Thank you to Arnel and James for your help with editing!!
I hope you enjoy. It's a nice, calm chapter, but with a bit more information. No answers... I know you're all getting really axious but resign yourself to not finding out anything for another 5 or more chapter.
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-DH/AB Characters:All Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, Romance, Tragedy Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mental Abuse, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Rape, Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 357 Summary: The battle is over, there is life to be lived, peace to be enjoyed and trouble following close at their heels. Ginny hasn't seen Harry since the dust settled from the battles with Voldemort, but when an unexpected piece of news draws them together will they be driven apart or become bound? Follows Canon to the best of my knowledge. The warnings are just to be safe. I don't know that they're all needed, but I'm putting them up just to cover my bases. If you have any questions or concerns, please message me. Hitcount: Story Total: 139153; Chapter Total: 8125 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: |
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Sunday June 28th Ginny woke slowly, feeling languid and completely at peace with staying right where she was. She became aware gradually that the sheets felt different and her limbs felt heavier than normal. Testing, she shifted a bit and realized that in fact she had no clothing on at all. She glanced to her left and saw vivid green eyes watching her. Harry reached for his glasses and put them on. Neither of them spoke for a while. They just gazed into each other’s faces as if committing them to memory all over again. “What…” she began, trying to put together the jumble of events that were fighting for placement in her memory. “We… weren’t supposed to do that,” Ginny finally said. “We were, actually,” Harry disagreed, leaning in for a lingering kiss. Ginny lost herself for a moment, wanting to sink in completely as joy and contentment filled her from the top of her head straight down to her toes. “But the baby…” “You had a nightmare,” he told her gently. “I couldn’t wake you, nothing but kissing you worked and you got hysterical when I stopped. I had Kreacher get Martha. She said we needed to be together, so she woke you up and…” Harry’s voice faltered. “And… we were following the Healer’s orders?” Ginny supplied lamely. “Pretty much,” Harry said as he buried his face in her neck. “I miss you so much when I’m not here. I miss being with you so much that it’s an ache.” She knew what he meant. She’d been feeling that way for weeks now, not able to articulate it properly, but like something was pulling at her heart. “I know.” Harry kissed her neck as she tilted it so he could have easier access. Tingles raced up her spine as his breath kissed over her skin. “That’s why we were together. Martha said something about our soul bond needing us to be together to strengthen it.” “Oh,” Ginny breathed out. “Oh, that makes sense. I knew that. Mum explained it all when we had that talk last year.” He propped himself up on one elbow and moved her hair back from her face, his gaze open and intense. “You are so beautiful.” Her cheeks flushed maddeningly. “You’re always making me blush.” Harry grinned and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You’re even more beautiful when you blush.” They both turned when they heard the knock at the door. “All right you two,” Martha voice floated in through the bedroom door. “Get dressed.” Harry hopped up and got dressed and located a shirt for Ginny along with some knickers. He helped her get her shirt on, threading her feeding bag through the arm hole. Ginny looked down at the floor and saw her other t-shirt completely in shreds. “What-” “You told me to cut it off of you,” Harry reminded her sheepishly. “I’m not so good with that charm.” “Oh yeah, I remember. I think it’s bound for the bin now,” Ginny said mildly as Harry opened the door. Martha came in and sat on the bed next to Ginny. She studied her critically. “Do you have any cramping or nausea?” “No,” Ginny answered. “I feel great, actually.” “I thought you might,” Martha began. “It appears that your soul bound was in need of some shoring up.” Ginny nodded. “I know, well…” she said, wanting to be clear. “I know now what happened. My mum told me about it a while ago, but I didn’t really remember that bit.” “So, let me have a look at you and the baby,” Martha said as she examined her. “No weight gain, but that’s alright since you’ve put on a good amount recently. Baby looks marvelous.” Harry came over to her other side and sat down, taking her hand. “So we didn’t hurt the baby at all?” “No,” Martha said reassuringly. “That doesn’t mean you can carry on as you like, though. I still need you to abstain for the most part, but I’m going to give you permission to be together once every few weeks if you really feel like you need that connection. You need to try to stretch it out as much as you can, though.” Ginny nodded feeling only slightly embarrassed at this conversation. “All right.” ~*~ Harry opened the front door to Andromeda and a sleeping Teddy a few hours later. He took the baby carefully in his arms, cradling him against his shoulder. Thankfully, it was getting easier to move his godson around. “Hey,” he said softly as she came in with a bag and shut the door. “He fell asleep on the drive,” Andromeda explained. “I don’t know that he’ll stay asleep, though.” She followed them in and greeted Ginny who was sitting on the sofa. “I’m glad to see you up and about today.” Ginny nodded. “I’m glad to be up too. Thank you for bringing him here so I could see him.” Andromeda waved that off as nothing and took a seat in one of the arm chairs. “It’s nice to get out for a bit. We don’t get out too often, so it’s nice to have some place to go and visit.” “Why don’t you go out?” Harry asked frowning as he swayed in front of the fireplace, patting Teddy’s back gently. “I still get threats over Teddy’s parentage,” Andromeda said. “It hasn’t been much, but I don’t want to get out and take the risk of something happening.” Harry felt his blood start to boil. Working to calm himself, he asked, “Is there anything I can do?” Andromeda shook her head, tucking her soft brown hair behind her ear. “No, we’re safe. The house is well protected by the Ministry. It is absolutely rubbish that someone would think that little boy is going to be a threat to anyone.” Her tone only held a slight note of bitterness. “If you ever need anything, please ask,” Ginny said gently, her eyes crinkled, her concern etched on her face. “I will,” Andromeda promised. Kreacher came over slowly, not meeting anyone’s gaze, creeping carefully into the room. He’d been very reserved the first time that she’d visited them but he seemed to be warming up to the formerly disowned Black sister. “Would mistress Andromeda want something to drink?” “Water would be great, Kreacher, thank you,” she said kindly and the elf bowed and left. Andromeda’s lips twitched. “He’s got no idea what to do with me.” “No, but he’s trying,” Ginny giggled. “It’s such a switch up to how he was a few years ago.” Teddy stirred against him, rooting his nose into Harry’s shoulder. He cupped the baby’s soft head and started to pace a bit until he settled back down. He turned to find them both staring at him. “What?” “You’re getting better at that,” Andromeda commented with a small smile. “The first time you held him I thought you were going to throw up from nerves.” Ginny laughed and Harry felt his cheeks flush. “Well, he was so small and breakable,” he said defensively. “He’s getting big fast.” Andromeda sighed wistfully. “The newborn stage goes by so fast.” “It’s my turn,” Ginny said and he walked over to hand the baby to his wife, carefully avoiding her feeding cord. She cradled Teddy in her arms and after wiggling for a moment he settled back in, his mouth hanging open slightly. “Can you put that pillow under my elbow?” she asked Harry, and he maneuvered it to give her arm more support. Harry sat down next to her and grinned when she ran a finger over his soft cheek. “He’s so beautiful,” she said with awe. “I can’t get over how much I can see Remus and Tonks in him.” “It’s a blessing I have him,” Andromeda agreed. “Sometimes babies come into our lives at the most unexpected times, but they’re always a blessing.” Harry and Ginny grinned at each other. “Definitely.” Teddy snuggled in closer to Ginny, turning his head towards her breast and rubbing his nose against her. “Ah, he’s hungry,” Andromeda said, pulling a bottle from the bag. “He’s going to wake up in a minute screaming like he’s never eaten before.” She waved her wand at it, warming it and passed it to Harry, who gave it to Ginny. Ginny fitted the nipple into his mouth and he began to suck voraciously without even opening his eyes. “He knows what he wants and when he wants it.” “Definitely,” Andromeda agreed. “If he does that to you when you’re in the 8th or 9th month you might start to leak milk.” “Really?” Ginny asked, interested, as Harry felt his cheeks warm as the breastfeeding discussion flowed from that. He knew he was going to have to get used to it sooner or later, but at the moment, it still seemed a long way off. “Poor Harry, you’re as red as Ginny’s hair,” Andromeda chuckled. He shrugged helplessly, and took Teddy from Ginny when the bottle was drained to burp him. ~*~ Thursday July 2nd “Potter,” Robards called. “A word in my office.” Harry stood from his desk and the mountain of paperwork and walked over, closing the door behind him. “Yes, sir?” “Sit,” the head Auror said and Harry sat. “Your request for an adjustment on pay was approved.” “Good,” Harry said relieved. “I think it will work better for me to get a nominal pay for now, in exchange for flexible hours.” His boss nodded. “You’re in and out with your wife’s health and that’s understandable, but are you sure you only want a galleon week? We can arrange for a more equitable hourly wage.” It was an argument they’d already had, but Harry just shook his head. “No, I don’t need the money. When things have calmed down and I can go back to work full time then I’ll resume my full salary.” Sighing, Robards gave up. “I have another matter to discuss with you. You got this note mailed to you here at the Ministry through the Muggle post. We’ve tried to track it and can’t locate who sent it since the Muggles don’t have a way to track who dropped it in the letter box. Here,” he said, handing it over to Harry. Curious, Harry took it and opened the envelope. It was addressed to “Harry Potter c/o The Ministry of Magic.” Inside was a small scrap of parchment that said, ‘I know your secret’. He looked back up. “What on earth does this mean? And how did it get here if it was in the muggle post?” “We get letters like that once in a while,” Robards said offhand. “It happens. We have a wizard stationed at the post office that sorts them out and forwards them on.” “I know your secret?” Harry said, feeling an ominous tingle in his gut. Robards eyed him carefully, folding his hands on top of his solid oak desk. “Do you think this is from the person who attacked you?” “It could be, but from the Muggle mail?” Harry hesitated, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair absentmindedly. A knock sounded at the door and Harry put the scrap in his pocket before Robards barked out, “Come!” The door slid open silently and Collins, who was back in the office after his stint on duty in Azkaban, poked his head in. “Sir, we have news on Nichols. We need Potter.” Harry stood as Robards nodded in dismissal and he followed Collins to one of the interrogation rooms which was set up to house all of the information on the Death Eaters that were still at large. On one end was a small stack of parchment and several photos of a young, darker skinned man with shockingly pale eyes. Daniel Nichols was one of the younger Death Eaters, only two years ahead of Harry at Hogwarts and from what they could find, and what Draco was willing to share, he’d only been branded months before the Battle of Hogwarts. He glared up at them from one of the photos. “What have you found?” Harry asked as he came over to Raeburn and Proudfoot. Proudfoot had been on guard duty that night at St. Mungo’s, but he’d willingly taken three separate truth potions in order to prove that he hadn’t done anything wrong and Harry believed him. He’d spent time talking to him about that night, even watched his memories in a Pensieve and nothing had happened that could pinpoint when Ginny had been impregnated. Proudfoot hadn’t even heard Ginny cry out. “We’ve got his mother under surveillance,” Proudfoot said, pulling out a sheaf of parchment. “She recently withdrew a sizable amount of gold from her account, and vacated her house for several days. She returned last night alone, as far as we can tell.” “Do we have any idea how much she withdrew?” The older man shook his head. “We couldn’t get a firm number from the goblins.” “Any luck on getting a warrant to search her house?” Harry asked, sorting through the papers looking for the log of the last Auror on surveillance. “Nope,” Collins told him. “Unless we can prove there is someone else in the house with her we’re not getting in. She’s not ever shown any sign of being a Death Eater.” “Just giving birth to one,” Proudfoot grumbled, handing Harry the log he was looking for. Harry quickly scanned the notes, flipping through the times she came and went. “She’s very meticulous about everything. She always waters her plants at 7:45am?” “It’s bloody dull,” Collins shook his head. “She does the laundry at the same time every day, bakes bread at the same time every day. I could set my watch by her.” Harry pulled out his battered pocket watch and saw it was quarter to five. “I need to leave shortly.” “Any idea about her?” Proudfoot asked. It still startled him a bit to have the other Aurors, all more senior, turning to him with questions like this immediately following the end of the final battle. They were his instructors in the training room for spells and stealth, but as far as they were concerned he had far more experience than any of them. “There has to be something about this routine. It’s just too neat. No one is that predictable.” “We’ll keep on her, then,” Collins said. “It may be dull, but I’ll take this over prison duty any day.” Harry grinned at that and walked back to his desk. He found his owl, Burt, waiting for him on his desk with a letter. “What are you here for?” He knew it couldn’t be an emergency or they’d have sent a Patronus. He pulled off the short missive and read, ‘I need chocolate ice cream’ in Ginny’s neat script. Harry stared at it for a full thirty seconds, rereading it more than once as his lips twitched into a smile. She’d underlined ‘need’ three times. Ron came over and took the note from his hand to read it. He snorted so loudly that several people turned to look at him. “Let the cravings begin,” Ron chuckled and handed it back to him. “Best get a move on so you can relieve Hermione at a decent time. We have a date tonight.” “At least she wants to eat something,” Harry said mildly then frowned as he remembered that the ice cream shop in Diagon Alley had still not reopened. “Where am I going to get ice cream?” ~*~ Friday July 3rd “We’ll only be gone through Tuesday,” Hermione said as she dished beans onto Ron’s plate. Ginny shook her head, nibbling on a strawberry at her kitchen table while everyone else ate dinner. “It will be fine, Hermione.” “Relax,” Ron said with a mouthful of mash. “They get along fine without us here.” “Yes, but we’re usually not half a world away,” Hermione said peevishly. Ginny could tell that Ron wasn’t offended. Even he could see that it was worry that made her snap. “We’ll be okay.” Harry snagged a chicken leg from the platter. “You need to go get your parents, Hermione. You can’t keep putting it off.” Hermione hadn’t even touched her full plate. “What if they’re mad at me?” “They aren’t going to be mad,” Ginny promised then reconsidered. “Okay, they might be mad, but they won’t stay that way. They love you and they’ll understand.” “Eat,” Ron said pointing to Hermione’s plate with his fork. “Starving yourself isn’t going to help.” Ginny reached for another berry. She didn’t need to eat, as the feeding line sat dripping in from the pole that was directly behind her, but the berries looked and tasted amazing. She couldn’t eat too much, though, or she’d get sick again. She’d learned that lesson the hard way. “We’ll miss you, but you need to go.” “It’s lucky we were able to find them,” Harry commented, forking in another mouthful. “At least you know where you’re going.” Hermione pushed the food around on her plate, but finally took a bite when she realized Ron was glaring at her. “I’m eating!” “What time does the Portkey leave?” Ginny asked, taking a bite of chicken off of Harry’s plate. “Do you want me to get you some?” he asked, sounding bemused. She shook her head. “I’m good.” “You keep stealing off of Harry’s plate,” Ron observed. “Why don’t you get your own?” “I’m not really hungry,” Ginny told him, which resulted in a blank look. “Then why do you keep eating?” Ron asked incredulously, his pumpkin juice halfway to his mouth. Ginny shrugged. “It looks good. Hermione, what time is the Portkey?” “In a few hours,” Ron said as Hermione answered, “Nine thirty.” Ginny opened her mouth to comment, but a yawn snuck out instead as fatigue swamped her suddenly. “I think…” Harry wiped his mouth and pushed back from the table. “Come on,” he said, unhooking her bag. “Be safe you two,” Ginny yawned again as Harry picked her up. “I have the pole,” she heard Ron. Ginny put her head against Harry’s shoulder. It fit right there… just perfectly. ~*~ Harry and Ron made their way back downstairs a minute later and sat back down with Hermione who was finally making a dent in her dinner. “So about that note,” Hermione commented between bites. “Anything more on it?” “Nope,” Harry sighed as he finished his last few bites. “I think it’s safe to assume that it’s from whoever attacked us and that they don’t know where this house is if they have to send me letters through the Ministry.” “It was clever using the Muggle post, though,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “They barely monitor it and without anyone using magic to send it, it’s nearly impossible to trace.” Ron drained his glass. “Yeah, but the person knew enough about the Ministry to know that she could mail it that way.” “True,” Harry said, tapping his fork lightly on the table, thinking. “So we’re dealing someone skilled enough in healing, stealth and the inner workings of the Ministry… who on Earth would that be?” “I have no idea,” Hermione said, sitting back in her seat. “I’ve been looking into the records of all the healers who have gone through training, but no one is standing out as a candidate. The problem is that none of them really have an obvious motive to hurt you.” “I don’t think this is going to be someone obvious,” Ron added. “The whole thing is convoluted and crazy. You watch; whoever it is will turn out to be completely cracked.” Hermione crossed her arms, frowning at him. “That would end up being worse. You can’t predict what a crazy person is going to do next.” Harry stood, plate in hand and walked to the sink. He looking out the window over the kitchen sink as the stars began to blink on in the sky. “I think Ron’s right.” “I don’t want Ron to be right,” Hermione groused. “But I think he is too. Although the plan to get you two into St. Mungo’s was pretty brilliant-” “I still want to know how the ruddy hell Draco figured it out from jail,” Ron grumbled, interrupting her. Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry didn’t even need to be looking at her to know that she’d done it. He could hear it in her voice. “Draco is a slimy git, but he’s not an idiot. If you know all the pieces and you’re willing to look into it closely then it isn’t so hard to put together. I’m just thankful that Rita Skeeter seems to think you’re sleazy enough to have actually knocked Ginny up.” “Thanks, Hermione,” Harry said dryly, turning back around and crossing his arms. “But you’re right, it is lucky that she’s blamed this all on me being raised by muggles and not having the same ‘moral standards’, which is a load of tosh.” “Agreed,” Hermione added with a sniff. “I’m still appalled at this ridiculous law. It should have been revoked decades ago.” Ron cleared his throat. “So are we waiting for another step from this crazy woman or do we think this was the whole plan?” “I think it was likely the whole plan,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “I think that she was counting on us not figuring out the poison in time so that Harry would first lose his child, then his wife and then be either killed or permanently injured by the poison.” “A cheery thought,” Ron commented sarcastically. “Well, we wouldn’t have discovered it if it weren’t for Audrey.” Hermione reminded him. “I do hope Percy marries her.” “It would be good for him to marry a Healer,” Ron agreed seriously. “That way she can keep pulling the stick out of his arse every time a new one gets stuck up there.” Harry and Hermione both snorted with laughter. |
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