Chapter Two
By the evening Harry was exhausted. They had played every game they could think of to distract Teddy and make him enjoy the enforced stay at Grimauld Place. Thankfully Teddy went to bed early, slumping in exhaustion after finishing his favourite dinner of hippogriff-shaped chicken nuggets. After tucking Teddy into his bed, Harry returned to the living room where he found Ginny slumped on one of the couches.
'You look about how I feel,' he said, startling her and drawing her tired eyes to his.
'Since you look terrible, I'm going to take that as an insult,' Ginny teased as she swung her legs off the couch, unconsciously making room for Harry the way she always had back at Hogwarts. Watching her, Harry longed for the days when he could just go to her without worrying about how she would react.
'I thought I was being sympathetic,' Harry said, sitting down next to her and waving his wand to turn the wireless on.
'You really need to work on your social skills, Potter,' Ginny said, but her voice was light and Harry could tell she was still teasing him. He grinned at her and leaned back against the cushions.
'You know what the most annoying part of this remodelling thing is?' Harry asked. Ginny shrugged. 'The huge pile of wall I now have sitting in my hallway. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.' He took a deep breath, cocking his ear in the direction of the fallen portrait. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he thought he could still hear muffled insults drifting from under the rubble. Ginny sniggered.
'I don't think Sirius's mum was very pleased with us, Harry, but I have to say it was a lot of fun.' She settled more comfortably onto her seat, brushing her thigh against Harry's a sshe did so. The movement sent a jolt of energy through him.
On an impulse he blurted out, 'why have you been so angry with me, Ginny?' She stiffened and pulled away from him and Harry knew it had been the wrong thing to say. He stared at his lap expecting her to blast him. Instead, she looked at him with tired eyes and time lengthened while she worked out what she should say. Finally, when Harry was on the brink of fidgeting with nerves she said, 'during the battle you didn't treat me like a capable person, Harry, you treated me like something to be protected. I ... didn't like it.' Her clear eyes held no accusation, no pain, no sadness. But it was clear to Harry that she meant every word and that while she may have moved on, she still wasn't happy with him.
'But ... I ...' Harry didn't know what to say. It had been a year and she was still upset about that? Harry remembered their one aborted conversation after the battle when she had said something similar and turned away from him. They had both been overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation and he had closed down for a while too, but surely after all this time they should have moved on? Harry tried to gather his thoughts into a reasonable argument to make her change her mind. Before he could muster his thoughts into anything coherent, however, Ginny had gone leaving only a hint of her flowery perfume.
As Harry tried to pull his scattered wits together he heard a sharp crack in the hallway.
'Master Harry! What have you been doing with my poor mistress's house?' Kreacher's voice was strident with outrage and Harry grimaced. This was just what he needed at the end of this very odd day. Sighing, he dragged himself off the couch and went to confront the debris. Kreacher was busy trying to unearth Mrs Black's portrait and cursing under his breath as he did so. For one breath-stealing moment Harry was reminded of the days when this house had been the headquarters of the Order and Kreacher had been its willing assistant, then the elf looked up and a smile cracked his face.
'Master Harry, you do not look after this place properly without poor Kreacher's help. Kreacher will be staying to help tidy and fix up poor mistress's picture.'
'It's good to see you again Kreacher. Is Hogwarts back to its old self then?'
'Hogwarts school is looking very nice now, Master Harry. There is not much work to be done there.' He cast one withering look at the hallway around him. 'Here, there is much work, Master Harry, and Kreacher will do it.' He began bustling around, picking up pieces of the wall. Harry rushed in to stop him.
'Kreacher, no, you don't have to do that. I'll just ...' he looked around, wondering what to do with the mess. 'I'll just vanish it outside.'
'Master Harry! That is just shifting the mess, not properly cleaning it. You must do it properly.'
'Okay, Kreacher, I will. Just ... don't worry about it tonight. We'll figure out what to do in the morning.'
'As Master Harry wishes.' The muffled shrieks that Harry had thought he could hear from the living room were louder out here, and Kreacher cast a longing look at the rubble.
'Let's ... ah, let's go into the kitchen Kreacher. I have something I need to talk to you about.'
'The kitchen, Master Harry. Yes. Kreacher must make sure Master Harry is looking after himself properly.'
Once safely in the kitchen, Harry explained the situation in the house while Kreacher pottered around cleaning surfaces that were already sparkling. 'So, you see, none of us can leave because of the quarantine ... and I think that includes you now Kreacher. I'll have to check with Hermione whether elves can transmit the pox to humans.'
'Never fear, Master Harry. Kreacher will be staying here. Master Harry's house needs a lot of cleaning. Kreacher has a lot to do to fix it up. Kreacher will show Master Harry how to be proud of his house.'
Harry laughed. 'Okay Kreacher, but I have to warn you I'll be doing more renovations so there will be lots of mess.'
Kreacher shuddered but bowed low, the locket Harry had given him scraping the floor as he did so. The locket reminded Harry of Kreacher charging into the Great Hall at Hogwarts and he smiled. Memories of the battle called Ginny's comments back into Harry's mind and he had a sudden idea. 'Wait, Kreacher. Show ... what a great idea. I'll show Ginny that I do think she's capable.' Harry's face lit up with the possibilities.
Clearly not understanding, Kreacher nevertheless patted Harry's arm as he passed the table. Lost in thought, Harry remained sitting in the kitchen, a cup of tea going cold at his elbow, until the fire he'd built for the floo connection burned low in the hearth and he dragged himself off to bed.
Next morning, Harry woke to the sounds of cheerful giggling and the rich scent of bacon cooking. Bleary-eyed he found his way to the kitchen to see Ginny tickling Teddy as Kreacher prepared an extremely large breakfast.
'Kreacher, how many people do you think we're feeding here?' Harry asked, careful to avoid staring at Ginny, whose flame red hair kept trying to catch his attention.
'Master Harry does not look after himself properly and Kreacher is making sure there is enough food.'
Ginny laughed. 'Kreacher, this is wonderful, but we truly don't need to eat this much. You've almost made enough to feed all of Hogwarts.' The teasing voice she used reminded Harry of the way she had teased him last night, and the grin she sent him made his knees go weak. That, he thought, was unfair at this time of the morning.
'Teddy,' he called, shaking himself out of his thoughts, 'I need to chat with you.'
He beckoned the tiny boy to follow him out of the room. Ginny tried to follow but he waved her off, saying, 'no, this is secret man talk. No girls allowed.' He winked at Teddy and quirked his eyebrow at Ginny as if daring her to comment. Ginny gave him what he secretly called 'the look' but she just sat down at the table and helped herself to breakfast. Teddy grinned up at Harry and followed him out of the kitchen on stubby legs.
In the hallway Harry crouched down and looked Teddy straight in the eye. 'Hey, buddy, I know it's not much fun being stuck here for a few days, but how would you like to help me with a secret project for Ginny?'
'Po –wet?' Teddy struggled with the unknown word and Harry laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.
'Okay, let's just call it a secret room. A room for Ginny. Whaddaya say?'
Teddy's beaming grin was answer enough for Harry.
They began later that same day, but keeping it a secret from Ginny was more difficult than Harry had expected. She seemed to be underfoot everywhere he turned, always with a knowing smile on her face. Since she had told him why she was annoyed with him she seemed to have lost some of the frosty demeanor she had confronted him with since the war. She still hadn't forgiven him though, he could tell. She was friendly and open, willing to talk and laugh with him, but she never ventured closer, never hinted that she still had the same feelings for him that had sustained him through the war. Harry forced himself to stop thinking that way and focus on his house, a much less stressful exercise.
Watching Ginny out of the corner of his eye Harry thought he saw her lips twitch upward when he started hinting that she should be somewhere else. Apparently she had worked out that the 'secret man talk' this morning was related to the hints for her to redecorate other parts of the house. After his third attempt to redirect her was unsuccessful, and the suggestion of a smile when he did so had become a full blown teasing grin, Harry decided he needed a new strategy. Watching Ginny playing ostentatiously with Teddy right next to the room he wanted to work on, Harry grinned to himself. Right, he thought, she wants to do it that way? Two can play at that game.
'Teddy,' he called, 'Ginny said she's going to bake some quidditch themed biscuits in the kitchen. Do you want to help her?'
He sniggered at Ginny's affronted glare. 'I can't bake,' she said in a fierce whisper. He shrugged, and turned away missing the small grin on Ginny's face as she took Teddy's hand and led him towards the kitchen.
Once on his own Harry almost ran into the room he had designated in his mind's eye as 'Ginny's room.' He had special plans for this place. Carefully he cast the illusion charm designed to keep Ginny from seeing what he was doing before he was ready. Then he began to dream of what he would put in here.
