memento

Ginny rolled restlessly in her bed. What woke her up? She looked around the room for some sign of disturbance. A soft pounding was coming from the living room. She groaned miserably, annoyed by the interruption, and sat up in bed.

The knocking continued. She yawned tiredly as she stood up, cringing slightly as her bare feet hit the cold wooden floor. She brushed her hair out of her face and adjusted her pajama pants as she walked through to the next room.

“Who is it?” she asked groggily as she leaned against the door.

“It’s me…” the familiar voice on the other side answered.

She frowned slightly and unbolted the door… “Harry, what are you doing here?” she asked, opening the door.

“I need to talk to you,” Harry replied uneasily.

“It’s two in the morning,” she chastised in a disoriented tone.

“Ginny,” he muttered.

She nodded her head and gestured for him to come in, reacting more to the pain that she could see etched across his features than to his request.

“Do you want to sit?” Ginny said quietly, taking her place on the couch.

Harry sat down beside her and took her hands in his. She gazed at him for a moment, wondering what he was doing. Her breath caught in her throat, reacting to his touch.

“Harry, is everything okay?” she asked, her brown eyes sweeping from his face to the defeated slump in his shoulders.

For a minute he said nothing, his fingers rubbed over her knuckles and the soft skin of her hands… “What’s wrong, Ginny?” he finally asked.

Ginny stared at him bewilderedly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Harry,” she answered honestly.

“I saw Neville today,” he replied quietly, his hands moving to stroke her upper arms.

She bowed her head slightly, understanding coming in a flash, “Harry,” she breathed his name softly.

He didn’t respond, but a mixture of pain, accusation, and pity slowly formed in his eyes – it was the same look she’d received earlier from Ron. She hated that look, it made her feel frail, fragile.

“What did Neville tell you?” Ginny questioned after a moment of silence.

“That you’re sick,” he answered coarsely. His throat was suddenly parched, it felt almost like sand paper, and his green eyes were flickering with obvious hurting.

She nodded her head and closed her eyes, “I am,” she whispered, looking back into his green eyes.

She turned away again, trying to fight back the tears that his gaze caused. She took a deep breath, trying to gain her composure. He reached a hand up to caress her face, and an involuntary shiver ran through her body.

“Harry,” she whispered, moving into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him tightly, letting him hold her, wanting him to hold her.

A plummeting feeling sank through him - he could feel her tears steadily dropping against his neck.

“So what is? Is Neville treating you?” he asked concernedly, his words muffled by the soft hair that obscuring his face.

She sobbed against his shoulder, all of the emotions she’d been holding in finally releasing, “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she muttered shakily.

“Ginny?” he whispered.

“No, Harry. Just stay, hold me… please,” she mumbled, pulling herself tighter against him. She confessed something there that she’d been struggling with for some time – she wanted to be comforted, need to be comforted. But it still made her feel weak, vulnerable.

Harry held her for a long moment, all the while wondering what he could say to comfort her… so he said the first thing that came to his mind… “It’ll be okay.”

She shook her head slightly… “No it won’t, it won’t be okay, Harry,” she said coarsely, rubbing her face against his shirt, trying to dry her tears.

“Ginny,” he muttered her name sadly.

She could feel his heart beating against her chest, feel his breathing. After a few minutes of silence she pulled away from him suddenly – inwardly cringing at the loss of his body heat.

“I’m fine, Harry,” she mumbled, somewhat ashamed with her emotional outburst.

He tilted her chin up so she was making eye contact. Tears streaked her pale face, and her lips trembled slightly.

“I must look terrible,” Ginny sobbed, wiping her face.

Harry smiled – her eyes were red and puffy but she looked as beautiful as ever… “You look beautiful,” he whispered, stroking her face.

She smiled at him and rolled her eyes, “Liar,” she accused teasingly.

Ginny stared at him for a minute, trying to read the expression in his eyes. The closeness, the warmth of his body, and the gentleness in his touch stirred something in her… very slowly she moved closer to him. Her hands reached up to pull off his glasses, but he grabbed her hand, stopping her - knowing fully what she was about to do and wanting his full vison when she did it.

She smiled softly at his reaction, and let her hands play across his face. His body trembled in response.

She leaned in closer, parting her lips slightly as their mouths touched. The kiss was soft, warm, wanting to grow bolder.

She knew it wouldn’t fix anything, not permanently anyhow, but she needed it, she needed him.

A wave of pleasure washed over Harry’s body as she raked her fingers through his rumpled hair.

Her tongue ran across lips, and he opened his mouth immediately.

Her tongue touched his own, teasing his senses…

Soon he became the aggressor, slowly pushing her back against the couch. He kissed her hungrily, passionately. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer to her as his hands roamed over her body.

His mouth left hers for an instant and she gasped.

He moved his lips to her neck.

She clutched at him tighter, pulling his body closer.

“Harry,” Ginny moaned breathlessly as he pushed his hips against her.

He smiled slightly and continued placing soft kisses along her neck, jaw line, and collar bone. She gasped as his tongue touched her earlobe.

He stopped when she began tugging at his robes.

The haze of passion cleared slightly, “Ginny… talk to me first,” he muttered as he propped himself up on his elbows and began to pull away.

“Shh” she demanded, running her fingertips across his lips.

Her hands gently stroked his face as she observed the hunger in his eyes. She smiled slightly and began to unfasten his robes.

He groaned slightly at her unwillingness to answer his request, but eventually, with her help, he began pulling off his clothes.

She ran her hands up and down his arms, breathing in his scent. He rotated his hips against her, and she arched her body against his - he groaned in pleasure.

Another moan escaped her lips as his hand touched the base of her abdomen and moved slowly up her shirt. His hands slid over her body, under the white fleece cloth she wore, slipping one hand over her stomach, her back, gently over her chest, her breasts.

“Not here,” Ginny whispered, pushing him away softly.

Harry stared at her questioningly for a minute, but realized what her request was when he looked around the room. He stood up, his body shaking slightly as he helped her to her feet. Her eyes moved down his body instinctively, and she felt a hot blush rise to her cheeks. She smiled flirtatiously, grabbed his hand, and led him to her bedroom.

* * * *
Her fingers ran down the muscles of his abdomen. His response was a sharp in-draw breath. Soon he was kissing her again, quickly gaining the passion that was lost moments before. Slowly, he removed her clothes until they were both naked.

She pulled him down on the bed, on top of her. Their senses seemed to have heightened now that they were both undressed. His kiss sent a wave of pleasure through her body as his fingers threaded through her auburn hair, softly pulling her head back to gain better access.

Their rhythm was slow at first, but after a few moments began to increase in momentum. A thousand sensations coursed through her body as he pushed inside her. She responded to his demanding actions by pushing her hips against, each movement causing immense pleasure for both.

Small beads of sweat formed on his bow, caused by the pressure of holding back. She made the task very difficult – the soft moans escaping her mouth, the way she ran her hands down the muscles of his back, and the way she responded so easily to him all made him want to loose all discipline.

They lost all track of time, becoming completely lost in their lovemaking. And when it was over neither of them was certain whether they’d been together for fifteen minutes or fifty… but that did matter – what mattered was that they had been together.

They laid in the silence for the longest time, neither of them speaking. He held her tightly, not wanting to let go, and she rested her head on his shoulder, slowly running her hand across his chest.

A small shiver passed through her.

“You cold?” Harry asked, pulling the sheet up to cover her before she responded.

“No,” Ginny answered softly.

He smiled slightly to himself.

“Why didn’t it work out for us, Harry?” she whispered, bringing her leg up to his waist, draping herself around his body.

“I don’t know... I guess we just drifted apart,” he replied pensively.

Ginny made a small noise that indicated her acknowledgement.

“It’s funny how that happens, how all our choices lead us to different places…” she muttered sleepily.

“Mmm… how many lives would we be leading if we made different choices? I wonder how much would change if we had done things differently?” he pondered thoughtfully…

She gave no response.

“Ginny?” he whispered… “Ginny?”

He smiled when he looked down at her – she’d fallen asleep on his shoulder. He gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and gazes at her for a moment. Then he pulled the sheet up higher and carefully tucked it around her.

He was so content at that moment. He’d been in a lot of meaningless relationships, mostly just for physical pleasure, but the way he felt with her was beyond that – it felt right to have in his arms, to kiss her, to make love to her... it was a feeling he wanted to keep with him forever.