One would guess that after the summer Ginny Weasley had, she'd be a little more cheerful. By some miracle Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort and lived to tell about it. Casualties had been great, but the Weasley's managed to survive by the skin of their teeth. Harry had, of course, sustained grave injuries but had spent time in St. Mungos and had been recuperating at the Burrow under Molly Weasley's care.

Ginny sat at the dining room table, her chin resting on her arms folded in front of her on the table's surface. She was lost in thought, remembering how it was that she and Harry had managed to get together in the first place.

Hermione and Ron had finally admitted their feelings to each other after their 5th year. After the debacle at the Ministry of Magic. They spent the entire summer mooning over one another and their gooey behavior spilled into the school year that fall. Harry dealt with it rather well, but their new relationship left him plenty of time to be alone. Too much time.

Hogsmeade visits were no longer for Butterbeers and visits to Zonkos, but rather for Hermione and Ron an opportunity to fight and bicker and then snog each other senseless. Harry didn't want to be the 3rd wheel. Ginny had, of course, seen her good fortune to spend some time with Harry. Hopefully he'd be more relaxed around her, Hermione having told him last spring that Ginny fancied him no longer. So, bravely she'd invited Harry to go into Hogsmeade with her in December and stop into Madame Puddifoot's for coffee.

Everything just seemed to escalate faster than she could have ever dreamt for and by the following February, Ginny and Harry were together.

"Ginevra Weasley! Get out of this house and get some air, get some sun and take that boyfriend of yours with you." Molly Weasley jested playfully. "It'll do you no good to lament about school. You're going back! Harry will be at Auror's training anyway." Her mother seemed to be reading her thoughts. "Don't worry Ginny, Harry's a good boy." Molly patted her daughter's shoulder in a comforting way. "Now, out with you both." She reaffirmed, pointing toward the door. "I'll be off to Diagon Alley to pick up your school things. I'll help you pack after supper."

Molly made her way thru the kitchen to the fireplace. In a puff of green smoke Molly Weasley disappeared, leaving Ginny alone in the quiet house. Ron and Hermione had left that morning to visit Hermione's parents before each of them began working at the Ministry. Arthur was at work, neither Percy or the twins lived at home anymore and of course Bill and Charlie had returned to Egypt and Romania respectively.

Ginny sighed loudly. She did not want to spend her last day of summer vacation bored out of her mind in her mother's kitchen. It was a warm, sunny day after all. A smile finally spread across Ginny's face. She and Harry were alone.

No doubt Harry would be outside, Ginny thought, making her way through the meandering sprawl that was the Burrow. Lucky git probably doesn't even sunburn. She contemplated. But we'll soon find out. A wicked grin spread across her face.

Sure enough, Harry sat at a small table on the flagstone patio behind the Burrow. He was using the Broomstick Servicing Kit Hermione had bought him several years ago. The sun gleamed off his dark hair. Harry smiled and squinted his eyes before shielding them from the afternoon sun.

"What's up Gin?"

She forced her hands into the pockets of her cut-off denim shorts and shrugged. "Nothin."

Harry seemed rather engrossed in what he was doing. "What time is it?" He asked passively.

"Somewhere around 2:30, I think." Ginny sighed again, biting the edge of her fingernail and tapping her barefoot on the flagstone.

"What's wrong?" Harry finally asked, looking up from the Firebolt that laid across his lap. His green eyes met Ginny's brown ones- each time it happened she felt a tingle all over her body. She knew what she wanted.

"Well," She began, trying her best to look melancholy. "It's just that I'm terribly bored here today with nothing to do and no one at home." She pouted and gazed out over the fields surrounding the house.

Harry's eyes widened and he turned slowly to face Ginny. "You mean we're home alone?" He asked, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Uh huh." Ginny replied in a sing-song voice and nodding her head. The grin spread across Harry's face as he inched forward in his chair.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" He sprung out of the chair with speed and agility. Ginny shrieked and took off at a run toward the apple orchard behind the Burrow. Harry was close behind her as she turned sharply, putting a tree between Harry and herself. She laughed loudly as Harry made a grab at her, tickling her ribs. Ginny squealed, squirming out of his reach, stepping behind another wiry apple tree.

Harry growled playfully, peeking around one side of the tree trunk then the other, spying Ginny's coppery locks glinting in the sunlight from where she was hiding. His years of playing Quidditch left him with a distinct advantage over her. Harry's quickness and dexterity couldn't be matched. When Ginny tore off toward the edge of the orchard, where the tall field grasses began growing, he resumed his chase.

Ginny heard Harry's footfalls and risked a look over her shoulder- he was right behind her! She laughed breathlessly as Harry reached out for her, capturing her in his arms and tumbling down into the soft weeds.

Ginny lay flat on her back in the field, her coppery hair spread out all around her, contrasting lovely with the greens and golds of the grasses. She giggled, panting as Harry leaned across her body and gently brushed the wisps of her hair away from her face.

"I love you." He whispered, gazing deep into her warm, brown eyes- seeing all the colors around him reflected in those eyes, carelessly twirling a lock of Ginny's red hair around his finger.

Ginny smiled. "Why are you whispering?" She teased, raising her hand and slipping it behind his neck.

"I love you!" He yelled emphatically, causing several birds to flee the nearby apple trees for a quieter location.

Ginny threw back her head in raucous laughter, giving Harry an easy opening. He quickly bent his head down and began nibbling along Ginny's neck and jawline. He made a playful growling noise as he went about it, his ragged breath tickling Ginny's neck. Harry continued grazing his teeth across Ginny's flesh, down to where her white, cotton tank top left it's deepest 'V' on her chest.

Ginny took Harry's face in her two delicate hands and brought it gently up to meet her eyes. He closed his eyes as Ginny caressed his cheek with the back of her lightly freckled hand.

"Harry?" Ginny began in a hushed, breathy voice as she paused and leaned up to kiss his top lip.

"Mmm hmm?" He mumbled in response, creating a pleasantly soft buzz against her own lips. His hands were beginning to roam over her body.

Ginny smiled. "Harry, make love to me."

Harry's eyes sprang open as he looked down at Ginny lying in the grass. The intent was evident in her eyes. A part of him knew there was no going back.

"Gin," he began, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. His hands stopped now and Ginny felt their painful absence.

She drew his face down to hers and hungrily met his lips. She quickly parted them with her tongue, drawing his tongue into her mouth. Harry shifted his weight, gently pressing his body on Ginny's. The contact of his chest bearing heavily on hers, the feeling of their legs intertwined, and their hips meeting in amorous desire sent such an urgent need in Harry that he was not sure he could control himself at all.

"Gin," he panted, breaking the kiss and finding his hands entangled deep in Ginny's hair. "I don't know if it's a good id- " He stopped abruptly when she tenderly began nipping at his earlobe.

"Harry, please?" The sound of her pleading voice combined with the way her breath airily caressed his ear was almost enough to forget all reason.

Harry let the soft strands of hair slip through his fingers while his mind began to wander. True, they had made love dozens if not hundreds of times, but it had always been rushed and quiet either at Hogwarts or The Burrow. The freedom to do and say and feel whatever he wanted was exciting Harry even further. Ginny was now tugging at his T-shirt, trying desperately to work the shirt out from between them.

"Ginny- wait!" Harry directed, sitting up, resting his bum on her legs and pushing his hands down the length of his thighs. His hair was messier than normal, his glasses were askew and his chest heaved.

"Harry!" Ginny snapped, losing her patience, grabbing a fistful of Harry's T-shirt. "I'm going away tomorrow until Christmas! We won't see each other for almost 2 months until the first Hogsmeade weekend. We are alone and that doesn't happen very often. No one is around, we live in the middle of nowhere, nobody will know! Quit rationalizing!"

"Er, right." He admitted with a nervous nod.

Ginny sensed the apparent apprehension and smiled. If Harry never saw her for the rest of his life, he'd never forget that smile. Again her hands slipped under his T-shirt and skimmed lightly across his smooth skin. A smile began to dawn on Harry's face and as Ginny grazed the ticklish flesh at his sides, he laughed and quickly removed the shirt from his body and tossed it into the weeds.

The breeze played gently with Ginny's red hair teasing it exhileratingly. "If I'm shirtless, then so are you." Harry declared, working diligently on the small, white buttons on Ginny's shirt. He took his time, letting each button slip casually from his fingertips and watching Ginny's chest rise and fall in anticipation. Her erratic breathing excited him. Upon finishing the row of closures Harry traced his thumb slowly down the length of Ginny's chest, his eyes never leaving hers. He leaned down and kissed Ginny once again. Their tongues danced an illicit rhythm while Ginny worked her hands about Harry's chest . He gently kissed his way from Ginny's lips along her chin line and to her ear.

Ginny's eyes fluttered closed and she hissed out a long, slow breath entangling her fingers up in Harry's unruly black hair. In response he ground his hips into Ginny, the evidence of his excitement and attraction pressing into Ginny's lower abdomen.

"Gin, those clothes are gonna have to come off." Harry declared, running a hand down over her chest and down to her belly button. "This was your idea, remember?" He added with a smirk.

She met his gaze with a faux pout before quickly pushing his chest away from her own body. Harry knelt, straddling her body and watching her intently. Ginny hastily slipped the already unbuttoned shirt off her shoulders. And as if to say, "top that," Ginny also ceremoniously unhooked her bra and threw it off into the field. She tried to keep a straight face as Harry raised his eyebrows and his line of vision fell down to her breasts.

Ginny finally cracked up with giggles. "Harry, honestly, you've seen them before."

He shook his head with a smile. "Nah, I know, but they are bloody brilliant. How can you not see that?"

Harry reached out and cupped both of Ginny's breasts with his warm hands. He sighed satisfactorily and Ginny echoed the same sentiment as her lips hungrily sought out Harry's. With a gentle pressure he eased Ginny back down onto the grass which tickled her back and Harry let the sensuous weight of his body rest on hers.

He heard the sharp intake of breath that he knew was unmistakable pleasure. Ginny snaked her hand between their bodies and down to the waist band of Harry's jeans. She slid her hand down amid his boxers and the smooth, hard skin of his abdomen. He groaned loudly, grinding his hips against Ginny.

In one quick movement, Harry rolled them both over so Ginny laid on top of his chest.

"Shorts- off." Harry panted, his hand caressing Ginny's ticklish sides with the backs of his hands. He loved making her smile. For the rest of his life, he'd do anything to make her smile.

This smile was mischievous. Harry liked it. Ten minutes ago he'd been hesitant about this, but now, thanks to the power of just one woman he was coaxing her further.

Ginny quickly shimmied out of the denim cut-offs and a pair of white lacy panties. She moved to kneel at Harry's side- just out of his reach. She teased him provocatively, lifting her hair off her freckled back. She let the hair fall once again and continued letting her hands fall ever so slowly down over her collarbone and over her breasts. Ginny looked up to meet Harry's emerald green eyes and helped him work the zipper of his jeans. They rushed him out of the remaining clothing and threw the garments some feet away.

With dark eyes full of lust, Ginny began to creep up Harry's body like a cat stalking it's prey. She's killing me. Harry thought with a loud groan. He grabbed Ginny's arms, fervently pulled her up to his eye level and crushed her lips in a bruising kiss.

The pressure and force of Harry's lips on hers was exciting and only made Ginny want more. She might have let him bleed her lungs dry from a kiss like that. The power it gave her to know that she could enchant someone like that was titillating in and of itself.

"I want you to take me now." She uttered in a low, raspy voice, meeting his eyes with a wanton, lustful stare.

Harry grinned back with a smile just as vexatious as Ginny's, and rolled them over one final time. Ginny could feel the grass tickling her back again and combined them mind, body and soul in love.

Ginny untangled her fingers from Harry's black tresses and slid her arms around his back He was, in all ways, bound. A prisoner. To Ginny's body and her love. He didn't want to know what he had done to deserve her, but he knew that he'd never want another. Ginny was his everything.

"Well, I shan't forget that anytime soon." Ginny vowed as they separated almost painfully from each other after they made love.

"Neither will I." He admitted. "It has to last us until October."

"With the exception of tonight, in my room, after Mum and Dad have gone to bed. I'll be waiting up." She added with a coy smile.

Harry rolled off her and lay next to her on the grass, instinctively pulling her to spoon against him. "You're awful." He declared, shaking his head. "And I like it." Harry drew her into his arms as close as possible but noticed she was un-naturally quiet.

"What's wrong Gin?" He whispered against her ear, causing her hair to tickle her neck.

She sighed pensively, "Everything and everyone are changing, everyone but me. Our whole world has changed and You, Ron and Hermione are all going off to do brilliant things and I'm only going back to a half-ruined Hogwarts."

"Gin, that's not it at all." Harry offered, kissing her bare shoulder. "The most important thing you can do is to go back to Hogwarts and help restore the charms protecting it. Show people it's safe to go back. Make Dumbledore's death worth it."

She huffed loudly, clearly unaccepting his opinions, and scooted a few inches away from Harry's warm body.

"Gin, c'mon, tell me what's wrong." He said a little more strongly, but with no less concern.

"I don't want to go back." She declared angrily and matter of factly. "I've only just gotten you back from St. Mungo's. I love you more than ever and now I won't even be able to see you until October."

"It'll be ok, Love. We love each other too much to let this fail now. Just think, by the time you graduate I'll have 10 months of work done. I'll save every knut and maybe this time next summer we'll have our own place." His voice had a soothing and calming effect.

"Really?" Ginny asked, stunned and turning to look in Harry's emerald green eyes.

"Of course. I love you Gin, and I'll spend the rest of my life telling you so. Fifty times a day if necessary. Until I came to the Burrow I lived in a house, not a home. We'll make one together."

"Swear?"

"Swear." He affirmed, raising his right hand as a grin spread across his face. "Just you try and stop me." Ginny smiled and curled back against Harry.

"Do you remember our first kiss?" She asked sheepishly.

Harry's eyes were squinting out the sun but he was sure Ginny was probably blushing. "February 12, 12:34 pm. Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop. The little round table by the fireplace. You were wearing a purple jumper and jeans. And you had a coffee with about 5 sugars."

Ginny laughed. "Ok, just checking." But it wasn't long before her mood seemed to subdue again. "I'm going to miss you."

Harry sighed loudly, sitting up to look down at her. "I'm going to miss you too, Love, and I can't fathom not seeing your gorgeous face everyday until October. I'm already counting the days until Christmas. I'll owl everyday."

Ginny shifted to her other side, facing Harry and curling up against his chest. "You've always been better about these things than I have. Stronger. And when you say we'll survive the next year I have no choice but to believe you Mr. Potter."

He kissed her bare shoulder again. "C'mon Red." He suggested, twisting one of her fiery locks of hair around his finger. "Let's get you out of this summer sunshine or you'll have even more freckles and I'll have to count them all over again."

Ginny giggled, reluctantly wriggling out of Harry's grasp to begin finding her clothes. "That wouldn't be so awful now, would it? I do have some freckles in some rather interesting places."

Harry raised his eyebrows over the frames of his glasses and pulled his shirt back over his head. "And don't I know it." He added, reaching out to tickle her side as she dressed.

A few minutes later they were walking, hand in hand, back through the orchard to the Burrow, when Molly Weasley stepped out onto the patio and hollered each of their names.

"Oh, Mum's back from Diagon Alley. I'll bet she wants help with dinner." Ginny lamented.

Harry nodded in agreement and swatted her on the bum. "Go then."

Ginny smiled and bit the left corner of her bottom lip as she raised her eyebrows in expectation.

"Go!" Harry urged, pointing toward the house, his face spreading into a warm grin.

Ginny quickly kissed his cheek and ran up ahead, however when she reached the patio she turned and sprinted back. She stopped in front of Harry, slightly out of breath and put both palms on his chest. "Oh, and Harry?" She breathed while Harry noticed a familiar and impish look in her eyes.

"Meet me in my room after Mum and Dad have gone to sleep."

"Ginny!" Harry reprimanded her jokingly, looking around as if to see had anyone heard them. A smile was beginning to twitch and at the corners of his mouth.

Ginny threw her head back and laughed loudly. "It's just our little secret Harry, and nobody needs to know."

Author's Note: What a wonderful world Ms. Rowling has shared with us. I mean NO disrespect to her wonderful creation.

This fan fic is based on the song "Summer Sunshine" by the Irish band The Corrs. The song was written by them and appears on their new album "Borrowed Heaven." On a personal note, it's a great album and I've been a fan of the band for a long time. This is the first fan fic I've ever written so please be kind. :-) I'd appreciate any constructive criticism. Thanks!

There is an un-edited version of this story over at