092.

[hexuality]

[ video ]

This again.

[Ginny usually loves days like this, but she hasn't had a good time of it lately and she isn't sure if seeing familiar faces today will make her feel much better. They'll leave again, as they always do, and she's uncertain she'll be able to shrug it off this time as easily as the other instances.

Still, she's smiling, because the youngest Weasley's always got to soldier on. She's so damn good at it.]

I don't have to go through the old routine, do I? Welcome, you're visiting, don't get too worried or excited, it's magic, yes—I can do magic, too. And yes, my hair really is this red; I don't know why that's come up before, but there you have it. And no. You can't count my freckles. What a thought.




[ooc; FOURTH WALL! HAVE AT HER. Just no doubles, no telling her she's from a book, and no future spoilers beyond the Final Battle (though if it happens, she'll conveniently forget once it's all over). Feel free to threadjack, too! HAVE FUN AND BACKDATE FOREVER! ♥

Also—Mrs Ginny Potter (chasingafter) may be threadjacking in this post!]

Comments

[outlive]

( he's about to respond, something equally fond and warm, but the response makes him hesitate, really look at her a moment longer. there's something that wasn't there before in the way she looks at him, something about the eyes, a look that can only come from seeing certain things that can't ever be forgotten, doing things that stay imprinted on the hands long after, something that brings him back to the forest with the wind pushing at his back that makes him both want to bury his face in her hair and put more distance between them.

coming and going. he'd called it a bad habit too, one of the last times he was here, the boy who lived and died and lived again to end the war, i've done what my mother did, and accident, was it, when I came back?

(you didn't die!
no, but I meant to.)

he doesn't do anything in the end, though maybe something about his hold loosens by degrees, and he tries to keep his tone and expression light. )

You think so?

[hexuality]

[She shakes her head a little, just a minute movement because she knows he understands. And then she reaches around to push her hand through his hair, gentle and fond, and it's one of those rare moments when she acknowledges his scar—her thumb brushes over it once, lightly, and her gaze flickers from it to his eyes and her smile softens.]

You always manage to surprise me, Harry Potter.

[outlive]

I...

( he starts the interjection and then lets it die (ha), quiet at the caress. is he really going to try to defend a decision she already knows about, surely already understands? that's the beauty of ginny, after all, the way she doesn't ask, doesn't demand, doesn't stop him from doing what he has to do, doesn't make him choose between her and the world, because how can he make that choice? his own life is - different, owed maybe, tied to an existence that needed to be blotted out in the end, but her -

- he swallows, then his lips start to twitch into a wry smile. )

Surprise even myself, sometimes. ( there's maybe an admission there. and then he realizes how stupid that sounds and tries again. ) I mean - good to know you haven't got bored of me yet.

[hexuality]

Didn't think 'boring' ever applied to you, really.

[Then she grins back, broad and easier than all the others she's flashed in the past few weeks because it's been hard, it has, with the last of her brothers gone home and her still here through it all.]

But maybe we're both looking for a bit of it back home.

[outlive]

( okay, he grins properly this time. )

I dunno, I didn't think beating a troll or outflying a dragon'd be all that impressive.

( and of course he had help with both things, help she knows about. )

Boring sounds pretty nice, yeah.

[hexuality]

Right, because Charlie does that every day in Romania.

[But she's laughing, hand slipping back down to his shoulder and lacing with the other at the nape of his neck as she leans back to look at him, head tipped to the side.]

So has your life been boring, lately? Has coming back here ruined that?

[outlive]

Well, I can't come close to Charlie when it comes to being interesting.

( or cool, he's accepted this. his hands settle around her waist, fingers laced at the small of her back. )

I wouldn't say 'ruined.'

( and here's where he might follow up with a kiss if he were feeling bold, but there's still a little of that distance somehow, things unsaid, and it bothers him more than it should to leave it at that. shining days, silver linings, days out of someone else's life, and there's something about this place that always makes the time feel more stolen, almost undeserved. )

[hexuality]

[She's a little uncertain, too, for all the ease they have in being this close and carrying on like nothing happened. Because there's time and distance and age and it's everything she wishes she could ignore and maybe she could for just a weekend but is that fair? Does she care? Can't she allow some selfishness? Ginny tips her face up to his, eyes and smile bright.]

Want to prove it?

[outlive]

( yes. of course he does. and if she's still like this, normal and affectionate and like nothing's changed, like he stayed in the city like he promised, like he never lied to neville or anyone else about ignoring voldemort's ultimatum, like they're - just.

harry and ginny.

normal teenagers without battle scars or prophecies or anything else hanging over their heads. and isn't that what they'd done last time? we'll be alright. whatever you're worrying about, don't.

he leans down close, raising a hand to cup it around her cheek, and whispers. )

D'you have any suggestions how?

[hexuality]

Loads, but it wouldn't be right to say them here.

[And she laughs against his lips, pressing a quick kiss to them and breaking the intimacy with something sweeter and softer because emotions are too close to the surface now. Anything more tender than that might have her in all sorts of directions.]

Though Percy isn't around to scandalise anymore.

[outlive]

( oh, he always misses her kisses. even though she's there at home, he can't help missing her kisses when they're - well, not. but the news she has for him is jarring, alarming, enough to have him jerking his head up and -

- banging it on some bloody overhang of the fountain's decorations, making him swear rather colorfully. )

[hexuality]

Oh, Godric's balls, Harry—

[Ginny leans back and tugs on his shirt, pulling him away from the fountain and stumbling a little as they go. Once they're properly clear, she twists in his arms until she's free to go check the back of his head, fingers light and probing through his hair.]

The fountain's out to get you. I knew it. [Then - ] What happened? I didn't bite your lip, did I?

[outlive]

( he lets himself be dragged along, raising his hands as well to the smarting part of the back of his head. )

That'd explain a lot. Now it's inanimate objects trying to do me in, that's brilliant. ( and after a beat - ) Percy's gone?

[hexuality]

He left a bit ago, yeah. Can't be surprised by that, either.

[She looks a little more subdued for it, but she tries to brush it off as nonchalance. It's happened to her so many times before, it shouldn't bother her, right? Ginny drops her hand from his hair, leaves it on his shoulder.]

You want some ice for that?

[outlive]

( he shakes his head. )

I'll be alright.

( but he's concerned, and hesitates before going on, apprehensively though somewhat trying to play it off as casual himself. )

So - er, who's that leave?

[hexuality]

Apart from me? [She shrugs, quiet.] Hermione's here, but I think she's still adjusting. Honestly, I've been so busy with the shops—I haven't seen much of anyone lately. First Cinna's business then the joke shop...

[And suddenly she feels every bit as tired as she ought to be with the weight of all that and she lifts her hand from his shoulder to brush over his cheek again, smile soft.]

You've no idea how good it is to see you.

[outlive]

( that - makes his promises from before, made so earnestly and gallantly and stupidly, feel like absolute rubbish. he's gone, her brothers've gone, and who knows who else? )

I think I've got an idea.

( and you know what sod this, leaning in for a kiss. )

[hexuality]

[She knew he never meant to break them, though; they were broken beyond his control and of course she understands that, she's been here for four years. And she's ready to reassure him, but then he's kissing her and she doesn't have to speak at all—and it's like a comfort, it doesn't matter that they aren't dating anymore or that he's leaving or that she isn't expected to wait for him. Because this is familiar, and this is just here and now. That's what matters.

She just relaxes in his arms and lets her eyes flutter shut and maybe she won't go to pieces because he's here.]