Ginny always enjoyed summer, the warm days, the long weeks with no school and nothing to do, it was even better now that she had Harry to spend her free time with.
She was panicking though. It was fast approaching Harry's birthday and she had not found anything to get him for a present. As they were now engaged she wanted to buy him something really very special, but she knew that she couldn't really afford all those things she had seen in Diagon Alley.
Harry had mentioned that he didn't really want anything for his birthday, and constantly made her blush by saying that she was the best present he could ever wish for. She felt guilty that last year she hadn't got him anything at all, just the kiss that Ron had so rudely interrupted. He could be such a git at times.
Harry was keeping very quiet about his plans for her own birthday, after all it was only 11 days after his, and she was nervous. This year she officially came of age. This meant that she could use magic at home legally. Of course she had been using magic occasionally anyway, living in a house full of wizards it was virtually impossible for the trace to detect who was actually using magic, she just had to make sure that her parents didn't catch her using her wand. Nevertheless she still couldn't wait to actually be able to use magic legally.
She was also excited about sitting her apparition test, she had side-along apparated with Harry loads of times during the summer but couldn't wait to do it herself. All in all this was the birthday she had been looking forward to for most of her life and having Harry there with her made it all the better.
Unfortunately Harry seemed to be acting a little bit strange. He disappeared for hours on end during the day and would change the subject whenever Ginny brought up her birthday. She was starting to get suspicious. What was he up to?
Ginny decided to put it from her mind and concentrate on his birthday instead. As Harry had already come of age he said he didn't want a big birthday. Just a family lunch and a quiet night he had said, Ginny decided that this suited her fine and she settled on the perfect present for him.
Harry woke up on the morning of his birthday to find his room empty. He was slightly disappointed, he had expected Ginny to have crept in during the night as she had done a few nights the previous week. Harry liked it when she did this, silently slipping into his bed and curling up to sleep beside him.
He groped around on the bedside table feeling for his wand, having found it he pointed it at the window making the curtains open and flood the room with light.
He picked up his glasses and jammed them on his face, blinking in the sunlight he noticed a small pile of wrapped presents at the bottom of his bed. He didn't feel like opening them without Ginny so he got dressed and opened the door to the hallway. The house sounded like it was empty and Harry decided to walk downstairs to find out where everyone was, especially Ginny.
As he walked into the kitchen he found Mrs Weasley happily cooking breakfast. She spotted Harry and hurried over to him, arms open wide and a big smile on her face.
"Happy birthday Harry dear," she said, throwing her arms around him and dragging him into a bone-crushing hug. "Sit down dear, breakfast is nearly ready. Haven't you opened your presents yet?"
Harry shook his head and Mrs Weasley drew her wand, "Accio Harry's presents" she said and the small pile of packages from the end of his bed flew through the door and arranged themselves neatly in front of him. He smiled his thanks as Mrs Weasley turned back to cooking breakfast.
Harry found he had been given another box of Weasley's wizard wheezes' latest products from George, a book on famous Quidditch moves and spectacular saves from Hermione and a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey from Mr and Mrs Weasley. Harry was surprised by this as he had never expected alcohol from anyone before.
Ron had surpassed himself, wrapped carefully in brown paper was a small glass mirror, when Harry looked into it he didn't see his reflection, instead he saw a coupe of shadowy figures lurking behind some sort of dark mist. Harry had seen one of these before a few years ago, there was no mistaking that this was a foe glass.
Harry was disappointed to see that there was no present there from Ginny, there was a set of fur lined seekers gloves from Hagrid and a box of fudge from Andromeda and Teddy. Harry smiled at this last present, thinking of how well Teddy had taken to him as his Godfather.
Mrs Weasley put a plate in front of Harry and used her wand to make a number of sausages land on his plate, quickly followed by eggs, bacon, tomatoes and plenty of toast.
Ginny arrived back at the Burrow late in the morning, Harry had asked Mrs Weasley where she had gone, she had replied that she had gone out to do a spot of shopping.
Ginny kissed him and sat down beside him as Mrs Weasley prepared Lunch. Mr Weasley was in the shed tinkering with Sirius' old motorbike, that Hagrid had crashed into the Tonks' garden.
"Buy anything nice?" Harry asked as Ginny cuddled up to him on the sofa.
"Mmm!" she replied simply, pushing a bag down the side of the chair before quickly changing the subject. "Do you fancy a bit of Quidditch practice?"
Harry nodded and looked over to Ron who was playing a game of chess against Hermione. Ron nodded and stood up from his game. Hermione moaned that she would have won and Harry laughed at her optimism. He didn't know anyone who had ever won a game of wizard's chess against Ron.
Harry's birthday passed as a very enjoyable day, they played Quidditch, Ron and Hermione as chasers and Harry and Ginny seekers, boys versus girls. The teams were a little bit unfair because Hermione wasn't normally very confident on a broom, but she seemed to be holding her own against Ron for a change. Harry and Ginny were deliberately bumping into each other, and missing catches. Harry was more than once put off looking for his training snitch by Ginny winking at him. Finally the couple found themselves racing to catch the snitch on two old Weasley brooms, Harry's hand stretched out to catch it, Ginny's slightly behind, when she leaned over and kissed him, he fumbled the catch allowing Ginny to catch it and win the game. Ginny teased him all the way into the kitchen as they sat down for lunch.
After lunch Mrs Weasley suggested that they should all go out for the evening and allow Harry and Ginny some private time together. Harry looked at her suspiciously then looked to his girlfriend. Ginny's face was unreadable as everyone stood up to get their coats. As they left, Ginny stood up and walked out of the room, towards the stairs.
"Aren't you coming?" called Ginny over her shoulder as her hair disappeared with a flash round the corner.
Harry grinned and stood up, he followed her up to her room and was astonished by what he saw.
Ginny must have spent hours decorating her room, the window was draped with red silk curtains and red and pink voiles were draped from her bed which had been magically enlarged into a double four post bed. Someone had enchanted candles to float around the room, spilling their soft light across the sumptuous looking room. Ginny had obviously changed very quickly, she was sitting in the middle of the bed propping herself up with her arms. She had used the charm that returned her hair to the style she had worn to the ball, and was dressed in just her underwear, but it wasn't any underwear Harry had ever seen before.
"Do you like it?" she asked of him coyly, "I bought it specially today!"
Harry was stunned, she was wearing a beautiful white lacy Basque and matching thong, she had a white garter around her leg and a white flower tucked into her hair.
"Is this a preview for our wedding night?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.
"No, this is your birthday present, I hope you like it!" she leaned over and picked up a bottle of champagne and two glasses. She picked up her wand and pointed it at him, his clothes magically disappeared and she grinned at him, beckoning him to join her on the bed.
"You'll get in trouble doing underage magic like that!" he teased as he climbed onto the bed in front of her.
"Don't worry, I'll blame it on you!" she replied pouring him a glass.
He drank it back in one swift movement and put the glass down, taking her own from her hand and kissing her.
"Can I unwrap my present now?" he asked. She lay back on the bed and nodded.
Harry wanted to do something really special for Ginny's Birthday and knew that he had a lot to live up to after her present for him. It was going to be difficult though, he knew that her turning seventeen was a big event, and her whole family was going to want to celebrate it with her. There was little chance of getting her to himself.
Harry decided that with a little bit of thought he could surely find a present that would show how he felt for her.
The big day came just eleven days after Harry's. If possible it was one of the biggest events in the Weasley Family history. Ginny was the first girl to be born into the family in seven generations, she was also the seventh child of Mr and Mrs Weasley. Harry knew that seven was an extremely powerful magical number. A Birthday like this was bound to be a big event.
Everywhere he looked the house had been cleaned and tidied, it seemed that just as much effort had been put into getting the house into shape for Ginny's birthday as Bill and Fleur's wedding day.
Mrs Weasley was humming and singing everywhere she went, whenever she looked at Ginny she burst into tears and was compelled to pull her into a hug. Ginny was starting to get a little bit irritated with this especially after one particular hug which had caused her to drop the pile of neatly folded clothes she had been carrying.
Ginny had received an extraordinary amount of presents mostly from family members, cousins, great uncles and the like. Her parents had bought her a watch as was tradition, but this wasn't just any watch, it was beautifully crafted and perfectly feminine, Ginny was astounded by the shining, glittering face and immediately put it on, enlisting Harry's help to fasten the clasp on the silver bracelet style strap. It was a good job Mr Weasley had got a promotion at work.
Ron had bought her a necklace, Hermione a silk nightdress that she made her unwrap in the privacy of her own room, Hermione winked at her when she saw the contents.
Harry had saved his present until last. She opened the wrapping paper to find a brand new dragon skin bound photograph album. On the front she saw their two names magically glittering and winding in and out of each other in gold lettering.
Harry had divided the album into sections and had already started to fill some of them.
Ginny was pleased to see the first photograph in the album was entitled 'The day I found my true love' There was a picture of them sharing their first kiss in the Gryffindor common room.
She flicked through the following pages and found a number of other photographs before finding a blank page waiting to be filled in, entitled, 'Our Future' Ginny closed the book and hugged her boyfriend tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"That's not your only present!" he whispered in her ear as she kissed him on the cheek.
Ginny's birthday party was a very busy affair. People were invited from all over the place. The whole family made an effort to turn up, including the distant relations and their own families. Ginny's friends from school, the Quidditch team, most of the DA and even a few teachers, including Hagrid, Slughorn, Flitwick and McGonagall.
The party continued until very late dancing, singing and talking. As the last person left, Harry took Ginny's hand.
"I've ok'd it with your parents, you're coming to stay with me tonight."
Ginny looked confused at this, she'd been to Harry's room plenty of times, why did he ask permission?
Harry took her hand and she felt the strange suffocating feeling of disapparating. She opened her eyes to find them standing in the square outside the front door to number twelve Grimmauld place. Ginny realised immediately what Harry had meant by 'Staying with him'
They walked up the steps to the house and opened the front door. Ginny was astonished by how different the place looked from when she had last been here, when it had been the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.
Kreacher had been busy, every object and surface had been cleaned and polished, the walls had been painted in brighter and more cheerful colours, the gas lamps glowed brighter than before and a smell of cooking food was wafting from the kitchen.
Kreacher walked out of the kitchen and bowed low to the two of them.
"Welcome home master Harry. Supper is nearly ready sir."
Harry thanked Kreacher and asked him if he could serve their supper in the drawing room upstairs. Kreacher bowed low again and returned to the kitchen.
Ginny looked impressed as Harry led her up the stairs towards the first floor drawing room. In the room she saw another present, a large rectangular box tied up with a large red ribbon. Ginny turned to look at Harry who nodded towards it grinning.
"Go on, open it!"
Ginny tore the ribbon from the box and lifted the lid, staring down in disbelief at the contents.
"Harry, you can't, it's too expensive, oh Harry!" she held her hand to her mouth as Harry bent down into the box and pulled out her present, a brand new Firebolt 1a. She took it in her hands, marvelling at its beauty. It was the witches model, which was slimmer, and longer slightly than the standard wizards one, the tail was also slightly more streamlined. She tuned the broom over and looked at the registration 'Exclusive Registrations Available!' she remembered the caption on the shop window display. Her registration read 'Ginny Potter 1' she grinned and turned to see Harry who was looking a little embarrassed. She looked past him and saw another box tucked just behind a chair, against the wall. Harry saw her glance and looked even more embarrassed.
"You got yourself one too?" she grinned at him. He nodded and went to pick up his own wizards model. His registration read 'Harry Potter 2' "We match!" said Ginny delighted, and kissed him passionately.
"I've got to have a decent broom if I want you to pick me for your Quidditch team!" Harry said with a smirk on his face.
Ginny looked at his face to see if he was making fun of her.
"You mean…" she started, but Harry cut across her.
"McGonagall has made you Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain!" he said proudly.
"But I thought you would be made captain again, now you're back!"
"No, McGonagall has done too many favours for me, I shouldn't really even be head boy, besides, she's picked the best chaser in the school, we can't lose!"
Ginny hit him on the arm at his last comment before hugging him again.
"If you don't stop, my head will be too big to fit through the door."
Harry mimicked her head ballooning and Ginny burst into fits of giggles.
Kreacher opened the door carrying a large tray holding Harry's bottle of Firewhiskey, two glasses and an assortment of food. Ginny looked suddenly hungry.
"Mum's cooking was wonderful, but that smells gorgeous!" Kreacher beamed at the compliment, and again Ginny was surprised by the change in the small elf. She had heard Harry, Ron and Hermione talk about him and how he had changed, but seeing it for real still surprised her.
She and Harry talked for hours, they ate, drank and laughed. Eventually it was time to go to bed, Harry led her up the stairs to the Room that had been the master bedroom. Ginny had never been in here, and half expected a return to the Back family décor, but again this room had seen a dramatic transformation. Harry had stripped the room bare and left plain magnolia walls, a dark crimson carpet and an antique four post bed with matching wardrobe and chest of drawers.
He led Ginny to the bed, where she kissed him. Harry pulled out his wand and used Ginny's own charm against her. Instead of making all of her clothes disappear, he removed them one at a time, making Ginny squeal and giggle as he kissed her at the same time. Harry stood back leaving her wearing only a smile. She picked up her wand, pointed it at him and growled with lust, his clothes disappeared and he smiled. Ginny performed a contraceptive charm and pulled him towards her, falling onto the bed. She pushed Harry onto his back and swung her leg over him, teasing him by rubbing her groin against his.
"This is my lucky day!" she said with a coy grin, "I get two presents that I can ride!"
With that she slid herself down onto him and threw her head back, her hair falling down her back. Harry looked up at her, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen as she lifted herself up on him slightly before slowly sliding back down with a moan.
A/N: I think that will do for now! lol. Must leave then some privacy!
I wanted to write something about their birthdays because they are so close, but this didn't form a main part of my plot line. (Only the bit about the brooms!)
Next chapter, our heroes go shopping for school and get a slight shock.
Thanks once again for those of you who have left feedback, you guys keep me writing. Please keep it up, your words motivate me. This is my last update for this week, I don't get much writing time at the weekends! Hopefully my next update will be Monday or Tuesday.