Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or his friends or anything in his universe. The only thing I do own is my plotline in this story. Please don't steal. Please don't sue. I'm a poor college student with no money. You won't get anything from me.

The bar always closed early on Wednesdays. Mainly because Ginny and Tara both had to work the next day and Jeff soon realized that they were less inclined to work on those nights if they got out too late. So around 1:30, Jeff came out and took care of anyone who refused to leave while the two girls started cleaning up. Ginny was wiping down the bar after the last customer left when Tara ran to the back to bring out the CD player. They always listened to music while they were closing down and occasionally sang along with the music, laughing and joking as they went.

Ginny looked up when she heard a knock on the door and saw Jeff walking over to tell the person that the bar was closed.

"Sorry, mate, we're closed." Jeff said as he opened the door.

"No…er…I'm here to er…" Ginny heard the familiar voice and hurried over to the door.

"It's my ride, Jeff." She said quickly. "Harry, this is my boss, Jeff. Jeff, this is Harry." She said gesturing back and forth between them. "We'll be done in a few minutes." She said, walking back over to the bar to where Tara was organizing the bottles of liquor.

"Oh, mystery bloke is back." Tara said with a smile. "He taking you home tonight is he?" she raised an eyebrow suggestively and Ginny just laughed and shook her head.

"Not like that. He's just an old…friend." The redhead replied, only hesitating slightly. Tara, however, didn't buy it for a moment and simply gave a sarcastic nod.

"You better give me all the details on Friday." She said with a wink. "Go on then. I can finish up. There's just the dishwasher to run." Tara pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear. "Have fun be naughty."

"Oh, are you sure?" Ginny asked with a nervous smile. "Thanks, Tara. I'll see you on Friday night." With that Ginny ducked under the bar and headed to where Harry was standing a bit awkwardly. "Bye, Jeff. See you Friday!" She called before taking Harry's hand and pulling him through the door. "You came back." She said turning to him.

"Course I came back, Gin. I said I would." He gave her a small smile. "You look surprised to see me." Ginny gave a small blush and looked down at her feet a bit uncomfortably.

"Well…five years of not hearing even a word from you and I can't help but have my doubts." She said almost coldly. The defenses were going back up. She didn't want to let him in too far. She didn't want to get hurt again.

"Ginny…I'm so sorry." Harry said softly before pulling her into a tight hug. "I never meant to stay away so long. I never…I didn't want to hurt you. But…I wasn't…I couldn't. I had to be alone." He finally settled on.

"You couldn't even write? Not even once?" She asked, the hurt of the last five years suddenly building up inside of her. "I…I wrote you so many times. Tried so hard to just…talk to you. To see if you were okay. To just…" She broke off and buried her face in his chest, breathing in his scent.

"But I wasn't okay, Gin." He explained. He rubbed her back gently trying to calm her down a little bit. "I wasn't okay and writing to you hurt too much. I meant to write…and then it got to be too long. And I…I couldn't. It wasn't enough after a while. And I wasn't ready to come back. I hadn't even meant to tonight. I just, happened to walk into the bar and when I saw you…I couldn't leave you again." He held her closer to him, needing to know that she was really there. That it wasn't just another dream of his. That this was actually happening.

But Ginny pushed away from him, looking up into his emerald eyes in mild shock. "So what does that mean now? Are you just going to disappear on me again? Leave me alone to wait for you? I can't wait for you Harry!" She all but screamed. She was letting her hurt take her over. Her resentment came rushing back.

Harry stepped closer to her and took a firm hold on her shoulders. "No. Ginny no. You're not getting it. I…seeing you tonight…I don't…I don't want to leave you again." He couldn't leave her again. Seeing how badly he'd hurt her by trying to keep her safe. Seeing how much pain and misery he'd caused. "I won't leave you again." He added softly.

"Harry…" She broke off, covering her face with her hands as she shook her head. Letting them fall back to her sides in defeat she looked back up at him. "I want to believe you so badly. I do. But…things aren't the same. I'm not the same." She let her head fall against his chest.

"Ginny…I…I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I never want to hurt you like that again. Please. You have to believe me." He was pleading with her now. He couldn't lose her. Not again. He'd been stupid to stay away from her for so long. It was the first time in five years that he'd felt anything close to happiness. And it only happened when he looked into her eyes; smelled the scent that was simply-Ginny; felt her there, in his arms.

"I need to…I just…" She was having a bit of trouble keeping her thoughts straight. The thought of him being back, just to be with her, was completely overwhelming. She needed time to think. "It's late…I should…home." She finally managed with a small sigh. The only way she was going to work this out for herself would be if she did it when he wasn't there; feeling safe and warm against her; his voice soothing and familiar; smelling exactly like she remembered.

"Yeah…okay…but, please, can I just take you home. It's late and…" He broke off. He didn't want to leave her yet. If he could just spend a bit more time with her, maybe…maybe she'd see that he wasn't playing games. "Please?" He gave a small pout, his emerald eyes sparkling.

"Oh…I can…I mean, you don't have to..." She stammered, but the look in his eyes made her crack. "Alright…" She said a bit hesitantly. She wasn't sure how she felt about him seeing her place.

She didn't live in the nicest of flats. In fact, her entire family had a running plot to get her to move out. Fred and George had offered to help her move in, but when they saw the place, they promptly picked their baby sister up and tried to carry her out. Ron simply argued with her until they were both blue in the face about it. Charlie had taken the more calm and rational approach, explaining that if Bill were around, there was no way he would let her stay there. And Percy…well he was the most persistent. She didn't know how he kept managing it, but every time she'd had him over for tea or something, he hid copies of lists of reasons why that place was no good for her. She didn't listen to any of them though. It was mostly the fact that it was her flat, which she'd paid for with her money. That alone made her love it in spite of its flaws.

"Good then." Harry said with a smile. "Is it close enough to walk? Or should we just side-along?" He asked, moving so that he was standing next to her, an arm snaking around her waist.

"We can side-along from Leaky. I think that's the easiest." She said a bit hurriedly. It was close enough to walk, but she never did. The neighborhood wasn't the friendliest in the world during the day time. She could only imagine how it was at night.

Harry gave a nod and led them across the street to the wizarding pub. When they got inside, Ginny gave a quick wave to Tom, the owner, before moving to the section that was designated for apparating and disapparating.

"Ready?" She asked, looking up at him. He gave her a small squeeze and with a loud CRACK the pair were gone. She felt the familiar sensation of being pressed from all sides, Harry's hold on her very tight now. They landed with another CRACK and if Harry hadn't been holding her up, she would've toppled right over.

"Alright?" He asked, straightening her out before taking a look around the dingy apartment she called home. The wall paper was peeling and there was a definite smell of something rotting. There was a couch that looked older than dirt, the stuffing and springs poking out in some places. It was very small and had an eerie feel to it. "Ginny…" Harry started in an almost lecturing voice.

"Don't start." She said holding up a hand. But Harry was having none of this.

"You can't possibly live here." He said sounding as if the very idea of her residing in a place like this was completely absurd. As far as he was concerned, it was.

"I can too live here!" She protested, moving away from him. But he was quick and grabbed her hand.

"Ginny. This place is no go- Sweet Merlin, is that…is that a rat?" He asked, pulling Ginny back towards him as he pointed to a rodent that was the size of a small dog. "No. Come on." He said, before Ginny could argue any more. He wrapped an arm around her and disapparated once more.

The landing in his flat was a bit less shakey than in hers. Then again, his floorboards didn't creak or give when landed on. His flat was big enough for a few people but Harry generally kept to himself. It was nicely decorated with over sized and over stuffed furniture. Harry had always liked being comfortable. There was red and gold accenting everything, showing his Gryffindor house pride years after he had graduated.

They had landed in his living room that had several plush black leather couches in it. He took her hand and lead her over to one of the couches, sitting her down, she shot him a look of immense disapproval.

"Harry James Potter, you take me back to my house right now." She said moving to stand up. He simply shook his head and tugged lightly on her arm again, trying to coax her back on the couch.

"I have three rooms. You're welcome to any one of them. There's not much to eat, but there's a brilliant breakfast place downstairs. I can't cook, but I can make coffee, which, is the elixir of life and you will love." He gave her a sheepish smile, running a rough thumb over her smooth hand. "Please. Just…that flat. I can't. I would be a terrible person if I left you in a place like that." He said with a small sigh.

"You're being daft. That place is fine! I'm just getting out on my own, of course I have to live in a bit of a shite apartment. Once I finish my apprenticeship at the Appocethary, I'll be able to afford a better space." She argued, not looking him in the eye. She knew if she did, she'd be done for.

"I'm not being daft. Gin, there was a rat that could've eaten Crookshanks! That's just not safe! You're too good for that! Stay here. Stay with me. I've got plenty of room! I promise I won't get in your way! Please." He lifted her chin with a gentle finger to meet her eyes and gave her a small grin. "You can't tell me that you're brothers are anywhere near comfortable with your living situation…"

"You are too being daft! I can't very well just stay here! Harry! You're mental. Abso-bloody-lutely mental! Mum would throw a fit!" She argued back, her resolve slowly cracking at the sight of his emerald eyes.

"I'm sure she'd throw less of a fit than she did when she saw that deathtrap you've taken up residency in!" Harry protested. "Ginny, I'm not going to let you go back there. You might as well just give in now, before I have to resort to completely unfair tactics." He warned, a small sparkle just behind his eyes.

"Harry…I…" She started, but at the mention of 'unfair tactics' she arched an eyebrow. "Harry, I have six older brothers. I'm fairly certain my stubbornness can win out on this one." She challenged.

Harry smirked before leaning in and capturing her soft lips on with his own. He'd been wanting to do that ever since he'd seen her at the bar. Ever since he thought that the redhead behind the bar could've possibly have been her. His hand moved to cup her face gently while the other tangled in her red waves.

Ginny didn't have time to protest against the kiss before she felt herself giving in. Her stomach flipped as she felt herself leaning into him, completely losing control. He did something so unnatural to her. Any thoughts of leaving and going back to her own flat were quickly pushed from her mind as he leaned into her and gently laid her back against the couch.

He broke the kiss and lightly brushed a few stray strands of hair from her now pink face. He smiled at her before stealing another small kiss. "Stay." He murmured.

"Harry…you can't just…I mean…Merlin…" She breathed a bit flustered. "Don't expect me to just give in every time you kiss me." She said with a small smirk, still a little out of breath.

He leaned down and kissed her softly once more before moving along her jaw line. "But, I'm so good at it." He mumbled against her skin between kisses. He nipped her earlobe playfully, eliciting a small gasp from the redhead.

"Completely unfair." She sighed, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I warned you…" Harry said, leaning back now to take in her whole face. She was beautiful, everything he'd been missing for the past five years.

"You did." She said, pushing up against him so she could sit up a bit. She snuggled into his arms, laying her head against his chest. "I'll stay.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who sent in a review on the last chapter! I know this story is a little fluffy at the moment, but I SWEAR there will be plot coming soon!!! I promise! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll try and get the next one up as soon as I possibly can! Please Review!!!