The Solemn Aftermath

Chapter 16

Harry pushed himself up and rubbed his jaw while opening and closing it, hoping to work the pain out. He tried to think, figure out what to do, but he wasn't quite sure what he could do. Ron knew that Harry had shagged Ginny, a word that had left his friends mouth in an extremely disgusting way. His life might as well be over now; Ron would never let the two alone, not in a million years.

Dean chose that moment to walk through the portrait hole and look down at Harry, one eyebrow cocked up and a small smirk on his face. "Oy, Potter, what are you doin' on the floor, then?" He was enjoying the moment a little too much, which would be expected from the guy whose girlfriend he'd stolen, even if it was many, many months ago. The animosity wouldn't die on Dean's side, even if Harry couldn't care less.

"Nothing," Harry said harshly before pushing himself up from the floor and walking past Dean, their shoulders colliding with a small jolt to both of them. Harry continued on, not bothering to apologize because he wasn't in the mood to deal with the smirk and all it meant, and walked through the portrait hole. He started for breakfast, his face in a slight scowl and he walked briskly, not acknowledging the world outside of his little bubble of his best friend punching him, again.

He walked into the dining hall and could see not one bright red Weasley head in the mix, not that he could've sat with them anyway as Ron and most likely Ginny hated him at that very moment.. "Lost your friends, Potter?" Malfoy sneered from the Slytherin table, his cronies laughing, as Harry sat down at the deserted end of the Gryffindor table.

"Shove off, Malfoy," Harry said scathingly, not bothering to make it loud enough for Malfoy to even hear for he was not eliciting one ounce of attention from him. Malfoy's sneers hadn't been nonexistent but ignored over the year, it could've been another of Ginny's positive effects or just life transcending the sneers of someone who was unimportant, either way, Harry didn't notice them anymore and he wasn't going to start today.

Harry scooped some eggs onto his plate before he began to shovel them into his mouth, not really paying attention and just eating because it was daily routine and the only thing he could hold onto for now. Not even five seconds later, Luna Lovegood sat down across from him with her usual odd smile plastered on her face. "Hi, Harry," she said cheerfully, "wonderful morning, isn't it?" she didn't wait for him to reply before going on, "'ave you seen Ginny? And where's Ron and Hermione for that matter, you three always eat together?"

Harry glared at her and growled at her before continuing with the eggs, the shoveling making him look like a Weasley in disguise. He wanted to be alone but he didn't feel like taking the time to say that or convince Luna to just walk away, so he just pretended she hadn't sat down.

"Oh, well, since I usually eat with Ginny and she's not here, and you usually eat with Ron and Hermione, and they're not here," she said before scooping some food onto her own plate. She smiled at Harry before she organized the food on her plate in a very obsessive compulsive way, "We can eat together, no sense in eating alone, right?

"So," she said while chewing her food carefully, "did you have a good Valentine's Day? I know Ginny couldn't wait, she loves when you two spend time alone, talks about it non-stop," she paused for a second, "she probably wouldn't want me to say that, but I've said it, haven't I?

"What did you two do? She won't tell me but I have a pretty good idea. I mean, you two did spend the night together over the summer, didn't you?" Harry's face burned red because he could tell that from the way Luna had emphasized her words that she knew what they did. She knew why they spent the night together. "That is why she had me lie for her, isn't it? I was so delighted to do it though, very sneaky and dangerous, in a way.

"Well, I suppose it really wasn't dangerous for me, but for her it was. And you too, why, if her family found out you'd be cursed and hexed until, well, until you couldn't have kids," she said with a very large and exaggerated wink.

"Did you know you're jaw, it's starting to turn purple, did you know that?" Luna asked pointing out the completely obvious.

Harry growled again sick of the constant chattering. He liked the quiet Luna better. The Luna that was just odd not annoying as well.

"Oh, well, I know I've been talking a lot, a lot more than usual. Ginny's fault, I'm afraid. She brought out the chatterbox in me. What about you, what do you think Ginny's brought out in you?"

"Pain."

"Oh," she said with a quirky laugh, "yes, I'd imagine so. She told me about that black eye you got over the holiday. I suppose things could be worse, right?" she asked, almost trying to make him feel better but making him think about the situation even more, making it worse.

"Luna," Harry said annoyed, "my best friend keeps punching me in the face because I'm dating his little sister. Now, the only thing that could be worse is if I didn't have Ginny. I'm finished eating, maybe you could join Neville, he's more of a talker than I am."

Harry stood with a forced smile and walked out of the dining hall, curious now as to where Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had gotten to, considering their disappearing act had happened so quickly. He ran up the steps, taking them two at a time, and started down a corridor, just walking without a real destination not wanting to stop and have to listen to another person talk endlessly or deal with the situation on hand. His just walking was interrupted when he was thrown against the wall and held there by what felt like an invisible hand pushing on his chest. He looked down to see Ginny, her usually smiling face completely red with anger as she held her wand firmly pointed at his chest, explaining the crushing feeling of the invisible hand that was causing him a lot of discomfort and pain.

"YOU TOLD MY BROTHER!" she yelled angrily at him. She didn't look the least bit happy and Harry was sure that somewhere Ron and possibly Hermione sit or lay in a room, hexed so that she was free to chase him down and hurt him. A lot. In fact, he was sure that no one would even attempt to stop Ginny even Ron or Hermione anyway. She looked to determined to stop at the moment.

"No, no, really, I didn't," Harry said wincing when Ginny pushed her wand towards him a little more, the invisible force now starting to restrict his breathing that was so labored partially from fear and from the emotional pain that was revolving around the couple. "He figured it out himself," he said as he turned his head way from her and the wand as much as he could, not caring how scared he looked of his tiny little girlfriend.

"Right," Ginny said viciously, "Ron," she paused to put a deeper emphasis on her words, "figured something out," she paused again, "by himself. I think not." She stormed off, leaving a bewildered Harry watching after her before leaning back against the wall and slumping down, defeated for what seemed like the millionth time in his life but the fact that it was Ginny who was angry at him and Ginny who was no longer on his side, that invisible force was still there, manifesting itself as a weight on his shoulders.

A couple hours later, he picked himself up off the floor and life was almost normal, minus the company of his three best friends. Hermione couldn't abandon Ron or Ginny and partially doubted Harry's story, so besides a casual smile in the hallway, she lended no help, or so it seemed.

For the entire week, Hermione spent her time talking to Ginny, trying to convince her that she knew Harry well enough to not tell Ron about their relationship, even if it seemed one million percent impossible for Ron to actually find anything out by himself, without the help of Hermione or Harry or a lifeless rock. She finally convinced Ginny, it took a week, but it worked and Ginny was ready to apologize, even if she hated to apologize.

"Harry," Ginny said in a soft almost meek voice, her strength artfully hidden behind her reluctance to apologize.

Harry almost smiled to himself, but instead looked up from his book, "Me?" he asked convincingly, "Do you mean me? My name IS Harry, but I thought you didn't know who I was." His eyes were wide with faked excitement as he stared at her, pushing her to laugh at him.

"Who could forget the Boy Who Lived?" Ginny asked with a half smile. She wrung her hands, her reluctance to not say she was sorry in any way coming out. She hated to say sorry and in a way she wasn't sorry, she was proud that, even if it had been completely unfounded, she'd been able to stick up for herself even to Harry. It almost meant nothing because Harry would never try to change her, but it let her know that she was strong enough to withstand even the deep love she had for him to be herself, the strong Weasley she was.

"Well," Harry said after a very long wait as he stared into Ginny's eyes, loving the familiar warmth they gave off, "it had seemed that you had." He missed her more than anything but knew that they couldn't continue again until they had there banter, the little jokes and jabs that made them who they were.

Ginny smiled, "Oh no," she lowered her voice, "too good in the sack you are, to forget." She was trying to pretend that things hadn't changed and with them it didn't. They never got to a point of no return in which their relationship would never be the perfect innocent thing it was. Nothing could derail them, stop them momentarily, but their relationship transcended every dimension and was just perfect.

Harry couldn't stop himself from chuckling at her, "I hope that translates into 'I love you,' or the like." His cheeks were red, glowing at the way she talked, the odd compliments she paid him, leaving him oddly bewildered.

"Oh no, definitely not, you're just really good in the sack," she said with an exaggerated wink. She was smiling now, her hands at her side calmly, waiting for that moment when things would transition back to normal.

He smiled at her and closed his book. "So, you're not still mad at me then?" he asked calmly now. "Because there's no need to say sorry and no need for me to forgive you. Just give me a hug, kiss, and a quick shag."

Ginny laughed and wrapped her arms around him, causing him to drop his book. "I love you," she said happily as he hugged her back, neither wanting to let go ever again. "And I've missed you so much," she said pulling back, she cupped his face, "Merlin, you're gorgeous," she said before kissing him.

It was another two weeks after that before Ron actually talked to Ginny and two more weeks after that for Ron to talk to Harry, which was about the time that they needed to start studying for final exams, so it worked out rather nice as they sat in silence one night, Hermione having artfully and quietly walked away from the two boys who'd been able to sit near each other but not actually acknowledge the other's presence.

Ron was the first to notice Hermione's disappearance and he knew it was just another one of her pushes for him to apologize to Harry for the punching and ignoring he'd done and should not have done.

"Harry mate," Ron said as he stared down at the book he was reading. He wasn't able to make eye contact with his best friend, too embarrassed that he'd been a complete jerk and that he was now apologizing, which wasn't easy for any Weasley. "About the erm, well, you know, I'm," he paused fighting to get it out, "I'm sorry mate."

Harry looked up at Ron, glad to finally have his best friend back and even though his girlfriend's brother knew about their relationship and how far it had gone, at least now they were open with each other and Harry didn't have to hide everything, the details maybe, but not the broad picture. "It's cool, I'm sorry for the fact that your sister is well your sister really."

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "I want to see that secret apartment that is obviously real."

"But I guess you'll be eating your shoe first, won't you?"

"Not funny, not funny at all."

:the end:

- - - - - - - - - -

You've taken the time to read... so please review!