Prompt - "Why do you put up with me?" "Because you're fire and I've been cold my whole life."

Set approx 2 years after the Battle of Hogwarts.

The same familiar nightmare woke her again. Screaming, she sat upright before trying to regain her regular breathing.

"Easy now. 1...2..3.

His voice was soothing in the darkness; his presence more so. As she took in great gulps of air, trying to forget the memories that haunted her and regain some sort of calmness, she was glad to have him near.

"Was it the same one?" he asked quietly, his arms around her.

She nodded, feeling the tightness in her chest begin to dissipate. It was like some sort of chest monster that only came out at night, till she calmed it away, with his help.

"Why do you put up with me?" It was half a question, half a joke.

He tightened his grip, not painfully, but he was stronger now, thanks to regular good food and auror training. She needed to feel him, to feel his chest move in and out, to feel his lips against her forehead, his hands brushing away sweaty tendrils from her head.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked, in a fierce, soft kind of way.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Because you're the best thing in my life. It's like you're fire and I've been cold all my life. You, Ginny, are everything to me, and I hate that something I did is causing you this much grief," he admitted painfully.

She clung to him, unashamed to show him weakness, unashamed to show him she needed him to be the strong one right now.

"I saw you dead, in Hagrid's arms," she said sadly, " and the thought of of losing you...of not having a life with you..."

She couldn't continue, it was just too painful to consider.

"I wish I could promise you I'll always be okay, but I can't. But Ginny, there is something I can promise you," he told her.

"What is it?" she asked, looking up at him.

"That I will always love you, and I will always do everything I can to come home to you," he said, tenderly caressing her cheek.

She reached up to cup his jaw, her eyes never wavering from his.

"That's all I can ask you...and I love you too," she replied softly.

They shared a soft tender kiss, and he eased her down into bed, curling his larger body around hers. Her head rested near his chest and she could feel his heartbeat and his body heat and it was soothing

"All right?" he asked, his fingers already running through her hair.

"We will be," she nodded, and within minutes, she was asleep, as was Harry.

Safe and happy in each other's arms.