Chapter Twelve - New Year Adventures

January passed by so quickly that it had only seemed to have started when it was over, and February was there. Hermione and Ginny were busy at Marauders Institute, and Ron and his Cannon team won one more game, and lost one in January to reach a lofty 5-5 record, now exactly halfway through the season. Mrs. Weasley and Fleur were busy with their work, getting ready for the upcoming new baby, and starting to help with planning the two weddings that would be coming up later in the year.

For being unemployed, Harry managed to keep himself occupied, taking care of Ginny, playing with Teddy, and mostly having a lot of fun. He even managed to do a little work with the Wizengamot and keep up with what Molly, Fleur, and the other account managers were doing with his finances without letting that get in the way those fun times.

Valentine's Day arrived, and Ginny woke up to breakfast in bed, surrounded by flowers, and a tender wake-up kiss from her loving husband. She smiled at Harry as he sat on the side of the bed next to her.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said, handing her a present. "I hope you're ready to have a great time today." She sat up, careful not to bump the tray of food, and tore into the wrapping paper of her present. Harry laughed as he watched the excitement sparkle in her eyes. When she found the watch inside the box, she gasped in surprise.

"I've never heard of a watch like this," she told him, and he smiled as she put the tiny, beautiful gold and diamond watch on her slender wrist.

"I'd be surprised if you had, since I believe it's the first one ever made. I had the Wizard who made this study Mum's clock to figure out how to do it, but being able to make it so small was all his own genius. The instructions are in the box there someplace. You'll be able to know where anyone you love is at anytime, and it does actually tell time too." Ginny put her arms around Harry, and happily kissed him before floating his present across the room and dropping it in his hands.

"Your turn," she told him with a smile. Having spent so many years never getting presents when he was younger made Harry appreciate receiving gifts much more than maybe other people did, and he took his time opening the present, despite Ginny's urgings for him to hurry up. When he opened the box, he found a strange little device attached to what looked like an ordinary set of Muggle headphones. He looked up at Ginny as he pulled it out of the box and turned it over in his hands.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"It's the very first Magical Marauder Music Player - or 3MP for short," she told him. "Just put the headphones on, and tell it to play any song you know, from any group you know." He did as she told him, and was amazed to hear the requested song immediately playing through the headphones.

"This is going to be the Marauder Institute's first commercial product," Ginny said next. "We think it's going to be very big." Harry had to agree, and gave her a big hug.

"I'm sure it will be. We should have some breakfast before it's cold," he suggested, "and you can tell me all about this amazing little invention while we eat."

When Ginny had left for work, Harry headed out to make the final arrangements for the evening he had planned for them. He arrived at the Marauder offices just before lunchtime, bearing the gift of a large lunch buffet for everyone there. Harry congratulated them on their 3MP invention, and was given a short tour to see some of the other projects the various teams were working on. When he was finished there, he went to Hogwarts for a short visit with Teddy, dropping off some Valentine candy and a new toy Ginny had picked out for him.

After leaving Hogwarts, he went to see Neville, who'd asked him for some help. He was going to propose to Luna later, and Harry had been helping him out with his plans. Neville was going to be borrowing one of the island guest houses, and Kreacher and Winky would be putting together a candlelight dinner for them. Harry dropped off the portkey Neville would need, offered a little last minute advice, and wished him luck.

When Ginny got home from work, she found a note on the door directing her to go up to the bathroom, where she found a hot bubble bath and a chilled glass of wine waiting for her, the room lit with dancing candlelight. She happily slid into the tub, closed her eyes, and relaxed. When the water had begun to cool, she opened her eyes to see a beautiful new dress hanging on the door, with another note telling her that Fleur had picked out the dress for her, and that she should get ready, and head downstairs. Harry was waiting for her when she entered the sitting room. He was wearing a tuxedo and had a bright, happy smile on his face.

"You look absolutely gorgeous," he told her. "Shall we go?" Ginny smiled, and took his hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Dinner in Paris, followed by dancing in London, and home by midnight," he answered. "I thought about adding a sunset walk on the beach, but the island is occupied tonight."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Oh? By whom?"

Harry couldn't hide the smile nearly as well as he'd been able to keep his friend's secret until now, when it was safe to tell Ginny what was going on. "Neville's borrowing the island, and Kreacher and Winky," he explained. He's proposing to Luna tonight." She laughed and put her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"It's about time - Luna was beginning to think he'd never get around to asking her. Let's get going to that restaurant. It's been a long day, and I'm really hungry."

They had a wonderful time, and both of them enjoyed a rare night out where it was just the two of them. Ginny found out the next morning that Luna had said yes, and was thrilled to have yet another wedding to begin planning for.

The Saturday after Valentine's Day, Harry and Ginny went to Hogwarts to watch Gryffindor play their game against Hufflepuff. Ginny didn't get to spend nearly as much time with Teddy as Harry did, and it gave her a chance to spend some time with him – even if it was mostly just cuddling with him under a warm blanket in the cold stadium as they watched the game.

Gryffindor might have lost their three star players from the previous year, but Dennis had put together another pretty good team. Their Keeper wasn't nearly as strong a player as Ron had been, but Demelza had obviously worked very hard over the past year, and she more than made up for the goals their Keeper gave up by scoring a lot of goals against a better Hufflepuff Keeper.

It was a grueling five hour marathon match, with both teams fighting hard, and the lead changing hands a number of times, and always staying close. The contest finally came to an end when Dennis caught the snitch with an amazing demonstration of flying that impressed everyone, and put Ravenclaw's team on notice that they'd be facing a Seeker that was at least as good as Harry had been, and might even be a bit better when they played Gryffindor in May.

For the last week or so of February, everything around the Weasley family was pretty quiet. Harry and Ginny had dinner with the parents on the last Friday of the month, and she was busy at the Institute, mostly working on the 3MP project. For most Wizards and Witches, or at least those living where it was winter, they'd already faced months of cold weather, and the weeks between Valentine's Day and Easter just seemed to drag on endlessly.

That might have been part of the reason why it seemed like things were so much less exciting for Harry and his family, but they were also looking forward to the impending birth of Bill and Fleur's baby, and while her due date was still weeks away, everything seemed almost to pause in anticipation of the arrival of the first Weasley and Delacour grandchild.