A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you!! The reviews for Chapter Six have not only been amazing in quantity, but in quality as well! Nearly all of the 29 so far reviewers gave not only their opinion, but strong reasons and evidence for their opinions as well. As far as the actual decision: This was never a vote, or anything. I've been thinking about this for quite awhile, ever since the idea for this story came to me. However, I'd have to say that if this was a vote, it probably would have been a tie…which left Harry and I in precisely the same predicament. So I had to choose, on my own… but your reasons, evidence, opinions etc greatly assisted me in this decision. So, without further ado, here is Chapter Seven… fitting, isn't it?

The Time it Takes

Chapter Seven

In the larger of two bedrooms on a high-up floor of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, a young man lay, apparently lifeless, on a handsome wooden bed. His shock of jet-black hair was perhaps messier than it had ever been, his thin face was unshaven, and his brilliant green eyes were out of focus, unable to concentrate on anything in the heavily postered room.

Anyone who walked in would have suspected Harry Potter to be deeply depressed, or else out of his mind. In truth, however, Harry was just very deep in thought. He had a decision to make, a huge, important decision, and his fiancé's refusal to give even a hint regarding her opinion didn't make things easier.

School, or career? The choice, the options, were clear as they could be, but to Harry they were as fuzzy as if he were viewing them on a broken television screen. Being an Auror had been Harry's goal since he was fourteen, when Barty Crouch, Jr had first suggested it to him. Now he had the opportunity to become one without even the risk of failure. He wouldn't have to take his NEWTs, or apply, or go through the standard training procedure.

But was that wise? Persistently, a little voice in the back of his mind repeated this question yet again. This voice was matter-of-fact, unmistakably feminine, and sounded suspiciously like Hermione. The question had run itself through his mind a thousand times, and that was what worried him. He hadn't learned enough, he feared. There was so much he had yet to figure out, so much that was vital. Ron and Ginny were confident that he could do it, but…

Hermione wasn't, he reminded himself quietly, and however much he sometimes hated to admit it, Hermione was like Dumbledore in her tendency to be right about things.

There was also the matter of Ginny. Though she had said that she would be fine with either decision, Harry couldn't help but feel that she must have an opinion. Ginny always had an opinion. Unfortunately, Harry was having trouble deciding what her opinion must be.

If Ginny were a more selfish person, than Harry could be certain that she would prefer Harry to remain at school. After all, he was her fiancé. Almost any girl would want to have her fiancé by her side… and even though Ginny wasn't selfish, Harry remembered the promise he had made to her at Kings Cross station, as he presented her with her engagement ring.

I'll never leave you behind again.

But would he really be leaving her behind? This wouldn't be like last year, when Ginny was left alone to worry about Harry, not knowing where he was. She would know what he was doing, where he was going. It would be different, this time.

Ginny could be disappointed in him, if he chose to remain safe at school while others risked their lives. But would she want him risking his life now, that they were engaged?

There were Death Eaters out there, Harry reminded himself. Death Eaters who had murdered and tortured, who had locked up his friends and supporters. Death Eaters who could continue to do so. It wasn't right, he thought, to sit by safe and sound at school while these people were still free. But who was to say he would be able to help at all?

Harry sat up for the first time in hours, rubbing his tired eyes from under his slightly lopsided glasses. He had reached a decision.

---oOoOo---

Harry looked at the three people in front of him nervously. There was Ron, looking impatient, with his arm around Hermione, her bushy hair pulled back into a long plait. She was frowning at Harry, and looked quite as nervous as he felt. Ginny was sitting on the moldy velvet arm chair, looking as beautiful as ever, and gazing at Harry so intensely that he felt the need to run and hide. Instead, he said, his voice shakier than he would have liked,

"I've made a decision." He said unnecessarily, which didn't seem to satisfy them. He was silent for a moment, until Ron said, quite loudly,

"And?"

They continued to pierce them with their eyes, four brown and two blue, all six apparently trying to tap into their inner Legilimens. "And," Harry continued, "I've decided to go back to school."

Hermione's face brightened at once, looking happy and relieved. Ron looked satisfied, perhaps a bit disappointed. Ginny's face was unreadable. They were all silent.

"But," he added slowly, focusing directly on Ginny this time, "I'm going to be training at the same time. Kingsley's told me that they can send people to work with me during the evenings and weekends, and I'll be going on missions when they need me."

He swallowed, looking at them once more. "Well?"

Hermione stood up to walk forward and hug him tightly. "I think you've made the right decision, Harry."

He laughed. "I had a feeling you might think so."

Ron got up next, grinning. "It would've been cool, though, mate, don't you think?"

Harry laughed again. "Yeah- yeah, I s'pose it would've been. Better like this, though, I think."

Ron nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. With a glance towards his sister, who was still sitting on the chair, he left the room with Hermione.

Harry's eyes connected with hers, and as Ron closed the door, she slowly got up the chair, walking towards him.

As she reached him, she simply looked up to his face, not saying a word at all.

"Well?" he asked again. "I've made my decision; you can tell me what you think of it, can't you?"

She smiled slightly, and reached up to close the gap between them, hugging him tightly. "I'm selfish, Harry." She told him quietly.

He grinned. "You're not, Ginny. If you were selfish, you would have told me not to go."

"But I didn't want you to! You must have known…" she sighed. "I love you, Harry. And if you had gone, that would have been fine with me. I'd be lying, though, if I said this wasn't what I wanted."

"It's what I want, too." He told her. "And Hermione's right, y'know. I couldn't manage, all the things I'd need to know. She did all the impressive stuff out there, last year. I've got to learn first."

"You would have been fine." She told him, taking his hand. "I have faith in you."

"I love you for that." He said. He reached down to kiss her, and when they broke apart, both gasping for air, Harry smiled.

"Plus, you know, I would've missed out on a lot, not being around."

A/N: So… I'm sorry if I disappointed you! At first I was dead certain that Harry was going to take the Auror Job, but the Hermione in my own head was quite persistent. I've been planning this for a while, and I must have changed my mind at least a dozen times. Your reviews meant a lot to me particularly this chapter, so please keep them coming. I must say, though, I'm terribly sorry that I won't be able to include as much Teddy as I would like at this point. Perhaps Harry and the gang will pop in to visit on occasion, for I am very interested in the little bugger. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering: Harry will be an Auror in my story, which WILL continue on past this year. It probably won't cover all nineteen years, but you never know. It will definitely continue until James' birth, I'm not sure how far it will go after that. Well, I'm sorry if you didn't get the results you wanted with this. I'm also sorry that it's so short. 