WHO: Ginny Weasley & Sam Capper WHAT: talking after the animagus class WHERE: gryffindor tower WHEN: Friday night (backdated) WARNING/RATING/STATUS: none/PG?/finished!
Despite the potion McGonagall had given her for the pain, her muscles were still bundles of tight knots that were desperately holding onto the soreness induced by the evening's lesson. The potion had made the majority of it ebb into the more stealthy dastardly sort; the kind that laid low until you stepped the wrong way or turned too quickly and then forced you to remember it in a sudden and jarring way. She could merely hope a good, long night's sleep would finish it all off.
"Uuuuugh," she groaned irritably, standing at the foot of Ginny's bed when she'd finally reached their dorm (after a walk that had felt like an eternity). She fell, face forward, beside her girlfriend and spoke into the mattress. "I think I could sleep for a week," she muttered, her words muffled by the comforter. Pushing blindly, still too lazy to lift her head, she scooted up along the bed til she bumped into the other girl, draping an arm over her leg.
Turning lazily from her book, Ginny eyed the other girl. "And this is different from any other day how?" Sam had been gone again, on one of her mysterious sojourns. When she'd questioned the other girl, Sam had told her she was in trouble for not paying enough attention in class. Ginny had readily bought that, Sam wasn't known for her academic skills... but that had been ages ago. Wouldn't her punishment be over by now?
However, when pushed, Sam stuck to her story and Ginny was almost ready to follow her wherever she disappeared to. Tucking her parchment and quill into her book, Ginny dropped them on the bedside table and rolled onto her side, stroking Sam's hair gently. "I think you could sleep for more than a week."
"Oh, fuck that'd be lovely," Sam enthused, rolling over slightly to snuggle up to the red head. "Think I can get away with hibernation?"
Wrapping her arms around Sam, Ginny couldn't help pressing a gentle kiss against her forehead. "Do you have to hibernate alone?" She asked, absently working her fingers through Sam's curls.
"I hope not. Sounds proper lonely, hibernating alone. Are you offering to join me? I can give you a few pointers." She snuggled closer, tilting her head toward Ginny's hand. "Not waking up is key, I can tell you that much." Shifting again, Sam's neck twinged angrily, causing her to flinch slightly. Hoping Ginny wouldn't call her on it she slipped a hand under her shirt to let her fingers stroke her side.
Ginny snorted and shook her head. "Like I'd let you leave me for that long." She closed her eyes momentarily, moving against Sam and missing the other girl's movement. "Please. I go slightly mad with boredom when you disappear at night, I'd end up in Mungo's with Lockhart if you hibernated without me." At Sam's touch, she let out a soft noise, pressing up towards the other girl's hand.
"Love, you are already slightly mad, don't try to blame it on me," Sam smirked, stroking more firmly to appease Ginny.
Ducking her head, Ginny kissed Sam softly, moving towards her hand. "I was perfectly sane before I met you," she shot back, gently, a lazy smile curving her lips.
"And even though I assure you I'd come and visit you, I'm sure I'd just end up there with you soon enough. I can't take this place without you." Her hand moved higher, pulling up her shirt slightly. "Godric, you're the only reason I'm here."
Ginny's eyes fluttered closed for a moment and she slid onto her back, arching up slightly. "You know what?" she murmured, tangling her fingers through Sam's hair.
Sam moved carefully, propping herself up so she was half draped over her girlfriend, smiling down at her as her hand wandered. "What's that?"
"I love you," she opened her eyes and matched Sam's smile, her fingers moving from Sam's hair and cupping her cheek. Right now, in this moment, she was more certain of that fact than she'd ever been about anything else. Harry still confused her, still made her stomach churn, but it wasn't anything like this.
Smiling widely, Sam lowered her head and gave Ginny a firm, lingering kiss. "I love you too, Gin," she said, trying not to gush. It made her heart skip every time Ginny said it and she kept waiting for the excited sensation to fade but so far it was as exhilarating as the first time.
"Sammy?" Ginny wrapped her arms around Sam, pulling her close and stroking her fingers along the other girl's back. She hadn't meant to direct the conversation this way, but now that she'd said her girlfriend's name, she knew she had to ask.
"Hm?" Sam traced circles over Ginny's skin, running her hand across her stomach and back, feeling more at ease than any potion could have made her.
Arching up against her, Ginny stroked her fingers down Sam's sides and slipped them up under the other girl's shirt, loving the feel of her soft skin. "Where were you tonight?" She asked, hating to ask again, but needing to know. There was something that wasn't adding up and it wasn't that she didn't trust Sam, it was just that she had no idea what was going on.
Immediately reacting to the question, Sam's hand hesitated for a quick second before it resumed it's pattern across her skin. "Transfiguration..." she tried, pulling up the story she'd originally tried on her. The look on Ginny's face said plenty and Sam trailed off, she knew this point had to come up at some point. It wasn't like Ginny to buy such a weak story for long, if their places were switched she'd certainly be questioning it.
Sighing, Sam sat up and wondered if Ginny would even be able to accept the detail poor explanation she was able to offer. "Remember when I had to go see McGonagall?"
Ginny was glad Sam was able to read her so well because she hadn't really wanted to move from this comfortable position with Sam's fingers stroking her skin in such a delicious way to fight. "Which time?" she joked, gently tickling the curve of Sam's hip.
"The first time..." she squirmed slightly, trying to resist the urge to say 'fuck it' for explanations and just go back to snuggling and touching. "She, I can't really explain because I'm not supposed to tell anyone and it's McGonagall so you just know she'd know somehow." Sam didn't even want to know what the headmistress would do to her if that happened but she had no doubt the formidable woman would deal out serious consequences. "She asked me if I was willing to take on a project for her. And she explicitly said I wasn't supposed to tell you. But it's good, Gin, it is." Sam cut off her babble and smiled nervously, hoping she'd accept the meagre offering.
Ginny's fingers stilled against Sam's skin as the girl talked. A project? That Ginny wasn't to know about? Instantly, Ginny's curiosity was piqued, more so than it had been before. Responses ran through her head, her brows knitting as her lips turned down. This was bringing up all sorts of feelings from before, with Harry and she didn't like it at all. "Why can't you tell me?" She asked, slightly caught up in Harry thoughts. "It's not as though I can't keep a secret."
"McGonagall's orders," she repeated, shaking her head firmly. "Just for now. I can tell you more soon," she sincerely hoped so, she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to tolerate the intense training sessions. At least she'd managed to a few changes tonight, something to show for all her hard work. But, she figured, once she actually finished the training she'd be able to change and she could tell Ginny. Once it was completed there was nothing for the Headmistress to take away if she messed up or shared.
Frowning deeper, Ginny knew she shouldn't push Sam. She pursed her lips and looked away from Sam, looking past her, deep in thought. It wasn't Sam's decision not to tell her and she knew just how formidable McGonagall was. It wasn't like with Harry, who thought... whatever it was that he thought. That he couldn't trust her, that she wasn't worth telling for whatever reason, that he had to do things all by his own stupid self. "Is it just you?" She asked, after a long moment, not looking back to Sam, her fingers absently picking up the patterns she'd been tracing on her girlfriend's skin.
Sam had to think for a moment, decide whether the answer was one she could give Ginny or not. "No," she eventually answered, wrapping an arm around Ginny and snuggling in again. "I'm not, but I can't tell you who else." She kissed the top of her girlfriend's head and hugged her tightly. "You'd be proud of me," she tacked on after another moment, thinking about how she was actually working at something other than her own unacademic interests and even succeeding. She'd sported the ears to prove it.
Sam's response hadn't served to lighten the frown curving Ginny's lips. In fact, a spike of jealousy shot through her at the girl's words. She knew Sam was deeply in love with her and trusted her girlfriend with every fibre of her being. Yet she couldn't help disliking the fact that she'd been out, doing Merlin knew what with a group of mysterious people. She felt almost left out, which was rather stupid and massively hypocritical, as she'd left Sam out of the D.A., but she couldn't change her feelings.
"How long has it been going on?" She asked, cutting herself off as Sam's last words struck her. She pulled back slightly, focusing on Sam, her brows knit. "I am proud of you, baby." She assured her girlfriend.
"Since that meeting in January, so a couple months," she answered, trying not to look too concerned when Ginny pulled back. "I know but this is ...different." It felt like a lame explanation and she knew it probably was. But it wasn't like knowing Ginny was proud of her because she simply loved her or she could sing or any other little reason. She didn't mind that kind but it wasn't like this.
It killed her having to keep this to herself. She'd always hated keeping anything from her best friend and, apart from the enduring feelings she'd had for her, had never bothered to censor herself. She had Seamus and Aud to talk to but to her it wasn't the same. She could talk to them until she was out of breath but it wouldn't stay the desire to tell Ginny. Add on top of it all the importance of what she was doing.... More than once she'd wondered if this is what Ginny had felt during fourth year with the DA and marvelled that she hadn't gone insane by Christmas.
January. Sam had been hiding this from her since January. Ginny pulled back, pushing up into a sitting position. She wasn't quite sure exactly what to say. While she was glad that Sam had finally told her at least this much, the fact that she'd been able to hide from her so long worried Ginny. As much as she wanted to push, to find out more about this secret project (why had Sam been contacted but not Ginny? Who among the students left in school were more committed to the fight against You-Know-Who than her?), she knew she couldn't really. It wouldn't be right and it would put Sam in a horrible position. She huffed and frowned, folding her arms across her chest and feeling pouty.
Sam's face fell as she watched Ginny pull back even further. She knew it'd been a risk telling what she did but it had been just as poor of an idea to keep trying some flimsy lie. "Gin?" She laid a hand gently on her girlfriend's shoulder, well aware she was settling in for a proper pouting session. Metaphorically she had her fingers crossed, there was nothing she could do for Ginny no matter how hard she moped and she hated fighting with her. It would take a lot more practice to master the transformation and she certainly didn't want to be fighting that long.
Looking up just in time to see Sam's face fall, Ginny mentally scolded herself. It wasn't Sam's fault that she couldn't tell, she should be mad at McGonagall, if anyone. It wasn't like with Harry and his deliberate decision not to share loads of his life with people. Sam wasn't Not Telling because she didn't think Ginny was competent enough to handle it. "Yeah?" although she tried, she couldn't quite keep the grumpy note out of her voice and pressed against Sam's hand gently, almost but not quite ready to move out of her funk.
A variety of responses bounced around her head, try a joke, try a distraction, try another apology. What really wanted to burst out of her mouth was the truth and she knew that wouldn't do. To distract herself as much as Ginny, Sam climbed into her girlfriend's lap and took her face in her hands, pulling her in for a deep kiss.
Dropping her arms from their position folded around herself, she instinctively wound them around Sam's waist, sliding her hands under the other girl's shirt and pulling her close. She still hadn't been able to fully push down the flares of jealousy, but it wasn't like this was the first time people she'd cared about had kept secrets from her because of the war and it probably wasn't going to be the last. It wasn't fair to Sam to keep her waiting for Ginny to get over her issues, so she held Sam close and returned the kiss.
Thankful Ginny wasn't going to pull away again, she was sure if the other girl pushed enough she'd break, Sam kissed her girlfriend deeply, tugging at the buttons on her shirt. "I fucking love you, Gin," she muttered against her lips.
Unable to stop herself from smiling, Ginny slid her hands up Sam's back, tugging her shirt up as she did so. "Well," she pulled back slightly, but only to relocate her lips to Sam's neck. "I'm fucking loveable."
Sam smirked and finished off the buttons, pushing the fabric back off her shoulders eagerly. "Yeah, I noticed that." She wrapped her arms around Ginny's waist and rolled to the side, laying down on the comfy bed and taking the other girl down with her.