-1Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchise. Any aspects used here are for entertainment purposes, and no money has been made from their usage.

Come the Mayan Sun

Part 1: The Sunset

The ancient temple cut a jagged line through the blood red sky of southern Mexico. The sun had already fallen below the horizon, but night had not yet fallen on the Mayan ruins lost in the jungles no man dared enter. No man save the few who knew the ruins still existed, and who dedicated their entire existence to the purpose these ancient buildings had yet to serve. A man stood at the top most step of the central temple, still and hard as the stone that surrounded him. Feathers plucked from the winged serpent sat atop the ceremonial headdress that marked him as the High Priest of the ancient Mayan cult he served.

The priest surveyed the land before him, his harsh gaze falling on the temple steps turned red as fresh spilled blood by the dim rays of twilight. Acolytes climbed the steps slowly, dragging their heavy burdens behind them to be offered upon the altar of the darkest gods. In the threadbare burlap sacks they carried, the still bodies of the innocent native people the cult needed to achieve their goals slept, unaware of the horrible end they would soon face. A small, hideous smile cracked the leather of the priest's face, thinking how the flowing blood of their sacrifices would soon paint the steps of this temple the color of the dying sun.

Harry easily caught the quaffle Ron had tried his best to sneak past him. Fingering the old, red leather of the Weasley family ball, Harry wondered idly what his Quidditch career at Hogwarts would have been like if he had played Chaser like his father instead of Seeker. Probably a lot less lonely, he smiled bitterly to himself, before throwing the ball back at his friend. They were playing two-man Quidditch in the field behind the Burrow, using the goal posts the Weasley brothers had set up during a particularly boring summer of adolescence. The sun was setting fast, and Harry was growing frustrated as Ron's Keeper skills proved far superior. It was almost as bad as playing him at chess, Harry thought, but at least he got an excuse to fly for a few hours this way.

"C'mon, boys!" Mrs. Weasley yelled from the kitchen door, making Harry sigh in relief. Getting Ron to stop playing was like pulling teeth, most days. After storing the brooms and quaffle back in the shed, the two friends headed in for another of Mrs. Weasley's infamously huge and delicious family dinners. Ginny and Hermione sat at the table chatting, while Mr. Weasley played with a socket Harry had given him last week. The twins were still locked in their old room, coming up with a new product for the store, while Mrs. Weasley set about the dangerous task of dragging the two of them away from their work long enough to eat.

"Charlie coming home for Victory Day this year?" Harry asked Ron, taking a roll from a basket before passing it on. Ron, through an already stuffed mouth, managed to respond, "Think so. It's been pretty quiet in Romania. Bill and Fleur even promised they'd make it here from France with the kids."

"They're bringing all the little wigglers?" Harry asked, referring to Bill and Fleur's many children with the nickname the rest of family used for the little balls of energy. Christmas two years ago at the Burrow had been rather interesting as three of the kids actually managed to blow the top floor of the house off.

"I think they're expecting again," Hermione said with a significant look at Ron. The two had been married for three years, but despite the infamous Weasley fertility, they hadn't produced any children of their own yet. Ron, as always, was completely oblivious as he took a long swig from his pumpkin juice. Ginny quirked an eyebrow at Harry, and he wondered if Ron's ignorance might be on purpose this time.

"Can't they think of anything better than Victory Day?" Ginny asked the room, turning the topic away from children and marriage in general. She had never quite forgiven Harry for leaving her behind to fight Voldemort with Ron and Hermione. The two had tried to renew their relationship several times since the end of the war, but it always ended as passionately as it started. No one was certain if they'd ever make it work long enough to settle down and marry, though Mrs. Weasley tried her best to help them along.

"I still say they should have gone with He-Whose-Ass-Was-Righteously-Kicked Day," Fred said as he and George came barreling into the room, grabbing food out of Hermione's hands as she tried to make sure everyone got enough. Molly followed them and immediately set about piling small mountains of food on Harry and Hermione's plates. She always complained that the two of them never ate enough, which was probably true, considering neither of them came from her house. Little things like this always made Harry so glad to have the Weasley's as an adopted family.

"I'm surprised they didn't name the day after Harry, honestly," Hermione said, smiling as she picked at Harry's discomfort with public attention. Everyone knew quite well there had been a large movement to do just that the first year after Harry had finally managed to kill the last Dark Lord. Harry, who had just been entering Auror training after finishing his N.E.W.T. equivalency tests, had used every connection he had at the Ministry to make sure it didn't happen. Harry simply stuck his tongue out at his other best friend and said, "I saw a lot of the suggestions, and frankly Victory Day was the least…dumb one they came up with."

"Do you have a date to the Ministry's celebration dinner yet, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked brightly, with a rather obvious look toward Ginny. Harry just sighed and shook his head, tucking into his dinner in order to avoid yet another vigorous campaign by his favorite mother to make him an official son-in-law. Frankly, he didn't even want to go to the party the Ministry had set up, as it was sure to be another year of people he didn't know talking to him all night and all sorts of made up awards being given to him. Ron just said he was being ungrateful, still a little jealous of his famous friend despite the massive amount of attention he had received himself after the war.

"You really ought to ask Ginny," Hermione said without looking up from the muggle newspaper she was reading. She and Harry were at lunch together at a café near the Ministry, leaving poor Ron behind to finish the mound of arrest reports he had let pile up the last week. Work at the Auror office was always hectic, but Hermione just sighed at her husband's ability to procrastinate more than anyone on the planet.

"What's that?" Harry asked, knowing perfectly well what she meant. He was being attacked on two fronts now, he thought bitterly.

"To the Ministry's Victory Day dinner. No one else has asked her out for that night," she said primly, folding her newspaper and giving Harry a significant stare. Not able to meet that wilting gaze, he ducked his head sighed into his lunch.

"I really don't want to think about her dating habits," Harry said, the old beast rearing its head deep in his stomach. Despite all his efforts, he couldn't help but be incredibly jealous when he heard Ginny was dating someone. His own love life was rather barren, though he was never sure if he liked it that way or not.

"You're just being silly," Hermione said in her lecture voice, cultivated from several years in the Research Branch of the Department of Mysteries. "You two love each other, but you're both too thickheaded to do anything about it."

Harry gave her a stare he had obtained facing down some of the most evil people Britain had produced in the last century. It was just enough to make his friend realize she had hit a nerve. Shaking his head, Harry picked at what was left on his plate. After a moment, he said, "Ginny and me…look, 'Mione. We both know I'm almost as bad as Ron when it comes to women. But…all that, the past few years. That's between me and her, okay?"

Hermione frowned, but decided not to say anything more and just nodded as she finished her coffee. It wasn't really Harry being hardheaded, like she often thought after talking with Molly Weasley. He and Ginny really did have a lot of issues standing between them. After five years, since their seventh year and the end of the war, even she was beginning to doubt the two would ever be together. The problem then, she thought, was that Harry might never find a woman he could really love. After all the horrible things he had gone through and triumphed over in his life, Harry Potter at least deserved to have someone to be with.