Chapter Seven
Memories
Harry and Ginny were supposed to stay in the Hospital Wing for the rest of Monday, and part of Tuesday. Madam Pomfrey always made a big fuss over her patients, but in this case, Healer Mandler agreed with her that they should stay for observation. In the mean time, McGonagall had contacted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to let them know what had happened. It wasn't usual for parents to visit their children in the Hospital Wing, however, this was a special case and, although it wasn't ethical, the two sitting in the beds were some of McGonagall's favorite. It was about an hour before dinner when Mrs. Weasley came barging through the door, Mr. Weasley following calmly behind. Mrs. Weasley ran towards Harry and Ginny, giving each of them a hug in turn.
"Oh, I'm so sorry dears!" Mrs. Weasley cried as she let go of Harry, "At first we thought you were alright because of what Ron said but then when we heard from McGonagall we couldn't get here until today and-"
"Mum, mum!" Ginny said cutting off Mrs. Weasley from her endless ramble. "It's fine, we're fine!"
"I'm glad to see you two are alright," Mr. Weasley said, stepping up and putting his arm around Mrs. Weasley, comforting her.
"Thanks," Harry and Ginny said together. After Mrs. Weasley doubled and tripled checked that the two were okay, Healer Mandler came back in to check up on his patients. He also informed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley of what had happened to their daughter and her boyfriend. As he explained, Mrs. Weasley's face held a variety of emotion, from relief, to fear, and sadness. Mr. Weasley sat there, his face stoic as he took it all in. It wasn't until Mrs. Weasley croaked out a sob that he moved to comfort her. Although Ginny was okay, it was far to close of a call for Mrs. Weasley. She had already lost one child that year, she didn't want to lose another. Ginny slowly got up and walked over to her mother. She rapped her arms around her mother and buried her head in her shoulder.
"I'm okay mum, I'm fine, I'm right here," Ginny whispered.
The next afternoon, Harry and Ginny were released from the Hospital Wing and were excused from classes for the rest of the day as they had already missed half of them. They sneaked up to Harry's office to pass the day together. It wasn't very hard for them to get there unnoticed considering everyone was in classes or out by the lake if they had a free period. Once they got to Harry's office he gave the gargoyle his password and the two entered. The walls of the office were painted two colors: red and gold, Gryffindor colors. Ginny noticed the pictures Harry had, on the mantle of the fire there was a picture of his parents, and the D.A. There was also pictures of the Weasley's plus Harry, Hermione, and Fleur, one of Harry, Ron and Hermione, another Harry and Hagrid, finally one of Ginny and Harry, and one of just Ginny. Ginny went to sit on Harry's desk chair as Harry ignited the candles to give the room light. She put her feet on his bed and looked over to the picture on his desk, there was only one. It was of Harry and Ginny after the war on Ginny's birthday. In the picture they were smiling at the camera then turn to each other, thinking the picture taker had left, and kissed. Harry vividly remembered that day...
August Eleventh
Harry was in his room, finishing getting dressed for Ginny's birthday. He looked nice, but not over the top fancy since it was just a day in at the Burrow. He tried to flatten down his hair, knowing he wouldn't succeed but tired, nonetheless. After about a minute of fruitless attempts, he left his room and headed to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was already up and putting the finishing touches on Ginny's birthday breakfast as she hummed to herself. She turned around as Harry walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, Harry!" She exclaimed, "I'm glad you're up. You can bring Ginny her breakfast!"
"Of course Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied taking the tray and heading right back up the stairs.
"Thank you dear," she called out after him.
He quietly opened her door and shut it behind him then set the tray down on the desk in the room. Harry tipped-toes over to her bed in order to wake her up. He sat down on her bed and gently ran his fingers up and down her bare arm. "Gin, Gin, it's time to wake up," Harry cooed. He watched as her eyes flutter open and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "Morning," he said with a smile.
"Mmm, morning," she replied and leaned in to kiss him again, before flirtatiously adding "I like waking up that way."
"I bet you do," he laughed. "Happy birthday!"
Ginny's face lit up as she pulled Harry down for yet another kiss. This kiss was more passionate, and longer, causing Ginny moan. Harry deepen the kiss by moving one of his hands from her hair to her lower back. The kiss grew more frantic and before they knew it Harry's shirt was laying on the floor. They were both caught up in the moment of each other, not wanting it to end. But it wasn't too long before Harry finally came back to reality. He realized where they were and who else was in the house.
"Gin, Gin," Harry said after he pulled away, out of breath, "We gotta stop."
She nodded as they caught their breath. After they were breathing normally, Ginny kissed Harry once more. "Thanks," she whispered.
"For what?"
"Making my birthday already pretty great."
They both laughed as Harry got up from her bed to retrieve his shirts that were discarded on the floor. Once his shirt was on he turned to the breakfast he brought up. "Um, your mum had me bring you breakfast."
"Oh, oh yeah, I better eat that so mum doesn't have a fit," she replied. After she ate quickly, Harry brought the empty tray down to Mrs. Weasley while Ginny got dressed. Later that night, once everyone had arrived, the party started with some dancing, talking and eating. When the sun fell, they bewitched lanterns that had either 'Ginny', or '17' on them, so they would fly. They had cake and Ginny opened all of her gifts except one; Harry's.
Harry whispered in her ear, "I wanted to give you your gift in privet."
"Oh, Harry you didn't have to get me anything," Ginny said as she took his hand he offered and followed him away from everyone else.
"I know, I know but I wanted too, and please just let me spoil you a little, okay?" Harry paused as Ginny nodded, then he handed her the gift. As she took off the wrapping paper Harry glanced over at the trees. For a split second he thought he saw something move but pushed it to the back of his mind because Ginny had gotten the wrapping paper off.
As Ginny opened it she gasped, "oh Harry! It's beautiful! Can you put it on me?" In the box lay a silver necklace with six small charms and one big one. The six small ones that were all silver were: a Quaffle, the Gryffindor Crest, the Weasley Crest, a wand, an owl, and a heart. While the big gold one which was in the center of all of them was a lightning bolt. Harry took the necklace out of the box as Ginny turned around so he could put it on her. Once it was on Ginny turned back around with a grin that couldn't get any bigger.
"Happy birthday love," Harry said right before Ginny closed the gap between them. Their lips moved simultaneously. No other person in the world mattered to them but the other. They were also oblivious about the fact that the music had stopped playing and everyone was watching the two people who, they all knew, were in love. Nobody noticed the other person, who had not been invited to the party, watching the two. The person was lurking in the shadows of the trees, not wanting to be noticed and left before the two broke apart.
When Harry and Ginny broke apart, there was several wolf whistles from the guests and the couple blushed deeply. Once everyone had gone back to their drinks and conversations Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came up to get a picture of the two. When Mrs. Weasley saw Ginny's necklace she gaped over it, "it's beautiful dear!" She said before saying, "here let's get a picture of you two," Mr. Weasley held up the camera and took the picture. The two older Weasley's decided to let the two talk and left them.
The necklace Harry had gave Ginny, she was currently wearing. Ginny wore it all the time, even if it just lay hidden under her shirt. Harry came over and sat down by her. All they did was talk until dinner. They talked about the curse and the attack at Hogsmeade but kept it light. Their conversation went on and they switched topics again and again. Harry loved the fact that Ginny was so honest which just proved the fact that Harry wanted to marry Ginny.
