To: pettybureaucrat
Title: Something to Talk About
Author: snarkysweetness
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: NC-17 (To be safe)
Word Count: 2,193
Summary: It's Harry's eight year at Hogwarts and gossip is flying through the school about his relationship with Ginny Weasley. Having never been shy, Ginny decides to take charge of their relationship and give all the gossip mongers something real to talk about.
Author's Notes: pettybureaucrat, you requested something with romance, humor, some angst, and sex along with a secret that isn't really a secret. You also wanted shower sex and semi-public sex with the element of being caught and Harry being back for his 'eighth year. I wanted to get as many of your wants as possible and I hope you enjoy. Thanks to tangograce for the beta and as always, insisting I don't suck as much as I think I do.

**This was originally written for takingitinturns**

Harry Potter. Harry-Freaking-Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. Defeater of Voldemort. Etc., etc., etc. The list went on and on, a never ending cycle of crap. There were always reasons to talk about him, to stare at him, to whisper about him, to annoy him. All people wanted to do was discuss Harry Potter, as if he was some fascinating human being, like he was God herself.

Harry was not God. Nor was he particularly interesting. Definitely not gossip worthy.

He was just some boy. Some boy who got lucky and often; nothing more, nothing less.

And he really wished that people would realize that and soon because he was really fucking sick of the attention. Which was why returning to Hogwarts had been a poor choice on his part, but at the time he preferred the Devil he knew to the real world. Now he wished he's just been a man and gone on with his life. People in Hogwarts had nothing better to do than obsess over his personal life, at least adults would be more discreet and tactful about it, or so he hoped.

That Skeeter woman certainly wasn't, but Harry had enough to blackmail her with to keep her off his back, for now.

Running a hand through his unruly hair, Harry avoided the looks and giggles of a group of fifth-year Ravenclaw girls. They looked like a pack of hyenas to him. What could be so interesting about him today that they weren't even trying to hide their stares and chuckles?

In an unconscious attempt to hide himself, he pushed some hair in front of his scar and stormed off in the direction of the Room of-

Oh wait, it didn't exist anymore. Right. Like most of the castle, his favorite room had been lost in the war and yet to be rebuilt. So to the Quidditch Pitch it was for his brooding session of the day. At the very least, he could get in a work-out.

Harry Potter, the Brooder. It was a much better title than 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'. He's have to pitch it to Skeeter some time. She'd get a kick out of it, he was sure.

"Good Lord, you're not off to go sulk in some corner and brood again, are you?"

Harry looked up as the door to the castle closed behind him. Ginny stood before him, one hand on her hip, the other carrying her Quidditch bag, a glare on her face.

Even when she looked like a dragon about to attack, she was beautiful. Too beautiful for him. It still amazed him that despite it all, she'd chosen him, even after he'd repeatedly screwed her over. Apparently when Ginny Weasley set her mind to something, it stuck, and he was glued to her.

"Um…maybe?" He shrugged, shifting on the balls of his feet nervously. He couldn't lie to her, even if he'd wanted to. There was no use, Ginny saw through all of them. It was her talent. She had a built-in Harry Potter bullshit detector.

And her least favorite thing in the world was 'Harry Potter, the Brooder', so he was officially afraid, very afraid. Her sharp tongue was enough to make him feel sick from the need to brood.

"Any why are you brooding, Harry? We've discussed this, you have me." She motioned to her body. "And this. What need do you have for brooding? If all else fails in life, take me in a broom cupboard, like last night."

Harry's cheeks flushed as Ginny sided up to him and kissed him quickly. "Do I need to calm down the emo monster for you and awaken the 'chest monster'," she teased.

Harry cringed at the mention of his 'chest monster' and his mind flashed to the night before.

His hand slid up over her knee-highs, caressing her creamy thighs before finding that she wasn't wearing any panties under her skirt. "Fuck, Ginny, are you trying to kill me?"

She smirked. "Perhaps."

A smile came to his lips as he looked down at her. "I think you did enough 'calming' last night."

Ginny enjoyed torturing him by seducing him throughout the castle. And by torture, he meant torture. Harry couldn't say 'no' to her, ever. Not that he was complaining, he loved her, but it felt wrong somehow, shagging in a school of all places, right under McGonagall's nose, it only added to his guilt and 'emoness' as Ginny called it, not that he'd tell her that, though. She'd probably get mad at him and refuse to speak to him.

That or try to get him to 'discuss' his feelings.

He personally preferred the Weasley temper to the calm collectiveness she must have gotten from Arthur.

"No calming anything. And I'm not really…brooding." She rose a brow, knowing he was a big fat liar. "I mean, I just want to get away from people, they're talking about me again."

"They're always talking about you," she pointed out, glancing back at some younger Gryffindors. Her cold stare shut them up quickly and they all scampered off. "What's the problem today?"

Harry sighed. She didn't get it. "I know it's all the time, doesn't mean that I get sick of it. It's like I have some big secret that everyone but me knows about. It's tiring. Makes me wish that-"

"You'd gone to the Auror Corps instead of following me to school?"

Okay, maybe he could have one secret from her. His excuse to come back had not been 'I'm not yet ready for the world' it was 'I want more time with Ginny'. It had been partially true, which was probably the only reason he'd gotten away with it.

Harry gave her a small, sheepish nod.

"It's…you don't know what it's like to be me, Ginny. Sure, you understand more than anyone, but it's hard."

Ginny chewed on the inside of her cheek, something she did when she wanted to yell at him, but didn't because she was practicing control.

"Harry, you think they don't talk about me too? What else do you think they are talking about? No one cares about Voldemort anymore, they only want to talk about one thing; our love life."

She gave him a look worthy of Hermione, one that said 'you're a fucking idiot'.

Harry opened his mouth to retort but then closed it, thinking. Was that what they-

He looked around to find everyone outside in eye range was now whispering. Great, now Harry Potter and his girlfriend were having a public spat, he'd probably given them a week's worth of material. It made sense now, the whispers, the stares, the rumors, they were all about Ginny, weren't they? About what they got up to, their relationship, their sex life, everything.

What if they'd been caught during one of their many romps? What would that do to Ginny's reputation? He could care less about his, but hers was important to him. Protecting her virtue was his job.

Okay…maybe he was the reason she had none left, but still.

"Ginny, I'm so sorry, I had no-"

"Shut it. Don't try your whole guilty act on me. It's another form of brooding and I'm personally sick and tired of the brooding. Grow up, Harry. I'm going flying, come join me if you want, if not, go brood alone, because I'm not aiding in your pathetic self-loathing today."

Harry was taken aback. Not only did everyone within a five mile radius hear that, but she was being mean, even for her.

He watched her walk off, a frown forming. Did he go after her? Was she upset? She had to be, clearly. Perhaps the gossip mongers had worn her down and now he was finally seeing it?

Harry was still confused, but he could feel the stares and in an attempt to escape them, he ran after Ginny, making it to the locker room just before the door slammed shut. "Ginny, wait!"

Walking into a cloud of steam, Harry looked around, feeling silly. He'd followed her into the women's locker room. What if there were other women here? He hadn't thought this through, clearly. He would just turn around and walk away-

"What took you so long?"

Ginny stood in the doorway of the showers with her long hair let down and shaken loose, barely covering her naked breasts. How had she gotten undressed so quickly? And there was steam, which meant-

She'd set him up. The door hadn't been about to close, she'd magiced it that way. And she hadn't been angry with him, she'd been luring him here.

Tricky little minx.

"Ginny, what are you doing?"

Broom cupboards, empty classrooms, and his dorm were one thing, but a locker room? Where anyone could walk in at any moment? Harry wasn't sure he was up to being that brave yet.

Slowly making her way towards him, Ginny slid her fingers up his shirt with a grace that only she could possess, a playful smirk on her face. "Giving them all something to talk about."

Then she kissed him and any doubts Harry had flew out the window. Did it really matter if someone caught them? The things people already said were most likely ten times worse than anything he'd ever done. If they already thought it, there was no harm in doing it.

Hands finding her waist, Harry drew her closer before picking her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, instinctively. Carrying her into the showers, Harry didn't even bother with his own clothing. They'd dry.

"Harry, what are you-"

"I'm going to clean you up; rumor is you're a dirty girl."

She smirked. "And rumor is you have a tiny penis. Care to prove it wrong?"

Harry moved a hand into her hair, taking grasp and holding her in place. With his eyes boring into hers, he gave her a half-smile. "There's no need, but if you insist, I'm willing to oblige."

Without waiting for an answer, Harry kissed her again, holding her close. He didn't need walls for this; he was planning on fucking her just like this. He had the body strength, being a seeker had its advantages.

Harry could feel the smile in Ginny's kiss. She liked putting on a show for people, it was one of the reasons she insisted on broom cupboards, she wanted to get caught, just for the thrill of it. Being Harry Potter's girlfriend was good for something; someone was always watching. The fact the she also loved him probably put the icing on the cake.

Speaking of icing on the cake, Ginny's fingers had worked his trousers open. With some effort, they managed to get him free for his restrictive, wet jeans. He was beginning to rethink the wet clothing thing, but the moment he slipped himself inside of her, all thoughts of clothing were forgotten and all that mattered was the feel of her insides wrapped around his cock.

Harry held Ginny in place as she rode him. He watched her, mesmerized by her. With everything he'd been through in life, only three things made it all worth it: Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. But he wasn't going to think about the latter while being with Ginny. For the moment, she was all that mattered.

With a small groan, Harry shifted his weight from one foot to another and slipped, catching himself by landing with his back against the wall. "Fuck, that hurt."

Ginny giggled. "Is the all powerful Harry Potter incapable of finishing now? I mean, if you can't even stand up straight for five minutes, there's really no use in-"

Harry cut her mouth off with a kiss, turning their bodies so she was pressed against the wall. "I'll show you a thing or two about finishing, Miss Weasley."

"Oh yes, Harry, show me how to finish." She almost rolled her eyes, but one thrust of his hips stopped her and soon he was too caught up to notice any eye rolling. Only three things mattered: fucking, coming, and the noises coming out of her mouth.

It didn't last very long, Harry wasn't one for stamina, but he did manage to make her come, which was all that mattered.

Still kissing her, Harry lowered Ginny to the ground before grabbing for his wand and conjuring up soap.

Ginny raised a brow.

"I promised to wash you off."

Once she was dressed and they were both dry, Harry held Ginny close, his fingers tracing the outline of her face. He could be better for her. Less brooding, less emo. More of a man, or something like that. Point was, he'd start trying harder.

Harry leaned down and kissed Ginny, a smile on his face. "Tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Tomorrow, it'll be our little secret," she said with a wink before disappearing through the door, leaving him alone.

He waited the appropriate amount of time before slipping out the door.

"Did you hear?"

"Harry Potter and Ginny-"

"Rumor from the Hufflepuff's say she's-"

"Shhh, there he is."

For once, with a smile, Harry ignored the gossip, because he was going to have a fun filled year making most of it true.