In the midst of the silence surrounding the burrow, a small squeak of bedsprings could easily be heard, as an occupant from the room on the top level of the house sat up suddenly. With a sheen of sweat covering his body, and his heart jumping in terror, Harry Potter climbed out of his bed. Searching for a clean t-shirt on the floor in the dark, Harry stubbed his toe on his best mate's bed, and groaned.
Ron stopped snoring and Harry froze. It would not do to be caught looking as he did in the middle of the night. Ron would tell Hermione about his obvious nightmare, and she would force him into one of her 'self-help' sessions. Five seconds later Ron rolled over spastically, and with his face pressed firmly into his pillows, continued snoring.
Grabbing his wand, Harry edged open the door, and tiptoed down the stairs.
Ginny who was lying in her bed, fully awake, and unable to sleep heard the tell-tale signs of someone walking down the stairs. Not feeling in the mood for confrontation with her family, she stayed anchored on her bed, listening to Hermione's soft breathing. However, the loud squeak of the third and sixth stair respectively below her room signified the shuffling footsteps did not belong to her brothers who always skipped them so as not to wake her parents, when they snuck out at night.
Grabbing her wand Ginny stood up and silently followed the person downstairs.
Stepping out into the Weasley's backyard, Harry gulped in breaths of fresh air. The weight of grief was settling into his heart as it had constantly in the past 3 days. Walking towards the moon, Harry attempted to sooth himself. Failing to do so, he settled on the grass instead, looking into the sky at the twinkling stars.
He smelt her flowery scent before he heard her soft footsteps. When Ginny sat down beside him, he took her hand in his, and glanced contentedly back towards the sky. As the couple remained in silence watching the shining stars, the first hint of relief washed over Harry. In that moment, he could see a future for himself. Whilst he envisioned a painful recovery of the Wizarding world, he imagined a recovery none the less. Now that Tom Marvolo Riddle, Voldemort, he-who-must-not-be-named and the dark Lord, were eradicated from the world, hope had begun to settle in amongst the peace.
Turning to look at the redhead beside him, Harry saw their future, their possibilities, and for the first time since the battle, and possibly since Voldemorts return 3 years earlier, Harry felt truly happy.
Ginny glanced at Harry's face, and breaking into a huge grin whispered with elation "we won" signifying she was thinking of the battle as well.
In no time at all, their lips were crashing together in a heated kiss. Lying down on the grass, Ginny pulled Harry on top of her without changing their pace. The warmth of their breath and the pressure of their hands only increased the ferocity of the embrace. Harry wrenched his mouth from Ginny's to breathe, before trailing kisses down her jaw, and across her collarbone. Ginny entwined her fingers in Harry's hair, ruffling the soft mop she had missed so much. Her smell was intoxicatingly strong as Harry pulled his mouth back to hers, his arms bracing his body, whilst encircling her head. In the moment of passion, Ginny's lips found the hollow behind Harry's ear, and kissed it tenderly. Then, alternating between nibbling his ears and sucking gently, her hands ran softly up and down his chest.
Suddenly the scampering of feet interrupted them. Breaking apart quickly, the couple looked around warily, and pulled out their wands. After a tense minute of silence, a high pitched squeal was heard as two garden gnomes ducked past them, and ran behind a tree.
Harry and Ginny relaxed, sitting back down on the grass, side by side, laughing softly. "Now I know why mum hates them" Ginny whispered. "They're so annoying."
Harry placed his arm behind her back and leaned backwards, stretching out a little. "Mmm, I agree."
As the couple watched the sky lighten, the grief struck them again. They both knew that they couldn't stay careless for long, however nice it had been. They both had responsibilities that were required of them throughout the day. Ginny haven taken on the task of mothering her family, whilst Harry had people to see, speak to, and aid on a broader spectrum.
With a large sigh, Harry stood up and offered a hand to Ginny. Pulling her up, he entwined their fingers, and led her back to the house.
"What are you going to do today miss Weasley?" Harry asked her playfully.
Glancing up to the heavens, Ginny announced her day's desire. "I need to go visit Andromeda and Teddy, I feel bad that I haven't yet."
Harry glanced over at her quizzically, remembering her close sisterly relationship with Tonks, and wondering how she was handling that loss, on top of her feelings for Fred. "I will come with you if you want?" Harry offered, "I'm Teddy's godfather, and I still haven't met him"
Nodding, Ginny smiled coyly at her one positive memory of her Aunt Muriel's house.
Molly and Ginny were sitting in the parlor of 'great aunt Muriel's' home, going over spell books in an attempt to keep Ginny up to date on her coursework. Whilst Fred, George and Arthur were sharing business information on Wesley's Wizard Wheezes mail order. Ginny thought her aunt was napping, but wasn't quite sure (nor did she care) when there was a knock at the door.
Running into the entrance hall with her mother worrying that Bill was traveling outside his wards again, Ginny wondered if it could be something more sinister waiting at the door. But then again, since when did death eaters knock?
Her father pushed through her brothers and mother, on the way to the door. With his wand out he asked a few quiet questions through the doorway, before pulling it open to reveal a small family of 3 smiling happily back at them.
Ginny had squealed as she ran towards Tonks and the baby bundled in her arms, when she saw them. Inside the knitted woolen blanket, was a baby with blue hair, a button nose and very red lips, pursed tightly. As his eyes popped open they revealed very familiar brown eyes.
Tonks, noticed her gasp, and smiled. "Yes, he is starting to mimic features he sees on other people, my mother said I was doing the same at 4 days old as well. Apparently I liked the big fluffy 'Black family' hair which almost swamped my whole body" Tonks explained.
Ginny laughed and cooed at the baby as their party moved back towards the parlor. Ginny played with the tiny baby whilst the adults discussed the war. It was the one moment when she allowed herself to stop being curious, and concentrate on something so hopeful. Looking at the happy baby, who was making bubbles with his lips, provided Ginny with the hope that the side of the light would win. How could they not with all the innocent happiness they held.
"…ginny, privately?" Tonks enquired, as her name pulled her back into the adult conversation.
"Huh" she had replied not so eloquently. Her brothers had laughed at her expression as they left the room.
"Where are they going?" Ginny asked her parents, with her eyebrows raised.
However Remus was the one to answer. "They are giving us some privacy Ginny. Tonks and I want to talk to you about something."
Her parents smiled at her as they followed her brothers out of the room. Then Ginny returned her attention back to her friends.
"Yes..?" Ginny hedged, unsure of what was happening.
Tonks began, "Ginny, since we met 2 and a half years ago, you have been like a little sister to me."
Ginny interrupted with a smile and a quick, "yes I feel the same way Tonks, you know that."
Continuing, Tonks stated all of their best memories before asking a question. "Ginny, we want you to be Teddy's godmother. Would you do us the honor of accepting?"
Ginny felt like she stared at them with her mouth open for hours, and was barely listening as Remus discussed all their reasons for choosing her. Tuning in as he smiled at her, she managed to catch his last lines, "and with Harry, as god father, we obviously wanted to choose someone we know will definitely make it out of the war alive. Harry's future at the moment seems a little unpredictable. Bill tells me he is planning something with goblins. That's never a good sign."
"Harry's godfather?" Ginny asked flabbergasted.
"Yes" was Tonks' simple answer, as she sent a covert wink Ginny's way.
Looking down at the tiny baby, now falling asleep in his blankets Ginny knew that the trust being placed upon her by her friends was extremely heavy. And that with or without Harry's support she would accept wholeheartedly.
Wow, so I'm impressed that I updated so quickly, and I am actually happy with this chapter, which is a lot more Harry/Ginny central after the last chap.
So coming up in the future is: harry meets teddy, then the funerals, and then the memorial service. Then we can get to the other stuff such as relationship drama, family drama and rebuilding the Wizarding world. All I know is that Harry played an integral part in 'reshaping the Wizarding world' …. so don't hate me if I do it differently than expected.
Anyhoo, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, if you did – let me know via a review…. If you didn't, constructive criticism is always welcome
Tell me what parts of the story you are excited to hear and I'll work extra hard on them….. and I might be persuaded to read and review one of your own stories …
