Us by morphin3



Summary: Two chapters of Harry and Ginny's reunion after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Rating: PG starstarstarstarhalf-star
Categories: Post-DH/AB, Post-DH/PM
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2017.09.26
Updated: 2017.09.26


Us by morphin3
Chapter 1: Chapter 1 - Here
Author's Notes:

There were perhaps one or two other instances where Harry was this thankful for his Invisibility Cloak, but as he made his way from the Headmaster’s office to Gryffindor Tower, he could not remember being quite so grateful to be able to pass the Great Hall undetected.

With Ron and Hermione on either side of him, Harry wearily trudged up the stairs to the dormitories. Harry focused on the four poster bed in front of him {it was a bit of a shock, really, to see that this room had remained the same over this year when so much had changed} and barely realized he had removed and folded the Invisibility Cloak and slid his shoes off until he was already climbing into bed. He noticed, belatedly, that Ron and Hermione were both getting into Ron’s old bed, and Harry paused a moment to catch Ron’s eye and raise an eyebrow. Ron rolled his eyes in return and drew the curtains around his bed, and Harry turned to draw his own curtains. In the grey light, Harry’s eyelids felt heavy, and he knew he would be asleep before his head hit the pillow-

“Harry?” A tentative voice came from the foot of his bed.

It was as if all tiredness left him.

Harry’s eyes flew open and he groped for his glasses as he jerked upright. Ginny. She stood inside the curtains, thighs pressed against the bed, staring at him with an inscrutable expression on her face. Her jumper was dirty and had several singe marks on it; dirt and possibly ashes streaked her face and hair, and….and Harry thought she had never looked more beautiful.

Without conscious thought, Harry extended one hand towards her, and Ginny immediately clambered onto the bed. She paused only to kick off her shoes, and then she was working her way under the covers. They lay down at the same time and turned towards each other, just staring. Ginny’s eyes roved his face, and Harry was suddenly aware that his face was probably dirtier than hers, and maybe he should have considered a shower before collapsing.

Before he could move, or think, or do anything to clean his face, Ginny scooted closer to him, flung an arm around him, and buried her head in his chest. Automatically, Harry brought his arm around her and tilted his head down so he could breathe in her scent. Ginny. As Harry held her close, he was struck by just how much he had missed her, how long he had been waiting and hoping that he could hold her again, how much he loved her.

His arm tightened around her, and then he realized that Ginny was trembling, no, not trembling; she was shaking, shaking with tears. Ginny, who hardly ever shed tears, was crying softly and seemed to be saying something against his shirt. Harry pulled back from her and hunched down a bit so their faces were level. Ginny’s eyes were closed and her mouth was moving. Harry leaned closer to catch the words.

“You’re here you’re here you’re here,” Ginny chanted breathlessly, tugging him closer. Harry let himself be pulled, and he straightened his back and wrapped his arms around her again. “We’re both here, Ginny, we’re both here,” he murmured.

Ginny looked up at him, her tears and chants stopping abruptly. She studied him for a moment, her eyes piercing. “I’m going to ask you two questions, and I want two answers from you, and then we can sleep. But you are going to answer me, Harry Potter, understand?” Her voice was low and quiet, and Harry held her gaze, unflinching, as she stared at him. He nodded, and Ginny took a breath before continuing, keeping her voice quiet. “Did you really die?”

Harry caught his breath. He wanted to tell Ginny the truth, but he also didn’t know how to answer without explaining the whole story of the Horcruxes and his mother’s sacrifice, and if Harry was very honest with himself, he wasn’t sure how to describe or categorize his time in King’s Cross with Dumbledore.

But Ginny was still watching him intently, with tears still wet upon her cheeks, and Harry licked his lips before answering.

“I...I think so, Ginny. I don’t know,” he faltered, trying to force his thoughts into something cohesive so his tongue could form words and push out the lump that was suddenly lodged in his throat.

He swallowed - Ginny’s eyes darted to his throat and then back to his eyes - and tried to continue. “I’m not sure what happened, really, in the forest, but I know I had a choice to come back or go on, and… and when I thought...thought of you, I wanted to come back. I mean, I knew that I should come back, that I needed to come back in order to finish off Riddle, but you...god, Ginny, I thought of you and I wanted, so desperately, to come ba-”

He was cut off by Ginny’s mouth as she kissed him hungrily. He kissed her back immediately, spreading his hands to hold her even more tightly. He could feel fresh tears on Ginny’s cheeks, could taste tears on her lips, and he kept on kissing her. Just a few hours ago he had thought he would never see her again, never kiss her again, and yet here she was, alive, in his arms, and despite the saltiness of tears, he thought she had never tasted so sweet.

With a gasp, Ginny stopped kissing him. She didn’t move very far, though, and she filled Harry’s vision. They were both breathing hard, and Harry couldn’t help tilting his head forward and quickly pressing another kiss against her lips. When he pulled back again, he met her gaze and whispered, “What's your second question?”

Ginny smiled then, really smiled, and Harry was struck once again that he had believed he would never see that smile ever again. He moved so he could stroke her cheek with one hand, and her smile widened. She turned her head and quickly kissed Harry’s palm, then looked back at him.

“The second question should be easier to answer, I think, at least right now” she answered with a slight sigh. “Later, will you… will you tell me everything?”

Harry didn’t hesitate this time. “Yes, Ginny. I promise that soon, I will tell you everything.”

He kissed her forehead, then her nose, then her mouth. He felt as though he could continue kissing her, could just keep on kissing Ginny and never want anything else, but as he blinked, he realized that he was about to fall asleep. He broke away from her reluctantly, smiling as Ginny looked up at him.

“You asked your two questions, and I’ve given you two answers, so now-” he stifled an enormous yawn, and Ginny grinned and finished his sentence, “yes, Harry, let’s get some sleep.”

Harry smiled sleepily and pulled the bedclothes up to their shoulders, then wrapped his arm around Ginny again. She snuggled in closer, resting her top arm around Harry’s waist and folding her bottom arm between them. Ginny hesitated, then pressed the palm of her bottom hand against Harry’s chest, right over his heart, over his fresh bruise. Harry blinked at her.

“Is this okay?” Ginny whispered, not meeting his gaze. “I want...I want to feel your heart beating, because it still doesn’t feel real. I want to know, to feel that you’re alive even when my eyes are closed, because when I shut them-” she took a deep steadying breath “-when I shut my eyes, all I see is Hagrid carrying your body, and I want to know that you’re here with me.”

She was blinking back more tears, but she raised her eyes to meet Harry’s, and he recognized that stubborn tilt of her jaw. Harry gazed at her, drinking her in. “I’m here,” he said again. “We’re both here, safe and alive. We’re here, Gin.”

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