Vanishing Act

Ch.2- Prodigal Daughter

A/N: This chapter jumps forward, and Harry and Ginny's experiences will slowly be revealed to their family in the midst of present events.

The Weasley clan sat around the Burrow's huge dining room table, all gathered for the celebration of the traditional family Christmas Eve dinner. Arthur Weasley looked out at his huge extended family, which had only grown in numbers. He and his wife sat at the head of the table, next to Bill, his eldest, and his wife Fleur and their daughter Victoire. Next was Charlie, who was still single. He claimed he was married to the Dragons, but Arthur had other suspicions. After that was Percy and his fiancée Penelope, followed by Fred and George, who were engaged to Alicia and Angelina, respectively. Beyond them were Ron and Hermione, who had not surprised anyone with their marriage. He sighed, his eyes resting on the two empty chairs at the end of the table. He always set them out, hoping that maybe this was the year that Ginny, his daughter, decided to return with Harry Potter. He had done so 9 times before, and 9 times they had sat empty. Instead, they waited for Hedwig to arrive, always right before the dessert course, bearing individually addressed letters to each couple, and one for Arthur to read to the group. And so, after the delicious dinner, they sat and waited in silence for the tapping on the window that signified the only contact with their estranged sibling, daughter, and friends. "Hedwig's never taken this long before; I wonder if the blizzard waylaid her?" Ron pondered quietly.

"Or maybe this is the year the letters stop, the year they've finally forgotten," Molly sobbed suddenly, and Arthur placed a hand on her shoulder to soothe her, but she was not to be comforted, "I guess I'll just go and get dessert, I knew they would never come back," She bustled away to the kitchen. Almost as soon as she left, a sharp rapping sounded through the house, and everyone shot to the window, only to find it disappointingly empty. As they turned to take their seats, the sound came again, and Ron sprung to his feet.

"It's the door! I got it!" He dashed into the parlor, with the rest of the family, minus his mother, close behind. He flung open the door, allowing a freezing wind to whirl through and revealing a petite figure in an emerald cloak, the hood pulled tight around her face. Ron stared at her curiously before finally letting her in; she brushed by him looking out at the packed parlor.

"Thank you Ron, it's bloody freezing outside," and with that, she flipped down her hood, allowing her red hair to flow down her back, "So, how is everybody?"

"G-Ginny?" Ron gaped at her as the family stared.

"Yes, Ron, now close your mouth, I don't want to see your tonsils, not even after all this time," She smirked and sniffed the air, "Mm, smells like treacle tart, Harry will be appreciative,"

"Harry's coming?" Hermione perked up at this, a sparkle coming back to her eyes.

"Of course, he would have come with me, but he was rather indisposed when I left," She smiled to herself, "Of course, we'll hold the questions 'till he arrives, but until then, I want a hug from every single one of you," Her words seemed to break the spell that had held them, and the family swarmed over their prodigal daughter, all hugging and kissing and smiling.

Finally, everyone was settled in the dining room again, simply waiting for Molly to return from her kitchen. Eventually, the door eased open, and Mrs. Weasley bustled out setting down the huge pan of treacle tart, smiling at all of her family, before freezing, her eyes locked with her daughter's. She leapt up with an agility that surprised everyone. "Ginerva Molly Weasley! What makes you think you can just show up in this house after a decade of absence?"

"Mum, I'm sorry, but it was time to come home. Oh, and its Potter now. Please don't be angry, we wanted to come back sooner, but we were busy," She knew that her mum was steaming, and a simple apology would not placate her, especially after she flashed the sparkling rings on her left hand. She braced herself for her mother's wrath. Suddenly, with a flash of green, her guardian angel stumbled out of the Floo. She smiled at Harry, who smiled softly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and whispered in her ear, just loud enough that the rest of the room could hear.

"I missed you,"

Ginny smirked, "I was only gone a few minutes."

"It was like you were gone for days," He kissed her head quickly.

"And it was like you were gone a decade, oh wait, you were!" Hermione exploded, shouting at him, "Not a bloody thing except for a letter at Christmas, we didn't know where you were, or what was happening to you, you're bloody married and we didn't know a damn thing," Her reaction seemed to break the dam of emotions and soon the entire table was shouting.

"Ginerva, you can't just run off with a man and abandon your family, even if it is Harry bloody Potter!" Molly screamed, her face twisted with rage, "And you, young man, convincing my daughter to run away to Merlin knows where to do Merlin knows what when she isn't even a legal adult! You had no right! She should have stayed here! What about your education? What about your NEWTs?" She was beginning to wind down when Ron started up.

"Dammit Potter, I said I would understand, and damn I tried, but you said two years, it's been nine! You missed all the funerals, you missed your own Order of Merlin ceremony, and you missed our wedding Harry! Your two best friends got married, and you missed it!" He took a breath and turned to Ginny, "And you! You just left us behind, discarded us as soon as you got your chance to be with Harry Potter! Was your childhood fantasy really more important than us?" He jabbed a finger at her and she ducked her head, subtly shifting closer to Harry. Ron was about to continue with his tirade when Charlie cut him off.

"You think just because you're a war hero, you can steal my sister and take her away from her family? And then you have the balls to come back here and act like it's no big deal? You think you have some right to touch her, run your hands all over her, because you don't. If you can't keep your prick away from my sister, you don't get to keep it!" His wand was out in a flash, a curse leaping from its tip. It arced through the air and erupted where Harry and Ginny were standing, thick smoke obscuring them from sight. Charlie gulped as he watched it. He really hadn't been thinking when he had thrown the curse, and he could only hope he hadn't just killed his sister and Harry Potter. Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing Harry, who had pulled Ginny to his chest, shielding her with his body, his back to the table. A shimmering shield enveloped them, protecting them. Harry released Ginny and turned back to the assembled family.

"You all got that out of your system now?" He had a gentle smile on his face, but there was a dangerous glint in his green eyes. The shock had seemed to break the shouting's momentum. Mrs. Weasley was glaring daggers at Harry, and Bill and Charlie looked sour. Hermione, however, threw her arms around Harry's neck, tears now streaming down her face.

"You were gone for so long, and we had no idea if you were okay, and…" She trailed off and he patted her on the back before releasing her. After she stepped away, the twins leapt up and threw their arms around the two, pretending to sob loudly. Slowly, the tension gave way to relief, and the returning couple was surrounded by people hugging and crying. Finally, Molly embraced her daughter, tears rolling down her face. She also hugged Harry, but when she let him go, she gave him a look.

"The two of us are going to have a talk later, Harry dear, so I can make sense of all this," Her tone still held a subtle edge and Harry could tell she was still upset, but before anyone else could speak, a small voice drifted from behind Harry's leg, inside his cloak.

"Dad, is this you and Ginny's family?" A small girl with raven hair and sparkling green eyes peeked out from his cloak. Harry swiftly picked her up and set her on his shoulders, and she looked down on the collected Weasley family with a slightly judgmental air.

"Yes dear, this is Ginny's family, and the closest thing I've ever had to one,"

"They're weird," she declared with finality.

"And that's why I love them, and I hope you'll love them too," Harry chuckled and reached up to ruffle her hair. Her timing was perfect, effectively saving Harry from Molly's anger that Harry had, well, eloped with her daughter.

"There are more of them then you said," the little girl sounded confused.

"No there aren't, don't you remember all of their names?"

"No, you said there wouldn't be a test," She frowned and Harry laughed, not noticing the rapt attention that the whole room had given to their conversation.

"All right, well those two are your Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, they're your godparents. Those two are your Aunt Fred and your Aunt George, and their fiancées. That's Uncle Percy and his fiancée, and that's Uncle Charlie, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Fleur with your cousin Victoire. And finally, at the very end down there, are your Grandpa and Grandma Weasley," Harry finished off the list with a grin, and the little girl nodded, contemplating the new information. She turned to Ginny and leaned down, almost knocking Harry off balance.

"Ginny, he's not pulling my leg is he? They're all our family?" She made big puppy dog eyes and Ginny kissed her forehead.

"Of course they are dear; Harry wouldn't lie to you about this,"

"I know, it just all seems too good to be true," She was smiling from ear to ear now, and Harry set her down on the ground again.

"That's exactly what I felt at first too, these people are the best family anyone could ask for. Now why don't you let Ginny give you the tour, and then you can put the decade's worth of Christmas presents under the tree for tomorrow, ok?" Harry ruffled her hair again and she grabbed Ginny's hand, pulling her out of the kitchen. When they were gone Harry adopted a serious face and turned to the family, "Alright, our exciting tale of adventure is incredibly long and not appropriate for the Christmas season, so we decided to hold on telling it until the day after tomorrow, however, to stave off the curiosity, I will answer one question from each of you tonight. You can take a minute to deliberate amongst yourselves before you begin. And Mrs. Weasley, I do hope you aren't mad about all of this, even if you have every right to be," His voice was businesslike, but when he addressed Mrs. Weasley, his eyes expressed remorse, but also a peace that had not been there before. If Molly had been mad before, which she had been, the way Harry looked at her daughter and the thrill of being called Grandma had muted it, masking it with a glowing joy at her whole, beautiful family. She figured she could save the shouting for two days.

After an intense huddle, the Weasleys returned to their seats and watched him expectantly, "Alright, we'll start with Mrs. Weasley, then Mr. Weasley, and then down from there by age. Mrs. Weasley?" The whole table turned to her.

"Harry, dear, when did you two get married?" She looked joyous, but the glint in her eyes betrayed her feelings. Harry had expected her to be upset to be cut out from the ceremony.

"January 1st, 2000. We figured there was no better way to start out a joyous new millennium of fresh starts. It was a simple ceremony, as we expected to have a renewing of vows with all of you on our first anniversary back, and we'll allow you to go all out for it," He smiled as her smile widened and the gears in her head began to churn.

"January 1st? But that's so soon!"

"If you don't think you can do it," Harry grinned at his mother-in-law.

"Shush, boy, I will manage," She shot him a glare, but her smile made it substantially less effective, "And Harry, you're married to my daughter, you can call me Molly, and my husband Arthur."

"Very well Mrs.- uh, Molly," He grinned sheepishly, "That's going to take some getting used to. Moving on, uh, Arthur," He stumbled with his father-in-law's name.

"Harry, why did you only ever write at Christmas? Would it have been too hard to check in from time to time?" Arthur was not upset, merely curious, and a little hurt.

"Ah, well, you see, we were going to write, and we did. After leaving our first location, we sent Ron and Hermione a postcard and a letter. We planned to keep up with all of you through post, but when our dear Hermione received the letter, she decided that it was her duty to try to trace it and bring us home, by force if needed. Luckily, we had already vacated the premise when she came charging through the wards. After that, we decided that we would only send one owl at Christmas, with all your letters while you were all together. We didn't want to be found, you see," He said simply, and the whole table turned to glare at Hermione, who winced and began to babble nonsensical excuses until Harry shushed her, "All is forgiven Hermione, I'm glad that you cared that much. Ok, Bill, you're next," He returned his attention to the scarred curse-breaker.

"Alright Harry, how long have you been back?" He fixed Harry with a piercing stare, and Harry glanced down at his watch.

"Uh, about 17 hours now, this was my third stop, Ginny's second, since we've been back."

"Oh, well, ok then," Bill seemed surprised, but also impressed

"Great, Fleur, you're up,"

"Ah, 'Arry, were did ze rings come from? Zey are very beautiful," She looked down at her own rings, as if comparing them in her mind.

"They once belonged to a Russian princess and her husband. They were a gift from a grateful friend," Harry looked down at his own ring, smiling slightly.

Charlie spoke up, unbidden, "So, how have you been treating my sister?" He was rolling his wand between his fingers.

"I would like to believe that I have been treating my wife as the angel she is, but really, you would have to ask her," He smirked at Charlie, before speaking again, "How is Talia by the way? I'm surprised you didn't bring her with you," He wore a knowing look, and Charlie suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Who is Talia, dear?" Molly asked pointedly.

"She, she was just a fling Mum! I-," He spluttered

"Oh, do you get engaged to everyone you have a fling with?" Harry interrupted and Charlie sunk into his chair. Molly looked about ready to explode, but Arthur put a hand on her arm.

"It can wait until we are done with Harry, dear," He said softly, and Molly sat back down. Harry turned his gaze to Percy. Percy huffed formally and spoke.

"Harry, I trust you have some form of occupation lined up?" He was as uptight as ever, Harry covered his chuckle with a cough.

"Yes, Percy, I have a form of occupation lined up. That is all I will say on the subject," Percy nodded curtly and Harry continued down the table. Penelope passed, and Fred and George asked together.

"So, my dear brother-in-law,"

"You wouldn't happen,"

"To know about any,"

"Large defense contracts that,"

"May have been granted to one,"

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes,"

"For various Auror protections and the like,"

"Now would you?" They both looked at Harry, cocking their heads.

Harry laughed, "Let's just say your silent partner has been busy," Both men grinned and leapt up to shake Harry's hands. Harry jokingly pushed them off and answered Alicia and Angelina's Quidditch questions before turning to Hermione. Hermione glared down the table at her family.

"I can't believe none of you asked about the child," She turned to Harry, her mind whirring behind her eyes. Harry could tell she was trying to pick a question.

"Hermione, don't hurt yourself, just ask your questions, I'm just as surprised as you are that no one asked," Hermione smiled graciously at him before launching into her questions.

"Who is she?"

"My daughter Lily,"

"How old is she?"

"Eleven," Harry could see her confusion, "She's adopted,"

"Oh, well, were did she come from?"

"She was orphaned in Belarus. We rescued her from a castle dungeon,"

"Why was she in a dungeon?"

"It's a convoluted story, but here it goes. She was born sometime in 1996, her mother was a very powerful witch and her father seduced her to create a powerful baby. After she was born, her father murdered her mother and locked her in a dungeon for 5 years, waiting for her to mature. He was planning to turn her into a Horcrux, like Voldemort did to me, except he planned to kill her soul first, and replace it with a bit of his own, allowing it a vehicle to defend itself," He sighed, a weight seeming to build on his shoulders as he spoke. The whole table looked aghast.

"Then how did you end up with her?"

"We were in Belarus with our mentor at that time, and we made a stop in the village at the base of the castle. We found there an old house elf wandering through the town, pleading for help. We stopped and learned that he was tasked to watch over the girl, and his conscience had finally won out over his orders. He begged, and I couldn't resist. I charged into that castle and challenged the rising Dark Lord to a duel. This was also how I learned I'm immune to Avada Kedavra," Hermione gaped, but Harry continued, "I defeated him eventually, launched him off his tower to his death, and we rescued the poor little girl. We originally planned to find her a home in the village, but I couldn't. I know how that girl felt, I know what it's like to be treated like that," Harry was almost sobbing now, and his family simply stared, "I refused to leave her, and I told Ginny and my mentor so. Ginny was furious. We were newly married and she wanted me all to herself, and our mentor wasn't too happy either, but I couldn't let her go, and eventually they came around. She lived with Ginny for a month while I battled the paperwork to officially adopt the girl. She didn't even have a name. The bastard never even named her!" Harry slammed his fist into the table. He was shaking by this point, "I remember asking her what she wanted to be called, and she asked me to name her. I named her Lily, after my mother. She said she loved it, and that she loved me, and, well, the rest is history," Harry took a deep breath, stilling himself and wiping his eyes. They all sat for a moment in silence, mulling over Harry's incredible story before Hermione launched back into her questions.

"Why does she call you 'Dad' and Ginny 'Ginny'?" Harry laughed and she frowned.

"Because Ginny says that 'Mum' makes her sound old. Lily still does whenever she thinks she can get away with it, though," The family chuckled at this.

"You came back so she could go to Hogwarts, didn't you?"

"Yes, that was part of it. I hear they have a brilliant Arithmancy Professor now," Harry grinned at Hermione, who blushed at his praise.

"Thank you, Harry, that's all of I can think of for now," Hermione smiled softly and Harry relaxed.

"Good, that's all 'till the 26th then," Harry smiled, but Ron kicked him in the shin.

"Hey, you forgot me, you git," He frowned at Harry, who rolled his eyes and smiled.

"I suppose I did, make it good then," He looked at Ron intently, who thought for a second, before speaking.

"So, where all did you go on this decade-long vacation of yours?" He grinned as Hermione nodded in approval. Harry opened his mouth, but Ginny cut him off as she and Lily re-entered the dining room.

"Oh, it wasn't a vacation; it was hard work, all of it. It was like nine extra years of school. Harry here decided that it would be fun to travel to all the far flung corners of the world and learn every form of magic there is, and I got to tag along for the ride," She frowned at Harry, but he only chuckled. Lily slipped back into Harry's cloak and tucked herself against his leg again, completely hidden except for two points of sparkling green.

"Come on, Gin, you had a great time, and if my memory serves, you were the one who suggested the far flung corners of the world. What was it, oh yes, 'Come on, Harry, love, I want to see the world! I've never travelled before, not anywhere! Please? Please, please, please?' all day and night. Plus, you were excited to learn how to best your brothers in a duel, weren't you?" Harry's impression of Ginny was disturbingly accurate, and his gentle laugh made her frown crumble as he pulled her close, kissing her quickly on the lips. She rolled under Harry's arm opposite of Lily and he pulled her into his side. His eyes flicked around the table. Ron was watching Hermione, who was barely holding back a monsoon of questions. The twins and their girls had quickly begun to snog, while Percy and Penelope were discussing some politics or something, which, Harry supposed, was like snogging for them. Charlie still looked upset and Bill and Fleur were having a quiet conference with Molly and Arthur. Harry felt a contented smile spread across his face. It was good to be home.

A/N: The first story chapter is done, so please tell me what you think. It's not hard, just hit the review button. As always, thanks for reading.

EDIT*Between the reviews and the fact that this didn't come out how I liked, I changed it a little and add some more drama to Harry and Ginny's return.*