Disclaimer: Etc..
A/N: RE-POST! Damn those typos to Hades and back!
"Are you sure about this?"
"Of course I am. Where's your sense of adventure, Harry?"
"Back there with my breath!"
"It isn't my fault you can't run as fast as I can!"
"Shh! Someone will hear! And besides, I can run as fast as you can, you just caught me by surprise when you yanked me down this- this... where are we exactly?"
"We're in one of the towers, the smaller ones, not the Astronomy Tower... I'm not sure which one, but at the top, there's a window that looks out on the lake."
Harry nodded, turning to trudge up yet another flight of stairs, "How did you find the entrance?"
"I erm, sort of tripped into it... a month or two ago."
It sounded like Ginny was blushing, but it was too dark for Harry to be sure.
"You've known about it for a month and you're only showing me now?"
He wasn't really offended, but he did wonder.
Ginny snorted, "And just how many nooks and crannies in this castle do you know about that you haven't shared with me?"
Harry squeezed her hand, "I think you've seen most of them by now," he said, his lips splitting in a mischievous grin.
Ginny's free hand punched his arm, "Don't be too proud of yourself, I knew about more than half of the ones you dragged me into."
Harry scowled momentarily, " S'not my fault you have so much more experience with-"
"Finding snogging corners?" she said, her tone lofty, "And it isn't my fault you used all of your secret hide outs for exploring with Ron and Hermione."
Harry rolled his eyes, "I don't 'explore' with them, we just get into... things."
"You three look for trouble, if half the things I hear are true anyway."
Harry shrugged, "How much longer?" He could spot a bit of light up ahead, but they were only half way up the fourth stair way.
"This is the last flight," replied Ginny, panting a little.
It was a hot and sweaty journey, but once they reached the top, all thoughts of sore feet and strained leg muscles flew from Harry's mind.
"Whoa."
Ginny grinned up at him, "It is pretty neat," she commented proudly, releasing his hand to cross to the other side of the flagstone floor where a worn, blue blanket was laid out in one corner of the room.
"I come here sometimes, when I feel overwhelmed. O.W.L.'s are a lot more work than I figured."
Harry trailed after her, turning in circles and taking in the tower room.
The room was entirely circular, with four huge windows with sills big enough to sit on directly across from each other, all of them looking out over the grounds.
"This is brilliant, Ginny, really brilliant."
Harry dropped his bag on the blanket beside Ginny's, "You stumbled up here?"
This time he did see her blush. Chilly air filtered through an open window, she rubbed her arms up and down as she answered. "I sort of tripped," she admitted, the tips of her ears pink.
"You...tripped," said Harry doubtfully, "I never figured you for a klutz, Weasley."
"I'm not. And what makes you think I tripped all on my own? Maybe I was so busy snogging somebody I couldn't be bothered to watch where I was going," she retorted, no real heat in her voice.
Harry settled onto his side, using his elbow to support his upper body, "Perhaps... but that just makes the person you were snogging an idiot."
Ginny matched his position, one eyebrow raised, "Oh? How so?"
"If he were any good at snogging and walking at the same time, you wouldn't have tripped," said Harry as though it were obvious.
Ginny chortled, flipping over onto her stomach leaning her chin into her upturned palms, "Perhaps we were both so deep in the throws of passion-"
"Alright, alright," laughed Harry, raising a hand in defense, "You win."
Ginny beamed, "I always do." She reached out to grab her bag, rummaging through it and pulling out her homework.
The sun shone on Ginny's hair, the red strands fairly glinting in the light, Harry stared at her unabashedly.
As if she could feel the heat of his gaze on the top of her head, she looked up, "What?" she asked, bemused.
Harry shook his head, shifting closer to her and laying flat on his back, Ginny's hair was long enough to brush against the side of his face, he tugged at a lock of hair, "You're beautiful," he murmured, sliding his thumb over the the piece of hair he held.
Ginny's face burned red, "You flatter me," she muttered pulling her hair from his grasp and settling down with her Transfiguration text and two-foot long piece of parchment for her notes.
"It's the truth." Harry insisted, his stomach turning in little flops every time her hair swayed against his skin. "Cross my heart," he added, laughing a little.
Ginny lifted her head, the redness had receded a little, "Cross your heart?"
Harry chuckled and completed the morbid swear, "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."
Ginny's brown eyes widened, "What sort of promise is that?" she asked incredulously, "Sounds like something Crabbe and Goyle would come up with."
"Those two are too thick to speak in full sentences, let alone make up a rhyme," snorted Harry, "It's a muggle swear."
Ginny's expression remained one of incredulity and confusion.
"Like when wizards say, 'I swear by Merlin's wand' or 'I give you my word as a wizard', you know, that sort of thing." Harry clarified.
Ginny's hair swung passed his face as she shook her head, and the smell of wild flowers filled Harry's nose.
"So it's sort of like an oath?"
Harry nodded.
She twirled the feather of her quill around her chin, "How interesting, I should write it out and send it to Dad." Ginny giggled, no doubt picturing the look of utter joy on Mr. Weasley's face when he read her letter.
On impulse, Harry slipped his arms behind him, lifted his torso, and, bringing his face close to Ginny's, kissed her.
Seconds passed, minutes.
Ginny's arms were wrapped tightly around his shoulders, the fingers of one hand tangled in the hair at the back of his head. Her homework lay forgotten beside them, note-covered pieces of parchments crinkled by their movement.
They broke apart for air, their foreheads pressed tightly together and heavy breaths washing over each others faces.
Harry grinned, his chest rising and falling at a steadier pace, he rubbed his fingers lightly in back and forth motions on her back, the edges of her hair tickling the back of his hand.
Too soon, Ginny pulled away. Well, not exactly away, more like rearranged herself in Harry's grip.
She sat with her back pressed against his chest and his knees on either side of her, both of them watching as the sun slid across the sky, casting shadows over them.
"It's so peaceful up here," Ginny murmured, her head, a comfortable weight on Harry's shoulder.
"Yeah," agreed Harry, lacing his fingers together over her stomach and pressing his lips to the side of her head. "We should come up here more often."
Ginny snorted, turning her head a bit to narrow her eyes at him, "If we start coming up here together, I doubt I'll be getting much homework done."
Harry made a sound of sympathy, laying one of his legs flat, "There is that... But I could help, you know. It's not just Hermione that knows how to study."
"Oh? Well that's news to me," replied Ginny, she brought her lips to the underside of his jaw, pressing her lips against the slightly scratchy skin there, "That's very nice of you, Harry, but you've got a lot on your plate already."
Dumbledore's lessons... She didn't know what they were about, of course, but Harry did tell her he had them. Not to mention the detentions with Snape.
Harry sighed, "I guess... I'll still try though. Better than not spending time with you at all," he grumbled.
Ginny pat his thigh, "There is next year, you know," she said lightly, "And the summer."
Harry tried not to squirm, being with Ginny was great, but... somehow, Harry got the feeling that despite his best efforts, circumstances beyond their control would drag them apart.
Right now seemed to be the calm before the storm. Something was bound to happen eventually. Nothing that was good lasted for long.
Sirius, Remus teaching defense, the Quidditch World Cup, even the Triwizard Tournament, bad enough he had to compete in the first place, had taken a turn for the worse.
His feelings for Ginny aside, their relationship seemed too good to be true. Just as Sirius' offer back in third year.
Harry hadn't told Ginny, of course. Somehow, admitting his fears just made it all the more real. He didn't want things to end with Ginny, not ever, but when had Harry ever got what he'd wanted?
"I- yeah, yeah we have loads of time."
"Harry-" Ginny tried to shift away, but Harry gripped her tighter.
"If Snape doesn't try to make me continue detention next year, that is," he rushed to add, trying to turn the subject away from whatever Ginny had wanted to say.
He could see Ginny's eyebrows draw together, but she settled back against his chest anyway, stroking the backs of his hands where they still rested on her stomach.
"Yeah, it'll be fine... we'll be fine."
Not Long After...
The sun had sunk far passed the wide, rectangular window, the top of the tower was almost as dark as the passageway and stair case that led up to it.
A boy with burdens much greater than any man's stood with his hands braced against the sill, his face devoid of any emotion except grim determination.
A light breeze ruffled the top of his unruly, black hair, and a tear ran, unchecked, down his cheek.
But no more followed.
Harry Potter turned away from the window, his overly bright, green eyes sweeping over the tower room.
A worn, blue blanket laid out in a corner, a broken quill, a hair tie, candy wrappers, crumpled bits of parchment, and many a sweet memory, were all that remained.
.
A/N: This came totally out of no where... Honestly. Reviews are lovely! And if there is any pairing you'd like to see, you can check my other one-shots, pm me, or check my LiveJournal and/or Twitter profiles. You can find my username on my profile.
Thank you!
-Marie