"…One second in the past….it lasts!

The same as one in the future…to sooth her!

But there's a much more precious second

The one that changes both, is in the present…"

-Jeff Baker

Disappointment and Discovery

"C'mon!"

"Harry, why do we have to go so fast? Will it be gone when we get there? Whatever it is!" Ginny was out of breath. She had been resting while Harry was talking to Dumbledore.

Harry thought about it. "Well, no, it will still be there." He hoped. He didn't know what he was thinking about when the door first opened. Would it be there?

"Where?"

"The Room of Requirement."

"Oh, ok!" Ginny seemed to be reassured by his comment. As if the fact that it wasn't some phantom or moving object made it more stable somehow, more real. However, upon approaching the stretch of wall opposite the statue, Harry found it to be bare once again.

"No way!"

"Well, just think about what you were thinking about and it will open." Harry stood there, concentrating like he had only a few times before in his life, attempting to will the old wooden door into existence. "It's ok." Ginny was stroking his back with her fingertips. Harry didn't want to feel calm right now. He wanted the stupid door to appear! "It'll come back."

"No! It has to be now! You have to see this! What if it never returns?"

"What was it?"

He tried to speak, and he could feel his mouth moving, but no words were coming out. Ginny and he looked back and forth at each other, first with disbelieving faces, then defeated ones. Harry rolled his eyes a couple times, looked away from the wall. "I can't talk about it?"

"It would seem that way." Harry was hurt that the castle was denying him from showing her the room or at least describing it. Ginny could tell, too. "It's ok." She tried to give him a hug, but he shrugged it off. "Sorry." She then shrunk away, walking away slowly.

"Gin!" He caught up with her in a few large bounds. "I'm sorry. That was…" he was shaking his head as his chin came to rest on his chest. "…I shouldn't have done that."

"It's ok." She raised his head back up to see her. "The room must have been incredible! But the castle isn't going anywhere."

"Thanks." He hugged her hard, then left one arm around her shoulder as they walked back to the common room. "I just wish I could tell you and show you."

"Harry." They made a right into a secret passageway where she stopped walking and leaned against a wall. "There are so many things that I always want to tell you, to show you, and to make you feel." She pulled him close to her and kissed him. "But I'm pretty sure that's one of the best parts about being in love." She kissed him again. "Little touches and glances in the present…" another kiss, slower this time, "…only get better and better with time!"

Harry heard what she was saying, but all he could think about was his hands in her hair and the feel of her lips on his. He remembered what that kiss under the tree had felt like. They were so sad at the time.

He remembered all the tears, but he could feel her lips against his, really feel them. He thought about the tearful kiss Cho had given him, and it didn't feel the same at all. There were times when Harry and Ginny were together when it felt like his face was melting into her mouth, that one kiss could solve the world's problems, and everything else just faded away. And Ginny was saying now that it only got better?

That made sense.

It was almost like there was nothing physical about that aspect of their lives. Granted, there were definitely times when it seemed a lot more carnal than others, but for the most part, Harry and Ginny's times together were full of love and happiness. Sometimes they would even laugh about a certain rendezvous later that day, but never cheapen it the way others seemed to. He could remember guys talking making out with someone, and it sounded like they were proud of a Quidditch performance or something. Even Ginny had been the subject of some of those bragging sessions a few years back. Harry always laughed when he thought about that because of a conversation he had had with her a few weeks ago…

"So what were you doing dating all those blokes?"

"Getting ready for you!" She tried to kiss him.

"I'm serious!" He said, half-laughing, half-avoiding her fists, but altogether smiling.

"So am I. Remember when I told you that Hermione told me to loosen up a bit, be myself, maybe date some guys?"

"Yeah…" Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to hear about that.

"She was right. If I had sat around moping all day about how you didn't like me, we never would have been together."

"What?"

"It's hard to fall in love with someone who looks like Moaning Myrtle! You guys even made fun of Cho crying all the time!"

"Good point. But we're meant to be together! It would have happened."

"Harry, listen to me. Just because something is meant to be…" she took a deep breath, "doesn't mean that it will just happen."

"Ok."

"I still had to become the girl you feel in love with," she tossed her hair in an un-Ginny moment, "and you had to kiss me after the Quidditch match."

"I get it."

"Do you? Because if you believe that we would be this in love, this engaged, and this perfect for each other if I had never started speaking up around you, then you're crazy."

"Whoa." Harry was floored, as usual, by Ginny. He never really thought about the fact that even if some things are meant to happen, they still have to happen. There has to be action taken.

…He snapped out of his daydream as they entered the portrait hole. "What were you thinking about?" Ginny asked.

"You." He wasn't trying to be sweet, it was just the first thing that popped into his head, but apparently Ginny appreciated it. She gave him a little peck before steering him towards the table in front of the fire. "What is this?"

"You may not have noticed us before, but we were sitting here working when you decided to abduct Ginny for Merlin knows what reason!" Hermione was organizing dozens of pieces of parchment on the table.

"Yeah mate, you gave us a right scare! What did you guys do anyways?"

"Nothing."

"Like I believe that!"

"He's telling the truth, Ron." She looked at Harry, trying to see if she could be more specific, and he nodded. "The Room of Requirement opened for Harry, and he wanted to show me what it was, but he couldn't, and for some reason, he can't talk about it either."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Harry answered in the saddest voice he could come up with. He wasn't really that broken up about it, though sad nonetheless, he just wanted to make Ron feel bad for his own entertainment.

"I'm sorry." Mission accomplished.

"It's ok. I'm sure it'll open up again."

"Yeah."

"So what is all this?" He was pointing at all the paper strewn about.

"Basically everything Hermione knows about centaurs…which is a lot!" Ron would always be impressed by his wife's wealth of knowledge.

"Nice! What have you figured out?"

"Not much. We figured after everything that had happened, the whole third Daughter thing, and the fact that you would be too busy talking to Dumbledore about the end of the world, that we should get started. Then you decided to scare the wits out of us!"

After a few moments laughter, the four of them got down to business. They tried to figure out how a centaur could be seen as a female. "They're born from the soil!" Hermione began.

"I've only ever met males." Harry added.

"They don't even seem to have a feminine side, much less feminine counterparts." Ron joked.

"Well, is there anyway to ask them?"

"I don't think so. Ever since the Grawp incident, they won't even let Hagrid into the forest."

"Incident? Harry, that's putting it nicely."

"Hermione, listen, that's not the important thing here."

"Why don't we just ask Dumbledore?"

"He would have told me."

"No, he wouldn't, Harry! He's held information from you your entire life. Why would he change now?"

"First of all, we were just talking about that, and I know he wasn't lying to me. Secondly, I have gotten to the point where I realize that everything he has ever done has had my best interest at heart. I need to start trusting him, and so should you."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, the centaurs can't use magic. We're more powerful than them, even the whole herd, right Hermione?"

"Definitely."

"Well, we're just gonna have to make Hagrid mad and threaten them. Remember, they're not the nicest creatures in the world. They wanted to kill me and Hermione a few years ago."

"You think that's right?" Ginny spoke softly.

"No. It's not easy, either."

"Then what is it?"

"Necessary." Harry's one word resounded around the group a few times before anyone spoke, but the rest of the conversation was about waiting for the right moment to approach the centaurs, what needs to be said, etc. Ron and Hermione then left for their private room, leaving Harry and Ginny on the couch. "What do you think?"

"I think you're taking my advice finally. Sometimes, even after you've thought things through, the only thing to do is take action."

"Thanks. You're creating a Ginny-Hermione-Harry hybrid wizard!"

"No, you just continue to grow. And that will keep happening for the rest of your life I hope!"

"Thanks, Gin."

They fell asleep on the couch, like they always did, and the next few weeks brought nothing but classes and research.

April was closing in fast, and the foursome was no nearer to finding what they needed about centaurs, but on a positive note, there were no attacks, no danger, and Harry wasn't voicing his opinions about the looming danger.

He could just feel everything that was slowly closing in around his own life. Quidditch, the third task, and his wedding were all most likely going to coincide with another message from the mystery villain, finding another Daughter, using the Otseptine, and avoiding the Reptomore.

There were times, again, that Harry felt like he was standing on an island. There were great, tidal waves approaching from four or five sides, and even though they were most certainly going to crash down upon him, he continued to believe that he would not only survive, but somehow protect the rest of the island from destruction as well. The looming shadows created by the waves, and the wind that inevitably picks up on the shore were seen and felt by everyone, but no one knew what they meant.

Harry knew. He thought Ginny knew. Ron and Hermione probably knew.

However, he didn't want them to put themselves in front of the waves.

His "saving people thing" was coming back to the forefront. Therefore, he found himself, around dusk on a late-March day, telling his friends he needed to stop by and talk to Albus, but actually pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his robes, pulling out a piece of parchment and saying, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good,' and trooping off into the forest.

He could see a number of dots in the forest, all of them moving in a circle around two dots labeled 'Magorian' and 'Bane.' He walked deeper and deeper into the forest, and he could see his own dot now only a few hundred feet from a clearing where the centaurs must be. He looked back down at the map and noticed that there was actually a third dot in the circle with Magorian and Bane. It was labeled Praetoria, and it wasn't moving at all.

A/N: Thanks again for sticking with me, but I mean, come on! Without cliffhangers…you may not want to come back, haha. Anyways, as you can tell, after this little scene is over, we're about to hit Easter holidays, which means a lot of stuff is happening in the next several weeks of story!