18 April 2002
Harry had never felt like more of a complete moron than he did at that moment. How could I have been so stupid? A thousand thoughts crossed through his mind as he considered the fact that they had had sex - often - and had not once taken precautions against having a baby.
Baby.
It wasn't entirely a bad thing. Not necessarily. But it was too soon... their relationship was too unknown for it to be a joyful occasion. Harry groaned and sat back on his couch, mind whirling. And he knew, he knew that babies could result from having sex. But it was just another on a long list of the things that came along with it. Ginny's eyes were wide as she stared into his, and Harry knew that she hadn't considered it either.
"Are... do you think you're pregnant?" Harry asked; his voice sounded distant even to his own ears.
"I have no idea," Ginny answered immediately.
Harry didn't blame her. Until now, until this moment, he hadn't really even thought about it as an actual worry. There were so many other things involved with sex between them that it seemed almost strange that yet another complication had been added to it.
"Well..." he said, feeling that he had to say something, but not having any idea what to say. "Well, I think-"
"I think we should find out," Ginny said strongly. She had fisted her mother's letter in her grasp. It crinkled. "As soon as possible," she added. She turned away from him, and looked out the window. Harry grimaced, but almost immediately hoped that she hadn't seen it. "I know there are charms... I don't know quite what they are, but..."
"Right," said Harry. His gaze drifted to her belly and he wondered if she, even now, carried his child. It seemed impossible, unreal, as though it could not possibly happen to the two of them. I should have been more careful, he groaned inwardly. He wasn't a complete moron; he knew how babies came about. But in the wonder and joy of discovering intimacy with the woman he loved - with Ginny, who had suffered from enough abuse to make any such intimacies almost miraculous - he had forgotten the fact that sex often had consequences.
"Are we panicking?" Ginny asked softly.
"No," Harry said firmly. With more confidence than he felt, he gripped her hands in his and looked into her eyes. A baby would be unimaginably complicated, he privately thought. In the few, indulgent moments that he allowed himself, he thought of the reaction from the Weasleys. He was not simply a stupid young man, impregnating their daughter. There was the history along with everyone else. The fact that he was partially to blame for Ginny's abduction... the fact that he hadn't even offered an explanation... The old issues loomed above him, strengthened and multiplied by the fact that not only was he hoping for absolution for his past wrongs, but-
"Harry," Ginny said, cutting through his thoughts. Her words were stern and unyielding. "I know what you're thinking-"
"It isn't unreasonable," Harry bristled. "I've been stupid-"
"So have I," said Ginny.
Harry eyed her. She was far more composed than he would have thought. There was panic in her bright brown eyes, but even that was receding. This served to calm him as nothing else could. "I think we should just... find out if you - if we're having a baby," said Harry. "As soon as possible."
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18 April 2002
Ginny forced herself not to blush as she handed the note to Madam Pince. Harry had hastily scribbled his permission for her to enter the Restricted Section on a scrap of parchment, and Ginny had marched down here, despite the nerves and confusion fluttering through her belly. The beady-eyed librarian scrutinized her, a scowl perched on her pursed lips.
"You're not allowed to take anything out of there," Madam Pince said unnecessarily, after she had stared down at Harry's signature for what felt like several years.
"Yes, ma'am," said Ginny. Her fingers convulsed around Arnold - who had come with her at Harry's insistence ("I'd rather it be me that goes with you," he'd said earnestly.) - and he let out a surprised little squeak. "Sorry, Arnold," she muttered under her breath. Her hip bumped against one of the study tables and she winced.
She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, not wanting to catch anyone's gaze, hoping that no one would notice where she was going: to the Restricted Section, looking for a charm that could tell her if she was pregnant or not.
Pregnant.
The word echoed so often in her head that it almost felt like it was being said out loud, right next to her ear. Don't panic, thought Ginny. But... in all honesty, she wasn't exactly panicking. As she'd walked from Harry's rooms to the library, a thousand different scenarios had flashed through her mind. And they all led back to the idea that perhaps she and Harry had created a life together.
That wouldn't be a bad thing.
The problem was that her parents and brothers - most of whom did not even know that Harry and Ginny had spoken to each other in years, let alone had fallen in love - would almost certainly not understand. Her stomach fluttered again, and the idea of telling her mum and dad made her cringe.
"I don't even know if it's happened, Arnold," Ginny whispered, looking around to see if anyone was watching her. The library wasn't full, but it wasn't empty, either. What if someone noticed what section she was going into? Arnold clambered up her arm, little claws digging into the sleeve of her robes. "It could just be... you know."
Thoughts of Harry, a possible baby, and how she would explain things to her family receded. She wove through the gaps between the tables, refusing to look at anything other than the far wall, knowing that the other students were glancing up at her. The weight of those stares made her skin crawl.
"Hey, Ginny," said Demelza merrily from a few tables away.
Thankfully, the library was just loud enough that Ginny could pretend she hadn't heard her. Her cheeks stung, and she knew she was blushing. I wish I'd brought the invisibility cloak, she thought. Almost immediately, though, she scolded herself for being so paranoid.
No one cares what you're doing, she told herself firmly.
She hastily entered the Restricted Section, and then slowed her movements, just in case. It felt just a little exposed here, and she wiped her sweaty palms on her robes. Randomly pulling a book off the shelf, feeling more flustered by the second, she peered at it. People will just think you're browsing, she told herself. "This looks interesting, doesn't it?" she asked Arnold.
After several moments had passed, she wandered over to the section that had garnered the most attention, giggles, and whispers from the girls' dormitories. Eyeing the titles of the books on the shelves, she noted that none of them appeared to be anywhere near as naughty as the book Harry had bought from Flourish and Blotts. Not that they should; Harry's book was more of a how-to than anything. These were more serious.
Ginny skimmed over several titles: Fertility Charms and Conception Rituals, andBeltaine Fires: Fact or Fiction? were both hefty tomes that were dusty and did not appear to be particularly useful. Gilderoy Lockhart's Prancing into Pregnancy: A Witch's Guide to Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth looked slightly promising - it was just too bad that Lockhart was a complete moron. She reached out and almost grabbed Charms for Motherhood: A Practical Guide, but footsteps coming from the next aisle over made her freeze, and continue looking for something less obvious.
Just in case.
Ginny looked over her shoulder, and pulled out a slim volume called Charms for Witches, hoping that it would have what she needed. Retreating a few steps, she disentangled Arnold from her hair, and flipped it open. Finding the table of contents, she let out a relieved sigh when she found an entire chapter on how to find out if she was expecting.
There were several different methods, apparently, ranging from the bizarre (performing a charm and then dancing naked in the light of the full moon - not something Ginny was about to do), to the promising. A likely method was a potion... although that took a month to prepare, and Ginny wanted to know now.
That's the best bet, Ginny thought to herself when she saw a charm. It was complex; squinting at the diagram that showed the complicated wand motion, she turned the book over sideways-
"Interesting reading."
Ginny dropped the book, startled, and looked up into the most unwelcome sight: Pollux Sennet leaned up against a bookshelf. As she watched, he took a few steps closer to her; the sneer on his face made her stomach cramp.
Head up, she reminded herself. "I don't think that's any concern of yours," she said coldly, wanting to run away, but not wanting to give him that satisfaction. Keeping her eyes on him, she did not bend over to pick up the book, but summoned it to her hand.
She kept her wand drawn, and felt a flare of triumph when he cast a fleeting, nervous look at it. Minutes before, she'd felt like everyone could see her, and that the Restricted Section was much too open and public. Now, the shelves seemed to close in on her... and she and Pollux were much too alone...
"Oh, I'm not concerned," said Sennet, licking his fleshy lips. "Interested, more like it."
Fear licked over her entire body, and she tightened her grasp on her wand.
His smile broadened.
Ginny's feet were rooted to the spot. The air closed in around her, making it slightly more difficult to breathe, and her confidence was swiftly draining away.
"You want it," he told her.
"No, I-"
He didn't let her finish. "You're panting for it, just like you were a few years ago, right?"
"You're the last person on earth that I'd want," Ginny said firmly, taking deep breaths, and backing away. Her heart galloped in her chest, threatening to burst out of it. She knew what would happen if she turned around - he'd stun her, or grab her. And if she used her wand to attack him here, with everyone around, it would-
"Liar," he said, winking at her. "But that's all right, I know how to play this game," he told her. The hand not holding his wand moved to the front of his trousers, and stayed there. Ginny kept her eyes determinedly on his face, waiting for him to make a sudden movement, to attack her, but she knew very well what he was doing. His entire arm moved back and forth.
"I'm not lying," she said, taking another step back, even as he moved forward.
Don't think about what he's doing.
He moaned a little, and Ginny felt a wave of revulsion that overpowered the fear. Against her will, her gaze flickered down; his hand was inside his trousers. Her stomach cramped, but she forced herself to try to gather her thoughts. But as soon as she looked back at his face, and saw the ugly, lecherous expression clearly written across his features-
"You're going to love the way I fuck you," he grunted.
Red tinted her vision, and Ginny stopped retreating. She gripped her wand so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Thunder roared in her ears. The fear that had risen so quickly was sliding away; she no longer cared that they were in the library, that they were in a public place, and she was about to-
"Will you scream for me, like you did for-"
But Sennet did not finish his sentence.
"What are you doing?!" Madam Pince said shrilly.
Sennet jerked almost violently, pulling his hand out of his trousers, and nearly fell against the bookshelves. The curse that Ginny had come so close to casting still lingered on her tongue, and so great was her fury that she almost said it anyway-
"You three second years are not allowed to be in here," Madam Pince harangued. "You're lucky I don't hand you over to Mr. Filch for punishment."
Sennet had already disappeared behind the towering bookshelves by the time Ginny was truly aware that Madam Pince was not yelling at them, but at three unsuspecting second-years who had wandered into the Restricted Section. Slowly, she lowered her wand, practically aching to rewind time, and curse him when she'd had the chance. Her limbs trembled.
Arnold squeaked loudly, causing her to jump.
"I'm all right," she told him. "I'm all right."
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18 April 2002
Harry had been quite happy that Ginny wasn't pregnant; therefore he was quite surprised at her continued pensive mood, and when she suggested going for a fly, he eagerly grabbed at it. But as soon as they hopped onto their brooms, it was all Harry could do to keep up with her. She was chasing the wind, it seemed, and he was almost not up to the task.
Almost.
Once she had slowed down a little, and Harry no longer had to lean forward in order to stay with her, he caught up to her and they flew side by side. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright. Whatever had been bothering her had been left behind her, the wind carrying it away.
"Ready to go in?" Harry shouted over the wind.
She gave him a look and suddenly - without warning - went into a steep dive, straight down, toward the deserted lakeshore. Harry sighed. It was a little cold, and he was slightly hungry... hopefully she would be ready to go inside soon. The sun had already gone down over the mountains, and night was swiftly approaching. He hung in the air for a moment, and then followed her.
She's landed, he thought, surprised, when he saw the tip of her wand light up. The waves lapped gently on the shore, and Harry's feet met the soft ground. "Hi," he said uncertainly. He couldn't see her face in the gathering twilight, and it made him slightly uneasy. The fact that Ginny wasn't pregnant was a good thing, wasn't it?
"Hi," she said softly.
"Lumos," said Harry. The Elder Wand lit up; to his relief, she was smiling. It also gave him a chance to take in his surroundings, and to figure out exactly where they were-
"Do you know where we are?" she asked.
"Second kiss," he said immediately. It was hard to forget something like that, and the memory made him relax. He glanced back over the lake, unable to stop a smile from spreading across his face. "Wasn't it nice that we weren't interrupted? I thought that Hogwarts had a charm or something designed to keep professors away from students."
"What would you have done if that was true?"
Harry considered this, weighing the different options. "Probably taken you to Grimmauld Place a lot," he finally decided. "Can't get away with much at Hogsmeade, can we? And maybe the Room of Requirement would have-" But instead of finishing his sentence, he let out an undignified squeak.
Ginny had banished his trousers.
And then, before he could properly react, she'd stepped forward and cupped him through the thin fabric of his boxers. He was too stunned to do anything but stare at the top of her head. "Ginny?" he said.
"Shhh," she said, stroking his shaft lightly with her thumb, and then used her other hand to play with his sac.
Harry swallowed hard, glancing around in a cursory manner. No one was there; he had not expected anyone to be. Ginny wouldn't strip him in front of people...
When a hand crept around to hold his bum, he focused all of his attention on what Ginny was doing. Instead of reaching inside of his boxers and pulling him out, she continued to rub him from the outside, using her nails. Chills traveled up and down his spine, and his breath hitched. He hardened slowly under her ministrations, penis twitching against his leg as she constantly changed the way she touched him: slowly with her nails on the head, harder with her palm along his shaft, and gently with her fingertips on his sac.
It swiftly became maddening.
Twice, he reached for her, and twice, she shook her head, apparently content to stand fully clothed in front of him. Now both of her hands were on his penis. "That feels wonderful, Ginny," he murmured. Though he was content to let her have her way with his body (for now), he couldn't help but thread his fingers through her long, sweet-smelling hair.
For just a moment, she leaned into his touch. But then she reached up and gripped his hand with both of hers. After pressing a kiss on his palm, she brought his hand down between their bodies, and placed it over the bulge in his boxers.
"Er," said Harry.
He didn't move his hand away, but he was a little confused. Especially when she made him caress himself, slowly and slightly clumsily. "Do you - is this - do you want me to, um, masturbate? Right now?" he asked, flushing. While the image of Ginny masturbating played a key part in several of his favorite fantasies, this was very different.
The idea of a witch doing it was erotic. A bloke on the other hand... that was just a bloke going about his business.
"Well... yes," she said firmly.
Harry sighed. His erection had softened in his confusion and slight embarrassment; it took a while to bring it back up, and even then, it wasn't as hard as it had been for her. He watched her face; she stared, apparently fascinated, at the way the front of his boxers twitched and grew tight.
"Doesn't it usually go up right away?" Ginny asked curiously.
He thought about this. Yes, it usually did. But he didn't always attempt this outside in the cold, when he was hungry and Ginny was next to him, but apparently not wanting to get naked with him at all. "Most of the time, yeah," he said. "I'm kind of cold," he admitted. It was true - his legs slowly starting to freeze from the chill wind off the lake. Shifting from foot to foot, he glanced down at himself: the half-hearted erection was certainly not the most impressive thing he'd ever seen.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked suddenly.
"Oh - er... nothing," Harry said honestly. The usual thoughts and fantasy that made quite the crowd in his head during moments like these were conspicuously absent. Odd, that. I wonder if-
"-can't do that. I always have to be thinking about something," Ginny was saying, bringing his full attention back to her. Did she mean that she - in general - couldn't notbe thinking about something? Or was she talking about masturbatory fantasies? His penis twitched, showing more interest in her words than his hand.
With considerably more enthusiasm, he ran his thumb over the head. "Yeah? And what do you think about?"
Her cheeks were stained bright red, and Harry grinned. Ginny didn't notice; she wasn't looking at his face. "Well... I... thought about the desk in your office last time," she said. "And"-she gestured toward his lower body-"I've thought about... this."
Harry watched her closely as he dipped his hand into his boxers, adjusting himself so that he pointed straight up, easier to grip. She took a deep breath and blew it out through her nose. Harry realized, dimly, that it did not feel quite so cold anymore. What did Ginny just ask me? "I think about you doing this," he told her. "Remember, the way youpromised?" he teased.
"I didn't promise!" she denied, eyes flying up to his face. "All I did was tell you-"
"And then told me that I might like to watch, because you-"
"I know what I said," she interrupted him.
"I absolutely want to watch," Harry told her smugly. "Especially if you do it the way you described, and-"
"I was drunk!" Ginny said loudly, but her eyes were sparkling, and Harry knew that she wasn't really angry. Fisting his hand around his penis, he began stroking in earnest, groaning a little at the way she watched, and licked her lips. I'll convince her to do it, he promised himself. When he closed his eyes, he could picture it vividly in his mind: Ginny on her-
"But what else do you think about?" she persisted, cutting into his fantasy.
Harry racked his brains, letting his hand fall still. "It's a lot of different impressions, mostly," he told her. "Like when I'm thinking about kissing you there"-he neglected to tell her that this was usually accompanied by a particularly erotic fantasy of her using her mouth on him-"I think about how you taste, and your scent. It's my favorite part when you get really, really wet right before you finish," he added, thrusting into his own hand at the thought. Also, he loved the way she squeezed his head with her thighs.
He groaned at the thought.
"Don't you think about sex at all?"
"All the time," he assured her. To his surprise, he thought that she might be aroused - not as aroused as he was, but... acting on a theory, reached out and hooked his fingers in her trousers, and pulled her closer. "I think about you coming apart in my arms," he told her. Cautiously, he rubbed her hip even as he stroked himself. "The sounds you make, and the way it feels when you finish with me inside you - I can feel that, and it usually sends me right over the edge."
When Ginny leaned into his shoulder, he moved his hand inside her knickers, groaning when he found them damp. The tip of his middle finger found her clitoris and she moaned, but his range of motion was severely limited by her knickers and trousers. He used his other hand to undo her trousers and pulled them - and her knickers - down to the middle of her thighs.
Unable to help himself, he leaned over her shoulder and stole a look at her bum. It was peeking out from beneath her shirt, and looked as cute as it always did.
"I want to be on top," said Ginny.
Harry shuddered. He loved it when she was on top. "That's another one of my favorites," he told her dreamily, thrusting into his fist. Watching her ride him was extremely erotic-
Ginny batted his hand away. "We should save that," she told him, grinning impishly. And then, to his great delight, she conjured a rather thin looking blanket (but Harry wasn't complaining) and pushed him over.
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27 April 2002
Ginny shivered as she walked across the dark grounds, but not from the cold. A year ago, even the thought of being on the Hogwarts grounds at night would have given her a week of nightmares. Every shadowy tree would have hidden a Death Eater, the wind through the branches sounding like Nagini sliding across the stone floor, the dark patches of night too much like her windowless cell.
But now, safe in the crook of Harry's arm, Ginny relished the dark. Much less chance of someone catching sight of the DADA professor walking much too closely to one of his students, in the dark. The trees would hide the sight of him suddenly leaning down to brush his lips against her hair, or moving her in front of him so that his kisses could trail down her neck. These stolen kisses, grabbed in plain sight of the brightly lit castle behind them, were the source of Ginny's shivers. Part of her wanted to walk more quickly, to get to one of the darker parts of the lawn so that Harry could get properly carried away, the way he was threatening to.
The other part of her just wanted to stop where she was and snog him senseless, no matter who might see.
She skipped a little, grinning to herself. It still made her giddy, the idea of kissing herprofessor, rubbing her hand over the penis of her professor, laying in bed and making love with her professor, groaning as he brought her to orgasm with his mouth. Because, of course, at the same time, he was just Harry. And the thought of him as a professor at all, of trying to command respect from a bunch of suspicious and overeager 11 and 12 year-olds, was still rather ridiculous. She snorted involuntarily, remembering his face when he'd confessed Confunding his entire class of Second Years last week so that they'd stop asking him questions about whether he'd ever used his Invisibility Cloak to sneak around the castle at night when he was a student.
"What?" Harry looked up from the wet kisses he was planting on her collarbone. "Did that tickle? Cause if so, I'll do it again." He bent his head back down and licked her neck with his tongue. She squirmed. "Harry, now it feels more like Arnold, when he falls asleep on my pillow and drools."
"Not for long, it won't," he mumbled against her neck, returning to the soft kisses and warm breaths he'd been giving her earlier.
"Harry," she said a little breathlessly, "weren't we going to see Hagrid? You said yourself, he needed to talk to us about something."
"Which is why I'm not exactly in a hurry to get there," said Harry, nevertheless straightening up and taking her hand. With the other, he gently pulled her cloak back into place so that it hung properly over her shirt, and then gave himself an adjusting tug about his waist. "Whenever Hagrid has something important to talk about, I end up on the roof of the Astronomy Tower with an illegal dragon or traipsing through the Forbidden Forest to meet his giant half-brother. He sighed. "This won't be good."
Ginny swatted him lightly on the front. "Don't tell me that Hogwarts' own Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor is afraid of an itty bitty magical creature?"
In response, Harry scooped her up into his arms and strode purposefully towards Hagrid's hut.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And knowing Hagrid, which I do, there isn't going to be anything 'itty bitty' about whatever he's got in there. But, since it doesn't seem to bother you, I'll just drop you on his doorstep and let you deal with the mess. If you need me, I'll be back in my rooms, relaxing with a nice glass of Firewhisky."
"Better add wanking to that little fantasy too," retorted Ginny cheekily, raising her eyebrows. In response, Harry grinned and dropped her lightly back onto her feet so he could knock on Hagrid's door.
But even though Harry pounded several times, there was no answer.
"That's odd," he said, now looking through one of the dark windows. "He's definitely not in there. Fang's gone too."
"Maybe he forgot," said Ginny.
"Maybe," said Harry doubtfully. "But he really sounded like he needed us, earlier." He pushed on the door, and it swung silently open. "I think we should wait here for a little while." He extended his arm towards the open door. "After you?"
"Breaking into other people's homes now, are you?" Ginny smirked, but walked inside anyway.
"I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, remember?" Harry said, following her and shutting the door behind him. "And, by looking at this hut, I can say without question that it's definitely dark in here. I think this is actually part of my job."
Even though she knew he couldn't see her face, Ginny rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Potter. Lumos."
The light from her wand flickered, casting eerie shadows around the room. Harry came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as he looked around. "Nothing seems out of place," he said. "At least, for Hagrid.
Ginny had been in the giant's hut enough in the past months to know that the chains and ropes and crossbows hanging from the walls and ceiling were perfectly normal here, as were the large, lidded baskets shuddering slightly in one corner of the room and the open tub of dead rats and chickens by the fire. Pretty much anything odd was "normal" when it came to Hagrid.
"So what do we do? Just wait?"
Harry moved over to rummage on the shelf that served as most of Hagrid's kitchen. He pulled out two glasses and a half-full bottle of the mead they usually drank when they visited. "Wait," he agreed. "And drink. Just stay away from the rock cakes." He raised his wand and lit a fire in the hearth before pouring Ginny a healthy measure of mead.
Harry took a deep drink himself and flopped backwards on Hagrid's enormous bed, piled high with quilts and blankets and what looked like a number of animal skins.
"Making yourself comfortable there, Harry?"
Harry just smiled through his closed eyes. "Mmmhmmm. It's been a long week. Those Second Years, you know? And the Third Years weren't much better."
Ginny walked over to the bed and crawled up beside Harry. "But the Seventh Years, on the other hand . . ." she said, moving so that she lay almost directly on top of him, ". . . the Seventh Years are bloody fantastic." She rolled her hips and felt him quiver beneath her as she lowered her lips to his neck and gave him the lightest of kisses.
"Only one Seventh Year," Harry mumbled, involuntarily moving his own hips against hers before opening his eyes and looking at her with amusement. "Here? Hagrid could come back at any time."
Ginny shrugged. "He's loud enough. We'll hear him first." She rolled against him again and Harry groaned, wrapping his arms tightly around her back pushing up against her. She took that as agreement and dropped her head back to his neck, trailing kisses into the crease of his collarbone.
Harry took her face in both of his hands then and began kissing her back in earnest, nibbling on her bottom lip until she opened her mouth and then slipping his tongue inside for a long, slow kiss. Ginny ran her hands across Harry's shoulders and opened her legs until she straddled him, never breaking the kiss. She continued to move herself gently up and down over Harry's erection, but didn't try to go any further. With all the excitement of their recent sexual exploration, it had been a long time since they'd just . . . snogged, and Ginny was enjoying remembering how lovely a kisser Harry was.
He'd closed his eyes again and his tongue darted around, tangling with hers, before moving across her jaw and up to her ear. She shivered as his hands trailed up and down her back, under her shirt, and then back, to graze her shoulders.
"Mmmm," he sighed contentedly, running his hands down to cup her bum. He pushed her into him more firmly and Ginny obliged by wiggling back, watching his mouth fall open as he breathed out heavily.
She wiggled again as he tickled her, running his hands up and down her sides and across her back until she was almost writhing above him.
"Oh Merlin, that's so good . . . Ginny, don't stop," he panted, moving his hands faster about her shoulders and pressing her bum even more firmly into him.
Harry was enjoying himself fully, that was obvious, but something felt . . . unnatural . . . to Ginny. She usually didn't mind when he tickled her – it was enjoyable foreplay sometimes, but he wasn't stopping this time, even though she could tell by the way he clasped her bum even more tightly and thrust against her hips that he was starting to lose control. By this point, her shirt should be coming off, at least, but Harry just kept moving his fingers lightly around her body, even tangling up in hair at one point.
Ginny screamed.
Because it suddenly occurred to her that if Harry's hands were still firmly on her bum, they could not, in any way, shape or form, be dancing all over her back, tickling her with lightly tapping pressure that felt kind of like . . .
"Feet!" Ginny screamed again and scrambled off of Harry so quickly she almost planted her knee directly into his groin.
"Huh? Wha?" Harry looked at her with confusion. His eyes were unfocused and his hair more tousled than usual. "Feet?"
"Feet," said Ginny, her eyes darting rapidly around the room. "On. Me. Feet." She caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. "There!" She pointed to the corner of the bed.
Harry looked over and yelped, jumping up to stand next to Ginny. "What the hell is that?"
"That" appeared to be some sort of . . . rodent, Ginny supposed. It was long like a ferret, but fatter, with a pointed snout, long whiskers, and at least ten legs on either side of its body. She shivered, looking at its little clawed feet and realizing that was what she'd been feeling running up and down her back. Harry took a step forward towards it, and it leapt towards him hissing.
"Bloody hell!" he cried, jumping back.
Ginny giggled. Suddenly, now that the thing was off of her, it seemed kind of funny. She snorted. "I thought it was you!" She tried to catch her breath, but the memory of Harry underneath her, moaning with pleasure, was too much. "And you . . ." she gasped, "you . . . thought I was just . . . getting carried away! And it turned you on!" She exploded then, falling into one of Hagrid's oversized chairs, tears streaming out of her eyes.
Harry looked sulkily at her. "Of course it turned me on," he said. "You felt wonderful up there. Moving around. On me," he said pointedly. "And now, you aren't there anymore." He looked back at the bed and raised his eyes hopefully. "It doesn't look particularly dangerous, does it?"
"Harry Potter! You were the one who said not to trust any of Hagrid's creatures! And now you want to lay down and continue our snog in sight of . . . of . . . whatever that is?"
Harry suddenly grabbed something behind her and whirled around towards Hagrid's bed. There was a squeal, then a whimpering cry, and Ginny saw a large basket, upside-down on the bed, where the creature had been moments before. Harry grabbed a teakettle and put it on top of the basket, which had been threatening to walk right off the edge of the bed, and it was still.
"There," he said in a satisfied voice. "Now it's no longer in our sight." He looked so hopefully at Ginny that she couldn't help but give in.
"Oh, all right," she agreed. "But you get to be on top, this time."
Harry grinned and hopped back up on the bed, pulling Ginny with him. She lay back and closed her eyes as Harry's began planting wet, open-mouthed kisses along her neck. He moved so that his full weight was on top of her and she could feel his erection, as firm as it had been before they were interrupted.
"Well I can see that having to fight off a twenty-legged beast didn't distract you too much," she smirked.
Harry was already preoccupied, pushing himself more insistently into her and slipping his hand under her shirt. "Uh uh," he mumbled.
Ginny relaxed and let Harry and his needs take over. He'd unbuttoned her shirt in rapid fashion and was now exclaiming to himself over the fact that she was not wearing a bra. He looked up at her from his position between her breasts. "It's much nicer this way,"
Ginny swatted lightly at his head. "Don't get used to it. I just couldn't find it earlier. After we, well . . . you know."
Ginny forgot that they were in Hagrid's hut, more than likely to get caught, or at least attacked by a strange beast - she felt too good. Harry was humming as he licked and sucked and she knew that he was enjoying herself almost as much as she was. His tongue pushed hard into her center as his thumb stroked across the top of her clitoris, and Ginny cried out, her climax crashing over her out of nowhere.
Harry chuckled as he scooted back up to wrap his arms around her, his bright eyes glittering with glee. "Seems that foreplay from a twenty-legged beast is something of a turn-on for you, too." He gave her a cheeky grin. "Or is it just my fabulous technique?" He began kissing her again before she could answer, moving himself up and down over her as Ginny reached down between them and fumbled with his belt.
"Oh," she said a moment later. "I guess we need to find your boxers too."
Harry was moving inside her, his hips jerking erratically against hers, when they first heard Fang barking in the distance. But getting closer. Harry's eyes opened wide and he started to pull out, but Ginny grabbed his arse and pushed against her even more firmly, rocking up to meet him and squeezing around him.
"Get there first," she whispered, tilting her head to kiss the most sensitive spot along his jaw. She watched as Harry closed his eyes in concentration and moved even faster, panting tiny huffs of effort as he pumped.
They could just hear Hagrid calling to Fang from disconcertingly close by when Harry groaned with his climax. He collapsed on top of Ginny for the briefest of seconds and then rolled off, fumbling with his pants with one hand as he waved his wand to cast cleansing charms with the other. He was obviously nervous; Ginny giggled as Hagrid's pots began straightening themselves on their shelves and loose strands of unicorn hair arranged itself into a neat skein, and she reached up and grabbed Harry's arm to stop its waving around.
"Umm, I'm sure Hagid will appreciate your cleaning his house, Harry, but right now I think you need to concentrate on the mess you made on me." She gestured down below her waist. "Especially seeing as I don't have any knickers, you know?"
Harry blushed and pointed his wand at her, mumbling the correct charm. Ginny had just managed to pull up her trousers but was still sitting, quite tousled, on Hagid's equally unkempt bed, when he came bursting through the door, cradling another one of the many legged rodents in his arms.
"Lucy!" he called out to the room. "I've found yer brother, safe and sound. He was trying to climb a tree, silly boy. As if he's old enough fer that yet." He looked up, noticing for the first time he had company.
"Hullo Harry, Ginny, you haven't by any chance seen another Roo around here, have yeh?" he asked.
Ginny didn't think Hagrid was a particularly good actor, but she couldn't believe he didn't realize that she and Harry had just finished having sex on his bed. She was still on the bed, for Merlin's sake. And, whoops, her trousers were still undone. She closed them and blushed, waiting for him to make a comment, but Hagrid seemed remarkably non-plussed to find the two them there in their disheveled state. He looked around the room again. "Lucy?" he called.
"Errr, who's Lucy?" asked Harry.
"Me other Roo," said Hagrid, holding up the rodent in his arms. "It's a rodent of unusual size – Rous – see? This one is Simon, and he got away from me, the little bugger. His sister is Lucy. 'Ave you seen 'er?"
"Umm, yeah, we have," said Harry. He waved his wand and the basket on the bed flew up and off 'Lucy'. She squealed and leapt off the bed towards Hagrid.
"Now why d'you have 'er under a basket like that? She couldn't hurt a flea," Hagrid admonished them, reaching down to gather Lucy into his arms and nuzzling her.
Ginny winced as Lucy opened her mouth to nip at Hagrid, displaying quite a number of sharp-looking teeth.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
28 April 2002
Ginny was particularly annoyed with Professor Slughorn on Friday. In a fit of pre-NEWT anxiety, he had forced them to make a nastily difficult potion.
"You'll have to stay after, Miss Weasley," Slughorn said implacably, after looking at her rather pathetic effort and shaking his large head.
He looks like a walrus, Ginny thought mutinously. Arnold moaned in her ear, as though he understood that he would not be able to see Calliope for an extra hour or so. "I'm sorry, Arnold," she said softly, cuddling him to her ear. "It's my fault," she added glumly. Classes had certainly not taken precedence in her mind all this term, and her failure at potions today should not have come as a surprise.
"Do you want me to just make a new one?" Ginny asked the professor, who had sat down behind the desk, and started to either grade papers, or write letters to his legion of former Slug Club members.
"You must," said Slughorn. "I'm afraid you missed an important step - let's see if you can find it," he added. His voice was kind, but Ginny couldn't help but feel another surge of resentment.
It was the last class of the day on Friday, and she'd been looking forward to an entire weekend with Harry, doing whatever they wanted to do. Biting back a grin at the fact that yesterday in Hagrid's hut had proven that they pretty much did what they wanted wherever they were. You could've gotten caught! she scolded herself. But it was half-hearted.
"Yes, what can I do for you?" Professor Slughorn asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Ginny started, almost tipping over her cauldron.
But Slughorn was not speaking to her; instead, his attention was focused on three second year students. Ginny recognized Stuart Method, Aisling Powell, and Elizabeth Barnett, and they looked at her curiously, as though wondering why she was working on a potion after the end of the school day. Grimacing, Ginny bent back over her work.
"Erm - we had a few questions-" said Method.
Ginny squinted at the instructions, not even remembering where the hell she had gone wrong with the first potion. It could have been any number of reasons, to be honest. She hadn't exactly been very mindful of it the first time. Stir in shrivelfig counterclockwise,Ginny said to herself. Bored, Arnold wandered around the table. Through a haze of concentration - the sooner and more perfectly she got this done, the sooner she would get to Harry - she watched the little trio of Gryffindors leave.
"Miss Weasley? Miss Weasley!" Professor Slughorn knocked on her table after long minutes of almost feverish attention to the potion. "I've got to run up and talk to Minerva - Professor McGonagall," he added importantly, as though Ginny had no clue what her Head of House's first name was. "I've got a student who is supposed to be making up his own potion... will you let him know - when he arrives - that I'll be back?"
"Of course, Professor," Ginny murmured. Her tired eyes lingered for a while on him - she had to admit to wondering if there was a way to cheat, if he'd somehow left behind a cauldron full of the perfect potion, and all she had to do was pour it into her own...
"You three are still here?" Slughorn asked as he left.
"We're - er-" but the door closed on Method's answer, and Ginny turned her attention back on her task.
Reading and rereading the instructions over and over again made her eyeballs hurt, but finally she was almost done. Blowing out a deep breath like a sigh, she put her palms over her eyes, and did not even stir when the door opened again. Probably it was Professor Slughorn, or even the trio of Gryffindor's, ready to tell her why they'd been following her around.
Just let this potion be done, she begged. All she wanted to do was go back to Harry's rooms and build a fire and-
"Ohhhh," Pollux Sennet said. "I am a lucky bloke."
Ginny whirled around, almost falling out of her chair, at the sound of Pollux Sennet's voice. Her stomach cramped with fear and anger. It did not take long at all to put everything together: she and Sennet were alone together in a dungeon room, he'd made his intentions more than clear in the library, and Ginny was in very real danger.
She dove for her wand.
Her face was struck with what felt like a Beater's bat - but was, in fact, a nasty hex - and her body tumbled backward, onto the table, and struck the floor. Hard. It knocked the breath out of her, and Ginny lay there, stunned, for several seconds. Blood dripped from her nose into her mouth and it tasted coppery and salty on her lips.
Get up.
Ginny struggled to her feet.
Sennet stood on the other side of the table, face split wide with an open smile that made her want to vomit. Her heart leapt up into her throat when she saw that her bag - her wand - dangled from his finger. "Not so fierce now, are you?" he asked her. "Haven't got your wand... can't send me any little curses. Not that it wasn't a fun game - but now it'smy turn to play with you."
"Harry will come," she said loudly. Very carefully, she did not glance at the door. Please let the trio still be out there... let them be waiting for the chance to follow me around. "He won't let anything happen to me. He'll be here." Get Harry, please, get him, she ordered the three Gryffindors who may - or may not - be sitting outside the door. "Harry Potter will be here," she added, just to be safe, almost yelling it.
"He doesn't seem like the type to share," Sennet said thoughtfully. He eyed her, apparently trying to come to a decision. "Imperio," he said.
Immediately, Ginny felt a floating sensation, as though she were looking down at herself from above. Do everything I tell you to do, said a little voice inside her head. And enjoy everything I tell you to do-
"Absolutely not," Ginny said loudly, feeling a flare of triumph that she'd broken the curse. The surprised and almost fearful look in his eyes was almost as gratifying. But even though she'd broken his feeble curse, the fact still remained that she didn't have her wand...
Almost casually, he flicked his wrist. Ginny ducked, but too late. Magical cords wrapped around her hands and feet. Immediately, she began to fight it - no, no, no, no, no, she chanted, twisting and turning, trying everything to get away. Within moments, she found herself bound tightly to the leg of the table, feet splayed out in front of her.
The feeling of bindings around her wrist made her stomach crawl, even more than the look on Sennet's face, or the way his hand moved on the front of his trousers.
Gradually, she forced the panic to go away. It struck her as slightly odd that he hadn't moved to touch her... hadn't done anything yet other than bind her. Think, Ginny, think,she told herself. But confusion warred with fear and anger when he turned his back on her and set his cauldron on the table, gathering supplies.
Arnold jumped onto her belly, squeaking in distress.
"What are you doing?" Ginny spat out.
"Making my potion," he said casually. "I've got to make it up. I was gone this morning." Then, as she gaped at him, he winked at her. "Plus... I want you to have plenty of time to get ready for me."
"Get-?"
"Wet," he said frankly. He still had his back to her, smashing little ingredients with a silver knife. Another thing to worry about, thought Ginny. She wiggled her hands, attempting to loosen the bindings. "I want to give you enough time to get yourself wet before I fuck you."
For almost a minute, all she could do was stare at the back of his fat head, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. He honestly believed that she'd find the idea of him raping her erotic? A wave of fury rippled over her body, burning away the fear and confusion, leaving her head remarkably clear. "I'm not going to get wet for you," she said through clenched teeth. "I would never."
Sennet turned around and pointed the knife at her. Unbelievably, he was still smiling. "That's where I know you're lying," he told her. "Yesterday in Hagrid's hut you werepanting for it. I watched you... you were moaning and probably even screaming... Draco said you were a screamer."
Tears stung her eyes, and she stared blearily down at Arnold. He had blood on him from where he'd tried to cuddle with her. "You are completely wrong," she said in a low, forceful voice, once her throat was working again. "Harry doesn't fuck me," she informed him. "He makes love to me. And he-"
"He's just like me," Sennet told her. Casually, he reached for the front of his trousers and pulled them down, along with his pants. Ginny looked away, not wanting to see his stubby little penis. "He's exactly like me."
"Bull shit," Ginny said flatly. "If you-"
"The only difference between us is that you're spreading your legs for him and not for me," Sennet interrupted. He slammed his silver knife into the table, sending it deep into the wood. For the first time since he'd come into the room, he actually looked angry. His face twisted up, and he pointed an accusing finger at her. "And why the fuck is that?" he shouted at her.
Before Ginny could open her mouth and tell him that everything about him repulsed her - every hair on his head, to the tip of his toes - he waved his hand and turned back to his potion. "It doesn't matter," he muttered, movements jerky. Not bothering to pull his pants back up, he turned his back to her. "You'll be spreading them soon enough."
"You'd better learn how to do a better Imperius, then," she told him furiously. "That's the only way you'll get me."
"Fucking bitch!" he swore. He strode over to her and cut a large strip of cloth from the bottom of her robes. Unceremoniously, he stuffed it in her mouth. "I'll have you begging and panting for it, just like Potter, you whore," he kicked her in the leg.
Ginny choked on a breath. She was angry, yes, livid. But... she was starting to feel real fear that Sennet wouldn't stop with rape... he might kill her. No, she thought, renewing her efforts on her bindings. Absolutely not. Not when I've just found Harry. Not now. The minutes passed and she grew more and more desperate. Where was Slughorn? Where was Harry?
But her attempts to escape were futile; the magical cords were far too tight. And she was forced to listen to Sennet's jealousy and insanity and do nothing about it. Please get here, she pleaded silently. Please, Harry.
"—And Draco used to tell us—"
Ginny blocked out the sound of his voice. Arnold huddled against her damp neck, afraid and confused.
"—You're bloody well going to let me stick it in you, you let everyone else—"
Harry's going to hate me, Ginny thought miserably. It seemed stupid, moronic, that she hadn't told him about Sennet, especially after the library. She should've just let him kill him…
But she needed to be alive for him to hate. And alive in order to cajole him out of his rage. Ginny began to make all sorts of irrational promises to Harry, to Merlin, to a higher power in the universe that may or may not be real… As a minute, two minutes, three minutes ticked by while Sennet was rapidly losing control of himself, she made more and more rash promises.
I'll-
Crack!
Without her even realizing it, Sennet had backhanded her across the face. Ginny moaned, trying to cover her face, but her arms were held too tightly across her body. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONE SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYING GAMES!" he shouted at her, spittle flew in her face.
Rearing back, he jerked his arm up. "Sectumsempra!"
For one breathless moment, Ginny was certain that this was the moment that she was going to die; trapped absurdly, taken away because she'd been stupid enough not to tell Harry.
Instead, jagged pain ripped through her torso. The bindings fell away, along with her clothes. Ginny took deep breaths through her nose, not wanting to scream. But she couldn't help but cover her breasts with her arms. Blood flowed freely, and she swayed, falling over.
Arnold let out a squawk of outrage, and threw himself at Sennet.
"Ow, shit!" Sennet shouted, as Arnold bit down on his neck. He grabbed the pygmy puff and threw him down on the ground, as hard as he could. Arnold let out an anguished little cry and fell still.
Ginny stared at Arnold's body.
He killed Arnold. He killed Arnold, he killed Arnold, he killed Arnold.
"Nasty little bugger," Sennet muttered. His voice came at her as though from a long distance. Not Arnold. He'd been with her for so long; had been her only comfort for years... had loved her unconditionally, without asking anything of her except that she take care of him.
"Nnph," Ginny breathed around the gag.
Just then, the door exploded, alerting Ginny to Harry's arrival, and little splinters of wood rained down in right before it. Sennet's face was a mask of fear and surprise, and his wand was held limply at his side. Reaching out, Ginny snatched it out of his hand, ignoring the sudden, intense pain between her breasts.
"But you-"
"Ginny!" Harry shouted.
"Gerrnld!" Ginny yelled at him around the gag, gesturing with one hand toward her pygmy puff. Glaring at Sennet, she wanted to say a hundred things, wanted him to understand that he couldn't touch her, that she'd never want him. But his leg twitched, and he kicked out at her-
Fire erupted from the tip of the wand she had stolen from him, engulfing him in flames.