Chapter Eight

Finished chapter is here. Sorry, it's a bit shorter than the others but hopefully that means it's short and sweet.

As always, these characters do not belong to me.

'Ginny?' Harry asked surprised. He shook some of the dregs of remaining water from his hair. 'I thought you would be out celebrating?'

Ginny took off her jacket and placed it on the bench top. 'I was, but then I realised the person I wanted to be with was elsewhere. So I came here.'

'If this was about my martyr act back in that passageway then don't worry about it. I was only saying it to make you feel bad and I feel guilty for that.'

'No, it's not but we are going to discuss that later. At length.' Ginny shot him a pointed look. She sighed though, brushing loose strands out of her face. 'After you left, it was clear to me that although I pushed you away, I really just wanted to fold into your arms.'

'Ginny …' Harry groaned, having to stop himself from going to her side. After all he decided in the bathroom about becoming the fighter again, he felt that crumbling when he saw Ginny.

'Are you going to tell me I'm wrong to think that?' she demanded.

'No. I want that too, more than I possibly should but, if I nab this now, then there won't be any consequences.'

'Consequences?' Ginny raised an eyebrow. She obviously didn't like his analogy of her being an issue.

'Ginny, look at the life I have. No rest, no laughter, no smiles. I'm constantly a target. After the game tonight I realised how dangerous being just friends with me can be. I saw how happy and carefree you were with your team mates. I can't give you my type of life after seeing that. I refuse to.'

Ginny took a step forward. 'If that's what it takes to be with you, I will do it.'

'Please don't say that.' Harry stepped backwards. Forget crumbling, his resistance was shattering.

'Why not?' Ginny continued to move towards him.

'I only have so much control right now and –.'

'Harry, I refuse to ignore my feelings for you any longer. Not when I know you feel the same.'

Harry looked at her. 'Can't you see what I'm doing is trying to protect you? Regardless of whether my feelings are stronger than I want to admit.'

'I can protect myself. I didn't grow up with six brothers and not learn a thing or two. What do you mean, 'they are stronger than you want to admit'.'

'Please, don't …' Harry shook his head.

'Harry. Tell me.'

Harry sighed. 'You give me hope, Ginny. Hope that maybe I could have a life after this. And it's a dangerous thing to think about but I can't help it.' Harry paused. 'I don't feel so broken, when I am with you. And there are times when I think, maybe you will fix me.'

Silence followed Harry's confession, both of them just staring at each other. Slowly, Ginny raised her arm and rested her hand on his cheek. Harry's eyes fluttered closed with her touch and he leant into her hand. He felt her move in closer so that their bodies were touching. Harry's heart skipped a beat. Ginny's breaths were uneven as her fingers ran across his now clean shaven jaw. Harry, despite his earlier attempts to distance himself from her, placed his hands on her waist, feeling the soft fabric underneath his fingertips. He leant in closer, breathing in her perfume.

'Please don't push me away,' she breathed against his lips.

And how could he? Harry had fought countlessly on doing the right thing and ignoring what he wanted and this time he wasn't going to let Ginny leave. He knew there would be consequences for what was inevitable but he was damned to let them prevent him from living. Ginny was a breath of life, a source of oxygen that Harry had deprived himself of. So when their lips finally came together, Harry had no further resistance.

Ginny's hand rested against his chest, gripping his shirt tightly. The other was behind his head, pulling him towards her lips. Harry's hands tightened at her waist, moving to the small of her back as he kissed her more deeply. She pushed him back down the hallway, not breaking their kiss. She intended to get them into her bedroom but Harry gently turned her before they made it so her back was pressed against the wall. He trailed kisses across her jaw bone and then reached the sweet spot at her neck. She sighed in pleasure, running both hands through his hair. She pushed them off of the wall, claiming his lips back to hers. Harry ran his hands down her sides, revelling in each of her curves. That warmth in the pit of his stomach was slowly boiling as their kisses grew more insistent and he moaned her name against her lips.

Harry's hands slid over her the tops of her jeans and further down. Harry cringed inwardly if Ron ever discovered what he was currently doing to his sister. He pushed the thought of Ron away almost immediately. He was not going to let anything ruin this night, not again. Ginny leapt up and wrapped her legs around Harry's waist. He grunted as he tried to catch her, but he lost his footing. They went stumbling backwards before toppling to the ground. They laughed together as they tried to disentangle their limbs.

Harry fell silent and gazed up at Ginny, who was now sitting on top of him. In the dim light, Ginny seemed to glow right in front of Harry's eyes. He was struck yet again by her beauty. Harry sat up and rested on one of his elbows, gazing at Ginny. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes bright. He kept his hand on her cheek, moving her face down as he sat up. He kissed her softly, wanting her to feel his every emotion towards her. Her hands went under his chin, responding with tender kisses of her own.

Eventually, the slow warmth spread through Harry's body once again. Ginny, almost as if sensing this burning desire, coaxed him up so he was kneeling. They stared at each other again, Harry silently asking her if he was what she wanted. In reply she stood, taking his hand. He got to his feet and when she walked towards the room, he followed her obediently. He twisted her so that she was facing him as they reached the doorway to her bedroom, kissing her again as they found their way to the bed.

Harry gazed up at the ceiling, taking in deep breaths. The blankets were down at his hips but rose enough to cover Ginny's laying figure to his left. Harry blinked a few times in disbelief. He had just made love to Ginny Weasley, and it was one of the best feelings he had in his life. He was smiling in a surprised sort of way, still unsure whether he was dreaming. Ginny sighed loudly beside him and Harry looked at her. She was watching him with a small smile.

'You're really out of practise with this,' she told him.

'How do you mean?' Harry asked quickly, his heart thudding loudly.

'Well,' Ginny said, shifting onto her back. 'Usually after we've slept together, the guy holds the girl in his arms and gently caresses her until she falls asleep.'

Harry laughed, scooting over and scooping Ginny up in his embrace. His kissed her forehead as her hands fell on top of his arms. She nestled in closer to his chest.

'Is this right?' Harry asked playfully, grinning.

'Hmm …' Ginny mused thoughtfully. 'Could do with some work but after a few more times you will get it.'

'A few more times?' Harry smiled. 'I don't want to sound pretentious but what makes you think I liked it?'

'You're right. I suppose it was hard to tell between all of your moans and groans,' Ginny joked.

Harry laughed and squeezed her lightly. 'Alright, alright, you made your point.'

They fell into silence and Harry rested his head against her hair. She snuggled in closer and Harry had to resist the urge to turn her back over and kiss her again. Even though his body had calmed down, he was sure it would spark to life rather quickly if Ginny kept shifting against his bare skin.

'You aren't still angry, are you?' Ginny asked quietly.

Harry clenched his jaw, thinking back to earlier in the night. He gazed down at Ginny's blurry figure. She was gazing at him, her eyes pinched in worry. He kissed the bridge between her eyebrows and then her nose, finally ending at her lips, holding that kiss longer. He pulled away, smiling softly at her.

'Does that answer your question?' he asked.

'No,' Ginny replied which made Harry laugh. 'I knew he was there. I had seen him earlier.'

'And you didn't think to tell me?' Harry asked sharply and then muttered, 'oh', when Ginny gave him a discerning look.

'I couldn't be sure whether he was one or not but then I saw your reaction …' Ginny tried to sound calm but Harry could feel her shiver under his arms.

'I'm sorry,' Harry said honestly, going to loosen his hold on her. 'When I realised he was close to you and then I was too and put you in danger, something just snapped.'

Ginny grabbed his arms and placed them firmly back against her stomach. 'Don't leave me now.'

'You aren't disgusted with me?' Harry asked.

Ginny was the one who laughed this time. 'Some of your habits are indeed questionable but I'm not through with you.' She kissed him sweetly, one that Harry reciprocated with pleasure.

Ginny rolled him over so she was straddling his hips. He grinned up at her, heart racing.

'Now we need to talk about that martyr act you played when you left the stadium. Personally I think –.'

Harry leaned up and kissed her before she could talk any further.

Harry was woken by the sound of Ginny's phone. He hissed when he sat up into a sliver of sunlight sneaking through the blinds. He looked around bleary eyed, huffing loudly and collapsing back onto the mattress. He shook the lump beside him that was Ginny and she moaned angrily in response.

'Your phone, Gin,' Harry said sleepily.

He received another grunt from her. 'You answer it,' she mumbled, facing away from him.

Harry sighed but couldn't help the increase of his heartbeat when he saw her bare back. He leaned across her, kissing her cheek in the process. She scowled at him and he grinned lazily at her, giving her another kiss. He fell back beside her, placing on his glasses before gazing at the caller ID. He eyes widened in fear and he almost toppled back out of the bed.

'It's Ron!' Harry said in panic. 'He knows what we did!'

'What are you going on about?' Ginny asked groggily, tilting her head towards him.

'Ron!' Harry repeated, rationality escaping his brain. 'He's calling you. He knows!'

'Harry, you are overreacting,' Ginny said exasperatingly, turning back over.

'I can't answer it,' Harry told her, holding out the phone as if it was dangerous. Impulsively, he threw it at Ginny. 'You answer it.'

'Fine,' she grumbled, sitting up and pulling the sheet with her. 'Talk about a guilty conscience.'

She picked up the phone from the mattress and Harry saw a small glint of a playful smile on her face. He had seen that look so often on her twin brothers before they did a prank that he was scared of what she was planning on saying. Harry snatched it off of her again.

'On second thought, maybe I should just talk to him,' he suggested.

'Good idea,' Ginny said, lying back down.

Harry wondered why he was acting so freaked out. It was foolish of him to think Ron would know anything about the two of them but there was this nasty voice in the back of his mind saying otherwise. Heart pounding, breaths nearing hyperventilation, he answered the phone before he lost his nerve.

'Hello?' he asked tentatively.

'Harry?' Ron's deep voice floated back to him. 'What are you doing with Ginny's phone? Where is she?'

'She, uh,' Harry glanced down at her and swallowed. She raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for his answer. 'She left her phone on the kitchen bench. I didn't want to wake her. She had a big night last night.'

Ginny snorted at the irony and Harry shot her a 'don't-make-a-sound' look. He was already treading on thin ice talking to the older brother when he was currently in bed naked with the baby sister and if Ron found he was lying about one thing, he would grow suspicious. Harry found himself praying if Ron did ever find out that he would give them his blessing but then Harry still had five other brothers he needed to convince. He didn't like his chances.

'Oh yeah,' Ron agreed. 'Fred and George told me they went and saw her play. You would think they would have more sense.'

Ginny stifled a laugh and Harry thought it might be best to continue this conversation away from her sensitive ears. He felt around for his underwear with his free hand. Ginny rolled over again and closed her eyes.

'You know the two of them,' Harry said, trying to keep the blanket wrapped around his hips while he searched around the edges of the bed. 'If it's a challenge, they are more than up to it.'

'Yes, well, good game or not, they need to be more careful. Anyway, that's only part of the reason I called.' Ron's voice grew serious.

Harry, who had given up searching for his underwear and was in the process of pulling on his cotton pants, hesitated. This was it, he thought dejectedly. He knew Ron would find out somehow. This was the part when he threatened to kill Harry for laying a hand on Ginny. Harry sighed, remembering previous one-sided conversations Ron had about Ginny's boyfriends and went into specific detail of how he would maim each one.

'Look Ron I …' Harry started, his long string of excuses he had thought of on the tip of his tongue. He was walking around the length of the bed when Ron interrupted him.

'Harry, do you remember Rowle? Fred and George encountered him last night at Ginny's game. They managed to subdue him but he was way too close to Ginny for my comfort. I don't want her to panic, or worse, think she can take them on.'

Harry snorted, glancing back at Ginny. 'Yeah, I think more of the latter with her.' Ginny looked at him with narrowed eyes. 'But didn't Fred and George pass my instructions on to you?'

'Yeah, they did. Hang on, how did you know about it?'

'I, uh, they rang me first,' Harry lied. 'They just said it was a Death Eater though, no names.' Ginny mouthed the word, 'liar'. Harry scrunched up his face at her. She poked her tongue at him in reply. Harry turned away to hear Ron and distantly heard her rustling behind him.

'Oh, that's fair enough. Hang on, Hermione is saying something. What?'

Harry heard a distant reply from Hermione in the background and couldn't help but smile. 'Don't you think we should be discussing other matters, though?'

There was another garbled reply, this one more persistent. 'Yeah … Yeah … I'll tell him'

He heard Ron sigh into the phone.'She wants you to congratulate Ginny on her win and wants you to be safe. We'll keep a lookout on our end.' Harry could picture him rolling his eyes. 'We're getting closer to finding out their plan, I can feel it. Anyway, Harry, you are the only one who can really understand Riddle. If you were in his position, what would you be doing? Think about it and I'll ring you in a couple of days. Did Ginny give you that phone?'

'Yeah, she did and I'll see what I can do. You just be careful, alright. I don't like leaving you guys to do your own thing.'

'Come on, Harry. I'm with Hermione. What could possibly go wrong?'

'You've made your point,' Harry smiled. They said their goodbyes and Harry hung up. He turned to hand Ginny her phone on the bed to find she wasn't there. Harry swung back around to see her returning from the bathroom wearing an old shirt and –

'I was looking for them!' Harry cried out, pointing at his dark boxer briefs on her hips.

'Oh.' Ginny looked down at them, then back to Harry. 'Well I'm borrowing them. You can always use mine if you want.' Ginny smirked naughtily at him.

'Or,' Harry said slowly, walking slowly towards her. 'I should just get mine back.'

He lunged at her and she shrieked and leapt up onto the bed to escape. Harry side stepped and met her at the opposite end of the bed, hooking her around the waist. She laughed as he tackled her down onto the mattress, rolling over and trapping her underneath him. She placed her hands on his stomach, skimming the panes of his skin. He felt goose bumps rise from her touch.

'It's a bit early for undressing me, isn't it?' she asked wickedly, although her gaze was one of innocence.

Harry pretended to think about it. 'Possibly,' he said with a grin.

He leant down and lightly kissed her, his arms resting on either side of her head. One night with Ginny and he already felt like a changed man. Ginny was slowly becoming the centre of where all his plans and decisions were revolving around. It was dangerous, he knew he should try and prevent it but he promised he would do that later.

'Harry,' Ginny said, lifting him from her.

She was staring fondly at him, though her tone conveyed her seriousness. Harry gazed down at her, smiling bashfully. He eased himself up onto his knees so she could sit up. She held onto his back with one of her hands, securing him to her.

'What did Ron want?' she asked, playfully trailing her fingers up and down his back. 'Is he going to march over here and throttle you?'

Harry winced, picturing that too well. He brushed her hair behind one of her ears. 'No, he didn't suspect anything, thank goodness. He wanted to congratulate you on your win,' Harry said.

'Bullshit. He never congratulates me.' She sprang lightly to the ground, heading to her ensuite bathroom again.

'He doesn't?' Harry sat on the corner of the bed.

'Oh, it's not out of spite. It's just who he is,' Ginny called from the bathroom.

'Well on top of that he wanted me to make sure you didn't see who Rowle was. He didn't want you to panic or worse, decide to fight him.'

'And he didn't know you were there?' Ginny asked, smirking as she came from the bathroom. She had pulled her hair up into a bun.

'I asked Fred and George to forget that when they were relaying my message,' Harry winked, joining her in the middle of the room.

'Clever,' she murmured appreciatively, resting her hands on his hips.

'Has been known to happen once or twice.' Harry wormed his arms around her.

'Except on the mornings when you freak out over a phone call.' She laughed a happy, carefree laugh that Harry couldn't help but smile at.

'Trust me, if you were in my position you would too.'

'Does that mean you feel guilty about last night?'

'It means I feel guilty for thinking about you in an unbrotherly like way around Ron. Especially when last night was one of those nights I want to repeat over and over again.'

Harry ducked his head and was just about to meet her lips when her phone rang loudly. She twisted in his arms to stare at it murderously and Harry chuckled.

'I'm going to kill whoever is on the other end,' she informed him.

Harry kissed her on the cheek and left to give her privacy. He took a glance back over his shoulder, seeing her grimace at the phone. She looked up and rolled her eyes at him, replying to the person with a struggling calmness. He smiled at her dazedly before heading to the shower.

Harry let the water rain down on his head as he tried to find some inner clarity. He was completely smitten by her. She had accepted him, wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her and now he was rapidly becoming head over heels. If he didn't concentrate on other aspects of his life soon, he would turn out like a crazed fanatic. He needed to find a way to handle his emotions again and quickly if Riddle was preparing his final onslaught. He didn't want Ginny to get caught in the crossfire.

He turned the water off, stepping out of the shower with the towel wrapped around his hips. He was so lost in thought that he didn't see Ginny until he was right beside her. She was waiting patiently on the sink, examining her nails.

'Damn Ginny! You startled me,' Harry gasped, jumping back and almost falling into the shower.

She watched him as he grabbed another towel from the rack and started to dry his hair and calm his nerves. He left his hair ruffled as he placed on his glasses. He noticed the slight, harried expression on her face that Harry assumed was from her recent phone call.. A smile flickered on her face when she realised he was staring at her in concern. She gestured he come over to her and he complied without thought, standing in-between her legs. She ran her hands through his messy hair, testing out different styles.

'I don't think I've ever had such a strange morning,' she mused, watching her hands in his hair. 'First being with you, then a phone call from my brother; your reaction by the way was priceless and I am never, ever letting you forget it.' Harry groaned. 'That was followed by my manager lecturing me for disappearing on them last night.' She shook her head. 'Anyway, you're scowling, which means you're over thinking; what's on your mind?'

'I realised I'm letting my emotions get the better of me, yet again,' Harry told her, ducking his head in embarrassment. 'But first of all … We're together now, right? I'm a little out of practise with this relationship thing so …'

'Yes?' Ginny was wearing that same shrewd expression she had on the first night Harry had stayed with her.

'I guess I'm supposed to ask formally. Will you be my girlfriend, or partner or whatever you want to call this? If that is okay with you, because if it's not, that's cool. Actually maybe we shouldn't even call it that just in case word gets out and …' Harry glanced at her before away again quickly. 'Sorry, too much, I know.'

Ginny's hands stopped midway through the current comb over style she was fixing. She was silent for so long that Harry thought he was about to get a lecture. To his surprise, however, Ginny merely chortled, swinging her leg over Harry and getting off of the bench.

'Okay then, Harry,' she snorted, leaving the room.

A perplexed Harry stood in the same spot for a few minutes, trying to work out what had happened. Did Ginny just accept his offer or reject it? Eventually, Harry followed her out into the kitchen, remembering at the last minute to hold the towel at his hips to keep it from falling. She had started to grab ingredients and pots for breakfast, chuckling occasionally.

'What does that mean, 'okay then, Harry'?' he demanded.

She walked back to him, grabbing his cheeks. 'That you think too much,' she said. She gave him a peck on his lips, scruffing his hair to its messy self before returning to the unmade breakfast, smiling.

'Huh?' he said, confused.

Ginny sighed. 'Harry,' she said slowly, as if speaking to a child. 'Do you really think I need you to label me as your girlfriend? I already know I don't want anyone else but you.' She gave him a pointed look. 'I hope you didn't have this conversation with your other girlfriends the morning after you slept together.'

'No, but I, huh?' Harry spluttered out. 'Do we really need to talk about exes?'

'No. Actually I hope to never talk about another girl being with you, ever,' she said firmly.

Harry couldn't help but agree; he didn't want to hear about another man holding Ginny in his arms, or kissing her. He could feel waves of jealousy towards them and tried to let it dissolve. She walked back over to him, placing her hands on his waist. Ginny smiled consolingly at him and gave him another swift kiss before gently prodding him towards the bedrooms.

'Go and get changed and then we can discuss your weird mood swings,' she said. She slapped him on the bum to get him moving and he glanced back at her with raised eyebrows.