In Her Room

In Her Room

He pulled back the covers and checked to make sure the person beside him was still sleeping. Noting that they were, he eased out of bed and put on his slippers on; making sure to grab his robe which he had thrown across a chair by the door.

He crept out of the room and tiptoed down the hall, hesitating to open the door that he had opened on so many occasions, but quietly pushing it open. Harry entered the room, and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He took in the décor, though he had seen and memorized everything the room contained long ago.

The walls were brightly decorated with pink and white stripes, and in the corner sat a matching white dresser with tiny heart-shaped knobs. His slippers padded against the plush crème carpet, and he walked over to the window above her bed.

Her curtains were billowing in the soft breeze flowing through the window; and he frowned when he noticed that it had been left ajar. He slowly slid it shut, careful not to stir her from her peaceful rest.

He backed away from the window, and looked down upon her bed. He stood cautiously before it, the feeling that he should not be there resident in his mind, though he had made this journey so many nights without repercussion. He slowly pulled back the bed curtains and revealed her sleeping figure curled up on top of the covers.

He gently sat beside her, being careful not to make too big of an indent in the mattress as he did so. He slowly pulled the covers from underneath her, and then pulled them up over her petite figure and past her chin.

She stirred and he froze, but she resumed peacefully sleeping, and he watched as her chest rose and fell with each shallow breath she took. He smiled down at her, still not able to believe that the beautiful creature he was staring at was actually his.

Her gorgeous red hair fanned behind her head and curled up slightly at the ends, framing her pretty, round face. Her small nose was covered with freckles, and Harry imagined her deep brown eyes behind her closed lids.

He closed his eyes too, taking in the sweet scent of peppermint and aloe that permeated her room. He smiled, as he thought of all the regrets or troubles he had been through and anticipated in the past, but as he stared down at her resting form, he couldn't help but feel proud that he'd made the right decisions all along, and thank Merlin, he was blessed to have her in his life.

He remembered the first time he saw her; it was hard now to imagine her being that small. She had looked right at him, and he looked into her eyes, knowing something special was going to come from their relationship but not quite getting the depth of it. After all, he had been young and naïve then, too.

Maybe he'd fallen in love with her upon first sight, but it wasn't until a few years later, at the Burrow, when he truly realized just how much he loved her and how much she meant to him. He had been having a rough day, and she had just woken up from a nap. She only took one look at him and noticed something was wrong; she was always quite perceptive despite her young age. She obviously couldn't know how to fix things, but she sat beside him on the couch and wordlessly threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. How had she known that it was the exact thing to do to make everything right, he still hadn't figured out even now, but that was the moment when he knew that she was truly a gift from the heavens; something to be cherished for the rest of his life and hers too.

He was flooded with memories from all the laughs they had. He thought of the precious days when it was just the two of them, and how they would spend time out in the garden, planting flowers and tending to the herbs. There were the rainy days when they would cuddle up together on the couch and he'd hold her in his arms until she fell asleep; and soon he would find himself drifting off into a peaceful slumber as well. There were the long days after work at the Ministry when he'd come home dead tired, but the day's stress would melt away after she would come running straight to the door and jump into his arms with a laugh.

He was glad that he had finished off Voldemort years before; the idea of him possibly ruining everything now he had was too much to bear. His breath hitched in his throat at the thought of losing her, and he knew he would have never forgiven himself if Voldemort was still alive and going after the ones he loved; the heavenly creature before him would've been first on his list.

He ran his hand softly along the outline of her jaw, imagining her in the day time. She was always about, cheerfully spouting out conversation, and even sassing off at him if she found necessary. She turned in the bed, and Harry closed his large hands around her tiny ones. She instinctively tightened her fingers around his, and his heart skipped a beat at the amount of love he felt towards her.

He let out a deep sigh, thinking of all the joy and sunshine she'd brought in his life. He doubted if she fully comprehended how much he cared about her; but he reminded himself as she finally loosened the grip on his fingers, that one day she would understand.

The door creaked open behind him, and he halted, knowing that he'd been caught again. He cast a sheepish glance at the figure in the doorway, and raised his hands in the air as if to surrender.

"Can you blame me?" he asked softly. "I can't help staring at her- she's beautiful."

The figure came into view and his wife smiled at him. "She is beautiful, isn't she?"

"She looks just like you, Ginny," he whispered, and beckoned for her to come closer.

She sat beside him on the bed, and the two of them silently looked down at their daughter. "Can you believe that we're responsible for such an amazing thing?"

"Not at all," he said, softly chuckling. "Was it really only six years ago that she was born? In one way it seems like it was only yesterday, but she's growing so fast-"

"Yet you still can't resist the urge to check in on her every night," she pointed out with a smirk. "You'll have to stop when she gets to be a teenager, you know."

"Oh no, I won't," Harry replied stubbornly. "I'll sneak up to Hogwarts and check in on her in the girl's dormitory..."

Ginny giggled and leaned down to brush some stray hairs off of their daughter's face. As she straightened back up, Harry caught her arm and kissed her, thinking that Ginny was the only one he could possibly love more than their cherished daughter.

"Come back to bed," she coaxed quietly, standing and walking back towards the door.

"I will. I'm just going to tuck her in," he promised. Ginny slipped out the door with a knowing look on her face. He looked back at his tiny daughter once more, and brought the covers back up to her chin; she had managed to kick them off again.

He leaned over and pressed his lips softly to her temple. "I love you, Grace Lily Potter," he whispered. He slowly rose from her bed and pulled the curtains back around it; extra careful not to be too loud. He passed her bed quietly and walked over to the door, lingering in the frame and looking back at her, before quietly closing the door to his daughter's room.