Harry stared down the dusty staircase that led into darkness, a musty stale smell wafting up from below. In an instant, Bill and Remus were on their feet beside him with their wands drawn. Harry cast a seeking charm looking for any protective charms or traps that might have been cast on the secret room. Not finding any, he looked at Bill. As a Curse Breaker for Gringotts, Bill had much more experience than he did with protective curses.
Bill turned to Harry. "I don't think there is anything else protecting the room."
"That makes sense, if you have to be a Parselmouth to get into the room, there are very few people who could gain entrance," Remus added.
Harry felt Ginny come stand behind him. She slipped her hand into his and peering over his shoulder asked, "What do you think is down there?"
Harry squeezed her hand before responding, "There is only one way to find out." Turning to survey the group he asked, "Who wants to come?"
In the end, Tonks stayed upstairs with Ginny and the twins while Harry, Remus and Bill ventured into the secret room.
"Lumos." Harry peered around in the pale light provided by his wand. The stairs were layered with years of dust and grime. As they travelled further down the stairs, cob web laden sconces appeared on the wall. At the end of the stairs was another door protected by the now familiar entwined snakes.
Bill murmured a spell and the long slumbering candles sprang to life in the sconces casting an eerie light in the stairwell. In the swaying candlelight the snakes almost appeared alive.
"Open." Like the doors above, these doors opened at Harry's command. Harry noticed Bill shivering slightly.
"Sorry, mate," Bill said sheepishly. "Parseltongue is a bit creepy."
Harry laughed. "Great. A Curse Breaker thinks I'm creepy."
As Bill lit the candles inside the room, Harry stepped into the newly revealed chamber. It appeared to run the length of the house, and on the distant wall Harry could see bookshelves overflowing with books. The two long walls were each covered with a large mural, one showing the founding of Hogwarts, the other depicted Slytherin creating the Chamber of Secrets. The last portion of that mural showed a Basilisk being sealed inside the Chamber of Secrets. Harry smiled at the small size of the Basilisk in the painting, it would have been much easier to kill a five foot Basilisk. Harry walked slowly along the walls examining the murals, occasionally he would reach out to touch the smooth surface.
Remus turned his attention to several displays that took up one half of the room. "Harry," Remus called out, "I think this might be a museum dedicated to Slytherin."
Harry wandered over to join him. Displayed in the glass encased boxes were various items purported to be Salazar Slytherin's. There was a set of robes and a gold encrusted potion vials. One small display had a sampling of Slytherin's writing displayed. One display that caught Harry's eye had a huge jeweled sword. The hilt appeared to be gold with ribbons of green that Harry thought might be emerald. The ribbons swirled around other larger jewels that were embedded in the hilt and along the blade was engraved, 'Salazar Slytherin.' On a small card at the base of the display case, an elegantly hand written description read, 'Replica of Salazar Slytherin's Sword.'
"Remus," Harry called out, "Check out the sword. I wonder if each of the founders had their own fancy sword."
Bill, in the meantime was examining the large desk that sat adjacent to the bookshelves. It was overflowing with parchments and books. Bill picked up a small handwritten book off the edge of the desk, and after he carefully thumbed through a few pages he called out to the other two. "I think I found the diary of the wizard who made this chamber. Should we go upstairs and examine it?"
Harry and Remus agreed and the three headed back up to the study where the others were patiently waiting. As they emerged from the stairwell, Ginny asked, "What's down there?"
Harry described the room they had found and gestured to the book Bill held. "Bill thinks that was written by the wizard who built the secret chamber."
"How long do you think it's been there?" Harry asked Remus.
Remus shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I think it may have been built with the house." He glanced at Tonks. "Do you know when the house was built?"
"I think it was built in the late 1700s. Mum doesn't talk much about the Black family, but I do remember her describing this house. I never heard any rumours of hidden rooms or anything like that. I'm sure Sirius would have mentioned it if he'd heard about it. I can check with Mum, she would know a lot more about the house than me," Tonks replied.
"Have you ever heard of any Blacks who were Parselmouths?" Harry asked her.
"No. I've never heard of any Parselmouths besides Slytherin and You-Know-Who to be honest," Tonks answered.
"That's why everyone freaked out so much when you spoke to that snake during the dueling club," Fred said to Harry.
George nodded vigorously. "I don't think you realize how creepy that was, mate. Most wizards are brought up believing that being a Parselmouth is as good as being a Dark Wizard. Like Tonks said, I've never heard of a living Parselmouth, so to see a twelve year old talking to a snake -"
"It's no wonder most of the school thought you were the heir of Slytherin," Fred finished for him.
"Voldemort's family were all Parselmouths," Harry said.
"What?" Remus and Bill both asked.
Harry sighed and dropped onto the bench, Ginny sat next to him and put her hand on his arm. Harry was momentarily distracted by the feel of her hand on his arm, he covered her hand with one of his own before answering the question.
"This past school year, Dumbledore was showing me parts of Voldemort's past in the hopes of finding a way to defeat him. One of the memories was of the Gaunt family, they claimed to be the last descendants of Slytherin. Merope, the daughter, was Voldemort's mother. They even had a heavy gold locket they claimed belonged to Slytherin himself." Harry continued on describing how the Gaunt men had been taken into custody for assault and hexing a Muggle, leaving Merope on her own. He described the events that led to the birth of Tom Riddle, Jr. "All three of Gaunts, plus Voldemort were able to speak Parseltongue," Harry concluded.
"I wonder if the Gaunts and Blacks ever intermarried?" Ginny wondered aloud.
"I doubt it, if there was anyway that Bellatrix was related to Voldemort, no matter how distantly, she'd be telling everyone," Tonks replied.
While the others were talking, Bill sat down at Remus's desk and started looking through the book. He looked up at the others. "This is written in Latin, I can translate it, but it might take a while."
"Do you have time to work on this?" Harry asked Bill.
Bill nodded his head. "Yes. I'm curious, plus I'm still on leave from Gringotts because of my injuries and Fleur is spending the next few days in France with her Mum getting ready for the wedding, so I'm free."
"When is the wedding?" Harry asked in an effort to change the topic. Both Ron and Ginny had talked about the wedding, but as he didn't expect to be going, Harry didn't pay that much attention to the details.
"August 18th," Bill replied. "It will be in France at Fleur's parents' house."
Bill flushed slightly. "Harry, I'm sorry. Fleur kept asking to invite you – she invited Viktor Krum also, but I kept coming up with reasons not to invite you. I realize now that was the Compulsion Charm working."
"Don't worry about it, Bill," Harry replied. "I know it wasn't your fault."
Bill looked at his sister. "Ginny, will you still be one of the bridesmaids? I know this is a huge mess with Mum and Dad. If it was anything but my wedding I would cancel it until we could sort this out, but I can't cancel my wedding. I know this is really selfish of me, but I really want my only sister there."
Ginny smile at her oldest brother. "It's not selfish Bill. I want to be there. I don't know what is going on with Mum and Dad, but they are still our parents. I won't deny that I'm very angry with them, but I will not let that ruin your wedding. We've lost enough time because of this mess. So don't worry. I don't know how, but we'll be there."
Bill looked curiously at his sister. "It just dawned on me, where are you staying?
Ginny smiled as she looked over at Harry. "We left a few things out when we told you what happened."
Harry scooted closer to Ginny and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Starting during the summer after the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny and I have been…sharing each other's dreams."
"What?" exclaimed Bill.
"How is that possible?" asked Fred.
"I didn't know who he was and he didn't know who I was, but whenever one of us had a bad nightmare…or I think when we needed to talk we would share each other's dreams," Ginny explained.
"That is how I found her," Harry added. "I had seen enough to figure out that she was at Beauxbatons and Remus and I discovered who she was and followed her to Quidditch camp."
Harry stood up and walked over to the desk, he reached into the top drawer of the desk and pulled out the Certificate of Bonding and handed it to Bill. Ginny walked over to stand with him.
Bill stared at it in astonishment, he looked up at the couple before him and then returned to examining the document. The twins walked up behind him so they could read the document over his shoulder.
"You two are soul bonded?" Bill asked in amazement.
Ginny nodded.
Bill looked from one teen to the other before turning back to his sister. "Are you happy about this?"
Ginny turned to face Harry, she cupped his cheek with her hand and kissed him gently. "Happy doesn't even begin to describe how I feel," she told her brothers.
Harry smiled down at Ginny before turning to her brothers. "I love Ginny. With her everything just…makes sense. I know we are young, but we love each other very much. Ginny is…she is the centre of my world. I would do anything for her and do anything to keep her safe."
Ginny smiled as she watched Harry struggle to put into words what he felt for her.
"I never really believed in soul mates or true love before I met Ginny, but I do now. I started falling in love with her years ago. I was fascinated by her when I met her at the Burrow when we were children, but I didn't know what that meant…I didn't understand the power she has over me. But now I can't imagine a world without Ginny in it," Harry finished kissing Ginny softly on the cheek before turning to face her brothers.
Bill stood up from the desk and looked at the twins. The thought briefly crossed Harry's mind that he had married a girl with six older brothers all much larger than he. Bill walked around the desk and pulled Harry into a brotherly embrace. "Welcome to the family, Harry."
Harry returned Bill's hug before Bill pulled his sister into a big hug.
"Congratulations, Ginny. There aren't many men I would consider worthy of you, but Harry has always been at the top of the list."
Harry smiled as he saw Ginny's eyes well up with tears. Tears that he knew this time, were happy tears.
Not wanting to be left out, the twins grabbed Ginny and Harry and hugged them both.
"You know, for some reason I always pictured you with Harry," Fred laughed.
George's eyes lit up. "Do you realize…" he said as he turned to his twin, "that now Harry Potter is our brother-in-law?"
Remus who had been quietly watching the exchange started laughing. "You're in for it now, Harry."
Harry turned back to face Bill. "Could you use some help with the research?"
"Yeah, who did you have in mind?" he asked.
Harry smiled as he turned to Remus. "Can you see if Hermione would join us?"
Remus laughed. "Sure, that's a good idea. Hermione is great at research."
Tonks stood up. "l hate to go, but it's getting late and I need to head out to Hogwarts. Robards asked me to interview some of Harry's professors," she turned to Remus. "Want to meet me in Hogsmeade for dinner? Then we can head over to see my parents and find out if they know anything else about the house."
Remus nodded. "That sounds like a plan."
"Can you wait just a minute?" asked Harry. "I wrote a note to Professor McGonagall, would you mind taking it to her?"
Professor McGonagall,
Thank you for your part in my attending Quidditch camp. I had a great time and I really appreciate your helping me go, I know that not everyone would have. I saw Oliver and Angelina there, so the past three Gryffindor captains were there – it was brilliant.
I left as soon as the press got there, but I wish I could have stayed longer. I wanted to let you know I am safe. I can't tell you were I am right now, but I am not alone and I am safe.
I know that Tonks is delivering this in person, so I can tell you – I met the most amazing person at camp. You probably saw the pictures of us in the paper, her name is Ginny Weasley. She is here with me now, so she is safe. Hopefully you will be able to meet her soon.
Harry
Minerva McGonagall allowed herself a small smile as she read Harry's note. She was glad that he had enjoyed camp, although she was curious about Ginny Weasley. She knew that the Weasleys had a daughter, but she didn't recall ever meeting her.
"Minerva." Minerva looked up as Albus Dumbledore entered her classroom.
"Albus, how are you feeling?" Minerva asked. It had taken Albus a long time to get back on his feet after the attack in June. Minerva wasn't certain if it was physical ailments or the shock of being betrayed by Severus Snape that bothered him more.
"I have recovered nicely, thank you," Albus replied. "I spoke to Nymphadora. She tells me that Harry is well, but she can't tell me where I can find him. I haven't heard from him all summer. His relatives have left their house, Harry is nowhere to be seen, and then imagine my surprise when he turns up at Quidditch camp of all places. Do you have any idea he might have gone now?"
"Not exactly, I've just had a letter from him. He says that he is well and safe, but he doesn't say where he is," Minerva replied.
Albus raised his eyebrows. "I wasn't aware that you and Harry usually corresponded."
"We don't normally, but it seems that he wanted to tell me about Quidditch camp," Minerva explained.
Before Albus could pursue this any further, Fawkes appeared in a flash of flame.
"Pardon me, my appointment is here," Albus explained to Minerva.
Minerva watched him leave. She had worked for and admired Albus for over forty years, he had never come to her to check up on a student before. She knew that Harry and Albus had problems during his fifth year and after Sirius's death, but she thought they had made their peace.
Albus entered his office to find Arthur, Molly and Ron Weasley waiting for him. As Albus entered his office, Molly burst out with, "Albus, what is going on? I tried to owl Ginny, but the Aston came back with the letter still attached. I've spoken to the Delacours and the Fourniers, but no one has heard from her. Do you know what is going on?"
Albus made his way to his desk. "Molly, Arthur, Mr Weasley, it is good to see all of you."
Arthur greeted him and Ron mumbled a greeting.
Albus turned back to Molly. "Molly, I am concerned as well. I do not know where Ginny is, but it seems likely she is with Harry. Nymphadora Tonks was just here asking about Harry. I think she knows where Harry is, but she says she can't tell me. I believe he is with Remus Lupin and they have their residence under a Fidelius charm."
Molly calmed a little as Albus began to talk, he continued, "I've spoken to Kingsley, he was one of the Aurors who went to Beauxbatons. He said that Harry and Ginny left Beauxbatons before any Death Eaters arrived. He spoke at length with Mr Wood and Miss Johnson, as they both know Harry. Apparently Harry was attending Quidditch camp under the name of Harry Black. According to Mr Wood some of the campers knew he was Harry Potter, but no one approached him about it. They seemed to feel he deserved some privacy. Miss Johnson felt that the events in June combined with Harry's Quidditch abilities made people want to protect Harry.
"Harry met Ginny the first week of camp. Both Mr Wood and Miss Johnson confirm a romantic relationship arose between Harry and Ginny. Miss Johnson mentioned a sunset breakfast on Harry's birthday and dates in the town of Beauxbatons," Albus concluded.
Molly became more agitated as Albus spoke, but it was Arthur who spoke up. "Why is this a bad thing? I know we agreed to obliviate them when they were children, but they are not children anymore. Harry is a good boy, he is strong, he is smart, and don't forget he has saved the lives of almost half our family. Maybe Harry is what Ginny needs to finally recover from her ordeal."
Molly stared at him as if she had never seen him before. "Arthur, you can't be serious. Do you remember how bad it was the summer after her first year? I don't want her to go through that again. I don't want her remembering, she's been through enough."
"What about Harry? He knows by now we are keeping something from him. He's going to put things together. If there is one thing Harry is really good at, it is figuring out mysteries," Ron added.
"You think he will figure out what was kept from him?" Albus asked Ron.
Ron flushed slightly, not used to being addressed by the Headmaster. "Yes, sir. Harry is very stubborn he will keep after it until he figures it out."
Albus nodded, "That does sound very like Harry."
Ron looked around the room and gathered his courage. "I agree with Dad, why would Harry and Ginny being together be a bad thing?" He gestured towards the picture of Harry and Ginny kissing from the Prophet that was on Dumbledore's desk. "She doesn't look unhappy. That is why I agreed to help you, so Ginny wouldn't be as scared and alone as she was after her first year. She doesn't look scared now."
Molly's eyes flashed as she realized both her husband and son disagreed with her. Before she could comment, Albus responded, "Mr. Weasley, there is more at stake here than a teen romance. Harry is at a critical point in his training, he does not need to be distracted with romance and mysteries."
Albus turned back to Molly. "I think that we should attempt to find them and determine what they have discovered. While they may be angry with us, I believe we can explain enough of our misdirections to allay their fears. It will only be another month before they are separated for school."
Molly nodded. "It is hard to maintain a long distance relationship. Once they are back in their own schools, I'm sure there will be others with whom they could find romance."
Ron stared at his mother in horror, how could she be talking so casually about breaking them up? Would they obliviate everyone again? He looked over at his father. Arthur too seemed horrified by the turn the conversation had taken.
"Molly, Albus, I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. If Harry can help Ginny deal with her past, I am all for that. I will not be a party to plotting to break up their relationship. I see no need for that," Arthur said firmly.
Albus smiled. "Arthur don't get upset, we will certainly look at all options before making any decisions."
Harry smiled as he heard Ginny coming down the hall. Bill and the twins had just left for the evening. Bill would be back in the morning to start working on the book. Remus had gone to join Tonks in Hogsmeade for dinner, leaving Harry and Ginny home alone.
"I think that went pretty well, don't you?" asked Ginny as she entered the living room.
Harry nodded as she made her way over to the chair he was sitting in and sat on his lap. Harry automatically put his arms around her and pulled her close. Ginny put her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck. Harry ran his hands through her hair enjoying the flowery scent that he had come to associate with Ginny.
She pulled back slightly so she could see his face. "They didn't blame me."
"I told you they wouldn't. It was not your fault and no one, especially those who love you would blame you," Harry replied.
Ginny snuggled back into his arms and they sat in silence enjoying each other's company until Harry said, "Would you like to go out to eat?"
Ginny looked at him quizzically. "Is it safe for you go out to eat?"
"We can go into Muggle London. There's this place not too far from here that serves the best fish and chips. Remus and I discovered it earlier this summer."
"That sounds really good actually, I didn't realize how hungry I was until you mentioned food." Ginny stood up. "Let me go change, I'll be back in a few minutes."
Harry stood also. "Actually after exploring a dusty chamber, I should take a shower."
Ginny listened to the sound of the shower while she changed into a lacey white tank top with a royal blue sweater and a pair of jeans. She wandered around the room, it was easily several times larger than her room at the Burrow. Harry had told her that Remus had redone the room for him. Ginny thought wistfully of her parents room with it's mismatched furniture and homemade blankets, Harry's room (or she supposed their room) was elegantly decorated in a tasteful maroon and gold theme. The large sleigh bed took up one wall with a bedside table on either side of the bed. There was a large wardrobe on one wall, Harry's school trunk sat next to that. There was one window in the room, it looked out over Grimmauld Square. Next to the window was a large desk. There were pictures scattered throughout the room – pictures of Harry, Ron and Hermione; a picture of Harry catching the snitch during a Quidditch match. Ginny was most intrigued by two pictures on the desk – one was of four young men, one of whom looked a lot like Harry with the same messy black hair and glasses, one was a smaller man she didn't know. He had thinning sandy hair and a pointed nose, Ginny easily recognized a young Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Ginny picked up the picture, these must be the infamous marauders she had heard about. The other picture showed a large shaggy black dog curled up on the floor and lying on top of him was a sleeping black haired toddler, Ginny smiled looking at baby Harry.
She jumped slightly when Harry walked up behind her. "I love this picture," she told him.
He smiled sadly. "Remus found it and gave it to me for Christmas last year. Remus told me that I used to play with Padfoot a lot when I was a baby."
Ginny turned and looked Harry over, he had dressed in a long sleeved steel grey shirt and jeans. "You look nice," she said.
Harry smiled and kissed her gently. "You look gorgeous."
He took her hand as they left the bedroom and led her to the foyer near the front door. Ginny reached her hand out to the front door, but Harry shook his head and pulled her close. Ginny watched curiously as he pulled a silky silver cloth from his pocket.
"Watch," was all he said as he pulled the cloth around them.
Ginny laughed in delight. "Merlin, is this an Invisibility Cloak?"
Harry nodded. "It was my father's."
He pulled her closer. "This is one of two spots in the house from which Remus and I can Apparate. The rest of the house has anti-apparition charm applied, Remus worked the wards so only he and I can Apparate from here – we need to add you to that ward."
Ginny felt the squeeze of Apparition and opened her eyes as Harry pulled the cloak off the two of them. They were standing at the entrance of an alley off a busy street. Harry pulled her forward onto the street, and dodging traffic they made it to the other side of the street.
As they entered the small restaurant, the hostess waved them to a booth towards the back of the restaurant with a window view onto the street. Ginny slid into the booth inhaling the aroma of fish and chips that permeated the establishment. Harry smiled at her as he handed her a menu.
As they seated themselves, the waitress approached. "Hi, welcome to Rudy's. Can I get you something to drink?"
Ginny looked blankly at Harry. She knew Muggles didn't drink pumpkin juice, but what did they drink?
"Can we have two Cokes?" Harry asked quickly.
"What are Cokes?" Ginny whispered after the waitress left.
Harry grinned at her across the table. "It's a Muggle drink, I think you will like it." He gestured to the menu. "What do you want to eat?"
Ginny opened the menu and looked over all the choices. "What are you getting?"
"I'm getting the fish and chips, they have the best fish and chips," he replied.
She smiled at him. "That sounds good to me."
The waitress brought their Cokes over and they ordered their dinner.
Harry watched Ginny as she took her first sip, she had a strange look on her face. "Do you like it?" he asked.
She cautiously took another sip. "It's good, but bubbly. I think Hermione has mentioned this before."
"Probably, it's quite popular in the Muggle world," Harry explained.
Ginny looked around the restaurant. "Do you realize that I have never spent so much time in the Muggle world before? My Dad has always admired Muggles, but we've never spent much time around them. We've gone down to the village at Ottery St. Catchpole, but that's all. They think our family is a little eccentric."
Harry smiled. "Remus and I tend to spend time in the Muggle world as I don't attract any attention here."
Ginny smiled, she had seen the looks in the other girls' eyes as he walked into the restaurant. Harry attracted attention in the Muggle world too, just a different kind of attention.
"Does it bother you to spend time in the Muggle world?" Harry asked nervously.
"Not when I'm with you," Ginny responded reaching her hand out across the table to join Harry's.
Harry smiled as he looked at their entwined hands. "So did you get a chance to talk to any of the scouts before we had to leave?"
"I really liked the scout from the Harpies," Ginny answered, "but they have always been my favorite team."
Harry and Ginny talked Quidditch as they ate their fish and chips. "You were right, this is great." Ginny smiled as she pushed her plate away.
Harry finished his dinner and paid for the food. As they left the building, Harry pulled Ginny down the street towards a busier cross street.
"Come on, let's look around," Harry said as he pulled Ginny along with him.
They looked in the windows of the shops they walked past. There was an electronics store, a nail salon, several clothing stores, as well as an assortment of bars and banks. Harry halted when they passed in front of a jewelry store, he looked through the front window for a minute before looking down at her. Ginny was looking at the display in the window when Harry tugged on her hand pulling her into the store.
"Harry, what are we doing here?" she whispered as they neared the display.
He smiled down at her. "Ring shopping."
"Can I help you?"
Harry looked up to see the young man behind the counter watching them. "Yes, we want to look at rings."
The young man smiled and gestured them to the appropriate counter. "Do you have something particular in mind?"
Harry looked at Ginny who shook her head. "No," he answered, "we just want to see what you have."
Harry looked over the selection of rings, listening with half an ear to the clerk going on about diamond cut and clarity. He glanced at Ginny. "What do you like?"
Ginny bit her lip as she looked at all of the beautiful rings. She should have expected he would want to get her a ring, but she honestly had not. What should she tell him? She looked at the diamonds set in platinum and thought briefly that it was probably better she didn't understand Muggle money, she didn't really want to know how much they cost.
Seeing her indecision, Harry pointed to a ring towards the back of the case. "Can we see that one?" he asked the clerk.
Ginny's breath caught in her throat as she looked at the ring, it had a brilliant square cut emerald in the centre with a diamond on either side set in a platinum ring. The clerk pulled it out of the case and handed the ring to Harry. He held it out for Ginny to see. "What do you think?"
Ginny took the ring with trembling fingers, it was a beautiful ring. She looked up at Harry and she could feel the love flowing from him. The clerk stepped back to give them a moment of privacy. "Harry, it's beautiful, but you don't have to -"
Harry cut her off. "Ginny, I want to," he whispered as he cupped her cheek. "I love you and you deserve a beautiful ring and so much more."
Ginny leaned towards him and kissed him briefly. "I love you too, Harry."
Ginny slid the ring on her finger. "It's perfect. I like this ring."
Harry smiled and turned to the clerk. "Is there a wedding band to match this?"
The clerk came forward and Harry and Ginny picked diamond and platinum bands for each other. Ginny left the store wearing her emerald ring thanks to a quick sizing charm Harry had cast when the clerk's back was turned.
After they left the store, Harry pulled Ginny into the nearest alley and once again produced his Invisibility Cloak. When they emerged from the Apparition, they were not as Ginny had expected at Grimmauld Place, instead they appeared to be in a park.
Ginny looked at Harry. "Where are we?"
"St. James Park in London. I thought we could walk around the park, it's so pretty here," Harry answered as they started wandering along the path in front of them. "When I was little, I always wanted to come to London. I'd heard about it at school and seen pictures, but whenever the Dursleys came to London, they would leave me at home. Last summer, when I had to stay at my relatives all summer, Remus came to visit me a lot. He brought me here a few times. It reminds me of the gardens at Beauxbatons so I thought you would like it."
"It's beautiful, Harry. Thank you for bringing me here," Ginny said as she took in her surroundings. They were walking down a tree lined path, off to one side Ginny could see a lake through the trees and on the other side she could see an occasional glimpse of buildings through the trees.
Harry pulled Ginny off into the grass, after looking around he conjured a blanket for them to sit upon. They settled onto the blanket with Harry wrapping his arms around Ginny as she sat with her back to his chest. They had a view of both the lake and the children's play area from where they sat. Ginny was glad she had worn a sweater because as the sun was starting to set, the weather was turning a little cooler.
"Harry, I was talking to Tonks earlier," Ginny began, turning in his arms slightly so she could see his face. "She told me about a bonding ceremony, have you ever heard of that?"
"No, what is a bonding ceremony?"
"It is used for a lot of reasons, it is basically a ceremony in which a couple pledges their love for each other in front of witnesses. It used to be used as a wedding ceremony or a betrothal ceremony. I know we are already married, but this would…I don't know make it more real." Ginny told him anxiously.
Harry turned to look at her. "Is that what you want?"
"I don't…I know…yes," she whispered. "I'm sorry, I know it seems silly, but I want some kind of ceremony."
Harry smiled down at her. "Gin, we can have a ceremony. Don't apologize to me, we both got surprised by this marriage. I think it would be great to have a ceremony."
He lifted her chin in his hand. "It would be my honour to pledge my love for you in front of who ever you want. I love you."
He leaned down and gently kissed her. The kiss started out gently, but quickly turned passionate. Harry pulled away from her lips and started trailing kisses down her neck. Ginny had just turn fully into his arms when a shriek of laughter penetrated their little world. Ginny looked up and she could see a blond toddler shrieking gleefully as she slid down the slide to her waiting mother.
Ginny rested her head on Harry's chest as she watched the mother and child play. Harry followed her gaze as he played with her hair.
"Do you want children some day, Harry?" Ginny asked softly.
Harry watched the children playing with their parents while he thought about how to answer. "I've never really thought I would have a future. When I was a child, my relatives drummed it into me that no one would want to be friends with a freak, so children didn't seem likely. Since I've been in the wizarding world, Voldemort's been after me. Until I met you, I never really wanted a future to be honest."
Harry turned and looked at Ginny, the hope and love he was feeling shining in his deep green eyes. "I do want to have children with you. Can you imagine a little girl with your beautiful hair and eyes?"
Ginny laughed as she kissed him softly before replying. "What about little black haired, green eyes boys? Or red haired green eyed girls?"
They cuddled on the lawn whispering about their future children and stealing kisses as they watched the sun go down.
As the sun set, Harry realized they should leave soon. He turned to Ginny. "Love, when do you want to have this bonding ceremony?"
Ginny bit her lip as she looked up at him. "Tomorrow?" she asked uncertainly.
"Tomorrow? Don't you need to get things ready or whatever?" he asked.
"Well it's not like we're going to invite a lot of people – just my brothers, Remus, Tonks and Hermione. I just want to get a dress, but I saw the perfect dress today," Ginny responded.
Harry thought before asking. "What about the rest of your family?"
Ginny's expression hardened as she thought of her parents. "As much as I've always imagined my parents at my wedding, I don't want them there right now. They have taken so much away from us and for all we know may be planning to try again. I know Ron is your best mate, but he seems to be on my parents' side. They gave up the right to be at our wedding when they chose to obliviate us."
Harry nodded. "I just wanted to make sure. You know I will do whatever you want. As long as we end up with together, I don't really care who's there."
That comment earned him another kiss before Harry Apparated them back to Grimmauld place.
Minerva McGonagall entered the Three Broomsticks distinctly out of sorts. She had been unsettled since she had spoken to Albus earlier. She had known Albus long enough to know he didn't share his thoughts or secrets easily. As she looked around, she saw Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks sitting at a table near the back. Minerva wavered for a moment, then walked over to their table.
"Remus, Ms. Tonks, could I talk to you for a minute? It's about Harry."
(revised 9/16)