A/N: I found the rest of the scenes I dredged up two weeks ago :) We might have another post or two if I can frame them out so they make sense. This one is an outtake from Consequences, around chapter three or four. It contains four drafts of a scene with Hermione and Ginny at the Auror safe house in protective custody, none of which made the final cut. And for reasons I no longer remember, I did not pair Teddy with Victoire. *shrug* Enjoy!


SCENE ONE

″Hermione!″ Ginny fought off the slight nausea that Apparition always gave her and embraced her friend. ″What's going on?″

″They found Dolohov.″

″What?″

″They found Dolohov, and they're questioning him under Veritaserum.″

″But why are we here?″

Hermione led the way out of the shabby little sitting room and into a sparse bedroom containing two single beds and a small wardrobe. ″Because our husbands are overprotective Neanderthals?″

Ginny didn't know what a Neanderthal was but dismissed this with a wave of her hand. ″Teddy said they had a suspect in custody who had threatened you directly.″

″Ron wouldn't tell me.″ Hermione tried to look put out at this, but Ginny could tell she was scared.

″Well, we'll see about that.″ She marched through the sitting room into the kitchen crammed with—she swallowed—fourteen Aurors assigned to guard her and Hermione. What the bloody hell was going on? Ginny adopted her best ″pissed off mum″ stance and was gratified to see most of the wizards shift uneasily. ″Who's in charge here?″

″I am, Mrs. Potter.″ Clarke. Damn, she actually liked the man.

″Where's my husband?″

″At Headquarters, interrogating a suspect.″

Well, that supported Hermione's claim that they had found Dolohov. Harry hadn't been directly involved in a case in years, but he would never leave a Death Eater to someone else.

″And Ron?″

″Him too, ma'am.″

Ginny intensified her glare. All of the Aurors—anyone who had met her, at least, and that was nearly all of them—knew she hated the title.

″Could I make you a cup of tea, Mrs. Potter?″ Clarke asked politely.

″No, I do not want tea! I want to see my husband, and I want to know what the hell is going on!″

″I'm not authorized to tell you that, Mrs. Potter.″

Ginny's hand reached into her pocket without conscious thought. It was only when she felt the absence of wood between her fingers that she remembered Teddy had her wand. ″Teddy Lupin,″ she said evenly, ″if there is anyone in the world who can ruin every aspect of your life, it's me.″

″Auntie Ginny—″ Teddy only called her that when he was kissing up— ″I have orders to do whatever it takes to keep you and Hermione safe. I intend to do exactly that, even if it means you never bake for me again.″

Ginny felt the corners of her mouth twitch and covered it with a snort. She hesitated. ″Harry's really okay?″

All the Aurors responded with nods and murmurs of agreement, eager to give her this acceptable bit of information.

″He didn't send me a message?″

Teddy smiled. ″He said he's certain you and Hermione could find a way to get past all of us but to please not try since he's very busy at the moment and can't add raking employees over the coals to his list of things to do. He says if you ignore his advice, under no circumstances are you or Hermione to go home or to the Burrow. He also said he will come straight here as soon as he finishes with the suspect and then you can yell at him as much as you want. He even promised to give your wand back first.″

Ginny smiled. Harry had said no such thing; Teddy was teasing her. She turned back to Clarke. ″How long do we have to stay here?″

″Until Potter gives us different orders.″

″And when will that be?″

″I don't know, Mrs. Potter.″

Ginny glared and then gave in not-so-gracefully. If she was so important, they could damn well treat her like it. ″I want dinner—Fazio's will do nicely, I think. With wine and cheesecake. And send one of these witches out for nightclothes. I am not sleeping in my robes.″

()()()()

SCENE TWO

House with the Round Green Roof

Laig, Scotland

″Oof.″ Harry stumbled as his tiny but strong wife threw herself into his arms. He closed his around her, lifting her off the ground and burying his face in her sweet-smelling hair. Ginny snuggled against him, tucking her face into his neck.

″Where's Ron?″

Harry looked over Ginny's shoulder into the anxious face of his childhood friend and felt the all-too-familiar stab of guilt. ″He's wrapping up some things at the office. I can't stay long, but I wanted to let you know everything's okay.″

Ginny and Hermione gave him the looks that were often directed at their sons and nephews.

″Well, not okay exactly, but we're getting there. Listen—I need you two to stay here, do you hear me?″ Neither Ginny nor Hermione responded, although Harry could feel the tense attention of all the Aurors in the room. He turned to Teddy. ″Where's her wand?″

″We're not saying, sir.″

Despite everything, Harry grinned. ″That bad, huh?″

″She's stronger than she looks,″ Teddy admitted. ″And she can scream like a banshee.″

″I'm right here, Teddy.″

″She's a fighter, Gin is,″ Harry said affectionately, his wife still under his arm. ″Hermione too, she's just sneakier about it. Who has Hermione's wand?″

Clarke shook his head. ″She doesn't have a wand with her, sir.″

Harry raised his eyebrows.

″We searched her, and we tried Expelliarmus and Accio.″

″Did you search her handbag?″

Clarke's face went blank. ″No, sir. It's not big enough to contain a wand, and the charms—″

″We hid from Voldemort for nine months with what she had in her handbag.″ He turned to an innocent- looking Hermione, which was always suspicious. ″Where is it?″

″You're the Auror.″

Harry eyed her skeptically. Knowing Hermione, she had hidden the bag someplace private (it would show in her bra, but her pants were a likely location) and charmed it to catch fire or bite or turn your ears backwards when touched by someone else. It wasn't worth the humiliation of finding out, especially considering she was more than talented enough to be an asset in a fight.

″I'll let you keep your wands if you'll give me your word that you'll stay here.″

Hermione glanced at Ginny, who nodded.

″I promise, Harry,″ Hermione said.

He kissed Ginny hard but quickly. ″I love you.″ As he closed the door behind him, he heard her giving in with ill grace.

″We're hungry—Fazio's will do nicely, I think. With wine and cheesecake. And send one of these witches out for nightclothes. I am not sleeping in my robes.″

()()()()

SCENE THREE

House with the Round Green Roof

Laig, Scotland

Ginny stopped her pacing when every Auror in the room (all fourteen of them—she had been trying not to think about what hell required fourteen Aurors to defend against it) stopped simultaneously.

Hermione tossed aside the four-year-old copy of Witch Weekly and stood up. ″What is it?″

″He's coming,″ Clarke said, taking a defensive stance in front of the door.

″Who's coming?″ Ginny and Hermione said together.

Harry's voice filled the room. ″Harry Potter, Head Auror, badge number one three seven nine five, requesting immediate entrance.″

Clarke dropped the wards, Harry opened the door, and Ginny threw herself into his arms. He grunted with the force of her impact, lifting her off the floor and burying his face in her hair. The fear Ginny had been holding at bay—barely—rushed out from her stomach to envelop her whole body. Harry was never this demonstrative in front of his staff, never. What the bloody hell was so damn wrong?

Ginny wiggled her way back down to the ground and punched him in the shoulder. ″Where the hell have you been? Why are we here, and why didn't you come get me?″

″Where's Ron?″

Harry's attention shifted over her shoulder, and Ginny saw the self-recriminating expression as he looked into the anxious face of his childhood friend.

″He's wrapping up some things at the office. I can't stay long, but I wanted to let you know everything's okay.″

Hermione gave him the look she usually reserved for her son and nephews.

″Well, not okay exactly, but we're getting there. Listen—I need you two to stay here, do you hear me?″

″I most certainly will not!″ Ginny said hotly. ″Not without answers.″

″I don't have time for this, Gin.″

″Then make time!″

Harry stepped forward. ″There is a team of six dark wizards plotting against my family. Only one of them is in custody, so I have more important things to worry about than making you happy.″

Ginny crossed her arms. ″I can tell.″

″I just spent the last hour listening to a Death Eater detail plans to murder my wife and deliver her to me in a twelve inch box!″ Harry shouted. ″I don't care if you're angry with me, I care if you're alive!″

Ginny paused, but only for a moment. ″Don't do this, Harry,″ she warned, ignoring the nausea rolling over her in waves. ″Don't shut me out. You're not breaking up with me this time.″

Harry glanced around the crowded sitting room and sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair. ″Can we go somewhere private?″

″You're the one who put sixteen people in a three-room flat!″

″I don't fancy a trip to Hogwarts to tell James and Al and Lily their mother is dead!″ Harry's voice cracked on the word.

″That's enough,″ Hermione said, grabbing Ginny and Harry by an arm each and dragging them down the short hall to the bathroom. ″Don't come out until you can play nicely.″ She gave both of them a shove (Ginny was going to have a bruise on her hip tomorrow) and slammed the door.

″Hermione!″ Harry bellowed, banging his fist against the wood.

″Don't bother,″ Ginny said, closing the toilet lid and sitting on it. ″She's already warded this room.″

Harry hit the door once more and swore.

″Are you trying to scare me?″

He didn't look up. Both arms were braced against the wall and his head was hanging down. He needed a haircut; she couldn't see his face.

″I was trying not to scare you.″

″Hermione said you caught Dolohov.″

″Yes.″

″Who is he working with?″

″We don't know.″

Ginny frowned. ″What do you mean, 'we don't know?' ″

Harry dropped his arms and glared at her. ″I mean there are five wizards who are actively trying to kill you, and because they're cleverer than most, I only have a name and description for one of them.″ He turned towards the door, putting his right hand in his pocket, and Ginny knew he was fingering his wand. ″I don't have time for this,″ he said wearily.

Ginny stood and laid a tentative hand on his back. ″I shouldn't have picked a fight. I should have known you wouldn't have had us brought here if it wasn't serious and cooperated with you.″

″It would have been a damned sight easier.″

She swallowed. The last thing she wanted to do was make Harry's job even more difficult. He moved suddenly, and Ginny's breath was squeezed out of her.

″I can't lose you, Ginny, I just—I just can't. I'm sorry, I know you hate not knowing what's going on, but I will do anything to keep you safe, even if it makes you pissed at me.″

″I'm fine, Harry,″ Ginny said, hugging him tightly. ″I'm right here, and I'm not angry anymore.″ Scared out of my mind, maybe.

He buried his face in her hair again, then began kissing her. Her neck, her shoulder, her ear, her cheek. . . .

″You said the family,″ she said as his mouth trailed across her forehead. ″The kids, are they—″

″They're fine. Neville checked on all of them. Nieces and nephews too. Everyone's safe at Hogwarts.″

Ginny felt the band around her heart ease a tiny bit. ″Ron's okay?″ She turned her head to kiss his jaw, the fear transforming into a desperate need to touch, to connect, to reassure.

″Mm-hmm.″ Harry's answer was muffled against her mouth, and Ginny opened it willingly. ″ 'm sorry 'bout the kids.″

″Uhhh?″ His hands were in her hair now, massaging her scalp in miniature circles.

Harry kissed her again, shifting their positions so she was leaning back against the wall. ″Shouldn't've said that, 'bout having to tell them—″

Ginny widened her stance, and they both groaned as his pelvis settled against hers. ″ 's 'kay. I needed—needed—″ She needed his touch, needed her hands on his skin, needed him.

He stopped but didn't pull away from her, breathing hard.

″What's the matter?″ When he didn't answer, she walked her fingers up his chest. ″We've made love with Teddy down the hall before. . . .″

Harry laughed against her neck. ″I really don't have time for this,″ he said again.

″Harry!″

″I'm sorry.″ He kissed her quickly, then lingered. ″Godric, am I sorry.″

Ginny looped her arms behind his neck and smiled up at him. ″Well, you missed dinner. Can you make breakfast?″

He brightened. ″Stakeout sex? We haven't had stakeout sex since—″

″Since you stopped doing stakeouts.″

″Very funny.″

In the early years of Harry's career, they'd had to be creative. When Harry had spent nights away from home tailing one suspect or another and returned at daybreak, that meant in the early morning hours before Ginny reported for Quidditch practice or James and Al woke for breakfast. Harry had never been home after breakfast.

″Listen, I really do have to go, but I'm going to send word when it's safe for you to come home and have the Aurors bring you. Okay?″

″Okay. Just tell me what you need me to do, and we'll get through this.″

″You might want to fix your hair. . . .″

()()()()

SCENE FOUR

Ginny unpacked the box of Italian takeaway and repressed the squirm of a guilty conscience. Fazio's had closed well over an hour ago; the Aurors who picked this up had to have told the staff it was for Harry Potter's wife. Her stomach rumbled, untroubled by the ethics of name-dropping. She and Hermione had not spoken since Harry left, but she could feel the curiosity radiating off her friend. Hermione had charmed the bathroom with privacy wards as soon as they arrived, but Ginny didn't fancy eating next to a toilet. She stepped on Hermione's toes.

″Ow! What—oh.″ Hermione drew her wand and muttered a few incantations—the protective charms she, Harry, and Ron had used during the war.

Ginny broke out in chill bumps.

″They'll break them in a few minutes. What did Harry say?″

″He said there's five others besides Dolohov, but they only have a name and description for one of them. He also said he would send word when it was safe to go home.″

″Tonight?″

Ginny nodded. ″Teddy told me, at Exmoor, that Dolohov made a direct threat against you.″

″Probably. Harry sent six Aurors to fetch me from my office.″

Ginny's jaw dropped. ″But your office is just down the hall! I thought you picked up the extra security when you left.″

Hermione shook her head, pushing loose curls out of her face. ″What about the kids? Did he say anything about Rose and Hugo?″

Ginny took a deep breath. ″Yes, sorry. All the kids are fine—Neville checked.″

″I don't want them to know,″ Hermione said.

″Not yet, at least. We'll have to tell them once school lets out.″

″That's not for three more months. They'll find them in three months.″ That was bravado in her voice, not confidence.

″Harry's really scared,″ Ginny whispered. ″Have you—have you ever—″

Hermione's brown eyes were warm with sympathy. ″That playoff match where you got knocked off your broom and fell about fifty feet. When we overheard the goblins telling Dean and Mr. Tonks about you, Neville, and Luna trying to steal the sword. Harry was desperate to know what happened to you.″

Ginny swallowed against the painful lump in her throat. It hadn't been bad in the bathroom, secure in Harry's embrace, but now the reality of being hunted—again—was sinking in.

″It can't be as bad as last time,″ Hermione said. ″Nothing can be as bad as that.

″We didn't have kids the last time,″ Ginny said bleakly.

″How did you do that?″

Hermione was right; the Aurors had made short work of her protection spells. Three of them sat at the table with her and Ginny and the rest crowded behind, all eager to know what the spells were and where Hermione had learned them.

Ginny took pity on her friend—fourteen Aurors were beyond ruthless—and changed the subject. ″So, Teddy, how's Elizabeth?″

″Fine, thank you,″ said a female voice.

Ginny spun round, matching the voice to a pretty blond witch in the corner. ″Teddy didn't tell me you were an Auror,″ she said in delight. ″Does Harry know?″

″He does now,″ Teddy said resignedly. His hair was splotchy, half turquoise and half his natural sandy brown. It always did that when he was embarrassed.

″I've known Teddy since before he was born. Anything you want to know, just ask. He was such a cute baby.″ Ginny began digging in her handbag. ″Wait a minute, I probably have a picture. . . .″

Oh, revenge was so very, very sweet.