"A Most Ingenious Paradox"
[A Harry Potter Fanfiction by Penpusher]
Chapter Ten - Epilogue
"For goodness sake, Harry, leave that car alone and get back here. Haven't you and my brothers done enough to it?"
Ginny was looking extraordinarily pretty in her new leaf-green robes with flowers in her hair, Harry had to admit, but also very impatient.
"Okay, okay," he said reassuringly, casting just one final charm on the glove compartment, so that it would spring open and fling rose petals all over the passenger seat as soon as it was touched.
"Harry! They're coming!"
Quickly, he sprang away from the car and stood with Ginny, smiling and trying to look innocent. Ron and Hermione came out of the doors of the "Three Broomsticks" smiling and laughing, followed by Arthur and Molly Weasley and Hermione's parents, who had come out to see them off.
"You have to remember my origins, Ron," Hermione was saying. "I know what traditionally happens with Muggles, but what do wizards do? Fly off on our broomsticks trailing our luggage behind. Good grief, is that.?"
She turned an expression full of amazement to a grinning Ron.
"Is it really.?" For once Hermione was lost for words. Ron nodded happily.
"Yes, we finally managed to persuade it to come out of the forbidden forest," he said, patting the bonnet of the old Weasley Anglia fondly. The twins had given it a new coat of paint and a high gloss polish for the occasion. The car dipped its headlights proudly at Ron and the engine purred.
"It's agreed to do the honours, although how long it'll be before it returns to Hogwarts remains to be seen."
Hermione's expression was highly dubious, but she pinned a bright smile to her face and stepped towards the car with determination.
That's my girl! thought Harry, fondly. That's why the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor.
By this time most of the guests had spilled out into the main street of Hogsmeade, and many of the residents had come out of their houses and shops to watch. Sirius sidled casually over to Harry.
"Did you manage to.?"
Harry nodded, his eyes still on Hermione, who was now being helped into the car by Ron. Really, she did look positively beautiful today in her pure white robes and coronet of white summer flowers. But, he reflected, if a girl can't look stunning on her wedding day, when can she?
"You sure you cast it on his pyjamas?" Sirius was insistent.
"Of course," replied Harry, "although looking at the two of them now, I hardly think it'll be necessary!"
Indeed, as soon as Ron had slid into the driver's seat, his lips had slid on to Hermione's despite her protests, although Harry had to admit, it certainly did look as though she wouldn't be doing much more protesting over the next few days! Sirius relaxed.
"I just wanted to keep up the tradition, that's all."
"Eh?" Harry was puzzled.
"Oh, didn't I ever tell you?" Sirius' voice was just a little too casual, and his face broke into a broad grin.
"We cast a very similar charm on your father's nightwear when he and your mother were married," he said offhandedly. "The feedback from their honeymoon was - well, you don't want to hear about that, I'm sure!"
But Harry's eyes lit up with interest.
"Don't bet on it, Black," he replied. "How much do you need to drink before I can get that story out of you?"
Ron was revving up the engine, preparing to drive off.
"More than you can afford, Potter, believe me!"
Sirius gave him a wide, wicked grin, then a particularly loud roar from the Anglia engine made him turn his head. The old car suddenly levitated with surprising smoothness for such a beaten up old machine, swooped low over their heads making the guests shriek and duck for cover, and took off over the village of Hogsmeade with the Weasley twins in hot pursuit, shouting and laughing. The car rose higher and suddenly winked out as though it had never been.
Harry glanced over at Hermione's parents to see her mother crying quietly into a handkerchief and being comforted by her father. To his astonishment, Molly Weasley was also sniffling slightly, although the poisonous look she turned on Arthur when he offered her his hanky gave Harry the idea that she wasn't keen on being thought of as sentimental.
As he watched, Bill came over and said something to Molly, leading her away to where his wife and two young children were just going back into the bar. Arthur was by now chatting to Mr. Granger and was joined by Charlie with Fred and George, once they had returned from following the honeymoon car. Percy and his wife Penny were talking with Lavender and her fiancé, Aurelius, and Parvati and Padma, looking utterly beautiful in their brightly coloured silk robes, were being escorted in, by Seamus and Dean, for some refreshment before the dancing started up again. Dean didn't look too happy with some of the teasing he had been getting, notably from the Weasleys, Harry observed with a smile. Seamus and Parvati were pretty much an item, but Dean and Padma were genuinely "just good friends", and the implications being thrown at them were making Dean quite uncomfortable.
Harry knocked back the last of his Gillywine and made tracks towards the bar, where the Weasley brothers were engaged in buying most of it.
"Hey Harry!" Charlie hailed him cheerfully, "Three pints or four?"
Harry shook his head smiling and looked around for Ginny. He spotted her sitting with Parvati and smiled as she raised a hand and beckoned him over. Harry's memories of Parvati and her sister at Hogwarts had never been entirely comfortable, but she seemed to be making Seamus happy, so he swallowed his uneasiness and joined them. Parvati was overflowing with some kind of excitement.
"Is it true? Really? After all these years?" Harry frowned.
"Is what true, Parvati?"
"You know what I mean!" she replied, gesturing impatiently. "Ron told Seamus, who told Dean, who told Padma, who told me. How long has this been going on?" Harry glanced at his watch.
"Oh, about - mmm, let me see." he replied, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "Forty minutes for the service, an hour for the wedding lunch, thirty minutes for speeches, a little more for farewells and so on - about two and a half hours." Harry looked back at Parvati with guileless eyes.
"Why do you ask? Did you forget your watch this morning?" he enquired mildly. "Or have you a train to catch?"
Parvati stared at Ginny who just smiled sweetly and shrugged, then she glared at Harry in intense irritation.
"Well, if you're not going to tell me all about how you got together, I shall go and ask Fred and George." She gave a sudden grin. "Knowing them, I'm likely to get far more of the dirt than I would have from you!"
Ginny's smile wobbled slightly and her face grew a shade or two paler, but Harry looked on benignly as Parvati swept away towards the bar with a triumphant smirk on her face.
"Harry," Ginny began, urgently tugging on his sleeve, "I'm never going to live it down if Fred and George tell her about the - you know, the new bath!" Harry put a soothing hand on her arm.
"Don't worry," he replied, with a strange little smile. "There are certain things I could let slip about your brothers that they wouldn't want Parvati spreading around either. And they know it!"
Ginny smiled gratefully at him and shyly took his hand, twining her fingers round his.
"Well," Harry said briskly. "What's it going to be? A drink? A dance? Or both?" He gestured to the bar and also to the band who had started playing again.
"Mmm, a dance, I think," Ginny replied. "Now that the happy couple have gone, I feel I can let my hair down a little."
"The happy couple," mused Harry, rising automatically from his seat to guide Ginny on to the dance floor. "D'you know, if Hermione hadn't been so worried about her parents' reaction, I think she and Ron would just have carried on as they were." Ginny giggled and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Well, it was rather amusing at the time," she protested at Harry's old- fashioned look. "He refused to let her out of his sight for a week after Stonehenge! In fact, he didn't let go of her hand for the whole day after he got her back."
"Or night either - if Fred is to be believed."
"Harry!"
"Okay, okay." Ginny said, executing an expert twirl that rather caught Harry by surprise.
"If you want my opinion," she continued, grinning impishly up at him, "I reckon Hermione only agreed to marry my brother so she could get some work done."
"Eh?"
"Well, even when he'd recovered a bit from losing her, he still haunted her chambers. You know, escorting her there, meeting her every lunchtime, taking her home every evening - not to mention the fact that he never went back to his flat again, just moved in to Hermione's room without a by-your- leave!"
Harry smiled reminiscently then gave a slight frown.
"Well," he said, "actually, he did speak to me about it, if the truth be known."
"He did?"
"Yeah, he wanted to know about terms and conditions of the lease, that sort of thing. Whether Hermione would be sub-letting her room if he moved in, or whether he would be a tenant in his own right!"
Harry threw back his head and joined in Ginny's laughter. The music changed to a slower tempo and he drew her closer, smiling as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"So, Harry's House is going to have a rather radical change of personnel," Ginny said, wistfully. Harry nodded.
"Yup. Ron wants his flat as the marital home, so Lee, George and Oliver are moving in with us, and Hermione, of course, is moving out."
"Goodness! Two of my madcap brothers in the same house?" They both glanced automatically towards the bar to where the three Weasley brothers were sinking pint after pint amidst frequent gales of laughter. Harry winced and shook his head.
"It won't be quite as bad as that," he reassured Ginny. "Charlie'll be in Rumania for most of the year, and Oliver's on tour for at least six out of the twelve months. Also, the last time I spoke to him, Fred was considering getting a place on his own." Ginny raised her eyebrows and Harry smiled, shaking his head.
"I don't know that you should read anything of a romantic nature into that," he continued. "Fred plays his cards very close to his chest on all counts. However, I do know that for professional reasons, your brothers have always tried to avoid living together."
Ginny was silent for a moment, trying to picture the domestic arrangements as Harry had described them, then she laughed.
"Is there room in that mansion for all of us?" she asked.
"Oh, plenty of room," Harry replied heartily, "particularly if you move in with me!" His wicked grin belied the slight question-mark against his statement. Ginny smiled.
"I might just as well make it official, I suppose," she replied. "Seeing as, after all the trouble you, Hermione and Fred went to, I seem to have spent precious little time in my own room since moving in!"
Absently, Harry kissed the top of her head.
"Hermione was somewhat pissed at us, I can tell you," he replied. "Her exact words were, and I quote: 'If I'd known that you were going to jump her as soon as she set foot over the doorstep, I'd have set up a camp bed in the dining room for form's sake and saved myself a whole day's lost research work!'"
Ginny let out a peal of laughter and Harry hugged her, chuckling himself at the memory.
"You know," Ginny remarked thoughtfully as they danced, "I've only been living in Harry's House for a couple of months, but I'm really going to miss Hermione. And quite apart from the effect on my reputation once it becomes known that I'm the only girl in a house full of blokes, I feel I ought to have some female company." Harry grinned.
"Which do you think will suffer the most from your being incarcerated with the equivalent of an all-male Quidditch team?" he asked lightly. "Your credibility, your femininity or your sanity?" Ginny made a sound half- laugh, half-cough.
"All three, I should imagine!" she replied, highly diverted at the prospect.
"Seriously, Ginny, I think you're right." Harry continued, musingly. "There's room in the house for at least two other people without the rest of us noticing their presence, not to mention the attics and the basement which are huge and could be converted. I think we should look for some other girls to keep you company." He grinned broadly. "I'd be happy to help you select and interview your housemates, if you like?" Ginny threw a sour glance at his smiling face.
"Oh, you!" she protested, batting him gently on the shoulder, but unable to resist smirking slightly at the prospect.
"Come on," she pulled at his arm. "I've had enough dancing for now. Let's see if my brothers have drunk our drinks as well as their own." They weaved their way through the other dancers to join the Weasleys at the bar.
*******************************************
Five weeks later saw a smaller group of friends assembled for a slightly more formal occasion at the Ministry's Museum of Magical Artefacts. Minister Cornelius Fudge was presenting awards for services to magic, and Harry was to be honoured for his work in recovering lost artefacts, both in China and India. Ron and Hermione were there, both still radiant from their honeymoon, Percy and Penelope had favoured him with their presence; Lee and also George had come to endorse the event. Fred was noticeable by his absence, but George confided that he was abroad yet again, this time on official ministry business rather than undercover. Oliver Wood had also turned up with Lee, much to Harry's great surprise and delight, and Arthur and Molly had come, at which Harry was very touched. He had only seen them once since his return to England, and not at all in his previous four-year exile, but they seemed just as friendly and hospitable as ever. I hope they're as happy as Fred and George were that Ginny's seeing me instead of that pratt Markland Harry thought. He had good reason to be grateful to the Muggle, considering that he, Harry, would never have ended up with Ginny if Markland hadn't been such a prize klutz. Despite this, Harry found it difficult to look back on him with any sort of patience all the same.
Cornelius Fudge bored the socks off his audience with a speech that lasted twice as long as the presentations themselves, but the buffet was excellent and the Gillywine flowed like water. Once they had eaten and drunk sufficiently, Harry and Ginny wandered around the museum with interest. It was not usually open to anyone but Ministry staff and Ginny had never had the opportunity to visit, so she was keen to make the most of it.
A vast array of objects greeted them, including the famous sapphire Ring of Aphrodite, which bestowed great powers of sensuality on the wearer - so long as the wearer was female!
"Goodness!" exclaimed Ginny, flattening her nose against the glass case. "Veela magic in ring form. No wonder it's behind glass in a museum!"
"And it can stay there as far as I'm concerned," murmured Harry from somewhere in the vicinity of her ear. "You don't need a vulgar bauble like that to get my attention!"
He kissed the back of her neck making her squirm and giggle. They moved over to the next case, which was new and sported a shiny brass plaque:
Grail c.500 AD Magical cup or chalice, once associated with the Great Merlin. Believed to have been taken from the High Magic by the Muggle Sir Galahad of the Round Table of King Arthur's knights, but later lost during the Dark Ages after Arthur's death. Recovered by Dr. H.J. Potter and Mr. R. Weasley.
"Wow, Harry!" said Ginny, staring at Harry with such shining eyes that he blushed and looked at his feet. "I didn't realise you were a doctor. When did that happen?" He shrugged.
"Oh, it's an honorary title really. It was given to me by LA Wizarding University after I wrote a couple of papers about my travels."
A small silence followed Harry's first mention of his job since the crisis in the temple had blown up. Ginny moved away slightly, her attention apparently absorbed in the exhibits. Harry cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Er, Ginny," he began. "Um, about the LA job." Taking a breath, Ginny turned an unnecessarily cheerful smile on him.
"It's okay, Harry," she interrupted. "I know you really enjoy your work and you couldn't do anything else, at least for now." Harry looked troubled.
"Yes, that's true," he began, worriedly. "And you do realise that my work takes me abroad to some very far flung places, don't you? I'm away for large chunks of the year." Ginny swallowed, but maintained her composure.
"Of course I know that!" she replied, brightly. "And after all, my career is only just beginning to take off too. I have such a lot of work piling up, and so many opportunities - I'm trying out with a couple of bands next week for a recording contract, and the solo stuff is really starting to catch on, I'm getting so many engagements! I'm going to be very busy through the next couple of years."
Harry looked slightly nonplussed, but she continued, smiling.
"We'll just have to get through it, that's all," Ginny went on. "We'll have to make unbreakable dates for times during the year when we know we've just got to drop everything to be together for a week or even just a weekend. I'm sorry, Harry."
Her face fell and suddenly she looked like Ron's little sister once again.
"I just can't leave everything I've worked for here and follow you over to LA," she told him sadly. "Not just to twiddle my thumbs for months while you're away in Outer Mongolia. At least, I can't until I'm better established to break into the American market."
Harry took her by the shoulders, and shook her gently until she stopped talking.
"I wouldn't dream of suggesting such a thing," he told her firmly. Ginny's face was a picture of astonishment. He smiled. "What I was about to say was that once this semester is over, I won't be going back to the Los Angeles Wizarding University." Her jaw dropped.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, shocked. "But what will you do? I mean, you love your job, right? What else could you ever do in life?"
Harry began to laugh, sweeping her into his arms, grinning broadly.
"Ginny, my dear," he beamed. "I'm not employed by LA University, I'm on secondment. From UWIZ in London, where I have tenure. All I have to do is transfer back. Of course, I'll still be away for some quite extended periods - I have a suspicion that a trip to Mexico may be in the offing - but at least we'll be together for some of the year rather than being a Continent apart."
He stood smiling, enjoying the look of total astonishment on her face. Ginny stared at him in disbelief then flung her arms around his neck, for once speechless.
"So we'll be able to stay as we are - at Harry's House?" she gasped, finally. "Oh, I don't know what to say, I'm so happy!"
"Well," replied Harry, rather more seriously. "It needn't be exactly as we are, you know. We could, well, change the legal arrangements at some stage. If you wanted to, that is." He paused for a moment. "Look, I know I'm not putting this very well, but ."
Ginny placed her index finger over his lips before he could say another word. She was very still for a moment, then she released her stranglehold around his neck and stepped backwards a little, staring thoughtfully into his face.
"Harry," she began seriously. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I won't pretend to misunderstand what you're saying; that would be insulting."
Ginny paused again then turned away from Harry, leaning against one of the museum glass cases. Inside was a large, silver cup, its gaudy stem studded with rubies and sapphires, its base of platinum gleaming brightly in the artificial light. Idly, her brain preoccupied with other things, Ginny read the legend beneath it:
Chalice c.1350 AD
Drinking vessel created by the wizard Geraldo Veneficus for employment in the Courts of Europe. The chalice is known to have dispatched five noblemen troublesome to Geraldo's patron, and also one professional rival. Its function is not only to render its own contents toxic, but also the contents of any other drinking vessel within a radius of two feet. Rendered harmless by Ministry Officials. Recovered by Dr. Ignatius Radcliffe, Florence.
Ginny fought down an insane desire to laugh. A poisoned chalice: how very appropriate! Indeed, how could she be sure that Harry's offer of marriage would not turn out to be a poisoned chalice in its own right? She shook her head impatiently: that was thoroughly unfair. Whatever else was a mystery to her, Ginny was sure that Harry's offer was sincere according to his own lights. What she found difficult even to process, never mind comprehend, was why.
What went on in that intricate brain, that highly intelligent, specialized thinking machine that was the essence of Harry Potter? After all, it had been a matter of a few scant weeks since that oddly euphoric moving-in party, and here he was proposing marriage! She wondered if Harry was a Seer. If he had a vision, a precognition concerning their relationship, then. Ginny shook her head once again. She had no reason to suppose that Harry's opinion of Divination as a discipline had undergone any great metamorphosis since his Hogwarts days. It was unlikely, to say the least.
Ginny tried to force the rational side of her brain to think about things sensibly and logically, but try as she might, she could not suppress a small voice whispering quietly, relentlessly, at the back of her mind. Ginny loved Harry with all her being. She knew this just as she knew the sun would rise at the start of each day and go down at the end of it. She had always been certain of her feelings, even as she had tried to deny them. What she could not know, nor could she predict, was how Harry truly felt about her. I could marry him anyway and find out later. At least then I'd have him for myself. She shook her head once again. She would never own Harry Potter; no one could.
The scrape of a foot against marble flooring alerted Ginny that Harry was still waiting patiently for her answer. She lifted her head, sighed and prepared to turn around, but at that moment she felt gentle hands on her shoulders completing the motion for her. Hesitantly, she looked up into his face to find him wearing a familiar, lopsided smile; this, she was learning, was an expression he habitually wore when faced with something he could neither predict nor control.
"By the fact that you haven't fallen rapturously into my arms," Harry began ironically, "I gather that your answer must be in the negative?" Dumbly and with a sinking heart, Ginny inclined her head. Harry gave a small sigh and nodded in acceptance. He let his arms drop from her shoulders and turned away from her, resting his hands on his hips and looking up to the ceiling.
"I'm sorry." Ginny's whispered words produced no reaction. "Please say something."
"What's there to say?" Harry ran an agitated hand through his hair. "I thought we had something, Ginny."
"We did! We do!" In exasperation, Ginny grabbed Harry's hands and forced him to look at her.
"Look," she said, "the idea's wonderful - of course it is! We're good together and we could be even better. But Harry, we've been together a matter of weeks." Harry shook his head firmly.
"Rubbish!" he responded, rudely. "Ginny, we've known each other since we were children. We were virtually brought up together, for Merlin's sake!"
"Yes, and that's just the point!" Ginny's voice rose to commanding pitch. Before Harry could interrupt, she rushed ahead rapidly.
"I've never known you as anything other than Harry the Hero, or Ron's best friend," she told him breathlessly. "You never gave me any kind of encouragement - the closest I got to you was providing a shoulder to cry on in your last year at Hogwarts. Flamel's Stone, Harry, you're like another brother!"
Harry's mouth quirked slightly. He scratched his head and considered.
"I confess, when you put it that way." he broke off with a grimace that rapidly morphed into a tentative smile. Ginny let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm not refusing you outright," she continued in more normal tones, "just suggesting that we, well, wait a while. See where our relationship goes and how our lives fit together before we take any drastic steps. I mean, you're officially still on summer vacation, aren't you? We've yet to find out what it's really like to live together, day in, day out. For all you know, I may be a closet alcoholic - or persistently leave discarded lingerie all over your bedroom floor!" Harry grinned.
"Very likely," he replied. "The lingerie thing, I mean!" he added quickly as Ginny narrowed her eyes theatrically. Harry put his hands on her shoulders once again.
"Take as long as you need, Ginny," he said, solemnly. "I'll be here for you whatever. Although I confess, I draw the line at toenail clippings in the bath!" Ginny opened her eyes wide in outrage before she realised he was joking.
"Oh, you!" She grinned and poked him in the ribs where he was most ticklish. He jumped then recovered, smiling back at her and tucking her arm into his as they continued round the exhibits.
"Well, this has been a day for revelations!" she said with a sigh. "Is there much more to discover about you, Harry Potter? Because if there is, I think I need to sit down first!" He grinned wickedly and bent to bring his mouth to her ear.
"If we step out into that deserted hall right now and Apparate back to the house," he whispered, "I'd be extremely willing to give you an entire voyage of discovery - oof!"
He doubled up, slightly winded by the elbow she had just planted in his gut. He looked up to observe her, head held high, stalking back into the reception room in high dudgeon, but her hips were swinging just for him and as he watched, she threw a smile over her shoulder, the 'come hither' quality of which was unmistakeable. He laughed to himself and followed her out of the room. Ginny was his girl, he knew it. It would take time but, well, he could wait. Harry Potter was used to waiting.
FINIS .
Author's Notes
The distribution of this story is for personal use only. Any other form of distribution is prohibited without the consent of the author. Disclaimer: this is a non-profit enterprise. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except the plot and David Markland, both of which belong to Penpusher. Tribute to: Susan Cooper's incomparable "The Dark is Rising" sequence for use of the "High Magic"; Dennis Wheatley for a plot device; and many, many other fanfiction writers whose works of all kinds and in very differing genres have been an immense inspiration to me. The quotations used as chapter titles are too numerous to credit here. Full details available on request, but Shakespeare and The Bible should yield most of them.
And all the thanks in the world to Becky (aka williara) for being a superb beta.
Chapter Ten - Epilogue
"For goodness sake, Harry, leave that car alone and get back here. Haven't you and my brothers done enough to it?"
Ginny was looking extraordinarily pretty in her new leaf-green robes with flowers in her hair, Harry had to admit, but also very impatient.
"Okay, okay," he said reassuringly, casting just one final charm on the glove compartment, so that it would spring open and fling rose petals all over the passenger seat as soon as it was touched.
"Harry! They're coming!"
Quickly, he sprang away from the car and stood with Ginny, smiling and trying to look innocent. Ron and Hermione came out of the doors of the "Three Broomsticks" smiling and laughing, followed by Arthur and Molly Weasley and Hermione's parents, who had come out to see them off.
"You have to remember my origins, Ron," Hermione was saying. "I know what traditionally happens with Muggles, but what do wizards do? Fly off on our broomsticks trailing our luggage behind. Good grief, is that.?"
She turned an expression full of amazement to a grinning Ron.
"Is it really.?" For once Hermione was lost for words. Ron nodded happily.
"Yes, we finally managed to persuade it to come out of the forbidden forest," he said, patting the bonnet of the old Weasley Anglia fondly. The twins had given it a new coat of paint and a high gloss polish for the occasion. The car dipped its headlights proudly at Ron and the engine purred.
"It's agreed to do the honours, although how long it'll be before it returns to Hogwarts remains to be seen."
Hermione's expression was highly dubious, but she pinned a bright smile to her face and stepped towards the car with determination.
That's my girl! thought Harry, fondly. That's why the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor.
By this time most of the guests had spilled out into the main street of Hogsmeade, and many of the residents had come out of their houses and shops to watch. Sirius sidled casually over to Harry.
"Did you manage to.?"
Harry nodded, his eyes still on Hermione, who was now being helped into the car by Ron. Really, she did look positively beautiful today in her pure white robes and coronet of white summer flowers. But, he reflected, if a girl can't look stunning on her wedding day, when can she?
"You sure you cast it on his pyjamas?" Sirius was insistent.
"Of course," replied Harry, "although looking at the two of them now, I hardly think it'll be necessary!"
Indeed, as soon as Ron had slid into the driver's seat, his lips had slid on to Hermione's despite her protests, although Harry had to admit, it certainly did look as though she wouldn't be doing much more protesting over the next few days! Sirius relaxed.
"I just wanted to keep up the tradition, that's all."
"Eh?" Harry was puzzled.
"Oh, didn't I ever tell you?" Sirius' voice was just a little too casual, and his face broke into a broad grin.
"We cast a very similar charm on your father's nightwear when he and your mother were married," he said offhandedly. "The feedback from their honeymoon was - well, you don't want to hear about that, I'm sure!"
But Harry's eyes lit up with interest.
"Don't bet on it, Black," he replied. "How much do you need to drink before I can get that story out of you?"
Ron was revving up the engine, preparing to drive off.
"More than you can afford, Potter, believe me!"
Sirius gave him a wide, wicked grin, then a particularly loud roar from the Anglia engine made him turn his head. The old car suddenly levitated with surprising smoothness for such a beaten up old machine, swooped low over their heads making the guests shriek and duck for cover, and took off over the village of Hogsmeade with the Weasley twins in hot pursuit, shouting and laughing. The car rose higher and suddenly winked out as though it had never been.
Harry glanced over at Hermione's parents to see her mother crying quietly into a handkerchief and being comforted by her father. To his astonishment, Molly Weasley was also sniffling slightly, although the poisonous look she turned on Arthur when he offered her his hanky gave Harry the idea that she wasn't keen on being thought of as sentimental.
As he watched, Bill came over and said something to Molly, leading her away to where his wife and two young children were just going back into the bar. Arthur was by now chatting to Mr. Granger and was joined by Charlie with Fred and George, once they had returned from following the honeymoon car. Percy and his wife Penny were talking with Lavender and her fiancé, Aurelius, and Parvati and Padma, looking utterly beautiful in their brightly coloured silk robes, were being escorted in, by Seamus and Dean, for some refreshment before the dancing started up again. Dean didn't look too happy with some of the teasing he had been getting, notably from the Weasleys, Harry observed with a smile. Seamus and Parvati were pretty much an item, but Dean and Padma were genuinely "just good friends", and the implications being thrown at them were making Dean quite uncomfortable.
Harry knocked back the last of his Gillywine and made tracks towards the bar, where the Weasley brothers were engaged in buying most of it.
"Hey Harry!" Charlie hailed him cheerfully, "Three pints or four?"
Harry shook his head smiling and looked around for Ginny. He spotted her sitting with Parvati and smiled as she raised a hand and beckoned him over. Harry's memories of Parvati and her sister at Hogwarts had never been entirely comfortable, but she seemed to be making Seamus happy, so he swallowed his uneasiness and joined them. Parvati was overflowing with some kind of excitement.
"Is it true? Really? After all these years?" Harry frowned.
"Is what true, Parvati?"
"You know what I mean!" she replied, gesturing impatiently. "Ron told Seamus, who told Dean, who told Padma, who told me. How long has this been going on?" Harry glanced at his watch.
"Oh, about - mmm, let me see." he replied, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "Forty minutes for the service, an hour for the wedding lunch, thirty minutes for speeches, a little more for farewells and so on - about two and a half hours." Harry looked back at Parvati with guileless eyes.
"Why do you ask? Did you forget your watch this morning?" he enquired mildly. "Or have you a train to catch?"
Parvati stared at Ginny who just smiled sweetly and shrugged, then she glared at Harry in intense irritation.
"Well, if you're not going to tell me all about how you got together, I shall go and ask Fred and George." She gave a sudden grin. "Knowing them, I'm likely to get far more of the dirt than I would have from you!"
Ginny's smile wobbled slightly and her face grew a shade or two paler, but Harry looked on benignly as Parvati swept away towards the bar with a triumphant smirk on her face.
"Harry," Ginny began, urgently tugging on his sleeve, "I'm never going to live it down if Fred and George tell her about the - you know, the new bath!" Harry put a soothing hand on her arm.
"Don't worry," he replied, with a strange little smile. "There are certain things I could let slip about your brothers that they wouldn't want Parvati spreading around either. And they know it!"
Ginny smiled gratefully at him and shyly took his hand, twining her fingers round his.
"Well," Harry said briskly. "What's it going to be? A drink? A dance? Or both?" He gestured to the bar and also to the band who had started playing again.
"Mmm, a dance, I think," Ginny replied. "Now that the happy couple have gone, I feel I can let my hair down a little."
"The happy couple," mused Harry, rising automatically from his seat to guide Ginny on to the dance floor. "D'you know, if Hermione hadn't been so worried about her parents' reaction, I think she and Ron would just have carried on as they were." Ginny giggled and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Well, it was rather amusing at the time," she protested at Harry's old- fashioned look. "He refused to let her out of his sight for a week after Stonehenge! In fact, he didn't let go of her hand for the whole day after he got her back."
"Or night either - if Fred is to be believed."
"Harry!"
"Okay, okay." Ginny said, executing an expert twirl that rather caught Harry by surprise.
"If you want my opinion," she continued, grinning impishly up at him, "I reckon Hermione only agreed to marry my brother so she could get some work done."
"Eh?"
"Well, even when he'd recovered a bit from losing her, he still haunted her chambers. You know, escorting her there, meeting her every lunchtime, taking her home every evening - not to mention the fact that he never went back to his flat again, just moved in to Hermione's room without a by-your- leave!"
Harry smiled reminiscently then gave a slight frown.
"Well," he said, "actually, he did speak to me about it, if the truth be known."
"He did?"
"Yeah, he wanted to know about terms and conditions of the lease, that sort of thing. Whether Hermione would be sub-letting her room if he moved in, or whether he would be a tenant in his own right!"
Harry threw back his head and joined in Ginny's laughter. The music changed to a slower tempo and he drew her closer, smiling as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"So, Harry's House is going to have a rather radical change of personnel," Ginny said, wistfully. Harry nodded.
"Yup. Ron wants his flat as the marital home, so Lee, George and Oliver are moving in with us, and Hermione, of course, is moving out."
"Goodness! Two of my madcap brothers in the same house?" They both glanced automatically towards the bar to where the three Weasley brothers were sinking pint after pint amidst frequent gales of laughter. Harry winced and shook his head.
"It won't be quite as bad as that," he reassured Ginny. "Charlie'll be in Rumania for most of the year, and Oliver's on tour for at least six out of the twelve months. Also, the last time I spoke to him, Fred was considering getting a place on his own." Ginny raised her eyebrows and Harry smiled, shaking his head.
"I don't know that you should read anything of a romantic nature into that," he continued. "Fred plays his cards very close to his chest on all counts. However, I do know that for professional reasons, your brothers have always tried to avoid living together."
Ginny was silent for a moment, trying to picture the domestic arrangements as Harry had described them, then she laughed.
"Is there room in that mansion for all of us?" she asked.
"Oh, plenty of room," Harry replied heartily, "particularly if you move in with me!" His wicked grin belied the slight question-mark against his statement. Ginny smiled.
"I might just as well make it official, I suppose," she replied. "Seeing as, after all the trouble you, Hermione and Fred went to, I seem to have spent precious little time in my own room since moving in!"
Absently, Harry kissed the top of her head.
"Hermione was somewhat pissed at us, I can tell you," he replied. "Her exact words were, and I quote: 'If I'd known that you were going to jump her as soon as she set foot over the doorstep, I'd have set up a camp bed in the dining room for form's sake and saved myself a whole day's lost research work!'"
Ginny let out a peal of laughter and Harry hugged her, chuckling himself at the memory.
"You know," Ginny remarked thoughtfully as they danced, "I've only been living in Harry's House for a couple of months, but I'm really going to miss Hermione. And quite apart from the effect on my reputation once it becomes known that I'm the only girl in a house full of blokes, I feel I ought to have some female company." Harry grinned.
"Which do you think will suffer the most from your being incarcerated with the equivalent of an all-male Quidditch team?" he asked lightly. "Your credibility, your femininity or your sanity?" Ginny made a sound half- laugh, half-cough.
"All three, I should imagine!" she replied, highly diverted at the prospect.
"Seriously, Ginny, I think you're right." Harry continued, musingly. "There's room in the house for at least two other people without the rest of us noticing their presence, not to mention the attics and the basement which are huge and could be converted. I think we should look for some other girls to keep you company." He grinned broadly. "I'd be happy to help you select and interview your housemates, if you like?" Ginny threw a sour glance at his smiling face.
"Oh, you!" she protested, batting him gently on the shoulder, but unable to resist smirking slightly at the prospect.
"Come on," she pulled at his arm. "I've had enough dancing for now. Let's see if my brothers have drunk our drinks as well as their own." They weaved their way through the other dancers to join the Weasleys at the bar.
*******************************************
Five weeks later saw a smaller group of friends assembled for a slightly more formal occasion at the Ministry's Museum of Magical Artefacts. Minister Cornelius Fudge was presenting awards for services to magic, and Harry was to be honoured for his work in recovering lost artefacts, both in China and India. Ron and Hermione were there, both still radiant from their honeymoon, Percy and Penelope had favoured him with their presence; Lee and also George had come to endorse the event. Fred was noticeable by his absence, but George confided that he was abroad yet again, this time on official ministry business rather than undercover. Oliver Wood had also turned up with Lee, much to Harry's great surprise and delight, and Arthur and Molly had come, at which Harry was very touched. He had only seen them once since his return to England, and not at all in his previous four-year exile, but they seemed just as friendly and hospitable as ever. I hope they're as happy as Fred and George were that Ginny's seeing me instead of that pratt Markland Harry thought. He had good reason to be grateful to the Muggle, considering that he, Harry, would never have ended up with Ginny if Markland hadn't been such a prize klutz. Despite this, Harry found it difficult to look back on him with any sort of patience all the same.
Cornelius Fudge bored the socks off his audience with a speech that lasted twice as long as the presentations themselves, but the buffet was excellent and the Gillywine flowed like water. Once they had eaten and drunk sufficiently, Harry and Ginny wandered around the museum with interest. It was not usually open to anyone but Ministry staff and Ginny had never had the opportunity to visit, so she was keen to make the most of it.
A vast array of objects greeted them, including the famous sapphire Ring of Aphrodite, which bestowed great powers of sensuality on the wearer - so long as the wearer was female!
"Goodness!" exclaimed Ginny, flattening her nose against the glass case. "Veela magic in ring form. No wonder it's behind glass in a museum!"
"And it can stay there as far as I'm concerned," murmured Harry from somewhere in the vicinity of her ear. "You don't need a vulgar bauble like that to get my attention!"
He kissed the back of her neck making her squirm and giggle. They moved over to the next case, which was new and sported a shiny brass plaque:
Grail c.500 AD Magical cup or chalice, once associated with the Great Merlin. Believed to have been taken from the High Magic by the Muggle Sir Galahad of the Round Table of King Arthur's knights, but later lost during the Dark Ages after Arthur's death. Recovered by Dr. H.J. Potter and Mr. R. Weasley.
"Wow, Harry!" said Ginny, staring at Harry with such shining eyes that he blushed and looked at his feet. "I didn't realise you were a doctor. When did that happen?" He shrugged.
"Oh, it's an honorary title really. It was given to me by LA Wizarding University after I wrote a couple of papers about my travels."
A small silence followed Harry's first mention of his job since the crisis in the temple had blown up. Ginny moved away slightly, her attention apparently absorbed in the exhibits. Harry cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Er, Ginny," he began. "Um, about the LA job." Taking a breath, Ginny turned an unnecessarily cheerful smile on him.
"It's okay, Harry," she interrupted. "I know you really enjoy your work and you couldn't do anything else, at least for now." Harry looked troubled.
"Yes, that's true," he began, worriedly. "And you do realise that my work takes me abroad to some very far flung places, don't you? I'm away for large chunks of the year." Ginny swallowed, but maintained her composure.
"Of course I know that!" she replied, brightly. "And after all, my career is only just beginning to take off too. I have such a lot of work piling up, and so many opportunities - I'm trying out with a couple of bands next week for a recording contract, and the solo stuff is really starting to catch on, I'm getting so many engagements! I'm going to be very busy through the next couple of years."
Harry looked slightly nonplussed, but she continued, smiling.
"We'll just have to get through it, that's all," Ginny went on. "We'll have to make unbreakable dates for times during the year when we know we've just got to drop everything to be together for a week or even just a weekend. I'm sorry, Harry."
Her face fell and suddenly she looked like Ron's little sister once again.
"I just can't leave everything I've worked for here and follow you over to LA," she told him sadly. "Not just to twiddle my thumbs for months while you're away in Outer Mongolia. At least, I can't until I'm better established to break into the American market."
Harry took her by the shoulders, and shook her gently until she stopped talking.
"I wouldn't dream of suggesting such a thing," he told her firmly. Ginny's face was a picture of astonishment. He smiled. "What I was about to say was that once this semester is over, I won't be going back to the Los Angeles Wizarding University." Her jaw dropped.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, shocked. "But what will you do? I mean, you love your job, right? What else could you ever do in life?"
Harry began to laugh, sweeping her into his arms, grinning broadly.
"Ginny, my dear," he beamed. "I'm not employed by LA University, I'm on secondment. From UWIZ in London, where I have tenure. All I have to do is transfer back. Of course, I'll still be away for some quite extended periods - I have a suspicion that a trip to Mexico may be in the offing - but at least we'll be together for some of the year rather than being a Continent apart."
He stood smiling, enjoying the look of total astonishment on her face. Ginny stared at him in disbelief then flung her arms around his neck, for once speechless.
"So we'll be able to stay as we are - at Harry's House?" she gasped, finally. "Oh, I don't know what to say, I'm so happy!"
"Well," replied Harry, rather more seriously. "It needn't be exactly as we are, you know. We could, well, change the legal arrangements at some stage. If you wanted to, that is." He paused for a moment. "Look, I know I'm not putting this very well, but ."
Ginny placed her index finger over his lips before he could say another word. She was very still for a moment, then she released her stranglehold around his neck and stepped backwards a little, staring thoughtfully into his face.
"Harry," she began seriously. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I won't pretend to misunderstand what you're saying; that would be insulting."
Ginny paused again then turned away from Harry, leaning against one of the museum glass cases. Inside was a large, silver cup, its gaudy stem studded with rubies and sapphires, its base of platinum gleaming brightly in the artificial light. Idly, her brain preoccupied with other things, Ginny read the legend beneath it:
Chalice c.1350 AD
Drinking vessel created by the wizard Geraldo Veneficus for employment in the Courts of Europe. The chalice is known to have dispatched five noblemen troublesome to Geraldo's patron, and also one professional rival. Its function is not only to render its own contents toxic, but also the contents of any other drinking vessel within a radius of two feet. Rendered harmless by Ministry Officials. Recovered by Dr. Ignatius Radcliffe, Florence.
Ginny fought down an insane desire to laugh. A poisoned chalice: how very appropriate! Indeed, how could she be sure that Harry's offer of marriage would not turn out to be a poisoned chalice in its own right? She shook her head impatiently: that was thoroughly unfair. Whatever else was a mystery to her, Ginny was sure that Harry's offer was sincere according to his own lights. What she found difficult even to process, never mind comprehend, was why.
What went on in that intricate brain, that highly intelligent, specialized thinking machine that was the essence of Harry Potter? After all, it had been a matter of a few scant weeks since that oddly euphoric moving-in party, and here he was proposing marriage! She wondered if Harry was a Seer. If he had a vision, a precognition concerning their relationship, then. Ginny shook her head once again. She had no reason to suppose that Harry's opinion of Divination as a discipline had undergone any great metamorphosis since his Hogwarts days. It was unlikely, to say the least.
Ginny tried to force the rational side of her brain to think about things sensibly and logically, but try as she might, she could not suppress a small voice whispering quietly, relentlessly, at the back of her mind. Ginny loved Harry with all her being. She knew this just as she knew the sun would rise at the start of each day and go down at the end of it. She had always been certain of her feelings, even as she had tried to deny them. What she could not know, nor could she predict, was how Harry truly felt about her. I could marry him anyway and find out later. At least then I'd have him for myself. She shook her head once again. She would never own Harry Potter; no one could.
The scrape of a foot against marble flooring alerted Ginny that Harry was still waiting patiently for her answer. She lifted her head, sighed and prepared to turn around, but at that moment she felt gentle hands on her shoulders completing the motion for her. Hesitantly, she looked up into his face to find him wearing a familiar, lopsided smile; this, she was learning, was an expression he habitually wore when faced with something he could neither predict nor control.
"By the fact that you haven't fallen rapturously into my arms," Harry began ironically, "I gather that your answer must be in the negative?" Dumbly and with a sinking heart, Ginny inclined her head. Harry gave a small sigh and nodded in acceptance. He let his arms drop from her shoulders and turned away from her, resting his hands on his hips and looking up to the ceiling.
"I'm sorry." Ginny's whispered words produced no reaction. "Please say something."
"What's there to say?" Harry ran an agitated hand through his hair. "I thought we had something, Ginny."
"We did! We do!" In exasperation, Ginny grabbed Harry's hands and forced him to look at her.
"Look," she said, "the idea's wonderful - of course it is! We're good together and we could be even better. But Harry, we've been together a matter of weeks." Harry shook his head firmly.
"Rubbish!" he responded, rudely. "Ginny, we've known each other since we were children. We were virtually brought up together, for Merlin's sake!"
"Yes, and that's just the point!" Ginny's voice rose to commanding pitch. Before Harry could interrupt, she rushed ahead rapidly.
"I've never known you as anything other than Harry the Hero, or Ron's best friend," she told him breathlessly. "You never gave me any kind of encouragement - the closest I got to you was providing a shoulder to cry on in your last year at Hogwarts. Flamel's Stone, Harry, you're like another brother!"
Harry's mouth quirked slightly. He scratched his head and considered.
"I confess, when you put it that way." he broke off with a grimace that rapidly morphed into a tentative smile. Ginny let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm not refusing you outright," she continued in more normal tones, "just suggesting that we, well, wait a while. See where our relationship goes and how our lives fit together before we take any drastic steps. I mean, you're officially still on summer vacation, aren't you? We've yet to find out what it's really like to live together, day in, day out. For all you know, I may be a closet alcoholic - or persistently leave discarded lingerie all over your bedroom floor!" Harry grinned.
"Very likely," he replied. "The lingerie thing, I mean!" he added quickly as Ginny narrowed her eyes theatrically. Harry put his hands on her shoulders once again.
"Take as long as you need, Ginny," he said, solemnly. "I'll be here for you whatever. Although I confess, I draw the line at toenail clippings in the bath!" Ginny opened her eyes wide in outrage before she realised he was joking.
"Oh, you!" She grinned and poked him in the ribs where he was most ticklish. He jumped then recovered, smiling back at her and tucking her arm into his as they continued round the exhibits.
"Well, this has been a day for revelations!" she said with a sigh. "Is there much more to discover about you, Harry Potter? Because if there is, I think I need to sit down first!" He grinned wickedly and bent to bring his mouth to her ear.
"If we step out into that deserted hall right now and Apparate back to the house," he whispered, "I'd be extremely willing to give you an entire voyage of discovery - oof!"
He doubled up, slightly winded by the elbow she had just planted in his gut. He looked up to observe her, head held high, stalking back into the reception room in high dudgeon, but her hips were swinging just for him and as he watched, she threw a smile over her shoulder, the 'come hither' quality of which was unmistakeable. He laughed to himself and followed her out of the room. Ginny was his girl, he knew it. It would take time but, well, he could wait. Harry Potter was used to waiting.
FINIS .
Author's Notes
The distribution of this story is for personal use only. Any other form of distribution is prohibited without the consent of the author. Disclaimer: this is a non-profit enterprise. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except the plot and David Markland, both of which belong to Penpusher. Tribute to: Susan Cooper's incomparable "The Dark is Rising" sequence for use of the "High Magic"; Dennis Wheatley for a plot device; and many, many other fanfiction writers whose works of all kinds and in very differing genres have been an immense inspiration to me. The quotations used as chapter titles are too numerous to credit here. Full details available on request, but Shakespeare and The Bible should yield most of them.
And all the thanks in the world to Becky (aka williara) for being a superb beta.