PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: GovCampbell

Story: Defining the Relationship

Part: Chapter Ten

Rating: Teens

Setting: Pre-HBP

Status: Completed

Reviews: 23

Words: 8,062

Updated: September 27, 2005, 2:02am

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Chapter Ten

A/N: Disclaimer in Prologue

This chapter might not exist without the suggestions and ideas of my fiancée, VinitieriFan010304. In fact, this chapter is almost as much hers as it is mine, so big kudos to her. Love ya babe.

Again, and always, thanks to Arnel for doing the punctuation police routine. It's a tough job, and she does it well.

Questions? Comments? AdmDavis@aol.com

-- -- -- --

Ginny was floundering around her kitchen the next morning, desperately trying to determine what she would need to get at the store for dinner, when someone knocked.

"Coming!" she hollered loudly. Out of breath, she flung the door open. "Penny?" Ginny said in surprise.

Penny stood in the doorway, dressed in her business robes, an uncertain look on her face. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you, Ginny."

"Of course!" Ginny exclaimed. "Come on in." Ginny ushered Penny into the living room of her flat. "Is everything okay? How come you're not at Dad's office?"

"Your father thinks I have my yearly check-up at St. Mungo's this morning," Penny said.

"I take it you don't," Ginny said, stating the obvious.

Penny shook her head. "Ginny, I need your help with something."

"What is it?" Ginny asked. What in Merlin's name is going on here?

"I need you to go with me to see…to see…"

"To see who?" Ginny asked, totally confounded.

"Draco Malfoy."

"What?" Ginny screeched. "Penny, why do you need to see him?"

"I need to know," Penny said, struggling to form words. Ginny could see pain etched on Penny's face, but it didn't clear up any of her confusion.

"Need to know what?"

"I need to know who killed him!" Penny's composure finally broke, and she sobbed angrily. "I need to know…" she paused, searching for the words, "…who to hate." She buried her face in her hands. "And he's the only one left who can tell me." She looked up at Ginny, tears running hotly down her face. "Your father's preparing a speech to read on the Wireless. He's going to be transferred to Azkaban for execution next week. I need to ask him now."

"Penny…I'm not sure…"

"No, you don't understand!" she sobbed. Then she took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and tried to reason with Ginny. "But I need you to; you're the only one who could understand. Molly doesn't want to talk about it anymore, and my parents don't understand why I need to know." Penny began pacing the room. "Hermione already has someone to hate – she can hate Lucius Malfoy till the day she dies – she has a face, she has a name. But I don't know what happened to Percy. I need to know who killed my husband!" She was sobbing again.

Ginny gently pulled Penny down next to her on the couch and pulled her close. "Shhh…" she soothed, patting her gently. "Calm down."

"You understand now, don't you? I don't want to live forever not knowing. Not knowing who it was who deprived my baby of his father. Who took my Percy away from me. And he's the only one who could tell me."

"Penny, I don't think he will," Ginny said softly, trying to put as much sympathy as she could into the statement.

Penny's sobs redoubled. "I know. But I have to at least try, or I'll never forgive myself." Penny tried to gather herself again. "Will you go with me?"

Ginny thought of all she had to do that day to get ready for dinner with Harry, but just thinking of Harry made her feel selfish. What would Harry want me to do? "Of course I'll go with you, Penny."

-- -- -- --

The Ministry had installed new holding cells during the renovations to the courtroom area of the building. A full two floors below the courtrooms, the holding cell area was dark, cold and damp. Ginny shivered involuntarily as the heavy metal door that opened into the visitors area slid shut behind them with a clang. Draco Malfoy was seated on the other side of a solid sheet of metal, charmed transparent, that also allowed the passage of sound.

If Malfoy was surprised at their appearance, he didn't show it on his face. "Well," he drawled. "A Weasel and a Weasel Whore. To what do I owe this honour?"

Ginny felt her face burn red at his insult to Penny, but Penny, somehow, didn't rise to the bait, and stared at him coolly as she sat in the chair opposite him. "Draco, I need some information."

"I haven't given any, nor will you get any. Talk to my counsellor." Draco paused thoughtfully. "Oh, I forgot. I fired the idiot. You'll just have to wait until I engage new counsel."

"I just have one question," Penny persisted, as if she hadn't heard him.

"Do go on," Draco leaned back in his chair. "I have nowhere else to be, and this quite amusing."

Penny took a deep breath and looked Draco square in the eyes. "I need to know who killed Percy."

Draco burst out laughing. "Oh, please, tell me another one. I haven't had this much fun since the last time I was cursing Weasel's brother at Hogwarts." For a moment, there was true amusement in his cold eyes, as he tossed back his unkempt hair.

"Draco, please," Penny said, desperation creeping into her controlled voice. "I have to know. Everyone else involved is dead."

"And why would I give you the satisfaction of knowing?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow while he examined his fingernails.

"Draco, please." Penny was pleading now, and Ginny took a step toward her.

He sighed, heavily. "Fine, do you really want to know?"

"Yes! Please tell me!"

Draco's mouth curled into a sneer. "He got himself killed by hanging around where he didn't belong instead of running away like he should have!" he snarled at her.

Penny lost it then, bursting into tears, and Ginny went to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and glaring at Draco.

"Why are you here anyway?" Draco asked, looking at Ginny. "You didn't lose anyone important to you, after all…your precious Potter survived."

"Both my brothers were important to me," Ginny said angrily, but she felt a blush creep up her cheeks in spite of herself.

"Interesting…" Draco mused suddenly, sitting up and rubbing his chin with a manacled hand. "Did I hit a nerve there? Has Saint Potter finally got around to noticing that Weasel carried a torch for him?"

"Sod off Draco," Ginny muttered.

"Isn't that so neat and tidy?" Draco smiled sardonically. "All one big happy Weasel family. Saint Potter and the Weasel Brat, the Mudblood and the Sidekick. Sickeningly sweet."

"Draco, please," Penny persisted. "I have to know."

"We all have things we want that we can't have, don't we?" he rose from his chair on the other side of the partition, looking down at them before he turned to go. "Go to hell." He walked away with his head held up defiantly. He spoke to the guard standing on the far wall, who led him back out of the visiting room through a heavy door.

Penny had lost all semblance of composure, and was crying into Ginny's robes, sobbing uncontrollably. Ginny managed to get her to stand, and they exited the visiting room. Ginny sat Penny down in the more comfortable waiting area, and held her. "Shhhh. Come on Penny, pull it together."

"I don't know if I can take it," Penny sobbed. "I can't stand not knowing."

"Penny, look at me," Ginny pulled Penny up so she could look her in the eye. "Penny, it doesn't matter in the long run. We're all sorry he was killed, and we all miss him, but he died a hero, doing something that wasn't even his job. But that was the past. You've got the future to think about. Arthur needs you. You've got Arthur, you've got all of us, and we'll do whatever we can. You need to pull it together."

Penny took a couple of gulping breaths, struggling to control her sobs. "You're right," she said, still sniffing a little.

"It's going to be okay. Percy wouldn't want you to dwell on it."

Penny squeezed her eyes shut tight, pushing out the last few tears. "I know."

"Come on," Ginny said, tugging Penny to her feet. "You can get cleaned up at my place, and I'll make you some lunch before you go back to work."

"Thank you, Ginny," Penny said, giving the younger woman a hug. "I appreciate this."

"Anything for family, you know that," Ginny said, smiling. "Come on, let's go."

Ginny concentrated on her flat, and she Apparated.

Into chaos.

She heard Penny shriek, and heard breaking glass. A black cloak swirled ahead of her, and she yanked out her wand. She had just begun to say "Stupe…" when Penny grabbed her wand hand

"Ginny, no!"

There was a flash of light, and another crash.

-- -- -- --

Harry, having stayed up all night the previous day working on gathering materials for class, allowed himself to sleep in. Even though he woke up twice, once at his traditional Auror wake up time of five am, and again when the Prophet owl arrived, he stayed in bed, drifting in and out of consciousness. He finally hauled himself out around eleven, feeling positively sinful. He shuffled through his morning routine, and went out to the kitchen to get some food. Hedwig was perched on the kitchen table.

"Morning, Hedwig." Harry reached into the fridge for his orange juice when he paused. Hedwig didn't normally sit on the table. He turned, and his owl blinked back at him. "Something there I need to see?"

Hedwig hooted softly and Harry grabbed the juice and walked back to the table. "Okay what is it?" Harry said, as he grabbed the front page. He scanned it back and forth, not seeing anything on the front page that immediately grabbed his interest. "Just articles about Malfoy," Harry muttered. "Don't they have anything better to write about?" He was about to turn the page, when he spied it.

In the very top corner of the front page was a teaser for an inside article. "Friends in High Places? Potter's mystery woman revealed! Pg. 12."

Groaning, and squeezing his eyes shut tight, Harry shook his head. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

By way of response, Hedwig fluttered over to perch on his shoulder and began grooming his hair. This made Harry groan again and he flipped open the paper.

All in the Family? Potter's Mystery Woman Identified!

Laxi Litteras, Gossip Columnist

In many years of reporting, this reporter has never seen the kind of reader response that was received after the last article on the Hunk Who Lived. Scores of loyal readers wrote in, suggesting the identity of Harry Potter's red-haired mystery woman. Most pointed to one person, leaving this reporter wondering how on Earth she could have missed the connection.

Of course everyone knows that Harry has always been close to the Weasley family, being schoolmates with Auror Ron Weasley, and his wife, Professor Hermione Weasley (formerly Granger). And young Harry was known to have spent quite a bit of time at the Weasley family home during school holidays, where he got to know other members of the Weasley family, including prominent Diagon Alley entrepreneurs Fred and George Weasley of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It's been speculated in this column before that Harry was the silent partner behind the start up of the successful joke shop. And it is well known that the elder Weasleys, including Minster Arthur Weasley, consider Harry as a member of the family.

Based on all this, it should have been quite obvious that the flame-haired beauty Harry was seen with last Friday was none other than young Ginevra Weasley, known as Ginny by most, the youngest child and only daughter in the Weasley clan.

Only a year behind Harry at Hogwarts, she was seen frequently with the Gryffindor Trio, and many former Gryffindors who were at school with the two wrote in to report that the pair always seemed to dance around each other.

"It was so obvious that Harry and Ginny had a thing going on," wrote one former classmate. "I always thought they were dating behind everyone's back," wrote another. Others said that the affection was one sided. "She adored him, but he never looked at her that way," wrote one reader, who claimed to be a former beau of Ginny. On the other hand, a person who was quote, "very close to Harry, for a time," claims "She strung him along. He was besotted with her, and she never gave him the time of day."

Well! It seems that something has certainly changed between Harry and Ginny, at least for the moment. Laxi will be keeping a close eye on the couple and you'll be the first to find out what the truth is in this relationship. Is it serious? Is it a fling between old friends? Are there wedding bells? How will the family react? Is Harry about to become officially a member of the Weasley family, or is it still only one sided? Keep reading and find out!

Harry dropped the paper onto the table, and let his head fall with a thunk. Hedwig hooted softly as she flew back to her perch by the window. "This is not good," Harry said aloud. Just then he heard a voice from his fireplace.

"Harry!"

Harry got up and hurried to the living room to see Hermione. "Yeah?"

"Harry, I can see Ginny's building from here, and there's a big noisy crowd out front. I think you should go see if she's all right," Hermione said urgently.

"Yeah, I just read the paper, too." Harry sighed. "I'll be there in two ticks."

"Hurry!" Hermione urged, and she disappeared.

Cursing, Harry ran into his room and pulled clothes out of his closet. He tossed on the first thing he grabbed, an old school robe with the black cloak, and Apparated to Ginny's.

The crowd was loud and noisy, he could hear them clamouring Ginny's name. He peeked out the window, and could see that it was made up of both reporters, and what appeared to be a throng of angry-looking young women, some of whom were holding signs with less than complimentary statements on them. It took Harry a moment to realize that those people were his fans, trying to protect him from the girl that someone – probably Cho, Harry thought – told them had strung him along.

"Damnit it all to hell," Harry cursed. There was a noise from behind him, and he turned toward it, but at that moment, a rock sailed through the window, shattering the glass. A woman's voice shrieked and he whirled toward the voice. Someone started a Stunner spell, and Harry reacted instantly.

"Expelliarmus!"

-- -- -- --

Ron Weasley stood shaking his head. Kingsley Shacklebolt was beside him, arms crossed and a tired expression on his face. They stood on one side of a one-way mirror, and they were watching Draco Malfoy being questioned by a Healer who specialized in mental disorders. Draco looked bored.

"Do you want to stop for the day?" the Healer was asking.

"Oh no," Draco said. "This is a welcome diversion from my cell. Please continue." Draco waved his arm casually, as if bidding a servant to continue. "Besides, I'm sure the Aurors standing on the other side of the mirror would much rather watch me than do paperwork."

"Nobody's been able to determine anything," Kingsley was saying. "We've got one who's convinced that he's a psychopath, another says he's completely sane, and another thinks he's totally around the bend."

Ron snorted. "I'm inclined to believe he's a psychopath, but that's never stopped anyone from being executed. In fact, that just adds another reason to go through with it."

Kingsley nodded. "Your father agrees. I've been ordered to end the evaluations. He's being transferred either at the end of this week or the beginning of the next."

Ron took a deep breath. "Well, that's it, then. Does he know yet?"

"Usually we'd tell his counsellor, but as he doesn't have one…" Kingsley shrugged. "Someone will tell him this afternoon. Your father's making the announcement on the wireless this evening."

Inside the room, the Healer was making preparations to leave. "Do you want to take him back to his cell?" Kingsley asked.

Ron nodded. "I'll take care of it." He walked around to the single door as the Auror standing guard there was letting the Healer out.

"He's a bit detached," the Healer told him, but she shrugged and shook her head. "But he seems stable. I can't detect any illness."

"Thank you for your time," Ron told her. "We'll take it from here." He nodded to the other Auror guarding the door and they walked into the small room together.

"Come to take me away so soon?" Draco drawled. "And I was just beginning to like it here."

"Let's go," Ron said tersely, gesturing for Malfoy to stand up.

"Another Weasel, this has been a big day for me. All this high level attention."

Ron furrowed his brows, and almost opened his mouth to ask who else Malfoy had seen, but decided not to engage him in conversation. Malfoy didn't miss the confusion that crossed his face, however.

"You mean you didn't know that your precious brat of sister was here this morning, with your dead brother's wench?" Draco asked with polite surprise. "Dear me, such a lack of communication. You'd think they'd at least stop in and say hello. That is, unless they were hiding something…"

"No talking now. Be quiet," the other Auror ordered, prodding Malfoy in the back with his wand.

"Don't shove, lad, I'm going. And I've said all I've had to say, anyway." Without another word, Draco walked out of the room, and the three men moved silently down the corridor. As Draco was locked back in his cell, Ron stared at him hard, but Draco simply looked back at him innocently. Ron spun on his heel and walked away, his Auror's cloak billowing out behind him. I'll get to the bottom of this, he thought.

"I'm going home for lunch," he told Kingsley on his way out. "I'll be back around one."

"Have a good lunch, see you later," Kingsley told him.

-- -- -- --

"Oh my God," Harry breathed, eyes wide. "Bloody hell. Damnit!" He crouched on the ground next to Ginny's prone form. "Ginny, are you okay? Ginny?!" he touched her forehead gently.

Penny summoned Ginny's wand, and knelt down next to Harry. "I don't suppose it's worth asking if you look before you curse?"

"Moody always taught us to curse first, ask questions later," Harry said, wryly finding humour in the situation. "Ginny, c'mon," Harry begged.

Ginny groaned, and her eyelids fluttered open. "Harry?" she said dazedly. "What happened?"

"You fell backwards when I hit you with Expelliarmus and hit your head on the kitchen table. Are you all right?" Harry said gently.

"Expelliarmus? What? Harry, why are you here? What broke?" Ginny said bits and pieces starting come back to her. "And what's all that noise?"

"Erm…" Harry stuttered. "That's kind of why I'm here, Ginny."

Ginny looked up at Penny. "What's he talking about? I'm confused."

Penny shrugged, and looked bewildered at Harry. Harry shook his head. "You get the Prophet this morning Gin?"

Ginny nodded. "It's on the table."

"Accio Daily Prophet!" The paper zoomed to Harry's hand, and he opened it up and wordlessly handed it to the two women, who leaned in to read it.

"Oh my God," Ginny breathed. "I never led you on!" She said angrily a moment later. "Who writes this stuff?"

"I have my guesses, but the noise outside…" Harry trailed off and looked sympathetically at her.

Ginny's eyes widened "Oh no…" She sat up and looked cautiously out the broken window. Someone in the crowd spied her, and a roar went up, and Harry pulled her out of the way before she was pelted with a hail of old fruit.

"Reparo!" Penny repaired the broken window with a flick. "Impervio Vitrum." And the fruit spattered harmlessly off the now unbreakable glass.

"That's a new one," Harry said with some admiration, "Where'd you learn it?"

Penny smirked at Harry. "It's one of the basic spells in So You're Going to Be A Mum."

"Ah, well that would be why I'd never heard it before," Harry said.

Ginny was standing now, looking out the window in horror. "They hate me," she whispered.

"Ginny," Harry said, gently drawing her away from the window.

"Harry! They hate me!" She turned to him, eyes wide with hurt.

"Let's get you over to the Burrow," Harry suggested. "Can you do that? I want your Mum to look at that bump on your head."

Dropping her eyes to the floor, she nodded silently. Harry gave her a quick hug, but felt her stiffen under his touch. "Gin?"

"I'm not good enough for you, Harry," Ginny said bitterly. I've never been good enough for you, the traitorous little voice in her head whispered. This can't be right. You can't possibly feel this way about the girl who stuck her arm in a butter dish. "It's my fault this is happening to you."

"Ginny, this is my fault this is happening to you," he said. "And they don't have the faintest idea who's good for me or who's not. I say you're good for me. Who are you going to believe? Me, or an angry mob? Come on, Gin, just ignore them and let's get you out of here."

"I'm going to do the rest of the windows, and then see if I can figure out who's got the authority to control this mob," Penny suggested. "You take her along to the Burrow."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Penny."

"Anything for family, you know that," Penny said, smiling, and Harry thought for a moment Ginny might have smiled too, but it was gone.

"Ready, Gin?" She nodded silently again. She concentrated and with two pops, they were standing in the kitchen at the Burrow.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley cried. "Are you all right? The clock said you were in danger!"

"Well, she got a nasty bump on the head," Harry said sheepishly, guiding Ginny to a kitchen chair. "I went over to her flat to see if she was all right after the morning paper came out, and she and Penny were coming back from somewhere, and they startled me. I hit her with Expelliarmus, and she got knocked backwards into the kitchen table."

"Oh dear," Molly clucked, clicking her tongue. "Nasty accident."

"Mum, they hate me!" Ginny blurted out.

Molly shot Harry a quizzical look.

"Erm…well there's also a good size crowd outside her flat. Some of them are…" Harry blushed red. "…concerned that Ginny isn't right for me."

"The buggers had signs calling me a slut, Harry, tell it like it is," Ginny said angrily.

"Ginny!" Molly said. "Language!" She shook her head. "Let me look at that bump." Molly bustled around and grasped Ginny's shoulders, running her hand along the back of Ginny's scalp.

"Ow, damnit!" Ginny hissed and jerked away. Molly chose to ignore the profanity this time.

"That is bad," she drew her wand. "This might hurt a little," she said sympathetically, "But it will help the swelling go down." Molly murmured something Harry didn't catch, and Ginny winced and hissed loudly, gritting her teeth together. After a moment, Ginny began to relax again. "Sorry, mum. Thanks."

Molly nodded in response. "So tell me what's going on at your flat?"

Briefly, Harry and Ginny described the goings on at Ginny's building. Mrs. Weasley was worked up into a good head of steam by the time they finished.

"Well, I never…the nerve…I'm going to give that reporter a piece of my mind," Mrs. Weasley said firmly, and Harry had visions of a Howler exploding at the Daily Prophet offices.

From behind them was the familiar whirr-click of the clock hands moving, and with a pop, Ron stood in the kitchen with them.

"What the hell is going on around here?" he demanded. Ron was covered in rotten fruit and looking around the room angrily. "I try to go to find you," he pointed at Ginny, "but someone's put up wards so tight I can't get near the place by Apparating, and when I came down the street I got attacked by an angry mob, also looking for you. And you." He pointed at Harry now. "And now half the Aurors in Scotland are tied up trying to clean up the mess in Hogsmeade."

"The Daily Prophet is at it again," Molly said disgustedly, angry enough that she forgot to scold Ron for his language. "They've printed some slanderous insinuations about your sister."

"Well, I just wanted to know why my sister was visiting Draco Malfoy in prison this morning."

The dead silence that followed that statement was punctured only by the dripping of rotten fruit off Ron's robes.

"What?" Harry finally said, looking confused. "What's he talking about?"

Ginny sighed. "Penny wanted to go see Draco, and she didn't want to go alone. So I went with her."

"Why?" Molly looked utterly lost. "Why in Merlin's name would she want to see him?"

"She needed to ask him something," Ginny said. "I'm not sure it really matters," she tried to back peddle. "He didn't answer, and we left. We were just getting back to my place when Harry got there," Ginny continued, attempting to shift the focus back to the situation at her flat. "The mob was already there, and they broke a window, and I got hit in the head…"

"Wait, back up," Ron ordered. "What did Penny want to know?"

Ginny looked around the room hopelessly, and shook her head. "She wanted to know who killed Percy."

Molly reacted as if slapped, and Ron's eyes narrowed to slits. Ginny turned to Harry, expecting him to be mad as well.

But he wasn't. He was nodding, an understanding look on his face.

"What do you mean she wanted to know who killed Percy?" Ron demanded. "The Death Eaters killed Percy."

"Ron, she wanted to know exactly who did it."

"What does it matter? And besides, if she wanted to know, she should have come to me, so I could ask him. The two of you had no business being around him. I could have asked him during an interrogation session. It doesn't matter who killed him specifically. We've brought them all to justice now, every last one. Look, I miss him too, but you two had no business to go see him like that. It's not safe. I don't want you two to pull another stunt like that…"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, don't lecture your sister like that. You're not her father," Molly said, speaking for the first time since Ginny had mentioned Percy's name.

"Mum, I'm only saying…"

"Enough! I'm not going to have you arguing over Percy!" Molly shrieked.

"This isn't about Percy, this is about Malfoy!" Ron retorted.

Ginny watched her mother and her brother trading shouts like a spectator at a Quidditch match following the Quaffle up and down the pitch, and the stress of the day finally caught up with her. Malfoy's cutting words, the taunts of the crowd, getting knocked unconscious, her brother's anger…it was all too much, and she began to sob. Ron and her mother didn't seem to notice.

"Enough." The voice was low and as cold as she had ever heard it, and Ron and her mother stopped screaming in mid-shout, to turn to look at Harry. "I'm not sure what purpose this shouting is serving, except to upset Ginny, and I don't appreciate that. Mrs. Weasley is right, Ron," Harry said, glaring daggers at Ron. "You don't have any business telling Ginny what she can and can't do. There's nothing wrong with what Penny wanted, Ron. I seem to recall a great deal of sleep lost over the elder Malfoy," he said, with an edge in his voice.

"Far be it from me to get in the way of a family quarrel. But seeing as it really doesn't involve the two of us anymore, we'll be going."

Ginny felt Harry's arms encircle her waist like a pair of iron bands, and before she could react, he Apparated them both away.

Mrs. Weasley and Ron stared a moment in disbelief, Mrs. Weasley still sniffling a little, and blinking away the last of her tears.

"Oh, bugger, I've gone and done it now," Ron said, slowly realizing how angry he had made his best mate.

"Ron! Language!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

-- -- -- --

Ginny found herself standing by a small creek, under the shade of a tall oak tree. Harry let her go slowly, and she could feel him trying to bleed off his tension. He was taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly.

"Harry? Are you okay?" She turned. He had his eyes closed and he was rubbing his temples.

"Yeah. I'm okay." He heaved another deep breath, and then opened his eyes again. "I'm better. I wanted to hex your brother into next week, but I'm okay now."

"For what it's worth, I wanted to, too." She hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. "It was very sweet of you to get me out of there like that. Thank you."

"Yeah, well, we're just lucky we're all in one piece. It's been a while since I've done Side-Along Apparition." He chuckled, and sat down on the grass, tugging Ginny down to join him.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around. "I don't recognize this place at all."

"It's in Remus's back garden. The house is over that knoll," Harry pointed to a low hillock some distance away. "Well, I guess it's not exactly a back garden, since there are like 40 acres here, but you get the idea."

She nodded. "This is a nice spot."

"I'd love to build a house here someday, if only I could convince Remus not to move if I do."

"Move?"

Harry sighed, laced his hands behind his head and laid back. "You know how Remus is, all overprotective and paranoid. He wants to be as remote as possible, 'in case something goes wrong'…and all that. I mean, I understand to a point, but I think he's being a little ridiculous."

"Harry, I think you've lost me," Ginny said.

"See, that's exactly what I mean. Everybody else doesn't even think about it anymore." He pointed a finger at the sky. "The moon, Ginny," Harry explained.

Ginny felt like someone had just turned on a lamp in a dark room. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I have to agree with you. It seems a little overkill to live way out in the middle of nowhere. It's not like you couldn't put up extra wards or something on a full moon night if you lived out here. I mean, you'd know about it. It'd be different if it was a stranger, I suppose, but you know all about it."

"See? My point exactly. Convince Remus for me, will you?"

Ginny laughed, and lay down next to Harry in the grass. "Sure thing, Harry. Anything you say."

"This could work for me," Harry chuckled, and Ginny whacked him gently in the stomach. "Ooaf."

"Pretty day," Ginny said after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"Hmm?" Harry said, a little belatedly.

"Did you fall asleep?" Ginny laughed.

"No," Harry yawned. "Not exactly. I kind of zoned out there for a minute though."

Ginny giggled and shook her head. "I can't get over how strange it is for you to act so…normal. You haven't acted this normal since…well…I don't know when. Before your fifth year, at least."

Harry shifted his head from side to side, considering. "My third year was the last normal year. Even with all the stuff going on that year, it really was the last year life was somewhat normal." She felt him shrug next to her. "My fourth year was just weird, with the Tournament, and then things all went to hell at the end of that year."

"I'm sorry," Ginny said, even though it really seemed silly and inadequate.

"Not your fault Ginny, not by a long shot." Harry paused. "I used to lay out like this in the bushes under my Aunt and Uncle's living room window and listen to the news that summer after my fourth year. I was listening to see if anything strange had happened, if Voldemort was active again. It was a miserable summer." He snorted. "They were all miserable summers."

Ginny laced her fingers into Harry's and squeezed. Harry half turned so that he could see her, and squeezed back.

"I used to lay out and watch the clouds," Ginny said. "I used to try and see what they looked like, you know, shapes and stuff."

"I never tried that."

"Well, like that one," Ginny said, pointing. "It kind of looks like Dad's old car, doesn't it?"

Harry tilted his head a little, and squinted. "I suppose. I think it looks more like a train coach to me."

Ginny paused. "You might be right," she said tilting her head to match Harry's angle. "How about that one?" she asked, lifting their linked hands and pointing Harry's finger at a different cloud formation.

"Looks like a giant goldfish," Harry said.

"Yeah, I guess I can see that."

A long moment passed, and Ginny rubbed Harry's fingers between her own.

"Feeling any better?" Harry asked.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Harry. I just couldn't take any more."

"For what it's worth, I understand what Penny wanted. I wish I could get it for her." Harry pulled up a tuft of grass with his free hand and tossed it into the breeze.

"Me, too," Ginny agreed with him. "I tried to look at if from my point of view. I mean, if something happened to you, I'd want to know what, how and who."

"I know. Ron's just not being rational right now. He's got a lot of stress on his mind, what with little Charlie coming along and this fiasco with Malfoy at the office. And your Mum, I love her dearly, but she clearly hasn't dealt with losing Percy very well."

Ginny shook her head. "No. I don't think she ever felt as if she fully reconciled with him, and that's what's eating at her. I mean, losing Charlie hurt her too, but the pain hasn't lingered on the same way."

"Yeah, that's probably it."

There was another long silence, disturbed only by the chirping of birds in the trees.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"What do we do about the mob at my flat?" she asked, finally getting up the courage to ask the question that she wasn't sure she wanted an answer too.

"Well, we'll have to set up some new wards," Harry suggested. "We can set up the kind of anti-publicity wards, like the kind that the Ministry set up around the Burrow when your Dad became Minister. They'll at least keep reporters and attention hounds from coming within a certain distance of your building. We'll punch up security as well. Beyond that…well, I could go start hexing a few people, and scare the rest away, but that would get me in trouble."

"Well, I wouldn't want that, so I suppose all the rest will have to do for now," Ginny giggled a little at the thought of Harry rampaging through the crowd.

"No, I think getting me in trouble would probably only generate more publicity. We'll just have to keep at this in the normal ways."

Ginny nodded, accepting. A sudden thought struck her. "Oh no!" she cried.

"What?" Harry sat up.

"Our dinner! I was going to cook you dinner! But I don't even have anything to cook you yet!" Ginny sat up as well, looking at Harry as if she might start crying again. "First Penny came, and then there was the thing with Draco, and Penny was crying, and then I got home, and you were there, and the mob, and…"

"Oh, Gin, come here," Harry laughed, and pulled her into a warm embrace. "Don't worry about that. I'll take a rain check on dinner."

Ginny snuggled into Harry, taking a deep breath. Not for the first time, she couldn't believe she thought she could get through life without him. "You know Harry, I never thought you'd ever been this sweet. I mean, I always thought you were a nice bloke, and that you would be a great boyfriend, but I never thought you could be so incredibly sweet."

Harry chuckled. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not. But I'll take it as one." He kissed the top of her head.

Just then, there was a low rumble, and Ginny had to laugh. "A rain check on dinner, Harry? What did you do for lunch?"

"Erm…" Harry blushed as Ginny turned her face up to look into his eyes. "I…erm…hadn't eaten yet."

"Hadn't eaten lunch?"

"Er…anything."

"You didn't get breakfast?" Ginny narrowed her eyes at him.

Harry shook his head fractionally.

"Harry James Potter," Ginny said warningly. "Don't start up with those bad habits. I don't want you to run yourself into an early grave."

"In my own defence, I was called away to rescue you," Harry pointed out.

"Yes, you're good at that kind of thing," Ginny sighed. "Where do you want to get some food?"

"Doesn't really matter to me, Gin, but we probably should go get something." Harry paused. "I have an idea."

-- -- -- --

And so it came to pass that Ginny found herself in a pizza restaurant in a strip mall not far from Harry's flat.

"See?" Harry said, bringing the food to the table. "Nice and anonymous."

Ginny nodded and reached for the pizza. The smell of food had made her hungry. She hadn't had lunch either, and it was nearly tea time. "Give me some of that."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry laughed, pulling apart a couple slices for himself.

"What are your plans for the rest of the week?" Ginny asked after they had both munched down a slice or two in silence.

Harry, his mouth still full of pizza, shrugged. He swallowed hastily. "I don't know. I need to talk to my landlord and cancel my lease. I'd like to try and be out sooner rather than later. A lot of the material I'll need and so forth is up at Hogwarts, and it would be just as easy not to commute."

"Oh." Ginny paused, plucking up the courage to ask a question that had been on her mind since Harry had accepted the job. "Harry, what about us? I remember how McGonagall pitched a fit at Ron and Hermione when Ron would go to visit…" Ginny trailed off, unsure if she'd stepped over some kind of line.

"I asked McGonagall about it the other day when she offered me the job," Harry said. "She told me that over the summer, it's not a problem. She just doesn't like it during the school year, around the students."

"Oh, okay," Ginny nodded, feeling relieved. It had been eating at her since Harry announced he was giving up his flat. It's not like he couldn't come to mine, but there's something nice about being able to go to his place.

Just then, Harry sat up straight, staring at something outside the restaurant. "What is it?" she asked. Ginny followed his gaze out the window. Sitting perched on a parking meter, staring unblinking back at them was Edwina, her family's post owl.

"I wonder what it is?" Ginny asked, looking around the restaurant. People outside were giving the owl odd looks, and several restaurant patrons were pointing out the window.

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But she's attracting too much attention." Surreptitiously, Harry drew his wand, and giving a quick glance around, pointed it out the window. She heard him mutter a spell under his breath, and he quickly flicked his wrist. In a flash, he'd tucked the wand back in his pocket. People who had once been staring now turned back to their meals.

"What did you use?"

"A distraction charm, similar to the ones up at Hogwarts. Don't know how long it will last though. I'll get a box for the rest of the pizza, let's go."

In moments, Harry and Ginny were on their way out of the restaurant. Edwina fluttered over immediately as they left. Ginny tore open the parchment.

"Harry and Ginny," she read. "Please come back to the Burrow. I apologize for the incident this afternoon, and Ron is likewise looking to apologize. But you need to come home, Arthur is going to give a speech on the wireless this evening, and you both need to hear it. Mum." She looked up at Harry. "Where's the nearest spot we can Apparate?"

"This way," Harry directed. "There's an alley."

Harry directed her to small alley next to the strip mall, and in a moment they were at the Burrow.

"Oh, Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley fell across her daughter, throwing her arms around her. "I'm sorry!"

"Oh, Mum," Ginny said, "It's all right. These things happen." She patted her mum on the back.

Mrs. Weasley looked up. "Ron isn't sure he wanted to see you, but he's sorry too." She was looking at Harry as she spoke.

"You can tell Ron it's okay. I'm not going to hex him," Harry sighed. "I just kind of let it get away from me a bit."

"You can tell him when he and Hermione get here. He's gone to fetch her."

They arrived a moment later, their presence announced by soft pops of displaced air. Ron, on spotting Harry and Ginny, instinctively ducked behind Hermione, who was holding Charlie. Harry burst out laughing.

"Oh, come off it mate, you know I can't stay mad at you long," Harry said, extending his hand. "All is forgiven."

Ron smiled hesitantly, and took Harry's hand. Harry yanked him into a backslapping hug that had the women laughing. Ginny muttered something about "manly hugs" under her breath.

"So what's this about?" Harry asked as they sat down at the kitchen table, Molly trying to fiddle with the dials on the wireless set.

"Dad's going to announce that he's having Malfoy transferred to Azkaban for execution," Ginny said flatly.

"How did you know?" Ron asked.

"Penny told me." Ginny shrugged.

"What time?" Harry asked.

"At five," Mrs. Weasley replied. "In time for the evening news."

Harry glanced at his watch. It was quarter past four. "So what are we doing in the meantime?" Harry asked.

"An early dinner!" Mrs. Weasley announced, opening the stove. "I had some leftovers, so I whipped up a meatloaf. I found the recipe in a Muggle cooking magazine. It sounds wonderful!" She bustled about, getting out the dishes for dinner.

Harry and Ginny exchanged glances, as Harry quickly tried to hide the pizza box. Hermione's eyes widened as she saw the box, and she passed Charlie to Ron and began tugging the pizza away from Harry.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Harry hissed.

"I hate meatloaf!" she hissed back. "Gimme the pizza!"

-- -- -- --

Arthur Weasley hated dealing with the media. He had never quite understood their mentality. He understood the necessity of having one in a free society, but it didn't stop him from harbouring secret fantasies of passing legislation to outlaw reporters entirely.

And he was never quite comfortable with public speaking; especially when he was public speaking alone. There was just something odd about speaking to the entire Wizarding population of Britain, and not seeing a single face. Well, except for a few staff and the technician from the WWN.

"Minister Weasley? Are you ready?"

Arthur nodded and straightened the papers that held his address.

"In five, four, three…" the technician held up fingers to indicate two and one, and then pointed at him.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen…"

-- -- -- --

They were listening all across England. In houses, in pubs, on street corners. In the past week, the total lack of other news had caught up the entire populace in the Malfoy drama.

"…The past week has seen extraordinary activity in our legal system. As you all know, this all began with the sentencing of Draco Malfoy, the last of the fugitive Death Eaters…."

-- -- -- --

The guards were listening in the cell areas of the Ministry, where Draco sat, impassively listening to his fate.

"…Mr. Malfoy's actions following the denial of his appeal were curious to many. Some even called them irrational, perhaps deranged. There was a great deal of suggestion that perhaps Mr. Malfoy was mentally unstable, and therefore should not be subject to the penalty imposed by the Wizengamot…."

-- -- -- --

Harry held Ginny's hand as he looked around the room. Looking at Ron, he couldn't help but think about the many run-ins that they had with Malfoy throughout the years. He felt a smile creep up to the corner of his mouth as he watched Ron and Hermione, and he thought about the time Ron ended up belching slugs while standing up for Hermione. I guess it was worth it, Harry thought.

"…Many groups came forward, including friends from across the sea, to suggest that if indeed Mr. Malfoy was mentally unstable, there was ample precedent to commute his sentence…."

Harry looked at Mrs. Weasley, who was watching the radio with a mixture of sadness and pride. This was a big moment for her husband, and she was proud of him, but the evening couldn't help but bring up painful memories. She had sacrificed so much during the war, constant nights of fear and worry for her family. And yet, through it all, even the loss of two of her sons, she bore it with dignity and grace.

"…While I may disagree with these well-intentioned wizards and witches, I felt the best course of action would be to initiate an investigation to settle the question once and for all…"

Harry's gaze shifted once more. Penny had joined them shortly before Mr. Weasley had gone on the air, and she was absently rocking Arthur, a blank, devoid expression on her face that made Harry feel very cold.

"…I can state for you clearly and definitively that Mr. Malfoy is in command of his faculties and is 100% capable of making a rational decision. I have reports from highly respected Healers from St. Mungo's Hospital that remove any doubt concerning the sanity of Draco Malfoy…."

Next to him, Ginny shivered a little, and Harry looked down at her, wondering what she was thinking. What had transpired between her and Draco that morning? She had never said, but Harry got the impression that it had not been pleasant. The nervous twitch in his gut that he had first felt when Draco's execution had been delayed was back. He pulled Ginny a little tighter, and it was his turn to shiver.

-- -- -- --

"…Therefore, in accordance with these findings I have instructed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to transfer Mr. Malfoy to Azkaban prison, where his sentence will be carried out, as decreed by the Wizengamot Court of Justice. It is my fervent wish that now, we can well and truly say, the War is over, and it can pass into the history books, not forgotten, certainly, but behind us, where it belongs. It is my hope and prayer that peace is now truly upon us. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen and good night."

The commentators came on to talk about the speech, but they couldn't be heard over the explosion of noise in the Leaky Cauldron, where the dinnertime patrons had hushed to hear the speech but were now chattering excitedly. At the bar, a lone man set a coin on the bar to pay for his drink, and made to walk out. There was work to be done now. Much work.

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