Tracing the rim of her glass she wondered how much longer she would be here. She was getting tired of flirting with the wizards just for Luna to shake her head 'no'.
"May I buy you a drink, miss?" Ginny tried not to smile, for she could hear a trace of nervousness in his soft voice. If he was nervous now, he wouldn't last two days with what she had planned. Unfortunately, she wasn't even able to turn around before she heard Luna speak.
"I'm sorry, but no."
"Excuse me?" Oh, he was irritated now!
"It just wouldn't be proper. We are here for work, and it wouldn't do well for her to be busy talking to you. I hope you have a good night."
Ginny laid her arms on the bar, willing herself to keep her patience. She and Luna had been looking for the right man, or "victim" as Ginny liked to refer to him, for the past hour. She had met several attractive wizards who made it clear they were interested in her, or at least interested in the way she looked in this god awful dress. After readjusting it a few dozen times and ignoring more than a handful of leers, she had come to detest it. Yet the few wizards who had approached her were dismissed by Luna. When she tried to question Luna about her choices, her only response was that they weren't the right one.
Luna sent each one away with an apology and a smile. Someone from across the bar even had the bartender send over a drink, but before she could accept, Luna shook her head, pushing the glass away. When they left, dejected, Ginny couldn't help but smile and think how lucky they were that Luna hadn't approved. They were saved two weeks of torture. That is, if they lasted that long.
"What is a lovely creature like you doing here without a date?" came a smooth voice behind her. Still, she rolled her eyes at his comment. She was getting bored of the usual flirting she had been doing this evening when there was nothing to show for it. She decided to have some fun this time and be a bit bolder.
Not turning around, she spoke. "No one got past the initial screening process." With a smirk she took a half step backwards and pushed her lower half against the man. "Care to submit an application?"
Large, firm hands rested on her waist and he chuckled. Ginny wasn't sure if he was going to try and pull her closer or push her away, but he did neither, and instead just rested his hands there. "I'm intrigued. What are the qualifications?"
Ginny snuck a glance at Luna out of the corner of her eye and saw that she was watching with mild interest. Was this the man she wanted her to see?
She stood up straight, her back coming into contact with his torso and shoulders brushing his chest, the fabric of his sweater soft against the exposed skin of her back. He must have been a good six inches tall than her, but he was thin, lanky almost. Despite that, it seemed as if he kept himself in shape.
Unable to quash her curiosity any longer as to what her latest suitor looked like, she turned around. They were close to begin with and with his hands still on her waist turning around brought them into a rather intimate embrace, her arms trapped between them.
She found herself staring at a black knit sweater that appeared to be home-made and was soft under her hands. She watched as his Adam's apple bobbed. Pulling away slightly she looked up to see the stranger's face. She immediately saw a warm smile, bright green eyes and a … lightning bolt scar?
"Harry!" she breathed, shocked beyond belief. Not wanting him to see her blush, which she was positive was about to happen any moment, she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Her world seemed to stop. Had she just been flirting with Harry? What must he think of her? She looked around wildly, not fully comprehending what was happening. Oh, this was embarrassing. Would he tell her mother about this?
She heard a large cheer from across the room. The outside world seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil, and she realized she had to say something. Satisfied that her face was not rivaling her hair color, she let go and stepped away. Hoping her smile looked natural, she said, "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"
"I've been doing well. You look great by the way," he smiled and reached out, rubbing his hand along her upper arm.
Slightly unnerved by his attention, she turned to Luna. "Harry, you remember Luna Lovegood from Hogwarts."
"Of course," he said, removing his hand from her arm and extending it toward the other woman. "What are you two ladies doing here tonight?"
Ginny smiled and waited for Luna to not so subtly dismiss Harry, as this was usually the point in conversation when she had done so with the others.
Instead, Luna smiled widely at Harry and said, "I am actually here on business. I'm meeting with a potential advertiser and asked Ginny to keep me company. Unfortunately I think she is extremely bored."
"Is that so?" he asked, shooting Ginny a hopeful look.
Ginny stared uncomprehendingly at her friend for another moment before turning to Harry. "It seems I am more of a writer than a business woman. Give me a story and let others worry about all the rest!" she laughed, hoping she sounded convincing. But her mind was reeling. iHarry? Harry! She wants me to date Harry?/i
"Well then, Luna, would you mind if I stole Ginny for the evening? I would love to catch up with her. Like she said, it's been ages."
"Not at all, I suspect the person I am meeting to be here shortly. You two have fun."
Ginny's eyes snapped from Harry to Luna. She couldn't be serious. Luna was known for being a bit unconventional, but this was too much, even for her. She narrowed her eyes at her friend and asked, "Are you sure? You were quite adamant about me coming with you tonight."
"All things happen for a reason," Luna replied wistfully. "It seems the fates wanted me to bring you here so you could meet up with Harry."
"Well, if you're sure…"
"Great!" Harry interrupted. "It was nice seeing you again, Luna."
With his arm on the small of her back, Harry steered her away from her friend, through the crowds, and towards the exit. "You don't mind if we go somewhere else, do you? I'm starving and this place is a bit stuffy for me."
Nodding mutely, Ginny let him guide her. She still wasn't sure what was happening or what she had gotten herself into.
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"To be honest," Ginny said, cutting a piece of her roasted chicken, "I was quite relieved when you stopped playing."
She paused briefly to take a bit of her food and continued to talk about Harry's short-lived professional Quidditch career. After two seasons of playing with the Tornados, he gave up the position of Seeker for a job within the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He told her family that much as he enjoyed playing, he was tired of his life being on display and in the spotlight. The press would always have an interest in what he was doing, but having a career that involved fame and interviews was too much for him.
The two ended up at The Leaky Cauldron for a late dinner and had begun talking about what they had been doing since leaving Hogwarts. Harry was nervous when leaving the other restaurant. He wasn't yet used the idea that he was finally going to act on his feelings for Ginny. And it was even more surreal now that she sat there across from him looking more enticing than ever.
Well, he was painfully aware of that now.
It had taken him nearly twenty minutes to find the courage to walk over to Ginny. In that time, he watched as four different men approached her. It was like a horrible accident where he wanted to look away but just couldn't. He watched as she laughed, and flirted, and brushed hands with each of them. And then, inexplicably, after all of that, they left.
It didn't help when he and Ginny were saying goodbye to Luna that his eyes caught his friends still at their table. When they saw him put his arm on her back, they sent him thumbs up, winks, and started pumping their fists; not to mention the cheers they let out when Ginny hugged him.
Despite his friends' congratulations, he wasn't feeling too confident. After he went up to Ginny, things started to go amazingly well. That was, until she turned around and saw who it was she was flirting with. Even when they had left the place, she was very quiet. But now, to his relief, they sat here eating and talking like old friends. Any other day he would have been happy to reminisce with Ginny over dinner, but tonight he did not want to be seen as merely a friend, or worse…a brother.
"Don't get me wrong," she continued, gesturing animatedly with her fork, "I love Quidditch – always have – but after all the injuries we had during school, it was enough for me. I mean, I've only been to one professional game – you remember that, The World Cup right before my third year? Ireland versus Bulgaria? Then again, you never did give me those free tickets to one of your games like you promised. The professionals were even rougher than Slytherins. If you played for much longer you would have ended up like Ludo Bagman, several broken arms and way too many Bludgers to the head!"
Ginny seemed blissfully unaware of Harry's mental state. He surreptitiously wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers, cursing himself for being so nervous. He had to try to do something to let her know that he was interested in her as more than a friend, but it wasn't that easy. If it had been, then he might have done something years ago like he had always wanted to. He tried brushing his leg up against hers earlier but she was just so fidgety that when they touched, she apologized and kept talking. He needed to be more direct. Trying again, he seized his opportunity when she rested her glass down on the table.
Leaning forward, placed his hand on top of hers, halting her movements and her speech. "I'm such a prat, Ginny," he spoke softly and looked directly into her eyes, ignoring the bile rising in his throat. "I really wish you could have gone to one of my games. I don't know why I never gave you those tickets. I meant to."
And he did. At least he did at the time. He had just finished his rookie season for the Tornados and was over at The Burrow for his birthday. Harry remembered that night well. Ginny had just graduated Hogwarts earlier that summer and he hadn't seen her since December. They fell into an easy conversation with Ron and Hermione for most of the night before she declared that it was past her bedtime. Desperate to keep her there for at least a minute longer, he had shouted at her retreating form, saying he had to tell her about her birthday present. He had promised her tickets to one of next season's games, but he'd have to Owl them to her since he was leaving in a few days to go to training camp.
It wasn't until he was lying in bed that night that he stopped to consider that promise. If he knew that Ginny was in the stands, he was almost guaranteed to lose. The notion of her there watching the game - watching ihim/i – was too much for him to handle. He never Owled her any tickets. She never asked why he didn't send them.
But now, sitting across the table from him she appeared startled by his comment. He waited with bated breath for her response, his gaze unwavering on her warm brown eyes. After a moment, she began to remove her hand from underneath his. He felt his heart drop; this wasn't supposed to happen. Bugger, this was why he never did anything before. Seamus was such a pillock! He was about to bring his hand back to his side of the table when a small smile crossed her face. Her delicate hand covered his larger one and gave it an affectionate squeeze.
"That's alright, Harry. It's just…I remember how much you enjoyed playing at Hogwarts. It'd have been nice to see you on a professional pitch."
They stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Ginny cleared her throat and looked away. She removed her hand from his and took another sip of her drink.
"So you go to The Merlin's Club often?" she asked when she finally looked at him again.
He held back a sigh. This might be harder than he expected. Seamus must have been right; his luck with women was probably due to his name and little else. But she was sitting here having dinner with him. It could be worse, right? At least she didn't run away in fright.
Harry forced a smile. "Yeah, well it's not my favorite place. I only go there because the people think so highly of themselves that they wouldn't dare act like fans. You won't find anyone in there asking for autographs from 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'."
Either the fates had a twisted sense of humor or he had to learn not to speak so loud. As he finished talking, Harry heard the all too familiar sound of giggling. He quickly scanned the room and found the source.
A group of six witches had spotted him and were busy whispering breathlessly and sneaking glances over at his table. What was worse was that their excitement caught the attention of other patrons.
Biting back a curse, Harry excused himself from a very confused Ginny and made his way to the bar. After he got the bartender's attention, he shoved more than enough money in his hand, thanked him and bid him goodbye.
"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny looked at him, her eyes still clouded with confusion and a bit of worry.
"We've been spotted," he explained, nodding his head towards the women.
Ginny leaned sideways to glance around Harry. Smiling she looked back up at him, her eyes dancing. "What a poor life you lead. You can't even get a decent meal without being mauled by admirers."
"Ginny!" Harry whined, trying to hide a smile. "You've never seen them in action. They're terrifying." Chancing a glance backwards, he saw that they were searching for quills. "Have you ever been to my flat?" he asked hurriedly.
"No."
"Damn!" He gave Ginny a short, calculating look before asking, "Do you trust me?"
"What? Why?"
"Just answer. Do you trust me?"
She looked flustered at his demand. "Oh, um, yes," she stuttered, then looking at him, she repeated more firmly, "Yes, Harry, of course I trust you."
"Good." He pulled her off her seat and towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and brought his lips down to her ear. "Because I need you to trust me when I do this."
Before she could ask what he meant, he closed his eyes and Apparated them back to his flat.
Before Ginny knew what was happening, The Leaky Cauldron and the ground had disappeared. The familiar sensations of Apparating washed over her and when she opened her eyes, she found herself looking at a pair of startling green ones.
Mentally shaking herself, she stepped away from Harry and looked around what she assumed was his flat. She could tell a bachelor definitely lived here, sparsely decorated with mismatched furniture; something she assumed was a result from lack of effort and caring--not lack of funds. There was a bit of clutter, several old editions of newspapers and empty Butterbeer bottles. But despite that, it was still somehow warm and inviting. He had a good amount of photos scattered around the room. Hedwig sat in her perch in the far corner of the room. Seeing the older owl was strangely comforting.
"Sorry about all that," Harry interrupted her scrutiny. He was standing in the middle of the room, scratching the back of his head. "Those witches are crazy. The whole lot of them."
She looked at him, cocking her head to one side; he really did seem afraid of those girls. Deciding not to tease him she just commented, "It's not a problem. Just make sure to give a girl warning before Apparating her!"
At least he had the decency to look sheepish. "Again, I'm sorry." But then he smiled tentatively and walked closer to her. When he reached her he asked, "Is all of you here? We don't want bits of Ginny all over the country."
He put both hands on her shoulders, sliding them down to her hands. "Let's see, two shoulders, two elbows…all ten fingers." He let go of her hands and moved them up to the sides of her face. Gently, he pushed aside her hair.
Ginny watched, transfixed and immobile. What was he doing? She struggled to gain control of her breathing, which was becoming increasingly shallower and had to drop her bottom lip a bit to allow more air to her lungs. She almost gasped and her eyelids threatened to close, feeling heavy, when he ran the pads of his thumbs over the rims of her ears all the while staring into her eyes mumbling something about two ears. Instead she just sighed and her eyes fluttered for a brief moment.
The sensations were overwhelming, making her hypersensitive to everything that was Harry. The feel of his hands on the sides of her face, the smell of his soap, the sight of his endearingly messy hair, the sound of her heart beating in her ears. She licked her lips, parting them slightly.
Harry's eyes widened and followed the tip of her tongue. She wasn't certain but she could have sworn she felt him moving closer.
"Where's your loo?" she squeaked. She knew she had chickened out, but she needed time to think – to breathe.
Harry, who was still staring at her lips, looked up. He looked startled and jumped away from her as if she had burned him, but quickly smiled, although it seemed a bit uneasy. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and then pointed behind her. "Around that corner, first door on the left."
"Thanks." She hurried out of the room.
Closing the door, she leaned up against it, taking a deep breath. She stayed there for a full minute, shutting her eyes while her head, back, and palms pressed against the door as she waited for her breathing to return to normal.
Pacing the length of the bathroom, Ginny forced herself to think things through. She hadn't been able to think clearly ever since saying goodbye to Luna. Fortunately, by the time they arrived at The Leaky Cauldron she found her voice. So she started talking about anything and everything that came into her head.
Could she really do this? Date Harry? It wouldn't technically be dating would it? It was more of an experiment really. And was he interested in her now? If he had shown interest in her when she was twelve, she would have fainted. Even if it happened five years ago, she might have jumped on him and snogged him senseless. What had gotten into him?
She had to admit to herself that if she wasn't doing this article, she wouldn't be completely opposed to dating him. After all, she didn't have a crush on him during school for nothing. She might have even been in the right mind to flirt back with him instead of running away and hiding in the bathroom. But no, she had to be doing this damn article.
And him! What nerve! He decided to make a move now, after more than ten years of knowing each other?
Oh no. They had known each other for ten years.
Ginny half sat, half collapsed on the edge of the tub, a strangled moan escaping her lips. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. This completely ruined her strategy. Everything she had planned depended on the guy not knowing her all that well. Especially not someone who was her brother's and sister-in-law's best friend, not someone who spent his teenage summers at her house, and definitely not someone who'd seen her first thing in the morning, still in her pajamas with a terrible case of bed head.
No, she needed a guy – a subject – who was unfamiliar with her. Someone not used to how she acted so they wouldn't notice her behaving out of the ordinary. She needed someone who could be easily intimidated by her six older brothers.
She couldn't believe she had gotten herself into this situation. Here she was sitting in Harry's bathroom after he had blatantly made a pass at her. Now she was expected to start dating him – the same man who was the object of her childhood fantasies. On top of that, once she started dating him, she had to convince him she was a lunatic and make him break up with her, thus practically guaranteeing to make all future family functions incredibly awkward.
Sighing, she pushed herself off her perch on the bathtub. She was starting to feel tired, which was not surprising since she had gone from nervous, to angry, to horrified, to frustrated in a matter of minutes. Who wouldn't feel emotionally drained? Still, she realized she had been in here for far longer than normal. Quickly, she checked in the mirror to see if the curling charm on her hair had worn off. Satisfied with her appearance, she turned to leave, pausing briefly at the door. For now she would just worry about starting a relationship and figure out the rest later.
Walking back to Harry, she couldn't help but smile. In the time she was gone, he had attempted to clean up. The papers were stacked neatly, the bottles were nowhere to be seen, and he even had the WWN playing softly in the background.
He was standing near a bookshelf where a cluster of picture frames resided, and seemed to be examining one closely. She tried to get a peek at it, but he looked up when he heard her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. He shifted uncomfortably and quickly crossed to where she was standing, effectively blocking the pictures from her view.
Shaking her hair behind her shoulders and squaring them, Ginny tried to exude confidence she didn't have. She took hold of his hand and led him around the couch and sat, crossing her legs in a way she knew would make the hem of her dress rise. She wasn't worried about appearing too inappropriate. The length of the dress was modest; ending just at the knees; raising it a bit couldn't hurt.
"I was beginning to think you went in there just to Apparate out on me," he joked but she could see the uncertainty in his eyes.
"Oh, well," she replied airily, "I was busy going through all your private belongings. I had to make sure there weren't any deep dark secrets I should know about. You know, bad habits, ointments for nasty ailments – that sort of thing. "
He raised his eyebrows at her. "Did you find anything interesting? Do I pass?"
"I don't know," she teased, tilting her heat to one side, "I'm still waiting on that résumé."
"I guess I'll just have to get my people to send your people all the parchment work. In the meantime," he said, turning away from her. When he faced Ginny again he was holding two glasses. "How about some wine?"
"That would be lovely, thank you."
After taking a sip, she placed the glass down on the table nearest her and looked at Harry. "Do you mind?" she asked, gesturing to her feet. "My shoes are killing me."
"Not at all," he answered politely, settling into the couch a bit more. "Make yourself comfortable."
Angling herself to the perfect position, Ginny leaned forward. Grabbing the heel of one of her shoes, she knew full well that the scoop neck of her dress would fall forward, providing Harry with an excellent view. She had to duck her head even more to hide her smile when she heard him suck in his breath in surprise. Typical male.
Shoes off, she sat up and made a show of tucking her feet underneath to get comfortable but was really moving closer to him. She realized that while she was attending to her shoes, Harry had stretched both arms along the back of the couch, conveniently positioning his arm right behind her.
"Much better," she sighed, trying to catch his eye. Unfortunately, he was still fixed on her neckline.
"Harry…"
"Mmm?"
"My eyes are up here." She grinned, trying not to roll her eyes at his behavior.
His head jerked up, but instead of looking her in the eye he studied the contents of his glass.
Taking another sip of her wine, she commented, "You have a lovely place. Did you hire a decorator?"
Surprised by her comment, he looked around himself. "Thanks! Actually I didn't…." He frowned when he saw her biting her lip to keep from laughing. "Shut it, you. I happen to like it."
Able to let her laugh out now and glad the uncomfortable moment had passed, she bounced up on the couch, testing it out. "It's comfy enough, even if it doesn't match."
"What do you expect from a guy living on his own?" he huffed with a fake pout.
"Really, Harry! Where did you get this stuff? Somebody leave it on the side of the road?" she laughed more, resting her forehead on his shoulder.
When she looked up she realized how close they were. They were merely inches apart, angled towards each other with Harry's arm resting on the back of the couch. Being so close, she was able to see all the different flecks of green in his darker-than-usual eyes. She glanced down at his lips, seeing they were still in an adorable fake pout.
Breaking her gaze, she reached over to pick up her glass. "So tell me how you actually decorated this place. Please tell me Ron didn't help, though I wouldn't be surprised."
This time around, she didn't find the conversation as strained. It was comfortable sitting here with Harry – whose arm was subtly inching its way away from the cushions and towards her shoulders.
A glass of wine later for each of them, their conversation came to a bit of a lull. Sneaking a sideways glance at Harry, she found him looking at her. Turning her head fully towards him, she saw that once again Harry's eyes were lingering on her lips.
She wasn't sure who moved, but somehow their lips were gently pressing together and her eyes fluttered closed. She pulled back slightly to gauge his reaction. He looked shocked — as if he was also trying to figure out what had happened. Before she could start to worry, a small smile appeared on his lips. She was barely able to return it before he swiftly closed the gap, this time pressing their lips together more firmly.
Either he was an abnormally good kisser or she hadn't had a decent snog in a long time. She wasn't sure what it was about the kiss, but there was something that was iright/i.Heat traveled down from their connected lips and she hummed softly as he gently pulled on her bottom lip with his teeth. Feeling the need for more contact, she slid her hand up his front, resting it on his cheek, cupping it. He removed his arm from the back of the couch and placed it on the back of her neck, tangling his hand in her curly locks while the other snaked around her back, pulling her closer to him.
Soon the kiss became more intense and she found herself being pushed back on the couch as he lay partly on top of her. She ran her hands through his hair, adding to the messiness of it. Both pleased and surprised by its softness, she continued to massage his scalp. She tugged on a bit of it and smiled into his mouth when he gasped. Taking advantage of his open mouth, she ran her tongue in between his parted lips. His response was eager. Eventually they broke apart, breathing heavily against one another.
"Ginny…" he breathed, his eyes focused on her lips. They were swollen and red from their kisses and parted to accommodate her panted breaths.
"Yes?"
Instead of answering, he began kissing her again with renewed enthusiasm. She ran her hands along his back, tracing patterns with fingers, enjoying the way he shivered under her ministrations.
He pulled his lips away from hers and she felt like crying out in protest. Trailing soft butterfly kisses along her jaw line he found a sensitive spot behind her right ear, causing her to gasp in response.
Encouraged by her reaction he focused his attention on that area. Her head fell to the side exposing more of her neck to him, her eyes shutting as the sensations washed over her. She could get used to this.
At that thought, her eyes flew open, surprised that she had allowed herself to lose control like this.
"Harry," she whispered. She raised her shaking hand to stroke his hair.
"Hmm?" he murmured against her neck, the sound vibrating against her pulse point, causing her to forget what she wanted to say. iNo/i. She couldn't do this. She was wrong. She wasn't this strong. This wasn't some wizard she met at a pub. This was Harry. iHarry/i. The boy who had saved her when she was eleven and spent summers at her house. The friend who cared more about the ones he loved than himself. The wizard who gave everything he had and expected nothing in return. This was the man who she…
No, she definitely couldn't do this.
Suddenly, everything was too much. Harry's body lying on top of her was a crushing her. It was hard to breathe and it wasn't because his kissing talents.
Her eyes looked around wildly. She had to get out of there. First thing in the morning she'd track down Luna and tell her this was one big mistake. She bit back a gasp of shock when she felt his hand caressing her calf. For now, she'd find a way to get out of here and fix this mess.
Taking control of the situation, she cupped his face and gently dragged his head away from hers.
"That was, um, nice," she said, biting her lip.
"Yeah." He smiled back at her, his voice breathless and his eyes a bit glazed. His hair was even out of control than normal and glasses lay crooked on his face. What was she thinking? Her stomach dropped as she watched as his smile faded into a serious expression and his eyes drifted back down to her lips. Ginny knew that if she wasn't physically keeping them apart with her hands he would be kissing her again.
He couldn't suspect something was wrong. She thanked the stars that she grew up with the twins. "Well then, good night, Harry." She gave him two quick pats on the cheek and looked up at him with what she hoped was an innocent smile.
He frowned and his eyebrows came together in confusion. His hand that was now on the back of her right thigh halted its movement. "What?"
"It's late and I really should be getting home. Which," she looked down at where their bodies were pressed together, "is kind of hard to do with you still lying on top of me."
"Oh right…right, of course," he mumbled. He sat up and ran his hand through his hair, blowing out a long breath.
After she put her shoes back on, they both stood up facing each other with expectant looks. An awkward silent moment passed before Ginny let out a small laugh and shook her head.
"Thank you, Harry, for rescuing me from what was sure to be an extremely boring night."
"Er, right…"
They stared at each other again, and Ginny fought the urge to fidget. She was just about say something when Harry spoke.
"Do you plan on having a boring afternoon tomorrow?"
"Excuse me?"
"I was thinking that if you were, I could rescue you again and maybe have lunch together."
Ginny bit her lip and considered her options. She always had lunch with Luna. Tomorrow would be a perfect opportunity to kill – correction, talk to – her friend about the mess she had put Ginny in.
"Hermione always said you had a saving people thing," Ginny attempted a feeble joke. "You're making a habit out of rescuing me."
"If anyone deserves a knight in shining armor, it's you, Ginny," Harry insisted. She could see the sincerity in his eyes.
She forced a smile, ignoring the bile rising in her throat. "I have to discuss next month's issue with Luna then," she apologized. She felt terrible as the light dimmed slightly in his eyes and heard herself adding, "But how about after work?"
Where did that come from?
He smiled a bit, realizing she hadn't brushed him off. "I think I can cancel some prior arrangements – in fact I know I can. I'll send you an owl tomorrow."
She hesitated a moment before she moved closer and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Harry," she whispered before slipping out the door.
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Harry flopped onto the couch, resting his head on the back. What a turn tonight had taken. In fact, everything that had happened this evening was unexpected. If someone had told him this morning that he would be sitting here trying to calm his body's reactions because of having an intense snog with Ginny Weasley, he would have said their fortune telling abilities rivaled that of Sybill Trelawney. He still wouldn't have believed it if he had been told that just an hour ago.
When they had arrived back to his flat, he had been even more nervous, but he was determined to make his intentions clear. The feel of her body against his when he Apparated them had almost done him in, and her running away to the bathroom after he had worked up enough nerve to kiss her hadn't helped his faltering courage. He wasn't kidding when he had said that he thought she had Apparated out without saying goodbye. Before she left the room, she had a scared look on her face, making him think he had ruined everything – including their friendship.
Harry couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation. Usually he was worried about women – fans – sneaking iinto/i his apartment, not one sneaking out. When she finally did come back, he wasn't sure what to do, thinking that even offering her wine would be too forward.
Standing up, he Banished the glasses back to the kitchen. Seeing the rumpled state of his couch brought back images of what he had been doing earlier. He didn't even try to bite back a groan as remembered how carried away he had gotten. If Ginny hadn't stopped him, he was certain he wouldn't have. That could have completely ruined his plans. If they had slept together, she might have brushed it off as a one night stand. No. That was definitely not what he wanted her to think. He would have to take things slower, starting with planning a date for the next evening.
Who would have thought a stupid bet with Seamus Finnegan was the push he needed to pursue a relationship with the girl he pined after since he was sixteen?
Harry smiled to himself.
"I am one lucky guy."
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Ginny paused outside Harry's flat, leaning against the wall for support as she gasped for breath. She could still feel the warmth of Harry's hands and how her body had responded eagerly to his kisses.
She shook her head in an attempt to clear it.
What had she done?
She had to go.
With one glance back at the door, Ginny fled.