Growing Pains

Chapter Five

Ginny finished wrapping the box, before she hurried to hide the present before Harry arrived home. Quickly, she ran down the stairs to check on the casserole in the oven, placing the packaging paper back in the closet.

Suddenly, Ginny heard Harry's keys in the door, and she ran up the stairs quickly to grab the box and bring it to the basement.

"Gin! I'm home!" Harry called from downstairs, and Ginny bit her lip in anticipation. She walked down the stairs, carrying the package.

"Hey honey," she said, setting the gift down on the coffee table. She walked over to Harry and pecked his cheek. He took her by the arm and gently pulled him to her closer, kissing her on the lips.

"Hey baby," he breathed between kisses.

"Yes?" She whispered in response, leaning in for another kiss.

"What's. That. On the. Table?" He asked, punctuating each word with a kiss.

"Nothing," Ginny grinned, kissing Harry passionately.

"You're such an awful liar," Harry smiled after they both pulled away from the kisses.

"Hey! Just for that, you have to wait until after pudding to open that!" Ginny teased, playfully whacking Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah, I was going to say something about that. Supper smells absolutely amazing. Wait- did I forget something? It's not our anniversary is it? Shit, did I forget?"

Ginny laughed. "No, it's not our anniversary, and you didn't forget anything, but thanks for instilling the confidence in me that you will remember our actual anniversary."

"Well, I didn't think this was right. It's in like, three weeks or something, right?"

"Yes," Ginny giggled. "But seriously, why can't a wife just cook supper and pudding for her husband?"

"Uh, because you're the laziest cook I know," Harry said, pretending to think a moment. Ginny reached out and lightly punched Harry's arm.

"Okay, okay, I'm joking!" Harry laughed, holding up his hands in surrender.

"You better be!" Ginny raised her fists in a mock-fighting position.

The oven beeped, and while keeping one eye on Harry, Ginny walked over to the oven and pulled out the casserole.

"That smells so good, Gin," Harry said, pulling plates out of the cupboard and setting the table.

"Do you want anything to drink? I believe we have some wine, or some firewhiskey if you'd like."

"You know what sounds super good? Butterbeer," Ginny told Harry.

"Got it, one butterbeer coming right up," Harry nodded as he began to fix drinks.

Ginny dished up some casserole for each of them and sat down at the table. Harry sat a large cup of warm butterbeer in front of her, kissing the top of her head before sitting down across the table from her.

The couple ate dinner with comfortable conversation about their days. Harry told her about his day with Ron at the quidditch game, and Ginny told about her uneventful afternoon at the café with Hermione.

"Then we came back her and watch a movie and ate Oreos," Ginny laughed, clearing the table and dishing up some of the peach cobbler for Harry and her.

"That sounds like a nice, relaxing afternoon," Harry said, nodding in thought.

"It was. It was nice to just be able to chill like we used to do in the common room at school. Minus Hermione's large stack of books this time," Ginny giggled, remembering how Hermione always seemed to have at least one book with her.