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Aurors and Schoolgirls | ||||||
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Category: Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama, Romance Warnings: Mild Language Rating: PG Reviews: 151 Summary: The Wizarding War is over. For some Auror training has begun; their lives are centred round London, and the Ministry of Magic. For others, there is the inevitable return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; their lives are centred around schooling in Scotland. Do these parted pairings, these divided duos, have different destinations and divergent destinies? When, where, and how can these separated souls meet? Holidays, Hogsmeade and Quidditch. Hitcount: Story Total: 89177; Chapter Total: 7032 Author's Notes: Thanks to AmelÃe and Andrea for their comments, corrections and input. Please review. Constructive criticism is always gratefully received. |
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12. Christmas: Declaration The lights of Muggle factories, shops and houses slipped past the windows as the train rattled closer to Kings Cross Station, closer to Harry. Ginny looked nervously at the compartment’s only other occupant, Luna Lovegood. Ginny was dressed in Muggle clothes. Thick black tights, a short, but not too short, denim skirt and the thick, bright green jumper she’d worn at that less than perfect Hogsmeade visit eleven weeks earlier. It was six weeks since she’d last seen Harry and that had been for only a few, fleeting moments just before, and just after, the Slytherin game. Leaving the calf-length dark green dragonskin coat, which George had bought her for her seventeenth birthday on the seat, Ginny stood and carefully examined her reflection in the window. ‘You look lovely, beautiful,’ Luna observed; ‘and I’m sure that Harry will think so, too.’ ‘Thanks, Luna. I hope you’re right. I thought that I knew what Harry finds attractive. Now I’m not sure,’ said Ginny uncertainly. ‘I wonder if he’ll approve, and what he really likes.’ ‘You,’ Luna told her with certainty; ‘just the natural you, especially your hair and your eyes. He isn’t bothered about make-up, or fancy clothes; so long as you look like you.’ ‘Are you sure?’ Ginny asked, unconvinced. ‘Oh, yes,’ said Luna. ‘Definitely; I asked him at the DA reunion party.’ Ginny burst out laughing. ‘Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’ ‘You didn’t ask me,’ Luna told her seriously. ‘Daddy says that you can’t expect to be told things. If you want knowledge you must seek it, then you must check the facts. I asked Harry, he told me. You asked me, I told you. Now you must check the facts.’ Luna gazed openly into her friends face and gave her a lop-sided smile. Ginny hugged the blonde witch, ‘Are you all right, Luna? You’ve been very quiet all day.’ ‘I’m very well, thank you, Ginny. I’ve been thinking.’ ‘About Dean?’ Ginny asked. Luna nodded. ‘You’re not still upset about him?’ ‘Because he’s stopped wanting to kiss me?’ Luna asked. ‘No, we really weren’t suited. He’s very demanding, isn’t he?’ ‘He’s certainly very physical. He’s a doer, not a thinker,’ agreed Ginny. Luna laughed rather more than the remark deserved. ‘He’s become very interested in wandlore you know, since he lost his own wand,’ Luna told her friend. ‘Mr Ollivander says that wandmakers are artists; that they need to feel the magic of wandwood and core, to match the wood with the creature. I think that Dean would be a good wandmaker. He’s a talented artist, clever with his hands; and very good with them too,’ Luna seemed lost in contemplation for a minute or two. ‘But relationships need to be more than just physical, don’t they?’ ‘They do, but after eleven weeks of letter writing, with our last kiss six weeks ago, physical will be a very pleasant change for me, Luna. Physical can be a lot of fun, with the right person,’ Ginny said. ‘From my, so far, very limited experience,’ she added thoughtfully. ‘But, Luna, if you are unhappy, if you want someone to talk to, please tell me.’ ‘I will,’ Luna replied, ‘thank you, Ginny. You’re my best friend, you know. Now I have lots of friends, I think that Fenella wants to be my friend, too.’ ‘And you’re one of my best friends, Luna.’ Ginny smiled fondly at her. ‘You, and Hermione. Fenella is all right for a Slytherin, I suppose, though she’s been asking a lot of questions about Harry and the Auror Office. Still, Colin liked her and she helped him.’ The train began to slow, Ginny got excitedly to her feet, thankful that she’d left her trunk at school. She pushed her school robes into her shoulder bag, mentally thanking Hermione for helping her with the undetectable extension charm. After saying goodbye to Luna she picked up her coat and dashed into the corridor. She elbowed her way past several protesting younger children in order to get to the door first and peered out of the open window. The bitterly cold December wind sent her bright red hair flying. Her eyes watering in the icy air, she pulled her head back inside and shrugged on her coat. Platform 9¾ was thronged with people. Ginny’s mind filled with anxious thoughts. How would she be able to find Harry? How would he see her? She lived several inches below most people. She was the one at the front in photographs, because if she was at the back no one would see her unless she stood on a box. The brakes squealed and the train shuddered. She looked down the platform and laughed at her foolish anxiety. Harry was easy to see. There was a space around him. A ring of people were watching him carefully, but they were keeping a respectful distance from him. They were unsure whether they could dare approach “the Chosen One”. He saw her, smiled and waved. Even before the train had stopped, she had opened the door. She jumped out and ran towards his smile. Then she was kissing him and he was kissing her, and their two and a half months apart were over, just like that. His lips were cold, but she soon warmed them up. Breathless from the kiss, she stepped back and looked at him. He was wearing the multi-coloured scarf her Mum had knitted and wrapped for him last Christmas (more in hope than anything else–twelve months ago no one had known where he was). His black dragonskin coat hung open revealing a bright red shirt and black trousers. ‘You’re looking good, Weasley, very good,’ he told her. Her hair was windswept, she was wearing almost no make-up, her jumper was baggy and far from new, and she was showing very little flesh. She noted his approval. ‘So are you,’ she smiled. ‘So, apart from getting four NEWTs and passing your year one Auror exams after only six months training, what have you been doing, Harry?’ ‘Work, and not much else,’ he told her with a smile, ‘that’s the only way to pass exams. Just don’t tell Hermione that I’ve finally figured that out. I’ve heard her “I told you so” lecture far too many times already.’ Ginny laughed. There really wasn’t any news. Harry had told her everything; he wrote three letters a week, sometimes four and she replied to them all. She had told him about the Headmistresses request at the end of term feast for pupils to work harder to bring the houses together. Ron was working until eight this evening. He wasn’t able to meet Hermione from the train so she was going Christmas shopping before going to Grimmauld Place to meet her boyfriend. The selfish part of Ginny was pleased that Ron wasn’t able to meet Hermione off the train. When the Headmistress had asked who was interested in a Ministry career a couple of weeks earlier, only a half-dozen seventh year students had shown an interest and Hermione had been one of them. Ginny had been furious when she discovered that Professor Slughorn had arranged a trip to the Ministry during term time for those who were considering working in the ministry. Hermione had met both Ron and Harry in the auror Office, and gone for lunch with them, while she had sat in a jealous sulk at Hogwarts. Two weeks ago, just after Hermione’s Ministry visit, Harry had written and warned her that he, along with Ron and the other trainees would be on duty over most of the holiday period “to allow those Aurors with families to spend some time at home.” Harry was working on Christmas day, eight until eight. It was unfair she thought, but there was nothing she, or he, could do about it. Ron, she knew from discussions she’d had with Hermione, had been given the same shifts as Harry except for today. Ron had protested at the Christmas shifts, but had been told that “families” meant wife and children, not parents and siblings. He had, however, continued to argue with Senior Auror Williamson. The outcome of his argument was that he had not only been refused leave, he’d been formally reprimanded by Gawain Robards. Afterwards, Williamson had coolly reminded Harry that he had no family at all. Harry had known that he had no chance of getting leave. Ron and Harry visited the Burrow regularly for Sunday dinner. The Sunday after the Christmas shifts were announced Harry and Ron had told Molly about the arrangements. Harry had described her mother’s reaction to the shifts, and the “no family” remark in one of his letters. He had not needed to. No imagination was needed; Ginny could clearly see her mother exploding on being told. Her Mum had, apparently, actually barged her way into Kingsley’s office and demanded that Harry and Ron get special treatment, but to no avail. Kingsley had refused. The Minister wouldn’t be receiving an invitation to dinner at the Burrow for quite some time. Harry, Ginny knew, wouldn’t have accepted special treatment anyway. He wanted to be ordinary, to be treated like everyone else. Given the limited time they had, she and Harry had carefully planned their time together. One of Harry’s precious days off coincided with the Weasley family’s “obligatory, compulsory, be there or else” completely unavoidable trip to Aunt Muriel’s. Ginny had written to her mother and told her that she wouldn’t be going, that she’d be seeing Harry instead. Instead of the Howler she’d expected she got a letter saying “that’s fine”, because Harry had already asked. So they would have five full days together, and several evenings. Plus tonight; and Harry had been very mysterious about tonight. ‘Where are you taking me?’ Ginny asked. ‘It’s a secret,’ Harry told her. ‘But I’ll tell you if you really want to know.’ ‘I don’t need to know,’ she said honestly, ‘so long as I’m with you I’ll be happy.’ Her words were rewarded by his very best smile. ‘I’m taking my girlfriend on a date,’ said Harry. ‘So, where are we meeting the lovely Pansy?’ asked Ginny; a twinkle in her eye. After the smile he’d just given her, and after rereading all of Harry’s recent, wonderful letters on the train she knew that this time she could risk teasing her boyfriend. He looked down into her mischievous face and burst out laughing. ‘You, Ginny Weasley,’ he smiled, ‘are my friend, my girlfriend, the girl of my dreams and …’ he swallowed, and gazed into her eyes ‘… and … the girl … I love.’ Ginny beamed. Hearing the words; watching Harry’s bright green eyes shine as he shyly stuttered his love, was so much better than reading them. She grabbed his hands and smiled encouragement. ‘Tonight, Ginny, it’s just the two of us,’ he told her, ‘I love you, Ginny, I’ve loved you for years and I’ve been too stupid to say it, I’m sorry.’ Ginny kissed him lightly, because she needed to stop him apologising. But the kiss had to be short, so that she could look up into his eyes to tell him what she needed to say, and what he, there was no doubt, needed to hear. ‘I love you, too, Harry, and it seems as though I’ve loved you forever,’ she told him. ‘You haven’t been stupid, but you have been bloody slow in telling me. I forgive you. Now, kiss me again, and then take me away from this station and its curious crowds.’ Harry looked up, he hadn’t been paying any attention to the fact that their reunion was public, that they were surrounded by an audience of pupils and parents. He’d been too wrapped up in the moment, in finally saying the words. He grinned, ignored the crowds, and kissed her softly and gently, one arm around her waist, one hand in her hair. She slid her hands around his waist and held him tightly. Someone on the crowded platform took a photograph, someone else cheered; then people began to applaud. When they finally parted, Ginny turned to the crowd, smiled, and curtseyed. Harry self-consciously followed her example, taking a bow. Ignoring the shouts and questions from the crowd he took her hand and moved towards the magical barrier. The crowd parted and he led her from platform 9¾ and onto the Muggle station where they walked down into the underground and Harry bought two tickets to Leicester Square. Ginny’s curiosity got the better of her. ‘So, what are we going to do, Harry?’ she asked. ‘I suppose I can tell you now,’ Harry smiled. ‘I haven’t even told Ron where I’m taking you. He’s been asking me every day for the past two weeks. I think he suspects that I’ve booked a sleazy hotel somewhere.’ ‘That would be fine by me,’ Ginny told him breathlessly, her voice filled with rather more animal lust than she’d intended. ‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ laughed Harry. ‘We’ve never been on a real date, so that’s what we’re doing.’ ‘I’m taking you out for a meal, and then we’re going to see a film. I’m sure you’ve never been to the cinema; neither have I. The Dursleys just left me with Arabella Figg when they took Dudley, but I’ve seen films on the television. Muggle boys always take their girls to the pictures, on a date,’ he explained as he led her through the labyrinthine tunnels of the Underground station to the Picadilly Line platform. They arrived just as a train was leaving so they passed the few minutes until the next train snogging. When the train arrived, Ginny slipped her arm around her boyfriend’s waist, ‘This is going to be great,’ she told him. The tube train was packed and they were crushed together in a corner by the door on their short trip to Leicester Square. After leading her up through the station and into a street bustling with Christmas shoppers Harry took Ginny down a side street to a Chinese restaurant. He had a table booked. They could have stayed at the restaurant talking all night. It was remarkable how much they found to talk about. They had no real news, their frequent correspondence meant that there was little that they hadn’t told each other, but somehow they found things to discuss. Harry almost fell of his chair laughing as Ginny described Luna’s antics at the Slug Club Christmas Party. They were having such a good time that they had to run to the cinema in order to catch the start of the film. It was after eleven when Harry and Ginny climbed out of the black cab at Grimmauld Place. After paying the cabby Harry watched him drive around the corner. When the coast was clear he took Ginny’s hand, led her up to the front door of number twelve and ushered her inside. Ginny was astonished at how the place had changed. The hall had been completely redecorated. The walls were painted a light green and the floor was covered in a thick, plain, deep green carpet. The portrait of Walburga Black and the trolls leg had gone from the hall, as had the House-elf heads from the staircase wall. ‘How?’ Ginny asked as they walked down the bright hall and hung their coats on a large wooden stand next to the kitchen door. ‘I made a deal with Kreacher, “Master Regulus’s room” is now the Black family shrine; everything Black related is in there. The things most important to Kreacher are on display, including the tapestry, and, unfortunately, the mistress’s portrait and the elf-heads–I couldn’t persuade him to get rid of them. I haven’t given up yet. The rest of the house is mine,’ Harry told her. ‘What about the permanent sticking charms?’ Ginny asked. ‘If “the Master” wants something moved, a house elf can find a way to move it,’ Harry explained. ‘I’ve been very careful in what I’ve asked for. I’ve stuck with green and white paint and wallpaper in most rooms, Sytherin colours. It wasn’t my first choice, not for the whole house, but it keeps Kreacher happy and it’s a lot better than unremitting black,’ Harry smiled as he spoke. ‘That reminds me, sometime over the holidays you’ll need to visit the Black Family room. I hope that you’ll be impressed, and that you’ll tell Kreacher. I want to keep a contented house-elf.’ He led her upstairs to the first floor sitting room. Music blared through the closed door. The formerly dark and cluttered room was almost empty. It was changed beyond recognition, the floorboards had been sanded clean of their ancient, dark, varnish and re-stained a pale light oak and the glass fronted cabinets at either side of the fireplace had been given the same treatment as the floor. They now contained photographs of Harry’s friends and family. The walls were a green so pale as to be almost white. The back of a large, modern, black leather sofa faced the door. It was flanked by two matching chairs. No other furniture was visible from the door, although Ginny soon discovered a low glass table between sofa and fireplace. A round glass clock face hung above the fireplace, a black pendulum swung back and forth beneath it. ‘Wow!’ Ginny said as she entered. There was a low muffled grunt and a high pitched shriek. Ron’s startled head appeared above the back of the sofa. ‘Harry,’ he squeaked. He hastily stood up, tucking his shirt back inside his trousers. ‘Hi, Hermione,’ Ginny called. ‘Just a second,’ shrilled Hermione, panic obvious in her voice. Ron’s blush spread rapidly from the tips of his ears down to his neck. ‘We weren’t expecting you back yet, Harry,’ Ron accused. ‘That’s obvious,’ Ginny told her brother. Hermione’s head appeared over the back of the sofa, her hair even bushier than usual. ‘Hello,’ she stammered, ‘have you had a good time?’ ‘Great!’ Ginny said as she and Harry walked around the sofa to stand in front of the warming fire. ‘You’ve missed a button, Hermione,’ Ginny said, nodding at her friend’s blouse, which gaped open at the navel. She hoped that she didn’t sound jealous as Hermione hastily fastened herself up. ‘Have you had a good time?’ repeated Hermione, red-faced and completely failing to cover her embarrassment. ‘Harry took me out to a Chinese restaurant, and then we went to the pictures,’ said Ginny proudly, ‘we’ve been on a date, to see a film. It was fun.’ ‘Great! I’m glad that you enjoyed it,’ Hermione prattled in an obvious attempt to prevent any questions about what she and Ron had been doing. ‘I think I’ve only been to the cinema once since I was eleven,’ Hermione continued almost without pause, ‘what film did you see? Where did you go?’ ‘Something called Rush Hour. It was funny and rather violent, in a very silly way.’ Ginny told her friend. ‘Did you manage to do your Christmas shopping, Hermione?’ ‘Yes, I only got here a couple of hours ago, it took a lot longer than I expected and the tube journey was a nightmare, but Ron had dinner waiting for me,’ Hermione looked fondly at her boyfriend. ‘Kreacher had dinner waiting for you, more like,’ Ginny snorted. ‘So what have you been doing since you got here? ‘Nothing,’ Hermione squeaked, ‘just…’ she stopped, flustered. ‘Listening to the wireless,’ supplied Ron, grinning smugly. ‘We were just listening to the radio.’ ‘Ronald Weasley,’ shouted Ginny, folding her arms and using her “Molly” voice, ‘do I have to give you “the talk” again!’ At the sound of his mother’s voice, even coming from his sister Ron leapt backwards and fell onto the sofa. ‘And you, Hermione Granger,’ Ginny switched to the Headmistress’s Scottish brogue. ‘I’m extremely disappointed in you. You are Head Girl, you should know better. What sort of an example are you setting for the younger girls?’ Harry saw Ron’s horrified face, heard Hermione’s panicked protestations and collapsed into a chair in helpless laughter. ‘Sod,’ Ron told his sister. ‘Lothario,’ Ginny retorted. ‘Some hope,’ said Hermione dismissively. When everyone had stopped laughing, they settled down in the comfortable room and began to talk and joke. Ginny sat on Harry’s lap. Ron and Hermione sat side by side on the sofa. The first time Ron tried to move closer to Hermione, Ginny loudly cleared her throat and glowered, setting them all laughing again. Ron asked lots of questions about cinemas, he was having difficulty in grasping the concept. Hermione reminisced about the films she’d seen. Sitting on his lap was a good way for Ginny to evaluate Harry’s mood. He was completely relaxed. One hand rested lightly on her thigh, his other arm was wrapped around her waist. The first time he had slid that hand under her jumper he’d stammered. He obviously hadn’t expected to discover only bare flesh. Now he simply held her, his hand warm on her belly. Ginny turned and leaned forward to tell Hermione about the film, about the Muggle who could run up walls. Harry made her stammer by moving his hand onto her bare back and running his thumb gently up and down her spine. Hermione, Ginny could tell, knew that something was going on. Ron, fortunately, hadn’t noticed what his best friend was doing. The clock chimed midnight. Ginny looked sadly at Harry. He grinned, and slid his arm back down around her waist, ‘how long have we got?’ he asked. ‘Mum said that if I wasn’t home by midnight, she’d come and find me,’ she said, ‘so, actually, I’ve got about fifteen minutes. After that it’s a scolding. She really will come looking in an hour.’ Ginny looked at her brother, ‘I’ve got until half-past, if you come home with me and tell her we’ve been together since eleven.’ ‘We’ll get some hot chocolate from the kitchen,’ suggested Harry. ‘Then you can Floo home. I’ve had the kitchen fire attached to a secure Floo connection. There is only one destination, The Burrow.’ The two couples walked down to the kitchen to find four freshly made mugs of hot chocolates waiting for them when they entered. Kreacher was nowhere to be seen. ‘Very slick,’ Ron muttered approvingly. Hermione tutted, but gratefully drank the chocolate. As they stood in front of the fire drinking, Hermione looked directly at Ginny. She glanced at Harry, and then returned her gaze to Ginny while raising an enquiring eyebrow. Ginny beamed happily and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Ginny then looked from Hermione to Ron and back, and raised her eyebrow. Hermione frowned in realisation, gave her head a hardly noticeable shake and took a step sideways, away from Ron. ‘What just happened?’ asked Ron, panicking. Harry laughed and shrugged, ‘girl-talk, but without words,’ he said. ‘Which means we’re not supposed to know, I think.’ ‘But…’ Ron began. ‘Mind your own business, Ron,’ Ginny told her brother. Ron said nothing, but Ginny watched him puzzle over her silent exchange with Hermione’s. He kept glancing at Hermione, too. He had no idea why she had moved away from him, Ginny realised. Harry said the words, Ron, she thought happily, and Hermione knows that he did, that’s all it takes. Finally, just before half past midnight, Ron picked up Hermione’s shopping and took her back to the Burrow. She wanted to leave some Christmas presents at the Burrow before Apparating back to her parents’ house. Ginny turned to Harry and smiled. ‘Ron will keep Mum busy for a minute or two,’ she said, stepping up to him. ‘Thanks for a wonderful night, Harry, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He put his hands onto her hips, slid them under her jumper and around to the small of her back. ‘I thought that you were joking,’ he told her, ‘in Hogsmeade, when you told me that next time you wouldn’t wear the vest.’ His hands slid up her back to her shoulder blades, his fingers gently tracing her spine. ‘I was, at the time,’ she admitted, ‘but I had expected to see you before today.’ ‘Goodnight, gorgeous Ginny, I hope you sleep well, and that you have pleasant dreams,’ he said. He kissed her lightly on the nose and pulled his head back, grinning. ‘Not good enough,’ Ginny growled, eagerly seeking his lips. She wrapped a leg around his, preventing his escape, and, standing on tiptoe pulled his head towards hers. She felt his hands slide down and round onto her ribs, his thumbs moved up to caress soft flesh. She moved her hands downwards, hastily and violently untucked his shirt, and responded in kind, pressing herself tightly into him. When they finally parted, she gasped. ‘I’ll have some very pleasant dreams, I expect,’ she grinned, ‘bye, Harry.’ She took a pinch of Floo powder, throatily and reluctantly murmured, ‘The Burrow,’ and disappeared into the green flames. Harry hastily tucked in his shirt before Ron returned. |
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