A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates! I wasn't really sure of the direction I wanted to take this story in so a lot of the delay between last update in Oct, and this was mainly for brainstorming ideas and mapping out where I want this fic to go and at what pace. I hope you enjoy the update!

Chapter 6 Understanding

For days, Severus avoided Ginny like the plague, constantly worried that his anger would rise to the fore and he'd say something unforgivable that would see him cast out of the Burrow. He intended to move out soon anyways, once the school year started he'd obviously be at Hogwarts, and after that he wanted to return home to Spinner's End and figure out what to do with his life from there. In the here and now though, he couldn't afford to be kicked out, so he wisely kept his distance from Ginny in the days following their brief spat. At times, Severus thought he saw a sense of melancholy and genuine sadness in Ginny's gaze in the few times he'd locked gazes with her, but he'd wiped those thoughts away quickly. One of the main things on his mind was how on God's Green Earth did Ginny know about that? About the day it all went wrong and he lost Lily's friendship forever. How did she know about all that? How did she know about him calling Lily a mud—no, I shouldn't use that word anymore.

Ginny seemed to know so much about him, and at times that made things simple and easy, at other it was infuriating and nightmarish. She knew too much, about his home, about his life, hell, she even knew about him calling Lily that. What was there that she didn't know? Severus hated the vulnerability it gave him.

He strived to only be near Ginny at mealtimes, but he couldn't avoid her forever, so one early morning, Ginny intercepted him just as he was making his way to the just stared at each other, until Ginny broke the day's long silence between them with a few simple words.

"We need to talk," was all Ginny said.

At his harsh look, a 'please' was added on to the end of her request—which to him, sounded a lot like a demand at first. He nodded almost imperceptibly and slipped past her into the bathroom. Sighing, Ginny made her way to her own bathroom and tried her best to push all thoughts of what she wanted to say to Severus from her mind.

Just before noon, they'd gathered around the coffee table in the sitting room, Molly had gone out to visit Andromeda for the day, and so had Arthur for work—leaving just Severus and Ginny alone at the Burrow. Ginny watched Severus take his seat and folded his hands in his lap.

"I believe I owe you an apology, Severus," Ginny sighed, her hands clasped together in her lap. "What I…what I said was…well, it wasn't fair of me at all and I'm sorry for that. But in my defense, I abhor that word, it's foul and it really doesn't belong in anyone's vocabulary. Still, that doesn't make what I said after you said that right either." Her brown eyes found his dark ones. "As for how I know about…about that incident, Harry told me bits and pieces about it and the rest was part of the testimony. What I won't apologize for is getting angry at you after you said that word, I abhor it and I don't want to hear you say it again. What I will apologize for was how I expressed my anger, for that I am sorry."

Severus heaved a sigh and laid back in his chair. "That word cost me the only friendship I held dear," he muttered under his breath. "You're right, Ginny, I shouldn't have…I should have never let that word become part of my…vocabulary."

All of a sudden, a spark of inspiration ignited in Ginny's brain, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt what she had to say next. "That's all well and good Severus, but Lily died as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, opposing Riddle in her last act—" she ignored his shudder and kept speaking, "—she's dead. But the best way anyone can honor her, that you can honor her, is by doing something she'd be proud of."

"I know that. She and I used to just…while away the days before Hogwarts, talking about what we wanted for the future," Severus said softly, wearing a rarely-seen wistful look. To Ginny, he looked as though he was in his own, little world.

"Would you believe that she wanted to be a spell-crafter, and as for me…I wanted to be a potions master. It was a…stupid, childhood dream, but it was something I held on to for a little while, until the reality of who I was and how weak and pathetic I was, was made evident to me when I was sorted into Slytherin."

"Why don't you fulfill that so-called 'childhood dream' then?" Ginny asked gently. "You're not weak, Severus. Nor are you pathetic either, the actions of your other self prove that. So why don't you fulfill that dream?

Severus pulled his dark eyes up from the carpet to meet Ginny's fiery, brown ones. "You told me not too long ago that one of the reasons you were considering joining the Death Eaters was because Malfoy Sr offered to finance your potions mastery, isn't that right?"

Severus nodded.

"And now, with someone of your highly-regarded social standing, there'll be plenty of potions masters willing to take you, especially if you show them the modifications you made in your journal. Besides, your older self had a fair stash of galleons saved away so money won't be any object to you either."

"Highly regarded social standing?" Severus sneered, disbelief etched firmly into his features. "I thought you said people hated me, didn't you?"

"Some do," replied Ginny. "But the majority of the wizarding public views you well, Severus. So can you imagine the publicity a potion master would gain by accepting you as their apprentice?"

"I s'pose that would make sense," Severus conceded. "And what now? You suggest I follow through on this?"

Ginny shook her head. "No. No one can decide what you do Severus, other than yourself. Me, Harry, my mum, my dad, none of us have any control over your destiny…and of course you know Lily better than all of us put together." She straightened up in her seat and fixed Severus with a firm look. "The only thing I shall say, Severus, is that if I were in your position, I'd want to honor my best friend, and make something of myself that she can be proud of. As for what that something is, only you know the answer to that."

"Well at least one of us knows definitively what they want to do with their future."

"Not their entire future," Ginny corrected with a quiet chuckle. "Quidditch players oftentimes don't play more than fifteen years or so. And assuming I can even find a team that'd want to sign me, I'd only be able to play for, as I said, fifteen years. After that I don't know what I'd do."

"We can figure that out together then," Severus said quietly.

Ginny arched a lone brow in curiosity.

"Only if you want to, that is," he quickly amended, at her curious look.

Her mouth curled upwards into a smile, assuaging Severus' worries. "I think I'd like that."

Just like that, their little spat over the last few days seemed to disappear from memory as the two slipped back into their old habits and wasted away the morning hours talking about anything and everything concerning their post-Hogwarts futures. As the lunch hour neared though, Ginny decided to ask Severus something she'd wanted to several times over the last few days but hadn't been able to until now.

"Severus do you want to go out for lunch today?"

Severus had been reading one of his older self's potions books, he then looked up at Ginny and nodded. "Alright. I'm sure there's some muggle place near—"

"I meant in the magical world, Severus," Ginny said hesitantly. "…If you're willing that is. There's a neat, little cafe that just opened up in Hogsmeade if you'd be willing to go? Or we could just eat lunch here or somewhere in town nearby if you'd like."

Severus set aside his book and expelled a quiet sigh, contemplating her suggestion. "I—I think that will work," he said, after a long moment of silence. "I've got to enter the magical world again sometime, right?"

"Yeah," Ginny said with a lopsided smile. "Anyways…with a war heroine like me with you, nobody ought to start shit. If they do—" she perished her easy smile and replaced it with a firm look, "—they'll have me to answer to."

"I can handle myself fine, thank you," Severus said indignantly.

"I know," Ginny chuckled, punching him on the arm in jest. She thought of how he'd managed to go toe to toe against the four Marauders, three of whom were powerful wizards in their own right. Even as a thirty eight year old Headmaster, Snape had been able to fight off the combined efforts of three Heads of House without breaking a sweat, she knew he could handle himself just fine. "But the offer still stands, if you want."

They packed up their things and wandered over to the fireplace to floo to Hogsmeade.

"We'll go to The Three Broomsticks, it's the nearest floo address to the cafe so it should be the best option."

"Alright," Severus agreed.

Ginny went first, and Severus went soon after; the two soaring through the floo-network to the Scottish town and reappearing in a far more sooty and dark fireplace. Ginny strode from the floo first, to the tune of a few greetings from the patrons of the tavern, but when Severus made his appearance the tavern fell eerily silent. About two dozen sets of eyes latched onto Severus, who easily returned their stares with a harsh glare of his own. Most looked away, but a few eyes remained, narrowing and sparking with anger.

The first half-empty tankard that was flung towards him missed him by a foot. Severus was used to dodging his father's hurled objects so evading a tankard hurled by a tipsy man was of no difficulty to him. Ginny rounded on the offending individual in the blink of an eye. One hand flew to catch Severus' wrist as his hand dove into his pocket for his wand, the other jabbed threateningly at the man who threw it.

"Oi! If you have a problem with him—" she jerked her thumb towards Severus, "—then you bring it up with me, you get me?"

"But Weasley, he's a death—"

"Oh, shut the fuck up McLaggen! What did I just say?" Ginny shouted, glaring at the young man who looked no older than twenty five. "We're not even eating here so go back to your fuckin' drink and let us leave."

Ginny and Severus quickly left the tavern soon after that, only just hearing the angry voice of Rosmerta chewing out the young man and tossing him out of the tavern soon afterwards. Once they were out of the tavern and in fresh air, the worries of that angry tavern-goer were left behind them as they made their way towards the cafe.

They continued walking along the well-trodden path towards the cafe, Severus' eyes continually taking in the sights and bearing witness to all the new shops and stores that had opened in the twenty years since he'd been here. Here in 1999, a lot of the shops had changed, but there were still staples that persisted from the last time he'd visited in 1979. Rosmerta's Three Broomsticks being a good example. Gladrags' Wizardwear, Scrivenshafts, as well as Dervish and Banges which had all been open from his days as a sixth year student persisted into the present. He remembered going to Dervish and Banges as if it were just yesterday when Malfoy had bought him a Wand holster to help him out against the Marauders. He'd never joined the fights himself, what with being many years his and the Marauders' senior, but he did give advice from time to time on what hexes to use and how to fight multiple opponents. As Severus took his time reminiscing about all the Hogsmeade visits he'd had over the years with Malfoy and Lily(never at the same time, of course), Ginny's quiet voice pulled him from his daydreams and brought his attention back to the girl by his side.

"Sorry about what happened back there—in the tavern, I mean," she muttered. "People are gits sometimes, but I can guarantee that most don't view you that way, Severus…there's a few rotten eggs everywhere though. That guy's a git though and while I expected people to yell and curse…I would've warned you if I thought they'd throw bloody tankards and mugs at you."

"It's to be expected," Severus muttered quietly, almost as if he were just talking to himself. He turned towards her, his eyes uncannily soft and gentle—Ginny had never seen that look in them before. "Thank you for…for standing up for me. I was…well you got us out of there using your words—admittedly, they were sharp, but…I can be a bit hex-happy at times."

Ginny's grin filled him with warmth. "So can I. But I learned a very important lesson recently that…well, if you can dissolve a situation with words, that's better for everyone. If that guy had drawn his wand though, you 'n I could've taken him easily. We're both pretty handy duelists aren't we?"

"We are," Severus agreed, chuckling. "But you seemed to know that guy, McLaggen, was it?"

"Mhmm," Ginny mumbled. "He was two years ahead of me at school, one year ahead of Harry. Rich guy, born into wealth, and he's always been a bit of a git."

"Sounds a lot like a certain someone I know, or rather, I knew."

Ginny's lips curled upwards as she released a sharp, biting laugh into the cool, spring air. "Maybe. I can't say I knew James Potter though, so I've got no comment," she chuckled.

"Nah but McLaggen's had it out for you since the war ended. Apparently you must've been extra strict to him as a Professor or something, I dunno, but for whatever reason, he's come to be one of your main detractors as it were."

"Anyone else of significance that hates me I should know about?" he asked sardonically.

"I'll let you know if we come across any," Ginny said.

They continued on to the cafe, arriving at the quaint, little shop soon after. "And here we are," Ginny said proudly, gesturing to the shopfront. The shop wasn't bold, grand, or ostentatious.

Chasing Snitches, the sign read, causing Severus to roll his eyes. It really was a corny name.

"This is your friend's shop, isn't it? What was her name again?"

"Katie Bell, and yes, this is her shop," Ginny said. "She was a teammate of mine for a few years on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Now that it's the offseason, she runs the shop and when Quidditch is on-season, her partner runs the shop."

"Who's her partner?" Severus asked, his eyes darting across the shopfront, registering it in his memory.

"One of her classmates, Bella Duckworth," Ginny said.

"Mmm, interesting."

Severus held open the door and the two entered the cafe. It wasn't large by any stretch, and was only a single floor. About a dozen tables of various sizes dotted the cafe here and there, half of which were occupied by patrons. The fixtures and walls of the cafe were predominantly colored a mix of green and gold—in solidarity with the two owners' houses, Slytherin and Gryffindor.

"Ginny!" Katie exclaimed, smiling broadly at her former teammate. She stepped out from behind her counter and crossed the shop towards her, with Ginny meeting the ex-Gryffindor halfway in a hug.

"How've you been? And is that—"

"It is," said Ginny. "I finally managed to drag him out of the house for once."

A smile bloomed on Katie's face in turn as she released a wry chuckle. She turned to Severus then and offered him a wave. "Hello Severus, it's good to see you again," she said sincerely.

"Likewise," Severus said quietly, nodding his head. Katie was a little too…bubbly, for his liking, but she seemed earnest enough when he first met her, and that same attitude carried over to the present.

Katie's polite smile was a little forced, but she quickly guided her two newest patrons over to the counter.

"So." She clapped her hands together and rubbed them in eager anticipation. "Can I interest you two with anything?"

"Ah just the usually for me Katie—with a butterbeer as well. As for Severus…" she turned to glance over at him, "have you seen anything you'd like?"

"I think I'll try two of your Yorkshire Puddings, and a butterbeer as well," Severus said.

Katie nodded encouragingly and reached into the display case to withdraw the two requested pastries. After paying for their food, Ginny and Severus made their way to one of the free tables and plopped down in their seats. Ginny had gotten a pulled-pork pie, and Severus, his two, smaller Yorkshire puddings alongside their two butterbeers.

"Can I interest you guys in anything else? Maybe a dessert, perhaps?" Katie asked, glancing between them.

"I think me 'n Severus are all set Kates."

"Sure thing Gin. Enjoy your meal you two, and thanks for coming," Katie said, smiling at them both before taking her leave to go chat with a few other patrons.

"She seems rather upbeat," Severus remarked as Katie sauntered off to got chat with an elderly couple.

"Yeah. She really enjoys this stuff. Almost as much as she enjoys Quidditch," Ginny chuckled. "Harry works here too occasionally, whenever he's got free time on his hands."

"He does?"

"Mmm. Didn't I mention that they were—"

"That they were dating, yes, you mentioned that," Severus said flatly. "Perhaps only a million and one times."

Ginny flushed an indignant shade of red, but before she could respond however, a middle-aged man approached their table. He looked to be in his forties or fifties, and unlike McLaggen, he was smiling and seemed genuinely happy to see him.

"You're Severus Snape, aren't you?" the man asked.

"What's it to you?" Severus muttered, annoyed at his presence already.

"I wanted to thank you, for…for saving my niece's life, Snape. She was kidnapped during the war, and you, well, you freed her from the prisoner pens about two—"

"What's this got to do with me? I didn't do that, so buzz—"

"What my friend means to say is that you're most welcome, and he hopes your niece is doing well to this day," Ginny said, cutting off Severus mid sentence before he could dig his grave any deeper.

"She's doing fine, Miss. And Snape…thank you, it's not every day I get to meet a war hero, two war heroes no less," he said, directing a grateful look at Ginny.

"Thank you for the compliment sir," Ginny said graciously, "but the real war hero's right here. An Order of Merlin First Class recipient, no less," she said, grinning at Severus.

"I won't take up anymore of your, ah, date—" Severus' cheeks flushed an indignant shade of red, whilst Ginny's was far less pronounced, but she too was blushing, "—still. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Snape, and you Miss Weasley."

The man took a step back, and granted them both a bow of respect before turning on his heel and granting them their peace.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Severus sighed. "I think that'll get rather grating after a while," he said.

"That's what comes with the territory of being a war hero or a celebrity, Severus," Ginny said, giving him a if you know what I mean, sort of look.

"I was considering correcting him too, but he'd gone off too quickly before I could say anything and admittedly…I was a bit tongue-tied after he said that, so I didn't react quickly enough before he went off."

Severus tilted his head sideways ever so slightly. "Corrected him about what?" he asked confusedly.

Ginny arched a brow at him, a silent expression on her face saying do you really not know? Or are you just that thick? She sighed, exasperated that he didn't seem to grasp words' meaning.

"About you know…us supposedly being on a date with one another."

"Oh." That rosy tinge returned to his cheeks in earnest. "That. I'd forgotten about that."

"Sure you did," Ginny chuckled. "But ah, what's the point. We both know it's not true in any case, and I doubt he's that much of a gossip that he'll tell the gossip column for the Prophet or something that we're dating."

"It's unlikely, I would think," Severus said. "As you said, he doesn't seem like the type for idle gossip, so let him spin his own stories all he likes."

"Yeah. I don't really care much for rumors and all that," Ginny agreed. She sighed, and turned her gaze out the tinted cafe window. "Gossiping and shit like that is overrated anyways."

Not knowing what to say to that, Severus hummed quietly in agreement with Ginny's sentiment. They took to their meals with gusto in the meantime and quietly enjoyed each other's company.

Severus had already finished his first Yorkshire pudding and was in the midst of consuming his second one when Ginny cleared her throat across from him—rather awkwardly, in Severus' opinion. He raised his hand, and then swallowed his bite, before dabbing at the corners of his stained lips with a napkin.

"Yes?" he asked, finally looking up into Ginny's somewhat nervous-looking face.

"I just wanted to ask…and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to…but…have you, seen anyone before Severus?"

If Severus hadn't swallowed his bite yet, as his younger self would've done before Lucius taught him proper pureblood etiquette, he would've either choked to death on his pie, or spat it out onto his plate. Thankfully though, Severus' mouth was entirely empty so he only coughed on air. Ginny flinched at his…overly surprised reaction, and quickly came to regret asking her question.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't…that wasn't very fair of me," she admitted.

"There hasn't been anyone," Severus forced out, sounding angry and tense.

"Why would I develop feelings for anyone but her, when all I've gotten is scorn from everyone, girl, boy or just…fuckin' everyone."

"Severus you don't have to—"

His wand was drawn so fast, Ginny couldn't even perceive the motion. He jabbed his wand in the well-practiced motion required to erect his Muffliato charm. The charm was up in seconds, enveloping them in their cone of silence. Ginny couldn't help but think that for someone who hadn't fought in a war, his draw was incredibly fast; and sadly, she knew the reason why.

When he looked at her, the intensity of his gaze turned her throat dry and her palms clammy. She tried to say something, anything, but with his dark, angry eyes on her, the words refused to come. That lump was firmly lodged in her throat and it just wouldn't move. Her mouth opened, and it closed, but there was no sound. She felt her cheeks warm, such was the fire of his gaze.

"I can count on one hand, Ginny, the number of people in my old time that genuinely care about me. All of them have their names ending in -vans." He wanted to stop, clenching his jaw and willing the words to cease, but they continued to spill forth unrelentingly.

"My own house viewed me as scum," he spat out with such anger and vindictiveness Ginny felt a slight twinge of fear in that moment. "And so did the rest of the school for that matter. So tell me, does it sound like I saw anyone, Ginny?"

"No," Ginny said softly.

Severus heaved a defeated sigh and shook his head. "You'd be right. I hardly was concerned about any romantic prospects, what with the Marauders breathing down my backs, and my own house thinking of me as lowly as pond scum."

"Slytherin is different now," Ginny said assuredly. "It's…it's more inclusive, there were a bunch of changes implemented this year that—"

"Who's the head of house?" Severus bit out, his eyes narrowed into slits. The anger in his voice no longer startled Ginny, but it did set her on guard a bit.

"Professor Slughorn, why?"

"That old oaf?" Severus sneered. "Still? He only cares about those that can further him and doesn't give two shits about the rest of us! That bastard never gave a lick about me in the six years I went there!"

"Well he's not like that anymore," Ginny countered angrily. "And he…he helped in the final battle, saved lives, so talking about him as if he's scum is not gonna fly with a lot of people Severus."

His first instinct was to unleash the biting retort he'd been building on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it down and scowled. Angry words uttered in the heat of the moment had ended the only friendship he held dear before, now though, he wouldn't fall victim to that again. He was already on thin ice as it was after nearly saying mudblood after all.

In the end, he eased his temper and settled for a; "You don't know him like I do. You don't know what he's like to deal with on a daily basis." Try as he might, he couldn't keep the bitterness he felt for Slughorn from his tone; Ginny didn't fail to pick up on it either.

"Why do you feel that way about him?" Ginny asked gently, upon seeing the grief on his face.

"Unless you've got talent, or fame, or money, or connections," he spoke each word with bitterness and disgust, face contorting as he went. "Slughorn won't give a shit about you. And he…and he never, ever listened to me or took my side in anything. Whatever the matter was, whether it was against my Housemates, or the Marauders, or anyone, he just never listened! He viewed me like pond-scum!"

"So he wouldn't—"

"Never," Severus snarled. "Not unless Lily was there with me, oh you should've seen it!" He barked out a Sirius-like laugh, but it was devoid of any amusement. "She had him wrapped around her finger from the outset! If Lily wasn't there, backing up my case that the Marauders were…were being gits, he'd say something like: 'Oh but boys will be boys, Mister Snape, James Potter and Sirius Black are two members of reputable, stand-up, pureblood families, I hardly think they'd do the things you're alleging'" Severus recited, in his best Slughorn impression.

A wave of shame crashed over Severus, now feeling foolish for his petulant outburst. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I shouldn't have said—"

"No, I needed to hear it," Ginny said firmly, cutting him off mid-sentence. "I've only known Sluggy to be, well, happy and jovial and accommodating. I was part of his so-called 'slug club' after all. I'd never…" her voice trailed off into a whisper, then, she shook her head. "I'd never known he could be like that."

"Yeah? Well…now you know," Severus muttered.

"He failed you," Ginny said softly. She reached out for his hand and squeezed gently, helping to alleviate some of the tension he was feeling.

"He never…not once did he ever, listen to me or…or try to help me. And it certainly wasn't from lack of trying on my part. He never stood up for me against anyone, Ginny, not one time, so don't blame me for despising him."

"I won't," she said quietly. With her awareness and cognizance of Severus' thoughts, how could she blame him?

"Let's not talk about him then," Ginny suggested. "If you were to…get your mastery after finishing school, who would you want to apprentice under?"

"I don't really know at this point. I'm not too familiar with the well-known potions masters of this time. Although…seeing as I'm supposedly some kind of 'war-hero' and an Order of Merlin First Class recipient…I don't think I'll have much difficulty when it comes to securing a mastery. I ought to strike while the iron is hot and while public perception of me is still high."

With a bite of pork pie still in her mouth, Ginny smiled, and swallowed soon after. "Striking while the iron is still hot, I like it," she said.

"I've got to take advantage of the situation while I'm still viewed favorably by the public, don't I?"

Ginny chuckled quietly and shook her head in apparent amusement. "And here I was forgetting that you were a Slytherin."

They ordered their dessert a short while later, a Strawberry Shortcake for Ginny, and a Key Lime Pie for Severus, and after finishing, they bade Katie goodbye and headed out onto Hogsmeade's high street. Katie had given Ginny a number of contacts she had throughout the league, entrusting the young chaser with them in her bid for a professional Quidditch Career. Katie herself was a second-string chaser on the Tutshill Tornadoes, although she was hoping to make the starting squad come next season when veteran chaser Benjamin Lockwood made his long-awaited retirement. While Ginny would be happy to play for any team in the league, there was one team that took preference above the rest, and that was the all-woman squad in the Holyhead Harpies.

"I presume your aspirations haven't changed then," Severus remarked as the two walked down Hogsmeade towards Scrivenshafts.

"Nah they haven't. It's a shame that Gwenog is retiring this season though," Ginny said wistfully. "She was my favorite player growing up, but I guess she's had a long enough career and I hoped that maybe I could've played alongside her or against her for a season or two, just for the novelty of it."

"I'm sure it would have been nice," Severus agreed.

Ginny regarded him with a curious look, her head cocked sideways ever so slightly as she side-eyed him. "Are you planning on reaching out to any Potions Masters or Mistresses soon?" she asked curiously.

"Soon, I think," Severus said.

He recalled Harry giving him all those business cards of people in the Potions Business, and silently thanked him for that. It would make his life a lot easier getting in contact with those that could help him further his career.

"As you said earlier though, it's better to strike when the iron's hot."

He hummed his agreement, and the two continued on their walk. They approached the edge of the little village and started upon one of the many trails that wound along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, just meandering through the trees without a care in the world. Eventually, they found a place to rest under the shade of a large pine tree and sank to the base of it.

"Did you come here much as a student?" Ginny asked Severus, as the boy in question stared off into the forest blankly.

"No," said Severus, his answer swift and firm. "Not unless…I'd saved some. Money could be…rather tight at times," he explained, still wearing that far-away look.

"I know what that's like," Ginny muttered glumly. "There were times when…when me and my family were the same."

"It seems you're doing alright now though," Severus pointed out.

To that, Ginny chuckled. "Percy does well for himself these days, as does George and to a lesser extent, Bill as well. Dad got a couple promotions at work after the war so that helped too, not to mention the pay rise that came with it. Money wise…we no longer have to 'make do' as my parents used to say, we're quite comfortable these days."

Severus hummed thoughtfully.

"The older 'you' seemed rather well to do as well," Ginny said, a brief smile tugging at her lips.

"Because he was frugal," Severus pointed out with a shrug. "Guess he just…never had anything of interest to spend it on."

"That's all the better for you though, isn't it?"

Severus lifted his gaze from the forest up to the canopy of leaves overhead, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "I hope so, but I guess time will tell," he said glumly.

"Hey—" in a bit of bold inspiration, Ginny reached across the gap between them and tilted his chin up with the lightest touch of her pointer finger and thumb. "—Chin up, Severus. You'll be fine."

Severus blushed slightly and turned his head away, willing that rosy tinge on his cheeks to disappear. He'd picked up a bit of Occlumency during his time between fifth and sixth year, and now, he called upon the ancient mind art to calm his addled nerves. It worked like a charm.

"We'll make our own way in this world, Severus, you and I," Ginny vowed softly, yet resolvedly.

He nodded his head in agreement, dark eyes fixed on the even darker expanse of the forest beyond them, darting too and from the various pinpricks of light shining out towards him. He hardly perceived Ginny moving beside him until she was nestled up against him. The soft strands of her coppery—orange hair tickled his pale cheeks as her head came to rest on his shoulder.

In that moment, with Ginny's head on his shoulder, he felt at peace, little did he know that Ginny would've said the exact same thing.

A/N2: Thanks for reading!