Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter. I do own my very own set of J.K. Rowlings' books though! They are great, let me say.
A/N: Ok. What did you think of that? It was a long chapter and it was really nothing like what I had written originally. I liked it better though.
I just read the 6th book for the third time, and I have to say that it brings tears to my eyes even now! I just can't get over the fact that Snape killed Dumbledore! I mean, I know that Snape is a git and all, but I really did think that he could be trusted if Dumbledore thought so. Another thing that makes me cry is when Harry and Ginny finally get together, and then they break up! They are meant to be together! Ginny is awesome! I personally like the tattoo part. Ron with a pygmy puff in an unknown place cracks me up! And Harry having a Hungarian horntail being 'much more macho'! She reminds me of myself in a weird way…
Chapter 2 : Home at Last
Hermione decided to take some things into her own hands. After seeing the look on her love stricken friends' face, how could she not?
After unpacking her things, and giving Ginny time to unpack hers, she apparated just outside of the red heads' room . Knocking slightly, she opened the door.
"Gin? Are you done? I need to talk to you." She said. Ginny looked at her in surprise and then nodded her head yes.
"Come in. I just finished. What do you need to talk about?" She paused. "Please say that you and Ron haven't decided to give your relationship another chance? I don't think I could handle it a second time." Ginny said.
Hermione laughed and sat down on Ginny's bed. "Nope. That's definitely not what I need to talk to you about. Actually, it is about a relationship, but not one between Ron and I."
Ginny sat down beside her. "Alright. If it's not my brother, I can handle it. So, who is it? Neville? Seamus?" She asked.
Hermione almost fell off the bed in laughter. For being so smart, Ginny could prove to be quite like her brother sometimes. "No ,no. This isn't about me and anyone. I wanted to talk about you, actually." This time, Ginny interrupted in anger, rather than curiosity.
"Hermione! I told you in the carriage that I didn't care about Dean! I am not hurt, so would you just give it up already?"
"Sweet Merlin, Ginny, would you just let me talk already? I could care less about Dean." Ginny stopped her ranting and sat back down on the bed beside Hermione.
"Fine. Talk." She said, somewhat stubbornly.
Hermione took a deep breath. "I was sort of wondering…how you felt about…Harry. See, I was just thinking back to 6th year, and you guys seemed so happy, then the whole…incident happened and he…I mean we…had to leave for a while, and you guys never really talked about it again."
Ginny just stared at her. Hermione could see the hurt that Ginny was so desperately trying to hide come to her eyes. "I…um…I mean…we…" She began, turning away from Hermione so that she couldn't see the tears that threatened to fall. "I still care for him. I think…I know that I always will. But I made a promise to myself when he left. I said that if he didn't try to rekindle anything when he got back, then he must not feel the same way as I did. I didn't want to be hurt again…And when he didn't mention anything, I just decided that I wouldn't try to make him feel something that wasn't there." She sniffed. Hermione knew she was crying, even before she turned her head. She put her hand on her shoulder lightly.
"You loved him, didn't you?" She asked, delicately. Ginny nodded.
"I think I still do. But that's irrelevant. He doesn't love me, so I'm not going to bother myself with trying to open my heart to him again. I'll just end up hurt worse."
Hermione hugged her. " Honey, you have a lot to learn about Harry. You'd be surprised what you found out."
With that said, Hermione stood up and exited the room, saying that she had to get back home before her parent's began to worry where she was.
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Harry sat in his room at the burrow, thinking about Ginny while absentmindedly stroking the feathers on Hedwig's back.
He was thinking back to when he, Ron, and Hermione had returned towards the middle of the year last year after finding all of the horcruxes, defeating Voldemort, and finding out that Dumbledore and Snape had staged the whole death thing and that he was actually still alive, waiting for Harry to finish that job he had to do himself, with the help of his friends, of course.
All through the journey, he had thought about her. She had been his strength. His one reason (besides the threat of the destruction of the whole wizarding world) for continuing on the quest and for ending the battle once and for all. After all, she was the only person that he had ever cared about that would actually still be there when he got back. The one person Voldemort wouldn't get to. Ron and Hermione he cared about of course, but this was a different type of caring. It was the closest thing to love that he had ever felt about a member of the opposite sex that he didn't think of as a sister.
When he got back, he wanted to talk to her. He actually sort of expected her to come leaping in to his arms, claiming her undying love for him, and then they could get married and have a bunch of children. But, being the shy, naive one that he was, he didn't. He thought that she had moved on because she didn't make any effort to talk to him either. So, he just let it be from there. The fact that every time he saw her with another boyfriend his heart skipped a beat and he wanted to kill him like he had done Voldemort was irrelevant. 'As long as she is happy'…he would keep telling himself.
He knew that Ron and Hermione had noticed. Once, while they were on the journey, Ron was sleeping and Hermione and him had taken this chance to talk amongst themselves. She had asked him what it was, exactly, that kept him going after he had suffered so much and gained so little. He had broken down and told her, right then and there. He told her how, when things got rough, he thought about Ginny and the few moments that they had shared together. How she was the most important thing for him to see as soon as they got back.
Once they returned, he knew that Ron had discovered his secret as well. Hermione must of told him, because every time he would glare at one of Ginny's boyfriends, they would share a meaningful glance. Neither of them said anything to him, though, for which he was grateful.
"Harry?" A voice said from the doorway. It was Ginny. He looked at her and saw her studying him closely.
"Yes?" He croaked. He was red in the face considering what he had been just thinking about her.
"Um…mum sent me up to tell you that dinner is ready, whenever you are, of course." She smiled that smile that just made him want to grab her in his arms as if none of the nonsense that had taken place had ever happened. As if they had never been apart. But, he didn't.
"Ok. I'll be there in a minute." He said, allowing himself time to gather his thoughts and straighten himself up before he went down to face the rest of the family.
"Ok." She said. She just stood there, in the doorway, staring at him as if trying to figure something out, before finally turning on her heel and walking back the way she had come.
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When he walked into the kitchen, the only Weasley's present were Ron, Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny.
"Ahh…Harry, dear. Sit, sit. Get yourself some food." She said, pointing at the dishes on the table. " Arthur sends his apologies, of course. He had to go to work. Something about exploding toasters in Whales."
Harry laughed to himself, mentally picturing a muggle or two putting a few simple piece of bread into a toaster, only to have it explode, throwing bread crumbs everywhere. His aunt, of course, in her spotless kitchen, would be furious and would probably have a mental breakdown.
"Well, Harry, when is your first training session with Dumbledore?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Harry snapped out of his vision of his aunt in a straight jacket. "Oh, um, I think the day after tomorrow he said something about it. Taking a trip to America for some reason. I'm pretty sure that I'll be gone for at least a week." He said apologetically. He automatically looked at Ginny. He had to do a double take, because he thought he saw something in her eyes. Somehow, she looked as if she didn't want him to have to go so soon.
"Hermione starts her Medi-Witch training in a few days." Ginny said, looking from Ron to her mother and resting her eyes on Harry.
"Well, that's good. I'm sure she'll fly right through it." Mrs. Weasley said. Ron snorted.
"Yeah, knowing her she'll finish it early! That girl is strange when it comes to school, always has been. I mean, who takes notes on their notes?"
Harry and Ginny laughed, looking at each other. All he could do was stare at her, with her returning his gaze fully.
"Oh, Ronald. If you had only devoted that much time into your studies, then you might have had more NEWT's."
Harry looked away from her, fully confused. Why was she doing this to him? He thought the hurt was over. That he was finally getting over her. Sighing, he decided that maybe he wasn't after all.
"Mum, you don't even know how many NEWT's I got! We don't get the letters until mid- July!"
The rest of dinner continued on this way, with Ron and Mrs. Weasley arguing back and forth.
Ginny walked into her room that night in complete and utter confusion. Her and Harry had kept staring at each other all through dinner. There was something in his eyes…She couldn't place exactly what it was. Somehow, she had thought that she had seen that look before. Was he trying to tell her that he was still interested in her? Was that what Hermione was getting at earlier?
She lay down in her bed and turned off the light. Laying there in the dark, she tried to think of some way that she could figure out if her suspicions were correct. Part of her was afraid to ask Hermione, for fear of the answer being no. But the other part…well…it wanted to once more taste the lips of Harry Potter as he pressed them firmly, yet pleasantly, to her own.
That other part of her also thought she should move fast. After all, soon he was leaving for one of his training trips. This one was only a week, but what about any future ones? Who knew how long they would last?
Harry sat in his room the next night, silently checking things off of his list to pack. Dumbledore has written him a letter that morning telling him what he may need.
He was just finishing up when he looked in the doorway and say Ginny standing there. He didn't know what to say to her, so, awkwardly, he just said hello.
"Hi. I was just passing by, and I thought I would drop in and say goodbye." She said. Before either one of them knew it, she had her arms around him, enveloping him in a tight hug. "Oh, be careful, Harry! I know you can take care of yourself and I know that Dumbledore will be there too, but still. I don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to you."
Harry, who didn't really know where to put his hands, finally decided to rest them on her upper back. "I'll be fine, Gin, thanks, for the concern, though." He said. His heart was beating so fast that it was a wonder that it didn't explode.
They stood there like that for a minute or two, neither one of them letting go. Ginny finally broke her hug and looked at him. "Harry, do you ever have second thoughts?" She asked.
"About what?" He said, dumbly. She couldn't possibly be talking about what he thought.
She smiled. " Always so modest. I meant about us. Do you ever think back to what we could have or might have had?"
His eyes locked with hers and he grew suddenly more serious than she had seen him in ages. "Everyday."
Her eyes filled with tears. "Me too. What do you think it could have been?" She said.
He thought about telling her that he had pictured them having family to rival that of her mothers', but decided against it. "I pictured us being together for a long time. I guess I sort of assumed we would get married one day." He said, leaving out the children.
The tears spilled down her face. "Why didn't you talk to me about us, after you got back? I thought for sure you would have. When you didn't, I thought you had gotten over us, moved on." She looked at her feet, which suddenly seemed very interesting.
He stared at her, open mouthed. "I was waiting for you! I mean, I thought that you would talk to me first. I assumed that you had gotten over me. Not the other way around."
They hugged each other tightly. "Seems like we were two very confused people." Ginny said through her tears.
Harry couldn't help but smile at her humor that came out even when she was crying. "Well, I…"He hesitated. This was his moment. He needed to tell her that he wanted to try what they had again. 'Come on, Harry!' He thought to himself, 'You defeated Lord Voldemort, and you can't even tell a girl you like her still?' Summoning up all the courage he had in him, he said it. "I…um…am still interested…in you, I mean. If you want to give us another try."
She pulled away from him, looking deep into his bright green eyes. There was no dishonesty there. Just pure goodness. "Oh, Harry!" She squealed. "Of course I am still interested, you git!" She said, throwing her arms around his neck once more.
This time, he didn't have to think about it. He just did it. He kissed her, firmly on the lips. He kissed her like he had never kissed her before. The feeling he felt was incredible. His head was spinning and his legs were growing steadily weaker by the second. All he wanted to do was take her to the bed and show her exactly how much he had missed her over the months, but, him being the patient gentleman that he was, didn't. Instead, he continued to kiss her until he couldn't breath anymore and had to break away.
The tears were still in her eyes, but this time, her expression was a happy one. "Wow. That was…" She said.
"Incredible?" He asked. She nodded. "Yes. That's the word. You never kissed me like that before, Harry." She said.
"Well, if I had known that I might not get the chance for a while, I might have. Besides, I had to make up for lost time."
She laughed. "Well, you certainly have a lot more kissing to do before that time is redeemed." She smiled.
"As do you" He added.
"My pleasure." This time, she leaned up and kissed him. Slowly, she parted his lips with her tongue and explored his mouth fully. She felt his tongue against hers and let him in willingly, allowing him to explore her mouth as well. He felt her lace her hands around his neck. He wrapped his hands firmly about her waist.
This time, when they broke apart, it was Ginny who was thinking of taking him to bed.
"I hate to end this, but I have to get to bed. I have to meet Dumbledore early in the morning." He said, not letting go of her waist.
She frowned. "I know. Well, just remember that I will be here when you get back, waiting for you patiently. This time we won't mess things up."
He smiled. "You'd better be here. If not I might have to hunt you down, after a kiss like that!" She hugged him, smiling.
"Be careful, Harry." She said, placing one last kiss softly on his lips before leaving the room, leaving him to his very pleasant dreams.