It was 6:15 on the nose when Harry heard the knock on his bedroom door. He pulled his door open and Rory was standing there.
"Hey," he said, trying and failing to be casual.
She held up the coupon. "I read your note."
"Do you want to sit?" he asked, opening the door further. He invited her inside. She came in and sat on his bed. Harry took a deep breath as he closed the door. Part of him had been expecting Rory to come to the door and let him down easy. To hand the coupon back to him and say that she wasn't even going to consider it and that they should be friends.
Now she was sitting on his bed. She'd slipped her shoes off and was sitting with her legs folded underneath her, turning the coupon over in her hands. She'd made herself comfortable the way she always used to. That was a good sign, surely. The fact that she'd shown up at all was a good sign.
Harry walked over and sat down next to her.
"I didn't expect you to have kept these," she said. "I probably wouldn't have if I'm being honest."
Harry chuckled. "I'm more sentimental than you give me credit for."
"Clearly," she said. She held up the coupon. "What did you want to talk about then?"
He motioned to the paper in her hand. "That about says it all, doesn't it?" She nodded. "Besides, I think I've been transparent about everything since we talked over break."
"I did pick up on that," she said. "Even before you tried to kiss me."
"I didn't want to assume anything, but it just seemed like you were open to me kissing you before Pansy showed up," he said.
Rory looked at the note in her hand and then looked at Harry again. "I do want this, but..."
"But what?" he asked. She gave him a knowing look. He sighed. "I kissed Cho."
"You kissed her and then you dated her," Rory said. Her irritation was palpable. They'd talked and argued endlessly about the kiss, but had all but ignored his relationship with Cho after their breakup. It felt a little bit like a fever dream to Harry. His relationship with Cho didn't feel real. It didn't feel like anything but a mistake. He'd never been more relieved to have someone slap him in the face.
"I went out with Cho because... I don't know why, Rory. I'm stupid. I wanted to prove that I was over you," Harry said.
"To be spiteful," Rory said.
Harry pouted but nodded and hated himself for it. "I do think part of the reason I went out with her was to hurt your feelings."
Rory gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure it took a lot for you to admit that. And I forgive you for it."
"Thanks," he said. Rory chuckled.
"If it makes you feel better, I tried to make you jealous. To make you upset," Rory admitted.
"Tried? Every time I saw you with Stephen I felt like an idiot," he said. "I really thought you liked him."
"I mean, I do like Stephen," she said. Harry felt like his heart stopped beating. This is not at all what he was expecting to hear. "I talked to him on Wednesday night and he asked me if he was crazy for thinking that there was something between us. And of course, he wasn't crazy."
Harry was really wishing Rory had shot him down in the doorway instead of dragging it out like this. But he didn't interrupt her, he let her talk.
"Dad asked me about Stephen over break too. And I told him the same thing I told Stephen. That I like him. But I love you. And it's not even close."
He let out a relieved sigh. "But... What about now?"
She shrugged again. "I just keep wondering if it'll get messed up again. What if I don't know how to not be jealous? What if I make you so crazy you kiss some other—."
"No," Harry said, grabbing her hand. "When I said before…" He hated himself thinking back on his words. Telling Rory that if she hadn't been so jealous he wouldn't have kissed Cho in the first place was one of the worst things he'd ever said to her. "You wanted to talk and work things out and I decided I was to kiss some other girl. I was stupid."
"We were both stupid," Rory said.
"Yes," Harry started, "but I'm the one who betrayed you. And then had the audacity to say that it was your fault. It was all me."
Rory stared down at her lap. "Every time I've considered working things out I end up replaying that day in my mind. You broke my heart, Harry."
"I don't want to do this if you don't want to," he said." But, 'if you change your mind... I'm the first in line.'"
She looked up at him from the coupon. She was equal parts amused and embarrassed to be sitting there.
"Don't," she warned.
"'Honey I'm still free. Take a chance on me,'" he said. "Will it help if I sing?"
"Please don't," she laughed. "And it's unfair to use ABBA."
"I'd have found some other charming Harry Potter bullshit to pull out if that didn't work," he said.
Rory laughed. "So you're assuming that it did work?"
Harry grabbed hold of her hand. He felt relieved when she held his back. "Rory, I'm fully prepared to beg at this point… Which would be really embarrassing and I would really prefer not to." She laughed again. "I love you."
"I love you too," she said. "But if we're doing this again, I do want to try to take things slow, just for now."
Harry nodded. "We've got OWLs coming up. Wouldn't want you to be distracted. I'm sure I've been distracting enough and we weren't even together."
Rory smiled at him. "You get me. That's why I love you." Harry chuckled. She wrapped her arms around him and Harry felt home. She was home. He held her tight and it wouldn't matter to him if they stayed like that all night.
"Sorry I made you miss dinner," Harry said.
"It's fine. My boyfriend has an invisibility cloak and has an in with the house elves," Rory said. She released him and looked down at the coupon in her hand.
"Still feel like this gift wasn't good enough?" Harry asked. "Because I think this might be the best thing you ever gave me."
"I am brilliant after all," she said. She stared at the coupon and then looked up at Harry. "It says kiss and make up."
He nodded. "So it does."
Rory placed a hand on his shoulder and kissed him. Tentatively at first, just a test. But Harry felt it, that spark, that flicker of joy he always felt when she kissed him. He could explode into a million little pieces, it felt so wonderful.
She pulled away, but barely. The slightest movement would bring her back.
"Right," he said with a nod, his lips nearly touching hers again.
"What?" she asked.
"This is what it's supposed to feel like when you kiss someone," he said. He brushed his fingers back through her hair. "I forgot."
She kissed him again. "I've spent an annoyingly large amount of time thinking about kissing you. I think it's what I've spent most of the last two days thinking about."
"I know the feeling," he replied. Rory shifted so she was closer to him. Her head dropped against his chest. Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of completeness, rightness.
"I missed you," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "Promise me I won't have to miss you again."
"You're stuck with me now," he said.
"Good," she replied. She tilted her head up and he kissed her. She didn't let him pull away, not that he was complaining. He would've happily stayed there kissing her for the rest of the evening.
But it took about five minutes for their little perfect little make-out bubble to pop. There was a knock on the door. They looked over and heard a voice.
"Harry?"
Shit. It was Ginny. Why was Ginny knocking on his door? He had not, despite being told by Hermione and Matilda, and Neville several times to do so, been direct with Ginny about how he was not interested in her. But she was going to find out now. Probably in the worst way possible. This was almost as bad as Rory seeing him snogging Cho in the library.
"I'm guessing you two haven't had a chat yet," Rory said.
"No," he said.
"Oh, Harry," she replied, giving him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Good luck."
He walked over to the door, pulling it open just enough to see Ginny standing there.
"I was on my way down to dinner and Ron was on his way back up to check on you because you hadn't come down yet, so I volunteered to come back," Ginny said. "I figured a tired, hungry Ron wasn't someone you wanted checking in."
Wow, she had no idea how much he wished Ron had been the one to come upstairs and not her.
"Oh, well, I'm fine," Harry said with a dismissive wave.
"You sure? You seem a bit… Flustered," Ginny said. "I'm not interrupting something or anything?"
Harry cleared his throat. Here it went.
"Actually, I was just having a chat with Rory," he said, pushing the door open further so Ginny could see Rory sitting on his bed. Harry was pretty certain that it was obvious he and Rory hadn't really been doing much in the way of actually talking.
Ginny's face fell just a bit.
"Oh. Matilda said that you weren't feeling well and you wanted to have a nap," Ginny said.
"Yeah, I lied," Rory said. "Harry and I made plans to chat and I just knew how she would get if I told her I was actually coming here. I didn't want to deal with all that. You know how she gets."
It had not even occurred to Harry to lie. He'd simply told his friends to go down to dinner without him and that he might be down later. He could have easily said he was tired. In truth, he probably could've just told Ron and Hermione what he was planning to talk to Rory.
"I get it," Ginny said. "So you two are back together then?"
Harry nodded. "Uh, yeah. That's why we wanted to talk."
"Of course… Well, good for you," Ginny said, though it didn't really sound like she thought anything about this was good at all. "I'll see you around."
Harry wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. Instead, he watched Ginny turn and quickly walk off from the dorm. He pushed the door closed.
"Well, that was uncomfortable," he said. "I feel like I should say something to her."
Rory shook her head. "Remember when I saw you kiss Cho and you decided to pop around to have a chat with me about it?"
He nodded. Right. Not a good idea on his part. He sat back down beside Rory.
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked. He nodded. "Can you be honest with me this time around? Like, if I'm doing something that's making you crazy or angry, can you just tell me? Even if you think I'll be upset?"
"Absolutely," he said with a nod. "I think we can both work on being a little more honest with each other."
Rory smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Things weren't perfect. He didn't think they would ever be perfect, but things felt like they were finally how they were supposed to be.
Rory needed to study. That was how she planned to spend her Friday night anyway. She was going to go to dinner, and then study in the library. But after Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry had slipped her that note. So instead of going to dinner she walked to his room and they talked. The talk had been brief. Most of dinner was actually spent snogging. Even Ginny's brief, uncomfortable interruption had not been enough to fully distract them.
Rory had zero regrets, except that she'd told Harry she wanted to take things slow. She would've gladly spent the entire hour kissing Harry. Even now she could still feel his hands on her body, his lips on her skin, and hear his breathing in her ear. They'd been doing an excellent job of keeping a leash on themselves, taking things slow, but after lying in bed, the teasing and touching got to be too much.
It was almost a blessing when Harry's bedroom door opened and Dean and Neville walked in and forced them to keep from reverting to their usual, handsy ways.
Thankfully, they'd closed the curtains on the bed after Ginny left, just in case. It had taken Harry and Rory a few minutes to compose themselves before slinking out from behind his curtains and heading out of Gryffindor Tower. They went to the kitchens and had a bite to eat, stopping to have a chat with Dobby while they were there.
And now Rory had to study.
But Harry. How was she ever going to focus on anything ever again knowing she could just reach out and touch him or kiss him or hold him? All those weeks and months of trying to get their heads on straight and now they were finally together again. Rory was over the moon. Who cared about school or a career when she had Harry right now?
And that was why she had to go to the library. Because she had to study. Because she really did care about school and her future career, she had to do well on her OWLs and she could not let herself be distracted by Harry Potter any more than she usually was.
"You can come with me to the library, but you have to promise you're going to actually study and not distract me anymore," Rory said as they walked up the stairs back to Gryffindor Tower. "Thanks to you I'll only have two hours in the library before I have to get back before curfew."
"Still going to blame me for not being able to keep your hands to yourself, I see," Harry teased.
She couldn't be annoyed. Only happy. Beyond happy that she could tell him again that if he weren't so cute or so good at kissing that maybe she wouldn't be distracted by him so much of the time.
They walked into the common room and Rory turned back to him again.
"Are you going to come with me?" she asked.
"Yes," Harry said.
"And not be distracting?" she asked.
"Promise. I also need to do well on my exams as it turns out," Harry said. "But can I distract you afterward?"
Rory resisted the urge to answer him by throwing her arms around him with a kiss, so instead she just nodded. She wasn't even going to attempt to kiss him because she knew that she would blow off studying altogether.
"Be right back," she said.
She scurried up to her room where Matilda was sitting at her desk.
"Hi," Rory said.
"I didn't get your sandwich," Matilda said.
"Harry and I went to the kitchens," Rory said.
"I heard you paid him a visit," Matilda replied.
"We were talking," Rory said.
"Is Harry a close talker?" Matilda asked.
"What?" Rory asked.
"I just imagine he had to be talking directly onto your neck to leave a mark like that," Matilda said. Rory's hand went to her neck. "Closer to your ear. I guess he really wanted to hear his apology. Don't worry, it's just a little red. Should be gone by tomorrow and you can probably hide it if you wear your hair down."
"I pulled it up because you know I can't wear my hair down when I'm in study mode. You know it gets in the way," Rory said.
"Ginny says you're back together," Matilda said.
Rory nodded. "Was she upset?"
"Not as upset as Ron was when we finally explained to him that Ginny was upset because she liked Harry, and Harry knew she liked him and instead of telling her that it wasn't going to happen, she had to stumble upon you snogging to get a clue."
"She didn't actually see us snogging. It was just obvious after Harry opened the door that we had been," she said.
"Still pretty obvious now," Matilda said.
"Is it really that noticeable?" Rory asked.
"I might try a side ponytail," Matilda said. "What are you up to now?"
"I'm going to the library," Rory said. "I lied about the nap, but I was not lying about the studying. If you happen upon a time turner, go back and tell me that taking an OWL exam for a course I'm not actually taking is going to be the death of me and not to do it. So. Library."
"Going to find a stack of books to snog behind?" Matilda teased.
"I need to study. And just because Harry has picked the most inopportune time in the world to fix things between us, does not mean that I'm going to let him distract me," Rory said.
"Kind of seems like he did already," Matilda said.
"You are not wrong about that," Rory admitted.
"How did he convince you?" Matilda asked. "After insisting that you needed to grow up and get your head on straight and that it might just be too risky, what did he do to change your mind?"
Rory reached into her pocket and held the coupon out to Matilda.
"He gave me that after Umbridge's class today. I didn't even look at it until we got back from the courtyard," Rory said.
Matilda giggled. "That little shit. I can't believe he kept your little coupons."
That had been Rory's reaction as well. "I made two. He gave me one over Christmas break when we had an argument at Grimmauld Place. I told him that I hoped he never had to use this one. He said I only made two because I knew he'd need two."
"Because you're soulmates," Matilda said handing Rory the coupon back. "Can't wait for you two to go back to being annoying."
Rory took the coupon and put it in her bedside table. It felt like there were a million little lights inside of her body. She was more than happy to go back to being annoying as well.
