A/N: There are only two more chapters after this and they are already written! Thanks to Jonelle, my beta for helping me with this and all my friends at LJ who have helped make this a better story.
Chapter Three—Memorable and Affectionate
December 26, 1999- Memorable
The next morning, Ginny gathered the boxes of food and gifts that she had collected over the past few weeks to take to the orphanage that Harry had helped the Ministry start after the war. This was something she hoped would become a tradition for them every year. Looking over the amount of boxes, she realized that it would take several trips to get it all there and she was supposed to go by Harry's first. She thought it over before deciding to go retrieve Harry to get him to help her carry everything. Smiling, she stepped to the Floo and after grabbing the Floo powder, called "Grimmauld Place."
She stepped into the kitchen and was in awe once again over the changes that had been wrought since her first glimpse of it. Light streamed in, making it look much brighter than in years past. Kreacher scurried over to her.
"Would Mistress like tea?" Kreacher asked.
"Oh, thank you, Kreacher, but no. I've already had my breakfast this morning and Harry and I really need to get going. Thank you, though," Ginny responded. Kreacher just bowed to her before continuing with his cleaning of the kitchen.
"Kreacher! Have you seen my other shoe?" Harry called. Kreacher disappeared with a crack. Ginny just giggled at the thought of Harry not being able to find anything in his room. Not that she had seen his room here yet, but she just remembered the state of Ron's room during Harry's visits.
After a few moments of Ginny reliving moments in this kitchen, she turned to see Harry wearing yet another Weasley jumper with jeans.
"Goodness, Harry, is that all you own? Weasley jumpers and jeans? I'm sure that's not what you wear to work," Ginny said with a chuckle.
"But I'm not going to work now, am I?" he retorted. "So what's the word for today? Should I try to guess?"
"Sure. I'd be willing to bet that you couldn't possibly come up with the word," Ginny said cheekily, grinning at him.
"Oh, betting me, eh? Name your terms." Harry's eyes sparkled at her.
"If you don't guess it in five tries, then I get to dress you for our day on Tuesday and you have to do whatever I say, no question. Well, you can ask questions, but I might not give you the right answers. But if you manage to guess it, then you get to plan our last day together and I'll completely scrap my plans," Ginny replied.
"You're on. How long do I have to try and guess?" Harry questioned. Ginny shrugged.
"Why not make your guesses now? Go ahead and get it over with. That way I can start thinking about what all we'll do on Tuesday," Ginny rejoined with a waggle of her eyebrows.
"All right. First guess is caring," Harry stated confidently.
"Um. Four more guesses." Ginny shook her head while biting her lip, trying her hardest not to laugh.
Harry thought for a moment. "Boxes."
Ginny just looked at him before bursting out in laughter. "Definitely not. Three more."
Harry gave her a pitiful look as if he needed help before sliding over to her and running his fingers up her arm. "Ginny, don't you want to give me a hint? Just one little hint?"
"No. I want to win this bet," she responded.
Harry sighed before running his hand through his hair. He snapped his fingers and said, "Family."
Her heart was in her throat at that, but she knew that now was not the time to get into that or their disagreement. She deliberately made herself keep it light-hearted. "Awww, how sweet. But no. Two more guesses," Ginny whispered, affectionately kissing his nose.
Harry went deep into thought before adding, "Magical."
"Dearest Harry, don't you know every day is that for us?" Ginny said with her tongue in her cheek. "One more guess, my love. Make it count."
"Will you tell me what it starts with at least?" Harry said, trying to use the puppy dog eyes on her. She rolled hers at him before crossing her arms over her chest, shaking her head at him.
"Don't think you can get away with that, Potter. No hints!" Ginny stood firm.
"Oh all right. One would think that if someone really, really loved them, that they would be willing to help them in whatever way possible," Harry cajoled. "But I guess that's not true in this case." He sniffed before turning away from Ginny.
"Tut, tut, resorting to guilt to get me to give you a hint so you could win? Now dry your eyes and guess. We don't have all day. We do have plans, you know," she said with a smirk worthy of a Slytherin.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked.
"Guess, Harry."
He harrumphed before saying, "Creative."
Ginny just smiled widely as she tossed her arms around Harry's neck before giving him a peck. "Sorry, my love. Today's word is memorable, not creative. Now we need to move so we can take everything from my flat to the orphanage today."
"How much stuff do we have to take?" Harry asked.
"Well, quite a bit actually. Come on, it's best if you just see what all we need to carry." They travelled via the Floo to her flat. As usual, Harry ended up on his bottom in front of the fireplace. Ginny just giggled before gesturing towards the boxes that covered her couch and her set of chairs.
"You could have just called Kreacher, you know," Harry said, once he had stopped goggling over the amount of stuff that they were taking to the orphanage.
"But Kreacher is your house-elf, not mine. Why would he respond to me?" Ginny questioned.
"Because you're my girl, of course." Ginny wasn't sure how much she liked being called a girl, but she loved being called his. Harry ended up calling for Kreacher and getting him to ferry the packages over to the J. L. SCRAFTS Sanctuary.
"Gin," She could tell that Harry was confused about something from the tone in his voice. "You said the word for today is memorable. In what way?"
Ginny looked away from him for a moment before sliding her gaze back to him. "I was hoping to start a tradition with you of visiting the orphanage on Boxing Day and spending the day with the children. It would be memorable in the fact that it's the first time we'll have done that particular tradition."
"That's a wonderful plan, Ginny." Harry smiled at her, filling her with warmth at the knowledge that Harry was really planning to spend forever with her. "Shall we go see the children then?" he asked, offering her in his arm. Wordlessly, she took his arm, making sure to help him out of the Floo without mishap.
Ginny was totally unprepared for the reception that Harry would receive once the children discovered that he was there. A small head had peeked around the doorway at the sound of the Floo. Once the owner had determined it was Harry, a voice rang out, "Harry's here!" At this point, small feet pounded the floor in an effort to reach him first. Ginny was separated from him rather quickly, but instead of worrying about it, she backed her way to the wall to watch. The children vied for his attention, seeking hugs and reassurance. A woman Ginny knew from her occasional visits to be the floor mother made her way toward Ginny.
"Oh, the children are so excited that Mr. Potter is here. They worried that he wouldn't make it this week," the slightly older witch said.
"This week?" Ginny asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Oh, yes, hasn't Mr. Potter told you? He visits at least one day every week," she responded before going to relieve Harry of some of the children that was hanging from his neck and back. Ginny wondered how it was that she never knew that her boyfriend came here every week. While they weren't completely inseparable, they did spend quite a lot of time together. Yet, she never knew this about him. How much more would she learn about this memorable man?
December 27, 1999--Affectionate
The next morning Ginny awoke to a strange owl sitting stock still on her bedpost. She immediately looked around her room to make sure the owl was the only visitor. Living in the Muggle world, Ginny had, with Hermione's help, concocted a way for owls to get into her apartment so they wouldn't be seen. She just wanted to make sure that no one else had found that way in. Seeing no one, she called the bird to her and slipped off the note tied to its leg.
Ginny,
I'm so sorry, love, but I've been called into work. I'll try to get done as quickly as I can, but I'm not sure when that will be. I'll come by once I am finished.
Love,
Harry
Ginny sighed, knowing that if she planned on being with Harry (which she did), that she would have to get used to plans being interrupted. Luckily, the plans she had made for today were very flexible as it involved nothing more than a cuddle session on her couch while watching a film.
As her plans were disrupted, Ginny spent the morning getting her chores done, knowing that she had been letting them pile up while she spent time with Harry. She even managed to slip away to Diagon Alley to pick out Harry's outfit for the next day as well as the supplies that would be needed for the rest of her plans. It wasn't long after lunch that she fell asleep on her couch, waiting to see if her boyfriend would show up for the day. As usual, her dreams featured one Harry Potter.
Ginny awoke, trying to figure out where her dream ended and reality began. A large callused hand ran its fingers through her long hair, which was no longer in the ponytail that had contained it before her nap. Turning her head to look up, she saw wide, thick lashed green eyes gazing down at her. Her head was lying on a pillow in Harry's lap.
She sat up, stretching her arms wide. "When did you get here? Why didn't you wake me?"
"You were just too cute to wake up. Besides, I like watching you sleep. It helps calm me." His hand had followed her and continued along its path through her hair with Harry watching the red strands spill through his fingers before restarting the process. "Your hair is so gorgeous, Ginny. Please don't ever cut it."
"I wouldn't," she responded. "I like it long too much. It's easier to plait that way for matches."
Silently she relished the play of Harry's fingers. If it soothed him even half as much as it did her, then she would allow him to do it whenever he wanted.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't here earlier. My work…" He allowed his voice to lapse into silence as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Harry, I don't want you to feel like you ever have to choose between your work and me. I know what you do is important in so many ways. You don't have to apologize," Ginny responded, laying her hand on his elbow.
"Gin, about what I said the other night…" Harry started before Ginny put her hand over his mouth.
"Harry, it's okay," she said very quietly. "You don't have to explain. I know you think of my family as yours."
"But—" he tried to continue. Ginny just stood and crossed to her telly. Slipping the movie into the VCR, she popped back over to the couch to cuddle up under Harry's arm.
"What are we watching?" Harry asked, giving up on trying to discuss their fight from earlier.
"Ever After. One of my teammates recommended it. Apparently it's based on a 'fairy tale' or something," Ginny replied, slightly confused about what exactly a fairy tale was.
Harry explained while the previews were on. All through the movie, Ginny made sure to touch Harry in some way. At first, she started by holding his hand that he had thrown over her shoulder. With her thumb, she rubbed little circles on the back of his hand. Apparently, Harry felt that distracted him too much as he slowly pulled his hand away from hers and placed his on the back of the couch.
She watched him adjust his trousers and placed her hand on the knee of his khakis, smirking. Watching Danielle argue with the prince, Ginny traced figure eights on Harry's knee with her forefinger slowly inching her way up his thigh with every few passes her fingers made. When her fingers got about halfway up his thigh, he reached over and grabbed her hand to hold it steady in his.
Splitting her attention between the movie and teasing Harry, she moved her head into the hollow of his neck. Ginny rubbed her hair against his cheek before turning to feather kisses along his jaw. He turned his head to look down at her, trying to look harsh. Ginny knew, however, that he wasn't upset. On the contrary, he was quite happy with her attentions.
Realizing that he had let go of her hand, she turned her head back toward the screen before sliding her hand across his belly to slip it under his shirt. She began to toy with his belt buckle, moving it back and forth. Then, as she felt braver, she started to unbuckle it. Harry shot up off the couch.
"Gin," he said, struggling to catch his breath. "Is today's word naughty or something?"
"No," she replied with a smirk. "That's tomorrow." Harry blanched. "Today's word is affectionate."
