The creature in his chest roaring in triumph, he grinned down at Ginny and gestured wordlessly out of the portrait hole. A long walk in the grounds seemed indicated, during which- if they had time- they might discuss the match.
Harry stood outside the portrait hole staring into the brown eyes of Ginny Weasley; his best mate's sister, and the girl he's been dreaming of for months. A thousand thoughts were racing through his mind.
"Ginny, I-"
"Please don't tell me you're sorry," she said, gently shaking her head back and forth, her eyes never leaving Harry's.
A smile crept across Harry's face as he extended his hand toward Ginny's. "I'm not sorry," he answered, watching Ginny take a step closer and reaching for his hand. "It's the best decision I've ever made."
Harry marvelled, watching Ginny's hand link up with his: how warm she was, how perfect their hands fit together, how wonderful it was to join hands with a wonderful girl.
"But Harry, wh-"
"When did this happen?" Harry proposed, asking the question for her, leading her down the corridor to the stairs. He smiled inside each time their locked hands bumped against the outside of her thighs as they walked.
"Yes! Not that I'm not really pleased," Ginny answered, blushing crimson. "I'm just surprised."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and coloured too. "It's been happening for a while now, it started when I came to stay at your house this past summer. We started spending more time together, and I found myself enjoying that more than ever. I really had no clue until Ron and I saw you that night with Dean." Harry's mind reverted back to that night, back to the feelings and emotions churning in his chest. An angry monster growling, snarling, and aching to claw its way out of his chest and maul Dean, to teach him a lesson. "I was so jealous."
Ginny nodded. "I know; you snogged Cho, remember?"
Truthfully Harry hadn't thought of that for months now, she was obsolete. Ginny was all he thought about. "Yeah, but it didn't feel the same."
"What didn't?" Ginny asked, suddenly halting and turning to face Harry.
The corridor was silent without the sound of their footfalls echoing against the stone walls.
"The kiss," he answered nervously. "It was better. Ours was, I mean, yours and mine."
"It was?" Ginny asked, pleasantly surprised by Harry's confession.
He nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, it was. I've never felt like that in my whole entire life."
Ginny stepped closer and placed her hand in the centre of Harry's chest. "Me either," she admitted, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She leaned in close to Harry, close enough to see every fine detail of his face, the variegation in his vivid green eyes, the creases of his lips. Harry swallowed, let go of Ginny's hand, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Ginny sunk her fingers into the fabric of Harry's shirt and stood up on tiptoe to kiss him.
Harry couldn't be sure, but he thought the torches on the wall dimmed and flickered as Ginny's warm lips were pressed to his. It was the most powerful connection he had ever shared with another human being. He had a deep and abiding fraternal love for Ron and Hermione; they were the first people he learned to trust, to care for and to be cared for in return, but somehow this feeling was different. This was Ginny. It was like a thunderbolt, something strong and warm, soft yet solid. She was comforting and compassionate, intense and understanding. She was unlike anything he had ever known, and Harry knew as Ginny's lips left his that no one would ever make him feel this way again.
"Wow," Ginny whispered breathlessly, still clutching Harry's shirt. "That was-" Ginny gestured wildly, unable to articulate herself.
"Amazing?" Harry asked hopefully.
Ginny blushed and nodded. "Very. I've waited a long time for this."
A rude, wheezy voice broke their private moment. "Waited a long time for what?" Argus Filch and his old cat, Mrs. Filch lumbered around the corner. "What are you up to, Potter?"
"Nothing!" Harry snapped as he and Ginny broke apart. "I don't have anything, I'm not out of bounds, and there's hours till curfew."
Filch squinted and curled his lip back. "I know you, Potter. You're trouble. And how do I know you and Weasley here aren't off to make an order for supplies from that shop owned by those nasty twins?"
Ginny snorted. "We don't have anything! No paper, no quills, no money!" She answered defensively, extending her arms and patting her body.
Filch sneered and continued to look at Harry and Ginny sceptically. "I've got my eyes on you, Potter. I know you already had one detention today, maybe we can make it two."
The old Squib limped off down the corridor with his faithful, mangy cat loping off behind him.
"Filch is going mad," Ginny stated, shaking her head warily. "But Fred and George will be glad to know he's still worried about their lingering presence at Hogwarts." Harry smiled and took Ginny's hand once again. "But I don't want to talk about my brothers."
"Me either, especially Ron. Did you see his face back there in the Common Room? He's half the reason I didn't act on my feelings sooner," said Harry when he and Ginny resumed their stroll down the staircase.
Ginny smiled. "I'm not scared of Ron, we both know what he wants. He's just too scared to do anything about it."
Harry knew Ginny was speaking of Hermione.
"So what was the other half of a reason?" she inquired.
"What, oh, well Dean." Harry admitted honestly, still concerned about Ron's reaction to snogging Ginny in the Common Room.
"Really? Aside from being the occasional git, he's really quite harmless."
"I wasn't worried," Harry answered, "I just didn't want to make things difficult for either of you. You seemed, well, happy for a while. And even though I was thinking about you all the time, I wasn't about to ruin things for anyone else."
"You were?" Ginny asked, her voice brimming with cautious hope. "Thinking about me, I mean."
They were standing in front of the Great Hall now, after descending the seven Floors above them. Harry watched a group of Hufflepuffs pass them, noting their presence with interest. When they disappeared toward the kitchens, Harry answered. "All the time."
Ginny was blushing. "I had no idea."
Harry shook his head. "I didn't know what to do, or what to say. Even now in the Common Room, I didn't think about it. Kissing you just seemed like the right thing to do, I couldn't help it."
Ginny couldn't keep the smile off her face; she had waited a lifetime for this confession. It had played out in her dreams for years. She pressed her palm to Harry's cheek and met his vivid green eyes with her own warm brown ones. "It was perfect, everything about it. I couldn't wait to see you; I was just thinking I would go wait outside the Dungeons when you walked in through the portrait hole. Do you want to walk outside? It's nice today."
Harry closed his eyes briefly when Ginny removed her hand from his face. "Yeah, let's go walk up to the Pitch. I want to hear all about your Quidditch victory today."
The two of them walked; hand in hand back up to the Quidditch Pitch. In reflection, Harry contemplated that the Pitch was where he first noticed Ginny could hold her own. She was a great player, an asset, and she could just about out manoeuvre anyone on a broomstick.
On the long walk, Ginny recounted the match to Harry, describing with great excitement and detail each major play performed by both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Harry loved listening to Ginny's animated voice and watch her hands gesticulate each play. Her eyes were wide, and she talked very fast, using words like: whoosh, zoom, and swish, and Harry found her fascinating.
"I knew you would win; I just knew it." Harry said proudly when they took seats in the lowest row of the seats in the stadium.
"Did you, really?" Ginny asked in surprise, as she turned to face Harry.
"No doubt in my mind. You could outplay Cho with your eyes closed and your hands tied behind your back."
"But how would I catch the Snitch, silly?" Ginny teased, playfully elbowing Harry's side.
"Hey, don't laugh. The first match I ever played, I caught the Snitch in my mouth." Harry said sentimentally.
"I read about that in Quidditch Through the Ages, I would have loved to see it."
"I would have loved to see you play today," he countered, squeezing Ginny's hand.
The redhead smiled and nudged Harry, giving his hand a squeeze too. "I'm nothing special. I would have enjoyed the game, and the victory, even better if my Captain played today too. I'm really sorry about your detention today. Was Snape positively smug and awful?"
Harry's heart was racing. My Captain. She was so sweet he thought he could kiss her a thousand times and never sap her of sugar. Focussing his thoughts and thinking back, Snape could have been a lot worse this afternoon. "Actually," Harry contemplated, "he wasn't that bad today. I just had to copy some old files about Detentions. I saw a fair few from my Dad and Sirius."
"I bet," Ginny replied sympathetically, pulling Harry's hands onto her lap, and covering them with her own. She traced the words 'I will not lie' that were still etched into the back of Harry's hand.
"It was the longest detention of my life though, and that's saying something considering I had two with Umbridge. I think he jinxed the clock. I would have given anything to be here today."
The breeze blew Ginny's red hair into tangles, Harry watched with admiration as she gathered it all in her hands and tucked the length of it into the back of her Quidditch jumper. She looped one arm through Harry's and leaned her head against Harry's shoulder.
"Gin, are you cold?" Harry asked, resting his cheek against the top of Ginny's head. "Do you want to go back inside?"
Ginny closed her eyes and buried her face deeper into Harry's shoulder and inhaled deeply. "Mm-mmm, no, I'm perfect, Harry. Let's stay here a little longer, OK?"
Harry couldn't keep from smiling, and he too closed his eyes, breathing deeply, inhaling the sweet scent that he would forever know as Ginny. "I'd love to stay here with you."
She sighed, and Harry could hear the smile in her voice. "You mean it?"
Harry lifted his hand and tilted Ginny's chin up, their eyes met and locked firmly upon one another. "I swear," Harry whispered, and he leaned down to kiss her.
Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny, and caught a glimpse of his watch; he couldn't believe he and Ginny had been alone for hours, talking and laughing...and kissing. With Cho, he found he ran out of things to talk about too quickly, and it was uncomfortable. But Ginny- she was just fascinating, and it was exciting to discover things about the girl he thought he knew. He smiled as he tightened his hold on her, knowing that soon they would have to return to the Castle, otherwise they will miss dinner completely, but he didn't want to share her just yet.
The beast in his chest purred with contentment as he kissed Ginny's hair, and then rested his head on hers. For once The Boy Who Lived didn't have a care in the world.
Written for Written with a Quill, Sealed with a Kiss Missing Moment challenge at hgforever