Disclaimer: No profit is being made off this story. In fact, it's rather the opposite of profit, considering the amount of time I spend writing that I should spend on more lucrative activities.

His Mum's Eyes

Harry slept on his side, his back facing Ron's side of the room. Ginny, sent to wake the boys up for breakfast, couldn't resist the temptation. She wriggled under his arm, pressing full-length against him, hooking her leg over his hip.

"You have interesting ways of waking me up," he growled softly, glancing over his shoulder at Ron's sleeping form.

Ginny grinned mischievously, a hand roving over his bare chest, tickling his ribs.

"Cruel, absolutely vicious. Your brother is barely across the room."

"Mmhmm," she hummed against his skin. "It's more fun because you resist, you know."

"What happens if I stop resisting?" He shifted, pinning her to the mattress.

"Then we have a whole new game."

"You are wicked," Harry huffed, shifting his weight off again. "Now get out of my bed and go wake your brother for breakfast. Shoo."

Ginny kissed his nose impishly, pushing him over on his back and crawling over him slowly to reach the far side of the bed. She hopped down and altered her expression to one more sisterly.

"Ron, if you're not out of bed in thirty seconds, I'm going to use Aguamenti on you. I've been just itching to try it out since Hermione showed me how to add ice to it."

"Sadistic, you are. Ron warned me." Harry gathered his clothes and left for the shower, chuckling.

After breakfast, he and Ginny went to Hogwarts to go flying. They took a break when Ginny noticed Dobby with a bag of bread crusts for the giant squid.

They tickled the squid's tentacles until the crusts were gone and Dobby popped away. Harry leaned back in the grass to watch the clouds. Ginny swung herself over his torso and pinned him to the ground. "Now I've got you."

"Hmm."

"I believe you promised me a ride."

"Alright." He raised a brow and levitated her off him, summoning his Firebolt as he stood.

"Your chariot awaits." He bowed and held the broom steady as she climbed on. He settled himself behind her and adjusted the cushioning charm to seat both of them comfortably, obligingly wrapping an arm tightly around her.

Harry directed the broom to drift slowly over Hogwarts grounds at a low altitude.

"Oh come on, Harry, I could levitate myself faster than this." She playfully swatted his thigh. "Giddyup!"

Harry dropped his arm from her waist to grip the broom as they suddenly rocketed skyward, the air leaving her lungs in a whoosh. He held her securely, her body pinned snugly between his arms and thighs, as they tore up the pitch, performing a perfect Sloth Grip Roll before diving in a modified Wronski Feint. He pulled the broom out of the steep dive, spiraling off at an angle to loop and spin like a roller coaster broomstick ride. He finished with a few backwards loop-the-loops and they coasted in for a landing, breathless.

"That was amazing." Ginny dropped to the grass. "I don't think I can walk."

Harry grinned. "You've played Seeker; you've flown like that before."

"Yes, but it's different." She reached for his hand, tugging him down beside her. "When I fly, I know what I'm going to do next."

Just then, his stomach growled loudly and she chuckled. "Okay, I guess that means we need to find that picnic basket. Accio brooms!"

They flew through the castle, racing down the corridors and skidding around corners until they arrived at the doorway to the War Room. "Oh, we should have visited Hagrid." Harry paused and frowned.

"I think he's been a bit busy lately. He went to France for awhile, remember? He finally got himself a new wand. And some private lessons with Madame Maxime, I'd wager. We'll have plenty of time to see him once school starts. Maybe we can talk him and Grawp into sparring with us. The rest of our bunch isn't much of a challenge anymore." She buffed her nails on her jumper.

Harry laughed. "Can't curse giants, you know. Their hide is too tough. You'd have better luck throwing rocks."

"I heard of a guy who took down a giant with a rock in a sling."

Harry shrugged. "That's as good a strategy as any, though I think Hermione's laughing gas might be easier."

Back at Headquarters, Ginny went to put their brooms away.

"Winky?" Harry called.

"Yes, Master Harry?" The little elf popped into Harry's room. Remus had added a fireplace so Harry could Floo directly to his house from his room.

"Did you already take the trunk and picnic basket to Godric's Hollow?"

"Oh yes, Master! Treacle tart, Butterbeers, potato salad, turkey sandwiches and crisps."

"Thanks Winky," Ginny said as she entered the room. "That sounds great. Do you know where my mum is? I told her we'd let her know when we were going."

"She is already there." Winky indicated the Floo.

Ginny looked startled. "Okay…" she gave Harry a puzzled look. "Did you give her the password so she can go without you? Anytime she wants?"

"Well, I gave her a password," Harry stroked his jaw and perused the ceiling.

"What kind of a password?"

"Well, there are two passwords right now," Harry was now inspecting his fingernails. "One that you and I have, and one that the others have."

"Why?"

"Well, the one the others have triggers a doorbell," Harry explained, slightly pink around the ears. "And if we're there, we can refuse admittance."

"How?"

"Well, if we're in the house and the doorbell--er, Floobell?--rings, we just say 'come in' or 'go away' and the Floo either lets them in or sends them back where they came from. If we aren't there, it lets them in. I can change it so no one can come in if we're not there, but only people we trust have the other password, so I don't mind if they go anytime they want. Mi casa es su casa, or however that saying goes."

"Rather ingenious of you. I'm impressed." Ginny's lips quirked at the corners.

"I asked Tonks about it, actually." Harry shrugged. "I didn't want the suspicious looks from anybody else. She's cool that way."

"Why would you get suspicious looks?"

"Everyone thinks I'm going to do something stupid, like take off on my own, if I ever try to get a moment's privacy." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well, you do have that sort of history, you know." Ginny bit her lip. Quietly, she asked, "Do you want more time to be alone?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I've learned my lesson. I used to think I should just do everything myself and not endanger anyone else. But I can't put people in a safe little box and expect them to stay there. First, there is no safe little box; and second, everyone I'm trying to protect is almost as stupidly noble as I am, so the moment I turn my back, they're escaping from the box to come after me." He gave her a mock reproachful look that she pointedly ignored.

"Hiding people away for safety isn't the answer. That's what Dumbledore did to Sirius, and to me, too. I should never have even considered doing that to you. I'm sorry.

"I understand," she said, "I'd do anything to keep you safe and protected, too, you know."

They found Mrs. Weasley puttering around the garden, tending a few overgrown flowering plants.

"Oh hello dears!" She smiled and waved. "I hope you don't mind, Harry. Some of your rose bushes needed pruning, and it was such a lovely day, I felt like being outdoors. Oh, and I refreshed the mowing charm on your grass. It must have worn off when you redid the Fidelius."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, I didn't really know what to do about the grass, or the roses. I couldn't find a lawnmower or pruning shears anywhere."

"I'm happy to help." Mrs. Weasley patted his cheek indulgently. "I enjoyed it. It's so lovely and quiet here. I'll just head back to Headquarters now, though, I have some Order business to attend to."

"Is it normal for your mum to just leave us alone like this?" Harry asked as they watched her enter the house.

"Well, no, not really. She's always been the mother hen type, but I had a little chat with her recently." Ginny fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt. "I think she feels sort of responsible for Percy's leaving, for not allowing him enough freedom to make his own mistakes and learn from them."

"That makes no sense," Harry frowned in confusion, as they found a nice patch of grass in the shade to have their picnic.

"Well, you know how Percy is about following rules? Mum reckons she made him that way, because that's how he got her attention when he was little. He was always her little prefect, you know? Same at school and then his job. Authority figures love people who follow their rules; ergo, that's what makes him feel valuable. He follows and enforces rules without really thinking, because rules are more important to him than the results. He can't see the forest for the trees. Hermione could have ended up the same way, if she hadn't met you and Ron."

Harry gave her a look of astounded disbelief. "And your mum feels responsible for his personality? What if he was just born that way?"

"Well, then she feels responsible for his genetics," Ginny said, sitting down on the insect-repelling blanket.

"Do all parents feel bizarre amounts of guilt over every stupid thing their kids do?" Harry asked as he joined her on the ground.

"Well, parenting is a big responsibility, I suppose. Mum just has trouble knowing when that responsibility is over. She and Dad did their best to raise us and teach us to make the right choices. Now they just have to let us."

"I'm sure they trust your choices. They just want to keep you safe. I can understand that."

"But I'm not some passive little wallflower," she reminded him. "If that's what you wanted in life, you'd have stuck with Cho, or gone for Lavender, or some other girly girl who would sit around and cry over you--and then turn to someone else for comfort and forget all about you." Ginny's voice carried a rather harsh tone.

Harry turned his attention to the picnic basketHe hated when she got upset with him.

"Harry," Ginny's hand touched his arm. "I've waited for you for years already. I probably would have waited for you to finish this war, too, if you'd asked. But I might not have been the same person when you came back. We both might have changed so much that we'd have been strangers by then. I don't want to be shunted aside and taken for granted."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Harry finally asked.

"I guess, well..." Ginny drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. "We'll be going back to school in a few days. I've kind of gotten used to being with you all the time. At school there are a lot of other people who want your attention. And half of them are girls," she finished quietly.

"And the other half are boys, who would gladly take your attention." Harry scowled for a moment. "Comes back to trusting each other to make the right choices, doesn't it? And we trust each other."

"Communication is pretty important too." Ginny glanced at him, her eyes pleading.

"Not my strongest attribute, I know."

"It'll be okay." Ginny kissed him firmly and patted his thigh. "Unless we starve." She opened the basket, handing him the Butterbeers while she set out the food. She paused, looking down at the sandwich in her hand. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to act so possessive."

Harry quirked an eyebrow. "I don't mind."

Ginny laughed. "I've created a monster."

"Yup," Harry agreed, unconsciously rubbing his chest.

Ginny moved onto a new subject, and Harry was a bit too absorbed watching her eat--that thing she did with her tongue was intriguing--to really listen to her talk about Crookshanks and how she liked cats, and how silly it sounded that Crookshanks and his friend seemed to communicate with her.

"Why would that be silly?" He blinked as he caught up to the conversation. "Snakes talk, why wouldn't cats? Crookshanks is smarter than most people; we've known that for ages." He squinted at her, cocking his head to the side. "I bet you'd have some sort of cat Animagus form."

"That would be fun. Maybe I'll talk to McGonagall about it sometime. That's a better theory than Luna's."

"What brilliant off-the-wall theory did Luna have?"

"Some nonsense about harnessing the ancient powers of Bast." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Bast?"

"Ancient Egyptian cat goddess," Ginny explained. "Corresponds to Artemis, the red-headed Goddess of the Hunt."

"What did she hunt?" he asked, not sure if he should take this seriously or not.

"Er, souls, apparently."

Harry just blinked. "What?"

"Well, I was in the library at Hogwarts with Crookshanks and he wanted me to look at a certain book on mythical magic, so I ended up bringing it back to Headquarters with me, and Luna asked to read it. Then she came up with this theory,"

"Well, a lot of people like cats, why would she think you have special ability to harness powers of Bast? Erm, not that you couldn't if you wanted to, of course."

"Well, there are some particular weapons and spells mentioned, and if we figure them out, maybe I could be of more help." Ginny glanced at him. "I think Luna latched onto the Artemis theory because Artemis was always accompanied by a silver stag, something like your Patronus, I imagine."

"Oh."

"And she wondered about the spells your mum used..." Her eyes flickered up to his scar. "Because Artemis was also the patroness of protecting the young."

Harry frowned. "Would that would qualify as ancient magic?"

"No idea. It should; it's ancient Egyptian stuff. Bill might know." Ginny stood and dusted herself off. She used her wand to clean up the picnic things and levitated the basket in front of them. "But first let's have a go at that chest."

Harry heaved a sigh, pulling his t-shirt off. "Oh alright, you insatiable minx."

"Insatiable-?" She whirled, dropping the floating picnic basket when she found herself encircled by a pair of strong arms, facing a wall of toned muscles.

"This isn't quite the chest I was referring to." She tipped her head back to meet his teasing look. "But…" her fingers tickled their way up from his waist, making him twitch. "I think we can work with it."

"You're so adaptable."

"Lucky you didn't say 'flexible.' Then I would have had to demonstrate."

"Hmm..." Harry was lost in pleasant speculation for a few moments.

As they walked through the lounge, Harry snagged her round the waist, pulling her down on the couch with him. "I'm glad you're so flexible. And inventive." His whispers tickled her ear as he deftly removed the elastic from her ponytail, freeing her hair and running his fingers through it. "Not to mention creative."

"Don't forget innovative and ingenious."

"How about incorrigible?" he suggested between kisses.

"Definitely." She squirmed against him.

"And deviously distractive," he mumbled against her neck. "You could almost make me forget about that blasted trunk."

She grinned. "Delightful."

A muffled "pop" from the kitchen startled them. Harry hastily pulled his shirt back on and straightened his glasses.

"It's Winky," Ginny whispered. "Mum sent her, I'm sure."

"Right," Harry answered hazily. "Um. Yeah. What was it we're supposed to be doing here? Oh, right, the trunk."

Ginny straightened her clothes and pulled her hair back into its customary ponytail while Harry dragged the trunk to the table. He tried and retried spells with no success. With a disgusted sigh, he took off his glasses and cleaned them on the hem of his t-shirt. "Any ideas?" He looked hopefully at Ginny.

Ginny's gaze shifted from his eyes to a spot on the wall just over his shoulder, then back to his eyes again.

"Wow, you really do have her eyes," She looked back at the photo on the wall. "Without your glasses it's even more noticeable." She frowned. "Hmmm."

"What?" Harry asked, glancing up at the photo of his parents on the wall. His mum winked at him.

Ginny just put out a hand for silence. Her fingers stroked her eyebrows as she paced. "I've seen something recently, where was it…about eyes…. Oh…" She stopped pacing and frowned, looking disappointed. "Oh, I remember. It was just a film," she sighed.

"What?"

"Ah, just the old 'you have your mum's eyes,' thing, I guess," Ginny looked a bit embarrassed. "You know my mind, always running off on a tangent; I guess it reminded me of a film we watched awhile ago, where they used a scanning thing to identify people by their eyes. Remember?"

"Oh yeah, James Bond," Harry nodded.

"Well, that metal thing on the trunk is oval, like an eye shape," Ginny shrugged. "Maybe your mum was a science fiction fan."

"But I don't really have her eyes, a retina scanner wouldn't be fooled," Harry said.

"She would've used magic though," Ginny noted. "Not a real scanner. Or she could've set it to open for you even when you were a baby--but you didn't have glasses then. Take them off and try it. Can't hurt."

Harry hesitated, then sat in the chair and aligned his eye with the oval. "Now what?"

"I don't know, tell it to open."

"Open up," Harry commanded. "Um, Alohomora?" He gasped and fought to stay still and keep his eyes open when he felt a soft puff of what felt like air against his eyeball. He heard a soft click and reached to push up the lid.

"What do you think Harry and Ginny are up to?" Hermione wondered, flipping pages in an old spellbook.

"I imagine the same thing we'd be getting up to if I had my own house," Ron said sardonically. He winced. "Ugh, nasty mental image; that's gotta go." He quickly withdrew a tiny silver strand from his temple and tossed it to the floor. "Ah, better. Um, I imagine they're degnoming the garden or something," he said, nodding sagely.

Hermione huffed and glanced at her watch, which indicated a new message had come in. "Wrong answer, on both counts, Ron! They've got the trunk open! Let's go!"

"What in the world is this?" Harry flipped through notebooks of handwritten pages. "It's all Greek to me."

Ginny craned her neck to look over his shoulder at the notebook in his hands. "You're right, I think it is Greek. Maybe Hermione will know how to translate. She should be here any minute. I sent her a message."

As if on cue, the Floobell rang. "Come in," Harry said softly, giving Ginny a grin when Hermione and Ron burst through the swinging door from the kitchen.

Hermione immediately grasped a notebook while Harry explained how they had finally opened the trunk.

"Harry, have you any parchment?" Hermione asked.

"Erm, sure, hang on." He pulled several sheets from a desk drawer. "Here."

"Thanks," she said absently.

"You can read Greek?"

"Translator spell," she answered tersely, one finger in the notebook to mark her place while she scribbled frantically on the parchment Harry had brought her.

"Can I help?" Ginny asked.

"Erm, so far it's just random research on Greek myths." Hermione seemed reluctant to share the task. "It might be best to just have one translator, so we don't have variations on translations."

Harry saw Ginny take on a mutinous look. He casually reached for her hand. She frowned up at him and he gave her a tiny shrug and apologetic smile. "While she's doing that, why don't we plan a little back-to-school party here tomorrow?"

She followed him into the kitchen. "What's to plan? Tell Winky to stock up on crisps and Butterbeers and crank the Wireless."

Harry turned, capturing her in his arms and pressing her back against the wall. "Let Hermione do her thing," he murmured. "Makes her feel useful and gives us more time to do this." His lips teased her ear and neck.

"We could get it done faster if she'd let someone help," Ginny said, still sounding a bit tetchy.

"Probably, but she'd still be determined to go through everyone else's translations, which would just waste more time. Just let her be. I think she's jealous that you found a way to open the trunk, and this is her way of being indispensable. She just wants to help."

"I know," Ginny sighed. "Alright then, what do we need to do for this party?"

"Well, I was thinking we'd just tell Winky to stock up on crisps and Butterbeers while we crank up the Wireless."

"Good plan." Ginny nodded, keeping a straight face. "Winky?"

"Yes Miss Ginny!" Winky materialized from the pantry.

"What do you think about hosting a little gathering tomorrow?"

"Oh, that will be fun, Miss!" Winky clapped. "How many guests?"

"Erm, let's see..." Harry frowned, dropping into a chair. "About seven? Maybe nine if Tonks and Lupin come. We'll just be hanging around, so we'll need some snacks, sandwiches and drinks. Dobby is welcome to join us, of course." Harry grinned at the little elf.

"Dobby is busy at the school, Master, sir. They is getting ready for students." She looked at Harry shyly. "Can Winky work at Headquarters while Master is at school? Even though the house is no longer Master's? Winky would be lonely here."

"Brilliant idea. I'd feel better knowing you're looking out for them. Maybe that'll give Lupin enough spare time to finish that little project we've been working on." He grinned wickedly.

"Why not just turn her into a giant canary? The twins already have that perfected."

"Ah, but that only qualifies as a prank," Harry explained. "We're aiming for justice."

Ginny snorted. "Poetic justice?"

"Well, cruel irony, at least."

"She deserves whatever she gets, I guess." Ginny shrugged. She glanced at the door. "So, do you want to go back in there?"

"Just a tic, I have to do something." Harry pulled her close for several long moments while he inspected her lips with his own, pulling her hair tie out of her ponytail again. "There. Now try not to make me do that again while we're with Ron and Hermione. Ron gets all twitchy."

"Don't you like my hair pulled back?" She gave him a slight frown, taking the hair tie from his fingers.

"Oh yes, definitely." He nodded agreeably. "I like to rescue it."

"Rescue?"

"Mhmm." Harry gently ran his fingers through the silky lengths. "It begs me to set it free."

Ginny rolled her eyes, laughing. "You are so daft. Come on, let's see what Hermy has accomplished."

"You know she hates it when you call her that."

"Oh yes, I know. That's why I do it."

They emerged and sat with Ron, watching Hermione scribble frantically.

"Hermione, there's no way you're going to translate all those notebooks in one afternoon."

"No, I know." She glanced up. "Can we take these back to Headquarters, Harry? I need to consult some books." She added a few more scribbles to the bottom of her page.

"Sure. I need to find Lupin anyway. He wants me to practice Occlumency while he supervises."

Harry firmly projected the image of a phoenix while Lupin attempted to use Legilimency against him.

"Good! Now can you add sound to the projection?" Lupin asked.

"What kind of sound?"

"Fawkes has helped you on occasion," Lupin reminded him. "Think of the time in the Chamber. Phoenix song is encouraging for you, but has the opposite effect on your enemies. Let's use the Pensieve so you can hear it again."

Ginny tried to make sense of the translations Hermione had completed. "Are these encoded, as well as being in Greek?" she asked in frustration.

"I think so. We'll have to work on breaking the code. It'll be a Muggle code, spells won't work."

"How do Muggle codes work?" Ginny asked, mystified.

"Look for patterns," Hermione said vaguely. "Pick out every third word and see if it makes a sentence. Or read the words from right to left. Or set the words on a grid without spaces and see if new words are formed with letters diagonally. Things like that."

"I'll get Luna. She has a talent for all things obscure and abstract."

The girls worked together for several hours. Tonks joined them after she got back from the Ministry.

"How was your honeymoon?" Hermione asked politely.

"Oh it was absolutely brilliant," Tonks enthused. "We spent as much time as we could on beaches. Mmm, I love sun and sand."

"You both got nice tans." Ginny grinned. "Topless beaches?"

"You better believe it!" Tonks winked. "Remus looks good with those new sunshiny highlights in his hair, don't you think?"

"Sure," Ginny said blankly.

"Want to hear Remus' latest devious plot?" Tonks' voice dropped as she glanced around surreptitiously.

"Erm, I don't know." Ginny gave her a sidelong glance. "Do I?"

Tonks laughed. "You're going to love it. I can't wait. He's mixing some stuff with Gillyweed, Polyjuice and a little slime from Neville's toad. Polyjuice isn't meant for animal transformations, you see. Without prompt medical intervention, she could be stuck that way."

"But the Gillyweed will give her gills," Ginny mused. "She'd have to stay underwater all the time, wouldn't she?"

Tonks' eyes glittered. "Wouldn't that be unfortunate?"

"So what body of water will be polluted with her presence?"

"I don't think they've officially decided. At one point, they thought she'd be amusing for the giant squid at Hogwarts, not to mention the merpeople, but the twins thought the kelpie in Loch Ness might want some company."

"Tough choice." Ginny nodded seriously. "How will they get her to ingest it? I'd imagine she's pretty careful with her food."

"Most people who are acquainted with Fred and George are." Tonks snickered. "They'll figure it out, I'm sure. Maybe they'll inject it in an Alice band and send it to her from a secret admirer."

"They could sign Percy's name." Ginny scowled. "Prat. Maybe that'd get him fired so he'd come to his senses."

Tonks raised a brow. "There's a thought. I'll have to mention that to Remus." She glanced at the clock. "Time for supper. Let's eat and then we can run out to rent some films."

"Ooh good idea!" Ginny said. "Let's get enough to watch tomorrow for the back-to-school party too. You and Professor Lupin will come, won't you?"

"Wouldn't miss it!"