Chapter three

For the rest of that day, Harry stayed close to Ginny. They only time they were apart was when one of them were in the bathroom, otherwise, they were sitting together outside in the sun. When it was getting late, Harry sat beside Ginny and kept hold of her hand until she fell asleep, then went back to the Hogs Head. He never went straight to bed, but ended up sitting in the quiet pub and again had a couple of drinks. He thought it might help him sleep, not to just help him, but because he couldn't stop thinking about Ginny.

The following day, Harry went to the Burrow early again, sat with Ginny until she woke up. Then everyone went to the small cemetery for Fred's funeral. Even though some of Fred and George's friends told amusing stories of Fred, no one really felt like laughing. But they knew that's what Fred would want, so with every funny story, they would laugh. George got up to speak, but ended up being held up by Percy while he talked about his brother. When the service was finished, everyone headed back to the Burrow. Again Harry never left Ginny's side and most of the time she sat on Harry's lap. She wasn't eating a lot so he kept urging her to eat more, sometimes even feeding her, making Ginny laugh, even if I was a small laugh.

Over the next week, nothing much changed. Harry arrived early and always sat on Ginny's bed holding her hand until she woke up.

One day, they did get a visit from the newly appointed Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

'Morning everyone,' Kingsley said as he stepped inside the Burrow with an auror behind him. 'Harry, Narcissa Malfoy told us about lying to Voldemort, if you can confirm that then I get her finished.'

'She did, I know she only did that for her son, which I do understand. But after Riddle hit me with the killing curse, we both got knocked out. When we came to, he seemed afraid to come near me, so he had her check. She knew I was alive, but told him I was dead after I told her Draco was alive in the castle. So what will happen to her?'

'The Obliviators have come up with a spell to remove magic, hers will be for fifteen years now you told me about that. The proper death eaters will lose their magic for good but also be locked up. She was never a proper death eater, neither was Draco. They were both forced and made to do the things they did. Draco also loses his magic for a time, not sure how long for him though, he's trial's tomorrow.'

'Do you know how many are still out there?' Arthur asked.

'Yeah, three that we know of, his main death eaters. One is Rodolphus Lestrange, but since we've seized the Lestranges vault, he won't be able to get any money, so hopefully he'll get reckless and spotted. Rankhorn was another and Goyle is the last. The others are either dead or locked up. Harry, you need to be extra careful, they might decide to go after you since you did kill Voldemort.'

'Yeah, they probably will,' Harry shrugged.

'You don't seem all that concerned.' Kingsley said.

'That's just my life Kingsley, sorry Minister. I'm used to them always coming after me.'

'It's still Kingsley Harry. Ok fine, I get what you mean, but he's dead, I think you can finally start having a normal life now.'

'If they don't try to capture or kill me, then after a while, I might believe that.'

'Alright, so it might take you awhile to believe it's pretty safe. But I wanted to show you something,' Kingsley got up and handed Harry a book, opened at a page, 'I can't believe you did that.'

Harry read the page of the rise and fall of the dark arts, 'So you know, well everyone's going to know,' Harry closed the book, but never looked up.

'You have nothing to be ashamed about Harry, it just shows how good and brave you are. You were willing to die to stop him and you actually did die for a time. Did you know you'd survive when you faced him?'

Harry shook his head, 'No, I'm just lucky he never figured it out. The killing curse is one way to destroy a living horcrux. You know, he was pretty stupid actually. He knew I could see into his mind, he saw into mine, he should have picked that up. Well me, I don't know a lot about dark magic, so it never occurred to me. But he knew all about horcruxes,' Harry lifted his head, 'Do you know much about horcruxes Kingsley?'

'Aurors study all types of dark magic, so yes, I know about them.'

'Do you know what would happen to a living horcrux, to me, if he never died?'

'You would never die either, if that's what you're asking?'

Harry nodded, 'Yeah, it was.'

'You mentioned something about that Harry, but never told us what you meant.'

'At the time I never realised Hermione, I was just curious,' Harry turned back to Kingsley, 'Being an auror and Minister, can you tell me if I'll get in trouble for using an unforgivable during the fighting.'

'That was war Harry, so no, unless you deliberately killed someone. That also comes down to the reason someone would kill and not do something else.'

'No, I would never use that curse, but I used the cruciatus curse on Amycus Carrow. He spat at McGonagall and I just lost it. Kept him under it for a long time to, but I'm not sorry for doing that,' Harry felt Ginny tighten her arms around him, then felt her shudder and sniff as she put her head onto Harry's chest, 'Shhh Gin.'

'We found out about what he and some of the other male death eaters did to the girls. They were going to get life, but the newly formed Wizengamot decided to have the dementors kiss performed on them.'

'How can you use those again Kingsley, they deserted the ministry and helped Voldemort?' Arthur said.

'The Unspeakables were able to work out a charm that would only allow them to take orders from the Minister and Wizengamot, not anyone else or an individual. Even I just can't tell them what to do, it has to be me and the Wizengamot.'

'I don't have a problem with them having that done to them,' Harry said as he stared at Ginny.

'Harry,' Hermione said surprised.

'What Hermione, after what they did to Ginny, to me their getting off easy. If I got hold of them I'd put them through so much pain they'd be begging for death. All the times I got tortured by Riddle, I learned a thing or two about pain,' Harry turned back to Ginny, 'I'd do anything for you.'

'I know, so there is one thing you can do, so we can forget about all this,' Ginny gave him a small smile.

'I knew this was coming, alright love, you have to move though.'

Ginny and Harry walked into the living room and sat at the piano so Harry could sing to Ginny again. Everyone else all stood at the door watching Harry and Ginny together and knew eventually they would both be alright as long as they had each other. All you had to do was look at the pair and you could see the love they had for each other, it was all over their faces.

Late that night, Harry waited until Ginny fell asleep, then headed for the Hogs Head. He sat and had a couple of drinks before heading up to bed. The next couple of days were exactly the same, Harry stayed with Ginny at the Burrow until she was asleep. No one else seemed to want to go anywhere either, so Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, George, Percy, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry were always somewhere around the house or grounds.

Harry kissed Ginny as she got into bed, then held her hand until she fell asleep, then headed back to the pub. He knew having a couple of drinks every night was becoming a habit, but it did help Harry sleep better.

During the night, he felt something and quickly grabbed his wand, lighting the end. He saw Ginny lying next to him, but he also noticed she wasn't wearing anything.

'Um, Ginny, what are you doing?'

'I need you to help me forget, so I want you to make love to me Harry.'

'Gin, you really should take some time, it'll get better.'

'It won't, I know it won't, so please, I want to feel you, not them,' Ginny rolled until she was lying on top of Harry, then started to kiss him. Neither of them spoke again as their lips and bodies stayed as close as possible. When they finished, Ginny kept her head on Harry's shoulder, 'I feel better already, but I should get home before someone notices I'm missing,' Ginny looked up at Harry, kissed him, dressed then left the room.

Harry stared at the door. First he was still a little shocked at what he and Ginny had just done, then he just hoped Ginny was going to be alright and not regret this later on. That thought kept going through his mind until he fell asleep.

The following morning, early again, Harry apparated to the Burrow. He only sat on Ginny's bed for a few minutes before she woke up, giving Harry a big smile.

'I like waking up and you're the first thing I see.'

Harry grinned, 'I like watching you sleep. But Gin, about last night. I don't want you to regret it.'

'Regret what Harry, what do you mean?'

'Ginny, about us,' Harry looked around then lowered his voice, 'making love last night.'

'Um, Harry, we never did that, you must have been dreaming. I was told by the healer I need a lot of time to heal properly or it will always be painful.'

Harry stared at Ginny for a minute, then though he should leave it thinking Ginny might not remember. So he nodded then kissed her, gave her reassuring smile then waited in the hall until she was dressed and they headed down to the kitchen. After a good breakfast and a couple of hours just sitting together. Harry told Ginny he needed to speak with her father about something, but he wouldn't be gone long. Harry walked down to the shed where Mr. Weasley spent a lot of his time now. He saw him tinkering with his muggle things again.

'Mr. Weasley, I need to talk to you about something important,' Harry closed the door behind him.

'Is Ginny alright?' Arthur asked looking anxious.

'I'm not sure, but this is something I never thought I'd have to say to you but it's to important not to,' Harry took a deep breathe, 'Last night I woke up and Ginny was in my bed at the Hogs Head. She kept saying she needed me to help her forget. So we did and I know we shouldn't have, but I just couldn't say no to her. But when I spoke to Ginny this morning, she said I must have dreamt it. But I found a few of her hairs on my pillow, so I know it wasn't a dream. Do you think she was sleepwalking or she just doesn't remember?'

'Alright, first, I know you and Ginny are serious, but you should have said no. Another thing, I couldn't be Ginny Harry, she can't. The damage done to her would make it impossible yet. I'd say someone found out where you were and decided to have some fun with the saviour, using polyjuice potion. But if they knew how to get you to cooperate, then it was someone that knew what happened to Ginny. We might have to mention this to Kingsley, but let's not mention it to anyone else until we can work out what's going on. Do you still have the hair?'

'You really think some girl got Ginny's hair or something just to get me to have sex with them?' Harry asked looking surprised.

'Yes, I do. One, you are Harry Potter, two, you killed Voldemort, people will do some strange and desperate things when it comes to famous people and you are the most famous wizard out there. So let's just work out what they might have wanted. I'll contact Kingsley, he can perform a test on the hair to see if polyjuice potion was used. So why don't you quickly go back to the Hogs Head, get the hair and bring it to me.'

'I hope you're wrong, but I'll go get it, won't be long,' Harry walked outside and apparated away. He hurried into the pub and up the stairs to his room. He found the hairs, conjured a small plastic bag, put the hair into it then ran back down stairs, 'Ab, did you see Ginny come here last night?'

'Yes, she said she needed to talk to you. Is something wrong?'

'We think so, it wasn't Ginny. I need to take the hair to Mr. Weasley, he's going to give it to Kingsley. I'll let you know what's going on,' Harry hurried out of the pub wondering who he had sex with as he apparated away.