The inky sky had lightened to the color of a dull bruise by the time Harry and Ginny finally made it back to her dorm. Her roommates were still sleeping and they slipped back through the silencing charms Harry had set earlier before he pulled the Invisibility Cloak off both of them.

Ginny flopped back on her bed, still giddy over the rapid turns of events, and wondered if she should even bother trying to sleep. The 8 am Quidditch practice she had called for the team had seemed a solid idea two days previously, when Ginny had been trying all means of distraction to keep from thinking of Harry's impending date with Skylar Marks. Now it just felt rather sadistic, and she seriously considered sending a Patronus to each member of the team to cancel.

"I bet Oliver Wood never had to play captain after having sex all night," she mumbled to Harry as he was gathering up his things and setting a charm to wake her up in time to meet her team on the pitch.

"I wouldn't be so certain of that," Harry responded. "I didn't know it at the time, but I'm pretty sure he and Katie started shagging his last year of school." He smirked at her. "And really, are you already complaining about sex interfering with your life? Cause we can stop, if you want. Now that we've checked "losing virginity" off our lists, I mean." Ginny threw a pillow at him, which he neatly dodged, his Auror reflexes clearly still sharp despite a night of no sleep.

"Don't . . . don't forget to set your own wake-up charm," she mumbled through a wide yawn. The adrenaline that had been coursing through her ever since Harry had landed on her bed was fading rapidly, aided, no doubt, by the exhaustion of multiple MULTIPLE! orgasms. But their next match – against a solid Syltherin team – was only next week, and Ginny had purposely picked Saturday in case the practice was bad enough that they needed to work on Sunday as well.

"I'm off until a late training tonight. Looking forward to a bit of a lie-in, actually." He waggled his eyes at her for a moment, but then his brow wrinkled. "Actually, I think my boss gave me the day off on purpose in the hopes that I'd still be with Skye. Damn. Maybe I should go straighten all that out first." Harry wrinkled his nose for a second, thinking about having to tell Devon Marks what had happened.

"Just don't agree to another date with her," said Ginny. She yawned again. "Bugger early morning practices."

"I blame the captain," quipped Harry, leaning down to give her a light kiss. "I'll owl you later, okay?"

"M'kay," Ginny was already half asleep, curled around her pillow as Harry slipped through her bed hangings and out of the dorm.

What felt like only minutes later, Ginny awoke to an insistent tapping on her window. The sun was rising decisively now and she could see from her watch that she had only fifteen minutes to get down to the pitch. She pulled the pillow back over her head and wondered if there was a spell that would allow her to direct practice from her bed.

"Should ask Fred and George," she thought as she clumsily sat up and pushed open her window.

Harry's wake-up charm – a paper Harpy – flew into the room, squawking. "Wake up, Wake up, Wake up Sleepy Ginny!" Clutched in its paper talons was bag that it dropped into her lap. Inside, Ginny found two warm bakery buns and a note.

I love you., Miss Quidditch Captain

Ginny smiled and whispered, "I love you too, Harry."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPH

For the next three days, Ginny walked around the castle acutely aware of the secrets she was hiding.

I had sex! her brain would yell, as her face, a mask of concentration, continued to watch the cauldron where she was carefully brewing a Memory Muddling draught.

Harry loves me, and I love him! she sang under her breath, while to any outside observer, she was diligently making notes in her Quidditch playbook while her team flew around the pitch.

A part of Ginny wanted everyone to know – maybe during another game of I Never – this time played with the intent of being able to get very, very drunk. Another part of her wished to sit down with her girlfriends and gossip – maybe ask a few of the more technical questions that had popped into her brain as she relived in her mind the time she had spent with Harry. They had really only been together for those few stolen hours, and their daily owls back and forth, while sweet in their own right, didn't really help Ginny relieve the now regular physical desire that had been awakened.

But the bigger part of Ginny – the part that understood why Harry guarded his privacy so religiously, and the part that wanted to enjoy being part of that privacy without any outside distractions - was thrilled to keep everything just between the two of them. She had gotten used to keeping their secret even when they were doing no more than checking experiences off a list, and so in some ways, it was easy not to mention what they had done together, as if nothing had changed. And so Ginny walked blissfully through her days, carrying her knowledge close to her chest as if it was protected by a particularly lovely Fidelius charm.

It was only when Ginny walked into her DADA class the following Tuesday that she recognized how much she really did want – maybe even need - to talk to someone about Harry. Fleur was standing at the front of the classroom, and when she caught Ginny's eye, Ginny had the immediate feeling that the older witch was looking right through her casual façade.

Didn't Bill say that Fleur had become a master of Legilimency? Ginny hadn't questioned why Fleur had decided to teach her the contraceptive charm several weeks earlier – indeed, hadn't questioned Fleur's comment that, as Ginny had no sisters, she felt it her duty, or why Fleur suddenly felt like it was her duty exactly then. She hadn't said a word about sex the entire time Ginny was dating Dean, and the two of them had not exactly been subtle about picking places around the castle to snog.

I didn't even know I had feelings for Harry then. But had Fleur?

Ginny remembered suddenly that Fleur had been there the day Ginny learned her Patronus had changed from a horse to a doe. She and Harry had discussed it briefly right afterwards, but Ginny hadn't really thought about it since. Now, it made her feel warm inside to think that somehow, her magical energy had recognized her feelings for Harry even before she was consciously aware of them herself.

Fleur must have known what it meant too, Ginny thought. Her fondness for her sister-in-law grew when she realized that Fleur had kept the knowledge to herself, never trying to pry or meddle or push Ginny or Harry together. And she hadn't told anyone else, either. Ginny had no doubt about what kind of hell her brothers would have put her through if they had had even an inkling about what she and Harry had been getting up to these past months. And her mother . . . Ginny shuddered. While she absolutely wanted her family to know, she wanted them to know on her own terms – hers and Harry's terms actually.

She giggled to herself remembering Harry in the Room of Requirement lamenting about the number of brothers she had and how they were going to react. His preferred way of announcing their relationship would probably involve something along the lines of sending a Patronus while he hid out somewhere else. Preferably on another continent.

Ginny's musings were interrupted by Fleur's voice. "All right, everyone. Today we are 'aving a practical lesson outside. I want to see 'ow well you are at casting and dodging 'exes and jinxes when ze weather is not so nice, non?" Fleur waved her wand around herself and Ginny briefly saw a warm orange glow settle over her body.

"Don't forget your warming charm!" Fleur called to the class as everyone began to chatter excitedly and rush towards the door in their enthusiasm to get outside. Ginny suspected that most of this practical lesson was going to involve enchanted snowball fights as opposed to serious hexes, but she was not about to complain. She held back as the last of her classmates left the room, waiting for Fleur as she took a last look around and then locked the classroom. She looked up, and Ginny was certain she saw a hint of a knowing smile flit across her face.

"You don't want to be the first outside?" she asked. "I suspect that some of ze boys are going to plan an ambush on the rest of us."

"Some of the girls too," replied Ginny. "But I trust my shield charm."

Fleur nodded. "Ahh yes, you learned that from one of the best, didn't you?" She raised her eyebrows but did not say anything else.

Ginny decided that this was as good of an opening as any. "Yes, I did. It was Harry who taught me, and he is the best, I mean, he was the best teacher I've ever had. Until you, I mean. Of defense. He was the best teacher of defense. And I had a question about that, if you don't mind. Well, not about defense, actually. A question about Harry I wanted to ask you." Ginny stuttered, tying to gather her thoughts. "Maybe not exactly a question, exactly. But a . . . well, maybe a couple of questions, because you know about, I mean, you are with . . . er, you have already . . ." Ginny trailed off weakly, feeling like an idiot.

Fleur's laugh interrupted Ginny's babbling and she stopped in the corridor and looked directly at Ginny. "Let me guess," she said. "You 'ave feelings for "Arry, and you want to know if he has feelings for you, yes?"

"Yes," breathed Ginny. "That is, no. I mean, I do have feelings for Harry, but I don't need to know if he has feelings for me." Fleur looked as if she was about to say something, but Ginny rushed on.

"I know he has feelings . . . that he loves me, that he's in love with me," she said quickly before Fleur could interrupt. "He told me last night, before we . . . um, and then after too, and um, I told him I loved him and then we, um . . ." she looked at Fleur, cheeks flaming. "We didn't forget the charm you taught me, though," she finished weakly.

Fleur, to her credit, neither laughed nor seemed particularly shocked. "I thought 'e had a date with zat Skylar Marks last night?"

"He did," said Ginny. They reached the doors to the courtyard where the rest of the class was already in high spirits, flinging snow at each other, and Ginny was gratified when Fleur cast a quick Muffliato over them before they went outside so they could continue their conversation in private.

"He did," repeated Ginny. "And then, and then he came and found me."

"Ahh," responded Fleur. "And then the two of you . . .?"

"Yes," confirmed Ginny, nodding. "Twice."

Fleur's smile grew just a little bigger. "I wondered when the two of you would figure out that you were meant for each other."

"Took longer than it should have," muttered Ginny. She watched as Jimmy Peakes sent a wall of snow at Demelza, who waved her wand and exploded it into a shower of flakes that covered both of them. "It's just . . ." she began hesitantly.

"Yes?" asked Fleur.

"I don't know what's next," Ginny confessed. "I mean, what it means for us to be together, what is going to change, how we really go from being just friends to being . . . more. We have been owling each other every day, but we haven't even had the chance for a proper talk since Harry left, and I don't know what he's thinking or how this is all going to work, and do we have to tell people . . . about us, I mean." Ginny hadn't really meant to blurt everything out right there, in the middle of DADA, she had been thinking more along the lines of asking the older witch if they could meet later for a talk. But now that her questions were out there, Ginny realized that she really wanted to know what Fleur thought.

Ginny had always looked up to Bill more than any of her other brothers – the age difference between them had meant they had less of a sibling-torture and more of a loving-protector kind of relationship. And despite her early dislike for Fleur when she first came to take Ginny's adored big brother away, Ginny was now mature enough to understand that Bill would never be with someone he could not respect and trust. And Fleur's actions during the war as a fierce fighter who never showed fear, had only cemented Ginny's acceptance. She waited now, as Fleur first amplified her voice to call out instructions to the scattered class, and then turned back to Ginny.

"I assume you 'ave no doubts about 'ow 'Arry feels about you, or you about him, non?"

"Right," said Ginny, nodding vigorously. "I don't worry about that at all. It's just, what does that mean?"

"Ahh, that you will have to figure out together, I think," said Fleur. "Being apart as you are makes it 'arder to see at first, but I know you, and I know 'Arry, and I am certain that you will be able to figure things out. Talk about it when you see each other again, and you will realize that many of your worries simply melt away when you are with each other."

Ginny sighed. "I know you're right. I just wish we didn't have to spend so much time apart right now." She suddenly remembered something. "Harry comes back to lecture in DADA again the week after next," she began hesitantly. "On February 14th."

Fleur nodded. "Ahh yes, Valentine's Day. 'Ze first Valentines Day is special. After you are married and have a bebe, it is less important. Bill and I are going to 'ave a picnic in a park with Victoire. But I am sure 'Arry will plan something lovely."

"Yes," said Ginny. "He um, he actually already has. But, um, what he planned is, I mean . . . is for us not to be at Hogwarts. For the night." She looked beseechingly at Fleur. "I know it's asking a lot, but you are family, and I'm a Seventh Year, and you know how important this is. We hardly get to see each other and I know that if you approved it, Professor McGonagall would let me leave for the night, if she thought I was going to be with my family."

Fleur's mouth twitched. "You want me to tell 'ze Headmistress 'zat you need to spend 'ze evening with your family. But actually, you want to be with 'Arry instead?"

Ginny forced herself to meet Fleur's eye, but she couldn't help the blush she was sure was creeping up her cheeks. "Well, yes. That is what I want."

Fleur's eyes twinkled. "I think it best not to involve a visit to your family in 'zis plan. I will tell Professor McGonagal that you 'ave been under a lot of pressure, with Newts and Quidditch, and that you need a night away to visit with your niece. And then, if we happen to run into 'Arry , who is also alone for the evening, well then, no one will be 'ze wiser."

Ginny just managed to stop short of throwing her arms around Fleur. "Yes, thank you, that is perfect.," she said. She looked at the large clock that overlooked the courtyard and was relieved to see that class was almost over. She needed to send an owl to Harry right away.