Chapter 26: The Waiting

The stunner was carefully calculated – not strong enough to actually hurt her, but just solid enough to reverberate against her shield and push her to the ground. Her mind flicked through the possible options; a quick dodge to the left and an Avis Oppugno or maybe her infamous Bat Bogey. But Harry's stunner was a perfect way to end the duel, so she let him have it.

She nodded to him, grinning appreciatively, and he strode over and held out a hand to help her up. The large crowd of students surrounding the raised dueling ring began clapping wildly. She dusted off her jeans and pocketed her wand as Harry turned to address them.

"Now, who can tell me what Miss Weasley was thinking about doing in retaliation before she graciously allowed me to end the duel with that example of effective stunning against a shielded opponent?" He winked at her and she grinned back, reaching up adjusting her ponytail.

A dozen enthusiastic hands flew into the air. He gestured to a small, bushy-haired girl in the front row that reminded Ginny of twelve-year-old Hermione.

"A Confundus Charm would have been effective!" the girl said breathlessly, "To confuse you and give her enough time to get her bearings."

"That would've been a great idea," Ginny said, smiling appreciatively. "I rather wish I'd thought of that."

The students laughed and mini-Hermione beamed. "All right!" Harry said, "I think it's time to get a few of you guys into the ring. Each House, please nominate your first contestants!"

Ginny pressed down the tab on the dispenser and cool water began to fill her cup. She glanced around the Great Hall; the dueling competition seemed to be going smoothly. Pairs of students were throwing spells furiously in each of the four raised rings, and a professor stood near each ring watching the proceedings carefully. The last few months had passed quickly, and the end of the school year was only a week away. She couldn't suppress a small smile at the thought of a whole free summer with Harry. Things had been going well between them – really well – better than she had hoped. The tabloids had been having a field day about them being together again, but she didn't care. For once, they were right.

"It looks like Hufflepuff is going to win," Harry said, coming up beside her and giving her a quick kiss on her temple before leaning down to fill his own water cup.

"Well, Marlena Wickard is a fierce fighter," she replied, taking a sip of her drink. The slightly plump and unfailingly polite Sixth Year had surprised everyone by winning three duels by a landslide in quick succession. She turned to him conspiratorially. "Can I tell you a secret?"

His eyes gleamed amusedly. "Of course."

"I was rooting for Gryffindor."

He fixed her with a look of mock horror. "As Professors, aren't we supposed to be impartial?"

She nudged him with her hip and shrugged cheekily. "Well here I am breaking all the rules," she smirked. "Oooh, it looks like the Ravenclaw-Slytherin one in the far corner's getting good. Let's go." She grabbed his hand and made to move away from the refreshments, but he held her back.

"Wait, Gin, I wanted to ask you about something," he said, smiling awkwardly.

"Sure," she said, grinning brightly.

"Well…," he said slowly, "The end of the year's coming around."

Ginny nodded quizzically, her grin fading.

"And McGonagall called me into her office yesterday to ask about my contract. See, I didn't sign a long-term one like most of you, and mine expires after this year…."

"Oh." She blinked at him, and then she understood. "Oh. You're leaving?" she said, trying very hard to keep the question light. For a moment, she considered protesting. She had loved these last few months with him. They had spent every night together in one of their rooms or the other, and there was something profoundly intimate about meeting in the Room of Requirement between classes to snog or talk or just lie next to each other. It had reminded her of when they had been together in her Fifth Year, back before everything blew up around them. And she didn't relish the prospect of him getting bruised and beaten for a living. But Hermione's words were seared across her brain. He ought to have just joined the Aurors straightaway. It's making everything worse.

He was nodding. "Kingsley's really been doubling his efforts, and my plan was always to work here for a year to rest and then to join up. Training starts next week," he finished matter-of-factly. "McGonagall's agreed to let me stay in my Hogwarts rooms for a few months until I find a permanent place. But what I wanted to ask you was…would you like to look for a flat with me? You know, it could be ours?"

She swallowed, mind racing. She had just wrapped her mind around him leaving…his question caught her off guard. "You want us to get a place together?" she said slowly.

He grinned. "Yeah," he confirmed. "I know you have to stay here on the grounds most nights, but on weekends it might be nice for us to have a place that's ours. And since I have to get a flat anyway…." He trailed off.

She smiled encouragingly. "I'd love to, Harry," she answered honestly. Harry was a very private person, she knew that, and he wanted to share a home with her. It meant a lot. "Damn, I wish I'd kept my Prophet from this morning. There are advertisements at the back."

Harry smiled brightly and brushed a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. "We'll tackle it tomorrow," he said, leaning in to kiss her tenderly.

She grinned as he pulled away. "Snogging in public?" she teased. "Aren't we supposed to be professors?"

"You're not the only rule-breaker, you know," he answered cheekily. "Hey, Dobson!" he yelled suddenly, "Keep the dueling in the ring, will you?" He turned back to Ginny. "I better go take care of this. I'll talk to you later, all right? I'm glad we're doing this," he added with a smile as he walked away.

"Me too," Ginny answered honestly. She was happy they were moving in together. But somehow, the prospect of him joining the Aurors gave her an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Two months later

The flat was spacious and bright. That's what she loved most about, Ginny thought – the light. They'd only found it a week ago. It was a fifteen minute walk from Diagon Alley. Convenient, but far enough away that they could live there in relative quiet and privacy.

Ginny stood in the center of the living room with her hands on her hips, surveying the piles of boxes arranged in a wide semi-circle around her.

"This is the last of it," Harry said, coming through the front door with a particularly large box levitating before him.

"Shall we start with the bedroom?" she said, eyeing the boxes speculatively.

"Mmm," Harry muttered in agreement, "I think that's these over here."

"How competent are you at putting furniture together?" she asked, sauntering into the room at the very end of the hall. "Because I think that's the bed in that box there. The pieces of it anyway."

Harry shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

"I hope that means very competent," she said, turning back to raise a provocative eyebrow at him from the bedroom doorway. "Because I have a feeling we're going to need a bed later."

He grinned. "You're a tease. Has anyone ever told you that?" he said.

"On occasion," she smirked cheekily, disappearing into the room.

She began by setting up the pre-assembled dresser and unpacking clothes into the deep drawers. Harry settled himself on ground, various bed parts and screws arranged around him.

"Can I have this?" she said, holding up one of his old Quidditch practice shirts.

Harry glanced up and laughed. "Why in the world would you want that ratty old thing?"

"I resent you calling it ratty!" she countered, glaring at him and holding it against her chest defensively. "I prefer well-loved," she added primly. "You never wear it anyway."

"Well I'm not about to wear a shirt around that has my name emblazoned across the back!" he said.

"Would make it easier on the paparazzi, though, wouldn't it?" she teased, crossing the room to dig through the contents of another box for clothes.

"Hm, maybe you're on to something," he mused, grinning. "If I wore that shirt every day maybe they'd stop taking photos of random black-haired wizards with specs and speculating that it's me kissing this girl or that."

"On second thought," she said, swinging the shirt over her shoulder, "your refusal to wear this shirt is currently keeping half the gossip rags of England in business. You should let me have it for the job security of all those witches and wizards, Harry." She nodded determinedly.

"Ha! Well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse?"

"You can't."

"Gin, you dropped something," he said, leaning across the floor to pick something up. "Fell out of that pile there."

"Hm?" She turned to see him examining the locket Draco had given her on her seventeenth birthday.

"Oh, I wonder how that got in there," she said, crossing to take it from him.

"It's pretty. Where'd you get it?" he said, flipping it open. He blinked, expression inscrutable. "Here you go," he said neutrally, passing it to her.

"Thanks." She shoved the locket deep in her jeans pocket. It must have gotten pushed into one of the boxes by accident. She never wore it anymore. She realized that she hadn't seen Draco in ages. She thought about him every once in a while. He showed up in the papers every so often, always with a different pretty socialite on his arm. Being the good-looking heir to one of the largest fortunes in the wizarding world made one popular with Witch Weekly.

"There," Harry was saying brightly, and she turned her attention back to him. "All done."

"That was fast!" she replied. The bed was assembled in the center of the room. It looked sturdy enough. "I think I shrunk the mattress into that box over there."

Harry waved his wand nonchalantly at the box in the corner, and the shrunken mattress floated out and immediately ballooned in size. Wordless magic, Ginny noticed. He could do everything that way now, and she swallowed an impressed comment as he set the mattress on the bedframe.

"Well, it hasn't collapsed yet," he said, meeting her eyes and raising his eyebrows at her.

"I think we can take a break, don't you?" she replied.

His lips twitched at the corners. "I'd say so." And he crossed the space between them and pressed his lips against hers. She smiled, and his hands came up to cup both sides of her face as they stumbled laughingly toward the bed. Her hands ran down his sides to the hem of his shirt, but he winced a little when her fingers pressed against his bottom rib.

"Oh, Harry," she said, freezing, "Do you think you ought to go back to the hospital about that?"

He smiled a little and kept kissing her neck, leaning her back onto the mattress. "It's just a bruised rib," he chuckled. "I've had much worse."

She rolled her eyes and sighed theatrically. "I ought to go in there and tell that ridiculous whatever-his-name-is that he should aim his hexes a little better," she said. "If he injured other Aurors during training, what kind of damage is he going to do now that you're starting actual missions."

"Mmm, well now that you mention it, maybe a well-placed Bat Bogey wouldn't be the worst thing for him," Harry laughed, his hands wandering down to the buttons of her top.

"Settled then. I'll come in next week," she smiled, meeting his kiss.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Ginny's stomach dropped as the bed collapsed beneath them. "Bloody hell!" Harry yelled, and she shrieked as they landed sprawled on the floored mattress.

Their eyes met in shock, and then they burst into laughter.

"You…the bed…commendable handiwork…," Ginny managed to gasp between shaking bouts of mirth.

"We should've gotten the one that came assembled," Harry said, tears of laughter falling from the corners of his eyes. "I'm so…sorry…I knew that last screw wasn't just in there for extras."

This sent Ginny into a second round of giggling, and she curled into him, trying to catch her breath.

They were interrupted by the sound of the fire bursting into life in the grate down the hall, and Harry pushed himself up to answer it. "Hopefully it's Ron," Ginny commented. "I think we're going to need some handy help putting this thing back together properly."

He snorted as he headed into the living room. "Who is it?" she called out.

He didn't answer, and she pushed herself up onto her elbows. Brow furrowing, she followed him.

Ron was in the grate, his expression serious. "Oh, Ron," she said brightly, "We were just talking about how we need your assistance with…." She trailed off, realizing that all the amusement was gone from Harry's expression as well.

"What's going on?"

"I was just telling Harry that there's been a breakthrough on the case he's been working on."

"What case?"

"Sorry, Gin," Ron said, meeting her eyes, "He can't tell you until it's wrapped up. But it's important. You should be getting the summons soon," he continued, turning back to Harry, who nodded shortly.

"Thanks for the warning, mate," he answered grimly, standing and brushing the soot off his knees.

"And Harry," Ron added as Harry turned away. "You should pack a bag. I think this'll be a long one."

Harry nodded again and Ron's face disappeared from the grate. He rubbed the back of his neck agitatedly and walked past her back into the bedroom. She watched soberly from the doorway as he pulled a small black duffel bag from one of the boxes and began stuffing clothes into it. There was a sudden loud pop, and a red file, secured by a rubber band, fell to the floor beside Harry's feet.

"Is that the summons?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," Harry said, picking it up and stuffing it quickly into his bag. "I've got to go to Headquarters straightaway."

"I didn't think you'd have your first real mission so soon," she said.

"They throw you right in," he answered. All trace of merriment was gone now. It had disappeared from his demeanor so quickly that Ginny felt a little off balance.

"You don't know how long you'll be gone?" He shook his head.

"Is it dangerous?" she asked softly, and this time he turned away from his bag to look at her. He picked it up in one hand and crossed the room, putting his other hand firmly on her shoulder.

"Shouldn't be," he said, but she could hear the hesitation in his voice. She narrowed her eyes.

"Don't you lie to me, Harry Potter," she said warningly.

He smiled drily and leaned down to give her a light kiss. "I'll be fine." He began to move past her out the door, but she put a hand on his arm.

""Be careful. Don't do anything stupid," she said, meeting his eyes. "I love you, Harry," she added determinedly.

She heard his sharp intake of breath at the words. They'd never said it before. It had been understood, she knew, but somehow, saying the words out loud meant something.

"I love you too," he said finally. "I'll be back before you know it."

And then he walked down the hall and out the door. She heard the pop of his Apparition moment later, and she was left alone in their new flat, trying to ignore the hard ball of worry that had settled at the bottom of her stomach.

Ginny sat on the sofa in their flat, chewing distractedly on the end of her quill, her eyes skimming across the parchment before her. Harry had been gone for two weeks, and she found that working on her lesson plans for the next school year was one of the only things that kept her mind off the dozens of ways he could be getting himself killed at this very moment.

She sighed agitatedly and thrust the parchment and quill aside, picking up her mug of tea and taking a big gulp. She concentrated on the feeling of the hot liquid sliding down her throat. She'd been like this since he'd left, and as the days passed with no word and no news, the worry in her stomach kept expanding further and further into her chest.

She'd waited for him before, of course, but it was different now. Now they were in love – they'd said it, it was all out in the open – they had a flat (a flat that she'd finished moving into and re-organized dozens of times in the last fourteen days to keep herself busy) and a life together. They were settled…so why didn't it feel that way?

She stood and went into the kitchen, grabbing bread and cheese from the refrigerator and throwing them onto a pan. Comfort food. The grilled cheese sandwich was just beginning to sizzle on the stove when she heard the sharp sound of an Apparition just outside the front door.

She turned just as Harry's disheveled head of hear poked through the door. "Harry!" She ran to him, and at the sight of him – obviously exhausted, but uninjured – she felt a fierce wave of relief throughout her body.

"Hi, Gin," he said, a wide grin breaking through the tiredness that was evident across his face. He pulled her close and kissed her hard, his bag dropping to the floor at their feet. "I missed you," he sighed against her lips.

"I missed you too," she replied. "I'm making grilled cheese. Are you hungry? Here, sit down, you look like hell."

He smiled at that and sank into a chair. She made her way back to the stove and slid the browned sandwich onto a plate. When she turned back around, she saw that Harry's head at slumped down onto the table, and a light snore was emanating from his mouth. She exhaled deeply and bit her lip. At least he was home.

Six months later

"Mr. Potter is of course welcome to join you," McGonagall added.

"Seven tonight, you said?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," the professor confirmed, "And Hogwarts robes."

"All right, I'll be there."

Ginny left the headmistress's office and Apparated straight to the flat.

"Harry," she said brightly as she walked through the door and threw her bag onto the sofa. "McGonagall's asked me to attend a Ministry fundraiser for education to represent Hogwarts, and she said you're welcome to come as well. So what do you think? Shall we make a night of it? Oh."

He was standing in the middle of the living room next to a big round sofa, identical to the one in his private Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. His black duffel bag was clenched in his right hand.

"Going somewhere?" she said, trying for nonchalance. She knew, of course. She could see the edge of the red file poking out from his bag. She tried to keep her expression neutral.

"I'm sorry, Gin," he said, brow furrowed. "I just got the summons fifteen minutes ago. This," he added, gesturing to the red sofa beside him, "was supposed to be a surprise. I had it made for us at a furniture shop so we could have one of our own…for the flat."

"It's great," she said, her eyes glued to that edge of the red file. She could already feel the ball of worry settling in her stomach, just like it always did when he left.

"I shouldn't be gone too long this time," he said hesitantly.

She looked up and met his eyes. "You say that every time, Harry," she said, and her tone was sharper than she'd intended. She sighed. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "But you just got back from your last mission a week ago. We've hardly gotten any time together since you went on active duty. Ron's never gone this much…I don't understand why they're giving you such a big caseload. Can't you give this one to someone else?"

"I'm sorry, Gin," he said again, running his hand through his hair. "You know I can't do that. I'm familiar with the case…I have to go."

She exhaled heavily. She hadn't really expected him to stay anyway. "I know."

He walked over and gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek as he went to the door.

"The chair is lovely," she said in a conciliatory tone, giving his hand a quick squeeze.

He squeezed back. "Have fun at the fundraiser," he replied. "I'll be back before you know it."

She bit back a retort as the door closed behind him. He said that every time.

The Ministry foyer was milling with people, and Ginny kept her chin up determinedly as she checked in with the witch at the entrance and walked into the room. She was flattered that McGonagall had asked her to attend to represent Hogwarts. Usually only the more senior staff was allowed to go to these events.

There was a diverse group of people in attendance. She saw some witches in Beauxbatons robes on the other side of the room, and a few people in school uniforms she didn't recognize. She spotted Professor Sprout across the room speaking to a group of Ministry executives, and adjusted her own official Hogwarts robes as she headed over.

"Ginevra!" Professor Sprout said. "Mr. Richards, Mr. Yang, Mrs. Kaplan, this is one of our newest, and dare I say brightest professors at Hogwarts."

"Hi, I'm Ginny Weasley," she said, smiling broadly and holding out her hand.

"So Miss Weasley, we were just discussing what Hogwarts might do with an increased budget from the Ministry," the woman named Kaplan said, raising her eyebrows at her.

Ginny met the challenge with a grin, her mind skimming easily over the dozens of things Hogwarts could use more funding for.

The night passed quickly in networking and moving from one group of Ministry officials to another; to be honest, a year ago she would probably have found this event incredibly dull – she hated pointless small-talk with people she didn't know – but tonight she was glad of the distraction. As the clock on the wall struck eleven o'clock, Ginny leaned back against the bar and sipped from her glass.

"Ginny!" She turned to see a barely-recognizable man coming toward her.

"Seamus, is that you?" she said as he pulled her into a hearty hug. She stepped back and surveyed him. "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you? What are you doing here?"

"Doing well," he said, smiling broadly. "Me girlfriend works in the Education Policy Department here at the Ministry, and I'm here for the free food and drinks."

Ginny laughed. "Smart move, Finnegan," she said lightly.

"And you? I heard you're workin' at Hogwarts now?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Charms."

"Here, have some champagne. I've found you need it to get through these kinds of events," Seamus said, turning and grabbing two flutes of champagne from the circulating trays.

"Thanks," she said, taking a sip. "So what have you been doing since…everything?"

"Oh, this and that," Seamus replied, "But I've settled into Magical Games and Sports for now."

"Wow, that's great!" Ginny said, grinning.

"It's exciting," he agreed. "I get good tickets to most of the games, too. Me family loves it."

"Well if you ever have extras, Floo me. I'd be happy to take 'em off your hands," she smiled.

"Sure thing, Weasley," he answered. "Oh, I'd better go. The girlfriend calls." He gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Owl me, will ya? We should get the old gang back together for a pint sometime."

She nodded as he moved off.

"Enjoying the party?" a voice said from behind her. "I think I paid for about half of it."

Ginny froze. She would have recognized that voice anywhere, even though she hadn't heard it in over a year.

She turned. "Draco, how are you?"

He looked like he was doing well. His suit was neat and perfectly fitted, as always…his hair was a little longer than she remembered. "All right," he said smoothly, meeting her eyes. "And you?"

"I'm good," she replied, not breaking their gaze. He looked away first.

She sipped her drink. "So you're investing in education these days?" she said conversationally.

"Mmm, well you know what they say, the children are our future," he quipped, smirking.

There was a long pause, and Ginny wondered if he would walk off and that would be the end of it. But he didn't.

"I heard about your father," she said finally. She had read about Lucius Malfoy's illness in the papers. He had been in St. Mungo's for over a month, and Draco had taken over the family finances. "I'm sorry," she finished, glancing over at him.

He nodded. "Thank you," he said shortly.

Another long pause.

"So where's Potter?" he said suddenly. "I would have thought you'd bring him."

She realized he must have been reading about them in the papers too.

"Not here," she answered, "He's on an Auror mission." She bit her lip with reflexive worry, and she immediately wanted to kick herself. He had noticed. Of course he had. They had dated for years, after all.

His mouth curved into one of his trademark smirks. In this context, it was infuriating. "Life with Saint Potter not so wonderful after all, hm?"

She felt a sharp flash of annoyance, but she bit back a direct challenge. "So what soon-to-be one night stand are you here with, then?" she retorted instead.

He took a swig of champagne and met her eyes. "Astoria Greengrass," he replied easily. "Her sister Daphne was in my year." He gestured with his glass, and Ginny glanced at the leggy blonde on the other side of the room. "And she's not going to be a one night stand. I'm very picky. You know that."

Ginny raised her eyebrows at him, and she knew that the slightest tinge of accusation crossed her eyes. "I do, do I?" she said sarcastically.

She watched his gaze darken, though his expression remained cool and collected.

She sighed heavily and looked away. "I'm sorry," she exhaled. "That wasn't necessary." She glanced back up at him. "I'm just tired…it's been a long week. I think I'll head home now." She gave him a light smile and started to move away.

"They've set up a Floo direct to Hogwarts," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "Over there."

"I'm not going to Hogwarts," she replied. "Harry and I share a flat near here. I'm going to walk."

"Oh," Draco replied, blinking with surprise. Apparently he hadn't believed the Prophet when they'd printed that bit of gossip. He glanced at his watch. "It's late. You shouldn't be out alone. Let me walk you back."

She looked at him skeptically. "I can take care of myself, thanks very much."

He rolled his eyes. "Not denying that. But I don't fancy the idea of you getting murdered in a back alley because of your trumped up pride."

She scowled. "Won't your date mind?"

"It's near here, isn't it? I'll tell her I'll be right back."

He met her on the Ministry steps a few moments later, and they started at a quick pace back to her flat.

"How is it going at Gringotts?" she asked stiffly.

"Bill doesn't keep you updated?" he replied.

"Of course not," she said.

He nodded. "Well I'm leading the department now."

"Really? Wow, that's great. Congratulations," she said, smiling.

"How are classes?" he asked.

"Fine," she replied. She hated how stilted this conversation was. But they had been together for so long that there were very few safe topics for them to discuss…very few things that wouldn't conjure up memories and awkwardness.

They walked in silence until they reached her flat and he stood at the foot of the steps as she let herself in.

"Thanks for walking me back," she said, "Even though I didn't need you to."

He sighed, his mouth turning up ever so slightly at the corners. "I know you didn't."

She nodded. "Well…," she murmured awkwardly.

"Take care, Gin," he said, meeting her eyes and smiling tightly.

He turned away, and she felt a sudden need to keep those from being the last words they said to each other. She foundered for something to say and so she said the first thing that popped into her head. "Did they let you return it?"

He turned back to her slowly. "Return what?"

She swallowed. "The ring. Did they let you return it?"

He held her gaze for a long moment, his expression inscrutable. He nodded shortly. "Yeah, they did."

"All right…well that's good."

He opened his mouth to say something, but then someone cleared their throat a few feet away, and Ginny looked past him to see Hermione standing there, holding a bottle of wine in one hand, an uncertain expression on her face. "Hermione!"

"I heard Harry got a summons…thought you might want some company…and a drink?" She held up the wine.

Ginny smiled genuinely. "I would love that," she said. "Come on up."

"Draco," Hermione said, nodding shortly as she moved past him to the landing and into the flat.

"I'll leave you to it, then," he said, and Ginny nodded.

"It was nice to see you, Draco," she said honestly.

He smiled and started back down the street, and Ginny retreated into the flat and closed the door.

Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter...it's a little longer than usual :) Several of you have been asking if this is still a DG story...I don't want to give too much away, but as you'll see when we get to the endings, I think it's still best placed in the DG category. Also, there are two chapters left before the story diverges into the alternate endings. Don't worry - I'll alert you before it happens.

Please review!