* WARNING *
This is the second honeymoon chapter and, as such, there are some slightly more graphic scenes. I will mark the offending portions of text with lines so that if you would prefer to skip over them you will easily be able to see where they are.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
On the fourth morning of their honeymoon when Harry woke up, he could immediately sense that something was different. Disengaging enough from Ginny's sleeping form to roll toward the nightstand on his side of the bed, he grabbed his watch. Without grabbing his glasses also, he peered at the face, squinting to bring the tiny hands into focus. It was nearly eleven in the morning, but the room was still quite dark. Curious, Harry put on his glasses and slid out of the bed, trying not to wake Ginny. He crossed to the large window in the master bedroom and, before he even reached it, he could hear the pounding rain and crashing waves. Confirming his suspicions, he pulled back the curtain and revealed a gray and stormy day. He let the curtain fall back into place and returned to the bed. It was the perfect kind of day to spend a little extra time in bed with his wife.
Every other day of their honeymoon so far, had been spent in exactly the same way. They had gotten out of bed when the sun woke them and, after a quick breakfast, headed down to the beach where they spend their days talking, reading, napping, and playing in the sand and waves. Typically, they ate lunch at the beach and returned to the house when the sun started to set. Back at the house they made dinner together, although on a couple of the nights, dinner hadn't been remembered until quite late, after succumbing to other urges first. After dinner, they typically showered and went to bed, where sleeping wouldn't rank on the agenda until after more talking and making love had taken place. Kingsley had told them of some sites of interest they could visit should they choose to venture away from the house on the beach, but neither had wanted to interrupt their relaxing honeymoon by heading further inland and possibly having to deal with tourists.
Harry climbed back under the covers, jostling Ginny and effectively waking her up. She yawned, stretched, and asked groggily, "What time is it?"
"Almost eleven," Harry said, as he snuggled against her under the covers. "It's pouring out."
"What are we going to do today then?" Ginny asked, sounding remorseful.
"I have a few suggestions," Harry said, as he bent to kiss her.
Moving her face so his lips connected with her ear instead, she asked playfully, "Oh really, like what?"
"Well, we could start with a little of this," Harry said, as his lips moved from her ear down to her neck. Ginny purred in contentment and threaded her fingers into his messy hair. After several long minutes, Harry said, "Then maybe a little of this," as his mouth moved further south. He remained there until he had Ginny squirming in anticipation. "Finally, I thought we could do this," he said, as he pushed the covers aside and moved furthest south.
Ginny drew in a strangled breath and gasped, "Merlin, Harry."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
A while later, still in bed, Harry suggested, "Breakfast?"
"Don't you want to sample my ideas for the day?" Ginny asked, as she ran a hand suggestively down his thigh.
"Of course," Harry said eagerly.
Ginny pushed Harry onto his back and straddled his stomach. She leaned down to kiss him, pushing her breasts against his chest. He groaned and kissed her back ardently until she started to inch backward, leaving a trail of love bites down his chest. He hissed, enjoying the mix of pain and pleasure. When she reached her intended target, a curtain of hair shielded her from view, but it became immediately clear that she was countering his suggestion from earlier. Enjoying the sensations, but wanting the full effect, he said hoarsely, "Move your hair, I want to watch."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When the couple finally made it out of bed and went to the kitchen to eat, it was definitely closer to lunchtime than breakfast. Harry was making sandwiches while Ginny watched sadly as the rain thundered down outside the window. It was raining so hard now; it was hard to make out the shoreline from their distance. Ginny sighed and said, "So, what are we going to do today?"
"Play games?" Harry suggested. "There's loads of muggle board games in the closet by the sitting room. Or we could watch movies, I saw a VCR connected to the TV and lots of video tapes."
"Maybe," Ginny said distractedly.
Harry could tell that she was thinking about something, maybe formulating a plan in her mind, but didn't push her; she'd tell him when she was ready. He set a plate of food in front of her at the table and sat down across from her. When she caught him watching her, she grinned and said, "I know what we can do."
"Eat your lunch first. You expended a lot of energy this morning," Harry teased.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When the lunch dishes were left in the sink, Harry let Ginny lead him by the hand to the stairs and up to the second level of the house. As the master bedroom was on the main floor, they hadn't had any reason to visit the second level beyond the quick tour they took on their first day here. Ginny flicked on the lights in the bathroom and cried, "Ha, I knew I remembered seeing that." She gestured to a spacious whirlpool tub set into the corner of the huge bathroom. Ginny pulled him into the room and shut the door behind them. As he watched, she turned on the water and added a large quantity of bubble bath. She set candles she conjured around the tub's edge and lit them with her wand. She flipped off the overhead lights, leaving them in the glow from the candles. The bathroom was quiet, outside of the water filling the tub and the rain pounding on the roof above them. "Take a bath with me," she requested, as she began to strip out of her clothes.
Harry didn't have to be asked twice. He followed her lead, leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor. He stepped into the tub behind her, enjoying the feel of the hot water. "Sit," she ordered. Then, when he was positioned, she settled herself between his legs so she could lean back into his chest. He sighed contently and admitted to himself that this really had been a perfect idea. It was cozy, relaxing in the water that came nearly up to their chins, listening to the storm howling outside. He wrapped his arms around her waist and settled his chin on her shoulder.
"Can I tell you a story?" Ginny asked, sounding somewhat vulnerable, which was unlike her.
"Sure," Harry agreed.
"Once upon a time, there was a little red-haired girl. She lived in a crazy house with six red-haired older brothers who liked to pull pranks and tease the little girl. The thing they liked to tease her most about was her obsession with the stories about the boy who'd conquered the evil lord. You see, the little girl also loved fairytales and believed that the boy must be a prince or, at the very least, a brave knight and she dreamed that one day he would rescue her from her older red-haired brothers and take her away to live with him in his castle. The little girl got older and the fairytales were forgotten, after all, those sorts of things could never really happen. Then, when the youngest red-haired brother went away to school for the first time, the girl saw the boy who conquered the evil lord at the train station and let a little bit of her belief creep back in," Ginny paused then, to clear her throat.
Unsure of where she was going with this, Harry remained quiet.
Continuing, Ginny said, "For that whole year, while her brothers were away at school, the little girl thought about the boy and her obsession returned. She was amazed to learn that the boy was best friends with her youngest brother and, near the end of the summer holidays, he came to stay in the crazy house too. When school was back in session, it was time for the girl to go away for her first year at school. It was a hard year for the girl. Her older brothers and the boy didn't have time for her; she hadn't made a lot of friends and, worst of all, she had fallen under the spell of a form of the same evil lord that so many had thought conquered. Eventually, the girl was so deeply under the evil lord's spell that he was able to control her completely and brought her to a secret chamber far beneath the school where he planned to kill her by taking her life force. The girl cried and wished that she'd told even one of her brothers what was going on. Now she was facing certain death and no one even knew she was here. She thought about the boy then. She hoped that by some miracle the fairytales of her youth were true and he could be her knight in shining armor. As she grew weaker and finally slipped into unconsciousness, she admitted to herself that maybe her obsession with him had just been a silly crush all along."
"Why are you telling me this?" Harry asked carefully.
"Shhhh," Ginny chided. "This has a point, I promise. You see, I was the girl and you were the boy, but sometimes it's easier to think about it like it was someone else. I was so foolish and it still hurts to think of how completely I emptied my soul into that diary and what a betrayal it was in the end. At first, he really was like my friend. When I woke up, it was to see your worried face above mine, wishing for me not to be dead. You have no idea what the rush of emotions was like when I realized I wasn't dead; or actually, you probably do. I was grateful not to be dead, disappointed to still be alive and still responsible for my actions, scared that something worse was in store, embarrassed over the situation I'd landed myself in, and amazed to find you there with me. At that moment, my belief in the impossible, in fairytales, was restored and, more than anything, I knew without a doubt, that I would love you for the rest of my life. Perhaps then it was a naïve and adolescent love, but nevertheless, it was true and strong. As we grew older and got to know each other better, my love for you grew as well. I didn't know if you would ever feel the same way about me and I have always been afraid that you would laugh at me if you knew; but I have been in love with you since I was eleven years old. Now that I know that you are mine forever and that you love me too, I wanted to tell you that you have always been the one for me. I have always loved you. You are my knight in shining armor."
Harry was awed by her words. He had, of course, known that Ginny harbored a crush on him when they were younger, but he'd never realized the depth of her feelings or just how much his rescuing her had meant to her. Part of him wished he could tell her that he'd loved her all along too, but it wouldn't be the truth. The truth was that, as they grew up and he got to know her better, he subconsciously realized that she was the perfect girl for him. Then, when he and Ron had caught Ginny and Dean snogging in the corridor, his subconscious had quickly started to make him painfully aware of his feeling for her.
"You're being awfully quiet," Ginny said.
"I'm trying to remember the exact moment I fell in love with you," Harry said. "But I'm not sure I was consciously aware of it. In most ways, my falling for you took me so much by surprise that, by the time I figured it out, I think I was already in love with you."
"My point in telling you all that wasn't so you'd confess the same to me," Ginny said. "It was mostly to get it off my chest. It was something I'd wanted to tell you for years, but hadn't enough guts to do."
"If you loved me so much," Harry said, "how could you date other guys?"
"I wasn't sure you'd ever return my feelings," Ginny said. "I hoped of course, but I wasn't going to wait around forever. What if you never came around?"
"I'm sorry you had to wait so long for me to figure it all out," Harry said.
"I'm not," Ginny replied. "It made it all that much more brilliant when things finally fell into place. Besides, if we'd already been together for years now, you might already be bored with me."
"I can't imagine ever being bored with you," Harry said, as he tightened his hold around her waist.
"Give it a few years and we'll see what you think," Ginny said.
"Do you think you'll be bored with me in a few years then?" Harry asked.
"Not a chance," Ginny said wistfully. "I think in a few years, I'll feel like the adventure is still just getting started."
"Good," Harry said happily. "That's what I thought being married to my best friend would be like."
"You married to Ron too?" Ginny teased.
Harry chuckled and said, "No, while Ron was my first real friend and will always be my best guy friend, you're my best friend. You're the one I want to share everything with, not Ron."
"Well, that works out pretty perfectly," Ginny said with a grin. "Because, you're my best friend too."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Later that afternoon, Harry and Ginny lay sprawled on a couch in the sitting room. They had just finished watching one movie on the VCR and were trying to decide what to watch next. The rain was still pelting down outside making it impossible to venture out. While they complained to one another about the weather and how much they wished the sun would come back out so they could return to the beach, secretly they had enjoyed their day stuck inside. It was giving them an opportunity to discuss things that they would have been too distracted to discuss had they spent their day on the beach.
"What are your plans for when we get out of school?" Ginny asked abruptly.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, as he glanced up from the movies he was studying. "I'm going to be an Auror."
"Well, I thought maybe you might have changed your mind," Ginny said.
"Why would I do that?" Harry asked. "I've been training all year to become an Auror. Do you want me to change my mind? Are you worried about how dangerous it is again?"
"I do worry about how dangerous it, but that isn't what I meant. You know I'm not the only one the scouts are coming to see play Quiddtich at our matches, right?" Ginny asked. "They're scouting you, too."
"I guess I hadn't given it much thought," Harry said.
"Why not?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know," Harry said. "I guess when I think about my future, I don't see myself playing Quidditch professionally. I want to be an Auror and hunt down Death Eaters. I want to help make the world a better place for when we start having kids."
"But you're an amazing player, Harry. I think playing professionally would be brilliant," Ginny said.
"It would be a lot of fun," Harry said, considering it for a moment. "I just know that it isn't the right choice for me."
"But why not?" Ginny asked. "You were the youngest player to get onto a house team in a century; you are a great seeker and a great captain. Why won't you even consider it? Maybe you could do both, be an Auror and play Quidditch."
"No," Harry said firmly. "Playing Quidditch professionally would mean putting myself willing into the spotlight. I've lived with being famous, for something that happened to me when I was baby, my whole life. If I could play professionally and not deal with the fame part, I might consider it."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Ginny said. "I thought it might be fun if we played professionally, but you have to do what is going to feel right for you and make you happiest. Are you okay with me playing? I mean, you'll still have to deal with the fame part of it, being married to a professional Quidditch player and all."
"Of course," Harry said with a grin. "You are one of the best Quidditch players I've ever seen. You owe it to yourself and your legions of future fans to play professionally. For you, this is the right choice."
"I just can't imagine being given the chance to play professionally and not taking it," Ginny said. "I've never had to deal with the fame thing, but I love Quidditch too much to think it would change my mind."
"You'll be brilliant," Harry assured her. "I'll be your biggest fan."
"And I'll be yours," she replied.
"Do Aurors have fans?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"They do now," Ginny said with a grin.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When they lay down in bed that night to sleep, Harry watched Ginny reading her book and thought that today might be his favorite day of the honeymoon so far. They hadn't been able to go to the beach, but the conversations they'd shared had been invaluable. He had learned things about Ginny that he'd never known before. He wondered if maybe one of the keys to keeping a relationship from getting boring was to continue getting to know each other like they had today. He was sure there were still things he and Ginny didn't know about one another and, as they matured and acquired new interests, there was bound to be a lifetime's worth of information about each other to learn. He hadn't known it was possible, but the things she'd shared with him today made him love even more than he had before. He smiled at her, his wife and best friend, and knew that their life together was going to be the best adventure of all.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
An ear splitting crack of thunder woke Harry from a dead sleep in the middle of the night. He bolted upright in bed and tried to breath slowly to calm his pounding heart. He turned and saw Ginny sitting with her back against the headboard and her knees drawn up to her chest. "You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine. It just got too loud and I couldn't sleep," Ginny said.
"How long have you been awake?" Harry asked.
"Maybe half an hour. I was going to wake you up to keep me company if it didn't stop pretty soon," Ginny said.
"I'm up now, I can keep you company," Harry offered. "Come here," he directed, tugging on her foot. She slid back under the covers and molded her body against his. Another crack of thunder splintered the silence as a bolt of lightening lit up the room. Despite claiming not to be afraid, he felt her body stiffen against him. "What you need is some distraction," Harry murmured into her ear. He lowered his mouth to hers as his hands slid down to cup her bottom.
At that moment, the loudest crack of thunder yet boomed and they felt the walls of the house shake. "Harry," Ginny whispered, "I think you might need to work a bit faster to distract me."
Harry took her words as a challenge, grasping the hem of her silky nightgown, he shimmied it up, baring her body. He shifted their arrangement, pulling her into a sitting position long enough to remove the nightgown from her body before returning his lips to hers and trapping her body beneath his.
Ginny marveled at the way he was using his body to enclose her, making her feel safe and protected. He was supporting some of his weight with his elbows and knees but letting the rest of his weight lie closely upon her, pinning her to the bed. She could scarcely move he had her pinned so tightly. She wouldn't enjoy this sensation all of the time but, right now, it was perfect. He was doing all of the work, being in a current position of dominance. She focused all her attention on kissing him and let all other thought cease.
When he could tell that she had completely blocked out the storm raging around the house, he nudged her knees apart and sank into her. She wrapped her legs around him, inviting him in completely. He kissed her fiercely and reveled in the absolute abandon with which she was giving herself to him. Their love making up until now had been sweet and loving. This was different. The storm was spurring this and it was aggressive and almost reckless. Right now for her, this was an escape and he was more than willing to provide that.
When they finished, Ginny sighed happily and curled against his chest, falling asleep almost immediately. Harry chuckled and was surprised to see her succumb so quickly to sleep when the storm was still ranging as intensely as ever just outside. Apparently, distraction had been just the ticket. He stroked a hand down her still naked side and hoped that the next thunderstorm would be just as enjoyable. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes too.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
On the morning of their departure back to the real world, Harry woke Ginny before sunrise. She complained, but submitted as he led her down to the beach. He settled himself on the sand and motioned for her to join him. He situated her between his legs so she could lean back into his chest. He wrapped the blanket he had brought along around them both and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"What are we doing out here?" Ginny asked grumpily.
"Something I've been meaning to do with you all week," Harry said. "This is our last chance."
"To freeze to death?" Ginny asked.
"To watch the sunrise," Harry said, ignoring her irritation; she had never been much of a morning person.
"Oh," Ginny said, clearly surprised by his answer.
Harry gathered her in closer and prepared to share with her the things that had been on his mind while they waited for the sun to rise. "Thank you," he said simply, just starting out.
"For what?" Ginny asked.
"Thank you for everything. Thank you for having enough faith in me to trust that I'd be a good husband for you. Thank you for marrying me and becoming my wife. Thank you for the amazing honeymoon we are quickly coming to the end of. Most of all, thank you for loving me. I have never been so happy in my entire life and I know that I owe it all to you," Harry said.
Feeling like a selfish idiot for complaining about being dragged out of bed for this, Ginny's eyes welled up a bit. She knew that, for Harry, sharing his feelings this openly was never easy and, right now, he was pouring his heart out. "Harry," she began in a choked voice, "you don't have to thank me. I should be thanking you. I have never been happier either. This has been the best week of my life."
"Me too," Harry said.
They were quiet then, watching as a thin strip above the surface of the water at the horizon began to glow radiantly orange. For the next half hour, they watched as the sky continued to lighten and the strip of glowing orange, pink, and purple widened. It was a beautiful thing to witness and the perfect end to their honeymoon.
"I love you, Ginny," Harry said.
"I love you, too, Harry," Ginny replied.
"Let's go get a bit more sleep before we have to pack up and catch our portkey," Harry suggested.
"Not just yet," Ginny said. With her wand, she conjured a large glass jar with a cover. She bent and scooped several large handfuls of the white sand into the jar. "We can put the shells and rocks we collected in here too and keep it at the house. It will always remind us of this week."
"Maybe someday we can come back," Harry suggested.
"I would like that," Ginny replied.
"Me too," Harry agreed.
Hand in hand, they returned to the house. It had been a perfect week, but now it was time to face real life again. The prospect of returning to school the next day was disappointing to say the least. The memories they were returning home with though, would last them a lifetime.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Author's Note: Thank you for reading!!! Let me know how I'm doing or if you have ideas for me. I love to hear from readers. Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, especially all the new names I've been seeing lately!
A million thanks to my awesome beta Terra Ferme for editing this chapter and always being will to trade ideas with my stories with me. You made the end product of each new chapter that much better. Thank you!!
The thunderstorm love scene in this chapter was inspired by the a chapter (71 – Consequences) of DukeBrymin's story 'A Collection of mostly 100 Word Drabbles.' I enjoyed the chapter so much and couldn't stop thinking about it…it found its way here. I asked permission to use it – thank you for the inspiration!!
Fair warning ~ my real life is going to interrupt my writing for a bit. I am a freelance designer and have been commissioned to work on page layout design on a book. Between that and my regular job it is going to keep me out of commission as far as writing goes for a bit. I am hoping that my regular job is a bit slow and I'll have time to work on writing at my desk…but we'll see what happens. I just wanted you all to know that I'm not abandoning the story; I will be back. I promise!
Oh, and for anyone who noticed...FF will not let me separate the sections in my story like it used to. I tried lots of things and this was the best solution, as much as I don't like it. Sorry.