KEEPSAKE
Post-Seven; Harry returns from Auror training to find Ginny with a one-year-old son that she claims to be theirs.
Disclaimer: All JKR's work.
EIGHT: Dinner Talk
Ginny was still miserable when she went inside after nightfall, more so upon realizing that Harry had left to go meet up with Sarah at some unspecified location.
"It's going to get better," Hermione promised.
Ginny was sitting in the kitchen with Hermione, Ron, and Molly. Liam was upstairs sleeping. She was on her fourth cup of tea, a telling sign of how long she had been here, mulling over her thoughts.
"You can't say that, Hermione," Ginny said dejectedly. "I can only imagine how dinner tomorrow will go."
"Cheer up, Gin," Ron said positively. "You're stubborn and Harry's a git. It's bound to work out."
"Stop doling out advice to your sister," Molly chided her son. "This Sarah, she's nothing to worry about."
"How can you be so sure?" Ginny asked. "She's amazing."
"She's a good girl, but she isn't right for Harry," Molly explained. "Things will blow over soon. You have yet to meet her properly, at any rate."
"I just can't stand fighting with him," Ginny said, not wanting to think about Sarah. "Things would have been better if they weren't so complicated to begin with. I miss our friendship. You should have seen him - he had reached his boiling point."
"Can you blame him though?" Hermione asked gingerly, searching Ginny's face for a reaction.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"From what you've told us, Harry was more understanding than to be expected when you first told him about Liam," Hermione explained, more so to the entire room than just Ginny. "But you know Harry as well as I. The outburst that you expected, the one that you had to see tonight, was inevitable; otherwise you wouldn't have seen it coming. It's very unlike Harry to have taken something as bewildering as the discovery of a son he never knew about with any reaction less than what you witnessed tonight."
"So you're saying I deserved it?" Ginny was eyeing Hermione closely, curiously.
"I'm saying that you shouldn't have expected the conversation upstairs you had with him when he first arrived to be the last, not when it went the way it did. Family is everything for Harry. At the same time," Hermione added brightly, "you know that he'll come around eventually. He just needed an outlet for all the confusion he had been feeling."
"She's right, Ginny," Ron added, almost uselessly. "Harry's not one to blow up, but even when he does, he recovers soon enough."
Molly came to her daughter's side and pulled her close, wrapping one arm around her and using another hand to run her fingers through her hair, just like when she was young. She loved her daughter and she loved Harry as well. To see any discord between the two of them hurt her more than she led on, and yet she knew that she was unable of helping Ginny see what it was that she needed to see. She understood Harry's side of the story, just as well as she understood her daughter's reasoning. Any conclusions that needed to be drawn and any epiphanies that needed to be had would have to be done as such without her aid.
"Harry loves Liam, you know that," Molly said soothingly. "And he cares deeply for you. Only good can come from that."
Ginny said nothing. Her mind filled with an image from tonight at the lake, and she could see the anger etched into Harry's face. Then she thought of her son, flying around on his broomstick, riding as carefree as any child, completely oblivious to the adult troubles that were boiling around him. And finally, she saw only Wyatt, smiling kindly at her as he always did, unwaveringly resolute at her side, and understanding of her even when she didn't deserve it.
More than ever, her heart and mind were entangled, and she had no means of solving it.
That night, Hermione snuck over to Ron's room when everyone was sleeping. Molly didn't permit Hermione sharing a room with Ron even though they were engaged, and Harry hadn't yet returned from his rendezvous with Sarah, so Hermione took advantage of the window of opportunity.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked when he saw Hermione peering in through the door. "I thought would be asleep by now."
"I can't sleep," Hermione admitted, shutting the door quietly behind her. "I've been thinking about Ginny all night. Your sister never cries, and yet I'm almost certain that before I went to my room tonight, she was a little weepy. I can't be sure though; her back was turned."
Ron slid aside in his bed, leaving room for Hermione to rest beside him. "This isn't our issue, Hermione. Whatever it is that's foul between Harry and Ginny needs to be resolved only by them. You know that."
"I know, I know," Hermione said impatiently, situating herself comfortably beside Ron. "I just can't stand the thought of awkwardness between the two of them. They've always got along perfectly, and now-"
"And now, things have changed," Ron reminded her. "There's Liam in the picture now, as well as Wyatt and Sarah. It's funny, you would think that things would have been more complicated between Harry and Ginny back when he was off to kill Voldemort, not afterwards."
Hermione laughed, albeit bittersweetly. "I don't understand why she's letting everything get to her the way she is."
"You know the truth just like I do," Ron said sternly. "Ginny never stopped loving Harry, and Harry never stopped loving Ginny either. Harry told me that much before we came home."
"What about Sarah?"
"Sarah is...Sarah. And whatever Sarah is right now, Harry is still Harry, the same Harry that loved Ginny and the Harry that now has a son with him. We just have to be patient."
"I worry that patience isn't enough," Hermione said softly. "Ginny is happy with Wyatt, and Harry deserves happiness with Sarah. What if the two of them never align?"
Ron heaved a sigh. "Then I suppose we'll have to accept that much."
Hermione groaned. "To think that there was a point when you wanted Harry to stay away from Ginny."
Ron thought for a moment, and then said, "Well, Ginny needs him now."
Hermione didn't reply. She realized that her job wasn't to play matchmaker, but to help Ginny make the best decision she could, even if that meant Wyatt over Harry. She thought of happier things, like freshly mown grass, or new parchment, or her impending wedding to the man that she always loved.
"I love you, Ron," she said.
"Love you, too, 'Mione," Ron replied sleepily.
The next morning, Ginny expected to see Harry downstairs in the kitchen for breakfast. When she didn't see him, she understood that he never came home to begin with. She was feeling better than she had last night, but she knew that she wouldn't feel a full sense of resolve until she would be able to talk to Harry and sort out the different complications they had. The many different complications they had.
When noon struck and Harry still hadn't come home, Ginny felt great dread within her for dinner that night. George had taken Liam for the day with Angelina, so she had time to prepare herself both externally and internally for dinner. Picking out what to wear was immensely difficult, especially when she considered how much it hadn't been an issue ever since her relationship with Wyatt had become serious. She was usually very comfortable looking however she did, and Wyatt never minded.
Settling on a floral dress and a white cardigan, Ginny spent a good part of an hour standing in front of a mirror to finalize her appearance. Ron walked in on her once and left the room chortling, while Hermione dropped by several times to ease her nerves, to no avail. As much as Ginny had always anticipated it, bringing together her former boyfriend with her current boyfriend made her particularly fearful, especially when she wasn't on good terms with one of them.
Finally, around five in the afternoon, Ginny heard the door downstairs open. She rushed out of her room and peered down from the stairs and saw Harry talking to Ron and Hermione. Relieved and frustrated all at once, she stormed down the stairs, causing Ron and Hermione to scatter before she could get there. Harry stood there, unflinching and unfazed, as Ginny descended on him. But before she could say anything smart or just plain angry, she instead came out with,
"You haven't forgotten about dinner, have you?"
He gazed at her curiously, as if he had been expecting something else, as well. Then he said, "No. I haven't.'
"Get ready then," Ginny demanded somewhat aggressively. "We'll be Floo-ing to Wyatt's by six so we can make our seven o'clock reservations."
"Alright," Harry replied passively. As Ginny started going back upstairs, he said, "Ginny-"
She whirled around. "What?"
He shook his head. "Nevermind. Let me get a glass of water and then I'll get ready."
Wyatt had chosen where to eat tonight, a small Italian place in town that he had taken Ginny to on one of their dates. She had no objections seeing as she enjoyed the food, but she did feel a little odd to have taken Harry to a place related to her history with Wyatt. But rather than making a big deal of it, she pictured Hermione telling her to smarten up. And so she did.
The evening had taken a bit of a rocky start when Harry and Ginny first showed up at Wyatt's loft. Harry wasn't incredibly engaging at first (no doubt because of his argument with Ginny) while Ginny tried her best to remain civil although appearing somewhat false. Wyatt, on the other hand, was overwhelmed by fanaticism, although remaining friendly and respectful towards Harry. However, there were instances that Wyatt would address him as Harry Potter, rather than just plain Harry.
Several times over the course of dinner, Ginny found herself looking at Harry when he was making conversation with Wyatt, and then she would shake it off when she realized that Wyatt took notice of her, as well. Wyatt would give her a curious look, and Ginny would reciprocate with an expression worthy of an exclamatory "What are you looking at?" But Wyatt would always smile it off, and Harry was oblivious to it all.
"A professor, eh?" Harry asked of Wyatt. "I have no experience other than the ones at Hogwarts...what is it like?"
"Rewarding," Wyatt said truthfully after taking a bite of his spaghetti. "Because of how I was born, my parents offered me the choice of attending a magical school or a Muggle one. I didn't see how it could be helpful for me to go to the latter, seeing as it would only make me that much more aware of what I was incapable of. So I chose to learn among Muggles, a best of both worlds kind of approach. And after my experience with some memorable professors along with some I wish I could forget, I decided it would be best if I could make as much of a difference as I could in the environment I was raised in."
Harry nodded in contemplation. "Good reasoning. I always loved my professors at Hogwarts. Most of the time." His mind went to Snape.
"Hogwarts has some of the best," Wyatt commented, and Ginny nodded in accordance. "How about you? How did Auror training treat you?"
Ginny put down her fork, intent on listening to Harry's response.
"Well, I loved it," Harry started, playing with his carbonara as he spoke. "And I love being an Auror. I always wanted to be one ever since Hogwarts."
Ginny looked down and away from Harry, wondering if he would somehow bring up her inability to tell him about Liam. The subjects just seemed related.
"It wasn't so much that I was good at Defense Against the Dark Arts," Harry continued, "but it always made sense somehow for me to pursue such a career. It matched my academic interests, as well."
"Don't be silly," Ginny said. She turned to Wyatt. "Harry is one of the best at what he does. Remember what I told you about the D.A.?"
"Ah, yes," Wyatt replied knowingly. "Ginny told me about Dumbledore's Army. Rather remarkable, I think."
Harry's face turned red. "Oh. She told you that? Well...she was very good at it, too. Skilled at Disarming and Stunning, in particular."
Ginny's cheeks flushed with heat and color. She was just glad that the room was dark. If there was any opportunity to go to the bathroom, now seemed like it.
"I'll be back. Going to the loo," she said as she stood up, thankful that the evening was progressing much better than she had anticipated.
As soon as Ginny was out of earshot, Wyatt looked at Harry with a wide grin and said, "I just really can't believe that I'm having dinner with you. I admit, I always believed in you, back when Voldemort was alive. They said that you'd run away, but I had a feeling you were up to something better."
Harry didn't quite know how to respond other than with a quiet, "Thanks."
"Of course, of course," Wyatt said, still continuing. "Ginny always spoke of you with the highest regard. She really respects you, you know."
"Hmm?"
"Oh yeah, she does. Even when we first started dating, she would drop small remarks about how she went to school with you and how you were friends with her brother and how brilliant you were...I never made the connection, though."
"Ah yeah," Harry said, not really knowing how to proceed. "Ginny's...great."
"She really is," Wyatt agreed. "So is Liam. Liam is an amazing little boy. Although, I'm sure you already know that."
"I'm learning," Harry said simply.
"It must have been difficult to have contacted him only through correspondence," Wyatt said, "then to come back and find him much different from what you had read."
It was then that Harry realized Wyatt wasn't aware that he hadn't known. He wanted to correct him, but he refrained and instead, acted like he knew what he was talking about.
"Yeah," Harry said. "But I'm getting to know him better now."
"I hope you know that I'm not trying to replace you," Wyatt suddenly said seriously. "If that was a concern at all."
"Wha - no, of course not. Not a concern." Harry nearly choked on what he was eating. "I never thought that."
"I always knew that it would be kind of a risk to start going out with Ginny," Wyatt admitted. "Especially with you away and inevitably set to return. I admit, I almost envisioned our relationship as one having an expiration date, but as we grew closer, I realized how deeply I cared for both her and Liam...and now that you're here, I'm actually quite relieved to realize that I don't have anything to worry about."
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Wyatt began sheepishly. "I mean, Ginny mentioned that you've got a girlfriend now, right? Sorry if I'm encroaching on a personal subject, but she had said something about it and, well, yes, I'm sorry. I'm not usually a very paranoid person but...I hope you understand."
Harry felt a strong pang of sympathy for Wyatt. He really loved Ginny.
"I do, Wyatt," he said. "And yes, I'm involved with someone else. The two of you are wonderful together."
Wyatt looked immensely relieved. "Thanks, Harry. You're incredible, you are."
Harry didn't know how to respond and thankfully, he didn't have to as soon as Ginny sat back down at the table.
"Interesting conversation here?"
Harry looked to Wyatt, who had resumed his eating, and then back at Ginny, who met his eye. They stared at each other for a brief moment and, after realizing what it was that they were doing, broke apart and resumed the evening, which had already far surpassed either of their expectations.
Back at the Burrow, Ginny was in her room balancing Liam on her lap as she attempted to read him a bedtime story.
"'Once there existed a dragon named Bernard...'" she read as Liam laughed in her lap.
"Dragon! Dragon!" he exclaimed. "I like dragons, Ma-ma!"
"You like dragons, Lee?" Ginny asked playfully. "Like this?"
And with that, Ginny pulled her wand out from her pocket and wordlessly sent sparks shooting into the air with a flick of her wrist. From the flurry of exploding red and purple lights emerged a smoky dragon, snapping its snout at the air around it and performing aerial maneuvers from spirals, backflips, and somersaults.
"Dragons!" exclaimed Liam giddily.
"Dragons indeed," said a voice from the doorway. When Ginny looked up, she found that it was Harry, still dressed in what he wore to dinner that night.
"They're some of his favorite," Ginny explained. "I try to get in a bedtime story at least three times a week, but sometimes he gets too excited and I resort to a few of these instead." She flicked her wand once more, and several spark storms scattered across the room, much to Liam's delight.
"That's some brilliant magic," Harry complimented her.
"Thanks," she said somewhat meekly. She didn't know what else to say.
"Listen, Gin," he said, taking note of how distracted Liam was with the several smoky dragons zooming around the room. "Last night...I didn't mean to-"
But Ginny put up her hand. She didn't want to perpetuate the conversation, especially when it had been exhausted so much. She wanted to put it all to rest.
"Harry, we're good. I understand and you don't need to apologize. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I've got a lot to make up for." She looked down at Liam, who was grasping at the air.
Harry gave a small smile. "I'm going to go to bed...work tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, same." Ginny smiled back.
"Night," he said, turning around and shutting the door behind him.
Ginny sighed and then said, rather excitedly, to Liam, "Alright, Lee, let's go to bed!"
As the last of the smoky dragons rushed past her head and towards the ceiling, she felt the greatest sense of relief wash over her.
AN: I know, not the most exciting of chapters, but it's finally getting Harry and Wyatt talking, as well as setting up the rest of the chapters. This being the eighth chapter, there are four more planned chapters, as well as an epilogue after that, leading to a grand total of thirteen chapters. These next couple of chapters have a lot going on in them, especially this next one with Ron and Hermione's wedding! If there are any concerns about not enough exposure to Sarah's character, or more about Liam and his relationship with his parents, don't worry - all of that is coming up in the next chapters. Thank you all for being so patient with me and continuing to read, and I hope you liked it!
