Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else. I do own the plot and anything you don't recognize.
A/N. So I realized in chapter 3, I think, there was the poem at the end of the chapter and I didn't say that it was written by Robert Frost. So, just so I don't get in trouble, Oliver's Poem is Robert Frost's Bond and Free.
It came on the eve of her two month anniversary to the return of the Burrow. She was upstairs reading a romance novel and singing to Fawkes when her mother called her downstairs. Setting down 'Wishing for a Warlock,' she ran down the stairs. Fawkes clung to her shoulder. Molly gave Fawkes a long look. "Certainly you can't keep him forever. Dumbledore must want him back sometime."
"A little longer." Ginny whispered, kissing Fawkes on the beak. "What did you want, Mum?"
"You've just had an owl. It looks like a card or something." She took the heavy parchment with the silver wax inscribed artfully along the edges. Her heart sank when she saw Oliver's handwriting spelling out her name. She flipped it over, on the opening bill were the words, 'you're invited' in the same silver wax. She slid out the beautiful invitation. Her mother gasped. Violet, the same heavy parchment, in the same silver wax. The Marital Unionship of Oliver G. Wood and Odessa A. Sprout. The G. stood for Garrett. How Oliver hated his middle name. On the inside was pink tissue with dates and times written across it in shiny violet ink. Ginny wanted to rip it apart and throw it in the fire, watch those beautiful wax designs bubble and disappear, let those words curl in the sweet furnace. She handed it to her mother instead, who looked over it avidly.
"Oh, Fawkes." She whispered. "What am I to do?" He whispered a note to her and her heart lifted.
"Oh, Ginny, darling! Who will you take?" She handed back the invitation and held her hands to her heart. "You should take Harry. Oh he's dating that girl…" She looked disappointed.
"Luna Lovegood." She said firmly. "I want to take Luna Lovegood."
"She's already been invited." Harry said from the doorway. They both whirled around to look at him. "And I have, too. I'm going to take her. Oliver invited Charlie and the twins and Angelina, Katie, and Alicia, too. That's probably why he invited you, you're on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"Oh." She sighed. That was convenient. "Are Ron and Hermione going?"
"Yeah."
"I wonder why he invited Luna?" She said, knowing why.
"Oh. I don't know." He muttered. She shrugged. Molly left with a significant look to both of them. Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes at each other as Harry came to sit beside her on the couch, yawning. She moved Fawkes into her lap and she stroked his feathers.
"So whose everyone taking?" She asked. "You seem to be on top of things."
"You would be too, if you would come out of your room except to go to the bathroom or run." He accused. She blushed.
"Look…"
"I know. I know. I'm taking Luna…" He started off on his fingers.
"How is Luna?" She asked.
"Odd." He said with a laugh. "Beautiful and odd. I finally kissed her."
"Just the way you like her."
"Yeah."
"I wouldn't have her any other way." Harry gave her an odd look before continuing.
"Hermione's taking Ron. She wouldn't let you say it any other way." Ginny chuckled. "Charlie's taking Tonks." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. He reminded her of James so much.
"When did that happen?" Ginny gasped. Tonks hadn't mentioned.
"I told you you spend too much time in your room. They moved in together last week." Ginny smiled at Fawkes who cooed, feeling her stress.
"I'll have to get out more. I have dress robes to buy."
"Do you need money?" Harry asked innocently. She gave him a sharp look which quickly softened. He didn't mean anything by it.
"I've been saving up for awhile. Might as well spend it on this." She weighed the invitation in her hand and threw it on an ottoman.
"Fred's taking Angelina. Katie said something about Percy. Never saw that coming. He had been living with Penelope in London all those years. I think she said they're just going as friends because he wants to look good or something. Surprise, surprise. Alicia is taking Roger Davies."
"That himbo?" Ginny shook her head and smiled slightly. "Good luck to her. And George?"
"George is taking Lee." Harry said quietly.
"Couldn't find a date?" She said, smiling about her sweet older brother.
"Oh, he found one." Harry raised an eyebrow.
"But… oh. OH!" Harry quieted her with his hands. "Have I really been in my room that long?"
"I shouldn't know, but for walking in the right room at the wrong time. You won't tell, will you? I knew you wouldn't snitch or be disgusted or anything." She nodded and did a little dance in her seat.
"I had no idea." She covered her face with her hands. "You don't find it…"
"I above all people know that intolerance is ignorance." Ginny cupped Harry's face and smiled. She kissed him on the forehead.
"You do, don't you?"
* * *
They were walking up the stairs around 3 a.m. when Harry stopped her at her door. "So you heard what I said about intolerance and everything?"
"Yeah." She let Fawkes fly in before her and was surprised when Harry put his arm in front of the door. "Harry, I heard you."
"Is there anything you want to tell me?" She looked at him a moment, confused, before it dawned on her.
"You think I'm gay!" She slapped a hand to her forehead. "Because of Luna…"
"Are you?" He asked. "Are you? I don't want to push or anything, but since you're in love with my girlfriend, I feel I'm entitled."
"In love with Luna Lovegood. Oh god, that would the day. Look Harry, she's… something happened and uh… Luna Lovegood was born Luna uh..." Harry shook his head. She opened the door. "Come in. There's something you should know, that you can't tell a soul, or it's your head." She motioned him in furiously. He went in and she shut the door. Harry slumped down in an armchair and she flopped onto her bed. "So you probably didn't notice that day, that Oliver came over, that when I came out of the kitchen, after making lunch, that I looked a little different."
"You were acting different." He said, shrugging. He obviously thought 15 minutes weren't enough to turn someone gay and depressed.
"Oh, god. This is hard. You really can't tell anyone. Really."
"Okay, okay." He held out his wands. "Binding Bill." She touched her wand to his. "I will reveal nothing Ginny tells me in this room unless she reveals it herself in which case I am exempt. Tumos." He said. Ginny blinked. That was committed.
"I- we that is. We went back in time." Harry blinked. "To the 70's." Blink. "We got married the second month we were there."
"What? You're married?" He yelled. She motioned for him to be quiet. She put an silencing spell on the room. "You're married?" He whispered.
"We never got divorced, but we were going under different names of course. Oliver and Ginny Wesley. This is Oliver's wedding ring." She indicated the one around her neck. She opened her past trunk and pulled out a stack of photos, handing him the wedding pictures. He looked through them silently. She guessed he didn't see his dad or the other Marauders in the pictures from the reception. "I worked at the Leaky Cauldron for two months and he worked at the Ministry of Magic. He saw Dad around occasionally. We met Bill, and Charlie and Mum, too." Harry simply listened. She sorted out the pictures taken from their apartment and handed those to Harry, too.
"Dumbledore was in some kind of a trial and… and he was unreachable until the Hogwarts term. So we had to wait. And then we rode the Hogwarts Express. I got in a fight with your mum over your dad."
"You've met my parents." He said breathlessly.
"Your dad was one of my best friends." She sniffed and held back tears. "Anyway, we met with Dumbledore and he said we needed a Death Spinner to get back. He said it could take a few months to get one. So we had to wait again. Albus is such a dear man. I really do love him. I do. I went into fifth year with them to get my O.W.L.s. I was already pretty good friends with your dad. With the Marauders. I was probably best friends with Remus though."
"Wormtail, too?"
"Wormtail too. He was a good kid. He really was. How would he have gotten in with the Marauders otherwise?" She smiled and handed him the rest of the pictures. He quietly began to cry.
"I saw him in a memory and it looked like they were just humoring him. Like they didn't really like him and he was clapping and making an idiot out of himself and such."
"He always was a bit of an idiot. But he was sweet."
"What were they all like?" He wiped a tear away from a picture. She bent to see. It was a picture of her and James. She was on his back in the lake. He threw her in the lake and she jumped onto him to dunk him. It didn't work. It never did.
"Your dad. He was kind of an arrogant guy. Quite an ass, honestly. But he was funny and he was good. He was always a good person. Always. He hated the dark arts. Hated them."
"Why weren't you in that memory?" Harry asked suddenly.
"I'll tell you about that later." She said. "Sirius was a ladies man. Through and through. He was sweet and charming. And an ass sometimes as well. Oliver didn't get along with the Marauders, either. He got so jealous. Wormtail was sweet and loving. Oh, Peter. Its a shame about Peter. A real shame. Remus was always so soft. When we wrestled, he would let me win. Even though I could against him. We snuck down to the kitchens together. We had such great times. I always had a bit of a crush on James though, truth be told. He and Evans didn't get together at all."
"Were you and my mum friends?" Ginny bit her lip. She shook her head and blushed. "I hated her." She put her head in her hands. "Hated her." She moaned. "I turned her into a boy once."
"You did what?" He shouted and puffed out his chest.
"Ss." She made an annoyed noise and motioned for him to quiet down. "I was a member of the Marauders. It was a prank. It was a brilliant prank. I don't remember who came up with that one. It might have been Peter, or even Sirius. And we would bet, too. On how long it would take for them to put the blame on us. Sirius always won. I lost five galleons a month to that boy. You want to see me transform. I don't get to show anyone anymore. And the Marauders lost interest cause they could all do it, too."
"Sure." He smiled. She changed and ruffled her feathers. He laughed out loud. She turned back.
"You're laughing at me, Mr. Potter."
"You're funny looking." He gasped.
"Thanks a lot." She smiled. "We stayed there a little over a year. But most of the year, I didn't look like that. That's just from the first couple months of school. When I first arrived and a few from just before I left."
"No?" He held up a picture suddenly. "What would your mother think of you looking like this, even for a couple of months?"
"I don't know. You can't tell her." Oliver had taken that picture of her wearing her robe, with her hair piled on top of her head leaning suggestively into the doorframe. It didn't move. She pulled out a huge
pile of pictures. Harry whistled. Ginny looked quickly through them and pulled out most of them throwing those back into the trunk. "You don't need to see all of these to get the idea." She handed him the little stack and took back the others.
"You. You're pregnant!"
"I was pregnant. Did Sirius ever mention he had another godchild?"
"Who… Luna?" He held up a few of the baby pictures. "This is Luna? Luna Lovegood, with Oliver Wood."
"Luna Wesley. With her father." She gulped. "She's named after Remus. He came up with it himself. Called himself my favorite. Oh, he probably was. But the others. They were so dear to me. And Tom from the Leaky Cauldron, and Dumbledore, they were like fathers to me. I had a whole life, a whole family in the past. You can't understand what it's like to be in one time and want to be back in the other. Knowing that you never closed all those doors that were open to you." She broke down, for the first time in almost a week. A new record. "Luna said something to me. Love's thicker than blood. I love both my families. How do I choose?"
"I don't know. But damn. This explains a lot. I wish I could've gone back with you."
"No you don't. It was wonderful, but you don't. Believe me." They were silent for a long time. Harry looked through the photographs and her clothes. Ginny stroked Fawkes. She turned her back to him.
"So who do you think you're going to take to the wedding?" Harry finally asked.
"Myself, naturally." He didn't answer. Her back suddenly prickled and grew warm. The room was bright blue and then it faded. Ginny whirled around. She searched fiercely through her trunk and kicked the side of her bed, cursing.
Harry was gone, and so was the Death Spinner.
* * *
She grabbed onto Fawkes' tail feathers. "Take me to him. Please." Fawkes understood. She felt her whole body be consumed with heat, with fire, and they disappeared. He dropped into her arms and she cuddled him, as they landed an a wooded area Ginny didn't precisely know. She saw Harry peering in a huge gap in a set of shrubbery. She went beside him and snatched the Death Spinner from his hands. He glanced at her before going straight back to looking in the gap. She was curious and looked too. There were the Marauders on the porch, in lawn chairs. Lily was there, too. A very pregnant Lily.
"… the twins are almost one? And she's already to have another?" Lily was saying. "Is the wife picking 'em up? It's not like her to be late." She was asking Sirius, tersely. Harry gasped, apparently this was something that Sirius didn't mention.
"And it just dogs you doesn't it? Since you're always late." He said. "And you look like you're smuggling a one-year-old under that shirt. Kid's all hands. That'll be a seeker it will."
"Look who Oscar's got for a father." Lily leaned over and kissed James firmly.
"Alright you two." Remus said tiredly. He and Sirius exchanged a look and Ginny was surprised to see the pair narrow their eyes at each other. What had created a rift between those two? Peter was looking through a scroll of parchment and he finished it and scratched his eyes.
"Okay, guys. They want us to do, what?" Everyone groaned.
"Didn't you just read the bloody memo?" Lily snapped. "Idiot."
"Lils. Please." Sirius said through gritted teeth. "We've told you time and time again."
"Peter is as much a member of the order as everyone else and he deserves to have things explained to him when he doesn't understand just like you do." Lily finished. "And I know I don't understand most things, so I'm sorry. Sorry, W.T."
"All is forgiven." He bowed gallantly and he stood up and walked over to the hedge. Ginny scooted forward against it and prayed quietly to the Goddess and Merlin. He lit a cigarette. Ginny sighed. So he didn't give it up. As if he had heard this he smiled. "Wonder what old Stormy would say to this?" She bumped Harry and indicated to herself. He nodded as if he understood.
"I can tell you what I think. I've given up smoking for this baby, Harry or Maude." She looked meaningfully at James who groaned.
"Don't start, Lily." She scowled at him. "I don't want to fight about names."
"And, after giving this up, for Harry or Maude, I don't want temptation from you." She stuck out her tongue at James, smoking clearly was no longer the issue. Ginny sighed again, she remembered why she didn't like Evans. She was so stereotypically female. There was a noise from the front and two little adorable girls toddled out. Sirius caught them in his arms.
"Such quick learners." He whistled as he whirled them around. "Walking and talking so young."
"They're geniuses. But of course. Let those two brats run around with their uncles. I need your help Padfoot." Said an agonizingly familiar voice from the front.
"And aunt." Lily called obstinately.
"I wish it wasn't so." The voice said.
"Oi. The two knocked up red-heads." Sirius muttered. He literally tossed one of the giggling girls to Wormtail, who caught her expertly, this was apparently a regular sport. James caught the other.
"And don't throw them!" Sirius rolled his eyes and went inside. Ginny pulled herself away with difficulty. She wanted to go smack Lily and that woman in the kitchen, too. It was probably that tramp, Pepper. The only red-head she could think of. They were hers first.
"Harry." She whispered. "We shouldn't be here. I get the feeling we should go." She grabbed his hand, grubby from tearing at the grass and dirt. She grabbed onto Fawkes, who had been picking at the ground. "Take us to the future, please." She whispered. They left a crackling smudge of magic for a few moments as they disappeared through the gates of time. It had a shocking effect on the Marauders, who pushed the children and Lily inside and took out their wands. Peter finally set down his wand.
"I don't think it was anything." He finally said. He gulped and pulled nervously at his clothes. A woman with red hair and blonde streaks waddled beside him. He stepped protectively in front of her. She walked around the edge of the hedge and managed to squat down.
"What do you see?" Peter asked. She looked at him with pain in her eyes. Oh Peter, even now?
"Someone. Two someones as it is, were here in the grass. It looks as though they might have an owl with them, I don't know." She feigned. She did know.
"Spying, d'you think?" Wormtail gasped. She snorted.
"Spies would sit in the grass and stare through a gap in the hedge? More like grab a patio chair and sit down for a chat at wand point. Voldemort isn't subtle, Wormy." She said dryly.
"Don't say…" He whispered.
"Don't give in to the fear." She whispered, as he helped her up. "We can't let him control our lives, even when people are starting to go into hiding. Especially now that Evans and I are roughly the size of freight trains. What kind of children would we have been, if we didn't grow up in happiness? If we didn't play and we had to worry about things that we were too young to worry about? Oh, Wormtail. We need to get you a woman. Help you learn to appreciate things more."
"That's enough of that. And James wants you to call her Lily."
"And she wants to call their first child Maude Jane or Harry James. Can't I hate her for that?"
"I hardly think James Jr. and Patricia Serendipity are any better." Ginny winced and shook her head.
"Patricia isn't bad, but Serendipity? Oh, Prongs." She shook her head at the heavens.
"But you still think that Lily will win and it will be a boy?" He shook his head. "You've got no chance. It has got to be a girl." He told her. "I don't know why you even put your hundred galleons in."
"So I can get 300 galleons from you schmooses." She snapped. "You'll see. Evans fit to burst and she's got James wrapped around her little finger." They took their seats in the patio chairs.
"And you're still maintaining July 31st as the birthday? Another 20 galleons against you. That's still another month away, practically. It's only July 4th."
"You watch. By the end of this, I'll have 400 extra galleons to put in my bank account."
"Not like you need it!" She opened a Fizzy Pumpkin Juice and rubbed a hand down her stomach, ignoring Peter.
"I've always wanted one of my children to look like me. This one's it."
* * *
The house bustled furiously on the day of the wedding. Everyone was at the Burrow, getting fixed up. The showers were cold, the hair styling charms weren't working and Tonks announced at the last minute she couldn't find her dress robes. She had just gone flying over the couch after one of her classic spills and Molly was yelling at her to get changed. "Well, it would help if I could find the damn things!" She was wearing her hair blonde and long and curly and it was getting in her face. Ginny led her upstairs, she had yet to change because she was working so hard at getting everyone else ready. She had just helped Luna into lilac dress robes and tied her hair up in a stylish knot. She was humming and sucking down gilly water from a bottle dreamily. Ginny had finally managed to get make-up on her daughter and she looked beautiful. She had on matching pumps, but Ginny didn't know whether they would last.
"You want to go retro? I've got some dress robes circa, 1974." She produced them and Tonks laughed joyously.
"Oh, I totally want those!" She grabbed them and danced around. Ginny helped her pull them on, and since she was a little bigger than Tonks, she helped her tighten and loosen things in all the right places. She put make-up on Tonks, who screwed up her face unhappily, until she got a look at herself in the mirror. "I'm beautiful." She sounded disbelieving. Ginny laughed.
"You'll pass." She smoothed the dress robes on Tonks. She did look beautiful.
"My hair's wrong." She speculated. She changed it to long glossy black and Ginny tied the upper half in a french braid, leaving the rest flowing down her back. "That's right. Oh, Charles!" She bounded out of the room. Hermione came in a moment later, wearing silky gray-blue robes. She was grabbing handfuls of her hair and moaning.
"I can't seem to tame it. Will you help me?" She moaned. Ginny grabbed a handful of hair potion and brushed it through with her fingers after Hermione took a seat on a stool from the kitchen. They had gotten a new table that sat very high.
"French braided pigtails?"
"Would you?" Hermione whispered. "And then everybody will be ready and you can get ready, too. Ginny motioned to her jeans and the 1974 sweater that Oliver made her.
"You don't like my outfit?" She sprinkled more hair potion into her hand. Hermione laughed. Ginny wound her hair tight, continually adding more hair potion and smoothing it down with even more hair potion when the braid was done. "Alright, braid two. You in too much pain there, Hermione?"
"I'm fine." She whispered hoarsely. Ginny laughed. Hermione had a tender head. She finished Hermione's hair in another fifteen minutes and let her look in the mirror. "Ginny?" Hermione looked at her with wide eyes.
"Uh huh?" She was smoothing down the bottom where she had tucked the ends of the braids into themselves, making sure no loose hair was showing.
"Will you do my make-up? I know I never wear it, and Ron will most likely have a conniption, but this wedding will make it into Witch Weekly. I mean, it's Odessa Sprout. I want to look good."
"You do look good." Ginny whispered but helped her anyway. Luna was still staring off into space, she hadn't said anything in the half hour since Ginny had gotten back up here. She watched silently as Hermione left, and as Ginny changed.
Ginny smoothed her appearance in the mirror. She looked good in these robes. She knew she did. Okay, dress. She had bought it in Muggle London at one of the designer shops. She was lucky that so many pounds went to a galleon, or she might have cleaned herself out. It dipped shamefully in the front. The man who had helped her mentioned double-sided tape, but she just used magic. It almost went to her belly button. It was a rich cream color, and plain watered silk. It went to her knees, where it widened as long cuts of beige silk feathered away from the tight watered silk base. Her hair was a little too strong for it, so she softened it with just a dab of blonde hair potion which she ran through with her fingers. She curled her hair slightly and put it in a pile on her head, magically. She let a few curls come down, just to make things interesting. Nude lipstick, light blush, cream eye shadow. Ginny took another look at herself. * Take that, Oliver. * Luna finally spoke.
"So, what's wrong with Harry?" Ginny turned to her and smiled softly.
"At this point I think you're more inclined to say than me." She admitted. She kissed Luna on the forehead. "I think you two are perfect for each other. And there's nothing wrong with either of you."
"Are you gonna wear that ring? It doesn't really go, does it?" Luna pointed to the ring on her neck.
"I don't suppose it does." She took another long look in the mirror. "That's alright."
"Ginny! Three thirty! Come downstairs. The wedding begins at 4 and they have the red carpet beginning right now." Ginny quickly pulled on her 30's style pumps.
"You go down first." She whispered to Luna. "You'll knock 'em dead." She listened out the door as Luna got exclamations and whistles. She peeked and saw Harry greeting her daughter with his jaw unhinged.
"You look beautiful." He whispered, close enough she could hear. Ginny sighed. She was glad she was going without a date, but she remembered how sweet Harry was.
"Virginia Weasley!" Her mother called again. Ginny opened the door and started down the stairs. There were gasps. Tonks let out a particularly loud whistle.
"That's Muggle, that is." She told them.
"That's obscene." Charlie whispered. "Ginny, you can't go out like that. I refuse."
"I'm happy for you. Watch how much good it does." She said. "I think I look nice." Molly tipped her chin up and looked her in the eye.
"You'll make it in to Witch Weekly you will." She kissed her on the forehead. "Thank god you can all apparate. I don't know what we would do if you had to use Floo."
"Not go." Katie Bell said, fetching laughter from the others. There were loud pops and cracks as everyone started disapparating. Ginny appeared beside Harry, who reached over and squeezed her hand.
"You do look beautiful." He whispered.
"Thanks. Now go romance my daughter." He kissed on the cheek and pushed through the crowd to find her. A tired looking witch at the front held up a clipboard.
"Okay, so most everybody's here it looks like. Alright, so obviously this has a ridiculous amount of press coverage, because Odessa Sprout is more famous than god. And Oliver Wood hasn't done so badly himself." She shouted. Ginny heard sighs and looked around to see almost everybody rolling their eyes. "Alright then!" The woman shouted. "Just one at a time, step up, tell me your name and I'll find you and the blurb that I'm supposed to say about you. I'll announce your name into this, and then you walk out. Stop in the middle of the red carpet. There's a little white X for all you who don't do this very often. Men pose like this." She put her hands in her pockets and smiled indulgently. "Women pose like this." She put one foot in front of the other and crossed it slightly over the other. She turned at several angles and then waved. "They'll want to see all the angles of the robes and dresses you've brought. Once, you're past the reporters in the middle, you go to the fans and sign autographs. Greet the happy couple, shake hands with both, kiss both on the cheek and walk up to the fellow at the front of the church, tell him your name and spelling and what designer of your robes and shoes. I'll give those a minute, who need to, to check, and we'll get started." Ginny raised her hand.
"Yes?" The tired looking woman smoothed her curly black hair.
"What if we don't have any fans? Should we just walk straight to Oliver and Sprout?"
"You have fans. Trust me." The woman said. "Everybody good? Great!" The first couple, came up to the podium, Ginny recognized them as model Calista Peters and her long time lover Draco Malfoy. Both were dressed to the tee. The woman grabbed what looked like an old-fashioned telephone. Her voice was suddenly bright and chipper. "Calista Peters, and Draco Malfoy! Calista is long time model and long time friend of the bride and groom." Ginny remembered Oliver saying he didn't like her very much. "She will be doing a fall shoot to appear in the next Malkin's Magazine. Draco Malfoy flies for the Winbourne Wasps as Seeker and is currently in his second year in the play-offs. Best luck to you Mr. Malfoy."
"Next up is Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood. We all know Harry's story. He's a good friend of
the groom. They used to play Quidditch together on Gryffindor House team of Hogwarts. Miss Lovegood is a dear friend of the groom's as well. She writes and edits for the Quibbler." Ginny watched all the movie stars, models, and famous Quidditch players of the wizarding world disappear through the doors of the tents. There was still a fairly large crowd, too. "Fred Weasley and Angelina Johnson. Both friends of the groom, both played on the Quidditch team with him. Angelina is currently employed by the Ministry of Magic. Fred is the co-owner of our favorite joke store. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. And here's his brother and twin with partner Lee Jordan. Lee also works for the Ministry of Magic and George is the other half of WWW." It was Ginny's turn, she tucked her wand in a garter around her thigh and walked to the tent doors.
"Ginny Weasley." She whispered. The woman nodded and took a gulp of water, looking quickly over her list. "Thanks." She plastered a smile on her face and smoothed her clothes.
"Ginny Weasley." She walked outside of the tent and almost lost all compusure. About a million pictures were being taken of her. She kept her smile on though and stopped at the white X. She whirled around and waved. The reporters seemed to like it. "Ginny Weasley is a dear, long time friend of the groom. She is currently attending Hogwarts and is chaser on the Gryffindor team. She is joined by… oh never mind." Ginny shrugged and winked to the cameras, giving them another dazzling smile. She knew Oliver was shaking his head as he watched her, even though he was shaking hands with her brother and Lee. She almost walked past the turmoil of prepubescent kids and their frazzled parents and enthusiasts, but they started calling her name and waving pads of paper and pens. She walked to them and signed autograph after autograph, finally she reached the end and, at a request, kissed the cheek of an eager little boy. She walked up to Odessa and Oliver, neither were wearing Union robes. She shook Odessa's hand and kissed her on the cheek. And then looked to Oliver. He took her hand warmly.
"You look well." He whispered. "This is my wedding day, you trying to upstage the bride?"
"You're a flirt. And you're right. I'm waiting for you to ditch her on the aisle."
"I just might have to, if you don't change." She kissed him on the cheek. Odessa was currently shaking hands with an older woman with dark red hair spilling across her shoulders. She wore a fashionable pinstripe suit. She winked at Ginny.
"I've never found robes quite appropriate for these occasions. Nor men." She kissed Oliver on the cheek and he held onto her hands. Ginny started up the stairs.
"You look wonderful old mum." She heard him say. The woman laughed. It sent shivers down Ginny's spine. That was the owner of Gringotts and the editor- in- chief and owner of Witch Weekly and Warlock Special. The richest woman, no, person, in the entire wizarding world if not the entire world. It had never before occurred to her. She had just been standing next to Virginia Wesley.
* * *
Ginny had to admit, it was a beautiful ceremony. Traditional, but beautiful. The Unionship ritual of the wizarding world was so beautiful compared to that of the Muggle world. Odessa wore a beautiful garland of flowers with her Unionship robes, and Oliver carried the traditional sword. Ginny saw that Dumbledore had lent him the Gryffindor sword. She sat between Dumbledore and Gisele Williams, one of the most famous actresses who even starred in Muggle pictures. Halfway through, she handed a handkerchief to the actress who collapsed gratefully on Ginny's shoulders. "Weddings always get me." She blubbered softly. Viktor Krum, her new husband, grabbed onto her arm.
"Honey…" He whispered. He looked at her apologetically.
"Hey." Ginny winked. "You still Hermione's pen-pal?"
"Vat? Oh Herm-oh-ninny? Alvays." He winked back at her and let his wife lose all composure over Ginny.
Ginny smiled. It was a story. Oliver was making his rounds, dancing with all the women, Odessa dancing with all the men. A few people had asked Ginny, but she was waiting for Oliver. She laughed as he spun a confused Luna around. Someone sat beside her and she glanced over and then did a double-take, Virginia Wesley. "Glass of champagne." She said to a burly bar tender.
"You sure you want to do that?" Ginny ventured. She had to be sure.
"Weddings are for getting drunk." Tom greeted Ginny and sat farther away from her near Virginia.
"Hey Da." Virginia said. "You're looking well."
"Yeah, you'll be by on Tuesday?"
"Always." She winked at him.
"And you'll be in to work." He said sternly to Ginny, as he made to leave.
"Always." She said. Draco Malfoy took the seat Tom had left.
"Hey there, Old Spice." He said to Virginia. Ginny watched for a reaction from herself.
"Hey yourself." She said. "Draco, remind me to do a piece on you."
"Yeah? What've you got in mind?" He watched the dance floor and got a sex on the beach for
himself. "I'm so tired of talking about Quidditch. I never thought I'd say that."
"Why I chose not to become a death eater: an insider's account. Draco Malfoy, the hottest new
celebrity of the Quidditch world, reveals all about the Dark Arts, having his father in jail and
Voldemort in power. And how it lost its appeal." She pitched it flawlessy. He raised an eyebrow
and took a long sip of his drink.
"Not bad."
"Would you? I'm desperate for a human interest pitch. We just haven't had it since Rita Skeeter retired." Ginny shook her head. "She told it wrong, but she told it well."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll owl you." She kissed Draco on the cheek and glanced at her younger self.
"He looks so very young." Virginia said thoughtfully. "Makes me feel old." Ginny glanced over and saw a chain around her neck, a ring where her collarbone dipped. Ginny surveyed her older self.
"So I guess I go back."
"Guess so."
"Is this a good idea?"
"Happened to me." Virginia said. "Where would I be to mess with time? I probably wouldn't have made it if I hadn't had this conversation. I met with Oliver when you first came back. You weren't ready."
"What do you need to say to me now?" Ginny whispered.
"Don't give up. You don't always have to marry for love. If you have to sleep with someone for your career, do it. Remember to have a different wedding every time." She still didn't look at Ginny, watching Oliver around the dance floor. "That's love advice. Career advice? Keep working, your passion won't always work. Always listen to goblins. Always be friendly and punctual, always. Especially when working with goblins. Which we do a lot of. Am I forgetting anything? Guess not." She sipped from the tall-stemmed glass. "Oh yeah, the past." She was blinking quickly. "Forget everything you know of the future. Everything. Embrace life as you can, act surprised. But always win bets if you can. Don't judge people and don't try to change the future. You know who I'm talking about."
"I never acted badly towards him. He was a good person." Virginia nodded her head at Ginny's words. "Was it worth it?" Ginny whispered. Virginia didn't answer for a long time. Ginny thought perhaps she hadn't heard her over the loud music. She wouldn't ask again.
"Yes. It was. Sometimes I don't always think so. Many times you won't. We've had it hard. Even you, by now. Harry and Luna, huh? That's my girl. Harry was always kind of a knock-kneed nerd, but he was Harry Potter for god sakes." She laughed and then sobered again. "I won't tell. I can't tell you, but you'll have a wonderful and awful life at the same time. Be grateful for what you have, always. Lily and James got off easy." She whispered suddenly. "They died. I had the worst of it, besides Sirius, maybe."
Oliver grabbed her hands and pulled her out to the dance floor. "Come on, old mum. I'm coming for you next." He said happily to Ginny. She asked the bartender for a glass of champagne and downed it in one. Weddings were about getting drunk, right? They returned after one song and Virginia took a gulp of her champagne. "Easy." He said. "Are you headed out already?"
"Yep. I've got work. And I don't want to see you leave with that tramp." She said.
"Oh, stick around a little. You're enjoying yourself." He coaxed. Virginia waved a hand at him. Ginny made to follow him, but Virginia grabbed her.
"I almost forgot the most important thing." She whispered. "Wear that thing. Always." She pointed to Oliver's first wedding band. Ginny touched it with her fingertips.
"I don't think I'd ever take it off." She looked lovingly at Oliver, who whirled her out on to the dance floor. They knew how to dance together from hours of Wizarding Wireless blaring over the flat. A slow song started, shortly, and Ginny made to leave, but Oliver pulled her in closer. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, he looped his around her waist. They made sure to keep a little distance though, unlike slow songs at home. Odessa was hanging off of Roger Davies. Alicia didn't look overly happy. Ginny shook her head. Some things never changed.
"You do look wonderful." He whispered.
"Thank you." She whispered, wanting to kiss him, knowing she couldn't and still in a warm glow. "Is Odessa Professor Sprout's daughter?"
"Granddaughter. Her mother was doing the announcing in the tent. I couldn't believe that. Wouldn't let her mother have fun with the rest of us… I'll have to talk to her about that when we get back to the flat. Sometimes the fame of it all gets to her head. Odessa's." He said as she rested her head against his chest. "I don't think I've said home in reference to the future once, how bout you?" She shook her head. "I don't go back. I didn't ever think I would. I can't tell you half the stuff, but you're in for it, Gin. Are you sure you don't just want to run off with me into the 80's? You do still have the death spinner, yeah?"
"Yeah. And it's destiny. I have to go." He nodded softly.
"I guess so. I guess I have to stay here."
"I'm tired of guessing. I just want something to be definite." Ginny sounded tired even to herself.
"Good luck. Nothings definite. We should have learned that by now. " Oliver said softly. Ginny loved how he said at if he was at fault, too. "I love you Ginny. Never forget that, through all the shit. I love you. You have me, waiting in the future, even if you are old mum to me now. And I even love you decades older than me. I love you." Their lips brushed for just a moment and Ginny felt the extraordinary feeling of closure. She could go home now.
* * *
Three trunks in all. They were filled to the brim, magically enlarged, and the neatest Ginny had ever seen. Fawkes, phoenixes seemed to add empaths to their impressive list of skills, could feel something happy from Ginny and was singing delightfully. Her spirits were soaring. She had been at it all night the sun would be up in another hour, and she had yet to change out of her beautiful dress. The Weasleys were all staying at the house. Everything was going perfectly. Luna was sleeping with Hermione. Ginny, because of her instability, was allowed her own room. She whirled around the room and caught a glance at herself in the mirror. She had lost an uncomfortable amount of weight, there were purple bags shadowing beneath the make-up around her eyes, but she was deliriously happy, and therefore beautiful. She had noticed before that women who were viewed as beautiful, but frowned and were unpleasant were unattractive. Regardless of looks, a smile is more attractive than a frown. Always.
"Oh Fawkes!" She kicked up her heels and whirled around her room. The blank walls and cleared carpet. She had put her furniture in one of the trunks, just in case. There was only one thing left to do before she grabbed onto Fawkes' tail and whirled home.
She picked up her knapsack. Twelve thick rolls of parchment poked through. She walked to the top of the stairs and slipped in quietly. Ronny was sleeping, and he wasn't alone. Maybe Hermione wasn't sleeping downstairs with Luna. And where was Harry? She pulled out the appropriate rolls of parchment knowing that both owners would be back up here in the morning if they knew what was good for them, setting the matter aside. She wouldn't have to worry about all that for a long time. Not soon. She laid out Harry's on his place on the floor, and set Ron's next to his head. Her closest brother, practically her only friend in childhood, and her former lover and what she hoped future son- in- law. She kissed Hermione and Ron both on the forehead and left quietly.
The next bedroom was her parents. Her dear, quiet father. She set the roll of parchment on his bedside and kissed him quietly on the cheek, the only appropriately kissable place presented to her. Her mother. She stood watching her for a long time. Her stern but loving upbringing was all thanks to this woman. Her yelling and her incredibly heavy sleep, unless you were doing something wrong. Guess this wasn't wrong, Molly slept peacefully. Ginny kissed her on the forehead, shuddered with tears, and left the room quickly.
Percy's room. He slept alone, his girlfriend sleeping in their flat in London. She laid the roll next to his head and kissed his cheek. She paused a moment and looked back. She had loved him and hated him at the same time through their childhood. He was insufferable really. But when he was asleep, his face softened from its pompous, smug expression and he looked like an angel, like Bill, actually. She wished she could get to know him better. She probably would, when she was powerful and he was power-hungry.
The twins were next. Fred had known all along about George, how could he not. She had talked to him about it, behind the scenes of the bustling Burrow. She hated to admit it, but they were her favorite brothers. Always they were her favorite. She hated to have a favorite. But she did. Bill came in a close second, but she had never really gotten to know him. Not as she knew the twins. She wrote a letter to each of them, because they were always put together. She didn't want them to be apart, but she wanted them to know that she viewed them as two people. Two people she loved deeply. She brushed their fringe aside to kiss their sweaty foreheads and amazed at them. Both still had a shadow of a mischievous grin in their sleep. One to rival the Marauders themselves. Ginny shut the door, watching the silver of light disappear from George's face.
Charlie and Bill were next. Both slept next to their wife or girlfriend. Ginny moved quickly from Bill, not knowing Fluer's sleeping patterns, and not wanting to wake anyone up. She kissed Charlie and Tonks, going through some difficulty to plant her lips on Tonks' forehead, placing both his and Tonks' scrolls next to the bed. Tonks had become her best friend recently. She couldn't leave without a word to her.
She finally made her way down to the living room, where Luna was sprawled on a couch and Harry was on Hermione's cot. Both were fully dressed and asleep. *That's my good, respectable girl.* They both got kissed and Ginny set down the parchment before waking Harry up. She hid her knapsack. She had pulled on a robe, in case anyone had woken up and smiled at Harry sleepily, who groaned. "Didn't do anything, honest. Swear on my life. Hermione just wanted to…" He cut himself off with a big yawn.
"Not that, sweets. The house is going to be up soon, thought you might want to move Hermione before the shit hit the fan." He nodded his thanks and she helped him up to the first landing he suddenly turned to her with an odd look on his face, squinting at her from his glasses free face.
"You wore your heels to bed?" She realized he had heard the clicking of her shoes on the stairs.
"Yep. Go to bed." She nudged Harry and went into her own room. He scratched his head and seemed too tired to draw a conclusion. She went into her room and threw the robe into a trunk. She transfigured a shoelace into a thick chain and chained all the trunks together, grabbing onto one and grabbing onto Fawkes' tail feathers. "Okay Fawkes, let's go home." She both felt and heard the crackle of fire and thought, for a moment of her family, sleeping peacefully with novel-length good-byes from their only sister and daughter, from their mother, from their friend, with smudges of lipstick on their faces, awaiting morning.
* * *
Ginny appeared, right where she had just left and released Fawkes, who flew to his perch. All those present turned, jaws unhinged in surprise. Ginny smiled broadly. "Well, I'm back."
