A/N: This is a weird chapter in that I probably should have not cut off the previous chapter when I did but then it made sense! Now less so and hence this shorter chapter.

This continues right after the previous chapter so you may want to refresh your mind... anyway they're in bed... they do that a lot in this fic.

"You have got to tell me something," Ginny said, pulling the sheets around her as she turned onto her stomach and leaned on her elbow to look at him. "How does a guy your age afford a place like this in central London?"

"Inheritance," he answered casually, looking back at her.

Her eyebrows rose in question.

"Mainly my parents," he clarified.

"What?" she said in surprise.

"And my rich dead godfather did also help," he ended.

"Fuck, I am sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive," she said, regretting having asked the question.

Harry chuckled lightly. "It's fine, it's not news to me."

Then she remembered. "Lily and James Potter," she mumbled. "The Aurors."

"Yeah," he confirmed softly.

She resisted the urge to reach out to him. "I am sorry, I should have known. In my head, their kid was still a young boy but... well, you're all grown up." She said, signing at him. "I never made the link with you."

He shifted a little closer to her. "Been trying to make a name for myself instead, I suppose it's working."

"So, you're an orphan?" she asked a little more careful now. She watched his expression, trying not to overstep.

"Yeah."

"And you're an only child?" she tried.

He nodded. "Yep."

"That sounds lonely," she said softly. She couldn't imagine living like that.

"Suppose so," he agreed. Her eyes locked with hers, a glint appearing. "And you have two alive parents and six brothers? Spoiled."

She chuckled. "I know. The brothers are a pain in the arse, though. Let me tell you. They never let me play Quidditch growing up. Because girls don't play Quidditch." She shook her head.

"Ha! You really showed them then," he said. "Are they older or younger than you?"

She turned onto her side. "All older, which didn't help. I can lend you a brother if you want, I have some to spare."

"Should you head home? Your parents will be worried," he asked.

She bit her lip. "Not really. And that's your fault. I don't remember everything from dinner, but I know you were entirely too charming to them." She looked to see his expression and confessed. "So... I may have neglected to tell them it's a ruse. My mom had a dozen questions at dinner and... I just told her the Harpies wanted me to go public with my relationship."

His eyes widened. "What? I don't want to get on your mum's bad side!" he objected.

She rolled her eyes. "Look, after all this is over, you'll probably never see her again. In the meanwhile, you can just... come along if you want. Enjoy some more dessert once in a while."

He crossed his arms. "If she finds out..."

"I'll take the blame," she agreed. "Wouldn't want her to be disappointed in what she thinks is her future son-in-law. Between catching me and dinner... not to mention what will be in the papers tomorrow." She grimaced. "I don't think I am expected to be home at all, but I can be."

"No, it's fine, you can stay." He smiled at her. "I am lonely, allegedly. If you leave here in the morning, the papers will eat that up."

"I am great company, very hard to feel lonely when I am around," she said, getting more comfortable in the bed.

"Yes, because you talk non-stop," he commented.

She pouted at him. He covered his eyes with his hand to avoid her gaze.

"Go to sleep," he suggested, uncovering his eyes again.

She settled in bed and turned on her side, attempting to sleep.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Harry asked.

She turned back around. "It's fine, I can skip breakfast. I invited myself over."

"Well, I invited myself to dinner yesterday so it's the least I can do," he responded.

"Whatever you're having is fine," she responded, suppressing a yawn.

"Alright, goodnight," he said as he pulled up the sheets and rested his head on a pillow too.

"Night, honourable Harry," she muttered as she closed her eyes with a smile. She could hear him suppress a snort.

She lay there for a few minutes trying to catch sleep. She remembered how Harry's arms had been around her, first when he caught her, but she didn't really remember it properly enough since she was barely conscious. Then just now, she remembered it all too well. She wondered if he'd find it weird if she asked him to hold her. It simply seemed comfortable and calming. She decided against asking and finding out.

Seconds ticked by and turned into minutes... She gave in to it. She kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep and rolled towards him. She was pretty sure he was still awake. There was space left between them, but she was much closer now. When the back of his hand softly caressed her upper arm, she tried her hardest not to react, she stayed perfectly still. Then his arm draped over her casually. It could have appeared to be accidental, if she had not felt him do it.

She walked down for breakfast, almost getting lost but walked through the living room and found the kitchen.

"Morning," she said, sitting down across from him.

"Morning," he responded. He slid the paper to her. "Daily prophet, front page."

She had mixed feelings about being on the front page in her night dress but at least the article was full of speculation and wild guesses. Her management would be happy because this would be difficult not to believe. She watched over and over as Harry pulled her inside quickly in the photo. "They better give me a raise; I think we've already scored the Quaffle on this one."

"Definitely not bad," he agreed.

She started on her breakfast, quickly working it down.

"It's nice to see you in trousers," Harry commented.

Her brows furrowed. "I had trousers on all through dinner." She stilled and looked at him wide-eyed. "Except that I didn't."

"Nope," he told her in amusement.

She groaned. "Oh no, why didn't my parents say anything!? I had head trauma for fuck's sake! I wasn't in my right mind!"

"Sorry," he said. "I would have said something, but I didn't want them to know I noticed. Did not want to give the wrong idea." His head leaned on his hand. "Honestly, it made me wonder if you had freckles everywhere." He wore a smug smile. "I sure got that question answered."

She shook her head at him. "Well, I am glad you have. Must have been driving you crazy thinking about the freckles on my thighs all day."

He stood up and shrugged as he took his bowl to the sink. "They benched me yesterday, what else was I supposed to occupy my mind with."

She stood up too. "I have to go. Don't you too?"

"They may bench me again today; we'll see if the article delivers." He nodded towards the paper. "So I don't really care for being late today. If they want to be petty, so can I. Merlin forbid you try to save someone's life."

"Thank you for that, by the way. We all know those cushioning charms do shit when you fall from that height." She put her bowl in the sink too and leaned towards Harry and kissed him. She turned on her heels and walked away before she realised what she had done. She halted and turned back around. "I didn't mean to do that. You were just there and ..."

Harry grinned at her. "Yep."

"I am just going to go..." She pointed towards the door.

"Goodbye, my love," he told her, still looking far too amused.

"It was an honest mistake. And you are a prat. I'll see you tomorrow!" She walked out before he could reply.

Molly looked up as Ginny walked into the living room after practice. "Oh, look who is home."

"Hi, mum," she greeted casually.

"Stayed over at Harry's?" she asked without putting her knitwear down.

She nodded. "No point in hiding that one now, is there?"

"Are you going there tonight or is he coming over?" Molly tried.

She shook her head. "I'll see him tomorrow." She dropped on the couch, feeling antsy. She wasn't allowed to run drills yet after the bludger hit and she didn't get all her energy out for the day.

"I had no idea you were seeing someone," her mum said now. "But he's charming. When he caught you like that and then came to check if you were okay, it was easy to see how much he cares for you."

"We had been," —she paused, trying to spin a lie that wasn't going to fall apart immediately— "Casually seeing each other but I guess that drop caused us to re-evaluate things." She looked at her mum, trying to judge if she had more questions.

Her mum's eyes returned to her knitting.

"And then the papers caught us again..." she continued. "But they say that's good publicity so it's fine."

Molly glanced up at her quickly. "Was that your first time with him last night?"

Ginny shot up off the couch. "I am not having this conversation with you." She made a beeline for the stairs and quickly began climbing up.

Her mum sighed happily. "I still remember the first time with your dad. And sleeping in his arms that first night."

Ginny stepped back down to the bottom step. "Please stop talking right now. In fact, just obliviate me, I don't want to remember this conversation."

"Oh, grow up, Ginevra," Molly said. "You know how seven kids happen, do you?"

Ginny covered her ears, though it did nothing to tune her mother out and rushed up the stairs.

"You and Harry could have little Quidditch stars!" she shouted.

Ginny halted on the landing. "Mum, I've got enough brothers to bother about grandkids! I am twenty-two for f— Merlin's sake. I got a Quidditch career to think of first!" She walked into her room and tried to close the door but met resistance.

"I heard shouting," Ron said, pushing the door open again and stepping inside.

She took a deep breath, walked to the bed and sat down. "What are you doing home?"

"Fred and George are doing some experiment... need some peace and quiet," Ron said, making himself comfortable on the bed.

"Find your own place," Ginny told him once again.

Ron huffed. "You're the one still living at home."

"And I am perfectly happy here," she said.

Ron met her eyes. "I had a lot of comments today. Apparently, my sister made the front page in her pyjamas!" he said.

She clutched onto him. "Can you keep a secret? I am aching to tell someone."

He nodded, looking curious. "What is it?"

"We're not dating at all, Harry and me. After he caught me, our managements thought it was a good idea if we pretended that we were dating, sell tickets and all that..." She took a deep breath and continued. "And he was here the other day to check if I was okay and now mum is convinced too that we are dating, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that it isn't true! You know how she gets..." Her eyes focused on her brother.

"Yes, I just heard shouting about grandkids. Frankly, she's already got two, why does she has to bother us too?" he complained.

"I kind of feel bad about lying to her but it was such an easy lie too. I have to go on dates with him anyway, she won't find out right?" she asked, trying to alleviate her worries on the matter.

Ron thought about it for a moment. "Well, if she'll buy lies from anyone, it's you but... she did say you stayed there last night."

She waved his worries away. "Yes, we had sex. It's not important."

"How is that not important?" Ron said as his brows furrowed. "You are having sex with a guy and going on dates... Call me old-fashioned, but that sounds like dating to me."

"Not if there aren't any feelings involved," she defended herself.

"Yet. How well do you know this guy?"

"I've met him at a few Quidditch events, we have talked a few times but not more than that. People tend to speak well of him," Ginny told him, wishing he'd stop judging.

"If you are having sex with him..." Ron started again.

"Just once," she clarified. "I just wanted to establish some kind of intimacy, I guess. How are we supposed to sell this whole thing if we have hardly touched each other?"

Ron chuckled. "I admire your dedication to the bit. I bet he didn't argue against it."

She shook her head. "No, he did. I convinced him though."

He let out a snort. "Of course you did."

"It'll just be a few weeks of going on very public dates once or twice a week and then we'll stage a breakup and go our separate ways. It can't be that hard." She shrugged. "He's pleasant enough."

"Does that mean I will see you on the front page more often in the coming weeks?" Ron asked, already looking uncomfortable at the thought.

"I am afraid so," she told him. "I apologise in advance."

"You should at least wear your Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sweater," Ron said. "Give us some free advertisement."

She laughed. "It'll think about it."