In the confining space of the laundry room Ginny was moving her school uniforms and robes from the washer into the dryer when Harry appeared bearing a heap of dirty clothing. "Sorry Ginny," he said as he nearly collided with her, not being able to see well over the bundle he carried, "I didn't realize anyone was in here."

"Just finishing up my laundry for school," Ginny told him.

"Me too," Harry said, "Is the washer open?"

"Yep, all finished," Ginny said as she pulled the last of her robes from the washer.

Harry dumped the entire armload of clothes into the washer and started the water running. Ginny was bent over the dryer cleaning off the lint screen when Harry's hip brushed alluringly across her bottom as he reached past her for the laundry soap. Ginny finished her task, straightened and watched Harry appraisingly as he added soap to the washer. After a quick glimpse out into the hall Ginny closed the door and returned her gaze to Harry. When he finally closed the washer's lid he turned and seeing the closed door and Ginny leaning against it studying him, understood her intentions. Without a word he closed the small gap between them and wrapped her in his embrace, lowering his lips to hers and moving his hands to twine in her hair. She slid her hands up his chest beneath his tee-shirt tantalizingly. His hands moved to the summery blouse she was wearing today and deftly began opening buttons. Her hands moved to his jeans where she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants before slipping a hand inside. He moved to unhook her bra but before he made it there her hand wrapped around him and he hissed in amazed surprise, "Ginny!"

"Ginny," Harry said again as he shook her arm. He needed to leave now but wanted to say good-bye first.

"Harry," Ginny practically moaned.

Harry confused by her tone lit his wand and pointed it closer to her face, her eyes were still firmly shut, was she dreaming? "Ginny," he said loudly shaking her arm, almost roughly.

Her eyes flickered open and upon seeing Harry a deep blush colored her skin. Quickly her embarrassment was replaced by fear, understanding that there must be something wrong for Harry to be waking her at five in the morning. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"I have to go," Harry said, "Kingsley sent an urgent message. I am the only available Auror to go out on a quick mission with Noah."

"Now?" Ginny asked, sounding panicked.

"Right now," Harry said, "But I wanted to come say good-bye." He bent toward her and kissed her. "I love you, talk to you soon."

"I love you too," Ginny said, "Do you have your dog tags?"

"Yes," Harry said as he hurried to the door, "Bye."

"When will you be back?" Ginny called.

"Hopefully later today, sometime tomorrow at the latest," Harry said. He pulled her door shut behind him.

Ginny lay awake for nearly an hour before sitting up and turning on her light to knit. Her mind was buzzing with questions about this current mission. 'Did it have anything to do with the last mission? Why was Harry the only Auror available? Had Noah specifically requested Harry? How dangerous was what they were doing today?' She wanted him to be happy but she hated that his job always left her feeling left behind and worried. Around six thirty, an hour and a half since he'd left, she felt her eyes beginning to grow heavy so she set the knitting aside and pull the covers back over her. She let the weight of sleep pull her back into dreaming almost immediately.

His hand returned to the hooks of her bra and he struggled with them for nearly a minute before moving his mouth to her ear and asking huskily, "Help me? Please." Ginny's mouth returned to his as she moved her free hand to her back and effortlessly opened her bra. His hands quickly slid up her stomach and cupped her breasts after brushing aside the loose bra. She removed her hand from his pants long enough to rid herself of the blouse and the bra. Harry was nimbly handling her left breast in his hand while his mouth carefully circled her right nipple. Ginny's hand froze around him as her head fell back and a moan of pleasure escaped her lips. 'Ginny?' her mother's voice asked from outside the laundry room door.

"Ginny?" Molly called before opening the bedroom door and letting herself in.

Again Ginny felt a traitorous blush creep up her neck to her face, "Mum?" she asked, "It's only seven in the morning. I don't have to get up yet do I?"

"No, of course not dear," Molly soothed, "I saw a note from Harry in the kitchen saying he was called out on a mission. Did you see him off?"

"He came in to say good-bye, but I didn't go downstairs with him," Ginny said.

"What time did he leave?" Molly asked.

"Five," Ginny said as she sat up in bed and rubbed her stiff neck.

"Ginny, are you okay? You are very flushed," Molly said, placing a hand to Ginny's forehead.

Ginny shook off her Mum's hand saying, "I'm fine."

"Alright," Molly said, "Go back to sleep then."

Molly left the room and again Ginny lie awake worrying about Harry and thinking over the nature of the dreams she'd had. She lay in bed for half an hour hoping to fall asleep and reenter the delicious dream world she'd just left. When it became apparent that sleep was not likely to come again she rose from her bed and gathered some clean clothes to take up to the bathroom.

In the mirror Ginny caught sight of her pinkish tinge. Her face was flushed and the freckled skin of her neck and shoulders were too, in blotchy patches. No wonder her Mum thought she was ill. Ginny stripped off her damp nightgown and knickers and stepped into the nearly cold shower. She shivered in the cool spray and could feel that the ache of desire in her core was not relenting. She shampooed her hair and washed her face. She lathered up a washcloth with soap and began trailing it along her wet curves. She closed her eyes and pretended it was his hands and not her own as she traced her most intimate parts. She let her mind wander back to the dreams of earlier this morning and touched herself with an urgency unlike she'd ever known. It was probably lucky that Harry wasn't home because if he was she might not have been able to control her urges.

Twenty minutes later, feeling well satisfied and much calmer she went down to the kitchen for breakfast.

"I thought you went back to sleep?" Molly asked as she quickly tried to hide the trashy muggle romance novel she was reading at the table.

"I tried, but couldn't get back to sleep so I decided that I'd just get up instead," Ginny replied.

"It's hard on you when he is away, isn't it?" Molly asked.

"Very," Ginny said, "I know he is perfectly capable of handling himself, but things could still go wrong. Probably the worst part is the not knowing who he is after or where he is…all the unknowns."

"Maybe when he's finished school he'll get a different sort of job," Molly suggested.

"I doubt it. Being an Auror is like second nature to him, I don't think he could be satisfied by any other job," Ginny said, "And I would never ask him to."

"I wasn't suggesting you should ask him to," Molly said, "It would be like me asking your father to give up all his muggle fascinations."

"Exactly," Ginny said as she helped herself to a plate of eggs and sausage and a cup of tea before settling across the table from her mother.

Molly studied her daughter, she would be seventeen this summer but seemed somehow older than that. She supposed it was the war; it forced everyone to grow up faster than they should have needed to. One year of school left and then what; suddenly Molly needed to know, "Are you and Harry making plans?"

"Plans for what?" Ginny asked.

"To be married?" Molly asked. She watched carefully as Ginny's face morphed from surprised to secretive. "I only ask because I know how fast things can happen in times like this. I can see on your face how in love you are. When your father and I got married we eloped, I'd hate it if you didn't allow your family to be part of your big day."

Ginny was unsure if she should divulge any of what she and Harry had been talking about or not. She decided hastily that until she knew what Harry's thoughts were about sharing their plans she'd keep it to herself. "We haven't discussed it," Ginny said as she kept her eyes riveted on her tea cup.

Molly wasn't fooled, but if she was being honest she would have been surprised if Ginny had spilled anything to her. "Just promise me that when you and Harry do get married we will all get to be there to see it."

"Of course," Ginny said, "Of course."

As Ginny sat eating her breakfast an owl appeared at the kitchen window and knocked carefully with its beak. Ginny opened the window and accepted a letter postmarked from Australia.

Dear Ginny,

Ron and I are still searching for my parents. When I set the memory charm I must not have put enough emphasis on what they were to call themselves so I could find them again. Ron and I are visiting any dentists in the phone book that have names similar to what I suggested. There are lots of dentists in Australia and I'm sure we will find them soon. Has Harry returned from his mission? If he has he should write and tell Ron and me all about it. Have you been to the shop to help Percy and George yet? How are things coming along for them? Give everyone love from Ron and I. We hope to see you all soon.

Love,

Hermione (and Ron)

Ginny fetched a sheet of blank parchment, a quill and some ink to respond immediately.

Dear Hermione and Ron,

I am sorry to hear that it is taking so long to find your parents. I hope that they will turn up soon. Maybe you should also be looking for names that are similar to what their names were before…just a thought. Harry returned from his first mission a day early and this morning got called out on another one. It sounds like this one should be shorter than the first one was. I will have him write to you two about his work when he returns. I did spend a little time at the shop during Harry's first mission; they didn't need a lot of help then. I will have to go see if they need any help today; it will help pass the time while Harry is away. The day after Harry got home he took me out on a proper date. We had dinner and saw a movie in London. It was a lot of fun and when you guys are back we should all go on a double date.

Hope to see you back here soon – it is too quiet without you.

Love, Ginny

Ginny sent the letter off with the family owl before fire calling Percy and George at the shop to see if they needed her help with anything. At the moment they didn't have anything but if she wanted to drop in after lunch they would try to find some things she could help with. Lunchtime was still hours away, what was she going to do with herself until then? Suddenly the dog tags under her shirt burned. Ginny pulled them out and read, "Gin, Still safe and sound, this mission shouldn't be a problem. What exactly were you dreaming about this morning when I came to say good-bye to you? Love, H."

Ginny blushed hotly, she hadn't realized that he'd noticed that she'd been having a sexy dream about the two of them. Thinking for a moment she wrote back, "Harry, I think you already guessed what I was dreaming about or you wouldn't be asking. Hoping to see you soon. Love, Ginny."

"I may have guessed but I would like to hear some details, please. Stake out duty is boring. Love, H." He responded.

Blushing Ginny wrote, "You…Me…laundry room…sans clothing…that's all I'm giving you. Use your imagination. Love, Ginny."

Ginny expected to receive a message back full of teasing or wit but it didn't come. Deciding to assume that the mark had appeared and he had to take action Ginny wandered out to the garden to soak up some of the summer sun. She was contemplating going for a fly on Harry's broom when the tags burned again. With a chuckle she pulled them from beneath her shirt prepared for Harry's ribbing on her behalf but instead read, "Ginny, This is Noah. Harry has been injured; meet us at St. Mungo's ASAP." Ginny's knees felt weak and her stomach lurched. When she was sure that she wasn't going to be sick Ginny ran full speed back into the house and shouted, "Mum, Harry's been hurt, we have to go to St. Mungo's now."

Molly burst out of the laundry room with a grim expression on her face. She took Ginny by the arm and as they dashed out into the garden to apparate she said, "It's okay dear, everything will be just fine."

When they arrived at St. Mungo's Molly marched up to the desk stepping in front of the long line that was already assembled and told the administration witch, "We're here to see Auror Potter."

Despite the grumbles and protestations behind them the witch said, "Certainly, he was just admitted, please take the second lift to the fifth floor and wait in the Ministry Staff waiting room and someone will be with you shortly."

Molly and Ginny proceeded to the fifth floor and found two seats together in the Ministry Staff waiting room. Arthur burst through the door a short time later and upon seeing them said, "Oh good, you're here. I tried fire calling the Burrow to let you know but no one seemed to be home. How did you find out?"

Ginny pulled the dogs tags from beneath her shirt and explained to her parents the system by which she and Harry had been communicating while he was away on missions. "He must have explained them to Noah because this is how Noah contacted me," Ginny said.

"Very clever," Arthur said as he studied the tags. "Where did you get these?"

"From your shed," Ginny said sheepishly, "Sorry, we should have asked."

"No, its fine, I have loads of whatever these things are," Arthur said.

Just then a witch entered the waiting room and called for the family of Auror Potter. Arthur, Molly and Ginny stood and approached the witch. With them following her she started down a hallway. "Auror Potter is going to be just fine. He was admitted with a broken arm, multiple contusions and a mild concussion. Auror Irvine is with Auror Potter and can explain to you what happened." She stopped and opened the door to Harry's room for them.

Harry was asleep in his bed but looked fine. His broken arm and cuts had been magically healed. "His concussion is mild, but because of the dizziness they decided to give him a sleeping potion. Being dizzy was making him sick to his stomach. I'm Noah Irvine," Noah said as he stepped forward to shake hands with all of them.

"What happened?" Ginny asked.

"We were sent back to Greece to try and apprehend Lucius Malfoy when he arrived to meet with Cerbus. I was to use polyjuice to take on Cerbus' appearance and Harry was to wait in the shadows until my signal to stun him. Cerbus and Lucius must have orchestrated a very complex dialog that would indicate immediately whether or not I was really him. Lucius must have realized immediately that I wasn't who I said I was and watched my eyes for where my partner was hiding. I still thought things were going well when he whirled and sent a blasting spell toward the area Harry was hiding in," Noah explained.

"So Lucius got away?" Arthur asked.

"No Harry was brilliant," Noah said, "He was faster than Lucius and a cast full body bind spell at him as soon as he started to turn toward him despite not having gotten a signal from me. Lucius fell to the ground before his spell hit the corner Harry was tucked away in."

"Then the mission was a success," Molly said brightly.

Still feeling scared and breathless over the entire ordeal and ready to lash out at someone, even though it turned out fine, Ginny trained her sights on Noah, "You were the one who thought Harry shouldn't be allowed to be an Auror because he lacked qualifications," Ginny accused, "Do you still think so?"

"I regret my assumptions about Harry. He is very talented and has now saved my life twice. He will obviously become one of the best Aurors this department has ever had the pleasure of employing," Noah said, "I feel lucky to call him a friend."

"You should," Ginny said huffily, "After the things he's done he didn't deserve the scrutiny you put him under."

Noah, understanding that her words were a product of fear and protectiveness of Harry said, "I am sorry and Harry knows that as well. Listen, I need to get back to the Ministry to write up my reports about today's mission. I might stop by on my way home tonight to see how Harry is doing. It was lovely to meet all of you."

"Ginny," Molly scolded, "There was no need to be so rough on Noah, he and Harry get along fine now."

"I know," Ginny said with a sigh, "I just…I had some misplaced anger….I hate seeing him like this," Ginny said pointing toward Harry.

"He's going to be fine," Molly soothed, "A couple days of rest and he'll be good as new."

Ginny pulled the lone chair in the room next to Harry's bed so she could hold his hand. Arthur, satisfied that Harry was doing quite well decided to head back to the office. Molly hovered over Ginny and Harry at first, then offered to fetch some lunch and Ginny's knitting from the Burrow.

When Harry and Ginny were alone in the room Ginny whispered, "This is why your job scares me. You said this would be a simple mission, yet here you are in a hospital bed. I know you are fine but what if you aren't the next time? I will never, ever ask you to do something else because I know that you can't or won't…but I will never get used to this part of it." Ginny let a few tears leak out, until now she hadn't cried. But in these few private minutes she would let some of the emotion out.

Harry continued to sleep. Molly returned with sandwiches and pumpkin juice for herself and Ginny. Then as the afternoon wore on the two of them sat knitting as Harry slept. Healers came in to check on him a few times but assured Ginny and Molly that he was fine. Percy, George, Kingsley and Reed all stopped by to visit during the long afternoon, all while Harry slept. Ginny was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to wake up. As the afternoon turned into evening Molly decided to go back to the Burrow and make dinner for Arthur and herself. She would return later to deliver some to Ginny, who insisted on staying with Harry.

Ginny continued knitting; looking up at Harry's face every ten minutes to ensure that he was still doing okay.

"Hey," he croaked about an hour after Molly had departed.

Ginny's head shot up and immediately her eyes filled with tears, "You're awake," she said as she furiously swiped at the ridiculous tears.

"Why are you crying? I'm okay, just a concussion," Harry said pointing at his head.

"I know," Ginny said, "I don't know why I'm crying except maybe because I'm so glad you're okay."

"Come here," Harry said pulling her by the hand she had placed into his as soon as he'd woken. He scooted over on the bed and pulled her onto it with him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close enough to whisper in her ear, "I'm sorry I worried you. You know I will always do my best to come back to you."

Ginny wiped the last of her tears away. She felt silly for crying over just a broken arm, a few cuts and a mild concussion, but she couldn't help it. Hearing he was hurt and then seeing him in the hospital brought back all the feeling from when she had thought she'd lost him just a month before. She hoped it would be many many years before she had to deal with actually losing him. She wanted them to grow old together and have lots of grandchildren. The way Harry was comforting her now she thought just maybe he understood all of that. "How long to you have to stay in the hospital?" she asked.

"I think until tomorrow morning," Harry said.

"I got a letter from Ron and Hermione today," Ginny said, "I might still have it in my pocket." Ginny fished the note out of her pocket and handed it to Harry. He read it and Ginny said, "I wrote back to them this morning and promised that I'd have you write about your mission as soon as I saw you again."

"I will, but not just yet," Harry said with a grin, "I want to hear more about the dream I interrupted this morning."

Ginny blushed and teased, "Do you think that's wise for a person suffering from a concussion and dizziness?"

"Come on," Harry pleaded.

"How did Noah know to get a hold of me using the dog tags?" Ginny asked, changing the subject.

"He saw me send you the first message and asked about them," Harry said, "He thinks you are tremendously clever to have come up with such an ingenious way of keeping in touch with me."

"He seems like a nice guy," Ginny said, "I'm afraid I gave him a bit of a hard time though."

"I'm sure he understands that you were under strain, what with me being injured and all," Harry said, "Now, about that dream…"

"Harry," Ginny said slugging him playfully in the arm, "You're going to pester me about it until I tell you, aren't you?"

"Why don't you want to tell me?" Harry asked.

"It's a little embarrassing," Ginny confessed.

"I think it's flattering," Harry countered, "What if instead of telling me about it I ask you questions about it."

"I supposed," Ginny said.

"So we were in the laundry room without clothing," Harry began.

"It was more like we were undressing each other," Ginny explained.

"Were we shagging?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"No, but things were definitely heading in that direction," Ginny said.

"Why were we in the laundry room?" Harry asked.

"We were both doing our laundry before going back to school and I suppose in that small confined space we kept nudging and bumping each other and that just got us started," Ginny said.

"You definitely seemed to be enjoying the dream when I came to wake you up, you moaned my name," Harry said.

Ginny groaned and covered her eyes with her hands, "It was a good dream, so good it continued when I finally fell back to sleep after you left. Then when my Mum woke me up before the dream concluded I had to go take a cold shower."

Harry chuckled, pulling her hands from her eyes. He looked deep into her eyes and said, "I love that dream about us, I do too."

"You do?" Ginny asked.

"Since sixth year," Harry said, "I felt extremely grateful that I was no longer doing occlumency lessons with Snape, that would have been embarrassing."

"No kidding," Ginny snickered, "Tell me about some of your dreams." Now it was Harry's turn to blush. "See," Ginny said, "Not as easy to talk about when it's you."

"Well…you know the night we went swimming in the river?" Harry asked. When Ginny nodded he continued, "I've dreamt about how things might have gone every night since then."

"And how might have things gone?" Ginny asked coyly.

"We might have decided to skinny-dip in the river instead of swimming in our knickers. And we might have shagged on the bank of the river in the moonlight," Harry explained

"How do we expect to last until our wedding night if we are both having smutty dreams?" Ginny asked, "Which reminds me, my Mum asked me at breakfast if you and I were making plans to be married."

"What did you tell her?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, I didn't know what you'd want me to tell her," Ginny asked.

"How about I talk to your parents about it? I was planning on asking for their blessing anyway," Harry suggested.

Harry and Ginny continued to snuggle and chat on his bed together until eventually they fell asleep. When Molly finally returned with a basket of dinner for Ginny she found them curled together on the bed. "How sweet," she murmured, drawing the covers more tightly around them. She settled herself in the chair next to the bed and took out her knitting. She looked over at them again and wondered how long it would be until she called Harry her son in law.

Author's Note: Another fluffy chapter…but it does set up a few things that are going to happen in the future. I only heard from two of you after my last chapter – so BIG HUGE thanks to caus and Jamiegirl123. I'm not sure if I should think my story is no longer living up to expectations or if everyone was too busy to leave me some feedback. The timeline is going to make a jump in the next chapter. I think I am going to fast-forward to Harry's birthday…I will do a recap of what they did during the month leading up to his b-day. If any one has any ideas of what would make his birthday extra special let me know. Hoping to hear from more of you this time around. Thanks! Tinkerbell

BTW, I have no idea if Mr. and Mrs. Weasley eloped, but as it was around the time of the first war I thought it might have been possible.