Chapter Ten

When Ginny went back to work on Wednesday morning, George was strangely quiet. Not "strangely quiet" in the sense that it was strange that he was quiet; Ginny had seen that before. "Strangely quiet" on this particular Wednesday meant "acting strange while being quiet." And "strange" for George was different from "strange" for everyone else. Although he wouldn't talk to Ginny, he kept winking at her from across the shop or from the top of the ladders. He would occasionally laugh, as if he couldn't control it, and like a girl giggling in a test he would stifle it as quickly as he could.

After five absolutely irritating minutes, Ginny snapped. She spun around at the counter, where she was working, to face George up on the second floor, where he was snickering. "What is so funny, George?" she practically shouted, scaring a young woman who was shyly browsing the love potions.

"Oh, nothing, Ginevra," responded George, his voice just slightly sing-song. "Hermione just stopped in, that's all."

Ginny slowly turned away from her brother, trying to think of what Hermione could have said to make George so cheerful. She decided on the waiting strategy; although she'd have to endure a bit more sniggering and chortling, eventually George would let something out and she could pry the story out of him.

It didn't take as long as she expected. Within fifteen minutes of giggling and sneaking around as if he were hiding from Ginny, George suddenly appeared next to her behind the counter. "Hermione wanted me to tell you that she couldn't make it on Thursday," he said, barely restrained laughter in his voice. "So it'll just be you and Oliver."

Ginny could barely stand the tone George took on in his last sentence. "For Christ's sake, George, what's so amusing about that?"

"Oh, nothing," George sighed, throwing a jovial arm over his sister's shoulder. "It's just like having the old Ginny back, the Ginny who had a new man every week. I mean," he added, furrowing his brow at her, "before Harry came along, you were exciting! It's like old times again."

Although George laughed again and walked off to stock another shelf or help another customer, Ginny stood still, rooted to place for a moment. She rested her hand against the counter, feeling a little light-headed. Had she gotten boring because of Harry? Granted, she had felt pretty average and routine lately, but really, had it been years? Ginny didn't like to think that her personal interest began and ended with the men she dated, but it might for George. Brothers were like that, even the good ones.

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She had found someone she was happy with and that wasn't something to be ashamed of or feel bored with. And yet… she was a little bored. Everything was pretty routine. She hadn't really thought of it as being connected with Harry; in fact she was happy with him. Granted, sometimes, their tastes clashed as Harry came home from work and just wanted to hang out and Ginny wanted to go out, but that wasn't that big of a deal. They made do and compromised, that was what any couple would do.

Right?

Ginny sighed. There was work to be done, and her pondering would have to wait until she went home that night.

When Ginny finally got home - she had gone to George's house for dinner to keep him company since Alicia was away and ended up staying to watch some film George had found - Harry was snoring on the couch, a pile of papers at his feet and a spilled bottle of ink leaking onto his shirt from its perch on the arm of the couch. Ginny smiled fondly, picking up the ink and casting a cleaning charm on his shirtsleeve before gently waking him up.

Bleary-eyed, Harry looked up at her, gradually focusing on her face and smiling sleepily. "Hi, baby," he said, pulling her face down to kiss her. "Sorry I fell asleep. And sorry for my breath."

"It's fine," Ginny said, smiling. "You're a little smelly but that's fine. I probably am too; I had a beer over at George's place while we watched some art house picture that George made fun of."

"Cute." Harry smiled, blinking slowly. He kept blinking for a moment before Ginny took action.

"Come on, Harry, let's go to bed, you big baby," she said, grabbing his hand and yanking until he stood up, wobbling a little before finding a balance on his feet.

"So forceful," Harry murmured, chuckling, his voice slurred with exhaustion. "That's hot."

"Were you drinking?" Ginny asked doubtfully, slinging Harry's arm over her shoulders and leading him up the stairs. "You seem a little unsteady."

"Nope," Harry said, his voice slightly clearer as he took control of his faculties. "Just the post-nap grogginess, you know. I've got to work in the morning and I guess my body knew it."

"Yeah, I've got work too," Ginny replied. "In fact, babe, I wanted to talk to you real quick about that. I didn't think you'd be asleep already though."

"No, I'm awake," Harry said, leaning against the frame of their bedroom door and running a hand through his sleep-tousled hair. "Lay it on me, darling."

Ginny smiled. Harry really was so cute sometimes. "I just wanted to say I probably won't be around much tomorrow. I've got work all day, and then I'm grabbing dinner with Hermione before we go to painting. After class... we're going for drinks."

Ginny wasn't sure why she left out the fact that it would only be her and Oliver. She guessed it was probably because it wasn't a big deal at all. The second she thought that it felt like a rationalization, but she pushed it aside.

"I knew that already, babe," Harry said. "I'll be in the office all day, remember? That damn fire really messed things up as far as paperwork was concerned. Not a lot was damaged but wizards aren't really known for their thorough records and numerous backup copies. We've got to go through all the Pensieve entries and match them to files to figure out which ones were lost. Sometimes my job really is the worst, Ginny," he finished with a sigh, and stumbled through the room and flopped onto the bed, stretching diagonally across the duvet.

Ginny smiled and stripped off her jeans, climbing into bed next to her boyfriend and kissing his nose. "Just making sure we knew the plan, baby," she said. "I didn't want to scare you or anything if I didn't turn up."

Harry smiled, eyes closed already. "Thanks, honey," he said. "Have fun tomorrow. Paint me something lovely."

"I'll try, babe," Ginny replied. "Good night."