Birthday Surprises

The night before Harry's birthday Ginny snuck down to Ron's bedroom that Harry had been sharing since their arrival and gingerly knocked on the door, it was answered by an obviously groggy Harry clad in muggle attire that was five sizes too large for Harry and were most likely the remnants of Dudley's old school uniform. She grabbed his hand and led him silently downstairs out the front door and into the backyard all before Harry could manage to ask her where they were going but as soon as he formulated his question he was shushed by Ginny who was again leading him across her backyard to some unknown location. It was a beautiful moonlit night and at last they reached their destination. Ginny strode towards the large oak tree that stood a few feet from the lakes edge sitting with her back against the trunk. Harry followed her lead sitting next to her he asked in a whisper "What is this place?" after a few moments of deafening silence Ginny replied with tears glistening in her watery eyes "This is where my brother Fred taught me how to swim" on cue Harry pulled her into his strong arms, she loved the way he always knew what to do to comfort her.

After she had finished crying on his shoulder she told him the story of learning to swim "One day when I was about five years old Fred brought me here and told me to climb this very tree after several hours of being extremely frustrated I accidentally used magic to get up there It was my first time so naturally I was a bit shocked by being on the ground one minuet and in a tree the next but once I was up there Fred made me walk out on that branch" Ginny pointed out the branch which hung over the water "then when I reached the end he pushed me off" Harry's face went stiff "he did what?" Harry shouted "well you see it's kind of the Weasley family tradition or that's what he told me anyway, after I landed in the water I learned really quickly how to swim." Although he was a bit frightened that Fred had attempted to drown Ginny the fact that she was still alive to curl up in his arms was calming enough for him to disregard such a peculiar family tradition. They sat together admiring the affect the moonlight had on the lake, with Ginny's head resting on his shoulder. Suddenly Ginny turned toward Harry initiating the snogging gradually it became more intense until she was kissing him passionately making his lips tingle with electricity. Then Ginny did something unexpected her hand slid from Harry's neck to his chest unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time. Despite Harry's enjoyment of this sudden change of atmosphere he stopped kissing her long enough to ask "what are you doing?" Ginny's grin grew larger as she replied in her sexist voice "undressing you of course" Harry smiled innocently before he replied in a coy manner "And why would you be doing that?" Ginny stopped teasing him and replied "I fancy a swim would you care to join me?" with this Harry gave her a puzzled look "But Gin I'm not wearing a swim suit are you?" sometimes he could be a bit dense she thought to herself as she attempted to keep a straight face "are you a wizard or aren't you? Just summon them" he caught her drift and called his board shorts and her bikini. She left behind a bush to get dressed as did Harry.

Once in the water they began a splashing contest which quickly evolved into a full on game of tag. When at last Harry cornered Ginny he pulled her toward him pressing his chest to hers kissing her relentlessly. While she did not mind this closeness, preferring it to the distance they had been separated by for the last year she also knew she could not allow this to continue much further otherwise she might not be able to stop herself from giving in to him. Tempting though it was to remain with him she casually turned toward shore and swam to where she had left her clothes. Although he wanted to follow her to shore he saw in her eyes the longing to stay with him but realized neither of them as ready to take such a big step especially since they were not married yet and she was still in school.

Elsewhere in Ginny's bedroom Hermione awoke with a start, sweat pouring down her back, she had been dreaming once again about Ron getting killed, although she knew he was a very capable wizard the fact that soon he would be fighting equally as powerful and dangerous dark wizards as an auror for the ministry made her uneasy. She looked about the room to find that something was not quite right then she realized what was missing she almost screamed but decided instead to go down to Ron's room to see if Harry was missing as well before raising the alarm, she did not wish to alert the whole family of them being missing unless there was cause for concern. When she reached the room she found the door slightly ajar enough to hear Ron's snores and also to see that Harry was indeed out of bed. Looking at her watch it told her that it was already three in the morning wondering what kept the two of them out at such an hour she headed back to her room hoping they would return before morning.

Meanwhile on the bank of the lake Harry had summoned two towels and preformed warming charms on them so they could dry off. Once they were both dry enough Harry snuck behind a group of trees to dress leaving Ginny to do the same. When Ginny was finished dressing she gave Harry the all clear and he came and sat next to her on her towel. Harry couldn't have been happier than he was right now staring blissfully into Ginny's eyes.

Finally their concentration broke and Ginny lay down positioning herself so she could lean on Harry's chest. Once she settled there Harry decided now was as good a time as any to reveal his good news "hey Gin" "yes Harry what is it" she asked nonchalantly "well I have some good news" "really" she said interestedly looking up at him"yes well about two weeks ago I asked the headmaster at Hogwarts if I could come teach there this year and well... she accepted my help" just as Harry ended his sentence Ginny threw her arms around him saying only "congratulations Harry" before smothering him in kisses."So I guess this means you're not madanymore?" Harry said "of course not the only reason I didn't want to go was because I couldn't be with you." with this Harry planted a kiss on top of Ginny's head "Hang on does this mean I have to call you professor from now on?" Harry smirked "only in the classroom" but McGonagall warned me that I was to keep my love life on the down low she certainly didn't want the rumor that I snog my students to get out so we will have to be careful. Okay no kissing in public key word there being public I'm so excited I was so worried about how I would have to manage another year without you. Harry whispered sometime later into her ear "it's getting late I think it's time both of us should be heading to bed before someone notices were missing and sends out a search party." With this they both gathered their things and walked hand in hand up to Ginny's dorm where Harry said goodnight and walked back down to the room he was sharing with Ron who was still fast asleep.