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Outdoor Romance
By pokecharm

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Category: "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Challenge (2008-1), Post-DH/AB
Characters:None
Genres: Fluff, Romance, Songfic
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 7
Summary: Harry and Ginny find a few stolen moments to discuss their future lives together. The idea is, of course, based on the SIYE 'It's Cold Outside' Challenge.
Hitcount: Story Total: 7693



Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.



Author's Notes:
This takes place after my story Harry Potter and the Next Battle but is a stand-alone story as well. Big thanks to Ginny Guerra for BETA-ing this!




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The winter had worn on into March and Ginny was shocked Harry had suggested having a picnic outside. But lately she had a hard time saying ‘no’ to him. It had only been a few short weeks since he’d asked her to marry him and she found the words ‘yes, dear’ crossing her lips more often than not.

Harry and Ginny sat quietly outside on a blanket. It was chilly out, but the snow had stopped falling hours ago. Thankfully, Harry had used a variety of warming charms to keep the cold at bay. He seemed to carry a goofy, half-smile on his face when he looked at her. The same smile he carried now as she looked up to see him staring at her intently. ‘What are you smiling about?’

He continued smiling and replied, ‘Just happy to be spending some time with my future wife.’

She laughed softly. ‘I’m not going to get tired of that title anytime soon.’

‘I’m glad to hear that — it won’t change once we’re married,’ he replied.

She wrapped her arms tightly around herself. ‘Harry, did we really need to have a picnic outside? It's freezing!’

He smiled and reached an arm towards her. ‘Well, I can keep you warm.’

His smile was very suggestive and Ginny had a hard time resisting him. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist, pulling her towards him. She laid her head just beneath his chin and said, ‘I’m sure you can, Harry, but aren’t my parents going to wonder where I’ve run off to?’

Harry didn’t loosen his grip and replied, ‘I’m sure they won’t notice you’re gone. I’ve no doubt Ron and Hermione will row loud enough to distract everyone within the house!’

She laughed softly. ‘They do worry me sometimes.’

She could feel his laughter through his chest and turned her head, burying it in the warmth of his thick sweater. He said, ‘I think they’ll be happy together, eventually.’

She could feel his fingers brushing her side playfully and said, ‘Feeling restless?’

He nodded. ‘It seems like the wedding is years away!’

She pulled away from him to look him in the eyes. ‘It's only a few months away — I’m sure we can hold out until then!’

He grabbed her and pulled her into his lap, kissing her softly behind the ear and down her cheek. ‘Patience was never one of my virtues.’

She wrapped her arms around his neck and let his weight carry him across her; he lying partially on top of her. She kissed him back, taking his face in her hands and whispering, ‘Mine either, but I think we might enjoy being more…intimate when we’re married.’

She could feel him relent, resting his head against her shoulder before sitting up and resting his weight on his elbows. ‘I can’t say ‘no’ to that smile.’

She put her hand over his and said, ‘It’ll only be a little while longer. Then we can spend more time together.’

He arched his eyebrows. ‘Just ‘more time’? And here I thought those rings meant we’d be stuck with each other forever.’

He sounded slightly hurt and she turned to meet his gaze. ‘Harry, you’ll still be working the insane hours you work now. I’m not quite sure how you plan on finding time for us.’ She continued hurriedly, ‘Also, once we have a family, I doubt we’ll have a few minutes to spare!’

He had sat up while she was talking, kissing her softly. ‘You know I’ll make the time. I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me if I wasn’t ready. If I didn’t think we were both ready.’

And then he was kissing her again, as if she was on fire and his lips were putting the fire out. Harry leaned onto her, pushing his weight on top of her until they were both lying across the blanket. The ground was frozen, but Harry’s arms were wrapped around Ginny, keeping her warm. Ginny allowed herself what felt like hours wrapped in Harry’s arms. He finally pulled away, leaving his hands on either side of her. ‘You know, I always hoped this would happen.’

She laughed softly. ‘That you’d be snogging me senseless in the freezing cold?’

He smiled. ‘No, that’d you’d be all mine one day.’

She placed a hand on his arm. ‘Oh come on, Harry, you’re the saviour of the entire magical world. I’m sure your hopes are much more far reaching than just us.’

He sat up abruptly and said, ‘I have other aspirations, yeah, so do you! I mean, you’re the super-star Quidditch Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies! You could even argue that I should be star-struck that I can even get time with such a sports icon as you!’

He laughed and grabbed her again, pulling her, despite her best efforts, back into his arms. ‘Harry! I think its getting colder and I know someone will be looking for me shortly — I really should head back!’

He slowed his amorous efforts and tried to warm her up, running his hands up and down her sides. ‘I’m not doing a very good job of keeping you warm if you keep complaining.’

She laughed. ‘I don’t mean to complain, Harry. I love spending time with you, but this seems overly unorthodox!’

Harry laughed, pulling closer to her again. ‘When have we ever done anything that could be construed as normal?’

He leaned forward again, wrapping his arms around her waist as he pulled her towards him, her back against his chest. She tried to think of something to say but words failed her. She could feel his tempered breathing against her back and felt her eyes shutting.

Her practices with the Harpies had been exhausting and even a few minutes of the overwhelming warmth from Harry was making her feel comfortable and at peace. He cleared his throat softly and said, ‘If you’re going to fall asleep on me, you’d better think twice. I expect some serious snogging.’

She nodded mutely against his chest and he continued, ‘Hmmm, maybe, or you could at least pretend like there’s something worth eating from the picnic I brought.’

She made a hardly audible sound and he laughed. ‘Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.’

She could feel his fingers brush her hair away from her neck and his lips kissing the nape of her neck. She grabbed his hands and struggled to turn around, but he didn’t relent. ‘If you’re not going to participate in the snogging,’ he continued, talking between kisses, ‘then I’ll just have to keep myself occupied.’

She couldn’t resist him in this capacity either and leaned back into his arms, enjoying their stolen moments. She couldn’t believe her family had believed her story of just getting a bit of air. Harry had sent her an owl earlier that day, asking her to meet him in the garden at the Burrow and she didn’t know what to expect. He’d arrived quietly and had Apparated both of them away, not giving her any indication of where they were off to. He had just said he wanted to have her all to himself and nothing more. But having Harry’s arms wrapped tightly around her was the last thing she had expected. Now that they were together, she wondered what cover she’d need to provide to escape from any unwanted scrutiny.

She said quietly, ‘Harry, love, I really think I should head back. I don’t know how far you’ve whisked me away, but Mum will be wondering what happened to my walk and why I’m not back.’

She finally was able to wrench herself around and cupped his chin in both of her hands, kissing him softly before pulling away as much as his grip would allow. He sighed and did not let her get away. ‘Come on, just a few more minutes for your betrothed!’

She laughed. ‘Is this a new title you’re giving yourself? I’m not sure I like it. It's too proper!’

He loosened his grip, looking down at her. ‘You haven’t given me any really unique terms of endearment. I thought I’d make one up and see if you liked it.’

He had a sheepish, boyish grin and she traced her fingers across his chest. ‘I really don’t know. We’ve never…graduated beyond ‘dear’ or ‘love.”

She sighed. ‘Is that what’s bothering you?’

He pulled away, resting his hands in his lap. ‘We’re going to be married…and I don’t have anything…sweet to call you…’

She could see the red burning up his cheeks and placed her hands on his. ‘I think that comes with time. You know, we spend more time together. Get to know what sounds best.’

He nodded mutely. ‘Right, of course.’

He slowly raised his head and held her gaze. ‘When are we going to find that time? I mean, before we get married?’

She smiled weakly. ‘I don’t know, Harry. My parents seem to be keeping an extra close watch over us, as if they think we’re going to do something we shouldn’t.’

He said quietly, ‘I can’t believe they don’t trust us enough to know we’d never do something like that…’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘Something like what?’

He was turning various shades of red as he fumbled for words, finally saying, ‘You know…’

She turned her head to conceal her laughter. ‘Harry, if we’re going to get married…if we plan on…doing that…we should be able to at least to say it!’

Harry laughed, though still turning a deeper shade of red. ‘I know…I mean, you’re right. It's just. It doesn’t seem appropriate to say it.’

She smiled sweetly at him. ‘Harry, if we love each other, then we should be able to make love and say that’s what we’ll do, when we’re both ready.’

She tried to speak slowly, but she was nervous even saying it. They had never broached the topic and this was far more than any innuendo. He cleared his throat. ‘You’re right. I just, I feel weird saying it.’

She put a consoling hand on his and said, ‘Harry, we’re both adults, aren’t we?’

He nodded. ‘We are — and there is…’ He started turning red again and laughed nervously.

She looked at him and waited for him continue. He scratched the back of his head and said quietly, ‘Of course I want to make love to you. I mean, that is one of the reasons we’re getting married.’

He said hurriedly, ‘Not that it’s the only reason! I mean, I love you to death, I can’t imagine my life without…’

She smiled and moved closer to him, reaching an arm around his waist. ‘If that’s as close as you can get to saying it, I think I’m ok…for now.’

She had a mischievous smile on her face and Harry pulled her towards him. ‘I think I’d be much better at showing you than telling you.’

She grabbed his arms tightly as he starting kissing her all over. Ginny started laughing uncontrollably as Harry moved his fingers under her jumper, tickling her as he kissed her.

Tears were streaming down her face as she finally caught her breath. ‘Stop it, Harry! Tickling shouldn’t be allowed!’

He was lying on top of her again, looking down at her with thoughtful eyes. She was breathing slowly once he finally stopped tickling her and said, ‘Harry, what has gotten into you? You’re acting rather hot and cold all of a sudden.’

He sighed and continued looking at her before replying. ‘I’m feeling impatient…I want to spend loads more time with you…and I just can’t create time.’

She put her hands on his arms. ‘Harry, we do spend loads of time together. We have lunch together after practice. We have dinner together almost every night. I’m not sure how you can stand seeing so much of me!’

He didn’t laugh but bent down and kissed her softly, lingering over her. ‘I can stand to see a lot more of you.’

His fingers rubbed her sides for a second before she felt him tracing them across her stomach and then up her sides. He murmured into her ear, ‘So much more.’

She tried to catch her breath as he continued kissing her more and more provocatively. She grabbed for his hands but he leaned his weight further on her, not allowing her to move much. She couldn’t help herself, but return his kisses with the very same enthusiasm, though there was a voice deep inside her head, telling her to slow down, to stop, to think about what they were doing.

She was finally able to wrench her lips away from his and whispered breathlessly, ‘Harry, stop, don’t.’

Harry continued kissing her but started to pull his weight of off her. There was finally enough room between them for her to place her hands on his chest and push him gently. He sighed loudly as she sat up, turning to look at him. ‘Harry…I…I think I’d better go.’

He leaned on his elbows and whispered, ‘Don’t…don’t go. I…I shouldn’t push you…I know.’

She turned away from him and started to get up. Harry didn’t appear to have any intention of letting her get away and wrapped his arms tightly around her, keeping her anchored to the blanket. She put her hands on his arms and said impatiently, ‘Harry, really, it's freezing out here and I’m cold.’

Harry gave her one of his usual half smiles and said quietly, ‘You feel pretty warm to me.’

She couldn’t stay angry with him but turned away from him. ‘Harry, I think this is exactly why my parents don’t trust us alone.’

He looked at her sheepishly. ‘You know I would never…I’d never…’ He stopped and took a deep breath before putting his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn and look at him. ‘You know I’d never force you to do something you don’t want to.’

She said quietly, ‘That’s the problem, Harry. It is something I very much want…to do…’

She could feel the heat rising on her face as Harry leaned in kissing her softly on the cheek. ‘Are you purposely teasing me? Discouraging and encouraging me all in the same breath? You are such a total tease!’

She sighed and removed his hands from hers and said, ‘Harry, okay, now we really need to get going. I need to get going!’

Harry reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling her back onto the blanket. ‘Come on, love. At least have a bite to eat before leaving me utterly unsatisfied.’

She turned sharply. ‘Unsatisfied! Harry!’ She could feel her temper flaring. ‘If I had let you go any further we’d be out here in the freezing cold with nothing on!’

He raised his eyebrows suggestively at her. ‘And?’

‘And?’ She gave him an exasperated look. ‘And nothing.’

She turned away in a huff and he reached out. ‘Oh come on, Ginny. You can’t blame me for trying.’

She turned around, smiling softly. ‘I can, but I’ll have to let it go.’ She feigned being gracious and said, ‘But only because I like you so much.’

Harry laughed loudly. ‘I’d better be thankful for my luck then!’

She smiled and reached out hesitantly for the picnic basket. ‘You do have an abundance of luck, if you ask me.’

He smiled at her. ‘I do with some things in life, not everything.’

She smiled back at him. ‘I am having trouble thinking of something, right now, that isn’t going well for you.’

She was surprised to find a seemingly complete meal within the basket and he seemed to be watching her closely. She turned and said, ‘So, shall I thank Kreacher for this?’

He rolled his eyes and put his hand over his heart. ‘That was low. You don’t think I can make something for you? Can’t find my way around the kitchen for you?’

She gave him a curious look. ‘You keep saying ‘for you,’ should I be concerned?’

He shook his head and said, ‘Just so you know that most things are done for that reason.’

She leaned over and kissed him softly. ‘That’s very sweet of you to say.’

He sat up and grabbed her hand, pulling it to his lips and kissing it. ‘I’m not just saying it. When you say it like that I get worried you’re not entirely believing me.’

He sounded hurt and she gave him her most innocent smile and said, ‘Harry, I wouldn’t have agreed to marry you if I didn’t believe you when you said things like that.’

They stared at each other for a moment before Harry looked away sheepishly, accepting her statement. He kept hold of her hand and pulled a couple of plates out of the basket with his free hand.

She laughed softly and said, ‘Don’t you need both of your hands for this?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m good.’

She smiled and watched as he set the meal up for them both; a pair of sandwiches and bags of crisps though Harry seemed to be hiding something else in the basket. Ginny had a feeling he’d used some sort of expanding charm, as more things were appearing out of the basket than seemed physically possible. They ate quietly for a time before Harry gave her a curious look and said, ‘You know...’

He seemed nervous and she gave him an encouraging look. He continued slowly, ‘We’ve never once discussed if we’re going to move into Grimmauld Place or get a place of our own.’

She looked at him thoughtfully. She couldn’t say this hadn’t crossed her mind countless times before. She loved the location of Grimmauld Place. It was perfect for both of them. There wasn’t as much open space as she might like, but it was a wonderful house, already paid for. It wouldn’t be prudent of them to think about starting their life spending so much money either. Even though Ginny knew Harry was immensely wealthy, and thanks to the Holyhead Harpies, she was quite well off herself, she didn’t think it wise to spend so much money knowing they’d have a family to support. She wanted her children to live more easily than she had.

He had been watching her closely and interrupted her thoughts. ‘Ginny, what?’

She smiled weakly. ‘Well, I can’t say I haven’t thought about this. I did wonder what you’d want to do.’

He replied, ‘It isn’t just me, it's us. We have to decide.’

She nodded. ‘I know, but I mean, you have a place, a great place, of your own.’

She emphasised the word ‘your’ and Harry caught it. He said, ‘It is mine…but that doesn’t mean I don’t have every intention of sharing it with you. Well, everything of mine.’

She smiled and turned away, thinking. He leaned in and said, ‘If you don’t want to live there, that’s okay.’

She shook her head. ‘No, Harry! I love it. The location is perfect, and Kreacher has been just brilliant. I’d hate to lose him.’

Harry laughed. ‘I think he’d come with us, if we sold the place.’

She continued, ‘No, I don’t think we should sell it…How do you feel about me…well, maybe changing things a bit?’

He smiled. ‘It’ll be our place, so you have every right to change things if you don’t like them.’

She said quickly, ‘It isn’t that I don’t like things, but, well, Harry, you’ve made it quite the bachelor house, and that isn’t exactly what I dream about as a home for us or our family.’

He nodded and moved closer still. ‘Then we get rid of some stuff.’

She gave him an amused stare. ‘I expect you to have some input on what stays and what goes. I don’t want to touch your study. There’s stuff in there that I think we need to keep.’

The last time she had been in it, she had seen shelves of books that Harry had used during his time training to be an Auror and she didn’t want to discard those. There were also various items of note that Harry had kept from his many adventures. None of those things should ever be gotten rid of. There were also some fantastic pictures and news articles from Harry’s various exploits.

She smiled and said, ‘I think we’ll keep that room as is. How wedded are you to the furniture in the kitchen and sitting room?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t really pay it much mind.’

She grinned. ‘So you won’t mind if I…’ She faltered, almost nervous about saying she’d be throwing something of his away.

He laughed and completed the thought for her, ‘If you want to throw it away?’ He reached out and took her hand in his and squeezed it. ‘I don’t care what you throw away. There are a few things I’d like to keep, but for the most part, I don’t really care. That was all Sirius’ stuff; the Black family’s’ stuff. I don’t have anything like that from my own family.’

She replied quickly, ‘But some of those things are heirlooms! We shouldn’t just throw them away!’

He laughed. ‘Well, if we don’t want them, what should we do with them?’

Ginny gave Harry a nervous look. ‘Well, we could see if some place would buy them? Like Borgin & Burkes? Or ask Andromeda if she’d like to take anything? Teddy might like some heirlooms once he gets older.’

Harry gave her a curious look. ‘You weren’t kidding when you said you’d thought about this!’ He laughed and began to caress her arm with his hand. ‘But what would a shop like that do with that sort of stuff? It's just furniture.’

Ginny shrugged, trying to stay focused despite Harry’s provocative behaviour. ‘You never know, there might be some value to that stuff.’

She felt like she was getting too comfortable and tried to pull her arm out of his grasp. He knew what she was trying to do and tightened his grip. He murmured into her ear, ‘You’re not going anywhere, and this,’ he squeezed her arm, ‘this is mine. So you’re going to have to stay put and let me snog you.’

She laughed and wrapped her free arm around his neck and kissed him. ‘That’s fine, but I’m going to need that back at some point. Could be tough to play Quidditch without an arm.’

He smiled. ‘Knowing you, I bet you’d score two dozen goals anyway!’

She blushed. ‘Harry, I’m not that good.’

He nudged her. ‘Don’t sell yourself short, love, you’re brilliant on the pitch. I don’t see many clubs being able to out-match you without putting two players on you!’ He leaned in, pulling her close. ‘Though I won’t lie that it makes me nervous; I don’t ever want to see you get hurt at Quidditch again. Or anything, but mostly Quidditch.’

She smiled. ‘Harry, the likelihood of something like that happening is a million-to-one! And besides, everything, as I recall, turned out for the best.’

Harry blushed at the mention of it and said quietly, ‘Just proves what I’ve always said, I’d do anything for you, and I can’t say ‘no’ to you either!’

She kissed him softly on the lips and said, ‘And with that, Mr. Potter, I think I really should head back.’

He sighed and kissed her just below the ear. ‘Oh come on, just a few more minutes, Ms. Weasley.’

She shook her head and said, ‘Oh no, Harry! I know you! A few minutes and I won’t be back before midnight!’

He feigned looking hurt and said, ‘Fine, but maybe I should come inside and meet with your parents for a bit.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, that sounds brilliant. So when Mum and Dad ask where I’ve been, I can say, oh, my fiancé was seducing me in the middle of the forest!’

He blushed and laughed. ‘Alright, then I won’t be polite and say hello.’

She squeezed his hand and continued, ‘Besides, I know how to Apparate home, even if I don’t know where we are.’

He nodded sadly and she said, ‘Harry, don’t look like I stole your broom, I’ll see you tomorrow for brunch. You’re coming, right? Mum is expecting you and ‘no’ is not an option.’

He nodded and smirked. ‘Yes, dear.’

She laughed and got up slowly, Harry standing up also. He reached out and hugged her tightly, lingering for a few moments before Ginny rubbed his back and said, ‘Harry, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

He let go slowly and bent down quickly towards the basket. ‘Wait a minute.’

She rolled her eyes and stood quietly. He rummaged around for a moment before pulling a small bag out. He handed her the bag and said, ‘I know you like these, so I grabbed some for you.’

She gave him a questioning look and started to look into the bag. He quickly shut the bag and said, ‘Let it be a surprise when I’m not there?’

She nodded and leaned up kissing him again. He returned the kiss and said quietly, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

She nodded and replied, ‘Until then.’ She smiled and walked away as Harry watched her go and with a crack Disapparated. Ginny landed soundly outside the Burrow and sighed. Spending time with Harry, stolen time, always made her smile uncontrollably. She tried to compose herself before going inside. She didn’t need her parents giving her a hard time.

She stopped in the garden to try to flatten the wrinkles out of her clothes. She placed the bag down for a moment and wondered what Harry might have gotten her. He had a tendency to get extra desserts for them when they went out. She slowly opened the bag to see a box inside. She pulled the box out and untied the twine around it. She was surprised to find Harry’s favourite dessert inside: treacle tart. She smiled to herself; Harry hadn’t ceased to surprise her these days. He was right, waiting even a few months was going to be torturous, but at least she knew they both had something wonderful to look forward to.

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