Ginny Weasley stood, finally, exactly where she'd wanted to be since... well, forever, really - held tight in Harry Potter's arms. They had just returned to the Burrow after spending the day renovating Number 12 Grimmauld Place. It had been a lovely day, and ended with the two of them making love in the bedroom they'd just finished painting.
She and Harry had only become lovers weeks before, almost a year after Voldemort's demise. Now Ginny was done with Hogwarts and they were enjoying a final summer of freedom, before they had to face the responsibilities of the world they'd helped to save.
"I love you Harry." She smiled up into the emerald eyes that had haunted her dreams and were now focused solely on her. "Thank you for tonight. You know..." she continued in the sassy, teasing tone Harry had come to adore, "I can't believe how much better we are at that now."
"Well Gin, like everything else, practice makes perfect." Harry teased.
Ginny couldn't contain her laughter. She reveled in the new, carefree Harry. The Harry who could laugh and smile so easily. He was so very different from the Harry of before the Final Battle, the Harry who carried the weight of the world on his young shoulders.
"In fact," he said, pulling her into a kiss even as she fumbled for the doorknob and slowly opened the door into the Burrow's kitchen, "maybe we should go upstairs and practice some more..."
Their passionate moment was shattered by the scraping of a chair across the floor. Harry pulled away from Ginny and their eyes sprung open. They had expected to find everyone settled in for the night, not Ron and Charlie sharing a pot of tea at the kitchen table.
Ron turned where he stood, not one meter from Harry, and glared menacingly at the couple. It was clear their conversation had been anything but the private lovers' banter they'd thought it to be. Time seemed to freeze as he glared at Harry, then back down at his older brother. Ron couldn't believe that Charlie was calmly sitting, sipping his tea and watching the blush rise on his baby sister and her boyfriend.
"How can you just sit there, Charlie?" Ron's shout cut through the silence of the kitchen. He cast a vicious glare at Harry, who stood holding Ginny's hand. "You heard everything I did! He just FUCKED our sister!"
Before Ginny could so much as draw her wand, Ron was on the floor, dabbing with one finger at the blood dripping from his nose where Harry's punch had landed. Harry stood over his best friend, both hands clenched into fists so tight his knuckles were beginning to whiten.
"Don't you EVER speak of her like that again Ron." Harry's voice was ice as he spoke, his jaw clamped in anger. The carefree Harry of just moments before was completely transformed. In his place stood a man who would fight to the death to protect the one he loved - the face that looked down at Ron now was the face that had killed Voldemort. "I swear to you, if you ever dare refer to her or to our relationship in terms like that again, best mate or not, I'll tear your bloody head off. As you just pointed out, she's your SISTER, not some ten-knut whore working Knockturn Alley. More importantly, she's the woman I love, and NOBODY cheapens her name like that."
Ginny's heart leapt at Harry's declaration of his love for her - as it did every time he said it to her. This was the first time he'd said it to any of her family though, and she struggled to not laugh out loud as her brothers' eyes popped wide at Harry's words.
Even faced with a furious Harry Potter, Ron still refused to let go of his anger and protectiveness. "Cheapen her NAME? That's rich, coming from someone who just cheapened her..."
Ron never finished his sentence - this time it was Charlie who reacted first. "Ron!" he yelled, standing and softly placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. He wasn't holding Harry back so much as letting him know he was with him, and while he may not have been happy to know that his baby sister was no longer a virgin, he wasn't going to stand for Ron's behavior either. Charlie let out a quiet chuckle. "Blimey Harry, your best mate..." he said, hoping to lighten the mood. "I never thought I'd see it, no matter how much your care for our Ginny."
Still seething over Ron's hateful words, Harry couldn't see that Charlie was simply trying to diffuse the situation. He whirled on Charlie, angry tears pooling in his eyes and his voice rising at last. "Are you all deaf? Did I just tell you I fancy Ginny? Did I tell you I only care for her? No! I told you I LOVE her! She's the reason Voldemort is dead! She's the reason I spent a year hunting down and destroying those pieces of his rotting soul! She's the reason I fought - for the hope of a lifetime together with her! I LOVE her, and as soon as the time is right I'm going to drop to one knee before her and beg her to be my wife, so we can have that lifetime!"
Ginny gasped at the last of Harry's outburst. She had hoped, of course, maybe deep inside she even knew, that she and Harry would marry one day. But to hear it from his lips like this, it caught her completely off-guard.
Harry turned to her. "I'm sorry Gin, I'm so sorry. This is not how I wanted to tell you. You didn't deserve to hear that for the first time like that. It should have been so much... more." Harry's tears were flowing freely now. The sight of them, and the pain in his voice, brought tears to Ginny's eyes as well. Harry watched as one tear escaped a chocolate eye and slowly began to trace its way downward. He reached up, and gently brushed it from her cheek. His gaze was tender, but as he turned back toward Ron his voice was hard: "I guess that's just one more thing we can thank your brother for." With that, he turned and stalked out of the Burrow, through the orchard and toward the quidditch pitch.
A/N: Thanks everyone for your reviews. This was actually something I'd scribbled down months ago. It was inspired by a line in the hyper-intense War & Passion by RedBlaze1. I just placed a similar line in a more tranquil scenario then let the muse run from there. Just a little one shot for now, but you've been so encouraging maybe I'll expand the idea in a longer story soon. Thanks again! Gin