More drinks, more winks, but no action between Harry and Ginny. For some reason, the just-under-the-surface sexual tension of the first practice day had been replaced by a slightly-awkward camaraderie. All the time was occupied by Quidditch, and there were no opportunities to get her away alone. By the last weekend of October, when the championship game was held, the Gryffindor Alumni team was counting the days 'til the end. The wives and husbands had quickly become fed up with the late weekend nights at the Three Broomsticks. The players, faced with competition against their peers as well as teenagers from Hogwarts, found the job at hand tougher than their first scrimmage. In the end, however, it came down to an age-old rivalry between the Gryffindor Alumni and the Slytherin Alumni teams.

The last game was held on Halloween. It started at noon and at 4:30 p.m. finally ended with Harry catching the Snitch, putting the Gryffindor team over the top by a mere 10 points.

The celebration was jubilant. The Gryffindor team launched themselves at Harry after he executed a picture perfect Potter Stall, dismounting precisely in the middle of the Pitch with the Golden Snitch held high in his right hand and his broom in his left. The team then flew to the faculty seats, where Professor McGonagall waited with the new Silver Alumni Quidditch Cup. Wood accepted then impulsively kissed Minerva McGonagall on the lips. A flash went off. The team then posed together for the Daily Prophet photographer before returning to the Great Hall for the First Annual Student and Alumni Halloween Feast and Ball.

And it was at the Ball, on a dance floor with literally hundreds of people watching, not to mention reporters from all the major Wizarding rags, that Harry, while dancing with Ginny, made his first move. He didn't think that asking Ginny to dance really qualified as a "move." After all, he had danced with Allie, Angelina, Hermione, Professor Sprout and even Rita Skeeter. So by the time he found Ginny and stole her away from tiny Professor Flitwick (they'd been doing a lively two-step), they were both tired and had sore feet. As the band began a slow song, Harry held out his hand and Ginny smiled and kicked off her shoes. They relaxed into the music, Ginny resting her forehead against the smooth silk of Harry's best dress robes.

"Tired?" he asked as they spun slowly amid the other couples.

"Mmmm. Yes. Really tired."

"It was a great game."

She smirked. "Took you long enough to get the Snitch, Potter! I swear I have splinters in my bum!"

He took her hand and twirled her around.

"Well, they're not sticking out of your robes," he said with a smile.

The song ended and the band launched into something much faster. Harry, feeling like a schoolboy with a practiced line, suggested that they go out to the gardens for a breath of fresh air. He summoned her shoes and the two pushed their way through the throngs and headed toward the memorial courtyard.

It was turning 11, and the students were being sent back to their rooms. With their departure, a magical champagne fountain appeared in the atrium of the castle. Harry grabbed two glasses as they passed by and handed one to Ginny. They downed them in a quick toast with the other players milling about, then refilled them before heading outside.

It was unseasonably warm for the end of October and the sky was brilliantly clear. They sat down on one of the reflecting benches in the hero's memorial and Ginny groaned as her seat made contact with the bench.

"I'm too old for Quidditch," she said with a chuckle.

"You're never too old for Quidditch!" he protested. "You're good enough to make a career of it, Ginny," he added.

She looked at him a moment to see if he was joking. He wasn't. He had the brightest, most intense look in his eyes. She looked away, back at the doors of Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione had come out and were drinking champagne with Oliver Wood and his wife.

"I already have a career, Harry," she said. "I'm happy with what I do. But what about you?" she asked, changing the subject. "What are you going to do after this year at Hogwarts?" She looked over at him and he had the odd feeling that she didn't really want to hear his answer.

"I don't know, Gin," he said, glancing up at the castle stairs where Ron, Hermione and a few more of the Gryffindor team were still drinking champagne and laughing amicably. "I love it here, I really do. But I can't imagine not being an Auror anymore. I think I'd miss the adventure and the excitement."

Ginny smiled but the smile hardly made it to her eyes.

"And the danger?" she asked, turning to face him and holding his eyes with her own.

He looked into her eyes a moment, wondering what she was on about. But he couldn't lie. Not to Ginny.

"No," he sighed. "I won't miss the danger. I feel safe here at Hogwarts, safer than I've felt since I left here when I was 16. But safety isn't everything, Gin. I risk my life, sure. But I do it because I'm needed…because others need that web of safety around them, too."

Ginny was quiet a moment. She downed the last of her champagne then placed the glass gently on the bench beside her.

"So when will you make up your mind?" she asked.

"I've given myself 'til Christmas," he answered. "I told Minerva I'd let her know right after the holidays."

She sighed and stood up. The mood, whatever mood they had had when they left the castle and walked together on the grounds, was gone.

"Why, Gin?" he asked suddenly, grabbing her hand and pulling her over in front of him. "Do you want me to stay here?"

She stood still for a moment, then lifted her hand and rubbed his cheek with the back of her fingers.

"I want you to be happy, Harry. And I want you to be safe. But I'm not sure you can be both things at the same time."

"I'm happy right now," he said, grabbing her hand before she could let it fall and pressing her fingers to his lips. She sighed and he lowered his head toward her, drawn irrevocably closer by her simple gesture.

He squeezed her hand. Merlin but it was soft. He'd gotten to know her so much better these last two months. The strange tension that had arisen between them had eased as the weeks progressed and they'd focused their energies on Quidditch instead of on each other. Though she had seemed very interested in him at first, at least to his inexperienced mind, she had pulled back as the month progressed, reserved for a reason he didn't understand. But he still found himself looking at her when she wasn't watching him. He wondered if anyone else had noticed, but knew for a fact that her brothers were on to him. Curiously, none of them had warned him off. Ron, in fact, had thrown up his hands last week after Harry had hugged Ginny goodbye for a full minute.

"Get a room, why don't you?" he'd said lightly as he stepped into the fireplace to floo home.

As they stood there now under the stars, hands linked in companionable silence, Harry turned to Ginny. Somehow, he felt like it was now or never. Gryffindor Courage he said to himself, steeling himself up for what he was determined to say.

"Ginny," he began. She raised her face. He continued. "I think.."

"Harry…." she said, as if something were on her mind.

"Don't," he said, quieting her. "Just once, let this happen."

He was looking down at her, and he saw the desire in her eyes. She tried to hide it and looked away, up toward their rowdy teammates on the castle stairs, but he reached out and turned her chin toward him, bending down to capture her lips.

His mouth closed on hers as he pulled her close. She held herself stiffly for a moment, then surrendered and he felt her arms come up to wrap around his shoulders. The kiss was wonderful, deep and searching, leaving him wanting so much more.

He broke the kiss off and a tiny moan escaped her as his lips traveled to the base of her neck.

"Harry," said Ginny. He protested as she pulled away from him. "We shouldn't. This isn't right."

"Not right?" he said, grabbing her wrist as she moved back another step. "What's not right?"

She looked up at him with an indecipherable look on her face. He couldn't tell if she was happy or sad, but decided that the two emotions were warring with each other.

"I….just can't. Not now. I…I may have to go back to Paris. Maybe as soon as Christmas."

"Paris?" he said, puzzled. "I thought you had come home. I thought you were happy here…"

"Sometimes you don't get to choose," she said. "They're calling me back. Mum doesn't want me to go but.."

"Your Mum!" protested Harry. "What about me? I don't want you to go either!"

Ginny looked at him with an indecipherable look in her eyes. He thought she looked angry. "Well maybe I didn't want you to go off and play Quidditch or become an Auror but you did! Don't tell me now that you don't want me to go back to Paris. It's not like you're right across the yard up here at Hogwarts, you know. You go gallivanting off to Bulgaria, Romania, Brazil, Lichtenstein.."

Brazil? How did she know about Brazil? He was covert in that operation.

She had stopped her quiet rant and was looking at him oddly.

"How did you know about Brazil?" he asked quietly. He was still holding her hand, and he moved his hand up to her elbow, to her upper arm.

"Dad let it slip," she answered quickly. "He made me swear I'd never tell. Please, Harry, don't let on…"

"What's going on, Gin?" he asked, not quite satisfied with her answer. "You like me. I can tell. There's something here, something between us. Bigger than it was back when we were kids at Hogwarts. But you're taking a step back with every step forward!"

"Harry," she began, reaching her arms around him and drawing him into a tight hug. She held him that way for a moment, and he began to relax into her, letting his body meld against hers. This felt so right. How could she be holding back now?

"Harry," she repeated softly a minute later. She had moved her hands up to cradle his head, pushing his messy black hair out of his face.

"Gin.."

The corner of her mouth turned up and she quickly leaned in and kissed him.

"Let's wait until Christmas and see how it goes." She had that look again, that look he couldn't quite figure out. She looked, for all practical purposes, like she was hiding something, or trying to reconcile two opposing sides.

"Harry! Ginny! Group photos!" called Ron.

Harry leaned in and gave Ginny one more kiss, one which she returned with a guarded intensity he did not miss.

"'Til Christmas, then," he whispered.