Prompt- Can you do one where Harry realizes his feelings for Ginny sooner like 5TH year and there is sexual tension at grimmauld place and it is angsty pleaseeee I've been looking forever for a good ootp. fic! From SexyHarry.
This one-shot is all from Ootp, not quite as angsty and sexual tension-y as was requested, tried to make close to the canon Harry as I could. Although the fun dirty bits might have been a bit much for him 😉
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Cho Who?
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His gaze just kept trailing back to her. It was unintentional, she was simply there; helping clean like everyone else in the room, but somehow Ginny kept catching his eye. It was probably just because her hair was so vividly colored and her ponytail kept having the light glint off of it when it swung about. She did have quite long hair. It might be a bit unnerving to him how often he found himself mesmerized by it except for that his foul mood was not allowing him to read too much into how often he was staring at her. It was simply his reprieve from wanting to glare at Ron or Hermione between tasks.
This house they were all stuck cleaning together was so incredibly filthy and the House Elf was so incredibly miserable. Harry only really knew one other House Elf, well, two, but Dobby would not have let this place fall to such shambles and Winky probably wouldn't have either, even as drunk as she was.
It wasn't like he wasn't used to cleaning all the time during the summer. It was all his Aunt and Uncle thought he was any good for. This house just held a lot more dangerous items, and creatures, than Privet drive ever did.
Getting the Doxy's out of the curtain was no easy task, the spray smelled terrible and before they were knocked unconscious those Doxy's could really come at you with their wings flapping and teeth bared. Focusing on the chores was a distraction from how betrayed he felt by all of his so called friends for essentially abandoning him for the first part of the summer with no word of what was going on.
And Ginny's mesmerizing hair was a distraction from the chores too, not just Ron and Hermione
It was such an odd thing to find mesmerizing. Didn't she have some crush on him? He really shouldn't let her catch him staring at her and think he was starting to return her favor.
She was growing up though, not quite as much a blushing mess as she had been over their last three years they knew each other. Perhaps the seriousness of what was going on in the world around them had forced her to push that crush out of her mind because there were more important things that they should be worried about.
Terrible, awful things.
Now he had a hearing at the Ministry on top of everything else.
Having to deal with some girl crushing on him while he was still so ticked off about other important issues would have just added to his ire. So he was glad Ginny hadn't been piling on and hadn't yet commented on catching him staring at her hair like an idiot.
He certainly felt like an idiot right now. A miserable, under appreciated idiot that had a madman after him and now Dementors as well.
Harry was glad that Sirius and Remus had told him what they could about what was going on, he was even somewhat glad of Mrs. Weasley's protests that he shouldn't have heard it. It was nice having a mother figure so worried about him. But he needed to know. He wanted to be more involved than he was in the fight back against Voldemort. It was him after all that had been played last year with the Tri-Wizard Tournament. It was him that watched Cedric Diggory die and him that had to battle the resurrected Lord Voldemort one on one.
His nightmares weren't going to get any worse knowing that the Order of the Phoenix was taking his word for what was going on. Now is sleep might involve a recount of the graveyard but with solid physical people coming to his rescue, not just the apparitions of the dearly departed.
"Well then," Mrs. Weasley nodded definitively as she chucked what looked to be the last Doxy into the bin. "I'll just go get us all some lunch then."
Food. Yes, food should get him in a better mood.
()()()
"Who was this woman?" Hermione asked him.
Harry had been recounting to she and Ron exactly what had gone on at the Ministry in front of the Wizengamut. They were both horrified by how he'd been persecuted by the officials in the chamber, Hermione more so that Ron. Hermione thought that those in power should be more considerate about hearing him out, once Ron heard that Percy had been among the people in the chamber his opinion of everyone involved had immediately lowered. Unfortunately, Harry was starting to understand that everyone on the Wizengamut were all more focused on their own agenda and didn't much care for the truth.
They really hadn't wanted to take Dumbledore's word for what had happened. They wanted that whole interrogation to go smoothly and for Harry to be kicked out of Hogwarts and on the shortlist to Azkaban should he have one more tiny infraction on his record.
None more so that Delores Umbridge.
"She was the Senior Undersecretary of something or other," Harry told her.
"She's Fudge's chief arse kisser," Ginny said from the doorway.
"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed. They'd been trying to have a private conversation and thought they were alone. "Get out!"
"No." She ignored her brother and came to sit down on Harry's bed beside Hermione. "If I go elsewhere then mum is going to give me more tasks to do. You three have an exception to that for an hour or so, so I'm sticking with you lot."
"Why do we have an exception?" Hermione asked.
"Because Harry has been through an ordeal, obviously," she stated with a gesture at him.
Her hair was down today instead of pulled back in a ponytail like it had been for when they were scouring the second floor sitting room. It had been jumping and swinging around her dancing form while she and the twins were singing about how he'd gotten the all clear from the Ministry. He'd caught a whiff of her shampoo when she gave him a hug of congratulations. She used a different one than Ron and Hermione, it smelled sweeter than theirs.
He'd never noticed before how her eyes got this devilish glint to them. He'd seen it with the twins, but never looked close enough in her eyes before recently. It was good that she was more comfortable around him now. She could finally realize that there was nothing fanciable about him after all.
"How do you know about Umbridge?" Ron asked Ginny.
"Because unlike you I paid some attention to Percy before he buggered off. She was one of the people he was sucking up to the hardest. He went to work closer with her after everyone found out about Crouch being impersonated and killed."
"He was there," Harry said. "In the chamber. Percy was taking notes."
Ron already knew, but it didn't stop him from matching Ginny's scowl at the mention of their estranged brother. Harry himself couldn't work out how someone born into such an amazing family could choose a job over their loved ones. It made him angry to think of how Percy was throwing away his family at the chance to rise up through the Ministry of all places. Harry just wanted to grab the man by the collar and force him to take a hard look at what he was missing out on.
It also made Harry feel bad for how he'd been treating them all too. They had been trying to protect him. Going about it the wrong way, but still. They cared about him, really cared.
He was being an arse. They didn't deserve that.
"I'm sorry for how I've been acting," he said to the three of them.
Their shocked expressions weren't a surprise, they hadn't been privy to what was going on in his head so his apology must have sounded like it came out of nowhere.
"We're really sorry we didn't tell you, Harry," Hermione told him earnestly for the hundredth time.
"I know," he said. "And I know you said it many times before. I just wanted to tell you that I heard you. And I'm sorry I was a prat."
Ron gave him a clap on the back and Hermione looked about ready to cry. Ginny though, she must not have felt like the apology had anything to do with her because her expression just told him she thought it was about time he let his two best friends off the hook.
She wasn't wrong.
()()()
He was in shock, they all were.
It smelled horrible, it was sticky, and it was everywhere.
"Sorry," Neville said weakly. "I didn't know it was going to do that."
Neville's plant had sprayed some sort of stinky sap all over the compartment. Luckily, Harry had closed his mouth just in time so that there wasn't any changing the state of his taste buds forever. It was ghastly.
Before he had time to recover from the shock the compartment door slid open and looking up through the platters on his glasses he saw that there stood Cho Chang. Great, what a bloody perfect time for her to poke her head in. He was with these three and covered in some mysterious and wretched goo.
"Heyya Harry," she said cautiously.
"Er, hi Cho." This was not at all how he would have hoped she would see him for the first time after all these months. He wished he was sitting with cooler people. A few compartments up he knew that Seamus and Dean were probably playing a game of exploding snap or having a laugh over this or that. He could have been sitting with them.
He really just couldn't catch a break.
Cho didn't look interested in hanging around their compartment any longer than she had to and simply gave him a forced polite smile and a small wave before closing the compartment door. She just blushed and ran off, clearly not wanting to be caught involved in a situation like this with.
"Here, let me," Ginny said after Cho had left. With a wave of her wand Ginny had made the compartment clean once more.
Harry frowned then for two reasons; the first because he hadn't used that particular cleaning spell before and it had been rather powerful, the second because Ginny clearly could have done that while Cho had been standing at the compartment door and she'd chosen not to.
He turned to face Ginny with an accusation on the tip of his tongue but he completely forgot what that accusation was when he saw the smirk on Ginny's face.
It had been intentional. She was fighting back a laugh! Ginny knew that Harry liked Cho and she had intentionally waited until Cho had buggered off, not being able to stand the sight of smell of him. Ginny had waited until now on purpose before she cleaned the compartment.
The sly minx!
Yet, he couldn't find it to be angry with her over it once he was looking at her. He was more flabbergasted than anything else.
"You did that on purpose," he managed to get out.
"What do you mean?" she asked in a sweetly false tone. "I though you made a real impression on her." She was openly laughing at him then.
"What's this?" Neville asked.
"Harry's got a crush on Cho Chang," Ginny giggled.
He wanted to protest but there was no point in denying it. He had been rather obvious about it, hadn't he?
Now all three of them were having a chuckle at him and he found himself joining in.
Alright, maybe Ginny was more of a cool person than he gave her credit for.
()()()
"Ginny's dating Michael Corner," Hermione told Ron.
"What?!" Ron stopped in his tracks for a moment as she and Harry kept on. "I thought she liked Harry!"
"Oh, she's been over him for ages," Hermione dismissed.
"Well he better watch it," Ron said decisively.
Hermione just rolled her eyes at him. "Well, we know one thing for sure," Hermione said smugly as they walked back up to the school through the snowy streets of Hogsmeade. "Cho couldn't take her eyes off you, could she?" she said to Harry.
They were just heading back after having their first informal meeting with a few other students that were interested in starting some kind of defense group. Harry should have been more pleased about Cho's interest in him than he currently was. It was what he wanted, wasn't it? And surely Cho liked him for more than his notoriety. Nothing being mentioned about him in the papers or wherever right now was anything good, so clearly if Cho really liked him it wasn't because he was The Boy Who Lived, it was because he was just Harry.
That wasn't the part of the conversation Hermione had just carried on that he was finding himself focusing on though. It should have been, but it wasn't.
The part of what she'd just said that hit him the hardest was that she claimed Ginny wasn't interested in him anymore.
Ginny had brought a few people from her year to the Hogshead for that meeting, which was a good thing, save for that one Zacharias twit. But she'd brought a boy that she was dating as well and Harry didn't find himself liking that at all.
Michael Corner.
Michael was a fifth year like Harry. How did they even meet? Michael was in Ravenclaw so it wasn't like they met in the common room. Maybe it had been in the library, but you were supposed to be studying in the library, not making dates or whatever.
He managed to bite his tongue about it.
There had been plenty of people that showed up today for the meeting. That was good news. It didn't matter that Cho had been staring at him or that Ginny was seeing someone in Ravenclaw.
He needed to think about what he was going to teach them all. That was it.
()()()
The last DA meeting before winter break had been good. Everyone was getting really strong with their shielding spells and Neville had been the most improved of the lot. Harry felt really proud of them all, it felt good to be teaching them. He'd been thinking that a career as an Auror was where he wanted to go with his future, but maybe being a Defense teacher wouldn't be so bad.
He already knew he was a right sight better than Delores bloody Umbridge, the cow. They could wrap up their year by torturing her a bit with all the spells she should have been teaching them.
He started cleaning up the cushions and such while Hermione and Ron were letting everyone leave in twos and threes back to their common rooms until he realized that it was just he and Cho that were left in the room.
Shit.
He wasn't sure what to do. She'd been flirty with him lately, at least that was what he construed her looks to be; flirting. Really, he was crap with reading girls. She'd been the only one he was ever interested in, so what did he know about them?
She was looking at the board where they'd stuck a few inspirational clippings; drawings and photographs and such. Cho was looking mainly at the picture of Cedric and it had Harry feeling all kinds of awkward.
He really hoped that she wouldn't ask him about it. He was desperate to just leave that in the past and move forward.
How they got from looking at the board to kissing in front of it he wasn't sure.
It just sort of… happened.
And it was so odd to be a part of it.
He had thought that both parties were more involved when it came to kissing. He didn't feel like he was very involved. He felt like was simply a participant. Like his mouth was moving the way it aught to, but his brain had nothing to do with it.
And it was wet. She'd been crying again.
Why would she kiss him if she was crying?
The whole experience was awkward and uncomfortable. It wasn't at all what he'd envisioned their kiss to be when he'd thought about it before.
And it had been a few months since he'd thought about what it might be like.
Now that it was happening, he wished it would just be over. The way that she was hugging him closer and carrying on though, he didn't think they were on the same wavelength. She seemed to be enjoying it.
He managed to pull away from her in a way that didn't make it seem like he was two seconds away from running. His hands came to her shoulders and he took a step back instead of giving her the nudge to move away.
"Have a good Christmas," he told her nicely and gave a tight smile before bailing.
'Have a good Christmas?' he repeated in his head over and over again as he went back to Gryffindor Tower. What the hell was he thinking? Hadn't he wanted that to happen? Why was it so awkward?
Hermione and Ron had both asked him about it once they were the only ones in the Common Room at the end of the evening and he would really have rather talked about anything else in the world. 'It was wet' was all he could tell them honestly.
They were both still under the impression that he held a torch for Cho and that hadn't been the case for a while. It wasn't like he could tell Ron who he'd really been thinking about more and more.
She was more a passing thought than anything else, but when he was getting worked up about this or that; Snape was being a monster, Umbridge was being an evil cow, the student body as a whole were being awful, when the whole world was looking dark and he was trying to scrounge around in his mind for something comforting Harry would think of the scent of her shampoo and that would ultimately lead to an image of her smirking face being conjured up in his mind.
Usually the thought of her would leave his mind once something else called for his attention, but it was occurring more and more now.
()()()
The day had not been what he had expected.
He wasn't sure exactly what he had expected when they set off for St. Mungo's but running into Gilderoy Lockhart had not been it.
Seeing Gilderoy Lockhart should have reminded him of his second year more clearly though. How he had simply forgotten about Ginny's involvement of that year was inexcusable. She'd been nearly dead and he had saved her by slaying a Basilisk. How had he forgotten that her possession by Tom Riddle had been what led to that situation?
She should have screamed at him for forgetting. She should have hit him.
He deserved to be hit by her for claiming that she and the others didn't know what he was going through.
He'd been thinking about her more and more all year, how had this shared experience simply slipped his mind? How had they not grown closer after his second year due to that experience?
Because he was a prat, that's how.
He was a lowly, self-involved idiot.
Then Ginny had sat there and explained what it had been like for her to be under Tom Riddle's spell and she'd explained it calmly. That was the first time she'd spoken to him about it. From the look on Ron's face it was the first time he'd heard what it was like for her as well.
How had they both not talked to her about it? Hermione clearly had, but that was Hermione. She knew everything… because she thought enough to ask.
After Ginny had parted from their group and gone back to her own room it just ate at him how dismissive he'd been of what she'd gone through for the last two and a half years. He'd been so consumed by his own experiences and completely ignorant of what everyone else was dealing with.
Hermione and Ron started arguing again about something he hadn't paid attention to and Harry didn't want to listen to it. He excused himself from the room claiming that he needed a shower and instead headed for Ginny and Hermione's room, standing in front of it and staring at the wood for well longer than he should have if he didn't want to run into anyone else.
He knocked softly on the door and it was several seconds before it opened.
Ginny was standing there on the other side of the door with a hairbrush in one hand and a bewildered look on her face. "I had no idea who would knock like that on my door," she stated quietly. "Everyone else just bangs twice and barges in."
"That's not very polite," he said. He wouldn't have ever considered simply barging into a girls room to be appropriate.
Ginny gave a shrug, "I do it to them too. Habit from growing up in such a large family I guess."
"Right," he nodded, now at a loss for words.
They stood there staring at each other, Ginny's eyebrows slowly rising in expectation for him to say something to explain why he'd sought her out.
When he did no more than gape at her for a moment she took a step back and opened the door wider in invitation.
He cleared his throat by way of thanks and followed her into the room, closing the door behind him.
"I felt I owed you more of an apology," he said.
She took a seat the chair in front of the vanity. A moment of silence passed between them once more and he shifted awkwardly while she frowned at him in thought. He didn't know why he would have expected her to say something when he'd just said he owed her more of an apology, he wasn't sure what he should be saying either. Usually the words were simply tumbling out of his mouth before he could think things through.
"I have a way you could make it up to me a bit," she said finally with a small smile and held out her hairbrush.
Harry stared down at the hairbrush in confusion. Was she really asking him to do this?
"You want me to brush your hair?" he asked for clarification.
"Yes," she said simply.
He was frozen for a moment before he managed to take a step forward and pick up the brush from her hand. She turned back to face the mirror and caught his eye in their reflection. Her raised eyebrow was challenging him to follow through.
He gave a silent sigh and forced himself to raise the brush to the top of her head, sliding it from the top of her head through to the slight curl at the end of her hair. He'd never done this before, it was odd, but it also felt kind of nice. Soothing repetitive motions. He did really like her hair. He'd appreciated the color plenty last summer, now he was afforded the opportunity to touch it too. The scent of it was wafting up to his nose as he kept brushing as well and that was nice.
He looked up and saw her face through the mirror, she looked like she was in Nirvana. Her eyes were closed and she was peacefully slowly rocking back and forth with his strokes.
It certainly looked like she forgave him right now.
He looked back down and enjoyed watching the shine of her hair as the light reflected off it while the brush went through.
"Having fun?" Ginny's soft voice called him out of his daze several minutes later.
He caught his own reflection in the mirror after his eyes had darted to her own. He was smiling. He hadn't been doing that much lately.
"It's oddly soothing," he admitted.
"Feels amazing too," she hummed. "Has anyone ever brushed your hair?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No point in trying to tame it. My aunt once cut it all off because she was tired of trying to fix it and it looked awful. It all grew back overnight though," he chuckled. "One of my accidental magic moments before I knew I was a wizard."
"Do you think you brushing my hair right now is just about taming it?" she asked rhetorically. Standing up she gestured for him to take a seat.
He didn't feel like he could protest. It was a strange thing they were doing, but she had looked so calm while he was brushing her hair and he was curious if it would have the same effect on him.
Taking a seat he waited stiffly for her to start running the brush through his short and wild hair.
It was a gentle touch he felt at first. Just soft of the tips of his hair, small tugs as the knots were worked out, but overall it was a smooth glide for the brush to work its way through. His eyes closed at the sensation. Actually, his eyes rolled back in his head and there were pleasant tingles that went through every nerve ending in his body.
A moan escaped his mouth that he had never heard himself make before.
A slight huff of her breath hit the back of his neck as she chuckled. "I knew you'd like it," she whispered.
Holy fuck, did he ever like it!
No wonder this was all she wanted by way of apology.
He didn't know how long he sat there with her working away at his locks. If he could lay down while Ginny continued running her brush through his hair he would no doubt have a better sleep than he ever had before.
Eventually she set the brush down and he regained some sense of self.
"That was," he managed, sounding rather intoxicated from just how relaxed he was then.
Ginny grinned at him through the mirror and it was one of the most beautiful sights he'd ever seen. He knew what he wanted to do next.
This time he had every small movement seared in his brain. He could replay every movement his body made as it rose from the chair for him to face her. He could recount for anyone exactly how it felt to place his hands just above her elbows and pull her to him. His final inhale of breath before lowering his mouth to hers smelled of her wonderful shampoo.
He didn't just find himself kissing her suddenly like he had done with Cho, this moment before their lips met was the longest and quickest moment of his life all rolled into one. He hadn't thought through what he was doing, he just knew that he had to.
She had known it was going to happen too. Her expression, the slight flush on her cheeks and neck that gave her a lovely glow. She'd waited for him to make the move, no doubt due to the years of him ignoring her before and not wanting to be wrong about what was about to happen.
And she responded immediately.
The soft feel of her lips moving against his, the way they puckered and pulled his own against them. This was what a kiss was supposed to feel like. They clung to each other as their lips danced together. Closer and closer their bodies moved until it was like they were one person and the rest of the world faded away.
How had he not done this with her sooner?
His brain grew fuzzy until all he was aware of was how good this felt. This was right. His whole life was full of confusion and chaos, but here with Ginny was the only thing he was conscious of right now and it felt so good.
The moment stretched on and it was so wonderful.
Then it ended abruptly after several wonderful minutes when Ginny pulled away.
Harry had to blink several times before her face came into focus. He was too far gone in a state of bliss to register her expression right away.
That and he realized that he had had another reaction his body made that he should be concerned about her noticing just then.
As quickly and discretely as he could he pulled his lower half far enough away from her and hoped that she hadn't noticed, nor that she would get offended if she had realized what that kiss had done to him.
But then he did see that she was startled. He didn't know why she would be startled by the kiss. Had she not wanted it? She'd been responding and engaging just as much as he was. He could remember every slight pressure change of her lips against his own and the feel of her fingers at the back of his head.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I-I…" she stammered. "I have a boyfriend," she finally breathed out.
His hands dropped from her hips to hang like dead weights at his side as he registered that.
"Corner?" he asked incredulously. "You're still seeing Michael Corner?"
"Yes," she said looking horrified with herself. "I forgot."
"You forgot you have a boyfriend?" He felt like that should be a good thing for him. He could make her forget about the other guy, that meant she must have liked him enough to be hopeful that this would happen between them. "It isn't that serious between you and he then, is it?" The hope was there in his tone as he asked that.
A slow smile grew to her face. "No, it isn't," Ginny said.
()()()
A month and a half had gone by since Christmas break and he and Ginny still hadn't told anyone what was going on between them. She'd broken up with Corner when she saw him again, not offering anyone much of an excuse as to why they broke up, but no one was overly curious either.
Now there properly was something going on between he and Ginny as well and it was odd keeping it from Ron and Hermione. It was odd that Hermione hadn't figured it out more than anything.
Right now Ginny was tugging is shirt out of his trousers so she could warm her freezing hands against his bare skin while he kissed her neck in a deserted broom cupboard. "Fuck, your hands are freezing," he shivered and pulled back.
"I know, why do you think I'm trying to warm them up?" she smirked and went up on her toes to set their mouths about an occupation other than words.
Oh, he loved her lips. Her lips were what was carrying through his DADA classes without rising to Umbitches provocations. Every time a snarl was about to escape him he would bottle up that aggression and just put it towards a really good snogging session with Ginny.
He'd discovered that she rather enjoyed how thorough he could be with her when he was really worked up. It had been just after one of his Occlumency lessons with Snape when he was so angry he had wanted to break something, he'd been on the way back to Gryffindor and planning on simply climbing into his bed and pulling the curtains shut, but Ginny had waited for him outside the common room. She'd been tucked away out of sight and set about pulling him out of that mood herself.
Boy, was she ever good at it.
Right now he'd caught her when she finished up with her Quidditch Practice. Ron had gone off for a sulk over his lousy performance and Ginny needed to be pulled out of her mood a bit too. And her hands needed a bit of warming up.
Or warming down! Her hand was decidedly moving down his back and her fingers were grazing under his belt now.
He pulled his lips away from her own in surprise, "Miss Weasley!"
Harry never knew her eyes could go so dark and sexy. "Yes, mister Potter?" He didn't know before how good it would sound to hear her call him 'mister Potter' like that either.
What could he possibly say? He didn't want to stop her. And he wasn't going to. Instead he lowered his lips back to hers and let her carry on however she wanted to. If she was allowed to put her hands there on him that meant that he could do the same to her, did it not?
He fumbled with the catch on her Quidditch robes and pulled her own shirt free from her trousers, placing his palm flat against her lower back and she gave a shiver. She tugged him closer by his belt loops until their lower halves were pressed tightly together.
He gave a moan at the contact. She'd aroused him again and it wasn't the first time he'd been pressed up against her like this. They didn't speak of it but he knew she knew. He knew she was proud of herself for having put him in this state. It was the smirk that she gave him when they had to pause for a breath, the slight 'adjustment' of her stance when she felt it between them.
He let his hand travel farther down her form overtop her trousers until he was fully cupping her bum. She had such a nice bum, it fit perfectly in his hands.
"Harry," she whispered, pulling away. "We can't chance much longer."
He let out a groan in understanding but kept right on kissing her. Down her jaw, down her neck. She didn't want him to stop and he didn't want to either.
His lips dipped to a spot at her collar and she let out sigh of appreciation and rubbed herself against him in the most delightful way. They should have stopped then but instead he just kept kissing that one spot on her and she kept making that same movement that he mimicked.
Over and over again they moved against each other until his brain registered the sound of voices that were growing louder outside the room they were occupying.
"Shit," he pulled back from her until they were a safe distance away from each other. "Okay. Now we need to get back."
"Oh, wonderful," she said glibly. "Get me all worked up and leave me wanting? Is that your move now?"
He was intrigued at the idea that he'd gotten her all worked up but amused by the idea that he might have 'moves' of any kind. "Does it really seem like I'd rather be doing anything else right now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow that may as well have been a flashing arrow pointing towards his erection. "Who is working up who?"
"Whom," she corrected in jest and gave him a smile. "Alright. We'd better get under the cloak to get out of here then."
He pulled out his invisibility cloak and tossed it over them, listening hard at the door for anyone before opening it slowly. Carefully they made their way to a more crowded area and Ginny ducked out when they were near the Entrance Hall. Harry pulled the cloak off himself when he was closer to the Great Hall and started walking towards it casually.
"Oh, Harry," it was Cho Chang that called his attention.
"Er, hi, Cho." He took a quick look around to see if Hermione or Ron were anywhere nearby but could only see Ginny in his peripherals. She'd found an excuse to stand rather near him with a few others from her year.
"Did you see about the next Hogsmeade weekend?" Cho asked.
"For mid-February? Yeah, noticed."
"For Valentines Day," Cho pointed out.
"Oh!" He'd completely forgotten that was a thing. The only memory he had of Valentine's Day was of little leprechauns with wings reading out embarrassing love notes in the halls. "Right, well. That sounds like a really good idea," he said distractedly.
He'd had an embarrassing love note read out to him on Valentine's Day. One that was from a thoroughly embarrassed eleven-year-old Ginny. He'd been even more embarrassed about it though. Now he wondered if there was some way he could repay the favor.
That wasn't what Cho was thinking about though, nor was his mention of it being a good idea simply taken as an offhanded comment.
"Oh great!" she exclaimed happily. "Well I'd love to. I'll meet you here then? In the Entrance Hall?"
"I… what?"
Cho didn't hear him though. She was only hearing what she wanted to and then she skipped off to Ravenclaw leaving him gaping after her in shock. She thought he'd just asked her to Hogsmeade?
He didn't have to look down to know that the person that had just appeared to his right was Ginny, and he could feel her resentment pouring off of her.
"How nice that one of us has a date for Valentine's Day," she said with a dangerously false smile.
He gave her a horrified look, "I will tell her that wasn't what I meant. I swear."
"Mmhmm." Ginny said no more before she stalked off to the Gryffindor table to sit with her friends for supper.
()()()
He couldn't believe he was doing this. Clearly Ginny hadn't actually wanted him to go through with it, and he wasn't sure if he was simply calling her bluff or if this was his way of getting back at her.
Harry and Ginny had a little fight over how Cho had assumed he'd asked her out and it culminated in him saying he might as well go with Cho to Hogsmeade because he clearly couldn't go with Ginny since neither of them seemed ready to let anyone else in on what was between them.
Well, Ginny didn't like that very much.
Honestly though, how on Earth was he supposed to have gone on a Valentine's date with Ginny in Hogsmeade? They were keeping it quiet between them, the whole school would have found out not just her brothers.
He'd been wondering if that was what Ginny wanted now.
She probably wanted anything that meant that he wasn't sitting in Madame Puddifoots frilly pink tea shop sitting across from Cho and being sprayed with heart shaped confetti. He wanted anything but that too right now. And Cho looked to be enjoying herself just as much as Harry was.
At least he had a way out, he'd promised Hermione he'd meet her at the Three Broomsticks and relayed that to Cho not long after they were seated so he could make an early exit.
"He asked me to go out with him for today, you know?" Cho indicated to Roger Davies who was at the next table over thoroughly snogging his date.
"Okay," Harry said awkwardly. "And you turned him down obviously. Looks like he wasn't too gutted over that."
Cho merely scoffed at him then and stood up, leaving him there alone at the table. Roger Davies and his date pulled their faces away from each other's long enough to give a snicker at his situation.
Harry paid the tab and left the tea shop, shaking off as much of the bloody confetti as he could from his hair and jacket before heading down the main road. The stupid confetti was everywhere! How could Cho have possibly liked that place?
He'd been dreading this day and the week leading up to it hadn't been any better. Umbridge had given him a detention and the back of his hand was smarting again because of it. Snape had 'accidentally' dropped one of his potions again and Hermione had cleaned his cauldron before he could get another sample, so that class had been a big fat zero. Topping it all off Ginny was pointedly not making any eye contact with him, let alone any other kind of contact.
It had all been shite piled on top of shite.
Now he didn't know where any of his friends were at and there was still two hours to kill before he was supposed to be at the Three Broomsticks. He didn't need to do any shopping and didn't want to be around anyone, so he headed towards the Shrieking Shack. He knew how to get in there and could do with being by himself.
He trudged through the snow and over the hill to the property, having to pull on his invisibility cloak partway there because a bunch of third year's were 'braving it', or whatever. They were all too scared to go past the fence anyhow.
He did get a bit of a chuckle when he gave a dying tree a kick and let out a howling moan in an attempt to scare them. It worked too and they ran away terrified.
There was a board loose at the back side of the building that gained him access inside. The only other way was through the tunnel under the Whomping Willow, Sirius had told him about the loose board over the summer. He pulled off the cloak once he was out of the wind and headed straight for the bedroom that he and Hermione had found Ron in after Sirius had injured him and dragged him in there.
It was just one of the many shocks of his life to see there was a different Weasley occupying the room now. She had her wand trained on him as well.
"Harry!" she blinked several times in surprise.
"Ginny," he replied in much the same tone.
"What... I thought you were on your date." Ginny hastily wiped at her eyes that were already rimmed with red. She'd been crying. But Ginny doesn't cry.
"What happened?" he asked, coming forward and putting his arms around her.
"Nothing," she shook her head. "What happened to you? Why are you here?"
He didn't believe that for a second, but if she didn't want to tell her what was wrong just then he would manage to get it out of her soon enough. Probably she didn't want to tell him while she was still upset about it.
"I managed to get Cho cheesed off with me so she stormed out of the shop. Didn't want to find anyone else right away so I came here."
"You got her cheesed off with you?" Ginny asked. "On purpose?"
"Well… yeah. I figured if I was a bad date then she'd tell me to bugger off or something. I have a knack for getting girls cheesed off with me," he teased.
Ginny gave him a weak smile. "Yes, you do. So, you really didn't want to go with her?"
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ginny really thought that he would have wanted to be with Cho Chang instead of her on what was supposed to be a couples holiday? He might have forgotten that there even was such a thing but she must have known he wasn't interested in anyone else.
"Of course, I didn't want to be with Cho Chang. I might have fancied her last year, but that feels like a lifetime ago. I want to be with you, Ginny! I thought I'd made that clear." He tugged her tighter to him.
"I guess I'm just having a hard time believing it," she muttered just loud enough for him to hear with her face nearly buried in his shirt.
"Look, do you want to tell people?" he asked her seriously. "I'm sure your brothers won't hurt me too bad over it."
She gave a chuckle and then let out a large sigh as she hugged him closer. "No. They wouldn't leave us alone if we did. Plus," she added, "the sneaking around is kind of hot."
"You don't even want to tell Hermione? She might help cover for us," he offered.
"Are you mad?" Ginny pulled back from him with an incredulous expression. "She'd be all over me about what we were getting up to and if you knew the charm. Whether you were any good. The girl has question after question about the most mundane of things. With this she'd go mental!"
"To you maybe," he smirked. "Me she would probably just warn me to be nice to you."
"Oh yes, I forgot. I'm such a delicate flower." Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know, this time last year you were a mile deep in the lake for part of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I think Hermione forgets that just because I'm a year younger than the lot of you doesn't mean that I'm not able to keep up."
Harry grinned down at her. There was the Ginny he knew, stubborn and confident.
"It's a good thing that was last year and not this one," he told her. "Otherwise the secret would be out with me pulling you out of the lake."
Ginny's eyes grew wide. "You think it would have been me you pulled out of the lake instead of Ron?"
"Well, yeah," he said as though it were obvious. "It was supposed to be the thing you would miss most, so." He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence though because Ginny had pulled his mouth to her own.
Harry didn't even know what his next words were going to be and he didn't care. It had only been a week but he missed her. Her lips, her hands, her smell. The whole feel of her pressed up against him with his arms wrapped around her. He felt her tug him in the direction of the broken bed in the corner of the room and didn't question it.
They were kissing each other like they were drowning and the only way they would survive was by sharing their air. His head was growing foggy as they fell back on the bed, him laying on top of her. Their lips broke apart for only a moment as Ginny moved further back on the bed. He was quick to follow her and resume devouring her with his lips.
Little by little the room grew hotter as they came together. He shed his jacket, then she hers. His pull over came off, her second top came off as well. Their hands found their way under their undershirts and wandered freely. Eventually Harry found himself cupping her breasts. She whimpered and moaned as he kneaded her there and she rocked her pelvis against him. He returned the gesture.
He trailed his lips down her neck and she wound her legs around him so he was nestled nicely between them.
He'd never been so aroused in his life. His erection was pressed right up against her and she was grinding herself against it. This was further than they'd gone before but she wasn't stopping or even slowing down. He didn't know if he would be able to stop either at this point. It felt so fucking good.
Soon their lips had nothing to do with what was going on, it was simply the two of them moving against each other, his face buried in her neck and his hips moving deliciously against her.
He felt her tense up, her nails dug into his back as she arched against him and let out a loud gasp.
She'd just cum. He'd made her cum!
That knowledge made him rock against her more purposefully in search of his own finish. And it didn't take long until the pleasure of it shot through his whole body. He felt himself lose it in his pants but the discomfort of that was well outweighed by the mind-numbing sensation of having been sated.
His muscles lost all ability to hold him up and he managed to roll to the side and pull her with him to cuddle against him while they both recovered.
They'd done that! He couldn't believe they'd done that. He couldn't believe how wonderful he felt right then either. Without meaning to he shut his eyes and drifted off into the loveliest of naps.
"Harry," Ginny whispered. "Harry, you need to wake up."
He didn't want to though. He was slightly cold on his right side, but Ginny was there against his left and keeping that plenty warm.
"Harry, come on. We're still in the Shrieking Shack and you have to go and meet Hermione," she said with a nudge.
Harry gave a groan. "Crap. What time is it? How long was I out?"
"You've still got about twenty minutes. You were out for just over a half hour."
He gave a resistant groan and pulled her tighter against him, burying his nose in her hair and taking a good whiff.
"Shouldn't you be at Quidditch Practice?" he suddenly realized.
Ginny gave a chuckle. "I was. It was rubbish. Angelina stormed off after an hour because we were so shit. Ron and one of the Beaters couldn't get it together and our poor captain essentially marched right off the field in tears. Katie and Alicia went after her but I wasn't exactly in the right place to be cheering anyone up."
Harry shook his head. "I can't believe you thought there was any chance that I wanted to go to Hogsmeade with Cho."
"Well, it isn't like we get up to much talking when we're meeting up," she told him wryly. "How was I to know I wasn't simply practice for you. You did fall all over yourself for her for well over a year."
Harry chose to ignore that last part. "You sorted out about that yet? I'm not exactly the hearts and flowers type, and we've decided to keep this from the others, so even if I was I couldn't exactly send you a bouquet professing my devotion to you or whatever."
Ginny gave a scoff and pulled away from him, much to his displeasure. "No, I'm fine. And give me a break, would you? It's my first Valentine's Day with a boyfriend, one I've been keen on for ages, and he was off with another girl. He's about to go off with another girl as well." She started pulling on her layers of clothing and tossing his own at him.
"Well just know that the only one I'm actually 'getting off' with is you." It had slipped out of his mouth before he had the chance to stop himself. His face colored a deep shade of red at that and when he peeked over at her he saw she was having much the same reaction. "I, er, I mean," he stammered.
"I, I um…" Ginny started. "I wouldn't mind doing that again," she whispered, biting her lip and unable to meet his eye.
"Really?!" he asked, not daring to believe it.
Ginny just bit her lip harder and more color came to her cheeks, but she nodded.
"Brilliant," he grinned.
()()()
The party in the Gryffindor Common Room was loud and very, very rowdy. But Harry couldn't enjoy it. He'd put on a happy face for Ron since the whole party was due to his first real success with the Quidditch Team, but Harry couldn't find it in him to do any more than that.
Hermione was on the other side of the room from Harry now and she was doing a much better job at acting like nothing was wrong. However, Hermione usually looked somewhat disapproving so that was closer to how the two of them were feeling anyhow.
A Giant, Harry thought again. A bloody Giant. That was why Hagrid had been looking like he'd been trampled by a heard of Hippogryffs all the time. Now he expected them to take care of it?
Him. Grawp was a him.
He really didn't feel he needed this responsibility on top of everything else. Umbridge was more of a bitch than usual and his hand was smarting from another detention. Now Dumbledore was gone and Snape was an equal pain in his arse.
And the dreams.
Always the same dream again and again. The same door, except now it was opening for him, but he still couldn't see what was inside. And he was so curious now that he didn't know whether he wanted the dream to go forward, he knew that there was a chance he would see something awful again, like he had with Mr. Weasley before Christmas. But he had saved his life then, so it might be worth it to see something awful.
He was glad for Ron though and he could manage to put on a face and get through this party. He could listen to Ron replay his saves over and over again, each time with more miraculous catches.
The upper years had been slipping some alcohol into their drinks, perhaps that would help him feign enthusiasm.
He was trying to figure out how to get over to Fred or George and ask for some of what they were having. It wouldn't be that out of character for him. They too had been kicked off the team, maybe they could commiserate over that.
"Where did you run off to?" asked a sweet voice in his ear.
Harry turned to see Ginny now beside him. She had a pleasant glow about her. He'd been hoping to get some alone time with her, but she'd been surrounded by her friends and he hadn't had a chance to congratulate her.
"Hey," he greeted her casually. "You played a good game."
"How would you know?" she asked with a cocked eye. "You and Hermione disappeared five minutes in with Hagrid."
He tried to school his reaction to that, but how in the hell did she notice that?!
"He needed to ask us for a favor," he told her quietly.
"Anything to do with all his cuts and bruises?"
Their heads had moved closer together due to how quietly they were talking and he could smell something on her breath.
"Is there alcohol in that?" he asked, pointing at her drink.
"Maybe," she told him saucily. "Going to rat me out to miss Prefect over there?" She inclined her head in Hermione's direction.
"No," he snorted. "Looking to get some for myself."
"Going to be that kind of night, is it?" she grinned. "Alright. Let's see if this makes it better or worse." She took his empty cup and poured part of her drink in there, then pointed her wand at it so there was now three times more drink in there.
"How did you do that?" he asked incredulously.
She gave a shrug. "It's how mum does it with food. So long as you have some of it you can multiply it and there'll be more."
He took a tentative sip. It tasted like pumpkin juice and something else, something sharp that settled on his tongue. It wasn't bad.
"Right, I think I've been sitting here long enough. You still have to answer my questions though."
He didn't look at her again, he just nodded. He knew if he looked at Ginny he would just keep looking at her, and that was dangerous to do with Hermione in their eyeline.
Harry managed a nonchalant shrug. "I could sneak into your dorm room later."
He saw her nod out of his peripherals, though she was looking in the other direction. "I'll leave my window open for you."
It was three hours more before Harry felt it was safe enough to slip out of his dorm on his broom through the window. Even after the party had finally settled down enough Harry and Hermione could tell Ron about Grawp, then it was another thirty to forty minutes after that when Ron had calmed down enough and started snoring loudly in his bed.
The other three in his dorm had been fast asleep by the time Harry and Ron had gotten there. Harry was wishing he too could slip off into dreamland, but he had Ginny waiting for him and the thought of slipping into her bed with her was worth him being a little more groggy tomorrow.
There hadn't been a lot of chances to slip off together lately with all the strict rules Umbridge had lain down since she took over the school.
The last time they'd been able to get a decent amount of time together was right after Dumbledore had left. McGonagall had walked him back to Gryffindor Tower and left him outside the portrait hole. Ginny had been coming towards him from the other direction and without a word said the two of them marched off to and empty classroom.
He'd been so angry he hadn't even been able to say anything. He'd wanted to kick something, hex something. Instead of all that though he'd opted for aggressively snogging his girlfriend. She'd seemed to rather enjoy that.
So had he.
It had been hot!
Taking all that pent-up frustration and using it to leave bite marks on her had been amazing. She'd touched him too. Her dainty little hand had reached between them and she'd slipped her hand under his trousers.
She hadn't been shy about it either. She had gripped him confidently and neither of them were bashful about how he thrust into her grip.
Now he wanted to return the favor.
They had to talk, he had a lot to tell her, but after that...
His mind wandered to what she might be wearing as he drifted through the air to her dorm window. There was one window partly open and it had a scrunchie tied around the latch, Ginny's scrunchie.
Quietly as he could manage he slipped through the window and landed softly between two beds. All but one of the canopy beds had the curtains fully drawn. Ginny's had one side still open partway. He tucked his broom under her bed and stood there staring at her for a moment.
It looked like she'd fallen asleep. Her hair was fanned out on the pillow and she was turned towards him. She looked so peaceful.
Without saying anything she turned over and pulled the comforter back.
He grinned, knowing that she was actually awake and asking him to get a move on.
Harry climbed in and pulled the curtain the rest of the way closed before throwing off his cloak and putting it at the end of the bed. He pointed it wand at the curtains to silence them and make it so they wouldn't ruffle when the two of them were moving around.
"How awake are you?" he asked.
"As awake as I need to be," she answered and turned back towards him.
He lay down beside her properly and pulled her body close so that she was pressed up against him. He inhaled a good deep whiff of her shampoo and as he exhaled he relaxed.
"Hagrid has a brother," Harry told her. "His name is Grawp and he lives in the Forbidden Forest." Then Harry proceeded to tell her about the whole adventure from Hagrid calling to he and Hermione from beneath the stands to them getting back to the stadium in time to see Ron getting carried into the school.
By the time he was done he was laying on his back staring up at the canopy and Ginny was snuggled up against him with her head resting on his chest.
"That will not be fun," she said.
Her tone was indicative of how he felt too. There was no doubt about it, Hagrid was not going to make it to the end of the school year with Umbridge as Headmistress. Dumbledore was the only reason Hagrid had made it this far along at the school. As much as Harry loved him and as much as he knew how to deal with all kinds of animals, Hagrid was a terrible teacher.
"At least Ron, Hermione and I can take turns," he sighed. "I don't know what Hagrid is going to do once we leave for the summer though."
"Umbridge will be gone by then," Ginny said confidently. "There is no way that the other professors or students will let her stay. Something is going to happen to her that will drive her off. Personally, I'm hoping that the twins shove a firecracker up her arse and set it off. We shouldn't see her for a good long while after that."
"Whoa, dark," Harry commented, but couldn't help having a chuckle at that.
"It'll have been the most action she's ever gotten I'm sure. No one can be that miserable if their getting shagged. From what I hear, she's always been a nightmare."
Harry said no more, mention of shagging had immediately turned his thoughts to the other reason he'd snuck into her room. He ran his hand down her back and appreciated how light the fabric of her pajama top was. He didn't feel the same telltale sign of her bra being underneath that top either.
That meant that the only thing between his bare chest and hers was two slips of fabric.
Ginny's own hand started wandering as well. It slipped down to the bottom of his shirt and her fingers worked their way back up his chest underneath the shirt. He closed his eyes at the feel of it.
He let her draw lazy, sensuous circles around his chest for a few moments. It was really working him up. Then again, it could have been because she had just worked her one leg overtop of his so that her center was pressed right up against his thigh. Her leg started rubbing up and down his own as well. Over and over again, it was like she was gently humping his leg; very suggestive.
"Ginny," he said in a strangled voice. He wasn't sure how to ask her if he could touch her. They weren't just blindly grabbing at each other right now like they had been in that empty classroom. It had all been aggressive instinct and want then.
Right now it was just want.
Her head raised up, her nose rubbing softly up to his ear, then she gave a nip at his earlobe and his eyes rolled back.
"Say my name again," she purred.
He let out a groan at that before rolling over and pinning her beneath him. He settled firmly on top of her, both her legs wrapped around him.
"Mmm, much better," she hummed and rolled her hips against him.
Harry let out a hiss of pleasure. He'd wanted the opportunity to pleasure her like she'd done for him, but it just felt too good to have her beneath him like this. He was hard as a rock and pressed right up against her. Grinding up against her again and again. He knew they were still not in a place in their relationship where proper sex was an option, but Merlin he wanted to pull off their pajama bottoms and just dive into her. They didn't even have to pull them off all the way. He had a flap in his pajamas, and if they pulled hers down a bit and she bent her legs then he could easily...
But no.
No, grinding against each other like this would get them both where they needed to go.
The material they were wearing now was so forgiving. He could feel the heat coming off her against him. In fact, he gave a groan, he could feel more than just heat. The sensation against the underside of his cock that was rubbing against her wasn't just of heat and the soft material, it was wet. Ginny was wet. He'd made her get that way.
The more they ground against each other the less inhibited he grew. Without asking permission he tugged up her top and put his bare hand against her breast. Oh, it was so soft. He could feel her pert nipple as he kneaded her there. He pinched it gently between his fingers and earned a gasp from her. The accompanying thrust from her and the way she grabbed his hips harder to grind against him told him that she quite liked that.
He did too. A lot.
A moment later and he couldn't hold it back anymore.
She gripped his hips hard and kept writhing against him as he milked the last of his finish. Before he had come down from his high she too was giving a loud groan and a delighted shiver. He could feel a rush of moisture against his waning erection and wished he could feel it properly.
He was dazed and sated, but he still wanted to touch her there.
Harry had heard that women could have more than one orgasm in a row, it was just men that needed to wait in between.
Before he lost his nerve he lay on his side beside her and dipped his hand under her bottoms to cup her sex.
Ginny gasped but didn't push his hand away. Instead she arched her back and rocked against his hand. She wanted him to touch her!
That non-verbal permission given he explored her with his fingers, his eyes growing wide with what he was feeling. There was so much moisture between her legs, and it was so soft and warm. He slipped two fingers along her folds and moved them back and forth, just like he did with his cock when he was on top of her, the moved so easily with how lubricated they were. Putting a little more pressure there the tops of his fingers dipped inside her slightly. The sensation from that sent a jolt through his whole body. It was just his fingers that were there and it already felt incredible he could only imagine how amazing it would feel if it was another part of himself eager for a visit.
He kept stroking his fingers back and forth along her lower lips, dipping his fingers inside her every third pass.
Ginny whimpered and mewed in appreciation.
He started dipping his fingers inside her every second pass, then every. Pushing is fingers in and out of her deeper and deeper until he couldn't anymore. It was incredible how hot and accommodated his fingers were. Just two of them inside her being pressed in upon tightly by her walls.
He lowered himself down the bed some more so his head was in line with her breasts. If she had enjoyed him playing with her breast earlier using his hand, maybe she'd enjoy him using his mouth there while his hand was otherwise occupied.
"Lift your shirt," he essentially commanded.
Ginny didn't hesitate. She didn't just lift her shirt, she took it off completely. He couldn't see much in the darkness, but he could feel her.
Getting himself into a slightly more comfortable position he buried his face in her chest as he kept working her over with his hand. He nuzzled, nipped and sucked all over her breasts and that coupled with the feel of her moaning and writhing, working her hips against his fingers in the desperate manner she currently was, it was making his arousal return faster than he thought possible.
Her hands buried in his hair, clutching his locks with her fingers as he felt her clutch around his own fingers as well. Her back arched and there was another rush of moisture that met his hand.
He'd got her to cum again.
As she relaxed back against the mattress he withdrew his fingers. He climbed back up her body and kissed her deeply then.
"That was," she started weakly and didn't manage to say anymore.
"Yeah, it was," he agreed.
He settled down beside her. She was still topless so he shucked his own shirt off as well and put it down at the bottom of the bed with his cloak, wanting to feel her bare skin pressed against his own. Before he could allow himself to simply lay there and enjoy the feel of her he set his tempus alarm to wake him around five a.m. so he could sneak back to his own dorm before anyone woke.
They fell asleep snuggled together with gentle caresses and he didn't have any dreams of long corridors or mysterious doors that night.
()()()
Climbing onto the Hogwarts Express at the end of the year had usually been one of the things he looked forward to the least, but now that everyone knew about Voldemort being alive and he and Dumbledore having told the truth, Harry was ready to hide out at number 4 Privet Drive for a few weeks until he could be freed again.
Sirius' loss was sticking with him hard. Ginny had been supportive, as had his friends, but it was still weighing on him heavily. If only he had remembered Snape's roll in this whole thing then Sirius might still be there.
"Alright, mate?" Ron asked while they found a compartment to themselves.
"Yeah. Yeah, fine," Harry dismissed his concern.
"Oi," Ron said looking out the window. "Isn't that Corner over there with Cho?"
Harry looked at the window alongside Ginny and Hermione. It looked like Michael was making an attempt at getting close to Cho but wasn't getting anywhere.
"I thought he was dating you," Ron said to Ginny.
"What?!" Ginny laughed. "We haven't been together since January!"
Christmas, technically, Harry corrected in his mind.
"Oh, good," Ron said with some finality as he settled back into his seat. "Maybe you'll choose someone better next time." He inclined his head heavily in Harry's direction.
Harry's eyebrows went up at this and he exchanged a look with Hermione who was shaking her head at Ron. Ron wanted Harry and Ginny together? That was news to him.
He didn't dare look at Ginny then though for fear that he might give it away that Ginny already had chosen.
There was a knock at the compartment door, it was Cho. She'd gotten there rather quickly from the platform. She gave Harry a weak smile through the glass and slid the door open, "hey, Harry."
"Er, hello," he replied courteously.
"Erm, do you mind if we have a chat?"
"Um," he searched around in his brain for a reason why he would not be able to stand up and walk four paces out of the compartment to chat with her.
"I mind," Ginny said pointedly to Cho.
Cho gave her a look as though to ask where Ginny got off even speaking to her. "It's nothing to do with you," she said.
"I believe my boyfriend had something to do with me, so no, you can't chat with him," Ginny told her straight.
"Your boyfriend?!" Cho asked.
"Your boyfriend?" Ron thundered.
Harry was grinning at Ginny then though. It might have been the first proper smile he'd had on his face in weeks. "Your boyfriend?" he asked happily.
"Well, Ron did just give us his blessing. Why not let them know," she grinned back.
Harry didn't care then that his best friends were watching, he slid closer to Ginny and gave her a kiss which she returned enthusiastically while Ron protested and Cho gave a huff before slamming the door shut.
()()()