Chapter 21: surprise visits

The next week went by almost more slowly then the first without Ginny. Work had been incredibly slow. There hadn't been a major incident with any former Death Eaters since Avery. Most of the time, Harry and the other new Aurors spent the day doing paperwork.

Harry sat with his head propped in his hand while he idly tapped his quill on his desk. He had just finished putting the final touches on a report for Valentine and had nothing left to do for the day. His thoughts drifted to Ginny. He had received a letter from her the night before saying that practices were even more brutal this week since they have their first game on Saturday. Dropping the quill on the desk, Harry stood and scooped up the pile of parchment he had been working on. He knocked on Valentine's partially opened door and peaked his head around the corner. Valentine looked up at Harry over the rims of his glasses.

'I have that report ready', said Harry, stepping into the office and holding up the stack of parchment in his hands.

'Oh, good', said Valentine. 'You can just set them her', he added, moving some things on his desk to clear a spot. Harry sat the stack down and turned to leave. 'Potter', said Valentine before he reached the door. 'You can go home for the rest of the day.'

Harry turned to face his superior. 'Thank you, sir', he said before ducking out of the office and heading back to his desk. He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and quickly locked up his desk.

'Where are you going?', asked Peters, clearly confused.

'Valentine gave me the rest of the day off. I'm going to Holyhead', said Harry. Peters gave him a questioning look but Harry offered him no further explanation. Somehow, word had not yet spread that Harry Potter's girlfriend was playing professionally for the Holyhead Harpies. Harry quickly made his way over to the lifts and jabbed the button impatiently. When the lift arrived, he ran straight into Mr. Weasley.

'Oh, Harry', said Mr. Weasley. 'Just the person I was coming to see.' He stepped back into the lift to allow Harry room to enter and hit the button for the Atrium. 'Molly wanted me to invite you to dinner tonight.'

'Oh, of course', said Harry. 'I honestly think I'd starve otherwise', he added with a grin.

'So where are you heading in such a hurry?', asked Mr. Weasley.

'Yea, sorry about that', said Harry. 'I'm actually heading to Holyhead. Valentine gave me the rest of the day off.'

'Ginny know you're coming?', asked Mr. Weasley.

'No', answered Harry. 'Wanted to surprise her.'

'I see', said Mr. Weasley, giving him a knowing smile.

When the lift arrived at the Atrium, Harry stepped off with Mr. Weasley. 'Tell Mrs. Weasley I'll be there for dinner', he said before sprinting to the apparition point and turning on the spot. Mr. Weasley stood by the lifts watching the young man he thought of as a son. It won't be long now, he thought to himself.

Harry blinked in the bright afternoon sun when he arrived in Holyhead and made his way down the street to the quidditch stadium. He had never been to an actual professional quidditch stadium before. He had gone to the world cup in his forth year of course, but that was different. He made his way over to the security booth and passed the wizard behind the counter the badge Ginny had given to allow him access. The security wizard looked from Harry to the badge and then back again. 'H-Harry P-Potter?', he said, shock registering across his face.

'Yes sir', said Harry, slightly annoyed. For once, he just wanted to be able to go somewhere in the Wizarding world without receiving that kind of response from people.

'R-right through those d-double d-doors, Mr. P-Potter', stuttered the security wizard, handing Harry his badge back.

'Thanks', said Harry. He stowed the badge back into his pocket and walked over to the double doors, pushing them open. Inside the pitch, the team was flying in a formation. Harry spotted Ginny with the quaffle tucked under her arm. He followed her around the pitch with his eyes and watched her throw the quaffle through the center of the left-hand goal hoop. The keeper had dived to try and save the goal, but Ginny was too quick for her. The whistle blew and Harry watched the players land on the ground in the center of the pitch and dismount their brooms. He moved out of the shadows and stood leaning against a low wall on the outside of the pitch as the players took to the air once more.

'Can I help you with anything?', came a voice from behind him. He turned and was face to face with none other then Gwenog Jones.

'Uh, no. Just watching', he said, smiling. He watched as her hand flew up to cover her mouth and her eyes widened in recognition.

'Merlin! You're Harry Potter', she exclaimed. 'I'm . . .'

'Gwenog Jones', Harry finished for her, extending his hand. 'Nice to finally meet you', he said.

'And you as well', said Gwenog. 'What can I help you with Mr. Potter?', she asked.

'Call me Harry', he said, smiling at her. He normally didn't like when witches and wizards got flustered around him, but in this case, he had to admit he was kind of flattered. 'I'm just here to surprise my girlfriend'.

'Your girlfriend?', she asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

'Yea. Ginny Weasley', he said. 'I'm surprised you didn't know. It was all over the papers for a while', he added, rolling his eyes a bit.

'Hmm. I didn't know you were dating. Being the captain of a quidditch team doesn't allow much time to catch up on what's going on in the Wizarding world', she said. 'Outside of quidditch, that is', she added with a grin. Harry laughed.

'I guess I can understand that', he said.

'Will you excuse me? I need to get back out there', said Gwenog. 'You can have a seat somewhere if you like', she added, gesturing to the stands.

'Oh, sure. Thanks', said Harry.

'Practice won't be much longer', she said over her shoulder as she headed back onto the pitch. Harry moved over to the stands and found a seat halfway up the first section. He brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun as he watched Ginny fly around the pitch. Ginny wasn't exaggerating, he thought to himself. The practice was absolutely brutal. About an hour had passed when Gwenog blew the final whistle signaling practice was over. Harry quickly got up and made his way toward the changing room.

He was leaning against the wall as Ginny approached, broom over her shoulder and deep in conversation with one of her teammates. He cleared his throat audibly as she reached out to open the door, still completely oblivious that he was standing there.

When she turned, her eyes widened. 'Harry', she exclaimed, running and jumping into his arms. 'What are you doing here?', she asked.

'Got off work early. Thought I would surprise you', he said, grinning down at her.

'No way.' came a loud voice from behind them. They both turned to face a girl with long, brown, curly hair who wore a very shocked expression on her face. Harry looked down at Ginny and took note of the annoyed look on her face.

'Harry, this is Becca', she said. Harry looked at Becca who was hyperventilating and extended his hand in greeting. Becca shook his hand and then squealed in excitement.

'I can't believe I'm meeting Harry Potter', she said excitedly, bouncing up and down.

'Er . . . thanks. I think', said Harry. He looked over at Ginny for help but all she could do was sigh and roll her eyes.

'Can you wait here?', she asked him. 'I just want to get a quick shower and change.' Harry nodded. Ginny heaved another deep sigh and grabbed Becca by the arm.

'Come on, Becca', she said as she hauled the girl into the changing room. Harry chucked to himself and leaned back against the side of the building. While he waited for Ginny, other members of the team walked past him, giggling and whispering amongst themselves. About a half an hour passed before Ginny finally emerged, her wet hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing a pair of jeans and a form fitting t-shirt bearing the team's logo.

'Ready to get out of here', she said, standing on her tip toes and giving him a quick kiss. Someone passing them wolf whistled and the both of them blushed.

'Yea. Let's get out of here', said Harry, taking her hand and leading her to the exit. Once outside the stadium Ginny said, 'Sorry about that back there. Becca's absolutely obsessed with you.' Harry only laughed.

'I think I figured that out', he said. 'Is she the one you're staying with?'

'Unfortunately', sighed Ginny. 'She's brilliant on the quidditch pitch, but she's such a gossip.'

'Well, it's only for a few more days', said Harry, squeezing her hand. 'Then you'll only have me to deal with', he added, winking at her.

'I think I can handle that', she said.

'You hungry', asked Harry.

'Starving', said Ginny. 'There's a great little place up the street here.'

'Sounds great'

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed. I might not be able to update for a few days. Busy times ahead. Please review! I enjoy reading your feedback and am always up for suggestions. :)