Ron arrived again the next morning, merchants with carts behind him, laden with food. Ron and Hermione stepped off their horses.

Hermione hugged Harry. "We were so happy to hear the news, I barely slept until we heard."

"How was your reunion with Ron?" Harry asked. Ginny pretended to greet her brother and bit back a smile.

"I have no idea what you're implying," Hermione said with an unreadable expression as Ron obliviously walked on to his brothers. "But it was nice to travel the last half with someone else, if that's what you're asking." She walked past him and into the castle without another word.

Ginny looked over at Harry. "You really have to be more subtle with someone like Hermione."

He shot back an unimpressed look. "Why?"

"She doesn't like admitting her feelings like that," she told him.

"I think I know her better than you do," Harry shot back.

She nodded slowly. "Yes, but independent women like her... we have difficulty admitting our feelings."

Now he looked at her with more interest. "Oh? Really?"

She looked at him firmly. "This was about Hermione."

He stepped closer to her. "Yes, of course. When would you think she's ready to admit that?"

"When it's undeniable fact," she retorted with a small smile.

He smiled. "And you would know about that, wouldn't you?" he asked teasingly.

She chuckled. "I didn't intend to fall in love with you."

His eye dropped down, feigning hurt. "Ouch."

"But I'm glad that I did," she ended.

His eyes twinkled at her, looking smug.

"Are you two coming?" Ron asked.

They looked around to see everyone else had already headed inside.

"Yes." Harry took her hand and together they walked inside again.

"Does anyone have any more ideas for the coronation?" Bill asked. They had gone through the documents they had but he was looking for more.

Multiple brothers shook their heads.

"If dad talked to anyone about a coronation, it would be you," Percy said. "Don't expect Ginny to know anything about it."

"Excuse me, I am married to a King," Ginny objected light-heartedly.

Bill's gaze slid to Harry. "Any ideas?"

"I was twelve at my coronation and my parents had just died, so not really," Harry answered.

"Right."

"And the person who organised it, well..." He raised an eyebrow. He adjusted his posture. "I think we are all in a situation where we miss out on guidance from our parents. We keep the traditions we know and remember, and we get to start new ones for those who come after us."

Bill looked down at the paper. "That was... surprisingly helpful." He scribbled something on the parchment.

Charlie stood up and came back with a wooden box.

"Is that the crown?" Ron asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yes, but it's been altered..." he said quietly. He opened the box and carefully took it out.

The room fell silent as they looked at the crown. The red gems had been replaced by darker gems to match the Ogyon colours.

"Didn't she have enough with her Ogyon crown? Why did she have to touch everything?" George let out in frustration.

"We should be glad we still have it at all," Charlie said.

Bill looked at Ginny. "I also found the tiara I had remade for your wedding," he said with a smile.

Ginny made a mental note to go looking for it later. She looked closer at the crown. She thought she saw a glimmer of red to the large gem that stood in the middle of the crown. She stood up and bent down to look at it. She definitely saw some red.

She took a napkin off the table and dipped it into Fred's cup of water.

"Hey!" Fred objected but she ignored it.

She rubbed it over the big gem and then looked at the napkin, which was now colouring a dark purple. She continued cleaning off the gem until a large part of the red diamond underneath was revealed. She twisted the crown to Bill to reveal it.

His jaw dropped. "She painted over it?"

She nodded. "The small gems do look real but that one is still the original."

"That's a relief," he said, taking up the crown and inspecting it closer.

Ginny walked to her seat and sat back down. She found Harry's hand and squeezed it.

"Nothing gets past you, doesn't it?" Harry said softly.

Harry and Ginny entered in the room where the guards had gathered to take a moment together to send off Alastor and Nigel before the funeral. Unfortunately, they did not have the time to give each of them a proper goodbye, so this was the best they could do. The guards stood in a circle, leaving a spot for them, supporting each other when needed.

Harry looked at Ginny, who nodded in turn.

"Alastor was our valued Head Guard and he taught us many things. He had high expectations which pushed us to do better. We all know under his rough exterior; he was a smart and kind man. He understood what was important and where we needed help." Ginny looked over at Harry and he smiled reassuringly. "I didn't know Nigel as well as most of you did but I know he was a kind young man who was always in a good mood, would greet everyone cheerily no matter the hour."

Harry took over from her. "They both fought well, as you all did. War comes with a price and all of us have to pay it. It's not fair but I am hopeful we are saving more lives than we've lost. Neither Alastor nor Nigel died because they weren't skilled enough or they made a mistake. They died because the enemy wasn't fighting fair. Alastor would be proud of all of you, and he is proud of Nigel, I am sure of it." He felt himself getting choked up and decided to wrap up. "Both of them will be missed by all of us and we will carry their memory with us as long as we live."

It was silent for a beat or two.

"Alastor helped me get over my fear of horses," Oswald admitted. "Now I don't mind them."

Several guards smiled weakly.

"Nigel knew how much I love grapes, so he'd always bring me some when he went to the market." Finlay shrugged. "It always brightened my day."

Harry listened quietly as several more anecdotes were shared, tears dropping past reminiscing smiles.

The graves were already dug, the dead had already been softly lowered into their final resting place. The pile of dirt behind them waiting to cover them. It had been an effort to dig the graves in the frozen ground, but Bill had insisted on giving every last one an individual grave, refusing to condemn them to their parents' faith, even the enemy.

A silence fell over the crowd as Bill stepped forward. Without a high priest or priestess available, it was up to him to lead the funeral.

"Gynus, please receive all of these souls that have fought so valiantly. Let them rest and recover from the struggles they knew in life. Reward them for the sacrifices they made. Most of all, please guide them onto the next part. Shine your moonlight upon them gently and show them the way." Bill took a deep breath. "Please join me in a moment of silence as we remember those most dear to us and hand them over to Gynus."

Harry's eyes closed, his hand inevitably found Ginny's and clutched it tightly. Funerals hadn't gotten any easier since his parents died. The grief always came swirling back up, mixing with the fresh new grief. It made his throat close up.

As if she had sensed it, Ginny's hand released his again to wrap an arm around his waist, comforting him and steadying him at the same time. He took a deep breath.

"Thank you," Bill said and Harry opened his eyes again. "When you see the moon next time, raise your glass and drink to all of them. Remember them and honour their memory." Solemnly Bill walked forward. He took up a handful of dirt and dropped it into the grave in front of him. As he stepped back, everyone in the crowd stepped forward, taking up a handful of dirt and dropping it into the long line of graves.

"You never really expect people like Alastor to die," Harry muttered so only Ginny could hear. "He seemed so invincible."

She nodded. "He was one of a kind. And I know he considered it an honour to fight for you. He wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else."

He swallowed around the lump in his throat. "That doesn't make it any easier."

She offered him a comforting smile. "I know."

"Hey, I couldn't find you." Harry stepped into a room full of documents and letters scattered on the floor. Ginny was sitting between them on the ground.

"Percy found back old paperwork and there were letters in here... And some were to your parents," she said.

Harry kneeled down beside her. The expression she wore made him worried about what she had found.

"Remember we were supposed to meet over the summer?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yes."

"I always thought it was because you were close in age with Ron. To make friends, but no." She smiled warily. "It was for you and me. We were supposed to meet, in the hopes we'd like each other."

He sat down beside her, surprised at that information. He had never heard about it before. "But you were betrothed..."

"I know." She nodded and took up one of the letters. "I started reading more, trying to find letters following each other... It wasn't an arrangement, not like that anyway. They genuinely thought we'd get along." She looked up from the papers. "They had hope it would help me avoid the betrothal. If we fell in love on our own by the time we were teenagers... we would have wanted to get married quickly and bypass Draco's betrothal the way we tried to do it now, several years later. I am the only Princess close to your age so..."

Harry blinked rapidly. "You're joking?"

She shook her head and handed him the letter. "This is from your mom."

Harry took it and immediately recognised his mother's handwriting. He read out loud. " Your Ginny sounds lovely. I can't wait for them to meet. One can only hope, if not I am sure they will be good friends regardless. We'll see how the first meeting goes, they're just kids of course ." He looked up. "If Peter had read those..."

"You don't know if he did, and if he was already on their side then." She shrugged. "But as you can see, we were meant to meet."

His brows knitted together. "My parents lived another four years; I don't understand why they never told me about this?"

"I was thought to be dead. What was the point of them telling you they were planning to set us up? Hey, we found you a great girl, unfortunately she was killed. " She shot him a pointed look.

"I see your point." He shook his head. "It was already jarring enough to hear your whole family had been killed off." His hand landed on her knee. "Suppose we were meant to end up together."

"Maybe," she agreed with a smile. "At the very least we were meant to meet."

"Imagine what kind of life we would have had if we had met earlier," he wondered out loud.

"Yeah," she murmured softly. "I'm sure we would have gotten along then too." She pulled him closer and kissed his cheek.

"I would hope so," he said with a small chuckle.

"It's nice to know that both of them completely approved, I have been wondering about that," she said. She collected a few letters and put them on a pile together.

"I think it goes to show that they didn't want that betrothal either, they had no other choice and they hoped you would have defied them." He smiled softly.

Ginny snorted. "They knew me rather well."

After a few days, everything had time to settle. Bill was getting into a routine, assembling a council and preparing for the coronation. Ginny collected all her guards again to speak to them now that they were no longer essential in keeping the castle secure.

Regulus hung back in the room, out of sheer intrigue with her process.

She stood in front of the guards.

"Now that King Bill has managed to accumulate a guard of his own, we will no longer need you to stand guard in the castle. We just need six guards to remain for any outings and for our travel home. All the rest of you can return to Ignotia already. If you have a preference to go home or remain, let me know and I will try to take it into account."

The guards nodded quietly.

"I am still adjusting to being Head Guard and Alastor's shoes are big ones to fill, but I will do my best to lead you all as he did. I also know that as Queen I may not be as available as he was as I also have other duties to attend to." She saw Seamus quirk an eyebrow at that, but she ignored it. "So to accommodate for that, I will assign a Deputy Head Guard, someone who can take and handle pressing matters when I'm unavailable."

Oswald's hand shot up. "Does that include an increase in pay?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "More responsibility means more payment, for you guys anyway. I don't get paid," she ended with a smile. "I would prefer it if I could assign someone who is already a guard with us. Someone who understands how you work and who you are. So if you are interested in that position, you can come talk to me in private. I will give the guards at home the same opportunity, but I already wanted to give you a chance to think about it. I will only decide on this when we are back in Ignotia, so take your time to consider it. It's a big responsibility." She shifted her weight. "Any more questions about me being Head Guard or anything else?"

Ernest raised his hand.

"This better not be another indecent question about the King and I," she said firmly.

He shook his head, his cheeks colouring red. "No, I was just wondering how long you've been training. We all know you're good, I'm just curious."

"Fifteen years," she answered. "With Sir Regulus over there."

The guards looked towards Regulus now.

"I know I am young, but I have been putting in the work."

"You know I would have never made the comments I did when you started if I had known..." Ernest started.

"I'd be your Queen one day?" she ended.

He nodded. "Something like that."

"I understand you are protective of the current group, and I was new and different," she told him. "That's not always a bad thing."

"Did you get in trouble for fighting me?" Ernest asked honestly.

She almost smiled. "Only a little, probably less than you did."

"Probably," he agreed.

Seamus's hand rose up hesitantly.

She turned to him. "Yes, Seamus?"

He looked a bit awkward. "I don't mean to be improper, but what if you're pregnant?"

"Do you think I will stop being able to be in charge of you lot just because I'm pregnant?" she shot back.

He looked down at the floor.

"She could defeat more than half of you while eight months pregnant," Regulus added on. "I think she'll manage just fine."

"I didn't mean it like that," Seamus tried. "We just... we don't know how to deal with any of that. We certainly have never had a woman for a boss."

Her expression froze. "Tread very carefully, Seamus," she warned him.

He nodded, searching for his words. "We all know what you can do, it's just different to what we are used to. And we want to do our job well."

She knew he was only speaking up because the others would be too scared to. "Alastor had a plan if he was out or died. He put me in command of you when he was absent. If King Harry is unavailable, his advisor is in charge of decisions. Anyone who has those responsibilities knows they need to have a plan in case they are unable to do their job." She stared down Seamus, who gulped. "I am assigning a Deputy Head to anticipate any moment I may be unavailable for any reason. Rest assured I won't suddenly abandon my Head Guard duties. It's no different than with a man, okay?"

He nodded silently.

"Those returning home will do so at the end of the week, so please let me know your preference by the end of the day tomorrow. Preferably one of you collects the list and hands it to me. If you wake me up at night, it better be because someone is dying or dead or tried to kill the King... which would be incredibly unlikely. Now off you go."

The guards streamed out of the room. Regulus walked up to her.

"Unruly lot," she commented with a smile.

He beamed at her. "You did great. You are an amazing Head Guard."

She squinted at him. "What is up with you?"

He shrugged. "I am proud of you. I really feel like you are coming into your own."

She shook her head in confusion. "You're being weird... Are you off soon?"

"No, I'll stay until the coronation," he answered.

She paused. "You are being weird. Are you ready to see your brother again so soon?"

"We have some things to talk about," he said with a nod. "He's alright I suppose. He was a bratty teenager, always knew better. Teased me about becoming King while I would never amount to anything." He shrugged, fiddling with the hilt of his sword. "We're both more mature now."

"I am glad to hear that, he seems pleasant enough," she said. "Are you going to keep hovering around me?"

"You hurt me, Queen Ginny," he said, his hand over his heart.

"No, that's not what I meant." She rolled her eyes.

He smiled. "I won't be all up in your business, that's no longer my responsibility."

"Thank you." She met his eyes bravely. "You wouldn't want to hear about half the business I get up to these days."

He hissed. "Nasty."

She chuckled. "See, all those years of you explaining what I overheard the Knights say, they're paying off now."

"Gods." He shook his head uncomfortably. "That was torture, just so you know."

"I think some of the things weren't true, or accurate but you know..." She shrugged. She wasn't going to ask now.

He shivered. "Do I even want to know?"

She shook her head with a laugh. "Not likely."

Ginny sat on the edge of the bed and kicked her shoes off. She quickly took off her dress and threw it over the chair that stood to the side. She slipped into the spot beside Harry on the bed as he sat against the headboard.

"Didn't see you much all day," he commented.

She nodded. "Guard business," she muttered. She leaned against him and turned her gaze to him. "Good evening, husband."

"Hello, my dear wife," he responded with a smile. He took the tin of ointment to apply it to her neck. It became a habit now. The bruising was finally fading. "There we go," he said as he finished rubbing it in. He set the tin aside and faced her again.

His hand brushed her hair aside and kissed her softly. The kiss quickly turned more heated, his hands dancing over her body, caressing all his favourite parts, caressing over bare skin as he pushed her undershirt up.

She could feel him grow hard against her and she kissed him more eagerly, egging him on.

"I need you," he whispered.

"Need me how?" she teased, her lips leaving his to explore his body. She pressed a kiss against her shoulder and moved down.

Harry breathed out. "You know exactly what I meant," he complained.

She traced a path with her tongue from his navel straight down to the hem of his underpants. "Did I?" she said innocently.

Harry let out a frustrated groan as his head dropped on the pillow.

Her hand pressed flat against his stomach. "Don't worry, I got you." As she pulled his underpants down, he mumbled something indiscernible. "What's that, my darling?" she asked as she glanced up.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

She pulled his pants all the way off and discarded them, her eyes dancing eagerly over his body, perfect in every way. She bent down to his face. "Tell me what you want."

He pulled her further down and whispered in her ear. She smiled and nodded.

A/N: This:

"Imagine what kind of life we would have had if we had met earlier," he wondered out loud.

"Yeah," she murmured softly. "I'm sure we would have gotten along then too." She pulled him closer and kissed his cheek.

is what my AU's AU is about! The what if for when they had met at that age. It is currently called Queen of Mine. I hope I can post the first part of that soon (part one of two, likely). You need to have read this chapter for the other not to be a spoiler so I haven't been focusing on it. It is more or less written, I just need to clean it up. I'll let you know when I've posted!

We get an answer if they were really meant together in every universe... ;)

Thanks for reading!