Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but here's the next one. Enjoy!
Chapter 22
Auror training. It would start at the beginning of March. Quidditch training. That would start at the beginning of April. And Ginny was scared about both. January passed by quickly, and it was February twelfth. Harry had been making plans for Valentine's Day, and was keeping it a secret from Ginny. She had been out, reconnecting with friends, which gave him time to set the day up. When she woke up on the fourteenth, she went downstairs to find Harry, a delicious breakfast, and a dozen roses.
"Harry, the flowers a beautiful. Thank you." He smiled and kissed her. They spent the day together, and she had thought that they were spending the day by themselves, so she had fallen asleep with her head on Harry's chest. She woke up, and there was a box on the bed next to her. She opened it up, and a black dress was inside, with a note.
'I planned a dinner for two in London.'
That was all that was on the paper, so she got up and got ready. The dress was beautiful, but she couldn't find any earrings. She gave up looking, and put on a diamond necklace, and went downstairs. Harry was standing there in a suit and tie, holding a small box. She smiled and walked over to him, and he handed it to her.
"I hope you like them." It was a pair of diamond earrings. She smiled and put them on, and he took her hand, leading her outside.
"We aren't using magic?" He shook his head, and pulled the car keys out of his pocket.
"We aren't that far from London, so I thought we could talk a drive." She smiled, and got into the passenger side. He turned the car on and grinned.
"Do you want the hood down?" She grinned and nodded, and soon they were on the road, the wind blowing past them. They arrived at the restaurant an hour later, and the valet parked the car. It was very fancy, and they were seated to their table right away.
"Harry, this place is so, perfect." He shrugged.
"I thought you would like it." She smiled and looked around.
"It's so fancy though. I would have been fine just staying at home." He smiled.
"I wanted to give you the best." Their drinks came, and they ordered, Ginny feeling a bit out of place. They finished dinner, and left soon after, getting the car from the valet.
"Can we drive around for a bit?" He nodded. She closed her eyes, feeling the wind rush past her. A few minutes later, she put her hand on his arm.
"There. Let's take a walk in the park." He smiled, and parked near the curb. She grabbed his hand, and they walked through the park. There was fresh snow on the ground, and it was lightly dusted onto the trees. There was lights on around the park, but the stars were shining brightly.
"It's snowing again." He said, and she grinned upwards. She let go of his hand, and walked towards a frozen fountain. She sat down on the edge, and Harry smiled at her.
"This has been an amazing day." He sat next to her and gave her a kiss. She smiled at him, and she put her hand on his back. Within a few seconds, he felt the snow slide down his back, and he jumped up.
"Agh, that's cold!" He managed to get the snow out of his shirt, all while Ginny sat laughing.
"Snow is wonderful." She got up and went towards him, and lent down and grab some snow.
"Don't you dare Harry." He threw the snowball, and she laughed. He walked towards her, and gave her a kiss, and she crushed snow on top of his head. They grinned at each other, and kissed once more.
"Look at them Frank. Enjoying their Valentine's Day having fun together. Why don't we have fun anymore?" Harry looked over at the old couple sitting on a bench near the fountain.
"Diane, we're eighty years old. We can't handle having fun like them anymore." Ginny grinned up at him.
"You know, we can have a lot of fun later, when we get home." She whispered, and he smiled.
"I bet we can, I just hope you aren't too cold." She looked at him with a confused look, and quickly screaming when he put the snow down her back. Ginny got the snow off her back, and looked at him before laughing. They walked hand in hand, past the old couple, back to the car, and drove home. They spent the rest of Valentine's Day in bed, having the fun she said they would have.
The rest of February went by quickly, and Ginny found herself getting more and more anxious. March first was the day he would start training. And while she knew he would be safe for now, she couldn't help but worry what would happen after training. He would be out on the field, and that scared her.
"Hey." Harry walked in, where he had been she did not know. He saw her face, and frowned.
"Are you okay?" She sighed, and shook her head. He sat next to her and held her, and she started to cry into his shoulder.
"You're starting training tomorrow. And that worries me." He sighed, and they sat in silence. He leaned away from her.
"It's training. I'm going to be safe. Nothing is going to happen to me." Tears ran down her face.
"It's not training that worries me. It's after." He sighed again.
"I can handle myself. And if they don't think I can, they'll teach me how to keep myself safe. I promise you, nothing will happen." She looked at him.
How can he be so calm? He isn't worried about what might happen?
She leaned against him. She heard his heart beating and closed her eyes.
I never want to hear this sound stop.
Harry walked into the Ministry, and was swarmed with reporters. He kept walking, the crowd of people following along with him, begging him to talk. He kept his mouth shut, and ignored the bright flashes of light in his face. He reached Auror headquarters, and the group scattered away.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. So nice to meet you. My name is Jacob Hyland. I'll be training you for the next few months." Harry shook his hand, and Jacob took him on a tour of headquarters. After the tour, he brought him to the training room.
"For the first few days, I'll be assessing your skills. Then after we're done with that, we'll get onto the real training." Harry was the only new trainee, so all of Jacob's attention was focused on training him.
"Alright, we're going to test your magical strength. Come at me with the first spell that comes into your mind." Harry nodded, and pointed his wand at him.
"Three. Two. One." His wand flew out of his hand, and Harry caught it. His body was jolted back a few feet. He looked up at Harry.
"What spell was that?" He was asked, taking his wand back.
"Expelliarmus." Jacob looked at him in awe.
"I've never been hit with that spell and have it push me back." Harry grinned.
"Can you do other spells with that amount of power?" Harry nodded. Jacob looked at his wand.
"That's incredible. Now, I've been informed that you can do something else?" Harry looked confused, so he enlightened him.
"That you can do magic without your wand. That's what happened the night you were attacked." Harry nodded again. Jacob grinned.
"Show me then. Do the same spell, just without your wand." Harry set his wand on the ground, away from the two of them, and looked at him.
"Three. Two. One." His wand went flying from him, back into Harry's hand. He was excited. He walked over to him, grinning.
"That's incredible. What else can you do?" Harry smiled.
"Everything. Well, I haven't tried the Unforgivable Curses, but I can do everything else, and also apparate." Jacob was still grinning.
"I want you to try them." Harry frowned.
"I don't think I'd be able to." It was Jacob's turn to frown.
"Why not?" Harry sighed.
"I would only be able to use the Imperius curse, the other two I can't. I can't bring myself to inflict pain on another human being if there is no purpose to." Jacob nodded.
"I see. Well, let's hope there isn't a day where you have to use either of those curses." Harry thought back, remembering the times he had used two of the three curses.
"Even if you won't, or can't, use those three curses, not needing to use your wand will be a great plus on some missions." Jacob continued putting him through tests, assessing his physical and magical strengths. He was still in awe about Harry not needing his wand, but kept that to himself. He sent him home after quite a few tests, wanting him to come back the next morning.
"I'll be testing your mentality tomorrow. Try not to go insane overnight." Harry grinned, and left. He was mobbed yet again by reporters. And yet again, he walked through them, saying not one word.
"Hello Harry." Hermione and Ginny were sitting in the kitchen, a stack of papers next to Hermione. He smiled at them, grabbing a drink before sitting down with them.
"Oh, these are for you to look over. We have fourteen investment offers, and it's up to you to choose which ones we invest with." She pushed the stack of papers over to him, and he looked at her.
"Fourteen?" She nodded, and he began looking through them.
"So, how was your day?" He smiled.
"Not bad. I was tested on my magical and physical strengths. That's it really." Hermione looked at Ginny.
"I told you he wouldn't be in any danger." He grinned.
"Still worried?" She gave him a look. He laughed before looking back down at the papers.
"So what did you two do today?" Ginny sighed.
"Worried. That's really it." Hermione shook her head.
"I went to Gringotts to get these papers, then came here to find Ginny worrying." He nodded. They chatted back and forth while Harry was reading over the investments, and Ginny started cooking dinner.
"That's all of them, right?" Hermione nodded.
"So, some of them are muggle companies? I mean, some of the offers seemed like that." She nodded again.
"Well, I feel these would be good investments." He picked up four files, and handed them to Hermione. She nodded, looking them over briefly.
"Okay. I'll drop these off a Gringotts." She picked up the rest of the files, and put her coat on.
"You aren't staying to eat?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"I have Ron to cook for. He can't make a meal to save his life." She said goodbye and left, leaving the couple alone.
"Which investments did you pick?" He sighed.
"Hopefully good ones."
Harry began to get used to the training, noticing how much stronger he was getting each week. Soon it was almost April, and Ginny was getting ready for her first day of training. The Blaze 100 was still the fastest broom on the market, and the whole Harpies team had them, unlike some of the other teams. While his sister was going to play for a rival team, Ron refused to start rooting for them, and was staying loyal to the Cannons. The rest of their family were against him, becoming lifelong fans. While she was preparing herself for the rough training ahead of her, she noticed that Harry was coming home completely exhausted most days.
"Long day of training?" He had just walked in, rubbing his arm. She had looked up from her cooking, and he waved it off.
"Just pulled a muscle in my arm, not a big deal." She rolled her eyes. Not a big deal, but she was still worrying about him every day. He was pretty excited, learning new spells and getting stronger magically and physically. The only thing Ginny liked about auror training was that Harry's body was starting to tone out, so she considered that the only upside. He sat down at the table, giving her a smile.
"Ready for your first day of training tomorrow?" She shrugged.
"I guess." She sounded distant, and he knew something was nagging her. He stood up, and wrapped his arms around her. She sighed, happy and scared.
"What?" She turned to face towards him.
"I'm going to be at quidditch practice and games, I won't know if you're okay." He smiled.
"Well, if you keep worrying over what I'm doing, you won't be able to have any fun." She wrapped her arms around him.
"But I want to know that you're gonna come home every day, so we can have fun together." She leaned her head against his chest.
"I'll figure something out, don't worry. And as I've said, it's just training. I'm not going on any adventures yet." She grinned. Adventures. He always looked to the good side.
"Well, when you start going on your adventures, I'm going to be a lot more worried." They ate dinner without any more talk of being scared, and Harry looked at his watch. He looked up and smiled, a sly look on his face.
"Well Mrs. Potter, that was delicious." She grinned, waving her wand and easily putting the dishes in the sink. She could worry about that later.
"If I do say so myself, it was. So what would you like to do now?" She tossed her hair in front of her face, and leaned her head on her hands, a childish playfulness in her eyes.
"Well, I could escort you to bed."
"And maybe you can stay the night?" He smiled harder, and he carried her up the stairs to their room.
Ginny woke up early, her stomach in knots. She always got nervous. She may have made herself come off as tough when growing up, but behind that she was always scared. She glanced over at Harry, running her eyes over his sleeping face. He turned over, and she sighed. She didn't really want to get up and leave the bed, but she did. She spent an hour walking around the house and getting ready, waiting for Harry to get up all the while. He came down when she was cooking breakfast, and she gave him a small smile.
"Good morning." He gave her a kiss and poured himself some coffee. She resumed her cooking, and he leaned against the counter.
"Ready for your first day?" She looked at him.
"It's just training, nothing for me to worry about." He frowned.
"I can tell it is worrying you though." She shook her head nervously.
"It isn't. Trust me." He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into his hug.
"It's okay if you're nervous. Everyone is." She sighed, and let him hold her for a few more seconds. She shook her head again, and resumed cooking.
"I'm not nervous about something so small. It's just training. It's not like it's an actual game or anything. And even then I won't be nervous." Harry laughed quietly.
"Okay, but I'm holding you to that now." She shot him a look. They enjoyed breakfast together, but since he started at ten, she left before him. He gave her a hug before she left, and kissed the top of her head.
"Don't be nervous!" He called as she left, and she rolled her eyes. She arrived on the pitch a few minutes later, before the rest of the team. The only one who was there was the captain, Gwenog Jones. She greeted Ginny with a hug.
"Um, you must be Gwenog. I'm Ginny-" She cut her off.
"No need for formal introductions, we both know each other anyways. I'm happy to introduce you to the rest of the team though. When they arrive that is." Ginny grinned. They made small talk, the rest of the team slowly trickling in. Ginny recognized few of them, most of them being new to the team. Angelina grinned and ran over to Ginny when she saw her.
"You're on the team also?" Ginny nodded.
"The surprise is mutual. I had no idea you were going to be here." Angelina grinned.
"I was signed at the end of the summer."
"Same. I guess it's good because we'll get to hang out more." She laughed, joining in on the conversation before the rest of the team showed up. Once they were all there, Gwenog lined them up, and called their names out.
"Erin Connelly?" A red head at the far end of the line held up her hand. Gwenog nodded.
"Say here when you're called, got that ladies?" They all nodded.
"Jessica Britcher?"
"Here."
"Valmai Morgan?"
"Here."
"Angelina Johnson? Delly MacDonald? Ginny Potter?" Three unified heres confirmed their names. She nodded again.
"And me, so that makes seven. I want you all to look at each other. Remember each other's faces and names. This is your team, and your family. If you don't like someone in your family, then that's too damn bad." Everyone looked at each other, and exchanged small smiles.
"Now today, instead of starting to practice right away, our team manager wants us to get fitted for our team robes and get our brooms checked. So if you would all follow me to the locker room." Ginny looked around, decided that everyone looked pretty nice, and her worries went away. Into the locker room they went, and they spent the day getting measured and prodded. They all quickly became friends, and soon they were being let home for the day.
"So how's George?" Angelina and Ginny were walking to the end of the field.
"Good. I can tell he's still a bit, you know, depressed, but other than that he really is good. How's Harry?"
"Oh, still the same Harry. His new job is definitely getting him a bit buffer." Angelina grinned.
"I bet you like that, don't you?" Ginny laughed.
"Well yes, but the rest of his job is still a bit iffy for me." She nodded.
"Being an Auror is pretty dangerous. I mean, he could get killed at any time. Plus he might be away a lot." She looked over at Ginny's worried face, and smiled.
"But nothing will happen to Harry. He can handle himself." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Thanks for calming my nerves." She threw her arm around her worrying friend.
"Don't worry about him. He is the Chosen One after all. The one you should be worrying about is your brother. Apparently he got into another fight with his fiancé." Ginny groaned.
"What did he do this time?" She shrugged.
"Something about a guest list." Ginny groaned again.
"They already fought about that. Ron still pissed she's inviting Krum?" She nodded.
"Oh, George invited me to the Burrow this morning. He said your mum is cooking for everyone. I assume you and Harry are coming?" Ginny nodded.
"She must've told him. I'll stop at home, but see you later then."
Harry was walking back from the store, having just grabbed some milk. Ginny caught up with him, wrapping her arm around him. He smiled.
"I'm guessing you had a good day?" She nodded.
"And you weren't nervous?" She rolled her eyes.
"I wasn't nervous to begin with." She said, still denying it. His smile stayed as they walked back to their house together. They smiled at their neighbors, mostly just townsfolk, when they saw their neighbor Que approaching them.
"Hello Harry. Harry's wife." Ginny extended her hand. He shook it.
"Que Carr." She smiled.
"Ginny Potter." He turned back to Harry.
"So I found something interesting about you. I knew I had heard your name somewhere." Harry narrowed his eyes, and motioned for him to continue.
"Your parents were Lily and James Potter, weren't they?" Harry froze, but nodded.
"They died in that house explosion didn't they?" His face showed empathy, but his voice hinted at interest.
"I'm very sorry that happened, but I wanted to tell you, my family lived in the house next door." Harry looked surprised.
"Really? What a coincidence now that we're neighbors, huh?" Que smiled. He stopped at his driveway.
"Well, this is me. I hope I didn't bring up any bad memories." Harry shook his head and smiled.
"It's okay, you didn't. It is interesting to know you lived next to them." He nodded.
"Bye then. Nice meeting you Ginny." He ran inside, and Ginny glanced at Harry.
"He's a bit odd." Harry nodded, and they walked inside.
"So your mum invited us to the Burrow for dinner." Ginny set her bag down.
"I know, Angelina told me." He cocked his head slightly.
"Angelina? Like George's girlfriend Angelina?" Ginny nodded excitedly.
"She's on the team also." Harry smiled.
"So your team is pretty good then?" She smiled and nodded again.
"More like pretty awesome." She ran upstairs to get ready, and Harry waited at the kitchen table. He twitched his wand in his hand, thinking about what Que had said.
Had he met them? I mean, he only seems about ten years older than me. He must have then. I wonder if he could tell me about them. Wait, did he know me? I guess he might have seen me a few times. I wonder what he can tell me about them.
Ginny came down within a few minutes, catching Harry deep in thought.
"Harry, ready to go?" He looked up at her and nodded.
"Something on your mind?" He shook his head, and they apparated together. Almost everyone was already there, and Mrs. Weasley seemed content. When everyone had sat down to eat however, she could see things that were different. Fleur was around eight months into her pregnancy, so almost everyone was fussing over her. Ron and Hermione seemed to be acting cold to each other, obviously another fight. Harry seemed to be thinking about something, keeping quiet and looking down at his plate. Ginny kept glancing over at him, but kept up the conversation with George about her and Angelina's first day. Percy was still in work mode, and like Harry was keeping quiet as he thought.
"Harry, can you pass the potatoes?" He jumped, but nodded. He handed them to Hermione, and she frowned.
"What's wrong?" Everyone had gone quiet, and turned to him. He smiled and shook his head.
"Nothing's wrong. Just got a little lost in thought, that's all." Everyone went back to their conversations, but she continued her frowning.
"You look like there's something wrong." She said it a bit quieter, so only Ron and him had heard her this time, but he shook his head again.
"'Mione, he's fine, leave him alone." She gave him a look.
"Harry, please tell me if there's something wrong." He shook his head.
"It's just my thoughts that are worrying me. Nothing is going to happen." Ron looked at him.
"See, nothing. Just leave him." Hermione shot him another look.
"Hey Ron, I heard you were being a git again." Ron looked at his brother.
"Where'd you here that?" George grinned.
"Your fiancé." Ron narrowed his eyes.
"I deny everything." George grinned even harder.
"So Hermione, I really hope to get back in touch with Krum. He was quite talented. And funny. And tall and-" Ron gave him a look and everyone laughed.
"What? I'm just stating some things about him." Angelina rolled her eyes.
"Don't listen to him. He's as much as a git as you are." Ron huffed.
"I'm not sure if that was directed towards him or me." Dinner from then on was a bit more lighthearted, Harry still being the only one to not talk, as Percy had finally pulled himself away from work.
"So Harry, how are you enjoying working at the Ministry?" He asked, and Harry responded with a slight smile.
"I still find it weird that I work for the place that was so against me a few years ago." Percy laughed. Others had tuned in on their conversation, but continued their own.
"How has your job been?" Percy made a face.
"To be quite honest, it's starting to get boring. I make schedules and yell at the minister to keep to them." Harry grinned.
"At least you get to yell at the minister." They both chuckled.
"How's Penelope?"
"She's good. She got a promotion at work the other day, so she's happy about that." Mrs. Weasley listened to their conversation from down the table. Percy had still been distant from the family, even if it was two years after the war ended. Harry had finally gotten him to start talking with everyone, as the rest of the people on that end had jumped in to the conversation. He seemed pretty happy with everyone, even if he was boring them about work.