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Author: cwarbeck Story: Some Kind of Wonderful Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 18 Words: 26,059
A/N: Things take a turn for the mushy here, folks. I hope you forgive me. J Thanks to Chreechree and Sherry!
Harry blanched and gaped rather stupidly at her, his mouth hanging open in stunned amazement. He blinked several times and ran his fingers through his hair distractedly, causing it to stick up even more. Ginny appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the aftermath of her announcement. She laughed heartily at his flabbergasted expression. “If you didn’t look so funny, I would be incredibly insulted by your less-than-enthusiastic reaction, Harry,” she said in a highly amused voice. “Y-You?” Harry finally managed to stammer out. He couldn’t believe that he had heard her properly. “You?” he repeated shakily. Ginny gave an exaggerated sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. “Harry, what’s so bloody extraordinary about what I just said? I know, I know – it’ll be such an enormous stretch for you to even consider kissing your best friend’s little sister,” she pointed to herself depreciatingly, “but can you tell me who else you think you can practice with?” she finished patiently, as if trying to reason with a particularly dim three-year-old. Harry opened and closed his mouth several times. He couldn’t think of anyone at all. Lavender? Parvati? Millicent Bulstrode? Dobby? Grimacing at the ghastly turn his thoughts had taken, Harry gestured helplessly with his hands. Ginny leaned forward in her chair, her chin in her hand. “Hermione? I don’t think so.” She gave a slight shake of her head. “My brother would kill you.” Harry recoiled in horror. “Forget Ron – Hermione would kill me if I tried anything like that with her. Not to mention the nightmares I’d have. Urgh.” The very thought of kissing his bushy-haired friend made him feel slightly nauseous and thoroughly uneasy. “Precisely.” Ginny smiled at him. “Now c’mon, let’s get on with it. We’re wasting time. It’s already nine o’clock and I don’t fancy getting caught by Filch sneaking back to the common room.” Ginny pointed to a small, jewelled clock on the wall that was softly chiming the hour. Harry was shocked that he hadn’t noticed that so much time had already elapsed; he had been having such a good time simply talking and laughing and being with Ginny. Well, at least he had been until she had dropped this bombshell on him. Was she serious about instructing him on how to kiss properly? “Uh, okay. But are you certain about this, Gin?” Harry hedged, not sure if he wanted to go through this exercise at all. “You really don’t have to, you know. I think I can manage pretty decently on my own.” He tried to inject a note of confidence in his last statement. “Harry, from what I’ve heard, you need all the help you can get when it comes to snogging,” she said, a teasing note back in her voice. “Consider this my contribution to the betterment of Wizardkind.” She flung her arms out expansively, her lips twitching in barely concealed amusement. “Gee, thanks a lot, Ginny,” he said, a little stung by her words. He wasn’t that bad in the kissing department, was he? “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your charity work,” he muttered, shooting a disgruntled look at her. “Okay, Miss Weasley, what do we do now?” She laughed, taking no notice of his bad temper. “Well, we should probably sit a little closer together. It’s kind of awkward with this–” she gestured at the table “–in the way. Let’s go sit on the sofa.” “Right.” He stood up and followed her. Things were beginning to become a bit surreal. He hesitated as she took a seat on one end of the sofa. Was he really going to do this? Practice kissing with Ginny? What had he got himself into? “Harry, you need to exert more effort and show a little more enthusiasm than that if you’re going to try and impress Cho.” Ginny’s voice interrupted his jumbled thoughts. “Come on, sit with me.” She patted the space beside her. Telling himself he was overreacting, Harry took a deep breath and slowly sat down next to Ginny. “There, that wasn’t difficult, was it?” Ginny gave him a charming smile. “All right, let’s begin. Are you comfortable?” At her question, Harry immediately became aware that his left thigh was pressing against Ginny’s right one. He felt himself shiver slightly at the contact. The sofa seemed to have shrunk to half its original size. This is Ginny! She’s Ron’s sister! She’s just helping you out because she’s your friend! He told himself repeatedly while he nodded mutely at her. Ginny didn’t seem to notice anything amiss and continued speaking in a professional manner. “Okay, Harry, let’s do the basics first. We’ll start with hand holding.” She placed her hands neatly on her lap. “Take hold of my hand – it doesn’t really matter which you choose – with your right one. Go on, then. Take it.” She tilted her head in an encouraging manner and chuckled playfully at the sight of his apprehensive face. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite – much.” Smiling weakly, Harry did as he was told and captured Ginny’s left hand. He was surprised at how warm and small her hand seemed to be. Without knowing why, he started stroking her palm with his thumb as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to do. It was just the tiniest bit calloused – probably from playing Quidditch – but the slightly rough texture was not unpleasant. Harry glanced at Ginny. She was staring down at their joined hands, an inscrutable look on her face. “Good,” she said in a slightly breathless tone. “Now, place your arm around me.” Harry tentatively extended his left arm over her shoulder, feeling the softness of Ginny’s hair against his hand. He could make out the faint fragrance of her floral shampoo as she leaned into him. “Th-That’s good, Harry,” Ginny said in a soft voice that somehow didn’t seem like her own. “Um…okay. Right. Now then… uh… a g-girl likes to think a boy only has eyes for her, you know, so look at me as if you think I’m the most attractive girl you’ve ever seen. I know that’ll take a bit of imagination, b-but….” Her voice faltered as she tilted her face to lock gazes with Harry. Looking deep into Ginny’s eyes, Harry felt his breath catch in his throat and his heart speed up at an alarming rate. It was as if a veil had been lifted from his eyes and he was seeing her for the very first time. He was astounded that he had never truly appreciated how utterly beautiful Ginny Weasley was. The soft glow of the fire turned her hair into a million smouldering shades of red and gold, making her hair appear like a living flame itself. Her white skin was radiant, the pale blue of her blouse complimenting her creamy complexion. Ginny looked back at him, entranced, and he watched the leaping and dancing fire reflected in the warm brown of her eyes. Of their own accord, his hands moved to cradle her face, and he marvelled at the softness of her skin. Ginny gave a little sigh of longing, and his attention was drawn to her slightly parted lips. A profound yearning arose within him, and he found himself lowering his head, eager to touch his mouth to hers, and when he did, the world seemed to disappear around him. The warm glow from the sconces, the gentle hiss of the fire, and the comfortable cushions underneath them – all those sensations faded away. All Harry was conscious of was the intoxicating sweetness of Ginny’s velvety soft lips, which, after a moment’s hesitation, were ardently kissing him back. Feeling very bold, he ran his tongue across her bottom lip and was rewarded when she opened her mouth. He felt her tongue meet his and he couldn’t help but give a small moan of satisfaction. He became aware of her fingers at the back of his neck playing with his hair, sending small tremors throughout his body. He slowly pulled her closer to him, his hands dropping to her waist, feeling her tremble at the close contact. After what seemed like a lifetime, Harry slowly pulled away from Ginny, reluctant to break contact with her mouth. He felt as though he had been dropped from a dizzying height. He had never imagined that a kiss could be that wonderful. He certainly hadn’t felt like this after kissing Cho in this very same room so long ago. He watched as Ginny gradually opened her eyes, her face flushed, her breathing erratic. They stared at each other; the only sound in the room was the soft pop of the logs as the fire continued to burn merrily in front of them. “Ginny, I–” Harry began awkwardly, but stopped when he found that he didn’t really know what he wanted to say. She gave a startled gasp at the sound of his voice and flushed an even deeper shade of pink. Harry saw that her eyes were very dark, and that her lips were swollen invitingly from their kiss. He was debating with himself whether he dared kiss her again when she unexpectedly extricated herself from his arms. He looked at her in confusion, missing the warmth of her body, but she had turned to face the fire. “Well! It seems that you don’t need any more practice!” she exclaimed, her voice loud and unnatural in the quiet room. She kept her gaze fixed on the fireplace, determinedly avoiding his eyes. “Cho will be absolutely smitten once you give her that kiss!” She jumped up and slowly backed away from him. “I’ll see you later, Harry.” She twisted around and made for the door. “Ginny, wait! I–” He called out to her, getting to his feet. “Bye,” she said over her shoulder and hurried out of the room. “Good night.” Harry sank back down on the sofa, wanting to run after Ginny but not knowing what he would say or do if he did catch up with her. He stayed in the Room of Requirement for a very long time and when he finally managed to find his way back to his dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, he lay awake on his bed until the wee hours of the morning before finally dozing off into a fitful sleep filled with images of Ginny’s shimmering auburn hair and deep brown eyes. *
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