Ginny sat down heavily at the kitchen table, her eyes still bleary with sleep and her stomach near raving with hunger. A steaming cup of tea plonked itself rather jauntily in front of her as if proud to be of service this morning and she groaned gratefully.
"Bacon coming soon," Molly's voice promised from across the kitchen. "You'll want eggs too? Toast?"
"Sounds delicious," yawned Ginny.
It was Christmas holidays from Hogwart's, Ginny's last one before she was to take her N.E.W.T.s, and she was determined to relax over the two weeks away from school. More concerning than the tests for her was the announcement of professional Quidditch scouts showing up for the games determining the fate of the house cup in Quidditch this year. Slytherin had stolen it in the previous year, quite literally, as everyone else had been disqualified, and it left a sour taste in Ginny's mouth. She didn't have to worry about Slytherin this year, however, as the raggedy lot of students who had shown up were hardly threatening; first years, mostly. It was the smallest class of Slytherin ever in Hogwart's history, and Ginny did feel bad for the first years sorted into the shamed house. Ginny did her part in standing up for the new ones who hadn't asked for this, and mercifully most students had followed suit. No one was quite interested in crossing the fiery redhead this year, or her friends.
But she wasn't going to spend any more time thinking about that now. Ginny was on holiday and it was Christmas, the absolute best holiday, and she had so much to look forward to this year. Everyone in the family would be coming in as their schedules permitted, and that included extended family such as Charlie's new girlfriend, but especially her own boyfriend, Harry.
Just thinking of Harry was enough to send Ginny off into a distracted daydream. He'd owled that he'd be coming in the next night, Christmas Eve, with Ron. Ginny hoped he'd be wearing his Auror training robes. He'd also mentioned something of a surprise for her and she was absolutely dying to know what it was. Imagining him Flooing in, a little soot clinging to his form-fitting red robes with the M on the sleeve, lots of gold buttons and his hair all a mess just begging her to run her fingers through it only made her more impatient and distracted. So distracted, that she didn't notice anything wrong with her mum until Molly's wand clattered suddenly to the floor as she sagged against the kitchen sink, nearly dropping to the ground.
"Mum!" Ginny cried, heart pounding as she ran to her side. "What's happened? Are you all right?"
"Oh dear," Molly said weakly. "I feel a bit faint. I'm sorry, dear. Just give me a minute and I'll have the toast done."
"You'll do no such thing," Ginny said sternly. "Shall I Floo call the Healer? Do I need to owl dad? How can I help?"
Molly breathed a few long, slow breaths. When she struggled to stand up, Ginny helped lift her. "I think I need to sit a bit. Perhaps it's just a headache."
Ginny was worried. She couldn't think of a single sick day her mum had ever taken and it scared her. "I think you need to lie down, mum. Shall I help you to bed?"
"I do believe you're right," Molly reluctantly agreed. "A short nap will do me some good. Perhaps I was just up too late last night."
Ginny used her wand to turn the flame off on the stove so the food wouldn't burn before she got back to it and then walked with her mum to her bed across the house. "Are you sure I shouldn't alert someone?" she asked uncertainly once Molly had been tucked beneath her covers.
"No, dear, I'll be right as rain soon, I promise," Molly said with a weak smile. "Do try to keep the pot on the stove from boiling over if you don't mind. I started some stew simmering for tonight.
"I'll check on you in a bit," Ginny said as she darkened the room by pulling the curtains closed. Molly was asleep before Ginny closed the door to the bedroom behind her.
Well, Ginny thought, I can at least clean up the kitchen while she rests.
The food was cooked, the eggs a bit overdone, so first Ginny ate the bacon, eggs, and toast her mum had made. Her tea was a bit more cool than she preferred but it didn't stop her from finishing that, either.
Next, Ginny assessed the situation. It seemed easy enough: keep an eye on the stew so it doesn't boil over, and clean up the breakfast dishes. Then she realized that the flame the stew pot was set on had been extinguished when Ginny saved breakfast from burning.
No matter, she would just put flame back under it. She muttered the spell she'd used hundreds of times in potions class and flame shot from her wand to light the eye rather zealously, with flames licking greedily up the sides of the stew pot, which was apparently much smaller than her cauldron. Ginny frowned and extinguished it immediately. She cast the spell with a little less determination and a sullen blue glow settled into the bottom of the eye. Ginny huffed in frustration. That flame certainly wouldn't boil anything over, but it would hardly cause anything to simmer, either.
In the end, it took a few tries but Ginny finally managed to get a flame going well enough that the stew was soon simmering happily away on the stove top.
"Now, the dishes!" she smugly announced to the sink of hot, soapy water.
"Hello!" called a cheery voice from the living room. "Molly?"
"After this," Ginny muttered to the dishes.
Wishing she had changed out of her pajamas, Ginny rounded the corner to see who had arrived uninvited. In the living room she found Andromeda Tonks holding the small hand of little Teddy, who was spinning around with a stuffed bear clutched tightly under one arm.
"Oh!" Ginny said in surprise. "Hello, Mrs Tonks. How can I help you?"
"So good to see you, Ginny, dear. I do believe you've grown since the last time I saw you. Is Molly about?" she asked, peering around the corner into the kitchen.
Ginny bit her tongue. She hadn't grown at all in the past year and was probably stuck at this wretched height while all of her brothers towered over her. "Mum's in her room," she half lied, not wanting to start the gossip mill.
"Oh dear, I apologize. I did tell her ten o'clock and it's a bit early of me. She offered to watch Teddy for the day so I could take care of some errands." Andromeda looked concerned for a second, then brightened. "I'm sure you won't mind watching Teddy until Molly is ready, would you?"
"Well," Ginny started, unable to think of an excellent reason she should not be in charge of a squirmy little toddler.
"Oh I appreciate this so much, Ginny! Here is Teddy's bag, he generally takes a nap after lunch and lunch is usually early so he's asleep by noon. Tell Molly I should be done around four and thank you so much again! I really should be going."
To Ginny's astonishment, she took the bag from the woman and Andromeda dropped down to one knee to face Teddy. "Okay sweetling, be good for Ginny and I'll be back before you miss me!" She kissed Teddy's forehead and was gone as soon as Ginny took Teddy's outstretched sticky hand.
"Okay!" Ginny smiled brightly. "I suppose I have three things to do today! Why don't we go into the kitchen?" she asked Teddy.
Teddy's face crumpled instantly as the reality hit him of being in a house that wasn't his with a girl he vaguely recognized that definitely wasn't related to him. Fat tears dropped down his cheeks as his face began to turn red.
"Oh no!" Ginny whispered, trying to keep her voice light. "Let's not wake up my mum! What do you want to do, Teddy? Who's this you have with you today?" she asked as she tugged on the stuffed bear gently, so as not to dislodge it.
Teddy eyed her with distrust as he pulled the bear from under his arm until he was clutching it with both hands and looking down at it. "Bear Bear," he proclaimed.
"What a very nice Bear Bear," Ginny soothed. "Look at him, he's so fuzzy, and soft. I bet he's very nice to hug, too."
Teddy hugged Bear Bear tightly and put one of the stuffed toy's bedraggled ears into his mouth.
"Will you come with me into the kitchen? You can bring Bear Bear," Ginny held out her hand.
Slowly, Teddy put his warm and sticky hand into Ginny's and let her lead him into the next room. She picked him up briefly to place him in a chair at the table and took a look into the soft cloth bag of his things. She pulled out a bright green muggle plastic cup with what looked like milk in it and sealed with a blue lid with a flexible spout. She put it on the table before Teddy, who was mangling Bear Bear's ear as he watched Ginny with solemn eyes framed with wet lashes.
Ginny put the small amount of breakfast pans, plates, and silverware into the soapy water and then tapped the dishcloth with her wand to activate the scrubbing charm on it. Nothing happened. She tried to recall if there was a word her mum used to activate the charm, but Ginny realized she had never bothered to ask. The dishes had always done themselves while she and her brothers raced around the garden or chased each other on brooms. Learning household charms was always something she figured she'd get around to one day, with the emphasis never quite reaching that day.
Ginny leaned back, tapping the tip of her wand against her bottom lip as she frowned thoughtfully at the sink that had never to her knowledge misbehaved before.
"Scourgify!" she said with the confidence of a fourth year student scouring the latest potion fiasco from their cauldron, her wand tracing a curving s shape in the air. Soap bubbles immediately poured over the edge of the sink, spilling onto the floor.
"No, no, no," Ginny muttered, biting back a curse. Behind her, Teddy clapped his little hands together in delight at the frothy cascade. "At least you're happy now," she winked at the boy.
"Mo'!" he demanded.
"Finite," Ginny tried instead. "Maybe I will just do this the muggle way," she mused. "How hard could it be?" She grabbed for the dish cloth and her fingers closed on nothing but hot and soapy water.
Ginny blinked.
She squinted, reached for the brightly colored knitted piece of cloth, and watched in astonishment as it dodged her completely. "Oh, excuse me," she chided it. "Did I offend you somehow?"
The dishcloth floated sullenly down to the bottom of the sink where it slid between a pot and and a ladle. "Got ya now!" she crowed as she deftly snatched it up with her left hand. "Never try to outwit a Chaser," she advised the cloth.
A series of crisp knocks rang out from the kitchen door as if in code; four short and two long. Startled, Ginny turned to the door. "Now who could that be?" she asked Teddy with an eyebrow cocked. "Seems to be a day for unexpected visitors."
A wave of water splashed up, soaking the front of her shirt and shocking her into dropping the cloth again.
"Blast!" she gasped. She threw a glare at the dishcloth slinking under the cover of bubbles as she tugged a towel off its hanger and dried her face as the six knocks came again, louder and more insistent.
"Bas!" Teddy grinned.
"Shush you," Ginny giggled. She tapped Teddy affectionately on the nose as she walked past him to the door. "Your gran'll be cross with me if I teach you naughty words."
She opened the door to find a short old witch with shaggy gray hair and a squashed nose, holding herself up with a piece of wood too tall to be a cane and too crooked to be a staff.
"Can I help you?" Ginny asked uncertainly.
"Why, Ginny dear!" The old woman grinned from ear to ear. "My, aren't you looking pretty today?"
"Oh!" Ginny realized she recognized the witch from the village. "Hello, Mrs Maplescotch."
"Sorry to bother you," the witch continued in her breathy, quavering voice, "is Molly about? She told me to drop by today but she didn't specify a time."
"Mum is a bit busy at the moment, actually, I'm sorry Mrs Maplescotch. Perhaps tomorrow?"
"Oh dear, that is just too bad," the woman said sorrowfully as she tried to sneak a peek into the house around Ginny's waist. "She said something about tea..." she trailed off suggestively. "Oh and here is the pot!"
Ginny had grown up with magic, and she was still surprised at the cauldron-sized pot the old lady produced from the interior pocket of her robes. It looked ancient, with bright speckles of rust collecting under the lip at the top. Struggling a little under the weight, the witch offered it up toward Ginny.
"Oh, I don't-" Ginny began to protest even as the pot was pressed into her protesting hands.
"Now, when I was talking to Molly last week, she said it sounded like the no-boiling-over charm had gotten scratched and she said she could fix it right up. You know, my wand work just hasn't been the same since the tremors started. Getting old is a horrible thing, don't you start it."
"I can... have Mum look at it later?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"There's a good dear, I'll be back for tea in just a couple hours," she promised with a pat of her gnarled hand, her skin thinner than parchment, yet soft on Ginny's arm. "I'm sure she'll have it done by then." With that she was off, tottering down the lane so unsteadily Ginny worried she should have brought her inside.
"But I've enough to do with you," she said to Teddy, who had disappeared from the table.
"Really?" Ginny asked the silence in a bit of a shrill voice as she hoisted the pot onto the table. "Teddy!" she called into the house, beginning a search for the little tyke.
Not finding him downstairs she began to creep upstairs, hoping to be quiet enough not to disturb her mum. She had just arrived at the landing when she heard the unmistakable roar of Floo flames in the fireplace downstairs.
"No!" Ginny gasped. She raced back down the stairs to find George brushing himself off as he stepped out. "Thank Merlin, it's you!" she said in relief.
"Always nice to be missed," he quipped as he looked at her strangely. "And who is this little guy?" He turned and picked up Teddy, who seemed to be missing Bear Bear but had turned his hair the same hue as George's as he smiled up at him. "Why, it's Teddy, isn't it?" George smiled at the boy in his arms as his voice took on a cheerful tone Ginny hadn't heard in a while.
"Of course, he barely tolerates me, and you're here for ten seconds and he's eating out of your hand," Ginny smirked. "Since he loves you so-"
"Ohh, no you don't," George interrupted. "I'm a man on a mission and that mission isn't nappy duty. I believe I left some recipes on my desk that were meant to come to the shop with me today. So, if you don't mind," he stepped closer to Ginny as he spoke, gently bobbing Teddy as he went, "I do believe I'll remand this delight back to your custody."
"Oh, fine," groused Ginny. "I suppose I shan't get in the way of experimentation." They were all trying to encourage George to resume a more normal routine, though grief still clung to him like a shadow.
"You know you're shirt's wet?" he called as he went up the stairs.
"Thanks!" Ginny said dryly. "Mum's asleep by the way." Ginny cast a hot air charm to dry her shirt and felt a shade more together.
"Is she all right?" George asked when he reappeared a few moments later.
"Something about a headache. Can you check on her? I've got to feed Teddy."
George nodded and Ginny took Teddy back to the kitchen. The stew was still simmering on the stove and the dishes were still stubbornly on strike. Ginny sat with Teddy at the opposite end of the table from Mrs Maplescotch's broken pot and helped Teddy eat his lunch. Ginny "broomed" small morsels to Teddy's mouth as he laughed at her swishes and swoops. Before long, his eyes drooped and Ginny moved to the living room to sit on the couch with him.
"Mum's asleep," George said as he passed by her to leave.
"You were gone a while, did she say anything?"
"No, I had to owl something while I thought about it."
Ginny frowned. "She said something about a headache. Since when does mum get headaches?"
"Are you worried?"
"Maybe a little."
"It's all right, Gin, she's not as young as she used to be. Let her rest."
"Oh I'm letting her rest all right. I don't know how she gets everything done in a day," Ginny grinned ruefully.
"Mum magic," George suggested. "Now, I'll leave you with this. Chuck it wherever you want it to work." He placed a small box in her hand and Flooed away.
Ginny looked at it suspiciously for a moment until Teddy began to poke at it. She shrugged and decided to trust George, tossing it to the ground in front of them. The box expanded and the top opened, casting slow-moving lights in shapes onto the ceiling and playing a soft, tinkling melody.
Teddy sighed, shifting in her arms, and soon he didn't move at all, his breaths coming slower and longer. She smiled at the display herself, something she hadn't expected of the twins, before. It pulled at something in her, something glad to see George still tinkering, yet sad to see this muted, softer version of her brother. But this version of George was still George, and this was evidence that valuable things still came from him, despite the change. She dozed herself, off and on as Teddy grew warmer and heavier in her arms.
Teddy woke after a decent nap and played with the music box on the floor as Ginny decided what to tackle first. She checked on Molly, who must have woken at some point and drank the glass of water on her bedside table. Ginny refilled it with a quick aguamenti and closed the door quietly. After making sure Teddy hadn't moved very far, she dashed to her room and changed in record time.
Back to the kitchen.
The stew was beginning to smell wonderful and Ginny thought some bread would be nice to go with it. She'd made bread with her mum before and it always made the house smell good. It would be a nice surprise when the men came home, Ginny decided. She pulled out the flour, yeast, and other ingredients and put them on the counter.
Teddy got bored right about the time she had the dough kneading, so she twisted a piece off for him to play with at the table and set the rest in a bowl under a rising cloth. The charms placed on the bowl and the cloth would have the bread rise in just a fraction of the time it would take if it sat in a muggle kitchen.
Ginny took some time to sit with Teddy again, turning the dough into shapes with her wand, which impressed him, but still nothing amused him more than watching Ginny shape the dough into his favorite animals, and then squishing them flat with his hands. Teddy laughed from his belly with pure joy at the flattened dough and Ginny's mock shock at his destruction.
"I think the sound of a baby's laughter is just pure medicine," Molly's voice came from the kitchen doorway.
"Mum!" Ginny grinned. "How are you feeling?"
"I think I'll take a bath and then we'll see what we can do about this kitchen," Molly said with a wink. "Some broth will do me good, too." She took a bowl from the fridge and disappeared back into her room before Ginny could ask anything and Ginny hoped she truly was feeling better.
"Let's see if we can get this kitchen done for her," Ginny whispered conspiratorially to Teddy, who giggled.
The sink was still full of hot water, though the bubbles had finally lost their luster. Ginny used another scouring charm, which produced more bubbles and yet the dish cloth remained on strike. It must have been taking a nap because when she grabbed it at first, she was able to move it across a dish but as soon as it got near the ladle, she found the cloth wrapped around the handle and brandishing it in defense.
"What on earth is wrong with you?" she demanded. "I can't believe I'm having an argument with the dish cloth. Much less that it's winning," she muttered.
In response, the dish cloth flung a ladle full of dishwater at her that set her sputtering. "Again?!" she gasped after it hit her full in the face and chest. "You hateful little thing. I should burn you!"
Another ladle of water splashed her.
"I give!" she cried.
"You what?" a male voice, completely confused, called out. A very, very recognizable voice, in fact.
"Harry?" Ginny called out, her heart leaping and stomach sinking at the thought of Harry being here, and Harry seeing her like this.
"Ginny. What on earth?" He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, pure bewilderment on his face.
"Oh Harry, you're here! You're early!" she cried. "I could kiss you!"
"I wouldn't mind," Harry said hastily. "Hello, Teddy," he grinned at the boy reaching dough covered fingers at him.
Ginny just stood for a minute, watching the man she loved play with his godson. It was absolutely, heart-meltingly adorable.
"I'm back!" Andromeda called as she arrived again. "Oh, hello Harry, so nice to see you. I didn't expect you until Christmas," she said as she efficiently began to pack up Teddy's things, even summoning Bear Bear from wherever he'd hidden away, likely to protect his ear from being menaced.
"Thanks so much again, Ginny, thank your mum, too. We'll see you tomorrow!" With air kisses, Andromeda swept Teddy up and left.
Ginny sighed in relief.
"Erm, Ginny, did you know your shirt is wet?" Harry asked tentatively.
Without looking at him yet, she replied, "I did. Yeah."
"Were you... doing dishes?"
"The dish cloth started it." She stared directly into his eyes, daring him to challenge her.
"The dish cloth?" Harry's voice was getting more incredulous with each question.
"I'm afraid we're having a bit of a row at the moment." Hearing herself say the words out loud made the corners of her mouth quirk as she tried not to smile.
"What's in the bowl?" He changed the subject.
"Oh! The bread!" She pulled the cloth to see the dough had risen to the top. She pulled it out to shape it into a loaf while Harry watched.
"Your shirt is very distracting," he murmured.
Ginny looked down to realize she'd worn a white shirt that was nearly see-through when wet. She gasped. "Did it look like this when Andromeda was here?"
"Erm."
"No. Don't tell me. No wonder she was in a hurry to leave." Ginny groaned. She picked up her wand to cast her second hot air charm of the day. Harry sighed in disappointment, bringing a smile back to Ginny's face.
"You said you wouldn't mind?" she asked as she stepped closer to Harry, well inside his personal space.
"Wouldn't mind?"
"If I kissed you?"
"Oh. I wouldn't mind a bit," he said, looking at her lips.
Ginny stepped up on her tiptoes to reach his lips as Harry pulled her close against him. Her heart ached she missed him so much. Being busy with school while he was busy training was not the worst situation their relationship had weathered, but it was far from fun. Speaking of training, Ginny pulled back to take in the fact Harry was in fact still wearing his Auror robes, the very ones she'd daydreamed about that morning.
"Am I dreaming?" she asked him.
"Not a chance," he murmured against her hair as he pulled her back in for a hug. "They let us off early for the holiday and I decided I just couldn't wait to see you." Ginny's stomach fluttered. She wanted nothing more than to take Harry into her room and snog him senseless, but she knew her mum could be back at any minute.
Harry joined her gaze as she unconsciously surveyed the damage of the day. "How did you end up in a row with the dishes?"
"Dish cloth." Ginny crossed her arms and scowled.
"And why is there a cauldron on the kitchen table?"
"It's a pot that lost its charm."
"And you babysat Teddy for the afternoon?"
"The whole day."
"Is it a bad time to tell you that you have flour in your hair?" Harry asked teasingly.
Ginny giggled and tried to shake the flour out of her hair but he stopped her. "I like it," he said in a low voice. A dangerous voice. The type of voice he knew made her want to drag him into abandoned rooms and dark corners. She kissed him again, longer than she knew she should, but they didn't stop even when he picked her up and sat her on the counter beside the forgotten dough. His tongue slid against hers and he was warm and smelled deliciously of a day of work and sweat.
Reluctantly, she pulled back before she escalated anything further. "I've got to finish the bread," she said breathlessly. She picked up her wand as Harry stepped back obediently, adjusting his trousers in the way that she knew meant he'd grown hard. She wanted nothing more than to assist him with that, to fulfill her want as well, but it would have to wait until later.
"What else needs to be done?" he asked from behind her.
"What do you mean?" She put the long loaf into a pan and sent it to bake in the oven.
"Looks like a pot of stew, a loaf of bread. I could make some potatoes," Harry offered.
Ginny looked at him, surprised.
"I used to cook all the time, before..." he explained.
"Before..."
"Hogwarts. Before I found out I was a wizard. Usually I made breakfasts but it's not difficult to fry up some potatoes to go with the stew. Unless there's potatoes in the stew already."
"I'll check," Ginny offered. She lifted the lid and stirred things around a bit. "No potatoes," she declared. She was glad, too, because she was too interested to see what Harry would do.
It was her turn to step back and watch as he washed and sliced potatoes, and got a fire going under a heavy iron pan. She never thought she'd be so turned on watching a man cook potatoes, but here she was. She let her head rest in her hand propped up on her elbow and daydreamed about the meals the two would cook together in Grimmauld place.
Once she learned all the household charms.
It was much, much later when Molly had taken her kitchen back, the pot was returned to Mrs Maplescotch, who mysteriously showed up just in time to eat with the family, and everything, especially the dishes, was clean and quiet once more. One by one, each person had drifted off to their bedrooms to sleep until it was just Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione still chatting by the fire. Ginny caught herself drifting off as she nestled into Harry's warm arms, and stretched and yawned to try to stave off sleep just yet. She glanced over at the couch where Ron and Hermione were, only to see the two of them at it. She pulled a face of disgust and flipped onto her stomach, facing Harry.
She looked into his green eyes with a particular mischievous smile he'd grown to know, and whispered into his ear, "While they're busy, let's have a snack," tickling his ear with her breath. She kissed him, just a short one on the lips to seal the promise, and then slowly stood up. She grabbed his hands as he joined her and led him tiptoeing into the kitchen.
As soon as they were around the corner from the living room, he was kissing her, his hands roaming her body as he backed her towards the wooden baking counter. When the backs of her legs found the side of the cabinets, he stopped, picking her up to sit on the counter as his head dropped down, kissing down her neck and collarbone. His hands were under her shirt already and she gasped as he slid his thumbs up under her bra band eagerly, brushing over her hardened nipples.
"Ah, Harry, I've missed you," she whispered as she let him play with her breasts.
"You feel so good, Ginny," he moaned as her fingers drifted down to tangle in his hair.
She could tell Harry was too nervous to remove any of her clothes as they could be walked in on at any moment. She felt it too, a nervous excitement at the knowledge they were hidden in the dark room, but that could change unpredictably. She was glad she'd worn a skirt as his hands moved down her body to her knees and then back up again beneath her skirt.
She knew she was slippery and swollen hours ago when he snogged her on this very counter and Harry's appreciative grunt when his fingers moved under her pants let her know that had not changed. His first touch stoked the warmth in her into a bonfire and she longed to have him in her, on her, anything. Her hips jerked as she tried to press herself into him.
When he hooked his thumbs into her pants she lifted herself immediately so he could pull them down until she got one leg free. The counter was cold against her butt but then Harry's tongue was sliding up and down her clit and she didn't care if her arse was bare on a snow bank, as long as he kept doing that.
It was becoming very difficult to keep quiet as Ginny felt her body racing toward the end goal, tension in her belly gathering impossibly fast so that it was almost painful but she didn't want him to stop. He slid one finger inside her so that her aching walls had something to squeeze while he pressed the spot she'd shown him one amazing night and it was too much and not enough all at once. She looked down at him desperately, as if she could express her need through her mind to his, and without pausing, he reached his free hand up under her shirt. Her head fell backwards as she felt his fingers brush across her nipple once, and then it was caught between two of his fingers, applying the perfect amount of pressure to make her see stars as she lost control of her breathing, panting as her body released all of the stress of the day, all the delicious tension Harry had built within her all at once. Harry withdrew his finger from her, quickly standing and then easily sliding inside her until he was buried to the hilt. He moved slowly as she rode out her pleasure on him, and then faster as he whispered, "Ah Ginny, you feel too good. I can't stop!" and then he was collapsing against her as she still felt aftershocks with him inside her.
They held on to each other until their breathing slowed and they realized they were still in the kitchen, in the Burrow, with Ron and Hermione probably still in the next room unless they fled the noise. Ginny giggled as they uncoupled with a bit less grace than usual, exhausted in equal measures by their long days and exertion. Harry knelt on the floor with a groan, his face pressed against the inside of her leg. His hands fumbled about until one landed on the pants she'd flung off the foot they'd stuck on. He offered them up to her before heaving himself upright once again.
"Merlin, Harry," she whispered as he gently helped her off the counter, "I don't know how you're going to top your gift next Christmas."
"That?" Harry chuckled. "That wasn't your Christmas present," he said, his emerald eyes dark with promise.
Ginny shivered and grinned. "You really know how to spoil a girl."
Harry leaned his forehead down to touch hers. "I love you, Ginny," he said, the words sending a thrill from her heart to her toes and back to her center.
"I love you, Harry," she whispered back, kissing him and tasting herself on his lips and tongue. "Now let's get out of here before we get caught."