Disclaimer: It all belongs to J.K Rowling.
A/N: This is my first Harry Potter piece, so give me a bit of a break please. There will be a companion piece, entitled I'm Still Waiting, but this story is a one-shot deal. Please leave me some feedback. I love it!
Dedication: This one's for Orlandofan13, who reviews FTBOD, because I love her name and I love that she enjoys my writing!
Don't Wait Up
By: Moonlit Tears
It was suppertime when the announcement came. Ginny was sitting next to her beloved boyfriend of two years, Harry Potter. Across from the pair were Ginny's brother Ron, and his girlfriend Hermione. That supper was a particularly solemn one, for the students had received news the day before about an attack on London.
"Are you going to go looking for him, Harry?" Ron was asking anxiously, while helping himself to a large helping of mashed potatoes.
Ginny felt Harry tighten beside her. "I'd like to, Ron, but I reckon that he'll come and find me first."
She heard Hermione let out a whimper of distress. "As long as you don't do anything too stupid, Harry.. You have to remember to be safe." Ginny looked up then, and saw Harry grin down at her crookedly.
"Being stupid is what I do best."
A warning bell interrupted their dinners. The students dropped their knives and forks simultaneously, looking up at the Head Table and awaiting instruction. At the table was Professor McGonagall, looking quite distressed.
"Everyone to Gryffindor Tower immediately. Do not tarry and do not wait for anyone else. The staff will see to it that every student is accounted for." She looked at them all most severely.
Just then, a jet of red light flew through the hall and hit Professor Sprout, who had been standing next to McGonagall, square in the chest. She fell to the ground with a small oomph.
There was instant chaos. The entire student body leaped to their feet and began to run in all directions. Most appeared to be headed for Gryffindor Tower. Ginny was swept off of her feet by Harry.
"Wands out!" she heard McGonagall cry out over the noise, before she was carried out of the Hall in its entirety.
Ginny ran through the floors with everyone else, using every secret passage she knew. She was barely aware of Hermione running at her back. Ginny managed to cast a shielding charm over herself and Hermione while they ran. She briefly paused to wonder where Harry and Ron were, but could not think on the matter for too long.
She bounded up the overflowing stairs, casting charms at the Death Eaters who had begun to swarm at the bottom. Ginny saw a few students fall victim to the Death Eaters' curses, but could not stop to help. If she had, she would have been trampled.
Ginny ran with Hermione all the way to Gryffindor Tower. Only then did she pause to look for Harry.
Through the crowd of students surging in through the doors of Gryffindor Tower, Ginny struggled to find Harry. She heard his voice shouting her name above all the noise, but she could not find him.
Suddenly, a strong pair of arms dragged her into a small doorway near the portrait hole. She recognized the grasp as Harry's, and did not cry out in fear. Instead, she hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go.
Harry squeezed back with all of his considerable strength. Ginny buried her head in his chest, willing all of the angst and danger to go away, so that she could be here, in Harry's arms forever. But eventually he gently pushed her away.
"Gin, look at me," Harry said seriously, placing his thumb under her chin and tilting it so that her chocolate eyes met his emerald ones. "Don't cry. You have to be strong for all of the others. They can't think that you are weak."
Ginny breathed raggedly. "I don't give a damn what they think, Harry Potter. I am going to cry because the man I love is going off to fight, and he might never come back to me."
Something in Harry's gaze softened. "You love me?"
Ginny made a small noise, and buried herself against his chest again. "Of course I love you, Harry, you great prat! I've loved you since the day I was born, though I did not know it then. I'm in love with everything about you. I love how you furrow your brow when you're thinking, and how you always chew off the tips of your quills. I love watching you play Quidditch, and I love watching your face light up when I've done something to make you proud. I love each and every one of your annoying habits. I love you, Harry Potter, more than you could ever know." She hiccupped and sighed. "This has turned into one of those farewell speeches from a lover to her beau."
He laughed and kissed her, sweetly at first, but then more passionately. All of the pain and anguish they were feeling was poured into that kiss. They kissed as parting lovers did, when no one knew when they would see the other again. They kissed with the urgency of those who knew that the world as they knew it was ending.
Ginny broke apart first, sobbing quietly. Harry shook her firmly. "Tears are only for me to see, Ginny. Dry them up and go calm our friends. They will need you soon enough. Go to them, Gin. Do not worry about me."
"Will I ever see you again?" she asked fearfully, clutching to him, determined not to let go if she did not receive an answer.
Sadness flickered in Harry's green eyes but he smiled anyways. "Of course you will, Gin. In this life or the next." He kissed her quickly then walked out into the now quite main hall. He opened the portrait hole, and pulled out his wand. Ginny walked after him, and stood in the portrait hole, watching him walk out and around the bends with determination. He turned back one last time, and smiled meekly.
"Don't wait up for me, Gin." And with that he was gone.