Chapter 1: Summer
Harry Potter woke up with a smile on his face.
Needless to say, this had not been a normal occurrence when he had been staying with the Dursleys.
Harry came so gently out of sleep that he didn't quite know when exactly he woke up. He lay in bed, unmoving, thinking with quiet pleasure of the dream he had had. He savoured it all the more because it bore so much resemblance to the reality that stretched out in front of him in the form of long, lazy, golden-suffused summer days spent with Ron and Hermione.
He'd left the Dursleys the summer he'd graduated, three summers ago, into his own place, a small, utilitarian apartment that would have looked bare if not for Hermione's decorating efforts and the brown paper-wrapped quilts that arrived frequently from Mrs. Weasley. Harry liked his home, when he was there. It always made him feel like he was in Hermione or Mrs. Weasley's presence. You could even feel Ron in the apartment - partly because he was always there, partly because of the huge Chudley Cannons poster that covered one half of Harry's living room wall.
Every summer, though, more regularly than any swallow, Harry migrated back to the place that had always and never been his home. The first day of summer would see Harry on the Burrow's front doorstep, bag in hand, smile on face.
Harry was unpleasantly jolted out of his peaceful state when his bedroom door flew open with an unceremonious crash. Ginny Weasley stood in the doorway of the room he still shared with Ron, her face wearing a superbly fake smile and her voice just as fakely cheerful. "Wakey wakey!"
Harry had no doubt that she was fully aware of his shock and took no small amount of satisfaction from his start and scowl. "Thanks." He mumbled insincerely.
The dissipation of Ginny's loving devotion had given way to a far less pleasant phase of devotion. Her crush on him had been replaced in his seventh year with a determination to atone for all the years she had spent worshipping him by disliking him intensely. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that the determination had a lot to do with the fact that he had started going out with Cho regularly then. Whatever the reason, Ginny had switched from giving him red roses to giving him dirty looks and taking an, Harry was convinced, unholy pleasure in annoying him.
She did it quite well.
Much to his misfortune.
"You're welcome!" Ginny trilled, with exaggerated delight. She gave him a cheerful wave as she bounced out the door.
Harry scowled even more ferociously at her retreating back. With a low, primitive growl of displeasure, he rolled out of bed and went to perform his morning ablutions.
By the time he got downstairs, Ginny had left, for which he was devoutly thankful. On asking, he was informed that she had gone looking for a job - "as she should be." Mrs. Weasley had said firmly. He sat down at the breakfast table and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy the motherly fussing Mrs. Weasley bestowed on him. While chomping his way through about his tenth waffle, his mouth full, he glanced at Ron.
"What are you going to do today?"
Ron took an energetic gulp of juice before he answered. Harry could see his Adam's apple bob up and down in the still skinny throat. Ron grinned, reminding Harry of the kid he'd first met on Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
"Well, I've got to go over to the club to help prepare for all the kids tomorrow." Ron took another gulp of juice. "Then Hermione's arriving by train tonight, so I'll go meet her there."
Harry nodded. The "club" was the place where Ron was working for the summer - a kid's indoor games club. At twenty-one, Ron had just graduated from one of the best wizarding universities in the area. Although they hadn't gone to the same university - Ron had wanted a chance to be away from both him and Hermione - Harry had kept close tabs on his friend.
"You going now?" Harry asked as Ron got up. Percy and Mr. Weasley had already left for work, about two hours before he had gotten up. Bill and Charlie were sleeping in and Harry knew they had plans to go out that afternoon with two witches. The Weasley twins hadn't come back for the summer - they were busy branching their business out in Romania.
Ron nodded. "Yes, I think so. What are you going to do today?"
Harry shrugged. He didn't have any formed plans for the day, but it was starting to look as if whatever plans he did have would be whittled down to "alone".
"Don't know yet." He said, striving to sound mysterious and casual rather than just plain pathetic.
"Well that's just fine." Mrs. Weasley put in firmly. "Might as well enjoy your free day. You start work tomorrow, don't you?"
Harry smiled affectionately at Mrs. Weasley. "Yes." He answered. He'd gotten a job as an Apprentice Auror. He was looking forward to it.
_____
Being an Apprentice Auror was like being Snape in a dress for a day - pure, undiluted bubotuber pus torture.
Harry hated it.
Not only was the Bernard Hopper, the Auror he was apprenticed to, a Percy who believed in starting from the basics, Bernard also firmly believed that the basics meant making Harry fetch and carry caffeinated drinks for him. With maybe the occasional doughnut.
If that wasn't bad enough, Ginny - I Have The Most Infuriating Laugh In The World - Weasley had a front row seat for his humiliation.
Apparently while she was searching for a job, she had gotten one as Bernard's secretary. She was obviously enjoying herself. Not only did she smirk delightedly whenever he passed by with another mug of toxic black coffee - Harry really, really hated the stuff - she actually giggled - at him! - when he carried a plate of doughnuts in.
Harry wished that he could dump the doughnuts in her lap. It didn't help that whenever Bernard Hopper came out from his office, she was diligently typing, looking sweet. Innocent.
UnGinny.
Harry really, really hated his job.
Midway through the day, thankfully, Bernard had to Disapparate to deal with a rogue Dementor, leaving Harry with a stack of parchments to be put in envelopes and sent off by owl post. Harry grabbed the envelopes from Bernard's desk and went to work at his own desk, which was - of course - right across from Ginny-Let-Me-Laugh-At-You-One-More-Time-Weasley.
Harry looked up from about his one thousandth piece of parchment and stared at her bent head. Her entire body was focused in concentration, her eyes screwed up, her hands steady.
"Are you painting your nails?" Harry asked disbelievingly.
Ginny pointed her wand at her big toe, turning it from a bright pink to an equally bright purple. She cocked her head at him and smiled sweetly. "Yes, I am." She said matter-of-factly. "Is something wrong with that?"
"How did you get this job?" Harry asked peevishly. It was more a rhetorical question than anything else - he didn't expect to be answered.
So of course Ginny-I-Will-Annoy-And-Thwart-Harry-Potter-Whenever-I-Can-Weasley answered. "Great personal charm?" she suggested helpfully.
Below the neck, maybe, Harry thought, but didn't voice his opinion. He settled for a glare and a snort that hopefully expressed exactly what he thought of her personal charm and shoved a piece of parchment viciously into its envelope. "Were you put on this earth to make me miserable?"
"If that means did I take this job just to annoy you, then the answer is no." Ginny said imperturbably. "I certainly had no idea that you were his apprentice, and if I had known, then you have every assurance that I would have taken a job as guardian of the pits of Hell before I took this one."
Harry glared impotently at her. "I would have replaced anyone in the pits of Hell for the summer if I'd known you were going to be around." He retorted. He jammed the last sheet of parchment into its envelope and stood loftily. "I'm going to send these off now." He announced with great dignity.
"In your case," Ginny remarked behind him, "a place in Hell would be a step up from this job."
_____
Ron waited impatiently at the train station, checking his Muggle-type digital watch. He'd given up on the analog kind - he couldn't seem to remember where the big hand was supposed to be and why the big hand was called the big hand when it was really shorter than the little hand.
6:38. Ron started fidgeting impatiently. She was supposed to arrive at 6:40. He looked down the train station. Looked the other way. Tapped his foot - but stopped quickly because it gave him a pain in the arch of his foot. Looked down the station again. With a startling whoosh! The train landed in front of him with a jolt. Ron felt dirt go up his nose and in his eyes and he choked.
He was rubbing his eyes so furiously that he jumped, startled, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He swung around and looked down at a smiling Hermione.
"Oh . . . Ron! Your eyes are all red!" Hermione whipped out her wand and pointed it straight at him, mumbling, "Conjuctivita!"
His vision cleared. "Hermione!"
Hermione blushed and smiled. "Hallo, Ron."
"Aren't you the little healer." He said affectionately, pulling her so that she fell off balance into
his arms.
_____
Harry brushed off the last of owl excrement that lay on his robes. With a sound of disgust, he shook himself out and glared balefully at the Ministry Owlery, which, from the outside, looked amazingly innocent.
Innocent! Harry thought bitterly, as he walked into the air conditioned Ministry. He went straight up to his floor, purposefully not looking at anyone on the way.
"Aren't we looking nice and pooped-on?" Ginny said, bursting into peals of laughter as soon as she saw him.
Harry ignored her. He'd learnt that that was the best attitude to take when Dudley and his friends were bullying him. His ears burned red with the effort as Ginny went on snickering.
He hated his job.
_____
Harry trudged into the Burrow that night utterly exhausted, wanting nothing more than to go straight to bed and forget there was such a person as Ginny Weasley.
"Harry!" a female voice cried, and Harry stumbled back as female arms wrapped themselves around his limp neck.
"Hermione!" Harry said, forgetting his weariness for a moment, equally pleased to see his old friend. She was looking well, bright eyed and intelligent, all hair and eyes. "You look wonderful -"
"You look so tired, Harry -"
"After a day with her -" Harry said sourly, jerking his head at Ginny, who was laughing with Bill, looking annoyingly fresh and clean. " - I'm lucky that that's the only thing that's wrong with me."
Hermione burst into unsympathetic laughter. "I'm sure." She said knowingly. She laughed again. "I find this superbly funny -"
"Of course you do." Harry said irritably. "What are you doing these days anyway?"
Hermione stopped laughing, although she still had a huge grin on her face. "Well, I took on a job as an assistant healer for the summer. After that I'll take my Healing exam to become an official Healer."
"How nice for you." Harry said gloomily.
Hermione gave him a cheerful hug. Then she burst into laughter again.
_____
Harry lost his temper. Later, he would remember that it had been over a minor thing - Ginny's refusal to magically copy a document because her nails were wet. That had been the last straw after a day filled with black coffee, steaming doughnuts and Ginny-smirks.
"YOU - YOU WITCH!"
"That is what I am." Ginny agreed placidly.
Harry slammed his hand down on her desk, making the cup of coffee there slosh over. "You will copy that document and have it on my desk in five minutes." He said slowly and quietly.
"Really?" Ginny asked. She stood up and grabbed the parchment from his hands. Harry realized that she was getting angry as well. She deliberately placed it on the desk and poured the coffee very slowly over it. "Whoops." She gave him a fake smile. "Guess I can't now."
Harry was by her side in an instant, and his rage was so great that he didn't realize what he was doing.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and it was a minute before he realized that he was kissing her furiously.
It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was an angry kiss, full of violence and fury and passion. She tasted of heat and coffee and anger and apples and she was kissing him back, as furiously as he was kissing her. Their hands were in a frenzy of motion, moving all over, exploring each other's bodies -
Somehow they were on the desk and paper was flying and Harry didn't care because he was kissing Ginny -
They were kissing so hard that they didn't hear the door open.
Their eyes flew open and they pushed each other away immediately, however, when they heard the familiar and well-hated voice drawl, turning in unison to see the long, lean figure leaning against the door, hands in pockets of well-cut Muggle suit, a mocking smirk on the now-handsome face.
"Well, well," said Draco Malfoy.
Disclaimers: anything pertaining to the Harry Potter Universe belongs to JKR. This is a type of co-authored fic. The first four chapters of this story were written by Renebre and I am finishing the story for her with her permission.
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A/N: This may seem like it's Harry/Ginny here, but it's definitely not. It'll be Draco/Ginny very soon!