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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance Warnings: Extreme Language, Sexual Situations, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 23 Summary: AU. Harry hated Ministry balls and functions. He never wanted to attend any of them, and this one was no different. With another twenty eight minutes till he could escape, the time was seeming to drag. Until he met a witty and charming red head. Hitcount: Story Total: 22262; Chapter Total: 3857 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Ginny waved her wand in rapid chopping motion. Instantly the knives she had been pointing at followed her lead, cutting up the tomatoes on the cutting board. She was at her flat in Holyhead, making dinner for herself and Harry. They had been seeing each other for three months now. Typically by this time in the dating timeline, Ginny would find something that extremely annoyed her about her boyfriend. It had happened with everyone in the past Michael, Dean, and Jason, a beater from Puddlemere United. She always would find some sort of annoyance in the boy, that made her grind her teeth. With Michael it had been his lack of commitment, Dean was too old fashion, and Jason had turned be rather sexist. Harry wasn’t perfect, by no means. Ginny wasn’t blind to his imperfections. He lacked self confidence in some areas and he seemed to have issues expressing his thoughts when it came to his past. But all of that was much better than having Dean act like she couldn’t handle walking through a door, or Jason bringing up the concept that the Harpies only had fans because of their “outfits”. Ginny placed a pot of water on the stove, and placed a heating spell on it so it would boil. She invited Harry over for a nice homemade dinner tonight. Both of her roommates were either at a club or pub, meaning Ginny had the house to herself for the night. The one, tiny issue with her plan was the fact that she didn’t really know how to cook much. Her mother could basically make anything, but Ginny seemed to lack that skill. She would rather be on a broom anyday. So she when deciding what she could cook, she stayed simple. Pasta with nice sauce. Easy but tasted pretty good. Harry was due at five that night, planning to apparate right from the Ministry. That left Ginny plenty of time after she got out of practice, at two, to prepare a lovely meal for them. She had just placed her pasta in the drainer when she heard a faint pop from outside, ‘Perfect timing,’ she thought as a knock came from the front door. She went over and opened it, revealing Harry. He gave her an award winning smile, and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Hey Gin,” He said as she moved back from the frame so he could come inside. She made her way back the kitchen, with Harry following her, and got out two butterbeers, Harry’s prefered drink. He graciously accepted the one she held out to him, with a quick thank you. Opening the top he took a quick pull. “So, how was practice?” He asked as we went over to the cabinet and pulled out plates. Another thing Ginny appreciated about Harry, he would help with the dinner preparations. Some people would have just sat down and let her do all the work, Harry always gave her a hand whenever she cooked for him, which was only a few times, but still. Ginny moved the pasta from the drainer as she answered, “Not to bad Gwenog didn’t complain much, which means we didn’t complain too much. I feel like we have a good chance against the Bats on Friday.” “Well yeah, from what I’ve heard you guys have been almost unstoppable this season.” He gave her a sly grin. “There is a certain redhead on the team they are calling a ‘queen’.” Ginny placed pasta onto both of the plates, “Well if the shoe fits…” Harry laughed and gave her another quick peck on her cheek before taking his seat. They sat talking about the upcoming game and his job. Everything was so casual. Nothing felt forced as, again that feeling of being able to speak her mind freely him came to her thoughts. She was able to rant about her teammate, Addison Magret the second beater to Gwenog. “And I swear she aims at me at practice,” Ginny told Harry as she levitated the plates off the table, into the sink. “Well maybe you need a big strong auror on scene,” Harry gave her impish grin over his butterbeer bottle. “Is that your way of saying you want to watch me play?” “Well, I mean, how many people get to watch Ginny Weasley –” Ginny cut him off, “About fifty thousand per week, give or take.” “So just add little old me, and you got fifty thousand and one.” She laughed, moving over next to his chair and leaned against the table. “Why don’t you come to this week’s game? I can set you up in the family box so you won’t be bothered by a lot of people. And as far as know none of my family is going so you will have the “Weasley Section” all to yourself.” Harry stood up and cornered her to the table, leaning in close one hand pressed to her cheek, “That does sound like a tempting offer,” He moved his mouth down to her neck, lightly peppering it with kisses. “But you might want to sweeten the deal, have any idea?” Ginny moved her finger under his chin, raising his face to be level with hers. Then settled her hands on his waist. “Oh I have a few offers for you Mr. Potter.” Then she brought her lips to his. The Harpies Stadium was one of the leagues favorites. It was well build, with the stands made to bring in large crowds. The color scheme fit the team to a T. Green chairs lined the the multiple levels, with yellow outlining the pathways and stairs. Harry sat in the “home team family box”. He arrived an hour early so he could get a front row seat. Ginny had added his name to her family/friend list. The security wizard had done a double take, but had allowed Harry to pass. Arriving before the snitches release had its benefits, for starters all the seats were empty allowing him his choice of viewing point. Also he got to watch the teams warm up. He couldn't take his eyes off of Ginny. She was incredible. The way she just seemed to know where to pass the quaffle. The way she knew which way the bludgers were flying. Even without the pressure of the game, Ginny give it her all. Ten minutes before the start of the game, both teams flew off the pitch for a prep talk. The bubble of excitement that had been in Harry’s stomach since he arrived expanded. He had listen to announcers talk about the way the Harpies played, but he was thrilled to be seeing it in person. They always expressed how amazing the connection between the Harpies chasers was. They seemed to have one mind when they played togethers. “Hey, anyone sitting there?” A low voice asked, breaking Harry out of his thoughts. He turned to look a tall, freckled, red headed man. The man was pointing at the chair next to Harry. He was wearing a Harpies jersey with the name ‘Weasley’ on it. “No, it’s all yours,” Harry said kindly. The man sat down, well more like fell into his chair unceremoniously. His gangly legs stretched out in front of him. “I’ve never seen you before,” The redhead said conversationally. “You one of the girls boyfriends or something?” “Yeah...uh I am,” Harry felt slightly awkward. He and Ginny had decided to keep their relationship a secret for a while. Because both of them were in the papers constantly, they figured the fact that they were dating would be front page news. They just wanted to have this little bit of privacy for a while. “What about you? Are you someone’s boyfriend?” The man pulled a face that made him look he had smelt something horrible. “No. No way!” He said. “My sister is chaser Weasley. My name’s Ron by the way” Harry could see the resemblance now. They both had the obvious red hair, but they had the same eye shape and similar looking chins. That bubble of excitement gained a friend as a feeling of nerves joined his stomach. This was not how Harry planned on meeting anyone in Ginny’s family, especially the brother Ginny called the most protective. Well those weren’t exactly the words she used; she called him the chasity patrol. Not something a boyfriend wants to deal with. “I’m Harry,” Ron stuck out his hand, “Nice to meet you mate.” Harry took the hand, which was also covered in freckles. Harry couldn’t help but wonder if all the Weasley’s were covered from head to toe in freckles. “So Harry who are –” Harry was saved from Ron’s eventual question by the sound of cannon fire, as the Harpies flew on to the pitch. He watched as the multiple green figures came onto the field as a blur. The only reason Harry could dissect which one was Ginny, was because of her red hair giving her a look that reminded him of Christmas going one hundred kilometers per hour Ginny flew around the stadium waving at the crowd. She made her way towards the family box, slowing slightly so she could look around better. Her eyes met Harry’s as she approached, waiting for the other team to make their entrance. The brown eyes lost connection with his as she took a quick glance at the person next to him. Harry watched as a wicked grin spread across her face. Her eyes glinted with suppressed humor. She looked back towards him, Green meeting brown again, and gave him a wink then flew off to the center of the pitch. “So Ron, what do you do?” Harry hurriedly asked, hoping that Ron missed the saucy wink his sister just sent his way. Apparently he did miss it, or didn’t seem bothered by it, because he replied enthusiastically, “I help my brother run a joke shop. Ever hear of Weasley Wizard Wheezes?” “Yeah, I’ve heard you guys are great. What’s it like running that kind of shop?” Harry responded, as the snitch was released setting off both teams. Ron started explaining all about his job, pausing to cheer when Ginny scored or the referee made a bad call. He told Harry about creating the jokes to dealing with kids thinking they could knick product. Harry, for his part, kept his eyes on the game but found Ron entertaining. “So then the kids father allowed us to test a new skiving snack box on him. The kid swore never to steal again.” Ron finished his story with a laugh. “So Harry what do you do?” Harry gave his companion a sideways glance, “I’m an auror.” This was the moment most people made the connection that he was Harry Potter, because how many young, aurors, named Harry were out there? Ron however didn’t seem to connect the dots, or didn’t care. Harry couldn’t decide if he was the most oblivious man or the most easy going guy ever. “That pretty cool. I thought about becoming one, but then my brother… well my brother George asked me to help out at the shop.” Harry figured the topic of Fred was hard on Ron, just like it was on Ginny. Their conversation lulled for a moment as the Harpies chaser, Elizabeth Mason, took a penalty shot. “So, you said you were Ginny’s brother? Harry inquired, “What's it like to have a quidditch star for a sister?” Ron laughed, “I didn’t know you were on a first name base with my sister.” Harry felt a twinge of fear, but Ron just continued on, “It’s great. Free tickets to her games, I still say she should have gone to the Cannons.” Ron turned to face him, “So are you a Harpies fan before you started dating your girlfriend? Wait you never told me who your dating. Is it Mason?” “Oh I always been a Puddlemere United man myself. My godfather got me into them.” Harry hastily confessed. “Never seen the Cannon’s play before. What are they like?” Ron’s eyes lit up like the streets of London at Christmas. He started talking about his favorite players and how they had been robbed wins due to bad calls. He continued tell Harry all about the Cannon’s till the end of the game. The Harpies chasers were unstoppable, making it so when the Bat’s seeker caught the snitch, Holyhead was up by two hundred. Harry and Ron cheered when the final score was read out to the crowd, 460 to 390. Ron shook Harry’s hand once more, saying they should get together for a pint. Harry agreed and told the redhead to send him an owl with a time and place. Ron headed towards the exit, while Harry headed for the third floor men's room, where Ginny told him to meet her. He waited semi-awkwardly against the wall as people left the stadium, everyone in green cheering and chatting excitedly. Only a few people seemed to notice him as he sulked in the corner, but most just went right by him. Eventually the passage was cleared of any fans letting Harry wait for Ginny with only the sounds of “end of game” music to comfort him. In the end he only had to wait for fifteen minutes, about ten less than Ginny had warned him. She made her way to him from across the passage, moving quickly. He couldn’t contain his smile when he saw her. She reached him and gave him a smug smirk “So Mr. Potter,” She ran a hand through her damp hair, “What do you think of us Harpies? Were we impressive?” Harry gave her a quick kiss, “Well I only had eyes for one, but from what I saw… Not to shabby.” Ginny laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck, “High praise from you.” He placed his hands on her hips, “The highest.” Ginny pressed another quick peck to his lips, “Care to come out and celebrate with me? It will be a party of two.” Harry nodded, letting her take his hand to lead him towards the exit. As they walked Ginny asked, “So did you know you were talking to my brother all game?” Harry gave her a sheepish grin, “Yeah I kinda figured it out.” “And,” Ginny turned around and walked backwards, giving him a mischievous smile, “Did you tell him we are dating?” Harry ran his free hand through his hair, “Err…” Ginny laughed and moved back to his side, removing her hand from his, she placed her arm around his waist, his automatically going around her shoulders. “Knowing Ron he never even considered the thought you were there for me. I bet he thought you were there for Nicola.” “Elizabeth, actually.” That made Ginny laugh harder, “Just because he wants to get with Elizabeth, he thinks everyone wants to get with her.” She gave him a coy smile, “Do you want to go celebrate with Lizzy? I won’t stand in the way. Team moral and all.” Harry snorted and pulled her closer to him, “Sorry. I think I’m going to stick with my current Harpie.” “Well you do have a top of the line model,” Ginny assured him, as they reached the apparition point. Harry moved to take her hand, so he could apparate them away, but she held them back, by wrapping her arms around his neck again. “Here's the real question for you, Potter,” She murmured into his ear as she stood on the tips of toes, “You like me better than my brother, right.” Harry pressed a soft kiss to her neck, “Trust me,” He said his voice husky, “I would never be doing this to Ron.” He paused and moved his mouth to hover over hers. “Now I haven’t seen the rest of your brothers, so who knows about them.” Ginny’s mouth turn up in a coquettish smirk, “Well now, I’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen, won’t I.” Harry entered the aurors office on the second floor of the Ministry, two days after Ginny’s game. He had the last two days off in a row, and he had taken full advantage of it. He had taken Ginny out to a muggle play on Saturday, and the two of them had a lazy Sunday together. Before he could reach his small cubical the voice of his boss, Gawain Robards rang across the room, “Potter.” That was it. Just his name, but Harry knew he was being called to the heads office for some assignment. The last time that scene had occurred, he was sent on a mission to catch Gilbert Goyle, one of the few remaining death eaters. He detoured from his small desk and headed into the head auror’s office. Entering the large office, the wanted posters hanging on the wall caught his attention, as they always did. Men and women who stared out of their frames. Angry and bitter faces leered at him. Robards was standing to the side of his desk, looking down at a piece of paper. Harry cleared his throat to gain attention. Robard’s gave a small jump, but started his speech immediately, “Potter. I have a case for you. I want you to take lead. Finnegan will be your second. I want the two of you to come up with a team of six.” Harry nodded his understanding. Robard’s continued, “Ok, all the information we have is in this file.” He pointed to the file on the left side of his desk. Even from the ten feet away, Harry could tell the file was very small. Meaning there was not a lot to go on. ‘The feeling of going in blind,’ Harry thought as Robard’s pressed on. “You have two days to prepare your team. Should be plenty of time between you and Finnegan. Any questions?” Harry shook his head. He headed over to the desk and scooped up the inadequate folder. It was even more pathetic in touch. It might as well have been empty. With just one piece of parchment noticeable. Robard’s dismissed him and Harry went back to his desk. He made a quick stop at the office coffee pot and grabbed a mug. Sitting down in his stiff backed chair Harry took out the incompetent file. Only the basic facts were noted in the file. Two children, ages 5 and 8, were kidnapped in Ireland. One disappeared two weeks from Dunloe, and the other a week ago from Kenmare. Until twenty four hours ago this was a muggle case. Information about the children had made the Magical Law take notice. The parents said their children had some “odd tendencies”. When investigated further it was discovered the children were magical. That was it. No possible suspects. No locations to start other than all of Ireland. The muggle police seemed to have no leads. Making it so Harry had nothing to start with. Harry swore under his breath. This wasn’t going to be a quick easy case. The only connection was the fact that the kids were magical, but thought they were muggles. He could make a lot of assumptions, but nothing had concrete facts. Seamus came over to his Harry’s desk, whistling a tuneless melody, “What’s happenin’ Chum?” He picked up Harry’s coffee mug and took a swig. Harry sent a glare to his partner, but Seamus just smiled. “We have a new case. Were heading to your homeland.” Seamus thumped Harry on the back, “Ah the good o’ land of green! What’s the case look like?” Harry handed Seamus the parchment. It took him all of a minute to read through. He looked up at Harry then back to the file, “Where's the rest of it?” Harry shrugged, “That’s all of it, mate.” “Well that’s a load of shite!” “We have two days to prep. Who do you want on the team? We can get four people.” Seamus studied the parchment again, “Well Dave is good with kids. Leo is a good shot, so him. What about Garrison and Hyde?” Harry wrote the names down on the corner of a scrap piece of parchment. “That works by me.” Seamus placed the file back onto the desk, “So little information… Does your head in, am I right?” Harry laughed and stood up, “I’ll tell Robard’s who we want on the team. When I finish do you want to meet me in the training room?” “Sounds like a date, Mate!” “How dangerous is it?” Ginny asked Harry. They were having dinner at his flat, take out from fish and chips shop a nearby. Ginny had brought it with her after work. Harry had asked her to come over. He had sent and owl to her early in the morning. Ginny was more than happy to come, so she offered to bring dinner. The day had dragged, between practice and the evening meeting, Ginny couldn’t have been more ready to just relax with Harry, just spend the evening in. When she had arrived he greeted her in his usual manner, what her roommates called “the puppy dog”. Ginny loved it. Having grown up with six brothers, having someone greet her the instance she walked in a room was nice. He gave her a welcome kiss and guided her to the kitchen table, where he had already set out all the fixings needed for a proper fish and chip. They had started with mindless chatter: ‘how was your day?’, ‘what stupid thing did Seamus do this time?’ those kind of things. Though it was basic and normal, Ginny loved it. She loved hearing about his day, hearing about the antics he and Seamus got up to during their down time at the office. In turn she loved telling him about what happened at practice, whether or not she thought the team was ready for the next game. When the topic of whether or not Ginny thought Mary-Ann could handle the Arrows chasers finished; Harry told her he was going away on a mission for a while. He explained he didn’t know how long he was going to be gone, but he was planning on leaving tomorrow. He told her the basics, the things he was allowed to tell her. It was in Ireland and it was a missing persons case. Ginny had nodded, but her veins felt as if they were chilled. In all the time they had been together, Harry had been on what he called ‘paperwork detail’. He had told her he wasn’t a huge fan of being stuck in the office, but the silver lining was he was able to see her often. Now he was going out into the field, where anything could happen. Which brought fear to Ginny’s heart, and led her to asking her question. “To be honest with you, Gin,” Harry said as he reached across the table and took her hand. His touch brought small comfort to her. His eyes bore into hers as he continued, “I don’t know, but I have a great team going with me. And,” Harry let the word drag out, “ This is an assignment where I can actually send you owls.” Ginny nodded again. She gave him a flirtatious smirk and wink combo “Alright, well as long as you remember me when you meet some veela out there, in the world.” Harry laughed and got out of his chair. He reached her, pulling her out of her seat, wrapping her into a tight hug. “Trust me you’re unforgettable. I mean with such vivid hair…” Ginny lightly slapped his arm, but leaned in closer to him and placed her head on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat more than she heard it. Her mind was going through all the possible scenarios, all the potentially disastrous situations that could arise. She tried to let her mind relax in his embrace. She couldn’t stop herself from being worried, but he was there tonight. She knew he would be fine tonight. She didn’t want to be like her mother with her worrying tendenics. Molly Weasley wanted to keep a tight eye on her family. Molly worried for some of the most simple things, but Ginny had never been like that. She worried about the heavy things, like going to war or going off on a dangerous mission. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Ginny focused on the here and now. She pressed a kiss onto Harry’s collarbone, “Well that means I need to give you a proper goodbye, now don’t I?” Harry placed a kiss to the top of her head, “Actually I wanted to give you something.” He pulled away from her and went over to the corner of the kitchen counter. He grabbed a small, rectangle, flat laminated piece of parchment. Maybe the size of his hand. Harry pointed his wand at it, decreasing the size and changing the shape to circular. He came back over to her, the now shrunk item sitting in the palm of his hand. “Do you remember the guy who took our picture around Christmas?” Harry questioned. When she nodded he pressed on, “Well it finally arrived and I thought…” Blush was creeping onto his cheeks as he continued, “I thought it would be perfect for your locket…. You know the empty side?” Ginny couldn’t believe he had thought about that. It had been months since she had shown him the quaffle locket that always hung around her neck. The simple fact that he had remembered something that meant so much to her… She swore her skin was tingling. He finally reached her and she could see the photo. Her old friend from Hogwarts, Colin Creevey, loved taking photos. It was just like what he use to take, except for the adjustments Harry had made. They stood stationary, only having eyes for each other. Even in photographic form, it seemed like the rest of the world didn’t matter to the couple. It was just them two. She tore her gaze from the photo to look at Harry. His emerald eyes looked slightly hesitant, like he was afraid she wouldn’t like his gift. She plucked the image from his hand. She opened up the locket, the photo of her family grinned up at her. Placing the photo in the vacant slot, it slid in easily, the perfect size.. It held her attention. The space had been clear for so long, nothing had ever felt right to go there. She had considered placing a photo of just Fred there, but because he was in the other photograph she decided against it. But the picture of her and Harry… It just fit perfectly. Harry wore a elated grin as he watched her accept his gift. “I thought it would be nice, so it would be like… like I’m always right next to your heart.” Ginny looked up from the photograph at his words,. Trying to keep her voice light she said, “If only The Prophet knew you were so romantic. They would ask you to write their love column.” Harry gave a timid laugh, “Oh I’ve never been very romantic.” Ginny snorted and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Harry… This was an extremely romantic thing to do.” She moved her lips right under his ear, pressing a light kiss behind his earlobe, a spot she had found he liked. Slowly she moved the length of his ear and whispered alluringly, “Where did you learn to be so amorous, Mr. Potter?” His voice sounded dry and husky when he responded, “It’s not something you can be taught. You just have to be in love to do it right.” Ginny felt like she had just been struck by lightning at his words. She pulled back slightly so she could look into his eyes. They held hers, blazing with affection, emotion, fondness, and tenderness. She pressed her lips to his, slowly almost tantalisingly. He mimicked her, letting her set the pace. She gently ran her tongue against his bottom lip, deepening the kiss causing him to moan. She had kissed Harry numerous times in their time together, but this time she could have sworn all he was feeling for her ran from his body and into hers. Harry slightly turned her so her back was to the kitchen counters, as he backed her to the surface. His arms moved from her back and hair, to the base of her shirt, where he started to lift the it from the hem. She pulled back ever so slightly, moving her lips back to his ear so she could murmur, “We are definitely doing it right.” He gave a throaty chuckle as she kissed down the side of his neck. She turned and moved to his jaw, then back to lips. |
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