Bottles Thirty-One, Fourteen, and Twenty-Two

Ginny peeked an eye open, awakening from her nap, towards the windows across the room. The sun was just starting its slow descent towards the horizon; slight bands of yellow, orange and purple tinted clouds slid by lazily. The clear blue water of Little Sound rolled gently, rocking the few boats anchored in the small inlet to and fro, hardly upsetting the slack anchor lines keeping the boats from wandering out to sea on their own.

'I need at least two or three more afternoons like this,' she thought happily. She shifted so she was more laying on her side than on her stomach, and the cushion beneath her moved. She sighed contentedly into her very warm, muscular, green eyed, Harry-shaped cushion.

"Huh? Oh, whatcha doin' Gin?" he asked drowsily.

"Looking out over the sound," she answered, lifting herself up to a sitting position and slipping under his legs. He let his calves settle gently across her thighs. Ginny pulled her t-shirt back down to cover her firm stomach.

"How long did we nap?" Harry's voice was still raspy from sleep, and he shook his hair out as he too sat up. "Didn't think we'd just fall asleep, even after the snogging. I guess this sofa is more comfortable than we thought." Ginny's stomach gurgled causing Harry to shift his eyes to hers, understanding that her very Weasley appetite was going to need attention soon.

"Harry, why don't we walk down the beach to that restaurant we saw on the way here?"

"The one with the deck overlooking the water?" She nodded. "Okay, it was pretty casual so we don't need to change…let's go." He stood from the sofa and held a hand out for Ginny. She quickly grasped his hand, using it to help her pull up from the sofa.

As the couple strolled along the nearly deserted beach the sun sank lower in the sky. The bright yellows and oranges of the sky now melted into more subdued hues of magenta and gold, still with tinges of purple along the lower portions of the clouds. The colors reflected off the azure sea creating a similar but darker version of the sunset across the waters of Little Sound.

A leisurely dinner, enjoyed as the sun finished its journey below the horizon, allowed the couple to unwind. The stress not coming from their first day on Grand Cayman, but from the business of life left behind in England. The troubles of training, both quidditch and Auror, lay forgotten near the remains of dinner, dessert and the last few drops of wine left in an otherwise empty bottle.

With dinner complete Ginny grabbed the bill from Harry's hand, all but daring him to comment. Harry smiled at her, loving the streak of independence within her. After paying the bill Ginny led Harry back along the darkened shore, making sure she received at least one small kiss every hundred yards or so as they walked. Harry, completely relaxed, made sure to honor her desires, not that he held one bit of hesitation where kissing Ginny was concerned. No he never hesitated when it came to kissing her, mostly because after one year, kissing Ginny was still the most enjoyable thing he'd ever done. Sure, they were long past kissing in their relationship, but kissing to Harry was still the sweetest expression of love he'd ever known.

Ginny led him through the break in the dunes and up the stone path to the French doors of the beach house. Once inside she placed a fuller kiss to her husband's lips before saying, "Let's do a few more bottles before bed."

Harry smiled, knowing she was asking more for him than she was for her. Ginny wasted no time in pulling three bottles from the small wooden box. Harry looked over her shoulder at the selections, bottles thirty-one, fourteen and twenty-two now rested on the counter waiting to be viewed.

Bottle Thirty-One

Harry let the contents of bottle thirty-one slide from the bottle into the stone bowl. He stirred the silvery liquid-like substance in the pensieve with his wand's tip. When he was satisfied that the memory was ready for viewing he grasped Ginny's hand and dipped his face into the swirling contents of the bowl.

Harry appeared in the memory with Ginny right beside him.

A large group of familiar friends and family milled about the back yard of the Burrow. Guests wandered from the tables laden with food outside into the large tent, where music was playing loudly, or towards the pond where a campfire crackled happily. The party of the night Harry and Ron made the Cannons was still fresh in both Harry and Ginny's minds.

"Cannons party," Harry offered, certain he was right.

"Yes," Ginny agreed without hesitating.

The scene continued to unfold around them finally centering on a table inside the tent. Percy sat alone, watching Ginny and Harry dancing closely, cradling baby Teddy between them. The song ended and after the last strains of music faded away Harry separated from Ginny and took Teddy with him out to the yard. In the background George could be heard hollering that the fireworks were about to begin. Ginny, grabbing a butterbeer off the bar as she passed, sat down across from her older brother.

"Hello Ginevra," Percy offered his hand.

"Hello Percival," Ginny replied in a falsely deep and pretentious voice, using a formal version of his name never given to him.

Percy chuckled. "You know that's not my name," he said waggling a finger disapprovingly at her. "But I suppose, I had that coming…it's hard to know how to act around everyone."

Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "So stop acting…be yourself," she advised.

"I'm not sure anyone wants to be near the real me."

"Yeah, you do have your work cut out for you. But try to stop being who you think we all expect you to be and just be Percy. Who knows, people might like Percy a lot more than they like Percy Ignatius Weasley assistant to whoever it is you report to."

"George…I report to George. I've been helping at the shop lately. He needs help and Merlin knows I need to, as he says, 'get the corncob out of my arse' so we've been working together on some things." He smiled.

"Good for you Percy, I think it will do you good."

"I hope so too. Things with Penelope are done for good…I ruined it. I've tried to get back in her good graces but she won't have it." He picked at a loose splinter on the picnic table. "She'll never forgive me." Harry walked past on his way to meet Seamus Finnegan. "I doubt he'll forgive me either." Percy nodded in Harry's direction.

"Harry and I…we almost didn't make it. Did you know that?" Ginny said softly, watching Harry talk to a group of school friends.

"I heard rumblings, but…"

"He hid from us, you didn't know? He told us he was going to stay at Grimmauld Place but it was hexed so bad he couldn't get in. He hid up at the school for days until Mum threatened him, made him come here.

"But he'd just conquered Vol…You-Know-Who!" Percy said in surprise.

"Yes, and he felt like he was all alone. See, he wanted to be with family, but his is all dead. And he didn't think he should be with us because he felt guilty about Fred, and I…I said I hated him."

Ginny ran her hand through her hair and sighed before continuing. "He came though, and I hexed him when he arrived, and twice more…Then we had the biggest row, a full-out Weasley tempered, Potter stubborn, knock down, drag out, row that ended in a fight in the kitchen."

Percy nodded paying rapt attention to his younger sister. "I didn't know that."

"After that we talked, and began to forgive each other, but mostly we listened to each other and cut each other a break. He and I went through every day, every memory of the last year. We fought, and cried, got mad and comforted each other…but mostly we learned that we didn't have to agree as long as we understood." Ginny finished her sage advice by taking a sip of her butterbeer.

In the background the first launches of fireworks could be heard and the explosions shook the tent.

"So I should just walk up to him and face him?" Percy asked timidly. "But he's the Boy-Who…"

"Percy…" Ginny cut him off. "Didn't you hear anything we just talked about? Sure to the world he's a famous hero, but to me, and Mum and Dad, and Ron…he's Harry." She stood up and squeezed his arm affectionately. "He's a seventeen year old boy…Talk to him like he's a person and not a bloody hero, you might be surprised to find out that he's a pretty nice bloke."

Percy headed off to the garden and stopped to talk to Harry.

The memory shifted and Percy's voice washed into the memory, added, they assumed, at the time he put the memory in the bottle. "Thank you Ginny, without your advice I never would have seen Harry for the great man he is. Not great for what he's done, but great because he's a man that makes you happy. Congratulations you two. I love you both."

Harry spoke first. "So the wizarding world owes you a debt of gratitude for getting Percy to pull his head out of his…"

"Harry!" Ginny interrupted him. "Yeah, Percy and I talked quite a bit after that night. Not just about people or him, but about everything. The first summer and fall when I was with the Harpies, he learned to score the games just so when he saw me he could talk to me about my job."

"Really?" Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised. "I never would have guessed."

Ginny furrowed her brow in heavy thought. "You know, I think you and Percy may be more alike than any other two people in the family."

"Me…and Percy?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Ginny nodded. "Yes, both of you hide things. Not bad things mind you, but like his knowing how to score a quidditch match, and you hiding your charity work…Sometimes I think there isn't anyone on earth that knows all your secrets, or his."

Harry ran his hand through his hair, and looked down into Ginny's eyes to see if she was having him on. What he saw, was a woman who not only had the measure of himself, but of her most misunderstood brother as well. "I think you're right."

Ginny pulled Harry into a hug. "Next one then?" she offered.

"Sure," Harry agreed. Ginny siphoned Percy's contribution back to its bottle and Harry poured the next memory into the bowl. Reflections of light danced across their faces in a shimmering pattern that matched the small churning waves in the pensieve. They held hands and leaned in together, letting the memory pull them in.

Bottle Fourteen

When the last of the mist faded Harry and Ginny were left standing in front of a plum colored door, set into a cut stone wall, the flagstone stoop was large enough to let them stand comfortably, but wasn't big enough that one could call it a front porch..

A man's voice, muttering from behind them, made them turn. Memory Harry, looking very close to his current age, walked right between them cradling his bloody right hand protectively in his swollen left hand. Harry in the memory, wincing in pain, raised his less battered left hand and knocked on the door softly.

"Who is it?" a cautious female voice answered.

"Harry…Harry Potter," he replied.

"Right, and I'm the Queen of England. Now who are you really?"

"Look, I really am, my hands hurt like hell…George Weasley told me to come see you," Harry said impatiently.

"George sent you?" the door peeked open. Behind the door a wisp of blond hair and blue eyes came into view through the three inch opening. "Well I'll be…" The door opened and an older blond woman invited Harry in.

Live Harry and Ginny followed.

"So this is…" Ginny said her voice trailing off.

"The first time I ever met Meredith," he replied. Ginny nodded her understanding.

"So Mister Potter, why does the most famous wizard in Britain need a discreet healer?"

"Because I'm the most famous wizard in Britain," he winced as he spoke. Meredith was gently prodding the back of his right hand with the tip of her wand. He twitched again when she rotated his wrist.

"That hurt?" she inquired. "What about this," she pressed her thumb into the back of his hand in a few places. He nodded again with a grimace.

"So?"

"Well Mister Potter," she started to answer.

"Please, just Harry, okay?"

"Sure, Harry…You've broken three knuckles, two fingers and at least four metacarpus' in your right hand. And you ruptured three tendons as well." She peered at him suspiciously. She gently took his left hand and began to examine it in the same fashion as the first. He flinched at her touch twice as she pressed at different parts of his left hand. She moved her gaze from his hand to his eyes. "Your left hand has a sprained thumb and wrist, and two broken knuckles."

"I assumed I did something to them, they hurt like hell," Harry said ruefully.

"So, you're supposedly the most powerful wizard in Britain and you used your hands to beat the hell out of someone, instead of using magic?"

"Do you need to know that to heal me?" Harry asked in frustration.

Ginny watching the memory shifted uncomfortably, her face screwed up in consternation. Harry watched her as she reacted to the scene unfolding before them, unsure of what she might or might not say about it.

"Yes," she replied in a matter of fact tone. "Knowing how an injury happened makes it easier for me to diagnose it. And I can do a better job of healing the injury."

"How?" Harry questioned, surprised at the answer.

"Well, if you take a piece of parchment, and crumple it all up. What happens if you just grab a corner of it to open it up?"

"It rips a little."

"Exactly, you have to find out how the paper was crumpled to flatten it back out. Bones are the same way. Whoever it was you pummeled, you did it in anger or hatred. There was passion behind it." Meredith spoke evenly, knowing she was correct.

"So this was after you beat the crap out of Dean?" Ginny asked in a less than happy tone. "He didn't deserve it Harry."

"We've been over this. I wasn't exactly thinking straight that summer. And what he did wasn't right." Harry defended himself.

"That's nothing more than a cop-out Harry, and you know it." Ginny's voice got stronger as they discussed the incident.

"I remember you thanking me for it when he came to apologize after ratting you out to Rita." Harry spat back.

"Let's just finish getting though this without fighting over it," Ginny proposed, not acknowledging the fact that she had indeed done just that.

Meredith in the memory continued on with her conclusions regarding Harry's injuries. "I know it was done with emotion, because if you want to incapacitate someone you go for their gut or their neck. Both are soft tissue areas that don't injure the attacker's hands. Faces, on the other hand, can cause injury to the hand of the assailant. Almost as much damage is done to the hand as is done to the face." She studied Harry's reactions to her accusations.

"It was, he'd done something horrible to my girl…to a friend." Harry replied quietly.

Meredith siphoned the blood from his hands with her wand and began the process of setting the broken bones and healing the fractures. "So you love her, and he did something to hurt her?"

"He did, it wasn't physical, he went to a reporter about…" he didn't finish the sentence.

"The story from the prophet, about…Ginny… her name was Ginny right? So you evened up the score on him?" Meredith pieced the story together.

"She's pretty terrific…well, she's all the way terrific." Harry smiled. "Smart, brave, fun to be with…She's a great person, she didn't deserve to have her personal life splashed across the newspapers."

"So even though you've broken up with her, you still love her." Meredith guessed. When Harry didn't correct her she began to cast the healing spells on his left hand.

"Love and hate, no…never hate. Love and…I don't know the word to use. I do still love her, but right now I'm getting pushed aside."

"I see. Well, you're all fixed up there Harry Potter." She let go of his left hand. "Was it worth it? Beating that poor guy to a pulp, did it make you feel better?"

"So far it has."

"What do you think Ginny would say about it?"

"Not sure. I think she would have hexed him, and it would have been a bad one too. But hitting him, hurting him physically vented the anger better," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You've started down a road here Harry, and it's not necessarily the right road to go down. You need to step back and decide how you want to manage the rest of your life. This time you got away with it. That may not always be the case."

"How do you know I got away with it?"

"Simple, seeing the injuries to your hands, I can only imagine what the poor guy ended up like. I'm guessing severe facial trauma, broken bones, possible eye and dental damage." She sighed heavily. "And, I expect that he'll be scared of you the rest of his life. He'll not say a word about what happened."

Ginny seethed. "She was spot on. Did you know Dean spent nearly a thousand Galleons on dental care?"

"Aw hell Ginny, I've already apologized to him. You know that. And I paid his bills, all of them. So technically I paid for the dental surgery." Harry said shortly.

"I'm sure that makes you feel better," Ginny snipped. "And he still won't come in the same room as you. He even left the Ministry sponsored art show. When you came into the hall he left, even though it was some of his work on display."

"I know that!" Harry responded loudly. "I'm not the one that went to Rita, he was. If he hadn't drug your name through the mud, I never would've gone after him. We went over all this months and months ago! Why are you bringing it up again? He made his choices. If he regrets them now, then so be it. I'm done feeling guilty about it."

"Fine!" Ginny said quickly wanting the conversation to end prior to it turning into a full fledged row.

"Yeah, it is fine!" he challenged her. He breathed out a big sigh and regained his composure before completing his thoughts on the subject. Softly he spoke. "Didn't we hash all this out and make peace with Dean last February? I think you need to remember who stuck up for you, and who trashed your reputation in front of the whole magical world, who held you as you cried...and who you married…" When he finished his small speech he faced the memory, conspicuously making sure he was looking away from Ginny.

In the background, the memory played out with Meredith continuing to talk to Harry. "You didn't answer my question Harry."

"I said she'd hex him."

"I asked what she would think about you attacking her former boyfriend. You didn't answer."

Harry pondered the question, staring at the floor as he mulled over his answer. "Depends on her mood. If she's pissed off she'll be happy I did it. If she feels sorry for him she'll be mad at me for doing it… But, even when she's completely honked off about something, she'll hex, but nothing that will do permanent damage." He looked up. "She'll probably hate me for doing this, something else I've managed to screw up."

"She won't hate you if she loves you." Meredith assured him.

"I'm not sure she still does…I hope so…I hope she'll come back to me when she's ready."

"Then you need to make sure you're a person she wants to come back to. Stop being a vigilante, be the person who does what is right…And stop the drinking," she warned.

"H-H-How did you know?" Harry asked in shock.

"It's in your blood. I could tell when I ran one of my diagnostic spells. I'd say less than twelve hours ago you were drunk," she challenged him. "Tell me I'm wrong."

Harry hung his head. "You're not wrong."

Real Ginny shuffled her feet and turned towards Harry. "So…she tried to set you straight," Ginny commented in a voice that was decidedly softer than was used earlier. "That summer, when we were apart, did you drink as much as she implied?" She touched his elbow. Harry continued to resist her advances and kept staring at the memory.

Ginny swallowed thickly and slid her hand from his elbow to his hand, lacing their fingers together. "Harry, I'm sorry. You did what you thought you had to do, and while I don't care for how it all worked out now, at the time…well, he was wrong, and you defended my honor..."

Harry continued to avoid her gaze, but his resolve wavered when she slid in front of him and tentatively kissed his neck. "I was out of line Harry…I'm sorry"

"You forgot that I lost him as a friend too," he whispered. "If he would've just kept his flapper shut…" Harry gave in and placed his hands on her slim waist. "Dean and I, we'd always been friends…until he went to Rita."

"Harry, I really am sorry I lost it like that." Ginny murmured into his chest, letting him comfort her again as the last bit of the scene played out.

In the memory Harry raised his head before asking the next question. "You're not going to report this, are you?"

"If I went to the Ministry every time I treated suspicious injuries I would never get another patient. Besides, I've treated Fred and," she paused to sigh, "well Fred and George for years. If I reported everything they did, or got into...Merlin, I'd have spent all my time at the ministry filling out reports." She smiled fondly.

"I can only imagine. I know half the stuff in the basement of that shop is restricted or downright illegal," Harry agreed.

"Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me." She shook his hand gently. "Bye Harry. Be careful with your hands for a few days. Flex your fingers often to keep them limber while the tendons heal the rest of the way. Get yourself sorted out, stop getting drunk, make sure when she comes back that you're a person she'll want to be with…And don't take this wrong, but try not to come by again for a while." She grinned at him.

"I'll try. Thanks Meredith."

The room vanished, engulfed in the white fog that signified the memory was changing again. The fog swirled about them, obscuring their feet, arms and legs making the two of them swear they'd been placed in the center of a large white cloud. The misty vapor dissipated, leaving the pair in the carriage house loft.

Harry lay in bed unconscious, Meredith stood at his bedside, her gloved hands tilting his head back and administering a potion to him. He gagged slightly and she reactively stroked his throat to help his stilled body accept the potion.

Ginny walked into the small spare room, Harry's old Cannons practice jersey draped loosely over her slim frame, just under the hem of the oversize shirt a pair of worn cotton sleep shorts peeked out.

"Welcome back." Meredith smiled. Ginny nodded, silently recognizing the greeting for what it truly was, a peace offering of sorts.

Ginny curled up in the other arm chair feeling more at ease now that she was closer. "What curse did they get him with?"

"Sanguis Aconitum, it's a dreadfully potent poisoning curse. It poisons the victim's blood, then as the blood is pumped though the victim's body it poisons their heart, lungs, kidneys and eventually all their organs. Once the organs are infected, those organs will produce poisoned fluids as well, including tears, saliva, any fluid produced by the body." The healer explained.

Ginny blinked at the harsh reality. "How much of him was poisoned, will he recover fully?"

"I'm not sure Ginny, he should, but it depends on several factors…"

"Merlin I was so pale," Harry said, shocked a little by his appearance in this part of Meredith's recollections.

"You were, and so weak." Ginny agreed. In the background the two witches watching over Harry continued to talk about the curse and his condition.

"Meredith, has Harry had to come to you often?" Ginny questioned sleepily, still curled up in the large overstuffed armchair. "I mean, you fixed him up on Valentines Day, but how did he know you?"

"Your brother George is a fairly frequent patient of mine, Lee Jordan too now that he helps at the joke shop as well. But it was George that sent Harry to me last summer." Ginny gave a half nod of acceptance to the vague answer. The older witch then changed the subject a little. "Does he still drink?"

"Who? Harry? We'll have wine with dinner sometimes, butterbeer, he'll drink some if we go out with friends and the others are drinking."

"But he doesn't drink with a…purpose?"

"No." Ginny replied.

"Good. I'm happy that you're here for him. Things between you are good then?"

"Yes, we're engaged now. I love him so much. Sometimes, I think there isn't a way to love him more, and then it happens. Like tonight, I'd take this curse from him if I could."

"I know, that's why I stayed." Meredith gave Ginny a brief smile. "Harry's told me you completed the entire Advanced Healer curriculum at Hogwarts, with four Outstanding N.E.W.T.s and five Exceeds Expectations." The tone of her praise let Ginny know just how impressed she was with the achievement. "But even with all that training, it's still hard when you're so close to the patient." Meredith wiped a damp cloth across Harry's forehead.

"In class we discussed that, but here now, it's so much different. I couldn't think straight and all you really gave me was instructions on how to give the potions. I felt kind of silly," Ginny confessed.

"That's how I know you love him." She turned away from Ginny and studied Harry's breathing patterns using a diagnostic charm. "When I first met him, he talked about you, and I knew right away he loved you. I'm pleased he got himself sorted out, and that the two of you ended up together."

"Will we be together? Will he pull through this?" Ginny asked nervously.

"I don't know, but I can assure you he's fighting it hard. I can tell by his pulse and his elevated adrenaline levels." Meredith's gaze left Harry, focusing back on the redheaded woman beside her. "He's got a lot to fight for…get some sleep Ginny, please."

Ginny laid her head down on the arm of the chair and dozed off.

The scene swirled about them once again and when it cleared Harry and Ginny once again stood by the counter in the beach house. Night had fallen during their time reviewing the past and now the twinkling of the stars outside drew the couple closer to the windows. The clear night sky, a most intoxicating mix of dark blue and black, dusted with thousands of pinpoints of light, stretched out as far as the eye could see.

"So, we've seen Meredith's' now too." Harry said, siphoning the silvery wisp from the pensieve and sliding it back into its small glass home.

"That was another 'first time meeting' memory," Ginny commented thoughtfully. "There's been quite a few of them, haven't there?

"It does seem like it, but maybe it's because when you think about it, we've been apart more than we've been together. Even now, married, we see each other about four days a week on a good week and spend weeks apart at other times, depending on our schedules." Harry reasoned. "Our vacation here will only be a few days."

"Do you think its enough?"

"For now it seems to be. I'm happy, and I think you are…"

"I'm happy," Ginny confirmed. "Maybe this just suits us?"

"I guess it does. We have a lot of time before we decide to settle down." Harry pulled the stopper on the last of the three bottles selected for the night and tipped is glowing contents into the carved stone basin.

"Me first!" Ginny nudged Harry out from his place in front of the bowl, and before he could stop her she lowered her face to the swirling contents and fell into the memory.

Bottle Twenty-Two

Ginny landed with a dull thud in the midst of a knee high snow drift, losing her balance on the sloping ground. The night sky of the memory was all but identical to the clear starry night left behind on Grand Cayman Island. Harry landed next to her and lost his balance when he stepped on Ginny's foot.

"Ouch!" she complained rubbing her now sore foot.

"Sorry, you shouldn't be laying about in memories, you might get stepped on," he kidded her while offering a helping hand to her.

"Prat," she batted his hand away playfully standing up on her own. "Ohhhh," Ginny sighed in wonder as she recognized the setting.

The clear night sky, filled with stars provided the perfect backdrop for the event. Fresh snow sparkled in the moonlight more brilliantly than if the entire area had been dusted with millions of miniature diamonds. Harry and Ginny stood on a raised platform, under a towering willow tree encrusted with layers of glittering icicles, reciting their marriage vows.

Harry's black dress robes fit impeccably, the perfect accompaniment to Ginny's spectacular silk wedding dress. Her bare shouldered dress swept gracefully from her hips, flowing out behind her in a moderately sized train. The small beaded details and cut of the dress complimented the fit young woman's physique. Her delicate veil, held by her Aunt's goblin made tiara, draped softly over her hair ending just above the small of her back. Ginny looked magnificent in every sense of the word.

"Merlin Gin…" Harry sighed. "Absolutely stunning, you, in that dress…" his voice trailed off in absent minded admiration for his wife.

"Yeah," Ginny replied thickly, fully appreciating just how beautifully the wedding turned out. The papers each declared it as a fairytale wedding, and at the time Ginny thought the description was a bit overdone, but seeing it now from a third party vantage point she thought that maybe, just maybe, 'fairytale wedding' didn't quite do it justice.

The couple faced each other; Harry brought his hand up and gently slid the ring onto Ginny's finger. After a few words from Kingsley Shacklebolt the ceremony was completed and the rings glowed brightly before returning to a normal shine. Harry bent his head and kissed his wife for the first time. The kiss deepened, but was never pushed past the lines of decorum. The couple left the altar to the congratulations of their friends and family.

The wedding party separated and began the process of taking the post wedding pictures while the guests filed down the lane towards the reception tents standing proudly behind the ramshackle old Burrow. The memory followed along until it crossed the boundary to the Burrow's wards where the view changed away from the crowd and up the gentle hill. George sat down, with his back against Fred's headstone.

"Hi Gred," he said plainly now watching the wedding guests make their way into the tents. From his inside jacket pocket he slipped out a silver flask. "Cheers bro." He popped the cork and took a large swig.

"Could you see it from up there?" George asked, knowing nobody could answer. "I guess I'm assuming a bit much aren't I, that you're up instead of down…" George rubbed his eyes. "Nah, you're on the up side. If we weren't made to cause trouble, why'd he give us a sense of humor, right?"

Silence.

"So yeah, I'm sure you watched… With Sirius I suppose, right? And Lupin, and o' course Tonks…"

"Our sister really got the last laugh on us didn't she bro…After all the times we took the mickey out of her for saying she was goin' to marry Harry Potter…and she up and does it…" George grinned. "She always was the only one that could beat us."

More silence followed, the only sounds being the soft rustling of snow and ice covered branches creaking in the soft winter breeze.

"You should have been 'ere Freddy…Hey! Get it 'ere', 'ear'…yeah its sad, three years and I'm still making the same old joke." He sighed fondly. "But as we learned, sometimes you stick with the classics…"

George focused on watching as Harry and Ginny apparated away after the pictures were completed. "I bet I know where they're going…Did you see her Fred? Did you see how gorgeous our little sister looked…Bloody beautiful."

"You know, after the chamber, she never let us call her 'princess' again did she. Any time we said it we got punched, or kneed…or hexed once she got a wand…" He gulped a quick shot of fire whiskey from the flask. "One of the worst days of our lives wasn't it…the day she learned her first hex. After that she was down right scary…but not tonight Fred. Wearing that dress, all made up and wearing the jewelry…she really is a princess and she played the part perfectly."

He took another swig. "She just kind of floated down the aisle didn't she? And that smile…Did you see her smile Fred, biggest one ever…Even bigger than the one in Egypt, when we all climbed that giant pyramid. We'd dared her she couldn't make it and not only did she make it, she beat us all to the top, and then raced us all down too. Beat us again. Up until tonight, that had been the biggest, but this topped it."

"Freddy, I don't even have the heart to prank her. It's all set up too. Lee and I worked out the charms and the time delay, and everything. All I have to do is put the charm on their suitcases and any time he touches her knickers they'll hear Mum screaming that she wants grandchildren as quick as possible. If that doesn't put the damper on our favorite hero I don't know what will. Maybe the itching powder…or the shrinking charm…No, better not use that one on him. If we damage Little Harry in any way Ginny'll string us up and use us for hex practice for a month."

George wiped away the lone tear that slipped down his left cheek, taking another sip of whiskey from the now half empty flask.

"She was so effing pretty Fred, wish you were 'ere," he chuckled, "to see it. Little Gin-Gin will always be our princess won't she…I'm gonna start calling her that again…until the hexes hurt too much anyway." George stood up and the memory made its way towards the tent, fading out as they got closer until it was gone.

Present day Harry was now holding Ginny close to his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. He kissed the top of her head to comfort her.

"Why don't you go on to bed Harry, I think I want to be alone for a bit." She sniffed and wiped her nose on his T-shirt.

"Are you sure?" he said gently, frowning slightly at her using his favorite T-shirt as a tissue.

"I…I think maybe," she wiped her tear tracked cheeks on his shirt this time, "I'll try to write a quick note to George," she said with watery eyes.

"I think that's a great idea Gin." He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, let loose of her waist and allowed her to go into the spare room where she could write her brother in private.