Chapter Twelve: Complications

Harry lay awake. He was exhausted-it was almost five o'clock in the morning by the time Ginny fell asleep, having made love a few more times in between long talks about everything and nothing. But he couldn't fall asleep.

Ginny had dropped off some time ago; she was asleep with her head on his chest, her arm draped over him; Harry's arms were wrapped around her, his fingers stroking her by now very tangled red hair.

The ache he'd felt before, the ache brought on by Susan's letter, was gone, replaced by a kind of bittersweet nostalgia. He realized suddenly that he could forgive Susan for hurting him. They might never really be friends, but he could live with what had happened. He could, indeed, move on. His eyes fell on the stack of papers on his desk, on Susan's letter, which rested atop them. Then they fell on Cho's postcard, which he'd lain flat.

Cho, he thought. She'd be coming here soon. For the first time since hearing from her those few weeks ago, he wasn't sure he wanted her to come. What, in the end, would happen between them? His mind traced back to their days at Hogwarts, to his fifth year when he'd tried, and failed, to be with Cho. He knew now that it had been way too soon for them to come together. The timing had been wrong then. But then she'd come to see him the following year at Halloween. It hadn't gone right then, either.

But what had gone wrong? He couldn't talk to her, for one thing. He couldn't have sex with her, for another. The more Harry thought about it, it seemed that the only success he'd had with Cho was in being her pen-pal. Was that really the basis of a relationship?

Or more to the point, was that what SHE wanted? She lived in Egypt now. Even if she wanted something more serious with Harry, how would they deal with that kind of separation? It wasn't as if they had much of a history together to base a relationship on, especially a long-distance one. But what if all she wanted from him was sex?

Ginny sighed in her sleep and snuggled up closer to him. He looked down at her and felt his stomach tie itself in knots. Ginny had been right-he DID want someone in his life again, someone to love who'd love him back. He might be a randy dog most of the time but in the end sex wasn't the first thing he wanted.

He gazed down at Ginny again and felt his stomach clench harder. What about Ginny?

They were friends, good friends. They got on well. They'd just had a very lovely evening in bed together. But Ginny, she said she'd given up on relationships. She didn't want them anymore. She was too scared.

"You don't REALLY believe in that whole 'two people are destined for each other and nobody else' junk, do you?" she'd said. And Harry had insisted he did.

But did he? The fact was that he'd been very happy with Susan, and had she not broken things off with him, they might still be together. But they were not. And there had been times when he'd been happy with Cho, as well; it was just that the timing never seemed quite right for them. And as he brushed a strand of hair from Ginny's forehead he realized he might well be happy with her, too.

So he had been wrong, then. There wasn't just ONE person on earth he could be happy with; there might well be any number of girls out there with whom he might find and share love. It wasn't finding that ONE person, it was finding a good person at the right time and under the right circumstances.

He looked down at Ginny again, and felt a kind of hollow ache fill his chest. She shouldn't be so cynical, not when she was so young. Eighteen years old and already experienced had hardened her heart.

He glanced over at the postcard from Cho and only felt more confused. He'd told Ron he wanted another chance with Cho, just to see if he could make it work. Part of him still did.

Then why are you lying here with your arms around Ginny? a voice inside his head asked.

Ginny sighed in her sleep and stirred slightly; Harry shifted and lay down on his side and gazed at her, caressing her freckled cheek with his thumb. The night had been the most extraordinary of his life, and now all he wanted was for time to stop and let him stay here with her, talking to her and making love to her and convincing her that she was wrong, that love was worth the risk, that he was worth the risk.

But it was no good, he thought sadly. Ginny was stubborn, and did he really want to relive what it felt like to open his heart up to a girl that he knew would push him away?

He brushed his lips across her forehead and closed his eyes. As he dropped off to sleep at last, a small part of him wished he might never wake up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunlight poured into the bedroom and Harry blinked and opened his eyes. He turned and saw Ginny, awake, lying on her side and smiling at him.

"Hey," she said softly. "I wondered when you'd wake up."

Harry rolled onto his side and moved closer to her. "Go easy on me, Gin. You wore me out," he said, grinning, running his hand up her bare arm. She giggled and moved closer to him, kissed him lightly on the lips. She backed away, and her face became serious.

"Harry," she said slowly. "I just...thanks. For everything. For last night. It was lovely."

Harry swallowed and felt a lump rise in his throat. Tell her, a voice in his head yelled. Tell her you want to be with her, that she's dead wrong, that you can be happy together!

"You're welcome," he said instead, and he forced a grin.

"I think it's safe to say you don't need lessons anymore," said Ginny, propping herself up on her elbow and running her fingers through his messy hair.

"Oh, I've graduated, have I?"

"Yes," she said, "with honors." She rolled on top of him. Harry, despite the ache in his chest, instantly felt an erection coming on. She rubbed her breasts against him.

"Ah," he said in a low voice. "Do I...get a diploma and everything?" He reached up and tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her to him, kissing her mouth.

"Maybe," said Ginny, kissing him with her mouth and tongue, "but...let's worry about that later, shall we?"

"Right." He should stop, he thought. He shouldn't do this again, not after spending half the night awake brooding over what might lay in store for him and Ginny, or him and Cho, down the road. But he couldn't resist Ginny, not when she was kissing him like this and straddling him and rubbing her naked breasts against him and making him swell between his legs.

"Do you have any condoms left?" she whispered.

"I hope so," he gasped. He kissed her again and reached over toward his nightstand, feeling around the surface for another condom. He was so involved in what he was doing with her that he barely heard the pounding on his bedroom door. He barely heard it swing open.

Several things happened at once. Ron, as was his habit to barge into Harry's room, came striding through the door. Harry didn't see him at first, as he was rather busy with Ginny.

Ron, however, saw what was going on in Harry's bed.

"What the hell-" he said, in a very loud voice.

Harry just managed to register that Ron was in his room and had seen Ginny in his bed when Ginny gave a yelp and leapt off Harry, diving under the covers. The force of her movement and the momentum shook the bed and caused Harry to roll right out of it, banging his head on the nightstand.

"OW!" he yelped.

"RON, GET OUT!" Ginny screamed.

"What the BLOODY HELL!?" Ron bellowed.

Harry's eyes streamed as he started to get up, and then he realized he didn't have a stitch of clothing on; he grabbed for a pillow and held it in front of him, trying to ignore the throbbing in his forehead. Ginny was still bellowing at Ron to get the hell out.

"Ron, for god's sake, do you EVER KNOCK?!" Harry snapped, holding his aching forehead with one hand and the pillow, covering his very naked privates, with the other.

"I did knock!" Ron snapped. Harry looked up at Ron and gulped. Ron-who always looked a lot bigger somehow when he was angry-was white in the face, his fists clenched at his sides.

Shit, thought Harry, suddenly realizing that Ron was standing in his room and that he, Harry, was not wearing anything and that Ginny was not wearing anything (though she had pulled the covers of the bed up over her shoulders).

"I assume," said Ron, his nostrils flared, his eyes menacing, "that there is a VERY GOOD EXPLANATION, Harry, for what my sister is doing here."

"Ron, stop it!" Ginny hissed. "It's none of your damn business!"

"I'm speaking to Harry," said Ron, not looking at Ginny.

Harry gulped again. Between Ron being six inches taller than he and outweighing him by forty pounds and having a very bad temper, Harry knew whatever he said next would be the difference between Ron letting him live or not.

"It's not what you think," Harry blurted. He instantly knew this was the wrong thing to say.

"Oh yeah?" said Ron, taking a step toward Harry, his knuckles white from clenching his fists. "What do I think?"

"Ron-"

"Quiet, Ginny!" Ron snapped. Ginny gave an exasperated snort and threw up one hand, the other clutching the covers over herself.

"Look, Ron, I swear," said Harry quickly, backing away, holding up one hand. "There's nothing...I mean...it's not what it looks like..."

"It LOOKS like you've been shagging my little sister!" Ron growled, taking three more steps toward him; Ron's stride was so long he closed the distance between him and Harry easily.

Harry gave a choking laugh and backed up right into the wall.

"Well, uh, yes, but, I assure you my intentions are entirely honorable," said Harry quickly, his voice strangled and very high. "We're uh...you see..."

Ron advanced on him and Harry pressed against the wall, still holding the pillow in front of his privates and feeling distinctly vulnerable just then.

"You're WHAT?" Ron asked.

"We're going out," said Harry quickly. "We're...we're in love!"

"What?" said Ron.

"What?" said Ginny.

"We're in love," Harry repeated, looking over at Ginny desperately, hoping his eyes told her what to do next.

"You are?" Ron demanded.

"We are?" Ginny asked, and then her eyes met Harry's and she understood. "Oh, yes, uh, we are!" she added, smiling brightly. She stood up on her knees, holding the sheet in front of her and wrapping it carefully around her.

"Yeah," said Harry weakly, smiling. "I'm mad about her, Ron. Honest."

"Absolutely mad," said Ginny, nodding vigorously, tying the sheet round her like a toga and walking slowly over to Harry. "And you know me, I'm just...CRAZY about Harry." Her eyes were glittering

"Crazy," repeated Harry, nodding, as Ginny put an arm round his neck. He put his free hand on her shoulder and realized just how absolutely ridiculous he must look, standing there naked but for a pillow covering his naughty bits.

Ron, meanwhile, was gazing with narrowed eyes at him, then at Ginny, then back at Harry. Harry held his breath. He hoped Ron wouldn't beat him up too badly.

But then Ron's face broke into a wide grin, and he began to laugh.

Harry felt his knees go soft and he nearly sank to the floor in relief, but Ginny started to laugh, a bit too loudly, and Harry quickly joined in.

"That's brilliant, mate!" Ron said, clapping Harry hard on the shoulder. Very hard.

Harry winced and smiled. "Yeah," he said, glancing at Ginny, who was still laughing a bit too hard.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ron demanded.

Harry and Ginny looked at one another quickly.

"Well," said Ginny slowly.

"Uh, we...we weren't sure how...you'd take it," said Harry.

"Right," said Ginny, taking up the story and running with it. "I mean, come on, Ron, you practically were ready to kill Harry ten seconds ago. You can't blame us for keeping you in the dark, now can you?" She gave him a knowing, scolding sort of smile.

Ron blushed very red.

"Yeah, well," said Ron, "I think I can be forgiven for looking out for my little sister."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Ron, I appreciate it, but I assure you, Harry and I are...deliriously happy together."

Ron grinned again and backed away. "This is excellent," he said heartily. "I always knew you'd figure out my sister was perfect for you, mate. And Ginny! All this time I thought you were over Harry."

Harry and Ginny laughed again, very unnaturally.

"Oh, that," said Ginny. "Well, you know, I guess I never really got over my thing for him after all."

"Yeah," said Harry, smiling a bit wildly. "And...and Ginny IS perfect for me! We're...we're GREAT together." Please don't kill me, he thought again, even as Ron was backing off.

"Well, this is great news," said Ron. "I'll have to tell Hermione. And Mum and Dad of course, Mum'll probably start planning your wedding tomorrow."

"NO!" Harry and Ginny yelled.

Ron stopped and stared at them. "What?"

"Uh, you can't tell Mum and Dad," said Ginny quickly.

"Why the bloody hell not?" Ron asked, sounding a bit angry again.

"Because," said Harry quickly, "we...uh...well, I mean, this JUST happened, see, Ron and we...we kind of don't want everyone to know right away."

Ron's eyes narrowed again. He wasn't buying it.

"What I mean is," Harry said quickly, his mind working, "we...we'd rather be the ones to tell them. Ourselves."

"And," Ginny added quickly, "uh, we need a couple of weeks to sort of get used to the idea of us, you know, as a couple. Before we start shouting it to the rooftops and everything."

Ron grinned and nodded. "I get it," he said. "But I can tell Hermione, can't I?"

"Sure," said Harry. "Just, uh, tell her to keep it quiet. For now."

"You bet," said Ron. "I'm starving. Want some breakfast?"

Harry blinked, his mind a whirlwind. Two minutes ago Ron had been ready to strangle him and now he was inviting him down for breakfast. And Harry STILL didn't have any clothes on.

"Uh, no thanks," said Harry quickly. Ginny simply shook her head. Harry cleared his throat, looked pointedly at Ron, then down at the pillow he was holding. Ron's eyes fell on the pillow for a split second and he seemed to realize that Harry was standing there with no clothes on.

"Right," said Ron. There was a pause. "Uh, yeah. So, I'll just see you a bit later then, Harry?"

"Sure," said Harry. Get out, get out, get out! he thought, resisting the urge to run at Ron and shove him bodily out of the room.

"Right, then," said Ron, suddenly looking very embarrassed. "See you."

And he hurried out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Harry and Ginny stared at the spot where Ron had just stood, and both let out huge breaths.

"Dear god," Harry choked, still clutching the pillow over his crotch.

"That was close," said Ginny. "I thought he was going to throttle you for certain."

"It's a good thing your brother doesn't have a gun," said Harry weakly. "Are they ALL this protective of you?"

"Pretty much," said Ginny. "Ron more so, though, because he's just a year older."

Harry nodded, his knees still weak, and he crossed the room, pillow still in front of him, and sat down on the bed.

"Now what?" he said, wondering just what the hell he'd gotten them into to get OUT of being beaten to death by Ron.

"I guess we're dating," said Ginny wryly. "Only, uh, this could be a problem, what with Cho coming and all."

"Cho," Harry repeated. "Shit." He'd forgotten all about Cho in the past several minutes. He looked up at Ginny. "She's coming here thinking...thinking we're going to get together and I just told Ron you and me are-"

"Wait," said Ginny quickly, sitting next to him on the bed. "There's an easy way out of this."

"There is?" said Harry, because for the life of him he couldn't see what that way might be.

"Sure," said Ginny. "Look, Cho's not coming for another week, right? So, we pretend to go out, just to keep Ron off our backs. Then right before Cho shows up, we break up. Or rather, I break up with you, because if you break up with me Ron'll pound you."

Harry looked at her. "Are you sure?" he said, feeling very uncomfortable with this. He didn't like lying to his best mate, and he didn't like the idea of pretending to date Ginny when a part of him ACTUALLY wanted to.

But she doesn't want you, you stupid git, a voice in his head told him. Remember? She's done with love, with relationships. Get over it. Cho wants you; don't waste your time on Ginny, on a girl who's afraid to stick with you.

"I'm sure," said Ginny, meeting his eyes and smiling. "Look, it'll be easy. I have Quidditch practice every day until the World Cup. So you wouldn't even have to hang around me that much."

Harry felt a pang. "But I like hanging around with you," he said, smiling at her.

She smiled back at him. "Yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. They looked at each other for a long moment. "I guess," said Harry finally, "this means...we won't, uh..."

Ginny blushed. "Well, no," she said. "I mean, I have practice every day, it goes for hours. And...well, I told you. After last night you really don't need me anymore."

You're wrong, thought Harry suddenly. But he couldn't bring himself to say it to her. He couldn't bring himself to tell her what he was feeling, because he knew she'd reject him. He blinked and forced himself to speak in a lighter tone.

"I'm that good, am I?" he joked, but it felt forced.

"Pretty much," said Ginny, smiling in a strained sort of way. "I mean, I had a really amazing time and all. Cho won't know what hit her."

"Yeah," said Harry, feeling very sad and confused and wishing he could muster up the courage to tell her that last night meant more to him than simply drowning his sorrows or preparing himself for another girl. That he wasn't even sure he wanted that other girl anymore.

Cho wants you, the voice in his head said. Ginny doesn't. Get it?

I get it, he thought.

"I should go," said Ginny softly.

Don't go, Harry thought.

"Okay," he said. She stood up and let the sheet drop, affording Harry another view of her. He closed his eyes; it hurt to look at her, to see how beautiful she was in the light of day. She started to gather up her discarded clothes and put them on. Harry took a breath and followed her example, scooping up his boxers and pulling them on, then reaching for his jeans.

They dressed in silence; Harry stole glances at Ginny as she fastened her bra, pulled on her skirt, buttoned her blouse, smoothed her hair and tied it back up in a knot. Only last night he'd taken those clothes off her, loosened her hair so that it flowed over her shoulders. He'd made love to her how many times and explored every inch of her and loved every second of it. And now she was leaving. It was over. He pursed his lips. He had to move on.

They finished dressing and without a word Harry crossed to the door and opened it. Ginny moved past him and paused in the doorway to look up at him.

"I had a good time," she said softly, her eyes beautiful and sad.

"Me, too," he said, his voice husky. "Thanks, Ginny. For everything."

"My pleasure," said Ginny, smiling. But she didn't move just then.

"Good luck," said Harry, "with the Quidditch. I'm...I'm coming to the match, you know."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "Thanks. Good luck to you. You know, with Cho."

Harry nodded but said nothing. Stay, he wanted to tell her. But then she leaned up and kissed him very softly on the mouth.

His whole body tingled from that kiss and he started to reach for her, to crush his mouth against hers and carry her back over to the bed, but she was already pulling away, already turning and going out the door, heading for the staircase. He closed his eyes for a moment and started to follow. This was it. It was over. Ginny wasn't for him. Accept it, he thought, and move on.

He started down the stairs after Ginny, so lost in his own thoughts that he collided with her at the foot of the staircase.

He blinked, not sure just why she had stopped. Then his eyes traveled to where Ginny was staring, and he felt his stomach plummet.

Ron was standing in the living room, managing to look both shocked and smug at the same time.

"Look who's here, Harry."

Standing next to Ron was Cho Chang.