Fic for carrickorourke - Worth Fighting For

[hg_seasons_mods]

To: carrickorourke

Title: Worth Waiting For
Author: aggiebell90
Pairing: Harry/Ginny, various Weasleys
Rating: PG/Teen
Word Count: ~2950
Summary: All she wanted was some time alone with her fiancé. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Author's Notes: My beta team is made of win. Just saying.

carrickorourke, I couldn't fit the roaring fire in, but I had tons of fun trying to figure out how to get Harry and Ginny out into the snow for you. And while I was stalking you perusing your journal to get an idea of the kinds of things you might like, I noticed you have a thing about cinnamon in hot chocolate, so I kind of…borrowed the idea. I hope you don't mind.



She was going to kill them, that's all there was to it, and it was going to be slow and painful and messy. All she wanted was a chance to properly greet her fiancé, but they'd been interrupted every time she leaned in for a kiss or ran her fingers up his arm or even just tried to talk to him. If she heard "Oi, Gin-Gin!" (George) or "Harry, mate, could you-" (Ron) or "Ginevra, would you-" (Percy) or "My eyes, my eyes!" (George again) one more time…

Well, she wouldn't be responsible for her actions.

"Hey, Ginny-" Bill. Of course. They were only missing Charlie now. And as soon as she'd thought it, there he was, brushing snow out of his hair as he came into the room.

"Harry-"

"That's it! " she said, stepping away from Harry, who had just pulled her close and started leaning in for a kiss, only to be interrupted-again.

Harry groaned, sounding frustrated. "Ignore them."

"No. I've had enough of this, Harry. We haven't seen each other in two weeks, and we can't even get five minutes alone without someone interrupting us. I can understand the press-" she held up her hand to stop his comment "-I don't like it, but I understand. But when my own family, who should know better, won't give us any privacy…" She gave him a disgruntled look. "I told you we should've gone to your flat first, but nooooo. You said we had to come here instead."

"I know, I know. But your mum…" Harry sighed. "You know how she is. She made me promise we'd come to the Burrow as soon as I picked you up."

"Ever heard of the word 'no,' Harry? It's just two letters. It's not that hard."

He gave her a helpless look. "Easy for you to say, Ginny. You don't understand. Your family-"

"My family is a bunch of prats," she said loudly, hoping her voice would carry over to Bill and Charlie on the other side of the room.

"Well, that's a fine how do you do," George said as he and Ron entered the sitting room. "And here we were, only wanting to greet the prodigal daughter on her triumphal return. And what do we get?"

"Arrgh!" She threw her hands up in frustration, pulled her wand, and started across the room towards him. She'd only taken three steps before Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him.

"Ginny," he said.

"Just one little hex, Harry? Please?" she asked, trying to pull away from him. "Well, maybe one each," she amended, glaring at each brother in turn. "I promise it won't be too damaging." She smirked in satisfaction as she saw them shift uneasily in their places.

"We'd have to call in the Magical Reversal Squad, and I don't want to have to deal with the paperwork."

Leave it to Harry to be the practical one.

"Hmph. Oh, all right then," she said, leaning her back against his chest. "I'll save it for now. Only because you asked, though."

Ron made a gagging sound, and Ginny pointed her wand at him.

"Better watch it, mate," Harry said. "I know I said I don't want to have to deal with the paperwork, but I'm willing to do it if I need to." He pulled his wand and Ginny smirked when Ron flinched, especially since Harry had only Summoned winter cloaks, scarves, hats, and gloves.

"What are those for?" she asked.

"Thought we might take a walk," he said. "Interested?"

"Absolutely," she replied, taking her things from him. "Let's get away from these pillocks."

oOo

"Finally," Ginny said, once they'd dressed for the cold and escaped the house. "I love my brothers, but sometimes…"

"They get in the way?"

"Yeah, that's one way to put it." She stopped walking and sidled closer to him. "Now," she said, "where were we before those prats interrupted us?"

He grinned, turning to face her. "I seem to remember something about a welcome home kiss."

"I like the way you think, Harry," she said, stepping closer to him and putting her arms around his neck.

His hands crept to her waist, drawing her nearer, and she stood on her tip-toes and pulled his head towards hers, toying with the hair at the nape of his neck and wishing she wasn't wearing gloves so she could feel its softness, but then their lips met and all she could think of was warmth. Even in the frigid evening air, kissing Harry was warmth and sunlight wrapped into one package. His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss until they were both breathless.

"Well," she said, "that was almost worth the wait." She winked at him so he'd know she was teasing. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes bright, and she was certain she looked the same.

"Almost?" Harry asked, smiling back at her.

"Almost. It would've been completely perfect if you hadn't waited so long."

"Hang on," he protested, "it's not my fault your brothers wouldn't leave us alone."

"No, but it is your fault you brought me home before welcoming me properly," she reminded him, lacing her fingers with his as best she could around the bulky gloves they were wearing.

"C'mon, you," he said, shaking his head at her as he started to lead her down the trail again. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"'Course not," she said. "It's my job, you know."

"What is? Giving me a hard time?"

"Of course." She puffed up her chest, doing her best Percy impression. "It's in my contract, clause 4a: 'Ginny Weasley has the right to ensure Harry Potter doesn't take himself too seriously. This shall be done by teasing, taunting, and generally taking the mickey as often as necessary.'"

"I don't remember signing a contr-aah!" Ginny felt a jerk on her hand and then suddenly, Harry was no longer beside her. Instead, she found herself looking down on him as he lay sprawled in the snow.

"Harry! Are you all right? What happened?"

"Ow," he said, wheezing a little from his spot on the ground. "Bloody ice."

"Ice," she said sceptically, "really?"

"Yes, really," he said.

"Are you hurt?"

"Only my pride," he muttered. She bit back a laugh as she watched him try to get up. He didn't seem to be able to get any purchase with his shoes, and every time he got his feet under him to stand up, they would go out from underneath him and he'd end up on his bum again.

"A little help might be nice," he said as he held his hand up to her.

She looked at him, wondering if it would be a good idea to offer her hand.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked, his voice plaintive.

"Trust you?" she asked. "With my life, absolutely. To not pull me down into the snow with you?" She shook her head at him, feeling the smile growing on her face. "No, I don't believe I do."

"You're going to just leave me here, then? Helpless, stuck in the snow-which, by the way, is bloody cold-unable to get up? Some fiancée you are."

She knew better, really she did, but Harry always did know exactly what to say to get her to meet a challenge, so she reached out to grab his hand and help him up-

And promptly found herself sprawled on top of him.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you," she muttered as she pushed on his shoulders, trying-and failing-to leverage herself into a sitting position.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I had nothing to do with you falling-"

"Of course not," she said. "You had nothing to do with the fact that I'm now lying on top of you in the snow. It was some…some rogue goblin that made me do it."

"You have to admit," he said, taking off one of his gloves and brushing his fingers across her cheek, "it makes it easier to kiss this way."

She cocked her head to the side, considering his words. "You do have a point," she said.

Smiling, she leaned down and placed her lips against his, feeling the warmth of his breath against the cold of her cheeks, his rough lips against hers. She pulled off his hat and tried to run her fingers through his hair, but it kept getting caught in her gloves, so she propped herself up, pulled them off, and tossed them to the ground before leaning down to kiss him again.

Her tongue teased his lips and she heard him moan, just a little, as his mouth opened to give her more access and his hands came up to cradle her face. She'd just started to deepen the kiss when she suddenly felt a plunk on the back of her neck and something cold, and wet sliding under her scarf and down her neck to drip onto Harry below her.

"Oi!" Harry said as some snow fell off Ginny and landed on his ear. "What's that?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed. There was no wind to cause the trees to dump the snow collected in their branches, unless…

"I'm going to kill them," she stated again, pushing herself off Harry and wincing at his grunt of pain. "Sorry," she said as she stood, watching him rub his thigh where her knee had dug into it as she was getting up.

She turned and casually looked around, brushing the snow off her neck and shoulders as she tried to find the culprits… Nothing, nothing…. and then, there, disappearing behind her father's shed, some red hair, a glimpse of a maroon jumper, a bright orange leopard-patterned hat.

"They're hiding behind Dad's shed," she told Harry when he finally managed to wrestle himself upright. "Ready for some fun?"

"What kind of fun?"

"The Weasley kind."

Harry looked at her, clearly considering her proposal for a minute. "Yeah," he said, smiling, "I am. What do you suggest?" He pulled out his wand and cast a drying charm on them both.

"Well," she thought, pondering, "we really need to make them pay, but I think we're going to have to act like we don't know they're there, you know? And then…"

"And then, when they're least expecting it…"

"Ambush them," Ginny said, grinning at how easily he latched onto her train of thought. "Exactly."

"There's a spell that might work," he said. "Something we're learning in Stealth and Tracking. If we can distract them…make them think we're somewhere else…"

She stretched up and gave him a quick kiss. "Perfect," she said. "What do we need to do?"

"Well, first-"

oOo

"That should do it," Ginny said, looking at their handiwork. Harry had used a mild Obfuscation charm, coupled with a variant of the Confundus, to keep her brothers from seeing what they were doing, and then they'd started working on the project: two piles of charmed snowballs and two animated snowmen, all of which had very good aim. It had taken a little longer than they'd expected-her brothers had kept sending random snowballs into the woods and disrupting their progress-but between the two of them, she and Harry had built up a distraction worthy of Mad-Eye. All it lacked now was a single charm and her brothers weren't going to know what hit them.

Literally.

"Right," she said, "so the plan is, we start the snowballs flying, which will distract the gits, and then these two lovely snowmen here can do their thing."

"Meanwhile," Harry added, "we'll sneak around behind them so they're surrounded and start the second group of snowballs in on their attack. Once they're busy defending themselves-"

"We'll go inside and snog," Ginny finished, winking at him.

He laughed. "If you insist…"

"Oh, I do, I definitely do."

"I knew there was a reason I love you. You remember the activation charm?"

She dutifully repeated the spell, waving her wand in the correct pattern.

"Brilliant. On three, then?"

"On three." She grinned and pointed her wand at the snowballs while he pointed his at the snowmen.

"One, two, three!" They cast the spell together, bringing both the snowballs and the snowmen to life, waited until the first projectiles hit their targets, and then Levitated the second batch of snowballs so they could position them for the second part of their plan.

"Ow! Bloody hell, what was that?"

Ginny snorted. One of the snowballs had evidently hit its mark.

"Finite!"

"Damn it, Potter!"

"GINNY!"

Harry caught her eyes with his, grinning broadly at the shouts of her brothers, and she knew her smile was just as big. "Ready?" he whispered.

"Ready."

"All right, let's go. Quietly, now, so they don't catch us." They took off, perpendicular to the trail and then angled back to the house, stopping at the edge of the woods. They could see Bill, Charlie, George, and Ron spread out in a line, advancing towards the charmed snowmen and getting bombarded by snowballs.

"Percy?" Harry asked quietly.

Ginny looked again; she didn't see him out with the rest of the gits, but then she caught a glimpse of him through one of the Burrow's windows. "Inside," she said.

He nodded and waved his wand, neatly dropping the rest of the snowballs on the ground. "Ready for phase two?"

"Of course." She took out her wand and pointed it at the snowballs. "Do you want the honour, or shall I?"

Harry winked at her and pocketed his wand. "You go ahead. They're your brothers."

She cast the charm and watched as the first three snowballs lifted themselves off the ground and launched themselves towards George, who was closest. "C'mon," she said. "We need to get inside before they see us." Laughing, they dashed towards the house, slamming through the door right as the first snowball hit George in the back of the head.

oOo

Harry picked her up and twirled her around, laughing all the while. "You're a genius, Ginny," he said as he lowered her to the ground. Her gaze met his and the air charged with tension; the laughter left his eyes and he bent his head towards hers.

And then someone cleared their throat.

Ginny let her head fall against Harry's chest. They'd been so close…

"Hello, Molly," Harry said as Ginny banged her head against him. Of course it would have to be her mother; everyone else who'd been home had already interrupted them. The only person left now was her father.

"Hello, dears." Ginny turned in Harry's arms to find her mother standing in the doorway, drying her hands on her apron. "And what have you two been up to?"

"Oh, nothing much," Ginny said airily, taking a step away from Harry. "Just charming some snowmen and a few snowballs to attack the gits out there."

Harry choked behind her, and Ginny could've sworn she saw her mother's lips twitch. "Ah," she said, "yes, I tried to convince them to leave you two be, but…"

Ginny blinked at her mother. She'd done what?

"Oh, don't look so shocked, Ginny," her mum said. "I know what it's like to be the only girl-one who hasn't seen the man she loves in quite some time-living in a household of overprotective brothers. It's like trying to kiss in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. No privacy at all."

"Mum-" Ginny said.

"There's some hot chocolate in the kitchen, if you two want it," her mum continued on as if Ginny hadn't said anything. "I added cinnamon, just like you like it, and there are some chocolate biscuits and a tart in the cupboard." She untied her apron and sent it to its hook then Summoned a heavy cloak, gloves, and a scarf.

"Mum-"

"Well, go on with you then," Molly said, shooing them towards the kitchen. She finished fastening her cloak and pulled on her gloves.

"But, Mum, where are you going?" Ginny asked.

"Outside. No reason for you lot to have all the fun. I know how to toss snowballs with the best of them. And I know how to charm them, too. I'll take Percy with me, and your father's due home at half-six. That gives you thirty minutes alone." She gave them a stern look. "But then I expect you to spend time with your family. We haven't seen you in two weeks, Ginny, and Harry seems to think he can't come round unless you're here, so it's been almost as long for him."

Ginny felt Harry shift uncomfortably behind her. "I'm sorry, Molly-"

"Tosh, none of that, now, Harry," she said. "I know how you are. That's the only reason I'm leaving you alone with my daughter." She winked at them. "Go on, you two. You're wasting time." And she slipped out the door, dragging a protesting Percy with her.

"Did your mum say she had hot chocolate and biscuits?"

Ginny nodded slowly.

"And she just took Percy and left the house?"

Ginny nodded again.

"And she gave us permission to snog until your dad comes home?"

"I-I think she did."

Harry smiled, a slow, devastating smile that made her heart beat faster. "Well then. What are we waiting for?

~end~