The rest of the weekend was spent playing exploding snap on a picnic blanket outside the Burrow in the sun, playing two-aside Quidditch, or helping mom prepare meals as she was in no state to cook given the circumstances surrounding Percy. Ginny was currently playing a game of wizards chess against Harry. Hermione and Ron had gone off for a walk in the forest to have some alone time.
Ginny finally won by blocking Harry's king with a castle and a knight. Her castle swooped sideways and physically crushed Harry's king. This caused her to smirk a little at his disappointed expression, "I suppose I'll never beat a Weasley at chess," he sighed. Ginny rolled her eyes, "Hey, don't be such a bad loser. You're better at so many other things." Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah like what? Not getting myself killed?" She stared at him distastefully, "What's gotten your wand in a knot? There's no need to be so brash. Aren't you glad you're alive?!" Ginny couldn't stand it when he got all moody with her. It was like he didn't appreciate the fact that they could potentially actually have a future together. He muttered under his breath, "Of course I'm happy I'm alive! But I still feel dead inside." This caused Ginny to raise her eyebrows, "But you have so much to live for! You've got me, and you've got Teddy and the rest of my family who adore you. Are you going to stay stuck in the past forever?" she asked suddenly. He watched her through semi-dazed eyes, "It's a lot easier than moving on." Ginny shook her head and muttered, "Well, then I guess I'm not good enough for you, if you're stuck in the past." Harry's head shot up then, and he replied forcefully, "No! Don't ever think that!" She couldn't look at him as she stared at the broken chess pieces, "Well what must I think, Harry? I know it's hard and we're all hurting. I miss Tonks so much. It was like losing a sister for me. And yet, I'm still here and living in the present moment every day. So tell me, why is it so hard for you to do the same?"
He seemed flummoxed by her statements and he had to pause before he could form a coherent thought, "You're right. I'm being silly. I do appreciate you all so much. I don't want you to ever think otherwise." This made her smile and lean forward over the chess board, "I don't. But I don't like to see you moping." He forced a smile and leant closer, "I know. Thank you," he whispered before kissing her lips softly. She kissed him back and it was the most romantic and intimate they had been in a while- out in the open with no-one around to watch them. She found a shiver going down her spine and then she felt her heart racing. Harry was just perfect. She loved him for who he was. And then a scary alarm bell went off in her head: loved him?! Wasn't it too early for that?! They had only just reconciled and begun dating again. She couldn't possibly love him already, could she?!
Her thoughts were interrupted, and so was the sweet, gentle, longing kiss when Ron cleared his throat. She turned to find her elder brother and Hermione had come back from their own snog-a-thon and he was watching Harry reproachfully, "Hey mate." He was merely announcing their presence, because he didn't seem too angry. Maybe Hermione was making him see reason. If anyone could, it would be her, Ginny thought smugly. Harry glanced up slightly irritably at Ron, "Hey Ron. Where did you two go off to?" Ron blushed heavily, and Hermione shrugged, "Just a bit of a walk around the stream. Thinking of a way to go and find my parents. I think I'm going to have to book a flight to Australia today. Ron and I are going to the airport to book them." Ginny raised her eyebrows, "Them? You mean, you're both going?!" Ron nodded and he replied, "I will go with Hermione for the next week to search for clues as to their location," she said with a groan, sitting down on the rug, "I haven't a clue where to start, apart from Australia!" Ginny frowned, "Why Australia?" Hermione smiled bleakly, "Because I told them it was there dearest ambition to go and live in Australia. So they did that." Ginny sighed and whispered genuinely, "I'm sorry Hermione. I can only imagine how hard it is for you. So you're coming to the castle on Monday to speak to Kingsley about it?" She nodded swiftly, "Yeah, and then I'll come home to pack. And leave on Tuesday morning."
There was a silence that settled over the group and finally Ron said, "We also have to ask Kingsley about lifting their memories. We don't know a spell that can do that." Hermione looked like she was about to cry, and Ron took her in his arms, "You don't know of one, do you Harry? Dumbledore never mentioned anything?" Harry shook his head glumly, "No, I'm sorry Hermione. I wish I could be more helpful." She sniffed a little and murmured, "It's alright, thanks Harry. It's just hard knowing they may not know who I am." Ron rubbed her back affectionately and it made Ginny smile to see how compassionate he was being towards Hermione. He was rarely like that with anyone else. Not even with Lavender. He must really, really love her.
Ginny said quickly, trying to create an aversion so they could all be distracted, "Hey, how about a game of exploding snap, since we're all here now?" Ron nodded eagerly, "Sounds grand! Who beat who in chess?" Ginny couldn't help but smirk, "That would be me beating Harry!" This caused Ron to chuckle and he held out his hand for a high five, "Well done, sister. Weasley's dominate as usual." Ginny grinned at him, "Yeah! Of course. Keeping up the tradition." She winked at Harry and took his hand in hers so that he didn't get all broody over it. He smiled back thankfully.
Ron asked everyone, "So what is the plan for today?" Ginny suddenly remembered a conversation she had had yesterday and turned to Harry, "I almost forgot! I said to Andromeda that we'd babysit Teddy. She sent me a letter via owl. She just has a dinner with some friend of hers tonight and she said it won't be long, if that's ok with us. She will even pay us." Harry starting grinning from ear to ear, "Of course she doesn't need to pay us! We're not professional babysitters! And I'd love to see Teddy. It has been a while." Ginny laughed at his enthusiasm, "Only a few days, love. But I'm glad you're so on board." He nodded eagerly, and he asked, "What time?" Ginny replied quickly, "She said seven. So after dinner we can head over." Harry nodded happily, "Sounds good! What should we do for the rest of the day? It feels weird to have so much freedom…"
Ginny shrugged, and Hermione replied, "I guess we better go and get lunch started. Your mum isn't in a state to be cooking." Ginny nodded morosely, "I'm worried about her. She hasn't left her room except to go to the bathroom." Harry took her hand in his again, "We need to give her time, Gin. After all, her biggest fear was losing one of you. And the reality will take a while to sink in." Ginny sighed and scooched so that she was closer to Harry, "I know. It's going to be extra hard because Percy was an asshole the last few years." Ron scoffed, "Percy was always an asshole, even before he left us." Ginny glared at him, "No need to be so rude, Ron!" she chided him. Ron rolled his eyes and muttered, "Come on, we better go in and start making lunch." They all cleared up their things and went inside.
XXXXXXXXX
Once dinner finished, Ginny and Harry excused themselves so that they could go and leave for Andromeda's. They walked to the end of the garden, hand in hand. There were still protective enchantments surrounding the property, just in case any Death Eaters came knocking. But once they were outside the enchantments, Harry apparated them and they were off.
Ginny side-alonged because she had not learnt how to properly apparate yet. No-one had bothered teaching them last year, so there was no way she could have learnt anyway. She hated the sensation of feeling like she was being squeezed in and out of a tube though. When they landed outside the ornate little cottage, she sighed in relief at being on stable land again.
They walked straight forward and knocked on the door. Andromeda opened it and smiled brightly at them, "Harry! Ginny! So good you're here. Thank you so much for coming. I'll show you where everything is." She bustled in and waved them over to the fridge, "This is where I keep his milk. You feed him most of the bottle before going to sleep please. And this…" She maneuvered over to Teddy's room and they hurried after her. She had a surprising amount of energy for someone her age, "This is where I keep his nappies. Do either of you know how to change a nappy?" They shook their heads but Ginny smiled, "No, but I'm sure it won't be that hard."
Andromeda smiled kindly, "Let me show you how it's done." She went and pulled an awake Teddy out of the crib. He smiled with glee when he saw them and it made Ginny's heart melt. He was so cute. Andromeda showed them the process and Harry looked so stunned that Ginny had to laugh. She watched intently, knowing that he would probably forget anything he was watching when he actually needed to use it.
When Andromeda finished, she handed Teddy to Harry, who took him with outstretched arms. Harry holding a baby looked too good to be true. She wanted to have his children one day, that was for sure! Ginny then shook her head thoroughly to rid herself of such silly thoughts. Andromeda asked worriedly, "Are you ok, dear? Something upset you?" Ginny smiled sweetly and laughed, "No, no everything is fine thanks Andromeda. Just thinking to myself that's all." She thought, 'How amazing it would be if Harry and I ended up married'…. Damnit! Thoughts, shut up!
Harry turned raised his eyebrows at her in confusion and asked concernedly, "Everything alright, Gin?" Ginny nodded distractedly and blinked. Andromeda said, "You can take a nap if you need to, Ginny. As long as one of you is minding Teddy, I don't mind." Ginny said insistently, "I'm fine, thanks! I'm happy to look after Teddy! I want you to have a nice time!" Andromeda nodded nervously, "Alright then. I'm going to grab my bag. I'll see you two in about three hours, alright?" Harry nodded, still holding and admiring Teddy, "Sure! And don't rush back!" Andromeda chuckled a little and then hurried out.
She turned to see Harry smiling broadly at Teddy, "Hey little one. I've missed you!" Teddy laughed loudly at Harry and grabbed his hand to hold on to it. Ginny smiled and suggested, "Should we sit down?" They made their way to the sofa and Harry said happily, "Hey! She has a TV!" Ginny frowned and sat beside him, "A what?" Harry pointed at the big box in front of them, "A TV. Hold him for a sec, will you?" He handed Teddy to Ginny an then went to the big box and found a long, rectangular shaped thing. He pushed a button and then the box sprung to life! I got such a fright that I nearly dropped poor Teddy from my grasp. I yelled, "WHAT on earth?" He chuckled at my reaction, "It's a TV. The Dursley's had about four of them at one stage. I was never allowed to watch of course. That would be too nice."
My mouth was on the floor, and I was probably gaping like an idiot. I was surprised when I turned my gaze to him and he was dying of laughter at my dumbfounded expression. I shook my head at him and he came and leant down, kissing me swiftly on the lips, "Don't worry, I'll tell you what it does." Ginny murmured under her breath, "We better not let dad discover this. He would go mental!" Harry nodded in agreement, "And your mum would never forgive me for showing him the wonders of the tele."
Ginny chuckled and said, "So what does it do?" Harry grinned and said happily, "It lets you watch movies, TV series, you can play games on it sometimes. It's one of the best muggle inventions ever, to sum it up. Want me to show you?" She nodded, intrigued and Harry changed the channels. Ginny started in surprise as whatever it was they were watching, changed and something else was on. Harry grinned at her, "So you can also change what you want to watch. Not everyone likes crime, you know." Ginny stared at the TV in amazement. She was truly gob smacked -possibly for the first time in her life-by a muggle invention. Harry flicked to a British…what had he called it? A channel…and they began watching a show where four people hosted each other for dinner in order to win a 1000 pound prize. I loved the commentator…he was too funny and, without warning, I found myself laughing at the box.
Teddy fell asleep in my arms and I rested my head on Harry's shoulder as we watched another episode of Come and Dine with Me. I loved how they all could be really nice to each other sometimes, and others you just had no clue how they were going to score them. When the episode ended I found myself yawning and Harry asked quietly, "Want me to take Teddy?" He hadn't cried this entire time I'd been holding him. I handed him to Harry and murmured, "Thanks. I'm drifting." He chuckled, "I can see," before she rested her head on his shoulder.
When she woke up, she was being hovered over by Harry, who was gently shaking her awake. He smiled sweetly down at her before kissing her cheek, "Gin, it's time to get up. Andromeda's back." Ginny yawned and slowly sat up, "I'm sorry! I didn't think I was so tired. We hardly did anything today!" she exclaimed importantly. Harry chuckled, "Somedays lazy days can also make you tired."
Ginny groaned and shook her head as Andromeda smiled, "Thank you both so much for looking after him. I'm sure there's other things you'd rather be doing than babysitting Teddy on a Saturday night.' Harry shook his head, "Nope. I rather enjoyed that! And Ginny discovered the TV." Andromeda smiled brightly, "Oh really? You've never seen a tele before?" she asked curiously. Ginny sighed, "Well I know dad desperately wants one, but I never knew why until now." Andromeda nodded in amusement, "Well I'm glad you understand your father a little bit more I suppose. Did Teddy behave himself?" Harry nodded enthusiastically, "So well! He's a little character already! I can see he's going to be just like…" he cut off then, not sure if he was allowed to bring up the very sensitive subject of Tonks. Andromeda nodded in agreement, "I think he is a lot like Tonks. She was definitely his mother."
Ginny suddenly felt like she didn't want to be here, discussing Tonks with her mother. She hadn't allowed herself to think about one of her best friends yet, and she had avoided the conversation at every cut and turn. And she knew Harry mourned Lupin just as much. She sighed and stared avidly at the white carpeted floor, as if it had the most intricate design on it.
Andromeda handed Harry and Ginny a wad of cash, "Thank you so much you too, again!" I was already shaking my head before she could give it to us, as was Harry, "No, thank you Andromeda. It's really not necessary. I'm happy to do this for free and whenever you need me." Ginny nodded in agreement, "It's very generous of you, but we are Teddy's godparents and I want to play an active role in his life." Andromeda gave them a grateful smile, "Thank you, again my dears. I hope you have a safe journey back to the Burrow. I'll see you soon, hopefully!" Ginny and Harry nodded in unison, "Definitely!" Harry replied at the same time that Ginny said, "Absolutely!" They turned and grinned at each other and then they bid her goodbye.