From Across the Great Divide, Chapter 6
Rated: R
Summary: A post-Hogwarts H/G fic. Strange circumstances draw Harry and Ginny closer together. But are they in danger? Romance, adventure, Monty Python, and tartan boxer shorts abound.
Ginny awoke the next morning in state of confusion. She had spent the greater part of the night reliving the previous evening’s scene in her garden in her dreams. Except in her dreams, Harry hadn’t stopped… She sighed. She really wanted to know where all this was leading. Was it just the forced close proximity that was bringing this on? He’d said the other day they were friends, but she’d never been kissed like that by any of her friends. Ian, the boy she’d dated in her seventh year at Hogwarts, had never even kissed her like that, and he’d never been able to make her go weak in the knees as Harry’s kisses had done last night. She sighed again, wondering how she was ever going to manage to bring all this up with Harry. It didn’t seem to her a natural subject of conversation… Could she actually bring herself to say to him at breakfast, "Please pass the jam. Oh, and by the way, do you always go around kissing your friends like that?" The very idea made her cringe.
Impatiently, she threw back the covers and reached for her dressing gown. She had a whole day at the Ministry to face, and it was time to get ready. She stepped out of her bedroom on her way to shower and froze. Harry was sprawled out on his sofa bed, still asleep. His covers had slipped down to his waist, and from Ginny’s angle, it looked very much as if he had nothing on. She felt her mouth go dry. She knew she’d be seeing this vision in her dreams tonight now, as well. She gasped as Harry rolled over in his sleep and the covers slipped just a bit more. "I’ve got to stop gaping, before he wakes up and catches me," she told herself sternly. But she kept on staring, realising now, at least, he wasn’t entirely naked. She could now see he was wearing boxer shorts, plaid boxer shorts, she noticed with a giggle. They were of a darkish green and blue with red and black threads running through it; it looked, incongruously enough, like a tartan of some sort. "Why has he got those?" Ginny wondered. "He isn’t even Scottish."
The absurdity of the situation brought a semblance of sense back to her mind, and she was able to go about her morning routine. Harry was still asleep by the time she was ready to leave for the Ministry, so she found a scrap of parchment and wrote him a note telling him when to expect her back that evening and to make himself at home. The weather, which had been sunny and warm since the previous weekend, had taken a definite turn for the worse. Rain was pouring down in buckets and a chill wind was blowing. Ginny fastened a cloak over her robes, hoping the day would be nicer down in London, before stepping into the road and Disapparating.
An hour later, she was back at her front door in a state of complete shock. She unlocked the door and entered her cottage, not really registering what she was seeing or doing, until… "Ginny! What are you doing back so soon?" Her eyes came into focus on Harry, who was standing in the middle of the living room, clad in nothing but a towel. He’d obviously just come out of the shower: his hair was standing on end and dripping.
Ginny took a minute to find her voice, and then said shakily, "Harry, they’ve suspended me from work." It was all she could get out at the moment. She noted with an odd detachment that Harry let the towel slip a few inches in apparent surprise.
"Oh, God! Give me a minute to get dressed, and then you can tell me what this is about."
Ginny nodded numbly, as she watched Harry disappear into her bedroom to get some clothes out of the wardrobe. She stood rooted to the same spot when he emerged from her room fully dressed now, his hair towel dried and combed. She thought she must look really upset, because Harry approached her and took her in his arms, hugging her close. The angry tears that had been threatening for the past half hour finally flowed. At last, Harry released her and handed her a handkerchief. "Come on," he said, heading for the kitchen, "I’m going to make some tea."
Ginny wiped her eyes, blew her nose discreetly, and followed him into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table, while Harry began preparing the tea. She could see the remains of his breakfast dishes in the sink. Harry, looking over at her and following the direction of her gaze, said, "Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to clean that up yet. Would you mind telling me what happened at the Ministry? Why have they suspended you?"
"It was over the missing files…"
"What missing files?"
"Didn’t I tell you?" Harry shook his head. "It must have slipped my mind with all that’s been happening," Ginny continued. "I’m sure I must have told you… Well, anyway, when I got back to the office the other evening, I realised I had left the files lying out, but they’d been cleaned up. Ms. Hopkirk told me off for leaving them out. Then George came into the office and asked me to hand over the files. I gave him the record from Saturday night, but the files we found on Crabbe and Millicent Bulstrode were nowhere to be found." She paused and took a grateful sip from the cup that Harry handed her before he himself took a seat at the table opposite her. "I looked everywhere. They were gone, and they’d been there before we went out. I said as much to George.
"So when I went into the office this morning, Ms. Hopkirk called me into her office, and blamed me for the missing files, and the record I gave to George. And she said she was suspending me indefinitely."
"Can’t I tell her the files were there just before we went out?"
"No, that would be just as bad. I’d have to admit I let you see them. That was against Ministry guidelines, and I’d just be suspended for that. God, Harry, what am I going to do? As much as I hated that job, I need the salary to pay my rent. I’m going to have to move out of here…" Tears were threatening again. Ginny took a fierce swipe at her eyes and held them back.
"Can’t you find something else?"
"How can I? The Ministry is hardly going to give me a job elsewhere, since I’ve been suspended from this one. I’m not going to get any references from Ms. Hopkirk. Do you know of anywhere that’s hiring at decent wages that’s willing to take me with no references?"
Harry was forced to admit that there weren’t too many respectable jobs in this category. Ginny watched him as he placed a hand over his mouth speculatively. "Couldn’t George corroborate your story?"
"Maybe, I don’t know. I could ask him. I never know whether he’ll be allowed to say anything or not." Ginny turned to the fireplace, pointed her wand and cried, "Incendio!" The fireplace immediately burst into flame. Rising, Ginny took a small container from the mantelpiece sprinkled a handful of glittering powder into the fire, stuck her head in and shouted, "George Weasley!"
From among the flames, Ginny now had a view of the office of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and she knew that anyone in the room would see her head floating in the fire grate. Presently, Fred came into her range of vision. He stooped down to answer her. "George is at the Ministry today, Ginny."
"Has he informed you of my situation?"
"Yes."
"Are you aware I’ve been suspended over the missing files?"
"Yes."
Ginny wanted to scream in frustration. "Well, can’t you do anything about it? I need to pay my rent, you know."
"Sorry, Ginny, can’t do anything for you at this time."
"Will you please drop the official Department-speak and tell me why?"
Fred sighed. "Look, Gin, I’m not supposed to talk about this. It’s official business." Ginny figured she must have got a particularly murderous expression on her face, because Fred then added, "Okay, listen. I’ll tell you why but it can go no further."
"Who am I going to tell, Fred? Honestly!"
"Okay, obviously, it was an inside job. If we let you take the blame for it, then whoever actually is responsible for the missing files won’t know we’re onto them yet. Make sense?"
"So are you and George planning on paying my rent while I’m out of a job?"
"Sorry, Gin. Why don’t you save money by moving home while this gets cleared up? You’d be safer."
"I think I’ll work it out on my own, thanks."
"Have you done anything about security then?"
Ginny smiled a bit at this. "Oh, I’ve taken a few measures. Good-bye, Fred."
Ginny turned back to Harry now, and explained what Fred had told her. "So they can’t do anything for me," she concluded.
"As for your rent," Harry said, "I can help you out there."
"No. Absolutely not."
"Ginny, if I’m living here, it’s only fair I pay my share, isn’t it?"
Ginny relented. "I suppose so, but I still need to come up with my share."
"You’re paid up until the end of the month, aren’t you?" Ginny nodded. "Well, then, let’s worry about that when the time comes. In the mean time, let’s try to look on the bright side. You really didn’t like your job, did you?" Ginny shook her head. "And now you don’t have to go in and drudge, do you?"
Ginny began to smile now. "I’ve just had a delicious thought. Term at Hogwarts is coming to an end soon, and it’s going to be getting busy in the office. Ms. Hopkirk is going to be stuck with one new girl. Even if she hires someone to replace me, she’ll have to train them… I can see her spending an absolutely hellish summer trying to keep up. That thought alone almost makes up for the lost wages."
Harry laughed. "That’s the spirit! You’re too good for that job, anyway."
Ginny’s smile broadened. "You’re right, Harry, I am too good for that job."
*
That afternoon found Ginny and Harry looking through the books from Hogwarts library again. That morning’s weather had not improved any, which precluded their going out anywhere. Harry had suggested breaking out Ginny’s new CDs, which she had left abandoned two nights previous on an end table. So they sat, each with a large volume, cups of hot tea on the coffee table, from which they each took an occasional sip, while they scanned paged of closely printed text.
Finally, Harry broke the silence. "Look, Ginny, I think I may have found something useful."
Ginny leaned over to look at the title of the book he was holding. The tome’s spine read Really Old Magic by Methuselah Antiquas. Harry handed her the volume and pointed to the page. "Read that," he said. "Tell me what you think." Ginny took the book and read:
The Holy Kiss
This ancient protection spell derives its name from its use among early Christians. Its only known incantation is in Latin and must date from this period. The original spell is certainly much older than this and must have existed in other forms that have been lost to Antiquity. From the latter part of the first century to the early in the fourth century A.D., this spell was in common use among the early Christians as a shield against their persecutors. During this era, Muggles and wizards coexisted peacefully: the wizarding community was not viewed with suspicion of practising the occult, as was the case in later times.
Thus, the wizards among early Christian church members were able to perform this spell on all the members of a congregation, wizard and Muggle alike, to help ensure the protection of all. This spell is specifically mentioned in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans (Chapter 16): "greet one another with a holy kiss"; but the actual significance of this verse has been lost to modern Muggle Biblical scholars. The Holy Kiss may also be found mentioned in apocryphal texts retained by the wizarding community.
From these texts, we have been able to glean three ways in which this spell was intended to work. First, it provided a sort of protective magical shield against one’s enemies. Second, it gave the recipient great mental fortitude. Third, it provided a great resistance to pain, as the magical shield was, unfortunately, not entirely reliable. The spell’s relative unreliability was made up for by the fact that virtually no negative repercussions occurred if the spell was miscast, as is all too often the case with protective spells. In other words, it was felt that it could do no harm to try it.
The Holy Kiss was performed thus:
It should be noted that this spell’s power could vary according to circumstance. It was believed that the spell would be stronger according to the strength of the bond between the performer and the recipient. In the case of the early Christians, this bond was considered to be their shared faith, but other bonds were possible, in theory.
Ginny looked up at Harry. "I don’t know, Harry. What’s this about a bond between the performer and recipient?"
Harry’s gaze was inscrutable. "Don’t you think there’s a bond between us, Ginny?" he asked quietly.
Ginny swallowed. "I think I’d like to hear from you what you think it is," she answered at last.
"There’s the matter of the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Dumbledore used to say that when one wizard saved another’s life, a bond was created between them."
"You mean a debt."
"Dumbledore said both a bond and a debt on different occasions. For what it’s worth, I don’t feel you owe me any sort of debt for that. What if we looked at it this way: we’ve both fallen under Voldemort’s shadow and survived."
Ginny hoped her disappointment didn’t show. This wasn’t exactly the answer she’d been expecting. "I still don’t know, Harry. Is that enough of a bond to make it work?"
"One advantage to this spell is it has no negative repercussions on you if I don’t get it right. It really couldn’t hurt to try."
"No, I suppose not."
Harry drew out his wand. "Then we’ll try it." Ginny was aware of her heart-rate increasing. Somehow she was also vaguely aware of Liam Gallagher singing, "maybe you’re gonna be the one that saves me…" on her CD player. She wondered why this should strike her so, but couldn’t come up with an explanation. Her attention turned back to Harry, as she felt him place the tip of his wand against her heart. She stared into the depths of his eyes, as he whispered almost reverently, "Basium sanctum tibi confero." Then he leaned down and placed his lips on hers. There was an instantaneous sensation of incredible power that passed from him to her. Afterwards, Ginny would retain no recollection of how long they remained that way, their lips fused together as the power continued to flow through her. Finally, the sensation ceased, and they broke apart, each breathing heavily.
"Wow." Ginny said, and was surprised at the awe apparent in her tone. "I guess it worked."
"I guess it did." Harry’s tone was equally amazed. He was staring into her eyes with an incredible intensity. Then he was kissing her again with the same passion as the night before, bearing her down on the sofa. Ginny felt again the sensation of drowning, and of wanting. Vaguely she was aware of his hand at her waist beginning to creep upward…
Breaking the kiss, she said, "Harry, wait!"
"What?" He was still breathing hard.
She hesitated slightly before forging ahead. "We need to talk before this goes any further."
Harry sat up and ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end. Ginny was again reminded of the contrast between the boy she had known and the man who now sat beside her. He turned to her and looked into her eyes. "You’re right, Ginny, we do need to talk about this."
Now that they had come to the point, Ginny hardly knew how to begin. She swallowed, trying to collect her scattered thoughts. "Well," she hesitated. "The other day you said we were friends, but…"
"But mere friends don’t kiss like that," he finished for her.
"No. I need to know, Harry, if we’re not friends what are we?"
Harry didn’t answer straight away. He seemed to be considering his response carefully. In the end, he did not answer her question directly but rather posed one of his own. "Do you know when I first saw you for who you were?" She shook her head. "It was at Hogwarts. In the Common Room. You were laughing with your friends, and I looked up at you, and, God, you were beautiful…"
Ginny was shocked at this confession. She could feel her cheeks heat up and knew her face was turning a telltale red. "I never knew."
"I couldn’t let you know. I couldn’t let anyone know. It would have meant putting you in danger, and there was no way I could do that. So I kept it all to myself, I had to. If Voldemort had ever found out…" Ginny saw him close his eyes tightly and swallow. "I pushed you away then, as I pushed everyone away from me. I couldn’t bear to see anyone else I cared for die. And then I saw you at the wedding, and it was as if I were seeing you in the Common Room again." Here Harry put up a hand to caress her cheek. "So beautiful. I told myself then and there I wasn’t going to let you go this time."
Ginny was amazed to hear this, as amazed as she’d felt after he’d performed the Holy Kiss on her. She bit her lip, suddenly feeling unaccountably shy. Then, gathering her courage, reached up and touched his cheek. Gently, she kissed the corner of his mouth. Harry enfolded her in his arms and held her very tightly against his chest. Ginny felt his lips brush her hairline as he released her, and suddenly he was kneeling before her. He took one of her hands in his, gazing into her eyes with the same intensity as he had before he kissed her. "Ginny?"
What was he doing? Could he possibly…"Yes, Harry?"
"Ginny," he repeated, " would you do me the honour…"
He broke off here, and Ginny saw an odd expression pass across his face. If she didn’t know better, he was suppressing a smile. "Yes, Harry, what?"
"Would you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend?"
Ginny burst out laughing, and Harry soon joined her. When their laughter subsided, he said, "you know, I would like an answer…"
Ginny smiled up at him angelically. "I’ll have to think about it. You know, I may need some convincing…"
"Then allow me to convince you." And he set about doing just that.
Next Chapter
Summary: A post-Hogwarts H/G fic. Strange circumstances draw Harry and Ginny closer together. But are they in danger? Romance, adventure, Monty Python, and tartan boxer shorts abound.
Ginny awoke the next morning in state of confusion. She had spent the greater part of the night reliving the previous evening’s scene in her garden in her dreams. Except in her dreams, Harry hadn’t stopped… She sighed. She really wanted to know where all this was leading. Was it just the forced close proximity that was bringing this on? He’d said the other day they were friends, but she’d never been kissed like that by any of her friends. Ian, the boy she’d dated in her seventh year at Hogwarts, had never even kissed her like that, and he’d never been able to make her go weak in the knees as Harry’s kisses had done last night. She sighed again, wondering how she was ever going to manage to bring all this up with Harry. It didn’t seem to her a natural subject of conversation… Could she actually bring herself to say to him at breakfast, "Please pass the jam. Oh, and by the way, do you always go around kissing your friends like that?" The very idea made her cringe.
Impatiently, she threw back the covers and reached for her dressing gown. She had a whole day at the Ministry to face, and it was time to get ready. She stepped out of her bedroom on her way to shower and froze. Harry was sprawled out on his sofa bed, still asleep. His covers had slipped down to his waist, and from Ginny’s angle, it looked very much as if he had nothing on. She felt her mouth go dry. She knew she’d be seeing this vision in her dreams tonight now, as well. She gasped as Harry rolled over in his sleep and the covers slipped just a bit more. "I’ve got to stop gaping, before he wakes up and catches me," she told herself sternly. But she kept on staring, realising now, at least, he wasn’t entirely naked. She could now see he was wearing boxer shorts, plaid boxer shorts, she noticed with a giggle. They were of a darkish green and blue with red and black threads running through it; it looked, incongruously enough, like a tartan of some sort. "Why has he got those?" Ginny wondered. "He isn’t even Scottish."
The absurdity of the situation brought a semblance of sense back to her mind, and she was able to go about her morning routine. Harry was still asleep by the time she was ready to leave for the Ministry, so she found a scrap of parchment and wrote him a note telling him when to expect her back that evening and to make himself at home. The weather, which had been sunny and warm since the previous weekend, had taken a definite turn for the worse. Rain was pouring down in buckets and a chill wind was blowing. Ginny fastened a cloak over her robes, hoping the day would be nicer down in London, before stepping into the road and Disapparating.
An hour later, she was back at her front door in a state of complete shock. She unlocked the door and entered her cottage, not really registering what she was seeing or doing, until… "Ginny! What are you doing back so soon?" Her eyes came into focus on Harry, who was standing in the middle of the living room, clad in nothing but a towel. He’d obviously just come out of the shower: his hair was standing on end and dripping.
Ginny took a minute to find her voice, and then said shakily, "Harry, they’ve suspended me from work." It was all she could get out at the moment. She noted with an odd detachment that Harry let the towel slip a few inches in apparent surprise.
"Oh, God! Give me a minute to get dressed, and then you can tell me what this is about."
Ginny nodded numbly, as she watched Harry disappear into her bedroom to get some clothes out of the wardrobe. She stood rooted to the same spot when he emerged from her room fully dressed now, his hair towel dried and combed. She thought she must look really upset, because Harry approached her and took her in his arms, hugging her close. The angry tears that had been threatening for the past half hour finally flowed. At last, Harry released her and handed her a handkerchief. "Come on," he said, heading for the kitchen, "I’m going to make some tea."
Ginny wiped her eyes, blew her nose discreetly, and followed him into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table, while Harry began preparing the tea. She could see the remains of his breakfast dishes in the sink. Harry, looking over at her and following the direction of her gaze, said, "Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to clean that up yet. Would you mind telling me what happened at the Ministry? Why have they suspended you?"
"It was over the missing files…"
"What missing files?"
"Didn’t I tell you?" Harry shook his head. "It must have slipped my mind with all that’s been happening," Ginny continued. "I’m sure I must have told you… Well, anyway, when I got back to the office the other evening, I realised I had left the files lying out, but they’d been cleaned up. Ms. Hopkirk told me off for leaving them out. Then George came into the office and asked me to hand over the files. I gave him the record from Saturday night, but the files we found on Crabbe and Millicent Bulstrode were nowhere to be found." She paused and took a grateful sip from the cup that Harry handed her before he himself took a seat at the table opposite her. "I looked everywhere. They were gone, and they’d been there before we went out. I said as much to George.
"So when I went into the office this morning, Ms. Hopkirk called me into her office, and blamed me for the missing files, and the record I gave to George. And she said she was suspending me indefinitely."
"Can’t I tell her the files were there just before we went out?"
"No, that would be just as bad. I’d have to admit I let you see them. That was against Ministry guidelines, and I’d just be suspended for that. God, Harry, what am I going to do? As much as I hated that job, I need the salary to pay my rent. I’m going to have to move out of here…" Tears were threatening again. Ginny took a fierce swipe at her eyes and held them back.
"Can’t you find something else?"
"How can I? The Ministry is hardly going to give me a job elsewhere, since I’ve been suspended from this one. I’m not going to get any references from Ms. Hopkirk. Do you know of anywhere that’s hiring at decent wages that’s willing to take me with no references?"
Harry was forced to admit that there weren’t too many respectable jobs in this category. Ginny watched him as he placed a hand over his mouth speculatively. "Couldn’t George corroborate your story?"
"Maybe, I don’t know. I could ask him. I never know whether he’ll be allowed to say anything or not." Ginny turned to the fireplace, pointed her wand and cried, "Incendio!" The fireplace immediately burst into flame. Rising, Ginny took a small container from the mantelpiece sprinkled a handful of glittering powder into the fire, stuck her head in and shouted, "George Weasley!"
From among the flames, Ginny now had a view of the office of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and she knew that anyone in the room would see her head floating in the fire grate. Presently, Fred came into her range of vision. He stooped down to answer her. "George is at the Ministry today, Ginny."
"Has he informed you of my situation?"
"Yes."
"Are you aware I’ve been suspended over the missing files?"
"Yes."
Ginny wanted to scream in frustration. "Well, can’t you do anything about it? I need to pay my rent, you know."
"Sorry, Ginny, can’t do anything for you at this time."
"Will you please drop the official Department-speak and tell me why?"
Fred sighed. "Look, Gin, I’m not supposed to talk about this. It’s official business." Ginny figured she must have got a particularly murderous expression on her face, because Fred then added, "Okay, listen. I’ll tell you why but it can go no further."
"Who am I going to tell, Fred? Honestly!"
"Okay, obviously, it was an inside job. If we let you take the blame for it, then whoever actually is responsible for the missing files won’t know we’re onto them yet. Make sense?"
"So are you and George planning on paying my rent while I’m out of a job?"
"Sorry, Gin. Why don’t you save money by moving home while this gets cleared up? You’d be safer."
"I think I’ll work it out on my own, thanks."
"Have you done anything about security then?"
Ginny smiled a bit at this. "Oh, I’ve taken a few measures. Good-bye, Fred."
Ginny turned back to Harry now, and explained what Fred had told her. "So they can’t do anything for me," she concluded.
"As for your rent," Harry said, "I can help you out there."
"No. Absolutely not."
"Ginny, if I’m living here, it’s only fair I pay my share, isn’t it?"
Ginny relented. "I suppose so, but I still need to come up with my share."
"You’re paid up until the end of the month, aren’t you?" Ginny nodded. "Well, then, let’s worry about that when the time comes. In the mean time, let’s try to look on the bright side. You really didn’t like your job, did you?" Ginny shook her head. "And now you don’t have to go in and drudge, do you?"
Ginny began to smile now. "I’ve just had a delicious thought. Term at Hogwarts is coming to an end soon, and it’s going to be getting busy in the office. Ms. Hopkirk is going to be stuck with one new girl. Even if she hires someone to replace me, she’ll have to train them… I can see her spending an absolutely hellish summer trying to keep up. That thought alone almost makes up for the lost wages."
Harry laughed. "That’s the spirit! You’re too good for that job, anyway."
Ginny’s smile broadened. "You’re right, Harry, I am too good for that job."
*
That afternoon found Ginny and Harry looking through the books from Hogwarts library again. That morning’s weather had not improved any, which precluded their going out anywhere. Harry had suggested breaking out Ginny’s new CDs, which she had left abandoned two nights previous on an end table. So they sat, each with a large volume, cups of hot tea on the coffee table, from which they each took an occasional sip, while they scanned paged of closely printed text.
Finally, Harry broke the silence. "Look, Ginny, I think I may have found something useful."
Ginny leaned over to look at the title of the book he was holding. The tome’s spine read Really Old Magic by Methuselah Antiquas. Harry handed her the volume and pointed to the page. "Read that," he said. "Tell me what you think." Ginny took the book and read:
The Holy Kiss
This ancient protection spell derives its name from its use among early Christians. Its only known incantation is in Latin and must date from this period. The original spell is certainly much older than this and must have existed in other forms that have been lost to Antiquity. From the latter part of the first century to the early in the fourth century A.D., this spell was in common use among the early Christians as a shield against their persecutors. During this era, Muggles and wizards coexisted peacefully: the wizarding community was not viewed with suspicion of practising the occult, as was the case in later times.
Thus, the wizards among early Christian church members were able to perform this spell on all the members of a congregation, wizard and Muggle alike, to help ensure the protection of all. This spell is specifically mentioned in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans (Chapter 16): "greet one another with a holy kiss"; but the actual significance of this verse has been lost to modern Muggle Biblical scholars. The Holy Kiss may also be found mentioned in apocryphal texts retained by the wizarding community.
From these texts, we have been able to glean three ways in which this spell was intended to work. First, it provided a sort of protective magical shield against one’s enemies. Second, it gave the recipient great mental fortitude. Third, it provided a great resistance to pain, as the magical shield was, unfortunately, not entirely reliable. The spell’s relative unreliability was made up for by the fact that virtually no negative repercussions occurred if the spell was miscast, as is all too often the case with protective spells. In other words, it was felt that it could do no harm to try it.
The Holy Kiss was performed thus:
- The person performing the spell placed his or her wand tip over the heart of the recipient.
- The incantation basium sanctum tibi confero was invoked.
- The person performing the spell kissed the recipient.
It should be noted that this spell’s power could vary according to circumstance. It was believed that the spell would be stronger according to the strength of the bond between the performer and the recipient. In the case of the early Christians, this bond was considered to be their shared faith, but other bonds were possible, in theory.
Ginny looked up at Harry. "I don’t know, Harry. What’s this about a bond between the performer and recipient?"
Harry’s gaze was inscrutable. "Don’t you think there’s a bond between us, Ginny?" he asked quietly.
Ginny swallowed. "I think I’d like to hear from you what you think it is," she answered at last.
"There’s the matter of the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Dumbledore used to say that when one wizard saved another’s life, a bond was created between them."
"You mean a debt."
"Dumbledore said both a bond and a debt on different occasions. For what it’s worth, I don’t feel you owe me any sort of debt for that. What if we looked at it this way: we’ve both fallen under Voldemort’s shadow and survived."
Ginny hoped her disappointment didn’t show. This wasn’t exactly the answer she’d been expecting. "I still don’t know, Harry. Is that enough of a bond to make it work?"
"One advantage to this spell is it has no negative repercussions on you if I don’t get it right. It really couldn’t hurt to try."
"No, I suppose not."
Harry drew out his wand. "Then we’ll try it." Ginny was aware of her heart-rate increasing. Somehow she was also vaguely aware of Liam Gallagher singing, "maybe you’re gonna be the one that saves me…" on her CD player. She wondered why this should strike her so, but couldn’t come up with an explanation. Her attention turned back to Harry, as she felt him place the tip of his wand against her heart. She stared into the depths of his eyes, as he whispered almost reverently, "Basium sanctum tibi confero." Then he leaned down and placed his lips on hers. There was an instantaneous sensation of incredible power that passed from him to her. Afterwards, Ginny would retain no recollection of how long they remained that way, their lips fused together as the power continued to flow through her. Finally, the sensation ceased, and they broke apart, each breathing heavily.
"Wow." Ginny said, and was surprised at the awe apparent in her tone. "I guess it worked."
"I guess it did." Harry’s tone was equally amazed. He was staring into her eyes with an incredible intensity. Then he was kissing her again with the same passion as the night before, bearing her down on the sofa. Ginny felt again the sensation of drowning, and of wanting. Vaguely she was aware of his hand at her waist beginning to creep upward…
Breaking the kiss, she said, "Harry, wait!"
"What?" He was still breathing hard.
She hesitated slightly before forging ahead. "We need to talk before this goes any further."
Harry sat up and ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end. Ginny was again reminded of the contrast between the boy she had known and the man who now sat beside her. He turned to her and looked into her eyes. "You’re right, Ginny, we do need to talk about this."
Now that they had come to the point, Ginny hardly knew how to begin. She swallowed, trying to collect her scattered thoughts. "Well," she hesitated. "The other day you said we were friends, but…"
"But mere friends don’t kiss like that," he finished for her.
"No. I need to know, Harry, if we’re not friends what are we?"
Harry didn’t answer straight away. He seemed to be considering his response carefully. In the end, he did not answer her question directly but rather posed one of his own. "Do you know when I first saw you for who you were?" She shook her head. "It was at Hogwarts. In the Common Room. You were laughing with your friends, and I looked up at you, and, God, you were beautiful…"
Ginny was shocked at this confession. She could feel her cheeks heat up and knew her face was turning a telltale red. "I never knew."
"I couldn’t let you know. I couldn’t let anyone know. It would have meant putting you in danger, and there was no way I could do that. So I kept it all to myself, I had to. If Voldemort had ever found out…" Ginny saw him close his eyes tightly and swallow. "I pushed you away then, as I pushed everyone away from me. I couldn’t bear to see anyone else I cared for die. And then I saw you at the wedding, and it was as if I were seeing you in the Common Room again." Here Harry put up a hand to caress her cheek. "So beautiful. I told myself then and there I wasn’t going to let you go this time."
Ginny was amazed to hear this, as amazed as she’d felt after he’d performed the Holy Kiss on her. She bit her lip, suddenly feeling unaccountably shy. Then, gathering her courage, reached up and touched his cheek. Gently, she kissed the corner of his mouth. Harry enfolded her in his arms and held her very tightly against his chest. Ginny felt his lips brush her hairline as he released her, and suddenly he was kneeling before her. He took one of her hands in his, gazing into her eyes with the same intensity as he had before he kissed her. "Ginny?"
What was he doing? Could he possibly…"Yes, Harry?"
"Ginny," he repeated, " would you do me the honour…"
He broke off here, and Ginny saw an odd expression pass across his face. If she didn’t know better, he was suppressing a smile. "Yes, Harry, what?"
"Would you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend?"
Ginny burst out laughing, and Harry soon joined her. When their laughter subsided, he said, "you know, I would like an answer…"
Ginny smiled up at him angelically. "I’ll have to think about it. You know, I may need some convincing…"
"Then allow me to convince you." And he set about doing just that.
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