Teenage Struggles
He was back in the chamber on the cold, wet floor; holding Ginny close, trying to feel her slow, steady breathing and hear her heart beat against his. Then, he looked up at Tom Riddle, whose cold eyes penetrated him as he spoke.
"Is she…dead?" The dreaded words escaped Harry's lips as nothing more than a whisper, as the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach returned. He couldn't bring himself to say it any louder; and as he waited for the response he didn't want to hear, his heart felt as though it may burst out of his chest.
"She's alive… but only just," the cruel, heartless voice replied as Harry grabbed for Ginny's hand. He turned to stare at Riddle, the feeling in his stomach replaced with a boiling anger that grew inside him like a snake waiting to attack.
"Wake her up!" he yelled at the figure, but all he did was laugh, the high-pitched, unnerving laugh that had haunted him for so many years…
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"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry woke up screaming. His body was shaking uncontrollably. He was sweating so much that his sheets were drenched, and his insides burned from the thoughts of the dream that still seemed so vivid.
"Harry? HARRY?" Ron yelled as he jumped out of bed to see what the commotion was about.
"Sorry Ron, bad dream… didn't mean to wake you," Harry said, still breathing heavily and trying to forget about the dream.
"Bloody hell, Harry! What was all that about? Are you alright?" Ron asked, looking concerned and a little frightened.
"Nothing… it's alright… I'm fine…" Harry replied weakly, not sure if it would be appropriate to confide in Ron. He wasn't fine of course. The vision of Ginny's motionless body would not leave him.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked, still looking concerned.
"Yeah, I'll be okay, don't worry. Just go back to sleep, and I'll talk to you in the morning," Harry said, ushering Ron back to his four-poster.
"Okay mate, goodnight" he said with a yawn as he crawled back into his bed, rolled over, and began to snore. Harry went back to bed himself and slowly drifted back to sleep, hoping that he wouldn't dream again.
Luckily, he didn't have any more dreams that night, and he woke up the next morning with Ron gently shaking his shoulders whispering "Harry… Harry… wake up!"
"Whaaat?" Harry groaned as he tried to ignore him and continue to sleep.
"C'mon Harry we're going to be late and McGonagall won't appreciate it! We have Transfiguration first today!"
"Alright…" said Harry, slowly waking up and getting out of bed to get ready.
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As Harry and Ron made their way down to the Transfiguration classroom, Ron asked "So what exactly were you dreaming about last night? You woke up in a fit!"
"Er... it was… I can't remember" Harry lied; although he knew quite well that there was no way he'd ever forget the vivid dream. As they reached the classroom, they began to make their way to their desks on either side of Hermione and take out their books and quills as Professor McGonagall began to speak.
"Okay class, please turn to page two hundred and thirteen in your textbooks, we are going to begin today by talking a little bit about…"
Harry had drowned her voice out and began thinking about the dream again. He simply couldn't listen, or think about anything else. The subject of the dream was Ginny of course. What was it with Ginny? Why did he feel so protective of her? He knew that even now, if anyone tried to hurt her he would want to kill them. Was this just friendship? Was this just because she was Ron's little sister and he felt obligated to defend her just as he would Ron? Or was this something different? Something more…
"POTTER! You've been on the wrong page for the last thirty minutes! Do you even care to look like you're following along, or would you prefer a detention?"
Harry was abruptly awakened from his daydream by Professor McGonagall, and just as he realized where he was, answered sheepishly "No, I'm sorry professor, I was just thinking-"
"Well get your book open and start focusing on your schoolwork! If you wish to daydream please do it elsewhere! My class is not a dormitory!" she interrupted quickly.
Harry did as he was told and tried his hardest to concentrate on the lesson just to get him through the rest of the class. As they were dismissed, he caught up with Hermione and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hey, Hermione… do you think I could talk with you for a while?" he whispered in her ear.
"Sure, what about?" Hermione replied inquiringly.
"Er... a dream I had last night… I don't quite understand…" Harry trailed off, still thinking hard.
"Sure… um… meet me in the library after lunch, I need to take out some books for Transfiguration anyway," Hermione said with a smile.
"Okay. See you… bye!" he replied, looking a little uneasy.
"Bye," said Hermione, waving as she skipped off to her next class.
"Hey, Harry... Harry! Wait up mate!" Ron panted as he ran down the corridor to catch up with Harry.
"Oh, hey Ron!" Harry said when he was walking beside him.
"Are you coming to Quidditch practice tonight?" asked Ron.
"Oh…right… practice! I almost forgot!" replied Harry, the horrible sinking feeling in his stomach returning abruptly. Ginny was going to be there he thought to himself.
"Er…yeah…I think so…" Harry blurted out, not knowing if he really meant it.
"Alright mate, I'll see you there then... bye!" said Ron, turning and walking quickly in the other direction.
"Bye," Harry called after him as he made his way down to the darkened dungeon classroom, to what was the most depressing class of the day - Potions with Snape. He suffered the entire class trying his best to concentrate on his draught of living death, but it was almost hopeless. He had done something wrong and now his cauldron smelled of rotten eggs, his potion was neon green, and was bubbling uncontrollably.
"Well, well, what have we here? I should have guessed no better work from you, Potter," snarled Snape.
"Yeah… well…" said Harry, too lazy to give a witty response.
"Class dismissed" Professor Snape finally yelled. As all the students gathered up their books and packed up their cauldron sets, Harry was glad to dispose of the disgusting potion he had just made. He quickly gathered his things and tried his best to avoid the piercing stare he knew that Snape was giving him, and made his way down to the library to talk to Hermione.
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There she was, buried in a pile of books as usual, her face screwed up in concentration, avidly devouring one of the books in front of her, mumbling to herself.
"Hey Hermione!" said Harry, trying to get her attention.
"Oh… hello Harry… sorry didn't see you there, I was trying to understand-"
"It's alright, look, I'm having a problem with this dream…" Harry interrupted.
"Okay… what is it about? Another one about You-Know-Who?" asked Hermione.
"Well… no… it's actually…. sort of about… Ginny…" Harry blushed and looked away; he was starting to have second thoughts about whether he should be telling Hermione this.
"Oh, well…really?" said Hermione, looking surprised but then smiling widely.
"Yeah," said Harry now looking at her "What? Do you find this funny?" said Harry slightly embarrassed.
"Oh, no... Sorry that's not what I meant…what happened in the dream exactly?" she said, trying to look concerned now.
"Er, it was sort of like re-living what happened in the chamber of secrets in second year. Except the entire memory was focused on Ginny," he blushed, "and how keen I was to try and save her. But it was strange… because when it happened in real life, I looked at her…differently…I don't know how… but it wasn't the same. I don't know how to explain it exactly; I just felt this odd desire…" Harry trailed off, still thinking hard.
"Well, that's interesting…" said Hermione trying to look just as perplexed as Harry, but failing, and then burying her smile behind her stack of books.
"So what do you think it means?" Harry asked, not noticing Hermione's smile.
"I think that you should try and work this out for yourself, because it's a sort of metaphor see… I'll give you a hint: concentrate on exactly what you were feeling when you were with Ginny in the dream. That should give you a pretty good idea. Sorry to cut this short Harry, but I have to go… I have, er, homework, right, homework, so lot's to do, very busy…" said Hermione quickly, looking preoccupied as she gathered her stack of books and began to leave.
"Wait! Hermione! What do you mean? I'm confused! I don't know what you-"Harry called after her.
"You'll figure it out! Don't worry. I have to go, talk to you later, Harry," she said, as she pushed open the library doors and left Harry sitting there, looking even more perplexed than before. Well that was a great help he thought to himself, a little angry with Hermione. He thought that if anyone could help him it would be her… Why wasn't she telling him? What did she mean when she said "focus on what you were feeling when you were with Ginny in the dream…" could it be… no… it couldn't… she's Ron's sister!
Harry thought hard until he gave himself a headache, and agreed that Hermione wasn't making any sense at all, and that he should simply put this out of his mind. He looked at his watch; it was nearly 3:00pm, and he had to get up to the third floor for Charms. He decided he would get going, and try to think of something else as he walked up the seemingly endless flights of stairs, when all of the sudden…
"Ginny! Wow what a surprise!" Harry said, as he bumped into her, and became all sweaty and nervous.
"Oh. Hey Harry! Are you…okay?" said Ginny, suddenly looking worried.
"Huh? Oh yeah… I-I'm fine, fine! I have t-t-to get to Ch-Charms," he stuttered.
"Alright then, you go ahead… I'll see you later, at practice... bye" Ginny waved at him as she walked down the stairs, in the opposite direction of Harry.
Harry stood there for a moment frozen, not knowing what had just hit him, or why he was acting so strange. What is wrong with me? Snap out of it Harry! It's only Ginny… He took a deep breath and continued to Flitwick's classroom, trying his best to forget about the incident, and concentrate on walking straight.
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"Ginny, Ginny! I need to tell you something!" said Hermione, shaking Ginny's arm and grinning.
"What?" asked Ginny, looking confused.
"Come over here," Hermione said, as she pulled Ginny into the Gryffindor common room, and plopped her into a squishy armchair. Then she sat next to Ginny, on a nearby sofa.
"You know how you told me about… well… your feelings towards Harry?" whispered Hermione.
"Yes…" said Ginny, piping up at once with excitement.
"Well, I think you should make a move…" said Hermione, looking proud at her advice.
"What? Why? Why now? Where's all this coming from?" demanded Ginny.
"Well, I just think it's time… you know… holidays are coming up, and if you wait any longer… well it's been long enough hasn't it?" questioned Hermione.
"Um… Hermione, I don't know… what if he doesn't feel the same way? What if I make a complete fool of myself?" Ginny replied, looking worried and blushing hard.
"Don't worry, just trust me okay?" said Hermione with a smile.
"What has gotten into you? Why are you so sure of this all of a sudden? Last time we talked about this you said it was best not to do anything and let him come to me…" inquired Ginny.
"Well, that was then, this is now… let's just say…. I had an epiphany," Hermione replied, clearly content with her response.
"An epi-what?" asked Ginny, looking confused.
"Just do it, okay? I'm going to be late for care of magical creatures, so I'll talk to you later… good luck!" Hermione said, as she gave Ginny a hug and walked out of the room.
"Wait! Hermione, I need your-"
But Hermione was already flying out the common room door.
"Help," said Ginny, more to herself than anyone else. When Hermione said "make a move" did she mean… no… she couldn't have… how in the world am I going to do that? Sometimes, I wonder why I listen to Hermione…Ginny thought to herself; and with that, she skipped up the steps to the girls' dormitory to change.
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As Harry left Charms, he decided to go back to the Gryffindor common room so that he could get his equipment for Quidditch practice. He thought he'd meet Ron there and they could walk down to the pitch together. As he crawled through the portrait of the fat lady, however, Ron wasn't there. Instead, he found Ginny sitting in an armchair looking miserably at the fireplace. His heart skipped a beat and he felt as though he had walked into a furnace as he became nervous again for no apparent reason…
"Oh… h-h-hey Ginny…" he attempted to speak.
"Oh! Harry… hey… I was just…" muttered Ginny, looking quite taken aback and blushing now.
"I… er, have to go change for Quidditch practice" Harry said very quickly, and ran up to the boys' dormitory as fast as he could; leaving Ginny there alone, looking confused. What's up with him? She thought to herself, it's me who should be acting like a complete idiot…
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To Harry's relief, he had made it down to the pitch without bumping into Ginny again, and he promptly met up with Ron, who looked concerned.
"Hey Harry! You're just in time for Wood's pep-talk," Ron whispered in Harry's ear, as he snuck in behind Fred and George.
"Lucky me…" said Harry, sarcastically. Then he gave a big sigh, and turned to look at Oliver getting ready to speak to the team. He could tell that Ron was still observing him, trying to figure out what was troubling him, but Harry pretended that he didn't notice.
"What is it Harry? D-do you want to talk about it?" asked Ron, cautiously.
"No…" said Harry simply, not to you anyways he thought.
"Are you sure?" Ron said, so softly that it was barely audible.
"Yeah, really it's nothing, I'm fine," Harry said, trying to sound convincing.
"Alright team, if we're going to win the match against Ravenclaw, we're going to have to work really hard today, because I happened to overhear one of the students talking about their strategy. It's a good one, so it's not going to be easy to…"
Harry wasn't really listening; instead, his mind was focusing on Ginny again. What am I feeling that's so strange? It's not like I wouldn't save anybody else if they were in her position? What did Hermione mean? Okay, forget the dream. How do I feel about Ginny right now? Look at her! She's right there!
Harry observed her for a while, watching her concentrating hard on what Wood was saying, as he knew he should be doing, but just couldn't.
She looks beautiful today… actually, she always does… and mmmmm I can smell her hair from here; that scent makes me crazy! I want to hug her, no… I want to kiss her! OH MY GOD! WHAT AM I THINKING? She's Ron's sister! Harry, get a hold of yourself! Wait… that's it... THAT'S IT! This is what my dream was trying to tell me! I actually do have feelings for Ginny… This is what Hermione meant! But how did she see? How did she know? She really is the smartest witch for her age, that one… Well what do I do now? I can't just blurt this out, can I? Everyone will think I've gone mad! Well actually… I think I havegone mad… but I have to do something… should I talk to Hermione first? No… and I'm not going to tell Ron, because he'd probably hit me. So I guess that just leaves Ginny…the question is, what to do? And how?"
"Harry? Are you just going to stand there all day? C'mon lad, get on your broom already and take your position!" screamed Wood, as Harry snapped out of his deep thoughts. He didn't even realize that everyone else was already flying into the air and taking their positions, and that Wood's pep-talk was over a good ten minutes ago! Just talk to her! I'm sure she'll understand. Harry tried to tell himself as he searched for the snitch. He contemplated for what seemed like forever, and then decided to talk to her after practice. He felt better now that he knew what he was feeling; but now it felt like worms were crawling around in his stomach and he just couldn't relax.
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I wonder if I should do something. Should I talk to him? Or just… Hermione's right. I've waited too long to do this, it's about time. Ginny thought to herself trying to calm her nerves and convince herself about what she needed to do…
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Quidditch practice was finally over, and as all the players were leaving the pitch Wood was yelling "Good work today people! Keep it up!"
"Don't worry so much Oliver, we'll be fine, Ravenclaw isn't that good!" said George, as he passed him. As everyone marched back to the Gryffindor common room, Harry stayed behind and waited for them all to clear out, and strangely enough, Ginny did the same.
Just go up to her and ask her if you could talk to her for a minute… Harry tried to say to himself.
Okay Ginny you can do it, just go for it! You only live once. Ginny thought to herself.
"Hey…Ginny…" called Harry, really feeling the nerves now.
"Oh, hey, Harry, I was just looking for you!" said Ginny, anxiously.
"Really? Er… l-look I've b-been meaning to t-talk to you…" Harry was now shaking and blushing.
Do it now! Just interrupt him and then see what he says…Ginny thought.
"Harry, stop…There's something I need to say before you continue…" Ginny interrupted, trying to sound confident, but blushing hard nonetheless.
"Huh?" Harry said looking confused; but before he could say another word, Ginny grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him in close, and gently whispered into his ear. "I love you."
As she slowly released him, their eyes met. She looked deep into his handsome green eyes, and felt as though she was going to melt. She could sense his utter shock and could feel both her heart and his racing faster than ever. Then, Harry asked in a barely audible voice, disbelievingly, "Y-you do?"
Ginny nodded ever-so-slightly and gave a small smile as she moved closer to him. Harry moved the rest of the way, and as they both closed their eyes, their lips met. Her lips were soft and supple, and Harry liked the way they felt on his. He wanted the kiss to last forever, as he savoured every moment of it.
Ginny felt like jell-o as the kiss that she had spent years waiting for - dreaming, fantasizing, and thinking about - elated her. It was everything she had ever hoped for and more, she felt so sensitive to his every move, like electricity was being conducted through her skin; she could feel him slightly shaking as they kissed, but it was perfect.
Harry felt closeness, a bond to Ginny that he had never felt before with anyone. He knew that he loved her now, it was no crush he had on Ginny. Thinking back, he had loved her since the first time they had spoken, and his feelings just grew stronger and stronger as the years progressed.
Now, as the kiss grew more passionate, the two felt like they were floating on a cloud, far above the castle grounds. And as they slowed again, now breathing as one, they slowly broke apart and looked again into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, as they smiled and giggled.
"I love you too…" Harry whispered, "that's what I wanted to tell you, except it took me this long just to figure it out myself-"
"Shhhh," mouthed Ginny, as she gently placed her index finger on Harry's lips.
Harry then gradually lowered Ginny's hand and leaned in again to give her another kiss…
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Hermione then came out on to the field with Ron, looking quite curious, and quietly calling "Harry…. Ginny…. are you guys still out here?"
Harry's heart jumped as he broke kiss with Ginny to look around for the source of the voices. They were both blushing now, and tried to suppress their giggles as best they could.
"Let's go," said Ginny, still whispering. Harry nodded curtly and followed Ginny, out into Hermione and Ron's view.
"Yeah we're still here," Ginny called, guiding Harry by the hand.
"Oh… well, we didn't mean to interrupt…" said Hermione, now looking embarrassed herself. "We were just wondering where you guys were… sorry,"
"It's okay… don't worry, we're coming back in now," said Ginny, because Harry seemed to have lost his voice.
"Alright," Hermione blushed some more.
"I-I… y-you… w-what…" Ron tried to speak, but couldn't think of what to ask first. Then finally managed "Harry… Were you just snogging my little sister?" looking shocked, and confused.
Harry exchanged a strangled look at Ginny, and then taking a deep breath, looked back at Ron and said, "Er, yeah…" as he waited for a response, his heart banged against his ribcage.
"Well it was about time then wasn't it, mate?" said Ron finally, a big grin now appearing on his face.
"Yeah Ron, yeah it was," Harry replied, a wave of relief washing over him.
"How about we go inside, and get some butterbeer and biscuits, eh?" asked Hermione.
"I'd love some," said Ginny.
"Me too," added Harry.
"Well of course I want some too, then," replied Ron.
"When do you not want food?" asked Ginny, with a small laugh.
"Never really," Ron replied quietly, with a grin.
So they all walked back to the Gryffindor common room, where they had their butterbeer and biscuits by the fire. That night, before Harry fell asleep, he thought of the wonderful day he had had, and wondered if it was really real… he had actually kissed Ginny, and he now had the best girlfriend he could have ever hoped for.
The End