A/N: This is it! The conclusion. Draco-bashers, you will love this.
Includes some kissing, a little punching and an apology. Love from R and J.
Chapter 3
Ginny picked up the little red parcel lying on her breakfast plate and studied it curiously. Hermione, next to her, cleared her throat. "If you really want to know what's inside, Ginny, a really sure-fire way of finding out would be to open it." She sniffed and fumed out of the Great Hall, Ron behind her whining apologies for some fight or other – they were always fighting. Ginny looked over at Harry. "What did they fight about? I presume that's the reason Hermione's biting everyone's heads off?" A few fourth and fifth year Gryffindors laughed and one or two nodded fervently.
Harry glanced up at Ginny, finally looking away from his wildly fascinating breakfast plate. He shrugged and got up from the table. He had gone back to not speaking to her since he had asked her if she was going to the Ball with anyone and she was finding it very tiresome.
Ginny shook her head, made a few faces and turned to her little red parcel. It said 'To Gin' on the card in Draco's sharp handwriting. She ripped it open, gasping as wrappings fell away and a small silver pendant came into view, hanging from a delicate chain. A note slipped out.
Gin,
I don't know what colour you're wearing for the Yule Ball tonight, but something gives me the feeling this will go with it. See you at seven at the entrance to the Great Hall.
Merry Christmas.
1 Yours, Draco
P.S. I've been looking forward to seeing you in your finery all week.
Ginny smiled again, thrilled. She got up hurriedly from the table, noting ruefully the torn wrapping paper. She had never had much patience with it, unlike Hermione and Harry. Hermione thought it against her principle to tear open a present because she was such a neatness freak and Harry…Ginny rather suspected that he savoured any presents he got more than most people, because he'd had so few.
Speaking of Harry…someone had got to her wrapping paper before her, picking it up and handing it to her. Harry, of course. She gave him a tentative smile and said "Thanks" and he nodded – which was about the most civil thing he had done all week. He went away abruptly, and Ginny was left staring after him as usual.
She turned around and sent a look at the Slytherin table. Draco was there, flirting with curvy brunette Blaise Zabini. Ginny and Draco had had several disagreements on the subject of his flirting, with Draco insisting that it was harmless and Ginny holding firm to her view point, that loyalty counted and by flirting, Draco wasn't showing it.
Still, Draco and she were a certified couple and no one Draco flirted with was contesting that. For now.
(At the strike of seven)
Ginny stood in front of her mirror, running a hand nervously across her red-gold curls. Her gown, a full-sleeved deep red – passionate red, she liked to call it – was a suggestion of Hermione's. A low neck was its only deference to modernity. Ginny had thought it awfully old fashioned, but Hermione'd insisted that it brought out what she called Ginny's 'old-world charm' and declared that Ginny would look like a medieval princess. Ginny had disagreed at the time, but had decided in favour of the gown anyway. Eyeing her reflection critically, she had to admit that Hermione had a point. The rich colour of the dress lent a depth to her face and gave it a luminous glow. It looked anything but conservative.
The thick waves of her hair were held in place by no more than two pins, one above either ear, the rest flowing freely down her back. Draco's pendant gleamed silverly at her throat and silver drops dangled from her ears. Well, she looked fine. She smiled and gave her reflection the nod of approval. She threw her head up and walked down to the common room, where she received honest looks of admiration from several boys she knew, Neville, Colin, even her brother Ron – though his face mostly said 'oh, look, my little sister's grown up' – as well as catcalls from her brothers and several people she didn't know. She grinned. Her appearance was definitely a hit.
Hermione walked up to her, looking very nice in a honey-coloured sleeveless gown that accentuated her round shoulders. "Ginny, you look lovely." Ginny grinned back, brown eyes sparkling. "So do you."Hermione looked around the common room, and as though by an unspoken signal, several fourth and fifth years moved towards the portrait hole. Ginny caught several faces – Neville, Parvati, her friend Stella, Lavendar, Katie, Ron, the twins, Colin…but where was Harry? Oh, of course. He said he wasn't coming.
The Great Hall seemed a very long way away from the common room. She endured the walk by imagining Draco standing by the doors, the candlelight gleaming off his hair, his silver eys combing the crowd for her. He'd have flowers in his hand – he'd promised her that – and he'd probably be tapping his foot with impatience. But he would be there, waiting for her.
When Ginny got to the entrance of the Great Hall, she searched the place eagerly with her eyes. No one was there. Heart pounding, she pushed through the crowd into the Great Hall and weaved in and out of the dancing couples, searching for her absconding boyfriend. He wasn't there. Drat. Where are you, Draco?
Ginny squeezed out of the Great Hall, the crush causing one of her curls to come loose from the pin that had held it back and join the red- gold cascade down her back, but she didn't notice. What's wrong with you? There's no call to worry this much!
Suddenly her heart stopped. She'd heard Draco's voice to her left. She elbowed her way through to the source of that voice, and got there, gasping and biting at her lip. Oh, dash it all, it wasn't Draco. It was that idiot Macmillan from Hufflepuff.
For the next few minutes, she kept imagining she'd heard Draco's voice, his laugh, his sarcastic monotone…she flitted from one place to another, sundry drops of perspiration tickling her back. A sudden fear had gripped her. If Draco wasn't with her, and he'd come down at seven, then who was he with? What's wrong with me? Why am I suspecting Draco of being with anyone? I trust him…do I?
Another voice echoing along the deserted corridor she had moved into caught her attention. This time she was sure. It's Draco. But…isn't that a female voice? What's going on?!
Ginny gathered up her skirts and and pelted down the corridor in to the now empty Special Attension Runes classroom. And stopped dead at the door.
***
Harry walked up and down beside the lake, the falling snow soaking his cloak. His breath came and went in short, heavy bursts, clouding the air. His brows knitting, he ran a hand through his damp hair, jaws clenching. If only, if only he'd kept an eye on Ginny that night, if only he'd stayed with her instead of going to bed. If only…snap out of it, Potter!
He looked at his watch, which he'd got for his fifteenth birthday from the Weasleys. The others would probably have left for the Great Hall by now and the common room would be more or less empty. If I stay here, I'll end up thinking. And I don't want to think about…No, I don't. He would have liked to see Ginny all decked up, but he didn't need to. He had gleaned every detail from Hermione. He knew what she was wearing, he knew where she'd got it, he knew when she'd got it, he knew she'd had reservations about full sleeves…he could imagine her, in that red dress, sweeping down the staircase…stop it! Stop torturing me!
Harry let himself into the castle and went through several empty corridors on his way to the stairs, because he saw some schoolmate or other at every corner, and he didn't want to be asked why he wasn't coming to the Ball, because he had no answer.
He went past the Special Attension Runes classroom, and then stopped a few paces away, frowning. Had he seen what he thought he'd seen? He went two steps backwad till he was in line with the door. And stared at what he saw, aghast.
Draco Malfoy, dressd in blazing white and silver, was on the floor of the classroom, the chairs having been cleared away. And…and…he had his arms around and was passionately kissing Blaise Zabini.
***
Ginny felt miles away, as though she were watching from far, far off and curiously devoid of emotion. She felt – she didn't feel, like she was watching a play. All she did was stand there, staring blankly into the room, not moving, not speaking. Maybe if she stayed quiet and watched till the curtains fell, everything would turn out to be an act. As she watched, Draco pulled Blaise to her feet, slammed her against the wall and pressed his lips on hers, his passion and enjoyment very obvious.
She was suddenly concious of someone standing behind her, of a breath tickling her neck. The someone pushed past her – oh, it was Harry – with very damp shoulders, and walked up to the couple in the room. The next moment, he was tapping Draco on the shoulder.
Draco turned around, hair mussed, cheeks flushed. Harry nodded pleasantly. Then he made a fist…
The next thing Draco knew, he was on the floor, very dazed. If he had been a cartoon, he'd have had birds and stars and things spinning round his head. Blaise was squeaking something about 'mind your own business' and 'shocking, disgraceful' and 'mannerless, uncouth', fussing round Draco like a distracted mother, with Draco trying vainly to bat her off and jump up and confront Harry at the same time, spluttering. Unfortunately, he wasn't really up to jumping.
The punch had also the effect of shaking Ginny back to reality. She flew into the room and stopped before Draco's feet, glaring down at him. At first she could find no words. Finally she spoke. "You…" she whispered. "You."
"I-I can ex-ex-explain," stuttered Draco frantically. "Honestly, I can – get off, Blaise! Really, I can explain this!" Harry, leaning calmly against the wall, arms folded, gave a snort that said 'yeah, right'.
Draco gave Harry as much of a glare as he could manage and looked up at Ginny again. "Believe me,Gin, love-"
"Don't you dare call me that!" Suddenly Ginny's mask-like features became animated. "You lowest of the low, I can't understand how I ever believed you! Believe you indeed!" She caught at the silver pendant that hung about her neck. "And you can keep this! Give it to your new girlfriend!" She wrenched it off, the clasp making a long cut along the side of her neck , but she barely noticed. She threw the thing at Draco and it hit him on the chin and dropped into his lap, whence he made no effort to retrieve it.
Harry straightened up, turned on his heel and with a last derisive look at Draco, exited the room. Ginny followed, but she did not do Draco the honour of looking at him before she left.
***
Harry and Ginny walked silently side by side through the corridor, their footsteps echoing off the wall. Harry kept glancing sideways at Ginny, to see if she was all right. She looked pensive and thoughtful, and he couldn't blame her.
But she wasn't thinking about Draco at all. She was thinking about a boy, true enough, but not Draco. At the door of the castle, Harry veered away, went through the door and was already outside when Ginny ran out after him and called, "Harry!"
Harry turned around and waited patiently when she called his name. He stood there in the snow, waiting for her to catch up with a slightly enquiring expression.
She jogged up to him and gasped, "Thanks, Harry." His eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded. "You're welcome." Then he turned around and began to walk away again, when she calle, "Wait!" Again, he stopped, turned to face her and called "What?" She yelled back "I'm sorry for what I did to you!"
Harry stood there, surrounded by snow, staring at her. Suddenly he walked towards her, right arm stretched towards her neck. Oh my God, she thought illogically, he's going to strangle me.
The next minute, though, he touched her neck and her skin crackled with electricity. He pulled his hand away, and showed her his fingers. "You're bleeding." "No, I'm not," she began and then realized, of course she was bleeding.
Harry pulled out a blazing white handkerchief from his pocket – such a Gryffindor thing – and began to clean off the blood. His eyes gazed solemnly into hers. "You should be more careful." She nodded as he went on swabbing at her neck. Blushing furiously, she stammered, "H-Harry, er, I, er, think it's stopeed bleeding now." He looked embarrassed. "Of course." He stuffed the handkerchief, now smeared slightly with blood, into the recesses of his pocket. "Er…what were you going to say?" She drew a deep, shuddering breath and then started speaking, her words all running into each other.
"Harry, I've been a horrible person and I did a horrible thing to you. I – no, hang on –" as he opened his mouth – "let me finish. I've been a worm – no, worse, a million worms, and I've behaved terribly to you and completely betrayed your feelings for me and made you miserable and I'm finding it almost impossible to forgive myself, but if you forgive me maybe I'll find it easier and…and…" she met his eyes with a timidness which was unusual for her "…will you forgive me?"
She waited, out of breath…and he was just looking at her, his face flushed from the wind, his hair tossing, his green eyes sparkling with something she couldn't define and she went on gazing up at his face hopefully – this was the most difficult forgiveness she'd ever begged for – and he just went on looking at her and suddenly she could take it no more. She grabbed his collar, pulled him down from his considerable height – he was taller than Draco – and gave him a passionate kiss. A fierce numbness coursed thruogh her whole body and she felt…well, wondeful – especially when he was suddenly kissing her back. But there was something oddly comforting about kissing Harry. Draco's kisses were an adventure, but kissing Harry – kissing Harry was calming somehow , promising her the whole world yet at the same time something no one else could give…kissing Harry was like coming home.
When they finally broke apart, Harry's expresion was suddenly understandable. She could see all the blissful joy and delight and wonder that she herself felt, in his face, along with something else she didn't feel, a sort of 'thank heaven, you're mine' look.
He smiled down at her and she felt his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. "Well?" she asked playfully, "do you forgive me?" He laughed, a beautiful, completely happy sound that she hadn't heard for far too long. "If I said," he said, smiling into her brown eyes, "if I said I didn't, would you do that again?" Needless to say that she did it again. Then, arms around each other, they turned and walked into the fiery sunset.
***
The next day at breakfast, Draco walked up to Ginny sporting a large and beautiful black eye, and he received more than the usual glares and several unusual snickers. "Ginny," he began, but a hand wrenched him around a hundred and eighty degrees and Harry stood in front of him, smiling genially. "Hello, Malfoy, I see you've got a rather nice black eye there, looks a little lonely though, don't you think?" Then…yup, you guessed it (well, if you didn't, just pretend) and Draco was lying on the floor of the Great Hall.
Harry smiled down at him from his great height and pulled out his wand. He conjured a pair of RayBans out of the air and tossed them down to Draco. He grinned. "You'll need these."
Epilogue
Harry smiled down at the handkerchief in his hands. He got up, took the bottle of champagne he'd come up to the attic for and descended down into the living room of the house. The whole Weasley contingent was there, all the adults and all the children, with Harry's son James running around seeing that his little sister Michelle and his innumerable cousins all had a good time.
Harry walked over to his pretty redheaded wife, who was talking and laughing to her sister-in-law Hermione in between spinning around with all her nieces and nephews. He walked over to her and pulled her aside. "Ginny," he whispered, pulling the handkerchief out of his pocket. "Do you remember, Gin?" he asked softly, looking into her eyes, a slight smile dancing on his lips. She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling and brimming over with love.
"Of course I remember."
Samapth (The End)
Hope ya liked that! Please review, even if you didn't.
And of course thanks to:
OrcaPotter
Someone called me?
HarryandGinny4eva
Writer Angel
PUNKsarcasm
Lanai
DortheyStar
Yknib
Amyza
For reciewing.
Chapter 3
Ginny picked up the little red parcel lying on her breakfast plate and studied it curiously. Hermione, next to her, cleared her throat. "If you really want to know what's inside, Ginny, a really sure-fire way of finding out would be to open it." She sniffed and fumed out of the Great Hall, Ron behind her whining apologies for some fight or other – they were always fighting. Ginny looked over at Harry. "What did they fight about? I presume that's the reason Hermione's biting everyone's heads off?" A few fourth and fifth year Gryffindors laughed and one or two nodded fervently.
Harry glanced up at Ginny, finally looking away from his wildly fascinating breakfast plate. He shrugged and got up from the table. He had gone back to not speaking to her since he had asked her if she was going to the Ball with anyone and she was finding it very tiresome.
Ginny shook her head, made a few faces and turned to her little red parcel. It said 'To Gin' on the card in Draco's sharp handwriting. She ripped it open, gasping as wrappings fell away and a small silver pendant came into view, hanging from a delicate chain. A note slipped out.
Gin,
I don't know what colour you're wearing for the Yule Ball tonight, but something gives me the feeling this will go with it. See you at seven at the entrance to the Great Hall.
Merry Christmas.
1 Yours, Draco
P.S. I've been looking forward to seeing you in your finery all week.
Ginny smiled again, thrilled. She got up hurriedly from the table, noting ruefully the torn wrapping paper. She had never had much patience with it, unlike Hermione and Harry. Hermione thought it against her principle to tear open a present because she was such a neatness freak and Harry…Ginny rather suspected that he savoured any presents he got more than most people, because he'd had so few.
Speaking of Harry…someone had got to her wrapping paper before her, picking it up and handing it to her. Harry, of course. She gave him a tentative smile and said "Thanks" and he nodded – which was about the most civil thing he had done all week. He went away abruptly, and Ginny was left staring after him as usual.
She turned around and sent a look at the Slytherin table. Draco was there, flirting with curvy brunette Blaise Zabini. Ginny and Draco had had several disagreements on the subject of his flirting, with Draco insisting that it was harmless and Ginny holding firm to her view point, that loyalty counted and by flirting, Draco wasn't showing it.
Still, Draco and she were a certified couple and no one Draco flirted with was contesting that. For now.
(At the strike of seven)
Ginny stood in front of her mirror, running a hand nervously across her red-gold curls. Her gown, a full-sleeved deep red – passionate red, she liked to call it – was a suggestion of Hermione's. A low neck was its only deference to modernity. Ginny had thought it awfully old fashioned, but Hermione'd insisted that it brought out what she called Ginny's 'old-world charm' and declared that Ginny would look like a medieval princess. Ginny had disagreed at the time, but had decided in favour of the gown anyway. Eyeing her reflection critically, she had to admit that Hermione had a point. The rich colour of the dress lent a depth to her face and gave it a luminous glow. It looked anything but conservative.
The thick waves of her hair were held in place by no more than two pins, one above either ear, the rest flowing freely down her back. Draco's pendant gleamed silverly at her throat and silver drops dangled from her ears. Well, she looked fine. She smiled and gave her reflection the nod of approval. She threw her head up and walked down to the common room, where she received honest looks of admiration from several boys she knew, Neville, Colin, even her brother Ron – though his face mostly said 'oh, look, my little sister's grown up' – as well as catcalls from her brothers and several people she didn't know. She grinned. Her appearance was definitely a hit.
Hermione walked up to her, looking very nice in a honey-coloured sleeveless gown that accentuated her round shoulders. "Ginny, you look lovely." Ginny grinned back, brown eyes sparkling. "So do you."Hermione looked around the common room, and as though by an unspoken signal, several fourth and fifth years moved towards the portrait hole. Ginny caught several faces – Neville, Parvati, her friend Stella, Lavendar, Katie, Ron, the twins, Colin…but where was Harry? Oh, of course. He said he wasn't coming.
The Great Hall seemed a very long way away from the common room. She endured the walk by imagining Draco standing by the doors, the candlelight gleaming off his hair, his silver eys combing the crowd for her. He'd have flowers in his hand – he'd promised her that – and he'd probably be tapping his foot with impatience. But he would be there, waiting for her.
When Ginny got to the entrance of the Great Hall, she searched the place eagerly with her eyes. No one was there. Heart pounding, she pushed through the crowd into the Great Hall and weaved in and out of the dancing couples, searching for her absconding boyfriend. He wasn't there. Drat. Where are you, Draco?
Ginny squeezed out of the Great Hall, the crush causing one of her curls to come loose from the pin that had held it back and join the red- gold cascade down her back, but she didn't notice. What's wrong with you? There's no call to worry this much!
Suddenly her heart stopped. She'd heard Draco's voice to her left. She elbowed her way through to the source of that voice, and got there, gasping and biting at her lip. Oh, dash it all, it wasn't Draco. It was that idiot Macmillan from Hufflepuff.
For the next few minutes, she kept imagining she'd heard Draco's voice, his laugh, his sarcastic monotone…she flitted from one place to another, sundry drops of perspiration tickling her back. A sudden fear had gripped her. If Draco wasn't with her, and he'd come down at seven, then who was he with? What's wrong with me? Why am I suspecting Draco of being with anyone? I trust him…do I?
Another voice echoing along the deserted corridor she had moved into caught her attention. This time she was sure. It's Draco. But…isn't that a female voice? What's going on?!
Ginny gathered up her skirts and and pelted down the corridor in to the now empty Special Attension Runes classroom. And stopped dead at the door.
***
Harry walked up and down beside the lake, the falling snow soaking his cloak. His breath came and went in short, heavy bursts, clouding the air. His brows knitting, he ran a hand through his damp hair, jaws clenching. If only, if only he'd kept an eye on Ginny that night, if only he'd stayed with her instead of going to bed. If only…snap out of it, Potter!
He looked at his watch, which he'd got for his fifteenth birthday from the Weasleys. The others would probably have left for the Great Hall by now and the common room would be more or less empty. If I stay here, I'll end up thinking. And I don't want to think about…No, I don't. He would have liked to see Ginny all decked up, but he didn't need to. He had gleaned every detail from Hermione. He knew what she was wearing, he knew where she'd got it, he knew when she'd got it, he knew she'd had reservations about full sleeves…he could imagine her, in that red dress, sweeping down the staircase…stop it! Stop torturing me!
Harry let himself into the castle and went through several empty corridors on his way to the stairs, because he saw some schoolmate or other at every corner, and he didn't want to be asked why he wasn't coming to the Ball, because he had no answer.
He went past the Special Attension Runes classroom, and then stopped a few paces away, frowning. Had he seen what he thought he'd seen? He went two steps backwad till he was in line with the door. And stared at what he saw, aghast.
Draco Malfoy, dressd in blazing white and silver, was on the floor of the classroom, the chairs having been cleared away. And…and…he had his arms around and was passionately kissing Blaise Zabini.
***
Ginny felt miles away, as though she were watching from far, far off and curiously devoid of emotion. She felt – she didn't feel, like she was watching a play. All she did was stand there, staring blankly into the room, not moving, not speaking. Maybe if she stayed quiet and watched till the curtains fell, everything would turn out to be an act. As she watched, Draco pulled Blaise to her feet, slammed her against the wall and pressed his lips on hers, his passion and enjoyment very obvious.
She was suddenly concious of someone standing behind her, of a breath tickling her neck. The someone pushed past her – oh, it was Harry – with very damp shoulders, and walked up to the couple in the room. The next moment, he was tapping Draco on the shoulder.
Draco turned around, hair mussed, cheeks flushed. Harry nodded pleasantly. Then he made a fist…
The next thing Draco knew, he was on the floor, very dazed. If he had been a cartoon, he'd have had birds and stars and things spinning round his head. Blaise was squeaking something about 'mind your own business' and 'shocking, disgraceful' and 'mannerless, uncouth', fussing round Draco like a distracted mother, with Draco trying vainly to bat her off and jump up and confront Harry at the same time, spluttering. Unfortunately, he wasn't really up to jumping.
The punch had also the effect of shaking Ginny back to reality. She flew into the room and stopped before Draco's feet, glaring down at him. At first she could find no words. Finally she spoke. "You…" she whispered. "You."
"I-I can ex-ex-explain," stuttered Draco frantically. "Honestly, I can – get off, Blaise! Really, I can explain this!" Harry, leaning calmly against the wall, arms folded, gave a snort that said 'yeah, right'.
Draco gave Harry as much of a glare as he could manage and looked up at Ginny again. "Believe me,Gin, love-"
"Don't you dare call me that!" Suddenly Ginny's mask-like features became animated. "You lowest of the low, I can't understand how I ever believed you! Believe you indeed!" She caught at the silver pendant that hung about her neck. "And you can keep this! Give it to your new girlfriend!" She wrenched it off, the clasp making a long cut along the side of her neck , but she barely noticed. She threw the thing at Draco and it hit him on the chin and dropped into his lap, whence he made no effort to retrieve it.
Harry straightened up, turned on his heel and with a last derisive look at Draco, exited the room. Ginny followed, but she did not do Draco the honour of looking at him before she left.
***
Harry and Ginny walked silently side by side through the corridor, their footsteps echoing off the wall. Harry kept glancing sideways at Ginny, to see if she was all right. She looked pensive and thoughtful, and he couldn't blame her.
But she wasn't thinking about Draco at all. She was thinking about a boy, true enough, but not Draco. At the door of the castle, Harry veered away, went through the door and was already outside when Ginny ran out after him and called, "Harry!"
Harry turned around and waited patiently when she called his name. He stood there in the snow, waiting for her to catch up with a slightly enquiring expression.
She jogged up to him and gasped, "Thanks, Harry." His eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded. "You're welcome." Then he turned around and began to walk away again, when she calle, "Wait!" Again, he stopped, turned to face her and called "What?" She yelled back "I'm sorry for what I did to you!"
Harry stood there, surrounded by snow, staring at her. Suddenly he walked towards her, right arm stretched towards her neck. Oh my God, she thought illogically, he's going to strangle me.
The next minute, though, he touched her neck and her skin crackled with electricity. He pulled his hand away, and showed her his fingers. "You're bleeding." "No, I'm not," she began and then realized, of course she was bleeding.
Harry pulled out a blazing white handkerchief from his pocket – such a Gryffindor thing – and began to clean off the blood. His eyes gazed solemnly into hers. "You should be more careful." She nodded as he went on swabbing at her neck. Blushing furiously, she stammered, "H-Harry, er, I, er, think it's stopeed bleeding now." He looked embarrassed. "Of course." He stuffed the handkerchief, now smeared slightly with blood, into the recesses of his pocket. "Er…what were you going to say?" She drew a deep, shuddering breath and then started speaking, her words all running into each other.
"Harry, I've been a horrible person and I did a horrible thing to you. I – no, hang on –" as he opened his mouth – "let me finish. I've been a worm – no, worse, a million worms, and I've behaved terribly to you and completely betrayed your feelings for me and made you miserable and I'm finding it almost impossible to forgive myself, but if you forgive me maybe I'll find it easier and…and…" she met his eyes with a timidness which was unusual for her "…will you forgive me?"
She waited, out of breath…and he was just looking at her, his face flushed from the wind, his hair tossing, his green eyes sparkling with something she couldn't define and she went on gazing up at his face hopefully – this was the most difficult forgiveness she'd ever begged for – and he just went on looking at her and suddenly she could take it no more. She grabbed his collar, pulled him down from his considerable height – he was taller than Draco – and gave him a passionate kiss. A fierce numbness coursed thruogh her whole body and she felt…well, wondeful – especially when he was suddenly kissing her back. But there was something oddly comforting about kissing Harry. Draco's kisses were an adventure, but kissing Harry – kissing Harry was calming somehow , promising her the whole world yet at the same time something no one else could give…kissing Harry was like coming home.
When they finally broke apart, Harry's expresion was suddenly understandable. She could see all the blissful joy and delight and wonder that she herself felt, in his face, along with something else she didn't feel, a sort of 'thank heaven, you're mine' look.
He smiled down at her and she felt his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. "Well?" she asked playfully, "do you forgive me?" He laughed, a beautiful, completely happy sound that she hadn't heard for far too long. "If I said," he said, smiling into her brown eyes, "if I said I didn't, would you do that again?" Needless to say that she did it again. Then, arms around each other, they turned and walked into the fiery sunset.
***
The next day at breakfast, Draco walked up to Ginny sporting a large and beautiful black eye, and he received more than the usual glares and several unusual snickers. "Ginny," he began, but a hand wrenched him around a hundred and eighty degrees and Harry stood in front of him, smiling genially. "Hello, Malfoy, I see you've got a rather nice black eye there, looks a little lonely though, don't you think?" Then…yup, you guessed it (well, if you didn't, just pretend) and Draco was lying on the floor of the Great Hall.
Harry smiled down at him from his great height and pulled out his wand. He conjured a pair of RayBans out of the air and tossed them down to Draco. He grinned. "You'll need these."
Epilogue
Harry smiled down at the handkerchief in his hands. He got up, took the bottle of champagne he'd come up to the attic for and descended down into the living room of the house. The whole Weasley contingent was there, all the adults and all the children, with Harry's son James running around seeing that his little sister Michelle and his innumerable cousins all had a good time.
Harry walked over to his pretty redheaded wife, who was talking and laughing to her sister-in-law Hermione in between spinning around with all her nieces and nephews. He walked over to her and pulled her aside. "Ginny," he whispered, pulling the handkerchief out of his pocket. "Do you remember, Gin?" he asked softly, looking into her eyes, a slight smile dancing on his lips. She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling and brimming over with love.
"Of course I remember."
Samapth (The End)
Hope ya liked that! Please review, even if you didn't.
And of course thanks to:
OrcaPotter
Someone called me?
HarryandGinny4eva
Writer Angel
PUNKsarcasm
Lanai
DortheyStar
Yknib
Amyza
For reciewing.