A Secret Love Chapter 11
A Secret Love: Chapter 11
An Afternoon in Hogsmeade
“Hey, Ginny!” Mary called out from across the Gryffindor Common Room. “You aren’t going to spend all day buried in your books, are you?”
Ginny looked up from her Potions text and allowed a ghost of a smile to pass across her lips. “No,” she called back. “I’m meeting one of my brothers for lunch at one o’clock.”
Mary strode over to the chair and table that Ginny had commandeered for studying and pointed her wand at Ginny’s books. “Evanesco!” Ginny watched passively as her books disappeared. “Accio cloak!” Ginny gave Mary a look of amusement and snatched her cloak from the air as it flew past her. “Well,” said Mary imperiously, “what are you waiting for?”
~ : ~ : ~
Ginny entered The Three Broomsticks with a rare smile upon her face. She and Mary had had a delightful morning, cavorting about Hogsmeade. Their first stop had been at Honeydukes for some SourFace Suckers and then they had wandered down the streets and found themselves at the Shrieking Shack. They’d had fun sneaking up on a pair of third years who were making use of the nearby woods for a bout of snogging. Then, taking turns laughing at the faces the other made while sucking on their puckery treats, they meandered slowly back to town. The clock in the centre square had rung out at one o’clock while they were on the edge of town. Percy would likely comment on her tardiness, but Ginny found she couldn’t muster the energy to care. The sun was shining, a blanket of freshly fallen snow glistened and she felt a simple sort of happiness that came from wasting away a morning with childish play.
Ginny blinked away the glare left in her eyes from being out of doors and searched the busy tavern for her elder brother. As she looked for Percy’s familiar red hair, her gaze landed on a man with a head of much darker hair. Ginny fixed a shocked stare on Harry and her feet felt rooted to the ground. He called out her name; his voice all but lost to the sound of blood rushing in her ears.
~ : ~ : ~
Harry watched in dismay as Ginny’s face registered her sheer horror at seeing him instead of her brother. He shifted on his chair to stand up and the slight movement sent her scrambling out of the tavern. Jumping to his feet, he rushed after her. He wove his way deftly through the other patrons and made his way quickly to the door. He hadn’t expected this meeting to be easy, but he also hadn’t thought she’d run away from him either. Standing on the threshold of The Three Broomsticks, Harry scanned the busy street until he caught sight of Ginny dashing off towards the outskirts of town. With an easy lope, he took off after her. Powered by adrenaline, she was sprinting as fast as she could. He had only to keep her in sight and wait until she ran out of steam, then he’d be able to easily catch up with her.
As Ginny neared the Shrieking Shack, she veered too close to a tree and stumbled over a particularly large tree root. She fell forward into the snow, barely breaking her fall with outstretched arms. Concerned, Harry hastened his pace to reach her and help her up off the ground. She made no move to pick herself up, but instead lay trembling as her body was wracked with sobs. Harry knelt beside her and gently pulled her into his arms, checking all the while for injury. She seemed to be all right with the minor exceptions of a few scrapes on her hands and probably some bruises on her knees. He looked up to see if anyone was nearby. Seeing no one, he picked Ginny up, carried her past the rickety gate and up to the Shrieking Shack. He softly muttered an incantation to allow them entrance and took her inside.
If Ginny thought it was odd for them to be entering the supposedly haunted house, she didn’t say. Either way, Harry was glad not to have to explain that the decrepit building had served as Remus’ monthly prison all those years ago. With a flick of his wand and a muttered incantation, he set a warming blaze in the fire place. The gentle glow softened the harsh angles caused by the snippets of light that forced themselves through the breaks in the boarded up windows. What furniture there was, was close to forty years old and torn to shreds. He sank down onto a fur rug which he had transfigured from a tatty old curtain and pulled her into his lap. He held her close while he silently rocked her. She nestled her head into his shoulder and slipped her arms around his torso. Harry remained silent as Ginny’s shivering faded away. He didn’t know what had sent her into such a blind panic and he was afraid to find out.
~ : ~ : ~
Ginny allowed all thought of her mingled past and future to leave her consciousness. Harry was here now, holding her, and she didn’t want to question why. It was selfish of her, but she took advantage of the warming comfort that his body provided and damned the consequences. She was certain that it was wrong to let him hold her, that she should walk away, but she found that even after all she’d been through she didn’t have the strength to refuse his attentions. For Gwendolen’s sake, she’d keep her secrets, but for her own sake she’d take whatever Harry offered. He tilted her head up to his and she accepted the soft touch of his lips.
A while later they still had not spoken but lay, spent, in each other’s arms. Ginny knew that the time was fast approaching when she would have to leave; she had to be back at school by five or she’d have to serve detention for her tardiness. She found it difficult, however, to worry about the time when she was so thoroughly relaxed form having been loved so well. The first time she and Harry had had sex it had been rushed and more than a little painful. She remembered the shock and sense of betrayal she’d felt at having lost her virginity so abruptly. This time had been different, much different. She drew in a deep breath and sighed in contentment. Harry had learned more than just a contraceptive spell… She decided not to wonder where he’d learned it, perhaps he’d found a good book.
~ : ~ : ~
Harry watched silently as Ginny smoothed the last wrinkle from her robes. She was about to walk through the door and return to Hogwarts and neither of them had said a word to the other. She still glowed with the after-effects of their lovemaking. Such a spell had come over them that nothing else seemed to matter. Harry was loath to break the enchantment, but he found that he could not just let her walk away.
“Ginny,” he whispered. She paused at the door and gave him a look of such sorrow that he felt consumed by it. He could feel it in the tightening of his throat and in corners of his eyes.
“Harry,” she pleaded. “Please don’t.”
He closed his eyes and mustered his courage. “Ginny,” he said, his voice a little stronger, “just let me speak, please.” He took a deep breath and continued, speaking quickly, “About that night, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have- done that. Well, I mean-” Harry blushed, realizing that they’d just finished “doing it” a second time.
“This was good, Harry. What happened before, it doesn’t matter,” she murmured.
“No,” he said urgently, trying to get a hold of his embarrassment. “It does matter. Doing that- what we did- it wasn’t right, not like that. I hurt you and I didn’t mean to and then I just pushed you away like it didn’t mean anything to me…”
He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He had no idea how to say this. “Ginny, how could we have done this a second time? All I wanted to do today was talk to you and instead we, well you know what we did.”
Ginny gave him a look filled with hurt and regret. “I’m sorry Harry, I thought you wanted this too,” she whispered before reaching for the door.
Harry sighed, he was bungling this… He grasped Ginny’s arms and pulled her close. Swallowing hard, he tried again, “I wanted it, Ginny. I want you, but I don’t think either of us was ready for this. We still haven’t talked about the first time and here we go doing it again. I’m sorry I’ve made such a mess of all of this. I’ll understand if you want to keep things the way they were, but I’d like you to consider- that is if you want to be- Sod it, Ginny, I can’t let Voldemort keep ruling my life like this! I want you, I want you-” He broke off and Ginny slipped her hands up his torso and caressed his face.
“You want me to be your girlfriend, Harry? Is that what you’re asking?” she said, gazing tearfully into his eyes.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “Will you?”
“Yes.”
~ : ~ : ~
“You wanted to see me, Professor?” Ginny asked timidly from the entrance of the headmaster’s office. Professor Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk and wore and inscrutable expression.
“Indeed,” he said stiffly. “Have a seat Miss Weasley.”
Ginny scurried across the room and sat in the chair opposite him. She gave him a wary look as she sat down. She wasn’t certain, but she thought he may have decided to take a personal interest in her recent transgression of returning from Hogsmeade a little late. The absolute latest that a student could report back was five o’clock. Returning at a quarter past five, as she had, merited detention and the docking of house points. Ginny had expected a stern reprimand from her head of house, but Professor McGonagall had merely informed her that the headmaster wished to see her and had sent her on her way.
Dumbledore stared at her for several moments without speaking. Ginny squirmed under his piercing gaze. Never breaking eye contact, he spoke in a deadly soft voice, “What happened today? Why were you late?”
Ginny felt shock coursing through her. What did he know? How could he know?
“I- I went to The Three Broomsticks to meet with Percy and-” she began tremulously.
“Consider your words carefully, Miss Weasley. I do not, just now, have the patience for lies.”
Ginny sputtered, indignant, “I am not lying! I’ll show you the letter from Percy, if you’d like, asking me to meet him at the tavern. I don’t know why Harry was there in his place, but I assure you my intention was to have a quiet lunch with my brother and then return to school.”
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, apparently satisfied with her answer thus far. His face was still unreadable, but Ginny got the sense that he was very upset with her. She narrowed her gaze at him. She’d still been riding on the high of her afternoon with Harry when she strolled up to the gate, and even McGonagall’s stern face hadn’t brought her down. Now here was Dumbledore demanding an account of her outing in Hogsmeade and the weight of her burdens pushed down on her once more. Ginny suddenly felt all of the pressure that had built up within her give way.
“What do you want from me!” she screamed, jumping to her feet. “I spent the afternoon with Harry and for a few hours, I was happy. I know I’ve made mistakes and, believe me, I’m paying for them, but can’t I set them aside for one afternoon? Do I always have to be miserable because I was stupid enough to get pregnant? One afternoon!” Ginny turned away from the headmaster and hid her face as great sobs shook her.
“Bugger!” she blubbered. “I’ve already done this once today.”
“Ginny,” said Dumbledore wearily. “What did you tell Harry?”
Ginny turned to see him standing next to her with a handkerchief. “Nothing,” she said as she accepted the handkerchief and blew her nose. “We didn’t actually talk much.” Her face went flaming red as she realised what she’d just said. “I mean-”
“Ginny, do you realize the dangerous game that you’re playing? Harry isn’t going to take these deceptions lightly. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to keep this secret and you said it was to protect Harry. Now I’m beginning to wonder if you haven’t changed your mind. Well? Which is it Ginny? Are you still protecting Harry? Or are you just protecting yourself?”
Ginny stared mutinously at the headmaster. “Neither,” she growled. “This isn’t about me, and Harry’s a big boy. If he wants to change the rules, fine. I’d rather be at his side facing Voldemort than sitting meekly at home waiting for the news of his demise. But I will not put Gwendolen in danger. I will keep my secret for as long as Voldemort lives.”
Dumbledore eyed her carefully as though assessing this change in her attitude. “I haven’t necessarily agreed with your deceptions, Ginny, but they were your choices to make. I made the arrangements with Petunia Dursley purely for the sake of your child. I do not relish being in the position of lying not only to Harry, but to your parents and my staff as well. While I’m glad to see that you have enough love for your child to protect her, I must remind you that I did warn you there would be consequences that you would not fully understand until they came about.
“You used the Time-Turner, Ginny, of your own accord and thus you are bound by the rules I set forth concerning its use. It is a dangerous thing to alter the course of time. I did not hand you the Timeturner without very seriously considering the ramifications. You must not be found out. Fifteen points will be taken from Gryffindor for your tardiness. You will serve detention each night this week and there will be no more Hogsmeade visits for you this term. Have I made myself clear?” he asked his voice betraying his disappointment.
“Yes, Professor,” she responded automatically.
“Gwendolen is a beautiful name,” he said softly, compassion returning to his eyes. “You have shown incredible strength of will to leave your daughter in the care of another. It is obvious to me that you love her and would do anything to protect her. Now I just need you to remember that she hasn’t been born yet. Protecting her means keeping silent about her. You need to be more careful. You need to learn from your past mistakes, not repeat them.”
Ginny felt the shame well inside her. Harry had been right in saying they’d made a mistake. She would never view Gwen as anything other than a gift, but she regretted the inevitable pain she would cause others. She still hadn’t given thought to how she would explain this to her mother. Her eyes prickled but there were no tears left to cry. Despite the fact that the headmaster had not dismissed her, she started for the door. A sudden pop in the fireplace startled her and she turned to see Professor Snape’s head molded in the flames.
“Headmaster,” he said urgently. “Percy Weasley has been taken!”
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