"Ginny be reasonable" he said.
"I am being reasonable Harry" Ginny replied, in the most reasonable tone she could muster.
"Its not her." Harry said quietly, and she knew he missed her as much as she did. "It can't be her – she doesn't want to be found and she knows more than enough spells to make sure we can't find her." Remember – I taught her them. He didn't say it but she heard anyway and moved the distance between them to wrap her arms around him. He sighed and hugged her back. She knew talking about Hermione always upset him; he blamed himself somehow as always.
"I know it upsets you-"
"Its not that Gin-" he said, interrupting "She doesn't want to be found. And now-well – he is happy-"
"He is not happy with that troll!" she replied instantly, with added viciousness.
"Ginny-"
"No- he's not happy. He's settling. And he's settling for a troll!"
"Gin – she's really not that bad – maybe if you make the effort-"
"Screw making the effort Harry – she's a horrible person and Ron deserves better. So I'm going to find the only woman who ever made him truly happy – with or without your help." Ginny sat down and returned to her various maps and reports. Harry sighed. She's already made her mind up so why even try to fight her? You can't win. Besides, part of you thinks she's right. Harry sighed again.
"Alright Gin – I'll help." She squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him softly. "But if Ron finds out he'll go mad and I'm gonna tell him it was all your idea."
"Aw- is 'ickle Harry afraid of big bad Ronniekins? Aw- poor baby -how cute…" Ginny said in her infamous mocking tone.
"Ginerva Weasley I have not ever been afraid of Ron-"
She scoffed- he pretended to look affronted "Not even in seventh year..." She said tauntingly, and was pleased to see he blushed-
"-No… I was just – well I was bothered what he would think about us – that does definitely not amount to being afraid of Ron-"
"Course not" Ginny said heartily, and then muttered "-that's why you ran across Hogwarts naked…"
"I was not naked" Harry said firmly, why do I have to rise to the bait?
"Practically naked then." Ginny said absentmindedly
"I was wearing a cloak." why do I always have to rise to the bait?
"Yes dear-" Ginny said moving towards the couch "-an invisibility cloak if I recall, and not much else." With her words an evil grin formed on her lips and Harry blushed again.
"Can still make you blush can't I?" she said wickedly, and he laughed and closed the gap between them, kissing her hungrily. It's coz you love her idiot.
xxx
He hadn't expected her to give up. She'd never really let it go and Harry always indulged her little 'Hermione-hunts'. They happened every few weeks or months and between them they'd actually acquired a lot of information. Of course, Harry being an Auror meant he was privy to lots of information as well as various not-so-well-known methods of trying to find people. He had on occasion risked using these additional tools to help in finding her, but each time drew a blank and this left him and then Ginny feeling worse than when they started. Harry had accepted reluctantly that Hermione just didn't want to be found. Ron had somewhat moved on, and was trying to live a normal life despite the fact that Harry knew he still loved and missed her terribly.
But Ginny couldn't accept it. She'd questioned and quizzed Ron so many times about why Hermione had left, what she'd said before she'd gone until Harry thought Ron would explode. There were occasions when Ginny's endless questions had made Ron explode and he'd storm off angrily so much that it was driving a wedge between the siblings. Harry had tried to help but could see that Ron felt left out when the three of them were together, and he honestly couldn't say he blamed him. So he indulged Ginny's quest whilst still trying to be Ron's best mate, and knew that even if they found her it just wouldn't be that simple.
Anyway this morning he was skiving off work and it was Ginny's fault. He had somewhat reluctantly agreed to go to the area where Ginny thought she saw Hermione, while Ginny researched into various other leads they had found. He had the map with him and had reached the street, smiling to himself as he remembered the ways in which Ginny had convinced him to come, with definite promises of more later on. He saw brown hair and snapped out of his dream-like state to focus on the task in hand – but it wasn't her, didn't even look vaguely like Hermione. Harry looked at the map and moved over the road to a nearby park. He could get a good view of the comings and goings and sit on the bench. He'd only promised to stay for a few hours and had got a fairly decent sized lunch to keep himself company. It wasn't that bad really, and he realised he was actually happy to be there if it made Ginny happy.
He was pondering though, on how he could ultimately make the situation any better. Ginny just wanted Ron to be happy, he knew. Ron just wanted to be happy, he was certain. They just don't agree on who will make Ron happy. Ginny thought, and Harry and for that matter the rest of the Weasley clan, that that person was Hermione. But Hermione was gone. And Ron thought that his new girlfriend would make him happy.
Shame no one else agreed.
They didn't like Veronica. In fact Harry might venture as far as to say that they detested her. Molly turned puce each time she visited the burrow, the twins teased her mercilessly probably in an attempt to get rid of her, Arthur remained quietly impassive but found it difficult to contain his feelings when Veronica talked of her opinions regarding muggles whilst she didn't detest muggles per se, she made it quite obvious that she, as a pure-blood witch, felt she was far superior to muggles and thus muggle-born wizards and witches, Ginny was downright disgusted by Veronica and struggled to contain her feelings each and every time she was there and even Percy didn't like her he thought she was too pompous, which Harry had always thought considering what he's like, is really saying something. Charlie and Bill had luckily managed to avoid meeting Veronica, seeing as they were both abroad, and Harry himself struggled to describe his feelings toward her. He didn't like her, but he didn't detest her as much as Ginny did. She annoyed him, with her comments and shrill laugh, but again she didn't annoy him as much as she annoyed Ginny.
What Harry liked least about her was the effect she was having on Ron. He was becoming withdrawn from him, and the rest of the family because Veronica didn't like them. He was slowly changing, and Harry knew it was not for the better. He was almost throwing himself into his relationship with Veronica, to shut himself away from dealing with the fact that Hermione had gone. Sure it had been three years, but Harry knew he hadn't gotten over it. He was moody and sullen and so unlike the Ron he knew at school. Harry'd half-hoped that when he got together with Veronica that he might change back somehow; that he'd start to get over Hermione and move on. But she seemed to have to opposite effect; he was even more withdrawn than had become usual, he sulked more and was even starting to spout things that had obviously come from Veronica's mouth. That was what had really made him as determined as Ginny to find Hermione. They'd agreed; they'd find her but wouldn't pressure her to see Ron. Hopefully that way they could get her back in their lives and find out what went wrong with Ron in the process. And then, if they could, they were going to fix it.