I woke up warm and feeling indescribably whole. I was in his arms and surrounded by his scent. My head rested on his solid chest, and when I lifted my head, I realized he was still sleeping. I took the opportunity to look at his face,
I had always known that Harry was beautiful. He wasn't ruggedly handsome, but beautiful. The slope of his nose, the angle of his cheekbones, the shadow his eyelashes created on them, the pout of his lips, they all came together in beauty.
I smiled, remembering how he'd hated it when I mentioned it last night.
"Men are supposed to be handsome. You're the beautiful one," he'd said, before capturing my lips.
Glancing at the clock, I realized it was later than I'd thought it to be. Sighing, I nudged him.
"Harry, wake up," I said, shaking his shoulder.
I watched as he opened his brilliantly green eyes, still clouded by sleep.
A lazy smile stretched across his face as he leaned down and kissed me.
"Morning," he mumbled against my lips.
I giggled and pushed him away.
"Morning breath!" I laughed as I sat up.
"So?" he asked a she pulled me towards him, and soon all my thought of morning breath were gone.
I laughed when we pulled apart.
"Didn't you get enough of that last night?" I asked.
"I can never get enough of you Ginny. You're like my drug," he teased.
"You know, it's not very gentlemanly to compare a girl to crack the morning after," I giggled
"Please Ginny, you're not crack. You're more like pure cocaine, the good stuff," he laughed
I slapped his arm as I got up.
"Don't go babe. I was just joking," he said as he stopped laughing.
"I know. I need to go home," I said, looking pointedly at the clock.
`"Oh," he said, all traces of laughter gone.
I pulled on my bra, my panties following as I searched for my pants.
"Are you busy tonight?" he asked form the bed as I searched for my clothing.
"I don't know. It depends. Why? I thought you had to leave tonight for London." I replied as I pulled my pants on.
"No, I'm staying for a few more days before I go home,"
"Maybe, if I'm free we can have dinner," I suggested as I buttoned up my blouse.
"Repeat of last night?" he grinned.
"Yeah," I said, turning to face him.
I took him in, his tousled black hair, his bright green eyes.
"Tonight then, hopefully?" I asked
"Yeah."
I turned to leave.
"Ginny!" he called out as I reached the door. "You forgot it."
I cursed my memory and walked back in the room, a sheepish smile on my face.
When I got to him, he reached into the bedside drawer and handed me my wedding ring from where I had put it the night before.
"Thanks," I muttered, slipping it onto my finger.
"Love you," he said, leaning towards me for a kiss.
"Love you too," I said once we pulled apart.
With a final smile, I left the hotel room and made my way to the lobby.
0o0o0o0o
When I got home, I wasn't surprised to see that Dean wasn't home. I had known he was going to be at the office overnight when I went over to Harry's hotel room last night.
I unlocked the door and made my way to our bedroom before taking off my clothes and dropping them in the hamper. I made my way to the bathroom and filled the tub, pouring in bubbles for good measure. Once it was filled, I sunk in, sighing at the feel of the almost scalding water against my skin.
This was pretty much a ritual. Every morning after spending the night with Harry whenever he came to town, I'd soak in a bath. I did it to wash away the smell of him, to make me forget the way his hands felt on my skin, to wash away the guilt I was sure coated every pore of my skin, the kisses he had pressed against them.
I closed my eyes, my mind blissfully blank as I inhaled the steamy strawberry scent of my bath.
When I opened them, Dean was standing in the doorway, leaning with his arms crossed, and easy smile on his lips.
"This makes me wish I'd come home last night," he said, his eyes planted firmly on my chest that was mostly obscured by the bubbles.
"Tired?" I asked.
"Not too tired to join you," he said, unbuttoning his shirt.
Inwardly I panicked. I wasn't done, Harry was still on me, his kisses were still on my neck, my collarbone, his hands were still gripping my waist, and I hadn't washed him off yet.
"Not now Dean," I said, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Awww, Gin, don't be like that," he whined as he shrugged off his shirt.
"I'm serious."
"Fine," he huffed, walking out of the bathroom, his shirt still lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.
My guilt increased. He was my husband; he should be able to want to join me in the bath without me worrying about traces of my lover lingering on my skin. Picking up my loofah, I scrubbed at my skin, and a quarter of an hour later, most of the guilt washed down the drain.
When I padded downstairs, barefoot and in sweats, Dean was in the kitchen, waiting for the coffee machine to finish.
I wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his shoulder blades.
"Sorry," I whispered.
"Don't be," he said, turning around in my arms so he could hold me. He dipped his head, and I raised myself onto my tiptoes and our lips met.
Just like every kiss with Dean, it felt off. His arms weren't right, his lips weren't either. There was just something off. At first, when we had started dating, I hadn't known what it was. I had shrugged it off, convincing myself I saw imagining it but when my thing with Harry started, I known. Right then, after a night filled with perfection and Harry, it was even more evident. He wasn't the right man, the right man was currently in a hotel room across the city, and Dean was just my husband.
Soon I couldn't take the feeling, so I pulled away and looked into his eyes. I could see how tired he was, so it was easy to convince him to go to bed.
As soon as he started snoring, I made my way to the basement. I made my way to where I knew the photo albums where and I took out the one I looked at most.
I sat down right there, leaning against another box, the cold from the concrete floor slowly seeping through my sweats and I opened it.
The first picture was of Harry and I, beaming at the camera, the eyes of my fifteen year old self seemed lighter and freer. Every few seconds he'd turn his attention from the camera to me, his eyes shining with adoration.
I flipped the page, and there we were again, this time looking at each other, not even aware that we were being photographed. We were both laughing and I tried to remember what had been so funny.
The next photo was from the same time, but this time he was leaning towards me, and my eyes were closed and a smile was playing on my lips. Our lips had almost met, and the anticipation was written on both of our young faces. The photo looped back just before his lips met mine. I could almost taste his lips against mine, my tongue caressing his.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his cell number.
"Ginny?" his voice answered on the third ring.
"Hey," I breathed, cautious of being too loud and waking Dean.
"What's up? You just left a few hours ago, isn't Dean home?" he asked.
"He's sleeping. I'm looking through the album," I said, not needing to explain any further.
"Oh. Comparing me to my seventeen year old self? Tell me, did I get better with age, or are you still mourning the loss of my teenage libido?" he teased.
"Please, I can hardly handle your libido now, how did we manage back then, with all those hormones and my brothers breathing down our necks, it's a miracle we were never caught," I giggled.
"Do you remember the day by the orchard by the Burrow?" he asked.
"Of course I do. That was the first time you sad you loved me."
"I never stopped, you know that right? L"
"Of course," I said, hesitating before adding, "Me either. I honestly don't think I can."
"I've got to go. See you tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll be there."
"I love you Ginny."
"I love you Harry."
I hung up the phone, and sat in the basement with my eyes closed, dreaming of the past.
A/N: *peeks from behind computer*
Sorry for pretty much abandoning everything for months on end. I've been busy trying (and failing) to get into university for something I'm not completely sure I want to do.
This is very different from most of my other stuff, it's AU for one. I hope you like it, because I think it's loads better than any of the other stuff I have.
Fun fact: This was inspired by One Direction's song More Than This off of their debut album Up All Night.
I have a couple other AU one shots for HP and a couple other fandoms on my computer, so tell me if you want me to post them.
I'll end this rant with a plea for you to REVIEW :D