Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated with him belong to JKR. I'm just borrowing her characters for a while.
Ginny woke up, the other side of the bed cold to her touch. She had expected Harry home before she went to bed, but he hadn't made it. It wasn't unusual for him to be out of bed when she woke up, she tried not to worry. Perhaps he had woken early, and was already in the kitchen, drinking his tea.
She pulled on her dressing gown, and padded down the hall, pausing to peek into her son's room. Even in his sleep, he was never still, as evidenced by the tangle of boy and blanket in the middle of the cot. She quietly shut the door and continued down the stairs. She hoped he didn't wake quite yet. It was still too early for her one year old to be awake.
The house was too quiet, and concern started to well in Ginny's chest. Oh, it was possible that Harry had been kept late at the Ministry. He might be in the field, or finishing up on paperwork. He may have even decided to sleep on the couch in his office, if he needed to get a very early start. He tried to owl, or even call by floo, but she knew it wasn't always possible.
Ginny set the kettle on, and waited for it's whistle. It was usually a comforting sound, but this morning it just added to her apprehension. She poured the hot water over her tea leaves, and waited. She looked at the clock, desperately wishing it would give her more information than just the time. She sat looking at her cup of tea, quickly becoming cold. She raised it to her lips, and finished it, having come to a decision.
She rummaged in the desk for parchment and a quill and quickly wrote a note to her mum, asking if she and James could come over. She sent her owl to the Burrow with the note, and waited for a reply. It seemed that she was spending her morning doing nothing but waiting. She heard her small son begin to stir and went up to his room to get him ready for the day. She returned to the lounge in time to get her mother's return note.
Ginny dashed off a note to Harry, letting him know where they were in case he came home. She hefted James on to her hip and held him tightly, threw some powder into the fire and announced, "The Burrow!"
Molly was in the parlor to meet them. She took her grandson and couldn't miss Ginny's eyes move toward her Family Clock. Harry's name had been added shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts. She sat Ginny down on the couch, and brought James out to the garden, to his grandfather. She walked back in the parlor and saw Ginny, her face buried in her hands.
Molly sat down and put her arm around her daughter. "What is it, dear?" The concern was evident in her voice.
"Harry didn't come home last night" Ginny heaved a deep sigh. "I'm sure it's nothing, Mum…but I can't help but worry. I don't think I could bear to lose him again. What would I do, how could I explain it to James?"
Molly let Ginny talk, knowing that it was what she needed right now. She needed to work through her feelings and fears. Harry's clock hand was set to "at work." It didn't mean that he wasn't in danger, but it DID mean that he wasn't in mortal peril. She knew that Ginny didn't think she noticed, but she did see her youngest child's eyes darting to the clock every few minutes.
"Ginny, dear…he's fine. Something came up…maybe he'll be home early today. How about if I keep James and you and Harry can go to dinner. I'll bring Jamesy home tomorrow."
"Mum, that's assuming Harry makes it home. He's never been gone this long without some sort of contact." Ginny turned her head so that her mother wouldn't see the tears threatening to fall.
Molly decided that her daughter needed a bit of 'tough love' to stop her from getting more upset.
"Ginny, get a hold of yourself. What Harry does is important, and he needs your support…especially when he's off doing something dangerous or difficult."
"Oh Mum," Ginny couldn't keep the sound of exasperation out of her voice, "Harry knows that I support him. I've never, EVER asked him to choose between me and his job. I KNOW it's important. I'm proud of him…really I am." Ginny got to her feet and climbed the stairs.
She flopped on her childhood bed. Her room looked the same as it did the day she got married. The walls were pink, and the Weird Sisters poster was still on the wall, the corners curling just a little more than they were a few years ago. She heard her son's giggles as he played with his grandfather.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Ginny waved her wand, and the door opened. Her friend and sister in law entered, and sat down at the foot of the bed. Ginny groaned and flung her arm over her eyes.
"Hermione, did Mum owl you? You didn't need to skive off work for me. I'll be fine, really."
"Have you heard anything yet? I know you're worried, Ginny. It isn't like Harry to be gone this long without contact."
"Gee, thanks Hermione. Thanks for voicing my concern." She took a deep breath and swiped at her eyes. "I have to check on James and Dad…it isn't fair to leave mum and dad to care for my son."
Ginny left Hermione sitting on the bed. Thoughts about her husband, and where he was were floating through her head. It hadn't even occurred to her to ask Hermione where Ron was. Usually, if Harry was gone, Ron was too. She turned on her heel and walked back to her old bedroom.
"Hermione, is Ron gone too?" Ginny looked expectantly at her friend.
"He wasn't feeling well yesterday, he stayed home. He wasn't in the office to go out on the call."
This was becoming too much for Ginny. The worry, the unknown. Harry had been gone for long periods before, but he was always in contact. It was beginning to feel like her sixth year all over again. Ginny remembered the fear. She remembered feeling despair. She watched Hagrid carry Harry out of the forest. She thought he was dead.
Hermione walked over to Ginny and wrapped her arms around her. Ginny stiffened, but quickly relaxed and returned the embrace. They walked downstairs together. Ron was sitting in the parlor, waiting for his sister and his wife to come down.
"Ginny", Ron's voice was calm and quiet. "I floo'd the Ministry. Harry got a call late in his shift yesterday. He grabbed Seamus, and they left. Seamus is good, not as good as ME, but Ginny…don't worry. They haven't checked in yet, but that doesn't mean that anything is wrong. It just means they're busy. I've asked Kingsley to keep us updated."
Ginny grimaced "Ron, you CAN'T be asking the Minister of Magic to keep tabs on my husband for me. I'm not a child. This is really quite silly. How many other wives go crazy when their husbands don't check in on time. None of the others go to the Minister."
Ron smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Kingsley doesn't mind. Harry is important to him too, and we all know that he promised you he wouldn't go off again and not contact you. This is out of character for him, and we all know it. No one thinks you're being hysterical, and no one thinks any less of you." They sat in silence. Ron had one arm slung protectively around his sister's shoulders and was holding his wife's hand tightly.
The sound of giggles wafted in from the kitchen and Ginny went to see what had made her son so happy. She saw her mother tending the stove, and her son, sitting on her father's lap, licking something gooey off of a spoon. She grabbed a damp cloth and cleaned her son's face, then picked him up and cuddled him. She plopped him into his high chair and helped her mother serve lunch. Then, she went and watched the clock and the window. She was waiting for some news that her husband was ok.
She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she heard was her very tired son crying about not wanting to take a nap. She opened her eyes, only to see Hermione indicate that she shouldn't worry, that her mother was taking care of it. Ginny struggled awake, and sat up on the couch. She glanced at the clock, and realized that Harry's clock hand was not pointing to "at work" anymore. It wasn't pointing at "mortal peril" either. It was sort of in limbo, not pointing anywhere.
Ginny fought to keep the panic out of her voice. "Hermione, look, what does that mean? "Where is he, if he isn't at work, or traveling?"
"Ginny, I don't know." Hermione kept her voice calm, "We need to ask mum"
Before Mrs. Weasley could come downstairs, Harry's clock hand moved to "home" and then almost immediately to "traveling". An owl began tapping incessantly on the window, until Hermione opened it and relieved the owl of it's letter. Lastly, a silver lynx came shooting into the parlor.
Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice came booming out of the Patronus.
"I've found Harry, he is on his way home now. He is fine. Don't worry"
Ginny was on her feet before she heard the loud crack in the garden. She stumbled toward the kitchen, and fell into her husbands arms. He buried his face in her hair, then gently lifted her chin, so he could see her face. He dipped his head down and kissed her gently.
All at once, all the fear and nerves melted away, and Ginny was angry. Harry realized the change and threw up a shield. Ginny was one to hex first, ask questions later.
"Ginny, I'm sorry. The call came in, we got word on a group of remaining Death Eaters…I had to go. I grabbed Seamus and we went, no one thought to let you know. It's all my fault, I should have thought. We were stuck in the forest, I had no way to get word out. I was so worried about you, knowing you were worried."
He noticed she had relaxed, and felt comfortable lowering the shield. She walked forward and he wrapped his arms around her.
"It didn't go right, Harry…did it. Right before you came home. Something was going wrong. The Clock didn't know how to classify you. I've been scared all day, but I started to panic then."
"No, it didn't go right. They had us pinned, we weren't able to move or anything. We spent the night, and most of the morning with our wands pointed…basically in a stand off. It took a little while, too long really, for the rest of the Aurors to find us. Just as our back up was apparating in, the group was poised to attack. I guess it wasn't really "mortal peril" but it certainly wasn't good. The Aurors were able to stun them before they attacked. No one was hurt, and we got them, Gin."
Ginny kissed her husband again, and went to sit at the kitchen table. She dropped her face into her hands, and finally let the tears fall freely. She was finally allowing herself to rid herself of the stress of the day. Harry sat next to her and gently rubbed her back. He knew that she had been holding it together all day, and now that the danger was over, it was just too much. He saw Hermione poke her head in the kitchen, but he waved her away. She nodded and disappeared back into the lounge. Harry continued to rub her back until the tears stopped. He dampened a cloth and handed it to her.
Ginny wiped her face, then stood up. She heard her son waking up from his nap and smiled. Together, they went to get him from the cot. She watched as her son's eyes lit up and he called "Daddy…daddy HOME!" James wasn't aware of how scared his Mummy had been, he had been having too much fun with his granddad. What he WAS aware of was that Mummy was smiling again.
Ginny went to find her Mum. "I think we'll take you up on keeping James tonight, mum. Harry is exhausted, and frankly, so am I." Ginny smiled and said, "can we come get him tomorrow, some time before tea?"
They walk out of the Burrow, just past the gate, and apparated home. They were both asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
Her dreams were filled with images of Harry being carried from the Forbidden Forest. Each time she cried out, she felt Harry's arm tighten around her, allowing her to relax back into sleep. The sun was high in the sky by the time they woke the next day.
Ginny knew her demons would never be fully gone, but she knew that she had the love and support of her family to get her through whatever happened. She just needed to trust that everything would be fine, and that Harry would always come home to her.
A/N: This is my first attempt at a real fan fic. Any and all constructive criticism is appreciated and welcomed. The last line is courtesy of a friend whose husband works as a tactical police officer in one of the most dangerous cities in the US. One day, I asked her how she handled it, and her answer was "I know he is good at what he does, and I just have to trust that he will come home to the boys and me."