Chapter 3

()()()

It was three days after their trip to Gringotts and Diagon Alley that Harry arrived at the top of the hill that led down to the Burrow, this time by himself. This was as far as he'd made it both times he'd visited. This time though there wasn't a dizzy spell that overtook his brain nor the feeling of his breakfast churning in his belly and threatening to make a reappearance. And he didn't have to stand there awkwardly, hoping Ginny would invite him in this time either.

He'd been owling with Ginny. It started with giving her an update about hearing back from the family solicitor and how they were going to be looking into a way around the contract, followed by a comment over something written in the Quidditch section of the Daily Prophet, then she'd replied and covered the important dealings about this situation between them before carrying on about her summer projects and about the animals she tended. Now they'd written each other several times and she was quickly becoming a real friend. He'd reached out to Neville Longbottom about her too. That had turned out to be pretty funny; Neville had Floo'd over as soon as he'd received Harry's owl and questioned him at length about the betrothal contact. It still wasn't clear to Harry whether Neville was jealous or outraged about the whole thing from the way his friend had carried on, and Harry didn't want to ask directly because he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer.

Either way, Neville had nothing but good things to say about the whole Weasley lot. No one that Harry had spoken to thus far had anything bad to say about any of the Weasley siblings; his mum and dad had a few of their school chums over and inquired about the Weasley's, wanting to know more about the family they might be interwoven with. The consensus had been that if Harry was going to get sidled with a bride, not that any of them had known that part, then he couldn't have hoped for a better option.

As much as he still wasn't happy about the situation; Harry couldn't help but concur. His back and forth correspondence with Ginny was now a twice daily occurrence and something for him to look forward to. His mum's look in her eye when she saw him reading his letters from Ginny over breakfast was not something he was happy about though.

Ginny was a very nice girl, a very pretty and nice girl, but he had only one other friend in this little corner of the world, so why wouldn't he want to be friends with her? And yes, there was still a chance they were going to wind up husband and wife, so why wouldn't they want to keep an open dialogue?

If his choices were between him losing his magic or marrying Ginny, now he knew firmly which decision he was leaning towards.

Ginny had told him he was welcome to stop by the Burrow any time if he wanted to go for a fly, and today was the perfect weather for that. She'd also added that it was technically his land anyhow until she birthed him an heir or two. He knew she'd meant that to be funny, but it had only succeeded in making him wince seeing it written there.

Walking down the hill toward the house, he didn't see her outside anywhere. She'd mentioned that if he did want to stop by that he should simply let himself in the house and holler out that he was there, it was simply the way one announced themselves at The Burrow. She told him the wards protected them from anyone meaning harm and potential wayward Muggles, so they weren't concerned for their safety.

He couldn't help but smile at the ramshackle structure that was her home. It seemed as though it used to be a small one-bedroom home that had simply had more stories added on to it. It was clear that magic held the whole structure together, there was no way the top floor would be standing otherwise.

As he approached the home, he heard music playing from inside. It had a good beat and seemed familiar, but he couldn't get a handle on the exact chords or beat until he was right at the main door, then he recognized it as a Muggle band. Harry couldn't help the little laugh that rose out of his mouth when he recognized she was listening to a Muggle rock band from America called 'Green Day'.

He opened the door and was about to call out for her when he saw her in the sitting room, and he simply had no words for what he was looking at.

Ginny was dressed modestly for the weather, but she had a pair of fake bunny ears on her head and seemed to be playing what he could only assume was called 'keep away', or something similar, with a balloon; where you have to keep tapping it, so it doesn't hit the floor. The thing was that the Weasley sitting room was completely packed with armchairs and tables, so Ginny was hopping from one surface to another, jumping to the music, tapping the balloon and making sure that her bunny ears weren't going to fall off her head, all while singing along to the lyrics.

Harry wasn't sure if this could be classified as invading her privacy? She could possibly be this much of a whimsical person around other people she was familiar with, her friend Luna seemed to be that type as well. But maybe Ginny just kept her whimsy to herself and select individuals.

She looked like she was having fun. She was singing along to the music and giggling every time she managed to save the balloon from falling. It was a lovely sound and it made him smile despite himself.

It looked like everyone else who lived at the Burrow had work today, so she might have expected she would be alone until dinner and would be terribly embarrassed to find Harry had been seeing her like this.

He was about to back out of the room slowly and close the door so he could knock loudly and possibly save her dignity when the balloon went behind her and she turned around, and saw him there.

Her eyes were bright and her smile didn't waver. "Hi!" she jumped down off the chair she had been on and came to stand in front of him. "I didn't know you were coming today!"

"Er, yeah. I hope that's alright."

"Course it is! It was an open invitation," she said before turning off the wireless. "Did you want to see the grounds?"

It took him a moment to focus his attention on what she'd just asked him and block out the scene he'd just been observing that was playing over in his mind. "Sure," he nodded, noting how she didn't seem the least bit embarrassed by what she'd just been caught doing. "Do the ears help with the animals?" he asked in jest, pointing to the top of her head.

"Oh!" she started, her cheeks coloring, and gave a laugh as she pulled the headband off. "I found them while I was doing the balloon exercise. Just put them on because," she grinned and gave a shrug.

"Balloon exercise?" he asked.

"Yes. I guess some of the best Chaser's figure if you can keep a balloon from hitting the floor then it'll help with your hand-eye coordination. My old Quidditch Captain had suggested we give it a try and, well, I wasn't doing anything else."

"Oh!" he realized. "I thought you were just messing about. Like that is what you did with your alone time."

Ginny sniggered. "Maybe sometimes I do," she said wryly. "Honestly though, since I've turned seventeen all the house chores that used to take me hours are taking mere minutes now, I've had a lot more down time. Hope you don't mind all the owl's I've been sending you."

"No, love it," he told her honestly. The way she wrote had a style to it that made him picture perfectly what it was she was going on about and what her expression might have been were she to have told him the anecdotes in person. "I only have so much to do until I start working, so send all the owls you want."

"Good. Well then, I'll give you the grand tour and then you can borrow one of our brooms for a fly," she said as she pulled on her trainers.

They wandered around the Burrow property and she introduced him to the pigs and chickens, making him go into the chicken coop and help search for eggs. He was happy to give it a go. He'd been on a farm before, but never assisted with any of the day to day of farm life.

He especially liked how she had a name for all the animals and was somehow able to tell each of the chickens apart.

While they went around, she asked a lot of questions about what his schools and friends at those schools had been like. Harry had his mix of good and bad experiences. When he was twelve and had just started at Uagadou School of Magic he had been picked on pretty hard by the popular boy in school, but eventually grew close to a few others and managed to keep out of trouble until they moved to America and he started at Ilvermory where he was put on the Quidditch team as Seeker and was immediately in everyone's good graces.

Ginny had a likewise experience. It wasn't that she was shunned or thought poorly of before she had joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team, she had simply been 'just another Weasley' until that point. After she'd made the team as Seeker people outside of her year were suddenly remembering her name and talking to her in the hallways. It wasn't all positive attention though, there had been incidents where opposing houses, one in particular, had gone so far as to try to send her to the hospital wing and have her out of commission for their upcoming matches.

"Wow, I never experienced that level of dedication to the Quidditch teams at my schools," Harry said, astounded to hear that story.

"The animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin is centuries old, and probably all dates back to them squabbling over the same bar maid," she joked.

Harry let out a laugh at that. They were sitting looking down at the pond with the Quidditch pitch to their left and clear blue sky above them. He'd had a very enjoyable time visiting with her. She was so easy to get along with and he understood Neville's reaction to hearing they had the betrothal contract. Ginny was such a down to earth person. She was bright and quick witted and didn't seem to get too worked up over little things. She was all around good company. Harry could see them staying good friends.

There was a small problem with that though; he could also see himself leaning over and kissing her if their situation was different.

But she was going back to school in a few weeks, and they were going to find their way out of this contact. Logically, his leaning over and kissing her was a bad idea. It would complicate things that didn't need to be complicated.

()()()

"Still nothing," James announced after reading the letter the solicitor had sent. "He's got a few of his people looking into it now, checking the type of contract and trying to find some obscure precedent on how to absolve it."

"Great," Lily rolled her eyes as she worked at the cutting board to fix them some lunch. "That means he'll be billing us for their hours as well."

"It isn't like we can't afford it," he said gently.

Lily just pursed her lips at that.

James' family inheritance was well more than either of them could spend in several lifetimes, but every now and then she felt strange about it. There weren't many classy events that they had to go to, but usually when they did she wound up wearing jewelry that once belonged to his Great-Great- something or other, and though she could see how happy it made him, she always felt a bit like when she was young and playing dress up in her mother's closet.

James caught her look. "My family is the one to put us in this situation, the least we can do is use their money to get us out of it as well." He looked around. "Where is Harry anyhow? Or Sirius for that matter."

"I'm not sure where Sirius went off to, but Harry is visiting the Weasley house."

"Oh, we've got the Manor to ourselves, have we?" he asked with interest and came around to stand behind her and gave her a kiss on her neck.

She couldn't help but smile. Twenty years they'd been together and he would still behave like when they'd just gotten together and had a free moment in the stacks of the library at school.

"James," she warned, still smiling, "you are going to make me accidentally cut my finger."

"Fine," he conceded and gave her one more kiss before backing away and leaning against the other counter by the window. "Can we at least entertain the idea of having our lunch in bed?"

Lily chuckled and shook her head.

"Harry is spending time with Ginny then?" he changed the subject.

"Yes. I think it's good they're becoming so close. Better to be friends than enemies."

"Speaking of which."

Lily turned her head to frown at him due to his tone. "Speaking of which, what?" At his expression she was able to tell exactly what he meant. "Really? Severus, again?"

"You are going to be working with him and I'm uncomfortable with it, alright? He had an unhealthy obsession with you."

"You had an unhealthy obsession with me," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but I went through my 'git' phase of life before we got together, him on the other hand," he trailed off.

"You never liked him, you used him as target practice, of course you hated each other. And, might I remind you that we've had this conversation already. I've no interest in spending any more time with him than absolutely necessary. Dumbledore believed he has seen the error of his ways and that is good enough for me to work in the same building as Sev."

"Please don't call him 'Sev'," he protested.

Lily placed her knife down and turned around to face her husband. "If you were trying to get me in the mood, you've effectively done the opposite of that."

"I'm worried about you working in the same place as him," he stated evenly. "You two were friends before. In fact, you were his only friend. He was in love with you, Lily. I'm worried that he might still be in love with you and try something."

"Do you really think I would fall helplessly into some trap he's lain out for me?"

"I really think he's the Potions Master at the school and he might use that to his advantage."

"And what about Minerva, Filius, Pomona or any of the other staff members I will be working with? Do you think none of them would find it suspicious if I suddenly begin falling all over myself to be with him when I've been happily married to you for nearly two decades?"

He was still frowning at her, but she knew she'd made her case successfully.

"How happily?"

She shook her head at him and tossed a carrot stick in his direction.

()()()

Harry was grinning when he got back home to Potter Manor after spending the afternoon in the sky with Ginny. The country air was fantastic, as was Ginny on a broom. He had no doubt she would be a fine contender for any Quidditch team she might try out for after Hogwarts.

He walked into the kitchen to grab a drink and saw his dad and Sirius were kicking back and having a beer at the counter, his mother though was sitting at the table off to the side of the room and had a few books opened in front of her. Harry knew what the books were about and was almost afraid to ask what she'd found.

"Hello all," Harry greeted.

"Looks like you got a bit of sun today," his dad commented and tapped his own cheeks to indicate where Harry was currently turning red.

"We went flying," Harry told them. "They have a makeshift pitch and Ginny showed me around the property there." He was trying to sound as casual as he could. He didn't want any of them reading into his and Ginny's relationship in any way, shape or form; the two of them were simply enjoying each other's company and had only known each other for four days.

"And that's why you've got mud on the back of your neck?" Sirius asked in a teasing voice. "I know when I go for a fly with a lady it always winds up with the two of us rolling around in the dirt, but you're a Potter."

Harry's hand went to the back of his neck and he swiped there, bringing up a smear of dirt on his fingers. He blushed at the innuendo, but it hadn't been like that. "She flung it at me," he explained. "Said my clothes looked too proper to be around the farm." Ginny had laughed pretty hard at his expression after she'd muddied up his clothes a bit. He tried to get it all off with a cleaning charm before he came back but apparently he'd missed a spot.

"I like that she's so down to earth," his mother said as she came up behind him, wiping off the remainder of the dirt he'd missed. "She seems like a genuinely nice person. Rather glad it is she and her family that we're stuck trying to get out of this situation with."

"Could you imagine if it was the Bulstrodes or someone?" his dad asked with a look of horror at the thought. "They were a prominent family once before they started making bad and then worse choices," he explained to Harry, "they've been trying to gain back what they lost for a few decades now. If this contract were with them then there's no way they'd want to get out of it."

"Yeah, you're very luck," Sirius added. "And that Ginny is a very attractive girl."

Harry and Lily both pursed their lips and narrowed their eyes at him for that one.

"Awe, you take after your mama," Sirius patronized.

"James, you wanted to barbeque something for dinner?" Lily asked distractedly as she turned towards the cupboard for a glass.

James took that as his cue and got up to collect all the supplies he needed to take out on the verandah for his task.

"Come," she led Harry to the table. "I've been pouring over these texts all afternoon and reading the contract thoroughly. So far, I and the solicitor have only found one way that you might not have to get married to her, but that would be to extend the contract."

"Extend the contract?" he asked in confusion. "You mean so that we wouldn't have to get married for a few more years?"

"No," she told him. "So that you could push it to the next generation down the line. Gritgurg had mentioned it at Gringotts, I've just looked into it further." She pursed her lips again, likely because she was remembering the distasteful way the Goblin had brought it up.

"But. That. That hardly seems fair," he stuttered. "That would mean that my son or grandson or whatever would be stuck in the same situation as me. And what if he and the next Weasley female don't get on?"

"It's just the first few days of researching a way around it," she placated him. "But I do appreciate that you wouldn't want to simply pass this off to someone else down the family line."

He didn't want to have to be the one to go through with this either, but he couldn't be the one responsible for making any future generations of Potters miserable. However, Harry wasn't overwhelmed with feelings of hatred for his ancestor that thought up this bargain, he'd been too shocked to think that way. Now that he'd met Ginny and they'd carried on a bit, he wanted out of it more due to the principle; he didn't want to be forced into a marriage. And certainly not at such a young age.

He wasn't looking to go out and sow his wild oats or anything, well, maybe a bit. He didn't think of himself as a 'sowing wild oats' type, but to know that there was less than a year before he was tied to one woman for the rest of his life was taking that option away from him. And now that he knew Ginny and they got on it would be rather the cad type thing to do to her. She would be at school with the same people she'd known for ages, he was in a new land full of women he didn't know and plenty of possibilities.

He couldn't help remembering Sirius chatting with him before they left Mauritius, saying that with his looks and interesting accent, not to mention his green eyes, that women would be throwing themselves at him. And Harry had been looking forward to a bit of that.

His mum gave him a bit of her research for him to go over himself and he took it up to his bedroom so he could take a look at it after having a shower and changing.

Sirius was sitting back against the pillows on Harry's bed when he got out of the shower, and he knew why; it was always Sirius that was the one to talk to him about girls. His dad had tried a few times, but it was too awkward. Every time his dad tried to give him hints and suggestions Harry knew it was stuff that his dad had used on his mum, and he certainly didn't want to call that image to mind.

"So?" Sirius asked as an all-encompassing question.

"I think I might need to update my wardrobe a bit before I start at E.L.M, what do you think?" he asked evasively. Sirius enjoyed shopping and Harry hoped that might be enough of a distraction to allow him more time to think over just what his answer to 'so' should be.

"You do. Your clothes are much too thin to ward you against the creeping cold and wet of England weather," Sirius said dismissively. "But you know what I'm asking. Do you like her?"

"I do," Harry told him honestly. "I just don't want to-"

"Marry her, sure," Sirius waived off that point of concern. "Do you think you might fancy snogging her though? It's been a while for you."

"Look who's talking," Harry said defensively. Sirius had a few girlfriends here and there as they circled the globe but never one that was serious enough for him to consider leaving Harry's family for and it had been a few months since he'd talked about a girl or gone on a date.

Harry knew that it wasn't normal behavior for a dad's best friend to live with them and move around with them, but Sirius was a contribution to their family, he kept himself busy and was there for them when they needed him. He always stayed in a different part of the house than them too. Each new place they moved to they had a built in suite in one part with a separate entrance for him, Sirius had always been contributing his fair share so he had his own space and just hung out with them during meals and down time. It was only in Potter Manor that he and Harry shared a wing of the second floor together, yet were still doors away from each other.

Sirius was still his own man, he simply preferred sharing his life with them, and they liked having him there. When Harry's mum and dad decided it was time to head back to England, Harry assumed Sirius was coming back with them, that's how close they were.

"I've had a snog since we've been back Harry," he told him pointedly. "Had a shag as well."

"What? When?" Harry couldn't think of a morning when his uncle wasn't at the breakfast table.

"When you get to my age you don't necessarily require sleepovers for that kind of thing," he smirked looking proud of himself. "She was a bonny lass I came across one afternoon," he started launching into his story in a whimsical manner and an Irish accent as Harry got dressed for dinner. "Our eyes met across the pub and we both knew instantly we were destined to rock that supply closet."

Harry had listened to stories like this from him before. They were always entertaining, and no doubt slightly embellished, generally they included one or two crudely mimed reenactments that had Harry questioning if the story was even plausible. He gathered that the older a person was, and the more experience, the less they required a meaningful connection to get their rocks off, but to simply have a one off with a stranger in a pub, Harry couldn't see himself doing.

To each their own.

"Then we parted ways, but will always remember each other fondly, and the Star and Sailor, much affected by our union, will never be the same again," he finished with a dreamy expression on his face and a soft smile that changed instantly after one moment of reflection. "Now then. Your mum was saying you could possibly push this problem of yours to one of your Potter offspring."

"I'm not doing that," Harry told him point blank. "I'd rather keep looking into it and find some other way to void it. There has to be some loophole, something monetary even. They aren't well off and if they were willing to trade their land for one of the Weasley girls, then there must have been something worked into it to allow for Galleon's to change hands instead of 'breeding material'."

Sirius nodded, "That could be the case and we've got the solicitor on it trying to find that written somewhere. But my real question is, do you think it would be the worst thing in the world if you had to go through with it?"

Harry opened his mouth, not at all sure what was going to come out of it in protest to that question, but Sirius cut him off.

"No, listen. We're working to get you out of it, we don't want you to lose your magic, nor she hers, but I was in threat of having an arranged marriage myself, and it would have been to a horrible woman; mind, body and soul, just completely unattractive. And that was what I thought this would turn out to be for you. First thing through my mind when I saw that letter from Gringotts was that you'd be shackled to some horrible troll. But then, what ho, along comes this lovely little ginger lass. Cute as a button, even when she was scowling as she was when we first happened upon her. She plays Quidditch, she's bright, and you didn't exactly throw up at the sight of her. So, I ask again, would it be the worst thing?"

"No, it wouldn't be the worst thing," Harry admitted with a roll of his eyes. "But I've known her for a whole four days, I'm not in love with her. I kind of anticipated being in love with the woman I marry."

"Love at first sight is for stories. Look at your parents, they're rather something to aspire to in the loving marriage department and yet your mum hated your dad for the first five years at Hogwarts. My suggestion, until this all is taken care of, is to get to keep getting to know Ginny, see if something is there at least. That way, if you do wind up needing to follow through with it then perhaps it won't be so daunting."

Harry nodded, "that is what she and I agreed to as well."

"Perfect," Sirius clapped his hands together. "Now then, are we going out tonight?"

()()()