Note: This story is not in chronological order.
She falls asleep curled up against his side, thinking about how he feels against her, committing this moment to memory because she knows when she wakes up she won't be able to pretend that it's Harry she's curled against; Neville's face will stare down at her with sleepy eyes and embarrassed cheeks, but he won't apologize and neither will she.
That year, being at Hogwarts is harder than being wherever Harry is and doing whatever Harry is doing. At least, that's what Ginny thinks two months into her sixth year, when it's more than clear just what's in store for her and the others.
At first, she does what everyone else is doing; she keeps her head down and pretends not to notice the way things are. She ignores the way Gryffindors come back to the Tower shaky and bruised and terrified after detention with the Carrows.
The night before Bill and Fleur's wedding, Ginny sneaks into Harry's room and tip-toes to his bed, skipping the floorboards she knows to be creaky.
"Harry," she whispers with a gentle touch to his shoulder. He stirs, but doesn't wake. She sighs. "Harry," she says, a little louder and with a little less gentle touch. This time he wakes, alert and nearly poking her in the eye with his wand.
"Ginny." Her name is a breath on his lips and it sends an involuntary shiver through her. They stare at each other for a moment. His glasses are on the table next to his bed; she hands them to him. He takes them from her, sliding them on but never looking away from her.
"Come with me?" She asks and he nods, pushing the covers off and slipping out of bed.
He follows her out past her father's shed and into the orchard. It's dark and they both stumble a little, but they make it there all the same.
She turns to him. "I'm not an idiot."
He blinks at her. "I didn't think you were."
She sighs. "I know that. What I mean is I know that you're leaving." His face is slack with shock for a moment.
"How—"
"Please. The way you, Ron, and Hermione have been scrambling together when Mum's not looking and you think no one else is either. It's obvious you're planning something. I wasn't sure what until I caught Hermione repacking some of her things." He just looks at her, not saying anything. She bites her lip. "Harry." She takes a deep breath. "Harry, I know you said we shouldn't be together and I completely understand why, I do, I really do."
"Ginny," he starts to say but stops when she holds up her hand.
"You know that your birthday present was meant to be more than a kiss, right? I mean, you had to have known. I…I'd like to, well, I'd like to give you what I wanted to give you all along." She's been moving closer to him the whole time she's been speaking, his eyes getting wider with each step she takes and word she says. Her hands are on his chest and she has that familiar, exhilarating, blazing look on her face. His breathing is suddenly ragged and so is hers.
"Ginny," he says. She smiles at the way he says it, reverently, like she's some sort of goddess; it's empowering and sexy and a little overwhelming all at once.
"Harry, please," she says and stretches up on her toes to press her lips to his. He doesn't respond at first, so she presses firmer against him, her hands clenching his t-shirt. "Please." She pulls her lips from his and looks into his eyes. It's like he's fighting some sort of battle with himself. His hands come to rest on her hips and she isn't sure if he's about to push her away or crush her to him, but she's sure she doesn't want him to push her away so she kisses him again. Long fingers curl into a grip against her hips and pull her to him. She smiles into their kiss.
The rest of the night is a blur of lost clothes, hands on skin, sweat, and new intimacy.
One night, after she, Neville, and Luna have decided to revive the D.A., she's caught out of bounds by either Crabbe or Goyle (she's never really been sure which was which). He hauls her into an unused classroom (one she remembers pulling Harry into the year before). She expects the usual cruciatus curse, but it doesn't come. Instead he uses a spell she's never heard of to paralyze her, but not petrify her. Ginny Weasley had never truly been afraid of much, but there's an instinctual fear everyone gets when they realize they're the prey. He doesn't do much more than grope her a few times before Professor Snape sweeps in, stunning her assailant and then obliviating him. He stares at her for a long moment, looking resentful and wistful and a little pale, as though he's seen a ghost. And then he's cancelling the spell on her and sweeping from the room as abruptly as he came.
She gathers herself together as well as she can, utterly bewildered by what has just happened. Neville is waiting up for her when she reaches the Common Room. He can see that she's shaken by what's happened. She spends the night on the couch with Neville on the floor, holding her hand.
She wakes up to the sun shining on her face and Harry's arms wrapped around her, spooning her to him. She decides then and there that this is the way she wants to spend the rest of her life—waking up in Harry's arms. A summer breeze drifts lazily through the orchard, causing her to shiver as it tickles her bare skin. She feels Harry's arms tighten on her waist as he wakes up.
She knows the moment he's truly awake because he freezes and pulls away from her. Rolling over, she looks at him, at the guilt on his face, and cups his face in her hand. Looking into his eyes she says, "I wanted this too, Harry. I love you."
His hand holds hers to his cheek and he closes his eyes. With a deep breath, he opens his eyes again. "I know," he says. "I love you too." He pushes her hand from his cheek. "That's why I'm leaving you here."
He gathers his clothes and puts them on quickly, never looking at her, naked on top of her nightdress. She watches him walk away and knows, when he stops suddenly, he's resisting the urge to turn and look at her because he probably wouldn't be able to walk away from her. She waits until he's out of sight to get dressed.
She doesn't sleep with Neville, not in the way some people think. It starts that night she sleeps on the couch in the Common Room with him on the floor. It's easier for her to sleep with him near; he makes her feel safe, the same way sleeping in a bed with her brothers made her feel safe when she was little. She makes it clear that he knows this isn't romantic.
"I know," he says with a soft smile. "It's always been Harry for you."
Aside from Luna, he's the best friend she has, the best friend she can ask for.
When everyone finally gets to sleep, after Neville has destroyed the second-to-last horcrux and Harry the last, as well as defeating Voldemort, it's a shock for her to not be sleeping beside Neville. She can tell it is for him too when she finds him in the Common Room just past midnight. She smiles and nods to him, coming to sit by him on the couch. They're asleep in less than a minute.
It's an even bigger shock when Harry finds them cuddled together on the couch when he comes down the stairs, also unable to sleep in the dormitories. As if on some strange instinct, Ginny chooses that moment to wake up. His face is angry and betrayed. Her eyes widen and she shakes Neville awake.
Harry starts to turn back up the stairs. She knows if she doesn't stop him that they will never be together again. "Harry. Harry! Wait!" He turns around eyes hard. "It's not what you think. Neville and I aren't like that. I mean, we aren't, we don't, he's like my brother. Just my brother."
Harry nods slowly, not fully understanding it. Neville is more awake now. "Harry, mate, I'm not after Ginny." He stands up from the couch. "We looked out for each other, sure, but we never, not what you're thinking. Not at all what you're thinking."
Neville pats Harry's shoulder firmly and slips around him to go back up to the Boy's Dorm. Harry and Ginny stare at each other for a long moment after Neville's gone.
"Harry," Ginny says at the same time Harry says, "Ginny." They share a smile and, suddenly, something inside her slides into place and she thinks it must be like that for him too, because he's taken several long strides across the room. She's standing up without ever remembering doing so and then he's clutching her to him, kissing her with a passionate desperation she's never felt from him before.
This time is about rediscovery, lips on lips, soft caresses, and love. She wakes up in Harry's arms and remembers the first time she did. She sighs and feels Harry stir behind her. He pulls her to him, holding her close. She tries to roll over in his grasp, but can't, so his arms loosen slightly and tighten once again when she's facing him. This morning he's smiling at her and she's smiling at him and they're both as happy as they can ever remember being. This is definitely the way she wants to spend the rest of her life.