DH spoilers – just something that popped into my head after rereading the penultimate chapter. Hope you enjoy!

The redheaded girl eyed the house with some apprehension – possibly in part because of the unpleasant chores she had been set on previous visits, but the knots in her stomach were all thanks to the task she had set herself the previous morning. Steeling herself, she marched up the steps and rapped sharply on the door.

A series of clicks sounded and then Harry appeared. She felt guilt sink the butterflies in her stomach. He looked as though he had been sleeping; his hair was mussed, and he was jamming his glasses onto his face. When she came into focus, he flushed. "Ginny. Did you – want to come in?"

She nodded, clearing her throat. "I brought some things for you. From the Burrow. You left them there. After Bill's wedding."

"Thanks," he said, ruffling a hand through his hair and stepping back to let her past. "We're in the dining room, just head on through."

We?

Ginny obeyed, hesitating ever so slightly before she pushed the door to the dining room open, and then she smiled, feeling foolish. Kreacher was in there, fussing over some old pictures.

"Master has a guest," Kreacher croaked in surprise, looking round at Ginny, his expression suggesting that he did not approve of letting strangers into their peculiar household. He moved forward, holding his arms out for Ginny's coat, which she took off, unused to this sort of treatment with six – no, five, only five now – brothers who were more likely to hand their coats to her. "Would Master like an early lunch?"

Harry shrugged, closing the door behind him. "What do you think, Ginny? Do you have to be back for anything?"

Ginny pulled a face inwardly. It wasn't that she thought he didn't want her – the kiss at the Burrow had more than proved that he did. It was just that he had been through so much. The loss of Fred weighed in heavily on the Weasley family, but the loss of so many others weighed down on Harry, shadowing his eyes. She couldn't tell if he wanted her there or not. But then, she hadn't come all this way to simply turn back now. If he needed more time, he could tell her so, and she would wait. "Lunch would be great."

Harry turned to Kreacher, grinning. "Hear that? Lunch would be great, thanks, Kreacher."

Kreacher bowed to them both before disappearing downstairs with Ginny's coat.

"Very convenient," she commented, for want of saying anything useful, and then she snuck a look at him. "Would you say he's fulfilling your expectations?"

Harry raised his eyebrows at her, reclaiming what was obviously his former seat. Papers and photographs were strewn over the tabletop. "Yeah. Well, I'd say he exceeds expectations. Outstanding, you might say."

She smiled at him, pleased to have an opening. "Ah. So, very unlike his master, then?"

He shot her a quizzical look, attempting to arrange the clutter into a semblance of order. "I've had the odd Outstanding in my time. Even without Hermione's help."

"Perhaps. Currently, however, Mister Potter, I am sorry to inform you that you have not been performing as expected. Currently, results are in fact very disappointing indeed."

Harry frowned at her, puzzled with the beginnings of indignation flickering in his eyes, and it was difficult to maintain the serious look she had assumed as she took the seat next to him and drew a book out of the bag she had brought with her.

"Especially given the resources that have evidently been at your disposal."

It would be difficult to determine which was a deeper shade of red at that precise moment – Harry, or the sparkling crimson copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches that Ginny was holding up. Harry made a lunge for it, as though that would have removed it from existence, but Ginny held it just out of his reach, grinning.

"And the famous Seeker fails to make a catch. Or was that for my benefit, to lull me into a false sense of security?"

Still bright red, Harry attempted to regain a shred of dignity by settling down in his chair and not answering, instead returning his attention to the photos.

"It was certainly worth clearing out Ron's room with that ghoul in it once I'd found this. I knew it wasn't Ron's, see, because his copy is a little more well-read than this one." She tilted her head on one side, thumbing through the pages, delighted that her suspicions of it being Harry's book had been proved right. "It doesn't seem to say anything about attracting a witch by ignoring her in here, though."

Harry looked up at this, his eyes bright. He let out a sigh, his features contorting briefly into the expression of sympathy that she had seen so many times in the past week. "I was trying to give you some space, that was all. After-"

After Fred.

Ginny bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, suddenly feeling too hot. She'd meant to tease him about going quiet on her just then, not to chastise him for staying away after the battle; she'd assumed that was as much for his own good as for hers. She swallowed tightly, trying to rid herself of the lump in her throat.

"Oh, Ginny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" He broke off again, but this time it wasn't just to look awkwardly at her. He drew her into a tight hug, stroking her hair with one of his hands – but that was too much as well, and she couldn't bear him acting like this if they weren't going to be together. With difficulty, she firmed her mouth, desperately hoping her voice wouldn't betray her and tremble, and she pulled out of his embrace.

"What were you doing?" she asked, managing to keep her voice quite level. She was getting practised at it now, because somebody had to be strong for Mum, and for Dad.

He gave her a long look and she knew he didn't believe in her speedy recovery, but he let it go anyway. "I was looking for photos of Lupin," he replied, glancing back over the mess on the tabletop. "I thought I might put together an album of him and Tonks for Teddy. Hagrid did it for me a few years ago, with my parents. Tonks's mum's collecting photos too, and I'm trying to track down Lupin's parents, but I'm not sure if they're still alive. Anyway, he'll know what they looked like at least."

Ginny put a hand on his arm, wanting to tell him so many things, but the lump had risen again in her throat and the words just wouldn't come. He seemed to understand anyway.

"Andromeda – that's Tonks's mum – she says she'll let me look after Teddy occasionally, when he gets a bit older. She came here a couple of days ago, but I think she found it a bit weird, memories and all that. It's just – if I go anywhere else, the owls sort of swamp me."

Ginny frowned. "Owls?"

Harry looked vaguely embarrassed, absently rubbing his forehead. "Thanking me, you know. For... what I did."

She pretended to be examining the book again, thinking. Harry had always been hesitant in the past to own up to being "the Chosen One", but she supposed they were all different now, and being hunted down by Death Eaters and most of the Wizarding World was bound to have had an effect on him.

He had apparently entered into a staring competition with the table. "Some of them are about family members, partners, friends, who were killed by the Death Eaters. I tried to write back at first, but I couldn't keep up; there are too many."

Ginny felt her throat close – she knew it was something she would have done, had she not known Harry personally. She guessed that was part of the reason he looked so sleep-deprived at the moment.

"I don't mind," he said quietly, looking at her. "Those letters I want to read."

She took a deep breath in, and made a vague attempt to lighten the atmosphere, which was pressing down on her. "Oh, very good, Mister Potter. Yes, I see you using examples from chapters four and five here; weaken the witch's resolve by talking about children, and drop into the conversation any heroic acts that one might recently have committed."

Harry stared at her uncomprehending for a moment, before raising his hands in mock-surrender, with a smile. "All right, all right, you caught me at it. I give in; you're too quick for me."

"Ah, an example from Chapter Two; Compliments!" she exclaimed, flicking through the book, and he laughed and lifted Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches out of her grasp. She crossed her arms over her chest, not bothering to attempt to retrieve the book since his arms were longer than hers, and the book had almost served its purpose anyway. "That, Potter, was not very charming."

"No, it wasn't, was it?" Harry said thoughtfully, sliding the book to the other end of the table, sending photos scattering with it. "Well, I'll have to make up for that, can't have people go around thinking I'm not charming."

And, just as she was about to ask how he intended to make up for it, he kissed her.

Fin.