Chapter 9
(Sub
titled: The Promised Pay Off)
The morning had gone in a whirlwind. When she had finally fallen asleep, she
slept so deeply that she didn't hear the alarm go off and as a result, Jimmy
had almost been late for school. She
had woken him up and told him to hurry, then returned to her own bathroom,
threw on some clothes, and rushed to see how Jimmy was coming along. She hadn't wanted to wake up Harry, but it
was so hard to be quiet when you are trying to fix a quick breakfast! And besides, Jimmy had wandered out into the
living room and woken him up anyway to say good-bye. Ginny couldn't resist noticing that Harry wasn't wearing his
shirt…just as she had suspected last night.
Jimmy hugged Harry again and asked him if he would be here
when he got home. Harry explained that
he would actually be picking him up from school, so he would see him then. Ginny grabbed up her handbag and keys, told
Harry he was welcome to use her own bathroom, as Jimmy's would surely be a
mess, and hurried out the door, dragging Jimmy behind her.
The car ride was fairly quiet as Jimmy nibbled on his
toast. Ginny could tell he was worried
that Harry wouldn't be there later and she kept reassuring him that he would
be. When they pulled up to the school,
Jimmy forced himself out of the car, kissed Ginny good-bye, and joined some
friends heading into the building.
On the way home, Ginny realized that she looked a
fright! She hadn't really combed her
hair and the blouse and skirt she had thrown on didn't really match. Great…Harry saw you in this, she
thought. What a good impression that
must have left on him! She would just
have to change when she got home and hope that Harry had been too sleepy this
morning to notice. But he didn't look
sleepy, she remembered. He probably
fell right asleep last night, content with the fact that he had found his
son.
She pulled up to her apartment and went inside. Going right to her bedroom, she had
forgotten that she had told Harry to use her bathroom for his shower. She froze…
He was in there right now. She could hear the water running. Images of the water running down his naked body caused her heart to
quicken. "STOP IT!" she told
herself. Just get your clothes and go
into Jimmy's room to change. She
grabbed another shirt out of her closet and started for the hallway.
Ginny paused at the door to the bathroom. The water was still running and she could
just imagine Harry standing under the spray. It had been a long time, but her memory was very good when it came to Harry. Her mind began to wander back to the first
time they had made love and she imagined what he must look like right now in
that shower. She could still feel his
hands on her skin. She could feel the
beating of his heart next to hers. She
could still feel his kiss. The kiss was
the easiest to remember, especially since he had kissed her just
yesterday. Oh, how she had wanted
more! But did Harry?
"Ginny?"
Startled by her own name, she twirled around to look at him
and felt her jaw drop. Harry was
standing in the doorway, dripping wet, with nothing but a towel around his
waist. She quickly averted her eyes, to
give him some privacy, but what she really wanted to do was tear that towel
away form him. No, Ginny…don't. Respect his wishes and just leave him
be. Excuse yourself from the room, now,
as it isn't good to be in the bedroom with Harry standing here naked.
***
Harry had heard a sound outside the bathroom, but wasn't sure
what it was. He still wasn't fully
awake, but the shower had helped. Maybe
it was Ginny waiting for him to get out so she could get into her own
bathroom. Be a gentleman and let her
have her space, he thought. Shutting
off the refreshing water, Harry stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel
around his waist. Upon opening the
door, he stood and stared at the sight in front of him. Ginny was just ahead, back turned slightly
to him, but he could still see her beautiful profile. Her eyes were closed and she had a broad grin on her face. She rocked back and forth slightly, lost in
some happy thought. Oh, how he wanted
to reach out and touch her. To hold
her. To kiss her.
"Ginny?" he said, snapping her out of her reverie.
She gapped at him and he suddenly realized how very exposed
he was. That was really intelligent,
Potter! Standing naked in front of the
woman who you've been pining away for your whole life is not what Harry
considered gentlemanly, yet, here he was!
"I was just…er…I just needed to get this..er…this er…" Ginny
stammered, looking away from him at last and holding out the shirt in her hand.
"Shirt?" Harry said.
"Yes, this shirt. So…I've got it now…and I'll be going…" she tried not to look at him, but
Harry could see her stealing a glance every now and then.
"No, you don't need to go. I'll go. My clothes are in the
other room anyway."
"No, that's ok! I'll
go and get them for you." Ginny looked
at him and then immediately looked away again, blushing. "You'll…er…drip everywhere."
"Oh…er…" Harry ran a
hand though his soaking wet hair and felt himself flush under Ginny's
glances.
"I'll be right back." She hurried from the room and returned with the clothes Harry had laid
out on his bed. "These the ones?"
"Yeah, thanks." He
reached out to take them from him as she stepped closer to hand them off. Slowly, eyes meeting, Harry took his
garments from her. Her eyes never left
his. Harry swallowed hard and shifted
his gaze down at the clothes, vaguely aware that he now was only keeping the
towel around his waist with one hand.
As he looked back up at Ginny, he saw her slowing bringing a
hand up to his bare chest. A spot of
water dripped off his hair and ran down his exposed front, leaving a small
streak. Ginny traced its path with her
index finger, sending a tingling sensation through his skin at her touch. Pressing her palm flat against his chest,
she brought her eyes up to meet his.
"I should go," she said breathlessly.
Harry dropped the clothes on the floor and clasped his hand
over the one she had placed on his chest, wrapping his fingers around it until
he was holding her to him. "You don't
have to go…if you don't want to."
How bold he was! Had
he really just said that? He wondered
at his statement as she brought her other hand up to meet his and moved in
closer to him. "Do you want me
to go?" she asked quietly.
"Gin, what I want right now…" is to throw you down on that
bed and never let you go! But he
censored himself by saying, "is to be with you. So no, I don't want you to go."
Harry could tell her breathing was beginning to quicken as he
let go of the hand on his chest and pulled her to him by the waist. His other hand still tried to hold up the
flimsy towel separating them, but it wasn't doing a good job. He could no longer resist the temptation of
her full lips. Very carefully, not
wanting to frighten her away, he lowered his head to hers and kissed her
gently.
***
Feeling his body pressed next to hers brought a flood of
memories to Ginny's mind. And when he
kissed her, she lost the memory and fell into the present. He had said he wanted to be with her. Did he mean just with her, or with
her? And why was he bothering with that
towel. OH MY!! She suddenly remembered that Harry was
holding the towel up by one hand. She
selfishly hoped that he would lose his grip and it would fall, even though he
had a firm grip on her. He was holding
her so closely she could have sworn she felt his….
Breaking apart from the kiss, she looked into his green eyes
that were so full she thought she could fall into them. In a hoarse voice unfamiliar to her, she
gasped, "Harry, I don't want you to feel obligated…that you have to….well, that
you and I…" Why was this so hard to
say?
"Gin, I love you. I
hope you know that."
She was speechless. He leaned to her and kissed her again, but this time much more
deeply. She felt her insides melt and
her legs go weak at the knees. She had
never fainted in her entire life, but here, for the second time since Harry had
returned, she felt as if she were going to do just that. Harry clutched at her with both hands to
steady her as the kiss deepened and a moan escaped from her throat.
She could feel him guiding her backwards, inch by inch,
kissing her boldly and without restraint, until her leg hit the edge of the bed
and she bent backwards to lie against it. Harry followed her down and began kissing at her neck and earlobe,
nibbling and softly gasping for breath. His hand came up to rest on her shoulder, but it didn't stay there for
long as she felt it glide down towards her breast. She gasped at the sensation.
Harry paused and leaned back to look at her. Through his own panting he said, "I'll stop.
You say the word and I'll stop. I don't
want you to think I only came here for this. But Ginny I…" He swallowed and
licked his lips.
Heart racing, Ginny breathed back, "I don't want you to
stop!"
That was the invitation Harry needed as he most certainly didn't stop. The passion rose to it's full height and they were lost together in the moment. Ginny had waited so long for this chance to be with Harry again, and he did not disappoint her. Hands roamed over bare skin, mouths nibbled and kissed every inch they could find. They made love as if trying to convince each other that this was for real and that this was forever. Time seemed to stand still as they moved together as one. They clung to each other in desperation until they both had reached their release and the world started to come into focus again.
Harry lay on top of her, panting, and kissing her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him tightly and expressed, for the first time, her deepest fear.
"Don't ever leave me!" Her voice was soft, but frightened.
Bringing his eyes to meet hers, Harry promised, "I will never
leave you again."
Deeply kissing her, he rolled onto his side, holding her
close to him as if he would never let her go. Ginny clung to him in almost desperation, fighting back tears. "I love you so much, Harry."
"I love you, Ginny. You're the only thing that got me through these last few years. I did it all just so I could be with you
again. And now that I have you, I never
plan on letting you go." He held her to
him, her face nestled into the nape of his neck. Her fingers lightly caressing his shoulder and arm.
They lay like that as her tears subsided. Harry ran his finger through her hair and
soothing caressed her back. Soon, she
drew away to look at him with a full, but somewhat teasing smile. "I hope you don't mind the observation, but
seeing as how you are still wet, your towel didn't seem to perform its proper
function."
Harry smiled back at her. "Interesting, but I was just thinking the towel had worked
wonders." They both laughed and shared
a few small kisses. "However," he
continued through the kissing, "it appears that I am in need of another
shower."
Mischievously looking up at him through her long lashes,
Ginny asked, "Mind if I join you this time?"
AN: Stop your griping about it already…there is another
version! Just know that the FULL
version is posted at Gryffindor Tower. If you, like Imogen, really don't want Harry to stop, you can find more
at http://www.gryffindortower.net/library/restricted/restricted.htm .