Chapter 25

The sun had not risen yet onto the city where a young, newlywed couple slept, & the countryside was just barely glowing with a hint of light. Creaking underneath his feet, an older man walked quietly down the stairs, thoroughly convinced that he would meet her downstairs. Only do a few rise at this hour every day, but some just wake because it was impossible to sleep.

"Molly?" Arthur asked, peeking into the sitting room, where he saw his emotional wife sitting with her knitting. She looked as if she had gotten no sleep, and that a tear was running down her aged cheek.

"What has you up at this hour?" She breathed out, and set her knitting down. "You don't have to be at the ministry until a quarter past eight."

"I noticed you were out of bed earlier than usual," He said, groaning a bit as he sat down next to her. "You know I can't sleep long without you lying next to me."

"I know," She whispered. "It's always been that way."

"Now, why are you out of bed this early?" He questioned her, and she fidgeted a bit.

"They're all adults now, Arthur." She whispered and another tear ran down her cheek. "William has a child already, Percy has one on the way, George has Angelina and Fred, Ron and Hermione are madly in love, and Ginny is now gone with Harry." She said, trying to contain her emotions in a few words.

"They're not gone Molly." He soothed her, as he reached around and hugged her closer to him. "They'll never be gone."

"Though, It's all sad. Once you look at it." She breathed out. "They are all at the point in their lives that they no longer need us with them, and they're out on their own."

"But they'll do fine on their own Molly," He reassured her. "We raised smart children. Even if they are a bit stubborn, I'm sure that their spouse will put them right back into check."

"With that I assume you mean Ron and Hermione," Molly laughed as she wiped away a stray tear.

"That too, but I had George and Angelina in mind." He nudged her and laughed along with her. The silence soon settled in once again and Mr. Weasley asked a question; "But Molly, if you don't mind me asking, why is this hitting you now?"

"I honestly don't know." She answered. "I thought it would have hit when Bill and Fleur got married, but once the last one is off, I guess that's really when everything's over."

"Don't think like that Molly, nothing's over."

"I reckon what I am trying to say is that I don't want to," She closed her eyes in the silence and took a deep breathe before she said; "lose another one of them like we lost Fred." Tears streamed freely down Molly's face now as Arthur pulled her into a tighter hug.

"We never lost Fred, and we never will." He whispered as she cried into his shoulder. "Nor will we lose any of our other children, through marriage or blood, we won't let anything happen to them."

"Thank you dear, I needed that." She kissed his cheek, and wiped a few tears off of her face. Smoothing out the skirt of her nightgown, she stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "Now what is it this morning, eggs or pancakes?"

*~*~*~*

Harry got up in one swift motion, already used to getting up at the ungodly hour due to his job as an auror. The art of not waking Ginny was already mastered; Harry walked quietly over to the bathroom and closed the door softly. Switching on the light, he turned on the faucet and bent over the sink. Splashing water on his face, he glanced up at the mirror to see his face dripping with drops of clear water, drip, drip, dripping down to the basin. Raising his finger up to where the scar lay buried into his skin, he remembered Ginny tracing it with her finger the previous night and how she was the only person other than Voldemort that had touched the scar with their bare hands.

Harry stepped into the shower, letting the hot water flow down his torso and the steam fog up the circle-rimmed glasses that lay on the sink counter. He glanced down at his body, Auror training clearly good for his physical build. He also noticed that some scars on his body had begun to fade, others clearly there to stay.

Half an hour passed, and Harry walked out of his room ready for the day, ready for the beginning of his life with Ginny. 'What better way,' Harry thought. 'To start my day by waking up my wife. This ought to be fun.'

"Wake up Gin," Quiet whispers came through Harry lips as Ginny rolled over on her stomach with a groan, wrapping herself in the sheet as though she was wrapping herself into a sushi roll; this Harry chuckled quietly at. "Wake up." He repeated once again. She stayed put.

"No…" She responded into the pillow. Harry rolled his eyes and shook her limp body a bit to find no response coming from her.

"Come on Gin."

"I don' wanna." She whined, her words muffled by the pillow. Harry pushed his hair back messily, and pouted a bit.

"You asked for it…" He muttered to himself softly, and peered around the room to find something to wake up his dearly beloved. Ginny's bag that held her suitcase lay in the corner next to a vase of beautiful lilies preserved from their wedding two weeks previous. Out of thin air, an idea came to Harry and he snatched it, not literally of course. Taking his wand, muttering aguamenti, a short stream of water hit Ginny lightly in the face; her eyes opened at once, a small laugh from Harry and a slight groan from Ginny followed this action.

"So are you up now, or do I have to set your hair on fire also?"

"No," She sat up, pushing her wet hair out of her face. "I'm up, don't worry."

"Good." Harry smiled. "Now are you up for some breakfast? I'm up and ready to make anything."

"Just a piece of toast would be nice, thanks." She swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I'll be out of the shower in a bit, though I reckon I already got a shower today." She glared through thinned eyes, and Harry just smirked as he left the room.

Time passed, as the two young adults got ready to leave on their trip. They spent a while cleaning their flat before they left for their two week adventure, and then they were off to the ministry. With one pop and a bit of skill, Harry landed both of them in front of a restaurant near Piccadilly Circus, another secret entrance to the ministry of magic.

"Harry Potter, what brings you in today?" Robert asked, as Harry and Ginny walked in, hand in hand, into the barren, petite café. A small, circular bar sat in the corner with two stools. Behind it was alcohol stacked on two shelves, to serve an army for a week. The little café only fit four circular tables and eight chairs, the chairs vacant at this hour. On the walls were pictures upon pictures. Pictures of people, pictures of flower and trees, pictures of anything you could imagine was pinned up onto the single wall.

Owner, waiter, and bartender of this little joint, Robert was a middle-aged man, clearly happy, evident from the huge smile plastered on his face. His wrinkles, which little ones he had, would add to his features, only making him more handsome. Robert's hair was brown and smooth, streaks of grey showed age. "No work today I'm sure." He said, extending his hand for Harry to shake.

"No work," Harry confirmed, shaking his hand back. "I'm just here with Ginny to go on a vacation for a while."

"Reckon you need it too." He said, placing his hands on his hips and leaning back on his heels. Ginny stood there awkwardly, squeezing Harry's hand every so often. "Working hard the last few months."

"That I have." He nodded and looked at Ginny. "Been a bit busy with paperwork and such. The wedding threw me a bit off my rocker as well."

"I remember those days. When Charlotte and I were engaged, those were some of the wackiest days of our lives, I'm telling yeah." He laughed. "So, Ron ended up winning the game?"

"It's only a game, not that big a deal." Harry muttered, rocking from his heel to his toes. This Ginny giggled at. "Oh! Robert, this is my wife Ginny. Ginny, Robert." He introduced them, clearly an act to avoid talking of the paper scandel. An apron tied around Robert's waist, he wiped his hands it before shaking Ginny's hand.

"Nice to meet you Ginny, you're even more beautiful than I thought Harry could snatch up."

"Thank you." Ginny said awkwardly as Robert and Harry shared a look. "Harry, we only have a bit more time."

"Well Robert, it's been nice seeing you." Harry said, shaking his hand. "The wall open?" He asked, and Robert nodded.

"Have fun on your honeymoon you two," He said, waving his hand in the air as Harry and Ginny disappeared around the corner.

"This is how you get to work?" Ginny questioned, and Harry shrugged while they made their way down a flight of spiraling stairs to the basement.

"Only when boss is driving me insane, I stop in and get a drink or two." He said, turning into a long hallway. At the end of the hallway was a blank white wall, and Harry tightened his grip on Ginny's hand. Sprinting towards the wall, they slipped through into the ministry, this particular hallway barren of any people.

"Sort of like Platform 9 3/4, just less people." Harry said, walking down the long, stretching hallway. "There's one of these on every floor, just in case you want to come to work with me one day."

"I'll come to your work when you come to mine." She countered, and he nodded his head. "Make you run laps like we do, do the planks that we do, the push ups, the sit ups, the squats, the arm presses. Not to mention the sprints, oh merlin the sprints." She groaned and Harry laughed.

"Reckon it'd be good for me, haven't been to the Auror training center for quite some time. I might take you up on that offer," He said. "Anyways, I thought that you were the captain, don't you decide what drills to do?"

"Shut up," She muttered. "I do it for my team."

With a few laughs from Harry and smacks from Ginny, the two winded. through a few hallways and rode a few elevators. They arrived at a door with a simple key painted onto the face of it, and the plaque that read 'Portkey House'. Harry knocked on the door, and opened it to find a young man sitting at the table.

"Hi, how may I help you?" The man said cheerfully with a smile on his face. Harry guessed that this was a new hire. Every other man Harry knew that worked in this part of the ministry would greet you with a 'What the hell do you want?' and a glare followed.

"We have a port key to take us to Italy." Ginny said, placing a hand on the counter as the skinny worker shuffled his way to the backroom and coming out with a standard textbook.

"Set to leave in five minutes, enjoy your trip." He smiled, and Ginny took the portkey cautiously. Handing it to Harry, they walked out of the room and five minutes later, Harry and Ginny had hold of a glowing textbook and they were off. Spinning in a rapid circle, Ginny and Harry started to laugh at each other's faces, knowing that they both looked absolutely barbaric.

Landing with a thump on the soft grass, Harry and Ginny brushed themselves off and stood up. Harry looked around, confused on at what he saw.

The hills seemed to roll on forever, the fog making each mountain behind each more transparent than the last. Multiple shades of green covered them, trees scattered and little patches of open grass upon the sides of the Alps. Looking down, Harry realized he was atop a mountain, and he saw a city below, the buildings looked as if tiny grains of sand built them. Ginny shivered as a cool breeze flew through them, the air less dense than what was in London.

"Harry," Ginny spoke up, bending down by the textbook that was their portkey. "I knew we should've told that guy our names, this portkey isn't ours."

"What d'you mean?" Harry walked over to her, and bent down next to her. She turned the open book towards him, and he read the tag.

"It's not our portkey." She repeated.

"Whose is it then?" Harry asked, and Ginny examined the front cover to find the name. She gave the book to Harry, and pointed to the name. "The Hank family." He read aloud, and then he set the book down on the ground.

"So, what does this mean?" Ginny asked, pulling a jacket out of her jean pocket and enlarging it.

"I believe it means we have no idea where we are." Harry said, pushing his hair back with his fingers, which Ginny smiled at; one of his many habits she loved. Ginny sighed, and walked over to the large rock and sat on it. Harry turned around and followed her actions, and she linked her fingers with his.

"Only we could do this." Ginny said, and Harry responded by laughing at her statement. "But we should take it as an adventure, it's not like that we'll have this opportunity again."

"We should." He turned towards Ginny and kissed her cheek. "Make the most of it, but first, I think we should find out where we are. Did you double check to see if it had a destination?"

"Switzerland."

"What?"

Ginny threw the textbook at Harry, who caught it with ease.

"We're in Switzerland." She stood up and took the penny-sized luggage out of her pocket. After she had enlarged it, she took the Cleansweep five, one of her brother's old brooms. "And I believe that we should get moving and find a place to stay, or all the rooms will be taken."

"You brought a broom?"

"Well, you can't blame me! It's a practical item to have!" She fought back as she stepped over it. "So, are you getting on or not? Walking isn't a good option you know."

"You're just like your brother…"

"I am not, now get on." Harry climbed onto the broom, laughing and shaking his head.

"You are too." He responded before she took off. Stopping her take off, Ginny asked why. "You both wanted to bring your brooms on your honeymoons."

"I remember that." Ginny said, tightening her grip on the broom. "Now you better hold on tight."

"You got it love," He said, and Ginny pushed off the ground hard, flying even high above the clouds. The more they climbed, the more the frigid cold settled in.

"Love, instead of freezing us, I think we should go lower to find a hotel." He nudged her, and he could feel her smile as they swooped down towards the lower clouds.

*~*~*

"There's got to be a spell…" Ginny flipped through the spell book rapidly, while she sat at a table in their hotel room. "If there isn't I'll…"

"You'll what? Rip its pages out?" Harry teased, drying his hair with a towel. Ginny picked up a pillow and promptly aimed for Harry's head. Trained in the skill of dodging, Harry ducked and smirked at Ginny.

"Bugger off Harry, I'm concentrating here." She pointed to the book, and looked at its pages one more time, she was obviously frustrated.

"What exactly are you concentrating on?" He asked, trying to peer over her shoulder at the spell book, Ginny's head moving to be in the way of his vision. He grabbed either side of her head, and kept it still. "Different languages?"

"Yeah, I think that it might help us being over here. Hermione suggested it before we left, at least I think she did." Harry looked at her, his eyebrow raised. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Okay." Harry nodded his head, peering over her shoulder. "What have you checked so far? What words?"

"Language, German, Italian, different language, dialect…I can't think of any more bloody words." Ginny handed him the book. Walking over to the bed, Harry sat down and flipped through the book for a minute or two before Ginny joined him.

"Why don't we just…speak English maybe?" He questioned. "May be a bit easier."

"Believe me, it's not." She breathed out, and Harry cocked his head to the side, and asked why. "Went to France with Muriel when I was a kid. Some of the worst days of my life, for more reasons than one." Harry nodded and his mouth made an "O" shape, and he returned back to the spellbook.

"Hey, what about foreign?" He suggested. "Have you tried that one?"

"No!" Ginny fell backwards on the bed, and stuffed a pillow over her face. "How could I be so stupid?" Those were the words Harry could make out that were muffled through a pillow.

"Here it is." Ginny sat up and moved closer to get a better look. "The foreign language spell allows the witch or wizard using the spell to speak their native language, although what the words that are spoken become the chosen language. With usage of this spell, the witch or wizard who cast it can understand the other language, as it is translated into their native language for them."

"So that means when you talk English, you're really talking German." Harry nodded and looked at the page once again.

"And they speak German, we hear English."

"Brilliant, now what should we do now? Test it?" She offered, and Harry shook his head.

"I trust the spellbook, they've helped me before." He began to kiss her cheek, making his way down her collarbone. "I have something else on my mind."

"Oh do you now?" Ginny teased. "Well, why don't you tell me what it is?"

"I'm a bit hungry, and I saw a blueberry muffin downstairs that look absolutely fantastic." He stood up abruptly, and Ginny sat there watching him with a smile. He smirked as Ginny tugged his arm, pulling him down onto the bed.

"Though, I reckon this is just as sweet." He muffled in between kisses. Only a few minutes later, the flick of a wand closed the shutters and curtains, blocking the two off from the rest of the world.

*~*~*~*~*

Drying his hair with a towel, Ron walked out of the bathroom to find Hermione, leaning against the headboard reading yet another book.

"Third one this week," He said. "I shouldn't be surprised." He laughed as he threw his towel into the hamper that reside in the corner.

"That you shouldn't," She laughed. "Nine years you've known me and you're still dumbfounded by the fact that I actually like books."

"They're bloody boring," Ron complained. "They just make you fall asleep."

"Whatever you say Ronald." She shook her head with a chuckle, her eyes not leaving the page of the book. Getting ready for bed, Ron pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and walked over to bed and climbed under the covers.

"So have you heard from Harry and Ginny yet?"

"No, but I'm sure we will soon." Hermione muttered, turning the page of her book. Ron nodded his head, and he played with his fingers a bit and then looked at his nightstand to try and find something to do, but all that lay there was an alarm clock with a lamp. Ron sighed and looked back at his hand, and then at Hermione.

"So do you reckon they're shagging?"

"RON!" Hermione said, closing her book promptly. "Why would you ask that?" She asked.

"I wanted you to close your book and talk to me." He smirked. "You can read your book later, I'm here right now."

"So your idea of striking a conversation is asking your wife if her best friend and your mate are shagging at the moment?" She questioned.

"Well, not at this moment, but it's a legitimate question." He countered. "But a man can wonder if his best friend is getting any can't he?"

"Yes, but it's a weird thing to think about, don't you think?" Hermione stifled a laugh. "Ginny's your sister, I thought you would have been more protective of her."

"Harry protected you and I for quite some time, I think my sister is in good hands." He said, fixing the blanket on his stomach.

"That's nice…" Hermione said awkwardly, also fixing her blanket. "My book is lonely, I better read it."

"Mione, your book is not lonely." Ron rolled his eyes, and Hermione shook her head and opened the book.

"Very lonely, aren't you book?" Hermione said. Ron could not believe he just saw his wife, the person she was, talking to a book. An inanimate object. Hermione talking to an inanimate object, who would've imagined?

Ron sighed and laid down, his neck sore from the work out that he endured earlier today. Too restless to close his eyes and sleep, Ron stared at the wall for a bit, and then sat up rapidly.

"Are you tired?" Ron asked, and Hermione exhaled.

"I'm not in the mood tonight Ron," She muttered, flipping the page of the book with her fingertip.

"No, no." Ron said, pushing her arms onto her lap. "I just can't sleep and I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk."

"A walk?"

"Yup."

"At 11:30 at night?"

"That's right."

"Wouldn't you think that's a bit dangerous since London has some drunk blokes wandering down the street?" Hermione said, and Ron fought back.

"Come on Mione," Her heart fluttered at the use of her nickname. Three years she and Ron had been together, and she still was shot to the moon whenever he said her name. "We battled the darkest wizard of all time, we're fine."

"Ron…" She said hesitantly.

"Will you just trust me?" He held out his hand, head cocked to the side. Hermione, not the easiest to give in, proposed another idea.

"I'm not so keen on walking out on the street, but I'd be happy to go on the roof of the building." Ron shrugged his shoulders and pulled on a sweatshirt.

"Sounds like a plan to me." He smiled, and wiped his thumb on Hermione's cheek. "I'll be up there."

"Okay," She said, throwing on a pair of long pants and one of Ron's Chudley Cannon's sweatshirts as nights like this were colder than the rest. Walking the flights of stairs that lead up to the roof, Hermione crossed her arms as she walked onto the roof to find Ron lying on his back looking up at the stars. Hermione walked over to him and lied down next to him.

"It's smiling." Hermione said.

"What is?"

"The moon, don't you see it?" Hermione said, and Ron leaned towards Hermione to see her perspective. "You see, the mouth, the nose, the eyes. The moon is watching us."

"I reckon it always does, we cause so much trouble he has to watch out for us."

"That we do. That we do."

*~*~*~*

"Do you think we should write them?" Ginny questioned, looking at a picture that was hung on the hotel's wall. "Ron and Hermione, we told them we would."

"If you want to, yeah. That'd be nice." Harry said with a yawn as he got up from the chair slowly.

"Harry, you should go to sleep. You're exhausted."

"Am not." He yawned again, walking towards the bed sluggishly.. "It's just been a long time since I've been on vacation, it'll take some getting used to."

"Please Harry," Ginny said. "Just sleep, it's not going to kill you."

"Bloody might." He muttered as he laid down on the bed, and turned off the lamp on the bedside table.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," She said, and began to write her letter to Ron and Hermione;

Ron and Hermione,

Well, we're safe and sound now. Unpacked in a hotel, and Harry's already dead tired. He'll be out by the time I finish this letter, I'm sure of it. But to the interesting part, we're not in Italy. I'm writing to you from Switzerland (Yes Ron, this is the chocolate place that you know about). The new worker at the ministry gave us the wrong portkey, and we ended up on the top of the Alps with nothing but clouds and a small forest surrounding us.

We found a cute, little hotel to stay in for a night or two. The insides of the hotel rooms have wooden panels as the walls, and all of the furniture is made out of wood, quite beautiful if you ask me. Anyways, we just thought that we would write you to tell you about this, but please don't tell mum, she'll have kittens if she finds out were a bit lost.

My eyelids are getting a bit droopy now as I close off this letter. I'll write you again soon. Now, hopefully I can find a bloody owl to send this letter to you, that'd be a useful thing to do, don't you think?

Ginny

*~*~*~*