I know a lot of you are itching to start figuring out how "who dun it" but they're short on leads. They are starting to work on it, though. It's been a slow build up but the pacing will increase from here on out.
Also the wedding is chapter 10. Stay tuned.
I hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the reviews! Everyone has been responded to and I'm open to comments and questions. Fire away. :)
~Sarah
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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: 139108; Chapter Total: 8565 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: |
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Sunday May 31st The previous three days had dragged for Ginny, even though she’d slept through most of it. Now with her energy coming back, thanks to a healthy dose of Luna and ridiculous witch’s novels, she was starting to regain ground and get things done, albeit from her bed. Martha’s visit had been brief and positive. Ginny had only lost 1lb but her rebound in strength made up for that. Ron and Hermione had stuck around to see the baby and Ginny was astonished to see her brother tear up in wonder. He denied it, of course, but she knew what she’d seen and she wasn’t going to take the mickey out of him for it. Ron had simply clapped Harry on the shoulder and cleared his throat. They hadn’t looked at each other, but she knew that the two best friends had shared a moment. Ron had had to go into the office again to work more on his training if he was going to have a chance of going with Hermione to Australia. Harry had been missing training since Thursday, but as Ron had ruefully told them, Harry didn’t need as much work to get up to snuff on defense against the dark arts. Harry had stuck around for the appointment as well, but then dashed to spend the morning with baby Teddy where he was told he had to stay until Ginny’s dress fitting was completed. Which is where Ginny was now; in her room getting fitted into the dress that she’d decided she wanted for her wedding dress. “You’ve lost so much weight,” Mrs. Weasley said ringing her hands as Ginny sat to take a small break. “No matter,” Madam Malkin said bracingly. She’d arrived with Hermione’s escort only twenty minutes before and Ginny was already wishing to be done. “I can fix the dress.” Luna helped Ginny to stand up again so that the seamstress could fix pins in the hem. Luna’s hand in Ginny’s was sure and steady. She didn’t let go, and thankfully Ginny didn’t fall. “Is that good enough?” Ginny asked, sitting again. “Honestly, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just something decent to wear is fine.” Madam Malkin looked scandalized. “I cannot let Harry Potter’s bride look ‘just good enough’! After all he and your family did for the wizarding world it would be an outrage.” Ginny bit back a groan. Hermione, sensing her mood, said, “I think Ginny’s just tired. The morning sickness has been really rough on her. Do you think you have enough pins to get the length?” Madam Malkin hesitated for only a moment before saying, “Yes, I think I do.” “Okay,” Ginny sighed in relief. “I really want to get out of this dress and take a nap.” In short order she was out of the dress, back into comfortable pajamas, given potion and a sandwich after which she promptly fell fast asleep. Dinner that night was a family affair again and this time even Percy came. Ginny felt better after her nap. Luna had read more of Matilda’s ridiculous tale to her and Hermione and it was like drinking liquid sunshine. “I really want to eat at the table,” Ginny said pleadingly. Harry had tried to resist but she’d agreed to let him carry her down, and while she didn’t actually sit at the table, they did move a reclining chair into door between the kitchen and sitting room so she could sit near the rest of the family and eat off a tray. It was enough and she enjoyed the huge ribbing that Ron and Harry had given George over Matilda’s novel. George told them the story of finding the novel in the Gryffindor common room and how much he and Fred had laughed over it. It was so good remembering Fred but Ginny saw the grief on everyone’s face, too. “I want to play midnight hide and go seek,” Luna piped in suddenly, completely out of the blue. “Come again?” Percy asked. “It’s a game my daddy and I have played many times. I was afraid of the dark after my mother died. It helped make it fun again,” she explained serenely. “We should play.” Everyone looked around at each other, not saying anything. George finally asked, “How do you play?” “We would dress in black and one person is ‘it’, and the other would go hide. You had five minutes to stay hidden, and then make it back to the base. If you make it back first without getting tagged, then you win.” Luna explained. “It is really very fun.” “I want to play,” Ginny piped in, watching George’s interested face. “I’m the keeper of base so I get to decide who wins.” She bit back a grin, knowing that to appease her, the rest of the family would play. Maybe this will help George. Fleur looked absolutely scandalized, which was also a point in favor of this silly game. It was agreed upon. Everyone changed clothes, and was ready to go by the time the sun set. Her mum decided to stay back at base as well. It was determined that Ron would be ‘it’ first and everyone was given a minute to hide. After that Ron went out to seek. Molly looked at her shrewdly. “Why did you want them to play?” “George wanted to,” Ginny said simply. “I could tell he was interested and he was looking so sad.” Her mother swallowed hard and nodded. After the five minutes were up she sent out the signal that everyone had to get back to base. Much hilarity, and attempts at cheating ensued. Luna won the first round, Harry the second and George the third. Ginny fell asleep during the fourth game. ~*~ Harry and Ron were neck and neck running full out towards the kitchen of the Burrow away from Arthur who was ‘it’ but didn’t have a hope of catching up. He refused to cheat and use tripping jinxes, unlike George, Bill and Ron had been doing all night. Ron’s long legs won the day and they arrived in the kitchen, breathless and laughing to find Fleur sitting calmly at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea next to a bemused Molly. Fleur’s smile was radiant. “I win.” “Hey!” Ron panted as Harry hung onto his one shoulder trying to catch his breath. “How… did you… beat us?” Fleur laughed and shook back her hair. “I ‘ave my ways.” Harry looked over and saw Ginny curled up in her chair, fast asleep. He grinned at her beautiful, peaceful face. She looked happy, even in sleep. Sucking in a huge breath, he finally felt his lungs let go of the constriction from running as the rest of the family poured in laughing. At first the idea of playing the game had seemed really childish, but because Ginny had wanted to they’d gone along. He was glad they had. They hadn’t had time for fun or games in years and it was a balm to the soul. Harry walked over and gently picked her up to carry her up to bed, tucking her in and reaching for more potion when the timer went off. “Good timing,” he whispered as she took it, not even waking up. He walked back down to find a slightly disheveled Hermione in Ron’s arms laughing hysterically at something George had said. “But you didn’t even win!” she giggled. George grinned good-naturedly. “It was worth it,” he assured her. Percy shook his head. “Magic is cheating.” “Only if you get caught,” Luna said evenly. “Apparation would be cheating, though.” They bickered on until well after midnight, drinking tea and enjoying each other for the first time in a long time. By the time everyone either left or went to bed Harry felt like a weight had come off of him. So much of the past year had been fear, death and funerals. They were going to have to play this game more often. ~*~ Monday June 1st The next morning he and Ron were out of the house early to get to the ministry for training. There was a steep learning curve that he, Ron, Susan Bones and a few of his former classmates were working towards. Harry hadn’t struggled as much as he would have thought and several times he’d been out on missions, searching for Death Eaters. It wasn’t as glamorous as one might think, but on the other hand it was more entertaining than most of his last year, spent fruitlessly looking for horcruxes and being completely out of touch with the wizarding world. “Welcome back, Potter,” Raeburn said as he and Ron walked in. “You have a lot to catch up on.” Harry nodded and they went straight into the training room to begin dueling. They were expected to master several spells a day in order to move on. They began, trading spells that they were supposed to have mastered the week before. Even for missing three days and having had his whole life turned upside down, Harry wasn’t struggling to keep up with Susan. Much of the practice involved speed of delivery and deflection of the curse, while completing them non-verbally. Ron was partnered up with Thomas Gregory, a tall man with sand colored hair. He was a Ravenclaw who had been a few years ahead of them in school. He’d began Auror training just a few months before the ministry had fallen and as a muggleborn he’d had to go into hiding. He’d been aiding Kingsley in the covert subversion of the Death Eaters and had joined in at the Battle of Hogwarts. He was a likeable enough bloke, but his sense of humor was limited. Having run from the Death Eaters himself, Harry could well imagine what he’d been through. Harry blocked a hex easily, nearly instantly firing back at Susan who was just a second too late. Her face erupted in painful boils. Before Harry could react, their instructor, Declan Blake had waved his wand and removed the hex. “Your reactions are still slow, Bones,” he said in his thick, Irish brogue. “Potter is fast but he’s not that fast yet. You need to stop hesitating.” Susan nodded, tucking a stray red curl behind her ear. “Yes, sir.” Before they could begin again, someone called from the door, “Potter, Weasley.” Harry turned and saw Robards in the door. “Yes sir?” “I need a word with both of you, now.” He barked and walked out. Harry and Ron looked at each other before heading towards the door of the gray walled training room. They quickly made their way towards their boss’s office. As soon as they walked in he snapped at them to close the door. They stood at attention until they were motioned to sit down. “Sorry about that,” Robards said more normally. “I needed you two in here without anyone becoming suspicious. Did you see the paper?” “Honestly, we’ve stopped looking,” Ron sighed. “It’s too depressing.” Robards handed over the paper to see a picture of Harry and Hermione in Diagon Alley. The caption read, ‘Potter’s stepping out’ by Rita Skeeter. Both Harry and Ron groaned. “This is just unbelievable,” Harry spat out. “I can’t believe she’s doing this, especially since we can nail her for being an unregistered animagus.” “She’s what?” Robards spluttered. Ron quickly explained how Hermione had discovered Rita’s secret. “Should we arrest her now?” Robards sat back, looking thoughtful. “Is Miss Granger going to work for the ministry after she finishes at Hogwarts?” Both Harry and Ron shrugged. Hermione was still waffling about what she wanted to do. “We’re not sure.” “Tell her we really want her here,” Robards said finally. “We need more brains like hers. She figured that out at 15 years old, you say?” They both grinned at each other. “I’ll try to persuade her,” Ron promised. “But when she’s made up her mind about something there isn’t much we can do.” “I understand. What do you want to do about Rita?” Robards asked, looking at Harry. “This is your life she’s fiddling with.” Harry didn’t have to think long. “I want to monitor her. She somehow got information that she shouldn’t have and she might know more about who is after Ginny.” “I have to admit I was thinking the same thing. Alright, your first solo assignment,” Robards said clasping his hands together on his oak desk. “I can’t assign anyone else because this is highly classified and there is the possibility that one of the other Aurors is involved. You two are going to watch Skeeter and see what intel you can get. You’re going to tell everyone else that I reprimanded the pair of you for speaking the press and that I’m sending you off to follow some dead end assignment as punishment.” His grin was cynical. “They all think I’m a bastard enough to do it, so you should be able to pull this off.” He handed them a scrap of paper with an address on it. “This is where she lives.” “Thank you, sir,” Harry said. He and Ron stood, put on their sulkiest expressions and walked from the room to tell everyone else that they were being sent out in the field to follow a little old witch. As they left the ministry Ron asked, “How do we want to go about doing this?” “We can’t be on her all the time,” Harry mulled. “We need to sleep at some point and there is no back up since only you, me, Kingsley and Robards knows why we’re going to follow her.” They walked further along the muggle streets entering the same alley that they used to store the stunned Mafalda Hopkirk. Harry looked at the address, and grinned. “She lives in muggle London, not far from here.” “Seriously?” Ron said, goggling at the piece of paper. “Let’s head over to Grimmauld Place and work out a strategy.” After Apparating to Harry’s house, they went in, waited for the phantom Dumbledore to run at them, and went down to the kitchens. “I can’t wait to see your new house,” Ron told him. “I’m glad you’re not moving Ginny here. This place wouldn’t be good for her health.” Harry got out parchment and quills from one of the cupboards and spread them out on the table. “No, nor mine come to that. This place isn’t exactly full of happy memories. You’ll like the new place. We can play Quidditch out back without any chance of Muggles spotting us.” Ron looked like he was going to make a crack but then his face went blank. “Blood hell, Harry. We’re going to be teaching your kid to play Quidditch in a few years. My niece or nephew.” Harry felt nerves jitter up his spine. “It’s scary. Ron grinned at him. “Pretty brilliant too.” “Yeah?” Harry asked tentatively. He’d been under the impression that Ron wasn’t too keen on the baby. “Definitely,” Ron assured him. “Way earlier than I’d have liked, but nothing goes according to plan with you. Now, about Skeeter. We could split up, take alternating twelve hour shifts for a few days,” Ron said, scratching his long nose. “We need an idea of the lay out of her street. Do we still have those muggle maps from when we were going to break into the ministry?” “Let me check,” Harry said going over to another cabinet and pulling it open. All of the neatly stacked maps were still there. “Yes! Thank you Hermione.” He flipped through them until he found the one he was looking for. They opened it up on the table and Harry looked over it until he found the right street. “Right here, it’s about… well, it’s only about five blocks from here.” “That’s an odd coincidence,” Ron said slowly. “She can’t know about this place, right?” “Nah,” Harry said. “Even if she did she couldn’t get in.” Ron shivered. “Imagine living this close to that evil cow.” It was decided that they would spend three days following her in twelve hour shifts. Ron would take the night shifts, Harry the day and they’d use Grimmauld Place as a base. “You need to be back in the evenings for Ginny,” Ron argued. “My sister needs you and we don’t need her knowing what we’re doing. She’s stuck in bed so she’s not going to notice if I’m not home.” It put an end to any further protests Harry might have offered. Harry and Ron disguised their features and changed into muggle attire. Even after only a few weeks of intense training they’d made significant strides in learning how to effectively disguise themselves. They took a casual stroll around Skeeter’s block, located her flat which was above a muggle sweet shop, and made their way back to Grimmauld Place to make some notes. Harry got out his invisibility cloak and set off to keep tabs on Skeeter while Ron stayed at the house to catch a nap. They would trade off at 6pm. It was very dull and possibly fruitless. Rita might be leaving straight from her flat either by floo or disapparation, but in this case they had no cause to search her house, so observation was the only route open to them. Right at 5pm he got lucky. Skeeter came down the street with a take-out bag from a local Chinese restaurant. Her hair was perfect, her clothes decidedly muggle. Her jeweled spectacles flashed in the rays of the setting sun as she entered the doorway that led up to her flat and a minute later and light flicked on behind the drawn curtains in the flat above. At five minutes to 6pm Harry walked over to an alleyway that he and Ron has spotted earlier to give Ron the invisibility cloak. He quickly relayed what had happened and clapped Ron on the shoulder before his best friend threw on the cloak. “Tell Hermione, okay?” Ron asked. “I was going to let her know but I was knackered and didn’t make it home to tell her what’s going on.” “I will,” Harry promised. He apparated back to the top step of Grimmauld Place and quickly sketched out notes on what he’d seen happen. He stepped over to the fireplace to floo over to the Burrow. He arrived to find Mrs. Weasley in a cooking frenzy. “Hey,” he said, coming over to the kitchen. “What-” “Ginny really wanted pot roast and the poor dear lost another pound so I’m willing to make up anything she wants,” she told him quickly. Then Molly paused to look at him and smiled. “She’s missed you today, even if she won’t say it. Go on up and spend some time with her.” Harry didn’t need to be told twice. He grinned and hurried up the stairs. The second he entered the room Hermione hopped to her feet and scooted out with a hurried, “Hi, Harry.” “Hey,” he said, drinking in Ginny’s lovely face as he walked over. He kicked off his shoes and lay down next to her, pulling her into his arms. Her amazing smell enveloped him and he closed his eyes, totally relaxing for the first time that day. “I missed you.” “I missed you too,” Ginny said into his shoulder. “How was training?” He shrugged, feeling a slight twinge that he was censoring his day. “Boring; it was all review. I’m going to need to study tonight. Not until you’re asleep, though.” Harry leaned down to kiss her, heat seeping through him. “I definitely want to spend time with you.” “Me too,” she whispered against his lips. They spent a few happy moments reconnecting. When they broke apart for air, Harry asked, “How was your appointment with the midwife?” “It was okay,” Ginny told him, stretching a bit. Harry had to will his eyes not to travel down, trying not to notice her body as she moved. “The baby looks good, which is great. I still lost another pound. That puts me down 6lbs in four days which is not what she wants to see.” He studied her features. If he really looked he could see that her cheeks were looking hollow and when he ran a hand along her side he could feel her ribs more easily. “You’ll start to gain soon. At least the weight loss has slowed.” He hoped he sounded reassuring. “Yeah,” Ginny said linking her fingers in his. Her engagement ring sparkled as he brought her hand up for a kiss and he was reminded inexplicably of Rita’s glasses. Wanting to put that out of his mind he said, “We’re going to be married in five days.” “It seems a little bit surreal,” Ginny said. “If you’d asked me two months ago what my life would be like this summer, I’d have said that I hoped to get to see you one more time.” “Now you’re going to be stuck with me forever,” he laughed. “Including all the crazy press.” She rolled her eyes, dismissing it. “I don’t care what they say and I’m sure they will say a lot of ridiculous things. I love you, you love me and I know your character. That’s what matters. The famous you that everyone thinks they know is only about a third of the real you.” “Oh yeah?” He asked, amused at her assessment. “What don’t they know?” Ginny smiled like a cat that ate the gnome. “They don’t know how sweet you are or that you’re a great kisser.” “I’m going to keep it that way,” Harry promised. |
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