Thanks a lot, to everyone that is following this fanfic and favourited it. My gratitude to Amista, Reader-anonymous-writer, MikeTen, RavenclawGryffindor35, erikablair, Gurgaraneth, wickidzombie, Krix27 and the guests for reviewing it. Your opinion matters a looooooooooooot to me. Looking forward to your feedback.

Harry resisted the urge to gnash his teeth as he sat with Ginny in her car while they drove to London. If he had to listen to one more Justin Beiber song, he was going to jump out of the bloody car or strangle Ginny. It was absolute torment, so he leaned forward and turned off the music,

"Ginny, do you believe in vampires?"

Ginny turned to look at him and beamed,

"I wish they existed. I wouldn't think twice before running off with Edward."

What the actual hell? Harry resisted the urge to groan because this was even worse than Justin Beiber. Ginny gossiped non-stop about twilight and Harry was beginning to regret ever bringing vampires up. He'd been so very wrong that he'd thought that he could have a serious conversation with her. Thank God he had never watched that movie, so he didn't have to say much. Ginny did all the talking and he smiled and chuckled at all the right times.

Convincing his aunt to let him go had been a piece of cake but the trouble had been getting Ginny to get him a two hundred quid voucher for a spa day that included lunch and tea for his aunt. He shivered when he remembered that he was supposed to be giving her a proper kiss today. How was he going to pull that off? He had no idea.

Harry handed her the slip, he'd written down the address on and spoke,

"Could you take me here?"

Ginny looked down at it and pouted,

"You said we were going to have fun first."

Harry reached forward and cupped her cheek,

"I just want to get this out of the way, so we can enjoy the rest of our day."

Ginny nodded dazedly as Harry pulled away his hand and smiled.

Half an hour later, they were parked outside a dilapidated looking building that seemed like it was going to come down any second,

"Wait in the car, I'll be right back."

Ginny looked like she wanted to argue but didn't and Harry ran his finger over her lips,

"Mmmm, I can't wait to taste these."

Ginny's gaze grew unfocused again and Harry whispered,

"Wait right here."

Ginny nodded, and he stepped into the building. The journal hadn't mentioned a flat number so Harry knocked on the first door and a batty old woman with grizzled grey fly away hair wearing a hairnet and tartan carpet slippers answered it,

"Umm…Ma'am, I'm looking for the owner of this building. Could you help me?"

The woman looked him up and down before speaking,

"Arabella Figg. I'm the owner. What do you want?"

Harry cheered inwardly and spoke,

"If you don't mind, I need to ask you some questions."

Mrs. Figg eyed him suspiciously before stepping aside,

"Come inside."

Harry walked into her home and realized that it smelled strongly of cabbage. The living room walls were covered in photographs of cats and Harry realized that if he had any hope of getting information from here then he'd have to use the cats. He didn't despise animals, but he just didn't enjoy cuddling with them either. He wasn't a people's person and he wasn't an animal person, but he had the ability to draw them both in and for some reason they trusted him as well,

"Were these all yours?"

Mrs Figg smiled pleasantly as she ushered him to the couch. Harry noticed that it was covered in cat hair and soon enough he saw an odd-looking cat trot into the room. It had spotted fur, outsized ears and a plumed tail like that of a lion's. Mrs Figg picked it up and scratched it behind the ear,

"This is Mr. Tibbles."

Harry looked at the purring cat before hesitantly reaching forward. The cat instantly leapt into his arms and nuzzled its head in his chest as he ran his fingers through its soft coat,

"He's gorgeous."

Mrs. Figg sat down beside him and spoke,

"Yes, he is, and he doesn't take too kindly to strangers. It's odd that he's so comfortable with you."

He scratched the cat under the chin and Mr. Tibbles gave another pleased purr. Mrs. Figg looked absolutely exuberant and spoke,

"So, you wanted to ask me some questions?"

Harry nodded and got out his notebook and pen with his free hand,

"Yes, a Merope Gaunt used to lived here with her husband Tom Riddle, many years ago."

Mrs. Figg frowned and spoke,

"I don't recall her."

Harry looked around the apartment hoping against hope that this wasn't a dead end. He stroked the cat's cheeks as he waited for Mrs. Figg to recall something, anything. Finally, she spoke,

"My father used to maintain registers for all the tenants. I could check that. Maybe that would jog my memory."

Harry grinned. There was hope yet. Mrs. Figg left to check the registers while he waited on the couch. His phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out to see that it was Ginny,

"Just ten more minutes, babe. I know you're tired of waiting but I need to get this done."

Ginny mumbled okay before disconnecting the call. He could tell that she was getting irritated and that wasn't going to bode well for him at all. He'd have to put in extra effort to cheer her up and that just sucked for him.

In the time, Mrs. Figg was checking the registers, Harry met her other three cats and he couldn't say that he was pleased when they crowded around him and he had to pet all of them. Sometimes he considered it a curse because once when he'd been six, a garden snake had come slithering to him and he had wrapped it effortlessly around his arm and showed it to Dursley. That had been a mistake because his uncle had killed the poor thing and then beaten him unconscious. Mrs. Figg came back into the room and Harry shook away his thoughts. She was holding a thick dust covered book in her hand and thumbed through it to a specific page before showing it to him. Harry looked at the name and the year and it fit,

"I remember the poor woman. I was just a child then but I remember how miserable she was. Her husband left her right when she needed him the most."

She settled down on the couch beside him and Harry spoke,

"Was she really pregnant?"

Mrs. Figg looked at him and asked,

"How do you know that?"

Harry picked up his notebook and spoke,

"I'm working on a research paper. Her husband claimed that she had been lying to him."

Mrs. Figg frowned and then spoke,

"Yes, their last fight was particularly violent. The whole building heard him shouting about black magic."

Harry pursed his lips and tapped his pen on his thigh,

"Was that true? Did she seem the type to practice black magic?"

Mrs. Figg shook her head,

"Everyone thought so, but I didn't think it was true. If she'd known how to practice black magic, then she wouldn't have been as miserable as she was. She would have used it to pay the rent, get food and take care of her unborn child."

Harry chewed on his lower lip as he contemplated that and then asked,

"Was she beautiful?"

Mrs. Figg shook her head at that,

"She wasn't beautiful. In fact, when she first moved here with her husband, everyone gossiped about how someone as plain looking as her could get such a handsome and loving husband."

Harry noted that down before asking,

"Did she have her baby then?"

Mrs. Figg pulled a cat into her lap and spoke,

"I don't know. She couldn't pay the rent, so my father had no choice but to evict her."

Harry stroked Mr. Tibble's behind the ear and asked,

"Do you know where she went?"

Mrs. Figg rose to her feet and spoke,

"My father was not a cruel man. He left her at the orphanage a couple of blocks from here."

Harry instantly brightened up at that,

"An orphanage?"

Mrs. Figg nodded and Harry pulled the cat out of his lap and sat it down on the floor carefully before getting up,

"Do you remember the name? Is it still there?"

Mrs. Figg smiled softly,

"Of course. Wool's orphanage. I'm friends with the daughter of the woman who originally founded it."

Harry grinned, took her hand and kissed it,

"Could you take me there and introduce me to her? I'd be eternally grateful to you."

She smiled and patted him on the cheek,

"Of course, but you never told me your name, Son."

Harry's grin widened,

"Harry…Harry Potter."

She smiled and spoke,

"Well, Harry, my knees don't have the strength to walk. Did you bring a car?"

Harry nodded and spoke,

"Yes, just come with me."

She went to get her bag and feed the cats and Harry pulled out his phone. Ginny's car was a two-seater, so he'd have to walk but he was fine with that as long as he got the answers he'd come here for. Ginny picked up on the first ring and spoke,

"Where the hell are you, Harry?"

She was angry and that definitely wasn't a good sign. He'd have to calm her down because she was her ticket back and he couldn't afford to antagonize her at this point,

"I'm on my way."

Once Mrs. Figg was ready to go, Harry led her outside to the car and she gasped,

"That's a beautiful car, Harry."

Ginny was glaring at him and Harry tried to placate her with his eyes, but it wasn't working. He opened the passenger side door for her and seated her,

"Is this your girlfriend, Harry?"

Harry nodded and smiled at Ginny,

"She's gorgeous, isn't she?"

Mrs Figg reached out and patted Ginny on the cheek,

"Yes, she's very beautiful."

Some of Ginny's anger melted away but most of it remained. Harry closed the door and walked to Ginny's side,

"Could you step out for a bit?"

Ginny stepped out of the car and hissed,

"Who the hell is she and what the hell is she doing in my car?"

Harry held her shoulders, drew in a deep breath and kissed her. Ginny moaned against his mouth before tangling her fingers in his hair painfully and taking control of it, just like she loved taking control of everything about him. Even the clothes he was wearing today had been picked out by her. He could only describe the kiss as sloppy and wet. He'd rather have snogged Mr. Tibbles. Her tongue had been something like a muscular eel worming its way into his mouth and when they finally pulled apart he had to fight the urge to wipe her thick saliva from around his lips.

It took everything he had in him to smile and fake how much he had enjoyed that. Ginny seemed utterly pleased though, so mission accomplished. He explained who Mrs Figg was and why she was in her car and Ginny accepted it all readily when he promised to kiss her again after he was done. Ginny blew him another kiss after she got into the driver's side and Harry waved them goodbye. As soon as they were out of sight. Harry pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his mouth with it vigorously before starting off on foot after them.