(A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this fic; I'm sick almost constantly and when I'm well I don't have much time to think of the little stuff like I'm going to be gone for about a week, so I'm leaving you all with a super long update to tide you over.)

As Harry walked past the stretch of wall where a door would soon appear he though hard, We need the old room back, the room where Dumbledore's Army practised. Harry went inside the old room and sat in one of the squishy cushions. There were a surprisingly small amount of cushions filled in the end. There was Ginny, of course, the Creevy brothers, Michael Corner and his friends showed up, as did Zacharias Smith, and Luna Lovegood wondered in vaguely.

"Okay, three things," Harry said, facing the small group and subconsciously gripping Ginny's hand. "Um, one, the rest of the time I may be Professor Potter, but I started this group as just Harry, so that's how I'll stay when I'm here. Two, since Ron and Hermione have gone, Ginny is my new assistant. Three, we need new members, so anyone, we'll say, fourth year or above who seems fairly interested in DADA can be invited. Bring any new members to a meeting that we'll have at seven thirty on Sunday. Is there anything you want to ask me?"

Zacharias sneered and said, "Why are you holding her hand? You're a teacher, and besides, no one wants to date a Weasley except that corner guy-" he jerked his thumb at Michael- "and sixth-year Gryffindors with no brains."

"We got engaged over the summer. Is that alright with you? Because if it's not, Zachy, we'll be happy to break the engagement," Ginny spat back at him. Harry grabbed her wrist, just in case she wanted to hit the idiotic boy.

"Okay, so we got the meeting time? See you seven thirty Sunday, then." Harry dismissed the meeting before things got out of hand. Only Ginny stayed behind.

"Hey," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her and planting a soft kiss on her cheek, "don't let it get to you, alright? We're going to have to put up with a certain amount of people who think this relationship is wrong-"

"Mostly swooning girls," Ginny broke in.

"-but I'd hate to see my girl, the most beautiful person I the whole world, upset. Or worse, with a detention because she hit a worthless rag like Smith. So just ignore them." They stood there in a close embrace for a while, before Ginny broke the silence.

"I loved your speech today," she said. "It was so true, and except that bit about you being braver taking this job. Anyone can deal with kids, I mean, Lockhart managed to stay a whole year, but you defeated the biggest evil on earth. I'm in love with the bravest man in the whole world."

The next day, Harry got to the great hall early to hand out the timetables. Doing the first years, Harry came across Mari Chang. He couldn't resist finding out how much this little girl knew about her sister and him.

"I used to know your sister," he told her.

"I know," Mari giggled, "she told me about you, and what happened, including the scene in the Room of Requirement." Harry was a little shocked. This little girl knew a lot about her sister and him. "Cho talks a lot about, Professor, and says she wonders if you still think about her. Really, all she thinks about is you, and how much she misses you." The bright little girl pulled a face. "It's a bit annoying really, no offence meant, Professor." Harry hurriedly moved on.

Slowly he worked his way through to the seventh years, leaving Ginny to last.

"I saw you talking to Mari Chang before," she said, resisting the urge to wrap her arms around Harry's neck. Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he laughed.

"You're supposed to address me as 'sir' or 'Professor' now," he told her, tugging her long fiery ponytail gently. "You'll have to remember that before our lesson tomorrow morning." But Ginny was not one to be diverted.

"So what did Mari tell you?" she asked. Harry gave a slightly embarrassed look.

"My little student was talking about her big sister," he said hesitantly.

"And?" Ginny raised her eyebrows. Harry spoke the next sentence very fast.

"She said that Cho talks about me all the time, and she wonders if I stillthinkabouther."

"It seems that Romilda isn't the only one trying to knock me out of the position of fiancé," Ginny muttered. "Well, I'd better go or I'll be late for charms." Giving Harry's hand a discreet squeeze, she darted off. Harry glanced at his watch, then rushed to prepare for his first lesson: Slytherins and Ravenclaws.

Because these students were in their fifth year, Harry started by telling them about OWLs.

"I'm not going to give you a huge lecture on them," he said, "because I know that three years ago I got enough lectures on the importance of OWLs to last me a lifetime. But I will tell you that these exams will affect your career and life. You will remember the somewhat- for the want of a better word- inexperienced Professor Umbridge? Well, I had her for my fifth year, and quite frankly she was so awful I had to take my education into me own hands; so I started the DA, and I don't want you to have to do something like that. I'm assuming you all heard what the DA, or Dumbledore's Army, was?" All the students nodded, more examples of the Hogwarts gossip chain.

Harry found teaching easy; but one thing he couldn't do was just sit behind his desk. He had to be either standing up the front, lightly leaning against his desk so he could see what the students were doing; or else roaming among the students, helping them and being generally friendly. Much to his surprise, Harry was soon everyone's favourite teacher; even the Slytherins seemed to have undergone a change of heart since all the sons of Death Eaters had left. Embarrassingly enough, Harry even had several letters of praise from parents. But one letter was slightly different.

Harry sat at breakfast, almost three months since he had started teaching. One part of his mind was planning the next DA lesson, which Harry was trying not to make too hard for all the new members. But as it was late November, there was a Hogsmede weekend for students to do their Christmas shopping. Ginny had promised to spend the morning at Harry's house on the outskirts of the village, and then Ron, Hermione and Mrs Weasley were coming over for lunch, so most of Harry's mind was focusing on those things, mainly the Ginny factor.

Hedwig swooped through with the other post owls, carrying a confirmation of the lunch today from Hermione; but another owl landed with her in front of Harry as well. He took the letter, which was written on gold parchment, and glanced at it. It was addressed:

To a Wonderful Teacher
Professor H. Potter
Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hoping sincerely that it wasn't another fawning letter from some student's parents, Harry tore open the note. It was from Cho Chang.

Dear Harry,

Firstly I want to thank you for teaching Mari so well. She says you're a great teacher, everybody's favourite, every girls heartthrob-" Harry gagged on his cereal- "and you make every student feel capable. Knowing you, I can believe every word of it.

Mari also describes her DADA lessons in great detail; from the sounds of it, you have a very advanced first year class. I congratulate you; having been taught by you before, I know how easy you make the spells seem. One day I think you might even have first years doing fully-fledged Patronuses!

But on a more personal note, I wish to mention our relationship. Mari will not say if you are seeing anyone, so I am in the dark here about what to say to you. I know we have not been in contact for some time; but I know that there was a spark between us, and I know that, given another chance, we could make things work. So please think about it.

Yours forever,

Cho Chang.

P.S. Send your reply via this owl.

Harry was dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say. He loved Ginny; Cho was just a crush that he had gotten over three years ago. But how to tell her that without hurting her feelings? He conjured a piece of parchment and some ink with a quill out of the air, and wrote:

Dear Cho,

I wish to thank you for your kind words in regards to my teaching. I really enjoy showing these kids how to defend themselves, and your sister is a bright girl to be treasured.

However, I must say now that I cannot see you anymore as anything but a friend. Knowing the amount of time this school spends gossiping, you probably heard that I was dating Ginny Weasley in my sixth year. I had to break it off at the end of the year, for fear of Voldemort using her as bait to get to me; but he found out that I loved her, anyway, and tortured her until she was on the brink of death. I managed to save Ginny, and we became engaged in August, to be married in July next year. You are welcome to come to the Wedding, if you wish.

Once again, thankyou for your praise of my teaching,

Professor H. Potter.

Sending the letter off with Cho's owl, Harry felt a slight twinge of guilt: he probably had not let her down gently enough. But then he saw Ginny walking out of the great hall and throwing glances at him, and the feeling fled.

Filch was, as usual, marking off students that left the school, and he let Ginny and Harry pass with a grunt, though he threw sour glances in Harry's direction: he thought it unnatural that a student should become a teacher so soon. Once outside, Harry showed Ginny the letter from Cho. He couldn't help smiling as he watched her expression change from surprise, to disbelief, to a sort of half-grim humour.

"Well," she said, "Cho Chang may want, but she won't get." Ginny slipped her hand into Harry's. "I would kiss you, but there are too many students around." Suddenly a camera flashed, and Harry saw a man running away. He and Ginny had been walking while they had talked, and so they had gotten to Hogsmede without realising that they had been followed since they left the Hogwarts grounds. Harry started to swear venomously.

"I should have remembered that people take an interest in me," he said bitterly. "I'm sorry, Ginny, this is probably going to be hell."

"If you can bear it, I can," Ginny said bravely, "and you've put up with it since you were fourteen. By the way," she added brightly, "I've thought of a date that might suit for the wedding. July 31st, your birthday."

"That's a great idea," Harry said. "What would be a great day anyway made the best day of my life." That were in Harry's house by now, and as he pulled Ginny towards him he reflected that he was probably one of the luckiest men in the whole world, to be there at that second.

Kissing Ginny was just like breathing, Harry thought three hours later. It was so easy you barely even thought about it, but you couldn't live without it. At least, he couldn't.

As Ginny lay with her head on Harry's chest, she thought that they couldn't get more perfect for each other. She had had a crush on Harry since she was eleven, which had eventually turned into more, and all she could think about was him. Harry had been a bit slower on the uptake, but had passed the ultimate test in saving her from Voldemort. As Ginny rolled over and fit her body around Harry's, her eyes were filled with him.

Yet again, later on, Harry broke the comfortable silence.

"Ron, Hermione and your mother will be here in half an hour, so we'd better start making lunch," he told Ginny, getting up off the big couch that they lay on and kissing her on the forehead. Harry and Ginny were both quite accomplished cooks- Ginny had been taught by her mother and Harry had helped Aunt Petunia in his younger years- and together they got lunch done quickly. When everything was done, Ginny rushed off at the last minute to brush her hair, which had gotten slightly messy in the proceedings. Harry didn't bother, as his hair never lay flat anyway.

Later, Mrs Weasley surveyed her on, daughter and their fiancés happily.

"I'm so glad everything has worked out," she said. "So, when are the weddings?"

"Ours is on Harry's birthday," Ginny said. "July 31st."

"And our honeymoon will be two weeks," Harry put in, holding Ginny's hand under the table.

"Well that works out well," Hermione said. "Our wedding is on August 25th. You'll be back in plenty of time." She seemed to glow as she talked of the wedding.

"So where are you going on your honeymoon?" Ron asked, eyeing his sister.

"We're going to spend five days travelling the coast of north-eastern Australia, then nine days on one of the island resorts of Fiji. What about you?" Ginny countered.

"Not saying," Ron smirked.

"But we'll be gone for four weeks," Hermione added. She and Ginny started whispering, and soon moved their conversation into the lounge room. Ron strayed into the kitchen, insisting that he was helping Harry clean up, but really just watching. Harry showed him the letter from Cho, and told him about the photographer.

"I hope Ginny can cope with the stress," Harry said. "I just know the press will make a big scandal out of it somehow."

"My sister is strong, mate," Ron assured him. "Just take care of her and show her that you love her."

"I will," Harry promised. "Her 18th birthday is in a week, and I'll make it special."

But when Witch Weekly came out the following day, Harry knew he would have to make Ginny's birthday the best day of her life so far.