So you're not mad, Ginny?" "Mad? No way, Harry, I'm even happier now than I was before I came here. I want it to be special too. I thought maybe this would be, but now that I'm here, I agree with you. We should do it when we're ready, and when we don't have to sneak around or worry about what my parents would think." She snuggled back into his chest. "Just hold me a little longer, Harry, then I'll go back to my room." Harry held her tightly but gently. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep. He was having a dream about Ginny feeding him cake when... KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Harry woke slowly. "Yes?" "Wake up Harry, breakfast is ready." It was Mrs. Weasley. "OK!" Harry said back. He moved to get out of bed, but something heavy was on him. He looked down. Ginny! Knock, knock, knock. Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! "Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley was at Ginny's door! "Ginny!" Harry whispered as loudly as he dared. "Ginny, wake up!" Ginny stirred. "Mmm? What?" "Ginny, you're in my room, and your mom is knocking on your door!" "EEP!" Ginny squeaked as she jumped to her feet. She concentrated hard and with a tiny crack she was gone. Knock, knock, knock. "Ginny, wake up, your breakfast is getting cold. "I'm up Mum, I'm up..." Ginny replied from her room. Harry plopped back down on his bed and let out the breath he had been holding. That was way too close.
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