I'm sorry it has taken me a while to get this chapter out. School's started…sigh. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! School can be quite depressing and stressing at times and it's a great boost to my spirits to learn that so many of you like my writing style. J
Author's Note: Avalon's particular brand of magic is wandless magic. The ability to do so is inherited by blood. Avalonians have intermarried into both the normal and magical communities. Fairwood Academy, where Sirius and his wife are employed, is one school that teaches both wand and wandless magic to its students.
Disclaimer: I do not own either the Harry Potter series or the song "I Know You By Heart" in any way or form. Thanks for reading!
I Know You By Heart
Chapter Four: The Proposal
Dear Ginny,
It has been a month since I've last seen you and it feels like forever. I can't say too much about what we've been doing here otherwise the Ministry won't let this letter through. Let's just say that Ron and I are safe at the moment though Ron has been moping since he hasn't seen Hermione and Lily for a month and it isn't looking like he'll see them anytime soon. I know exactly how he's feeling at the moment. I miss you so much.
Things have happened here that have got me thinking a lot about you. And so, now it's time to confess. I've fallen hopelessly in love with you, Ginny, and I've been doing a lot of serious thinking about our relationship. I've already talked to Ron about this and, even though he nearly gave me a black eye, he approved.
So, when I get back, Virginia Weasley, will you do me the honor of marrying me? I've given this serious thought and I mean it. I won't back out of this because I love you too much to do it and if I did, Ron swore that he would kill me. If you are willing to wait for me, then wear this ring until I get home to propose to you properly. Don't write back because I probably won't have much time to read it, but if you have to, write to Samantha and she'll get the letter through to me.
Love,
Harry
Ginny reread the letter to assure herself that it wasn't a dream. The ring she held in her hand was real. Harry had proposed! Hermione was sitting down on the couch, pretending to be absorbed in one of her books. She observed Ginny's shock and closed her book, waiting for Ginny to explain.
"Well, what it is Ginny?" asked Hermione impatiently when a few minutes had passed.
"I — he — he proposed!"
"What?!" Hermione wasn't sure what Ginny had said.
"Harry proposed to me! Oh Merlin, he proposed!"
"About time," Hermione said with amusement. "I'm taking your enthusiasm as a 'yes'?"
"Of course it's a 'yes'! What else would it be?" Then Ginny sobered as something came to mind.
"What are my brothers going to say?" she groaned as she sat down next to her friend.
"They'll be overjoyed. Come on Ginny, they've known Harry for over a decade, if you can believe it. Fred and George will crack a few jokes and pull a few stunts. Ron will probably be in shock, but he'll be okay with it. Charlie and Bill will be fine; they've liked him from the start. And Percy, well, he'll accept it eventually, if not right away. Your father will be happy and your mother will cry. I doubt that Harry's going to get a talking to from your brothers."
"Ron's already taken care of that."
"Well, it couldn't have been that bad."
"It says here, 'Ron nearly gave me a black eye,'" replied Ginny, reading from the letter. Hermione held out a hand and Ginny placed the parchment in her hand. Hermione read it quickly and looked at her friend.
"It also says here that Ron approves of the match," Hermione sounded extremely amused. "Ginny, don't worry. Now, we should tell your family the good news."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ginny walked down the gleaming wood corridors of the educational institution, her shoes echoing softly as she walked passed classrooms of children and teachers. Enchanted firelight created a warm glow on the varnished oak wood and gave off a feeling of comfort and familiarity. It seemed cozy and warm, like the Gryffindor common room. Through an open door, Ginny heard the students of one class, mostly likely Defense Against the Dark Arts, dueling with each other.
"Arrête!" a boy yelled, sounding slightly panicked.
"Aller!" a girl called out, and then let out a sound of frustration when her spell failed.
"Finite!" a familiar male voice cut in. "Good job, Allison, but watch your left side, you're extremely weak there, and Lucas, you cannot always rely on shielding spells. They are your specialty, but they can become your weakness. You must attack at some point to defend yourself. You have a wand, use it! Both of you may sit down."
"Yes, Professor Black. Could I come in for tutorial?" the boy voiced timidly.
"Yes, but next lesson no one will be using any wandless magic, it's time you learned to duel with only wands and what the rest of the world knows. Your exams in wand magic are coming up and your skills cannot afford to be rusty!"
"Professor, You-Kn — sorry, Voldemort — and his Death Eaters have been defeated, so why should we be so paranoid?" Ginny was still amazed that the student, who probably remembered Voldemort fairly well, was bold enough to casually say his name without any trace of fear.
"Voldemort has been defeated yes, but you know that life cannot exist without death and that good cannot exist without evil. You might have a bit of a problem with that last part unfortunately. Someone else will rise to power, and they may try to upset the Balance that must exist. When, not if, that time comes, you must be ready to defend yourselves."
"Once you've graduated, all of you will go your separate ways. True, you will remain linked through our network of people. Some of you will go on to Muggle universities and live out Muggle lives with very little need to use your skills. Others of you will enter the magical community where you need to seem like everyone else, to enable you to blend into the background. Many of Fairwood's graduates have become Unspeakables or Aurors; an equal number have chosen to have nothing to do with their skills and gone on to become entrepreneurs, but you must seem to be normal witches and wizards, not Avalon's Descendents."
Ginny chuckled and shook her head. It was amusing and amazing that Harry's godfather could sound so responsible and serious. She continued walking to the office door with a copper nameplate affixed to it. The title announced that the occupants of the office were Professors of Wand Magic & Defense against the Dark Arts: Samantha Tang and Sirius Black. Ginny knocked on the door of the office. Fairwood Academy had a mystery to it that still unnerved her at times, despite the fact that she had traveled there several times in the past.
"Come in," a woman's voice called, sounding distracted. Ginny opened the door. Samantha, Harry's godmother, looked up from the pile of papers she was grading.
"Ginny," Samantha smiled, standing up and coming around her desk. "What brings you here? You're looking extremely vibrant today."
"Thanks. I have a favor to ask. Could you get a letter to Harry?"
"I could," Samantha replied. "Is it important?"
"Yes," Ginny answered shyly. "He proposed."
"To you?" Samantha hugged her. "Congratulations."
"I haven't even told you if I accepted or not!" Ginny said, laughing.
"You're so happy, I know you accepted."
"So will you?"
"Of course I will. I don't know if I can get to him in time though. A few of my sources say that he'll be back soon. But don't count on it."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you that," Samantha replied mysteriously. "But let's just say things are wrapping up pretty quickly."
"A little bird in your ear again isn't it?" Ginny asked knowingly. Samantha smiled slightly, but didn't answer. She belonged to a network of people who often passed information along secure unofficial channels to aid official plans and workings. Chances were that she had a way of passing information confidentially to Harry without any Ministry oversight, though it was more likely that she would route the letter through some Muggle channels and hand it off to a messenger.
"Is he all right?" Ginny asked, holding out the letter. Samantha took it and leaned against her desk.
"He has a minor injury or two, but nothing serious." Catching the look on Ginny's face, Samantha added soothingly, "Don't worry. He's survived Voldemort and Auror training. He's good at what he does. And we —" Samantha corrected herself, "he has other certified Aurors with him. He's safe."
"But these are Death Eaters we're talking about!"
"Like I said, Harry isn't alone and besides, do you think Lucius Malfoy would be reading a precious textbook on ancient spells in the middle of the wilderness?" asked Samantha calmly.
"No," Ginny admitted.
"Look Ginny, I can't tell you much for your own safety, but I will tell you this: Harry's a powerful wizard and he knows a few handy spells to help him should he end up in a tight corner. You love him, and it's perfectly normal that you're worried about him. I worried about Sirius when he entered Auror training with James. I worried about him when he went off on Order business. I worried about him when the whole world thought he was dead. But," Samantha took Ginny's hand and looked into Ginny's eyes, "you've got to believe that he'll come home all right, that he'll come back to you, otherwise you'll go crazy." She smiled and released Ginny's hand. Ginny nodded.
"Thanks Samantha."
"You're more than welcome anytime Ginny," Samantha said, picking up Ginny's letter and moving around her desk. "Tell your family I send my regards."
"I will," Ginny said before she departed.