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The First Year, An Almost Happily Ever After Story | ||||||
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Category: Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 103 Summary: Fairy tales end “And They Lived Happily Ever After,” but wars end with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. Someone is taking hostages and wants to kill Harry and everyone close to him. Follow our favorite characters as they rebuild their lives the first year after the war, Harry as he becomes an Auror and finds out that life as a hero has its own challenges, Ginny as she finds out that having all your dreams come true does not solve all your problems, and the rest of the Weasley clan as they start to rebuild their lives. Hitcount: Story Total: 96940; Chapter Total: 2580 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: One more chapter to go, but Broomsticks and Bad Guys will start as soon as this story is done. |
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May 10 Ginny received two owls. One was from the sports agent who had been negotiating the contract with the Harpies. Ginny needed to come with him Tuesday morning and sign a contract with the Holyhead Harpies. He was going to show up in the morning, and take her back to the Harpies with him for the signing and publicity photographs. They would be done after a nice formal lunch. Ginny should bring her Firebolt broom but be wearing her Hogwarts uniform. The other was from Jack K who needed Ginny to finish decorating the house at Grimmauld Place. Ginny showed both letters to Minerva McGonagall, who gave her permission to be gone all day and longer if she had to be. Ginny eventually found time to floo to Grimmauld Place and call Jack K, and they agreed to meet Tuesday afternoon. Jack did say that he could probably use Ginny all of Wednesday as well. Ginny was almost bursting with excitement when Harry showed up for dinner. “I’m going to sign a contract with the Harpies tomorrow morning and then tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday Jack and I are going to finish picking out things for the house and we can spend tomorrow night in OUR OWN BEDROOM!” Harry said. “It looks like the house is almost finished. They delivered all the appliances and put them in.” “Did you see the refrigerator?” Ginny asked. “Mum has a refrigerator and even a freezer, but they are just bigger versions of the wooden ones we had at the old Burrow. Ours are all white and stainless steel and when you open the doors lectric lights come on! There is even a place in the door that, when you press a lever, ice comes out. It’s real impressive magic! You can get ice or water, right on the door! And you don’t have to fill up trays with water. It does it all magically!” “My mum has a refrigerator like that,” Hermione said. “It’s a common Muggle device.” “It’s a Muggle thing, not Goblin made or magic?” Ginny asked, shocked that Muggles could make such things. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a Muggle Ice Maker,” Harry said. Ginny looked at Harry in amazement, thinking of all the amazing Muggle things she was learning about. Harry continued, “The house is full of Muggle and magical things working together. It will be nice to be in the house together tomorrow. I’ll see you at lunch. The Harpies have invited me to have lunch as they celebrate signing their famous new Chaser. I’ll come to Grimmauld Place after work.” “What about your classes?” Hermione asked Ginny. “It’s just review for our N.E.W.T.S., and I know enough to pass,” Ginny said. “It’s not like I need fantastic grades or anything. I’m going to play for the Harpies!” “And then?” asked Hermione. “I told you before, make babies with Harry,” Ginny said, giggling. “I don’t need any N.E.W.T.S. for that.” Hermione just shook her head. Ginny met the sports agent at the Potter Estate offices Tuesday morning, and from there they took the floo to the Harpies. The Harpies had a sports complex that included a full size Quidditch field for training, with a few spectator seats, and a number of other buildings. There was a dormitory, dining hall, and a large well equipped weight and exercise room. Gwen Jones and a couple of the business people, all witches, met Ginny. Ginny was not too surprised that Cindy Base and her photographer were there, but there seemed to be a hundred news people there. Ginny signed the contract in her Hogwarts uniform, and then had to change into three different Harpies garments for photographs. Everyone wanted photographs of her on her Firebolt broom. Gwen eventually waved one of the other players over. “Ginny, this is Donna Lionheart. Donna is our best chaser. She’s married too, and purchased one of the first Firebolts.” Donna looked skeptically at Ginny, but with a sigh mounted her broom so they could take publicity photographs. After the Firebolt Broom Company was done with them a witch from Cover Witch Cosmetics introduced herself. She wanted to furnish Ginny with lipstick, and even make a special Ginny Potter shade. “We are sure it will be a big seller,” she explained. Ginny seldom wore much makeup, but they did pick out a lipstick shade that enhanced her appearance. “Wear it during the game and when you are out in public and you will share in some advertising revenue,” the witch explained. “We will need to take a few more publicity photographs.” “Better take it, girly,” Donna said. “Any advertising money usually stops as soon as you retire from the game.” “We are still using Bill in our ads,” the Cover Witch Cosmetics witch commented, but Donna just mumbled, “You’d forget about him if I wasn’t playing.” Shortly before lunch Ginny was introduced to the rest of the team, and they to her. As soon as Harry showed up there was another rush of picture taking. After lunch almost all of the witches wanted to meet the famous Harry Potter. The Potters finally got away about two, Harry back to work and Ginny to Grimmauld Place. All the furniture was in the house, but Ginny needed to learn how to rearrange the Drawing Room, bringing some furniture out of storage and sending other furniture to storage. The magic was done so a house elf could also rearrange the furniture, and Mabel was pretty good at it, but Ginny needed to know how as well. There were also photographs and paintings to be hung, formal dishes for the dining room and less formal dishes for the kitchen eating area to be picked out, and a lot of little details that needed to be done before Ginny and Jack would consider the house FINISHED. Ginny was thrilled. By Wednesday afternoon the house would be HER house, a house she and Harry could live in and, she hoped, raise a family in. Tuesday night Mabel insisted on fixing dinner, and Harry and Ginny ate in the dining room. It was going to be lonely with just the two of them, so Harry insisted that the house elves eat with them. Kreacher seemed used to eating with humans, and Dobedo never minded, but Mabel was horrified, sitting at the same table as the master. Azalea sat next to Kreacher so quietly you could forget that she was there. After dinner Mabel vanished the dishes and the house elves took their leave. Ginny told Harry, “We can arrange this room with a lot of chairs and a long table, or just a few.” She then proceeded to demonstrate several variations of table size and number of chairs. “We should leave them like this when we are through if possible, because this is the size of table and number of chairs that we purchased.” Harry smiled at Ginny, who was obviously enjoying telling Harry how the house functioned. They went next door to the library/living room and Ginny proceeded to tell and show Harry how the furniture could be arranged there. “This can be your desk,” she said, as she showed Harry a nice working desk set against one wall. “When I vanish it and then make it reappear all the papers and books and everything are just like you left them.” “What’s that for?” asked Harry. “Keeping children away from your work,” Ginny said. “Teddy?” Harry asked. “And our children, and all their cousins,” Ginny said, with an expression that flickered between snarky and wistful. They went up to the big Drawing room, and again Ginny had to show Harry how she could arrange the room. They ended up in a love seat facing the fireplace. “You really love this house, Ginny,” Harry said. “I can see it in the way you talk, in your smile, in everything.” Ginny got a little reflective. “I think every little girl, well almost every one, dreams of having her own house someday. I know I did. Did you ever dream of your own house, your own family?” “No, I really never thought about having my own house.” Harry replied. “By the last couple of years at Hogwarts it was hard to think about even living beyond, after, … everything was focused on Riddle.” “Just imagine Christmas, stockings hung right there, a stocking for Harry, one for Ginny, how about a boy and a girl, James and Lilly, stockings right there. We will be awakened by little voices saying, ‘Mummy, Daddy, get UP, it’s Cissmas!” Harry laughed, then got pensive again. “I’m not sure I ever felt at home anywhere. I was just a student at Hogwarts, and knew that would end. I was just a guest at your parents’ house, although they did everything they could to make me feel at home.” It was Harry’s time for a snarky smile. “They even let me have SEX with their daughter in their house.” “After we were married,” Ginny replied, the biggest smile on her face. “I think it’s time to try out OUR bedroom.” “In OUR house,” Harry said. “Our HOME, we’re HOME, Harry,” Ginny replied. “Home,” said Harry. It felt pretty good. HOME. “Let’s go up to the bedroom,” Ginny said. Ginny excitedly let Harry up to their bedroom. The room dazzled. Harry had seen the plans, approved things as Ginny had picked out or commissioned, but it was all pictures and descriptions. The room as a whole was much brighter, much more colorful, and much more modern and edgy than he had anticipated. They bathed and played in the two person tub, finished off with a shower in the large two person shower, Harry washing Ginny’s hair and reveling in the smell of the shampoo and the feel of Ginny’s body next to his. They spent a LOT of time in bed before going to sleep. Ginny went into her N.E.W.T.S as relaxed as she had ever gone into testing, knowing that she didn’t have to do well to play for the Harpies, and as a result did very well indeed. Harry heard rumours at the Ministry that Hermione had done so well that they were thinking of making a special award or grade. Hogwarts didn’t have anything like Summa Cum Laude awards, but there were murmurs that maybe they should. Hogwarts didn’t hold any special graduation ceremonies. You just went home, and found out the results of your N.E.W.T.S. later, and went on with your life. So Saturday, instead of taking the train back, Harry and Ginny used the Floo and moved everything that was in Hogwarts to Grimmauld Place, and Hermione moved everything from her room back to the apartment she shared with Ron. “I need to do some things for Harry and the International Council of Witches and Wizards. Then I’m going to take a little time off,” Hermione said, “and start work at the Ministry a week after Ron and I get married.” By Sunday afternoon Harry and Ginny finished moving into their newly remodelled house at 12 Grimmauld Place. Everything was new and fresh, and it looked very much like they had imagined it with Jack K. Harry enjoyed all the modern conveniences. He loved magic, but there was a different kind of magic to turning on an electric light, getting news from the television or just watching a television show. There was a private branch of the Internet available to wizards with the right passwords, and Harry missed having it available; the new house was wired for internet as well as electricity. None of these modern conveniences worked in the presence of too many wizards, especially ones who had not been raised in Muggle households. Ginny found that she had to pay attention or she could cause the lights to flicker when she used magic. All 4 house elves were there to help, and Mabel was delighted that she had a couple to serve. Harry and Ginny told Mabel that she could also serve by making sure Kreacher and Dobedo had food and were taken care of. She assured them that no one in the household would go hungry while she was there! Mabel was suspicious of Azalea, although Azalea was as shy and quiet as possible, and spent much of her time at the New Burrow. The attic rooms for the house elves had electric lights as well as gas lights. Kreacher was getting old and really liked the bright electric lights to help him see, although he had to work to control his magic. Azalea liked anything that Kreacher liked, although she also had to work hard to control her magic. Dobedo liked anything that Harry Potter liked. And all this modern stuff drove Mabel crazy; she muttered around the house for weeks complaining how this was just not a proper Wizard house with all these Muggle things in it. Harry went back at work Monday. There was nothing significant going on. Harry had time to write down goals for the next year. Top among the goals was learning how to make maps. Everyone thought that if he could duplicate the Marauders Map for other locations it would be a big help for the Auror Department, and for the magical community in general. This would mean a lot of time going over his parents notes, plus any notes or other information he could find from anyone else. Ginny spent the week trying to get the house settled. There were books to arrange in the library. She also needed to re-learn how to work the telly and she made the first attempts to learn how to use a computer. Ginny had to work on controlling her magic, and there were discretely placed magic monitors at a few locations in the house to help her. Wednesday night Al VanLente came over, accompanied by his wife Caroline. “I’ve talked to the North American Ministry” Al said. “I want to give the Aurors protecting you some time off. The Ministry is going to provide two couples to guard you while you are in North America. They will meet you up north where the European floo network ends and the North American closet network begins. They can take you to New York City to visit the Ministry there. New York is always worth seeing.” Harry looked at Ginny. “Whatever you want,” Ginny said. Harry replied, “All right, we start in New York City.” “How about going from there to Chicago. There are a lot of things to do in Chicago,” Al said, “I’m not sure I want to go from city to city doing things,” Ginny said. “Is there any place where we can just relax?” “For just relaxing there is nothing like lying on the shore of Lake Michigan on the sand soaking up the sun and doing nothing,” Al said. “Be sure to bring swimming suits, and be sure to have them teach you the charms to keep you warm in the water. Lake Michigan can be quite cold, even in July.” “I get sunburn easily,” Ginny said. “I guess I need to take lotion to keep from getting burned.” “Oh yes, with the sun reflecting off the water it’s easy to get sunburned,” Caroline agreed. “Come to our cottage,” Al said. “The house will be ready for you. We have about two hundred feet of Lake Frontage. It looks to Muggles like there are two big houses and a smattering of outbuildings, but we have thirty cottages hidden on the property. My father is retired and living in the cottage we stay at.” There is one other city I would like you to see, San Francisco,” Al said. “That is where we have our Wizarding College, and where Herodotus Budziszewski teaches. You really ought to go there. I have a distant relative who grows organic wine some miles north, and it is worthwhile to go there and see the Redwood Forests as well.” Harry and Ginny spent most of the evening planning their vacation. Thursday afternoon Harry came home for lunch and then retired to the library to see if he could identify all the books and notes that had anything to do with the mapping. Ginny stayed in the library for a while, but when Harry got engrossed in one of the books she left and wandered down stairs. Ginny ended up in the sub-basement, looking at the Potions room, admiring it. It looked as well equipped as the Potions classroom at Hogwarts, but it was far nicer. She went up to the kitchen. It was as well-equipped as the kitchen in the New Burrow, far bigger and better than the kitchen she grew up with. Mabel was busy doing something. Ginny knew her mother never had house elf help even when she was raising Ginny and her brothers, and here she was not quite eighteen, no children, and a house elf. Ginny climbed back to the level of the Formal Dining Room and Library. The furniture was new, elegant, yet practical. You could hold a formal party, but nothing looked so delicate you could not have children around it. Ginny and Harry had kidded about Happily Ever After, but walking through the house it was hard not to feel something like she was living her Happily Ever After. Ginny wandered up to the big Drawing Room. It was going to be a key living area of the house, Ginny just knew. It was big enough and the furniture arrangements were flexible enough to use for almost any occasion. She spent some time looking at the Tapestry. The more she looked the more she saw; there was an amazing amount of detail. Apparently if you ‘turned it on’ there were symbols to tell if a person was safe or in danger, if they were traveling or at work or at home. Harry’s symbol said he was working and at home. Charlie’s showed some danger, but he was working with dragons, so that should be expected. Most of the rest of the family was ‘at home’ or ‘at work’ but not in any danger. Ginny’s was just ‘at home.’ HOME! She almost cried, she was so happy. Ginny wandered up to the next level and sat on the big bed she and Harry shared. … After some moments of dreaming about her and Harry, planning for the night ahead, Ginny went to Teddy’s room. She really wanted babies with Harry, but not yet, not yet. On up to the next level, and the next, empty bedrooms. Not yet, not yet, but some day. |
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