A/N : Co Writer: Tyler Nator
Beta reader: Arwrite, Luke Knight, LadyLucius, grimmypigeon, Calten
Chapter – 7
The next evening, Harry and Ginny were taking their evening walk when they came near the big tree at the bank of the river.
"Let's sit here for a minute," Ginny said astutely, slowing her pace, hand wrapped around Harry's as she led him over to the tree, sitting beneath its branches. Harry looked at Ginny for a moment, before sitting down beside her, and she snuggled close to him. "Now what, Harry?" Ginny asked him.
"As I said, I will go to Hogwarts to complete my edu-" Harry had only just begun to tell Ginny about his future plans, when she interrupted him.
"I'm not talking about that, Harry. I'm asking about us. You, and me." Ginny said.
It was one of the things Harry loved about Ginny; Her bluntness. Her ability to not beat around the bush, to be direct and honest with him. Harry looked into her eyes. There was love in her eyes, but they also needed reassurance. He was not good when it came to the girls, but his instincts were telling him that he should tell her how much he loved her, and how much he missed her during the last year.
"Ginny… last year… it was you who kept me going. When Voldemort hit me with the Killing Curse, you were my last thought. I... I want to spend my whole life with you, Ginny, but you have one year of school left to finish. When you do, after that… I would like to marry you as soon as possible, but only if you want to marry me, Ginny." Harry rambled.
Ginny frowned slightly, pursing her lips. She could tell Harry's thoughts were scattered, and while she truly did appreciate hearing the words that came from his mouth, doubt started to form in Ginny's mind.
"What if another dark wizard rises again, and you will be his target again?" She asked, voicing her doubt.
"Ginny, I can't promise you that there won't be any more dark wizards because there will always be someone. There were dark wizards before Voldemort, but there will never be another Voldemort. The fight between Voldemort and I… wasn't only about good or evil, light or darkness, but… it was personal. What happened then… nobody will ever be able to take his place." Harry said.
Ginny leaned over and looked at Harry in confusion
"Do you remember when we went to the Ministry in my fifth year to rescue Sirius, after Voldemort planted a fake memory in my mind?" Harry asked her, after seeing the confusion on her face. When she nodded he continued.
"You remember there was a crystal ball with my and Voldemort's name?"
Again Ginny nodded.
"It was an actual prophecy,"
"What does it say and who made it,"
"It was made my professor Trelawney,"
"You're joking," Ginny snorted
"No it's true. She made this prophecy to Dumbledore before I was born,"
"What did the prophecy say?" She reiterated her question"
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"
"What does that mean?"
"It mean the one who would defeat Voldemort will be born at the end of July,"
"You," Ginny whispered. Harry shook his head
"It could have been anyone who was born at the end of July," Harry spoke, making Ginny scowl as she tried to process how Harry was connected to the prophecy.
"It also spoke about the parents. The child will be born to those who had defied Voldemort three times. It means they escaped from him three times. And do you know who else was able to escape him three times other than my parents? Neville's" Harry said, without waiting for her response.
"So it could have been Neville as well, he's also born at the end of July," Ginny said, with wide eyes,
"Yes and no." with the confusion on her face he added "What were the lines of prophecy?"
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal…"
"This is the important line," Harry interrupted her. "See he chose me as his equal, he chose me as the person who could defeat him, not Neville,"
Instead of answering him Ginny leaned in and kissed him passionately.
"Thank you," was all she said.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Harry was pacing in his bedroom at the Burrow and thinking about what gift he should give to Ginny on her seventeenth birthday. He was unable to think about anything while he was pacing the room and something knocked his feet. He looked down to see what he had stumbled into. It was the chest that he had retrieved from his Gringotts vault. When he opened it, there was a letter in it, it was from his mum.
"Dear Harry
Happy seventeenth! You've grown so big, but if you are reading this then it means that it was in your father and my absence.While I am writing this you are sleeping peacefully beside me, a tiny baby of nearly one year old. I really hoped that we could have stayed with you and seen you grow. The times are dark and nobody knows whom to trust and whom not to. Your godfather Sirius had visited yesterday with Peter and Remus. They are the ones helping us so much at this time, but I have a feeling we don't have much time. Dumbledore had warned us beforehand and we are going into hiding but before that I wanted to leave you this letter so I know I have done something for my child's future before my death. In this box, you will find some jewellery of mine including my engagement and wedding rings. I hope you will find someone to whom you will give them. We don't know what the future holds for us. But always remember we love you more than anything in the world. We want to make sure you are cared for as our son, even if we are gone. Your dad and I have bought some land for you, two and a half miles away from Godric Hollow. All you have to do is select a design and it will be built. We have already paid for it. Your dad has also inherited a house outside Manchester from his parents, which we are leaving for you. You can live there if you want; the key of the house is in the chest. Just remember Harry, whatever comes your way, stick to the truth and be father and I love you very much. Whenever in doubt, stick to your intuition and think carefully. I'm so proud of you dear. Take care of yourself. You were born for a reason and we know you will help the wizarding world.
Love, Mum
P.S. The rings are magical; they will change their size according to the finger. I love you, son.
Dad"
There were tears in his eyes when Harry finished reading. After a few long minutes, he picked up the rings. The engagement ring had a diamond in the centre and was circled by small emeralds set in gold. The wedding rings were simple gold bands with some runes engraved on them. A thought came to Harry, he ran downstairs and knocked on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom door when a muffled voice of Mr. Weasley came asking him to come in, he entered the room
"Dad, mum, I want to ask you something. " Harry said, his hands clasped around the ring.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Harry was sitting at the kitchen table with Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, and Bill had come to the Burrow for that day when Ginny came down.
"Happy seventeenth birthday, dear." Mr. Weasley wished her. Everyone chorused after him.
Harry walked up to her, kissed on cheeks and whispered "Happy birthday, Gin, you will have to wait for your gift."
The birthday party for Ginny was not as big as Harry's. Among the D.A members, Neville, Luna, Kingsley and Hagrid were invited and present at Ginny's party. Professor McGonagall was also invited but since the school was opening in a couple of weeks' time, she couldn't make it. However, she had sent Ginny a gift through Hagrid. After the party Harry took Ginny to his bedroom, to give her his gift.
He opened the dressing table drawer and picked up the package wrapped in red wrapping paper, and gave it to her.
Ginny opened the wrapping revealing a plain wooden box. When she opened the box, her eyes widened and she gasped.
"These were my mother's," Harry said from behind.
"Harry…!" Ginny's voice almost sounded faint, recognising immediately what these were, and where they must have come from. Despite Harry's intentions, what he'd told her, she was still under shock from receiving such a gift.
Harry wrapped his hand around her waist from behind and put his chin on her shoulder.
"There is a piece missing from here, that I will give you later." He said.
"…These are beautiful, thank you. I hope she approves that you gave these to me." Ginny was finally able to say, turning in Harry's arm.
"She will," Harry said as he kissed her.
When Ginny came down to the kitchen wearing the jewellery, the girls took Ginny to the kitchen for some girl talk while Harry sat with her brothers along with Teddy and Dudley. Mr. Weasley had walked out to his shed.
"Percy, if you don't mind, can I talk to you about work?"
"Yes, you can." Percy smiled.
Harry pulled the letter from his mother from his pocket.
"There was a chest in my vault. I had forgotten to open it. Yesterday I opened it, and there was this letter; it says they left me a house outside Manchester and a piece of land with building permission near Godric's Hollow," Harry said.
"You want to check them, right?" Percy asked. When Harry nodded, Percy continued. "I was told about the location of your house at Manchester because it was not allowing anyone to enter into it. I was planning to visit it before you go to Hogwarts. Will it be okay if we go tomorrow?" Percy asked and Harry nodded.
"Alright, meet me at Godric's Hollow at nine tomorrow morning."
"Harry, I am returning home tomorrow as my graduation classes will be starting soon," Dudley replied.
Half an hour later, everyone but Harry and Ginny had departed to their homes or bedrooms and called it a night. They were snuggled on the couch. Harry took out the letter again from his pocket but he didn't give it to Ginny. He told her about the properties his parents had left for him.
"So you have one more house and a piece of land with building permission," Ginny said.
"Yeah, I will be visiting them tomorrow. Would you like to come with me?" Harry asked her.
"Yes I will." They shared a few more soft kisses and fell asleep on the couch together after an hour.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Harry, Ginny, Percy and Fleur were standing in front of the war memorial at Godric's Hollow. They stared at it for a few seconds then they apparated, near the plot that Harry's parents had left for him.
"This place is so nice," Ginny said after they took the tour of the land. "And this will be the biggest house if you build it. The place is so big that you can build three Quidditch pitches over here."
"Then you will have to change your mind, little sis, when you see the Potter Villa at Manchester," Percy informed her.
"Whaz do 'ay 'arry?" Fleur asked.
"I don't know what to say." Harry was puzzled while he was staring at the plot. "There is everything: woods, a pond and lots of land. I don't know what to do. My mum wanted me to either live here or at my grandparents' house. I just can't think of anything."
"Well I suggest that we should check out the Potter Villa in Manchester first, you could decide about the land later. There is no need to hurry." Percy said.
Harry agreed with him and they walked back to Godric's Hollow. Harry and Ginny went to visit his parent's grave where he introduced her to his parents.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. It's nice to finally meet you. Thank you for giving Harry to us. He is the bravest and most loving person in the world," Ginny as she kneeled down next to Harry.
Harry and Ginny stayed there for a few more minutes before walking back. Percy and Fleur were waiting for them at the war memorial. They all apparated to Manchester just outside the house Harry read the nameplate 'Potter Villa'.
Harry could see the house from the gate. It was made of black stone, just like Hogwarts.
"You were right, Percy," Ginny said breathlessly, "this is a lot bigger than Godric's Hollow."
"Zat Godric's Hollow plot iz fifteen acres in area, and zis is twenty acres in area," Fleur told her.
Harry touched the gate and it opened. They walked through to the house. The house looked three storeys tall. Harry removed the key from his pocket but when he looked at the door, there was no keyhole. He touched the handle with his wand. "Welcome Harry," said the voice and the keyhole appeared.
Harry inserted the key and opened the door, but as soon as they entered the house they were hit by a Body-Binding Hex and a figure appeared at the stairs. "Who are you, and how did you enter the house?!" The figure bellowed.
"I entered through the door, my parents left me the key. I am Harry Potter," Harry spoke as he struggled to get free the figure came into the light it was a house-elf
"Master Harry," the house-elf squealed happily; it removed the curse and ran to punish itself.
"No, stop where you are," Harry shouted before he untangled himself from the others, the house-elf stopped standing against the wall where it was about to hit its head.
"You won't punish yourself," Harry said again.
The house-elf turned to face Harry.
"Yes, Master."
Harry went to a nearby chair.
"Come and sit here." Harry offered, indicating the chair in front of him. The elf hesitated, but when Harry repeated himself again, she climbed the chair and sat.
"Who are you and why are you calling me 'Master'?" Harry asked.
"I am Nickey, Master Harry, and Nickey is Harry's house-elf." She replied,
"Why didn't I know about you before?" Harry asked curiously.
"Master James ordered Nickey not to visit you, sir. Master James wanted to protect you. He also ordered Nickey to hide and act as a free elf or stay here till you come to this house, and Nickey waited for you for the past seventeen years, sir." Nickey replied.
"Why did you attack uz?" Fleur asked, but Nickey didn't reply, just stared at her when Harry asked the same question again.
"Why did you attack us?" Harry repeated softly. Nickey lowered her head and mumbled something. "What?" Harry asked.
"Master James put that trap to stop the intruders…" she muttered, but this time Harry was able to hear her.
Observing how bad she looked, Ginny asked her, "When was the last time you had something to eat?"
Again, Nickey didn't reply.
"Nickey, Ginny is my girlfriend, so you should answer her," Harry informed her.
"Nickey knows who Mistress Ginny is, and Nickey also sees the necklace on Mistress Ginny's neck. It was of Mistress Lily. Nickey didn't reply because Nickey don't want to worry, Master." Nickey said.
"You look tired. Are you ok?" Ginny asked again, more gently. "Please…" she urged softly. "When did you last eat…?"
"A few weeks ago, Mistress…" Nickey uttered quietly.
"What?! You 'aven't eaten anything for zhe past one month?!" Fleur asked incredulously, her eyes becoming as big as crystal balls.
"Nickey, you will come with us to the Burrow and rest there. I am going to take a tour of the house and I will move here in December, okay?" Harry said to her, patting her shoulder.
"Nickey will give the Master the tour of the house," Nickey said.
"No, Nickey, you will stay here," Ginny gently nudged her back to stop her from getting up.
"But it will be easier for Master, if Nickey gives the tour of the house," Nickey protested.
"Fine," Harry agreed with a sigh.
"No one can apparate into the estate and the Muggles cannot see this place. There is a Muggle-repelling Charm, as well as many other enchantments, like the Sneaking Sensor Charm, to detect thieves." Nickey began immediately explaining the intricacies of the estate and jumped down excitedly from her chair. "If Master and his friends will follow me please," Nickey led them outside from the same door they had entered. "This is the broom shed," Nickey began as she led them towards the left side of the main door near the backside of the house.
The broom shed was as big as Ginny's bedroom at the Burrow. Then, Nickey led them towards the backside of the house.
"This pond was used as a swimming pool by Master James and his friends in their younger days," Nickey pointed at the pond which was some distance away from the house.
"We could keep it that way only," Harry thought out loud.
"The house has four floors, three above the ground and one as a basement level, there are eight bedrooms including the master bedroom and six bathrooms including four attached to bedrooms," Nickey started again as everyone moved back towards the building. "The ground floor consists of a kitchen, living room, sitting room, a library and a room that was used by Master Fleamont as home office. There is only one entrance to the estate but three for the house, one from the kitchen, one from the room that can be used as an office and one from the front from where you entered which opens in the drawing room." Nickey kept on speaking without taking a breath as they entered into kitchen
Their kitchen was sparkling clean although it was fully empty. Harry and Ginny next entered the library. As Harry looked on the shelves of the racks, he found some rare books, many of them looking to be very old tomes.
"Hermione will be jealous when she finds out I have some rare books in my collection," Harry said as he and Ginny chuckled and moved to the office.
The office had bare and crimson-coloured walls. Exactly opposite to the door was a large Mahogany wood table. It was so light in colour that it looked almost white at first glance. There was a Muggle revolving chair behind the table. It was arranged in such a way that the person sitting in the chair would face the door directly. Harry and Ginny didn't take much time in the office and returned to the dining room where Percy and Fleur were waiting for them. The dining room had a very long table along with many chairs.
"There are twenty chairs and there is space to add more," Ginny said, admiringly.
"Let's finish the rest of the house tour quickly," Percy said looking at his watch "I have a meeting with goblins in half an hour,"
"There were six bedrooms on the first and this is the master bedroom," Nickey took them upstairs, skipping the first floor and most of the second floor, only stopping to look at the master bedroom.
Everything in the master bedroom was painted in Gryffindor colour. There was a large wardrobe against the right side wall from the door. There was another door next to the wardrobe which led to the equally large bathroom and Harry was reminded of the prefects' bathroom at Hogwarts. It had a large bathtub with many taps. They went to the third floor but came down very quickly.
"There are two rooms in the basement, one was used by Master Fleamont for making potions and another one is use to store important stuff," Nickey said as she moved to go down but Harry stopped her by raising his hand.
"What do you say, Ginny? Do you like it, or should we build a house on the land of Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked Ginny after they came down to the dining room though he was hoping that Ginny liked this place.
"I like this house. We should definitely move here," Ginny said happily, Harry smiled at her.
"Kreacher," Harry called, and with a popping sound, Kreacher appeared.
"Master Harry needs Kreacher," he said with his customary bow.
"Yes, Kreacher, I want you to meet Nickey. She was the elf of my parents." Harry told him "she will be coming with us to Burrow and it is your duty to make sure she takes rest until she recovers fully and then you will help her over here to make this house ready for us to move in."
"Yes, Master. Kreacher will do as you say." Kreacher replied, with that, they apparated to the Burrow. Kreacher took Nickey's hand and led her to Percy's bedroom which Harry was currently occupying.