A/N: This is already a day late, so I can take a moment here. This story seems a bit confusing, even to me. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but you know. This story was written for lilyflower08's Random Words Challenge. The words I used were: Castanet, Ship (boat, not to send), Cradle, Thunder, Crayon, Moose, Shampoo, Light bulb, Nail Polish, and Tooth. Enjoy! I wasn't really sure where I was going with it, so it's kinda jumpy and plotless.

Disclaimer: JK Rowling? HA! I wish.

Ginny kept her eyes firmly shut, despite the growing noise level from Lily's room. I cannot take another day of this she thought bitterly. She tried to smack Harry, who should have been lying next to her, but he was, once again, gone. She groaned and rolled out of bed, walking straight to her daughter's room, eyes still half closed against the way-too-early morning light.

She muttered to herself as she reached her youngest child's cradle. She looked at Lily, who looked so uncomfortable it almost brought tears to her eyes, and tried to calm her with soothing whispers and the toy she used for teething. Her third tooth was just starting to come in. The toy seemed to help.

Still carrying Lily, Ginny started walking around the house, looking for a note or something from Harry, but as she expected, there was nothing. After all, if he'd had time for that, he would have just gotten her out of bed.

I have so much to do, she thought, hoping she could get Hermione to take the kids for the day. It was highly unlikely. She had her hands full with Rosie and Hugo, and Ron was probably off with Harry, wherever they were. She thought of her mother, but she had already raised seven children, and Ginny imagined she didn't fancy taking three more, even if just for the day.

Nevertheless, she decided it was worth a try and Flooed the Burrow. Her mother wasn't home, but George and Angelina were there.

"Where's Mum?" Ginny asked, before saying anything else.

"Good to see you too, Gin," George said with a slightly amused smile on his face.

"Come on, George, I've got a teething baby over here and she's likely to start crying at any moment."

"Ah, so you called to ask for a favor?"

"Look, unless you two are willing to take them, I need to find someone who can babysit."

"We can take them, right, Ange?" George asked over his shoulder, and Angelina looked out at them from the kitchen.

"Sure. Teething is my specialty, after all."

Ginny smiled. "Thank you so much. How is Fred, by the way?"

"Oh, he's doing okay. We started him at a Muggle pre-school," Angelina said.

"Which seems completely ridiculous if you ask me," George said with a smile.

"It's better than him hanging around the joke shop all day. I'm not sure I want my son to be quite as much of a troublemaker as his father," Angelina said, smiling sweetly at her husband. Ginny couldn't help but notice how cute they were together.

"Look, if you guys want to spend the day alone, I'll understand. I'm sure someone else will take them for now."

"No, no, send them over," George said with a smile. "I always love seeing my nephews and my niece."

She stepped back into her living room and headed immediately for the stairs. After she had packed all the things they would need, she put Lily in a baby carrier and took Al's hand, bidding James to follow. He did as he was told, but mostly because he'd explored the whole house already. They all went into the fireplace together, and were at the Burrow with George and Angelina in seconds.

"Okay, so you already know that Lily's teething, and Al isn't feeling very good, so watch out for that. James is probably going to disappear for a few minutes at a time, but you shouldn't start to worry unless he's gone for more than five."

"Ginny, we have watched them before," Angelina said.

"You're right, I'm sorry," she said. "I just worry sometimes."

"I completely understand."

Ginny kissed her children goodbye, and then quickly Disapparated.

The Muggle store was unusually empty. Not that there weren't people there, just not nearly as many as usual, and for that, Ginny was grateful. She didn't like the look of the storm clouds in the sky and she didn't want to Disapparate in the rain.

"Light bulbs, shampoo, tissues…" she muttered, running through the items on her shopping list in her head. It took her nearly an hour to find everything she needed.

On her way out, she happened to see a display of nail polish. On a whim, she picked up a bottle of it as she was standing in line.

She ran other errands, too, none of which were interesting, and she was really just wishing she was at home with her children and, even more so, her husband. It just wasn't fair that he was away so much. She'd have to make up for that when he got home.

When she got back to the Burrow, it was to find that nearly everyone else in their family was there, too. Hermione had brought Rose and Hugo, Percy and Audrey were there, with Molly and Lucy, Angelina had picked Fred up from school, even Bill had made an appearance before leaving Fleur and their little ones in the living room with everyone else.

She had to marvel at the beauty of the children sitting on the floor, playing with toys, even if Lily was chewing on a crayon and Molly and Rose seemed to be unable to share a stuffed moose that had once been Ron's.

After staring for a few moments at the sheer beautiful chaos that was her family, she walked into the living room to sit next to Fleur, who was had picked up Lily and taken the crayon out of her mouth.

"She iz beautiful," she said. "Just like 'er mother."

Ginny had to smile. To think, a few years ago, she had called Fleur a cow. "Thanks," she said, touching Victoire's hair, as she was sitting right next to the couch. When Hermione came over to sit with them, the three women painted their nails with the blue nail polish Ginny hadn't intended to buy.

Molly called them in for dinner shortly after that, and Ginny got to enjoy a nice, hectic dinner with most of her family. She had missed hearing the laughter that filled the room when the Weasleys ate dinner together. She hadn't really been home in so long.

Fleur had to help her get James, Albus and Lily home, as they had all fallen asleep, and she even helped her get them into their beds. When she left, Ginny felt oddly alone. She picked up one of the books she had meant to read months ago, and sat on the couch, cracking the spine loudly in the silence. It took her less than a minute to become so absorbed in the book that she didn't notice Harry when he came in and sat down next to her. She didn't even know he was there until he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, holding her against his chest.

She sighed and leaned on him, breathing in his familiar scent. He leaned down and kissed her neck lightly. She turned her head so that he had better access to her skin, and he pulled her into his lap.

"If I asked you to forgive me for leaving without waking you up, would you do it?"

"Well, that depends on what you were willing to do for it."

He kissed her neck again, and she sighed at the feeling of his breath on her neck. Without really thinking about it, she turned and caught his mouth with hers, readjusting her body so that she had better access to his lips, and so that she could slide his Auror's robes off of his shoulders with ease. His hands were on her back in a second after that, and he pulled her as close to him as he possibly could. As soon as his hands touched her skin, she shivered and started undoing his tie. A small moan escaped her lips as his fingers traced her spinal cord. He had almost taken her shirt off, and she had undone three of the buttons on his shirt, when Lily suddenly started crying. They both groaned loudly. Harry got up to take care of it. As soon as he left, she noticed a bag that he seemed to have brought back. Unable to stop her curiosity, she looked inside.

"Harry," she said, when he came back down the stairs, "What's in this bag?"

Harry laughed. "Gifts from my trip. Because I forgot to wake you up, remember? I had to get you something."

"I see."

"Oh, and some for the kids," he clarified when she pulled a toy ship from the bag.

"I can see that." She reached into the bag again and pulled out something that looked like two wooden seashells held together with a string. She looked at him curiously.

"Castanets," he said, taking them from her. "They're used in Spanish music. They're really interesting."

"Ah, so just something to add to your collection?"

He smiled. His collection of the odd and interesting things he found all over the world had once been a point of argument between them, but now, it was simply endearing in her mind.

She reached for the bag again, but this time he took it from her. "Just so you know, before you go searching for it, your present isn't in this bag."

"Really?" she asked, getting more and more curious by the minute. "Where is it?"

"Well, while you weren't paying attention, I sort of took it up to our room."

She laughed. "Sounds like you're just trying to get me into bed," she said with a seductive smile.

"No, really, come on, I'll show you."

He grabbed her hand and they walked—ran, really, and rather immaturely, too—up to their room, but he stopped her before she walked in.

"Wait. It's a surprise," he said, covering her eyes with his hand and kicking the door open lightly. He walked her through the room, but she couldn't be sure where they were. When he took his hands off her eyes, she saw a beautiful dark green Spanish Flamenco dress, complete with the tight beaded bodice and thick ruffled skirt lying on her bed.

"Oh." That seemed to be all she was capable of saying. It was truly beautiful. Harry wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned back into him. "Wow. It's…wow."

"I thought so, too."

"When am I ever going to be able to wear this?" She asked, reaching out to touch the fabric.

"I don't know. You don't really have to wear it. I just wanted you to have it."

"That's so frivolous."

"I know."

"This must have cost a fortune."

"No, not really. Besides, I wanted you to have it, love."

She turned around and kissed him. He smiled against her lips.

Without warning, lightning flashed outside their window. It was followed quickly by the sound of thunder. James screamed from his room, and Ginny pulled away from their kiss.

"You know he's going to want to sleep in our bed tonight," Ginny said.

"Yeah, I know," he said with a smile. She kissed him once more before going to her son's room to stop his screaming.

A/N: Th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!