A/N -- Just a reminder, there is a reason why this fic is "R" rated. If the "this show contains mature subject matter" warning applies to you, go and find a different fic to read.
Okay, folks... I know that some are going to be upset at some of the "cliches" happening in this chapter. I recognize them. I suppose I ought to explain my writing style a bit better here, as perhaps that will keep me from being flamed.
I do not consciously sit down with details in mind and write. I have a main idea of the premise of the story, and a main idea of where I'm going to end up (which can change frequently, much to my disgust), and I sit down and write a framework for the story. What major events happen at what points... and in what order. I then divide up these major events into chunks of a size which I feel can be handled in a single chapter... giving me a list of chapters and THE MAIN things that happen in each.
Then I sit down in front of my computer, and the muse takes over. Sometimes I end up combining things that I thought would be two chapters into one, because once it's written, the length isn't there. And sometimes, I end up writing three chapters where I thought there might be one. However, the DETAILS in each chapter are NEVER mapped out. They just happen as I write the first draft.
So, if you don't like the way this is going, or if you feel it's too cliched...which I have to admit, I worried about myself until I finished the first draft of the last chapter, I apologise profusely. Blame the muse... but please folks, don't flame me. It's really not worth it, because the story is done... fully written, and I'm not changing a thing. I'm on my second rewrite now, and sending chapters off to James Milamber to beta, and hopefully, I'll have them up to you as they come back and are finalized.
CQ
Chapter Twenty: Revelations
After joining the others in the Common Room and spending an hour holding Ginny close on the couch as Ron and Hermione attempted to avoid each others' eyes, and Neville gazed into the fire, Harry said his goodnights.
"Rather early, isn't it, Harry?" Ron said in a high voice, looking rather panicked.
"Not really... it's nearly eleven," Harry said. "I just... we've got double transfiguration in the morning and..."
"Yeah... well, perhaps I should..." Ron stood.
"Ron?" Hermione said quietly. "I've forgotten my Arithmancy book in the Head's lounge. Can you walk me there to get it?"
If anything, Ron looked more panicked. Harry glanced at Hermione, to find her looking in the other direction, but her cheeks were bright pink. Something was definitely going on there.
"Uh... of course... Mione..."
"Well... goodnight..." Harry said, leaning down and kissing Ginny softly. "See you in the morning?"
"I'll be there," she smiled. "Goodnight, Harry."
Harry tossed and turned in bed that night, thinking of the Order meeting, and what Dumbledore had said, and his conversation with Bill and Charlie afterwards, and whatever was going on with Hermione and Ron... Ron, who still hadn't returned to the dorm.
He fell into a restless sleep, and tossed and turned some more, until he realized he was having another nightmare. Voldemort was there, but only the fact of him. Harry was standing in front of a group of people, facing the evil wizard down. As he stood there, Voldemort laughed, and one by one, picked off the people standing behind him... Order members, friends...Ginny.
Harry sat up, in a cold sweat, and heard the door to the dormitory open and close softly. Ron?
"Ron?" he whispered.
"It's me, Harry," a soft voice came through his draperies. Startled, he pulled them aside to reveal Ginny standing, shivering, beside his bed. She was wearing the same tank top and pajama bottoms she'd worn the night before.
"Ginny?" Harry glanced around, making sure none of the others were awake before looking back to her. "What are you doing in here?"
"I'm freezing my butt off at the moment," she whispered back. "Move over!"
"Ginny!" Harry squeaked as she pushed him over and climbed under his duvet, letting the draperies fall back to isolate them. "What...?"
"I woke up, and I..." she looked up at him from where she had laid her head on his pillow. "I felt like you needed me. So I came."
The entire conversation he'd had only a couple hours before with her older brothers ran through his head. He was panicking, he was...
Ginny Weasley was in his bed!
He was insane for having these thoughts... Bill would kill him... Charlie would kill him... Ron would draw and quarter him...
But that wasn't why Ginny was here. She said that she'd felt him needing her. And wasn't that true? The nightmare...
"I had a nightmare," he said quietly, groping for his wand and casting a silence spell around them.
"Come here," she pulled him into her arms, and he was surprised as she began to rock him, as though he were a child.
"I don't want to lead, Gin," he said quietly against her breast.
"I know, Harry," she whispered. "But you need to understand, they'll follow you."
"I don't know who on earth would follow me, or why," he said, dejectedly.
"I'd follow you into Hell itself, Harry," she replied softly. "Because I love you."
Harry let her hold him, rocking him quietly. He took comfort from her warmth, and wrapped his arms tightly around her. It was some time before Harry suddenly became very aware of her softness against him, in a very different way.
"Gin..." he said, his hands rubbing up and down her back in a rhythmic way.
"Hmm...?"
"I don't know if this is the best idea we've had..."
"You need me, Harry. And I'm here," she said softly.
"I don't mean that..." he tried to pull back from her, very aware of what was going on with his body. He flushed with embarrassment, but Ginny was having none of it. Softly, she reached up and kissed him.
Harry hesitated for a moment, then groaned and kissed her back. His left hand, seemingly with a mind of it's own, came up and curled around, gently cupping a soft breast. It was Ginny's turn to groan, and she pressed herself hard against him, stilling the moment that she felt his body against her, along with the very apparent proof of his own desire.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, pulling back. "Ginny..."
"No, Harry..." she moved with him, her body pressed along the length of his, her toes pressed into his calves. "Please, don't pull away."
"Gin..."
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Harry. I feel it, too," she took his hand and placed it against her breast, then pressed her lips against his throat.
"Ginny, I don't want to hurt you..."
"You won't."
"You're..."
"Harry," she traced a hand down his arm, taking his hand and placing it against her bottom, pressing her hips forward against him.
"Holy..." Harry said, his lips lowering to hers as he gripped her bottom and pulled her tightly against him.
Ginny's hands moving beneath his t-shirt caused Harry to suck in a breath, and he gently raised his own hand to her waist, slipping gently beneath the tank top she was wearing and up. When his palm encountered the heavy warmth of her breast, that same breath was knocked from him.
"Ginny..."
"Harry...?" She lifted her shirt up and over her head in one swift movement, leaving her bare to the waist, and open to Harry's shocked, glowing eyes. In less than a moment, he had lowered his head and rained kisses down from her chin to her breast.
"Wow..." she breathed.
"You're telling me," he whispered, very aware of his own growing discomfort.
"Here..." she wriggled out of her pajamas, and scooted down in the bed, pulling him against her.
"No, Gin..." He pulled back from her.
"No?" she looked confused.
"No."
"But..."
"No," he said, more firmly. "I don't want you to do anything you might regret... I want you to think about this. I want us to think about this. Please."
"You don't want to...?"
"More than you could possibly ever understand," he groaned. "But we're not going to. Not tonight."
"Do you want me to leave?" she asked quietly.
"No," he said. "Just let me hold you for a while..."
And together, they fell asleep, held fast in each other's arms.
"Harry, wake..." Harry was mildly aware of the brightness as someone parted the draperies around his bed. "You son of a bitch!"
He came fully awake to see Ron glaring at him.
"Ron?"
"What the hell is my sister doing in your bed?" Ron glared down at them.
"Ron, would you stop it!" Ginny hissed, sitting up. Harry was very, very happy to see that sometime during the night she had put her clothes back on. That really would have toppled Ron over the edge.
Which was still a distinct possibility, judging by the look on his face.
"Ron, relax..."
"Relax?" Ron spat. "What do you mean, relax?"
"I mean, calm down and let us explain," Harry said firmly. "I know how this looks..."
"Look, Potter, falling asleep on the Common Room couch with her was something you could explain. This, however, doesn't require explanation... Ginny slept in your bed last night!"
"Yes, Ron, I did!" Ginny threw her feet over the side of the bed and stood, confronting her brother. "Which is none of your business!"
"Ron..." Harry climbed out of bed, standing behind her. "I had a nightmare... Ginny came to me... and she's not... any less than she was yesterday. Understand?"
Ron appeared to cool down a bit, but not much.
"She's... you didn't..."
"I didn't," Harry confirmed, not wanting to mention what they did, but feeling that the most important thing right now was to get Ron calmed down.
"Really?"
"If we had, Ronald Weasley, it still wouldn't be any of your business," Ginny said coldly. "But just for your information, I would have, I wanted to, and I tried everything I could to convince him to, but Harry is too much of a gentleman, and told me that we needed to wait. Is that enough information for you?"
Ron looked rather shamefaced. "I..."
"Ron, I..." Harry reached out a hand and placed it on Ron's shoulder. "Gin, why don't you go get ready for classes, and we'll go down to breakfast together... I think Ron and I need to... talk."
Ginny stared hard at her brother, then reached up and gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving the two boys together before she could say or do something she was quite certain she'd regret.
"Ron?"
"I thought..." Ron began quietly.
"I know, and you probably weren't far wrong," Harry admitted.
Ron turned sparking eyes back on him.
"No..." Harry shook his head. "We didn't. But..."
"You came close," Ron said in a surprisingly calm voice.
"You have no idea..." Harry shook his head. "We need to get past this, okay? You're my best friend, Ron. You know what I have to do, and without you and Hermione, I'm not sure I can do it. But without Ginny..."
"Without Ginny?"
"Without Ginny," Harry said firmly. "I don't know if I want to."
Ron stared hard at his friend for a long time, then turned and sat down on his bed. Looking down at his hands, he muttered something.
"What?"
"Hermione... and I... we.." Ron flushed deeply. "Yesterday... in the Head's lounge."
Harry's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and his jaw dropped. "You did?"
"Yeah," Ron nodded. "Twice."
"Holy..." Harry sat down beside Ron, staring at the wall. "Are you... Is she okay?"
"She's better than I am, mate," Ron shook his head. "I feel like... I feel... well, I'm not sure what I feel... maybe that's why I freaked on you and Gin..."
"No, you freaked on me and Gin for the same reason that Bill and Charlie cornered me after the meeting last night and read me the riot act," Harry smiled. "Because you love her and you don't want to see her hurt."
"And you're not going to hurt her?"
"I don't want to," Harry said after a moment. "But I don't know for sure that I never will. I can only tell you, Ron, that this isn't some... casual thing for me. Ginny's... well, she's it. If it's not her, it's no one."
Ron raised his eyebrows at this. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Absolutely," Harry flushed. "Look, Ron, I'm not going to tell you that nothing is ever going to happen between your sister and I... last night..."
"I do not need to hear this," Ron said firmly. "I really do not want to know... but I know Ginny, Harry... and if she's decided you're it... mate, you might as well start looking for the rings."
Harry sighed, thinking about that for a moment, and strangely, wasn't as put off by it as he would have expected.
"Come on," Ron stood. "The girls are going to be waiting for us, and you're not even showered yet."
"No..." Harry smiled. "Okay, give me five minutes."
Breakfast was a strangely tense affair. Hermione and Ron were still painfully aware of each other, and Ron and Ginny were stilted, as well. Hermione glanced once or twice at Harry, turning pink, and Harry wondered if it was because Ginny had told her what happened, or because Hermione was wondering if Ron had.
The only people at the table oblivious to the undercurrents appeared to be Neville and Luna, who ate their breakfast between gentle smiles at each other. Luna had taken to eating her meals with the group of Gryffindors, and Harry knew that she was more comfortable at their table than with her dorm mates... some of whom hadn't been very kind to her in past.
Leaving the Great Hall, Harry walked Ginny to her first class before running down the two corridors and up a staircase to reach his Transfiguration class. But it had been worth it. The lingering kiss she had given him before turning and disappearing through the door of the Charms classroom would keep him warm until lunch.
"Where in bloody hell were you?" Ron asked as Harry slid into his seat.
"You sure you want to know?" Harry grinned. Ron just shook his head and turned to where Professor McGonagall was now standing, glaring at them.
Transfiguration was a very long class. Mondays it was double transfiguration until lunch, which was long enough, but Hermione kept shooting glances at Harry, then looking away in a rather embarrassed manner. Harry had had pretty much enough by the end of class.
"Mione?" Harry grabbed her arm as she picked up her bookbag and made to disappear.
She squeaked in alarm.
"What is going on?" Harry asked. "You've been acting weird around me since breakfast..."
"Nothing, Harry..." Hermione blushed.
"Look, I had this conversation with Ron this morning," Harry said in an undertone. "But Ginny has obviously talked to you..."
Hermione blushed further.
"This is really embarrassing..." Harry muttered. "Hermione, I really like her. I'm not going to hurt her... but if you're going to look at me like that, it's going to get really uncomfortable really quick. What Ginny and I..."
Hermione's eyes widened, "You and Ginny... you... really?"
Harry looked at her consideringly. Apparently Ginny hadn't told her then.
"Well... Ginny slept in my bed last night. Nothing... really... happened, but... I thought that that was why you were being weird with me?"
"Ummm... no?" Hermione sighed. "Look, Harry... you know that Ron and I are... well, seeing each other..."
"Yeah," Harry nodded.
"Well, we..."
"Yeah... I know. Look... it's not any of my... unless he hurt you?" Suddenly, Harry felt anger growing. "Hermione?"
"Relax, Harry... I think Ron's the one who needs comforting... or whatever it was that you were trying to do here. Nothing happened that I didn't want to have happen... but it's... it's all different now, you know?"
"Well, no..." Harry admitted. "Not really, but..."
"So you and Ginny haven't...?"
"Did she tell you what happened last night?"
"No..."
"Then I'm not saying anything, Hermione. If she wants anyone to know...well, it's not..."
"I understand, Harry," Hermione said with her signature smile. "Come on, let's go get some lunch, okay?"
Sorry about not putting the review responses in the last one... I wanted to get the chapter posted as it's been a while. As I got a LOT of reviews, I'll tell you all here that I'm only going to respond to the reviews that either ask a question, or make a comment I need to clarify. Otherwise, I thank you for your review, but (and I NEVER thought I'd ever get enough reviews to say THIS) if I responded individually to each and every one, we'd be here all day.
Shotgunn: You know that that was intentional, right? LOL – Harry was so bloody nervous, he didn't know WHAT he was saying, or how many times he said it!
Treck: Ron is surprising at times, isn't he?
Elmire: Don't worry about it... I'm Canadian too, and often people don't understand my little "Canadianisms"... your English is MUCH better than my French! Le Francais parlent m'entre dans l'ennui! And I'm sure I got something out of order there, and that ought to be proof enough!
Merlindamage: Oh, you know me too well. But you also know that it's not going to come when you expect it to, don't you?
LarnaMandrea: But you KNOW my fics have fluff... and you read them anyhow! Happy Friday!
Aussie-all-the-way: I think I can guarantee you I won't be changing much. The story is pretty much done, and I've been accused of using cliches before, but it's how the muse gives it to me, and when I mess with that, the effects tend to be very, very bad.
UnRealityCheck: Smooth water? Are you kidding? LOL. No. I can tell you now that while Harry and Ginny might be okay... there is plenty of white water ahead for the group...
Pdlgirl: Can't say that I've ever counted... but the fact that I haven't suggests it has never been an issue!
MrsSakuraPotter: Dumbledore may not have been "looking" for it... besides which, Order members are flooing in. It would be easy to dismiss changes in the magic within the school.
MedievalWoman: Hmm... does this chapter answer your question? LOL!
Thanks to all of the others who reviewed with kind comments: rdprice29, siriusblack08, Gorman99, Oomahey, Kordolin, LifeIsGood, Heather, Sabine Strohem-Moss, Weselan, Kitties-Rule 878, GiGiFanfic, Lozzie, Rhysenn Riddle, XiaoXiao, SumersGirl, MysticRuby, AngelicBeauty, SexyGod, BJ, VT, Lady Maethoriel, TheBlondeOne07, David