Running Errands

Dear Ginny,

Well its just a few more days until we can see each other again, and as Ron says I'm 'getting weird' again. I don't know about weird, but I know anxious fits. Do good on you exams, like I need to worry about that.

Thank you for accepting my invitation. I will pick you up at the entrance to the Great Hall at 3:30pm Friday after your exams. We have a few stops to make, and then we'll head home.

I love you, see you soon,

Harry

Harry waited by the entrance to the Great Hall. He was a bit sweaty. It was a byproduct of taking his Potions N.E.W.T and then running all the way to the Great Hall to meet Ginny. Other students said 'Hello' to him or tried to make small talk. Everyone in the school knew he was dating Ginny, and they figured he was there for that. Nobody but a few select teachers knew he was taking his N.E.W.T.'s in secrecy. He was knocked to the floor without warning, and disappeared.

As Ginny tackled him and dragged him under his invisibility cloak, she whispered "Shh, get ready." A few seconds later a large firework went off in the entrance hall. The explosive power shook the castle. The sparkling pattern of the firework morphed into the Ravenclaw coat of arms. Professor McGonagall saw it and collared Irina Kosodovitch, one of the Ravenclaw Prefects, wanting an investigation started before any of the Ravenclaw house members left for vacation. The Ravenclaw house members grumbled and complained, knowing they would be detained past their original departure time, on the last day of the semester.

Ginny pulled Harry from the castle while staying under the cloak. Once outside the school gates she pulled off the cloak and pushed Harry up against a tree. The impact with the tree caused a fairly large amount of snow to fall from the branches above onto their heads. Neither of them noticed as they were already into a ferocious snogging session.

"So, what's the plan?" Ginny asked as she pulled away from their kissing.

"A few stops in Diagon Alley. First Gringotts, then quidditch supplies, more shopping, dinner, then to the Burrow. Harry answered. He was barely able to get the words out before Ginny kissed him hard.

"Amended itinerary," she said. "Hogsmeade Inn, then all that other stuff." She pulled Harry close. Pop!

She side along apparated him into a room at the Hogsmeade Inn. No sooner had they landed when she pulled off his robes and shirt, pushing him towards the bed. He pulled her on top of him and they proceeded to undress each other as rapidly as they could, barely pausing to do the contraceptive spell. They spent the next forty minutes satisfying a very real need to be naked with each other.

They kissed periodically as they caught their breath. They spent the next ten minutes trying to find their clothes that had been scattered across the room in their haste to undress. Once dressed the couple apparated to Gringotts in Diagon Alley.

They were a bit late for Harry's appointment. The guards met them and escorted them down a long marble hallway to Griphook's office and did not leave. A measure that was evidently now standard procedure any time Harry was in the bank.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, the papers are in order. I just need you to sign once my colleague gets here." Griphook croaked. At that point Bill Weasley came in with some new papers and two sets of keys.

"Harry, this set is yours, sign first." Bill said quickly. Harry signed each of several papers as they were handed to him. As he finished Griphook stamped them with the Gringott's seal.

"Good, now Ginny, sign these." Bill passed another smaller stack of papers to his sister.

"What am I signing?" she asked, looking a bit bewildered at Bill and then Harry.

"Acceptance of terms for a joint account with Mr. Harry James Potter, acceptance of key to Potter family vault, acceptance of key to Black family vault, acceptance and authorization to disburse property and funds to, or on behalf of, Mr. Theodore Lupin, a minor child." Griphook stated rapidly. "Please hurry I would like to go home on time."

Harry nodded to her and she signed the documents. "Good, want to go see what's yours?" He smiled. Griphook stamped her documents. Bill gathered them up as the goblin finished them placing them in a folder.

They went down the corridor to a waiting mine car and blasted into the chambers below. Upon reaching the Potter family vault the group alighted from the cart. The guards stayed on either side of Harry.

"Go ahead Ginny." Harry prodded. "It'll work, we already signed the papers. As far as the goblins are concerned you have every right to anything in either of the vaults."

"Brace yourself sis." Bill chuckled knowing what was in store for her. Ginny timidly pushed the key into the slot, the door melted away before her eyes. She looked in awestruck, then turned to Harry, then looked back in the vault.

"Come on." Harry grabbed her hand and led her in. The gold and other items had been neatly stacked to the sides, having just been organized for the accounting of worth. The piles reached to the ceiling and nearly covered the walls completely, in stacks several feet deep.

"How much…" Ginny's voice faltered.

"Well, the goblins could tell us down to the knut, but suffice it to say, more than we'll ever need." Harry smiled hugging her "You have as much right to it as I do. You never have to ask, ever. Use whatever you want, whenever you want, on whoever you want. Understand?"

She nodded to him and kissed him. "It's so much…" she said softly.

"Right, well the Black family vault has about the same amount or more from what I remember." Harry replied.

Ginny looked at Bill, who shook his head and shrugged at her laughing "Jackpot sis, looks like love and money." Harry laughed too.

"It doesn't matter, its just gold." Harry said calmly. This comment caused Griphook to shake his head in disgust.

"I'm serious Gin, the most valuable thing in the world to me is in this vault. And it's not gold." Harry squeezed her gently. She nodded in acknowledgement. "Let's test her key in the other vault so we can get out of here." He finished.

The group arrived at the Black family vault and Ginny inserted her other key. The door melted as she expected. She stepped back as she realized it was actually real, not an illusion. She looked back at Harry, who smiled and looked right back at her.

"The Black family vault does not currently contain the proceeds from the sale of the property located at Twelve Grimmauld Place." Croaked Griphook. "It will be transferred into the vault as soon as this paperwork is filed, increasing liquid assets in the vault by one Knut, per the purchase agreement." Griphook's voice revealed his true disgust at the sale price. According to the goblin it should have sold at more than two hundred thousand Galleons.

She stepped out of the vault and locked it back in silence.

The group returned to ground level. The guards escorted them from the building. Bill said a hasty goodbye, eager to get home to Fleur.

Ginny looked at Harry "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say Harry."

"How 'bout I'm the best boyfriend in the whole world?" He kidded her. "Lets get some dinner, then we're going Christmas shopping, and I forbid you to look at a price tag."

"I'd like to buy Mum some really nice clothes, she never had any. She always used whatever money she had on us kids." Ginny commented.

"I think that's an excellent idea." Harry hugged her and they went off to dinner. Dinner was followed by several hours of shopping at the alley shops. Harry was amused as he watched Ginny shopping. She would look at an item, then the tag and put it back, then look at it again deciding whether it was worth it or not. He could tell she was uncomfortable spending more gold than she'd ever imagined. He thought she could get used to it though. Rather he hoped she would. He didn't care about the gold. Of course he was used to being rich by now. If it would make Ginny happy to spend it on her family then he would be happy for her.

With their marathon shopping spree completed Harry and Ginny apparated to the Burrow. It was approaching eleven and most of the family was asleep already. Only Molly was up waiting for them in the kitchen. "Good evening dears, have a good time?" she asked, while sipping her tea.

"Yes" they answered in unison. "You didn't have to wait up for us." Harry continued.

"You know me; old habits are hard to change." She chuckled looking at her wall clock. Fred's pointer was at 'Deceased', all the others were pointing to 'Home' or 'Safe'. She kissed each of her kids on the forehead and went upstairs to sleep. Harry and Ginny followed suit and headed for bed worn out from tests, and shopping.

Other family members started arriving as Christmas approached. Ron and Hermione arrived. This made Ron happy since now Ginny could now spend lots of time with Hermione planning the wedding. Hermione and Ginny spent hours looking at muggle wedding magazines.

Ron and Harry caught up and went over the remaining Cannon's schedule, planning travel dates. They also talked strategy and dreamed at how the season could end if the team stayed on course.

By Christmas Eve Andromeda and Teddy arrived, so did George and Percy. Molly was in heaven. The Burrow was full. She was cooking food almost constantly. She was in full mother hen mode and enjoying it immensely.

Harry was playing with Teddy on the floor of the study. He was enjoying the time, but wasn't paying full attention to Teddy. He was mostly thinking of Ginny. Somehow he missed her even though she was in the same house. Their visits were usually so brief that they tried to spend as much time together as possible. This visit had morphed into something else. She was busy, he was lonely. He was getting tired of losing Ginny to Hermione.

Ginny was already fast asleep, curled next to Harry with her arm across his chest. His disappointment showed lightly on his face; saddened by the lack of 'activities' the couple engaged in. He lay awake, thinking. At least it was Christmas Eve, tomorrow would be good. 'Christmas Eve.' His mind wandered as he drifted off to sleep.' Christmas already?' he didn't even remember the previous Christmas 'Where was I? I remember being cold, with Hermione, we saw carolers through the windows of houses' his mind flashed vivid pictures of the night 'Godric's Hollow, I was at my parents graves…the snake.' Harry tried to close out the images being burned back into his memory. Nagini entered his dream. That snake, whose yellow-green eyes pierced him, curled around his mind. He saw his father being killed, his mother dying to protect him. He fell into the nightmare unable to resurrect any good dreams for the night.

"PRESENTS! COME ON! PRESENTS!" Everyone in the house heard Ron calling out from his room like he was five years old. Harry smiled weakly shifting his body and stretching. His back hurt some, and his shoulder was stiff, both maladies were residual effects from the wipe out with Viktor. His eyes were tired, his throat was dry and he had fresh scratch marks on his forearms. These maladies were a direct result of the nightmare. "Happy Christmas Ginny." he whispered dead tired from sleeplessness.

She rubbed his neck to sooth him. "Happy Christmas Harry." she echoed back with the same tiredness in her voice. "What was it about this time? I held you as best I could."

"Godric's Hollow, during the hunt. And then I saw him killing them again, over and over and over." He shivered.

Ginny knew what he meant by 'them'. She shook her head sadly. She wondered what it would be like for the only available memory of your parents to be that of them being killed. Thankfully she could never know.

"I know you try to help me, sorry I ruined your sleep." He sighed tiredly.

She could feel his warm breath on her neck as she held him. "I just want them to stop Gin. Why won't they stop?"

"I don't know honey, I don't know." She cooed back trying to calm him. "You and I are here, together. Nothing's changing that." Ginny paused to let him catch his breath. "When you're ready we'll get dressed and head down to the study. You'll feel better with everyone around."

Everyone gathered in the study for the opening of gifts. There was a table covered in heaping plates of rolls, muffins and coffee cake. Pitchers of milk and juices stood at the far end of the table.

Presents were passed and opened. Family members oohed and aahhed over the gifts. Many felt Ginny had spent far too much, but not Harry. He felt she did a commendable job of balancing enough and too much. "Harry, this one's for you." Ginny said passing him a paper wrapped gift.

He tore open the paper to find an old weathered book. It smelled of grease and oil, and a bit like mold as well. Several family members coughed or looked away, their thought being clearly conveyed by their looks and actions. They could have shouted 'With all the money you've spent, and you give Harry this old thing' and been less obvious. Harry ignored them. The cover was torn but the title still remained in thick bold letters. 'Service and Maintenance Manual, 1956-1961 Indian Chief Motorcycles' several pages were dog-eared and most were smudged with dirt or motor oil. It had been well used, but was intact.

"Oh Ginny. Thanks. How did you find one? I've been looking all over the country and haven't found one. It's the best gift ever." He set the book in his lap. He turned her face towards him and kissed her briefly but passionately. More coughing erupted from the family. "Well, since we have everyone's attention we can do yours now, Merry Christmas." He handed Ginny a small blue velvet covered box.

Ginny looked at him trying to discern what the gift was prior to opening it. She gasped as she opened the box and looked at Harry in surprise. She leaned to him and gave him a soft kiss. "They're beautiful, thank you." She showed the family a pair of diamond and emerald earrings. It was by far the most extravagant gift of the day.

Family members played games, chatted and checked out each other's gifts. The day flew by and it was soon getting late. "Andromeda, I put Teddy to bed in the second floor bedroom." He said to the boy's grandmother as he stuck his head into the kitchen. I'm going to bed. Has anyone seen Ginny?"

"With Hermione I think, not sure where." Mrs. Weasley answered. Harry went to the landing and opened the door to the room he and Ginny were sharing.

"What?" Ginny looked up. She and Hermione were obviously in a deep conversation.

"Sorry, just tired and wanted to get to bed." Harry apologized.

Hermione checked her watch, it was past eleven. She whispered something into Ginny's ear. Ginny nodded "G'night 'Mione, thanks."

"Goodnight you two" whispered Hermione as she left.

Harry stripped to his boxers and a T-shirt and climbed into bed. He placed his glasses on the nightstand. Ginny undressed as well replacing her day clothes with some cotton pants and her favorite jersey. She snuggled in next to him saying "Goodnight Harry, I love you. Thanks for the earrings." She closed her eyes to sleep.

Harry wasn't ready for this. He thought since it was a holiday there might be some extra bedtime fun. Ginny seemed tired, so they slept.

The next three days were spent the same as Christmas Eve. Hermione and Ginny were looking up things for the wedding. Harry and Ron were hanging out relaxing. Harry was getting restless. 'How much time can they spend on this stuff?' he questioned himself. 'I've not seen Ginny other than meals for almost six days' without realizing it he was standing in front of their bedroom. He looked at the door. 'What the hell, I'm going in.' and he opened the door. Ginny looked at him crossly after he surprised her. She was sitting on the bed alone. She had her journal out and was writing in it. The box with her earrings was open on the bed.

"Can I help you?" she asked closing the journal and casting a charm on it.

"I wanted to spend some time with you. We haven't been spending much time together the last few days." Harry said trying to gauge her look.

"Harry, we see each other every day, isn't that enough?" she questioned back.

"Well, no we really haven't. We sat together for lunch yesterday, but at dinner you were gone shopping. We didn't have lunch together today. And at night you've been tired so we don't talk much then. I don't know, somehow I miss you." He tried to make her see his side of it.

She got up, put the journal and the earrings in her dresser and walked to him. "I thought you were with Hermione?" he just realized Ginny was alone.

"No, do you see Hermione?" she asked him. "It's fine. I'll see you later." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she left the room. Harry gave up and headed out in the cold to work his way through the snow to the workshop. With the extra time alone and the service manual he was just about finished creating the list of what he needed for the bike. He was making progress, but he would have much rather been spending the time with his girlfriend.

Ginny sat near him during dinner and that made him feel better for a while. He noticed Hermione and Ginny looking at each other, every once in a while he would catch Hermione looking at him. 'What are they up to? I haven't done anything have I? I don't think so. I mean Ron's not in trouble that I know of.' His mind raced along recalling the last few days. 'Nope, nothing.' He'd been the model of good behavior. She hadn't even smacked him for bad manners. He was at a loss.

By the time he came out of his funk the table was clearing. Ginny was already gone to some other part of the Burrow. He went into the kitchen, only Molly was in there.

"Hi Harry, more dessert?" she offered.

"No thanks, looking for Ginny is all." He replied dejectedly. "Mrs. Weasley, is there something bothering her, or have I done something wrong?"

"Child I couldn't tell you. I am not aware of any wrongdoing on your part. Of course I have long since given up on knowing what actually is happening in my house." She smiled at him.

"Right. She seems to be avoiding me. I think she is anyway. I don't know what to do." Harry explained.

"Come to think of it you two haven't been very 'attached' we'll call it the last several days." She mused. "Harry, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Ginny earlier this summer." She advised sternly "I can't fix things for you two. It's your relationship, yours and hers. If it needs fixing you two need to sort it out." She smiled and her voice softened "Talk to her, Harry."

Harry trudged up to the room they shared and knocked. There was no answer. He opened the door and peeked in. The room was empty. He closed the door and left as he continued his small search.

Ginny adjusted herself quietly when she heard the knock. The door swung open about half way. Harry looked apprehensive as his eyes scanned the room. 'Don't see me' she thought, hardly breathing. 'I'm not here'. When he closed the door she exhaled and pulled his invisibility cloak off her. She sat looking again at the earrings.

He'd checked most the rooms and gave up. He headed down to the study. Once in the study he found Ron and Hermione playing wizard chess. Other family members were reading or talking in small groups. He sat in a worn overstuffed armchair and flipped through a three week old copy of Quidditch Weekly. After perusing the paper twice he rose up and went to the corner cabinet, removed a bottle of Fire Whiskey and went back to his seat. This action was met with a look of disapproval from Hermione. He returned her stare and shrugged his shoulders. He drank and absentmindedly flipped through the same back issue for more than an hour before he gave up. He downed two more quick shots and headed for bed. It was nearing midnight.

He knocked lightly on the door. There was no answer. He opened it to see Ginny asleep in her bed. 'So she's here, in her bed' he sighed to himself. He silently slipped out of his jeans and pulled on a pair of shorts. He climbed gingerly into the bed so he wouldn't wake her. "G'night Ginny, I love you." He whispered nearly silent. He gave her the lightest kiss he could on her head. He let his head fall back gently on his pillow and stared at the ceiling. "I don't even know what I've done. You won't talk to me. I'm sorry." his voice quivered softly.

Ginny could barely hear his whispering over the wind howling around the window sill. She forced her eyes closed tightly. 'G'night Harry' Ginny silently mouthed, her back towards him. 'What am I doing, why can't I talk to him?' she questioned herself. 'This is mad, he doesn't deserve this.' Her mind went over the last five days. 'He's right. I haven't been spending any time with him. I'm only there when I'm expected to be.' Her mind slowly plodded through it all, not sure of what she was doing at all. The week had started well enough, there was the trip to Diagon Alley, then to the Burrow and all was fine. Then Christmas, but by the end of Christmas day she was becoming distant. She could feel Harry toss in bed unable to sleep. She lay still so he wouldn't figure out she was awake. She felt the bed shift, then lift up as Harry got up.

Harry gave up on sleep. He got up and walked to the window. His shoulder felt stiff and ached dully. He shrugged his neck and rotated his shoulder trying to free it up. He stood close to the window, and put his hands up on the window frame holding himself up. The cold draft on his chest felt good. It was all that felt good. He stared out at the old willow tree down the lane. It shone in the moonlight. The snow clinging to its branches glittered brightly. Its dark blue shadow stretched across the lane. He reflected on all the time he and Ginny spent under the tree trying to heal their relationship. "You taught me to talk, made me understand that I could say anything to you…but now you won't talk to me." he was thinking the words, but somehow they came out his mouth, barely audible. He blankly stared out the window letting the chill wash over him some more. He shuddered as a cold hand rested on his back

He kept facing the window, forcing Ginny to speak to him.

"I don't know where to begin." she spoke softly leaning forward resting her forehead on his back. "This week started so good, and now…" she lifted her head up "… and now…" she struggled with her thoughts.

Harry turned around to face Ginny. She stood there timidly her body language asking for forgiveness. Harry took a half step forward so she knew it was okay. She stepped forward burying her nose in his chest sniffling. 'What the bloody hell?' Harry thought 'I don't even know what's going on.' She stifled her sniffs gaining control of her feelings. He guided her to the bed and they both sat, facing each other.

Ginny looked at Harry for still more forgiveness "Harry, its not you. This week started so well. We went shopping, got here, it was all great, like it's been for months now. I was happy. I was looking forward to our first Christmas as a couple. Then Hermione and Ron came and I got to help Hermione with her wedding plans. But after I started helping her all I could think of was marriage. The more I looked at dresses and cakes and rings the more I wanted it. I didn't want to be waiting. I saw her moving forward towards getting married, and we're just stuck in a holding pattern" She paused.

"When I saw the box, I looked at it knowing you loved me. I fully expected it to be an engagement ring. But it wasn't. So I kissed you and said thanks, but in my heart I was crushed. I felt all alone, isolated. The earrings are so beautiful, but they aren't a ring. I want to be married, to you, now. I'm tired of waiting." She looked up to Harry as she stopped talking.

"Is that what you really want Gin? I thought we were doing well. We might not be racing to the altar, but we keep making progress." Harry said softly looking her in the eyes. He loved those beautiful brown eyes. "Yes, Ron and Hermione are moving on but they didn't need to mend things like we did. I know it's my fault that we have to go so slow, I'm sorry for that. I wish I could change it."

"I'm so jealous of her Harry. She's my best friend and I'm jealous of her. I want to be married." She said with conviction.

Harry took her hands in his "Ginny, listen to me very carefully. If you really want to be married we can do it tomorrow. If I call Minister Shacklebolt I can have the license by lunchtime. I'm sure he'd do me the favor of performing the ceremony for us. We can do it tomorrow, but will that really make you happy?" he stopped so she could think about it for a few seconds.

He continued "Close your eyes. In your mind picture your perfect wedding. Think about the ideal way to start our life together as husband and wife. Think of all the things that would make it perfect." He waited again for her to think of her dream wedding.

"Did any of those moments contain a quickie wedding in the minister's office? When you thought of a honeymoon, did you think of three days squeezed between holidays and the beginning of the next school term, or did you think of two weeks someplace romantic? When you saw us finally as husband and wife did you see us spending only two nights a week together at some inn in Hogsmeade or did we move into our house knowing we would spend all our nights together?" He finished letting the words sink in.

She peered at him through tired eyes. "Why do you have to be right?"

"Ginny, I know I'm the male in this relationship, but you may need to consider the fact that I might be correct every once in a while." He smiled at her.

"Stop making fun of me." she sniffed shaking a hand loose and punching his arm.

"It's not a right or wrong thing Ginny. When I close my eyes to see those same things I see everything I ever wanted. All the things that for years I never thought I would have. Things I never even hoped for until I figured out that I wanted you." He sighed. "And now that we are so close to getting our dream I don't want to compromise. You need to finish school. We both need to pass our N.E.W.T.'s. We need to get engaged and make sure we have enough time to plan not just our honeymoon and wedding ceremony, but our lives as well."

"Promise?" Ginny said looking right at Harry.

"Promise." He leaned forward and kissed her nose.

"You must really hate me right now. I've ruined six days of vacation for us." She sighed.

"I couldn't ever hate you Gin. I wish we'd had more time the last few days, but all we can do is move on from here." He lifted her chin with his left hand. "Now, since it's almost three do you think we could try and get some sleep?" She nodded yes, leaned into his arms and pushed him down on the bed. He pulled the covers back so they could get their feet in and then pulled the thick quilt over them.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm sorry." she whispered into his ear.

"It's okay Gin. I love you. Good night." Harry mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.