FicWad

Author's Note: If you have any questions about my experience or with self-injury itself, feel free to ask. Raising awareness about self-injury is very important to me.




Warnings For This Chapter: mild sexual situations, cutting mentioned




Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter series.




Chapter Four




Self-injury is a sign of distress not madness. We should be

congratulated on having found a way of surviving.

-Cory Anderson




The next three days passed by uneventfully. Ginny was no longer avoiding Harry or her family. On the contrary, she spent a lot of her time helping her mother around the house. Yesterday Ginny, Harry, and Ron had de-gnomed the garden. Ron was quite put out when his baby sister beat his throwing record.




The whole family was quite happy with how things had turned out with Ginny and Harry. When Ginny wasn't busy with chores, she would take long walks with Harry or play Quidditch with him and her brothers. Molly knew how hard her daughter had been working and was very pleased with the help. But Ginny was young, and didn't need to devote all of her time to house work. That was a mother's job. So Molly had arranged for Harry and Ginny to go down to the river and spend some time together.




It took no time at all for Harry to change into his dark green swim trunks. He walked down the rickety old staircase and into the sitting room. Taking a seat on the couch, he absentmindedly opened up the day's /Daily Prophet/. Harry looked up when he heard the stairs creak as someone descended them. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Ginny.




Ginny very nervously made her way down the last three steps and into the sitting room. Harry was sitting on the couch, the newspaper in his hand. He stood up as she entered the room.




“Wow,” was all Harry managed to get out.




Ginny blushed.




“You look beautiful.” Harry took her hand and pulled her towards him. He placed a light kiss on her lips, causing Ginny to turn even redder.




Harry stood back and took in the sight of her. She wore a white cotton halter cover-up dress with gold trim. It tied at the neck and wrapped around the front. Ginny's curly red hair formed a halo around her, ending at her waist.




“Thank you,” Ginny finally managed to whisper.




“You're very welcome.” Harry pulled her in for another kiss. “You ready?”




Ginny bit her lip shyly before she smiled and nodded. “Yeah, let's go.”




H/G




Walking through the woods, Harry began to hear the sound of rushing water. He held Ginny's hand in his, allowing her to lead the way to the river. Once they reached the calmer part of the river, Harry let go of her hand and tested the water with his foot. Satisfied that the water wasn't too cold, Harry took a deep breath and jumped in. Ginny laughed when he emerged with a 'whoop!' and shook the water out of his hair. Harry was thankful Molly Weasley had reminded him to cast an Impervius charm on his glasses.




Ginny took this moment to pull her cover-up over her head while Harry wasn't looking. She carefully folded it up and hung it over atree limb. Ginny felt his eyes on her and tried to fight down the blush she knew was flushing her face. She turned to face the river and grew even redder.




Harry had just turned to see where Ginny had disappeared to when she pulled her cover-up off. A large lump formed in his throat. Underneath the cover-up she had been wearing a dark green bikini. Harry realised his imagination had not done Ginny's figure any justice.




“See something you like?” Ginny tried to overcome her shyness.




“Yes, indeed I do.” Harry blushed at his response. “Come on in! The water's fine.”




Ginny laughed at the overused expression, but wasted no time in jumping in. She came up for air and bobbed in the water, pushing her hair out of her face. Ginny smiled shyly when Harry floated over to her and pulled her to sit on his lap. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry in turn wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist and pulled her in for a long kiss.




The kiss turned deeper and when Harry felt her tongue at his lips he opened his mouth to grant her admittance. Harry lost all coherent thought and barely felt it when they sank under the water. Ginny didn't seem concerned with this turn of events. She held him tighter to her, her hands in his hair. Harry groaned. It was too much; he needed to breathe. He pulled them both back up to the surface and broke away from her.




“That was fun.” Harry smiled at her.




“I'll say.” Ginny kissed his cheek softly.




They spent the afternoon lazing around in the sun. Ginny made aremark about Harry's messy hair, which resulted in her being dropped into the river. He reached out his hand to help her out, an unwise move. He soon found himself landing in the water with a bellyflop. Harry glared at Ginny when he came up for air. She laughed and jumped out of the water, running through the woods, her red hair flying behind her.




Harry chased after Ginny. When he finally caught her, he tickled her mercilessly. They fell to the ground laughing. Ginny gazed up at him, her eyes filled with love. Harry dipped his head down and captured her lips in his. He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, moaning when her tongue tangled with his. Ginny pulled his lower lip between her teeth. Harry groaned, pressing his body into hers. Ginny could feel his reaction to her, which caused her to blush deeply. Harry somehow sensed this and pulled back.




“Why'd you stop?” Ginny fought to catch her breath.




“We're going too fast.” Harry leaned his head against his hand.




Ginny shrugged. “If you think so.” She stood up and brushed herself off. “We should be getting back, anyway. Lunch should be ready soon.”




Ginny turned around to face Harry when he didn't reply. He was staring at her. Suddenly, Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her down to kneel before him. She noticed his gaze rested on her arm. The concealment cream had washed off sometime in the water. Ginny instinctively pulled back. Harry held her tighter so she couldn't escape.




“Ginny, Pig didn't do that did he?” Harry asked her gently.




Ginny's eyes filled with tears. She shook her head slowly, tears falling down her cheeks. Ginny wiped at them furiously, gulping for air.




“Why, Ginny? Why did you do it?” Harry laced his fingers with hers carefully.




Ginny paused before she answered. Finally, she whispered, “The nightmares.”




Harry pulled her into his arms. Once Ginny stopped crying he looked down into her eyes. “You know, mine have gotten worse too.”




“They have?” Ginny asked stupidly. Of course, Harry's nightmares would be horrible. He had just lost his godfather, for Merlin's sake.




“Yeah. Every night Sirius dies, and I can't reach him. But this isn't the solution for nightmares, Ginny. Why don't you owl Madam Pomfrey for a dreamless sleep potion?” Harry asked.




“You of all people know how easy it is to become addicted.” Ginny shook her head.




“They can monitor your use,” Harry whispered. “Ginny, anything is better than this. You can't keep doing this to yourself.”




Ginny gaped at him. “How did you know?”




Harry traced his finger along a scar on Ginny's wrist, causing her to shudder. She pulled her wrist back and looked around for a towel. Ginny quickly dried off and pulled her cover up on.




“Don't go. Please, don't go.” Harry stared at the grass.“I won't tell anyone. Not if you don't want me to.”




“You won't?” Ginny asked astonished.




“Only if you promise me you'll stop. Or at least try to. Iknow how bad nightmares can be, they can drive you crazy. Just try to get better.”




“You think I'm crazy,” Ginny accused.




“No, I don't. Far from it actually. I think you're trying to find a way to live.” Harry shook his head. “Look, why don't you come get me if you have a nightmare? Maybe it will help to have someone there to talk about it, or just to hold you.”




Ginny considered his offer. She sighed. “I'll try. I'm not promising anything, but I'll try.”




Harry smiled at her. “That's good enough. For now.”




Harry got to his feet and took Ginny's hand in his before leading her back to the Burrow.