Savoring Patience

[rhetoretician]

This is my first Post-DH story.  It's sort of a response to several things other people have said.

Genre:    Fluff
Rating:    PG-13.
Setting:    Post-DH.
Length:    About 1,770 words.
Warnings:    Very mild sexuality; unbeta’d; DH spoilers.
Dedication:    This story is for David, Dave, Brad and Ros, for reasons each of them can figure out.

The Summary

Comments

[stmargarets]

Ken! You're writing fluff! I'm so happy that epilogue rubbed off you in this way. :) You hit so *many* good points in this little ficlet. First with the funerals and Harry's relationship with his godson:

Andromeda had looked shattered and cried, “He’s all I have left!”

Of course that's why Teddy didn't live with Harry. A lot of readers forgot that when they were complaining about the epilogue.

This was a calm, warm, pleasant desire that spread through his whole body; it was friendly and full of mirth and delight. He actually started to laugh, and he knew she could feel the vibrations of it on her own mouth.

I love how you took time for this kiss. And how it wasn't so much about desire, but happiness.

“ ‘Two hundred to adore each breast,’ ” said Ginny.

“What?” asked Harry, exercising all his will to prevent his gaze from drifting where she seemed to be directing it.

LOL - The perfect response to that statement by Ginny's!

Harry and Ginny are the kind of spiritual people who are likely to want to mark the “last step” ceremonially, be it with wedding or some other way, but I could be wrong

The reason I wrote their relationship that way in NZ Chronicles came down to a matter of logistics. I had Ginny tucked away in school and then living at home before the wedding. Now after reading DH, I don't know if I would have them marry so quickly. There's much more time for courtship and I like how you show this in this story.

Anyway, I'm amazed at how quickly people are writing from the new canon. I'm still trying to absorb it and study it and figure out why JKR made the choices she made.

Here's something I posted on the Quill yesterday:

I know I wanted H/G to speak or hug or kiss at the end of the battle scene, and it's taken me a while to figure out why JKR played it this way. The last glimpse Harry has of Ginny before he goes to the Headmaster's office is this:

QUOTE
He spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder; there would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talk.

Harry's first glimpse of Ginny at King's Cross was when she was with her mother. This last glimpse brings it full circle. I think Harry is acknowledging that they have left the childhood part of their relationship behind. In due course Ginny will leave her mother and family and they will have their time together.

One thing I liked about H/G in this book was how young they seemed and how innocent their relationship still was. JKR did a good job of showing and not telling the physical attraction between them during the birthday kiss (not a chest monster in sight), but from Harry's thought that she had never kissed him like that before indicates to me that they're not all that experienced yet (but would certainly like to be).

This seems fitting for the tone of H/G in the book - it's the idea of Ginny Harry carries with him during his quest. The memory of her kiss is the last thing he thinks of before he is going to die. Maybe this ending of the H/G thread in the narrative proper is JKR's nod to the fact that Harry has unconsciously carried an idea of Ginny with him since the first book. The romantic in me thinks so, since eleven year-old Harry has to turn around and look at her as he goes on his first adventure to Hogwarts. Now his last adventure is over and they have hours and days and years to talk and be together. The epilogue tells us exactly how that worked out. *pats epilogue*

So now you can see why I like this story of yours so much.

[rhetoretician]

Hi, Mary. Thanks for the praise. Fluff is a bit of a stretch for me, as you know, but it's fun. Anyway, I'm going to find it hard to write apocalyptic angst for the canon universe anymore, since we know that H, G, R & Hr live happily ever after. And I'm not sure I want to create an AU just to make people cry.

*Groans* People complaining about the Epilogue. Honestly, I think people ought to restrict themselves from commenting on a new book until they've had a few days to think about it... ("You're one to talk, Ken...")

It's hard slippery difficult to write a teenage love scene where sexual desire isn't the main thing going on. I worried that I rewrote H & G to suit my own purposes, but in light of that quotation we both like I don't really think I did. The other tricky part was showing that they weren't exercising self-control so much as enjoying the anticipation.

I love your commentary on the last scene and the Epilogue and I agree with it entirely. I'm so glad you liked the story.