A/N Sorry for the wait, my life is a little hectic right now and I haven't had time to write much. The bad news is that this is a short chapter; the good news is that the next one is the longest yet. The next update will probably be in a week, maybe sooner if things start to clear up…

Ginny walked hesitantly onto the pitch. She saw Harry leaning against the base of one of the goal posts and headed in his direction. It took her almost five minutes at her slow pace to reach him, and she used the time to gather her thoughts and her nerves. When she reached Harry, he gave no sign that he noticed her arrival.

"Can I sit down?" Ginny asked.

"You're going to do what you want regardless of what I have to say," Harry said dryly. Ginny ignored his comment and sat down next to him. She pulled a handful of grass out of the ground and began to play with it. "Are you here to talk, or not?" Harry asked.

"Are you going to start yelling?" Ginny countered.

Harry sighed. "No."

"Are you going to be honest with me?" Ginny asked.

"Depends on what you ask."

"Can I ask which one ratted me out?"

"Hermione. She asked me if it was something I really wanted. She assumed I would have known," Harry replied, not looking at Ginny.

"You should have. I honestly intended to tell you, I was just trying to work up the nerve," Ginny admitted. "I never thought the process would progress that quickly; I thought I still had time. I knew that if you didn't want me to know it would end it on the spot, and I wanted to keep a little bit of hope."

"Hermione will never approve you," Harry informed her.

"Does she hate my family that much? We were such good friends at one time."

"It's not that; it's because having clearance for my file would also give you clearance for her file," Harry said.

"What's in her file that's so secretive?"

Harry finally looked over at Ginny. "Do you really think it's my place to tell you that?"

"You can't blame a witch for trying."

"I'm sorry I got so angry before. But after everything we talked about I thought we had gotten past lies," Harry said with a sigh.

"Harry, aren't you being a bit hypocritical? I mean, I don't tell you one thing, but you've got enough secrets to fill an enchanted journal."

"But my secrets…"

"Yes, I know all about your secrets," Ginny interrupted. "But that doesn't mean there aren't things you can tell me."

Harry turned his attention back to the sky above them. Ginny thought he looked like he was a million miles away. Finally, after a long period of silence, Harry offered Ginny one of the letters. She quickly took it out of his hands and recognized Tonks's handwriting.

Wotcher, Harry!

Greetings from your favorite Auror and bodyguard! You have to be going stir crazy stuck in that house all of the time. I know I would be. I mean, I know you're out playing Quidditch all of the time, but you haven't left the house since you moved in. Actually, I take that back. You haven't left the house during the day since you moved in. You should have just told Mr. Perry or Ginny about your night problems from the beginning. I'm still furious with you for traveling alone like that, as is Minister Bones. She started to blame those of us responsible for keeping an eye on the house, so if I get in trouble, I'll have your head! You know how dangerous it is.

On that front, things have been pretty typical around here. I think the total for threats on your life this week is around 50. There was a threat on the life of the Dursleys this week as well. Whoever sent that in must not know your history very well. To think that the way to get you to do what they wanted was to threaten the Dursleys is insane! (I'm not even going to waste my time describing to you what that particular lunatic wanted.)

Charlie is doing well. He's still working much more than he should, but then again, so am I. We talked about the future the other day, not something that happens often. I'm still trying to convince him that he deserves a future. Hopefully, one day, we'll settle down and start a family. I'd love to be a mum.

Fred and George are also doing well. The shop is flourishing. Last time I was there, I casually dropped your name. Their ill will towards you seems to be decreasing some. After I talked them out of sending you back your original investment, they seemed to be more open to seeing you sometime. I wouldn't count on them inviting you out to dinner or anything, but I think the beginnings of a bridge are being built. George is getting really serious with Katie. If I had to guess, I'd say they were engaged.

Arthur is his fabulous self, as always. You know I eat lunch with him once a week and that it's normally the highlight of my day. He's been much more chipper lately; he won't tell me what, but I think something's changed. I can't wait until the day that I'm officially a part of his family.

No change on the Ron front. He still holes himself up in his office all day long, and then goes straight home. I think that Jeff was one of his only real friends, and with him in the house I think he's even more lonely than usual. I wish you would just try and talk to him again now that he's calmed down some. You're not the easiest person to talk to when you're angry, either. As always, I'm pleading with you to talk to him.

And finally there's Ginny. For once, you should be the one telling me how she's doing. I bet you never thought that would happen again in this lifetime. Things happen for a reason; don't blow your second chance. Secrets aren't going to make things any easier. If you really want to make things work, you're going to have to forget about all of the hurt you've experienced and open up to her. I spoke to her the other day, and while I'm still scared she's going to hurt you again, she really seems to care. I actually feel a little bad; I laid into her a bit for deserting you. I know I wasn't being completely fair, but when I finished she was even more determined to stick by your side than before. Take what you've learned this year and don't screw up again!

I guess that's it for this week. Do me a favor and get in trouble again so I can come stay with you. I'll talk to you again soon!

With love,

Tonks

Ginny wasn't quite sure what to make of the letter. She looked at Harry questioningly, and noticed that he was blushing and refusing to look at her. "Harry," Ginny said tentatively, her heart racing. "Harry, look at me." Harry slowly pulled his head out of the clouds and turned to look at her. "Have you been keeping tabs on our family through Tonks for the last year?" Harry nodded sheepishly. "Why didn't you just try and talk to us?"

"Because I didn't think you wanted to see me," Harry admitted.

"All this time I thought you didn't care," Ginny said, more to herself than to Harry.

"But I did care… I cared so much it was killing me to stay away," Harry insisted.

Ginny's eyes met Harry's and she was overcome with a feeling of now or never. "Did you love me, Harry?" she asked quietly, never breaking their gaze.

Harry's eyes widened in shock from her straightforwardness. "Yes," he whispered.

"For how long?" Ginny asked, relying on nerves of steal not to pass out.

"I think I started to fancy you towards the end of sixth year," he admitted.

"And you never said anything all that time?"

"I thought it was too dangerous, that I had too much on my plate already. And Hermione said you were over me, and I didn't want you to feel awkward around me. Plus, we had become such good friends that I didn't want to mess that up…"

"You're rambling, Harry," Ginny said calmly. "But you did finally ask me out."

"Yes and we both know how well that turned out," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Harry," Ginny warned.

Harry sighed. "Lupin and Dumbledore both knew, even though I had never said anything to anyone. They said they could tell by the way I watched you. Lupin told me that I was making a mistake by staying away, and that I was lucky no other bloke had snatched you up yet. He said if I wasn't careful I'd lose my chance. So I just bit the bullet and did it. And I was having such a good time until I picked that fight."

"So why'd you do it?" Ginny asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

"I think I was scared."

"Of what, having a good time?"

"Well, yes," Harry said. "My only other date had been with Cho, and that was disastrous. I didn't know how to act when things were going well. And then I was scared you weren't having as good of a time as I was or that you were and I was going to screw it up somehow. I didn't want to lose you, even if it meant I couldn't have you."

"You're not making any sense."

"I never claimed that my thought process did make sense," Harry said dryly.

"So when did you realize all of these things?"

"Sometime over the last year. I realized that not having you in my life at all hurt even more than not having Ron in my life. I realized that I missed you terribly; our conversations, your jokes, the way you laughed, the way your eyes danced when you were up to something… I realized that was what loving someone was. I had been in love with you and never really known it until after I had completely screwed it up.

"We both made mistakes," Ginny said, her voice still strong. "And we both made incorrect assumptions about each other. We should have just trusted in what we felt for each other."

"What did you feel for me, Gin?" Harry asked timidly.

Ginny threw her hands in the air in frustration. "Merlin help me, I loved you. Despite your stubbornness and temper, regardless of how standoffish you were. It started sometime during my fourth year, and I tried my hardest to forget about you. That's why once we started to become close there were no more guys; none of them were you." Harry's eyes shifted downward; Ginny wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or disbelief. "Do you want a second chance like Tonks said?" she asked, her voice shaking for the first time. Harry's focus remained on the ground in front of him. "Look at me!" Ginny said forcefully.

Harry obligingly lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Yes." Before Ginny could even absorb his reply, Harry had closed the space between them. He was holding her face in his hands and his lips were crushed against her own in a bruising kiss. Ginny responded immediately and soon they were in a battle for control of the kiss. Ginny felt his arms wrap around her back, and she slid both of her hands through his hair. She felt Harry's tongue along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to give him entrance. The innocence of their first kiss only a few days past was long forgotten; this kiss was full of passion that had been refused for years. Ginny lay back on the grass, pulling Harry's body with hers. The feeling of their bodies intimately pressed together was enough to drive Ginny mad. She lost all sense of reason and all track of time. All she knew was Harry's mouth on her lips, on her neck, on her ear… Ginny was brought back into reality when Harry pulled himself off of her body and rolled onto the ground next to her, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry," Harry murmured between breaths.

Ginny rolled over on her side in shock. She couldn't believe that after what they had shared he was going to regress back into the mindset from their bathroom encounter. "What?" she asked, glaring at him.

"I lost control there; I didn't want you to feel like I was trying to take advantage of you," Harry explained quietly.

Ginny laughed in relief. "Trust me, Harry, I was a more than willing partner in that."

Harry rolled over so he could look at her. "Good," he said with a grin. "I'd hate to think that you didn't enjoy that as much as I did."

"I think it's fairly safe to say that I did," Ginny replied with a grin to match. She leaned forward and placed a soft, reassuring kiss on Harry's lips.

They stared at each other for a moment before Harry's smile turned into a frown. "So, what now?" he asked hesitantly.

"Well, I guess we should take things slowly," Ginny began before Harry began to shake his head.

"Did you already forget that we can't be together right now? We could very easily both lose our jobs over this," Harry said sullenly.

"Oh yeah." Silence crept back between them as the reality of the situation hit. "Well, I guess if we waited this long we can wait a little bit longer," Ginny said, although her voice wasn't nearly as confident as her words.

"Right," Harry said, smiling. Ginny could see, though, that the smile didn't reach his eyes. "I mean, how hard can it be to wait until after the World Cup to tryand be together? I've been waiting for like two years, and you've been waiting even longer than that. We can do this. It'll also give us some time to break things to your family and try and settle any unresolved issues."

"You're just scared of what Ron will say," Ginny teased.

"Maybe."

"Don't worry about Ron. I'll talk to him."

"Gin, do you still want to come with me to see Hermione?"

Ginny nodded. "Now more than ever. I haven't announced anything yet, but you have Wednesday and Thursday morning off next week. If you can behave, we can go then."

"There's a whole new sense to behaving right now than there was before."

"You're right," Ginny agreed. "But we're going to have to do this. We can be professional." Ginny looked around, noticing how dark it had become. "We should go back inside, they're going to be wondering what happened to us." Harry stood up and offered Ginny a helping hand which she took willingly. She smiled when he didn't release her hand until they were in view of the manor. Ginny was about to head to the door before Harry stopped her.

"Gin, I feel like I need to make things clear right now," he said slowly. Ginny nodded curiously. "I've always been rubbish at expressing my feelings, but I think that if we're going to do this you need to know exactly where I stand. I'm pretty sure that I was in love with you. I mean, you're the only person I've ever felt that way about, so I can't be sure, but I think I was. The thing is, I still love you, but I went a year without even speaking to you. I'm not sure that I'm in love with you anymore. I don't know how these things work; I don't know if that's something that can last on its own for that long. I think it's going to be something we have to work to get back, like our trust."

"I can understand that, Harry," Ginny answered. "I just hope you don't realize that you were never even in love with me to begin with." With those words, Ginny pulled together her emotions and walked back inside the house, leaving Harry outside to try and figure out what he was feeling.

"How'd it go?" Tank asked when Ginny walked back into the living room.

Ginny realized that her appearance had to look very ruffled. "It went well," she replied, fighting a blush.

Tank looked her up and down and grinned. "It looks that way."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We were just sitting on the grass talking."

"Uh huh. I'd just try and keep your hands to yourself as long as you're living in the house. I love all of the guys here, but I wouldn't put it past any of them to use you or Harry for their own personal gain."

"Are you serious?" Ginny asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. Quidditch players tend to have wonderful personalities, but they're a very competitive bunch. In this business, you always have to watch your back; your best friend could turn on you in a moment if it would further their own career. I've never really had anything done to me, but my brother lost his position to one of the reserves his second year on the Arrows due to some bribery and blackmail behind the scenes."

"So basically, you're telling me that if any of the guys were to find out how much Harry and I cared about each other, they wouldn't use it to get me fired, they'd use it to further their careers?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"I'm not saying they all would, just thatsome of themmight. I'm trying to get you to be careful is all," Tank replied. "But now that I've given you even more to think about, I'm going to bed. Do you think Harry will be in soon?" Ginny nodded. "Good. Well then, good night."

"Good night," Ginny called as Tank disappeared up the stairs. She headed up to her room lost in thought. She determined that the new focus of her job for the next week would be to make sure that she kept herself busy and away from Harry at all times. As much as she liked to think she was responsible, she just didn't know how well she could refrain herself if she was alone in a room with Harry. "This is going to be a long week."

A/N I was completely overwhelmed by the response from the last chapter! I'd never gotten such an immediate response to a chapter before.... THANK YOU! You guys really put a smile on my face! School starts again on Monday, so I'm trying to enjoy the last of my break before getting back to reality...