While the Night is Still Young

While the Night is Still Young

I.

Two young hearts lost in love they vow to stay

Running wild they believe they've found a way

Filled with hope

She's the dream, she understands you

Now this time he'll hold on

She'll never leave him

They'll never let go 'cause

Once you love somebody

There's no turning back

It can burn forever

Harry set down his quill and heaved a great sigh. It was done. At this point he didn't much care what his marks were, it didn't matter. N.E.W.T.'s were over, and his life at Hogwarts was drawing to a close. He ran a hand through his already messy hair and slid a glance over to Ron, who was still writing feverishly and didn't look up. He looked a few rows up to where Hermione had stopped writing but was reviewing her answers. He knew she'd be doing that until the bell rang. If he were smart, he'd do the same thing, but he was wrung out. N.E.W.T.'s were even more stressful than O.W.L.'s had been, something he would not have thought possible if anyone had asked him about it last year.

Finally, the bell rang and all the seventh years stood and stretched and rolled up their parchments. Harry saw Ron scribble down a few more words, then he, too, stood and rolled up his test. Professor Flitwick summoned all the tests to himself and directed them into a box on the table. Ron turned to Harry and grinned, a look of intense relief on his face. Harry grinned back. Hermione joined them and together they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Well, I think that went all right," Hermione said. "After what we've been through, the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay was nothing, didn't you think? I had no idea some of those spells were N.E.W.T. level! I mean, we've known some of those things since fourth year, haven't we?"

"Hermione!" Ron groaned. "You know I hate going over the exams! It's over, for Merlin's sake!"

Harry laughed, feeling very affectionate toward his best friends. Sometimes their bickering got on his nerves, but today he was so glad to be finished with his tests he was inclined to find it amusing instead. They might drive him crazy sometimes, but they were always there for him. Flashes of memories danced through his mind as he listened to them argue: all the times when he had depended on them and they had come through for him. They had never let him down; he really felt like he could get through anything if they were with him. He didn't know what the next couple of months would bring. He had no doubt it would be difficult and dangerous, but he was determined that they'd all face it together.

The thought of the immediate future put a damper on his good mood for a few minutes. As the three of them turned and began ascending a staircase, the usual frustration flared in Harry's mind. He had a life waiting for him, he thought, running a hand through his hair as Ron and Hermione continued to bicker. He had a job waiting; he and Ron had been accepted into Auror training, pending the receipt of their N.E.W.T. scores in Defense, Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms, but Harry wasn't too worried about that. He felt confident in those areas, even Potions, since Snape wasn't breathing down his neck. He was pretty sure Ron must have done all right, too.

And he had a girlfriend now, he thought with a smile. He had started dating Ginny at Christmas, when they were all home at the Burrow. He was sure she was the one; he could just tell every time he kissed her. He didn't want anyone else; he couldn't image he ever would. Every thought of his future was filled with images of Ginny, and he was eager to get on with making those dreams reality. In addition, he knew that Ron was going to talk to Hermione tonight about his feelings for her; he had just wanted to get through N.E.W.T.s first. Harry was sure Hermione returned Ron's feelings, and was happy for them, though he and Ginny were often exasperated at all the time they had wasted getting to it.

Only one thing stood between Harry and the promising future he had been trying to build for himself. He ran his hand through his hair again, leaving it sticking straight up as usual, as he walked up the tower staircase behind Ron and Hermione. For the hundredth time Harry thought to himself that he was ready, he wished the battle would just begin already, he couldn't stand this in-between place, this not knowing. He was ready to defeat Voldemort or die trying, because he didn't think he would be able to move into his future with the threat always hanging over his head. The problem was that Voldemort had been lying low for months now. There had been no attacks, no deaths. People were starting to relax their guard, including many in the Order of the Phoenix. They were saying that the Order had made life so difficult for Voldemort and the Death Eaters that Voldemort had left the country in order to regroup. Harry thought it was a mistake to relax, but as they had no intelligence on Voldemort and Harry hadn't felt the connection between them in months, he didn't know what else to do. He rubbed his scar, almost wishing that it would start hurting. He didn't know if that would be better or not. He only knew that in the past months he had gotten a taste of normal life and it had made him want the real thing with all his heart.

The three of them gave the password to the Fat lady and entered the Gryffndor common room, and before Harry had time to look around for her, Ginny leaped off the couch and threw herself into his arms. His arms came around her immediately and he spun her around; he was getting more used to all this touching. He smiled down at her, and she smiled back, her nose wrinkling in that way he loved.

"So?" she asked impatiently, leaning back in Harry's embrace and including Ron and Hermione in her question. "How'd it go?"

"Who cares?" said Ron, dropping his bag on the floor and flopping into a chair. "It's over, that's what matters."

"Oh, no," Hermione said, looking scandalized. "It matters a great deal! If we don't manage O's or A's, we might be limited in our choice of--"

"Right, like you'll be limited in anything, Miss Best-Grades-In-Hogwarts'-History." Ron rolled his eyes, and Ginny and Harry laughed.

Hermione blushed and sent a quelling look at Ginny, but Harry thought she looked pleased all the same. "Well, even if we have good grades, they still require N.E.W.T.s to determine--"

"Fred and George didn't even take them, and they're raking in the Galleons," Ron interrupted her.

"Yes, but, their situation is really unusual," Hermione said disapprovingly. "And there are more important things than money."

"Oh, yeah?" said Ron, sitting up and leaning toward Hermione. "Like what?" From the grin on his face Harry knew he was only egging Hermione on because he enjoyed how worked up she got when she was arguing. Sure enough, Hermione scowled at him and took a deep breath, a fact which Ron obviously noticed, considering where his eyes had strayed. Harry and Ginny looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Those two would be a great couple if they ever got over themselves long enough to get together.

Harry hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and picked up Ron's bag from the floor before Hermione could get started. Ron's face was alight with anticipation. "I'll take this up for you, mate," Harry said, but neither Ron nor Hermione was paying any attention to him. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and they headed up the stairs to the Seventh Years' dorm rooms. Harry looked sideways at Ginny. He still couldn't believe she was his girlfriend. He shook his head in amazement. That thought still made him grin like an idiot. The fact was, he had spent a lot of his life, even here at Hogwarts, being unhappy and anxious, dealing with things nobody should have to deal with. But when he was with Ginny, those things didn't bother him so much. She gave him hope for the future. She made him happy.

Harry threw down his and Ron's bags and threw himself on his bed. Ginny leaned against the corner poster and looked at him thoughtfully. Harry gave her a wicked grin and she returned it with a slow smile, then launched herself at him. Harry laughed and caught her and they rolled around on the bed for a few minutes, not making out, just playing. He had so much fun with Ginny, he thought as he tickled her. There was so much laughter. He didn't know it could be like that with a girl. Finally, they collapsed with laughter next to each other.

"Hey, Ginny," he said, gathering her up next to him as they lay on the bed. "Let's go for a walk after dinner, okay?"

"All right, then," she said. "Everything okay?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But you know what today is, right?"

"Yeah, I know," she said, holding him a little tighter. "I know both parts."

Harry was grateful for her perceptiveness. It was easier to have some things unspoken, especially since he wasn't very good at saying things. "Well, I figured you'd want some privacy when you give me my anniversary present," he said mischievously. It was better to concentrate on the fact that it was their six-month anniversary, and not on the fact that it was the second anniversary of Sirius' death.

"You think I'll need privacy to give you an anniversary card?" Ginny said, pretending confusion.

"A card? That's all you're giving me?" Harry pretended outrage, and rolled on top of her and began to tickle her again. Ginny shrieked and tried to shove him off her, but it wasn't long before the feel of her body wiggling beneath him changed his feelings from playfulness to desire. She felt so good under him. Ginny had the best body he'd ever seen, and he actually got to touch it, almost whenever he wanted. She was tall and strong from Quidditch, and she had a great chest and long shapely legs. Sometimes he just liked to look at her, but sometimes looking wasn't enough. He was amazed that Ginny felt the same way, too, and that she always seemed to want to touch him as much as he wanted to touch her. Right now he lay on top of her on his bed and kissed her, and she immediately kissed him back, wrapping her legs around his. Her hands crept down his sides, and he kissed her harder and pressed himself against her.

He felt a sudden urgency to be as close to her as he could, to touch as much of her as possible. He knew that Ron could come up at any time, but he didn't care. If Ginny wasn't going to stop then neither was he. He slid his hand up under her shirt and cupped her breast; she groaned and pushed herself harder into his hand. He'd have liked to get her bra off, but they had never gone that far, and he knew any one of his roommates could interrupt them, and probably would. He loved living in Hogwarts Castle, but there was no privacy anywhere. Sometimes he was almost grateful for that; it kept them from moving faster than they should where the physical stuff was concerned. Sometimes, however, it frustrated him enormously. Someday they'd have all the time they needed to be alone together.

Suddenly they heard Ron's voice speaking at an unnaturally loud volume from the bottom of the dormitory staircase. "All right, Hermione, let me just go see if Harry and Ginny are ready to go down to the Great Hall for dinner. I'm just going to head upstairs now...here I go up the stairs..." Harry and Ginny broke off their kiss and collapsed into laughter. Harry pulled down Ginny's shirt and smoothed it out, then sat up on the bed and, taking her hand, pulled her up as well. By the time Ron came stomping very loudly up to their landing, both of them were sitting up on the edge of the bed with a good two feet between them.

"You two ready, then?" Ron asked, looking between his best mate and his sister. Ginny winked at Harry, and Harry grinned and grabbed her hand as they followed Ron down the stairs.