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Harry swallowed thickly, his thumb rubbing small circles over the back of her hand. "I don't know if you happened to notice, Gin, but I am a bloke. A bloke who happens to have a really attractive girlfriend."
Ginny stared at him, open-mouthed in her shock. Not saying a word.
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Chapter Forty-Nine
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Nerves suddenly seized and constricted his throat and he tore his eyes away from her, breaking eye contact as he dropped her hand. "S-Sorry…"
Ginny immediately reached forward and grabbed both of his hands in hers. "Don't be."
Harry whipped his eyes to her face, studying the expression on her face as she gazed up at him. She had the slightest of smiles on her lips, as though she were secretly pleased with herself.
A crooked sort of goofy grin found a home on his own lips.
"Zonkos?" She asked him, with a raise of her eyebrow. She was teasing him with unspoken words.
But he found that he didn't care. He had the best girlfriend in all of Britain and Scotland combined. He thought for sure that she would run for the hills after he blurted out what he did.
"Sure," Harry accepted easily, letting go of one of her hands so that they could walk in the direction of the joke shop. "We'll look for Marjetta along the way…"
Ginny started giggling profusely at that. "Meyetta, Harry."
Harry rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. She's mean to you, so why would I even bother to learn her name? She's just another bully that wants attention…"
Ginny squeezed his hand at that and quick leaned up to kiss his cheek in what he knew was approval to his words.
But as they walked, a thought entered Harry's mind… "Ginny, do you know what a movie is?"
A perplexed look came across her face. "No. What is it?"
"It's like wizarding moving pictures but is longer, has noise and talking, and tells a story." By the look on her face, he could tell that he wasn't explaining this very well. "Sort of like a play."
Her face brightened with clarity and the idea of it seemed to really intrigue and excite her.
Harry chuckled, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. "I'll take you sometime."
They both had wide smiles on their faces as they entered the crowded warmth that was the joke shop. Their grins were so big, that any person looking at them thought that they must have gotten through a stash of 'Pepper Up' potion.
….
"What do you want to do for work after Hogwarts, Harry?" Ginny asked him, before she took a sip of frothy Butterbeer.
They were now sitting in the warm tavern of The Three Broomsticks. They had, in fact, found Meyetta over an hour ago and had sprinkled some of the dust on her while she hadn't been looking. The results were sure to be disastrous, but they hadn't stuck around to watch. Instead, they preferred to move on with the rest of their date, as Ginny expressed her desire for a nice, warm Butterbeer.
"Well," Harry contemplated before he took his own drink of his own goblet. "I wanted to be an auror…"
"Wanted?" Ginny inquired with a raise of her eyebrow.
"Well, after last year and, well the rest of my life since entering the wizarding world, honestly… I don't know… Some part of me still wants to be an auror. But there is also a part of me that wants to just be at peace for once, you know?"
"Oh, that makes total sense." Ginny said as she leaned her whole body forward, across the table towards him. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to live in the Muggle world after you graduate..."
Harry shook his head with a slight smile, his finger playing with the rim of his goblet. "For how crazy my life has been since joining the Wizarding World, I still wouldn't trade anything for it. Coming to Hogwarts has lead to some of the happiest memories that I've ever had… And besides, you are a part of the Wizarding World. Why would I want to leave it?"
As he looked up, he saw that Ginny's cheeks coloured spectacularly at that and Harry found himself immersed by how the shade of it contrasted to her hair.
"If you were an animagus, what animal would you want to be?" Ginny suddenly blurted, catching Harry off guard.
"Wh-What?" He sputtered, blinking to get rid of the fogginess that had been in his brain.
"Animagus," Ginny repeated slowly. "What would you want to be?"
"Oh," Harry said as he leaned back easily in his seat. "That's easy. A stag."
"Why?"
Harry smiled. "Because my dad is one. What would you be?"
Ginny blushed. "...A doe."
Harry raised a single eyebrow at her, his expression telling her that he wanted her reason why.
Ginny let out a huff of breath, before she smiled slightly at him. "Just because you would be a stag. I want to be whatever you are. Equals."
Harry smiled fondly at that, as he stared down at his hand… as it reached out to grab hers. He looked up slowly, until their eyes connected.
"Come here." He urged, nodding his head to the seat beside him.
Ginny beamed as she stood from her seat across him, went around and took her place beside him.
"There," Harry stated as he cozily wrapped his arm around her waist. Ginny settled easily into his side. "Equals."
They were silent as they enjoyed the content moment. Harry could tell that Ginny was trying to digest what he said.
That is, until Ginny reached forward for her Butterbear and took a drink before clearing her throat. "So… What exactly started your rivalry with Draco?"
Momentarily startled by all of the subject changes and questions, Harry could help but look over at her with raised eyebrows before he started to chuckle. "Playing twenty questions, are we?"
Ginny rolled her eyes at the teasing tone in his voice before she face him fully, resting her chin on her hand, which was propped up on the table. "I just want to know as much about you as possible… I told you before that you are much too mysterious for your own good."
Harry now turned sideways to face her. "Alright, then. Time to show you that I am as open as a book…"
The twitching thought in the back of his mind told him that this was a lie and she was right to question him on being mysterious. He was keeping secrets from her. Even if they were for her own good…
"I first met Draco in Madam Malkin's before first year. I was shopping with Hagrid, you see, for all of the supplies I would need for my first year. While Hagrid went to buy me Hedwig, he left me to get measured for my school robes. That's where I saw Draco for the first time."
Ginny leaned in closer, intrigued by the story he was painting for her. Harry was honestly surprised that she had never been told any of this before.
"He had no clue who I was at the time. But he had no trouble going on to question me whether my parents were one of 'our kind'..." Harry cut off as a noise of disgust escaped his throat. "I never told him who I was, though, and he didn't find out… not until that September 1st on the express. It was there where Ron and I were getting on to becoming great friends, when he just barged into our compartment with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him like two dimwitted goons."
Harry cut off again as Ginny giggled at Harry's description of Crabbe and Goyle. He grinned at her slightly, before he frowned as he remembered what had happened next. "Draco found out who I was and took one look at Ron, who had laughed at Draco's name when he had introduced himself, and started insulting him by saying he must be a Weasley from the looks of his hand-me-down robes."
Ginny made an indignant sound at that, and Harry looked down at her apologetically, even though he hadn't been the one that had done anything. "Then he said that I would need his help sorting out the right type of acquaintances from the bad sort. He stuck out his hand for me to shake and…"
Harry trailed off as he shook his head at how this next moment he was about to describe really was the start of it all. He had never really realized before.
"And what?" Ginny asked in a curious whisper.
Harry looked up, his eyes connecting with a smudged spot on the table. "And I rejected his handshake. Told him that I was quite capable of telling the good sort for myself, thanks."
Ginny threw her head back and laughed. Her laughter made him feel better about it all, as it was as contagious as ever, and even managed to cause him to smile.
When Ginny settled, she looked on at him with pride. "The smarmy bugger probably had to go lick his wounds after that!"
Harry let his hand drift over to her thigh and let his fingers trace a pattern all the way down to her knee distractedly. "Yeah… but that's the thing. I never realized it before. But I think that rejection of his handshake is what really caused it all. If I hadn't deliberately offended him in that moment, I could've saved myself the trouble."
Ginny grabbed the hand that was tracing patterns on her thigh and threaded their hands together before she sighed. "Harry… You can't dwell on the 'What if's'... I mean, think about would have happened if you did shake Draco's hand. You probably wouldn't be too good of friends with Ron, as a result. Then, you wouldn't be close to my family, and-"
"And I wouldn't have you as a girlfriend." Harry breathed in realization.
Ginny's cheeks darkened spectacularly. "Well, that might not necessarily be true. I had a crush on you before you and Ron were friends. But you wouldn't have known me very well."
Harry squeezed her hand and smiled at her reassuringly. "Trust me, Gin. I would have noticed you eventually. I just had to grow out of the thickness of my head, is all."
Ginny giggled at that and Harry joined in as well, both enjoying laughing at his expense.
When they settled, Ginny opened her mouth to ask him another question. "What happened when-"
"Oh no, you don't!" Harry interrupted with a wide grin and a shake of his finger. "It's my turn to ask you something."
Ginny rolled her eyes at him with a slight smile. "Alright then, what's this all-important question you have for me?"
Harry opened his mouth enthusiastically, before he paused and closed it, realizing that he hadn't exactly thought of a question yet. The realization caused Ginny to laugh.
"Wait! I've got it!" Harry exclaimed as he suddenly brightened. "What is one non-life threatening regret that you have had since starting school?"
The question seemed to throw Ginny for a loop. She had probably expecting him to ask something simple, like about her interests or hobbies. "Hmmm… Well, I would have to say that my biggest one would have to be not having more female friends."
Harry frowned. "What do you mean? You have Hermione as a friend and she's a girl. And-And Luna."
Ginny looked down at her hands with a sigh. "Yes, but Hermione and I didn't start to become friends until right before my third year, at the Quidditch World Cup. And I didn't get to officially get to know Luna until the end of my third year. So there was a solid year there where all I had was Colin as a friend. My first year, I didn't have any friends, because… well, you know why."
Harry suddenly felt guilty for, not only ignoring Ginny in the past when she needed him most, but also for constantly being annoyed by Colin all of the time. There was a reason why he was Ginny's best mate. And that reason was that he befriended her when no one else would.
In a way, that made him better than Harry.
"What about you?" Ginny asked, and Harry was broken from his thoughts.
"Hmm?"
Ginny smiled and leaned closer slightly so that she could prop her elbow casually onto his shoulder. "What is your one non-life threatening regret since you started school?"
Harry stared at her for a moment before he actually started to grin. "I thought that'd be rather obvious…"
Ginny frowned in confusion at his answer.
Harry grinned wider. "Mine would have to be rejecting you when you told me that you fancied me last year. Merlin, I was so daft that I didn't even recognize how amazing you are!"
Ginny stared at him for a long moment, before a slow, secretive smile started to tickle her lips. "To be fair, you barely even knew me back then."
"I wish that I had… you made life so much more bearable last year after you became my friend. If I hadn't been so distracted by everything else last year, I would have noticed how much I was falling for you."
Ginny's eyes widened measurably, and they just continued to stare at one another as they let his words soak in.
Until…
"Harry?"
Harry swallowed, licking the dryness from his lips. Her eyes followed the movement. "Yes?"
"I want to be done talking now."
A wave a disappointment overcame him as he frowned. Had he said something wrong? A small smile graced her lips, however, and she looked up at him reassuringly as she slowly took his hand. "We need to get somewhere private because I want to snog you so bad right now, and I don't think that it would be appropriate in front of all of the third years in here…"
Harry's eyes widened in realization. And not a moment later, he shot up from his seat so fast that he nearly fell over in the process. As soon as he steadied himself, he looked down to Ginny - who was giggling madly at him - and reached down for her hand, impatiently trying to tug her up to her feet.
She complied, which Harry was extremely grateful for. He now felt a sudden urgency to find someplace private. It had really been quite a bit of time since they had last had a private snog and Harry missed it. He missed it a lot.
They held hands as they rushed out from The Three Broomsticks, nearly knocking Justin Finch-Fletchley over in the doorway in their haste.
But the both of them didn't even seem to care. Instead, they were giggling to one another as they thought of what they were about to get up to. The outside air no longer felt as cold to Harry anymore… not with his blood pumping with anticipation. Especially in his certain anatomy.
His eagerness led their way, until they got to a quieter part of town and Harry pulled them down a deserted alleyway behind a couple of houses.
He quickly surveyed the area, deeming it both private and safe, before…
"Offph!"
He found himself pushed up against the brick building that was helping them hide from the outside world….
The action caused his glasses to go askew, but regardless, he could still perfectly see the sensual look that Ginny was giving him since the moment she had pushed him.
After that, she didn't wait for him to right his glasses, nor did she wait for any sort of response that he could come up with. Instead, she took that one step forward into his personal space and immediately latched her lips to his.
Her lips and body against his were vastly warm in contrast to the cold air that surrounded them, and he found himself already addicted to the heat. He wondered, once again, if he were barmy mad for not doing this with Ginny all of the time. As he lifted his arms around her slender waist and constricted, he thought about how much he had missed this. Missed her.
He had let responsibilities get in the way of their time together and it was in moments like these where Harry found himself questioning why he even felt the need to keep secrets from her.
Ginny moaned as one of his bare hands came up to cup her jaw, holding her face steady as he tilted her face he get a better angle. The position granted Harry with the action he was hoping she would take. Ginny parted her lips and Harry immediately delved his tongue into her mouth in search of hers.
Lights burst from beneath his closed eyes as they touched, the tingling it caused resulting in his balls tightening and his cock twitching from where Ginny's abdomen was pressed against him.
But in that moment, he was far from embarrassment. And Ginny seemed far from shy, as well. Automatically, without either of them really thinking about it, they started to slowly move against one another. Harry didn't really notice that he was tilting his hips up into her stomach until after the amazing sensations reached his awareness.
He hadn't even the time to contemplate his disbelief that this was really, truly happening. Too immersed, he was, in all things Ginny in that moment.
Disconnecting their lips with a smack, Harry instead latched his mouth onto the bare skin that he could see peeking out of her scarf on her neck. A strangled gasp escaped Ginny as he gnawed at the skin he sucked into his mouth with his teeth. He wanted to leave another mark on her again. He wanted the both of them to be reminded that it was there, and as a result, remember what they did together in this deserted alleyway.
But it suddenly didn't feel so deserted…
In fact, it felt as though something was watching them… watching him.
Harry's eyebrows furrowed as the bothering feeling overcame him. He unlatched his mouth from Ginny's neck, and opened his eyes.
Harry jumped backward at the gastly figure that floated right before them, both he and Ginny falling over to the ground as Harry pushed them back into a fall. Ginny cried out in surprise from the unexpected action but for once, Harry wasn't paying her any mind.
Instead, his instincts kicked in and he had his wand out and pointed at the ghoulish creature that was floating above him from where he lay sitting on the cold ground.
His mind quickly assessed what the creature looked like for a split second as he contemplated which defense spell to use.
The best that he would be able to describe it later on would be that it looked to be a dementor… with it's tattered black robes and it's skeleton hands poking out as it reached forward towards him.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry cried as he tried to think of the happiest memory that he could think of on the spot.
The spell worked in forming the large stag to burst forth from his wand before Harry sent it towards the creature towering above him.
Only, his patronus went right through the creature… had no effect on it whatsoever. Harry watched in horror as his stag dissipated into nothing but mist as the creature still continued to reach out for him.
"Harry!" Ginny cried out beside him, capturing his attention, as well as more of his fear as he thought of her being in just as much danger… "What is it, Harry?! What's wrong?"
Harry whipped his head to look over at Ginny, her beautiful eyes were wide with confusion and fear. "Run, Ginny! I'll hold it off!"
But as Harry faced forward to look at the creature… it was no longer there.
It felt as though Harry had been kicked in the stomach from how horror-stricken and confused he was in that moment.
"Wh-What?" Harry stuttered as his wand fell from his hand, clattering onto the pavement ground. "Where is it? Where'd it go?"
He head turned to Ginny, looking to her for answers. Only to find her expression worried… for him.
"What do you mean, Harry? Where'd what go?"
A large lump formed in his throat as her words registered with him. "T-The creature… i-it looked like a dementor…"
Ginny's eyebrows furrowed further at his explanation as her worry deepened with a much lower intensity but was much more profound. "Harry… there was nothing there."
Forget his stomach, it felt as though a sledgehammer had his him right over the head as he realized that Ginny hadn't seen any creature.
Only he did.
And looking back at the entire situation, it was enough for Harry to question his own sanity.
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A/N: Please leave me plenty of reviews! I've missed them just as much as you guys have missed this story on my short hiatus. :)
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