Chapter 6
()()()
Hey Harry,
While my team making it through to the next Round Robin means that we are doing awesome, it turns out it isn't so great for my dating life. Sorry we haven't been able to see each other since that horrible night at my parents. Thanks for understanding about my having to cancel on you for the day after, I would have much preferred spending more time with you over getting called to my last minute practice. Glad we at least had some time together to try and bounce back from all the misunderstanding there.
Plus side is all this time I now have to plan out our next date.
The date that we probably won't be able to have for the next two weeks if we can't get our schedules to line up. Please, please, please tell me that you are free for a few hours next Wednesday? I'm tempted to simply stop over to your flat to get a leg over. And yes, I am comfortable at this point simply using you as a means to an end. I haven't had a shag in a while you see ;)
Exhausted, yet hopeful,
Ginny
Ginny,
Unfortunately, I am not available next Wednesday. Middle of the week is the easiest time to schedule a department wide meeting for the DMLE, apparently they have some legendary Auror coming in from out of country to teach us a few things and my schedule is really erratic for the next two weeks.
I don't mean to be presumptuous here, but any chance you would be offended if I simply popped over one night when Luna is here visiting Neville?
The last time we saw each other had a great ending, but the rest of it didn't color me in the best light. I'd like to make up for being an idiot. I kind of miss you I don't care if it's just for a quick dinner or anything, I'm half worried I made you up in my head at this point.
Harry
()()()
The good thing about her being so incredibly angry with her mother, and her mother trying to make amends for what she'd done wrong, was that Ginny and Luna's kitchen was now very well stocked with some excellent food. There was Sheppard's Pie, Lasagna, Casserole, Treacle Tart, Fudge and all manner of biscuits. The ice box was bursting with containers full of choices and Ginny was quite happy to work her way through her apology meals.
After the disastrous Friday a week ago with Harry at her family home Ginny had left Harry's flat after they'd made up and gone straight back to The Burrow to rail a bit at her mother and father. Remus had still been there and no doubt their fight had made him slightly uncomfortable but seeing as he was an honorary member of the family it didn't make him abandon his pie, he simply sat there watching the show with her brothers, Fleur and Audrey.
Ginny's parents had apologized profusely. They claimed to have truly not known that it was a new relationship between them. Her father had assumed from the way Ginny interacted with Harry at their lunches when they had first met that it was not in fact the first time they had met.
Ginny didn't care what their assumptions had been though. Her brothers had been the one's to bring their partners home, Percy and Bill had been allowed to introduce their special persons to the rest of the clan on their own terms and Ginny was absolutely livid that they hadn't afforded her the same consideration.
Harry had been very nearly about to bolt, call the whole thing off with her. It was too much pressure!
He had only just broken his rule about not dating witches and then after only two dates he was suddenly meeting her entire family in that context?!
Of course he was thinking about calling it off! She would have been too if his Gran invited her over and started hinting about marriage or some such thing. Particularly if she thought he had something to do with it.
And Ginny had thought she'd made it abundantly clear that she had nothing to do with the situation with her parents to Harry. Her appearance at the Burrow for dinner alone would have been a clear indication that she'd had no idea that he was going to be there. She'd arrived to her childhood home straight from training. Straight from the showers! Her clothes had only had a freshening charm applied to them and her hair! Her hair was half-hazardly dried and piled on top of her head. There wasn't even any make-up on her face. As if she wanted to look like that when she knew she'd be having a meal with anyone other than her family… and Remus. Three dates in is not when you give a man the complete shock of your normal self.
Sure, the kids comment coming from her mouth once they'd gotten back to his was the tipping point for him to get truly freaked out. Three dates in is also not when you were supposed to have to ask him if wanted to carry on dating or simply call it quits because you let slip what you saw for yourself in the future. But he probably wouldn't have freaked out had that horrible dinner not just occurred.
Ginny really liked Harry, but his fear of commitment was sounding an alarm bell in the back of her mind.
It had been such a small slip too that sent him into that spiral.
She wanted a maximum of three kids. In the future. And that had scared him.
The rational part of her was saying that they needed a few more dates before she could know for sure if it was some kind of commitment-phobia.
Plus, she really liked him.
That and Chris Davis, the Wasps Keeper, didn't know who she was, so what was the likelihood that that would all turn out really?
No, she was going to stick it out with Harry and see where this lead. Might wind up they'd fizzle out after a few more months, might be that it could turn into something long term. It was just too soon to tell.
Harry had said he would pop over to her flat one evening if he saw that Luna was at his and Neville's and Ginny had been waiting for that to happen. Her training had been long and intense and she'd been obligated to spend three nights in a hotel with the team over the past week and a bit so there was a chance that he had shown up at hers when she wasn't there.
Now it was Sunday night and he was at the start of a new work week tomorrow. She knew that his schedule was still all over the place with this legendary Auror his Department Head had in that was doing special training with so she didn't know if she'd see him at all this coming week either.
Resolving herself to another night in she got a nice hot cup of tea and set up on the sofa with a book and pillows propping her foot up on the other end of the couch. Her foot was still twinging now and again when she'd been doing sprints or stair climbs, it didn't hurt so much as simply feel uncomfortable and it wasn't anything that affected her flying ability.
Just as her second chapter was ending and her mug was drained the fireplace burst to life bringing a spiraling Harry Potter into her sitting room.
He was wearing his pajamas and his hair was messier than ever, all across his face was the expression of hoping that his being there was okay. He spotted her on the sofa right away and she noted a wave of relief that washed over him.
"Harry," she grinned.
"It's okay I'm here?" he asked.
"More than," she assured him and pulled herself up from the couch to greet him properly.
He met her halfway and slid his arms around her to give her soft kiss, pulling her tighter against himself as the seconds stretched on. She didn't want to break contact and neither did he. It was meant to be a kiss hello but instead turned into a passionate snog that kept dragging on until the pair of them were panting. His hands wandered down to her bum and she clutched him a little bit tighter in appreciation as he kneaded her there.
Their heads tilted from this side to that as their kiss took on a life of its own and had them both gasping for breath. She could feel him growing against her lower belly and thrust forwards just a bit to rub against it.
He tore his lips away from hers and trailed hot open-mouthed kisses down her neck. He reached a certain spot at her collar that had her moaning out in pleasure and a clenching between her legs.
"Bedroom. Now," she demanded.
Harry didn't need to be told twice, he lifted her up so her legs would wrap around him and carried her all the way into her room. He set her down beside the bed and they worked furiously to disrobe each other until the both of them were standing there in their naked glory.
She didn't care to take the time to appreciate the sight of him though, she needed him inside her right then. Ginny lay back on the bed and he climbed over her, resting between her legs in an instant and then he was inside her.
Her body braced itself at the welcome intrusion and then relaxed as the wonderful feeling of him sliding in and out erased all other sensations. She rocked against him in time to meet his thrusts, clawing at his back as the passion took her over.
Harry's mouth latched back onto that sweet spot at her collar once more and she felt it all the way to her toes.
For three weeks she'd been without. It was nothing compared to the dry spell she'd had before her first night with Harry but she hadn't been taking care of herself either. The need inside her for release had been building so much that it wasn't taking long to get her there.
A tidal wave of ecstasy hit her in record timing and she cried out. Her back had arched off the bed from her body's attempt to process the extreme release and Harry took that opportunity to take her breast with his mouth. His lips found her nipple and he latched on, his teeth coming down around her hard bud just enough to make her gasp.
His hips didn't slow down for even a moment as she had clenched around him. They didn't slow down as she relaxed back against the mattress, nor when he moved his mouth back to her own. The stamina he was showing and need to reach his own finish was making her feel desired, that was causing her rest time needed between orgasms to fade away to nothing. Indeed, the sensation growing in her belly told her that if he could keep this up for another minute or two she would be right there with him.
He buried his head in the pillow beside her and she nipped at his ear. The hard buck he gave at that told her he liked it. Instead of keeping up in this position she latched her right leg hard around him and flipped them over.
With her on top she buried him inside her deeply and ground against him in the rhythm she craved. His hands settled at her hips and she lost herself in the feeling of her clit being stimulated so perfectly until she felt that wonderful pressure build to the breaking point and she cried out again.
It seemed Harry was at his breaking point too. He grabbed her hips more firmly and forced them in an rapid up and down movement, slamming himself inside her over and over again. It wasn't long before he let out a cry of his own and Ginny took over the lead of riding him through his orgasm until he was completely sated.
She fell beside him and they both lay there satisfied and waiting for the blood pumping though their bodies to begin doing so at a regular pace once more.
"Just so we're clear," Ginny told him once she'd caught her breath, "this isn't our third date."
()()()
It was five in the morning when Ginny woke up. She couldn't remember the last time she had woken up willingly this early in the morning. It probably had something to do with falling asleep at 8 p.m. the previous night. It also, too, had something to do with the two orgasms Harry had given her.
Both of them had fallen asleep together and she was surprised just how well she slept beside him. It had only been three times now that they'd shared a bed the whole night but her previous bed fellows had made her wake several times through the night from a loud snore startling her or blankets being coveted, or something, Harry had yet to do that.
Being awake like this was a little awkward though. She could get up and head into the sitting room, maybe bake something for breakfast for the two of them, or perhaps she could waking him up and they could have another go around?
Whatever she was going to do she didn't want to simply lay there and reflect on the fact that last night had been a booty call. And even if it was, did that matter? They were seeing each other, it was part of the deal when you were seeing someone that each member of the couple would be used to take the edge off every now and again. She just didn't want that to wind up being all they were.
She liked him, and she wanted to spend more time with him, at least to the point of being able to refer to him as something other than her 'male friend' or equivalent.
This happened every time she went out with someone new. It was the familiar definition dance. The last time she'd started going out with someone she got knocked off her broom in practice because she was distracted thinking about Ethan and wondering what they were to each other. And Ethan had been a waste of time, more a means to an end than a decent choice in a boyfriend.
That wasn't what she wanted for she and Harry but she knew that her brain was going to be constantly reminding her that this relationship was not defined between them. Unfortunately, she knew she shouldn't just come right out and ask him 'so what are we to each other'. Ginny shuddered at the thought of sounding quite so needy.
It was times like these that Ginny wished she could be more like her best friend. Luna would simply come out and tell her beau where she saw they were in terminology. Her partner would either agree or disagree, but the disagreement part wouldn't cause Luna any grief; at least they would know where the other one was coming from.
She'd spooked Harry already. It was too soon to bring up this conversation.
And now she'd just been laying bed beside him doing exactly what she didn't want to do; obsess.
She needed to do something else.
Yoga!
She was going to sneak into the other room and do yoga and get her head back on right.
Slipping out of bed she made it out of her room with out disturbing his slumber. Since Luna spent the night over at Neville's, Ginny just went into her room and raided her clothes for something to work out in.
She hadn't quite finished up her yoga routine by the time she heard Harry starting to move around in her room. She was bent in triangle pose when he came into the room.
"Morning," he whispered.
Her nerves had relaxed some as she'd stretched her body out this way and that. Ginny's eyes had been closed when he walked in and she kept them that way, smiling now in appreciation of him keeping his voice low. "Morning," she replied. "I'm almost done here."
"Am I allowed to talk while you do that?" he asked.
She couldn't help a small chuckle, "yes, you are allowed to talk."
"Do you do yoga often?"
"No, but I was restless when I woke up and this doesn't make much noise. Wanted to let you sleep."
"Thanks," Harry said, she heard him settling into the couch and felt his eyes on her.
"Luna got me into it a bit," Ginny went on. "She's done a lot of travelling and picked this up when she was looking for some kind of monkey in India. She was there for a month and had a great time with all the people in the village she was staying in."
"Luna seems to travel quite a bit for someone who's only been in the Ministry for a few years."
"She's willing to, that's the difference between her and the guys that have been there longer. She did a lot of travelling with her dad too before she got into the Ministry, so it was a big part of her resume."
"I've grown to quite like her, by the way," Harry said. "Didn't really know what to make of her at first, but the honesty thing, it somehow makes everything easier. She cuts through all the bullshit most people dance around. Neville really likes her too, and that is big for him."
"I'm glad," Ginny told him as she came into her final pose with her legs crossed with her eyes open now. "I've seen her with a few of her boyfriends before and Neville is already the one that's lasted the longest."
Harry's forehead scrunched up in confusion. "But, they've only been together for a month."
"I know," Ginny said. "And a month is a good run for her. Usually he calls it off, or she can sense that it would never work out long term and that she's gotten all she could from the relationship and it comes to a full stop instead of fizzling out."
Harry nodded slowly. "I guess I can see her just casually mentioning that their time together has reached it's natural ending point. I think she and Nev have a while to go yet though."
It warmed her to hear that from him. He had seen more of Neville and Luna together than she had. Neville had stayed over while Ginny was confined to her stay at the hotel, but usually the two of them got together at Neville and Harry's place.
"I do envy her bluntness when it comes to relationships though. Straightforward about what she wants, that one," Ginny said and then immediately felt awkward for having said it. He was an Auror after all, surely he could read through her poor attempt at subtlety.
It was now very silent in the flat and, not wanting to see what might be showing in his eyes just then because she was worried it would be pity, Ginny closed her own eyes as though it was merely a part of her final yoga position.
"Girlfriend, boyfriend," he said.
Her eyes shot open and she blinked at him a few times, not able to believe her ears.
"I'm not interested in dating anyone else," he told her, confirming that it had not been her imagination that heard those two words slip out of his mouth. "I really like you Ginny. And I am so very sorry that I freaked out last time, that wasn't fair to you."
A tingling sensation went through her whole body and she felt a warmth spread out from her core. Harry Potter wanted to be her boyfriend.
"I really like you too, Harry. Thank you," she said.
"Thank you for what?"
"For not freaking out about my wanting to put a proper label on this," she said bashfully. "I really didn't want to seem like that kind of girl, and I know we've only just started dating, but I was probably going to have driven myself crazy if we didn't put some kind of name to this."
Harry slipped off the couch and crawled the two feet along the carpet over to her, bringing his lips to hers in a kiss that sealed their decision. "I really wouldn't be okay with introducing you simply as my 'friend' to anyone," he told her when he pulled back.
"Oh? Are you introducing me to people now?" she asked with a grin. "I think we'd need to actually get out into society together in order for that to happen."
His shoulders slumped and his head hung forward at that comment. "I know. Our schedules are just so impossible right now. But it won't be that way forever and then we will be able to figure out this dating thing."
"I won't be in the play off season forever," she said placatingly.
"With the way the Harpies have been performing though you have a good chance of it carrying on well over a month from now," he told her. "The final round robin shouldn't be for another five weeks, is it?"
"We only just made it into the finals last year," Ginny started with a blush. Her team had been doing very well this season. The only part of their performance she could contribute to though was being right in the mix during practices to keep the first-string girls in top shape.
She was so close to getting bumped up.
So fucking close she could almost taste it.
"You'll make it," he said and gave her a kiss to her nose that caused her to giggle.
"Ready for breakfast then? Or do you have to go right away?" she asked.
"I've got to be there for eight this morning, I've still plenty of time for breakfast, then popping back to mine for a shower and a shave," Harry told her. "I'd offer to help, but I don't know where anything is in your kitchen."
"I've got it," she assured him and got to her feet, feeling much lighter than before now that that little weight had been lifted off of her. "So how is your training going with that visiting Auror? Are they teaching you all kinds of new tricks?"
Ginny led the way into the kitchen and started getting the makings for a breakfast sandwich cooking.
"Yeah, I'm not able to tell you who it is, gag order. Just that they've jumped all over the globe spending a year here and there and solving some pretty incredible cases. Never know what exactly they're going to be training us on either, it changes day to day."
"Shrouded in mystery, are they? Well color me intrigued," she joked.
"No kidding," Harry laughed. "Anyhow, I'll probably be either mentally or physically burnt out the rest of the week," he said apologetically.
"Don't worry," she told him sadly, "I can guarantee I'll be physically burnt out."
She quietly worked away at their breakfast and making coffee. There wasn't any more said between them until she set the plates down at either side of the table for them.
"This smells delicious, thanks," Harry told her. "Never been much of a cook myself."
"Did you have a House Elf growing up?"
"We did," he said and took a bite of his sandwich. "Mitsy was pretty old. We lost her five years ago, but Gran didn't want to get another one. We took turns figuring out meals after that, but it's been a discussion again, between Nev and I that is. Gran is getting older and the house is too big for her to take care of by herself. I suppose Neville will move back there eventually." He gave a shrug.
"Not you though?" Ginny asked. It was fairly common for the older, more affluent Wizarding family to stay at their family homes instead of moving off on their own. She knew that Harry wasn't actually a Longbottom, but he was raised as one.
"No," he shook his head. "Not me. I know it's a bit odd how I was raised, but the Potter family actually has their own homestead. One that I've visited a few times and might do something with down the line." He gave another shrug, this shrug was a bit more reserved than the last and Ginny felt she might have stepped on a sensitive subject there.
"My mum always said she would have loved to have a House Elf when she was raising all of us. I don't know if you could tell, but we were a rowdy lot," she said in an effort to lighten the conversation again.
"Must have been fun being raised there though. You had lots of room to run around and plenty of people to run around with. Then going to Hogwarts on top of it."
Ginny let out a chuckle. "I can only imagine the first night I was away at Hogwarts. I bet my parents didn't know what to do with each other when there were no kids around interrupting them. There's eleven years between Bill and I, which means that it had been twenty-one years since they were child free and just the two of them." She gave a shudder, "no doubt they just took the opportunity to shag all over the house."
Harry chuckled into his coffee cup. "I would have if it was me. No need for silencing spells then."
"Thanks," she said dryly.
He only answered with a smirk. "You cooked, so I'll clean," he said standing up and taking their empty dishes to the sink. It was just a quick wave of his wand and all food particles disappeared from the ceramics. "And now I have to go," he told her as he strode over to where she was still sitting and bent down to give her a kiss. "Thank you for breakfast," he murmured.
"Thank you for the sex," she replied. "It led to a very good nights sleep."
Ginny followed him over to the fireplace and gave him one more kiss before he spun away through the fireplace.
Her mood dipped instantly once he was gone. She didn't know when they'd see each other again now, but at least he'd settled the label they now had for each other, and she was still plenty happy about that.
()()()
She couldn't believe it. Ginny just could not believe it.
She'd done it and done it well! That had been some of the best flying she'd ever performed. Once she'd touched back down to the ground her nerves hadn't yet made her completely collapse, but it was close.
Her teammates were all around her cheering and hugging, celebrating over their win against the Wimborne Wasps. It was their third win against them which meant that they were eliminated and the Harpies were going to be playing in the final round robin.
And Ginny had played in the match.
The match had gone on for three and a half hours and at hour two Suzie Shearer, one of the second-string Chasers, got knocked off her broom and was too injured to continue. Gillian Chester, the first string was still dealing with a concussion she earned herself in the first twenty minutes of the game so Ginny was called up.
She was called up and she'd done some of the best Chasing of her life!
From the moment her name was called out by Gwenog to mount her broom she'd allowed herself ten seconds to still her nerves. She took two deep breaths and one heavy swallow, then she grabbed her broom firmly and shot off into the pitch.
And they won.
There were twenty of them in this huddle on the grass in the center of the field and Ginny was glad for the others having their arms around her because she wasn't completely sure she would be able to support her own weight at that moment. She was sure that the only thing her body would be capable of at that moment was curling up in a ball and crying because she was so happy, so grateful.
It was her life's work and she hadn't been a total failure.
She'd excelled!
For an hour and a half she'd excelled.
Now she couldn't breathe.
Her head was spinning, her face was warm. This was the biggest moment of her life so far and she was going to pass out.
"Lean on me," said a voice in her ear.
As spots started occurring in her vision Ginny simply did as the voice asked and she found herself being guided off the field. Inside her mind she was panicking that she was about to pass out and then she'd never be put in to play during a real game again, there was nothing that she could verbalize to whichever teammate this was that was assisting her. If she opened her mouth at all she was sure to vomit and that would look worse.
None too soon she was maneuvered into a seated position indoors and helped to lay down on the hard surface she was on, then a cool, damp cloth was placed on her forehead and it made her sigh with relief.
Still not trusting anything to come out of her mouth, words or not, she let the feeling of the cloth be her only focus.
It was quiet wherever she was. It didn't smell like the changeroom, and the other girls would have been in there carrying on if it were the changeroom.
"Deep breaths now," said the voice. Ginny still couldn't quite place who it was that was saying this, she talked to all the girls on the team all the time, but more often than not they were yelling about passes from ten to twenty feet away from each other. The voice was so familiar though, it just sounded very far away.
"I remember how I felt after the first time I played in a proper game," she told Ginny. There was a scraping sound like the girl was settling down on the floor. "You'll bounce back soon enough and come out with us for a few drinks to celebrate. It'll all be fine."
Already Ginny was feeling much better with just the cloth on her head and being in a horizontal position. Her breathing was normal and her heart wasn't beating so fast that she thought it would simply fly out of her chest.
Slowly she cracked her eyes open and saw the lights were higher above her than the normal changeroom lights would have been. Turning her head to the side she saw the dark skin and kind face of Angelina Johnson, her former Quidditch Captain from Hogwarts and her brother George's girlfriend, giving her a soft smile.
"Nothing like our days on the school team, is it?" Angelina asked her.
"It certainly isn't," Ginny agreed, feeling confident that she wouldn't bring up her lunch now.
They were in a storage room that had bits and bobs for the concession stands and cleaning products on the shelf with a few extra benches.
"My first game I wish there had been someone to haul me off. Don't know if you would remember this, it wasn't as pivotal a game as this one had been, but I fell to my knees and passed out for a moment. Thankfully it didn't appear to anyone else that I had done. The position I fell into make it look like I was in prayer or something," she chuckled. "Managed to get my arse to the showers and had a sit down under the water until I felt normal again."
"Thank you," Ginny breathed out. "I was a moment away from completely blacking out there."
"You did an amazing job, Ginny. It can be either make or break when you finally get thrown into things and you did excellent."
The heat was rising up to her cheeks from the back of her neck, but this time it was from pride, not anxiety. "It really felt amazing to be in the thick of it. A real game!" she exclaimed in wonder. "It's what I'd been working towards since I was six and stole a solo ride on a broom for the first time."
Ginny frowned now because none of her family or friends had been there to see it. Hopefully someone would have been listening on the wireless, but she knew her mum didn't care for Quidditch and found listening to the games tedious and a distraction.
"What's that look?" Angelina asked.
"It's nothing," Ginny shrugged it off. "Think we'll be celebrating this one into the night?" she asked, a true grin growing on her face and the excitement seeping back into every fiber of her being.
"Oh, absolutely. We're in the finals!" Angelina let out a squeal of excitement.
Ginny sat up and rubbed the cloth on the back of her neck, vibrating with happiness but making sure she didn't get a head rush.
Angelina helped her to her feet, the two of them shivering with delight and chuckling uncontrollably until Ginny felt capable enough to get back to the changeroom to celebrate with the other girls.
They didn't make the entire way back to the changeroom before Ginny spotted a familiar face was walking down the hallway towards her that made her think she was now hallucinating.
"I… I, but, what," Ginny sputtered as Harry drew nearer.
"Is that Harry Potter?" Angelina whispered in her ear. "Aren't you and he dating?"
It was Harry, and he wasn't disguised as he had been when the two of them had gone to see a game on their first date. It had been over two weeks since she'd seen him last. They'd been owling regularly but he'd been tied up on his training and she had been in deep throws of her own training as well. She didn't know he was coming to her game today! He saw her playing!
Before she could fully register his presence he had her in his arms and was spinning her around.
"You were brilliant!" he gushed and gave her a big kiss.
She felt ready to cry from happiness all over again! "You're here!" she whispered against his lips and started trembling.
"I'll just give you two a moment," Angelina said from beside them. "See she makes it back to the changeroom though, yeah?"
"Will do," Harry told Angelina with out even looking over at her properly.
"Big fan, by the way," she told him.
He looked over at her properly now and chuckled. "Back at you," he grinned to her before she walked away.
Ginny's eyes raked over Harry's face, trying to memorize it once more. He turned back to her, still beaming down at her. "It was incredible," he said. "Your every move was perfect."
"I can't believe you're here," she whispered again. He looked just the same as he did the last time they'd seen each other. For some reason she had expected him to look worn out or something after his two weeks of intense training; like he should have been fresh from battle or have a scar to show for it, but he looked just as fresh a face as ever.
"I am so glad I managed to come today," he told her. "It was my first day off and I just wanted to come to this game on the off chance I'd get to meet up with you after. When they called your name, announcing you were going to be Chaser in the match," he shook his head at a loss for words and gave up on talking all together in favor of kissing her once more.
Her shock was ebbing away and she let out an ecstatic giggle against his mouth. There was so much energy rocking through her body right now. She'd played her first professional game and her boyfriend had been there to see it!
Before she knew what she was really doing she'd pulled away from him and grabbed his hand, dragging him back towards the storage room that Angelina had her calming down in.
"What have you got planned now?" he asked her rhetorically.
She locked the door and took both his hands in hers, backing up until she had her back pressed against some kind of booth. "What I have on my mind is just how long it will be before one of my teammates comes looking for me. I reckon we have ten minutes before I absolutely have to be back in that changeroom. And you, Mister Potter, had better make the most of it."
Harry's eyebrows went up slightly in interest and his iris' darkened a shade. "As the Quidditch Star wishes," he grinned.
Nine and a half minutes later and Ginny's nerves were completely settled. She was also very grateful that her hair being as messy as it was could be blamed on the game instead of how her boyfriend had just rocked her world against a knick-knack booth in a storage room.
Harry looked equally relaxed as he walked beside her holding her hand all the way to the changerooms.
"Think you'll be out all night celebrating?" he asked.
"We've got a strict curfew, so that's unlikely. But no doubt we'll be going out for dinner and drinks. Significant others are usually invited if you'd like to join?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes," he nodded. "I'd love that."
"Really?!" she grinned. She had yet to see him out in the wizarding world enjoying himself, looking like himself anyhow. "It'll be at a Wizarding pub," she warned him.
"Doesn't matter," he shook his head. "I just want to spend time with you. Don't care where it is."
That sent a few tingles through her. He had been the one to kiss her at the Ministry all those weeks ago, clearly he wasn't concerned about who knew about them, but she had still not been blabbing about it to the girls on her team or anyone else because she wanted to protect his privacy. She also wanted to make sure they were a sure thing. Yes he had said that they were boyfriend/girlfriend now, but they also hadn't seen each other for two weeks.
"That is great," she sighed. "Thank you. Did you want to wait around, or I can just pop over to your flat after I've changed and found out where we're all going?"
"I'll, uh, meet you back at mine then," he grinned. "Think I should probably have a shower now."
Ginny couldn't help blushing at that. They had certainly worked up a sweat in that storage room. That plus the game that she had just played in meant that she absolutely needed a shower herself.
"I'll see in in a bit then," she gave him one more kiss, reluctantly pulling away and walking into the changeroom, a roar or applause and cheers meeting her ears from the other girls on the team. She blushed as she realized the noise was for her benefit alone, all memories of what she'd just gotten up to with Harry evaporated as she felt the praise and appreciation from her teammates and support staff.
Everyone present took the opportunity to shake her hand or give her a clap on the back.
"You gave it your all out there," Gwenog, the captain, said when Ginny reached her. "That is exactly what I want to see from all my girls. I think it's time you were moved up to second string, Weasley."
Ginny's eyes bugged out and she felt the stinging sensation in the back of her nose that meant she was likely to cry if she didn't keep herself together. With her mouth unable to vocalize a response she simply nodded.
"We'll make it official at our next practice," Gwenog told her. "Now get in the showers! We've got some celebrating to do!" she called out for the whole team to hear and there was a roar of appreciation from everyone.
Thirty minutes later and Ginny was showered, had popped home to change her clothes and was standing outside Harry and Neville's flat having just apparated to an alley close by. She started knocking out a rhythm on his door in tune with a song in her head enthusiastically as she was still riding out her high.
She was greeted by the sight of Neville in an apron when the door opened though. "Hey!" she smiled at him brightly.
"Ginny!" he gave her a quick hug. "Congratulations on your win. I understand it was the first time you were put into the game? That's a big deal!" His tone conveyed excitement but Ginny could tell that he was simply humoring her, not being into Quidditch himself.
"I was, it is, and I am so fucking full of energy now! I need food and a drink and a man to accompany me to the pub. Is he here?" she asked as he guided her into the flat.
Harry was already walking down the hall towards her though. "Hey," he said before giving her a kiss. "I was waiting by the fireplace."
"Oh, I just got clean, didn't want to get covered in soot," she explained.
Harry just nodded and took her hand. They both bade a farewell to Neville and headed back down the stairs. "How was your celebration in the changeroom?" Harry asked having heard the commotion through the door from the hallway earlier.
"I'm getting bumped up!" she nearly yelled from how excited she was.
"Second-string?" he asked with a broad grin.
"Second-string!" she nodded and did a little dance on the stairs.
"Ginny!" he exclaimed and picked her up, giving her another kiss. "That's wonderful! And well deserved. You were amazing earlier."
"You should have seen me just after the match ended though. Angelina needed to half carry me to that storage room. I was moments away from passing out. Everything and nothing that had just happened was going through my head." She couldn't help herself telling him basically a play by play of what he'd seen for himself of the game.
Ginny was rather winded by the time they got to the pub from talking so much, but Harry was still grinning as she prattled on, listening with a keen ear. The Harpies were taking up the whole South side of the pub and she held Harry's hand tightly as they made their way across the pub towards them.
The pair of them were met with a few cheers and a few whistles as they were noticed and Harry recognized. "Is this what's put you in such a good mood lately then?" Stacy, one of the second-string Chaser's asked as she gestured between the two of them.
"Might have something to do with it, yeah," Ginny gave a shrug and tried to play it off, a big cheesy expression dominating her face.
Thankfully her teammates weren't falling over themselves too much to come and speak to Harry, and he was taking it all in stride when they did say something to him about the two of them. She was positive that Angelina had given some of them a heads up so that they weren't all overreacting too much.
There were a few rounds of drinks that were raised in the air in victory and good greasy pub food being passed around and Harry was just drunk enough to feel comfortable chatting with a few of the others present when Ginny was pulled into a different group from him.
By the end of the night she felt like the two of them had the perfect 'couple' experience for a large crowd. They were together, but didn't need to be glued to each other's side.
They wound up finding themselves back at his place this time to end the evening. It was too bad though, she still had a pile of condoms that she wanted to try out back at her place. They were just drunk enough that it would have been rather humorous to give that a go. On the other hand, Harry was intoxicated enough that he claimed that after their first go around he would likely be 'pushing rope' if she wanted anything more.
It was an amusing and slightly disturbing image to pass out to.
()()()
AN- Hoping you all caught my reference to Chameleon there with Harry's training, guess it would have to be an entirely different person training him for this story. If you don't know what I'm talking about then I have another story for you to read! If you like this one so far, you'll love that one. :)
