Hinny: Harry's 6th year, Ginny's 5th
Harry walked slowly through the castle, free from his detention with Snape at last. Each step felt weighted with lead as he worried about what would await him in the common room. Whilst he had been in detention the final quidditch match of the year was played and Harry thought it possible he was the only student in the school who hadn't been there to watch it. As team captain if the team had lost he wouldn't blame Gryffindor house for putting the blame on him for getting himself banned. Nerves curdled in his belly as he approached the tower and he hoped against hope that Gryffindor had won - he had faith in his team and they deserved the win after the hard work they had put in.
As he muttered the password to the beaming fat lady's portrait a roar of celebration filled his ears. Hands reached out and grasped him, dragging him into the room as several people screamed in excitement at the sight of him. The weight on Harry's heart lifted as he realised they must have won - he hadn't ruined it for them after all. The biggest grin cracked open his face as people clapped him on the back and attempted to pass him butter beers.
"We won!" Ron yelled, swinging the large silver cup in Harry's direction. "We won! Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!" Harry grinned at him, the happiness pouring around the room was infectious.
On instinct he spun around and there was Ginny running towards him. Her hair windswept and flying around her like a curtain of pure fire, her eyes shining with joy and a hard blazing look on her face. Without hesitation she threw her arms around his neck and he threw his around her waist lifting her from the ground. As they both pulled back from the hug with their arms still wrapped around one another their faces were inches apart and without thinking or planning it Harry kissed her. And Ginny kissed him back - fiercely both of them locked in a passionate embrace the result of feelings long felt finally being expressed.
After several long moments that felt like days they broke apart, still in each other's arms - still close enough to feel the ghost of each other's breath on their faces. Harry looked down at Ginny, her cheeks pink, hair messy, eyes bright, lips slightly swollen and he thought she had never looked more beautiful and he had never been as happy.
For a moment the room was very silent, 50+ people gaping in shock that Harry Potter had just kissed Ginny Weasley in the middle of the common room. Then suddenly all at once the silence erupted into noise. Several people wolf whistled, there was an outbreak of nervous giggling and Dean Thomas dropped a glass that shattered loudly on the ground. Slowly Harry moved one of his arms from Ginny's waist as she removed hers from his neck as his eyes sought out Rons. Hermione stood next to Ron beaming with joy written all across her face and Ron looked as though he had been frozen. His fingers still clutched the silver cup as though it were a lifeline and his mouth was open in a state of shock. For a second Harry and Ron stared at one another until Ron jerked his head a fraction of an inch in a nod which Harry knew meant 'if you must.'
Beaming and feeling lighter and happier than he ever had and savouring the warmth of Ginny's side pressed into his, Harry gestured towards the portrait hole. Without words exchanged Ginny understood and they pushed through the crowds to leave the packed common room. Intending to have a long walk through the grounds where there would be plenty of time to discuss the match…amongst other things.
Later as the sun slowly sank down and darkness threaded into the sky Ginny walked back towards the castle hand in hand with Harry. Her heart soared as she looked at him to find him already looking at her - equal smiles painted on their faces. For a moment despite the war, despite the darkness already lurking on the edges Ginny felt as though for once all was well because now Harry was hers and she was his.
Scorily: Scorpius' 7th year, Lily's 6th
Weasley/Potter events always promised to be wild and crazy and Christmas at the burrow was no exception to the rule. This year, like the past 4 four years, Scorpius and his family had been invited to attend the Burrow Christmas Day party. It was a large event with all of the extended family and friends invited and Scorpius had attended every year except this year would be the first year his parents came with him. The tension between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter/Ron Weasley had lessened significantly over the years since Rose and Albus had befriended Scorpius. Draco was now on civil terms with both of them but that did not mean he wanted to spend his Christmas at their house. His wife Astoria however was good friends with Ginny and had insisted that this year they take advantage of the offer. So there the three of them were, hand in hand having just apparatus outside the burrow.
"Well, let's go!" Scorpius said brightly marching up to the front door. Draco sighed in anticipation hoping this day wouldn't be too awkward. The door flung open and Mrs Weasley came barrelling out, upon seeing Scorpius she immediately pulled him into a bone crushing hug drawing back only to pinch his cheeks.
"Come in, come in dear! Albus is upstairs" she said to the blushing Scorpius. He stepped past her flying up the stairs immediately to greet his best friend leaving Draco and Astoria on the doorstep. To Draco's surprise Mrs Weasley smiled at him and waved them both in also - he'd half anticipated he'd be hexed on sight but was met with only kindness.
The party progressed, the adults and teens milling in the garden under a large canopy. Some people were dancing, some were laughing, others simply talking. Draco was surprised to find he was having a good time, he was talking to Angelina about quidditch when all of the adults' attention was drawn away to a scene forming in front of them.
Lily was arguing loudly but playfully with her cousin Roxanne, each debating who was a better chaser. Sensing the debate was becoming never ending Teddy Lupin stepped in with an idea. ``How about we host a friendly game to settle this?" He asked. The idea was agreed upon and soon the non-players were sat in chairs arranged in makeshift stands around the field used as a quidditch pitch. Each girl chose members for her team. Lily picked Hugo as her keeper, Teddy and James as beaters, Albus and Molly to be chasers for her and finally Scorpius as her seeker. Roxanne picked Rose as her keeper, Louis and Fred as her beaters, Lucy and Dominique as chasers and Victorie as her seeker. Henceforth the game began.
It was a tough game, Lily and Roxanne had not been incorrect about being excellent chasers and they scored many goals for their teams. On each side there were players not as good - Louis kept missing bludgers and Hugo kept letting in goals but overall they were fairly evenly matched. The adults on the sidelines cheered and whopped for both sides. George shouted at Fred to knock Lily off her broom earning him a slap up the back of the head from Angelina and for Ginny to shout "send a bludger at him James!" Finally after playing for an hour and a half with fairly even points the golden snitch was spotted. Scorpius and Victorie both dove for it, racing to get there first. Both were great seekers, Victorie having been the seeker for Ravenclaw when she was at school and Scorpius being the current Slytherin seeker. The chase was close and both parties dove for the ground neither looking as though they would stop. Finally Victorie pulled sharply out of the dive before she crashed just as Scorpius hit the ground, rolling slightly in the grass. There was a round of shocked gasps before he leapt to his feet shouting "I'm alright!" And holding in his clasped hand a tiny fluttering golden snitch.
Screams erupted from Lily's team as they flew to the ground, each of them tackling Scorpius. "That was mental!" Al shouted "I can't believe you pulled that off, you better play that well in the next school match!"
"Well done mate!" James said, clapping him on the back. Molly smiled at him, Hugo high fived him, Teddy praised him. Soon there was only Lily left in the line to greet him. They stood staring at each other for a moment, Scorpius hand still clutched around the fluttering snitch and Lily's leg still around her broom. Suddenly Lily dropped the broom and a blazing look took over her features as she smiled. She ran forwards and Scorpius let go of the snitch as he ran to meet her, both of them colliding in the middle of the pitch. Lily's arms wrapped around his neck as Scorpius lifted her from the ground burying his head into the crook of her neck. After a moment Scorpius let go and went to move back from the hug but before he could Lily cupped his cheeks in both of her hands, brought his lips down to hers and kissed him.
Time seemed to slow down for Scorpius as he froze in shock. Lily Luna Potter was kissing him! Actually kissing him! He couldn't believe it. Even when her and Lorcan had broken up at the end of last year he'd not let himself believe they could be together - too self deprecating to realise she liked him too. Yet here she was, windswept and beautiful kissing him with so much passion it made his head spin. After a second she pulled away, uncertainty shining in her green eyes as he had been too shocked to kiss her back. She moved her arms from his face, stepping backwards and blushing a bright red. An apology began to leave her lips but no sooner had the first syllable been uttered had Scorpius stepped forwards, threw his arms around her waist, dipped her slightly and kissed her passionately. Lily grinned into his mouth, relief washing over her and in disbelief that this was finally happening. Her arms went back around his neck, fingers threading into his wind tousled locks. For a beautiful solid minute the world belonged to the two of them and no one else. They didn't think about the fact that their families were standing on the sidelines gaping at them. They didn't think about consequences or reactions. There were only soft lips and warm stolen kisses that tasted of hope and possibility.
Finally they broke apart, foreheads resting together staring into one another's eyes. They were only taken away from there bubble when Albus' interrupted with a shout. "Finally!" He bellowed.
Scorpius looked up confused "what?" He said. He'd half expected Albus to smash his face in but instead the boy was grinning and striding over to the two of them. He wrestled his way in-between them, throwing an arm around both Lily and Scorpius' shoulders. "About bloody time!" He said grinning.
"You knew?" Lily asked, as shocked as Scorpius at his reaction.
"Knew?" Rose cut in "Merlin I think the whole castle knows you two like each other. You're so bloody obvious to everyone but yourselves!"
"Really?" Scorpius asked "How long has everyone known?"
"It's been obvious for ages" Hugo said, striding over "Ever since the start of the year you two have been silently pining over each other."
"And" Scorpius said hesitantly, turning to Albus "you're not mad?"
"MAD?" Albus bellowed "Of course not! I'm well chuffed! Better you than anyone else mate. This way I don't have to put up with whatever annoying bloke Lily might date or an annoying girl you might pick."
Lily laughed "I can't believe you all knew we liked each other! I really thought you had no interest in me Scor."
Scorpius looked at Lily like she'd grown another head "Ive liked you for so long! I was going to ask you out but then you started dating Lorcan!"
Lily groaned "you can't be serious, I only started dating Lorcan to try and get over you!"
"Sorry" Ron interrupted suddenly, flanked by the rest of the adults whose faces all held equal amounts of shock. "But what the bloody hell is going on?"
Rose grinned at her dad "I've just won a galleon that's what!"
Albus groaned beside her "I forgot about that!"
"About what?" Lily said, eyes narrowing on her cousin and brother.
Albus sighed "I bet Rosie a galleon that Scor would be the one to make the first move, she said you would."
"I can't believe you were betting on us!" Lily said angrily.
"I can't believe you thought I'd ever make the first move" Scorpius said, patting Al on the back comfortingly.
"But" Ron spluttered "I thought Scorpius liked Rose!"
Rose scrunched up her nose "Not my type" she said.
Scorpius pulled her into a side hug "feelings mutual Rosie" he said "you're like a sister to me."
Suddenly Ron burst out laughing, clutching at his stomach he pointed at the still speechless Harry. "HA!" He said.
Harry groaned "this is karma isn't it?" He said dejectedly.
Lily looked furious "What! Do you not approve or something? What's wrong with Scor!"
Harry rounded on his daughter suddenly looking panicked "Oh no! Nothing's wrong with Scorpius you know I like him" he paused "Although I feel like I should warn him" he turned to Scorpius "never ever forget an anniversary son." He shuddered "I forgot her mothers once, worst bat bogey hex of my life."
Ginny smirked beside him as Lily chucked. Scorpius smiled, relief washing over him at having Harry's approval.
"What was karma then?" Albus asked, confused by the still laughing uncle Ron.
Harry looked sheepish, scratching the back of his neck. "Errrr, well when Rose and you first befriended Scorpius we thought for a bit that the two of them might date."
"So" Ron cut in triumphantly "for years he has been teasing me about possibly having Draco Malfoy as in-law, looks like the shoes on the other foot now Harry!"
Hermione smacked Ron and Harry on the back of their heads shaking her head. She cast an apologetic look at Astoria and Draco but to everyone's surprise Astoria began laughing too.
"Oh dear" she said giggling "I am sorry, it's just that is quite funny." She rubbed her hand on her husband's back "You are quite grumpy dear." Draco sighed but his lips curled into a smile as he looked at his wife. Suddenly he let out a chuckle too. "Sorry Potter" he said "looks like you drew the short end of the stick." Harry laughed and for a moment there was no tension between the two of them as they shared a joke.
Draco turned towards his son smiling at the look on his face. Scorpius arm was around Lily's waist and he was playing with a loose curl of her red hair. "I'm glad you're happy son," he said. "Wonderful to meet you Lily" Astoria added. Lily smiled at them both.
Much later on once the commotion had settled down Lily slipped her hand into Scorpius' interlacing their fingers. The pair of them walked off silently away from the party to wander around the front garden. No words were spoken for a little while as they watched the sun sink into the night and a few gnomes tottered about the garden. Once the sun had fully sunk Scorpius turned to face Lily, keeping one hand laced with hers he used the other to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.
"You're beautiful," he whispered.
Lily blushed looking at the intense gaze he held in his eyes. "I've wanted this for so long" she whispered back to him "I - I know it's too soon to say this and I don't expect you to say it back but I love you." She looked down as she said those last three words and Scorpius hooked his finger under her chin to turn her face back to his.
"Lily Luna" he said using the name only he called her, his thumb cupped her cheek "I am so in love with you."
"You are?" She asked in disbelief.
Scorpius laughed "how could I not be? Lily Luna you're like fire, you make everything else look dimmer in comparison to your light. You're kind and thoughtful, you make me laugh, you punch bullies in the face, put peppermint straws in your hot chocolate, insist everyone dances when music is played. I love everything about you."
Lily smiled. Scorpius made her world brighter by simply being there and she did not know how to put into words the way he made her feel. so she simply leaned up and kissed him. It was different to the kiss they had shared earlier, it was slower and softer and said everything she wanted to say to him.
They broke apart only when Al came tearing into the front garden "There you are lovebirds! Come on!" He said before running off.
Lily laughed lightly, lacing her fingers with Scorpius' as they walked back to the group. As they sat amongst the whole family all felt right. Both felt happy and content as for at last they were each others.