Chapter 23: trying to find time

Ginny stumbled out of the fireplace of the flat she now shared with Harry. Practice that day had been intense and then Gwenog had pulled them all aside for a meeting that had run late. She looked around the flat and found Harry asleep on the sofa. Apparently he had tried to wait up for her again. As expected, when she quietly made her way into the kitchen, she found that he had left a plate of dinner on the counter with a warming charm cast on it. He had been doing the same thing every night she came home late. Ginny sighed as she sat down at the table and picked up her fork.

'Late practice?', asked Harry sleepily as he walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

'Yea', said Ginny. 'Why don't you go on to bed? I'll be there in a minute.'

'Okay', said Harry. He bent down to give her a quick kiss and then stumbled back to the bedroom, still half asleep.

It had been almost two weeks since Ginny moved into Harry's flat and between Ginny's late practices and the few short missions Harry had gone on, it seemed like they never saw each other.

Ginny quickly finished her dinner and placed her plate in the sink before heading back to the bedroom. Harry was already fast asleep when she crawled under the blankets. She had one more practice to make it through before the weekend. Gwenog had given the team the weekend off since they didn't have a game this week so hopefully she would finally get to spend some time with Harry.

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Harry awoke early the next morning. He only vaguely remembered Ginny coming home the previous night. He had been having a very busy week at work. Several of the Death Eaters not captured in May had been wreaking havoc in a few muggle communities. Luckily, this particular group of Death Eaters weren't very smart so no one was injured. The muggles involved all had their memories modified and the Death Eaters were now safely locked away in Azkaban.

Harry rolled over in bed to face Ginny who was still sound asleep. He knew she had been having an exhausting week as well. On the nights her practices ran late, he had tried to wait up for her, even though she had told him not to. He lay there for some time watching her sleep, longing to stay in bed with her. Unfortunately, he had to go to the Ministry today to finish his report for Valentine, and who knows how long that would take.

Harry propped himself up to look at the alarmclock on Ginny's bedside table and groaned. If he didn't get a move on, he would be late for work. He looked back down at Ginny and sighed before rolling out of bed and quietly making his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

As quietly as he could, he made his way to the dresser to dig out a pair of boxers with a towel wrapped haphazardly around his waist.

'Do you really have to go to work today?', asked Ginny sleepily as she sat up in bed. Startled, Harry jumped, the towel slipping to the ground.

'Nice view though', she said, tilting her head to the side. Harry hastily bent down to retrieve the towel and turned to face her.

'I didn't wake you, did I?', he asked.

'Yea, but that's okay. I have to get to practice in a few hours', said Ginny. 'So, do you really have to go in already?'

'I have to finish that report for Valentine', said Harry, slipping into a pair of boxers before rummaging for a pair of clean jeans. 'What time do you think you'll be home tonight?', he asked.

'No idea. Hopefully I won't be too late. We have the weekend off, did I tell you that?', said Ginny.

'Really?', asked Harry, pulling a t-shirt over his head.

'Yea. I was thinking we could do something this weekend. Just the two of us.'

'That would be great', said Harry. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his trainers. Ginny crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. 'Maybe we could go to dinner. Or stay in', she said.

'That would be nice. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages', said Harry.

'I know', said Ginny. 'How important is that report? Do you think you could stay home for a few more hours?', she asked.

Harry took a deep breath and let in out slowly. 'As much as I want to, I can't. If I don't get that report finished, Valentine will have my head.'

'Fine. But I get you all to myself this weekend', she said.

'Deal', said Harry, standing up and bending down to give her a quick kiss. 'I'll see you tonight', he added. He walked over to his bedside table and picked up his wand before turning on the spot. Once he disappeared, Ginny slumped back down into her pillow and groaned. Just get through practice today and you'll have the whole weekend with him, she thought to herself. Sighing, she rolled out of bed to get showered and dressed for the day.

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'Here's that report', said Harry as he stepped into Valentine's office.

Valentine looked up at Harry over the rims of his glasses. 'Just sit them there', he said, indicating an empty spot on his desk.

'Is there anything else?', asked Harry.

Valentine stood from his desk and walked over to one of the many filing cabinets that lined the walls of his office and pulled open one of the drawers. 'Here's the trial list for the captured Death Eaters. Kingsley wanted me to give you the schedule to look over since you're testifying at quite a few of them next week', he said, handing Harry a few sheets of parchment.

'Thank you sir', said Harry, taking the schedules and turning to leave the office.

'One other thing, Potter. I want you to grab Peters and go over to the Obliviator's department for a training class for the rest of the day', said Valentine.

'Yes sir', said Harry. He made his way back over to his desk and tucked the trial schedule in his desk drawer.

'Come on Peters. Training class', said Harry.

Peters, who had been playing solitaire with a deck of muggle cards, looked up at Harry. 'Now?', he asked.

'Yea', said Harry. 'Come on.'

'And I was winning', whined Peters as he scooped up the cards and tossed them into his desk drawer.

'You were playing solitaire. Of course you were winning', said Harry, shaking his head. 'Now come on. We don't want to be late', he added.

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Ginny dismounted her broom in the center of the quidditch pitch. Pushing her hair out of her face she joined the rest of her team. 'Good flying today', said Gweong. 'Get plenty of rest this weekend because we have a big game next week. Now go hit the showers and get out of here.'

Ginny smiled. Maybe now she would get some quality time with Harry. She made her way into the changing rooms deep in thought.

'Hey Ginny! What are you doing this weekend?', asked Becca, bringing Ginny back to the present.

'Huh? Oh . . . this weekend? Hanging out with Harry', said Ginny.

'Can't say I blame you there', said Becca. 'If I was dating Harry Potter, I'd never let him out of my sights.'

'Shut up, Becca', said Liz, the team's seeker. 'I'm sure Ginny's tired of you talking about her boyfriend like he's a piece of meat', she added.

'We sure are', added Khara, who played beater.

Ginny turned to hide her smile. Becca was an excellent keeper, but she had a way of getting on everyone's nerves. When she heard Becca storm out of the changing room she turned to Liz. 'Thanks', she said.

'Your welcome', said Liz. 'I've been wanting to say something to her for a while now. I'm actually surprised you haven't.'

'I wanted to, but I didn't want to since I'm new on the team and all', said Ginny. 'And since I was living with her', she added.

'No worries', said Khara. 'You should have seen her the first time she met Gwenog. She gets a bit . . . star struck I guess you could say.'

Ginny laughed. 'Well thanks', she said. 'I'll see you guys on Monday.'

'See ya', said Liz.

'Yea, see ya', said Khara.

Ginny made her way out of the changing room and to the apparition point. She turned on the spot and reappeared a moment later in her and Harry's flat. Abby was waiting on her perch with a letter tied to her leg.

'Whatcha got there?', asked Ginny, untying the letter. It was from Harry.

Gin-

I might be home late tonight. Training class. I'm so sorry, I promise I'll make it up to you. Don't wait up.

Love,

Harry

Ginny groaned and flopped down on the sofa, tossing the letter on the side table. 'I guess it's just you and me', she said to the owl.

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Harry sighed when he looked at his watch. It was already after eight. He knew that on days Ginny had practice she normally fell asleep early. He quickly made his way back to his desk and grabbed his jacked off the back of his chair before dashing to the lifts. Once in the Atrium, he darted to the apparition point and turned on the spot. When he reappeared in his flat a moment later, he found Ginny curled up on the sofa, fast asleep. I knew it, he thought. He hung his jacket up by the door and walked over to Ginny, gently waking her.

'Come on Gin. Come back to bed', he said softly.

'Hmmm'

'Come to bed', he repeated.

Ginny slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. 'What time is it', she asked.

'Just after nine', said Harry.

'I'm sorry Harry. I'm just so exhausted', said Ginny.

'Don't apologize.'

'But . . .'

'Gin, we have the whole weekend to ourselves. Don't worry about it. I'm actually quite exhausted tonight myself', said Harry.

'Did you eat dinner?', asked Ginny.

'Yea. They brought food in for us. You?'

'Yea', said Ginny through a yawn.

'All right, come on', said Harry, dragging her to her feet. 'Lets get you into bed. I'm just going to grab a quick shower.'

'Okay. Love you', said Ginny.

'Love you too.'

They both fell asleep that night looking forward to their weekend together.

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A/N: What should Harry and Ginny do during their weekend off together? Any suggestions?

Oh, and like always . . . Please review! :)