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It had been an accident reaching for his Quidditch gloves.
Harry’s left hand bumped into Ginny’s right, which was apparently reaching for the same pair. “Oh, sorry Harry,” she laughed nervously. “Didn’t realize those were yours.”
“It’s fine,” Harry answered as he pulled them on, his voice a little shakier than he would have liked it to be. “Are we all just about ready?” He glanced around at the nodding faces of his teammates. “Great. Let’s go.”
They mounted their brooms and flew into the sunlight for the match.
The next one was in the Great Hall at breakfast.
Ginny had been deep in conversation with Dean Thomas and didn’t notice Harry approaching as she turned to go back to her seat. “Sorry, Ginny,” Harry spluttered; he was trying not to lose his grip on a full plate of food. Her hand went up to steady the plate before she could stop herself, and her fingertips brushed against his without trying.
“Don’t be sorry; I’ll get out of your way,” Ginny half-laughed, stepping carefully around Dean to let him pass. Was that a blush coloring his cheeks as he went and sat down with Ron and Hermione? She could distinctly hear her brother asking “What’s gotten into you, mate?”
The third time was in the Gryffindor common room.
Harry was cramming for the OWLs again, and he wasn’t having any more ease staying awake through Divination. He rubbed his eyes and felt the exhaustion seeping in. He might as well call it a night at this point; he wasn’t going to -
“Careful there, Harry. You’re going to light something on fire if you’re not careful.”
He started and turned at the familiar voice. “Ginny? What are you still doing down here?”
She shrugged and sat down in front of the fire. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Harry closed his books and set his ink and quills aside. “Everything alright?”
“Mostly. It’s just that…sometimes…” Ginny pulled her knees up to her chest as she stared into the flames. “I still have dreams about the Chamber.”
He took a sharp breath and came to sit at her side. “I’m sorry…if I didn’t get there fast enough.” He would never forget racing through the bowels of the castle with Ron and Professor Lockhart - shortly before he Obliviated his own memory and had to be sent off to St. Mungo’s.
“You got there,” she replied. “If you hadn’t…”
Harry almost reached for her hand, but decided against it. His finger still brushed hers as his hand came to a stop on the floor. “I’m glad we got there in time,” he said. Before he could hold it back, he was yawning. “I should probably call it a night before I do set something on fire. Good night, Ginny.”
“Good night, Harry.”
The fourth time was at a meeting of the DA.
Harry had asked Ginny to help demonstrate the Reductor Curse, and she was more than happy to oblige. She enjoyed participating in the DA more than any Defense Against the Dark Arts class she had taken before, and even though she would never admit it, she was glad that Harry had enough confidence in her to ask her to do a demonstration.
She pointed her wand at the target. “Reducto!” True to form, the target exploded, blowing her hair back with the force it created. The fine powder slowly began to fall through the floor.
“Fantastic, Ginny!” Harry called out from the group, grinning broadly. She stepped back with a smile of her own, briefly passing Harry and bumping the back of his hand with hers as she put her wand away. Harry quickly cleared his throat and returned to the lesson.
Ginny had to keep a furious blush from rising in her cheeks. Blimey, what was getting into her?
The fifth time it happened was on the Hogwarts Express going home.
Ginny had joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione in their compartment for the ride, and the latter two had briefly gone out to see where the trolley had gone. She yawned deeply, and Harry chuckled. “That tired from your exams, are you?”
“You weren’t the only one who stayed up studying,” she chuckled. “I’m just glad this year is over.”
“Me too.” Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’d love to have a normal year at Hogwarts without Voldemort trying to ruin everything for us.”
Ginny gave him a sympathetic look. “I know.” She yawned again. “Maybe next year. We can hope, right?”
Harry chuckled and let out a yawn of his own. “We can hope.”
“Honestly, Ronald,” Hermione said with exasperation, “just because you can doesn’t mean you -“
She stopped before stepping into the compartment. Harry and Ginny were fast asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. “What?” Ron was asking behind her. “What is it?”
Hermione held back a smile. “You know, I think we should go find Fred and George.”
“What for?” Ron complained. “I have to put up with them for an entire summer…”
Twenty years later
“Good night, boys,” Ginny called to her sons. “Get to sleep - and I mean right to sleep, Albus Severus.”
“Good night, mum!” the boys replied as she shut the door.
She sighed as she stepped into her bedroom. “Did you do the wand check in the boys’ room?” Harry asked.
With a smile, Ginny produced them. “They may think they’re immune to the Trace, but they’re not immune to parental supervision.”
Harry laughed as he climbed into their bed. “Hopefully someday they’ll thank us.” He placed a gentle kiss on her lips as she adjusted the sheets and climbed into bed next to him. As the lamps turned over, Harry’s arm curled around her waist. “Hey.”
“Hm?”
“I love you.” She could hear the smile in his voice as he said it.
Ginny relaxed with a contented sigh into Harry’s chest. “I love you too.”