Author's Note: Note that this is part of the H/G ending.

Epilogue: Ginny Potter (Ending 1)

Four months later

There was a hard knock on the door, and Harry crossed the room to open it.

"You look like hell, mate," Ron said, grinning widely as he bounded into the room.

"Thanks a lot," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes and running his hand through his hair.

"Rough week, Harry?" Hermione teased, beaming as she followed Ron inside. She set her heavy-looking bag on the kitchen table and began pulling things out of it.

"You have no idea," Harry replied. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

"Absolutely," Ron quipped.

"Ron," Hermione chided, but she laughed. "You know," she added, turning to Harry, "This is only what you deserve. She's only been gone a week, and her international education conference isn't life-threatening. So just imagine what she felt like all those times you were gone on missions." She made a prim face, and Harry huffed at her.

"Now," she continued, "Come help me put these candles out. And Ron, you take these," she proffered him a bag of bright red rose petals, "and sprinkle them around."

"Where?" Ron asked.

"Oh, the sofa, the table, the bed," she said, waving him away.

"Ugh, the bed?" Ron groaned, making a face. "I don't want to think about that." But he headed down the hall to the bedroom.

"Thanks for helping me," Harry said, "I'm hopeless at this stuff."

"I know," Hermione said easily, grinning. "But she loves that about you."

"She does?" Harry groaned. "So why are we setting out candles and rose petals and all again?"

Hermione beamed. "Because she'll love this too."

Two hours later, Harry and Ginny Apparated just down the street from their flat. Harry's heart was pounding hard in his chest, but he forced himself to focus on Ginny and what she was saying.

"And then, Poe had the nerve to say that Hogwarts is overfunded. Can you believe that?"

"Did you tell him to shove it?" Harry asked.

She laughed. "I wish. Probably would've gotten fired, though I think McGonagall almost did tell him that."

They climbed the steps to their flat, and Harry hung back a tiny bit to let Ginny open the door.

He heard her sharp intake of breath. The front room was dark, but there were candles everywhere – special candles that Hermione had charmed so they wouldn't start a fire – and rose petals dotted most of the surfaces. But Harry wasn't looking at any of that. He was looking at her. He followed her into the room where she turned in a circle, eyes wide. The candlelight reflected off of her hair and her mouth broke into a wide smile.

And when she finally turned back to him, beaming, a question on her lips, he was already on one knee with the ring box open in his hand.

"Marry me, Gin," he said.

There was a moment's pause, and Harry's mind took a snapshot of it, and then she grinned even wider and tackled him to the floor. He lay flat on his back with Ginny above him, her hair falling down around their faces. "Shall I take that as a yes?" he said, grinning broadly.

"I think that would be a safe bet," she laughed.

He lifted his head a little to press his lips against hers. "I should tell you, all of this romantic stuff was Hermione's idea."

She shot him a look of mock horror. "Damn. I guess I can't marry you then."

He chuckled as he slid the ring onto her finger. "Perhaps we can set the record for world's shortest engagement."

"That would be a real waste," she said, smiling as she lowered her lips to his again. "Ginny Potter," she whispered speculatively when she pulled away. She grinned. "That has a nice ring to it."

He laughed. "That was a pun. A bad one."

She swatted him teasingly. Then her expression softened and she leaned down to give him three slow kisses – one on his forehead, one on the tip of his nose, and one long, lingering kiss on his lips. "I love you, Harry Potter," she whispered.

"I love you too, Ginny Weasley."

"Ginny Potter," she reminded him, winking cheekily.

He smiled. "I could get used to that."

And thirteen years after that

The little girl hunched her shoulders with a dramatic groan, and Ginny took one hand off the trolley to pat her head affectionately. "Two years," Lily sniffed, "I want to go now!"

Ginny and Harry exchanged a significant look, amused smiles twitching at the corners of their lips.

Meanwhile, the boys had bounded farther ahead, and Ginny heard James teasing his brother in his most needling voice. Al wailed desperately that he would not be in Slytherin, and Ginny rolled her eyes. "James, give it a rest!"

"I only said he might be," James replied, shooting Al a cocky grin. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth –"

Ginny raised a stern eyebrow at him, and his lips clamped shut tightly. She narrowed her eyes warningly at him as he came to collect his cart from her, and he only dared a smug glance at Al before he sailed his belongings through the barrier.

Albus nudged a little closer, and Ginny took the opportunity to ruffle his hair a bit like she used to do when he was little. Al had inherited Harry's unkempt mop, but Ginny knew he wouldn't appreciate his mother brushing it down in front of everyone once they were on the platform. "You'll write to me, won't you?" he said earnestly.

Ginny smiled brightly. "Every day, if you want us to," she assured him.

He blinked frantically. "Not everyday. James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

Ginny snorted. "We wrote to James three times a week last year."

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry said, rolling his eyes as he came up to them. He placed a light hand on the small of Ginny's back as he spoke. "He likes a laugh, your brother." And he pushed the second trolley forward, and he and Al disappeared through the bricks.

"Ready, Lil?" Ginny said, reaching out a hand to the pouting redhead at her side. At the prospect of going through the barrier, Lily immediately stood up straighter and dried her eyes, determined to look grown-up to everyone on the other side. She grasped Ginny's hand solemnly, and they walked through.

Platform nine and three-quarters was bustling. Through the mist, Ginny could make out the familiar sight of groups of parents dotting the station and students racing around the platform, chattering excitedly as they lugged their trunks onto the Hogwarts Express.

Soon enough, they located Ron and Hermione, and Lily dropped Ginny's hand in favor of playing with Hugo. She saw James disappear into a throng of friends at the side of the train and turned back to the group at hand.

"You're looking lovely in your robes, Rosie," she said to her niece, who beamed and hoisted her heavy-looking bookbag higher on her shoulder. That made Ginny grin: the girl had definitely gotten Hermione's end of the stick in the studying department.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," Ron was saying, "but no pressure."

"Ron!" Hermione chided, glaring at her husband.

"He doesn't mean it," she said quickly, noticing the blanched look on Al's face. She shot Ron a glare too, just so he got the point. Ron shrugged and opened his mouth to say something more, but then he noticed something farther down the platform and leaned his head down to Harry's.

"Look who it is," he said.

All four adults followed his gaze, and Ginny saw Draco standing a little way away. He was wearing a long wool coat and carrying his son's bookbag easily over one shoulder. The little boy next to him was an exact replica of Draco at eleven, and Ginny recognized Astoria Greengrass on the boy's other side. Draco seemed to have noticed them too, and she saw him meet Harry's eyes. The two men nodded to each other without warmth. Draco's gaze shifted to her, and Ginny met his eyes directly for a long moment. She smiled, and she saw his expression warm a little. He smiled back before turning away.

Ten minutes later, they had loaded Albus onto the train. Ginny gave him a quick kiss good-bye, but she watched him hesitate before boarding and turn to his father with wide eyes. "What if I'm in Slytherin?"

Ginny turned away as Harry crouched down. "Albus Severus," he began, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts…."

Ginny raised a hand to wave goodbye to Rose, but she could hear Harry explaining the truth about Snape and the Sorting Hat behind her. She felt a rush of affection for Harry; he was an incredible father. A few minutes later, Al jumped onto the train and Ginny shut the door firmly behind him. As the train pulled away, Harry walked along with it, and she snaked her arm through his.

"He'll be all right," she murmured as the train pulled out of sight.

"I know he will," he whispered. He tore his eyes away from the place where the train had disappeared and turned to her, smiling gently. He leaned down to give her a tender kiss. Lily made a loud sound of disgust behind them, and Ginny smiled as Harry drew away.

"I think, that for being so good about staying home while James and Al go off to school, you should get some ice cream. What d'you think?" he said loudly, grinning at Lily's squeal of enthusiasm.

Ginny laughed at their antics, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco approaching her. She turned to face him.

"Ginny Weasley," he said, smiling, "When was the last time I saw you?"

"A lifetime ago," she replied easily, grinning broadly. "Was that your son…?"

"Scorpius," he supplied. "And you have three?"

She nodded. "James and Al just left on the train, and Lily's nine and devastated she couldn't join them."

Draco laughed at that. "I'm sure." He paused for a moment, thoughtfully, then, "You look happy."

Ginny looked over her shoulder to where Harry was hoisting a cackling Lily up for a piggyback ride, a wide grin on his face. "I am," she replied, turning back to Draco and nodding, a smile on her face.

He nodded back, an easy farewell, and she moved away and down the platform to join her family. "I really am," she repeated, smiling to herself.

And she was.

THE END

Author's Note: The last scene obviously takes much of its dialogue/situation from the epilogue of Deathly Hallows. Because I didn't think Harry and Ginny would have kids right away in this story, I had to push the canon epilogue back a year. Please review!