"Welcome to Fine Furniture! How are you today?" The saleslady spoke in a welcoming tone. Ginny seemed completely intrigued with the way a muggle store looked.
"Good, Thank you." Harry replied back.
"Well, my name is Mary, if you need anything." Harry nodded and walked over to the dining room furniture.
"Okay, I'm going to need a dining room table, which one do you like?" Ginny walked over to every one of the tables. When she chose her top two favorites, she sneaked a peak at the price tag. "Gin, don't look at the price tag, I don't care about the price."
"Harry, you're a multi-trillionaire in galleons or whatever. How much muggle money do you have?"
"I converted some galleons for muggle money. I'm fine. So which one of the two do you like?"
"You're the one who will be living there, you choose."
"Ginny, like you even said I'm terrible at décor, I'm not mocking you; I'm agreeing with you. So, which one do you think will look good?"
"Well, this one matches the cabinets that are in the kitchen, but it's a bit long. The other one is shorter but is a shade lighter than the cabinets."
"Well, I have to have a longer table."
"Why? It's only going to be you and occasionally Teddy living there….right?"
"But what about your family? What if I want to serve them dinner for once? I don't plan on being cooped up in there all alone." Harry said smiling.
"Okay, so if you like it, the longer one. What do you need next?"
"The living room, so, couches, side tables, a coffee table, lamps, maybe even a chest." They walked to the living room section of the huge store.
"Okay, let's start with the sofa. What color do you want?"
"Well, what would match the walls?"
"Well, the walls are crème and gold, so, crème, gold, black, maroon, or brown."
"I think the maroon will look cool, I mean it is already a Gryffindor themed house, why not go all the way out?"
"Okay, maroon it is." They went through this routine with every piece of furniture. They bought beds, wardrobes, dishes, a desk and more.
"Alright the furniture will be delivered in two days. Anything else?"
"No that'll be all, thank you." They left the muggle store and started to walk the streets of London.
"Are you hungry, Gin?" Harry asked after walking three quarters of the way to the alleyway where they apparate in and out of.
"Sure." Ginny said looking down. Harry noticed that she was acting strange the entire day. He rethought his actions from the day before to make sure he hadn't done anything that would offend her. He said nothing offensive, hadn't done anything wrong, so why was Ginny acting so disturbed?
"Well, what are you in the mood for?"
"Um, ice cream would be okay." She said looking at the ice cream parlor that stood in front of them.
"Okay." They bought their ice cream and sat down. "Ginny, what's going on?"
"What do you mean? Everything is fine." Ginny said licking the ice cream guiltily.
"Ginny, I may be an idiot on some levels, but I'm not completely stupid. I can tell something is bothering you."
"You're not an idiot! Why would you think of yourself like that? You are Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived Twice, Savior of the Wizarding World, and all. You can't be an idiot to hold those titles."
"Ginny, don't try and change the subject. Something is bothering you. So, what is it?" Ginny looked down at the table. She couldn't look into those green eyes.
"It's just a talk that I had with Hermione yesterday. It's been on my mind since I woke up."
"Okay, then, what was the talk about?" Ginny looked out the window.
"Nothing worth talking about again."
"Well, if it's bothering you this much, obviously it is." Ginny finally looked in his eyes.
"Harry, have you ever felt that if you tell someone about what you did, even though it was the right thing, they'd get mad at you?"
"Can you be more specific? Like it matters, if you were telling me, probably not, if you were telling someone like your mum and it was dangerous, than yes, I think that they'd get frustrated with you. But not mad at you. If they scold you or yell at you, it's just because they love you and are looking out for you. Can you tell me who this person is?"
"Well, it's more than one person; it's my entire family. And Hermione is almost black mailing me to tell them."
"What do you mean 'almost black mailing you' its either she is or she isn't."
"Well, thinking about that talk, she almost gave me the impression that if I don't tell them, then she will. I know she's only trying to help me and that she is concerned about me. And I love her for doing that. But sometimes it's hard to think about."
"Well, you can always tell me. I am your boyfriend. I will listen to you, Gin. Or you can tell me the general outline and we can move from there."
"Basically, last year at Hogwarts wasn't the best year. Or in other words….Hermione may not have been the only one tortured last year."
"What? They tortured you?"
"Well, not exactly. They were torturing everyone. It wasn't just me. And I can tell you it wasn't that many times. Maybe once or twice a year, not even, but Hermione is keen on making me tell my family that I was brutally tortured and I should be checked to see if I was going mad."
"Ginny, your not making any sense, did you or did you not get tortured last year."
"Harry…"
"Ginny, did you?" Ginny hesitated for a moment then nodded. "How many times did it happen?"
"Like I said, once or twice not even, and it was for some really stupid mistakes. I deserved what I got. But I'm fine now."
"No mistakes are worth an unforgivable curse. What did you do to 'deserve' that?" Harry face showed the sympathetic and concerned expression and his voice was calm and collected yet concerned. Truth was, Harry was concerned. Ginny couldn't possibly get tortured. She was too strong, too smart for that.
"Harry, you told me you wouldn't get mad. But, can we talk about this somewhere else. I don't want to take the cheerfulness out of an ice cream parlor." Harry nodded. They threw away their ice cream because their appetite was ruined by the thought. They walked to the alleyway in silence. Harry wasn't mad at Ginny and Ginny wasn't mad at Harry. She knew that he wasn't mad, more concerned than anything else. They apparated to Grimmauld Place and immediately took a seat in the living room.
"Well, what happened?"
"Like I said, it was only once or twice. But it was for a good cause. I don't think any of you know that Neville, Luna, and I started up Dumbledore's Army. Well, actually, Hermione figured that out by herself." Harry sat there waiting to hear he stories. "It was the first week of school and a young girl accidentally spoke out of term in Dark Arts."
"You mean Defense against the Dark Arts, right?" Ginny shook her head.
"No, they renamed the class to Dark Arts because the whole Defense part was discontinued. Anyway a girl spoke out of term when I specifically told anyone that was fourth year or younger not to do. Right when Amycus Carrow was about to say the incantation, I jumped in front of her, so, instead he crucioed me."
"Ginny, why were they even apart of Dumbledore's Army. I'm sorry but if you're younger than fourth year, DA is too intense for you. Wait, they couldn't have gotten the idea to fight back on their own, someone must have done it before." Ginny cowered in her seat, and looked down at her feet. "Ginny, did you do that too?" Ginny looked toward the fireplace. Again she couldn't look into those green eyes.
"Harry, you said you wouldn't get mad at me."
"I'm not mad, I'm just confused. Why would you do that?"
"Harry, you did it too! I won't be able to forget about your first DADA class with Umbridge."
"Yeah, Gin, look where that got me. I went through so much that year. And you thought it would be wise to reenact that?"
"No, I wasn't reenacting what you did. I wasn't letting them say anything bad about 'my kind'."
"What do you mean 'your kind'?"
"As in blood traitors, you know, like pure bloods that teamed with muggle-borns. That's the other reason I got crucioed. But trust me, that was the only times." Harry nodded, all this information was overwhelming. Ginny got up and turned around. She started to walk towards the front door like she was going to leave but before she could; Harry wrapped his hands around her waist and turned her around.
"Ginny, I'm not angry, I'm not disappointed in you, I'm proud of you. You fought for what you believed was right. I can't ask you to do better. I wish you didn't, of course. I mean, they could have killed you and thought nothing of it. But I can't ask for the world. Ginny, just promise me that you will tell the entire truth when your ready. I'm glad that you told me a little, but I'd like to know what really happen one day, okay?" Ginny nodded.
"Thanks for listening. I can't ask for you to do better, too. But I don't want to tell Mum about it. What should I do?"
"I'll talk to Hermione and tell her you told me everything. Maybe I can talk her out of her deal. Maybe she'll settle with the fact that you told me and will tell someone else someday."
"Okay, Harry. So, what now?"
"How about I take you home? It's getting late."
"Harry, it's only two o'clock."
"Yeah, and that's pretty late. Besides Ron and Hermione want to go out for a drink tonight. And I said I'll go with them."
"Ooh! Can I come too?"
"Gin, you know you're underage, right?" Ginny nodded but she looked like she was still enthusiastic to come. "Well if your mum lets you come, you can come. But if she doesn't then you can't." Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded.
"Fair enough." Harry took Ginny by the waist and apparated to the Burrow.
A/N: Don't worry a plot twist will happen soon!
