The Nameless Charm

~ The Nameless Charm ~

Amazingly and unexpectedly the weather had begun to get warm again - a softness that flowed through the slowly growing grass and cracked earth beneath his achy feet. The constant mist that seemed to seep ever deeper into the skin had begun to dissipate slightly, enough that a person felt the endless sharpness of a dementor's chill ease a bit. Harry pushed his hands through his black untidy hair and stood grimacing at the horizon while the sun edged its way downwards as if hesitant to disappear completely.

Though Harry should have felt a sense of relief that the eerie fog was lessening for the first time in nearly a year, he could not. Harry had decided long ago to lock those feelings away, to immerse himself, focus his intentions solely upon what he now had to do.

Thinking about his world in an optimistic light would have caused him greater pain than he could presently deal with, so the only emotion he ever allowed himself these days was his own penetrating and very personal need for vengeance.

Vengeance, he knew, was no cure for the bitter emptiness that resonated inside of him, no matter how much he may want to deny it. But as empty as he felt, at least he was not entirely alone. Two people had vehemently insisted upon accompanying him on this desolate journey, two people that he knew had been keeping him sane for over eight months and counting. Ron and Hermione were a few feet away, lying closely together under the first real refuge they had found in several exhausting weeks. Harry often wondered if they regretted following him on this harrowing and questionable foray of his, but never once did they protest at the abysmal conditions they had to exist in - never once did they shy away from the danger that inevitably followed them wherever they went.

Yesterday, things had taken an even darker turn still. Ron was slumbering peacefully for the first time in hours and hours. A huge rusty-looking gash had been torn into his chest the morning before and Hermione had worked tirelessly to heal it, even though cures for such things were nearly impossible to conjure out here in the middle of nowhere. The main problem continued to be that the objects themselves, the Horcruxes, by their very nature exerted such a massive amount of Dark magic that those trying to destroy one were frequently caught in the rebounding results of its obliteration.

And this was not the first injury Harry or his friends had suffered on this outing. Harry now had a thick maroon scar that ran from his left eye down his neck to his collarbone, and Hermione's wand hand had been severely burnt as though by acid and had never really healed properly. Hermione's hand was serviceable, though scarred, but Harry sincerely doubted that she would ever be able to use it in the same way she had before all of this had started.

Harry sighed as he looked over at his two best friends in the light of the rising moon, and he noted that the small black cauldron was still steaming in the corner. Hermione's invaluable knowledge of practical magic and advanced potions had saved him and Ron numerous times recently, but it had been Ron's fast thinking that had kept Hermione's burn from becoming life-threatening a few weeks earlier. The truth was that they were all dedicated not only to each other, but also to the cause, Harry's cause, and nothing would allow them to deviate from their course, no matter how daunting and horrifying it was.

Nevertheless, there were things that burst through Harry's relentlessly stoic exterior on occasion. The enemy of fatigue was getting to be nearly as dangerous as the pieces of Voldemort's soul that they were trying so desperately to annihilate. Lately when Harry slept, he felt ominously vulnerable, but he knew that no amount of clearing his mind would help if Voldemort decided to seek entry again. They had just yesterday managed to destroy the third surviving Horcrux; they each knew that the only thing between Voldemort and Harry now was distance and also the venomous and overly large snake known as Nagini. Under different circumstances, Harry might have felt better today - better than usual anyway, since he had taken one more step towards vanquishing Voldemort, but it was not to be. Ron had come all too close to dying when that last piece of the demonic puzzle had been eradicated, and Harry felt the heaviness of his guilt growing almost exponentially with each passing moment of time.

Harry stepped away from the prone forms of his two friends and began pacing through the darkening confines that encompassed the area. They had found this tiny wooden barn - more a shack than anything else - about a week before, and although it had obviously been abandoned long ago and was barely standing on its own foundations, Harry had been especially grateful to see it. The structure, such as it was, had provided them with a small amount of protection and concealment; and they had realized months ago just how important those things could be.

Harry's mind was racing mercilessly as he stomped around the shack's perimeter. This was insane; how could he in good conscience let Ron and Hermione continue to do this? Should he start an all-out row that would chase them from him? Should he stop right this second and try to Apparate away as quickly and as far from them as was humanly possible? Should he hide and wait for them to give up and leave him there? But Harry discarded each idea even as it entered his head. He could not abandon Ron in his current weakened state, and he honestly wondered if he could now finish all of this by himself. Both Ron and Hermione would hex him into next week before they let him do this alone anyway, and on some basic level he understood that with an undeniable certainty.

Eventually, after two hours of restlessly retracing the same circular path outside the ramshackle shelter, Harry wandered off towards a distant knot of tall oaks still within view of their temporary home. Feeling an odd need for solitude but ever wary of unseen intruders, he made sure the fake locket Horcrux and his invisibility cloak were both securely tucked inside of their respective pockets and settled himself wearily beneath the branches of a nearby tree, intending to keep watch. Within moments, however, his exhaustion got the better of him and Harry accidentally slipped into the unhindered oblivion of sleep. Not long thereafter he was faced with an even bigger problem, for his unconsciously dreaming mind could never deny the truth quite as effectively as his waking mind usually managed to.

They were running together hand in hand out of the portrait hole, grins plastered to each of their faces. Upon reaching the grounds, Harry pulled her into the shadow of the castle marveling at the ridiculously joyous feeling that was now rising in his chest. She surprised him first by reaching out and pulling him into a fierce embrace and then by pressing her lips to his so ardently that she nearly took his breath away. Harry remembered wondering at the time if this was really happening to him; he could not seem to remember ever being this happy before.....

*

She was lying there curled like a cat in the squashy armchair next to his reading her Charms notes with a decidedly distracted air while stealing glances at him every few seconds. Smiling, Harry finally glimpsed back at her and unceremoniously dumping his quill and parchment on the floor, he leaned in for a short snog before anyone else could notice. Unexpectedly hearing a strangely recognizable "tutting" sound a moment later, Harry whipped around to see that his actions had not gone as undiscovered as he had thought. Caught in the act, he and Ginny tried to stifle their laughter as Hermione scowled in a distinctly McGonagall-like fashion at their unabashed disregard for homework from across the room.....

*

Harry lay with his back anchored against the soft bark of the beech tree in the lingering warmth of the afternoon sun. Ginny lay half on top of him, her flowery-scented hair wafting gently in the breeze and occasionally brushing past the bottom of his chin as they both stared out across the vast blue expanse of the lake.

"You look different, you know," Ginny spoke in muted tones next to his ear.

"Different?" Harry had asked bemusedly.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much. You should definitely keep it up," Ginny advised, only half-joking.

"Why?" Harry inquired, looking up into her face.

"Because I simply can't resist snogging the living daylights out of you when you smile at me like that." She then proceeded to prove her point to him most convincingly, and Harry felt the beast inside of him roar hastily to life as her lips met his again and again with an exhilarating and ever-growing intensity.....

Harry then broke away from Ginny as he felt the atmosphere of the dream-like memory change with the rapidity of a charging bull. And for the first time in two years, Harry felt a sharp biting pain in the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Without preamble and without even the briefest of warnings, Harry then heard a hate-filled and all too familiar voice reverberating around inside his head.

"So this is what you've been hiding from me, Potter," the voice hissed, and Harry tried to fight it, tried to block it out, but he was powerless to do so. "I can see why now, of course. I'd want to keep her all to myself, as well." Menace dripped from every syllable that the voice uttered, menace and... innuendo. Harry felt his stomach churn at the sound of it.

"You stay away from her!" Harry shouted, as a blind rage surged through him. "This has nothing to do with her!"

"No, this has to do with you, Potter. You want this girl, and I want you. The perfect connection, you might say. Nothing and no one escapes from me, and you should know that better than anyone by now. Let's let her in on our little secret, shall we?" And as Harry watched, Voldemort's horrid snakelike form appeared next to them in the dream, leering at Ginny suggestively as everything around them immediately went black.

"NO!" Harry screamed soundlessly inside his mind, but he somehow knew that no matter how loudly he yelled, Ginny would not be able to hear him, that she might never be able to hear him ever again.....

*~*~*~*

Ginny crossed the rutted country lane with a feeling of increasing excitement. At long last, she was getting closer, she could feel it. This mad quest of hers was finally leading her somewhere, and after a solid month of fruitless searching, Ginny could tell that what she sought was getting quite near.

Ginny had known from the outset that what she was doing was unwise, but she could have never lived with herself if she did not at least attempt it. For the past six months, Ginny had spent every waking hour working endlessly to teach herself how to do some very exacting kinds of spells and enchantments. Many Ginny had heard of or had seen before but had never used, but she knew that she must become accomplished at them if she was to reach her final goal. A few carefully chosen people had helped along the way. Fred and George had spent their small amount of time off giving her not only magical pointers but also several of their more secret inventions, some of which had already helped Ginny to get out of a few exceedingly tight spots indeed.

Professor Flitwick had assisted too, in his way. Ginny felt that he had suspected her of something like this all along but had feigned ignorance so that she could still get what she needed without arousing suspicion. It was he who had taught her how to both Apparate early and how to Disillusion herself rather effectively. He had also helped her to hone some of the more obscure dueling techniques that he knew, and while Ginny considered herself a fairly decent dueler, she had gotten even better under Flitwick's regular tutelage. Flitwick had provided Ginny with the one piece of knowledge that she had needed above all others as well. He had given her something from his own personal library; it was an enormous book, simply entitled in worn golden lettering with the words, "Ancient Magic."

At first, Ginny had not realized the depth of the enchantments and charms held within the massive tome, but upon careful inspection she had found the one charm that had led her all the way from Hogwarts castle to this dilapidated dirt road somewhere in the south of England. The charm had had no name, but it had jumped out at her immediately - it could be cast to determine not only if magic had been used in a specific place, but also who had used it. It would only work, however, if used by someone who was connected to the person sought at the deepest and most intimate of levels - by a connection of purest trust, loyalty, and friendship, but even more importantly in Ginny's case - by love.

Ginny nearly tripped as she sped through a copse of heavily branched trees that encircled what appeared to be an abandoned barn on a gently sloping hill. Opaque patches of forest sparsely surrounded the building; she could see the leafy edge of the canopy in the faint moonlight being cast through the gloom. With her wand out, Ginny neared the side of the structure and felt a mild tingling sensation flow in a steady rhythm up her arm - these surges of power would become more sharply staccato-like and strong the closer she came to his position. Wanting to be certain that he was not inside, she glanced in through the cracked and grimy window. It was far too dark to make heads or tails of anything within, and Ginny had just begun to look for an entrance when she felt a subtle shift in the feeling of her wand. Closing her eyes and swinging it in a careful circle around her, she perceived a small increase in the amount of magical energy emanating from one particular spot lying further out in the woods. She turned deliberately and slowly, listening for all she was worth, then tentatively began to make her way towards it.

~*~*~*~

Harry awoke abruptly in an extremely agitated state, jerking his head erratically in every direction searching for the sickly-white visage of Lord Voldemort. As the pain in his scar spiked horribly, Harry felt his tightly bottled emotions - always so scrupulously hidden, push forcibly upwards towards the surface. How could he have been this stupid? Why did he not see this before? Voldemort's Legilimens proficiency was legendary, of course he would be seeking out Harry's most private and treasured moments to discover what he was up to - to find out what his plans were. But Harry had not been prepared for this, for Voldemort to invade his dreams and memories after ignoring him so completely for so long; for him to discover how Harry had felt - still felt, if he was honest with himself - about Ginny.

Suddenly, everything he had done - everything he was continuing to do - seemed foolish and useless. What good what it do him to risk his life and those of his two oldest friends if Voldemort simply decided to start killing off everyone they had left behind? Would it make any difference that he had succeeded in getting rid of the remaining Horcruxes if the members of the Order of the Phoenix were all slaughtered? Would any of it matter if the Burrow was burnt to the ground and destroyed? And worst of all, what would he do if he got back to Hogwarts to find that Ginny had been attacked or even murdered despite his very best intentions to keep her out of danger?

Like poison, a huge wave of hopelessness and fear then crashed over Harry, consuming each of his other senses. Everything felt pointless and futile, for Voldemort seemed to always be one crucial and life-shattering step ahead of him. As Harry's body sagged against the trunk of the tree he was still sitting under, he could feel his now tenuous control sliding inch by inch down a path he was certain he could never follow. Aching for Ginny but believing that he had already lost her, Harry's heart knew nothing but despair as he wept miserably into the deep silence of that dismal summer night.

*~*~*~*

There beneath the taller of the two trees sat a lone figure barely detectable within the dim and highly shadowed landscape. She could only just make out the tremors that seemed to be ravaging his form, but it was the sound of his agonized sobs that urged Ginny forward. She stood staring hard at him for a few seconds just behind where he sat; she did not want to startle him, but she had to be sure. Ginny continued to cautiously approach him and was beginning to reach out to touch his shoulder when Harry jumped and looked around wildly - gasping audibly as he caught sight of her. Ginny instantly found herself looking down the business end of Harry's lit wand; the little she could see of his face was set with shock and clearly discernible suspicion.

"It's me, Harry," Ginny whispered in the most soothing voice she could muster; she was unwilling to let him see how alarmed she actually was at his frighteningly swift reaction. Harry kept his wand trained on her for what seemed to be an eternity, but ever so slowly, his hand dropped to his side. Harry then began to turn almost despondently in the opposite direction, but Ginny immediately reached towards him again and made him face her. The look that Ginny saw in Harry's eyes troubled her far worse than that fact that he had nearly jinxed her only a moment before. She had not seen Harry looking this tormented, this haunted, since his fifth year at school - he appeared to be a man at the very end of his rope.

"I... I didn't believe it was you..." he muttered brokenly. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, Harry," she countered at once, watching him closely. Harry seemed not to hear her at first, but then as the pieces apparently began to fall into place, he turned back to gape at her, his eyes blazing.

"Of course I do!" he retorted with a harsh fierceness, pacing impatiently back and forth. It was like watching a caged animal; one that had been neglected and had suffered for far too long. "I owe a lot of people apologies, Ginny, but you most of all!"

Ginny could hear the guilt - the immense amount of pain in his voice, and instead of arguing with him, she quickly wrapped her arms around Harry and pulled him to her. Harry resisted for a few fleeting seconds before all of the fight drained out of him; and his expression then crumbled, making his face seem so much younger and more frightened than she had expected, that a lump rose in her throat just from looking at him. Embracing him tightly Ginny heard another tiny sob escape him as if of its own volition, and she supported him as he slumped forward - gradually feeling the front of her robes grow damp with the quiet rush of his renewed anguish. After a long passage of time Harry's body finally stopped shaking, and he specifically avoided her gaze as he attempted to move away from her once more. Sensing that they were both in unknown territory, Ginny instinctually held on to him, fearful that he would deny her unspoken request to stay. Putting her finger under his chin, she pulled it gently upwards until he was forced to peer into her eyes. Remaining silent, Harry glanced unsteadily at her, his face still tear-stained and now full of what appeared to be shame.

"I'm sorry..." he started to murmur haltingly again, until a subtle shushing noise from Ginny made him fall mute once more. Harry timidly and apologetically touched the spot just below the collar of her robes which was completely soaked-through, and Ginny scrutinized his downcast features to realize suddenly that Harry was not pushing her from him because he did not want her here - this was something altogether different. Then, for whatever reason, she was reminded of the redness of his eyes and the perceptible wetness on his cheeks at Dumbledore's funeral. The evidence that he had been affected was there for everyone to see, but he had refused to share his grief with anybody or even to acknowledge it in any form. Did he think it made him weak or something? Was this the only time he had ever let someone comfort him in such a way?

"Oh, Harry," she sighed, feeling a massive influx of varying emotions. How could he be so utterly conflicted about his feelings and yet brave and noble to the point of absolute absurdity at the exact same time? Noticing the new and quite livid scar that streaked down the side of his face for the first time, Ginny gingerly traced it with her finger before closing her eyes and kissing him softly on the lips. Apparently surprised, Harry opened his own eyes wide to stare at her; it was as if he could not believe that she could possibly accept him like this - with all his emotional faults and vulnerabilities wholly visible and exposed.

"Where did you get this?" she spoke again, but Harry seemed either unwilling or unable to answer her. "I suppose Ron and Hermione are in about the same condition as you are." He noticeably winced at these words, and Ginny could tell by his expression that something bad had indeed happened and that Harry blamed himself entirely for whatever it was. "Are they all right?"

"I think they're going to be," Harry eventually replied, not quite meeting her eye. "Hermione's been burnt, and Ron... Ron almost... He got hurt pretty badly yesterday. It was touch and go for a while, but Hermione's fixed it, I think. They're both sleeping inside of that barn over there. Did you see it when you got here?"

Ginny simply nodded, absorbing this information. From the sound of it, they had all received some fairly horrific injuries but were currently holding their own - if only just. Knowing that further questions could wait, Ginny studied Harry's face. He still seemed lost and full of regret, so she decided that a distraction was well in order.

Forcing back the mop of his dark messy hair, Ginny removed his glasses and focused on kissing him lightly - starting with his nose then moving on to his cheeks, his eyebrows, his old lightning-shaped scar and his awful-looking new one, before finally returning with meticulous deliberation to his lips once more. Harry had been sitting rather rigidly up to this point, flinching a little when her lips fluttered over the infamous mark on his forehead, but ultimately relaxing into her tender caresses. Ginny continued her ministrations until at last he responded, his hands reaching into the tresses of her long coppery hair as he deepened their kisses and turned them from something extremely chaste and innocent into something a great deal more intense.

Ginny felt something indefinable change as Harry started to kiss her back in earnest; his humiliated expression melting into one of concentration as he focused all of his attention on her. Harry's hands left her tangled hair to trace the entire length of her arms and back, and after a moment, he was pulling her body up against his own. Ginny let herself disappear into the flowing wall of sensation that was beginning to envelop both of them, and as Harry's movements became more urgent and driven, she lowered her mouth and began to slide her tongue along the side of his neck and down to the worn edge of his ancient jumper - smiling as she heard him give a faint moan of longing as a reward for her efforts. She did not stop him when he started to undo the clasp on the front of her robes, and when his slightly calloused hands sought out the delicate skin beneath her own jumper, Ginny put aside all of her restraint and pressed her lips to his so passionately that she felt her head spin.

Harry's breathing was considerably more labored now and when she gazed into his bright green eyes this time, she could see everything that he usually tried so desperately to hide - the strengths and weaknesses of his mind, his deep personal sense of right and wrong, the beauty of his dreams and the terror of his nightmares, his inherent fears about what he must do and his amazing courage in facing them... and lastly, his overwhelming need to be with her right this moment - in every single way possible.

~*~*~*~

Harry and Ginny had only spent a short number of weeks together before parting at the end of the last school year, but that time had been filled with the kind of pure elation that he had barely even conceived of previously. While with her, Harry had been impervious to so many of the things that had bothered him in the past - the incessant talking behind his back, the accusations that he was a liar or crazy, the gossip about who he really was and what he was doing; but Ginny had miraculously changed all of that. With one good and exceedingly public snog, Ginny Weasley had made the fact that her feelings and intentions mirrored his known to everybody else, and had also erased any doubt Harry might have had about the wisdom of choosing to act on his attraction to her in the first place.

Simply put, Harry had been happy - blissfully, dizzyingly happy - and at the time, it had felt like nothing in the world could burst his bubble. He and Ginny had practiced their snogging technique rather enthusiastically, especially down by the lake; but Harry had never wanted her to feel uncomfortable, so he had been careful not to push her - Ginny had always set the pace. The scaly creature that resided in his chest had wanted more physically, a lot more actually, but Harry was stronger than that and he had refused to give his hot-running teenage hormones free reign. His dreams had certainly gotten loads more exciting and vivid at that point, but other than indulging in the occasional long, steamy shower, that was as far as Harry ever let it go.

Now as he sat here in the arms of the one person he had thought about more than any other - although he had tried very hard not to have her in his mind at all, he felt literally undone. Overwhelmed by the force of his feelings for her, and by the unanticipated weight of despair he had been shrouded in throughout the extended length of his necessary but terrible absence, Harry felt so keen for a reprieve from his burdens - even if only for a moment - that he became blinded to everything except Ginny's fiery warmth and beauty.

As soon as his fingers brushed across the extraordinary smoothness of Ginny's bare back to hit the silky seam of her bra, some distant part of Harry knew he was in major trouble. He could no more resist her at this point than he could fly without a broom, and he felt the pull of his most primal instincts as blood began to rush from the other parts of his body to converge at a specific location below his waist, urging him on. Without really being aware that he was doing so, Harry groped for the bottom of Ginny's knitted jumper and drew it over her head, anxious beyond belief to feel all of her skin nestled against his.

Harry lifted his head to gaze upon her and was greeted with a burning look that ignited him like a torch. Ginny's red hair was mussed and unkempt, she had smudges under her eyes from lack of sleep, and she was dusty with the dirt of her travels; but she had never seemed more enticing to him than she did right now, sitting here with him in this dusky darkness. He caught sight of the quickening pulse in her neck as her heart pounded in her chest, and he could just make out the puffiness of her lips, the swollen indication of the attention he had been lavishing on her. Seeing her like this - with her top-half undressed except for her bra and a look of maddening desire written clearly upon her face - nearly sent him into the abyss then and there. Not wanting it to happen like that, at least not without first telling her how he really felt, Harry took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak.

Ginny, however, chose that particular moment to tear his jumper off with both hands and push herself up onto his lap, and Harry quite forgot that he had been about to say something. Wasting no time she began to feel along the waistline of his jeans, eventually finding the fastening below his navel and promptly opening it. Harry gasped when she touched the hardness that he could no longer conceal there, and then felt terrified that he had scared her off when she immediately stood - taking her heat away from his. A moment later though, Ginny was next to him again, this time sans jeans - and though Harry felt desperate with longing and wanted nothing more but for this to continue, he knew he had to make sure that everything was really all right - what if he was just reading the signs incorrectly or something?

"Er...Ginny," he started, his breath hitching again as she impulsively nibbled his earlobe. "Ginny, are you okay?"

"Better than okay," she answered, grinning madly. Harry's heart skipped a beat, but he plunged on.

"I mean, are you sure you want to do this... what we're doing, I mean?"

"Why?" she whispered back at him, the word coming out as more of a pant.

"Because... because, we've never actually gone this far before and things are getting well... kind of... er... dangerous if you want to know the truth. Besides, if you - if you keep doing that I'm not going to be able to do the right thing here."

Ginny glanced up impishly, her hand had been drawing exclusive and relentless awareness to the bulge between Harry's legs, but she then ceased her movements and gazed up into his eyes. "Do you want to stop, Harry?"

Harry was dying to shout a resounding "no" from every rooftop in the world if need be, but he wanted to be sure that she was not doing this for the wrong reasons. What if she was allowing him to do this simply because they had not seen each other for months, or because terrible things had happened, or because they both knew he could easily die while attempting to succeed at his task, or because she had seen him crying and felt sorry for him? This last thought hit Harry's stomach like a leaden stone, and he suddenly found that he had the willpower to push away from her again. He turned around and averted his eyes; he would rather die a virgin than have Ginny make love to him out of a misplaced sense of obligation or worse - pity.

"What is it, Harry? What's wrong?" Ginny was asking him, the tone of her voice sounding alert and concerned.

"Why are you doing this, Ginny?" he asked very quietly, with great seriousness. "Why are you willing to be with me in this way?"

"You have to ask?" she inquired after a brief pause. When he remained staunchly silent Ginny continued on, coming across as dismayed and a little angry. "Do you honestly think that you're that unworthy, Harry Potter? I can't believe that you'd doubt my feelings for you - especially since you've known about them for so long, so I'll bet that this has more to do with you. Let me make this extremely plain - I'm not here because you're the Boy Who Lived or the Chosen One. I'm not here because I owe you for the whole Chamber of Secrets incident - though I do resent being made to feel useless, and I'm not here because you've run off with my brother and Hermione - even though you've all seen fit to leave me behind to fend for my lonely self at the Burrow as the last young Weasley left. I am here because I care about you, and I couldn't stand being away from you anymore. I am here because you need me, even if you don't think you do. I am here because I want to be here, Harry, because I want to be with you - quest or no quest. And don't try to send me away for my own safety because that's just a load of rubbish! It was r-rubbish eight months ago and it's r-rubbish now - and if you don't believe me, H-Harry, then... then..." Her voice had been getting more and more hysterical the further she progressed into her speech, and by the end she was full-on sobbing and having difficulty finishing what she was saying.

Feeling like an absolute and unqualified dolt, Harry did the one and only thing that would help the situation - he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, pouring every single emotion he felt for her into that tender touch of lips upon lips. Pushing her flaming red fringe back from her face, he wiped her eyes soothingly and then hugged her to him, coming late to the realization that he had been guilty of underestimating her from the beginning. Holding her like she had held him not all that long ago, Harry decided that just being with her was enough for him; right then, nothing else mattered.

He was rather surprised when Ginny began to press her lips to the crook of his neck a few minutes later. Touching his chest, she moved her hands in circular motions across its surface and then began to slowly dip her hands to his boxers again, stroking him over his clothing. Harry's body had settled down earlier, but her caresses made his blood rage through his body once more, begging for release. Without stopping, Ginny began to tug downwards on the back of his jeans, working steadily to remove all that kept him from her. Harry stopped her by taking both of her hands in his, and by rising up a bit, he was able to strip off the rest of his clothes before eagerly reaching out to do the same for her.

Pushing the straps of her bra from her shoulders, Harry nibbled gently on the lightly freckled and glowing skin that resided there, and with some help from Ginny eventually managed to undo the hooks in the back, leaving her in nothing more than her knickers. Harry looked down at her and felt as though he had just been Stunned. She had leant backwards with her arms still fastened loosely around his neck - she seemed willing and even anxious to proceed as she purposely rubbed her body up and down against his. Harry felt literally lightheaded as Ginny continued her movements, and abruptly he knew those knickers had to go.

Shifting her weight from his lap to the thick tufts of grass that littered the ground, Harry retrieved his wand and Summoned his invisibility cloak from the pile of clothing nearby. Folding it in half, he lay Ginny on top of it and started to slip his fingers beneath the seam of her knickers to slide them all the way off over her toes. Feeling as though he had just swallowed a whole bucket of Felix Felicis, Harry's heart raced as his eyes examined each valley and curve her amazing body had to offer. Almost reverently he then bent over her bare breasts, allowing his memory to become intimately familiar with their shape and feel. Permitting his hands to do what they had been yearning to for a long time as they carefully opened her legs to explore the most mysterious part of her, he had to exercise every bit of his willpower to not let go too soon. Beneath him Ginny imparted a small whimper of delight, and Harry's brain seemed to freeze as his body took over.

Groaning deep in his throat, but not really being aware that he had just done so, the tips of Harry's fingers came into contact with the warm dewy folds at her core. Astonished by the supple moist feel of her, Harry caressed her slowly for a moment, before sliding one finger all the way inside. Without warning, Ginny then gripped his shoulders roughly and pulled his body directly over hers, and Harry felt her body close around his hand in intense throbbing waves that seemed to ripple over every part of her. Ginny delivered a muffled sort of scream as her climax tore through her, and even though he had tried so hard not to give in to it, Harry groaned noiselessly again as he felt his own body empty itself as if of its own accord.

If Ginny noticed his loss of control she gave no indication as she continued to cling to him, her face flushed and her body still shuddering. After a few seconds, her eyes met his once more, and Harry felt overwhelmed by the depth of what he saw there. Her look was smoldering and red-hot, but it was also so full of life and hope and promise that Harry found himself wishing that he could just run away from the impending battle and stay right here with her forever. She tilted her head upwards to give him the most excruciatingly tender kiss he had ever received, before resting her nude body back onto the thin cushion of his cloak.

Harry gazed at her loveliness for several unbroken moments, then let his tongue trace a trail between her two breasts, his hands fondling her nipples at the same time. At her faint moan Harry felt spurred on to greater heights and he next moved his mouth over each one, teasing them until they formed hard peaks - the sight of which nearly drove him to distraction. The lower half of his body was not completely relaxed even now, and Harry felt the strength of his desire climbing once more - making him want to wrap himself totally in Ginny and never resurface again. Ginny had reached down to touch him, but instead of stroking him like she had before she seemed to be trying to align him over her, so that his body could enter hers. Harry pushed himself into position with Ginny underneath, causing his tip to graze her center, but he was still slightly afraid to really cross that final threshold.

Understanding what they were about to do, Harry's mind began to reel endlessly. He did not know if the two of them would ever be the same after this - if their relationship could ever be the same after this, and he again felt the need to say out loud what his heart had known all along, but his mind was just now coming to terms with.

"G-Ginny..." his voice coming out sounding nervous and more tentative than usual. "Ginny, I have to tell you something. You have to know before we do any - anything else... I - I love-"

"Shhhhh," Ginny interrupted him with another kiss before he could finish his thought. She then brought her body unexpectedly upwards and made him plunge himself forcefully inside of her, causing him to lose his balance and crash down onto her in the process. Ginny cried out, but it was not in ecstasy this time, and Harry scrambled to back out of her even though it felt more incredible than he could have ever imagined.

"No," she stopped him, but she sounded pained. Harry looked into her face to see it contorted into a grimace of obvious discomfort.

"I'm not doing this if it's hurting you," he argued fervently.

"It.. it was going to hurt anyway, Harry," Ginny explained. "Just hold still for a minute, okay?" Harry reluctantly complied, wondering if extricating himself might actually cause more damage. After a moment, Ginny relaxed a little and whispered, "It's all right now. We can keep going."

"Ginny..."

"Really, Harry. I'm fine. It's like this for girls the first time. Trust me, I want to keep going. Please keep going, Harry," she said imploringly, and he began moving again but not without a great deal more caution.

"You're sure?" Harry could not help asking one more time.

"Yes, Harry. I promise that I want this as much as you do."

He kept their bodies joined as he shifted in and out in a slow and inexperienced rhythm; his main focus was making sure he did not injure Ginny anymore. In a surprisingly short amount of time, however, Ginny's enjoyment became evident again and Harry felt his resources building towards another eruption. Feeling her bring her foot upwards to rub her toes against the inside of his thigh, Harry opened her mouth with his tongue, desperate to taste her - to experience the richness of her - to never let her go.

Suddenly, Ginny's body began to buck against his, and Harry held her tightly as he felt every pleasurable nerve he had stand on end and fly him to the highest of heights. As his body hit the summit and he felt himself exploding within her, he felt grateful beyond words that they had been given the chance to share all of this together.

"I love you," Ginny murmured in his ear breathlessly.

"Hey, I was going to say that first," he remarked pointedly, unable to keep from smirking down at her.

"I know, but I really wanted to beat you to it," was Ginny's clever rejoinder, as she grinned from ear to ear.

Harry smiled broadly at her and sat up, rearranging the invisibility cloak so that it was now wrapped around them. He stared up into the star-speckled sky and noticed that the moon had just set, immersing them and their surroundings in impenetrable darkness. Voldemort was still out there he knew, but it occurred to him abruptly that ever since Ginny's arrival, he could no longer feel him - Harry could feel nothing except her. Not being able to see anything, but feeling optimistic rather than worried at this new development, he sighed contentedly. Then, pulling Ginny close to his body so that she was spooned against him, Harry lay with her concealed beneath the silvery fabric of the cloak; knowing that regardless of what might be lost in the future - nothing could be more significant than what they had just gained.

~*~*~ *~*~* ~*~*~