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SIYE Time:11:33 on 28th March 2024
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The Space Between
By YelloWitchGrl

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Category: Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB, Post-DH/PM
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Humor, 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
Rating: R
Reviews: 559
Summary: Harry and Ginny's lives have finally evened out. They've faced trauma, and loss, more than most have, but they've fought hard to find a normal.

If only things could stay that way... Old enemies find new ways to seek revenge.

This story is the sequel to Bound. It would be extremely helpful if you read that first.

Warnings are to be safe. It's probably overkill. Please message me if you have any questions or concerns.
Hitcount: Story Total: 352139; Chapter Total: 3673
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
I KNOW it's been forever since I posted a chapter. I know. My paying work-life goes in waves of insanity to calm. It's just how it goes. I have plans to write ahead in the next several weeks to keep from going more than a month between postings, but if I don't, then this fall will get entertaining because it's going to be a nightmare.

Thank you Arnel for beta'ing!!

Did you know you can find me on Facebook??? Look for Sarah Jaune (be sure you spell it right) and you can find my author's page. I post updates on my original stores AND fanfiction story progress.




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“You have to be joking…” Al said weakly as he stared at the announcement on the notice board that had appeared after dinner the first week in December, declaring that the night before the end of term they were to have a ball.

A ball!

“What?” Nat asked as she sidled up next to him and read the notice. “Oh. Well…”

Scorpius, who read the thing over the top of Nat’s head snorted in annoyance. “Of course, they’d saddle us with something like that! We’ve all had a rough few months, and now this? I didn’t even bring dress robes with me.”

“I don’t have dress robes,” Nat pointed out.

“Neither do I,” Al agreed.

“None of you can read,” Rose informed them as she came up to the small knot of people. “Dress robes not required. Any form of dress is acceptable. See?” she said as she pointed to the fine print. “I think this is mostly the excuse for a feast.”

“But with dancing?” Al asked his cousin. “Who thought up this idea?”

“The Head Girl and Boy,” Rose replied with a sigh. “I just ran into her in the loo.” She brushed at her curly auburn locks and made an impatient motion to the notice. “You don’t have to go. No one has to go, but everyone is welcome which is a nice switch. Most of the time when they throw a ball they leave out the younger students.”

“When was the last time Hogwarts held a ball?” Scorpius wondered.

Rose’s face fell. “I think it was the twentieth anniversary after the Battle of Hogwarts. We have another one of those coming up this May 2nd, but that will only be for adults and the sixth and seventh years.”

They all fell silent. None of them would have wanted to go anyway. Al had lost his uncle Fred in that battle. Teddy had lost both of his parents. It was not a party to celebrate so much as a time to remember.

“Actually,” Al said as he did the math in his head. “It’s only going to be 2022 this year. That’s only twenty four years, not twenty five. The ball will be our sixth year.”

“Which is splendid,” Nat announced gloomily. “They’ll likely make us go and we’ll have to get dress robes for it.”

“What do we do about this ball?” Scorpius wanted to know.

“Nothing!” Al protested vehemently. “Who cares?”

It turned out that absolutely everyone else cared, quite a bit, even if they were all pretending not to show it. The entire school was buzzing like a nest of angry pixies as couples paired off to go and others were left to cry to their friends how so-and-so was going with another girl (or boy).

Al was heartily sick of the whole thing within twenty-four hours.

He had two girls ask him to go with them, but he declined both as the entire idea of having a date made him vaguely uncomfortable. He kept waiting for his friends to find a date, but none of them did.

Days went by and by the time their exams were on them everyone over third year who didn’t have a date was considered the biggest loser in the school.

“We’re all losers,” Rose agreed as she dropped down at the table in the library where they were all studying.

Andrew cleared his throat and they all looked at him. “I have a date,” he told them with a small grimace.”

“How did we not hear about that?” Rose demanded as she poked him in the arm.

Scorpius laughed and shook his head. “You don’t hear everything.”

“It’s Penny, from my house,” Andrew said and they all fell silent.

Penny had been seriously injured in the bombing of the Hogwarts Express and she’d had a tough time the whole year with panic attacks and nightmares. Everyone knew it. Everyone.

Rose patted his hand. They all understood why he was going with her. “Well, you’re still technically a loser since I know you don’t actually fancy her.”

Andrew grinned wryly. “I hear Lily has had twenty boys ask her to the ball.”

Al’s whole body stiffened in irritation as he thought of all the boys she’d already turned down. “She’s still so young!”

“She’s thirteen,” Nat reminded him. “That’s not so young.”

“You know what I mean,” Al replied tiredly. “She just acts so young. She’s not… she’s not… I dunno…”

“Speaking of,” Rose said as she waved.

Al looked around to see his sister heading their way, a silent Honor right behind her, an expression of consternation on her face. “What’s up with you?”

“I have decided,” she said as she stopped at the end of their table, “that Scorpius is going to take me to the ball.”

Silence fell around them.

“I am?” Scorpius finally managed to squeak out.

Al glanced to him and saw his expression was completely blank and turned back to Lily. “You can’t exactly dictate who goes where with you.”

“In this case I can,” Lily said firmly as she took a seat next to Rose. “The boys are simply not leaving me alone and I don’t want to go with any of them. Scorpius isn’t my brother or my cousin, so he can take me. You don’t have a date,” she said to him. It wasn’t a question.

“No,” he managed to reply weakly. Al’s best friend let out a small sigh. “Why not?”

Lily smiled gratefully. “Now, I just need to tell Ella Fitzhugh and everyone else will leave me alone.”

Scorpius waved a hand as she stood and made her way out of the library with her best friend.

“The whole school will know in an hour,” Rose mused thoughtfully. “Ella cannot keep her mouth shut to save her life. That was clever.”

“I could take her,” Al told Scorpius. “You don’t have to.”

To his surprise his friend’s expression froze for a solid second before he relaxed into his seat. “If you take her, none of the other blokes will take it seriously that she’s not available. She can always break it off with her brother.”

“So that leaves me, Al, and Nat as the losers,” Rose sighed heavily. “I feel more loser-ish every second.”

“At least you’ve had people ask you,” Nat muttered under her breath.

Al turned to Nat and saw her staring at her parchment, scribbling away at the essay they had due in the morning.

“Oh, Nat…” Rose reached out for her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Nat shook her head and snatched up her things. “I’m tired. I think I’ll turn in early.”

Al began to stand, but Rose shot him a look and he sat back in his seat at Nat hurried from the library.

“What was that?” Andrew wondered.

“She’s not had anyone ask her,” Rose told him quietly. “I’ve turned down three boys, none of which I liked even a little, but she hasn’t been asked once. I think it’s getting to her.”

Al stared after her and turned back to his cousin, determination setting hard into his gut. “You’re going to be the loser alone in this, Rosie.”

Rose let out a short laugh and shook her head. “I don’t mind, Al. I think you should ask her.”

“You’re going to ask Nat to go with you?” Scorpius asked him.

All at once, the realization of what he’d decided hit him like a mountain troll and panic set in fast and hard. “Yeah, like as friends, you know?”

Scorpius slowly nodded his head. “Right, like friends.”

“Friends,” Al repeated lamely and then forced himself to shut up before he made a bigger arse of himself.

By the time he had a chance to ask Nat to go with him, he’d talked himself out of it seven times. He finally managed to get her alone after lunch the next day and of course as he stumbled out the words, she rolled her eyes.

Because that was exactly what he needed.

“I’m not going to be your pity date!” Nat told him flatly. “You’d never want to go with me otherwise if you didn’t feel sorry for me.”

Fury, frustration, and sheer bafflement had him shaking his head. “Don’t be daft! I wouldn’t want to go with anyone but you! With another girl it would be terrible and awkward!”

She shook her head and for a moment her strawberry blonde hair dropped to cover her eyes before she pushed it away from her face. “So, it’s okay because we’re friends?”

“Yes!” he agreed feeling relieved that she understood. He didn’t want her to get the wrong impression or to think he might like her that way, even though he did… it would ruin everything if she knew.

Nat was silent for so long that they were interrupted as James stormed over to Al and punched him hard in the shoulder. “What’s this I hear about Scorpius taking Lily to the ball?”

Both Nat and Al turned to look at his fuming older brother and studied his irate expression. “Is that so bad?” Nat wondered.

“He’s two years older than she is!” James pointed out in exasperation.

Al decided to take pity on him. “Lily marched into the library yesterday and informed Scorpius he is taking her to the ball so that all the other blokes will leave her alone.”

James’ face instantly relaxed. “This was Lily’s idea?”

They both nodded.

“Well,” he said more cheerfully. “It’s actually a clever plan. Alright then,” he concluded and walked away.

Al just shook his head as he turned back to Nat. “Come on, Leah,” he said with a bit of cajoling. “It’s not as though I’m the worst date in the world.”

Something on her face shifted to an expression he couldn’t quite understand before she crossed her arms and nodded. “Alright then.”

~*~

Harry and Ginny sat at their kitchen table staring at the small elf before them as the last light of day faded into the horizon. They’d had to beg her to sit down. Polly had arrived in the house, several days before the end of term, and the nerves which were washing off of her were practically visible. “What’s the matter, Polly?” Ginny asked again, very gently as she leaned towards the small elf.

Polly had been coming to help them with the children for years and Harry had to admit he didn’t know how they’d have managed without her. With how complicated Nat’s condition was, they needed all the help they could get. He and Ginny didn’t mind the extra work involved with the child, of course. She was Al’ friend and that was reason enough to help her. Certainly, Harry knew what it was like to impose himself on a family and yet never feel like they minded. The Weasleys had done that for him without a second thought and he was eternally grateful to this day. He’d actually put their lives in danger, whereas Nat simply needed help. She was not a threat as long as her secret abilities to see magic were kept quiet.

But of course, the truth of the matter was they were the ones who were going to primarily care for Nat from here on out. It was impossible for her parents to manage her medical needs for more than a short period. She was no longer needing a feeding line, and they had her diet figured out, but she was still fragile. She might always be fragile. Ron had asked him once if he minded, but as Harry pointed out to Ron, Molly and Arthur had done more for him than they’d done for Nat. It was the right thing to do.

So, they waited patiently and part of Harry hoped Polly wasn’t going to say to them that she didn’t want to come back to their house because she felt like part of the family now.

“Polly?” Harry prompted.

It took Polly another minute to speak. “I… I is wanting to work for you forever.”

Surprised, Harry and Ginny looked at each other, then back to the elf. “Forever?” Ginny repeated. “It’s just us here, you know. We don’t have much to do.”

“I can help out with the whole family,” Polly went on quickly. “I is… I is…” Then big, fat tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “I is going to have a baby. I want to work here when I do. I is still going to be a good worker!” she went on quickly.

Now truly stunned, Harry could only blink in surprise. “I mean… of course, you can if you like. What brought this on?”

But Polly couldn’t seem to stop crying so Ginny scooted around the table to put her arm around her. “Of course, you can stay! Harry will go to Hogwarts right now to arrange things, alright?”

And thus ordered, Harry did just that and arrived at the school during dinner. He waved to his kids as he motioned to Anthony that he needed a word. Ten minutes later they were ensconced in the headmaster’s office as Anthony poured them both a drink. “I have a crying elf in my house,” Harry told him as he swirled the liquid in his glass. “She wants to come work for us full time.”

Anthony’s brow rose as he sat on the edge of his desk. “Polly, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Harry confirmed. “She says she’s having a baby and wants to come work for us.”

“Ah,” Anthony let out a long sigh. “Yes, if she wants to work for you then of course she’s free to. I hate their enslavement but most of them won’t have it any other way.”

“What brought this on?” Harry demanded sharply. “She’s been perfectly fine before this.”

Anthony snorted derisively. “Maybe you can get Hermione to fix this. I hadn’t thought of it before, but frankly most of them just don’t care. They want to serve.”

“What?” Harry asked, completely lost.

“The Ministry needs new elves,” Anthony informed him. “Most of theirs are dying and they need new ones. I’ve been ordered to hand over all new elves, as soon as they’re old enough to leave their mothers to be trained.” His obvious distaste was evident on his face. “I tried to argue, tried to tell them we could ask for volunteers to go! Certainly, I have a few who wouldn’t mind going to serve at the Ministry. But I was informed they wanted the young ones so they could be trained from early on. Some arse in the Ministry is being a right bastard about the whole thing and my appeals do not appear to be making any headway. I haven’t been headmaster long enough to have any real clout, of course, but you do and you can make this go away.”

Hermione was going to have an absolute fit.

“Since Polly hasn’t yet given birth,” Anthony went on cheerfully, “I can sign her over to you without a single thing registering with the Ministry. In fact,” he said as he went to find a form in his desk. “Let me make that official right now and transfer ownership. She can give birth in peace and her baby will belong to your family.”

Hermione was going to have an absolute fit about him owning a house-elf, too, but she’d have to get over that.

“What a mess,” Harry sighed heavily as he signed the magical contract for the elf and all her descendants.

Harry went home first and showed Polly the paper saying she now belonged to the Potters and she cried, yet again. Harry begged her to let them free her, but she flat out refused. He finally managed to secure her promise that if she ever wanted to be freed, she would ask them.

Ginny had tried to give her a bedroom, but she’d insisted on staying the cupboard under the stairs which she’d been using and that had once belonged to Kreacher before his death many years before.

“A baby…” Harry muttered as he used the Floo to contact Hermione. “I need to talk to you,” he told her tersely as she came wandering into the kitchen in her bathrobe.

“Right now?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

“Absolutely right now,” he informed her curtly.

“Come on through, then,” she sighed as she moved to put the kettle on to boil.

By the time he was sitting in their spacious kitchen, Ron had made it home from work.

“I took the day off,” Hermione told Harry as she handed him a cup of tea and she put Ron’s supper on the table. “It’s been non-stop for months and I haven’t had a day off since the start of term.”

He’d known she was working hard, but not quite how hard. “I’m sorry.”

“I am, too,” she agreed as she sat and took a sip of her tea. “Now tell me what’s up.”

He told her, although he regretted he was adding one more thing to her already full plate.

Ron, predictably, found it hilarious that they now owned a pregnant house-elf.

Hermione’s outrage was exactly what Harry could have predicted. “No!”

“Yes,” Harry confirmed. “I’ll fix it, but I don’t know who to go to.”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll take care of it. I might need you to go to the press, of course. You make an impression more than I do, but I think I know exactly who the sanctimonious prick is who decided this was a good idea and I’ve wanted a reason to squash him like a bug for years now.”

Ron patted her hand cheerfully. “You go get him.”

Hermione let out a weak laugh. “It shouldn’t take long. One talk with the Minister, who I think will see it our way, and we should be good, but just in case–”

“Just in case, I’ll be ready to go to the press. Thanks, Hermione,” Harry told her sincerely. “It feels really weird to own someone. I don’t much like it, but it was a way to keep her with her baby, so I wasn’t about to say no.”

“You did the right thing,” Hermione said with a troubled voice. “But you shouldn’t have had to. Maybe she’ll want you to sign her back over to Hogwarts once we have this all straightened out.”

She didn’t want to go back to Hogwarts, as it turned out. Hermione had the entire situation sorted before lunch the next day with the Minister herself going to the vicious prick to let him know his plan to separate the elf families was so far away from human decency that he was fired.

Harry told Polly she could go back to Hogwarts, as they were calling for volunteers to go to the Ministry but she told them she didn’t want to go. It would take several more days before Polly would admit to Ginny she wouldn’t get to spend much time with her baby if she was at Hogwarts, and it absolutely broke Ginny’s heart for her. “You’re with us, now, and you can spend all day and night with your baby.”

Their biggest problem became trying to keep Polly from doing too much. Truthfully, they didn’t need an elf. They had a small house, compared to most houses with a house-elf, and it was just the two of them.

Still, as the elf grew rounder every day, they knew they’d done the right thing. She was happy and glowing and it was worth them being slave owners to see her relax into the family.

Harry sighed heavily and thought about how he was, yet again, the owner of a house-elf.

~*~

Al tapped his leg nervously as he and Scorpius waited in the common room for the girls to finish getting ready for the ball. “This is mad,” Al said to an otherwise silent Scorpius. His best mate had been fairly quiet all week but nothing would budge Scorpius, so Al had stopped trying to get him to talk.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of many hateful glares this week,” Scorpius mused. “If I was anyone else, I think they might have tried to take me out. Your sister is only growing in popularity. That is mad. Your sister is practically a baby still.”

She wasn’t a baby, of course, but practically speaking she was. She was so young and innocent it was just unthinkable that so many of the boys would be at her heels. Still, at least she took it in stride. “I think she’s heartily sick of the whole thing.”

Whatever he might have said to him about his sister was cut short as Hugo joined them to flop into a chair next to them. “They’re still not down yet?”

“What took you so long?” Al asked his cousin.

“I fell asleep,” Hugo yawned.

A second later James pushed through the portrait hole in a pair of muggle jeans and a blue sweater that their gran had made him for Christmas the last year. It was already getting too small. He popped something into his mouth as he strode over and held out the napkin to them to reveal a wad of chocolate biscuits. “Want one?” he asked around a mouthful of sweets.

“Thanks,” Hugo said as he took one.

Al didn’t think his stomach could take anything. He had no idea why he was so nervous, but the whole thing was just mad. “Where’s Louis?”

“He has a date with a Ravenclaw. I forget her name,” James answered. “Anyway, he’s waiting for her outside her common room.”

“Jane,” Scorpius and Al said at the same moment.

James shook his head. “Nah, that was over last year… I think? I dunno. Anyway, he never sticks with one bird long.”

“Unlike you,” Al ribbed him with a grin as he finally reached for one of the biscuits.

“Sometimes you know what you know, little brother,” James assured him with a grin. “I just know. Our granddad was the same way, I am told. I’m just taking after my namesake. Anyway, have none of them come down yet?”

The entire common room was full of blokes waiting around for the girls. It was a little pathetic.

“The party doesn’t start for another twenty minutes,” Al pointed out reasonably. “There’s no reason to be down here.”

“Yet here we all are,” James retorted with a snort. “Well,” he said as he sat heavily in one of the chairs, kicking his feet up onto the table. “I’m going to take a nap then,” he told them as he leaned back and closed his eyes. “Wake me when it’s time.”

Lily was the first down the stairs, dressed in a pretty green dress that Al had seen her talk their father into the previous year. He was certain Lily hadn’t brought it to school, as it would have been destroyed on the train in the fire, but then again it wouldn’t take much for her to send for the dress.

About the only thing none of them had lost were their wands and that had been a miracle.

Al grinned as he shook his head and turned to find Scorpius’ face frozen for just a second, then his face relaxed into his typical smile as he held out an arm for her. “Your prescribed date is ready,” he told her. “You look nice.”

“Thank you,” Lily laughed merrily as she took his arm. She’d apparently talked Hugo into taking Honor, although neither of them seemed to care overly much.

“Come on,” Hugo grumbled as he trudged for the portrait hole.

Next down was Rose, followed by Nat. Nat looked pretty in a pale blue dress and her hair pulled back into a bun. Rose was dressed in deep red, and she laughed as she swatted at James’ feet, knocking them to the floor and startling him awake. “You don’t want to miss this.”

James grumbled as he stood and laughed as Caroline came down in a soft yellow dress covered in blue flowers. “You’re going to freeze,” James assured her with a laugh as he took her hand and grinned at her.

“I can steal this to keep me warm,” Caroline said as she plucked at his sweater.

James’ grin spread as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You look gorgeous.”

She did, too, Al knew, but his eyes kept drifting back to Nat. He wished he could talk like his brother could. He wished he had the words to tell her how pretty she looked. She was staring at her shoes and not looking at them and he fought hard to try to figure out what to say. “You look really nice,” he finally managed to stumble out the words.

It took her a moment to glance up and he couldn’t help but see her smile looked forced. “Thanks. We can go, okay?”

“Sure,” he said and wished again he knew how to say what he really needed to say.

~*~

“Your brother has a crush on Nat,” Caroline said so only James could hear her as they danced together. They weren’t pressed close. That would have wigged Caroline out, but James didn’t mind. He still had a chance to hold her and it was better than he could have expected.

“Yeah,” James agreed evenly. “She has no clue.”

“She has no clue,” she agreed sadly. “I kind of want to tell her, but I don’t feel right interfering when they’re such good friends. It could mess things up.”

“I think it’s better just to let them figure it out,” James told her honestly. “I know Al very well and I don’t think it’ll work out if someone pushes him. He has to do things on his own. Besides,” he told her wryly. “I tried to talk him into saying something once and the second he worked up the courage, she tried to set him up with someone else.”

“When was that?”

“We were on holiday in America,” he said as memories of the rest of that trip filtered in. Nat had discovered a hidden body. It had been a traumatic holiday, although not all of it had been bad.

“I miss America,” Caroline sighed. “Not enough to go back to live, but I’d like to visit again.”

“We’ll go sometime,” James promised and figured it would be true. He didn’t say it to her, but if he made it in Quidditch, there would be plenty of opportunities to travel. He’d want her with him. “I’m surprised you left Rufus upstairs.”

She clutched at his shirt for a moment before relaxing. “I thought about bringing him, but honestly I feel okay right now. I wanted to leave him and… and feel normal.”

“We are normal.”

She snorted out a giggle. “We are anything but normal, James.”

“Well,” he said slowly because he had to agree with it. “We are at least good together.”

She grinned and glanced away. “What’s Louis’ new girlfriend’s name again?”

“I forgot already,” he sighed. “It’s like his third this year.”

“Second,” Caroline corrected. “How he stays friends with all these girls is a mystery to me. He’s just so affable that they can’t stay mad when he breaks it off.”

“What I want to know,” James said seriously, “is why he picks all the homeliest girls.”

Caroline smacked his arm. Hard. “That is not nice!”

“He’s easily the best looking bloke in the school,” James pointed out reasonably. “He’s part-Veela! He could have whomever he wanted, but he doesn’t pick the beauties.”

“What did he say when you asked him?” Caroline wondered. “Or was that when you ended up with a black eye?”

James grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, he decked me and told me his girlfriend was gorgeous. I decided to leave it alone.”

“You are terrible.”

“You know you love me,” he replied easily even though it was still hard for her to say.

She smiled shyly and ducked her head. “Yes, I absolutely do. I don’t always understand why you love me, but–”

He let go of her waist to cup her chin and tilt it up so she could see his eyes. “You’re a brilliant, amazing, talented, giving person and there isn’t a single reason I wouldn’t love you.”

Her tears were all the answers she had as she nodded. She didn’t totally believe him, but she’d stopped arguing a long time ago.

~*~

The day after the kids arrived home, Polly had her baby. Ginny was absolutely certain there was nothing cuter in the world than a baby house-elf, except maybe her own children. Still, it was a tough call. The tiny mite had her mother’s big eyes and ears and Polly named her Teeny which seemed like the most appropriate name for such a small mite. “It was my mother’s name, Miss,” Polly told her as the tiny baby elf slept soundly in her mother’s arms.

Everyone wanted a chance to hold the baby, but Ginny put a firm no to that and said they weren’t allowed to ask until at least a week had passed. Polly wouldn’t say no, even if she wanted to, so Ginny had to set up the boundaries. She’d also been forced to order Polly not to help with the cooking or the cleaning. It was weird ordering anyone when she knew her order had to be obeyed, but it was for Polly’s own good.

Polly had argued that the house-elves at Hogwarts always went back to work the day after they gave birth which left Ginny feeling decided ill and furious. She’d immediately written a terse note to Anthony to inform him of this oversight in the management. He’d written back immediately and told her he’d put a standing order in place that house-elves were not permitted to work for at least two weeks after their babies were born and they’d been cleared by the nurse.

It was stupid, little things like that which Ginny realized she had never, ever considered. She’d been forced to accept she didn’t know all of the things she didn’t know or why she should care about them but this was a major issue!

“Why didn’t we ever think about this?” Ginny wondered to Hermione as they sipped at tea in the lull of a huge post-Christmas meal while all the kids were outside playing in the snow.

Hermione shook her head. “I looked into a lot of this when I was younger but younger me didn’t think about maternity leave or what happens to the families. I honestly was too young to have that perspective. Since then I’ve hit brick wall after brick wall when trying to find anyone who gives a damn about house-elves or what they go through every day. I’ve only managed very basic rights for them.”

“Well, it’s not fixed, not by a long shot, but at least we have Hogwarts and the Ministry covered. The Minister was okay of the maternity leave policy?”

Hermione nodded and grinned. “We spoke with an expert on house-elves health and fitness and she agreed that two weeks was a perfectly acceptable time for them to heal as they are typically over the birth and back to normal within the first three days. The extra time can be spent with their baby, bonding with it. I am wondering if that might not help the house-elves start to gain some autonomy, so that they stand up for themselves.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Ginny said as she glanced over to Polly’s room. If Polly was anything to go by, while she was enjoying spending the time with Teeny, she was going stir crazy and trying to find any loophole in Ginny’s order not to work. “She’s bored.”

“Bored?” Hermione asked curiously.

“To the point where she’s getting a little depressed, I think,” Ginny sighed. “I ended up letting her cook lunch yesterday. She was starting to droop. It was so noticeable that even Harry saw it and commented.”

“Well…” Hermione cleared her throat. She sighed and shook her head. “I mean, I hate to say it but they were born for this. I don’t want them to be slaves, but it was like Dobby would tell us- he just liked to work. It’s not so dissimilar to older people who retire from their job and lose the will to do anything.”

Ginny began to laugh as she thought of her father. “Dad retired…”

“For about a week,” Hermione agreed, grinning broadly. “Then he was right back at it filling in where he was needed. He couldn’t possibly stay home every day and putter around the garden.”

“Mum would end up strangling him, for one thing,” Ginny mused as she thought about her parents. Her dad had honestly thought he wanted to stop until he had. Then he’d seen just what he was missing. Now he worked a few days a week, as needed, to fill in where the Ministry needed him. At other times he would work for George at the joke shop if they were short staffed. Her dad was enjoying his new freedom of not being called out in the middle of the night, while still feeling needed.

“Not to change the subject,” Hermione said as she lowered her voice, “but have you heard if Rose and Andrew are still only friends?”

Ginny’s brow rose as she studied her sister-in-law. “What did Rose say?”

“That they were, but honestly it’s tough to tell with her. She doesn’t want to tell Ron anything because he’ll go ballistic, so she keeps me in the dark, as well.”

“I’ve heard they are just friends,” Ginny confirmed. “I know you really like Andrew.”

“I do, but of course I don’t want her to settle for the first guy,” Hermione replied and then winced. “That didn’t come out right.”

Things were still not perfect or amazing between Ron and Hermione. She didn’t speak of it often, and they’d definitely worked out most of their problems, but the bottom line was they’d been joined together by shared trauma more than real or lasting feelings. “How are things?”

Hermione glanced around to make sure Harry and Ron were still in Harry’s office with the door shut, but she still lowered her voice anyway. “We aren’t fighting and we aren’t having problems. We talk things out now, but part of me knows that if we hadn’t been through what we’d been through, we probably wouldn’t have ended up together. I love him, and always will. I’ve put the work in to fall in love with him again, but it’s not effortless. I have to work to stay in love with him.”

Ginny knew exactly what she was saying. “In some ways, I get that. After having been with Harry for so many years, it can get old and stale. Marriage is like that, but I can see it being harder for you two. Harry and I have personalities that just fit together fairly seamlessly, so even when we have problems there isn’t a major clash. Marriage is always work, especially long term. No one talks about that part. It’s all love and hearts when you’re young. They don’t talk about being so mad at the man you’re now stuck with that you could stab him with a fork.”

Hermione chuckled softly and shook her head. “They really don’t. Maybe we wouldn’t have walked so blithely into marriage if we’d known just how hard it was going to be, but I also feel like a warning would have been nice. I’d have liked to know that it was normal to fall in and out of love with your husband and that some years would be great while others were absolutely terrible. Before I wasn’t as committed as I should have been. I wasn’t putting in the work that was needed. Our therapist really opened my eyes to how I was distancing myself. In a way, Ron is so much better about that than I am. He sees the work and he just goes about it.”

“I also think he never fell out of love with you,” Ginny said quietly and tried not to wince at the look of shame and hurt on Hermione’s face. “No, listen, he’s always been like this. When he committed, he sticks. Except for when he left you on the hunt for the Horcruxes, I’d never seen him abandon something. He’s still a Cannon’s fan, even after all their years of being dragon dung as a team. He’s just a loyal sort. He could have been a Hufflepuff, except he really does have guts.”

“He really does,” Hermione agreed with a sigh.

They both turned as the door to the office opened and Harry and Ron came out laughing. Ron went over to his wife and put his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them lightly as he pressed a kiss to the crown on her head. “Harry was just saying the kids might like some Muggle pizza for dinner, which would keep Polly from feeling like she should cook. I offered to drive into town for one. What would you like on your pizza?”

Ginny grinned into her mug of tea and then winced as she realized Nat couldn’t have the Muggle pizza. Ah, well. It was easy enough to whip one up which would be safe for her.
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