A.N: Hey there, it's me. So, I wrote this for a friend of mine, as she basically challenged me to write a Harry/Ginny story. And even if I'm not really into that pairing, but I'm all up for challenges. So here it goes. This story strays a little from cannon, but just a bit. It's supposed to happen the summer after Fifth Year, and I'm just going to pretend Ginny was already dating Dean and that's about it.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be writing another book, not a fanfiction. Just saying.

A Summer Holiday at the Burrow

On a warm summer morning the sky was clear.

A boy, if one could call Harry Potter just a boy, opened his emerald eyes. Sunlight came from behind the light colored curtain on the window and bathed his face. His hair was even messier than usual as he stretched and reached for his glasses in the bedside table. He smiled as he thought about his summer so far.

Granted, it hadn't started really well. He had spent the first three weeks of his summer break at the Dursleys' and his relatives had been, as usual, far from pleasant. So he had jumped at the chance to leave when Ron had owled him and invited him to come to the Burrow. It had been two weeks since.

He had had a great time so far, he thought as he sit up and Ron continued to snore loudly on the other side of the room. Mrs Weasley had made a huge fuss when he arrived, complaining about how skinny he was and how she'd fix that with a few good meals. Harry happily complied to her wishes.

The emerald-eyed boy swung his feet of his appointed bed and made his way to the bathroom, picking a clean outfit from his trunk on the way. In his stay at the Burrow, Ron and he had played some one-on-one Quidditch, chess, exploding snap, and done many other fun things. Harry was sure that when Hermione arrived from her vacation with her parents she'd make them do all their summer homework. He chuckled at the thought as he washed his face.

He walked quietly down the stairs, glancing back now and then to see if anybody else was waking up from the noise of the creaking steps. Which is why he didn't see the person that just opened the door ahead of him until he'd already bumped with her and they both toppled to the ground with a dull thump. Harry groaned.

"Harry?" said a croaky voice from beneath him.

Wait... Beneath him? He opened his eyes.

He found himself staring at wide, chocolate brown eyes that looked up at him from a pale, freckled face framed with long red hair. Ginny.

He was on top of her, he realized, his weight supported by his elbows at either side of her face. His face was inches away from hers and he could feel her warm breath from this close. With a start, he realized he was instinctively leaning in and abruptly jerked his head back.

"Harry?" she asked again, uncertainty and nervousness in her voice, blushing madly.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" he replied, scrambling to get to his feet.

He offered her a hand to help her up and she took it almost hesitantly, both of them blushing.

"It's okay..." she stammered, her voice almost a whisper.

Harry realized he didn't see much of Ginny in his stay at the Burrow. The girl was always in her room. Ron had told him, when he asked as he first arrived, that she was busy writing letters to her boyfriend Dean, the word 'boyfriend' coming out of his friend's mouth with distaste.

They made their way to the kitchen, after they'd listened for anyone that might have woken up from the noise and no one came.

The cozy little kitchen was empty for the first time in all the times Harry had stayed at the Weasleys'. There was a note on the table, which Ginny picked up and read out loud.

Dears,

Arthur left for work and I flooed to Diagon Alley to get some potions that have ran out. I shouldn't be long, but I've left you breakfast, with a warming charm so that it stays warm.

Love, Mom.

"Well..." Ginny said, putting the note back on the table and looking at the assorted breakfast in it "Looks like it's just the two of us, Harry."

He sat down and picked a plate for himself. They ate in silence. Harry kept sneaking glances at Ginny.

"So, Ginny... Ron and I were going to play Quidditch in the field today. Interested?"

"Uh... I don't know..."

"Come on! I've barely seen you since I arrived here. Please?"

"If Ron doesn't mind..."

"Of course he won't mind!"

"Er... I guess... Okay then." she said, with a small smile.

Harry smiled at her.

They went back to their respective rooms. Well, for Harry, Ron's room, where he always stayed. Ron was still sleeping, oblivious to the world around him. Harry, unwilling to wake up his friend, picked a book from his trunk, along with parchment and his self-inking quill and, with nothing else to do, started his summer work. Hermione would've been so proud. He was halfway through his Potions essay, cursing Snape in his mind, when he heard a knock on the door.

He looked up from his papers. Ron was snoring, to the amusement of his friend, and there was no tell tale sound of explosions from the twins' room so they were sleeping too. Or planning something. Either way, Harry knew that later there would be a prank. But back to the knocking.

The door opened slowly to show Ginny, clad in a pink shirt and a pair of jeans, standing in the doorway.

"Is Ron up yet?"

The loud snore coming from the redhead's bed as said boy turned to his side answered her question. She giggled.

"Anything I can do for you, Ginny?" Harry asked, curious.

"Well..." She blushed slightly "I thought that... Since everybody else is asleep, and I already sent my letter to Dean, we could do something... To pass the time, you know. But you're busy, so I'll just..."

"No!" He interrupted "I mean, I'd love to... Spend time with you" they both blushed a bright red "Let me just put everything away, okay Gin?"

"Okay..."

And that's how they found themselves walking in the fields around the Burrow. Ginny told him stories about her childhood and growing up with her brothers, occasionally pointing out places that appeared in her tales. They were walking calmly, side by side. The grass was a bright shade of green and the sky was a beautiful blue, littered by few clouds. The sun was shining down on them, and the breeze tamed down the heat, refreshing them.

The two teenagers talked about themselves, and the conversation was easy going. Harry discovered Ginny's favorite color was green, and that her favorite subject at Hogwarts was Charms. Ginny learned the truth about all the adventures she had heard about at school, in detail. She was amazed at everything the young man next to her accomplished, as he told her about facing Voldemort, a basilisk, dementors, and a dragon, still sounding humble as he admitted he would have never survived, or done any of those things, without the help of his friends. Ginny thought he was selling himself short, but didn't say anything. These stories were almost as fantastic as the books she had read about the Boy-Who-Lived when she was a kid. But they were better, she thought, more fantastic, because they're real. She didn't doubt Harry was telling her the truth because she knew he wouldn't lie. He just wasn't like that.

They made their way back to the house, as they'd already circled the borders inside the defenses at least twice. When they entered from the kitchen's backdoor, with Harry holding the door and stepping to the side so she could come in, they found Ron and the twins running around, still in their pajamas, looking half mad. Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance. When the Weasley boys heard the door open, they turned so fast Harry was sure they'd have whiplash.

"Oi!" Ron almost shouted, coming towards them "Where the bloody hell were you two?!"

"We were just walking outside, Ron..." Ginny replied, rolling her eyes "If you had bothered to look out the window..." Ron's face reddened.

"It's not funny, you know! We were worried, I mean, we woke up and couldn't find you in the house, and we thought Death Eaters had come, or something!" the youngest Weasley boy shouted.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Ron." Harry said "But we were inside the wards. We were fine."

Ron sighed, but clapped his friend's shoulder, assuring him it was fine.

"Well, that's..." one twin started.

"Great and all..." the other twin continued.

"But I think..."

"That's too much excitement..."

"For one Saturday morning!" the twins finished together, grinning.

"Now, if you'll excuse us..." one twin started again.

"We're going back to our room." the other twin finished.

And the twins turned around and headed back upstairs. Harry thought he'd never get used to the twins' way of speaking, but he found it greatly amusing. Ron excused himself, saying he hadn't had any breakfast and went to the kitchen. Harry and Ginny found themselves alone again.

"Well..." Harry started "Here we are again."

"Uh-huh."

"Do you wanna go play some Quidditch?"

"Sure."

*LINEBREAK*

In the next days, Harry made it his mission to spend some time with Ginny. The Weasley girl was fun, he thought, and he couldn't believe he never actually hung out with her before.

It happened one night, a week before Harry's birthday. The Weasley family, minus Ginny, was gathered in the living room, listening to Charlie's and Bill's tales as the oldest boys talked about their jobs. Harry had gotten up to go to the bathroom, not that the family noticed, and was making his way back when he heard a muffled sob. He stopped in his tracks. He heard it again, and determined the sound was coming from a door to his right. Ginny's room.

Harry slowly made his way to the room. The door was unlocked. He quietly opened it to find Ginny on her bed, hugging her knees, her face downcast and obscured by her long red hair. Her body was shaking with sobs.

He closed the door behind him and walked towards her. He sit on the edge of the bed, next to her. Her head whipped up.

"Harry!" she cried, wiping away tears with her hand "What are you doing here?"

"Ginny, what happened?" he asked instead, ignoring her question. His eyes shined with concern.

"I-I... Um..." she seemed to hesitant, but she pointed to a letter at the foot of her bed shakily.

Harry picked it up and read through it. It was from Dean. His hands clenched around the parchment.

"He... He broke up with me!" Ginny said, starting to cry again.

Harry turned to look at her. He'd never seen her like this. He pushed down his anger at his roommate. It wouldn't do him any good now. Not knowing what to do, he approached her and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. He rubbed her back, not saying anything, as she cried. What was someone supposed to say at a time like this? He could feel his shirt getting wet in the place her face rested, her tears cascading down. His heart broke at seeing her like this. This summer, she always had a smile on her face, making jokes at her brothers. This was wrong. She didn't deserve this. And what kind of guy breaks up in a letter?! His arms tightened around Ginny as she continued to cry without abandonment.

They stayed there for a few more minutes, until Ginny stopped crying. She looked up from Harry's chest to find him looking down at her. She averted her eyes and wiped away her tears.

"I... I ruined your shirt." she said. Harry chuckled and smiled at her.

"I don't care."

She looked up at him again. Their eyes met. She started leaning in, closing her eyes halfway. Their lips met. Harry's hands came down to rest at her hips, pulling her closer as he responded to the kiss. Ginny laced her arms around his neck, bringing his head lower.

"Ginny? Harry? Where are you, dears?!" they heard Mrs Weasley say.

They broke the kiss with a start. Their eyes were wide, and their breath heavy as they stared at each other. Oh Merlin, Ginny thought. What did they do? They scrambled to get away from each other. Harry's feet tangled in the sheet and he fell off the bed.

"Dinner's ready, so you two come down now!" they heard Mrs Weasley again.

Harry quickly got to his feet and averted his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then promptly shut it.

"We should go down." Ginny managed to get out. Harry nodded.

Dinner was awkward. As the Weasley family ate, chatting amicably, the redheaded girl and the emerald-eyed boy stayed quiet and looked anywhere but at each other. If anyone else noticed, they didn't say anything.

A.N: Okay, this was supposed to be a one-shot but I don't want to make it so long, so I'll stop it here and then post the rest of it sometime this week. Let me know what you think!