"You bought a house? What do you mean you bought a house?" Remus demanded, putting the newspaper down on the ottoman and rising to his full height.
"I got a job too." Harry boasted, awaiting some sign of acceptance or congratulations from Lupin.
"I think you better sit down and tell me what's going on Harry."
Harry was far too excited and not in the mood to sit down. He waved for Remus to sit down as he paced the floor of the drawing room.
"I went to talk to McGonagall this morning, I told you that in the note, and - "
"Why did you go see Minerva McGonagall?" Remus asked, hurt that Harry had not sought him out for advice.
Harry launched into a rapid, choppy explanation, taking one deep breath before speaking. "I was having dinner with Olivia, oh, by the way I'm not seeing her anymore and I just kept having these flashes of Ginny. I knew I needed a non partial opinion. Anyway, Susan Bones resigned this morning from the Defence position and McGonagall offered it to me. I wasn't going to take it, but then I toured Hogwarts and had all these memories and visions of Ginny, it was so overwhelming. I visited the memorial too, it was awful but then I went back to McGonagall's office and spoke to Dumbledore - "
"You spoke to Dumbledore?" Remus asked worriedly.
"Yes, well the portrait in the Headmistress's office and I suddenly found myself taking the job."
Lupin finally smiled. "Well, if anyone is worthy of it, it's you. Congratulations, I'm proud of you and I know your parents and Sirius would be proud too." He rose from the chair and offered Harry a handshake and pulled him into a one armed hug.
"OK, so tell me about your new residence."
Harry told Remus of the house's description and the fortune in finding it for sale.
"I walked up the sidewalk and knocked on the door and this little old witch answered it. She told me she was widowed but she and her husband lived in that house for seventy five years. The witch's sister lives in Nottingham and she's moving to be near her. She was quite keen on selling the house quickly. I loved that house and would have paid three times what she asked for it. Hermione has pointed out on several occasions that I can afford almost anything, since I inherited my parents and Sirius's estate. So I bought a house!"
Lupin chuckled. "Well, I hate to see you go, I've come to get used to your presence here, but I'm happy that you've carved out a niche for yourself. When do you move in?"
Harry shrugged. "Whenever I want. I need to make an appointment with Susan Bones about the Defence Program and I hope I can count on your personal expertise on the matter. I need a lot of help."
Remus nodded again. "I'd be honoured. Anything I could do to help."
Harry let a small smirk escape from his lips. "I'm going to go Owl Ron and Hermione."
"Ah, wait Harry, there's something I want to tell you. Something that was in the Prophet today." Remus began, retrieving the newspaper off the ottoman. "Actually, it's been going on for quite some time."
Harry frowned, furling his brow together and folding his arms tight across his chest. "Is this about Ginny?"
"Yes, the Prophet has been raking her over the coals. After the first article I contacted Hermione to ask if there was any truth about this- there isn't of course, but I just wanted to you know, if there's any chance of a reconciliation, be prepared to face the press again."
Harry nodded. "I'm going to Owl Ron and Hermione."
Remus leered carefully and smiled as Harry disappeared from the drawing room and up the stairs to Owl Ron and Hermione. When he heard the door close to Harry's room, he hurried over to the desk in the drawing room and grabbed a piece of his personal stationary and a quill. He hurriedly scribbled a note to Ron and Hermione as well. If they were going to attempt their plan, now would be a good time.
The following day, Harry and Remus sat in the drawing room of an poshly decorated house in the Chelsea neighbourhood of London. Harry sat drumming his fingers on the arm of a large fluffy chair.
"Nervous?" Lupin asked, giving Harry a smile.
Harry shook his head. "Not really. Anxious. Excited."
The doorbell rang and a tall, slender redhead came from the hall to answer it. Harry and Lupin rose from their chairs as they recognized the voices at the door. Harry cleared his throat and smoothed out the front of his robes as he took a deep breath. Remus offered Harry a supportive look as Susan Bones, Headmistress McGonagall and Deputy Headmaster Snape entered the room.
"Good afternoon Remus, Harry. It's good to see you both, I'm glad we had the opportunity to arrange this meeting."McGonagall's voice was polite, but to the point. "Let's get down to business."
Snape sat in the small wingback chair across from Harry, his arms folded tightly across his chest and his, naturally distinct sneer was spread across his face. He waited for the two women in the room to seat themselves before speaking.
"Headmistress, May I be the first to offer my displeasure and disgust at this appointment."
"Oh Severus, Harry will be an excellent Defence Professor." McGonagall countered, waving him off.
"Potter is not qualified to teach this position!" Snape roared, pounding one of his fists on his knee and pointing a finger of the other hand in Harry's direction.
Susan jumped in her chair, Remus shook his head, McGonagall pursed her lips angrily and Harry just continued to stare down the Deputy Headmaster.
"Severus, no one is more capable and qualified than Harry. He's taking the eligibility tests this week."
"I object!"
"This isn't a courtroom Severus. Harry's already been hired." Remus cited, looking over at Harry.
"Shut up Lupin, you shouldn't have been hired either." Snape spat back, shooting him a look of disdain. "What are his qualifications? I demand to know. What has he ever done?"
"What have you done?" Harry retorted quickly, rising from his chair. "Seems to me that of anyone you should tell us your qualifications!"
"Sit down Harry." Remus interjected, grasping Harry's hand and trying to pull him back down.
"No Remus. Snape didn't even fight in the final battle if memory serves me correct." Harry remarked.
Snape was livid. Harry remembered the large vein protruding from his forehead "Whether I liked it or not, I was under a Fidelius Charm and you know that Potter. The Headmaster placed it on me to protect me, you know that!"
"See, the thing is Snape, you had the opportunity to be the hero or the coward, depending on what side you fought for- oh wait, you didn't fight at all."
There was a collective gasp from the small group before Snape started sputtering.
"Listen here you arrogant, attention seeking little brat, you think just because your the son of the great James Potter that you and your girlfriend, or should I say girlfriends, can parade around this country teasing and taunting the media when you see fit? When it arouses you?" Snape turned to the Headmistress but still pointed his finger at Harry.
"Headmistress, I demand you terminate the employment of this mollycoddled prima donna before it's even begun!"
Snape's face was redder than Harry had ever seen it. He sunk back down onto the couch next to Remus and glanced at one of the other faces in the room.
Susan's eyes were wide but Harry could see the corners of her mouth turning into a smirk.
McGonagall shook her head impatiently and painted one of the sternest looks on her face that Harry had ever seen.
"Harry, that was un-necessary. Severus, Potter's employment will not be terminated. I've consulted with another source-" Harry knew she was referring to Dumbledore's portrait, "and we have deemed Harry worthy of this postion providing he passes his examination. Mr Potter, Ms Bones, I think we'd better discuss your curriculum."
Harry left the Bones residence fairly satisfied he would have a decent teaching plan and would not fail miserably as a teacher. Susan had been most gracious, giving Harry all her acquired teaching paraphernalia. He had the promise of Remus's guidance and advice and even a guest appearance or two.
Harry spent the following days upstairs in his bedroom at Grimmauld Place studying, pouring over his old Defence books and some of Remus and Susan's Teacher's Editions. Passing the examination would be the key to his future. This was not like his OWL's or NEWT's, which had become obsolete after lying in a coma for five years, this test was- real. Real life was now knocking at his door. Hermione couldn't lend him her notes. Ron couldn't just tell him to skive it off. Ginny wasn't there to hold his hand and tell him everything would be all right. He was a grown up, and needed to do this on his own. However, studying was just as hard as it had ever been and Harry often found himself drifting.
He could hardly wait to see Ron and Hermione. Their reply post had been encouraging and almost made him feel as if he were back in the loop. Soon they would be on even footing as far as social status. Prominence non withstanding the simple faith they had that Harry could ascend this position and succeed was all the incitement he needed.
Harry wondered if Ginny knew he'd taken a job, if she knew he was moving. He never really anticipated moving without Ginny. The sentimental streak in him had fantasized about it a thousand times. He would go off to the Auror's Academy for a year, Ginny would finish up her last year at Hogwarts and they would have a terribly romantic wedding and live happily ever after. Cliché? Yes. But weren't most daydreams? He didn't care, because Ginny felt the same.
Harry awoke one morning to find his stomach tight with anticipation, it was the morning he was due to take his examination at the Ministry Headquarters. He had studied the best he could, prepared for countless hours, knew more about curses, dark creatures, and encouraging student participation than he cared to admit.
Harry completed his morning routine, dressed in work robes and hurried downstairs to grab some toast before Disapparating over to the Ministry for his scheduled examination time.
Remus folded the Daily Prophet and tucked it under his arm and was pouring himself a cup of coffee when Harry entered the kitchen.
"Good Morning." Harry replied in a rather chipper voice as he levitated some toast into the toaster.
"Well, I'll say one thing, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts obviously agrees with you, I haven't seen you quite this perky in the morning, since, well, ever. Then again, I suppose Lily wasn't a morning person either."
"She wasn't?" Harry asked interestedly. "What about Dad?"
"No, she was a night owl. Your Dad was an anytime person. Always cheerful. Whistled in the morning he did. Drove Sirius crazy."
Harry smiled, wishing he could categorize all the bits of information people had given him about his parents into an Potter Encyclopaedia of sorts. "Am I still the talk of the town?" Harry asked sarcastically, inclining his head towards the newspaper as he buttered his toast. "Or has someone else upended my plot to rule the headlines?"
"No," Remus sighed. "You're still the high muck-a-muck. The good news is, since they put you on the front pages, Ginny's affair with- ah," Remus opened the paper and began scanning a few pages in. "Bernard Bingle, yep, that's it. Her affair with Bernard Bingle, heir to the Wizarding Wireless Network fortune, has been moved to page four."
Harry felt a pang of sympathy. If anyone could, he could imagine how Ginny was feeling having her name smeared all over the newspaper. Bernard Bingle. Ugh. As if Ginny would be caught dead in his company. He was known for being a complete berk to women. A part of him was almost satisfied that he had taken the media attention away from Ginny. He had handled it his whole life, Ginny hadn't.
"Don't worry about Ginny. She's strong. Don't let this get you down Harry. I'm sure you knew that by taking up the position at Hogwarts you'd find yourself in the Prophet again. Rita will probably be waiting outside the Ministry this morning, hoping for an interview. She's not allowed inside the Ministry, so don't worry, Apparate in and take your test. You'll do fine."
Harry nodded, taking a bite of toast. "Mmfph. I just want to get this part over with. Moony, Can you go shopping with me? I need all kinds of furniture. I'd appreciate someone else's opinion."
"Sure. Are you sure you want my opinion?" Remus laughed, looking around Number Twelve. Maybe Hermione or Molly would be a better choice."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe. I just like what you've done to Grimmauld Place. It's classic, you know. Traditional, not fancy. "
Remus offered Harry a small smile. "OK. Thanks for asking me. It makes an old man feel important."
Harry shoved the remaining half of the toast in his mouth. "Anytime. Bugger, I've got to go. Wish me luck." He twirled his wand around his fingers and raised his eyebrows complacently.
"Good luck. See you later. By the way, you've got a pile of mail that a hippogriff can't jump over. Are you still in the burning phase regarding your mail? " Remus inquired sarcastically.
Harry leered. "No smart-arse, I'm not burning my mail, I've just been too busy to read it. Can't be anything too important, can it? Otherwise Rita Skeeter and the Daily Prophet would have told me all about it."
Harry nervously paced the corridor outside the Ministry Examination and Registration Centre. The test was over, there was no going back now. Now, he would just wait for the results. He clasped his hands behind his back and continued to tread the floor. His mind began wandering. What if he failed? What if his results were abysmal? What if Snape found out? How would he spend the rest of his life?
His name broke the silence. "Potter, Harry."
A Ministry Witch was standing outside the door to the room where he'd just taken the test. Harry spun on his heels and turned to face her. She was holding a battered clipboard and wore an expression reminiscent of McGonagall's on her face. She was unreadable.
"Harry Potter?" She asked again.
Harry looked around. There was no one else standing in the hallway. Had he actually come across someone who didn't know who he was?
"Yes, I'm Harry Potter. Has my test be graded?"
The witch lifted up one of the pages on the clipboard and traced her fingernail down a long list of names.
"Examination for Educator in Defence Against the Dark Arts?" She asked again, sliding her glasses down to the end of her nose.
"Yes." Harry snapped a little too eagerly.
The witch scowled at him briefly and returned her gaze back down to the clipboard, mumbling almost incoherently. "Potter, Harry, Examination for Educator in Defence Against the Dark Arts, passed."
Harry jumped up in the air, raising his fist and letting out a whoop.
The witch looked at him sternly once again. "We'll Owl your results to Headmistress McGonagall." She turned and entered the office again.
Harry was ecstatic. All that worrying for nothing. Now he officially had a job and was well on his way to returning to a normal life.
Harry and Remus spent the afternoon after Harry's Exam on Diagon Alley buying all sorts of home furnishings. The old widow had moved from Harry's new residence in Hogsmeade and all his new belongings were being sent to the new house. Harry had spent a small fortune, but was reminded often by Remus that most of his purchases would be durable and not need replacing for some time.
Harry had been keen on avoiding Ollivander's while on Diagon Alley with Remus, but had hoped to visit Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. As he and Lupin walked through the bustling street toward Number Ninety Three, he saw a handwritten sign spellotaped to the door.
Closed for the evening-
Family Gathering.
Harry's stomach dropped. Was today August 11?
"Is today the eleventh?" Harry demanded, looking over his shoulder at Lupin, as the realization of the date set in.
Remus looked up at the sky, the expression on his face was thoughtful as if he were consulting some inner calendar. "Yes, it's the eleventh." he finally announced.
Harry closed his eyes in frustration and shame. "Today is Ginny's birthday."
"Oh." Remus answered, almost offhandedly. "I wasn't aware. You've got several Owls this week, but you haven't read any of them. Maybe there was something about the party." The pitch of his voice changed and became full of attentiveness. "Do you want to go out to the Burrow?"
Harry shook his head, but picked up the note of interest in Remus's voice. "No, I don't think I was invited and I'm sure she doesn't want me there. I'm not ready to be there either. I haven't had the opportunity to talk to Arthur and Molly yet."
Ginny sat alone at the Healer's station on the Birthing Ward at St. Mungo's listening to a group of girls cackling as they read the latest issue of the Daily Prophet out in the hall.
Ginny rolled her eyes and steeled her jaw, vowing not to lose her temper and endanger her job. The feelings swelling inside her reminded her of her first year at Hogwarts- Tom's Diary. All the whispers, the suspicions, the gossip was overwhelming. She'd never felt so lost or alone- until now, until she'd lost Harry.
She looked down, reading the same paragraph on a patient's chart for what seemed like the fourth or fifth time. She sighed as a paper airplane crashed onto her desk. (Owls were not allowed in the hospital, but could deliver messages which were transcribed into memos and sent to various departments in the form of paper airplanes.)
Ginny unfolded the paper, expecting another nasty letter from a reader of the Daily Prophet, but was surprised to see Hermione's name at the top of the page. Ginny sighed, thankfully it was only an invitation to tea tomorrow when her shift ended at 3:00. She was tired, but felt comforted and less alienated by her family upon seeing the memo. Ginny quickly wrote her reply on the memo and Magicked it back to the head office. She wondered why Hermione would send her a written invite to tea when Ginny would be seeing her later tonight at the birthday party she didn't want, at the Burrow.
Ginny sighed, letting her head fall into her hands. A part of her wondered if Harry would be there tonight, then rationale told her he would not. She was overwhelmed with emotion suddenly. She had some tough decisions to make, like telling Harry she would let him go to pursue a future with Olivia Ollivander if that's what he wanted.
A rip of laughter broke the silence again. Ginny finally recognized one of the voices in the hallway as her supervisor's, Matilda. She strained to hear more carefully.
"Who would have thought that Weasley girl had so many guys, huh?" One of the voices questioned.
Matilda stifled a giggle. "Well, I guess we can assume what her talents are since her family doesn't have any money. Who'd have thought little Ginny is a tart! No wonder poor Harry left her. Who wants a girlfriend with that kind of reputation?"
Ginny's brown eyes widened as she rose from the chair and skirted the desk. She stormed out of the Healers station and rounded on the two women obviously having fun at her expense.
"What in the name of Merlin is going on?" Ginny demanded, angrily placing her hands on her hips.
The two women had not anticipated being overhead and were startled by Ginny's sudden and loud appearance.
"Ginny, er - " Matilda stammered, tucking the Daily Prophet under her arm. "I, um, didn't know you were here."
Ginny laughed hollowly, pasting a sarcastic grin on her face. "Well you won't have to worry about me being here anymore. I quit!"
Ginny turned on her heels, striding purposefully down the hall, on her way to the Designated Apparition Point at St. Mungo's. "Happy Birthday Ginny." She mumbled to herself, wiping a solitary tear off her cheek.
Harry wiped the sweat from his brow as he made what he hoped was the final trip up the stairs of his new home. All his furniture had been delivered and awaited it's proper placement in the rooms. Remus had an appointment and had gone back to Number Twelve. That was fine with Harry, who needed to decided the arrangement of things in his own home. He understood that was a personal decision and he didn't need Remus for it anyway. He'd magicked all the appropriate things up the stairs into the bedroom or bath accordingly. The furniture in the sitting room had been arranged in different variations several times. The kitchen was neat, tidy and so far, lacked food. Harry assumed he would take most of his meals up at Hogwarts when school started and would spend tonight at Number Twelve anyway.
Harry was beginning to feel a little isolated. It had been about two weeks since he'd seen Ron, Hermione, Benjamin and Liam. He hadn't seen them or Ginny since the night of his birthday and was beginning to feel rather guilty about not apologizing to Arthur and Molly and forgetting Ginny's birthday. He imagined all the Weasley's gathered together at the Burrow that night, maybe they were singing to her at this very moment. He pushed the thought from his head and decided he should wash his clothes before returning to Grimmauld Place for the night.
When Harry was finally done with his laundry and was almost finished folding his socks and putting them in the dresser by the window. He heard a familiar flutter and turned to see Pig, Ron's Owl, twittering outside the window. Harry smiled as he cracked open the window and took the message from the strap attached to Pig's leg. From her new perch, Hedwig opened one amber eye, sceptically glancing down at Pig to ensure the owl in the room was not a personal threat to her occupation.
Harry unrolled the paper to find an invitation from Hermione to tea at 2:30 the following afternoon.
"How are you going to do this Hermione?" Remus Lupin asked the young woman as he sipped a cup of coffee.
Hermione sighed, dropping a cube of sugar into her own cup. She looked around her kitchen until her eyes fell upon her husband. Upstairs, one of the babies cried.
"I'll get him." Ron declared, hurrying from the kitchen and up the stairs. He returned a moment later with Liam to see a look of insight on his wife's face.
"Well, we'll have to get Ginny to talk first." She began. "Because she could skew the results the most. She can't be let in on the secret, but Harry must be."
Remus shook his head sceptically. "That won't work Hermione. I don't think he'll cooperate at all."
Hermione nervously chewed on her fingernail. She knew this was the only thing that would work, and it was the only plan any of them had devised. "We'll ask him nicely and if that doesn't work, we'll have to threaten him." She replied effortlessly. "We won't tell him until he gets here and we'll sabotage him. If he refuses to cooperate we'll threaten to give he and Ginny a memory charm." She offered an innocent smile and feigned naïveté.
He won't like that." Remus declared, knowing the woman was joking, or at least he hoped she was. "He might be angry with her, but he's still protective of anyone with the last name Weasley."
Ron nodded. "It'll be ok. I think we have no choice but to trust Hermione. Ginny is just slowly fading away to a person we don't know anymore those articles in the Prophet are killing her, and I hope Harry isn't using his new job to run away from his problems. The Prophet isn't helping either one of them.".
Men were still coming out of the woodwork saying they had courted Ginny Weasley. Each article was a lie of course, but it mattered not to the Daily Prophet who's subscriptions were up fifteen percent! Since the day Harry had passed his educational tests, his story had been rehashed in the news as well. From his earliest days in the Wizarding World, his first year at Hogwarts, the numerous times he encountered a rendition of Lord Voldemort, saving Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets, losing Sirius in the Department of Mysteries, falling into a five year coma and awaking to find life had passed him by. It was all there in black and white.
"Sorry Remus, we've got to go. We're due at the Burrow for Ginny's birthday. You and Harry are more than welcome to come over." Hermione declared with a hopeful smile.
"Thank you Hermione, but Harry isn't quite ready and I promised I'd help him pack up anything he had forgotten. Tell Molly we appreciate her hospitality and I'm sure Harry will try and get everyone together before his new job begins so you can see the house in Hogsmeade. Wish Ginny a Happy Birthday."
Harry had rather enjoyed his last night at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. They had stayed up late, eating more food than Harry could remember even Molly Weasley serving and exchanging stories and memories. Harry had confided his nervousness over teaching, being near Snape, living alone- something he had never done, and being alone for the rest of his life. He feared turning into a bitter old man, like Snape was, and not finding happiness in this lifetime.
Dumbledore's advice weighed heavily on his mind. Lovers not finding each other in this life would be faced with finding each other again in the next. Evidently Ginny was his fate, but was he ready to accept and forgive that fate? He couldn't bear to talk about it with Moony, whom he'd burdened enough, especially knowing the moon was waxing and he would soon be taking his Wolfsbane Potion. He looked exhausted, so Harry wrestled with the thoughts in his own mind. He had gone to bed late, gotten up early and had gone to Hogsmeade to attend to last minute details.
Harry looked down at his wrist. Damn. He made a mental note to buy a new watch. However, his eyes caught the red yarn wrapped around his wrist. Ginny. He quickly put the thought of her out of his mind and looked around to see where he put his clock. 1:50. Damn. He needed to clean up, he was due at Ron's and Hermione's.
Harry thought Ron and Hermione seemed nervous upon his arrival. He tried making idle chitchat; how were the boys, how were the wedding plans, how was Ginny's birthday? But the two of them didn't answer as they rushed about the house, tidying up, brewing tea, and quieting the babies. Discovering tea would not be served any time soon, Harry trudged up to the nursery and slouched down into a rocking chair making himself as comfortable as possible.
He heard the grandfather clock downstairs in the hallway chime three times as Hermione rushed up the stairs with her wand pointed straight at Harry's face.
"I'm telling you right now that I brought you here under false pretences." She growled, pushing her wand Harry's forehead. "If you leave, if you jeopardize this in any way, I will hex you. Ginny will be here any moment and you are about to hear her out."
Harry scowled and clenched his teeth, he put his hands on the arm of the chair in effort to push himself up but Hermione began speaking again.
"Harry, you can hate me for the rest of your life if that's what you want to do, but I'm not going to feel guilt for this. You need to hear this. You will sit right there and listen to every damn word."
She was breathing heavily and looking intensely at him.
"And if I don't?" Harry shot back, folding his arms across his chest.
Hermione smirked, she had been prepared for this. "I'll hit you so hard with a memory charm you'll end up sharing the Closed Ward with Lockhart at St. Mungo's, and Ginny too. Ginny had no part of this, she doesn't know you're here, and I don't want her to know. I just wanted you to hear her out."
Harry opened his mouth to protest but quickly changed his direction as he saw Ron enter the room. "I suppose you're in in this too."
Ron nodded, pressing something white and square into his wife's palm. "Yep. See ya."
"You're leaving?" Harry questioned angrily.
"Are you mental? I'm not staying here to listen to Hermione and Ginny talk. Besides, Gin wouldn't say all the right things if I were here."
"What makes you think she's going to say the right things if I'm here?" Harry quickly retorted.
"She's not going to know you're here. That is, if you stay in this room and shut up and listen."
Harry's mouth dropped open in outrage and offence. "You've gone behind my back and meddled. Again!"
Hermione knelt down at Harry's side, resting her hand on his knee. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Harry. I love you. You've done an amazing job bringing yourself into the present, but I think you needed some help. I know you and Ginny are soul mates. I just know it. I picked up on it long before either of you did. I individually heard both sides of your story from the beginning. Ginny told me she had a crush on you since the day I met her. You told me the summer after fifth year that you thought you were developing feelings for her - "
Behind Hermione, Ron raised his eyebrows in pleasant amazement.
"Harry, you didn't have the close family environment. Me? I didn't have any siblings. So I elected myself the person in charge of your life." she held out her hands in defence. "I know it's not fair. You should be that person, but know that when people care about you, they want the best for you. Even if you don't know it yourself." She bit the corner of her lip and blushed. "I intervene, OK, I stick my nose in because I care and I want you to be happy. Before you get really angry, I want you to know this was all my idea. No one elses. Not Ron's, not Ginny's, not Remus's." She closed her eyes momentarily before looking up toward Harry. "This is your chance Harry. I can do this. I can make Ginny say everything you need to hear without her knowing you're listening."
"How?" Harry demanded, his curiosity peeked.
Hermione glanced over her shoulder at Ron and forced a smile before squeezing Harry's knee and returning her gaze to his green eyes. "Well. I'm sorry to say that I thought of this in regard to what happened that night at the Burrow, you know, after the Christening? I figured since it worked the first time that you overheard everything, I thought it might work a second time."
She pushed off Harry's knee and walked over to the dresser between the babies cribs. She set down the small, white box that Ron had given her next to an almost identical one. "These are the baby monitors my cousin Tracy bought the boys when they were born, we haven't used them much because we could do the same thing with magic of course, but anyway, I'm sure you know how they work."
"Like a one way radio." Harry replied glumly, looking over at Ron's confused face.
"Yes, well, if I take the other monitor downstairs and turn them both on, you could listen to everything Ginny and I had to say." Hermione's reply sounded legitimate, but Harry knew morally it was wrong.
"Eavesdropping, in other words."
Hermione shrugged. "I know, and I'm sorry. But you won't believe a thing she says unless you know she's saying it out of freedom. This way, she could speak freely and you would know the truth."
"You've apologized to me, and I haven't agreed to it yet, mind you, but will you tell Ginny and apologize to her?" Harry countered, staring Hermione down intensely as he began rocking in the chair.
She nodded. "Yes, but only after I get the truth out of her. She's the one person who could spoil the results of this experiment and - "
"It's not an experiment Hermione! This is real life!" Harry lamented, rising from the chair and pacing across the room.
"Shhh!" Ron and Hermione both gasped, pressing their index fingers to their lips, looking down at the twins, sleeping peacefully in their cribs.
Harry rolled his eyes and winced apologetically. "I'm sorry, but this isn't a game."
"Don't you think we know that mate?" Ron finally had spoken up, he looked like a teakettle about to steam. "We don't think this is funny. The fact that we're willing to really piss you off should tell you something you thick headed twit. We're serious about this. We're willing to risk our friendships and families over this. We know you and Gin belong together and we'll do our part to help get you back there."
"Hello! Is anybody home?"
Ginny's voice echoed up from the sitting room.
"Just a second Gin!" Hermione hollered back, turning to Harry with a look of desperation and pleading on her face.
"Harry, this is wrong." She whispered, reaching her hands out to him. "Please believe me that I do know this is wrong, but that it's the only thing I could think of to get you to listen. If I had another choice, I wouldn't have chosen this one. Please, please, please say you'll stay and listen. She loves you so much, I know she does and I'll get her to explain herself. You can do whatever you want with the information, deny it, accept it, move past it, act on it, but at least listen. Please?" her voice faded away to almost nothing as the tears brimmed her eyes again.
Ron interrupted as Harry seemed to be considering Hermione's request. "I've got to go love. Good luck." He extended a hand out for Harry's, who took it begrudgingly. "Harry, my wife has some messed up ideas about love and friendship and snooping on people, but I think you need to hear this from Gin, and since you aren't ready to be in the same room with her, this is the next best thing." He squeezed Harry's hand firmly and let it drop before Disapparating out of his sons' bedroom.
"Everything OK Hermione?" Ginny called up from the foot of the stairs.
Hermione stepped out into the hallway and pasted on a smile. "Yes, it's fine, just putting the boys down. Pour the tea, would you?"
She held the smile until Ginny disappeared and ducked back into the nursery. "Listen or not, just promise you won't leave until I come back up to talk to you." Hermione picked up one of the monitors, turning it on and with the flick of her wand, turned the remaining monitor on, exited the room and shut the door, refusing to look back at Harry.
"Sorry Gin, I just wanted to make sure they were both asleep." Hermione declared as she entered the sitting room, where her sister in law sat, cradling her head in her own hands. Hermione set the baby monitor down on the fireplace mantle.
"Ginny, what's wrong?"
Hermione could obviously see Ginny's shoulders shaking as she curled her body forward, letting her forehead rest on her knees. The couch sunk a little as Hermione lowered herself down and sat next to her sister in law. "Gin?"
"I quit my job yesterday!" Ginny sobbed, covering her face with her hands. "Merlin, my life is so awful!"
Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "But Ginny, why would you do that? Why didn't you tell us last night at the birthday party?"
Ginny turned at looked at her sister in law incredulously. Was she daft? "Oh yeah," she replied sarcastically. "Mum and Dad will be so pleased knowing I've quit my job without having another one lined up. I heard a couple of girls talking about me at work yesterday. Truthfully it's been going on since the morning the first article appeared in the Daily Prophet about me and Harry. I just couldn't take the gossip anymore and I blew my stack and quit."
"Oh Ginny." Hermione replied in an almost chastising voice. "I take it you don't feel much better today?"
Ginny chuckled disparagingly. "Yeah, I feel just great, everything has just crashed down around me but I'm fine." She shook her head and wiped a few tears away. "I don't know anymore. I was just hoping all of this would go away, I was hoping Harry would just come to the party last night, but it's not like I expected him to remember my birthday."
"He did!" Hermione gasped, grabbing Ginny's hands. "He did remember, he asked me how the party was."
Ginny could only slowly shake her head. "Don't do this to me Hermione, I've all but given up hope. I can't imagine how much I've hurt Harry, it's taken me a good long time to realize it myself. I lied! I was trying so hard to find a way out of the mess I was in I couldn't even realize what I was doing wasn't right."
Ginny pulled her hands away from Hermione and ran her fingers thru her long, coppery red hair. "When I think of my behaviour over the last eighteen months it makes me sick. Not only did I hurt Harry, but I hurt my family and Dean- which doesn't actually concern me any more, but I really was trying to find a way to get out and tell Harry the truth. Hermione, you know that was my intention all along." The desperation and raw emotion was evident in her voice as she strained against her tears to speak.
Hermione cleared her throat as she laid a warm, comforting hand on Ginny's back. "Gin, if you wanted to be with Harry all along, why did you give up on him?"
Ginny exploded. "I didn't!" She screamed, rising off the couch and towering over Hermione. "I would never give up on Harry!"
Hermione rose to match Ginny's height. "Ginny, forgive me, but it just didn't look that way. After you and Dean got engaged you estranged yourself from the family, we didn't know you anymore."
"I didn't know myself!" Ginny countered, pacing the floor of the sitting room. "I met Dean and it had been so long since anybody paid me any attention. Thankfully, I hadn't lost Harry at that point, but it felt like I had. The only time I ever felt that alone was when I was possessed by Tom."
Hermione hadn't ever heard Ginny mention being possessed by Lord Voldemort and knew that the remembrance of it must feel terrifying all over again.
"I was spending day after day, of my own free will, with a person who by all practical purposes was unavailable to me. He couldn't hold me or comfort me and tell me everything would be all right. After almost four years of sitting with Harry day after day I was drained. That's not Harry's fault and I don't want him to ever feel that way, but I was at my weakest point when along came someone who said all the things I needed to hear."
"And so you fell in love with Dean?" Hermione asked, looking over her shoulder at the coloured lights on the baby monitor- the one upstairs in the nursery was still on.
Ginny shook her head slowly. "I never really fell in love with Dean. Not real, true love. I loved him, sure, I cared about him a lot. He was nice, polite, had a nice family, but I felt constricted and scared to let go of Harry. To be fair, I lied quite a bit to Dean. I'd tell him I picked up extra shifts at the hospital or someone called in sick, so I could continue to spend time with Harry. Dean never knew about the countless hours I sat there, holding Harry's hand. He knew I visited, but not to the extent I really did."
Hermione couldn't believe what her sister in law was sharing, she had never known these things before. "But Ginny, you told us all that you loved him, I, um, understood that the two of you were intimate with each other."
Ginny let out a broken sigh. "Well then it was believable, wasn't it? That was my plan, it was the only thing I could think of. It was underhand and backwards, but it was the only thing I could think of to keep my promises to Harry." Ginny paused to take a sip of tea before continuing.
"The night before the final battle I promised Harry he would be my one and only, I fully intended to keep that. When I met Dean and things began to progress a little, I started lying. I told him that I was a virgin and wanted to stay that way until I got married. Then I found myself at the Burrow that Christmas before Harry woke up. We were sitting there with everyone, everyone except Harry, having a Happy Christmas and Dean proposes- what was I supposed to say? No, I don't really love you, I was just using you for love, comfort and support while the man I really love lies in a coma? Everyone was looking at me and believing that I loved him, I had to say yes. I knew it was wrong, but I still didn't break my promise. I don't mean I was innocent, I snogged him, but I never shagged him contrary to what I let everyone believe. After our engagement Dean and I had an arrangement. He was beginning pressure me, and to question my reason for stalling on making love to him. So, I gave him a little license with my character. I let him have some bragging rights. He could tell people what he liked- we shagged eight times a day, whatever, I didn't care."
"You let him ruin your reputation in order to keep your promise to Harry?" Hermione demanded. "Ginny, your family was furious with you, the Prophet has done nothing but rake you through the mud, even me- I believed you!"
Ginny nodded glumly. "That was my intent. I would have done anything to keep my promise to Harry, that was all that mattered. At that point I'd done just about everything else, my standing and stature wasn't anything to worry about anymore. If I got Harry back, it was worth it. I know Mum and Dad never really liked Dean. Everyone compared him to Harry, and let's face it, even though Dean was an OK bloke, he couldn't hold a candle to Harry."
Hermione was aghast. "So, let me get this right, you agreed to marry someone based on the fact that they gave you the affection and support you needed and because he embarrassed you by proposing in front of your family? Ginny, what would you have done if you'd gotten to the alter?" She took her sister in law by the shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.
Ginny merely shrugged. "I shudder to think about it. I probably would have fibbed again. It doesn't matter now. I've ruined myself for anyone else and I'll live with that. I just want Harry to know the truth, to know he was never second best. I want him to know I would have done anything for him and he's still my one and only."
Ginny let out a broken sigh and forced a smile. "I just want him to be happy Hermione. Really happy. If Harry needs me to just let him go, I have no choice, I have to do that. If I can't make him happy, I want him to find someone who can. My life is miserable without him. I don't have a job anymore, I'm being trashed everyday in the Prophet, and I don't have anyone to tell me it will be all right because I've mucked it up so bad. I knew that first night at St. Mungo's that it was all over between Dean and me. Everything was based on lies, feelings that I forced for a need of empathy and an ache for the absence of Harry's presence in my life. Every time I left that hospital I left a piece of myself there with Harry. I was losing myself Hermione. I was weak, and I wanted so terribly to believe that Harry was coming back to me, but the Healers were telling me time wasn't on our side anymore."
She collapsed down onto the couch as the sobs racked her body and echoed throughout the room. "I can't imagine how many lives I've affected by all my lies. It's an awful feeling that consumes me, for the rest of my life,
every time I look at Harry I'll wonder what could have been."
Hermione could only wonder what Harry was thinking as Ginny poured her heart out. She could tell he was still listening, for the light on the baby monitor was still lit. Would he be angry? Pensive? Inspired? Hermione could only speculate, but knew she couldn't leave her sister in law at this critical point to go have a discussion with Harry.
Hermione rose and patted her sister in law on the shoulder. "Gin, let me refresh your tea and get you a handkerchief. Everything will be OK."
Ginny sniffed and nodded, watching Hermione disappearing from the room. She took a shallow breath, feeling the rush of fresh air rejuvenate her lungs and rose from the couch. On the mantle, above the fireplace, next to that crazy Muggle baby contraption Hermione received as a gift from her cousin, was a framed Wizarding photo of Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Benjamin and Liam from the Christening. Ginny reflected that later that day her world collapsed and everything just seemed to go wrong. She rested her chin on the wooden beam and gazed at the picture. She and Harry had their arms around each other and looked happy. He would occasionally smile at her and sweep a lock of hair behind her ear or squeeze her side, causing her to giggle contagiously. Ginny closed her eyes, relishing those brief moments, savouring each and every one. She began to whisper to herself, underneath her breath, almost prayerfully. "Oh Harry," she whispered, looking up at the picture. "I never want to feel this way about anybody else."
Hermione raced up the stairs after Ginny left to find the chair still rocking in the nursery, but Harry was gone.
Ginny's words had besieged Harry, he found it near impossible to sleep that night. Nonsensical dreams seemed to fill what little sleep he achieved.
Everything seemed to be happening lackadaisically, as if it were being shown to him in slow motion.
Harry felt as if he were walking out of darkness, feeling confident and fine. There were clouds around him that seemed to be lifting. He could feel Ginny's presence. She suddenly came into clear view, she was holding Dean's hand in a very innocent matter when he suddenly pulled her into a kiss. Harry could see the kiss was untried and caught Ginny by surprise. Their first kiss.
The image changed, but it was still Dean and Ginny. He was giving her a look of insinuation and nodding toward what must have been their bedroom. The thought made Harry sick, even though it was all in his head. Ginny rested her hands on his abdomen as Dean began to remove her dress. She looked fearful. Harry was begging for the dream to end, to let him go. He couldn't bear to look anymore, it was killing him, controlling his emotions and filling him with jealousy. He was tired of this sick fairytale before his eyes and tired of Ginny's replies. But then the dream changed, changed drastically.
Ginny was suddenly the one watching he and Olivia Ollivander sharing a moment of lust. He was aware that she was watching them and only became more attentive to Olivia, knowingly inflaming Ginny further. Harry tried to wake himself up, tried to tell his dreaming self to stop hurting her like this. He wondered how his relationship with Olivia had gotten this far. It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss, he was trying to convince himself. Ginny was preparing to leave, her spirit crushed by what she had seen. Olivia was laughing maniacally, taking a drag from a golden cigarette holder, and Harry started to feel the sick feeling all over again and trying to open his eyes.
He sat up with a gasp, clutching his chest, mumbling the words "I'd never" over and over not wanting to hurt Ginny, but he soon realized it was a lie. He already had. He had refused her explanation, and now that he'd heard it, it was haunting.
Harry realized that he'd done the same thing Ginny had. He'd sought out companionship and comfort from someone he wasn't in love with. Only his had been out of spite, not loneliness or emptiness. Ginny's words had permeated his soul. "I never want to feel this way about anybody else." It was like some kind of prayer, but he realized he felt the same way. He didn't want anyone else. He wanted Ginny. He wanted someone who already knew him; knew his mind, body and soul. Ginny had known Sirius. They shared six years together at Hogwarts. They both faced Tom in the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny stood by him in the Department of Mysteries.
Harry wanted to share and make new memories with someone he had memories of. Something about those last words she uttered seemed familiar, he'd heard them before. Yes, her words had been some kind of prayer, a prayer only the heart knew, and he knew his own heart prayed for the same thing.
Authors Note: Before anyone gets riled up- here goes. I intentionally presented you all with some misleading and dodgy information. Some of you jumped to conclusions (which was what I wanted) and made certain assumptions. No where in this fic did I claim Dean lived with Ginny. Ginny always called the apartment 'her flat.' In Chapter 4 "Ginny Apparated to the corridor outside her London flat." Also, "Ginny loved her little flat and would definitely miss it when she and Dean moved in together." I realize when Harry walked Ginny home in Chapter 10 he asked if Dean's stuff was out of the apartment yet. Ginny affirmed this. I think we all realize that engaged couples keep things at the home of their betrothed.
During the confrontation scene of Chapter 8, Ginny sarcastically replied to Hermione that she couldn't tell Harry over tea that she'd shagged Dean. This is in response and agreement with the arrangement they shared.
This is not back-pedalling- this was the plot. These "slip-ups" were intentional and all in the master plan. Chapter 15 in the works.
Harry's dream sequence was based on the song "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers.
Thanks to Karen, my beta and a super lady!