Two updates in two days? Yes, it's true. I felt bad for leaving the last chapter without Ginny and Lucius seeing one another again! Enjoy


"It's really up to his wife whether or not she wants to press charges."

"But he technically violated his parole. And they say she's in no state to leave the house, much less press charges."

"We don't have evidence that he knew he had it."

"Won't anyone testify against him?"

"No one."

Ginny was growing very weary of hearing this kind of talk around the office. It had only been a few days since the Auror office had fully delved into Lucius's case, but the high profile name associated with it got everyone excited. Maybe, they all thought, this was their chance to finally catch Lucius Malfoy red handed.

But that didn't seem to be the case at all. Lucius, as always, was talking his way around the whole thing spectacularly well, claiming that he thought the Ministry had taken the diary the first time around, and that he hadn't seen it until Narcissa dug it up. After that, he said, he was only scared for his freedom, and made the "ill-advised" choice to keep the whole thing secret.

"Nobody knew anything about it but me," he told the court, conveniently leaving out that Draco had been there when Narcissa touched it, and that Ginny had ever been in his house at all. "But I really don't think you want to punish me for something as trivial as this. Not with the wing I've donated to St. Mungo's almost completely finished…"

And so, begrudgingly, Lucius was released to house arrest, as he had pleaded with the court that he couldn't possibly leave Narcissa alone in her state. Meanwhile, the diary had been taken to Hogwarts and placed under very heavy protection while the professors, always smarter and more proactive than the Ministry in matters of Dark Magic, tried to solve its mysteries.


Ginny was beginning to feel normal again, coincidentally at the same time that she began to remember why she and Harry had been together for all those years. Yes, he had been dismissive of her problems, and maybe it had all been a little too taken for granted that the two of them would end up together, but maybe, she thought, everyone had always assumed that for a reason. How could she deign to want anything more than him?

They were together all the time, and only a few days after her return they had gone to dinner, later finding themselves back at Grimmauld Place. As he kissed her and began to undo the buttons on her dress, she pushed away the remembrance of someone who was much more confident in the same actions.

In the morning, she woke first and began to consider what they would do all day before they were expected at the Burrow for Sunday dinner. Then Harry's eyes fluttered open too, and she instinctively leaned to the bedside table to get his glasses for him. He took them from her in a fluid motion; although it had been a while, they clearly both remembered the routine. He went to the bathroom and came back dressed in shorts, holding something small in his hand.

"I've been thinking, Ginny," he said, propping up on his arms as she cuddled to his side. "We can go back to how it was before. Before we fought. I want that for us." He took the little box and showed it to her, and she recognized it straightaway. The engagement ring she had given back to him.

In that moment, there seemed to be nothing else to say.

"Yeah, me too."

It really sounded sincere.


They went to the Burrow together, greeted first by shock and then by overwhelming joy as every Weasley stopped to admire the ring on Ginny's finger as if they had never seen it before.

"I knew you would come around to him, darling," her mother said in hushed tones as they found a moment of peace together in the kitchen. Outside, people were gathered around Hermione, who was sitting in a massive stuffed chair with Ron on the arm. She was glowing but looked irritable, and had confided in Ginny earlier in the evening that she was ready to punch George over taking bets from everyone on when the baby would finally come.

"Yeah, Mum. I made a mistake." Ginny was tired of her mother constantly rubbing this in.

"It's all over now," Molly said, pushing a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear and then, unable to hold back, engulfing her in a hug.

As people began to Apparate away after dinner, Ginny helped Hermione upstairs to Ron's old room, which had been outfitted with a bigger bed so they could stay there for a bit after the baby was born. Even Hermione could quash her pride to admit that Molly would be an immense help in such a stressful time.

"Are you happy, Gin?" Hermione asked as she reclined against the headboard. "Because I know you were struggling before. With Harry."

Ginny was leaning on the window frame, watching Harry and Ron chat in the garden, silhouetted by the setting sun. Ron was clapping Harry on the back, and she could only imagine the words of congratulation spilling out.

"We had some problems, Hermione, but doesn't everyone?" She looked back to her friend, glowing orange in the reflection of all the Chudley Cannons merchandise, and saw worry in her eyes.

"I don't know if we have them the same as you, Ginny."

"You should focus on the baby," Ginny said. Downstairs, the back door slammed, and she knew Ron would be upstairs soon. "And don't worry so much about me."

Back in the garden, Harry took Ginny's arm as they walked to where they could Apparate home.

"Someday soon," he said, "we'll go home to the same place."

And he kissed her while she was sure at least three of her family members watched from the house.


At home, she collapsed on the couch and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. Being with Harry was so easy. Someday soon she would probably be moved into her old room with him, waiting for a baby in a house full of people who approved of him, and had never thought beyond that.

Ginny groaned and got up, ready for bed once she thought of another day at the office. But something stopped her on her way: her journal from the Manor, lying on the kitchen table as if it had always been there. She stared at it in shock for several moments before moving closer, hand outstretched to touch it with reverence. It was exactly as she remembered it – soft leather and thick pages. She flipped through it and saw all the things they had written what felt like years ago, and then arrived at a page with fresh words.

I want to drape you in jewels.

I want to wrap you in fur and silk.

I am desperate to showcase you, to parade you in a public place where everyone we know may see us and gasp.

When all this is over, I want you to come back. And stay.

I'll be waiting in the usual place tonight, if you'd like to remember how it felt.

And she did. Suddenly, there was no thought of work tomorrow or the long day she had just had. The ring no longer felt heavy on her finger, and there was only one place she could imagine being.

Diary in hand, she stepped into the fire.


There he was, in the same chair as always. He looked remarkably the same, and then she realized she must too. Only a few weeks had gone by, although she knew she had reverted years.

"Lovely ring," he said, setting aside his drink. Clearly, he was not surprised that she had come. "From someone special?"

"Very."

"Lead-Investigator-on-my-case special?"

"Your words, not mine."

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Ginevra?"

She put the diary down on the desk, and went to the bed, where she laid down fully clothed, head spinning. It felt perfect, comforters and cool sheets settling beneath her.

"Because you're here, and I'm not. Narcissa is better. You had the diary the whole time. Harry loves me, and everyone hates you. A hundred other reasons I can't even think of. What I'm doing is what makes sense for us both."

But then he was there, beside her, leaning down. His arms went to either side of her head, and he was wonderfully close…


I promise to pick up just where I left off ;)