Chapter 2
()()()
A blaring noise caterwauled through the room and had Ginny sitting up in her bed in alarm. Her heart was running a mile a minute as she adjusted to her surroundings and realized what it was that shocked her out of her sleep.
Another George invention.
The blasted alarm clock was certainly effective. When it was set to go off it didn't just make an irritating noise, it made an inordinately loud siren noise and rolled off of whatever surface it was on and raced around the floor of the room requiring one to get out of bed and chase it down to shut it off.
It was effective, that's for sure. Her brother could easily market it to parents with teenagers.
She threw back her covers and swung her leg over the side of the bed to get up and find the stupid thing, again forgetting that she had an injury and toppling out of bed entirely as the pain of putting pressure on her bad foot had her crumbling to the floor in a yelp.
She gave a groan as she lay there for a moment and waited for the twinges in her foot to subside, at least from the floor she had a good vantage point of where the alarm clock had gone under her bed. Growling she stretched her arm as far as it would go and pulled it out, pressing the shut off button and tossing it towards her laundry basket. She was all for George creating new and interesting products but she had to be more selective in the future about which one's she'd test out for him. The Tempus alarm on her wand had yet to fail her and it was so much more pleasant a wakeup call.
With more care this time she stood up and tested out her pain level on her foot.
It was still quite sore and being on it for most of the day yesterday hadn't been doing it any favors. She knew she should have simply been resting, but it was just that being confined to her flat for the duration of her injury was going to drive her bonkers.
The opportunity to make a few extra coin by doing this monotonous task for the Ministry that only lasted a few days was too good an opportunity to pass up as well. In her spot as a reserve player for the Holyhead Harpies team she wasn't making a lot. Once she made it up to first string she'd be doing really well for herself. If she made it there anyhow.
No.
When.
It was going to be a when, she hadn't put in all this time and effort to let an injury do her in, nor let any second guessing herself derail her career choice.
When she made it to first string she'd be getting a larger salary and be able to do the endorsement deals and such.
For now she was making enough for her flat share and so that her kitchen was stocked, with a bit extra for nights out with her friends. She was getting by and didn't need to rely on her parents. It was plenty for now. She could live like this for easily two or three more years. Particularly if her flat mate stayed the same.
Luna had been a good friend of hers since they were little kids, and with Luna's job as it was she was gone half the time. Now Luna even had a boyfriend that she'd be going out with as well for however long that lasted.
Ginny pulled on a compression sock that was supposed to help with her healing and limped into the kitchen. Her shoes she'd worn yesterday had a charm on them to help her with her healing as well. It made her feel like she was stepping on a cloud. Well, when she remembered that she had an injury on that foot. She tended to hurt it when she was getting up from a seated position every time regardless of the charm.
"Morning," Ginny greeted Luna who was already seated in at their two-seater table in the kitchen, her bathrobe on with the hood pulled up displaying a pair of animal ears.
"Good Morning," Luna sang out at her. "Another day at the Ministry for you?"
"Yeah," Ginny took a mug from the cupboard and poured herself some coffee, flicking her wand to toast her bread and smearing some jam spread on it before sitting down with her friend. "What are you getting up to today? Oh! And how was your dinner yesterday?"
Luna hadn't been back when Ginny fell asleep, but Ginny had had a bath and fallen asleep in her room reading a book at a ridiculously early time.
"It was lovely. Neville's flat mate is very pleasant. Thankfully he arrived after we'd made love."
It was this blatant honesty of Luna's that made her so endearing. She didn't see a reason to hold back facts like that. She'd been home to tell Ginny about her travels and her new beau briefly before Flooing over to his house, telling her it was for the purposes of their love making before his flat mate came home.
"He'd brought Thai food with him."
"The flat mate?" Ginny asked absently.
"Yes. It was rather delicious. I think I'll find out where the restaurant is so that we can try it one night," Luna carried on, telling her more about the 'social interaction' and mercifully little about the bedroom activities that preceded it. Luna had done her fair bit of over-sharing through the years to the point that Ginny knew exactly which of Luna's lovers had preferred what in bed and the size of there erections. She also, unfortunately, knew exactly what Luna liked in bed. The scoop was yet to be shared on her new man and Ginny wouldn't mind holding off a bit longer before that secret was divulged as she wasn't receiving any action herself.
"Have you discovered whom it is that is overseeing you at the Ministry?" Luna asked, pulling Ginny out of her reverie.
"What? Oh, yes. It's someone I've met before named Tyrone. But he really just lets us into the storage and supply areas and leaves us to it."
"No, not him, the Auror who would be sneaking into the rooms to observe you. I doubt they would announce themselves," Luna corrected her. "Have you discovered who that is?"
"There's no one watching us," Ginny shook her head in confusion. She'd gotten used to Luna just spurting out random facts and theories at her over their friendship and knew just to go along with it. Although, she had rather felt like she'd been watched for a bit yesterday. She'd just looked in the direction she thought she could feel eyes on her from and saw that Jason or Natasha was looking at her curiously. In the rooms she'd been checking by herself or when she'd teamed up with Remus she hadn't felt like anyone's eyes were on her.
Thinking of the records room though she made a mental note to wear layered clothing today. It had been quite cold in one room, then hot in the next. Having to get down to her tank top yesterday had made her a little self-conscious. It wasn't like when she was at the pitch with all the other girls in their sports bra's while they were working out, she had been at the Ministry, it felt indecent somehow to be showing that much skin there.
Luna gave her the signature look she had; the peering big blue eyes that simply rested on her until she drew the same conclusion.
And as usual, Luna was right. There was no way that all five of them would have been let into the Portkey storage and supply room without someone there watching to make sure nothing got pocketed. There had to have been someone there disillusioned and insuring security of the items.
"I would suggest tossing something in various directions today," Luna told her seriously.
Ginny snorted in amusement. "What? Just fling a bean bag around or something?"
"I don't know about a bag of beans but putting a few beans in your pocket to toss in the direction you feel the Pindterns coming from would be an easy enough solution."
Pindterns. Ginny quickly consulted her mental book of Luna's invisible creatures. Pindterns were the feeling you get from someone's eyes on you before you notice.
She gave a shrug, "can't hurt."
"Speaking of which. How is your foot?"
"It's healing," Ginny shrugged. "Oh! Remus Lupin, remember him? He finally introduced me to Harry Potter yesterday. Ambushed me, dad and Percy in the cafeteria. Turn's out he's rather nice, just like Remus said. Was sure he was going to be a bit more cocky than he was."
"No, Harry does seem rather down to earth," Luna nodded.
"What?" Ginny stared at her friend. "You say that like you know him."
"I don't know him all that well just yet but as he's Neville's flat mate I assume I'll get to know him a bit more over time."
Ginny's mouth hung open for a minute. Harry Potter was Neville's flat mate, Luna's new boyfriend. Ginny felt she really should have connected the dots on that one herself. She knew from Remus that Harry and Neville were raised together, it would only make sense that if they were going to 'strike it out on their own' yet still have a flat mate that it would be each other.
"So I had lunch with him yesterday, and you had dinner?" Ginny grinned. "What are the odds?"
"Probably about one in a three hundred chance considering the size of our society," Luna answered promptly before taking another sip of her drink.
()()()
Ginny got to the meeting room on Level nine as the second Cycle Counter for the day; Natasha was the only other one there so far.
"Morning," Ginny greeted her in high spirits. "Ready for another exciting day?" Her coffee had clearly had enough time to kick in at this point.
Natasha looked a little startled to be greeted by her. "Um. Yeah. Ready." She was giving her a curious look.
"What?" Ginny asked as she sat across from her. "Something on my face?"
"No!" Natasha assured her. "I just. Well, I thought you didn't like me, but you're being nice."
Ginny was a little taken aback. "I'm generally a pretty nice person. You just pissed me off yesterday with your prejudice comment," she said blatantly and without malice.
"And I'm sorry about that," Natasha told her immediately. "I apologized to Remus as well. I was just, you know, surprised to see I had to… uh, work with one."
Ginny felt her caffeine exuberance take a dip at that. "One what?" she asked as sweetly as she could manage to fake.
The blush on Natasha's face was enough to tell Ginny she'd regretted her wording. Natasha opened her mouth a few times but stopped.
"Look," Ginny held up her hand so the manicured and, Ginny would assume, sheltered girl didn't accidentally dig herself deeper. "I get that there are stigmatisms. Half-Giants, Giants, Veela, Werewolves, Muggleborns, Goblin's and the like? I'm friends with a wide variety of 'people' in our world," she put the emphasis on people, "and they were treated horribly through the war. I just don't like seeing that shit continue so I get defensive on their behalf when I hear it."
Natasha looked ashamed. "It was just the first time I'd really had to interact with one," she admitted. "Colin gave me a talking to yesterday as well."
"Good," Ginny leaned back in her chair. "Then let's leave it be, shall we?"
They sat there a moment in silence. Ginny was ready to get started already. She hoped they'd stick her in a room by herself again, then she could just stick in her ear bud and listen to music while getting her task done.
She picked up a tendril of her hair in boredom and examined the end. She was getting split ends. Always. It was so irritating and she didn't know how to deal. Glancing over at Natasha's shiny blond locks she noticed it looked like she didn't have the same problem.
"Do you get split ends?" Ginny asked her suddenly. Natasha's head came up in surprise and she just stared at her for a moment. "It's just," Ginny held up the end of her hair tendril. "It's all the time and it isn't like I spend a lot of time on it, but if there's a quick solution or whatever I'm all for it."
Natasha stared at her a bit longer and Ginny was starting to feel a little weird for having asked her a grooming question. "You really don't hold a grudge, do you?" the older girl smiled.
Ginny grinned back and started chuckling. "Not unless it's truly deserved," she agreed. "But you certainly don't need to watch your back or anything."
Colin and Jason came in then. The two girls greeting them before Natasha started imparting her wisdom on the wonders of Apple Cider Vinegar until the other two arrived. Colin raised an eyebrow at Ginny for how she was finding this girl talk interesting and helpful. Being girly was not something Ginny was known for. She replied to his look with a simple shrug of her shoulder.
"Alright, so we are going to split you up onto different floors today," Tyrone began when he came in. "Remus, you Natasha and Jason will be on Level with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Their supply rooms mostly just involve office supplies and the like. Ginny, you and Colin have a good understanding of Muggle things, so I'll have the two of you start in on the supply rooms up on Level 3 as you'll be more aware of what some of the objects are in their rooms."
Colin would certainly know what most everything to do with Muggles were but Ginny only knew the basic things and even those left her flummoxed a lot of the time when her father had brought them home. Usually it took a bit for her to figure out what their purpose had been; like the rubber duck, it was just a toy, but her father had been convinced that it served a higher purpose than that, thus so did she. Remus had actually worked in the Muggle world for a few years and would have been better for this task, but he didn't look like he cared enough to switch, and Ginny didn't care enough to correct Tyrone either.
Colin helped her to her feet and they took the lift together up to Level 3 with their lists in hand and she wandered off to the 'Accidental Magic Reversal Squad' storage room while Colin went off to the office supply room for the Obliviators and the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee. The AMRS had clothes and gear in the storage room that would be needed for different situations as well as a filing cabinet that she had to go through and ensure that there were copies of various Muggle documents having to do with their government and badges and such stating that the Reversal Squad had the Muggle Authority to do this and that. The filing cabinet was where she started.
Tyrone stopped in to make sure that she was finding everything alright and she waived him off, he shut the door behind him and she was blissfully alone to do her counting.
Setting down her list she reached into her pocket and pulled out the device George gave her. He'd found out about something called a 'walking man' that the Muggle's had that allowed them to broadcast wireless programs in their ears so that it wouldn't disturb those around them. It was a brilliant idea, and he'd altered it to a magical application. He had allowed her to use the prototype. The earpiece had been spelled to be invisible and it only went in one ear so that she could still hear if someone was trying to get her attention. It had been an amazing thing to have when she was exercising. The music was distracting from the arduosity of her workouts.
Using it while she was checking inventory was another ideal time for such a device. The accompanying small box in her pocket allowed her to add a number of songs she liked to listen to. Bringing the device to life she started doing her checks in the filing cabinet as her music rang through her head.
She started with the bottom drawer on the four drawer high filing cabinet and was enjoying herself as she hummed along to her song and checked off the items on her list. By the top shelf though she had the sensation of having someone's eyes on her again. She wondered if it was the conversation with Luna that was making her paranoid and thinking of the Pindterns she was feeling from the direction of the doorway. An Auror wouldn't stand immediately behind a door though, and it had to have been an Auror that was in charge of watching the Cycle Counters. They could be standing in front of the rack of clothes though that were beside the doorway and out of the swinging radius.
As casually as she could managed Ginny pulled a coffee bean out of her pocket and flicked it over towards where she would have stood if she were the one trying to be stealthy. It couldn't hurt to test out this theory could it. Worst case scenario would be that she was throwing a coffee bean at nothing.
The bean flew through the air and stopped dead before the clothes and dropped to the floor. "Ha!" Ginny called out with a smile, "gotcha." She closed the drawer and leaned against the cabinet with her arms crossed and a proud smile on her face. "You may as well remove the spell. I already know you're there."
Nothing happened. She pulled her earpiece out and listened carefully to see if she could hear any movement. There was a slight shifting sound.
"Oh, come on," she coaxed. "You aren't as stealth as you think you are and there are anti-Apparation wards all throughout the Ministry save for the licensing office and the Auror Gym." A fact that she knew from Percy and his inability to shut up, ever.
Moving towards the clothes she bent down and picked up the bean off the floor. She knew someone was there. Why wouldn't they just show themselves?
Unless it was Tonks and she was messing with her!
Tonks was the only Auror Ginny knew and that was exactly something she'd do to her. Tonks was like a big sister to her and as with all her other siblings, they all messed each other around. Tonks probably would have signed up to tail Ginny too.
Ginny stood perfectly still and strained her ears really hard. She was almost sure she could hear the sound of someone breathing coming from her right. From the corner of her eye she did a cursory inspection of whether anything along that aisle might be breakable. It didn't look so.
Which meant that she didn't think twice before flinging herself down it and tackling and invisible form to the ground.
"Got you!" She pulled her wand from her pocket as she straddled the form and removed their spell.
Then froze in shock and embarrassment.
To be fair Harry looked pretty embarrassed too.
She shuffled herself off him and sat back against the shelving. "Sorry! I completely thought you were going to turn out to be someone else," she bit her lip and nervously chuckled, finding the predicament slightly amusing.
"Yeah. I guess I could have just removed the charm myself when you figured it out," he too laughed nervously and sat up against the other shelving. "You, uh, you didn't hurt your foot, did you?"
Ginny looked down at her foot. "No." It didn't hurt at all right then. Turning her eyes back on him she tilted her head slightly. "You weren't watching us all yesterday as well, were you?"
The slight coloring that came to his face was answer enough. He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, "err, yeah I was."
"I thought I felt someone there," she couldn't believe it! "You are quite the convincing actor," Ginny smirked. "Yesterday? At lunch?" she'd truly thought it had been the first time he'd laid eyes on her, meanwhile he'd been watching her all that morning.
His blush was rather endearing.
"That thing, in your pocket," Harry gestured, "you're listening to music on it?"
"Yeah," she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be doing that but it wasn't like there was a rule against it that she'd known about. "My brother George made a magical prototype from a Muggle device."
"That's amazing," he smiled. "Can I see it?"
Ginny nodded. "Can you help me up?" Tackling him might not have caused her to injure her foot more but putting her weight on it again like that would.
He quickly stood up and took both her hands in his to assist her to her feet. She couldn't help but take a moment to appreciate the height difference between them, and how gorgeous his eyes were. Standing this close to him as well was giving her a bit of a thrill. She had crushed on him rather hard growing up from her stories about him. When Remus had mentioned to her that he'd been Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom's personal tutors for the duration of their education she'd had a million questions about Harry Potter specifically that she'd almost managed to bite her tongue about, she still wound up asking about ten percent of them. Given their age difference she'd hoped early in her life that they would be attending Hogwarts at the same time. It was a small mercy that he didn't though; she would have undoubtedly made a fool of herself in front of him for several years.
Now that she was older and meeting him properly she could school her attitude about it all. Pretend that she didn't still find him completely dreamy, and pretend that she wasn't going to replay over and over again that she'd STRADDLED HIM for many days to come.
Reaching into her pocket casually she pulled out the little box that had simply four buttons. "See," she pointed out. "It has a 'play', 'stop', 'skip', and 'record' option," She showed him.
"How do you control the volume?" he asked and turned it over in his hands, looking awed. "What powers it?"
"Oh," she pulled the ear bud out of her pocket as well and tapped it to make it become visible. "See on the side here?" she showed the hoop part that went around the ear. "You simply run your finger up or down this part to make it louder or quieter. And, well it's powered with magic," she shrugged offering up a chuckle. "I don't really know how the charm works, it just does. I guess it's like a wireless but for your own personal entertainment."
"It's genius," he marveled.
"I'll let my brother know you think so," she smiled and took it back from him.
"He's an inventor?" Harry asked as she turned to head back towards the filing cabinet.
"He is. One half of the founders of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes; your owl order joke product proprietors." Her shoulder gave an automatic twitch as she thought about the other half of the triple W creators. The family had been lucky that they'd only lost one member of their large family in the war, but it had been a knife to the heart all the same. Now and again she wondered if it had been someone other than one of the twins if it would hurt as much. There had to be times when her mother would look at George and just for a moment think it was her other son who had looked exactly the same, it certainly happened to Ginny a few times.
"I've heard of it," Harry nodded and handed her back the device. "Seen a few catalogues. There are a few ingenious items in there. He could probably do well with a store location."
"I know," Ginny felt pride for her brother at Harry Potter's approval. "He's saving up for it, but I think the location he wants would require a little more than he's willing to bargain with right now."
Harry nodded but didn't say anything more.
"So," she started awkwardly. "Now that I've 'discovered you', are you going to just stick around and keep watching me or are you going to move on and try and catch Remus up to no good?"
"What, and leave you to swipe that Bobby uniform?" he gestured over to the clothing rack with a police woman's uniform on it. "I don't think I'd hear the end of it from my Department Head."
Ginny snorted, "yes, imagine all the trouble I could cause with that."
"Oh, I am," he said in a deep voice.
Her attention turned full on him then and he was looking like he hadn't meant for that to slip out, particularly with it sounding how it did.
She had a few male friends that she could share raunchy jokes with, it was the standard with her growing up around as many male's as she did. And over the years she'd discovered how to turn those into flirtations with anyone she was interested in. Here though she wasn't entirely sure it was appropriate, or if he'd be okay with it.
She gave herself a mental kick, she was determined to carry on with him how she would with any other attractive male.
"I can see it now, me on the streets of London pretending to enforce the law, but really just stopping random good-looking men and making sure they weren't 'concealing' anything," she gave him a daring wink. "I could call myself officer Pat U. Down. Bet that would make a few of the fella's nights," she giggled.
"They'd probably think you were a prostitute," he chuckled.
"Hmm," she pretended to think, "I don't know if I'd be offended by that." she gave a shudder, "scratch that. I totally would." She couldn't lie about that. During school she'd borne the brunt of some teasing and cruel comments, particularly when she had begun growing into her body. Some of the meaner boys and girls would spread rumors about how she was 'willing' for the right price owing to the fact that her family wasn't as well off as some others.
And with that happy memory her humor took a dive.
There was silence for a few minutes as she began getting back to her task and he simply stood there.
"You know, with you visible now, I can not only feel you watching me but I can see it too," she turned to him after finishing up with the cabinet. "If you aren't going to help me, why don't you tell me something."
He looked rather startled at how she'd called him out. "Uh. I, um. What, what do you want to know?"
Her brow furrowed slightly, "I don't want to 'know' anything. But you could at least tell me a story or replay the last Quidditch match you saw. Talk about Neville. Oh!" she cut herself off when she remembered. "Luna! You met her last night?" she asked excitedly, having forgotten until that moment that her roommate and best friend was now dating his.
His eyes went wide with surprise, "you know Luna?"
She nodded eagerly with a big smile, "she's my best friend and we share a flat. She just told me about Neville yesterday!"
Harry's jaw dropped at that, "your flat mate and mine are dating?"
"Yes!" It was her turn to be surprised that he didn't know, then again he didn't know who she was until yesterday either, so why would it have come up. "She just told me about their trip and, well, and Luna is a bit of an over-sharer," she blushed slightly recalling how much Luna had shared with her about Neville that morning as she tried to get down her breakfast.
"Yeah, I picked up on that." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"She's a lot," Ginny admitted. "But she's a really good person, and she and I were each other's rock's through the last two years of school when things were really bad." Ginny didn't bring up school very often, preferring to simply move forward and forget about it, but if he was going to be seeing Luna and getting to know her then he should be informed about how good of a person she was.
"Honestly, I didn't know quite what to make of her," he said truthfully. "She does this staring thing. It was a little off putting. But I trust Neville and he likes her plenty. So," he trailed off.
"So," Ginny pried. "So, you're reserving judgement?" She was looking for assurance really. As much bullying and catcalling as she'd received in the last few years of her schooling Luna had been made fun of her whole life because of how she was. Ginny wasn't going to stand for Harry here to be making faces behind her friends back or anything like that.
He shrugged uncertainly, "I only met her over dinner last night. I don't know what to make of her yet, but I promise you I'm nice."
Ginny narrowed her eyes looking for any hint that that might not be the case, he didn't look like he was hiding anything though. "Alright," she relented and turned back to her list.
"You're quite loyal," he commented, Ginny could hear the respect in his tone.
"Damn right. Many a soul has been injured testing how loyal," she commented offhand as she checked off the items on the shelf.
"Do I want to know?" he chuckled.
Ginny smirked, "ever heard of a Bat-Bogey Hex?" At his expression she gathered he could figure out what it was. "It is entirely childish, but entirely effective as well."
"I'll consider myself warned."
"Oh, will you be testing my patience in the future?" she teased, letting him catch her eyeing him up.
Again, his hand went to the back of his neck. "I um. I couldn't help but overhear you yesterday. Apparently Remus has been trying to get us to attend the same events?"
Ginny's hands fell limply to her side at his bringing that up. She managed not to let herself drop her clipboard like she was dropping her jaw. "You. You were in the meeting room yesterday too?" He'd overheard that part; her razzing Remus about his attempts to get them together. She'd never taken Remus seriously about it until lunch yesterday when he'd actually followed through.
"Yes," he admitted. "And thank you, by the way. I wanted to snarl at that Natasha girl about her reaction to Remus as well."
He looked so fierce and protective about that, Ginny couldn't help but feel herself melt a little. It looked like she wasn't the only one that was unwaveringly loyal.
"And I can't notice your split ends, if that helps," he added cheekily.
Ginny burst out in laughter at that and needed to lean on the counter slightly to keep herself upright. "Cheeky bugger, you are," she managed and shook her head at him.
He looked good with a smile on his face. It seemed that she'd managed to have him let his guard down.
"So, I know why Remus is trying to set me up, why is it he's trying to pimp you out?" she challenged and turned away from him to continue her task and not let on how entirely curious she was about why the Chosen One hasn't yet chosen someone.
"Err," he hesitated, "I guess he'd just like it if I found someone from our world."
Ginny turned back to him quizzical, "meaning you've only dated girls in the Muggle world?"
"Er. Yeah," he cringed slightly.
It didn't take her long to draw the conclusion as to why. "I guess the anonymity there is helpful when you're trying to figure out if they're really interested," she gestured to him. "If it helps, heroism aside, I think you're capable of cleaning up nicely," she told him boldly.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Is that so?" he was looking rather playful.
Ginny gave a non-committal shrug. "Something about Auror's and their physical training requirements," she offered. "And. You know, you kind of have that whole 'tall, dark and handsome' thing going for you," she admitted.
"Mostly I just get comments on my eyes," he was blushing slightly and observing something on the shelf.
"Well, mostly I get comments on my hair," she offered. "But I think my breasts are rather noteworthy as well." The corners of her mouth turned down as she jokingly looked down her own shirt then back up at him with a smirk. "You know. Big, but not too big. And still perky. Guess it'd be rude to walk up to a girl in a pub and comment on that though." She could see he was trying not to look at her chest. Her smile grew wider the longer his gorgeous and noteworthy green eyes stayed locked on her brown one's determined not go lower.
"Right," he managed with his lips twitching up into a smile.
She gave him a reprieve and returned to her task. A task that would probably be done by then had she just left her ear bud in and ignored his presence earlier.
()()()
The rest of the day passed pretty much the same as the previous one. Counting and lunch with her dad, brother, Remus and Harry. Except that it was Ron that joined them today and Harry, she and Ron got into a big discussion about which Quidditch Team was better. It grew rather heated actually as the three of them supported different teams, but it was all good fun.
Trying to keep her focus on what she was supposed to be counting that afternoon was a little more difficult knowing that Harry was possibly in the room with her. He had been so flirty with her that morning, it had been her dream come to life really.
When the counting team was wrapping up for the day she felt him brush a hand down her arm and slip something into her palm. As there were two of the group that were still chatting with her she didn't look at it until a moment later.
Looks like our flat mates are meeting at mine again for dinner. Care to make it a group thing? I'll be just the other side of the Leaky Cauldron after 5 if you'd like to join. -H
Ginny felt her face heating up with pleasure from the request. She absolutely wanted to join.
At just after five o'clock she found herself on the Muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron.
"Prompt one, you are," Harry commented, grinning at her.
"Well, I wasn't going to be keeping you waiting. I am trying to make a good impression here after all," she struck a small pose for him with her hand on her cocked-out hip.
He seemed to be responding to her cheeky attitude and she very much liked that.
"So, I brought them Thai food last night, but I was feeling more of a burgers and chips thing for tonight. Is that, I don't know, too casual?"
"No such thing," she waved off his concern. "You know a good place? I've tried some of those 'fast-food' places and they can be rather salty and disgusting."
"It'll be fast to get the take-away, but the burgers are a work of art from this place a block away," he assured her.
"Well then, lead on."
He held out his arm for her and she fought back a blush before she hooked her arm around his elbow.
The menu at the place he'd led her to was extensive considering they really just did burgers. There were all kinds of toppings to choose from and different buns and meat options for the actual burger. It was comprehensive.
Their conversation was flowing very easily between them and she kept being struck by just how mellow he was. She had years of assumptions about him built up in her head and she needed to erase them all and replace them with the facts about him that she now knew.
Like how nice he was, how chivalrous, how he had very good taste in food. How amazing it felt to have the simple touch of her arm in the crook of his elbow, how when he smiled properly there was a crinkle in the corner of his eyes, and how his glasses would go slightly crooked rather often and every time he ran his hand along the back of his head he would finish the gesture by adjusting the crooked glasses.
He was very lovely company.
Harry paid for the take-away and they carried on towards an alley not far away, telling her to hold on tight while he Side-Along Apparated her to his lobby.
Their building was a little more spacious than the one she and Luna lived in though it still held the character of the older buildings of London, something that she found to be familiar and comforting. He and Neville occupied one of the four flats on the top floor and once they were through the door to said flat the two of them were greeted with a sound that Ginny was familiar with.
Her hand went to Harry's elbow immediately when she heard it and her eyes went wide.
"What is?" Harry started, then his own eyes went wide as well when he realized what the sound was.
Ginny bit her lip to stop from snickering, she held a finger to her lips so he would stay quiet. "Sounds like she's almost done," she offered with a pained expression.
His expression turned bewildered at her offering of information.
The sound, you see, was that of Luna Lovegood rather enjoying her sexual experience she was having just then.
Ginny took the bags of food out of his hands for him and set them on the ground in the hallway, taking one of his empty hands and yanking him back into the corridor, closing the door firmly and rolling her eyes at how apparent it was that they had put a silencing charm on the flat but not on the specific room that they were using.
"You know her sounds?" Harry asked dubiously.
Ginny let out a sigh and rested her back against the wall, her head falling back as well. "Three years we've lived together. She's rather an open minded individual as well. Keeps telling me that 'it's natural', and 'why wouldn't she want to vocalize how much she likes it'. That is the unfortunate reason I know her sounds."
"Uh, she's had men over often?" he asked skeptically.
"No," Ginny gave him a expressive look. One that he didn't seem to understand. "She doesn't always need another participant," she spelled out.
Harry's jaw dropped open before he started laughing with a blush on his face. "Oh," he nodded, attempting to reign in his laughter.
"Yeah," Ginny turned her eyes skyward. "I'd say we give them another ten minutes, just to be safe."
"Okay then," Harry looked down at the floor of the corridor. "May as well get comfortable."
Ginny followed his lead and sat down where they were.
"Chomping at the bit to get back to work then?" he asked.
"Yeah," Ginny sighed. "I mean, it is a rather good practice to make sure that an injured player is receiving the right amount of time off, but I don't see why they couldn't let me into the meetings or observe the practices."
"Complete lock out, eh?" he told her sympathetically. "There's a Puddlemere versus Cannon's game this weekend," he started. "I have two tickets, erm, if you'd like to go with me. On Saturday."
Ginny was surprised by the invitation. She'd been hoping he might show some proper interest in her and it would lead somewhere, going with him to a Quidditch game certainly qualified.
"I, um. Well," he started, his hand going up to rub the back of his neck. "The thing would be though. I get recognized rather easily, and generally when I go to a game I have a few glamour charms in place."
"I'd be okay with that," she said rather quietly.
"Yeah?" he asked brightly.
She nodded, feeling a happy blush coming to her face but felt a stray thought nag at her. "Um. I do have to ask though, is this because of something Remus said?" she asked. "Because you shouldn't feel obli-"
"No!" he told her quickly. "I swear I wouldn't have asked you simply because Remus was being pushy. I, uh," he was looking suitably flustered.
"Good," Ginny grinned at him. She liked how quickly he'd jumped in to shut down her concern and the rambling way in which he'd started defending his choice was enough for her. "So then, if you won't look like yourself on Saturday, what can I expect my date to look like?" she asked him. "Any particular glamour's that you have as your go-to?"
"Usually just a brown hair color, cover up the scar and turn my eyes blue," he told her.
"Think you could leave your eyes the way they are?" she asked, boldly staring deep into them. They'd had this conversation already today, she didn't really need to expand on how much she liked his eyes.
They were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor as they kept staring straight into each other's eyes and she could feel and see him slowly moving towards her more, her heart leapt up into her throat and she too began the slow lean forwards to him.
Before they could meet each other half way though his flat door opened and they both turned to look at who'd opened it.
"Uh, sorry about that," the man who must have been Neville blushed. He looked to have hastily dressed. "I, er, I smelled the food you brought."
"Not to worry," Ginny grinned up at him. "I made sure to pull Harry away as soon as I heard what was going on."
That only made Neville turn more red.
Harry got to his feet and held out a hand for Ginny to take. She was disappointed that Neville couldn't have waited just five more minutes, but there was still dinner ahead of her, two more days of inventory at the Ministry and a Quidditch game lined up for Saturday to spend with Harry. She was sure that the two of them would get another opportunity.
"Nev, this is Ginny. She's actually Luna's flat mate," Harry introduced them.
"Oh, I've heard a lot about you!" Neville beamed at her, instantly shedding his embarrassment. It must have been all for her benefit initially but knowing that she was close with Luna he must have realized that there wasn't anything to be embarrassed about.
"And I'm looking forward to hearing more about you," Ginny came forward and gave him a one-armed hug. "Luna certainly seems to like you."
"The feelings mutual," he stepped aside so that they could all head back into the flat.
Harry picked up the bags of food and led the way to the sitting area.
It was a cozy flat that they had set up. Their rooms were on opposite sides of the corridor that you walked through to get to the rest of the flat. Ginny couldn't help taking a peak through the one bedroom door that was opened. There was a Puddlemere United poster hanging on the wall and she assumed that it meant that was Harry's room. From the small amount of the room she could see it appeared that he was rather tidy.
"You've a Venomous Tentacula just sitting in your window?" Ginny asked in disbelief when she got to the sitting room. "Oh!" she was instantly distracted. "And a Nimbus 2000! I haven't tried one of them! Never had the chance to try any kind of Nimbus, actually." Her lack of impulse control had her picking up the broom in the corner before either of the men said anything. "I've wanted to try one for ages. We have Firebolts issued to us but they are technically owned by the team. Wicked fast they are, and coming from a Cleansweep, which is all I had growing up, it was a bit of an adjustment, but I've heard really good things about the control you feel on a Nimbus."
Harry came up beside her while she was prattling on. "Yeah, got that for Christmas when I was eleven," he told her. "Still works as well as it did the first day I got it. The longevity on the charms they placed on that model were high quality."
Ginny ran her hand along the smooth shaft of it and down to the tail. "It's a beauty. I've always wanted to go to one of the broom factories and see the whole process. It's on my bucket list."
"Mine too," Harry grinned at her. Neville gave a dramatized yawn and Harry tossed a cushion at him from the armchair beside him. "It'd be way more interesting than visiting a greenhouse for the millionth time," Harry told him.
"I quite like greenhouses," Luna said entering the room.
"Good, he can take you with him from now on. I'll go with Ginny to the Nimbus factory," Harry told her easily.
"I suppose you were the Auror assigned to follow Ginny around?" Luna asked him. "Did you flick your bean at him?" she asked Ginny.
Neville choked on his soda at Luna's choice of words and Ginny blushed a bright crimson. Harry merely cleared his throat and took the broom out of Ginny's hand, avoiding eye contact, and going back to the table that their dinner was now laid out on.
"He was assigned to watch us all, yes," Ginny found her voice. "I wound up tackling him to the ground really. Thought he was going to turn out to be Tonks," she chuckled.
"Tonks would not have done well on an assignment like this," Harry said. "She'd be so bored she might have started messing with you all."
"Have you not started messing around with Ginny yet then?" Luna asked. "I know it has been a while since she'd last had partner."
"Luna," Ginny started in a warning voice. She had tried many times over the years to explain to her friend what was and wasn't appropriate information to share. Now she knew she need only say her friends name and she'd catch on and change the subject.
"These burgers look lovely," Luna said quickly. "Thank you for getting me a portabella mushroom burger, I do rather prefer the taste of them when they are done up in a nice balsamic vinegar."
Neville prompted the next change in subject by bringing up one of the trips he and Harry took out to the sea when they were kids and tales of travel were shared around the table, Ginny was relieved that it was such a safe subject.
It was when she was helping Harry clear off the table and Neville and Luna had drifted over to the sofa that Harry brought up what Luna had mentioned.
"I had wondered how it was that the woman Remus had been trying to set me up with six months ago could possibly still be single," he asked, sounding as casually as he was able to make it.
"It isn't some crazy story of a bad break-up or anything," she prefaced. "I simply didn't need Luna bringing it up as dinner conversation." Ginny put the remnants of their take-away containers into the bin. "I've simply been single for a few months and my circle of friends hasn't really broadened. Not one to just go out to the pub and attempt to pick up a man either," she shrugged.
"So, I'm not going to find out that there is some crazy stalker ex that has scared you off men entirely?" he teased her gently.
Ginny took a step towards him so they were only a hair breadth apart. "Do I look scared?" she asked, her chin turned up and looking right into his eyes.
"You could just be bull-headed," he answered quietly, before lowering his head to kiss her.
Ginny responded to his touch immediately, her eyes slipping closed and her arms slipping around him. He moved her a step back, so she was right against the icebox. His lips felt like heaven on hers, first kisses normally did feel like heaven, all the build-up, all the nervousness giving way to something you had been hoping would happen.
This felt perfect though. His smell and touch were crowding her senses and she could easily just melt against him.
They weren't alone though.
Gently, Harry pulled back and they simply stood there smiling sappily at each other.
It was only because they still had a dessert they'd promised the other two to assemble that they were able to move away from each other. He backed away from her first and went to the cupboard to get four plates out. She turned around and located the ice cream cake he'd said they had.
()()()
"You've got several Nargles floating around your head," Luna commented when the two of them had got back to their own flat.
"That I do," Ginny told her cheerily, she was practically floating on air and had the dopiest grin on her face that she couldn't seem to shake off. Harry had kissed her, twice! First in the kitchen then when he was saying goodnight. "I hope I can manage to look somewhat normal tomorrow now that I know he'll be there watching us again. But I can't help it! He kissed me, Luna! He kissed me."
She was gushing and she knew it. To think, only that morning she didn't have any dating prospects and now she'd just had dinner with a tall, dark and handsome man and had a date lined up with him for the weekend. Her day had been wonderful and she owed it all to a freaking Bludger.
"We're going to the Puddlemere/Cannon's game on Saturday, did I tell you?" she asked, heading into the kitchen to put the kettle on for some tea.
"Good, that means I can bring Neville here on Saturday. You two can have their place. We should probably work out a schedule so that each couple can have a flat to themselves and I won't embarrass poor Harry again. He didn't seem quite comfortable having heard me in the throws of passion."
"Luna, most people, unless they too are in the middle of the activity with you, most people don't feel comfortable hearing others having sex of any kind."
"Then why is there such a large pornography industry?" she challenged.
Ginny had to admit; that was a fair point.
"Okay," Ginny thought. "Most people prefer to keep their interests in sex related subjects to themselves. I myself don't enjoy having to hear you in your bedroom, or our bathtub, caught up in the throws of passion."
"Fine," Luna shrugged. "Then you agree that we need a schedule?"
Ginny paused, thinking for a moment that if they did make up a schedule then she'd have a sort of excuse to be alone with Harry longer on Saturday; claim that she was wary of going back to hers just in case Luna and Neville were shagging in the kitchen. "I… we, I don't want him to think that I'm easy or something," she admitted.
It wasn't like Ginny hadn't ever had a one-off but there was a different approach that one took with someone they actually liked and wanted an attempt at a real relationship with than with someone that you didn't care if you ever saw again.
"He's surrounded in Nargles too," Luna told her. "You don't have to worry about propriety, I'm sure that by Saturday you two will be more than comfortable ripping each other's clothes off and shagging wherever you are. I'd be surprised if you don't wind up doing that at the Ministry before then to tell you the truth."
Ginny let her mind run away with her at that prospect. She had wound up straddling him today by accident, there was a chance she could 'accidentally' do that again.
With a mental shake of her head she pushed that idea aside, it had simply been too long since she had a partner in her bedroom activities and he'd felt and looked far too good laying underneath her earlier. And tasted too good against her lips just a few moments ago.
Their kisses had not been near long enough for her to have memorized the feel of them, it was just the butterflies that were flapping around inside of her that were telling Ginny they had been magical.
"Bet you wouldn't mind Harry hearing your sex noises now," Luna smirked at her.
"Gods I want to shag him," she admitted. "I did over lunch yesterday as well, now I do all the more."
()()()
