Nothing is as Simple as We Hope it Will Be
Summary: HPxStargate Atlantis crossover. After the replicators have damaged Atlantis, and the crew is continuing out into deep space John must do everything in his powers to stay alive, even if does mean using magic again. not season 4 compliant.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter characters or original world ideas Nor do I own Stargate characters or original world ideas. The plot for this story however is mine.
Chapter Sever: Re-Entrance of Mr. Potter
"Unlike for you, I have a daughter to look after." George growled out as he spun on his heals and walked towards the back of the store. "Marilyn, watch the shop." He yelled out to a petrified looking girl that was wearing a Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes shirt. "Come on, Evelyn," he said as he grabbed hold of Evelyn's hand and began pulling her towards the back of the shop.
George was gone before John or Rodney had a chance to retort. Stretching his jaw one last time John began walking back towards where George had gone.
"Do you think we should follow him?" Rodney asked uncertainly as he tailed after John.
"Yes." John said, determination laced in his voice. This was not how he wanted this to end.
"Alright, if you say so." Rodney said as he followed John into the back room just in time to see Evelyn wisp away through the floo network. "John did that girl just disappear in the fire?"
"Yes, Rodney."
"Oh." Rodney replied a bit too stunned to say anything else.
"What do you want?" George asked as he grabbed a handful of floo powder for himself.
"I'm coming with you." John replied as he also grabbed a handful of floo powder.
"Leave out of this one." George bit out.
"I am coming with you." John replied again more forcefully as he stared George in the eyes. "Please."
"Fine. Whatever. If Ginny hexes you don't blame me." George threw the floo powder into the fire and stepped in. "The Burrow."
John watched as his old friend whisked away. John turned back to Rodney. "Your turn."
"My turn?" Rodney asked, all of the color suddenly leaving his face.
"Flooing doesn't harm muggles, um, non-magical people. I don't have time to explain it in detail. Take a handful of this." John said as he thrust out a pot of floo powder, "and then throw it into the fire. Step into the fire and say clearly, 'The Burrow.'" John explained as he waited for Rodney to take the powder.
"What happens after I step into the fire?" Rodney asked nervously as he let his trembling hand take a handful of the grey ashy powder.
"You will be transported to the Weasley home." John said as he directed Rodney in front of the fire.
"Alright." Rodney said his voice quavering as he released his fist over the fire. He let out a slight gasp as the fire changed colors and he gulped nervously.
"It's not hot." John said reassuringly as he waited for Rodney to enter the fire. "Promise."
Closing his eyes Rodney stepped into the fire. "Th..The Burrow." He blurted out as quickly as he could and then he felt himself begin to spin and before he knew it he was being thrown out of a different fire place. Landing on his hands and knees he looked up only to find that the man who had punched John, an older girl in her teenage years, the girl they had met in Diagon Alley and a woman who looked to be the girl's mother staring back at him. "Um, hi." Rodney said as he slowly got up off his knees.
"You might want to move away." The older girl said.
"What?" Rodney asked, but it was too late. The fire had flared again and John came tumbling out onto Rodney, almost bringing them both down to the ground.
It took both Rodney and John to untangle themselves and by the time that they had managed it they were both slightly red with embaresment and facing four Weasleys, two of whom looked less than amused.
"Ginny." John greeted carefully as he looked over at her. The years had been kind to her and she had remained the slim witch that he remembered, her hair just as long and beautiful as before. In her lap she held her daughter.
"Harry." Ginny replied, although her response was far from happy.
There was silence as the two continued to stare at each other.
"Well, this is awkward." Rodney muttered to himself as he glanced between his friend and the woman, who he assumed was John's ex-wife.
"Yes, Rodney," John muttered back in slight annoyance. "This is awkward."
"What do you want?" Ginny asked bluntly.
"Well, we heard that Roxanne might be in trouble..."John trailed off as he glanced over at the older girl, "but obviously she came away from the incident fine."
"That wasn't what I was talking about." Ginny said as she stood up, setting Evelyn down on the ground. "Come with me, I want to talk with you alone."
John looked at Ginny in confusion. "Um...alright?"
"Follow me. Your friend can stay with George."
"Right. Be good, Rodney." John said as he followed his ex-wife out of the room and towards the back garden, leaving Rodney standing uncomfortably in the kitchen.
Rodney turned around to look at the red headed man. "Well..." Rodney started out not knowing exactly what to say. "I guess we haven't been properly introduced."' Rodney said, hoping that the man would help pick up the conversation.
"George Weasley, found of the W.W.W. joke shop." The man said, sticking out his hand for Rodney to shake.
"Ah, nice to meet you," Rodney said though his face didn't really express any emotions that would be close to pleasant. He was more nervous of the man, than happy to meet him. "Rodney McKay, theoretical physicist." he said as he shook George's hand.
"A what?" George asked in confusion.
"A physicist, you know, someone who works in the field of physics." Rodney replied, also a little confused.
"Physics? Never heard of it. You work with the muggles then?"
Rodney's face dropped, "You have never heard of physics?" It was as if the man had claimed that he had never breathed. It was impossible.
"No." George replied.
"Impossible." Rodney muttered to himself as he lowered himself slowly into one of the chairs at the table.
There was a soft giggle from the youngest girl, Evelyn as she looked at Rodney. "Uncle George, I think you broke him."
George smirked a bit. "Why, dearest niece, I think you are right."
"I can't believe you have the guts to show up in my own home after seven years." Ginny hissed as she drug John out onto the back porch.
"I didn't intend to." John began, but was cut off by Ginny.
"I don't care what your intentions were, you are here now and Evelyn has met you now!"
"She looks just like you." John replied, unsure of what he could say to calm Ginny. "Look, I just heard that Roxanne ran into some trouble. I was with George at the time. I thought it would be appropriate if I came."
"Yes, because you are Harry-bloody-Potter and you came to save the day. Well, where the hell have you been for the last seven years when I've needed you?"
"Don't you dare accuse me of this." John bite back, his own anger beginning to rise. "You're the one that left."
"And you were suppose to follow." Ginny hissed back.
"Suppose to follow?!" John asked in surprise. "Are you crazy? You left and made it quite clear that you didn't want me around anymore."
"I was into my third trimester and practically out of my mind with everything that was going on. Of course you were suppose to follow me and make sure that I was alright and not dead in a ditch. You didn't even do that!"
"I figured if all of your belongings had managed to find a new home, you had to." John replied bitterly as he glared at his ex-wife. "Have you been living here all this time."
"Yes. Not that you would care. You never even sent an owl to see if your own child was okay."
"I wasn't in the area to be sending owls." John replied, knowing that it was a feeble excuse.
"Weren't in the area? Then just where were you, Harry?" Ginny asked, her rage slowly beginning to subside into curiosity.
"The U.S."
"You jumped the pond?" Ginny asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I was over there the whole time." John said, knowing this was a slight lie. He had on and off for the last three years been in Atlantis.
"I see." Ginny replied, unsure if there was anything else to say.
John sensed the silence and looked down at the shorter woman. "Look, Ginny, it was nice to see you, and to see Evelyn, at least once. But, I don't know what is going to happen in the future." John trailed off as he looked down at his wife.
"You're going back?" Ginny asked, an almost hurt quality entering her voice.
"Well, I got deported so I don't know if they are going to let me back in, but I am going to try."
"You got deported? What did you do?"
"They found out I wasn't an american." John replied before pausing. "I should get going. It isn't right of me to be barging into your life like this."
"You'll be here in England for a while though won't you?" Ginny asked quickly a hand darting out to grab John's arm, suddenly realizing that he was talking about leaving her life once again.
"Yes." John replied slowly as he looked down at Ginny's hand.
"Sorry." She said softly as she withdrew her hand.
"I should go." John said again, this time moving to go back into the burrow.
"Can I owl you?"
John turned back to his ex-wife, unsure what to say. "Ginny, please don't try and start this again. It didn't work out the first time. And I can assure you it wont work out any better now." John murmured as he looked sadly over at Ginny.
"Why won't it work?" Ginny pleaded as she grabbed onto John's arm again, "I want to try again. Evelyn needs a father. She has enough uncles to spoil her rotten, but she doesn't have you."
John quietly looked into Ginny's eyes, before he sighed softly. "I just don't trust you to not break my heart again." he said softly as he slowly removed Ginny's hand from his arm. "I'm sorry, Ginny, but you can't do this."
"Why not." Ginny begged.
"Because you don't know me anymore, Evelyn doesn't know me and I don't know Evelyn. It would just wouldn't work out. We have too much bad history between us. Find a nice ordinary wizard with an ordinary life to marry."
"I am still married to you." Ginny said softly, not looking John in the eyes.
"We can fix that." John replied.
"That doesn't need fixing." Ginny said as she looked back up at John.
"I think that it does." John said firmly. "Ginny, I don't love you anymore," he said softly, silently knowing that he was breaking Ginny's heart, but a small part of him didn't care. This was his revenge after sever years of suffering this by himself, it was Ginny's turn to be on the receiving end.
"You don't mean that." Ginny said softly.
"Yes. I do, Ginny. I really do."
"No."
"Yes, I do. Seven years is long enough to let my heart grow cold." John replied.
Tears began to roll down Ginny's cheeks as she looked at John. "Please leave then, if you have no intention of coming back."
"Good bye, Ginny." John said softly before he turned and gently opened the door to the burrow and walked quickly back to the kitchen only to find Rodney sitting at the table looking like all of the greatest scientist in the world had just told him he had no talent at all. "Rodney," John said softly to Rodney. "We're going. It was good to see you again George, even if you do throw a nasty punch." John said as he gave George a small sad smile.
"Sure, Harry." George said, uncomfortable with the entire situation.
"Evelyn, it was nice to meet you, be nice for your mother."
"Okay." The little girl said happily as she smiled up at John.
John grabbed a bit of their floo powder and motioning for Rodney to take some also.
"Nice to meet all of you." Rodney said as he took some of the gray powder, although his voice didn't really have much emotion left to it. "Where are we going?"
"Potter Manor," John replied. He watched Rodney go through the floo before turning back to Evelyn. With one last good glimpse at his daughter he threw his powder into the fire. "Good bye, Evelyn," he said sadly before stepping through the fire.
Rodney had the sense the second time he came out of the floo to quickly move away from the entrance of the floo so that when John came through there would be no bumping into each other, and sure enough, as soon as he stepped away from the floo John came tumbling out of the fireplace.
He could tell just by his friend's body stance that things had obviously not gone well with his wife. Helping John to his feet, he lead his friend to a couch and sat him down. "Do you want to talk about it?" Rodney asked.
"Not really." John replied as he stared out across the room, not really looking at Rodney.
"Do you want me to get anything?"
He was greeted with silence.
"Well..." Rodney said but was interrupted before he could say more.
"Firewiskey would be heaven." John said as he glanced over at Rodney. "There should be a bottle in one of the cabinets in the kitchen. The one over the stove I think."
"Alright. I'll go find it." Rodney said as he stood up. "I'll be right back." Rodney walked out of the room leaving his friend to silent contemplation. Rodney really could not blame him for wanting to get smashed right now. A run in with his ex-wife and never before meet kid... Rodney sighed. He hoped all things in the wizarding world were not that complicated.
Looking around the kitchen, Rodney made his way over to the stove, and pulled open the cabinet that was above the stove, and observed that there were a few different bottles stored in the cabinet. A few that were obviously wine, but there were also a few others that looked to be other types of drinks. Blowing dust off of the labels, Rodney finally managed to find the one that read Firewiskey in large calligraphic letters. Grabbing the bottle Rodney went back to where he had left John.
"Found it." He declared as he entered the room.
"Give it here. It is time to toast our successful day." John said, bitterness seeping into his voice as he opened the bottle and then took a rather large swig before handing it over to Rodney. "Try some."
Rodney looked down at the bottle. His original intentions were not to let John get too completely smashed, but a little himself would not hurt. He lifted the bottle and took a small swig of the alcohol and found his eyes watering slightly. It was far stronger than he had originally thought it was going to be, and he had not prepared himself at all as the alcohol burned down his throat.
"Good, huh." John said, slightly amused as he watched Rodney struggle with the liquor.
Rodney spluttered for a second before handing the bottle back to John. "Yeah." He said weekly as he sat himself down on the couch. John took another swig from the bottle.
"Rodney." John said, his voice surprisingly already starting to show signs of slurring, "Never get married."
Rodney glanced over at John before nervously starting to talk. "Thanks for the warning, but I already decided I was going to ask Katie. I promised myself a few weeks ago that the next time I came back Earth I would get a ring." Rodney looked over at John expectantly waiting a response.
John was staring at Rodney in surprise. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Katie Brown?" John asked again.
"Yes. Why do you look so surprised?" Rodney asked, slightly annoyed by his friend's wide eyed staring.
"I just never expected you to be one to settle down with a girl I guess." John said slowly, as he turned back to his firewisky and took another sip. "Katie Brown..."
"Yes. Will you help me find a ring?"
"I guess so." John said his surprise slowly turning into happiness for his friend. "Congratulations, Rodney."
"Thanks, but she still needs to say yes."
"Don't worry, I think she will." John said, a smile slowly spreading over his face. "Katie Brown..." John said with a small laugh.
A/N: And there you have it. Chapter Seven. Took me a while, because I was not really happy with how the ginny/harry conversation was working out, but hopefully what I came up with in the end, works out well enough. Hope everyone likes it. Please give me some feedback about how you think this chapter went and what you would like to see in the future.
A/N2: fixed two grammatical errors thanks for pointing them out, red death.