A/n This is the final chapter. I will put up an epilogue before Friday.
Part 9
Harry stepped into the library. He saw Ginny right away seated at a table close to the front. She had her Potions book positioned in front of her, but rather than working on her essay, she was doodling on a sheet of paper in front of her. 'Must have gotten her study skills from Ron,' Harry thought, smirking. He slowly approached her until he could almost look over her shoulder. She finally looked up, and apparently she didn't notice him walking up to her because she nearly jumped a mile.
"Working hard?"
"Oh Harry. I er, kinda had to take a break."
"How much did you get done."
"So far? I have the title and I signed my name to it."
"I like your drawing," he said as the paper she was doodling on came into view. She had a drawing of a big house with a tree sitting beside it.
"Yeah, really creative huh," she laughed. "I'm bored."
"Then work on your report and you can take a walk outside with me."
"But Harry, I don't think the professors will let us go out that late."
"But they don't have to know."
"But how…"
"Trust me. I'll wait in the common room for you."
"Okay Harry. See you later then," she said, turning her book towards her.
Harry walked out of the library ready to plan what exactly he was going to tell Ginny when he got her alone on a walk. He wondered if what Phillip said about Ginny could possibly be true, and he hoped to find out that night.
Harry waited in the common room until after midnight. He was about ready to give up and get some sleep when he saw a red head peek through the door to the common room. When she saw Harry seated at a table, she smiled and walked up to him.
"I was afraid you went to bed."
"I was about ready to, but I told myself to give you a few more minutes."
"So, how exactly are we going to sneak out of the castle with Filtch and Mrs. Norris wandering around?"
"We'll use my cloak," Harry said, fanning is invisibility cloak out in front of her. She gasped as she ran her hands along the material. Harry was not necessarily trying to keep the cloak a secret from Ginny, he just never got a chance to tell her because the topic never came up when he was talking to her.
"Is it a…"
"It's a invisibility cloak."
"Wow. I've heard of these things, but I've never actually seen one in action. I've always wanted one; I can only imagine how many things I could get away with if I had one. I could defiantly give Fred and George a run for their money. Speaking of whom, do you have the map?"
Harry had told Ginny all about the Marauder's Map; how he got it from Fred and George, the things he got into with it, how he lost it to the evil Professor Moody in Fourth Year, and how he got it back in Sixth Year. However, he did not get the chance to show the map to her yet. The map got about the same reaction out of her that the cloak did as she ran her hands over the binding.
"Are you ready," Harry asked her as he threw the cloak around them.
"Of course I am. Let's go."
They walked silently through the halls of Hogwarts and out of the castle. They preceded their usual rout around the lake, and Harry stopped at his favorite bench to pull off the cloak. She looked up at him in confusion. "Why'd we stop?"
"I wanted to sit for a while."
"Oh, okay." They sat there for a minute, taking in the scenery before Ginny finally broke the ice. "Phillip broke up with me today."
"He what?"
"He said that he didn't think it was working out. It was so weird. He broke up with me, yet, he had tears in his eyes. It was almost as if I was the one dumping him. I felt so bad about it."
"So, do you still like him?"
"That's the thing. I felt bad because he was hurt, but I wasn't hurt."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"I guess it means I liked Phillip because he was a nice guy, but something was missing…and whatever it was that was missing was the difference between being friends and being in love…I'm sorry, I must be boring you."
"No, it's okay. You're not boring me."
"Thank for listening Harry." She cracked him one of her shy smiles that almost made him melt.
"I er…I think I should talk to you." He said, finally gaining some courage.
"I think you are talking to me," she said. There went another one of those smiles. It only made Harry more nervous as he tore his gaze away from her and looked out toward the lake as he talked.
"I mean, I need to tell you something."
"What is it Harry?" He could hear a slight rise of concern in her voice.
"I don't know how to tell you…"
"You can tell me anything. I promise I won't tell," she said. Harry still wasn't looking at her, but he knew she was smiling again.
"It's just that…you make me feel like no one has made me feel before."
"Is that a good thing…or a bad thing?"
"It's good," he reassured her. "I'm trying to tell you that I think I'm…" He trailed off, unable to think of a way to finish his next sentence.
"You're what Harry?"
Gathering all the courage he had, he looked Ginny right in the eye. "I think I'm in love with you." The moments after that seemed to go in extreme slow motion. Ginny finally wiped the confusion off of her face and replaced it with a huge grin. He didn't know he was holding his breath until he let out a gasp at that moment.
"You don't know how long I've waited for this moment," she whispered, staring right into his eyes.
"I thought you were over me, and that I didn't have a chance."
"Oh Harry, I was never completely over you. I just moved on because that was all I thought I could do."
"Then why did you get so mad when I kissed you?"
"I didn't think it meant anything to you."
"Well it did…a lot."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"I guess I was just too shy."
"I know how that feels," she said. "What do we do now," she asked.
"I think I could give you a few suggestions," he answered, kissing her for a second time. This time they were both ready, and they both knew there would be many more kisses to come.
A/n I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this story during any point in time. I hope you all liked the ending. I will hopefully get the epilogue out by Friday. I will be going to Arizona for a week, and then I will be driving to St. Louis for a couple days, so I won't have anything new out for a while. Thanks to everyone who stuck it out on my story, it's been fun to write.