A/N: Warning: graphic depictions of violence in this one. Ginny gets 'stabby'.

Current planning:
Wednesday, 3 April: Chapter 42: Gorphine's gift
Wednesday, 17 April: Chapter 43: (Title redacted for spoilers!)

Thank you Meg for beta-reading!

If anyone remembers last author's note. That customer service came back to me 48 hours later with the most unhelpful reply ever. I gave up. I'm sending what I ordered back soon.

"I still think we should consider Henry as a middle name," Ginny thought.

Harry walked down the corridor, shaking his head. He could see through her eyes that she was in the library, reading through Ignotian history books. "I don't even use the name."

"I should call you Henry more often." She flipped a page. "My dearest Henry."

"Fine," he retorted. "If I can call you Ginevra." He reached for the door handle and opened it and stepped inside.

"No."

When he closed the door, he got startled by the noise of the two people scrambling up and finally paid attention to his surroundings as Ron and Hermione jumped apart. She adjusted her skirt, pulling it down.

"What do you think you're doing?" he let out in surprise.

Ron's whole face was flushed up to his ears.

"It's not what you think!" Hermione explained, stepping forward.

"It isn't?" Harry told her. "Because I am pretty sure Ron's hands were exactly where I saw them!"

Unfortunately for them, his mind had been wide open to Ginny and she had seen the whole thing too. She was now on her way here too.

"Do you understand what risks you are taking?" Harry asked both of them.

The door opened and Ginny stepped in. Harry looked at her and it took them five seconds to decide on a plan.

"Come with me," Ginny told Ron. "Now."

Ron walked past Harry and the two siblings stepped out. Harry closed the door again and turned around to Hermione.

"What if it hadn't been me walking into this room?" Harry asked her.

Hermione crossed her arms. "That wouldn't have happened. We have been careful."

"Oh," Harry said. "As in you've done this more than once." He looked at his friend, but she was avoiding his gaze. "Weren't you the person who told me you didn't understand why 'those women' would take risks fooling around with some guy?"

"He's not some guy!" Hermione retorted. "You know that."

He took a deep breath. "I know you two fancy each other, but this is not the way to go about it."

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Ginny scolded him as they walked outside.

Ron nearly had to jog to keep up with her pace. "Oh, like you and Harry weren't taking risks before you got married."

"Not like that!" Ginny said, conveniently leaving out how much she had wanted to. "And we didn't do much of anything before we got engaged. And after that, we only barely kissed in public, but you…" She shook her head, trying to erase the vision of her brother's hands high up Hermione's thighs.

She had walked so fast they strode right up to the forest. She sensed them before she saw them. She was already holding her sword in her hands when the first man stepped from behind the tree line. And then four more men showed up. She didn't have time to check if the guards had also noticed them. Ron paused beside her and she realised he was unarmed. She tossed him her sword and grabbed her dagger instead.

They all stepped forward at the same time, her heart was thumping in her chest. She heard yelling from the guards behind her, so at least they noticed, but she didn't take her eyes off the assailants. She was at a disadvantage with her dagger, but she was still quicker than them. They were aiming for her, not Ron and so Ron was taking big swipes at the men who were not directly attacking her.

One of them aimed at her stomach, and the fear for not only herself but her baby, made an anger erupt she didn't even know she had. She barred his attack. She hit the other one and then used her dagger and aimed for his face in an overwhelming urge to hurt him.

With the help of the guards, the other men were quickly overpowered but as the man made another aim at her, she saw red. She drove her dagger forward again, this time aiming for his eye. The man fell down and she dove after him, planting her dagger into his face. Once, twice, and the man stopped moving, but she still continued.

The sudden silence around her made her pause, and then she sensed Harry run up behind her. She looked at the bloodied head in front of her, and the puddle forming under it in fresh red blood. His face was torn apart by her dagger, pieces of flesh hanging off of it. She had blood splatters over her face, arms and dress.

The anger she had felt transformed into an intense numbness. Harry was talking to Seamus and Ron but she wasn't really listening. The other assassins looked in shock at the fifth men as the guards kept them restrained.

"Let's go inside." Harry's voice was gentle in her mind. "We'll get you cleaned up."

Harry slowly started to loosen the ties of her dress as they prepared a bath for her. He had felt her anger surge like never before, which is why he had paid attention to her thoughts in the first place. Then he saw she was in danger and fear ran through his veins.

It was all taken care of by the time he arrived, but he only barely suppressed the shaking of his hands now. He was wary of the thoughts running through his head, but he could tell Ginny was not paying attention to them. Over and over she seemed to play the ordeal in her mind.

He took the dagger out of her hand and wiped it and put it on his own belt. The servants told him the bath was ready and he pulled her to the other room as the servants bowed and left them.

He caressed her face and she breathed in slowly. Then he touched her bump and she did too, cradling it.

"You did a great job," he told her. He rested her forehead against hers, trying to get her heartbeat to slow down, because he could sense the thundering.

She moved and tucked her face into the crook of his neck. He began to pull her dress off slowly and when she was undressed, he pulled her to the tub. He checked if it wasn't too warm and then guided her to step in.

She settled in it, her legs folded up. "I didn't mean to stab him so many times." Suddenly her eyes were focused on him.

"I know." He picked up the sponge floating in the bath and wiped the blood off her face and out of her hair.

"I suddenly felt so angry," she continued. "And I wanted to protect him."

He smiled at her. "And you did. He's still safely in there and you nor Ron have got a scratch on you."

She looked down at herself for a moment to verify that statement and then her gaze drifted back up. "There was so much blood."

"He was likely already dead after the first two stabs," he reassured her. "He didn't feel the rest—and he deserved to die."

"I am always so measured in how I kill people," she continued. "Even Vondar, I cut only once."

He rolled his sleeves up and started cleaning her forearms and palms. "It's fine."

"Stop making excuses," she snapped. She leaned back in the tub with a sigh.

"I am not." He started scrubbing at her fingers, trying to remove the blood from under her nails. "Before, people were attacking others you were protecting, it was never personal—this was. I know how that feels, and the fear of it, I understand it too." He looked at her, eyes closed, letting him wash her carefully. "And you wanted to protect our son. It's a mother's instinct."

She opened her eyes again, her gaze resting on him. She used her other hand to brush her hair out of her face.

"And a good instinct at that." He gave her hand a squeeze. "You know I admire that about you, don't you? The fact that you can protect all of us. I couldn't be more glad that you came out of this unscathed." His hand reached out and rested on her bump. "I don't know who is after you and our boy," Harry said. "But we're not going to let them hurt us."

She sat up and he leaned his forehead against hers again and softly caressed her face.

"Aren't you appalled at what I did?" Ginny asked him softly. "It was pretty gruesome."

"No." He kissed her. "There is nothing you can do that would appal me."

"That is deeply alarming," she told him.

He shifted back just enough so he could meet her eye, smiling softly. "They tried to kill you first. If you hadn't stabbed him, I would have."

She took the sponge from him and started cleaning her other hand. He leaned his arm on the tub and watched her.

"Did I get all the blood?" she asked a moment later.

"Yes," he told her fondly. "But I know a few spots that could use some extra attention."

Her hand moved, splashing water at him and he had to jump back.

"How dare you," she told him with a straight face. "I kill a man, cut his face into bits and while I am washing his blood off of me, you are trying to seduce me?" Her eyebrow raised teasingly as she shook her head.

"I think it shows you that I don't care," Harry told her.

She looked at him more seriously. "What are we going to do about those two randy buggers? Are we hypocrites?"

"We were more cautious, were we not?" Harry asked, if only to make himself feel better.

She nodded. "I think we were. And we didn't properly kiss and the like until we were at least engaged…" She squeezed the sponge, letting the water drain out. "Then again we almost shared a room so…"

"Still," Harry returned to the matter at hand. "They should be more cautious, or get married."

"They should. I am not sure why they don't. They clearly fancy each other," Ginny wondered out loud.

"Hermione isn't so fond of marriage—actually before Ron I wasn't sure if she cared for men at all," Harry said. "She likes her independence."

"I can relate to that," Ginny muttered. She shifted and stood up.

Harry grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her as she stepped out of the tub.

"But she needs to make a choice."

"I gave her as much freedom as I could after her parents went missing," Harry spoke. "But when it comes down to fooling around like that, I can't do anything for her. I can't protect her from other people's opinions."

"I think they have learned their lesson," Ginny said. "At least for a while. They know ultimately if they want to take their relationship seriously, they have to get married. Let's give them some more time."

He sighed. "I don't like it when you sound logical and reasonable and I have to agree with you."

"Aw." She pretended to pout. "You'll have to live with that. I'm rather reasonable all the time."

"Are you alright?" Neville asked as soon as they walked into Harry's office.

She nodded and her hand landed on her stomach. "I'm alright."

"The same can't be said for the man who attacked you," Seamus commented as he walked in behind them.

Ginny turned around and found Seamus, some blood remaining on his sleeve. "There is blood—"

"I know," he confirmed. "Didn't have time yet to clean up."

Ron walked in. "I am so sorry."

Ginny held up her hand. "This wasn't your fault, so just stop right there."

Ron's gaze dropped down. Seamus looked curiously between them.

"What did he do?" Neville asked.

She offered her brother a pointed look. "Nothing of importance." She looked over at Seamus. "What did you find out from the men I didn't kill?"

Seamus nodded and stepped forward. "They were quite eager to talk when I told them if they didn't want to talk to me they could talk to the Queen."

"Good," Harry commented, stepping a bit closer to her.

"It would appear that they have come from Secretera."

Ron swore loudly.

"They thought sending five people would be plenty for a pregnant Queen," Seamus said with a sigh. "They had half of their payment and half after since they had to travel here. They didn't know anything about the motivations of the King as far as I could tell, but I didn't expect them to."

"Those bastards!" Ron was red in the face. "The ambush was them too, we know Lord Lucius is on their side. We need to take them down."

Neville cleared his throat. "And how would we do that?"

"We take Secretera back too, for mum! We did it with Harpia, we can do it for Secretera too!" Ron said.

"We didn't have a claim to it the same way we did Harpia. We reigned in Harpia, but mum never ascended to the throne, nor did her two older brothers," Ginny spoke.

"Because they got killed before they could, are we just going to wait for them to kill all of us?" Ron was red in the face. "Charlie was right, we should attack them."

Harry shook his head. "We won't."

"So we let them kill us?" Ron asked, his voice quivering with contained anger.

"Not right now," Harry said. "Ginny is the leader of my army, and one of our best fighters, I'd rather wait—" Harry tried.

"Put someone else in," Ron interrupted. "She can manage from the side, can she not?"

"That isn't the only thing," Harry said slowly.

"If I may," Neville tried. "Harpia is still recovering, coming out of a famine and it is vital they keep the support of the people. They don't have a standing army that is more than a few hundred at most. They need to gain strength. Ignotia just went to war for Harpia, justifying another one so soon could turn even the council against us." He looked over at Harry.

"Exactly. I will write to Bill to discuss this, it is important, but we can't storm a castle every time someone attacks us," Harry told him. "We need to bide our time to make sure we are prepared, and our win is secured. We need a year, or two."

Ron's posture deflated somewhat. "And until then…?"

"The reason they send assassins is that they can't afford to start a war. They may have gotten some loyal refugees from Harpia, they know with Orion, the Moonlands, us and Harpia, they are not going to win. If they were to attack any of us outright, our allies would move immediately." Harry looked over at Ginny.

"If you don't want to get stabbed, wear a sword, or a knife… you got comfortable," Ginny spoke to Ron. "Now it was Secretera, but you are royalty—there will always be a risk."

Harry's voice popped into her head. "Ron could write the letter to Bill, if he doesn't take too many liberties with his opinion."

She looked at him. "I think that would make him feel better." She turned to Seamus. "Are all our guards unharmed?"

"Yes," Seamus confirmed. "They're all okay. Assassins are locked up."

She smiled. "Good. Then I suppose we are done here."

As Seamus exited, Neville walked up to her.

"You went stabby," he noted.

"Yes," she said. "I surprised myself." She looked over at Ron. "Can you stay for another moment?"

Ron looked alarmed but nodded. Neville patted her arm and walked out. Ginny watched as her brother seemed to expect some type of scolding from them. She looked over at Harry.

"As ambassador to Harpia, I would like you to relay the news of the attack to Bill," Harry suggested. "Just keep it to the point, please."

Ron likely wouldn't have turned down the task even if he wanted to. He nodded quickly. "I will." He turned around.

"Ron," Ginny said and then paused until he turned around. "Thank you for having my back out there."

He smiled at her. "I think you would have managed fine on your own, but I was happy to help."

She smiled back at him.

Dressed in her nightshirt, she poured Harry wine, and herself butterbeer. She put them on the table and then sat down on the couch. Harry joined a moment later and pulled her close.

His hand rested on her waist as he leaned his head against hers and closed his eyes for a moment, helping both their bodies relax through the bond.

His other hand came to rest on her bump.

"He's okay," Ginny said. "His mother made sure."

Harry's nose pressed against her cheek. "You did." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Better now than before."

"Good." He looked down. "Who tries to kill a baby that's not even born?"

"It's a good way to ensure there is no heir, can destabilise a country quickly," Ginny muttered.

"Doesn't seem to bother Sirius all that much," Harry muttered.

"He does have a brother still. Ignotia is tempting because there is only you, and you are the only country that has never had a famine," Ginny thought out loud.

"That's because of Xydite. I am not sure if they killed our line if it would last," he muttered. "But they probably haven't thought that far ahead."

Ginny pulled him closer and placed kisses on his face, trying to distract him. Then she caught on a passing thought of him and it made her stomach turn.

"You don't know that," Ginny responded immediately.

"Peter could have," Harry asked her. "My parents loved me, they loved being parents from what I could tell. They never had another, why?"

Ginny nodded softly. "There could be many reasons."

"He would have to… poison my mum once? He wouldn't even have to kill anyone." Harry looked at her. "Tell me that isn't a Peter thing to do?"

She pressed her lips together. "I…" She pulled him a little closer.

"Imagine the pain of wanting another kid and not knowing why… and Peter would have known and not said…" Harry looked a little lost as his eyes danced up to her.

"We don't know that. Please don't hurt yourself thinking about it." She kissed him. "They loved and adored you…" She brushed her hand against his cheek. "If you want to know, ask Greta if there was any… report on it, but don't dwell on it please."

His arms came around her tighter and she crawled into his lap. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you on Peter. I hate that I gave him more time."

"You did what you could with the information you had, and my distrust said otherwise." She ran her fingers through his hair. "We figured it out in the end, didn't we? Together."

He nodded and he smiled softly. "Mostly you."

"That is my job, to protect you, and it always will be." She kissed him slowly, hoping she could kiss his worries away.

They finished their drinks and tucked into bed soon after. Harry curled up around her, his legs protectively over hers and a hand on her tummy. She placed a hand over his.

"No one can hurt him in there," she said. "I would stab a thousand men in the face for our boy." Her free hand grabbed onto her dagger.

"I love you, my Queen," he murmured.

"Love you too, my sweet King."