I woke up slightly groggy, not remembering where I was but recognizing instantly that I wasn't in my dorm room or my small room at the Burrow. I blinked in confusion, examining the strange furniture. It looked much nicer than anything I was used to.

"Morning."

I jumped and turned quickly, only to find Harry staring back at me with a twinkle in his green eyes. My mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh!" My eyes shot around the room once more, this time remembering where I was. And then I looked down and blushed scarlet. I quickly grabbed the sheets and pulled them up to my chin.

He chuckled. "Forget some things, did you?" I nodded dumbly. "It's okay. I had to pinch myself when I woke up to convince me that this was real." His hand came up and caressed my cheek. "I'm glad it was."

"Me, too," I squeaked. I just wasn't quite comfortable with the naked part yet. Though I didn't much mind him being naked. He was quite a lovely sight.

He grinned. "You realise we do have to get up, right?"

I pouted. "I don't want to."

He smirked at me. "Well, you might be able to persuade me to delay our departure for a little bit longer."

His eyes shot down and I followed them to realise the sheet was practically see-through and was barely covering much of anything, and I blushed again. Then I looked at him, sitting happily there in the all together, completely unembarrassed. That boy was too good looking for his own good. "I would love nothing more, but won't it just get worse the longer we stay away?"

His smirk was replaced instantly by a serious expression. "I was actually thinking about that. I don't know if we should go back at all."

Hm, I hadn't even considered that possibility. I must say, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the reactions we would expect back at school. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the only reason I've even stayed at Hogwarts this long was because of you. Now that I can take you with me, I see no reason to continue trying to get a useless education."

My heart fluttered at his confession. "But… we need to learn. We need to be able to protect ourselves and get by on our own."

He smirked. "And do you honestly think you are learning any of that at Hogwarts?"

"Well… not precisely…" Truthfully, I rarely learned anything new in my classes. The library, however, I would miss.

"I already know enough to pass all my NEWTS, and I can teach you, though I suspect you know a lot of it already. And Hogwarts is so closed minded about certain things; I can teach you so much more, and Sirius can help us." I was still hung up slightly on losing access to the library, and he must have known I would be, because he smiled softly. "Sirius and I have quite a selection of books here. I don't think you lack for anything."

I beamed. He was so thoughtful. "Are we… allowed to just not go back?"

"Of course. We became legal adults last night, so the Ministry and Dumbledore no longer have control over our actions. If you want, we can even sit the formal exams when we're ready, but there is no reason to return to school."

I thought about this. The idea of not having to put up with everyone at school, of not having to away from Harry during a long day of classes, of not having to deal with the temper I knew Ron would bring down on me as soon as he found out what I had done, of not having to deal with my mother, all of this was extremely pleasant. And I could be with Harry. The idea was looking more and more appealing.

"Okay."

He beamed at me, and then jumped out of bed, coming back seconds later with a stack of parchment and two quills. "It's probably best if we at least inform people of our intentions. You write your family and I'll write Dumbledore." He stopped and grinned. "And then, what do you say to a game of strip duelling?"

I laughed, swatted him across the arm, slipped on his shirt from last night as he currently seemed too distracted to write (his gaze was fixed determinedly on me instead of the parchment in his hand), and started my own letter.

Dear Mother,

I don't know why you seem to have been so focused on controlling me for most of my life. I really have always tried to do what you wanted of me, until yesterday, and yet that never seemed enough for you. I have been alone for a very long time, despite being constantly surrounded by people, and I am heartily sick of it. It is time that I started making the decisions about things that affect my life, and decide what kind of person I will become. As far as I am concerned, this means one thing: no one will keep me away from Harry ever again.

I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has already informed you of my disappearance. I've run away with Harry, Mum. Really, you shouldn't have tried to keep me away from him; you knew we were meant to be together, and had already given your permission. Do you know what happens to you if you go back on a betrothal contract? You should, as you were the one to tell me stories about it when I was a little girl, always stressing the dangers. I suppose you were worried that I wouldn't like Harry and would try to back out of it; you needn't have worried. I've been in love with Harry Potter since the moment I first saw him five years ago. As soon as he told me the truth, we took the steps necessary to insure that you couldn't separate us again.

Due to various concerns, Harry and I will not be returning to school. Ever. Harry is more than qualified to teach me, and there are others willing to help. He'll make sure I know how to defend myself and show me how to be a valuable asset in this war. I know you know about Harry's role in the war; I'm just letting you know that I will be right beside him when he wins. And when we've won the war, Harry and I will start the rest of our life together. If you want to be a part of that life, you know how to act.

I wish things could have been different. That you could have accepted me for who I am, and who I love. I wish you hadn't tried to keep us apart by whatever means necessary. I wish you weren't so prejudiced as to be unable to see past a label. Harry is a good man, despite his house placement. He had a horrible life, and this led to him hiding from most of the world; you shouldn't hate him for this.

Know that we love each other a great deal, and that Harry will take good care of me. He treats me as the princess you used to always tell me I was, and he would remake the world for me. In fact, he intends to. If you are concerned for my happiness, rest assured that it is in good hands.

Give my love to Dad and the boys. I doubt they will understand why I had to do this, but that doesn't mean I don't still love them. I hope that they can find the happiness in life that I have.

Your daughter,

Ginny Potter

When I was finished with my letter, I took a peek at Harry's. It was much shorter.

Dear Sir,

I feel it is my duty to inform you that I will be withdrawing, effective immediately, from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In addition, I have decided that it is in her best interest for Ginny Weasley to join me.

Incidentally, any future correspondence for her may be addressed to Ginevra Potter.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

I took the letter from him, addressed it, and took it over to the waiting snowy owl. The same owl that had once delivered a birthday present to me; he truly had cared for me even then. I gave her both letters, caressing her briefly before taking her to the window and giving her a boost. Then I turned back to my husband.

"Teach me, love?"

He smirked and stalked towards me, his hands going to the bottom of his shirt that I wore. "In a bit."

It was several days later that Harry finally, in a fit of frustration, told me we were going to Diagon Alley to get me a wand that would actually produce results. I guess he took exception to the fact that I was handicapped by a wand that had not chosen me. My paranoid husband spent all morning making sure I knew the spells he had been teaching me that would allow me to protect myself, and renewed the charms on my necklace. He even tried to hide the fact that he had cast similar spells on my wedding ring. I merely rolled my eyes. When he was satisfied that we had taken every precaution, he wrapped his arms tightly around me and apparated us to the small courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. He really needed to teach me to do that soon.

We walked the Alley quickly, Harry's hand wrapped tightly around mine and his wand clenched in his other fist. Our first stop was Gringotts, as Harry wanted me added to his vault, then he led me to Ollivander's.

The strange wandmaker looked up with twinkling eyes when we walked in. "Ah, Mrs. Potter. I presume you have come for your own wand?"

I nodded my head, rolling my eyes as Harry stationed himself by the door, his back ramrod straight and his eyes sweeping the street in front of us for any threat.

Ollivander nodded before disappearing into the back of his store. He returned some minutes later with two thin boxes. He carefully opened one and handed me a rather unusual wand. It was vibrant red. I liked it instantly.

"A rather odd wand," he murmured. "It is made of California red wood with the heartstring of a Nundu."

Harry's head whipped around in shock, and I stared at the wand. Hesitantly, I took it.

It felt like the entire shop was on fire, but as I looked more closely, the flames were burning nothing. I stared at them in awe.

Ollivander clapped his hands with glee. "Excellent. I thought this would be for you." He picked up the other box he had brought and opened it. He withdrew a black wand and offered to Harry. "This should, I believe, work for you, Mr. Potter. It is African Blackwood, and shares a core with that of your wife. I believe it will solve that little problem we discussed a year ago."

I looked between the two, curious. Harry's eyes shot up to mine. "My old wand shares a core with Voldemort's. It made them incapable of truly working against each other. It has caused… problems before."

I nodded. Slowly, Harry picked up the offered wand. The air crackled around us, and seemed charged with energy. Small lightning bolts erupted throughout the room. But my eyes were drawn to Harry. He was almost… glowing with power. It was intoxicating. I clenched my hands into fists at my side. I don't think he would appreciate me jumping him in public. His eyes met mine with a knowing look. Without looking away he spoke softly. "We'll take both wands, Sir. With our thanks."

I didn't really notice as Harry paid for the wands, but I assume that Ollivander made himself scarce, because Harry stalked to me and pulled me tightly against him. He kissed me roughly, possessively, and then growled against my lips, "Soon, my love." I merely whimpered in response.

Harry led me back down the Alley, as I was still in a daze. I pulled him to a stop in front of a rather familiar store front, though I had never been here before. I looked at it wistfully. He recognised my distress and stepped behind me, his arms circling me and holding me close.

"Do you want to go in?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. They probably hate me."

His hands rubbed soothing circles into my stomach. "I doubt that. They are both decent men. I even helped them with pranks a time or two, you know."

I turned my head. "Really?" There had been rumours, of course, but it was so hard to believe that Harry socialised with anyone at school that I hadn't known whether to believe them. And Fred and George wouldn't breathe a word, though I pestered them relentlessly about it.

He nodded. "I don't think that they will judge you too harshly." He hesitated before continuing, "I don't want you to lose all of your family, Gin."

I took a deep breath before nodding. "Stay with me?"

"Of course."

Nervous, I stepped out of his arms and carefully opened the door. The store was what I would have expected, knowing my twin brothers as I did. It was loud and garish and marvellous. Just looking around I recognised a lot of the merchandise; I had helped them develop several items and was there for the testing of others, our usual subject being Ron. A girl a couple of years older than me, wearing horrible magenta robes with the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes logo on them, came up to us then.

"Can I help you find anything?" She asked pleasantly.

I opened my mouth, but couldn't bring myself to actually say anything. Harry came to my rescue. "Hello. We're here to see Fred and George."

She narrowed her eyes. "They're rather busy," she replied imperiously.

Her tone didn't faze Harry. He calmly said, "Tell them their investor is here to see them."

Her eyes went wide and she scurried away. I turned to look at Harry. He had a sheepish look on his face. "I may have forgotten to mention that Sirius and I gave them their start up money."

"Apparently," I said.

"Harry?" My head whipped around as Fred came barrelling out of the back. He stopped short at the sight of me. "Ginny?"

Just then George came out, his robes smoking slightly along the edges. "Fred! You can't just leave in the middle of…" he trailed off as he came to an abrupt halt beside Fred.

"Um, hi," I muttered lamely.

With a cry, they both leapt at me. I was afraid for a split second before they reached me and enveloped me in a tight three-way hug. I fought back a sob as I held them. After several minutes, they pulled back.

"The prodigal sister…"

"…finally returns…"

"…with a mysterious husband in tow."

I grinned at them and shrugged. "What can I say? I couldn't resist his animal magnetism."

I shot Harry a look and he merely shook his head and lifted the corner of his mouth in a slight smile. He was so much more reserved when we weren't alone. It was like I was married to two different men. It was a good thing I liked them both.

Fred and George each slung an arm around my shoulders and steered me towards the back room.

"Come back and take a load off."

"We want to hear all about your latest misadventures."

I laughed and followed them, happy to realise that, for some people, blood was enough to induce acceptance.

It was the third week of September when the expected response from my mother came. I was actually shocked it had taken her so long. Maybe she had been trying to legally dissolve our marriage. I shook my head at the thought. She should know better. During our talk with the twins, we had learned about the eruption that had occurred when she received my letter. Evidently, her scream shattered the glass in the entire bottom floor of the house, and scared the poor ghoul so badly it had decided to seek another place to live. (I don't think she was too upset about that part.) She had interrogated each of the family for hours trying to learn how I had even met up with Harry, and how long this had been going on. She had then flooed Dumbledore and started yelling at him through the fireplace. It was at this point that Fred and George had been able to sneak out of the house. They hadn't been back since.

I recognised the phoenix that brought her letter as belonging to Dumbledore. I would have to ask Harry, as maybe owls couldn't find us when we were hidden by a Fidelius Charm. That might explain why it had taken so long. To my surprise, the phoenix hung around as I listened to the Howler.

GINEVRA WEASLEY! YOU WILL STOP THIS RIDICULOUSNESS RIGHT NOW! YOU WILL COME HOME IMMEDIATELY, IF I HAVE TO DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING MYSELF!

AND DON'T EXPECT TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY ANYTIME SOON, YOUNG LADY. YOU ARE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU'RE THIRTY!

I snorted and with a flick of my wrist, silenced the Howler. "Harry!" I called.

"Yeah?" Came his muffled response from the other room.

"My mother sent her expected denial of our marriage. She demands I come home to be punished."

He chuckled as he walked into the room. His gaze narrowed as he saw the phoenix. "What is he still doing here?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

I watched dispassionately as the letter burst into flames. With an explosion of song, the phoenix leapt at me. I met Harry's startled expression for a split second before I was surrounded in flames. When they cleared, I recognised the familiar surroundings of Dumbledore's office. Facing me, wands drawn, was a room full of people. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were there, as well as Mum, Dad, Bill, and Charlie. There were also several people I didn't recognise. I blinked in shock.

Without warning, a spell was coming at me, and I reacted on instinct. Harry and Sirius had been drilling me mercilessly in the last few weeks, and my shield was up long before the spell reached me.

"Well, Mother, I expected at least a hello before I was attacked," I said dryly.

I wasn't really startled when there was a pop behind me. I knew Harry would be quick to follow. He stepped to my side and brushed his hand briefly across my back. "Are you all right, love?"

"Of course, dear. It seems my family wanted a word." I grinned cheekily up at him, noting the worry and fear in his eyes. He must have been terrified when I disappeared.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! Step away from that boy this instant!" Mum's face was an alarming shade of red. It clashed horribly with her hair.

I looked at her calmly. "It's Potter now, Mum."

She huffed in indignation and sparks shot out of her wand. "That farce of a marriage will never hold. You are underage."

"Actually," Harry began quietly. "You'll find that we have both been granted majority rights and that our marriage was completely legal. You yourself signed the papers on August 18 of 1981. Per Ministry Directive 1523, the Head of an ancient house may demand immediate fulfilment of the terms of any magical contract pertaining to one of the members of his house, as long as all participants have reached the age of fifteen years, unless otherwise stipulated in said contract."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Harry, was it really necessary to run away? Could we not have come to a mutually agreeable compromise?"

Harry sneered at him. "A compromise? You? You have spent five years keeping us apart, despite the fact that you knew we were betrothed. You spent years lying to both of us in an effort to control us. Why should I compromise with you? If we had stayed, we would have been under your thumb and Ginny would have to put up with undue prejudice. I refuse to put her through that."

"But she's our daughter, Harry." My dad spoke up.

Harry turned a cold gaze on him. "A daughter that you wouldn't let out of your sight? A daughter that you lied to? A daughter that you routinely put compulsion charms on to keep away from me?" I drew in a startled gasp. He hadn't told me that. His gaze shot briefly to mine.

I'm sorry, love. I didn't want to hurt you even more. I've removed them all.

I glared at him. You will never keep something like that from me again, Potter.

He grinned. Yes, dear.

I huffed, and turned back to my father. Charlie was looking at him in shock and horror.

"You did what? You told me Potter had kidnapped her. What is really going on here?"

Harry laughed. "Kidnapped her? Hardly. I told her the truth, and left the decision on what to do up to her. She wanted freedom, and I provided it."

Charlie huffed in anger and strode determinedly to my side, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. I smiled brilliantly at him. "I love you, Charlie."

He grinned briefly. "You, too, fire bug." He always was the one to jump to my defence. I had missed him these last few years while he was off chasing dragons.

"Well, this is all incredibly touching, but can we move on please?" Snape sneered. I rolled my eyes at him. He really was all talk, from the stories Harry had told me over the last few weeks. I wondered why he did it; he had to know that everyone despised him.

"Certainly, Professor Snape," Harry stated courteously. I guess he had it ingrained in him to be nice to Snape after all those years in his house. "If someone could explain why my wife was kidnapped today, perhaps we could resolve our issues."

"Wife," Mum sneered. "She is too young to be a wife. Especially yours."

"Nonetheless, it is true. As I'm sure you know. Bill Weasley is here, so I assume you already checked with the goblins. They granted her rights as my wife immediately." Harry turned his attention to a rather severe looking witch in the back. "And Madam Bones, your presence leads me to believe they have already tried the legal channels to get the marriage cancelled."

The witch gave a stiff nod. "Some of the… parties here refused to accept that there was little I could do. The marriage was completely legal, and is binding, assuming an annulment is too late."

I looked at her, confused. I felt Harry's eyes turn to me. "Love, I think they want to know if I've exercised my husbandly rights." I could hear the humour in his voice.

My eyes shot up to his, and I practically laughed at the suppressed glee there. "Oh!" I sidled up to him and slid my arms around his neck, pulling his head down for a heated kiss. I only kept him there for a moment, and then turned around to the outraged expressions on several faces. I pushed back against Harry, rubbing my body suggestively against his. He leaned down and growled in my ear. "Do you require further demonstration, or can you accept my word that I am now Harry's in every way imaginable?" I asked the room.

There was a quiet amused chuckle from the corner. It came from a raggedly dressed man that I recognised. I wondered idly what Professor Lupin was doing here.

"Potter men always did like their redheads." He rasped.

Harry's left hand slid around my waist and snuck under my shirt. "Could you resist her, Moony?"

The man's eyes shot wide. "How… what…"

I could feel Harry chuckling behind me. "Padfoot sends his regards. Now that Ginny is free, he might decide to stop by for a visit, as he no longer feels the need to spend all his time with me."

It took me a minute, but the nickname finally came to me. Lupin was another friend of Harry's father. I laughed. "Oh, Sirius will be so happy to get away from us! I think he is getting a little sick of being around newlyweds."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad's pained expression and Mum's furious one. Bill was enigmatic.

"So," Harry stated calmly. "Since we have established that our marriage is legal and binding, is there anything else we can help you with today?" I think I was the only one in the room who heard the hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yes, Harry, there is." Dumbledore stepped forward, his wand held carefully at his side. I stiffened. There was no way I could win against Dumbledore in a fight. I felt Harry shift slightly and his wand arm came up by my side, ready and waiting. "You need training and help, and protection. Voldemort will not leave you in peace."

Harry laughed. "Of course he won't! We have a prophecy to fulfil, after all." Dumbledore's face went white.

"You know?" I got the feeling this was Dumbledore's trump card, and he didn't really know what to do now that it had failed.

"Obviously. And don't worry. We are both well protected and our training is beyond anything you would offer. I will win the war against Tom Riddle, but I won't do it for you."

"And you won't tell me where you are hiding?"

"Hardly. In fact, I think I need to add a ward against flame travel. Wouldn't want you to try and steal my wife again."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well."

We only had a split second warning. To their credit, only some of the people in the room attacked, but there were enough of them that it made it difficult to fight in such a confined space. To my great surprise, Charlie and Professor Lupin both fought with us.

The next few minutes were rather busy. Harry kept Dumbledore occupied, for which I was grateful. There was no way I could stand up to the Headmaster yet. Remus and I focused on the few Professors and the others that joined the fight, and Charlie planted himself firmly between me and the rest of our family. This had the added bonus of causing Dad and Bill to stop fighting for fear of hurting him. Little could deter Mum, however.

Finally fed up with a lot of the fighting, I threw caution to the wind and pulled out one of Tom's handmade spells. It caused the illusion of pain. Well, actually, it did a lot more than that. You could control who it went after, and how much pain they felt, or thought they felt, and you could use it on more than one person at a time, though it did require a rather large amount of power. This was the downside; if you used it, you were making yourself remarkably vulnerable. I knew that as soon as I released the spell I would be practically useless. I used enough to drive most everyone in the room to their knees, knowing that any more would leave me on the floor instead. The fact that the pain was only an illusion meant that it only gave us a few seconds before someone realised the truth, but Harry took advantage of this. A silver strand flew out of his wand and wrapped around most of the occupants of the room, binding them in place. I withdrew my spell and methodically began summoning wands, falling back to lean against Dumbledore's desk as I did. My strength was completely gone. Harry was placing a clever little charm on Dumbledore, as simply removing his wand would never be enough to stop him. When we were finished, I turned to Harry and threw myself into his arms.

He held me tightly, his anxiety revealing itself in the almost bruising hold. His head came down to bury itself in my hair. "I was so worried," he whispered against my ear. I felt his wand come up and could feel the energy he passed to me.

I held him tighter. "I love you. Thank you for being my hero again."

He placed a kiss on the side of my neck. "I will always come for you. Did you want to get out of here?"

I pulled back slightly. "I want to have some words with my family first."

He looked at me carefully, and nodded. "I'll just leave you alone to deal with that, then."

His eyes shot up to make sure my body would hide his intentions; he released a burst of sharp light from his wand, and performed a nearly instantaneous transformation. He was wrapped around my waist, hidden from view, before anyone blinked the light from their eyes. I turned back around as they focused on me in confusion.

Dumbledore was looking at me in complete astonishment, and I felt his gaze trying to pry into my mind. I glared at him and pushed him right out. He himself had given me the necessary background for Harry to have pronounced me the best Occlumen he had ever seen after only two short weeks of hard work. No one would be getting into my head without my permission. Dumbledore's jaw dropped open as I rebuffed him. I gave him a smug look in response.

I turned my attention to my family, doing a double take at the small smile on Snape's face as my gaze shifted past him. He seemed almost… proud of me. I walked over carefully, and flicked my wand. This talk would go much quicker if Mum couldn't speak. I focused on Bill first.

"Did they tell you the truth, Bill, or are you here under some misguided delusion?"

He looked at me in confusion before answering. "They told me you had run off with Potter, and that he was corrupting you." He looked around at the room full of captive people. "It seems they were right."

I laughed. "Oh, Harry didn't teach me that spell. Tom Riddle did." I heard a gasp of shock behind me. "When he possessed me years ago, he left many things behind. I won't use many of his spells, but this one has a use when you are up against so many opponents. And really, I didn't actually hurt you. As for the rest, I ran off with Harry because it was my destiny, as they were well aware." I turned and glared and Mum. "They gave me away years ago, signed a magical betrothal, and then failed to mention it and tried to keep us apart."

I turned back to Bill to see his eyes wide. "Betrothal?" He asked quietly. I don't know how he had missed this in the previous discussion, but he seemed to want confirmation.

"Yes. So next time you decide to attack your only sister, I suggest you have your facts straight first."

He looked ill, and I left him to his thoughts. Turning to my father, I saw the sadness in his eyes. "Is he treating you okay, Ginny?"

I smiled. "Of course. Harry treats me like a queen. I would have told you this, had you bothered to ask. He doesn't wish to keep me from my family, only to keep me safe. In fact, we spent a lovely afternoon with Fred and George two weeks ago."

Dad's face wilted. "I'm sorry, Ginny girl. I was just trying to protect you."

"You were protecting me from the wrong things, Dad. But I think I can learn to forgive you. I miss you, Daddy."

He lowered his eyes, completely defeated. I left him to his regrets and turned to my mother. She looked as if she were trying to break my silencing charm by sheer force of will. "But you, you are lost to me. Instead of letting me be myself and be happy, you tried to force your will on every aspect of my life. I will never be under your thumb again." I turned away from her.

"Professor Lupin, Charlie, I think it is probably best if you aren't here when they get free. Harry's spell should only last for a few more minutes."

Lupin looked at me carefully. "It seems you know where a mutual friend of ours is staying. Perhaps you would be good enough to take me to him?"

I grinned. "Of course. He'll be delighted." I turned to my brother. "Would you like to walk out with me?"

He nodded. "It seems we have many things to talk about."

I nodded and turned to nod goodbye to my father and Bill. I jumped in shock when a hand landed on my arm, and Harry reacted to this. His head came out of the collar of my shirt and he hissed in anger. I turned quickly to see it was Charlie, and that most everyone in the room was looking at me in horror. I shook my head. Stupid prejudices. I looked down at my husband and hissed, "You just had to do that? Behave yourself."

Harry's tongue came out and flicked against my throat. "No one has the right to touch you."

"Of course. Now be a good little snake and get back inside my shirt."

I wonder if it was possible for a snake to leer? It certainly looked like he did. I stifled a giggle as he lodged his head firmly in my bra. "Pervert."

I looked back up, not shocked at all to see a look of horror on most everyone's face. "What? How did you think I opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

Bill was staring at me. "But…" He shook his head, and then gave a resigned smile. "I guess it makes it easy for you and Harry to talk, huh?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, rather startled to know that he was aware of Harry's ability. "What makes you think we don't have other ways to communicate?"

Without waiting for a response, I walked out with Lupin on one side and Charlie on the other, and my husband amusing himself with my chest. Sometimes, he was such a teenager.

I was looking forward to getting home. I'm sure Harry already had plans to celebrate our reunion. And given how much I knew he must have worried when I disappeared right under his nose, they were sure to be thrilling.

It had taken nearly two months of solid work, but my form was finally down. Harry thought it was hilarious that I looked like a male cardinal, but I ignored him. Really, did he think I wasn't going to turn out red, no matter what I was? And, besides, the fact that I could fly was useful. Especially the fact that I could fly while holding him. And I knew he liked me in red. A weakness I was always quite happy to exploit.

We landed in a dark forest, hurriedly transformed, and made our way quietly forward. I could hear them long before I saw them; they really were quite lax in security. Of course, that made it all the easier for us. This was the fifth raid we had been on this week alone. It was so much easier now that we had a quiet means of approach and escape. The invisibility cloak was useful, but sometimes quite cumbersome to use, and its sentimental value made both of us hesitant to place it between the spellfire and us. Harry was ecstatic that we were finally starting to thin Voldemort's forces, and we were both grateful for the combat training it was giving us. It had taken me a bit to come to terms with the fact that I had to kill them. It didn't bug me that they died; I just didn't want to do it myself. I know, I know, that makes absolutely no sense.

The first time I killed a Death Eater, it was to prevent him from killing Harry in the next moment. I stopped feeling bad about it after that. Really, morals like that had little place in the middle of a war. If someone was trying to kill me, I had no problem killing them first.

Of course, if we could subdue them without killing them, it was preferable. Then we could make sure they deserved their punishment before we gave it to them. Given my experiences gleamed from Tom, I was the better Legilimen, and so it was usually my job to determine if they deserved death. Those that didn't, we delivered bound and trussed up to the Ministry for them to punish. For the rest, we delivered corpses, as we weren't very confident that the Ministry would deal with them appropriately. The Prophet was having a field day over trying to figure out who the mysterious vigilantes were. Harry got a kick out of this. He didn't have a very good relationship with the press, and so the fact that they were lauding his illegal activity seemed hilarious to him.

I stayed hidden as Harry transformed once more and slithered forward. We had learned the hard way that while my form was small, its bright colour made spying difficult. So Harry went forward to learn how many there were, and if any of them were particularly skilled, before reporting back to me.

When he transformed back, he was sporting a feral grin that didn't bode well for our enemy. I looked at him in question. Legilimency allowed us to communicate in the battlefield completely silently, but it required eye contact now that both of us had strong shields up.

Greyback is here.

My eyes went wide. Ever since Moony had joined us in our training, Harry had been anxious to get revenge for him. Good.

Yes. I've been working on a special spell for him.

How many others are there?

Three. Two of them are werewolves.

I nodded. Silently, I slid my hands up his chest and around his neck, and then pulled him down for our customary good luck kiss. Who was I kidding? I would take any excuse to kiss him. I pulled away, smiling widely, and pulled out my wand.

It was time to go hunting.

The guard was easy. He wasn't expecting us, and while it was obvious he was a werewolf, it was equally obvious that he wasn't magical at all. He never even saw Harry's stunner. But this brought the attention of the other three. Greyback's eyes widened with glee when they landed on me, but Harry stepped neatly in front of me and drew his gaze. I knew he wanted to fight this one himself, so I engaged the other two.

It was always interesting to me how very much people underestimated me. I don't know if it was the fact that I was a girl, or that I looked young, or that I'm so small. But I had no problem using it to my advantage. The one on the right took a roundhouse kick to the head that disoriented him while I exchanged spells with the other. Apparently, Voldemort was pulling the dregs of society in to work for him, because this guy could barely fight. But he got me angry enough, by trying to send a Cruciatus at Harry, to put him out with a cutting curse instead of a stunner. He would live. For now. This allowed me to turn my full attention to the first guy, who was just now shaking off the cobwebs that my kick had caused.

He was good. He wasn't keeping me as busy as Greyback was keeping Harry, but he knew how to fight. I may have gotten a tad... angry when he sent a spell that singed my hair. He burned a good two inches off the bottom!

"You imbecile!" I screamed at him.

He sneered. "Pretty little girl got angry that I ruined her hair? Or did you break a nail, sweetheart?"

"Oh! That's a good idea. Thanks!"

I giggled, and he looked so confused he faltered and enabled me to slip a spell past his guard. I left him screaming on the ground behind a silencing charm and relieved him of his wand. He was having difficulty holding on to it, owing to the fact that his nails were forcibly removing themselves from his body. Then I folded my arms and leaned against the nearest tree to watch my husband in action. It was quite a sight to see.

He was trading spells with Greyback, clearly playing with him. I think he was trying to see how many hits he could get in before the werewolf went down. This was a considerably longer endeavour than it would have been with anyone else, since werewolves had significantly more endurance and strength. Harry didn't look the least bit perturbed by this. It meant he could play longer. I didn't mind either; Harry and I always rather enjoyed our nights after he had an extended fight. It tended to get his blood going, and I was always happy to help relieve some of his excitement.

Who was I kidding? I didn't always even wait until we reached home before I jumped him.

"You know, Greyback," Harry was speaking casually despite the number of spells he was slinging. "I've been meaning to discuss something with you."

"Well now seems like the perfect time."

Harry smirked. "I couldn't agree more. You see, you seem to have made a habit of attacking small children. Small, defenceless children." Harry paused to raise a shield to block a spell he couldn't dodge. "I'm afraid I may take offense to that."

"And what is a little boy like you gonna do about that?"

I had to repress the sigh as Harry's eyes went flint hard, but I just loved that look in his eyes so much. And that cocky grin he had made me very glad for the show. I shifted against the tree, suddenly anxious for the fight to be over with so that we could get to the after celebration.

"I've been saving a little something for you, Greyback."

The spell was florescent blue in colour, and its effects were rather interesting in nature. I was quite curious to learn how Harry had managed to come up with this spell, for it seemed to be inducing a repetitive cycle of the painful werewolf transformation. I watched curiously for several rounds.

"Can you adapt that to stop the transformation completely?"

Harry slid his hand around my waist as we watched. "Not quite, but Remus and I think we can use it to force him back to human form early. He'll still have to go through the transformation, but not spend all night like that. But at least it should save him some pain and suffering each month and prevent any unwanted... accidents."

I grinned. "Excellent." Tired of watching the show, I turned and slid my hands around Harry's neck, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. I smiled up at him. "That was sexy."

His hands went flat against my back and pulled me tightly against him. "I'm glad to oblige."

I pulled his head down to mine and attacked his mouth. We needed to take in the Death Eaters, but that could wait. This was a much more pleasant diversion. Harry spun us and pushed me harshly up against the tree. A shiver went down my spine; I loved it when he was rough with me.

Holding Harry's hand, I was walking happily down a rather quaint Muggle street. It was always easier to hold our meetings in the Muggle world, as anything magical stood out like a Cannon's fan at a Harpies game. I had been keeping in fairly regular touch with Charlie and the twins, and today all three of them were meeting us once more at a little pub that Harry quite liked the feel of. Personally, I think he just liked it because it was dark enough for him to hide in the corner and didn't have any windows for him to have to watch. He was a paranoid kid, that's for sure. Course, with the life he had led, it only made sense that he would be. We entered the pub and froze.

There were four men waiting for us instead of the expected three.

Harry took half a step in front of me, and his hand disappeared into his coat pocket where I knew it was clenched tightly around his wand.

Our unexpected visitor stood up slowly, his hands visible and open as he walked carefully forward.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" He didn't look like he wanted to attack us, but one can never be too sure. Harry had rubbed off on me in more ways than one.

Dad smiled sadly. "I missed my baby girl."

I smiled back. He looked genuine, and his surface thoughts weren't telling me anything different. But Harry was still a tense and solid presence in front of me. I put my hand on his side and lightly tried to push him aside. He didn't budge.

"Harry." This had no effect on him. He wouldn't even turn his head for me to make eye contact. So I resorted to the next best thing. "He's not here to hurt us, love." I hissed at him.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. He's my father. Besides, don't you think I've searched his thoughts while we were standing here? He means us no harm."

For nearly a minute, Harry maintained his post, and then he relaxed slightly and stepped back to my side. I slipped my hand into his, trying to calm him down further, and led him forward to the seats saved for us. My brothers were well aware of Harry's paranoid proclivities by now, and had saved us the two seats in the corner.

"What can I do for you, Dad?"

Dad sagged into his seat and buried his face in his hands. His voice was strangled when he finally spoke. "I've made my only daughter afraid of me, and nearly lost her. I just want you back."

"And there are no tricks?" Harry asked. "No caveats? No surprises you're waiting to spring on us as soon as our guard is down?"

Dad looked up with watery eyes and met Harry's gaze head on. I was rather impressed. That could be hard to do. "No. I just wanted to see my little girl."

Harry stared at him for an uncomfortably long amount of time before giving a stiff nod and pushing back to his customary place against the wall. His wand was out under the table, at the ready, and his left hand was resting on the small of my back. He liked to keep a hand on me, he had explained, just to remind himself that I was there. I didn't mind. His touch always sent pleasant shivers through my body.

I smiled briefly at my husband and turned to my father. "It's good to see you, Daddy. How have you been?"

Some of the sadness retreated from his eyes at the familiar name. "We've been surviving. Your mother and I have been moved to a secure location. She likes this, as it gives her a wonderful excuse to take care of so many people, but she very much wants to return home. She misses the Burrow."

I didn't acknowledge this statement. Technically, I already knew. The twins had alerted us that this was happening, and Harry and I were both there when Dumbledore moved them. We thought it might be useful to be able to access the Order Headquarters, and to do so we needed to know the secret. This was accomplished by eavesdropping on the conversation from the top corner of the largest cupboard in the kitchen.

Dad seemed confused by my lack of response, but went on. "Bill has some exciting news, though. He's engaged to a lovely young witch named Fleur. They plan to get married this summer; I do hope you and Harry can join us."

Harry chuckled by my side. "Thank you, sir. Fleur already invited us."

Dad looked at him in shock. "You know Fleur?"

"Of course. We were in the Triwizard Tournament together. I helped her out with some nasty trouble with Grindylows in the Second Task."

Dad looked shocked to hear this, but let it slide. I turned to Harry and grinned. "Just don't get any ideas about my part-Veela soon to be sister, Potter."

He smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it, dear."

Fred chuckled until I shot him a glare.

"How are Ron and Percy?" I asked quietly.

Dad stiffened a bit in his seat. "Percy has... decided it is best if he is not associated with the family for the moment."

I cocked my head, curious. "What do you mean?"

"He claims that we are being subversive by following Dumbledore instead of the Ministry, among other things. He told me rather emphatically that only by following the Ministry can we accomplish anything."

I snorted. "Is he serious? The Ministry has done nothing. They can barely even hold on to the prisoners that we gift wrap for them, let alone find anyone on their own."

Dad's eyes tensed. "Yes, I've seen your handiwork. Is it really necessary for you to put yourself in so much danger, Ginny?"

I shrugged. "No one else was doing anything, and someone has to."

"But you could be hurt."

"I won't allow that to happen, Mr. Weasley." Harry spoke with quiet determination, despite his quiet tone. This was the most I'd ever heard him speak in public, though, and I was impressed. "Ginny will always be protected."

Dad sagged again. "Thank you, Harry. That relieves some of my worries. But I'm sure you can understand that I am still concerned."

Harry nodded his acknowledgement of this, but said nothing else. Really, there wasn't much he could say. He knew that there was no way to prevent me fighting with him. We had already had this argument, and I had won.

I decided to redirect the conversation. "And Ron?"

Dad looked at me with sad eyes. "I'm sure you can guess what he thinks. He isn't particularly happy about the fact that we apparently sold you to... what was it he said? Oh, yes, that no good dirty snake."

Harry chuckled. It was so much more amusing to hear these references when you knew that he actually was a snake.

"Really, I was sold?" I turned to Harry. "Love, we must have forgotten to pay the bride price."

He grinned. "Don't worry, Gin. I'll take care of it."

With a casual wave of his wand under the table, he conjured a rather intricate looking thing that I had no clue what it was. With a flourish, he presented it to Dad.

"It's an electric model airplane. You build it yourself, and then it will fly in the same way the real ones do." I was impressed. Harry must have been really paying attention the few times he had gotten me to talk about my family. Dad was obsessed with Muggle airplanes.

Dad's eyes went wide with glee as he looked at it. "Really? Oh, this is fabulous!"

I laughed softly. Dad was so easily satisfied, but I loved him for his simplicity. "I'm glad you're here, Daddy."

He looked up sharply. "Me, too, Ginny girl. Me, too."

My eyes shot wide in surprise, then met Harry's. We need to keep this one alive.

Harry looked confused. There is no way that Rookwood doesn't deserve death.

That wasn't what I said. We need to keep him alive for what he knows, not what he's done.

Oh?

He was the one who developed the spell that Voldemort uses to protect himself, the spell that caused him not to die when he first attacked you.

Harry was instantly in front of me. Does he know how to remove it?

No.

Harry deflated before my eyes.

But I was able to read something interesting before he threw me out.

He threw you out? He must be good.

That's beside the point. It isn't a spell, it is a ward. And it only keeps him from death if he is within range of it.

What's the range?

I don't know. He threw me out before I could get a good read on it.

Hence the taking him with us.

Correct.

And then we'll only need to figure out how to get Voldemort outside of his safe house when he isn't expecting it and so doesn't set the ward over a new location.

A/N: Wow, I was blown away by the response to this story. This is the (slightly shorter) second installment. Before you start complaining that they would never act like that, remember that this is very different. Meaning, Harry has no qualms about killing Death Eaters, and using magic that probably wouldn't be considered Light magic. They are not, however, Dark.

Let me know what you think. Next and last installment will be out in a week.