Ear Freckles

“You have freckles on your ear.”

Ginny turned her head, looking at Harry out of the corner of her eye as he gazed down at the side of her head, lightly brushing her ear with his fingertips. “Well, of course silly. I’ve got freckles everywhere,” she replied, looking at him, slightly puzzled.

He smiled and said, “I just never paid attention. I like them. They’re…cute.”

A faint blush rose on Ginny’s cheeks. “Oh. Well—er—thank you?”

Harry laughed and finally looked her in the eyes. His gaze was warm, and Ginny felt a warm balloon of pleasure expand in her chest and she smiled shyly. “I like a lot of things about you, Ginny,” he said, his voice sincere.

It was Ginny’s turn to laugh. She grinned and said, “Oh, well I’m glad. That would explain why we’re dating and all.”

Harry grinned back at her. “It could have something to do with it.” He leaned forward, and after hesitating a moment, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pressing his cheek against her head. Ginny was surprised for a moment, but she quickly relaxed and rested her hands on his arms. They sat silently like that for several minutes, Ginny listening to Harry’s quiet breathing and feeling the rise and fall of his chest, and Harry absorbing her warmth and immersing himself in the smell of her hair. She finally moved, just a bit, and Harry’s eyes fluttered open. His hold on her tightened ever-so-slightly and Ginny smiled, pressing against him.

“Harry?” she whispered.

“Yeah?”

“I like a lot of things about you, too.”

She could feel it in her temple when Harry’s face spread into a smile and he replied playfully, “But I haven’t any freckles.”

She gasped and cried in mock horror, “No freckles? Surely not!”

He pulled back and looked at her as innocently as he could muster, “Honest!”

“Not acceptable! I’ll find one,” she declared and turned, moving onto the couch, folding her legs into Harry’s lap, taking his face in her hands and beginning the search. Butterflies began flitting around in Harry’s stomach as Ginny carefully and diligently searched his skin for traces of even one tiny freckle. He watched her face closely, mesmerized, as she squinted at him, ignoring a strand of hair hanging in her face, tracing a finger lightly along his nose as she looked there.

“Find any—”

“Shhh! You’ll make me forget where I am,” she chastised.

He fell silent, a small smile on his lips and watched her face quietly as she continued the search. He was all right as she searched his face, but when she moved to his ears and neck and began lightly running her fingers over them, he couldn’t stop a few shivers from making him shy away a little. Ginny simply smiled and simply continued her quest. She had finally finished searching his right shoulder and was moving to the back of his neck when she grinned and said, “Ah hah!”

Harry looked backward over his shoulder at her and said, “What? I have one?”

She grinned her eyes lit up, “Yes. Right on the back of your neck near your hair line. Here.” She pressed her finger to a spot on the back of his neck. “You do have a freckle!” He nearly leapt away from her when he felt something soft and warm press against the same spot a moment later before he realized it was Ginny, tenderly kissing the small freckle. Another shiver shot down his spine and he turned to look at her a blush rising on his cheeks.

“Gin…” he murmured.

She smiled and said quietly, “Now I’ve claimed your freckle. It’s mine.”

He smiled in return and leaned forward, kissing her.

“My thanks for finding it,” he explained when they slowly parted.

Ginny smiled and screwed up her nose mischievously, “I don’t think I quite got the message yet.”

Harry grinned and leaned in again.