Coming Clean

3 weeks, 2 days, 4 hours, and 16 minutes. She had spent that much time without him as hers and hers alone. She understood exactly why he "had" to do it. But truthfully, she didn't care if she was a target of attack. She just wanted him back.

"GINNY!!!!"

Ugh, she thought as her mum called her. Just once I want to be lost in my thoughts and not disturbed!

"Are you up yet? It's after 10 o'clock!"

"Yes Mum."

"Hurry up dear, Harry's arriving soon!"

Oh god, I forgot he was coming! She thought to herself. How the hell am I gonna face him? She quickly got up and got dressed, combing her hair and putting on the perfume she knew drove Harry crazy. Since thoughts of him have driven me crazy for the past 3 weeks, why can't I make him suffer a little?

By the time she got downstairs, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley were all in the kitchen eating breakfast. As her foot hit the last step, green smoke was emitted from the fire place and with it, Harry James Potter, the love of her life. God, why does he have to be so hot even after using Floo powder?!?

Harry had just enough time to get out a "Hello everyone" before Mrs. Weasley smothered him in a gigantic hug.

"Oh Harry! It's so wonderful to see you!"

Hermione was next in line to give Harry a big hug, then Ron, Fred, and George all took their turns greeting him.

"Have you had breakfast, Harry dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yes, my Aunt sent me off with breakfast in my stomach, she was so happy to be rid of me in less than a month."

"I still don't think they feed you enough, dear. If you were any skinnier we wouldn't be able to see you."

It's because he's so goddamn fit from Quidditch, mother! Ginny thought, desperate to see him on the Quidditch pitch again.

"Well, I'm gonna go unpack."

"When you're done, grab your broomstick! We'll play three on three Quidditch: you, me, and 'mione versus Fred, George, and Ginny," Ron interjected before Harry could get a foot on the stairs.

"Alright."

Dammit Ron, Ginny thought as she made her way to their secluded Quidditch pitch, frustrated beyond belief. So much for keeping from keeping my distance from Harry.

But instead of having the lousy time she thought she would, she ended up enjoying herself. She kept her mind of Harry and stayed near Hermione most of the time. After about 2 hours of Quidditch, they decided it was time to get out of the heat. Fred and George were the first to leave, claiming they needed to get back to their shop. Then Ron and Hermione went off, claiming they needed to talk about something, but shoot looks back over their shoulders as they retreated.

Oh god, they did that on purpose! Ginny thought, realizing that she and Harry were alone in the grove. Harry attempted to flatten his unruly hair, but just made it worse, and made him more attractive to Ginny. Tension strung the air between them as they looked at each other with unreadable gazes.

They stood their in silence until Ginny got up the courage to speak.

"Dammit, Harry, why do you have to be so perfect? Why do you have to be a perfect gentleman? Why do you have to save everyone in the world but yourself?"

Harry stood their, looking at her like she was speaking in a different language. "What are you talking about?"

"How come you're allowed to break up with me because you want to save me from You-Know-Who, but I can't have any say in it? Harry, I can't stop thinking about you! I've counted the weeks and the days and the hours and the minutes we've been apart, but you seem to be COMPLETELY unaffected by this whole thing." Ginny was right in front of him by this point, tears streaming down her face. "Why can't you see that I can't live without you?"

Harry was taken aback, wondering where this outburst came from, but knew exactly what she was feeling. "Ginny, I told you, I can't bear to see you hurt, he'll use you to get to me and I just can't let that happen."

"I don't care if he uses me, I need you, Harry. I need you with every fiber of my being. Harry, I love you. I have loved you and I always will."

Harry stood there, holding her, wiping the tears from her eyes as soon as they fell, not wanting to see that he had caused her pain, the sole thing he tried to avoid. "Ginny, I love you too." And then he was overcome by all of his emotion as well. "God, Ginny I can't live without you either. And I didn't want to see you dead because of me!"

"I'd rather die than be without you." And with that, she looked up at his face, and saw his eyes stinging with his own tears. And he kissed her, a long passionate kiss that she returned gratefully, feeding off of it like a life force. For lack of breath, she broke off the kiss and looked deep into his emerald green eyes. "We can keep it a secret, just like in that musical The Phantom of the Opera that all the Americans love. Christine and Raoul hide their love from the Phantom, we can too. Please, I'm begging you!"

Harry bent down and kissed her again, longing to go on like this forever. "How could I say no to that? Alright, my love, we can have our own secret romance that no one else will know about. Truthfully, I've been having trouble sleeping at night, thinking about you and missing you like crazy. I need you, more than anyone could know."

"I think I have somewhat of an idea how much," she said, chuckling, knowing it was the same feeling she had inside.

They sat down holding each other and kissing like the world was ending that minute. As they looked up, they saw a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis.

"I love you Ginny."

"I love you too Harry."

~fin~