Quidditch, Gifts, and Questions

Chapter 4

HARRY'S POV:

After I got to my study I went back downstairs to see Kreacher finishing dinner, the table set. I sit down and wait, feeling nervous. Why? Oh, I don't know. If you had Ginny as a girlfriend and had just told her that you had with held information from her (that you were almost killed, too!) you would get why I feel this way.

After a few minutes, I hear a crack and my insides clench up. I hear a hooting and footsteps coming toward the room that I'm in and brace myself for the worst. I glance over at Kreacher fearfully to find that he has stopped stirring the soup, looking confused.

I whip around as the door bangs open to reveal Ginny in muggles clothing with the barn owl on her shoulder. She has a cold, furious look on her face as she glares at me. She stalks in, grabs my arm savagely, fingernails digging into my skin, and drags me out of the room. She takes me upstairs into a free room and glowers at me, finally letting go. She takes in a deep breath before yelling, "HARRY JAMES POTTER HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? FIRST OFF, NOT TELLING ME THAT YOU ALMOST DIED AND SECONDLY TELLING ME IN A LETTER? ARE YOU KIDDING? DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!"

By the time that she ends I'm shaking, leaning against the wall. I'm sure that I look terrified because she glances at me and breaks out crying. While she was yelling, the barn owl flew off her shoulder and landed on a dresser in the back of the room. I approach her tentatively and put my arm around her, expecting her to fling it off. When she doesn't, I come closer and allow her to cry into my shoulder, hugging her.

When she's mostly done crying she looks up at me, says, "Sorry, Harry," and lays her head against my chest. I lift her chin so that she is looking at me and say, sincerely, "It's my fault." She opens her mouth but before she can say anything,I crush my mouth against hers and move my hands to her waist.

She was obviously surprised, and tried to pull back, but I put a hand on the back of her head to prevent her from doing so. She relented and I could safely put my hand back on her waist. I pull apart and she looks into my eyes lovingly. I grin and lower my mouth back down to hers. My tongue begs for entrance and she opens her mouth up to it. It roams around and I can feel her shiver.

I smile into her lips, pull away, breathing hard, and go for her neck. As I tenderly kiss her neck, she audibly gasps and I know that I have found the sweet spot. I pull away after having stayed in that position for about half a minute. She tries to pull me back but I'm too strong. My arms fall away from her waist and I bring a hand up to run my thumb around her jaw.

I whisper, "Dinner time," and lead her downstairs where Kreacher has finished the soup and is filling the bowls. We sit down, thank Kreacker ("Thank you, Master, Mistress!") and dig in. As we're eating I casually ask, "Oh yeah, what did you name your owl?"

She smiles, "Aleem. Isn't it a pretty name?"

"A pretty name for a pretty bird." Okay, I admit, that comment was a bit weird, buut. Still.

I tell her about my day, excluding Arch, hoping to surprise her with him. He doesn't appear until we're done with dinner. At that point I was worried that he had been intercepted. My eyebrows were creased with worry. Ginny had opened her mouth, probably to ask me what was wrong, when I heard a tapping on the window. I sighed with relief and turned as Ginny let out a gasp. Yup. That's Arch all right.

I strode over to the window, opened it, and he flew up to my shoulder. I was expecting to be nipped in my neck with affection, then had to tell myself that he's not Hedwig. Ginny got nearer and slowly stroked his back, "He - or she - is beautiful!"

I grin at her. "He. Ginny, I'd like you to meet Archimedes. I call him Arch for short. I got him today with Aleem."

I remembered the letter tied to his leg and quickly retrieved it. On the front, written in sloppy handwriting, was Harry Potter. So Ron had got the message and responded. Good. It read:

Dear Harry,

I got your last letter at about one. I'm glad that you've gotten a new owl, it's been annoying having to have Pig going between us constantly. I like Arch, he looks a lot like Hedwig. The triangle on his back is curious, but I think that it's just coincidence that the feathers look like that.

I've been fine, but I got hit with a stray hex (I don't know how that happens either) when passing the Mysterious Magical Spells and Artifacts department. They haven't been able to find a counterjinx but I'll be fine until they do. That's mostly all, mate. Got to go. See you soon (hopefully.)

Sincerely, Ron.

I passed the letter to Ginny, who smiled. I bade her farewell as she needed to get home, as her mum would probably get worried soon. She forgot to take Aleem with her, so I sent the owl to the Burrow and went to bed, a relatively good day finished.

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Hey guys! I know this was a long chapter, I'm happy too! What do you think will happen next? I don't know, but I don't think that this is going to be as long as I hoped that it would be. It really is a small story that I'm trying to stretch out longer than it needs to be, so it's probably going to end soon. I know, I don't want it to end either. Anyway, thanks so much!

~Chaser