I do not own any of it.

Hold You Like This

Kingsley Shaklebolt had been friends with the entire Weasley family since his days in the Order of the Pheonix. You get to know someone incredibly well while fighting side by side with them. Although, he didn't know Ginny as well as the rest of the family because she was at Hogwarts while he was hiding with the Weasleys, and then when the war was over, she went off playing Quidditch, so they did not get time together then. But they were friends and had a good respect for each other. Or, at least, he thought they did. He had never actually been to her flat before.

He wasn't positive that this was a good idea. He knew this was going to get Harry mad, but what could he do? His protégé wanted to quit everything that they had worked for over a girl. Well, he thought that the girl at least had a right to know.

He took a deep breath right before he knocked on the door. He heard some shuffling behind the door, and a muffled ', I'll get it' right before the door was thrown open by a petite dark haired, smiling girl. The smile fell when she saw who it is, and then her mouth dropped open.

Kingsley waited for her to say something, but Parvati just stared at him with her mouth open. This was not the first time that he was greeted this way, but it still unnerved him. He took another deep breath. "Hello, I was wondering if I could speak with Ms. Ginny Weasley." This statement, however, seemed to have little effect on Parvati, who just kept staring. Right then, a blond walked by the door, and did a double take at who was standing on the other side.

"Minster?" Lavender asked him.

"Yes, I would like a word with Ms. Weasley." Kinsley told the blond, hoping to get an answer as to whether or not Ginny was actually there.

"Oh, of course, come in, come in." Lavender invited as she pushed Parvati out of the way. "I will get Ginny for you." And she went down a hallway leaving Kingsley in a sitting area that had a couple of well used sofas piled with brightly colored pillows. There were stacks of books and magazines sating on the shelves and side tables. It looked like a room that got used a lot. He sat down on the sofa to wait for Ginny. She didn't make him wait to long.

"Kingsley?" Ginny asked as way of a greeting when she walked into the room. She was as surprised as her flat mates to see him sitting in her flat.

"Ginny." Kingsley stood as she entered. "How are you doing?"

Surprised, Ginny cocked her head. "I'm good. Is there something I can do for you?" She didn't want to be rude, but she was really wondering what he was doing there.

"I need to talk to you about…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say in front of her friends. He knew they were keeping their relationship a secret. "Um…your guy." That seemed to be the safest way to refer to Harry.

"Is something wrong with Harry?" the brunett demanded.

Kingsley looked at her. "No, nothing is wrong. I didn't mean to worry you." So they did know, Kingsley thought to himself. "I am sorry, we have not been introduced."

"Oh," Ginny started. "Sorry about that. Kingsley, these are two of my flat mates, Parvati and Lavender."

"It is a pleasure to meet both of you."

"It really is a pleasure." Lavender told him as she and Parvati shook his hand.

"Ginny," Kingsley turned to her. "Is there someplace private we could talk?"

"Oh, you could talk here, Parvati and I were just about to head over to Dean's." She smiled sweetly at Kingsley, wanting to be accommodating to the Minister. Lavender pulled Parvati out the door. Ginny just shook her head at Lavender. And then turned to Kingsley and gestured to the couch.

When they were both settled, Ginny asked him, "What is going on with Harry?"

"Do you know where he was this afternoon?"

"No." Ginny told him truthfully. He hadn't told her what his plans were for the rest of the day when she left him that morning. She hadn't really thought about it.

"Well, he was at my office discussing his resignation." Kingsley told her with a straight face.

"Resignation of what?" Ginny asked him confused.

"His job. What else would it be?" Kingsley asked her, confused about her reaction

"His job? Harry quit his job?" She demanded, springing off the couch. "He loves his job. Why would he do this?"

"That is what I was wondering. He said that he didn't want to leave England anymore, and the only way he could do that is to resign." At this Ginny stopped pacing and stared at him. "Do you know why he would, all of the sudden, not want to leave England?"

"Oh, Merlin." Ginny sighed as she plopped down on the couch again and covered her face wit her hands. "Is that what he took me as saying? Merlin. That is not what I meant at all." She blew out her breath and looked at Kingsley through her fingers.

"Why don't you tell me what you said, and maybe we can figure out a way for me not to loose my best Auror."

At this, Ginny dropped her hands and glared at the minister. "Oh, yes, as long as you have your Auror it doesn't matter if Harry and I are together, does it?"

"Ginny," Kingsley said apologetically. "I didn't mean it like that. Harry is going to do everything to make sure that you are together. He is not going to let you go again. I just don't want him to resign because he feels it's the only way for you two to be together."

"I never asked him to quit his job!" Ginny said, annoyed. "I wouldn't do that. He can still be an Auror."

"Look, Ginny. I know what he means to you. I can see it. I also know what you mean to him. Neither of you are going to be happy without the other. Stop acting like you could survive without him."

"I have survived without him. Twice. " She took a deep breath. She really didn't want to get into an argument with Kingsley. They normally got along very well. They normally didn't discuss her and Harry's relationship. "I don't want to have to go through that again. We agreed this morning that we would start to date, and see how it works out. I thought I could see if I was strong enough to stay when he has to go on a mission. I didn't think he would do this."

"That makes two of us."

"Could you let me talk to him first? Before you process the papers and stuff of his resignation."

"Do you think that you could talk him out of this?"

"I think I can try to see what he is thinking, and maybe have us figure out what would work for our relationship. I can not promise that he will not resign."

"I am just asking you to talk to him. I don't want to loose him as an Auror. But he is more to me than that. He is a friend, and I want him happy."

"Alright, I should go find him." Ginny said as she and Kingsley got up from the couch. She showed him out and then went to find Harry.

She found him at his flat, doing what he had been doing earlier that afternoon, sitting in his office, looking around. When she walked in, he jumped up and went to her. Sweeping her up in his arms, still on the high of knowing her feelings for him, he kissed her.

"Well this is a wonderful surprise. I wasn't expecting you until later tonight." He sat her back down and kissed her again.

"It has been a day for surprises." Ginny told him as she followed him into the kitchen. "I got a visit at my flat just now from the Minster of Magic."

Harry spun around from the refrigerator he was searching through to look at her. "Kingsley went by your flat?"

"Yes he did. Do you know why?"

"I have some idea." Harry said, turning around to search the fridge again.

"Why did you resign?" Harry didn't say anything, he just moved some stuff around, keeping his back to her. "Harry, I think we should talk about this."

"Why?" he asked her, turning to face her again, a butterbeer in his hand. "I am no longer an Auror, what is there that we need to talk about?"

"Kingsley said that he hasn't processed it yet, so that means you still are an Auror. Talk to me about this." He didn't say anything again, so she continued. "Just this morning you talked about trying to get this to work. We are a couple now. I don't think you should make this decision without at least letting me know what you are thinking." Again, another silence, but still Harry said nothing, so she continued. "Or was all that just to continue our arrangement?"

"Of course it wasn't." Harry flared up. "How could you think I would lie to you about something like that?"

"I don't think that, Harry." She walked over, took his butterbeer and took a sip. "But you need to realize that we are a couple now. Why did you resign?" When he didn't answer her, she asked. "What are you going to do for money?"

This got him to smile at her. "I am a man of considerable personal wealth. I wouldn't exactly miss my government salary."

Ginny huffed out a breath. She didn't think about Harry's money often, their was no need to , but he was right, he probably would need a job his entire life. "Alright, fine. Why did you do this Harry?"

He leaned back against the counter. He wasn't sure how to get into this with her. "It is something I want to do, to ensure that I would not leave you again. Isn't that what you were so worried about this morning?" He looked at her as she handed the butterbeer back.

"Harry," she started, smiling at him. "You don't need to do that for me. "

"You said that you were afraid I would run off again. My job required me to, so I got rid of the job."

"Harry," she started again. She needed him to listen to her. "You don't need to quit your job. We are going to try a relationship, and that means that we have to work our lives into it."

Harry sighed and placed the butterbeer on the counter. "Come here." He said softly to her. She was a little surprised by this, but walked the short distance across the kitchen to him. He placed one hand gently on her hip and caressed her cheek with the other. He leaned in and nuzzled her nose with his, placing soft, lingering, promising kisses on her mouth. His hand slid around to her back and gently pulled her closer to him while his other hand slid to the back of her neck. He ran his nose down her jaw until he got to his favorite spot on her neck, where he gave her a soft, lingering kiss and whispered her name against her skin. She gave an involuntary shudder at this, causing him to pull her closer, while pulling his head back to look at her, still holding her neck and back. "I finally can hold you like this again, touch you like this. I am not going to let go now."

"You have held me for two months now. And you did it while you had a job." She told him.

"This is different," he leaned in a placed his cheek against hers. "I can only touch you like this knowing that I love you and that you love me. You wouldn't have let me touch you like this a week ago."

She sighed as she cuddled her face into his neck. He smelled so good, she wasn't sure what her point for being at his flat was. But she had to admit that he was right, this was different then it had been, now that their emotions were involved, touching him meant so much more. She pulled back to look at him. And then took a step out of his embrace, knowing that they would not be able to discuss this if they were that close. "I don't want you to quit your job because you think I will get scared off and leave you. I'm not going anywhere. We said that we were going to try."

"No, you're not going anywhere, are you?" The sides of his mouth went up at this.

"No, I'm not. Look, Harry. I have abandonment issues when it comes to you. And I know that they are not just in my head, I know that you did this to me." He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand to stop him and continued. "I know that you didn't do it on purpose, and I want to get over it. I don't want to be scared that you might need to go off and fight a new dark lord."

"I am not going to need to do that again. Seriously, what are the chances that another dark lord will, while attempting to kill me, transfer part of his soul to me?"

She smiled at this. "Pretty slim, considering that it is an incredibly small change that it would happen once, I think it happening twice would be even smaller."

"See, I am never going to need to leave you again."

"I see that, I am just going to have to get used to it. But Harry, seriously, you don't need to quit your job. Could you just give me some warning before you have to leave, and perhaps let me know how long you are going to be gone?"

"I guess I could do that. If you are sure you want me to do that."

"Yes, I want you to do that. I am going to get over that fear, and the way for that to happen is if you stay an Auror."

"Okay, I will tell Kingsley to tear up my resignation. If you are sure." He asked her again.

She placed her hands on his face and kissed him. "I'm sure." He twirled his fingers in her hair, enjoying how smooth it felt. "Do you know when you are going to have to go again?"

"No. Right now I am not on any case that would require it." They were quiet for a while, Harry stroking her hair, while she laid her head on his chest. After a while harry broke the silence. "What do you want to do tonight? I mean, do you want to go on a date? Or do you have plans?"

She laughed a little at how nervous he was. They hadn't made a plan for their first date that morning; they had just agreed that they would go on one. Ginny didn't think it would be tonight. She just thought that they would she would come over at their usual time, but now that she was here, it seemed like a good idea. "I don't have plans; it would be fun to go out."

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know. " She realized that she didn't know any places in the muggle world.

"How about I choose then? Maybe dinner?" He asked glancing at the clock.

"Sounds good. How about something Italian? I could go for some pasta."

"Italian it is, then. Do you need to go back to your flat to change?"

Ginny looked down at her jeans and paint splattered t shirt. "Yeah, I would like to look nicer for our first date."

"You look beautiful, Love. As always." She smiled at him and then kissed him and turned to leave. "Okay, I will pick you up at your flat in 30 minutes."

"See you then, Ace." She grinned. "And don't forget to owl Kingsley, he's worried about you." With that she left him to get ready for their fist date.