Chapter Twenty-Seven

For the next month, Ginny managed to hide her secret from everyone. Not even Hermione knew what had happened between her and their painting teacher; as the days grew colder, Ginny could feel the heat of her inner turmoil growing hotter as her thoughts churned over and over. George was spending more time at home now that Alicia had returned from Africa, and Ginny was happy to throw herself into more shifts at the joke shop. Externally, it seemed that her relationships with Harry and Oliver had calmed down, but inside - and this she had confessed to a surprisingly non-judgmental Hermione - she felt that things were worse than ever. She and Harry had settled into a routine of kissing in the morning before Harry left for work, maybe having dinner together a few times over the week, and having sex whenever the unspoken ennui became too strong for them to fight.

With Oliver, on the other hand, things seemed to be swirling in a vortex of sexual tension. He'd been excellent about respecting their boundaries, seeming to sense that pushing things wouldn't work in his favor, although Ginny had lately been wishing he would force some kind of confrontation. However, every innocent contact they shared seemed, to Ginny at least, charged with unreleased and unacknowledged energy. Once, during a particularly intense introductory session of magical painting, Oliver had wrapped his hand around hers to guide her and Ginny thought she might have passed out. His presence, always so warm and strong, seemed to hover around her no matter where she was. And she'd thought about the kiss.

Oh, how she had thought about their kiss.

The inner strain she had been feeling had reflected itself in her intimacy with Harry. The passion was gone, although Harry's technique had never been something to complain about. Things didn't seem to be working as well between them, whether in the bedroom or at the dinner table. Harry didn't seem to have noticed; Ginny did nothing to bring it up, afraid that she might end up saying something she'd regret if it came to a fight.

And so, the days ticked by. Sometimes they seemed to crawl and sometimes Ginny felt as though she'd blinked and a week had passed. Living from class to class, workday to workday was something she didn't enjoy.

So, it was with some joy mixed in with her surprise that she got a note from Dennis Creevey, with whom she'd worked at the Daily Prophet all that time ago.

Hi, Ginny. How's things?

I know this is a bit out of the blue considering that I've rudely not spoken to you since we stopped working together (in the sense that we corresponded occasionally over your Curse Breakers piece), but something's come up at work that I thought you'd be interested in.

Okay, I didn't come up with it on my own. I happened to be talking about it with one of my friends in the Magical Law Enforcement office and he said that Hermione Granger recommended I talk to you about it. I wish I could take credit for this nigh-unbelievable coincidence.

Ginny paused a moment to let her combined trepidation (at Hermione's involvement) and amusement (at Dennis' unnecessarily elevated diction) sink in properly. Hermione had been somewhat at a distance lately, at least comparative to her past behavior. Ginny suspected it was because she'd been behaving well, not flirting with Oliver, not making plans on her own, having dinner with Harry when she could. Hermione's friendship didn't wax and wane with the level of drama in Ginny's life, but her direct involvement and interference did.

Sighing, wishing she could put it off longer but not sure of a solid reason to ignore Dennis' letter, she continued reading.

The boss has passed down an assignment, tentatively a photojournalistic piece dealing with ancient wizard artists around the globe. It reminded me of your Curse Breaker assignment and that's what initially put the thought into my head. Your work is so in-depth, yet accessible, and we'd love to have you back! I hear you're a committed woman now, though, so if you can't get away, I'd understand.

Ginny frowned. A "committed woman"? It made her sound like an inmate.

If you'd like more details so you can think it over, let me know and maybe we can meet for lunch or drinks somewhere. I really am sorry for being such a bad person as far as this nipped-in-the-bud friendship is concerned.

Regards,

Dennis Creevey

Already things seemed to be looking up. Ginny was sure George would be willing to give her the time off, particularly if she sweetened the deal by training a replacement. Art was quickly becoming one of her main interests, so there would be no problem finding interesting pieces, and a photography component just made life that much better. Perhaps she could do a six part series, one for each continent's worth of wizarding art…

Her head already swimming with ideas, Ginny froze as she made to Floo Hermione and thank her.

Harry.

What on earth would she do about him? She knew he'd be insulted if she went without him, and he'd probably be nervous about her traveling on her own, but she couldn't… She couldn't take him with her. It felt wrong. He would be bogging her down; Harry didn't understand art.

Maybe she needed to consider things more carefully. She could discuss things with Hermione and then bring the issue up to Harry, to see what his reaction was. That would be a good start.

Quelled, she calmly wrote an affirmative response to Dennis, tentatively setting plans for Wednesday of that week. As the delivery owl flew out the window with a letter in its beak and a treat of reward in its mouth, Ginny sat down at the table. Things were changing. She could feel it; she didn't know how, or even what was happening, but everything that had been put in motion by starting this damned painting class was coming to a head. The storm clouds gathering over her and her relationships would soon erupt; she just knew it.

AN: Hi, everyone! Just so you all know, I'm heading back to university next week so there may not be the regular update, but I'll do my best! Ginny's right; everything is coming to a head, and the end of this story is just barely in sight. Thank you all for being so patient, and I hope you enjoy what is beginning to look like the final chapters of this labor of love.-TheGoldenAge