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A Good Night's Sleep | ||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Comedy, Fluff Warnings: Sexual Situations Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 59 Summary: Ginny discovers she has a unique method of helping Harry escape his nightmares. Hitcount: Story Total: 16839 |
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by Sir Ollivander The sequel to "Those Quidditch Hands" (Harry's turn) A/N: J.K. Rowlings owns the brilliant works of Harry Potter. I’m just borrowing them. My only profits are your reviews. My thanks to Jessie and my sincerest appreciation to Lady G for beta reading my story. And I did change the ending. The original kiss wasn't good enough. She tossed. She turned. She rolled over. She fluffed her pillow. She tried counting flying sheep. But no matter what she did, Ginny Weasley could not fall asleep. She knew it must have been past midnight, but time didn’t care. And lying in bed wasn’t going to help. What she needed was a mug of hot chocolate, so she dragged herself out of bed and staggered downstairs. The squeak from stepping on the fifth step brought her attention to how quiet the house was. Everybody must have been sound asleep. Everybody but her. As she stepped onto the first floor and moved towards the kitchen, she saw the last remnants of the fireplace in the living room. It cast a dim but warm glow over the furniture. Everything looked quiet and peaceful. On the other hand, the scruff of black hair on the arm of the sofa was out of place. With a house full of redheads, it had to be Harry. And he was moving. “Harry, why are you down here so late?” she whispered cautiously. No answer. And his head kept moving…strangely. So she softly walked around to the front of the sofa to fully see him. Harry was half sitting, half lying on the end of the couch. His eyes were clenched shut and he shook about his head and shoulders. Almost like twitching. Harry was having a nightmare and obviously, it was a bad one. Ginny’s heart started to grieve as she watched the love of her life fight another nightmare. He had been through enough. And now, even when asleep, he still couldn’t escape his troubles. Forgetting about the hot chocolate or trying to get any sleep, she knelt down next to him and tried to wake him with a gentle shake of his shoulder. “Harry, wake up. It’s okay.” But he remained asleep. After another quick shake that still didn’t rouse him, she began to worry. “Harry, it’s okay. I’m right here. Can you hear me?” Waiting for a reply, she lightly brushed his forehead, moving his messy hair out of his face. She caressed his eyebrows and brushed her fingers over his scar, which looked more like a birthmark than a curse. Though Harry didn’t answer her, his twitching and shaking lessened. While running her fingers through his jet-black hair, caressing it so softly, something she would never have done a few years ago if he was awake, she kept whispering to him. “It’s all right. You can go to sleep now. I’m here to watch over you.” As she talked quietly to him while caressing his hair, the shaking stopped. Shortly thereafter she could tell his breathing was long and slow. Harry’s nightmare had ended and he finally drifted off into a deep sleep. After several moments of watching him and touching him lighting on his arms and head, Ginny realized that she was actually getting tired and remembered why she came downstairs in the first place. She sure didn’t need a mug of hot chocolate now. At the same time, she didn’t want Harry to remain sleeping in the living room. There weren’t any blankets or warmers in the room that she could see with the remaining light from the dying fire. Harry needed to go to bed. With a little determination, Ginny stood up and shook Harry’s shoulders one last time to wake him. He stirred and said something she couldn’t make out. “Come on Harry, you need to go to bed.” He moved a bit. This time she took his arms and gave him a pull to get him to stand up. With a lot of coaching, he made it up on his feet, still very sleepy. She realized she was going to have to do this the hard way. Grabbing his arms from behind him, she slowly guided him towards the staircase while telling him what to do. “That’s it. Keep walking. One foot in front of the other. Now step up on the stairs, that’s good. Now again…” And Ron’s room where Harry slept was on the fifth landing! After what seems like hours, they stopped on the fourth landing, past Ginny’s room. She was making good progress with Harry. Thinking ahead she wondered how she was going to actually get him into bed. Could she just push him into the bedroom and close the door, trusting that he could make it the rest of the way? Or would she have to go into Ron’s room and physically put him in bed? Harry’s next bout of trembling interrupted Ginny’s thoughts. It worked once before she thought, why not try it again? This time Ginny leaned into Harry’s back, wrapping her arms around him, while running her hands up and down his chest, whispering to him. As he stood half-asleep, he shook but it slowly subsided. At this rate, neither of us will get any sleep tonight. Ginny thought. At the thought of not getting any sleep, a new plan developed in her head, but then just as quickly went out the “No Way” window. Did she dare? Oh, this is silly. she thought. I’m not going to attack him or anything. He’s in no condition to do anything to me anyway. But she smiled at that thought anyway. Justifying her thoughts, Ginny turned Harry around and led him down the stairs. This time she walked in front of him. A few steps later, they were at the landing and in front of her bedroom door. With a serious breath, she opened it, guided Harry in, and closed the door behind her. For a moment she stood there thinking of what she was going to do, looking at Harry, then at her bed in the dim light. Ginny felt committed to follow her plan. With efficiency, she guided Harry into bed, pushing him over to the wall to give herself enough room. She quickly dismissed the thought of putting on something more decent and conservative and crawled into bed behind Harry. Ginny scooted up next to him and put her arm over his side to hold him. She could tell he was sleeping, well, without any trace of a nightmare. The last thing she thought of before falling asleep was what her mother would think of her. *** The early morning sunlight entering her bedroom window woke Ginny up. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but black. They were both in the same position that they fell asleep in. Ginny was curled up behind Harry, facing the back of his head. Still holding him, she thought about last night and of her actions. She was having second thoughts until she remembered another nightmare episode with Harry in the middle of the night. In the darkness of her bedroom, something woke Ginny up. Something in bed, in front of her, was moving. Then she remembered she positioned Harry in her bed and it was Harry who was shaking. He was having another nightmare. Being in a more intimate position, she hugged herself closer against his back and caressed his chest with her arm over him, all the while talking softly to him as before. “You’re safe, Harry. Nothing’s going to get to you. They would never think of looking for you here. I’ll protect you. Go back to sleep. I’ll watch over you." And just like clockwork, as soon as she started talking, Harry calmed down and the shaking stopped. She continued until she could hear, and now feel against her chest, his long and slow breaths. He was sleeping peacefully again. Ginny adjusted her head more comfortably and went back to sleep. Observing the last few weeks that Harry was a late sleeper, Ginny carefully rolled out of bed, put her night robe over her gown, and left the room, heading for the kitchen and a morning cup of tea. Downstairs, she found her mother just putting on the pot of water to boil. “Morning, Mum,” she sleepily greeted her. “Good morning, dear, “ her mother replied, sounding a bit more rested than her. “Ready for a spot of tea?” “Yes, please.” So her Mum added a second cup next to hers and continued with her preparations. As she did, they heard someone else walking down the stairs. Ron came around the banister into the kitchen and then gave the living room a long look-over. “Have you two seen Harry? He’s not in bed and I just came from the loo,” he spoke up. Mum answered first. “No, Ron, I haven’t seen him. I thought I was up first. Did you see him, Ginny?” While thinking about her response, Ron answered before her. “He’s not dressed yet.” Ron started walking around the living room trying not to miss anything. “His clothes are still in our room.” He stopped to look out a window as if Harry went outside in his pajamas. “Maybe you should wake up Fred and George to help you look for him,” Mrs. Weasley thought out loud. “Just in case he did go outside.” At this escalation, Ginny started to panic. The last thing she needed, or even Harry for that matter, were to have the twins teasing them for the rest of their lives. She couldn’t get them involved, so she finally spoke up. “That…won’t be necessary,” she stated almost in a whisper. Mum and Ron looked at her expecting a little more of an explanation. Looking sheepishly, she added, “He’s asleep…. in my room.” Shocked, but not sure at who yet, Ron’s mouth froze in an open position not knowing what to say. Mum’s face, on the other hand, changed from a perplexed expression, to seriously concerned, to a waiting-for-an-explanation look. Ginny knew she wasn’t going to get out of this so easily so she had to start thinking. Stick to the facts; don’t get emotional, thought Ginny. Looking at both of them, she said, “Don’t look so shocked. It’s nothing like that. I couldn’t sleep and came downstairs for a hot chocolate and found Harry sleeping on the couch having a nightmare.” Ron recovered enough at this revelation to agree with Ginny. “So you saw him shaking all over, uh?” Mum had to look at Ron this time. “You know Harry’s having nightmares?” asking in surprise. “Yea. I woke up a few times and saw him talking and shaking in his sleep. Sometimes I can tell him to stop and go back to sleep. He doesn’t mention it to me but I think he knows I know. It seems kinda personal to him. That’s why I haven’t told anybody else.” Reinforcement was just what Ginny needed. Now her story didn’t sound so bad. She continued to explain how she tried to get Harry back upstairs and he kept having nightmares. But talking to him and holding him always calmed him down. And since she couldn’t get him back into his own bed in Ron’s room, she put him in her bed. She wasn’t about to add the fact that there was a second, unmade bed in her room, used by Hermione when she stayed over. “Harry had another attack after he got to sleep so I sat next to him and kept talking to him and holding him. It worked again and he fell back to sleep. He was still asleep when I got up,” she added. “I think it’s the first time in a long while he got a good night’s sleep. I doubt if he knows where he’s sleeping right now.” Ron appeared to be more concerned for Harry to understand what his baby sister just said; that the two of them spent the night in bed together. Her Mum didn’t seem to be too upset but still had that concerned look on her face. “Hang on, you two,” Ginny continued. “Harry is going through some bad times. Nightmares prove that,” nodding at her brother for confirmation. “If I could help him get to sleep without any nightmares for just one night by being with him and talking to him, it was worth trying, wasn’t it?” “I don’t see any harm in what you did for Harry,” the Weasley matriarch replied with a knowing look. “But I’m not too fond of the idea of you two sharing a bed like that. I understand what you did and why you did it. Next time, you should just throw a blanket over him and stay in the living room with him.” Ginny heard what sounded like the conversation coming to an end. “Yes, Mum. That would be a better idea.” It always helped to admit your Mum was right. Ron, the occasional git, finally understood what took place and gave Ginny a knowing look. Ginny had just one other problem. The twins. “Now, like I said, Harry is having enough troubles without us adding to them. He doesn’t even talk to Ron about his nightmares.” Looking back at Ron, he did nod in reply. “So having Fred and George find out is not the right thing to do. You know they’ll tease him to death so much that Harry won’t ever want to stay with us again. So we got to keep this quiet. I’m sure Harry doesn’t what everybody to know.” She was talking about his nightmares. But Ginny was also thinking about their shared bedtime together. Her Mum agreed that that was the best course of action right now. Both women looking at Ron convinced him to also comply. With that potential disaster out of the way, Ginny finished her tea and started to leave. “Now what?” her Mum asked. “Well, I’m going back upstairs,” Ginny simply replied. “Harry will probably have a few questions when he wakes up and realizes he’s in my room and not Ron’s. I doubt he’ll remember what happened.” And she started up the stairs before anybody could answer. *** Ginny slowly opened her bedroom door and snuck in. She saw that Harry was still asleep so she removed her night robe and crawled back into bed like she did earlier that morning. About an hour later Harry woke up. When he opened his eyes, he immediately became aware of three things. First, the wall in front of him was not the same as Ron’s ornage room, even without his glasses. Second, the bed was a little more comfortable than he remembered. And third, someone was in bed behind him. When he turned over onto his back to check who could be behind him, he bumped into the person, realizing immediately it was a woman. He looked at her and saw a fuzzy head of red hair looking down at him and the smell of cinnamon tea coming from a smile. “Good morning Harry.” he heard from Ginny. “Sleep well?” Actually, he did and so answered honestly, “Yeah, I did. But, er, are we in your bed?” Afraid he already knew that answer, he did a mental check of his body and concluded he was still wearing his pajamas. “Yes, we are,” Ginny said with that same cinnamon grin and no other explanation. Harry was just going to have to ask her. “Um, I remember walking downstairs and sitting on the couch last night. Could you please tell me what I’m doing here? And how I got here?” Thinking of all the stories she could come up with, she propped her head up on one arm, facing him. She casually laid her other arm on his chest and played with a button on his pajama shirt. “Well, last night…” she started. She explained the previous night’s events just as she told her Mum and Ron in the kitchen, but with more detail and a little more emphasis on certain parts. Those parts included how her touching him calmed him down, the awkward way in which she got him up the stairs, and the discussion where she convinced them not to tell everybody what happened, including the twins. She could feel Harry relax when he found out that he wasn’t in any trouble with her Mum. But she added, “Don’t get too used to my bed,” dropping a hint of conspiracy. “I doubt we could get away with this a second time.” With that statement, Ginny started to climb out of bed. But once on her feet, she stopped, quickly crawled back in, and snuggled up to Harry, wrapping him in a hug, chest to chest, face to face. “Kiss me, Harry.” she said more than asked in a whispered voice. “Wha…” Too late. Ginny leaned in, closed her eyes, and pressed her lips onto his. What she thought starting out as a quick smooch turned into a little something more, with passion and longing. She held on to him a little harder like she didn’t want to let go. It took Harry a few moments to grasp what was happening. He didn’t know what Ginny was up to. However, he did reach around her and held her closer, his lips warming up to hers. Ginny released a slight ‘mmmm’ when she noticed Harry responding to her. They stayed together as one like time was not important. Some moments later, as if on queue, they both slowly ended their kiss. They separated just a few inches, looking at each other’s faces for a reaction. But mostly they looked into each other’s eyes. Harry’s was an emerald green, slightly bright from the sun filtering into the room. He wore a slight smile that Ginny always found adorable. Ginny’s eyes were wide as if she couldn’t believe what she just did, but didn’t regret it one bit. Her chocolate brown eyes were dilated, like she just found a treasure she’d been searching for all her life. Before Harry had a chance to say anything, Ginny rolled away out of bed, grabbed her clothes and headed towards the door. “Wait!” Harry exclaimed. “What was that for?” Stopping for a moment halfway out the door, Ginny stated, “For my reputation, of course!” Seeing his very puzzled look, she responded in a warning tone, “If it ever gets OUT... that I SLEPT... with the famous and handsome Harry Potter... in MY bed,” her voice turning low and sultry, “I can at least admit we did SOMETHING.” Before Harry had a chance to reply to such a line, Ginny smilled the biggest grin and vanished, headed for the bathroom to change clothes. Ende *** A/N: Yes, this is a one-shot story. But if you enjoyed it, please read the sequel "Those Quidditch Hands" (Harry's turn). |
| Reviews 59 |
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