After the war, everyone tried their best rebuilding their lives especially for Harry who spent most of his life running away from death. Ginny tried to cope with the loss of her brother Fred and of others who perished in the war. Hermione and Ron took a trip to Australia to reverse the memory charm Hermione did to her parents and during their absence, it was Ginny who was there for Harry and they tried to rekindle the short –live relationship they had before the war. It was not easy for the both of them to be honest. They each have personal demons to face but after a few months, they are beginning to go on a steady pace in the relationship. They both decided to keep their relationship private because of very obvious reasons. Ginny was grateful that they get to keep their relationship a secret for such a long period of time which means no one in her family or close friends are blabbing about them.
The Hollyhead Harpies are gathered in the locker room after the day's vigorous training. Ginny was taking off her training gear and she felt everyone was full of excitement since this was the last day of training before the World cup. The door flew open and their captain Gwenog Jones came in. "Alright everyone, listen up"
"Good work girls. Not just today but for the whole duration of the training." Gwenog paced the room and looked at each of the harpy. Ginny was proud of her performance. She knew she was on top of her game. She can't wait to win that world cup.
"Now, we have a week of no training before the World Cup" That merited gleeful reactions from the girls. Ginny smiled and was dancing internally. After all, she had plans for this week involving one dark-haired wizard.
"Now, don't celebrate yet. Yes we won't have trainings anymore so you can rest those muscles but, this is the world cup people. We still have a lot of things to do. For those of you who didn't know, we usually spend this week for promotions, photo shoots, and interviews." Ginny tried not to react. But she can feel the disappointment kicking in her gut.
"I know, I know but this is part of the job. I don't need you to like it, I just need you to show up and make sure they love our team."
"Now, I will give you this weekend off since I know you all live interesting lives" Ginny swore Gwenog was looking at her when she said that.
"So, go on then, go home, enjoy your two days off, make sure you come back, and ready to face everything that's ahead of us." Gwenog finished her speech and exited the room.
Ginny continued to take off her gears when Ashley, the team's keeper, approached her "So Ginny, who is living an interesting life, who was the mystery guy?"
"Yes Gin, who is he?" another team mate asked.
"Is he from Hogwarts?" another added
"Wait, you were watching that muggle game, football, is he a muggle?" Soon, everyone in the locker room was throwing different questions at Ginny who was uncomfortable with the attention and the questioning.
Ginny was at a loss of how to answer when Mira stepped in "Alright, that's enough. I already asked her all of those questions but even I didn't get any answer. They are keeping it private and we should also respect that" Everyone nodded and went back to whatever they were doing.
"Thank you for that"
Mira winked at her "Anytime."
Ginny was back at her room and was packing a small bag to bring for her weekend off. She already sent an owl to her mum informing her she would be arriving. She also informed Harry as well. She took her bag, went out of her room, said a few goodbyes to her teammates and headed for the floo.
When Ginny stepped out of the floo, she noticed it was rather quiet. She looked around and wondered where everybody was, she certainly didn't expect this kind of welcome, and she did remember writing in the letter she will be arriving today. Did she?
"Mum? Dad? Ron?" She shouted but no answer. "Harry?" Seriously? No one is home to welcome her? Not even her boyfriend? She walked pass the kitchen bit annoyed already and headed outside. When she opened the door, she heard a loud BANG and saw confetti falling off the ground. She was surprised to see everyone in front of her.
Molly and Arthur holding a large banner with a Welcome Home Ginny! written on it. George lit up small magical fireworks with Ron and Hermione making noises with their party horns. Bill and a pregnant Fleur were even there clapping along with Percy.
Ginny was ecstatic but was looking for someone in the crowd and that's when she noticed Harry stepping out from behind the banner holding a bouquet of flowers and walked towards her.
Harry gave her the bouquet and beamed at her "Welcome Home Ginny"
Instead of taking the bouquet, Ginny launched herself at Harry who was taken by surprise but hugged her back. "I miss you" She confessed. She felt like they were the only ones there.
"I miss you too"
They were both brought back to attention when Ron cleared his throat. "We are also here, you know" This earned him a pinch from Hermione. Ginny and Harry laughed and broke off their tight embrace. Ginny went around hugging and greeting everyone. They sat around the big table and Molly tapped her wand and trays of food came flying and landing on the table.
"Alright, let's dig in." She announced.
"Finally" Ron said already gathering a mountain of food on his plate much to Hermione's amazement. Ginny noticed Harry occasionally placing food on her plate. She smiled internally of the gesture.
"How about me Harry, can you put some of that pudding on my plate?" George asked in a mocking tone. Harry's cheeks reddened, embarrassed that he was caught.
"Aw!" George shouted looking at Ginny accusingly
"Sorry, was that your foot?"
"Alright you two, stop that." Arthur warned.
"So Ginny how was the training?" Percy asked while everyone was digging in their feast.
Ginny took a sip of her butterbeer before answering "three months of training is no walk in the park. I mean you know how we train at Hogwarts, it was much, much more gruelling than that"
"Oh, by the way, that little stunt you pulled two days ago, the one that ended up in the tabloids, let's say it was also gruelling on our part" Ron chided.
"Yes, I almost forgot about that, thank you for reminding me Ron" George added. Harry and Ginny looked at each other with curious look.
George held up a finger pointing at them "Now, I don't mind if the shop is bombarded with loads of people, in fact, I would totally love that, but as long as they are customers!"
"But ever since that tabloid, loads of people, from your fan base, Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, Quidditch Times, you name it, comes to the store just asking about you"
Ron nodded looking back and forth from Ginny and Harry "We are being harassed everywhere. I am almost tempted to say it's Harry Potter really"
Hermione patted Ron's shoulders "Now, now Ron, relax"
"No, you are right Ron. I am so sorry about this. We weren't being careful" Harry admitted.
"It's not Harry's fault" Ginny admitted "I'm the one who asked Harry to keep it private for now with the world cup going on, I don't want to put any spotlight on our relationship."
"Ginny's got a point" Bill said. "I mean look at how they are reacting now that they only saw Ginny with "some guy how much more if they knew it was Harry"
"Blimey it would be weeks and weeks before it will die down, probably put the Quidditch cup at the side-lines." Hermione added.
"Exactly" Harry agreed.
Ron nodded with concern "Alright, I do understand that but when are you two going to keep this a secret?"
Ginny felt everyone's eyes on her including Harry's "After the world cup. I don't know when exactly but I'm sure it will be after."
George and Ron nodded in content.
The dinner went on with a lot of conversations, mostly about Ginny's three-month-long training. Ginny answered all of them with enthusiasm. After a short while, they began retreating inside while Ginny and Harry decided to take a stroll around the property.