Author: Auditory Eden

Rating: T

Warnings: For Ronald and his mouth, and for Harry and Ginny and their thing.

Notes: Well, they did split up. So how did they get back together again? All to Jo. Actually, I think this is a bit Jo should have done herself, but I guess she never got around to it.

About Damn Time

Ginny was fed up with tidying her room. She checked the clock on her windowsill again, establishing that it was eleven-thirty at night. Time to be going.

Technicallly her mum couldn't stop her—Ginny had turned seventeen only a few short weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts, but while still living under her parents roof before her seventh year of school, was under a curfew and a number of other rules.

She opened her window very carefully, using a quick shield charm to let herself slip out of the field of the intruder charm. If only her mother knew that she had been sneaking out for years, somehow figuring out that underage magic in wizarding households tended to go completely unnoticed.

This trip, though, broke all the rules. In the past, Ginny had only snuck out to run down to the village store for candy or books, but this trip went against Rule Number One: Thou mayest not be alone with a member of the opposite sex to whom thou ist not related.

Not that Ginny was certain her plan would work.

She slipped out of the front gate, past the garden, and noted that her broom was exactly where it needed to be, propped up against the gate. That would be how she got back to her third-floor room. She went all the way past the anti-apparition charm, and turned.

She emerged gasping from the pressing darkness in Grimauld Place. Number Twelve was visible, and looked much better than last she'd seen it. The paint on the door was a fresh red, and when she reached for the knocker, she noticed the hardware was all neutral now—not a snake to be seen.

The crash of the heavy doorknocker made her wince, but it would probably get his attention, she figured. Ginny was rewarded when she heard someone begin to fiddle with the lock on the other side.

The door opened to show Harry, only a head taller than her, skinny, dressed for sleep in pajama pants and a tee-shirt.

"Um…Ginny," he stated.

"Hi Harry!" she said cheerily and stepped in, right past him. She surveyed the hall, now clean and much less gloomy. "I must say, you've worked wonders with the place!"

Harry blinked at her owlishly from behind his glasses. "Thanks, I suppose…" he looked around for a moment, as if searching for inspiration. "Does your mum know—"

"No, she doesn't."

"Ah." He paused for a moment. "Would you like some tea?"

Ginny smiled approvingly. "Yes, I would, thank you."

Harry led her down to the kitchen, where she sat and watched as he busied himself with the kettle. Kreacher poked his head around the door of his cupboard, but at Harry's assurance that they were alright, went back in for the night.

"So, um…what brings you here…at midnight?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"Well, we haven't talked in a while, so I thought…" Ginny have him her best million-watt smile.

"How'd you get out?" was his next question. She felt herself grinning again, more normally now.

"It's quite easy. All you need is a standard Protego charm, and you can slip right through most intruder charms." She looked at him a little pointedly. "What with you being at our house so often and everything, I've learned how to get past a lot of different security stuff."

"I see…"

Harry stood as the kettle whistled. The next inquiry he sent her way was much more mundane. "Um, all I've got's chamomile and some weird green tea Hermione's left…"

"Chamomile," she replied, laying her head down on the table and watching him. It was odd to see him, like this, just Harry. "I never really thought of you as domestic, you know," she added conversationally.

"Well, I got a lot of practice, living with my aunt and uncle," he informed her. "Milk and sugar?"

"Yes, please," was her tired reply. He set a mug down in front of her, placed one in front of himself, and sat, digging a hand into his messy black hair.

"Ginny, really, why are you here in the middle of the night?" Harry asked.

"I just wanted to talk, you know."

"At midnight?"

Ginny snorted. "Some excuse for a teenager you are. You go to sleep early and you wake up early. Be normal for a change!"

He grinned at her. "Well, I am working on that." They sat in silence for the next few moments. "D'you want…I don't know…I was going to bed when you knocked, so…"

Ginny gave him a look. "Harry, I don't practice legilamency. What are you trying to ask?"

"I was just wondering…It's more comfortable in my room. I've got a couch and stuff…" he trailed away.

"Sure." She picked up her mug of tea and waited for him to stand. He rose and led her to his room, which was indeed more comfortable than the kitchen. On the way, Ginny saw that not all the house was as clean and warm-looking as the entry and kitchen, and some of the heavily Slytherin themed décor still remained. Harry's room, however, was quite plain. The door was simply stained wood, and the walls were a pleasant cream color.

"Nice decorating," she remarked.

"Yeah, well, Hermione helped." He scratched his head and shrugged. "Apparently I have no sense of aesthetics."

Ginny moved to place her tea on the little table by the couch, which was really more of a large overstuffed chair. Harry settled on to his bed, sipping his tea and watching her.

"Harry, I've got a question for you," Ginny stated. When he nodded, she said, "I know…why we split up. You had your whole stupid noble quest, but why…?" she left off.

"I didn't know…I mean, you know why I…and Ron also kind of threatened me after…you know, my birthday." Harry shrugged.

"Well, that's great and everything, but I think you need to look at this way." She paused for a moment and Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Ron is not important. Hermione is not important. My other brothers are not important. And if you're not snogging me in the ten seconds, I'll take that as a definitive answer."

Harry's jaw dropped. "What?"

She crossed her arms, and glared him. "Seven seconds."

"What does 'definitive answer' mean?" he asked.

"Harry! Five seconds!" Ginny grimaced a little as Harry made no move, mouth still open. But it was his own fault, she reasoned. "Four….Three…Two…"

"Oh hell," Harry cursed quietly, then leapt forward and kissed Ginny hard as she began to say, "One."

Ginny quickly slid her arms around his shoulders, trapping him as he tried to pull away. "Right answer," she told Harry cheekily.

"That's, um, great Ginny. What question was that supposed to be a definitive answer to?" Harry asked. She looked at him for a moment, searching his green eyes for any sign of a joke. When she couldn't find any trace that he was yanking her wand, she smacked him.

"Oi! What was that for?" Harry exclaimed, falling off onto the floor as Ginny released him.

"You honestly don't know?" she scoffed. "I didn't think you'd be that stupid, Harry." She gave him an appraising look.

Clambering to his feet, Harry retorted, "Well, I don't.

"Look at it this way," Ginny began. "We split up, yes?"

Harry nodded. "But not because either of us particularly wanted to, yes?"

Again, Harry nodded. "Because you're a noble git, yes?" Harry again nodded his agreement.

"And Voldemort's gone, meaning the reason we split up in the first place…"

"Is also gone," Harry finished, beginning to see where this was going.

"Meaning that us remaining split up is sort of moot point now," Ginny said. "Unless, of course, you met some Veela or something on that quest of yours that you're not telling me about…?"

"No!" Harry exclaimed. "I mean…I wasn't joking about dating opportunities being thin on the ground."

"Hence, definitive answer."

"Ah…I see."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Harry cautiously asked, "So…are we still split up?"

"No, I don't think so," Ginny replied, smiling a little mischeviously.

"Then…" he held out his arm, and she moved across the room to settle on his bed, arms around each other. She sighed contentedly.

"You know, I was terrified you were going to get hurt, maybe even die." She started and looked up into his eyes, which had gotten very intense.

"I was really scared for you, too, Harry."

"I meant…you know, the battle. I always thought you were safe, but then…" He shrugged. "That's part of what…"

"Mm?" She reached out and took the hand that was not wrapped around her shoulder.

"What kept me going. On the quest." He smiled at her softly, and then he kissed her, and it was about a million times better than the fast hard kiss of moments before. She could have sworn that her heart was beating in her lips, and Ginny had never quite appreciated Harry's own lips as much before.

She could feel that his lips were slightly chapped, and as he brought a hand to the base of her skull, pulling her even closer, she very carefully let her tongue slip out to taste his lips. Soon they were kissing hard and fast and it was still sweet, tender. Hands began to wander, and the kissing escalated into what could best be described as "heavy snogging".

Blurrily Ginny thought that this was possibly the most amazing kiss they'd ever had.

The whole feel of that moment was broken when the door slammed open, accompanied by Ron's voice.

"Harry, Kreacher sai—!" Ron froze, eyes agog. "Bloody hell…"

"Ron?" Ginny said as innocently as she could.

"Um, yeah?"

"Bugger off," she and Harry said simultaneously, and with a flick of his wand, the door slammed and locked, shutting Ron out.

One long look was all it took before the pair was kissing again.

xXx

Parting Comments: Well, I'm not terribly thrilled about this one. I had this great idea about Ginny showing up and threatening Harry (basically), and it just didn't work out…

Hugs and Kisses

Eden