A/N: Not much to say, this chapter pretty much, ahem, speaks for itself.
As the door opened Ginny blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust to the light. She met his eyes for a split second, too quick to catch his expression. Perhaps it was better if she didn't find out right now how he was feeling about this and walked out of the closet.
"So… what happened in there?" Luna asked once they sat back down.
Ginny gave her a pointed look, just to buy herself some time. "Well, we just started with a crazy make-out session at once and undressed each other," she said dramatically, trying to read their expression.
Harry looked slightly alarmed but she could only see it in his eyes as the rest of his face remained passive.
"I am just kidding, guys! We just hugged the whole time because that was the most comfortable position," she told them.
A few laughed, they definitely believed her. That was their initial plan; before it went straight out of the window. Harry let out a relieved chuckle. She grinned at him and shot him a secret wink. He looked away.
When everyone had finally gone to bed, Ginny went to Harry's bedroom. She was glad he had a room to himself so they could talk without disturbing anyone. She softly knocked and he opened the door a bit. When he saw it was her, he let her in, his expression unreadable. She sat down on his bed and waited for him to follow. She just wanted some clarification, even though she had no answers herself. They had been friends for too long to leave things unspoken.
He sat down across from her and waited for her to talk. She had hoped he already had an explanation ready, but it appeared he did not when he remained silent.
"I am not judging whatsoever, so please be honest. I just want to know some things," she started when he remained silent. She couldn't possibly fathom he had just kissed her that passionately and not think anything of it or not felt anything for that matter. She had had her fair share of boyfriends and the snogging that came along with it, and yet she had never been kissed quite like that.
"I know what you are about to ask. To be honest, I don't know what I was thinking. I always thought you were attractive, but that seems to be the general consensus," he defended.
She cocked her head. "Harry."
"Don't pretend you never use your looks to get things, Gin," he told her.
She glanced away from him. "Not on purpose. And never been us two."
"I suppose that's true."
When she looked at him again he smiled, his Harry smile that always comforted her before, now it made her stomach tumble. She did not reply.
"And then you said that Cho liked me and it just crossed my mind I'd rather date you than her and I suddenly thought, why not? You were standing so close, it was just too easy to lean in," he told her honestly. "What's your excuse?"
Ginny was a little surprised at his honesty, but she couldn't really begin to untangle the meaning of his words when she was scrambling to come up with a reply of her own. "Well, you kissed me. It was unexpected but not entirely unpleasant," was all she dared to admit, but she was blushing all the same.
"Not unpleasant, huh?" Harry asked, unimpressed by her confession. His eyes flitted to her lips as if he was considering kissing her again right now. Though he was a bit more hesitant now that they were out of their dark cosy closet. "You snog my brain out for five minutes and then you're going to pretend you didn't enjoy it?"
Harry was never one to tiptoe around when it came to her, they knew each other too well for that.
"Fine." She plucked up the courage to look him in the eye. "You're a good kisser," she admitted, remembering how he had held her so deliciously close as his lips moved against hers. She suddenly did not care they hadn't really talked this through all the way. She had already leaned in before her mind could splutter out any objections.
Harry smiled as if he had been waiting for her to do that and quickly closed the gap between them, his hand coming around to hold the back of her neck as his lips crashed onto hers perhaps a bit harder than he intended. She did not mind, she leaned more into his touch as their lips moved together. She sunk into it, finding comfort in the fact that the fiery feeling had returned. It appeared to grow stronger the longer his lips remained connected to hers.
Now they weren't pressed so closely together in the constraints of the closet, she took the opportunity to let her hands roam his chest. It seemed to send the good type of shivers down his spine.
Though their faces couldn't possibly be closer together, most parts of their bodies were further apart and she wanted him closer again, pressed against him, engulfed in his strong arms. She got onto her knees and moved forward when she suddenly stopped out of sheer surprise when she felt something poking her thigh. She hadn't meant to stop so abruptly and perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised at all, what with the way they had been going at it, but she was. She looked down curiously, even though she already knew precisely what she'd see.
She looked back up to see Harry turn a rare colour of red, an impressive feat considering blood seemed to be rushing someplace more south than his cheeks.
"Sorry."
It was honest and simple despite his clear embarrassment. Ginny's hands were still on his chest and all she wanted to do was pull him closer and she quickly found out she wouldn't mind if he'd pull her down on the bed and pull her much much closer than he had before.
"Well, don't apologise for that," she said boldly, so he was assured she did not mind it at all.
Harry snorted at her comment the way he often did when she made a funny remark but this time his hands reached for her hips and pulled her to him.
Then Harry did exactly what had just crossed her mind seconds before and pulled her down on the bed. Her back landed on the mattress, and he hovered over her. One hand remained on her hip as he dipped back down to kiss her and one of her hands landed in his hair, keeping him close.
It quickly became clear he had absolutely no intention of moving away. The hand that had been on her hip moved down, getting hold of her thigh beneath the skirt of her dress, his fingers pressing into her skin gently. She fought back a moan, her back arching in an attempt to bring her body closer to his. He seemed to catch on as he sunk further into her, his body pressing against her.
She pushed up against him more and Harry tightened his grip on her leg, bringing it up. She wrapped her leg around him as his fingers danced over her bare skin. By now both of them knew where this was leading, and Ginny did not hesitate to move things along. She moved her hands down and started pulling his shirt up. His lips disconnected with hers and they locked eyes for a moment, as if he was checking in with her that, yes, they were definitely doing this. Ginny knew he had found his answer in the intense look in her eyes because he moved so she could easily pull the shirt over his head.
She had seen him without a shirt a million times and yet she found her eyes feasting on the sight, but then it was more fun when she was the one exposing his skin, and he had let her. She did not have time to look very long as Harry moved down her body. His hands pushed up her dress slowly, nipping at every new piece of skin that was revealed, first her thighs, then over her panties onto her hip bones and her stomach.
They remained in a tight embrace as they caught their breath, looking at each other. There was a comfortable silence between them that had settled after years of friendship. She was surprised when the feeling in the pit of her stomach had not left her in the slightest as she gazed into his eyes. It remained like a steadily burning fire, flaring up every time his fingers shifted on her skin or every time his lips touched hers.
He closed his eyes at the touch as she ran her fingers over his scalp, perfectly comfortable with her staring at him as he relaxed under her touch.
As much as Ginny wanted to remain tightly wrapped with Harry and chase that feeling, she finally had enough of a clear mind to ponder upon the implications. She needed to think but she couldn't possibly do so as long as his arms were wrapped around her.
"I- uh - should go before someone notices I'm here," Ginny spoke softly, the palm of her hand softly pressing against his head in the hopes he would understand she wasn't pulling away from him out of regret. Her excuse was poor, everyone would be asleep by now, but she did not have anything else to offer.
He opened his eyes again and met hers, the disappointment in them somehow felt reassuring, he did not want her to go. Yet she slipped from under his hands and he did not attempt to stop her. She was aware his eyes trained on her as she pulled her dress back on, but she did not mind him looking.
For a moment she returned to the bed and kissed him once again, not sure if it was because she wanted to or because she wanted to reassure him. As quickly as she had landed back on the bed, she pushed off now so she wouldn't be tempted to stay.
She turned around when she was at the door. "Are we good?" she asked sincerely, she needed to be sure their friendship wasn't crumbling to bits.
Harry pushed up on his elbows to look at her. "We are more than good." He offered a wicked smile she had seen a thousand times and yet it managed to turn her insides to goo, but she had to blame that on the twinkle in his eyes that definitely hadn't been there before. This was exactly why she needed to clear her head. She shot him another intense look and then closed the door behind her.
As soon as she stepped out into the hallway, she regretted leaving. It had felt so good, why did she need time to think at all?
When she woke up in the morning, she stared up at the ceiling and the feeling still hadn't left her one bit.
"Ah, fuck," she muttered to herself. She knew exactly what that meant, she appeared to have fallen for her best friend, with the intensity she would expect to find only after a few weeks or perhaps months of dating but had never actually experienced before. She pondered over it for a moment more but decided she was not going to break her head over it. Harry seemed happy enough about it yesterday and she longed to wrap her arms around him again.
It was still ridiculously early but she'd rather not be caught by any of their friends, or God forbid her brother, as she made her way back to his room, having quickly thrown the dress back on she had worn the night before.
She opened the door and found Harry asleep but then he had never been much of a morning person. She guessed he may not mind so much today. She got onto the bed beside him and was surprised it did not wake him up.
"Harry," she said softly.
He woke up with a start and looked at her. "If you were going to get back in here at the crack of dawn, you may as well have just stayed here," he mumbled, closing his eyes again.
It was their usual banter but something bigger was implied, he would not have minded if she had remained entangled with him and they had fallen asleep like that. Though his comment was rather dry, she did not miss the tiny smile dancing around his lips,
"Relax, no one is awake yet," she responded, then it occurred to her he may not have even considered other people yet this early in the morning.
Harry scrunched up his nose. "I wasn't awake yet."
Through the banter she could tell he wasn't terribly peeved she had woken him, he was playing with her and she knew she'd just have to provoke a reaction out of him.
"Well, I can go back to my room all by myself," she said as she sat on her knees. Harry's eyes opened as she pushed off her hands. That seemed to have done it just fine.
"No." He immediately sat up so he could reach her and his arms came around her waist and pulled her to him as she ached him to do. His quick reply amused her. She landed on top of him, her eyes locked with his.
She kissed him again, her hands sliding over his bare chest eagerly and memories from the night before started flooding her mind. If she had to guess, his mind must have flooded with the same memories too, because he seemed all too glad that she was back in his bed.
"Look who is also up again," she muttered against his ear. She couldn't help but tease him just a little.
Harry clicked his tongue. "It is morning," he responded in his defence, but he didn't seem particularly bothered by her comment. She was right on top of him after all and he had not made any attempt to hide it.
"Be honest," she offered, "and I'll be honest."
"Since we kissed, something changed and my body is … reacting to things…In a way it didn't before." Harry's hands were teasing the skin on her thighs.
Ginny smiled, satisfied with the answer, something definitely had changed for both of them. Now it was her turn to reveal her secret. "I did not bother with underwear," she said huskily.
Harry's hands hastily slid up her thighs beneath her dress without reservation, up to her hip bones and were met with nothing but skin. A noise escaped his throat that sounded like a growl.
"I couldn't stop thinking of you," Ginny admitted, her lips dancing along the skin of his jaw.
"I don't…" Harry did not finish his sentence. He sat up, his grip tightening to keep her steady in his lap. Her arms came around his neck.
"Hey," she said as if in greeting when their eyes locked, one of her hands coming into his hair. It sent a shiver down his spine.
"Hey," he whispered, leaning back in to recapture her lips.
Ginny rested her head against his shoulder as she caught her breath. Her legs were still firmly around his waist as she sat in his lap. Harry's lips came down on the skin of her shoulder, leaving butterfly kisses all over. She wondered if he had any clue what that was doing to her, or if he was merely doing it because he couldn't resist putting his lips all over her.
His hands were around her waist, keeping her in place. She thought it was about time she retaliated for the delicious way his mouth pressed against her skin. She softly bit into his shoulder and smiled when she could feel his grip tighten.
They were abruptly pulled out of their blissful embrace when they heard some noise outside. Someone was awake. Harry's lips regretfully left her skin.
"I'll go check," Ginny said but Harry stopped her.
He spoke with a casualness you may expect when discussing what to eat for dinner. "I am in my room, it's less suspicious," Harry said, offering to go.
It was easy enough for him to lift her off his lap from the position where his hands had been. Ginny watched as he stepped into his underwear, equally unbothered by her gaze as she had been last night.
"Hey Ron, good morning," Harry said in an attempt to sound casual.
Ginny's eyes widened, her brother was the last person she wanted to find out about them right now. Ron mumbled something back as he scuffled down the hallway. Harry closed the door and leaned against it, looking positively mortified.
"Why must you vacation with your brother?" he asked her, though he was good friends with Ron too.
"I get along with him best out of my six brothers," Ginny told him.
Harry got back into bed, his hand coming to rest on her waist casually as if they did this all the time.
"That's why good guys don't date you, you know. The risk on their own life is too great, even if two live out of the country."
The banter was back. Ginny shoved him in the shoulder and he grinned. For someone who claimed to want to be single for life, it was striking he had casually mentioned dating thrice in the span of twelve hours and didn't bat an eye at it.
"Now Ron isn't fully awake yet but he will be in a few minutes," Harry continued more seriously.
They were running out of time, more people would be up soon and they seemed to have agreed silently that this didn't need to be public knowledge.
Ginny nodded and planted another kiss on his lips, because who knew when she'd kiss him again.
This time as she stepped into her dress, she looked at him. His eyes travelled up her body and met her eyes before he pointedly looked away, shaking his head with a little smile as if he wished to scold her for being such a tease.
She turned and left his room, making her way to her own to get ready for the day.
When everyone had woken up, they all sat around the table. Ginny stood up to brief them on today's planning. She was deliberately not looking at Harry.
"We have the city game today, so make sure your phone is completely charged," Ginny told them. They had to do a scavenger hunt through the city guided by an app.
Neville groaned. "You couldn't have told me that earlier?" he said, getting up to get his charger.
"No, but I did, yesterday. It's not my fault you were drunk," she replied. She waited for Neville to return to the table. "How are we dividing the teams?" she asked next, looking around the table. Her eyes met Harry's for a moment but she moved on quickly.
"How about boys versus girls?" Hermione proposed.
Ginny thought about it for a second. She knew both her and Harry were by far the most competitive in the group so she'd rather not go up against him. Then again, being on the same team seemed like an even worse idea. "Sounds good."
"Hey, but they have one more person, that doesn't seem fair," Cho objected, pointing at the guys at the table.
"I think that we can give them that slight advantage, we will still win," Ginny responded.
The guys objected loudly at this, but they still agreed on the teams.
"This is making zero sense," Ginny said, staring at a map of the city at a bus stop. The next challenge for their city game was to find a small street with a statue.
"You're looking at it wrong," Hermione commented.
They had fifteen minutes to find the correct street. Ginny wondered how she could be looking wrong at a map.
"The street starts with an F," Cho added as she was looking through the clues.
"Oh!" Luna went, "I think we passed that one a little while ago." She came up to the map to look and traced her finger over the street they were currently on. Her finger halted. "Here."
"Okay, good! Let's go," Hermione said. The four of them walked back to where they came from while Cho entered the street into Maps. They arrived at the street with five minutes to spare.
"One of us will have to race to the statue in the middle of the street. The guys should be at the other end. When the timer goes off it will tell us what clue we need and then they need to race back and we need to enter it in the app," Cho read.
They looked amongst themselves to see who would do the running.
"I'll run," Ginny offered, she was the most athletically inclined out of the four of them.
Luna rang the boys. "Are you already at the correct spot?" she asked, putting them on speakerphone.
"Of course," Ron answered. "Who is your runner?"
"Ginny, yours?" Luna replied.
Ginny had to guess it would likely be Dean or Harry. Dean used to run track, but he also had to quit because of an injury…
"Harry."
"Oh, you are on, Potter," Ginny threatened. Her competitive streak would still win over any newfound affections.
"This should be interesting," Ron commented, knowing both of them well enough.
"One minute to go," Hermione signalled.
Luna hung up the call and Ginny prepared to run. She handed her bag and phone to Luna. Cho was watching her phone carefully for the clue to pop up.
"Fifteen seconds," Hermione said. Ginny's muscles tensed.
"Year the statue was made, go!" Cho shouted.
Ginny pushed off the ground and started running as fast as she could. When she was around the first curve, she could see Harry coming up the other side. When they neared each other, Harry tried to offer her his most charming smile —and it was charming— but she was not about to be swayed by him, she was set on winning.
Neither of them made a move to slow down as they neared the statue. Harry tried grabbing onto Ginny but they both ended up on the ground. His grip was much different than this morning, but it sent tingles down her spine just the same. Ginny scrambled up, trying to keep Harry down but she knew she could not beat him in strength. She peered at the statue and located the letters carved in stone. She had to let go of Harry because he'd be more likely to stop her than she would him. She did not look back to see if he was running back too, she was too focused on making it back.
As soon as she came around the bend, she started screaming the answer.
"1845! 1845!" she shouted, trying not to lose her footing on the cobblestones. Cho pressed enter as Ginny made it back to them. She let herself drop to the ground as she caught her breath. She was grateful none of them saw their tumble to the ground. It wasn't sexual in any way, but they'd be happy enough to make comments about it anyway. Hermione handed her a bottle of water.
"Thanks," Ginny responded. She got back off the ground and took a sip. "Alright, let's go. We need to win." If the boys won, Harry would never let her live it down.
As they got back to the cottage, Ginny started to feel more at ease again around Harry. It had nothing to do with him really, she was simply worried anyone else would catch on and she didn't want to answer questions she didn't know the answer to herself.
In the evening they received the final scores of the city game. The girls cheered as they found out they had won. They high-fived each other as the boys looked a little disappointed and started making up all sorts of excuses why they didn't win.
They looked over the scores of the individual challenges and Ginny was not happy to find out that Harry had beaten her in speed by a few milliseconds.
"Ah, Ginny, I thought you were fast?" Luna poked fun at her. It did not matter, they won after all.
Ginny couldn't help but defend herself and she was happy to give Harry the blame. "It's not my fault! Harry tackled me to the ground."
Harry did not let it slip. "You are such a liar! You could've just stepped out of the way."
She looked at him and it was the first time today they had really looked each other in the eye since she had left his room. It did not matter this time, if she turned red, they would assume it was because she was angry. His eyes seemed to challenge her and she had to take the bait. "You could have stepped out of the way. I am a very small person!"
Harry scoffed, unimpressed as he knew how much punch she packed in her small frame. "Don't expect pity from me, Weasley."
He threw a pillow at her in one smooth move. It hit her square in the face.
She grabbed it and looked at him. "Oh, you're a dead man."
He knew it too; he had jumped up before she had the time to move. She took a step forward, but he was anticipating that. He quickly spun around and made a run for the back door.
He ran outside, she was on his heels. Harry ran halfway through the garden as fast as he could to stay out of her reach but then suddenly changed direction. He ran around the corner of the cottage and Ginny had not anticipated his quick change of route.
When she turned the corner, she saw he had already turned the next. She sped up trying to catch him, taking a sharp turn around the corner at full speed in the hopes of closing in on him.
As soon as she turned the corner, Harry's arm grabbed onto her and it knocked the wind out of her. He had been waiting just around the corner to ambush her. If he hadn't been holding onto her so tightly, she would have ended up crashing to the floor by the abrupt stop.
She gasped for air as he steadied her with his hands on her hips. He didn't let go when he knew she was steady. He grinned, satisfied he had won.
"Got you."
She looked at him, ready for a snarky remark when she saw his expression change from playful to longing. His hands pulled her to him and she had already craned her neck towards him before his lips met hers. Ginny put her arms around his neck and pulled him further down to her.
"You're a prick," she muttered as they parted for a second before their lips connected again.
She swallowed his hummed response. He kissed her deeper and she wanted more but it would be only so long before someone would come and check where they had run off to.
They broke apart, staring into each other's eyes. Harry wordlessly fixed her shirt back in place and then gave a nod as if to say 'Good to go'. She released her hands from behind his neck and took a step back away from him and turned around. She walked back to the door in silence, Harry right behind her.
"And?" Hermione asked when they made it back inside.
The eyes of the whole group landed on them. She came to a halt.
"What?" Ginny asked, having momentarily forgotten why they were outside in the first place.
"Who won?" Hermione clarified.
Harry brushed past her and sat down on the couch, looking pretty collected and as if he hadn't been desperately connected to her lips two minutes ago. The prat. "Go ahead," he challenged her. "Lie."
"Harry won," she admitted, knowing he would not let it slip but she wasn't about to give him full credit, he hardly played fair. "But only because he ambushed me. I would have outrun him." Her eyes landed on him to see his reaction.
He shook his head. "You tell yourself that, but that doesn't make it true."
Ginny returned to her room when everyone had gone off to bed. She was planning to go see Harry again, but he appeared in her doorway before she had the chance. She was still busy folding her clothes.
"Hey," he said, his eyes inquisitive. He paused in her doorway.
Ginny smiled at him, which was enough response for him to enter. She continued with her clothes so they wouldn't be one mess by the end of the week.
When she turned around, Harry had made himself comfortable on her bed. It reminded her of their high school days when they'd comfortably chill on each other's bed without it meaning anything. She was sure Harry had different ideas this time.
Of course he was already looking at her. Not expectantly or hungrily, just observing her quietly as if she was the most interesting person in the world. It annoyed her how much his attention affected her since yesterday.
She got on the bed beside him and promptly connected her lips with his, pretending they wanted anything else was useless. Her hands pulled at his waist to bring him closer.
"You're driving me crazy," Ginny told him.
"What did I do?" he asked with an innocent tone, before planting a kiss on the sensitive spot under her ear, his hand on her hip, indicating he knew exactly what he was doing.
"The breathing and the smiling for the most part," she muttered.
Harry chuckled against her skin. "The audacity."
Ginny nodded in agreement. "And that kiss…" She shook her head but it only made him smile wider.
Harry's lips found hers again. He kissed her softly, taking his sweet time to explore her mouth.
"See, how am I supposed to think of anything else during the day when you kiss me like that at night," she complained, wanting him closer again.
Harry nodded solemnly. "Fine, no more kissing," he said, looking quite smug with his decision.
"That's not what I meant!" she objected as he adjusted both of their positions so she was the little spoon.
"Better?" Harry asked, his arm coming around her waist. His lips were near her ear.
"...No." With their bodies fitted together perfectly, her back flush against his chest and his arm wrapped around her, this was most definitely not 'better'.
"You're not easy to satisfy," he commented.
"Well, I wouldn't say that …" she said, referring to the previous night.
Harry softly kicked his foot against hers at the insinuation. She giggled. Her hand found his and entwined their fingers.
"Cho is probably going to be really pissed I lied to her," Ginny thought out loud. She hadn't lied, she hadn't known but that's not how it would look.
"God, yeah," Harry muttered. "Her mistake for sticking us in a closet, though."
Ginny wondered what Cho thought she would prove by doing that.
"Let me stay the night," Harry murmured.
With his arms tightly around her body, his body pressed up against hers, she was finding it hard to find arguments against it. She'd be perfectly happy falling asleep like this.
Yet she thought she'd let him earn it. "I'll think about it, kiss me again," she said, turning back towards him.
Harry clearly wanted to make the kiss count and he would have made an excellent case with it, if she hadn't already been convinced. His hand came up and lifted her chin slightly and softly leaned in. As his lips moved against hers, his hand slid down to her waist and pulled her closer.
Ginny's hand moved to his face to hold him as she angled her head for better access. Their lips moved together so naturally, eager to explore what had been so close the whole time.
"What's the verdict?" Harry asked when their lips parted.
Ginny's eyes fluttered open as she focused on his piercing green eyes. Her cheeks and ears felt hot. She took a few seconds to speak and cleared her throat.
"I'll allow it."
Harry leaned in again but now his hands were moving with purpose.
"Oh, so we're doing that again?" Ginny quipped and she cursed her quick mouth when Harry immediately paused to look at her.
"Only if you want to," he said.
Ginny breathed out. "I want to."
"Just playing as usual then?" he asked, his hand moving to her thigh now.
"I should really learn to think before I speak," she commented as her hands came down to undo his belt.
Harry let out a laugh. "That's a lost cause if you ask me." His fingertips pressed into the skin of her inner thigh.
"Maybe we should both stop talking," she said, undoing the button of his jeans.
Harry nodded and kissed her instead. She leaned in hungrily and at least as long as her mouth was on his, she wouldn't be tempted to speak.
He pulled her on top of him and she straddled his waist. They parted so he could pull her shirt over her head. He moved his hands to her bra to undo it.
"This one opens in the front."
"You're talking," he commented.
"You're talking," she retorted, sitting up.
He snorted a laugh. "You wore this just to throw me off, didn't you?"
Ginny bit her lip, trying to keep her expression in check.
His eyes locked with hers. "Oh my god, you did!" He shook his head. "Even if you don't talk, you're playing."
"Hey, at least I gave you a warning. Could have left you fumbling instead."
"Is this your idea of dirty talk?" he retorted.
"I think it's working though." Her hand moved to undo her bra herself, but Harry moved her hand away.
"Tsk. I'll do it, in a minute," he said, keeping hold of her hand.
"Harry," she moaned impatiently.
He pulled her closer. "Of course, if I can hear you beg I may just wait a little longer."
His voice was surprisingly low and husky and it gave her goosebumps. When did Harry become this sexy? She squeezed his hand. "Bet I can make you beg first," she challenged him, grinding her hips against him.
He took in a sharp breath of air. "You already begged first, my dear Gin."
She would do whatever it took to make him say 'my dear Gin' again like that. "What was that?" she asked, moving her hips again.
"Ah! I said you beg— Fine! The bra is coming off, Jesus," he gave in.
"Don't go anywhere," Harry spoke, his hand against her cheek as she leaned over him, resting on her elbows so they could comfortably look at each other without having to untangle their bodies from each other.
She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned into his touch. Her feelings kept increasing, unparalleled to what she had felt before and she just wanted to enjoy every second. She dared to hope there were feelings for him too, because he had never looked at her the way he was looking at her since yesterday, but she could not get her hopes up.
"I am not going anywhere," she responded, opening her eyes again to stare into his. "I should have stayed yesterday," Ginny admitted. "I was—"
"—overthinking it?" Harry finished her sentence for her.
Ginny smiled, he knew her too well. "Evidently." She tilted her head. "You weren't?"
Harry chuckled. "I'll be honest, I don't think enough blood was going to my brain to overthink."
It felt like he was evading to answer, but she had not expected him to answer honestly.
"Right." Ginny smiled.
She leaned down to kiss him again. One of his hands was on the small of her back and the other landed in her hair. They kept a slow and sweet rhythm; they were not in a parted for a moment and looked at each other. Ginny could feel her heart drum in her chest, so many feelings coursing through her body as she looked at Harry.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "What's that look?"
She almost looked away and panicked but she decided against it. For a moment she considered telling him she wanted him as more than a best friend because she could never come back from this, but she was afraid he'd slip from her grip as soon as she said it.
She opted for the middle-ground. "I'm just happy you're here."
"Me too."
His eyes lit up and it made her heart ache because the hopes she was holding were torture and he did nothing to diminish them.
She kissed him again, because kissing was easier than talking.
"We should sleep," Harry said after a while.
She nodded. "It's pretty late."
It took them a minute to find a sleeping position they were both comfortable in. She ended up with her head on his chest, one of his arms securely around her. His thumb was rubbing across her skin absent-mindedly.
"Well, sweet dreams."
"You too."
"If I become too heavy, feel free to just … give me a little push," Ginny added. She was perfectly comfortable but Harry should be too.
"Just go to sleep, you weirdo," Harry retorted, squeezing her a little closer.
Ginny smiled and closed her eyes.
