Bare Feet

Ginny arrived home at four fifteen. She had gotten off early, having done nothing all day. Her mind was still whirling from her conversation with Hermione. Harry loved her too. The words had bounced back and forth through her head all day long. And now, finally, they would have a chance to say it to each other. Harry got home from work at five, and Hermione assured her that there would be no unexpected drop by's on the part of her or Ron.

An idea popped into her head as she arrived in the living room. She rushed across the room to the kitchen and pulled a roast from the muggle freezer. She set a thawing charm on it, and began magically slicing carrots, onions, and potatoes. She dropped all the vegetables into a pan with the roast and threw it in the oven.

She rushed down the hall to the bathroom to shower quickly before Harry arrived home. As she stepped out of the shower she set a drying and curling charm on her hair and moved down the hall to her room in a towel. She snatched her purple dress up from off of the floor where it had been thrown three nights ago. She put it on a hanger and flicked her wand at it twice; suddenly the dress was laundry fresh and wrinkle free. She smiled to herself and slipped it on. She eyed her turquoise shoes by the door, but decided not to put them on yet. She drug them out to the kitchen and slid them under the island to slip on when Harry arrived.

When he appeared in the fireplace a little before six, her back was turned to him. His breath hitched in his throat as watched her from behind wearing that dress he loved so much, swaying gently to the music she had on while fussing over something on the counter. She was bouncing on her toes, one foot and then the other, to the quickening beat of the music. She swung her head a little and the flowery scent of her came floating back toward Harry like a gift. Everything the he had decided he wanted to say to her rushed out of him, the moment he caught sight of the vision before him. As she went to spin, her dress flowed around her knees and he caught a glimpse of what she was working on. A platter of roast beef and vegetables sat in her hands, as she moved to set it on the island.

Ginny gasped quite audibly. She set the platter down and rushed over to Harry.

"What happened to you?" She asked desperately.

"Huh?" he asked, none to gracefully, distracted by her gorgeous presence.

"Your face Harry, what happened to your face? It looks terrible!"

"Gee, thanks Gin," Harry replied with a small chuckle. He reached up and gently touched his face. He knew that an entire half of it was probably decently black and blue by now. It had been a lovely shade of greenish gray when he left the medic's office back at the pitch. "It looks worse then it feels, doesn't even hurt anymore. Just a broken cheek bone. The team Healer fixed it right up, even gave me a pain potion. Even you could slug me right now and it wouldn't hurt." He said with a wink.

"How did it happen?" she asked in awe, as she took him by the hand and led him to the island. She placed an empty plate in front and a bottle of butterbeer in front of him.

"Well, I hadn't been playing very well all day because I…. Well just because I wasn't. It was almost the end of practice and the seekers were doing a drill called Under Pressure. They let the snitch go and the beaters only hit bludgers at the seeker to see how effective he or she is "under pressure." Well I was the last to go, and I had my hand an inch away from the snitch when a bludger came rushing at me from nowhere. If I had dodged it I would have lost the snitch, so I went for it. The damned thing hit me right in the side of the face, whirled my head around and damn near broke my neck. But I had the snitch in my hand and coach told me that I was the stupidest son of a bitch he had ever seen, but that he wouldn't expect any less if we had been in the World Cup Finale." He explained while Ginny piled roast beef and vegetables onto his plate. "So, I guess it turned out alright in the end." He shrugged. "It didn't hurt for too long." He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, "though I expect the pain potion will wear off at some point. Oh well!" He shrugged again. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It's not like I'm re-growing the bones in my face or anything."

"Yes what a lovely alternative." Ginny said sarcastically, while Harry laughed. "Now eat, I made dinner for you because Hermione stole my glorious breakfast idea.

Harry popped a bite of the roast beef into his mouth, and instantly knew something was wrong. He was still chewing the bite after for forty-five seconds of vigorous chomping.

"So?" Ginny asked with a beaming smile on her face. "How is it?" She clearly had not taken a bite yet.

Harry swallowed heavily, torn between the truth and what he knew Ginny wanted to hear. What if she got mad if he told her he didn't like the dish? Would it lessen his chances when he finally plucked up the courage to talk to her later that night? He inwardly shook his head. He had always been honest with Ginny.

"What did you do to it?" He asked slowly. He took a big gulp of water.

"I did what you do to it. I thawed it, and put it in the oven thingy, then I set it to cook with my wand so I made sure it was ready by the time you got home."

"Ahh." Harry stated knowingly. "That explains the shoe leather texture."

"It's bad?" Ginny cried distressed.

"Yeah, Gin. It's really bad. Try it."

Ginny cautiously took a small bite. Her eyes opened wide and she grabbed her napkin and folded it around her mouth, trying to be a lady like as she could be while spitting food back out of her mouth.

"That's horrible!" she proclaimed. "I don't know what I did wrong!"

"Well, you should either cook it either the muggle way, or the magical way. Not both at the same time, and especially not to speed the process up. Roast beef cooks on slowly on low temperatures, not quickly on high temperatures, which is what you tried to do by combining the oven and magic."

Ginny's face fell into her hands with a slap.

"Come on Ginny. It's okay; it's not the end of the world. I appreciate the gesture." He put a hand on her arm. "It was very kind of you."

"It's just," Ginny paused. "Do you think we'd ever really work in a relationship. I mean, do we try too hard. I mean look at me, I made this ridiculous meal, I got all dressed up, and you get here and the beef has been cooked in fiendfyre. I didn't get to put my shoes on, I'm in my bare feet."

"Hey, hey, hey, Gin, slow down. What are you talking about?"

"Its, I, oh I don't know. It's just, last night, and your nightmare. I just…" she trailed off.

"Gin, you're not making much sense."

"I know, I know, I know!" she stated, yelling at herself. "I…" She looked up at him with a look of wonderment in her eyes. "What were you dreaming of last night? I mean, what was your nightmare?"

Harry looked at her in confusion. Neither of them had ever asked the other to reveal the contents of their nightmares. It was just a mutual understanding that if they were with someone they wouldn't be there. There had never been any actual discussion about the dreams. He moved his mouth, wordlessly.

You have to tell, her. Then she'll know how you really feel. It's the best way. The voice in his head encouraged him. He gave a resolute nod.

"I was watching you duel with Bellatrix. There was a flash of green light and you were dead. You were just lying there, lifeless on the floor. I ran to you and I was leaning over you. I was tearing at my chest, ripping at my hair, and trying to cling to you all at the same time. Your entire family was in a circle around me, but they weren't there for comfort. They were just watching me; they were blaming me with their cold eyes for what had happened, because it was my fault. Suddenly I felt that the whole world knew that it was my fault." A tear formed at the corner of Harry's eye and escaped, blazing a trail down his bruised face. "But then everything changed. I was still staring at you dead of the floor, but then another you came and wrapped your arms around me from behind. You put your forehead at the back of my neck and you led me away from yourself. You held me and when I looked back, you weren't dead on the floor anymore. And when I looked back at the you that had drawn me away, it wasn't just you holding me. It was your family. It was my family, and if felt like home. I was at home in your arms, and I felt like I wanted to stay there forever. If I could just stay in your arms forever, everything would be alright."

A few more tears, followed the first one down the side of Harry's face, but he looked straight ahead at Ginny, who now had tears shining in her eyes as well.

"I always feel at home in your arms Ginny. It's where I want to be for the rest of my life. You drive my nightmares away more completely than anyone else ever could. That has to mean something, don't you think?"

Ginny nodded fervently, while hastily wiping tears from her cheeks. "When I was holding you last night, when you grew still in my arms, the world, my whole world fell into place." Ginny explained softly, hoping desperately that he would understand.

He did. Harry stood so quickly that his stool almost went crashing to the floor. He rounded the table and gathered Ginny in his arms. She clung to him tightly never wanting to let go, tears softly staining his plain white t-shirt. He pulled away slightly and placed his hands, still rough from practice, on her cheeks. He tilted her head up towards his and looked into her soft brown eyes with his own blazing green orbs. Her eyes held the fierceness that had seen on few occasions, the first one being right before she had kissed him nine years ago after she had won the Quittich Cup. He brought his lips down upon hers with the same intense passion that was reflected in her eyes. He hadn't kissed her like this since after the Final Battle. He was healing both of them with this kiss, just as he had been that night so long ago, before they matured into friends.

Ginny responded with a fire and a passion that had long been forgotten in her endless stream of one night stands. She felt her body melt and mold to his. Her hands wrapped around his neck, and she let out a gasp of surprise as he lifted her from the chair, and began waltzing her gracefully around the room, to a song that was much too fast for their elegant pace. He never broke hold on her lips. His hands were in her hair, on her shoulders, her arms, her waist, everywhere. Her hands were copying his, as if playing follow the leader. He waltzed her around the kitchen, up the hall, and into his bedroom. As they burst through the door, he picked her up and whirled her around in circles before gently laying her on the bed. Her red hair and purple dress splayed across his bed beautifully.

"It looks as if I've underdressed." He stated, looking down at his t-shirt and mesh shorts.

Ginny bit her lip and shook her head. "No, I wasn't wearing shoes remember? Bare feet is the ultimate informal."

"I think you're just trying to make me feel better." He said with a wide cheeky grin. He pulled his shirt over his head, and discarded it before climbing into bed with her.

She lay on her side and stared into his eyes. She put a hand on his bruised cheek and pressed her lips to his. He wrapped her in strong arms. He slid the thin straps of her dress over her shoulders and dipped his head down, placing gentle loving kisses on her shoulder, across her collarbone to the other shoulder. He kissed up and down her neck, stopping only to snake a hand around her back so he could pull the now cumbersome dress off from both sides. His hands gently flitted across her body, taking in the vision before him. He had seen Ginny naked before, but he had never taken the time to study the contours and curves of her delicate but strong body. He peppered kisses all over her breasts and her stomach as she tried to memorize his body with her hands.

Her hands roamed all over his chest, as she shifted slightly to kiss along his neck. They traveled slowly and tantalizingly downward until they reached the waist band of his shorts. She slid the shorts down as far as her arms would reach and Harry took them the rest of the way. She took his face in her hands and forced his lips down upon hers again, as he moved over top of her. In blissful oblivion they removed the rest of their undergarments and were soon completely vulnerable before each other.

"You're so beautiful." Harry whispered, against Ginny's lips. He could bear leaving the taste of them for one second.

Ginny smiled into his lips. "You're not so bad yourself, handsome."

Harry didn't need to ask her if she was sure, as he and done on so many other occasions. He could see it in her eyes, and she could see it in his. As their eyes locked, their bodies locked. Harry and Ginny had had sex before, but they had never made love. Before it was a heated passion, this was more than heat. This was need, fears, love, and understand all physically presented to each other in an act of desperately beautiful passion. Neither had ever experienced anything like it before. Hands and lips moved and crashed everywhere, not frantically but slowly, reverently, lovingly. They moved slowly together; understand perfectly each other's needs. They came together in a way they had never known before in a flowing wave of perfection and love.

Harry moved back to his position beside her, his breath coming in short gasps, and took her in his arms. She pressed her forehead to his chest.

"Harry…"

"I know Gin." He replied. She didn't to finish her sentence. They both knew that this was the most special thing in the world, right now it was the only thing in the world.

"Why did we ignore it all these years?" Ginny asked, tilting her head to look up at him.

"Do you think it would have been like this if he we wouldn't have?"

Ginny shook her head. "No…" she said slowly. "You're right. This was perfect."

Harry kissed her forehead. "You're perfect."

Ginny smiled, and they both lay there quietly, neither of them needing to say a word. Harry looked down at their entangled legs and rubbed Ginny's feet with his own.

"Hey Gin?"

"Hmmm?" she said peacefully.

"I love your bare feet."