Challenge Fic: To See In The Dark
TITLE: To See in the Dark
RATING: NC-17
SUMMARY: Harry and Ginny are trapped together in the dark in the backroom of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. (See rating for more information)
WORD COUNT: 5,500
Author’s Notes: I rarely write smut. I haven’t written anything with a high rating for two years. This makes me extremely nervous! *is nervous* Thankfully, rdprice29, who is always so supportive, was willing to beta for me and give me reassurances. And lucky for all of us, r_becca (who knows a thing or two or three about smut writing) took the time to question certain passages and drop gentle hints as to how this could be better. Trust me. It’s much, much better thanks to her.
I changed this *a lot * since rdprice29 and r_becca sent it back to me. If there are mistakes, assume they are mine and then let me know. It’s easy enough to change things on lj.
This was written for the November Challenge: Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. (What? It’s only May!)
To See in the Dark
It was nine o’clock in the morning when Harry found himself at the back entrance of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. He rubbed his eyes and wondered if it was possible that he had slept whilst Apparating. It felt surreal to be here looking for Ginny, but Mrs. Weasley had been quite clear about Ginny’s whereabouts. On her first day off for the Easter holidays, she was helping her brother in London. She was not having a lie-in at the Burrow, not eating one of Mrs. Weasley’s good breakfasts, not visiting the Lovegoods, not using the Floo to call Harry or to even leave a message with Kreacher.
Mrs. Weasley didn’t understand it.
And neither did Harry.
He had hoped to see Ginny last night when she first arrived home from Hogwarts, but he and Ron had been called in to cover when the entire night shift gone into a stupor after eating a seed cake mistakenly made with magical pomegranate seeds instead of caraway.
He muttered the password that Mrs. Weasley had given him: “Mischief Maker.”
The door swung open to a narrow corridor that divided the main storeroom from the small office/bedroom where Fred and George used to live when they were first starting out.
He felt a surge of resentment at seeing the neat boxes stacked on the storeroom shelves. It didn’t look like George was in urgent need of Ginny’s help to make merchandise, and he couldn’t understand why Ginny was spending her Saturday morning here instead of with him. He had thought they were both looking forward to this time together.
The storeroom was empty. He frowned. Mrs. Weasley had said Ginny would be here until late afternoon.
He pushed open the door to the tiny office that still contained a narrow bed, as well as a large desk strewn with parchments and pots of ink and prototypes for new inventions. Ginny was standing at the desk with her back to the door. There were several bottles lined up in front of her, which she appeared to be ticking off on a roll of parchment. Her bright hair was gathered into a ponytail and she was wearing blue witch’s robes.
Ginny didn’t look up when he entered the room or notice when he silently shut the door behind him. He was just about to speak when one of the bottles slipped from Ginny’s hand and crashed to the floor.
The room was plunged into darkness.
“What the hell was that?” George bellowed from the front of the shop.
“I dropped a bottle of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder,” Ginny shouted back angrily. “And it broke.”
Harry heard rapid footsteps approaching. “Don’t open the door,” George warned. “It will go all through the shop.”
“How long am I supposed to stay in here?” Ginny demanded.
“The darkness will last an hour or two,” George replied. “And don’t try to Apparate out. I just set up a new shoplifting system.”
“An hour or two? What am I supposed to do in here?”
“Clean the glass,” George suggested. “You don’t want to get cut.”
“Clean the glass! I can’t see the glass.”
“Are you a witch or what? Use your wand.”
Ginny told George what he could do with his wand. George just laughed derisively, his retreating footsteps echoing in the corridor. Then Harry heard Ginny mutter a cleaning spell he didn’t know.
Harry couldn’t see the magic, since Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder obscured every kind of light, but he could hear the glass shards skittering across the floor. “Ginny, I’m here - by the door.”
“H - Harry?” she faltered. “How did you get in here?”
“I came in just as you dropped the bottle. I didn’t want to startle you until the glass was picked up.” He strained to see her, but of course he couldn’t.
“It looks like you’re stuck in here.” Her voice was getting closer. “Sorry.”
“I don’t mi - ah.” Ginny had found him - or actually her outstretched hands had found his crotch.
“Sorry,” she whispered with a hint of a giggle.
“’s okay.” He tried to sound nonchalant - like having her touch him there didn’t affect him at all when he really wanted to grab her wrist and bring her hand back . . .
To his surprise, she mimicked his incoherent tone. “Which part ‘s okay’? This part?” She purposefully touched him, outlining his length with sure strokes.
His heart started pounding as he grew under her hand. So good.
“Or when I stop?”
Don’t stop.
“I - ”
“Harry? ‘s okay’?”
Was she smiling with that flirtatious gleam in her brown eyes? He hoped so. “Uh . . .” If only he could see her - maybe then he could think of something else besides her stroking fingers.
He put his hand on her wrist to still her movements. “Do you want this?” Once the words were out of his mouth, he cursed himself. Why didn’t he just let things happen? Why was he analyzing motivations now of all times?
”Do I - ” Her voice was thick with some sort of emotion. She took a deep breath and then she pulled her hand away. “You weren’t at Kings Cross to meet me last night.”
His body was still humming from her touch and his mind couldn’t quite catch up with what she was saying. It took him a moment to answer her. “I got called in.” His voice sounded thin and unconvincing - even to his ears. “So did Ron.”
“I know. Hermione told me.” There was a terrible emphasis on ‘Hermione.’
“I should have sent you a message,” he said quickly.
“You’re just now working that out?”
He couldn’t tell if she was angry or hurt or if she thought he was colossally stupid to expect a warm welcome. Probably all three.
“Ginny - ”
“Were you in danger?” she asked. “Is that why you couldn’t leave a message?”
“Er, no -“
“Were you trying to get back at me for something?”
“What? No!”
“Oh?” Contempt seemed to drip from that one word. “That’s why I came here without leaving a message for you.”
He stood in shocked silence for a second and then anger surged through him as quickly as lust had done not a moment before. “That’s just low, Ginny - and vindictive and immature.”
“At least I had a reason for what I did,” she shot back.
“And what was your reason for that little rub? I suppose it was a tease?” he snarled. “A way to get back at me?”
He heard the faintest sort of gasp. “No. That was an accident,” she said quickly. “It was dark. It is dark. And I . . . ”
It was dark - and it hid his anger and frustration and lingering erection so that he was embolden to question her. “And what? You didn’t stop stroking me until I was completely hard.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness and hurt out of his voice. “You had me right where you wanted me - and I don’t think that’s fair.”
“That’s not true,” Ginny countered. ”I stopped when you asked me if I wanted this. I would have kept going - ”
He made a skeptical noise deep in his throat. She could turn it off easily enough - especially if she was annoyed with him.
“I did want to touch you,” she insisted. Then she changed her tone. “Maybe you think nice girls aren’t supposed to like to do that sort of thing- “
“Nice girls don’t like to do what sort of thing?” He was angry and didn’t care how crude he sounded. “Give hand jobs?”
“I was going to say blowjobs,” she stormed. “But if that’s what you were going to settle for, then we’ll agree to terms - hand job, not blowjob.”
Blowjob.
His mind reeled and his cock twitched to hear her say that word. This was new territory for them. Ginny had taken him into her mouth during one glorious session over the Christmas holidays - and he had relived it over and over again. How her hair had felt draped over his bare thighs. The little breathy sounds she made. The way her hot tongue swirled over his sensitive head while she stroked up and down the length of him and looked up into this face with those warm brown eyes.
“Ginny - ”
”But then I’m not very nice or mature, am I?” Her voice shook. “You just told me that.”
“Ginny.” He blindly put his hands out and found her arm. She was standing with her arms crossed in front of herself. “We should talk.”
“About blowjobs?” Her arm was rigid under his hand.
“No! And stop saying that!”
“Ha! Blowjob!” She shrugged his hand off of her arm. “Blowjob, Harry.”
He blinked into the darkness, not quite sure if he was really hearing this.
“Blowjob. Blowjob. BLOWJOB!”
“Ginny.” He laughed helplessly.
“What?” Her voice was softer and held the hint of a smile.
He sighed; he didn’t want to rehash it all, but there didn’t seem to be any other option. They were trapped together in the darkness and there was no other way out of this argument but to talk it through. “You’re angry with me because I didn’t contact you last night.”
She echoed his sigh. “I wasn’t angry with you at first. Not exactly.” She paused. “I was disappointed. And then later on I started to worry.”
“Worry?”
“Yes, worry!” she retorted. “How was I supposed to know what was going on? Hermione just said that you and Ron had been called in. So when I didn’t hear from you, I started to worry.”
“Ginny - you shouldn’t worry. I’m an Auror and we’re trained to - ”
“I know that,” she snapped. “But that’s how I felt. And you could have helped by owling me or using the Floo or sending smoke signals or something.”
He sighed. Ginny was right. He could have saved her worry. “I’m sorry.” He reached out for her and found her wrist.
She didn’t pull away this time.
“Ginny? Really. I’m sorry. I just . . .” He couldn’t seem to find a logical explanation for why he had avoided her.
“Just what?” she whispered. “I don’t understand why you did that to me.”
There was real pain and genuine bewilderment in her voice and to his shame he realized he had caused it. “I -” He didn’t want to explain himself - he would look terrible in Ginny’s eyes. But it was dark and it needed to be said. “I was disappointed, too. And it seemed easier to forget you were home from Hogwarts and just pretend it was another night.”
“Well, it wasn’t just another night.” Her voice trembled. “And you made it worse.”
“I’m sorry.” He dropped his hand from her wrist. He didn’t know what else to say.
There was a long silence. The darkness seemed to have swallowed up his apology and the sound of her breathing until the silence started to feel like a black hood muffling all his senses. His chest tightened and he wondered if he had forgotten how to breathe.
“I’m sorry, too.”
Her voice was small in that great dark void, but it eased the tight band of guilt clenching his heart.
He felt a tentative hand on his arm. “I shouldn’t have run away this morning. You’re right - it was immature.”
“’s okay.” He didn’t really understand, but he was glad it was over.
“I knew you would come and find me,” she admitted.
Suddenly he was weary of the whole conversation. “So you proved your point. We’re even.”
“No, we’re not even,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I sent confusing signals.”
“Confusing signals?”
“I shouldn’t have touched you like that - sexually. I mean.”
Harry took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. They felt gritty and dry - probably from trying to stay open and see in the dark. “I thought that was part of my punishment or something.”
“No!” She sounded almost in tears. “No. I wouldn’t do that.” She slid her arms around his waist.
He tentatively returned the embrace, holding her loosely.
“Right before I dropped the Peruvian Darkness Powder I was having second thoughts about helping George all day. Then you showed up and I started touching you and it just seemed easier to forget that I was angry with you.”
Easier to forget.
Now he understood. He had done the same thing. He hadn’t wanted to cope with the painful stuff last night, and she hadn’t wanted to cope with it this morning. They had so little time together that it was tempting to ignore their problems.
She tightened her grip on his waist. “And then you stopped me and I realized that it would be wrong to keep going until we talked it out.”
“You did the right thing.”
“No, I didn’t,” she said miserably. “I just made everything worse. And I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of . . .cock tease.”
He winced at the harsh language. “Ginny, don’t say that.”
“Cock tease?”
He smiled in the darkness- she was daring him to goad her into yelling again. “Come here.”
“I am here.”
“I mean, I want to kiss you, but I can’t see your face.”
“Oh.”
Their noses bumped and Ginny giggled and then finally his lips brushed hers. It wasn’t a passionate kiss - just warm and familiar and . . . right.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Uh. Huh.” She nuzzled his neck with her nose and rested her head against him.
“Good - I don’t know how to cope when you’re like that.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno. Down on yourself.”
“Harry, everyone gets down on themselves. You do.”
“I know, but it’s easier to know what to do when you’re trying to hex me.”
“Or saying blowjob at the top of my lungs?”
He laughed and then sobered at a new thought. “I hope George didn’t hear that.”
She giggled. “If he did, he probably thought I got into the Daydream Charms.”
“That wouldn’t be good, either.”
“George has one ear and he’s in the shop with two doors closed between us. I doubt if he heard me.”
“Oh, right.” He smiled in relief. “So -” He playfully ran her ponytail through his hand. “What would be in your Daydream Charm?”
“My Daydream Charm?” she squeaked.
“Yeah, yours.” He wondered if she was blushing and the thought rather excited him.
“Well. Uh. I guess we’d be kissing.”
“Oh? Like this?” He tried to find her mouth but he ended up kissing her nose.
She laughed. “No.”
He put his hand on her cheek for guidance. Then he swiftly kissed her. “This?”
“A little better.”
This time he lingered against her mouth. She made a hungry noise and then she let him in. He took full advantage - savoring the taste of her and then pulling back to kiss her lips - over and over again - until she was kissing him back with one hand gripping his shoulder. When they finally broke it off, his cock was throbbing and his heart was beating wildly.
“Harry?” She touched him through his now-tight jeans. “Is that from -?”
“You.”
“Oh.” Her touch was light but tantalizing rhythmic.
“So your Daydream Charm?” he asked. “Er - do you ever think about last Christmas?”
She didn’t ask what he meant. “Yes.”
“Yes - ah - good?” He hoped to God she wasn’t going to stop stroking him now. “Or yes - ah -”
Instead of answering him, he heard her whisper, “Colloportus.”
He gulped. She had locked the door.
“What’s the spell that silences everything?”
“Uh - ” He didn’t know how she was doing it - stroking him, keeping him on the edge of sanity and doing spells at the same time. “Yeah. Uh. Muffliato.”
“Muffliato,” she repeated. Then she tugged at the waistband of his jeans. “George can’t hear us and the door is locked.”
His brain jammed with a thousand exciting thoughts at once. They had complete privacy. They had time. There was a bed . . .
She took several steps backward, her hands busily unbuttoning his jeans. He followed, straining for release and for that first touch of her cool hands. He managed to shove down his jeans and pants just as Ginny backed into the bed, causing it to move against the wall with an ominous thump. Then he lost his balance and landed practically on top of her. It was just where his body wanted to be - with his jeans halfway down his legs - thrust against her. Was that softness under her robes her thigh or the intriguing curve of flesh under her belly button? His hips moved of their own accord as his mouth sought hers in the dark.
He missed. Ginny giggled as his tongue swiped her ear.
That giggle. He smiled and kissed his way along the nape of her neck. She smelled like potion ingredients and flowers and that heady scent that was Ginny’s alone.
He wanted to undo the clasps of her robes and touch her breasts, but Ginny had other ideas. “Oh, no,” she said pushing his hands away and sliding out from under him. “My Daydream Charm.”
“Oh?” It was a token protest since she had unerringly found the hem of his t-shirt and was tugging it up to his armpits. He thanked Merlin that her Daydream Charm included shedding clothes. They hadn’t had the chance all winter - Hogsmeade weekends were for more innocent pleasures. While he pulled his shirt over his head, Ginny was running her hands over his chest, scratching her fingers in the sparse hair and circling his nipples with her thumbs so that jolts of sensation went straight to his groin.
He held his breath as her mouth skimmed over his chest and then moved lower. Her tongue found his belly button and he whimpered. She laughed and gently rubbed her cheek against his stomach.
“I love this part of you. You’re so warm,” she whispered.
He had no reply for that except to touch her hair. Her warm breath was inches from the head of his cock. He vainly tried to move closer to her mouth, but his legs were tangled in his jeans.
Then she touched him, delicately cupping his balls.
“Ginny,” he groaned. Her hands felt amazing. He wished he could see her - that beautiful hair fanned across his stomach, that pink tongue reaching out to lick him. His cock pulsed as he felt her warm mouth enveloped him with wet suction.
It was just as well he couldn’t see her. The sensation of her mouth, the sound of her sucking, the touch of her fingertips on his thighs - he was going over the edge.
“S -stop,” he panted, touching her hair again. “Ginny.”
Mercifully, she stopped. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he breathed as the overwhelming sensations subsided somewhat. He flopped his head back on the bed. “It’s just too much.”
“Too much?”
“Kiss me.”
She giggled. “I was kissing you.”
He smiled. “Up here.”
“Oh.” She shifted around and found his mouth with no hesitation.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “So good,” he murmured. Her tongue had a faint bitter taste - from him, he realized. His heart pounded at this revelation. Now he wanted her more than ever.
He rolled on to his side so they were facing one another. “You have to help,” he said, fumbling for the clasps on her robes.
“Oh, I do?” she countered, stroking his naked back until her hand cupped his bum. “I thought this was my party.”
He laughed and tried to undo the clasp at her neck. “It’s fancy dress - birthday suits only.” He gave up on the clasp and instead reached for the hem of her robes, which had ridden up to her knees.
She laughed. “And what famous person am I going as?”
“My fantasy girl.” Her legs were smooth and soft. He traced his way along the curve of her calves and then started the wonderful journey up her thighs.
Her breath hitched. “I’m your fantasy girl?”
“Sometimes more than once a day.”
“Oh.” Maybe that sounded perverted, but by the tone of her voice Ginny seemed more intrigued than turned off by it. She rolled away from him and then he heard the rustle of fabric. “Okay. I’m down to the last layer.”
Ginny in her underwear and he couldn’t see. It was beyond frustrating. He reached out blindly and found the bone of her shoulder. He slowly followed the line of her bra strap until he reached the rounded contours of her bra cup. Totally absorbed in the softness and wonder of holding her breast, he rubbed his thumb across her nipple, feeling the rigid peak through the thin, silky fabric. He could do this forever, unless . . .
Emboldened by the darkness, he moved to suck that nipple into his mouth . . . and got fabric. He didn’t care. His tongue dampened the material so he could feel the crinkly aureole and the hard nub of her nipple poking through.
In the light he could have seen how his handiwork rendered her bra transparent - but in the dark, he could only feel. He allowed his teeth to nip at that hard peak through the fabric causing Ginny to grasp his head in her hands.
“Harry,” she giggled rather breathlessly. “Wouldn’t it be better with my bra off?”
“Oh, yeah.” He smiled. “But -”
“But you still can’t get the hang of it, can you?” she asked, laughter in her voice.
He didn’t mind her laughing. “It’s not like I’ve had a lot of chances to practice,” he pointed out, sliding his arms around her in the vain hope that his first fumble in the dark would actually work.
“It’s in the front on this bra.” She giggled.
He groaned. “Not fair - it’s like moving the goal posts.”
“Poor Harry. Here, sit up.”
He took the opportunity to kick off his jeans and pants the rest of the way. Then he moved so he could rest his back against the wall, his wand and glasses next to him on the bed.
Ginny straddled him, with her knees on either side of his thighs. He heard a faint click. “There. Bra’s off. Happy now?”
His happiness would have been complete if he could actually see her. But he wasn’t complaining; it was enough to fill his hands with her soft, warm flesh - that soft, warm flesh that was perfectly lined up with his mouth. “So beautiful,” he murmured before he suckled one nipple and then the other.
“You can’t see me, silly.” Her laugh was breathless and her grip on his shoulders was tight.
“So?” Everything about her felt beautiful - the fine smoothness of her skin, the texture of her spongy nipples on his tongue, the feel of her hand in his hair as he licked and caressed and buried his face in her breasts.
Ginny responded by moaning and pushing her breast into his mouth and insistently rubbing her crotch against his stomach.
He wanted to feel more of her - he wanted to feel all of her for once. It was the first time he had ever dared to do it; he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her knickers and pulled them halfway down her bum - as far as they would go.
“Let me help.”
He felt her shift her weight, brushing against his swollen cock, as she somehow wriggled out of her knickers.
Then she was rubbing against him - her breasts sliding against his chest, the soft hair of her pubic mound rubbing against his stomach - right above his straining erection. He wished he could see her face. He wished he could see her naked, with her thighs wide open, undulating against him.
He cupped her curvy bum with his hands, wanting to do more, wanting to do something.
“Harry.” It sounded like a plea.
He wanted to answer that plea; he wanted to pleasure her - so he followed his instincts and touched her between her legs for the first time.
She was wet and open. His fingers easily traversed the soft, slick flesh to find her entrance.
“Oh, yessss.” she moaned.
“Ginny?”
“Inside me,” she whispered, reaching down and roughly pushing his hand.
He complied with one finger, his excitement mounting as she bucked against his palm. When he added another finger, she moaned and pushed her breasts in his face. He took the hint and suckled her nipple.
“So good.” Her voice was high and breathy. He could smell her arousal and hear the squishy sounds of his fingers pumping into her.
Time passed in a dreamy, heightened state where his entire world was what he was doing to Ginny and how she was responding. His arm holding her waist became slick with sweat. When she wanted him to switch sucking her nipples she moved her shoulders and he found the other one. He tried to stay with her - tried to work out what she needed from him - tried to push into her with the same urgency as she was pushing back on his fingers.
Then he felt her turn slightly so that her breast popped out of his mouth. She worked her hand down between them until he felt her fingers furiously moving above her entrance. She was touching herself, her knuckles brushing his stomach, the side of her head bumping his nose.
If only he could see . . .
Her whole body tensed; her breathing changed. He stopped moving his fingers as he felt her shudder, but he kept them inside her, holding her up and steadying her.
“Ohhhh.”
Then the muscles in her stomach clenched and her thighs strained and she cried out one last time.
She was still for a moment, and then he felt both her hands on his face. “Harry.” She turned his head and then kissed him, pushing her tongue into his open mouth.
He pulled his fingers from her and clutched her bum as they kissed. His long-neglected cock throbbed painfully and his hips involuntarily thrust forward. Ginny must have felt that movement because she stopped kissing him and shifted her body so she was next to him on the bed.
It was his turn.
Her open mouth was on his neck, sending sensations all through his body. He shuddered as her hand skimmed along his chest to his stomach and then found his erection.
So good.
When her hair bushed his stomach, he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.
And then her mouth enveloped the head of his shaft. “Ah.”
He couldn’t help it - he thrust into her mouth, sliding his cock along her tongue, deeper than he had ever gone.
Too much.
“Ginny. I’m -“
She moved her mouth away, but kept her hand on him as he groaned and pumped his release - one - two - three - times all over his chest.
Yes.
He panted in stunned silence and let his head loll against the wall. Ginny gently let go of him and pressed her body against his side.
Amazing.
He had never felt so good in his life.
As his heartbeat slowed, he reached for his wand and muttered the spell he had learned long ago in the Hogwarts dormitory.
“What’s that spell?” Ginny asked, tenderly kissing his forehead.
“Dunno what it’s really called,” Harry answered, feeling suddenly exhausted. “We always called it WF.”
“WF?”
“Wanker’s Friend.”
She giggled. “I thought Playwizard was the wanker’s friend.”
“That, too,” he agreed, closing his eyes. He should probably try to stay awake - at least long enough to tell Ginny how happy he was, how close he felt to her, and how nothing in Playwizard could ever compare to her . . .
*
When he woke up, hours later, he was lying on his back, fully clothed and covered in a blanket. Good thing Ginny had thought to do that because George Weasley was standing over him.
“Back with the living, are you?” George asked.
Harry sat up slowly, still feeling a bit groggy. He pulled the blanket away and checked that George hadn’t done anything to him in his sleep.
“I wanted to try out one of my Drunk and Defenseless Charms on you but Ginny wouldn’t let me,” George said. “I’ve got a great one called ‘goat boy’ - you get horns, a pointed beard, and an ugly hairy cock. Very funny for blackmailing purposes.”
“Funny.” Harry shook his head and put on his glasses. “Where’s Ginny?”
“She’s counting the till.”
“It’s closing time already?”
“You slept the whole day, mate,” George said. “I didn’t realize Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder put people to sleep.”
“I worked all night,” Harry retorted, “because pomegranate seeds, not Peruvian Instant Darkness powder, put people to sleep.”
“Or Ginny is just boring,” George said with a grin.
“Shut it, George,” Ginny said calmly, entering the small office with a leather moneybag in her hand. “Here. Your ill-gotten gains from the day.”
“Ill-gotten?” George took the bag from her. “We deal in good, honest trickery here.”
“So what’s my share?” Ginny put her hands on her hips.
“I’ll waive the rent on this bed that your boyfriend used all day,” George answered. “And the price of the bottle of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder you broke.”
Ginny smirked at George and gave Harry an amused, sidelong glance. She looked so pretty. Her eyes were shining and her skin glowed. “Right. How about this? Harry and I’ll have dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. We’ll put in on your tab.”
“Fair enough,” George said. “My account is under the name ‘Draco Malfoy.’”
They all laughed.
“I’m off to Gringotts with the gold,” George said. “Lock up when you leave.”
“Okay,” Harry said, smiling at Ginny.
She smiled back and blushed a little.
“Why are you two smiling at each other like you’ve never seen each other before?” George asked suspiciously. “It’s a rather revolting - no offense.”
Harry had to grin at the irony. He felt he had seen a whole new side to Ginny today. “It was dark earlier.” Harry shrugged, not taking his eyes off of his girl.
“Total darkness makes you experience things in a whole new way,” Ginny added.
George shook his head. “I don’t want to know.”
“No you don’t,” Ginny agreed.
*
“Sorry, I fell asleep,” Harry said, once George left.
“I fell asleep, too.” She sat down next to him on the bed. “Luckily, I woke up once the Darkness wore off.”
“Ginny, I - ”
“Harry, I -”
Ginny ducked her head and scrapped back a lock of hair that had escaped from her ponytail.
That telltale gesture made Harry nervous. Maybe she was regretting what they had done?
“I wasn’t going to tell anyone this,” Ginny said, “but I want to tell you.”
He turned to her, bracing himself for whatever was making her sound so serious. “What?”
“The Harpies are having open tryouts this week.” She lifted her chin. “And I’m going.”
“You are?” he asked stupidly.
“I am.” She bit her lip.
“Why weren’t you going to tell me?” he asked, even though he had a good guess as to why.
She shrugged and looked away. “I didn’t want you to know if I failed.”
“But you’re telling me now.”
She nodded.
Warmth flooded through him as he realized she was opening up to him again, showing him a side of herself that he didn’t often see - and this time in the light. It made him feel . . . humble . . . and grateful . . . and happy - all at once.
He cleared his throat of these unexpected emotions. “I’m glad you told me.”
She cocked her head. “You are?”
“I want to know all of your dreams - not just the Daydream Charm ones.”
“Oh.” Her eyes were bright and her mouth was soft.
“You’re going to make the team,” he said.
“You can see into the future now?” she scoffed, smiling.
He grinned. Of course Ginny could make the team. She was a brilliant player. “I found out today that I can see you in the dark.” He touched her nose with his finger. “I think that qualifies me to see your future as well.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Her smile grew. “But as long as you’re in my future, I think I can live with whatever is going to happen.”
“I’ll leave messages from now on,” he promised.
“And I’ll hex you when I’m angry instead of playing games.”
“You’ll try to hex me,” Harry corrected.
Ginny giggled. “And don’t forget the blowjobs.”
He laughed, feeling suddenly confident about their future and their ability to get through the dark times. “I didn’t hear that last part. You’ll have to speak up.”
RATING: NC-17
SUMMARY: Harry and Ginny are trapped together in the dark in the backroom of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. (See rating for more information)
WORD COUNT: 5,500
Author’s Notes: I rarely write smut. I haven’t written anything with a high rating for two years. This makes me extremely nervous! *is nervous* Thankfully, rdprice29, who is always so supportive, was willing to beta for me and give me reassurances. And lucky for all of us, r_becca (who knows a thing or two or three about smut writing) took the time to question certain passages and drop gentle hints as to how this could be better. Trust me. It’s much, much better thanks to her.
I changed this *a lot * since rdprice29 and r_becca sent it back to me. If there are mistakes, assume they are mine and then let me know. It’s easy enough to change things on lj.
This was written for the November Challenge: Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. (What? It’s only May!)
To See in the Dark
It was nine o’clock in the morning when Harry found himself at the back entrance of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. He rubbed his eyes and wondered if it was possible that he had slept whilst Apparating. It felt surreal to be here looking for Ginny, but Mrs. Weasley had been quite clear about Ginny’s whereabouts. On her first day off for the Easter holidays, she was helping her brother in London. She was not having a lie-in at the Burrow, not eating one of Mrs. Weasley’s good breakfasts, not visiting the Lovegoods, not using the Floo to call Harry or to even leave a message with Kreacher.
Mrs. Weasley didn’t understand it.
And neither did Harry.
He had hoped to see Ginny last night when she first arrived home from Hogwarts, but he and Ron had been called in to cover when the entire night shift gone into a stupor after eating a seed cake mistakenly made with magical pomegranate seeds instead of caraway.
He muttered the password that Mrs. Weasley had given him: “Mischief Maker.”
The door swung open to a narrow corridor that divided the main storeroom from the small office/bedroom where Fred and George used to live when they were first starting out.
He felt a surge of resentment at seeing the neat boxes stacked on the storeroom shelves. It didn’t look like George was in urgent need of Ginny’s help to make merchandise, and he couldn’t understand why Ginny was spending her Saturday morning here instead of with him. He had thought they were both looking forward to this time together.
The storeroom was empty. He frowned. Mrs. Weasley had said Ginny would be here until late afternoon.
He pushed open the door to the tiny office that still contained a narrow bed, as well as a large desk strewn with parchments and pots of ink and prototypes for new inventions. Ginny was standing at the desk with her back to the door. There were several bottles lined up in front of her, which she appeared to be ticking off on a roll of parchment. Her bright hair was gathered into a ponytail and she was wearing blue witch’s robes.
Ginny didn’t look up when he entered the room or notice when he silently shut the door behind him. He was just about to speak when one of the bottles slipped from Ginny’s hand and crashed to the floor.
The room was plunged into darkness.
“What the hell was that?” George bellowed from the front of the shop.
“I dropped a bottle of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder,” Ginny shouted back angrily. “And it broke.”
Harry heard rapid footsteps approaching. “Don’t open the door,” George warned. “It will go all through the shop.”
“How long am I supposed to stay in here?” Ginny demanded.
“The darkness will last an hour or two,” George replied. “And don’t try to Apparate out. I just set up a new shoplifting system.”
“An hour or two? What am I supposed to do in here?”
“Clean the glass,” George suggested. “You don’t want to get cut.”
“Clean the glass! I can’t see the glass.”
“Are you a witch or what? Use your wand.”
Ginny told George what he could do with his wand. George just laughed derisively, his retreating footsteps echoing in the corridor. Then Harry heard Ginny mutter a cleaning spell he didn’t know.
Harry couldn’t see the magic, since Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder obscured every kind of light, but he could hear the glass shards skittering across the floor. “Ginny, I’m here - by the door.”
“H - Harry?” she faltered. “How did you get in here?”
“I came in just as you dropped the bottle. I didn’t want to startle you until the glass was picked up.” He strained to see her, but of course he couldn’t.
“It looks like you’re stuck in here.” Her voice was getting closer. “Sorry.”
“I don’t mi - ah.” Ginny had found him - or actually her outstretched hands had found his crotch.
“Sorry,” she whispered with a hint of a giggle.
“’s okay.” He tried to sound nonchalant - like having her touch him there didn’t affect him at all when he really wanted to grab her wrist and bring her hand back . . .
To his surprise, she mimicked his incoherent tone. “Which part ‘s okay’? This part?” She purposefully touched him, outlining his length with sure strokes.
His heart started pounding as he grew under her hand. So good.
“Or when I stop?”
Don’t stop.
“I - ”
“Harry? ‘s okay’?”
Was she smiling with that flirtatious gleam in her brown eyes? He hoped so. “Uh . . .” If only he could see her - maybe then he could think of something else besides her stroking fingers.
He put his hand on her wrist to still her movements. “Do you want this?” Once the words were out of his mouth, he cursed himself. Why didn’t he just let things happen? Why was he analyzing motivations now of all times?
”Do I - ” Her voice was thick with some sort of emotion. She took a deep breath and then she pulled her hand away. “You weren’t at Kings Cross to meet me last night.”
His body was still humming from her touch and his mind couldn’t quite catch up with what she was saying. It took him a moment to answer her. “I got called in.” His voice sounded thin and unconvincing - even to his ears. “So did Ron.”
“I know. Hermione told me.” There was a terrible emphasis on ‘Hermione.’
“I should have sent you a message,” he said quickly.
“You’re just now working that out?”
He couldn’t tell if she was angry or hurt or if she thought he was colossally stupid to expect a warm welcome. Probably all three.
“Ginny - ”
“Were you in danger?” she asked. “Is that why you couldn’t leave a message?”
“Er, no -“
“Were you trying to get back at me for something?”
“What? No!”
“Oh?” Contempt seemed to drip from that one word. “That’s why I came here without leaving a message for you.”
He stood in shocked silence for a second and then anger surged through him as quickly as lust had done not a moment before. “That’s just low, Ginny - and vindictive and immature.”
“At least I had a reason for what I did,” she shot back.
“And what was your reason for that little rub? I suppose it was a tease?” he snarled. “A way to get back at me?”
He heard the faintest sort of gasp. “No. That was an accident,” she said quickly. “It was dark. It is dark. And I . . . ”
It was dark - and it hid his anger and frustration and lingering erection so that he was embolden to question her. “And what? You didn’t stop stroking me until I was completely hard.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness and hurt out of his voice. “You had me right where you wanted me - and I don’t think that’s fair.”
“That’s not true,” Ginny countered. ”I stopped when you asked me if I wanted this. I would have kept going - ”
He made a skeptical noise deep in his throat. She could turn it off easily enough - especially if she was annoyed with him.
“I did want to touch you,” she insisted. Then she changed her tone. “Maybe you think nice girls aren’t supposed to like to do that sort of thing- “
“Nice girls don’t like to do what sort of thing?” He was angry and didn’t care how crude he sounded. “Give hand jobs?”
“I was going to say blowjobs,” she stormed. “But if that’s what you were going to settle for, then we’ll agree to terms - hand job, not blowjob.”
Blowjob.
His mind reeled and his cock twitched to hear her say that word. This was new territory for them. Ginny had taken him into her mouth during one glorious session over the Christmas holidays - and he had relived it over and over again. How her hair had felt draped over his bare thighs. The little breathy sounds she made. The way her hot tongue swirled over his sensitive head while she stroked up and down the length of him and looked up into this face with those warm brown eyes.
“Ginny - ”
”But then I’m not very nice or mature, am I?” Her voice shook. “You just told me that.”
“Ginny.” He blindly put his hands out and found her arm. She was standing with her arms crossed in front of herself. “We should talk.”
“About blowjobs?” Her arm was rigid under his hand.
“No! And stop saying that!”
“Ha! Blowjob!” She shrugged his hand off of her arm. “Blowjob, Harry.”
He blinked into the darkness, not quite sure if he was really hearing this.
“Blowjob. Blowjob. BLOWJOB!”
“Ginny.” He laughed helplessly.
“What?” Her voice was softer and held the hint of a smile.
He sighed; he didn’t want to rehash it all, but there didn’t seem to be any other option. They were trapped together in the darkness and there was no other way out of this argument but to talk it through. “You’re angry with me because I didn’t contact you last night.”
She echoed his sigh. “I wasn’t angry with you at first. Not exactly.” She paused. “I was disappointed. And then later on I started to worry.”
“Worry?”
“Yes, worry!” she retorted. “How was I supposed to know what was going on? Hermione just said that you and Ron had been called in. So when I didn’t hear from you, I started to worry.”
“Ginny - you shouldn’t worry. I’m an Auror and we’re trained to - ”
“I know that,” she snapped. “But that’s how I felt. And you could have helped by owling me or using the Floo or sending smoke signals or something.”
He sighed. Ginny was right. He could have saved her worry. “I’m sorry.” He reached out for her and found her wrist.
She didn’t pull away this time.
“Ginny? Really. I’m sorry. I just . . .” He couldn’t seem to find a logical explanation for why he had avoided her.
“Just what?” she whispered. “I don’t understand why you did that to me.”
There was real pain and genuine bewilderment in her voice and to his shame he realized he had caused it. “I -” He didn’t want to explain himself - he would look terrible in Ginny’s eyes. But it was dark and it needed to be said. “I was disappointed, too. And it seemed easier to forget you were home from Hogwarts and just pretend it was another night.”
“Well, it wasn’t just another night.” Her voice trembled. “And you made it worse.”
“I’m sorry.” He dropped his hand from her wrist. He didn’t know what else to say.
There was a long silence. The darkness seemed to have swallowed up his apology and the sound of her breathing until the silence started to feel like a black hood muffling all his senses. His chest tightened and he wondered if he had forgotten how to breathe.
“I’m sorry, too.”
Her voice was small in that great dark void, but it eased the tight band of guilt clenching his heart.
He felt a tentative hand on his arm. “I shouldn’t have run away this morning. You’re right - it was immature.”
“’s okay.” He didn’t really understand, but he was glad it was over.
“I knew you would come and find me,” she admitted.
Suddenly he was weary of the whole conversation. “So you proved your point. We’re even.”
“No, we’re not even,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I sent confusing signals.”
“Confusing signals?”
“I shouldn’t have touched you like that - sexually. I mean.”
Harry took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. They felt gritty and dry - probably from trying to stay open and see in the dark. “I thought that was part of my punishment or something.”
“No!” She sounded almost in tears. “No. I wouldn’t do that.” She slid her arms around his waist.
He tentatively returned the embrace, holding her loosely.
“Right before I dropped the Peruvian Darkness Powder I was having second thoughts about helping George all day. Then you showed up and I started touching you and it just seemed easier to forget that I was angry with you.”
Easier to forget.
Now he understood. He had done the same thing. He hadn’t wanted to cope with the painful stuff last night, and she hadn’t wanted to cope with it this morning. They had so little time together that it was tempting to ignore their problems.
She tightened her grip on his waist. “And then you stopped me and I realized that it would be wrong to keep going until we talked it out.”
“You did the right thing.”
“No, I didn’t,” she said miserably. “I just made everything worse. And I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of . . .cock tease.”
He winced at the harsh language. “Ginny, don’t say that.”
“Cock tease?”
He smiled in the darkness- she was daring him to goad her into yelling again. “Come here.”
“I am here.”
“I mean, I want to kiss you, but I can’t see your face.”
“Oh.”
Their noses bumped and Ginny giggled and then finally his lips brushed hers. It wasn’t a passionate kiss - just warm and familiar and . . . right.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Uh. Huh.” She nuzzled his neck with her nose and rested her head against him.
“Good - I don’t know how to cope when you’re like that.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno. Down on yourself.”
“Harry, everyone gets down on themselves. You do.”
“I know, but it’s easier to know what to do when you’re trying to hex me.”
“Or saying blowjob at the top of my lungs?”
He laughed and then sobered at a new thought. “I hope George didn’t hear that.”
She giggled. “If he did, he probably thought I got into the Daydream Charms.”
“That wouldn’t be good, either.”
“George has one ear and he’s in the shop with two doors closed between us. I doubt if he heard me.”
“Oh, right.” He smiled in relief. “So -” He playfully ran her ponytail through his hand. “What would be in your Daydream Charm?”
“My Daydream Charm?” she squeaked.
“Yeah, yours.” He wondered if she was blushing and the thought rather excited him.
“Well. Uh. I guess we’d be kissing.”
“Oh? Like this?” He tried to find her mouth but he ended up kissing her nose.
She laughed. “No.”
He put his hand on her cheek for guidance. Then he swiftly kissed her. “This?”
“A little better.”
This time he lingered against her mouth. She made a hungry noise and then she let him in. He took full advantage - savoring the taste of her and then pulling back to kiss her lips - over and over again - until she was kissing him back with one hand gripping his shoulder. When they finally broke it off, his cock was throbbing and his heart was beating wildly.
“Harry?” She touched him through his now-tight jeans. “Is that from -?”
“You.”
“Oh.” Her touch was light but tantalizing rhythmic.
“So your Daydream Charm?” he asked. “Er - do you ever think about last Christmas?”
She didn’t ask what he meant. “Yes.”
“Yes - ah - good?” He hoped to God she wasn’t going to stop stroking him now. “Or yes - ah -”
Instead of answering him, he heard her whisper, “Colloportus.”
He gulped. She had locked the door.
“What’s the spell that silences everything?”
“Uh - ” He didn’t know how she was doing it - stroking him, keeping him on the edge of sanity and doing spells at the same time. “Yeah. Uh. Muffliato.”
“Muffliato,” she repeated. Then she tugged at the waistband of his jeans. “George can’t hear us and the door is locked.”
His brain jammed with a thousand exciting thoughts at once. They had complete privacy. They had time. There was a bed . . .
She took several steps backward, her hands busily unbuttoning his jeans. He followed, straining for release and for that first touch of her cool hands. He managed to shove down his jeans and pants just as Ginny backed into the bed, causing it to move against the wall with an ominous thump. Then he lost his balance and landed practically on top of her. It was just where his body wanted to be - with his jeans halfway down his legs - thrust against her. Was that softness under her robes her thigh or the intriguing curve of flesh under her belly button? His hips moved of their own accord as his mouth sought hers in the dark.
He missed. Ginny giggled as his tongue swiped her ear.
That giggle. He smiled and kissed his way along the nape of her neck. She smelled like potion ingredients and flowers and that heady scent that was Ginny’s alone.
He wanted to undo the clasps of her robes and touch her breasts, but Ginny had other ideas. “Oh, no,” she said pushing his hands away and sliding out from under him. “My Daydream Charm.”
“Oh?” It was a token protest since she had unerringly found the hem of his t-shirt and was tugging it up to his armpits. He thanked Merlin that her Daydream Charm included shedding clothes. They hadn’t had the chance all winter - Hogsmeade weekends were for more innocent pleasures. While he pulled his shirt over his head, Ginny was running her hands over his chest, scratching her fingers in the sparse hair and circling his nipples with her thumbs so that jolts of sensation went straight to his groin.
He held his breath as her mouth skimmed over his chest and then moved lower. Her tongue found his belly button and he whimpered. She laughed and gently rubbed her cheek against his stomach.
“I love this part of you. You’re so warm,” she whispered.
He had no reply for that except to touch her hair. Her warm breath was inches from the head of his cock. He vainly tried to move closer to her mouth, but his legs were tangled in his jeans.
Then she touched him, delicately cupping his balls.
“Ginny,” he groaned. Her hands felt amazing. He wished he could see her - that beautiful hair fanned across his stomach, that pink tongue reaching out to lick him. His cock pulsed as he felt her warm mouth enveloped him with wet suction.
It was just as well he couldn’t see her. The sensation of her mouth, the sound of her sucking, the touch of her fingertips on his thighs - he was going over the edge.
“S -stop,” he panted, touching her hair again. “Ginny.”
Mercifully, she stopped. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he breathed as the overwhelming sensations subsided somewhat. He flopped his head back on the bed. “It’s just too much.”
“Too much?”
“Kiss me.”
She giggled. “I was kissing you.”
He smiled. “Up here.”
“Oh.” She shifted around and found his mouth with no hesitation.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “So good,” he murmured. Her tongue had a faint bitter taste - from him, he realized. His heart pounded at this revelation. Now he wanted her more than ever.
He rolled on to his side so they were facing one another. “You have to help,” he said, fumbling for the clasps on her robes.
“Oh, I do?” she countered, stroking his naked back until her hand cupped his bum. “I thought this was my party.”
He laughed and tried to undo the clasp at her neck. “It’s fancy dress - birthday suits only.” He gave up on the clasp and instead reached for the hem of her robes, which had ridden up to her knees.
She laughed. “And what famous person am I going as?”
“My fantasy girl.” Her legs were smooth and soft. He traced his way along the curve of her calves and then started the wonderful journey up her thighs.
Her breath hitched. “I’m your fantasy girl?”
“Sometimes more than once a day.”
“Oh.” Maybe that sounded perverted, but by the tone of her voice Ginny seemed more intrigued than turned off by it. She rolled away from him and then he heard the rustle of fabric. “Okay. I’m down to the last layer.”
Ginny in her underwear and he couldn’t see. It was beyond frustrating. He reached out blindly and found the bone of her shoulder. He slowly followed the line of her bra strap until he reached the rounded contours of her bra cup. Totally absorbed in the softness and wonder of holding her breast, he rubbed his thumb across her nipple, feeling the rigid peak through the thin, silky fabric. He could do this forever, unless . . .
Emboldened by the darkness, he moved to suck that nipple into his mouth . . . and got fabric. He didn’t care. His tongue dampened the material so he could feel the crinkly aureole and the hard nub of her nipple poking through.
In the light he could have seen how his handiwork rendered her bra transparent - but in the dark, he could only feel. He allowed his teeth to nip at that hard peak through the fabric causing Ginny to grasp his head in her hands.
“Harry,” she giggled rather breathlessly. “Wouldn’t it be better with my bra off?”
“Oh, yeah.” He smiled. “But -”
“But you still can’t get the hang of it, can you?” she asked, laughter in her voice.
He didn’t mind her laughing. “It’s not like I’ve had a lot of chances to practice,” he pointed out, sliding his arms around her in the vain hope that his first fumble in the dark would actually work.
“It’s in the front on this bra.” She giggled.
He groaned. “Not fair - it’s like moving the goal posts.”
“Poor Harry. Here, sit up.”
He took the opportunity to kick off his jeans and pants the rest of the way. Then he moved so he could rest his back against the wall, his wand and glasses next to him on the bed.
Ginny straddled him, with her knees on either side of his thighs. He heard a faint click. “There. Bra’s off. Happy now?”
His happiness would have been complete if he could actually see her. But he wasn’t complaining; it was enough to fill his hands with her soft, warm flesh - that soft, warm flesh that was perfectly lined up with his mouth. “So beautiful,” he murmured before he suckled one nipple and then the other.
“You can’t see me, silly.” Her laugh was breathless and her grip on his shoulders was tight.
“So?” Everything about her felt beautiful - the fine smoothness of her skin, the texture of her spongy nipples on his tongue, the feel of her hand in his hair as he licked and caressed and buried his face in her breasts.
Ginny responded by moaning and pushing her breast into his mouth and insistently rubbing her crotch against his stomach.
He wanted to feel more of her - he wanted to feel all of her for once. It was the first time he had ever dared to do it; he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her knickers and pulled them halfway down her bum - as far as they would go.
“Let me help.”
He felt her shift her weight, brushing against his swollen cock, as she somehow wriggled out of her knickers.
Then she was rubbing against him - her breasts sliding against his chest, the soft hair of her pubic mound rubbing against his stomach - right above his straining erection. He wished he could see her face. He wished he could see her naked, with her thighs wide open, undulating against him.
He cupped her curvy bum with his hands, wanting to do more, wanting to do something.
“Harry.” It sounded like a plea.
He wanted to answer that plea; he wanted to pleasure her - so he followed his instincts and touched her between her legs for the first time.
She was wet and open. His fingers easily traversed the soft, slick flesh to find her entrance.
“Oh, yessss.” she moaned.
“Ginny?”
“Inside me,” she whispered, reaching down and roughly pushing his hand.
He complied with one finger, his excitement mounting as she bucked against his palm. When he added another finger, she moaned and pushed her breasts in his face. He took the hint and suckled her nipple.
“So good.” Her voice was high and breathy. He could smell her arousal and hear the squishy sounds of his fingers pumping into her.
Time passed in a dreamy, heightened state where his entire world was what he was doing to Ginny and how she was responding. His arm holding her waist became slick with sweat. When she wanted him to switch sucking her nipples she moved her shoulders and he found the other one. He tried to stay with her - tried to work out what she needed from him - tried to push into her with the same urgency as she was pushing back on his fingers.
Then he felt her turn slightly so that her breast popped out of his mouth. She worked her hand down between them until he felt her fingers furiously moving above her entrance. She was touching herself, her knuckles brushing his stomach, the side of her head bumping his nose.
If only he could see . . .
Her whole body tensed; her breathing changed. He stopped moving his fingers as he felt her shudder, but he kept them inside her, holding her up and steadying her.
“Ohhhh.”
Then the muscles in her stomach clenched and her thighs strained and she cried out one last time.
She was still for a moment, and then he felt both her hands on his face. “Harry.” She turned his head and then kissed him, pushing her tongue into his open mouth.
He pulled his fingers from her and clutched her bum as they kissed. His long-neglected cock throbbed painfully and his hips involuntarily thrust forward. Ginny must have felt that movement because she stopped kissing him and shifted her body so she was next to him on the bed.
It was his turn.
Her open mouth was on his neck, sending sensations all through his body. He shuddered as her hand skimmed along his chest to his stomach and then found his erection.
So good.
When her hair bushed his stomach, he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.
And then her mouth enveloped the head of his shaft. “Ah.”
He couldn’t help it - he thrust into her mouth, sliding his cock along her tongue, deeper than he had ever gone.
Too much.
“Ginny. I’m -“
She moved her mouth away, but kept her hand on him as he groaned and pumped his release - one - two - three - times all over his chest.
Yes.
He panted in stunned silence and let his head loll against the wall. Ginny gently let go of him and pressed her body against his side.
Amazing.
He had never felt so good in his life.
As his heartbeat slowed, he reached for his wand and muttered the spell he had learned long ago in the Hogwarts dormitory.
“What’s that spell?” Ginny asked, tenderly kissing his forehead.
“Dunno what it’s really called,” Harry answered, feeling suddenly exhausted. “We always called it WF.”
“WF?”
“Wanker’s Friend.”
She giggled. “I thought Playwizard was the wanker’s friend.”
“That, too,” he agreed, closing his eyes. He should probably try to stay awake - at least long enough to tell Ginny how happy he was, how close he felt to her, and how nothing in Playwizard could ever compare to her . . .
*
When he woke up, hours later, he was lying on his back, fully clothed and covered in a blanket. Good thing Ginny had thought to do that because George Weasley was standing over him.
“Back with the living, are you?” George asked.
Harry sat up slowly, still feeling a bit groggy. He pulled the blanket away and checked that George hadn’t done anything to him in his sleep.
“I wanted to try out one of my Drunk and Defenseless Charms on you but Ginny wouldn’t let me,” George said. “I’ve got a great one called ‘goat boy’ - you get horns, a pointed beard, and an ugly hairy cock. Very funny for blackmailing purposes.”
“Funny.” Harry shook his head and put on his glasses. “Where’s Ginny?”
“She’s counting the till.”
“It’s closing time already?”
“You slept the whole day, mate,” George said. “I didn’t realize Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder put people to sleep.”
“I worked all night,” Harry retorted, “because pomegranate seeds, not Peruvian Instant Darkness powder, put people to sleep.”
“Or Ginny is just boring,” George said with a grin.
“Shut it, George,” Ginny said calmly, entering the small office with a leather moneybag in her hand. “Here. Your ill-gotten gains from the day.”
“Ill-gotten?” George took the bag from her. “We deal in good, honest trickery here.”
“So what’s my share?” Ginny put her hands on her hips.
“I’ll waive the rent on this bed that your boyfriend used all day,” George answered. “And the price of the bottle of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder you broke.”
Ginny smirked at George and gave Harry an amused, sidelong glance. She looked so pretty. Her eyes were shining and her skin glowed. “Right. How about this? Harry and I’ll have dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. We’ll put in on your tab.”
“Fair enough,” George said. “My account is under the name ‘Draco Malfoy.’”
They all laughed.
“I’m off to Gringotts with the gold,” George said. “Lock up when you leave.”
“Okay,” Harry said, smiling at Ginny.
She smiled back and blushed a little.
“Why are you two smiling at each other like you’ve never seen each other before?” George asked suspiciously. “It’s a rather revolting - no offense.”
Harry had to grin at the irony. He felt he had seen a whole new side to Ginny today. “It was dark earlier.” Harry shrugged, not taking his eyes off of his girl.
“Total darkness makes you experience things in a whole new way,” Ginny added.
George shook his head. “I don’t want to know.”
“No you don’t,” Ginny agreed.
*
“Sorry, I fell asleep,” Harry said, once George left.
“I fell asleep, too.” She sat down next to him on the bed. “Luckily, I woke up once the Darkness wore off.”
“Ginny, I - ”
“Harry, I -”
Ginny ducked her head and scrapped back a lock of hair that had escaped from her ponytail.
That telltale gesture made Harry nervous. Maybe she was regretting what they had done?
“I wasn’t going to tell anyone this,” Ginny said, “but I want to tell you.”
He turned to her, bracing himself for whatever was making her sound so serious. “What?”
“The Harpies are having open tryouts this week.” She lifted her chin. “And I’m going.”
“You are?” he asked stupidly.
“I am.” She bit her lip.
“Why weren’t you going to tell me?” he asked, even though he had a good guess as to why.
She shrugged and looked away. “I didn’t want you to know if I failed.”
“But you’re telling me now.”
She nodded.
Warmth flooded through him as he realized she was opening up to him again, showing him a side of herself that he didn’t often see - and this time in the light. It made him feel . . . humble . . . and grateful . . . and happy - all at once.
He cleared his throat of these unexpected emotions. “I’m glad you told me.”
She cocked her head. “You are?”
“I want to know all of your dreams - not just the Daydream Charm ones.”
“Oh.” Her eyes were bright and her mouth was soft.
“You’re going to make the team,” he said.
“You can see into the future now?” she scoffed, smiling.
He grinned. Of course Ginny could make the team. She was a brilliant player. “I found out today that I can see you in the dark.” He touched her nose with his finger. “I think that qualifies me to see your future as well.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Her smile grew. “But as long as you’re in my future, I think I can live with whatever is going to happen.”
“I’ll leave messages from now on,” he promised.
“And I’ll hex you when I’m angry instead of playing games.”
“You’ll try to hex me,” Harry corrected.
Ginny giggled. “And don’t forget the blowjobs.”
He laughed, feeling suddenly confident about their future and their ability to get through the dark times. “I didn’t hear that last part. You’ll have to speak up.”