A/N: Greetings and salutations!

Once upon a time there was a plot bunny and it came out to play when one author said to a bunch of other authors 'why don't you write a story about *this*!'

And so here is my story. It's not long. It is multi-chaptered. It's not angsty ... not really. It is sort of, a little bit of a sort of songfic. It's not serious. It is rather a bit of a laff. It's not totally canon compliant. It is a Harry/Ginny love story - trust me.

I want to thank deadwoodpecker for providing the inspiration and goingbacktosquareone for the beta job.

Our story begins after DH ... a DH where Bill and Fleur waited until after the war to get married and where Harry and Ginny never got together in his sixth year ...

So no one told you life was gonna be this way

Harry stood at the back of the crowd of men vying for the traditional kiss with the bride. He reflected wryly that there were a lot more of them than he thought there would be. Bill seemed amused by the effect Fleur had on the male population. Hermione looked furious about it and Harry was … Harry was unaffected.

"Pathetic, isn't it?" Ginny Weasley murmured from his elbow. Harry looked at her, startled.

"What?" he asked, feeling immediately stupid. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"The way they all … fall all over her," Ginny replied. Harry just shrugged.

"It's not all that great," he said. Since he'd defeated Voldemort he'd had more than his fair share of women falling all over him and frankly it made him nauseated most of the time.

Of course it hadn't been that long, but three months really was about as much of the fawning he could take. They managed to leave Ron alone – probably because of the vicious gleam in Hermione's eye if they got too close – but Harry Potter apparently, was fair game.

"Are you having a bad time with all the terrible women?" Ginny asked in faux sympathy, patting his arm. Harry glowered at her and she laughed.

"Don't you have to go and do something … bridesmaidy?"

"I am," Ginny answered. "I'm mingling, making sure all Bill and Fleur's guests feel welcome. How are you Harry? Feeling welcome?" She arched her brow at him in a perfect imitation of his myriad female admirers.

"I always feel welcome at The Burrow, Ginny," Harry answered her, his voice cracking alarmingly, for absolutely no discernable reason. Ginny gazed at him and Harry looked into her soft brown eyes. He wanted to lean in closer, to take in her scent but she suddenly jerked back with a nervous giggle.

"Speaking of bridesmaids …" she pointed behind Harry and he turned around to find Gabrielle in her matching gold dress making her way towards him purposefully. Harry whipped back to Ginny only to find her vanishing into the crowd.

"Allo, Arry," Gabrielle purred as she hung herself on his arm. Harry nodded at her vaguely. "We shall dance now, oui?" She dragged Harry out to the dance floor without waiting for an answer and Harry found himself shuffling along, trying not to tread on her toes. He scowled as Ginny floated past in her brother's arms, Bill whirling her as effortlessly as he did almost everything.

Harry sighed enviously. Here he was; Britain's most eligible bachelor and the last person to find a date to the wedding. In fact he was so far behind finding a date to the wedding he hadn't managed it at all. Viktor Krum had brought a willowy Bulgarian beauty that had Ron smiling in satisfaction as he slipped a possessive arm around Hermione, Charlie had brought a rather exotic looking gypsy with him from Romania and even George had pulled himself together enough to bring Angelina – not that either of them looked particularly enthused by the wedding, they were currently wrapped indecently around each other in the corner of the marquee next to a table of empty Firewhisky bottles. Luna had brought Dean and Seamus and her father had escorted Andromeda Tonks. The list of witches and wizards with a date was immense. When Percy turned up with a girl it was the last straw and Harry had glowered his way through the entire wedding and sulked for the duration of the formal dancing.

"Cheer up, mate!" Ron had said after the speeches, punching him on the arm lightly just as a floating tray of cream puffs nudged his elbow. "You're not the only one; Ginny doesn't have a date either."

Harry had just grunted as Ron trotted off obediently with Hermione and began doing something that resembled dancing in the middle of the marquee.

It was three songs before Harry could get rid of Gabrielle. Her date had come looking for her and pulled her away from Harry rather abruptly. Harry was not at all upset and just smiled benignly at the kid, thinking it was utterly unfair that even Gabrielle had a date. A flash of gold caught his eye and Harry turned to see Ginny laughing at something Dean had said. He watched her for a moment; she was looking up at Dean, exposing her long, creamy throat. Harry wondered what she would smell like there before he abruptly turned away and shook his head.

Harry felt an irrational urge to interrupt her conversation with Dean but he knew they were friends – they'd dated for the whole of Harry's sixth year – and they probably had a lot of catching up to do. Dean had been on the run the past year and everyone thought he and Ginny would pick up again where they left off but so far they hadn't. It looked like it might happen soon though, Harry mused as he grabbed a glass of champagne from a floating tray.

He stood nursing his drink at the edge of the marquee, watching Ron and Hermione sway gently on the dance floor. He smiled slightly as Ron bent his head to kiss her softly on the neck, thinking no one was watching.

"Pathetic," proclaimed the same voice from his elbow.

"I think it's sweet," Harry murmured, taking a sip of his champagne. "I thought you'd be dancing with Dean?"

"Nah," Ginny said with a shrug. "It's over, has been for ages. I think we're the only ones who realise it though. Mum was hinting something fierce earlier."

"She looked very disappointed when she saw I hadn't brought a date," Harry said. "I swear she started looking around for a spare girl."

"She's been pushing me at Dean all night," Ginny sighed. "If I so much as look at him while she's watching she'll have the banns up before I can say Quidditch."

"Took a risk having a chat then, Weasley?" Harry teased her, draining his glass.

"She's gone off with Dad," Ginny whispered conspiratorially, two spots of colour blazing on her cheeks. "No risk."

"So …" Harry gazed at her for a moment, "no risk if we had a dance then?"

"I think we're safe," Ginny replied breathlessly. Harry grinned and held out a hand. She eyed it warily before sighing heavily.

"If she finds out about this, Potter, and starts asking awkward questions," Ginny said as Harry pulled her towards Ron and Hermione, "you can explain things to her."

"I know, I know," Harry said, affecting a long suffering tone. "We're just friends, Mum. No, we're perfectly happy the way things are, Mum. It was just a dance, Mum."

"She is never going to believe you," Ginny rolled her eyes as Harry placed a hand lightly on her waist.

"She never does," Harry sighed. "As soon as you breathe on a bloke she's picking china patterns."

"Remember when she sent you that jewellery catalogue the day after you were spotted out with that Jasmine Whatsit?"

"Watford," Harry murmured absently, concentrating on steering Ginny around Bill and Fleur who were staring dreamily at each other.

"Yeah, her," Ginny said carelessly. "Did she really think you were going to get engaged to some gold digging strumpet mere minutes after you came off the Wanted list?"

"Strumpet?" Harry raised one eyebrow at her, amused. Ginny blushed.

"Well … she is …"

"I know," Harry agreed. "Listen, I'm rubbish at dancing and I've nearly tripped over Ron twice now. I think if we keep talking, I'm going to steer us into the drinks table."

"Right you are," Ginny said, giving a little salute. They continued the rest of the dance in silence, Harry's hand on her waist and her head resting lightly on his chest, completely comfortable with each other, knowing neither had any expectations.

Just friends.

A/N: So … want more? Hope so cos I wrote it all! LOL Meanwhile if you are here because you have a thing for Rebuilding Life, make sure you check out Potterficweekly's current series of podcasts, starting at Episode 108 ;) (I don't think I can add urls here? I'll try and add a link in my profile … or all else failing I hear Google is fantastic :D )