The first two weeks back at the Burrow moved slowly and rather painfully. The family was busy attending and organizing funerals. Harry often thought of shutting himself up in the attic with the ghoul so he could avoid the look of devastation he had seen in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. But even worse than Fred's parents was his twin, who would shut himself off in his room for most of the time but his red and swollen eyes at dinners were enough proof of the grief that was suffocating them all.

And the worst were the silences. Dinners at the Burrow had never had this quality and Harry found himself picking at his food. While Mrs. Weasley had forced herself to get out of her bed and cook for the family, it didn't taste like anything she would usually make. But no one complained.

Ginny was the only person scrambling around the house, trying to restore some form of normalcy. She would help out Mrs. Weasley with chores, force George into half-hearted matches of Exploding Snap, drag Harry, Ron, and Hermione to play two-a-side Quidditch, and even venture into the nearby Muggle village to buy an electric torch for Mr. Weasley to tinkle with.

This was how Ginny processed her grief, trying to do everything in her power to make everyone else feel better. She was unstoppable, flitting about from room to room, trying to keep everyone occupied. When a few days after the funeral, Mrs. Weasley retreated even further into her grief, Ginny took over the dinner prep as well, bossing around Ron and Harry into cleaning, peeling, and chopping various vegetables for her. She had to cook by hand since she wasn't seventeen yet, but Harry suspected she didn't mind the longer chores.

Despite this energetic drive, Ginny found time to spend with him in the orchard, picking fruits, reading magazines, or even just lying in the summer sun and enjoying the natural silences together. Harry was grateful to Ginny - for becoming yet again a source of comfort, not only for him but for everyone in the house, he imagined.

But he also worried that Ginny was not processing her grief. She was burying everything inside and powering through for the sake of her family. He suspected that one of these days, she was bound to feel overwhelmed and exhausted. But every morning, she met him at breakfast with a smile on her face and an agenda for the day.

At the end of the second week of May, almost ten days since the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry found Ginny humming in the kitchen, working on some pastry dough. She smiled at him when he joined her behind the counter and swiped the back of her hand on her forehead, leaving a tiny trail of dry flour behind. Harry reached out with his fingers, still always tentative around her, and cleaned the flour off her face. She smiled and leaned into his hand.

"I thought I'd try making an apple pie today," Ginny said and started working on the dough again. She was wearing Mrs. Weasley's apron and her red tresses were loosely pulled into a bun. Harry's heart fluttered at the domestic scene - he could now imagine a future where Ginny and he might one day cook together in a kitchen of their own. He shook his thought away. "Mum is still feeling a bit down, but I thought that maybe seeing her trainwreck of a daughter attempt to make something good for pudding might make her feel better."

"You're not a trainwreck," Harry quickly commented. Ginny snorted. "Sure, did you see how I butchered the mince pies yesterday? If maybe I had paid more attention to cooking than Quidditch when I was growing up…" She handed Harry a basket. "Can you get me some fresh apples from the orchard?"

Harry took the basket but then looked back at her.

"Should we go together? It's still some time till dinner and I thought maybe we could spend some time together," Harry asked sheepishly. He knew that he and Ginny were back together, at least in some form, but given the atmosphere of grief, they had not gotten the chance to officially talk about them. This meant that Harry still felt hesitant or guilty asking Ginny for her time.

Ginny glanced at the clock and looked down at her pastry dough, before nodding. She quickly walked over to the sink to wash her hands and began to undo her apron. Even though she was fully dressed beneath the apron, Harry still felt a flush on his cheeks at the sight of her taking her apron off.

I really have it bad for her, he thought to himself.

Ginny wiped her hands at the front of her skirt and quickly took Harry's free hand. They hadn't talked about their relationship yet, but they held hands all the time. That was enough for Harry for now, even though he had started to dream about kissing Ginny again, more and more every day.

They walked out towards the orchard at a leisurely pace.

"When are Ron and Hermione planning to tell Mum that they want to go to Australia?" Ginny asked, twirling around to face him and walking backward. The sun shone off her hair and Harry found a stupid grin plastered on his face. "Sometime soon, I would wager. Hermione wants to leave in a week. She is getting restless and also has to talk to the Ministry to arrange international portkeys for their trip."

"And you?" Ginny narrowed her eyes at Harry. "Are you going to go with them?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I'd rather stay here."

Ginny chuckled a bit. "What made you want to break up the great Golden Trio?"

"I'd much rather be with you." Ginny stopped in her tracks, looking up at Harry with a surprised but tender look. "I've spent almost a year away from you already. I want the entire summer to be with you." Harry quickly added, "If you'll have me."

Ginny laughed, stepped towards him, and playfully swatted his arm. "Obviously I want that, you prat. I just didn't want to be the one to ask you to stay."

"Why not?" Harry asked, reaching out his hand and holding Ginny around her waist. The smile on her face faltered a bit.

"I didn't think you'd want to stay if I asked," she said and looked down. Harry reached out with his other hand and cupped Ginny's chin. He used his thumb to gently caress her jaw. She looked up.

"Of course I would stay if you asked," Harry said. He knew that the past couple of years he had done nothing to make Ginny feel like she was his priority, but now that the worst was behind them, he had no intention of making Ginny feel neglected again. "I want you to ask me, Ginny."

"Harry, please stay."

Ginny met his eyes and Harry felt like his heart skipped a beat. Harry strengthened his grip around Ginny's waist, pulled her against him, and dipped his head to capture her lips in a kiss. Harry moved his hand from her jaw and cupped the back of her neck instead, tracing circles around her skin, and felt goosebumps under his fingertips. He moved his lips against her in a chaste but purposeful way and felt a jolt of pleasure when Ginny hummed and fell even more into his body. Very soon, the kiss turned desperate, both Harry and Ginny putting more and more of themselves into where their lips met. Harry felt Ginny's tongue against his lips and deepened the kiss even more.

Harry was never good with words so he hoped that from his kiss, Ginny could feel the months of desolation he had felt at having been away from her. He felt her hands frantically grasp at his back and he felt that maybe Ginny felt the same way.

Maybe the two of them would have continued kissing for hours, Harry thought, if it hadn't been for the bee that he felt buzzing near his face. He finally woke up to the world around him and slowly pulled away from Ginny, but not before he pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

Ginny looked dazed and very flushed, and Harry probably looked the same.

"I've been waiting for you to do that since you came back," Ginny said. Her fingers traced a feathery touch on his cheek. Harry had a feeling that the heat that he was feeling around his body had nothing to do with the summer sun.

"I'm sorry I took so long."

Harry wanted to say more.

I'm sorry I took so long to realize that I fancy you. I'm sorry I took so long to ask you out. I'm sorry I took so long to come back to you. But he had a feeling that Ginny understood all the unsaid apologies he had pressed into his words.

She nodded again, placed another chaste kiss on his lips, and then took his hand again. She dragged him towards the orchard in haste.

"Let's get apples for the pie." She looked back at him and smirked. "And then we can do a bit of that again."

Harry laughed.

He had no intention of ever NOT listening to Ginny Weasley again.