FanFiction.Net

              login | register   AuthorTitleSummaryFull-Text  
                    FlavorTangerineKiwiBlueberryGrapeBlackberryMint



             Just In  |  Discussion Forums  |  Community Connector  |  Authors 
            Directory  |  FAQ« Help»  




      Loved You Longer
      Category: Books » Harry Potter  Censor:  PG   Genre:  Romance   Reviews:  
      40
      Author: nortylaK  - Select Font -VerdanaTimes New RomanArialGeneva Font 
      Size: Bigger (+) - Smaller (-) 



I've Loved You Longer

(A/N: This story ties into, "To Love A Dragon," but it focuses on Harry and 
Ginny. If you haven't read that yet, be warned that this will spoil the ending 
for you. Enjoy!)

Ginny sat in the Gryffindor common room, extremely bored. She stared at the 
cracks in the wall, trying to decide if they formed some kind of pattern. There 
was a very interesting one about a foot off of the ground. It was almost in the 
shape of a little toad, the kind that she had seen picked in a jar in Snape's 
classroom. 

Pickled…toad…that sounded familiar to her. 

Green…pickled…toad. She could feel the blood rush into her face as she 
remembered the little Valentine she had sent Harry during her first year at 
Hogwarts. "His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad…" What was I thinking, 
sending that to him, she thought miserably to herself. Of course, that was four 
years ago. But it didn't mean that she felt any different about Harry. And he 
probably felt no different about her. To him, she would always just be Ron's 
little sister. It wouldn't matter how old she was, Harry would always see her as 
a child. The only one of Ron's friends who didn't treat her like she was five 
was Hermione. 

Where is Hermione, anyway? Ginny wondered. She didn't ever seem to be around 
anymore. Not since the beginning of the year. It was November now. Whenever 
Hermione was around, she always had a huge smile on her face. It had taken Ginny 
a while to figure out the reason, but now she was fairly certain of it: Hermione 
was in love. But with who? That was the real question. 

Ginny was jealous of Hermione. I'm in love too, she thought. Why can't I be 
happy all of the time? She wanted Harry to see her for who she really was, not 
as his best friend's little sister. But that seemed as likely as Draco Malfoy 
suddenly becoming a nice person. 

Frustrated, she twisted a strand of her red hair around her finger and began to 
tug on it. "He'll - never - love - you!" she told herself, a word for each tug. 
Her eyes stung at the corners. "Never - never - never -" 

"Ginny?" came a confused voice from behind her. She released her hair and slowly 
turned her head. Her heart skipped a beat. Harry Potter was staring at her 
flushed face with a puzzled expression. She didn't answer him, just wiped her 
eyes with the back of her hand. "Ginny, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting in the 
chair next to her. He leaned his head on his hand. Ginny couldn't breathe. She 
stared into his emerald eyes, felt her own welling up with tears. Why can't you 
love me? she thought.

"I-" she began. "I, um-" She couldn't think of anything to say. "I just had a 
bad day." That was believable. "Potions…Snape…" Harry gave her a small smile. 
Ordinarily, she would be ecstatic to make him smile but not today. 

"I know how that goes," Harry said to her. "Snape hates me." 

"How could anyone hate you, Harry?" Ginny whispered. She gave him a faint smile.

"That's better," he commented. "You're much prettier when you smile." He could 
see her face start to turn pink. Her lower lip began to quiver. 

"Harry, don't-" She couldn't hear that, not from him. Not when he was only 
saying it to make her feel better. Didn't he know how much that hurt her?

"Don't what?" He was lost. She blinked, sending a new stream of tears rolling 
down her face. 

"Nothing," she whispered. 

"Ginny, please don't cry. I didn't mean to upset you more, I just-" God, he 
hated to see her cry. He reached out and touched her hand. He heard her take in 
a sharp breath. Sobs began to fill her chest. Harry raked his free hand through 
his dark hair and straightened his glasses. He couldn't just leave her here 
alone. He slowly moved his fingers over the back of her hand, trying to 
communicate with her through touch. It seemed that words weren't working well 
for him today.

After a long while, her crying began to diminish, and her breathing sounded 
normal again. Harry smiled as he looked at her, her eyes closed. She was always 
so sweet, so innocent. He felt a strange twinge in his heart. He leaned forward 
and pushed the loose strands of red hair out of her face. She looked angelic. He 
stood up very quietly and turned to leave. Suddenly, for no reason, he bent down 
and kissed her softly on the cheek. He brushed the last of her tears away with 
his finger before he traversed the room and climbed the stairs to his dormitory. 


Ginny heard him leave and slowly opened her eyes. She reached up and touched her 
face where Harry had kissed her. On her face was the slightest glimmer of hope.

* * *

After dinner that night, Ginny sat in the common room waiting for Hermione to 
return. It was a new habit of Hermione's to disappear after dinner for a few 
hours. No one knew exactly where she went. Probably meeting some boy, Ginny 
though. She leaned back in the chair, her eyes returning to the toad shaped 
crack in the wall. 

All around her the other Gryffindors were talking, laughing, singing or doing 
homework of some sort. Harry and Ron were engaged in a chess game a few feet 
away. It was all Ginny could do to keep her eyes from locking on Harry's face. 
She would steal glances at him every few seconds, memorizing every contour of 
his face. 

He had a look of concentration spread across his features. His mouth was twisted 
at a funny angle; his eyes narrowed a bit as he contemplated his next move. His 
jet black hair was falling in wisps over his scar. He pushed his glasses up on 
his nose and Ginny caught a glimpse of his green eyes behind the lenses. She 
closed her eyes and tried to imagine the feel of his lips on her face again. 

The minutes passed quickly. One by one, the Gryffindors retreated to their rooms 
for the night. Ron, Harry and she were the only ones still up.

"Checkmate!" yelled Ron, tipping Harry's king over. He and Harry shook hands 
over the chessboard. Ron yawned loudly. "I think I'm going to go to bed now 
before Hermione comes back and tries to make me work on star charts." He stood 
up and started to walk. "You coming?" he asked Harry. 

"I'll be up in a minute," Harry replied. Ron shrugged and started up the 
staircase. Harry started to gather his books. Ginny couldn't quite read the 
expression on his face. She remained quiet, her arms wrapped around her knees. 
He stood, his books in his arms. That's where I should be, she thought to 
herself. 

"Night, Ginny." 

"Goodnight, Harry." She watched him walk toward his staircase. Not wanting to 
see him go, she turned her gaze toward the fireplace. 

**Crash**

Ginny looked over to see Harry sprawled out on the floor, books scattered 
everywhere. She was kneeling next to him only seconds later. 

"Harry, are you all right?" Her voice wavered the tiniest bit. Harry sat up, 
rubbing the back of his head. 

"I think so," he said, a bit dazed. "I think they waxed the floors in here today 
or something. I just suddenly slipped." He looked a bit embarrassed about it. 

"How's your head?" Ginny asked, very concerned. 

"It's fine, Ginny, really. Thanks." He smiled at her. She smiled back. They held 
the gaze for a moment before Ginny started to busily pick up the books Harry had 
dropped. She piled them up on the small table next to her and stood up. 

"Give me your hand," she said, extending hers to Harry. He took it and she 
pulled him to his feet. When she went to pull it away, his grip on her hand 
tightened. She looked into his face, her eyes wide and filled with confusion. 

Harry wasn't quite sure what came over him at that moment, but for some reason, 
he leaned forward and kissed Ginny full on the lips. Suddenly, the world around 
them seemed to melt away, leaving only them and this perfect moment. Although 
shocked at first, Ginny slid her hand up Harry's arm, feeling his muscles 
tighten a bit at her touch. Harry's free hand found her waist and pulled her up 
against him. Kissing Harry was just as Ginny had always imagined it would be. 
Both of them had their eyes closed. She could almost hear music playing. He 
hadn't let go of her hand yet. Their fingers were entwined. 

And then it was over. They pulled away from each other slowly, breathing hard, 
their hearts racing. They stood, foreheads touching. 

"Ginny?" Harry broke the silence, his lips merely inches from hers. 

"Yes?" 

"Will you forgive me?" A wave of panic shot through her. He thinks it was a 
mistake, she thought. Her eyes began to sting.

"For w-what?" She whispered, dreading his response.

"For not doing that a lot sooner." He pulled away enough to look into her eyes. 
"I should have done that a long time ago." 

The look on Ginny's face was priceless. He had never seen her so happy. She 
threw her arms around him and pressed her face against his neck. Was it 
possible? Did Harry really just kiss her? He wrapped his arms around her and 
held her tightly. 

"Hey, you don't have a date for the Yule Ball yet, do you?" he asked, hopefully. 


"No," she replied. "Unless you'll go with me." 

"I'd love to," came the quiet reply. 

Neither one of them wanted to let go of the other, but they were forced to when 
they heard the Fat Lady talking to someone in the hallway. It sounded like a 
massive question and answer session. The Fat Lady wanted to know what the person 
had been doing out so late and refused to let her in without an explanation. 

"It's Hermione!" said Ginny. 

"So?" asked Harry.

"So if she knows, then Ron knows!" Harry understood her completely. Ron might 
not take the news of his best friend kissing his sister very well. 

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Harry asked, his eyes hopeful.

"Of course," she replied with a huge smile. He kissed her one last time and ran 
up the staircase, out of sight. Ginny turned around in time to see Hermione 
crawl through the wall and into the common room. 

"What are you still doing up?" Hermione asked, her face flushed. 

"Oh, I fell asleep in one of the armchairs watching Harry and Ron play chess. 
They were kind enough to leave me there for the night," she lied. Hermione and 
she both laughed. 

"Boys," they both said, rolling their eyes. 

* * * 

During the next two weeks, Harry and Ginny were inseparable. Whenever Ron was 
out of sight, the two would end up against the wall in a full makeout session. 
And when Ron would return from wherever he had been, he would find the two of 
them, red-faced and laughing. A couple of times, though, he thought that he had 
seen Ginny grab Harry's hand and pull him around a corner. 

Harry was giddier lately, laughing at everything. He walked around with a stupid 
grin on his face half of the time. Ginny was no better. She smiled constantly, 
perfectly content with her life. Harry was constantly on her mind and for once, 
she was on his too. 

One morning, after a particularly long "session" with Harry, the two were 
starving and started toward the Great Hall with Hermione. Ginny noticed her 
staring at something on her left hand the entire way there. Try as she might, 
Ginny couldn't get a good glimpse at what it was. Hermione was pretty absorbed 
in her thoughts because she didn't even notice when Harry took Ginny's hand as 
they walked through the twisting corridors. 

Ginny and Harry sat a few seats apart, just in case Ron was becoming suspicious. 
She couldn't keep her eyes off of him, and he looked over at her every few 
seconds to give her a big smile. 

The room suddenly hushed as Professor Dumbledore stood to address the school. 

"Good morning, students," he said cheerily. "As many of you may have already 
realized, the holiday season is quickly approaching us. That means, for those 
students in year four and higher, that our annual Yule Ball will take place 
rather soon, in early December. Seeing as it is already November, you may want 
to start making your plans now. That is all." 

Ginny watched him sit back down and start talking to Professor Sprout. She also 
spotted Professor Snape casting the evil eye at anyone who dared to look at him. 
Ginny didn't care, though. She looked over at Harry and smiled. I'm going to the 
Yule Ball with Harry Potter, she thought to herself. Her happiness was set aside 
for a moment when she saw Hermione's face. She looked sad. Hermione kept playing 
with the thing on her left hand, staring up at the ceiling. Ginny squinted her 
eyes a bit, trying to make out the shape of it. It looked like a ring. 

Ginny tried to get a few minutes alone with Hermione after breakfast, but she 
tore out of the Great Hall so quickly that Ginny couldn't keep up with her. She 
turned around, frustrated, and started back toward the Great Hall, nearly 
knocked over by Draco Malfoy who was walking in the opposite direction. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, "Are you all right?" Ginny's mouth fell open. 

"I'm fine," she managed to say, despite her astonishment. 

"I'm really sorry, Ginny," he said before rushing off down the hallway. She 
stared after him in amazement. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. 

* * * 

"You know what, Harry?" Ginny said to him a bit later that day. 

"What?" he replied, his hands sliding through her hair. 

"Well, after lunch, Draco Malfoy almost ran me over in the hallway. But get 
this: he apologized to me! I can't get over it," she said, settling back into 
his arms. 

"Me neither," he murmured. His voice sounded a bit distant. 

"Harry, you still want to go to the Yule Ball with me, right?" she asked.

"Of course I do. Why?" He sounded distressed.

"You just seem distant today is all." Ginny kissed him on the cheek. Harry 
sighed.

"Well, it's just that Hermione told me something last night, and I can't get it 
out of my head." Ginny looked at him, a bit worried. He smoothed her hair with 
his hand. "Don't worry, Ginn, I'm all yours." She smiled and relaxed against 
him. 

"Harry, does this have anything to do with that ring that she has on?" 

"Um, a little, yeah. But I shouldn't-"

"I don't want you to tell me. If Hermione wants me to know, she'll tell me 
herself." She kissed Harry again and stood up. "I have to study. See you later?" 
He smiled at her, nodding. 

* * * 

Ginny had absolutely no idea how time had managed to fly past so quickly. It was 
December and the Yule Ball was upon them. She had never been so nervous about 
anything in her life. Her dress robes were black, hanging safely in the corner. 
She looked into the mirror, contemplating what to do with her hair. She finally 
decided to pull half of it back, letting the rest of it tumble around her 
shoulders. Next came her face. She decided that simple was best and used very 
little color, letting her hair have the glory. Something was missing. 

"I need earrings," she thought out loud. She asked the other girls in her dorm, 
but none of them had any. She decided to try the sixth years. She walked down 
the hall a bit and into their room.

Lavender and Parvati were busy mixing up new perfumes, it looked like. Hermione 
was sitting by the mirror, staring at the ring on her hand. Her dress robes were 
lying across her bed. She hadn't even started to get ready yet. Ginny watched as 
Hermione softly kissed the ring. 

"Excuse me," she said. The girls looked up at her. "Does anyone have any earring 
I can borrow?" They all shook their heads. "Are you sure? I really want to wear 
some…" But no one seemed to own any. Dismayed, she walked back to her room. She 
tried again a few minutes later, hoping that maybe they had found a pair in her 
absence. Still no luck. 

A few minutes later, she heard a knock at the door. Professor McGonagall walked 
in. 

"Ginny," I was walking past the staircase earlier and I heard you asking for a 
pair of earrings. I was wondering if these would do…" She held out a pair of 
pearl drop earrings. Ginny held one up to her ear. 

"Thank you, these are perfect!" Ginny exclaimed. "Are you sure that you don't 
really mind?" 

"Not at all," Professor McGonagall laughed. "Oh dear," she exclaimed, "I'm 
afraid I'm going to be late. I'm in charge of the event this evening." She 
hurried toward the door. "You girls look lovely," she called after them as she 
descended the steps. 

* * *

"Ginny," Harry said when he first saw her. "You look beautiful!" He gave her a 
small kiss on the cheek, much to Ron's surprise. 

"Is Hermione coming," Ron asked. Ginny nodded.

"Where is she?" asked Harry. "It's nearly time to leave!"

"I'm not sure," Ginny replied. She walked up a few of the steps. "Hermione, are 
you coming?" she shouted. There was no reply. Ginny shrugged and walked back 
over to Harry. A few moments later, Hermione came down the stairs. She still had 
a rather sad expression on her face. She said very little during the walk toward 
the Great Hall. 

Once they approached the doors, Ginny's heart started to beat like crazy. She 
forgot about everything, including Hermione. She could only look up at Harry and 
smile. 

"Miss Virginia Weasley escorted by Mr. Harry Potter." 

The two of them stepped into the Great Hall. Ginny was beaming, so proud to be 
on Harry's arm. They received a small round of applause from everyone as they 
crossed the hall and took their seats. 

The Great Hall looked absolutely beautiful. Ginny marveled at the icicles 
hanging from the ceiling and the enchanted snow slowly falling onto the huge 
Christmas trees that lined the walls. She held on tight to Harry's hand as the 
rest of the couples were announced. 

"Miss Lavender Brown escorted by Mr. Neville Longbottom." Lavender and Neville 
joined their table. Harry squeezed Ginny's hand. He leaned in, about to kiss her 
when suddenly they heard,

"Miss Hermione Granger escorted by Mr. Draco Malfoy." Silence fell over the 
Great Hall. Ginny's eyes were wide with amazement. She watched as Hermione and 
Draco traversed the room. She had never in her life seen Hermione look so happy. 
She and Draco were looking at each other as they walked as if the world around 
them did not exist. 

Harry began a round of applause. Ginny joined immediately and the rest of the 
Great Hall soon followed suit. Draco and Hermione sat down at the table with 
them. Ginny looked over at Harry, smiling broadly. 

Music began to fill the hall, and Harry took Ginny by the hand and led her out 
to the dance floor. As they moved back and forth to the rhythm, she settled 
against him. 

"You knew, didn't you Harry? About Hermione and Draco I mean." His arm tightened 
around her. 

"Yes," he started. "I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you." He could feel her breath 
on his neck. 

"It's good that you didn't," she replied. "It shows that you are a loyal 
friend." 

"Oh God, I love you Ginny." The words escaped his lips before he had a chance to 
think about what he was saying. But he did not regret saying them. 

"I've loved you longer, Harry," she murmured against his neck. 

They could hear a round of applause spread throughout the hall. When Harry 
turned to look, he saw Draco and Hermione kissing in the middle of the floor. 
All eyes were upon them. 

Well, all but two. Ginny's remained fixed on Harry, never straying from his 
face. She had never thought it possible: "the boy who lived" loved her. She 
smiled, content in believing for the first time in her life that dreams really 
can come true.

            Review Story ( be a responsible reader and write a review)
            Title: Loved You Longer
            Name:
            Email: (optional)
            Review:
                 


If you feel that this entry violates any of the guidelines set by FanFiction.Net 
please click here to notify the staff. 

      Home  |  About Us  |  Terms of Service  |  Browser Compatibility  |  
      Privacy