A/N: I hope everyone likes it. :)
When I wake the next morning I am slightly surprised to feel a bit sore. I wince slightly and roll from the bed. My bare feet hit the warm floor and I head to the bathroom. I close the door over and stare at myself in the mirror. I turn my face from side to side, scrutinizing every single inch of my face. Once I am completely, one hundred percent certain that it is not noticable that I have had sex, I leave the bathroom.
And immediately collide with Hermione.
"You're up!" she says, grabbing me by the shoulders as she walks around me. She pulls me into the bathroom with her. "Good. Now you can tell me all about your night," she says as she turns on the tap.
I swallow a bit nervously. "What do you want to know?" I ask.
"Well...where did he take you for dinner?" She looks at me through the mirror.
"That Italian place in Diagon Alley. We didn't stay long, though."
"Why?"
"It was kind of awkward. We wanted to go somewhere more comfortable to talk...and stuff." I close my eyes for a brief second, hoping my growing blush doesn't show on my face. I feel as though everything I say is a clue to a puzzle she is suddenly going to piece together.
"Where did you go?" Hermione asks. She begins to wash her face.
"The lake down the road."
"Huh," Hermione says. She places the facecloth on the sink next to her and inspects her face. "That seems romantic."
"It was."
"What is that?" she asks suddenly.
"What?" I yelp. I immediately touch my neck. Do I have a hickey? Oh, for the love of everything holy. Did I miss a hickey on my neck during my inspection.
"What was that grin you had on your face?" she asks.
I raise my eyes to look at her in the mirror. She is giving me a look.
"I was grinning?" I ask as casually as I can.
"I'll say so," she says, giving me a little laugh. She raises her eyebrows, if possible, even higher. "A good grin, if I ever saw one."
"It was nice," I say, shrugging.
"Nice."
Her tone causes me to flinch ever-so-slightly. I can feel a soft sheen of sweat begin to break out along my body. I feel as though my secret is scrawled all over the walls and we're both pretending we don't notice them. The room begins to shrink, my secret causing the walls to move closer to us. The air begins to slink out of the room, leaving my nearly breathless. I can feel her suspicion as though it were a warm blanket, coming to slowly cover me, but not to protect me, to smother me.
"OH, ALRIGHT, YOU WIN!" I scream. "I did it! We did it last night!"
Hermione's eyes bug out in the mirror and she turns around to face me, looking flabberghasted.
"You what?" she asks loudly.
"We...did it," I say, catching my breath. "Oh, boy. It feels good to get that out in the open like that. I had no idea it was--"
"Ginny!" Hermione snaps. "You and Harry...did it? On the first date?"
"Well..." I stop. I never really thought of it the way she seems to be thinking of it. Oh fucking hell. "Does that make me skanky?" I ask suddenly. "Oh fucking hell. Do you think Harry thinks I'm a slut? Do I have to go, like, get my slut card now? I just...It felt right and I love...I need to sit down."
"Okay, okay. Come here." Hermione leads me over to the toilet just as I lose the feeling in my leg and plop down on the toilet seat cover. My mind is spinning and the room shrinks again. It is trying to punish me for being a skanky-skank. "Look at me." Hermione's voice is quite firm. I look at her. "You are not a slut. Having sex with Harry doesn't make you a slut. That isn't what I meant. I didn't mean to say it with that tone. You surprised me."
I feel tears spring to my eyes. "I..." My voice quivers, daring me to continue. "It felt right and I love him!"
"It's fine, Ginny!" Hermione says imploringly. "Everyone is ready at different times! You and Harry had all that history that it doesn't matter! If you and Harry were ready then it's fine."
I sniffle. "Don't tell anyone."
"Duh," she replies.
"Anyone includes Ron," I say, raising my eyes to meet hers.
"Double duh," she snaps. "I'm not stupid." She gives me a comforting smile. "You look like a puppy I've slapped on the nose."
"I feel like a puppy you've slapped on the nose," I say.
When I stand, she wraps me in a hug.
"I'm glad you and Harry are getting together, Ginny. Let's go downstairs."
All morning I wait for Harry to show up. To me, this is the most important moment. Our basic interaction will alert everyone to whether or not we did it, that much I am certain.
I am waiting by the sink nervously when I hear Ron say, "Mate, you've tracked a bunch of soot in."
"You shoved me from the fireplace, prat," Harry retorts. "Well, I guess I'll clean it up. Some host you are."
I hear his footsteps getting closer until he reaches the broom cupboard. Before he can open it, he catches sight of me. I suck in my breath and raise my hand slightly in hello. His face breaks out in a giant smile.
"Hi," he says softly, coming towards me.
"Hi," I reply.
"How are you?" He looks me over, as though I'll be all bruised and whatnot. "Do you feel okay?"
"I feel fine," I insist.
"Good," Harry says. He hesitates near me, and then he leans in and kisses me.
The second our lips touch, I knew I did right. I truly believe in Hermione's words. If it was right for us, then it was probably right.
"Harry? Where are--" Ron calls, coming into the kitchen.
"Broom!" Harry cries, springing back from me.
Ron stops, looks at each of us, then says, "I don't want to know," with his hands raised near his face. He walks from the room.
And that was that. No one questioned us.
OoOoOo
A week passes. Harry and I see each other as often as possible. He is currently training to become an Auror. I, myself, have been trying to get a job, to no avail. I can't seem to figure out what I want to do with myself when I'm older.
"Think long and hard," Dad advises me. "Be passionate about what you do," he says. "You're, hopefully, going to be doing this job for a very long time, so you want to pick wisely."
"You draw such nice pictures," Mum says. "Why don't you try submitting them? Or, how about your writing? You used to write such cute little stories!"
They are both trying to push me in the right decision. A part of me wishes they would stop telling me to take my time and figure everything out. A part of me wishes they would start yelling and demand I find a job immediately. Sometimes I do not know if their soft, kind words are helping or hurting me. Though, if I did feel pressured to get a job right away I might pick something I do not like.
I am sitting in my room, agonizing over the want ads in the Daily Prophet, when there is a pop to my right. I nearly fall from the bed in surprise, to see a pleased looking Harry.
"You nearly scared me half to death!" I snap.
"Sorry." He doesn't look sorry. "I managed to make it into your room this time!"
I smile at the obvious delight on his face. "That's...good."
"What are you doing tonight?" he asks.
"Nothing. Why?"
"Remus and Tonks want you to come to dinner and spend the night there tonight. I told them we were dating and you know Tonks. She wants to see it in the flesh."
I smile. "When did they get back from the honeymoon?"
"The day before yesterday." Harry sits on my bed and picks up the paper, reading over it. "They looked like proud parents when I told them."
I feel my mouth run dry and I clutch onto his arm. "Told them what?" I ask.
He looks up at me, confused, and then he says, "Oh, God! Not that! I told them that were were, you know, together. Dating."
"Oh." I sigh in relief. "OKay." I take this in for a brief second. "I'll probably have to run it by Mum and Dad first."
Harry nods and then turns the paper around. "Job hunting?"
"Well, I did graduate last month. Luna's dad got her a job. She told me Neville has a paid internship and that he got it right out of Hogwarts. You and Ron are training and Hermione's working her way up in the Ministry. I'm the only one without a job." I sigh heavily. "I'm aimless. I have no idea what I want to do with myself!"
"You've got a knack for drawing," Harry says.
"Little naked, dancing elves!" I say. "How is that going to earn me any money?"
"You'll think of something," Harry says.
I glance at the clock. "Dad'll probably be home for lunch by now. Maybe I'll go ask them if I can spend the night."
"Okay," Harry says.
"Tell me if you suddenly find my future career in that sea of useless bullshit," I say, gesturing at the paper before I head down the stairs.
The sight of Mum and Dad suddenly makes me nervous. Perhaps they say no?
"Mum," I say as she washes the dishes. Dad is sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. He laughs every so often or makes a disgruntled comment involving Quidditch.
"Yes, dear?" Mum asks. She pauses the dishes and turns to look at me. "What is it?"
"Remus and Tonks invited me to spend the night at the house tonight," I say. I do not mention Harry, as though she might forget where he lives simply by omission.
"Oh?" she asks innocently. Her eyes snap to the back of Dad's head and then back at me again.
"Would it be alright if I...accepted their invitation?"
Mum's lips purse tightly. She glances down at Dad a second time and I can tell he is listening now, for the paper has stopped rustling. They have to let me go! I am a grown, adult witch now. Technically, I do not need their permission, but out of respect I will ask for it. I do want a roof over my head by the end of this conversation.
Dad turns around to look at Mum and they seem to speak silently to each other. Just as suddenly, he goes back to the paper without saying a word.
"That would be fine," Mum says. She seems tense. "Seperate rooms," she says, just as I am about to leave and rush back upstairs.
"Huh?" I ask, turning around.
"Sleep in seperate rooms while you are there," she repeats. She is ringing her hands nervously.
I feel myself blush terribly. "Of course," I reply. My voice seems to have died from embarrassment and the only thing that comes out is this hoarse, gross voice. I swallow and try again. "Of course we'll sleep in seperate rooms."
Mum nods curtly. "Okay then." She gives me half of a smile and turns back around to do the dishes. I slowly return to the stairs and when I get no interuption, I run up them two at a time to tell Harry.
"They said yes," I say breathlessly as I get back into my room. I go to close the door over, but remember Mum's rule earlier and keep it open.
Harry looks up from the paper and gives me a huge smile. "Good!" he says. He stands. "So, I'll come back around seven and pick you up?"
"Sounds good." I give him a kiss on the cheek.
"I've got to run," he says.
"Oh." I pout a bit. "Where?"
"Well, my room is a bloody mess, for one," Harry says.
"I don't mind," I say.
"Oh, you will."
"Will...will Remus and Tonks let us sleep in the same room?" I ask. I know I promised Mum, but some promises were meant to be broken.
Harry frowns and then says, "I don't know. Probably."
"Okay." I kiss him. "Go. Clean. Be domestic."
He smiles at me. "I'll be back later."
All day I walk around in a blissfull fog. It is completely obliterated around six-fifty, though. I had my bag all packed and it was waiting by the fireplace. I was in the kitchen saying goodbye to Dad. He then left to go out back in the shed to tinker with something else he brought home last week. It was something called a...teevee. It sounded bloody weird!
"Well, Mum, Harry'll be here any moment. I'll see you in the morning." I give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Have fun, dear. Oh, and I owled Remus earlier about our arrangement," she says.
"Our...what? Our arrangement?"
"Yes. You know, the seperate rooms thing," she says.
"Mum!" I explode, my cheeks igniting. "Did you owl him to tell him that?"
"Of course I did!" Mum gives me an incredulous look. "What's the matter?"
"It's bloody embarrassing!" I shout.
"Watch your mouth," Mum snaps. She softens. "I'm sorry, Ginny, but..." She stops. "I'm sorry."
"I can't believe you would do something like that!"
"I'm sorry," she repeats. "You have to understand, Ginny, I'm in unfamiliar terrirtory." She gives me a pleading look and I tilt my head as though to give her permission to continue. "You're my only daughter. I've never had to worry about anything like this before!" Her bottom lip quivers. "You may be over-age in the Wizarding world, but you're still so young! I know he loves you, and I sure know you love him. I just..." She sighs heavily. "I just want you to stay my baby girl as long as possible." And with that her eyes suddenly spill over with tears.
I try my best to hold out and act offended, but I can not. I sniffle and nudge towards her. "I'll always be your little girl," I say thickly. "I have no choice. There's no one else to shove it off on."
She laughs, though she still seems to be crying. She opens her arms for a hug and I immediately let her. She may be infuriating almost all the time, but she's my Mum and I will always love her for it.
"I'll try to be good about this, Ginny, I promise I'll try," she whispers in my ear. She strokes my hair and then gives me a squeeze before she releases me. "Just, please, no sex until you're thirty!"
I roll my eyes and laugh. "I'll promise you I'll try," I say. I'm not exactly lying, I can't help it if I've already done it before I made this promise.
She sighs and shakes her head.
I hear a pop from the living room.
"Oh, jeez!" I cry. I wipe at my eyes frantically. "Did my makeup run?"
"Of course," Mum says. She wipes under my eyes. "There. Beautiful." She touches my cheek, then gives me a kiss and goes into the livingroom to greet Harry. I rush to the mirror over the sink to see if I look okay and then head into the living room.
"There she is!" Mum declares, as though she didn't see me ten seconds ago. "Well, you two have a nice night!" She gives me a pointed look before kissing us both on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Molly," Harry says. He holds out his hand and I take it. "Ready?" he asks. I nod and feel our feet lift up off the ground. Our shoulder knock together and this time, before I can fall to my feet, Harry anchors me with his weight and keeps a strong grasp on my hand as I lean forward. Had he not been holding my hand that tight, I would have surely tasted carpet by now.
"That was much more graceful," he comments with a smirk.
I sniff. "Well, I am a lady."
"Hardly."
I do not get a chance to reply.
"Harry? Is that you?"
"Yeah, Tonks, it's us!"
She comes running in from the kitchen. When she sees me she gives me a huge beam. Her hair immediately turns from light brown to bright pink, but she takes not notice. She wraps me in a huge hug.
"How have you been?" she asks delightedly. "We're so happy you came!"
"Me too," I say.
"Remus and I got back from our honeymoon and Harry told us you got together!" Tonks says, still beaming. "Of course something like that would happen after we had gone." She shakes her head and leads us into the kitchen.
Tonks and Remus basically forced Harry to move in with them, despite their upcoming newly-weddeddom.
Remus is just coming in from inside when we get into the kitchen. He gives us a giant smile and also wraps me in a hug.
"Hello, Ginny, how have you been?" he asks.
"Good!" I say. "How about you two? How's married life?"
He shrugs. "Pretty much the same, right?" He looks over at Tonks.
"Yeah, pretty much. Except I've now got this guy who follows me around all the time. Says he's my husband. Really annoying. Seen him?" She cocks an eyebrow at Remus.
"Yeah, what a bloody wanker," Remus replies.
I can't help but smile at them. There are certain people that simply need to be together. If they aren't they're bloody miserable. Tonks and Remus are two of those people. Ron and Hermione are another two people. And, I would like to think Harry and I are another two people.
"Ginny, we'll show you to your room," Remus says, taking my overnight bag.
"Well...actually, Remus, if it was alright with you, I thought I would sleep on the couch in my room and Ginny could take the bed," Harry says. I can see the blush suddenly spreading over his cheeks.
"Um..." Remus says. He sounds a bit dumbfounded. "Molly would probably want--" Tonks elbows him hard. "That's fine." I have a feeling he told Tonks about the letter and they had a discussion of their own. He gives us a smile before glaring over at Tonks. "Come on, Ginny, I'll show you to Harry's room."
Tonks gives me a wink as we begin to walk up the stairs. "Remus is slightly afraid of your mother, I think," she says. "But, really, I don't see the problem with you two sharing a room."
We get to the top of the stairs and Remus leads us into Harry's room. I have never been inside his room before. The walls are white and the floors are covered with a dark wood. He has a nice sized bed in the middle of the room. To the left is a bay-window and a book shelf. To the right is an over stuffed red velvet couch and a door that must lead to a closet. A trunk sits in front of the bed.
"Here we go," Remus says. He places my bag on the couch. "Well..." He bounces on his feet and claps his hands together once. "Harry? Can I talk to you outside?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Harry says.
"Great." Remus yanks Harry from the room and shuts the door over.
"Honestly," Tonks says with a great sigh. "He is so old fashioned! He seems to forget that he was your age once! Not to mention the fact that he isn't so gentlemenly all the time!"
"Is that so?" I say awkwardly.
"Shit! Sorry." She gives me an awkward smile. "Too much information, huh?"
"Just a touch."
"Don't worry about Remus, though. He just doesn't want you two getting into trouble. I have to keep reminding him that Harry survived a war and beat Voldemort. He's a good kid and isn't going to get into any trouble."
Harry and Remus come back into the room. Harry's face is bright red with embarrassment.
"Okay...well," Remus says, "we'll just let you get settled for a bit. Dinner in an hour?"
"Sure," I say.
"Tonks."
"Right!" Tonks starts forward. "See you two in a bit!"
She closes the door over and Harry and I turn to each other.
"That was about ten times more awkward than it had to be," Harry says, sounding a bit disgruntled.
"What did Remus say?" I ask curiously.
"He told me to sleep on the couch. To not get into bed with you. To absolutely under no circumstances have sex with you while you were under this roof. He said a lot of other stuff about being gentlemenly and blah, blah, blah. I had half a mind to remind him that we share paper-thin walls and some nights I am awoken to not so nice sounds coming from their room."
Voices suddenly appear from the wall behind the bed. I know it impolite to listen, but really, there is no other option!
"I can not believe you did not back me up!" Remus snaps. "You mine as well become a spokesperson for pre-marital sex!"
"Oh for the love of Merlin, Remus! They're young! If they want to shag, they are going to find every available surface to do it on! Just let them be!"
Remus says something that I can not quite hear. All I hear is Tonk's reply.
"If you remember, you and I weren't married when we started shagging!"
"Oh for the love of Merlin," Harry says, rolling his eyes.
"So, do you want to take a walk later?" I ask, trying to direct our attention elsewhere. It is no use, though.
"That was completely different!" Remus replies.
"How so?"
"I was thirty-seven years old! You weren't that far behind me in age. We were--"
Tonks gives a shot of outrage. "I wasn't close behind?" she snaps. "I am ten years younger than you, you cradle robber!"
"Like you gave me much choice of anything else!" Remus retorts. "You kept coming on to me, asking to patrol with you in those tiny little outfits!"
"Shall we take that walk now?" Harry asks, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me from the room. Again, despite the impoliteness of eavesdropping, I could have popped popcorn to that shit. I never hear anything as juicy as that in my house! Except the one time I went to knock on Ron's door and call them down for dinner and before I could knock I heard, "Ron, just stick it in already!" and "I'm bloody trying, okay?" Though, that wasn't juicy as it was incredibly disgusting.
Harry leads me outside into the warm summer air. Once outside he seems to relax a bit and turns to me with a bashful grin.
"They're like my really embarrassing parents," he says, rolling his eyes.
"Do they always fight like that?" I ask.
"No. Not really. They never fight." He takes my hand in his and we begin to walk down the road towards town. "Sorry if he embarrassed you with all the sex talk."
"It's fine," I say.
"He just feels as though he has to give me fatherly advice and stuff," Harry says with an awkward shrug. "I appreciate where he's coming from."
"Me too." I give his hand a squeeze. He looks down at me and smiles. "Believe me, before I left my house it was, 'I meant it, Ginevra, seperate rooms!' every twenty seconds." I sigh. "They seem to think that if we have sex it'll be the end of the world."
"Well, we did and it wasn't," Harry says.
"Exactly."
We smile at each other.
Harry shows me all around town. He brings me to something called a comic shop. I think our comics are ten times better, but whatever. I mean, their pictures don't even move! All they have are little swooping lines behind them to signal running. What fun, if any, is that?
We head back to the house after about forty-five minutes. While we might have left them fighting, they were anything but when we returned. Remus was fixing something on the stove the Muggle way, while Tonks hums and throws napkins onto the table.
"Try this," Remus says to her, as we enter the kitchen.
He feeds something into her mouth and she moanes in approval. "Good," she says.
"Good?" he askes and then kisses her.
"We're back," Harry announces loudly.
"Oh!"
They turn to us.
"How was the walk?" Tonks asks.
"Good," I say. "Harry showed me all around. You live in a nice little town."
"Why thank you," Tonks says. "We found this house on a walk one day."
About ten minutes later we settle down at the table for dinner. The tension from earlier today is completely gone. Tonks and Remus tell us one funny story after the other. I love hearing personal stories from people (judge not!).
"Well," Remus says, he takes a sip of wine. "Tonks insists I go out and check to see what the noise was. It's three in the morning, the wind is howling like a tornado is approaching. I can't find my pants or my wand." He looks over at Tonks. "I head outside and the door slams shut behind me. Of course, it's locked. I start banging on the door..."
"But the wind is so loud, I can't hear him," Tonks says. She laughs. "Finally, someone in the cabin right next door to us noticed a half naked man banging on the door. She called the Muggle police..."
"Who showed up and pointed their guns at me," Remus continues. "So, there I am, wearing nothing but a jacket (nothing else), banging on the door and I have five Muggle cops all pointing their guns at me. I kept trying to convince them that my wife was in bed sleeping. They nearly dragged me out of there!"
"I finally woke up to see where he was and saw him being questioned from outside," Tonks says. She sighs and then laughs. "I'll not soon forget the sight of Remus Lupin completely naked except for his jacket and black socks, don't forget the socks, trying to talk his way out of Muggle jail."
They tell a few other stories, including one from Remus involving his Hogwarts days, which I knew pleased Harry immensly. One of the biggest reasons I think Harry is even here is because he feels as though Remus is the last and final connection to his parents.
I grab Harry's hand under the table and give it a giant squeeze. He seems a bit confused, but gives me a sweet smile.
I tried to help Tonks clean up, but she and Remus insisted Harry and I go away.
"Guests do not clean up their messes, dear Miss Weasly!" was exactly what Tonks told me before shooing me away.
Harry and I headed up to bed. I was getting kind of tired and definitly ready to wind down. We bid Tonks and Remus goodnight and headed upstairs.
I follow Harry along the hallway until we get to his room. Tonks and Remus's upstairs look almost like a maze. All the rooms are placed together not neatly on either side, but sort of sticking out, so there are little alcoves. We finally get to Harry's room.
Harry closes his door over and turns to me. We smile a bit akwardly and then he says, "Care for a game of Exploding Snap?"
"Sure!" I say delightedly.
We sit on the floor across from each other and play game after game. We chat about random things. I am, personally, delighted beyond belief that our conversations rarely get awkward. Most of our conversations gravitate towards Ron and Hermione, simply because they are one of the biggest things we have in common.
"You...you know they've already done it, right?" he asks.
"Uh, yeah," I say, throwing a card down. "I was enlightened about five months ago."
Harry smirks. "I'm personally glad they finally got around to doing it. It was getting to the point that I couldn't stand them. All that sexual tension wasn't being used correctly, so instead of them shagging out that tension, they kept yelling at each other. It was driving me bonkers!"
"Tell me about it!" I cry. "Hermione would fume about Ron for hours! 'Why is he so stupid, Ginny? He's the biggest git in the world! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!' I was like, no you don't. You want to fuck him, that's your problem." Harry snorts. "Then she'd get all red and flustered and act as though I were crazy." I throw down another card and brace myself for explosion. I sigh when it doesn't happen.
"I wonder if they said this stuff about us?" Harry asks.
"Probably. We all probably gossip about each other all the time and don't realize it," I say. I yawn. "Blimey, I'm tired."
"Me too. Let's go to bed." He flings down his last card and is suddenly engulfed in a giant cloud of smoke.
"Ha!" I say, laughing. "You suck at this game."
Harry coughs and waves the smoke away from his face. "Maybe I'm letting you win!"
"You better not be!" I return.
"I'm going to wash my face," Harry says. He has a grimace on his face as he grabs a pair of pajamas and heads out of the room. I hear him open a door down the hall and flick the light on. I glance at a little clock on his bedside table and see that it's half past midnight. I'm surprised we played cards for that long! We must have been talking for two hours at least!
I yank my shirt and shorts off. I pick them up and fold them neatly and place them in my bag. I then reach behind me and unhook my bra. It slides down my arms and I, too, place that neatly in my overnight bag.
"Hey, do you need any water?" Harry says, coming into the room. "Oh. Sorry." He immediately turns around. "I didn't know you were changing."
"It's okay," I say, though I turn red. A part of me keeps forgetting that he has seen me naked before. I pull on my shirt and glance back at Harry once, but he is setting up his pillow and blanket on the couch. I pull on a pair of shorts. I usually sleep without them, but because I am in someone else's house, I figure I must wear them.
"Well, night," Harry says. He turns to me and kisses me. We pull apart and reluctantly go to our respective beds. "Is everything okay for you?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I say. I settle into his bed and flick the light off. The room immediately goes dark. Soft moonlight comes in through the windows to my right. I reach under the covers and tug my shorts off and throw them down next to me. I don't care. I can't stand getting all tangled up in those damn things. I settle down onto the pillows. Let me tell ya, this is one comfortable fucking bed. Puts my bed to all types of shame.
"Harry?" I ask some time later.
"Hmm?" he asks after a second.
"Are you asleep?"
"No."
"Is the couch comfortable?"
"Not. At. All."
I laugh at Harry's tone and turn on my side to look over at him. I can just barely make out his form from across the room. His eye glasses glint slightly in the dim light.
"You could...get into bed with me," I say in a half whisper.
My suggestion is met with silence. I can not tell if Harry has heard me or not. If he has heard me and pretending that he hasn't, then does that mean he wants to respect what Remus said, or that he doesn't want to have sex with me. Perhaps seeing me changing was a reminder of a mistake he made. Maybe he thinks my body is gross.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you hear me?"
"Uh-huh," he replies.
I hesitate. "Well?" I snap finally.
Harry turns to me. Even in the dark room I can tell he is looking directly at me. "Fine, but no funny business."
"Funny business? How old are you?" I say, giggling.
I hear Harry get up from the couch and come to stand near the bed. He pulls the covers down and slides in next to me.
"I mean it," he says. "You're dangerous."
"Excuse me?" I say, snorting.
"You seduced me down at the lake and you're trying to do it again," Harry says in a teasing tone.
"Ha! That's a nice spin on what actually happened! I seduced you?" I snort.
We fall into silence as he settles in the bed. I jump when his arm rubs mine. He isn't wearing a shirt. He jumps when his hand accidentally grazes my bare leg and he realizes I've taken my shorts off. Our eyes meet and a second later our lips meet for a desperate kiss.
We kiss for a while until it begins to feel a little bit familiar. We are about to head down a similar path unless one of us stops, and it certainly won't be me.
"Wait!" Harry says suddenly, he pulls away from me.
"Don't you dare," I moan into his ear.
"I'm sorry!" he snaps. "I promised Remus we wouldn't do this tonight!"
"Don't be so moral!" I beg. I clutch at his shoulders and try to kiss him again, but he diverts his head with ninja speed. Damn Harry and his stupid moral compass! Though, I know I would never want him to change. His being so moral is one of the things that makes me love him so.
I know I will have to play dirty unless I want to go to bed very frustrated. I reach under the covers and tug my knickers down my legs and then grab them in my hand.
"What are you doing?" Harry asks as I toss them onto him. "What is this?"
"Those are my knickers," I whisper in his ear.
He groans. "This isn't fair!" he says.
"Sorry," I say, nipping at his ear.
Even with all his reservations, I can feel him begin to react to everything that is happening. He rubs against me. Doesn't he realize that he is driving me to the brink of madness?
I reach under the waists of both his pants and boxers and take a hold of him. As soon as I do, Harry lets out the sexiest little sound. He jumps towards the feel of my hand and clenches onto the sheet underneath him.
"Quietly," he breathes in my ear.
I silently agree and, with his help, tug his pants and boxers off. They shove down near our feet. Harry reaches for my shirt and tugs it off. It falls somewhere over the side of the bed, probably near my shorts. His fingers skate over every surface of my body before he seems satisfied. He settles in between my thighs and nudges my nose with his.
"Ready," I breathe. How could I not be ready?
He pushes into me and I fight the urge to let out a strangled cry. There is no resistance this time, no painful friction. I have to close my eyes, to fight the urge to scream out in sheer pleasure, but that only seems to make it worse. I open my eyes and try to fixate on something else, anything else, besides the feel of him pushing in and then pulling out.
I clutch at him desperately. "Harry!" I breathe into his ear. He simply groans in return.
This continues until I am sure one more thrust will be the one that causes me to unleash the pile of moans that are waiting to be released. It is like keeping them in only makes it more pleasureable, thus making me want to moan louder.
I feel incredibly close. I am thankful. Soon, this awful little silent climb will be over. I will topple over with ecstacy and then I can relax. But suddenly, just as I am about to climax, I feel myself roll over. I am no longer looking up at Harry, but down at Harry.
"Is this okay?" He whispers.
I can not speak. I simply nod silently. I do not trust myself to open my mouth. I can not believe I thought this was a good idea. It's hot to kind of sneak around, like we're doing, but I never thought it would be this hard to keep quiet. It is imperitive that we do not make any noise. I couldn't bear the thought of Remus or Tonks hearing us.
Harry's hands go to my hips and he slowly guides me into a rhythem I can work with. It feels a bit different. But, good lord, it's a good kind of different. I suck in a deep, desperate breath and begin to move on my own. Harry's hands clench onto my hips.
It's one thing to be slightly covered beneath his body, but this is different. I am in clear view of him. It doesnt' deter me. The fact that I can not under any circumstances make any noise makes everything ten times hotter. I don't know how I would have felt with Harry seeing me like this before, but I definitly like it now.
We continue like this until I feel myself begin to climax. Harry's hands move off of my hips and his thumb is suddenly touching me...THERE. My eyes nearly bulge out of my head and it is suddenly over faster than I could have ever imagined. I am making little gasping noises, desperately trying to keep quiet, and desperately trying to hold onto this feeling of absolute bliss. I feel him come with me and clench onto his shoudlers.
As soon as it is over I slump down on top of him. I feel sweaty and slightly slimy, but I do not care. I'm breathing as though I've run twenty-two miles, instead of being shagged mercilessly by my boyfriend.
"I...was...quiet," is all I can manage after a minute.
"Yes," Harry says. He sounds out of breath. "Yes you were."
I roll off of him and onto my back. I feel my limbs come back to use and look over at him with a sweet smile. How is it this boy can look so sweet and innocent after shagging all words from my vocabulary, after giving me the most amazing orgasm? I doubt I'll ever understand it.
I lean over and kiss his shoulder. We lay next to each other for another minute before I say, "I'm going to use the loo."
"Kay," he replies. I get out of bed and pull my shorts and shirt on. I head down the hall towards the bathroom. When I return, Harry is back in his pants and sitting on the bed.
"I'm going to use it, too," he says, passing me with a sweet smile.
I give a giant sigh and get back into bed. I jump and stare back at the headboard.
"Huh," I say. I begin to settle into bed and stop. I shift around again and hear the bed squeak loudly as the headboard slams into the wall with a loud, "THUMP, THUMP, THUMP."
I stare at it in horror. Has it been doing that the entire time?
"Oh fuck," I say as Harry comes back into the room.
"What's the matter?"
"Listen," I say. I shift in the bed and it makes the same noises again.
"Yeah, it squeaks a bit, but it's bloody comfortable."
"The bedsprings squeak when you move and the headboard hits the wall when you move in the bed," I inform him.
He swallows and looks at it before looking back at me.
"I'm sure it didn't make that much noise," he says. He runs a hand through his hair (a sure-fire sign he's nervous).
I blanch. "Oh, Merlin, Harry! What if they heard us?" I hiss.
"They didn't," Harry says firmly.
"Okay." I decide to believe him. He's flat out lying. But, really, what else can we do? We can't go back in time and un-shag each other. I mean, we could, it would just be bloody difficult and a pain in the arse.
"Let's just get to bed."
"Will you sleep in bed next to me?" I whisper.
"Mine as well," Harry mutters. He settles in next to me. "Good night," he says, placing a kiss on my head.
"Night," I mumble.
I do not even remember falling asleep. The only reason I wake up is because a beam of fucking sunshine is right in my eye, like a laser hellbent on waking me from my sleep. I wake up, forgetting where I am for a brief moment. It comes slamming back into me because of three things.
Note to self: Never wear hair down when sleeping next to boyfriend. When you wake up, it is sticking every which way like you got into a fight with a badger in your sleep. Second note to self: Do not drool all over his pillow. How impolite. Third note to self: Sleep with gum either in your mouth, on the bedside table, or in your fucking knickers. You know your breath is not exactly fresh cut wildflowers in the morning. That is all.
Within four seconds of waking I take in these three things and wildly attempt to fix them. I begin to smooth my hair down frantically.
"It's no use," Harry mumbles sleepily from the pillow next to me. "I was up about an hour ago because someone kneed me in the bullocks. I've already seen your hair. Not to mention the puddle of drool I almost drowned in."
I blush bright red and shove him hard. "Can't you just pretend not to notice those things?"
"Absolutely not," he says with a smirk. "I like that I'm not the only one with uncontrollable hair in the morning."
"Yes, but mine takes orders and calms down if I tell it to. While yours runs rampant over your pretty little head."
I pout a bit. I'm a little upset that he has nothing to embarrassed about. That is until I feel him lean over to kiss me. At first I think it is his knee, but is smaller than his knee.
"Harry, are you serious? We've only been up for three minutes!"
He pulls away. "I can't help it!" he snaps.
I giggle and kiss the side of his face, near his temple.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Half past eight," he says.
"Do you smell that?" I ask.
"I think Tonks is making breakfast."
"I'm starving!" I say.
"OKay."
Harry tumbles out of bed. He scratches at his stomach as he heads to his closet and drags out a shirt and a pair of pants. I lay in bed and watch him get undressed, only to watch him get dressed again. I could lay in this bed all day if I had the choice.
"Did you want to get dressed or at least do your hair before you go downstairs?" he asks, teasing.
"Watch it," I say, half snapping, half teasing right back.
I pull myself from the bed and over to my overnight bag. I grab at a pair of pants and a tank top. I pull them on and then run a brush through my hair. Grabbing an elastic from within my bag I tug my hair into a pony tail.
"Better?" I ask sarcastically, tossing my brush back into my bag.
"I have no preferance," he replies. "I'd like you even if you had, say, a mullet."
I grimace. "I think not."
"I would!" he insists. "I'll love you no matter what."
I feel myself blush slightly and kiss him.
"Actually," he says, when we pull back. "I stand corrected. That morning breath has to go."
I give him a look of outrage and push at his shoulder. "You prat!" I snap. "Your breath isn't exactly the light of my fucking life!" I dodge him when he tries to wrap his arms around me. "Don't touch me, you bastard!" I say, not in a mean or offended way.
I suppose because we had that period before we dated that we were mates that gives us the freedom to talk to one another this way. I know if Dean had said something like that to me, I would have been seriously offended. Harry saying it isn't that way, though.
We brush our teeth, standing together, shoulder to shoulder. We then head down the stairs to breakfast. My heart beats wildly and I am blushing as I take a seat next to Harry at the table.
"Morning, you two," Tonks says, placing orange juice down next to us. "Sleep alright?"
"Huh?" I yelp. I try to disect her tone as Harry nudges me and snaps, "Be cool!"
"Was the bed alright? I've tried to get Harry to get rid of that old thing, but he insists he loves it," Tonks says.
"It already has my body contours in it," Harry says. "I'd have to break in a whole new mattress." He shakes his head. "I like my bed."
I am just starting to think that perhaps they did sleep through our shagging, when Remus enters the room. He sits down, throws Harry one hell of a filthy look (that does not go unnoticed by either of us) and says, "Good morning."
"Morning," we both reply. We sound slightly embarrassed.
After a rather tense breakfast (Remus was glaring at Harry and Tonks was glaring at Remus), Harry brought me home.
"I had fun," I say.
"Me too," Harry says. "I'm pretty busy Monday and Tuesday, but what about you meet me for lunch on Wednesday? I'll be in the Ministry, but at least I get a full hour for lunch."
"That sounds good," I say. "And you can come to dinner Friday night, if you want."
"Okay." He kisses me. "Love you."
"Love you, too," I say as he leaves with a CRACK.
I go into the house. It is a sunny Sunday morning. I walk into the kitchen to see Mum sitting at the table. She taps a piece of cloth and the hole in it slowly starts to shrink until the pieces of fabric edge up against each other.
"Good morning, Mum," I say. I place my bag onto a chair.
"Morning, dear," Mum says, giving me a smile.
She finishes up what she is doing and starts packing up her sewing stuff.
"Did you have a nice time?" she asks.
"Yes. It was fun."
She walks past me, stops and turns back to me. She grabs a hold of my chin and looks me dead in the eye.
"Mum..." I say awkwardly. "What are you--"
"You don't look well rested," she says matter-of-factly.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
She does not repeat what she says and continues on her way up the stairs, humming softly to herself. I go to the base of the stairs and yell at her retreating back, "Mum! What does that mean?"
I go back to the middle of the kitchen. Does that mean my mother knows Harry and I have shagged?
"Oh, Merlin."
The thought makes me ill.
Which was probably her plan all along.
A/N: My skank-ass Microsoft Word stopped working, so I had to write this in Wordpad. Please excuse any and all grammatical and, most importantly, spelling mistakes. I tried my best to fix any I saw. I hope you enjoy/ed this chapter. I am working on another.
