-Chapter 25-

After a quick repairing charm on Ginny's ring to re-attach the stone and wrapping up the redhead's hand, Hermione and Ginny made their way down the rickety staircase to the kitchen of the Burrow. Ron was waiting at the kitchen table, Lennox was being held in Ron's lap and he squealed when he saw Ginny. Ron's mouth gaped open when he saw the state his little sister was in but he didn't say anything, just composed himself and managed a smile. Hermione took the place at the table across from Ron, Ginny on Hermione's right.

"Here's a sandwich for you, dear," Molly said putting a plate in front of Ginny. "Your father's gone to the Ministry to do some work but he'll be back later.

"R-Ron…" Ginny pushed the ketchup around on her plate with one of her chips. "What's going to happen? With all of the Death Eaters and all of us…with our jobs?"

"All of them are guaranteed life in Azkaban, no doubt. All of our jobs are going to be safe but until it all gets sorted out and the trials are over with then those of us working for the Ministry will be on paid leave. Charlie's found an assignment rounding up a colony of dragons they found around Bristol so he doesn't have to leave the country but he can keep working until the trials are over with."

"What about Aislin and Willow? If they win against France today the next match will be…"

"Portugal. The Department of Magical Games and Sports is working with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to make sure they get to play if things aren't settled before then. If Portugal hadn't crushed the States then there's no way they'd get to play since it would involve going across the ocean to get there but as it looks right now they should be able to go."

"Gin," Hermione spoke softly, "I don't know if you've thought about it or not…"

"I don't know if I am going back yet, Hermione. Obviously it depends on how things go today. Ron, what about Draco's trial?"

"Monday afternoon. I've talked to the Ministry and they're willing to take your testimony in writing if you don't feel like going but you'll need to have it written by the time the rest of us go in."

"I'll think about it."

"I found out something really interesting about all of this from some of the Wizengamot members I've kept in contact with, I was telling Harry and Luna the other day," Ron said, "if Draco gets life in Azkaban then Malfoy Manor won't have anyone to be passed to. When Lucius went into Azkaban this last time he knew he would get life and made sure absolutely everything was in Narcissa's name and her name only. Since she'll be sharing a cell with her husband, by law, everything goes to the next closest blood-relative of hers which just happens to be Andromeda Tonks even though she was disowned from the Black family."

Ginny looked dumbfounded. "That's…Ron those people have more money than…Does Andromeda know?"

"She does. They've of course been searching for loopholes to make sure no one else can claim it but yeah…Andromeda is looking at getting Malfoy Manor plus more money than she'll ever be able to spend."

"Did she say what she plans to do with all of it?"

"She's waiting until Draco's trial to decide. I…I hate to say it but because we caught those other Death Eaters, Draco now has a strong defense. He can claim that any one of them put the Imperius curse on him and they'll back up the story because they're all getting life in Azkaban anyways so they have nothing to lose by making a false confession."

"What about Harry's opinion though?" Ginny asked. "The man is a human lie detector, surely what he has to say will matter?"

"I wish it was that easy but first and foremost is that Harry is a witness, way too involved with the case for most of them to think he'll be an objective observer. Second, his dislike of the Malfoy family is pretty well known still."

Ginny growled and pushed her plate away. "I'm done, Mum," she said.

"Ginny, you've barely taken a bite…" Hermione said.

"I said I'm done, 'Mione."

"Sweetheart, we just talked about this. Please…"

"If I get sick you're the one that's holding my hair back."

"I can handle that."

Ginny pulled her plate back and nibbled at her chips and chicken salad sandwich. Everyone finished their lunches in silence. Ron apparated to the stadium soon after and the two Weasleys and two Grangers settled into the sitting room to listen to the final England vs France Quidditch match. Hermione and Ginny sat on the loveseat. Ginny's hand found Hermione's and she laid her head on the brunette's shoulder.

"It's a beautiful day Saturday afternoon here in England! It's the seventeenth of June and we are gearing up for an exciting final match of England against France. Each team has won a match and this is the deciding meeting that will determine who goes on to play Portugal in the next round! England's starting team remains the same as last week: Willow Rose, the replacement Captain, starts as Seeker; Aislin Kelly, Vaughn Shaw, and Jacob Davis as our Chasers; Beaters Heddwyn Reilly and Phil Harris and Keeper Trance Ellis. We've had letters pouring in asking about England's Captain and usual starting Chaser since she was absent for the last match and is not on the starting team this week. We have yet to get an exact explanation for her absence but from what we have heard she is currently recovering from an unidentified illness and we wish her the best."

"Was there nothing in The Daily Prophet about anything that happened last weekend?" Ginny asked.

"There was," Hermione said, "the writer that has been assigned to cover all of this owes Harry a few favors though so when Harry told him not to look into it he didn't. Right now the only things that the general public knows are that there was a raid conducted by the Ministry and an unidentified hostage was recovered as well as all of the Death Eaters. Right now very few people aside from all of us know it was you."

"Oh."

"If you want people to know…"

"No. Not yet…maybe if I write an autobiography someday or something."

"Okay love."

"The Quaffle is up! England's Aislin Kelly takes possession and speeds up the pitch…"

The match went on for nearly three hours. At each score and each near-collision Ginny would jump or gasp. At one point when the score was 70-30 with England up and Aislin scored yet another goal Hermione's heart jumped when she noticed a small smile on Ginny's face.

"Willow Rose has dove to the bottom of the pitch! She is being followed closely by Lefebvre, they're both speeding along down the middle of the pitch. Rose ducks a Bludger! She's nearly a meter in ahead of Lefebvre and her lead is increasing, she is really flying! Rose reaches out, she lurches to the right…to the left…she takes a swipe and…Yes! She's got it! Willow Rose catches the Snitch and England is moving on to the next round of the Quidditch World Cup! Her teammates are crowding her on the pitch now, raising her up on their shoulders! What a fantastic win for England!"

Ginny's face lit up and she threw her arms around Hermione, momentarily forgetting everything that had happened barely a week before. Her heart raced and she felt the closest to happy she had felt in days. Ron appeared in the kitchen with a loud crack, his already huge smile got even bigger when he saw his little sister's face and the smile on it.

"That was bloody amazing! Gin I wish you had been there, you should've seen Willow fly! I've never seen anyone fly like that!"

"Are you just saying that because you're dating her?" Hermione teased.

"Oh hush it, 'Mione!" Ron blushed and took a seat in one of the armchairs. "What did you think, Gin? From what you heard anyways."

"I think if I don't go back Aislin and Vaughn might try to kill Jacob. He dropped the Quaffle what, six times? That's why I put him in as a Seeker, he's only got to catch it once."

"So you are going to go back?" Hermione slipped her fingers through Ginny's hair.

"I think so. I've got time to decide. What do you think?"

"I think you need to do whatever is best for you right now, Gin. If Quidditch is going to help you then by all means, hop on a broom."

Ginny nodded and laid her head back on Hermione's shoulder. Lennox crawled up on the loveseat and settled himself on Ginny's lap.

"Why didn't you wait at the pitch for Willow?" Molly asked her son while she collected the teacups.

"I knew she'd want to be with the team. Plus I am taking her out to dinner tonight, she's going to meet me here later."

"That's wonderful, dear. I like this one, you should hold on to her."

"I plan on it, Mum," Ron said with a smile. He took the stack of teacups from this mother and took them into the kitchen.

"Ginny," Molly said, "perhaps the three of your might like to go for a walk. The weather is beautiful this afternoon."

"What do you say, love? Get out of the house a little?"

"I wanna go outside!" Lennox squealed and hopped down off Ginny's lap. He grabbed onto her hand and pulled with all of his might towards the door.

"I can't really say no to that now can I?"

Ginny and Hermione walked around the Burrow hand in hand watching Lennox run in front of them, stopping to pick flowers or inspect bugs in the grass. There were occasional loud bangs and puffs of smoke that came from the clearing across the river.

"You'd think they would take a break on the weekends," Ginny groaned.

"Now love, we don't know what the circumstances are of the family that might be moving in. Maybe they want it done by a certain time."

"I just hope for Mum and Dad's sake it's someone they can tolerate. I wonder what kind of house they're building."

"Well…I did wander over there one day to look around. It seems like it will be a rather nice house. A basement, ground floor and first floor. Not too big but not small, either. Nice and modest."

"Sounds nice."

Lennox wandered over to the broom shed and carefully inspected it. He looked at Ginny then back to the small structure, then to Ginny again.

"Merlin's beard…" Hermione muttered. "He's been going on and on about wanting to fly 'just like Ginny'. Harry hasn't helped matters any, you would think a grown man wouldn't side with a three-year-old."

"This is Harry we're talking about, 'Mione. He's been taking the twins up since they could walk."

"What? No he hasn't! Luna would kill him!"

"Why do you think Luna doesn't know? When they come out here she always goes into the village to her favorite shop. While she's gone Harry takes turns flying with the twins."

"Ugh…that man, I swear! He's worried about the trouble they're going to cause at Hogwarts but he's grooming them for it!"

"Flying around isn't grooming them to cause trouble."

"It is when he does it behind their mother's back."

Lennox walked back over to Ginny and Hermione and looked at Hermione.

"Can I fly Mama? Please?"

"It's not up to me sweetie. Ask Ginny."

"You sure, 'Mione?"

"As long as you stay away from trees or anything other than open space, don't go too fast or too high. Is there any way to strap him to you?"

"He'll be fine, promise."

Ginny walked over to the broom shed and opened the door. She pulled out her Nimbus and held it in her hands. Harry had repaired it; the serpent that was carved in it was no longer visible. Her eyes ran up and down the handle. Ginny was startled when Hermione gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to, Gin."

"I just need to go alone for a couple minutes, get my footing again."

Ginny mounted the broom and took off, flying in circles around the Burrow. She stopped in front of a nervous Hermione and an excited Lennox. Hermione picked him up and got him situated on the broom in front of Ginny who wrapped an arm around him and kicked off again. He held on to the broom and Ginny made low, slow circles around the Burrow. Lennox was squealing with delight as Hermione looked on nervously. Ron came out of the Burrow and watched with Hermione.

"I think you've got yourself a natural," he said.

"He's only three, Ron."

"Yeah I know but he looks really comfortable, good grip, moves with the broom well. If he keeps it up he'll have a spot on Gryffindor's team his first year!"

"Who says he'll be in Gryffindor? I could easily see him in Ravenclaw. That's where the Sorting Hat wanted to put me at first, you know?"

"Really? I didn't know that…can you imagine what would've happened if you hadn't been there to nag Harry and me about rules and all that rubbish?"

"You would've been expelled your first week, no doubt."

"Probably. You know…I don't think I ever thanked you for saving my arse all those times."

"As long as it doesn't involve you getting drunk and attempting to…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Look…just…if there's anything I can do…I mean, I don't have much to offer but you know I'd do anything for you and Gin."

"Well we are trying to figure out how we're going to have our own children…"

"Wh-what?!"

Hermione laughed. "I'm kidding, Ronald."

"Oh…oh thank God! Oh man. That…you're evil!" Ron started laughing. There was a loud crash and a huge puff of smoke from the clearing.

"What the hell do they think they're doing over there?!" Hermione squealed. "I swear if they mess that up someone will pay!"

"What do you care if they mess up?"

"Because it's my house they're building. Mine and Ginny's."

"Are you serious? Since when?"

"I bought the land after Ginny left for Peru last month and Harry got Three Phoenix Construction to start building right after that."

"They're good, they were one of the builders on the Azkaban addition and refurbishing."

"Ginny doesn't know about any of this so I would appreciate your silence, please Ron."

"Of course, 'Mione."

Ginny landed in front of Ron and Hermione and Lennox hopped off the broom and ran around excitedly. Ginny put her broomstick back into the shed and the four walked around the Burrow. Willow apparated in and she and Ron took Lennox into the Burrow with them at Ginny's request. Ginny lead Hermione into the thin patch of forest by the river and when they got to the familiar large tree that the two women had spent so many summer mornings under Hermione sat down and leaned against it, Ginny joined her and lay back against the brunette, resting her head on her fiancée's chest.

"I remember the first morning we came down here together," Ginny said.

"Me too. George tricked me with his love potion last year; it was the exact same smell as that morning. Well, that and um…the morning after our first Christmas together."

"That was a good Christmas."

"The best."

"I've never come down here without you since then. Not alone, not with anyone else."

"I love you, Ginny. I know you said you weren't sure…that you couldn't feel it. But I want you to know that I'm not giving up on us. I won't. Not again."

"I'm not giving up, either. I just need time."

"I know, love."