Summary: A freak accident clears the name of Sirius Black who then takes over the welfare of a young Harry Potter. A hideous discovery convinces Sirius Hogwarts is too dangerous for the young boy. Years later a lonely, over-worked Harry meets a young lady who will change his life and actually allow him to have a little fun. If only his fellow Aurors could work out who he was dating.
Rating: R
Categories: Alternate Universe
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: The List
Published: 2012.05.03
Updated: 2012.07.06
Index
Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – Why you should never anger a Harpy
Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Gordon is a moron!
Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – Boy…interrupted
Chapter 4: Chapter 4 - Figure 2b....whoopee!
Chapter 5: Chapter 5 - Harry Potter...stud muffin
Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Changing attitudes
Chapter 7: Chapter 7 – Amazonian Hooligans
Chapter 8: Chapter 8 – Meet Georgina
Chapter 9: Chapter 9 - Camden Town Blues
Chapter 10: Chapter 10 - Disco Harry
Chapter 11: Chapter 11 - Hot Dog!
Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – The Seven Deadly Sins
Chapter 13: Chapter 13 – The End of the List
Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – Why you should never anger a Harpy
Author's Notes: Hello and welcome to my first fan fic ever! I started various far more serious tales previously but this silly little story kept dragging me back.
I have tried to put this from the view point of two twenty-something people living in England.I do think my characters act like any normal young couple would at that age, at least British one's (note the alcohol warning!.
The story is mostly a comedy romance with some darker elements. I suspect if you don’t ‘get’ British humour then most of this will seem a little strange but I am very interested to hear people’s reactions. Please review – I’m a big boy, I can take it!
Since I first posted this I have secured the talents of MinistryMalcontent as a beta. He’s been a massive help in improving both the presentation and content of the story. Thanks, Tom!
Chapter 1 — Why you should never anger a Harpy
With a sharp jerk Harry awoke from his nightmare.
If there was one thing Harry James Potter was an expert on it was nightmares. He was frequently visited by a wondrous array of different bad dreams and even after all this time his sub-conscious was still capable of throwing something new at him, just like he had experienced that very night.
He found himself tangled in his bed sheets, sweat running down him despite the coolness of the night. His dream, as always, was vivid and detailed. He had no idea who the young girl was whom he had seen. Whether she was someone he had witnessed in passing once or just a figment of his imagination, what had happened to her seemed all too familiar. In his nightmare two masked death eaters had cornered her before raping and torturing the poor girl. They laughed as they walked away from her broken and lifeless body. How many times in the past had he found the terrible results of similar attacks? He shuddered at the memory of past experiences.
But this was the past he was dreaming of. The war had been over for nearly four years now and the magical community of Britain was healing. The Death Eaters were long gone, either dead or locked up in Azkaban for life, they couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. Their evil master Voldemort was dead, killed by Harry himself, with his body transfigured into a single bone and buried in a place only a handful of people knew of.
Yet despite the peace Harry’s bad dreams continued. He guessed things were getting a little better. After all he didn’t have a nightmare every night now, but it didn’t take much to start his mind pondering on the grisly events of the past. Once that happened a disturbed night was guaranteed. In his dreams he regularly witnessed a macabre procession of the dead from his past, friends and enemies alike, and every time he would wake screaming and covered in sweat.
The situation had got so bad a couple of years ago that he visited a mind-healer. The problem was that he was required to talk about past experiences which would trigger his dreams and he was simply not permitted to discuss most of the more sensitive information. The circumstances regarding Voldemort’s death was shrouded in secrets and Harry was obliged to keep them all. Robbed of being able to discuss his problems his treatment was of only limited effect. However, he did learn several meditation techniques which did wonders for his temper. Harry used to be a very angry young man, now he just felt a mournful acceptance of his fate. He always imagined some great cosmic power pointing a figure at him when he was a baby and saying ‘tough luck kid but you’ve got the shitty end of the stick’. Rather than raging at the injustice of the world now he just shook his head sadly and hoped things would get better. The fact he still had any hope at all was a surprise to him but he figured that as he was only twenty-two years old there was still plenty of time for things to improve, wasn’t there? Of course, there was by the same token plenty of time for things to get worse as well. Harry’s glass wasn’t so much half full as nearly empty with big cracks along the side and a heavy rock about to drop on it as well.
At least he still had a sense of humour, no matter how warped.
He did feel he had some justification for his attitude, however, after the life he had led. His parents had been murdered when he was only fifteen months old and he had been left in the care of his Muggle Aunt and Uncle very much against their wishes. The Dursley’s hated magic and anyone involved with it. They had treated him badly and Harry still shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if he had been forced to remain with them throughout his childhood.
Fortunately when Harry was six years old something happened to change that. A freak accident involving a badly wired Muggle electrical artefact caused a man called Peter Pettigrew to revert from the animagus rat state he had been hiding in and change back to a human. As it was believed he had been murdered by a man named Sirius Black years before this caused quite a few questions. Under Veritaserum it emerged that Pettigrew had faked his own death and was in fact responsible for the death of twelve Muggles, framing Black in the process. He was also responsible for the betrayal that led to the death of Harry’s parents.
Sirius Black was instantly released from prison where he had languished and his status as Harry’s godfather was revealed. Sirius wasted no time tracking Harry down and, appalled by his treatment at the hands of the Dursley’s, took him into his own care. As Sirius was named as his magical guardian no one could argue, although a few apparently tried.
The years in Azkaban and Pettigrew’s betrayal had made Black a paranoid man so they stayed hidden within the Muggle world moving frequently. Their only regular visitors were the famous Albus Dumbledore and Sirius’s school friend Remus Lupin. Even so, it was a happy time for Harry. The only thing he wished for was friends his own age. That wish looked to be coming true when he turned eleven years old and was invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Sirius’s paranoia was such that he insisted on meeting every teacher in the school to vet them prior to letting Harry attend the school. It was a fortunate thing he did. On meeting one Professor Quirrell Harry suddenly experiencing terrible pain in the scar on his forehead. Alerted that something was wrong Professor Dumbledore found that Quirrell was possessed by the spirit of the Dark Lord Voldemort who, on being discovered, fled leaving his host dead. After such a close call Sirius refused point blank to allow Harry to attend Hogwarts. Instead, he was home schooled.
In many ways home schooling was a better option, Harry admitted, but he did miss the company of other children, especially in his teens after puberty had set in when a few young girls about the place definitely would not have gone amiss. Still, he enjoyed his time with Sirius despite many close calls and the increasing danger from a resurrected Voldemort.
Tragedy struck when his godfather was killed right in front of him four years ago. The loss still stung. He still lived in Sirius’s old house where there were reminders of him every day. He had pondered moving but he was too attached to the place after all these years. It sometimes seemed like that loss was just the tip of the iceberg as well. So many other people he knew and cared for died during the war; friends, teachers and mentors, at times it felt like anyone who associated with him was doomed to die.
Harry unwrapped himself from his sheets and hoped his screams hadn’t woken his house elves. Although he was immensely grateful for the great care the elves took of him, they could sometimes be a little overwhelming. Currently two elves lived in the house with him: Dobby and Winky. Poor Kreacher had succumbed to old age last year but he had at least spent his last few years comfortably. Harry knew he appreciated the company of the younger elves after spending so many years in the house alone. Dobby had been with Harry for years after he had been able to free the elf from his unkind old masters. Dobby in turn convinced Harry to take on Winky after her master had dismissed her. Harry had wondered at Dobby’s motivation for wanting the female elf as part of the household until he saw the two of them holding hands.
Great, Harry thought, even my house elf is doing better with the opposite sex than I am. He would have laughed out loud but he was afraid he might not be able to stop. He was amazed no one had started chasing after him with a nice padded jacket which tied at the back as it was.
While he tried to make light of it his love life was a bitter disappointment to him. It was ironic that the women who threw themselves at him were the ones he would never have wanted anything to do with at all. He had learnt quickly that the world was full of gold-digger’s and girls who wanted nothing more than to get their face on the front page of the newspapers. These girls generally had an image of what he was supposed to be and were bitterly disappointed when he did not fit into the mould. Most simply wanted to brag that they had been with Harry Potter. The one good thing was that despite the best efforts of the press, because of few custom created privacy spells, there were very few good photos of him and the few that there were showed him when he was much younger so few people knew exactly what he looked like. The main problem was the lightning bolt scar on his forehead but wearing his hair longer normally hid this. Somehow, a mere mention of his name caused seemingly normal women to become obsessed fan girls in seconds. Even his efforts to avoid such problems by dating a Muggle had ended in disaster. He was beginning to feel that he was fated to die alone and miserable.
Harry looked over at the clock and noticed it was slightly after four in the morning. He was not due to start his shift as an Auror until nine. From experience he knew that further attempts at sleep would be a waste of time so he rose and pulled some work-out clothes from a drawer. He had installed a gym in one of the spare bedrooms a couple of years ago. He found hard exercise was one of the only things which helped when he got like this. He pulled on his clothes and headed out of the bedroom, hoping a good work-out would exorcise the memories of the latest nightmare from his mind.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
The day, which had started so badly for Harry, was at last starting to pick up. He was walking rapidly through the darkened London streets hidden under his invisibility cloak and doing his best to avoid bumping into Muggles as he went. His prey, whom he had been following for the last forty minutes, were around ten yards ahead of him, about as far as he was prepared to let them get in these busy streets. It was with some relief that he noticed the two men’s route was taking them towards Charing Cross Road. He smiled in recognition that they were heading towards the Leaky Cauldron pub and from there no doubt into Diagon Alley.
The two men, who went by the names of Holmes and Decker, had been hiding in the Muggle world for some time. Harry fully appreciated this tactic as it was one he had employed himself on many occasions. Indeed, he doubted he would have ever found the men if it wasn’t for his extensive knowledge of how the non-magical world worked. Holmes, he knew, had a Muggle father so was probably comfortable in this environment. Decker, however, stood out like a mountain troll in a tea shop. Seeing that they were rapidly approaching the front door of the Leaky Cauldron Harry quickly narrowed the distance between himself and the men enabling him to squeeze in behind them after they opened the door.
As he expected his suspects moved straight through the pub and out the back door. Tapping the wall at the back they passed into the dimly lit Diagon Alley. As it was early autumn darkness had already fallen and the street lights cast long shadows across the alley. A chill set in as stars started to appear in the darkening skies and he was glad he had wrapped up well before starting this mission. It now remained to be seen if his prey turned into Knockturn Alley or remained following their current path. If they remained in Diagon Alley he suspected his patience would be rewarded.
Holmes and Decker were dangerous men. They had a history of violent crime and it was believed they had been part of a snatcher gang during the war. They were also, unfortunately, very cunning and careful. Harry strongly suspected the two were behind a spate of violent muggings which had taken place in recent weeks but had no evidence. Hopefully today he would catch them in the act. Once he did so he would have legal grounds to question them regarding the previous offences using Veritaserum. He desperately wanted to catch these two.
His luck appeared to be holding when the men continued walking straight past the entrance to Knockturn Alley. The street was fairly quiet by this time of the day. The shops would soon be closing for the night, but Harry suspected this fitted the men’s plans. Sure enough towards the end of the alley they stopped at the entrance to a dark side street which looked like it was only used to gain access to the rear of the shops. The men both pulled out their wands and with furtive glances around them started casting spell. Judging from previous victims reports Holmes and Decker were casting silencing and illusion spells on the entrance to the side street. Their plan, no doubt, being to grab a passer-by, drag them into the spelled area and rob them where they could be neither heard nor seen. A good stunning spell followed by a quick memory charm would allow them to make an exit long before their victim would be found.
Harry found a secluded doorway on the opposite side of the alley so he had a good view of his suspects. They had by now finished their spell casting and were lounging against a wall, obviously awaiting anyone who would make a suitable target. They passed a hip flask between them occasionally to pass the time and ward themselves against the increasingly cold air. Harry wouldn’t have minded a swig of whatever they were drinking himself.
Maybe ten minutes passed before Harry noticed the men rouse themselves and look intently up the alley. They then turned to one another and appeared to start a casual conversation; obviously they had spotted their intended target and were trying not to appear suspicious. Harry looked up the alley and noticed a young woman approaching. She occasionally stopped to look in shop windows and didn’t appear in any great hurry despite the late hour. Harry was slightly concerned at this development as most of the previous victims had been elderly rich wizards or witches. Holmes and Decker were both nasty pieces of work and he wouldn’t put it past them to add sexual assault to robbery. Determined that nothing was going to happen to the woman he pulled out his wand and prepared himself to move.
Sure enough as the woman walked past the two men, Decker turned and said something to her. As she stopped to reply Holmes moved behind her and clasped his hand over her mouth. Between them they grabbed her and carried her into the side street where they vanished from view behind the illusion charm. Harry sprinted across the alley while pulling his invisibility cloak from him. He stuffed the cloak into one of the side pockets of his Auror robes and ran to the place where the muggers had vanished.
A second later he emerged into the side street and quickly spotted his prey about ten feet away. The two men appeared to have got the young woman’s wand away from her but she was still putting up a good fight. Holmes had the woman gripped by the shoulders while she kicked and struggled, Decker was holding his shin where, Harry guessed, the woman had kicked him. As he looked on, Decker started to raise his wand at the struggling girl completely unaware of Harry’s presence. Before the mugger could open his mouth, Harry sent a powerful stunning spell which knocked Decker clear off his feet and into a crumpled heap on the ground. Holmes, suddenly aware they were not alone, turned and pointed his wand in Harry’s direction. Being careful to avoid hitting his struggling captive, Harry managed to hit Holmes in the face with a second stunner, the force of which knocked the man back into a wall.
Harry ran forward and knelt by Holmes body. Fortunately, slamming into the wall had not done any serious damage. He was just unconscious. Harry grabbed the man’s wand and shoved it into a pocket in his robes before retrieving a pair of handcuffs which he placed on Holmes’s wrists. He moved over to Decker and repeated the process before he stood and breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally caught the pair of the red-handed.
Before he could do anything else a flash of movement caught his eye. He turned just in time to see the young woman who had been Holmes and Decker’s target sprint forward and start kicking Decker’s inert form while swearing at the top of her voice. For a second Harry was too stunned to react before the realisation entered his brain that he really shouldn’t be letting the woman mutilate his prisoner in this manner. He darted forward and with some difficulty managed to push her back out of reach of Decker.
‘Please stop that! Please!’ he gasped ‘I can’t let you assault him, he’s under arrest, okay?’
‘That bastard attacked me first! I’m going to make him pay!’ the woman spat with some venom. Harry was beginning to think it was lucky for Holmes and Decker that he had been here to arrest them. Left alone with this young woman they might have been in serious trouble.
‘Please, it’s over. These men have been arrested and will be spending a good long spell in Azkaban, okay. I appreciate you’re angry, but I really can’t stand by and let you kick six bells out of them.’ Fortunately the woman seemed to be calming down and he took his first good look at her. She was short, maybe five feet four he guessed, with a very attractive curvy figure. Her most striking feature was her hair which was a bright, coppery red and hung long down her back. She had rich brown eyes and freckles across her nose and upper cheeks. He would guess that she was slightly younger than he was and appeared in fine physical condition. She also looked vaguely familiar for some reason.
For a second Harry felt strangely speechless. He stared into the young woman’s eyes and felt his legs turn to jelly. He also felt a strange tightness in his chest that caused him trouble breathing. He licked his suddenly dry lips as he stood, completely unable to break eye contact.
After a few seconds longer, or it may have been much longer he wasn’t entirely sure, he managed to avert his eyes long enough for his brain to start functioning. The women also looked away, startled. Harry noticed a red blush appear on her cheeks. Sweet Merlin, he thought, what the hell just happened? He was acting like a teenager. Hell, he hadn’t acted like a teenager when he was a teenager, why start now?
‘Um, are you alright? You’re not injured at all are you?’ Harry enquired forcing himself to start acting professionally.
‘I’m fine. They had only just grabbed me when you stunned them. Did you see them pull me in here or something?’ the woman replied. Harry noticed she was avoiding looking him in the eye.
‘Actually I’d been following them. I’ve been after those two for a while. I’m sorry you had to go through that before I could take them down though’ he apologised. Unfortunately his comment only served to inflame the woman again. A fire seemed to appear in her eyes and a snarl on her face. Fortunately it was directed in the direction of Holmes unconscious form. Harry had a split second to guess her intentions before she launched herself at her attacker, he just managed to get his arm around her shoulders and stop her.
‘Please, Miss! Please stop attacking my prisoners!’ he practically begged, struggling to hold the small woman. She had a surprising amount of strength in her small frame and was nearly dragging him along despite the fact he was nearly a foot taller than she. Eventually she stopped struggling and Harry warily let her go. She turned and glared at him. If looks could kill…
In truth he had a lot of sympathy for her. He detested her two attackers and had been trying to put them behind bars for some time. To be suddenly attacked and manhandled about by the likes of them would be enough to make anyone’s blood boil. Harry also realised he might need to do something to try and calm her down to gain her trust that he would handle punishing the men. After all he wouldn’t want her to transfer her aggression onto him. He considered his options.
‘Okay, you can give them one kick each’ he offered. The woman looked bewildered.
‘What?’ she gasped.
‘I’ll allow you one kick at each of them but just once, okay? No head shots allowed and if anyone ever asks I didn’t see a thing, alright?’ The feral grin that appeared on her face was almost enough to make Harry take a step back away from her. With a spring in her step she approached the inert body of Holmes but rather than just laying into him she pulled him away from the wall slightly and carefully arranged his legs so they were wide apart. She then backed away so she could get a good run up.
Harry realised her intention as soon as she started her run. He nearly covered his eyes but somehow couldn’t look away. With ferocious force she kicked the grounded man right in the crotch. Holmes’s body lurched slightly but other than that remained still. Harry however cringed and involuntarily placed his hands in front of him. The woman must have noticed as she laughed at him before assuming an expression of total innocence which Harry thought was scarier than when she had been angry.
The woman then turned her attention to Decker and repeated her actions. By now Harry was seriously beginning to regret allowing her a free shot and was wondering if she had permanently damaged the two men. Still, if they never became fathers it would only improve the gene pool. He looked over at the woman who was still smiling sweetly at him.
‘Do I want to know where you learnt to do that?’ he asked.
‘I grew up with six older brothers. Sometimes a good swift kick in the knackers was the only way to deal with them. Also helps dealing with any big-headed male Quidditch players I encounter.’ Her smile was positively radiant by now. The mention of Quidditch, however, triggered something in his mind. Although he would never claim to support any one team he did follow the game quite closely and it was starting to dawn on him where he had seen this woman before.
‘You’re a professional Quidditch player?’ he asked. She nodded but the smile had left her face. Harry thought for a moment and weighed up the evidence.
‘Okay, so you’re a Quidditch player, you’re female and you’re extremely violent’ he pondered ‘I think you must play for the Holyhead Harpies’.
‘Hey, I’m not violent! Besides I was provoked!’ she objected. Imaginary team sheets rang through Harry’s mind and he thought he had identified the woman as one of the Harpies leading chasers.
‘Ginny Weasley?’ he enquired.
‘Yes, that’s right.’ She didn’t appear to be too happy to have been identified however. Maybe she thought she could just slip away unidentified but she was witness to a crime and he would need to take a statement from her.
‘Miss Weasley, I’m afraid I will need to take a witness statement from you’ he said slipping into professional Auror mode. ‘Will you be available to come with me to the Ministry now or would you prefer to make an appointment for later?’
‘I can come now,’ she replied with a shrug before grinning again. ‘Shall I include my little revenge kicks in the statement?’ Harry gulped. That really had been a bad idea.
‘No need, Miss Weasley, our little secret, eh?’ he replied.
‘Oh, please, call me Ginny. ‘Miss Weasley’ sounds far too prim and proper’ she smiled. ‘And what do I call you, Mr Auror?’
‘Harry,’ he responded immediately. They shook hands. ‘Right, I’ll just need to move these prisoners and then we’ll go. I’m afraid we’ll have to do a side-along apparition as we’ll be entering a heavily warded area and you won’t be keyed in’. She shrugged at this and Harry moved to the bodies of Holmes and Decker, placing a port-key on each of their chests. A few seconds later they glowed blue and vanished. He turned and offered his arm to Ginny.
‘Why thank you, my gallant rescuer!’ she exclaimed in a high pitched voice, while fluttering her eye-lashes at him.
‘Well, there’s no need to take the piss,’ he muttered as he Apparated them both away.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Gordon is a moron!
Author's Notes: At the end!
They arrived at the Apparition point at the Ministry a few seconds later. Harry noticed Miss Weasley looked a bit green, going by side-along Apparition always did that to him too, but she didn’t complain. He escorted her down several corridors until they reached the interview rooms where he could take her statement.
As he sneaked a glance at the young woman as they entered the small room Harry had to admit he was impressed. Most women of her age that he knew would have been traumatised by an attempted robbery such as she had been subjected to but she seemed largely unaffected other than being enormously angry. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of her revenge and made a note to never get on her bad side. He had briefly seen what appeared to be a fun sense of humour too. Of course it didn’t hurt that she was bloody gorgeous as well.
The interview room was sparsely furnished with a table and a couple of chairs, one of which he offered to Ginny. She sat willingly. A small table in one corner had tea and coffee facilities and it was a well-known fact that a nice cuppa often calmed down nervous or upset witnesses. It was also good for Auror’s who hadn’t had anything to drink since lunchtime Harry thought and immediately offered Ginny a drink which she accepted.
He returned to the table with two cups of steaming tea, one of which he considered totally undrinkable. Ginny had requested her tea be very milky with two sugars. Anyone who served Harry with milky tea normally lived to regret it. After they settled Harry explained the procedure.
“Okay, Ginny, thanks again for coming with me immediately to give your statement. Now as an Auror I will be able to submit a pensieve memory of the incident which, in this case, I think will assure an instant conviction for those two. We would, of course, like the details of the incident from your point of view which will give us further evidence and aid sentencing. What I would like you to do in a second is give me your full recollection of events from when you entered Diagon Alley to right after you were attacked. If you could give a full description of your attackers that would be helpful as well. We’ll be using an auto-dictation quill so just give me a second to set it up.” Harry took a sheet of parchment from a draw under the table and unrolled it. He then took the quill from the desk and applied the appropriate charms so it was poised over the parchment. He started to add the basic details.
“Witness statement for incident in Diagon Alley, 15 October 2002 Senior Auror Harry Potter interviewing…” Harry was then interrupted by the sound of a mouthful of tea being spat out, most of it over him. The dictation quill also appeared to have a problem with the sound and wrote ‘pppprewww’ on the parchment. He looked up at Ginny who was staring at him open mouthed.
“You’re really that Harry Potter? I’ve met so many wankers trying to look like him that I assumed you were one…oh, sorry. That didn’t come out right, did it?” Almost automatically he pushed his fringe up so his lightning-bolt scar was visible which caused the girl’s eyes to bulge. He groaned at her reaction but to her credit she recovered quickly.
“Um, sorry,” she apologised making a token effort at mopping up the tea. “Caught me a little by surprise there. You really should give people some warning who you are.”
“How?” Harry enquired, a bit of an edge to his voice. “Should I wear an ‘I’m Harry Potter’ t-shirt? Perhaps a hat with a flashing sign on it saying, ‘famous wizard here?”
“Okay, who’s taking the piss now?” Ginny replied with a frown. Harry sighed.
“Look, I’m sorry, but remember back in the Alley when I recognised you? You didn’t seem very happy about that either and I assure you it’s just as bad for me.” Harry tried to sound apologetic. He really didn’t want to argue.
“No, I’m sorry. You’re right, I hate it when people just gawp at me as soon as they realise who I am and it must be ten times worse for you. It was just a bit of a shock to suddenly realise I’ve been talking to Harry Potter all this time, you know. I’ve been hearing stories about you since I was a little girl and then to have you suddenly pop up and rescue me from those muggers, it’s….a bit overwhelming,” Ginny replied matching his apologetic tone.
“I’ve never read a story about myself that was completely accurate. In fact most of them get my name right and that’s about it. Besides, I’m not sure if I saved you from the muggers or them from you,” he replied with a slight grin. Ginny put on the innocent face she adopted earlier.
“What? Little old me? What possibly could a sweet innocent thing like me do to big, nasty men like them?” she put a finger to her chin while trying her best to look about five years old. Harry snorted.
“I think the big, nasty men will discover what you can do when they wake up and find they will never be fathers!” Ginny waived a dismissive hand.
“Well, I don’t think they would have made very good role models for children anyway. I’m sure I did everyone a favour.” An impish grin appeared on her face.
“Please never, ever let me get onto your bad side, Miss Weasley,” he replied.
“Oh, so you can handle wanted criminals, hoards of death eaters and the odd evil Dark Lord, but you’re scared of one small red-head?” Ginny looked at him challengingly.
“Yes.” Harry felt that honesty was definitely the best policy here.
“Very wise, Mr Potter,” she laughed before resting her chin on the palm of her hand and looking at him seductively. “You should definitely do everything you can to keep me happy then.” Harry blinked at her. Was she flirting with him? Normally such behaviour set off all sorts of warning sounds in his head and generally resulted in him making a quick exit. From past experience he equated flirting girls with trouble, women who were happy to believe all the crap printed in the newspapers’ gossip columns and were generally keen to get their own names mentioned in them as well. This, however, was different. He felt Ginny’s flirting was more like a direct challenge, like she was testing him. Fair enough, he was up for a fight.
“Ginny,” he replied trying to keep his voice as calm and level as possible. “I would love to be given the chance to make you happy.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Well, we’ll just have to see if you’re worthy of being given that opportunity, won’t we?” Harry just shook his head for a second. If she continued in this manner he was definitely going to be in trouble. He screwed up the parchment onto which, he had just noticed, the dictation quill had copied all of their conversation and grabbed a new piece. He definitely didn’t want that conversation submitted as evidence.
“As much as I’m enjoying this discussion of my worthiness, Ginny, we really do need to get this witness statement completed.” Ginny nodded in acceptance and was soon relating her version of the events of the day, interrupted occasionally as Harry requested she clarify certain details. Within twenty minutes the witness statement was completed, but Ginny didn’t immediately signal her desire to leave. Instead Harry offered a second cup of tea which she accepted and the two of them sat and chatted. The conversation was mainly around their respective jobs and the downside of fame. The odd bit of flirting occasionally worked its way into the discussion as well much to his delight. It occurred to Harry that he was actually still working and perhaps should really be doing something a bit more useful, but frankly he was enjoying Ginny’s company too much. Sadly, all good things must come to an end and with the tea drunk it was time for Ginny to go.
As Harry led her out of the interview room and towards the Apparation point he was increasingly aware that he did not want her to leave. He desperately tried to think of a legitimate reason to delay her departure just so he could spend a little more time with her but try as he might he couldn’t of anything. He mentally cringed as he realised, if he was going to get more time with the lovely Miss Weasley, he was going to have to do it the conventional way by asking her out. The very thought of this sent him into a brief panic as a thousand questions and doubts swam into his head. Had he read the signals wrong and she wasn’t interested? Did she have a boyfriend already, hell, did she have a fiancé? A quick check of her ring finger suggested not, but still, a girl like this was bound to have a bloke, right? He cursed himself as a coward as they reached the exit point before taking a deep breath. What was he afraid of, apart from abject humiliation? He was used to that, after all.
“Ginny, um, I may be totally out of line here, but I would like to say that I have really enjoyed chatting with you today and I would really like to get to know you better. I was just wondering if you fancied going out for a drink with me sometime?” Okay, he thought, not bad. He’d been polite, friendly and left himself enough room to accept rejection with good grace when she turned him down flat. Unless of course she tried to kick him in the swingers like she did with the muggers. Shit, he hadn’t thought of that, maybe he should start running now? He eyed her warily watching for any signs of attack. Instead she just stared at him blankly for a second. Oh boy, he thought she was really going to lay into him.
“I’d love to Harry.” Of all the words he was expecting to hear at this point those were not them. His brain froze for a second before he realised he was meant to respond.
“That’s great Ginny, err, fantastic, err…” Realising that he was in serious danger of starting to sound like an idiot, he followed up this master piece of conversation with a request about when she would be next free. A quick consultation with their respective diaries, he noticed she kept one too, and it was agreed that they would meet in two day’s time. A meeting place was decided upon and with a warm smile and a small waive Ginny was gone.
Harry released the breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. He had just asked out on a date a witness to a crime he had been interviewing, which he suspected breeched about twenty-seven rules about proper conduct of an Auror. Considering he was a Senior Auror and team leader, not to mention the fact he had taken a large role in rewriting the Auror rule book a few years ago, he was surprised to find he didn’t give a toss.
It had been seven months since he had split up with his girlfriend, Sharon, and he hadn’t been on a date since. Now he was going out for a drink with a beautiful, famous and fairly violent witch in a few days time. Harry stated to walk back to his office and noticed he seemed a little unsteady on his legs. What was the worst that could happen on a simple date? He started to think very hard exactly what the worst that could happen on a simple date was and began to panic. It was going to be a long couple of days.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
As Harry feared those couple of days had seemed very long indeed. Fortunately he had been pretty busy which had a least stopped him worrying too much, in the day time anyway. His nights were a somewhat different matter.
To the casual observer Harry’s nerves may have seemed strange, even comical. He had faced death more times than he could remember without fear. He had fought with Death Eaters, trolls, giants and the undead. He had faced down and killed the most powerful evil wizard of modern times. Surely the holder of the Order of Merlin, First Class, would not be scared of going out for a drink with a pretty, young witch? To those who knew Harry better it would have seemed completely understandable behaviour.
Harry’s love life was basically a train wreck. He himself would admit to being very poor at handling relationships and had a pronounced ability to hide problems until they blew up in his face. Over the years he had developed an automatic reaction to being questioned if he was okay, which was to reply, ‘I’m fine,’ no matter what the circumstances. This coupled with the trauma of his past and a tendency to feel guilty for things he had no control over meant he was not ideal boyfriend material.
Of course things were made worse by the fact he had a very public image which was completely at odds with reality. Through no fault of his own he had been lauded over and built up as the perfect hero: fearless, handsome and chivalrous. His low profile only added an air of mysteriousness about him which led people to assume things. The fact he was a human with human failings tended to come as a major disappointment to most women who expected him to sweep them up in his arms and carry them away to his fairy-tale castle, probably on a shining white horse, to live in perfect happiness for ever more. Harry had always hated horses.
This was why, as he leaned against a wall outside the Leaky Cauldron pub, ridiculously early for his date, his stomach felt like it contained a large lump of lead. Of course, his tendency towards negativity meant he assumed Ginny would stand him up, but at this stage he couldn’t decide if this would be a disaster or a relief. He desperately tried to go through his meditation exercises, but was finding himself struggling to concentrate. Eventually, he managed to calm himself enough to begin forming a quiet place in his mind, the first stage of his exercises. It was for this reason he did not notice a small red-haired women approach until he felt a dig in his ribs.
“I thought you Auror types were meant to be alert at all times? Constant vigilance and all that.” Harry turned to look at Ginny who was grinning openly at him.
“Well, this Auror type got here stupidly early and had started to drop off,” he replied, very nearly telling the truth.
“Oh, you were so keen to see me you couldn’t wait to get here! How sweet!” that impish grin appeared on Ginny’s face again. Of course that was the reason Harry was so early, but he was damned if he was going to admit it.
“Came straight from work,” he lied. “It was either that or make myself late going back home.” No, he definitely had not been home, showered, changed his clothes three times and found he was too nervous to eat any dinner. No, that never happened at all.
“So where are you taking me then, Mr Potter?” she asked, seemingly accepting his explanation as to why he had been stood there like a lemon for the last half an hour.
“Well, I thought that as we are both likely to attract attention we would be better off going to a Muggle place, if that’s okay with you.” Ginny nodded.
“Frankly, I’ve never really been to a Muggle pub before so you’ll have to give me advice on what to drink. Oh, I haven’t brought any Muggle money!” she exclaimed.
“No worries. I’ve got plenty.” He noticed her darkening expression and guessed she was a girl who liked to pay her own way. “….so I can exchange some Muggle money for normal currency for you.” Good save, Potter, he thought as the smile returned to her face.
“Great! So where exactly are we going?” she asked.
“There’s a nice pub I know not far from St Paul’s cathedral, near the river on Knightrider Street. I thought we could get a cab from here.” She nodded. A few minutes later Harry had guided Ginny to a nearby taxi rank and they were being taken east. The taxi deposited them right outside the St Paul’s so they only had a short walk to the pub Harry mentioned. The place had a deceptively narrow front but once through the door opened up to reveal a large main room full of wooden benches and oaken beams. Rather than sitting there Harry led them down a narrow flight of stairs and into a basement bar area. It was rather dark but warm and atmospheric. They found a small table not far from an open log fire and removed their coats. After some discussion regarding Muggle drinks, Harry went to the bar and got a large glass of red wine for Ginny and a pint for himself. He returned to the table and sat down before passing Ginny her glass.
“What is that?” she asked, pointing at the golden liquid bubbling in his glass.
“Lager,” he explained. “Most of the older Aurors who frequent Muggle pubs all drink bitter, that’s a darker, heavier beer. There are thousands of different brands and they all think they are connoisseurs of the stuff. Unfortunately, it tastes like ditch water to me, so I drink this instead. It’s lighter and more refreshing and is always served cold.”
“Can I have a taste?” she asked reaching for his glass.
“Be my guest. Be warned though it’s a lot more alcoholic then butterbeer,” he warned.
“What isn’t?” she replied, taking a swig. “It’s not too bad, is it?”
“I quite like it” he said, retrieving his glass before she drank more of it. He had a sudden vision of the future in which anything he ordered to eat or drink would be mostly consumed by the redhead in front of him before he had the chance to taste it. He noticed she continued to eye his pint before she took a swig of her wine instead. She put her hand under her chin and looked him in the eyes.
“So, I’ve obviously heard all the stories about you, why don’t you tell me about the real Harry Potter?” she asked. Her chocolate coloured eyes were shining.
Harry sighed and sketched out for her the early years of his life. He explained about his Muggle Aunt and Uncle who hated both magic and him. He also told her about his godfather, Sirius Black, and his imprisonment and eventual release. He took great delight in explaining what a wonderful guardian he had provides and described some of the pranks and jokes that they played on each other which had Ginny roaring with laughter. Harry also explained how Sirius had a very loose interpretation of rules, so that Harry learnt magic extensively from a young age under his tuition.
Ginny was shocked at his explanation as to why he had not attended Hogwarts and horrified that Voldemort had been able to infiltrate the school. At that point Harry reminded her of the Chamber of Secrets incident a few years later when a young girl, Susan Bones, was slipped a diary infected with dark magic which possessed her. At this point Harry noticed Ginny shiver and he guessed she must have been reliving her own memories of the time.
He skimmed through his later years and his various encounters with Voldemort and his servants including the time when Harry threw himself into the path of a killing curse which was heading directly at Sirius. He survived as the curse destroyed a piece of Voldemort’s soul which had become embedded in him rather than himself. Sirius had been furious at his attempted sacrifice but in the end it had been a godsend. He spoke only briefly of the final battle of Little Hangleton during which he finally killed Voldemort. The price had been heavy however and virtually all of his surrogate family was killed: Sirius, Remus and his wife Tonks, Dumbledore…….the list seemed endless. He went on describe how he had become an Auror and had qualified in record time. Far too many Death Eaters had escaped the final battle and he was determined to hunt them down. It had taken several years but the final one was captured last year. He admitted that after that occurred he had felt somewhat directionless, as only his hatred had driven him on. He still enjoyed his job but the passion he once had was gone.
By this point Ginny’s eyes were brimming with sympathy. She reached out and took his hand to comfort him.
“I’m sorry, Harry. I shouldn’t have made you drag up all those bad feelings,” she apologised.
“It’s okay. I guess it comes with the territory.” Harry forced a smile. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.
“Well, this is a bloody gloomy conversation for a first date. Whoever taught you to pick up girls was useless.”
Harry laughed.
“I’ll have you know that Sirius taught me how to pick up girls and he was a master. It’s not his fault that I’m bloody useless.” He raised his hands in defeat. “Tell me about your family then, that’s bound to be a bit more cheerful,” he suggested.
Ginny began telling him all about her family. The conversation did indeed cheer up as she detailed the exploits of her five living brothers, with only a brief shadow passing over her face as she mentioned her brother Fred who died in the war. For some reason Harry had never made the connection between Ginny and the famous Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes chain of joke shops and was delighted to learn that it was run by two of her other brothers, George and Ronald. She regaled him with tales of the legendary pranks Fred and George had pulled and threw in a few of her own. Harry countered with a few more of his and Sirius’s pranks before bringing out the big guns and detailing the history of the Marauders, the famous pranking group which included his father, Sirius and Remus. Ginny was stunned at this information and explained that the twins had found a map created by the Marauders and she thought George still had it.
Harry smiled, very relieved that things definitely had become more relaxed between them. He raised his glass to take a swig of lager and was somewhat surprised to find it nearly empty. He glared at Ginny who gave him her best innocent little girl look. How had she managed to drink half his pint when she was sat right in front of him?
“Enjoy that did you?” he enquired arching his eyebrows.
“Don’t know what you mean,” she replied wide eyed. “Although does it come in smaller glasses. That much beer makes me gassy.”
Harry gave her a long hard stare. That stare had brought hardened criminals to their knees, had caused Death Eater to blabber confessions and reduced subordinates to fearful quivering lumps. Ginny merely burped at him.
Knowing her was in the presence of a master, Harry retreated to the bar to get the next round. He returned with another pint for himself (which he hoped he would get to drink this time) and a bottle of ice cold Becks lager for Ginny. She took a swig of her beer and smacked her lips appreciatively. Harry, taking no chances, downed a quarter of his pint in one go.
“What’s the matter?” she enquired. “Worried someone will steal your drink, Mr Policeman?”
“I bet you steal people’s socks as well,” Harry accused her. Ginny laughed.
“Only my brothers’. Do you know how hard it was to find a pair without holes in at our house?” she giggled. Harry decided it was time for their getting to know you session to continue. He suggested they take it in turn to ask each other questions. Ginny nodded in agreement.
“Okay, favourite colour?” Ginny asked, obviously deciding to start simply.
“Red,” he answered without hesitation.
“Oh, good choice Mr Potter. Trying to tell me something?” She ran her fingers through her long fiery locks.
Harry thought about it for a second. “That I’m a man of exceedingly good taste? How about you?”
“Green,” she replied.
“You mean, like my eyes?” he teased, sensing the chance for a little payback.
“Maybe if they weren’t so bloodshot,” she came back immediately. Harry realised this was not a game he was going to win.
“Favourite band?” he tried.
“The Weird Sisters, of course.” Harry pulled a face.
“I can never understand how these wizard bands can play punk rock one second and then go into a waltz the next,” he griped.
“Um, don’t know,” Ginny admitted. “I guess because they always have to play balls and dances? What are you into then?”
“Seventies classic rock mostly”’ He noticed this seemed to confuse Ginny. “You know, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath; those kind of bands.”
“Sorry, Harry, I’ve never heard of any of them,” Ginny confessed with a shake of her head.
“You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
Ginny just shook her head again. “Those bands sold millions of records.”
“Millions of what?”
Harry had really forgotten how cut off from the Muggle word most wizards and witches truly were. He tried to explain. “Records were how Muggles use to listen to a band’s music in their own homes, although these days they have something else they call CD’s. These records, or LP’s as they are sometimes called, were how I got into music. My godfather had a large collection of them and figured out how to play them using magic. A record is a circular piece of plastic onto which about thirty minutes of music can be transferred. The Muggles then have these special machines to ‘play’ the records on. Of course they are a bit out of date. The records themselves were these twelve inch discs so they weren’t exactly small.” Harry tried to demonstrate the size of a record with his hands.
“Oh, so that’s what twelve inches looks like is it?” Ginny had assumed her innocent look. “Sorry, Harry, I’ve heard boys tell me things are twelve inches in the past but they always turn out to be much smaller.”
Harry actually blushed. “Had much experience of these matters have you?” he enquired, trying to keep his voice flat and calm.
“What? Of boys lying to me? Oh, all the time,” she replied impishly. Game, set and match to Miss Weasley, he thought. To add insult to injury most of his pint seemed to have vanished as well. Waiving an imaginary white flag he offered to go to the bar again.
The evening continued in much the same way, apart from Harry becoming more successful in protecting his own drink. They continued to discuss each other’s likes and dislikes with a considerable amount of teasing and sarcasm involved, not to mention a large dollop of flirting on top. Drinks were consumed at a respectable rate and Harry introduced Ginny to various other Muggle beverages. Gin and tonic was a particular hit with her and in their increasingly inebriated state they found much entertainment in ordering ‘gin for gin’.
“They named a drink after me!” she declared with delight.
“S’wrong colour.” Harry slurred slightly. “Should be golden red! Beautiful golden red colour like your hair”.
“Bollocks, your right! Who is responsible for this outrage!” she glared around the pub in the hope someone would raise their hand and admit to the error.
“Gordon! It’s Gordon’s fault!” Harry supplied helpfully. Ginny frowned.
“How do you know?” she asked. Harry pointed to the optic above the bar.
“Say’s so on the bottle. Gordon’s gin.”
Ginny was not happy. “Gordon is a moron!” she shouted after some thought.
All good things must come to an end and British licensing laws make sure of this. Last orders came and went and they were politely informed it was time to go home. They staggered up the stairs and out into the street. Ginny put her hands on Harry’s chest and pushed up against the wall next to the pub.
“You’re trying to get me drunk, aren’t you Potter?” she slurred. “Just so you can have your wicked way with me!”
“You’re the one pushing me up against a wall,” he mumbled, not unreasonably. Ginny obviously didn’t hear.
“Get me drunk and take advantage of poor defenceless me!” she started rubbing her hands up and down his chest. ‘Oh, nice muscles,’ she purred.
Harry laughed and put his arms round her waist. “I like you,” he declared. “You’re pretty.”
“See! See!” she emphasized each word by slapping her had on his chest. “Now you’re trying to sweet talk me. You’re trying to get me into bed, aren’t you?” she accused.
“Yes,” admitted Harry calmly. At this stage he couldn’t quite remember if he was meant to be admitting this or not.
“Won’t work!” she declared. “I’m a good girl and always do what mummy says!”
“Ah, but your mummy said you could sleep with me.” Harry lied.
“Did she? Oh goody” Ginny replied before bursting out laughing. “Like my mum would say that!”
Harry joined in the laughter before dragging Ginny towards the taxi rank. “Come on, Gin,” he said, half carrying her. “I think it’s time to get you home to mummy.”
Author’s Notes
Firstly, and most importantly, a huge thank you to my mega beta MinistryMalcontent. He’s given me fantastic help in improving the story and correcting my wayward grammar. Hopefully soon I will start putting my commas in the right places!
Some notes: -
1. Yes, there really is a Knightrider Street in London but, ironically, is largely pedestrianized.
2. The pub is real too, but is not as good now as it once was. The place stay’s in my memory largely because I once while drinking there I tripped and spilt a pint of cider all over Mrs Brennus. Tramps followed her all the way back to the railway station trying to suck her t-shirt.
3. In my story Susan Bones gets taken to the Chamber of Secrets. As the Weasley’s weren’t friendly with Harry in my tale they were less of a target so Malfoy instead went after another political target. It makes no difference to the story other than Ginny never had to suffer the trauma of the incident.
4. You get to learn all about Sharon in the next chapter.
5. Milky tea is revolting.
6. Do you get Gordon’s gin anywhere other than the UK?
7. The ‘Gordon is a moron’ bit will probably only mean something to Brits of a certain age. If interested try typing the phrase into YouTube and look for a band called Jilted John. This is what passed for entertainment in Britain in 1977!
Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – Boy…interrupted
Author's Notes: Huge thank you to MinistryMalcontent once again for his superb beta work. I nearly got all my commas in the right place this time.
And for those of you who think I was a bit cruel to Harry at the end of this….well, chapter 4 will make up for it!
Chapter 3 — Boy…interrupted
Next morning Harry was still feeling a little bit tender despite the hangover potion he had wisely taken before he went to bed. The previous night he and Ginny had decided to take the taxi back to Harry’s house so she could then floo back her flat. A cup of strong coffee before she left at least gave her the ability to state her destination clearly when using the floo.
Before she went she accepted Harry’s invitation to come back for dinner in two days’ time. They were both a bit giggly but she’d promised to remember their date. Ginny then gave him a rather noisy, drunken kiss on the cheek before heading home. With hindsight he was glad she had only done that, a kiss on the lips may have led anywhere and he had probably been too drunk to put up a very good performance.
In some ways it had been a strange night. How they had got into such serious topics early in the evening was a mystery but Ginny had seemed genuinely interested in his life. He was reminded this was an intelligent women not some vacuous bimbo that normally threw themselves at him. The girl could also hold her drink and add in the fact she loved quidditch he was beginning to think she was perfect.
Harry shook his head and finished off his third cup of tea of the morning feeling very glad he was not due into work until later. He was very much looking forward to tomorrow night.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Harry spent most of the next day worrying that Ginny would not remember their dinner date that evening. Although she had matched him drink for drink during their date he had no idea what her tolerance to alcohol was like and fretted that she might simply not remember anything.
As the clock approached seven he sat in the kitchen near the floo bouncing his foot up and down. He was a mass of nerves and was wondering how to handle things if Ginny was a no-show. Wait an hour and floo-call her perhaps? No, that would make it sound like a big deal. Wait until the next day maybe? He could then play it cool, ‘Hi Gin, did you forget that you were coming over for dinner last night? Don’t blame you, we were both pissed out of our heads, ha ha!’ Yeah, that would sound pretty casual, no blame apportioned. Only trouble was that he didn’t think he could wait that long to talk to her. His first instinct was to actually wait five minutes before flooing to her flat, grabbing her by the shoulders and crying at the top of his voice about how she had stood him up. He then estimated that if he did that the relationship would survive a maximum of one minute before she kicked him in the goullies and threw him out.
He was still pondering which options would be most likely to leave his wedding tackle intact when the floo flared and Ginny stepped out beaming at him. He leapt from his seat and gave her a warm hug safe in the knowledge that his private parts might survive the night. He pulled back to look at her. She was dressed simply in jeans and a light cream blouse but she still looked stunning to his eyes.
“Hi Gin,” he greeted her. “You know, I wasn’t certain you would remember to come over the state we were in.”
“Oh Merlin, I know. I was a wreck the next morning. My friends, of course, thought it was highly amusing and decided to talk as loudly as possible all day.” She winced at the memory.
“Well, as I don’t entertain very often I thought we would eat in the dining room as I hardly ever get any use out of it. If madam would care to step this way,” he offered his arm which Ginny accepted.
“I know I was here the other night but just how big is this place?” she asked after they stepped into the hallway.
“Four floors plus a wine cellar. Eight bedrooms, four reception rooms, three bathrooms plus an en-suite in the main bedroom. Courtyard garden and a roof terrace, and yes, I know, it’s way too big for just me” he sighed.
“Wow, puts my one-bedroom rented flat to shame,” she muttered.
“Once upon a time this place was home to the most ancient and noble house of Black. When the last of that collection of madmen and psychopaths popped their clogs my godfather inherited it. When he died he left it to me. Of course it looks a bit better than it use to, the Black’s took their name very literally when it came to decoration.” He guided her down the hall as he spoke and they turned into the first door on the right.
Harry looked round pleased that Dobby and Winkey had done such a good job in tiding up the little-used room. The dining room was painted in a sumptuous red and was dominated by a long dark wood table. Two place settings had been put out at the top of the table and candles lit. A bottle of white wine cooled in an ice bucket at the side. Ginny smiled and allowed Harry to seat her and pour her a glass of wine. She then nearly shot three feet in the air as a small elf appeared next to the table completely without warning. Harry did a pretty good job of not smirking at her; clearly she was not use to being waited on by elves.
After Dobby spent ten minutes apologising to Ginny for scaring her, dinner was served and Harry was pleased to see Ginny appeared to be enjoying her meal. They made small talk as they ate and they lingered over their pudding of chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream. Harry had a theory that when entertaining a young lady you would never go wrong serving something with chocolate in it and it didn’t appear he was going to be disproved tonight. After Ginny pushed her bowl away he suggested they move to the sitting room for coffee. She merely smiled contentedly at him and rose from her seat to join him. Very soon they were relaxing on a comfy sofa in front of an open fire. Ginny sipped her coffee and smiled.
“That was a wonderful meal, Harry, and I have to say I love your place as well. It’s sort of elegant and homey at the same time,” she purred, drawing her legs up onto the sofa. She looked very comfy.
“Well, I have Andromeda to thank for the decoration. The whole place would probably have ended up beige all over or something if it was left to me,” he grinned.
“Andromeda? Whose she? An ex-girlfriend or something?” Ginny asked with interest.
“Merlin, no!” Harry laughed. “Andi’s my Godson’s Grandmother. She’s been looking after little Teddy since his parents died. The two of them are all family I have really,” he added a little sadly.
“You have a Godson” she asked. It struck Harry how little he and Ginny knew of each other, this was only their second date after all. Strangely, it felt like he had known her far longer simply as her felt so comfortable around her. On the rare occasions he ever got to second date stage with a girl he was normally still very reserved and careful. He and Ginny seemed to have clicked from the moment they met.
“Yeah, I think I mentioned his father, Remus Lupin who was my main teacher for many years and a great friend. His mother was an Auror called Tonks, Andi’s daughter of course, and she was the closest thing I ever had to a big sister. They were both killed in the war along with Andi’s husband.” Harry paused and took a deep breath, it still hurt even after this time.
“Andi’s been wonderful, she lost so much but she’s been fantastic looking after Teddy. I try and help when I can but sometimes I think Andi looks after me as much as I look after them.”
“I guess there’s a lot we still have to learn about each other,” Ginny smiled at him. “I’d never have imagined you looking after a kid.”
“Well, Andi does all the work. I just help out when I’m needed and do whatever I can. Not that it’s any chore spending time with Teddy, he’s great,” he said truthfully. Sometimes the knowledge he was seeing Andi and Teddy at the weekend was the only thing that got him through the week. He pondered Ginny’s first comment for a moment.
“Ginny, I think I should say up front there are a lot of things about me that I can’t tell you but I promise these things are all about my job or the war. I’m afraid when your Harry Potter secrets come with the territory. Anything else I will answer truthfully I promise.”
“I’m glad you said that Harry,” she replied carefully, “because I have some things I have been wondering about.”
“Like what?” he asked. Ginny looked at him directly.
“Like how come you’re not with anyone?” Harry looked at her blankly for a second before she continued. “What I mean is, well, you’re Harry Potter! You’re famous, a national bloody hero! Your young, brave, handsome, rich, hell! You’re virtually every girls dream! You claimed the other day at the pub that you hadn’t been on a date for months.”
Harry nodded remembering that he had said that
“But you only have to pick up a paper without some story about some women your romancing. Now, I know 99% of everything those papers say is bullshit but, sweet Merlin Harry, you could have anyone you wanted! Are you lining me up to be the next notch on your bedpost?” she looked a little hurt when she said that. Harry also felt a little hurt that she might think that but not surprised.
“Look, Ginny, I could say the same thing about you. You’re famous, wealthy and beautiful. You must have blokes throwing themselves at you all the time” she lowered her eyes at this and just looked sad. He continued. “I promise what I said was true, Ginny. Have hadn’t been out with a girl since I split up with my girlfriend, Sharon, six, no seven, months ago. The truth is that relationship ended really badly and I just wasn’t interested in seeing anyone before I met you. In fact I’ve never had much luck with relationships at all — my love life is pretty much awful.”
“Join the club,” Ginny huffed. Harry was a bit surprised at this reaction but didn’t comment on it immediately.
“I also agree with you that what the papers print is 99% rubbish. I have seen so many stories about who I’m supposed to be dating it’s unreal, and, nine times out of ten, I couldn’t even tell you who these women were! In fact it got so silly that at work my team started taking bets as to whether I was actually seeing any of these people. Every Monday they would present me with a list of ten names they had pulled from the gossip columns to try and guess who I was dating and they only ever once got one right!” He laughed at the memory.
“So, we’ve both had crappy love lives?” she asked.
“Err, well, I can hardly comment on yours, Ginny, but mine’s been awful right from the start.” He looked at her not sure he believed that a gorgeous young women like her could claim to be a failure in love. She kept her head down looking at her coffee cup.
“Perhaps…..perhaps we need to share, tell each other our histories. I mean, how can we trust each other if we don’t?” She sounded reluctant about her own suggestion. Harry gulped, he really didn’t want to drag up the pain of the past but if he was to stand any chance with Ginny he didn’t see a choice.
“Okay,” he said with resignation, “who wants to go first?” Ginny looked up almost in surprise before her face hardened slightly.
“I’ll go first,” she almost whispered, before closing her eyes and gathering her thoughts. She suddenly looked very different from the confident young women he had seen in the pub two days ago.
“The thing I found a bit strange,” she began, “was that I had no problems getting a boyfriend when I was at school. I went out with loads of different blokes but of course that involved nothing more than the odd snog now and then. Of course, until my last year I always had at least one older brother attending and always keeping an eye on me. The last year, well, with the war and everything dating wasn’t much of a priority for anyone.”
“I joined the Harpies almost straight out of school as a trainee. All of us lived in the dorm block and I actually had a great time, all us girls together, just playing quidditch all day and having fun at night. There were, however, very strict rules about boys. One girl got thrown out because she snuck out to see her boyfriend a couple of times. It didn’t matter though because we were all totally dedicated to our sport and enjoying ourselves so much.” She smiled at the memory.
“Things changed when I moved, first into the reserves and then the first team. I moved out of the dorm block and as I was put on salary I rented my own flat. I guess at heart I’m a country girl from a big loving family and not that worldly, despite what I sometimes claim. Spending time with the senior girls was a shock to the system. Some of the stories they use to come out with in the locker room, well, to say I was embarrassed would be an understatement. Of course some of the girls noticed and started teasing me something chronic. As much as to get them off my back as anything I started dating, all quidditch players I should add, but I didn’t meet anyone I really liked, certainly not enough to think about sleeping with.”
“Eventually peer-pressure got a bit too much for me. One girl, she’s not in the team anymore, she got a bit nasty with her teasing, saying I’d never get a decent boyfriend as I was frigid. Well, one night at an after game party I decided to do something about it. I got talking to this guy from the rival team at the bar who seemed quite nice and we both ended up very drunk. I ended up dragged him back to my flat and we ended up in bed. Next morning, I woke up with a terrible hangover and could barely remember what we had done the night before. The bloke was frantic; he was in a steady relationship and was racked with guilt at what he’d done. He practically ran out of my place just saying it was a mistake over and over. He even called me by the wrong name as he left. I just sat at the end of the bed and cried my eyes out. I’d just given my virginity away to a bloke I had to get drunk to be interested in me and could barely remember what happened anyway.”
“It took me a while to get over that, but after a while I realised I was just trying too hard. I’d find someone when I was ready, it wasn’t a race after all. Then last year I met a guy named Tyrone, another quidditch player of course, and we started going out. It was pretty good for a while, he was funny and good looking and we had fun. We went to all the party’s professional quidditch players are supposed to go to and were seen at all the right places. But it wasn’t long before we started to drift a bit, both our careers were taking off and we both prioritised that. Soon, we were only seeing each other once or twice a month. Sex almost became a chore, trying to fit a quickie in here or there. Then, about four months ago, we just stopped communicating. We never said anything to each other about it, we just stopped contacting each other. A couple of months ago a saw a picture of him in some gossip column coming out of a night club with some blond on his arm and do you know what I felt? Relief! Relief that there was some closure and I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“And that, Mr Potter, is the detailed history of Miss Ginny Weasley’s love life. Pathetic isn’t it?” There was also most a challenge in her eyes when she said it. Harry looked at her with a sad smile.
“I can beat that in the pathetic stakes,” he said. Ginny looked disbelieving.
“This I have to hear,” she said eventually. Harry steeled himself; he knew what dragging up these memories would do to him but Ginny had been so honest he needed to do this.
“Well, unlike you I never attended school and was frequently moved when I was young so I never really had many dating opportunities. I suppose I did kiss a young witch who lived near where I lived when I was fifteen, but shortly after her family left the country due to the war. I was suitable heart-broken at the time but too busy to get very upset for long. From that point I was completely involved in training and fighting. The next three years were a total blur until the battle at Little Hangleton. I don’t think I even spoke to a girl my own age during that time.”
“Of course, after the war I was the big hero, but for a long time I was a total mess. Nearly everyone I cared for was dead and I nearly had a breakdown. I think what saved me was staring Auror training and focusing on catching the remaining Death Eaters. I guess I can be pretty single-minded when I set myself a goal and once the last Death Eater was locked up I became a bit lost. This was, apparently, a signal for everyone I knew to decide I needed a girlfriend. I got set up on dozens of dates, hell, even Kingsley arranged one. Yeah, the Minister for Magic arranged a date for me! And bloody crap it was too, but never mind.”
“Eventually I met a girl I quite liked; she worked at the Ministry and was very pretty. We went out for a few dates and things seemed to be going quite well until one night she literally jumped on me. I guess I wasn’t complaining but I had been planning on taking things slow. Completely out the blue we went from a bit of kissing to full sex and let me tell you I was rubbish. I don’t think it’s ever meant to be perfect the first time, but I barely knew what I was doing and it was over in a flash. I was mortified, but she kept telling me it didn’t matter and I would get better. I felt a bit happier when she said that…..at least until a couple of days later. I picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet and found a picture of the girl posing for the camera under the headline ‘Hero Potter not so heroic between the sheets!”
“She didn’t!” gasped Ginny.
“Oh, she did,” he replied. “Sold her bloody story to the paper. Oh, course she made out that I had seduced her and then just ignored her after I got what I wanted. She went into a lot of detail about what happened and what made it worse was that quite a bit of it was true. My first time was an abject failure and I got to share it with the entire wizarding population in every detail. The one good thing was that the papers made up so many stories about me that this one soon got a bit lost. My fellow Auror trainees very helpfully plastered copies of the article everywhere though, until I lost my temper a bit then they backed off but there was still a lot of laughing behind my back.”
“Understandably, I think, I wasn’t too keen to keep dating after that but at least work kept me busy. But I was lonely and I decided to start going out more. To avoid all the problems with fame and the press and whatever I started going out to muggle places, pubs and clubs and such. Frankly, I felt I lot more comfortable there and I still do to be quite honest. Then last year I met a girl called Sharon in a pub. She was pretty, blond and bubbly but quite smart as well. We got on really well and started dating. I even found that I was not as useless in bed as I feared and we developed a pretty good sex-life. But, and you knew there would be a but didn’t you, I didn’t realise how hard it would be to hide my magic. I couldn’t bring her back to the house here because it has a muggle repellent charm on it and can you imagine how she would react to seeing a house elf? She got more and more suspicious and thought I was hiding a wife or another girlfriend, when I was really trying to hide the fact I was a wizard. Eventually I decided I had to come clean with her, I mean, there are plenty of mixed marriages aren’t there and they all had to explain magic at some point, didn’t they?” Harry sighed knowing he was about to relive a very painful moment.
“So one night I went to her flat, sat her down and explained everything. Naturally, at first she didn’t believe a word I said so I levitated a chair across the room and turned a pot-plant into a hedgehog. I didn’t get quite the reaction I was hoping for. At first she kept shaking her head and moaning. Then she started shouting about how I was a servant of the devil and a spawn of evil. She claimed I had bewitched her into falling in love with me so I could sacrifice her or something. Eventually she ran into the kitchen and came back with a carving knife and tried to attack me,” Harry took a deep breath, retelling the tale was proving just as hard as he feared it would be.
“I had no choice other than to stun her. I managed to catch her before she hit the floor and I just held there for the longest time, just trying to figure out what to do. In the end, of course, there was only one thing I could do. She’d had such an extreme reaction to my confession that I knew there was no way she would ever accept me as a magic user and it’s not like you can just get rid of it, is it? So, I did the only thing I could, I obliviated her memory of the evening and instead planted a memory of her breaking up with me. I put the suggestion in her head that I’d been secretly seeing another woman so I knew even if she ever ran into me again she would avoid me.”
“Sharon was the first girl I could honestly say I ever made a connection with. I really thought the world of her, you know, and there I was having to wipe her memory and make it seem like I was cheating on her. When I finally found the strength to leave the flat I just looked back at her sleeping on the couch and I knew I would probably never see her again and even if I did it would be….unpleasant. That was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. After that, well, I haven’t had much interest in dating for a while.”
Ginny stared at him slightly open mouthed as if trying to think of something comforting to say.
“Well…..I hope you remembered to turn the hedgehog back into a pot-plant,” she joked lamely. Harry’s head snapped up to look at her but after a second he started chuckling wearily.
“Yes, Ginny, I changed the hedgehog back. I put the chair back in place and I even put the knife back in the kitchen. I am an Auror, you know, we do know how to take care of these things.”
“Sorry,” she apologised. “I was just trying to lighten the mood. You were right, though. You have had a worse love life than me. I didn’t think it was possible, but you did it.”
“Thanks,” Harry replied without enthusiasm. Ginny, not knowing what else to say, decided to follow her mother’s method of comforting upset people. She moved across the sofa and put her arms around Harry giving him a powerful hug. He stiffened slightly before slipping his arms around her and returning the hug.
How long they stayed like that Harry wasn’t certain but decided that if Ginny was happy to stay like that then he certainly was. Her small body pressed against his was warm and comforting. He also noticed for the first time a lovely, flowery scent she had about her. Sharon had always worn a rather musky brand of perfume but Ginny’s aroma was more wholesome but at the same time more alluring. He buried his nose in her hair and drank in the smell of her.
After a while Harry felt her move in his arms. As reluctant to break the embrace as he was he did slacken his grip to allow Ginny to pull away. She did, but only a little way so they ended with their faces only inches apart and looking into each other’s eyes.
“Feeling a bit better?” she asked.
“Actually, you make me feel a lot better,” he replied and, without giving it any conscious thought, pressed his lips to hers. He was delighted when she responded to his kiss, pressing herself tight to him again. He soon felt passion building within him and he dragged his lips against hers. Her mouth opened slightly and he felt her tongue demanding entry to his mouth. He immediately responded and he began to caress her tongue with his own causing her to moan slightly.
Arousal was definitely building and, pressed up against Ginny as he was, there was no way she would not be aware of it. Indeed, she seemed to be rubbing herself against him even more enthusiastically. Letting his hands roam he found the bottom of her blouse and pulled it up slightly. He then let his fingers roam over her soft, warm flesh for the first time. She in turn slipped her hand under his shirt and started to run it up and down his chest. Pulling his lips away from her mouth he began to leave a trail of kisses along her neck and she growled in approval. Harry was delighted when he found a sensitive spot which made her moan loudly as he rang his tongue over it. Unable to resist any longer he moved his hand up underneath her top and cupped her right breast, lightly squeezing it and rubbing his thumb over the material of her bra. He felt her press herself into his hand he squeezed harder as he felt her hand move down, gently grazing his stomach and start to undo his trousers…..suddenly he felt her stiffen and pull away.
“Shit!” she cursed.
Harry looked at her in confusion. What had happened? Had he pushed her too far, too fast? Ginny however was not looking at him, but over his shoulder. He turned to follow her gaze but could not immediately figure out the cause of her distress. He was about to ask what he had done wrong before Ginny cut him off.
“Harry, I’m really sorry, but I’ve got a game tomorrow and prior to match days all the team are on a strict eleven o’clock curfew.”
The penny dropped and Harry realised what she had been looking at. On the opposite wall hung an old wood-faced clock which currently showed the time as ten to eleven. He groaned.
“I’m so sorry,” Ginny continued, “trust me I really, really didn’t want to stop but they put tracker charms on our homes to ensure that were where we should be. I could get fined or even kicked off the first team if I’m caught out after hours otherwise I’d just ignore it.”
“That’s okay, Ginny,” he heard his voice say. “I understand.” He was extremely annoyed that his voice should tell such lies, as his brain was instructing it to tell Ginny that she couldn’t leave and that he full intended to rip her clothes off and shag her on the sofa now. Clearly his voice didn’t understand that he had seven months of sexual frustration to work off.
“Thanks, Harry,” Ginny replied quietly. “Maybe we could resume this discussion again soon?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” his treacherous voice said, at least giving him some future hope this time.
“Great,” Ginny said brightly. “You can come over to my place next time and I’ll cook. I can’t promise anything fancy but I should be able to produce something edible.”
“I can’t wait,” he said truthfully, now resolved to taking a long, cold shower before spending the night in a lonely bed staring at the ceiling. He tried to smile as warmly as he could and give no indication of the mass of self-pity he was about to wallow in. Pathetic, he thought, mentally slapping himself.
They both stood and readjusted their clothes. Harry led Ginny back down to the kitchen where the floo was situated and tried not to look as miserable as he felt. Ginny paused in front of the fireplace and threw her arms around his neck.
“I had a really nice time, Harry, and I really wish I could stay longer. If it wasn’t the night before a match I definitely would have. I’ll see you soon, yeah?” Harry had the feeling she realised how disappointed he was that she had to go and was comforting him.
“Yeah, next Tuesday right?” he confirmed. She nodded and pulled his head down for a lingering final kiss before stepping into the floo and vanishing. Harry stood for a second looking at the empty fireplace before he left the kitchen and started to climb the stairs in his empty house.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4 - Figure 2b....whoopee!
Author's Notes: Oh, the problems I had with this chapter! The first draft came out as pure porn. All I needed was one of those cheesy Seventies soundtracks to go with it (wah-chacca-wah!). My next attempt was so bland it put ME to sleep. Inspiration came, however, and this now one of my favorite chapters.
I’ve pushed the story rating up to an ‘R’ to be on the safe side. Please remember than any naughty bits are all done in the best possible taste.
Chapter 4 - Figure 2b....whoopee!
Next morning found Harry once again sitting in his kitchen thinking about a certain red-haired lady who had exploded his life just a few weeks before. As he cradled his tea, he considered the rather desperate reaction he had the previous night when Ginny had informed him she had to leave. It wasn’t that he thought she was making some excuse to leave at all, she had been as upset as he that she had to go. Even so, he was struggling to put his finger on what had got him worked up so.
He was not surprised in the least that given the slightest encouragement he had tried to get in her knickers. Merlin, he’d been thinking about that since he first set eyes on her. It wasn’t even that the chance to dispel seven months of sexual frustration had been snatched away from him (although he wasn’t 100% sure of that). There were many times in his life when he had celibate and frankly, apart from his six months with Sharon, it was what he considered the norm.
So what else had got him upset? He thought back over their last two dates and had to admit he was surprised at how much personal information he had shared with her. In the space of two evenings he had told Ginny more about himself then he had told Sharon in half a year. Of course, there was much Harry had to keep from Sharon, but even so he found that once he had started talking to Ginny, it all just started pouring out. She was incredibly easy to talk to.
Her personality intrigued him as well. Coming from a large family where she was the only girl had obviously toughened her up. She was as fiery and passionate as her bright red-hair suggested but had a warmth to her that frankly just made him want to curl up in her arms. Add to the mix her intelligence and fantastic sense of humour and it all resulted in a wonderful person he was deeply attracted to.
And there’s the rub, he thought. The reason he was so upset that she had to leave just as they were getting close. He was falling for her. No, he corrected himself, he had fallen for her and he was in deep already. But were his feelings just plain desperation? He could hardly call himself on the rebound, after all it was seven months since he had split up with Sharon. Seven long, lonely months. Could he be sure that he hadn’t latched onto Ginny as the first decent girl he had come across? No, that was bollocks, he had met loads of girls in the last few months but never had the slightest desire to do anything about them. This was the first time since he broke up with Sharon he had felt anything for a woman he met.
So where did this leave him? Ginny was wonderful and he desperately hoped they could have a successful relationship. At the same time he was terrified that he had fallen for her way too fast, when there was still so much about her he didn’t know. Why was a fantastic girl like that alone? Was there something wrong personality wise he had yet to encounter?
He sighed. For all his introspection all he could do was carry on. He would be counting down the days until Tuesday when he would see her again and he would try to walk into the relationship with open eyes. Despite this, he still felt a shiver of fear. If this relationship failed he thought he might as well just give up and throw himself off a cliff. He drank his tea with that happy thought bouncing round his brain.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Harry stood nervously in front of his fireplace preparing to Floo to Ginny’s flat for the first time. He clutched a bottle of red wine that she had said she particularly liked last week when she came to dinner. He had dressed simply in a short sleeved black shirt and jeans as he felt they would be appropriate for the rather casual meal Ginny had suggested. The fact he had given the matter so much though spoke volumes about how anxious he was. Their previous date had ended with them practically trying to suck each other’s faces off and he hoped this night would continue in a similar way, if not things may get awkward. Gathering his courage he stepped into the Floo.
One disorienting Floo journey later, he stepped into her flat. A brief look round revealed he had entered a combined living room/kitchen area and he spotted Ginny in the kitchen obviously preparing something. At his arrival, she turned and smiled.
Harry hurried over to her as she flung her arms open to as he approached. Encouraged by this warm welcome he slipped his arms around her and drew her in for a kiss. He had intended this to be a simple hello kiss but as soon as their lips met he felt her hands snake into his hair pulling him in tight. The kiss deepened and he felt her tongue demanding entry into his mouth. He opened his lips accommodatingly and ran his own tongue over hers. Letting his left hand drop he cradled the beautiful curve of her shapely bum which he squeezed firmly. While doing this he had manage to back her up against the kitchen worktop as he pressed himself against her. They continued enthusiastically in this manner until it occurred to him that he hadn’t actually spoken to Ginny yet.
“Hi,” he gasped, as he managed to pull his lips away from hers for a second. The only reply he received was for Ginny to pull his lips back onto hers.
“Brought wine,” he said trying again. The bottle had been awkwardly clutched in his right hand since he arrived and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Ginny just pulled him back into the kiss while snatching the bottle from him. After several attempts she managed to place it on the kitchen worktop behind her and took the opportunity of having a free hand to grab his arse as well. Then, finally, Ginny spoke to him for the first time that evening.
“Bedroom,” she moaned into his ear. Deciding conversation that evening was going to be limited he allowed himself to be dragged out of a door and down a small hallway. Ginny flung open another door further down and pulled him in. Before he quite knew what had happened his short-sleeved shirt had been pulled over his head, unbuttoned, and Ginny was leaving a trail of kisses along his now bare chest. Thinking this looked a fun game he reached down and pulled her t-shirt over her head revealing a lacy black bra. His hand instantly went to this and he began to fondle her breasts while kissing her neck. Ginny’s hands in the meantime began to undo his jeans and she broke free so she could pull them down to his ankles.
Somehow, he managed to pull his jeans, shoes and socks off in two swift tugs but Ginny clearly felt he was still overdressed. In one rapid motion his boxer shorts were also on the floor and she was running her hands over him with delight. Trying to stop himself being too distracted by her fingers were doing Harry pulled her jeans and knickers down together and then removed her bra. Ginny stood before him stark naked and he was mesmerized by her beauty. He literally picked her up and threw her onto the bed, leaping after her so he could attack her neck with his mouth.
She was a goddess, he thought, and a goddess needs to be worshipped. He was determined that this would be special for her and he was going to do everything he could to make it so.
After the disaster of his first time, when he had met his previous girlfriend Sharon he knew that he had to do better. To help him, he had discreetly purchased a number of books from Muggle book shops with titles such as ‘How to drive your woman wild in bed!’ and ‘Advanced lovemaking!’ He had practiced diligently and felt he had raised his game to an acceptable standard. With Ginny, however, that would not be enough and he wanted to take her to new heights.
He began ravaging her body with kisses, gradually moving downwards until he encountered the area described in ‘Advanced lovemaking!’ as figure 2b. He set to work diligently using all the prescribed techniques and was rewarded with shrieks of passion. Her screams were driving him wild and he nearly forgot to complete step 8. Soon Ginny was panting as she ran her shaking hands through his hair encouraging him to take his efforts to a new level. Then he felt her whole body tense and with a surprisingly high pitched scream she ‘fulfilled her ultimate pleasure experience’ as he remembered it being described.
The book now stated it was acceptable to address his own needs and detailed various methods to achieve a maximum state of arousal. Unfortunately, by this point his brain had turned to goo and instead he just jumped on her. Unable to control himself he totally ignored the tantric breathing exercises he was supposed to be doing and instead just tried to shag her brains out. Ginny was shouting his name again and urging him to go faster and he couldn’t refuse her. The creaking of the bedsprings was becoming so loud that he was becoming seriously concerned the bed would collapse. Knowing he was ignoring several chapters of ‘How to drive your woman wild in bed!’ he found he couldn’t slow his pace or change his position. With a strangled cry he completed step 24 much quicker than the authors had recommended and felt his whole body shudder with pleasure.
Eventually Harry rolled off her and lay by her side. Ginny was staring at the ceiling her expression unreadable as her breathing returned to normal. Harry scanned her face for any signs of disappointment but she was expressionless.
“Ginny,” he began tentatively, “I’m sorry I didn’t last longer --” He was cut off before he could say anything further as Ginny’s head shot around to face him.
“What? You’re apologising for that?” she asked incredulously.
“Err, yeah, well maybe. Was it okay for you then?” he asked, confused by her reaction.
“Harry, that was without doubt the best shag I have ever had in my life!” she declared passionately. “If you can do it any better than that I might as well quit the Harpies now because you and I will never be leaving this bedroom!”
Harry smiled, realising he was just being paranoid again. Truth be told, it had been wonderful and his best time as well but it was just fantastic to hear Ginny say the same. He really needed to have a little confidence in his own ability, after all Sharon had never complained and what he had done with Ginny just then was a magnitude beyond anything he had done with her.
“I’m sorry, Ginny, I’m just being a bit of a prat,” he apologised and moved over to slip his arms around her. She snuggled into his embrace and they lay, just gently touching other or sharing the occasional soft kiss. It felt wonderful just to hold her like that. After a while their kisses started to become more frequent and passionate and Harry realised he was ready to make love to Ginny again. This time, however, he would be doing it by the book!
Summoning all the knowledge he had gathered from his reference material he set to work. He worked through all the six chapters of foreplay techniques of ‘Advanced lovemaking’ and even threw in a bit of improvisation, all of which seemed to delight Ginny.
Moving onto more advanced chapters he this time remembered to regulate his breathing and try and bring it in synchronisation with hers. He utilised all the positions from chapter 21 and even brought in a few from ‘The Karma Sutra explained’ (fully illustrated, £8.99 from all good book sellers). He was delighted when he finished long after Ginny. Gasping for breath he collapsed on the bed next to her. They lay side by side bathing in the afterglow of their love making. After a while Ginny turned her head towards him.
“Harry, remember I said if you could shag me better than the first time, we wouldn’t ever be leaving this bedroom?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“I’ll write my resignation letter to the Harpies, you start boarding up the door.” They both burst out laughing as they fell into each other’s arms with Harry making a mental note to write a thank you note to a number of authors.
Chapter 5: Chapter 5 - Harry Potter...stud muffin
Author's Notes: A split chapter this, with each half from our main characters POV. We also get to meet Harry’s Auror team and (finally) find out about the list.
Huge thanks to MinistryMalcontent as always for his ninja beta skills. Also, big thanks to Mrs Brennus. This would have been a very different story (and much worse) without her at times brutal feedback. And, no, she didn’t force me to write that.
Chapter five
Ginny awoke and noticed the faint grey light of morning creeping through the window where she had forgotten to close the curtains last night. It took a moment before she acknowledged the unfamiliar sensation of an arm draped across her. She had a brief feeling of panic before the memory of the previous night’s events came back to her. Rolling slightly, she was able to look at the face of the man lying next to her still asleep.
If anyone had suggested a few weeks ago that she would find herself waking up in the same bed as Harry Potter after a night of passionate love making she would have laughed at them, or at least edged away from them nervously. But in the short time she had known Harry it felt like her world had turned upside-down.
It was a source of amazement that she could actually be grateful that she had nearly been mugged. If it hadn’t been for those two idiots leaping on her, she would probably never have met Harry. Although Ginny would dismiss the idea of love at first sight as ridiculous, she wouldn’t deny something had passed between them when they first looked at each other. Whether it was just she had been captivated by those beautiful green eyes or something deeper, she wasn’t sure, but it hadn’t taken long for her realise her attraction to the man. He was, after all, bloody gorgeous.
The strangest thing about him, however, was the conflicting feelings and experiences he brought with him. He had made her laugh many times, particularly when they had got drunk together on their first date. He had made her sad when he described his life and previous relationships. And last night he had made her feel very sexy. What would he bring to the table next?
Ginny also felt that she should feel a bit uncomfortable about ending up in bed with Harry after three dates. After the nightmare of her first time, she had vowed never to casually invite a man into her bed with the result she had only been with one other man, her ex, Tyrone. But try as she might, she could feel no worry or concern at the turn of events. It just felt right. In any case, she doubted she could have kept her hands off him for very long, anyway, and he clearly felt the same way.
Any initial worries she had that Mr Potter was putting on a front and she would end up just being another notch on his bedpost had quickly been dispelled. The man seemed to have no real ego despite the incredible things he had done in the past. She constantly struggled to reconcile the sweet, quiet young man she knew with the popular image of him. In the end she decided that she had read so much rubbish about herself in the press that she should just trust her instincts and accept him as he was.
Of course there were other problems she would have to think about. The question of when they should make their relationship public would have to be addressed at some point and when did she tell her friends and family? She almost groaned at the idea of telling her family, especially her five brothers. Although Ginny had no doubt that Harry could look after himself, she had a feeling that he would be deferential when presented to them. Well, if he wouldn’t hex them she would.
The ringing of her alarm roused her from her thoughts and she heard Harry groan softly by her side. Slowly he opened his eyes and as he caught sight of her a wide grin appeared on his face.
“Morning,” he greeted her softly, wrapping his arm around her tighter.
“Morning, lover,” she replied, staring into his eyes.
“What time is it?” he enquired.
“Just after seven.”
“Shit! I’ll be late for work.” At this Harry leapt out of bed and began hunting down his various items of clothing. Ginny assumed he must be an early riser, something she definitely did not approve of, but knew she had to get moving as well. While Harry continued to search for his clothes, she announced she was going to use the shower and went into the bathroom. She had just stepped into the shower and started to clean herself when she was suddenly joined by a tall, raven haired Auror who immediately took the bar of soap out of her hand and began washing her back.
“It’ll save time if we share,” he explained.
Unfortunately, as a time saving device sharing the shower was an abject failure but in every other way it proved to be extremely satisfying. Ginny was, however, running a little late by the time they finished and succeeded in getting dressed. She managed to grab some toast for breakfast and give a Harry a brief kiss before he dived into the Floo. She followed shortly after, on her way to the Holyhead Harpies training ground.
Ginny managed to make it to the changing rooms with just enough time to put on her kit before training started. Fortunately, the day started with a tactics session in the classroom so she had time to get her head together and rest before more physical training commenced later. She sank into a seat at the back gratefully as her team manager, the legendary Gwenog Jones, began the briefing. As she struggled to look like she was paying attention, Ginny became aware that she was being watched. Looking up she noticed her team mate Linda Thomas grinning at her. Linda rented the flat next door to hers which she shared with her partner who was one of the female training staff the Harpies employed. Probably around a quarter of the players and staff swung that way, but no-one every really batted an eyelid about it.
Linda continued to steal glances at Ginny all through the briefing and she was beginning to get a little upset by it. Not only was it distracting, but Linda had an annoying grin on her face which was seemed to say, ‘I know something you don’t.’ Harry had never stepped out of her flat last night so it couldn’t be anything to do with him. Perhaps Linda was planning some stupid prank or something. If so she was going to get hexed from here to next week. Ginny faced forwards and tried to ignore her.
Soon the briefing ended and everyone piled outside for the physical training. After warming up and doing twenty minutes of exercise they at last took to their brooms and began a training game. As soon as she got into the air Ginny felt her earlier irritation vanish and she relaxed. They played until lunch time after which, fortunately, they had the rest of the day off. She fully intended to catch up on a bit of sleep after a large lunch.
Trooping back to the changing rooms, Ginny showered and changed. She was just finishing packing up her training bag when Linda appeared in front of her. Interestingly, several other of her team mates had also come over and the rest appeared to be watching with interest. Ginny felt a wave of unease wash through her.
“Um, hi Linda, what’s up?” she enquired.
“Hi Ginny,” began Linda brightly, that irritating grin still on her face. “I couldn’t help but notice you were nearly late for training today. Hope there’s nothing wrong?”
“What? Err, no, just a bit of a struggle to get going this morning that’s all.” Well, it wasn’t a lie, she thought.
“I bet.” Linda grinned mysteriously before continuing. “You know, if it’s a struggle in the morning it could mean you’re not getting enough sleep. Have you been having trouble sleeping, Ginny? Nothing been keeping you awake, has there?” Ginny was by now starting to feel very uncomfortable. The fact that all her teammates were openly grinning at her really didn’t help.
“No, I’ve been sleeping fine, Linda. What exactly is this all about?” she said, trying not to let her irritation creep into her voice.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” Linda said, ignoring Ginny’s question. “I was having a terrible time sleeping last night myself. I just couldn’t drop off, you know. I kept hearing these strange noises and I don’t know what they could have been. Maybe a ghoul got in somewhere, or perhaps the plumbing was acting up, or maybe, just maybe, one of my neighbours hasn’t learnt to cast a silencing charm yet.”
Oh crap, thought Ginny.
“It was the strangest noises I was hearing, though, all these shrieks and moans, not to mention this banging sound like someone was jumping up and down on their bed. And the oddest thing was, Ginny, that I heard this voice, much like your own actually, shouting this man’s name over and over again, and this man must have been doing something right because this voice kept yelling, “yes! yes!” as well. Odd, isn’t it?”
Please let the ground open up and swallow me, silently begged Ginny. The ground, however, remained frustratingly solid.
“So, Ginny,” Linda continued with a voice as smooth as silk, “who’s Harry?”
The rest of her teammates had by now started heckling and yelling improper suggestions. She had seen other girls have similar experiences, as it seemed to be some sort of crime within the Harpies for anyone to have a sexual relationship without sharing the details with everyone else. She was busted and the girls wanted to know everything. Ginny considered her options; lying outright would be a waste of time. Better would be to give some details but not everything, at this stage of the game she was desperate for Harry’s identity to remain secret.
“Okay, okay. His name, as you have guessed, is Harry and I met him a few weeks ago,” she started.
“Only a few weeks ago? And you’ve shagged him already? That’s fast work for you, Ginny!” someone shouted to general agreement.
“Look, I really like this bloke and we just sort of clicked, okay? Last night was our first time together and before you ask, yes it was bloody great.” At this everyone started whooping and more dirty comments were levelled at her.
“What’s he do?” came a shout.
“He’s an Auror,” Ginny replied without thinking. As soon as the words left her mouth she inwardly groaned. An Auror called Harry? Why didn’t she just start wearing a ‘I shagged Harry Potter’ t-shirt and have done with it.
Fortunately no-one made the connection. Generally, all the girls seemed impressed that she was dating an Auror. Loads more questions came at her and she did her best to answer with as little detail as possible. As some of the questions were of a distinctly anatomical nature she struggled not to blush crimson but provide them rough details subject to more accurate measurement. In the end it took nearly twenty minutes before everyone’s questions were answered and she was allowed to escape to the canteen. She hoped Harry was having better luck in keeping the relationship quiet.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Harry hurried down the long corridor towards the Auror offices. Through near superhuman effort he was only around half an hour late and he fully intended to lie through his teeth about the reasons for it. He burst through the office door and adopted his best ‘don’t mess with me’ face in an effort to avoid questions. It worked for nearly a minute.
“Bloody hell, boss, where have you been?” Robbie demanded as Harry arrived at his desk and sat down.
“I had a few things I needed to do this morning and time got away from me, okay?” he replied in the grumpiest voice he could manage. The fact that he was ecstatically happy after the previous night’s events made this a little difficult. “If you want to be useful, you could get me some tea.”
“If I want to be useful? Why on earth would I want to do that?” Robbie replied incredulously. Robbie Macintosh was one of Harry’s Auror team. He was around the same age as Harry and claimed to come from Glasgow, but in fact came from a small rural village some miles outside the city. He carefully fostered an image of a hard fighting, hard drinking womaniser. Harry generally estimated that around 15% of all Robbie’s stories were truthful and most people thought he was being generous.
“I’ll get you a cup, Harry, since this pig is too lazy to get off his arse,” offered Suzie before heading over to the area of the office put aside for such things. Suzie Burrows was the youngest member of the team. She was small, pretty and unfailingly kind. Despite her tender years she had a tendency to mother her three male colleagues and had been nagging Harry regarding various subjects for months. She and Robbie had a very strange love/hate relationship and ‘pig’ was a fairly common description she used to describe him. Robbie never seemed that bothered.
Malcolm Jenkins looked up from the report he was reading and snorted. He was by far the oldest team member, being in his mid-thirties, but never took the slightest offence at taking orders from Harry. Malcolm was, simply put, not a natural leader but was very much a good team player. He was good natured, helpful and totally dedicated to his wife who worked as a healer at St Mungos. Harry was always grateful for his help and advice which was, by the large, of a very good standard.
A little while later Suzie returned with a mug of steaming tea strong enough to stand a spoon up in and Harry drank gratefully. Although he was often forced to skip breakfast, he could barely function until he had his tea. As she took her seat she eyed him carefully.
“So where were you, Harry? You’re never late. Gawain Robards stopped by asking for you and we said you were out working on a case.” Suzie looked a little worried that she had deceived the Head Auror.
“Bugger, did Gawain want me to go and see him?” Harry asked. While generally he had a good relationship with his boss, he felt Gawain was far too old school in his approach, desperately fighting change. This sometimes caused problems as the current Minster of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was a reformer and quite a good friend of Harry’s. The fact that some of Harry’s suggestions for up-dating the Auror’s training and procedures had bypassed Gawain and gone straight to Kingsley, who enthusiastically endorsed the reforms, did not help the relationship. It was an open secret that Harry was being groomed for the Head Auror’s spot, and while Gawain did not necessarily have a problem with that, he certainly wasn’t ready to go just yet.
“He didn’t say so, Harry. He just seemed surprised you weren’t at your desk. You spend so much time working I guess he assumes you’re there permanently.” Harry felt one of Suzie rants about his working hours was about to start and he was keen to head it off.
“I do go home occasionally, you know. In fact that’s what made me late today, I had to head home to change before I came in, so it’s no big deal, you don’t have to worry,” Harry said, hoping to quell further questions. In fact, if that was his intention, he couldn’t have said anything worse.
“Hold on, boss,” said Robbie, whose ears had perked up with interest, “if you weren’t at home where did you spend the night?”
“None of your bloody business!” snarled Harry, who, as the words let his mouth realised he had reacted far too severely and the team would now be convinced he had something to hide, which of course he did. Robbie, Malcolm and Suzie all exchanged glances.
“Hit a nerve there, Harry?” Malcolm asked calmly.
“Look, all I’m saying is where I do or do not spend the night is no-one’s business but my own, thank you very much,” he countered in what he hoped was a reasonable voice.
“I think,” said Robbie slowly, “the question is not so much where the night was spent, but with whom.”
His three team members all looked at him expectantly. Harry adopted a stony faced look and folded his arms trying to silently inform his team that there was no way any further information would be forthcoming. He stared at them in frosty silence.
“You know, guys,” Robbie continued with a small smile playing around his lips, “I think it’s time to restart the list.” Harry let out a groan and put his head in his hands.
The list was a silly idea which got a bit out of hand. Its genesis lay in the huge number of appearances Harry’s name was making in the gossip columns of the daily newspapers the previous year. It seemed barely a day went by without his name being linked to some eligible young lady who, it was claimed, he had been seen with in ‘intimate’ circumstances at some place or other. Harry’s protests that in most cases he had never even heard of these women let alone met them, largely fell on deaf ears. The legend of Harry the stud muffin was born and his team were damned if they were going to let it die without a fight. In the end, in an effort to keep track of the huge numbers of women Harry was (supposedly) dating, the list was born. It was basically a weekly up-date of the ladies Harry was apparently dating. The rules were that if the name of a woman Harry had actually dated appeared on the list then he must own up immediately. Failure for Harry to report any successes would result in ‘consequences,’ he had been informed. So far, he had been forced to confirm a correct name only once (the date was a disaster) and the team had celebrated for a week for getting a hit.
Harry’s relationship with Sharon had deeply offended his team who, they had complained quite rightly, absolutely no chance of guessing an unknown Muggle. As the relationship continued, the list fell into disuse and after the devastating breakup no-one suggested restarting it out of respect. The rules, however, appeared to have just changed. Robbie had already pulled out a piece of parchment and was grabbing his morning copy of the Daily Prophet to check out the gossip column. Malcolm and Suzie leaped up to help him before Suzie looked up suspiciously.
“You’re not seeing another Muggle are you, Harry?” she asked in an almost accusing tone of voice. Harry had to stop himself rolling his eyes.
“No, she’s not a Muggle,” he confirmed warily. Suzie, of course, leapt on this.
“So you are seeing someone! Why didn’t you tell us? How long has this been going on? Is she nice?” Harry reeled at the bombardment. He really had to learn to keep his mouth shut.
“More importantly,” Robbie interrupted, “are we likely to be able to guess her name?” Harry thought for a moment. Eventually Ginny’s name would come out and if he lied now he would never hear the end of it. He decided to play the game.
“Yes, she is quite well known,” he supplied to the obvious shock of everyone. The fact that he was not only dating again, but with someone quite famous had stunned them all. After some muttering the three Auror’s engrossed themselves in completion of the list. Harry sighed; he hoped Ginny was having an easier time keeping things quiet.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Changing attitudes
Author's Notes: This chapter is a bit darker than the last few but I deliberately wanted to mix it up a bit. After all, life’s not all beer and skittles.
Thanks as always to my Beta MinistryMalcontent (sorry for the number of errors in this one, I think I’m regressing!) and to anyone who left a review. Thanks for the feedback, guys.
Ginny sat herself down on one of the chairs arranged around the kitchen table at the Burrow and sipped her tea. Her mother bustled about preparing dinner while providing a constant commentary on the activities of various family members. Ginny had made the mistake of not visiting her mother for a fortnight with the results that she was now being treated as the long lost daughter and being forced to listen to every tiny detail of what her father and brothers had been up to. She wouldn’t have minded so much other than she had talked to most of them herself over the last week anyway.
That her mother did not approve of her career was not exactly a secret but Ginny was not too concerned. Her mother had not approved of any of their chosen jobs other than Percy’s and he had turned out the worse of any of them, not that Ginny was stupid enough to rub this fact in her mother’s nose. Molly Weasley was currently giving a detailed description of the latest adventures of her favourite subject, her granddaughter. The family had collectively breathed a sigh of relief when her brother Bill and his beautiful wife Fleur had presented Molly with her first grandchild. Unfortunately, the honeymoon period was over and Molly was back on the case of her other children demanding that they settle down and start work on producing further babies for her to fuss over. As it was only Ginny’s brother Charlie and herself who didn’t have long term partners they were catching the brunt of her mother’s lectures. Ginny was starting to remember why she was visiting less and less these days.
“I mean, Ginny, I know you are only young, but you would be amazed how fast time can fly. If you wait until you’re finished playing Quidditch to find yourself a young man, all the good ones will be taken. You won’t be playing forever, my dear. You do have to think about your future!” This was a familiar speech and Ginny had heard it many times before. Her mother seemed to think she could just pop into a shop and find a ‘decent young man.’ Perhaps if they had a sale on, she could pick up two in one go. Her mother had not finished however.
“Whatever happened to that nice Tyrone boy you were seeing? Perhaps you should give him a call sometime. I never understood why you two split up. You could invite him over for lunch sometime.” Ginny groaned, she had gone over this a million times and it never seemed to sink in. When Molly was in this mood nothing could distract her. Ginny wouldn’t put it past her to try and track Ginny’s ex down herself and invite him over. This needed to be stopped and as much as she didn’t want to drag Harry into this so early, she had no choice.
“Mum, I have told you. Tyrone is in the past and I have no intention of ever seeing him again. Besides, I’m seeing someone at present, anyway,” she added the last part quietly but the effect of her mother was instantaneous. Molly turned and looked at her daughter sternly.
“How long has this been going on? Who is this person you’re seeing and why haven’t you said anything before? Honestly, Ginny, some girls talk to their mothers you know!” Ginny met her mother’s gaze unflinchingly.
“You do not control every aspect of my life, Mum! I’m a big girl now and I can see who I like, when I like! I do not have to keep you informed of every boy I go out with you know.” Ginny instantly regretted her choice of words which made it sound like she went out with a different bloke every week, or at least that’s how her mother would interpret it. She decided to pacify Molly slightly.
“Look Mum, I haven’t mentioned him because we’ve only been going out for a few weeks. It’s still early days. But trust me, he’s a really nice guy and I really like him. It’s just a bit too soon to start bringing him home to meet everyone. Sweet Merlin, if I ever want to chase a bloke off, all I have to do is introduce him to my brothers, so I am certainly not going to do that to Harry at this point in the relationship.” Ginny explained, hoping her mother would understand.
“So this young man is called Harry, is he? So what does he do for a living?” she sighed, noting that her mother had not acknowledged her reasons for not introducing her boyfriend yet. Her mum was now going to start interrogating her for details.
“He…works for the Ministry, Mum,” she replied, which was true. Ginny knew full well that if she just blurted out that she was dating the Harry Potter she would not be believed and it would be assumed she was hiding something. She would just try to put the best spin on all information she provided.
“Not a Quidditch player?” her mum replied sounding surprised. “Well, I must say that’s a nice change. Is it a good job he holds? Does your father know him, or Percy? Does he come from a good family? Would any of your brothers know him from school?” Ginny started to wonder how long it would be before her mother brought out the thumbscrews and really started the questioning.
“Mum! Stop bombarding me with questions! No, to my knowledge none of our family knows him, not from the Ministry and he never went to Hogwarts.” The latter information caused Molly to frown. “Yes, he comes from a very good family although he has very few relatives, and finally, and this will be the last question I answer about him: he has a very good job. Interrogation over!” Ginny sat back and tried to keep her temper in check. In some ways she and her mother were very similar, their tempers being the prime example.
“Well, that all sounds well and good. I just hope to invite him over sooner rather than later. Unless of course you’re ashamed of your family or something?’ Molly looked at her challengingly. Ginny ground her teeth.
“No! Look, I just said, I’ve only know him a few weeks!” Just enough time to shag his brains out but not enough to expose him to my idiot brothers, she didn’t add.
“Humph! Well, I shall be looking forward to meeting this Harry sometime soon anyway.” Ginny breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the conversation. She had a nasty feeling that Harry would indeed have to meet her family ‘sooner rather than later’ and she was dreading it.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
The night was cold and Harry could clearly see his breath in front of him. He would have to be careful of that, he thought, as he ducked behind the low dry-stone wall. He shifted slightly to allow Suzie more cover as she threw herself down next to him. Looking over, he saw Malcolm and Robbie dive behind the wall on the opposite side of the five-bar gate. So far, so good.
Gripping his wand tightly he began casting spells to detect any wards or protection spells. The instant he had cast the first one a faint pinkish glow surrounded the gate.
“Just a detection spell on the gate. Can’t see any other wards out here. We’ll go over the wall,” he whispered to Suzie who nodded. A second later they both rolled over the top of the wall, laying flat so they would not silhouette themselves against the night sky. They sprinted towards the farmhouse, which was around twenty yards beyond the wall, and flung themselves to the left of the front door. His other team members ran past, heading for the back door to take up a similar position. He again cast a detection spell at the front door and this time found a rather nasty curse on it. Damn, he thought, this would take a few minutes to take down. Suzie behind him had seen the curse and waited before casting the anti-Apparition and anti-port-key wards she had been preparing for fear that they might be detected.
Harry was no curse-breaker, but he could handle most of the common wards and defensive hexes, so he managed to remove the curse from the front door within about two minutes. Turning, he nodded to Suzie who completed casting the wards. No sooner than she had done so then they heard shouting within the house. Their targets were alert and knew they were coming.
Without further hesitation he cast a blasting spell on the door and it blew off its hinges sending a shower of splinters in all directions. Harry barely paused as he ran into the house. He was vaguely aware of the sound of a similar detonation coming from the rear of the house which signalled Malcolm and Robbie’s entry as well. He ran along the hall and paused outside a door which he thought would lead to the front room. Suzie drew level with him and she raised her wand at the door. A second later it blew inwards and they both dived into the room.
It was fortunate both he and Suzie had chosen to dive low on entry, as Harry caught sight of a dark red spell shooting over his head. If he had remained on his feet, it would have hit him squarely in the chest. A quick scan of the room revealed their quarry, both of whom were sheltering behind a sofa with their wands still trained on the door. Harry rolled and started casting stunning spells at the couple, who ducked their heads behind the sofa. Suzie by now had moved to the right, so they could catch the hiding pair in a crossfire as soon as they showed themselves. Harry paused with his wand trained at the spot where the heads had vanished.
“Carlo and Lyra Jones, this is the Auror Department. You are both under arrest. Throw out your wands and stand with your arms raised,” Harry shouted, but received no response. He would have to force them out from behind the cover and a couple of mid-power blasting spells should do it. He was about to cast his spell when Robbie entered through the doorway.
At the sound of Robbie’s footsteps the couple darted up from behind cover and started to cast their own spells. The woman was instantly knocked out by Suzie’s stunning spell but the man began to cast.
“Avada…” he began. Harry knew he had only a split second to react. The blasting spell was already on his lips and he cast it directly at the man. In his panic to protect his team he put more power behind the spell then he intended. The curse hit the man high on his chest, just below his neck. The power of the spell threw him back. He impacted solidly against the wall and slowly slid down. As his body slid to the floor, a trail of blood was left against the wall. Harry rushed forwards and saw the deep hole in the man’s chest. He hadn’t intended it, but he had killed him. Robbie came up behind him and also caught sight of the corpse which had been Carlo Jones.
“Sweet Merlin! Thanks boss, that bastard had me right in his sights.” He slapped Harry on the back lightly and turned away, clearly un-nerved at how close he had come to death. Harry turned and looked back at the body. For a second, a battle raged within him as a million conflicting emotions battled for control within him. In the end relief won. Robbie was unhurt. None of his team was hurt. He was unhurt.
Harry felt a strange surprise at that last thought. He never thought of himself as a hero by any means, but he did acknowledge that he had a distinct habit of putting other people’s safety above his own. If asked, he would have replied that it was his job, but in his heart of hearts he knew it was just the way he was made. He thought back to a dark graveyard six years before and how he had dived in front of another Avada Kedavra spell to prevent it hitting his beloved godfather who had not seen it coming. He had done it without thinking; a purely instinctive reaction. In the end it had been a godsend as the curse had destroyed a small part of Voldemort’s soul which had resided, unknown, within Harry, making him an unwitting Horcrux.
He had, however, for a short while been dead and had met his mother at the gateway between worlds. That statement sounded ridiculously simple but was the truth. It was a secret he had told but a handful of people. He had been given a choice then, standing before his dead mother, whether to return and carry on the fight or to continue….on. In the end he knew he had no real choice. As much as he wanted to remain with his mother, he knew she would have been disappointed in him if he had remained. So he returned to continue the fight with Voldemort and ultimately won the war. Of course, when Sirius had realised what he had done he nearly killed him permanently but that was another story.
The sudden thought that he had been worried about his own safety so much caught him by surprise. He thought about it and was surprised that he was surprised; after all, he had no death wish. He didn’t want to be killed and never had. But something had changed and he could feel himself tremble at relief that the encounter was over. Had he lost his nerve? He didn’t think so, after all he had just charged into a room he knew contained two armed dangerous criminals without hesitation. He looked over at the inert body of the deceased man’s wife and briefly thought about her reaction when she awoke to find her husband dead. And then it hit him what had changed.
In his mind’s eye he saw a faceless man explaining to Ginny that he, Harry, had been killed while on duty. He saw the imaginary Ginny break down in tears and fall to the floor weeping. Harry had no idea if Ginny would have reacted that way or even if her feelings for him were that deep but a small, selfish part of him hoped she would. He had only known her for three weeks but already he knew he was falling in love with her. That was what had changed.
For the first time in a long while Harry had something to live for.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Snuggled into the very comfy sofa that sat in front of the roaring fire in the main sitting room of Harry’s house, Ginny felt very relaxed. She sipped at the glass of red wine that Dobby had brought her and sighed with contentment, this was definitely the life. The only wrinkle in the ointment was the absence of the homeowner himself, as had he been cuddled up next to her then Ginny would have thought the whole situation perfect. Having spent the day drenched to the skin on the training pitch as the cold autumn rains pelted down, she had looked forward to spending the evening having dinner with Harry. Unfortunately, on her arrival Dobby had greeted her with the news Harry had been delayed at work, but would be there as soon as possible.
In the meantime, the little house-elf had gone out of his way to make her comfortable, seating her by the fire, bring her wine and enquiring after any further requirements she might have. The warm fire and the bottle of wine were more than enough for the moment and she wiggled her toes at the flames happily. Normally being stood up by a man would have infuriated her but Harry had let her know he was delayed and taken steps to see she was looked after so she forgave him, or at least until the wine ran out, anyway.
She had managed to demolish most of the bottle when she heard noises from downstairs. A voice sounding like Harry’s spoke, but Ginny was much too comfy to go down and greet him. He was late so he could come to her, she decided. She also made sure to pour the last of the wine into her glass as she was in no mood to share.
As soon as Harry entered the room and sat down beside her, she realised something was wrong. His eyes had a haunted look to them and he appeared worn out. He had thrown himself down on the sofa at her feet and kicked off his shoes. He looked hopefully at her glass.
“Any of that wine left?” he enquired. A wave of guilt passed over Ginny and she made to pass over her glass but he waived her away. Calling to Dobby, Harry asked him to bring another bottle up and Ginny remembered that the place had a wine cellar. Wine never lasted long enough in her flat to warrant a special place to keep it. Soon Harry had his own glass in hand and he drained it in one before refilling it. Ginny eyed him with apprehension.
“Bad day, Harry?” she asked.
“Yeah, definitely, how ‘bout you?” he replied without emotion.
“Err, pretty bad. We were training outside all day and it rained constantly. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet and cold. Still, your fire is lovely and warm. The wine’s pretty good too. Are you okay?” she asked, increasingly concerned at Harry expressionless appearance.
“Not so good. I had to kill someone tonight.” The quiet, simple way he said this sent chills down Ginny’s back. Surely he was joking, wasn’t he?
“You had to …what?” she asked with a slight tremor in her voice.
“We were on a raid this evening. A farm up in the Cotswolds. We heard a couple of wanted criminals were holed up there, nasty pair, husband and wife team. Robbery, kidnapping, assault — they’d done it all. We broke in and had them pinned down under cover. I was about to cast a blasting spell to force them out when the man jumped up and tried to cast the killing curse at one of my team. I hit him in the chest with my blasting curse and killed him instantly.” His voice was completely flat.
“Oh Merlin, Harry, how awful! You won’t get into trouble, will you? That would be so unfair!” Ginny put down her glass and threw her arms around him. He at least leaned into her embrace and gently rubbed her arm.
“No, Ginny, the Head Auror has already reviewed my pensieve memory of the incident and cleared me of any wrong doing. I don’t regret it either. If I hadn’t reacted instantly, Robbie would have been killed. Once you start trying to throw Unforgivables about then you take your chances. Of course, his wife was crying her eyes out, but she wasn’t above casting a nasty curse or two herself. Hell, the ward they placed on the front door would have killed anyone who touched it dead. It’s just…..” his voice trailed off.
“What Harry? What’s really troubling you?” she encouraged him.
‘I’m sick of it, Gin. I’m sick of killing. I’m sick of being forced to take someone’s life because they made a stupid bloody choice. There just doesn’t seem to be an end of it. I kill Voldemort in the hope the evil stops, but his Death Eaters keep going, so I kill the Death Eaters and then some new bunch of thugs pop up and I have to start fighting them. It never stops. Evil is eternal and unstoppable.”
Ginny’s heart broke at his misery. Harry had told her that it seemed he had been constantly fighting since he was eleven, no wonder he was sick and tired of it. A surge of anger went through her at the thought of the stupidly evil person who had forced Harry to take his life by trying to kill someone Harry cared about. Damn him, whoever he was. She ran her figures through Harry’s hair, trying to will her comfort into him.
“You keep fighting evil, Harry, because you are brave. It’s just not in your nature to stand by and let innocent people be hurt, so you stand up and fight. Of course you’re upset at being forced to do these things and that’s the difference between you and them, you care! Oh, Merlin, listen to me, like I know how any of this feels. I’m just a bloody Quidditch player. You’re the one who makes a real difference, the one who keeps people safe and protects us. Thank you for doing that, Harry.” She bent down and gently kissed his cheek and a smile came on his face for the first time since he entered the room.
“Ginny, you should know, I’ve killed….I’ve killed quite a few people. I sometimes worry what my soul must look like with all that blood on my hands. But I swear, Gin, I never killed anyone who wasn’t trying to kill me or someone I cared about first.” He appeared desperate to confess this to her. Of course he had taken life, everyone knew the stories, but she had never really thought what it meant. It seemed a heavy burden to bear, but with a sudden burst of determination she decided to help him shoulder the burden. Damn them for making him suffer like this, but if they thought they were going to break her Harry, then they hadn’t reckoned on Ginevra Molly Weasley!
“I know, Harry, you just don’t have it in you to kill without good reason. But you’re strong. I can feel it in you, your strength, and if you need anyone to lean on, then I’m there for you. Just tell me what you need and I will give it to you.” She leaned over and captured his lips with hers. He responded tenderly and wrapped his arms around her.
“Sweet Merlin, Ginny, I’m lucky to have found you,” he whispered as they broke the kiss, “but you do understand what you’re getting into, don’t you? You know how dangerous my job is, and that one day someone maybe knocking on your door to tell you I’ve been killed.” Ginny’s reaction was instant and violent. She pulled away and punched Harry hard on the arm.
“Don’t you dare talk like that! Don’t you ever even think like that! You are the most powerful wizard of the age and if Voldemort couldn’t finish you then some half-arsed criminal twat isn’t going to do it. You will do your job, lock up the bad guys and then you’re going to come home and shag me senseless, got it?” she yelled. Harry chuckled.
“That sounds like a pretty good day to me. Seriously, though Gin, something a bit weird happened to me today. After….it all happened I felt really scared. I mean…that’s normal, someone was killed and any of us could have been too, but I was scared that I would have lost something. I know our relationship is new, but you’ve come to mean so much to me over so short a time. I was terrified that it could have all stopped. That if I died I would never get to hold you again, never kiss you, never make love to you. I’ve never felt like that about anyone before.” Ginny looked into his eyes and they were shining. Her mouth felt very dry for some reason.
“Not even for that Muggle, Sharon?” She hated herself for asking but for some reason she had to know.
“No, not even for her,” Harry confirmed, still looking her directly in her eyes.
“Then like I said, you’ll just have to do your job and then come back to me, won’t you?” She kissed him again. “Okay, Potter, here’s the plan. You and me are going to curl up on this very comfy sofa and drink the rest of this wine. When we’ve finished that you are going to carry me to your bedroom and make passionate love to me for the rest of the night. Got that?”
“What about dinner? Aren’t you hungry?” he asked, looking a bit concerned.
“Hungry yes, but not for dinner,” she whispered into his ear. Harry smiled and reached over to kiss her again. He decided to carry out her plan exactly as instructed. He was well trained after all.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7 – Amazonian Hooligans
Author's Notes: After the darker last chapter, this one’s back to the silliness. I had to stop myself going into extreme detail regarding the contents of Harry and Ginny’s breakfast. I get irrationally angry at stories where our heroes are having pancakes or muffins for breakfast. These are not traditional British breakfast items! For the record, a tradition full English breakfast can contain any of the following: sausage, bacon, eggs (fried, scrambled or poached), toast, fried bread, baked beans, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding (a Northern thing), hash browns and sautéed potatoes. And, yes, I’m sure I've forgotten something.
I will now probably get dozens of e-mails from Brits claiming they eat muffins for breakfast every day. I will treat these with the scorn they deserve.
Thanks as ever to my super-speedy, mega-wonderful beta MinistryMalcontent. I promise I will one day get all my commas in the right place.
Harry awoke in the familiar surroundings of his bedroom. Less familiar was the feeling of the soft, warm body pressed against him, but it was a wonderful sensation never the less. He gently pressed his lips to the top of her head and drank in the heady scent of her. If he had doubted it before yesterday, he knew now without fear of contradiction that he loved her. His only concern was when to tell her this. Would he scare her off if he said it too soon? In truth, he thought this unlikely, but didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
As if aware of his attention, Ginny stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled and slid her arms around him.
“Morning, lover,” she said. “Do you need to rush off this morning, or do we get to stay in bed?”
“Actually, I was given the day off. How about you, do you need to get to training?” Even if she said yes, Harry was thinking of locking the door so she couldn’t escape.
“Not until this afternoon, so we can have a lay in.” Harry’s heart soared at the thought of spending the morning in bed with her. Unfortunately, his stomach was also demanding attention.
“How about I ask the elves to knock up a big breakfast and bring it up to us?” he suggested.
“Oh, breakfast in bed. That sounds fantastic!” she said, snuggling into him. Harry called Dobby, who was more than happy to oblige and, in a surprisingly short time (Dobby had obviously already started preparing), they each had a heavily laden tray propped on their knees. Ginny had pulled on a t-shirt after Harry had summoned Dobby, so she didn’t have to worry about covering herself as breakfast was served.
Harry looked at his tray and his tummy rumbled. It occurred to him that he hadn’t eaten since lunchtime the previous day and assumed Ginny was the same. He looked over at her as she enthusiastically dipped her toast in into the yoke of her fried eggs. Harry reached over and poured the small pot of baked beans onto the side of his plate to Ginny’s obvious distaste.
“Ugh! Don’t tell me you’re one of those weird people who likes baked beans for breakfast,” she complained, while simulating vomiting.
“Hey! Baked beans are an essential part of a traditional cooked breakfast. Besides, they are great mixed up with scrambled eggs.” He took a large forkful of the mixed breakfast items to prove his point.
“Super, so now you’ll be farting all day,” she giggled, and blew a large raspberry to simulate breaking wind.
“I do not fart, thank you very much! Though I’m pretty sure you let one go this morning after you woke up,” he countered.
“You pig! I did not! I’ll have you know that proper ladies such as myself never fart. And even if we did, it would just smell of roses!” She stuck her nose in the air and continued to eat her breakfast, with her pinkie finger stuck out. Harry struggled not to laugh.
“Forgive me, my lady! However could I have been so thoughtless as to suggest that your excreted gasses would smell anything other than heavenly! Please feel free to fart in my direction whenever you can!” He sniffed at her. Ginny burst out laughing.
“Oh, Potter, you are a strange one. Okay, next time I feel like letting one go, I promise to sit on you so you get the full benefit, alright?”
“That actually might be worth it, just to have you sit on me,” he grinned.
“Pervert!” she accused, but couldn’t stop laughing. They continued eating, only stopping to complain about the other’s choices of breakfast items. Soon they had finished consuming the vast quantity of food provided and put their trays on the floor. Contentedly, they lay back in each other’s arms.
“Harry,” Ginny started, sounding strangely nervous. “I visited my Mum the other day and I mentioned I had a new boyfriend.”
“Oh, right,” Harry said, not seeing anything wrong yet.
“Well, you see, my Mum’s very protective of me. Actually, my whole family is, what with me being the youngest. It’s really annoying, actually,” she said, frowning.
“Right,” said Harry, sensing something else coming.
“It’s just that she worries so, and well, she’s very keen to meet you,” Ginny said simply.
Ah, thought Harry.
“You don’t have to meet my family until you’re ready, of course!” Ginny added quickly. “Or at all, if you don’t feel comfortable about it. It’s just, my family is important to me and it would mean a lot to me for you to meet them, when you’re ready, like I said.”
Harry looked down and saw the hopeful look in Ginny’s eyes. Bugger, he thought, there’s no way I’m getting out of this one.
“Okay, Ginny, I‘ll meet your family, whenever you want. I mean, you’ve only the five brothers, haven’t you? No pressure at all!” He smiled to show he was joking. Probably. “But you have to meet my family. You have to come with me to visit to Andromeda and Teddy soon.”
“Your godson? Oh, I’d love to meet him!” Ginny smiled enthusiastically. Harry smiled back, but not as widely. Oh well, he thought, I’ve faced Voldemort. I should be able to handle Ginny’s Mum and her five big brothers, shouldn’t I? Harry groaned to himself, and started wondering how much one-way international Portkeys to Brazil cost.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Ginny closed her locker door and sat on the long, low bench that ran along the length of the changing area. She nervously adjusted her kit and tried to concentrate on the up-coming game against the Arrows. Nerves were a normal part of the professional game, and anyone who said they did not suffer from them was a liar. Of course, her apprehension was not helped by the fact that for the first time Harry would be in the crowd watching her.
Harry had been very keen to come and see her play, but today’s match was the first time his work schedule allowed him to attend a home game. The Harpies stadium contained a section reserved for Friends and Family of the players. Each player was allocated a number of tickets for the section which could be issued on request. Various family members had attended at times but none were regulars. In fact, only Ron had come more than twice and that was only when his beloved Cannons had played. The Friends and Family section did, however, mean that Harry could come and watch in relative privacy. As they were still keeping their relationship private, Ginny had quietly picked him up a ticket. They intended to slip away quickly after the game, hopefully without being noticed. She fiddled with her shin guards and wished it was time to start playing. Suddenly, Emma Jackson, the team’s rather burly assistant manager, burst into the room, extremely excited.
“You will not friggin’ believe who has just been let into the Friends and Family section! Only Harry friggin Potter!” Emma’s choice of language was never the best, especially when she was excited. There were loud exclamations of surprise from her teammates, along with various questions mostly regarding who he was with.
“He’s by himself,” Emma confirmed. “Maybe he’s here to scout available talent, eh, girls?” This comment resulted in various wolf-whistles and lewd shouts. Ginny began to feel very uncomfortable. They had hoped Harry could slip in and out with being noticed, but that plan had been shot to pieces within seconds of him entering the stadium. Worse still, her manager, Gwenog Jones, didn’t look at all happy with the situation. She shouted for quiet before rounding on Emma Jackson.
“So the great Harry Potter has decided to invite himself to the game, eh? How did he get into the Friends and Family section? Who let him in?” she demanded, her temper rising.
“Dunno, Gwenog! I assume he had a ticket,” Emma replied, looking worried.
“Right, because of course all the team are on first name terms with Mr Potter, aren’t they? More likely he just turned up and blagged his way in because of who he is! Well, the Harpies don’t accept freeloaders or big-headed celebrities who think their name gets them a free-pass anywhere. Go get the ticket allocation list and I tell you, if Potters name isn’t on it he’s out on his ear!” Emma scrambled off to get the list, while the team looked around them uneasily. Clearly they were unsure about the idea of Harry Potter being ejected from the stadium. Ginny, however, was cringing. A second latter Emma returned clutching a clip-board which she handed to Gwenog.
“Okay then, let’s just see if Mr Potter actually has a ticket, because if not I’m going to…” Unfortunately, they never found out what Gwenog was going to do, as she paused and pursed her lips. “On the other hand, maybe he does have a ticket after all,” she continued in a frosty voice, before she turned and looked directly at Ginny. “Anything you’d like to tell us, Miss Weasley?” Every head in the room snapped towards her.
“Err, well, you see…” Ginny felt her cheeks flush red and her tongue seemed to want to tie itself in knots. Suddenly, Linda Thomas leapt up to her feet and stared wildly at her.
“Wait a minute! This mysterious new boyfriend of yours Ginny, the one we haven’t met yet. Didn’t you say he was an Auror called Harry?” There was a low gasp from the assembled women. Ginny sighed and knew there was no way she could cover anything up now.
“Okay, yes. I’ve been dating Harry for nearly a month now.” She was briefly drowned out by the noise of her teammates all shouting questions before she restored order. “Look, Harry’s a really sweet bloke and not anything like the person you read about in the press. Things are going really well between us, so, please just treat him like a normal person and please don’t scare him off.” She was practically pleading with them all at this point, but she knew just how intimidating they could be as a group. Ginny was pleased however to hear murmurs of support and promises of good behaviour from them all. Further questions and comments were cut off by Gwenog Jones, who started moving them all towards the pitch.
“Looks like we’ve just landed Harry Potter as a new Harpies supporter,” she called as they shuffled out the door. “Let’s show him what we can do!” The team responded with the howling shriek that was their battle cry. Ginny smiled, nerves now gone, she was going to show her new boyfriend exactly what she could do!
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Harry felt genuine excitement as he climbed the final flight of stairs and handed his ticket over to the reception witch at the Friends and Family stand. It had been years since he had attended a professional match and he was thrilled at the idea of seeing Ginny (his Ginny!) playing. As he stepped through the door at the back of the stand he was, however, somewhat taken aback.
He had envisaged that the spectators in this section of the ground would be a reserved lot, husbands and boyfriends of the players, father and mothers, maybe a few young children as well. What he found instead was nearly a full-on riot.
The Holyhead Harpies were always an unusual team. From the fact that they only recruited female players to their sometimes strange pre-game rituals, they stood out from the other Quidditch teams. That also went double for their supporters; from infatuated fan boys to hardened feminists, their supporters were diverse and fanatical. Harry, although he was unaware of it, was seeing the true hard-core.
The stand in front of him appeared to be an undulating mass of green and yellow. The noise that hit him as he walked through the door was unbelievable. He could just make out various songs and chants mixed into the general hubbub. Examining the crowd in more detail, he guessed there was between thirty or forty of them, all dressed from head to toe in Harpy colours and all of them apparently women. If Harry was honest, he would admit that he had spent much of his life afraid of the female of the species, but that was nothing compared to the raw naked fear that this group of Amazonian hooligans in front of him created. Maybe he should just follow the game on the wireless at home?
Gathering his courage, he started down the steps into the stand and looked around for a seat, preferably as far away from the group of chanting witches as possible. As they all seemed to be clustered around the front right of the stand, he moved to the left. Making his way forward, he noticed a man sitting by himself and casting worried glances at the mob. Sensing a kindred spirit, Harry moved towards him.
“Afternoon,” he greeted the man. “I was just wondering if any of these seats around you were taken?” The man gestured to the seat next to him with a look of relief on his face.
“Please, feel free to join me. I could use some company.” Harry grinned in sympathy. The man appeared in his thirties and was smartly dressed. He had sandy hair and a reassuringly open expression.
“Thanks very much,” Harry responded. “It’s my first time here and frankly, it’s a bit of a shock to the system.” The man leaned past Harry and regarded the other supporters warily.
“Yes, the Howlers can be a bit much the first time you meet them,” he agreed.
“Howlers?” he questioned.
“Ah, you’ve not had the pleasure of their company before then? They call themselves the Harpy Howlers and they are the most fanatical supporters in the league. I mean, these women eat, sleep and breathe the Harpies. It’s just as well you came in here wearing the team colours,” he said, pointing at the green and yellow striped scarf Harry had bought on a whim just moments before. He was now extremely glad that he did. The man continued.
“The hard-core of the group are mainly relatives of the players: sisters, nieces, even a few mothers. Trust me, you don’t want them turning on you, so make sure you enthusiastically cheer every Harpy goal and boo the opposition at every chance you get. If they think you support the other team…well, I’ve seen blokes barely escape with their lives!” The man shuddered and Harry didn’t think he was exaggerating.
“By the way, my name is Simon Sheppard. My fiancé is Stacey Evans, the keeper.” He offered his hand.
“Harry Potter. I’ve started going out with Ginny Weasley recently. This will be the first time I’ve seen her play.” The man had been so easy going and friendly that Harry had given his full name without a thought. He groaned as Simon’s mouth dropped open and his eyes automatically went to the scar on his forehead. He turned to Simon.
“I would very much appreciate if you could keep my presence here to yourself. Ginny and I are trying to keep our relationship quiet, otherwise the press won’t give us a spare moment,” he asked, hoping the man would comply with his wishes. To his credit, Simon recovered quite quickly.
“Of course, Harry, of course. The Harpies are a very close knit bunch and that applies to their supporters as well. Besides, Stacey would have my guts for garters if she thought I was passing on secrets about other player’s relationships. That’s just not done here, Harry!” Simon replied, putting Harry at ease.
The two men continued to chat while waiting from the game to start. It was clear Simon very much appreciated the extra male company. He worked as a healer at St Mungo’s and had met Stacey there when she was brought in injured about a year ago. He had been attending her games ever since, and they had got engaged last month. As he was a player’s ‘other half,’ he was largely left alone by the Howlers, but they had managed to intimidate enough of his friends that he normally had to attend matches by himself. Harry promised that whenever he was able to attend a game he would keep him company.
Harry was actually pleasantly surprised how well he was getting on with Simon. After his initial shock at Harry’s identity, Simon proved himself friendly and helpful, explaining all the do’s and don’ts involved with the club, and what else he might come to expect. There was a small bar at the back of the stand, heavily frequented by the Howlers, and Harry bought them each a beer while they settled back to watch the match.
Simon had advised him that he should show enthusiasm while supporting the Harpies and Harry found he had no problems with that whatsoever. In fact, the excitement of the occasion seemed to be getting to him at bit. He’d been on his feet as soon as the Harpies had appeared over the pitch and was cheering as loudly as any of the Howlers, especially if Ginny happened to fly by. Ginny was playing well and within fifteen minutes had scored twice. Each time he leapt to his feet, shouting his head off. Some of the Howlers noticed his response and he ended up chatting to a few of them, although most of his concentration was on the game. They didn’t seem that bad once you got to know them, he thought.
An hour in and Ginny was eight goals to the good. The Harpies were, frankly, slaughtering the Arrows which, bearing in mind they finished higher in the league then them the previous year, was something of a surprise. The girls from Holyhead were working as a well-oiled machine and were ripping the opposition apart.
After a further ten minutes the Harpies Seeker caught the snitch, and Harry found himself disappointed as he wanted the game to go on longer. He did, however, join in with the celebrations and wasn’t even flustered when several of the Howlers decided to give him a victory kiss, much to Simon’s amusement. As the crowd began to leave, the two men finished their drinks and Harry explained that he and Ginny planned to slip away quietly. It was with some surprise, therefore, that he was met at the entrance to the stand by a club official bearing a message from Ginny, stating there had been a change of plans and he was to meet her at the private bar after she changed. Harry was in such a good mood from the game, not to mention the several beers he had drunk, that he was quite happy to be led to the bar by Simon, who offered to show him the way.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Ginny walked towards the player lounge as quickly as she could, hoping that Harry would not be too upset at the change of plans. She knew how much he hated being the centre of attention and she fretted that he might be under siege from the Harpy supporters or even her teammates, some of whom had left the changing rooms before her. She was, therefore, somewhat surprised as she entered the bar area.
She instantly spotted Harry propped up against the bar with a glass in hand. Next to him stood Simon, who Ginny knew was Stacey’s fiancé, and the two men seemed to be happily laughing and joking together. A group of Harpy supporters had taken over a nearby table and there appeared to be some banter going back and forth between the rowdy girls and the two men. Hmm, she thought, I can’t leave that boy alone for a minute, can I?
She had nearly made it to the bar when Harry spotted her and shouted her name. A second later she was mobbed by supporters, all congratulating her on her performance. She tried as politely as possible to continue heading towards Harry while being hugged, slapped and kissed by the Howlers. Eventually, she managed to reach Harry who was stood looking amused at her plight. She was about to give him a piece of her mind when he suddenly scooped her up in his arms and kissed her passionately. She resisted for a whole tenth of a second before flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him right back. Sometime later they pulled apart, amid cheers and wolf-whistles from the assembled Howlers. Ginny blushed bright red, but Harry seemed completely unconcerned. He leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“You were absolutely brilliant out there, Ginny! Fantastic! I’ve never enjoyed a game more in my life.” He beamed at her.
“We aim to please, Mr Potter,” she joked, secretly glowing at his praise. Harry seemed genuinely thrilled so that she couldn’t help but feel pride in her performance and that of the team. Harry pulled her to the bar and bought her a drink, while insisting she give a blow by blow description of her goals. Laughing, she complied with his wishes until Stacey appeared and the four of them got a table together. Harry was introduced to Simon’s fiancé and they all chatted away happily for the next few hours, interrupted only when Ginny’s teammates came over looking for their own introduction to the ‘Chosen One’. Drink flowed and the evening turned into something of an impromptu party. Ginny eventually decided it was time to go, and led a rather reluctant Harry away after many farewells and promises to see everyone at the next home game.
“Well, someone certainly was enjoying himself, wasn’t he?” she teased, as she led him outside.
“I had a really great time,” Harry confirmed, with a wide smile. “Everyone was really friendly, the game was great and I think I have a new Quidditch-watching buddy.” Ginny laughed.
“See the benefits of hanging round with a Harpy?” she grinned. Suddenly an idea struck her how to make a great evening absolutely perfect. “So…want a quick tour before we head home?” she offered.
“Yeah, sure,” he confirmed, allowing Ginny to guide him.
As a guided tour, Ginny would have to admit it sucked. She led Harry at a brisk pace round the site, vaguely gesturing at various places and offering minimal commentary at what she was pointing at. Harry protested that he was missing everything, but truth was Ginny had a very clear idea of exactly where they were heading. A minute later they halted in front of a low building without windows. Ginny opened the door and dragged Harry inside quickly.
“Welcome to the Holyhead Harpies changing rooms, Harry,” she said, leading him over to her locker. The main lighting had been switched off, but various side-lights enabled Harry to look round.
“And why, exactly, are we here?” he asked with amusement. Ginny leant against her locker and looked up at Harry through her lashes.
“I just thought you might like to see where we girls all get changed. You know, right where you’re standing, just a few hours ago there was a dozen fit, young, naked witches all sweaty from the game, struggling out of their kit so they could go and soap their glistening bodies in the shower. Just imagine that, Harry,” she teased. Harry grinned and walked slowly towards her until he was just inches away.
“Is there any reason why you’re trying to imprint this image into my brain at the moment?” he asked.
“No, not at all,” she said huskily, running her hands up and down his chest. “Although I would like to tell you what I’d like imprinted in my brain. I’d like some nice mental images of this changing room, you know, something I could think about on a dull day when trainings a bore. Now what could we do that could produce nice images like that?” she asked, already unbuttoning his shirt. Harry obviously liked her idea and began to hurriedly remove her clothing as well. Within seconds they were both naked and Ginny was pushed back against her locker while Harry’s mouth travelled over her body. Her hands roamed over him trying to touch as much of his flesh as she could. Without warning, Harry suddenly lifted her up and dropped her on the bench in front of the locker. As his tongue continued its journey down her stomach and kept moving, she gasped in delight. She was definitely going to create some wonderful mental images tonight.
It was nearly an hour later when the couple left the changing room. Having sex in the familiar location had definitely brought out the naughty side of Ginny, and she blushed with the memory of some of the things she had done to Harry. Having decided he had been a little too much in control, she had made him lay on the bench instead while she ravished him. Harry had been extremely appreciative of her efforts.
She had been right, this had turned it into the perfect evening; her team had slaughtered the opposition in Quidditch, she had fun with good friends after the game, and then had her brains shagged out by her gorgeous boyfriend. Perfect!
Unfortunately, just as they snuck out of the changing room door her luck changed. Just as they took a few steps a figure suddenly appeared in front of them. Ginny suppressed a groan as she recognised Gwenog Jones, her team manager. She decided to bluff it out.
“Evening, Gwenog!” she began brightly. “Great game today, wasn’t it?”
“Evening, Ginny. Yes, not a bad game, but always room for improvement, eh?” Gwenog replied, her voice sounding like a lump hammer within a velvet glove. “What are you and Mr Potter doing around here?” Harry had obviously cottoned on to her innocent act and joined in.
“Please, call me Harry. Hopefully, I should be a regular at home games, so I’m sure we’ll run into each other quite often.” Ginny thought Harry was trying his best to be charming and he was doing a good job of it, although she might be a bit biased, she acknowledged. Gwenog didn’t seem quite so taken.
“You realise this area is out of bounds to non-staff don’t you, Ginny?” Gwenog looked at her with an expression like ice.
“Just giving Harry a guided tour around the place,” she squeaked. Damn it, why did Gwenog always manage to intimidate her?
“Yes, it was really interesting,” confirmed Harry, jumping to her rescue. “All that history. I mean, how many hundreds of years has the Harpies been going? Just think of all those Quidditch legends that have used those changing rooms, it’s really fascinating.”
“Those changing rooms are only three years old,” Gwenog replied. Her tone was no warmer.
“Ah, good to know,” replied Harry. “Err, well, we really need to be off. It’s getting late, busy day tomorrow and all. Nice to meet you, Gwenog.” At that, Harry grabbed Ginny’s arm and dragged her along. They both felt Gwenog’s eyes burning into their backs as they hurried away.
Gwenog signed deeply and turned away. What was the fascination all her players had with shagging in the changing rooms, anyway?
Chapter 8: Chapter 8 – Meet Georgina
Author's Notes: Big thanks as always to MinistryMalcontent for his beta skills. Any errors you find in this are mine, not his, although I might also blame Word 2010 and it’s magical ability to change all the settings in the ‘References’ tab randomly. Thanks also to anyone who rated or reviewed the story. I get lonely without reviews.
Chapter 8 — Meet Georgina
Breathe deep and keep calm, thought Ginny, as she paced back and forth in front of the fireplace in her flat. She glanced over at Harry, who was sat on the sofa chewing his bottom lip. He didn’t look much better than she felt. For the hundredth time Ginny cursed herself for bending to her mother’s wishes. The family had wanted to meet Harry and here they were waiting to use the Floo to join them for Sunday lunch. What had seemed like a simple idea now filled her with terror. She glanced at her watch and decided it was time to leave, for her anyway.
“Harry, I’m going to Floo over first. Will you follow me in five minutes, not before?” she asked. He managed to look even more worried.
“Why are we going separately? Is there a problem?” he asked.
“No,” she assured him. “I just want to go ahead and lay down some ground rules for my lovely brothers. I might need to, err, prepare them all a bit too. I don’t know what their reaction will be when they find out I’m dating you.”
“What loving parents wouldn’t be overjoyed to have their daughter bring me home?” Harry joked, his voice not quite managing to convey humour. Ginny knew he had been a nervous wreck about this meeting for days and he was desperate to make a good impression. He had even made notes about her various family members and started memorising details about them. She would have laughed at him normally, but she was equally keen for them to accept Harry. She thought her Mother would take to him instantly, after all he was a dashing hero. Besides, he had a certain child-like innocence at times that Ginny knew would inflame her Mother’s maternal instincts. Of the males, well, as long as her Father and her oldest brother Bill liked him, she didn’t care too much. True, arch prankster George could do the most damage but she could deal with him if necessary.
Giving Harry a quick kiss, she stepped into the fireplace and seconds later was deposited into the living room of her family home. Looking around she was instantly glad she had come on ahead. The clan was gathered and it looked suspiciously like an ambush. Ginny glanced around the room at her various family members who were seated around the Floo in a semi-circle that offered no cover or chance of escape. She gritted her teeth as several of her brothers openly grinned at her.
A quick scan revealed nearly a full set of family members. The only one missing was Charlie who must not have been able to travel back from the dragon sanctuary in Romania. Ginny was concerned however that Angelina, George’s girlfriend, was also not present. Angelina was wonderful at keeping George in check and curbing his more extreme tendencies. Her absence was not a good sign. True to form, it was George who spoke first.
“Hi, Gin-gin. What’s happened to the new boyfriend then? Too chicken to face us then, is he?” George said, with an evil grin on his face. The idea that he had scared off a new boyfriend of hers would have delighted him, she knew. Bastard.
“He’ll be along in a few minutes. I wanted to talk to you all before he arrived and judging by your attitude, George, I made the right decision!” She drew breath before continuing.
“Right, first off, none of you are going to try and intimidate him! I very much doubt you would succeed, but that’s no reason for you to try. This relationship is going very well for me and I don’t want any of you to try and mess it up, is that clear?” She scowled at them and most of her brothers had the decency to look a little ashamed, suggesting intimidation was exactly what they had planned. George, however, just cackled.
“Now don’t you worry, Ginny,” her Mother spoke up, “everybody will be on best behaviour, won’t they?” She cast her own scowling look around the room and received a few nods in return. Molly then looked back at her daughter, obviously waiting for her to continue. Ginny silently thanked her Mother with a quick smile.
“The other thing is, well, my boyfriend is quite well known. In fact, he’s very famous and I don’t want everyone gawping at him or asking stupid questions, okay?” She looked at them challengingly. The comment, however, sent a ripple of anticipation around the room.
“It’s another bloody Quidditch player, isn’t it?” her brother Ron accused. Ron had a rather low opinion of male Quidditch players, despite the fact he would have given his right testicle to be one himself.
“No, Ron, he’s not a Quidditch player,” she replied. Ginny debated whether to announce Harry’s identity before his arrival but came to the conclusion that they simply wouldn’t believe her unless they saw it with their own eyes. The choice was taken out of her hands a second later when the Floo flared into life behind her and Harry stepped through. Ginny quickly turned and grabbed his hand. She then pulled him forward so they were both facing her family. Desperately, she tried to steady her nerves and keep her voice level.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend Harry…Harry Potter.”
In all the years she had lived at the Burrow she could never recall hearing a moment of absolute silence as deep as the one that followed her announcement. The only sounds were the ticking of the clock on the mantel piece and the cup of tea her Father had been holding dropping out of his numb fingers and hitting the carpet. Nine pairs of eyes stared at them in shock. Okay, this is going well, she thought. Fortunately, Harry was apparently used to such situations and broke the silence.
“Hello everyone, I’m very pleased to be here. Ginny’s told me so much about everyone I can’t wait to meet you all,” he greeted them all warmly. Ginny squeezed his hand in appreciation. Unfortunately, all his greeting seemed to achieve was that everyone’s eyes shifted solely to him. Most people seemed to be staring at his forehead, she thought. The silence started to drag out again when Harry hissed ‘introductions!’ to her out of the side of his mouth. This managed to spur her into action. She moved forward towards her parents pulling Harry along with her lightly, before introducing her Mother and Father. Harry offered his had to her Father who accepted it automatically. Shaking hands seemed to have the effect of knocking him out of his trance.
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mr Weasley, and you, Mrs Weasley,” he offered his hand to her mother in turn, who took it in both her hands and shook it enthusiastically.
“Ginny!” she admonished her daughter, “why didn’t you tell us! Oh, Harry, it’s so wonderful to meet you. How on earth did you meet Ginny? How did you get together? My word, I can’t believe it!” Molly Weasley was well on the way to getting herself into a state of near hysteria. Fortunately, Arthur recognised the danger signs and cut her off.
“Really, Molly dear, let the poor man breathe! Actually, Harry, unless I’m mistaken we have met in the past. Of course, you were much younger but I recall you attended a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix on a couple of occasions when they were held at Grimmauld Place. You must have been just a teenager then and you were there with Sirius Black.” Arthur seemed to be struggling to remember the details of the meeting but it appeared to have triggered a memory for Harry.
“Yes, I think I recall at least one of those meeting as well. If I remember, Mrs Weasley, you fed us all afterwards. Chicken stew, I think. It must have been really good if I can remember that after all these years!” Ginny grinned inwardly. Complimenting her mother’s cooking was always a way to get on her good side. You’re doing well, Harry, she thought!
“Oh yes, I remember!” Molly cried in delight. “Oh, you were such a sweet young boy, but what a fine young man you’ve grown into.” Ginny failed to suppress a chuckle and Harry squeezed her hand hard in retaliation. With a good first impression made on both her parents, she led Harry over to Bill and his wife Fleur. Bill had always been her favourite of her brothers and she keenly wanted his approval. Both men briefly sized each other up before warmly shaking hands. Harry addressed Bill first.
“Heard a lot about you, Bill. A Curse Breaker! That must be a fascinating line of work,” he said.
“It certainly has its moments, Harry. But then again, I expect being an Auror must be quite interesting as well,” Bill replied. The two men continued chatting and it was clear to Ginny both knew a fair bit about each other’s line of work. Harry asked some fairly technical questions regarding wards and Bill inquired about the progress being made in changing some legal statute or other. Both were fairly guarded, but Ginny was sure she was witnessing a mutual respect beginning to grow between them. She glowed with happiness at the idea that her two favourite men in the world, other than her Dad, could become friends. Watching them it occurred to her that Harry and Bill were alike in many ways. Certainly not in looks, as if she would ever date anyone who looked like one of her brothers, but in personality. Both of them were very responsible, but both had a taste for excitement and danger and this reflected in their respective jobs. They also shared a certain charisma that endeared people to them and a strength of their own convictions. It suddenly occurred to Ginny that she had chosen a man for herself very like her brother — no bad thing at all, but something she would have to think about later in more detail.
As keen as she had been for Harry to meet Bill, she was as reluctant for him to meet Fleur. Beautiful and graceful, Fleur was part Veela and had enormous power over the male of the species. Ron in particular still regularly made a complete fool of himself around her, even after all this time. Both times her ex, Tyrone, had met her he had practically thrown himself at the girl, and nearly been throttled by Bill in the process. She was dreading what Harry’s reactions to Fleur would be, but in the end she needn’t have worried. Harry looked directly at Fleur for a second as if he was trying to figure something out before offering his hand and a friendly smile. He exchanged some small talk with her while Bill, who had obviously noted Ginny’s relief, winked at his sister. That her beautiful sister-in-law had such little effect on Harry made Ginny want to perform a victory dance. Oh, that boy was definitely going to be rewarded when she got him home.
Turning away, she then introduced Harry to Percy and his wife Audrey. Frankly, Ginny had no idea how this meeting would go and didn’t really care that much. Percy had always been somewhat of an outsider and Audrey was distant at the best of times. She couldn’t help but notice however how worried both of them looked at meeting Harry. The reason soon became evident and Percy managed to both surprise and impress her.
“Mr Potter, I’m pleased to finally meet you as I feel I owe you a huge apology,” Percy began formally. “You see, during the war I worked for the Ministry as Minister Fudge’s personal assistant. I’m afraid I was responsible for drafting a lot of the propaganda that was directed against you, at the Minister’s instruction of course! I only realised the truth and the damage I’d gone until much later and…” Harry interrupted him.
“Percy, please. It was a confusing time for everyone and at least you acknowledged your error, which is a lot more than most Ministry officials of the time did. Also, Ginny tells me that you later more than made up for it and fought bravely. I would never criticise anyone who stood up and was counted in those final battles. Whatever happened under Fudge is water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned. I’m just pleased to meet another of Ginny’s brothers and hope we can be friends.” A smile came to Percy’s face for the first time since they had arrived, and out of the corner of her eye Ginny noticed her parents beaming as well.
Unfortunately, as well as things had been going up to that point, they were about to take a turn for the worse. George was next to be introduced and the look on his face suggested he was not going to be so accepting of Harry. George had always been a fun-loving scoundrel when his twin had been alive, but since Fred’s death a darker side occasionally surfaced, particularly if he had been drinking. As George moved forward to take Harry’s hand, Ginny was sure she caught a whiff of alcohol. That he had been drinking so early in the day, and the fact Angelina was not there, were not good omens. Just as Harry was about to take George’s hand he seemed to think better of it and suddenly jerked it away.
“Ah, George, yes. Ginny has warned me all about you. I was strongly advised not to shake hands with you or accept anything to eat from you either. I guess as owner of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes you’re always looking out for new test subjects, I expect,” Harry said with a smile. George returned the smile but didn’t look so happy. Ginny suspected he had been planning something.
“Well, this is a surprise!” George cried in a voice that was just a little bit too cheerful. “Our sweet little sister has managed to pull herself the Chosen One himself! How did you manage that then, Gin-gin? You must really have put out on the first date.”
“George!” Molly yelled angrily. “I will not have you creating problems today! You keep a civil tongue in your head and apologise to your sister immediately!” George mumbled something which might, or might not, have been an apology but appeared largely indifferent to his Mother’s telling off. Ginny noticed Harry’s expression had hardened somewhat and she hoped he wouldn’t take matters into his own hands. After all, if anyone was going to hex George into oblivion, it was going to be her.
Moving on, they approached her last brother Ron and his fiancé, Hermione Granger. Hermione, who had been a good friend of Ginny’s at Hogwarts, seemed thrilled to meet Harry and could hardly suppress the millions questions that Ginny knew she had. Ron, however, looked anything but pleased and folded his arms across his chest.
“How long have you been going out with my sister then, Potter?” Ron in an unfriendly tone.
“Over a month now, Ron. She’s a wonderful person,” Harry replied carefully.
“So, you’ve been cheating on her already, have you?” Ron’s face had gone red and his fists were clenched. Harry face suddenly looked like thunder at the accusation.
“Cheating on Ginny? What the hell are talking about, man?” Harry shouted. Ginny had never seen Harry angry before. She had seen him annoyed when a waiter in a restaurant had been rather unpleasant and his mild annoyance had been enough to ensure a grovelling apology. Now, she could almost feel the power radiating off him and he seemed to grow several feet in height. Ron suddenly looked less confident.
“You went out with Margret de Laney last week, didn’t you!” he accused. “You were seen in a nightclub with your hands all over her.” He stood back and looked triumphantly at Harry. Harry however looked confused.
“Who the hell is Margret de Laney?” he asked in an exasperated voice.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! She’s star of ‘Days of our Lives’ the drama on the wireless! There was a story about you two in the Daily Prophet.”
Ginny groaned. This was typical of Ron, he would pick up a copy of the Prophet and, nine times out of ten, rubbish any story he read. But if there was something in there he wanted to be true, then it was of course cold, hard fact.
“Ron, you total hypocrite! You’re always saying how most of those stories are made up. How much rubbish have they printed about me over the years? Do you believe all those stories?” Ginny nearly screamed at him.
“Of course I don’t, Gin, I know you,” Ron replied, “but I don’t know him! How many stories are there about all the women he dated? Some of them must be true”
“So, when and where did I take out this woman whom I’ve never heard of?” Harry asked, his voice cold.
“Last Saturday! You were seen at that fancy nightclub ‘the Night Owl.’ Apparently loads of people saw you!” Ginny growled in frustration.
“Ron, you idiot! Last Saturday Harry was with me all day. He came to watch me play against the Arrows and he was with me all evening! How can you believe the crap they print in those papers?” Ron suddenly looked a lot less sure of himself.
“Well, what time did he leave? He could have gone to the night club afterwards couldn’t he?” Ron wasn’t giving this up without a fight.
“He was with me all night, you cretin!” Ginny screamed. She heard Harry groan very quietly beside her and she suddenly realised what she had admitted to. She had just announced to her parents and her brothers that she was sleeping with Harry. Deciding the damage was done, and attack was the best form of defence, she rounded on Ron.
“Right, listen to me, dickhead, and listen well. The papers haven’t printed anything true about Harry since the war! At Harry’s work they even run a joke list of all the dates apparently he goes on according to the gossip columns. If he dated all the girls that they say he did, he wouldn’t have time to eat, let alone go to work. And Aurors work rather long hours in case you didn’t know, Ron. He certainly wouldn’t have the time for the playboy lifestyle he apparently has. You may also notice that there are never any pictures accompanying these stories and that’s because they’re all made up! In the last month I don’t think there’s been a single night when one of us didn’t know where the other was! And I will tell you this, Ron, if you ever accuse my boyfriend of cheating again you better have cast iron evidence or I will hex you into the middle of next week, you hear me?” Ginny took a deep breath and tried to keep a lid on her anger. Beside her, Harry looked like he wanted to beat Ron to a pulp but was holding his ground. Ron looked suitably cowed.
“So there’s absolutely no truth in any of these stories, then?” he meekly challenged Harry. Harry paused for a second and appeared to be deciding whether to blow Ron into small pieces or to just answer him. In the end he took the less messy route.
“Ron, I will tell you this one time and one time only. Prior to meeting Ginny, the last girl I went out with was my then girlfriend, eight months prior. The girl in question, whom I went out with for over half a year, was a Muggle and I ask you, do you remember seeing one story in any of the papers about me dating a Muggle?” Ron shook his head, obviously somewhat surprised. “Well then, I would suggest that that might give you some indication as to the accuracy of the newspapers. And before you ask, I didn’t date anyone in the last eight months because it was a very difficult break up, thank you for asking, and it took me a long time to get over! Any other questions about my personal life you want answered, Ron?” Harry was by this point nose to nose with Ron who had by this point gone very pale. Ron shook his head.
“Good!” snapped Harry before he turned to Arthur and Molly apologetically. “I’m very sorry about that, Mr and Mrs Weasley, but I think the world of your daughter and I would never cheat on her. Being accused of seeing someone else, particularly based on some story printed in that rag of a newspaper, just makes my blood boil. I’m sorry if I’ve upset anyone and if you wish me to leave, I will of course do so.” Molly looked horrified.
“Harry, of course we don’t want you to leave!” she cried. “You have nothing to apologise for! Everybody knows that those papers just print rubbish. Shame on you, Ron, making such accusations! Harry is a guest in our home and you have insulted him and your sister. I’m disgusted with you.” Ron managed to look like a five year old caught with his hand in the biscuit barrel, but Ginny had no sympathy with him.
Taking advantage of the momentary peace, Molly started moving everyone into the kitchen to serve lunch and Ginny hoped the worst was over. Unfortunately, she was wrong.
Half an hour later everyone was sat round the large kitchen table. Everyone present wore unhappy expressions apart from George, who was clutching his sides and howling with laughter. He had managed to prank every single person in the room and none of them were happy.
Molly and Arthur were currently stuck to their chairs. The fact that George had dared to prank his own Mother was a shock to Ginny and suggested he just wasn’t thinking right. The fact that he had been furtively topping up his pumpkin juice from a small hip flask might offer an explanation as to why.
Bill was now sporting a red dog-collar which he was unable to remove. He also had the words ‘property of Fleur’ written in large letters across his forehead. Fleur herself had grown large rabbit ears and matching whiskers. Percy had turned into a canary several times and Audrey was currently a vulture perched on the back of her chair. Most embarrassing to everyone was that Ron and Hermione’s clothes had all turned invisible. They had been unable to remove them and any additional clothing they put also turned invisible. They had resorted to wearing bed sheets around themselves like togas. Ginny herself was currently pink, completely. Hair, clothes, skin, everything was pink. Harry was similarly blue and didn’t look too happy about it. George just cackled.
“Oh, you all look great! Although I must say, Hermione looked the best. Now I know why Ron’s so smitten with you, eh!” He winked at Hermione who blushed deeply and looked mortified. George then turned to face Ginny.
“Thought I’d turn you pink, Gin, just to remind everyone that you’re a girl. Although from your earlier comments I gather Mr Potter has been allowed to find that out for himself.” George howled with laughter again as Ginny started to reach for her wand.
Suddenly, Harry leapt to his feet and had his wand pointing at George before anyone could register what had happened. If he was angry before, now he was furious. The kitchen table was vibrating with the power he was radiating. George looked fearful, as if it was just registering that he had pissed off one of the most powerful wizards in the country.
“Right, that’s it!” Harry shouted. “I have put up with your snarky behaviour and stupid jokes all afternoon. But when you start being so bloody rude to Ginny, not to mention embarrassing poor Hermione there, then you have crossed the line! You know what your problem is? You need a different perspective on things!” With that, a pink beam of light shot out from Harry’s wand and hit George square in the chest, knocking him back out of his seat.
For a second there was silence as everyone looked at Harry in horror, wondering what he had done. A groaning from under the table at least proved George was alive. Percy, who was sat nearest to George, suddenly gasped and his eyes budged.
“What the bloody hell happened?” asked a voice from under the table. Ginny would have assumed that the voice belonged to George, however it was much higher pitched and feminine. A figure emerged and stood up straight. It was a young woman with bright red hair and freckles who strangely appeared to be wearing exactly the same clothes that George had been. She looked confused.
“What the hell’s happened to my voice and…what the f…” the woman looked down at herself. “Tits!” she screamed, “you’ve given me bloody tits, Potter” Harry just grinned.
“I may have given you some things, George, or should I say Georgina, but I’ve taken the odd thing away as well.” The woman formally known as George looked blank for a second before her hands went to her crotch. A look for horror appeared on her face.
“What have you done to my…..oh sweet Merlin, what will Angelina say!” With a despairing cry, George (or was it Georgina?), ran out the room and could be heard thundering up the stairs. Ginny turned to Harry.
“What did you do to him, Harry?” she asked, wide eyed.
“It’s a disguise spell we Aurors use occasionally,” he explained. “Obviously it reverses the sex of the recipient in every way. George is now exactly as he would be if he had been born a girl.”
“How long does it last for, Harry?” asked Bill.
“It should wear off by tomorrow,” Harry confirmed. “It’s hardly ever permanent.”
“Permanent!!” several voices shouted at once.
“Well, actually there was just the single case of it being permanent,” he admitted, “but it was unusual circumstances. The wizard who had the spell cast on him enjoyed being a woman so much he somehow managed to will himself into that form for ever. So unless George has some deep routed desire to become a girl, he should be back to normal tomorrow.” Percy looked over at Ginny.
“Well then, Ginevra, it’s possible you might get that sister you always wanted after all.” Everyone looked at him, shocked that he had made a joke.
“Harry, that was…that was…” started Molly. Ginny cringed expecting her mother to explode in anger at any second. “That was…the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life! George a girl! Hahahaha!!” Molly collapsed in helpless laughter and a second later everyone else joined her. George, the master pranker, had finally received his comeuppance.
The rest of the meal was conducted in high spirits. After everyone had recovered, Harry and Bill between them managed to undo all of George’s pranks. Molly served dessert and amused herself by standing at the bottom of the stairs occasionally and shouting up offers of help, such as teaching George to braid his hair or to transfigure some of her old dresses into his size. Even better, Percy somehow managed to get hold of a camera and after a brief trip upstairs returned triumphantly declaring that he had a photographic record of the event. He was grinning happily as he promised to send copies to Charley in Romania. Ginny could only laugh at his delight and speculated how long Percy had dreamed of getting even with George. Even Ron suddenly seemed a lot friendlier with Harry.
Ginny smiled as Molly insisted Harry have a third helping of apple pie and custard. Thanks to her brother George being a complete prick, Harry had been warmly accepted by the family. As Harry turned to look at her she winked at him. It had been a great afternoon, and as soon as she got Harry back to her flat she was going to follow through on her earlier thought of rewarding him in a suitable way. Oh yes, it was turning out to be a good day.
Chapter 9: Chapter 9 - Camden Town Blues
Author's Notes: At the bottom this time.
Chapter 9 — Camden Town Blues
As the tube train jerked to a halt, Harry kept a close eye on the man sat in the far end of the carriage. He was glad that the tube was not jam packed as normal, so that he had some breathing space. For some reason the Central Line always seemed hotter and more airless than the rest of the London Underground. He had spotted his prey outside of Waterloo station and followed him this far. He made no pretence of trying to hide his presence, as he knew the man he was following had already noticed him. His type always did. The doors closed, and the tube train again lurched into life causing Harry to wonder exactly where they were going.
A few stops later, his prey darted out the doors just before they closed and Harry barely made it out himself. Looking round, he noticed they had disembarked at Tottenham Court Road. Harry hastily followed his prey down the platform. He was surprised when the man ignored the exit, and headed to the archway further along marked Northern Line. Harry was now totally confused as to where they were heading.
As he followed the man, Harry took note of his prey’s appearance. Long, black leather coat? Check. Black combat boots? Check. Long hair, dyed black? Check. Make-up designed to make him look like Alice Cooper? Check. Why did his type always look like a walking cliché?
Interestingly, his prey made no attempt to try and lose him as they joined the crush of people getting on the escalator upwards. The man merely leaned against the right side of the moving stairway, and let himself rise upwards. At the top, he casually joined the queue at the turnstiles for the Northern Line and Harry hurried after him, silently thankful that all Aurors that regularly operated in London had been issued Oyster travel cards. Oh, the wonders of Muggle technology. They waited on the platform for the next tube train and boarded it on arrival.
As the train picked up speed, Harry had a second to gather his thoughts. He had to admit that this was the part of his job that he enjoyed the most. Over the years he had lived there, he had come to love London and it’s incredible diversity. By this point, he had come to know his way round the huge city fairly well. There was a certain thrill he got chasing a suspect through the streets and parks of the capital, never knowing what twists and turns might be ahead. He had once heard someone say that the best way to learn about a new place was to get lost in it, and chases such as this one often provided such opportunities. Using this method he’d previously found a wonderful café in Richmond, several good pubs and an interesting shop that sold naughty videos.
He was awoken from his reminiscing by the tube slowing for another station. Harry’s target waited until the very last second before the doors closed to dart off the train onto the platform. If Harry hadn’t been stood right by the door he would never have made it off himself. As it was, his jacket nearly got caught in the doors as they slid closed. Ignoring the angry shout of a nearby guard, he looked round to see where they had got off. He groaned when he saw the sign which read ‘Camden Town’.
Great, he thought, a vampire is really going to be noticeable in Camden.
Moving up a final set of escalators, they finally exited into the cold air of the early evening. It was dark already but the streets were still fairly busy, and Harry had to hustle to ensure his prey did not get too far ahead. They passed the brightly coloured shops, most of which were just closing, and Harry briefly wondered if he should bring Ginny here some time to do a little shopping.
Despite the need to maintain his concentration on the black coated figure ahead, he could not help but smile at the thought of his girlfriend. While in some ways she was a very traditional girl, he knew she would get a kick out of the very unconventional clothing and jewellery offered by many of the shops in the area. He glanced in the window of one shop as he passed and noticed a very skimpy leather skirt and started to imagine what Ginny would look like in it. He mentally slapped himself — concentrate, Potter, concentrate!
Of course, the identity of his girlfriend was still driving his team round the bend. Religiously, for the last three months, on each Monday morning his colleagues had presented him with an up-dated version of the list. After slowly reading it, he had, with a certain smugness, rolled it into a small ball and thrown it back at them. Foolishly, they still seemed to be relying on the newspaper gossip columns to compile the list, hoping some journalist got lucky and spotted Harry and his mysterious lady somewhere. Frankly, as he had told them many times, they were approaching the matter completely the wrong way but they still hadn’t got the message. Part of him was disappointed that his team of skilled investigators were being so unimaginative. He thought he had trained them better than that.
Ginny had been very much on Harry’s mind in recent weeks. She was everything he had every hoped for in a girlfriend: beautiful, funny and compassionate. She also had a wonderful ability to knock some sense into him when he became moody or depressed, something which thankfully occurred less and less these days. The only problem was that he just didn’t see enough of her. Ginny was clearly of the opinion that he worked far too much, something that Suzie had been nagging him about for months as well. The last thing he wanted was for the relationship to fall apart because he was never around. Harry shook his head. This was something he would have to seriously think about, but now was not the time.
Looking up, he noticed that they were approaching Camden Lock and suddenly his prey turned left sharply. At first, Harry thought he was going to enter the covered market area where it would be nearly impossible to follow, but was relieved to see the man continued onward into the more residential area of Camden. Soon, they were passing rows of Victorian terrace houses mixed in with the occasional block of mega-trendy, hugely expensive flats. Harry began to suspect that the man he was following was a little lost as he frequently slowed and peered down side streets as if looking for somewhere he recognised. At one point, he came to a complete halt and looked as if he was going to double back, but on seeing Harry he changed his mind and continued onwards.
As the vampire clearly had no idea where he was going. It was not a surprise when he made a mistake. He turned down a side street only to be confronted with a dead end. Sensing his chance, Harry drew his wand and cast a quick spell causing all the lamp posts in the side street to suddenly go dark. He continued to walk towards the man who, realising he was cornered, started to back up until he could go no further. Harry advanced until they were only a few feet apart.
The vampire now had his back to a solid wall supporting a flyover. Traffic could be heard zooming along above their heads, and there was no chance of escape in that direction. To either side were solid rows of Victorian style houses leaving the only exit as back the way they had come, and there was no way Harry was going to allow that. No vampire is a match for a fully trained wizard, especially one as powerful as Harry. There had been a few magical vampires in the past but they had all been hunted to extinction; any vampire who displayed any talent in magic kept quiet about it if they knew what was good for them.
A cornered vampire is, however, always dangerous and this one appeared ready to put up a fight. Harry knew that it had not fed for some time, and it had nearly been driven mad with bloodlust. How it had travelled through the crowded streets of Camden without attacking anyone was a mystery. The vampire faced Harry with hate in its yellow eyes. It bared its fangs and hissed at him like a wild animal, and he braced himself for attack. The vampire did not move, however, and it kept its eyes on the wand which was pointing directly at him. One good cutting charm could take off its head and kill it permanently.
Keeping his wand in levelled in front of him, Harry reached into his jacket with his left hand and retrieved a flask. At the sight of it the vampire hissed even louder and became more upset, but still it did not attack. Carefully, Harry threw the flask to the vampire who caught it automatically.
“Drink it,” Harry ordered. The vampire stopped snarling and a look of disgust came over its face. He unscrewed the flask and drank the contents in one go.
“Ghhhaahhh! Bloody hell!” the vampire cursed, “where the hell do you people get hold of such foul-tasting crap?” he spat, and bent as if to throw up.
“Well, if you’d been where you were supposed to be, then you might have had a better choice, wouldn’t you?” Harry replied, without sympathy. The vampire managed to look a little shame-faced.
“Hey, it’s not that I’m ungrateful or anything, but every once in a while it’s just nice to feed direct from source, if you know what I mean. I wouldn’t have hurt anyone. At least not permanently.”
Harry shook his head and cancelled the spell dimming the lights. That done, he pocketed his wand knowing the vampire was no threat now its blood lust had been satisfied. The vampire was still complaining, however.
“Who did you get that blood from? A syphilitic pig farmer? Ugh, that tasted horrible. I really need a strong drink,” he moaned.
“We passed a small pub about three streets back,” Harry supplied helpfully.
“Great! Err, how about I buy you a pint, to show there’s no hard feeling?” the vampire offered. Harry glanced at his watch, in ten minutes he would be off shift and he wasn’t due to see Ginny tonight.
“Why not?” he shrugged. With that, the vampire and the wizard retraced their steps in search of liquid refreshment.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
It was one of those bitterly cold, rainy nights that make you glad to be indoors. At that exact moment, Ginny couldn’t think of a better place to be in such weather. She was curled up in front of the large, roaring fire in the sitting room of Grimmauld Place. This was definitely her favourite room in her boyfriend’s house, with the possible exception of his bedroom. The room was decorated in warm brown and cream colours and filled with large, comfy sofas and high-backed chairs, all perfect for snuggling into. As a final touch, she had recently convinced Harry to buy a big sheep-skin rug on which she currently laid. Harry sat a few feet away from her, staring into the flames with a contented look on his face.
The last three months with Harry had been wonderful. As a boyfriend, he was kind, attentive and generous. He treated her as an equal and they frequently had proper adult conversations, something previous boyfriends and, indeed, most of her family seemed to think she was incapable of. The two of them also had lots of fun. They were both capable of becoming extremely silly, especially when alcohol was brought into the equation, and they shared a similar sense of humour. Oh, and the sex was mind-blowing as well, which was nice.
If Ginny had one major problem with their relationship, it was that she simply did not see enough of Harry. It was not as if he was happy with this either, it was just that his rather excessive working hours, coupled with her own rather unusual timetable, meant that they didn’t see nearly as much of each other as they would like. Bearing in mind how her last relationship had just drifted apart this was a major issue for her. She most definitely didn’t want that to happen with Harry. So they had talked about it, and Harry was in the process of explaining his partial solution which, as far as Ginny could tell, involved him being less of a doormat at work.
“So, let me get this right,” she began, while shuffling the pack of cards in her hand, “you are currently doing half of your colleague’s paperwork in the Auror’s office because you can’t say no?” Her hands twitched as she fought the urge to start slapping Harry around the head.
“Not because I can’t say no,” he denied, looking uncomfortable, “more that I just helped some people out and never got round to passing the tasks back to them.” Ginny started dealing the cards out between them.
“Explain,” she commanded.
“Look, I’ve told you what a mess I was after I split up with my ex, right?” Interestingly, Harry rarely referred to his ‘ex’ by her given name anymore, although what this meant Ginny wasn’t sure. She just nodded and encouraged him to continue. “Well, after the split all I did basically was work. Looking back, I think I was trying to come up with excuses not to come home. This is a big house, and it can get pretty lonely here sometimes. To avoid coming home I volunteered for any extra jobs going: extra shifts, additional cover, procedural reviews, that sort of thing. As well as that, if anyone went on holiday I often agreed to cover their extra responsibilities as well. Most of us have extra jobs we cover: welfare officer, inventory reviews, equipment development projects, all sorts of things. Well, I was so glad of the extra work that when these people came back from holiday, I didn’t always hand the jobs back to them.”
“I see,” she said in a despairing voice. She laid her first card in front of her and Harry followed her action.
“Of course, once it got round that if you asked me to cover any additional work for you while you were away that I kept it, everyone was asking me to take stuff on.”
Boom. As Ginny laid her next card on top of Harry’s they exploded. She pulled off her right sock and waited for Harry to lay his next card.
“I must admit, I didn’t realise just how much extra paperwork I had taken on,” Harry continued. “After our conversation the other day, I was having a moan about my hours in the office and Suzie started pointing out to me how much work I was doing for other people.”
Boom. This time one of Harry’s cards caused the explosion. He too removed a sock.
“Good for Suzie, whoever she is. Pity she didn’t point this out to you a while back.”
Boom. Ginny pulled off her remaining sock.
“To be fair, she did. In fact, she’s been nagging me for ages that I should work less and get a life. I guess I just didn’t realise how bad it had got.”
Boom. Harry pulled off his sweater under which he was wearing a tight fitting black t-shirt.
“Well, now you know the problem, what are you going to do about it?” Ginny asked.
Boom. Ginny gripped the bottom of her jumper and pulled it over her head. She was just wearing a bra underneath.
“I’ve already started fixing it. Yesterday, I had a major clear out and handed back all the jobs I had taken on.” He shook his head. “It just shows you how ungrateful people can be. Did I get a thank you from anyone for all the extra work I had done? No! I get lots of complaints and moans that I was handing the jobs back. Gits.”
Boom. Harry striped his t-shirt off and Ginny paused to admire his lean, muscular frame. Merlin, she could spend all day just running her hands up and down that chest. After a few moments she remembered she was supposed to be miffed with him. “I can’t believe you took on all that work and just forgot about it. So, how much time will this shave off your working week?”
Boom. She unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them off, casually throwing them behind her. The sheep-skin rug felt fantastic against her skin.
“Err, I reckon maybe seven hours a week, and with me cutting back on volunteer cover the same again.”
“What! No wonder we barely see each other! And it’s taken all this time for you to realise this?”
Boom. Harry stood up and slid his own jeans off. Ginny was interested to see that rather than his usual boxers he was wearing tight fitting briefs that left little to the imagination. She grinned.
“Nice to see that your finding this conversation so….stimulating,” she teased. He grinned and sat down again.
“We should definitely find it a bit easier to get together in the week. I’ve also realised I have a backlog of holiday built up so I can start taking more days off.”
Boom. Ginny reached behind her and unfastened her bra. Slipping it off, she held it by the strap for a second before dropping it to one side. Harry’s briefs appeared to be straining in protest.
“Well, that’s good to hear, Harry,” she acknowledged seductively, “it will give more time to play more rounds of strip Exploding Snap.”
Boom. Harry stood and slowly pushed his briefs down past his ankles.
“I seemed to have won, Mr Potter,” she said, enjoying the view.
“Indeed you have, Miss Weasley. Let me see about giving you a prize.” Harry lay beside her and stated trailing kisses down her neck while his hands slipped into the waistband of her knickers so he could slide them downwards.
Ginny smiled. She loved winning.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Harry shifted the report he had been pretending to read from one side of his desk to the other. In truth, he hadn’t that much work to do and even less inclination to do it. Since shedding all the extra jobs he had accumulated, he had found his working days much more relaxed. In addition, he also found that he was able to concentrate on his cases more, and over the last few weeks had made several good arrests. He was also now able to see Ginny three or four times a week, with the result that several people had commented on how cheerful he had become lately.
His team, however, had gone into overdrive trying to discover the identity of his girlfriend. Every Monday they presented him with an up-dated version of the list and every time he smiled and threw it back at them. Robbie had even accused him of cheating, claiming that they had by this point named every witch in the country. Harry had just shaken his head at this and silently wondered why they had so far listed so few Quidditch players. He could only remember seeing two players names so far (one of whom had been a Harpy, which had given him a start) and he couldn’t understand why.
Suddenly, a loud alarm went off shaking Harry from his musings. The alarm signed an emergency alert and was the signal for the stand-by team to respond. This week that meant Harry’s team. The four of them were scrambling to get their gear together when Gawain Robards ran out of his office.
“Who’s the alert team this week? Ah Potter, your team is it? Good.” Robards approached Harry and continued in a much quieter voice. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. The Dark Mark has been sighted over a house in Warwickshire.”
His three team members gasped and Harry felt like he had been hit over the head with a beater’s bat. The Dark Mark? But they were gone. All the Death Eaters were gone, either locked up or dead. Who else would have cast the mark unless...unless they had missed one. Harry ground his teeth and felt anger rise within him. All the pain and suffering he gone through to see this all ended, and now someone was trying to start the war up again. Whoever they were, he thought with determination, they weren’t going to succeed.
“We haven’t much information to go on at present,” Robards continued, “but here are the coordinates for you to Apparate to the house. Sort out what’s going on, and report back as soon as you can!” He thrust a piece of parchment into Harry’s hands and strode away. With a nod, Harry signalled the other three to follow him to the Apparition point. A few minutes later, they found themselves standing in an open field edged with tall trees. The field was laid to grass and was soggy. Being early December, the air was cold and everything appeared grey. Harry, however, could only look in horror at the sight before him.
About two hundred yards away was a medium sized Georgian style house. What horrified Harry was the large twisting image that hung in the sky above the property. Although he could not see all the details from this angle, he instinctively knew what the huge dark ball of smoke was, a Dark Mark.
Sprinting as well as he could across the muddy field, he threw himself down behind the dry-stone wall that surrounded the property. A quick glance over the wall revealed the worst; the garden was laid entirely to grass and was a good thirty-five yards long. There was no cover at all and any dark wizard who chose to fire spells at them as they made their way to the front door would have a clear field of fire. The sides and rear of the house looked no better either.
By this point, Suzie had already cast the detection spells and there didn’t appear to be any protective wards or charms in place. He looked over to where Malcolm and Robbie crouched and explained the plan, such as it was.
“Okay, everyone. We have a lot of open ground to cover and we can’t afford to wait. Someone could be dying in that house for all we know, so we’re just going to have to rush the place. On my signal, run as fast as you can and get ready to cast shield spells at the first sign of trouble. Usual drill; me and Suzie in through the front and you two round the back. Everyone ready?” he asked. They all nodded, but no-one looked happy. They all knew they had no choice, but that didn’t mean they had to like it.
“Okay, GO!” Harry vaulted the wall and started to sprint towards the house...and stopped. He stopped so suddenly that Suzie ran straight into the back of him.
“Ouch! What’s the matter, Harry? Why have you…..oh!” Suzie had spotted what Harry had seen and seconds later Malcolm and Robbie pulled up beside them. The chill December wind had caused the Dark Mark to twist in the sky and it was now facing directly towards them. Harry could only stare at it with his mouth open. Suzie tapped him on the shoulder.
“Harry, is that what I think it is?” she managed to stutter. Beside them, Malcolm suddenly burst into laughter while Robbie looked totally confused. Harry could only nod his head as Malcolm collapsed to the ground wetting himself laughing.
Several hours later, Harry sat in Gawain Robards' office. Robards himself was sat opposite Harry and appeared to be on the verge of exploding. His face was red, and he had an expression that would have curdled milk at a hundred yards. He gripped the initial copy of Harry’s report in his hands and looked if he was restraining himself from ripping it to pieces with his teeth.
“So let me get this one hundred per cent straight. This...object cast over this house, it wasn’t a Dark Mark, then?” Robards ground out his words.
“No, sir,” Harry replied, trying his best to keep a straight face.
“And explain to me again what, in fact, it was?”
“Tinky Winky, sir.” Harry started biting the inside of his mouth.
“Tinky Winky. What the BLOODY HELL is a Tinky Winky?” Robards shouted, finally losing control.
“Not what, sir, who. Tinky Winky is a Teletubbie,” Harry explained helpfully, while digging his nails into his thigh.
“WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS MAGIC IS A BLOODY TELETUBBIE AND WHY WAS ONE FLOATING ABOVE A BLOODY HOUSE IN WARWICKSHIRE?” Harry did feel Robards was being a bit unfair about all of this. After all, he hadn’t cast the Tinky Winky had he?
“Well, it’s like this, sir. The home was owned by a family of Muggles who had a four year old daughter. They were quite unaware that the daughter was actually magical and, if first appearances are correct, the little girl is going to grow up to be quite a powerful witch. This little girl had been misbehaving and as a punishment her parents had stopped her watching her favourite television program — the Teletubbies. This didn’t go down too well with the little girl and she had rather a large burst of accidental magic, with the result that she cast the image of her favourite Teletubbie over the house. Quite amazing, when you think about it,” Harry mused. Robards, however, didn’t seem in the mood for reflection.
“A four year old did this with accidental magic. We scramble a highly trained Auror team half way across England, cause a major panic all through the Ministry, Merlin, we even pulled the Minister out of an important meeting because we thought the Death Eaters were back and you're telling me that it was all caused by a BLOODY FOUR YEAR OLD!”
“Um, yes. Of course, we called out the Accidental Magic squad and they’ve smoothed most of it over. We decided it was best if we just explained what had happened to her parents so they could know what to expect if it happens again.” Harry tried a weak smile. Robards by this point had his head in his hands.
“How the bloody hell do we explain this to the Minister?” he mumbled.
“Not sure, sir,” Harry replied. Oh, he would pay good money to witness that meeting. Suddenly Robards' head shot up and he had evil grin on his face, which Harry did not like one bit.
“You know, Harry, I really don’t know anything about children and what keeps them entertained,” Robards began.
“But you have three grandchildren,” Harry pointed out, suddenly not liking where this might be going.
“I know, Harry, but they have no interest in Muggle things like television.” Robards was a very traditional man and had raised his sons to be the same. “I would have no idea how to explain this...what did you call it? A Teletubbie? Yes, how could I explain what a Teletubbie is to the Minister? No, I think someone with a bit more background in the Muggle world needs to explain it, preferably someone who was Senior Auror on site when it was investigated. Someone like you.”
“Yes, sir,” Harry growled. Robards handed the copy of the report back to him.
“The Minister’s waiting for a briefing now. Let me know how you get on.” Robards’s smile now nearly split his face.
“Yes, sir.” Sometimes Harry hated his job.
Author notes.
Something spooky happened writing this chapter. I had already decided that the house in the last section would be sited in Warwickshire. All the locations I use are real and this house is situated near the site of a heavy metal festival I regularly attend (broken-down old rocker that I am). When I started to research The Teletubbie’s (believe it or not I didn’t know which one of them was the purple one) I found that the series had actually been filmed in Warwickshire! Spooky! Cue Twilight Zone music!!
My mega-beta, MinistryMalcontent, pointed out a small plot-hole. As he correctly states, the Aurors would probably, in a tactical situation like this, just Apparate right to the front door of the house rather than run up to it. I have chosen to ignore this sensible advice for comedy effect. It’s my story and if I want Harry and co slogging through a muddy field in the Midlands, I will. So there.
Chapter 10: Chapter 10 - Disco Harry
Author's Notes: Happy Christmas everybody! Yes, just to be different I’m posting a chapter about Christmas in June. Nice. I must admit I toned the Harpies party down a bit, I already get into enough trouble with the Archivist’s as it is!
The bit about learning to dance Muggle style is completely true, as I personally demonstrated at a friend’s fancy dress party recently. Having a cloak on helps as well (no, I wasn’t a wizard. I went as V for Vendetta).
Thanks as always to mega-beta MinistryMalcontent and to anyone who reads/reviews/votes for my story. Cheers.
Chapter 10 — Disco Harry
Harry sat at the kitchen table in the Burrow sipping his mug of tea. Strangely, he never seemed to be able to visit the place for more than two minutes before a cup was handed to him, not that he minded. Frequently, the tea was accompanied by a piece of cake or home-made biscuits, which made the whole experience even better. Molly Weasley, for some reason, felt it was her duty to ensure Harry had something to eat or drink at all times, and he certainly wasn’t going to complain.
Unfortunately, it was Molly, and to only a slightly lesser extent Ginny, who had the complaints today. Harry had just explained, for what seemed like the hundredth time, that he was working over Christmas and would not be able to attend the festive dinner. This did not sit well with either the Weasley women.
“I’m sorry, but it’s the rules. Priority is always given to people with family over the Christmas holidays, so there’s no way I can get any time off. If I did, it would mean someone wouldn’t get to be with their sons or daughters or fathers and mothers. I’m sure you can appreciate how bad that would make me feel.” Harry thought this approach would at least get through to Molly, for whom family was everything.
“It’s just not fair, Harry,” Molly objected. “You work far too much as it is, and to be victimised just because you lost your family is disgraceful. You deserve a break more than most. Surely they could spare you for a couple of hours so at least you could have dinner with us?”
“It’s really not up to me, Molly, and the shifts are already worked out.” Harry was starting to worry that Molly and Ginny would storm the Head Auror’s office and demand Gawain allow him time off. Oh yes, that would go down well.
“It’s alright, Mum,” Ginny said in a tragic voice. “Harry clearly would prefer to work than spend time with me.”
“What! I didn’t say that! I would never say that!” He knew full well Ginny was winding him up, but he also knew the consequences of an improper response. “Why on earth would I want to spend time in a stuffy office, shifting bits of paper about, when I could be with my beautiful girlfriend and her wonderful family, eating mouth-watering food?”
Molly at least seemed to accept defeat with this. “It’s just a shame, Harry. We all would love for you to be here. Well, never mind, you come over after Christmas and we’ll all have a special meal then.” She accepted Harry’s nodded thanks and bustled out the room on some task or other.
Ginny, however, sat down opposite him and gave him a hard stare. “Smooth answer, Mr Potter, but you’re not out of the woods yet. I’m still not happy we won’t be together at Christmas, our first together I would remind you! All I can say is my Christmas present better be bloody spectacular!” she huffed.
Harry was at least happy he had that covered. He had spent a ridiculous amount of money in jewellers, and the matching necklace and earrings he purchased looked stunning, even to his untrained eye. “Don’t worry, I got you something nice,” he tried to pacify her before adding, “and it’s all wrapped up and hidden away, so don’t even think of searching my house to try and guess what it is.”
“As if I would do that.” Ginny tried to look indignant but didn’t quite pull it off.
“Yes, you would,” replied Harry. “You have the look of a serial present peeper to me.”
Ginny just tried to look innocent, which was always a sign of her guilt in his book.
“At least I managed to get time off to attend the Harpies Christmas party with you,” Harry reasoned. That had not been easy, and in the end had to offer to do a double shift on Christmas day itself to secure the evening of the party free.
“Right, so you can’t make to my family’s dinner, but you can make it to a party full of wild, attractive women, all getting drunk?” Ginny asked archly.
Harry nodded his head vigorously, earning him a punch on the arm. He grinned at her. “You do know I would be here if I could, don’t you?” he asked, turning serious for a second.
“Yeah, I know, but I just wish we could be together over the holidays,” she replied with a sad little smile.
“Me too. Still, I bet the Harpies party will be fun.” Little did Harry know just how much fun it would be.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHHPHPHP
Harry stood a little apprehensively outside the door to the Holyhead Harpies players’ bar. Ginny was on his arm and he had to admit she looked stunning. She wore a short creamy coloured dress with thin straps that left her arms and shoulders bare. Harry himself was dressed smart/casual style in a black shirt that Ginny had picked out for him and dark trousers. He was greatly relieved when he had found out that they would not be wearing robes. Ginny had given him an almost pitying look when he had enquired if that was the required dress code. Apparently, the Harpies just didn’t do formal parties.
Just how informal the party was going to be became apparent after they passed through the entrance. Loud music could be heard coming from the bar area, and rolling around the floor of the lobby was a young couple who seemed to be trying to tear each other’s clothes off with their teeth. Ginny glanced at the pair and commented that she thought the female was the reserve Keeper, before calmly stepping over the oblivious couple and heading to the bar. He followed, thinking that this really wasn’t going to be like any party he had ever attended before.
Stepping into the bar, Harry had to admit he was impressed. He suspected the room had been magically enlarged as a dance floor that he had never noticed before had appeared at the far end of the room. A thumping tune was playing that sounded very Muggle to Harry’s ears and at least a dozen people, including a number of Harpy players he recognised, were already up dancing wildly. The entire room had been transformed and the decorations were fantastic. He saw at least half a dozen Christmas trees dotted about the room and streams of lights were hung everywhere. Most interesting was the ceiling, which, he saw, had sprigs of mistletoe hung everywhere at roughly four foot intervals. Harry estimated that making it across the room to the bar without getting caught under several of the sprigs would be impossible.
“They’ve gone a bit overboard on the mistletoe haven’t they, Gin?” he asked her.
“What’s the matter, Harry? Worried the Harpies will molest you?” she replied with a grin.
“I’m surprised you’re so calm about it,” he countered. Ginny could be a little possessive, and he had noticed her glaring at any woman who happened to glance his way many times previously. This time, however, she just reached up and patted him on the cheek.
“It’s Christmas Harry; it’s only fair that I let the girls play with you a little as a treat.” Harry bristled at this for a second before a plan began to form in his head. Okay, Miss Weasley, if you want to play, let’s see how far I can push this, he thought. They got drinks from the bar and Harry started searching the crowd for a suitable target. Across the way he spotted Ginny’s neighbour, Linda Thomas, talking with a few other girls. Perfect. He steered Ginny over to the group.
“Hi, everyone,” he casually greeted the group before dramatically looking up at the ceiling. “Why Linda, you appear to be standing under some mistletoe. I think tradition states I have to kiss you.”
Linda looked vaguely amused. “You do remember Harry that I prefer girls to guys, don’t you?”
“Come on, Linda,” he begged, “you’ve got to give me a shot at turning you, don’t you?” Beside him, he heard Ginny choke on her drink. For a second, Linda was stunned before a determined look appeared on her face. She slowly walked up to Harry swaying her hips as she looked him in the eye.
“Okay Harry, go for it…if you think you’re man enough,” she challenged.
Harry didn’t hesitate. He closed the space between them rapidly and slid his left arm round Linda’s waist while his right hand cradled the back of her head. Without warning, he tipped her body back slightly and pressed his lips to hers. For a second he felt her struggle, no doubt the sensation she was having at the moment would be similar to the one that he would have if he decided to snog one of Ginny’s brothers, but he held the kiss. He was slightly surprised to feel her relax slightly in his arms. Deciding he had kissed for an inappropriately long time, he pulled away and set her back on her feet. Linda’s eyes bulged slightly and Harry couldn’t decide if she was going to throw herself at him or be sick, but he was putting money on the latter.
There was a gasp as he released her and looking round he saw that a number of the Harpies had gathered round to watch the show. Suddenly, a girl he recognised as Tracey Stewart, one of Ginny’s fellow Chasers, leaped forward.
“Me next!” she cried.
“No, me!” came another shout. Suddenly, several of the girls were all pushing and shoving each other, trying to fight their way to Harry to be next under the mistletoe. This proved just a little bit too much for Ginny. She strode forward and placed herself directly in front of Harry, her wand drawn. This caused Harry a moment of confusion as to where she had hidden her wand, bearing in mind the skimpy dress she was wearing.
“Right! Listen, you lot. No one, and I mean no one, is kissing my boyfriend again! Got that!” she nearly screamed. Harry thought there was more fun to be had.
“No one, Ginny? But I was going to kiss you next,” he said calmly. Ginny turned on him rapidly and for a second he thought he was going to get hexed. Instead, the near snarl she had on her face turned into a hard look.
“Well, of course I didn’t mean me. Get over here and kiss me then, Potter!” she growled. Harry stepped over to her. Just before he managed to put his arms round her, he heard her whisper, “And it better be a bloody better kiss than you gave Linda or you’re dead meat.” Right, he thought, one better kiss coming up.
He placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her to him with his other hand firmly grabbing her arse. With no pretence at subtlety, he pressed his mouth to hers and forced his tongue in. Ginny’s hands returned the compliment and closed around his backside as she pressed herself into him.
Kissing in public is always a tricky business. Kiss too long and people will start to snicker or just get embarrassed. Fortunately, or perhaps not, Harry and Ginny were surrounded by Harpies and embarrassment was not something they were normally subject to. The girls, seeing that the kiss was continuing, started counting out the seconds it was lasting loudly. Harry thought he would aim for somewhere in the mid-twenties, but as the count reached that number he decided he was fine where he was. Eventually, they made it sixty-three before the restricted oxygen flow forced them apart. Huge cheers greeted them as they pulled apart, and Harry grinned at Ginny.
Ginny however did not grin back. A blazing look had come over her face and she suddenly leapt forward and grabbed his hand, dragging him through the assembled crowd.
“Just going to powder my nose, girls,” she yelled as she pulled him with her towards the door. Harry didn’t think that’s what she actually intended and rather suspected she was leading him somewhere to give him a bollocking for kissing Linda. He was greatly surprised, therefore, when Ginny did in fact pull him into the ladies toilets and pushed him into one of the cubicles. He was even more surprised when he suddenly found his trousers and boxer shorts yanked down to his ankles.
‘Um, Ginny, what are you doing?’ he managed to stammer.
“Hush, Harry,” she purred, “it’s a party, and you should be enjoying yourself.” She then slowly and deliberately pushed him in the chest. He toppled back and ended up sat on the toilet seat.
“Ginny, what are…Oh, sweet Merlin!” Harry suddenly found himself enjoying the party very much.
Around three quarters of an hour later the couple made their way back to the party. Of course, they were greeted with a chorus of ‘we know what you’ve been doing’ by most of the other Harpies, but Harry strangely found himself not caring. After several well-earned drinks, Ginny pulled him onto the dance floor.
One thing about the Wizarding world Harry had never understood was its attraction to balls and dances. They always seemed so old fashioned to him. He never had any desire to dance foxtrots or waltzes, even if his two left feet would let him. During his time with Sharon, who was a regular nightclub goer, Harry had discovered the secret to Muggle dancing — you just had to be drunk enough that you didn’t care how much of a prat you made of yourself. That was definitely something he could do! He was delighted therefore that the Harpies had hired a DJ who was blasting out dance tunes any trendy Muggle London club would be proud of.
Ginny proved to be a wonderful dancer. She was also an incredible sexy mover and Harry was captivated by her. She bumped and grinded against him regularly and in retaliation he grabbed her hips and swayed in time with her. Harry also noticed the Harpies didn’t do slow dances. If someone wanted a little extra contact with their partner, it seemed acceptable just to grab them and push them up against a wall. Thinking this was a much better way of doing things, several times he just grabbed Ginny and pulled her over to a quiet corner to snog. She didn’t raise any objections.
Before they knew it, midnight had come and gone. Needing sustenance they attacked the buffet table before downing more drinks. Suitably refreshed, they again hit the dance floor with a passion. It was sometime later that it struck Harry that he was, in fact, having the time of his life. He had never been much for parties, but this one was going down as his all-time favourite. Ginny seemed to be having a great time as well, as she tossed her long fiery hair about her as she danced.
Eventually, exhaustion overcame them and they retreated to the bar again. Harry grabbed a bottle of lager, the Harpies also being keen on Muggle drinks, while Ginny moved onto vodka and lemonade. They noticed Simon and Stacey at a nearby table and went to join them. Simon appeared red faced and near total collapse.
“I’m not used to all this physical exertion, Harry,” he complained. “I’m going to die out on that dance floor.”
“Stop moaning,” Harry admonished him. “This is a great party!” Simon only smirked.
“Yeah, I heard about your little party trick with Linda. Everyone’s talking about it,” he laughed. A worrying thought struck Harry.
“I hope her partner wasn’t upset about it,” he frowned.
“Nah, she thought it was hilarious! Her girlfriend — snogged by Harry Potter!” They both laughed as Harry reached for his drink. He found the bottle empty and Ginny grinning at him impishly. He sighed. Some things never change.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Normally, Christmas Day was Ginny’s favourite time to be at the Burrow, but this year everything just felt wrong. She cherished the memories of her childhood, when the family would wake to gather in the living room to hand out presents. While they had never been the richest family, all gifts were given with love and gratefully received. The rest of the day would be filled with great food and finer company (unless, of course, Aunt Muriel invited herself over).
Looking round the room now, there were too many faces that didn’t fit in with her memory of what a perfect Christmas should be. She admitted this was a little unfair of her as many of the new attendees, such as Hermione and Angelina, were good friends of hers. Others, such as Audrey and Fleur, she could definitely do without. Ironically, it was the absence of another non-regular face that was irritating her the most.
Too many Weasley traditions had fallen by the wayside for her liking over the years. Of course, after Fred’s death nothing would be quite the same ever again, but many little family quirks and habits had stopped. Her Mum even stopped making the Christmas jumpers for them. She didn’t even have the consolation of opening Harry’s gift yet, as Ron had insisted they wait to open presents until later in the day so Hermione could spend the morning with her parents.
With the thought of Harry, she couldn’t help but smirk at the memory of the Harpies’ party just a few days previous. He had shocked her several times that night, first by that stunt with Linda (although Ginny had to admit she had been asking for that one) and then by being such a willing and able dancer. They had already decided that they would hit a few Muggle night clubs in the New Year, and she was looking forward to it. Of course, she managed to shock Harry back when she’d pulled him into the loo! It had nearly been dawn when they finally made it back to her flat and she had to admit she couldn’t remember when she had had so much fun.
In a way, the memory of the party just made her feel worse now. As she became increasingly grumpy, she decided to break open a bottle of wine, much to the displeasure of her mother who thought that drinking before lunch time was some sort of crime. After Angelina, and surprisingly Audrey, joined her for a glass, Molly had to reign in her acid comments somewhat but continued to glare at her.
Finally, Hermione and her parents arrived and presents were distributed, but Ginny struggled to maintain much interest. She made an effort to thank the giver of each gift she received, but nothing she received stirred much enthusiasm. She made a point, however, of leaving Harry’s gift until last. Due to her lethargic pace, most people had finished opening their presents and were mingling around the room by the time she picked up Harry’s small, perfectly wrapped gift. Tearing off the paper she found a blue velvet box about six inches by four with the word ‘Fotheringhams’ written in gold leaf on the front. With mounting excitement, she opened the box and gasped at the contents.
Inside was a necklace with matching earrings. Each piece of jewellery contained a large emerald with the necklace also having smaller diamonds mounted on each side in a fan-like arrangement. Ginny thought that her gift was breath-taking. She had never seen jewellery so beautiful before, and shuddered to think how much it cost. Tucked inside the box was a note which she unfolded with trembling hands.
My Darling Ginny,
I’m so sorry I cannot spend Christmas day with you and please believe me that there is nowhere I would rather be.
I hope you like my gift, when I saw it in the shop I just thought it would look great on you. Please let me know if it’s not to your taste and I’ll get something else, jewellery isn’t my strong suit!
Hope you have a great Xmas and I will see you soon.
All my love.
Harry.
Ginny stared at the note and particularly how he had signed it off. All my love, he had written, the first time he had ever expressed such a sentiment. Her eyes darted from the stunning jewellery to Harry’s note, trying to decide which of them meant the most to her. She was distracted momentarily by Hermione plonking herself down on the sofa next to her.
“What’s that you have there, Gin…sweet Merlin! That’s beautiful!” Hermione eyes bulged as she peered into the box in Ginny’s hands. “Is that from Harry?” Ginny could only nod, not trusting herself to speak at that moment.
“Oh, Ginny, those will look fabulous on you. What does the note say?” Ginny numbly passed the note to her friend, who scanned it quickly.
“How do you feel about this, Ginny?” Hermione asked quietly.
Ginny turned to regard the girl. “Honestly, Hermione? At the moment I’m so happy I could burst!”
A huge grin appeared on Hermione’s face and she threw her arms around her. Although she hated herself for it, Ginny started to become a little teary and angrily wiped her eyes. Of course, Ron chose that exact moment to look up. He strode over to her.
“Ginny? What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Harry’s present…” she began.
“What the hell has that prat done now?” he snarled. “Do you need us to sort him out?”
Ron must have instantly realised his mistake as both girls’ heads snapped towards him with anger. He tried to back pedal quickly.
“What?” he implored, “Ginny’s crying! Harry must have done something to upset her!”
“She’s crying with happiness, Ron!” Hermione yelled at him, attracting the attention of most of the other people in the room. “If you had any sort of emotional depth at all, you might have figured it out!”
Ginny sighed theatrically. “I can’t believe you’re going to marry my idiot brother, Hermione. Surely you can do better than him?” Hermione adopted a tragic look.
“Well, I’m sort of committed now. We’ve booked the tent and everything,” she sighed.
Ron scowled and stomped off, leaving the girls giggling. Maybe this Christmas was not turning out so bad after all.
Chapter 11: Chapter 11 - Hot Dog!
Author's Notes: At the bottom again
Chapter 11 — Hot Dog!
Despite the fact that a weak January sun was doing little to raise the temperature, Harry was surprised at the number of tourists milling about. He and Suzie had just left the underground at Waterloo station and crossed the road heading towards the river. On the far bank he could see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, exactly the sort of tourist traps he was looking for.
They were looking for a pair of con-artists who were using magic to confuse and then steal from Muggles. The pair operated in crowded tourist-filled areas and, while they were quite subtle and never attracted undue attention, some of the spells they used had caused some nasty reactions to their victims, a few of whom had suffered permanent damage. It was for this reason the Auror Department had become involved. Harry had sent Malcolm and Robbie further east and they should be patrolling around the Tower of London by now, while he and Suzie operated around the Thames. They had just now reached the river and started headed east, with Suzie complaining continually.
“My feet are killing me, Harry, and its freezing. How far have we got to go?” Suzie wasn’t used to wearing Muggle clothing, although Harry had complimented her that she looked good. She could, however, have picked a somewhat warmer jacket and investment in some gloves, a hat and a scarf would have been a good idea. Harry suppressed a laugh. He was warm in his black leather jacket with a hoodie underneath, and well, you always learn from your mistakes, he thought.
“The plan, my freezing little friend, is to carry on along the South Bank past the Tate Modern, cross over on the Millennium Bridge and head back along the North Bank for a while. We’ll swing out a bit then and head over to Covent Garden, before turning back along Whitehall. A nice bit of walking will warm you up,” he grinned at her. Suzie however was appalled.
“That’s miles, Harry!” she exclaimed.
“Are you an Auror or not?” he chastised her quietly. He thought he heard her mumble something about being an Auror, not a slave, but she didn’t push it. They continued to walk along the riverbank scanning the crowds for their suspects without luck. A little further up, Harry spotted a hot dog stand and decided to give Suzie a little break. After all, it had been a while since breakfast.
“Tell you what Suzie, we’ll have a quick sit down on one of those benches over there. I’ll even buy you a hot dog, can’t say fairer than that, eh?” He wasn’t graced with a reply as Suzie just trooped over to the bench indicated and flung herself down. Harry went up to the stall and purchased two hot dogs with onions and ketchup. He moved to sit down next to Suzie and handed her one of the dogs while he tucked into his enthusiastically. She was not so impressed and regarded the snack with distaste.
“Wow, Harry, you really know how to treat a girl. I hope you take your mysterious girlfriend to nicer places then this,” she griped. Harry snorted at this. He had indeed taken Ginny to a very expensive restaurant some months ago where she had spent most of the evening complaining about the miserly portions she was being served. To make up, he had taken her to a steak house a week later where she proceeded to eat most of a cow by herself. She made no secret as to which of the two establishments she had preferred. Come to think of it, Ginny would have been quite happy sitting here snacking on hot dogs, he thought. In fact, she would probably have stolen half of his by now. Merlin, he loved that girl.
Harry suddenly stopped mid-chew at that thought. Love? Did he really think of Ginny like that? He had signed the note that accompanied his Christmas present ‘all my love,’ but that’s how you signed off letters like that, wasn’t it? It didn’t really mean anything, even though he had taken hours deliberating over the wording, did it? So, how did he really feel? Did he really love Ginny Weasley?
Mentally, he slapped himself hard. Of course he bloody loved her. He had probably been in love with her within an hour of meeting her. So why hadn’t he told her?
Duh! He was scared of getting hurt again. Of falling in love only to have his heart broken into a million pieces once more. So he had moved cautiously, never revealing too much of his feelings to her in the belief he was protecting himself. And sitting here on the bench, eating the last of his hot dog, Harry knew with one hundred per cent certainty that his caution was absolutely useless. He was head over heels in love with Ginny, which meant she had the power to crush him like a bug with just a few words.
But would she? How did she feel about him? His heart assured him that she felt the same way and he should declare his feelings to her immediately, but his brain urged him to be careful, that doubts still remained. Harry struggled with the conflicting thoughts for a second. Should he say nothing? What if Ginny was waiting on him to express his feelings. What if she got fed up waiting and gave up on him? Panic!
No, stop, don’t panic! Compromise, that was what was called for. He doubted he had the bottle just to just walk up to her, look her in the eye and tell her he loved her, but maybe he could be a little more subtle about it. Perhaps, he could just drop it into the middle of a conversation or on the end of a farewell, like it was no big deal. He could get her used to hearing it from him before they got into the implications of what it actually meant. The more Harry thought about it, the more he liked that plan. He got to tell her how he really felt in a low risk way. He couldn’t wait until he saw her tonight to put the plan into action.
With a happy smile he glanced over to Suzie who was holding her half-eaten hot dog and looking miserable.
‘You going to finish that?’ he asked. With a disgusted look she handed him the rest of her snack.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Some hours later, Harry was sat on the sofa in Ginny’s flat with his feet up. The magical conmen had been caught by Robbie and Malcolm, but they had neglected to tell Harry and Suzie until they arrived back at the Aurors’ office. By that time, the two of them had walked all of Harry’s intended route much to Suzie’s obvious distress. To him, it had been an enjoyable stroll around London, but to Suzie it apparently had been some sort of forced march. At the end of her shift she had stalked off muttering something about a long hot bath and an early night. Harry could only laugh at how much the average witch or wizard hated any form of exercise.
As he relaxed, he glanced over at Ginny who was currently propped up against the far arm of the sofa. She had a small stack of letters next to her and was reading one of them intently. In her hand was a quill and a sheet of parchment rested on the sofa’s arm. Harry could only shake his head in disbelief.
“I can’t believe that you actually answer all of your fan mail yourself,” he said. She looked up from the letter for a second.
“Well, not all of it. The public relations office vets the more extreme ones; you know, the marriage proposals or the ones where blokes have included photos of their body parts.” Harry shuddered at the thought, which caused her to laugh. “Apparently the public relations girls have a board somewhere with all the best photos on it.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you’re answering the rest yourself, or why you’re doing it now and ignoring me,” he griped.
“Oh, poor neglected Harrykins,” she teased. “Be a big, brave boy and Ginny will play with you soon. Seriously, I normally do this back at the training ground but I’ve got a bit behind after the holidays. I won’t be too much longer. You must get lots of fan mail yourself, don’t you answer yours?”
“I never even see it. It’s all redirected to some blokes in a department at the Ministry who deal with it. I do seem to get a lot of cursed letters or one’s with love charms on them. They tend to go from one extreme to the other. But no, I’ve never even read a fan letter, let alone replied to one. It would just seem...strange.”
“Yes, well, I try and answer all my mail. It’s just the kind, warm-hearted person I am!” she joked. Harry immediately saw the opening for him to put in action his plan.
“That you are,” he agreed, before quietly adding, “and that’s why I love you.”
Harry held his breath. The last statement had come out a little more intensely then he had intended and he waited for a response. He kept his eyes fixed on his feet, not wanting to look like he was fishing for a comment, but silence reigned. Okay, he thought, that’s good isn’t it? She hasn’t blown up at me or started a ‘Harry, I’m flattered but…’ line, but he was a little hurt that she hadn’t said anything. Perhaps, wrapped up in her fan mail, she just didn’t hear him? He risked a glance in her direction.
Ginny was staring at him wide-eyed, the letter she was reading dangling precariously from her fingers. So much for subtlety, he thought.
“Harry, do you mean that?” she asked with a shaking voice. His first instinct was to play dumb and ask ‘did I mean what’ or to make it into a joke. But just looking into Ginny’s eyes, he knew he couldn’t do that to her. She deserved the truth and a straight answer.
“Yes, I mean it. I love you, Ginny,” he told her. He noticed his voice shook a little as well. Suddenly, he was struck by a red missile which launched itself at him. He felt Ginny’s arms wrap around him as letters, quills and parchment flew in all directions.
“Oh, Harry, I’ve been dying to hear you to say that to me!” She sounded close to tears, which was not like her at all. Harry felt her press her lips against his urgently and he returned the kiss with all the passion he could muster. He briefly pulled away from her.
“So, do you…do you feel the same?” he asked nervously.
“Of course, Harry. I think I’ve loved you since the day I first met you.” Her smile was like a spectacular sunrise.
“But…why didn’t you say anything?” he asked. For a second Ginny looked embarrassed.
“I just wasn’t certain that you felt the same, Harry. Sometimes you can be so closed-up emotionally and for a long while I couldn’t figure you out. Recently, I noticed you’ve opened up a lot more and we’ve seemed so close, but I didn’t want to push you. Bit stupid, really,” she admitted.
“Well, I’ve been stupid not admitting how I feel for so long. Guess we’ll just have to be stupid together, then.” He smiled at her, stroking her hair.
“Yes, together. I love you, Harry.”
“I love you, Ginny,” he pulled her to him and kissed her. No more fan mail got answered that night.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
A small blue haired bundle of energy streaked past Ginny’s legs before she could react. A split second later her boyfriend followed with his arms outstretched in attempt to catch the blur that had just zoomed past her. She could only laugh at his attempts.
Ever since they had started dating, visits to Harry’s godson had been a regular event. Ginny had been impressed at the care and attention he lavished on the small boy and the close relationship he had developed with the child’s grandmother, Andromeda. Ginny had loved Teddy from the moment she met him. He was an energetic, mischievous boy with a cheeky grin and the ability to turn his hair any colour he wished; a gift inherited from his metamorphmagus mother. He was exactly the sort of boy she would want her sons to turn out like. The fact that she would have sons, and hopefully daughters, was not in doubt, after all she was a Weasley and producing children was what they did.
Of course, this imaginary family was some way off in the future yet as Ginny fully intended to make the most of her Quidditch career before motherhood, despite what her own mother might think. The fact that she had only recently found a man with whom she would want to start a family was another factor, but this did not diminish in any way the absolute conviction she had that she and Harry would do so one day.
In the last two months, since Harry had told her that he loved her, their relationship had risen to even greater heights. Before then, they had been great together, but since something else had just clicked between them, like they both knew that the other was ‘the one’ and that they would be together for the rest of their lives.
Right at this moment, her life was near perfection. She was playing great and the Harpies looked set for their highest league finish for years, although the top spot sadly looked slightly beyond them. Off the field she was happier than she could ever remember, Harry fulfilling her every wish for a boyfriend. Whether in the bedroom (or bathroom, living room or one occasion some bushes in Regent’s Park) or one their nights out (they had even gone night clubbing, dragging George and Angelina along) or just being her best friend, Harry was all she could want.
If there was a single wrinkle in the ointment, it was her relationship with Andromeda. Teddy’s grandmother was a powerful, haughty witch who slightly intimidated Ginny. She always seemed to be looking down her nose at her. Although she was at all times polite and proper, Ginny just had the feeling the woman didn’t like her. When she had voiced her concerns to Harry he had dismissed them, stating Andromeda always came over as distant and cold, but underneath she had a heart of gold. Ginny was unconvinced and doubted Andromeda even had a heart, irrespective of what it was made from.
Harry returned, rousing her from her musings, carrying a giggling Teddy. Today they would just be going to the nearby park for a while before returning for tea. Ginny was just about to collect her coat when she received a shock.
“Harry, why don’t you take Teddy to the park by yourself today? It would give me the chance to sit and have a chat with Ginny and get to know her better,” Andromeda announced. Ginny was instantly suspicious and silently implored Harry to insist she accompany him. Unfortunately, their psychic connection must have been on the blink, as he agreed that it would be a wonderful idea and headed out the door with an excited Teddy in tow. Ginny stared at the closing door as if it was the door to a prison cell closing, locking her in. She quietly groaned.
“Come through, Ginny dear, and we’ll sit and have some tea,” Andromeda commanded. At least it felt like a command to Ginny. She followed the older witch into the living room. Once seated and equipped with a cup of tea and a rich tea biscuit (she would have preferred a mug and a chocolate hobnob) Ginny waited for Andromeda to start the conversation.
“Ginny, my dear, I’m so glad we have this chance to chat. We really haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and have a nice talk, have we?” the intimidating witch began.
“No, we haven’t, have we?” Ginny agreed, wondering what this would be leading up to. Andromeda must have read her mind because she suddenly came straight to the point.
“I’m going to be totally truthful with you, Ginny. When Harry brought you to meet me that first time, I didn’t like you and I didn’t think you were right for Harry.” Andromeda’s face was expressionless but Ginny felt her face flush with anger at this cold pronouncement of her unworthiness. She was about to retort but a raised hand stopped her.
“You will note, Ginny, that I said that those were my opinions when I first met you. Since then, I have warmed to you somewhat, but I still have some concerns. How long have you and Harry been together now?” she asked.
“Seven months,” replied Ginny surprised at how fast that time had gone.
“That long, really? Well, frankly, at the start I didn’t think you two would last more than a couple of months. I’m afraid professional Quidditch player is not a profession that inspires confidence in my book. I thought within a few weeks you would be off with some other man who could offer you a good time. Harry, after all, can be a little intense at times and I thought you were too flighty to handle that. And after the mess caused by that cursed Sharon girl I didn’t think Harry could take another heartbreak.” Ginny really didn’t know how to reply to this and kept quiet.
“You didn’t know him back then. After the war, he was a complete mess, and so was I, to be quite frank. We clung to each other and it took a long time to heal. It took years for Harry to be able to maintain a normal relationship. After that dreadful Muggle girl he was nearly back to square one. Harry has been so good to me and Teddy, and I couldn’t stand to see him hurt again. I thought...I was afraid that you might hurt him.” Ginny fought down her mounting temper.
“I would never hurt Harry! I...” Ginny began, but again Andromeda cut her off.
“Again, I must stress that that is what I did think, Ginny, but recently my opinion has changed. Not only have you been with Harry for some time now, but your relationship seems to be growing stronger all the time. Harry, well, he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him and you’re good for him. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I was wrong about you and I’m sorry. I’m just a bit overprotective of Harry, I suppose.”
Ginny was brought up short for a second. That this aloof, distant witch was apologising to her was a shock. Her first instinct was to snap at the woman for her cold shouldering of her, but she held her tongue knowing the Andromeda was just about the only family Harry had and she didn’t want to create problems with her. She bit down her sharp response.
“Thank you, Andromeda. I appreciate your honesty and I understand your need to protect Harry, I really do. I wish you’d had a bit more faith in me from the start, but maybe we can start over. After all, we do have something in common. We both love Harry.” Andromeda nodded and for about the first time ever she smiled at Ginny.
“Please, call me Andi,” she replied. Ginny smiled back. The last wrinkle had apparently been ironed out.
AN
Chapter 11 already, and quite a fluffy chapter by my standards as well. You will note that the Harry in my story only starts analysing his own feelings if prompted to do so by some external factor. To be fair to him, he does then usually address whatever issues he has, thus making him a far better person than 99% of the male population (myself included). There, that will get the female readers on my side.
I wanted to bring Teddy and his grandmother into the story at some point, but my first attempt at doing so was predictable, soppy rubbish (thanks so much to Mrs Brennus for pointing that out to me). I therefore tried to come up with a new approach and thinking about it I couldn’t really remember too many stories where Ginny and Andromeda have a conversation. Personally, I quite like how the chat turned out, but now wish I’d worked something about their ‘difficult’ relationship into the story earlier. Oh, well.
BTW, my mega-beta MinistryMalcontent expressed his horror at Harry having onions and ketchup on his hot dog. As I explained to him, I rather suspect the ‘meat’ element of a British hot dog (and I use the word ‘meat’ more in hope than anything else) may not be of the same quality you would expect stateside. It’s generally advisable to try and mask the flavour as much as possible therefore. Besides, at least we don’t put chilli or sauerkraut on our dogs.
Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – The Seven Deadly Sins
Author's Notes: Down at the bottom again.
Chapter 12 — The Seven Deadly Sins
"Oh Merlin, Harry, this place is wonderful. It’s like someone let a Muggle wander around Hogwarts for half an hour and then made him design a pub!” Ginny giggled.
Harry nodded and looked around at the gothic mirrors and furniture. A large display of what appeared to be potion bottles was housed in a glass cabinet nearby, and the subtle backlighting gave the stone walled room the feel of a dungeon. Of course, they were sat in the basement of the pub, so in a way it was a dungeon, but a very fun one. He briefly wondered why all their favourite pubs had basements.
They were having a great day so far. Due to the Harpies unexpectedly high league position, their game scheduled for that day had been pushed back to mid-week so Wizarding Wireless Network could broadcast it live. Gwenog Jones, obviously not wanting to mess with a team that was working so well, had uncharacteristically given them the day off. Ginny had, therefore, been able to spend the night at Grimmauld Place. They had treated themselves to an extended lie-in and a late breakfast. After lounging about for the rest of the morning, Ginny had grown restless and they had decided to go out. After a light lunch at their favourite Italian restaurant, they had decided to hit a pub. Ginny had expressed a desire to go somewhere they had never been before and Harry had remembered someone telling him about this place on Cannon Street. It had been a good choice.
They had felt at home as soon as they walked in the horror themed pub and they followed their natural instincts and headed down to the dark, sinister basement. The pretty Goth barmaid had recommended the cocktail menu and Ginny had squealed with delight when she saw they offered a range called ‘the seven deadly sins’. She immediately decided they should sample all seven, although Harry suspected they would need to be carried out of the place if they succeeded, judging by the ingredient list. They decided to tackle the list two drinks at a time and were now tucked away at a small table in an alcove with a ‘Gluttony’ and an ‘Envy’ each.
“You do realise we are going to be pissed out of our heads by four o’clock, don’t you?” Harry said, taking the first sip of his ‘Gluttony’. It was very fruity and he could definitely taste the peach schnapps underneath the orange and cranberry juice. He smacked his lips in appreciation.
“That good?” Ginny asked with amusement. Harry nodded enthusiastically. “I guess I’m just in the mood for a pub crawl. I was all geared up to play Quidditch, and now the game’s cancelled I have too much nervous energy. Besides, are you complaining about spending the day in a pub with me?”
“Yeah, like I’m going to do that!” he replied with mock indignation. By now Ginny had also sampled the ‘Gluttony’ and seemed equally impressed.
“I just want to have a really good time today, and since it’s going so well so far, I see no reason not to continue. After all, it’s not every day I get to wake up curled up with my handsome boyfriend, get a great wake-up shag and then have a huge yummy breakfast just brought to me while I laze about.” She looked just like the cat that got the cream. “Besides, if the rest of the cocktails are as good as this one, you won’t be getting me out of this place for the rest of the day!” Harry laughed and together they finished off their first drink before moving onto the ‘Envy’. He didn’t like this one quite as much, but Ginny enjoyed it. He just wasn’t that keen on Crème de Menthe, he guessed. They chatted and relaxed as they drank, knowing they had the whole day to waste, which was a luxury for both of them. Their drinks consumed, Harry headed to the bar to get the next two cocktails on the list. While he was there, an idea formed in his head.
Returning to his seat, he placed a ‘Sloth’ and a ‘Greed’ in front of his girlfriend as he decided how to phrase his idea.
“Ginny, the Quidditch season’s going to be over by the end of the month, isn’t it?” he asked. Ginny just nodded, obviously distracted by the baileys, kahula, vodka and amaretto mix of the ‘Sloth’ which she was sucking up her straw with enthusiasm. He’d forgotten how much she liked the creamy baileys drink; she really must be part cat, he thought.
“Do you have anything much planned for April?” he continued. This comment seemed to attract her attention as she looked up at him with interest in her eyes.
“Nothing much, Harry. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I was thinking we could go away on holiday somewhere for a week,” he suggested. A wide grin split Ginny’s face.
“You mean a proper holiday? Just the two of us, no work, no family or anything?”
“Yeah, I thought it would be nice,” he replied. Ginny just leaned forward, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him forward so she could give him a long, passionate kiss.
“It sounds more than nice, Harry, it sounds bloody wonderful!” Harry smiled broadly, happy that his suggestion had gone so well. They started discussing where they could go, while Ginny finished her ‘Sloth’ (and most of Harry’s somehow). Their ‘Greeds’ were finished before they came to any consensus. Neither of them wanted the hassle of arranging overseas travel on such short notice, but they differed on where they should stay in the UK. Ginny wanted somewhere by the sea although Harry thought the weather wouldn’t be warm enough to enjoy it.
“Doesn’t matter, Harry,” Ginny dismissed his complaint. “Just imagine lots of romantic, windswept walks along deserted beaches, before heading back to make passionate love in front a roaring fire.” She sighed at the idea. “Right, I’m getting the next round. I don’t like the way that slutty barmaid has been eyeing you up.”
As Ginny stomped off to get their next round of cocktails, Harry considered the images she had placed in his head: a quiet, romantic little cottage overlooking the sea under a tumbling sky, just the two of them in some perfect little corner of the country. It sounded very appealing. He was reminded of Bill and Fleur’s house which they had visited for dinner several times and was not surprised that Ginny seemed to have the same ideas as her eldest brother as to what was a desirable location. His thoughts were interrupted by Ginny’s return bearing a tray of drinks.
“You know, I think I like your idea, Ginny,” he confirmed. “A nice little cottage by the sea somewhere for a week sounds great.” Ginny smiled victoriously.
“Of course, all my ideas are great, haven’t you figured that out yet?” she then surprised Harry by placing three glasses in front of him. “There were three left on the menu for us to try so I thought we might as well get them all together,” she shrugged.
“So what have we got this time?’ Harry asked.
“Well, this one is ‘Wrath’, this one is ‘Pride’ and this one…’ she leaned forward so she could whisper in his ear, “is Lust”. Harry sucked in a quick breath at her husky tone.
“I’m definitely going to have to try that one,” he growled in reply.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Despite the fact it was a Monday morning, Harry was in a very good mood. His weekend had been sensational. Saturday had been great fun even though their pub crawl had never made it past the first pub. After trying all seven cocktails, they had each ordered a pitcher of their favourite one, ‘Sloth’ for Ginny, ‘Lust’ for him: the vodka, Malibu and cranberry juice mix really hitting the spot. In the end, they both got so drunk Harry had to resort to Rescue Plan No 1 (stagger into a quiet alleyway and call for Dobby to come and get them). Normally Harry was proud of his ability to navigate round London off his tits, but this really had been a step too far. Sunday was a recovery day, mostly spent in bed although they did take a memorable bath together in the afternoon.
After relaxing most of yesterday, Harry felt refreshed. He had popped into work briefly on Sunday evening to book his week off, much to Malcolm’s surprise as he had weekend cover duty and had not expected to see Harry. On his return home, he and Ginny had curled up with the holiday section of the Sunday Prophet trying to find a cottage to rent for the week. They had found something which sounded just right and made the arrangements immediately. Harry would now be counting down the days before his holiday. To make his day perfect, Robbie had just presented him with this week’s copy of the list for inspection, which Harry had crumpled into a ball and thrown back at him with delight.
Shortly after, Malcolm rushed in and hurried over to his desk which surprised Harry. Malcolm was never late and the man looked…excited? He wondered what was happening.
“Robbie, Suzie, have you give Harry this week’s list yet?” Malcolm asked as soon as he sat down.
“Yup,” Robbie confirmed, “just to have it crumpled up and thrown back at my head.” He glared at Harry with disgust.
“Damn!” Malcolm cursed. Everyone turned to look at him. Seeing he had everyone’s attention, he explained his frustration.
“I think I’ve had a bit of a breakthrough. Harry’s been moaning that we’ve not been using our investigation skills when putting the list together, right?” Robbie and Suzie nodded. “Well, I’ve done just that.”
“But how?” Suzie moaned. “We have so little evidence to go on, and Harry’s been giving nothing away. Even staking out his house was useless.” Harry looked sharply at Suzie who turned bright red.
“It was only for one afternoon, Harry. Your house is really well warded, isn’t it?” she mumbled with embarrassment. Harry just scowled.
“Ah, but Harry has given something away!’ Malcolm cried in triumph. “Yesterday, while I was on weekend cover, Mr Potter came into the office and booked a week’s holiday in early April.” The team all looked at Harry in shock.
‘You’re actually taking a whole week off?’ Suzie asked wide-eyed. “You never take more than a few days off at a time!’
“Exactly, Suzie,” Malcolm continued, obviously excited. “So why now? My guess is that so he can take a break with his mystery woman.”
‘Okay, makes sense, but how does that help us?’ asked Robbie in frustration.
“Ask yourself, why now? Why is he taking a holiday in early April? Harry has so much holiday time untaken he could book a break any time, so why early April? Could it be that his other half is only able to get time off now?” Malcolm pondered.
“Possibly, but I still don’t see how it helps us,” Robbie protested.
“First rule of investigation; compare all the evidence available. If we assume that April is the first time Harry and his lady can get time off together for a holiday, we can also assume that they must have some problems matching up their diaries. So, when is the only other time that he goes out of his way to get off?” Malcolm asked. The team looked blank for a second before Suzie piped up.
“Saturdays! Harry tries to get some Saturdays off. But not every Saturday by any means, so how is that helping?” she looked confused.
“Let me present my evidence.” Malcolm stood and paced in front of the desk doing his best Sherlock Holmes impression. “Mr Potter has a girlfriend who has become available to take an extended break from early April. He also sees her some Saturdays but not others. Now, that last bit had me confused for a while, but then it occurred to me maybe I was looking at it backwards. Maybe it was not a matter that the girl in question was available on certain Saturdays but that she was in fact working and Harry was going to watch her work on certain Saturdays!” Harry drew a breath, certain that Malcolm had worked it out. The others still looked blank however.
“No, sorry. I’m still lost. Why would Harry go and watch this girl work?’ Suzie asked. Malcolm picked up a copy of that day’s Daily Prophet which was lying on the desk.
“I ask you, what major spectator event will stop at the end of this month?” he turned the Prophet over so the back sports pages were displayed.
“Quidditch!” Robbie nearly shouted.
“But that still doesn’t fit!” protested Suzie. “They play Quidditch every Saturday. Harry’s been at work loads of Saturdays!”
“True, and you would also think that a well-known face such as his would have been spotted attending Quidditch matches up and down the country, wouldn’t you? But suppose he only went to matches where he could hide away in a private box?”
“He’s only been going to the home games!” Robbie groaned, the penny dropping at last.
“I therefore put it to you, Mr Potter, that the young lady you have been seeing all these month’s is a professional Quidditch player!” Malcolm addressed Harry with a smug grin. Harry’s first instinct was to give nothing away, but he had been moaning at them for not using their brains and Malcolm had done exceptionally well putting it all together. Slowly and deliberately, Harry started quietly clapping Malcolm, while the others gasped in delight.
“This is great! It really narrows the field!” Robbie cried.
“Well, I’m not finished yet,” Malcolm replied smugly. “I made a note of all the Saturdays Harry took off and compared it to the league fixtures list. Now, the league was already well underway before Harry hooked up with this lady, and nothing is one hundred per cent, but judging from the home fixtures our mystery girl plays for Pride of Portree, the Holyhead Harpies or the Magpies. Pride has only a couple of female players, and neither are good bets in my book, so I’m guessing it’s the Magpie’s or most likely the Harpies.”
As the team excitedly grabbed the paper’s sports pages in search of team reviews and player names, Harry reflected that his relationship with Ginny was soon going to be out in the open. On the whole, he thought, he was actually rather glad.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
It was some time later when everyone was packing up to go home that Suzie cornered Harry and asked for a quiet word. Despite his surprise, Harry led her to one of the interview rooms so they would not be disturbed.
“What’s wrong, Suzie?” he enquired with concern. “Do you have a problem?”
“Well, not so much me as...look, Harry, do you think it’s such a good idea, dating a Quidditch player?” Suzie asked with a frown. Of all the things Harry had suspected she might bring up when she asked to speak with him, this was not one of them.
“I don’t understand, Suzie. What do you mean?” he asked carefully.
“It’s just that, let’s face it, professional Quidditch players are not known for being responsible, intelligent members of society, are they? More like wild party animals!” Harry grinned.
“Well, I have my moments too! But seriously, Suzie, you shouldn’t cast them all in the same light. That’s just stereotyping them all. The girl I’m seeing, yes, she does have a bit of a wild side to her but that’s kind of what I needed. I needed someone to break me out of my shell and learn to have fun occasionally. Think of how I was before I met her. I was working myself into the ground, even you were on at me about it! She taught me there’s more to life than just work, she’s good for me.” Suzie looked frustrated.
“That’s good, Harry, and I’m really glad that you finally started taking my advice. But what I’m saying is that just because this girl has helped break you out of the funk you were in, that doesn’t mean that she’s your perfect partner. Now, I’m assuming that this Quidditch girl is fun and I guess she must be pretty, but all I’m saying is be careful. A pretty face is not the best basis for a long term relationship, Harry, there has to be more.” Harry was starting to get a little angry but held himself in check, after all Suzie had no idea who Ginny was or what she was like. She was just assuming what her personality would be judged on her profession.
“What qualities do you assume my girlfriend lacks, then?” he asked trying to keep his voice friendly.
“There needs to be a connection, shared goals and values. Harry, you have devoted your life to fighting evil and making the world a better, safer place, not knocking little balls around from the back of a broom!” The tone of her voice left Harry in no doubt as to Suzie’s true opinion of Quidditch players. “You answer to a higher calling. You deserve someone who will support you, and understand what you’re doing. Someone you can talk to about real issues and will love you for what you are, not just for the publicity you will generate when you turn up at some bloody party!”
Harry bristled; Ginny couldn’t care less about publicity and had been more than happy to keep their relationship secret. More to the point, he had talked with her more than anyone in his life and about everything; from the importance of breaking down blood prejudice in society to what the best flavour of ice-cream was! It didn’t matter. Ginny was smart and funny and she was his rock. She would support him through anything, unless he was being a prat, of course. Then she would give him a swift kick where it hurts most, but so much the better. She kept him on the straight and narrow.
“Suzie, I don’t know where you’re getting these ideas, but the fact we have kept our relationship quiet for eight months now should be evidence enough that she’s not after me to get her name in the papers. She’s also very intelligent and very kind. She comes from a loving family and she’s very grounded. You really don’t have to worry.”
“Okay, Harry, it’s just I remember how you were after you broke up with that Muggle girl. It broke my heart to see you in so much pain, and I just don’t what to see that happen to you again.” Suzie stood to leave before pausing and putting her hand on Harry’s shoulder. “And just remember, Harry, she’s not the only girl out there. There are other people out there...people who care about you just as much and have more in common with you.” She rubbed her hand over his shoulder. “Just remember that,” she whispered, before turned and walking out the interview room without a backward glance.
Harry sat in near shock for a while. What had just happened? Had Suzie just made a pass at him? He considered the matter for a second; she had always taken a very active interest in his welfare and always wanted to be partnered with him. She had always been very caring and supportive, but she had never given the impression of being interested in him in that way and frankly he wasn’t interested in her that way either. But all that stuff about him being with someone who shared his goals and understood him? And that final comment about there being people who cared about him? It certainly sounded like she was putting her name forward.
He shook his head. Frankly, it didn’t matter. He loved Ginny and only viewed Suzie as a good friend and colleague. If it was a pass at him, it must have been the worst timed one in history, just as his relationship with Ginny had moved onto a higher level. He didn’t want to be with anyone else and was completely certain she was the one.
Suddenly, Harry felt like a lightning bolt had hit him. Bloody hell, she was the one! He didn’t want anyone else, he wanted to be with Ginny for the rest of his life and he wanted the world to know. A determination came over him and he knew exactly what he must do; the forthcoming holiday would provide him with the perfect opportunity, but first he had somewhere he had to visit.
A little trip to his family vault at Gringotts was required.
AN
Oh, we’re nearly at the end now. Only one more chapter to go. I have, however, officially, decided to do a sequel (provisionally entitled ‘The Oath’) and have four chapters written already. I will probably wait until I finish the whole story before I start posting it because I like to see how it sits together once finished.
So, Harry and Ginny in a pub again. Shocker, eh? Yes, the place is real and I will award a virtual gold star to the first person who can name it. The cocktail range is deadly, literally. Mrs Brennus and I did attempt to work our way through all of them one happy Saturday afternoon. Frankly, I can’t remember if we succeeded or not.
Thanks as always to MinistryMalcontent for his work in sorting me out. My commas are increasingly in the right place but my apostrophes have gone to pieces, damn it. He also pointed out a rather large error I made towards the end. The plot bunnies of doom strike again!
Chapter 13: Chapter 13 – The End of the List
Author's Notes: Down below
Chapter 13 — The end of the list
Harry took a deep breath as he crested the slight rise in the ground and took in the beautiful Dorset scenery before him. The small holiday cottage that he and Ginny had chosen for their break lay just to his front and beyond it he could see the blue-grey sea spread out in front of him. The cottage was a single story building with a small garden in front, which was just showing signs of starting to come into bloom. The walls of the cottage were white washed, and the door and window frames were of wood construction with black metal fittings. The grey slate roof gave the building a hardy, practical appearance that never the less suggested warmth and comfort.
Being a magical dwelling, a number of Muggle-repelling charms were in place, and to the average person looking at the building they would only have seen a few rocks at the end of the cliff. To Harry’s eyes the place looked perfect. He was thoroughly looking forward to his week with Ginny. Although only early April, the sun was warm and it was one of those spring days were you could almost see the plants growing. He could smell the scent of new grass mixed in with the tang of the sea, and felt his cares and worries almost drain out of him. He looked over at Ginny and she returned his happy smile as they continued over to the cottage carrying their bags.
They had debated bringing the house elves along with them, but in the end decided against it. Dobby and Winky seemed quite happy with the idea of being left alone at Grimmauld Place, and Harry wondered if they would be hearing the patter of tiny elven feet around the place pretty soon. To compensate, the elves had packed a food bag for the week, complete with a cooling charm. As they entered the cottage Ginny immediate set off to explore, while Harry entered the small but charming kitchen to unload the food. He was not too surprised to find his elves had placed an extension charm on the bag, and it contained enough food and drink to last them a month, let alone a week. As he unloaded pies, cheeses, loaves of fresh bread and a frankly ridiculous number of bottles of wine amongst a multitude of other goodies, he reflected that they certainly wouldn’t go hungry this week. Just as he was finishing up, he heard Ginny call him from another room.
“Harry! Come in here, you have to see this,” her muffled voice called.
Responding to her call, he moved through the very cosy looking front room with its wide fireplace and deep sofa. The place was wood beamed and its windows looked towards the sea. Leading off the room was a small passage way which led to a number of doors. He headed to the one at the end which was slightly ajar, assuming that was from where he had heard Ginny’s voice coming.
He pushed the door open and entered what turned out to be the main bedroom. The room was surprisingly spacious and decorated in a warm yellow colour. The furniture, which included a wardrobe and a dresser, were all of a rich dark wood and a similarly framed large mirror hung on one wall. The bed was a large, black metal framed affair, with a thick, warm duvet and looked very comfortable. All these details were completely ignored by Harry, as found Ginny lying naked on the bed.
“I’m very disappointed, Harry,’ she informed him, “we’ve been in this house at least fifteen minutes and you haven’t tried to made love to me once.” She pouted slightly as Harry attempted to get his brain to function. He tried slapping his head which seemed to work.
“How stupid of me! Let me correct that immediately.” Harry pulled off his clothes in a near world record time and jumped onto the bed. The holiday was starting off marvellously!
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
It was late morning before the couple decided to get out of bed, mainly driven by hunger. After washing and dressing, they had a delicious lunch of chicken and fresh bread with a salad before deciding to explore. Pulling on their walking boots, they left the cottage and headed along the cliff-top path.
The sun was warm and the air fresh as they walked hand in hand along the path, occasionally veering off to explore small woods or rambling rivers. Harry could feel all the pressures of his life slip away from him as he wandered along, the rolling sea to his left and fields of long grass swaying the breeze to his right. Whatever tensions he had brought with him seemed to just drain away from him, and he felt more relaxed than he had ever done in his life.
Deciding they had gone far enough, the contented couple turned around and headed back the way they had come. They had partially retraced their steps when Ginny noticed a path leading down to the sea. They followed it and walked back along the surprisingly empty beach. The cliff wall frequently featured small caves and rock outcrops which they explored with the enthusiasm of five year olds, chasing after each other and laughing as they hid amongst the rocks. Unfortunately, the sea wasn’t nearly warm enough to swim in but they played games seeing how close they could get to the surf before their feet got soaked. Neither of them was very successful and a few discrete drying charms were required. Eventually, tired but happy, they made their way back to the cottage, where Harry volunteered to make dinner.
The early evening sun was just warm enough that they could eat outside. Harry had prepared a steak dinner with chips and peas, knowing it was Ginny’s favourite. A bottle of delicious red wine accompanied the meal. After they had finished eating, they sat on the garden bench and watched the sun slowly setting in a pink haze.
“Today really was perfect,” Ginny mumbled happily, as she burrowed into Harry’s side. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Yes, it really was,” he agreed, “and we have the rest of the week to enjoy as well.”
“Ummm, fantastic. I’m so glad we decided to take the holiday. I love you, Harry,” she sighed contentedly. Suddenly, Harry knew the moment he had been waiting for had arrived. Although he had planned to wait until later in the week, he instinctively knew this was the perfect time. He fought down the mounting fear which had gripped and gently unfolded his arms from Ginny so he could turn to look at her.
“Ginny, I just want to say a few things. Before I met you I was a real mess. I was lonely and confused, hiding in my work and suffering from nightmares nearly every night. I didn’t know what I wanted or how to put my life back together. Then I met you, and everything seemed to change overnight.” He paused to gather his thoughts. Ginny was looking at him with wide shinning eyes and a gentle smile. She started to speak but Harry stopped her by pressing a figure to her lips lightly.
“Just let me get through this, okay? I want to say that the last eight months I have been with you have been the happiest of my life, and I just can’t imagine not having you with me now. I would just be...nothing without you. I love you, Ginny, and for that reason I want to ask you…” he dropped to one knee in front of her, while retrieving a small box from his pocket that he had picked up from his family vault at Gringotts some days before “...Ginny, will you marry me?”
Harry saw that he had achieved complete surprise. For a second, Ginny looked stunned as her eyes grew wider and her mouth dropped open. But he knew this girl was made of stronger stuff and it only took a moment for a blazing, determined look to come onto her face. She took a deep breath.
“Yes, Harry, I will,” she replied simply.
A second later they launched themselves into each other’s arms laughing and crying at the same time. Harry eventually pulled away sufficiently so he could place what had been his mother’s engagement ring on Ginny’s trembling finger, before he took off running around the garden yelling ‘Yes!’ at the top of his voice. Ginny collapsed laughing at his antics. Eventually, he calmed down enough to come and sweep her into his arms and kiss her soundly. He then picked her up, intending to carry her into the bedroom.
“Harry, when are we going to tell my family?” Ginny asked, as they passed into the house.
“Do you mind if we wait until after the holiday? They’re bound to want to congratulate you and I really just want this week to be for us,” he replied.
“That’s fine, Harry. How about we go straight to the Burrow on Saturday and give everyone the good news?” Harry nodded in reply before laying her on the bed. They celebrated the rest of the evening.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
The rest of the week flew by. They spent their time walking in the beautiful countryside or along the beach, eating the marvellous food the elves had provided or just lazing around the house and garden. Long lie-ins and early nights seemed to be the order of the day, as well.
On the Wednesday, they walked to the small coastal village situated about a mile and a half to the east. They poked around the small shops and walked along the harbour wall, before enjoying a pub lunch at a cosy little establishment near the waterfront. They lingered in the place longer than they intended and by late afternoon were feeling suitably…refreshed. Ginny repeatedly showed off her engagement ring to the highly amused landlady of the establishment, who joined them in a toast to their future marriage. Several times, in fact. It was around six o’clock before the rather unsteady couple left the pub and made their way back to the cottage, selecting an ‘interesting’ short cut that Harry insisted would save time, but in fact added around a mile to their route. By the time the giggling pair made it back they were both exhausted and collapsed fully clothed onto the bed.
Before they knew, it was time to pack up and leave. Ginny was even a little tearful to be leaving so soon and they agreed that they would definitely return in the future. After the bags were packed, Harry magically sent them back to Grimmauld Place, while they Apparated to the Burrow. By this point Ginny was practically dragging Harry through the door into the kitchen where they encountered a surprised Molly.
“Oh, hello you two! I didn’t think we would be seeing you until tomorrow,” she greeted them.
“I know, but we have some news we would like to share with you. Is Dad about?” Ginny asked, keeping her hands behind her back. Molly Weasley, being a highly efficient mother, immediately seemed to guess what the news would be. Her eyes went wide and she bit her bottom lip, before charging into the other room shouting for her husband to join them. Seconds later, a rather bemused Arthur walked into the room and eyed the couple for a second before breaking into a grin, he being just as canny as his wife. Not being able to restrain herself, and fearful her mother might explode with anticipation, Ginny thrust her hand out in front of her to display her ringed finger.
“We’re engaged!” she declared. Her simple words produced the anticipated explosion from Molly who screamed with joy and nearly flattened her daughter in her attempt to hug her. Arthur was somewhat more restrained, but vigorously shook Harry’s hand to the point his arm nearly severed, before Molly pulled them all into a group hug.
Miraculously, and Harry never did figure out how she did it, Molly within seconds managed to alert the rest of the Weasley family. First to arrive were Ron and Hermione, with the latter throwing herself at the happy couple with nearly as much energy as Molly had done. George and Angelina arrived next, with Bill and Fleur, plus their small child, following. Percy and Audrey also turned up and, incredibly, Charley Weasley managed to make it back from Rumania at short notice, finally giving Harry the chance to properly meet the man.
An impromptu celebration party was soon in full swing and via a floo call Harry managed to convince Andromeda to come over, bringing little Teddy with her. Teddy soon made friends with Bill and Fleur’s daughter, Victoire, and they chased each other round the house giggling as they ran.
Harry looked around the room at the happy faces and realised that finally, after so many years, he actually had a family. Deciding there was only one way to celebrate, he helped himself to another piece of Molly’s superb walnut cake and went to find his fiancé.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Harry walked into the Auror’s office on the following Monday morning a very happy man. The whole weekend had turned into a celebration party and he was touched at how warmly the Weasleys had accepted him into the family. He felt extremely close to all of them, even George (it was amazing how two men could bond by dancing like idiots in a nightclub). With a contented smile, he slid into his seat and looked over at the expectant faces of Suzie, Robbie and Malcolm.
“Got your next list for my rejection, then?” he teased. Robbie just looked sourly at him and handed over this week’s list. Harry glanced down at it and nearly burst out laughing. The timing was just perfect, after all these months there it was:
No7 Ginny Weasley
Harry paused a second, deciding how he wanted to play this. He definitely wanted everything wrapped up by the end of the week as he knew the marriage announcement would appear in the Daily Prophet on Friday. He looked up at his team who were all staring at him strangely.
“Okay, so the rules of the game have changed. This is how we are going to play it…” he began.
“Hold up there, Harry!” Robbie nearly shouted. “As you haven’t thrown the list back at me in a crumpled little ball, am I to assume…” his voice trailed off.
“Her name’s on the list,” Harry confirmed. Pandemonium broke out. It was sometime before order was restored, and by then half the office was gathered round the desk. Harry held up his hand for quiet.
“Right. Clearly, your number one guess is wrong, so that still leaves you nine other candidates,” he continued. “Now, I’m going to give you three guesses. Submit a list to me tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. If you haven’t got the right name by that point there will be a forfeit.”
Suzie looked up worriedly. “What kind of forfeit?”
“Oh, nothing too bad. Good luck!” With that he picked up a folder and headed to a meeting that was scheduled. He kept his fingers crossed that he would get three wrong guesses.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPsauceHPHPHPHP
Harry enjoyed the rest of the week. He had discussed his plans with Ginny and she had agreed to supply the materials required if the forfeit was triggered. Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s lists were presented to him with the names that had appeared as number two and three on Monday’s list in the number one slot. With joy in his heart, he had crumpled the parchment up and gracefully tossed it at his colleagues.
Thursday morning dawned and Harry cheerfully wandered into the office. He was only moderately surprised to see what looked like half the entire Auror force gather around his desk, although the presence of his boss, Gawain Robards, was something of a shock. Feeling a little self-conscious, he slid into his seat. Suzie stood in front of him and solemnly handed him the final version of the list. Harry struggled not to burst out laughing at the seriousness of it all.
Unfolding the parchment he looked at the list his eyes seeking one name only. There it was, Ginny Weasley…at number two! He pondered for a moment why her name had moved up the list, but really it was irrelevant. He and Ginny had won!
Slowly and carefully he straightened in his seat and held the parchment out before him…..before quick-as-lightning screwing it up into a ball and throwing it at Suzie. The whole room exploded in noise and Harry saw Robbie sink his face into his hands. Malcolm sat where he was just shaking his head sadly and Suzie remained stock still with a face like thunder, obviously not keen at have balls of parchment bounce off her nose. Harry was also amused to see quite a bit of money changing hands and guessed quite a few side bets had been placed on the result. He resisted laughing as he saw Gawain Robards handing over a stack of galleons with a sour look on his face. Eventually, as the noise levels dropped, Suzie addressed him.
“Well then, Harry, which of the remaining six was it? Who is the mystery woman?’ she almost snarled. Harry looked around at the expectant faces.
“Not telling!” he shouted to universal protest. He again raised his hands for quiet. “But I can assure you that you will find out tomorrow,” he promised. After much muttering everyone returned to their seats. Harry grinned; he would need to speak to Ginny tonight.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Next morning Suzie, Robbie and Malcolm entered the office to find a box on each of their desks. A further, larger box was placed in the middle of their desks and there were notes attached to each of them. The three smaller boxes all had identical notes which read:
Good Morning.
Here is your forfeit. You must wear all the items in this box for the entire working day. At no point can any of these items be removed or you will attract another, greater forfeit.
See you later,
Harry
The larger box had a similar note addressed to all three of them stating that the items in the box must be clearly displayed around their desks for the entire working day again with a threat of punishment for removal. Robbie opened his box and looked in.
“At least we know she is a Harpy now,” he sighed.
As the rest of the office filed in they were greeted by an unusual sight. Normally Aurors wear rather formal, officious-looking green robes. Today, however, three Aurors appeared to have been kitted out with more informal wear. Suzie, Robbie and Malcolm were all dressed in matching Holyhead Harpy jersey’s, shorts and socks. Sat on their heads were oversized Harpy hats and round their necks were Harpy scarves. Scattered around their desks were a collection of posters, flags, mugs, calendars, miniature figurines and novelty pen holders all relating to the Harpies. There was so much merchandise that the whole area looked like one huge green and yellow blur.
Of course, their fellow Aurors were extremely sympathetic and didn’t stand too long at their desks laughing. Only a few pictures were taken of the rather grumpy trio with the promise that distribution would be limited to only official Ministry departments. Their temper was not helped by the absence of their glorious leader, who appeared to have done a bunk that day. It was approaching lunch time and Harry had still not appeared when Suzie spoke out in frustration.
“Where the bloody hell is Harry! He was supposed to be here! If nothing else, he was meant to reveal his bloody mystery women to us today,” she moaned.
“And so he will!” cried a voice behind them. They turned to find Harry approaching their desk, dressed in casual clothes and a mile-wide grin on his face. Their interest was immediately piqued by the presence of a small figure beside him wearing robes with the hood up.
“Once again, you have failed as investigators!” Harry said solemnly as he reached them. “A brief glance at the holiday board would have revealed that I took the day off. I only popped in early this morning to leave you your wonderful new uniforms.” A small snort issued from underneath the hood of the robed figure and the team all glared.
“So, do we get to meet your mystery lady then?” Suzie asked a little abruptly. Harry turned to the robbed figure questioningly. The figure shrugged and cast off the robes revealing a small, red haired woman. Robbie and Malcolm both groaned while Suzie, not the world’s greatest Quidditch fan, looked confused.
“Ginny Weasley!” Robbie groaned. “Your girlfriend’s Ginny Weasley!” Harry sighed dramatically. Ginny just gave a little wave of her hand.
“See, Robbie, you’re still getting it wrong,” Harry complained.
“What do you mean? Is she or is she not the girl from the list?” Robbie asked, looking increasingly flustered.
“Yes, she is the girl from the list. No, she is no longer just my girlfriend.” Harry reached into his jacket and withdrew a carefully folded newspaper which he threw onto the desk in front of him. The three Aurors crowded round to read it before looking up with a stunned look on their faces.
“Engaged?” cried Suzie, looking distraught. Ginny chose this moment to speak up.
“Yup, engaged. Well, it was lovely meeting you all, especially after having to wait so long.” Harry chuckled at the emphasis Ginny placed on the last two words. “But me and my fiancé have a table booked for lunch and we don’t want to be late. Nice outfits by the way. Bye!” With that, she took Harry’s arm and led him out towards the door.
Harry sneaked a quick look back at his team and he left the office and was delighted to see their stunned looks. As he passed the through the door he saw Robbie pick up the newspaper containing their engagement notice and throw it in the bin. He giggled to himself.
The game was definitely over.
AN
And that’s your lot, boys and girls. You didn’t seriously think I’d have Ginny say no, or Suzie get in the way, did you? I always said that this was a happy little story.
I really have mixed feelings about finishing this story. On one hand I’m quite proud of my first ever attempt at writing, but on the other hand I’m really sad it’s all over. I have, however, enjoyed it immensely.
HUGE thanks to my beta MinistryMalcontent. Tom, you’ve been wonderful and very educational. Without you this story would have been an unreadable mass of compound sentences and misplaced commas. Also thanks to anyone who reviewed - we had some great banter, guys.
For anyone interested there will be a sequel (five and a bit chapters already written and the ending all worked out) and I have a short story which might make an appearance at some point as well.
Thank you, SIYE, and goodnight.