Priorities
Harry wandered into the kitchen at The Burrow and stopped dead at the sight of mother and daughter hugging and sniffing into each others shoulders. His first thought was that something awful had happened to Ron and stepped forward in a panic.
"What is it? What's happened now?"
Ginny pulled away from her mother and wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. Mrs Weasley dabbed at her face with her apron and set about fussing with the tea pot while the kettle boiled on the stove.
"Harry," Ginny forced a smile onto her face and reached out for his hand, "come with me in the garden for a bit. I need to talk to you about something."
Harry was filled with dread as he took her hand and followed her outside. They sat down on the small garden wall outside The Burrow and Ginny avoided his eyes and bit her lip.
"Gin, what is it? Please, this is really worrying me."
"Did you ever wonder where we'd be if Ron never got taken?" Ginny said, staring at their hands in her lap.
"What?" Harry blinked,."Well, yes, of course. I wish things were different every day."
"Of course," Ginny nodded, "nobody wants any of this for all of us, but I know my brother and I know he doesn't want everybody's life to stop because he has things he needs to deal with before he can carry on with his."
Harry swallowed and stared at Ginny fiercely. He always knew that Ron and Ginny had a volatile relationship ever since hormones had kicked in and made them snappy with each other rather than the best friends in the whole world like they used to be. If Ginny was about to start blaming Ron for things not going her way, then he was going to have something to say about that.
"Ron's whole problem is that he's trying not to burden us, Ginny. If you go and tell him he is th-"
"This isn't about, Ron," Ginny interrupted, "this is about you!"
"What?" Harry gaped.
"When Ron's around, it's as if I'm not and when he's not around your mind's elsewhere and not with me at all," Ginny said sadly.
"Ginny, he just had a fit because somebody stood next to him in the toilet," Harry said in disbelief at how hard Ron's little sister could be towards him when he needed support the most. "He needs us to persuade him to get some help."
Ginny laughed bitterly and shook her head.
"I helped Hermione with him last night," Ginny said as she stared off, out across the open field. "He feels so safe with her. He trusts her so completely. He's kissed her and held her and spent the night with her."
Harry nodded.
"I know all this, Gin. What are you getting at?"
"What I'm getting at, Harry Potter, is that since Ron got home he has been battling with himself so he can be close to Hermione. He's been working so hard and they've become even closer then they ever were. They spent the night in his bed hugging each other, Harry!"
"You're angry at this because...?" Harry blinked incomprehensively.
"I'm angry at you because we haven't snogged each other since Ron came home and when Hermione stayed in your bed you went downstairs onto the sofa rather than coming to me and...and..." Ginny huffed and slapped her palms onto her thighs and stood up to pace forward a few steps. "Ron and Hermione started off in a place where she might never have been able to be his girlfriend at all and now they are ten times what we are and nobody tried to rape you!"
Her words echoed across the field and Harry reeled in stunned silence.
"If Ron had never been taken, I would have moved out and gone to live with Luna in her little flat, girls having fun and being free from Mum and her fussing, and we'd have a place we could be together away from all the Weasley eyes but I didn't go because I didn't want to abandon Ron after everything that happened."
"So you want me to take you out, is that it?" Harry frowned, standing up cautiously and pondering how wise it would be to take a step closer to her.
"You're worse than Ron," Ginny laughed weakly. "No, you're worse than he used to be. Right now, Ron is completely dedicated to Hermione and you're completely dedicated to Ron and I'm just...washing dishes with Mum."
"You're jealous of your brother?" Harry said, feeling the anger rise within him. "You're jealous of Ron getting all the attention?"
"I'm jealous of Hermione, Harry!" Ginny yelled as she spun around, red in the face. "I'm jealous of her having somebody love her and need her like that. She has somebody who wants her."
"I want you!" Harry barked defensively.
"You barely even notice me anymore!" Ginny flailed her arm around her as she ranted at her neglectful boyfriend.
"My best friend needs to know I'm not ashamed of him and that I still want to hang around with him like we used to. I don't want him to think I'm handing him over to Lee while I run around having the time of my life with his sister."
"Ron has Hermione, Ron has Charlie, he's got Mum and Dad and even Percy – he has so many people he's probably craving to be left alone for two seconds. You can spend half an hour to sit with me and have a cuddle or go into the village for tea and cream buns. There's room for more than one Weasley in your life, Harry."
"It might have escaped your attention, Ginny, but your whole family have been trying to get Lee and Ron less dependant on each other and it's not fair to just transfer all Ron's needs onto Hermione. It's not fair to her or to him."
"I know that!" Ginny screeched before grabbing handfuls of her hair in frustration. "Will you stop thinking about your friends for one minute and think about your girlfriend."
"Okay, you want me to take you out for an éclair? I'll take you out for an éclair. I'll buy an éclair factory for you!" Harry said animatedly.
"Oh, Potter, you really are driving me batty!" Ginny growled, "Am I your girlfriend or your ex-girlfriend?"
"You're my girlfriend."
"Are we splitting up or not?"
"Not."
"Are you going to kiss me or fight with me?"
Harry blinked and then lunged forward to push Ginny slightly back in his arms while he devoured her mouth hungrily. Hands mussed up hair and tongues duelled inside mouths. Soon enough balance was lost that they stumbled over and onto the grass hard.
"Ooof!"
Ginny giggled and Harry groaned as his wand handle poked him in the side.
"Well, that was romantic," Ginny chuckled. "Oh no wait...it wasn't!"
"Oh, shut up and roll me off you so I can remove my wand from my person."
"I thought I was your person," Ginny smiled as she rolled him off her.
Harry pulled the tip of his wand out from underneath his ribcage and slumped on his back beside Ginny.
"So what made your Mum all cuddly and sniffley then?" Harry asked, staring up at the clouds.
"I told her I was moving out," Ginny answered with a deep sigh.
Harry propped himself up o his elbows immediately.
"You what?"
"I'm going to move in with Luna like we planned."
"But...but..." Harry's jaw flapped loosely.
"I've spoken to Ron and he knows he can come to me at any time. I've said to Hermione I'd like to help out with the relaxation stuff but...Ron's a dead weight when he goes and Charlie's really better for dealing with him when he's like that."
"You could…" Harry's eyes searched thin air desperately. "Yyou could help him with his speech therapy."
"I tried that, remember?" Ginny sighed wearily and picked a patch of grass beside her bald. "I don't have the patience you and Lee do with his stutter. I keep finishing his sentences and it just winds him up and makes him stutter more."
"Well, what about...?"
"Harry, me and Ron are like a moth and a flame ever since I became a woman rather than a tomboy. We want to be close but we can't do it without one of us getting burnt."
"He loves you," Harry said sadly, "he needs you. Why do you think you get under each other's skin so much?"
"I love him, too, and I'll rip a new arsehole to any of those gits who say nasty things about him but we're not seven and eight any more," Ginny said as her shoulders fell. "We get along better when we're out of each other's hair."
"Okay then, what about me?" Harry said defensively.
"They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?" Ginny smiled and peered up at Harry through her fringe. "Maybe a bit of absence is what you need, eh?"
Harry hugged her and realised that she was right. If she was here, he would take her for granted and not make the effort to be with her. While she was there she was invisible. Maybe if she was in her own space they could get back on track apart from the family and what they were going through.
He was glad it hadn't come to an ultimatum. He was grateful he never had to choose between Ron and Ginny. In his heart, he knew who he needed in his life more. They broke their hug and Harry kissed the tip of Ginny's nose and held her face in his hands.
"I'll help you move your stuff," he said softly.
An owl swooped overhead with a red envelope tied to its leg, a Howler. Harry's stomach turned over.
"Quick, before it goes off." Ginny said as she let him go.
Harry broke away from her and hesitated before running off to intercept the owl.
"I'll be back in a sec. I just have to keep it from..."
"Go!" Ginny said as she waved him onward.
Harry sprinted into the kitchen and pulled the red envelope, almost taking the startled owl with it, before running back out of the house and hurtling into the open space of the surrounding fields. He pictured a clearing in the woods some way away and Disapparated. Just as he staggered over a tree root and hit the ground the Howler went off.
'You belong in an asylum, you warped freak! You can't be trusted around civilised people, no better than a werewolf you are. You've tasted flesh and you should be locked up. If I had a dog that did what you did, the authorities would make me put it to sleep. You bring shame to your good family you sick, cowardly soddomi-'
Harry blasted the Howler repeatedly and then stamped on it until it was in shreds on the ground. He grunted and cursed and ignited the remains with his wand angrily.
"You ignorant fucking people!" Harry snarled. "He went through all that to keep those murderers in prison where they belong. You don't fucking deserve your freedom if that's how you treat the person who earned it for you!"
Harry was panting and sweating as he calmed himself down and kicked at the crumpled mound of ash and soil.
"He's more human than you'll ever be," Harry said, scowling at the charred spot on the forest floor. "Why can't you just leave him alone?"
He swallowed and wiped his sweaty face with the back of his hand before remembering what he had been doing before and Apparating back to the spot he'd left Ginny. As the world stopped constricting around him and the back garden of The Burrow came back into focus, he looked around but didn't see her.
"Ginny?" he called out, putting his wand away.
There was no sign of her. He wondered if maybe she'd gone inside to gather her things ready for the move and that was when he saw the note pinned to the back gate. He walked over to it and ripped it off to read, shoulders falling along with his heart.
Harry,
I've already shrunk everything down and Luna will help me settle in.
See you at Sunday dinner with the family.
Please fetch me if anything happens with Ron.
Its okay, Harry, I know he has to come first. He's never been first with anyone before, not until he met you and Hermione, and I'm not going to take you away from him now.
Take care of each other.
Ginny
Harry sighed and looked to the clouds.
"Bollocks."
"Beer?" Fergus offered Tommy as he sat down.
"No, I'm fine thanks," Tommy said with a shake of the head and a distracted smile. "Nice pictures."
Fergus glanced over his shoulder and the large Hammers team photograph and all the smaller framed pictures of their other lost comrades cluttering the mantelpiece.
"Yeah, well it's better to remember 'em the way yeh want to rather than..." Fergus looked away and back to Tommy. "Firewhisky?"
"No, really I'm fine, way too early for me Fergus," Tommy said as he held his hands out before himself.
"I could Finnigan-up a coffee for yeh if ya like?" Fergus offered as he made a move towards the kitchen.
"Fergus, sit down," Tommy said, frowning.
Fergus looked defensive, as if expecting another lecture about drinking too much, but lowered himself into the armchair at a right-angle to the sofa where Tommy sat.
"I'm sittin', so what d'yeh wanna say?"
"I wanted to ask you if you still had any of your old school books," Tommy said coolly.
Fergus blinked and sat back in shock before turning to look at one of the boxes he hadn't unpacked yet and waving towards it.
"I've got most of 'em in there, battered though, why?"
"Well, Cally's kids are still in school and I spoke to Chiara and she said Patrick, Cally's oldest boy…" Fergus nodded, knowing how Patrick Callahan was now raising his siblings in place of their dead mother and father along with his girlfriend Chiara, Auror Maccario's fiancée. "He's really stretching the Hogwarts fund to get all the kids their stuff this year."
"Are they all at school?" Fergus said, sitting forward again.
"This year they are," Tommy nodded. "The youngest is starting his first year and needs everything from scratch. I've offered my cauldron and glass phials and some other equipment. My scales are broken, so I'll have to see about..."
"Shay still has his scales. I've seen 'em sometime durin' the move, they've got burn marks on 'em but they still weigh properly," Fergus said enthusiastically. "What else ye short on?"
"School robes," Tommy said with a sigh. "Cally's kids are all quite small and the youngest is like...well like Colin shrunk in the wash! Hand me downs won't be any good so Patrick's using most of the fund money for their clothes."
"Does the Ministry not..." Fergus began thoughtfully. "You got offered money from the Ministry, too, right?"
"Yeah, their war veterans foundation thing," Tommy nodded. "I've already told them to sign mine over to Cally's family."
Tommy looked a little troubled at this and stared down at his feet.
"Money troubles yerself, eh?" Fergus asked.
"Well...I didn't know there were until I gave all my entitlement away and...well, she wouldn't take it anyway."
Fergus got up from his chair and fixed Tommy with a determined stare.
"Are yeh sure ye won't have a drink, Tom?"
"Maybe one," Tommy conceded with a smile. "Milk with two sugars, please, Fergus."
"Tea?" Fergus blinked.
"You put milk and sugar in pumpkin juice, do ya?" Tommy grinned.
Fergus gave a tut and rolled his eyes before stepping over a box and into the kitchen.
"Ye know wha, Painter? I'll even set it on a saucer with a pair of bourbons for ya."
"You're talking about the chocolaty biscuits and not the booze, right?" Tommy teased.
"Oh, of course," Fergus laughed, "what kind of person do you take me fer?"
Tommy grinned and watched the Irishman go before turning back to look around the living room of Fergus' new place. He called through to the kitchen as he gazed along the mantelpiece of familiar faces looking back at him. He didn't think he'd be able to live with all those ghosts watching him all the time.
"So house stuff, Hogwarts things, I mean," Tommy clarified. "None of my robes are suitable. I wasn't sorted, wasn't on an official Quidditch team, didn't..."
"Tom?" Fergus said as he leaned back round the door and frowned at his distant friend.
"Sorry," Tommy shook his head, "just zoned out for a sec there. Anyway, Cally's got kids in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and both Lee and Ron were in Gryffindor, weren't they?"
"Me an' Shay, too," Fergus said. "Scarves shouldn't cost too much though, eh?"
"Nah," Tommy shook his head. "Dennis Creevey said he was giving Colin's broom to Cally's girl, she's a Beater, and Dennis reckons Colin never really flew it. Apparently, he bought it because he always wanted one and then realised he didn't really like flying!"
"Sounds like Col," Fergus snorted, "enthusiasm over logic every time."
As Tommy chuckled, Fergus came in with a cup of tea and a packet of Bourbon biscuits dangling from his teeth.
"Cheers, Fergus," Tommy said as he took the mis-matched mug and saucer and set it down.
"So, they got pets, have they?" Fergus asked as he jogged back into the kitchen and came out with a mug that smelled very strongly of rum.
"Yeah, they already had animals but I'm gonna try to get them an owl to share so they can stay in touch with Patrick at home."
"The school have owls, yeh know?" Fergus said as he slurped his doctored tea and set it down.
"Yeah but school owls are far away in the Owlery, aren't they? Whereas pet owls stay in the dormitories. They can write in the evenings from their common rooms."
"S'a good idea, Tom," Fergus nodded. "I just moved in here though so I have teh get an owl of me own as well. I can chip in with ya though, pay part of it."
Tommy sighed and nodded.
"Well, that's the thing, I really can't afford one by myself so it really would help. I'll ask Lee, too."
"What about Ron?" Fergus asked warily.
"Well...Ron's not got much and he wouldn't touch the veterans fund money. I know his potions and treatments are putting a strain on his family as well. I really don't want to talk money to him, I know...well, I can imagine how he feels to be a financial strain to a family living on a shoestring."
"Well, me Ma did say the Ministry were playing fer a lot of Ron's treatment on the sly but don't say anything to him, y'hear?" Fergus warned as he reached for his tea again.
"'Course not."
The two of them sat and drank in peace for a while before Fergus sat back and heaved a deep, sad sigh.
"When we promised to see those young'uns right I hoped, I really did think there'd be more of us te be doin' it."
"Yeah," Tommy nodded.
"So are we moving on from the cards yet?" Lee asked as he took a seat in Ron's bedroom with Harry watching over him moodily from his bed.
Ron pulled a chair out from his cluttered desk and set it in front of Lee, sitting down and looking nervously from Harry to Lee.
"Well, my speech therapist said I was doing really well and he spoke to Hermione about the relaxation techniques she's been trying and thinks we can stop with the flash cards and push it a bit more."
Lee frowned.
"Push it how?"
Harry made a huffing sound and rolled over on top of his bed to face the wall. Lee threw a defensive look his way and then turned back to Ron and mouthed, 'What's his problem?'
Ron leaned in close and whispered.
"I think him and Ginny just broke up."
"We did not!" Harry snapped as he sat up and glowered at the two of them.
"Well, what am I supposed to think when my little sister comes to me to tell me she's moving out and goes on and on about how 'none of this is my fault'?" Ron demanded.
"She left so we had some space to conduct a normal healthy relationship if you must know," Harry said defiantly.
Ron's eyebrows rose and he waited for a moment to see if Harry had anything else to say before clearing his throat and turning to face Lee again.
"Ignore him, he had to get rid of another Howler," Ron explained before taking a deep breath and straightening his back. "So pushing it is basically..."
"I'm not in a mood because of Ginny and I'm not in a mood because of the Howler," Harry said as he swung his legs off the bed and let them dangle over the side.
"So why are you in a mood?" Ron asked, folding his arms and sitting right back in his chair, in preparation for a rant.
"I am not in a mood!" Harry growled stubbornly.
"Would you rather help Ron with his speech therapy today, Harry? Is that it?" Lee asked, looking deeply dejected.
"This is my room and I can slouch around keeping to myself if I want to, can't I?" Harry said with a fierce look at Lee as if challenging him to lay it all on the line and have a fist fight for the post of Ron's closest friend.
"This is Ron's room, if I recall the nameplate on the door correctly," Lee said as he made a move to rise from his seat.
Ron grabbed him about the shoulders and pushed him down securely.
"Mum's coo-cooking in the kitchen and Charlie's got his head in the Floo trying to take m-more time off work. We have to do it up here."
"Great speech therapy there, Lee," Harry muttered. "You've gone and made him worse."
"Oh go and ha-have a wank in the bathroom, you horny bastard, and stop taking it out on Lee!" Ron huffed grumpily.
Harry's eyes bulged and he gaped at his best friend. Lee almost laughed but was too shocked to do so. Ron rolled his shoulders and cleared his throat again.
"So the theory was to push me to hold my speech together during circ-circumstances that set off the stut-us-uster...on well, now I can't bloody talk at all!" Ron huffed in annoyance.
Lee laughed out loud and Harry smirked.
"Y'mean circumstances like your two best mates at each others throats when you're trying to explain something to them?" Harry asked, looking amused yet slightly ashamed of himself.
"Well, the list was stress, distraction, being in a hurry or having a conversation while in the middle of something else...I think the speech therapist might have mentioned me getting involved in arguments as a peacemaker, so I learn to separate emotion from articulation, whatever the hell that means." Ron waved his hand dismissively and shrugged.
"Whatever it means, it seems to have worked," Lee said, impressed. "You said that whole thing without a stumble."
Ron gave a lopsided smile and a one-shouldered shrug modestly.
"Well, I knew putting you both in the same room when one of you was in a pissy mood would definitely give me an argument to moderate."
Harry threw his pillow at Ron's head and Lee called him a git before laughing even louder.