A/N: "Maybe tonight I will finally finish writing that chapter!" Kayla said, every single night for the past week and a half, shortly before falling asleep on top of her computer after having written maybe a single paragraph.

I mentioned in my last author's note that my reasons for not updating quickly are not for lack of knowing what to write, but simply lack of time. I feel like I must reiterate this because I feel bad that this took quite a while when it really didn't need to take very long at all! And even though I'm sure nobody cares about my life, it makes me feel better to explain, so just bear with me here! I'm in the midst of designing costumes for a play with a very tiny budget, which means that I have to make a lot of the pieces, and sewing is very time-consuming! But since being a costume designer doesn't pay the bills (yet), that's on top of my other full-time job. I really wanted to get this chapter up, and finally I did! However, the next update may not come for a while. Probably until after the play I'm designing opens at the end of the month. Hopefully you guys can just bear with me and won't lose interest because I really really want you here! All of you! This story has only just begun and I know where it's going and I'm excited to get there and hopefully you'll stick with me, even though I'm going to be slow for a while.

Also? Anybody who catches my ridiculous musical theatre reference in this chapter gets like, twenty high-fives (which equals one high-one-hundred, so like... super cool, right?)

Okay, on with the story, sorry for rambling (I do that a lot).

...

Diagon Alley still wasn't back to the way it used to be. There were still some boarded-up shops and the atmosphere wasn't full of the same excitement that it once was, but it had made leaps and bounds from the past couple of years. Even Ollivander had returned, although he was only in his shop for a few hours each day. Luna had been helping him at the shop, having grown close to him when they were imprisoned together - a story that Ginny had heard and masked her horror with a stony face. Ginny stopped to say hello to Luna, noticing the strange-looking potted plant on a counter top that she was sure had never been there before.

"Brightens it up a bit, doesn't it?" Luna smiled, noticing Ginny's gaze.

"Yeah, it does," she agreed. "It's really nice that you're helping Ollivander, Luna."

"Yes, well, I think we all could use a little help right now, and we should all give it when we're able to."

After Ginny's brief visit with Luna, she went to find her mother in the crowded Flourish and Blotts. She spotted her, just finishing up paying for Ginny's new schoolbooks.

"Well, that's everything on your list. Do you need new robes?"

"No, Mum. The ones I have now are just fine," she said.

"Are you sure? It's really no problem," she offered, and Ginny glanced at her, somewhat taken aback. Molly smiled and shrugged. "It was different when we were sending five of you to school at once. But it's just you now, and with your father's new job, well… we could get you a few things that aren't on the list. In fact! You've been made quidditch captain! That deserves something nice. So, what'll it be?"

"Really?" she asked. Molly nodded. Ginny mulled it over. She really didn't need new robes. She considered a broomstick, like Ron had gotten when he had been made prefect, especially since she was the captain of the quidditch team. Just when she had decided that that was what she wanted, another thought struck her. Once she was back at school, her only regular means of communication with Harry would be through letters. She wanted something reliable to make sure that their letters got to each other as quickly as possible. And with Hedwig gone….

"I think I'd like an owl," she finally said.

"An owl it is," Molly nodded, and they set off in the direction of Eeylops Owl Emporium. They didn't spend long in the shop. Ginny didn't have to look around very much before she set eyes on him and knew that he was meant to be hers. They emerged less than fifteen minutes later, Ginny holding a cage containing a magnificent eagle owl with brilliant yellow eyes.

"Yitzhak," she declared as his name. She was so enamoured with her new bird that she nearly forgot that their next stop was to see George. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was just as crowded as she had ever seen it. Clearly, business was doing well. And yet, she was still nervous as they entered the front doors and went inside. Everything about the store looked fine. It looked as though nothing had changed. Like the same two people were running things.

She saw George, talking to a young customer, showing him some sort of product, laughing with him, and then patting his back as he walked away, product in hand. He looked okay. He looked happy, almost. And it was weird because for a split second, Ginny nearly expected to see both of them. She expected for Fred to walk out from the back room and join George in selling their things. But then she remembered that it couldn't happen. She remembered that Fred wasn't there.

"Well, if it isn't the two most beautiful women I've seen today!" George exclaimed, seeing them.

"Oh, George," Molly laughed, pulling her son into a hug once he was near. Once she released him, he moved to Ginny next, swooping in to hug her quickly.

"And who do we have here?" he asked, gesturing to Yitzhak.

"He's my new owl," Ginny grinned.

"Your sister was made captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team," Molly announced proudly.

"Really?! Brilliant!" he yelled. Ginny beamed at him. He proceeded to invite the two to his flat just upstairs, above the shop, and they went. Ginny knew that her mother had let George know that they were coming to visit, and it showed. She had lived with the twins for long enough to know that they were never tidy, but George's flat showed obvious signs of having been cleaned recently. She wasn't sure, but she had an idea that George was trying to show them that he was doing alright on his own, without Fred.

Molly made tea. George and Ginny sat side-by-side at the small kitchen table while their mother talked about their father's new position at the Ministry. Ginny watched George, looking at him, searching for some sort of signs of how he was truly doing. He smiled, made jokes, and talked about work.

"I never thought I'd actually really appreciate Ron, but he's been really helpful around the shop. Don't you dare tell him I said that, though."

"I wish I could help you," Ginny mused out loud.

"Ah, but if you were here helping me, who would be at home helping Harry? How is he, by the way?"

"Fine," Ginny shrugged.

"I don't envy his position. Tons of fans, impossible to go anywhere…. I bet he's starting to feel pretty trapped inside that house."

"He starts auror training soon," Ginny said.

"Yeah, I know. Ron, too. I'm losing my assistant. Luckily, it's after you lot go back to Hogwarts so we won't be as busy."

"Will you come to the Burrow to visit before I go back to school?" Ginny asked as her mother began to clean up their tea and was out of earshot.

"Ginny…."

"Just one dinner? Please?"

"I don't know."

"Why not?"

"Because," he said, and then shook his head.

"George, please?" she asked, looking up at him, her eyes wide, frowning slightly. He sighed.

"I'll think about it. Okay?"

"Okay."

…

The Burrow was quiet. It usually was during the days. It was also seemingly empty, but Ginny knew that there was at least one occupant somewhere. She deposited her new school things in her bedroom, setting Yitzhak's cage atop her dresser.

"I'll be right back, okay?" she said to the owl. "I want Harry to meet you and then you can finally stretch your wings."

Yitzhak just blinked his yellow eyes at Ginny and then she left, hurrying towards Harry's room. The door was closed. She knocked softly. She listened for Harry's voice, but heard nothing. She opened the door, peering inside. The room was dark, all of the curtains drawn, and at first glance, it looked empty. But then Ginny noticed the top of a messy head of hair just on the other side of the bed.

"Harry?"

"Ginny?"

"Yeah," she said, no longer waiting for an invitation to enter the room, walking around the bed and finding Harry sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, wand in hand. He looked up at her. "What are you doing on the floor? In the dark?"

He was silent for a moment, still looking up at her, frowning slightly.

"I don't know," he finally said.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I was just…. er…. What time is it?"

"It's around four," she answered, sitting down on the floor next to him, reaching her hand out to his, lacing their fingers together. It wasn't the first time that she had found Harry sitting silently, zoning out, usually gripping tightly onto his wand.

"Did you just get back from Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah. I had a really nice time with Mum. We saw George and he was doing alright. He said he might come to dinner soon," she said, trying to do enough speaking so that Harry didn't need to. She learned from the last few times that he acted that way that he seemed to have a hard time carrying on a conversation. So she talked. "I wasn't sure if Ron was spending the day at the shop with George or somewhere else with Hermione, but he wasn't there, so I guess he was with her. Oh, and I saw Luna! We didn't talk long, but she's been helping Ollivander and I think that it's so good for both of them. And you'll never guess what I got! Mum got me an owl! He's so beautiful. You can meet him later. Other than that it was just a normal trip to get school things."

Harry was staring at her. When she noticed, she tried not to blush, but she couldn't help it. Even after everything, the way that he looked at her made her feel like she was eleven years old again.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, a small smile creeping onto his lips. He unlaced their fingers and shifted so that he was turned slightly towards Ginny. He touched her cheek and then leaned in, kissing her softly. "You were gone when I woke up this morning."

"Yeah," she nodded, staring into his vividly green eyes. "I left early."

"I know. I knew you would be, but I was still a little disappointed when you weren't there."

"Well, I'm here now," she smiled.

"You are, aren't you?"

"I am."

He kissed her again.

…

"It's got to be driving you crazy, though, mate. When was the last time you actually left the house?" Ron asked, sitting in the living room of the Burrow, on the sofa with Hermione leaning gently against him. Harry and Ginny sat on the floor in front of them, playing a game of chess.

"The last time I actually went out somewhere? That time when I was with you, remember? And it was mad. I don't mind it, really. I go visit Teddy once a week. And when I'm here, it's not like I'm inside all day," Harry answered, moving one of his pieces.

"I'm sure Ginny is keeping him plenty company," Hermione smiled.

"Hermione, please," Ron grimaced and Ginny let out a snort of laughter. "I don't need to think about that."

"She didn't even say anything dirty. You're the one who thought of that all on your own," Ginny said with a grin.

"Look, I am fully supportive of this relationship as long as I never have to know about anything, ever. Even if you end up getting married and having kids, I will just pretend that your children are all adopted just to… not think about it."

"Whoa. Slow down there, Ron," Harry mumbled, and Ginny herself could feel a sudden heat in her face at her brother's words. She would have been lying to say that she had never thought about a similar future with Harry, but she wasn't about to start throwing any of it around so casually like that.

"It's going to be so weird at Hogwarts without you two this year," Hermione said, changing the subject much to Ginny's relief, and probably everybody else's as well.

"We'll come for Hogsmeade weekends whenever we can," Harry promised.

"And now you get to help me with homework instead of these clowns!" Ginny said, glancing back at the chessboard as Harry mumbled something to one of his pieces who moved forward, smashing Ginny's queen to pieces. "Oh, fuck you! You motherfuck-"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" came Molly's shrill voice from the living room's entrance, having come in just in time for Ginny's outburst. Ginny slapped a hand over her mouth as Harry, Hermione, and Ron all averted their eyes, Ron's face turning pink from trying not to laugh. "I swear, I have no idea where any of you kids learned that kind of language! Nearly every single one of you, filthy mouths! I expected better of you, young lady!"

"Sorry, Mum," Ginny muttered, staring at her hands in her lap.

"Come help set the table for dinner."

"Okay," she agreed, standing up. The other three also began to move, but Molly stopped them.

"No, no, you three are fine. Just Ginny."

She left the living room without looking back and she heard the others explode with laughter as soon as she was out of sight. She scowled and huffed, stalking into the kitchen, but as soon as she was there, her scowl disappeared.

"George!"

"Hello there, my foul-mouthed sister."

"When did you get here?"

"Oh, I got here just in time," he smiled. "Who were you calling a motherfucker?"

"George!" Molly yelled.

"Harry," Ginny said as they both ignored their mother. "He beat me at chess."

"Mum, being beat at chess deserves a few swear words, you really can't blame her," George said. Molly pointedly ignored him.

"I was going to call him a motherfucking dickhead, but…," Ginny muttered under her breath so that her mother wouldn't hear it. But George heard it and he laughed, nodding his approval.

"Ginny, please set the table. Dinner's almost ready and Bill and Fleur will be here any moment now."

"Okay, okay, jeez. I'm doing it."

She did, and before she had finished, her oldest brother and his wife arrived, and Fleur immediately began to help Ginny with the table. Before long, they were all sat, eating the meal that Molly had prepared. Ginny sat between Harry and George, laughing at George's jokes and occasionally slipping her hand beneath the table to touch Harry's. Harry's hand settled on Ginny's knee, and Ginny let her hand fall atop his, resting it there.

"George seems to be doing really well!" Hermione exclaimed once dinner had ended and she, Ginny, Ron, and Harry had taken on the duty of cleaning up.

"I told you that he was," Ron said.

"I know, but it's nice to see it with my own eyes."

"I wonder if he'll come around here more often," Ginny said, pointing her wand at the sinkful of dishes. She was nowhere near as good at household cleaning spells as her mother was. Her wandwork was hardly doing a thing to the messy plates. "Damn, how does Mum make this look so easy?"

"Here," Hermione said, stepping in, pointing her wand into the sink, and Ginny watched as she made it look just as easy as her mother did.

"You're so good at that, Hermione," Ron told her.

"Yeah, yeah," she smiled.

Ginny stepped back, allowing Hermione to take over completely. She glanced around the kitchen. Everything that needed to be done was done. It barely took any time when four people were doing it.

She thought about what Hermione had said earlier, about how it was going to be weird at Hogwarts without Harry and Ron, and for a fleeting moment, Ginny wanted to just stop time and stay there in that kitchen with all of them and not move forward at all. She had been at Hogwarts without all three of them. She spent all of the previous year without them. But now she had them back and she wanted to stay with them. She wanted to stay with Harry. She knew that things would never be like they were then. They had no obligations. They spent full days together. They were lazy and free to be so. But summer was coming to an end soon.

Harry caught her eye. He smiled at her. She smiled back. Ron and Hermione were laughing, over by the sink, a stream of bubbles floating up above them.

The moment was interrupted by a crashing sound from the living room, followed by yelling. All four of them spun around, hurrying towards the commotion.

"George! George, stop it!" Bill was yelling as the four of them reaching the living room. Molly was sitting on the sofa, audibly crying, Fleur was beside her, hands over her mouth, eyes wide. Bill, Arthur, and George all stood, Bill with his wand pointed at George.

Ginny's eyes scanned the room, trying to understand what was happening. She landed on George's right hand, bleeding heavily. And then she saw it:

The clock. The clock that nobody in the family liked to look at anymore. The clock with all of their names on it.

Apparently, the clock didn't know what to do when one of the family members died. The hand with Fred's name on it was perpetually pointed to "lost". Nobody knew how to change it, nobody knew what to do, so they just ignored it. Ginny had done such a good job of ignoring it that she had forgotten about it completely. It was only now, as she stared at the scene unfolding in front of her, frozen in the doorway with the other three, that she realized why George didn't like coming to the Burrow.

"Why hasn't anybody fixed it?!" George yelling, pointing to it, the glass broken, but all of the hands still intact.

"George," Arthur said calmly. "Sit down. We'll mend your hand and then we can figure this out together. Okay?"

"No. Tell me why nobody's fixed it. How can you stand it? Do you want to be reminded? Do you want to be reminded that he's dead?"

"So, what, then?" Bill asked. "Do you just want him to be gone?"

"He is gone. He's gone and we don't need reminders of it all over the place!" George shouted, starting towards the clock again, but Bill reached out, grabbing him by the wrist. It all happened very quickly. Ginny saw Bill grasp at George, she saw George resisting, she saw them both struggling, she heard her father yelling at them both, and then there was too much movement to keep up with, and Fleur was jumping off of the couch, but Arthur put his arm out to keep her back, and Molly was crying even more, and then the two men were fighting.

Ginny was rooted to the spot. She wanted to yell out, tell them to stop, but even if she had, she doubted that she would have been heard. She felt Ron and Harry rushing past her and then she saw as they interfered, trying to pull Bill and George away from each other. Ron grabbed Bill easily, but Harry didn't have as easy a time with George.

"Get off of me! Get off of me!" he yelled, flailing his arms, his elbow colliding hard with Harry's stomach. Harry stumbled back, hands falling off of George, and that moment of freedom was all George needed. He lunged towards the clock again, reaching through where the glass had already broken, grabbing the hand with Fred's name on it and pulling on it.

Bill didn't try to stop him again. Nobody else did, either. They all stood there. All of them just watched.

"George. Please don't," Molly cried weakly. But he didn't listen. He pried and pried until finally, he broke the arm off. And then he turned, towards the doorway where Ginny was still standing. She heard Hermione gasp and jump out of the way, but even as George strode closer to her, Ginny didn't move.

"Get out of the way, Ginny," George growled at her. But she didn't. She just stared up at him, searching his face, trying to understand something that she didn't even understand herself. "Move, Ginny."

"George."

He pushed his way past her, and she felt her shoulder slam against the doorway.

"Hey!" she heard Harry shout.

"Hey! You get back here!" Ron yelled, following George's path, through the doorway, to the kitchen. "You're a fucking prat, you know that?!"

The sound of the door in the kitchen opening and closing twice in quick succession sounded throughout the silent living room, as well as Ron's yells. And then there was nothing. Until Ron came back in, grumbling swear words under his breath.

"He just fucking apparated away," he said. Molly didn't even scold him for his language.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked her. She didn't even see him approach her. She nodded, ignoring the throbbing pain in her shoulder.

"Are you?"

"I'm fine."

She stared at the broken glass littering the living room floor. She didn't want to look at the clock. Even though she had been ignoring it the past few months, there was still something reassuring about knowing that Fred was still there. But now he was gone. He was really gone. And she couldn't bear to look.

…

"Muffliato."

"Good evening."

"Hi."

Ginny crawled into Harry's bed, pulling the blankets up to her shoulders, cuddling close to him, nuzzling her face into his neck, breathing in his scent. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. She hadn't even bothered trying to fall asleep by herself in her own bed. She knew she would end up in Harry's room eventually. It just seemed easier to come straight there.

Harry ran his fingers through her hair. She let out a soft sigh, looking up at him, meeting his eyes.

"I think I'm getting a little bit too accustomed to coming in here," Ginny said softly.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not until I'm at Hogwarts and have to sleep alone."

"Ah. Right."

"What, you didn't forget, did you?"

"I've been trying to not think about it," he said.

"Oh? How's that been going for you?"

"Not very well. You and Hermione both keep bringing it up."

"Sorry," she smiled.

"Last year, I got into the habit of watching the Marauder's Map most nights just to see your name…. That's kind of weird, I know, but…."

"You did?" Ginny asked, wondering about the number of times that they may have been thinking of each other at the same time.

"And that was before I knew what it was like to sleep with you."

"I'm going to miss this. Not just the sleeping arrangements, but… spending the day with you, not having to do anything…."

"Me too," Harry agreed.

"Do you think it will ever be like this again?"

"Maybe when we're a hundred years old," he smiled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she sighed.

"Hey, we've still got a little bit before you leave. We'll make the best of it!" Harry told her.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Listen, I've been thinking…. As much as I don't really mind staying here all day, especially with you, I am getting a little bit… stir-crazy, I suppose."

"Of course you are."

"But it's hard to go anywhere, when…."

"When you have hoards of adoring fans who want to talk to you and touch you and not leave you alone to do anything?"

"Exactly," he laughed. "But there are people who don't care about me. Don't even know who I am."

"Muggles!" Ginny exclaimed, understanding where he was going with this.

"Yes. Muggles."

"You want to go into a Muggle town?"

"Just for a day. Just to do something."

"I think it's brilliant. Let's do it."

"Alright. Okay. Great," Harry grinned, his fingers still running through Ginny's hair. They both fell silent for a moment and they just laid there, looking at each other. Finally, Harry moved towards her and kissed her softly. She rested a hand on his cheek as they continued to kiss, slowly, lazily, memorizing the feeling of each other's lips. Harry's hand moved from Ginny's hair to her waist, and then just beneath the hem of her shirt that had already begun to ride up.

Ginny kissed him harder and his hand moved further and further up her shirt until it was upon her bare breast. They moved in sync as Ginny rolled from her side onto her back and Harry was able to slip his other hand beneath her shirt, bunching it up as he gently grasped her other breast.

"Hold on," Ginny mumbled, breaking the kiss, and she reached to her shirt and pulled it up, shifting around a bit so that she was able to pull it over her head, dropping it off of the bed, down to the floor. She settled back down onto the pillow and saw as Harry stared at her, his mouth slightly open, taking her all in. And then he dropped his head down, attaching his lips to Ginny's neck, kissing, sucking, and trailing his teeth down a slow path to her collarbones, her shoulder, her chest, and she let out a soft sigh as his tongue brushed against a nipple, her other breast cupped in his hand. She brushed her fingers through his hair, and he gradually moved back up towards her, capturing her lips in another kiss. The hand upon her breast trailed down her body until it reached the waistband of her pajama pants, and then slid beneath. She let her knees fall apart, and then Harry's mouth left hers, and he was moving down her body, hands gripping at her pajama pants. He sat up and then back on his feet, between her legs, his knees beneath her bent ones, and he looked at her, and she looked back at him. He was wordlessly asking for permission, and she nodded. He pulled both her pants and underwear down at the same time, and then she was completely naked, lying there in front of him, and her heart was pounding as she watched him, his eyes roaming over her.

"Would it completely kill the mood if I put my glasses on right now?" he asked, and she laughed.

"A little bit, yeah."

"Alright then, I won't," he said. And he continued to stare at her for what seemed like ages, and Ginny could feel colour rising to her cheeks.

"Harry," she said impatiently.

"Hang on, just… give me a second. I'm trying to burn this image into my memory."

"Okay, that's great, but I'm completely naked and you're still fully dressed and you're staring at me and it's really not fair."

"Fine, fine," he sighed dramatically, running his hands along her outer thighs, down to her butt, and then he pushed himself back, coming to rest on his stomach, burying his face between her legs.

"That's better," Ginny mumbled, eyes fluttering shut, mouth falling open to let out a soft moan. His arms wrapped around her legs, hands resting upon her hips, moving them up her sides and back down. She focused on the feeling of his mouth on her, his hands on her, the way the strands of his hair felt between her fingers. Her toes clenched, back arching slightly away from the bed, head tilting back.

"Harry," she moaned, and his fingertips pressed against her sides, and she wanted him to grab harder, to leave marks on her. Noises fell past her lips, noises that she had no control over, and she was gripping onto Harry's head, moving her hips, and he didn't stop her, didn't hold her down, just allowed her to take control. She wanted more, though. Even as the feelings began to overwhelm her, she wanted more. She loosened her hold on his head, squirming away from him slightly as it all became a little bit too much for her to handle.

"Harry," she panted, pushing herself up onto her elbows, looking down at him, and his eyes looked up to meet hers, and his mouth moved to rest against her inner thigh.

"Harry," she said again. "I want…"

"What? What do you want?"

"You. I want you. All of you."

"All of…. You mean…?"

She nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I mean… if you want to, too, of course."

"Of course I want to," he smiled, sitting up and holding out a hand towards Ginny. She grasped it and he pulled her into a sitting position as well. She couldn't help but smile, reaching towards him, touching his cheek softly, and they both leaned in towards each other, kissing. She grabbed his shirt, moving it up his body, and they broke apart as she pulled it over his head and arms. They kissed again, wrapping their arms around each other, and the sensation of their bare torsos against each other thrilled Ginny, made her want to feel even more of him. She had both of her arms wrapped around his neck as she pushed herself onto her knees and then pushed Harry back, into a lying position, their heads now at the foot of the bed. She had a knee on either side of his hips, leaning over him, a curtain of red hair falling around their faces, and her hands roamed over his bare chest as his hands came to rest upon her butt, grabbing it hard. Her fingers ran over a patch of skin on his chest that felt different - hardly noticeable, but she still felt it. She pulled away from him, looking at it, an obvious scar.

"What's this?" she asked, running her fingers along the perfectly oval shape of it. Harry tensed and averted his gaze. She immediately regretted asking the question. She knew that it had something to do with what he had done that past year.

"The locket…," he said softly.

"Oh," she whispered, understanding. He had told her. Not in extreme detail, but enough for her to connect the dots.

"It's ugly, I know, I-"

"No," she cut him off, shaking her head. "It's not ugly. I don't think it's ugly."

"You don't?"

"I think it's beautiful," she told him.

"I think you're beautiful," he muttered, just above a whisper, and she smiled, dropping her head down to his chest, placing her lips against the scar and kissing it softly. She reached for his arm, remembering the two small scars there and pressed two kisses right next to each other, on top of them. His hand was next, over the scars of words that were still readable at times. She was sure that there were more scars that she was unaware of. She would discover them all, in time, and she was determined to kiss every single one of them. She reached his face and leaned in to kiss his forehead. When she looked at him he was smiling, looking at her in a way that made it feel as though she had butterflies in her stomach and bluebirds in her chest. She struggled to find the words that she wanted to say next.

"You should take your pants off," was what came out of her mouth.

"Okay," Harry nodded. She climbed off of him and watched him pull his pajama bottoms down. They were both naked, sitting on the bed, looking at each, and for a moment it seemed as though neither of them was completely sure what to do next. But then they were kissing, touching, hands discovering new territory, familiarizing themselves with each other's bodies.

They laid down, Ginny on her back, Harry between her legs, moving against each other. He looked at her. She nodded. And then he was inside of her. She watched his face, watched his eyes close, heard the moan immediately escape him. She had been expecting pain. She had always heard that the first time was going to painful. But it didn't hurt. Not really. Perhaps it was because she was so comfortable with him and she was relaxed. Perhaps it was because she was just lucky.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, and he wasn't moving much, and she knew that it was for her benefit.

"Yeah," she nodded. "You can move - slowly, though, please."

She winced as he moved, feeling a small amount of pain, but it was bearable. She held onto him, his hips slowly rocking back and forth, his breathing already ragged.

"Shit," he mumbled, dropping his head to Ginny's shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Ginny."

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm going to last like, a minute at most," he admitted, and she let out a soft laugh. "Don't laugh!"

"I'm sorry!" she continued to laugh. "I just think it's really cute that you're apologizing in advance."

"Stop it," he said, but he was laughing now, too, even as he continued to move inside of her.

"Faster," she commanded, and he complied. She moaned softly.

"Noises… not helping… Stop being sexy…"

"Think of un-sexy things!"

"Okay… Yeah…," Harry said, nodding, above her, his eyes screwed shut. "Un-sexy things… Like… Like… There is literally nothing in my brain right now except-" he let out a loud moan, his hips moving fast, his body tensing and shaking, more noises falling from his mouth, and then collapsing on top of Ginny, breathing heavily.

"Shit," he gasped. She couldn't help but smile, pushing his hair off of his forehead, lightly damp with sweat.

"You didn't finish what you were saying. There was nothing in your brain except what?" Ginny asked him.

"You," he panted, looking up at her. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

"Sorry - I mean. Okay," he said. She kissed him. He rolled off of her to lay beside her, resting his head upon his arm, looking over at her, touching her hair. He softly nudged his nose against hers and then dropped a kiss on the tip of it. She wasn't able to stop smiling, even if she had wanted to.

"Next time will be better," she told him.

"Next time?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. Don't you remember?" she asked, "We've still got a little bit before I leave. We'll make the best of it."

"That's right. I do remember that!" he grinned.

"Yeah," she laughed. "I thought you would."