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hinnyfest · 1 year

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Poetry

Written for day 31 of @hinnyfest (Yes, we will just continue pretending November has 31 days in it)

Prompt: “For thousands of nights I dreamed of making love to you. No one on earth has ever hated sunrise as I do.”

“What’s up?” Harry asked.

Ginny looked up and simultaneously closed her notebook. “Nothing.”

Harry sat down beside her on their bed in Grimmauld Place. “Gin.”

“I have been writing, I used to like writing until-”

“I understand... Can I see?” he asked carefully.

Ginny chewed her lip. “It’s kind of …” She breathed out. “Intimate.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he told her.

Her thumb grazed against the corner of the notebook. “I suppose you can, it’s just a vulnerability.”

“No, I know that.”

She went to hand him the notebook but paused. “If you make fun of me, I will never let you read anything ever again.” She placed it in his hand. “This one is very much a work in progress.”

Harry flipped the notebook open on the spot her pen rested and read out loud.

“For thousands of days I thought of running to you. No one in the universe has ever hated distance as I do. For a thousand nights I dreamed of making love to you. No one on earth has ever hated sunrise as I do.”

Harry fell silent and looked at her with a soft gaze. “That’s-”

“Yes,” Ginny admitted. “It’s about you. I think you’re my muse.” She smiled.

“No- I meant… this is beautiful. It’s profound.”

Ginny carefully took her notebook back. “You’re just flattered.”

She bent down to put it away when Harry’s arms came around her waist and pulled her back to him. Her back landed against his chest.

“We can make love until well after sunrise,” he suggested.

His low voice sent a shiver down her spine as he spoke it into her ear.

“If that gets you going, you should read what I wrote last week…” she responded, her fingers trailing over his arm.

She had anticipated him reaching for the notebook and she pulled it out of the way.

“I may read it to you instead…” she suggested, her eyes playful.

“Really?” he asked hoarsely.

Oh, she had him wound around her little finger. “You’ll have to earn it.”

He pulled her against him. “I’m at your command.”

“Good.”

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 30 #30daysprompts #ginnyw potter

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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Treacle tart

Written for Day 30 of @hinnyfest

Prompt: Getting to know the parents

Harry took Ginny’s hand and squeezed it as he looked at his parents’ grave. “Thank you for coming here with me today.”

“Of course, Harry.” She smiled softly at him.

“I think they would have liked you,” Harry told her.

“Well, I am an extremely likeable person,” she joked.

Harry leaned into her as he chuckled and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“No,” she said more seriously. “I hope they would. I hope they do.”

“Mum, dad, if you don’t approve of Ginny, please give me any sign at all,” he said.

Nothing happened, it was silent in the graveyard on this June day.

“That’s settled then,” he said with a soft smile.

Ginny offered him a sympathetic smile. He nodded, indicating he was ready to go. She walked out of the graveyard, holding his hand.

“Now your parents,” Harry said.

“Harry, I am just introducing you as my boyfriend. They know we have dated and they know you. There is nothing to be afraid of,” she reassured him as they walked to a vacant street.

“I’d rather walk into a nest of Acromantulas again,” he admitted.

Ginny halted and turned towards him. “Oh, you can be so dramatic sometimes.” She softly pecked his lips. “Ready?”

He nodded and they apparated to The Burrow. It was almost dinner time.

“Ah, Ginny, there you are. You said you had something to tell us?” Mrs Weasley said.

Harry stood a little bit behind her.

“Yes, I do. I want to tell you I have a boyfriend.” This was a proper announcement, one her previous boyfriends hadn’t been graced with since it never had been quite serious.

“Oh,” her mum went, pausing with her wand in her hand.

Mr Weasley looked up at her, staring blankly.

Ginny smiled, mildly amused at the lacklustre response. “Okay, I thought it would be obvious but my boyfriend is Harry.”

Then her mum started to move.

“Well, we didn’t want to assume-” Mr Weasley said but the rest of his sentence was drowned out by Mrs Weasley, who was giving Harry a rib-cracking hug.

“Oh, I had hoped! I really hoped you two would find your way back to each other but well, you never know!”

Ginny shared a look with her dad, who simply smiled at his wife's antics. Hermione was practically beaming and Ron looked pleased as well.

“Oh! That’s why you asked for treacle tart today, didn’t you?” Mrs Weasley said, now coming to hug her.

“Yes, I thought that was enough of a hint but… I guess not.” She hugged her mom.

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 30 #30daysprompts #ginnyw potter

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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Hinny Fest - day 28

I'm happy that you're alive - day twenty eight

i thought about this one in the shower

@hinnyfest

Harry was working when Ginny arrived; it was saturday, he was dismissed from the office but was still doing things at home, taking advantage of the fact that his wife had gone out for a girls' day with her friends and that James was sleeping in the nest next to Harry's desk, after having been playing for a while good hours with the building blocks Hermione gave him.

''Hello,'' She kissed him, carrying several bags in her arms and smelling like a beauty salon. Her hair was cut, her fingernails were painted black and there were probably other small changes that Harry hadn't recognized yet. ''How was he?''

'’Calm,'' Harry smiled at her, looking down at his son resting in the nest Harry had built so he could sleep anywhere in the house. It was a bed on wheels that magically kept James from falling out, and Harry had made sure it was comfortable enough that he wouldn't have body pain afterwards. ''We played in the rain, then had a snack, Sir is willing to help him walk, so he kept letting James cling to his fur and took him everywhere in the house, finally, he played with his mini city and slept.''

''That's good, I thought he'd be annoyed that he had to stay indoors today,'' She looked at the storm raging outside.

''How was shopping?''

''Well! Want to see my new clothes?'' Harry smiled, looking at his wife and nodding. ‘’Okay, I’ll change!” She went into the office bathroom, staying there while Harry finished reviewing that document and signed the letter of resignation from Elise, an amazing auror but who had serious problems with her knee joints and needed medical clearance. When Ginny left, he thanked himself for putting the quill away or he would have messed up the parchment.

She looked beautiful, with jean shorts that were short and made her ass even more in evidence, a dark wash and with threads fraying at the hems, the shirt was short and showed a fillet of her belly, it was white from a cotton fabric maybe, and made Ginny look so hot that Harry had to drink his water before he started drooling.

‘’I was walking through the stores and realised I only have mum's clothes,’’ She began, glaring at him. ''And it's not that I don't love James, you know I would jump in front of every spell to save him, but sometimes I want to look less like a sixty year old mother and more like a twenty four year old woman,'' Ginny put her hands on her hips, smiling at Harry. ''You liked it? I was a little insecure about my cellulite, but Fleur said I looked amazing,''

''She's right,'' Harry cleared his throat, nearly losing focus when his wife gave him a whirl and he saw how good her ass looked in her jeans.

''Now, the second look.'' She ran back to the bathroom, not taking long to come back. She was still wearing the white shirt, but now she was wearing a black leather skirt. She was temptingly hot. '’Still following this idea. I realised I don't have any short skirts that fit me anymore, so… I bought this one. But I think it was an impulsive purchase, I feel a little bitchy in this outfit.’’

''Never baby,'' He could barely contain his eyes that dried her body.

''Lastly.'' Again Ginny walked into the bathroom, this time taking a little longer and appearing only in a bikini, and this time Harry drooled. ''Okay, I know we're not going to the beach on any upcoming trips, but, we have a pool, and I'm feeling like with the clothes I have on I'm not going to enjoy the summer at all... These panties are a little... too much, I know, but again, impulse buys.''

Her skin had taken on a surprising highlight with the light blue fabric, the top made her breasts so striking that Harry thanked heaven for genetics. The panties were unlike any she'd ever worn, they were smaller and covered her ass a lot less, and Harry would never complain about that, he always made it clear that the exercises Gwenog gave to the athletes made Ginny have a spectacular ass.

‘'I don't know if I'll wear this when there are other people here, it's a little too revealing and I feel like I'm looking even more of a bitch, but I thought you might like it,'' Ginny shrugged, looking embarrassed.

''You don't like it?'' he said, his throat dry.

'’Yes! But it's just… I mean, pregnancy has changed me in ways I don't think I'll ever get back,'' Instinctively she placed her hand on her stomach, right above the c-section scar. ''It's hard to heal from these insecurities.''

''You look beautiful, Gin, and if you want I can make up a trip to the beach right now just so you can wear those clothes,'' She laughed, going over to him and sitting on his lap, hugging his neck and laying her head on his shoulder. Harry placed his hand on her bare thighs, feeling her skin warm and smooth. ‘’I’m so happy that I’m alive right now, that I’ll do whatever you want.’’

''Thanks, I think I'm slowly getting used to it.'' She shrugged. ''And I’m happy too, that you’re here and alive, but I was hoping you could make sure James got even more tired after his nap and slept through the night so we could have a free time?...''

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 28 #30daysprompts #sweeethinny

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone who participated in Hinny Fest, making this happen was so much fun and so awesome I'm sorry for anything <3 <3

#hinny #hinnyfest

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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I know I put 31 prompts but the month only has 30 days - another sign of my madness - so feel free to write prompt 31 or not ahahahah even if you post it on the 30th along with the 30th forgive me for that, it's been insane days and I didn't even realize it

#hinny #hinnyfest

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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He's Alive

Written for day 29 of @hinnyfest

Prompt: Ginny meets Harry before the sacrifice in DH

She closed the eyes of the girl she had been comforting. She was her age, a Hufflepuff and just like her, she had sneaked in to join the fighting. She had begged for her mom now and there was nothing Ginny could do but comfort her.

She heard a familiar rustle of fabric and she immediately knew Harry had walked past under his invisibility cloak. "Harry."

She stood up and looked and a second later he appeared precisely where she had been looking. His eyes were wide with fear and Ginny immediately realised what Harry was about to do. He was going to sacrifice himself.

Her stomach turned and she swallowed hard and took a few steps closer to him. "Why?"

He shook his head. "You know about the Horcruxes?"

She nodded, by now she knew what he had been doing.

"I'm a Horcrux he never meant to make."

Ginny's mind raced but it made a lot of sense. It also meant they could not kill Voldemort as long as Harry was alive. It felt like a sick joke. "He has to kill you."

Harry nodded, walking towards her and part of her wanted him to just walk on so she did not have to remember the look in his eyes.

Yet she was grateful as he locked eyes with her, they knew this was goodbye. Harry's hand came to her cheek.

"I wanted so much more time with you," he told her.

"Me too." For once in her life, she desperately wanted to cry but the tears would not come and perhaps it was better if Harry didn't see her fall apart. It wouldn't make it easier.

"A lifetime would have been nice."

The words tore through her like a knife but she simply nodded, not allowing her mind to stray to things that could never be.

"I-" Harry started but Ginny knew what he was going to say and she did not want to hear it.

"I know." Instead, she pulled him down to her and kissed him, trying to commit everything about him to memory. The little sigh whenever their lips connected, his firm hands around her waist, the scent that was so distinctly Harry's, the way his nose pressed against her cheek.

Then his lips parted from hers for the last time. His hands dropped from her waist and she opened her eyes to look into his, one last look. He stepped back from her and grabbed hold of his invisibility cloak.

"Give 'em hell, Weasley," he said and then he disappeared from view.

She immediately turned around, so she wouldn't be tempted to make out where he walked by the way the grass moved under his feet. She did not want to see him walk into the forest.

Her eyes landed on the dead girl a few metres away and she tried not to think how Harry would look dead. She needed to be strong. She tagged the body for collection and then went back to the castle in silence.

---

If she had not been staring right at his body when the chaos broke out, she would have missed it.

"Where's Harry?" everyone screamed as the fighting started again.

She had seen it. With one smooth move, he had whipped the invisibility cloak from under his shirt and pulled it over him. It took only a second but it was undeniable, Harry was alive.

She could not show it, she could not let people know he was alive even though she could not have felt more relieved. She joined the duels again too, as they moved back into the Great Hall. She knew Harry was among them, biding his time.

When he finally showed himself again, multiple people let out "He's alive!" but she was not one of them. She knew and together with the crowd they stepped back as he faced Voldemort once again, but this time she was hopeful.

When she saw Voldemort fall back when his own curse rebounded, her heart soared because Harry remained standing, unscathed, Elder Wand in hand.

She knew it would be nearly impossible to reach him in the celebrating crowd and she did not linger long. They'd talk later, she was happy enough to know he was alive and well, something that had seemed impossible mere hours ago.

She saw him once again disappear under the Cloak and then Hermione and Ron got up too. She knew he had things to say to them, she couldn't imagine what they had gone through together the last few months. She sat with her mother and they talked. They had lost Fred tonight but there was much hope for the future.

---

She was trying to fall asleep again in the Common room, curled up in an armchair so she was near her family who occupied mattresses and couches around her. Everyone had settled in early the night after the battle but she could not find sleep. The Battle was still racing through her mind. Someone came down the stairs from the boys' dorm and when she looked up she met eyes with Harry.

He walked past the sleeping forms in the Common Room and she got up too and silently they walked to the portrait hole.

They walked for a while in silence. There was rubble everywhere and they had to watch their step.

Eventually, Harry walked into a classroom that wasn't full of debris and sat down on one of the tables. She followed him and closed the door before sitting down beside him. She tentatively took his hand. She brought it to her lips and kissed the back of his hand.

His piercing green eyes landed on her.

"Well, the prophecy is fulfilled and by some miracle you're still alive."

"I'm as surprised as you are," he spoke softly.

"I did give them hell," she said with a small smile.

He smiled back. "I saw that."

His arm came around her as he turned towards her. "I get more time with you if you'll have me."

"A lifetime would be nice," she repeated his words back to him.

"I did mean that. Dying really helps you sort out your priorities," he looked at her fondly.

She leaned into him and he captured her lips. Though she had tried her best to remember what it felt like to kiss him, none of her memories could do justice to the real thing. This time she was the one sighing into the kiss. Harry's hand moved to the back of her neck and held her close as they kissed.

When they parted, they remained with their foreheads together, looking into each other's eyes.

"Harry, I never got a chance to say but I-," she paused a moment but then pushed on. "I love you."

Harry's eyes lit up. This time when he said it, she did not stop him.

"I love you too, Gin."

Harry held onto her tighter as they kissed now. Ginny's arms were around his waist. His little sigh made her smile against his lips but it just made him lean in further.

It was a bit difficult to fit into the armchair together but they did not mind having to squeeze close together. Ginny sat sideways on his lap and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Gin."

"Goodnight, Harry."

When she woke up several hours later, Harry was still asleep. She looked at the surrounding beds and couches. The majority of her family was still sleeping but Bill and Fleur had gone, she assumed they may have returned home. Her eyes fell on her dad, who seemed to have stirred awake too and she offered him a tired smile, which he returned.

When she moved, Harry opened his eyes for a moment.

"It's okay," she assured him as she got up. His head fell back against the headrest as he dozed off again.

She stood up and noticed someone had set up breakfast in the corner of the room. She walked to the table and sat down, putting a few items on her plate. Her dad came to sit beside her.

"Morning," she said, keeping her voice low.

"How are you feeling?" her dad asked her.

She shrugged, pouring some pumpkin juice for herself. "Alright, trying to sleep is hard."

"Yeah. I have that too," her dad responded. "How's Harry?"

"He's okay, I think," she replied. "It's nice when your boyfriend doesn't run off getting himself killed."

Her dad stalled. "That's hardly his fault."

"You don't understand," she said. How could they? No one knew. "When he was sneaking off to sacrifice himself in the Forest, I came across him."

Her dad watched her carefully.

The words fell from her mouth like she had been aching to tell someone. "We talked but he had to go and so I walked back to the castle knowing he was about to die and there was nothing I could do because-."

She couldn't say more as her throat closed up and she took a deep breath. Her dad hugged her.

"Oh, sweetheart. You didn't tell anyone?" he asked.

She shook her head. "What if anyone tried to stop him? I… I couldn't risk it. I just stood there waiting for him to turn up dead."

Her dad patted her back. She didn't need him to say anything, she just needed to tell anyone else.

"He is a bit stubborn about the whole dying thing, isn't he?"

Ginny chuckled weakly and nodded. Her dad released her and they both turned back to their food.

"It's probably good he's a bit stubborn, don't know many people who match your level of stubbornness."

She looked at her dad who was smiling at her as he teased her.

Her brows furrowed, playing along. "I'm not stubborn."

"You are."

"Am not."

"You are."

"Am not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"You're not what?" Harry's voice came. He sat down at the opposite side of the table.

"Stubborn," she said, leaning towards him. "What do you think?"

"Hm, I'm going to choose not to answer, I think."

"Smart man," her dad commented.

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 29 #30daysprompts #ginnyw potter

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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Loving Her Is Easy

Written for Day 28 of @hinnyfest

Prompt: "I am glad you're alive."

Also on AO3

Harry woke up feeling like he had been run over by a truck but he found comfort in waking up in his four-poster bed in Hogwarts. He had no idea how long he had slept after he had gone to bed after the Battle or what had happened in the world in the meantime.

He crept out of bed and found that the rest of the dorm was empty. There was a dull ache in both his chest and his head but both were bearable so he did not pay it much attention. He stepped into his clothes, which had been cleaned.

He walked down to the common room and was glad to find Ron and Hermione there. “How long did I sleep?”

“About 20 hours I think. I only woke up two hours ago myself,” Ron replied.

“You should get that looked at,” Hermione commented, pointing at his head.

He did shower before he crept into bed so most of the blood must be gone but he assumed it was still visible. He shrugged. “Sure.”

“Most people have gone down for breakfast,” Hermione informed him.

He wasn’t sure if she had mentioned it because he should also eat or because he may not want to walk into the Great Hall when it was full of people.

“Actually, do you know where Ginny is?”

“I think she went down to the Quidditch Pitch,” Ron said.

Harry expected him to say anything else, a word of warning perhaps but Ron stayed silent. He thanked Ron and went on his way to the Pitch. He did not pay much mind to the people in the castle but most of them would not do more than stare as he walked past them.

He was surprised not to find her in the air above the remnants of the bleachers. He continued his way towards the locker rooms to see if she was there. He found her sitting on a bench in the hallway, looking at nothing in particular but she looked up when she heard his footsteps.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said. “I came down here to fly but … no brooms. So now I was just enjoying a quiet moment.”

Harry halted a few meters away from her. “I will leave you then.”

She shook her head and offered a weak smile. “You don’t count.”

He walked closer and sat down on the bench beside her. “How are you?”

“Been better, been worse,” she said, which summed up the bittersweet feeling of victory quite well. “How are you?”

To his surprise, his throat closed up and tears welled up in his eyes. He hadn’t meant to fall apart, Ginny had just lost a brother and was likely feeling much worse than him but he couldn’t help it. Something about her soft caring eyes and her genuine interest in his well-being had unleashed something that had been brewing on his insides ever since the Battle ended.

Without saying a word, she turned to him and pulled him into her arms. Like months hadn’t passed, Ginny was his greatest source of comfort once again. She wasn’t trying to soothe him, she simply recognised he needed to be held for a while.

Ginny patiently waited until he could collect himself, he wiped his tears as he sat up and she let go of him.

He turned to her too, focusing back on why he came here. He pondered what to say or where to start.

“So, what’s your relationship status?” he tried a bit awkwardly.

Her eyes locked with his. “You tell me.”

“Just… if you found another guy in the meanwhile, I’d understand… You were free to date whomever and my chances of survival were next to none, really, so I wouldn’t expect-”

“I was always going to wait for you,” she said honestly.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to, any other guy I bet would have been easier.”

“Easier perhaps, but we don’t choose who we love, do we?” Her eyes were focused on him and didn’t glance away as she said it.

Harry took a deep breath. He tried a dry chuckle. “Are you sure? Because the girl I love… she’s the best. Loving her is easy.”

She shook her head with a smile. “You don’t have to charm me, Potter, you already have my heart.”

Then her lips were on his again and it felt like coming up for air, like sunsets in summer or hot chocolate in the dead of winter, she made him feel glad to be alive. He didn’t know when it happened but when they finally parted she was on his lap. His arms had wrapped around her of their own accord like she belonged there. And she did.

They looked at each other and then Ginny carefully touched her hand to his head and he winced at the sharp pain.

“I can heal that for you,” she said, taking her wand out.

“When did you learn that?” he commented.

She shook her head. “You don’t want to know.” They shared a look indicating they had a lot to talk about, but for now it did not really matter. Her hand came to his chin softly and turned it to the side so she could see properly.

“That must have bled a lot,” she said, pointing her wand at it.

Harry swallowed hard, remembering when he got the wound. He did not have the heart to tell her why he hadn’t cared to notice the bleeding. “Yeah.”

He remained still as Ginny healed it. A moment later her hand softly pressed against it and he found it hardly hurt at all. It was just sore.

“How’s that?” she asked him as he turned to look at her again.

“Much better, thank you.”

"Any other injuries?" she asked.

He grabbed his collar and glanced down his shirt to look at the new scar. "That one can't be helped I fear."

"Can I look?" she asked carefully.

He nodded and she softly pushed up his shirt. It gave him goosebumps where her fingers touched his skin.

He saw her look at the still faintly green scar and back in his eyes. "Is that where the Killing Curse hit?"

He nodded. He inhaled sharply as her palm pressed softly against it, her hands warm against his skin.

“I am glad you’re alive," she said softly, removing her hand and pulling his shirt back down.

"Me too."

He pulled her into a hug and she leaned her head on his shoulder, her nose pressing against the skin of his neck.

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 28 #30daysprompts #ginnyw potter

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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@hinnyfest day 4

Prompt–In the holyhead harpies locker room

Ginny was in the shower 🚿, in the holyhead harpies locker room, letting the water run through her body as she tried to gather herself after today’s match.

It had been exhilarating, exhausting, exciting but not to forget her very best. She had broken records, she had broken the most goal scored by a chaser record. She was so emotional she though she might cry.

She flinched a little when the door to the shower opened but leaned back against his chest when she realized who it was.

Suddenly she couldn’t hold it in anymore and turned around in his arms and cried her heart out.

Harry just held her close and whispered sweet words in her ears.

“I’m so proud of you Gin” he said “Teddy and Jamie are bragging to anyone who’ll listen that you’re their mum”

“It really happened didn’t it, Harry?” Ginny looked upto him before burying her face in his neck.

“If you don’t believe me, just try stepping out of this locker room” Harry said with a humorous lint in his voice.

Ginny grinned against his shoulder, already feeling better.

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 4 #30daysprompts #hinevra-blog

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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my hand was the one you reached for

Written for @hinnyfest, Prompt 28. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

After the war, Ginny tries to hold Harry together. She doesn’t think it’s enough.

[ao3]

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 28 #30daysprompts #dontseembrokenhearted

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hinnyfest · 1 year

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And Yet It Lingers

@hinnyfest Day 27: Potter-Weasley Kids

Summary: He knew his father would be furious as soon as he'd said it, but what James Sirius Potter didn't expect was the conversation that followed - one he never thought they'd have.

Read on AO3 here or continue below the cut:

James practically skipped down the stairs of his family’s cottage, eager to spend the day with his girlfriend and take full advantage of the fact that her parents were out of town. He grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl as he passed through the kitchen, where he found his father whistling while doing dishes and his mother flipping through Seeker Weekly at the table.

“Hello darling”, she said without looking up from the advert for Gregory’s Grippiest Goal Guarding Gloves. “Your father’s just about to whip something up for lunch. Are you hungry?”

“No thanks. I’m meeting Andrea for the afternoon. I’m sure we’ll grab something while we’re out.”

“Oh no you’re not,” his father said without turning around. “Your NEWTs are just around the corner and you haven’t so much as touched a book all Easter holiday.”

“What about Al?” he asked irritatedly. “He has his OWLs coming up, but you let him go down to the beach with Rose.”

“Yes well, Al also spent the last two days studying,” added Mum.

James rolled his eyes. “Whatever. A couple weeks off won’t ruin my chances at passing.”

“Jamie…”

“I practically slept through my OWLs and still got good marks.”

“Please don’t argue with us, James. You’re smart, but you still need to study,” Dad said, his patience clearly wearing thin. “These exams are important, especially if you’re still insisting upon applying to the auror training program.”

James snorted, irritated. “That’s rich coming from an auror who skived off his NEWT year to be a vigilante.”

The moment the words left his lips, he knew he’d made a mistake.

Dad slammed the dish towel on the counter with a snap and whipped around to face James, shouting, “Did you stop to consider for ONE BLOODY MOMENT that maybe I’d rather have been arguing with my father about exams!”

All the colour drained from James’ face. He was no stranger to being on the receiving end of his dad’s irritation, but never of intense anger like this.

“Dad...I didn’t...I-,” he stammered. Dad, still clearly furious, opened his mouth to speak, but Mum cut in.

“Take a walk, Harry.”

James knew by his mother’s tone that it was not a suggestion.

James looked back and forth between his parents, who were having some sort of intense, wordless conversation. Dad nodded curtly and walked out the back door, not looking at James. As soon as the door clicked shut, Ginny rounded on her son.

“What on earth were you thinking?”

“I don’t know. It was stupid,” he said lamely. He felt very small.

“It certainly was. I suppose I should at least be grateful that your life is so different from your father’s that you can say things like that without a moment of consideration.”

“I’m sorry, Mum,” James mumbled. He was having trouble making eye contact with her.

“It’s not me you need to be apologising to.”

Guilt slid slowly down into his gut with a sickening thud.

“Still,” she said, her voice softening as she put her hand on James’ shoulder. “He shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. Head upstairs and study while I have a word with him please.”

“Yes Mum.”

*** *** *** *** ***

James was sitting on his bed, flipping idly through his Charms textbook and reading without the faintest trace of comprehension. He felt awful. For one fleeting moment, it had seemed like a good retort, but now the memory of his father’s expression wouldn’t leave his mind. It made his stomach squirm uncomfortably.

There was a knock on his door.

“Come in,” he said apprehensively.

Dad, considerably calmer, came into the room and gestured to the foot of James’ bed.

“Can I sit?”

“Sure.”

The bed creaked as Dad sat down. He took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

James swallowed hard.

“I was being a right prat.”

“A bit,” Dad conceded with a fleeting smile. “It's a sore spot, I'll admit, but that doesn’t mean I should yell at you.”

James nodded. “It’s alright. I knew as soon as I said it that it was really shitty of me. I guess I just forget sometimes...” He hesitated, unsure of how to say what was on his mind, what had been bothering him since he came back up to his room.

“Forget what?” Dad asked curiously.

“That all that actually happened– the war and everything. Obviously I know it did, but when you explained it to us as kids, it always sounded like some made up adventure, like something out of a book. It’s easy to forget that it was real. I don’t know if that makes any sense.”

“It does,” Dad said quietly.

“Why did you give us such a sugar-coated version of things?” he asked.

Dad looked at James for what felt like ages before answering.

“If I had it my way, we would have waited until you were much older than you were to tell you anything about it at all, but we didn’t have that choice, not when there were books written about me and people approaching us in the street. As much as I hated having to tell you everything at such a young age, I really didn’t want you to go off to school and find things out about your family from classmates or books. So, we told it to you young as - like you said - something out of a story.”

“I guess that makes sense, but I’m not a little kid anymore. I’m already older than you were at the end of the war. I can handle the adult version of things.”

“I know you can, but you already know everything you need to.” Dad ran his hand through his hair stressfully. “What good does it do to sit you back down again and give you all the gory details?”

“I don’t want all the gory details. I just want to understand.”

“I’m glad you don’t understand. It means you’ve had a good childhood and that I’ve sufficiently protected you from all that. Besides, if we’re having a frank conversation about this now, I can admit that I find it rather difficult to talk about.”

James was taken aback by the uncharacteristic vulnerability.

“Still?”

Dad nodded, looking suddenly much older and more tired than James was accustomed to. “It might get better over time, but it’ll never fully go away, Jamie, not for me nor anyone else who lived through that time.”

“How do you mean?” James didn’t want to push his luck, but it was exceedingly rare that they touched on the topic anymore, and never with this much honesty.

Dad pondered him for what felt like ages. James could practically hear the gears turning in his father’s head, but he said nothing, simply waiting with baited breath to find out if Dad was going to shut the conversation down, as he was wont to do, or continue on.

“Did you know that we put a silencing charm on our bedroom door every night?”

“Gross, Dad.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he chuckled, though his smile quickly faded.

“Why then?” James asked.

“I’ve always had vivid dreams, ever since I can remember, and I had the most awful nightmares after the war. I hardly slept at all for the first few months. The worst part was if I woke up suddenly, it’d take me a minute to work out that I wasn’t in the midst of it – that the nightmare wasn’t real. Ron was on the receiving end of it a few times that summer, sharing a room with me. He blew it off as best as he could, but I felt terrible.”

Dad’s gaze dropped down to his hands, though his eyes were looking right through them.

“It got better over the years, but they never went away completely. I was really nervous when your mother and I moved in together, but it was a much rarer occurrence than it had been, and she knew how to handle it when it cropped up. It got less scary, and by the time you were born, it hardly ever happened anymore.

When Al was born though, he was a horrible sleeper. I swear he didn’t make it through the night for six months. Your mum and I weren’t getting nearly enough rest, and the nightmares were starting to crop up more regularly again. One night, I guess I was having a particularly vivid one. You must have heard me, because you came to our room and–”

He paused, a strangely pained expression appearing on his face. James waited for him to continue with a feeling of unease.

“Your mum wasn’t waking me up, she knows better than to do that, but you didn’t. Before she could stop you, you grabbed my arm, and when I came to, you were up against the wall with my wand pointed at your chest. You were screaming, you were so utterly terrified. Next thing I knew, your mum disarmed me, scooped you up, and took you out of the room. She was furious with me, and I don’t blame her.”

“But it wasn’t on purpose. She must’ve known that.”

“Of course she did,” Dad sighed, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re her son, and I put you in harm’s way. We talked through it of course, and we’ve taken the same precautions ever since – I sleep on the side of the bed that’s farther from the door, we silence the doorway every night, and nothing like that has ever happened again.”

“I don’t remember, if that makes it any better,” James offered up, hoping to relieve his father’s guilt.

“I’m glad of that.” Dad finally looked him in the eye again. “But I will never forget the look on your face. I could be sick just thinking about it – about what could have happened.”

The two Potters sat in heavy silence for a bit before James broke it.

“Do you still get them? Nightmares about the war?”

“Sometimes,” Dad admitted. “Not like I used to, though,” he added reassuringly.

“I’m really sorry about what I said.” James meant it, more than ever.

“It’s ok.” Dad put his hand on James’ knee. “You’re still not getting out of studying though, just so we’re clear.”

James, recognising that the conversation was at an end, let out a bark-like laugh, picking his Charms book back up and showing it to his father exaggeratedly. “Can’t wait.”

“That’s the spirit,” Dad said, a bit of levity finding its place in his voice again. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

James cracked the textbook back open, intent on actually studying this time. It was true, he thought as Dad left the room, that he needed top marks to be an auror, and an auror he would be.

Just like his father.

#hinny #hinnyfest #day 27 #30daysprompts #hinnyfied

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