The days passed quickly after that, too quickly in Harry and Ginny's opinion. Soon it was the night before Ginny's return to Hogwarts for her final year. Neither of them was happy about the idea of being separated for so long but they had agreed that Ginny should complete her education. Ginny had Apparated over to Grimmauld Place for a romantic candlelit dinner that Harry had prepared, with a great deal of help from Kreacher, and eventually they found themselves on one of the couches in the parlor. Curled around each other and talking in whispers, Ginny realized she and Harry were, for the first time in a very long time, completely alone in the immense house.
Ron and Hermione had headed off for George's flat over the store, supposedly cleaning it so that George could move back in the following week. Ginny rather doubted that her brother and his girlfriend were cleaning considering the very fetching outfit that Hermione had been wearing when the couple left. It was good to see Ron and Hermione finally together after so many years of longing for each other silently. Of course Ginny still felt that Ron should have stepped up much sooner but it was the end result that mattered in the end.
Lavender was also out for the evening. Neville had dropped by shortly after Ginny arrived to pick Lavender up for their first official date. They had of course seen each other almost every day since admitting their feelings for each other at Ginny's birthday celebration. Tonight however was to be the very first time that she and Neville had gone out in public together. He had arrived at the door looking very handsome with a single red rose in his hand. After a rather intense snogging session between himself and Lavender, they had been off for a long night of dinner and dancing in Muggle London.
If you were to ask Harry, he was happy with the way things had turned out for all of his housemates. Ron and Hermione were perfect for each other and had been probably from the first moment they met. Harry could still remember that first day on the Hogwarts Express when Hermione had wanted to see Ron perform a bit of magic. The real magic had been the fact that ever since that day, Harry had known deep down that Ron and Hermione were meant for each other, even if he had not really been able to express it back then. Of course if he walked in on them in the bath together one more time, he felt sure he was going to be sick. There were just some things he did not want to know about his friends' private lives.
Then there was Neville and Lavender. If ever there were two people that Harry had never in a million years thought would end up madly in love with each other, then it was those two. To the amazement of everyone around, Neville had become the type of person that people looked up to and respected. Harry had talked with Neville about all the things that Neville had suffered while Harry was finding the last of the Horcruxes. The fact that Neville kept saying that he only did what he knew Harry would have done in the same circumstances made Harry slightly embarrassed. That Neville had just great respect for Harry was both flattering and in Harry's opinion, rather misplaced. Harry felt that if anyone should be respected for his actions, it was Neville.
Lavender seemed to agree with Harry. The fact that Neville had rescued her had been the start of her attraction to him but it had been his actions that caused her to fall in love with him. Neville's growing confidence had given him the courage to put his feelings into words and now they were madly in love with each other. The way that they looked at each other was so raw and yet so tender at the same time. Between her relationship with Neville and the counselor she was seeing at St. Mungo's, Lavender was making great strides towards finding true happiness in her life again. Harry would be very surprised if they were not already talking about marriage and children for some day in the very near future.
"Mr. Potter," Ginny said nibbling on Harry's earlobe. "Your mind is wandering from what you should really be paying attention to."
"Well how rude of me," was Harry's immediate response as he ran a finger lightly over Ginny's thigh.
"Yes it is," sighed Ginny with a slight shiver at Harry's touch. "You had better do something about it, right now."
"Oh I plan on it, Gin," Harry said as he pulled Ginny down to the floor in front of the fireplace and lost himself in her lips.
It was several hours later when he heard the front door open as Lavender sneaked upstairs with Neville that Harry finally roused himself from a peaceful doze. Ginny was laying next to him with her head resting on his chest, looking absolutely beautiful with the firelight dancing on her face and hair. He would have given anything to stay there like that but he knew that if he did not get Ginny home soon, Mrs. Weasley would come looking for her daughter.
"Gin," Harry whispered as he ran a finger down her bare back causing her to stretch like a cat against him.
"Please tell me it's not time already," she said looking up at him with her best pouty face.
"Sorry, Gin," was all he could say looking into her eyes and trying to remember ever detail of them. "If I don't get you home soon, your mum will be over here hexing my bits off."
"Well we wouldn't want that," Ginny said playfully. "I rather like your bits just the way they are."
Harry could feel himself blushing but the look on Ginny's face was so sexy that he barely noticed. Christmas seemed so far away to Harry and the thought that he would be without her all that time was enough to break his heart. No matter how he twisted the facts, this was the way that things had to be for now whether he liked it or not. He could not keep thinking about their separation, not without depressing Ginny as well. With a quick kiss and a playful slap of her bottom, Harry slipped out from under her and grabbed his trousers.
Ginny slowly got up and started to gather her things. Harry loved to watch her like this. She looked incredibly beautiful as she searched for her things. When she reached up to grab her bra off the top of a bookshelf, Harry could not help but notice that she had a tiny patch of freckles in the small of her back.
"You know," Harry said watching her as she slipped into her skirt, "I could spend hours searching for all of your freckles."
"I'll hold you to that one of these days, Mr. Potter," she said coquettishly as she slipped into her skirt. "And if you find my knickers, don't let Ron see them."
"I think they ended up in the fire actually," Harry said glancing at what looked like the charred remains of something cloth in the fireplace.
"Prat," she said slapping his arm playfully. "That was one of my favorite pairs."
"Well you were the one that tore the buttons off my shirt," he said slipping into his jumper.
Ginny looked at the bra in her hands before tossing it in the fire as well before pulling on her jumper and saying, "No good keeping that since it matched the knickers."
"Your mum would go completely mental if she knew you were walking around without them," Harry said taking her in his arms to kiss her gently.
"Yeah," Ginny said when they broke apart, "but just think of all the naughty thoughts that will be going through your head when you think about me without them."
"You're a wicked woman, Ginevra Weasley," Harry said kissing her again.
"And don't you forget it, Harry Potter," she replied with a wink before she broke away and headed for the bathroom to fix her hair.
After several more kisses and a rather cheeky flair of Ginny's skirt, Harry and Ginny apparated to the back yard of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley gave them a knowing look when they walked into the kitchen that had Harry very hurriedly checking to see if his trainers were tied properly until his face regained its normal color. After a few quick promises on Harry's part to be at Platform 9 ¾ early the next morning, Harry kissed Ginny tenderly and watched her skip up the stairs. For some reason, Harry found it very hard to take his eyes off her skirt as she disappeared up the stairs.
It was difficult for Harry to fall asleep that night, as he was torn between the knowledge that Ginny would be leaving for school the next day and fleeting memories about the night they had just spent together. Eventually Harry managed to catch a few hours of sound sleep before Kreacher woke him up with the smell of fresh tea and breakfast. Making his way downstairs, Harry saw Neville giving Lavender a tender goodbye kiss before he slipped out the front door.
"Well you could have at least invited him to stay for breakfast," Harry teased when Lavender turned and saw him on the stairs.
"He said he had to get back to his flat and get cleaned up before meeting Professor Sprout to get ready for the first day of classes," Lavender said with a slight blush as she headed for the kitchen.
"Well hopefully he won't be so busy that he forgets to visit occasionally," Harry said following after her.
Harry thought he heard her mumble something that sounded remarkably like, "after last night, he bloody well better not."
Meanwhile at the Burrow, Ginny was checking to make sure that the last of her things were packed and ready to go. Being the only Weasley to attend Hogwarts this year had the unfortunate drawback that she had no excuses for forgetting anything. That and the fact that she did not want to be rushed when she said goodbye to Harry at the train station gave her a great deal of motivation to be sure they were at the station on time.
It would be strange to return to Hogwarts without Harry. She understood his reasons for not wanting to return for his seventh year. There were so many bad memories there for him now but there were also good memories. He wanted her to do the thing right, and that meant going back to school no matter how badly he wanted her to stay. Ginny sighed as she realized that although she wanted to be with Harry more than anything, she also wanted to finish her education, not for him but for herself.
So it was that after a delicious breakfast Ginny found herself standing on Platform nine and three quarters, waiting for Harry to arrive. She had already placed her trunk in an empty compartment on the train and now stood tapping her foot impatiently as she waited to catch a glimpse of her boyfriend. Ginny's parents were trying to keep her distracted but they could tell by the fact that she had nearly dragged them out of the house, that Ginny really wanted to see Harry more than she cared about them seeing her off.
Ginny looked around the platform and saw several faces she knew. There were several faces missing from the crowd that she missed a great deal but she tried not to dwell on their absence. She was rather surprised when she saw Luna standing with Dean Thomas in a secluded doorway snogging away happily as if they were not in the middle of a rather large crowd of parents and students.
Good for them, she thought with a little smile.
"Hey, Gin," Harry said sneaking up behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist.
"'Bout time you got here," she said turning around to kiss him. "I was starting to think you had forgotten me."
"That boy couldn't forget you if he tried," chuckled Mr. Weasley.
"He's right," Harry said smiling down at her.
Something about the way that Harry looked at her always made Ginny feel like she was the luckiest girl in the world. She was going to miss him looking at her like that while she was gone. What she was not going to miss was the sudden silence that filled the platform as people recognized Harry.
"I can't take you anywhere," Harry joked noticing the silent crowd. "Seems like everywhere we go people are just struck dumb by how beautiful you are."
"What can I say," Ginny laughed, "you got lucky when you found me."
"Yes I did," was all he said before kissing her again.
"You'll write us if you need anything, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley in a slightly disapproving tone.
"I will, mum," Ginny said with a wink at Harry, "but do you think an owl will be able to deliver Harry?"
"No," Mr. Weasley said laughing hard. "I'm sure that Harry can find his own way there if he feels the need to."
"I'll be there every Hogsmeade weekend and for every Quidditch match," Harry assured her.
Suddenly everyone was making their final goodbyes as the warning whistle sounded. Ginny said goodbye to her parents before dragging Harry with her to the edge of the platform. Kissing him with a desperate need, Ginny felt tears coming to her eyes but Harry kissed them away.
"I'm not going anywhere, Gin," he said reassuringly. "I'll be waiting for you just like you waited for me."
"You better, Mr. Potter," she said kissing him again before she stepped up into the train car with a flair of her skirt that she knew would drive him wild.
"Hope you found your knickers this time," Harry said so only she could hear.
"Oh I found them," Ginny said with an innocent look on her face. "I packed them all in my trunk so I wouldn't lose them."
"All of them," asked Harry with a hungry look on his face.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Mr. Potter," Ginny said with a smile as the train started to move. "Write to me every day?"
"I promise," Harry called as the train pulled away from the station.
Ginny waited until she could no longer see Harry any longer before she made her way to the compartment she had put her trunk in before Harry arrived. It was empty besides her trunk and Ginny found the prospect of traveling to Hogwarts by herself to be rather depressing. She was just about to go in search of someone to talk when the compartment door slid open and Luna drifted in.
"Hello, Luna," Ginny said standing and hugging the dreamy eyed young woman. "How are you?"
"Oh I'm absolute wonderful in a sad yet happy sort of way," Luna said in her usual singsong manner. "I was just wondering what you said to Harry to make him blush so badly as we were leaving the station?"
The blush that covered Ginny's face was the same color as the bright red engine pulling the train. Leave it to Luna to notice something that everyone else missed and to ask about it with no warning. That was probably one of the things that Ginny liked the most about Luna, but sometimes it could really take her by surprise.
"I was just pointing out to him that I had packed very thoroughly and he should remember it," Ginny said still feeling her face burn.
"Oh. I see. I just handed Dean my bra," Luna said absently. "I figured that was a much more direct method of keeping his mind where it belonged while I was away."
Ginny burst out laughing and a moment later, much to her surprise, so did Luna. Luna had never really been one to laugh unless it was at something so abstract that no one else really appreciated it. Yet here she was, laughing and giggling without a care in the world.
"You've changed," Ginny said wiping tears from her eyes.
"Yes," Luna said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I find that being in love has changed my outlook on life a little bit.
"So you and Dean are serious now," Ginny asked.
"Well we are serious for now," said the vague young woman. "I don't know that we will always feel this way but for right now he is a wonderful man and he kisses so divinely."
"You don't think you'll stay with him then?"
"I cannot see the future so I cannot say what will happen in it," Luna said, pulling out a copy of the Quibbler and then tossing it aside. "If you had told me last year that I would be in love with Dean Thomas or that I would no longer believe everything my father tells me, I would have said you were as loony as everyone always says I am."
"What happened with you and your father?" Ginny asked, curious as to what he could have done to make his overly devoted daughter think twice about his crackpot theories.
"After I got home I had a long talk with my father about his actions regarding Harry," Luna said with a hard edge to her voice that Ginny had never heard before. "He tried to blame Harry for destroying our house but I knew that Daddy's actions were the cause of all the damage. We had a row about that and eventually I took a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the remainder of the summer. Dean was nice enough to keep me company for most of my time there."
"I'm sorry to hear you had a hard time of it with your father," Ginny said feeling slightly sorry for Luna.
"Oh it's alright," Luna said looking out the window. "He's still got his paper to keep him company. I'm sure I will forgive him eventually. At least after he grows up a bit."
"Well just remember," Ginny said trying to cheer her friend up, "this is our last year at Hogwarts and Harry gave me his Marauder's Map so we'll be able to have lots of fun exploring the castle."
"It won't be the same without Harry and the others though," Luna said smiling sadly.
Ginny could not really argue with Luna's simple statement. Both girls sat silently for a long time after that and Ginny could not help missing Harry more with every mile that the train covered. Eventually she leaned her head against the window and felt her eyes grow heavy. Drifting off, Ginny dreamed about sun filled days with Harry.
For his part, Harry was sitting at 12 Grimmauld Place thinking about how he was going to fill his days without Ginny. He would be very busy with his Auror training but it was not the same as having Ginny with him. There would of course be Hogsmeade weekends and Quidditch games, not to mention the Christmas holiday, but those all seemed so far away right after saying goodbye to her at the station.
He was just about to go make himself some tea when Harry heard a knock at the door. Wondering who it was, Harry made his way to the door and opened it slowly. Harry was unsure who he had expected to see but the person standing on his stoop was the last person Harry had ever thought would visit his home unless all the demons of hell were chasing them.
"Potter," said the young man standing before him. "I'm glad you're here. I'm in trouble and you're the only one I could think of that might be able to help me."
For a moment or two Harry debated on slamming the door shut but then he sighed and said, "Then I guess you better come in and tell me what's going on, Draco."
To Be Continued…