The train from Surrey to Godric's Hollow arrived at the station at 11:15 am and Harry was there to meet it. Ginny waited at a small café across the street, watching as Harry greeted his stiffly reserved aunt and walked with her down the street, past the café, through the square and towards the cemetery surrounding the little church on the far side. Ginny paid for her drink then followed them, slowing casually in the square as if to observe the muggle memorial, while Harry led Petunia through the kissing gate, into the yard and disappeared beyond it. Ginny crossed the street, followed them through the gate and waited.

Harry led Petunia past rows and rows of stone grave markers, her face pensive, as if she didn't really believe they would find her sister here, but also quite terrified that they might. Quite far back from the gate, Harry turned down a row and came to stop in front of one the white marble tombstones that shone brilliantly in the sun. Aunt Petunia stared.

R

BORN 27 MARCH 1960 BORN 30 JANUARY 1960

DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981 DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death

Harry waited while she read the words, then read the ones on the right over again, stepping forward to where the word 'Lily' was cut into the stone. She pressed her finger upon it as though willing herself to believe it was real. Harry thought he knew how she felt. The first time he'd visited here it had been and almost overwhelming experience. They stood in silence, neither of them speaking, but Harry watched his aunt out of the corner of his eye. Her stony face melted very slightly and there was an unnatural brightness to her eyes. Realizing how terribly personal such an experience could be, Harry took a few steps away, intending to visit Lupin's and Tonk's graves that were nearby.

"Don't go, please," Aunt Petunia said.

Harry stayed put, patiently waiting.

"I didn't know," Aunt Petunia said softly after a time. Tears softly trickled down her cheeks as she wiped them away with her handkerchief. "She believed that you know; that there is something that comes after."

"I'm quite certain there is Aunt Petunia," Harry said. "These are only her physical remains, her soul lives on beyond the veil."

"If only I could be certain of that," Aunt Petunia said.

"I am," Harry said. "I can't quite explain it, but I really, really am."

"Is she happy?" Aunt Petunia asked turning to Harry, and Harry wondered if she knew that wizards were sometimes in contact with the dead in the form of ghosts.

"She is at peace," Harry said. This much at least he knew was true.

Harry withdrew his wand. Aunt Petunia shuttered ever so slightly at the sight of it, but she didn't say anything as Harry drew up a wreath of summer flowers from the air and laid them on the grave. He drew up a second one, this one a bouquet of petunias and lilies and handed it to his aunt.

"Oh!" she murmured. "They are lovely. What nice gesture, Harry." And she added these beside the wreath that Harry had laid there.

"I'll wait for you by the gate," he told her. "You take your time. I have all day."

"Thank you Harry," Aunt Petunia said.

Harry walked back to the kissing gate to find Ginny waiting for him. Ginny took his hand, but she was watching Petunia intently.

"This was a really nice thing for you to do Harry," Ginny said. "She treated you so horribly when you lived with her. "

"I think this is why Gin, at least part of it. She blamed wizards for the death of her sister, for essentially robbing her of her sister's memory. With me being a wizard, I think all that hatred and hurt got directed at me."

"That doesn't make any sense Harry. You didn't do this to her."

"No but I was the living reminder of the sister she lost, and also a constant reminder of those who robbed her of this. My presence in her house was like rubbing salt into an open wound. You can see that can't you?" Harry asked.

Ginny frowned. "Harry, I don't disagree that what we as wizards did was wrong, but I don't think that excuses her for the way you were raised. How can you?"

"I don't Gin. I'm just trying to repair the damage to the best of my ability, for my mum really, not for her. As I told Aunt Petunia, Mum deserves to be remembered, and as her last living relative who know her, that means she is the one who should remember."

Harry stopped talking as he watched Aunt Petunia turn from Lily's grave and started to walk towards them. Periodically she would stop and read the inscription on a tombstone as she passed by, then continue on through the church yard. Harry stood hand in hand with Ginny patiently waiting for her. Slowly Aunt Petunia made her way towards them, coming to stop directly in front of Ginny and Harry.

"You look like they did," Aunt Petunia told the pair.

Harry smiled. "I've been told that. I suppose Dad and I both have a thing for red heads," he said as he looked down towards Ginny.

Aunt Petunia looked at him disapprovingly at the reference to his father, as she tucked her damp handkerchief into the handbag that hung from her arm and closed it with a snap.

"Would you like to join us for tea Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked.

"That would be very nice Harry. Thank you," she said.

Ginny did her best to keep her face neutral, but it was obvious that in her opinion, Aunt Petunia was being incredibly rude to Harry. Harry on the other hand thought this behavior was rather nice coming from his aunt.

With Aunt Petunia on one side and Ginny on the other, Harry walked with them through the gate and across the square to the outdoor cafe. Aunt Petunia paused briefly as they walked through the square to look at the old war memorial there. Harry knew that was all she could see, but to Harry's eyes she stood looking mutely at the statue of Lily. Harry couldn't help wondering what she would say if she knew that a statue of her sister was there, enchanted so that only wizards could see it. Did she know it was there? Would she feel cheated? Relieved she couldn't see it? Or outraged that her sister had been put on display. Harry didn't know, and he decided it didn't matter. Perhaps visiting the gravesite was enough for one day.

Harry lead them all to a small table on the sidewalk at the outside café, ordered tea ,then sat listening to Ginny and Aunt Petunia trying to make small talk, not knowing what to say.

"You didn't know he was moving to London in September?" Ginny asked Aunt Petunia when the tea came, had been poured and they were each nibbling on small little biscuits beside their teacups. Not knowing what else to say, she'd begun a polite discussion of Harry and Dudley's post school plans in an attempt to relieve the awkward silence.

"But where will you live?" Aunt Petunia asked when Ginny had explained about the Auror training.

Harry was very surprised at this as Aunt Petunia had never showed the slightest bit of interest in where he lived, provided that it was outside of her house.

"I'll be living at Sirius's old house. My godfather's?" Harry added to her questioning look. "You know the one Dumbledore told you about it the night he told me I'd inherited it."

"Is that the same house you took Dudley to?" Aunt Petunia asked obviously worried about what kind of place he'd exposed her precious Diddykins to.

"Well it is and it isn't. I've pretty much gutted the house that was there and I'm beginning to rebuild it."

"All except for that one wall," Ginny said. "We really could use someone good with a sledge hammer to take that one down."

Aunt Petunia raised her brow at this. "I'm sure it's nothing you people can't handle."

"Well actually it's a funny thing about that house. See the family who owned it, the Blacks? They were a bit … shall we say extreme in how they viewed my kind. They put protections on the house that prevent this wall from being torn down by magical means. And so the need for the sledge hammer," Harry explained.

"Only for the one wall?" Aunt Petunia asked in surprise.

"Well my brother Bill's removed lots of their 'protections'. But there is that one on the wall, another which prevents any of the windows from being cleaned properly or the fixtures from being cobweb free. It's actually quite annoying really," Ginny said.

"That's not entirely true Gin," Harry reminded her. "With the rags and polish the windows are getting better. And the lamps do stay clean with a certain amount of elbow grease."

"Elbow grease?" Ginny asked in confusion. "Is that a potion?"

"No, it just means a lot of hard work," Harry said.

Harry could tell from Aunt Petunia's expression that she saw absolutely no problem with this. Where he was concerned Aunt Petunia was all in favor of hard manual labor, to the point where Uncle Vernon even believed for a time that by making Harry do enough of it they could squash the magic out of him once and for all.

Harry shrugged as though to dismiss the thought. "It doesn't matter Gin. There is hardly any chance we'll get it done in time."

"Where will you live if you don't get it finished?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"I dun' know," Harry said. "I suppose I'll have to find another place until it is. I'll only have weekends to work on it in August I expect." He looked up as the clock in the square struck the hours.

"Oh my, my train leaves quite soon," Aunt Petunia said. "I really must be going."

Harry paid the bill and he and Ginny walked her to the station, turning to leave as soon as she'd boarded the train.

"Well, that was uncomfortable," Ginny said sincerely as they began the walk together over to Andromeda's house. She'd invited them for dinner so they could spend the afternoon and evening with Teddy.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy," Harry agreed. "but I still think it was the right thing to do."

"Speaking of 'right things', my noble love, when are you ever going to move back out of Ron's room so I can come visit you again?"

"Do you really want to risk it with your mum on the rampage?" Harry asked.

Ginny pulled a face. "I miss you Harry!"

"I'm with you every day," he teased.

"Yes, but you won't be soon. I thought we had until September."

"We do Gin."

"But you're going back to Hogwarts next week. And Mum's bound and determined that I not get in your way while your home so you can study, so I doubt she will ever leave us alone."

Harry chuckled softly.

"Do you really find that funny?" Ginny snapped.

"No, I don't," Harry said seriously. "It just makes me happy to hear that you already miss me the way I already miss you."

Ginny pulled a grimace. "A bit silly of us don't you think? We are both here, together, alone…" she said a bit suggestively.

"Are you hinting at something in particular you'd like to do?" Harry asked with an innocent tone.

"Maybe," she giggled pulling herself closer to him.

Harry wrapped his arm more tightly around her as they walked. Harry hadn't really realized how he'd missed the time they used to spend flirting and being with each other one on one like they had during the time Ron and Hermione were gone.

"You know," he said as they drew close to Andromeda's house. "We have to figure out a way to handle this. Starting Monday I'll be at Hogwarts three days a week, back to the Burrow for two, then Grimmauld place for weekend. With your family helping every Saturday and Sunday that only leaves Thursday nights at the Burrow without everyone there."

"And if you move back and forth for only one night it will look a bit suspicious," Ginny said.

"Exactly," Harry frowned a bit as they reached Andromeda's door.

Ginny looked at him thoughtfully. "I'll have to think about this," she said.

"I personally don't see a way around it Gin."

"Yeah but Harry, like I've told before, anything is possible if you've got enough nerve. If you've faced Voldemort, then certainly you can't be afraid of Mum."

"I not afraid of her, exactly," Harry said.

"But you don't fancy getting shouted at again."

"No, not really."

Ginny pursed her lips together as Harry rang the bell.

"Oh hello Harry, Ginny! It is so nice for you to agree to come early! Teddy does so enjoy your visits, and it is nice to be able to do a bit of shopping without him."

"No problem Andromeda," Harry said. "We always have fun together. Hi Teddy!" Harry called as he walked into the living room to see Teddy sitting unsteadily on a blanket in the middle of the floor. The little boy looked up at the sound of Harry's voice, and in his enthusiasm to see Harry, Teddy lost his balance and toppled over giggling on the floor.

"You almost had it there Bud," Harry told him as he set Teddy upright again.

"Hi there," Ginny said softly as she knelt beside Teddy on the floor.

"Now there's food in the kitchen," Andromeda said as she lead Harry into the kitchen and began to give in instructions for while she was away. "I'll be home about seven. There is plenty of food for you both to eat supper here. You can send a patronus if there is a problem."

"I'm sure we'll do fine Andromeda," Harry told the anxious grandmother as he saw her to the door.

Andromeda relaxed visibly. "I'm sure you will Harry. Have a good time."

"Good bye," Ginny called from where she was already playing with little Teddy on the floor.

Harry saw Andromeda down the walk then returned inside. Closing the door behind him, he joined Teddy and Ginny on the floor playing with Teddy's toys. The little boy was very nearly sitting up to play now, though he toppled over it he tried to reach for something behind him or to the side. He was starting to crawl too so Harry and Ginny soon found that watching Teddy was starting to take more energy than it had before. It was also getting to be more fun and so the afternoon passed quickly, and soon Harry was up making them all dinner. After supper Harry sat down on the sofa in the living room to give Teddy a bottle as the light from the day started to fade.

"Can you put on the lights Gin?" Harry asked as she came to sit down beside them.

Ginny glanced about. "Where Harry? I see the lamp, but I think it's electric."

"There's a switch on the wall, there," he nodded towards it with his. "Just flip it up."

She did as he said and the electric lights in the room blazed to life.

"Wow," she said. "And they don't smell."

"That's why I thought I'd put in that kind at Grimmauld Place," Harry told her.

"I don't think they'll work Harry. Dad tried it at the Burrow and all he did was make a mess of the walls. They would never work."

Harry nodded. "I've seen that. Electric lights don't work if there are a lot of wizards in one place, but I used them at the Dursley's without any problem, the tele too, so I asked Hermione about it. She said that it's the magic that interferes with the electrical field. If there are too many witches or wizards in one place the current is disrupted completely, but if there are only one or two you can still get them to work. I think that's why Andromeda's been able to use them." Harry explained. "Your family is large so you wouldn't be able to, but there are just a few living here so they do."

"So is that why you don't want a large family?" Ginny teased.

"No. I never said that, I thought it was you," he teased back. "but anyway, I plan to keep some of the oil lamps too, just for when we have company."

"So is that what we're doing at your place tomorrow?" Ginny asked. "Running the wire?"

"Well now's the time to do it with the plaster off the walls," Harry said. "We should change the windows out too before we close them up again. Any idea what we should do with that?"

Ginny sighed as she leaned up against him and Teddy, watching the little boy drinking happily.

"I have a thought Harry," she said. "Two thoughts actually."

"What is that?" Harry asked.

"Well if we go early enough tomorrow, before my mum and dad and the rest of them, maybe we could arrange to go with that agent we saw listed to see the neighbor's house that's for sale. Their house is really quite similar on the outside, but they seem to have much larger windows. I thought it might give us some ideas."

"I like that thought. What is your other idea?" Harry asked.

"Well," Ginny said. "I was thinking about the problem we discussed earlier?"

"Yes," Harry prompted wondering what she'd come up with.

"And the more I think of it, the more I can't really see what the problem is."

"How do you work that out?" Harry asked. "We have no time at the Burrow together. Your family is always around."

"But we have every weekend at Grimmauld Place. That is your house, not Mum and Dad's. Their rules wouldn't apply."

"But Ginny you're still under aged and Grimmauld Place isn't exactly fit to stay in. You know we even tore up the kitchen the last time we were there. There is no functional bathroom, we can't cook, and there are holes, I mean giant holes in all the walls," Harry pointed out.

"What has my being under aged got to do with it?" Ginny demanded.

"I promised your Dad," Harry said.

Ginny tossed off this concern with a flip of her hair. "Well I won't be in ten more days, and by that time we should have the bathrooms back in. and some of the walls."

Harry stared at her. "You're mum would never let you spend the night," he said.

"She would if there was a reason."

"What kind of a reason?" Harry asked.

"You know when Ron asked you how you were going to bring in the materials delivered by the muggle supply company?"

Harry nodded.

"You said you'd do it at night, right? Put the lights out on the square and magic them in when no one was looking?"

"Well yes, but….I'm not following you Gin."

"Well what we're getting tomorrow is just for the bathroom right?" she asked.

"For one of them," Harry confirmed. "I'm also getting plasterboard, wiring and some of the fixtures for the lights and such."

"All of them?" Ginny asked.

"No, I get more delivered each Saturday afternoon for the next few weeks."

"Until when?"

"They stop the weekend before my potions exam," Harry said.

"Exactly," Ginny said. Harry just stared at her. "You will need a much smaller number of us to help you there at night or the muggles would notice, right?"

"Ah …err, right I guess. I hadn't actually thought about it," Harry said.

Ginny ignored this and went on.

"And it would be very inconvenient and inconsiderate of you to keep coming back and forth from the Burrow at all hours of the night on those nights, right?"

"Well…I suppose just a bit," Harry agreed.

"And so it would be much more considerate of you and a better use of your energy and time, if you and a helper could just stay there."

"You and me? Alone at Grimmauld Place all night?" Harry cottoned on with an arched brow. "What would we do all that time?" he asked playfully. "After we brought in the muggle stuff I mean."

"We could practice our charms on the rats," Ginny suggested. "I hear you are getting quite good at them."

"I did pass my test," Harry agreed.

"I must be too. Bill wouldn't let me do them any more. He said I was too young." She looked at him meaningfully.

"You got hold of Hermione's book," Harry realized.

"I duplicated it when she went to the bathroom," Ginny said deviously.

Harry grinned. Ginny would be of age in ten days time, Grimmauld Place would be ready for them to stay at least for short periods of time, they both knew the spells…

Harry caught Ginny's eye smiling so hard he couldn't help himself. He wanted desperately to put his arm around her, to kiss her, to affirm for himself that they were really ready, but just then Teddy squirmed drawing Harry's attention back to the child in his lap. But still Harry couldn't help grinning.

"You know," he told Ginny. "I think this idea of yours is the best birthday present I've ever had."