The pregnancy scare had been two weeks ago, but it felt more like two months. Life had remained as busy as ever. Despite sharing a suite of rooms as husband and wife, there remained precious little time to be alone together. Between classes and homework, Quidditch practice and games, prefect duties, Harry's teaching duties and his Auror training, most nights they fell into bed utterly exhausted. It had been three days since they'd managed even a quickie in lieu of breakfast before classes. Harry almost longed for the days before they were married, when they didn't know what they were missing. He was aching to have time to spend with her, so much so he was considering blowing off patrol duty tonight and taking her into a broom cupboard to have his way with her. That or using his time turner on both of them to squeeze in an extra hour somewhere, but he was pretty sure that going back in time to shag with his wife was on the list of prohibited uses of the time turner.

They had just finished a grueling tactical training session with their Quidditch team in preparation for the big match on Saturday. As Harry stood in the warm spray of the shower, letting the pounding water work out a kink in his neck, he thought about the changes that had occurred in the last two weeks. After being granted the DADA teaching position for next school year, he had met with Kingsley, Reed, and Noah to explain to them his decision to quit pursuing a career as an Auror and his suggestion that he become the on-site Auror at Hogwarts. They were understandably upset to be losing one of their most promising recruits, but fully understood and respected his decision to give it up. They agreed that he would continue his training in order to qualify to become the on-site Auror at Hogwarts, but took him off of active Auror missions. Ginny had been beyond thrilled when he had told her about everything. For now, his new roles and the fact that he was no longer working toward becoming a full-fledged Auror, were secrets. McGonagall and Kingsley had both insisted that, for now, things be kept under wraps and Harry was happy to comply; it gave him an excuse not to tell Ron or Hermione about his decision to quit. Ginny had been urging him to tell them; they would not see him as a quitter and, like her, would just want him to be happy and safe. Harry wasn't so sure though. He had been through a lot with Ron and Hermione, they knew what he was capable of and, perhaps to them, it would feel like he was giving up and settling down. He didn't want them to see him like that.

His eyes snapped open in alarm as he heard the rings of his shower curtain rasp against the bar. Ginny, in an indecently short towel, had let herself into his stall. As she hung her towel over the bar, she explained, "When I finished my shower, I realized that we were the only two left in here and I thought you might need me to scrub your back."

"Only if by scrubbing my back you mean letting me have my way with you," Harry said with a chuckle.

"Obviously," Ginny said, as she pressed her slick body against his. His hands and mouth wandered her body leisurely, sure that they had hours alone in the locker room if they wanted it. She moaned in response and wrapped her hand around him. He couldn't help but smile a little. It was one of the little things Ginny did that he had come to enjoy a lot. While he was busy pleasing her, she would simply hold him. Her hold would grow a bit tighter when he was doing something she really liked and would loosen when it wasn't as pleasurable for her. He was unsure if she had any idea that she did this, but he used it as sort of a physical meter to measure how well he was doing and adjust accordingly. He'd been nearly ready to back her up against the shower wall and take her when Harry heard footsteps in the locker room. He froze instantly and whispered in Ginny's ear, "Someone's in here."

"Harry?" Ron's voice called. "Are you still in here?"

Ginny groaned in agitation before saying, "Yes, Ronald, Harry and I are still in here." The footsteps sounded like they were getting closer when Ginny added, "Naked."

They heard Ron groan and curse under his breath before saying, "Don't you two have a bedroom somewhere in the castle?"

Harry was mortified into silence, but Ginny hadn't run out of things to say, "For your information, Ronald, a bedroom doesn't do anyone a lot of good if they're too busy to use it. We were taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself."

"Well, next time it'd better present itself in your bedroom," Ron threatened.

"Or what?" Ginny asked mockingly. "You'll tell Mum?"

"Yeah, maybe," Ron said.

"Fine. If you do, I'll tell Mum about all the places you and Hermione have been caught going at it," Ginny said.

"Name one," Ron challenged, sounding a bit nervous.

"The flowering bush below Ravenclaw Tower," Ginny reminded him.

"Yeah, that's just one," Ron said sheepishly.

"The Slytherin Common Room," Harry added.

"Harry," Ron cried in surprise. "You can't side with my sister against me."

"If the sides are you or your sister, I'll pick your sister every time," Harry explained.

"That is so unfair," Ron whined. "You were my best mate before you were her husband; how can you choose her over me?"

"She is amazingly talented in so many different ways," Harry said, as he winked at Ginny and gave her bottom a squeeze. "Besides, I'm worried that if I don't agree with her, I might never get to see her naked ever again."

"Merlin, you two are hopeless," Ron groaned disgustedly. "Listen Harry, when you are finished in there, could you and I have a word?"

"Sure," Harry replied. "Give me a few minutes; you pretty much spoiled the mood for me anyway." Ginny looked at him pleadingly but he just shook his head and said, "Could you really enjoy it knowing your brother could wander back in at any moment?"

"Fine," Ginny grumbled. "But you'd better make time for me tonight, mister."

"I promise," Harry said with one final kiss.

NNNNNNNNNNNNN

Harry met Ron outside the Quidditch locker room as soon as he was dressed and bundled in his winter cloak against the snow and wind.

"Sorry about that mate," Ron said as he fidgeted with something in this cloak pocket.

Surprised at the apology, after all it hadn't felt like so long ago that Ron was berating them for mere snogging sessions, Harry blushed and replied, "It's alright. The locker room clearly isn't the best place for that anyway. It just happened…"

"What did Ginny mean about taking the opportunity when it presented itself? Are the two of you both that busy?" Ron asked. "I thought McGonagall took some things off your plate before the wedding."

"She did, but I'm still busy and Ginny too. I'm not using the time turner as often to give myself more time to accomplish everything," Harry explained. "That in itself is a big step in the right direction."

"So you and Ginny…," Ron trailed off, unsure of how to ask what he wondered.

"Ginny and I haven't…er…found time for one another in three days. It isn't because we don't want to, because, trust me, we do. It's just that we are so busy and by the time we go to bed at night, we're too tired to do anything besides sleep."

"You should use the time turner to buy yourself an extra hour for, uh…that," Ron suggested.

"I have considered it, but the consequences, should it go badly, would be really horrid," Harry said. "Too horrid to even consider."

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that," Ron said. He grinned and continued, "I supposed if you got called into the Wizengamot for misuse of your time turner, it would be rather embarrassing to explain that you'd used it so you could shag your wife."

"Utterly mortifying is what it would be," Harry said. "And with my luck, it would end up on the front page of the Daily Prophet, but it would be skewed just a bit to make it sound like Ginny is repulsed by me and that is why I can't get any."

Ron was laughing too hard to respond for a moment. When it had passed, he said, "Merlin, Harry, sometimes you don't know how happy I am not to be you."

Harry had to laugh at that, remembering all the times when they were younger and Ron had been jealous of all the attention Harry got. "I'm glad you can finally see the downside to being Harry Potter," Harry said amiably. "Although these days, it's pretty fantastic."

"Being married is that great?" Ron asked curiously.

"Completely," Harry said. "I've never felt more right about anything in my entire life."

They walked quietly for a while, Harry lost in thought about the scene interrupted in the locker room and Ron thinking about when Hermione might finally agree to marry him or at least become officially engaged instead of just promised. Seeing Harry and Ginny as happy as they were, just made him long for it even more. Deciding not to burden Harry with his unhappiness just now, he asked, "So, any chance your schedule will free up a bit any time soon so you and Gin don't have to resort to getting busy in the locker room after practice?"

Harry, while anxious about how Ron would handle the news, jumped at the chance to tell his best mate about the new developments in his future. "Well, it's funny you should ask that."

"Yeah?" Ron asked intrigued. "What's up?"

"What would you think if I told you that I was no longer training to become an Auror?" Harry asked in a rush.

Ron looked at him and said, "I'd say that you were trying to pull one over on me. I mean…you've been training to be an Auror for over five months now and I know you just had a training session with Noah earlier today."

"Ignore the facts," Harry said. "What would you think?"

"I would be surprised," Ron said. "You've been interested in becoming an Auror since fifth year. You've been training with Noah and you've gone on several missions…what am I missing?"

With a deep sigh, Harry began, "Part of me really wants to be an Auror, but that part has been growing smaller and smaller lately. When I got called out on that last mission right after our honeymoon, I was miserable and Ginny was miserable. Not to mention that she was left to deal with things on her own that she should never have to deal with alone. We both did a lot of thinking and realized that if our marriage is going to survive, I can't be an Auror. Maybe I would have been less miserable if we hadn't just returned from our honeymoon, but as I thought about all the other moments in our life that I don't want to miss out on because I'm away on a dangerous mission, I started to wonder if it was worth it." Harry sighed and removed his hat to run his hand through his hair. "There's a lot of thought that went into this. I am not going to become an Auror after all."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Ron asked. "How long has this been decided?"

"Two weeks," Harry replied.

"But you're still training with Noah?" Ron asked in confusion. "Does he know that you aren't going to become an Auror anymore?"

Harry chuckled and said, "Yes. Kingsley, Reed, Noah, McGonagall, Ginny…they all know. I was afraid to tell you and Hermione."

"Why?" Ron asked in confusion.

"I was worried that you'd think I was giving up, that I was a quitter…" Harry said.

"Don't you know us better than that?" Ron asked. "We only want for you, what is going to make you happiest. If being an Auror isn't it, then we wouldn't want that for you."

"Ginny said that's what you would say. I guess I feel like a quitter and thought that you might think that too," Harry said.

"Nah," Ron said. "Privately, I've always thought you were a bit mental to want that job. It's grueling and, now that you're officially a Weasley, we'd all feel better if you chose a safer career path."

Harry laughed in relief and said, "Well, considering that the job I'm taking up has been considered cursed, I'm not sure I'll be that much safer."

Ron puzzled through the clue Harry has just dropped him before his eyes lit up and he said, "No way, you're going to be a teacher?"

"Yep," Harry said proudly. "I'm going to teach all the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes next year. I secretly suspect that this was McGonagall's plan all along. She told me after the battle that she thought I should come back to school and finish up, maybe there would be something I would want to do more than be an Auror. Then, she offered me the teaching position for the seventh year DADA class, which I've really come to enjoy teaching. When I finally I realized that this is a better fit for me, she was there, ready to give me the job, like she'd been hoping all along that I'd ask for it."

"Why, that sneaky old woman," Ron said with a grin. Then, more seriously, he asked, "But you're happy with your decision, right?"

"Very," Harry said. "And Ginny too."

"Then I'm happy for you," Ron said, "Both of you. But let me ask you a question. Why are you still Auror training with Noah?"

"Well, from now on, there will always be an Auror stationed at Hogwarts. After the battles that have taken place here, it's unsafe for there not to be. This year, it's me and next year, it'll also be me. I'm continuing my training so that I'm as fully prepared to protect the school in the event of an attack as I can be," Harry explained.

"So, in a way, you still get to be an Auror," Ron said. "Cool!"

"Yeah, in a safer way that doesn't take me away from my wife," Harry said with a grin.

"What's Ginny going to do next year while your busy teaching and protecting the school?" Ron asked.

"She's still counting on playing Quidditch professionally," Harry said.

"Any idea when she would find out about her prospects?" Ron asked.

"There are supposed to be several scouts at the next match and we expect them to ask for a meeting with her afterwards," Harry explained.

"Don't you think they'll want to meet with you too?" Ron asked.

"Maybe, but I don't want to play professionally. I've had enough of the fame thing in my life without adding this to it," Harry said. "What are you going to do when school is over?"

"I don't know yet," Ron admitted. "I have to give that some serious thought before school ends. In any case, I'm glad that you and Ginny have things all worked out."

"Thanks," Harry said. They walked along in silence for a while again. Harry realized as they walked just how long it had been since he and Ron had spent any time alone together. "Now that I'm a married man and busier than one person should be, I feel like I hardly get to hang out with you anymore. What's going on with you?"

Ron smiled at him and said, "Besides missing having my best friend to hang out with, I'm frustrated with where my relationship with Hermione is right now."

"Are you guys fighting or something?" Harry asked, trying to remember if he'd noticed that they weren't getting along lately.

"No more than we usually do," Ron said with a smirk. "We just want different things and I don't know how to deal with it."

"She still wants time before you get engaged and married?" Harry guessed.

"Yeah, and I don't. The more I watch you and Ginny, the more I know that I want that. I want to be married. I want to go to bed with her at night and wake up next to her in the morning. I don't understand why she doesn't want that too."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Harry asked.

"No, I know she'll explain all the same things that she did the last time we discussed it. I don't understand how she can want time to be herself more than she wants to get married and settled down," Ron said with a hint of anger.

"You have to remember where she comes from," Harry said carefully. "She grew up in the muggle world. Muggles are a lot more competitive and career driven than magical people are. People don't get married as young as we are. They go to university, get a job, make some money, and then, when they are well established in life, they get married."

"I know, I know," Ron said. "But why can't she do all that and be married to me at the same time? I just don't understand."

"You need to ask her all of these questions again," Harry said. "Maybe she'll have some different answers. Maybe she is watching Ginny and I as well and has changed her mind about needing so much time for herself."

"I hope so," Ron said sullenly.

"Me too," Harry agreed.

Slowly, they were making their way back toward the castle. They discussed Quidditch and classes as they walked. When they finally arrived outside of the heads' dorms, they stopped and faced each other.

"Thanks, this was nice," Harry said. "I'll try to have more time to hang out and stuff."

"That would be nice, but I understand if you're too busy," Ron said. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably before adding, "Hermione and I will take the patrol tonight so that you and Ginny can…uh… have some time alone."

"You don't have to do that," Harry said, embarrassed.

"Yeah, well," Ron muttered. "It's my fault that your time alone got interrupted earlier. It's the least I can do."

"You're trying to stay on Ginny's good side," Harry accused.

"Maybe," Ron said with a smirk. "Besides, Hermione and I could use the time to talk about some things."

"Smart move, Weasley," Harry said.

"Later, Potter," Ron replied as he opened the door to his and Hermione's dorm and disappeared inside.

Harry let himself into his and Ginny's dorm where he found her on the couch talking to Hermione. They immediately stopped talking and looked up expectantly at him as he came in. Sure that they had just been talking about them, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," they replied in unison. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Did you tell Ron?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Harry said happily.

"Good, because I told Hermione," Ginny said.

"What if I wanted to tell her?" Harry asked.

"I had to tell someone and after you, she's my best friend," Ginny explained. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Harry said, as he settled into the armchair. He turned toward Hermione and asked, "So, what do you think?"

"Harry, I think it's amazing. You're a wonderful teacher," Hermione said as she reached across the coffee table to touch his hand. "I'm so glad that you won't be putting yourself in danger anymore as an Auror. And you and Ginny are always so much happier when you can be together."

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I was nervous about what you would think."

"Harry, you saved the entire wizarding world. You earned yourself hero status for life. No one would think of you as a quitter to want to live a safer more normal life," Hermione said reassuringly.

"Thanks," Harry repeated. With a grin, he said, "By the way, Ron volunteered the two of you to take tonight's patrol so Ginny and I can have some time alone."

"Yeah, he owes you after barging in on your alone time in the shower earlier," Hermione agreed with a laugh.

Harry shook his head and Ginny and asked, "Do you really need to tell her everything?"

Ginny shrugged and Hermione laughed, "I'll get out of here so you guys can enjoy your alone time."

"Oh, can you tell Ron that, for now, my new jobs for next year are top secret?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Sure, no problem," Hermione said, as she closed the door behind her.

Ginny rose from her spot on the couch and settled herself on Harry's lap and asked, "So, we have the rest of the evening to ourselves?"

"Well, we should head down to dinner pretty soon and I have a lot of homework I should get going on," Harry teased. Yawning loudly, he added, "And I'm really pretty tired, I should try to get to bed early tonight."

"Very funny, Mr. Potter," Ginny said as she twisted in his lap to straddle him. She slid her hands up under his shirt and ran her fingers up and down his back.

"What exactly did you have in mind, Mrs. Potter?" Harry asked as he began to unbutton her shirt. She never got around to an answer though; their mouths collided and Harry fumbled to release the hooks on Ginny's bra. When the bra was conquered and he'd thrown it toward the couch, she wrapped her arms around his head and threaded her fingers into his hair, directing his mouth toward her breasts.

Harry was about to suggest they move into their bedroom when someone knocked loudly on the door. Ginny growled in frustration as Harry's mouth separated from her skin. "Why can't I get more than five minutes alone with my husband anymore?"

"Harry?" Ron called through the door. "You in there?"

Ginny looked ready to blow a fuse. Her older brother had interrupted her much needed alone time with Harry not once, but twice today, which was two times too many.

"Gin, why don't you go into the bedroom, put on one of those sexy little nightgowns you have, and I'll deal with Ron and be there in a minute," Harry suggested.

Ginny looked like she'd rather come to the door with Harry and give her brother a piece of her mind, but as she was topless, she scowled toward the door before grabbing her clothes and stomping into the bedroom. When she'd slammed the door behind her, Harry opened the door to face Ron.

"What happened to your hair?" Ron asked grinning.

"Um, Ginny and I were uh…," Harry began as he tried to smooth his hair back down.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Ron asked. "I was just coming to see if you wanted to come down to dinner and ask you a question. I didn't think you'd be…well, you know."

"Ron, we're newlyweds and it's been three days. When we have time to ourselves, of course that's going to be what we're doing," Harry explained patiently. "Ginny and I have our own kitchen in here. We're going to eat later. What's your question?"

"It can wait," Ron said. "Really, I'm sorry."

"Nah, just ask," Harry said. "You're here. Ginny's in the bedroom changing into something sexy; I have a few minutes."

Ron shuddered and said, "I didn't need to know that. Anyway, earlier you mentioned that Ginny had to deal with something alone while you were out on that mission right after your honeymoon. What were you talking about?"

"Oh," Harry said. "Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone about it, but we had a little pregnancy scare."

"Wow," Ron said. He was quiet for a nearly a minute before saying, "Now the way Ginny was acting those few days makes so much more sense. I can see why being away while Gin thought she might be pregnant would make you question if you wanted to be an Auror."

"Yeah, it was a good test. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it really made me think about what it would be like someday when we are starting our own family and how it would feel to be away from them," Harry said. "It helped me to make a really big decision."

"For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice," Ron said.

"Me too," Harry agreed. "The only people who knew about the pregnancy scare are you and Hermione, can you keep it that way?"

"Absolutely," Ron said. "Tell Ginny I'm sorry.

"About the scare?" Harry asked.

"That and all the interruptions. I'll try not to let it happen again," Ron said.

"We'll work out some sort of system," Harry said. "There has to be an easy way for us to let you know that right now isn't a good time."

"Sounds like a plan," Ron said, as he walked away.

As Harry walked back into the dorm toward their bedroom, he thought about the different ways his marriage was changing his friendship with Ron. All of them were natural and anticipated changes, but he could still feel the strain it added. While Ron would always be his mate, there was some guilt in knowing that now and forever more he was Ginny's husband first and Ron's best friend second. He needed to figure out a way to find a balance between them and make sure that Ron still knew how important his friendship was to him. As he opened the bedroom door and caught sight of Ginny standing at the end of their bed in an emerald green nightgown he thought, "Just not tonight," and all further thoughts of Ron were pushed aside.

Author's Note: Hello all you lovely readers! Thanks for all the reviews after the last chapter, you all rock! I hope this update didn't seem to take too long. I would have liked to get this chapter done a bit faster, but I started a new job at work and they have been training me on a million new things…my head is spinning a bit.

Thank you to my wonderful beta Terra Ferme for doing such a quick and marvelous editing job on this chapter! I'm so glad that you got a new computer ~ yay for you!

I should have done this after the last chapter but big, huge thanks to DanteDevilstar for all the conversations about Harry becoming a teacher instead of an Auror. You really inspired me to go for it with that idea. Thank you!

Anyone have any great ideas of what Ron's career should be when school ends? I have no clue. I've been maybe thinking about having him work at WWW with George and Percy…but I don't know.

Let me know how I'm doing or if you have any great ideas for me.

Thanks!

Tink