Chapter Six - Study Date/Romance

They woke early, Harry especially wanting the day to last as long as possible. Since it was a warm day, almost summer-like, it was decided that bathing suits would be worn beneath their regular clothes so they could swim if they liked. Harry had never seen Ginny in a bathing suit and could hardly wait. Her regular clothes were exciting enough, though...at least to him...although she probably wouldn't have considered them such.

A lacy little coverup top and snug jeans, along with her favourite white sandals, completed her picnic/study date ensemble. She had her hair put up with a large barrette, but Harry was hoping he would be able to get her to take it down because he much preferred seeing it that way. It would also be easier for him to kiss, stroke or run his fingers through it, should matters get that far ... and if he could manage it, they would.

He wore a red and gold t-shirt with black jeans, although he forwent his regular shoes this time for black sandals. When the time came, he took charge of the picnic basket/cooler which contained their lunch, since it was heavy; she took charge of their textbooks and other study materials, using a "Feather-Light" spell to make them all but weightless.

Again, he decided to take her to the picnic spot on his broom, using the same spell on the picnic basket/cooler as she did with the books and study materials so it didn't weigh the broom down. It was about a fifteen-minute flight, and each had to use at least one hand to hang onto the stuff. Fairly tricky to manoeuvre, but they managed. Just the same, both were glad when they arrived.

Upon arrival they realized they had forgotten a blanket, so Harry used the Inanimatus Conjurus spell, picturing a large red-gold blanket in the Gryffindor colours to spread out and sit on. Once that was done, they situated themselves and began studying...that is, once all the stuff was distributed, both academic and culinary.

Ginny had also brought a battery-operated boom box with some of their favourite musical tapes, shrunk down and lightened in her jeans pocket. Not long after their arrival, she had enlarged and returned the weight of the articles to normal, setting up the music to play continuously in order to have a pleasant soundtrack to the day. They ate at least some of the food while they studied, deciding to save the rest for after the swim, because one usually got hungry again after a swim.

There were some things he was able to help her with, such as the DADA book and the sixth-year standard text of spells. They worked together on the one book they shared, Advanced Potions. It wasn't precisely the same as the Half-Blood Prince's version, but this book was an updated edition, and to Harry's surprise, it contained a lot of the same stuff that had been in the Prince's version.

It seemed to grow warmer as the day wore on, and it was Ginny who eventually suggested they have a swim in the nearby large pond by which they were studying. Harry fought to control the sudden pounding of his heart at the thought of finally seeing Ginny in a bathing suit...and most importantly, with no one around (except her, maybe) to comment on any reactions he might make.

They decided to duck behind trees to change into the bathing suits; Harry made sure to finish first, so he could watch and wait for her to reappear, then savour the moment when he first saw her. He wore some swim trunks and a tank top, which matched his eyes, waiting on the blanket for her to return. It was several minutes later (he estimated around ten or so) that he heard her voice from behind him.

"Harry? I'm ready."

He turned around...and was instantly enchanted ... not to mention aroused! Her suit was something he didn't think Molly would have allowed her out of the house in had she known she even owned such a thing. Probably the only reason Ginny had gotten away with it was because she'd been wearing her regular clothes over it. Gods, she was lovely ... It was a two-piece denim strapless string bikini! His heart and libido both soared into the stratosphere, and he wasn't sure for how long (or even if) he would be able to control himself. She looked literally good enough to eat; his hands fairly itched to touch and caress the bare skin exposed by the brief suit, just as his lips ached to kiss it.

Harry's knees suddenly felt as though he had been zapped by a Jelly-Legs Jinx, and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to stand up, let alone walk to her ... but fortunately he was near a tree, using it to support himself temporarily while he stood up. He didn't move until he was at least fairly sure he wouldn't take one step and fall flat on his face ... then took a step and almost literally froze in his tracks. For a long time he just stood there gazing at her, stunned speechless by her beauty. She had even taken her hair down!

Ginny was the one who finally spoke. "Harry, are you coming or not?"

"Oh ... yeah ... sorry." It was surely nothing short of a miracle that he had managed to keep his feet as he made himself move to join her.

After swimming for a while, then just playing in the water like children, they decided to get out...but stopped about five feet short of the shoreline. The water was up to her thighs, but Harry, being several inches taller, it was around his knees. By this time he could resist the need to touch and hold her no longer. What he was feeling was anything but childish, and he was hoping she wanted it as much as he did, although she had given no indication one way or the other up to this point. Maybe she was waiting for him to make the first move. Well, no need to worry; he fully intended to ... and right now!

Just the same, Harry was hesitant about sliding his arms around Ginny's waist, although she merely smiled and didn't say or do anything to discourage him even as he entwined his fingers to rest on the small of her back. Only then did Ginny slide her arms around her companion's slender waist, loving the feel of his warm, bare skin beneath her hands.

Finally she rested her cheek on his chest where dark hair was beginning to grow, mostly on his upper chest with a thin line extending to his navel. She could see this because he had removed his tank top before their swim. Ginny blushed upon thinking of how much she wanted to kiss her way down that line, but instead she just held him, listening to his heart beating rapidly beneath her ear: a beat which increased markedly as she lightly stroked over it.

Harry closed his eyes and prayed for strength; her fingers almost literally inflamed him beyond control. "Gin ..."

"Yes?"

"May I ... kiss you?"

"You have to ask?" She reached up to stroke the back of his neck, then down his back to his waist. He moaned softly and tightened his embrace even as he bent to find her lips ... tentatively at first, then the kiss deepened when one of her hands reached to hold the back of his head. It was a long time before they came up for air, and even then, only reluctantly. Harry was unable to help thinking how sweet she both smelled and tasted; his desire to experience every aspect of her was all but insatiable.

Not too much later, resuming the kiss, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the water and toward the blanket, a volatile mixture of love and desire making for a sweet pain in his body – a pain that must be eased soon, or else he would go mad. He knelt down and gently placed her on her back on the blanket, then joined her there, unwilling to have his hands and lips not touching her for more than a few seconds, if that.

Once he was holding her again, his lips found their way to her creamy throat and kissed it, lingering on the pulse point beneath her left ear. Of course, his hands were busy too, make no mistake.

"Come here," she finally directed, lying on her back. Her next words were what hooked him once and for all: "Make love to me, Harry. I want to belong to you completely."

Even as he prepared to obey her, he drank in the sight of her, craving it as an alcoholic would crave liquor. She was every bit as intoxicating and addictive as the aforementioned drink, and he knew he would need a continuous Ginny-fix every day for the rest of his life to satisfy his addiction.

Harry had frankly never dreamed he would be in this situation so soon, fully expecting it to take months at the very least before she would be willing to share intimacies, especially with him, especially considering how Draco had attempted to implicate Harry in her rape. He was thankful beyond words that it hadn't taken. He marveled once again at the depth of her love and faith in him that had made it possible.

"Your wish is my command, sweet lady." Even as their intricately entwined bodies began to move together in the rhythms of love, the lovers shared their own wordless Heaven, unable to believe it possible to feel as they did and still be on Earth. After a while they lost all track of time, aware only of each other's nearness and the touch and kiss of the other.

Harry had never experienced such heavenly rapture, sorely tempted to throw all semblance of self-control to the winds and be damned to the consequences, certain that Ginny felt the same way. They had waited almost a literal eternity for this moment! If only this unbelievable happiness, this most incredible sweetness he felt right now would never end. Love was here and now, his only desire to remain close to Ginny, in her arms, feeling her delicious body move beneath him and her lips cling to his as she whispered of her love and passion for him.

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