Chapter 1
()()()
The air was crisp as the sun was rising over the trees; it was a lovely sight to wake to. And the porch had a very comfortable two-seater for her to lounge in as her faculties grew sharper, allowing her to take in the heavy scent of the morning dew in relaxed luxury. It was much easier to appreciate with the hot cup of tea in her hands too.
She was so happy to be back in England again. The places they'd travelled to over the past nearly two decades had been wonderful, but this island had always felt like her true home. And it was amazing just how quickly she'd grown comfortable in this enormous house that the Potters had lived in for centuries.
Initially she'd worried that it would feel too cold and empty. Not that she'd ever felt it was cold when she'd visited with James' parents before they left the country or on the few trips back they'd made during Harry's summer breaks from school, even when they'd come back for James' parents funeral there hadn't been any awkwardness she'd experienced by staying in this house, there was always some sense of belonging she'd felt at Potter Manor. But there was a difference between 'vacationing' somewhere and 'living' somewhere.
Now they had decided to properly live in Potter Manor, and the house already felt like a home after only a few weeks.
It wasn't because Harry was done with school that they had decided to return permanently, it had just turned out that way; ideal timing. She'd been thinking about it for a while, just a notion of thought in the back of her mind that crept up every now and again that started growing, and once she'd voiced her growing desire to return here to James it had turned out he'd been thinking the same thing.
Telling Harry their plan they found out that he too was interested in joining them and finally living in one place for the foreseeable future.
The poor boy, well, he was a man now, but he'd gone to four different magical schools because of how often she and James had moved around for their work. He could have simply gone to one school, as they all provided boarding, but they thought the different schools and experiences they provided were going to help Harry grow as an individual. She also may not have wanted her son to be too far away from her, that was another factor for moving him around from country to country as she and James took up new postings.
She and her husband were lab technicians and then executives for the E.L.M Potions Company; she had started off in the Charms department and James in the Potions. James' family had a large stake in the company as the Potters were part of the founding members, and the two of them had gotten hired on right out of school. They'd married straight out of Hogwarts and had already signed on to move to the Hong Kong branch for a few years by the time she found out she was pregnant.
They had requested the move to Hong Kong to get some adventure, and they got it.
From Hong Kong they moved to New Zealand, then Australia, Poland, Gaborone, Egypt, America, Brazil, and lastly Mauritius.
Now it seemed the whole family was done with all the travelling and ready to settle into the ancestral house.
It excited her; the simple idea that she could sit in the back garden of her home and look at the flower beds and plan out what she might want to change, not having to wonder if she should even bother because she might not be there to enjoy them in a year.
Harry was eighteen now and had gotten himself a job at E.L.M Potions as well, and it had nothing to do with family influence. He'd applied under another name and completely excelled at his interview for the Potions Department. It hadn't bothered her son at all that he would be working under his father.
Lily was so proud of Harry. She'd worried that he might wind up being a spoiled young man, what with all of the money and excessive lifestyle he'd grown up in. He was an only child as well, something that she had tried to rectify many times but to no avail. James had told her it was the Potter Curse. Apparently, each Potter generation had only been able to produce one child, a male heir, for centuries.
She'd thought that ridiculous and assumed that the previous generations simply weren't as amorous as she and James were. However, whether it was a curse or simply circumstance, she'd never been able to give Harry a sibling.
Sirius had proven to be more of a sibling than an uncle figure over the years anyways. He was always helping Harry get into mischief and giving her a headache. He'd come with them wherever they moved, he was part of their family. Sirius was without a profession but always managed to find some way to occupy his days wherever they went. In one place he'd purchased a night club, another he started organizing day trips for tourists, in New Zealand he joined a Quidditch Team. Always something else, but he was always there with she and James in the raising of Harry. Sirius was probably what helped Harry stay so grounded as well; seeing his uncle who had all the money in the world still throwing himself whole heartedly into every new venture and constantly reminding Harry how lucky he was to have great parents, it had given Harry that healthy dose of reality he wouldn't have listened to if it had come from his parent's mouths.
Her cup was nearly drained as the sun began to remove the chill from the air and she snuggled a little more into her throw.
What she was looking forward to in the next few months was the changing of seasons. Egypt, Brazil and Mauritius didn't have much temperature change whether day or night, June or December. But by two hours' time there would be no need for her to wrap a throw around her shoulders, and by Christmas time there would be a foot of snow across the grounds.
The boys would have more time to appreciate that than she would though.
In just a few weeks she was taking over as the Charms Professor at Hogwarts, her alma matter. Albus Dumbledore had finally retired, and Filius Flitwick was stepping up as the headmaster. Filius had reached out to her to take his Professorship. She'd been flattered to be thought of; he had been her favorite and she'd learned a great deal from him.
The only problem had been that Severus Snape was the Potions Professor. He'd been her childhood friend but had destroyed their relationship later in their school years because he'd fallen in with a 'Blood Purity' type crowd. That crowd had been following a crazy old man's ideals for a 'Pure Wizarding World' and was spewing all kinds of gentrification of society and building some 'Master Race' of wizards. It all blew up in the leaders face when they found out that he was a Half-Blood and the followers had turned on him, he'd been locked away like Grindewald since her last year of school.
Her friendship with Severus hadn't lasted past her fifth year, before he had fallen in with the 'Blood Purity' types, when Severus had called her a derogatory name in front of everyone. That had put the final nail in the coffin of their friendship and may have been what had driven him to his new social group.
James and Sirius had not gotten along with Severus from day one, however. James had thought that Severus was just a little too obsessed with her. It was ridiculous, but their animosity seemed to have lasted through the ages. Of course, James didn't think that his own slight obsession with her had anything to do with his distaste of Snape. Sufficed to say, James wasn't thrilled that she would be working with his school hood 'nemesis'.
Lily put her foot down though. She'd been at the potions company for years and there was no thrill in it anymore, becoming a professor would be a natural transition for her. She might be away from him a little more than usual, but she wouldn't be expected to stay at the castle as a resident and would be home every night and all but one weekend a month.
From the sounds that were echoing out from inside the house it seemed the men were awake.
Standing up, she secured the throw around herself once more and moved into the house to visit with them while James made breakfast. James had always put himself in charge of breakfast, it was the only meal he knew how to make that didn't involve a barbeque, while Lily took dinners.
"Morning Love," he kissed her cheek and took her cup to refill it.
"Morning," she smiled and sat at the bar on the island in the kitchen. She liked watching him work. It was her morning ritual to enjoy a few quiet minutes to herself with her first cup of tea and watch her sexy husband make food for them all during her second cup.
Sirius and Harry came in and took a seat beside her with their own cups full of coffee. It was near the middle of August and since they'd only moved into the house at the start of July they'd all agreed to enjoy the summer before starting back into the working world. That meant a lot of time to read for her while the men played Quidditch and there had been several day trips out to the coast and London and Edinburgh. Lily hadn't bothered trying to get into contact with her sister since they'd been back, Petunia was the only family she had left, she hadn't spoken to her sister for seventeen years and she'd felt the loss less and less as those years passed.
Petunia had been nasty to Lily since she'd first left for Hogwarts, and it had just gotten worse as the years went on. After their parents passed it was like they didn't exist to each other anymore. She imagined her parents wouldn't be pleased with how their daughters had this unspoken agreement to no longer put in the effort to pretend to like each other, but it was just easier this way.
As James served up the plates from the skillet a few Owls appeared at the window. Sirius hopped up to let them in and the birds deposited their items before grabbing a few Owl treats from a bowl by the window and took off again.
"This one looks official," Sirius held it up. "Too nice of stationary to be from the Ministry. It's addressed to you Harry," he tossed it over to her half-awake son.
Lily unrolled the Daily Prophet as she ate her eggs.
"It's from Gringotts," Harry told them and started reading the contents. "What?" he asked of the letter with great confusion.
Lily looked over and saw the bewildered expression on his face.
"What! WHAT?!" he was exclaiming progressively louder the further down the parchment he went.
She shared an amused and befuddled look with James, who was moving to read over Harry's shoulder.
James' mouth dropped open after reading the first sentence. "What?!"
"Will the two of you stop saying that and tell us what it is?" she asked them, growing more curious and annoyed.
"I can't-" Harry started. "This is ridiculous," he turned to Sirius. "You did this didn't you?"
"Did what?" Sirius asked in amusement and snatched the letter out of his godson's hands. "WHAT?!"
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Lily got up from her spot and went to read over Sirius' shoulder.
Mister Harry Potter,
This letter is to inform you of our congratulations on your betrothal. It has been several generations in the making and we the Goblins of Gringotts are glad to have it now in the final stages of fulfilment.
As it is your betrothed's coming of age birth date, please present us with the Marriage Certificate no later than August 10th of next year.
We will remind you that as stipulated in the agreement made by the families involved, that failure to do so will result in the loss of magic by both parties named in the contract, the names of which were added on August 11th, 1981.
As such, you have long passed the opportunity to dispute the contract and make it void.
Gritgurg Hoppingstaff, Chief Goblin, Gringotts, London Branch
The page under that showed a Betrothal Agreement between the Potter and Weasley families with a date of June 7th, 1823, the names filled in were Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley, and the stipulations of trade for the contract. The Weasley family was given several acres of land in Devon on the promise of their next born female being given to the Potter family heir once she came of age by the eyes of the current Ministry.
"This is ridiculous!" Lily exclaimed. "This was made one hundred and seventy-five years ago!" Rounding on her husband she pointed at him in accusation, "did you know anything about this?"
His eyes went wide. "No!" he promised with his hands held up in innocence.
Harry was staring in shock at the envelope that the contract had come in. James came over to Lily's side and did a thorough read of the contract. "Oh Bugger," he breathed out. "I… It was made so long ago, easily five or so generations back for my family," he sat down at the stool closest to him. "It would have been fairly standard then."
"Well, it isn't now!" she yelled in a panic. "Your ancestors traded land for a bride?" It was completely archaic. There was no way that a contract like that could still be enforced.
"Not any bride," Sirius chipped in. "A Weasley bride. That's easily the most prolific wizarding family in this part of the world. I remember a few of them from school. They were known for only having sons as well. Looks like one of those sons finally had a daughter."
"I won't have to do it, right?" Harry panicked. "We'll find a way to void the contract, right?"
"There must be a way," Lily assured him. "I'm not going to force you to marry some girl you don't even know." She caught James and Sirius cringe. "What?" she asked.
"Lily," James started, using that tone that was supposed to begin placating her. "These contracts. Well, they're fairly iron clad."
"So, I'll lose my magic?!" Harry yelled in horror. "What if, what if she and I get married, then just get it annulled? Just run off to Vegas or the closest equivalent and then wash our hands of it."
"Won't work," Sirius shook his head sadly. "These require a real marriage. Man, wife," he cleared his throat and let out the last word in a strangled voice, "child."
Lily needed to brace her hand on the counter. Harry had gone a deathly shade of white and looked like he might fall over and pass out.
"We'll still look for a way to get around it," James assured them. "There's a chance that the Weasley's didn't know about this either. Five or so generations since they'd had a girl. We've got a year to figure this all out."
Harry started nodding his head slowly, like he was listening, but also in shock and couldn't help making the repetitive movement.
Then his eyes rolled back, and he fell out of his stool and to the floor.
()()()
Arthur Weasley sat down at his seat at the kitchen table in exasperation. His exasperation was stemming from his daughter and her tantrum she'd just thrown.
No, tantrum was too childish a term.
She hadn't started crying or wailing about something or pounding her fists on the ground. She had simply erupted in anger like a volcano.
He'd only come down the stairs and asked if there had been any breakfast made! She was standing in the kitchen with a coffee cup in her hand after all, it would have been logical to assume that there was some kind of breakfast started. He'd passed her brothers rooms on the way down from the bathroom and they were all empty, meaning they'd been through the kitchen as well.
Ginny had given him this murderous look he hadn't seen since a few months before his wife took sick. Her face was showing the full Weasley red, then she ripped a pan off the wall and nearly swung it at him, yelling that he could make his own damn breakfast before she chucked her cup in the sink, breaking it into a few pieces, then stormed out of the house slamming the door so hard it nearly tore off the hinges.
Arthur sat down and put his face in his hands to try and collect himself.
She had been very helpful around the house all summer. Every summer she was home she'd been stepping up into the role her mother had left vacant when she passed three years ago. Ginny had become quite talented in the kitchen, and she hadn't made any complaints about doing laundry or other household chores either.
He and the boys might have let the house and garden go a bit while she was at school, but they were all busy during the days with work. If there had been any mess to be cleaned up, they simply didn't see it.
It was she, himself, Ron and the twins that were still residing at the Burrow. His youngest three boys had all started into the working world, but his Ginny still had one more year of schooling.
He didn't know just what set her off today though. It must have been an accumulation of things. That or she was about to have her woman's troubles.
With a sigh he looked over to the pile of post he hadn't had a chance to sort through yet. That was his Saturday morning task.
Rubbing his palms against his eyes he flicked his wand at the stove and set a few eggs to cook on the skillet Ginny had wielded like a weapon. Voices being raised was just another daily occurrence around here, but usually the shouting came from one of the boys.
Plucking through the mail he opened a few letters from the Ministry about this and that, reminder of taxes and the like. Then he took an official letter from Gringotts and opened it, floating a cup of coffee for himself over as he started reading.
The cup dropped to the ground with a clatter as he read.
There had to be some mistake.
He kept flipping back and forth between the two pages that had been in the envelope; one letter, one contract. His eyes skimmed the letter and the contract, then he started all over again with the letter, then the contract.
He hadn't yet processed the information when a knock came at the door, and he stared at wood where the sound had come from long enough that the sound came again. He stood to answer it in a trance, it didn't even register with him how odd it was that someone was knocking at the door; This wasn't a 'knock at the door' household, this was a walk in and help yourself to some biscuit's household.
Pulling the handle inward he saw a nicely dressed couple in the doorway. A man nearing his forties, dark hair, glasses and about six-foot-tall accompanied by a pretty woman with dark red hair around the same age, a few inches shorter.
For a moment he forgot what it was he was supposed to do in these situations. "Hello?" he managed. "Can I help you?"
"Hello," the man said. "My name is James Potter. This is Lily, my wife." She nodded politely with a tight smile. "I believe we have something to discuss."
()()()
Ginny was fuming.
Completely outraged.
First, Ron wakes her up asking where she would have put his favorite t-shirt, then Fred complains about how she hadn't done the shopping, next George all but tosses her out of the bathroom. Then each one of them has the audacity to wait for her to get downstairs to cook them breakfast.
They are full grown men!
With wands!
How hard would it be for them to figure that shit out for themselves? Particularly when she'd been cleaning up after them and taking care of the garden and the orchard and the animals ALL SUMMER LONG!
Then her father came downstairs and asked where his breakfast was!
Well, by that point she couldn't take it anymore. She'd already just about cried herself to sleep because every single one of them forgot her birthday.
Her mum wouldn't have forgotten her birthday.
Luna hadn't forgotten her birthday. She'd sent her a lovely quill set and some high-quality parchment with a note about how her mum would have been proud of the woman she'd become.
It was her coming of age birthday too. She could legally use her magic now.
It was supposed to be a big deal!
Percy's coming of age birthday had been a big deal. That was the last one her mum had been around for, and Ginny had tried to make a big deal about the twins and Ron's coming of age birthdays too.
There was no one to remind them all about her birthday though.
She understood that they were all busy with their lives and girlfriends and work and such, but she shouldn't be having to do all this by herself!
Had her mum felt like she was a doormat when she had seven kids running around asking about the location of their socks? If so, then Ginny had a lot of apologizing to do when she met up with her on the other side.
As soon as she found herself wanting to swing a frying pan at her father she knew she had to get out of the house and away from the Burrow. She'd already dressed for the day. There was a long list of chores awaiting her, but they'd just have to wait. She grabbed her coin purse and wand and headed straight for the broom shed, pulling out her broom, she disillusioned herself and flew straight over to Luna's house.
"Luna," she called out after bursting through the Lovegood's front door. She'd been here a million times before; Luna's dad said that sometimes if felt like he had two daughters, and he liked it.
The house was empty though. Heading for the kitchen she saw a note stuck to the ice box, 'Ginny, I've gone to Ottery St. Catchpole. Come find me if you'd like. ~ Luna'
That would normally have made Ginny grin, she was almost sure that Luna was a Seer. That, or she'd just logically assumed Ginny would need an escape today. She had sent her an owl last night and ranted about her family; There had probably been a tear stain or two on the parchment.
The Lovegood house wasn't that far away from the village. Walking there would give her enough time to cool off a bit as well.
As she started her trek to the road, she tried not to think too much about how upset she was. She didn't want to have a puffy face when she got to the village. She didn't want anyone to know she'd been crying, because right then she felt like simply curling up in a ball and crying until she was woefully dehydrated.
Her family cared about her, she knew they did. Her dad had told her several times over how much he appreciated what she did around the Burrow, said how much he was going to miss her when she went back for her final year.
That wasn't enough to make her forget the fact that they forgot about this milestone of hers. It wouldn't stop her fuming over it.
No, she wasn't going to think about her family right now, instead she was going to think about Derek, the boy at the Bakery/Ice Cream Shop in the town. Derek, with the nice blue eyes and lovely smile, who always gave her an extra scoop of ice cream at no charge. Being flirted with would be a nice distraction from her misery.
It was nearly ten by the time she reached the village, and the Bakery was just opening. She did a wander through the main street and at the farmers market, but she didn't seen Luna anywhere, so she made her way back to the Bakery and went in.
Derek was working and Ginny felt in her bag to reassure herself that she did have some Muggle money with her.
"Bit early for ice cream, isn't it?" Derek asked her in jest as he stood behind the register. There were only four people in the outdoor seating area and no one waiting to be served.
"Is there really such a thing as too early for ice cream?" Ginny gave him her best flirty grin.
Derek chuckled, "not for you apparently. What flavor will it be."
"Something with chocolate. Surprise me," she grinned. Every time she'd come in here she hoped he might show more interest in her. It was flattering when he would give her his appreciative looks and she got a thrill out of it, he didn't look like he was the shy type, but he hadn't asked her out at all. She didn't know if he had a girlfriend though either.
"Have you seen my friend I come in here with sometimes? Blond, pretty, big blue eyes," she asked him.
"Looks and sounds a bit daft?" he continued the description with a wry grin.
"And yet is the nicest person you'll ever meet. And my best friend," Ginny finished, her smile and mood slipping.
"Sorry," he cringed a bit at his lack of manners. "I know who you mean. I haven't seen her." He handed over two scoops of Double Chocolate Ice Cream, still only charging her for one scoop, and she went outside to eat it, sitting at a table by two men and facing the street, hoping Luna might walk by.
"Interesting choice before lunch," the man beside her said.
She looked over at him with his coffee and half eaten croissant, the boy with him had the same. She locked eyes with the boy and was struck with how amazing the color of them was. The green of them really stood out, even though his glasses.
"It's my breakfast actually," she managed a sad smile and turned back to her dish.
"Breakfast of champions then?" The man gave her a charming grin.
Ginny couldn't help her snicker, "yeah, I'm really feeling like a champion. That's why I chose the comfort food."
"Oh, come now. It's a beautiful summer day. You're out and about. Whatever it is, it can't be all that bad." The man had an air of nonchalance about him that she was envying at the moment.
Ginny locked eyes with the boy again and raised her eyebrows in question of his companions lasse-faire attitude. She couldn't tell what their relationship was, maybe father and son. The boy just gave a conspiratorial eye roll in response. The expression on his face showed off a dimple in his cheek, it was cute. She turned back to the man that was talking to her, he seemed harmless. He had nice wavy shoulder length hair and a well-trimmed beard. His eyes were rather nice too; kind looking.
"Suppose things could be worse," Ginny replied. "They could have been out of chocolate ice cream."
"That's the spirit," the man encouraged, causing she and his, probably, son to chuckle.
"It's a rather nice village you live in," the boy told her.
She was surprised by his accent. It was English, but something else too. She didn't know exactly what it was, the decibel though was pleasant to her ears.
"I'm just outside of town, a short walk away," she told him then caught sight of impossibly blonde hair out of the corner of her eye. Luna was heading towards her. Letting out a sigh of relief Ginny stood up in time for her friend to envelop her in a hug.
Luna kept her in a tight, comforting embrace before she pulled back and cupped both of Ginny's cheeks, looking directly into her eyes. "They don't mean to hurt your feelings. Men's brains are simply wired different. I suspect it's due to a blood flow issue between their two heads."
The man beside them spat out the coffee he'd been drinking and started laughing loudly and slapped his knee. Ginny blushed but saw the humor in it as well. She glanced over to the boy and saw he looked a little dumbstruck.
"Oh, did you make friends?" Luna sat down and pulled the ice cream over to herself and took a spoonful.
"Should have guessed it was boy trouble." The man had the largest grin, "you are a pretty girl after all. Boyfriend being stupid, is he?"
Ginny didn't want to comment, and she didn't have to.
"Her brothers and father forgot her birthday," Luna told them calmly and took another spoonful of ice cream.
Ginny closed her eyes and took a meditative breath. She didn't need sympathy from the two strangers. Cracking her eyes open after a moment she saw how sad the boy looked for her. "It's fine," she turned back to Luna, "I'm fine."
"That isn't very convincing," the man said. "And that isn't a good enough meal for your birthday breakfast," he pointed at the bowl that Luna was finishing off.
Before Ginny could stop him, the man stood and darted back into the bakery. She held her arm out to halt him, but he was already inside.
"Don't bother," the boy told her. "He's probably about to buy you one of everything in the display," he shrugged, "just accept it."
"He doesn't even know who I am!" she protested.
"Doesn't matter. It's the same as he'd do for anyone," he assured her. "Once I saw him pay for a family of twenty's dinner at a restaurant because they were celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary."
"That's so sweet!" Luna mooned.
"But I-" Ginny started.
"Harry," a man and woman approached his table from the other side. The man was an exact replica of the boy plus a few decades. This must have been his parents.
Harry shot her a shy smile before turning to his parents. "So?" he asked desperately.
"She wasn't there, and apparently her father had found out literally just before we came to the door. Had the letter out on the table as we were invited in," his mum told him.
Ginny exchanged a look with Luna. This sounded like a private conversation. An interesting one too. "Would you like our seats?" Ginny offered the woman, "we can move down." She pointed to the table on the other side.
"Thank you darling, we're fine," the woman told her kindly before she and her husband simply pulled chairs from another table over to Harry's.
Ginny started as a tray full of pastries was placed before her. "The kid in there said you liked coffee too, so here's one for you and your lovely friend," the man grinned.
Ginny looked with wide eyes at all that was laid before her. He'd really gotten her one of everything they had in the display case! Generosity of strangers indeed.
"Sirius, what?" Harry's father started.
"We can't possibly eat all this," Ginny chuckled. "Please," she offered the tray to the four of them, "take something, multiple somethings."
"Well, if you insist," Sirius grinned charmingly at her and took a muffin.
Harry gave her a forced tight smile, clearly having something more important on his mind, and took a cookie before turning back to his parents, "but he wants it voided too, right? She and I won't have to go through with it."
"Absolutely. He doesn't even seem to want to tell her if he can help it. Apparently, she's already upset with him," the mother told him.
"He forgot her coming of age birthday. Can you imagine?" the father said incredulously. "His sons hadn't remembered either. Apparently, her mother passed away a few years ago and well," he shrugged.
Ginny's eyes snapped over to them again and she did a quick survey of their clothing. It looked entirely Muggle, but they could have had wands in their pockets, and the woman's in her purse. Harry and Sirius turned to her slowly with gaping mouths.
"Sounds like you're talking about Ginny," Luna said airily as she selected a chocolate croissant.
The five of them stared at each other for a moment. Harry had quite a lot of color coming to his cheeks.
"Ginny?" the woman asked nicely, looking straight at her. "That would be short for Ginevra, would it? Did you just turn seventeen, dear?"
Ginny nodded dumbly. "What did my dad just find out about?" she asked quietly. They all shifted uncomfortably. She turned her attention to Harry specifically. "What will 'she' and you hopefully not have to go through with?"
The father coughed uncomfortably. "Well, um. See," he coughed again.
"Perhaps it would be better if your father told you," the mother suggested.
"Sounds like it would be something she'll get upset about," Luna commented. "I think that if you tell her then at least she'll have time to calm down before going home in a rage and doing something she'll regret." Then she calmly took another drink of her coffee.
"We found out this morning," Harry told Ginny. "A letter from Gringotts came. It seems that you and I are sort of," he seemed to choke on his tongue.
"It's a betrothal contract," the mother told her. "We will try and make it void," she hurriedly assured her.
Ginny stared at Harry and tried to figure out what the joke was. Any moment the twins were going to pop around the corner of the building and cover her in confetti. She didn't have a betrothal contract. That was completely archaic, there was no way. Real purebloods had them; Heiresses and Lords had betrothal contracts, not her. Not a Weasley. She was a farm girl.
Either they all had remarkable poker faces, or they were actually being serious.
She couldn't look at them anymore. Turning to sit properly in her seat, Ginny looked down at the dozen pastry items still on the tray before her. Her throat was dry. Slowly she picked up her coffee and sipped it.
"You two would have beautiful children," Luna remarked.
Ginny raised her eyes to her friend. Luna was looking between her and Harry with a vacant smile on her lips. "No," Ginny said to Luna. "Just. Don't."
"Ginny dear?" the mother asked. "Are you okay?"
"She's taking it better than Harry," Sirius commented. "At least she hasn't passed out yet."
Harry was looking at her sheepishly then shot a glare at his companion.
"I need some air," Ginny managed, getting to her feet.
"We're outside," Luna stated.
"Uhuh," Ginny nodded stupidly. "It's really. Um. Hot out."
"Can I," Harry stood up as she did, "can I walk with you?"
"Good idea," his father said observing her. "Make sure she doesn't fall over or something," he sounded concerned.
Normally Ginny would get indignant as such a comment, but she was slightly dizzy and seeing spots, so that sounded like a good idea. Harry held out his arm for her like a gentleman. Apparently, he was the one from a well to do family. But why on earth would a noble family want a marriage contract with the Weasley's? They'd been just scraping by for generations; content with the simple life, all of them.
She put her hand on the inside of his elbow and let him guide her. She let him guide her, not even paying attention to the route he was taking.
It wasn't a large village after all. There were just three main streets with all the shops on it and the rest were residences. He led her down one of the streets towards a park area, neither of them saying anything.
"Do you want to?" Harry gestured to a bench beside the path they were on.
Ginny took in her surroundings then. They made it all the way to the park and she didn't remember anything from the walk between the café and here. There was a little pond in front of them and a children's play structure on the other side of that. Removing her hand from his arm she turned around and went towards the nearest tree, opting to sit at the base of the tree instead of the hard bench.
"He's really nice," she said, "Sirius."
"He's the best," he nodded and sat down beside her. "He and my dad were best friends at Hogwarts."
"Your parents went to Hogwarts, but you didn't?" she had to wonder why.
"They work for E.L.M Potions. We moved around a lot. Have done my whole life. They just moved us back here and I'm about to start up working at the same company."
Ginny's brow furrowed. "Did you want to move here? Or did you just follow them? You are of age, aren't you? Didn't have to come with them."
Harry smiled softly, a serene expression on his face. "We'd come back and visit here often during my summer breaks. I always loved it here. It wasn't too hot, wasn't too cold. There's plenty of interesting things to do, and the family home is amazing. I just finished up with school two months ago and I'm excited to start my first real job, they didn't talk me into it or anything. It's what I wanted."
Ginny leaned back against the tree and looked him over carefully while he spoke to her. His voice was as appealing as the rest of him. He seemed really nice. Had they gone to the same school she probably would have had a crush on him at some point.
Now though, she wasn't being given an option, and that changed things.
"When?" she asked abruptly.
"When?" he wasn't sure what she meant.
"I don't know too much about betrothal contracts, but I do know that they have a set date that they are supposed to be finalized by, and consequences if they aren't," she said quietly.
Harry looked down at the grass sadly. Taking a large breath, his lips tugged this way and that with the discomfort of having to be the one to divulge this to her. "We have exactly one year from yesterday. If not… then we both lose our magic."
Ginny felt like someone had just punched her in her chest. "How-?" she started to ask how this could have come about without either family knowing but to her horror, tears were coming to her eyes. It was a rare occasion that she broke down in tears, that she was doing so again after having an emotional melt down only yesterday; it made her feel weak. She turned her head in the opposite direction from him and looked up towards the sun, hoping the light would staunch the desire to cry.
Harry took her hand. "We'll find a way out of this. I'm sure we will. There must be some way around it."
She nodded and took in a slow breath, managing to get control of herself. "You seem really nice," she told him, looking down at her hand in his.
"So do you," he assured her unnecessarily.
They let the silence stretch out between them and both remained resting back against the tree beside each other.
"You passed out, huh?" she couldn't help asking him once she felt she'd gotten control of her emotions again.
Harry turned to her, looking ready to defend his reaction but paused and stared at her a moment seeming to have lost his words. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he smirked. "At least you had a visual when you found out," he defended himself humorously.
Ginny let out a loud laugh. "Think quite a lot of yourself there, don't you?" They both chuckled before a thought occurred to her, "you don't have a girlfriend that is going to attack me when she finds out or anything, do you? Because I'm an alright at dueling, but I'm never going to be an Auror, so I need to know if I have to keep my guard up."
Harry blushed slightly but shook his head. "No. What about you? Am I likely to be punched by a jealous boyfriend?"
"No. My last boyfriend and I fizzled out a few months ago," she told him. "I would watch out for my brothers though. Particularly the twins, they like practical jokes and those can get a little vicious."
"Noted," Harry nodded and seemed to relax a bit. "How many brothers do you have?"
"Six. Two of them aren't in the country though. The two eldest."
He appeared shocked by the number. "I'm sure you'll protect me from them. Right?" he added with a pleading grin.
She couldn't help but grin back, though it quickly turned to a frown when she remembered. "I suppose it helps that I'm so angry with them right now."
"I can't believe they forgot such an important birthday," he shook his head. "Are you all not close?"
"We are," she took up a twig and started digging it into the earth. "Three of my brothers still live at home. Before this year I would always make mention of my birthday in the weeks leading up to it. I didn't this year, wanting to give them the opportunity to surprise me, I guess." She shrugged. "Maybe I was testing them a little, I don't know," she shook her head. "I guess they did manage to surprise me though."
Oh no, Ginny thought. Her chin was starting to tuck in again like it did when she was seconds from crying. "I'm sorry," she managed, a hiccough escaping her. "I just," she took a gulping breath as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I miss my mother," she couldn't help crying out as the dam finally burst.
Harry's arms came around her and she buried her face in his neck, wanting to hide her tears and let more escape her, but also wishing she could get herself together. It was so embarrassing. It also felt lovely to have strong arms around her. He smelled really good too.
She couldn't stop though once she'd started.
It took a few minutes to collect herself and begin to pull back. "I'm so sorry," she wiped her traitorous tears away, "I rarely do that."
"It's okay," he looked at her kindly. "You had two major shocking events happen so close together. You shouldn't have to keep it together." His dimple returned to his cheek as he gave her a sympathetic smile, "at least you've remained conscious."
Ginny laughed, "yeah." Taking one more calming breath she took stock of her feelings and tried to gauge if she was likely to lose it again.
No, she felt much better now that she'd cried it out.
"Alright," she shook herself out and wiped her eyes once more. "Enough about me. What are we going to do about this? You've had more time to deal with this than I have, and your parent's and uncle must have somewhere we might be able to start with."
"They do," he nodded and sat up straight. "Gringotts," he said simply.
Ginny nodded and rolled her eyes at herself. "Yes. That would be a good place to start. And obvious." she bit her lip, "so, we'll go there together then?"
"Did you want to head back and find them?" Harry asked.
Ginny nodded again and stood up, wiping the dirt and grass off her trousers. He offered her his arm again, she felt less awkward about taking it this time, she had cried on his shoulder after all.
"What's your surname, by the way?" she asked.
"Potter."
Ginny had heard of the Potter family. In fact-, she paused, and Harry came to a stop as well, turning to face her with a quizzical look on his face. "I'm being traded for land, aren't I?" she asked quietly. He didn't respond by doing more than chewing on the inside corner of his mouth and worry reflecting in his eyes. "Our home is on Potter land. That was the lease agreement two centuries ago, wasn't it?"
Harry licked his lips before saying anything. "Apparently there is this supposed curse on the Potter family. One that our ancestors believed would be removed if we, um, intermingled with someone from the Weasley family."
"Curse?" she asked.
"Um. See, there has only ever been one child born to my family for every generation of Potter's for quite a few centuries. One boy for each generation," he blushed. "It didn't matter how much each generation tried to have more children."
Ginny felt a tingling sensation go through her arms and down her spine. The Weasleys were certainly known for being able to make several babies. Her father was one of five, his father was one of six, and the generations before that were very similar. Their mortality rates weren't very high, most of her uncles and great uncles had lost their lives doing something stupid but noble, and the remainder hadn't all chosen to have children.
"Great. I'm breeding material," she said in quiet angst.
"And I'm supposed to be the one they get to test this theory with," he commiserated.
Ginny raised her chin to meet his eyes again and share a sympathetic look, but then it really occurred to her what they were talking about. They were expected to marry and for her to get pregnant.
By shagging him.
Looking into his eyes she couldn't help but think that it might not be so bad.
If only the choice had been their own to make.
She lowered her eyes as her face warmed and started heading back to the bakery again, hoping the blush hadn't been too prevalent on her face.
"You have one more year of schooling?" Harry asked her.
"Mmhmm," she nodded. "My final NEWT year."
"Do you have a lot of subjects you're taking?" he took her hand and placed it at his elbow again.
"All of the main subjects; Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defense as well as Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes."
"That's a pretty full course load," he sounded impressed.
She gave a shrug, "it'll be a lot with that and Quidditch, but I'll manage."
"You play Quidditch?" she heard his smile before she saw it.
"Yeah, Chaser," she told him eagerly. "You?"
"Seeker. Played on teams at my last two schools." His grin was wide. "What's your team name?"
"We don't have names. Just the four houses. I'm in Gryffindor."
"Right. Right, I knew that. My dad was a Chaser for Gryffindor when he went, was captain his last two years," he said proudly.
Ginny pouted slightly. "I would have liked to be captain for a year at least, but I went to McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor and told her that if she was considering me that she shouldn't. I don't need the extra stress this year. I just want to play and study like mad. Maybe attempt something of a social life as well," she shrugged.
"Are you regretting that?" he asked.
"No," she said honestly. "It was the right decision. And I'm sure I'll believe that more once it's halfway through September and I'm knee deep in assignments with more on the horizon."
Harry chuckled, "yeah. I remember. Last year was rough, even with the help of my dad and Sirius. Not to mention my mother, she's a genius at Charms and still I had several nights of next to no sleep."
"Oh, keep going, you're really making me feel better. Tell me, did you have any panic attacks as well?" she teased.
"No panic attacks," he assured her. "Just a really crappy attitude."
"Well, you seem to be cured of that now," she commented. He had been pretty wonderful considering their circumstances. He didn't make her feel bad about her little meltdown at least. She felt comfortable around him already. Perhaps they could be friends once this was all sorted out.
"It helps that we all took the summer off to adjust to living in England permanently," he told her.
Their pace was entirely leisure, and she couldn't help but realize how this must look to an outsider. Boy and girl out for a stroll on a beautiful summer day, smiling at each other as they chatted. It must look like they were a couple rather than the two strangers that they were.
"I'm due to start at E.L.M Potions as an apprentice brewer the first Monday in September. My dad will be working there still too, but my mother," he grinned at her, "will be with you at Hogwarts."
"What?" Ginny smiled in puzzlement. She thought back over what he'd told her. "Oh, has Flitwick taken the headmasters posting? Your mum is the new Charms Professor?" she asked excitedly. She liked Flitwick, but she'd heard that Dumbledore had retired and was hoping that McGonagall wasn't going to be the one stepping up, she was an excellent Transfiguration Professor and a very fair Head of House.
"I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that," he gave her a wry look. "But hey, if I can't tell my fiancée then who can I tell?"
Ginny gave an unlady like snort at that. "Fiancée? I don't see a ring on this finger," she lifted her left hand and joked back at him.
They reached the main street, and both looked over towards the bakery. The four they'd left there were still there. Unfortunately, they had been joined by two redheads: Ginny's father and Percy.
Ginny tugged lightly on Harry's elbow. "That's my dad and my brother that works for the Ministry," Ginny whispered to Harry.
She wasn't sure what made her turn her back to them and face Harry instead. It was instinctive. She felt stupid for doing it, Harry was looking from her to their families over her shoulder and back again at a loss of what he should do.
She bowed her head; she was unsure what had made her do it or why she would try to hide from them, so she turned back and started walking towards the tables with Harry at her side. "Dad, Percy," she greeted them when they were drawing close.
"Ginevra." Percy, whom had already been standing, sounded relieved and came forward as though to give her a hug, but paused at the scowling expression on her face. His eyes dropped down to her hand, still at Harry's elbow.
Ginny blushed and pulled her hand back.
"Ginny," her dad started. "Ginny, we're so sorry," he sounded devastated.
And rightfully so, in her opinion, but which issue was he sorry about?
Luna stood up and came to stand by Ginny. "Do you need emotional support?" she asked before looking over to Harry, "or is Harry providing that for you now?"
Ginny wasn't sure what to say to Luna, or to her father or brother. Instead, she chose to turn to the Potters. "Harry said you wanted to go to Gringotts first to try and get this cleared up?"
"Yes," Harry's father stood up. "I've reached out to Gritgurg, the Chief Goblin that sent the letter, and am waiting for a response with a time and date. You are more than welcome to come with us for that appointment."
"Thank you," her father told him graciously.
Ginny pointedly ignored her father. "I'm sorry, I don't know your names," she said to Harry's parents.
"James Potter," he stuck his hand out to shake hers.
"Lily," she smiled and took Ginny's hand as well.
"It will be Professor Potter soon enough though I hear," Ginny nodded.
Lily shot a look at her son. "Yes, it will be. What else did the two of you talk about?"
Ginny immediately thought about her melt down, but it seemed that wasn't the part that had stuck in Harry's mind. "Ginny's a Chaser for Gryffindor team," he told them immediately.
"Really?!" James and Sirius turned to her with lit up expressions. "I'm hoping to get out for all the games this year," James continued. "The team any good?"
He was so excited about it that Ginny couldn't help but grin. This was a safe subject as well. "We manage alright, but it's been a while since we were good enough to win the cup. It's usually one position or another that we've got a weak player in. For two years there it was me when I was stuck playing Seeker."
"You did well as a Seeker," her father defended.
"I caught the Snitch one out of three games both years," she argued. "And that was only because Hufflepuff's team is crap."
"That's not a nice thing to say," Luna told her off.
"Sorry Luna, but it's true," Ginny stated.
"It's tradition," Mr. Potter grinned.
It had been a shitty twenty-four hours, but Ginny couldn't help finding herself already liking this family she was now in this strange situation with.
()()()
