"Thanks again for doing this," Ginny said, prising her eighteen month old son, Albus, away from her and passing him to her mother.
"It's fine, dear," Molly said, lifting Albus onto her hip and shifting his weight slightly into a more comfortable position. "It's important for the two of you to get away. Why, if I hadn't picked you lot off to Aunt Muriel's for a weekend every now and then when you were younger, I think your father and I would have gone insane."
Ginny smiled. "Well, thank you so much, we really appreciate it." She allowed her mother to kiss her on the cheek and then pressed a kiss to Albus' forehead before crouching down to say goodbye to James, who was standing obediently at her feet.
Ginny lifted the suitcase onto the bed and unzipped it, looking at the piles of clothing on her bed. With a wave of her wand, the clothes, books and toiletries she had packed arranged themselves in the suitcase.
"Crap," Ginny murmured. The clothes were still bulging over the top of the case. Her mother or Hermione would have been able to do a better job, she was sure. As it was, Ginny pressed the clothes down and, after some pushing, she managed to close the case.
She guided the suitcase down the stairs and left it next to the front door. She walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa, grabbing a magazine from the coffee table, she began to flick through it.
"Okay," Harry's voice came from the hallway. Jumping up, Ginny went to greet him. "Let the weekend begin!"
Ginny watched in amusement as he pulled off his cloak and threw it on the banister, then kicked off his shoes.
"So," He said, taking her forearms in his hands and pulling her close to him. "How're the kids?"
"They're fine," Ginny said quietly. "But... let's not talk about the kids."
"No," Harry said, leaning in to kiss her. "Let's have this weekend just be about me and you, yeah?"
"Yeah," Ginny whispered, reaching up to kiss him.
Harry flung the suitcase onto the floor and dived onto the bed. "This is posh," He said, looking around the hotel room. "Can we afford this?"
"Harry, they gave you enough money when you defeated Voldemort to last a lifetime of luxuries, you know that," Ginny rolled her eyes as she shut the door behind her.
"So," Harry said. "No kids."
"No kids," Ginny grinned, taking off her shoes and kneeling on the bed, leaning over to kiss him. He moved his hands onto her back but she pulled away.
"Two minutes," She said, grabbing her bag and ducking into the bathroom.
Harry grinned, throwing his coat across the room and lying back on the bed, resting his head on his arms. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering how Molly and Arthur were coping with James and Albus back at the Burrow. He did not doubt their capability, but he was beginning to wonder if they were physically fit enough to look after toddlers for more than a few hours at a time – they weren't getting any younger.
Any concern for his parents-in-law immediately left his mind when Ginny walked back into the room. She had changed from the jumper and jeans that she wore around the house to a thin, black dress that Harry hadn't seen her in since before James was born.
"Wow," He said, making a conscious effort to keep his mouth from dropping open. "You look... phenomenal."
Ginny smiled in satisfaction. In truth, she felt less than happy in this dress. She hadn't been confident about her body since she had fallen pregnant with Albus, and it had taken a lot of courage for her to push past her insecurities and put the dress on tonight.
But as Harry got up onto his knees and moved towards Ginny, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her towards the bed, as he moved a hand through her hair and pressed his lips to hers, Ginny felt all her insecurities melt away. All that mattered was the two of them, here and now. She smiled against his lips as she fell forwards onto the bed. Soon enough, Harry was lifting the uncomfortable dress over her head and the material was soon left forgotten about on the floor of the hotel room.