Chapter 10 Which One?
A/N: I'm late this week, I know. I'm so very sorry. But in my defense, I did get sick. Had a throat infection that was disgusting (*gags*). In other news, I saw three shooting stars last night/early morning. I was so excited I nearly forgot to make a wish(es). Haha! Btw, this chapter was inspired by the soundtrack to a 1999 teen flick. See if you can guess.
The sun was already up when Ginny awoke. She was disoriented at first, finding herself in a sitting position on the living room couch. And then she saw Harry and the memories from the night before came flooding back, along with the warm, fuzzy feeling she associated with his presence.
She found he was still fast asleep, the blanket she covered him up with last night now just pooling at his waist. As to how that happened she could not fathom since he just lay there the same exact way he did last night. Only now, she just noticed, he was also holding her left hand, their intertwined fingers resting on his shoulder. Her breath hitched.
She tried to imagine what it would be like to kiss him. Hermione once told her that she knew for certain Ron was 'the one'when they first kissed. "I knew I liked him. I loved him even before we started dating," she explained. "But the first kiss was different. I realized I wanted to spend my life with him," Hermione said. Well, whatever that feeling was, she hasn't experienced it yet.
It was a moment before she tried to extract herself from her awkward position, a feat that sounded easy but proved to be tricky. Every time she tried to gingerly disentangle her hand from his, he held on tighter and elicited a short grunt.
"Good morning," Harry whispered a while later, stopping Ginny in her tracks. His eyes were still closed but he had already been awaken a few minutes earlier by Ginny's efforts of prying their hands apart, to which he retaliated by grasping it more firmly. He loved teasing her sometimes.
"Oh, you're awake," she said, a little embarrassed at the tug-of-war she had been waging with who she thought was a sleeping person. "Uhm ... can I have my hand back now?" she asked shyly.
Harry pressed her hand gently before letting go, as nonchalant as ever, which annoyed Ginny a little. Here she was with her nerves going haywire and he was acting like it was everyday occurrence to wake up holding someone's hand. She winced at that thought and tried to steer her mind away from it. "It's quiet," was the first thing that came to mind, noting the absence of clattering in the kitchen her mother made this time of the day. "I don't think Mum's around."
Harry agreed. "Let's go see. She could be outside."
The two of them stood up and after stretching a bit, went separate ways to investigate.
"Wow! Ten o'clock!" Ginny exclaimed as she passed the clock in the hallway.
A couple of minutes later, the two reconvened on the kitchen table.
"Nope. Not there," Harry said after looking for Mrs. Weasley in the yard.
"I'll go upstairs. She probably left a note in my room."
She came back, passing a piece of parchment to Harry that had her Mum's handwriting in it. "She said she'll be at George and Katie's to babysit the twins."
"Well, in that case, she won't be back till dinner," he said, placing the note on the table. When he looked up, he saw Ginny sporting a glum expression. "What's the matter?"
"It's just ... I don't know if you know this about me, Harry, but I don't cook," she confessed, her embarrassment overshadowed by her fear of going hungry.
Harry laughed, remembering all too well the scene at St. Mungo's. "That's okay. I can cook. But why don't we eat out today? My treat," he suggested.
Ginny liked the idea and quickly agreed, scribbling a note addressed to Mrs. Weasley that the two of them were eating out. They met at the back porch an hour later, both showered and ready to go.
"You look beautiful," Harry said, stopping at the door as he saw her.
"Thanks. I didn't know where we're going. Is this okay?" she asked, referring to the yellow short-sleeved wrap dress she was wearing, a touch of makeup on her face and her hair wavy. She knew she could have just put on a sweater and a pair of pants but she wanted to look nice. It seemed she met her goal.
"That's ... that's just fine," he answered, momentarily losing his train of thought.
"You clean up really well, yourself." She appreciated his choice of clothes – a pair of black trousers and a cream-colored turtleneck. Together, she thought they looked suspiciously like two people going out on a date, but she didn't tell him that. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"It's a surprise," he said. "You'll see."
They Apparated in a small clearing near a quaint little village, a place called Larson Parish. "It's a Muggle town, actually. It sits in between Godric's Hollow," he said, pointing West, "and a relatively new Magical town called Crystal Plains," he related, pointing East.
"You come here often," Ginny observed as they walked toward the small cluster of cottages.
Harry nodded. "It's a special place and people don't know me here. They just think I'm a tourist and I can go about my business without photographers trailing behind me."
"I know what you mean," she said, understanding the lack of privacy that she sometimes feels as a pro-Quidditch player.
They entered a charming three-storey building called Moore Inn where Harry guided her to the restaurant situated inside. Only a few people were dining and they were seated immediately, a waiter handing them menus as they were getting settled.
"Nice to see you again, Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley," the young waiter whose name tag read Alvin greeted.
Ginny was surprised the man knew her but hid her confusion by smiling at him. After they gave their orders and they were alone once again, she told Harry this.
"That's because we've been here before," he simply replied.
"Oh," she uttered, mentally writing down this new fact in her list of 'forgottens' which was growing quite long already. "It's nice. I like it," she said, glancing around the classic but homey style of the restaurant.
The two took their time with their meal, sharing most of the dishes they ordered except for the slice of peanut butter mousse which Harry claimed was his favourite in the menu. He let her have a taste but hogged the rest.
Ginny agreed it was delicious. "You are a dessert freak, aren't you?!" she teased, remembering how he gobbled up the chocolate cake from the night before.
Lunch ended two hours later, after which they explored the town a little, just walking around, visiting the town church and entering the antique shop at end of the street. Ginny was surprised once again when the shopkeeper approached her with a smiling face and called her name.
"Ginny. How are you today?" the old lady asked.
Harry whispered "Alice" to her before moving away, and she greeted the woman warmly, even though she didn't remember who she was.
They looked around for a bit and continued on their walk, their feet leading them to the lake on the edge of Larson Parish, just opposite of which they could see Crystal Plains.
Halfway, Ginny pointed at a large house half-obscured by a line of trees. "That's beautiful," she said, admiring the shape of the house that she could see.
"I know. It's called Summerville," he interjected.
"Summerville," she repeated, finding the name suited to the cabin-look of the structure. "Is it a vacation house?"
"No. It used to be back in the 14th century when an Italian family stayed there on summer holidays, hence the name, but a young couple lives there now," he narrated.
"Wow. You sound like a tourist guide, Mr. Potter," she said mockingly.
"I just know the owners, Ms. Weasley," he retorted.
Ginny was impressed. "Do you think we can visit? I'd love to see it up close."
Harry answered in the negative, saying he knew the owners were on vacation at the moment. Ginny was disappointed but immediately appeased when he said they will try next time.
They made it back to the Burrow just before dinner time, both in good spirits with the way their day was spent.
"Thanks for a great ... you know," Ginny sputtered, about to say 'date.' She hoped he wouldn't notice.
Harry smiled, knowing what she was thinking and tried to play dumb. "No, I don't know," he said as they made their way to the house.
"You know ..."
"What? Date?" he teased.
"No!," she answered vehemently.
"Well, I asked you out, I treated you to lunch, we had a grand time," he enumerated on his fingers, "sounds like a date to me!" he said, a winning smile plastered on his face.
"It's not a date if there's no kiss goodnight," she countered, reaching for the doorknob.
Harry stopped her hand and said "Let's make it a date, then," and without waiting for her to react, leaned in for a kiss.
Ginny was astonished but found herself giving in to the sweetest kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, and without warning she thought This One.
A/N: No reference to last chapter's proposal, I know, but I found I was not that outrageous to do anything about it. Yet. Haha! And if you guessed "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer (OST - She's All That), you're right. I was running out of ideas and this song randomly played on my Walkman and I thought 'perfect!' Again, review guys if you liked it/disliked it. I won't mind ... at all;)