Summer of Secrets

Chapter One

"Kill . . . kill . . . hungry for so long. Time to kill!"

The huge snake slid towards Ginny. Her mind screamed at her to run but she was paralyzed in fear. And all too soon it was too late to run. The snake opened its ugly mouth, huge teeth dripping with venom, and in one sudden movement it lunged forward and . . .

"No!" The scream shook Ginny out of her sleep, only to discover it was her own. Her bed was damp with sweat and she felt thoroughly disgusting. She rolled out of bed and changed her night clothes, muttering a quick drying spell and sat on the edge of the bed.

Ginny willed the pain to leave her, the memories to fade away, neither of which was likely to happen. Unless . . .

Ginny rose from the bed and found her razor. She looked around, a habit she had developed whenever she knew she was doing something she shouldn't be doing up in her dormitory at Hogwarts, and dragged the blade across her skin. When she was done and the bleeding had subsided, she fell back onto the bed and waited for sleep to claim her. But five minutes passed and she knew sleep was not going to come. Giving in, she pulled herself out of bed and descended the rickety stairs into the kitchen.

~*~

Her lips descended on his, claiming his mouth in a delicious way. She tasted of vanilla and honey, which only made him want to kiss her more. She moved her body against his in a very dangerous way, which elicited a very male reaction out of him. He flipped her over and pinned her to the ground, ravaging her mouth with his. He moved to kiss her neck, moving slowly downward until he was rewarded with the sight of her perfect breasts.

"Please, Harry, please," she pleaded. He was more than willing to comply.

"Ugh, dammit!" Harry rolled over and pounded his pillow with his fist. Knowing that sleep was not very likely to return, he reached for his dressing gown and slipped down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Why do I keep dreaming about her? Harry thought to himself.

Because you like her you dolt, his mind replied.

But she's Ron's little sister! Harry protested.

That doesn't mean she's not a girl, his mind pressed on.

And an attractive one at that, Harry thought.

"No! No, I don't care how attractive and nice and honest and lovely she is! I can't -"

"Talking to yourself again, Harry?" Ginny watched him from the kitchen table, a mug grasped in her hand, "You know that's never a good sign."

Harry's head jerked up only to find the subject of his dreams standing straight in front of him. Not only that, but she was wearing revealing cotton shorts that her mother definitely wouldn't approve of, and a long-sleeved top that clung to her every curve. His dream flashed back to him.

"Harry?" Ginny's smile faded. "Are you ok?"

He shook his head. "Yeah. Yeah, fine."

There was an awkward silence. Ginny tried to think of a way to fill it. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Harry replied, not skipping a beat.

"Do you want some hot cocoa? I know it's summer, but it always helps me sleep," Ginny reached into a cabinet and pulled out a container filled with cocoa mix.

"Sure, sounds great." Harry nodded.

Ginny set about making his cocoa. When she was done she handed Harry a mug with a big 'H' on the front and sat across from him. "Who were you talking about?"

"What?" Harry abruptly looked up from his cup.

Ginny smirked. "I asked who you were talking about. Obviously some girl you fancy . . ."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Harry stammered. He nervously sipped his cocoa.

"You've always been a bad liar, Harry," Ginny flashed him a smile, "if you're not going to tell me that's fine, but I have my ways of finding out."

Harry swallowed hard as he took in her seductive tone of voice.

"Are you going to tell me?" Ginny pushed on.

Not quite knowing what he was saying, Harry blurted out, "You."

"What?" Ginny became suddenly very serious.

"You. I . . . I fancy you." Harry looked deep into her eyes when he spoke.

Ginny couldn't believe what she heard. Surely she had been mistaken. Harry didn't like her. He couldn't.

"Ginny? Are you okay?" Harry's eyes were suddenly clouded with concern.

"Yeah. I-I'm fine. You . . . you fancy . . . me?" Ginny questioned, almost not wanting the answer.

"Yeah. I fancy you." Harry reached across the table for her hand. Just as their fingers touched Ginny drew her hand back. He looked up at her in surprise, and immediately regretted it. Her face was filled with fury, and she strongly resembled her mother in that moment.

"How-how dare you!" Ginny dropped her mug on the table.

"Wh-" Harry was stunned. He didn't know how he had wanted her to react to his revelation, but this was definitely not it.

"No. No! You can't do this! You can't just waltz in here and tell me that you fancy me after all these years Harry. You can't do that! I waited for you. I waited and waited and waited and now that you've finally woken up you expect me to jump into your arms and we can live happily ever after? Well that's not about to happen!" Ginny picked up her mug and flung it into the sink where it shattered.

"Ginny, I-I I don't want anything like that to happen. Well, I would be lying if I said that. I do want that. But I didn't expect it!" Harry took a step towards her.

"Then what did you expect Harry? Did you expect for me to run screaming? Because if you did then surely you wouldn't have sprung this unexpected news on me in the middle of the night," Ginny stood her ground.

"I didn't expect anything, Gin. I didn't even know you were down here." Harry was closer now. If he had wanted to take her hand again he could.

"And if you knew I was down here would you have come anyway?" Ginny whispered.

Harry smiled slightly. "I don't know why I wouldn't."

Ginny seemed to visibly relax so Harry took a chance and pulled her towards him by her wrist.

"Ouch!" Ginny exclaimed, and then turned very red as she realized what had just happened.

"Ginny, what's wrong? Did I do something? Did I hurt you?" Harry looked at her in alarm.

"I-I have to go." Ginny ran back up the stairs, cradling her arm, obviously trying to keep it out of view. But against her best efforts, Harry saw the dark stain that hadn't been on her shirt moments earlier.