Compilation of Hinny Works

by LegendDairy

I've got too many Hinny one-shots, and there are more coming. So they are all going to be posted here instead of individual stories. And Harry/Ginny pairings only, no others. Will be updated sporadically.

91. Camelot

AN- Sorry! I can't remember who requested this one. I normally keep prompts on a Word Doc file and tag them once they're started and I remove them once they're done. Well, I accidentally removed it too soon.

Someone requested a princess Ginny and Harry is a servant.

()()()

Camelot

()()()

"I really don't enjoy doing these trips," Ronald muttered to his brother as they rode side by side on their horses; behind their father and eldest brother and in front of a few of the armed guard from the castle.

"Oh, come on now, it isn't all bad," Frederick told him and winked at a passing lady.

Ronald ignored that and looked down at the mounds of dirt and mud on the path before them that his poor horse was going to need to walk through all day.

Again.

His was a prized horse, not some work horse that was meant for such arduous journeys. They had been on the road for two days already since the last town that had a tavern. They were visiting all the villages that were in their territory. His father was introducing him to the men that led the villages, the ones that would bring news of any issues that their Lord needed to be known about.

Ron didn't want to have that job though, the one his father was trying to groom him for, he wanted to stay at the castle, mind the horses, represent the family in any tournaments. He had five other brothers that could be the head of the house and go out to all the villages. He didn't need to know whom was whom in the villages and why they all were important.

Jousting was important, learning sword tricks was important. Knowing which village produced the best wheat and which had neighbors arguing over land disputes; that he didn't care for.

Frederick and George enjoyed going on these trips because they usually wound up rolling around in the hay with a loose bar maid. Ronald didn't want that either, he wanted to grow closer to a lady back at Camelot. If word were to have reached her ears that he'd been out in the villages laying with another woman then all of his work to try and get her to see him as anything other than a simpleton borne to nobility will have been for nothing.

And he wasn't a simpleton, he just preferred horses and swordplay to books.

This little village they were coming up on now had the streets lined with cob-built houses and thatched roofs. He didn't think cob built was the best for this area considering the amount of rain, but the people that worked the land would have known better than he, and it didn't appear that there was much in the area in the way of timber or stone.

See, he did know some things, enough to draw his own conclusions.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you," Frederick teased. "She's rebuffed you at every turn and every time you do think about her you get this line right here." He traced his pinky in the shape of an upside down 'V' on his forehead. "May as well face it, she's simply not interested."

Ronald bit his tongue. He was used to his brothers giving him a hard time about this. He was nearing his eighteenth birthday and had come to learn about what made a woman worthy of the quest through the trials and tribulations of his brothers. Their brother Charles, for instance, he was the second eldest and had been ensnared into a marriage with a Baroness who had charmed him, then once the marriage occurred and she'd given him a child, she started being demanding and distant. Their brother Percival had been wooed by a woman that had tricked them all into thinking she only wanted the simple life, then upon their marriage, started spending excessively.

It was embarrassing for the family. It had meant their father had needed to talk to certain vendors and let them know that anything purchased for Charles or Percival's homes needed to be approved by the men of the house, effectively cutting off the wives.

And their father held great regard for females, he doted upon his wife, their mother, and they all knew that their sister Ginevra was his favorite, though he claimed to love all his children equally. So, he was very upset with his two daughters-in-law for pretending to be people they were not to trap his sons into marriages.

He'd given a talking to Ronald and the twins about that, about making sure that their chosen bride was who she claimed to be.

Ronald knew that Hermione was who she claimed to be, and her rebuffing his requests for courtship had only made him more determined to prove himself to her.

"Halt," called his father's groom from the front of their caravan. "This is the tavern, my Lord."

Ronald looked where the groom had pointed. He vaguely recalled being there once before in his youth. There had been a little boy that he'd gone out back of the building to play with because he had been bored. They'd both gotten covered in mud and been given a stern talking to by his father and the other boy by his uncle.

It had been the only fun Ronald had on that trip though.

He dismounted and went into the tavern. It was exceptionally clean, there wasn't even any mud trailed in, save for what their group had brought in themselves. They must have been preparing for the arrival of their Lord and shut out all other traffic. There was no doubt that they would make up for lost income by having this party eating and drinking here tonight.

The lady of the establishment, a woman with a very long neck, came out from around the bar to greet them. "My Lord," she gushed and gave a low bow. Her husband was right behind her, a very rotund man that could have done with a little less on his plate at every meal. "A great honor, your lordship, to have you dine with us again."

Ronald exchanged a look with Frederick, the bowing and scraping wasn't something his father enjoyed from his subjects, he merely tolerated it. The further out into the country they went, the worse it became. In the villages closer to Camelot the Barons or village leaders would simply sit down with their father and enjoy an ale, exchanging anecdotes between discussing what needed to be heard.

"And it is a pleasure to visit you again. I have brought my two youngest sons with me this time as well. You may remember Ronald, I believe the last time he visited he was caught mucking about with your son in the back alley," his father laughed. "Thankfully he is passed that age now."

"Not our son," the bulbous man was quick to say. "Our servant boy. Our son would never dare to get covered in mud and be disrespectful, sir."

Ronald raised his eyebrow at that. So, he was being disrespectful then, was he?

"Apologies for my behavior then," he said, stepping forward. The man and his wife immediately looked ashamed about their poor choice of wording. "I'm sure you can understand that for a boy of only eight, it had been a rather tedious journey for me. Might I inquire as to where your servant boy is now? It had been my understanding that he was your nephew."

The couple had color rise to their cheeks and exchanged a worried glance. "He, he is out in the back, sir. Apologies, we didn't mean any insult."

"Let us never mind that," Ronald's father stepped in. "My men are thirsty and hungry. Shall we feast before discussing any concerns you might have?"

The couple were grateful for the change in conversation and were quick to get everyone their refreshments. Their son appeared just before the food arrived and Ronald could see clearly that this had not been the boy he'd played with. This boy could have used a few smaller portion sizes on his plate as well, and he was dressed in a most ostentatious manner.

"Gods, you could put him on a stick with an apple in his mouth," Frederick commented in disgust. "I've a feeling these people pride themselves on being the cocks with the most plumage in the roost."

Ronald gave a snort of derision, "meanwhile its always the most overstressed that are the ones that do the work."

Both he and his brother could recall the lesson their father taught them when they went to find new roosters for the Castle coop. He'd brought them out to a nearby farm and asked them to pick out the prize rooster they should bring home. The two of them, and their other brother George, all pointed out the prettiest bird there was; its plumage was well groomed and it stood a beak above the rest. Their father had smirked at them and shook his head, then proceeded to pick out the most worn down rooster, feathers all askew, the ones that it had left. It looked exhausted. 'This one's been out doing its job,' he told them. 'We don't want to be bringing a dandy rooster back and hoping for chicks.'

It had been a lesson for the three of them. They learned to pick out the people that were back broken from pulling their own weight, the people that were doing what they needed to to support their families and their kingdoms. They had also learned who was not worthy of their reward.

Like these people.

The food was good though, and the beer hit the spot.

"Thunder mug," Ronald said once he was finished, excusing himself to find a spot outside to relieve his bladder.

He went out the door and around to the side of the building, looking for a fair spot to do his business. It was a tad different to need to stand against a building rather than a fence post or tree. It seemed rude. It was necessary though.

As he was relieving himself, he heard the sound of an ax hitting wood, or something similar. It was coming from around the back of the building. After finishing his business, he went around the side of the building to investigate and spotted a slim man splitting wood with a mop of messy black hair that he remembered from his last visit.

"Hard at work then?" Ronald greeted him.

He couldn't recall his old playmates name, but the man gave a start and turned around to look at him.

Ronald was struck by how emaciated the mans face looked, and how out of proportion his almost hollow cheeks were compared to the muscles clearly showing in his arms. Ronald looked from the man to the building of the tavern and back again. This man was clearly being treated worse than simply being a servant. And by his own family no less.

"Do you remember me?" Ronald asked him.

The dark-haired man gave a nod and looked down at his arm a moment before looking back at him. Ronald too looked at the spot on the mans arm and saw there was a scar there that hadn't tanned from the sun like the rest of his skin.

Ronald felt himself growing indignant on the mans behalf. He knew a whipping scar when he saw one. The man looking down at it from the memory meant only one thing; those Dursley's had said that their servant boy/nephew had been disrespectful, did that mean that they had given him a lashing for doing as eight-year-olds were bound to do and playing?

That scar wasn't the only one showing on him either. There were several marks on his bared arms.

"P-please to see you again, my lord," the man managed to get out. He stood there, looking at a loss for what was expected of him to do next and as though struck by inspiration, gave an awkward bow.

"Don't do that," Ronald told him. "What have they been doing to you? Why are you still here?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Are you not their blood?" he inquired.

The man nodded. "Mrs. Dursley is my aunt."

"And they treat you like a slave? Give you beatings? Why are you still here? Why not run away?"

"To where?" There was no derision in his voice, it was simply a question, like he'd never had any options of going anywhere else and couldn't fathom leaving where he was due to all the unknowns.

Ronald was struck staring at him for a few moments. "What is your name?"

"Boy, er, Harry, my lord."

The rear door of the tavern opened just enough for a person to call out, "Boy, bring in more wood and put it in the oven. Don't dare think of taking anything from the kitchen for yourself."

Harry was quick to do as he was told and excused himself, piling the pieces of cut wood in his arms and hauling it up the few steps to the back door. Ronald chose to stay where he was.

Harry was clearly a hard worker, but he had also clearly been very downtrodden. Bedraggled, that was the best way to describe him. He needed more sustenance. He looked underfed and dehydrated, as well as sleep deprived and without adequate clothing.

Harry came back out and looked surprised that Ronald was still standing there.

Ronald's father had asked if Ronald would like a Squire, but Ronald had always turned down the offer. He could get along just fine by himself, he prided himself on it actually. He also didn't need anyone else cottoning on about his feelings for Miss Granger, he heard it enough from his brothers. This 'boy' before him though looked in need of a way out of this village and clearly did not know how to escape.

"What all chores do they have you taking care of here?" Ronald asked him.

Harry blinked at him a few times. "I cut the wood, clean the tavern, make the beer."

"Make the beer?" Ronald repeated in surprise.

"Yes, make the beer. I'm also responsible for caring for the animals and prepping them for meals."

"So, essentially, everything."

"Not the money," he was quick to say. "They won't let me near the money, or on the second floor," he said, looking up towards the top windows.

There were only two floors to the tavern though.

"Where do you sleep then?"

Harry looked towards a lean-to beside the wood storage.

Ronald felt his indignation grow deeper. "Would you like to leave?" It was more an invitation than a question and there was a shine of interest in Harry's eyes at it. "I am in need of a Squire. You look strong enough, you are clearly a hard worker and not afraid of taking orders. It would mean leaving with us and coming back to Camelot to live in the castle. You would be living in the servants quarters, which are much nicer than that," he pointed to the shed, "and you would make a decent wage and have your accommodations taken care of. Your wardrobe would need to be taken care of as well, I will see to that."

Harry's mouth was gaping slowly wider at each word. "Y-you want me to be your Squire? Why?"

"We were quick friends once, a decade ago. I suspect that we can be now as well. And there is always room for a man that can brew a good beer at the castle. I think we can clean you up and have you fit in easily."

He shook his head in worry. "The Dursley's though. They won't just let me leave."

"Why not? Are you indentured to them?"

"No. They just, they can't run the tavern without…" he cut himself off there and looked back at the building, then over to his 'home' before looking back at Ronald. It was as though he was just now realizing that the Dursley's needed him, not the other way around.

"They can't run this place without you, yet do they pay you anything? Treat you well? Give you a blanket to sleep with at least?"

"I have a blanket," Harry told him hastily.

"Did you make it yourself?" Ronald inquired.

Harry just stared at him, which was answer enough.

"Would you like to join our caravan and come back to the castle?" he asked again.

"Yes," Harry was quick to answer this time.

"Wonderful! I'll just pop back into the tavern and let my father know you will be joining us." Ronald clapped his hands together. "Why don't you see if there is anything in your… belongings, you might like to keep? You can ride a horse, can't you?"

"I'm a quick learner," he said eagerly.

There was the whisper of a smile and excitement crossing Harry's features and it pleased Ronald to see it there. "I'm sure you are. We should be leaving in an hour if there is anyone you would wish to say farewell to. We plan to spend the night making camp just outside the village. Tonight, you will share with my brother Frederick and I, that is, if he isn't off in a hayloft with some lady," he grinned.

"Are you sure, my lord?"

"I am sure, and please, only call me Ronald. Meet us around the front." Ronald went back into the tavern then as Harry hurried into his lean-to abode.

These people, Ronald thought as he came back into the tavern. The masters Dursley were still looking like the prideful cocks they pretended to be, and the lady was flitting around from one man to the next and filling their steins with beer.

He went to his brother first. "The 'servant boy' that they mentioned when we came in?" Ronald started. "He's the one doing all the work at this place, and you should see the state of him, it's disgusting. I'm taking father up on his offer of a Squire and bringing him with us."

Fredrick gave him a look like he was crazy. "You don't even know him. Can he hold a sword? Ride a horse?"

"He can brew beer," Ronald told him.

"Oh, then you won't hear a complaint from me," Fredrick backpedaled. "Just father you need to convince. Is he really a servant, or a nephew? I don't know that father will want to take him on if he needs full training, or if it will create contention with the land holders of the village when we have fully trained knights at home that are looking to retire to be your Squire."

"He will," Ronald was sure of it. "If he wants me to have a Squire, he will. I just need you to back me up."

"If the man made this," Fredrick lifted his stein, "then I'm here for you."

Ronald grinned at his brother and went to have a private word with his father. He explained the situation as calmly and rationally as he could. He knew that his father had a soft spot for those looking to be something better than the station they were born into, and his father agreed. The only problem now would be diplomatically informing the Dursley's that they were about to experience a drastic change to their day to day, having their 'not' slave gone.

"This is a lovely establishment you have," Lord Arthur said loudly to Mr. Dursley as he sat down across from him once more.

"We are glad it pleases you," Mr. Dursley grinned, showing nearly all his teeth.

"You do all the upkeep yourself?"

"Of course, my son and I. He's a good worker, he is."

"And the food, I would gather that your wife is the culinary master behind it."

"She is. Been planning the meal all week in preparation."

"Does she do the work with the animals as well then?"

"She prepares them, my son and I deal with the rest of it, not really a lady's place that bit," Mr. Dursley said knowingly and tapped the side of his nose.

"Ah yes, knowing and witnessing are two different things. I made sure all my children know what is involved with making their meals; from farming to animal husbandry, right up until they are on our plates. Not something they deal with every day, but it is important to know and understand. Like this trip of ours out here to discuss any issues you might have that the kingdom can help with. It isn't a daily trip, but they need to see such hard-working people like yourselves. And I think I have something to help ease your burden."

Ronald bit his tongue as he watched a greedy light shine in the eyes of Mr. Dursley. The piggy man thought he was going to be able to get extra compensation for putting on this show of a dinner.

"We are in need of another man to bring back with us, a footman of sorts, and would like to take your… nephew off your hands. It sounds like he is simply another mouth to feed, a bed to fill. We will take him with us, see if we can make use of him."

That greedy light was gone from Mr. Dursley's eye immediately. He started blinking rapidly and his drunken red face lost quite a bit of color. "I, I… perhaps my son would be better suited," he offered.

Ronald gave the son another once over. He doubted that his enormous arse would even fit on the back of a horse. He would need two men to help him onto one.

"Oh, no. A healthy boy like him, surely he is being groomed to take over your establishment. No, no, your nephew is an orphan, yes? My son saw him out back chopping wood and he looks strong, quiet. Let us take him with us, we will clean him up, mold him." Lord Arthur took his stein and drank back the remaining drops before placing it hard down on the wooden table as though it were a gavel. "It is decided." He pulled out his coin purse and separated out the golden coins to pay for their party's dinner. "You have been excellent hosts. May you receive all that is deserved coming your way."

The last was easily translated to be a well wished farewell and Ronald schooled his features when his father caught his eye before leaving.

The three Dursley's were the only persons left in the bar as the rest of the men left. Ronald saw them through the window, still staring dumbfounded at the door, and had himself a chuckle.

Harry was standing nervously with only a small satchel slung over his shoulder that couldn't have contained a spare change of clothes. Ron went to him and inclined his head for Harry to follow.

"Harry, this is Fredrick," he introduced his brother. "And this is Pig," he introduced one of their extra horses.

"Pig?" Harry asked.

"Pigwidgeon," Fredrick rolled his eyes as he mounted his horse. "Our sister likes giving our animals stupid names."

"Pig will be your horse. Here," Ron handed him the reigns as well as some bread and cheese. "I would assume that you hadn't been granted your evening meal. We will have a small tea when we make camp as well."

Harry accepted the food with a small blush as well as the reigns and made haste about mounting it. Clumsily, but he managed.

()()()

Ginny was excited. She ran through the castle, down all the stone spiral staircases and into the library where her friend was sitting, completely enraptured in a new book they had acquired.

"They're back! I spotted the whole party of them in the distance through the looking glass at the highest tower," she exclaimed, launching herself into the cushioned armchair next to Hermione.

Hermione grinned at Ginny's enthusiasm but still held part of herself reserved. "I suppose this will mean I'll be seeing less of you now that your brothers are back with all sorts of stories to keep you entertained."

"Likely," Ginny admitted honestly. "Which will mean less of me interrupting you reading through these books for the fourth time."

"I have not read them all four times."

"Exactly, you've read them all three times," she goaded.

Hermione's pretty cheeks reddened but she wasn't embarrassed.

"And how much longer do you think it will be before you give in and give my brother Ronald a chance? He is entirely smitten with you, and you already have my stamp of approval, so the family knows you won't turn out like my other horrible sisters-in-law."

Now the red in her friend's cheeks was from embarrassment. "I just don't think we are well suited. He is nice and I like him alright, but I just don't understand how two people can be with each other like that without common interest."

Ginny scoffed, "your common interest is each other. You've read through the romance books in here, you know that the man is always a brute and the woman is always a damsel, and those books always end with a 'happily ever after'."

"Those are the books you read," Hermione corrected. "Real stories don't have a happy ending, there is always turbulence. I'm sure your brothers Percival and Charles expected a happy ending to their stories too and they haven't got that, have they?"

"Excuses, excuses. You and I have been great friends for nigh-on a decade and Ronald has been head over heels for you for at least half of that time." Ginny ignored the sputtering protests Hermione gave then and continued on, "you properly know each other, now I think it is time you gave him a chance and let him court you. You know that if it works out and you two become married he wouldn't ask you to change, he would probably buy you every book he came across, English or not, simply to keep you happy while he is out hunting or jousting or something."

"Ginevra," Hermione sighed, it was her way of asking Ginny to stop pushing.

"Fine, I've said my piece for the day on this subject, but I won't give up. Because I don't want my favorite brother to wind up married off to some wretched woman just because you turned him down, so just know that I won't ever give up on it."

Despite all the protests that Hermione had given Ronald and Ginny about it over the years, Ginny knew that Hermione was simply worried that she would wind up with a broken heart.

Ginny also knew that for a long time it was actually Fredrick that Hermione had fancied, back when they were both about ten and Frederick was growing into a man. But then Fredrick started philandering and speaking of his conquests to his friends and brothers where both she and Hermione could hear. It had been a big disappointment to Hermione and she'd begun holing herself up in the library more than anything else ever since.

Hermione wasn't oblivious to Ronald's attempts to win her over, she was just scared.

To Ginny though, she thought Hermione was simply being stupid. Ronald couldn't try to woo her forever, one day he was going to give up and have to try and find another woman for his bride and Hermione was going to wind up more heartbroken than ever and having to live with that regret.

Ginny wished there was someone that would woo her like that.

She'd had inquiries made to her father about whether someone's son would be allowed the opportunity to court her, and that had been flattering, but she had yet to return the interest. All the men that her father had approved of seemed too… dapper? Polite? Reserved?

She didn't know her exact issue with each of the men that came to call on her, and that bothered her.

There had been something missing with each man she had been set up to meet with. They talked too much, they talked too little, they had strong opinions that varied from hers, they didn't like that she had opinions, sometimes it was just the way they looked at her. The looks were either like she was their meal ticket, or she was someone they wished to bed.

None of them had shown the interest in her that Ronald showed in Hermione and it exasperated Ginny that her friend couldn't see it. Or couldn't believe it.

"Fine, you stay here and hide, I'm going to go knick something from the kitchens and make sure the staff all know that the party has returned."

"We've only just had mid-day tea!" Hermione exclaimed.

"And I've actually been moving around all day," Ginny spoke back, "I'm not sitting stationary in a chair. I get hungry!"

By the time she'd gotten to the kitchens in the basement the staff were already in a tizzy because they'd been informed about the returning party. It meant that Winifred, the Head Cook, was too busy to notice that Ginny had stolen a few treacle tarts. She was allowed, of course, but Winifred had become like a second mother to all the Weasley children in her tenure and wasn't afraid to tell them off for eating too much.

On her way out of the kitchen she came across her actual mother.

"Mum! Did you hear?" she asked excitedly.

"I did, I also received a message letting me know that your brother Ronald has finally given in and acquired a Squire from one of the villages. We need to get a room ready for him."

"Ronald? A Squire?" Ginny laughed with surprise. "Do we know anything about him?"

"Just that he has been very helpful so far and your father approves of the boy as well."

"Boy?" Ginny was shocked. She would have expected Ronald's inevitable Squire to have been called 'man' by her mother.

"He appears to be the same age as Ronald and he wasn't so much 'hired' as 'freed' according to the message I received. I'm sure we will learn more about this when they return shortly," she said, her patience growing thin considering all there was to do now to ready the staff. "Now, go and inform one of the maids to do up the room next to Ronald's, the empty footman's room, that will do for now."

Ginny felt her bubble of excitement in her chest growing. It was always so exciting when everyone returned. Her father always brought something back for her and her mother and now they were bringing a person back with them too!

Already she was wondering what his story was, where he was from, how he came to be in their employ. Ronald wouldn't just agree to anyone being charged with following him around all the time.

Ginny told one of the maids to get the room ready and then raced back up to the highest tower to steal a peek through the looking glass again and see how much closer they had gotten. They were about a half hours ride from the bridge, so in another two hours they would be there!

The guard stationed at the tower gave a chuckle as she nearly squealed with delight, they were used to her being unable to control her emotions.

Back down the stairs she went and to the stables, passing her mother again on the way.

"Would you please, for my sake, at least pretend you are a lady every once and a while?!" she hollered after her down the corridor. "Honestly, you shouldn't be running and exerting yourself like this."

Ginny didn't listen though. She had long ago stopped trying to please her parents by schooling her impulses. They had tried and failed several times to make her behave more like Hermione did; calmly walking one step after another, keeping her voice at a pleasing decibel, leaving the fun and games to the men.

She had idolized her brothers and wished she were allowed to accompany her father on these trips of his to the villages. That would have involved too much extra work for the men though, or so her father claimed; It meant they would need to carry a tent specifically for her, possibly a carriage, a private area for a latrine, etc. And it didn't matter how many times she told him she didn't need all that, he simply wouldn't allow his people to think he couldn't provide those basic female 'necessities'.

Instead, she made herself happy by getting into all sorts of un-ladylike business in the Castle; jousting, blacksmithing, mucking out the stalls, sword play, archery, anything to keep her moving, keep her busy. And her parents seemed okay with her doing that so long as they weren't hosting any guests.

In the stables she grabbed a rake and started assisting with pulling the hay across the stalls for the horses and hauling buckets of water from the well and into the troughs, keeping her body busy was helping to keep her excitement in check. It didn't stop her from jumping up and down once the gates to the stables were open and the party came in.

She was in her father's horses stall and rested her arms on the gate, fingers clasped together, grinning like mad as he came in.

All the staff bowed to him as they stood out of the way for the many hooves thundering into the area. There were twenty men in the party and directing their horses into their stalls. Ginny was blocking her fathers though.

"Well, hello there," he grinned at her as he dismounted.

"Well, hello to you as well My Lord," she greeted him back.

"What brings you down to this level of the castle on such a fine day. Should you not be out in a meadow picking wildflowers?"

"And miss your arrival?"

"The wildflowers might have been a nice way of greeting us," he said with a shine of laughter in his eyes.

"Will you be able to make do with a hug?"

"Well, if I must," he pretended to sigh.

Ginny giggled and rather than opening the gate, she climbed over it and leapt into her father's arms like she was still a child and not a woman just come of age. He still caught her though and laughed loudly. "One of these days you are going to knock me on my back and I'll never be able to ride again."

She could hear a few laughs around them as she hugged her father tightly. "Was it a good journey? Will you tell me everything? Oh! And where is Ronald?" she asked, pulling back and looking around for her closest brother.

"It was good, and you will hear all about it once we've all had a wash and changed out of our riding clothes. Now go off and let your old man rest some and find his wife."

Ginny gave him a kiss to his cheek and came across Fredrick next, who ruffled her hair and gave her a kiss to the forehead, he was incredibly smelly though and she held him off at arm's length. "What happened to you? Did someone dump the latrine on you?"

A touch of color came to his face, "something like that," he mumbled and hurried off.

William came over to give her a hug. "He fell off the back of his horse and into a pile."

This was surprising. "He never falls off his horse, how did that happen?" At the responding eye roll she assumed it had something to do with the drink.

Then she spotted Ronald.

"You!" she called out and rushed over to him, giving him a big hug. He, mercifully, smelled much better than Fredrick. "I heard you now have a Squire! Who is it?" she looked around for an unfamiliar face, then Ronald turned her around on the spot to see the unfamiliar man was now standing not three feet from her.

She could understand her father referring to him as a 'boy' rather than a man. He did look a bit older than her, but there was an innocence about him. He looked strong though, had dark hair and beautiful green eyes. There was a few days scruff on his cheeks, cheeks that looked a bit hollow. His coloring though, he seemed to be in good health.

"And what is your name?" Ginny asked him.

"Harry, miss," he told her. He seemed shy and like he wasn't sure how he was meant to behave.

"Ginny, this is Harry. We ran into each other again in one of the small villages near our border."

"Again?" she wondered.

"I remembered playing with him as a boy on my last trip out there. He was in need of work, and I was tired of father telling me I needed a Squire, so here we are."

"Oh, that's lovely! You've gotten yourself a friend as well then. Well, Harry, we've the maids making up your room and you can have a wash and change your clothes there before dinner." She looked back at her brother. "And I may have something on me that will help tide you over until then," she said in a sing-song voice.

"You have?" Ronald asked delightedly. "Where is it?"

Ginny giggled as he turned her from side to side, searching for the treat. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the napkin she'd stashed the treacle tarts in. "One for you," she gave one to Ronald, "and one for you," she said to Harry.

Harry looked astounded that she would offer him the treat, merely staring down at her hand a moment.

"Go on then, Harry," Ronald encouraged him. "You haven't lived until you've tried our Winifred's treacle tarts."

Harry took it then and gave a nod of thanks before taking a delicate bite and his eyes lit up with wonder at the taste. "This is delicious."

"And there will be more of it at dinner," Ginny told him. "You look like you could use some more skin on your bones," she said and went towards him, giving him a pat on his cheek.

It was only a short moment, but the look he gave her as her hand touched his cheek, it reminded her of when she'd found a feral kitten and been the first person to ever show it affection, like it hadn't known whether to flinch, attack, or let it happen. She'd been seven when she came across the kitten and she'd nursed it to health, given it love and it had followed her around the castle for years before it met its end.

And just like she had with the kitten, she realized that Harry may need a more progressive approach to the Weasley way of camaraderie.

She took her hand back and decided to focus her attention back on Ron so Harry didn't feel like he was the center of attention.

"And how long do you think it will be before you need to go back out with father on that trip? One year? Five years?" she teased, knowing he hadn't wanted to go, as she helped him stable his horse.

"I'm hoping at least ten years. We'll see if it is a task the twins can take over together once they've got their wilding out."

"Are you telling me you've never indulged in that same kind of wilding?" Ginny asked with a wink. She thought Ronald wouldn't be the type to, but stranger things had happened than a man falling into temptation with a willing woman, even when he had a love interest waiting at home for him.

William overheard her, however. "Ginevra, that is not something for a lady to be discussing!"

"And, no," Ronald told her pointedly. "I wouldn't chance it."

Because he didn't want to lose favor with Hermione, Ginny finished his sentence for him in her mind.

"Right you are, William," Ginny called to him. "So, I shall do as the lady is supposed to and take upon the heavy burden of showing our new Squire where his room is." Then she decided to wax dramatic, "oh, it is so hard to be a lady."

Ron snickered, William did not look approving of her jest though; he had been fine with her running around with her brothers when she was younger, but now she was supposed to be putting all of her etiquette training to the test and finding a suitable man to marry and run his household.

William wasn't in charge of her though, not until her father passed, heaven forbid.

"Do you at least know where my wife is?" William asked her.

"She is on bedrest," Ginny told him. "She'll be in her room, and your first born is in the playroom adjoining your own."

William and his wife Fleur were nauseatingly in love, like her mother and father were. They each had their own bedroom, but William only stayed in his when Fleur was with child and woefully uncomfortable and feeling unable to share her own bed. Their son, Victor, was three and Ginny adored him. She liked Fleur as well, but it had been a difficult road coming to friendly terms with the French goddess.

Ron had begun brushing down his horse while it was filling its belly, so she turned to see how Harry was fairing with Pigwedgon. He was having some difficulty with the saddle straps.

"Would you like some help?"

He jumped at her sudden presence.

"Apologies, you will get used to me, I'm sure."

"N-no, my apologies, my lady. I am sure I will get used to needing my fingers to be so dexterous, but as it is-"

"You've had a long journey. Let me," she stepped forward and pulled the straps of the buckle free, going to pull the saddle down herself, but Harry got there quicker, lifting it as though it weighed nothing.

"Well, you are strong, aren't you?" she smiled kindly at him. "And you may simply call me Ginny. Reserve calling me 'my lady' for when we are in the presence of company."

His eyes darted around and saw the number of men and women around the stalls.

"She means 'honored guests," Ron explained to Harry.

Harry nodded.

"Come now," Ginny instructed him. "You need a wash before the feast, and I need to hear stories from the journey."

Again, Harry looked to Ron for permission.

"Calm yourself, Ginny. I didn't give him fair enough warning of your exuberance," Ron chastised her. "She never tires," he explained to Harry.

"I do! For those hours in the night when my eyes are closed," she giggled.

Harry said nothing, he merely nodded.

Ginny gave her brother a look of question, but he pointedly ignored it, which to her meant that in front of Harry was not the appropriate time to inquire as to his behavior.

They left the stables and made their way through the castle, Ginny acting as tour guide for Harry and pointing out the different rooms and courtyards on each floor as they went higher.

"You'll have to take a wander around to grow accustomed to it. Generally, if a door is opened then you are welcome to enter. I imagine you will be with Ronald most of the time, but you will have plenty of time to yourself as well when there aren't any events or training to prepare for."

"I see we are headed higher and towards my room?" Ronald asked her.

"We have him set up in the footman's room next to yours," Ginny told him.

"Oh! Okay. You'll have a nice view of the city from there," Ronald told Harry.

Harry said nothing as his eyes darted from painting to window to opened door and into the rooms around him.

Once they were before Ronald's room, he bade them farewell and let Harry know he would let him get settled and they could meet again in an hours time.

"And here is your room," Ginny showed him in.

It wasn't a large space, enough for a bed and a dresser, a desk, and there was another table for his washing up.

"Myrtle, one of the maids, found a few articles of clothing that once belonged to my brother Charlie and they should fit you alright. Well, they will fit you alright." Again, she wondered over his nutrition. It wouldn't do him any good for her to start fretting over him though when they didn't know each other very well, and when there was no one there to accompany her.

"There is fresh water in the pitcher," she showed him on the washing table. "And a flannel. You can leave your things to be washed in this basket and put it outside your room at night. The maids will wash and darn or stitch up whatever you need taken care of."

Harry stood there, looking around at his room, and she couldn't tell what he was making of his new home.

"I'll just leave you to get acquainted with everything," she told him kindly and backed out of the room, making sure to leave the door open. Something about the way he was behaving made her think that if she were to be the one to close the door then he might feel like he was obligated to stay in there.

()()()

It was like he had been transported to an entirely new world.

He'd overheard about the generosity of strangers, but he never thought he would experience it like this; at most when he'd heard that expression he'd thought of someone giving him a loaf of bread.

When Ronald had rescued him from the Dursley's and given him a job and accommodations, he'd still had reservations about what would have been expected of him. Nothing though could have been worse than what he had already been enduring. He knew he was being mistreated; he knew that he had been the only one doing work around the tavern. He hadn't realized until Ronald pointed it out though that the Dursley's wouldn't be able to operate things by themselves. They'd never learned how to take care of the animals; they'd sent him to learn it from the farmer. They'd also not brewed beer or cleaned in the last seven or so years, not since he'd been old enough and strong enough to do it himself.

The two weeks he'd spent with Ronald and Fredrick on the remainder of their journey had been something out of a story book; he'd had a clean bed and a full belly every night, even though they were on the road and had to set up camp every night as well. He'd had so little that was needed of him that he felt lost. He had made sure to stay where anyone could see him and call on him the first day, then he took to following Ronald around.

They were all so friendly as well, he wasn't used to such socialization. Everyone in Little Whining had thought he was something of a mental case because of the way his relatives spoke of him. With the caravan though everyone was quick to offer him a smile and a nod.

His horse too, Pig, he was an excitable spirit and very affectionate.

It had begun on the third night that Ronald and Fredrick had started showing him how to use a sword. They did gentle moves with him at first and Harry took to it quickly. By the last night he had managed to disarm Fredrick and rather than being angry with him, all those around had clapped and given him a cheer.

Lord Arthur even spoke to him directly, telling him that he would make an excellent Squire if he learned everything else he needed to know that quickly.

What had shocked him more than anything else though, it wasn't seeing the castle or eating treacle tart for the first time, or even the large room with a beautiful view that was just for him, it was Ginevra, or Ginny.

She had touched him.

She was young and beautiful and full of spirit.

He'd spotted her leaning on the gate of the center stall when they'd rode in and his heart had stopped.

He'd thought she was one of the many servant girls that worked in the castle initially and when she'd jumped over the fence to embrace Lord Arthur he'd been astounded, wondering if that was the way all the servants in the castle greeted him.

But no, she was the youngest of the Weasleys.

And she'd not only brought him a special treat, she'd also been excited to meet him. Him. She'd given him the treat, welcomed him and put a hand on his cheek!

The gentle caress of her lovely hand against his jaw had been an intimate gesture, the most intimate gesture he could ever remember receiving.

The way she said his name too, with a smile.

And everyone had been using his name. That was an adjustment too. He was beginning to believe he would never hear anyone call him 'boy' again.

Now he had been at the castle for two weeks and was beginning to grow comfortable. On the third day there Ronald had caught him standing outside his room first thing in the morning and asked what he was doing, that was when Harry admitted to him that he didn't know what he was allowed to do. Ronald laughed then and told him that they would come up with a list of tasks he was needed to complete; minding the horses, polishing the armor, practicing with the bow and arrow as well as jousting and sword play; whenever those tasks were completed though, he was free to do as he wished.

It wasn't that difficult or time consuming; he needed to be prepared when there was a tournament or a war, but they had time to train him before either of those things were yet known to be occurring.

So, he had taken to walking around the castle when he awoke. He familiarized himself with the different rooms and the people that worked there.

Winifred, the cook, took one look at him and started plying him with food. She had calmed down once he had been there a few days and gained some substance to his cheeks.

He felt stronger than ever before, but also lazy since he was used to working from dusk until dawn, and here that wasn't necessary.

He had spent one evening in the tallest tower where he had made friends with a guard named Hagrid, he too was an orphan that had been brought to the castle from one of the farthest villages in the region, they found a kindred spirit in each other, and Harry had gone back to visit with him a few times now.

What he most loved about wandering around the castle though was when he spotted Ginny. She was always quick to smile at him. The first night there, at the evening feast, she had come to sit beside him once the plates were cleared away and began bombarding him with questions about what it was like growing up in a village.

He couldn't understand her fascination with it, he answered her questions only in so many words. He was too worried about making a fool of himself by accidentally saying something disrespectful or admitting how uneducated he was. There were many words used by the Weasley men that he didn't know the meaning of.

Another area of the castle that housed Lord William and his family he had discovered not too long after arriving as well, and he was embarrassed to admit that he spent a good deal of time lurking outside the playroom of the young Lord Victor. It wasn't because of the child, or because of the woman minding him, but because the woman was teaching the child to read.

Harry had never learned to read. He had figured out numbers by himself, but not reading.

That was his mission today.

Ronald had introduced him to the woman that taught Lord Victor, it was Ronald's love interest, Hermione.

And Harry knew that she spent more time being a companion for Ginevra and in the castle library than anything else. He didn't know if she would have time for it, or possibly look at him in disgust, and he didn't know if he needed Ronald's permission for it either but was too afraid to ask Ronald and have his request rejected.

The door to the library was open and Harry paced back in front of it a few times as he worked up the nerve to enter. He hadn't been in there yet, it had been pointed out to him previously and he had glanced through the door then to see Ginevra and Hermione relaxing on armchairs by the window, Hermione had been reading but Ginevra had been resting her head back and enjoying the feel of the sunlight coming in through the window on her face. It had made her look radiant.

She wasn't in the library right now though.

Hermione was.

Harry squared his shoulders and stepped inside, and his eyes had immediately widened as he saw the sheer number of bound books lining the three walls around him.

There were so many! And he had no idea what they could all possibly contain.

"Harry?" Hermione called his name softly.

"I-I had no idea," he stammered.

"No idea about what?" She stood up from her chair and came to stand beside him where he now stood facing a bookshelf. "Is there something I could help you find?"

He glanced down at her then looked back at the books. "I've been meaning to ask a favor of you," he almost whispered.

"Is it something for Ronald?" she asked with a blush as she tucked a lock of her curly hair behind her ear.

"No," he was quick to respond. "Something for… me." He took a deep breath before carrying on. "I happened to overhear you teaching Lord Victor about reading, and the alphabet."

"Yes. I spend some time with him every other day."

"Is it difficult?"

Her brow creased. "Teaching a child to read?"

He shifted uncomfortable and then met her eye. "Learning to read."

She grew understandably surprised, but a moment later she regarded him kindly and offered a smile. "It takes time and commitment but considering your age you might catch on quicker than you think you would."

"Do you think your schedule would allow you time to give me a few lessons? I wouldn't want to become a burden."

"I would be happy to teach you! If you like, I can meet with you for an hour or so after dinner a few days a week?"

"I would be eternally grateful." He felt a weight lifting off of him. "I do find it, erm, somewhat of an embarrassment though?" he told her meaningfully, hoping she would catch on.

Her responding expression told him she understood completely. "People rarely come in here in the evenings due to the poor lighting, and you can trust me to keep your secret."

Twice a week after that interaction he managed to meet with Hermione in the library to learn from her, and every evening he practiced what he learned. She seemed to delight in his progress and determination. If only she knew part of the reason behind his determination was to find some way to woo Ginny, for if Hermione knew she might not be so willing to continue aiding him in his pursuit.

Harry had heard many a man talk of how women loved poetry, that poetry and gifts were the way to a woman's heart.

Well, he didn't have the money for gifts so he thought that if there was a way for him to put pen to paper and express himself that way, then maybe she might see him in that light.

His heart sank however when he was practicing with Ronald in the courtyard one day. Ronald was speaking of how there was a son of a Duke that had come to escort Ginny around the garden path.

"Does he visit often?" Harry asked as they parried.

"No. I don't know that I've met this one before."

"This one?"

"She has a few gentleman coming to call her, has for three or four years now. None of them have come back more than twice though," Ronald told him dismissively.

"She likes to scare them off, our Ginny does," George grinned as he joined into the sparring. "She's been sheltered here in the castle, doesn't really put on the show that the men are used to from potential wives. And she's a bit picky," he added.

"Kind of like our little Ronald here," Fredrick added as he too jumped into the sparring. "Only having eyes for one woman."

"Lady Ginevra has someone picked out then?" Harry couldn't resist asking.

He'd grown very comfortable with the Weasley boys since first arriving at the castle. They were so welcoming and constantly reassuring him that he needn't do all the bowing and scraping that he felt obligated to. It was like they were all friends, not like Harry was in their employ.

And forever to be indebted to them for saving him from his bleak life.

"No, she doesn't. Our mother is going to start putting the pressure on her soon though," Ronald told him. "She'd be nagging after the three of us to find a wife, but I've already made my wishes clear and these two are much too promiscuous to interest anyone high borne."

Again, he felt a weight sink in his belly.

They were expected to marry someone high borne. Of course they were.

Which meant that it didn't matter his affections for her, Ginevra would always be someone he aspired to have. His only consolation would have to be seeing her happy.

()()()

She felt the hairs on her neck starting to prickle pleasantly and knew it was because he was staring at her again.

Since he had arrived at the castle she had noticed he would spend part of his meal looking at her. At first she had taken it as him familiarizing himself with the new people around him, but then it continued.

Two months now he had been at the castle with them and he looked like a new man.

He was full bodied, had a haircut, been properly washing himself and changing his clothes regularly. That feral cat look of his had been diminishing slowly and he was becoming docile; he was talking and laughing with the men on the other side of the table regularly.

It had been her instinct when she'd first seen him to care for him, but he didn't need that. Not the nursing kind of care she had initially thought he might need, he just need companionship and understanding as he adjusted to living in this new world. She had now heard the full story from Ronald about Harry's family and living conditions and why he had been taken away from that.

He was incredibly handy.

Any new task he had been given he was quick to grasp.

She had watched him practicing in the courtyards with her brothers a few times and he was giving Ronald a good amount of competition.

Her interest in him though, her romantic interest, that had begun one day a few weeks ago.

There had been a few ladies from the market that came to the castle to present their wares to her mother and they'd been passing by the courtyard, making a point of showing themselves to the boys, pointedly flaunting themselves a bit for all the men there. Fredrick and George had taken the ladies bait, Harry though, he had simply waited politely until they could begin practice again. Then later that same day she had gone to the library after dinner out of boredom and overheard Hermione in there with Harry. Ginny's first thought was that they were having a clandestine meeting, but soon realized what she was hearing was Hermione teaching Harry to read.

It hadn't occurred to her that he might not know how.

He had helped make the beer, and that had required a recipe, so she assumed that he could read.

She had stood by the door for several minutes and listened in. She listened to Harry voicing his appreciation to Hermione for her patience with him and her help. The sincerity there had touched Ginny's heart.

Now she couldn't help noticing him; his green eyes, his toned arms, his shy smile. His ability to completely master everything put before him. As she thought over all the appealing qualities of him it sounded like a romance novel characterization in her mind and made her wet her lips involuntarily.

And she was longing to do something about it.

She had no idea how though.

He was Ronald's squire. The only time they had together was during meals.

Ginny looked down the table toward him and met his gaze, offering him a smile. He didn't look away then, like most other men she had smiled at did, nor did he raise an eyebrow and smirk, like she had seen her brothers do to interested ladies. Harry just held her eyes and she felt shivers run through her whole body because of it. Her breath became shallow as she stared at those beautiful green orbs.

Then someone called her attention in the other direction and their shared moment was broken.

That evening she decided to try and arrange a 'chance' encounter with him. She left her room near sundown and went towards the library, listening to hear Harry reading his words aloud to Hermione. She passed by the room and then hid a bit out of sight. She felt silly the entire time, but felt there was nothing for it, she didn't know how else to get him on his own.

A short time later, Hermione was the one to leave the library first, and Ginny went in a few moments later.

Harry was still there at one of the table's, his head bent over a book and his finger slowly trailing along the page.

"Con-stir-na, con-stir-nay… nat?" he was muttering under his breath.

"Consternation?" Ginny offered.

He jumped and sat up quickly, shutting the book closed and standing up.

"Don't mind me," Ginny said, going over to the shelf of books behind him and pretending to be looking for something in particular, when really she just wanted to be closer to him.

"Consternation?" he repeated back to her.

"Mhmm, to be upset or anxious."

"There is a word for everything, isn't there?"

"I feel that there are more and more every day. The English language keeps adopting words from other languages as well." She looked over at him, he was only a foot away from her and had not moved since he stood up. "We keep finding new words as ways to dance around telling someone how we really feel."

He swallowed. "What book are you looking for?" He was not making any eye contact with her, she felt that was on purpose.

She could do this back and forth with him, she hoped to ease him into being comfortable conversing with her. "Something frivolous, I think. I am feeling the pressure to be someone I am not with all of these walks I am being told to go on with potential suitors and it is mentally exhausting."

Still his eyes did not meet her own, but there was a movement he made at her mention the gentleman that had come to court her, it was small jerk of his shoulder and she wondered if it might have come from irritation. "I have a hard time believing you can be anyone but yourself with these men," he told her politely.

Ginny turned back to the shelf and withdrew a book at random. "For the sake of my mother I do at least add a layer of paint on my face and resist the urge to tell these men everything that is going on in my head."

"Like what?"

She turned back to look at him and smiled, seeing that he was now looking at her properly. "Like how I may not be a child anymore, but when I see a field of dandelions, I still feel the temptation to make a crown out of them and pretend I am a fairy princess."

That earned a large grin from Harry. "I would imagine a crown such as that would suit you."

She gave him a nod of thanks, then bit her bottom lip and looked back to the shelf.

"Something the matter?" he asked, his voice full of gentle concern.

Ginny didn't want to put on some coquettish show for him, but she didn't know how else to make him understand the position she was in and hope, desperately hope, that he was receptive. "It's these suitors I am being obligated to see. I keep hoping that one of them will spark my fancy, but so far, no luck. I read these books about romance and I've yet to experience any. What I would love is to have some kind of experience with it while not having it sully my family name. Some way to just… know what it will be like."

She couldn't look at him then and she felt that it had grown exceptionally quiet in the room.

It was too forward of her.

"Like practicing to prepare for a tournament," he said.

Her finger trailed along the spine of a thick leather-bound book and she tried not to smile. "Yes, I suppose that would be a good metaphor. In practice you don't aim to kill, you just… play at it." She turned to him then. "Speaking of which, I've noticed you practicing with the sword, and you have become quite adept. You are forcing Ronald to fight harder than he had before."

"That is why I'm here, isn't it? To help Ronald with whatever he needs?"

Now she felt she was bordering on the verge of becoming a scarlet woman but needed to ask. "And is it only Ronald that you are looking to… help?"

It was the wonderment in his eyes that made her take a step toward him. She placed her hand in his tunic, right over his heart, then dared to come that last step.

She knew he wouldn't dare be the one to lean down and kiss her, so she took care of that for him and rose up onto her toes, kissing him very gently. It was a whisper of a kiss, but it felt like so much more. She had never kissed a man before, all the books she'd read and all the stories she'd heard had it told in such a fantastical way that made it sound like her whole world would have altered. Alas, it simply made her heart beat faster and her nerves stand on end because she knew she'd done something she shouldn't have.

She took a step back from him and they stared at each other. He still had that light in his eyes, the look of wonderment, but made no move to respond to her advances.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just… wanted to know what it would feel like. I've never… I like you. You're sweet and strong and… and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," she blushed.

She clutched her one book tight in her hand and left the room, heading straight for her own, hoping she would be able to get there before she fainted from the embarrassment of it.

When Ginny got to her room, she closed the door and leaned against it.

She'd just kissed him.

She kissed her brothers Squire, someone who was still integrating into his new life at the castle. She shouldn't have done that. She should have simply given him a favor or something to show her growing affection for him.

Though, he might not have understood what it would mean if she were to have given him her handkerchief, or a flower, or anything else she might have had to offer him.

No, of course she had to go right ahead and kiss him. Internally she was screaming at herself. Externally, she put her fingers to her lips and tried to recall how it had felt.

It had been over in a flash. It would have taken longer for the wick on a candle to stop glowing orange after being blown out! And he hadn't responded.

Oh, what if he told?!

He could have told Ronald, and then what would Ronald say to her? Would he bring it to their father? Or worse, their mother?

Ginny started walking towards her vanity where her washing bowl had been waiting for her and she froze.

What if Harry did tell and he was cast out of the castle?

She turned her head back to look at the door, wondering if she should go and talk to him, tell him not to mention a word of it to anyone.

It was late though, and if she was caught going to his room then it would just make things so much worse.

She simply washed herself quickly and changed into her nightdress and lay down in bed. There was nothing she could do just then; it would have to wait until tomorrow.

Ginny closed her eyes and willed sleep to overcome her, which it finally did in the early hours of the next morning. When she awoke, she felt like she'd gotten almost no sleep at all, but it was a new day's sunlight that was illuminating her room and if she stayed in bed for much longer then someone would be sent to get her.

She didn't want that. Her room was hers, she hated when people came into it while she was occupying it, particularly when she was in bed. So, she rose up, brushed her hair, washed her face and pulled on one of her simpler dresses.

Today she would be assisting in the stables.

She was likely to run into Harry in the stables.

There were still a few staff and family members at the tables when she went to break fast, Ronald and Harry were not among them, and no one gave her more than the normal courteous greeting. She relaxed some and was able to eat her food, then she went down to say hello to Winifred in the kitchen and saw that there were freshly made tarts and put a few of them in her napkin and into her pocket for later.

In the stables no one behaved any differently around her than usual, so she simply got to work.

An hour or so into cleaning out the stalls, her mother approached.

"Ginny," she greeted kindly. It was the sort of kindly that could only mean one thing.

As her back was turned to her mother just then, Ginny closed her eyes a moment and braced herself on her pitch fork before turning around.

"Hello, mother," she said with a forced smile.

"I want you to be spending time with Hermione in the library tomorrow."

Oh no, that meant only one thing.

Ginny was about to respond and ask who it was she needed to be looking her best for, when Ronald's horse came trotting into the stables with Ronald astride him, followed, of course, by Harry.

They locked eyes for a moment and Ginny forced herself to look back at her mother.

"His surname is McLaggen and his father is a Duke, they trade in wheat and livestock. He is educated and will be looking for a woman that also has some education. I've heard from a few people that he is rather attractive and enjoys tournaments. He's the best prospect I've seen thus far. Hopefully you two will be able to get along." The last sentence sounded more like a warning that Ginny had best put more effort into making this work than the previous ones.

"I promise I will bathe, wear a nice frock and be waiting in the library to be surprised," Ginny sighed.

"That is all I ask," her mother said with a satisfied smile before leaving.

Ginny followed her with her eyes, a desolate expression on her face.

"Why the look?" Ronald asked from the other side of the fence.

He had come to stand there, arms folded on the top plank and Harry had come over as well, he wasn't standing quite as close as Ronald though.

"You are very lucky that you get more of a choice with this than I do," was all Ginny said to him before turning her back on him to do more sweeping.

"You're saying you don't like the attention you've been getting from these men lately?" he laughed.

"I'm saying," she gritted her teeth and turned back to him, "I don't enjoy being paraded around like this. I know it is my whole purpose of being, or what have you, but I'd rather I had the choice, like you do. And you aren't receiving the same pressure from them like I am."

"I say you just pick one," he shrugged. "He would likely leave you alone most of the time anyhow."

Ginny frowned at him. "That's what you'd do, is it?" she challenged. "Just pick a woman at random and spend the rest of your life tied to her? Because our parents want you to?"

"My situation is a bit different. I've already found someone I want to be with. Meanwhile, you've never shown interest in any man."

She couldn't resist the pull she felt to look at Harry again, and he was still looking directly at her as well with an unreadable expression.

Ginny leaned her pitchfork against the fence and pulled out the napkin in her pocket which still held three, slightly squished, tarts, offering one to Ronald before taking one herself. She now had an excuse to look at Harry, and held out her hand to him with the last remaining tart. She didn't hold her breath, but the moment of anxiety that passed over her before Harry moved to accept her offering made her feel like she had.

She put the napkin back in her pocket.

"Say there was someone though," Ginny started, looking skyward and trying to make the question seem as hypothetical as possible. "Someone that wasn't a Duke or Lord or something. There would be a decided difference in station, like with Hermione and yourself, do you think our parents would be okay with that?"

As soon as the question was out of her mouth she started eating the tart. Ronald couldn't answer right away because he had put the entire tart in his mouth.

Ginny noticed how stiff Harry had become then, how forced his movement was when he took a proper sized bite of his own treat.

"They seem okay with my wooing Hermione," Ronald finally got out. "Though, I'm a man. You being a woman, they'd probably want someone who could look after you… you know, financially."

Ginny noticed how Harry's eyes had darted to the back of Ronald's head and the corners of his lips had turned into a frown. She had started feeling a weight sinking in her stomach at her brother's words but seeing how Harry had reacted gave her hope.

"I have my own section of land, enough to earn enough to support myself and a husband if I need to," she defended.

Ronald's face screwed up at that suggestion. "Yes, but what man is going to want to live off of his wife's charity?"

That made her face grow hot with anger. "Perhaps responses like that are why Hermione has been rebuffing you."

"Well, no need to wonder why every man has been rebuffing you if this is the way you're acting around them."

"What way is that? Not being some delicate flower that can't find her way around a puddle? If I'm going to get stuck married to someone then I'd prefer it not be one of these dandy ponces that keep getting invited here so they can tell me how many heads of cattle or sheep they sell a year as though that is supposed to impress me." She was nearly yelling at him now.

She and Ronald normally got on wonderfully, but it meant that they were very likely to start yelling at each other as well because there was no need to nurture or guard their relationship.

Ronald set his jaw. "Ginny, you are a princess, you can't just run off with some farm hand."

"I am also the last of seven children-"

"The only girl!"

"And I could run off with whomever I damn well please!"

"You have certain expectations you need to live up to."

"I'm not going to marry some arse kissing Duke in order to do it though!"

"THEN DON'T!" he finally yelled. "But don't expect that our mother and father are going to be okay with you requesting to marry anyone at a station lower than a Squire. At least find someone that is capable of making something of himself. The only reason they are okay with me waiting for Hermione is because they both know that we would be good together and she would make a wonderful mother." His tone of voice had become progressively more tender.

And it had become so quiet in the stables, as all those working around them had become still to listen to the siblings fighting that everyone heard the gasp from Hermione who was standing at the gate.

Everyone turned to her, and Hermione was staring directly at Ronald with her hand clutching at her chest.

"Hermione!" Ronald said in a panic and moved towards her.

"You- your," Ronald stilled when she spoke, "your parents really would approve of it?"

It was a moment exactly like what she would have read in one of her romance novels, and Ginny couldn't look away.

"Of course they would. I've already asked them, they think you are wonderful, as do I."

"I- I mean, Ginny told me that, but I didn't think-" Hermione was at a loss for words then.

Ronald moved towards her again until he was directly in front of her, then he knelt down on one knee and Ginny's hand went to her mouth.

"You always think," Ronald told her. "And I have no doubt that you've thought over every time I asked to court you. And I've been in love with you for so long that that is no longer my question. So, Hermione Granger, will you be my wife?" He took her hand.

Tears of happiness had come to Ginny's eyes so she could only make out Hermione's nodding of acceptance because of how vigorously she was doing it.

"Hazza!" one of the stable boys called out, it was immediately followed by everyone else in the stables calling out an even louder 'Hazza' in response.

Ronald and Hermione were now standing with their arms wrapped around each other in a tight embrace and Ginny's hands were shaking so much that she couldn't get the catch on the gate to open and opted to climb over the gate instead, falling off the top and Harry wound up catching her. She gave him a bright, beaming smile and rushed over to wrap her arms around both Ronald and Hermione.

"I'm so happy for you two!" she cried with joy.

()()()

Harry found himself to be very moved by his Lord's happiness. All those around him were calling out in celebration and Ginny had never looked more radiant to him than she did right then. Her tears of joy and the large smile on her face, that was how he longed to see her all the time.

He had spent all of the previous evening replaying the kiss she gave him and wishing that he'd been sure enough of himself to respond to it.

He also hadn't been able to make sense of what it was supposed to have meant. One moment she was talking about how she didn't find herself interested in any of the men that came to call on her, then she had said she wished she had any experiences to pull from.

To him that meant the kiss had been only that, experience.

And he didn't dare tell anyone about it. Who would he tell? Ronald and Frederick were two of the only people he had seen that morning, he had not yet developed any kind of friendship with the others that worked in the castle, save for Hagrid, they were simply all courteous to each other. The only person he might have told was Hermione, because Ginny was her friend and she might be able to provide some insight for him as well as keep it a secret, but this was the first time he'd seen her today.

Ginny's argument with her brother had him wondering if the kiss had meant more.

And if she might want to try it again.

For the next two days though the only time he saw Ginny or Hermione was in the presence of many others. There was a great energy about the castle as the wedding was to take place in only one week's time. It seemed that the King and Queen had been anticipating this event for some time and were eager to help it along.

Ronald didn't get much involved in the wedding planning process, so Harry was still keeping busy with he and Frederick during the days and was now gaining a great amount of knowledge from Frederick about ways to satisfy a woman; something that made both he and Ronald blush at. Him more than Ronald though, because he had much less knowledge about the way people consummate, he'd only seen animals at it before.

Frederick was a fountain of information about women.

Harry took each bit of advice with a grain of salt though since it seemed that every encounter Frederick had with a woman, there was no repeat. He knew how to bed them, not how to make them happy.

And Ginny was certainly no bar maid or farm hand.

The evening of the second day after the engagement, Harry was back in the library, trying to sound out the words in a children's fairy tale book, and Ginny came in.

This time, when he looked up and saw her there, she seemed genuinely surprised to see him. She paused only a few steps into the room and froze there, eyes wide.

Harry didn't know what to do or say. And he was never one to be the first to speak, so instead of speaking he just sat there, staring at her with the same frozen expression she was giving him.

"I didn't think you would be in here tonight," she whispered.

"Hermione has been busy, but I wouldn't want to cause trouble by bringing one of these books to my room, in case someone else needs them."

Ginny cast her eyes down at the book before him and looked back into his eyes and gave him a kind smile. "You are allowed to borrow them."

"I… the light in here is better than in my room. I find I am better able to think."

"You are working very hard. Do you find it is coming to you easier with all this practice?"

"Yes."

She raised her eyebrows, as though she was encouraging him to say more, but he didn't know what more could be said. He had answered her question.

She came around to the same shelf behind him where she had taken the book the other night and replaced it. "It seems like there is a lot around here that you have learned easily. I watched you sparring the other day and you are rather excellent considering the short time you've been trained."

He turned in his seat to look at her, she was resting back against the shelf and he was better able to see her now with the torch light not casting a shadow across her face. Her dress was lower cut than she normally wore yet still modest. Her eyes had a sparkle in them from the dancing flames as well and it made her look rather mystical.

"Tell me, do my brothers treat you well?"

"They treat me very well. I'm grateful every day that I am here. And I do my best to stay in their good graces."

She locked her fingers together in front of her and cast her gaze down to them for a moment before meeting his eye again. "I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable the other night. I'm not sure what came over me. I just… wanted to. And that was selfish of me."

"I didn't… mind," he whispered.

The silence that permeated the room after he said that caused a chill to run through his extremities. An anxious chill, like all of his nerves were being alerted to the fact that his response could be open to interpretation.

Ginny responded with a tight smile. "I didn't mean to be so forward. Well… maybe I did. I just… I like you. You are sweet and smart, and I like that you are still trying to learn new things," she said as she gestured at his book.

"You like me?" he repeated. They had only spoken a handful of times, he had seen her at meals and occasionally helping others around the castle, but he didn't know that she knew him. If she knew what kind of life he led before coming to Camelot surely she would look twice at him. "Why? I'm nothing special."

"That you can say that aloud, and believe it, that is what I like about you. You don't realize all that you have to offer, and I feel a great pull to have you recognize in yourself what I see, what Ronald saw that made him hire you on as his Squire."

"It was because I am strong and knew how to brew beer." That was why, wasn't it? A Squire needed to be strong, needed to be able to handle the many tasks that were required of them. Since he'd joined the King's party and come to the castle, he had only grown stronger and wiser now that he didn't have a never ending hunger weighing him down. And sleep, he was now getting to sleep for so many uninterrupted hours.

Ginny came towards him then, and just as she had the very first time he'd seen her, she traced a finger down from his temple and along his jaw. "It is more than that, and you should know it."

Involuntarily, his eyelids lowered and he leaned into her touch. Her hand was so warm. She moved it to cup his cheek.

What he really wanted to do just then was hug her.

The Dursley's were not ones for shows of affection, and not just toward him, but toward each other as well. They may have given their son encouraging words, but that was the extent of it. He'd seen several hundred other people giving each other hugs of greeting or farewell, but he had never received one and now here was Ginny, willingly touching him with her tender hand.

He opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Anything," she replied softly.

"Can I hug you?"

Her eyebrows rose slowly in surprise and she blinked at him several times. He opened his mouth to apologize but before he could she said 'of course'.

Slowly, he rose to his feet and now was looking down at her and her small frame. He couldn't do it though, he wasn't sure in what manner his hugging her would be appropriate.

Ginny took charge of that for him. Her small arms wrapped around his back and came to rest on his shoulders, her face turned sideways so her cheek was against his chest. They stood like that a moment before she let out a giggle and then took his arms and put them around her before replacing her hands on his shoulders.

"Now what you need to do is relax," she coached.

Relax, he repeated in his mind.

Harry sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, as he did, her arms gripped him slightly harder, and he reciprocated the gesture.

It felt lovely. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and grew happily warm all over from the intimacy of it. It was a level of caring that he hadn't received before and right now, perhaps because of the duration of it, it felt much better than the small kiss she had given him.

"Hugs feel wonderful," he murmured to her.

"Harry?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Is this the first time you can remember being hugged?"

"Mmhmm."

He felt her snuggle in tighter against him then.

Harry wasn't sure how long that hug between them had lasted, but it had been the most marvelous experience he'd had up until that point.

It seemed that every other night from then on they would find themselves alone in the library just after the sun had gone down. Ginny had started helping him with his reading and telling him stories from books she had read. The first time they met each other in the library after their first hug, she had said goodnight to him with another hug followed by a kiss on his cheek. The second time she had said farewell with another hug, that time her fingers had combed through his hair and given him a little rub on his scalp that caused him to let out a moan, and again, she gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Now it had been a week since their first hug and he would not be seeing her in the library today, as today Ronald and Hermione were being wed.

Harry was so grateful that he was asked to attend, and there had been a special outfit sent to him to wear that was nicer than anything he'd ever owned, nicer than anything the Dursley's had ever owned.

He, along with all other men that worked in the castle, had been sent to a room to have a barber go over them; his hair was short, but still long enough to show it could not be tamed, and his small amount of beard growth was completely gone.

There were no duties for him to perform at the wedding and he had been shown by a footman where to sit and told when to stand in the chapel. It surprised him that he was not farther back from the altar, as the men sitting in the row in front of him were nobleman. They had jewelry and embroidered tunics; he could also hear them talking in undertones to each other.

"I've heard she can be quite hard to please but has been unsuccessful at hiding her distaste for boasting, so be sure to ask her questions," the older man was saying to the younger man beside him.

"You've told me this. According to Damion she hasn't got much of an attention span. I will just be sure to invite her to dance with me. Perhaps wooing her with something other than a walk around a garden will please her." The younger man sounded bored.

Harry frowned at the back of his sandy blond head. Ginny had said something about being forced to accept invitations from men that came to call on her and it always being a walk around the garden.

"I have seen her, she is appealing to the eye," the older man said.

"Yes, yes, Damion said the same thing. Even if she wasn't from all this," he gestured around the chapel, "would still make it worth it."

Harry's posture grew tight. They were most certainly talking about Ginny, and he did not like the way they were going about it. He understood now why she could find no appeal in any of the men that were brought to the castle to woo her if they all spoke of her like that. She was worth so much more than her looks and a castle.

Trumpets sounded and the Weasley brothers marched in one by one from the side entrance, Ronald in the lead and then in descending order by age after that. Ronald looked so proud then.

There was harp music that began playing and the flower girls entered the chapel, strewing petals along the aisle, followed by a brides maid that he thought he recognized from a few mealtimes.

"Did you hear?" the younger man in front of Harry whispered. "Apparently the bride is only a lady's maid. I wonder how long it will be before the baby is delivered."

Now Harry very much wanted to turn and glare at the men, let them know that they had been overheard and it was not appreciated. However, they were seated in front of him and he knew that meant they held status, thus, he could not say anything and risk losing his position.

He also would have missed the opportunity to see Ginny walking in through the doors, a brilliant smile on her face and looking more radiant than ever.

"There she is."

"My, my, Damien wasn't exaggerating. Yes, this I can work with."

Harry bit his tongue so hard then he was sure it would start bleeding soon.

He remembered a few instances where he had let his anger get the better of him as a child and he had wound up getting several lashes for it, who knew what would happen to him if he said something to the men in the next row. It would cause a scene at Ronald's wedding. He could never repay the Weasley's for the kindness they had shown him over the last several months and he certainly wasn't going to attempt to start repaying them starting trouble on such an important day.

He took in a few breaths and let them out slowly and simply focused on Ginny and how beautiful and happy she looked. He chose to listen in on the exclamations of the staff that were in the other rows about how lovely she looked.

And then it was time for the bride to enter.

Hermione had a beautiful soul and today she looked absolutely angelic.

Harry cast a look to Ronald and he looked transfixed. It was a nice sight to see.

Everyone was quiet as the bride and groom said their vows. The King and Queen looked as thrilled with the match as the celebrated couple did.

The ceremony was followed by music and merriment and so much food! The dancing started off with something formal that followed a set system of steps Harry wasn't familiar with, but he was happy to watch. All of the Weasley family was involved in the dancing and Harry was happy to see that Ginny was only partnering up with her brothers for this. He looked around and was able to spot the two brothers he had not yet formally been introduced to, and their wives, the one's that had been cut off from the family funds and given an allowance.

He noted that the King and Queen did not address the wives at all, though they did moon over their granddaughter from their son Charles' wife.

Harry laughed when Ginny picked up her niece and started dancing around with the little girl as a partner, plucking a flower out of a centerpiece as she spun and putting it in the little girl's hair.

When the King and Queen announced that they were retiring for the evening, the music changed and there was a bit more drinking going on.

Harry hadn't indulged much in the spirits and kept making his way around the room, pausing to watch everyone else having fun for his own form of amusement. He had been brought into a few conversations with some of the other staff that had been invited to join the festivities, but on the whole, he was mostly observing.

It was growing late when he caught the young man that had been sitting in front of him during the ceremony, dancing with Ginny. His jaw locked up tight when he noticed that she was enjoying the dance she was having with him. He spun her out and spun her back with ease, bringing her closer to him each time. For five dances he watched them. Then he saw the mans lips come close to her ear and say something.

Harry thought he had come to know Ginny fairly well over their last few rendezvous' and was sure that her polite step back and the smile she gave the man then were simply out of years of being taught how she was supposed to behave.

She had not liked what the man had whispered in her ear.

That made Harry happy.

Ginny gave the man a small curtsey and moved off the dance floor and towards the side exit of the hall. Harry was swift to catch up with her.

He thought she might be heading for the lavatory, but she continued going through the corridors, taking one turn, then another. He didn't know where she was going. She went around another corner when he had nearly caught up with her and had just taken the corner himself when something came swinging at his face and he put his hand up just in time to stop it.

"Harry?" Ginny gasped.

It was her arm. She had set out to strike him.

"Ginny?"

"It was just you following me?" She leaned around him to look down the corridor and saw no one else.

"You suspected someone was following you and you made to fight them? Why didn't you just call for help?"

"I can defend myself," she said stubbornly.

He grinned at her. "Did you think it was going to be that man you had been dancing with?" He would have loved to see her slap him.

"Yes, actually." Even in the darkness of the corridor he could tell she was embarrassed about it.

"I'm glad you wanted to hit him. I wanted to hit him. He and his father spoke of you before the ceremony and I didn't like what they said."

She frowned at him then. "What did they say?"

"Something most women would find flattering," he assured her. "But you are not most women."

Her shoulders sagged, though in the dim light he could tell she appreciated his comment. "He was McLaggan, the one my mother wanted me to spend some time with last week. She told me about him right before Ron proposed to Hermione? Why, I was in such a mood too! He was being friendly and not giving me the usual running diatribe about himself. It made me think that he was simply being forced to spend time with me, like I was him. I had been having a good time with the dancing, then he suggested we go somewhere quiet, and not in a polite way."

"I could tell that whatever he said to you didn't make you happy. I would have offered to cut in if I knew whether I was allowed to, or if I knew how to dance."

"You would have?"

"Of course. Today was a celebration and should be filled with happiness, not obligations."

He was cut off from saying any more, as Ginny had put her hands around his neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him.

It wasn't at all like the last time she had kissed him. This one wasn't feather light, and it lasted far longer than a second. He had time to react to this one. Those few hugs they had shared made him feel comfortable enough to put his arms around her waist and bring her closer.

Just as it had with his fist hug, their first proper kiss felt so lovely, so perfect. They simply fit against each other while their lips moved in tandem. She was perfect, so utterly perfect. Whether these few moments of time they shared together in locked embrace was going to fade away or last forever, when they were joined this way, he didn't worry about it.

For several minutes they stood there lost in each other, then the sound of footsteps echoing off the walls brought them back to the present and they managed to part their lips.

Ever the quick thinker, Ginny grasped his hand in hers and started moving them swiftly down the corridor, further away from the celebration. He didn't ask where they were going, he didn't say anything until after she had opened a door and led him into another passageway and into a room that he didn't recognize.

"Where are we?" he whispered.

"In the annex room off my own," she whispered back and felt around in the darkness for something, then struck a match and lit an oil lantern.

"We're in your bedroom?" he started.

"Off my bedroom, not in it," she said pointedly.

That was a bit better.

"Ginny, what are we doing?" he asked honestly.

"I don't know." She came closer to him and her hands slid up over his chest. "I just know that I like it, I like you. And I think you like me too?"

"Of course I do, how could I not? You're wonderful."

"As are you," she told him and gave him another gentle kiss to his lips.

"Ginny," he protested with great regret. "You don't know me, not really. You don't know who I was before I came here."

She backed away, just far enough that her hands were still on his shoulders with her arms outstretched. "I know you were a slave to your relatives before you came here. I know that you are strong, and good, and that you try. You have taken on every challenge you've been given and are progressively mastering them all. And I know that I wish to keep having clandestine meetings with you because you're the only man I've ever met that has made me feel this way."

He felt a tugging at his heart as he heard her speak these words. His body moved toward her again of its own accord.

She did know.

"I don't care who you were," Ginny told him earnestly, "I care who you are!"

"Your family though," he worried aloud.

"I don't want to worry about what they'll think just yet," she admitted. "I don't know what their opinion would be. You heard Ronald though, what he said the other week about how my parents wouldn't approve of anything less than a Squire. Well, you are a Squire."

He ran his hand down her face. It was so smooth on his rough hands. "Don't you think you deserve to be wooed by someone more than me?"

"How could I? I've yet to come across anyone better," she smiled and returned his gesture by running her own hand down his freshly shaved cheek.

Encouraged by her words he leaned down and captured her lips again.

()()()

The day after the wedding Ginny awoke with a brilliant smile on her face.

She and Harry had admitted their affection for each other!

They had shared many kisses and gentle touches the night before and it had been wonderful.

She knew that he was worried about the differences between their stations, but it didn't matter to her. She loved him. She knew it was love. The way she felt about him she could see reflected in the faces of her mother and father when they looked at each other, on Ronald and Hermione's face when they were wed the previous day.

It was such a wonderful feeling!

And now she just needed to come up with a plan that would make her parents grow comfortable with the idea of she and Harry being the right match for each other.

But currently she had no idea how to go about that.

Days went by where she and Harry would meet in the library, she would help him with his reading and he would show his appreciation in kisses before they parted ways for the evening.

He was getting quite good at it too, the reading and the kissing. Their kisses were getting to the point of her feeling a dizziness and longing that she had yet to see written about in her stories.

Then the time came again where her mother made the decision to have another gentleman caller come by the castle for the purpose of potentially courting her. Which was something she should have foreseen since her mother had been doing that for years. This time though it wasn't just her own feelings that needed to be taken into consideration, it was Harry's as well.

"I just don't know what to tell her," Ginny told Harry the evening before she was meant to be called on. "And I don't want to upset you either. Nothing ever comes of this," she assured him.

Harry was understandably upset by the news, and he clearly didn't know how to show it either. He grew quiet and distant.

"Harry, please," she tried to coax him, giving a few more kisses to his cheeks and under his chin. "I've told you I feel nothing for them. Ever," she enunciated and followed it with a kiss to his lips.

Harry swallowed, still frowning. "I know you have obligations."

"What if I didn't?"

"What do you mean? You are a princess, you will always have obligations."

"Harry, I love my family, you know I do. But a simple life with you sounds so appealing. I have the land, what if we left the castle and lived there, together?"

"Ginny!" he looked appalled. "After everything your family has done for me; Ronald, your father. I can't repay them like that."

"Well, I don't know how to make everyone happy and still be happy myself!" she cried out in a whisper.

"You could start my mentioning to your mother that you'd found a suitor," came a voice from the doorway to the library.

Ginny froze, looking up into Harry's face, he was staring at the doorway, horrorstruck.

"How long has this been going on?" Ginny's mother asked her.

Ginny turned around, remaining in front of Harry in an attempt to shield him as best she could from her mother's view; a fruitless attempt since he was much taller than her.

"A fortnight," Ginny admitted.

"A fortnight?" her mother repeated, staring pointedly at Ginny. "And have their been any relations?" she asked tensely.

"No!" Harry assured her, sounding like it was the worst possible thing that could have happened between them.

Ginny squared her shoulders. "Mother, I know I don't always act like the lady that you want me to be, but I would hope you know me better than to think me capable of such a thing!"

Her mother relented her stance and gave a single nod. "I know that two in love can get easily carried away."

Ginny felt her face grow very warm with a blush. "Mother!" She didn't need to think of how her mother knew that. The woman had been pregnant several times, yet a child never wanted to think about her parents behaving in that manner.

"Is this love?" her mother asked directly.

"My Queen," Harry started.

"Yes," Ginny answered directly.

"Yes?" Harry asked her.

It sounded as thought his was news to him.

Ginny spun around so she was looking back up into his eyes. "You did not realize?"

"I hoped," he admitted. "But no one has ever loved me before, so I couldn't be sure."

"Do you think you've the same level of affection for me?"

"I've never felt anything like what I feel for you. It's like you've held me captive by your very presence since the moment I first saw you. You were in your fathers stable and had the most brilliant smile. I asked Hermione to teach me how to read so that I could write poetry for you."

Ginny felt the tears swelling in her eyes. "That was why?"

"Oh!" her mother cried out from the other end of the room and rushed over to them. "That is just the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" She pulled them both into a hug and gave Ginny a big kiss on the cheek before doing the same to Harry and he was visibly startled by it.

"Oh, that you were so worried what we would think!" her mother said to him as she pulled back from the two of them and dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. "And you!" she scolded at Ginny. "That you would think of running away with him rather than simply telling us! Shame on you."

Ginny felt like she had shrunken down under her mother's gaze. "I worried you would hold objections to the prospect."

"I always knew you wouldn't settle for anyone that would try and tame your wild ways. I think Harry is a fine man, and I'll be telling your father the same thing."

"W-we have your blessing?" Harry asked in amazement.

Ginny saw her mother beginning to vibrate with excitement out of her peripherals as she stared up at Harry in surprise. She knew she'd just suggested they run away together, but was this him asking if they would be granted permission to be wed?

Harry caught her expression.

"I've been saving up," he admitted to her. "I haven't spent a penny of what has been given to me as earnings, just in case."

"In case what?" she asked breathlessly.

He glanced over at her mother, who's hand was covering her mouth and eyes were sparkling with joy, then he looked back at Ginny. "In-in case I found courage enough to-to talk to your father." His voice was so shaken.

"To what end?" Ginny asked encouragingly, her grin nearly splitting her face in two.

Harry blushed and brought her left hand to his lips, kissing the finger that would have born the ring he was hinting at having been saving for.

()()()

Three Years Later

"I really hoped it would have been a decade before I had to do this journey again," Ronald complained for the second time that day. His average was five times a day and that average grew the further away from the castle they went.

"Cheer up," Harry told him. "We're nearly at the halfway point, then we'll be heading back to the castle and your wife."

Ronald frowned at him. "On second thought, maybe we should stay out here a bit longer."

Harry chuckled.

Hermione was pregnant with their second child and had been complaining of the discomfort of it the whole way through.

There were now several Weasley infants in the castle and the King and Queen adored and spoiled every last one of them. William and Fleur now had four children, George had gotten married and had one baby with his wife Angelina, Ronald and Hermione's child was just starting to walk when they left, and his and Ginny's first (which he hoped would be the first of many) had been born only a few weeks after Ron and Hermione's and James should be starting to walk any day now as well.

"I second that idea," Ginny said as she came up beside them on the road atop her own horse. "I didn't find pregnancy to be that horrible. All my sisters-in-law made it seem like it was going to be the worst thing I've ever experienced. It was the recovery after that I didn't enjoy. But, Hermione, my lord, does she ever go on about how terrible it is."

Harry grinned at the memory of Ginny during her pregnancy; her enormous belly and how she kept getting scolded by all the staff for continuing to work around the castle in her delicate state. They had both been glowing with pride through the whole experience and he hoped they would be doing so again soon.

Right now, Ginny was excited to be this far away from the castle for the first time, even though she'd held him close at night several times during the trip and mooned over being away from their son for so long. During the day she handled the separation better.

And they had both discussed how they pictured their visit to this next village was going to play out.

Their travel party crested the hill and before them lay the village Harry grew up in. His feelings about seeing it again were very mixed. He had grown a lot since he'd seen it last. He was stronger mentally, he was educated now, he was a married man and had been given the title of Baron by his Father-in-law, the King.

Seeing it though, it brought back all the memories of his oppression.

They cantered through the village, waving to the town folk as they passed, many of whom looked thoroughly surprised at seeing Ginny riding along with the party, and not side-saddle as was common for the ladies, or in a carriage.

The King was not with them this time. Ronald and William were there representing the family, Harry and Ginny were there because she had begged to come along.

Harry dismounted his horse and stared at the tavern before them. It was in a state of disrepair. There were pieces of the roof that needed fixing, the sign was hanging crooked, one of the panes of glass on the window had a piece of it missing and it looked like people had been throwing many rocks at the door.

William led the way in and Harry followed in behind he and Ronald, with Ginny on his arm.

"Apologies for the mess," Harry heard his Aunt Petunia telling them, and indeed, there was a mess. It looked like the tables had not been polished in some time, and there were people from the village sitting at a few of the tables.

The last few times the Royals had ridden through town the tavern had been closed to the public for two days before so that everything could be thoroughly cleaned. From the state of it now, Harry gathered that they were unable to afford the time needed to properly clean to the standard they had before. And from the state of the Dursley's clothes, clean though they were, he gathered they had needed to cut back on several niceties; their clothes were the same ones they had worn three years ago with several spots sewn together.

His uncle Vernon had lost some weight, and Dudley was coming in from the back room and looked to have lost a few pounds on him as well.

"Oh, you've a lady with your party. How lovely," Aunt Petunia commented.

"Yes, my sister, Princess Ginevra, she has wanted to join in our travels since infancy," William introduced.

"My lady," Petunia greeted her with a curtsey while her husband and son gave a bow.

"May I inquire as to how our nephew has fared you, my lord?" Vernon asked to Ronald. There was a familiar forced smile on his face. Harry wondered if he might be grinding his teeth. "If he has not pleased you, we would be happy to take him back. We do miss him."

"Oh, yes," Petunia chimed in. "We would have written, but the poor boy does not know how to read."

Harry felt Ginny clutch at his arm to contain herself.

"Pardon my interruption," Harry began. "I believe there is a mistake on your menu board. Is it 'stewed beef' or 'stud beef' that you have available?"

"Oh," Petunia gasped. "You are correct," she cast a withering glance at her son. "It is stewed beef that we have for you."

Dudley shrugged, "it sounds like it's spelled the same."

Petunia and Vernon turned to Harry then with matching embarrassed expressions. "And who might you be, sir?" Vernon asked him.

"This is my husband," Ginny announced to them. "I believe you used to call him 'Boy'."

Ginny was right, she had said that the look on their faces when they saw him and realized who he was now and what had become of him would be worth the journey.

"Harry Potter," he announced, "Baron of Burrowton."

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