Search:

SIYE Time:8:53 on 29th March 2024
SIYE Login: no


The Closet
By Peskipiksi

- Text Size +

Category: Post-OotP
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Angst, Fluff
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 41
Summary: Mrs. Norris has our favorite couple trapped in a closet in the middle of the night. What to do, what to do? A smidge of angst, tons and tons of fluff.
Hitcount: Story Total: 7275







ChapterPrinter


Disclaimer: Hers, not mine.
--------------------------------------- ------------------

Hermione Granger woke with a start.

What was that?!

She sat up in her bed and pulled back one of the bed curtains, her wand already in hand. The room was pitch-black around her, the only sounds to be heard the soft breathing of Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, her dorm-mates.

Hermione listened hard, holding her breath. Ten seconds went by. Nothing. Another ten seconds. Still nothing.

“Must have been a dream,” she told herself. Nightmares weren’t all that uncommon these days, not for anybody, least of all Hermione and her closest friends. They had all seen things no kids their age should have to see, and those things had a way of coming back in the night.

Still, Hermione only began to truly relax when Crookshanks, her ginger-colored cat, stood up from his place at the foot of her bed, stretched his long body and came purring to curl up in her lap. Hermione sighed as she scratched him between his ears. If Crookshanks was in a cuddly mood, it likely meant there wasn’t any danger abroad.

Hermione reached for the small clock on her nightstand.

“Lumos,” she whispered, and the end of her wand emitted a small light onto the face of the clock.

2:13 AM. Great. And it would take her forever to get back to sleep. She placed the clock back on the table.

Bad dreams still on her mind, Hermione gently pushed Crookshanks off her legs and stood up. She wrapped her night robe around her and stepped into her slippers. Watching the closed curtains surround Parvati and Lavender’s beds, she quietly padded her way to the door.

As long as she was up, she might as well check on Ginny.

Ginny suffered the most from the nightmares, except maybe for Harry. And Hermione had made it something of a routine to check on her in the night. Many times, when they had shared a room at the Burrow or Grimmauld Place, Hermione had had to wake Ginny from the dreams that haunted her. It was harder to help her when they were at Hogwarts, since they slept in different rooms, but Hermione did her best.

Her wand still out (sheer force of habit), she made her way down the spiral staircase to the floor below. Gently, she pushed open the door to the 6th Year girls’ dorm.

The girls had neglected to shut the curtains over their window, letting the moonlight stream in, illuminating the room with a soft silvery light. Hermione’s eyes went straight to Ginny’s bed.

Open curtains.

Empty bed.

“Don’t panic,” Hermione told herself.



“Ron. Ron! Wake up!”

“Wa...?”

Ron Weasley jerked himself from dreams of Hermione (unfortunately not one of the fun ones...in this one she was nagging him to study for the N.E.W.Ts) to find the real thing sitting on his bed in the middle of the night, shaking his arm with an extremely worried look on her face.

He sat up immediately.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Shhhh...We don’t want to wake everyone,” she whispered, glancing around fearfully.

“What is it, then?” Ron asked, more confused than ever. This was so unlike Hermione. How many times had he teased her, daring her to come to his bed at night? Of course, she never had, perfect we-are-the-Head-Girl-and-Head-Boy-and-we -must-set-the-example girl that she was, (and he loved her for it), but now here she was, and this definitely not how he had imagined it. Something was wrong.

“I can’t tell you here. Get up and come downstairs. Quickly.”

Ron knew it would be no use to press further now.

“What about Harry?”

Hermione thought for a second.

“Yes, him too. Tell him to bring his cloak, and the map.”

She stood up and left the room as quietly as she had come.

Trying not to panic, Ron rolled out of bed and stepped across the floor to Harry’s bed. Pulling the curtains aside, he saw his best friend sleeping, for once, peacefully. But now was not the time for mercy.

He grabbed Harry’s arm the same way Hermione had grabbed his and started to shake it.

“Harry. Harry! Wake Up!”



Two minutes later, Harry Potter stumbled into the common room behind Ron, his Father’s invisibility cloak clutched in his arms. The room was dim, the candles extinguished and the fire burned down to embers. A cold sense of dread enveloped him. What was all this about?

Hermione paced in front of the fire, clutching her robe closed around her. When she saw Harry and Ron, she flew to them.

“Harry, let me see the map,” she said without preamble.

“I don’t have it.”

She looked at him, her eyes wide.

“What?”

“I don’t have it. Ginny does.”

“Why does she have your map?”

“Er…” Harry looked at Hermione a bit sheepishly. “You remember how Filch’s office was filled with soap bubbles last week? Ah…that was us. We used the map, and I haven’t gotten it back from her since.”

Hermione closed her eyes and let out a small sigh.

“What’s the big deal?” Harry asked. “You can go wake her now if you need it…”

“Ginny’s missing.”

“WHAT!?” Ron yelled. Harry’s voice had left him.

“Shhh, I mean she’s not in her bed,” said Hermione quickly. “I went to check on her, and she’s not there.”

“What do you mean, she’s not there!? Where else...” Ron went on, but Hermione spoke over him.

“Don’t panic. Don’t panic! We don’t know that anything’s wrong, Ron.”

Telling Ron not to panic was futile. He most certainly was going to panic.

“What do you mean? Of course something’s wrong. She’s been taken! She’s been targeted before...We have to go to Dumbledore….wake everyone up!”

Ron started for the common room entrance, but Hermione grabbed him and held him back. Harry stood frozen where he was. He was experiencing painful flashbacks to their second year, and he knew Ron was, too. Hermione hadn’t been there. She didn’t know.

“Ron, I’m almost positive she wasn’t taken,” Hermione said quickly. Harry looked at her in amazement. How could she be so calm?

“Her house robe & slippers were gone. So was her wand. Those things would still be there if someone had nabbed her. Plus, none of the other girls were awake. Someone would have heard something.”

Ron looked at her hopefully.

“So what exactly do you think happened?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she went out for some reason and didn’t tell any of us.”

Harry finally spoke.

“She wouldn’t do that. It’s too dangerous.”

Hermione sighed.

“Yes, it is. That doesn’t mean she didn’t do it. You know Ginny takes risks sometimes. And the fact that she has the map makes it that much more likely.”

Yes, Harry thought, Ginny did take risks sometimes. Just like Sirius. He quashed that thought quickly.

“I still say we go to Dumbledore,” Ron said. “She’s not safe out there alone.”

Harry nodded his head in agreement, but Hermione was hesitant.

“But…what…what if she’s not alone? What if she went to meet someone? She’d never forgive us…”

Harry’s heart plunged.

“What, do you mean a BOY?” Ron asked, his face turning dangerously red. “Is Ginny seeing someone without telling us again? Bloody hell, Hermione!”

“No…I don’t know…she never talks to me about those things anymore,” Hermione said uncertainly. “It just popped into my head as a possibility. But I think we should look for her ourselves, first, before we go and get her into unnecessary trouble and embarrassment.”

Ron growled, his fists clenched at his sides.

“If she is out there meeting some prat, she’s going to have all the trouble she can handle from me, I promise.”

Then his face fell.

“Well, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it quick. I want her back here, safe. Now.”

Harry couldn’t agree more.

“Right,” he said, trying not to think of Ginny out there snogging some jerk senseless. “We should split up, to cover ground more quickly.”

“Agreed,” said Hermione. “Harry, you take the cloak. Ron and I can always say we’re making rounds or something if we get caught.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed. “Ron, you take the towers & the Owlery. Hermione, you take the library and the classrooms on the lower floors. I’ll cover the dungeons.”

“What should we do if we find her?” asked Ron. “We need a way to signal each other.”

“The coins!” Hermione said, and suddenly disappeared up the girls’ staircase.

For the few moments she was gone, the Common Room was filled with a quiet tension. Harry met Ron’s eyes, and knew without either of them having to say a word that they were both thinking the same thing.

Please. Not again!

Minutes--or maybe hours--later, Hermione re-emerged, clutching three of the fake Galleons they had used to signal secret meetings of the DA in their Fifth Year. She handed one each to Ron and Harry.

“Let’s keep it simple. ‘1’ is for ‘I’ve found her safe, head back to Gryffindor.’ ‘2’ is for ‘Raise hell, there’s trouble.’ Okay?”

“Okay,” said Ron. Harry could tell he was still on the verge of going ballistic. Harry didn’t feel too cheery himself, come to think of it.

“Right, then,” he said. “Let’s go. Move quick, meet back here in twenty minutes, tops. If we haven’t found her, we’ll go to Dumbledore, right?”

“Right,” Ron and Hermione agreed.

They climbed through the portrait hole and moved down the corridor, leaving the Fat Lady snoring happily behind them. At the corner, Harry pulled on the cloak and they all went their separate ways.




“Oh, god, oh god, oh god, oh god.”

The mantra kept running through Harry’s head as he almost ran down the stairs to the dungeons.

The sense of dread that had started to build inside him from the moment Ron had shaken him awake had now reach a feverish pitch. He knew--he just knew that something was wrong with Ginny. She wasn’t really sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet some guy, was she? Surely not. Surely he’d know if there was anyone…like that…for her.

But if there was a guy, said guy was about to get his brains bashed in.

But of course, there was no guy. There couldn’t be.

So the only explanation was that she was again in the clutches of Voldemort.

“No, no, no, no, no, no.”

As he reached the top of the final staircase down into the dungeons, Harry forced himself to slow down. This was where Snape lived. And the stinking Slytherins with their Junior Death-Eaters skulking about. He would have to be careful.

Oh, god. What would he do if Ginny had been taken? She was the only…

His scar was quiet, but that was no sure sign anymore. Harry had mastered the art of Occulmency over the past year. Voldemort could be torturing Ginny right now, and Harry might never know.

He fought back panic and moved quickly down the dimly-lit hallway towards Snape’s classroom. Prayed he’d find her, guy or no guy. As long as she was okay.

“Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay.”

And suddenly, there she was. Right in front of him. Her unmistakably vivid red hair cascaded down her back as she backed out of Snape’s classroom clutching a piece of parchment in one hand, her wand in the other. She turned around and pulled the door closed quietly behind her. Snick.

Harry felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. He ripped the cloak off his head.

“Ginny!” he hissed.

Ginny gave a quiet squeal and jumped about a foot back. Her face was pale in the candlelight.

“Harry! What in the world? What are you doing down here?”

Harry was so relieved to find her, safe and alive, he just wanted to take her in his arms and hold her. Keep her safe.

But he couldn’t do that. So he got mad instead.




Ginny’s heart was beating about a mile a minute. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Harry suddenly appearing before her in mid-air. She was still recovering from the shock when she realized that for some bizarre reason he was angry with her.

“What am I doing down here? What are YOU doing down here?” he snapped. “We couldn’t find you anywhere…we didn’t know what had happened…” He shoved the cloak into the oversize pocket of his night robes.

“Nothing’s happened, Harry. I’m okay…” Ginny started, but he cut her off.

“Don’t you know it’s not safe out here on your own?” He spat. Then his eyes narrowed. “Unless…you’re not on your own. Have you been meeting somebody?”

His eyes shifted meaningfully to the door she had just shut behind her.

Ginny felt her mouth drop open. Was she hearing this correctly? Was Harry actually accusing her off sneaking off in the middle of the night to snog with some random boy?

That hurt. Especially coming from him. Didn’t he know?

Ginny shut her mouth with a snap. Of course he didn’t know. Stupid, blind Harry. He never changed. She had thought that maybe…but no. He still didn’t see. She struck back.

“Are you a complete idiot?” she hissed, not bothering to keep her voice down. “I’m the only one down here, I promise you. And I’ll have you know I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much. I only came down here to get something…”

“And it couldn’t have waited until tomorrow?”

“No. It couldn’t,” she said, flatly.

“Why didn’t you tell somebody?” Harry wasn’t bothering to keep his voice down, either. “Ron and Hermione and I have been searching the castle for you.”

This seemed to remind him of something, and he reached into the pocket of his bathrobe and pulled out a small coin. He touched his wand to it, and it glowed briefly.

“What are you doing?” whispered Ginny.

“I’m letting them know you’re okay! God, Ginny!” He put the coin back in his pocket and frowned at her. “Ron is worried sick about you. You’re lucky we didn’t go to Dumbledore or McGonagall! You should have brought someone down here with you if you had to come!”

Ginny crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“Look, Harry. Like I said, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. In case you haven’t noticed, I already have six overprotective older brothers who all treat me like a five-year old. I don’t need another one! I thought you understood that! I thought you were my friend! Who do you think you are, to lecture me? You can just...”

But she never got to tell Harry what he could do. At that moment, she felt something brush against her ankle. Looking down, she found herself staring into the lamp-like eyes of Mrs. Norris. She jerked her head up to meet Harry’s shocked expression.

“Filch’s cat!” she hissed.

Mrs. Norris was already gone...Ginny saw her tail disappear around the corner ahead.

“She’s gone to get Filch,” Harry whispered, all traces of anger gone. “Come on!”

He grabbed her arm, and they started to move quickly down the dim corridor. But moments later, Ginny heard the distant voice of Filch. He was in-between them and the staircase they needed to get to, and he was headed their way.

“Damn!” she said as they stopped in their tracks. She looked at Harry. His eyes cast wildly around the hall for a way out.

“Quick!” Harry said, and he moved to open a door just behind them. “In here!” He stepped into a small closet filled with buckets and mops and other sundry cleaning supplies.

Ginny looked at him doubtfully.

“There isn’t enough room!” she whispered.

“Yes, there is!” Harry had squeezed himself to one side. “You can stand right here. Come on, he’s coming!”

Ginny heard Filch’s heavy footsteps, growing louder each moment. That was enough to convince her. She stepped up into the closet, facing Harry, and pulled the door shut behind her.

“Colloportus!” Harry whispered. The door was locked.

About two seconds in, Ginny realized she probably should have faced the other way so that she could lean back into Harry and keep her balance. As it was, she found herself clutching the front of his robe to keep herself from tipping backwards, crashing into the buckets and mops.

Harry seemed to sense her predicament. He put his hands on her upper arms and pulled her a little closer.

Ginny’s heart raced, and she didn’t think it was entirely due to the fact that Filch was now pacing just outside the door, crooning to Mrs. Norris.

“Yes, my sweet. They were just here, weren’t they? They can’t have gone far!”

Ginny could feel Harry’s warm breath on her forehead, could smell soap and something else that was indefinably Harry. Dim candlelight filtered in through the cracks around the door, but for the most part, they were in total darkness. Ginny stared straight ahead at Harry’s shoulder and prayed that they would get out of this. At the same time, she wished that they would have to stay there all night.

Filch was still muttering to Mrs. Norris. Ginny tried to control her breathing as she listened to his voice. Moving farther away, coming back again, and then fading again as he walked past. After a few minutes, his voice disappeared entirely. Ginny started to relax and felt Harry let out a relieved sigh.

They stood in silence for a moment.

Then the doorknob suddenly started to rattle.

Ginny’s breath caught in her throat. Harry’s hands clutched her arms so hard it hurt. But the charm held, and Filch moved on down the hall to the next door.

Ginny’s nerves were shot. She started to shake slightly as Harry loosened his hold. She listened carefully as Filch tried several more doors. Then she heard his voice again, right outside the door.

“They’re not here, my sweet. They must be hiding in one of the rooms down this way. Stay here and guard the hall. We’ll get them, I promise!”

She heard him move off down the corridor, but Mrs. Norris was still presumably pacing outside the door. This was far from over–they were trapped. Still, they could probably relax a little. For now.

Ginny couldn’t help herself–she let her forehead rest against Harry’s shoulder as she let out a shaky sigh, her arms still folded between the two of them.

Harry bent his head and whispered into her ear, very low.

“It’s okay. We’ll be okay.”

He could be so sweet, sometimes. And such a royal pain in the ass at others, she reminded herself. Still, a flood of guilt washed over her.

“Harry?” She asked timidly, lifting her head slightly so he could hear her, but still staring straight ahead so she wouldn’t have to meet his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I’m so sorry. I never should have come down here alone. I didn’t mean to make you worry...” It all came out in a rush.

“It’s okay,” he whispered quickly. “I’m sorry too...I never should have accused you of...and I know you can take care of yourself...I was just so scared...”

Warmth flooded Ginny’s face as she listened to him so openly declare his concern for her. She ducked her head, grateful for the dark, feeling again like a silly eleven year-old with a stupid crush. How did he still do this to her after all these years?

“Don’t do this,” she told herself. “He doesn’t mean it like that. You’re his friend. His buddy. His pal. His fellow prankster. His little sister, even. That’s it. That’s all!”

Damn. It hurt to be so close, and yet so far. Yes, the two of them had gotten to be quite good friends over the past year or so, ever since Ron and Hermione had finally gotten together. He helped her with Quidditch, and she helped him laugh a little with the silly pranks handed down to her from the twins. Sometimes they confessed to each other about the bad dreams that plagued them both at night. But that was all.

“And that’s all there ever will be, no matter how you feel about him,” she told herself firmly. “You don’t want to be another burden to him. Get a grip, Weasley!”

“It’s okay, Harry,” she whispered. “It’s my fault.”

Harry sighed, and they lapsed back into silence.

Every now and then they could hear Mrs. Norris passing outside, purring and rubbing up against the door.

As it always seemed to do in these tense situations, Ginny’s mind went down a bizarre path, with predictable results.

She got the giggles.

She did her best to hold it in, but she had to breathe sometime, didn’t she? A small gasp of laughter escaped, and she buried her face in Harry’s chest to muffle the sounds she couldn’t help from coming out. His bath robe was fuzzy and warm and very soft.

“Ginny?” she heard Harry whisper in amazement. “What the hell?”

Ginny fought to get a hold of herself. She took a deep breath. Then another. Then she lifted her head and looked at Harry. His face was completely puzzled.

“I couldn’t help thinking,” she whispered. “You and I...” Another burst of giggles escaped.

“What?” Harry said, a small smile now creeping across his face, despite the fact that he wasn’t yet in on the joke.

Ginny took another breath. “You and I have both faced down the most evil wizard who ever existed, not to mention scads of Death Eaters, and lived to tell the tale. And here we are!” Ginny giggled again. “Trapped in a broom closet, afraid of a damn cat!”

A large grin spread over Harry’s face as what she had said dawned on him, and then he clapped a hand over his mouth as he started to laugh along with her. A rather loud snort escaped through his nose.

They both totally lost it at this point.

They clung to each other, shaking with mirth. Ginny buried her face in Harry’s chest again, and he bent his head to her shoulder. She could feel his breath coming in hard bursts on her neck, could feel his body vibrate with silent laughter.

Oh, how she loved to make him laugh.

Bang.

Bang.

Ginny and Harry grew still immediately. Someone was shaking the door. Ginny turned her head fearfully.

Bang.

Bang.

There it went again. It seemed like someone was pulling on the door from the outside. But she hadn’t heard the knob rattle this time...

Instinctively, Ginny looked down over her shoulder to the bottom of the door. There she saw a small paw, hooked under the door, trying to pull it open. How many times had she seen Crookshanks pull that same trick, trying to get into (or out of) Hermione’s room?

“It’s Mrs. Norris,” she whispered, still watching the door. “She’s heard us.”

Bang.

Bang.

Damn...that was so loud! Sure enough, here came the sound of Filch’s voice.

Ginny turned with wide eyes to look at Harry. They were caught for sure, now.

Harry was looking at her, too.

And despite Mrs. Norris banging at the door, despite the fact that Argus Filch was now bearing down upon them, despite the fact that they were about to face a month’s worth of detentions and the wrath of McGonagall, she found herself lost in green eyes.

She found she didn’t care very much about Filch, or detentions, or that damn cat.

Faintly, she heard Filch’s voice outside the door.

“What is it, my sweet? Did you hear something? What’s in here?”

Ginny still couldn’t pull her eyes away from Harry’s. They stared at each other, their faces inches apart, as Filch tried the door knob yet again.

There was a rattle of keys, and Filch was trying to force the door open. Harry’s spell held. A pause, then Filch tried another key. No luck. Harry was still staring at her.

He shifted his head slightly towards her, and Ginny stopped breathing all together. She closed her eyes.

Then Harry was kissing her, and Ginny lost all sense of time or place or circumstance.

Softly and tentatively at first, he pressed his lips to hers. She shyly kissed him back, afraid to believe it was really happening. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. She lifted her arms up and around his neck, removing the last space between them.. The kiss deepened, and Ginny finally understood the true power behind eckletricity.

And all the time, Filch was just on the other side, trying different keys, rattling the hell out of the door. Ginny paid him no mind...Filch belonged in another universe, another time. Right here, right now, there was only Harry. And her. Together.

This was not how she had imagined it a million times in her head. Oh, no. This was far, far better. Something like triumph flooded through her body. This was where she belonged...in Harry’s arms. She knew it. She had always known.

Dimly, in the back of her mind, she sensed Filch moving away from the door and down the hall. She guessed he had given up. Whatever.

She had been kissed before, of course. Michael Corner had been her boyfriend for a year, of course they had kissed. But it was nothing like this. Not even close. Because, quite simply, this was Harry. There could never be another.

It was exquisite.

At long last, the kiss ended. Harry buried his face into her neck, as if embarrassed to look her in the face. He held her tightly, his arms wrapped all the way around her small waist, seemingly determined to never let her go. She returned the embrace fully, standing on her tiptoes. You’ll never have to, she promised silently.

They stood like that for what seemed like hours. To Ginny it was nothing short of a miracle. How many times had she dreamed of this? How many years had she loved him from afar, with no hope of his returning her affections? And now, he had kissed her. He had kissed her!

“Ginny?” he said, his voice muffled against her neck. His breath tickled.

Ginny’s heart dropped. There was something about the tone of his voice. Was he regretting it already? She knew it was too good to be true…

“What is it?” she asked fearfully.

He pulled back away from her, and her heart broke a little with every inch he put between them.

“Gin, you…you know about the prophecy,” he whispered, his eyes focused on a spot just above her shoulder.

Ginny nodded. “Yes, I know.”

“So there’s a…a chance…a good chance…I might…I might not make it. I could die, Ginny. I probably will die. I don’t want to hurt you…”

To her shock and dismay, Harry let go of her completely to cover his face with his hands. He gave out a muffled groan of frustration and despair.

“My God. What am I doing? I can’t do this…I won’t do this. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…I never should have let this happen. I just let myself forget for a minute…I…I love you, Ginny, but you need to stay away from me. I can’t give you anything but pain…”

Ginny couldn’t take it anymore. She pried his hands away to replace them with her own, one hand on each side of his face. He opened his mouth to speak, to discourage her, but before he could say anything she had kissed him.

After, she looked up into his face to see if he understood what she was trying to tell him.

His hands came up to cover hers, and he made to pull them away. “Ginny, no…”

So she kissed him again. This time, she held the kiss longer, forcing him to accept it. His resistance grew weaker until finally he was returning the kiss, his arms around her again. Only then did Ginny break the connection.

“Harry, you dolt.” She whispered in his ear. “Don’t you know that nothing could cause me more pain than to live my life without you?”

“But…”

“No, Harry,” she said firmly. “This is not a decision you get to make, okay? It’s my decision, and my decision alone. I want to be with you. I know what the risks are, and I accept them. I don’t care if it’s only for a year…a month…hell, an hour! I just want to be with you for as long as I can be.”

“Ginny…”

She still saw doubt in his eyes.

“For God’s sake, Harry! Be selfish for just this once! Take me, enjoy me, let me love you! Please, Harry.”

He looked at her, and she met his gaze with an unflinching stare. Slowly and reluctantly, a small smile crept over his face.

“Okay, boss,” he whispered.

She smiled back at him. She had a feeling this wasn’t the last time they would have this conversation. In fact, they would probably have it quite a few times. She knew Harry would try to protect her at all costs, and he would think pushing her away would be the best way to do that.

That was okay. She could convince him again. And again. As many times as she needed to. Now that she knew he loved her, nothing would keep her away, even Harry himself.

“Besides,” she whispered. “I know in my heart of hearts that you’re going to win, Harry. You’re going to find a way to defeat Voldemort. And then you’ll be stuck with me for good.”

His grin broadened.

“You think so, huh?”

“I know so, Harry. I believe in you.”

He wrapped her into a hug so tight she was almost unable to breathe.

“Just promise me one thing?” he said a minute later.

“What is it?”

“Don’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

“Why?” she pulled back to look at him again.

“Because of who I am. You’re already in more danger than you should be, just by being my friend and a Weasley. Can you imagine what they would do to you if they found out how I feel about you? I never meant this to happen. I never meant to put you this much at risk. But now it has, and I don’t regret it, but I still want to keep you as safe as possible. The only way to do that is to keep this an absolute secret.”

Ginny sighed. She had never considered the danger of being close to Harry as even being a question. She knew that none of them did. It simply didn’t matter--he was worth it. But of course, Harry wouldn’t see it that way.

“I promise,” she said simply. She didn’t care about the rest of the world. If Harry wanted it to be a secret, it would be a secret.

He bent his head to hers, and they sealed the promise with a kiss.

Then Harry rested his forehead against hers, and they stood like that, their arms wrapped around each other, for several minutes.

“We should go,” she said finally.

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Harry said.

Neither of them moved.

Finally, Ginny laughed. “Harry, I can’t go anywhere until you break that charm you put on the door.”

“Yeah?” Harry smiled mischievously. “That’s good to know.” And he pulled her in for another kiss.

Ginny didn’t mind a bit.

But just seconds later, Harry broke off the kiss abruptly.

“Oh, no.”

“What is it?”

“Ron and Hermione! They’re going to kill us! Ginny, I’m sorry, but we really do have to go. Ron was so worried about you…”

“Okay,” Ginny agreed reluctantly. “Let’s check the map for Filch, first, though.”

She pulled out the map, and Harry lit his wand.

“Okay, he’s up near the Owlery, and Mrs. Norris is with him, so we’re clear,” she whispered.

“Do you see Ron and Hermione?” Harry asked.

Ginny scanned the parchment, and her eyes landed on the Gryffindor common room. She giggled.

“Yep,” she whispered. “There they are, see?” She pointed to two dots labeled “Hermione Granger” and “Ron Weasley.” The two dots were practically on top of each other.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I can see my dear brother is beside himself with worry. The two of them are probably snogging each other senseless!”

“Well,” said Harry, who seemed to feel the need to defend his best friend. “I did send them the all-clear signal awhile ago, after all. He was really worried before. Besides, nothing wrong with a little snogging now and then, is there?”

Ginny smiled up at him.

“Don’t start that again, Potter, or we’ll be here all night.”

“Sounds good to me, Weasley,” he said, and went to kiss her again. Ginny pushed him away as well as she could in the confined space.

“Harry!” she protested, laughing.

“Okay, okay,” he sighed, pretending to be put out. Pointing his wand at the door knob, he whispered the incantation to reverse the locking spell.

They stepped out into the corridor cautiously, and shut the door behind them.

“Should we use the cloak, do you think?” Ginny whispered.

“Nah,” Harry said. “You know it won’t cover both of us. We’ll just keep a close eye on the map.”

He took her by the hand and they set off down the corridor. Slowly and silently, they made their way back up to the tower, checking the map at every corner.

When they had finally reached the long corridor leading up the portrait of the Fat Lady and the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, Ginny broke the silence.

“Harry?”

He stopped walking and turned to face her.

“We’re not going to tell anyone about this? At all?”

He nodded, grim. “No one, Ginny. I wish it didn’t have to be like that, but we can’t tell anybody. Not even people we trust. Voldemort has a way of forcing information out of people, even when they’re determined not to give it. You know that, Ginny. I won’t risk it.”

“Yes, but…” Ginny hesitated. “What about Ron and Hermione? How in the world are we going to keep this from them? After all, the four of us spend so much time together…”

Harry looked as though he hadn’t considered this. He thought for a moment, then said, “I guess you’re right. We can tell them…they’d figure it out, anyway. But no one else, right?”

“Right,” Ginny agreed, relieved. She hadn’t fancied the idea of keeping this from Hermione. In fact, she couldn’t wait to talk to her best friend…it had been so long since they’d had a good ‘girl talk.’ Until now, it had just been too painful for Ginny to hear about Hermione’s happiness while her own love had to remain hidden.

They started walking again.

“Let’s not tell them tonight, though, okay?” Harry whispered.

Ginny looked at him with a smirk on her face.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of my brother, Harry!” she teased.

“Actually, no, I’m not. In fact, I have pretty good reason to guess that Ron’s going to be happy about this little…er…development.”

Ginny just looked at him, shocked. He shot her a sheepish grin.

“He’s been pushing me to do this for months, now. He guessed how I felt a long time ago. Before I even realized it myself, I think. And well, he’s been rather annoying about it, to tell the truth.”

Ginny laughed. “Remind me to be extra nice to Ron from now on, okay?”

They had reached the portrait. The Fat Lady was still snoring away.

“So why aren’t we telling them tonight?” Ginny asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry said and shrugged. “I just want to keep it between the two of us, just for tonight.”

“Okay,” Ginny whispered. That was sweet. “Well, you’d better give me my goodnight kiss now, then. They’re waiting for us on the other side.”

She didn’t have to ask twice. Harry took her in his arms and she happily drifted away.

“Ahem.”

Harry and Ginny broke apart to find the Fat Lady staring at them, her eyebrow raised. They grinned guiltily at her, and then each other.

“Double, Double, Toil & Trouble,” Harry said, and the portrait swung forward.

They crawled through to find Ron stretched out on the couch in front of the fire, Hermione lying comfortably on his chest.

They were both fast asleep.

“Aww…” whispered Harry. “I almost hate to wake them.”

Ginny smiled at them fondly.

“I know what you mean,” she agreed. “Hermione would never forgive us, though, if we let them be found like this in the morning. After all, they are The-Head-Boy-and-The-Head-Girl-and-must- set-the-example and all that rubbish.”

Harry laughed.

“I suppose you’re right.”

Ginny crossed over to the couch, and gently shook first Hermione, then Ron, awake. They sat up, confused and embarrassed and still half-awake.

“Ginny? Harry?” Ron started groggily. “Wha…where have you been? Ginny, are you okay?”

Hermione just squinted at the two of them, as if trying to remember why they were all there in the middle of the night.

“I’m fine. And I’m sorry for worrying you both. I’ll explain everything in the morning, okay? For now let’s just get to bed. It’s already past 3:30.”

“Okay,” Ron agreed sleepily. He stood up and stretched, his long form towering above the rest of them. Then, much to Ginny’s surprise, he swept her up in a huge bear hug.

“Just don’t ever disappear like that again, okay?” He admonished her.

Ginny, startled by this unusual show of affection, and remembering what Harry had told her just minutes before, swallowed the sassy retort that had bubbled up in her throat.

“I promise I won’t,” she said meekly instead, and hugged him back.

He released her, bent to give Hermione a quick peck on the cheek, and headed towards the boy’s staircase. Harry trailed behind him. Hermione stood up, still half-asleep, and headed for the girl’s staircase. Ginny followed.

At the bottom of the stairs, she stopped and looked behind her. Harry was looking back at her, too.

They shared a smile, then headed up to bed. Ginny knew that tonight, only good dreams would come.
Reviews 41
ChapterPrinter




../back
‘! Go To Top ‘!

Sink Into Your Eyes is hosted by Grey Media Internet Services. HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related characters are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2001-2006. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions on this site are those made by the owners. All stories(fanfiction) are owned by the author and are subject to copyright law under transformative use. Authors on this site take no compensation for their works. This site © 2003-2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Special thanks to: Aredhel, Kaz, Michelle, and Jeco for all the hard work on SIYE 1.0 and to Marta for the wonderful artwork.
Featured Artwork © 2003-2006 by Yethro.
Design and code © 2006 by SteveD3(AdminQ)
Additional coding © 2008 by melkior and Bear