Disclaimer: You know the drill.
Chapter 14
Harry sat on his bed in stunned silence as he watched Ginny run out the door at top speed.
"She's gone mental!" Harry groaned out loud to no one in particular. This type of behavior was what had baffled him most in his ordeal with Cho Chang during fifth year. Since then he had stayed clear of girls for the most part. He knew in his heart that Ginny was worth the trouble to understand. He had never felt so strongly about a girl before. With that, Harry realized that he was still sitting there doing nothing.
Harry got up quickly and ran out of his room and down the hall looking in every direction, but Ginny was long gone. Harry was never one to give up easily. He noticed the staircases and realized Ginny would try to get as far away as possible. He ran up every flight of stairs without even bothering to check the floors in between.
When he reached the top level, Harry found himself in a circular room with a hole in the center through which he could look down on the rest of the mansion. There were a few doors around the edges of the level Harry was on. All of them were glass doors that led out to balconies. Harry hurriedly scanned the doors, his eyes stopped on one particular set of doors. On the other side of the door he could see something bright red. He would know that hair anywhere.
Slowly and carefully, Harry opened the door and stepped onto the balcony. The chilly early spring wind whipped at his face and sent his hair flying back. Harry turned and looked at Ginny, who hadn't noticed his entrance. She was sitting with her knees curled up to her chest, staring straight into the sky, rubbing her arms to keep warm. Her long red hair blew away from her face, flowing behind her in the wind except for a few tendrils that managed to catch on her cheeks or forehead, casually framing her face. She looked perfect. Perfect, except for one thing that Harry hadn't noticed immediately, her eyes were red and puffy, and her face glistened where the tears had already fallen.
"Mind if I join you?" Harry asked trying to sound as calm and sensitive as possible.
"Actually, I do." Ginny sobbed, not looking away from the sky. Harry sat down next to her, bending his knees up and resting his arms on them. He looked up at the stars as Ginny was doing.
"Beautiful night." Said Harry.
"If you're going to hang around when you're not wanted, I'd appreciate it if you would at least be quiet." Ginny snapped.
"I'm sorry." Harry apologized.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm being ridiculous. I kissed you, and then ran out. You don't even get mad about that, and then I go and treat you like pond scum." Said Ginny, sobbing heavily.
"It's alright. I just came to see why you ran, obviously something's wrong with you, something that I don't understand." Said Harry.
"What else is new?" Ginny gave a sniffle that sounded more like laughter than crying.
"There's no need for sarcasm, now tell me why you ran." Harry demanded. Suddenly a realization came over him.
"I'm not a bad kisser am I?" Harry asked, remembering what Ron had said when he told her about his kiss with Cho.
"Far from it." Ginny smiled, still not peeling her eyes from the stars.
"Then why?" Harry asked.
"Because I didn't want you to get hurt. Whenever I'm involved you get into trouble, and I care about you too much to watch anything happen to you." Said Ginny, tearing herself away from the sky and burying her face in her knees.
"Don't accuse me of stealing lines from you when I say that was stupid." Harry chuckled uncomfortably, and stopped immediately when Ginny glared daggers at him.
"And what exactly was so stupid about it, Harry? I almost got you killed by a basilisk, Pettigrew went free, you had to duel with Tom and watch Cedric be killed, and in case that's not enough Sirius got killed, oh and there's one more tiny little thing, we're a century out of our time!" Ginny yelled exasperatedly.
"Gin, how is any of that your fault?" Harry asked bewildered.
"It just is, especially the basilisk, and especially this time." She sobbed.
"Well, your first year, Tom Riddle controlled you, you need to stop blaming yourself for that. Yes, this was your fault, but you only did it to save my neck. And what's so bad about it? We may be able to save Zachariah and Lucia from a terrible fate." Harry pointed out.
"I suppose—"Ginny started.
"And besides," Harry cut her off, "Bad things find me, and have since before you were born, and will continue to whether you're around or not."
"That's true—"Said Ginny.
"And I'd rather have you with me." Harry cut her off again. Ginny stared at him openmouthed before she broke out into a smile. Not just a grin, but rather a smile involving her whole face. Her eyes lit up, her forehead creased with the rising of her eyebrows, and her cheeks seemed to pop. Every single one of her pearly teeth was visible. Harry was ecstatic to see that smile.
"It really is a beautiful night, just look at those stars." Said Ginny.
"Let's have a better look." Said Harry, lying down on his back across the balcony. Ginny lay perpendicular to Harry with her head on the crook between his neck and right shoulder, she stayed flat on her back, looking up. Harry leaned his cheek on her head and played with Ginny's hair absentmindedly as he stared up at the stars. Soon they were both asleep.
Harry awoke to the first rays of sunlight burning his eyes. He was still flat on his back, his face looking up into the sky. He screwed his eyes shut as tightly as he could, trying to block out the sunlight. He could feel Ginny's warm breath on his neck, and the silky texture of her hair on his cheek. He took in a deep breath and inhaled the familiar sent of her hair. She smelled like the kitchen at Christmastime. That perfect combination of spices in the air when someone is making hot cider. That scent suited her perfectly, it was a little spicy, and a little sweet, and entirely irresistible. Harry put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. This small movement woke Ginny up.
Ginny took a deep breath in without opening her eyes. She could feel the bright sunlight beating against her eyelids, and she knew she and Harry had fallen asleep on the balcony.
As she breathed in, Ginny was filled with the cool wintergreen mint and crisp lemon scent that was uniquely Harry. She had always wondered where it came from, as she knew for a fact that Harry didn't wear cologne. It must just be his soap. Ginny kept thinking about how wonderful it was to be with Harry, and how soft and warm his sweater was to lie on. She was snapped out of her thoughts by his voice.
"Ginny, you have to get back to your room before Lucia's mum comes to wake you up." Said Harry. Ginny just groaned.
"I don't want to get up, let's just let them kill us." Ginny joked.
"If you insist." Harry started to laugh.
"Alright, I'll get up. Besides, when you laugh like that you move too much, I wasn't comfortable anymore." Ginny huffed, trying to act extremely irritated. The truth was, however, that nothing could irritate her today. She felt as if she were flying among the clouds and would never come down.
"I'll make a note of that." Said Harry to a distracted Ginny. She was hopelessly lost in her own thoughts. That is until Harry stood up and held out his hand to her.
"Come on, we really have to get back...unless you were serious about getting killed." Said Harry. Ginny laughed and took his hand. Together they walked down the many flights of stairs, which neither of them had bothered to keep track of. Soon they were in the familiar corridor where their bedrooms were located. Harry and Ginny stopped in front of Ginny's door.
"Thanks, Harry. I'll see you after breakfast." Said Ginny standing on tiptoe and resting her hands briefly on Harry's shoulders to give him a peck on the cheek.
"Bye Gin." Harry mumbled as he turned and headed off to his room.
Ginny walked into her room and got into bed. She shut her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She was unsure of where things stood between her and Harry, but she knew she didn't have to avoid him anymore. She lay there peacefully, for once in her life believing that things would sort themselves out on their own.
Ginny was just getting comfortable when the usual knock came at the door. Maria entered the room.
"Get up and come down to breakfast." Said Maria sounding more irritated that usual.
"I'm up." She mumbled sleepily.
"Well hurry up and get dressed then. I'm taking you and your sisters into town today to see a seamstress. You'll be needing new gowns for the annual ball next week." Said Maria.
"I've already got a gown, I mean Josefina is making it." Said Ginny, getting up and running a brush through her hair.
"She is?" Maria sounded stunned.
"Apparently it's part of the job description." Ginny shrugged.
"Alright, well you can come along and help with your sisters, I can't possibly work with both of them alone, they're so high spirited." Maria rolled her eyes as she spoke about the twins.
"Sure." Said Ginny blandly as she headed to the closet and picked out a pale pink dress. Maria left the room as Ginny walked over to the bed and set her dress down, and then went back to the closet to pick out some shoes. Ginny dressed quickly, and headed down to breakfast.
Harry sat in his room holding the book about time travel he and Ginny had found the day before. He thought about waiting to read it until Ginny was with him, but finally decided that she wouldn't mind, and let his curiosity get the better of him.
An hour later, Harry was about a fifth into the book, and still hadn't found anything of use. He hadn't given up hope yet though, as he still had a long way to go. Harry's reading was interrupted by the sound of the doorknob turning. He was expecting to see Ginny bringing him food, but instead was greeted by a different redhead.
"Good day, Harry." Said Alessio, carrying a plate of cream filled crepes topped with strawberries.
"Morning." Said Harry, taking the plate Alessio held out to him and beginning to eat.
"Ginny went shopping with mum and the twins." Said Alessio.
"Oh, a girls day, then?" Harry responded.
"I suppose so." Alessio's eyes rested on the book next to Harry.
"What's this?" He asked picking it up. "A time travel book?"
"We found it in Zachariah's stuff." Said Harry.
"Did you figure out how to get back to your proper time?" Alessio asked eagerly.
"Not yet, but don't worry, I'm only about one fifth of the way through." Harry assured him.
"Well, I'll read out loud to you for a while, that way you'll have a break without wasting time." Said Alessio, still sounding as though it was urgent.
"I suppose. That's where I left off." Said Harry, indicating a dog-eared page. Alessio opened the book and began to read. Harry listened intensely as he ate.
Ginny was seated at a small café in the center of the busy marketplace, accompanied by Theresa and Rosalia. Maria had met up with some of her socialite friends, and had gone into an expensive jewelry shop with them. Ginny sat with the twins at an outdoor table under a white umbrella that adorned the center of the polished oak table. The three of them were sipping on coffee and eating biscotti. Ginny had never had biscotti before, but was quite taken by the cookies and had eaten several.
"So how was your night, Lucia?" Theresa asked grinning devilishly.
"Sleep well?" Rosalia added, both the twins cracked up, a few jet black curls falling out of their tight up dos.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked, though she had a feeling she knew.
"Well, you see, we were going around the manor last night, replacing everyone's toothpaste with petroleum jelly." Theresa started. Ginny rolled her eyes a bit and giggled. That really would have been quite funny to see people when they discovered it. She made a note to try it on Fred and George when she got home.
"Yes, we know, it's brilliant. Anyway, we went into your room and you weren't there." Rosalia finished for her twin.
"And, just imagine our shock that Zachariah wasn't in his room either." Said Theresa.
"We found you two asleep on one of the upper balconies, and decided we'd be nice and not wake you." Said Rosalia.
"So really, how did you sleep?" Theresa asked with a wink.
"Now that you mention it, I'm a bit stiff from lying on a balcony floor all night. But other than that, it was wonderful." Said Ginny beaming.
"But it was worth it right?" Rosalia questioned.
"Definitely." Ginny replied, still grinning from ear to ear.
"When are you going to get married?" Theresa inquired.
"We don't know, the thing is, it would be hard to hide from mum and dad." Said Ginny sadly thinking of the predicament Lucia and Zachariah were in.
"That is a bit of a problem." Rosalia agreed.
"Neither of you are married, why doesn't mum bother you about it like she does me?" Ginny asked, having wondered this for some time.
"She gave up on us when we turned eighteen. Said we were hopeless cases, bound to live as old maids forever." Theresa said dramatically, stifling laughter. Rosalia and Ginny began to laugh as well.
"LUCIA!" All three girls turned toward the screaming voice, to come face to face with a hopping mad Maria.
"YOU'RE ENGAGED? WHO IS THIS MAN? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME, HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN SO IRRESPONSIBLE?" Maria raged on.
Ginny didn't know what to do, she turned to the twins, who looked as though they had an idea, but they weren't trying to communicate in any way. She looked back to the frantic woman in front of her. Ginny opened her mouth, but somehow, nothing would come out.
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AN: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it was just a fun one. I'm not quite sure why. I hit 100 reviews last chapter and I would just like to thank everyone for their kick ass reviews, you all rock. And, can we have a round of applause for Kendra please? She is a friend of mine in real life, not just an internet friend, who I have been pestering to read my story constantly since I posted the first chapter, and you know what? She finally did, and she regrets not doing it sooner. Yay Kendra! Lol.
I've added fan art to my webpage as well, lots of it, so go check it out. If you haven't checked out the site at all yet, then shame on you. The link is in my profile as always.
Thanks so much again to everyone who reads and reviews, you all are the greatest, please keep it up!