Chapter 7 Letting Go

A/N: Sad title, I know.

"Don't dive too low yet," yelled Harry.

"I'm fine!" Ginny huffed as she continued her rounds flying around the paddock, occasionally diving low just to keep things interesting. It's just been over half an hour and Harry, who was flying beside her (for safety reasons), had already started babying her.

She wrote to her Harpies coach yesterday telling her that Healer Hale had approved light training as her physical injuries had completely healed. In response, Coach Miles sent her a list of exercises that she can do while still on leave. She told Harry this later that day after he went on an emergency meeting at the Auror Office and asked if he could assist her.

"Only if you're not busy," she quickly added, not wanting to impose.

Her Mum had recently started throwing them together all the time doing errands which, she knew, was in an effort to help her recover her memory. Ginny's initial reaction would have been to get mad at her interference but since she was just innocently trying to help and she liked Harry's company, she decided to turn a blind eye and went along.

"I'm not. When do you want to start?" he asked eagerly, thrilled that Ginny asked him on her own and not because Mrs. Weasley said so.

"Tomorrow morning would be great," she replied. "I thought maybe we could fly over the paddock. What do you think?"

"Perfect."

Now on their third day of training, she can feel her old strength coming back. Her right arm still felt a little sore from carrying around a quaffle half its usual weight while on her broom but that was to be expected after her bone regrowth and long rest period.

Ginny swooped down smoothly to the edge of the water having finished the first set of her drills. "You know, you're just slightly less bossy than my Harpies coach," she told Harry who had just descended from his Firebolt 2.0.

"Thanks. I'm sure my Auror staff would agree," he said. "Come on, Passing Drills next. Up in the air!" Harry commanded.

Ginny stuck her tongue out then kicked the ground hard, taking care to throw the Quaffle powerfully at Harry. He caught it and didn't even flinch. Too bad, she thought, a smile forming on her lips.

Two hours later, they finished her drills and though Ginny still wanted to do more laps, Harry convinced her that it wouldn't be prudent to overdo training so early in her program.

"So, what's going on at the Auror Department?" Ginny asked nonchalantly as they walked towards the house. She had been burning with curiosity for days now.

Harry smiled and turned to her. "Couldn't hold it in, huh?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly sure if you can tell me," she said defensively, her face blushing crimson. "What if it was classified information? I didn't want to pry."

"That's okay. You've been cleared for this," he assured her. "We've been following a group of wizards for months now who have been suspected of kidnapping, usually children, and returning them in exchange for magical artifacts, priceless heirlooms, valuable gemstones," he explained, his tone growing serious. "We were really close last time but they got away at the last second."

"What about the children? Were they harmed?"

"Fortunately, they were kept safe. We think the group had a lot at stake to think about injuring any of them," he related.

"And the emergency meeting?"

"Another witch had gone missing. There still isn't any evidence that she was kidnapped but we had to look at all angles. Her family has a very prominent background so there's a huge probability. My Aurors are investigating it now as I'm on leave but I told them to Floo me when they find anything concrete."

"I hope she's safe," Ginny said, in awe of the enormity of Harry's work. She knew he was a skilled wizard, famous, well-off. He could have been anything and yet he chose to devote his time in catching criminals. Hardly a glamorous job but he did it with passion, and she was proud of him.

As they entered the kitchen, they found her Mum working at the counter. Harry immediately gestured her to keep silent, making her wonder why she was the only one allowed to know.

"Oh, there you are. I was just going to call you in. Lunch is almost ready," informed Mrs. Weasley.

The two hurriedly went upstairs to clean up, and thirty minutes later, joined Mrs. Weasley at the table.

"This soup is great, Mrs. Weasley," Harry commented. "You should definitely give me the recipe so I can make this at home."

Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Of course, dear. I'll write it down later for you."

"You cook?!" Ginny asked incredulously.

Harry smirked. "Sure. Else, we'd have lived on takeaways all the time."

"What do you mean we …" Ginny was about to ask but was cut off by the voice coming from the fireplace.

A middle-aged man, or his head, rather, was hovering in the grate, speaking in a hurried manner. "Auror Potter! It's Code Lemon for the Sidle Case!"

Immediately, Harry stood up and took his jacket hanging on the wall. "How long ago, Bob?" he asked as he put the article on.

"We had just received news now from the field. I Flooed as soon as I knew."

"Thank you. I'll be there directly," he said and the image vanished. He slid his hand in his pants pocket, checking that his wand was there. Finding that it was, he went back to the table to say goodbye.

"You take care, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said as she hugged him.

"I always do, Mum," he replied, whispering the last word to her. He came towards Ginny after Mrs. Weasley let go, hoping to receive the same send-off, but she had already held out her hand awkwardly to him.

"I hope it turns out well, Harry," she wished, not knowing what else to say. Harry clasped her hand only for a second before he went out to the yard to Apparate.

Countless of images then went through her head as the door clicked shut – Harry running while sending spells towards the enemies, Harry flung to the ground by a Stunning Spell, Harry bleeding – and she wasn't aware that she had run outside until the sunlight hit her eyes as she looked around for the direction Harry took to Apparate. She spotted him just to the left of the aging apple tree, taking out his wand to leave.

"Harry!" she cried.

He turned around at her voice and saw her running towards him, her hair flying about and turning a shade of gold in the afternoon light.

As she reached the spot, she flung her arms around him in a tight embrace, and holding back her tears, she whispered in his ears only two words. "Be safe."

A/N: Hah! Fooled you with the title, didn't I? Review, guys. It inspires me to write faster. Hahaha.