A/N Yea for getting another chapter out quickly! I do have a confession to make though; I broke one of my rules of writing. I started writing my third story on the plane today. I knew I shouldn't, but that darn plot bunny kept bouncing around in my head and refused to be ignored. I'm fond of the plot already, but until this story is finished this one will be my priority.
As Ginny sat on a park bench watching her nieces play their new version of tag she couldn't believe how fast time had gone by. It felt like just yesterday Harry had left to go back to Canada, but in reality he had been gone a week; an entire week without any kind of correspondence. Amazingly enough, Ginny had been kept busy. When her brothers and their wives found out about her suspension, they all seemed to think that babysitting would be the perfect way to pass her time. It wasn't that she minded, it just made her think of her own child that she had lost, as well as making her wonder whether or not she and Harry would ever have another child. She had to constantly remind herself to keep her focus on the present, not the past. In reality, she and Harry weren't even officially dating. She knew that they had made love, and that he told her he loved her, but she couldn't expect him to fall back into their old relationship after a four year absence. He had changed too much; she had changed too much. Her heart longed to lock him up and never let him go, but she knew that he had to come to his own conclusions about what he wanted from their relationship.
She wished that she had been kept so busy that she could forget about Colin. She had been present when they questioned him with Veritaserum, and she had broken down in tears when it was all over. She had heard in the past that the truth serum couldn't be one hundred percent accurate, and she got to witness that first hand. She had listened to Colin go on and on about how the only reason he hurt Harry at all was to help her. He kept saying it was because he loved her. He again admitted to killing Draco, saying he had no other choice. But the problem was when questioned about torturing Harry he kept saying he didn't do it. While he admitted to slipping him the poison, he continuously denied doing him any physical harm while on the cliffs. When asked if he had plotted to kill Harry, he said no. All and all, after the questioning Colin came off as a confused love sick puppy. Arthur had explained to Ginny that if he truly believed the things he said it didn't matter if they were true or not; what mattered was that they were true to him. The only ray of hope for Ginny was that they had not yet questioned him about Bella, and Arthur felt that if they could prove he was having an affair it would kill the confused love sick puppy image.
"Aunt Ginny Julie is cheating!" Rose exclaimed with her hands on her hips, snapping Ginny back into reality.
"And how, my dear, is she cheating?" Ginny asked with a grin.
"She's using one of the extra wands!" Rose huffed.
"Is this true Julie?" Ginny asked.
"Yes!" exclaimed Amy and Andrea at the same time.
"Julie, cheating isn't good, especially when you're playing with family," Ginny said gently.
"I know, but Jessie was saying that I'm not any good at this game and I wanted to prove her wrong," Julie said defensively.
"Well you're not!" Jessica cried.
"Julie, give me the wand," Ginny interrupted. Julie complied with a sigh. "Now if I hear of anymore cheating you're all going to help Grandma with chores for the rest of the afternoon." The girls all nodded before starting up their game again. Ginny sighed and looked at her watch. She had another committee meeting for Harry's banquet later that day. She thoroughly enjoyed planning the event. She got along famously with Marge, and she could tell that Franklin respected her. She missed her work as a healer, but she didn't miss the hospital, the long hours, or her horrid boss. Her father had made a few inquisitions about Ginny's treatment at the hospital, but her boss hadn't technically done anything wrong; Ginny had been late a lot, and she had asked for an unusual amount of time off work. In the future, she would just have to work on not giving Mrs. Bletchley a reason to punish her. Today, however, she was still on suspension and she was working on setting up the final details for Harry's banquet, two of which were the date and location. Most people who had ever planned an event before would tell you that those weren't typical final details, but with Harry being out of the country for an undetermined amount of time it was impossible to pick a date. They had several tentative dates and locations set up, but they were waiting on word from Harry to pick one. Ginny felt sure that if Harry hadn't come home by today, he would have at least sent word to her. So far, her assumption had been wrong. She could only hope that something would come for her before the meeting.
In a way, she dreaded getting a letter from Harry. Even though she knew he loved her, the insecure little girl inside her heart was afraid he was never going to come back. She was afraid he'd realize that Anna was smart and beautiful and didn't have nearly as much baggage as she did. She was afraid that Anna would use her horrible situation to convince Harry that he was needed more there than with her.
"Aunt Ginny I'm hungry!" Ginny wasn't sure who had spoken the words but she knew it was time to go back to the Burrow.
Ginny stood up from her place on the bench. "Alright girls, let's head back."
When they reached the Burrow they found Molly humming happily as she prepared lunch.
"Oh Ginny dear, I was hoping you would have gotten back a few moments sooner," Molly said with a grin.
"Why Mum? Lunch isn't ready yet," Ginny replied as she plopped down at the table.
"Lunch isn't ready?" Andrea asked with a groan.
"No, you lot go upstairs and wash up. Rose, check on your sister while you're up there. She's napping in your father's old room. Lunch will be ready soon," Molly said as she shooed her granddaughters upstairs. "Now, I was going to say that I wish you'd gotten here sooner because you just missed Harry."
"What?" Ginny cried as she jumped up from the table. "Why did he leave? Where did he go?"
"Sit back down Ginny. He waited here with me for you to get back, but he had a meeting he had to attend. He was hoping he'd be able to catch back up with you at the Ministry later this afternoon."
"Well did he say where his meeting was?" Ginny asked huffily.
"No, but he did say that he had a lot of things to do today," Molly answered with a knowing smile.
"You know something," Ginny accused.
"I don't know anything."
"Well you'd think that he'd at least be able to hang around long enough to say hello to me," Ginny mumbled under her breath.
"He waited as long as he could dear," Molly assured her daughter. "He wanted to go to the park to look for you, but I told him I was expecting you any minute."
"Of all the bloody days to pick to take the girls to the park," Ginny said irritably.
"Calm down, you'll see him. I told him that I'd make sure you knew he was expecting you at your flat tonight."
"He better find me before then," Ginny said. "Oh hell, I'm supposed to eat dinner with Hermione tonight."
"I'm sure Harry wouldn't want you changing your plans for him. Just go to dinner with Hermione as you planned, you can see Harry afterwards," Molly said as she placed a plate of food in front of Ginny. "Now eat up dear, you don't want to be late for your meeting."
Somehow, even with her mother's prodding, Ginny was late for her meeting at the ministry. She stumbled out of her father's private fireplace to find the meeting already underway.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," she gasped as she tried to catch her breath.
"It's fine dear. I'm afraid it's your loss as it is," Arthur replied with a smile. Ginny looked at him curiously, and then at Marge who looked strangely flushed.
"You just missed Harry Gin," Marge said awestricken. "He was so kind. He didn't seem to be affected in the least by his celebrity. You're one lucky witch."
Ginny couldn't hold in her groan. "You mean I missed him again?" she asked.
"Only just by a few minutes. He was waiting here to see you, but I'm afraid he had another meeting to attend today that he couldn't be late for," Arthur explained.
"Well if this doesn't teach me a lesson about being late I don't know what will," Ginny muttered. "Well did he at least give you an opinion on the date and location?" she asked politely.
"Oh yes," Franklin gushed. "He was so willing to help. We decided that we'd have the banquet on Friday night, two weeks from now."
"We're going to hold it at the abandoned muggle hotel. We're going to send charm experts down there as soon as we leave this meeting to start working on the inside and charming the outside so that the muggles won't notice it," Marge added.
"Sounds fantastic," Ginny said, trying to force herself not to be too upset about not being part of the final decision.
"I agree," Arthur added. "Until we spoke to Harry, I had almost convinced myself that the old hotel was not going to be our best option."
"What did he say to change your mind?" Ginny asked.
"Well, he said that we could keep the old hotel rooms, and let the guests who desired spend the night so they didn't have to worry about traveling if it got late, or if they consumed too much alcohol," Arthur explained.
"Leave it to Harry to make sure he can get pissed," Ginny said without thinking.
Marge laughed at her. "Actually I think he was more concerned for your brothers. He said something about Ron not being able to hold his liquor."
Ginny couldn't help but smile. "He's right. When will everything be done?"
"Well that all depends on you," Franklin said. "Harry was very insistent on the fact that you be the one who approved the décor in the hotel. He seems to value your opinion greatly."
Ginny blushed. "I'll go down first thing tomorrow morning to start meeting. I think today's crew should focus their efforts on cleaning."
"Agreed," Arthur said. "Now I think that we can finally start sending out invitations. Do I have a copy of the finalized guest list?"
"Yes, Dad. Marge and I gave it to you two days ago."
"Right, it must be on my desk somewhere," Arthur replied. "Now you three go ahead and go home for the day. I'm sure you'll be plenty busy the next two weeks. Enjoy the time tonight while you can."
Ginny apparated straight from outside the Ministry to Hermione and Ron's house. She was hoping that Hermione would agree to an early supper so that she could get home to Harry. She gently knocked on the front door before letting herself in.
"Hermione? Are you home?" she called.
"Gin you're early! I was actually hoping you'd be a few minutes earlier," Hermione said as she bounded down the stairs.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, I just missed Harry?"
"How'd you know?" Hermione asked.
"I've only been doing it all day."
"You haven't seen him yet?"
"Nope. Although I think everyone else has," Ginny answered bitterly.
"Oh, well he and Ron took Jamie and they were going to grab a bite to eat so you and I could have our girls night," Hermione explained. "I promised Harry I'd have you home at a decent hour."
"Alright, well let's go ahead and go. It's not that I don't enjoy your company Hermione, I just really miss Harry. And my flat for that matter," Ginny said with a grin.
"I know you do. I promise, a quick supper and I'll have you home in no time."
When Ginny arrived home after dinner she found Harry waiting for her on the couch. He calmly walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "How was your day dear?"
Ginny resisted her urges to jump him right there and leaned forward to give him a small kiss. "It was fine except for the fact that I kept missing you. How was your day?"
"Productive."
"I'm starting to think you've been avoiding me," Ginny muttered bitterly.
Harry laughed. "Come sit with me. We need to discuss some things." Ginny's curiosity got the better of her so she followed Harry to the couch and sat down next to him. He pulled her legs in his lap, slipped off her shoes, and began to rub her feet while he talked. "I've been thinking about the future a lot. It's been much easier to do now that I have most of my memories."
"Well it's good to focus on the future," Ginny interrupted.
"I know. I'm not sure what you're going to think about this though." Ginny looked at him inquisitively. "Well, since I have my memory back there's no real reason for me to keep living here. I'm sure that when the banquet is officially announced the press will get word of our living together, and I don't want you painted out to be a scarlet woman."
"Harry James Potter please tell me you didn't let my parents get to you! If you're suggesting that you move out simply because of what the press will think you've got another thing coming. We've lost too much time to waste another second worrying about what other will people think."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Harry interrupted her fussing. He smirked at her and gently pushed her feet off of his lap.
Ginny stuck out her bottom lip. "Why'd you stop?" Harry didn't answer; instead he slowly moved off of the couch so he was on his knees in front of her. "Harry!" Ginny gasped.
"You loved me before I even understood what love was," Harry began slowly as he took her hand in his own. "You loved me while I struggled to accept who I was and what my place in the world was. You stood by me no matter how many stupid things I managed to do. I love you more than I could ever put into words. I love your laugh, your smile, your eyes, your freckles, and your hair." Ginny self-consciously ran her free hand through her hair. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you make my life worth living and I don't think I could ever stand to live another day without you by my side. If there's anything I've learned from all of this it's that time is precious." Harry released his hold on Ginny's hand and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it to reveal a delicate gold band with a luminous diamond. "Ginny Weasley, I love you. Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" Ginny squealed happily. She held out her hand and let Harry slide the ring on her finger. She moved off the couch so she was on her knees next to him. "I love you so much," she whispered before capturing his lips with her own. After a few moments Harry pulled away. "What's wrong?" she asked him nervously.
"Nothing, there are just a few things we still need to talk about," Harry said as he sat down, leaning against the couch. "First, I want to make sure you don't think this is too fast."
Ginny shook her head. "I'd have married you when I was eleven if you had asked. I already told you I don't care what people think, I know I love you and you love me and I don't want to waste another day."
"Good. I'm not sure how to start with the rest of what I need to say. I don't want to upset you," Harry said quietly.
Ginny followed his example and put her head on his shoulder. "I don't care what it is as long as this ring is on my finger."
"Well, I guess I should start by telling you about my day. I have to confess, I have been avoiding you." Ginny glared at him but Harry simply kissed her forehead before starting again. "When I was in Canada, I missed you terribly. Anna's father died the day after I arrived, and I realized how short life was. I realized that I had been given a second, or third depending on how you look at it, chance at life, and I didn't want to waste a minute of it. I thought about things and realized that I wanted to marry you, and not in the distant future. So this morning when I arrived in London I went straight to the Burrow to talk to your mum. I had expected you to be at work, so imagine my surprise when I found out you were in the backyard! She did say you'd have to tell me yourself why you weren't at work, but that can wait until I'm done." Ginny looked at the floor sheepishly. "Anyway, when I told her what I was thinking, she insisted we go talk to your father right then. She went outside and insisted that you take the girls to the park, and then we flooed to your dad's office at the ministry where I proceeded to officially ask them for their blessing, which they gave very quickly by the way."
"You didn't!" Ginny exclaimed.
"I did. And if you ask me, they gave in a little too quickly. I think they were glad to finally get you off their hands." Ginny slapped his arm. "I'm just joking love. Anyway, after that I stayed at the Ministry to talk to your dad about the banquet. He went ahead and called Margaret and Franklin in so I could give them my opinions before you got there. Your mum was supposed to stall you long enough so that I could leave before you got there."
"And I thought she was fussing at me for being late!" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry grinned. "Your mum is a very intelligent witch. Haven't you ever wondered where Fred and George got their mischievous streak? But I'm straying from my topic. When I was sure that you were at the Ministry, I went back to the Burrow and your mum went with me to help me pick out a ring. By the time we finished that, I knew you would be heading towards Ron and Hermione's so I went there first to snatch Ron away."
"Why'd you go out with Ron tonight if this was what you'd been planning all day?"
"Patience my dear, patience," Harry said, placing another kiss on her forehead. "I still had one more thing I needed to work out. I wanted Ron to go with me to see Dumbledore."
"Why Dumbledore?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Well, before I left for Canada, Ron was talking to me about Hogwarts. He told me that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position still seems to be cursed. He said that nobody lasts more than a year. This year's teacher apparently has a very short temper with the students. Ron said that the houses haven't lost so many points since the days of Umbridge."
"Foul woman," Ginny muttered.
Harry laughed. "Yes, but that's beside the point. The point is, Gin, I want to teach. I want to be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I want to be the one who ends the curse."
"What about us?" Ginny's eyes were filled with worry.
"Well, that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I want to get a house in Hogsmeade, although we may want to live in the castle for a while. But once we start a family I think we'd both prefer having our own home."
"Harry, you think about us starting a family?" Ginny asked in awe.
"Of course. But back to my point; Madam Pomfrey is getting older and the constant work is getting to her. She needs help. Dumbledore has offered you an apprenticeship under her for the next year or two and then you can start working as her colleague. Eventually when she retires the job would be yours." Ginny gasped and Harry began talking again quickly. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'd never ask you to give up your job for me. But I can see how good you are with your nieces, and how much you love to help people, and well I guess I thought you'd enjoy it."
"Harry, shut up!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'd love to take that job! I'd love to work at Hogwarts! I'd love to work side by side with my husband!"
"So you're not upset?"
"Of course not. I love that you consider me when thinking about what you want to do with your life." Ginny grinned at him. "Besides, I'm on suspension from work. My boss apparently has it out for me."
"So that's why you're not working."
"Yeah. The woman even went as far as saying that the hospital didn't approve of us living together." Ginny paused and looked at Harry thoughtfully. "There's still more isn't there?"
Harry grinned. "Well I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to marry you soon."
"How soon?" Ginny asked cautiously.
"How does two weeks sound?" Harry asked casually.
Ginny's jaw dropped to the floor. "You mean the banquet don't you?"
"Well, all of our friends and family will already be there, and I don't honestly see a real reason for waiting," Harry answered with a shrug.
"Do my parents know about this?" Ginny asked in disbelief.
"No. Actually, only Ron and Dumbledore know. I asked Dumbledore if he would perform the ceremony if you agreed," Harry answered. "I thought it would be fun to surprise everyone. That way, we won't have to worry about the press stirring up anymore trouble."
"That's why you wanted me to decorate the hotel," Ginny said, thinking out loud.
"Yeah. I already heard that you've pretty much made all of the other important decisions, so it's not like you let someone else plan your wedding." Harry paused and studied Ginny's face. "You're not mad, are you?"
"I'm just shocked." Ginny turned and looked at Harry. "You are the most brilliant man I've ever met."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her suggestively. "I should hope so."
Ginny couldn't take it anymore; she pounced on him. She crushed his lips against hers as she pushed him to the ground. She ran her hands through his hair and felt his arms slide up her back. She felt his tongue begging entrance into her mouth and she gently met his tongue with her own. Their mouths danced ferociously as their hands grasped for more.
"Too," Harry gasped as Ginny trailed kissed down his neck, "Many," he continued fighting for air, "Bloody hell," he muttered as she slid her hands under his shirt. Harry used the last of his energy to push her back. He closed his eyes in concentration and Ginny felt her shirt disappear from her body. She noticed Harry's shirt was gone as well and raised an eyebrow at him curiously. "Too many clothes," he whispered in her ear as he began to kiss his way down her neck.
Ginny threw her head back, gasping in pleasure. "Not here Harry, upstairs," she whispered as he kissed her collarbone. Harry looked pained as she pulled out of his grasp, but quickly recovered and stood from the floor. He grabbed her hand and pulled her after him as he raced up the stairs. He opened her bedroom door and paused, blocking her from entering.
"Gin?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah?" she answered as she streamed kissed across his shoulders.
"When was the last time you came by your house?"
Ginny stopped her kisses on his back and tried to look around him. "Why Harry?"
Harry stepped into the room and let Ginny see. She gasped when she saw all of her belongings strewn across the room as if they had been searched. She felt Harry pull her into his arms as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "Why would someone do this to you Gin?" Harry asked softly.
"I don't know," she replied through her tears.
"You know more than I do," Harry said.
"You're right. I haven't had a chance to tell you some things since you've been gone. The day you left I got a letter from Dennis Creevey begging me to drop the charges against Colin, claiming that he was being threatened. Then I found out that the woman you met at the bar has most likely been having an affair with Colin for the last two years," Ginny said quickly.
"You've got to be kidding, right?" Harry asked incredulously.
"I wish I was. The only thing I can think of is someone was looking for something to blackmail me with so I would drop the charges," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Oh Merlin!"
"What?" Harry asked quickly.
"The whole reason I've been staying at the Burrow was because I felt like someone was following me, spying on me; I thought I was just being paranoid, but I guess not!" Ginny began to shift through her belongings.
"Was anything taken?"
Ginny shook her head. "Not that I can tell. I don't think they could have found anything interesting anyway. You know how boring my life has been these last four years."
Harry's eyes grew wide and he quickly left the room. He returned a few minutes later shaking his head in disbelief. "They went through my room too. Fortunately, anything that was worth taking I had with me."
Ginny looked at him curiously. "What did you have that was worth taking?"
"A journal. My doctors recommended that I started writing down what I was thinking and feeling so I could keep everything straight as I tried to get my memory back," Harry replied. "If they had gotten it, they would have known exactly where I've been the last four years, all of my personal thoughts, feelings, fears, and Ginny, they would have known about the baby."
"You wrote about that?" Ginny asked.
"Of course, it was a big thing to think about," Harry answered. "But I'm careful with my journal, I don't just leave it lying around. I had it with me, so no harm done."
"Harry I just want this to be over. I want to be rid of Colin and whoever it was that did this to us," Ginny said
"Soon Ginny. I promise you. It'll all be over soon. Why don't we just go back to the Burrow?"
Ginny nodded her head in agreement. "I'd feel better staying there until we can get some protection charms up on the flat." She paused and grinned at Harry. "Although I do need you to do one thing for me first."
"Anything love."
"Give me my shirt back."
A/N Well, another bit of happiness, another problem. Thanks again for all of your reviews. Classes start up again tomorrow, so I wanted to go ahead and get this chapter out. The next chapter is, well, nonexistent, so it may be a few days, but it will come. I promise!