Post by orangeballoon on Nov 3, 2005 14:21:45 GMT -5
this story is still a work in progress, but i'm hoping for some feedback. i've had the idea of tackling the harry/ginny ship for a while. i'm particularly interested in the time when they were dating in HBP - JKR doesn't tell us much about their relationship other than the fact that harry is extremely happy. so, i've written this short (only 3 chapters) story just to explore what they might actually be like as a couple. i'm presenting an edgier ginny, but i don't think i'm that far off the type of girl she might actually be. i've also gone the route of trying to show what harry might actually think, being that he is a teenage boy.
i'd like some honest thoughts from anyone who has the time to read through this. i haven't even shown it to kim, my beta, yet so this is rather preliminary. i just want to make sure it's not too choppy plot-wise and i'm not too far off on the characters. (for some reason because i'm taking a canon moment and delving deeper, i feel like i need some confirmation that it's an acceptable.) i'll just post one chapter for now and see if anyone has anything to comment on. i'll add other chapters later on.
ok, i've explained enough. my only warnings are that this is set mid-HBP, so there are references to that book and there are various sexual suggestions included throughout. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 1
Harry walked through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. He, Ron and Hermione had gone to see Hagrid after dinner just to get away from their books for a few minutes. His eyes scanned the room and he found Ginny quickly. She was sitting alone on their preferred couch by the fireplace. Her red hair was languorously draped over the back. She too was reading a book. She tipped her head toward Harry and smiled softly. Ginny uncoiled from the sofa and reached her hands over her head to stretch. Harry watched appreciatively for a moment before he realized what she was wearing.
“Ginny, where did you get that?” he asked slowly.
She put her hand to her mouth and laughed quietly. Standing there in front of Harry, Ginny was proudly wearing a rather large Slytherin house t-shirt over her blue pajama pants. “Draco,” she said matter-of-factly and turned back to her seat.
“What?” Harry spat hoping he had not heard her properly. His blood boiled to wonder why on earth his girlfriend was wearing one of Malfoy’s shirts. His hands were balled into tight fists and he was certain his face must be purple. He felt as though he might have to punch something – preferably something irritating, blonde and stupid. And there she was, just giggling, and rearranging the pillows on the sofa.
“Sit here,” Ginny said patting the seat, “I’ll tell you all about it. It’s pretty funny actually.” Harry slowly made his way across the room eyeing Ginny warily. Hermione looked a little frightened of him and snapped her eyes to the floor when he looked at her. Ron was shaking his head at his little sister disapprovingly. Perhaps he was also thinking about having a go at her for parading around in Malfoy’s Slytherin t-shirt.
Harry dropped his book bag and sat down on the sofa. Ginny sat next to him. With the hearth glowing behind her, her hair looked like it too was on fire. She smiled at him and rested a hand on his leg. One of her fingers absently started tracing circles on his right thigh. Harry fought to suppress a shudder of pleasure. He looked at this pretty girl and wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into. She had just made him extremely angry and then, just as easily, calmed him down with a touch.
“So,” Ginny began, “you know how I play in the Exploding Snap tournaments that the Hufflepuffs started? Well, with all of us fifth years and the seventh years studying for exams, it’s hard to find an open classroom lately. So we moved the games up to the Room of Requirement this week. We sort of got the idea from the DA meetings,” here she smiled up at him brightly. “In any case, Malfoy came in after we had been there about a half an hour.”
“But why, he doesn’t play does he?” Harry asked.
“No,” Ginny said, “but Blaise Zambini and Pansy Parkinson both play.”
Harry scowled and Ginny made a face right back at him. “Oh, Blaise isn’t so bad, you know. He’s just a bit arrogant. I have no patience for Pansy, though. She’s so annoying! Anyway, we were just about to get started on a game – Blaise, Ernie MacMillian, Orla Quirke from Ravenclaw, and me. So Blaise convinced Malfoy to sit a game, but he didn’t have anything to bet. Not that we bet anything huge, but I don’t put down Sugar Quills for nothing. So Malfoy made a big production of taking off his shirt and folding it up nicely. He thought he looked pretty hot. I think he thought he could distract Orla and me by taking his shirt off. No such luck, he’s a terrible player. I won the hand and the shirt. Then two more hands after that.”
Ginny smiled slyly and handed Harry several Chocolate Frogs, a Remembrall, a brand new red quill, and a bracelet of black beads that must have come from Orla. She waved her original Sugar Quill candy at him. Harry was shocked but he smiled. “I was saving the Chocolate Frogs for you,” she said tearing open the wrapper on the Sugar Quill. “I know they’re your favorite. I had to put on the shirt right away, though. It’s just too funny! I know he’s down there in the dungeons just boiling over losing – to Harry Potter’s girlfriend nonetheless!”
Harry’s stomach made a perfect flip-flop. Every time he talked to her she amazed him. Sometimes it was just a little thing, like knowing Chocolate Frogs were his favorite candy. But other times the things she said simply blew him away, like referring to herself as his girlfriend. Ginny was tough but sweet; the perfect combination. She had beaten Malfoy at a game of Exploding Snap and now was modeling her winnings for Harry. He laughed out loud. She really was unbelievable.
Ginny contentedly sucked on her Sugar Quill and took all of her winnings from Harry’s lap to stow back into her book bag. She slid over and seated herself on his lap. Her feet stretched out in front of her on the empty side of the sofa. She put her arms around his neck, careful to hold her lollipop over his head, and kissed him. She tasted sweet like the candy she was eating and her lips were sticky.
“Do you like my presents?” Ginny whispered teasingly. She kissed his cheek and twisted her fingers into his hair.
“Very much,” Harry laughed. He was suddenly incredibly aware of Ron and Hermione seated nearby. There were other groups of students scattered around the room. He wanted very badly for them to all go away right now. He wanted to be alone with her in that Slytherin t-shirt.
She enjoyed doing these sorts of things to Harry in public. It was almost like she was testing him all the time, just to see how far she could push. She was still twisting his hair but she had gone back to reading her Charms textbook. She wasn’t looking at him at all, but he knew she was paying attention nonetheless.
Most of the time, Harry had a hard time trying to figure out what on earth he was actually supposed to do with a girl like Ginny. She was not like other girls – certainly not like a Lavender or a Parvati. She wasn’t silly and giggly all the time. She didn’t gossip and spend all of her time huddled in the corner with the other fifth years talking about boys. The only other type of girl he knew was Hermione, and Ginny wasn’t quite like her either. She was smart, but not overly bookish. She valued a good laugh and a good game of quidditch. Actually, Ginny was quite a bit like all of her brothers except she was much prettier. She was the type of girl you’d end up with in a family full of boys.
Harry could relate to her much better than any of the other girls at school. Even his best friend, Hermione, could be difficult to get at times (Ron had an awfully hard time with Hermione). But Ginny was just easy to understand. She let you know what she was thinking at all times, never holding anything back. Like right now. She was still reading but had taken to running her fingernails up and down Harry’s neck just behind his ear. Harry tipped his head to the side. “Mmm,” he murmured in her ear. She smirked at him and raised her eyebrows expectantly. It was very clear that she was hoping the entire common room would empty out suddenly, too.
Harry let out a frustrated sigh. He couldn’t very well sit here with Ginny on his lap waiting for everyone else to leave. He had homework to do and he knew she was supposed to be studying for a quiz. “Ginny, I have to write an essay for McGonagall. I’ve got a meeting with Slughorn tomorrow to talk about that extra credit assignment he gave me. I want to get this essay done tonight.”
She smiled, not at all offended, but gave his hair one final twist (a bit too hard). She slid away, careful to let her hand trail discreetly across his lap. Harry sucked in his breath and pulled his bag into his lap immediately. Ginny tucked herself into the opposite corner of the sofa and watched him.
“Will you test me on Cheering Charms after you finish your essay?” she asked innocently and stretched her feet out in his direction. Harry nodded mutely and covered his lap in books and parchment. Ginny giggled into her Charms text. Unbelievable, Harry thought.
When Harry regained his composure, he worked his way through the Transfiguration essay. Then he tested Ginny on Cheering Charms. She did quite well so the extra reading time he had forced on her seemed to have helped. Hermione and Ron joined them after a while to get details on beating Malfoy at Exploding Snap. They all had a good, extensive laugh at his expense before they decided to go to bed.
Harry and Ginny said good night at the bottom of the dormitory stairs as they did every night. Usually, they exchanged a few careful kisses and tried not to cause too much of a scene. Tonight, Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled her face into his shoulder. She talked about her Charms quiz, a mundane enough topic, but her lips kept brushing Harry’s neck with little kisses.
“What is with you?” he whispered in her ear.
“Nothing,” Ginny said flippantly. “I’m just teasing you a little bit.”
“A little bit? You’re torturing me! Must be that shirt,” Harry laughed and tugged on the latest Slytherin addition to Ginny’s wardrobe.
She smirked again, “If it is, it’s awfully fun! Besides, you got so fired up about Malfoy. It was kind of cute.”
“Cute?” Now Harry was getting a little angry, “You think it’s cute to make me mad?”
“No!” Ginny protested rubbing his arm. “It was very gallant! You thought something bad happened. I knew you’d get mad until you heard the whole story. Then you laughed and it was all better. It was sort of, well, charming.”
Harry raised his eyebrows. She thought he was cute? He clearly wasn’t anything of the sort. He searched her face but she was smiling up at him. Usually Harry wasn’t so sure of himself, but with Ginny it was easy. He always knew that she was crazy about him. She never tried to hide it. It was kind of nice to know one thing for certain when there was so much other uncertainty in his life. He smiled down at his girlfriend and kissed her deeply, ignoring the other students in the room.
“I’ll see you in the morning, you mad girl,” he said softly. She laughed into his shoulder again and pulled away. He watched her traipse up the girls’ dormitory stairs then turned and headed up the stairs to his own bed.
i'd like some honest thoughts from anyone who has the time to read through this. i haven't even shown it to kim, my beta, yet so this is rather preliminary. i just want to make sure it's not too choppy plot-wise and i'm not too far off on the characters. (for some reason because i'm taking a canon moment and delving deeper, i feel like i need some confirmation that it's an acceptable.) i'll just post one chapter for now and see if anyone has anything to comment on. i'll add other chapters later on.
ok, i've explained enough. my only warnings are that this is set mid-HBP, so there are references to that book and there are various sexual suggestions included throughout. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 1
Harry walked through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. He, Ron and Hermione had gone to see Hagrid after dinner just to get away from their books for a few minutes. His eyes scanned the room and he found Ginny quickly. She was sitting alone on their preferred couch by the fireplace. Her red hair was languorously draped over the back. She too was reading a book. She tipped her head toward Harry and smiled softly. Ginny uncoiled from the sofa and reached her hands over her head to stretch. Harry watched appreciatively for a moment before he realized what she was wearing.
“Ginny, where did you get that?” he asked slowly.
She put her hand to her mouth and laughed quietly. Standing there in front of Harry, Ginny was proudly wearing a rather large Slytherin house t-shirt over her blue pajama pants. “Draco,” she said matter-of-factly and turned back to her seat.
“What?” Harry spat hoping he had not heard her properly. His blood boiled to wonder why on earth his girlfriend was wearing one of Malfoy’s shirts. His hands were balled into tight fists and he was certain his face must be purple. He felt as though he might have to punch something – preferably something irritating, blonde and stupid. And there she was, just giggling, and rearranging the pillows on the sofa.
“Sit here,” Ginny said patting the seat, “I’ll tell you all about it. It’s pretty funny actually.” Harry slowly made his way across the room eyeing Ginny warily. Hermione looked a little frightened of him and snapped her eyes to the floor when he looked at her. Ron was shaking his head at his little sister disapprovingly. Perhaps he was also thinking about having a go at her for parading around in Malfoy’s Slytherin t-shirt.
Harry dropped his book bag and sat down on the sofa. Ginny sat next to him. With the hearth glowing behind her, her hair looked like it too was on fire. She smiled at him and rested a hand on his leg. One of her fingers absently started tracing circles on his right thigh. Harry fought to suppress a shudder of pleasure. He looked at this pretty girl and wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into. She had just made him extremely angry and then, just as easily, calmed him down with a touch.
“So,” Ginny began, “you know how I play in the Exploding Snap tournaments that the Hufflepuffs started? Well, with all of us fifth years and the seventh years studying for exams, it’s hard to find an open classroom lately. So we moved the games up to the Room of Requirement this week. We sort of got the idea from the DA meetings,” here she smiled up at him brightly. “In any case, Malfoy came in after we had been there about a half an hour.”
“But why, he doesn’t play does he?” Harry asked.
“No,” Ginny said, “but Blaise Zambini and Pansy Parkinson both play.”
Harry scowled and Ginny made a face right back at him. “Oh, Blaise isn’t so bad, you know. He’s just a bit arrogant. I have no patience for Pansy, though. She’s so annoying! Anyway, we were just about to get started on a game – Blaise, Ernie MacMillian, Orla Quirke from Ravenclaw, and me. So Blaise convinced Malfoy to sit a game, but he didn’t have anything to bet. Not that we bet anything huge, but I don’t put down Sugar Quills for nothing. So Malfoy made a big production of taking off his shirt and folding it up nicely. He thought he looked pretty hot. I think he thought he could distract Orla and me by taking his shirt off. No such luck, he’s a terrible player. I won the hand and the shirt. Then two more hands after that.”
Ginny smiled slyly and handed Harry several Chocolate Frogs, a Remembrall, a brand new red quill, and a bracelet of black beads that must have come from Orla. She waved her original Sugar Quill candy at him. Harry was shocked but he smiled. “I was saving the Chocolate Frogs for you,” she said tearing open the wrapper on the Sugar Quill. “I know they’re your favorite. I had to put on the shirt right away, though. It’s just too funny! I know he’s down there in the dungeons just boiling over losing – to Harry Potter’s girlfriend nonetheless!”
Harry’s stomach made a perfect flip-flop. Every time he talked to her she amazed him. Sometimes it was just a little thing, like knowing Chocolate Frogs were his favorite candy. But other times the things she said simply blew him away, like referring to herself as his girlfriend. Ginny was tough but sweet; the perfect combination. She had beaten Malfoy at a game of Exploding Snap and now was modeling her winnings for Harry. He laughed out loud. She really was unbelievable.
Ginny contentedly sucked on her Sugar Quill and took all of her winnings from Harry’s lap to stow back into her book bag. She slid over and seated herself on his lap. Her feet stretched out in front of her on the empty side of the sofa. She put her arms around his neck, careful to hold her lollipop over his head, and kissed him. She tasted sweet like the candy she was eating and her lips were sticky.
“Do you like my presents?” Ginny whispered teasingly. She kissed his cheek and twisted her fingers into his hair.
“Very much,” Harry laughed. He was suddenly incredibly aware of Ron and Hermione seated nearby. There were other groups of students scattered around the room. He wanted very badly for them to all go away right now. He wanted to be alone with her in that Slytherin t-shirt.
She enjoyed doing these sorts of things to Harry in public. It was almost like she was testing him all the time, just to see how far she could push. She was still twisting his hair but she had gone back to reading her Charms textbook. She wasn’t looking at him at all, but he knew she was paying attention nonetheless.
Most of the time, Harry had a hard time trying to figure out what on earth he was actually supposed to do with a girl like Ginny. She was not like other girls – certainly not like a Lavender or a Parvati. She wasn’t silly and giggly all the time. She didn’t gossip and spend all of her time huddled in the corner with the other fifth years talking about boys. The only other type of girl he knew was Hermione, and Ginny wasn’t quite like her either. She was smart, but not overly bookish. She valued a good laugh and a good game of quidditch. Actually, Ginny was quite a bit like all of her brothers except she was much prettier. She was the type of girl you’d end up with in a family full of boys.
Harry could relate to her much better than any of the other girls at school. Even his best friend, Hermione, could be difficult to get at times (Ron had an awfully hard time with Hermione). But Ginny was just easy to understand. She let you know what she was thinking at all times, never holding anything back. Like right now. She was still reading but had taken to running her fingernails up and down Harry’s neck just behind his ear. Harry tipped his head to the side. “Mmm,” he murmured in her ear. She smirked at him and raised her eyebrows expectantly. It was very clear that she was hoping the entire common room would empty out suddenly, too.
Harry let out a frustrated sigh. He couldn’t very well sit here with Ginny on his lap waiting for everyone else to leave. He had homework to do and he knew she was supposed to be studying for a quiz. “Ginny, I have to write an essay for McGonagall. I’ve got a meeting with Slughorn tomorrow to talk about that extra credit assignment he gave me. I want to get this essay done tonight.”
She smiled, not at all offended, but gave his hair one final twist (a bit too hard). She slid away, careful to let her hand trail discreetly across his lap. Harry sucked in his breath and pulled his bag into his lap immediately. Ginny tucked herself into the opposite corner of the sofa and watched him.
“Will you test me on Cheering Charms after you finish your essay?” she asked innocently and stretched her feet out in his direction. Harry nodded mutely and covered his lap in books and parchment. Ginny giggled into her Charms text. Unbelievable, Harry thought.
When Harry regained his composure, he worked his way through the Transfiguration essay. Then he tested Ginny on Cheering Charms. She did quite well so the extra reading time he had forced on her seemed to have helped. Hermione and Ron joined them after a while to get details on beating Malfoy at Exploding Snap. They all had a good, extensive laugh at his expense before they decided to go to bed.
Harry and Ginny said good night at the bottom of the dormitory stairs as they did every night. Usually, they exchanged a few careful kisses and tried not to cause too much of a scene. Tonight, Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled her face into his shoulder. She talked about her Charms quiz, a mundane enough topic, but her lips kept brushing Harry’s neck with little kisses.
“What is with you?” he whispered in her ear.
“Nothing,” Ginny said flippantly. “I’m just teasing you a little bit.”
“A little bit? You’re torturing me! Must be that shirt,” Harry laughed and tugged on the latest Slytherin addition to Ginny’s wardrobe.
She smirked again, “If it is, it’s awfully fun! Besides, you got so fired up about Malfoy. It was kind of cute.”
“Cute?” Now Harry was getting a little angry, “You think it’s cute to make me mad?”
“No!” Ginny protested rubbing his arm. “It was very gallant! You thought something bad happened. I knew you’d get mad until you heard the whole story. Then you laughed and it was all better. It was sort of, well, charming.”
Harry raised his eyebrows. She thought he was cute? He clearly wasn’t anything of the sort. He searched her face but she was smiling up at him. Usually Harry wasn’t so sure of himself, but with Ginny it was easy. He always knew that she was crazy about him. She never tried to hide it. It was kind of nice to know one thing for certain when there was so much other uncertainty in his life. He smiled down at his girlfriend and kissed her deeply, ignoring the other students in the room.
“I’ll see you in the morning, you mad girl,” he said softly. She laughed into his shoulder again and pulled away. He watched her traipse up the girls’ dormitory stairs then turned and headed up the stairs to his own bed.
