Chapter Two: The Night
Harry woke with a start as a crack of thunder shook the house. He could hear the rain pounding against the windows as he searched for his glasses on the table by his bed. Another crack of thunder struck and Harry fell back onto his pillow. The past few nights had all been like this. Summer rain season had hit and Harry missed Ron and Hermione now more than he had since they left.
He hadn't seen Ginny in days. He had given up trying to talk to her. She said she would come to him when she was ready, so all he could was wait. It was agonizing and lonely. Since George had gone back to work, Harry and Ginny were alone in the house for most of the day, which meant Harry was alone for most of the day.
Ron and Hermione wrote when they could, but they were currently having a hard time finding Hermione's parents. They promised to get home as soon as they could. But it couldn't be soon enough for Harry at this rate.
The storm raged on outside with a crack of thunder strong enough to shake the house every few minutes, keeping Harry awake for hours. When he finally started to doze off again, he was startled awake by a knock at his door. He waited a moment, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him or the storm had knocked a piece of the roof loose, but the knock came again. He climbed out of bed, now aware that he was only wearing pajama pants and no shirt, but it was too dark to try and find a shirt, so he opened the door, hoping it wasn't Mrs. Weasley.
Ginny was standing on the other side, leaning on the doorframe. She was sopping wet, so Harry knew she had been wandering out in the rain. He didn't know what to say, so he waited for her to speak.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I shouldn't have gotten mad at you."
"No," Harry said, "you were right. I messed up." Ginny stepped away from the doorframe and toward him. Harry's heart skipped a beat as she got close enough for him to smell the rain on her skin.
"I was upset, I should've come and talked to you," Ginny said, "You've been through so much and I expected too much. I was being selfish."
"You're not selfish," Harry whispered and took another step closer to her. "You're perfect." Ginny smiled and put her hands on Harry's bare chest. Her cold touch sent a shiver down Harry's spine. He couldn't hold himself back any longer so he leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him and kissed him back.
All the unhappiness of the past months seemed to flood out as he kissed her. He put his hands in her wet hair and pulled her closer. What seemed like an eternity later, they broke apart. Ginny smiled as Harry rested his forehead on hers and she ran her hands down chest and interlaced them with his.
"I've missed you," Harry whispered.
"And I've missed you," she whispered. He leaned down and kissed her again, even harder than before. He never wanted to let her go. A few more minutes later they broke apart again. "I should go," Ginny said, "Its late. We'll talk in the morning?"
"Definitely," Harry said. Ginny leaned in to kiss him again but they were startled apart by another crack. But this time, it wasn't from thunder. Ron had apparated into the room next to them.
"Ron?" Harry asked excitedly. Ginny backed away from Harry awkwardly.
"Hey guys," he said as he accepted a hug from both of them. "What are you doing up here Ginny, its three in the morning? And why are you all wet?"
"I was just talking to Harry," she said awkwardly, "Where's Hermione?" she asked, eager to change the subject.
"She's getting her parents settled back at home," Ron said, "She'll be here in the morning."
"Great," Ginny said awkwardly and started making her way towards the door. "I'll see you guys in the morning then." With that, Ginny left the room and shut the door behind her.
"So," Ron said with a knowing tone that sounded very much like Hermione. "Was I maybe interrupting something here?"
"Maybe," Harry said, but he couldn't get rid of the smile on his face.
"So you guys talked since the horrible fight in the yard?" Ron asked as Harry climbed back into bed.
"Not so much talking…" Harry said with an even wider smile.
"Gross, mate," Ron said, "That is my sister, you know?" Harry laughed as Ron climbed into the bed next to his.
"Sorry," Harry said.
"But you guys are going to talk right?" Ron asked.
"Yeah we will," Harry said and within a few minutes, the sound of the rain on the window had put them both to sleep.
The next morning, Harry was shaken awake by Hermione. He laughed as he reached for his glasses. "Hey Hermione, what's up?"
"I just talked to Ginny," she said excitedly, "Did you really kiss her last night?"
"Yeah," Harry said feeling the grin crack his face again. Hermione looked giddy and she threw her arms around his neck.
"You have to go talk to her," Hermione said, "Straighten everything out! She's in the backyard." Harry didn't have to be told twice. He jumped out of his bed, pulled on some clothes, attempted to straighten his hair a little, and ran downstairs to the backyard.
Ginny was sitting on the porch step watching her snitch fly circles around her head. Harry smiled as he sat down next to her and caught the snitch in his hand.
"Hey," he said as she smiled and took the snitch back from him.
"Hey," she said back. Before he could say anything she jumped into a different topic entirely, "Have you read the papers yet this morning?"
"No," Harry said, "I came straight out here to see you."
"They've officially named Kinsley as minister of magic," Ginny said, "Now that Hogwarts and the ministry are re built."
"Oh that's great," Harry said.
"They're throwing a big ball at the ministry tonight and we're all expected to go," Ginny continued. "I wouldn't be surprised if the minister himself showed up to invite you."
"I can worry about that later," Harry said, eager to talk about last night, "Right now, I want to talk about us."
"You've already told me how you feel Harry," Ginny said, "And I do feel the same way. I shouldn't have gotten mad. I understand why you did everything you did. It's just going to take some time to heal. But I want to do that with you." Before Harry could answer, she pulled him for another kiss. Harry enjoyed this kiss even more than the ones last night because he wasn't half asleep now.
After a few moments, they broke apart. Before either of them could say anything, Mrs. Weasley appeared behind them, causing them both to jump back away from each other. Molly seemed to ignore that and turned to Harry, "Kinsley Shacklebolt is here for you Harry."
"Oh, okay," Harry said and turned back to Ginny, "We'll talk more tonight before the party okay?" Ginny nodded and Harry went into the house where Kinsley was waiting for him. Ginny stayed on the porch for a while before going inside.
She waited for Harry to return for hours, but eventually Ron received word that he would not be returning and needed Ron to send his dress clothes for him.
"Don't worry," Hermione said when she saw the look of disappointment on Ginny's face, "Maybe you can talk to him more tonight at the party?"
"I bet he'll be busy tonight," Ginny said, letting the disappointment get the best of her.
"He'll make time for you," Hermione said which made Ginny smile. A few hours later, the rest of the residents of the burrow made their way to the ministry. As soon as they got there, Ginny was on her toes, craning her neck to try to find Harry. Hermione grabbed her arm, "Don't worry, we'll find him." Ginny nodded as she, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of her family made their way over to their table near the front of the atrium. When they sat down, Ginny spotted Harry. He was standing across the atrium with a few older looking wizards. He looked very handsome in his dress robes and his hair had that messy, just got off a broom look that Ginny loved so much. Her heart skipped a beat as Harry caught her eye and smiled.
Harry excused himself from the group of wizards and made his way to their table. "Hey everyone," Harry said and they all greeted him. He sat down in the empty chair next to Ginny. "I'm sorry I never made it back. Kinsley had me meet all these people and talk about my future and before I knew it, it was almost time for the party."
"Its fine," Ginny said, "I know you'll be busy tonight. We'll find time to finish talking." Before Harry could respond, a young witch came running over to him and immediately introduced herself as an auror. Harry stood up and was pulled away to another group of aurors.
"He's probably going to be pretty busy tonight," Hermione said and Ginny nodded, "Don't worry. You guys can talk tomorrow. Lets go have fun!" Hermione pulled her out onto the dance floor.
Ginny danced with her friends until her feet were numb. She looked around the entire room and Harry was nowhere to be found. "I'm going to go get some air," she yelled over the music to Hermione. Ginny shoved her way through the crowds and toward the doors out to a patio. As soon as she had left the atrium, she pulled her heels off her feet.
"All that dancing starting to hurt your feet?" someone asked from behind her. Ginny jumped and turned to see Harry leaning against a rail to the patio overlooking London. Ginny laughed and joined him at the rail.
"So this is where you've been hiding?" she said as she dropped her shoes on the ground next to her.
"I am not hiding," he said and laughed as she raised her eyebrows at him. "Okay fine, I'm hiding a little."
"Not from me?" Ginny asked before she could even think. As soon as she said it, she regretted it.
"Of course its not because of you," Harry said, "I'm just getting a little tired of all the attention. I know I should be used to it by now, I mean it's not much different than before. I just hoped it would be over when he war ended. I guess that was stupid though, right?"
"No it's not stupid," Ginny said, "It's just something you'll have to get used to. Because honestly, I think your fame and press is only to get worse." Harry laughed and looked over into Ginny's eyes.
"You look really beautiful tonight Ginny," he said and reached over and brushed one of her long read hairs out of her face.
"And you look incredibly handsome," she said and thought she saw him blush a little. "You want to talk more about us now?"
"What else do we need to say?" he asked and he leaned closer to her, "You ready for a life as the girlfriend of Harry Potter?"
"I already know what comes with the territory," she said and he smiled. He leaned in further and kissed her. Suddenly the doors to the patio burst open and flashes from cameras erupted. Harry seemed embarrassed as he pulled away from Ginny a little.
"You sure you want this?" Harry asked again. Ginny laughed at the doubt in his voice.
"Bring it on," she whispered before pulling him in for another kiss. The press went wild and took hundreds of more pictures. A few moments later, they broke apart and Harry smiled down at her.
"Shall I escort my girlfriend back into the party?" he asked.
"You shall," she said and they went back inside. "Let's dance," Ginny said once they got inside and she pulled him toward Hermione and Ron.
Once her feet started to hurt again, she and Harry sat back down at their table. "So," Ginny said, "What's next for the boy-who-lived? Now that the world is back together, what're you going to do? You mentioned earlier that you talked to Kinsley about it." Harry sighed, took her hands in his and looked back up at her.
"I'm going to start auror training," he said "I already talked to Kinsley about it and he said they'll accept me without finishing Hogwarts… since you know…I've gotten a lot of experience already. I was going to tell you, but I thought I'd wait until tomorrow, but since you asked…"
"Harry that's so exciting," she said, "Are you starting in September when I go back to Hogwarts?"
"Yeah, the week after you leave is when I start," he said.
"Well," Ginny said, "Sine it seems like we'll be spending a lot of time apart soon, we'd better make the best of this summer." Harry smiled and leaned in and kissed her again.
"Come on," he said, "lets dance some more!" She giggled as he pulled her out onto the floor.
