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SIYE Time:6:28 on 29th March 2024
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Percy's Gift
By Velvethope

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Category: Post-OotP
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Angst, Fluff, Drama
Warnings: Death, Sexual Situations
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 26
Summary: Written for the HGFicafest on Live Journal. In the wake of Percy's death, Ginny finds out that her life is about to change. Will Harry offer to help her? Will she let him? First part is G but the rating is R for part two.
Hitcount: Story Total: 11995; Chapter Total: 5500







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AN: Thanks to Buckbeaky for the beta and for everyone who reviewed over at LJ.


Percy’s Gift



The letter came while Ginny was working in the garden at the Burrow. She was helping her mother out with some much needed gnome tossing. The twins were both at a Jokes Expo in Bulgaria (of all places), Ron was busy with a very pregnant Hermione, and Charlie was back to work with the dragons, finally. That of course left Ginny and Bill, but her oldest brother had opted not to drop by for lunch. He claimed to have an in-tray full of papers that needed to be worked. She’d allowed him to skive off because he and his new wife Fleur were leaving on vacation at the end of week.

Ginny didn’t mind helping her mum out. Since it was now three years after the end of the War, everyone was pretty much getting on with their lives, in one form or another. Somewhere along the line, her family had stopped considering the Burrow as the hub of their existence, and it had a neglected air about it now. It made her sad to think about all the summers they‘d spent as a family there, and how now they were hardly able to see each other in the same place at the same time.

But now she was receiving an immense satisfaction at reprising her de-gnoming skills. Working as an apprentice to an Unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries, she hardly ever got the chance to just fling gnomes about for no reason. She had just sailed the last one over the stone fence, when she saw the owl go soaring past her, into the house. She could tell it was an ‘official’ Ministry owl, and she reckoned it was a note from her partner at work. Sighing, she dusted herself off and headed back to the house, never expecting to find her mother in tears....


***


Four days later, and Ginny had her wish; all the Weasleys were in the same place at the same time...well, all except one, but even he was technically there. But only in body, Merlin knew where his spirit had flown.

Ginny felt numb inside and out. Percy had been out of the picture for such a long time that his death was not exactly leaving a hole inside their family. But still, it hurt. After coming to his senses and trying to redeem himself, Percy’s relationship with the rest of his family had always been strained at best. He had opted to take a job in Paris at the end of the War, working for the French Ministry of Magic as a British emissary. Ironies of ironies, Percy had ended up in an office much like his father’s old one, acting as a sort of Muggle Liaison. He and his wife Penelope had settled there, and Ginny couldn’t even remember the last time she’d written him a letter. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had seen him.

Everyone stood around the Burrow, dressed in their mourning robes, something not many of them had put on since the end of the war. People spoke softly to one another, and her mother was busy in the kitchen; everyone from her father to Remus Lupin had tried to get her to sit down, but she refused. After awhile, they understood that it was just her way of dealing with the many emotions Percy’s death had created. Ginny understood that all too well - she didn’t know how to deal with grieving for someone she wasn’t even certain she had forgiven yet.

Ginny sighed, escaping to the outside. She breathed in the fresh air of the evening and closed her eyes. It was such a tragedy; to have been killed in a subway car explosion. But then, that was Percy, wasn’t it? Trying to be as Muggle as possible while living in a city that had tighter restrictions on wizards than her entire country. And Penelope...poor Penelope...Ginny conjured up an image of the girl she’d known at Hogwarts briefly, and felt ashamed at being unable to clearly recall her face.

It was Percy’s face that haunted her, and it wasn’t the face of a grown-up Percy that caused her heart to catch. It was a younger Percy she was remembering; a Percy intent on teaching her right from wrong, ‘because you certainly won’t get it from anyone else in this family.' A Percy who could scold and sound mean and stuffy. A Percy who would give her chocolate whenever he thought she was down...a Percy who had told her to get over Harry in her third year, ‘because she was a stronger and better person than that.’

Almost as though he’d known she was thinking about him, she felt Harry’s presence before he said anything. She smiled and then turned to look at him, his face looking out at the sunset. He caught her eye and gave her a tender look.

“How are you doing?” he asked gently.

“Okay. Fine. Brilliant....” Ginny paused. “Actually I’m feeling like the worst sister in the world because I can’t even remember the last time I talked to my own brother. I can’t even remember the last time I saw him. Or what he looked like.” She bowed her head, feeling the first start of tears. She had vowed not to let it get to her, but seeing the kindness in Harry, a person who by all rights should have never forgiven Percy for what he had done, broke something inside of her. Before she knew it, Harry was holding her, and she cried against his shoulder.

After she stopped crying, she didn’t pull away, and Harry didn’t let her go. She closed her eyes and pretended that it was more than just a comfort hug. She couldn’t help it - so many thoughts of the past had brought back other memories as well. She reckoned that some part of her would always be Percy’s little sister and that some part of her would always love Harry Potter.

“It was last Christmas,” Harry said after a moment, and Ginny pulled her head back to look at him. He smiled down at her.

“You were late to the dinner, remember? And Percy was flooing out right after to be with Penelope, because she was sick or something, and hadn’t been able to come home with him. I remember that Percy didn’t want to leave until he knew you had made it home for Christmas. You laughed with him about something or other, I didn’t hear the joke, but he left soon after that and you gave him a hug, even while Fred and George were being rude to him and scowling at you. He watched you before he left, I remember that. I don’t know if you knew it or not. He seemed really proud of you, Ginny. I think you had just told us about getting the apprenticeship to the Department of Mysteries. You were really happy...you....” Harry paused, as though embarrassed, and he looked away from her then. He suddenly released her from his arms and Ginny felt cold, even though it was a warm night.

“How do you remember all that, Harry?”

Harry shrugged and if wasn’t for the dodgy light outside of their house, Ginny would have sworn he was blushing. But something he had remembered stayed with her, and she let the unlikely idea go.

“You’re right...that is the last time I spoke with him. He...he told me to watch out for Chizpurfles when I told him I was going to be handling Crups for Fred and George. They had just had that terribly brainy idea to sell pets for the upcoming Valentine’s holiday....” Ginny remembered the smile on Percy’s face, and how he had seemed pleased that she had hugged him. She realized she had probably only hugged him out of duty and not because of anything else. She must have sobbed out loud, because Harry was suddenly holding her again, and she felt the tears hot behind her eyes.

“Shh...it’s okay,” Harry said soothingly in her ear, pulling her closer to him. “I’m sorry, Ginny, I didn’t mean to make you cry -”

“You didn’t Harry,” Ginny said, her words muffled against his chest. “I was only remembering how I should have been nicer to my brother. But I’m glad you told me that. I’m glad our last time together was one of laughter.”

“He was proud of you Ginny; he was proud of all of you,” Harry said softly.

“Why didn’t he ever tell us that then?” she asked as she looked up at him, his face as close to hers as it had ever been.

“I suspect he may have tried with your brothers...I don’t know. Percy was...complicated,” Harry said, diplomatically.

Ginny laughed despite herself and shook her head. “How can you be so forgiving towards him, Harry? You have a right more than anyone not to care one bit that he’s gone.”

“He redeemed himself, to me. He saved...well...he saved a lot of people with his actions.”

Ginny nodded and Harry let her go again. They walked over to the stone fence and sat down, silence filling up the air between them. They both stared up at the sky, with Ginny getting lost in her own thoughts. When she finally realized neither of them had said anything for awhile, she sneaked a look at Harry and wondered what he was thinking about. She hadn’t seen him in a month or so, and he looked different, yet the same, every time she saw him. They had gone from being acquaintances to close friends and then back again, it seemed. Ginny had always thought that Harry and she would be the closest of friends after the war, but he had pulled away from her. But he had pulled away from everyone it had seemed, at first. But last year or so, he’d become more like his old school self; showing up at dinners or hanging around at Ron and Hermione’s. He’d even started dating, a different witch every few months, it seemed. Not that Ginny noticed, or at least, she told herself that she didn’t notice. She had, more than once or twice, thought that he had held her at arm’s length, actually. He seemed very keen on being around every Weasley but her. Ginny told herself not to wonder why; she had her own life to worry about. But it was times like these, when he was there for her in his quiet, unassuming way, that she would again question why they stayed out of each other’s life.

“Thank you, Harry,” she said suddenly, “thank you for being there for me, and for listening to me cry.” He pulled his eyes away from the sky to meet hers. He seemed as though he wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to say it. She waited patiently, knowing that Harry would speak when Harry wanted to; there was no rushing him with anything.

Finally, he only sighed. “You’re welcome, Ginny.”

And that was that. There were no pronouncements, no declarations of love, and no statements the he would always being there for her....just, ‘you’re welcome.' Ginny didn’t know what she had expected. The effect of dealing with Percy’s death was making her go a bit barmy. They stood up then and walked back to the house. When they went inside, Harry left her side and wandered over to talk to Hermione and Ron. Ginny watched him go, feeling a little bit better inside because of their talk, but also feeling just a little bit more empty, somehow.

It was the way she felt anytime she talked to Harry, actually. It was as though the part of her heart that he still held onto was fighting to get back in, but she always ended up just kicking it back out for him to keep and take with him. Ginny thought of her brother and wiped at the new tear beginning to fall. He’d always told her she was too strong to moon over a boy, even if it was Harry Potter. Ginny offered up an apology to the memory of her brother.

Sorry, Perce...reckon I was never as strong as you liked to think I was.


***



A week later and Ginny was still in her mourning robes. It was customary to wear the robes for at least a few days following the burial ceremony, and Fred and George had already removed theirs. But Ginny felt comforted by them somehow; it let other people know to leave her alone with her sorrow. They had offered to give her time off work, but she had declined. Working her way through her mixed emotions seemed the best thing to do and it also felt very ‘Percy.'

She was surprised when she received a letter from France; it showed the crest of a lion holding an eagle on its paw, and it was made out to her directly. She read through it with a growing sense of confusion. Her French not being what it should be, she stumbled through it, trying to understand its meaning. Apparently, Percy had left her something.

Frowning, Ginny quit for the day and made for Bill and Fleur’s flat, which was next to Gringotts. They’d postponed their vacation because of the funeral, so thankfully Fleur was around to read the letter to her fully. Ginny was in another world as she made her way through the Ministry and didn’t hear Harry calling after her.

“Ginny!” He placed a hand on her arm, to stop her.

Ginny looked up, startled. “Harry, sorry...were you calling me?”

“Er...yeah, just for the last five minutes or so.” Harry smiled at her and then took in her dark robes and sobered. “I...was hoping to catch you before you left for the day.”

Ginny stared at him, forgetting the letter for a moment. Harry seemed nervous about something, and his face took on a pink tint as he looked at her. She wondered what he was doing at the Ministry; he hadn’t been there just to see her, had he? No, of course not. He’s probably dating some witch in the Quill-Pool.

Ginny forced her voice to sound bright. “What are you doing here at the Ministry, Harry? I know it’s not your favourite place.”

“I didn’t want to miss you at your flat...I er...well, I didn’t know if you were going out or anything....” Harry continued to stare at her. “I er...didn’t realize you were still wearing the robes. But I had some papers to sign for your father, so I was killing two birds with one stone.”

Ginny nodded. Since Harry’s defeat of Voldemort, he had been called upon to do publicity for the Ministry, something he of course, detested. The only thing that kept Harry from blowing up the entire place was the fact that her father had come up with a plan to space out the appearances. Harry had lucked out when Arthur Weasley had been named as Minister. She reckoned that Harry was probably almost at the end of his tour.

“Are you all done then? With the personal appearances and the like?” she asked as they fell into step next to each other, waiting in the queue to leave.

“Yeah, did the last one yesterday. At a meeting for the Witches’ Estuary Brigade. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. They had me standing in a muddy river all afternoon.”

Ginny chuckled at the image that brought to mind, and Harry smiled sheepishly back at her. For a moment they didn’t say anything, and Ginny felt her heart beat faster for some reason.

“So...why were you coming to see me?” she asked finally, tearing her eyes away from his, as she handed her badge over to the guard at the desk.

Harry nodded at the guard, who stared at him with his mouth slightly opened in shock, and Harry guided Ginny over to one of the Apparating queues.

“I er...wanted to see if you wanted to have dinner...or...if you needed to talk about anything...you know...about Percy?” Harry gazed intently at her, and Ginny found herself touched that Harry had wanted to make sure she was okay. But she suddenly remembered why she had left work to begin with. She pulled the letter out of her robe pocket.

“I was going over to Bill and Fleur’s, actually. I received this letter from the French Ministry. I’m not sure what it means, really, my French is horrible, but...I think Percy left me something or other.”

Harry frowned as he tried to read the letter. “Well, I can understand your name on this thing, but that’s about it.” He handed the letter back to her. “Want me to go with you?”

Ginny marvelled at the hopeful sound in his voice and wondered what had brought about this unprecedented amount of attention from him. She was about to ask if he were feeling okay, when they had reached the Apparating point. Instead she just smiled at him, and she realized that since he’d caught up with her, it was the first time she’d had a reason to do that in days.

“Okay, Harry. Meet me there. And then later, we’ll talk about this sudden urge of yours to eat dinner with me instead of one your many girlfriends.”

Ginny didn’t have dodgy light to fight this time, and she saw his reaction as clear as day before she Disapparated; Harry was blushing.

***


Fortuna tely, Fleur was at home, and she greeted Ginny and Harry in her usual way.

“Ginny! ‘arry! What a pleasant surprise!” Fleur gripped the both of them into an intense hug and then air-kissed their cheeks.

Fleur’s English was almost perfect, except for the casual lapse here and there (mostly when she was angry with Bill for something). And she still never pronounced her H’s, an endearing trait that Ginny had come to love about the other woman. Fleur smiled warmly at the both of them and ushered them into the flat.

“I was just getting dinner ready; Bill should be ‘ome soon. Would you two like to join us?” Fleur started making her way back to the kitchen and they followed her. Harry and Ginny glanced at each other. Ginny didn’t know if Harry wanted to eat with her family or not. Fleur noticed their glances and then stopped, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at them.

“What is this? The two of you are not...on a date, are you?” Fleur raised her eyebrow at them, and Ginny felt her skin heat momentarily. She avoided looking at Harry, who apparently was doing the same thing back to her. No one said anything for a moment, so Fleur shrugged and turned back to the cauldron that was bubbling on her countertop. Ginny edged forward and stood across from her, wondering what she was cooking.

“Yes,” Harry blurted out suddenly, and the two women turned to stare at him. He looked at Ginny and then looked away, his skin pink. “I mean, er...no...we ah...well, I’d wanted to talk with Ginny alone, really. So um...no, we won’t bother you for dinner...if that’s okay with you, Gin?”

Ginny smiled at him, and he seemed to relax again. “That’s fine, Harry.” Ginny turned to face Fleur, who had raised her eyebrow at her, a smile twitching on her lips. Ginny shook her head slightly, indicating she didn’t know what was going on either. Luckily, Harry moved away and started looking at the pictures the Weasleys had placed on their mantle.

“Well, then...to what do I...‘ow do you say, owe this pleasure?” Fleur said as she added more ingredients into her cauldron.

Ginny licked her lips, suddenly hungry. She’d almost forgotten the letter again. She handed it to Fleur. “Could you read this for me? It came today and my French is horrible.”

Fleur tutted and took the letter from her, indicating that Ginny should come around the side and stir as she read. Ginny obliged and breathed in the heavenly scents that were coming from the cauldron. She glanced up at Harry and found him watching her, an amused expression on his face.

“What’s so funny, Harry?” Ginny said, lightly.

“Nothing, Ginny, you just reminded me of Ron there for a second,” Harry said as he walked over and peered in the cauldron. “That does look really good though. Maybe we should stay for dinner?”

Ginny smiled and used her wand to conjure up a spoon. Dipping it into the cauldron, she pulled out a spoonful and blew on it lightly. She held it up and offered it to him. He slowly closed his mouth around it, allowing the liquid to spill into his mouth. Ginny met his eyes, and they stared at each other as she slowly pulled the spoon out of his mouth.

“Well,” she asked, slightly out of breath for some reason, “does it taste as good as it smells?”

Harry nodded, his eyes taking on a strangely dark glint. “It’s delicious. Your sister-in-law is a good cook.”

“She’s nothing compared to me,” Ginny said softly and wondered if she was still even talking about food. She couldn’t believe her boldness.

“I already knew that,” Harry said, his voice low. Ginny felt an odd sense of exhilaration flow through her. Was Harry Potter flirting with her?

Ginny didn’t have time to fully comprehend that thought because Fleur interrupted them, a strange look on her face.

“Er, Ginny...did you say you did not understand this letter?”

“Um, well, I understood that Percy left me something and that it would be arriving soon, but that was about it.” Ginny said, tearing her eyes away from Harry’s.

“Oui...oui,” Fleur said, her voice troubled. Ginny’s warning bells immediately went off at her sister-in-law’s lapse into her native tongue.

“Fleur? What is it?”

Fleur looked up at her and then at Harry. She seemed distraught about something and she shook her head at them. “This letter...it is...it is to tell you about your brother’s daughter.”

Ginny blinked at Fleur, not understanding. “My brother’s what?”

“Oui, ma petite soeur...Percy and Penelope, they ‘ad une enfant. And now it appears...it is yours to raise.”

Ginny could on stare at Fleur in shock.

***


Ginny stared dumbly at the letter that had just changed her life. It was too inconceivable...too bizarre to think that Percy and Penelope had had a child and had named her as its guardian. They’d never even told her, for Merlin’s sake. Could she even be a guardian without her knowledge?

Bill had arrived shortly after Fleur had read the letter out loud to her. Ginny had sat numbly at the table then as Bill read it again, himself. Harry hadn’t said much, really, but he had taken her hand into his and held onto it. Something she was very much grateful for, actually. Without it, Ginny was certain she might have just floated away. Of course, the irony to Ginny was that given a normal circumstance the actual idea of holding hands with Harry was enough to make her float away as well.

“I can’t believe Perce never told anyone about this. I have a niece!” Bill was saying as he paced back and forth in the small kitchen.

“Maybe ‘e thought the family would disapprove?” Fleur was asking, her brow creased in confusion. “You told me ‘e was not well liked. Maybe ‘e was ‘oping to be closer to the family before ‘e brought a child into it?”

Ginny startled and glanced up at her older brother, whose skin had flushed. He caught Ginny’s eye and looked away. Ginny had never actually heard Bill ever say anything bad about Percy, not after he had tried to come back to the family. She was surprised to find that Bill had told Fleur that Percy’s position in the family was still one of distrust and animosity.

Harry squeezed her hand, and Ginny looked at him. His eyes spoke volumes and Ginny suddenly remembered that they had missed their chance at having dinner. Not that she felt hungry anymore, but still...poor Harry didn’t need to be dragged into all of this, did he?

“Harry, I’ll understand if you want to go. You haven’t had anything to eat yet and -”

“Nonsense, neither have you. If you can stick it out I can. I mean...unless you’d rather not have me here?” Harry’s eyes seemed to be asking her more than what his question had and she was confused again. The time they’d spent flirting over the cauldron seemed years away and yet it had only happened an hour or so ago.

She squeezed his hand, reassuringly. “No, I...thank you. I think....” her voice trailed off; she was uncertain what she thought, actually. She looked up at Bill, who was reading the letter again.

“Bill...do you suppose...I mean...should we contact someone?”

Bill glanced up at her, his expression clouded. “Mum and Dad are going to just...I can’t believe Percy never told us. Are you certain that you didn’t know about this Ginny? Of all of us, you were the one Percy seemed to talk to the most.”

Ginny frowned at her brother. What exactly was he implying? “No, I didn’t know about this. What do you think I am? I was as shocked as you were, when Fleur told me. What do you think, this was some sort of plot between Percy and me?”

“No, it’s just...usually when someone is named a guardian, they know about it.”

“Well, I didn’t!” Ginny said, her voice raising an octave. Harry stood up suddenly and stood in between the two glaring Weasleys.

“Look, Bill...maybe you should tell the family what’s happened. I think Ginny’s had a rough enough time of it tonight, okay? Let me take her home.”

Ginny didn’t see Bill’s reaction to Harry’s words, but a moment later Harry was pulling her out of the chair, and she glanced at her brother as they headed toward the door.

“Ginny, wait,” said Bill, a minute later. He handed her the letter. “I’ll tell Mum and Dad that you didn’t know about this...I’m sorry. This has just thrown me for a....”

“How do you think I feel, Bill? In two days, I get to be a mother! To a child I’ve never even met or knew existed! We don’t even know how old she is!”

Bill could only nod his head at her as Harry pushed her out of the door. Ginny was suddenly glad that Harry had been there; without his calming influence she may have had to hex her own brother something fierce.

***



Harry didn’t take her home. Well, he didn’t take her to her home, at any rate. They showed up at his flat, and she just stood and watched him undo the spell that protected his flat from outside intruders. She also noted that he re-did the spell once they were inside.

“I don’t have a lot of things to eat, but I reckon I can make us a nice omelette at least. Or scrambled eggs, maybe?”

Ginny watched as he undid his outer robe and flung it over his sofa. She’d only been to Harry’s flat once before, back when he’d had a party or something along those lines. She gazed around and decided that she liked what he had done with the place. It looked homey and comfortable. She wondered if he often brought back the many witches he’d dated. She told herself she didn’t care. She followed him into the kitchen and frowned. Seeing her expression, he paused and gave her a look.

“What?” he asked.

“Er...Harry, why did you bring me to your flat? And why did you reset the spell on the door? Expecting someone to come breaking it down?”

Harry smiled. “Well, one, I knew that if I took you to your home, your family would be bothering you all night, and I don’t think you really need that right now. And two, this way, they’ll know you’re here, but they won’t be able to disturb you until you want them to.”

“Why are you being so...insightful all of a sudden?” she asked him.

Harry paused and gave her an embarrassed look. “Er...well, you’ve...just had a shock. I just thought you’d like to think about things a bit, before you start talking about it with everyone. Besides, I didn’t like Bill yelling at you. It’s obvious you had no idea Percy had a child, let alone that he would name you as its guardian.”

Harry turned back to what he was doing, and Ginny watched him a moment longer before sitting down at his table. It was covered with old Daily Prophets and letters and other papers. It was obvious Harry didn’t use the table for eating. Typical bachelor, Ginny thought to herself. She stood and started mindlessly clearing away the papers, when she felt Harry’s arm around her. She startled and turned to face him, which caused him to pull her closer to him.

“No cleaning. Just go sit down on the sofa. Let me take care of you,” he said softly, his eyes turning that oddly dark colour again. Ginny could only stare into them and nod her head, feeling intoxicated. Harry smiled gently and then turned her around, propelling her toward the living room. Ginny sat down on the sofa, her mind already returning to its earlier predicament.

According to the letter, in two days, someone would be coming with papers for Ginny to sign. Apparently, Percy’s wife Penelope had not had any next of kin, so they had named Ginny as caretaker and guardian. It was strange to think that she had a niece out there, probably crying and feeling lost, because her parents were no longer around. She couldn’t imagine Percy being a father, she honestly couldn’t. She tried to remember how long Percy and Penelope had been married. It’d been three years, at least, right? So her niece could be anywhere from the age of three to six months old, she reckoned. Merlin, she hoped it wasn’t younger than that. What was she going to do with a newborn? What was she going to do about work? How was she supposed to be a mother when she wasn’t even twenty years old? Why would Percy do this to her?

She didn’t hear Harry calling her name and so she jumped when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and he offered her a kind smile.

“Time to eat.”

Ginny nodded and walked back to the table, which Harry had managed to not only clean off but set rather nicely as well. She shook her head at him and smiled when he produced a plate full of eggs with a flourish.

“Very domestic of you, Harry.”

Harry raised his eyebrow at her as he sat down across from her. “Well, breakfast at the Dursley’s was always my job. But don’t worry; I’m absolutely hopeless with any kind of serious cooking. If it wasn’t for Ron and Hermione living so close by, I’d probably have starved a long time ago.”

Ginny smiled and took a bite of her eggs just to please him, since she wasn’t really that hungry anymore. But she was pleasantly surprised at how good they were. “These are good, Harry. You used cheese and basil and...what’s that other flavour?”

“Potter family secret, afraid if I told you, you’d have to be sworn to secrecy.”

Now it was Ginny’s turn to raise her eyebrow. “You don’t think I can keep a secret?”

Harry smiled widely at her and didn’t answer. Ginny frowned at him when suddenly there was a loud banging noise. It was Harry’s turn to frown and he stood up, heading toward the front door. Ginny watched him do something with his wand and suddenly the banging stopped. After a moment, he turned back to her.

“It’s Ron...do you want to speak with him?”

Ginny got up from the table and walked over to where Harry was standing. Just then, Ron’s voice called out from the other side of the door.

“Harry? Let me in. I know Ginny’s with you.”

Ginny didn’t like the tone of Ron’s voice. She looked at Harry. “Can you really keep him out?”

“Of course,” he said, shrugging. “I’ve got some of the best and trickiest wards in place out there. No one gets through unless I want them to and that includes your brother.”

“I’m really impressed, Harry. But why is it necessary for you to have such extreme protection?”

Harry turned a bit pink and Ginny was going to ask him more when suddenly a loud noise came from outside Harry’s door. It sounded as though Ron had tried to do something to get in.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake, Ron,” Ginny called out and she heard a muffled curse. “Go away. I’ll talk to you lot when I’m ready.”

There was another noise and then there was silence. Ginny glanced at Harry who was smiling. He noticed her look and then blushed again.

“The first time someone tries to get through the door, they get pushed back. The second time...er...well...something more extreme happens.”

“Extreme?”

“Er...yeah...let’ s just say Ron’s going to feel a bit...flighty for awhile.”

“Flighty? You mean...?” Ginny frowned. “What happened to him?”

“It’s something George and Fred helped me with, actually. Ron’s just sprouted wings. He’ll be fine in about an hour or so,” Harry said laughing.

“Your door turned him into a bird?”

“Er...yeah.”

Ginny laughed suddenly. “Remind me never to get on your bad side, Harry. That’s quite mean to do to an innocent bystander, you know.”

“Ron’s hardly innocent; he knows I have spells on the door. Besides, the door does warn them before they try anything a second time.”

Ginny shook her head. They turned back to their dinner and sat down again. Harry started to eat, but despite the deliciousness of the eggs, Ginny just didn’t have an appetite. She sat watching him eat for a moment before he realized she wasn’t joining him. He glanced self-consciously at her.

“What’s wrong? Ron will be fine -”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just....” Ginny paused, not certain of what she meant to say. “What am I going to do, Harry? How am I going to take care of a child?”

Harry set down his fork and reached out to take her hand in his. “Ginny, you have the most amazing family and as soon as they get over the shock, they’ll help you in any way that they can, you know that.”

Ginny nodded. “But I’m its guardian, Harry. Me. I’m only nineteen-years-old! What was Percy thinking?”

“Maybe he just wanted the child to be raised by someone who cared about him.”

“But that’s just it, Harry. I don’t know if I did care about him. I mean, he was my brother but...I don’t even know if I ever even forgave him for being such a git. To Mum and Dad...to Ron...to you.”

Harry let go of her hand suddenly and looked down at his plate. “What do I have to do with this?”

Ginny frowned at him. “Well, Percy...he was so...so stupid about everything during your fifth year. He said the most awful things about you, Harry. To the media, to the family...I don’t think I could ever truly forgive him, just for that alone. He should have known that.”

Harry looked up at her, a strange look on his face. “So you care that much for me then?”

Ginny paused, realizing she had gotten heated in her reply. “What do you mean? Of course I do!”

“But fifth year was a long time ago, Ginny. I got over what Percy said. Why were you using it as a way to keep him away from you? I know I’m your friend, but I can’t imagine you being that upset about these things enough to keep your relationship with Percy at such a distance. I’m not that important to you, am I?”

Ginny felt her face burn and she looked away from those eyes of his that seemed to be boring into her. She didn’t know if he were trying to see into her mind or not, and she didn’t want to give him the advantage. She knew he was better at Occlumency than Legilimency, but that didn’t mean he was so terrible at the latter technique that he couldn’t read her mind if he wanted to.

She pushed away from the table and realized she really didn’t have any place to go.
“Where’s the loo, Harry?”

“Down the hallway, to your left,” he said, his voice sounding strange to her. She didn’t look at him again and made her way down his hallway. Closing the door behind her, she sighed and turned on the taps. She glanced at herself in the mirror and saw the flush of her cheeks.

Had she kept Percy at arm’s length because of his actions against Harry? Her entire family had reasons to dislike Percy, and she knew all of their reasons weren’t because of Harry. True, she thought that Fred and George were mean when they had refused to really welcome Percy back, and true, she had always thought that Ron had gone a bit too far in refusing his apologies...but what was Harry getting at, exactly? Had the memory of Percy’s actions against Harry tainted her into not letting her brother back into her life fully? Was she that bad a sister?

Apparently Percy hadn’t thought so, because he’d left the care of his child to her. Why hadn’t he left the child to Mum and Dad? Certainly they would be a more sensible pick than a nineteen year old witch, wouldn’t they?

Ginny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Feeling as though she looked half-way presentable and that her nerves were in a holding pattern, she rejoined Harry in the living room, seeing that he had cleared away the dinner plates. He was standing in front of a picture of his parents and turned to give her smile when she entered the room.

“I reckoned you were finished with dinner,” he said simply and she nodded.

Harry took one last look at the picture and then nodded towards the sofa. They sat down and didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Look, Ginny...I know you’ve had a rough night and your life is probably going to change dramatically but....” his voice trailed off as though he was uncertain about what to say. Ginny glanced at his profile out of the corner of her eye, wondering what was going through his head. She saw him shake his head and then he turned to her. She moved so that she was facing him and realized she was holding her breath for some reason.

Harry stared at her for a moment, a strange expression on his face. Ginny wanted to ask him what was making him act so odd, but didn’t trust her voice. Finally, Harry slumped slightly and then took her hand.

“I just want you to know that I will do everything that I can to help you. You’re not going to go through this alone, okay?”

Ginny nodded. His words were not what she had expected. “Well, I’m certain my mum won’t let me go through it alone, she has a grandchild! But thank you...I...it’s nice that you’ve offered me such friendship.”

“Yeah, friendship,” Harry said absentmindedly. He released her hand and looked upset for a moment, but the expression was gone before Ginny could understand it. He patted her hand and then released it. “You’re right; your family will undoubtedly come through for you. You won’t need me at all. Are you tired? Let me make up the spare bedroom for you.”

Before Ginny could even speak, Harry was jumping up from the sofa and headed down the hallway. For some reason she felt as though she had missed something important. Sighing, she realized she wastired. Maybe a good night’s sleep would help her clear her head.

***
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