After roughly 30 minutes, Harry and Ginny made their way over to their table again.

"I forgot how exhausting it is to dance," Harry said, breathing heavily.

"Maybe we really should start running again," Ginny said and kissed her husband. "Do you want a drink, I know I could certainly use one."

"A whiskey, scotch," Harry replied.

"And what exactly is that?" Ginny asked with a confused face.

"It's a muggle version of our fire whiskey. It's a lot stronger, but it's ok. Dudley recommended it."

"I will try, but if I fail, I will just order a beer."

"I have faith in you, Harry grinned."

While Harry was waiting for his wife to return, he overheard someone bragging behind him."I made major in the army at just 22 years old. Without going to college, I'm one of the youngest to ever do it. It's not official, but I'm on pace to become General before 40." The man said with confidence.

Harry turned around to see that it was Robin Arnold that was bragging. As a kid, he had rich parents and would always brag about his latest gifts. Some people stay the same, Harry thought.

"I heard, that loser Harry Potter is in the army as well." A woman, Harry, recognized to be Amber Maddison, who had always had a crush on Robin in elementary. Harry just shook his head and turned his back to the two former classmates. He found it quite amusing to hear how wrong people had been about him.

I bet he is no higher than Officer cadet. That boy was always slow. And did I mention I'm in good standing with a high-ranking General, he is looking to transfer me to his undisclosed department. Gawain Robards is his name, he has told all his colleagues about me."

The use of the current Head Aurors name caught Harry's full attention. He stood up and walked over to them.

"Hi, Amber and Robin, right?"

"Yeah?, Who are you?" Robin said, clearly a bit annoyed that he was interrupted.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Harry Potter, not sure if you remember me. Someone mentioned that Robin was in the army, so I wanted to talk to you myself, as an army man myself."

"Skinny Potter? With the scar?" Robin said in disbelief.

"Yes, Harry with the scar." Harry smiled and lifted his hair to reveal the scar. He still hadn't managed to tame his hair, it was still messy.

"My, you have grown," Amber said, looking him up and down.

"Thank you, I would have hoped so after 11 years." Harry chuckled.

"Did you say that you are a fellow army man?" Robin said, maintaining the shocked look on his face.

"I did indeed."

"Well, how long have you been in the army?"

"4 years, roughly. I did a year of training in addition to that," Harry said.

"You started early, that's good. We could use new cadets. I'm a major, and I'm on track for a rapid rise through the ranks. Have you gotten your first promotion yet?" Robin said, with a smug face, that Harry recognized from elementary school.

"More or less", Harry said.

"Robin here is close with General Robards", Amber added.

"Gawain Robards?" Harry questioned, trying to look as if it wasn't the only reason he approached them.

"Indeed. We have regular dinners," Robin said with his signature smug face.

"How you do know Robards?" Harry questioned.

"I guess he has an eye for the talented."

"Yes, he does have an eye for talent."

"Wait, you know General Robards?"

"Yeah, and his wife, Bertha Robards. Lovely couple."

Ginny had now joined them, "Did you mention Bertha Robards, she is such a sweet lady" Ginny said, handing Harry a glass of whiskey.

"Yes, I did, honey." Harry looked towards Robin and Amber and said, "Amber, Robin, meet my wife Ginny."

"Nice to meet you," Amber said with the same shocking face as she had when Harry introduced himself.

"How do YOU know General Robards?" Robin said, looking towards Ginny but matching Ambers's facial expression.

"They were at our wedding," Ginny smiled. "Their grandson, Ryan, is such a cute boy."

"So you know them on a personal level?" Robin questioned, still looking confused.

"Well, there is an age difference, but yes. We have dinners with them once a month. Bertha babysat our oldest one time," Ginny replied

"What exactly do you do?" Robin said to Harry, he was starting to look irritated.

"I'm a brigadier, Gawain was the one to promote me a couple of weeks ago."

"What department do you work in?" Robin looking even more irritated.

"The same as Gawain," Harry said with a smug smile.

"And what department does Gawain work in?" Robin was now visibly irritated.

"The same department as me. It's confidential if General Robards hasn't told you. Then I'm afraid you can't know yet." Harry said, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"General Robards have told me, I was just testing you."

"Great for you. So what is it called?"

"That's confidential," Robin said and stormed off.

"Well, it was great to see you," Amber said and followed him.

"I will put in a good word with Gawain for you when he comes over for dinner on Wednesday," Harry yelled after Robin. Robin turned around and gave Harry an angry look, his face was completely red.

"I will for sure tell Gawain this story first thing Monday morning," Harry laughed.

"I'm not sure if he actually knew Gawain, but damn that was entertaining," Ginny said after they stopped laughing.

Harry and Ginny then started walking back to their table.

"This is a good whiskey, maybe I should buy some of it," Harry said and smelled it.

"Mind if I try?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Sure."

"Wow, that is strong stuff," she coughed after taking a sip. Harry laughed at her reaction.

Sophie was making her way rapidly over to the table and was chugging a glass of red wine while she was walking.

"Wow, what is the matter, Sophie?" Harry asked as she put the glass down, and grabbed her purse.

"Do you remember Maria Chamberlain?" She questioned Harry.

"Err, I think so. Long brown hair, very pale, and always made fun of people."

"What about her?"

"She is even worse now, she is making fun of a girlfriend of some former student. What is his name, a very skinny blond, was awful at PE. A name with J."

"Joe? Joe Payne?" Harry suggested.

"Yes, exactly. His girlfriend is pregnant, and he is making fun of them for 'wasting their youth'. I'm going to get some air, she is unbearable."

"Can I hex her?" Ginny asked quietly when Sophie had walked a few meters away.

"I'm beginning to consider it, she sounds awful," Harry replied

"Should we just casually make our way over, and subtly explain that James and Al are the best things that have ever happened to us?" Ginny looked intensely at her husband

"Gin, you know I hate bragging, but that bitc-, I mean bad person deserve it,"

"She is standing near the stage with several women, still talking to Joe," Harry observed aloud. "He was the closest thing I had to a friend. We were both bullied, but luckily for him. I got most of the beating," Harry added.

"So, no hexing him?" Ginny grinned. Harry sighed in response.

"Joe Payne?" Harry asked the blond man, with surprise in his voice, when they had made their way over. Joe was no longer a skinny kid, he had grown into a rather muscular man, just like Harry.

"Is that you, Harry?" Joe exclaimed.

"Indeed. You have come along quite well."

"So have you. Who would have imagined the two skinny kids being jacked," Joe laughed.

"I certainly wouldn't have," Harry laughed.

"This is my girlfriend, Meghan." Joe gestured towards the pregnant woman by his side.

"Nice to meet you, this is my wife Ginny,"

"A pleasure to meet you."

"Wow, you are glowing," Ginny said to Meghan with a smile.

"I don't feel like it. This baby is heavy," Meghan grinned.

"Well, if you ask me. It's way too early, life is about living. Not cleaning a baby in your twenties," Maria interrupted.

"Nicely put," one of the 4 women behind her agreed.

"You sound a bit jealous, afraid no one will ever impregnate you?" Ginny snapped back.

Maria looked hurt for a few seconds before replying, "I have plenty of men to choose from, something you clearly didn't have since you are dating a loser like Harry. And I bet I will have children before, loser Harry learns how to do it."

"Ohh, she got put in her place," another one of the women behind her commented.

Ginny's face was beginning to turn the signature Weasley red, "First of all, we are not dating. We are married," she held up her hand with the two rings. "Second of all, I'm willing to take that bet, since Harry already has accomplished that. Twice. We have two sons, so I guess you better start choosing a man."

Maria and her crew had the same surprised look on their face, as Robin, and Amber had minutes earlier. Maria cursed at Ginny, and before walking away.

As the night progressed, Harry witnessed more and more surprised faces. Around 1 AM, Harry noticed that some parents were making their way into the gym. When he questioned Dudley about it, he said something about it being an unwritten rule for parents to meet again briefly at their kid's reunion. They had apparently gotten a separate invitation. Most of the former students were just chatting at their tables, a few had already gone home and there were a couple out on the dance floor

"Well, I think we better get going. We have to pick up the kids in 9 hours," Harry said. Using his kids as an excuse to leave, before the eventual reunion with Vernon, who was catching up with some other parents at the back of the gym.

"Are you sure? The party is still going on," Dudley said with a disappointing look on his face.

Ginny looked at her husband, who was giving her a look that meant that they should get going. "Yeah, it's the one downside about kids. You can never party late," Ginny grinned.

As Harry and Ginny were making their way through the room and towards the exit, Ms. Jones and Alexandra Smith made their way to the stage. Alexandra swayed, she was drunk.

Ms. Jones started, "Excuse me, please put down your drinks for a few minutes." Before looking over at Alexandra, who was too drunk to tell her part.

"As your former class president said earlier, we have a special surprise.", Ms. Jones continued. "It was an idea that Alexandra proposed when we started planning this reunion. Even though it has been lovely to catch up with you all, we teachers also had an alternative motive. We were tasked with finding the biggest surprise amongst you all. I have to say, that we are all proud of you and the people you have become. You have all done very well for yourself. St. Grogory primary school is honored to have you as former students. Please give yourself a round of applause."

After the clapping stopped, she continued once more. "But, there is one that stands out in particular. I think those of you who have had the pleasure, of talking to this person tonight know who I'm talking about. This person has exceeded every expectation met and has surprised us all. They had a lot of talents as a child, but I don't think anyone could have imagined how much this person could have accomplished at just 22 years old."

"Thank you for the introduction, but I'm actually still 21. I'm honored to win this award, and I will do my best to make Little Whining proud" Alexandra interrupted.

"I think you have misunderstood me, you didn't win," Ms. Jones said and pulled Alexandra away from the microphone.

"What? How? It was my idea, so I must win," She questioned loudly.

"That may have been your intention, but you didn't win," the old lady said in a low voice, but the microphone still caught it.

"None of these losers are better than me," the younger woman exclaimed.

"Judging from this conversation, I would say that they all are," Ms. Jones said before turning towards the microphone again. "Anyway, the most surprising alumni is Harry Potter. Congratulations Harry," She said and started clapping rapidly.

"What, him?" Alexandra screamed before storming off the stage.

The rest of the crowd soon joined the applause. And after a few seconds started chanting "Harry, Harry, Harry"

"Go up there and accept the award," Ginny encouraged her husband, who was standing in shock.

"What am I supposed to say? I wouldn't have come, if I knew I was going to be giving a speech," Harry expressed with a frightened look on his face.

"I believe in you, just say whatever comes to mind. That usually works for you," she said encouragingly before placing a kiss on his lips. "Now go," she demanded when they broke apart.

Dudley made his way over to Ginny while Harry was approaching the stage.

"Did you know about this?" Ginny questioned.

"No, I was just about to ask you the same thing," he grinned.

"Erm, I wasn't really prepared for this." Harry started. "I guess I should tell what I have done with my life, since the teachers apparently think it worth awarding. Well, after St. Grogory I went to a boarding school in Scotland, I joined the army immediately afterward, I got deployed twice, but eventually settled down for a job away from the front lines, and a few months ago I made Brigadier."

Another applause erupted from the crowd. Harry could see that his former classmates were shocked.

"I want to share this award with my wife, Ginny." Harry smiled in her direction. "She is the beautiful woman standing over there," he pointed towards her and Dudley. You're the reason why I have been able to accomplish all this. You're the best person I know, and the most amazing mother to our two sons. I'm so lucky to have you.

A couple of the women exclaimed an "aw" at this last part.

"Thank you to the teachers for giving me this honor, and thank you to all of you for an incredible night! Thank you!" Harry smiled and made his way off the stage before being surrounded by former classmates to congratulate him. He sighed once he saw, Vernon make his way towards Dudley. He knew a confrontation was just minutes away.

Vernon Dursley made him over to his son.

"He didn't even thank us for raising him, what an ungrateful freak," Vernon growled at his son.

"Excuse me, are you Vernon Dursley?" Ginny questioned, she tried to stay calm, but her face was already beginning to turn red.

"Yes, who are you?" He asked with an impressed look on his face, he didn't think Dudley could get a woman this beautiful, not remembering Harry pointing towards her minutes earlier.

Ginny slapped him as hard as she could, "That is for abusing my husband for years."

Before he could reply, she slapped him again on the other cheek, "And that is for calling him a freak."

Harry had now made his way over to them, and said, "Ah, Uncle Vernon. I can see that you have met my lovely wife. Uncle, this is Ginny. Gin, this is my uncle Vernon."

"What the hell are you doing? You can't hit another person, but I guess your kind never learned manners," Vernon was fuming.

"Nice to meet you too," Ginny said with an amused grin.

"Well, we better get going before she turns you into a balloon. Like I did with your sister," Harry whispered and started leading Ginny away. Harry turned back to the two Dursley men and laughed, "It was nice to see you again, we should do this sometime soon."

As the young couple was making their way towards the exit of the gym, Gordon yelled and ran after them. When he had made his way through the crowd of parents and former students, he looked at Ginny and asked if he could have a word with Harry. To which they both agreed.

"So, what do you want to talk about," Harry asked when they found a quiet spot in the corner.

"I really need your advice," Gordon was looking increasingly nervous each minute.

"Shoot," Harry said while checking where Ginny was, she was having a conversation with Ms. Jones.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Gordon questioned.

"Oh, it's just means 'ask your question'" Harry grinned.

Gordon let out a small chuckle, "I know this is quite personal, and given our history, I know I shouldn't be asking this."

"It's all in the past, you are all forgiven," Harry assured him.

"Thank you, it means a lot. I'm not proud of the boy I was."

Harry was getting a little impatient and replied, "You're welcome. You have become a better man, I can tell. Your question was?"

"Right, sorry. I want to propose to my plus one, Isabella. We have been dating for 2 years now, and I think it's time to take the next step. But I'm afraid she aren't ready and will turn me down. And I'm afraid that I'm moving too quickly. The reason I came to you, is because Ginny obviously accepted your proposal, and you were even younger than we are now."

Harry looked down and laughed to himself before looking up, "All I really can say is you know when you know. One day, Ginny and I were hanging out, and I asked her at what age she wanted to get married. She told me that she had also imagined herself being married young, but that we couldn't get married before I had proposed. That evening I bought a ring, and the following Friday I took her to one of our favorite places and proposed. We got married a couple of months after that."

"Wow, you are a man of action," Gordon grinned.

"People also thought that we were too young, but we wanted to make our love official, so we got married."

"What did you tell them?"

"I didn't plan on sharing this tonight, not many people know this. But I had trouble with nightmares growing up, and it was really bad. And it only increased after my mentor died, and then again when I returned from war. I lost many close friends in that war. No one could wake me up or stop them, except for Ginny. She is the only person I have ever truly been in love with. But to answer your question, I just told them that we loved each other, and we're both ready."

"Wow, you really found your soulmate."

"Yes, I have," Harry laughed before turning more serious. "All I can say is that if you really love her, then talk to her about it. Get to know her intentions. If she isn't ready, then wait. DO NOT rush her into marriage and children. She will end up resenting you for it. You also have to make sure that your interests are aligned. Luckily, Ginny and I both wanted an early marriage and children, but people are different."

"I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Harry."

"You're welcome. It was good to see you again, and good luck with the proposal," Harry grinned.

"It was good to see you too."

Ginny and Ms. Jones stood outside the school when Harry walked out. Ginny was very invested in their talk, Harry could see that she had shed a tear. Ms. Jones looked displeased as well. As Harry approached them, he could hear that they talked about Harry's miserable school years.

"You two look chipper," he said in an attempt to lighten the mood when he reached them.

"I was just telling your lovely wife about your life as a child at the Dursley household." It was a subject Harry tried to avoid, but since he was married to Ginny, it wasn't always easy.

"Most of which, you have left out in your stories," Ginny added, whipping her cheek. Harry slid his arm around her waist and kissed her on the top of her head.

"I know. I don't like talking about it, I would rather focus on our future."

"But it's so much worse than I imagined. You never mentioned the physical abuse from Vernon or Petunia, or how they talked about your parents in front of you.

"To be fair it was only really Dudley and Vernon that abused me physically, Petunia's abuse was primarily emotional. And yes, it was rough. But I'm over it now."

"If I had known about this, I wouldn't have punched your uncle with an open palm."

"I know I should have told you, but I just want to forget it ever happened, and move on with my amazing life."

"You are the one always preaching about good communications, maybe you should take your own advice sometime," Ginny smirked, seemingly in a much better mood.

"I will try," Harry grinned. "Please excuse us, Ms. Jones, I think it's time for a long-overdue conversation."

"Of course, I'm so proud of what you have accomplished. It was great to see you again, and a pleasure to meet you, Ginny," Ms. Jones replied with a smile.

"Likewise, and thank you for helping my husband through those years," Ginny smiled back.

"You should really come over someday," Harry stated.

"I would love to,"

Harry and Ginny made their way to the car, laughing about the night, saving the serious conversation for later.

"It seems like the wine fell in taste after all," Harry commented as Ginny struggled to fasten her seatbelt.

"It was better than I remembered, but you aren't sober either. Don't the muggles have a law against drunk driving?"

"I think they do, but I'm too good of a driver to be noticed."

"So that time you hit a stopsign didn't happen?" Ginny teased.

"We dont speak of that."

They spent the rest of the night talking about Harry's childhood. Everything from how Petunia neglected him, to Dudley beating him. They had only stayed up talking like this three times before; After the birth of their sons, and after the Battle of Hogwarts.

Sorry for the delay, I have been so busy. Hopefully, I will be able to post more in the following weeks. I plan on having another chapter, where Harry and Ginny meets Petunia. But unless any of you have any ideas, that will be the last chapter in this story.

Please leave a review, it means the world to me. I would love constructive critism. Thank you for reading.

Ps: I wrote most of this tired, so I might correct a few errors in the following days.