A/N: I am really excited for the chapter after this one (because the brothers will finally arrive!) so I hope I will make good progress and be able to update it soon. No promises though.

As usual, thank you megonagall410! for the great beta. Especially pointing out things that are very clear in my head but aren't to anyone who doesn't live in my brain.

She was almost at the door when she turned back around, looking at Harry as undid his vest absent-mindedly. His eyes fell on her again and he smiled.

"Weren't you going to bed?" he asked.

She nodded with a soft smile. "I was," she said. "I was just admiring ... the view."

His cheeks turned red and he walked up to her. "Very charming," he commented.

His arms curled around her and he pulled her against him. She craned her neck, knowing he was going to kiss her. They were becoming quite attuned to each other. Every kiss felt like a stolen kiss, hidden from the rest of the world.

Her arms came around him and she pulled too but they ended up getting slightly off-balance. She tumbled backwards against her door and he braced the both of them against it. She chuckled against his shoulder before she met his eyes.

He softly pushed a strand of her hair out of her face and then he leaned in and kissed her. He kissed her intensely, making her mind go numb. His hand held onto her waist to pull her closer, determined to eliminate the space between them. A moan almost left her throat, but she resisted, kissing him breathlessly. As she moved against him, she could feel him grow hard against her hipbone. It wasn't the first time that happened, but they were in his room, and it was night and she ached for him too and so she spoke, carefully meeting his eyes.

"You know," she started. "We could just..." Her eyes glanced to the bed and back to him. "...do it."

His eyes darkened but his movements stilled, the hand on her waist frozen. He looked over at the bed and back to her, breathing hard. His jaw clenched and he shook his head. "No." Yet his eyes remained on her, longingly.

She stared right back, not averting her gaze.

"We can't. There are too many risks involved..." he said with a sigh.

"No one would have to know," she tried but she already knew there was no point, and that he was right.

He shook his head again softly. "Well, there's the ritual for one," he said.

"The ritual is sex, I am pretty sure Gorphine doesn't care when you do it. Besides, she's an old friend of mine," she quipped with half a smile.

He frowned slightly. "What if we don't get married for whatever reason... if your brothers decline, if I die... If people would find out, where would that leave you?"

Of course, the ever-noble Harry was thinking of her first.

"I am a King even if they disapprove. I can't risk you... what if ... what if you get pregnant and we don't get married. Or I die before we do... what if they question the legitimacy of that child if there was one and it was born just a month or so too early to be plausible. Risk generations of questions of legitimacy because we couldn't wait for a few weeks more?"

Ginny slumped against the door, putting some space between her bodies though they were still holding each other. "I know you're right... That doesn't mean I have to like it."

He chuckled softly. "Trust me, I don't like it either." He took her hand. "Come back to the couch with me."

She let him lead her back to the couch and she sat down beside him. She fidgeted. "While we are on the topic, I have scars... big ones you haven't seen that I am insecure about." She had some small scars on her arms, but they were negligible to the other two.

He looked at her softly, slight concern on his face. "Like the one on your thigh?"

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I, uh, have caught glimpses of it," he clarified with mild embarrassment.

That one she could show at least without undressing. She softly dragged her nightshirt up her thigh to reveal the long scar that broke up the freckles across her skin. She looked up at him carefully to see his reaction and he met her eyes.

He smiled softly. "What about the other one?"

"I can't show you now, but I told you about the other before. The one across my chest." She dragged her fingers across her ribcage under her right breast to show him where it ran. "It's a pretty big one too."

"Gin..." he started, and she met his eyes sharply. "You are a Knight. You have fought battles. Of course you have scars. Doesn't mean you aren't also a pretty Princess."

She smiled, still unsure.

"Do you really think I will look at you naked and think 'never mind'? Because I assure you I won't. I've got insecurities too, you know."

"Right," she commented sceptically.

"You don't believe me?" he asked.

"I have seen the upper half; I don't think you have much to complain about." Her fingers pointed up and down his chest as heat rose in her cheeks.

"Neither do you," he replied. He pulled her a little closer. "And the scars just tell the story of how my lovely future wife came to be mine. It's not ugly, they're your history."

Her worry eased a little. She let her head drop on his shoulder. "Thank you."

"Of course." He squeezed her waist. "Do they ever hurt?"

"Not anymore," she replied softly. "The one on my thigh does get a little sore sometimes when the weather turns cold."

As they walked over the grounds, a man came towards them, swinging his sword wildly. He was clearly an assassin, but considering he had already revealed himself, not a very good one.

"Do you want to get that one?" Ginny asked as she spotted him.

"Sure." Harry unsheathed his sword.

The man ran towards them.

"I am really wondering where they're getting these assassins, they get worse and worse," Ginny commented. She held her sword at the ready too, just in case. She watched carefully.

Harry barred the man's sword and pushed him back, but the assassin resumed his attack. Swords clashed for a minute. Ginny noticed two guards ran up to them. She held up her hand to tell them to wait. Harry's sword hit the assassin's shoulder, drawing blood. The assassin promptly dropped his sword and held up his hands.

Earnest and Justin clapped. "Great work, King Henry." They turned to Ginny. "You're slacking off."

"Oh, no," Harry said. "I asked Gwyn to let me get a hit in too. Never get the chance anymore since he showed up." He looked at the assassin. "Please take him away."

Earnest and Justin grabbed the assassin by the arms and led him away.

"Honestly, I think you've gotten a reputation to be unkillable. So now only absolute idiots take on a job like this," Ginny mused when they were alone again.

"Well, it's gotten worse and worse since you started," Harry responded as he cleaned off his sword.

She nodded in agreement. "Only people desperate for money take it... and they're usually not the best fighters. I guess you have to thank my reputation for that."

He chuckled. "Your sheer skill is keeping the dangerous ones away."

"My skill will diminish if I don't have enough real opponents to fight against." Most were not a real challenge for her.

They walked towards the castle together.

"If all goes well, you'll have another battle to fight quite soon," he replied.

She paused and looked at him through the slits of her helmet. "True. We need to train you and my brothers. You all need to be ready, and not get killed."

Harry nodded in agreement. "As soon as they agree, we can get started on that."

"Good. I don't want to try my best to keep you alive only for you to die for my cause," she said softly.

"Well." He shrugged. "It is the good cause. I do intend on surviving though."

"You better!" she replied.

Ginny looked up from the paper in her lap as she sat across from him at his desk.

"So..." she spoke.

"Your brothers will be here in four days," Harry said. "Alastor did tell me that three of them escaped at least once."

Ginny resisted smiling. "Well, then at least we know they got the right ones. That is typical of them," Ginny told him. "It's the reason we're all still alive."

"I hope they all get here unscathed. It may be the trickiest part of the ordeal," Harry commented.

"Right. Except from battling Bellatrix for Harpia," Ginny added.

He nodded. "I suppose."

She let out a big sigh. "I really hope my brothers want to go for this. In reality you'll be the best option they'll ever have... but they need to trust you."

"That's the tricky part indeed," Harry agreed.

"They should take my word for it, but I may need to do a little convincing." She locked eyes with him. "If they don't want to do it, this marriage is off the table too."

"I am aware of that," Harry said in a subdued manner. "We can't risk your identity if it isn't to get Harpia back."

"Then what do I do, stay here as a Knight, watch you get married? Go back to Reg?" she wondered out loud.

Harry held up his hands. "It is not at that point yet. We will figure that out if it is necessary. Let's aim to get married and get you Harpia back. If not..." His expression faltered. "I don't want to think about that, I hate every option."

"Me too," she admitted.

"Even if they want to take Harpia, if your brother says no to the marriage, it isn't happening either." His worry seemed to increase as he thought it over.

Ginny nodded. She didn't like it but that was the situation they were in. "I do have a little more confidence about that though. If I can convince them about Harpia... what's a little wedding? It'll benefit Harpia too. They are distrusting but they are not stupid."

"And there is Draco," Harry said.

Ginny's eyes widened. "I forgot about him again." She considered the situation. "Maybe they don't even want to act on the betrothal. They already have Harpia."

Harry let out a sour chuckle. "It's not getting Harpia, it is about keeping Harpia then. Bellatrix has no children, Andromeda has been disowned, or as good as. It's inevitable Draco ends up on the throne eventually. With a real Harpian Queen... it would be quite comfortable for him."

Ginny shuddered at the thought of being Queen of the Harpian throne at Draco's side. "I'd stab him."

"They don't know you would," Harry said. "They know nothing about you."

"That's to our benefit I think. If he shows up, we can just—" She moved her hand across her throat. "Be done with him."

"We'll see about that if he does show up," Harry said. "Murder isn't always the answer."

She leaned forward. "Pretty sure it is."

Harry smiled. "I am more rehearsed in diplomacy, bargaining... but if that doesn't work, I'll happily let you stab him."

"Good, then we are in agreement." She would love to get her dagger on any of them.

Harry sat in silence for a moment. "Are your brothers going to try and kill me? Just wondering if the stabbing thing is a family trait."

She smiled brightly. "It isn't... I think. Either way even if they don't trust you, they know and accept you as the rightful King of Ignotia, they're not about to dispute that. They'd rather escape and disappear than kill a King, I am sure. That would call all the attention to them."

"A very comforting thought, thank you," he said, his words not matching his uneasy expression.

"I didn't say it was," Ginny retorted.

He met her eyes, his gaze softening. "At the very least, you can have a reunion with all your brothers."

Ginny nodded softly. "We haven't been all in the same room at the same time since..." She fell silent and didn't finish her sentence but Harry nodded.

"It's been fifteen years," he said softly.

"Yes."

"Then it can be about that, I suppose. Being apart from family..." he trailed off too.

"If we get married, they'll be your family too," she said. It was hard to feel lonely with them around.

"For now they still scare me," he admitted.

She scoffed. "Come now. You kiss the scariest Harpian goodnight every day, the rest are docile compared to me."

Harry tilted his head. "Yeah...I don't believe that it in the slightest."

"How about this... they'll listen to me." Her expression was playful.

"Hm. I may be willing to believe that a little more. You are always very convincing." He smiled brightly.

She stood up and bent over the desk. "That's because I got you wrapped around my finger."

He leaned towards her, smirking now. "I don't see what that has to do with anything."

She flicked her finger against his forehead. "Focus, darling. We have a war to plan." She sat back down and looked at her paper, focusing again. They had addressed almost everything they needed to before her brothers arrived. "I am starting to realise that I won't be able to keep my double identity secret forever."

Harry frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"People are going to realise Gwyn and the Queen are never in the same room," she clarified.

Harry nodded. "It's vital we keep it a secret now but after we're married... it will matter less. It's up to you."

She nodded. It felt uneasy to connect the two. "We'll see when the time comes."

He looked at her. "More about your royal side... you will get assigned a room as Princess Ginevra."

Her lips pulled into a slight pout. She hated it, she liked that was Harry was just one door away at night. And it was keeping him alive.

"People will ask questions if they don't know where the Princess is sleeping." He smiled, amused by her reluctancy to move rooms. "Look, I am not saying you have to use it all the time, but you at least have to be there some of the time."

She nodded, after all it would only be for a short while and she was being petty. "How many pretty dresses did you order?"

"I told the tailor the same lady would be visiting again and that it was an important visit and ... if he made some great dresses, he may get a very important order quite soon," he announced happily. "So, you have about ten coming your way."

"As in, if he does well, he'll get to make me a wedding dress?" she asked, tilting her head to the side with an eager look.

"Yes. Of course he knows that's not set in stone but it was a good incentive," he responded.

"Royal weddings don't come around all that much, it's a good opportunity for him for sure," she responded.

His eyes brightened. "You're going to look so beautiful."