Chapter Twenty One
"Have you ever felt, Ron, that you are treated like a small kid?"
Ron shot a meaningful glance above his Butterbeer glass. "It is kinda hard to avoid such treatment being married to Hermione."
"And you find it fair? I mean we are grownup men with established careers and formed characters. But Ginny still-"
"And I thought, Harry, you missed my companionship during your time in Italy, but of course, it is always about Ginny!" Ron weaned with his hand on his heart in mock offence.
"But, Ron! I don't know who to talk to! She totally ignores me, I live in the staff quarters on the ground floor, I don't even eat at the same table as her! She treats me like some employed worker, it's so degrading!"
"But you are her employee, Harry. You are one of the coaches, that's all there is."
"Don't forget that I am also part of the family."
"Now you are playing this card! But Archie is in Hogwarts, he is out of your jurisdiction, so to say. By the way, how is your coaching going? Rose told me that Veronica told her that you told Veronica that the team was in pretty good shape and the Junior Cup was not a hopeless dream the upcoming summer."
"Well, all that I can say, that those kids are maniacs. They go to the pitch at 5 a.m. to do laps, all who can control the broom more or less, not only the team members. There are charmed sparkling lines for the beginners, you know, like at muggle car races. It is like thirty children in the air at the same time, and they never collide."
"Quite impressive."
"Well, when Sandra did thirty laps from top to bottom in ten minutes, I was truly impressed. And she is a model, who doesn't even think about having a sport career."
"Well, she can do both."
"Squibs are not qualified. There are not qualified to do anything magical actually, maybe only paperwork. I made inquiries."
"Really? Why such interest, Harry?"
"As I am saying, Ron, they work like maniacs. After the morning exercise they go to muggle school. Upon returning we are having a two hour practice two times a week and now, in spring, every day because of the championship. After practice there is eating time followed by extracurricular activities, then homework and individual training. Additionally they find time to socialize mostly with muggle friends from school. And with all this studying and training they have absolutely no future in the magical world. Sandra is finishing school next year and is planning to apply to muggle university to be a fashion designer. It is just so unfair."
"Well, Harry, they were born this way. There is no possibility to change that. Thankfully to the orphanage they were given an opportunity for a secure even if a muggle future. I see, you've got quite attached to those kids, Harry."
"It is hard not too, if there are dozens of them running around all the time. I do babysit during the time there is no training. I don't have any problems with them, I am even thinking about adopting another one."
"Really, Harry? That's a very serious step," Ron warned his friend, even if he was happy for him. Harry was still awkward around Veronica. All things considered, Harry was not the best father figure for his adopted daughter. Ron was glad that working in the orphanage helped him to develop his parenting skills. Ron only hoped that Harry didn't want to adopt another kid because he was feeling lonely once again, because Veronica was in Hogwarts most of the time.
"I've taken it once already. If only Ginny…"
"Ginny opposes?"
"No! How to make you understand, Ron… She acts as if she doesn't see me. I took me several months to catch her just to ask to have a drink in the evening! She declined, very politely, saying she has a meeting with the Head of Culture Department of the Italian MoM. Well, obviously, my invitation is inferior to that. I tried again and again, even to put a date in advance – nothing worked. She is avoiding me as if I don't exist at all! I even submit my reports via owlpost and receive resolutions the same way.
I want a real family, Ron, and I want Ginny to be a part of it. And I am sick of her games. I don't deserve such treatment. I just don't know how to make her see my intentions," Harry confessed, sounding desperate.
"I think that's the point - she knows perfectly well what your intentions are."
"But I am one of her son's uncles, I took this burden upon myself, just to have a reason to be near her!"
"That can be a reason too. Haven't you tried to just… I don't know, sweep her off her feet?"
"That's hardly possible, if she receives at least six bunches of flowers every day from the so called 'admirers', not to mention presents, invitations to dinners and balls, which she partly accepts, if it is in the interests of the orphanage, as she puts it. I've never felt so small in my life!"
"Yeah, I know the feeling…" Ron drawled, watching as a young man in an expensive looking robe, obviously a banker or a lawyer, passed through the Leaky Cauldron and hurried towards the entrance to the Diagonal Alley. When Harry wrote to him from Italy to meet him some place for a chat, Ron hoped it would be just a lazy talk between buddies with Butterbeer and old good memories. Yes, Ron hoped, but he knew that sooner or later the subject of his sister would be thrown into discussion. And Ron just couldn't do anything about it. Either about stopping it to be brought up all together or about solving the problem.
"What do you mean, Ron? Are you talking about Hermione again?"
"Merlin, no! What I am talking about, is that even if we are still friends we live in different worlds. You are someone whose name knows anyone who has magic in his veins. You need only to say a word and you will have your own Quiddich Team. You are what they call a celebrity and you will always be one. And don't even start to defend yourself," Ron said, noticing Harry preparing to protest. "This is the truth of life. When I attend the Ministry Ball every year, I feel more than out of place. Yes, I did things in my life that could be equaled to heroic deeds, but now I am just an ordinary family man who only thinks about bringing up his children."
"I wish I could've traded places with you, Ron."
"I know," Ron replied with satisfied smirk. "But back to the topic. Last year when Ginny entered the Ministry ballroom I understood one very scary thing – my little sister had grown up and I didn't know a thing about her. She went through the whole room, head held high, no doubt hearing the comments and insults thrown her way. But she was above all that, and frankly speaking, I felt she was far above all of us there. And at that moment I felt really small, as if coming in contact with something unearthly. I just couldn't understand what was happening to me, I tried to convince myself that she was my sister, just my sister whom I grew up with. And yet she was the same sister who became a spy, went to the other side, fell in love with the most dangerous man of the time and gave birth to his son. And she is proud of it.
She flies too high for you, Harry. Yes, you are a man to be recalled with, but believe me, I work in the Ministry, I know what the world of politics is, and she holds it in her beautiful hands quite tightly. No doubt the son will successfully succeed."
"I didn't expect to hear such things from you, Ron," Harry remarked with a deep frown. "For you to degrade me so."
"I am just saying, that people who have power to move the world around don't have place for love and romance in their lives. They are different. And if you think deeply about it, you realize you belong to them too, Harry."
………………
"Let's get this over with, Hermione. Tell me what you want about Harry and then we can continue our pleasant conversation on the veranda of this marvelous restaurant. I didn't know they had something so Italian here, in London."
"Why do you think I want to talk about Harry, Ginny?" Hermione asked with expression of pure innocence. "I just wanted to have a cup of coffee with you, gossip, talk about children. Like all women do."
"Booking time two weeks in advance? I highly doubt it, 'Mione. So get on with it, while I am ready to listen."
Good old Hermione. Always knew what strategy to use against her opponent. Hermione Weasley could be everything – loving, caring, fashionable, proud, but nobody could deny her being smart. And Ginny did know that too, so she knew playing games with Hermione was possible only by her rules.
"If you insist..." Hermione gave up with a sigh of mock surrender. "Ron and I have been corresponding with him during his time working for you and in his letters he writes about your... indifferent disposition towards him."
"Why should my disposition be any different?" Ginny asked, sounding not only indifferent but cold. "Yes, we have history, but it doesn't matter to anyone, even to us. He is my employee and the guardian of my son. Yes, Archie used me to seal the deal, and I know he will continue doing it in the future. If my team wins the Junior League cup, the debts will be needed to be paid and I don't have the habit to keep my debts overdue."
"What an atrocity! How can Archie use his own mother like that?! Why does he need Harry so much anyway?"
"Because Archie needs a shield in England, him being with it or on it. England is full of perspective possibilities."
"Still, Ginny, this is too coldhearted. Such usage of people. Don't you have any feelings at all?"
"When having a certain occupation, you accommodate certain skills and attitudes, like it or not."
"But how running an orphanage can-" Hermione stopped suddenly, her face slowly turning white in color.
"Yes, Hermione, the Dark side changed me. I am not proud of it. I've received some skills that I treasure till today, some of my past actions give my nightmares. My view on some things was completely reversed, I gained knowledge that I would have never heard of remaining with my family. The point is, Harry doesn't see or believe in the change I've undergone. Quite a portion of that was Draco's doing, maybe that's why Harry wants so much to 'undo' it."
"The war changed us all, Ginny. Even if you insist on you being different from us, I won't argue that."
"You've seen the wedding ceremony, 'Mione. Draco and I exchanged blood of our ancestors."
"It doesn't mean you can't remarry or have another relationship," Hermione stated, obviously reproachful of Ginny's behavior and ways of covering it.
"There are forty eight men, including Harry, that think the same way. And before you say anything, I am not leading them on. It is their choice to give me presents and invitations to all kind of functions. I favor none of them."
"Except for Archie's uncles."
"They are family."
"It is very convenient, isn't it?"
"It is, but nobody knows about it. They are speculated to be my lovers or suitors by more moderate public. Bringing in a new one, and as the press will dig out on a lightning speed, an old flame will tarnish my reputation quite severely. And in my case any publicity is not good even if it is a bad one. My indifference, as Harry calls it, saves him from a lot of problems. The moment his contract was signed, rumors have been flying around like mad, there is no way I am going to confirm them by showing up with him in a public place. I can't fathom why Harry, being a celebrity himself, can't understand that I cannot be seen with just anybody. My every outing is documented by the press. My public relations manager keeps records of everything where my name is even cursorily mentioned. If I remember right, the story of the breakup of the famous Harry Potter had been run on in the media for four months."
"How do you know?!"
"The echo was that loud, Hermione. It is not for me to choose whom to date or marry. I must keep my reputation clean for my orphanage and kindergarten to run smoothly. I can't change it in a brothel by sleeping with my employees," Ginny put the end to the discussion in a tone of unshakable authority.
"But won't those problems disappear if you marry?"
Yes, Hermione was smart. Ginny already wanted to beat her forehead against the table. She just couldn't weasel out of the 'Harry situation'. She didn't love him! What was there more to say? But no! It was the same fifteen years ago, why couldn't he just leave her alone? He and his overconcerned best friends. "Yes, it would be the best solution. And maybe I will remarry, but only after Archie turns sixteen," Ginny agreed, but it was clear that Harry wasn't going to be the lucky guy.
"Why exactly this age? He will still be finishing his education."
"Archie will become the head of the family and fully inherit his father's legacy. With that he will partly take over the orphanage thus accepting some of my responsibilities. With such way of things I can let myself attend to my personal life."
"Harry told me that your rejected all the proposals made by Archie's uncles. Will your husband be one of them?"
"Probably," Ginny answered with a wry smile.
"Who then?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"I don't know them that well."
"Try to guess, basing your choice on your current knowledge. You are a professional in such things, 'Mione."
"Zabini?"
"No, he has a family of his own and I am quite close to finding a mistress to his villa."
"Orwell?"
"He proposed because of his obligation to Draco. Frances suffered a tragedy during the war. His school sweetheart whom he was about to marry fell an accident victim of a Death Eater attack. She was visiting her English relatives – happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. That loss shattered France's heart to emendable pieces. Just as my husband's death did to mine. Even with similar experiences our relationship will be torture, especially for him."
"So that's why he always has such deep pain in his eyes," Hermione noted with pity for the young blond.
"What is your next choice, Hermione?"
"I don't know. There is not many to choose from. Others are too…"
"I've almost married one of them, you know. We had the papers ready, I only needed to sign them, but my hand stopped at the last moment. Frankly speaking, I simply chickened out. Archie was about to start Hogwarts and I was so afraid of his reception by others and… well, I am really thankful to Vlad that he didn't leave me after such humiliation."
"Vlad? You almost married Dubrovsky?!"
"Yes, what's so strange about it? He is handsome, intelligent, financially secure, a master of diplomacy, not to mention a brilliant dancer, and he cares about Archie as his own son and truly loves me. Did he tell you how we met?"
"He said something about a fencing competition," Hermione replied absentmindedly, now wholly interested in the man she paid so little attention too.
"He didn't mention that he was competing, did he? Archie and I were mere spectators. Vlad lost that day, because he became distracted – he saw me. Our glances met for a split second and he missed the vital blow. When he neared us after the competition, I thought, 'Merlin, another one. How can I rid of him and not involve Archie?' But Vlad was as far from hitting on me as possible. We made some small talk during which came out that he was a pediatrician and I desperately needed one at that moment of time. And so he happened to work here. Also Archie bonded with him right away, it is a special talent of his – to form a very strong link with people, even on a magical level.
When Vlad proposed, he knew that it would be only a marriage of convenience for both of us. He travels a lot and I won't be able to love him as he deserves it, but we are very good friends. He was approved by everybody, but I blew it. Draco scolds me till today," Ginny finished with a careless shrug, but guilt was written all over her face.
"So Harry doesn't have a chance," Hermione concluded with a sigh. Yeah, personal life of Lady Ginevra Malfoy was definitely complicated and Hermione doubted that Harry would manage to become even 'one of', and especially 'the one'.
"Vlad understands and loves Ginevra, who I am now, Harry chases after his school sweetheart Ginny, who I no longer am."
………………
"It's the end of the school year," Eric said in a sing-song year, accompanying Archie to their usual morning flying practice.
"Yes, it is and you still haven't asked Clara out." Eric started to turn red, from embarrassment or anger was not clear. "What is wrong with you, bro? The whole school knows she is head over heels with you. What are you afraid of? And don't tell me that it is about Quiddich."
"I just don't want to ruin what we have right now! What if I suck as a boyfriend? And it will be so awkward all together!"
"It will be even more awkward if you don't do anything, Eric. She will wait and wait and wait, and then she will leave."
"Oh, enough with the wise advice, Archie! I don't see you having a girlfriend. I understand that girls don't want to repeat Monica's experience, but if you yourself show interest…"
"Well, I don't show any."
"It is strange, that's all."
"And why is it, little brother?"
"Gives others ideas, big brother."
But Eric didn't have time to elaborate about those ideas, because at that moment Rose caught up with them. She had been packing the whole evening the day before so she overslept.
"So our last practice this school year?" she asked with enthusiasm, after catching her breath. "I can't wait to see what Uncle Harry made to the team!"
"So you are coming with us to Italy?"
"No, but you can bet I will be on your first game of Junior League!"
"If we are still on the team," Eric retorted, not without sadness. "Somehow I doubt Uncle Harry will want us. There must be a whole new system of tactics."
"I am sure he will take you in. If not, ask Veronica to work on her father."
"We can't use bribery, Rose," Archie reproached.
"You are no fun, Arch. Hey, what is this?"
A silver crow flew from the entrance to the dungeons, circled above them and sat down onto Archie's shoulder. It nibbled at his ear, making Archie laugh. "That, Lady and Gentleman, is Veronica's Patronus," Archie announced with pride, stroking the crow's wings until it disappeared. With a swish of Archie's wand a phoenix spread its wide wings and headed to the dungeons. "Prepare to have a very interesting summer."