Ginny hadn't had a moment alone with Harry in at least a week, and she was anything but happy about it. Working at George's shop was taking up a lot of her time, and by the time she made it back to the Burrow, she was too exhausted to do anything but drag herself upstairs and sleep. Some days she didn't even eat dinner because she just couldn't stay awake long enough. But not spending time with Harry was starting to affect her sleep, again, too. The past two nights she'd been startled awake, tingling with electricity and had been unable to get back to sleep. After she'd managed to knock over two whole displays as a result of her extreme exhaustion, Angelina had sent her home with the promise that she'd call Katie for help and close up early tonight. Ginny tried not to show how glad she was to have a day off.
Things had been going well at the store, and George had stopped by for the first time yesterday. He'd only stayed for a couple minutes, but already Ginny had noticed a change in him. The day they opened, there was a long line of wizards and witches waiting to get inside. They'd been just as busy every day this week. Seeing the shop full of excited people was exactly what George had needed. He was supposed to stop by again early next week, and she hoped he'd stay a little longer then.
Ginny had learned a few very important things in the brief time she'd been working at the shop. Firstly, she was rubbish at the till. It wasn't that she couldn't manage the money, she just always forgot which buttons to push and ended up having to redo the whole transaction. Secondly, she was really great at customer service. It was something about the way she phrased her sales pitches. She could get almost anyone to buy almost anything. She and Angelina had agreed to let Ginny do the selling and let Angelina run the till. The had a fairly well-oiled machine, already.
Ginny tumbled out of the fireplace at the Burrow and landed flat on her back. She groaned as she rolled over and started to push herself up.
"Harry, dear, is that you? I thought I heard the floo." She heard her mum calling from the kitchen and heard her steps approaching the living room. Molly pushed open the door to see Ginny picking herself up off the carpet. "Oh! Ginny! I hadn't expected you home so early. Is everything all right? Nothing's happened, has it?"
Ginny yawned, "No, Mum, everything's fine. I'm just exhausted. Angelina sent me home after I knocked over a whole case of Decoy Detonators. It'll take hours to get that sorted, so she's calling in Katie for help, then closing up early. Why were you calling for Harry? Has he gone somewhere?"
"He's gone to speak with the Minister about something, but he wouldn't say exactly what. Kingsley called this morning in response to an owl Harry had sent and gave him access to his personal fire in his office. Harry didn't want to be seen in public just yet, but he needed to see the minister, apparently. I'm not fully sure what's going on, but I was expecting him home soon. I'm sure he's in good care, seeing as he's with the minister himself, but I don't like sending any of you out on your own, not with all the Death Eaters still mucking about. It's bad enough you gallivanting off to the shop every day, but it can't be helped."
Ginny closed her eyes to focus on the warmth in her core. She and Harry were miles away, but she could feel his life burning as strong as ever, and she got a faint sense of excitement that definitely didn't belong to her. She also got a sense of longing for home, but she couldn't tell who that feeling came from. It could be her as much as Harry. Blearily she opened her eyes and met her mum's concerned gaze. Ginny yawned again.
"He's fine, mum. He's probably just enjoying seeing an old friend. And you know how chatty Kingsley can be when he's not in a public setting. I think they'll be home soon, anyway. I can tell. Anyway, I'm going to bed, now. Wake me up for dinner, please."
With that, Ginny climbed the steps to her room, leaving a very confused, but thoughtful, Molly Weasley behind. Molly was fairly certain Ginny didn't know this, but when she'd closed her eyes, she'd seemed to sink into herself and away. It was almost trance-like. And then she'd come back with the strange knowledge that Harry would be returning soon. Had her daughter known what Harry was thinking?
Mind reading, even across distances, wasn't unheard of, but it was extremely rare. The last time she'd heard of something like this was when she was visiting her Aunt Muriel as a child. Muriel had always enjoyed telling Druidic stories, especially soul bonding stories. In those legends, witches and wizards who were bound to each other by life, blood, or vow would sometimes develop the ability to sense the connection. Once they became aware of it, the bond would grow between them until they could sense each other, even at some distance. Molly had never heard of it in someone as young as Ginny, however, and she knew of no vow, blood bond, or life bond that connected Harry to Ginny. They were affectionate, yes, possibly even in love, but they weren't bound in the traditional Druidic sense of the word, so far as she knew. Perhaps Ginny's closed eyes had merely been a reaction to her extreme exhaustion and her declaration about Harry a mere hopeful statement. That must be it.
Involuntarily, her mind went back to the day of the battle, to her daughter's anguished cry. She had been aware of Harry and Ginny's relationship, of course, but she had thought it little more than a crush or a fling. Then he had died and Ginny had cried out with the anguish of a woman who has lost her soul mate, lost her will to live. And then she'd tried to take on Bellatrix Lestrange, a death wish for a young girl like Ginny, talented though she was. It was as if she'd wanted to die rather than live without Harry Potter. Some would have said she fought with determination, but Molly had seen that her daughter was fighting with resignation, instead. The pain on Ginny's face when Molly stepped in and saved her broke her heart. The hurt in Ginny's eyes wasn't because she feared for her mother's life, it was because she knew her last chance for honorable death had been taken from her.
That's when Harry came back. Ginny's face turned from grim to ecstatic. While the rest of the room looked on in fear, Ginny seemed to know that everything would be all right. She had pressed a hand to her stomach, much in the way an expectant mother does, to remind herself of the life inside her. For a second, Molly allowed herself to wonder what exactly had transpired between her surrogate son and her only daughter. But Harry had been away long, and if Ginny was carrying his child, Molly would have known. She reasoned that Ginny's gesture must simply have been one of deep relief, and to calm the butterflies inside, not to safeguard a life. She had forgotten about that gesture until today.
Again, today, Ginny had pressed a hand to her stomach when thinking about Harry Potter. It was as if she was carrying Harry's life in her womb, rather than a child's. Was she feeling for the warmth of his life? Was she searching for the bond between them? Had her daughter truly been bonded to the Savior of the Wizarding World?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the fireplace coming to life, again. She turned to see Harry Potter stumbling through the grate, trying to maintain his footing and keep from falling on the floor. He righted himself and dusted off, a confused expression appearing on his face.
"Harry, dear, how was your meeting?"
He turned suddenly and glanced at Molly with a startled expression. His face relaxed when he saw who it was.
"It was good. It was a bit exciting getting to see an old friend. Sorry I'm so late, but you know how chatty Kingsley can be when he's not in a public setting."
Harry turned back to dusting off his clothes so he didn't see the look of shock that flashed across Molly's face at hearing him use the exact same words her daughter had used only moments ago. She schooled her expression and calmly replied, "Yes, I know. Arthur used to talk about their conversations together. Did you find out anything interesting?"
"Oh, yeah, I got everything I needed. He also gave me some news about Ron and Hermione you might like to hear. They checked in at the Australian Ministry of Magic after they arrived and asked them to send a message to us. Hermione's made contact with her family and has undone the memory charm. She and Ron are staying at a hotel in the town where her parents live and they're working to dig all the real memories out. She says they have loads of work still to do, but they've at least uncovered some of the most important memories. They aren't ready to come home yet, but she thinks they will be in a couple of weeks. She's not sure how often she'll be able to check in, as apparently, the ministry is quite far from where they're staying, and they're trying not to do too much apparating in areas where they aren't as aware of the surroundings. She has to travel there by bus, and it takes a few hours, so she doesn't know when she'll have the time to stop by, again." Harry thought for a minute, "I think that's everything. Oh! Ron sends his love, of course. But you probably already knew that. Now, if you don't mind, Mrs. Weasley, I'd like to speak with Ginny for a bit before she goes to sleep. I'll see you later."
Harry walked up the stairs and out of sight. Moments later she heard Ginny call a soft "come in", though she didn't hear Harry knock. The soft click of the latch told her that they were together in her room. She let her facial expression drop and sank into the nearest armchair.
She was glad to hear that Ron and Hermione were making progress, but that wasn't what was occupying her mind. Harry had used the same words Ginny had, and he'd somehow known she was here when Molly hadn't told him. He even knew she was upstairs, trying to sleep, but had a sense that she wasn't yet in dreamland. How could this be? She just couldn't figure it out.
Molly stood from her chair and marched up the stairs. She was tired of not having the answers. She stopped at the landing outside Ginny's room, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
Harry and Ginny turned quickly at the sound of her entrance. They weren't kissing, which is what she half expected to see, but from the looks of it, they were in an intimate conversation. Ginny looked at her mum with a confused expression, but Molly turned first to Harry.
"How did you know Ginny was up here? How did you know she wasn't at the shop? She's never home at this time. It's just you, me, and George, most of the time. How did you know?"
Harry looked startled at the questions and looked carefully at Ginny before giving a hesitant answer.
"You told me she was here, didn't you? I don't know how I could know if you didn't."
"I didn't say a word about Ginny, but you knew right where she was, and you even knew she wasn't asleep. You used the same words to describe your meeting with Kingsley as she did, and you came home mere minutes after she told me you'd be home soon. That's not a coincidence, Harry."
Ginny peered at Harry with a mixture of happiness and comprehension on her face. Harry looked back at her with a question in his eyes. Something seemed to pass between them and then Ginny turned to her mum with a confident gaze and gestured to Hermione's empty cot. Molly settled down onto the cot and prepared herself for a long conversation.
Ginny gazed back at her mother for what seemed like an eternity. Just when Molly was beginning to get restless, Ginny took a deep breath and spoke.
"I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to figure it out. I've been careful, and I learned to hide the signs while I was at school, so hiding them at home when you had at least six other people to watch out for seemed almost effortless. Harry, unfortunately, hasn't had the same training. All of a sudden, the moment his connection begins to manifest, you come running up the stairs to talk about it. Mine's been around for years and you never even a raised eyebrow.
I suppose I can't blame you, though. As I said I was rather good at it. But I'll get on to the point. I'm connected to Harry, or rather, I suppose, we're connected to each other. I've known about it for years now. It has nothing to do with our dating or our friendship. I didn't choose it; it just happened, but I'd never undo it. And Harry's connection to me is new, so new that he probably hasn't become fully aware of it, yet. I don't know exactly what to call the connection that I have with him, or that we now seem to share, except to say that it's like a bonding. I can literally feel his life, Mum. Here." She put her hand to her stomach and closed her eyes, seemingly taking great comfort from whatever she felt there. "It started when Harry rescued me from Tom in the Chamber. He brought me back from the brink of death, Mum. That's no small thing. At first it was just a tiny warmth in my gut and a sense of life, though I couldn't tell from who, in the beginning. I was worried that I was still connected to Tom, but it felt too pure, too warm to belong to him. When Harry came to visit that summer, the feeling got stronger, and I noticed that it was particularly powerful when we were close together. I knew, then, that it wasn't Tom I was connected to, it was Harry. It was still scary, Mum. I didn't know what was happening to me. I could sense him, where he was, what he was feeling. I knew that wasn't normal, even for witches, and I started looking for mentions of it in books. What little I could find suggested that it was a bonding of some kind, though it was always very vague and never quite like what I was experiencing. I don't have much in the way of facts. What I do know, is that it takes a significant event to trigger the bonding. Usually it's one person saving the other from death or near-death. And from what I've been able to tell, the bond only works one way. I can feel Harry, but he can't feel me. At least, he couldn't before. I don't know what happened to connect him to me."
Harry's face took on a look of comprehension.
"It was because you saved me. You kept me from moving on," Harry spoke from Ginny's side. He looked a bit confused and nervous, but he gripped Ginny's hand and spoke with confidence. "I've never told anyone this, before, so just…just listen, okay?" He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "When I went into the forest to face Voldemort, I knew I was going to die. I knew he would kill me. And he did. I was on my way to the afterlife when I stopped in this sort of in-between, I guess you'd call it. Dumbledore, or the essence of Dumbledore or something, met me there and told me I had two options: I could either go on to the afterlife, meet my parents, reunite with Sirius and Remus and all the others, or I could come back here to death and destruction, sorrow and heartbreak. And you." He turned to look at Ginny and she met his gaze. Both teens had tears shining in their eyes. "I came back for you, Ginny. You were all I had left to live for. Ron and Hermione had each other. They could survive without me. Your family would have gone on without me. But you were different. I remembered your smile, and the way your hair shines copper in the sun, and how peaceful you looked when I'd come into the common room late and you were asleep by the fire, surrounded by books. I couldn't imagine leaving that behind. I didn't…I didn't want to die having never had the chance to know what life with you could have been like. Merlin, Gin. I think…I think…" he seemed unable to verbalize whatever it was he was thinking, but Molly had a good idea she knew what it was. Based on Ginny's teary smile, and the hand she kept pressed to her abdomen, Ginny understood, too. After a moment, Harry continued. "Well, what I'm trying to say is, you saved me from continuing on into death. You saved my life. Now I'm bound to you just as much as you're bound to me. Though I wish I knew more about it. I've saved a lot of people, and now I'm worried they're all bound to me, too. Though, come to think of it, a lot of people have saved me, too, and I don't feel particularly well connected to them. Why us?" He looked at Molly. "Why Ginny and I?"
"It's an ancient Druidic bonding, one of the deepest sort. Aunt Muriel told me about it many years ago when I was still a child, when I still believed in Druidic powers. As I got older, I began to think it was all hogwash. You know, the sort of old bush magic that doesn't amount to anything more than prize winning pumpkins and a cure for a head cold. But when I was a kid, I loved hearing about it. Druidic customs and rituals pass through the women, and she always hoped I'd grow up to be a priestess, like her. Her great-great-grandmother was a High Priestess and considered very powerful. She was the first Druid of our line. Aunt Muriel was the fifth. I was to be the sixth, but I never followed that path. You, Ginny, are the seventh- the seventh Druid and the seventh child of a Druid, our only girl. When Muriel heard you were a girl, she nearly went spare. Kept talking about destiny and great power. 'Two Sevens in one girl.' Even though I never claimed my Druidic powers, they were still there, and they've passed to you. That's why the bonding took. Only a Druid can be bound by a Druidic Soul Bond. There are other types of Life Bonds that can affect regular witches or wizards, even Muggles, but this bond, the deepest bond of all, can only affect women of our line and the men they are bound to. Harry was able to bond to you only because you were already bound to him. This type of two-way bond has only been recorded once before, and even that record is vague. Most Druidic Soul Bonds are one way and are never reciprocated. They usually result in a close friendship, though sometimes in romantic love. In some cases, the pair moves apart and the bond fades, though it will never go away."
"What happened to the others who had the two-way bond?" Ginny asked.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure. Your Aunt Muriel told me about it, but there wasn't much to tell. Apparently, it was between two women who became as close as twins, but little else is known about them. I can't tell you what to expect. Though, if you don't mind my asking, what have you experienced so far?"
"Well there's always that warmth that tells me Harry is alive, and I can sense his moods when we're near each other. It used to be that we had to be very close, but now I can sense it over greater distances. There's nowhere on the Burrow's property where I can't sense him. The same is true of Grimmauld Place. And I can use it almost like a compass to find him if I don't know where he is. And…well, there's a sort of…tension between us all the time because of our attraction to each other. It's a bit like lightning would be, I expect."
The teens blushed red and Harry kept his eyes on the ground. Molly chuckled to herself over their embarrassment. As if she didn't know what they got up to! She remembered young love, and from the sounds of it, theirs was much stronger than hers could ever have been, as much as she loved Arthur. And it seemed that they were handling it like adults, so she saw no reason to be angry at them.
That wasn't to say that this whole business of the Druidic Soul Bond wasn't troubling to her. Ginny and Harry dating, or even falling in love and getting married, was one matter. To know that Ginny was bound to him, connected to him in almost every way at the tender age of 16 was another matter entirely. She hadn't yet told them the troubling parts about the Soul Bond. Harry's safety could be a matter of life and death for Ginny, too, and Molly didn't know if she could stand to lose them both at once.
It also meant that their love would grow exponentially, and very quickly, and while Molly would be more than happy to see her daughter marry Harry Potter, she had hoped she'd have a few more years before she had to give her baby away. And, besides, marriage was a choice, but this bond was forced on her without her knowledge. Even though Ginny would probably have chosen Harry, anyway, Molly regretted the fact that the power to choose was stripped from her.
She gave a long sigh and looked at the two sitting in front of her. As if on cue, Ginny gave an enormous yawn, prompting Harry to stand from the bed, so she could wiggle down into it. Molly had forgotten how tired Ginny had been. She rose from her seat and patted Ginny on the leg.
"Well, Dear, we can talk about this more, later. Get some rest. I'll be sure to wake you for dinner."
"Thanks, Mum," Ginny mumbled as her eyes grew heavier.
Molly bent down, kissed her on the cheek and smoothed her hair from her face. She gave Harry a bone-crushing hug and told him he was welcome to sit and read in Ginny's room, if he liked. He smiled in relief, and settled onto the cot, pulling a battered Quidditch book from the shelf near the bed. Molly exited the room and pulled the door shut behind her, content to let her daughter and sure-to-be-future-son spend their afternoon in peace.