H/G Fic - Right Here Under The Constellation ღ
Ginny knew every twist and turn of the Burrow as good as any Weasley. She knew which staircase would creak if she stepped on the left side of it but remained silent if she stepped on the right side; she knew where her Mum usually put the spare Floo powder and where she could always find endless supply of cookies in the kitchen. But it was hard to keep those things in track when she and Harry were trying to slip out of the house in the middle of the night for a dip in the lake.
It had started a week ago while she and Harry were lazing around in the Burrow’s garden. It was a sunny day, the grass was crisp and buttercups were blossoming everywhere. Ginny couldn’t remember the last time she felt so free in the world so beautiful like this. Then Harry remarked how calm and almost idle the summer this year had been and Ginny had raised her eyebrows in surprise at the unexpected blasphemy. Harry had laughed nervously at her expression.
“Yeah, I do sound like an ungrateful git, don’t I?” he chuckled as he lied down with her lap pillowing his head.
Ginny’s hand went straight to stroke his unruly black hair. He cropped it short when he first joined the Auror Academy but Ginny loved it the most when it was slightly longer like this.
“But I guess I’m just still trying to adjust to the fact that I don’t have Voldermort to do me in anymore and the fact that I’m here. With you,” said Harry.
He closed his eyes as he said that but Ginny could see clearly the haunted look and guilt he still carried inside him. Summer this year had been rather sedate compared to what they had endured just a year before. Early summer was spent with her attending tryouts and training camp with the Harpies while Harry finishing his semester at the Auror Academy. They were home for the summer holiday and while they were glad they could spend time together, Ginny couldn’t really blame Harry to think that a quiet, drama-free summer was rather boring.
Ron and George were busy most of the time at the joke shop and while they could always go down and visit them and went for lunch together along with Hermione, it got rather repetitive after two weeks. And right now Ron was vacationing in France with Hermione and her parents while George visiting Charlie in Romania and looking for new ideas for the joke shop. With almost zero dark wizard activity for Harry to focus on and definitely no more demented Dark Lord named Voldermort who used to try to kill him every June, no wonder he was bored and restless. She knew he was twisted somehow when she first decided to take him.
Smiling, she leaned down and kissed his forehead and Harry opened one eye to look up at her. His green eyes glinted beneath his glasses.
“Well, let’s do something interesting. Some series of fun summer adventure or something.”
Harry grinned as he reached out to twist some of Ginny’s red locks around his fingers. “With you?”
“Of course.”
So that was how everything started. Most of the days were filled with fun summer activities: Quidditch was definitely one of them. They had finally put the question of which one of them was a better Seeker to rest just this morning with Harry catching the Snitch three seconds earlier before Ginny could.
“You have an unfair advantage, Potter,” challenged Ginny as they both landed on the ground with the Golden Snitch secured in Harry’s hand.
“Face it, Weasley. You can’t Seek as well as you Chase,” he grinned, leaning on his broomstick.
“It doesn’t matter. You have longer and bigger hand, you would always win.”
Harry smiled and stepped closer to her until their breath mingled and their noses almost touching. “You look really, really pretty when you’re angry and annoyed,” he whispered.
“Don’t seduce me,” Ginny murmured even as her eyes dropped on his lips.
“I don’t,” Harry growled right before his lips covered hers.
They spent the better half of the day picking raspberries and apples for Molly Weasley to make some raspberries preserves and apple crumbles. The next morning Harry found an old bicycle in Mr. Weasley’s shed that surprisingly wasn’t enchanted.
“Is it safe?” Ginny asked skeptically as she watched Harry ran his wand on the contraption to siphon away some cobwebs and dust before climbing on the seat.
“Of course it is. Come, sit in front of me.”
It was really fun cycling around the hillside and feeling the wind on their faces and hair. They stopped at an open field where Harry proceeded to teach her how to ride the bicycle and by the evening when they came back to the Burrow, they were covered in sweat and dust and there were some grass stain on Ginny’s denim short for falling from the bicycle a few times but it was a perfect summer day.
They visited Teddy Lupin from time to time and every time Ginny looked at the heart-shaped face of the little toddler, her own heart got squeezed a little because he reminded her so much of Tonks and Remus. They took Teddy to a quaint, charming Muggle village near Ottery St. Catchpole that had a summer festival that weekend, and held his hand as he toddled between them, eating ice lollies as they strolled down the street.
Harry had charmed the ice lollies to last for awhile until they stopped at the local market that sold assortment of local delicacies and trinkets. Harry bought a beautiful, antique amber brooch for Mrs. Weasley that made Ginny’s Mum cried a little and a set of assorted locks and keys for Mr. Weasley.
“Dad would be tinkering with those things for weeks,” claimed Ginny, smiling. Harry just laughed.
Later, Harry took Ginny to try Muggle beer at a local tavern down the village. The old, wooden building with ivy creeping on the wall and charming, colourful begonias in hanging basket above the entrance made Ginny’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“This is definitely better than The Hog’s Head,” she whispered conspiratorially to Harry. Harry looked at her as he took her hand in his.
“And Madam Puddifoot’s,” they finished together, laughing as they made their way in.
They ordered some beer and a big plate of greasy, delicious looking fish and chips and a slice of lemon pie and took a private booth next to the wall. Harry took a sip of his beer and proclaimed he much preferred Madam Rosmerta’s Butterbeer.
“What’s that?” Ginny asked, pointing towards a crowd of cheering men facing the opposite wall.
“They’re playing dart,” told Harry, taking a piece of the chips in the plate. “You throw some sort of small arrow on a piece of board with the goal to hit the middle of the board.”
“Sounds like fun!”
Ginny pulled Harry towards the crowd and no sooner, the men were cheering and whistling as the petite redhead made spectacular throw after throw. After a really spectacular score that entertained the crowd, Ginny grabbed the front of Harry’s thin sweater and pulled herself up for a rather passionate kiss, amidst the teasing catcalls.
“That is so unfair! You’re a Chaser, of course you can aim,” murmured Harry, glasses slightly askew, but the note of pride in his voice was very clear. Ginny giggled.
Other time when the weather was really nice, they went for a swim and lay for hours under the shady maple tree by the lake. Harry listened to her talking about her excitement of finally joining Holyhead Harpies and how intimidating it was to meet Gwenog Jones for the first time as he counted freckles on her bare shoulders and kissed those on her nose and her arms. He helped her charmed her toes after that with some nail varnish, sparkling emerald in colour.
“Harpies’ colour?” Harry teased.
“No. Your eyes’.”
Harry started before smiling and leaning to kiss her soft mouth. It was remarkable to be young and alive and having someone, especially someone liked Ginny.
“Let me do yours,” Ginny said against his ear as Harry’s lips traveled gently down her jaw and the side of her neck.
Harry’s head snapped up. “What?”
Ginny chuckled at his slightly confused expression. “Your toes. Would shocking pink suits you?” she asked, already pointing her wand at his feet.
“Ginny, no!” Harry laughed nervously, trying to move his feet away from within her reach. “That’s absurd.”
“Come on! Don’t tell me the big, brave Harry Potter is afraid of some nail varnish.”
“Ginny, no.”
“Ahhh… what a life without adventure. What a summer without doing something fun like this,” exclaimed Ginny dramatically.
Harry sighed. Seriously, he suspected she could convince him that the sky was orange and he would probably agree. “Fine! No shocking pink, though. I’ll never live through that if someone sees it.”
They settled on red after lots of playful banter but Harry put his foot down when Ginny volunteered to do his fingernails as well.
“I want to feel dignify when I hold my wand next time, Gin,” said Harry solemnly, which made Ginny laughed.
Sometimes when the storm hit, they sat on the swing at the porch, cuddled under a blanket and Ginny let the pattering sound of the rain lulled Harry to sleep in her arms.
And tonight, Ginny thought they should go swimming under the moonlight and the constellation.
She gave him a dirty look as Harry stepped on the creaking staircase and it groaned under the weigh of his foot. Harry grinned at her sheepishly. “Sorry. Miscalculated.”
They made it outside of the Burrow’s kitchen without any further mishap and turned to each other almost immediately and grinned. The night temperature was nice. It reminded Harry that it was still summer but the pleasant warmth gave them a comfortable feeling to be outside. There was a sound of crickets in the bush and a strong smell of roses carried by the faint breeze in the air. The night sky was clear and it looked as if gods were scattering stars all over the dark, open canvas.
And the moon was bright and glowing.
Harry took Ginny’s hand in his and squeezed and they jogged towards the paddock by the lake. The bright moonlight helped them to see the place clearly and it was only then he noticed Ginny was barefooted and her toes with sparkling emerald nail varnish were wiggling. She was wearing a loose Weird Sister T-shirt he saw her wore quite a few times and a short short.
“You do love that shirt so much,” he couldn’t help made a comment.
Ginny smiled almost fondly as she looked down at it. “It was Tonks’. I won it from her through a chess game. She was an even worse player than you.”
When it used to squeeze his heart until he could not breathe whenever Tonks’ name or Lupin’s or Fred’s were mentioned before, this time it was almost bearable. Not that any of them would ever forget how it felt like to know they would never see them again.
“Yeah?”
Ginny nodded. “She claimed she snogged a Weird Sisters’ member once wearing this. She refused to tell me which one though.”
For the first time since the war ended, Harry laughed at the mention of Tonks.
The sound of his laughter brought a smile to Ginny’s face and she began shedding her clothes. She was already in her two pieces bikini underneath and while this was not the first time Harry saw her like this, the light from the moon gave her almost a translucent, ethereal look that he couldn’t keep his eyes away.
Ginny smiled sweetly at him before jumping into the water and emerged later looking like a water sprite and it hit Harry so hard how much this girl meant to him and how much this summer differed from the one he used to have and how for the past couple of weeks with her had convinced him that yes, he was alive and he no longer had to carry the burden of the world on his shoulder.
And this summer was amazing and fun and beautiful because of Ginny.
“Well, don’t just stand there like a stunned troll, Potter. Jump in!” Ginny chuckled.
Harry snorted, put aside his glasses before he took off his shirt and his pajama bottom as Ginny whistled teasingly. He jumped into the water, keeping himself underneath for a few seconds to get used to the temperature before taking a swim towards Ginny.
“Have I told you how much I love your abs?” asked Ginny.
Harry laughed. “A few times. But it never hurts to hear it again.”
Ginny stuck her tongue out at his direction even as she laughed. They swam around in the lake, kissing and splashing each other before stopping for awhile to listen to the sound of owls and letting the night freeze dried the water on their skin. Harry held her close as they looked at the moon and the stars-filled sky.
They made their way back to the Burrow almost languidly, holding each other close by the waists. Harry sat on the swing and pulled Ginny on his laps. A week more and Ginny would start her official training with the Holyhead Harpies and he would be back for new semester at the Auror Academy. Harry almost felt like he didn’t want to go back. Going back means less time with Ginny and after spending this kind of summer with her, he didn’t think he would be able to go being without.
“What are you thinking?” asked Ginny, her fingers were stroking his temple gently.
Harry smiled wryly and sighed. “This has been a fun summer.”
“Of course!” grinned Ginny.
“I don’t feel like going back to London. And why Holyhead has to be all the way in Wales?” It was hard to keep the whining out of his voice.
Ginny chuckled. “Oh, Harry.”
She leaned up to kiss him and Harry responded almost immediately. He couldn’t think of anything better right now than kissing her in the summer night where the moon was shining bright and the surrounding was just at the right temperature, the smell of roses and honeysuckles were strong in the air and above them, the whole constellation was laid bare and beautiful.
Ginny’s hair was slightly damp in his hands but her mouth was as soft and sweet as always. He pulled away gently and rested his forehead against hers; chuckling at the uneven breath they both seemed to be having.
“I have something to give you,” he murmured, without opening his eyes.
He reached into his pocket and took out a small velvet box. Watching Ginny’s stunned expression carefully, he tried not to grin at the panic look he saw on her face. She was eyeing the box as if she couldn’t decide whether to fling it across Mrs. Weasley’s pumpkin patch or tossing it against his head.
“Ummm… Harry…”
At the anxiety he sensed in her voice, Harry lost it and let out a barking laugh. “You should see your face!”
Ginny crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed. “Very funny!”
Harry laughed again and quickly kissed her angry mouth. “I’m not proposing, if that’s what you’re afraid of. I’m just 19 and you’re only 18 and we have the whole time to figure things out,” he said calmly.
It didn’t matter if he already had her ring safely kept in his trunk or the fact that he had had that ring since a few months ago. They were still young. There would be plenty of time for that later. He was not going anywhere and if Ginny would have him, he would fill her life with happiness as long as they shall live.
“Open it,” he urged gently when Ginny continued to stare at the box.
Smiling slightly, she flipped open the lid. Nestled in the creamy, satiny cloth was a leather bracelet with a single rose quartz carved into a delicate rosebud. Ginny gasped a little. Without a word Harry took it and clasped the bracelet around her left wrist. It was perfect, the way he knew it would be the moment he saw it at the village festival near Ottery St. Catchpole last time.
“Harry, this is beautiful. Thank you,” Ginny whispered.
“It’s a present for making it into the Holyhead Harpies. And for giving me a wonderful summer. Ginny, I’m not going to beat around the bush about us. I used to be so indifference about my future for a very long time because I couldn’t really see past Voldermort. But now, whenever I think about it, I think of you. I’m taking one step at a time towards that future, starting this summer. I want us to always remember this. Right here, at this moment, it’s really important for you to know how much I…” he paused, as if drawing strength deep within before continued, “… love you.”
Ginny smiled, eyes shining as her hand reached up to brush the side of Harry’s jaw gently. “I know. I always know, Harry.”
+++++++++
Molly Weasley woke up the next morning to find the young couple falling asleep on the swing at the back porch, arms wrapped around each other tightly. Under different circumstances she would probably feel alarmed at the sight of her daughter snuggling with a young man in the plain sight for everyone to see but these were Ginny and Harry.
This summer was probably the happiest she ever saw her daughter. And Harry. There was so much laughter and comfort and yes, love, between them whenever they were together. They made being with one another so effortless and simple and right.
“What are you looking at, darling?” She felt Arthur behind her, his warm hand on the small of her back.
Molly pointed towards the young couple on the swing, still deep within their dream.
“They must have been there since late last night. I heard them went out swimming.”
“Ahhhh…” Arthur smiled. “Let them sleep for awhile. We call them in after you finish making breakfast.”
“Shouldn’t I be a concerned mother worries for her daughter’s reputation?” teased Molly.
“Well…they’ve been having a really great summer so far. A little drama here and there couldn’t hurt,” grinned Arthur.
THE END.