"Ginny, may I use your fireplace? I have a date tonight." Lori asked after walking into the room with her heavy robe and hat.
"Sure, where are you going?" Ginny replied as she looked up from the never ending stack of papers.
"Ehhh- just the Leaky Cauldron, but the guy is H.O.T…hot!" Lori said while fanning herself comically.
"Tell me." Ginny said while raising her eyebrows suggestively.
"He is blonde, tall, and a hunk!" Lori said; then licked her lips.
"Hmmm, sounds like a guy I knew in school. He was a year ahead of me and the biggest git in the world. Malfoy…his name was Malfoy. Of course at one point in time, despite having a long time crush on someone else, even I could admit the man was a hunk. Although, I would never, ever admit to it. So you ever think of bringing this up again, and I'll deny it" Ginny said with a look of pure intent on her face.
"Hey, the guy I am meeting is a Malfoy- Draco Malfoy."
"Heaven help you; that's the git." Ginny said with a frown.
"He was nice to me…a real gentleman." Lori said seriously.
"Well, maybe he grew up. I hope for your sake that is the case." Ginny said.
"Me too…" Lori responded as she walked over to the fireplace. She threw in some floo powder and was off with a wave.
Ginny shook her head and turned back to the parchment at hand.
A few hours later, she was packing up the latest reports from the Ministry's Defense Director. He had given her three reports since Monday, which meant that now she had to work most of the evening to be up to date for the meeting tomorrow.
Ginny sighed as she shrunk the three reports and put them in her pant's pocket. She walked over to the fireplace and floo'd home.
She walked out of the fireplace in her living room and lightly dusted off her clothes. She tossed her hat onto the hook by her fireplace and it toddled on the hook for a few seconds before coming to rest.
She put her arms straight in the air and said, "Score!"
"That was a good shot!" a male voice said from behind her.
Ginny whirled around with her wand drawn.
"Holy Hell, you scared me to death!" she yelled at a smug looking Harry "butter melts in my mouth" Potter. "How did you get in this time? I know I locked the floo."
"Your mom gave me her extra key." he said with a smirk.
"She did what?" Ginny said very quietly.
"She gave me her extra key. She told me to surprise you."
"Get out."
"I made us dinner. Come have a look."
"Harry, get out…now!" She said with venom.
"I made lasagna with a mix of mushrooms, four cheeses and fresh herbs."
"Lasagna…"
"Your favorite, right?" Harry said in a knowing voice.
"Well, I guess since you broke into my house; the least you can do is bring me dinner."
"I knew you would see it my way." Harry said.
"The door is over there." Ginny said pointing to the door. "Oh and Harry, leave my mom's key on the coffee table. I would hate to have to report you to one of my auror's."
Harry "But I baked it for your love" Potter's jaw dropped.
"Ginny…But…I…ummm…made you dinner! And what auror are you talking about?" He stuttered out; his voice rising.
"I have two aurors stationed on this floor at all times. It is their job not to be seen, but I assure you; I scream and they will come. So again, there is the door, Harry. Don't let it hit you on the arse on the way out." Ginny gave him a flirty wave and walked out of the room.
In the kitchen, Ginny found that the lasagna was being kept warm under a warming spell. So, she decided to change out of her work clothes and get more comfortable.
She walked out of the kitchen and stopped off in the living room. She checked the coffee table and saw that Harry had, thank goodness, left the extra set of keys. She removed the shrunken papers in her pocket, spelled them back to normal size and placed them beside the keys.
She went into the bedroom, pulled her shirt out from her pants and began unbuttoning it. Once it was off, she tossed it into her hamper. She unzipped her pants and pulled them off.
She walked over to her armoire, pulled out the bottom drawer and found her strapless, turquoise nightgown. It was her favorite and had been a gift from Hermione from the previous Christmas. She slipped it over her head and down her body.
She walked back to the kitchen. She opened the white cupboard and pulled out a large crème plate with grape designs all over the lip. She sat the plate down on the cabinet beside the stove. She got a large serving spoon, dished out a huge portion of lasagna and plopped it onto the plate. She grabbed a fork, a glass of pumpkin juice and walked back into her living room.
Ginny sat down on the sofa with her legs under her. She propped the plate on the sofa arm and began slowly eating while going through the papers she had brought home from work.
After eating and reading parchment after parchment, Ginny put her dish in the sink and muttered the cleaning charm. She put the left over lasagna, and there was lots of it, in the refrigerator. With the lights off, she headed to her bedroom.
Once her bedroom rituals were complete, she got into bed. Again, she bombarded herself with thoughts of Harry "Bleeping" Potter. Luckily, her mind was nicer this evening than the prior. Tonight, she slept.
Ginny woke up at the first signs of daylight peeking through her white lace curtains. She quickly pulled herself out of bed; any dawdling only made her sleepier.
Her morning ritual was as efficient as her evening one. She walked into the bathroom and started the shower. She retrieved her towel and wash cloth. She new many of the older witches and wizards used only cleaning charms, but she had never liked them. No, she liked the relaxation that could only come from warm water bearing down on your body.
She stepped into the shower and enjoyed the luxury. Once completed, she stepped out and dried herself off with the Egyptian cotton towel that she had bought at a muggle department store in London.
Before putting on her knickers, she sprayed her body lightly with her current choice of perfume. It was light and clean smelling. She had never cared for those flowery smelling types. They tended to be too potent and gave her horrible headaches.
Ginny proceeded by putting on her bra. She walked out to her vanity and began drying her hair. She bent at the waist and let her hair fall over. She began drying her hair; she did it to give her extra volume. Some days it worked better than others. That was how it went when you had slightly curly hair. It could never make up its mind on whether it was curly or not, whether it was going to curl under or out. So, you had to tame it and that took time.
With her hair dry, she entered the walk-in closet and located her attire for the day. Today, she was going to wear a pleated, navy skirt contrasted by a white, crisp oxford. She pulled them on and walked back to her vanity. She applied her makeup, set her hair and put on her shoes.
Ginny walked into the living room. She collected her papers, her robe and her hat. She put the robe and hat on, put the papers under her robe and floo'd through the fireplace.
She did not go to her office. She went to the Burrow. She needed to have a word with her mother. She arrived as her father was walking out of the kitchen. He was obviously getting ready to floo to work because he had several papers in his hand and his hat on his head.
He stopped when he saw Ginny.
"Hi dear, what are you doing here?"
"I need to speak with Mother. Apparently, she thought it a good idea to give Harry a key to my apartment."
"She did what?" Arthur Weasley asked in a loud, shocked tone of voice.
"What is all the yelling about?" Molly Weasley asked as she came into the room.
"Dad and I were just having a discussion."
"Ginny, I didn't see you there. What are you doing here this morning?" Molly asked with just a touch of fake innocence to her voice and demeanor.
"You know very well why I am here, Mother. But before we get too far into this discussion, I need to ask a question. Is Harry here?"
"No, he is at Ron's flat." Arthur answered.
"Good," Ginny responded, "I want to have this discussion in front of neither Harry nor Ron."
"Discussion about what, dear?" Molly asked, again in that feigned innocence.
"Again, you KNOW why I am here. What possessed you to give Harry a key to MY flat?" Ginny asked in a very annoyed voice.
"I did it for you. You are being stubborn. The boy loves you." Molly said.
"How can you…Mother, how in the world can you say you did it for me? I thought I made it very clear that Harry is not for me. He loves the idea of my love, not me. I don't want that, I don't need that. I don't deserve that!" Ginny said; her voice becoming louder as she kept speaking.
"Ginny, he loves you. I know he does."
"Did he tell you this?" Ginny asked diplomatically.
"Ummm…no, but I could see it in his eyes. You know that his eyes have always been so expressive. I know!"
"If he did not tell you, then you only think you know. That is NOT the same thing. I am asking you to stop this. Please, if not because I am your daughter, then because if you don't let it go; I may go crazy. I am still in love with Harry, but it will never be. I have to move on. This is not letting me move on. I want a family. I want to find love with someone who can love me. Can you understand that?" Ginny asked; she had tears running down her face at the end of her diatribe.
"Oh baby," Molly Weasley exclaimed as she drew Ginny to her breast, "I am so sorry. I had no idea this was a bad thing. I swear. I was only trying to help you get what you wanted; I thought that was Harry. I am so sorry."
Soon, Molly and Ginny both were sobbing and hugging each other.
Arthur Weasley stood to the side and smiled. This was the closest mother and daughter had been in years.