iii: Ginny is turned on by Harry as an Auror.
Ginny usually had trouble sleeping, the first night she spent in a new place. She had hoped it might be different tonight—they had had the busiest of days, beginning moving things at eight, and not finishing until eight in the evening, despite all the help from her family. The Weasleys had left after a thank-you dinner of pizza, then she and Harry had had to unpack the very basics—bed linen and shampoo and cutlery and mugs for their morning cup of tea, and, actually, when she thought about it, the "very basics" amounted to quite a lot—so they hadn't got to bed until nearly one in the morning. If his slow and steady breathing was anything to go by, Harry appeared to have fallen asleep straight away, but she was still awake almost an hour later.
Much as they had both loved the house, a beautiful old building that had once been a farmhouse, situated on the edge of Godric's Hollow, with an enormous, secluded garden perfect for knockabout games of Quidditch, it did not yet feel like home. She had just about resigned herself to a night of no sleep at all, when she heard a noise from downstairs, and was instantly on red-alert.
"Did you hear that?" a voice next to her hissed. Perhaps Harry wasn't quite so asleep after all.
"I'm sure it's nothing," she whispered back, already gripping her wand. There was another scuffling noise downstairs, and they both sat up, exchanging glances. The bedroom did not yet have any curtains, and there was a full moon, so she could see his face lit up in its glow. He looked apprehensive, but it was clear his Auror training was already kicking in.
A third noise came from downstairs, and they both threw back the covers and got out of bed, tensely gripping their wands. "Get behind me," he hissed in a low voice, pushing her back as they headed for the door. She was about to protest, but he added, "I want a good wand on my back. If anything happens to me, head upstairs straight away and send a Patronus to Ron and Hermione."
Ginny nodded once, squeezed his hand tightly, then followed him in creeping towards the stop of the stairs as softly as possible. "What do you think it is?" she whispered. "A bug?" she added, raising an eyebrow significantly.
"Put it this way," Harry murmured back. "As desperate as the press are to find out where we're living now, I don't think even they'd be creeping around our kitchen at almost two in the morning. We're more likely dealing with someone a bit more threatening..."
Harry silently cast a spell, then frowned still further as the kitchen door glowed blue.
"Something there?"
"Not a human," he mouthed back. "Possibly an animagus. Or Dark creature...but something." Ginny swallowed hard. "Attack," Harry mouthed, pointing to himself. "Defence," he added, pointing at her. "Shield Charm as soon as we open the door. Anything happens, go, and send for Ron."
She made the OK symbol with her fingers, then copied him in levitating her way down the stairs. They both landed silently, but she worried that her heart was beating so loudly that it would give them away. Every tiny creak or groan from the house made her feel more nervous: she didn't know the place well enough yet to know if that was just the sounds it made, or if something more sinister was at play. And, try as she might to convince herself that whatever was in the kitchen was nothing to worry about, years of living through war had taught her to always, always assume the worst...
At least she had Harry.
He held up three fingers, pointing to the kitchen door. She gave a firm, resolute nod. Two fingers. She readied her wand. One finger.
Harry threw the door open and Ginny immediately shot out the strongest shield charm she could muster. She heard Harry cry something, and an instant later there was a loud bang, a tinkling sound and a yowl. "Impedimenta!" Harry yelled, and a very startled looking cat was frozen in mid-air, having clearly been mid-jump off the kitchen table.
Harry shot two more spells around the room and Ginny looked one way and the other, trying to see anything else in the moonlight. "Er..." Harry said, after a moment of total inaction. "It appears that the cat is the only thing in here." He sent another spell towards it, but nothing happened. "And...um...it's not an animagus. It's just...a cat."
Ginny's shoulders slumped and relief washed over her. "Unfreeze the poor thing, then!" she said, and Harry did so. She immediately dropped to her knees, reaching out towards it. "I'm so sorry kitty! I'm sorry! You poor thing, you scared us, you did! Oh, poor little kitty!" After a moment of crooning, it allowed her to stroke its head, and soon it was purring and rubbing against her torso.
"Get some milk, and a saucer," she said to Harry, who hurried to obey. He placed it next to her, then reached out to stroke the cat, too. It yowled and scratched at him and he hissed, removing his hand at once. Ginny tickled it behind the ears, and it went back to purring.
"I supposed I deserved that," he sighed. "Honestly, an Auror who can't tell the difference between a Dark wizard and a little kitten..."
Ginny's lips twitched. "Well, at least that vase won't be giving us any more trouble," she said, nodding towards the shattered remains, victim of Harry's initial spell. As they watched, the cat finished the saucer of milk, then jumped into Ginny's lap, curling up there and starting to wash itself.
"I suppose we're keeping it, then," Harry said, and Ginny beamed at him. "As long as you don't shame me by explaining how we met..."
"Come on, it wasn't all bad," Ginny said. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I've never seen you in full-on Auror mode before. And I'm not gonna lie—it was hot. You'll have to do it again sometime..."
Harry smirked. "Only if you're really, really bad."
A/N: edited 17.06, with thanks to the anon who sent the great prompt for the previous chapter, and spotted a really glaring spelling error in the first paragraph :)