Chapter 10! Okay, we're back online with my computer! Hopefully it won't take me forever to update from now on.

Harry practically bounced off the walls with happiness as he walked down the hall towards the office. And what made it even more amusing were the looks of amazement he was getting from the other Aurors as he passed their cubicles. It didn't surprise him, he knew he had been rather grumpy the past few years, and also knew that most of the men recognized that spring in his step as a man who had finally gotten some much needed action after a long period of time.

Not that he was one to kiss and tell, of course. But by now it would be common knowledge that he had finally found the girl of his dreams. If not from the Minister himself spreading the news happily around that his daughter had finally gotten with her high-school sweetheart, it would be from the newspapers which – he had no doubt – would know everything by now.

Ah, such was the life of an international superstar.

But, he really didn't care who knew. If he had it his way, he would have screamed it from the rooftops… but, Ginny had discouraged him from doing that last night, incase he fell and broke his neck.

In no time at all, Harry had reached his destination. He sighed, adjusted his robes to make himself more presentable and knocked sharply on the door. Without waiting for a response, he pushed the door inward and stuck his head in.

"Tonks, you wanted to see me?"

She was sitting at her desk, dressed strangely enough in a very nice suit with very long black hair that hung a little over her face. She was pouring over some paperwork, but didn't even get a chance to look up before another voice in the room said:

"Honestly, why do you get everyone to call you that? You have a perfectly good first name Nymphadora."

"Yes, thank you mother! Potter, come in."

Harry entered the room and shut the door behind him, surprised to see none other than Andromeda Tonks standing to the side of the room near Tonk's bookcase, apparently looking at her collection of texts moments before he had knocked.

She smiled at him, her face very much the image of her daughter and crossed the room, her hand held out to Harry. "Good to see you again Harry!"

"Yeah, you too!" he said, still surprised to see her there. It had been quite a few years since they had last spoken. "What brings you down here?"

"Just a social visit really. Nymphadora doesn't visit as much as she should…"

"Are we done?" Tonks interrupted testily.

Harry grinned at her; getting a slight suspicion her mother's presence was a bit stressful for her for some reason. He smiled and sat down in front of her desk, lounging like he owned the place.

"So, you summoned, O' divine ruler of the universe?" he asked, examining his fingernails.

Tonks grinned. "Don't pull cheek with me Harry. You know perfectly well why you are here."

Harry blinked. "No, actually I don't."

"You don't?" Tonks repeated, standing up and walking around the desk to sit near him. "Well, let's see if I can't refresh your memory. Allowing a citizen to intervene in an Auror controlled heist, again, allowing a citizen to approach a Dragon without any protection, training or back up, supervising a transfer of said dragon while said citizen rode on its back like a bloody pony!" she cried, looking more fearful for Ginny's safety and Harry's sanity than angry. "Shall I go on?"

Harry laughed. "If you're talking about Ginny, which I know you are, then you would know that she is anything but under qualified to handle a dragon. If only you had seen her Dora…"

"Yes, and if I had seen her she wouldn't have done it in the first place." She said, running a hand through her hair.

"May I put my two knuts in here?" Andromeda piped up, sitting down on Tonk's abandoned seat.

"Please do." Tonk said over her shoulder.

Andromeda kicked her feet up and put them up on the table, giving Harry a smile. "Harry let his feelings get in the way. He wanted to do his job, but at the same time wanted to give Ginny a chance."

"Whose side are you on?" Harry asked.

"She's on mine Harry." Tonks said, kicking him playfully in the knee. "And I thought that by being my second that you could handle yourself emotionally in this area. But, if Ginny's messing with your head that much…"

"No, she's not!" Harry insisted. "Well…not anymore. We sorted things out."

"Ah yes." Tonks said, a sly grin crossing her features. "So I heard."

Harry groaned as Andromeda began laughing. "Who told you then?"

"The boss-man himself. He was positively walking on air at the prospect of adding another man to the family… like they need to, I say." Tonks added softly, rolling her eyes. "But, the news is out before you could even pick your nose, and no doubt Ginny will be getting hate mail by tomorrow morning about how she stole the cutest man in all England."

Harry blushed. "I know you're joking… especially about the last part."

"Um, may I once again be the bearer of bad news?" Andromeda said, producing a copy of Witch Weekly.

Harry grabbed it sharply out of her hands and felt his stomach clench at the page it had been opened to. "You've got to be kidding me."

It took up pretty much the entire page, headed by the words 'HARRY POTTER, MOST ELIDGLE BACHELOR FINDS LOVE AT LAST!' Beneath it was a massive picture of a photo he recognized being taken at Hogwarts in his sixth year of him and Ginny having a friendly hug near the lake. His arm was around her waist as was hers around his, both of them waving a smiling bashfully at the camera. In the article, phrases jumped out at him, like 'High-school friends' and 'Romantic fairytale' and even, to his amazement, 'history of Potter's and their red-heads'.

Feeling many emotions at once, he sighed and passed it back to Andromeda. "Ginny's going to go spare when she sees that."

"You know what's going to make her loose it even more?" Tonks said. "Telling her that if she interferes in official Ministry business once more, I'm going to lock her up."

"You're what?" Harry cried, looking at her in amazement. "That's a little harsh isn't it?"

"No, it isn't. This isn't one of those 'third-time lucky' things Harry. She could get herself seriously hurt! Her dad's already in a right state with all she's getting herself into, and its taking all my effort not to get him involved. Now, either you tell her the good news or I will."

"You can. I rather fancy having my head attached to my body." Harry said, folding his arms defiantly.

"Fine. Unlike you, I am not afraid of the Weasley temper." Tonks said, giving him a look.

"I should think not." Andromeda chuckled. "You're related to them after all."

"Very distantly, and through marriage." Tonks said, rubbing her eyes. "As Charlie likes to remind me."

Harry's eyebrows rose. "Charlie? What's all this then?"

Tonks opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. The tension thickened in the room as she blushed, looking neither Harry nor her mother in the eye.

Finally, she sighed and stood up. "Get out of my office four eyes. And take my mother with you!" she laughed.

Ginny giggled.

Harry pulled back and frowned at her. "What?"

"Nothing." She smiled, bringing him back into the kiss.

Harry didn't complain. He shrugged and rolled over on top of her a little more, almost falling off the bed from doing so.

Ginny giggled again.

Harry sighed. "What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing! Stop pulling away you silly man, I'm trying to kiss you!"

Harry chuckled as she yanked him down again and kissed him. He loved it when she was like this…so insistent. She knew what she wanted from him and was not embarrassed to let him know about it.

Ginny giggled again.

"All right, that's it! What is so bloody funny?" Harry cried, sitting up and looking down at her.

Ginny burst out laughing, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down beside her, stroking his jaw. "Your face is tickling me." She sniggered, scratching his stubble.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "I was considering a new look. What d'you reckon? A goatee?" he asked, tilting his chin upward.

Ginny smiled. "No."

"Oh, gee. Thanks for that added boost to my self image Ginny!"

"You asked!"

Harry smiled and kissed her. "I love you."

Ginny sighed and rolled onto her back. "Yeah, I know. Who wouldn't really?"

Harry laughed and tucked his arm up under his head. He could tell by her lightness and good humor that Tonks had not yet gotten ahold of her and broken the news.

"You know Harry,' Ginny said softly, looking at him cautiously all of a sudden 'as wonderful as this past month has been… we really haven't discussed our situation."

"Our situation?"

"Yeah. You know, what's going happen when I go.

"Go? Go where?"

"Well…back to Romania."

The silence was instant, intense and deafening. Harry was so stunned he couldn't even muster the state of mind to arrange his face into any type of expression. Ginny was biting her lip, counting down the seconds until the bomb inside him blew up.

Harry laughed weakly. "I'm sorry; I thought you just said…"

"Yes, you heard me." Ginny muttered.

Harry sat up and looked down at her, his mind still reeling from what he had just heard. Yes, he had heard her right. She wasn't staying in London. She wasn't staying with him.

"Huh." He said, looking down at his hands.

"What did you expect me to do Harry?" Ginny said, sitting up also. "Did you expect me to quit my job, move in with you and settle down like a good little 'housewife-in-training?' I'm not ready for that!"

Harry glared at her, the heat building up in his stomach. He could feel himself getting incredibly angry at an alarmingly fast rate. Did he have any right to?

Damn right he did!

"So what is this we're doing Ginny?" he snapped. "Just some summer pastime? A fling until you go back home? Just someone to keep you occupied until you could run back to Evan?"

"I beg your pardon?" Ginny cried, her eyes flashing. "How could you even think I would… that I'd…" she stuttered. "Harry, you're not even letting me finish what I want to say!"

"You're leaving!" he shouted. "What else is there to say?"

Ginny looked like she very much wanted to shout back at him, but she sighed, composed herself and took his arms. "Harry, just because I want to go back does not mean I don't want to be with you! We're wizards Harry, it's not like we have to hop on those barmy, flying machines muggles use to go from country to country just to see one another. I can apparate back at weekends, or you can come see me, or…" she trailed off, looking apprehensive once more.

"Or what?" Harry pressed irritably.

"Or… you could come with me."

Once again, a silence hung in the air. Harry wondered if she had been inhaling something while he had been at work all day. Surely this wasn't her usually frame of mind…

"Move back to Romania with you?" Harry repeated. "Just like that?"

"Why not?" Ginny smiled.

"Oh, so you can expect me just to drop my life just because you suggest it, but when I get a little upset about you not wanting to stay here…"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Ginny yelled angrily. "Harry, you're one of the best Auror's the Ministry has! Any other ministry would take you without question. You'd be an asset to them."

"Why, because of this?" he demanded, jabbing a finger at his forehead.

"Of course not! Because you're bloody good at what you do." Ginny retorted angrily. "Stop feeling like a broody seventeen year old and just listen to me."

"How do you expect me to react then?" he yelled, getting to his feet. "Do you realize how much it took for me to finally admit I loved you? I have never said that to anyone Ginny, and here you are telling me you want to leave! How am I supposed to take this that's to your standard?"

Ginny gaped at him, honestly having not meant to get him so angry. "Harry, I love you."

"But you love your job more." growled Harry.

Ginny frowned, stung. "That's not fair."

Harry sighed and looked away. "No, it isn't. None of this is fair. Us, being who we are with two different lives separated by half a world, isn't fair." He muttered. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You're really going to just… leave?"

Ginny bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't want to, really. But I like my job Harry, just like you do with yours. I want you, I know I do. I always have. I'm happy with my life the way it is as well. Having you in it has made it so much better." She whispered.

Harry looked up at her as she crossed to him and took his face in her hands. He could tell she was fiercely holding onto her composure.

"We can work this out." She whispered.

"Do you know why you're hurts me so much?" he asked, his eyes full of emotions she had never seen in a man's eyes before. "Because you're the only one I would allow to do so in the first place."

And with that, he pulled Ginny's hands away and left her alone in the room.

"Is er, everything okay Harry?"

Harry looked up from the box he was packing and smiled hastily at Ron. "Yeah, sure! Everything's peachy. Hand me that will you?"

Ron handed Harry the book on the desk chair, still eyeing him curiously. "You sure? You seem a little… distracted."

"I said everything's fine." He said shortly.

Ron sighed and went back to packing, sensing that if he continued to push the issue Harry would withdraw even more. Whatever it was, he knew it was causing his friend to stress an awful lot, but he also knew that if Harry really wanted to talk about it, he would in his own time.

"I can't believe you're finally going." Harry said suddenly. "Why do you have to move out tomorrow? We didn't even get to have a 'moving-out' party."

Ron smiled, shrunk a whole pile of clothes and placed them in another box. "Well, we wanted to get settled in before Weasley Number three arrives from his nine-month stay at Uterusville."

Harry laughed. "So, you know it's a boy then?"

"Well, no. But there's a one in three chance." Ron joked.

Harry laughed again "Man, I sure am going to miss having you around here."

"Ah well, now you and my sister get to have the house all to yourselves." Ron smiled.

"Hmm."

Ron's grin vanished instantly as he finally understood now what it was that was bothering his best friend. Oh bollocks, what's happened now? He thought.

"So, do you want to tell me what you've fought about this time, or am I going to have to hear it from Hermione?"

Harry, who had been packing Crookshanks's basket into a large box, looked up at Ron and frowned. "What?"

Ron gave him a look.

Harry sighed, straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Its nothing I can't deal with, and equally nothing I'm sure you would want to hear."

"Why wouldn't I want to hear it?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe because you're moving house tomorrow, have a game the next night and are expecting a baby in two weeks." Harry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Yes, it would be very considerate of me to offload my emotional problems off you to, wouldn't it?"

"Oh sod off, you know you can tell me." Said Ron.

Harry considered him for a moment, feeling the temptation to spill his guts to his best friend almost too good to pass up. But, no, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't put the feelings he had on Ron at such a stressful period. That would be selfish. Besides, Harry was a grown man, and didn't need to discuss his personal issues with everyone so he could sort them out. He was quite capable of doing so himself.

So, Harry smiled and went back to helping Ron pack. "Its fine, I promise."

Ron eyed him for a minute, before sighing. "Fine. Just know the offer is always open."

"I do, and thank you."

Harry was immensely relieved that Ron dropped the subject. It was a sign of just how good friends they were. The fact that they could go on without having to exist in awkward silences and sideward glances was a truly rare thing, and Harry loved that Ron understood him so well.

Truthfully, Harry didn't want to discuss his situation with Ginny with anyone. He just couldn't believe that after everything they went through she still wanted to leave! Was it wrong of him to assume that she would stay with him? He didn't think so. She had said she wanted to be with him, didn't she? Come to think of it, she was rather the hypocrite to suggest he simply pack up and leave when she herself went of the handle from him suggesting she do the same thing.

But, in another way he did understand where she was coming from. He knew she loved her job, just as he loved his. He was not so selfish as to want her to give up what she loved doing, simply because he wanted her too. He wanted her to be happy, and Dragon Keeping made her happy.

But, he didn't want to loose her either. He didn't want settle; to see her on weekends or when they had days off… he wanted her there every morning and night. He wanted to see her at dinner, and sit with her to watch television, or have a bubble bath with her.

Surely there had to be another alternative to all this.

"So, I heard there are bets being placed on the sex of the baby."

Harry blinked and looked up at Ron. "Oh, yeah! I put dibbs on a boy myself."

"Figures." Ron laughed, shaking his head. "My wife is the subject of gambling amusement for the family… she's going to go spare."

Ginny swiped her hand over her forehead for what seemed the fiftieth time that minute, ridding her brown of the beads of sweat. The window was wide open, beckoning in the non-existent cool breeze from outside. The night was sweltering, but still inside she felt cold. Her guilt was making her numb.

She had not seen Harry all night. She had spent the entire time with Hermione, helping her gather up their stuff for their move tomorrow. It had proven a good distraction from their fight earlier that afternoon, but now lying in her bed in the middle of the night, the events came rushing back like a tidal wave.

How could it have been thrown out of proportion so quickly? What she had really wanted to say had not come out at all the way she had imagined it in her mind. She very much understood why he had become so angry. She had sounded like the biggest bitch in the world! To suggest that she didn't want anything to do with him after her two months were up… she could scarcely believe she had said it.

She rolled over and blew a few loose strands out of her face. She wanted him to understand what it was she had meant, but did not want to go to him. He would still be upset, and she wanted to give him time away from her.

God, it seemed hard to believe that only a few short hours ago she had been giggling over his stubble tickling her face.

A/N – I know that ended rather abruptly, but I'll be picking it up next chapter.

Please review!