"Maybe you can get him pissed quickly and put him to bed."
"Hah, I'm going to try, but you know that with your brother there is a fine line between buzzed and puking. One false step and I'll end up stuck childminding him in the loo all night. Or worse, listening to Hermione yell about why I'm not childminding Ron in the loo all night."
"I can't believe she is insisting on following that stupid Arithmancy chart for the stag night and hen night too – isn't the actual wedding enough?" Ginny huffed. She wasn't annoyed at Harry; she knew this was not his fault. But he was the one there, so he got the brunt of her mood.
"You know Hermione," said Harry. "If there is an opportunity to work something educational into whatever she's doing, she's going to take advantage." He reached for his girlfriend, trying to get her back into bed. "At least she finally agreed to let Ron have his party in Hogsmede instead of Diagon Alley. "I bet we'll be able to come up to the pitch in between pubs to watch some of the match."
Ginny flopped back down next to Harry. "I can't believe I'm playing in an exhibition with the English National Team and you can't be there. If it is was for anyone other than Ron and Hermione, I wouldn't let you miss."
He rolled over to kiss her. "I'm going to find a way to be there for part of it, I promise, even if I have to Stupefy Ron myself. Now, can we please stop talking about your brother and get back to more important things? I haven't made you climax in over an hour and it's starting to make me twitchy."
Ginny laughed and hitched her leg over Harry's hip. "What does Kingsley say about that? I expect you must be quite twitchy at the office then."
Harry buried his face in her neck. "You aren't walking naked around my flat at the office," he mumbled. "Other than in my head, of course. I've mostly learned to control it there."
Ginny laughed again. "Mostly? I hate to think what happens when you fail."
"A lot of trips to the loo and silencing charms," Harry agreed. He rolled her on top of him. "Now, can we get back to more important things, please?"
HPHPHPHPHPHP
Three weeks later, Ginny dressed in her uniform with shaking hands. She wasn't nervous, per se, but excited, an emotion that seemed to be matched by the teammates around her; everyone was quieter than usual as they got ready for the match. It was just an exhibition, true, but for the Harpies to have been selected to play against the English National Team was an enormous honor that no one was taking lightly.
Harry had matched Ginny's enthusiasm. She knew it was nearly killing him to have to be at Ron's stag night instead of at the game, a fact he was trying to overcome through the sending of numerous Patronuses keeping her up to date on the group's activities. He was really hoping to be able to come watch at least part of the game, even if he had to bring a passed-out Ron along with him.
Ginny could tell when Harry started drinking himself because the quality of his messages to her got a little less Quidditch-technical and a little more free-spirited. He seemed to be keeping himself in control, though, for which she was grateful. Harry didn't get drunk often, but when he did, his inhibitions about their private activities tended to disappear. She didn't need the entire Harpies team hearing about what he planned to do with her once the match was over.
Another Patronus arrived about ten minutes before the team marched onto the pitch and by the sound of it, Harry was already having something of a time with her brother.
"Ginny! Gin! I think you are getting ready to play! Ron – hold on, Ron – I'm talking to your sister . . . Ron, come back! Gin, I'm sorry, I have to go chase him. But we are on our way to watch some of the match. At least, I think that's where Ron is going. I'm not sure, actually. He wants to go to the Hog's Head later and that may be the end of him, and me. Love you!"
Ginny grinned to herself. She hoped Harry made it to watch at least a little of the match; if he didn't she would definitely have to make sure Ron was woken up violently and early tomorrow morning.
When the Harpies came back to their dressing room during a break, there was another Patronus waiting. By the sound of it, Harry had joined Ron in a bit more celebrating.
"Wow Ginny, you'er fantastic. I saw some of th' match and I hav' to say, your arse was . . . was . . . juss fantastic. I liked watching it. And you. I love you. Ron says so too. Bloody fantastic. Playing, I mean. Not your arse. That's mine."
Ginny grinned to herself amid teasing from her teammates. At least Harry had gotten the chance to see a little of the game. Hopefully he had the sense to stay alert enough to take care of Ron; she didn't trust any of the rest of their friends or her brothers to step up.
She didn't get another Patronus until after the match was over. She had participated in the post-game interviews and photos, and had just gone into the locker room to shower when Harry's message arrived. He sounded rather incoherently frantic; apparently he had decided to follow the "if you can't beat them, join them" school of drinking, and now Ginny was worried that one of them might actually hurt themselves or something.
They had better not try to Apparate anywhere, the gits. Or even try the Floo. Could end up in Ireland if they aren't careful. She left the locker room and jogged up to the castle, rather dreading what she was going to find there.
Ginny made it to Gryffindor Tower and then stopped in frustration. She was pretty sure this was where Harry had meant when he said Ron was "tryin' to fly out of the 'comma roo,' but she had no way to get through the Portrait Hole. She was seriously considering contacting Hermione and letting her deal with Ron and Harry when the stag Patronus appeared again.
"Sorry . . . sorry Ginny," it slurred in a tired voice. "I. . . ferrrrgot to give you th' pashword. It's . . . uhh. . . it's ex-ex-exhibition. Like what you played. An exhi . . . exhi. . . bition. Yeah." The stag stuttered into silence and faded away.
Ginny sighed. She couldn't imagine the state Ron was in if Harry sounded that bad. And where had Hermione gone? Surely she must have been expecting to have to take care of her fiancée. Muttering to herself about the fact that she now was apparently going to have to childmind both her boyfriend and her brother, Ginny looked at the Fat Lady and said "Exhibition." The door swung forward and Ginny climbed through.
The common room was empty and Ginny felt a surge of annoyance. Leave it to the boys to be so drunk they ended up in the Astronomy Tower and thought it was Gryffindor. But Harry had sent her the password; more likely they were in one of the dormitory bathrooms and one of them was vomiting. Or ugh, both.
She walked over to the steps that led up to the boys' rooms. "Harry?" she called. "Ron?" There was no answer and she sighed to herself and considered sending Harry her own Patronus to figure out where he was. But given his state, it would probably be faster to walk upstairs and seek him out herself; his last message had sounded as if he wasn't going to be capable of casting any sort of response spell much longer.
She magnified her voice. "Harry, I'm coming up there, try to let me know which loo you are in. If you can." she sent the message up the stairs and prepared to climb.
"I'm not upstairs."
Ginny spun around.
Harry was standing by the entrance to the common room; the door was swinging shut as if he had just entered himself. He was dressed in his Auror's robes and he stared at Ginny with an intensity that made her breath hitch. He was completely sober.
"Harry, what?" Ginny took a step forward, confused. "Where's Ron? I thought you were . . . aren't you drunk?" She shook her head, trying to synchronize the vision of Harry's slurring Patronus with that of the man standing calmly before her.
Harry shook his head. "Ron's not here." He took a few steps closer. "I saw your entire match," he said hoarsely. "You were brilliant."
"But . . . stag night?" Ginny knew she was missing something. Was this some kind of trick?
"It's next week. I . . . .I was working. I saw your entire match," he said again.
His voice broke on the last word and Ginny felt a strange swoop in her stomach. Harry was still across the room. Even from there, she could something in his eyes she felt close to recognizing as important. He was trembling, watching her. She started walking towards him.
"Stop," he said suddenly. "Right there. Stop." His voice shook.
Ginny froze. "Harry, what is it?" she asked, and she heard the tremble in her voice as well.
He closed the space between them. "Do you know where we're standing?" he asked softly.
And then she got it. "Our first kiss," she said. She felt tears start to prick at the corners of her eyes.
Harry nodded solemnly. His eyes were bright with unshed tears of his own. "I couldn't think of a better place. We began to become 'us' here. I think we should start forever here too." He gave a small, sheepish smile. "But without the audience this time."
Ginny's heart was beating so quickly she suspected Harry could hear it. "Harry . . ." she began in a small voice.
"Shh," he said. He put one finger gently across her lips and then reached up to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "Please. I want to do this." He took her hands in his.
Ginny nodded mutely. A single tear escaped down her cheek and she didn't bother wiping it away; her entire focus was on Harry.
Harry took a deep breath. He was still looking at Ginny with same intensity and adoration and love and need as before and she knew her face reflected every emotion back.
"I don't even have the words, really," he said. "And I . . . I guess that makes sense, that I don't need to tell you what you mean to me. It almost feels, redundant, to say that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, because I think I kind of knew that . . . we knew that, on some level, from the very first time we kissed." He raised one of their clasped hands to his lips and kissed lightly there.
"I still have to pinch myself though," he continued. "To know that it's actually real. Voldemort has been gone more than three years and I still sometimes have trouble believing that all this – you and me - is not just a daydream of mine." He smiled. "You just make me so damn happy. All the time – I don't think I ever considered I could be this happy, this content, this much in love with you. I don't even have to think about it. And I want to do everything in my power to make sure you feel the same way for the rest of our lives."
Ginny couldn't have responded if she had tried. She was crying properly now, and hoped and expected that Harry knew exactly what she was feeling. Still, she couldn't hold in her gasp when Harry dropped her hands and took a small step back before lowering himself to one knee. He took one of her hands again in his and fumbled in his pocket with the other.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley," he said solemnly. "All I want from the rest of my life is to wake up every morning knowing that I love you and you love me. Please say you'll marry me." Harry's words were simple and heartfelt and Ginny felt them to her core. She dropped down to her knees across from him and gently wiped a tear off Harry's cheek with the pad of her thumb.
"I love you more than I ever thought possible, and every day more," she whispered. "Of course I'll marry you." She leaned in for a kiss. Their lips had almost connected when Harry suddenly jerked back.
"Wait!" he said suddenly. "I almost forgot!" The hand that had been fumbling in his pocket was now holding a small silver package. Even as Ginny watched, it unwrapped itself and a delicate ring adorned with a sparkling diamond floated out and slipped itself over her finger.
"I hope it's okay," Harry said quietly. He seemed to be unable to stop staring at her hand. "I . . . I didn't ask anyone for help."
"It's perfect, Harry," said Ginny. She leaned in again. "Now can I kiss you please?"
Their kiss started out soft and gentle; they both had their eyes open, staring at each other as if they could not believe what they had just done. And then Ginny leaned in closer to Harry and he lost his balance and they tumbled together to the ground, laughing.
"Hmm," said Ginny. "I like this position." She scooted up Harry's body to find his lips again, fitting herself neatly between his legs.
Harry chuckled underneath her. "Me too," he mumbled, lips busy. "But . . ." he pulled away with what seemed immense effort. "We actually can't stay here." He sat up slowly, moving Ginny in his arms so that she ended up in his lap. "You wouldn't believe the number of lies I had to tell and favors I called in to get the entire tower empty for this long. McGonagall is convinced I'm hunting a Kraken, I think."
Ginny snorted. "A Kraken? Really?"
Harry nodded. "Yep," he said in a pleased voice. "It was some tricky magic to get her to believe that."
"Or more likely, she's a better actress than you thought," said Ginny. "What else did you have to do?"
"A lot of Confunding," he admitted. "Your entire family was at the exhibition. I couldn't have them telling you that Ron wasn't actually at his Stag Night and I didn't want them to realize that I had anything planned for us. Good thing you never pay attention to the stands when you play."
"I can't believe you managed to Confund my entire family," said Ginny. "That must have been a lot of work."
"I was trying to do everything myself. Good thing I realized pretty quickly that if I didn't get Hermione involved I was going to make a complete mess of things. She charmed a good luck note for you and everyone signed it. Instant Confunding."
"Remind me thank her," Ginny murmured. Her mouth was now at Harry's neck. "Where should we go instead?" She leaned back and smirked at him. "I bet you'd like to shag me in your old school bed, wouldn't you?"
"Uhhh," Harry groaned. "That would be bloody fantastic." He looked over at the steps leading up to the boys dorm as if considering. After a minute though, he shook his head. "I don't think we have time," he said regretfully. And anyway, I think someone else must be living there now."
Ginny wrinkled her nose. "True," she said. She thought for a moment. "Well . . . " she finally said slowly. "Your Patronus interrupted me before I had a chance to take a shower. Do you think your skills at Confundus charms and general sneakiness could get us alone in the Prefects' bathroom for a while?"
Harry's eyes lit up. "Perfect," he said. He stood up and pulled Ginny up after him. They were halfway to the portrait hole when he stopped. "You uh, don't think we should tell your family first, do you? Before we ummm . . .?" he gave her a beseeching look.
"Before we consummate our engagement you mean?" said Ginny in an amused voice. "Not only do I think my family can wait, I'm going to insist on it. "
"Good," said Harry with satisfaction. "Because I really, really want to make love to my fiancée now."
"And your fiancée really, really wants to make love right back," answered Ginny. She gestured to the portrait hole. "Shall we?'
A/N: And yes, I'm so sorry, but I really am ending it here for now. I didn't plan to – I just don't have time to write the good stuff and I'm not sure I can get to it for another couple of days and I wanted to post this. I promise to write that scene as soon as possible. I'm also halfway through both another chapter of Watching and Waiting as well as Chapter 3 of Charming Ginny. It's a problem, that I have to be working on multiple things at once. If anyone has a one-shot request for these two, let me know, and I'll see what I can do.
