Picking Up Where You Left Off

Ginny tiptoed into Ron and Hermione's room to empty Ron's bucket. She knew the horror of waking up to it in the morning and thought she'd spare Hermione on her first night back home. Despit the fact that the cleaning spell wouldn't physically affect Ron nobody liked to use it around him. Like the floo network they worried about residual magic interfering with his recovery and tried to keep it to a minimum.

As Ginny leaned forward and reached out, she noticed Hermione smiling at her and froze.

"Sorry," Ginny whispered, "I didn't want to wake you."

"You didn't," Hermione whispered back, still smiling, "I've been up for a couple of hours now."

Ginny frowned at her friend before looking at Ron. He was sound asleep. Hermione was playing with his hair as she propped herself up on her side next to him, still with that serene smile on her face.

"Was he up all night?" Ginny asked as she glanced down into the bucket with a wince of revulsion.

"Just a couple of hours," Hermione shrugged. "Maybe three, I wasn't counting."

Ginny sat down as softly as she could on the side of the bed. There was something oddly hypnotic about Hermione's contentment while talking about being kept up all night by the harsh vomiting sounds of the man she loved. Hermione seemed to realise that her behaviour was slightly odd, and laughed quietly before leaning over and kissing the side of Ron's head. Then she sat up properly and explained herself to Ginny.

"You know how he doesn't like appearing weak in front of me?"

Ginny nodded as she set the sick bucket down again.

"Well, last night he cried," Hermione broke into a huge grin and hugged her pillow to herself in lieu of being able to hug Ron. "He let me see him cry. He let me take care of him."

Ginny looked back down at her brother and tried to understand exactly what it was Hermione was feeling, but she couldn't quite get there. She had seen Ron cry before. She had seen him at his weakest and most vulnerable. She had seen him in the most degrading positions, suffering in the most demeaning ways, and she had never once seen any reason to smile about it.

She did know why it meant the world to Hermione, though.

"That's all I ever wanted, Ginny," Hermione swallowed before looking back at Ron herself and running her fingers through his hair again tenderly, "I just wanted him to let me take care of him."

"He thinks it's humiliating," Ginny found herself choking out through her constricted throat, "he doesn't want people to see him being weak and pathetic. He doesn't realise...that it's...that he's strong, y'know?"

Hermione nodded.

Ginny took in a bracing breath, and immediately wished she hadn't as the smell of her brother's stomach contents hit her full in the face. She made a gagging noise and held her breath before reaching for the bucket and leaving the room with it. She paused at the door to smile back at Hermione. The weary but content-looking young witch was settling back down onto her side beside Ron.

Harry was rummaging through his travelling bag when Ginny stepped into the bedroom with a mug of hot tea in her hands. She was still wearing her rumpled dancing outfit from the night before and was barefoot as she wandered over and stood behind him.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea and crouching down beside him.

"Nothing, I'm just looking," Harry mumbled as he pulled out a wooden box with numbers along the top and two dice inside a felt lined tray.

"What's that?" Ginny pointed at it.

"Oh, it's a game they play in the bars in Thailand, I got it for Ron and then forgot about it."

"Oh," Ginny said, her voice brightening, "you mean we get presents?"

Harry laughed at this and finally tore his attention away from the large travelling bag.

"Yeah, you all got presents," Harry said with a shake of the head, "but I forgot to give them to you all what with all the puking and babies and…" Harry looked down at the hem of Ginny's short dress that was riding up high on her thigh, "other stuff."

Ginny slapped him on the arm and he lost his balance and bumped down onto his buttocks with a chortle. Ginny wriggled the dress back down as she knelt beside him and set her mug on the floor to lean over the open bag.

"So what did you get me?" she asked excitedly.

"Well I got this for when I see Charlie next, except he's gone back to Hungary now so it'll have to wait," Harry held up a box with various exotic insects mounted inside and Ginny shuddered.

"Don't let Ron see that," she warned him, "or Hermione for that matter, I'm sure she's against that sort of thing for some reason."

Harry had to agree with that and shoved the gift from Burma deep inside his bag once more.

"So what was it you got me then?" Ginny said, patting her hands against her lap impatiently.

"Well," Harry rummaged further inside his travelling bag and pulled out something that looked like mould in a triangular jam jar, "that's for Neville," then an intricately woven shawl in a quite stunning shade of blue, "got this in Korea for your mum," then he removed something called a roadside emergency kit and laughed to himself, "I did get this for your dad, y'know what with his Muggle fetish and everything? I think it's better suited to Fred and George now though."

Ginny huffed and yanked the box out of Harry's hands to set down out of the way with all the other 'gifts'.

"That's lovely Harry but wh-" she was beginning to say sharply before seeing Harry's face light up and him plunge himself, almost shoulder-deep, into the bag.

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed before pulling back out of the bag with something small in his hands.

Ginny was so enthusiastic that she jiggled excitedly and one of the straps of her dress slipped off her shoulder. Harry felt his focus wavering, along with his loins, in her direction and leaned over to brush his lips against hers.

"We can go through this lot later," Harry murmured into her mouth as he slid his free hand up her thigh and beneath her dress.

"Give me what you've got, Harry," Ginny sighed as his hand slipped around her hipbone and squeezed her firm bottom.

"Oh, I intend to," he said as he pulled Ginny on top of him and set about wriggling her slinky little dress over her head.

"Harry!" Ginny said sternly as she prised his hand open and shimmied her dress back down, "I meant give me what you've got!"

She pulled the small plastic device from his hand and scrunched up her nose before looking back down at him in his slightly confused and highly aroused state.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Ginny said, laying the little device on the palm of her hand and holding it before Harry's nose.

"It's a snakebite thingy, for sucking out venom if you get bitten," Harry blinked back at her, "I had it for the jungle and I thought your dad might think it was funny."

Ginny blinked and stared back at him, as if willing him to be teasing her, while Harry sat himself back up again and felt his jeans pinching tightly at his crotch.

"'Cause I'm gonna give the roadside kit to the twins, remember?" Harry tried to explain while attempting to find a less painful way to sit that didn't threaten to circumcise his erection, "And it was meant for your dad…So I remembered that I had the snakebite thingy and thought he might…like…Ginny, are you about to punch me for some reason?"

"You really are an idiot, Harry Potter," Ginny snapped as she got back to her feet and stomped out of the room before returning with a flushed face, stooping to pick up her mug of tea and turning to leave again, "even more so then Ron!"

"Whoa, steady on there, Gin!" Harry protested as his girlfriend flounced out once again and slammed the door hard behind her.

Harry gaped down at his groin for a moment and shook his head in bewilderment.

"What did we do?"

Bill was feeding Luke in his high chair while Ron was pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice and watching Hermione preparing some porridge. The baby kept turning away from his father to reach out for his uncle and tug at his sleeve. Ron crouched down at his nephew's side and grinned before dipping his finger into the little jar of baby food Bill was attempting to make seem appetising.

"Wanna swap?" he whispered to Luke, "I get your nice orangey thing and you get my yucky grey goop?"

"No!" Luke said, gurgling a laugh as Ron looked annoyed.

Luke curled his little pudgy arms around the jar protectively and watched Ron with excited giggles.

"Some ally you are," Ron huffed as he stood up again, "Don't come crying to me when you've got chocolate pudding that wants eating, I'll be happily guzzling my lovely nutrient drink!"

Luke squealed with laughter and did not protest when his father held a heaped spoonful of revolting-looking orange mush before his lips.

"There ya go," Bill said with a smile as he watched his boy close his mouth over the entire spoon and swallow the baby food, "Don't let Uncle Ron get any of it."

Ginny was sitting quietly in the corner, seething about her thick-as-a-plank-boyfriend not giving her her bloody present and being more interested in nookie, as she saw Bill catching Ron's eye and silently thanking him for his help. Ron winked at him before turning back to Hermione and curling his arms around her waist.

"Speaking of the nutrient drink," Ron said in his very best 'asking a favour from mum' voice, "do I really have to have it today, Minminee?"

Hermione struggled not to smile at Ron using Luke's name for her as she hissed back her response over her shoulder.

"Not if you drink your juice and eat more then half of this," she nodded down to the porridge, "you don't."

Ron seemed to frown and consider his options.

"And I want you to eat something green today, too," she said as she stirred the porridge and straightened her back to adopt an immovable posture.

"Not sprouts or cabbage, Hermione, please," Ron winced.

"There are peas and green beans in the larder," Hermione spoke in a clipped tone that didn't invite argument, "and you will either eat some vegetables today or drink half a pint of your nutrient drink."

"But it tastes of ear wax," Ron moaned.

"Then I suggest you opt for the vegetables, Ronald," Hermione said with a chipper smile as she turned around in his loose arms and stood on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his lips.

Ron glanced over to Ginny miserably.

"I don't suppose she'd let me move across the road, would she?" he asked his sister.

Ginny smiled at him sympathetically and shook her head.

"Don't worry, Ron, at least Harry brought you a present back from his travels," she huffed, folding her arms.

Ron stood to attention and his eyebrows rose right up as high as they could go.

"Harry got me a present?" he said excitedly.

"Harry got everybody presents," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes.

"Cool!" Ron beamed as he released Hermione and set off out of the kitchen and up the stairs without even a glance back at his amused girlfriend.

"Do you sometimes get the feeling," Hermione put her hand on her hip and looked at Ginny with a shake of the head, "that you and I are getting in the way of the perfect marriage?"

Ginny didn't get a chance to reply to that as Bill almost choked to death with laughter.

"'Kay, so what is it I'm aiming for again?" Ron said as he stared down at the handmade wooden game Harry had brought back for him.

"You want to close all these numbered flaps without rolling yourself out of the game," Harry explained.

"And you do that by not having any options left but flaps still open?" Ron confirmed with a frown.

"Yeah," Harry said, feeling useless at explaining games, especially to Ron, who was some kind of genius when it came to things like that, "So you roll a eight and you close flaps six and two to make eight," Ron nodded and Harry went on, "and then you might roll a twelve and you'd close flap number nine and three…"

"But then I might get an eleven come up and I don't have the three or the eight to do it so I lose," Ron said, catching on much faster then Harry had done when he had learned how to play - although the person teaching him had been speaking Lao and he'd been more then a little drunk at the time.

"Yeah, so it's one to nine, and then this little picture one here, that's like a wild card for whatever number you need it to be - but you can only use that once, obviously, and it's best kept for emergencies."

"So surely that'd be best used with one of your high numbers in place of one of your low numbers, 'cause statistically you're gonna need more low ones then high ones, and you can get a lot further with a bunch of low numbers then you can a couple of high ones and a wild card?" Ron said with a nod, and then stared at Harry, expecting him to concur.

Harry just blinked back at Ron in awe before responding.

"Your brain frightens me sometimes."

Ron snorted loudly and broke into that lopsided grin of his. Harry chuckled and gave his friend a gentle slap on the back.

"Thanks mate, it's brilliant," Ron said as he held out his hand for Harry to help him up off the floor. "Did ya find Ginny's yet, she's spitting chips down there?"

Harry's face fell and he suddenly realised why she had called him an idiot. Ron saw his expression and looked absolutely horrified.

"Oh, Harry, don't say you don't have anything for her. She's gonna kill you!"

"I…But I had something…and then…oh shit!" Harry sputtered.

"Kill. You. Dead." Ron said sadly.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Ginny seethed as she paced up and down the living room while Hermione tried to calm her down, very unsuccessfully.

"Oh come on now, Ginny, surely you're not so shallow as to measure how much Harry thinks of you by silly things like presents?"

Ginny spun around on her heel and glared at Hermione.

"Are you calling me shallow?"

"No!" Hermione stepped back away from Ginny's wrath and held up both her hands, "No, not at all."

Ginny let out a frustrated growl before throwing herself down into a nearby armchair and running her hands through her long navy blue hair.

"All that pouting he gave me about having saved himself for me and me having more experience then him and he didn't give me a bloody second thought while he was away!"

"Oh come on now, Ginny, he wrote to you all the time and he didn't look at another woman while he was gone. Some women would tell you that was an incredible gift from a boyfriend while he was away."

"Well, some women can sod off!" Ginny grumbled before flinging herself backwards in her seat to scowl up at the ceiling, "I want my bloody present."

Hermione seemed to have stifled a laugh, Ginny thought, and she made an excuse to get back to the kitchen and relieve Bill from temporary porridge duty. Ginny sat up again and grabbed Hermione's wrist, pulling her back into the living room and frowning.

"If you've got something to say, then just say it," she demanded.

Hermione took in a deep sigh and perched herself upon the arm of the sofa, her hands in her lap, and prepared herself for the inevitable explosion of Weasley temper.

"Alright then," Hermione began, "well you sometimes, only sometimes, Ginny, have a bit of an attitude when it comes to being protected and treated like a baby or a fragile little girl, and you're always demanding to be treated the same as all your brothers."

"Something wrong with that, is there?" Ginny said as she folded her arms and lifted her chin.

"Not at all," Hermione said diplomatically, "but it can be a little…" the bushy-haired witch appeared to struggle for the right way to word her next statement, "some might call it hypocritical of you Ginny, I said some and not me, remember!"

Hermione held up a finger to stop Ginny's outraged interruption before going on.

"You want to be an equal and you want to be one of the boys and you're proud not to be the precious little princess that you could so easily have become in this family but," Hermione winced and her shoulders cringed a little in preparation for the inevitable rebuttal of rage that would be thrown at her as soon as she was finished, "there are times when you act like the very spoiled only girl-type that you are always trying so hard not to become, and seem to take issue with any time when everybody's attention is not focused on admiring you."

Ginny sat back in her chair and stared open-mouthed at Hermione before sitting bolt upright and lifting her finger to waggle it in her face in preparation for delivering her own little speech. Then her hand dropped and she sat - slumped - back into her seat again.

"Oh Godric, I'm not one of those girls, am I?" she groaned.

Hermione seemed slightly surprised at not having her head bitten off, and tentatively leaned forward to pat Ginny on the knee.

"Only once in a while, and not for very long," Hermione smiled kindly, "We all have our moments after all. You're talking to an only child, remember?"

Ginny smiled a little at that; Hermione sighed with relief before moving across to sit on the arm of Ginny's chair and giving her a hug.

"Merlin, I missed you around here, Hermione," Ginny sighed into her skirt, "Promise me you won't let Ron send you away again."

"He couldn't get rid of me now if he tried," Hermione answered.

"I did have a present for her, that's the thing," Harry explained desperately, "but it wasn't anything I could pull out of a bag or wrap up with a bow on top. It was plans I made, plans for us."

Ron seemed a little uneasy as he listened to this.

"Harry, you're not telling me that you're going to ask my sister to marry you, are ya?"

Harry's eyes almost bulged out of his head so far that they touched the lenses of his glasses.

"No! Bloody hell, Ron, we're still way to young for that!"

Ron seemed to relax again and put a hand on Harry's back to encourage him to go ahead and tell him what these plans of his were.

"Well that's something, because you don't want all six of the Weasley boys giving you 'the talk'," Ron said ominously as he made air quotations with his fingers. "Me and the twins were all it took to make Michael Corner shit his pants!"

Harry was about to laugh until he saw Ron was serious, and his face changed dramatically.

"Oh, right."

"Yup," Ron nodded, "although it'll really us be five of us, as we don't count Percy anymore, do we?" he shrugged carelessly.

"Oh well that's a relief, the nerdy one with the glasses won't be there to threaten me…phew!"

Ron laughed at this before pointing at Harry's face.

"You can't really talk, Harry," he said smugly.

"Shut up, sick-boy!" Harry found himself snapping back in playful retort before suddenly feeling a chill run down his spine, "Ron, I'm so sorry, I didn't thi-"

"Don't you dare ruin it by apologising!" Ron warned him sternly, "It's taken you bloody long enough to talk to me the way you normally do and I'm not letting you go back to being 'super sensitive' Harry now. It creeps me out when you're not getting stroppy about something!"

Harry grinned. Ron knew him better then he did himself and vice versa. He wanted to tell him how much he had missed him while he was gone, but that wasn't the done thing between blokes and it would certainly put him back into 'super sensitive' Harry territory and gain him a punch in the arm.

"OK, then, you git," Harry smiled, "I'm not the least bit sorry. In fact I might get you a new bucket for your room with 'sick boy' emblazoned across it in bright orange letters!"

"That's more like it," Ron gave a nod of approval.

"So about your sister, then," Harry said as he sat forward to confide in Ron.

"Don't tell me anything gross," Ron warned as he too leaned forward.

"Is that all you ever think about?" Harry tutted.

"It's one of the reasons I've been puking so much, to be honest!"

Harry had come down to lunch after confiding in Ron about his derailed plans.

They had eaten side by side, without a word other them pleasantries spoken between them, while Bill ate his lunch in peace and Hermione and Ron amused Luke with the 'feed Uncle Ron' game. That particular game meant Luke and Ron had more porridge on their faces then Ron had in his stomach, but it bought Bill enough time to eat without getting indigestion, and warmed Ron up enough to face the light salad Hermione was persuading him to pick at a little until he claimed to be full. Ron being full after eating cucumber was about as topsy-turvy as life got as far as Ginny was concerned.

Now they were sitting outside in the shade, watching Ron sleeping with his head in Hermione's lap while she read that strange book she had been reading to him when he was in St Mungo's and laughing occasionally. She would tangle her fingers in Ron's hair as she read; every once in a while she would pause to take a sip of her drink before leaning over to check on him again and then relaxing back against the bench she was sitting on.

"Do you think we'll ever be like that?" Harry frowned as he watched them from afar.

"I don't think anybody else in the world can be like that," Ginny sighed, "I think you've got to have suffered so much together to be able to find that kind of peace with each other."

Harry seemed to understand what she meant by that and put his arm around her. She leaned into him and slipped her own arms around his waist.

"We've both suffered, haven't we?" Harry said sadly as he rested his head on top of hers and sniffed her hair.

"It's not the same," Ginny shrugged, "I wasn't with you to be terrified for you the way Hermione was with Ron. I wasn't just a stone's throw away from you when you needed me, like Hermione has been, living across the road for all those months."

"No, I suppose not."

"And Hermione likes to worry, and Ron gives us all nothing but that, so they're perfectly suited, aren't they?" Ginny smiled as she saw Ron roll over onto his side and bury his face into Hermione's body.

"Well I like adventure, and you're never dull for a second," Harry said, raising his eyebrows and squeezing her shoulder.

Ginny smiled and tightened her hold around his body with both arms.

"Little Miss Firecracker, that's me!" she said lazily.

She felt Harry break away from her and turn her around to face him head-on.

"I did have something special for you, a present of sorts," Harry began.

"No, don't," Ginny put her hands over his mouth and shook her head guiltily, "I can't believe how much of a child I was acting before. I was one tantrum away from Hermione throwing me into Luke's cage."

Harry sniggered. "It's a playpen."

"Same difference," Ginny shrugged with a slight smile curling the corners of her mouth.

Harry released her and put his hand into his back pocket. She frowned as she saw him withdrawing a folded up piece of coloured paper and laying it in her hand.

"What's this?" she frowned and she unfolded the paper and recognised it as a map, covered in little red dots.

"It's the world, Ginny," Harry smiled, "I was going to give you the world."

Ginny smiled at the romantic gesture, that petulant alter ego of hers stamping its foot at her present being so cheap all the same, and leaned forward to kiss Harry on the cheek. She pointed down at the red dots all over the various countries.

"So these are all the places you've been, eh?" she gazed across the map sadly before her eyes fell to the tiny island towards the top where she had been born and very rarely moved from at all, other then a trip to Egypt when she was younger.

"No," Harry said as he looked her in the eye, "these are all the places I never went to because I wanted to see them with you."

Ginny's eyes flew open wide and she gaped at him in disbelief.

"What?"

Harry cast his hand idly across the map on Ginny's lap and spoke in a confident tone of voice.

"I was going to come back to stay at the Burrow for a while, catch up with everybody, get a bit of my old life back and then I was going to take you away with me for three months' travelling. I'm sick of travelling alone, Ginny, and I've still got all this much left to see," he nodded down at the map.

"Oh wow, Harry, that's…that was so…"

"Yeah, well," Harry shrugged, "I came home and caught up with everybody again and found my best friends apart from each other, one of them seriously ill, and you playing mother to Fleur's new baby. I couldn't ask you to leave them, could I? Blimey, Ginny, I couldn't leave them like that!"

Ginny launched herself at Harry and knocked him flat on his back. She landed on top of him and covered his face with kisses.

"You really are incredible, Harry Potter, do I ever tell you that?" she said as she clung to him, the crumpling map between their bodies, and felt him laughing beneath her.

"You just did," he chuckled.

"That didn't count," she smiled before moving her lips towards his and pressing them together firmly.

As they broke away from each other again Harry smiled up at her in something of a daze.

"So what d'you think?" he grinned.

"I think I want to do that a few more times," Ginny said wickedly as she leaned in and parted her lips slightly.

"No, I mean the present?" Harry laughed against her mouth. "Would you still want to go?"

Ginny pulled back to stare down into his eyes and pushed his scruffy hair away from his face.

"Of course!" she beamed. "Of course I'd want to go to all of those places with you, and as soon as everything's calmed down h-"

"Now," Harry said, nervously. "This week, would you come with me this week for three months and see the rest of the world?"

Ginny sat up and her shoulders sagged.

"Harry, you know I can't leave now, Ron's…"

"…told me that if you use him as an excuse, I'm to send you directly to him and he'll give you what for," Harry said as he sat up and looked at her with determination, "and I've seen that guy projectile vomit, you do not want to get on his bad side!"

Ginny's head dropped and she laughed sadly. It was typical of Ron not to want to get in the way of her fun, but what kind of sister would leave her brother when he needed her most?

"But Harry, he's still so ill," she explained before glancing over to the thin, pale figure sleeping in the shade of the tree, his hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

"And he's got Hermione to look after him now. He's letting her do it. He's dropped that stubborn ego of his and he really is doing better then he was. He's been eating solid food…he's almost at Luke's level!"

Ginny burst into laughter, causing Hermione to look up from her book and smile briefly before turning another page and minding her own business once again.

"But Bill," she said as her laughter died down, "he has a baby to take care of all on his own, and he'll have Ron all day when Hermione has to go back to her job."

"Hermione has been granted compassionate leave for four weeks," Harry said, prepared for any argument, it appeared, "by which time I bet you all the Galleons in my vault at Gringotts she'll have got Ron eating properly and a lot stronger so he's less of a worry for Bill."

"But three months, Harry," Ginny sighed, "a lot can happen in three months. Look how much has happened since you got back. We nearly lost Ron and he was doing so much better over the summer."

"I am well aware that Ron could have…" Harry seemed unable to say the word died, "…but that was just a fluke or bad timing or any number of things, wasn't it? And our being there didn't stop it happening."

Ginny shuddered and shook her head.

"I can't leave him until he's better, Harry. I just can't. Can't this trip wait?"

Harry smiled and cupped her cheek in his hand. He kissed her on the lips and rested his forehead against hers.

"I will wait as long as you want to wait, Ginny," he said, "but Ron got this plan out of me and he's going to want to know why we aren't going. It's going to have to be you that tells him."

"I'm not afraid of my stupid brother," Ginny snorted.

"Oh no?" Harry raised an eyebrow and looked across the lawn towards Ron and Hermione. "Let's see how brave you are when he asks you if you're waiting for him to die so you can take a holiday, 'cause that's what he said to me when I told him we couldn't go."

Ginny's resolve wavered momentarily before she gritted her teeth and straightened her back.

"Well I'm not going to give in to emotional blackmail as easily as you Harry. I'm a Weasley, I'm immune to his powers!"