Growing Pains

Chapter Nine

* * *Four Month's Pregnant* * *

Ginny closed her eyes and let the warm breeze from the open window blow back her hair. It was mid- October and the weather was surprisingly nice for this late in the year.

The curtains billowed out from the open kitchen window and Ginny twirled in a circle, letting her hair whip around in her face.

Suddenly, hands wrapped around her growing waist. Harry pulled her closer to his body and leaned down, nuzzling his face in her neck, planting gentle kisses along her collarbone.

"Mmm," Harry muttered. "You smell like strawberries."

"Maybe it's the red hair," Ginny teased, closing her eyes and tilting her head back to open more neck for Harry to kiss.

"It's beautiful out. We should do something," Ginny whispered.

"We are doing something," Harry said, picking her up and placing her on the counter, kissing her cheek.

"I mean something outside, dummy," she giggled.

"The neighbors might think us a little disgusting if we do this outside," Harry chuckled, working his way down Ginny's body with a shower of kisses.

Ginny giggled as he reached her abdomen, showering her bulging belly with kisses.

"Harry, that tickles," she laughed.

"Hmm, well that's no fun," he stopped and looked up at her with a mischievous grin.

"Harry James Potter, you'd better not," a smile pulled at Ginny's lips as she tried to remain stern.

"HERE COMES THE TICKLE MONSTER!" Harry cried, wiggling his fingers tauntingly at Ginny.

She shrieked and hopped off of the counter, hurriedly speed walking towards the back door.

She slid open the door and raced out, ignoring the fact that she was barefoot. Her dress swished around her smooth legs as she ran from Harry, who was running out the door behind her.

Ginny continued to laugh as she ran through the field behind the house, and made it to the creek. Harry was in hot pursuit, but was slightly delayed as he lost a shoe in a mud puddle.

She splashed through the creek, and the water splattered up, speckling her legs and the hem of her dress with water droplets, but she didn't mind.

"I'm going to catch you Weasley!" He called.

"That's Weasley-Potter to you, thank you very much!" She yelled over her shoulder as she continued to race barefoot through the field.

Suddenly, Harry was right behind her, grasping her waist and scooping her up and cradling her to his chest. His fingers flew a mile a minute as they brushed the skin all over her body.

"AGH! Harry!" She squealed with laughter. Her sundress blew up, catching on her growing stomach.

"Harry! No! Stop, stop, stop!" She laughed, trying to pry his hands away from her body.

"Oh, you want me to stop?" He asked, a large grin on his face.

"Harry I'm going to pee on you!" She laughed.

"Sure you are," he chuckled. He had fallen for that before, and Ginny had locked herself in the bathroom for ten minutes, waiting for him to retreat.

"Ah Harry!" She kicked her feet, her chest and stomach bouncing with laughter.

"Okay, I suppose I'll be a nice husband and stop," he sighed, setting her feet down on the ground.

As soon as she was upright on the ground, she raced to the creek and cupped a handful of water in her hands, throwing it at Harry.

"Oh now you're going to get it!" He cried, running to the creek and kicking water up to splash her.

A gust of wind caught her dress and hair, and it whipped around her.

Harry stopped for a moment, watching as his wife- his beautiful wife- stood barefoot in the trickling water, happier than he has seen her in a long time, her hair and dress billowing in the breeze. The biggest smile was plastered on her face as she splashed in the creek, a hand placed on her stomach where their child was growing.

It made Harry's breath catch.

He glided through the shallow water to where Ginny was standing, ankle deep, upon the rainbow rocks and mud and cool water. He brushed a strand of hair from her face, and leaned in and kissed her. A kiss that lasted what felt like a lifetime.

The couple broke away, their noses touching. Ginny gazed into Harry's gleaming emerald eyes, and she grinned at him with her freckled face, crinkles from a smile forming around her brown eyes.

And a handful of water was dumped over Harry's head.

"OH GINNY WEASLEY, YOU'VE DONE IT! NOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT!" He yelped with a laugh, wiping the strands of sopping black curls from his face. He glasses were speckled with water droplets, and his shirt was soaked from collar to stomach, but he didn't care.

Ginny took off running down the stream, splashing and wading through the stream as it grew knee deep. Harry raced after her, dragging his hands through the water to fling some at his wife.

Ginny was just upstream from him, bounding back and forth from each side of the brook, trying to dodge the water that was being flung at her.

By now, Harry's pants and shirt were completely soaked, and the bottom half of Ginny's dress floated in the water around her as she continued to glide through the water away from Harry.

She turned around and cupped her hand and slid it just below the surface, before breaking through the top of the water and flinging it at Harry. The water hit him square in the face, and he laughed, wiping his face with one hand as he splashed back with the other.

The goldenrods of grass around them blew in the breeze, and the trees blew some of their colorful leaves to the ground and through the air. The air around the couple seemed to funnel into a circular and red and orange leaves blew through the sky while they splashed and sprayed one another.

Several minutes, and a shirt removal on Harry's part, later, the two lay on the embankment of the stream, watching the current sweep colored leaves downstream. Both Harry and Ginny were soaked, but smiling.

"I love you," Ginny whispered as they basked in the warm sun to dry, holding hands as they stared up at the clouds, pointing to shapes they saw.

"I love you too," Harry murmured back, kissing Ginny's forehead. He put one arm around her, the other on her stomach, and she snuggled in close to his chest, placing her hand on top of his, and they watched the sun set and the stars come out.

(A/N: Quite possibly the fluffiest chapter I've ever written???? I loved every minute of writing it though, mostly because I'm lonely and wish I had a Harry in my life XD. Hope you're still enjoying! Thanks for reading, and no promises on when the next update will be, I'm sorry! Have a great day!)