Author's Note:

Sorry again for the extended absence. Lots of stuff going on and all that...

Anyway, enjoy chapter 17!


Three months later...

Harry and Ginny were lying together on the couch in Ginny's apartment like always. It had quickly become their favorite place to just lounge around with one another. Sometimes they spent hours just lying next to each other on that couch.

Harry smiled as Ginny stretched her legs and wrapped them over his. Without even thinking about it, he wrapped his arms tighted around her, pulling her as close as he could.

Moments like these were common between Harry and Ginny, so common in fact that his actions were a reflex, although that didn't make them any less meaningful. He instinctively wanted to pull Ginny closer to him now because he always did, and as far as he could tell, he always would.

Harry often thought back to the first months that he had known Ginny. He constantly beat himself up over hiding his feelings for her, because if he hadn't he wouldn't have wasted so much time. Not that it really mattered, he had forever to spend with Ginny, but it was still annoying.

Ginny groaned as the little alarm Harry had set on his watch went off, signaling that he had to leave. Every Friday night, along with Tuesdays and Sundays, Harry watched his godson Teddy Lupin so that his grandmother could go to work.

Ginny had met Teddy soon after she and Harry became a couple. He was a big part of Harry's life, and Ginny loved him immediately. Apparently the feeling was mutual between her and the little boy, because Teddy constantly asked to be taken to "Gin-e's" house. Harry accused Ginny of spoiling little Teddy, which was probably true.

Fridays were different from Tuesdays and Sundays though because Fridays were the days Harry took Teddy out, just the two of them. He said he wanted Teddy to feel like he had a father figure to do things with. The love and care that Harry devoted to Teddy was just one of the things Ginny loved about him.

The alarm Harry had set was the time he needed to go pick Teddy up. Ginny was happy he would get to see Ted, she was just a little disappointed that she had to get off of him.

With another dramatic groan, and a good deal of fake effort, Ginny lifted herself from the couch and Harry's arms.

She turned around to walk Harry to the door when she felt her foot get caught on the carpeting.

Ah, bloody hell.

Right as she closed her eyes preparing for the impact of her forehead on the flooring, she felt two arms snake around her waist, halting her free fall.

She looked up gratefully and sheepishly into Harry's eyes and noticed he was laughing. Her falls were pretty frequent, and she was always surprised when Harry caught her, despite the fact that he never let her fall when he was with her. She was just so used to falling on her face that she hadn't gotten used to being saved all the time.

"Careful love," Harry said through his laughs.

He kissed Ginny on the forehead and grabbed her hand. Together they walked to the door, Ginny dragging her feet as much as possible.

Once they got there, Harry pulled Ginny into his arms and kissed her deeply. "I'll call you tonight," he said as he pulled back.

"Okay, tell Teddy I say Hi," Ginny replied dazedly.

"Sure thing. I love you," Harry said as his arms dropped from Ginny's side.

"I love you too," Ginny replied with a large smile. Every time Harry said he loved her she got happier.

Harry turned away with a smile. He was getting ready to apparate when Ginny remembered something.

"Wait, Harry, you remember we're going to the Burrow tomorrow for dinner right?" Ginny asked, praying that Harry remembered and didn't have to work.

"Of course I remember hun," Harry said, his smile growing larger for some strange reason. "I'll swing by and get you tomorrow night."

"Okay. Have fun with Teddy! I'll see you later." Ginny answered in relief. She loved how Harry always remembered things like this, even stuff as unimportant as dinner at her mum's house.

Harry waved goodbye and spun on the spot, apparating to the Tonks' residence.

Inwardly he was cracking up. He was so proud of himself for pulling off the plan and not letting anything slip to Ginny.

Ginny was turning 19 tomorrow, and Harry had wanted to throw her a party. Of course when Ginny caught wind of this plan, she put a stop to it immediately. Harry was determined however, and so he decided to simply throw her a surprise party instead.

He had talked with Mrs. Weasley about it two weeks ago when they had gone over for Sunday night dinner. Mrs. Weasley had been very pleased with the idea, and helped Harry out by inviting both Harry and Ginny over for "dinner" on the night of Ginny's birthday. Of course, it would actually be a party, but Ginny was luckily still clueless.

Harry was still smiling to himself as he arrived at Andromeda Tonks'.

...

The next evening, Ginny stood in her bathroom putting on a bracelet Harry had given her on their one month anniversary. She smiled to herself at the memory.

Before long, she heard Harry's knock on the front door.

She ran out of the bathroom and skipped to the door, opening it widely where she found Harry standing with a bouquet of yellow roses.

"Happy Birthday love," he said kissing her deeply.

Ginny couldn't help the large smile that was growing on her face. That is until her attention was brought back to the flowers...and the fact that it was her birthday.

Not that she really minded her birthday, in fact she was glad she was getting older, she liked it. What she didn't like however, was all of the attention given to people on their birthdays. She didn't like being in the spotlight for too long (unless she was dancing of course).

She emitted a small groan as she accepted the flowers from Harry, who only smiled wider.

"You know, it's not like this is considered as special treatment really," Harry said with a lopsided grin, "I get you flowers all the time."

"True," Ginny conceded, "but these are my favorite which means that they are sort of special."

Harry couldn't help but laugh at Ginny's backed up logic. He understood what she was saying, but her response was so different from normal girls. This was one of the many things he loved about her.

With large smiles, the happy couple apparated together to the Burrow.

Once they arrived, Harry's eyes trailed around the property making sure nothing made it obvious that there was a party. He wanted it to be a complete surprise.

As they approached the door, he couldn't help but feel nervous. What if Ginny hated this? He knew she generally didn't like parties, but he didn't think she would mind once she got inside and saw all of her friends and family. No one there would make her feel uncomfortable he was sure.

Harry knocked hesitantly, listening hard to see if he could hear people's voices. Mrs. Weasley came to the door with a large smile and hugged both Ginny and Harry tightly.

After greeting them both properly she led them to the kitchen where she said Arthur was.

Harry had come over earlier to set up the decorations, and he knew that all of the guests would be hiding in the kitchen. His hands started to get sweaty as they walked to the back of the tiny house.

With a deep breath and a smile towards Ginny who lovingly smiled back, they approached the kitchen and followed Mrs. Weasley taking a step inside.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINNY!" came a chorus of voices throughout the kitchen.

Ginny jumped about a foot in the air and gave a yell of surprise.

Well I guess that was the idea, Harry thought with a smile.

As Ginny's family and friends came rushing towards her shouting "congratulations", and more "happy birthdays" Ginny turned around and glared at Harry.

For a second, Harry felt like he had made a huge mistake, but he soon saw the large grin building on Ginny's face. As she was pulled away from him into the crowd, he saw her mouth "I love you" to him.

As soon as she turned away, he sighed a huge sigh of relief. Despite her earlier warnings against a party, she seemed to be happy now.

Harry walked over towards Ron and Hermione when he saw them in the corner chatting. He knew Ginny would probably be awhile as she was currently talking with Fred and George.

Harry couldn't help but smile when he saw how red Ron was after Hermione made a comment to him. Harry and Ginny had both been watching Ron and Hermione for the past month, trying to push them together. They figured it was the least they could do after Hermione's "help" getting them together as a couple.

So far, they hadn't done much...well they hadn't really done anything productive to get their two friends together. They made a lot of plans, but they always ended up on Ginny's couch cuddling, and the plans were usually forgotten soon after. They kept telling themselves they would do something soon though...Hermione and Ron clearly belonged together.

"Hey guys. Are you enjoying the party?" Harry asked as he made his way to his two best friends.

"Well I only got here 10 minutes ago, but it's so lovely in here! You and Mrs. Weasley did a wonderful job on the decorations!" Hermione beamed as she looked around appreciatively at all of the lights and flowers that were placed around the room.

"Yeah," Ron said in agreement, "I didn't even recognize my own kitchen, and I practically lived in here growing up."

"We know, in fact, you still do," Harry added with a slight roll of the eyes.

The party continued in full swing for several hours. Harry and Ginny had made their way outside where there was music playing, and they were dancing along with other couples and friends.

Harry was glad to see that Ginny had a large smile on her face the whole night. He loved that he had been able to make her happy.

As it got later and several people started to head home, Harry looked around wondering where his two friends had gone off to.

"Hey Gin, have you seen Hermione or Ron around? I haven't seen them for hours!" Harry asked.

Ginny lifted her head from Harry's shoulder. They had been slow dancing, but as she heard Harry's question, Ginny stopped moving, effectively ending their dance.

Harry saw Ginny's eyes widen and noticed as she started biting her lip. He knew that she only did this when she was nervous. What did she have to be nervous about?

"Well, actually Harry, you know how we have been talking about getting them together?" Ginny started slowly.

Harry nodded slightly with a speculative look in his eye. What was Ginny up to?

"Okay, well, I was talking to them earlier, and I couldn't stand it any longer. Hermione kept looking at Ron with puppy dog eyes, and Ron would blush every time she talked to him! It was so aggravating!" Ginny said exasperated.

Harry had a feeling that this was going to be hilarious. He managed to hide his laugh as he asked, "So what did you do?"

Ginny looked down and kicked at the grass. Harry could see her face was bright red. This was definitely going to be good.

"Um, I, well, you see,...I took away their wands and locked them into the upstairs broom closet." Ginny mumbled under her breath.

Harry was shocked. He couldn't believe Ginny had done that, not that he was complaining, it had to be the funniest thing he ever heard! Still though, he didn't realize Ginny was that serious about getting Ron and Hermione together!

Ginny saw the look on Harry's face and smiled widely. "Well I am the birthday girl, I can do whatever I want today." she reasoned.

Harry couldn't keep his laugh in any longer. He kissed Ginny before grabbing her hand and leading her upstairs to release their friends.

Once they were standing outside the door of the broom closet, they paused to listen for any sounds. Sadly they heard nothing.

"Hermione is probably lecturing Ron about the 12 uses of Dragon's blood or something," Ginny said was a sad sigh. She was desperately hoping her friends would just get over whatever was keeping them apart.

Harry laughed at Ginny's joke, and stood next to her as she waved her wand and said "alohamora".

The door swung open, and Harry and Ginny were frozen to their spots as they saw Hermione on Ron's lap, the two kissing in the back of the closet.

Ginny squealed, partly with excitement, and partly with shock. It was enough to alert the couple inside that they had an audience though.

Hermione looked up and squealed similarly to Ginny. She jumped away from Ron, who was bright red and smiling like a fool.

The two shuffled out of the closet sheepishly, and Hermione merely said, "Happy Birthday Ginny. See you both tomorrow," as she led Ron and the two ran away embarassed.

Ginny and Harry looked at each other before cracking up. They leaned on each other for support when they were both short of breath and their sides hurt.

As happy as they were for their friends, they were definitely not expecting what they saw to happen.

...

"Ginny, you are a genius," Harry whispered in her ear that night as he was saying goodbye to her before going home.

"It's a blessing and a curse," Ginny said, pretending to shake her head distraught.

Harry chuckled and took her face in his hands before kissing her deeply.

"Goodnight love, Happy Birthday."


Author's Note: PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!