CH 9: Natalie's Birthday

"We have to cut practice a bit short this evening," Harry announced to his team after he had called a time-out. Gregory King, the team's Keeper gave a sigh and mopped his sweaty brow.

"We haven't got time for this, Harry, you know that the league championship is coming up at the end of next month," he complained.

"Look, it's my daughter's birthday party this evening. I haven't been able to be a part of any of her previous birthdays and this means a lot to her," Harry said looking around at his team, and to me, he thought.

"I don't think…" he began but Harry cut him off.

"It doesn't matter what you think, King. I'm still the team Captain and I know that we have the best damn team we have had in years. Stopping an hour early one night isn't going to kill our chances for the league championship."

The rest of the team nodded in agreement and Greg sighed. He turned away from Harry and hopped back on his broom. "You can all go home, but I'm going to stay and work on my defensive flying."

As the team watched him speed away Harry gave them a look that said "leave this to me" and they hurried off to the showers. All of them at one time or another had been left alone with their captain after mouthing off and they didn't want to stay around for what was coming. It was bad enough to be in that position once, let alone listen to a teammate get called on their bad behavior.

Harry jumped on his broom and flew up to face Greg. "If you don't pull your knickers out of your arse and become a team player I'm going to have to let you go next season. We both know that you are the best Keeper this team has had in nearly a hundred years, but that doesn't give you the right to call me out on my decision to end practice early. If you don't think I'm being professional we can have it out right here on the field. I know more about Captaining a team than you think I do, and I will not have you judging my decisions."

"This isn't about just the practice today, Harry," Greg said angrily, "For the past month, since you found out that you have a daughter this team has become less important to you. You find reasons to change the practice schedule so that you can spend time with your child and her mother. That isn't being professional and you know it."

Harry flinched as Greg's words hit him. It was true that he had been fitting Ginny and Natalie into his schedule, but wasn't that what you were supposed to do when you had a family? It was true that he and Ginny were still living in two separate homes, and that they hadn't made any definite plans for the future… but Dammit, he loved them both more than he ever thought possible.

Harry didn't know how to explain this to his Keeper, it was something new in his life and he wasn't sure how to put it into perspective for him. He raked a hand through his hair and then stopped as an idea came to him. He knew how to get his point across.

"Do you have children or a wife?" Harry asked.

"What has that got to do with anything?" Greg bit at him.

"Answer the question," Harry ordered. He was the captain after all, and if he had to use all of his authority to make Greg understand this, he wouldn't hesitate.

"I'm engaged, and I'll be married in August after the season is over," Greg answered shortly, giving Harry a 'what does this have to do with anything' look.

Harry smiled sadly, "Why don't you go and spend this extra hour you now have with her? I'm sure that she would appreciate seeing you a little bit more."

"She understands how important this team is to me," he said in a tone that told Harry he still didn't get the point. Harry sighed and decided to cross the personal boundary line… it was his last chance to get him to see.

"Do you love your fiancé?"

Greg's eyes widened with shock at the question. Then he bit his lip and looked down at the handle of his broom. "I love her more than anything."

"More than Quidditch?" Harry asked casually. Greg's eyes flew to his as understanding hit him. "Look, I know that this team means a lot to you. It means a lot to me too, I rebuilt it from the ground up after I was made captain…"

"…but your family means more," Greg finished and Harry nodded. Greg looked around the stadium, as if he was making a decision. Then he turned back to Harry and grinned, "I think I know what you mean… thank you."

The two men flew back down to the ground and looked at each other. "I have a birthday party to go to, and I think you have a wonderful woman waiting at home for you," Harry said and put his hand on Greg's shoulder.

"I think I'll take her out, thanks, Harry."

"From now on just make sure to put things in perspective," Harry suggested as they walked toward the showers. Harry felt confident that King would play even better the next day.

"Is Harry really coming to my birthday party?" Natalie asked Ginny as they worked on frosting the large birthday cake. It was over three feet tall and covered in pink and blue roses made of candy. Natalie had picked out the design from a book and Ginny and Molly had put everything together. They were finally finishing it up.

"When we talked last night he said that he couldn't wait to come," Ginny told her daughter with a grin on her face. "Harry is so excited to be a part of your birthday."

"Is he bringing me a present?" she asked worriedly, "I mean, he hasn't come before. Does he know that he needs to?"

"I wouldn't worry about that, Tallie, he told me he had the perfect idea for a gift," Ginny turned to her little girl and ruffled her dark hair. Ginny was grateful that Natalie had Harry's hair instead of hers. She had always hated the color when she was girl, even though Harry swore up and down that he loved it. Her childhood hatred of it though was something she could never get over.

"I have a present for him too," Natalie said as she stuck her finger in the bowl of frosting. Ginny batted her hand away without thinking about it.

"What kind of present? I don't remember giving you money to buy anything," she said but Natalie shook her head.

"It's a surprise, Grandma said that Harry would really like it," her daughter said with a happy gleam in her eyes.

Before Ginny could ask what she was referring to she heard people thundering down the stairs. "That will be the family; can you get everyone into the dining room sweetheart? I just have to finish decorating the cake."

"Yes mum," Natalie said and skipped out of the kitchen, humming happily to herself.

Harry found himself sitting in the dining room at the Burrow an hour later surrounded by Ginny's family. Natalie was sitting to his right side as she watched her cousins teasing each other and bringing in her gifts to set on the table. Harry had let Natalie hold his package in her hands while she waited for everyone to calm down and get the party started. She had told him that she wanted to open his gift first and Harry couldn't refuse her when she had smiled so sweetly at him. Already his daughter had that effect on him, but far from being worried about it, he relished in it.

"You are going to spoil her rotten," Ginny whispered in his ear as she came up behind him. Harry turned to look at her and grinned brightly.

"I know, and I can't wait until you are both living with me so I can do it all the time," he whispered teasingly and kissed her gently.

"Eww!"

Harry turned to the source of the shouts and saw that half a dozen Weasley children had seen their kiss. "If you think that was gross you'll hate this," he promised and pulled a laughing Ginny into his lap as he kissed her heatedly. All the children giggled and gave another chorus of "eww" and "gross" but Harry just winked as Ginny pulled away, flushing brightly.

"If Harry and your mum are done snogging then maybe we can get to the present opening," George teased. Natalie grinned up at her parents and then turned to look at her gifts.

"I want to open Harry's first," she told everyone.

"Wait, you have to blow out the candles on your cake first," Molly interrupted and with a flick of her wand a large tiered birthday cake rolled out of the kitchen and into the large dining room. Everyone stated their approval at the size of it and Natalie clapped her hands excitedly as the seven candles all lit up on the top of it.

"Can you hold me up so I can reach the top, Harry?" she asked. Harry smiled at his daughter and hoisted her up on his shoulder. After a loud and raucous version of Happy Birthday was sung Natalie leaned over the cake and blew out all the candles with one breath. Harry put her back on her chair and she immediately picked up his gift again.

"I'll hand out the cake while you open gifts, Natalie," Molly suggested and Natalie eagerly agreed. She ripped the paper off of the large, oddly wrapped package and squealed with delight when she saw what it was.

"It wasn't my idea actually, Gregory King, the Keeper said that she would probably like it," Harry admitted. Natalie was holding in her hands a weather beaten looking Quaffle that was covered in signatures and birthday greetings from the entire Chuddley Cannons team.

"Harry, why didn't I get that for my birthday?" Ron asked as he looked at the Quaffle with desire in his eyes. It was widely known that the Cannons were Ron's favorite team, and had been for years.

"Most likely because you were getting better gifts than this while on your honeymoon," Harry said dryly and all the adults laughed as Ron's ears turned red.

Natalie was so enthralled with the Quaffle that Ginny had to remove it from the table so that her daughter would finish opening her other gifts. It was a quarter of an hour later when Natalie finished unwrapping the last gift. Among her many presents were joke items from her Uncle's Fred and George, books of Elementary magic from Percy and Penny, a box of tiny jewels found in a pyramid in Egypt from Bill and Fleur, Megan and Charlie bought her a Crup-whom Natalie immediately named Chocolate, a small broomstick from Ron and Hermione (though Hermione had the look of someone who had been forced into buying the gift) and pretty ornaments for her hair and a wizard doll from her Grandparents.

"Mum, did you forget about me?" Natalie asked looking up at her mother with tears in her eyes. Ginny leaned down to hug her daughter and she pulled out a gift from under the table where Chocolate was nipping playfully at her fingers.

"Of course not Tallie, I just wanted to save this gift for last," she said and handed Natalie a small gift. She unwrapped the small box and found inside it a locket with Ginny and Harry's pictures in it. "I want you to have Harry and me with you wherever you go."

Natalie hugged her mother tightly and looked up at Harry. "Can you put it on me?" she asked. Harry nodded solemnly and leaned down to clasp the tiny necklace around her throat.

"I actually have one more gift for you," Harry admitted and pulled a box slightly larger than the size of the one Ginny had given her out of his pocket. "This gift is very special."

Natalie took it almost reverently in her hands and looked at it with great interest. She peeled the paper away from it and saw a tiny fairy made of colored glass with feathers for wings. The wings were emerald green like Harry's eyes, but the fairy herself had black hair and brown eyes. She looked like Natalie.

"I went to a store in London that makes glass items, and the proprietor said that if I had a picture of you, he could make a likeness of you in the fairy," Harry explained. "It is some wonderful magic they use in that shop."

"It's beautiful," Ginny breathed, but it seemed that Natalie was speechless; she hadn't said a word yet. "Don't you like it, Tallie?"

Natalie looked up at her mother with wide eyes. "Mum, she looks like me!"

Harry laughed, "That's because it is supposed to look like you. You are my little fairy princess."

"Thank you daddy," she whispered and wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry felt tears rush to his eyes as he realized what she had called him.

"No, thank you, Natalie."

Ginny hummed softly to herself as she walked down the stairs and into the living room where Harry sat waiting for her. She had just put Natalie to bed (which had been difficult because her daughter was still full of energy from her party, and Chocolate didn't want to stay off the bed) and was looking forward to some time alone with Harry. She grinned as she saw that he had started a fire in the fireplace. "This looks cozy," she said softly.

Harry turned to look at her and a lazy smile came to his lips. "I was going for a romantic atmosphere," he teased. Ginny laughed and sat down beside him, immediately snuggling into his arms.

"I think you achieved it," she said and pressed a soft kiss to his jaw line. Harry squeezed her tighter and rested his cheek against the top of her head. "Thank you for coming tonight, it meant a lot to your daughter."

"I don't think you could have kept me away," he said softly and Ginny knew without looking into his eyes that he was telling the truth. He was quiet for a moment, but when he spoke again there was a grin in his voice. "Do you know what today is?"

"Of course, it's March 30th," Ginny said in a matter-o-fact tone. "Why?"

"I was just thinking about what day was nine months before this one," Harry said with a familiar gleam in his eye. Ginny burst out laughing and turned her face to look up at him.

"You can't be serious!" she said but Harry moved his hand up to cup her cheek tenderly.

"You don't remember that night?" he asked. Ginny felt her face burn with embarrassment. Of course she remembered that night, how could she have forgotten it? She looked into his eyes and saw them burn with desire. "Do you remember what I told you that day?"

Ginny's breath caught in her throat. She did remember what he had said to her, it had been the most powerful thing he had ever told her in her life. "You said that our love went deeper than a simple emotion. You told me that we were connected to each other in ways that other people only dreamed about," she whispered.

"I still stand by that today, Gin. You are a part of me in a way no one can ever be. Haven't you ever felt it?" Harry asked tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Ginny knew what he was referring too. There was something special that she felt with him, a way that she could not only sense his emotions… but feel them as well. She remembered during the war how she would have the urge to comfort him, to hold him when he was away from her, and as odd as it sounded, she knew that he was in her arms. Her eyes met his and she gave a soft nod. "I have felt it, Harry. It's powerful," she whispered.

Harry crushed her to his chest and she heard his heart beating rapidly. He didn't say anything, he just held her tightly, as if he was afraid to let her go. Ginny touched her fingertips lightly to his heart and she felt it quicken beneath her fingers. They looked into each others eyes again and Ginny lifted her lips to his with a feather light touch. She began to pull away but Harry laughed a deep throaty laugh. "You don't think you can get away from me that easily?" he asked against her lips.

"Kiss me," she breathed softly and he did. His lips crashed down on hers roughly and hungrily. A moan of satisfaction escaped her and she threaded her fingers in his thick dark hair. She wanted him more than she ever had before; there was an ache inside her that only he could sooth. Greedily her tongue entered his mouth and he accepted her offering by giving her his tongue in return.

It was a hot kiss, broken only by soft moans and roaming hands. When they finally broke away they were both breathing hard and grinning at each other. "At least we know we haven't lost our touch," Harry teased. Ginny laughed huskily and touched his cheek with gentle fingers.

"Come upstairs to bed with me," she whispered, "I happen to be very good at sound repressing charms. We can put one on my room."

Harry shook his head, smiling wryly, "Don't you remember what I told you before? I don't want us to rush anything. I would rather wait longer and have more time to spend on us, then make love to you now and have us worrying about a break in your charm work."

Ginny sighed, her gaze on his chest, "I suppose you are right…" her eyes met his, "but it doesn't keep me from wanting you right now."

"If you are serious about this, I can find a way to make this work out," Harry suggested, "The Cannons have a match tomorrow, I can get you, Natalie and Ron tickets to it. Tell Ron that the price of his ticket is taking care of Natalie for the weekend… so you can spend it with me."

A slow grin came to Ginny's face. "I think I can make that work."

Harry pulled her back into his arms and they lay cuddled together on the sofa. "I have the utmost faith in you. Now, if you'd like we can make some plans for the weekend," he suggested.

"I just figured we could spend it all in bed," Ginny said, her fingers playing teasingly against his chest.

Harry grinned at her, "I like the way you think…"