Chapter 3 – Prisoner in my own house

Another issue Harry had to deal with had been reporters. As soon as Ginny's belly had started to show, all the magical community had gone insane with curiosity. A baby so soon after Lily's accident had created an unmanageable situation.

They were not safe anywhere. Not even in the muggle world. One day while in Oxford street doing some shopping for Ginny, who greatly needed some clothes more suitable for her rounder shape, they had been stopped by a wizard and a witch clothed clumsily in muggles attire carrying a camera and a block-note.

The little witch, with a mousy face and a nasal voice had started to squeal question after question, despite Harry's monosyllabic answers and refusal to halt his walk. Although in front of the one:

'Don't you think it shows some unfeelingness to conceive a baby so soon after your loss?'

Are we serious?! Did she really asked what I thought I heard?

Harry lurched astounded, anger and homicidal thoughts building up very fast and Ginny, always quick to sense Harry's fits, squeezed his arm gently to calm him down.

'Don't you think it shows some unfeelingness to ask such a question to somebody who had just suffered a loss?' she replied wittily with a rather fixed smile.

However, the witch, absolutely undaunted and unbelievably impenitent, was only delighted to have caught their attention and the chances to get rid of her seemed, if anything, slimming but on the other side he wasn't prepared to what happened next. A group of muggles seeing the camera and hearing that an interview was going on had stopped beside them listening with curiosity. And as always happens in these situations, when two people stop, two others will follow the example and so on… So that in a brief space of time they were cornered, surrounded by muggles that didn't have anything better to do that Saturday afternoon but staring fixedly and listening attentively to the interview under a bemused Harry and an amused Ginny.

It didn't help that a fancy woman in high heels, after some deep thinking, pointed at Harry exclaiming with the tone of conviction 'I know you! You were in that film…'

Harry turned to her amazed, but he didn't even have time to utter his bewilderment that a different one coarsely pushed her aside to get to him, shoving under his nose a notebook and a pen bellowing for an autograph. The fancy one enraged grasped her t-shirt and pulled her back coming forward with one of those portable phones to get a picture with him. A scrape was happening under his very eyes and the people surrounding them witnessing the scene started to be likewise in the same frenzy convinced now that he was somebody, nobody really sure who, but surely somebody. People were closing on them, pressing from all directions with requests, much for Harry astonishment who was still trying to figure out what was going on. In the meanwhile, the witch and the wizard weren't relinquishing their interrogatory trying to catch his attention again.

The situation was starting to be surreal, and it was clear they had to call it a day. At least for Ginny, who with presence of mind waved for a cab, and as soon as it stopped in front of them dragged Harry inside freeing him from the tenacious clutches of the fancy woman who had managed swiftly to thrust her number in Harry's pocket. When inside the silence of the cab, with a driver that kept throwing glances at them trying to figure out which celebrities he was conveying, Ginny suppressing a smile fished from Harry's pocket the piece of paper and started to shred it into pieces. It took Harry some time to make out the meaning of it all. When he did, he looked darkly at Ginny who burst out in a laugh looking outside the cab window.

'What are you laughing at?' he said frowning 'I'm warning you, if I cannot be left alone even in the muggle world, we are gonna move to the North Pole' he threatened. But then he felt something in his back pocket and as he dipped out another piece of paper with another number a mischievous smile spread on his face 'Maybe I'll keep this' he said teasingly waving it under Ginny's nose who tried to snatch it but too slow for Harry who kept it out of her reach. He gave it to her only after extorting a kiss and the whole day ended, though without new clothes, in merriment, with a very short life however, as the realisation sank in that not even the muggle world could offer him anonymity anymore.

He was again on every single newspaper and magazine and at the Ministry he had started to receive an overwhelming quantity of letters that remained unopened in a corner of his office.

He was having a hard time dodging reporters, prying people and groupies and was increasingly spending all his time at home. The only place where he felt safe.

He was getting out only for work, he had even stopped going running after a while. Not even there was safe any longer.

Only a few months previously Ginny had insisted to join him. At first Harry was sceptical, worried that running could harm the baby, but Ginny and Ted had assured him that there wasn't any danger of it, that everything was under control and so they had started to go together almost every day.

On one of the first occasions, she had noticed the groupies. Since the news of the baby, they had become fiercer than ever, following him like a shadow almost anywhere. They had found out about his running routine, Harry didn't have any idea how, and all dressed up in fitting jogging attire they would run behind him at a distance. It was like having a very noisy tail.

'Who are those girls?' Ginny asked him suspiciously when they stopped running and Harry was doing his workout.

He raised his eyes toward them. They were sitting on a bench a few feet away staring and tittering like usual. He was so used to their presence that sometimes he forgot about them.

'It's a bunch of girls following me everywhere'

'What? Everywhere? Why? What do they do?' she asked bewildered eyeing them skittishly.

'They stare mostly…'

'I don't like it' she took such a contrary expression that made Harry smile.

'Me neither but if they enjoy looking while I'm sweating like a pig, they can be my guests'

She eyed him critically while he was doing his push ups and then moved her gaze to them who were giggling louder than ever.

'That may be the best attraction actually…'

He laughed and taking a breath 'Don't worry Ginny, they mostly just follow. Only sporadically they come close. They just give me letters or bottles of water…'

'What?! And do you drink it?'

He looked at her seriously 'Ginny do you think I am an Auror for nothing? I check first!' he affirmed carrying on with his work out 'and sometimes it's only water'

'Sometimes? What about the rest?'

'I throw it in the pond' and starting to laugh again 'Perhaps that's why there are always so many ducklings!'

'That's not funny! I don't like this at all! And you are always hiding stuff from me! Why have you never told me anything about it?' she sounded quite upset and Harry sensing a dangerous fit of insecurities stood up and taking her hand sat with her on a bench.

'Why should I tell you this kind of things? Just to make you worry over nothing?! I can if you want, but I don't think it would help your peace of mind'

It was true, he was actually tending not to share this kind of things, he didn't like to keep secrets, but he thought it could be mind-wrecking for her to be aware of how frequently it happened to be a "victim" of flirting. Surely it was much better to leave her in the dark unless it couldn't be helped like in this occasion.

She answered cautiously eyeing again the group 'I don't know, Harry…'

'What don't you know?' he asked caressing her hand.

'You could have all of that. They are young, they are pretty… Why just me?'

'Why just you? Let's see…' he said playfully pretending to think 'They are pretty, but you are beautiful, they are young, but they are just girls, you are a woman'

'I'm starting to be huge…' she said looking at her belly 'and you could have a different girl every day if you'd just wanted to…' she said fretting.

'Ginny, listen to me' he said taking her chin gently and turning her face toward him 'First of all: I don't want to. Second: I love you more than I love sex. Third: You are not huge; you are stunning, and you turn me on like crazy…' a coy smile appeared on her face 'and anyway why should I jeopardize my family just for some sex. After that what I would have left? They don't care about me. You do.'

'You are sweet.'

'I'm honest' he said eager.

'Why don't we show them which kind of woman attracts me?' he added naughtily.

She half smiled and didn't answer.

'I'll take it as a yes' he then took her face in his hands and kissed her. A kiss that reminded him when they were teenagers, those few months before he had been forced to break up with her, and they would snog in the Hogwarts ground.

A loud commotion made of booming laughter, cheers mingled with boos and clapping exploded from the bench where the groupies were sitting. Ginny drew away immediately and chuckled, slapping him playfully. Harry sniggered and put an arm around her shoulder keeping her close to him.

He was aware how difficult it could be to deal with this aspect of his popularity. It wasn't easy not to feel threatened knowing that he was always surrounded by admirers. He was very jealous and wouldn't have coped well if the situation had been reversed.

He tried his best to make her feel secure and at ease, especially now that, being in a somewhat delicate state of mind due to pregnancy, insecurities had started to grow at an alarming rate.

And unfortunately, this wasn't the only issue that she had to confront.

Ginny, as much as him, was recognised and courted. She couldn't join the magical community as she would have liked to because of him, she couldn't chat freely about her relationship or their life together if not to very close friends (there was always the risk of her words being reported on a newspaper), she had to be reserved and careful with new acquaintances.

She had a lot to bear for Harry's sake. He was aware of it and felt extremely guilty. She, however, coped with it much better than him. She never lost her composure and didn't seem to mind all that was bothering Harry. That was of help in a way, she prevented many times rash acts from Harry's part against nosy reporters.

'Let's get back' Harry said, yearning to be at home.

And taking her hand and keeping it firmly in his own they made their way back leaving the noisy whipper snappers behind.

A month from that day, to avoid harassment, slowly, he had stopped going out altogether, if not by floopowder or desapparition to Ginny's brothers or Ted.

And before he was aware, as the season progressed from winter to spring and then summer, he found himself more and more prisoner in his own house.