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Harry James Potter was in love.
Ginny with all her ambiguous smiles, her lightning intelligence, capricious joys, and violent furies. She was a fire in its many forms, hot, searing hot, so hot it made harry recoil at times, surprised, shocked, he’d stare at her as she burned brightly.
She’s like the setting sun, so dangerously sinful with her sweet smirks and lingering gazes. She was like a painting, so curiously bright and shinning she belonged in the metropolitan. Harry hoped that the path that they walked today was merely a beginning. Ginny with her big brown eyes that looked at him as if he could walk on water. And for her, for Ginny, he’d try a thousand times and more if she asked. He sees her face, Ginny, everywhere he looks… Ginny, is strong and vulnerable. He’d never met someone like that before. Polite yet direct. Reserved yet brave – and oh , harry loved her – loved her like a moth loves a flame, drawn in by captivation. Staying for the adventure, the adrenaline. Oh, harry loved, loves, loves the rush he gets whenever she’s nearby. Her presence is a drug he can’t quit she gets him so high, and he never wants to come back down. When she raised her eyelids, it was almost as if she had stripped him of all his clothes. ‘ don’t look away he wanted to beg but didn’t. he wanted her to keep looking at him like that – like she couldn’t keep her hands off him, her hands to herself. Like she needed him, as much as he needed her . ‘Look at me looking at you’ he thought hoping she knew what that gaze meant. Ginny was so incredibly beautiful, deliciously divine, drop-dead gorgeous even. He’d look at her want to capture whatever mundane action she did just to freeze it in his mind, so his memory only consisted of pictures of Ginny riding a broom or Ginny with frosting on her nose as they baked a cake – it was all very sappy, and Ron would call him damn soppy sod if he heard him think like that. But Harry didn’t mind, in fact, he preferred keeping these small victories and joys to himself like they were an august privileged.
“We’d better get going if we don’t want to be late,” Ginny giggled and Harry huffed as he merely leaned against her side now, he stopped tickling her.
Harry wanted to stay with her, entangled, intertwined together. His brown legs in between her pale freckled thighs. But his parents were waiting for them. They walked to the potter’s cottage, hand in hand, thighs brushing against each other, closing in on the house light up in festivities.
Harry Potter was seventeen and he was in love.
*
“Hello hello! Come in, come come!” His dad bellows, his deep voice screeching with excitement. Harry and Ginny are tucked into the warm living room where his mum, Sirius, and Remus were sitting ready, swirling their glasses of wine in sync, they looked amusedly at him and Harry would probably bet that his face was red from earlier. His dad instantly went to Ginny’s side.
“So good that you decided to come, Ginny! We’ve heard so, so much about you.” He winked. Harry scoffed at his dad, flushed. “Dad, please,” He whispered, hoping it would make his dad stop embarrassing him. ‘ Heard so much about you! ’ Jesus, Ginny had only been there for a total of five seconds and his dad had already sold him out.
“Well make haste I have the best ideas ever to take those pillocks at chuddly canons down! – “James Potter was quick; his reflexes hadn’t aged with him. He almost jumped on Ginny as he steered her towards the kitchen to discuss his new strategies. She just giggled and shared a winning grin with him, Alright a total of ten seconds and his dad had already stolen his girlfriend from him.
‘Lovely .’ Now he had to deal with the others teasing on his own.
“Ah, the love birds finally join us,” Sirius cackles. “Quite surprised, to be honest, I would’ve thought that you’d have snogged your faces clean off with how long you were gone.”
“Cheers Padfoot,” Harry said dismissively as he flopped onto the sofa, making Sirius and Remus jump slightly, trying to protect their wine from splashing about “Surprised you’re still awake, ye’ old geezer,” he snarked, propping himself up to stare at them.
Remus barked a laugh at it – literally pointed at Sirius and laughed. Between his cries, he said, ‘you deserved that,’ He was obviously tipsy and now Harry wondered how much they drank and if they were that slow that Remus was sloshed.
He tried to swipe some wine for himself, which made his mum who was bustling about the house give him the stink eye. Offering a weak ‘sorry’ he leaned back into the couch, staring at the herbs and flowers decorating the room, staring at them he didn’t notice Sirius’s baffled expression.
“ To think that my flesh and blood! –“
“I’m the one that pushed him out for fuck’s sake – “His mum grumbled as she shimmied into the room, hands full of bowls of crisps and biscuits. Her straight auburn hair was frazzled and stood up at the back.
“Where are Ron and Hermione?” He asked, “Out in the garden darling,” His mum whispered purposely and then added, “But to be honest I wouldn’t interrupt them right now,” Harry gagged at the thought and his mum hit his shoulder reminding him to play nice.
“, to think that the child I grew from my loins would disrespect me in my own home.” Sirius sulked, huffing and puffing he gestured and continued his gesticulations. “I will cry Harry J. Is that what you want? Do you want to see me cry ?”
“Maybe,” He said, “I do!” Lily added again as she ventured into the kitchen as the kettle whistled.
“Cold and unfeeling lot, you are,” Sirius moaned, Harry couldn’t help but giggle and gave into his gesticulation. “Give me some credit for this little menace and I’ll warm up to you, mighty stranger,” Lily called back as she shuffled back and forth. He scrambled up to where Sirius and Remus sat and settled nicely between them, ignoring Sirius’s dramatic huffs and Remus’s quieting chuckles at Sirius’s pouting lips, he dug into the snacks. When his mum came back, she reprimanded him for starting without them, sitting down she frowned at him deeply. Harry felt badly spotted.
“What? It’s movie night, you don’t want me to eat on movie night?” his mouth was full of cheese puffs, and he couldn’t talk that eloquently, nevertheless, he continued to stuff his bashful face.
“No, I just don’t want all the pringles to be gone by the time your dad comes back,” She answered, “He’ll be all grumpy,” she sassed, “the big nerd,” Harry had heard from his mother that as soon as his father was introduced to muggle fast food, he never went back. His old chaser diet be damned.
“Let him,” Sirius and Harry called out as they both reached for the tub of crisps. Uncle Moony even got in on it by reaching for a couple himself. Lily sighed, though she didn’t really care.
“So…” His mum started. “How’re things going with Ginny?”
He stopped a little, crumbs collecting around his mouth clumsily “…Not that bad I guess,” Padfoot and Moony moved like animals, pouncing on the chance to interrogate him. “Define ‘not bad’ to us,” Remus asked, his finger pointed at him, salt dusted on the tip of his fingers.
“Fine…”
They all looked at him expectantly, hanging onto his very few words, waiting for him to continue. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him, Lily and Remus both motioned their hands signaling to him to continue.
Harry threw his hands up in exasperation, “We, held hands? And rode our brooms together?”
“Oh, for crying out loud! You know that’s not what we wanna hear, now spill it.”
“Kinda weird that you wanna know so much about what two teenagers did, alone , Padfoot.”
“I’m not being funny, but I haven’t got all day sweet pea, we just want to know if you two idiots have actually sucked faces yet!” Remus smacked Sirius’s shoulder a little for being such a brute, Lily just giggled as she watched Harry’s face turn red. “Well,” They leaned forward, looking way too excited if you asked Harry. “Yes, yes we have,” Suddenly cheers and whoops filled the living room, high fives were being thrown around, which Harry quite frankly found insulting. They bounced slightly on the green suede couch the pillows flying everywhere.
“Tell us everything!” they bellowed and with one last yell, his dad and Ginny looked past the wall to see what was going on.
“What’re you all yelling for? Can’t hear my own bloody thoughts, can I?” James sassed. “I’m giving lovely Ginny here prime quidditch advice here, so quiet down you band of babbling buffons.” With his hands on his hips like that, his dad looked like a right tosser. Harry thought this lovingly, of course.
“We’re talking about Harry and Ginny’s first kiss,” Lily squealed.
“Oh my god! Scooch!” He jumped onto the couch and Harry would bet that if Sirius wasn’t there, he would be swinging his legs back and forth behind him – like a teenage girl in one of those romcoms.
Harry looked to Ginny miserably, begging, pleading for help with his eyes but his effort was lost when he saw how she was watching them all with clear delight. “They coaxed it out of me!”
“It’s alright, but do tell Harry, how did it happen?” She looked at him with mischief in her eyes, she sat next to his dad, and now Harry had an entire herd of curious Nancy's staring at him. His own girlfriend and mum and dad among them. He sighed and began to tell a story.
*
Later that night Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat outside on the porch. The movie was over and now His dad and godfather were now arguing about god knows what, Ginny had decided to be a witness to said petty argument along with his mum and Remus. And so the three of them had retreated outside even slipped a bottle of firewhiskey with them and now sat underneath the big willow tree in the Potter’s garden. Their summer cottage had always been on the outskirts of everything, so they were left completely and entirely to their own devices. The moonlight shone gently on the grass as the daffodils and daisy's blossomed.
“Ok, ok, I’ve got the perfect game,” Hermione said, “it’s a muggle one though Ron and it’s called truth or drink,”
“Yeah I think I’ve got the premise though,” Ron chuckled.
“Alright so…” She began, her plump bottom lip was between her teeth as she thought of a question, “Harry,” She called, “have you ever had sex?”
At that Ron squeaked out a ‘Hermione!’ out of sheer surprise only to have her shrug as if it was obvious. "Oh come on, it’s the only interesting question,”
Harry raised an eyebrow at that “Will you ask Ron as well then?”
“Won’t need to,” she said her face so smug Harry couldn’t help but bark with laughter with Hermione giggling along. Much to Ron’s demise as his face was now as red as his fiery hair. He looked almost pitiful in his embarrassment, it didn’t look good however on his stocky frame, even when curling on himself, his face in his hands, his broad shoulders stood out. Here was this huge bloke trying to curl in on himself, ‘How ironic’ Harry thought.
“Alright, alright stop faffin’ about -” Ron interrupted, cheeks still flushed pink making his freckles more noticable, “Answer the bloody question you nonce.”
What was with people interrogating him tonight? Harry took another long sip of his drink and answered “Fine, yes I have.” Ron now looked at him suspiciously. “With who?”
“That’s not part of the game Wheezy” he sassed, at that Ron raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise.
“It’s quite obvious Ronald!” Hermione snickered. “I have no idea what you’re talking about ‘Mione.” He said as he took a huge chug of the whiskey. Hermione and Harry glanced at each other over Ron’s form and fought to muffle their chuckles. Clearly, Ron knew what they meant but he just didn’t want to think about it. Harry was grateful to that; Ron may be a bit of a pain in the ass when he and Ginny wanted to be alone but at the very least, he gave them some privacy. The same can’t be said for the twins.
Harry was feeling a little vindictive, “What about you ‘Mione,”
Ron answered before she did, mimicking her, “Guess,” He rasped as he passed the bottle along. Hermione smacked him on the arm, her dark cheeks turning red, her curly hair flopping about wildly. “What?” Ron said turning to her, a confident smirk on his lips, they stared at each other, and then Harry thought it was getting a little too weird.
“Listen, idiots, I love you both but not enough to sit and watch you two shag alright?”
At this Hermione was promptly ready to snark back “Really? And here I thought you were the voyeuristic type,”
“I love you, Hermione Granger.” Ron wheezed, literally wheezed out as he gripped his chest, laughing way too hard. The two of them were so agonizingly in love it made Harry want to vomit, he didn't even have time to be jealous, not when he had Ginny. Not that it mattered, they looked at each other as if the other had hung the moon and stars - Harry knew he had nothing to worry about. They'd be alright. They'd all be alright.
Harry loved them, believe him he did. But they were a handful, and he was starting to get miffed. But if he was going to be completely honest, he wouldn’t trade this for the world. To think that there could be a world without them hurt Harry beyond means. A world without his family, without Hermione and Ron, or Ginny or just the entire Weasley clan, in general, was out of the question for him. He would go to war for them and die again and again if he’d had to. But with such a lovely and funny group of people around him, he couldn’t afford to think like that. And so, he laughed and snacked and joked with them all for the rest of the night. Got drunk, smoked a bit, all in all, he didn’t have any worries or burdens on his conscience. He felt happy and safe.
Harry Potter was in love just like the rest of the world.