Dinner was going swimmingly. If you asked Ginny, that is.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had chattered inanely in the living room until a ding sounded from within the kitchen.
"Sounds like dinner is ready guys, let's go eat," said Harry, and he lead them to the kitchen where a divine smell was wafting out of the oven.
Now, two hours later, the party is in full swing. Harry made a lovely homemade lasagne with Caesar salad and cheesy garlic bread. Predictably, Ron dug in with his usual gusto and Harry poured the wine while talking to a smiling Hermione.
Ginny realized that the awkwardness she now felt around Harry was not going to go away on its own, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. Or glass in this case.
Two hours and eight glasses of wine later…
"Hey Harry," Ginny slurred, "Do you remember when we went to the village to get mum some milk, and she had to send Ron to find us cuz we were taking so long? Do ya remember? Ron found us on the hill! I think he needed therapy after seeing THAT one!"
Ginny's drunken behaviour was passing disorderly and moving quickly into inappropriate. Ron was looking horrified, like he was re-living some horrible past experience (which he probably was. Seeing your best friend and little sister naked together can do that). Hermione looked disapproving and Harry just looked… well, actually, he looked vaguely amused.
Unfortunately, Ginny couldn't seem to stop herself.
"Come here lover boy," she slurred, plonking down onto Harry's lap. "Let's show Ron what it was really like, before he intruded."
"GINNY!" thundered Hermione.
Harry chuckled and gently guided Ginny back to her seat before she could cause any serious damage.
"Well guys, looks like Ginny won't be apparating home tonight. Are you guys alright to go home?"
Ron nodded, looking a little green, and Hermione glowered in agreement.
"Okay then. Ginny, stay here, I'm going to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione and I'll be back in a second to deal with you." Here he let a small frown cross his lips.
"Are you sure about this Harry?" Hermione asks Harry as they walk down the hallway to the front door.
It was around that time that the alcohol really got to Ginny and she passed out face-first on the kitchen table without hearing Harry's reply...
oOo
Ginny's first thought upon waking was that her head was going to explode. It felt like it had been run over by a hippogriff and then been pecked at by Errol for a few hours.
Then Ginny became acutely aware that someone was petting her. More specifically her hair. Ginny opened her eyes, turning over quickly and setting her head pounding violently and the room spinning.
"Whoa, careful Ginny."
She froze.
This wasn't her room, but she knew exactly whose it was. Green duvet, white lamp, bare walls…
"Harry! What am I doing in your bed?!" Ginny screeches, sitting up so fast she feels nauseous.
"Well, you were sleeping…" he says. "Now, you're awake and screeching, plus you look like you might throw up on my blankets."
This prediction turned out to be nearly spot on. Not five seconds after Harry finished talking Ginny vomited over the edge of the high bed.
Harry vanishes it with a flick of his wand, paying it no mind.
"Since when have you been so comfortable with vomit?" Ginny groans, remembering when she had been sick several summers ago at the Burrow. That time Harry had barely been able to sit by her bed for five minutes before he had to rush out of the room, stumbling and gagging from the proclamation that Ginny was merely feeling nauseous.
"You get used to it when you're constantly holding back you're dates hair while they throw up the massive amounts of alcohol they had before, during, and after dinner," he says wryly, more as a statement of fact than anything.
Ginny ponders this but when the thinking makes her alcohol-soaked brain hurt she gives up. Ginny leans back against the half-dozen fluffy pillows behind her and closes her eyes.
Suddenly, a terrible gut feeling makes her open her eyes with a snap.
"Harry," Ginny asks apprehensively, "What exactly happened last night…?"
To her mortification and curiosity Harry's cheeks turn a bright scarlet and he refuses to meet her eyes.
"Oh, nothing really," he says.
Ginny knows him much better than this however, and she instinctively knows something is amiss.
"Harry…" Ginny says warningly.
He avoids Ginny's stern look (which is rapidly increasing her headache).
"Harry, I know you much better than that, you can't fool me with your avoidance," Ginny snaps, getting frustrated with his untruthfulness.
Harry turns to her then, a hard look in his eyes.
"I'm not trying to fool you Ginny. I was hoping you would just let it go," he retorts, equally annoyed.
"Why would I let it go? It's obvious you're hiding something from me, and I want to know what it is." Ginny uses her most forceful tone on him, remembering how it made him break back when they were together. Obviously time hasn't changed much because something snaps behind his eyes and he turns to face her with a look somewhere between a snarl and a grimace.
"Fine Ginny," he starts in a low voice that is both reluctant and deadly, "Do you want to know what happened? Do you really want to remember it? Because I sure wish I could forget."
After a short stare down, Harry breaks eye contact and looks down at the floor.
"Fine," he says bitterly, "Your choice…"
A/N
This is being posted early because I got over 500 views! Please don't forget to review thought :)
P.S. The milk story is a one-shot of mine if you want to read it. It's called Beginning Life with a Wish.
~summerlovin'