A/N:

Announcements: I have two important announcements so please take a moment to read!

1. Updates: This story will be going on hiatus. There will be no updates for at least some time. I think at least until January, but I don't want to make promises right now.

The last 16 chapters are very connected to each other and with other WIPs, I find myself working on one chapter at a time in recent weeks, and I don't think that's not going to be very cohesive for the remainder of the plot I have planned.
I still love this story and I want to do it justice, so I am hope I can let it rest for a little and then come back to it energised and be able to carve out some dedicated time to work on this fic properly. I have been working on this fic pretty regularly since mid-2022 so I suppose it does make sense I need a little break :) I thought then I could write that story in a few weeks but it was far bigger than I anticipated woops.
So please hold tight while I take a breather and work on this with my full energy somewhere in the coming months and hopefully you'll still be here to read the rest when I come back with more words

And if you want to know how it's going with updates, please read the second announcement!

2. Tumblr: I changed accounts, but I am still under the same name!

So I have remade my tumblr account (mainly for practical reasons so it could be my main blog) and if you follow me on tumblr, you may want to go and follow my new account. I transferred my username so you can still find me as GinnyW-Potter. The old blog is still up as an archive and can be find underGinnyW-Potter-archive but you will no longer find updates there. If you follow me, you can find the new account and follow it. If you simply check my blog, it's still under the same url (huzzah!).

Anyway if you want updates or send me an ask, you can do this at this new account/same url.

Harry walked into the building of the agency, quickly making his way to Hestia Jones' office. To him it was good news they invited him for an additional interview, which meant that Ginny's interview went well and they were now in the process of doing further security clearing. Unfortunately he could not tell Ginny, but he hoped that meant good news very soon.

He knocked on the open door to Hestia's office. "Good afternoon."

"Harry," she greeted with a smile. "Come in. Sit down."

He stepped in and closed the door, sitting across from Hestia.

"I brought you here to ask some additional questions regarding Miss Weasley's application," she told him.

"Okay." He folded his hands together. "Go ahead."

Hestia nodded, opening something on her laptop. "What is your relationship to Ginny Weasley?"

It was difficult to explain the all-encompassing role Ginny had in his life. "Girlfriend, best friend, flatmate, mother of my child."

"Girlfriend would have sufficed, Potter." She bit back her smile.

He smiled at her. "Okay."

"She put you down for a partnership, would you be alright with that?" she asked.

"Yes, I'd love to. We work well together," he said.

She typed on her laptop. "Then you should change that in your profile, because it states solo work for now."

He winced. "Oh, I forgot about that. I'll do that right away."

Hestia continued down her list of questions, leaving Harry optimistic about Ginny's chances. He walked out feeling reassured that Ginny would get the job.

"Hey, Harry."

Harry turned around and saw Sirius in one of the break rooms. "Hi, Sirius."

"Come over here, close the door."

"Okay…?" He closed the door behind him and sat down on a chair.

Sirius took the seat opposite him, setting his coffee down on the table. "So, I was one of the people tasked to gather Ginny's profile—obviously your parents can't do it."

"Let me stop you there," Harry said, his stomach churning uneasily. "Whatever you found out about Ginny, you are not supposed to tell me. I don't want to hear it."

"No—I know, and I wouldn't have brought it up if I wasn't certain you knew about it." Sirius breathed out. "I can ask you, or I need to go sniff around in her texts. What do you prefer?"

Harry's eyes widened. "What is it?" Sirius did not need to see Ginny's texts, and definitely not those to him.

"It's about the paternity test," Sirius said.

Harry shook his head. "No. There is nothing to say. June's mine."

"No need to get all defensive. I know," Sirius told him.

"I'm not defensive," Harry insisted. "You saw the results, so you know too."

Sirius shot him a firm look. He took a sip of his coffee. "Will you let me speak?"

Harry sat back and gestured for him to talk.

"I'm curious about what happened? Did Ginny cheat on you? Is it a sore point? What's the relationship like with the guy?" Sirius said gently. "If there are issues lingering, it is something we need to consider."

Harry did not like to think about it anymore, especially considering how his life would be different right now with Dean in the mix. As much as he would have accepted it back then, he was still so glad it was not the case. He pursed his lips. "We were on a cottage vacation. She had not been dating, on my advice. There was a drunk night where they found themselves alone. They had a one-night stand, and decided to leave it at that. The following day someone put Ginny and I in a closet, we kissed and later that night we had sex. That continued until I asked her out later that week."

"When did you find out about them?"

He sighed. "The following morning. She is not one to keep secrets from me, and she wanted to get it off her chest. It's not like I didn't know when she told me she was pregnant."

Sirius shook his head slowly. "And the guy?"

"He would have wanted to raise his kid, because—"

"—His own father wasn't around. Yeah, I got that far," Sirius confirmed.

Harry nodded in confirmation. "But we were all equally glad that he was not the father. He is in a relationship now, and we have maintained a good friendship."

"That's a relief," Sirius said. "So no hard feelings?"

"I mean… I don't like to think about it," he said, "but I don't have any resentment and Ginny has moved past it as well." He shot Sirius a firm look. "My parents don't know about this, so you can't tell them. I wouldn't want them to look at her differently—it's why we waited until we had the paternity results to tell anyone. It's just easier that way."

"I won't tell them," Sirius said. "Who does know?"

"Ron, Dean, us two and I suspect Dean's boyfriend," Harry summarised. "They had been dancing around each other for years, I suspect the little baby bump interrupted Dean's plans with him a little."

Sirius nodded. "I think that answers all my questions. I have to say I was a little surprised to come across that, you seem so happy together."

"We are."

"And then I wondered if she had cheated on you, that early in your relationship?" Sirius shook his head. "I couldn't believe it."

"She'd never do that." He stood up. "I have got to get home if you have no other questions for me. Hestia has already done that."

Sirius smiled at him. "All good. I wanted to clear that up, but not necessarily have a paper trail."

"I appreciate it," Harry said with a smile. He hesitated by the door. "I bet you came across David?"

"Oh. Yes. He is a real piece of work," Sirius said. "But you know I can't give you any details."

He nodded. "I know."

Sirius hesitated. "Have you never looked him up?"

"Oh. I have been very very tempted, but no." Harry shook his head. "Trust me, the moment I have a reason, I will. I don't want to dwell on it either, and neither does Ginny I'm sure."

Sirius nodded. "That makes sense. You should have news about her application soon."

"I hope so," Harry said. Ginny was playing it cool, but he could tell how much it mattered to her. "At this rate I should send June's application too, right?"

Sirius laughed. "I think so. If she learns to talk as quickly as her mother, we have quite the interrogator on our hands."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Harry said with a chuckle. He waved goodbye to him. "See you soon."

When he got home, Ginny walked out of the bathroom, holding a squeaky clean June only wearing a nappy.

"Honey, I'm home!"

She smiled brightly. "Look who is all fresh and smelling nice!"

Harry had taken all but two steps when he heard the thunderous noise coming from June's nappy. Ginny closed her eyes and breathed in slowly.

He walked up to her.

"She's all yours," Ginny said.

He kissed her lips and picked up June. "You couldn't let mummy have this one, huh?" He walked to the changing table.

"How was your test?"

He nodded. "Good, I think. I walked into Sirius too, he said you should hear back from the agency soon."

Ginny stood beside him. "What's soon?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I think in a week or so." He tickled June's tummy. "He was one of the people tasked to check out your background more in depth—has one of the highest clearances in the agency so… he probably knows more about you than your own mother now."

"Oh, good god," Ginny said. "Isn't he biased?"

Harry shrugged. "Sirius is known to be discrete and fairly impartial. He is entrusted with some of the most sensitive cases, he's a good fit." He finished June's nappy. "All clean again."

"We'll see how long that lasts," Ginny muttered. "We should go to the copy shop on Monday for our theses. Hand those in."

"Are there still appointments for Monday open?" he asked. "I am waiting for Ron to be finished proofreading."

She smiled at him. "Are you still pissed I stole Hermione for proofreading?"

"Obviously," he said with a smile. "Monday sounds good. Then that part is done. Honestly it looks like we will finish our master's degree unscathed."

"You didn't push out a baby," she shot back.

"Darling, I don't think that was the master's degree's fault." He looked at June. "My bad, June."

"We have to stop making those jokes by the time she is old enough to remember them," Ginny told him. "She's going to think we didn't want her."

Harry raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "I think you forgot the I love you, June song."

"How could I forget? You invented a freaking earworm."

He bent down and kissed her. "You are welcome. It's so she'll never forget."

Her phone rang and she disentangled her hand from Harry's. She checked the caller ID but it was an anonymous number.

"Hello. Ginny Weasley speaking."

"Good afternoon, Miss Weasley. This is Hestia Jones. I am calling in regards to your application. Am I interrupting?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, not at all."

"I am happy to report we have accepted your application and you will start training with us upon completion of your master's degree. Congratulations."

She smiled widely. "Thank you so much."

"We will send you the details soon. I look forward to working with you. Have a nice day, Miss Weasley."

"You too, thank you!" she said again. She finished the call.

Harry raised an eyebrow, smiling already. "And?"

"I am in! They accepted my application!" She let herself drop into Harry's arms.

He easily caught her and kissed her cheek. "I'm so happy! Congratulations."

She adjusted her position and kissed him. One of his hands buried in her hair, keeping her close to him.

"How are you, partner?" She straddled him, her eyes teasing.

His hands dove into the back of her trousers and palmed her butt. "You still need to do some training and a test before that."

"Pfft. Details." She leaned down and kissed down his neck.

He hummed happily, letting her continue down as one of his hands pulled her shirt up. He had just uncovered her bra when her phone rang.

She reached for it. "Hi Lily." She switched the speaker on.

Harry let out a loud sigh, his hand pausing against her skin.

"I have just heard some exciting news!" Lily said. "I had no idea you applied for the agency, but I am so excited!"

"Thank you." She adjusted her position. "I didn't want to say in case I didn't make it through for some reason."

"Nonsense, they'd be wrong not to take you!"

Ginny smiled. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."

Harry's head dove down and he placed a kiss on her stomach.

"Harry, stop it."

"What's my son doing?"

Harry met her eyes.

Ginny exhaled, her hand carding through his hair. "Being annoying. You can scold him, you're on speaker."

Lily chuckled. "Harry, dear. Please behave and treat my new colleague well."

Harry playfully rolled his eyes.

"I think that's a yes from him," Ginny replied.

"Good," Lily said. "We were thinking you could come over for dinner to celebrate, if you don't have any other plans."

Ginny looked down at Harry, who shrugged. "That sounds great."

Harry placed his lips on the skin of her stomach again. Instead of leaning back, she pinched his nose closed. He lasted for a moment longer but then he resigned to his fate and let go so he could breathe.

"Does six work?" Lily asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Depends on June's nap but that's unpredictable."

"You can put her to sleep here, I'll charge the baby monitor just in case," Lily offered.

"Let's count on that just in case, you're the best." Ginny looked down as Harry leaned his forehead against her stomach.

"I know," Lily said brightly. "I see you at six-ish! I am so excited!"

"Me too! Bye!" She ended the call. "Maybe I should call my parents while I'm at it."

He complained against her skin.

"If you're patient, I'll reward you." She raised a challenging eyebrow.

He leaned back. "Fine."

She sat back and dialled her mum's number.

"Hello?"

"Hi mum, it's me. Is dad there?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "Is something wrong?"

"No!" Ginny quickly said. "Good news."

"Arthur, dear? Come over here," she called. "How do I put this on speaker again?"

"Here you go," her dad said. "Hi Ginny."

"Hi dad," she greeted. "I wanted to call you to tell you that I have a job lined up for when I graduate!"

"That is great news!" her dad said. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

Her mother seemed to hesitate. "Did you not want to… take a breather?"

"I think it will be simpler to simply get started, and get paid," Ginny said. "It's a government job, so the benefits are great."

"Oh," her mother said. "What kind of job is it?"

Ginny had to be careful what she said. "It's kind of an adjacent department of where Harry's parents work—same building. Harry worked for them before as a student and they are happy to take both of us on full-time. It is great, mum. I'll be able to use my degree in a useful way—it is mostly admin things like researching political climate and coordinating security for big events."

"That does sound great, dear," her mum said.

Her dad hummed in agreement. "Good benefits, you said?"

"Yes! Since you deal with sensitive information they pay you pretty well, they even have a daycare on-site where June could go which is free which I don't have to explain will be so helpful," she rambled. "I'll even have dental insurance, which I'm very excited about."

Harry frowned at her.

"It's a dream job for me, and I just heard back from them today."

"I love that, you've earned it," her mum said. "You can't let that man do anything alone, huh?"

"Harry? No." She winked at him. "I do have to do a lot of training first and they'll assess how well we work together, so if we are not a match we wouldn't even work that closely together. I hope that's not the case, but you never know."

"I am proud of you, Ginny. You've really worked so hard this year," her mother said.

"Thank you. I am glad it's paying off."

She said her goodbyes and then put her phone down. Harry cocked an eyebrow.

"Someone's been good," she teased, leaning down to kiss him. "I think you've earned your reward."

His hands danced up her back. "Can't wait. What did you have in mind?"

James opened the door for them and they walked in, congratulating Ginny again on getting the job. It didn't take long for June to be in her grandpa's arms.

Lily hugged her tightly. "And why did you keep this a secret from us? We could have helped you prepare for the interview."

"In case I didn't get in," Ginny said. "I talked it through with Harry and he helped me prepare. It's all good."

"Apparently Sirius had to do some screening on her, has he said anything?" Harry asked.

James shook his head. "He wouldn't. And if there was truly something awful going on, then they wouldn't have hired Ginny—not that I ever thought there was anything."

"Sirius told me, because I had to go by Hestia for follow-up questions…" He eyed Ginny.

She gasped in surprise. "You said it was for your test, you lied!"

"I know," he said. "I had to."

She should have known he would be asked questions, and that she wasn't really meant to know. "Then I guess you did well too."

He nodded assuringly. "I did not tell her about all the crimes I've seen you commit." He grinned at her. "And she pointed out that I should change my profile to say I want to do partner work, not solo work."

"I told you that wasn't going to last," his dad pointed out with a knowing look.

Lily agreed. "He just needed to find that out for himself."

"This is all your fault," Harry muttered with an accusatory look.

Ginny laughed and kissed his cheek.

"I did see you are her training mentor," his mum said. "That's exciting. Often partners start at the same time, or come together later." She glanced at her husband. "But now you'll work together soon, already figure things out."

"Does that help with the compatibility test?" Ginny asked. She desperately wanted to do well.

James shook his head. "No. That's really a personality test, you can't prepare. You are compatible or you are not."

"Don't worry too much about it," his mum said. "You have always worked well together, I would be surprised if you didn't at least pass."

"You do need 70 percent," Harry pointed out.

"We passed easily, and a year before then your mother couldn't stand me," James said with a wink.

"That's not true," Lily insisted with a fond look at James.

"What changed?" Ginny tried. She had only ever heard Harry talk about it.

Lily shrugged. "I knew I had a thing for him—he's very handsome and smart—but his ego kept getting in the way. He was strutting around the agency like he owned the place."

James shook his head warily.

"He wasn't very subtle in his interest in me." Lily offered James another pointed look and he smiled fondly back at her. "And I wanted to focus on work. Luckily he had more sensible friends and through that we became amicable, at least."

"I just didn't want there to be any doubt that I wanted you. If it didn't end up working out, it wasn't for a lack of trying."

Ginny chuckled. "I felt like that almost worked against you."

"Maybe," James admitted.

"When we went undercover, that's when things changed and it wasn't the big things," Lily said. "You know when you're out and you're pretending to be a couple that's not real. It happens when you're trying to figure out the cooking and the dishes. In the moments where he was not trying to be so cocky. I discovered his sensitive side."

James nodded. "That's when I noticed she was a lot more perceptive to me. I didn't get it, the other women always swooned for my moves and she was never impressed."

"Everyone can say a witty pick-up line and smile handsomely," Lily shot back.

Her husband shook his head adamantly. "That is an art form."

"Sure, honey."

James waved her comment away. "I proved I could be a reliable partner, and we found out what we needed from each other. When she finally told me she was into me…"

"You wasted absolutely no time whatsoever," Lily completed. She ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think we lived apart a moment after, even when the mission was over."

James squeezed her knee. "I didn't see the point of that. If you know you know."

Ginny looked at Harry and he met her eye.

"Do I have to worry about you being my training mentor?" she asked him.

"No." He shook his head. "You'll have coaches, but I will join you for the in-depth training sessions and guide you. I will not be the one giving you a hard time."

Lily laughed. "Like you could do that."

"I could if I wanted to," Harry said indignantly. "But I don't want to."

Ginny squeezed his hand. "I guess that's for the better."

They sat in front of their laptops, refreshing the page for their exam results. They would find out if they were graduating today. Harry glanced at June, who was occupying herself on her play mat.

"Why are they always late?" Ginny muttered, staring her laptop down angrily.

Harry squeezed her shoulder. "It doesn't affect the result, Gin."

"No, but it affects me," she complained.

He smiled lightly and refreshed again and his results appeared on the screen. "Mine's up." He leaned in to read it.

Ginny refreshed again, but she got nothing. She looked at him.

"I passed." He looked at her.

She smiled and then clicked refresh again. As soon as the numbers appeared on the page, they leaned in together. His eyes tracked over her results. She had great results too.

"I passed?" she said. "I passed…?"

"You did!" Harry said, so she would perhaps start believing it.

She breathed out and turned to him with a bright expression. "We did it!"

She jumped up and he caught her easily. He held her close.

"Oh I cannot believe it!" she said, kissing him. "My results are more than good. They're great. You are a good influence on me."

He shook his head. "I think it was more her"—he nodded towards June—"than me."

"I don't know, it felt like she was working against me at times," Ginny said.

"You work hard because it matters now. You know where you wanted to go, and who you were doing it for."

Ginny's expression softened. "I suppose that's true."

Harry put her down on the floor. "We will need to celebrate this." He caressed her cheek. "We have a master's degree, a job lined up. I dare say we made up more than sufficiently for our oopsies from last year."

As soon as they confirmed to their parents they had passed, they suggested they celebrate. The following day they found themselves at the Weasley home for dinner.

"I am so proud of you," Molly said, hugging Ginny tightly. "Congratulations to you too, Harry."

"Thanks." He walked into the living room with June and greeted his own parents.

"Hi, Harry!" his mum said. "Hi, June."

"She is growing so well," Molly said, holding her hands out.

Harry smiled and handed June over. "Here you go, June. I don't think you'll need a bed to sleep for the coming hours."

"How does it feel?" his dad asked.

Harry smiled. "It's such a relief and a weight off my shoulders. I'll feel much more relaxed working, to be fair. Right, Gin?"

"That remains to be seen," she said with a grin. "Maybe I end up not liking my job."

Harry scoffed. "That is impossible."

"Oh. Why?" She crossed her arms and raised a challenging eyebrow.

He smiled innocently. "Because I'll be there."

His dad laughed. "See, that is exactly the kind of thing I'd say that would piss your mother off before we started dating."

"James, I just think you were too quick, you have to do it after she has decided you're charming."

He nodded. "I figured that out with time."

Molly came back with drinks, June had now passed to Arthur's arms. Harry took a seat beside Ginny on the couch.

"We wanted to take a moment to thank you all for supporting both of us throughout our studies and especially in this last year. Having a baby definitely made it tough and you were there for us when we needed it. I don't think we could have done this without your support. Thank you."

Ginny smiled in agreement. "Yes, thank you. You're all so great."

"And Ginny," Harry continued straight away.

She turned to him, looking mildly alarmed. "What?"

He kissed her cheek. "No worries. I'm not doing anything rash."

"Good." She winked at him.

"You had to deal with a pregnancy, and having a baby and you have taken all of that on so well. You gave birth to our wonderful daughter, aced your exams, wrote a thesis and found a job." He squeezed her knee. "I remember how tired I would get at times, or demotivated and you always had it a bit worse because you were using so much extra energy on June… growing her, feeding her. I think you're so impressive, and I'm really proud of you."

Harry was satisfied to see her ears had gone red with her cheeks and she gazed at him fondly.

"I'll drink to that," Lily said.

"Wait," Ginny said. "I can't let that go without following up with something to say." She looked at him. "Harry, you have been my rock this last year even more than the years before. Someone who gives me a push when I need it, but also someone who tells me when it's time to take a breather. You're always on track with your own things, ambitious and focused."

He glanced down at his knees, his lips pressing together.

"You are so many things at once, and you somehow excel at all of it."

"I beg to differ," he said.

She shook her head. "Don't be dismissive. You deserve the spotlight too." She turned to Lily. "Now you can drink."

They all raised their glasses, congratulating them again.

"I think my mum thought you were about to propose," Ginny whispered when the rest slipped into conversation.

Harry snorted. "Much to her disappointment, I did not." He clinked his glass against hers. "I think we've had enough big events in the last few months."

"Agreed," Ginny said, kissing him softly, causing her father to clear his throat loudly. "Forgot they were here."

Harry chuckled and squeezed her knee.