Quiet Nights
Title: Quiet Nights
Rating: M
Summary: At the end of his tumultuous sixth year, Harry and Ginny share one last quiet night around the castle.
This was originally written as part of the Fandom for Storm Relief compilation. Thank you to everyone who donated to receive it, this is for those who didn't get a chance to read it the first time round :)
I really hope you enjoy this.
The circular room high in Gryffindor tower was decked out in rich reds and gold's, the seventy students who resided there celebrating the end of the year, even in such troublesome times. Their headmaster, the seemingly-all-knowing Albus Dumbledore, was dead; murdered in cold blood before falling some hundred feet from the astronomy tower. Only one boy remained witness to his death.
Harry Potter sat, melancholy as ever, his mop of black hair a mess, made worse by the harsh Scottish winds he'd flown through just an hour previous. His eyes, a sparkling emerald green, the shape so much like his deceased mother Lily's, focused on the flickering light of the fire. Harry was surrounded by love. His two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, sat sentry by his side; they had been the only things getting him through this harsh time.
Harry had been devastated by the loss of their headmaster, who over the last year had come to be more a friend or confidante to him, though Harry felt Dumbledore always kept a part of himself hidden from the boy. He kept replaying that moment, as his potions master Severus Snape, a trusted member of Dumbledore's inner circle, had cast the killing curse. The words, avada kedavra, rang still through his mind, the green flash still blinded him at night, and he still awoke in cold sweats as he watched his most beloved teacher plummet into the inky black night.
"Everyone's outside," Hermione murmured, her quiet voice breaking the tentative silence.
Tomorrow the Hogwarts Express would depart for London Kings Cross, taking the students back home for a well earned rest before the next year began, and the students were outside enjoying the Scottish sun. But next year neither Harry, Ron nor Hermione would be on board. Tentative plans had been made the night before, with the death of their leader still lingering in their minds they had made the grave decision that they could no longer sit back on their laurels. It was time to be proactive.
Their devilish advisory, the seemingly unbeatable Lord Voldemort, was no longer holding back; so why should they? Harry had been charged with the task of destroying Voldemort's horcruxes; completely ordinary objects that held a dark part of Voldemort's soul, and it was time they got on and did it. They didn't know where they would start, nor where they would go or what the future held for them, but failure was not an option. The fate of the wizarding world rested on their young shoulders.
"You can join them if you want," Harry replied, his gaze finally moving from the red flames to Hermione's wild expanse of brown curls.
"We're not leaving you."
Now Harry smiled, it was small but his eyes lost some of the haunted look that had occupied them since that fateful night. "You'd only be going outside, I'm not about to run off or do something stupid. Don't worry about me okay?"
"Like that's gunna happen mate," Ron said, brushing his red hair from his eyes. His blue eyes blazed and Harry felt a moment of guilt, they had enough to think about without worrying about him on top of everything.
"I'll keep him company." The voice came from the stairs, it was soft and one Harry would recognise anywhere. It caused the hairs to stand up on the back of his neck, and his heart to beat just a little faster.
"Ginny? I thought you were outside?" Hermione asked.
Ginny just shrugged, her intensely blue eyes focused on Harry. Her red hair cascaded down her shoulders in soft curls. She was wearing a short white dress, and Harry couldn't resist running his eyes down her body, before he caught himself. He couldn't do that anymore, he'd made it clear to both of them that nothing could happen between them, not anymore. Everyone around him ended up dead and he wasn't sure what he would do if anything happened to Ginny.
"See he'll be fine Hermione," Ron said, standing and offering her his hand. Harry watching smirking slightly as his friend blushed before taking the hand Ron offered. Their attraction to each other was so obvious, he wondered how long it would take them to act on it; though he doubted it, he hoped it would be soon.
The plush sofa in which Harry sat depressed slightly as Ginny settled herself onto it. Her right arm resting across the back, Harry could feel her eyes boring into the side of his head, but he kept his eyes focused on her folded legs, running his fingers back and forth across her pale skin. How could he face her when he still remembered that look on her face? The hurt look as she'd kept the tears at bay, but there had been no confusion and for that Harry was grateful. She understood why he did what he did, but it didn't make it any easier to swallow; for either of them.
"You don't have to keep pushing people away you know?" She said, finally breaking the silence.
"I'm not-"
"You are." Ginny had heard this argument one to many times, she was aware of what he was doing, just as he was, even if he didn't want to admit it. "I know you're worried, but you have to understand-"
"People keep saying this, saying I should understand. But I do. I understand perfectly." His voice was impassioned, his right hand in a fist even as his left kept up the rhythmic stroking of her leg. His green eyes blazed as they looked into her beautiful blue ones. "People die around me Ginny, they always have. My parents, Cedric, Sirius and now Dumbledore, and who knows who else will."
"Harry!" She shoved his shoulder, attempting to shock him from the melancholy thoughts that plagued him. "We know this. We've been with you from the start remember. We've always been there, Hermione and Ron especially. We're aware of the dangers."
Her blue eyes blazed and Harry felt that familiar sinking feeling, the one he only got around her as he seemed to float in her gaze. He'd never loved someone the way he loved her, it was incredible how she filled a part of him he wasn't aware was empty. But the words he'd spoken to her rang in his mind. This couldn't happen; he couldn't put her life at risk.
"I know nothing I say will change your mind on this, but just think about it okay?" Ginny smiled softly, running her hand through his unruly black hair.
He was so handsome, no wonder she'd been drawn to him all these years. She could barely believe they'd been happy once, for such a short time they had been happy; happier than anyone she was sure. The world hated Voldemort for his crimes against wizarding kind, it was a general hate something inbred in their very DNA, but for Ginny it was so much more than that; it was personal. She hated him down to her bones for what he'd done to the boy before her. Harry would face any danger, put his life on the line for those he loved and held little to no fear towards the man who had single handedly destroyed his life before he'd been able to live it, and that made him strong, courageous even, but he was also broken. His capacity for guilt was bottomless, and his propensity to solitude only made him weak. All Ginny wanted was to make him happy, and rid him of his guilt ridden psyche.
"Come with me," she said, taking his hand. Harry frowned but knew he couldn't deny her anything and so took the hand she offered and followed her out of the portrait hole and out into the castle.
He would miss this place, almost as much as the people he was leaving behind. It had been his home for so long, the place he'd felt safe and accepted. But with no Dumbledore it was no longer safe, and he couldn't deny his destiny any longer. He shook of the ache of wanting. He couldn't come back here, not as a student anyway.
"Where are we going?" He asked, frowning as she walked them down yet another set of stone stairs, pausing in the middle as it switched places.
"You'll see." Her smile was blinding and Harry simply shook his head laughing. The summer sun was streaming through the windows set high in the castle walls. Another summer at the Dursley's was upon him, though he wouldn't be there long at all this year, his last summer at the Dursley's. He felt a small sense of nostalgia as he realised not only was he leaving Hogwarts that year, he was also leaving the first home he'd had. It was crushed however under memories of tiny cupboards under the stairs, locked bedroom doors and barred windows. No, he wouldn't miss the Dursley's home.
They came to a stop before an expanse of bare stone wall. The sconces held flaming torches, lighting the windowless corridor and sending long shadows against the stone floor. For a moment Harry was confused, he couldn't imagine what was here that Ginny wished to show him, and he'd been so lost to his thoughts he hadn't noticed the direction they'd been heading. But as he turned his head this way and that he recognised the corridor, and his eyes lit up with realisation.
Ginny smirked, watching as comprehension dawned slowly in his eyes, as she passed three times before the wall, thinking what they always did when they came here alone. Somewhere quiet, to be alone. Somewhere quiet, to be alone. Somewhere quiet, to be alone.
Suddenly a large oak door with brass fittings materialised out of the wall, and Ginny once again took Harry's hand as she pulled him through to the room beyond. It was small, yet cosy. A glorious fire roared along the right hand wall, opposite which an enormous four post bed stood sentry in the centre of the room. There was nothing else there, save for the rugs covering the floor.
"Ginny-" Harry began, hating that she brought him here, where they had spent so many quiet nights in the castle, because they couldn't be here anymore. They shouldn't.
"Don't Harry." She walked up to him, taking his hands and standing inches away from him. "I know you're leaving this summer, after the wedding."
"How did-"
"I over heard you three talking about it on the astronomy tower, you're not quite as sneaky as you think you are," her smile was small, but Harry could see the pain behind her blue eyes. "And I know nothing I can say will stop you. This is something you have to do, your destiny as it were. I just wish there was something I could do to help."
"If you think I'm going to let you-"
Once again she interrupted him, anticipating his answers so well. It only further proved how well they knew each other, how well suited they were, and it drove the dagger of hurt ever further into Harry's heart for what he'd done for them.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I know I can't come, it's been you three from the start and it'll finish being you three. But let me be there for you, now and when it's over."
"Ginny I can't. If Voldemort ever found out about you…" He couldn't bare to even think about it. The thought of Ginny once again in the clutches of Voldemort were much too painful to even think of.
"Let's not talk about it. Can we just enjoy this? It'll be the last time we're really alone."
Harry frowned, running a hand through his erratic black hair. He knew what she wanted, because it was the same thing he did. But could they really do this? It was difficult enough trying to walk away from her, away from what they had, wouldn't this just make it so much harder?
With his back turned he felt her hands slide around his waist, coming up to grip his shoulders, holding him from behind. Her breasts pressed into his back, the soft rise of fall of her breaths in tandem with his own. Ginny was always so soft, so pliant under his hands, and Harry breathed deep in an attempt to control himself. He couldn't give in, not when he had been so sure of his choice.
"Come have a seat, please?" Sighing heavily he nodded, taking her outstretched palm in his own and allowing her to lead him to the bed.
It sank quickly beneath them as they laid back against the headboard. Harry kept to his side of the bed, his hands folded across his stomach as he lay on his back. He tried not to look at Ginny, at how she was pressed to his side her dress dipping down, allowing him to catch a glimpse of her modest cleavage. His body was betraying him, imagining her skin pressed to his and his lips pressed to hers.
"Do you remember the first time we came here? Just me and you?" Ginny's voice was quiet in the air between them, and Harry gulped as he nodded.
Of course he remembered the first time, because it had been their first time. Merlin he'd been so nervous, but so excited at the same time and he knew she had been just the same. It wasn't something done in the heat of the moment, or just teenage passions getting away with them, but he couldn't deny that it had been passionate. As well as awkward, slightly painful on her part but pleasurable beyond belief. He knew if any of the boys he shared a dorm with knew his thoughts they would have teased him, told him Ginny had him wrapped around her finger, and maybe she did. But he couldn't deny how much closer he'd felt to her in that moment, when they'd been joined so utterly and completely. It had been so much more than just a physical act.
"I was so nervous. Scared I would do it wrong or you wouldn't like it." Harry blinked owlishly at her words. She'd never told him that before, startled he rolled onto his side so he could face her, joining their hands between them.
"Why would think that? You know it was amazing right?"
"Of course, but before I wasn't so sure." She leant over to place a kiss against their intertwined fingers. She would miss this, just laying with him and enjoying the peace and quiet of their secret room. "We've had some good times in here."
She smirked and Harry couldn't help laughing nervously, "Yeah. The best."
"Will you miss it?" The pain was back in her eyes, and Harry knew he would do everything he could to take that away.
"Every day." As the first tear slipped from the corner of her eye, Harry's widened as he pulled her into the protective circle of his arms. "Hey, no. None of that. I'll be back you know? I'm determined to come back."
In truth he wasn't sure what was going to happen, he knew there was a chance he wouldn't see her again after this summer, no matter how much he wished he could. He'd accepted that he may not be on this earth much longer, but he was determined to take Lord Voldemort with him. But he wouldn't say this to Ginny, not when she was so hurt, and not when she was crying, Ginny who never cries.
She pulled back slightly, wiping the few tears from her cheeks. As she looked into his bottle green eyes she realised she couldn't hold back any longer, if she did she was sure she'd burst. Her arms were quick to wrap around his neck and before Harry had time to do much of anything her lips were on his.
At first he was shocked, his eyes wide open and his hands up around her shoulders. But as her lips moved against his, soft and moist and just so perfect his eyes closed, and his arms closed around her body, holding her tight to him. He had missed the feel of her, so small in his arms, though it had only been but a few days since he'd told her they could no longer be together. The thought sought to tug at his mind, that they shouldn't do this, and yet he couldn't stop as he allowed her to roll them over till she straddled his lap.
Ginny worshipped his neck and the slight bit of shoulder she could see with her lips and tongue and teeth. Before, becoming impatient, she reached down and pulled his tee-shirt over his head. Running her hands along his chest and arms, she felt the scars that had been left on him. The long mark from the dagger Voldemort had driven into his forearm in fourth year, and the slight marks on the back of his hand from fifth. Each one received a kiss, with each kiss she tried to remove the traces of pain she felt at seeing each mark on him.
Passions escalated and Harry switched them quickly. Clothes were shucked, as hands explored creamy flesh and strong muscles. Hair was tugged, lips bitten, each seeking to mark the other for what they knew would be the last time. Hearts pounded and breath gasped out, names on sighs and whispered prayers and curses to their Gods and each other. Till they were writhing, skin slick with sweat and eyes glazed with lust, Harry's hand was strong and firm as he tugged Ginny's leg around his hip and plunged into her.
They rocked together in that familiar rhythm. It was fast and ruthless, letting out the pain of their separation, the encroaching war they were too young to fight in and the pain they knew was only just beginning. All fought with the pleasure, the passion and the love surrounding them. Until, like a crescendo, it broke. They saw stars together as they called the others name, cradling the other in their arms and hiding their eyes.
Eventually Harry pulled back, placing a soft kiss against her forehead. The 'I love you' whispered, but she heard it. He flopped down beside her, his muscles lax and loose, as he pulled her back into his arms. For minutes they were silent, listening only to their breath and heartbeats. Until Ginny moved, sitting up and turning over slightly to face him.
"We should go, Ron and Hermione'll be looking for us."
Sitting up Harry ran a hand through his hair, hating himself for what had just happened, but not regretting one second of it. They dressed quickly, sharing small smiles and soft touches, then hand in hand they left the room of requirement and walked back to the Gryffindor common room.
"What're you thinking?" Ginny asked as they walked, noticing the slight frown at Harry's brow.
"Just thinking about how stupid of us that was, and yet how I don't really care." He laughed humourlessly.
"It was pretty stupid."
"Especially when this is essentially goodbye."
"It's not goodbye," Ginny insisted, stopping just around the corner from the common room so the Fat Lady wouldn't see them. She dropped his hand and placed both of hers on his shoulders, looking deep into his eyes as she spoke. "I'll see you over summer, and maybe we shouldn't be together right now, maybe we have other things to think about. But I know you'll come back to me, so this isn't goodbye, it's just a time out."
Ginny placed one last kiss against his lips before turning the corner, leaving Harry alone. He heard her say the password and pass through the portrait hole, and as the Fat Lady's portrait swung shut he slid down the wall, pulling his knees to his chin.
It shouldn't have happened, but he didn't regret it. He could never regret any of his time with Ginny, he just hoped that eventually he would be able to come back here, and once again enjoy a quiet night in her arms.
~o.O.o~
The End