Better Late Than Never

Harry lay awake in his bed staring at the ceiling. Well, tomorrow’s the day. I can do this. I have the support of my friends, Ron, Hermione, Ginny… I’ve got Ginny. Oh God, I kissed Ginny! That kiss was beyond anything imaginable. I kissed Ginny! What will Ron say? Ron can just sod off! That kiss was… mmmm…


“No! Leave him alone!” Ginny’s voice cut through the silence, bringing Harry back to earth. “Leave Colin alone, Tom! You want me, not him… NO, Tom, I won’t let you control me anymore…” Harry got out of bed and stood quietly at his bedroom door.


Another door opened and Harry saw Maddy walk groggily down the hall toward the loo. She turned on the light and noticed Harry in his doorway. “Hi, Uncle Harry,” she said wiping her sleepy eyes.


“Hi, Boo. Are you all right?” he whispered.


“Yeah, I’m just getting a drink. I’m used to this, Mum has nightmares like this almost every night. Sometimes I go lay with her, but that makes her mad sometimes. She doesn’t want me to know about them. I know they’re about Daddy, but I don’t know who Tom is.” Harry’s heart ached at the memory of Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets lying lifeless in front of Tom Riddle.


“Are they always this bad?”


“This is a mild one. They’re usually much worse.”


Ron was right, she had become very mature for an eight-year-old, Harry thought


Maddy took a sip of water and flipped the bathroom light off and started shuffling back to her room. She stopped in front of Harry and wrapped her arms around his waist hugging him tight. He rubbed her head softly and whispered, “She’ll be all right.”


“Good night, Uncle Harry.”


“G’night,” he said as he leaned down and kissed the top of her strawberry-blond head before she continued down the hall and closed her door behind her.


Harry stood in his doorway listening to Ginny’s screams. He remembered how, during the summers at the Burrow, she used to help ease the pain from his nightmares. He couldn’t listen to her suffer like that. He padded across the hall and slowly opened the door to Ginny’s room. Ginny’s body was stiff under the covers. He could see beads of sweat on her forehead. Her hands were clenched in the sheets and pounding the bed forcefully. He watched as her head turned roughly from side to side as if trying to fight someone from holding her still.


Harry softly sat on the bed beside her. He ran his fingers smoothly through her hair. Her hair is so soft. Her head slowed to a smooth rocking motion. Soft mumbles came from her throat as she moved to nuzzle next to Harry’s legs. I’ll only lay here for a minute, just until the dream is past. He lay himself down beside her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.


“Shhh… it’s all right… shhhh…” Harry whispered softly in her ear. She turned over onto her side so that her back was against his chest. Harry could feel his heart pound heavily in his chest. She smells like strawberries. Her round bottom pressed against his center and he felt his body shudder at the sensation. Oh… my… God… what am I doing? We fit so perfectly together, like we were made… Stop it, Potter! He wrapped his arms around her as he felt her body tense once again from the nightmare. His arms pulled her closer and he could hear Ginny breathe out a small groan as she snuggled back into him.


Harry felt her breathing become slow and steady and knew that the dream had gone and sleep had overtaken her. I can’t stay here… but it feels so good. He closed his eyes and soon succumbed to the same peaceful slumber.


*


Sunshine softly filtered through the window onto Ginny’s face. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her foggy mind flooded with memories of the previous evening. Harry kissed me! I kissed Harry! I can’t believe I did that. Did I tell him that it was amazing? Dammit I did! How stupid…stupid…stupid. Am I ready for this? No, I’m not. Am I? Oh, drat, how will I be able to look him in the eye? I only have to get through breakfast. I can go run some errands and then he has lunch with Melissa. Then… shit… we’re supposed to meet at Ron’s. Why did I have to kiss him? Why did I have to go and make it worse by saying what I said?


She looked out the window and saw that the sun was abnormally high in the sky for her to just be waking up. Dammit, I overslept. She rushed out of the bed and threw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. She hastily pulled her hair into a ponytail and rushed out of her room. She walked into the kitchen and saw Harry sitting at the table sipping some tea.


“Good morning, Gin.”


“Harry,” she nodded as she across the room and poured herself a cup of tea. “What time is it?”


“Almost ten.”


“Oh, bloody hell, the girls are late!” Ginny dropped her cup on the table and started to run through the door.


Harry gently grabbed her wrist before she could get out of the room. “Gin, I already walked them to school. They were actually a bit early,” he said. He noticed her stunned expression, “What? You were sleeping so well, the girls and I thought it best not to wake you.”


Ginny sighed with relief and sat at the table across from Harry. She raised her eyes appreciatively and said, “Thank you.”


Harry now looked concerned, “How did you sleep, anyway?”


“I slept all right, why?”


“I heard your nightmare last night,” he said, his eyes searching hers for some kind of response.


Ginny’s face blushed bright red, “What did you hear?”


“Enough. Do you want to talk about it?” Harry asked reaching for her hand.


Ginny looked down into her cup, “Not really.”


Harry gently rubbed her hand between his as he spoke softly to her, “Ginny, if anyone knows about nightmares, it’s me. Please, let me help.”


Ginny closed her eyes. How does he do that? Merlin knows I can’t hide anything from him. Maybe talking about will help. He was always a good listener. He’s right; he would understand it. He’s probably the onle whe who truly does. She opened her eyes and was startled to see his emerald green ones looking intensely at her. Her heart fluttered in her chest. Why am I feeling this way? It’s Harry. I’m not ready for this.


Ginny gave in under Harry’s gaze. “All right. Are you sure you really want to hear it?” Harry nodded. “Well, it’s the same every night. I see Colin walking down Diagon Alley. He waves back at me and blows me a kiss. I yell at him not to go, but he doesn’t hear me. I look down the street and see… Tom Riddle walking toward him.” Her eyes filled with tears as she struggled to say the Dark Lord’s given name.


“Gin, you still dream about Tom?”


“They stopped for a long time, until Colin was killed. I know that Voldemort’s gone… for good, be it’s like he’s haunting me.” Harry squeezed her hand as she continued, “Well… then Tom starts taunting me and the I see Colin collapse. I scream and then…” she paused. Her face had changed to a look of confusion.


“What’s wrong?” Harry asked at the sudden change in her expression.


“Oh, nothing. The dream just usually goes on a bit differently that it did last night. Usually I fight with Riddle and he threatens to use me against my family, and then the fight continues until I wake up. But this one was… different.”


“How so?”


“I suddenly felt warm and Tom disappeared. Colin stood up and walked toward me. He told me that he loved me and that he was all right. He wanted me to be happy, to let go, “she struggled through the words as the dream came back in spurts. “He kept telling me that everything was going to be all right. Everything would be all right now that I have…” her voice trailed off and she pulled her hands from Harry’s grasp. She stood up and padded over to the refrigerator. Did Colin actually say that? No, he couldn’t have. No…


“Gin, are you all right,” he asked as she opened the refrigerator, grabbed a jug of juice, took a drink and returned it to the shelf.


“Yeah, I’ll be all right,” Ginny said avoiding Harry’s gaze.


“What else happened?” I know she’s hiding something. Why else would she react that way?Harry stood and walked toward her. He turned her around to face him. “Gin?”


She looked at the floor, “Everything is going to be all right now that I have…” No way I can tell him. This is just too much. Colin couldn’t have said THAT! She took a deep breath and looked up at Harry’s face and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t remember.”


I know she’s lying, I can see it in her eyes. I won’t push it; it’s obviously something she doesn’t want to deal with right now. “All right then,” Harry said changing the subject, “I’m going to head on in to London a bit early. After my lunch with Melissa, I’ll meet you at Ron and Hermione’s?”


“Yeah, I’ll be there,” she said relieved that Harry had changed the topic of discussion.


Harry walked out of the kitchen. Ginny watched the door close behind him and whispered, “Everything is going to be all right now that I have you, Harry.”