Parallel

CHAPTER 2: REUNION

It was only a short time later that Harry stepped through the window of the boarded-up department store that served as the entrance to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. After stating his business to the dummy, he stepped through the window and into the lobby. At the front desk, he asked where he would find Ginny; he was told that she worked on the 4^th floor, which covered witch and wizarding patients with Spell Damage. She had always been good at that sort of thing, so it didn't surprise him that she would choose that as her specialty. He soon located a lift going that way and within moments had stepped onto the 4^th floor.

There was also a desk there occupied by a kindly-looking grey-haired witch in green robes, most likely the Chief Healer on this floor. Harry approached the desk and asked for Ginny.

"Trainee Healer Weasley? What is your business with her, young sir?"

"I'm an ... old friend of hers and wish to--surprise her," Harry replied, knowing how inane his excuse was, but knowing it was the best he could come up with on short notice.

After a short silence, the grey-haired witch said, "She is presently in the break room. It is down the hall and to your right, the sixth door."

"Thank you," Harry returned with a smile before taking his leave, his heart beginning to pound so fast that he was hard-pressed to control himself and make his legs move--but by a supreme act of will, he managed. It was both the longest and shortest trek he had ever made. He wanted to believe he would get a warm reception, but as before, could not be sure of anything. He had to take matters one step at a time.

Finally he found himself at the door of the break room and slowly, cautiously looked in the door. After a moment's search he located the painfully familiar red-gold locks. She was sitting with her back to him, sipping pumpkin juice from a glass she had bewitched so it was sitting in mid-air; beside it was a small plate with a sandwich on it. Harry was unsure just what kind of sandwich, but judging by the smell, he believed it was her favourite, mince, seasoned with onions. Beside it was yet another small plate with two fairy cakes on it with pink icing.

She seemed to be alone in the room, a fortuitous occurrence for their hopefully happy reunion. His feet felt like lead weights had been attached to them, but he finally managed to reach the small table where she was sitting. He didn't want to frighten her by touching her, so he simply spoke quietly but in his old crooning manner which he only employed when they were alone.

"Ginny? It's Harry. May I speak to you?"

For a moment he was sure she wasn't going to answer him, then she looked up and their eyes met. She did not speak, but it was not necessary; her eyes said all that needed to be said. A moment later she was in his arms and they kissed passionately. The ecstatic sensation of having her in his arms, feeling her body close to his once again after so long was almost unendurable; he just couldn't seem to get enough of her.

Neither of the reunited lovers had any idea how long they stood together, kissing hungrily, but it didn't matter. All that was important was that they were together again. When they finally managed to regain a semblance of control over their emotions, Ginny smiled and gestured to the other chair at the table. "Harry ... Harry ... it's so wonderful to see you again. I've missed you so!"

"Not half as much as I've missed you," he crooned back to her, their hands now locked across the table; her food was forgotten in the joy of their reunion. "I'm told that you just got off work. Would you like to have dinner somewhere?"

"Thank you, no, Harry. I'm not hungry ... not now." Not for anything but you, she finished in her mind even as she once again smiled, brought his hands to her lips and kissed them--then held one to her cheek. "I just want to be alone with you to catch up on the last few years," Ginny returned tenderly.

It was incredible that Harry could feel so much just being near her, but it was undeniable. He now wondered how he had ever survived the last four years without her. It was like he had been deprived of something vital to his survival and had gotten it back just barely in time.

"I'm sorry for ever leaving you. It was the biggest mistake I ever made."

"It doesn't matter now, beloved. What matters is that we're together again." With one sweep of her wand, the food she had been eating disappeared and she gathered up her cloak from the back of her chair. Harry helped her put it back on and they left the break room to head back down the hall to the lift. When they passed the grey-haired witch at the desk, her eyes widened at the young couple seemingly glued together, they were walking so close, arms wrapped around each other--and the young man's green eyes scarcely left the brown eyes of the young woman. They could not simply be friends, not acting like that, the Chief Healer told herself, but it was not her place to comment on it. They were of age and could do as they wished.

A moment later the couple stepped into the lift and made their way back to the lobby. Harry had vowed not to touch her again until they were certain of no prying eyes upon them, but it turned out to be the most difficult vow he had ever made. His lips positively hungered for hers, and his hands positively itched to feel her body beneath them. However, he would have to content himself with feeling his arms around her until they could reach her flat and get out of public view.

The trip seemed endless, but at last they arrived. She then pointed her wand at the door and it opened to admit them; after they stepped through, she did it again and the door was effectively locked. Nothing short of an atomic bomb could have opened it after a Locking Charm had been placed on it.

The couple began to once again kiss passionately upon returning to each other's arms, and their hands hungrily roamed over the other as they stood in her living room. "Oh ... Ginny ... Ginny ..."

"Harry ..." she sighed blissfully, the fingers of her left hand stroking the back of his neck, the other ruffling his already unruly hair as they continued to kiss. Surely Heaven had come to earth for them, and the last thing they wanted was to leave it. In fact, Harry had no intention of doing so until absolutely necessary, and began backing her toward the couch. Upon reaching it, he began to lower her to the pillow at the left end.

Once she was lying beneath him, his hands began exploring and soon had her robes parted. "Ginny, I've wanted this for so long ..." She held his head close to her as his hands and lips loved her.

"Yes, my love. Yes," she insisted, her own hands beginning to explore.

But even in the midst of his fast-rising passion, Harry knew there was something important he should do before he could allow himself to join with Ginny. "No, Ginny, we can't," he protested against her lips even as he returned to kiss her again. "Not until you've placed a Contraceptive Charm on yourself."

"I don't want to," she crooned back, unwilling to release his lips even long enough to talk. "I want to have your baby, Harry. Many babies. Maybe even as many as Mum and Dad."

"Not right now," he gently insisted. "If you don't do it, I will. It's your choice. You've got to make up your mind while I still have some control left."

"If you say so," she sighed, reaching for her forgotten wand and pointing to herself. "Contra," she called out. "Okay, I'm safe to touch now. Let's get on with it."

It took only a few minutes longer for him to divest her of her remaining clothing, since there was a lot of lost time to make up for, and he intended to make the most of it. Just the same, there was something he had to ask, had to be sure of before he could proceed.

Again, Ginny seemed to read his mind; one would think she was an accomplished Legilimens or something. "I am a virgin, Harry. I may have had many boyfriends, but the physical bits never went beyond kissing. I would not allow it. You are the only one with the right to possess my body, just as you have possessed my heart."

Harry could not have verbally expressed his happiness at hearing this. "I ... am also a--virgin, as you put it, Ginny. Somehow, it never seemed ... right. Until now. Until you."

Ginny took his face into her hands and kissed him hard. "I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that, Harry. Now let us lose our virginity together ..."

After a time Ginny cried out softly--and they were joined. He smelled honeysuckle in her silky red-gold hair as he buried his face in it, feeling more at home inside her warm, welcome body, in her arms, than he had ever felt anywhere except Hogwarts.

"Harry, if you only knew how sweet and warm your lips feel and taste to me, how strong, yet gentle, your hands as they touch me ... how natural it feels for your body to join with mine--then your arms around me ... When I am in your arms, beloved, I am home ... and I never want to leave that home."

"Nor do I," he crooned back to her, tightening his arms around her as much as he dared. "My life has been so ... empty without you, Ginny. As if a part of myself was missing all these years."

"You are the missing piece of my puzzle, Harry, that is for certain," Ginny insisted, this time burying her face in the warmth of his throat, feeling his pounding heart under her lips. "Would you like to ... share my flat as well?" she blurted out while she still had the nerve. It was something she wanted very much but after four years of loneliness, could not be certain what his answer would be, even after they had shared such tenderly passionate love and lost their virginity together.

"There's nothing I would like better," he smiled, stroking her lips with a finger. "But we need to have a long talk before we make any long-term plans."

Ginny sighed as she manoeuvred herself so that her head was on Harry's bare chest and one ear over his still rapidly beating heart, her arms locked around his waist. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and gently tightened his own embrace. "I suppose you're right, my love," she reluctantly conceded. "Just the same, after having been without you for so long, I have no intention of ever letting you go again."

"I have no intention of ever leaving you again," he assured her. "If I do leave, we will leave together."

"With Ron and Hermione?" she wondered. "Or will it be just us?"

"I think we're going to need all the help we can get to track down and vanquish Voldemort, so yes, Ron and Hermione will be with us too. By the way, have you seen them lately? Your mother said they were now ... sharing a flat."

"Not since I started working," she told him. "But yes, she's right about their sharing a flat."

"Do you know if they plan on getting married? I asked your mum, but she couldn't tell me anything."

"Oh, I think both Ron and Hermione would like nothing better, but you know how he is around women. We may need to help him out ... that is, if Hermione doesn't take matters into her own hands," Ginny laughed. "And I wouldn't put it past her."

"Neither would I," Harry laughed, feeling happier than he had in years. How could he ever have left Ginny behind for a moment, much less four years? Well, one thing was for sure--he would never make that mistake again. From now on, if he needed to travel anywhere, she would travel with him, taking a leave of absence from the hospital if necessary. Her healing skills would also come in handy should anyone become injured. They were quiet for a moment, then Harry said, knowing he had to do it while he still had the nerve. "Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"I've got to ask you this while I still have the nerve, even though it may seem sudden to you, since we've just found each other again."

"What is it?"

"When and if we can manage it, will you ... marry me?" Harry couldn't believe he was actually saying it--actually proposing marriage! But at the same time, he knew it was the right thing to do, the only way to ensure that Ginny would belong to him forever.

For a long time, there was silence, then Ginny lifted her lover's head and found his lips with hers in a lingering, soulful kiss which held every ounce of her love and passion for him. Only after reluctantly ending it did she speak the words he longed to hear. "Yes, my love. I would be honoured."

"You have made me happier than I could ever express," Harry returned, his voice laced with love and gratitude as he returned the kiss, every bit as lingering and soulful and filled with his love and passion for her. "But now, I find myself ... hungry to be one with you again." Once they finished and were at least momentarily sated, they decided to simply go to sleep now and talk in the morning.