He knew he'd remember this day for the rest of his life.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

"Ginevra Weasley! Out! Out! And don't let me catch you trying to listen in again or–"

Ginny never heard what her mum would do if she got caught again. She'd already run up the stairs. Fred and George looked disappointed that she'd been caught, but it was their fault. If they hadn't been so lousy at sneaking around, the Order wouldn't have placed charms to detect if anyone came within twenty feet of the door. And Ginny only found out that they did that the hard way.

"Maybe it's time for the secret weapon," Fred said after Ginny delivered the disappointing report.

"We need to make sure they'll reach that far. Let's go test them out again," George replied, and he and Fred went up another two flights of stairs to their bedroom without a second glance toward Ginny.

"Well that's nice," she muttered sarcastically. "Use me as a test dummy, and then throw me out when I get caught."

She went to her bedroom, unashamedly sulking. Ron and Hermione were up in his bedroom, arguing about something or other. She just wished they'd go on and kiss and make up already. Everyone could see that they both wanted to. They were both far too daft to realise it though, especially Ron.

Ginny decided she really needed to work on the Charms homework they'd been given for the summer. As much as she didn't want to do homework, it beat cleaning the house, and Charms was her favourite class. Almost as soon as she got out her book and parchment, a knock at the door interrupted her fleeting moment of motivation.

"Come in," Ginny called, mentally preparing for a more extended argument with her mother. She was surprised when Tonks opened the door and immediately stumbled as she entered, ripping the doorknob off the door.

"Damn it! Hang on. Reparo," she cast, fixing the door before looking back at Ginny. "You really need to get better at your surveillance techniques."

Ginny rolled her eyes and flopped back on the bed. "How was I supposed to know there were alert charms set outside?"

"You could've asked," Tonks replied in a way that made Ginny very curious. She sat up and saw that Tonks was smiling mischievously.

"You would've helped?"

"Yeah, of course. I mean, I can't get caught doing it, but I don't agree with keeping everything from you all. I don't get to make that decision though. But I can tell you, on a completely unrelated note, that if someone was trying to keep people from hearing what was going on in a room, they might cast an Imperturbable Charm on it. You know what that is?"

"Sorta," Ginny answered, knowing that Flitwick had mentioned it before, but they hadn't learned them yet.

"It'll keep everyone out of the room without letting any sound out either. No eavesdropping. Of course, someone could forget to cast it. Hypothetically. The only way to know would be to throw something near the door. If it bounces away, nobody's hearing anything outside. But if it doesn't, someone could… listen in."

Ginny grinned. "Hopefully people forget about casting them then."

Tonks just shrugged like she had no idea what Ginny was talking about and sat down on the bed with her. "So… Ginevra?" Tonks asked, not hiding her amusement at all.

Ginny rolled her eyes in disgust. "There's a reason I tell people my name is Ginny."

Tonks laughed. "Hey, I'm in the same boat. My mother thought Nymphadora was a lovely name for some blasted reason. Dora's bad enough. That's why I'm just Tonks."

"You'd think that parents would think about how their kids will like their names before they decide. Like did my parents really think any kid would want to be called Ginevra? It makes me sound like an old woman!"

"Better than sounding like the scientific name of some plant in Herbology," Tonks replied with a shudder. "When I have kids, they're gonna have good names."

"You want to have kids?" Ginny asked. It wasn't a surprise, really. Tonks just hadn't ever talked about that. Or relationships, for that matter.

"Yeah, of course I do. Not right now, obviously. I think things would have to change a lot for me to think having a kid in these times was a good idea. But I'd like to have kids one day. I definitely want a boy. I like to think I'd be a fun mum. Like my kids would only be embarrassed for me to be around their friends because their friends would like me too much, y'know?"

Ginny smiled at her friend. "Yeah, I think you'd be a great mum, Tonks."

Tonks nodded proudly before her face fell a little. "Of course, I'd be terrified that I'd drop the kid. I am pretty clumsy."

Ginny laughed louder than she intended, thinking that was an incredible understatement. Tonks smiled too, recognising that her clumsiness was no secret. "I think you'd probably be a little more careful holding a baby. Or at least I hope you would."

Tonks nodded. "Me too. I think– actually, I know if I had a kid, I'd do anything to keep him safe. Even if it meant figuring out how to not be clumsy."

Ginny inhaled deeply, thinking about how much Tonks and Remus would've loved to have been here for this. Every time she thought about how unfair it was, it caused a painful twist in her stomach. She'd been lucky enough to see Teddy's growth over the past year. He'd grown from a happy baby to an excited and inquisitive infant who loved to totter around and explore the world. He was so happy, and Ginny knew that was all Tonks and Remus had wanted for him. Still, it hurt knowing that they'd missed out on this. Especially Tonks. Tonks had really wanted a baby.

And now her baby was one year old. It was the twelfth of April, and everyone but Percy, who had to be at the store today, was at the party. Granted, it wasn't really as much a party as an excuse to be with each other and dote on Teddy. And Teddy was all for people paying attention to him.

He needed help walking around still, but he was very determined to go where he thought he needed to be. While they were all outside, scattered around the porch and the yard, he would crawl up to someone and stand up with a hand held out, waiting for them to help him move around. Then he'd guide them to an interesting leaf or rock that he'd found. It happened over and over, until everyone had a turn walking around with Teddy.

As much as she loved how much the rest of the family cared for Teddy, there was a tiny, jealous part of Ginny that was a little proud when Teddy always came back to her or Harry. It wasn't that she was jealous of her family, really. But when Teddy came back to them, it felt like validation that they were doing a good job being his godparents for him to still prefer being with them.

Teddy had just finished exploring a pile of rocks with Bill when he came back to them. This time, he held a hand out to each of them, and they gladly left the porch to walk with him to the garden. He was very curious when it came to the different plants sticking up out of the ground, giggling when he touched a leaf or sprout and it moved back into place.

More than the plants though, he was fascinated by the gnomes. Ron was supposed to have degnomed the garden this morning, but Ginny hadn't seen him and Hermione leave their bedroom before Teddy and Andi had arrived, and she didn't really want to think about what could've kept him from doing his chores. She was satisfied with the explanation that he was lazy.

Ginny kept a tight grip on Teddy, and she and Harry watched the gnomes warily, ready to kick them if they threatened Teddy. Instead of seeing Teddy as something to sink their teeth into though, the gnomes seemed almost equally fascinated by him, especially when his hair shrank back into his head as he tried to look like them.

She knew this fascination wouldn't last. By the time she was five or six, the gnomes liked to bite her. But at least for now, they were more interested than antagonistic towards Teddy. Still, she and Harry refused to let Teddy wander any closer to them, not wanting his birthday to be ruined by a gnome latching onto his leg.

After the staring contest had lasted several minutes, Teddy pulled her and Harry around and walked them back up to the house. Then he went over to her mum. She picked him up and held him in her lap, and he was asleep seconds later.

"Just like the rest of you kids," she said warmly. "All tired out after his adventures."

"We thought he was trying to pick a fight with the gnomes from up here," Ron said with a grin.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, like we were going to let him do that."

"We didn't need another baby getting kicked in the head by a gnome after we saw the damage it did to you, Ron," Ginny added, making everyone laugh, even Ron, although it took an extra second for him to get the joke.

Once Teddy woke from his nap, they all ate cake. Ginny's mum and Andi had made two cakes together. The first cake was chocolate and large enough for everyone to eat, and the second was very small and made with bananas, just for Teddy. Ginny wouldn't have picked bananas for herself for a birthday cake, but her mum had read in Witch Weekly that children shouldn't have chocolate until they turn two, which seemed like a travesty to Ginny, but Andi had apparently agreed. At least bananas were one of Teddy's favourite foods. It was absolutely adorable to see Teddy's eyes light up when his cake was placed in front of him. They didn't even get through the second line of the Happy Birthday song before he'd already taken a fistful of the cake and shoved it into his mouth.

Ginny heard a loud click and was very glad to see that Harry had caught that moment on camera. He grinned at her as everyone laughed at how cute Teddy was. Then they quickly cut the cake, and everyone took a piece to eat before Teddy finished and got jealous that they were eating cake without him. And while Ginny was sure that his banana cake was good, there was no way it had anything on the chocolate cake her mum had made.

To end the celebration, Teddy was properly lavished with more gifts than he knew what to do with.

"He's going to be playing with new toys until his next birthday," Andi commented, smiling as Teddy and George rolled a ball on the floor together. Then the ball exploded into a puff of blue smoke, and Teddy started wailing because his ball disappeared.

"Hey, that's okay. It's okay Ted, look!" George exclaimed as he conjured another ball and held it out to Teddy, who stopped crying as he tilted his head, trying to decide if this was the same ball that he'd just lost. He was apparently convinced that it was a good enough replacement, and he stopped crying to play with George some more.

Harry took several more photographs of Teddy's birthday party, and Ginny made sure that Hermione took one of her and Harry holding him too. Their photo album would be half full of pictures of Teddy at this rate, and Ginny couldn't have been happier. He was such an important part of their lives that it only made sense for him to have such a prominent place in the shared photo album documenting their first year back together.

With all the excitement of the day, Teddy did eventually tire out in the late afternoon, despite the nap he'd taken earlier. He fought to keep his eyes open as Andi gathered up his things and carried him to the door, but it was clear he was fighting a losing battle.

Harry kissed the top of his head, and Ginny followed, kissing him before saying, "Bye, Teddy! Happy Birthday!"

"Bye bye."

Everything in the living room went silent.

Charlie broke it. "Did he just–"

"He did," her dad said with a wide smile.

Ginny and Harry exchanged an awestruck look. "Bye Teddy," Harry tried.

Yet again, Teddy said, "Bye bye." He smiled and his eyes closed, finally losing his battle against sleep.

Andi was smiling proudly. Quietly, she said, "Seems like a pretty great way to end the celebration. Thank you all for this. It was amazing."

Nobody wanted to risk waking Teddy up, so they all just smiled at her as she left the house and walked past the wards to disapparate. Once they were sure it was safe, it got very loud in the house as everyone gleefully celebrated Teddy saying his first word.

"He'll be saying Ron pretty soon," Ron declared confidently.

"I think George will be first," George countered.

"He'll say whatever Andi has decided to be called soon," Fleur promised.

"I don't know… I think he'll be trying to say Harry and Ginny before long," Hermione said, smiling widely at them both. Ginny looked up at Harry and saw a very proud smile on his face too. The idea seemed incredible. But Teddy had said his first ever word to them. He'd given them a gift on his birthday. What an amazing boy he was turning out to be, and, as proud as she and Harry were, Ginny knew that Tonks and Remus were even prouder.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

The day after Teddy's birthday was one of the most important days in Harry's life. At least, that was how it felt as he considered the plan before him. The only people staying at the Burrow today were him, Ginny, and her parents. As he typically did, Harry woke before everyone else, which meant he was in the kitchen when Arthur was getting ready to leave for work.

"Morning, Harry," Arthur said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Mister Weasley. Er– I was wondering, would it be possible for you to leave work a little early? I was hoping to talk to you and Molly about something."

Arthur looked at him curiously. "Is everything alright, Harry?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine."

"It's just you haven't called me Mister Weasley in a long time," Arthur said, smiling slightly at him.

"Oh, I didn't even realise I'd– old habits, I guess. Sorry about that," Harry offered, feeling like this had already gotten off to an uncomfortable start before it had even begun.

"No problem," Arthur replied easily. "I suppose Ginny won't be joining us?"

"Er– no. At least, if you can make it here before she gets back. I think she's going to do some practice with our Chasers later."

"I see. I'll take off early then and we can talk with Molly about whatever's going on."

"Thanks, Mist– Arthur," Harry said gratefully. Arthur just smiled and put a hand on his shoulder for a second before leaving to go to work.

Thankfully, Harry didn't have to make up an excuse for why he was going to be staying at home. Demelza had only invited Ginny and Natalie to her dad's house because she'd gone to a match between Tutshill and Kenmare last week and had gotten some new ideas for their match against Slytherin.

"She's gonna be the next captain, you know," Ginny told Harry at breakfast before she left.

"I'd actually figured that one out by myself," Harry replied wryly. "She's the only person I know who's as obsessed with Quidditch as you are."

"I actually think she's more obsessed than I am."

"Which is terrifying to imagine," Harry joked before Ginny kissed him and promised to be back by dinner.

While she was gone, Harry tried several things to pass the time so he didn't feel like he was just waiting all day. They still had a handful of Snitches that he and Ginny had nicked from Hogwarts for his Seeking competitions with Charlie, so he practised with one of those for a couple hours. Then he spent some time practising transfiguration by charming the pile of rocks that Teddy had been so interested in yesterday so that they'd attack him. Once he was surrounded by a pile of mothballs, he decided to change them back to rocks so Teddy would be able to play with them the next time he was over.

Harry was at the stream, reminiscing about some very fond memories he'd made down here with Ginny while looking at pictures of her on his watch and twirling his Pocket Portkey between his fingers when he heard the unmistakable crack of apparition that signalled Arthur's return.

"You've got this. They're gonna be happy. Molly's not gonna freak out. It's fine. You've got this," Harry repeated to himself, feeling stupid for being this nervous. It just felt so different than when he'd talked to Ron and Bill about it. He'd never really thought that either of them would be opposed to him proposing to Ginny, and even if they had been, it wouldn't have stopped him. But he didn't know what he'd do if either of her parents disagreed. Ginny would probably be furious, and he'd be crushed.

That hadn't happened yet though, he reminded himself. That didn't stop him from feeling his legs trembling slightly as he walked up the steps onto the porch. He was glad nobody else could see him. People called him The Saviour of the Wizarding World, and he was shaking in anticipation of talking to his two surrogate parents. It was more than a little embarrassing. Pausing just outside the door, Harry took a deep breath and then entered.

It felt to him that he'd just interrupted a conversation about him. Molly and Arthur were sitting next to each other in the living room, and they both looked up at him with a curious expression when he walked in. Harry wondered if his heart was pounding as loudly as it felt.

Arthur broke the silence. "Take a seat, Harry," he offered in a way that felt ominous. He did as instructed though and sat on the loveseat opposite their two chairs. He tried to lean back and cross one leg over the other, but he felt like that was out of place for this conversation and shifted awkwardly so he was practically sitting on the edge of the seat. Molly and Arthur glanced at each other and Arthur looked like he was trying to maintain a neutral expression. Harry was fine with that, considering the alternative would probably have disappointed him.

"Arthur was just telling me that you wanted to speak to us about something?" Molly started.

Harry inhaled slowly and nodded. There was no backing out now. "Yeah, I did. I– I wanted to talk with you about… um, my intentions with Ginny."

They exchanged another look before focusing on him again. Neither of them said anything though, so Harry had to keep stumbling along.

"I want you to know… well, I hope it's obvious, but Ginny's the most important person in my life. And I love her more than anything. So much more. Lately– actually, it's been for a while now– I've been thinking about my future a lot. For– for a really long time, I didn't want to think about my future at all because I didn't think… anyways, part of that was deciding to play Quidditch after Hogwarts. But my career isn't anywhere near as important as the other things I want out of my future.

"Ginny and I have talked, quite a bit, actually, about what things would look like for us after we graduate. There are still a lot of things that we're figuring out, but we both know that we want to be together for the rest of our lives. And I know we're young, but… we know what we want. So we– I want to make that official. I– I want to propose to Ginny, and… well, I'm asking for your blessing. To marry Ginny."

It was so quiet that Harry could've heard a quill scratching on parchment. After several seconds of them staring at him, they slowly turned to look at each other.

"I told you," Arthur said. Harry had known that he'd been awkward earlier in the morning with Arthur, but he was still surprised that Arthur had figured out what he wanted to talk to them about from that.

"Yes, I suppose you did," Molly replied. Harry tried swallowing the lump in the back of his throat. He noticed he was gripping the cushion of the loveseat rather tightly. It was killing him that they were being so noncommittal with everything they were saying, but at least it was better than shutting them down right away.

"We're new to this too, Harry," Arthur explained as he and Molly continued their mostly nonverbal conversation. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that it was taking a while for them to answer.

"Yeah, of course. Take– take as much time as you need," he said, even though he really preferred an immediate answer.

"It's probably not worth asking if you're going to protect her. You've already proven that you're more capable than pretty much anyone at that," Arthur commented as their silent conversation apparently ended and they both turned to face him again.

"And she doesn't really need protection. I've seen her hexes before," Harry responded, and he took it as a good sign that Arthur smiled a little and nodded.

"A very fair point. We also know that you'll be able to provide for her if she ever needs it– not that money really matters at all with something like this. I suppose it really comes down to knowing how much you love her and if you're ready. If it's not too intrusive, would you mind telling us how you came to have feelings for Ginny in the first place? I'm only asking because I'm very curious about what changed between her having a… rather committed crush on you as a child to the two of you beginning to date two years ago."

Harry hadn't really expected to be asked this question, but both Arthur and Molly were looking at him intently, like it was a critical question for him to answer. "I guess… the summer before my sixth year is when my feelings really began, so that was almost three years ago. The year or two before was the first time Ginny had really started acting like herself around me instead of clamming up whenever we were in the same room. When she did that, I started noticing how kind and funny she was. She always made people around her happier. And she was brave and fierce in Dumbledore's Army too.

"After the Department of Mysteries… she was one of the only people who supported me when I needed it. It was my fault that we were all in danger that night, but none of them held it against me. We were still friends. And then I spent most of the summer here, and we played Quidditch all the time and spent a lot of time talking whenever Hermione and Ron were going at it. It took a while for me to realise it, but that's when my feelings for her really began."

Arthur was smiling a little more now, and Harry started allowing himself to feel a bit of hope. "Thank you, Harry. I know we spoke about it over Christmas, but we all know that you love Ginny. Her Patronus changing is very clear evidence of that, as much as it is that she loves you as well. There's countless other moments I can think of where you have both displayed your love for each other in the last year as well, but the Patronus… that's something very special and undeniable."

Harry nodded, feeling even more hopeful until he saw Molly's face. Her lips were pressed together, which concerned him, but her eyes were softer, surveying him carefully. Then she spoke for the first time in the interrogation. "Last summer, I worried that the two of you were moving exceptionally fast in your relationship. Ginny assured me that I was mistaken and you weren't planning on getting married anytime soon. What's changed? Why the rush to get married now?"

Harry thought back to the conversations he'd had with Bill, Ron, Hermione, and even Ginny. What had changed? Was there really a need to get married or engaged right now? But then he remembered Ginny's face on the day they fixed the Room of Requirement, when he told her for the first time, very seriously, that he was going to marry her. And he knew the answer.

"I don't think it's a rush. We wouldn't even necessarily get married right away either. We haven't talked about that yet. But to answer your question… nothing's changed. A few nights ago, I asked Bill when he knew that he should marry Fleur, and as soon as he told me, I knew I was right. He said he knew when he realised he couldn't live without her. The year I spent on the run was the worst year of my life for several reasons, and coming from me, that's saying something. One of the worst parts of it was being separated from Ginny, not knowing if she was okay, after only having a few weeks together.

"When everything ended and we got back together, I knew that I couldn't ever be separated from her again. I love her too much. I can't live without her. And I think she feels the same about me. Nothing's changed since then, other than I somehow love her even more now than I did then, which doesn't really seem like it should be possible. I've been ready to marry her for a long time, even if I didn't realise it right away. But now that I know, I can't stop thinking about it. I love her, and I want to marry her. And even though we're young, I know that's never gonna change."

Once he finished talking, Harry took a second to look closely at Molly and Arthur. Arthur's eyes were shining, and he was smiling very happily. And Molly… had tears streaming down her face. But she was smiling too. Harry's heart sped up in anticipation as they looked at each other once more and nodded together.

Then they turned back to him. "Harry, you have our blessing to propose to Ginny," Arthur said in a slightly choked up voice as a tear finally rolled down his cheek.

Harry let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and slumped against the back of the loveseat in relief.

"Did you really think we were going to say no?" Arthur asked, chuckling as he wiped his eyes.

Harry smiled now, realising how he'd misread things. "Maybe? Ron and Bill were both happy about it, but it– it's different to ask her parents. And then you started asking me those questions, and I got nervous that you were looking for a reason to say no."

Molly smiled and shook her head. "Arthur told me before you came in that he thought you were going to ask for our blessing to propose to Ginny. We agreed a long time ago that there wasn't a better man to join our family and marry our daughter, so it was an easy decision. But you can't blame us for wanting to hear just how much you love her."

Harry couldn't contain his wide smile, feeling so much relief and gratitude. These wonderful people had taken him in, made him feel like a part of their family, and now they were giving him their blessing to marry their only daughter and truly become a part of the family. It was impossible to even comprehend how much this acceptance and love meant to him.

Molly added, "Now stand up so we can give you a hug!"

He laughed and met them in the middle of the living room in a warm embrace that lasted for much longer than any normal hugs. He didn't mind though. This one was definitely special, and he knew he'd remember this day for the rest of his life.

When Ginny returned from her training session at Demelza's, it was nearly impossible for Harry to keep off her. Obviously, she looked spectacular as always after playing Quidditch, and he had the added romantic boost of knowing that he had no real obstacles– other than a potentially angry older brother– to proposing to her now. He wasn't exactly secretive about lavishing attention on her, to the point that she was practically pushing him off so that she could shower before dinner. And unfortunately, she rejected his offer to join her, probably because her parents were still around.

Harry was a little worried that Molly and Arthur would give away the secret with how they were looking at them at dinner. Luckily though, Ginny didn't seem to notice. It wasn't a massive secret– she obviously knew that he was talking to people in her family about it. But talking to her parents felt much more important. And now that he knew what her answer would be when he proposed, he was focused entirely on surprising her.

The first step of that plan would be to actually get a ring. He wasn't positive on what the process was for doing that though. He probably should've asked Bill what he'd done. He supposed he'd start with the jewellery shop in Diagon Alley and go from there. It seemed so simple in theory. The ring was really just a circle. There'd probably be some fancy jewel on it, but the point was that it was a circle that had no beginning or end. He thought he'd heard Fleur talk about rings like that once. The circle had no beginning or end, just like love. It was enough to make anyone sick, including him, if he wasn't so in love himself. Harry was so caught up in all these thoughts about those eternal circles and putting one on her finger that night in bed that he didn't even notice that she was talking to him.

"Harry? You there?" Ginny asked, nudging him slightly.

"Hmm? Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?" Harry responded, hoping that his distraction wasn't too apparent.

"Are you okay? You've been acting weird ever since I got back home."

"What? No, I'm fine," he replied, rather lamely in his opinion.

"You sure?" Ginny asked, apparently not buying it.

"Positive," he assured her with a quick kiss. "So what were you saying?"

"Oh, right. Demelza was telling Natalie and I that she thought Dean and Mia were dating."

"Really? Why does she think that? I mean… are they?"

"I don't know. I think she's basing this all on seeing them talking more than usual in the last few weeks. Not a whole lot to go off of in my opinion."

"So you don't think they're dating?"

"I'd be surprised. I… don't think Dean is Mia's type."

"Huh. Never would've guessed."

"Oh, he's a great guy. It's just… everyone's got their preferences, you know?"

"Well you liked him, and you clearly have pretty good taste in men," Harry replied, bringing up her relationship with Dean uncharacteristically. The funny thing was that he didn't feel jealous about it. That jealousy had been fading for a long time now. Ginny loved him. They were going to get married. He had no reason to be jealous.

And besides, it made Ginny laugh. "I did like him. I still do like him. But he's not my type either."

"So what's your type then?" Harry asked, very eager to learn the answer.

Then Ginny was whispering in his ear. "I have a real thing for green eyes," she said before kissing his ear.

"And messy black hair," she added with a kiss on his cheek.

"A troublemaker's smile with too much kindness in it." That was accompanied by a kiss on his forehead.

"Someone who's brave and selfless."

She kissed his nose. "A warm, loving heart."

She punctuated that with a chaste kiss on his lips that made him lean towards her as she pulled back. He could see her smile even in the darkness of the room.

"And most of all… I love a really sexy man with a great body and–"

Harry cut her off as she squealed and giggled, kissing every inch of her he could find. Merlin, he couldn't wait to marry her.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Ginny wasn't sure what had brought on Harry's dramatic increase in affection. Sure, he was always sweet with her, kissing or touching her frequently to show his love, but the past few days had been almost relentless. It wouldn't have been a problem– on the contrary, it would've been welcomed and encouraged– if her parents weren't around so much. It was easier to get away with it when they were in her bedroom with an Imperturbable Charm on the door or outside in the orchard or by the stream. It was a much different story when they were in the living room and her mum was making dinner fifteen feet away. Not that she could complain too much though. She was just as bad as he was most of the time.

As much fun as they'd had over the break, they were also well aware that it was coming to a close. There were only a few days remaining until they'd return to Hogwarts for their final term, and they were both very excited for the last opportunity to be around their friends all the time and enjoy everything the castle had to offer before they left for good.

Before that though, they actually were going to see their friends, or a lot of them, today. They'd received a letter, carried by an eagle owl, from Astoria, inviting them to come to her house to celebrate her birthday. It was a bit of a relief that she told them in the invitation not to bring her any presents. As much as they liked Astoria, Ginny didn't think either of them would've had the slightest clue of what to get her.

So on Astoria's birthday, the fifteenth of April, they apparated to the location Astoria had instructed on the invitation– a rural area just outside of Cambridge. When they landed, Ginny saw why Astoria had no problem declining presents from her friends– she lived in an actual mansion.

Harry stiffened slightly next to her when he saw the palatial estate. "Like the Malfoys'," he muttered. It took Ginny a moment to realise why on earth he'd know what Draco Malfoy's house looked like. By the time she figured out why it might be uncomfortable for Harry, he already looked unbothered by it. Apparently it was different enough for him to get past the similarities.

The towering gate that was intended to block the path to the house was open, so they walked freely up to the large doors made of some black wood Ginny didn't recognise. Almost as soon as she rapped on the door, it swung open and Astoria greeted them with a very wide smile.

"I'm so glad you two could make it!"

"Happy Birthday!" Ginny said as Astoria hugged her.

"Thanks!"

Harry repeated it as Astoria hugged him too. He seemed a little surprised by it, and Ginny raised an eyebrow suggestively while he looked at her over Astoria's shoulder. He just smiled and rolled his eyes.

"You're actually the first to arrive, so it's just me and my sisters here right now," Astoria informed them as she led them through a long hallway into a massive living room. The ceilings must've been fifteen feet tall or more, lined with alternating black and white marble columns on the walls. The floor appeared to be white marble as well, and the black furniture seemed tiny in comparison to the cavernous room, even though there was much more furniture in this living room than the one at the Burrow.

"You two probably already know Daphne," Astoria said, gesturing to a blonde girl about their age who seemed to be trying to exit the room as they entered. Daphne nodded stiffly at them before leaving, and Ginny vaguely recognised her as one of the girls who used to be part of Pansy Parkinson's gang. She was only a year older than Ginny and Astoria, and, as she thought about it, it was a wonder that Astoria hadn't ever ended up in that crowd. And maybe even more so, it was amazing just how different a person Astoria was from her older sister.

"She's… standoffish sometimes," Astoria offered apologetically. Ginny guessed that was code for Daphne being much more of a typical 'bad' Slytherin than Astoria. "My other sister is much more extroverted. I don't guess you've either met her before."

A brunette woman who was probably around five years older than them had risen from one of the sofas and walked over, smiling at both of them. It was a little disorienting. When she smiled, she looked remarkably similar to Astoria, beautiful and proud.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Audrey," she said, extending a hand to them.

"Ginny," she replied, shaking her hand.

Harry shook her hand afterwards. "Harry. Er– this might be a weird question, but… have we met before?"

A knock at the door pulled Astoria back out of the room temporarily. Audrey nodded her head slightly. "You have an impressive memory. We haven't been formally introduced before, but I think I was about four years ahead of you at Hogwarts… and I was present for your hearing in July."

Ginny doubted Harry would know her from that. There were hundreds of people in the crowd that day. To her surprise though, Harry's eyes widened in recognition. "You're on the Wizengamot!"

Audrey smiled and nodded again. "I am. My father had grown tired of the politics and didn't have any interest in participating in the trials, so he ceded the family seat to me."

"You were the one who asked me about what happened in the forest," Harry recalled.

Audrey's smile faded as she gave a more apologetic look. "I never got a chance to apologise to you for that. If I'd known how personal the answer was, I never–"

Ever forgiving, Harry was more than willing to shake it off. "Don't apologise. You were just doing your job. It wasn't the only difficult question I got asked that day."

"You really aren't like most people, are you?" Audrey asked curiously. Unsurprisingly, Harry just shrugged like he didn't know how to answer that. "Well, I'm glad to meet both of you under much better circumstances than a hearing before the Wizengamot at any rate."

"Same," Harry replied as Astoria entered the room with Mia, Dean, and Luna, who'd all apparently arrived at the same time. Before Astoria could start talking to any of them though, yet another knock on the door pulled her away.

Luna said something about how the high ceilings were perfect breeding grounds for wrackspurts, drawing the attention of both Dean and Audrey. Harry saw Ginny pulling Mia away but didn't try to join them. Ginny figured he knew what was going on anyways.

"What's going on?" Mia asked in a hushed tone.

"Are you and Dean dating?" Ginny asked immediately.

"What? No! Why would you think that?" Mia asked with a very surprised expression on her face.

Ginny considered her answer for a second before deciding that the truth was worth telling. "Demelza told me a few days ago that she thinks you two are."

Mia's eyes widened a bit more. "But why would she– we're not dating. We're friends," she said firmly, still looking a bit puzzled at what could've led Demelza to that conclusion.

"That's what I thought too. Demelza seemed to think the two of you talking at school meant that you were a couple though. So you might want to clear that up with her when we get back."

Mia nodded, pressing her lips together as she looked down at the floor, lost in thought. Ginny carefully guided her back to the group as they were joined by more of Astoria's friends, although they didn't really know these people as well. Ginny recognised them all as being Slytherins.

The boy was a Slytherin Chaser– Jimmy Vaisey. He'd missed the last Quidditch match Gryffindor and Slytherin had played, having taken a Bludger to the head, but he'd arguably been the best Chaser at Hogwarts outside of the Gryffindor team this season.

Ginny was surprised that she didn't actually know either of the two girls. She was very certain that they weren't seventh years. As much as she'd tried avoiding Slytherins for most of her time at Hogwarts, it was impossible not to know all the people in her year, and these two definitely weren't.

"You all probably know Jimmy," Astoria said, gesturing to him. He waved slightly, like he felt like he might be in a hostile environment. "And these are Dana and Liz. They're sixth years, but they're two of my best friends."

Things might have been awkward if they weren't all friends of Astoria. She'd proven that she wasn't like so many of her Slytherin housemates, and Ginny definitely trusted that she wouldn't be close friends with people who were. Similarly, it seemed that the three Slytherins who'd joined them came to the realisation that Astoria wouldn't be friends with people who would judge so quickly based on what house they were in.

"Hi! I'm Ginny," she introduced herself to the girls that she didn't already know, and everyone else followed suit. Within minutes, Dana and Liz– Ginny couldn't decide if they were sisters or friends who looked remarkably similar, both having pitch black hair and blue eyes– were very enthusiastically talking to Harry about Defence. He pulled Mia, who was responsible for teaching the sixth years, and Dean, who taught the seventh years, into the discussion too.

From what Ginny heard, they were very interested in Patroni but hadn't quite mastered them yet. It wasn't surprising. Only about half of the older students had gotten the hang of casting them. With how many people she knew that could cast them, it was easy to forget just how difficult they were. She suspected that a large part of the reason that so many students were still struggling when compared to the original Dumbledore's Army was that Harry simply couldn't personally train every single person in Defence. There were several hundred students he was responsible for teaching, as opposed to the thirty or so he had before.

"You ready to get your arse kicked next month?" Vaisey asked, acting menacing for all of two seconds before grinning.

"You wish," Ginny shot back. "The closest you're getting to the Quidditch Cup is when they carry it past you to give to me after our match."

"You seem confident."

"Very confident," Ginny corrected. "We're going to win."

Vaisey chuckled. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were pushovers. You all haven't played anyone like us yet."

"Same goes for you then. And we've scored more points this season than Slytherin."

"Ten more," he countered. "Doesn't matter."

Ginny shrugged. "It's still more."

"You're actually impossible, you know?"

"I've been told it's one of my best qualities."

He snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure your boyfriend would say that."

Ginny just smiled proudly, very much enjoying getting in Vaisey's head.

Vaisey rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I heard you've been getting scouted. You definitely going pro?"

She hadn't been expecting that. "Yeah, that's the plan. I'll be free to talk officially to teams after the match next month."

"I heard there's gonna be a lot of scouts there."

"I guess. I know Chudley and Holyhead will be there. No idea if there will be anymore. Are you–"

"Yeah. At least, I hope so. I'll be honest, I know I'm not as good as you, but I think I could at least get on a reserve team and play my way into a first team spot in a couple seasons."

Yet again, her expectations were subverted, this time by the surprising compliment. "You're a really good Chaser, Jimmy. We're doing a lot of work to make sure we stop you next month," she confessed. "You'll get a shot. And if there aren't a lot of scouts there, you can always go to the open trials for different teams over the summer."

He nodded and smiled wryly. "We're trying to figure out how to stop you too. Only problem is all three of you are a problem for us. So if you've got any tips…"

Ginny laughed. "Not at all. Good luck with it though. At least you'll be on the pitch at the same time as the Cup, even if you don't win."

That got him laughing too, and they bantered back and forth for a while about Quidditch, continuing on when Astoria and Owen joined them. Owen didn't really have much of a leg to stand on with his house being so bad this year, but he was very eager to egg the rest of them on.

Some time later, Astoria, Ginny, and Luna were eating food that Audrey had set out for everyone. "Your sister seems cool," Ginny said, taking a bite of a sandwich.

Astoria smiled and nodded. "She's great. So is Daph. At least, she is to the people she likes."

"Is that not many people then?" Ginny asked, unable to help herself. Daphne hadn't ever returned after leaving the living room earlier, so Ginny guessed none of them fell into that category.

Astoria's smile became sadder. "I'm sure you remember who she was friends with at Hogwarts."

Ginny's grimace at the reference to Pansy and the rest confirmed that.

"My parents used to have a very outdated mentality about blood purity. I think they tried instilling that in us, but it didn't take for Audrey. She wasn't even in Slytherin, which bothered our parents to no end. She was in Ravenclaw, and she became very close friends with several Muggle-borns. After that, she pushed back against our parents' beliefs, and they at least stopped being so blatant about it around Daph and me. But when Daph went to Hogwarts and was surrounded by people who told her what she'd grown up hearing, she fell in line with them," Astoria finished, frowning painfully as she did.

"But you didn't."

"No, I didn't. I listened to Audrey more than my parents. I met people who weren't like that. Like Jimmy? He's a half-blood. It shouldn't have mattered, but some people in Slytherin acted like it did. I was his only friend when we were younger, which meant he was my only friend too."

That sounded lonely. Then again, Ginny's best friend when she was a first year had been the memory of Tom Riddle, so she couldn't possibly judge how lonely Astoria might've been. "And have your parents changed? You said they used to have an outdated mentality."

Astoria nodded slowly. "They did, recently. They weren't ever… open supporters of the Dark Lord. But they certainly weren't opposed to his cause either."

"So what changed? Other than Riddle croaking?"

"They started hearing about the terrible things happening at Hogwarts. The things you and your friends went through. I think that was when they decided that they couldn't support the Dark Lord's cause anymore. Thankfully, they didn't ever have to make a stand on that. But… I don't think their views on blood purity really changed until after the battle last year."

"They decided enough was enough?"

"They read a speech that a hero gave at a friend's funeral. And then they listened to him speak at the memorial. He probably has no idea how impactful it was, but what he said… it changed my parents forever."

Astoria smiled as she looked at Harry, who was talking animatedly to Justin, Owen, and Audrey about something. Ginny smiled too, feeling a fierce pride for him.

"Thanks for telling me that. It really means a lot," Ginny said, hoping her voice wasn't quite as raw as it felt.

"Of course. It's the truth. He changed a lot with his actions last year, but his words carried a lot of weight too. If those speeches he gave could change my parents, who'd been stout blood purists my whole life… well, they probably weren't the only ones who were changed."

"It's always interesting when adults change. When we're children, we think our parents are infallible and steadfast. But they can change just like children," Luna mused in her typical airy voice.

"They definitely can. It's much more rare for them to change though," Astoria replied.

"They have more to change. Your parents spent decades preferring pure blood, so it took something as big as a war and Harry's speeches to change them. But you and your sister weren't so deep in those beliefs, and all it took was being friends with those with less pure blood," Luna said sagely.

"You're right, which is why I'm so grateful that they did change."

"My daddy changed. He used to be so sad after Mummy died. So did I. But we got better because we were with each other. He changed to become sad, but he changed to not be sad anymore too."

Astoria and Ginny looked sadly at Luna, who blinked and cocked her head. "I'm sorry. That was sad. Maybe we should talk about something happier? I've kissed four boys before. What about you?"

Ginny locked eyes with Astoria, and neither of them could keep from cracking up hysterically. It was a while before they could answer Luna, who waited patiently for them to finish laughing, not understanding what was so funny about it.

The party had started in the morning but lasted well into the late afternoon before people started leaving. Ginny couldn't help but wonder what birthdays had been like for Astoria before this one. She just seemed so genuinely happy to have friends over to spend some time together, and Ginny hoped this wouldn't be the last time they'd all be together outside Hogwarts, even after they all graduated.

Dana and Liz were the first to go, having sufficiently talked Harry's ear off for several hours. He didn't seem to mind though, promising to check in on their progress with Patroni in class next week.

After they left, Harry came up to her with a smile on his face. "So I had an idea."

"I usually like your ideas."

"I really think you'll like this one. I was thinking after dinner tonight, we could apparate down to Weymouth and go for a late night swim."

Ginny grinned widely. "You really should come up with ideas more often. You're rather good at it."

"So that's a yes?"

She rolled her eyes affectionately. "Duh."

"Brilliant! Okay, so I've gotta go now, but–"

"Go? Where are you going?"

Harry opened and closed his mouth twice before sighing. "Can I just promise that I'll tell you one day soon and you agree to not ask any questions?"

She raised her eyebrows and looked at him for a couple seconds. Then she smiled, knowing that whatever it was, if it was a surprise, she'd love it. "Works for me. You're gonna be home for dinner though?"

"Yeah, of course. And then we've got our date," he said with an excited grin.

"I can't wait. Now get going so you're not late. Mum won't be happy if we've gotta wait on you to eat."

Harry laughed and kissed her. "I'll be there. Don't worry. I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, smiling at him as he walked toward the front door, telling Astoria happy birthday and stopping to talk to Owen for a moment before leaving. He turned and gave Ginny one last smile before he left. He really was more adorable than he knew.

Right after Harry left, Vaisey, Luna, Mia, and Dean followed, the latter two of whom were apparently still close despite Ginny's conversation with Mia earlier. It wasn't really her business though, and she guessed she'd hear more about it all from either Mia or Demelza soon anyways.

Ginny finally decided she should get back home, and Owen and Justin were ready to leave with her. Ginny gave Astoria a hug, wishing her a happy birthday and promising to see her soon. Owen was a bit more affectionate, kissing her for several seconds before walking out, grinning.

Justin disapparated first, saying he'd see them at Hogwarts. "Nice kiss in there," Ginny commented, laughing at Owen's blush.

"What can I say? It's her birthday."

Ginny held up her hands. "I wasn't saying it was a bad thing."

He chuckled at that. "Well, I've gotta get going. Some things to take care of before getting back to school. I'll see you on the Express?"

"Yep," Ginny confirmed.

"Alright. I hope you'll be okay, Ginny," he said before disapparating.

"You too!" Ginny replied, smiling to herself as she disapparated and returned to the Burrow.

"Hi, dear. How was the party?" Ginny's mum asked when she walked in.

"It was great! I'm really glad Astoria invited us," Ginny said earnestly.

Her mum smiled. "That's wonderful. But where's Harry?"

"He said he had something to do, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. I'm guessing it's a surprise. He promised he'd be home for dinner though."

"Okay. It'll be ready soon though."

Ginny chuckled. "I know, Mum. He'll be here."

Ginny ran upstairs to her room, already keen to pick out a bathing suit for her date that night. The sun was setting, so it would be completely dark by the time they got there. Maybe, if there wasn't anyone else around, they wouldn't even need bathing suits. Just in case though, she decided on a bright red one that Harry had very much liked last summer and placed it on her bed to change into later.

"Ginny! Dinner's ready!"

Ginny winced. Harry was a little late. Better him than her though. Her mum was much more likely to be forgiving of Harry than one of the children she'd actually given birth to.

She came down the stairs and grabbed a bottle of butterbeer out of the cabinet and cast a cooling charm on it. They'd forgotten to talk to Rosmerta on their last Hogsmeade weekend about buying a case of the stuff to keep in their dormitory. Maybe they could go up there tomorrow and see about getting some in for the new term.

"Do you think Harry will be much longer?" her mum asked as she walked towards the table.

"Relax, Mum, he'll be here– actually, I think he's coming now," Ginny said as movement on the clock in the living room caught her eye. She walked towards it and saw that Harry's hand was indeed moving. "Yeah. See, Mum. He's home…"

Harry's hand didn't stop at home. The cold bottle of butterbeer slipped out of her hand, shattering on the floor, as she watched the hand move one spot further. Her parents' voices were barely audible mumbles. Suddenly, it was impossible to breathe. She couldn't even blink. Her eyes were frozen, just like Harry's hand on the clock, transfixed by where it had stopped.

Harry was in mortal peril.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

A/N: So… um… surprise! In my defence, I've waited almost a full year to post this chapter with this cliffhanger, while you all only have to wait a week, so… that's something! There's really not anything more for me to say there though, so I'll just move on.

The books don't specify when Teddy's birthday is other than sometime in April 1998, so Teddy's birthday was chosen specifically because it fit with the timeline for everything else in this chapter. I typically try to have more meaning behind dates I choose for things like that, and I could lie and say that Teddy's birthday is 12 April because that's the day the American Civil War started and Teddy is the one baby we know of that was born in the midst of the wizarding war, which was essentially a civil war, but that definitely wasn't the actual reason. Astoria's birthday being 15 April has some symbolism that I'll discuss a bit more in the next chapter, but that symbolism is largely related to what happens on her birthday with Harry as opposed to anything related to her.

Speaking of Teddy's birthday, it's stated that Molly read in Witch Weekly that infants shouldn't have chocolate until they turn 2. That could easily be replaced by "PotterSloth read on …" I have absolutely no idea if that's a real thing. I know there are baby pictures of me eating chocolate before I was even 1, and I like to think I turned out okay regardless, but I tried to do my best to stick to my research when writing scenes with Teddy. In the same vein, most resources claim that babies tend to say their first words between 10-14 months, so Teddy's right on schedule there! In my outlines for all three books so far, I've had developmental milestones for Teddy listed to try and represent his growth as accurately as I can. I imagine it'd be a lot easier if I had extensive personal experience with babies, but since I don't, this is the best I've got!

I've talked before about how parts of my personality exist in both Harry and Ginny as I continue to write them, and Harry's conversation with Arthur and Molly definitely shows some of that. I can't imagine not being nervous in his shoes there, asking my girlfriend's parents for their blessing to marry her, no matter how close I was to them. To me, it feels like something where all rationality goes out the window and is replaced with nerves and thinking about worst-case scenarios that won't ever actually happen. But of course, there was never any chance in the world that they wouldn't have given him their blessing!

One of my favourite parts of Astoria's birthday was getting to see just how impactful Harry's speeches from SoR actually were. We hear a lot of positive things about them, but I felt like it was important to show that his speeches did change the way that people were viewing things like blood status in the Wizarding World. It also adds a deeper layer to Astoria's relationship with both Harry and Ginny, showing some of why she's been so friendly to them all year and how not all Slytherins are necessarily bad people, which is also reflected in the Slytherins at her party. Vaisey's a Slytherin Chaser referenced in HBP by Ginny, so I felt like he fit perfectly into the story as someone we know next to nothing about who could be another sort of 'good' Slytherin. For some reason, I've always had it in my head that his first name was Jimmy, and I didn't even bother checking when I wrote this chapter because I was sure it was right. Turns out that he doesn't have a first name in the books, so I totally made it up, but it definitely feels canonical to me now!

So that pretty much brings us to the end of the chapter. Ginny seeing Harry's hand pointing to mortal peril was one of the earliest ideas I had for this story, and this serves as the start of the seventh of eight guidepost plot points for SoR/ToG. And… well, it's going to get more interesting.

Just so you all are aware, I'm going to be on vacation during the next two release days. I'm actually lucky enough to get to be going to the UK, so fingers crossed I get some new ideas and inspiration while there! I'm bringing it up though to say that I don't know what times I'll be posting, but I'll do my best to post as close to my usual time as possible. I did consider just not worrying about posting while on vacation, but I felt like it would be sort of cruel to leave you all on this cliffhanger for that long, so bear with me, and I promise, as always, that the waits will be worth it!

Coming Friday: Mortal Peril- In the window, he could see a blurred, shadowy reflection of an all-black figure.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

Guest: That's a really, really interesting way of looking at how Ginny behaved when she was drunk, and I like it a lot as a deeper, more in-world explanation for how she acts more childlike. Honestly though, I didn't put any really deep thought into it. I share a lot of personality traits with Ginny, I feel like, and her drunken self is largely based on how I am in similar situations- very affectionate, laughing at everything, unable to focus, and a lot more confident in my coordination than I should be. I really appreciate that sort of deep thought about things like that though! It makes me feel like the world I'm building feels so real that there has to be an in-world reason for character actions, which I do typically try to have in my mind, even if I never elaborate on them in my writing or author's notes. This was just one case where I thought putting myself into Ginny's shoes would make the writing feel as authentic as possible, and her actions followed from there.

Finnspa23: I think you have really good reason to think that, seeing as Charlie usually does have the best for Harry and Ginny at heart, even though he comes across as callous or uncaring sometimes. Still though, it's kind of fun to have that as a 'final boss' for Harry as he tries to continue on this path towards hopefully proposing to Ginny.

As for Bill and Fleur, I will say that it definitely isn't Victoire... I don't think it'd be possible for Fleur to hide her pregnancy until about two weeks before she gives birth haha! But also, just based on the timing of the epilogue, the earliest Victoire could've been born was two years after the battle since she's still a Hogwarts student nineteen years later. We'll eventually get more of a suggestion about what was going on, and I'll bring it up in the author's notes when it becomes relevant too, but I do find it to be an interesting challenge to try and ensure that the characters continue to advance in their lives even when Harry and Ginny aren't around. Bill and Fleur being off in the last chapter is an example of their life happening outside of what our perspective allows us to see, which I think makes the world more real, even if it is kind of hard to write sometimes!