"Look Ginny for the umpteenth time I am not interested so just do us both a favour and fuck off already!" Harry hissed at her, his teeth clenched, his strong unshaven jaw set and his eyes flashing in anger.
Ginny looked both shocked and surprised by Harry's cold attitude towards her. Yes they had been having some problems lately but she couldn't see why he had to be so rude to her. She let go of his tie, which she had been clutching, and frowned deeply at him, tears threatening to surface.
"But Harry I thought you loved me and that you wanted us to be together forever." she pleaded fluttering her eyelashes at him.
He closed his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath before answering her.
"Yes Ginny I do love you, but I love you, like a sister, I have told you this more than once, several times in fact. When are you going to accept that fact and stop throwing yourself at me? Your behaviour is very unbecoming, you realise."
"But..." Ginny began but he cut her off.
"I will say this one more time and then I am going to turn around and walk away, and if you have any self respect at all you will not follow me. I have no intention of sleeping with you ever again. I only slept with you that one time because you were distraught over failing all of your NEWTS and I somehow managed to blame myself for it, all I was trying to do was make you feel better. It was a mistake, one that I will not be making a second time." He was getting really annoyed now he had not wanted to be so blunt with her but she had brought this on herself with her incessant flirting and carrying on like a lovesick teenager. He was well and truly sick of it, enough was enough! "Don't bother trying to get your brother's to gang up on me over this either, because they agree with me. You need to grow up and move on Ginny, it's for your own good."
Her tears were flowing freely now, it was as if he had reached into her chest and ripped her heart out before stomping on it a few times. She couldn't breathe or form words so she just stood there and watched him walk away.
Harry didn't look back as he headed straight for the nearest tray of floating drinks and took a glass of fire whiskey in each hand before continuing on until he found what he thought was a nice quite corner in the shadows. Downing both drinks in quick succession; he took a deep breath and tried to calm his temper.
"Think she got the message this time then?" whispered a female voice to his left making Harry jump and drop one of his glasses. The voice giggled.
"I certainly fucking hope so." He replied ignoring the dropped glass.
"Care for a refill? I probably shouldn't drink the whole bottle myself, not ladylike or some such drivel,"
Harry turned to look at his companion and found himself sitting next to Lavender Brown. He was not surprised to see her frowning scornfully at the other people in the room. "Sure, I might as well, it's not like I am going to be dancing or anything else that requires me to be sober."
Once she had poured a large measure of amber liquid into his glass she lifted the bottle in a toast and exclaimed "cheers" before taking a long swig. They sat in companionable silence for several minutes sipping there drinks and watching the antics of the party goers around them.
"It's a shame really" Lavender said eventually.
"What is?" Harry asked her quizzically.
"That you don't feel like dancing, here was me hoping I could take advantage of your broken heart and have my way with you right in the middle of the dance floor in front of Merlin and everybody" she said with an all too serious tone to her voice.
Harry choked on his drink and coughed" I beg your pardon, what?"
She laughed outright at his obvious discomfort. "I said, I was hoping to take advantage of your broken heart and it's a shame because I know I would never have a chance in hell anyway. You shouldn't act so surprised Harry, it's not like I don't know what people say about me 'that Lavender is such a tart, thinks she can have anyone she wants whenever she wants' load of bullshit anyway, but that doesn't stop them saying it." She was scowling again by the time she had finished talking.
"I have no idea what you are on about. Who calls you a tart? As far I recall the only guy you even dated at Hogwarts was Ron and that hardly classifies you as a tart, unless of course, you have had a string of male companions since leaving school, what a little over a year ago? Was it?" he crinkled his brow as he tried to do the math. Harry had not returned to Hogwarts to complete his education, he felt no need since he already had an offer to join the Auror program, neither had, Ron but they were the only Gryffindor's that hadn't. How many men could she have been with, in that time?
"No, that's about it. Greyback kind of put a dampener on my love life when he tore me apart during the Battle of Hogwarts, but that doesn't stop the gossip. Anyway, never mind that it hardly matters so long as they don't have to look at me for too long they normally leave me alone."
"Did you want to dance? Really give the rumour mill something to cream themselves over."He was deathly serious. He hadn't heard any rumours about Lavender and her supposed overly active love life, but he knew all too well about the staring and was all for making a scene, if only to get Ginny off his back for a while.
"You don't have to Harry I know how much you hate dancing, and I wouldn't want to cause people to stare at you because of my hideous scars or anything," She looked very bashful all of a sudden.
Harry laughed heartily at Lavender's comment" Umm Lavender, you do realise you're talking to the original scar head right? Do you really think I could care less about your scars or what these morons say about them? Come on, up you get, I can't think of anything I would rather do right now than dance with you."
Harry had jumped to his feet and was rather impressed to note he only stumbled a little rather than falling flat on his face. Lavender still didn't look convinced; she was eyeing him sceptically, as if any moment now he was going to reveal the punch line of some twisted joke.
"Are you sure about this Harry? I am quite happy to just be sitting here in the dark watching," she looked positively torn, as if stepping out into the light was going to cause her physical pain.
"Of course I'm bloody well sure. I don't make offers I don't intend to follow through with," He grabbed on to both her wrists and pulled her to her feet.
She was tiny, the top of her head barely reached Harry's shoulder and he was by no means a tall man. As she came out of the shadows he took a moment to look at her, he had never paid her much mind at school, even when she was dating Ron.
She wore her long honey blonde hair loose with some kind of intricate braid criss crossing from ear to ear holding a small section away from her large brown eyes. Her features, burdened with scars on one side, were still beautiful none the less. ' Yes' Harry thought to himself 'she is beautiful, I just never noticed before.' He smiled and began to sway them gently from side to side to the music. She had positioned herself so that her slipper clad feet rested on Harry dress shoes, apparently not trusting her balance without his support, her small hands lay softly on his shoulders.
Lavender laid her head on Harry chest, trying to hide her face from view. Harry shook his head before he gently placed his hand under her chin and made her look up at him.
"Come on, I'll have none of that, you have nothing to be ashamed of Lavender and anyway this Dance is all about showing , them-" he gestured to the room at large "-that neither of us care what they think of us, remember." He smiled what he hoped was his most winning grin at her, causing her lips to twitch momentarily.
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid"
Harry just nodded and tightened his hold on her waist before spinning them around in a clumsy circle, nearly losing his balance once again. This made Lavender giggle again as she grabbed hold of his neck with both hands to keep from falling over herself. She let out a gasp when her fingers made contact with his hair.
"Ooo It's so soft" she murmured.
Harry laughed, his grin widening "Yeah I get that a lot, it only looks like it would feel like a toilet brush."
"I always wondered about it, kind of a silly thing to wonder I know, but there you have it." She sighed and relaxed into his arms letting her fingers play idly with Harry's hair while they swayed.
"Don't look now but Ron looks like he is about to faint and Ginny looks ready to explode any second, let's give 'em something to really talk about shall we?"
He didn't wait for an answer; he bent down, lifted her chin and kissed her soundly on the lips. She responded almost instantly by tilting her head slightly and parting her lips. Harry didn't know why but kissing Lavender felt like nothing he had ever experienced in this life before. He thought kissing her may even rival flying , it felt so good. He forgot all about why he had initiated it in the first place and lost himself in the moment. Their tongues mingled, her arms tightened around his neck, as did his around her waist, pulling her closer until their bodies as close together as two fully clothed bodies could be.
As the moments passed and the music continued to play, magical snow fell softly catching on their robes and in their hair, the muggleborns amongst them gaping in shock, some of them were reminded of a snow globe the couple frozen in time. Harry and Lavender continued to kiss, their desire for each other now unmistakable. When the need for air became a necessity they broke apart slowly recovering their breath.
"So," Harry began hoarsely his voice full of desire "Did you want to maybe…get out of here for a bit?"
Lavender managed an affirmative nod, stepping down off Harry's feet, and taking his hand before dragging him quickly from the room. So caught up in their quest for privacy they did not noticed the reactions of several of the other partygoers. They reached the entranced hall and starting running towards the marble staircase, halfway up they ran into Neville who was whistling happily to himself. Harry was hit with a bit of inspiration. He stopped abruptly and almost knocked Lavender off her feet but his seeker reflexes caught her just in time.
"Hey Harry, Lavender," Neville's eyebrows shot up but he didn't acknowledge his surprise at seeing the pair together "Lovely evening isn't it? I was just on my way back to the great hall. I was checking on Luna you see. Where are you two off to in such a hurry? Never mind, forget I asked."
"Yes it is a lovely evening. Say, you wouldn't happen to know the password to Gryffindor tower by any chance?" Harry asked as casually as possible, hoping to take the Herbology Professor by surprise.
"Course I do its 'Hinkypunk'. Why?" Harry gave Neville a 'Do you really need to ask?' look before winking and saying "thanks Nev see you later, yeah?" then he took off again dragging Lavender gently behind him. Due to Harry's extensive knowledge of short cuts they arrived quickly at the portrait of the Fat lady, she seemed overjoyed to see Harry again and started gushing. He cut her off by loudly announcing the password; she huffed a bit and then swung open to let them inside the tower.
Harry took a moment to recapture his breath and took in the familiar surroundings. He let out a contented sigh before looking down at Lavender and noticing she was smiling at the room too. Just looking at her made all of his blood rush to his groin and he felt a definite tightening of his trousers; she really was stunning.
He hadn't taken the time to really look past her face and hair before, but now he couldn't take his eyes off her. She was wearing a shimmering cape of some sort that was joined at her throat with an amethyst clasp shaped like a dragonfly, which glittered in the bright candlelight of the common room. The cape was a much richer purple colour than the silky mauve robe she wore beneath it, which appeared to be made up of thousands of tiny sparkling threads similar to a spider's web. His fingers itched to touch the fabric so he did just that. The simple motion of touching her robes set sparks flying.
One minute they were just standing side by side, and the next Harry had removed the clasp on Lavender's robe, causing the garment to shimmer to the floor. Her tiny hands pulled eagerly at his tie, which she threw aimlessly over her shoulder as their kisses became almost desperate. Harry pulled out of the kiss just enough to whisper hoarsely in her ear, "So your place or mine?" as he tilted his head towards the dormitory stairs.
Lavender giggled as only Lavender can, and her breath tickled Harry's exposed neck sending a volt of pleasure up this spine.
"Umm, mine? If we can that is."
"According to Hermione and Hogwarts, a History the staircases, Oh who the hell cares? I'm game if you are!" He grabbed her hand and ran towards the stairs, closing his eyes for a second waiting to be thrown back down, he wasn't and they found the seventh year girls dorm room opened. Harry trailed soft kisses down her neck, not pausing when she stiffened slightly when his lips made contact with roughen skin. He didn't care about the scars he had told her that and at this point they certainly weren't going to deter him. She relaxed visibly when he kissed the swell of her now exposed bust and she moaned softly, this encouraged Harry so much so that he gripped her waist firmly and walked them backwards toward the nearest bed.
"Not that one!" she breathed a little loudly in the quiet space "That was Hermione's, mines over by the window."
Harry said nothing, but he did change their course. They collapsed on the bed a tangle of legs and arms kissing hungrily and pulling at clothes, their need for each other now at its peak. Harry continued to trail kisses down Lavender's body while she ached her back and ran her nails up he ran his hand up her naked thigh until his fingers brushed against her moist core. She gasped at the intimate contact and responded by gripping him with both hands, causing Harry to take a sharp breath.
"I need you now Harry, please."
He simply nodded and positioned himself above her letting Lavender's hands guide him. He dipped his head and kissed her, then looked her straight in the eye and whispered "You really are beautiful," before plunging deep inside her with one deep thrust of his hips. Her breath caught in her throat, they fell perfectly still for a long moment before she lifted her hips from the bed and arched into him. That one action almost took Harry over the edge but he bit back the sensation and began to move with a steady rhythm that Lavender matched thrust for thrust. They reached the edge of ecstasy quickly, both crying out as they came together in a rush of overwhelming need and desire. Harry covered her face with soft kisses, silently thanking her for what was possibly the best sex of his life.
Lavender lay content in Harry's arms, her head rested on his shoulder tracing an oval shaped scar on his chest.
"What caused this one?" she asked timidly.
"A cursed locket, and the long one across my rib cage is from some Death Eater who's name escapes me right now, the ones on my wrist are a gift from Lucius Malfoy, and the one on my forearm is from Old Tom himself. " Harry rattled off causing Lavender to cringe and her eyes to widen in shock, "I told you that scars don't mean anything to me I have so many now I can't even remember how or when I got them, mostly I just try to ignore them and hope that anyone that actually matter's to me can too."
"I wish I could be brave like you Harry. Some days I can forget about mine unless I accidently catch my reflection in a shop window or somebody points and makes a comment. The worst times are when people give me that look of sympathy before they cross the street to avoid me, you know."
Harry knew exactly how she felt, even if he had never really been avoided in the wizarding world, the Dursley's had certainly taught him what it felt like to be an outcast. He squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head.
"You have to try and ignore them and not let it get to you, don't give me that look, I know it is easier said than done but I have faith that you can overcome this. You are the one and only Lavender Brown and what Lavender wants is what Lavender gets or so a little birdie told me anyway." He winked mischievously at her; she punched him lightly in the arm and grinned. Harry was beginning to like that smile and her giggling much more than he ever dreamed possible.
"We should probably get back soon Harry before somebody misses you and comes looking."
"Yes I guess you're right, do you think maybe we could, you know, maybe get together again sometime? We could have dinner or go into muggle London to see a film. Somewhere out of the public's eye if you like," He hadn't stuttered his badly in front of a girl since fourth year but she smiled up at him and nodded.
"I would like that a lot thanks Harry for everything."
"It was my pleasure," he whispered as he lent down and kiss the top of her head softly.
The pair remained in bed for perhaps an hour, enjoying the quiet dorm room sharing the occasional story about their mutual happy memories at school until Lavender suggested they rejoin the party.
"We best be getting back now Harry, before someone misses you and sends a search party. We can't have people worried that the queen of tart's has kidnapped and corrupted their chosen one after all." She sat up and dragged the bed sheet with her as she got up from the bed and started gathering her clothes together.
"I don't care what they say, as you said yourself it's all bullshit anyway but you are probably right."
After redressing and making sure they had not left anything behind, they headed back towards the great hall hand in hand smiling happily.
