~*~
Harry
stumbled clumsily along the corridor back to Gryffindor Tower. The alcohol's
effects had gone completley from his mind, but not, apparently, from his body.
He tried to make his way back as quickly as possible - no teacher would be too
impressed with his current state if they discovered him now.
When he passed the Fat Lady, who had raised a disapproving eyebrow at him, he
clambered up the stairs to bed. He virtually passed out on his four poster,
grateful for somewhere warm and comfortable. Just as he was dozing off, the
memory of Ginny popped into his mind again. He groaned outwardly, not wanting
to think about anything until the morning. Resolving to himself that he would
do just that, he wriggled up the bed to make himself a little more comfortable.
Checking the clock quickly, and realising it was three in the morning, Harry
drifted off into a troubled sleep.
He woke up every half an hour, and his headache grew worse every time. He kept
dreaming of Ginny, dreaming that she was trying to tell him something that he
just couldn't figure out. Then Draco would appear in the dreams and try and
steal Ginny away from him, and Harry would stand frozen to the spot, unable to
move, helpless. He woke with a start and sat bolt upright when it reached five
o'clock, his hair drenched in a cold sweat. He sighed in exasperation, and
rested his pounding head heavily in his hands.
***
Ginny was getting just a little bit frustrated at her insomnia. It was now five
o'clock and she hadn't slept a wink all night. All she could think about was
Harry's reaction to her confession. Draco's words, 'SHE is the closest thing
to you, Potter. I see the look in your eyes when you watch her...it would kill
you to see your precious little Ginny hurt.' What did he mean, the
look in Harry's eyes? And his 'precious little Ginny'? Was she missing
something? Unless... no, Ginny told herself. That's not possible.
Whenever Ginny saw a glimmer of hope for the pair of them, it was immediately
shot down at the memory of that night with Draco. How could she and Harry ever
be together when she had done something so awful? Harry deserved someone better
than her...
Eventually, she decided that there was no longer any point in even trying to
get to sleep. Being careful not to wake the others, she got out of her warm,
cosy bed, and put on her tatty orange dressing gown. Creeping down the stairs
as quietly as possible, she soon reached the safe confines of the Gryffindor
Common Room. As soon as she entered the room, however, she was aware of another
presence. Ginny was not the only one in here.
"Hello?" Her voice sounded magnified in the deafening silence.
"Ginny?"
Her heart leapt. It couldn't be -
"Harry?" she called out indefinably. Light suddenly flooded the room
and she winced, holding her hand up to stop it penetrating her eyes. When she
removed her hand, she saw him. Her was standing awkwardly, his hair even more
ruffled than usual, glasses slightly skewif, in nothing but his pyjamas. She
suddenly became even more aware of her own state of undress, and pulled the
dressing gown tightly around her. There was a long, awkward pause before anyone
said anything.
"What you doing down here?" Harry eventually muttered.
"Couldn't sleep," Ginny shrugged. "You?"
"Same."
Ginny nodded uselessly. "What - where did you go after..."
"Oh, no where," Harry interjected quickly.
"Well, you must have gone somewhere," Ginny said, her eyebrow
arched and her arms folded against her chest. "I just went straight back
to the Tower, and Ron and Hermione were still in the Common Room - they said
you hadn't come back yet."
"What were they doing up at that hour?" Harry asked
incredulously, his eyes widening.
Ginny rolled her eyes patronisingly, and grinned slightly. "What do you
think?"
Harry blushed and looked down. "Oh," he muttered pointlessly.
Ginny waited for an explanation.
"I went into the Prefect's bathroom actually," Harry said with a
small laugh. It sounded pretty ridiculous.
Ginny smiled slightly. "The bathroom?" she teased. "Why?"
"I wanted to be alone," he said simply. "Come sit on the sofa
with me, Gin."
The pair sat down together. The sofa sagged slightly beneath their weight.
Ginny sat uncomfortably on her hands, not knowing what to say next. She suddenly
caught sight of Harry's hand - his knuckles were swollen and black and blue.
"Harry!" she exclaimed, taking hold of it immediately. "What
happened to your hand?"
"I, uh, I punched the floor," Harry said bashfully, looking down at
his lap. "Frustration, y'know."
"Oh." Ginny felt pretty stupid, but kept hold of his hand. It felt
comforting beneath her fingers, and warmth ebbed into her freezing cold hands.
"Parvati was in the bathroom."
Ginny's heart skipped a beat. "And?" she said curtly.
Harry shrugged once again. "Nothing much. We just...talked. Had a few
drinks."
Ginny dropped Harry's hand. "A few drinks?"
"Yeah. We relaxed. Y'know, like you and Draco did."
Ginny's eyes widened. "What?"
Harry immediately regretted his bitter words, but he couldn't help the way he
felt. He was so heart-wrenchingly jealous about that night.
"Of course, we didn't go as far as you and Draco did." Harry bit down
on his lip.
"Well...well how far did you go?" Ginny said shrilly, trying to keep
her voice no louder than a whisper.
"We just kissed."
That felt good. Harry almost wanted to tell Ginny, to hurt her, like she'd hurt
him. He knew it sounded selfish, but he didn't care. He wanted Ginny to be
jealous, just like he was. He wanted Ginny to be hurt, just like he was. He was
fed up of being Harry Potter the Hero. For once, just once in his entire life,
he wanted to do something heartless, for his own benefit.
"Are you...going to get together?" Ginny asked tentivley, a slight
quaver in her voice. Harry's previous thoughts were crumbled at the sight of
her anguished face. Guilt swept over him in a nasty tidal wave.
"No!" he said quickly. "No. We were drunk, Ginny."
Ginny nodded. He thought she looked slightly relieved, but he couldn't really
tell.
"Well, we all make stupid mistakes when we're drunk," Ginny said
kindly. Harry's head snapped up and anger glinted in his eyes.
"Were you drunk?" he shot at her.
Ginny frowned, taken aback. "No, Harry, that's not what I -"
"Exactly, you haven't got an excuse."
"I don't need one!" she said sharply, looking Harry directly in the
eye. "Why are you making me feel guilty about what happened, Harry?"
"I'm not!" Harry said defensively, and sighed in frustration - not another
argument.
"Yes, you are!" she argued. "I'm fed up of being made to feel
that I'm...married to you or something!"
Harry stared at her disbelievingly. "Not once," he said calmly,
"have I ever made you feel like you're married to me. What a ridiculous
thing to do to a friend."
Ginny opened her mouth to say something but shut it again immediately. Harry's
words shot through her heart like a bullet. A friend... that's all she
was to him. That's all she ever would be. How stupid she had been to think that
they could ever be anything more. Why would Harry be interested in a
plain-faced, simple girl like her when he could have someone stunning,
beautiful, witty, intelligent...someone like Pavarti Patil. Her chin trembled
uncontrollably. She tried so hard not to break down, but it was no use. Fat
tears started pouring down her cheeks as she stifled wrenching sobs.
"The whole time I was with Draco...I was thinking of you!" she
blubbered hysterically. "I closed my eyes and I saw you, Harry! Not him!
And when...when it was over, I couldn't believe it when it wasn't true, and he
was lying on top of me and not you...that's why I did it! I've never wanted
anyone else except you! It's always been you, Harry! And you've never once
noticed, not once, and I -"
The next thing she knew his arms were around her and she was crying into him.
When her outburst was over and her sobs had reduced to sharp intakes of breath
every so often, she felt embarrassed and stupid. Why did she tell Harry all
those things? He must've thought she was such an idiot. He'd probably have a good
laugh about it with Ron later.
She felt a hand cup her chin and tilt her head up. Looking up, her nose was
inches from Harry's. She could barely breathe, and she got the familiar
butterflies and racing heartbeat that she always got when Harry was close to
her. Her head started spinning as his head moved closer and closer into hers.
She closed her eyes, and felt his lips come down softly on hers.
Suddenly, it was as though the rest of the world had dissolved, time had stood
still, and the only two people that existed was her and Harry. His lips flooded
her entire body with warmth and comfort, and her fingertips and toes tingled
with pleasure. As their lips started to move together everything seemed to fall
into place. It was as though the final piece of the jigsaw had just been
fitted. Ginny felt complete, happy - this was what a real kiss should feel
like, this was bliss.
Harry eventually broke away, his lips red and moist from her mouth, his eyes
adoring. "I'm so glad you told me that, Ginny." His voice was hoarse
and his eyes didn't leave hers. Ginny looked away. A pang of guilt shot through
her.
"But I don't deserve -"
"Ssh," Harry whispered soothingly, pressing his finger over her
mouth. "I don't care what you did with Malfoy. Do you really want to let
that idiot get in the way of us?"
Ginny sighed, somewhat frustrated. "Why didn't you tell me how you felt
before? You know I've always been crazy about you, Harry..."
"Because I didn't realise how I felt about you until you told me what
you'd done with Malfoy. Trust me, you don't feel this jealous when a
girl you know gets together with someone for nothing. When Hermione told me
about her and Ron, I was happy. And I know it's different with Malfoy, but when
you told me about you two...I just felt sick, and jealous, and angry. And I
realised it was because I like you, Ginny. I really, really like you."
Ginny glowed with happiness. She wanted to scream, throw her arms around
Harry's neck and then wake everyone in the castle up to tell them that Harry
Potter liked her. Harry Potter liked her!
"So..." she began slowly, "...it's almost a good thing,
what happened between Draco and me."
Harry nodded, a slightly twisted smile on his face. "I guess you could
look at it like that."
Ginny grinned. "Oh, Harry, I - I -" Ginny squealed with glee and
bowled Harry over by launching herself at him, her arms wrapping tightly around
his waist. Harry laughed, and lay back on the sofa, Ginny's head on his chest,
with his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder.
They fell asleep like that. It wasn't until Hermione came down in the morning
that they were found. She had awakened them, and then immediately held Harry
back for a quick round of questions, varying from "Oh, my, gosh, what
happened?" to "and you sure you're not bothered anymore by what
happened with Draco?" But Harry knew that he really wasn't. After all, as
strange as it sounded, if it wasn't for Draco Malfoy, Harry wouldn't be so
happy now.