After they were bundled up, the four of them went to the edge of the woods with their wands drawn. Ginny's heart was thumping loudly in her chest, but she was otherwise calm. She was a skilled witch with battle experience. Above all, nothing made her feel more secure than being with Harry. They tried to move about noiselessly, but to no avail as their feet crunched the snow beneath them.
"How far in do you think we ought to go?" Hermione asked, her voice barely even a whisper.
"Not too far, unless we find reason." Harry breathed back. The sun was high in the sky but the trees were thick, casting unhelpful shadows. For a long time, they walked on in silence, shedding light periodically to explore more of the forest.
Harry was ahead of them when he stopped short. "Are there magical creatures in these forests?" He asked Ron and Ginny.
"No. This is too close to the muggle village." Ginny told him.
"What is it?" Ron asked, coming closer to Harry to see what had caused a thinly veiled look of panic to cross his features.
"Unicorn blood." Harry showed him. Sure enough, there was a thick, silver liquid that was undoubtedly unicorn blood. It had dried, and had new snow fallen it would've been missed altogether. "I can't say how old it is, but it isn't fresh, at least."
"That's odd. What's a unicorn doing out here?" Hermione questioned.
"What's more, who or what hurt it?" Ginny added with a look of disgust.
"We have a lot of members of the old order coming over tonight. I think maybe we should tell them and come back when we have a bigger search party." Ron suggested.
"I don't want to concern everyone…" Harry said, shaking his head.
"I know you're used to doing everything on your own and I understand why it had to be done that way when we were fighting Voldemort. But things are different now and we can ask for help." Hermione told him, gently.
"But we don't even have a lot to go off of! We have a random person going into the woods, a sound in the barn and this!" Harry said, frustrated, as he gestured to the unicorn blood before them.
"It's enough that I think people would want to know." Ron said. Harry looked at Ginny, a searching look in his eyes.
"What do you think?" He asked her. She was a little startled at the question and took a pondering moment before replying.
"I think it doesn't hurt to tell anyone." She said, quietly.
"Alright. Let's get some firewood and get back to the house," He gave up with a heavy sigh. Ginny tried taking his hand, but after a quick squeeze he let it go and they all trudged along.
Once back at the house, Hermione and Ginny helped Mrs. Weasley add more decorations inside the house for the party taking place that evening.
"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked quietly, as he and Harry strung some lights outside and swept the porch and steps to clear the snow.
"I honestly don't know what to make of it. It's all very confusing and a little subtle...but it makes me very uneasy." Harry admitted.
"Does your scar hurt?" Ron asked him, not taking his eyes off the house.
"No." Harry told him, feverently. "He's dead, Ron. We saw it. He's finished and it won't do us any good to get run around by a dead man when there's something else going on here."
"You're right. I had to ask…" Ron said with a sheepish smile.
"I thought the same thing to be honest." Harry told him, barely moving his lips now. "But it was a moment of panic." He added firmly.
"Right." Ron agreed.
"There's hot tea inside." Ginny said, opening the front door.
"Perfect timing. We've just wrapped up here." Ron said, gratefully, as he went into the kitchen. Harry made to follow him, but Ginny gently pushed his chest.
"Not you. I brought you a cup" She told him, passing along the cup in her hands.
"Thanks, Gin." Harry said, taking it from her and sitting on the porch steps.
"You're being...distant." Ginny said, sitting on the steps next to him.
"I'm sorry… It's just nerve wracking, you know?" Harry told her, putting his arm around her. She shook it off.
"I get that. I get that this is disconcerting, and that you don't want to involve other people after everything that's happened. But Harry, you have to stop with this push and pull thing. You're an Auror. Your job is going to be stressful and at times you're going to worry about how it could potentially affect me. I got it when it was Voldemort, why you had to end it. But you can't keep trying to protect me that way when things get tense." Ginny told him, firmly.
"I just..things aren't settled, you know? There's dark wizards still out there and if you…." Harry swallowed hard before continuing. "If you got hurt because of something that had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me…" His voice trailed off. Ginny cupped his face in her hands.
"Do you want to be with me?" She asked him.
"Yes." He said, resolutely.
"Would you feel truly satisfied doing anything else other than being an Auror?" She asked.
"No.." He admitted.
"You got one free pass, but I want a life with you. More than that, I want a life with you as someone who is doing what makes him happy. I get worried about you in this line of work, too. But we are a unit. When things get stressful, tense, or even dangerous we do our damndest to face it together and let the chips fall where they may. I think it's worth it, do you?" She asked him. Harry half smiled at her, turning his face to kiss the palm of her hand.
"Yes." He answered.
"Good. Let's get inside before we freeze to death." Ginny said, pulling him up. They wrapped their arms around each other and went into the kitchen for lunch.
"Dad made lunch to help mum out." George warned them in whisper as they sat down. The fish was dry, the bread burnt and the veggies over salted, but Arthur looked so proud of himself no one had the heart to tell him. Ron even went for seconds so as not to raise his suspicion.
"Lucky Fleur, having morning sickness and not having to eat." Ron groaned when they were back in the privacy of his bedroom.
"Your dad looked so cute, being happy to help and all. It was a sweet thing you all did for him." Hermione said, patting his knee reassuringly.
"I think I'm going to be sick and Percy wants me to apparate with him in a few minutes." George said regretfully.
"Where are you going?" Ginny piped up.
"To get Amy, or whatever her name was." George waved his hand.
"Audrey. You might want to learn her name before you leave." Hermione suggested.
"Percy would have introduced us" George shrugged.
"You aren't really going to embarrass him, are you?" Hermione asked.
"What kind of siblings would we be if we didn't." Ginny grinned.
"Besides, it's good for him. Percy hasn't loosened up that much since he rejoined the family." George added. "Speak of the devil!" He greeted Percy who just entered the room.
"I don't even want to know what you were plotting." Percy shook his head, disapprovingly. "Are you all set to go?" He asked George.
"Yup. Alright you kids, behave yourselves while I'm gone." George winked at them, and then he and Percy disapparated.
Just then Charlie came into the room.
"If you're looking for George and Percy, they just left." Ron told him.
"No, I know that. Fleur's family is here and mum wants everyone down stairs." Charlie told them.
"The party isn't until another few hours." Ron said, confused as everyone stood to leave.
"They're family now...kind of…Whatever, I'm just the messenger." Charlie shrugged, leading the way downstairs.
Harry saw now that Mrs. Weasley had used an expanding charm for the downstairs of the house to accommodate everyone. He exchanged pleasantries with Fleur's parents when Gabrielle flashed him a dazzling smile.
"'Ello, 'Arry." She breathed, sweetly.
"Er...Hi, Gabrielle...How have you been?" Harry managed, uncomfortably.
"Very good. Much better now that I am on holiday." Gabrielle said, tossing a sheath of her silvery blond hair over her shoulder and batting her eyes at him. Just then, Ginny seemed to take note of what was transpiring as she went to greet the girl.
"Hi, Gabrielle! I hope you're doing well." She said, smiling sweetly as Harry wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Oh...you two are together now?" Gabrielle asked, ignoring Ginny's question. Before either of them could respond, Percy and George had returned with Audrey.
She was a sweet looking girl, with large brown eyes and a dark hair that fell in layers around her heart-shaped face. She dusted the snow from her hair, self-consciously, obviously not expecting the hoard of people watching her upon entering the house.
"Ah, good. Everyone is here!" Percy said, brightly after calling a greeting to the Delacours.
"Everyone, this is Audrey. Audrey, these are my parents, over there is my oldest brother, Bill, his wife, Fleur and her family. Over there is Charlie-you met him over the summer- and my younger brother, Ron, sitting with his girlfriend, Hermione. Next to them would be my little sister, Ginny, and of course, Harry Potter." Percy said, pointing to each person in turn.
"It's very nice to meet you, dear." Mrs. Weasley told her, warmly.
"You have a lovely home." Audrey smiled back.
"Yes, well, come in! Sit with us." Arthur said, conjuring up a few more chairs.
"Now that we have everyone here, I think now is the time for an announcement!" Bill said, going to the tree and producing two gifts. After a moment the chatter died down and everyone was seated comfortably around the fireplace where Bill stood hand in hand with Fleur.
"We have a gift for our parents." He said, as they handed their respective parents beautifully wrapped boxes with large silver bows.
"Right now? Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Bill just nodded, gesturing for her to open it. Mrs. Weasley clasped her hand to her mouth, tears welling in her brown eyes.
"Oh! Eet is vonderful!" Mrs. Delacour cried, hugging her daughter and son-in-law.
"We're all just gripping the edge of our seats here." George said, loudly.
"Yeah, mum, what'd you get?" Ginny called to her mother. Mrs Weasley held out a pink dress fitted for a newborn. It took just a moment for the news to sink in, and then everyone was saying their congratulations and hugging the happy couple.
"That's brilliant!" Charlie said, hugging his grinning brother.
"You lied!" Ginny laughed, hugging Fleur and Bill in turn.
"Isn't it better this way?" Fleur smiled beautifully.
"Ginny, you owe me." George said with a laugh.
"I never do business on Christmas." She winked at him.
First off I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited or followed this story. Your kind words and support is so touching and makes me enthusiastic about continuing it!
Second, someone pointed out to me that Harry and Ginny get married first. I actually researched this quite a bit, and there is nothing conclusive about when any of them get married. I think that people assume it's Harry and Ginny because they have a child first, so I see a lot of fans interpreting it that way. (please correct me if I'm wrong!) But I chose Ron and Hermione first because I felt like it made more sense. They've known each other longer and Hermione is supposed to loosen up as she gets older and I thought this would be a way to demonstrate that. I also don't like the idea of marriage being the destination for a relationship. I personally enjoy drawing it out and letting it develop naturally. I also wanted to show that marriage means different things for different people. I will probably write a one shot or something about the way I imagined Harry and Ginny getting engaged, but in my mind it doesn't happen for some time after Ron and Hermione are married. I hope that all makes sense and I'm sorry if that disappoints anyone!