"He's been spotted!" Ron came running towards her desk two days later. Ginny looked up at him questioningly. "Lucius Malfoy!"
Ginny was on her feet and grabbing the back of Harry's robes to haul him from his seat, where he was slumped on to his desk snoozing. She'd been up most of last night with bad dreams and Harry had dutifully stayed awake with her. Consequently he had fallen asleep there right after lunch. "Wake up!" She yanked harder on his robes.
It was a testament to how tired he had managed to sleep through Ron barging in to their cubicle. "I'm up." He muttered. "I wasn't really asleep."
"We need to leave immediately!" With that the three of them were running towards the rest of the Aurors who were assembled listening to Kingsley.
"He has been spotted in Paris. You will be leaving by portkey immediately to be met by French Ministry official who will take you to his location." Kingsley explained to the small group of Aurors. "Do you have any questions?"
"Are we allowed to assist?" Tonks asked.
"On a limited basis or if the need arises."
Fraiser Render spoke next. "Is anyone else going?" He was a man in his thirties, with brown hair and mustache. He was also Ron's partner.
"Yes." Kingsley answered. "If that is all, you are dismissed. Good luck."
They all quickly made their way down to the portkey office and were immediately ushered in to a room where a witch passed them a length of rope. "You have thirty seconds; please place your finger on the rope. Have a safe trip."
Ginny looked around at her traveling companions. Her brother was looking determined and excited, as was his partner. They were well suited to each other and complimented the other's fighting style well. Tonks was now partnered with Dawlish and they stood together looking collected. Dawlish was the senior Auror on the mission and was technically in charge although he was usually easy going.
Ginny felt the tug behind her navel and soon found herself in a room similar to the one she had just left except for the group of four wizards waiting for them.
"Bonjour. I am Jean Beaumont. Please follow me." His English was good although somewhat stilted. He led them through a door and down a flight of stairs. He opened a door and they found themselves looking out on the Place de la Concorde. Ginny momentarily stared in wonder at the beautiful muggle statues. "This way." Beaumont called as he led them to three waiting cars. He held the door open for one and Ginny climbed in, followed by Harry and one of the French men whom Ginny assumed was an Auror.
"I am Andre Chevalier." He said as he introduced himself. He had light brown hair and was quite thin.
"Harry Potter." Harry shook the other man's hand.
"Ginny Weasley." Ginny smiled and stuck out her hand, which he took and brought to his lips for a kiss.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both." He smiled as he met her eyes.
She withdrew her hand and sat back in her seat to look about while the other two discussed the mission. The architecture of Paris never ceased to amaze her. She smiled as she caught sight of the Arc de Triomphe in the distance.
"Ginny?" Harry's voice caught her attention.
She turned back to him. "Yes?"
"Andre and I were discussing the tactics for the mission. You should probably pay attention." He smiled at her.
She laughed. "I'm sorry. I love looking at Paris."
"It is a beautiful city, indeed. One fit for someone as beautiful as yourself." Andre replied charmingly.
Her smile almost fled her mouth but she managed to keep in place. "Of course there are the charming French people as well."
"Of course." Andre beamed at her and then filled her in on what they could expect. Malfoy had been located at an old manor that was across the La seine river and near the Tour Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower). The house was under surveillance and much like their trip to America the French Aurors would secure the location before moving in. This time they would be allowed to assist on the mission but only from the peripheral. They would have to stay out of the house.
"This would be so much easier if they would just hide in England." Harry grumbled from his seat next to her.
She put her hand over his and gave it a short squeeze before letting go. "We can't always take down the villain Harry. The proper thing to do is to let the other children have a turn at playing the hero."
"We are here." Beaumont called from the front seat. They had arrived at a large estate that she could tell was magical. It was an old, enormous house surrounded by a lush forest. It looked extremely out of place in the large city atmosphere. The entire estate was surrounded by tall buildings and was located on a congested road. There were muggles everywhere but not one had noticed the ostentatious building. This was not something that she would say was a credit to French architecture and at that moment she envied the muggle's ability to ignore the garish house. "The drivers shall drop us off and we shall move on to the estate."
"Won't Malfoy notice us coming?" Harry probed.
Beaumont raised a thin eyebrow. "Non. He is hiding in an underground chamber. We shall flush him out." The car pulled to a stop and the four exited before crossing the street and entering through the open gates of the estate.
Ginny looked around cautiously noting that Harry was staying close to her side. "How is it that we are able to get in here so easily?"
He pointed over to a stand of trees and they found cover behind them to guard the exit. "Andre was telling me that the man who was hiding Malfoy has removed the Fidelius Charm and given him up."
A thrill of dread ran down her spine. "This does not sound right."
"I was thinking the same thing." Harry said and looked over to see Ron and his partner, Fraiser on the other side of the estate, similarly guarding the gate. He motioned to Ron with a few hand signals that it might be a trap. Ron indicated that he understood.
"Are there Anti-Disapparation wards up?" Ginny asked softly as she scanned the house for any sign of activity. The fifteen French Aurors had entered the house a minute earlier but she could not see much through the windows.
"Andre said that the wards would be in place by the time we arrived." He grabbed her arm and pointed to the far side of the house.
She studied it for a moment and then noticed it too. There was movement. She got her wand ready but was thrown to the ground a second later by Harry as the house exploded into a shower of falling debris. "SHEILDS!" Harry yelled and they both cast a modified bubblehead charm that surrounds the entire body and will block anything that is not cast by a wand. Pieces of stone fell around them and bounced off of the charm for several seconds before all was quiet again.
"What was that?" Ginny exclaimed as she removed the charm and got unsteadily to her feet. Harry had landed hard on top of her when they fell and she knew she was going to have bruises from it. She looked over and was relieved to see Ron and Fraiser getting to their feet.
"We need to go!" Harry yelled as he made a dash for what was left of the house. Ginny was close on his heels and she noticed Tonks and Dawlish coming quickly from their right. She turned and saw that her brother was sweeping the area, looking for others.
"What happened?" Tonks asked when they reached the rubble and began to walk cautiously through it.
Dawlish began to move to where they had noticed movement before and Ginny followed him. "Check over there!" He pointed to a large pile of stones and she moved to it.
She levitating the stones away carefully and set them off on to the grass. She removed another stone and noticed a mangled leg sticking out from underneath a large pillar. She moved it and her breath caught. Ginny had found the twisted and bloody body of Andre. "I have someone." She called and saw a woman that she did not recognize running to her.
Ginny knelt down to check him over but the other woman was there a second later. "I 'ave 'eem!" She informed Ginny who took her broken English to mean that she should continue her search. She did so, slowly uncovering two more bodies. All fifteen of the French Aurors that had entered the house had been killed in the blast.
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After spending several hours in the French Ministry explaining what had happened and giving their depositions, they had return to London where the process had repeated itself but with less confusion. No one was translating for them the second time around. They had gone home, sat immediately on the couch and had not spoken in almost an hour. Ginny lay in Harry's arms having spent a considerable amount of time crying. There were tracks from the tears running down her dirty and flushed cheeks.
"Do you want to take a shower?" Harry finally asked her.
She nodded and tried to stand but her aching muscles screamed at her and her legs gave out. "Never mind." She sniffed and the tears came back as she fell on to the couch again.
"What's wrong?" His voice was full of concern.
She sniffed and tried to put on a brave face but she was too tired and heartsick to manage it. "You landed on me when the house exploded and I'm all achy now." She felt a small smile tug at her lips as she poked his ribs. "You are quite heavy."
He grinned and stood before slowly pulling her to her feet and guiding her down the hall towards the large bathroom that they shared. He left her resting against the sink as he turned on the tap in the shower. Steam started to instantly fill the room. He got down and unlaced her trainers before helping her pull them off. "Will you be all right now?" She nodded. "I'll wait outside the door. If you need something, just call." He and closed the door.
Ginny undid her robes and they slid off easily. She then tried to pull off her jumper and tears sprang to her eyes. It hurt her so badly to move her arms up that she was not sure that she would be able to get it off. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and managed to pull it over her head. Panting at the effort she then moved on to her t-shirt and found it so excruciating that she let out a small cry.
"Ginny?" Harry called through the door. "Are you okay?"
She tried to answer but she could barely breathe. "Oww."
"I'm coming in!" He opened the door and paused when he saw her in only her bra and jeans. He blushed but came in the rest of the way and closed the door. "You are all bruised."
She looked down and saw that he was right. Her skin was starting to take on a dark hue. "Lovely." She said hoarsely.
He moved carefully around her and turned off the shower spay before plugging the tub so that it would fill. "You don't want the water pounding on you. Here, I'll help get the rest of your clothes off."
She wanted to laugh at the situation but found that it was too humiliating. She didn't really care for her body and now that she was dirty and she had been bashed about, Ginny doubted that he was going to find her attractive. Ever. She watched him kneel down and pull off her socks when she raised her foot. Next he undid the snap on her jeans and she noted that his hands seemed unsteady. "You can't be nervous Harry." She commented dryly. She should be the one on edge but instead she was feeling rather depressed.
He paused and looked up at her. "I've never actually seen a naked woman, Gin."
Shock overtook her and all she could say was, "oh." She had been sure that he and Celia had… but apparently they hadn't. He had not seriously dated anyone else since her.
He slid the zip down and carefully lowered them over her hips. She hissed when he touched a particularly sensitive spot on her right thigh. "Sorry." He mumbled and continued to slide them down. When they pooled at her feet he looked back up. "Two more things." He said gruffly.
"Go ahead. They aren't exactly sexy knickers anyway." The temptation to cry again was overtaking her. It hurt her so badly for him to remove the clothes and at the same time it was worse for her to know that he was seeing her this way. She'd dreamed of him undressing her, kissing her and touching her but she had always imagined that if it ever was going to happen that she would be able to lose some weight before hand. Not that she was fat but she was certainly curvy and her stomach was not even close to flat. It was embarrassing having him see her this way and particularly since she was turning a lovely shade of blue.
He hooked his thumbs under the waistband on her white knickers and slid them off just as slowly as the jeans. "I'm so sorry that you were hurt this badly. I just reacted and didn't think about the fact that you were being crushed by me. You are rather small." He stood up and looked down in to her eyes. "Turn around." He ordered gently and she did. Ginny felt him fumble with the clasp of her bra before he unhooked it. She let it drop to the floor and she crossing her arms over her chest.
Ginny turned and saw that Harry was turning off the taps for the bath, which was now filled. She moved carefully over and put a hand on the wall to balance herself. She felt Harry's arm snake around her waist and she drew in a sharp breath. It felt so amazing to have him touching her bare skin.
"Sorry." He said softly. "I'm trying to be gentle."
"I know." He helped her to lower herself in to the warm water and she let out a sigh of relief. It felt great on her aching muscles. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the tub. She heard Harry moving about and then dip something in the water. She opened her eyes and saw that he had a washcloth. He brought it up to her face and began to rub at the dirt off. He then moved on to the rest of her that was covered in grime before helping her to wash her hair. It brought tears to her eyes to feel how gently he was being with her. "You are too good to me Harry."
He looked up at her with his velvety green eyes. "You deserve much more than this." He finally said and she knew he was not referring to him bathing her.
When she was thoroughly relaxed he helped her from the tub and dried her magically before aiding her to dress again. He settled her in to his bed before going to take a quick shower. She was so warm and comfortable that she found herself slipping off in to the oblivion of sleep.
"You're getting the Order of Merlin." Harry said from behind her and she whirled around to see him standing in her bedroom door, smiling. "I just came to let you know. The ceremony is tomorrow."
She put a hand up to her face, self-consciously. She had been burned badly by a curse after she had gotten away from Malfoy and the scars on her face were still red. It had only been two days since the final battle and Madam Pomfrey had told her it would take at least a week for them to fade. "Oh. What for?" She asked him.
"For helping me to kill Voldemort and for your capture of Lucius Malfoy." He stepped in to the room and took her hand away from her face. "Don't worry about it Gin. No one will care."
Ginny shrugged at his words. She knew that she should not be concerned about such trivial things but she was sixteen years old and the thought of being in front of all those people when she looked like this was terrifying. "I suppose not."
She woke up and blinked twice. She hated recalling that time in her life and she felt shallow now that she had fretted over her looks. Ginny smiled wryly as she remembered her reactions to Harry that evening. She was still that insecure sixteen-year-old.
"You're still awake." Harry said as he came in. He climbed in to bed and moved to pull her tenderly in to his arms. "Good night, Ginny."
"Good night." She whispered back to him in the dark room.
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A/N: This is it till late on Monday. I'll be traveling most of that day so I won't connect with a computer until late afternoon but you will have the chapter as soon as I can manage it.
HAPPY EASTER!
THANK YOU REVIEWERS!
Thank you also to my fantastic Beta!
wvchemteach: More great questions… keep them coming! Thanks.
kazziedal: I'm afraid there are a lot more chapters to go until they confess…
Harrie: Thanks. Don't slap him yet, it gets worse…
forgetyourwatch: It doesn't always have to be productive. I'm glad to know you liked it.
Miliardo Peacecraft: They aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other. But if you are asking about them having a relationship before, then nope; nothing has ever happened between then nor has it been discussed.
mysticruby: I'm a sucker for happy endings.
AllylovesHarry: Harry never has it easy and I'm afraid that it is only going to get worse in the books (sigh).
lifeisgood: Wow… quite the compliment. I'm glad you like it.
Rivenn: Thanks!
xiaoxiao: Oh, I have an answer to your question, but you'll have to wait for a few more chapters. Petunia sucks… that's all I have to say about it.
weselan: I feel like smacking them too and I'm the writer… sheesh, I've got too much angst in this.
Blueskiesforever: Thank you for your prayers and Happy Easter to you as well. I'm glad you like it.
Anony: Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.
hpgirl7777: I think you mean Dudley dying… but she's really just pissed at Petunia… if you mean, in this chapter. If not, let me know and I'll try to explain. I'm so glad you like it and thank you for letting me know! My email address is in my profile if you have a bunch more questions. Bring them on because the questions really help me.
