Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their Characters.

Ginny woke up the Sunday morning, the week after her would have been wedding day with a massive hangover and in an unfamiliar place. She'd been out partying with friends at the three broomsticks and vaguely remembered being thrown out and heading somewhere else to continue the party, but her memories of the end of the evening were quite foggy.

Looking down she could see she was still dressed in the clothes she'd worn out the night before and moving experimentally she wasn't sore anywhere except for the thumping in her head and her stomach churning, though that didn't necessarily mean much if someone was skilled with healing spells. She could smell faint traces of vomit but looking around she definitely wasn't in a hospital.

She groaned loudly on waking and Dean walked in with a hangover potion for her. "I guess you'll be wanting this" he said.

Ginny chugged it down without checking what it was, and immediately felt better. "Where am I?" she asked.

"In the spare room at Michael's parents place. They're away on holiday and he invited us all back when we got thrown out of 'The Three Broomsticks'. You were too drunk for us to floo you home and nobody was sober enough to apparate you" Dean explained.

"I've got to go! Mum will kill me!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Lisa floo'd your parents and told them you were here earlier so they wouldn't worry. If I were you I'd give the hangover potion time to finish working and have some breakfast and clean up a bit before you go home. Your Mum will be more upset if you walk in like you look now than if you stay another hour or two and clean up" Dean replied.

"If we're at Michael's why are you here instead of him?" Ginny asked.

Dean's face fell. "You don't remember" he said.

"Remember what?" Ginny asked frowning as she searched her memory, coming up blank.

"We got back together last night" Dean said quietly.

"Harry and I are going to get back together as soon as he gets home from his assignment" Ginny protested.

"That's not what Harry said before he left" Dean replied. "He made it very clear he wouldn't be getting back together with you, not to mention that word is he's gonna be gone a year or more."

"He would have told us if he was leaving for a YEAR" Ginny screeched furiously, jumping out of bed and trying to tidy her hair.

"Really? After you harassed him to the point he threatened to have half your family arrested?" Dean said disbelievingly. "You still think he would have come around to say goodbye and give your brothers the opportunity to finish beating him up like Ron tried?"

Ginny ignored him searching for her things to leave, not caring that she was hurting Dean.

She flood to her brother's shop. "Did you know Harry's going to be away for a whole year?" she demanded loudly in spite of the customers in the shop.

Fred grabbed her and dragged her out the back where they had a silencing ward already in place. "Did you know?" she repeated furiously.

"No I didn't know, but that's no reason to come into our shop and make a scene in front of the customers looking like something the cat dragged in" Fred replied.

"A year? How am I going to get him back if he's gone a whole year? What if he meets someone else?" Ginny asked panicking at the thought.

"How were you planning to get him back anyway? He doesn't trust you enough to eat anything you or Mum give him and if he found himself having feelings for you again he'd probably take a flushing potion. He doesn't love you Ginny. If he loved you, you never would have had to potion him in the first place" Fred said sternly. "It's a good thing that Harry's gone. It will let the scandal die down before it does too much damage to your reputation but you've got to stop making scenes in public" George added.

"I thought your tryout for the Harpies was this morning" Fred added. "Don't tell me you forgot to go?"

"They wrote to me and put it off til next week" Ginny replied unconcernedly.

"All the more reason to stop making scenes. They're probably waiting for the publicity of your broken engagement to die down" George suggested. "Now why don't you use our floo and go home and clean yourself up a bit and I'll take you out to lunch."

"I need to talk to Ron and Hermione" Ginny argued.

"You need to stay away from the ministry before you get yourself arrested. I'll get Mum to invite Hermione for dinner and you can talk to them at the house tonight" Fred replied firmly, pushing her towards the floo and following her home in the hope their mother could keep her from storming the ministry and making another scene embarrassing all of them.

-o0o-

Tim admitted to himself that he'd developed feelings for his new friend. He'd long since accepted that he was bisexual though he kept it quiet once he'd left college because he knew it was not accepted by his family or the navy. He suspected that Hadrian might be bisexual too, his friend was a little too comfortable sharing a bed with him to be completely straight, or maybe he was just the first totally straight man Tim had ever met that wasn't at least a little homophobic, Tim thought pessimistically. Because there was no way Hadrian could explain to him about the love potions Tim believed Hadrian must have had genuine feelings for his ex-fiancé and attributed the sadness in his eyes sometimes to the loss of his relationship rather than the deaths during the war he didn't know about and the loss of trust of those he'd thought of as his family. He therefore decided not to bring up his emerging feelings for his friend, to give him time to get over his past relationship before trying to push for a new one. Still he resolved to enjoy as much closeness as Hadrian would allow.

With Hadrian's encouragement, Tim reconnected with his college friends on line though none of them lived in the DC area. Several of these friends knew Tim was bisexual and he told them about his new friendship with Hades and the hope that it could one day be more. They were all supportive though worried about the way Tim was trying to compartmentalise his life. Work and the team were a huge part of Tim's life and his friends didn't think that a long term relationship could work without Hades meeting the team however awkward it would be. They also reminded him that he worked with investigators, one of them would surely notice sooner rather than later that Tim had stopped trying to date and want to know why. Tim knew that while Ziva and Gibbs would buy the idea of a new girlfriend he wasn't ready to talk about, Abby would demand he tell her the details and make life very difficult for him until he told her, and Tony would try to snoop, perhaps going as far as to break into his apartment again which would expose his friendship with Hades immediately as he was beginning to think that Hades sometimes had as many belongings in Tim's apartment as he did in his own.

-o0o-

"I have to go out tonight" Tim said unenthusiastically as he arrived home a couple of weeks later.

"Okay where are you going?" Hadrian asked, quickly realising from Tim's body language that this was an apology for not spending the evening with him not an invitation.

"Abby demanded that I take her to a concert tonight" Tim said rummaging through the drawer under the phone. "Have you seen my earplugs? They're bright orange."

"It's going to be loud enough to need earplugs? Why in Merlin's name would you want to go to something like that?" Hadrian asked.

Tim grinned a little at Hades' unique way of swearing, he found it appealing that he didn't use traditional foul language. "To be honest I don't want to go. I hate Abby's taste in music but it wasn't worth the hassle she'll give me at work if I said no" Tim replied sighing. "I'd much rather have an early night, or spend the night reading. I was almost hoping we'd pick up a case this afternoon and I'd have to work all night but it would only be putting off the inevitable. Abby would just find another equally dreadful band to drag me along to see."

"So you got your case wrapped up then?" Hadrian asked as he found the earplugs and smuggled them into the other room so he could discretely cast charms on them to more efficiently block out all noise other than spoken words, and make them less noticeable so nobody would be likely to take offence at Tim wearing them.

"Yeah we wrapped up in time to do our reports so I have tomorrow off thank heavens, I'm gonna need it after tonight" Tim replied.

Hadrian smiled. "I'm off tomorrow too" he said. In truth he didn't have any Auror duties but he would use his time-turner to attend classes so he could also spend the day with Tim.

"I'm gonna spend half the day sleeping. Abby will probably keep me out until after two" Tim said. "But maybe we could get in some driving practice. I'll call you when I wake up."

"Thanks" Hadrian replied. "Have you told Abby that you don't like her taste in music?"

"Yes I've told her several times but Abby has a tendency to only hear and remember what she wants to hear" Tim said glumly.

"Can I ask you something?" Hadrian asked hesitantly.

"Of course" Tim said looking up.

"Do you like Abby? I mean do you want to date her?" Hadrian asked. He bit his lip hoping that Tim would say no.

"We did date for a while a couple of years ago" Tim said. "It didn't work out. She doesn't want anything serious, she likes to go out to clubs and concerts almost every night and I prefer quiet things like movies and dinner in a nice restaurant or just hanging out together."

"Ginny was like that too. Always wanting to go to parties and stuff even when I had work in the morning she'd accept for me then tell me it would be rude not to go when I'd accepted" Hadrian replied understandingly. "You really didn't answer my question though you can be attracted to someone without having much in common."

Tim shrugged. "It was her idea to break up and I was upset for a while but she was right we'd never have worked."

"That doesn't mean you don't have feelings for her" Hadrian pressed gently. He had to know.

"I don't Hades. My feelings were never as strong as I thought they were and they're gone now. I wouldn't take her back even if she did change and I don't think she ever will. She's ten years older than me and still acts like a spoilt teenager. Sometimes I don't even think I like her much but she's Gibbs favourite and he always indulges her tantrums. So it's worth going along with her every now and again to keep the peace."

"Do you have time to eat before you go or are you having dinner with Abby?" Hadrian asked dropping the painful subject.

"Neither I'm afraid. Hopefully I'll be able to grab something at the concert venue" Tim replied.

"I have a couple of burrito's in the freezer I could heat one up for you. You could eat it on the way" Hadrian offered. "It would be better than drinking on an empty stomach."

"I'm not drinking, I'm the designated driver for tonight" Tim replied.

Hadrian frowned as he pulled out the burrito. "One or two?" he asked. He could see Abby was using Tim and it seemed that Tim could see it too even if he wasn't prepared to do anything about it. Still it wasn't his plaace to lecture his friend about it, Tim was miserable enough. He handed Tim the two hot breakfast burritos on a paper plate.

"Do you mind if I finish cooking this here?" he asked gesturing to the meal he'd started to prepare earlier.

"Of course not, I trust you to lock up when you go. Stay and watch TV if you want. That show we talked about is on tonight."

"Do you want me to try to record it for you?" Hadrian asked hesitantly.

"Try if you like, I won't be upset if you can't work it" Tim said grinning. Hadrian's ineptitude with all things technological was a source of amusement to him.

Hadrian laughed. "I'll try."

-o0o-

Tim sighed as he followed Abby from the concert to the after party she'd insisted on attending. "Don't be silly Timmy I know Gibbs gave you the day off tomorrow" she'd argued when he told her he was too tired.

Tim compared her friendship to Hadrian's and for the first time he found Abby's friendship lacking. Contrasting her insistence that he take her out tonight with Hadrian's quiet companionship happy to be doing whatever Tim felt like doing and how they calmly decided on their outings to suit both their interests and current energy levels when they were off. Hadrian's insistence on making breakfast every morning to repay Tim for the favour of driving him halfway to work on the mornings he was home and his refusal to accept a lift unless Tim was driving that way anyway. The dinner's he made the two of them and the meals he put away in the fridge or freezer without complaining when a case came up and Tim couldn't get home. The understanding that Tim sometimes had problems he wasn't ready to share and the gentle comfort when he had a nightmare he couldn't talk about.

Looking back, he realised that even when they'd been dating Abby wasn't half the friend Hadrian was. In fact, he'd never had a friend like Hades. It wasn't just that he was attracted to the younger man though he had to admit that was part of it. He'd never met anyone who consistently considered him and his feelings in everything they did together without making a big deal of it. And it wasn't that Hades sacrificed his own desires to do what Tim wanted he was sure his friend genuinely enjoyed all their time together. They just seemed to enjoy a lot of the same things and want similar lifestyles.

Tim shook himself out of his introspection and tried to make conversation with the various partygoers though most of them were too drunk for a rational discussion. Abby was dancing but Tim felt no desire to join her. He stayed long enough to see her hook up with someone before heading home on his own. He knew he might catch hell from Abby for leaving if she noticed, but he wasn't prepared to hang around all night if she was going to ignore him anyway.

-o0o-

Hadrian spent the evening completing his homework. He was doing well in school in part thanks to the extra maturity. His size allowed him to look like he was in tenth grade with only a minor glamour but he felt decades older than the other students and hadn't really made any close acquaintances. This allowed him to spend his class time working and not take so much work home with him. He really appreciated the mundaneness of the high school. He didn't get involved in the routine teenage dramas and there weren't any life threatening situations. While he looked back on most if his Hogwarts years fondly he couldn't help but wish they had been a little more like this.

His time spent working as an Auror was also becoming more pleasant as the other Aurors accepted him. He'd showed himself willing to learn about the differences between America and Britain and not above offering his assistance for boring security duties. He still was rarely working more than 12 hours a week but that suited him just fine at the moment giving him plenty of time for school and time to reconnect with his godson. He'd sent Andromeda a letter explaining what had happened and that he was willing to take an international portkey to visit his godson so long as she would give her worn not to tell anyone that he was visiting. He knew once he'd visited he wouldn't be able to be sure Teddy wouldn't mention it, the little boy was too young to understand the importance of keeping secrets. Finally, he and Andi, as she'd asked him to call her, had come to an understanding and he could portkey in to see his godson. Return portkey's purchased in America were registered in America and while the British Ministry of Magic got a quarterly summary of how many portkeys had been purchased and used they did not receive information on the actual locations the portkeys arrived or left from and Hadrian could use one of his alternate identities to purchase the portkey so his name wouldn't attract attention. Hadrian knew that these quarterly reports were mostly filed without being read by anyone other than the lowest of clerks.

-o0o-

Ginny landed after the Harpie's tryouts feeling confident and excited. She'd knew she'd flown her best and was sure she had been one of the best. Never mind the reserves she felt she could almost be in contention for a starting position.

She listened enthusiastically for her name and was astounded to hear girls she'd clearly out flown selected for a further round of trials along with the current chasers.

"What about me? I flew better than half those girls" Ginny asked the selector when it was clear they weren't going to call her name.

"Your flying isn't the problem" Ainsley Anderton, the head coach replied. "You're right you were one of the best flyers out there and I would really have liked to be able to select you but many of our fans are girls and young women. Our players' behaviour must be beyond reproach and frankly I've heard too much about your tantrums lately to ignore. Keep yourself in shape and out of trouble and maybe you can try again next year."

"What?" Ginny said angrily.

"My brother is a trainee Auror and he told me you've nearly be arrested several times lately. We simply can't have that sort of behaviour from our players" Ainsley said. Not to mention they were also hesitant to employ Harry Potter's ex-fiancé, especially as it appeared that the girl's behaviour had driven their saviour into leaving the country. If it came out in the papers the girl would be universally hated and you could never trust those sort of things to stay secret. Ainsley hoped the year would give the girl some insight into how the public saw her and she wouldn't have to be the one to tell her that she had no hope of ever being given a place on any professional team.

'This is all Harry's fault! they never would have dared treat me this way if he hadn't jilted me' Ginny thought controlling her temper with great difficulty. In truth Ginny's had never really learned that there were consequences for losing her temper as an adult. Her mother yelled at someone on an almost daily basis and regularly purchased howler parchment in bulk and there didn't seem to be any consequences. Ginny was unaware that her mother's behaviour was one of the reasons her father had never advanced in the ministry to a level where he and his wife would have to attend official functions. The way her father and brothers catered to her mother's tantrums had made behaving like that seem acceptable in the impressionable little girl's eyes.

-o0o-

"Unca Hawwy, Unca Hawwy" Teddy threw himself at his godfather almost knocking him to the floor as he struggled to maintain his balance on landing.

"Hello Teddy, you're getting so big" Hadrian said cuddling his godson, who had changed his hair and eye colour to match Hadrian's. "And you can change your eye colour, that's great Teddy but can you make them go back to normal."

"Hello Harry" Andi said watching amused. "He's slowly getting control. He can change his skin colour too. He made himself look Chinese the other day after we met a new friend in the park."

"Oh dear" Hadrian said. "Does that mean he needs the suppressant potions every time he goes out in the muggle world?"

"I'm afraid so and he does hate taking them" she said.

"In that case can I indulge the two of you in a lovely picnic in the back yard?" Hadrian said pulling a shrunken picnic basket out of his pocket.

"I think that's a good idea" Andi said impressed by how willing Harry was to change his plans to suit his godson. They went out into the garden and Hadrian transfigured some firewood into muggle style climbing equipment suitable for a child Teddy's age setting safety charms around the whole thing to prevent the little boy from falling. Teddy had a marvellous time exploring it carefully watched by the two adults as they talked.

"I could visit weekly though it might be better not to stick to a strict schedule and to make sure you don't tell Teddy in advance when I was coming so he can't accidentally tell someone like the Weasleys" Hadrian suggested.

"We rarely see the Weasleys or Miss Granger since you left the country" Andi replied. "Molly came around and interrogated me over tea a couple of days after you visited last but I didn't know where you'd gone, and Miss Ginny for all her gushing about Teddy and doting on him in your presence is never at all interested in him when you're not here."

Hadrian nodded unsurprised. "I've found out that nearly all the things I thought I knew about Ginny were wrong" he said. "Once the love potions were flushed from my system, I didn't love her, I didn't desire her at all and I didn't even like her as a friend. She was using me and I'm still not sure why. The fame was part of it, she loved being 'the-man-who-conquered's girlfriend but there must have been more to it."

"She also had a hero complex. She believes you saved her life" Andi said.

"I did when she was eleven" Hadrian confirmed.

"Deliberately went out of your way to save her because it was her?" Andi asked pointedly.

"I went down the chamber with Ron to save his little sister" Hadrian answered.

"So it was a little personal but it wasn't because you had feelings for Ginevra herself?" Andi confirmed.

"I barely knew her. She was so nervous around me that she couldn't speak" Hadrian said chuckling at the memory of the beet red little girl with her elbow in the butter dish. It was slightly mean of him to find it funny and he hadn't at the time.

"We've gotten off the topic. I was asking how safe it would be to come and visit every week?" Hadrian said.

"Pretty safe, I don't get many visitors, and most of them would be my generation" Andi replied. "I am surprised not to see more of Miss Granger, I thought she genuinely cared about her godson."

"She was obsessed with some research project when I left" Hadrian said. "She loses track of everything when she's researching and probably has no idea how long it's been since she saw Teddy."

"So she still might decide to visit one day?" Andi said.

"Yes but I think she'd keep my visiting a secret if we asked her to. If she sees me, I'll ask her for a vow of secrecy and explain that it will hurt her godson if she doesn't vow because I won't come back without it. That would work at least the first time anyway even if she won't vow she wouldn't think it worth staking the place out if I say I won't be back. I have a reputation for stubbornly doing what I say I'll do even when I know it might not be in my best interest" Hadrian said wryly.

Andi laughed. "Nymphadora had that stubbornness too. It's a Black family trait."

"My father had it too so it's also a Potter family trait" Hadrian replied.

"Your father's mother was a Black" Andi reminded him.

A/N: Thank you to julschristine975, xDarklightx, Guest, PickACrimeShowOrBook, Rori Potter, bluestorm28, Silvermane1, Afrodity, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, Maben00, gaul1, Locket1, Firehedgehog, Yokiryuu, charm13insomnia, gabrieljuarezl, Merlenyn, BigVampyreSister, DS2010, lillisa34, geetac, KoreanMusicFan, Guest, VINCATH, himeichigo69, Naevys, spencerharris401, tygressangel, Baseele, BLPotter, horsegirlsa, weckwess, fanfictionnatic, mariaco, dvildead, antaress09, irongale, Centaurea, Starlightthedark, DarkDragonessFliesEveryWhere, FallenSoul62, newmanlillian4, 13th Deathly Hallow, Menjiko, Akinom.83, Gravedigger88, moon cutie, Kaderos, Anastasiya2104, ArcherOfEarth, ajanel, Dia Regan, StrawberryBlondeBookworm, djmonk, shanayujichan, Rebelgirl01, doxiesmom14, anakin potter evan, White chocolate cheesecake, drake305, Smurfanator and Iodyn for your support.