The muggle papers had taken some getting used to for Ginny. For one part, she did not like how the pictures sat still. How was she supposed to fully understand the story with a paper that stood still? In the wizarding papers, she could see immediately the tone of the story from how the person in the picture was moving. For a second thing, she hardly understood the things going on in them. The Daily Prophet and similar publications only ever published news about Great Britain - and only Wizarding Great Britain at that - but the muggle papers published news about the whole world. Before this time away, Ginny had hardly known anything about the United States of America. Now, she was reading about them every day and she was starting to put a better picture of them together.

It was through these papers that Harry and Ginny were tracking Voldemort. Though it was of course not explicitly stated, they tracked mysterious happenings and tried to determine whether they were death eater attacks. Deaths, disappearances, destruction, all these things were possibly the cause of Voldemort's followers.

Ginny tapped her foot impatiently, glancing up at the door. Harry had been gone for longer than she expected. They had got back in from their trip to Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace and realised that they had not purchased a paper yet today. Harry had volunteered to go and get it, pulling his baseball cap back on. Ginny had agreed, distracted by the book that she had been reading while sunbathing at the park. She had only had twenty pages yet and she wanted to finish it so that she could start the sequel.

That had been an hour ago. The shop was a fifteen minute walk away. Harry should have been back twenty minutes ago, at least. For the past ten minutes, since she'd finished the book and realised the time, she had been pacing the house. She'd eaten a yogurt and then paced again, from the living room to the kitchen, into the laundry room where she found that their washing wasn't finished yet, and then back into the living room, where she peered out of the bay window to try and find her boyfriend.

She grabbed her book from its place on the coffee table and strode over to their bookcase, which was slowly filling every time they visited somewhere with a bookshop, and placed it in its place, pulling out the next. Hermione would be proud of how many books she and Harry consumed, with all of their free time. Books were a great source of escapism, to get away from the fact that she and Harry were constantly being hunted and the prospect of seeing their families was a distant and much-wanted one.

Ginny was a chapter into her book, her leg still shaking, when she finally heard the key in the door. She dropped the book, immediately losing her place, and rushed to the door as it opened, revealing Harry, his face ashen and his eyes blank. Ginny's eyes widened. He closed the door behind him and met her eyes. Ginny didn't need him to tell her what had happened.

"What did you see?" she asked, grabbing the bag out of his hand and wrapping an arm around his back, to guide him into the living room. Before he spoke, they sat down onto the sofa together, covering themselves with the ludicrously expensive woven blanket that they had bought a few days ago, when browsing an artisan market.

"He was torturing Sirius," Harry said without emotion. Ginny's gasp was stuttered and prolonged, horror filling her. "Ginny, what do I do?"

He was crying, his voice thick with the tears. Ginny brought her arms around him, tightening them as if to trap him in with her. He couldn't go, couldn't try and save Sirius, not when they were being hunted themselves. Ginny had started to cry, only realising when a tear fell from her chin, tracking uncomfortably down her neck.

"Could you tell where they were?" she asked quietly. The thought of Sirius in Voldemort's hands was horrible for Ginny, never mind for Harry, who loved him like a father, who had not even been able to speak to him since he was freed. It was too cruel, the thought of him dying now, before they could even be reunited.

Harry nodded. "They were in a big room and there were balls everywhere, like the ones Trelawney has in her classroom, but smokey." Ginny furrowed her brow. "Like the things that fortune tellers use."

Ginny's eyes widened. "You mean like prophecies?"

Harry shrugged. "I've been having this dream for a while, but Sirius has never been there before."

Ginny stilled. "You've dreamed of it before?" Harry nodded. "Were the balls filled with a blue flame?" He nodded again. "There's - in the Ministry, there's supposed to be a hall, filled with prophecies."

Harry looked up at her. "At the Ministry?" he asked incredulously. "He's in the Ministry?"

Ginny shook her head. "It's the middle of the day. He can't be."

"He- Ginny, what if he is?" Harry asked desperately.

Ginny blinked away her remaining tears. "Harry, you've dreamed of this before. Voldemort can't have been there every time you dreamed it. He can't have been in the Ministry every time."

"He was-" Harry cleared his throat. "He was with your dad, though, wasn't he?"

Ginny inhaled. Harry was right. "Was it the same room?" Harry nodded. "And you say Voldemort was there? Not just the snake?"

"Yes."

Ginny shook her head. "Voldemort can't be in the Ministry in the middle of the day, especially not if it's the same room where my dad was attacked. There will be guards now, surely, and, anyway, you've had this in your mind for a long time. I- I think-"

"What?" Harry said impatiently.

Ginny bit her lip. "What if it's a trap? What if he's planted it in your head?"

Harry's face relaxed as he considered it. "If he can plant things in my head-"

"I know," Ginny said, hating the possibility herself. "But he did that to me, when I was being possess-"

"You think I'm being possessed?" Harry said in horror. Ginny shook her head, grasping him tighter.

"No, Harry, no," she said, eyes widening. "If you're being possessed-"

Harry pushed her away from him, standing up. "You should get away from me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Ginny said, jumping up too. "Harry, I've told you this before, at Christmas. I know what it is like when you're being possessed. I will know if you are being possessed and I will do whatever it takes to bring you back around."

"You'll leave," Harry said, his voice shaking. "If you think I'm being possessed, Ginny, you will leave and get as far away from me as possible."

Ginny shook her head, her eyes filling with tears again. "Never," she said wetly.

"I could hurt you," Harry said and his voice was thick too.

"You would never."

"It wouldn't be me. It would be Voldemort." Ginny shook her head, squeezing her eyes tight. "You- you didn't want to hurt those people." Ginny let out a sob. "Promise me, Ginny. Promise me that you'll leave."

Ginny closed her eyes and then opened them. "I promise," she lied.

XXX

Godric's Hollow hadn't changed much in fifteen years. As Sirius and Zoe wandered through the quaint streets, the sun shined down on their neck, making Zoe think reminiscently of Peru and the life she and Lu had had there. Though she would never go far from Sirius now, she would always meet the sun and the culture and the food of Peru. She would miss her friends there and the little house where she and Lu had grown together. But all of this was worth it. Coming here for Harry had been worth it, even if they hadn't found him yet.

Zoe glanced at the man who had made it all worth it. His face was blank, his eyes searching far in the distance. The graveyard was not too far away now. It would be a first for Zoe, though not for Sirius, who had told her that Godric's Hollow had been his first stop once he had left Azkaban, even before he went to Little Whinging for Harry. He had gone to see his friends, in dog form, and had slept in their house for a week before pulling himself together and heading to Harry.

Sirius sighed, pulling open the gate to the graveyard. Zoe blinked back tears as she thought of the last time she saw Lily, smiling, preparing for Harry's first birthday party. She had come to say goodbye and Lily had been chatting and dancing about the living room. Zoe had left abruptly and sobbed as she headed to the airport.

Following Sirius numbly, Zoe appreciated that she had not done this alone, but that she had also not come with Lu. She would bring Lu at another time but the only person she wanted to sob in front of was Sirius.

And sob she did. She knelt before Lily's grave, stroking her name, engraved into the stone fifteen years ago. James was next to her, together in death as in life. It was not as though she had not known that it was a possibility that Lily had died while she was away, but she had not expected it to be like this, so soon after Zoe left. She had kept away from most of the magical community in Peru and, even so, the news was not heavily reported on. Voldemort had only affected Great Britain and, though his downfall may have been mentioned in the papers, the means of it had not been.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, head bent. "I should have been here for him. I'm so sorry, Lily."

Sirius knelt beside her, his arm on her waist. He pressed a kiss to her temple. She looked up and found that his eyes were wet too. "I can't believe I let them down so much," Zoe said, wiping at her eyes.

"You couldn't have known," Sirius said quietly.

Zoe nodded. "I ran away because I was a coward. I stayed away because it was easy."

Sirius shook his head. "If you came back, you would have had to deal with-"

Zoe nodded. "With Malfoy, I know," she said, naming her rapist. "But I could have taken Harry with me. He could have come to Peru."

"Dumbledore never would have let you."

"I wouldn't have asked."

"You're just hurting yourself with this, Zoe. Do you think I don't think the same? I should have kept my head, focussed on Harry instead of revenge, gone to Remus instead of Peter. But I didn't and I left Harry behind. So, for now, all I can do is get him back."

Zoe was silent for a moment, staring at the names on the graves. "We will get him back, won't we?"

Sirius nodded. "Of course we will."

XXX

Fred ran his hand through his hair as he arrived outside Hermione's house. He had apparated a few streets away, where Hermione had suggested he did when he had written to her, and then walked along to her house, a very nice house, matching the ones next to it, and with a finely kept garden. It made the Burrow look like a dumping ground.

Sighing, Fred pushed away his thoughts that he wasn't good enough for her and approached the door. He didn't want to think of home for the next few hours. George was not speaking to him, nor was Ron, and his mother had made very clear her opinion that she had thought that Hermione was supposed to be with Ron. It had been a painful few days but he was putting all of that out of mind. He was here for Hermione.

He knocked on the door, shuffling his feet against the mat on the porch, one hand behind his back. The door was painted a glossy black and there were no chips, no old rusty lock. It was a different world to Fred's own. Hermione herself answered the door, her hair tied atop her head in a neat bun and sunglasses pressed into the top of her hair. She was wearing a dress. Fred wasn't sure he had ever seen her in a dress before, save at the Yule Ball. It was blue and pretty. She had trainers on, as well, a mismatch that Fred thought made her even more wonderful.

"You look amazing," he said with a grin, bringing flowers out from behind his back. Hermione's eyes lit up and she took them, bringing them to her nose. A woman approached from behind.

"Mum, will you put these in some water for me?" Hermione asked her. Hermione's mother watched Fred assessingly as she nodded and then left them. Hermione grinned. "Shall we go? Where are we going?"

Fred slung his arm over her shoulders, leading her out of her fancy garden and back to the apparition spot. "Somewhere magical," he promised. Hermione narrowed her eyes. Fred grinned. "Magical as in amazing, not like Diagon Alley," he corrected.

"Okay, mystery man," Hermione said, moving her arm so that it was around his waist. Fred enjoyed walking with her like this, strolling, their arms around each other. "How's the Burrow?"

Fred's grin widened. "Well, Ron saw us snogging at the party, so he's not talking to me. George is angry with me for not telling him that I fancied you. But everything else is good." Hermione froze, her arm falling from his waist. Fred sighed and turned to her. He was glad he had not mentioned his mother's attitude. He would not want her to feel unwanted at the Burrow.

"I'll write to Ron," she said quietly. "I should have told him. Merlin, we were just getting back on track with our friendship." Fred gave her a small smile and reached for her hand. She gave it to him with a small blush. "Why is George so upset?"

"I've never not told him something like this before." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "But I've never felt this way about anybody before, so it's different." Hermione flamed red, turning to him with a beaming smile.

"I've never felt this way before, either," she said. Fred smiled and leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips. "Come on, let's go to this magical place you're talking about."

They arrived at Compton Castle ten minutes later. Fred apparated with his arms tight around Hermione and she had nearly thrown up upon landing, making Fred laugh and her glare at him. He grabbed her around her waist and brought her close, kissing her soundly. Hermione grinned, her hands pressed up against his chest.

"It's funny, being able to snog you whenever I want," Fred said, slinging his arm around her waist, as they headed towards the castle, a square formation with traditional castle walls, in the distance. Fred had spent many summer days here when he was a child, with his brothers, pretending to be knights or princes or criminals on the run.

"You're so romantic," Hermione said dryly, making Fred laugh.

"Hey, I brought flowers!"

"True," she gave him, stopping and going on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. Fred grinned stupidly and she poked his side.

They reached the visitors' centre, where they each paid for a ticket and Fred dragged Hermione away from the array of books in the gift shop. She laughed as he physically dragged her out onto the path leading to the castle, saluting the women working on the till as they did.

Fred furrowed his brow as Hermione reached into her bag and drew out a black square, with a strip. "What is that?"

Hermione grinned mischievously. "Stand in front of the castle." Fred hummed at her suspiciously and went to stand in the middle of the path. Thankfully, there was nobody else around to see him looking so foolishly. Hermione raised up the box to her eye and Fred gasped.

"It's a camera!" he cried, feeling clever. She gave him a raised-eyebrows, expectant look, pulling the photo-taking device away from her eye. Fred grinned sheepishly and got back into position, smiling. He heard the click of the camera as she took a photo. "Swap! I want to take one of you."

Hermione came over to him but did not give him the camera. "I don't trust you with it." Fred touched his chest.

"Ouch," he said.

Hermione giggled and turned the camera around. "Smile," she ordered. Fred did as she said and heard the click again as she took a photo. "Come on. I want to see the castle!"

Fred followed her, excited by her exuberance. He would take her to every castle in Devon and Cornwall if they made her this happy. Heck, he would take her to every castle in England. Perhaps she could choose the next one and show him part of her childhood too. Fred wanted to know all about it, all about her.

XXX

Remus unlocked the door to the farmhouse, feeling foolish. He had locked it earlier, out of habit, but it was stupid to lock a door that was hidden to everyone's view, except the people who lived there. Clearly, though, nobody else had left the house yet, because he was the only one who ever locked the door. To be fair to them, it was a Saturday. Remus, too, would prefer not to have left the house, only he had to. He'd had to meet with Kingsley Shacklebolt, to initiate him into the Council, before Kingsley's shift started at the auror department.

The house was noisy as soon as he entered. He tiptoed to where the noise was coming from, peering through the arch into the kitchen to find Sirius, Zoe and Luisa there, laughing. They had been in their kitchen with frequency, as their fridge-freezer had broken and even spells weren't fixing it. Sirius had commissioned Remus to go with him on Monday to get a new one, but, until then, they were going to use the farmhouse's kitchen. It was not bad, at all, but Remus did not want to interrupt them.

He narrowed his eyes. He thought they were making ice lollies. It made sense, because the weather had been sweltering recently. He smiled as he watched Sirius and Luisa laugh together, choosing flavours and taking the mick out of Zoe. It was a scene of family and it made Remus' heart pang for a moment. He could just see Harry there too.

Shaking himself, Remus turned back around, out of the door and locking it before he knew what he was doing. He strode away to the perimeters of the fidelius charm, feeling something akin to jealous for Sirius' position. It was more of a longing for the same, for himself. So he apparated to a certain place in London.

He used the phone box to enter, with a false claim of bringing his girlfriend her forgotten lunch. He went through all of the security checks and, though the security guards were disgusted by his being a werewolf, they let him through anyway. There was nothing he cared about in that regard, anymore. Tonks wanted to be with him even so.

The auror department was busy when he arrived and Remus spotted the turquoise hair that his girlfriend was sporting with frequency at the moment. She grinned upon seeing him and waved him over with no subtlety. Remus did not even give Kingsley a nod as he passed him. He didn't want to cause any suspicion to fall on anyone. Suddenly, he wondered if coming here was a bad idea, but he wanted to see Tonks, and he knew that her shift would finish in fifteen or so minutes.

He approached her quickly and, before he could think badly of it, he leaned down to greet her with a kiss, ignoring any looks or murmurs around them. When he pulled away, Tonks was beaming. She looked up at him and said, quite earnesty, "I love you."

Remus' insides set on fire. He assumed that this was the way Sirius was feeling at the moment. What James would think of it, his two best friends being so wonderfully in love. Remus grinned and kissed her again. "I love you too." She kissed him this time. "When do you finish?" he asked, though he already knew.

"I got here early, so I could leave now," she said, faking a considering voice, as though she didn't know if she wanted to. Remus quirked a brow at her. "I am rather hungry, so I suppose I'll leave with you."

"Thank you for your kindness," he replied with a fond roll of his eyes. Tonks grinned.

"Come on, wolfie. I want pizza." And, with great beams on both of their faces, she dragged him out of the ministry.