A/N: This is a thing that has been brewing in my mind since I finished HBP. It's mostly dramatic angsty-fluff. Don't you love H/G.
Harry stood outside the Burrow and felt the warm summer wind cross his face. He knew this was coming, and yet he felt so unprepared. To see Ginny again, to want her, and to know he couldn't have her was going to be unbearable. The past three weeks at the Dursley's he had spent every other moment thinking about her, and more confused than he would ever like to be.
He picked up his trunk and began walking towards the door. Yes, Dumbledore had told him to stay at the Dursley's until his birthday, and up until Bill and Fluer's wedding was announced to be a week before he turned seventeen, he had every intention of doing so. But he wouldn't miss this wedding for the world. To see everyone together and happy (well as happy as they could be under the circumstances) would give him hope and strength that he would need during his search for the horocruxes. There was one problem.
And that problem was the first one to run towards him when he walked through the door. He had nearly forgot his objective of keeping her safe when she wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him on the cheek. He tried to give her a Hermione-like hug, but when he felt her soft hair against his neck he unwillingly picked her up and spun her around. After he set her back on solid ground he felt himself blush because Mrs. Weasley's teary eyes were on them.
"Harry we've been so worried." Ginny gave him a soft hit to the arm. "You thought you could get away with not writing to us didn't you?"
He smiled down at her. "Sorry Gin." He blushed again. "Well, Ginny, I've been researching my butt off. Hermione would be proud." He said and laughed.
"I doubt it." She said and when she saw his confused look she leaned up and whispered in his ear. "Since Hermione has been here she has found a much more……" She glanced at her mother. "Controversial pastime."
His eyebrows disappeared into his hair. He had a feeling that something might happen between his two best friends when he managed to convince both of them to stay at the Burrow until the wedding at the least. He couldn't even imagine what the Dursley's would do if he brought them there. "Really? Well that's no surprise." He laughed. "How is everyone?"
Seemingly on cue the rest of the Weasley's appeared trailed by a guilty looking Hermione. After a grand reunion with Fred and George, who gave him some things that he could use against the Dursley's now that he didn't have to live with them anymore; he pulled Ron and Hermione off to the side. "So when exactly were you two going to tell me that you were 'an item'". He said with a look that made Hermioneseem guiltier, if that was possible.
"Sorry mate, there's just been a lot of drama around here for the past couple days. Mum was stressed out about the wedding and stumbling across 'Mione and I in the second floor cupboard seemed to just push her over the edge. She apparently thought we were doing something a lot worse than what we were actually doing." He gave Hermione a weak smile.
"Now we are banned from being alone together. Honestly! She's treating me like I'm some kind of scarlet woman!" She looked close to tears.
"Ron's mom does not think that way about you Hermione. She's probably just shocked that Ickle Ronnikins is growing up." He looked around to see if anyone was still in the room. "And you can always borrow my invisibility cloak." Her face brightened. If he couldn't be with the person he wanted to then he was going to do his best to make his friends happy…..even if that meant that they be happy together. Although he was more than a little bit jealous.
The wedding was beautiful. Everything was draped in a soft pale lavender fabric. It was very….flowery to say the least. Fleur looked like a princess in her dress complete with a pink tiara. Harry assumed was the one Mrs. Weasley was talking about. Every female in the audience cried at least once when they said their vows, but the thing Harry remembered most was Ginny walking down the aisle to stand next to Gabrielle. Her hair was falling in a beautiful cascade down her back and her eyes were shining, the color of the dress enhancing them to their brightest. She had caught Harry gazing at her more than once and each time she didn't look away. She held his stare, and even a few times smiled sadly at him. He was so confused. He wanted her safe more than anything, but he wanted to hold her and be with her almost as much.
An hour into the reception Mrs. Weasley groggily ordered Harry and Ginny to go get the food. As they walked back to the house Ginny broke the silence. "You know why she made us get the stuff right?"
"No why?" He asked as they searched through the cupboards for platters.
"Because all the adults are too drunk and anyone our age is snogging." She laughed but Harry felt his stomach clench.
She looked thoughtful. "It's so strange. It seemed like just a couple of years ago that I was playing with Bill in the backyard, and now he's getting married." She was standing right next to Harry and rummaging through a cabinet above her. "I don't like Fleur. I really don't like Fleur, but if she can make him happy then he deserves her. McGonagall was right. Dumbledore would be glad that there was a little more love in the world."
Harry turned away. She was so unselfish, unlike him. She was willing to ignore her feelings about Fleur just so Bill could be happy, but he was selfish in every meaning of the word. Every other second he was willing to risk her safety in attempts to be together with her again. He was completely disgusted with himself.
Ginny had noticed his change in demeanor. She laid a hand on his. "Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mention him. I…I didn't know how sensitive you were about it." He glanced at her and she had a sincere apologetic look on her face. Great, the last thing he needed now was guilt.
Her hand was warm against his and it reminded him of easier times when they could interlock their fingers without worry. Well, unless Ron was around. Before he could stop himself he had turned her palm over and was rubbing his thumbs over the lines. She seemed shocked at first and Harry pulled his eyes up from her hand to hers. She smiled and he melted. "I know Harry," was all she said and Harry understood. It was nice to know that he wasn't holding on to something that wasn't there. He realized how close her face was and he jumped away.
"I can't. I can't. I've got to keep you safe." He was muttering to himself over and over again in attempt to keep himself distracted.
"Harry, please, it's not your responsibility to keep me safe. You deserve to have this. We both have earned the right to have this." She pulled him by his hand towards her and looked up into his eyes her gaze unwavering. "You know damn well that you can't keep this up. I…I don't even know if I can."
He ran his hand through his hair and bit his lip nervously. It sickened him that he was actually considering her. He forced himself to picture Voldemort's face on her body. "Ginny, he's already hurt you once; you know how powerful he is. I couldn't live with myself if he managed to do it again."
She wiped tears away angrily and clenched her teeth. She was nearly shouting. "Stop being so damn noble. I…I don't even care about Tom anymore. He doesn't scare me because I know that he's so pathetic and low that he can't even love. Even you have the heart to do that Harry. If you can have a heart after what's happened to you then you deserve to enjoy it." She stepped back as Harry heard her words echo in Dumbledore's voice. Maybe her love could make him stronger. He looked up, his eyes glassed over with unshed tears. It was all so much.
She was now about two feet away. "Kiss me." His jaw dropped. "If you care about me as much as you say you do then you'll kiss me. Do what you did the first time. Just forget about everyone and everything else and kiss me."
"Ginny are you just doing this to torture me?" He whispered and wrung his hands. He had the feeling he couldn't last much longer.
She was desperate. She searched for something that would knock some sense into him. "It…It could be a secret. That's it. We won't tell anyone. We could date in secret, and everyone else would think that we were broken up. It's perfect…it's safe, and I know we could pull it off." He almost smiled. Anything's possible if you have enough guts. He thought as quickly as he could. If they were together while he looked for the horocruxes it would give him more faith and power than if he was looking on his own. And as long as she was safe there was nothing wrong with it right? And Dumbledore wouldn't want Voldemort to come between Ginny and himself. He would want him to experience love while he was still young.
"Kiss me." She said again sternly.
This time he gave into his impulses he pressed his lips against hers gently at first so he would remember it if they were ever forced apart. If we are ever forced apart. And in an instant his kisses turned hungry, passionate and most of all desperate. He pushed her against the wall behind her and she didn't protest. He was completely consumed in her. His hands knew where to go as they pulled away from her hips to entwine their fingers above her head. He loved the feeling of her body smashed against his. He realized how little room she had and he went to give her some air space by pulling her away from the wall.
"Don't even think about it Potter." She grabbed his collar and pulled him against her closer than even before. Her mouth opened and he made the kiss even deeper. Her hands went through his hair and Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and used his hands on the curve of her back to life her up so his neck wasn't bent so far downwards. Her shirt lifted up less than half an inch against his arms and the contact of skin sent his head spinning. He smiled against her lips.
They heard a noise outside the door, and Ginny had a much quicker reaction than him. She pushed him away, reached out to flatten his hair and whispered for him to look in the bottom cupboards. He agreed and she quickly got up on the counter and rummaged through the upper cabinets all the while covering her flushed face and swollen lips. Ron and Tonks walked in a second later.
"Hey, you two. Mum wants to know when the food's coming. Well at least that's what I thought she said."
"What's takin' so long anyway?" Tonks asked groggily.
"I knew we shouldn't have left them alone together. You've been snogging haven't you?" Ron asked worriedly.
Ginny never moved from her spot on the counter. "Ron, you know Harry and I aren't like that anymore." Harry smiled. She was such a good liar. "And you two should be the ones worried about being caught snogging. Cough…Lupin...Cough…Hermione…" She pretended to drop something and jumped to the floor. They didn't see her face but as she went down he saw her glance at the pair to see their reactions. Both were red and gaping like fish. Ginny smiled at Harry as they both left with a slam of the door.
He pulled her up and marveled at her. "You were amazing."
She made a movement for him to come closer,checked for eavesdroppers,and in a voice that one would use if they had especially juicy gossip said "See secrets can be just as fun." With that she looked around, laughing, and pulled him up the stairs.