Harry woke up feeling as if he had run a marathon. Every one of his muscles ached as he rolled over detangling himself from Ginny who had wrapped herself around him. She sighed but didn't stir, her mind lost in sleep. Rolling over Harry pulled himself to the edge of the bed and stretched. He could feel the muscles in his back pulling as he stretched and the relief felt wonderful. Slipping from the bed he padded across the room barefooted. Thankfully he knew where everything was since Ginny was a creature of habit, and he pulled out a nice thick fluffy towel from the top shelf of her wardrobe. Looking back at Ginny's sleeping form he slipped out of the room meaning to head for the bathroom. When he reached the bathroom door though he discovered it was already occupied and listening he could hear the water running. Turning to head away he could have sworn he heard a very familiar giggle.
Shaking his head trying to push that mental image out of his head he headed down the stairs to the kitchen, and walked straight into Tonks coming the other way.
"Wotcha Harry," she laughed as she bounced of his bare chest.
Instinctively he wrapped his arms around his chest with a strangled laugh. He moved out of the way to let her past as she laughed and he realised she was holding a little Teddy in her arms who peered at him as she passed. Seeing the sight of that little boy being held by his mother brought Harry up short, and suddenly he wanted to cry.
"Harry dear what are you doing down here like that," Molly said breaking him out of his thoughts suddenly.
He turned to see her pulling a plate of food out of the cooker, and his stomach growled in appreciation. Laughing Molly pulled him to sit down and put the plate in front of him.
"I'm sorry Molly I didn't realise anyone would be up this early," looking out of the window he was sure that it was barely after sunrise.
"Normally you'd be right my dear, usually it's just me rattling around at this hour, but things have been different for the last few days."
Choking on his bite of sausage Harry looked up at Molly, "I'm sorry days?"
Turning Molly placed a glass of juice down at his fingertips, "yes dear days, you and Ginny have been asleep for three days now. We had Madam Pomfrey come and check on you after a day but she said it was normal and you would wake soon."
Harry watched as Molly paced back to the sink and he realised she was a lot less calm then she was claiming to be. He watched as her hands shook a little as she grabbed her wand to set the morning dishes washing. Getting to his feet he crossed to her side and gripped her outstretched hand. She turned and smiled weakly at him with a sigh, the tension in her shoulders relaxing.
"Go on I'm alright, go and eat your food," with a nod Harry slipped back behind the table and started eating again.
"Oh aye do we have a new breakfast dress code Harry," Fred laughed as he came into the kitchen by himself.
"Ha ha I wasn't exactly expecting anyone to be up," he said around another mouthful.
The twins laughed slapping Harry on the back as they past him to come over and kiss their mother on the cheek. She laughed brushing them off and they sat down with grins.
"The store is looking good, we managed to avoid the worst of the damage so we should be open in the next few days."
Harry watched the twins as Molly chatted happily giving them both a plate of premade breakfast before putting more food onto the table knowing what her boys were like. His mind couldn't help but snap back to what it had been like a few days after the war the last time. George refused to leave his room and Molly who would always rise before everyone wouldn't be seen in the house until well after noon. Looking at them laughing and happy now Harry knew he had made the right decision.
Soon the kitchen grew crowded as more and more people arrived. As Harry was finishing up Arthur arrived home after pulling an all nighter at the Ministry, it seemed as if they were pulling in everyone capable of helping to get things up and running again. Harry dove from his seat since he had finished and let Arthur take it, though he did have to put up with the cat calls and wolf whistles.
"Alright alright, I'm going to get changed," he said finally having enough as Fred batted his eyelashes at him like a love stuck teenager.
"Oh Harry I found some of Bills old clothes," she eyed his height and muscles with a little frown, "they should just about fit."
"Thanks Molly," he said as he quickly retreated upstairs.
Fred and George fell about laughing again unable to resist after making Harry so uncomfortable. It was only when Molly hit both boys on the ear that they stopped, but both would still giggle every now and then.
"It was a little strange seeing a very strapping young man sat at the kitchen table Molly, I had to do a double take," Arthur said as he took a sip of his coffee.
"He is rather muscular," Fleur piped up from the corner and Bill shot her an incredulous look, "oh don't give me that look Bill. It's just too strange seeing him fully grown when the last time I saw him he was a boy."
Molly pottered around the place gathering the plates and generally tidying, "I don't think Harry has been a boy for some time Fleur but I know what you mean. It is a little unnerving. He was a teenager with all this potential last time we saw him, now he has utilised all of that potential."
Things grew silent at that and soon people moved on to other jobs. Arthur decided a nap was best and headed to bed, while Molly Fleur and Hermione set about sorting the chores for the day. The twins headed back out to the store promising to be back for lunch and Charlie and Percy headed for their shifts at the Ministry since Charlie had volunteered to help out.
Ron was one of the last sat at the table as everyone went about their day. He had promised his mum he would clean out the attic to make some room since it seemed the house was going to be full for some time. There were still pockets of unrest and it seemed The Burrow had become the place for everyone to take refuge, and since the building wasn't as big as it used to be things were cramped. Hermione came back from the garden to find Ron sat at the table starring into his drink. Sitting down next to him she smiled as he looked at her, but he didn't seem to return it.
"What is it Ron?" she asked putting down the basket of vegetables she had collected.
"I don't really know Mione, I mean it's just strange everything that has happened. After months on the run it all just came to a head and I wasn't even there. We were off finding Snape," he looked at her then, "which by the way Harry still hasn't explained. I don't know it just seemed anticlimactic. More than that though it feels like Harry has moved on without us, I mean where were we when he was pulling off this massive plan and coming back in time. Why didn't we travel with him?"
Hermione leant her cheek against Ron's shoulder slipping her arm around him. With a sigh Ron rested his head against her hair and took her hand where it rested on the table.
"I think Harry wanted to protect us Ron, that's all he ever wanted for us. I don't think we'll know exactly what happened until Harry decides the time is right. I do know things are going to be fine from now," she lifted her face from his shoulder and he turned to look at her so they were nose to nose.
With a small smile Ron closed the gap between them and carefully touched his lips to hers. It was a tentative kiss at first, but soon it grew until they clung to each other. When they pulled apart Hermione giggled nervously.
"Well that was..." she trailed off pink spreading across her cheeks.
"Wonderful," he finished and before she could say anything he pulled her into another kiss.
He would think about everything that had happened later, think of everything he worried about some time soon, for now he held the girl he loved in his arms and he was going to make the best of it.
When Harry got back to Ginny's room he found that Molly had left a pile of clothes for him. Scooping them up with a smile he pushed back into the bedroom. When he looked over at Ginny he was glad to see she was still sleeping soundly on the bed. Putting the clothes on the bedding box at the bottom of the bed he crawled up the bed until he was sat next to her sleeping form.
Carefully he brushed her hair away from her face and she smiled letting him know she was awake.
"Morning love," he whispered as he leant down to kiss her on the temple.
Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled, "morning," she murmured as she stretched.
Her body protested as she used muscles that had cramped while she was asleep but she didn't say anything since she knew Harry would worry. Carefully she rolled until she could push herself up into a sitting position tucking her legs under her.
"What time is it?" she asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Not too late don't worry," he replied as he brushed his hand over her hair.
With a nod she crawled from the bed, stopping for a moment as her legs protested, but squaring her shoulders she padded across the room and sifted through the cloths in the draws.
"Your mum left me some of Bill's old stuff," he said and she laughed.
"Guess she didn't think what we had here of yours would fit," he laughed with her.
The two decided a shower would be best first since Ginny was feeling the worst and needed to do her hair. Then afterwards he would make sure she ate since she needed it.
"Merlin you're going to be one of those fussy guys aren't you who treats their wives like glass," Ginny swallowed as she realised her blunder, after all they weren't married.
Harry instantly picked up of her discomfort and crossed the room to pull her into a hug. Ginny buried her face into his shoulder and breathed him in letting the smell of him settle into her head and sooth her whirling mind.
"I'm sorry Harry I don't mean to be a sop, blame it on the hormones," she laughed but he could still see that she was upset.
Taking her hand in his he looked down at the ring he had given her smiling, and slowly brought her hand to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the ring and she shivered at his intense stare.
"I didn't want to go over this until we got home, but I asked Amelia for more information on our bond," he turned and led her back to bed.
He sat her down on the bed and moved back to grab his box that he had left on her dressing table. Flipping the lid back he reached into the box and sifted through the contents there, and pulled out a book. Casting a quick reversal spell the book sprang back to its normal size.
"I've been reading this while we were apart, I wanted to make sure I had all the facts clear before I talked to you," he came and sat down next to her and she rested her head against his arm, "I wanted to make sure we knew all of the effects good and bad."
He turned and flipped through the book until he came to one section and then handed it to her to read.
A soul bond is one of the oldest magics in record. They are rare, but when they are observed they can have some of the most spectacular affects. The couple involved can find themselves exactly the same, or they can find their magic amplified. Because the bonds are one of the strongest magics in the wizarding world it is widely acknowledged that a bonded pair are counted as married. Since a bonded couple will never be with anyone else, they lack the want or need to be with another, they live as man and wife. It has even been written into wizarding law to treat a bonded couple as man and wife since for all intensive purposes they are.
Ginny read and re-read the passage before the words sunk in. Turning to look at Harry she couldn't find the words to talk. He laughed lightly and leant in to kiss her. When they broke apart Ginny's mind was still spinning.
"When did this happen Harry, I mean I know we had the bond, but from when were we married?"
With a smile Harry pointed down to another passage and Ginny continued to read.
A bond between a couple can take some time to coalesce; it is widely believed that there needs to be some kind of catalyst to set the bond in motion. It has been documented that soul bonded can live in quiet close proximity for some time; it seems as if some force brings them together even before they know of each other's existence.
Ginny looked at Harry again who only smiled. It seemed they were following the exact ruling for bond mates.
Since this is true obviously a couple cannot be seen as married from the moment that they meet, especially when signs of the bond take some time to begin. It has been observed that the bond doesn't seem to solidify until the bonding has been consummated. It can be in a state of flux until then, pushing the couple together in ways that can be very uncomfortable for both parties if they try to resist.
That explained Ginny wanting to crawl out of her skin when Harry wasn't near her and the reason why things had calmed down since they had accepted things.
Even after a bond is consummated it can take some time for it to calm down, but it is from this stage that the couple is regarded married. We believe it is this fact that has affected a lot of folk lore on marriages in history.
The paragraph then trailed off into more speculation and history so Ginny stopped reading closing the book and slipping it onto the floor.
Smiling again Harry pulled Ginny into another kiss this time more passionate and consuming. Ginny pressed her body along Harry's the heat of her skin burning him. When he finally managed to detangle himself Harry sat back breathing heavily.
"Ok Mrs Potter I think shower time is in order," he said rising to his feet and holding his hand out to her.
With a smile Ginny folded her arms and set a stern look his way, "and what makes you think I'm going to be Mrs Potter, we live in a progressive world here Harry what makes you think I won't keep my name."
Harry frowned for a moment and Ginny tried her hardest not to laugh but she couldn't hold it in any longer, dissolving into giggles at his pained look.
Laughing she got to her feet and kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Sorry Harry I couldn't resist," taking his hand she squeezed it lightly before pulling away.
They both pottered around the room gathering everything they needed for a shower, towels change of clothes and toiletries. Harry peeked out into the hallway making sure the coast was clear before taking Ginny by the hand and leading her down to the bathroom.