O O O

AN: Surprised? Well, I got a review that asked when I was going to continue the story and I decided to finally post this chapter. Several chapters have been written but have not been beta'd. So, sorry for any mistakes. Anyone up for the challenge please PM me. I am always on the look out for a good beta!

The Christening

The babies christening was the following weekend. The service would be at Hermione's church, with the party held afterwards at the Burrow.

Harry and Ginny were under strict orders to be on their best behavior. They had not stopped bickering since the incident at the Quidditch pitch.

In actuality, it was all Ginny. Still feeling guilty for hurting her, Harry just stood back and took it.

O O O

He was sitting at the Leaky Cauldron on the evening before the babies christening with the Weasley clan, minus Ginny and Percy of course. They had just witnessed a full Ginny meltdown a few hours before at the Burrow and Harry desperately needed a pint.

He had simply asked if she wanted to go with him to pick up the twins christening gifts in Diagon Alley.

Of course, she used this as an excuse to let him have it. Suddenly she was ranting about not wanting anything to do with him and that she only agreed to be a Godparent with him for the sheer reason that Hermione was her best friend and Ron was her brother. Otherwise, he could just drop dead and die.

"Mate, you really can't let her get into her stride," laughed Fred over his pint.

"Yah mate," said George, "Remember she took lessons from the best. Old Molly is the master, but Gin-Gin is a close second."

Harry just sat and sulked into his drink. He wanted to tell them that he deserved it all. He disappeared from the wizarding world, showed up six years later at her job, then tried to take advantage of an innocent situation in a Quidditch pitch. On top of that she was still dating Chet. So really, he had hit on his mates girlfriend. He had to admit, he was a heel.

"We all agree Harry," said Bill. "You have paid your dues a few times over. She has been harping on you, twenty-four seven, for the past week. Enough is enough."

"Thanks for your support, mates," said Harry as he finished his glass and ordered another. "But maybe if she yells at me for a few days, she'll stop being mad, long enough for me to apologize."

"Not going to happen," said Ron. "Back when we were kids, she once wouldn't speak to me for months just because I teased her when she lost her two front teeth."

Harry just let out a groan and sunk further into his chair. "Why is she being so stubborn? All I want to do is apologize, but every time I try she practically tears my head off."

"She wouldn't be so mad if she didn't care," said Bill. "It's obvious she still fancies you. We just have to convince her to stop screaming at you long enough to remember."

O O O

The next morning, the ceremony at the church went very well. Ginny was all smiles as long as she wasn't forced to be near Harry for too long.

The party was now gathered at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley had set up an amazing brunch and everyone was eager to tuck in.

Ron and Hermione stood at the head table ready to make a toast to the new Godparents of their twin girls. Harry and Ginny had sat together only after a threat of death by Mrs. Weasley.

After Ron and Hermione's toast, Harry and Ginny stood up to make a toast to the twin girls who they would watch over as if they were their own.

Just as Harry was about to speak, a shrill voice was heard from one of the corner tables. "It's about time Ginevra married that Potter boy."

Everyone turned to look at Aunt Muriel, who was now so hard of hearing that she did not catch the many people now trying to shush her.

"Why isn't she wearing my tiara?" she practically screeched. "I told Ginevra years ago that she could borrow it. Though, that Potter boy could have bought her one of her own. I hear he has buckets of gold stashed away at Gringotts."

Finally, someone was able to quiet her down so that Harry could fumble through the speech that Ginny had prepared for him. As soon as he was done, he grabbed his wand and changed his glass of champagne into Fire Whiskey.

After brunch, everyone was socializing and catching up with old friends. This was the first time that Harry had seen any of his former classmates from Hogwarts in six years. He was having a good time reminiscing some of his more memorable Quidditch games.

Out of the corner of his eye, he had spotted Ginny. He couldn't help himself from staring.

"She is hot, isn't she?" said someone from behind him.

Harry absentmindedly nodded his head. He turned around to find Michael Corner, who was also staring at Ginny.

She was wearing an amazing dress that accentuated her figure. She looked positively breathtaking just standing there cooing at the twins.

"Well, Harry I guess we are members of the same club now eh?" chortled Michael.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"We both dated Ginny," he said as if Harry should have remembered. "I even thought we would get married. But it just didn't happen."

"Wait, you only dated at Hogwarts right," asked Harry, now a bit confused.

Michael shook his head. "After the war, she hardly spoke to anyone. She did not even return owls until after she had left for college. That was when we started dating again. We lasted quite a while. Like I said, I even thought we would get married."

Michael suddenly stopped talking and went to get another drink. He did not seem at all happy about how his relationship with Ginny had ended.

Harry found Ron and practically bit his head off. "Why didn't you tell me Corner had proposed to her?"

"Well, you were involved with Rebecca at the time and we all thought you were going to marry her. You never told us that you still fancied Ginny. No one had a bloody clue until you told us your big plan to get her back.

Harry looked seriously at Ron, "I have never stopped caring about your sister."

"Were you not the one who broke it off with her?" he shot back. "How was I supposed to know that you still fancied her, you were going to propose to Rebecca remember."

"Is there anything else I don't know?" asked Harry.

"Well, there was this other wizard, but she obviously didn't have real feelings for him. I think his mother pressured him into it. She wanted their family to be a part of the Weasley celebrity status, the old hag. I'm glad she didn't say yes to him, he was a wimp. Fred and George would have eaten him alive for breakfast."

Harry just sighed and walked away. What had he done? While he was off being selfish and trying to rediscover himself, the woman he loved was being hit on by every man on the planet.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the garden entrance. When Harry went over to investigate he found Ginny wrapped around a very handsome man. His luck seemed to be holding.

Upon closer inspection he realized that the handsome man was none other than Neville Longbottom. He had forgotten that he was returning from South America in time for the christening. It seems two years in the jungle had changed him quite a bit. He was no longer the tall and lanky teenager but a tan robust wizard who looked like he could take on all six Weasley brothers at the same time.

He walked over and greeted Neville with a hug, "It's so good to see you Neville," he said to his old school friend.

"Harry it's great to see you back in the wizarding world. Hermione wrote me and told me you had returned. I am sorry I wasn't here to help you out."

Harry just shrugged, "I just needed to clear my head is all. I'm just happy to be home again."

Neville smiled, understanding exactly what Harry meant. His first trip away had been right after the war. He had traveled to the Congo rainforests of Africa. He had used that time to sort a lot of things out in his life, as well as search for new species of plant life.

"It's wonderful that you're teaching at Hogwarts! It will be great to have you back in the castle. I can't wait to get back to my greenhouses and start teaching again. I hope that Professor Hyacinth kept them in good order while I was on sabbatical. We have about twenty crates of materials that we brought back and I would really like to unpack them right away."

As soon as he said the word 'we' everyone noticed for the first time that Neville had not arrived alone. All eyes were now upon his beautiful companion.

"Oh, where are my manners," he said when he noticed everyone staring. He took the hand of the lovely brunette next to him then motioned to the group surrounding them, "Gabrielle I would like you to meet my friends from Hogwarts."

The women smiled politely, "Hello, it's so nice to finally meet you all," she said in a definite American accent. "Nev, has told me so many fantastic stories that I feel like I know you all already."

Neville smiled widely at his friends reactions. He was sure some of them were hoping that he left out certain details of their more daring escapades. "Everyone, I would like you to meet Gabrielle, fellow botanist, rainforest conservationist, and my wife."

The group of friends stood gaping for a moment. Suddenly the girls erupted in squeals of delight and started hugging both Neville and Gabrielle.

They guys, did what guys do. They covertly sized up how gorgeous Gabrielle was and patted Neville on the back, as if to say 'job well done!'

"Congratulations, Nev," they all chimed.

The couple beamed, it was obvious that they were deliriously in love. Neville had to go halfway around the world and into a remote rainforest, but he had found the love of his life.

Gabrielle was from originally from Salem, Massachusetts, and had been on the same wizarding expedition in the Amazon rainforest. They were charming the rainforests so that they could no longer be destroyed by the Muggle world. Large machinery would suddenly stop working and fires would extinguish themselves before they could do any real damage. It was a worthy cause that was saving millions species and rainforest acreage.

They had met in the tree tops, each hooked into the canopy rigging. Her line had gotten stuck between trees and she had dropped her wand. Neville had heard her calls for help and propelled in to rescue her. Since the moment they had met they were inseparable.

They were married a year later in a small South American wizarding village. The fact that Neville wanted to move back to England and continue teaching at Hogwarts had not fazed her. She wanted to be with him and start a family and they couldn't be happier.

Harry looked at them, trying hard to hide his jealousy. Neville was happily married. If he had been a little smarter, that could have been him. This could have possibly been a christening party for his and Ginny's child.

These thoughts only further depressed him. He promised Neville to catch back up with him later and walked toward the barn. He needed to get away for a few minutes, being near Ginny was getting to be almost unbearable.

Luna caught up with Harry a few minutes later. "Why are you hiding?" she asked.

"I'm not hiding," he tried to protest. Luna looked at him again. "Alright, I'm hiding," he admitted. "I am just mad at myself for being such a prat for so long."

Luna looked at him confused.

"You know, the whole, going into hiding in the Muggle world, thing."

"Oh, that," she said as she sat down on the hay bail next to him. "I will have to admit Harry, we all missed you terribly. You were our hero and you deserted us."

Harry swallowed hard, leave it to Luna to get straight to the point.

"I think Ginny took it the hardest," she continued, as if what she had said should not have bothered him. "She was really depressed for a long time. She was deeply in love with you and you left without a word. I think she is just trying to hurt you like you had hurt her all those years ago." Luna stopped and looked at Harry, as if to make sure he understood. "I bet, if you show her how much you still love her, she will remember how much she still loves you."

"I have," tried Harry, but she interrupted him.

"From what I hear, you have been doing a lot of dating. How does that show her that you still love her?"

Harry was getting frustrated, whose advice should he take? "So you're saying I should beg."

"No, but earning her trust back would be a start. Her heart does not belong to Chet, it belongs to you Harry. It always has and always will. You two are soul mates."

Harry reached over and hugged Luna tightly, "Thanks Luna, you are a true friend. I think what you said doesn't just apply to Ginny. I guess I just expected everyone to treat me like they did before I left.

"We are all so different now, Harry. Every one of us was affected by the war, differently than you of course, but still affected."

Luna got up and held her hand out for Harry to come with her. "Let's go and join our friends. We all need each other Harry, even if there is not a war going on."

AN: Next chapter is finished, just reading it for the hundredth time to catch any mistakes. Anyone willing to help out, please apply!