TITLE: Ménage à Quatre

DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.


Holy Hous
Holyhead
Holy Island
Anglesey
Wales

"You're back," Harry said quickly, adjusting his jeans in the doorway of the kitchen before Ginny pushed him forwards with a grin on her face. "I thought you'd still be at Hogwarts." He explained quickly as Hermione looked at him with one lifted eyebrow.

"I heard," Hermione said drily, making sure her eyes stayed up on Harry's face, and away from the visible bulge in his jeans or from the satisfied smirk and messy bed hair that Ginny was sporting.

"We had a great morning," Ginny grinned happily as she slid into the chair next to Hermione. "Harry's tongue is..."

"No, not this morning Ginny." Hermione said quickly, reaching over to wrap her hand over Ginny's mouth. "I stopped in at George's store on my way home and had to sit there knowing George and Alicia were doing exactly the same thing in the back room."

"Ew!" Ginny huffed as she peeled Hermione's hand away from her mouth. "Don't tell me about my brother! Ew! Ick!" She shuddered theatrically.

"What did Professor McGonagall want?" Harry asked, doing his best to ignore the sex talk as he made his morning coffee, spotting the two mugs that Hermione must have already got out for them. "Did you ask her about..."

"Yes," Hermione sighed, looking up at Harry. "Yes." She confirmed when he stared at her.

"You thought so," Harry sagged slightly, disappointment and anger warring on his face as he considered what Hermione had confirmed for him.

"I know," Hermione sighed. "But thinking it and having it confirmed are two different things." She admitted softly. "I can't believe I ever looked up to her."

"Or Dumbledore." Harry countered quietly.

"Either of them, ugh, really." Hermione huffed angrily. "They even wanted you to come back to Hogwarts, after everything that happened there."

"I'm not." Harry said firmly, making sure there was no room for discussion. "Is it... are you going to be OK? Going back I mean, knowing about McGonagall now?"

"It's not like she's going to do anything to me Harry," Hermione shook her head. "She's the headmistress now, but so many people are watching Hogwarts so closely now, none of the teachers there would be able to get away with a tenth of the things they did when Professor Dumbledore was in charge."

"What's happening with Gryffindor then?" Ginny asked curiously. "If McGonagall's still going to be the headmistress, who's taking over for Gryffindor?" She asked.

"I don't know," Hermione sagged against her chair. "Probably one of the new teachers," She said softly. "Maybe Professor Sinistra or Professor Vector? She was a Gryffindor I think?" She mused on the thought, remembering well how Professor Vector always wore scarlet red robes, so she was pretty certain she was a Gryffindor when she'd been at Hogwarts.

"That could be good," Ginny nodded with a smile. "Professor Vector was pretty fun, she wouldn't be as strict as McGonagall was about everything."

Harry simply shrugged as he mixed in the milk to the two coffees, adding some sugar before returning the milk to the fridge and carrying the mugs of coffee over to the table. "You really want to go back then?" Harry asked, sitting down at the table and putting one of the coffees in front of Ginny before she grasped it with a thankful smile.

"I do," Hermione set herself as she nodded. "I've got to do this. Finish Hogwarts. I won't let the war or the pure bloods or anyone scare me away from finishing my education." She said firmly.

"We might be in a dorm together then!" Ginny beamed excitedly.

"We won't," Hermione shook her head, drawing a frown from Ginny. "Professor Flitwick told me that there's going to be too many students coming back, and new first years. All the of age students are going to floo in for their lessons."

"No dorms?" Harry asked curiously.

"Not if you're old enough." Hermione shrugged. "And we're both older than seventeen." She explained.

"Wow... that's..." Ginny blinked as she tried to figure that out.

"They'll be sending letters out soon apparently, so I guess you'll be told then." Hermione said with a small smile. "Is that OK? I mean... you don't mind if I..."

"You can stay here as long as you want," Harry promised easily. "Really." He said, drawing a thankful smile from Hermione.

"I wonder who else will be there?" Ginny asked curiously. "It's going to feel so weird not sleeping in the Gryffindor dorms again."

"I know," Hermione gave a sad smile at that. "I don't even know who else might be coming back. Lavender maybe? I know the Patils both left the country, so they won't be back. I haven't spoken to Fay or Kellah either."

"Have you got everything you'd need?" Harry asked cautiously. "I mean, for Hogwarts and..." He trailed off awkwardly. "I can help if you need it." He added on.

"I've still got my uniform and bits," Hermione smiled over. "You didn't have to buy me a new wand anyway, but it's definitely better than using Bellatrix's wand still."

Harry simply shrugged at that, buying a new wand for Hermione was barely anything compared to how much he owed her for being there for him for so many years now.

"I'll have to sort out where all my books and bits are though, Professor Flitwick said he'd send the book lists to me when he got a chance. So I should have enough to buy the few new books I'll need for this year." Hermione explained.

"I'll be in runes with you too, and probably everything else you're taking, not arithmancy though." Ginny laughed as Hermione rolled her eyes at her. "You're really not coming back?" She asked, looking to Harry now.

"I can't, not after... Hogwarts isn't for me anymore." Harry shook his head, having already firmly made that decision for himself.

"You said you didn't want to join the aurors either," Hermione pointed out. "What are you going to do then?"

"I'll figure it out," Harry smiled as he sipped his coffee. "I want to figure out what I want to do for once. Not what everyone else wants me to do." He said firmly. "I'm sick of being pushed into doing what other people think I should be doing."

"I'm sure you'll find something." Ginny smiled softly at him. "You could always start working for the Harpies. Maybe they're looking for a new coach or something?" She pointed out. "I hope they're sending scouts out this year, I know the other teams are but I really want the Harpies to send someone to watch the Gryffindor team this year." She grinned hopefully.

Hermione shook her head in amusement at that, remembering Ginny's gleeful shout when she'd got her Hogwarts letter last week with the Gryffindor captain's badge enclosed inside.

"You should ask Katie, see if she knows if they're doing anything." Hermione pointed out, looking to Harry now. "She's the only person on the team that I think we know."

Harry nodded at that thoughtfully, he hadn't really spoken to Katie in ages. She'd been at Hogwarts for the last battle, but they hadn't really spoken then. He knew she was one of the chasers for the Holyhead Harpies now, but aside from that they hadn't really spoken since his sixth year at Hogwarts.

"Owl her!" Ginny bounced excitedly. "It'd be great to see her again."

"Angelina and Alicia said hi too," Hermione interrupted, remembering their message. "And George, they all said they were supporting you and told me to tell you they wanted you to pop by, or for them to come here sometime and see you."

"I'll go and say hi next time I'm in Diagon," Harry said thoughtfully to himself as he thought up some plans for what to get Ginny and Hermione to make their last year at Hogwarts more fun. It was going to be Hermione's birthday soon anyway, so he wanted to get something special for her to say thank you for everything that she'd done for him.

"Make sure you do," Hermione nodded at him. "They might be talking to Katie more, you can ask them if they owl her or if they know anything."

"Maybe," Harry shrugged at the thought.

"Please!" Ginny rubbed into him with wide eyes and a lavish smirk on her lips. "I REALLY want to play for the Harpies, and if they're sending a scout to watch our games I HAVE to know about it to make sure we're playing our best."

"I'll owl her," Harry laughed, leaning down to give Ginny a quick kiss when she grinned happily at him.

"It's going to be so weird, going back to Hogwarts I mean, without you." Hermione clarified, drinking her coffee and doing her best to ignore the way Ginny was blatantly giving Harry bedroom eyes that promised a sexual reward for getting in touch with Katie again. "Do you think anyone else from our year is going to come back?" She asked.

"Neville might," Harry said after a moments thought. "I don't know about Seamus and Dean though." He added with a shrug, not bothering to give Ron any thought one way or the other.

"Just one?" Hermione blinked in surprise. "Do you think anyone in the other houses might come back?"

"Ravenclaws probably," Ginny shrugged as she moved back to her coffee, her dressing gown still loose around her from where she'd leaned over to give Harry a little peek down at her cleavage. "I don't know about the Hufflepuffs though."

"Susan and Hannah might come back," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"The Slytherins won't." Ginny said with a smirk of satisfaction at the thought. "I don't think any of them would dare show up anyway."

"Probably not." Harry nodded in agreement at that. He knew from the Prophet that the Malfoys were on the run, they'd left the country entirely and hadn't been seen all year. Most of the other Death Eater families had been rounded up for trials, and those that were still around had sent their children to Durmstrang last year, rather than waiting and having their children at risk of doing something stupid at Hogwarts that would put their family at more risk.

"I need to start working out again as well, and flying again." Ginny interrupted with a little bounce. "Merlin it's been so long, I'll have to start jogging again and get some old quaffles to practice throwing again."

Hermione blinked at that, staring at Ginny's toned and muscular arms. She'd never really thought about how much practice and working out the quidditch teams must put in to staying in shape.

She'd seen Ginny undressed a few times over the years, and seen how she'd slowly been putting on more and more muscle, toning up and building up strong arms and shoulders. The fact that Ginny actually had a visible six pack had been utterly shocking the first time she'd seen it, but was nothing compared to how strong and muscled her thighs were.

"You should get some weights, maybe make a little workout area somewhere." Hermione shook her head as she thought about it. "Maybe a treadmill or a rowing machine, that would give you a good workout for when it's raining and you can't go outside."

"Are those muggle things?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Yes," Hermione sighed. "They're exercise machines, they help you stay in shape and work out more. They're designed to really help you lose weight or build up muscles."

"Huh, I didn't know muggles had things for that." Ginny shrugged. "It'd be nice to have somewhere to do something that helped when I couldn't fly or go outside." She said as she thought about it. "Did you know about those things?" She asked looking at Harry.

"I know they exist but that's about it." Harry nodded. "I wouldn't know how to use them properly or anything."

"Some weights would be good I'd think." Hermione pointed out. "If you're lifting and throwing the quaffle a lot, using some dumbbell weights would really help you build up your arm muscles."

"Huh," Ginny nodded as she thought about it, not really understanding the premise behind it really but knowing Hermione knew far more about muggle things than she did.

"It'd be good to have somewhere like that. Or you could join a gym somewhere. There's loads in London that you could go to." Hermione explained.

"I think I'd rather have somewhere here," Harry shook his head at that, not really liking the idea of going to a big gym full of people that were doing far better than he was at everything. "I could look at some things though, see if we could get some bits to bring home." He said with a small shrug.

"You'd have to get some proper clothes too, something comfortable to exercise in." Hermione pointed out. "We could probably go to an Argos in London. You'd be able to buy most of it there I'd think. Could even get some of the heavier bits delivered."

"We could just shrink them down and apparate back with them," Harry nodded at the thought. "I haven't got anything else to do today anyway." He said with a small shrug.

"Me neither," Ginny smiled at him. "Shopping?" She asked with a glance over at Hermione. "You can show me what muggle exercise clothes look like." She said with a grin. "There's barely anything in Diagon Alley that's comfortable for witches to wear while they're running or practising anything."

"I know," Hermione huffed. "The witches fashion is ridiculous." She rolled her eyes at the thought. It was all robes and fancy dresses, barely anything that was actually practical or comfortable. "Fine. We'll go clothes shopping after we've looked at what machines Harry could buy."

"Sounds fun." Harry smiled. A day out with just the three of them did sound fun actually. And going into normal towns for shopping instead of Diagon Alley meant that he didn't have to worry about being recognised and dealing with all the idiots that came with it.

"Come on, I want to see what these machines and weights and clothes are all about!" Ginny grinned excitedly as she jumped up from her chair, pulling Harry up with her. "You really think they'd help me get back in shape for quidditch?"

Hermione barely resisted the urge to scoff about Ginny being out of shape in the first place, but she nodded happily anyway. "There's special weights designed to help you build up muscles on your arms and shoulders." She explained. "Probably some diet books too that can tell you what to eat so you cut down on fats and put on the proper weight in muscle."

"That sounds amazing, not the diet stuff, but the weights and everything else." Ginny laughed as Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on, shopping!" She grinned, tugging Harry out of the kitchen to go and get ready.

"No funny business, please!" Hermione all but begged as Ginny led Harry out of the kitchen, tugging him along by the waist of his jeans as she span back and gave Hermione a naughty smirk before vanishing from view. "She's going to be the death of me, I know it." She sighed as she sipped at her cooling coffee. "Death by embarrassment, I'm sure of it." She huffed to herself as she heard the pair thundering up the stairs.


It was late afternoon by the time the three returned back to the house, and even Harry had been surprised at how much they'd actually bought by the time they'd unpacked and got everything ready to set up.

Wandering around London they'd actually found a proper sports store that sold weights and exercise machines and everything they could really hope for. While Ginny had been enthusiastically testing the various weights and everything she could get her hands on, Harry had been impressed by the various rowing machines and weight benches that were on offer as well.

It had taken some careful manoeuvring so that they could shrink everything down to bring it back without anyone noticing, but they'd managed it in the end without drawing too much attention.

One of the spare rooms upstairs now was filled with everything that they'd bought. It had taken nearly three hours of them unpacking and putting everything together while Hermione read through the instructions and directed them as they bolted everything into position, but it all looked amazing now it was all set up.

They had a rowing machine, a weights bench with a large selection of weights. Lots of dumbbells with so many different weights alongside that they could have any combination they wanted really. A treadmill in one corner of the room, along with some yoga mats and bits for stretching out and warming up. They'd even bought a leg press thing that Ginny had pointed out would do amazing work on her thighs and bum.

The largest machine was set on the opposite wall away from the others, and had so many different uses that Ginny had absolutely fallen in love with it at first sight.

It had a pull down bar for lifting up the weights at the back, two padded bits to either side that you pushed together with your arms and lifted up the weights as well. And it had an entirely separate set of bars down by the foot of it than you pushed up with your legs to work your thighs and calves.

All in all the spare room was kitted out better than most small gyms now, and Hermione was worn out just looking at the various machines that Ginny had been drooling over.

There was still three bags worth of clothes as well. Harry had treated himself to some extra t-shirts, jogging pants and trainers as well as various workout clothes that Hermione and Ginny had bought. Ginny had even managed to get Hermione to buy some small bits so that she could join in, but she'd been adamant that she wasn't anywhere near the fitness levels that Ginny or even Harry were at.

"These all look amazing!" Ginny breathed out, looking at the various weights around the room. "I bet even professional teams don't have anything like this for their players!" She bounced excitedly at the thought.

"I don't think I've ever seen any witches or wizards exercise either," Hermione admitted, still sat on the weights bench where she'd happily perched herself out of the way while Ginny and Harry had been moving things around. Honestly the closest thing she'd ever seen was during their fourth year at Hogwarts when Viktor Krum had been regularly seen jogging around the lake and swimming nearly every day. "You've seen how fat some people get, I don't think most witches and wizards even know how to spell exercise, let alone do any." She said with a laugh.

"It's pretty much only quidditch players that really stay in shape," Ginny explained, leaning down and lifting up one of the dumbbells experimentally. "Nobody else really bothers."

"It's stupid," Harry shook his head. Promising to himself that he was never going to turn into a lazy old man and end up as fat and round as Dudley or Vernon were. "I'm going to start cooking in a minute. You staying for dinner?" He asked, looking over to Hermione.

"If you're sure?" Hermione asked, wanting to make sure that she wasn't imposing on the pair.

"Always," Harry promised her. "I told you, this is your home as well. You can stay here any time for as long as you want." He said, making sure Hermione knew that he meant it as well.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled up.

"Go, food!" Ginny pleaded at him, having not eaten anything other than a few snacks while they'd been shopping. "I want to try on these clothes as well, make sure I don't have to resize anything."

Harry laughed at that, smiling as he left the girls along and headed downstairs to put something together they would all be able to eat tonight.

"Are these really what girls wear to exercise in?" Ginny asked, tipping out one of the bags and going through all the clothes they'd bought today. Some of them looked more like underwear than anything else to her, and while she'd utterly love for Harry to see her wearing them, she couldn't imagine wearing them around her mum or anyone else in her family.

"Some of them," Hermione nodded, coming off of the bench and moving over to sit with Ginny and sort through the pile of clothes. Grabbing the trainers and jogging pants that Harry had bought for himself and putting them aside for now. "I know you bought a few things that you just wanted to wear for Harry as well." She said with a small smirk. "Like this?" She grinned, lifting up a hot pink leotard from the pile.

"I've never seen anything like that before!" Ginny gushed, grabbing the garment from Hermione and stretching in between her hands while experimenting with the fabric. "It looks like those legging things you said I should get."

"It's the same fabric," Hermione nodded, looking down at the various pairs of spandex leggings Ginny had ended up with in numerous colours. "You're going to have to be careful if you exercise in that though." She laughed as she gave Ginny a small smile. "No bending over." She grinned at Ginny's confused expression.

"Why?" Ginny frowned, looking at the chest area of the leotard. "I don't think I'd fall out or anything." She said with a puzzled look over to Hermione.

"This!" Hermione laughed, lifting up the bottom area of the leotard and showing Ginny how thin the back was. "It's a thong!" She burst out laughing at Ginny's confused expression.

"What?" Ginny frowned, looking at how tiny the bottom of the leotard was. "What's that mean?"

"It goes between your bum, not covering it up." Hermione giggled at Ginny's bemused expression. "You can get knickers that are designed like that too. It's for people that like showing off their bums." She explained.

"Blimey!" Ginny whispered, staring at the leotard and trying to imagine how that was going to feel. "Muggles have really weird clothes." She exclaimed, stretching the fabric and pushing one arm into it to see how it felt. "It's really stretchy!"

"It's supposed to be," Hermione nodded. "You can bend yourself all over the place and it'll stretch with you, and because it's so tight it won't get caught on anything while you're using the machines." She explained. "It's supposed to be... you know, sexy. To show off the bum."

"It feels great!" Ginny grinned, pulling her t-shirt off eagerly as she stared at the pile of stretchy clothes.

"Ginny!" Hermione huffed as Ginny blatantly stripped off in front of her, showing off her muscled body as she unclipped her bra and tossed it aside.

"What? It's not like you haven't seen everything already," Ginny shrugged as she peeled off her jeans. "Do I wear underwear with these clothes? I mean, I don't think they'd fit under some of these?"

"We got some sports bras and bits, but under that..." Hermione pointed to the pink leotard still in Ginny's hand. "No. Just on it's own or with knickers and leggings under it." She explained as Ginny pulled her knickers off and tossed them into the pile with her jeans. "Oh my god, you're shameless." She huffed.

"And?" Ginny smirked lavishly at her as she stepped into the leotard, marvelling at how stretchy it was as she pulled it up around her body. "This is like the swimsuit thing Fleur was wearing right? At the Tri-wizard in the lake?"

"Probably the same fabric," Hermione nodded, looking to the side as Ginny wrestled herself into the leotard fiddled with it to get comfortable. "She probably had lining or something to make it more like a swimsuit though." She shrugged. "You can get swimsuits like that too, you know... with the... thong bottom." She explained as Ginny tugged the pink leotard up her body.

"Huh," Ginny nodded as she fumbled around and tried to reach the zip that went up the back of the leotard. "I can't reach it." She huffed in annoyance. "Zip me up." She said, turning around so that Hermione could reach the zipper.

"Oh my god Ginny!" Hermione gasped, her eyes wide as Ginny showed off her toned arse almost in Hermione's face before she quickly stood up. Between the high leg cut of the leotard and the thong design, it was showing off Ginny's hips and bum to an almost obscene degree. "God, how much time do you even spend on brooms to make your bum look like that?" She huffed in annoyance, holding onto Ginny's shoulder with one hand and pulling the zipper up tight with another.

"It's great isn't it?" Ginny laughed, flexing her buttocks happily.

"How on earth..." Hermione shook her head as she stopped looking at Ginny's bum, stepping aside to see how Ginny looked in the outfit properly. With the form fitting spandex over her it really emphasised the muscles on her shoulders and arms, right down to her toned stomach, and the high cut of the leotard was doing wonders for her thigh muscles.

"I love this!" Ginny grinned, running her hands over the fabric and feeling how tight it was against her body. "I can't believe muggles wear this sort of thing all the time. I've never seen anything like this." She grinned happily, reaching down to try lifting up the weights again. "It really does stretch with me!"

"That's why they're good, so you can bend and do all your stretches in them." Hermione explained, watching as Ginny moved on to one of the larger weights bars to lift it up with both hands. "I couldn't even lift that." She whispered to herself, looking at the weights on either side of the bar.

"It's heavy, but I can lift it." Ginny nodded. "Like this right?" She turned her arms over and started curling with the large bar, her biceps bulging under the tight spandex arms.

"Just like that," Hermione goggled, unable to take her eyes off of Ginny's arms. "How strong are you?" She asked in amazement. "Are all quidditch players like this?"

"Most," Ginny nodded as she continued to curl the weights bar up to her chest and down again. "Seekers don't get as much exercise as the others do, but chasers definitely. Beaters tend to have bigger arms, but chasers are riding fast and hard for the entire game, throwing the quaffles constantly and really using our legs and stomach muscles to hold onto the broom and steer it around."

"I didn't know it was such a huge workout," Hermione whispered to herself, staring at the way Ginny was curling thirty five kilograms like it was nothing.

"Oh yeah, you should see some of the professional players." Ginny said excitedly. "Gwenog Jones is huge, she's a beater and her arms are thicker than my neck!" She exclaimed as she did another curl.

"I can't even imagine that," Hermione muttered, shaking her head and averting her eyes as Ginny turned around and put the weights bar down, giving her an extremely good look at the redhead's bum flexing as she bent over. "Is riding brooms really that good for your bum?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Oh hell yeah," Ginny laughed. "Even Harry's bum is tight and toned up. You could bounce a galleon off of it!" She grinned lavishly.

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed with a blush.

"What?" Ginny smirked back. "It's true." She grinned happily. "You should have seen Katie's when she was playing for Gryffindor. I swear she could have broken a broomstick between her arse, it looked that strong."

"You're terrible," Hermione huffed, doing her best not to think about Ginny's bum, or Harry's bum, or anyone's really. She knew outright that Ron's bum didn't look anything like that, and during the times they'd fumbled around and snaked hands under each others clothing. Ron definitely didn't have the same muscled body that Ginny, or apparently Harry did.

"I can't wait for Harry to see me in this!" Ginny smirked over, imagining Harry's face when he saw her in the skintight outfit. "What else have we got?" She asked, moving back to the pile to start fishing out the other clothes.

There were leggings, shorts, sports bras and plenty of other bits to try on, including some more leotards like she was currently wearing, some without arms and most with proper bottoms and not thongs.

Then there were some baggier jogging bottoms and tops that Hermione had added since she was nowhere near as confident in her body as Ginny was, but had been convinced by the pair to at least start with some light exercises with them both.

She'd convinced herself that it couldn't hurt at least, and that she didn't want to end up looking like Molly of Professor Sprout, so keeping in shape would probably do her good in the long run really.

"Come on, you've got to show me how to use all these things!" Ginny grinned, abandoning the clothes for now and heading over to the largest exercise machine in the room. "This leg one, that's for the legs and bum right?" She asked, pointing to the bottom end of it that had two padded rungs sticking out of it on either side.

"Yes," Hermione shook her head, walking over as Ginny sat on the machine. "No, your legs go over that one... so it'd under your knees and holding you up." She directed, watching as Ginny threaded her legs through the machine poles. "Then under that one, so it hooks around on top of your foot." She explained.

"Oh, like this?" Ginny double checked, happy when Hermione nodded. "Now lift your legs up slowly so they're straight."

"Like... oh, oh that's easy." Ginny exclaimed as she lifted up her legs, surprised at how easy it was to lift the bar up.

"Hold on," Hermione shook her head. "Not everyone has thighs that can break a broomstick." She muttered as she moved around to the back of the machine, causing Ginny to laugh. "Put it down again." She ordered, waiting for Ginny to lower the weight so she could adjust it. "You had it set on ten kilograms." She explained, adjusting the weight down to forty kilograms. "Try that."

"Ohhh..." Ginny breathed out, lifting her legs up with considerably more effort this time. "Now I get it." She nodded, feeling her thigh muscles tensing and pushing under the strain of the weights. "So you just put more and more weight on as you get stronger?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "But slowly, and carefully." She explained. "I'm going to have to get some books on all of this." She huffed in annoyance as she only knew barely the basics about working out and exercising. Like she knew there was a difference between exercises to loose weight, and exercises to build up muscle, but what the actual differences was and which exercises were which was definitely beyond her knowledge right now. "Some videos too, they're probably better because you'd be able to see what you're supposed to do."

"I can feel it," Ginny smiled, still lifting up the weights slowly with her legs and putting them back down. "It's definitely working my bum as well, and a bit on my stomach."

"Probably, I don't know how many muscles any of these actually work out." Hermione explained with a small shrug. "We should get a stereo in here too, so we can listen to music while exercising."

"Oh that'd be amazing!" Ginny breathed out, getting a bit red in the face as she continued to push her legs up straight and down again.

"Ask Harry, there's plugs in here so it should be easy enough to get something." Hermione mused on the thought. "You shouldn't do too much, or you'll end up sweating and you still have to get changed for dinner." She said with a pointed look over to Ginny.

"I can just wear this," Ginny said with a smirk.

"No, please no." Hermione shook her head at that idea. "Not when I'm eating dinner with you two." She pleaded. "Wear it tonight for Harry if you want." She said, causing Ginny to laugh and nod in agreement. "Does... does Harry like it?"

"The clothes?" Ginny asked, tilting her head in confusion at the question.

"That you're stronger than him?" Hermione asked in a low voice. "You know... that you've got muscles?"

"Oh, yeah, why?" Ginny nodded as she lowered the weights down one last time and climbed off the machine, feeling how great her legs felt after even just a small workout. "I mean, he doesn't complain or anything when he's licking me and..."

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, shaking her head so that she didn't hear anymore.

"What? He doesn't complain when my thighs are wrapped around his head." Ginny laughed at the way Hermione blushed at that.

"Considering your thighs could probably crush a man's head, I wouldn't complain either." Hermione rolled her eyes at that.

"Oh Hermione, you offering?" Ginny smirked sultrily as she wiggled her hips and walked towards her.

"No, not... I didn't... I'm not..." Hermione stammered out. "You're terrible." She groaned when Ginny laughed and grabbed her clothes, pulling on her jeans and t-shirt over the top of the pink leotard she was still wearing.

"I just didn't know," Hermione frowned as she thought about it. "I thought most men didn't like women that are strong and with muscles and things." She explained when Ginny looked at her curiously.

"Don't know," Ginny shrugged. "Harry definitely likes it though, so that's all that matters to me." She explained.

"I guess," Hermione nodded, considering it as she looked down at the pile of exercising clothes still on the floor, wondering if she could tone up a bit. She'd never build up muscles like Ginny, but toning up a bit and firming up other places definitely did sound good to her.

"Come on, later on you can show me what all the different machines do." Ginny bounced eagerly as she led her friend out of the room. "I can't wait to try them all and see how good they all feel."

Hermione simply nodded at that, making a mental note that she REALLY had to get some books on exercising so that she could give her friend the best advice that she could.


Kings Cross Station
London

Monday September 1st, 1999

September had come around all too quickly as far as Ginny was concerned, and while she'd spent an absolutely fantastic morning in bed together with Harry, a very energetic morning as well, she'd understood why he hadn't wanted to come to Platform Nine and Three Quarters with her to be gawked at by everyone.

Ron hadn't come either thankfully, and while she could tell that it had upset Hermione that he didn't seem to care one bit, it still felt better with just the two of them making their way to Hogwarts for their last year together.

"Come on, lets grab somewhere before everywhere fills up!" Ginny said eagerly, grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her through the crowded platform.

There were definitely far more people here than she'd ever seen before, and there were even some aurors around directing people and helping the new families find their way onto the train.

"There's so many first years!" Hermione gasped, looking around at the platform where she could see loads of new families hugging each other and saying their goodbyes. There were more muggle families than she'd ever seen on the platform before, and she had to admit it actually felt great to see so many muggle born children heading to Hogwarts after everything that had happened.

"Come on, here." Ginny smiled, finding the first empty compartment and pushing her way inside.

"Thank god," Hermione breathed out, happy to be out of the crowd. Sitting down on the comfortable chairs felt amazing now that she could finally relax away from all the stares and whispers that had followed them down the platform.

"School's going to be crazy this year," Ginny admitted, looking out at the crowded platform and imagining how many students were actually getting on board the train. "I'm going to have to build up an entire new quidditch team from scratch." She whispered, having thought about it repeatedly when she'd realised none of the old quidditch team would be there anymore.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Hermione smiled over reassuringly. "Harry did the try outs every year didn't he?"

"Yeah, I've just never organised anything like that before." Ginny admitted. "It's going to be so weird, being the only Weasley at Hogwarts again." She explained. "It was weird enough last year, but we all knew Ron was with you and Harry out there fighting, but now..."

"You'll be fine," Hermione laughed, moving over to sit in the seat beside Ginny and hugging her lightly with one hand. "You're just thinking about taking that new broom Harry bought you out onto the pitch." She said, easily distracting Ginny from darker thoughts.

"Merlin yes!" Ginny gushed. "I can't believe he bought me a Lightning Bolt like his, seriously!" She exclaimed. "It's the fastest broom ever!"

Hermione simply listened and nodded at the right times as Ginny continued to gush about the fancy broom Harry had bought for her. She'd already yelled at him after he bought her a fancy library trunk filled with all of her school books and tons of new books that she didn't have.

It must have cost him loads, probably not as much as Ginny's broom, but far too much to be a simple 'going to school' present.

He'd just argued that it was a birthday present as well and that she had to keep it because he wasn't taking it back, and no amount of arguing had managed to convince him otherwise.

She'd used bits of her savings to replace some bits of her uniform uniform and buy some new text books, Harry had swapped her real money for galleons so they'd saved out on Gringotts taking their cut. That was something she'd been happy for, and Harry said he'd be happy to swap pounds for galleons any time she needed, since it gave him normal money that he could use everywhere else rather than just in magical shops.

"I still don't know why we have to catch the train up there," Hermione frowned. "It doesn't make any sense. We've got to ride the train for seven hours, just to be there for the sorting and opening feast, but then we can just floo back home?" She asked, an incredulous look on her face at the stupidity of the organisation.

"I know, it's weird." Ginny nodded in agreement. "They should have just sent us the schedules and we could have just..."

"Hi guys,"

Hermione looked up at the interruption, smiling over as she saw Susan standing in the doorway with Neville behind her. "Can we join you?"

"Definitely!" Ginny nodded happily, smiling as the two came in.

"Come on in," Hermione smiled as the two came in and took the seats opposite them. "I'm glad you two are here, I was thinking there'd barely be anyone going back this year." She explained.

"I know," Neville nodded in agreement. "Luna's gone on a world tour thing with her dad, so she's not coming back." He explained.

"Hannah isn't either," Susan shook her head. "Her mum took over The Leaky, so she's working there now and learning how to run the hotel side of it all." She explained.

"Do we know anyone else that's coming back?" Ginny asked, looking around the compartment hopefully.

"I don't know about Gryffindor," Neville frowned thoughtfully. "I guess Harry isn't coming back, not after everything I read in The Prophet?"

"Definitely not," Ginny said sadly.

"We tried to convince him, but he said he didn't want to keep going back somewhere with all those memories." Hermione explained.

"I guess," Neville sighed. "Ron?" He asked.

"Still at the Auror Academy," Hermione shook her head.

"And being a complete git." Ginny rolled her eyes in annoyance at the thought of her brother. "Who else was in your dorm?"

"Just Dean and Seamus." Neville shrugged. "I don't really know either of them well enough to say if they're coming back or not." He explained. "I don't think I've ever even sent an owl to either of them actually."

"I've been looking out for anyone I know, but you two are the first." Hermione explained. "I don't know if anyone else is coming back or not. It's going to be so weird being back there."

"Without Harry." Neville said with a small nod.

"Everything's going to be different." Ginny commented. "No Dumbledore, no Snape. I heard Slughorn left as well. I don't even know how many of the professors survived everything."

"Me neither." Susan shook her head. "I hope Professor Sprout is still there. Hufflepuff wouldn't be the same without her."

"She is," Neville confirmed happily. "I've been owling her. I'm doing extra credit work so I can start my mastery with her next year."

"Oh that's great!" Susan beamed happily for her friend. "Are you doing a mastery too?" She asked, looking over at Hermione.

"I... I don't think so." Hermione shook her head. "It was tough enough coming back for this year. I don't think I'd be able to afford two more years at Hogwarts." She admitted sadly.

"That's too bad," Neville said softly. "You'd be great at it. I know you'd make a fantastic professor some day." He said with a small smile over towards her.

"You should do it," Ginny encouraged her. "You could be the new transfiguration teacher in a few years, or charms, or arithmancy." She said eagerly. "It'd be so much better than working at the boring Ministry." She explained with a huff. "God, I can't even imagine it. You might go there and end up with Percy as your boss for years. I think I'd rather hex myself than suffer like that."

Hermione had to grimace at that, the picture Ginny painted wasn't very nice at all. There was definitely the chance of ending up with Percy or someone like him as her boss if she got a job at The Ministry, or it could be even worse and she'd end up with someone completely useless as a boss that used all her hard work for their own credit.

Even worse there was always the chance that she'd end up working in a job where they only cared about having her there because she was friends with Harry, then she'd have to either quit, of suffer through being used as a figurehead for everyone that wanted Harry's support or to use his fame for something or another.

Ginny gave Hermione a reassuring smile, making a mental note to tell Harry that Hermione wanted to do her mastery but couldn't afford it. She was sure he'd be willing to help her out, even if it was just helping her with books and somewhere to live while she studied for it.

"So, how's your year off been?" Susan asked, looking over at the pair of Gryffindors. "It was so weird getting a message from Professor Flitwick about resitting my NEWTs. I didn't do too badly I didn't think, but everyone said that everyone that wasn't on You-Know-Who's side got marked down just because."

"They're right," Ginny nodded. "My dad confirmed it. They'd already written all the NEWT scores up before anyone even took the exams. Everyone from the Death Eater families got out-standings for everything, but anyone else got two marks lower than they should have." She explained. "I think it was the same for OWLs as well."

"It's terrible," Hermione huffed, outraged that anyone would dare interfere in something as sacred as exams like that.

"Come on, lets talk about happier things." Susan forced a smile onto her face. "Like boyfriends, are things still going great with Harry?" She asked, leaning in with a smirk as Ginny gave a wolf like grin and leaned forwards to whisper to Susan all the fun things they'd been up to recently, and the deliciously naughty things they'd done this morning.

"Why couldn't I have brought a book," Hermione groused, leaning back in the carriage and sharing a commiserating grimace with Neville as they waited for the train to depart, both doing their best not to listen to the giggling and gasps that came from Ginny and Susan as they talked about Ginny's bedroom activities.


Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Diagon Alley
London
England

"Anyone here?" Harry asked loudly as he poked his head through the door of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, looking around when he couldn't see anyone at the counter or pottering around the store floor.

"Harry!"

Harry grinned as he spotted Alicia walking out from one of the rows of shelves on the main floor, giving her a friendly wave as he walked in and closed the store door behind him. "Hey Alicia." He smiled happily, happy to see a friendly face again.

"Merlin it's been too long," Alicia laughed, dashing over and giving Harry a big hug. "God you've grown, I remember you being such a skinny little broomstick back in Hogwarts!" She exclaimed with a laugh.

"Where is everyone?" Harry chuckled, happy to give one of his old team mates a big hug.

"George went to take the takings into the bank, Angelina's in the back getting some new stock ready." Alicia explained. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd pop in," Harry said with a shrug. "Fine, I'm bored." He explained with a laugh when Alicia levelled a deadpan stare at him. "I was sitting around and home and it's so... quiet, it's almost silent." He explained awkwardly. "The house is never silent with Ginny and Hermione around, even just Ginny when Hermione's out. It felt weird being so quiet." He explained.

"Oh I know what that is," Alicia laughed, wrapping an arm around Harry and leading him into the store and over to the counter. "My mum called it Empty Nest Syndrome." She explained with a giggle.

"What's that?" Harry frowned, sitting on one of the offered stools as Alicia hopped up on the counter.

"It's a parent thing, like they're used to having kids around all the time but when they go to Hogwarts for the first time and the house is empty..." Alicia trailed off, gesturing with her hand to say 'there you go'.

"So it's just getting used to having an empty house?" Harry asked with a frown as he considered that.

"Maybe," Alicia shrugged before angling herself around. "Angelina, get out here. Company!" She shouted loudly to make sure that her best friend heard her from where she was all the way in the back of the store.

"It just feels... odd, you know?" Harry asked. "Like during the war I spent almost the entire year camping with Hermione. Then when it was all over, I was living at The Burrow with her and everyone. Then she was at my house with Ginny, and we all sort of just moved in like that..."

"And now she's not there, and neither's Ginny." Alicia nodded along, seeing what Harry was saying. "So you haven't been alone for two years."

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Then six years before that it was always me in the Gryffindor dorms with everyone else, and Hermione was there too."

"She's been a pretty big part of your life for nearly ten years now." Alicia smiled. "Are things still... dodgy? You know, between her and Ron?"

"I don't know, I guess." Harry shrugged. "I don't really talk about it, and she doesn't talk about Ron with me. I don't think she even talks about Ron with Ginny or anyone." He explained as Angelina came through the back door, smiling widely when she saw him sitting at the counter. "Hi." He grinned, giving her a little wave.

"Oh I want more than that Mr Chosen One!" Angelina laughed, mocking the name with her tone as she stormed around the counter and enveloped Harry in a big hug.

"Our little seeker's getting empty nest syndrome now that his Weasley and bookworm have buggered off back to Hogwarts." Alicia explained with a laugh. "Oi!" She huffed with a mocking glare when Harry slapped her on the arm.

"Missing your girls?" Angelina laughed at him, ruffling his hair with a friendly grin. "Or missing Ginny pulling you up into bed every chance she got?"

"Maybe," Harry blushed a bit at that. "I know they'll be back every night, they're flooing up and back since there's so many people starting the new year there now. But it's just weird, they're at Hogwarts and I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with anything. I'm just going to end up sitting around the house bored all day if I don't find something to do."

"Could go out flying?" Angelina suggested. "Do whatever you want, it's not like you have to work for a living or anything right?"

"I just don't want to turn into one of those lazy wizards who just does nothing because they can afford to." Harry explained with a huff as Angelina hopped up on the counter next to Alicia. "Actually, flying... reminded me." He mused, remembering what Ginny had asked him for. "Do you two still speak to Katie?"

"Now and again," Alicia nodded. "You know she's flying for the Harpies now right? Lucky bitch." She exclaimed with a grin.

"I heard," Harry nodded. "My new place is down at Holyhead. I'm only about twenty minutes from their pitch." He explained when both the girls looked at him in surprise.

"Oh my god," Alicia stared in awe. "I bet Ginny was screaming for joy when you bought that place. Surprised we didn't hear her right up in The Alley."

"What did you want Katie for?" Angelina asked curiously.

"Ginny wanted to talk to her, something about scouts." Harry explained. "I just realised I hadn't really spoken to her in ages, so I thought I'd ask if you guys still owled or flooed her."

"Owls normally, just depends if she's in a practice season or not." Alicia nodded. "Pretty sure she'd love to chat though, we had the best team back in Gryffindor, feels kinda sad now that we've all left."

"Yeah, Ginny's the new Captain." Harry nodded. "She's going to have to start a whole new team this year."

"Blimey," Angelina blinked at that, trying to imagine how much work that was going to be. "Yeah, I was going to write to Katie anyway, I can..." She trailed off as the store door opened, drawing everyone's attention over to where George walked in.

"Harrikins!" George greeted him happily, bounding over to give him a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Bored at home," Harry answered quickly before Angelina and Alicia could answer for him. "Wanted to get out and thought I'd come and see how everyone was."

"Did you hear that Harry's living down at Holyhead now?" Angelina said, sliding off the counter to move up to George and give him a soft kiss. "I thought we could go flying or something there, get some of the old team back together?"

"It's a secret, but yeah." Harry nodded. "I've got a ton of protective charms up, but I still kinda want to keep it a secret, friends only."

"Got it Harry!" George nodded, understanding why Harry would be keeping his home life a secret from everyone else. "Flying? Merlin, I haven't been on a broom in forever." He breathed out in surprise.

"Me neither," Alicia shook her head. "It'd feel great though, getting everyone back together again."

"Everyone that's still here," George pointed out. "Fred... Oliver didn't make it through the war either." He explained sadly.

"Neither did Demelza." Angelina filled in with a sad nod.

"I didn't know that." Harry said sadly.

"Snatchers caught up to him after the last battle, when everyone was being rounded up you know? Killed him for smuggling muggle borns to a safe house." George explained. "This..." He waved around the group. "This is pretty much it I think."

"And Katie," Angelina added in, causing George to nod in agreement.

"Blimey, I want to go flying now." George grinned with an excited little bounce on his heels.

"You got enough space down at Holyhead to go flying properly?" Angelina asked, looking at Harry now.

"Plenty," Harry nodded. "Got forest all around my place, if we throw up a couple of charms nobody is going to notice anything."

"Deal!" George said eagerly. "We should get Katie too."

"I can floo her from Harry's if that's OK?" Angelina asked, getting a nod from him. "It'd be great to go flying with the old team again."

"We can close up early anyway," George shrugged. "It's only a couple of hours, and we never get anyone coming in this late anyway." He explained with a shrug. "A day off flying sounds perfect to me right now that I'm thinking about it." He said, quickly flicking his wand towards the door and locking it, sending the sign flipping around so it read closed, and the enchanted banners unfurled across the windows, blaring advertisements but stopping anyone from seeing inside the store.

"Come on up Harry, we'll get our brooms and we can floo out from upstairs." Angelina explained, gesturing for him to follow her up to the private top floor where the three of them lived together now.

"This is going to be fun," George grinned happily to himself as Alicia followed and he waved his wand around, turning all the lights off before jogging after the trio, intent on actually letting himself unwind while flying with friends and forgetting all about all the years' stresses so far.