PROTECTION ♞ h.p.

3. Sparks and Lightning

Harry took Ginny to his flat while the Aurors went back to her place to go over it again. Arriving with a pop outside of his door, Harry kept his arm securely around her while he began lowering the wards.

"How long are we going to be here, do you think?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied, shaking his head. "I doubt we'll go back actually."

"What?" Ginny asked, her eyes widening as she pulled away from him. "Why not?"

"I just wouldn't trust it...and it's safer here anyway," he explained, opening the door to his flat and gesturing her inside.

Moving past him, Ginny dropped her bag on the floor and headed straight to the sofa, plopping down with a sigh.

"I still don't see why I couldn't go to work," she muttered.

Ignoring her comment, Harry picked up her bag and disappeared down the hall.

"Want something to drink?" he asked as he passed through the lounge again, heading for the kitchen.

"Sure, whatever," Ginny replied as she sank deeper into the cushions and looked around.

Taking in the room, she found a large fireplace across from her with a few framed pictures resting randomly across the mantle.

Standing back up, she went to take a closer look. She didn't recognize most of the people waving at her from inside of the frames except for Ron and Hermione.

As her eyes drifted around the room she thought his furniture looked rather new, as though he'd bought it when he moved in and then never really used it.

New except for the sofa that was noticeably more rumpled than its matching chairs. Ginny didn't have any trouble picturing him ending up there instead of his bed at the end of the day.

She'd been so frustrated about having a bodyguard the first time Harry brought her here; she hadn't really paid attention to how it looked. Now, as she looked around, she noticed how sparse it really was. It appeared as though Harry wasn't home very much.

The windows were bare and there was an overall lack of finish to the room. It was as though he hadn't gotten around to buying anything else - or hadn't cared about buying lamps, rugs and the knickknacks that most people would use to decorate a new place.

The whole place screamed single male and Ginny was struck with a sudden burst of happiness that he obviously didn't have a female to decorate for him.

Frowning at her reaction, she crossed back to the sofa and sank back onto the cushions.

When Harry reentered the room, he handed her a butterbeer before sitting down in one of the large cushioned chairs opposite her.

"This is what you drink? Butterbeer?" she asked, smirking a little. "Not really what you'd expect from a bachelor."

"Well, I like it," he defended before taking a drink. "And besides...I don't drink things that would make me lose control."

"Ah," she replied, taking a drink from her bottle. "And why is that?"

"I just don't," he replied gruffly, his eyes clouding slightly as he took another drink.

Ginny felt his mood shift and wasn't sure what had happened. In an attempt to fill the sudden lull in conversation, she looked around the room, trying to think of something to say.

"So..." she began, "this is your flat?"

Is that all you could come up with? she thought, almost rolling her eyes at herself. Really good transition Gin.