Gift for st_dl - Making a Moment

Nov 22, 2011 20:44

Title: Making a Moment
Gift for: st_dl
Author: greeneyed79
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: PG
Word Count: about 1600
Summary: Harry has been waiting for the perfect moment to propose to Ginny. Will this perfect autumn afternoon present the right moment?

Author's Notes: This is my first time doing one of these and I can't wait for the next time! To st_dl I hope you like this. I didn't manage to work Neville in...I'm sorry! Thanks to dukebrymin for beta'ing.



Making a Moment

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

***

"Oooffff," Harry grunted as Ginny's body landed roughly on top of his in the huge pile of leaves he'd been hiding in.

"Found you," Ginny said triumphantly as she shifted to align her body more fully with his; then, maneuvering her lips to his neck she inadvertently rubbed against him rather more intimately than expected making Harry’s head spin.

"I noticed," Harry said distractedly as his brain glossed over his newly bruised ribs in favor of focusing on the delightful things her mouth was doing to his neck, where her hands were heading and the way her body had just rubbed against his. "What time are we supposed to be at your parents?" he asked huskily, trying to remain a gentleman and push the images of things they hadn’t yet done together out of his mind.

"Shhhh," Ginny admonished him as she lifted her head briefly from her work. She lowered her lips then to his; effectively distracting him from what he'd planned this time alone for.

It was a perfect golden autumn afternoon. Somehow, the stars had all aligned and, for once, Harry and Ginny both had a Sunday off. Sundays were family dinner day with the Weasleys at the Burrow. The last dozen dinners or so included either Harry or Ginny, sometimes neither, but never both. Lately, with him so intensely involved in Auror training and her busy with nearly daily Harpies practices or matches, they rarely got more than a few hours together, let alone a whole day.

Upon discovering the free day they had to spend together, they apparated to Ottery St. Catchpole early and found a secluded meadow in which to enjoy the flawless autumn weather. For Harry, it was the ideal opportunity to try and propose to Ginny, again. He'd been attempting to propose to her for months now. He always ended up changing his mind at the last minute, deciding that for one reason or another the moment wasn't right. Despite the fact that marriage seemed a forgone conclusion for them, they had very briefly discussed what each saw as their future together. He knew that she wouldn't say no when he finally worked up the nerve to ask; but that was the problem, his nerves; that, and finding the perfect moment to ask.

The closest he'd gotten to proposing so far had been on Easter. They'd spent the holiday with the Weasleys. Harry hid the ring in one of the eggs Mrs. Weasley had hidden in the yard for a traditional Easter egg hunt. They all felt they were much too old to participate in something so childish. But it was Victoire's first Easter and she needed assistance hunting for eggs so Molly insisted that everyone participate. Harry was guarding the area where the egg with the ring was hidden, just waiting for Ginny to find it. Until George, having grown tired of the hunt, started accioing the eggs behind his Mum's back to speed things along. Thanks to his seeker skills, Harry just managed to catch the egg as it flew past him toward George. He quickly jammed it into his pocket and ditched the plan to propose that day.

As Ginny continued to kiss him, while working on the buttons of his shirt, he decided that this was the perfect moment. They were alone, basking in a pile of leaves surrounded by the glorious colors of autumn foliage and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather; how could there be a more perfect moment?

Harry pulled back from her lips and rearranged their positions so they were lying on their sides face to face. He swallowed thickly, his throat suddenly having gone bone dry. Taking her hand, he pushed past his nerves and said, "Ginny, I was wondering if you…"

The moment had been perfect, the question had nearly been asked, the look of absolute elation on Ginny's face told Harry that she knew what he had been about to ask and what her answer would have been, when suddenly they weren't alone anymore.

"Harry, Ginny! What are you doing here?" a familiar voice cut through the air.

Harry quickly rearranged his features into what he hoped was pleasant surprise to see Luna in the exact moment he was trying to ask Ginny to be his wife. Inside, he was thinking, "Are you kidding me? It's like the universe is determined for me never to ask Ginny to marry me."

Ginny was already on her feet brushing leaves out of her hair and offering a hand down to Harry to pull him up. "Hi Luna," she was saying. "Harry and I both had a free day so we're spending some time together before going to dinner at my parent's house. What are you doing here?"

"My father's house is nearby. I come here often to hunt for blue-tinged dragon slugs," Luna said happily. "Daddy says they are very beneficial in the treatment of seasonal allergies."

Having learned long ago that Luna and her father believed in a wide variety of make believe creatures, the couple just nodded politely despite their desire to point out that it had never been proven that dragon slugs actually existed.

Ginny and Luna continued to chitchat while Harry bitterly lamented the loss of his perfect moment and rebuttoned his shirt. Who knew how long it would be until another perfect moment would come along? By the time Luna had run out of things to talk about, Harry and Ginny had to hurry not to be late to the Burrow.

At the Burrow, things were as chaotic as usual. With all the Weasleys, their significant others, and little Victoire there, the house was packed to bursting. Ginny was helping in the kitchen with most of the other women while Harry tried half-heartedly to follow the conversation Ron was mostly having on his own. His thoughts kept returning to that meadow and the moment lost.

Finally having gathered that Harry was not really listening, Ron turned to talk with George. Harry slipped unnoticed, or so he thought, out into the yard. He let the fresh air clear his mind as he wandered around. Settling under the lone maple tree in the back of the house, he picked up one of its fallen scarlet leaves and thought about Ginny.

"Knut for your thoughts," Ginny said as she ambled over a short time later and sat beside him. "Everything okay? You seem a little distracted."

"Yeah," Harry said tentatively. "I'm fine, just discouraged."

Letting on that she was aware of what he'd been about to ask earlier, she said, "Well, don't give up. The right moment will come along; maybe sooner than you think."

Harry thought about this as they sat together under the tree. She rested her head on his shoulder and they watched as a steady progression of red leaves floated down to the ground around them. He gathered a few up and presented them to her as if they were a bouquet of the most breathtaking flowers. She accepted them with a delighted grin and for the second time that day he thought, "This is my moment."

"Ginny," he began, "I was thinking that…"

"Oye!" Ron bellowed across the yard at them. "Dinner's ready."

If only he'd gone back into the house again leaving them alone for another minute, Harry could have asked, but instead, Ron waited for them, even walking a little way toward them. He still hadn't let got of his old habit of not leaving Harry and Ginny alone together for very long. Sighing, the couple got up off the ground and followed Ron back into the house.

As the last ones to dinner, they ended up sitting at opposite ends of the long table instead of beside one another. Had she been sitting beside him, holding his hand under the table or placing a hand reassuringly on his knee, he might have been content to ignore his second miscue of the day. Instead, they were exchanging commiserating glances from their opposite ends of the long table. With hardly a thought, Harry suddenly stood and, looking only at Ginny, said, "Ginny, this is not how I imagined doing this. In fact, I've been waiting for the perfect moment for months, but after being thwarted twice today I'm making my own moment." Before he could be interrupted by any of her family watching this speech with stunned looks on their faces, he took a deep breath and continued, "Ginevra, I love you with all my heart and hoped that maybe you would marry me?" He took his eyes off her long enough to fumble with the velvet ring box in his pocket. When his eyes returned to her spot at the table, it was empty. He turned to her standing beside him then. He opened the box and presented it to her with the question still burning in his eyes.

"Yes!" she cried jubilantly as she threw herself into his arms and kissed him heartily. The Weasleys erupted into applause around them. In Molly and Hermione's cases tears were also shed. When they broke apart, he slid the ring onto her finger and they accepted congratulatory hugs from everyone.

Later that evening, alone in the flat Ginny shared with several of her teammates, she asked, "You said you've been waiting for the perfect moment for months. How many other thwarted attempts were there?"

Harry puller her into his lap and started with the story of the failed Easter proposal. Amid much laughter and kissing the couple spent a happy evening reliving all the other ways in which they might have become engaged.

:author: greeneyed79, fest: autumn '11

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