Much Ado About Nothing, I, i, 285-291
It had been a quiet few months since Harry Potter had faced off against the Dark Lord Voldemort and won. Harry had attempted to hide from the Wizarding community as much as possible—he had never been comfortable with fame, and since Voldemort’s death he was more famous than ever. Unfortunately he was not able to fully sequester himself away; he had to answer questions at the Ministry, and he could not avoid the reporters no matter how much he wanted to. But throughout all this, he had plenty of peace at the Burrow with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger—more so than normal, for the latter two were quite often off on their own being a couple.
As happy as he was for them that they had found love together, Harry was nonetheless jealous of his two friends. They were together, and he was alone… and it was his own doing that he was so. Watching his friends together was just a painful reminder of what he had given up. It may have been for a noble reason, but that did not mean that it hurt any less. In some ways, that actually made it hurt more, because he still cared for Ginny, and knowing that he had to hurt her to save her made it worse. The old adage ‘I must be cruel to be kind’ echoed in his mind long after he walked away from her that fateful day. And it did not help that on the occasion of his 17th birthday, she had given him a birthday kiss, thus proving that she still cared.
Of course, by staying at the Burrow, the humble abode of the Weasleys, he was in close proximity to the fair Ginny Weasley; which was another constant reminder of what he had given up. And he could not totally avoid company either—too much time off on his own and Molly Weasley started clucking around him like an old mother hen (or rather more so), convinced that something was wrong. So when he was in the company of others, most notably Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, he struggled to keep up the façade that everything was all right. But whenever it was feasible, he would go off on his own for some much needed solitude. As anti-social as it was, he needed that solitude, the time away from the happy couple that was Ron and Hermione, and the bittersweet reminder of what he gave up that was Ginny.
It was on one such afternoon of solitude that Ginny had sought Harry out. He was sitting in the shade of a tree, leaning against the base, reading a book about the history of Quidditch in the Colonies. Ostensibly reading the book, that is. As Ginny approached, she could see that he was spending more time staring into space than actually reading.
“You’re all dark and brooding,” she commented.
Startled out of his musings, Harry looked up to see Ginny standing over him, the summer sun behind her making her dark red hair gleam. He felt his throat tighten—the lovely vision of her a physical, painful, reminder of what he had given up… and how much he still wanted her. He had done the noble thing of breaking up with her to protect her from Voldemort, to stop her from being more of a target to the Dark Lord; but now that he was gone, theoretically there was nothing stopping Harry from having a relationship with her again. Theoretically. He had no way of knowing what her feelings were (despite the birthday kiss)—or even if she would risk being with him again.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not notice that Ginny was speaking again… until she was snapping her fingers in his face. “Sorry, Ginny. I guess I’m not good company today.
“What were you thinking about?” she asked, sitting down next to him. He took so long in replying that she flushed. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,”
“No, it’s okay,” Harry took a deep breath, coming to a decision. “I was thinking about you, actually.”
“Really?” Ginny’s brown eyes widened. “Must be bad if it’s got you so tongue-tied.”
“No, not really. I was thinking about what an idiot I was.”
“You’re not an idiot, Harry.”
“Yeah I was,” he looked down. “I let you go.”
“Oh, Harry…”
“You can’t say I didn’t hurt you, Gin,” Harry looked at her again, his green eyes searching her brown ones. “I know I did. Ron said you were really cut up.”
He did not know what he was expecting of Ginny, but her leaning over and kissing him on the lips certainly was not it. “Yes it hurt, Harry. But I understood why you did it. You lost so much; you just wanted to protect me. And as infuriating as that was, I thought it was kind of sweet.”
“Sweet?”
“Yes, sweet.” She kissed him again. “But if you ever do the like again, I’ll hex you to Avalon and back!”
“Yes Ma’am!” he replied before closing his lips over hers. From that moment they were lost to the outside world, so consumed were they by their kiss. It was the need to breathe that made them finally break the kiss, and Harry was mildly surprised to find Ginny in his lap.
Evidently he was not the only one. “How did I end up here?” Ginny asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “But Ron is going to go mental if he sees us like this.”
“What, me in your lap?”
“Well, that too. But not just that, I’m talking about us back together. He was furious when he burst in on us kissing on my birthday.”
“Even though it was me who kissed you?”
“Like he could tell who started it when he burst in in the middle of it,” Harry said wryly. “Besides, I was kissing you right back.”
“True,” Ginny shifted, but did not move from Harry’s lap. “Don’t worry about Ron, I can handle him.”
“I know you can. He wouldn’t hex you. But if he thinks I’m messing you around…”
“Messing me around?!” she cut him off. “Where did you get that idea?”
“That’s what he accused me of when he caught us kissing. He will not be happy to see us together again.”
“It’s none of his business,” Ginny pointed out reasonably. “I know why you broke it off before, and that’s different now, right?”
“Right,” Harry slipped one arm around her waist to hold her closer, the other hand sliding up into her hair. “I have no reason to break it off with you again, nor do I want to… if you will go out with me again.”
“Yes, I will,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss him again. The kiss started out gentle, but grew in passion, a testament to the couple’s feelings for each other. As the afternoon wore on they remained seated under the tree, Ginny still in his lap (though now with her back against his chest). They talked most of the time, their conversation punctuated by kisses; and by the time they were to go in for the evening meal, Harry was a lot more comfortable with facing Ron as Ginny’s boyfriend again. He expected flak from his best friend; but he knew he could handle it. He felt he could handle anything with Ginny by his side.
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