Chapter 87

Ginny POV

"Ginevra Weasley, I will not ask you again!"

"Mum, I promise I'll get everything you need done, but I can't skip out on training again," Ginny said calmly as she laced up her trainers.

It was early morning in late July at the Burrow, and Ginny was sitting in an old wooden chair at the end of the kitchen table, trying her best to get herself out the back door. She would've just put her trainers on upstairs and made a quick escape from her bedroom, down the flight of stairs, and out into the back garden, but the entire Weasley family had been explicitly forbidden from wearing any form of footwear through the Burrow as part of the wedding preparations that had been forced upon them over the past month. She'd only been shouted at once by her mum for wearing her "ridiculously filthy" jogging trainers inside for the new rule to stick and for her to only put on her shoes right by the back door. Ron, on the other hand, still couldn't quite grasp the concept, and was reprimanded daily.

Ginny loved her mum, she really did, but the upcoming nuptials hadn't exactly brought out the best in her. Ever since Ron and Ginny had returned home after their term away at Hogwarts a little over three weeks ago, they'd been working around the clock to get the Burrow looking "presentable" for the guests that would be arriving in a few days' time. Ginny had to admit, the Burrow really did look great. She'd never seen it so clean or organized before, and while she didn't necessarily see them all changing their ways to maintain this new sterile environment, she certainly didn't mind being able to walk down the hallway without tripping over some knickknack or what have you. She felt bad for her dad though, as whatever items they didn't toss straight out had wound up in his garage where he kept, and liked to tinker with, his collection of Muggle artifacts. He didn't seem to mind too much, though, as it had appeased her mum greatly to have all of the "useless trinkets" out of the Burrow.

"Ginny, we are only a few days away from Fleur's family arriving, and there is still far too much that needs to be done!" Mrs. Weasley said shrilly as she flicked her wand towards a stack of dirty plates that began washing, drying, and restacking themselves next to the kitchen sink.

"Mum, I promise that I won't stop working today until your whole list for me is finished. But I have to get this training session in. Why don't you go ask your child that doesn't have plans to go on a run this morning to help out a bit, seeing as all he's doing right now is snoring up in his room?" Ginny suggested as she finished double knotting her laces and stood up.

"You know as well as I do that your dear brother isn't anywhere near as helpful as you are… You actually take care in what you do… Ronald just gets everything done as quickly as possible, no matter what the end-result looks like…" Mrs. Weasley muttered irritably as she turned to trim the ends off a bouquet of flowers she'd collected from her garden.

"Hey, at least you raised me well!" Ginny joked lightly.

Mrs. Weasley shot her a disapproving look.

"I'll be back soon. Don't worry Mum, it'll all be done before my head hits the pillow tonight."

After giving her mum a kiss on the top of the head, Ginny dashed out the back door, through the garden, and began to make her way to Stoatshead Hill at a light jog. She hadn't been able to train nearly as much as she would've like to this summer due to the wedding-related responsibilities her mum had forced upon her, but she still felt confident in her training overall. She'd even managed to get Ron to agree to fly with her every evening after dinner to keep her, and to be honest, him, sharp and ready for the upcoming season. Ginny knew that this upcoming school year could possibly be the start of her recruiting season, and by extension, the beginning of her professional Quidditch career if there was going to be one, so she wanted to do everything she could to put her best foot forward.

She sped up her tempo as she turned a corner and Stoatshead Hill came into view, accelerating all the way up the hill until she reached the top. Bent over and fighting to catch her breath, Ginny looked out over the view, taking in the picturesque green hills rolling across the valley, admiring how the hot July sun brightened everything up just enough to make the surrounding landscape even more beautiful. Once she caught her breath, she sat down in the long, soft grass and laid back, looking up at the clear, blue sky. The older she got, the more and more she admired where she was growing up, and how much she loved all of the stunning nature that surrounded the Burrow. She wasn't sure she'd ever want to live anywhere besides the countryside. Well, except for the obvious exception of a certain Welsh seaside location. She certainly wouldn't mind living in or near Holyhead if the Harpies were to give her the shot she so badly wanted.

After resting for a few minutes and imagining herself playing for the Harpies and being teammates with Gwenog Jones and Valmai Morgan, who she still couldn't quite believe she'd met at Slughorn's Christmas party this past winter, Ginny's thoughts drifted to Hermione. These days, Ginny actually tried her best not to think too much about Hermione, because whenever she did, her entire body began to ache with how much she missed her. And it wasn't just the physical part of it, but the emotional aspect as well. Ginny just simply loved being around Hermione. She loved her laugh. She loved the cute way that she read, brow furrowed and mouthing along with the words as she took them in. She loved the way she'd lightly scold Ginny whenever she put the tiniest bit of a toe out of line. She loved her warm, affectionate smile and how genuinely sweet and gentle she was with her. Ginny loved everything about her, and while she knew it was ridiculous to miss her this much when she'd be arriving later that very evening, the past few weeks had felt like decades, and she was more than ready to see her girlfriend again.

Ginny sat up, and looked out over the surrounding hills one last time before getting to her feet and beginning her run back to the Burrow. Once she arrived, she was thoroughly drenched in sweat, her racerback tank top sticking to her as beads of sweat slowly rolled down her temples. She removed her trainers and peeled off her tank top before walking inside in a sports bra and athletic shorts.

"See Mum, this is why I don't get up this early to come down to breakfast. How can I eat when this is walking about?" Ron complained as he still managed to continue shoveling eggs into his mouth.

"You're just jealous you don't look as good as I do," Ginny said as she strode past Ron and squeezed past her mum to get water from the tap.

"I'm a Keeper, I've got to be solid!" Ron argued.

"Actually, the best Keeper build is one that allows them to be quick and agile…" Ginny rebutted in a matter-of-fact tone that was nearly indistinguishable from Hermione's.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Girls don't actually like the lean, muscular look…"

"Huh… So that's not why Lavender thinks I'm fit, then?"

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley scolded as she simultaneously flicked her wand to magically freeze the fork Ron had thrown Ginny's way. "Enough teasing your brother. If you'd like breakfast, sit down. If not, go upstairs and get ready so we can get on with our list."

"He started it…" Ginny muttered as she walked past Ron and headed upstairs.

Ginny stopped at her room first to grab a change of clothes, then continued up to the bathroom. She showered quickly, but took her time plaiting her hair in the mirror after. All summer she'd been practicing the intricate design that Katie had taught her to help Demelza feel more settled before Quidditch matches. Ginny figured as with anything, practice would make perfect, as she knew how specific Demelza was when it came to her hair, and she wanted to get it right. She'd sent a letter to Demelza a week ago, wanting to check in, and hadn't yet received anything back. She was worried, and hoped that Demelza and her dad were doing alright, or at least better than they had been. Ginny had also sent a letter to Katie, and hadn't heard back from her either. Only Hermione had returned the letters she'd sent this summer, which tracked.

Once her plait was perfect and she'd thrown on a green Harpies t-shirt and some worn jean shorts, Ginny stopped by her room to pat Arnold's head affectionately, before bounding down to the kitchen for breakfast.

"This better?" she asked Ron sarcastically who rolled his eyes again.

"The less of your body that I see, the better, that's for sure," he said as he crunched on a piece of bacon.

"That's not what Lavender said…" Ginny said under her breath as she went to sit across from Ron, who narrowed his eyes at her as the tops of his ears began to turn red.

"Enough, you two. Why have you insisted on being so utterly exhausting this summer?" Mrs. Weasley sighed as she set a plate down in front of Ginny.

Ginny wasn't exactly sure why they'd been sniping at each other so much over the past few weeks, but they certainly had been. It had nothing to do with her not loving Ron or enjoying his presence, he'd just seemed a bit grumpier than usual, and Ginny found she just kind of enjoyed getting under his skin, especially when it came to Lavender. She knew she should stop, but with it just being her parents, herself, and Ron, there were only so many people to socialize with, and she was bored.

"Sorry Mum, we'll stop. Well, at least I will," Ginny said as she bit into a piece of toast.

Ron pushed his plate away and stood up suddenly, stomping through the back door.

"Ginny, please," Mrs. Weasley said, giving her a disapproving look.

"Oh, we're not being serious, Mum. I'm just teasing him."

"I know, but he's under a lot of stress and pressure. It's hard, going into your seventh year of school not knowing what you'll want to do at years' end," Mrs. Weasley explained as she pointed her wand at Ron's plate, transporting it over to the sink.

"I'm sure not everyone knows what they want to do after Hogwarts. Surely, he'll have some time after to figure it all out. Can't he just come back here and stay at home for a bit?"

"It doesn't sound like Lavender is too keen on that idea…" Mrs. Weasley said, a hint of disapproval in her voice.

"What? What does Lavender have to do with it?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, they've been together for years. From what he's told me, she's got their lives all planned out, and it doesn't include him moving back here after he's done with Hogwarts. She wants them to move in together, in London, and for him to have a job at the Ministry, all straight away once they finish up at Hogwarts."

Ginny's jaw dropped and she turned in her chair to stare at her mum, "Well where does she get off expecting all of that from him?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed, "She wants a future with him, one that's stable. I'm not so sure she hasn't been thinking of their own wedding, now that they'll be attending one in a few days."

"What? Ron's not ready to get married! He's barely 17!"

"I'm not saying that I agree with any of this nonsense, Ginny, all I'm saying is that you should be a bit nicer to your brother, because logical or not, he's under a lot of pressure."

Ginny was quiet as she considered what her mum had said.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I'll lay off him."

"Thank you. Now, hurry up and finish eating. We've got quite a lot to get done today, as I know you won't be much use to me once Hermione arrives this evening."

"Hey, we'll still be helpful!"

Mrs. Weasley shot her a knowing look and Ginny grinned at her sheepishly.

"Alright, maybe not as helpful as I was before, but still! With the two of us, surely we'll make up the difference," Ginny said confidently as she picked up her plate and carried it over to the sink. Her mum gave her a warm smile and ran her hand affectionately down the length of Ginny's freshly plaited hair before turning back to the floral centerpiece she'd been fussing over off and on since Ginny had come back from her run.

"That arrangement looks great," Ginny complimented as she gave her mum a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out to the back garden in search of Ron. She found him sitting at the edge of the pond, pulling at a few pieces of long grass.

"Hey…" Ginny said as she sat beside him. His glum expression didn't change, nor did he respond. "I'm sorry I've been so annoying lately, I'll lay off."

Ron shrugged, "S'no big deal…"

"Mum said you might be feeling a bit of pressure regarding your last year at Hogwarts…"

Ron shrugged again dismissively.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Ron looked at her hesitantly, "Uh sure. I guess I'm just not sure what I want to do, and it feels like everyone else does know exactly what they'll be doing after Hogwarts."

"Oh yeah? I thought Harry didn't know what he wanted to do?"

"Well yeah, sure, Harry has no idea either, but it's normal for the two of us to be a bit behind. Hermione knows exactly what she wants to do, doesn't she? In less than a year she'll have landed herself a brilliant job at the Ministry doing something that'll change the world for the better, and I'll probably be right back here, staring at this same green pond full of frogs…"

Ginny's heart twinged at the mention of Hermione working at the Ministry. Ginny knew it was inevitable and would be great for Hermione, but she hated the thought of them not being together at Hogwarts. Until it happened, she was going to deny that impending reality.

"What about Lavender?"

"What about Lavender?"

"What're her plans after Hogwarts?"

Ron tore up a few more pieces of grass and pulled at them, ripping them slowly apart, "Uh, that would be for us to move to London together… For me to get a job at the Ministry…"

"Well hey, at least you won't be back here staring at this pond…" Ginny joked lightly.

Ron narrowed his eyes a bit at her.

"What do you want, Ron?" Ginny said earnestly.

"I don't know what I want… I'm not really interested in anything besides Quidditch, and I know I'm not good enough to play professionally like you or Katie… I don't think I'd really fancy a job at the Ministry… I dunno…"

"Well, how about you figure that out this year, what your interests are besides Quidditch? Stop worrying about what you think you should do or what others say you should do, and figure out what you like and are interested in and go from there?"

"Yeah… I guess that's not a bad idea…"

"And if you find you're not that interested in anything you could realistically do for a job, I'm sure Fred and George would have a place for you at their shop," Ginny said, smiling and nudging him lightly.

"Wouldn't be so bad, working in Diagon Alley with Fred and George," Ron agreed, mulling over the idea. "Thanks Gin, this was actually helpful."

"No problem," Ginny smiled up at him.

"Come on, you two! We've got plenty to do today!" Mrs. Weasley called from the back door of the garden.

Ginny sighed as she stood up, offering a hand to Ron, "Alright, let's get this done quick. Hermione's coming in tonight, and I'm not spending my first evening with her in weeks de-gnoming the garden…"

Hermione POV

Hermione took a deep, settling breath as she tried to calm her nerves. She knew she was more than capable of Apparating to the Burrow, after all, she had passed her Apparition test with flying colors, but she couldn't quite get the image of Susan Bones leaving a leg behind during one of their Apparition lessons this past spring out of her mind. She looked down and made sure her things were all securely fastened closed one last time before she jutted out her jaw a bit, mentally mustering the nerve required for the trip.

"Alright, ready Crookshanks?"

Crookshanks peered up at her from his cat carrier, looking not at all happy or ready for anything besides escaping said carrier.

"Thank you so much for the vote of confidence... Okay, I can do this... Destination, determination, deliberation…" Hermione muttered to herself before taking another deep breath, closing her eyes tight, grabbing hold of her things, and turning on the spot. After the familiar horribly unpleasant sensation of what felt like she was being forced through a very small space, Hermione opened her eyes to find herself standing in front of the Burrow.

"How was that for you, Crookshanks?" she asked as she looked down, checking on him. He was glaring up at her, but other than that appeared to be fine.

"Hermione!"

She'd recognize that voice anywhere, and Hermione looked up with a smile. The front door to the Burrow had been flung open, and Ginny was running at her as fast as she could. Hermione laughed.

"I've missed you t – oof!" Hermione was cut off as Ginny threw her arms around her, lifting her up in a strong hug. Clearly, Ginny had been keeping up with her workouts over the summer, as Hermione could quite literally feel the muscles beneath Ginny's skin move as they wrapped her up tight. Hermione wrapped her arms around Ginny as well, burying her face in her neck and inhaling the sweet, subtle scent of her skin. Oh, how she'd missed this.

Once Ginny set her back down, her hands went straight to cradling Hermione's face and pulling her in for a kiss. The kiss started off tame at first, but quickly transitioned into one of depth and passion. They eventually broke apart when they heard Crookshanks meowing loudly, clearly offended that he was still being contained within the cat carrier.

"Sorry about that Crookshanks, here you go!" Ginny said, opening the carrier to let Crookshanks out. The large orange cat pounced out and stretched his long fluffy legs before tearing off into the Burrow. "Arnold will be thrilled to see him," Ginny grinned as she gently tucked a few loose curls behind Hermione's ear.

"Who do you think is more excited to be reunited? Crookshanks and Arnold or the two of us?" Hermione asked.

Ginny screwed up her face as if she were thinking hard, making Hermione laugh, "I'm going to have to give the edge to the boys. There's nothing quite like the love between a half-Kneazle/half-cat and a Pygmy Puff," Ginny joked as she flashed Hermione her signature crooked grin.

Hermione smiled as the feelings of adoration washed over her. It was silly, how much she'd missed Ginny over the past few weeks, but at the same time, she was happy that she had someone in her life that she missed so dearly. She was so in love with Ginny, and honestly couldn't imagine her life any other way.

"Look at your hair!" she exclaimed, reaching up to gently run her fingers over Ginny's intricately plaited red tresses.

"See! I told you I could do it! What do you think? Think it'll be up to Demelza's standards?"

"Honestly Ginny, I'm very impressed."

"We'll just add it to the long list of things I'm an expert at then…" Ginny said, once again shooting her that signature crooked smile that at this point was making Hermione a bit weak in the knees. "C'mon, let's head inside! Now, be warned, you might not recognize it…" Ginny said in faux-seriousness as she hoisted Hermione's bag over her shoulder and began dragging her trunk along towards the Burrow. Hermione walked beside her, carrying Crookshanks' empty cat carrier.

"Wow!" Hermione gasped lightly as she walked through the front door. She had never seen the Burrow this clean before. It was even cleaner than her own home, which her parents liked to keep very neat and tidy. "It looks incredible in here!"

"Oh, it's nothing at all! Just a little elbow grease is all it took," Mrs. Weasley said as she appeared walking down the hallway from the kitchen to the front door, beaming at Hermione. "Hello dear," she said as she pulled Hermione in for a warm hug.

"Hello, Molly! Really, it looks fantastic," Hermione enthused as they broke apart.

"Ginny here did most of it. Ron helped a bit as well."

"Yeah, a bit…" Ginny muttered.

"He did help," Mrs. Weasley said, giving Ginny a firm look. Ginny shrugged and nodded in agreement.

"Well, what will I be able to help with, Molly?" Hermione offered.

"Really, it won't be too much now. If you could assist with the flower arrangements the evening before the wedding, that would be very helpful. I've been working on a prototype all morning, and I believe I'm finally satisfied. Other than that, Ginny insisted that she get everything done ahead of time so the two of you wouldn't have to spend your time together cleaning or preparing too awful much for the wedding," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling proudly at her daughter.

"Yes, yes, I'm very thoughtful. Can I take Hermione's things up to my room now?" Ginny asked, a light blush on her cheeks.

"Yes, of course, dear. Don't be too long, though, dinner will be ready soon."

Ginny lugged Hermione's things up the stairs to her room and Hermione followed. As she did every year, Ginny had moved her things to the cot across the room, leaving her bed for Hermione to sleep in.

"Of course, I won't actually be sleeping on the cot… But I figured my mum and dad would appreciate us at least giving the appearance that we weren't sharing a bed, as they're being so great about allowing us to continue to share a room…" Ginny grinned as she placed Hermione's things beside the trunk at the foot of her bed.

"Well, I wouldn't want to disrespect or offend them, Ginny…" Hermione started in faux-seriousness, "Maybe we should sleep separately?"

Ginny stared at her, brow furrowed, "I know you're kidding, but I'm not going to even entertain that thought for a second. We have to sleep separately at Hogwarts, there's no way I'm not sleeping with you when you stay here."

"Oh? Is that right?" Hermione lifted her eyebrows and smirked lightly as she slowly walked towards Ginny.

"I – Oh, you know what I meant! Although, I mean, we did discuss – "

Hermione cut her off with another deep kiss as she snaked her hands up the back of her green Harpies top, gripping Ginny's strong, muscular back. She felt and heard Ginny ever so slightly moan into her mouth, and that spurred her on more. They'd been so close at the end of the year, so tantalizingly close, to taking the next step in their relationship, and Hermione was almost a bit embarrassed at how much of her brain was seemingly dedicated to her thoughts about being intimate with Ginny.

"Girls! Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs, breaking them apart.

Ginny tipped her head back and bit her bottom lip in frustration before looking back at Hermione desperately. Hermione could see how dark her bright brown eyes had become since she'd cut her off with the kiss.

"Oi! Quit your snogging and get down here, I'm hungry!" Ron bellowed up the steps.

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes before grabbing Hermione's hand, leading her to the door. She turned before she opened it, and kissed Hermione, this time, much softer.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said, smiling as she pressed their foreheads together gently, "I really missed you, Hermione."

Hermione smiled too, how could she not?

"I missed you too, Ginny."