AN- Normally I do one chapter in the past, one in the present (2004), however I am changing things up for this one. For reasons you will see later.
London- 2004
Ginny was in her own room when she woke up. She was on her side, facing the wall, and Harry was tucked close behind her, spooning. She rolled over and pushed him onto his back gently. He let out a single loud snore and she snickered and curled into his side with her hand on his chest.
He still had his undershirt on. She shifted a bit and felt the restrictions of her own shirt as well. They hadn't been too drunk when they'd left the club last night, but Bridgette and Chantal were. Luckily Seamus and Dean had been very occupied with some ladies, otherwise they might have been a little more interested in the fact that she'd asked Harry to help her get the girls home.
She'd been surprised to see the three of them there last night.
Harry didn't really come across as the club type, but Finnegan sure did. Harry hadn't gotten up to dance at all, but from all he'd whispered in her ear after they deposited Bridgett and Chantal in the other bedroom and cast a silencing spell, he'd thoroughly enjoyed watching her dance.
They were both quite pleasantly buzzed as he told her what he'd enjoyed the most while his hands wandered all over her body. He'd pulled her back flush against his front and ground his erection against her bum while his hands dipped into her shorts and under her shirt to her bra.
Now, Ginny looked over at the dresser in front of the window. Everything was knocked over and had been swiped to the side or onto the floor. She'd done that when he'd slid her shorts down and taken her from behind.
She bit her lip at the memory of it. It had been so hot. She'd never done it that way before. It was so primal and animalistic. They were definitely going to do that again. Just thinking about it she felt herself grow wet.
Ginny let her hand travel down his torso. His manhood wasn't quite flaccid. She played with it, stroking and swirling her finger over the head until he grew fully hard. She sat up and pulled the sheet around her as she straddled him and slid herself down on his shaft.
She barely heard his satisfied sigh over her own moan of pleasure. He went so deep in this position. She began slowly rocking back and forth with a small up and down motion. Her head was thrown back with her eyes closed, her whole body was focused solely on recreating the amazing pleasure that the pressure of him hitting the spot deep inside her made. Over and over again.
"Take your shirt off." He whispered.
Ginny flinched at the sound of his voice. She was so caught up in her desire and mounting pleasure, she almost forgot he was a part of it. She bit her lip to stop from laughing at the ridiculousness of that and looked down at him. His hands were running up and down her legs, and still he'd made her start.
She pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it to the side. She kept up her pace and rhythm and threw her head back again. She was so close. Harry grabbed her hips, but that pushed her climax away. She slapped his hands away and kept up, ignoring his little chuckle. Chuckles were not sexy.
As she rode him she felt as though her orgasm was something being held out in front of her. She had to grab it at the right time, in the right way and hold it tight in her fist in order for it to be truly satisfying, otherwise she'd still grab it, but it would run through her fingers like sand, and much to quickly to be as pleasurable as she knew it could be.
This time it was like she grabbed it with both hands. She only heard the echo's of her moans and profanity reverberating off the walls. She couldn't control what was coming out of her mouth. She crested that mountain of pleasure and collapsed down on his chest dizzy and shaking. She knew if she opened her eyes' she'd be seeing spots.
"That is a mighty big grin." Harry smiled underneath her. Ginny hadn't realized she was grinning. Gently he rolled them on their side. She could only nuzzle him in response. She felt him tuck some of her hair behind her hears before she heard him say the sexiest thing she'd ever heard;
"I'll be right back with some coffee for you." Her grin grew bigger and she grabbed his pillow as he stood and pulled on his clothes.
What felt like a second later she heard the unmistakable sound of a coffee mug being put down on a hard surface. She must have fallen back asleep. Harry was standing beside her looking pretty proud of himself.
"You look pretty happy." She said stretching and sitting up to grab the coffee mug.
"I had a really nice wake-up call."
Ginny snorted lightly into her mug. "And I didn't even let you finish."
"Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the ride." He sat back down on the bed.
"Hmm. Thank you for the coffee." She relaxed back against the wall of pillows.
"You are welcome. I, uh, I had a lot of fun last night." He smiled wickedly. She raised one eyebrow at him and inclined her head towards the dresser. "Yeah. That, and other things."
"You made that pretty clear. Get a little of the spirits in you and you get very vocal about what you like and how you like it."
"Ha! I meant more watching you make a grown man cry. Believe me, I had no doubt you were capable of it, but seeing it is something else. Do you even remember what you threatened him with?" He beamed.
She let out a laugh. "Oh! That. Well, cards on the table, I've used that one before. It is very effective." Ginny told him. Harry chuckled and sipped his tea. "That didn't disturb you at all?"
"Christ no. I'm pretty sure my first coherent thought was about you being a hot warrior woman."
Ginny felt some relief at that. She climbed around the bed to sit against the wall with him and enjoy her drink looking out the window. They sat there contently enjoying their beverages and the simple pleasure of each others quiet company.
"Do you want to go full Muggle and take the train from London Bridge to Brighton?" He asked as he finished the last of his tea.
"Need more experience in the Muggle world?" She nudged him a little.
"Well, that bit about their technology was true with me. I still don't know how to send you a message on the mobile you slipped me." Ginny smiled, not telling him the battery was probably dead by now, and he'd need a charger. "But I did grow up in the Muggle world, and I think I did a good job with that task." He sat up a little taller.
"You did. You've been doing the best out of everyone. Although, with the case on Thursday…" He had been the one to guess it'd been her. And it could have been that he had the unfair advantage of knowing her the best, but maybe not.
"Seamus seems to have taken it well." Harry said.
She just leaned her head on his shoulder. "Taking the train sounds nice."
He kissed the top of her head. He seemed to get that she wasn't interested in discussing it. "How about you get dressed. We'll pop over to my place for my clothes, and breakfast, then we'll head in." He took her empty mug and got up to head to the kitchen.
"Sounds like a plan." She shed her blanket-turned-robe, and made for the dresser.
()()()()()
Considering it was a warm and sunny weekend day in mid-August, the train was pretty empty. Brighton was a tourist spot. The Lanes, Brighton Beach, the Pier.
Ginny had put on a summer dress and a pair of nice flats, and wore her hair down. She couldn't believe her emotions. She'd been sleeping with him for the last four nights, obviously he liked her, but this was her first ever real date, and she was all giddy.
She kept chastising herself, she'd gone on a hundred undercover missions, fought in two wars and taken several lives, how could she possibly be turning into a teenage fan girl of sorts, all twitching with excitement and nerves.
Fortunately Harry looked a little nervous too. Every few minutes they would glance at each other as they sat side by side on the train and she would watch a flush creep up his neck and he'd glance back out the window.
By the time the train was about half way between London and Brighton she'd calmed herself enough and reached out to clasp her hand in his. His smile as their fingers intertwined calmed her even more. She felt a warmth rise in her chest.
This was going to be a great day.
()()
They started off walking down into the windy labyrinth of the Lanes. It was a pedestrian only area that had cobblestone walkways and funny shops all on the first floors, flats on the second.
It was quite like Diagon Alley in that respect, except the buildings actually looked structurally sound, were only two stories and in a grid formation. There were loads of people walking through and stopping to peer at the different wares, Harry and Ginny did as well. They stopped into a little coffee shop for a take away cup and a scone.
Neither of them had been there before and she found it was quite fun to get a little turned around and lost. The wound up following a flow of pedestrians and spilled out of the Lanes area into a grassy park by the Royal Pavilion. Ginny had looked up the general street map of Brighton the day before, after Harry had suggested it, and she knew that the Pier was very close by.
Considering there was so much conversation that could flow between them that could be considered taboo, like anything having to do with Tom Riddle, or what they've been up to since as Auror's, her family or anything about the magical world really because they were surrounded by Muggles, she found herself talking almost non-stop about all of the activities she'd tried in her off time over the past few years. He seemed really interested too.
She talked about surfing, snorkeling, skiing, skating and hiking. None of which he'd ever tried, save for hiking, but he hadn't done it as a pass time. Harry in turn just went to the pub with mates or the gym. He admitted he was a little envious of all of her experiences.
They made their way down the pier and managed to ignore the intoxicating smells coming from the crepe food stand, confirming their desire to go back to that once it was lunch time.
The day was beautiful, blue skies and a soft breeze coming off the sea, it wasn't quite as hot at the pier as it had been in the Lanes, which was a mercy. They strolled down to the carnival side of the pier at the end and Harry purchased tickets for them to try out some of the rides. They started off easy. The Merry-Go-Round, then bumper cars, finishing off at the roller coaster.
He pulled her into the indoor games area and did in fact win her a teddy bear with all of the tickets he got out of the lit up games machines. When he offered it to her with a cheesy grin, she fought the urge to hug it to her chest like it was the most precious thing she'd ever been given. Instead she opted to drag him to a more secluded spot around the side of the building and snog the daylights out of him like a pair of randy teenagers.
They left the pier, grabbing a crepe on the way out and walked down the pebble beach until they got to the multi-colored bath houses of Hove and turned around, back toward the pier.
They sat on a more abandoned part of the beach and snuggled together in intermitted silence and conversation, interspersed with a bit of kissing, until they watched the sun go down.
"Harry?" She said once the light was nearly gone.
"Yeah?" He kissed the back of her head, she was now nestled between his legs looking out at the West Pier. The steel structure was all that was left of this pier. They'd been watching the swarm of birds burst out of it for a lazy fly around before they nestled back down into the partly demolished structure they'd made their home.
"This was my first date. Technically." He was silent for a while. She didn't know why she told him that, it just felt like it was something that should be said.
"I wondered about that yesterday." He admitted.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. You just seemed so stunned when I asked. It was a little hard to believe that it could be possible though. I mean. You're… you."
"I'm me?" She felt one of his hands leave her side and didn't need to look behind her to know he was ruffling the hair on the back of his head.
"Well, you're kind of amazing. Can be pretty intimidating. Yeah, but… I just."
She found it cute how flustered he was getting. She patted his leg to stop him. Because she knew what he was trying to say.
"And, how was it?"
She was glad he couldn't see the stupid, love-sick, grin that was plastered to her face at the question. "Kind of amazing." She answered and snuggled her back against his front a little more. He leaned down and kissed her neck at that. "And how many dates have you been on?"
He groaned. "A few. None like this though."
She ran her hands up and down his arms that had come to be wrapped around her middle. "What have they been like?" She was curious.
"Just dinner, then back to mine or hers really."
"Hmm. Right to the juicy stuff, eh?"
He chuckled. "Always a little awkward at the dinner portion, but just so you know. The 'juicy stuff' was never near as good as it had been this week."
She laughed. "I'll admit, it's the same for me too."
"And you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you say you've never had a date before but you were obviously not 'inexperienced' in bed before Tuesday."
"Ah. Well, my experience involved a series of respectably timed out one-night stands. Usually right after getting off a mission and throwing caution to the wind."
"Had a few of those myself."
The night was setting in properly now and it was getting cold.
"How about we go back to yours?" She asked him.
"Apparate?" She responded by gripping his arm a little tighter, and making sure she had her teddy bear.
He brought them directly to his bedroom. They were in the same position they had been on the beach, with him back against the pillows. Slowly he trailed kisses from her ear to her collarbone and she shivered in pleasure.
Gradually and deliberately they wound up laying down and removing piece after piece of clothing and coming together in the most pleasurably slow sex she'd ever had.
The term 'making love' had always made her cringe. Any other term for it she'd been fine with. There were about a hundred synonyms one could use for sex, but that one bore the closest resemblance for what they were doing. Gentle, caressing, kissing, clutching, steady penetration that ensured they both felt every millimeter of movement inside her, until they finished together.
After she was snuggled into his side, her body completely satisfied, and her mind completely worried.
Harry Potter, this Harry Potter, not the one in the media and the history books that was simply an icon and war hero. But this Harry Potter was so easily lovable and wonderful. She was only there for one more week. Already she knew leaving him behind was going to be painful, and she'd always be playing the 'what if' game.
And there were already a lot of 'what ifs'. What if her family found out about them. What if he knew all she'd done in the Battle of Hogwarts and couldn't look at her the same again. What if she fell in love with him. She'd be crushed.
What was she going to do? Stay in England with him after two weeks of fooling around? That was ludicrous. But then again, this was who she'd been attracted to for years. His eyes, his smile, his whole demeanor, his history.
It took her a long time to fall asleep that night. She kept her breathing moderated and her eyes closed. She couldn't block out all of the scenarios of what was potentially going to happen between them seven days from now that were running through her head.
Finally, around two a.m., she just focused on his breathing and drifted off.
()()()()()()()()()
Harry thought he should really invest in some black-out curtains.
The sun was a great wake-up call in the mornings that it rose shining into his bedroom. The days that there were sunshine instead of clouds anyways. But on mornings such as this one, having the sun glaring into your face was a pain in the ass. He was insanely comfortable and didn't want to be awake. He didn't want to move to find his wand in his discarded jeans either. It would require too much movement and his mental faculties would have him too conscious by then to slip back into la la land.
After his amazing day, and night, with Ginny yesterday he couldn't help but think about where he could take her next. Then feel his stomach drop because for all he knew, he might never get a chance for a next.
It was Sunday and he would be expected back at the Burrow, and she might be gone off on her next adventure by Saturday.
He'd felt her body snuggled close to him, something he'd come to adore over their nights together. He'd been up half the night wondering how crazy it would be if he just packed up his life and went with her. All of the experiences she'd had, the things she'd learned, it all sounded amazing. He'd only been outside of the U.K. once to help Hermione search for her parents in Australia after the war. He didn't know how to ski or snorkel, he barely knew how to swim, and he lived on an island.
It could be a great experience to move to another country and see what the world had to offer. Doing that with Ginny would be a dream come true.
But they'd been 'together' for less than a week only. Putting aside the fact that there was still so much mystery to her that she seemed unwilling to talk about. He knew that there would be something truly terrible she might have had to do in the past.
But he was certain it was in a 'had to' type situation. In his mind, that didn't count. He still didn't even know if she was an Animagus. He was pretty sure she was, but he hadn't asked. They hadn't discussed the important things. There was no way he should be thinking about running away with her if they couldn't discuss the hard parts.
He'd just never come across anyone else that he was as captivated with as he was with Ginny. He cracked his eye open at the light coming in through the window and looked down at the woman in his arms.
Yeah, he was completely falling in love with her.
He knew that before she threatened to shove her fist up some guys ass in defense of her friend. That thought made him chuckle.
"Mmrft." Came a mumble from Ginny. "You need black-out curtains."
He chuckled again. "I was just thinking the same thing."
She looked up at him. He couldn't tell what was going through her mind, but he loved her sleepy doe eyes how they looked first thing in the morning. She shimmied up his body so they were face to face on the pillow and he turned onto his side, pressing their bodies together. He ran his hand down her back and relished in the feelings she gave him as she reciprocated the motion on him.
He would have been content staring into her beautiful brown eyes and smiling and touching her like that all morning. Having her hook her leg over his waist and settle herself down on his erection was good with him too.
Morning sex was something he hadn't experienced with anyone else, and it was marvelous, but this time he was grateful that she reached her finish relatively quickly, because as wonderful as it always felt to be inside her, she managed to awaken his body enough to realize that he really should have had a wee before she got a leg over.
He tried to wait a little bit after she'd cum but he couldn't. She laughed at his retreat into the bathroom after extricating himself from their entangled limbs.
By the time he came back out of the bathroom she wasn't in the bed. He heard her moving around in the kitchen, putting the kettle on.
"What time are you due to head over today?" She asked.
Harry glanced over at the clock on the stove. It was eight a.m. "I've got about three hours." She'd pulled on his button up dress shirt. She smiled at him as she leaned back against the counter and let him stare at her bare legs. "What are you going to get up to today?" He asked her, trying to keep his body calm.
"I've a work-out planned. I also need to practice a few spells for the training session tomorrow and get a few supplies." She came to stand in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Did I say thank you yet? For yesterday?"
"I don't think so." He smiled at her.
"Hmm." She closed her eyes and hugged him. "I'll have to do that after we get some food in us. Don't know if I've the energy for it right this second."
His cock twitched in response.
()()()()()()()
It was really good that none of the Weasley's were Legilimence. There was no way that Harry was going to be able to keep the image of Ginny's 'thank-you' after breakfast out of his mind for the whole of his visit.
Every time he closed his eyes, there it was, the image of her head bobbing in the shower. Completely wet and taking him in her mouth.
Holy Fuck he needed to not think about it. He was probably going to have to fly around with some of the kids and Weasley boys soon. Incredibly uncomfortable to fly with an erection.
He managed to calm himself as he headed down the path to the Burrow. The thought of the Weasley brothers and Bill and Percy's kids throwing up on him was enough to do the job.
"Hello all." He said entering the kitchen. The twins were there, Ron, Hermione, Bill and Fleur and their two kids along with Molly and Arthur. Just Percy, Audrey and their oldest missing. Only. Harry reminded himself. Ginny had told him about them expecting again, but it hadn't been announced yet.
They all said hello and Molly gave him a hug. The kitchen was bursting with people before he got there, but it seemed Harry was the last straw before Molly kicked them all outside. Victoire ran past him followed quickly by a bumbling Domonique after her big sister.
Ron and Hermione didn't waste much time in pulling him aside for a private conversation. He'd been dreading it. There was no way Hermione would let something like this go. Ron he could convince to let it be and let Ginny make her own decisions. Hermione would not be talked down.
"We have to at least test the waters." Hermione argued. "Maybe if we just see what their reactions are to her name, then you two can let her know if they are receptive to the idea of her coming back into their lives."
"I don't know." Ron worried. "She didn't say anything about wanting to get in touch with them…"
"Then why don't we just bring her up in a round about way? Like, ask Molly what she'd done with her room?" Hermione conspired.
"Yeah. Yeah. Good idea." Ron agreed.
Harry gave no input. He was wholly uncomfortable with making any kind of decision about this, but he was dying to know what the reaction from the family would be.
He and Ron got pulled into a pick-up game of Quidditch while Hermione joined Fleur and Audrey in the kitchen for prep. The game had been very tame as Fred had Victoire on his broom and George had Dominique. Ron offered to let Percy's daughter Molly on his, but she turned up her nose. Percy and Audrey were nice enough people, but still gave Harry the impression of his Aunt Petunia with how uptight they were. And their air of thinking themselves slightly 'better than'. Young Molly had clearly learned to impersonate that. It was too bad to. He could only imagine her going to Hogwarts with all of her cousins and being the only Weasley on the 'outs' just like Percy had been.
They were all called down to the table in the garden and started passing around plates of food. He was trying to remain calm on the outside as he waited for Hermione to say something.
Percy mad an announcement first. "Everyone." He stood up to get all of their attention. "We have some exciting news."
"You're getting married!" Fred gushed.
"You're going to be Minister of Magic!" George added happily.
"Did you finally pass that bill on cauldron thickness?" Fred asked.
"Shush." Percy glared at them. "Audrey and I are expecting again."
"Oh!" Molly jumped up from her spot at the head of the table and rushed over to them, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. Everyone else smiled and clapped. The fifth of that generation was exciting, but not nearly as much as Victoire's announcement had been.
Once Molly sat down again, Hermione turned to her. "Did you ever turn Ginny's room into a nursery?"
There was a noticeable pause in everyone's activity. Harry paid special attention to Molly. There was a flash of something there in her eyes before she bristled slightly and blinked whatever emotion had just surfaced away.
"Nursery?"
Hermione didn't show any alternative objective in her face at the question. "Well, all the grandkids, I was just curious. Hers was the closest to the main floor. I thought you might have changed it around for nap rooms for the little ones."
Arthur shifted a bit uncomfortable. "We haven't." He answered for his wife. "Haven't been in that room in a few years."
Fred picked up on his parents discomfort at the subject of Ginny and started telling a story of a kid who made an all too obvious show of trying to steal from their shop. He and George took a page from Hermione's book and had 'sneak' branded on the kids forehead temporarily, making sure his parents knew who put it there and why.
"Did you get your wards re-done?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, but it's weird. Looks like someone might have tampered with the last one." George told them. Ron gave Harry a look.
"Don't know why someone would be messing about with that." Fred picked up. "Maybe Zonko's is trying to make a come back and get us in some trouble with our neighbors."
George shook his head. "Don't know what he would want to do that for. If he was hard up for cash 'e could've just taken the job offer we gave him when we took over the Hogsmeade business." They laughed.
Truthfully the owner of Zonko's was all too happy to sell to them. Forty years of snotty Hogwarts kids and none of his own to take over for him. Harry knew that Bilton Bilmes was ready to hang up his never ending sleeve scarves. He and Ron couldn't tell the twins what had actually happened though.
The lunch carried on and Hermione didn't bring up Ginny again. Bill did though. As soon as Molly and Arthur left the table to go and grab the pudding.
"What did you have to mention her name for?" He asked his sister-in-law.
"I just asked about her room."
"Mum and Dad might not mention it, but they are obviously still gutted about losing their only daughter. They've just had over a decade of hiding it."
Hermione's brow furrowed. "What would happen if she were back suddenly?" She asked in a tentative manner.
Bill, Percy and the twins stared at her intently.
"What do you know?" Percy asked, his eyes boring into hers.
"Well, I mean. Gone seven years with no contact, save for wedding presents she sent, I just… What if she came back? I'm truly curious to know how you would all react."
"To start with, we'd demand to know why she was so awful to us all the second she got to Hogwarts." Percy started incredulously.
"Have you any idea how much of a breakdown Mum had those first few Christmases when her jumper would be returned to her completely destroyed?" Bill asked.
Harry started at that. The first few Christmases? The first one he understood, but the second? Ginny wouldn't have done that.
Molly and Arthur came back out of the kitchen. Molly's eyes were a little red, Arthur's face was set. Everyone got a little overly enthusiastic about the pudding then. What every one of the adults had forgotten, was that the thing about kids was that they didn't quite have the understanding, or decorum that came with age.
Victoire hopped down from her chair and went to give her grandmum a hug. "Are you still debistated over the destroyed jumpers?" She asked Molly.
Everyone winced.
Molly looked confused at her eldest grandchild a moment, then understanding dawned as she took in the expressions on all of the others at the table. She looked back down at Victoire and cupped her cheek, giving her a kiss on the forehead before she stood again and went back into the house.
"Why?" Was the only question Arthur had for the table. He looked quite angry at the lot of them.
"It's my fault." Hermione fessed up. "I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if, if Ginny came back."
"As in, if she showed up tomorrow and had a very good reason for breaking her mothers heart? For being so horrible to her brothers at school. For prostituting herself out to buy clothes. For attacking Ron unprovoked and nearly burning down the house. Or how about for not speaking to any of us after the Battle of Hogwarts, and then running away?" He demanded angrily.
Hermione was almost in tears. Arthur had never spoken to her like that, in that tone, before. "Yes Hermione. If she had a good excuse for any of that, then I would love it if she would show-up and fill us in." He spat before he rose from his chair and went into the house after his wife.
They all sat there in silence for a few minutes. Victoire had wandered back over to her mother. Harry didn't know all of the answers to what the reasons had been, but he knew that there must have been ones. He knew for damn sure she'd never prostituted herself out.
"I think I should go." Hermione stood up and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry." She told the table and looked back at the house. "I'll apologize to them a little later, once they've-" She swallowed and didn't finish her sentence. Ron stood too.
"I'll go with you." Harry also stood up. Fleur and Audrey jumped up to start celaring the dishes, pulling Victoire in to help too so the remaining Weasley boys could talk. The Golden Trio walked silently up the path past the Anti-Apparation wards.
"Back to ours?" Ron offered. Harry nodded. His other option would be to go to his empty flat and hope that Ginny would appear at some point.
Ron went to the kitchen as soon as they got to their flat and grabbed two beers and poured Hermione a glass of wine.
"That went terribly." Hermione said accepting the glass. Ron and Harry just nodded and sank into the sofa. "Do you know?" She asked. The two Auror's looked up from the bottles clutched in their hands. "Why she did those things? I mean, we all know what she's been doing since she left school. But what she did during."
"The prostitution thing was, was." Ron stuttered.
"I know how it started." Hermione told her husband, who was having trouble finding his words. "Before our fifth year, when I was staying in Ginny's room during a visit, your mum found some, well, some rather nice undergarments of hers in the laundry. She made some accusations right to Ginny's face. She just took it. After your mum left I asked why she didn't defend herself. She just shrugged and asked what the point would be."
"She could have done a few things to pay for them. That was just after the Triwizard Tournament." Harry said. "Could have won a bet or something. That's how the twins started their financing." At that thought he realized, if it were the case, that it meant she would have bet he'd win. That warmed him slightly, and he tried to keep the small smile off his face that was fighting it's way on.
"That bit about her attacking me." Ron said. "I've been going over it again and again since I found out she- you know. And I remembered it was after we'd been at Order Headquarters for a few weeks." He turned to Harry. "You'd just come to stay with us for the rest of the summer, and so we went back to the Burrow. Ginny had been at the Burrow for a while by herself. I could have just startled her when I went into the kitchen. She'd been, I don't know, cleaning or something."
"And almost burning down the kitchen? You think that was an accident too?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I know the inside of the kitchen was well cleaner than it usually was."
Harry remembered that day too, it was when he'd seen her knickers in the pond. The day his little crush on her went to a whole new level. "The jumpers though." He started. "If she was getting bullied by her roommates. Do you think that it might have actually been their doing? Just to torture her a bit, make it look like she had no presents Christmas morning?" He asked his two best mates.
They both thought on it. "She really didn't have any friends in school, did she." Hermione said sadly.
"We don't know if she has any now either." Ron pointed out.
Harry bit his tongue then. He knew she had friends. A lot of them. Good one's too. Bridgett seemed like she'd take a bullet for her, and the one's she'd met in all of her travels must have like her plenty to teach her all of the activities in their off time that they had. It had sounded like she had more true friends than the three of them combined.
What all of this discussion had boiled down to was that if she was able to tell her family what had happened, they'd be overjoyed to take her back into their lives. That was a big 'if'. He'd been the first person she'd told about the Diary.
Harry finished off his beer and left to go to his place. It had been awkward to think of a way to approach Ginny's family about their feelings in regard to her, it was even more awkward to try and broach the subject with Ginny. How would she react if she knew what had happened at lunch? Would she even tell him the answers to those questions her father had brought up?
Harry wandered aimlessly around his apartment for a few hours, trying to distract himself from anything and everything before he just got too restless and headed for the gym at the DMLE.
Auror Hall was the only other using it at the time. They locked eyes for only a second, then studiously ignored each other until Hall left.
He ran, lifted weights, threw hexes and curses at the practice dummy. He was still a little agitated after he'd showered.
Going back to his flat did not seem appealing. It was close to dinner time now, he decided to just give up and try his chances by heading to Ginny's flat. If she wasn't there, maybe he could find out from Bridgette where she might be.
Standing outside her flat, he ran the buzzer. He noticed a head pop out of a window above him, but they pulled back by the time he looked up and then the door buzzed open. Harry went in and climbed the stairs, finding the door to the flat propped open, so he let himself in.
"Heyya." He heard in the direction of the sitting room.
"Hey." He walked in.
Bridgette and Chantal were the only two there. They were wearing bath robes and had mirrors and make-up kits spread all over the table.
"Going out tonight?" He asked.
"Working." Bridgette smiled. "Ginny isn't here."
"Ah." He said, standing awkwardly at the door. "I. We didn't actually discuss a plan to meet up after my thing today. I thought I'd just- check." Bridgette and Chantal smirked at his discomfort. Bridgette then pulled out her mobile and started punching in numbers. "Oh! You don't have to-" He started.
She held up her hand to stop him talking. "Hey babe. You coming back before we head out later?" She hummed and nodded as she listened. "No. It's just that there's this dashing man here for you looking rather adorable." Harry damned himself for blushing. "Ginny?" She paused, apparently Ginny hadn't responded. "Okay." She nodded. "Alright, bye." Bridgett clicked off her phone and stared at it a moment before turning to him. "She'll be along shortly." She told him, looking less amused than she had before the call.
Chantal looked back and forth between the two of them. "You like her right?"
Harry was surprised by the question. "Yes. Of course."
"How much?" Bridgett narrowed her eyes at him.
Harry's shoulders sagged and he took up on their day bed that they had in lieu of a sofa. "Way more than I probably should, considering." He replied glumly.
"Considering she's to be off again in about a week?" Chantal asked him. He nodded. "She told you where she'd going once her papers come through?"
He suppressed the confusion brought about at the mention of 'papers'. She would have had to give them a Muggle reason for coming back to her homeland for only a month. She shook his head 'no.' "New Zealand again probably."
"She really likes you too you know. That much was obvious from her expression this morning."
He brightened up at that. "Really?"
They both grinned at him. "She was just shy of gushing about your date in Brighton yesterday." That warmed him considerably. The girls switched to talking about pop culture that he couldn't follow, and he picked up a Metro paper to keep him occupied.
Ginny arrived about twenty minutes after Bridgette's call. She said hello to the girls, pausing to throw Harry a weary look and moved on to put some groceries on the small kitchen counter before coming back to stand in front of Harry. Her face was fairly devoid of emotion. She held her hand out to pull him off the day bed. He took it and she pulled him into her bedroom, closing the door.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly. "Should I not have come here?" He worried. Bridgette had clearly thought something was off.
Her eyes went wide. "No. No, sorry. I'm just being weird." She sighed and climbed on the bed. "It's just that- I imagine Hermione or Ron would have said something about me at lunch to everyone, and I do and don't want to hear about it."
Harry sagged with relief, grateful it wasn't something to do with what was between the two of them. "Oh good. I mean, not good. But."
She smiled at him then. "You know. Sometimes I think war is just so much easier than relationships." She chuckled morosely. "I certainly have more experience with war."
"It is much more straight forward." He flopped down on the bed beside her. They both lay on their backs on the bed, feet hanging over the side. He turned to look at her. "Do you want me to be straight forward about it?"
She sighed. "After Bridgette and Chantal leave." She decided.
He felt a little more relief. The knot he hadn't noticed building up in his stomach had lessened and he let out his own sigh. "Did you say relationship?" He smiled in spite of himself.
She rolled on her side to face him with an amused expression. "That is the best way to define this."
He leaned over and kissed her in response. "Dinner plans?" He asked her.
"I did just pick up groceries." She got up off the bed. "Making naan bread pizza."
He was already starting to drool at the mention. He followed her out.
"You two good then?" Bridgette asked.
"Don't we look good?" Ginny struck a pose and asked cheekily. The other two laughed.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Bridgette started packing up her various make-up cases with Chantal's help.
"Staying for dinner?" Ginny asked them as she pulled food from her bags on the counter.
"Hell yes!" Chantal said eagerly, she turned to Harry. "She makes the best dishes."
"I know." He grinned. "Naan pizza sounds delicious." Both girls groaned in appreciation.
Ginny set him to work shredding cheese while she got everything else done and the four of them all chatted casually.
Bridgett and Chantal were sharing stories from the brothel that both amused and disgusted Harry. They weren't actually sexual in nature, just of the men's behavior. Right after the meal was finished the girls rushed to get dressed and head out to work while he and Ginny set about cleaning up.
"Chantal said something about you waiting on papers?"
"Oh. Yeah. They think I'm waiting on a passport renewal and travel visa, which Muggles need to move about the world." Harry was impressed. He knew she had a better working knowledge of Muggles than most magical folk he knew, but didn't realize it extended that far. "Don't look too impressed." She laughed. "The first time someone asked me about it when I moved to New Zealand I had no idea what they were on about. Had to learn that much."
"You worked in the Muggle world?"
"For a few months before starting Auror training, then a bit when I was on missions." She rang out the dish cloth and drained the sink and they moved over to the day bed. "Alright. So, hit me with it. What happened at lunch?"
He braced himself and gave it to her straight, like he said he would. "Basically, Hermione said something about your room. Your mum got upset and went into the house with your dad for a minute. Bill and Percy got mad at her, then when your parents came back out, Victoire repeated something Bill said and your mum went back into the house while your dad told Hermione off." He told her all of this quickly and with out meeting her eye.
"I expected Hermione to do something like that really."
"She said she wanted to test the waters."
"And the waters were cold."
"The waters don't know why though." He pointed out. "If they did, they would be warm." He said softly.
She leaned back against the wall and stared off into the middle distance, contemplating. "I tried to tell them you know. After my first year, during the summer. But I couldn't find the words. Them my accidental magic just kept being seen as a sign of angst or rebellion, and I was just… frozen." She sighed. "I tried writing them in my second year too. But it just looked so stupid and far fetched on paper. Eventually I just gave up."
"What about the jumpers?" He asked curiously.
"The jumpers?" She asked confused.
"The Christmas jumpers." He said nudgingly.
"I assumed Tom did something awful my first Christmas at Hogwarts and I never got them after that." She frowned.
Harry shook his head. "Your dad said that 'every Christmas jumper had come back destroyed'. Meaning that they did send you one the following year too, at least. Maybe they stopped somewhere along the line, but they still sent them after your first year."
"I never saw them." Her frown deepened. "Probably my dorm mates." She said sadly. "They all hated me, I would imagine they did that just to be nasty. I didn't manage the Notice-me-not ward on my bed and desk until my fifth year."
He took in her expression and that and it hurt him. She looked resolved in her heart crushing past. It made him so sad on her behalf. "I'm so sorry that I didn't notice."
She looked up at him confused. "How could you have known?"
"I don't know. You had a Horcrux, I had a Horcrux, we were both attracted to each other. I just feel like if I'd paid more attention to you then, that things could have been so much better for you."
"That's sweet Harry, but there is no way you could have known."
"DO you want to have things bridged with your family?" He asked seriously.
She chewed her lip and nodded hesitantly. "My mentor. Well. He's more than my mentor now. He's basically family, his daughters call me Aunt Ginny. Well, he's been bugging me about it for years. He doesn't know the whole story, but I guess he could tell that I miss them a bit." She shook her head. "I wouldn't be surprised to find out he had something to do with Scrimgeour hunting me down to come and give you lot training. There are certainly more experienced Auror's."
"You've been doing a really impressive job so far." He told her. "And you really showed us what a crap job we've been doing when you re-introduced yourself."
She grinned. "Well. Destruction is much easier than keeping the peace."
"Ginny, you stuck a fire cracker in my pocket and set it off, and I didn't even look into it." He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah. You did look adorably grumbled at that too." She tapped his nose.
He leaned down and kissed her nose. "This leads us back to talking about the twins."
"Which leads into all my brothers, which leads to my parents."
"You want to tell them?"
She swallowed hard. "Not tonight."
He nodded. "Didn't think it would be." She took his hand and began absent-mindedly fiddling with his fingers. "What do you want to do right now?"
She looked over at the television. "I want to make popcorn, grab some soda's and watch a movie."
"Sounds great."
So they settled in and watched the Italian Job on the daybed and fell asleep as the credits rolled.