Hope you enjoy this one-shot. AU- Harry wound up with Remus for his schooling and Voldemort doesn't have Horcruxes and dies that night, but Harry's role in it wasn't broadcasted. Another story of he and Ginny meeting later in life.

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Catfish

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Harry walked into the pub with nervous jitters running all throughout him. He felt like his arms were just going to be sporadically twitching all night. Why did he agree to do this? What on earth had been the tipping point that made him agree to do this?

Oh right. It was pointed out to him that he never did anything but work and sleep. Not in a nice way either.

How bad could this go anyhow? Maybe she'd take one look at him and just raise her eyebrows in surprise and disappointment at the look of him and walk out.

Not that he was terrible looking, but he was on the scrawnier side, and couldn't tame his wild hair for the life of him. Unfortunately making his hair any shorter showed how much his ears stuck out, so leaving it long was the lesser of two evils really. His glasses had been upgraded from the crumby one's he'd had forever that had been repaired multiple times. Now he had ones that suited his face much better.

He'd even splurged and updated the wardrobe recently. Spending a decent amount of money in both Muggle and Magical clothing shops so he had decent looking casual wear and suitable work attire. So, really, he was currently the best looking he'd ever been. If he was going to agree to go out on a blind date ever in his life it'd be now before the rose-colored glasses when it came to his new appearance turned clear again.

His job didn't specifically require him to have any special attire, but there were tours through the potions labs every now and again and he hadn't wanted to stand out as the lad with the scruffy clothes. The department heads probably wouldn't ever say anything to him about given that his grandparents were the ones that founded the company, but he didn't want any more preferential treatment because of that. It wasn't like he'd ever known them anyways. Nor his parents. But Remus had told him enough about them. His parents, not his grandparent. He'd been best friends with his dad through school.

Man, he wished he'd gone to Hogwarts like Remus and his parents had. Then maybe he would have more experience with girls and not be so nervous right now. Remus had said this girl was super nice. Smart, pretty, courteous, the perfect girl for an easy introduction into a potential dating life.

Well, he'd been on a date or two before. Uh, well, only two dates before. They'd been less than successful, so he didn't have high hopes for this one either, but Remus had seemed sure he'd hit it off with her.

Because she was supposed to be super nice.

So that meant what? That she'd tolerate him stumbling over his words and spilling his drink down his front because he was so jumpy with his nerves having him on edge?

One more calming breath and he scanned the pub. She'd be sitting alone probably. He looked along the bar to see if there were any ginger girls around his age sitting by themselves. None were though, so he looked towards the booths.

There she was.

She'd gotten fairly prime placement. Directly across from the doorway in a comfortable booth that was a four-seater.

Remus was right, from all Harry could tell from the lighting she was pretty. She didn't seem the least bit nervous though. She had a magazine with her and a drink already on the go. She really had the 'casual cool' style nailed. It was like she wasn't even waiting for a date. Jeans and a t-shirt with her lovely red hair plaited off to one side.

He couldn't see her face perfectly with the low lighting, but he liked the sight of her he was getting from the bulb shining down above the booth table. There was this slight upturn at the end of her nose. He didn't know why he liked that so much. It was just a feature he found appealing.

Harry shook his head slightly at himself. He'd best not say anything about how he liked her nose. That would be a weird thing to inject into a conversation.

Slow even breaths. He made his way over to the booth.

"HI." He said loudly when he reached it. She jumped and looked up at him startled. "Sorry." He said quieter. "I didn't mean to say that so loudly. Let me try that again." He grinned nervously. "Hi." He managed a regular volume.

She chuckled under her breath. She had a nice smile. "Hello."

He slid into the booth across from her. "Uh, so I don't normally do this. Uh. Never do this actually. But well." He took a deep breath. "I took a chance and I'm glad I did because you're really quite pretty."

She looked slightly taken aback and her brow furrowed slightly in confusion or indignation, he couldn't quite tell which.

"Not that I'm just here because you're pretty. I mean, you ARE, but." He tried to back pedal and swallowed thickly trying to give himself a second to figure out how to start off a proper conversation with her. Then he took note of what was on her t-shirt, the crossed broomsticks and Quaffle. "You're a big fan of Quidditch?" He tried sounding optimistic.

"Quite." She replied with a tentative yet humored tone. "Do you play?"

"Never properly, but I do love to fly. And go to games when I can." He managed, relaxing slightly. He gestured to her drink. "Can I get you another?"

A calculating look took over her face as she seemed to be giving him a once and twice over to see if he might turn out to be some kind of a threat to her. He must have passed her visual security test. "Sure. It's a vodka slime."

It was his turn for his brow to furrow. "What's in that?"

"Vodka, Sprite and Lime Cordial."

"That sounds delicious." He said with surprise.

She smiled. "It is."

"Menu as well?" He asked hopefully.

"I did come here to eat." She said cheekily with a nod and slightly narrowed eyes, a look of teasing over all.

"Right. Yeah, of course." He rubbed his neck and grinned crookedly before flagging down the waitress and requesting a drink for the two of them and menu's. "So, do you play?" He indicated to her shirt, then dropped his hand to the table quickly when he realized he was pointing to her chest.

"I do." She nodded proudly. "Reserve Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies."

"You're kidding! That's amazing." He wondered why Remus hadn't told him that. Perhaps so he wouldn't seem star struck going into this.

"And you? What is it you do to pay the bills?" She asked, grabbing their drinks from the air that had been floated over.

"Research assistant for Pius Potions Plus." He relayed and took his first sip of his drink. It was the perfect mix of sweet and sour, quite tasty.

"The guys that make Sleakeasy." She nodded in recognition. "That stuff was certainly passed around the dorm room often enough in school. I know it well."

He chuckled. "There are a lot of witches that do. My grandfather was actually the one to create it." He told her.

"You're kidding." Her smile dropped to one of surprise, then she brushed passed it. "Research assistant sounds interesting."

"Not nearly as much as the work of a professional Quidditch player." He pointed out.

She waived a hand to disregard that. "Any idiot with a broom can be a Quidditch player if they try hard enough. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't think of myself as an idiot and it is ridiculously hard work to maintain my spot and learn and develop as I have to, but I was terrible at potions. Though I do blame the fact that the Potions Professor had it out for the Gryffindors, and my family in particular. Which I blame on my older brothers placing me automatically in his bad books."

"That would've been Severus Snape, right?" He'd heard stories of him from Remus too. Miserable man, apparently he'd been in love with his mother though so he out and out hated his father with a vengeance.

"Got it in one." She raised her glass at him. "I'm feeling nachos." She glanced down at the menu.

"Yeah." He said brightly. "Large size to share? Or did you want a small one just to yourself? Or large one to yourself, you do exercise for a living." He tried joking.

It landed well enough. He hadn't seemed to have offended her somehow anyways.

"I think sharing a large will work." She agreed. "And if you eat too many of them, I know they make some decent chips here too."

It was going really well so far. The ball of nerves in his stomach had dissipated. He ordered the food once they'd discussed what not to put on the nacho's and why. Apparently, she had an aversion to mushrooms, but they were both big fans of olives. And the more cheese the better.

By the time they were nearly done with the platter of nachos and the conversation still hadn't lagged at all. She was really easy to talk to, and asked questions that got him talking quite a lot more than he usually did as well. All signs were pointing to her being open to another date.

"Can I just say that I am really glad I came out tonight?" Harry tried not to sound like he was gushing too much, but this was easily a million times better than he could have predicted.

"Was there something making you consider not coming out tonight then?" She cocked her head at him, her mouth was open slightly and he could see her tongue tracing the bottom of her top teeth slightly.

Why he was looking at that and found it intriguing he wasn't sure. Just like with her cute nose. He'd found her attractive when he'd sat down but now that they'd been talking for over an hour and gotten to know her personality a bit, he found her even more attractive.

"Well, you know. Blind dates and all. There's a stigma around it." He shrugged. "Even when I'm hearing high praise about you from a trusted friend." Harry added.

"Blind date?" She asked slowly, confusion reflecting in her eyes. "You were sent here for a blind date?"

"Y-yeah." He replied slowly, the fact that she might not have realized making his dinner not sit well in his stomach anymore. "Uh, Remus didn't-"

"Remus?" She repeated. "Remus Lupin?" She asked dumbfounded.

"Did you not know?" Harry was horrified at the idea that Remus had sent him into a situation like this with 'the perfect girl' when she wasn't even informed it was happening.

"No." She shook her head, still looking in shock, but then she let out a loud laugh before covering her mouth, her eyes sparkling with humor. "That does sound like something Tonks would do to me though." She laughed.

He felt his whole body relax, not even having noticed how stiff he'd been before she laughed. "You know Tonks then."

"Yes." Her eyes looked even more bright than they had before. "Tonks is basically a sister to me. I've known her since I was eight. She's fantastic." She relayed. "I did not think she'd ever set me up on a blind date without even telling me about it however."

"Are you just here all the time then?" He asked curiously. "How did they know you'd be here?" Remus had talking him into it yesterday after all.

She shook her head and shrugged picking up her glass again, not at all bothered. "I don't know. I've been here a few times, but not in a month or so. I came tonight because my flat mates were driving me nuts and I had nothing in the cupboards for dinner." After taking a sip she set her drink down and extended her hand to him. "This is a little late, but how about we properly introduce ourselves?"

Harry let out a laugh and took her offered hand, liking the feeling of her warm skin touching his. "Nice to meet you, I'm Harry Potter." He told her with mock formality.

"Pleased to meet you Harry Potter, I'm Ginny Weasley." She grinned back.

His expression dropped immediately upon hearing her name. His mouth fell open and eyes went wide.

This was too much.

He'd sat down with her, had three drinks, dinner and over and hour and a half of conversation. The whole time not realizing. Just sitting there like a complete idiot thinking she was turning out to be the most perfect girl.

And she was, her name being what it was didn't change that.

But HOLY FUCK!

"Ginny Weasley." He echoed back at her. "Your name is Ginny Weasley?" He asked rather panicked, but not being able to help it.

"Er, yes?" Clearly Ginny was concerned about his reaction. "Is that a problem?"

"No. Yes. Uh, well. Sort of?" His eyes darted around the pub thoroughly. Probably something that he should have done when he walked in instead of looking only to the bar stools and then simply to her sitting alone in the booth and coming over. "I, uh."

She was looking more upset with each utterance of unsurety coming out of his flustered mouth. He needed to clear this up, let her understand. But his brain to mouth function wasn't working properly.

"What is it?" She asked starting to look slightly angry at him now.

His face had to be bright red at this point. There was no way he wasn't blushing ridiculously at his mess up. "I." He started. "See, the thing is." A chuckle escaped his mouth at just how ridiculous this was. "I was supposed to be meeting someone named Susan." He bit his lip to stop another chuckle from coming out.

Ginny's eyebrows went up a tick. She didn't look angry anymore. Harry observed her carefully, hoping she'd find this whole situation as funny as his traitorous humorous side was. He watched carefully as her lip twitched and she began shaking with silent laughter, then her eyes growing glassy as she began truly laughing. He couldn't help joining her in laughing uproariously. He was close to needing to rest his head on the table for support at how funny this situation was turning out to be.

"I saw." Ginny gasped through her laughs. "I saw her leave." Deep inhale. "Oh, I noticed Susan Bones leaving in a huff an hour ago!" She kept laughing. "Oh shit! You were meant to be meeting with her!"

It took a bit for the two of them to calm down. They'd drawn enough concerned looks from the patrons around them, but they managed to reign it in, and Harry ordered them another round of drinks.

Wiping away his tears of mirth he still was shaking slightly with laughter. "I suppose I'll have to send her an Owl explaining what happened tomorrow." He laughed then calmed down and couldn't help staring admiringly at Ginny. "I have to tell you though; I am very glad I made this mistake."

She blushed slightly but looked to be returning his look. "I'm glad too."

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So, perhaps it was the five vodka laden drinks that had led them to this, or maybe it was the universe paying him back for the several years of suffering he'd had living with his Aunt and Uncle before finding safe haven and a wonderful friend and mentor in Remus Lupin, but whatever it was, he was grateful.

Grateful that she'd been the one to kiss him. Grateful that she was an amazing kisser. Grateful that he seemed to have not relayed through his fumbling's that he was rather inexperienced with the opposite sex. And was he ever grateful that Ginny didn't mind taking the lead by placing his hands where she wanted them. And by far he was amazingly grateful that this supply room door had been unlocked and he hadn't been required to take out his wand and remove his lips from hers in order to get them on the other side of the door to this semi-private area.

He was also grateful that she was making this movement with her hips that had his eyes rolling back behind his lids.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he'd ever be one of those people that got so swept up in the moment in some place like a dingy pub on a Wednesday night that he couldn't keep his hands or lips off of someone. He'd never thought someone as amazing and attractive as Ginny was would be behaving likewise with him.

Yet here he was in a supply closet with his erection straining against his jeans, and she was seeming all for it. She was rocking against it for Merlin's sake! Her tongue was in his mouth and her hand was clasped over his encouraging it to travel up under her shirt.

Trying as they both were to muffle their groans of appreciation for what each other was doing they were still both letting out grunts and whimpers of appreciation for what the other was doing.

Their slight state of intoxication was certainly helping things along too. He wasn't feeling nearly as hesitant about touching her or snogging her as thoroughly as he would have been sober. Sober Harry would have been looking for verbal assurance that this was all okay. Verbal assurance in the form of words, in English and everything, not just taking her sighs as permission to keep going as he was.

As her hands were traveling into his hair, his caressed their way down her back to cup her bum and give it an appreciative squeeze, causing her to rock against him again. His fingers even dared to travel slightly further south and run along that forbidden spot between her legs. His erection was already painful but when she rubbed herself back to press more against his fingers he groaned loudly.

"Shh." She captured his lips more completely.

There was no way that he would have had the nerve to continue his movements with his fingers as he had if not for the vodka. In the recesses of his mind he was thanking whomever it was that thought it was a good idea to distill potato juice and see what happened.

She was rocking eagerly against his fingers as her lips moved desperately against his. One of her hands gripped the back of his neck as the other came between them. It took a moment to realize she was undoing the button of her jeans. It wasn't until he registered the sound of a zipper being pulled that he realized what she'd done.

He pulled back in surprise and hope. She'd just undone her jeans. He couldn't see her perfectly considering the only light was from the hallway coming in through the strip under the door, but he knew for sure her eyes were full of lust. "Touch me properly." She demanded breathlessly before she pulled his mouth back to hers.

Whatever the ladies wants.

Her jeans were loose enough at the back now that his hand fit down between her bare skin and the material covering it. He slipped them under her knickers too. She was still rocking against his erection. There were so many things that he could shift his focus between at that point; how wonderful it felt to have her pressed up against him, how amazing her lips were against his, how the scent of wildflowers and vanilla coming off of her was so pleasing to his nose and how smooth her bottom felt.

He felt no desire to stop kissing her long enough to tell her he'd never done this before. How she would be the first girl he'd ever be touching intimately. He didn't want her to know how inexperienced he was, he was determined to just do his best and blame it on drink or awkward angles if he failed her horribly.

But he was sure as shit going to try it at least.

His fingers slipped between her folds. He found her to be deliciously hot and incredibly wet. She whimpered and rocked back against his fingers while she bit his lip lightly. He rubbed two fingers determinedly all along her slit, managing to meet the spot where he was still rubbing his front against her before pulling his fingers back and dipping them inside her.

The satisfied groan that came out of her at that was nearly his undoing. She liked it. A lot.

And he liked it. She was so tight and hot around his fingers. He thrust against her in time to the movements he was making with his fingers, which were sliding easily in and out of her. Never before had he been more grateful to have such long arms. He hadn't even realized before this point what a benefit this part of his anatomy would be.

He kept on with this motion, distracted from any sense of potential discomfort his body might have from this position because if there were any it was being overpowered by his overwhelming desire. He'd never wanted anything so badly in his life than he did to keep sliding his two fingers in and out of her, and dry humping against her front was bringing about that delicious pressure that was indication of an amazing release in the works for him.

Their kisses were becoming no more that the two of them groaning open mouthed against each other as he felt a tightness clamping down around his fingers. "FUCK!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice that still sounded exceptionally loud in his ears as she came undone.

That coupled with imagining just how it would feel had his member been inside her rather than his fingers had him shooting off inside his trousers as well. "Holy fuck." He moaned as he lurched forward against her, burying his head in her neck and jerking his finish a few more times.

Harry couldn't believe that happened. He didn't even have the head space to process how it was that that happened. All he knew is that he felt fucking fantastic.

And slightly chaffed he realized as he started to come down from his high.

Slowly he pulled his pelvis away from her just enough that he was no longer pressed against her and gently slid his hand up out of her knickers. She made this satisfied sighing noise when he did so that sounded like music to his ears.

They were both breathing hard and clutching at each other in order to remain upright.

"That was amazing." He managed to get out.

"Yeah." She exhaled. "I am so glad you sat down at the wrong table."

He chuckled. "You have no idea."

She simply hummed in response.

After a few minutes of collecting themselves, and a few more lazy kisses, they managed to slip out of the supply room. Neither saw anyone from the pub giving them sly looks like they'd know or heard what the two of them had just gotten up to.

Out on the street he pulled her to him. He liked how well he could see her now under the bright streetlamps. She looked rather radiant. "When can I see you again?" He asked.

"Saturday?" She sounded hopeful in her request, looking at him rather bashfully.

Harry found that even more endearing to him. After what they'd just done, she was being shy? "Can I owl you between then and now?" He was feeling slightly desperate to know that this hadn't all just been a dream. Daily reminders in the form of letters over the next two day between when he could see her again seemed like a perfect way to make that happen.

"I'd love that." She grinned, then a slightly cocky expression came over her. "Maybe when you owl what happened to Susan Bones tomorrow you should leave out some details though."

He let out an uncharacteristically loud laugh at that then managed to muffle himself. "I promise."

"Then I guess this is goodnight Harry Potter." She met his lips again for a sweet goodbye kiss.

"Goodnight Ginny Weasley." He replied and kissed her two more times before they both separated slowly, not taking their eyes off each other as they stepped backwards to a safe distance before each Apparating home.

AN- Claiming the Smutty Bingo Tile of 'semi-public fingering'.