CHAPTER 1
Harry had had a very hard day at the Auror office. His boss, Strike, was suffering from a hangover, and made Harry do extra work; complete all the paper work, write reports for recent chases of rogue and Dark wizards, bring oh-so-much coffee for him.
It wasn't that Harry had no other option but to work for Strike. In fact, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister of Magic and head of the Auror Department wanted Harry to work on his own the day he finished Auror training. But he, being the insufferable Gryffindor her was, wanted to follow the same procedures as everyone else. After finishing Auror training, all those who had passed had to work as an assistant for one of the senior Aurors, and depending on how good they did their job, they were made official Aurors. Shacklebolt thought this stage wasn't needed for Harry, and most of the other Aurors agreed, not only because he was exceptionally good, he was The Boy Who Lived; the one who had saved the wizarding world from the Darkest wizard that had ever roamed. Harry kindly rejected all the offers, and said he wanted the same opportunities his other fellow Auror trainees got.
He groaned as he Apparated into Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Ginny Weasley, his long time girlfriend since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, had just agreed to move in with him. Right now, he was looking forward to having a nice hot dinner with Ginny, while bitching about Strike, and then fall asleep with Ginny in his arms.
After he crossed the screaming portrait of Mrs. Black and entered the blessed silence of the kitchen cum dining room, he saw Ginny, pacing around the length of the room. Ginny normally never paced around, so what was up today, Harry wondered. "Harry!" Ginny said, before flinging herself onto him. "Oof!" Harry grunted, because of the force with which Ginny had launched herself at him. "What's up?" he asked, hugging her back. Ginny didn't reply, but didn't move out of the embrace.
They stood there, just hugging each other. Ginny kissed Harry and moved out of his embrace, but didn't move too far away. She held Harry's forearms. "I have been asked to join the Chudley Cannons as Chaser." She whispered. "What? That's wonderful!" Harry said, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Yeah, I won't be at home for six months, July-December. I will be travelling the country and playing games for them. I may or may not be here with you for Christmas, and in the off-seasons, I have to go for training every day for quite a long time and-" Ginny was rambling and Harry knew Ginny rambled only when she knew something; that when told would leave someone hurt, so he shushed her, by placing his finger on her soft lips. "Shh. Don't worry, we'll figure everything out!" he said, trying to take her back into his arms. "No, NO! We can't discuss about this." She said, pulling away from Harry. "Why not?" asked Harry, bewildered. She muffled a sob and said oh so quietly, "I've already signed the contract."
Harry was shocked. Ginny had never taken any major decision that may or may not affect their relationship without discussing it with him; especially not since she moved in with him. "Harry, I'm so sorry, I know I should've waited before signing it, to talk about with you, and all, but I was so happy when they asked me, especially since I was out with Angelina-" "Don't worry about it." Harry said smiling. Ginny had been chosen over Angelina, and Angelina had been captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He was proud and happy for Ginny. She just stared at him, her mouth literally falling open. Then her expression change to one of hopefulness. "What?" she asked, stunned. "I am happy, and SO proud of you Ginny. So, when will training begin?" he asked, still grinning. Ginny's hopeful expression crashed. "Oh, that, umm, this Saturday. Training for a week then I play as substitute for a while." Ginny mumbled.
Harry was dumbfounded. He held his expression to one of joy with a touch of unhappiness, but that was only the exterior. Inside, he was falling apart. Ten more days and Ginny would be gone for six months. He smiled wider and started stroking her hair. "Come to bed." Harry said, pulling her in for a hug. Ginny moved away just enough to raise her head and give him a surprised look. "Gotta spend quality time with you before you play, right?" he said grinning, before bringing his lips to meet hers.