A/N: Not much to say, I've currently amended the first 9 chapters

Chapter Six

The next morning they woke up simultaneously in a tangle of limbs, she could happily wake up like this every morning, so much better than waking up alone, once the war was over and she was allowed home, she always thought sleeping alone would just take some getting used to, but as time passed, it never felt better. Narcissa had even tried to convince herself that she missed Lucius, she knew she didn't, she could have taken any number of people into her bed, but that wasn't her style, and yet here and now with Harry's arms wrapped tightly around her, it all felt right, she didn't much care for being 'the other woman' but she didn't plan on letting it be that way for long. Once she knew all the facts concerning the breakdown of his marriage to the ginger girl, perhaps she would be able to help him, at the very least give him an incentive to move things forward, Weasel girl's loss was her gain.

"I can almost hear you thinking" she slapped him sharply on the side "What was that for?"

"You startled me, I was just wondering about..."

"Ginny?" he finished the sentence for her, his voice flat.

"You remember who she is then?" he playfully attempted to push her away

"Each time I think about it, all my reasons for giving up seem so weak"

"Well I'm not going to judge, you can confide in me" she gave him a reassuring squeeze.

Harry took a deep breath and started to explain everything, after the battle for Hogwarts everyone wanted a piece of the Golden Trio, Hermione had taken on a large role in the cleaning up and restoration of the castle, including the removal of the dead, the ministry took care of the enemy combatants, the families of the rest had to come to identify and remove their loved ones, Hermione, to her credit, had personally dealt with everyone.

McGonagall had been installed as Headmistress and after the castle was restored to its former glory, Hermione took a place on the staff, as was the case with her school work, the same was true for work, she taught Transfiguration and helped out during staff shortages, so extensive was her knowledge of just about everything. If McGonagall had let her, no doubt she would have done more.

With her advancing years and duties as headmistress, coupled with helping the Ministry, McGonagall was only too happy to have Hermione teach in her stead and made her head of Gryffindor house. She and Ron had embarked upon a brief relationship and realised it was never going to work, thankfully it ended before any harm was done and they remained good friends.

Ron was offered many jobs within the Ministry, he had more than a passing interest in making Voldemort's followers pay for their crimes. It was a deeply personal reason and with his mind made up, he started on his Auror training immediately, he was surprisingly adept and he completed it with little issue, he was heavily involved with several raids tasked with bringing rogue Death Eaters to justice, he spent days in the field following leads and staking out potential hideouts, the cells in Azkaban were filling up nicely.

His career could not have been going better, around the Auror offices he was constantly compared to 'Mad-Eye' but one night, Ron and four of the best Aurors, hand picked by Ron himself, came upon a large abandoned house, an anonymous tip off led them to believe a few Death Eaters had holed up inside, the information was accurate, but it was a trap and everybody was killed, some kind of magical explosion, or so the Magical Investigative Forensic Team said. Ron had been found on the perimeter of the destroyed property unconscious and covered in blood, after he was released from St. Mungo's he resigned and went to help George run Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon alley, Ron said at the time, that he'd seen more than enough death for one lifetime.

The constant stream of funerals was the most wearing part, each one physically and mentally exhausting, so much shared grief and they felt obligated to attend every single one, they held no grudges, but were glad when the dead had been remembered and laid to rest at last, after that people started to look to the future, it was bright and full of hope.

Rita Skeeter was desperate to get the exclusive rights to the Golden Trio, book deals and interviews, the ultimate account of Voldemort's downfall, they didn't give her the time of day, at one point she became quite threatening, Kingsley had stepped in at that point, whatever he said to the woman had worked.

The celebrations came after that, every one held in honour of the people who brought an end to the second wizarding war, there were a few weddings along the way, Neville married Luna, he took over from Professor Sprout as Herbology teacher, Luna took over the Quibbler. George Weasley married Angelina Johnson and opened a Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. After those happy events everyone wanted to know when Harry would propose to Ginny, Mrs Weasley dropped it into every conversation, Ron and Hermione gave him the least amount of grief, that was a small blessing, there was literally no escape, the spotlight was on the Boy-Who-Lived-Again, the Chosen one.

Rita Skeeter resurfaced and that made matters worse, Witch Weekly Magazine, a publication that Mrs Weasley adored, wanted to cover the photographs of the big day, Ginny's dress became a thing of much speculation. While all that was going on, Ginny had become a first team player for the Holyhead Harpies and was a celebrity in her own right, and that added to the furore, almost overnight the wedding had become an international media circus.

Harry had been offered pretty much anything he wanted, he chose a position in the Department of Mysteries and rapidly made his way to the top job, no one had questioned his choice, but now Narcissa knew the real reason, a reason he hadn't told anyone, as an Unspeakable, huge parts of Harry's working life were magically protected, it was the most privacy he had ever had, the older woman's heart went out to him, she probably knew more about Harry during the early parts of his life than he did.

So, in a situation that most pure-blooded families would have been proud of, Harry Potter's wedding to Ginevra Weasley was all but set in stone, by all accounts the wedding was largely free, so many people wanted it to happen, the catering had been done by an army of Hogwarts house elves, much to Hermione's dismay. for weeks after it was on the front page of every newspaper and magazine, it did more for people's happiness than any of the positive propaganda spouted by the Ministry.

Narcissa realised that she was holding Harry quite tightly and subsequently lessened her grip, he was getting close to revealing where it all went wrong. His hand was still tracing patterns on her back with his fingers, she had hardly noticed at the beginning, it was becoming distracting but in a good way, she didn't want anything interrupting this tale, she gave all her attention to the sound of his voice, she rested her head on his chest and stroked her fingers down his side, he took another deep breath and continued.

Between Harry's job and Ginny's Quidditch, the newly weds had easily managed to get themselves a place of their own, married life was pretty good to start with, until the nightmares started, always the same place, the Forbidden Forest, only the details changed slightly with each visitation, Ginny started treating him differently, it had reminded him of when his link to Voldemort had been discovered, his friends treated him differently, certain conversations were had, but whispered behind his back, and with the nightmares came the same feeling that the people close to him felt he needed to be handled with kid gloves and that made him angry and resentful.

Narcissa asked him about the dream, but he wouldn't tell, it wasn't the same as the one he'd told her about that morning in the living room, this particular detail had a nasty habit of repeating, and he was unwilling to share, she had no desire to force him to do something he didn't want to do, instead she kissed his jawline and let him talk.

Another deep breath, Narcissa's head rose and fell as he inhaled and exhaled, she could hear his heart thudding rapidly, he was nervous about what was to come. One night the dream had been incredibly vivid and he had attacked Ginny as she tried to wake him, uncontrolled magic, she hadn't been badly hurt but the next day she packed some things and spent the weekend at her parent's house, Harry had come to Grimmauld Place to take his mind off things, fixing the place up gave him something to do, and the act of being so busy meant nothing else could interfere, Narcissa could relate.

No one blamed Harry for what had happened, but it didn't stop the hushed conversations, the ones that inexplicably ended the moment he walked into the room. No one questioned all the time he spent at Grimmauld place, his job was demanding and during the Quidditch season, Ginny was rarely at home, he knew deep down that he no longer loved her, and that's when Narcissa had walked in, that spur of the moment decision made in the manor had given her so much.

"I understand" the words were spoken quiet and soft "There is no shame in no longer loving someone, you can't force it, I doubt anyone would blame you, and the rest would get over it, you are allowed to be happy"

"Thank you, I just kept thinking that I should make it work, everyone expected it to be perfect"

She climbed on top of him, wrapping herself around him and kissing him deeply before sighing close to his ear.

"Nothing is ever perfect, Potter, but this comes close, I can't make you do anything you don't want to do, but you know you need to do the right thing, and then we shall see." He didn't say anything but she could feel him nodding.

All's Fair

The sound of the bathroom door closing brought Narcissa out of her daydream and back to the present. Dare she hope that he'd leave the weasel girl for her, she got up and walked to the bathroom, she kissed him in passing, and ran her nails across his abdomen eliciting a sharp hiss of pleasure from the dark haired man.

Narcissa returned to the room moments later, her hair fell down her back in a golden waterfall, her robe hung loose around her shoulders, once round her side of the bed she let her clothing fall to the floor, she felt hungry eyes track across her pale skin, she loved the way he looked at her, naked, clothed, it hardly made a difference, she doubted he ever looked at the ginger weasel the same way.

She slid in between cool sheets and was met with hot skin, and hot lips across her shoulder and back, she happily melted into his embrace, he whispered softly in her ear.

"I'm leaving her, I'll make it official tomorrow, I'm sorry I've messed you around for so long"

"I'm glad I stayed around"

"So am I, I never meant to take so long, I was afraid"

"I was scared you'd see sense and stay with her"

"What about you and Lucius?"

"He's in Azkaban and we're divorced"

"I thought your divorce was just a show for the public and you'd try and get his sentence reduced, I got the impression that you were extremely devoted to each other"

She turned to face him, understanding something vital for the first time

"I assumed that all your talk of guilt was just about you cheating, and you thought that I somehow shared some of that, but all this time you thought I was stepping out on Lucius. Harry, I want to be here, I want to be with you, that's all I've wanted for a long time, that's why I tolerated being the other woman. Whatever feelings I had for my husband, well, they died long ago"

It was all out in the open now, love had not been talked about, only felt, and that feeling was shared, just the small matter of telling two thirds of the Golden Trio and Draco remained, once news got out into the wider wizarding community, merlin only knew what would happen then, hopefully people wouldn't be too concerned with the chosen one's divorce, and if they were lucky, it might even give that Skeeter bitch a heart attack. After they finished their intense chat, sleep came easily to the couple.

Harry felt exhausted, completely drained, a penetrating cold cut through to his bones, he walked automatically, as if on rails, his mind knew where to go, he'd walked these paths many times. There was no sound this time, a fire flickered in the distance, occasionally visible through the trees, as he got closer figures could be seen hunched around it's warm glow, for some reason tonight his eyes sought out Bellatrix, she looked battle worn and a little bloody.

Voldemort seemed utterly calm, disappointed that the boy had not appeared, the next moments were a blur, time slowed to a crawl when the jet of green light left the wand of his nemesis, it struck him square in the chest, his body dropped to the soft forest floor.

Bellatrix begging to examine his body only to be denied and shunned by her precious Lord, Harry could almost visualise the look on the dark witch's face, new sounds, a new dream perhaps, Harry was hoping that's the case, he hadn't realised before that Voldemort had actually hurt Narcissa, forcing her to check him for signs of life, this time he could feel his anger in response to her mistreatment, then soft hands were touching him and his anger abated, he could smell her and feel her hair brushing against his face, she asked about Draco, satisfied with his answer she squeezed his hand before standing and proclaiming his death. Dream Harry held his breath, his heart pounding, a shrill scream 'LIAR' the spell hit the witch, ice filled his veins, suffocating him, he opened his eyes just in time to see the light leave hers.

Waking up suddenly, panting, nauseous, a cold sweat on clammy skin, concerned blue eyes found his panicking ones, soft warm hands on his cheeks, a soothing voice called his name.

"Harry, are you all right?" he nodded, his breathing was slowing

"I was back in the forest"

"Tell me what happened, why is it so bad after all this time?"

"I don't know why it's so bad, back then there wasn't a reason to fear that outcome"

"You aren't making any sense" his eyes focus back on Narcissa

"When you tell Voldemort I'm dead, he doesn't believe you, he kills you and that's when I wake up"

He turned his head away from her, she wished that she could see his expression, she reached out to touch him hesitantly and stopped herself.

"Saving you was purely selfish, I only wanted to know that Draco was safe, but, days later he told me what happened in the room of requirement, I thought about you a lot after that"

"I dreamt about you, and it wasn't all nightmares, what do you think it means?"

"Maybe nothing, maybe everything"

"To me it's everything, Narcissa, I have enjoyed every minute I've spent with you, I want to be with you, I think, and this is a feeling I've had for a while, I think I love you"

She sat stock still, her mouth was open slightly, she wet her lips with the tip of her tongue, he felt the heat of embarrassment creeping up his face. As she had barely moved for what felt like an age, he jumped slightly when she finally did, with an increasingly large smile on her face, she spoke

"I love you too" there was no going back now.