A/N: Chapter 2 and how Ginny's dealing with everything. Thanks to everyone who has read, put it on alert, reviewed or anything else. The acceptance of this story has been overwhelming. Off to see my daughter on opening night in her school musical. Thanks to Arnel and MyGinevra for betaing me. MNF

Chapter 2:

"Tu me pardon?"

"Do you need another potion?" Ginny heard the gentle voice calling her, and she lifted her head, looking across the room at the person who had been speaking to her. She dropped her eyes again and shook her head. "Do you want to be alone?" The woman asked.

"No." The girl struggled to make the one syllable leave her lips. She wasn't sure she was ready to make conversation just yet, but she was sure she didn't want to be alone. Alone was too quiet, too lonely. If she were alone, she'd have to fill the silence in her head with something; at least with another person here, that responsibility would fall elsewhere.

Ginny looked at the woman as she drew into the sitting room and closed the door behind her. Anwen was slight in her youth, and age had done nothing to change that. Her face was thinner than it had been at seventeen, she'd lost the last vestiges of childhood, her cheekbones were now more defined. Her face was partially obscured with glasses that sat low upon her nose.

As she moved toward her, Ginny saw a frailness that was unfamiliar to her eyes, not that the younger woman needed to struggle to understand the source of the weakness. Anwen's gait was unsteady, uneven, the permanent reminder of the battle they'd fought together. While her need to partially drag her right leg along gave the impression that the older woman was weak, Ginny knew better. You didn't have eight children and serve as prosecutorial counsel for the International Confederation of Wizards if you were weak.

Anwen sat down on the sofa across from the younger woman and lifted her hand to summon the footrest from across the room. As the stool settled and Anwen placed her feet upon it, Ginny caught sight of the leg under the long skirt her friend was wearing. The skin wasn't smooth, but rather puckered, stretched over the muscles, still pink and raw after all these years, scars that never really faded. It looked painful.

Reflexively, Ginny looked down at her own legs, peeking out from under the soft slacks that she was dressed in. A portion of her calf and ankle were visible, the skin peach and soft, they looked good. Looks can be deceiving, there was no hope of them ever working, even as poorly as Anwen's did. Ginny's fists clenched at the injustice, and then she let them relax, remembering she'd been this way for over six months now.

"I'm sorry we had to sedate you, but I was afraid you were going to hurt yourself when you woke up," Anwen told her sympathetically. "You've been sleeping for quite a while, almost three hours. You sure you're okay now?"

Ginny nodded at her friend, still struggling to free her brain from the slight fog that it was in. When she first awoke this morning, awoken in this time, she panicked at not being able to move her legs. That's when she'd been sedated.

"I can't imagine what you must be thinking or feeling," Anwen gently said as she took Ginny's hand between hers. There was something familiar about the way she spoke, never saying, 'I know what you're going through' because she couldn't. Instead, acknowledging there was pain and sadness seemed so much more genuine and real. Ginny appreciated that her friend, or guardian, or whatever she was, now spoke to her honestly and fairly.

The familiar art-deco engagement ring and rose gold wedding band were on Anwen's hand, and it caused Ginny to smile. Anwen and Sirius' magical binding ceremony had been one of the most romantic things she'd ever been witness to. For Ginny, they were newlyweds; to them, they'd been married for nearly eighteen years.

"Everything is so jumbled," Ginny confessed. "How is it that I can distinctly remember eating breakfast here with Lilyan and Jamie only hours ago, and I remember quietly sharing the same meal in bed with Harry at Grimmauld place?"

"Because, in effect, you have lived two lives up until the moment you awoke. Eventually, the memories from before will fade, and all you'll know is this life. There are ways that you can preserve any memories you'd like to, though."

"What if I'd rather have the other one back?" There was a melancholy that had wrapped every word in a delicate, gauzy film, somehow making them even sadder.

"I can see how you'd feel that way, but I promise you, your life here is very good. Ginny, you're an exceptional young woman, with a bright future." Anwen sounded every bit the mother that she was. Ginny couldn't quite reconcile the woman she'd called her best friend only yesterday was now her surrogate parent.

The young witch ran her fingers through her fiery tresses, releasing them from the loose braid that one of the Black girls had put them into before breakfast this morning, and then held the palms of her hands over her eyes. She hoped that if she willed the dry sting of her used up tears to go away that it simply would. Upon removing her hands she knew that it was too much to ask for. The excess adrenaline from waking up and being unable to move was still making her jittery, even with the potion that Anwen had given her.

"I guess," Ginny started, "I guess I need to put all this back together, from the beginning. Not my childhood beginning, but my being here beginning. Why am I living with you?" A faint chuckle passed from Anwen's lips, and it made Ginny feel instantly better.

"Nothing quite like jumping in with both feet there," she teased and Ginny cocked her head to the side, indicating a 'why not' sort of response. "One of the things that I always liked about you as a friend, you didn't pull your punches. Okay then, the simple answer is that your mum was already feeling quite overwhelmed with the full–time care that your Uncle Fabian required. He's lived at the Burrow since he was injured in the battle of the Orkney's."

"I remember that, growing up with him and Uncle Gideon around, a lot."

"In theory, Gideon didn't live there. In reality, he depended on your mum for nearly everything. When he wasn't at work, he was at your house. He was killed a few years ago, terrible accident," Anwen added quietly and Ginny didn't press for details, so the elder woman went on. "His death hit your mum hard, she hasn't been quite the same since.

"When you were hurt, you were quite angry, and you sort of lashed out at everyone. It didn't help that your family wanted to smother you, do things for you all the time. After about six weeks, there was a fire call from your dad and Bill, asking if maybe you could come here. They hoped that I'd be able to get through to you when no one else could."

"Why here though?" she asked. "There must have been rehabilitation hospitals and such that I could have gone to?"

"Oh, there were, but…well, lets just say that I've been where you are, and dealt with what you're going through."

"Because of your injuries, after the battle? It was a miracle that you survived?"

"Sweetheart, the physical problems were only about half of it. You were angry at Harry for the way that he'd hurt you and then how he attempted to make amends, or not make amends as was the case. You were angry at the hand that you'd been dealt. You didn't want him around, but your mother was just encouraging his behavior and getting upset at you for not forgiving him. Above all else, that situation is what I understood." Anwen was speaking in circles, and it was making Ginny frustrated.

"What do you mean?" The tone was angrier than she'd intended it to be. Anwen brushed some loose hairs behind Ginny's ear before she started talking again.

"So much happened after the battle was over. We won that fight, but I had no idea of the war that I was personally about to endure," Anwen told her quietly, looking dreamily out the window at the streets beyond. Somehow Ginny didn't think that it was the quaint village outside that Anwen was looking at.

"You knew Sirius back then," she started telling her tale, not looking at the younger girl, nor the scenery outside, but inward, almost like some loop of old pictures playing in her head. "He thought that I was as delicate as porcelain and I needed to be protected and treasured..." Anwen sighed as a loving smile crept across her face. "After the battle, he insisted that he remain at the hospital with me, even though they were ready to release him a few days later. He couldn't imagine not being there if I needed something. At first it was sweet, I was in so much pain that I couldn't do anything for myself, so I appreciated his constant attention. Then I started to get better, and I felt like he wouldn't let me care for myself. I had hoped that it would be better when I was finally released from hospital," she added glumly.

"We returned to Grimmauld Place, not only because his mother needed the companionship, but we'd become overnight media stars. Our little London house was staked out by reporters and well–wishers, and we had no privacy there. Apparently his marrying me was quite a news story, seeing how he had been one of the most eligible wizards in all of Great Britain. That we married without any of the reporters finding out frustrated them. Finding every detail of my life became their new obsession. Professor Dumbledore handled the press as best as he could, charmed my personal records so that my Muggle family couldn't be contacted, but Sirius and I were still hounded. We also were very careful that my Parker heritage didn't come out, since my grandmother was still in hiding. I came to resent the attention - from everyone.

"I know that it sounds ungrateful, but I was seventeen, and I didn't care that people wanted to know who I was. I wanted to have time to wallow in what I'd lost - my best friend and her husband, the use of my leg and all the bits of my personality that were wrapped up in that: dancing, being an Auror, being whole. Giving interviews and being photographed when I went to my therapy sessions at St. Mungo's was just too much. Regulus died from his injuries just as the story started to go away, and the press began digging again. Then the story broke about Felicienne Seduire and her pregnancy and Sirius being the father."

Ginny scoured through her mind, until she came upon the name. Anwen and Sirius' second son, Bastien, this had to do with him. She wasn't quite sure why, but when she thought about the dark–haired, grey–eyed boy, her insides quivered, just a little. It surprised her, because it was so similar to what she felt when she thought about Harry, and the London flat, and their being married. This was definitely something she needed to think about more.

"Bastien," Ginny whispered. "You found out from the press that Sirius was having a baby by another woman?"

"Essentially," Anwen confirmed. "Frank had fire-called and told us he needed to see us immediately at the Ministry. There was some very disturbing information about Narcissa Malfoy which had been uncovered in their investigation. Something about stealing the Black family fortune, and since Sirius was now the de-facto head of the Black family…" she trailed off, swallowing hard. Ginny hated that her friend was having to recount something so awful for her. "We were accosted by a reporter in the lobby, I didn't believe her, but Frank confirmed the story when we got up to the Auror offices. I fled the building, not even waiting to hear what was going on. I just knew that they'd confirmed that Bastien was to be born in January, and he was Sirius' son."

"My goddess, what did you do?"

"At first, I went to James and Lily's, Remus had been recovering there and I needed him and Lily, but Sirius just followed me to the manor. I couldn't go home to my parents, lest they would be found by the press. I just wanted to be alone, it was all too much. That night, James brought me back to my grandmother's house, not telling Sirius where he'd taken me. Alice and Frank came over the next day, and brought me all the evidence they had about how Sirius had been Imperioused and that he'd fought the curse admirably, but in the end, he was coerced to have sex with her, and they had created a child. I was devistated." Anwen wiped a tear from her face.

"Anyway, a week or so later, Remus was finally able to talk some sense into both of us, getting me to listen to reason and getting Sirius to back off a little. Sirius came to stay here in Quimper, taking his own rooms at the inn. I calmed down enough to speak to Sirius, and by mid-fall we'd reconciled. We bought a small house here, enjoying the relative anonymity that the place provided, and while the trial was difficult, both Narcissa and Felicienne were sent to Azkaban for their parts in the plot. So you see, I understood how upset and confused you were at Harry, better than anyone. The person who was supposed to love you the most had hurt you the deepest. I think it's been beneficial to you, being here with us."

"It has been. I can't wallow, your children won't let me," Ginny confessed. The young woman was silent for a few minutes, but instead of asking about what was pressing on her the most, she thought of something else. "So, you've lived in France since?" Anwen threw her head back and laughed before responding.

"Heavens no. We own more houses all over Europe than any family could ever need, and we haven't stayed in the same one for too many years at a time. Nature of my work, we travel. We moved from Quimper to Paris, then back to London, then we bought the house in Portree, not far from Potter Manor. Lived there until ninety-three when we moved to Zurich, then we were in Lisbon, then back to Quimper. This home and Fair Garden, the estate in Scotland, are the ones that the children consider their home, however. Oh, we've also got a small house in Greece and a vacation home in India. Thankfully, we've got two more years here and then the next ICW quadrennial will be spent in England. After that, I am thinking it will be time to retire."

"You're a prosecutor, right?"

"Yes, I work with ICW, International Confederation of Wizards, specifically, in the areas of Pureblood cruelty and ethnic and Muggle cleansing. After the accident, I knew that I couldn't be an Auror - although Alastor kept telling me that not having two good legs was no impediment to being a fine Auror - but I still wanted to work in law. Sirius had decided that he wanted to get his Masters in Charms, and initially I raised the children and took care of the home while he completed his education. I got easily bored, so I began studying law from home. I took the International Law Examination in early 1985, seven months pregnant with our third child."

"And you've got eight now? Holy cow, Anwen, like you've got my mum beat!"

"Yes, well, I've only been pregnant four times if that helps. Our children just keep finding us, and we keep our door open. Never know when someone might need shelter from the storm." With that, Anwen reached over and squeezed the girl's hand. It made Ginny feel so safe and assured.

"Okay, in birth order because I can't keep them all straight otherwise: Draco came to live with us when he was about a year old, after some rather nasty business back in England. We were finally able to adopt him when he was ten. Bastien is six months younger than Draco, so it's similar to having raised twins. Ethan is five years younger than them, so he's twelve, almost thirteen, and in his second year at Hogwarts. Lilyan is next, she's turning eleven next month and will start in the fall. John and Jamie, our twins, will be ten this June, and they are different as night and day. Jamie is quiet and introspective and John is just louder than a Quidditch match. Edmund was born a little over seven years ago, and Christianna came to live with us a few days after she was born, four and a half years ago."

"Wow…that's…so are you done?" Ginny couldn't imagine what it must have been like around here when they were all little.

"I will be having no more children, but that is not to say another might not find their way home. This family has a way of multiplying when we think that we're done."

"How do you find time to work in the midst of all of this?"

"Well, we have help, Sirius and I don't do this alone. There are several servants, not house-elves, we don't own our help. They're all from magical families, but haven't shown any discernible magical skill. We pay them fair wages as well as owning several houses here in town that they and their families can live in as part of their compensation package," Anwen explained.

"All Squibs then?"

"Yes, but we don't use that word. By classifying them as something other than people, there have been those who felt justified in treating them as having no worth. That's far from the truth, so I just refer to them as people coming from magical families. We also have two part–time tutors on staff, mostly to help with your studies and to keep the children abreast of the history of Great Britain, and I have an Au Pair that assists in the afternoon when all the children are home from school. She's a very sweet girl that just graduated from Beauxbatons and is hoping to enter the Akademie der Magischer Astronomie in Berlin next fall. Oh, and Kreacher still lives at Grimmauld, and is officially in charge of the household there, but we haven't resided in the house in nearly a decade. We never freed him because we didn't think he'd be able to survive if we did, but in all honestly, we don't think of him as property and he has no work to do there, since the house remains unoccupied. Sirius goes by a few times a week to check on him, make sure he's no further around the twist. He took Walburga's death hard."

"I can't remember..." the young woman said as she half–closed her eyes. "When did Mrs. Black die?"

"She lived about a year and a half after the battle, but her body was always weak from the poisoning. Her son's death hit her very hard. We all thought that Reg was recovering well, and then one night...his organs just started to fail. The cascade of failures was quick, and he was gone before dawn. Mum's heart and spirit never did recover. She saw the first two of her grandchildren born, but no more. I was always happy though, that Sirius had reconciled with her before she'd passed. Louise Malfoy sort of adopted us after that, and she acted as the children's surrogate grandmother until she passed about two years ago."

Ginny looked at her friend and smiled, thinking she was still leading an extraordinary life, even if it wasn't the one that she expected. The young witch searched through her memories, "Sirius is a professor? I bet all the girls make eyes at him!"

"Yes, and yes; but he only has eyes for me," she quietly confirmed. "He's got his Masters in Charms, Hexes, Curses and Counter–Curses from Le centre pour la recherche haute et avancée et l'expérimentation magique. Or, CHARMS, when you look at the name when it's spelled out on the wall of the place. Rather imbecilic name if you ask me, but then again, it was named in 1271, long before my time. He's a full time professor at the school now. He also sits on the Wizengamot, and is a sort of silent partner in a chain of shops with James. Thank goodness for that, he isn't much for the minutia of owning a business. He does assist James in new product development."

"The two of you are the picture of domestic bliss," the younger woman teased the older.

"The marriage we have, the life we've built, it's based on hard work, and loving him more every day." Before they had the chance to move to another topic of conversation, there was a gentle knock at the door.

"Come in," Anwen called, and a young man who was the spitting image of the Sirius that Ginny had known in the past, minus the beard and mustache, opened the door. "What is it, sweetheart?" Anwen asked.

"Dumbledore is on the floo, he told me to tell you he knows what day it is, but it's an emergency. He's about to leave for Bosnia again," the boy explained and Anwen ran her hands through her hair and stood.

"I'm so sorry, I need to take this," she explained to Ginny. "Your dad doesn't know that he called, right?" Bastien shook his head no and Anwen looked relieved. "Good, he'd have a fit that I was called on my day off." Bastien came into the room as his mother left.

"I was hoping to talk to you before I had to leave this morning. We're going to floo to Grimmauld and then go to King's Cross from there. I wish Dad would just take us up to school, but he wants us to ride the train," Bastien sighed.

"I always liked the train ride," Ginny said. "Got away with stuff …" she stopped, unsure of where she was going with the thought. "You excited, you've only got a few months left?"

"Yeah, I just wish I knew what I wanted to do when I left Hogwarts."

"You'll figure it out," Ginny assured him, reaching out to take his hand. A bolt shot through her when she touched him, and it made her catch her breath. A slightly uncomfortable silence grew between them, and Ginny could sense that the boy wanted to hear something from her. The problem was, she couldn't quite figure out if she wanted to tell him anything. She could sense she had some developing feelings for him, but she also still had all the positive feelings for the Harry of the past, and her frustrated feelings toward Harry of the present. She didn't want to lead Bastien on, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to burn this bridge either.

"We're all coming home this weekend," he said, "Mum wants to celebrate something, I don't get what she's talking about but Dad said we're doing this to make her happy."

"Yeah, it'll be nice to see everyone," Ginny muttered and the uncomfortable silence continued. "Bastien, will you keep writing me? I like getting your letters." She could remember him writing her during the fall term, and how lovely it was to have someone interested in what she was learning, and really paying attention to what she had to say. She could also remember sitting with a charmed mirror and having the boy help her with her studies after dinner.

"Sure," he said, his eyes bright with excitement when he spoke. "I like writing you too. Glad that I have my own owl now, it wasn't so bad when I had to share one with Draco when we were younger, the only people we ever wrote were Mum and Dad and our grandparents. Now, Draco spends most of his nights writing Elisabeth, so I couldn't always get the owl when I need it. Mum does want me to share with Ethan, still, but he only writes Mum and Dad."

"Draco and Elisabeth are cute together. Do you think that he'll go with her to the Astronomical Academy next year?" Draco and the Black's Au Pair had become a couple last summer. Ginny thought about it, and wouldn't be surprised if they ended up getting married.

"I know that he wants to, and he certainly has the grades for it. Dad says that it's the Black family blood in him."

"Yeah," Ginny quietly replied, thinking about the ceremony that Mrs. Black had done with the crystals and the planets, sun, moon and stars to destroy the Horcrux.

"I uh, I should go make sure that my trunk is ready. Dad's having a hard enough time with Ethan, he kind of expects Draco and me to handle this stuff on our own, since we'll be leaving school in the spring and all. I guess I'll see you on Friday night then, um, yeah…" he stammered out before standing, intending to leave.

"I'll look forward to it. You're going to floo from Professor Lupin's house, right?"

"Yeah, Mum doesn't like us Side-Along Apparating, and Ethan and Evan will be with us. I think Ron and Neville are coming too, so it's best if we floo. Ron tends to splinch himself."

"My brother can be a little scatter-brained. I miss Hogsmeade. Can't get my favorite chocolates here, and Honeydukes is definitely the best. It's enough to make me think about going back to Hogwarts," Ginny said sadly. There were things she did miss about her old school in Scotland, her friends and the confections being the biggest two.

"Well, when you're ready, everyone will be happy to see you. Just think, next fall you get to have Emma and Lilyan there with you. If those two aren't in Gryffindor, I think that they'll explode," Bastien teased his sister and her best friend even though they weren't here to defend themselves. "Look, I need to go, but, um," he paused and looked at her intently, and then leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Bye."

Ginny put her hand up to where his lips had been and smiled. "Bye." Bastien hastily went toward the door, nearly knocking his mother over in the process as she came back into the room.

"Mum," he said, startled. "Are you going to have to go away?"

"Probably, at least for the day, tomorrow. Things are a bit of a mess there. Go on, your father wants to be leaving, just don't mention that I have to travel. I'll tell him when he gets back from taking all of you to London. No sense in him brooding the whole way there and back. Have a good term, and if you need anything, please let us know. Okay, sweetheart?" Bastien stood more than half a foot taller than his mum, but he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"I will Mum, but you take pretty good care of us already. I know, I can always go to Uncle Remus or Aunt Eva, too. I'm going to go get Ethan ready, he can't shrink his trunk down on his own."

"You are a very good boy. I love you sweetheart. Tell your brothers to come and say goodbye too." Bastien nodded and then headed out. "Well, I need to be getting lunch together for the rest of the kids and us. How about if we get your fancy chair out and head over to the kitchen?"

Anwen raised her hand, and a very elegant arm chair floated over. It was done in the palest of pinks, the upholstery soft and fluffy. Ginny could see that there were controls near the end of the left hand arm rest and a place for her wand to lay next to them. "Okay, up you go," Anwen said before she Levitated Ginny into the seat. The woman reached down and straightened out the girl's pant legs and then did another charm over her. Ginny noticed some interesting feelings in her abdomen, and remembered what it was that Anwen had taken care of. "I figured that you'd feel better if I did it before we were around other people." Ginny smiled, realizing she was mothered by Anwen as much as her children were. It was hard to rectify how different her relationship with her friend was, and how much she hadn't changed at all.

"Sorry that you have to do that for me," the girl said quietly.

"Ginny, it's just something that has to be done. Lily and then my grandmother had to do the charms on me too, and then, finally Sirius. At first, it was humiliating to have anyone dealing with my waste, but…when you care about someone, you do what they need. I don't care, and you shouldn't be embarrassed." Ginny let Anwen's words sink in.

"You remember how to control the chair, right?" Anwen asked, changing the subject and summoning the younger woman out of her feelings.

"Yeah, Sirius did an amazing job with it. I remember," Ginny confirmed as she laid her wand on the pedestal and made the chair levitate forward. They left the lounge, entering the large hallway that contained multiple doors, two fireplaces and a grand double staircase. Three boys came charging down the stairs, followed by their father, distracting the two women from making it to the kitchen.

Sirius looked so much like Ginny remembered him that she could swear he hadn't aged at all. His hair was still long, but less unruly than it had been in the past. He also wore it pulled back, giving a much more distinguished air about him. His facial hair was still in place, but again, trimmed and neater. There was the slightest hint of grey at his temples, and only the faintest of shadows marked where the scar from the battle had run from just above his lip and into his hairline. He wasn't dressed all that differently either: jeans and jumper, and boots that still scraped and scuffed when he walked. He smiled warmly at the her.

"Hey red, how are you feeling?" he asked as he knelt down in front of her.

"A little headache still, and like I need to think for a while, but … I'm good."

"I'm glad, honey. Holler if you need me later," he said before he stood and kissed her crown. "Okay gents, we need to be off. Say goodbye to your mum."

Bastien stepped forward and kissed Anwen on her cheek. "Bye Mum, thanks for the Rune guide, it'll help. Love you, promise to write."

"I know, honey. Try to stay out of the cold. I know, you have a Quidditch match in a few weeks, but please, sweetheart, put a decent warming charm on yourself so you don't get the flu again."

"Yes, Mum." Next up was Draco. He stood just a little shorter than Bastien, but was stockier than his brother. There was a softness to the Draco in this life, Ginny observed, compared to the vile, harsh boy who was her constant tormenter in the past. He hugged his mother and whispered something in her ear which made her smile. Anwen lifted her hand and caressed his cheek.

"You can do anything in life that you want. I believe in you."

"Thanks Mum," he whispered, and Ginny appreciated just how different he was, probably because someone really loved him here.

Last was the youngest of the trio. Standing about even with Anwen, Ethan had his mother's soft brown hair, shaggy and unkempt like his father had kept his, and shockingly pale robin egg blue eyes. Anwen kissed his cheek and the boy balked. "Keep up with your studies, and don't let your older cousin goad you into his goofy plans. Stick with Evan and you'll be fine."

"Mum, I'm not going to listen to Harry. I don't want to do detention with Professor McGonagall again. She's scary at school."

"Good, alright you three, get going, and I'll see you on Friday. Love you all."

There were various affirmations of love, and then Sirius kissed her gently before they all flooed away. Anwen led Ginny down to the kitchen, which was at the back of the house, at the end of the hall.

Preparations for lunch were made, and the five youngest Black children all drifted their way into the kitchen by the time their father returned. Mealtime was a happy affair, and Ginny enjoyed how the family bantered and chatted while eating. After lunch, Sirius took Lilyan, John and Edmund into the den to watch a movie, while Jamie went to read. Little Christianna went down for a nap, as did Anwen. Ginny took the opportunity to go to her room to lie down, but it was just before she fell asleep that she found her diary, and proceeded to spend the afternoon reading about her own thoughts and feelings as if they were someone else's. She also found a letter to herself, the one that she'd written just before they returned to the present. Ginny left it closed, remembering some of what it said, and not wanting to be reminded of the rest.

Dinner ended, and the younger children went off with their Au Pair, Elisabeth, to make sure that their lessons were completed before they returned to school in the morning. At ten and nine, Lilyan and the twins were already enrolled in their magical education - the French system utilized a day school for children aged nine to eleven; they began their residency at Beauxbatons when they were twelve, in the equivalent of their second year. Lilyan was aware that she'd repeat some information when she started at Hogwarts next year, but she very much wanted to go to school with her best friend. Edmund was in the public primary school in Portree. Sirius or Anwen would floo to their home there and drive him into town, repeating the process in reverse in the afternoon. It was what they'd done with all of their children, Ginny learned. During the day, the only one at home was Christianna with one of her parents or Elisabeth, while Ginny was with her tutor. She'd start in her Muggle reception class in the fall.

After supper, Ginny sat sipping tea with Anwen and Sirius in the den, as she had several questions that she needed answered. Unfortunately, Anwen had just told Sirius that she would have to travel to Bosnia tomorrow.

"He called you in, today, even knowing what today was?" Sirius fumed. Ginny was able to search her memories and find that he wasn't always happy about how Anwen's boss, Albus Dumbledore, tried to monopolize her time.

"Sirius, it's an emergency," Anwen tried to calm him. "I shouldn't be gone more than the day. Elisabeth is able to stay with Chrissie, so everything is fine. Now, I'm quite certain that Ginny doesn't want to hear us bickering like a pair of birds fighting over the best twig for their nest."

"No, by all means continue," Ginny teased. "There's something very reassuring about hearing you two go at it. Reminds me of old times."

"Yeah, well…" Sirius grumbled before he folded his newspaper and put it down. "I'm gonna go check on the kids."

"You do that," Anwen said with a knowing smile. "Just don't let them break your back. Edmund and John are too big to ride on you together."

"I wasn't going to…" Sirius tried to protest as he made it to the door, but Anwen looked at him over her glasses and he just threw his head back and laughed.

"Yes, you are. I just vacuumed the sofa, so Padfoot had better not climb up there," she yelled as he left the two women alone. "You'd think a man that charms things for a living could come up with one to keep pet hair from sticking to upholstery."

There was silence between them for a minute, and then Ginny took a deep breath and asked the question that had been plaguing her all afternoon. "Why can't I remember the accident?"

Anwen took off her glasses and laid them aside before she ran her fingers through her hair, pulling more out of the messy bun that was holding it up while she cooked and cleaned.

"You never could, something about the trauma…are you sure you want to know about it?"

"I need to, my feelings are…I just need to know."

"Okay, let me go back to the very beginning, because you need to know how you ended up on the bike that day. Sirius loved, loves, his bikes. He wanted so badly to share that with his boys, all the boys. The five of them: Draco, Bastien, Harry, Ron and Neville, they were always with each other, even as toddlers. We mums traded days so that we'd each have one day with all five of them, but then three other days we'd have a few hours of peace and child-free quiet. They were thirteen when he first started teaching them to ride.

"Neville never liked them, and Ron wasn't all that mechanically inclined, so he didn't spend much time learning to care for them. Bastien could take it or leave it, but Harry and Draco took to the bikes - not surprising really, they're both the most reckless of the fliers too. Sirius bought a new bike in eighty-five, but kept his first one, the '67 Triumph Bonneville. A few years ago he found an identical one at a boot sale, horrible condition, but he didn't care. He was working with the boys to restore the pair of them. He gave each of them one for their seventeenth birthdays.

"We keep all the bikes at Fair Garden, the grounds are bigger, and there's a paved road that weaves through it. We had rules, strict rules, about riding around the grounds. They could ride on the property, but they couldn't leave the estate because they don't have licenses and we had our property set with a special charm - if anyone got hurt within the boundaries, a bell rang in the house. It was done so that when the kids were flying, we'd know if they fell off. Anyway, Harry thought he knew best. He brought you over, and took his bike out of the garage. Neither Sirius nor I were home, he was at a meeting with James, I was at St. Mungo's with Edmund and Christianna, having their checkups. The girls were with my parents for the week, and Draco and Bastien were home with their younger brothers. No one knew that the two of you were here, much less that he took you off the property.

"There was a crash about two miles down the road, Harry lost control of the bike, and the two of your plowed into the side of a car." Ginny gasped at the story, still not remembering, but knowing that the information was very familiar.

"Do you want me to keep going?" the older woman asked.

"I need to know, Anwen," Ginny pleaded and Anwen nodded.

"The driver of the car had a mobile phone, and you were taken to the local clinic, and then flown to a regional medical center. We didn't even know that we should be looking for you for hours. You'd severed your spinal cord, broken both your legs and there were several shattered ribs. Harry had some injuries, but none of his were as serious. It seems that you flew from the bike and into a tree. The Muggles kept you alive, but…I'm so sorry that I didn't get to you sooner," Anwen had a tear running down her cheek.

"I know what happened after I woke up in the hospital," Ginny said quietly. "The only thing I remember about that day was telling Harry that we didn't need to go out…I was happy staying at his house and going out to the pond…he didn't listen to me…" Ginny wasn't speaking to Anwen, she was speaking past her, into the air.

"Why did you go then?"

"I couldn't say no to him. He...he just could persuade me to do anything. All he had to do was stare at me with those green eyes and cock his lip up and say my name..." she sighed, halfway between angry and dazzled. Anwen understood how easy it was to be charmed by the boy you were in love with.

"He…" Ginny continued remembering and muttering her face no longer turned up into a faint smile, "he never took responsibility. Told me that if I'd held on tighter..." the young woman began to cry. "How could he think that it was my fault? It isn't what I wanted...how could he think I would have wanted this?" Ginny looked over at Anwen, but she had no answer.

"I know that's what ultimately drove the two of you apart."

"I'm so confused. I love him, but I'm angry at him and he still hasn't ever really apologized for that day," the redhead mumbled before looking at her guardian square in the face. "I don't know what to feel."

"Do you want to be alone for a while?" Anwen asked and Ginny nodded. Anwen gingerly got to her feet. She took the few steps to the girl, put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I'll come check on you in a few minutes."

When she opened the door, a medium–sized barn owl flew in. Anwen immediately recognized it as the bird that she'd given her son for Christmas. Butterbeer, oddly named by his littlest sister, flew into the room and she reached out to take the note from her son, only to have the bird fly past her and land on the arm of Ginny's chair. Anwen raised her eyebrows at the turn of events, but then put them back down.

Ginny took the note, gave the bird a bit of biscuit that she had with her tea, and the bird flew out. The girl was smiling at the note, which Anwen chose to ignore. She slipped out of the den and closed the door, meeting her husband in the hallway.

"Was that Bastien's owl?" Sirius asked.

"It was, and it was carrying a note to Ginny." There was no inflection in Anwen's voice, but Sirius still chose to scowl.

"I don't like it," he grumbled, but Anwen ignored it, instead walking over to the left staircase of the pair that went to the second floor of their house. "You're really going to stay out of this?"

"I am," she confirmed, slowly starting to climb the stairs, her left leg going to the higher tread, her right leg following. Step after slow step she climbed away from the first floor. Sirius took two steps at a time and quickly caught up with his wife, pulling her into his arms and carrying her up the stairs and into their room. Anwen giggled as he did, leaning her head down against his chest. "I might be slow, but I do get myself up on my own."

"I know, but I wanted to be able to do this," he said before he kissed her thoroughly. "You're really, really going to let her toy with both their hearts like that?"

"Sirius," Anwen complained as she wiggled out of his arms and went to sit on the edge of the bed, "she isn't toying with anyone. She hasn't communicated with Harry in six months."

"But they're different now," Sirius retorted, "they both have the memories of being married to each other. Harry told me when he got back, he'd marry her in this timeline too, even if they were in school." Anwen hadn't been lucid when Harry and Ginny had come back to their own time, but she'd seen James, Remus and Sirius' memories of their goodbyes, as well as having memorized the letter Ginny wrote her.

"But neither of them was anticipating not being together here, and that's the case. Sirius, she had every right to be upset at him, especially the way he acted after the accident. She needed time and space to heal, and he wouldn't give it to her. I am not getting involved in their love life, not unless she wants me to be. This isn't news to you, this has been my position since the beginning."

Sirius came to sit down next to her. "But what if…what if she decides to go back with Harry. Our son could get his heart broken." Anwen looked at her husband incredulously.

"You're going to keep our children from getting their hearts broken? Sweetheart, that's part of growing up. We have to fall in love, fall out of love, get our hearts broken…it makes it so much sweeter when we do find love," she said with a gentle kiss, her fingers caressing his face. He made a non-committal noise and looked away. "Sirius, we have eight kids. In a few years, protecting them that way will be a full time job. She's nearly an adult, both Bastien and Harry are. I'm staying out of it, and I hope you do the same."

"But, the Harry and Ginny we were friends with…"

"Don't exist here. Those friends didn't grow up with us, and the people who resemble them are only teens. They have a lot more growing up to do." Anwen said calmly, and Sirius flopped back on the bed, making her bounce. She lay back much more smoothly. "We've talked about this, the boy that James and Lily raised, while a good boy, is not the man we were friends with. Our godson would never be able to handle everything the Harry we helped did."

"Yeah, yeah…" he said, running his hands over his face. "What do you think's gonna happen now?"

"I think they're both going to have to sort some things out, but in the meantime, it would appear that she hasn't done anything to dissuade Bastien's kindness. It should be interesting when they're all here this weekend. She wanted to see Harry, but not have the pressure of having to deal with the relationship mess. That's why I invited the whole family to Fair Garden, and told them that we were celebrating the feast day of St. William of Bourges, the patron saint of Paris." Sirius chuckled at the way his wife had gone searching for something to celebrate, thus facilitating a family weekend at their Scottish homestead.

"I told you three months ago this was going to happen," Anwen quietly said.

"Yeah, yeah, you and Moony and Eva. All of you knew that Harry wasn't going to get Ginny back before they came back in time. Do you ever get tired of being right?"

Anwen got the most mischievous smile on her face before sitting up. "Never. Come on, we've got kids to put to bed."

"Then will you put me to bed?" he whispered in her ear, his lips very close to the place that made her heart race when he kissed behind her ear.

"Always, Mr. Black, always."

"I was glad that Sirius and your dad still had these mirrors," Ginny said softly, not really looking at the image of the young man that she was speaking to. It was late in the night in which they had "returned" to this consciousness. Neither could really sleep, and they'd simultaneously contacted the other.

"From what I understand, my little sister and her best friend use these quite a bit," Harry said quietly back.

"Yeah, they're really close." Another awkward silence followed and Ginny wondered why she'd asked Sirius for the mirror now. Part of her wanted to see Harry, talk with him, see how much of him was the man she'd been married to and how much was the boy that she didn't want to be with anymore, because…her reasoning had seemed valid at the time, but now…she just needed to know the truth.

"Gin, honey, how much do you remember?" Harry finally asked her.

"About what? Our lives as the Parkers or about our dating and the accident last year."

"Both, neither…this is all so messed up," Harry said and raked his hands through his hair, making it a bigger mess than it was.

"Look, Harry, I miss you, but I miss the you that shared the flat with me in London. Unfortunately, I'm not the same person that I was then, and this person that I am now...we're both rather frustrated with the other."

"Ginny, sweetheart, that's not it at all. Everything I said after the accident, I didn't mean to say it. I promise…"

"What, that you'll learn to listen to me? You should have been doing that all along. I told you I didn't want to go out that afternoon, I told you that I didn't want to ride on your bike because I wasn't sure that it was safe. Sirius was saying he still had work to do on it, but you had to prove you knew better," Ginny angrily responded, her face getting hard with her strong emotions. "Then, after the accident you … why couldn't you just tell me you loved me when it was over? Why couldn't you sit there and hold my hand and tell me you loved me? It was all that I wanted to hear, but you just kept making excuses." Ginny had to stop so that she could sob.

"If I could go back Ginny, if I could change how I behaved I would," Harry pleaded. "Please, I miss you so much."

"I miss you too," Ginny confessed quietly, "but you hurt me. You never even took responsibility."

"Tell me what to do, tell me how to fix it, Gin," Harry begged. There was another long pause, both of them had tears streaming down their faces. The emotions flowing between the two of them were strong, but by the looks on their faces, they were jumbled too.

"Write me, Harry," Ginny finally said quietly. "Write me, give me room, help me figure out who you are." Harry faintly smiled at her.

"Every day, Gin. You're in my heart, love. You're still in my heart," he promised her.

"You are too," she finally answered before she hastily tapped on the mirror and his image disappeared.