-Chapter 2-
It was a dreary Sunday evening. After dinner Hermione sat quietly at Grimmauld Place listening to the Wireless with Harry and Luna.
"Welcome back to the first game in Round One of the Quidditch World Cup! We're an hour into England versus Peru; England just took a time out after Peru scored their fifth goal leaving England still with zeros on the board. England Captain Ginny Weasley is mounting her broom to play for the first time today. For those of you who have been living under a rock and don't know, this will be Captain Weasley's first official game since a devastating injury in December took her out of Regional play with the Holyhead Harpies for the remainder of that season."
Hermione sighed. Despite her best efforts she hadn't seen or spoken to Ginny since the party. She sent letters and even came to the stadium the day before England was to leave for Peru. One of Ginny's teammates told Hermione to "shove the fuck off, heartbreaker". None of them would tell Hermione where she was but she was sure she saw a glimpse of flaming red hair running into one of the rooms. She hoped the letter and parcel got to her before the bus took off.
"Weasley scores for England! Amazing, she was up in the air for thirty seconds and England got on the board! We're all hoping she has a fantastic last season and it looks like she might be off a good start. The Quaffle is up again and Peru takes possession…"
"I'm going to go down to the kitchen and make some tea," Hermione said as she stood up. "Can I get either of you something?"
"I can get Vincent to do it," Harry offered.
"No. I will do it." Hermione walked down to the kitchen and started the kettle. She stood over the kitchen sink while the water simmered on the stove. There was a glass in the sink and before she could really think about it she picked up the glass and hurled it at the wall.
"How the hell could I do this to her?" Hermione half yelled, half sobbed. She started pacing the kitchen floor talking to herself. "I couldn't just keep my mouth shut. I had doubts though. Everyone has doubts before they get married, don't they?"
"Yeah, they do," Harry said as he walked up to Hermione and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He pulled her over to the kitchen table.
"Ugh…Harry. How is it that you are always the one that manages to find me like this?"
"Sobbing and hysterical? I have no idea, maybe because you and I went through quite a lot together. We've got something that neither of us will ever have with anyone else, you know? I guess it is just how we work."
"I guess…how much do I owe you for that glass?"
"I'll fix it, don't worry." He aimed his wand at the floor. "Reparo!" The glass put itself back together and Harry levitated it to the sink.
"Will she come back to me, Harry?"
"I think so. She just needs some time, you know?" Harry gave Hermione his handkerchief and she dried her eyes.
"I just had a few doubts, that's all…I don't understand how she could get so upset over that."
"I think it was because she was having doubts, too. Not about getting married but about stopping Quidditch."
"How do you know?"
"She told me. But she told me not to tell you. I don't really care though…I hate seeing you like this and you deserve an explanation. She thought if you were having doubts about getting married and you called it off that she would've quit Quidditch for nothing."
"I told her I didn't want to call anything off. I told her I still wanted to get married and that my doubts were only momentary. Does she not understand that for three years it has been me and Lennox? Spending weekends together is nothing like living together, this is going to be huge for both of us. If it happens, that is."
"Okay…I'm going to tell you something that only two people in the world know. One of them is me, obviously, and the other is Luna."
Hermione looked at Harry rather befuddled.
"Luna and I almost didn't get married. She took her dad's death harder than anyone knows. She shut herself up and completely called off the wedding. Luna told me after that she didn't want to get married or see me again because of all the things that could happen to me because of my job and it was too much of a change."
"Wow…Harry...how long did it take her to come around?"
"Uh…a couple months, actually. I know that's not what you wanted to hear but every situation is different."
"Well it's a good thing Ginny has a few months to decide. We…we set a date. We were going to announce it at her party last weekend."
"That's fantastic, Hermione. When?"
"September ninth. Mum and I were planning on going dress shopping next week. She found a shop near her and Dad's office that has some nice gowns."
"Good…that's good. You should do that. You should keep planning. That's what I did when Luna refused to talk to me. She had done the basics but I planned the rest of it. Did you know there are over a hundred species of roses and every color has a different meaning?"
"I didn't know that, no."
"Yeah," Harry laughed, "and if you don't know which one you want the florists get really irritated. As do caterers when you don't know if you want quail, steak, chicken, fish, or tofu. Here's a tip, go for a buffet." The kettle started whistling, Harry got up and removed it from the stove and got three cups, teabags and a tray to carry everything.
"Thanks for the advice, Harry." Hermione smiled. They went back upstairs just in time to hear that England caught the Golden Snitch and they won the match 200-60.
"We're throwing it down to the field where our correspondent has caught up with Captain Ginny Weasley. Go ahead, Fox!"
"Hey everyone, I'm here with England Captain Ginny Weasley. Captain, first and foremost, how are you feeling after your first official game since your injury?"
"I'm feeling really fantastic. It's great to be back and I hope this is just the start of a long World Cup season."
"You plan on retiring this year, correct?"
"Yeah, that's the plan for now. I'm gonna be taking over the Quidditch reporting department at The Daily Prophet in London."
"Sources say that's not the only reason you're leaving. Can you confirm anything else?"
"This isn't a gossip show, Fox."
"Right, sorry. Tell us about your strategy for this game? Why not come in as a starter?"
"I wanted to see some of our other players get some game time while I observed and coached a little. Everyone did really well and I am proud of the whole team and I hope we can pull off another victory next week."
"Thanks Captain, good luck next week"
Hermione smiled. She missed the sound of Ginny's voice.
"Where's Ginny?" Lennox looked at the Wireless, slightly confused.
Hermione giggled a bit. "Ginny's playing Quidditch."
"Ginny's in the box!"
"No, honey, Ginny's not in the box. It was just her voice."
"Oh. I miss Ginny," Lennox sat down in the floor and played with the plane Ginny got him for Christmas.
"I miss her too, baby. She'll be home soon."
There was a tap on the sitting room window. It was Hermione's little owl with a letter tied to her leg. She sprang up out of her seat and let her in.
"Oh! Finally!" Hermione tore open the envelope and read the note inside. She looked excited then as she folded up the letter she looked slightly disappointed.
"Something the matter Hermione?" Luna asked.
"Well…depending on how things go with Ginny I may have gotten some good news."
"Oh yeah?" Harry looked intrigued.
"Yeah…I…well. I kind of wanted it to be a surprise but I am going to need your help with it eventually so I might as well tell you." Hermione sat back down on the couch. "I found out that a co-worker at the Ministry who owns the land across the river from the Burrow is selling it. I've spoken to him and been out there a couple of times to look around. There's nothing on it but an old woodshed, the house that was on the land was destroyed in the first war."
"What are you getting at, Hermione?"
"I…I've told him I am interested in possibly buying the land. There's quite a bit of it there, most of it is wooded but that clear patch would be suitable to build on."
"Hermione that's awesome!" Harry smiled. "You should buy it. I'm sure if you got a really good builder the house could be done in time for you guys to move in right after the wedding. I've seen Wizard builders in action, they move pretty quickly. They built an entire new floor of Azkaban in less than a year. Who owns the land?"
"Amos Diggory owns it. He uh…he was planning on giving it to Cedric when he married. I've known that much for a while now. Since Ginny and I got together the first time, actually. Anyways, Mrs. Diggory finally convinced him to sell it. They said they like my offer and would like to meet next weekend to finalize the deal."
"I think you should do it 'Mione. It would be a good investment if nothing else. Villages like Ottery St. Catchpole are expanding with both Muggle and magical people. Land like that could be really valuable in a few years if you decide not to live on it."
"I think I will. Harry, is Luna alright?" Hermione looked over to the blonde witch.
Luna remained silent during the entire conversation. She didn't have her normal dreamy expression, this was darker. Her normally glimmering blue eyes didn't shine. She was snapped out of her daze by Harry kneeling in front of her.
"Luna…Luna. Sweetheart, you in there? Luna? Are you okay?"
"Oh…yes. I suppose I just kind of went off a bit. I'm dreadfully sorry."
"Are you sure you're all right, Luna?" Hermione asked. "Can I get you anything?"
Harry got up and sat back down next to Luna.
"I'm fine. Harry, we should go with Hermione next weekend. I would rather enjoy some time out in the country. Would you mind, Hermione?"
"No, of course not. I'd love it. There's a little restaurant that I Flooed to in the village the first time I went out there, we can use that one and have Mr. and Mrs. Diggory meet us there."
"Or we can Floo to the Burrow," Harry suggested. "We could have Arthur and Molly watch the twins while we go around looking. They've been begging for us to bring them around by ourselves so they can spend some time with them."
"Harry, do you really think it is a good idea for me to be at the Burrow right now?"
"Good point. Maybe we could…"
"I want to see my house," Luna said out of nowhere. It wasn't until that moment that Hermione remembered that the Lovegood House, or what was left of it, was in Ottery St. Catchpole.
"Luna…are you sure about that?" Harry said as he wrapped an arm around her.
"Quite sure. It's my property and I have a right to see what has become of it."
"Arthur goes over there on occasion to check up on it; he assures me that everything is fine. We don't have to go over there."
"Harry, I want to. I will with or without you so you might as well come with."
"Okay." Harry looked at Hermione. "On Saturday Luna, the twins and I can Floo to the Burrow, drop the twins off, and apparate to the house to meet you there at two. After that we can meet the Diggorys wherever. Does that work for you Hermione?"
"Works for me. My parents want to take Lennox for the day so after I drop him off I'll come here then Floo to the village then meet you there."