A/N: See? Wasn't that quick? No, not really. I'm sorry about that, I really am.
I know the last chapter wasn't that great so here's to hoping this one is better!
Last Time: "As sure as hell I do Ginny," He replied.
The family stared at the two – Harry looking grim and annoyed and Ginny, mortified, hurt and ticked off. Hermione edged away from the two, taking Hugo and Rosie with her.
"Hm, well…er, why don't we go back inside and have a snack?" She motioned for the others to follow. Ginny and Harry remained quiet until everyone left the garden. The door shut and Ginny turned to her husband, running a hand through her fiery mane.
"What's this all about Harry? What's gotten into you? Can't you just act like you still love me?"
"Ginny, I'm an Auror, not an actor,"
"Multitasking is a great occupation!" Ginny retorted.
"Gin, why are you so stubborn? Why do you want to have to act? You're not happy and neither am I! Why can't you accept that?" Harry asked, sitting on a near by bench.
Ginny glared, but her eyes soon filled with tears.
"I'm actually thinking of the kids in this situation! How do you think they'd feel about this?"
"I think they'd take it pretty well. There used to things like this," Harry said firmly.
"Thing's like what Harry?"
"Tragedy, having your life ripped away from you, starting new, growing up, knowing something in your life is missing…"
Ginny cut him off.
"That's you! That's how you lived your life! Not them! YOU!" her voice had risen to a screech, something that only happened when she was very, very, angry.
"If I hadn't grown up this way, I wouldn't be the Boy-Who-Lived! I wouldn't be famous and you wouldn't have given a damn about me Ginerva!"
Ginny looked as if she had been slapped.
"Are you saying that I only married, dated you, and loved you because you were famous?!" She had stood up now, her fists clenched to her sides, shaking.
"Oh, come on Ginny! You would've never been interested in me! If you hadn't pined over me as a child, you would've never had thought about dating me. Admit it Gin, you know I'm right,"
For a minute, Harry was sure that she was going to hex him, or at least hit him. But then she sighed, sitting back down. Her eyes were red and watery as she patted the seat next to her. Harry cautiously sat down. It was quiet, peaceful as they sat next to each other. He carefully put his arm around her, drawing Ginny close to him. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Do you want to call our lawyer, or do you want me to?"
Ginny shrugged, "You, I guess,"
Harry removed his arm from her shoulders and got up.
"I'll call tomorrow," He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry things had to end like this,"
She looked up.
"Me too,"
--
James removed the omnocculars (A/N: Not sure of spelling – those things the trio used in the 4th book for the World Cup?) from his eyes, and shut the bedrooms curtain. He turned to the rest.
"And that makes two down," he spoke quite calmly, especially for one so devastated. Lily wiped her eyes and Albus stared at the ground.
"Well, now what do we do?" Rose asked quietly. Lily looked at her.
"What do you mean 'what do we do?!' We continue on obviously. Wait right there," with that, she got up and left the room in a run. The other four looked at each other in bewilderment.
"What is she doing?" asked Hugo, getting off the floor and beginning to pace. James shrugged. He was used to his sister's odd behavior. Lily returned to the room, the Daily Prophet clutched in her small hands.
"Remember the article I said was going to be in the paper today?" she slapped the offending paper on Rose's bed.
"Yeah! C'mon Lil, read it!" Rose pressed, picking up the newspaper and handing it to her cousin.
"Alright," Lily opened it up and flipped through it until she found the article, which was entitled "A Family Affair: The So-Called Friendship between The Chosen One and his 'Best Friend'" "Here we go," Lily cleared her throat and began to read:
Though the Boy Who Lived may seem to have it all, the one thing he couldn't get is the only thing his best friend Mr. Ronald Weasley, 42, could, Mrs. Hermione Weasley, 42.
"The only thing my dad could get?!?" Hugo shouted angrily, starting to get up.
"Hush, Hugo… let me finish!" Lily said as James pulled him down.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have been married 26 years, likewise for Mr. Potter and his wife, Ginerva Potter, 41. Despite the very log term relationship both Mr. Potter and Mrs. Weasley are in, they seem to want more, and turn to each other to fill that need.
And why shouldn't they? After all they've been through together, why shouldn't they turn to each other?
In their first year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Potter saved Weasley, then Granger, from a terrifying mountain troll.
"Hey! My dad did most of it!" this time it was Rose who interrupted in a burst of outrage.
"OK, do you want to read it yourselves?" asked Lily, hands on hips.
"Not really…"
"Then leave your comments until the end!"
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, as well as the beginning of a reoccurring pattern. In year two at the school, Granger was petrified by the terrible Basilisk the school used to be terrorized by. Trust Potter, then 12, to rush in and learn the secret of the great serpent. After defeating the beast, the school was able to save the petrified muggleborns, including Granger.
James looked as if he wanted to say something, but he caught Lily's eye and remained quiet.
As the years went by, the pairs chemistry heated until at the end of the third year, Potter chose Granger to accompany him on the dangerous task of rescuing former serial killer, Sirius Black, from the school, where he was being held captive until the Dementor's Kiss was performed. The pair obviously made it out safely.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but he chose Aunt Hermione? Umm, I'm pretty sure Uncle Ron had an injured leg, and couldn't go!" stated Albus.
"Yeah, further more, it was my mum that had the time turner thingy!" agreed Hugo, crossing his arm.
"One more interruption and you're reading this yourself!" Lily snapped.
She continued:
A serious love triangle was formed in their fourth year, when international Quidditch star Viktor Krum was thrown into the mix. While it was reported that Potter and Granger were having a steady relationships, articles were also published stating that she was having a fling with the Bulgarian bonbon, Krum. The bond between Granger and Potter won out in the end, when the two worked hard together to help Potter through the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament, which was taking place at the school that year.
James and Albus covered Hugo and Rose's mouths before they could even say anything.
Year Five was still a strong year for the couple. They arranged a special group called Dumbledore's Army (DA) to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts properly. In the end, the group travelled to the Ministry of Magic where they took on a battle against Death Eaters. When Granger was struck down, Potter was filled with a burning hate, and the DA won. Potter visited Granger faithfully everyday while she was in the schools hospital wing.
"That is complete bullshit!" shouted James. A chorus of agreement surrounded the statement.
Lily sighed and put down the paper.
"Aren't you going to keep reading? We promise we won't interrupt again," said Albus.
"I don't want to," Lily replied, "It's basically the same thing on every year. More lies and mutilated truths,"
The children sat in silence for a moment.
"So where does that put us?" asked Hugo, scratching his head.
"It doesn't put us anywhere. It just means that we aren't the only ones who have seen this… this thing between them," Lily said, tugging on her hair, a sign that meant she was seriously thinking. The group waited expectantly. They didn't offer any input. Lily would just veto it anyways. She paced back and forth for a while. Tugging her hair and tapping her chin, which meant she was in a deep thought, so far under, that she was barely conscious. James, Albus, Hugo and Rose started a card game, ignoring their relative's strange state. Any moment she would think of something, and then they would plan. Everyone felt much better when there was a plan on the table. Suddenly:
"OK, I think I've got something,"
The card game was immediately forgotten and all attention was now focused completely on Lily.
"This is the Christmas holidays, right?" Lily started, waiting for the group to nod their heads, "Yeah and tomorrow is Christmas, which means tomorrow morning everyone will be in the same room, giving gifts. Now, once we are all gathered into the living room, there are three things that I need the assigned person to look for. 1. If they sit near each other 2. Which only applies if number one happens: How are they sitting? Are they touching, what do they do when they aren't focusing on the current gift giver and opener? 3. What do they give each other? What does that mean?" Lily paused to breath. "Everyone with me so far?"
Albus raised his hand, "You lost me on number two," there was a murmur of mutual agreement. Lily took a deep breath and re-explained:
"Okay, for two: how are they touching? If there thighs are touching, that could mean one thing, but if they're leaning against each other, it could be something completely different. Do you get that?"
"Yes… but how do you we know when something is bad, or OK?" James queried.
"That's some ones job to research. Before you ask, assignments for this mission will be given at the end of the briefing,"
"Alright, but I still don't understand three, what does what they give each other have to do with anything?" Rose was very confused.
"Three is the same gist as two. Something one of them gives the other could mean something way different than if they gave them something else," Lily answered, "Any more questions before I continue?"
They all shook their heads.
"Excellent. OK, so once that person who was watching those three things gathers the information, they bring that information to Rose's room to be analyzed as much as possible. But there are other things to look out for. James, are the bugging systems still set up for Operation Cheat?" asked Lily.
"Yeah, are you crazy? There's no way I'm taking any of that stuff out until we get to the bottom of things," James replied vehemently.
"Awesome, so everyone will be required to wear a walkie talkie tomorrow and we will all take shifts listening at the receiver throughout the day and the night. Anything heard, seen or glimpsed at all will be immediately sent to the receiver and its person via the walkie talkies. Anyone wanting to take a certain shift will be able to put in a request at the end of the briefing," she stressed the last bit, as Hugo and Albus looked as if they were about to wrestle each other.
"On Boxing Day we will go over the information as a group, and if within all that stuff is what we need, our mission is complete. If not, we go through the holidays retaining any possible information, which will be looked over at the end of the week. If the mission is still not closed, and things are looking desperate, it will carry out into school."
A groan rose at this.
"I'm sorry, but we won't have a choice! But, to make sure that we get all of our homework done, I've devised a schedule so that we will only spend one day a week working on this project. We will use the library for books, and ask any of the teachers who used to be either of their friends -"
"Like Professor Longbottom?" offered Hugo.
"Exactly. If we can, we can also ask for addresses for friends of theirs not at the school. If we think so said person may be valuable, we might be able to arrange a meeting with them during one of our Hogsmeade visits," Lily stopped for breath again. She was getting very excited. She knew this was going to work. She just knew it.
"Wow Lil, you've really thought about this haven't you?" said James, who wouldn't admit it, but he was very impressed at how smart his little sister was. Lily beamed.
"Thank you James," she sat down and pulled out a blank piece of parchment and spare quill out of her sweater, "So, who wants to do what?"
"I want to figure out what different gifts could mean, I'm an expert on those types of things," Rose boasted. Lily laughed and wrote something down in her chicken scratch handwriting. "What else do you want to do people?"
"I will take first and last shift at the receiver, and I also want to do eavesdropping stuff" James claimed with a mischievous grin on his face.
Scratch scratch scratch, Lily wrote that down too. "OK, Hugo, what do you want to do?"
"Um, I was gonna do the three things analyzing one, but I don't want to do it on my own… I know I'll mess it up… I haven't messed anything up this entire vacation, and I know its coming soon!" Hugo exclaimed which earned a laugh from everyone.
"I'll do it with you Hugh!" Albus offered, "If we can't get anything, at least we can creep people out by staring at them!"
"I'll research where people touch, and what it means, then!" Lily finished writing with a big wave of her quill, which sent small droplets of ink flying. "This is going to be epic!"
--
"Harry!" Hermione whisper-shouted into the night. She had just entered the garden, where she was supposed to meet him. "Harry, are you out here?"
"I'm at the bench!" a voice called out. Hm. Harry's voice didn't sound right…
"Harry?" she moved to the bench…
… and almost screamed in surprised. It wasn't Harry, it was Ginny.
"Ginny! What the hell are you doing?!" Hermione cried, backing up a step. Ginny glared.
"I could ask you the same thing bitch!"
"I just came out here to talk to Harry, is that a problem?" Hermione asked coolly.
"Hell yeah it's a problem! It's because of you that we're getting a divorce! We could've made it work, but noooooo! You had to come in again!" Ginny, who was now right in Hermione's face, spat.
"Excuse me? It's my fault that you're an arrogant, slutty bitch, and Harry finally realized he can do better?"
"Ha! I hope you don't mean yourself, you home-wrecking know it all!"
Ginny didn't even see it coming. Her mouth dropped open as her hand flew to her stinging cheek. Her eyes filled up with boiling tears of anger. She gave Hermione one more icy glare, before turning on her heel and storming back into the house. Hermione, who cradled her hand in the other, sat down on the bench. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back tears of frustration. As if having the children on her tail wasn't bad enough, now she had a crazy ex-wife too? It was too much.
"Hermione?" a familiar voice called out. Hermione felt a smile break out on her face. That was Harry.
"Right here," her voice cracked. Harry was at the bench in a second, his arm around her shoulders.
"What's the matter? What happened? All I see is Ginny coming in with a huge red welt across her cheek! Was that from you?" he asked shrewdly. Hermione nodded sheepishly. Harry laughed a hard laugh. He dropped his arm and stood up.
"Is that seriously what you've become? You're just sinking down to her level! I'm divorcing her for exactly that reason! Because she's a catty, bitchy self absorbed person, and I can't stand her!" Harry vented. Hermione waited quietly until he was done. She reached out a hand and placed it on his. She was relieved when he didn't pull away.
"Harry? Harry I'm sorry. But she drives me insane too! And after the article that was printed today, I was just a little on edge-"
"Article?" Harry cut her off, "What article?"
Hermione handed him The Daily Prophet. His face changed very dramatically as he read. His fist shook as he ripped out the offending page and crumpled it up into a small little ball.
"I know," Hermione breathed.
"Well, we're going to have to be extremely careful now," Harry said in a tight voice. He sat down. Hermione scooted closer.
"No more midnight garden talks. No more secret meetings…" Hermione looked at him, a burning desire deep in her chest. She tilted her head up to his slightly.
He looked back at her with the same desire in his eyes, "No, we can't do that…." He leaned forward and closed the gap between their lips. The kiss was passionate, hot and heavy. It was pleasurable and angry at the same time. When they were finished they were both very out of breath. Hermione straightened her shirt and Harry stood.
"Well," he said, still trying to breathe properly.
"Yeah," she said wistfully, standing up close to him.
"We're not off to a very good start,"
Hermione laughed, hugging her lover. He hugged her tightly for a moment before pulling away.
"C'mon, its late,"
"Alright," Hermione moved towards the house, but Harry caught her arm and pulled her into a light and very sweet kiss. Hermione was still breathless.
"Goodnight."
A/N: OK! I was just on a roll for this chapter! I went from writers block and 600 words to ideas and ideas to 3000 words! I really hope I haven't lost you all, I will be updating more now because its summer vacation! And because I'm at my cottage so I can have complete concentration on my fics! Continue to be awesome, reviewers! Love you all! 3
You rock my socks READERS AND REVIWERS!!
~MJ
