Harry woke up suddenly, his heart thudding in his chest and sweat glistening on his forehead. The nightmares hadn't stopped these past four nights, and Harry highly doubted that they would stop over the next four years.
Everything that he had seen over the past year; the past seven years, were burnt into a constantly changing nightmare.
He tried to slow his breathing, and shut his eyes.
Hermione's tortured screams, Voldemort's red eyes, Sirius, Dumbledore, Dobby, Fred, Remus, Tonks.
Harry opened eyes and sat up, his heart beat quickening again. He attempted to slow his breathing, as he illuminated the lamp on his bedside table.
There's nothing you can do, it's all over, he told himself over and over again.
There's nothing you can—
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the door creaked open.
It was Ginny.
Harry's heart leapt at the sight of her.
"I saw the light," she said quietly, walking over to sit on Harry's bed, "I couldn't sleep either."
"Nightmares?" Harry asked her softly.
Ginny nodded, "You too?"
"Yeah,"
"Not like your You-Know-Who dreams?" She asked slightly louder, worried.
Harry pointed to Ron, sleeping in the bed next to them and then put his finger over his mouth.
"No, just normal ones. He's well and truly gone."
Ginny nodded again, and the two fell silence.
"Do you want me to tell you what happened this year? What we were doing?" Harry asked, after some silent moments. He was suddenly seized with the need to talk about it all, to tell her everything, and knowing that this feeling wouldn't come again for a very long time, he took the opportunity to have this crucial talk with her at 2 o'clock in the morning, while they were both half asleep and delirious.
"If you're ready, yeah, I would really like that." Ginny was now sitting cross-legged, directly facing Harry. Harry pushed himself up a bit more, until he was sitting upright too.
He began to tell her everything, and Ginny didn't stop listening for one moment.
It was so easy to talk once he had started. He told her about Dumbledore and the memories, about his, Ron and Hermione's search for the horcruxes; when he reached the part where Ron left him and Hermione, Ginny scowled and turned to glare at her sleeping brother, "He left you?" She whispered incredulously.
"He came back though," Harry replied quickly, "He saved my life."
Harry went on to tell her about Godric's Hollow, the doe and the sword, going to Luna's.
"You were so close," Ginny said quietly, interrupting Harry for the first time.
"I know,"
"I would've loved to see you," she said quietly.
He knew she wasn't guilt tripping him for not visiting, he knew that she understood why he didn't and he couldn't have visited, he knew that. She was Ginny. She always understood. But he also knew that he would've loved to see her too, and he knew she would've understood that too.
"Me too," he told her finally.
Their eyes met, really met, and now his heart was beating fast for a whole different reason.
So he continued his story, trying to ignore his need to press his lips against Ginny's. His need to hold her, to hug her, to feel her skin against his.
Then he reached the end, and it felt like a weight had been lifted.
It took a moment for Ginny to take it all in.
"So Snape loved your mum?"
"Yep."
"You saw your parents, Sirius and Remus in the forest?"
"Yep."
"Snape was good?"
"Yep."
"But he was always such a prat to us,"
"I know, but he saved my life, Ginny, he protected me for all these years. That's how much he loved my mum."
"Talk about a confusing guy," Ginny muttered, and this time Harry laughed. He laughed for the first time in what felt like years.
Then Ron gave a loud, very unattractive snore and rolled over, which shut Harry up. Harry and Ginny caught each other's eye and stifled their laughter.
It happened in an instant, Ginny's eyes met his and suddenly they were kissing, and it felt so good.
Ginny moved closer until she was in Harry's lap and their bodies were pressing together; Harry still sitting up against the bed.
It was just the two of them; they had never kissed like this, so passionate, so much need in each kiss, as though they were making up for all the kisses they had missed over the past year. All of the pain, angst and new found awkwardness between them completely disappeared and everything that had happened didn't matter in that moment; it was just Harry and Ginny, here in this bed, complete bliss forever.
It was interrupted all too soon, with the sound of the door opening and a sudden gasp.
Harry and Ginny looked up just in time to see Hermione disappear and pull the door shut behind.
"Shit," Ginny muttered, clambering off Harry, "I should probably go find her."
Harry kissed her one last time, "Okay," he said, half reluctantly.
Ginny walked quickly past her sleeping brother and out of the room, knowing if she didn't go quickly, she would go straight back to Harry.
"Hermione?" Ginny whispered, as she opened the door to her room.
Hermione was sitting on her bed, "Sorry! I didn't mean to, uh, interrupt the two of you," she said awkwardly, "I woke up and you weren't here, and I saw the light in Harry and Ron's room, and I just, I didn't think."
Ginny sighed, sitting down on her own bed, "It's okay,"
"Are you back together now?" Hermione asked after a moment.
"I don't know," Ginny replied, resting her head in her hands, "he said we'd talk about it after the funerals."
"When did he say that?"
"Earlier today,"
Hermione didn't say anything, as she studied Ginny; she had an awful feeling she knew what Harry wanted to talk about after the funeral, and she hoped, for both Ginny and Harry's sakes, that she was wrong.
Ginny sighed again and flopped onto her back and pulled the duvet over her, and thought of Harry as she drifted back to sleep.
This chapter was a lot longer! Double the words of the last chapter! Most will be shorter, most likely 400-800 words, as I am also writing my Jily/Marauders fanfic too :)