The house was huge. Well, manor. There was no denying that it was a manor. It was an imperial white, oozing sophistication and wealth. While it had been kept impeccably well, its grounds had not. The grass was overgrown and there would weeds everywhere. Harry was certain he could hear the noise of gnomes as well. The large ornate gates that were closed, disallowing access to the main driveway, were rusting, showing their obvious age and the lack of care they'd received over the years. The stone fence that surrounded the property was in good condition but there were marks every here and there, which Ginny assumed were from charms and curses. Perhaps a duel had taken place here.
"Molly, how long has this house been left unattended?"
"Almost eighteen years, dear. How about I leave you and Ginny alone to look at your house? I'll go home and start dinner, and you two can explore." The older woman looked at the young couple, who agreed and thanked her, watching her turn on the spot and disappear. Harry made to go towards the gate but Ginny tugged on his sleeve.
"Harry, why don't we make sure there isn't anyone here?"
Harry agreed, knowing that they didn't want to meet anyone unexpected. "Homenum revelio!"
There was no indication of anyone there, so they proceeded to the gate. Harry raised his wand to perform the unlocking charm but when he placed his hand on the gate, it swung open.
"It must open for Potters, baby. You're home!" Ginny beamed up at her boyfriend, watching his face contort from a look of confusion to one of pure joy. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the front door. He tentatively grasped the brass doorknob and turned. It opened and he entered the home of his family, for the first time ever. The floor was marble, with the foyer leading to a double staircase. There was a hall cupboard in the wall to the left of the main door, and as they advanced a few steps, they found double doors on both sides. Between the stairs, there was a door leading to an unknown location.
"What floor shall we start on, Gin?"
"How about this one? Then we can work our way up."
"That could be a good idea. Don't want to get ourselves confused, do we?"
Ginny smiled at her boyfriend, grabbed a hold of him, and dragged him to the doors to the left of them. Harry twisted the doorknob and entered the room with Ginny behind him. He hadn't noticed he had held his breath and closed his eyes upon entrance but when he heard Ginny gasp, he resumed inhaling and opened his eyes. And he was amazed. It was an ornate dining room. There was a large oak dining table in the middle of the room, with thirty seats arranged around it. There were candles floating above the table, reminding the couple of Hogwarts. There was a fireplace on the far wall, with a marble mantle surrounding it. There were photo frames decorating the top of it, and as Harry made his way closer, he saw a photo of his parents, one of his father and Sirius, one of two people he assumed were his paternal grandparents, one of his parents, grandparents and Sirius, and the middle of all of them, was his parents, holding him. The smile on his father's face was large and obviously proud, while his mother was alternating between looking at Harry and James, a loving smile on her face. Harry was staring straight at the camera, a baby grin on his face. He felt the tears well up in his eyes but quickly blinked them away. The whole room was coated in a thick layer of dust, a reminder that the room had sat here like this for almost two decades. Wordlessly, he nodded to Ginny, in the direction of the hall and quietly followed him. They left the doors open, to remind them they'd already looked into that room. They walked across to the other door, and Harry pushed the door open. This room almost mirrored the previous room, except that it was a living room. There was a chaise lounge, with matching arm chairs that surrounded the fireplace, which also had photo frames sitting along the top of the mantle. Above the mantle was a photograph of three people, one of which Harry automatically recognised as his father. However, it was like looking into a mirror, except for the eyes. After all, Harry had his mother's eyes, not his father's. The room was not huge in size, made even smaller by the bookshelves lining the walls. Harry got the feeling that Hermione would love it.
"Hermione would love this room, don't you think Harry?"
"Are you actually reading my mind now, Gin?" He chuckled and smiled down at his girlfriend. "How about we keep exploring? We can spend more time in here, well, for the rest of our lives if we really want to!" Harry was excited about the fact that this house was his, and that he was now free to enjoy it. Last year, he never would've come here out of fear. But now? Now he was free to finally live.
"Let's do that. What else do you think will be on this level? A ballroom?"
"Nahh, that'll be the top floor love." The twinkle in his eye displayed to Ginny that Harry was really happy, and wasn't just faking this humour and smile anymore.
The two left the lounge room, leaving the door open to remind themselves they'd already been in there. They ventured down the hall, through the door that was between and under the stairs. It led them to a kitchen and informal eating area. There were stools at the bench, as well as a small six-person table. As Ginny looked around the basic room, well, basic compared to the previous rooms, she got an image in her head of a couple of kids, a mixture of black and red heads, sitting at the table, with a black-haired man sitting at the head of the table, The Daily Prophet in his hands, as he drinks his coffee and watches his wife serve breakfast. That was the moment she realised how much she wanted all of that with Harry. They left the kitchen and dining room, and made their way back to the main hall.
"Upstairs? Might be a bedroom." Ginny winked at her boyfriend and ran up the stairs to the landing, eventually looking behind at her stunned boyfriend, who still wasn't used to her overtly-sexual nature. "Are you coming? I can't look at your house without you, Harry."
Harry shook himself out of his stupor and made his way up the stairs, meeting her on the landing. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the right, heading towards the part of the hall that only had one door. This time, Ginny opened the door and they found themselves in the master bedroom of the house. It was huge, at least almost half of this floor. It had another four doors, as well as French doors leading to what looked like a balcony. There was a bed against the wall, with the foot of the bed towards the French doors. There were nightstands on either side of the bed, with a matching dresser to the side of the room. Harry walked towards one of the doors, opening it to find a walk-in-robe, still full of robes and clothes. They were obviously high class, though still very 70s. While Harry had been inspecting this door, Ginny had found the door leading to the en suite, complete with shower, bath, toilet and a bench with two basins. She exited the small room and found herself face-to-face with Harry.
"You scared me! Did you look in the other doors yet?"
"No, I decided to wait for you to do that. Shall we?" Harry extended his arm and took Ginny's hand, guiding her to the two doors. The way they were designed, the handles were right next to each other. They let go of each other and placed that hand on the door knob. "On three?" Harry counted to three and they both twisted the handles. When they stepped inside they each found an office.
Ginny had stepped into what appeared to be the study of a woman, with a mahogany desk in front of a window, with a large leather chair behind it and two chairs in front of it. There was also a small couch with a coffee table in front of it. The walls were lined with more bookshelves. There was a painting on the wall opposite the desk and window, depicting a Parisian street, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. On the right-side wall, there was a separation in the bookshelves, where room had been made for a door. Ginny moved towards it but before she could open it, Harry walked through it.
"Seems my grandparents wanted to be able to access each other at all times."
"I find it sweet. They'd work almost alongside each other and yet could still pester each other whenever they felt like it." Ginny giggled, while looking at her boyfriend. "How about we look for more rooms? We can always have a more in-depth look at a later date." Harry agreed and lead the way out of his grandmother's study, through the master bedroom and out into the hallway. He led Ginny down to the other end, where they found two doors, opposite each other.
Harry turned the handle for the door on the right and upon entering was bombarded with images of his mother. His father also featured in some of the photos, as did Sirius and Remus. There were a couple of Pettigrew as well. It was obvious how in love James was, as his former room was almost a shrine to Lily. His bed sheets even matched the green of Lily (and Harry's) eyes. The large room featured a built-in robe, a king-size bed and a writing desk, as well as Quidditch supplies all over the floor. The room also happened to have a lot of boxes stacked up, like they were being moved into another place. There was a door on the left wall that Harry was half expecting to lead into the bedroom opposite but instead found a bathroom, complete with shower, bath, bench and toilet.
There was another door on the opposite room that led them into a room that was nothing but Gryffindor pride. There were tapestries featuring the colours and logo of the Hogwarts house adorning the walls, accompanied by Muggle posters of motorcycles and bikini-clad women. There were also photos of James, Sirius, Lily, Remus and Pettigrew. Sirius' room at Potter Manor was almost identical to his one at Grimmauld Place – completely defying his Slytherin and Pureblood history, embracing an open mind and being who he really was. Much like James' room, there was a king-size bed, a writing desk and built in robe. However, in place of the Quidditch paraphernalia, there were motorcycle parts, obviously to go towards the bike Sirius eventually gave to Hagrid.
The young couple exited Sirius' room, with Harry realising he had just seen a huge insight to his father and godfather's lives as teenagers. Silently, he grabbed Ginny in an embrace, and just held her there, leaning his head on the top of hers. He wasn't sure how they long stayed like that, but she didn't move until he lifted his head and motioned for her to follow.
They ventured to the next and final floor, which to Ginny's happiness at being right and Harry's annoyance at being wrong, they found an extravagant ballroom, complete with raised stage, where a band could stand to perform.
"I guess we might have to host a party or two in the future, love."
"Yes, Harry, we might. Now, it is getting dark. How about we head home, eat some of mum's food, and tomorrow we can come back, bring some of my siblings, and we can get cracking on restoring Potter Manor to its former glory?"
Before Harry could respond, his stomach grumbled, and with a laugh, the two teenagers grabbed a hold of each other and apparated back to the Burrow.