Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing!  I'm glad I haven't confused anyone too badly. J

Disclaimer: I do not own either the Harry Potter series or "I Know You By Heart" in any way or form.  Thanks everyone!

I Know You By Heart

Chapter Three: Separation

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In your arms I feel the strength of all that's true
And when you say you love me, I know I was meant for you
But I don't know the part, no, I don't know the part
No, I don't know that part, no, I don't know that part
No, I don't know, no, no, no, no
What makes you go away

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny and Harry stood in front of the Ministry's golden gates in silence, not knowing what to say, as the families around them bid good-bye to their loved ones.  Ginny was still struggling to deal with the suddenness of it while Harry tried to find the right words to express his feelings for her.  Finally, he moved.

"Goodbye Ginny," he whispered, hugging her tight.  "I'll be back as soon as I can."

The call had come out of nowhere from the Department of Mysteries for Harry and his group of Aurors to travel to an undisclosed location for an unknown length of time — even Ron had been called off of paternity leave.  That meant that Hermione would move in with Mrs. Weasley to have someone to help her raise Lily while she recovered from her labor.

"Be careful Harry," said Ginny, trying to keep her voice light and upbeat while holding back her tears.

"I will."

"Aurors!  Briefing in two minutes, say your goodbyes!"

"I have to go," said Harry softly, but made no move to let go.  His heart was breaking.  It was Ginny who gently pulled away.

"I love you Harry," said Ginny softly — words that she had been waiting for so long to say.

"I love you Ginny," said Harry, stroking her cheek.

"I think Hermione wants to say something."  Ginny moved away to share a few private words with her brother, allowing the two longtime friends to exchange good-byes.

"Harry," Hermione's brown eyes quivered with unshed tears, more for Ron than for him, but Harry had Ginny to cry and worry for him, "be careful all right?"

"Don't worry Hermione, I'll watch Ron's back for you."

"And don't you dare forget about yourself," Hermione said sternly.  Harry nodded, gently stroking Lily's cheek.  She gurgled happily and tried to grasp his finger in her tiny hand.  A small smile passed on Harry's face.  He watched Ginny and Ron exchanging goodbyes.  She said something and Ron nodded solemnly.  The siblings hugged and Ron came over to kiss his wife and daughter one last time.

"Aurors, move it!  Come on people, we've got a job to do!"

"Bye," said Harry, squeezing Ginny's hand briefly, before he clapped Ron's shoulder and they followed their colleagues into the Briefing Room.  As the Ministry door clicked shut, Ginny turned to her sister-in-law.

"It doesn't get easier does it?" Ginny asked Hermione who shook her head.

"No, but at least they're together to keep themselves out of trouble and get home in one piece."

"I hope they come back soon."

"I do too."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

But I am tired, worn down and all
I haven't the patience, the courage to take another fall

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny paced anxiously around the living room.  It had been a month of absolutely no word from either Harry or Ron.  Hermione, despite her connections at work, was just as frustrated as her sister-in-law at the silence from their life partners — or more accurately, from the Ministry.  Hermione wasn't allowed to gain access to her office since she was on maternity leave and had a personal interest in the Department of Mysteries' current mission.  She had politely argued that being on the maternity leave was not the equivalent to being barred from work and that she could be impartial.  Hermione had not succeeded, which thoroughly annoyed her to no end since she could not work to take her mind off of Ron and she could not find out what in the world half of the Ministry's Auror Division was doing and where in the world they were doing it.

However, Hermione was much better at being calm and reasonable than Ginny was.  She was after all married to Ron (who could be an insufferable git at times) and had been for the past four years.  During that time, Ron had gone through training, and then on missions, as an Auror.  Hermione had a patience of a saint; of course, at other times, she had the tempter of a Veela.  Hermione knew fairly well how to cope with worry and anxiety.  Ginny did not.

Ginny knew she was being foolish, but she couldn't help but recall the way Reilly had left her for another fiancée.  In her heart, Ginny knew that she loved Harry; she just wasn't sure why she doubted his word.  Maybe it was because she hadn't heard from him for so long, but then Hermione had told her that since the Department of Mysteries was involved and that she was barred from any involvement, chances were that Harry and Ron were on a classified mission.  For safety reasons, communication was restricted.  It was driving Ginny crazy.  She worried about him constantly, catching herself wondering if he was safe, what he was doing, was he even thinking about her while he was busy.  She scolded herself for having such an overactive imagination.  He hadn't even proposed yet, hadn't even officially stated that they were boyfriend and girlfriend to her family, and here she was, worrying about him as if they were already husband and wife!

She sighed as she sat down and pulled out a clean piece of parchment from a drawer.  Despite the ban on the Aurors writing home, the Ministry encouraged their families to write to their loved ones.  Ginny took out quill and ink and began to craft a somewhat upbeat letter to Harry and her brother.  It wouldn't do them any good to know about her current state of mind.  It would distract them and distractions got Aurors killed.  And there was no way that Ginny would cause the deaths of her brother and her boyfriend, not if she could help it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And what I wish for you, babe, is simple and sweet,
For you to wake in the morning, with the one who wants you for keeps

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry walked through the muddy grounds of the Auror camp as the weak morning sun shone through the thick fog.  It reminded him of Avalon's mist that both threatened and protected the Isle.  Over seven years had passed since those days when the Isle of Avalon had stepped in to help Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort.  They had only shown their powerful connections in the final showdown and then immediately vanished in the confusion of the aftermath.  Avalon's soldiers were the unsung heroes of the war, like the spies who had sacrificed their lives to save others.

The Isle still kept a subtle hand in the affairs of the Outer World, stationing agents and contacts in both magical and non-magical communities.  Samantha Tang, Harry's godmother and Sirius' wife, was one of these people who were posted to keep a discreet eye on him and certain other people of interest.  He found it to be irritating at first until Samantha had explained that she would help him if, and only if, he seriously needed it.  She, and Avalon, would not interfere with his life unless it was absolutely necessary, which meant that he and his colleagues were on their own catching the Death Eaters.  She was telling the truth, if last night was any proof.

Harry ducked under a tent flap and winced as his shoulder throbbed with pain.  A brief skirmish with a Death Eater the night before had resulted in a few scrapes and bruises among the Aurors.  He, unfortunately, managed to catch a Bone-Breaking Curse in the shoulder before his friends managed to subdue the Death Eater.  Harry had made Ron promise not to tell Hermione, who would surely tell Ginny about his injury.  He wasn't going to say a word either.  If he did, either Hermione or Ginny would tell Mrs. Weasley who would then panic and pressure her husband to bring Harry home before the mission was over.  There was no way that Harry would stand for that happening.  He did not want special treatment just because he was close friends with the Weasley family.

Harry sat down in the tent that he shared with his team of Aurors and took out his quill and a sheet of parchment.  Despite all the magical enchantments on the ordinary looking tent, the shelter was still soggy from the constant rain.  He sighed as he thought about Ginny.  He missed her a lot.  If it weren't for the possibility that the last of the Death Eaters could be rounded up, he would Apparate back to England without a second thought.  Even so, he was sorely tempted to do that.

At least in the remote, isolated mountains, Harry ran across very few star-struck people who were more interested in The-Boy-Who-Lived than who he really was.  His team of Aurors had long ago accepted him based on his merits as an Auror, not on his fame.  This was helped in part by the composition of his group, which was mainly made up of classmates from his Hogwarts days.  Harry repressed a chuckle of laughter when he thought about Neville's current position in the Ministry.  The boy whom the Potions Master had marked as a miserable failure had passed his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in Potion-making with flying colors.  All of them had come a long way since Hogwarts.

Hermione had taken a job at the Ministry as an Unspeakable while Ginny worked with traumatized children at St. Mungo's and at Ministry.  Neville worked as a Healer for the Auror Division alongside Hannah Abbott.  Colin Creevey went to work at the Daily Prophet and Luna Lovegood had taken over the Quibbler.  Draco Malfoy, surprisingly enough, had turned himself into the Ministry after Voldemort's fall of his own free will and handed over a few of his former 'mentors' while he was at it.  He was nearing the end of a six-year sentence in Azkaban, which was nothing for what his father, Lucius Malfoy — should he ever be captured — was in for.

Remus had married quite happily and settled down with his wife, Anna, to raise their growing family.  He had also regained employment at Hogwarts as the professor in Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Sirius and Samantha, his godparents, were busy raising their three children and were expecting a fourth little one in six months time.  They were teachers at Fairwood Academy, a private school established by the High Lady of Avalon to train people in the Outer World the aspects of Avalonian magic.

Mr. Weasley had been rapidly promoted since Voldemort's fall and now stood poised to be the next Minister of Magic.  Mrs. Weasley was now fussing over her growing brood of grandchildren, though she still occasionally fussed over her own children.  Bill was still working for Gringotts and was about ready to celebrate his five-year wedding anniversary with Fleur.  Charlie had recently married a Norwegian coworker, Nora, and the two divided their time between Norway, Romania and Britain.  The two still occasionally caused heart attacks at home when the family learned of their close scrapes while working on the dragon reservation.  Percy, after a tense period of readjusting, had been absorbed back into the family.  He was still a workaholic at the Ministry, but his wife Penelope was rapidly administering to that problem.  Fred and George had married Angelina and Katie respectively and both were expecting fathers.  Their business was booming and the Weasley family was no longer as poor as they once were.

At Hogwarts, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall had married, though she retained her surname to avoid confusion among the students.  Professor Snape, it was rumored, was also courting a lady friend though no one seemed to know who this (unfortunate — Ron's words) woman was.  Hagrid had settled down with Madame Maxime.  He was still groundskeeper at Hogwarts and she was still Headmistress of Beuxbatons.  However, their long distance relationship thrived.

"Harry?"  Susan Bones stuck her head into the tent.  The niece of the former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was a rapidly raising Auror in her own right and she had accompanied Harry and his team on this particular mission.

"Yes?"

"How's that shoulder of yours?"

"Neville did a good job."  At the look on Susan's face, he added, "It's just a little sore.  It'll be fine by tomorrow."

"Good.  By the way, Ron's in a mood, care to explain what's wrong with him?"

"Oh," Harry wasn't about to confess that Ron was 'in a mood' partially because of what Harry had 'discussed' with him earlier.  Harry settled for a safe answer, "He's missing Hermione and Lily."

Understanding lit Susan's face and she nodded at the parchment in his hands.  "Homesick…aren't we all?  Writing home?" she asked.  Harry nodded.  "Thank Merlin that we can do that now.  I can imagine Hermione pestering her boss to let us to it.  But watch out for what you write, the Ministry actually reads it."

She rolled her eyes as Harry's stomach did a back-flip.  He had forgotten that the Ministry had adopted a screening process for letters home from classified missions.  Now, someone else other than Ginny would be reading this letter.  'Merlin, if this got out into the tabloids…' Harry groaned to himself.  It would be a world of embarrassment for Ginny and himself.

"Hey!  Susan!" someone yelled and Susan smiled at Harry, saying, "Duty calls," before she left him alone with this new glitch in his plans.  Still, he didn't exactly have a choice but to go ahead and write the letter.  Hermione's last letter to Ron had included a note for him, telling Harry that Ginny was going nearly crazy with worry and that he had better write something nice to her soon.  'Well, if this isn't nice, I don't know what is…' Harry thought and began to write.