It was Valentine's Day, but Harry Potter was not smiling. He hoped that Ginny would like her surprise. It seemed like a good idea when he found the spell in an old book a few weeks ago, but now doubt consumed him. What if she didn't like it? What if she took it the wrong way? What if she hated him for it? He knew that he was worrying too much, but he couldn't help it.
'I wish I didn't have to deal with this bloody holiday,' he thought. He knew that he needed to do something though, since he and Ginny had been dating for a few months. Ron had made that mistake with Hermione last year, thinking they hadn't been going out long enough for her to care about Valentine's Day. The result of that decision, commonly referred to as the "February 15th free-for-all," had gone down in Gryffindor legend. According to rumour, their yelling had been heard all the way to Ravenclaw Tower, at the other end of the school.
The portrait hole swung open, and Ginny climbed through.
"Hey there!" she said, coming over to his table.
"Hi, Ginny. Where have you been?"
"Library. I didn't see you all morning, so I got some work done while I waited for you to come back." She finished her statement in a hinting tone, one that even Harry couldn't miss.
'The heck with it!' he thought. He figured he'd just cast the spell, tell her about it, and let her decide. He'd put enough work into practising it after all. He had an emergency gift ready too, if she didn't like it.
"Well, I'm glad you're here," he replied. "Are you busy right now?" She shook her head. "That's great," he continued, forcing himself to smile, "because I have a surprise for you, in fact. We have to go outside though."
"Outside? Sounds intriguing," she said, her eyes sparkling. "I'll get my cloak, and we can go."
******
"Where to?" Ginny asked, as they walked out of the Castle.
"I think the Quidditch Stadium is a good spot. We're less likely to be interrupted."
"Interrupted?" She raised an eyebrow. Harry turned red.
"No, nothing like that!"
"Nothing?" She frowned. "Well why not? Is there something wrong with me?"
"No, no, I…um…I mean you're very pretty…really…er, that is, I mean…" He floundered helplessly for a few more seconds, until Ginny burst out laughing.
"Oh, Harry, you're just too easy to tease sometimes!"
"Thanks a lot!" he replied, trying to look put out.
She smiled at him, still glowing from his earlier compliment, and slipped her hand into his. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
As they continued down the path in companionable silence, Harry thought about her words. No, there was definitely nothing wrong with Ginny at all. She was friendly, lively, funny, and genuine, and he liked her very much. Still, they hadn't really done much more than holding hands yet. Not that he didn't want more - they'd kissed a few times in his dreams at night - but somehow the moment hadn't come yet in real life.
"Harry," she said, bringing him out of his reverie. "We're here."
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I wasn't paying attention."
"I could tell. So where's this big surprise you promised me? Or were you desperately trying to think of one just now?"
Harry pretended to be hurt. "Do I look like one of your brothers? Trust me to be better prepared for Valentine's Day than that."
He drew his wand.
"Amora Hortus!"
While Ginny watched, amazed, a small garden sprouted in the middle of the Quidditch pitch. Large rose bushes grew, forming a circular hedge about six feet tall and thirty paces in diameter. It was hollow inside, with two small entrance gaps between the hedges at each end. The snow on the ground inside the circle disappeared, replaced by a lush green lawn. A bed of red and white flowers divided the lawn in half. Above the newly formed enclosure rose a dome of balloons, streamers, and illusionary cherubs, peaking about 20 feet in the air.
"Harry!" she squeaked, amazed. "What did you do?"
"Not much, really. I found this spell in an old book and decided to try it."
"Well, it's lovely! Thank you! Come on, let's go in!" She grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward the hedges.
"Ginny, wait!" he cried, pulling away. "I have to explain something first!"
But either he was not quick enough, or she wasn't listening. A second later she passed through the near opening. The hedges immediately came to life, extending tendrils and branches toward each other until they merged, sealing the gap like a door closing behind her. Harry sighed.
'Well that's done it,' he thought. 'Now we're doing this whether she wanted to or not.' Having no other choice, he walked around to the other side of the hedges and passed through the second opening. The hedges sealed behind him, just as they had on Ginny's side.
Harry immediately realised it was very warm in the garden. He quickly removed his cloak and gloves, then looked for Ginny.
He saw her examining the rose bushes on her half of the field, humming quietly and sniffing the different fragrances. "Ginny!" he called, walking to the middle of the field. She turned, smiled, and came towards him.
"Stop when you get to the flowers. Don't try to cross them."
"Why?"
"Because there's a barrier and you'll hurt yourself. Spells can cross it, but we can't. This, er…isn't exactly a normal garden."
She absorbed that, and then she noticed they were trapped. "Harry, how do we get out of here?" she asked, her voice rising with each word.
"We have to duel."
"What?"
"That's why I wanted to explain--"
"Harry Potter, you gave me a wizards' duel for Valentine's Day?" She sounded remarkably like her mother by now. "What were you thinking?"
"No! It's not a wizards' duel, it's the Lovers' Duel."
"The what?" she asked, her voice abruptly dropping to ice. "Harry, you tell me what's going on right now, or believe me, you do not want to face me in any kind of duel."
Harry blew a frustrated sigh and threw himself down on the lawn. After glaring at him for a short time, she sat down also. "It's like this," he began. "The spell that created this also affects our magic while we're inside. While we duel, it kind of changes our spells. The book didn't really explain how. Anyway, we can't really hurt each other. The key is positive emotion. Any positive emotions the duellers feel for each other. Respect, affection, love. Those give the spells force, not the power of the spell or wizard. That's why it's called the Lovers' Duel, because only two people who like each other enough can do it. Otherwise, the spell would have collapsed when we entered." He glanced up, and felt relieved that she no longer looked angry. "I am sorry about this. I wanted to tell you before we went in, so we wouldn't have to do anything if you didn't want to. I just thought it might be fun."
"That's okay," she replied, surprising him. "It's my fault too, for getting so excited and running in here. I assume that we can leave once the duel is over?" He nodded. "And if we can't hurt each other, how do we know who wins?" she continued.
"The book didn't say, just that the spell ends it and we're free to go."
She said nothing for a few moments, thinking it over. Then she abruptly stood up. "Well then, Mr. Potter," she said impishly. "If we're to find out who likes who more, we'd better get started."
"If you're ready," he replied, standing up also.
She leaned forward and added in a faux-menacing tone, "I hope you're right about these spells being harmless. You've been to the hospital wing enough already this year."
"At least I'd have company this time, Miss Weasley," he grinned back.
As one, they spun and walked away from the barrier. At eight paces, they turned, bowed, and raised their wands.
Since Harry wasn't quite sure what to expect, he began with a simple hex. She blocked it expertly and returned her own salvo, which he also deflected.
Opening pleasantries exchanged, Harry took initiative, launching a series of spells he hoped would overwhelm her defenses. To his surprise she handled them all, then replied with a fierce sequence of her own that he barely fended off.
Harry was impressed. 'She's got a talent for this,' he thought. He feinted casting another spell, and as she moved to block that, hit her with the real one.
Ginny's lips suddenly puckered up, and she began making loud smacking noises. She paused, startled, then swiftly raised her wand and gave it a long kiss, breaking the curse. In one fluid motion she flicked her wand back at him in counterattack. It met Harry's follow-up spell and both deflected.
Ginny's spell hit the ground in front of Harry. A flock of lovebirds burst up, blinding him in a storm of flapping wings. One of them snatched his wand in the confusion and flew off with it.
"Hey, come back here!" he yelled, pursuing the fleeing bird. Fortunately for him, Ginny couldn't take advantage of the distraction. At the moment she was busy trying to extract herself from a large fluffy pink towel. She had accidentally jumped into the path of Harry's deflected spell.
The lovebird flew through the barrier before Harry could catch it, but his wand hit the invisible barricade and dropped to the ground. Harry quickly grabbed it and ducked away. A spell grazed his back, just missing him. Wasting no time, he fired back. A hit! Ginny's feet started moving in what was clearly a waltz, arms draped around an unseen partner. She could still speak and control her hands though, and as she circled to face him she cast another spell.
It hit the ground 20 feet away, and Harry found himself in the path of a roaring ocean wave of liquid chocolate. He hardly had time to raise his wand before the wave crashed over him, knocking him head over heels. Coughing, drenched in chocolate, he staggered to his feet and prepared a response. A moment later Ginny was running for cover, pursued by a phalanx of dive-bombing cupids.
She kept enough presence of mind to retaliate though. Suddenly, heart-shaped balloons covered the ground on Harry's side. That seemed harmless enough. He began preparing another spell, when one of the balloons burst loudly, breaking his concentration. The next second another balloon popped, then another, and soon they were all going off. The explosions were deafening! Harry dropped to the ground and stuffed his robes in his ears.
When the last balloon burst, Harry grabbed his wand and rose. Ginny, having distracted the cupids, now stared at him intently, breathing heavily but grinning, her wand poised. Simultaneously they cast their next spells.
The spells collided, but instead of deflecting this time, a strange thing happened. They merged, forming a pulsating translucent orb in the middle of the field. It crackled and hummed rhythmically, now louder, now softer, bathing them in a mix of red, blue, and yellow light. As Harry and Ginny stared, rooted to their places, the orb slowly expanded until it encompassed them, humming merrily all the while. Then it began to shrink again. As if a magnetic force controlled their limbs, Harry and Ginny walked towards each other. When they reached the middle of the field the barrier faded, and Harry watched Ginny, her face illuminated by the swirling lights, extend her arms to him. Obeying a sudden pull, he did likewise and stepped into her embrace.
They felt a surge of energy pass between them, like an intense electrical current. Then they gradually became aware of something new. Somehow, within this sphere of magical energy, they could sense each other's feelings. Mutual sensations of warmth, caring, respect, trust, and support coursed between them as they held each other, and the shared emotions inexplicably seemed to grow stronger and richer as the spell continued. For both, but especially for Harry, who grew up experiencing very little of those things, it was an unforgettable experience. After several minutes both the orb and the sensations faded, and they drew apart. Too tired to move and too moved to speak, they sat down next to each other on the grass.
"Harry," Ginny asked much later. "Did you know it would end like that?" His eyes widened, and he shook his head.
"Honestly, I had no idea. The book never said anything. I'm sorry, I…"
She cut him off. "Don't apologise! The duel itself was fun, really, and the…the…joining at the end was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. Thank you, Harry, that was a wonderful present!"
He beamed at her. "We still don't know who won, do we?"
She looked intently at him, about to reply, but the words did not come. As brown eyes met green, their gazes instantly locked and the air stood still. Harry's smile faded as a thousand thoughts raced through his mind all at once, but out of the chaos he found himself wondering: was he about to kiss Ginny Weasley? Was this the moment? He was all too aware that their faces were just centimetres apart. As if in a trance, he felt himself leaning in, getting closer, saw her eyes slide closed right before his did the same…
And their noses bumped. Harry belatedly remembered that he needed to tilt his head. So he did.
Their lips met gently, tentatively, and suddenly it was no longer a dream, but sweet reality. He was kissing Ginny, kissing her for real, and she…was kissing him back. The feeling of that was like nothing he'd ever imagined, and he reached a hand around the back of her head to steady himself as the kiss deepened slightly. He instinctively began stroking her hair, somehow aware in a corner of his mind that she was doing the same to him. He thought to himself, in that moment, he would be happy to just enjoy the sensation of feeling her warm full lips and touching her soft hair forever.
Forever, alas, ended much too soon. He felt her release and pull back a little, and when conscious thought returned a moment later, he knew it was over. He dropped his hand and opened his eyes to find her smiling shyly at him.
"I think we both won," she whispered.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ginny."
"Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Harry."
A few minutes later, the young couple walked hand-in-hand out of the garden. As they went around the corner of the castle, he leaned over and whispered something that made her giggle and bump him playfully. Behind them the garden slowly faded, until the ground was once again nothing more than a patch of bare February snow, bearing no witness to what had taken place there. But the memory of what they shared in the garden that day was one neither person would ever forget.
Fin
******
A/N: I would like to thank the Academy for…wait, sorry, wrong speech. Many thanks to my beta reader, Art Mulder, for his helpful hints, comma corrections, and some terrific suggestions that really improved the last third of the story. I would like to thank Penpusher, whose classic H/G duel scene in "Harry's Dilemma" provided my initial inspiration for this, although my own duel turned out to be very different. Thanks also to JK Rowling of course, for creating such wonderful characters. I do not and never could hope to own any part of them, or the magical world in which they live.