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

Author: legobean

Story: Harry Potter and the Toll of Destiny

Part: 17: Mirror of Erised

Rating: Teens

Status: WIP

Reviews: 37

Words: 11,622

New Chapter Progress:

[ 80% ]

Progress Notes: So, I know it's been a really long wait. I'm hoping some progress will get made this weekend and that it shouldn't be too much longer before an update. Mostly I'm just hoping though!

Updated: February 28, 2008, 6:41am

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17: Mirror of Erised

Disclaimer: “Hi I’m Harry Potter. Recently there has been a lot of question about who owns me. Let me assure you, that I could never be owned by someone named ‘Legobean.’ Whatever you may hear to the contrary I’m owned by J.K. Rowling.

I read on the internet the other day that he’s been doing some really nasty things to me. Don’t believe any of it! It’s not true. The only real Harry Potter stories are written by J.K. Rowling. Oh, and never ever give Legobean money. If you do, he’ll just keep coming back asking for more. He’s like a parasite. Just trust me, don’t let him profit from me.”

“Ginny!” Harry called as she disappeared into the flames. Jumping up from the table he grabbed his own handful of Floo powder and repeated her destination. He felt himself push up against the Wards at Ron and Hermione’s house as they attempted to push him through the fire back into the Burrow. Harry concentrated on his magic and kept pushing forward. He felt his skin begin to burn, although he wasn’t sure if it was from the pressure or the fire. He concentrated on forcing his body through the Ward as he did when he Apparated, finally managing to force the Ward back.

There was a huge explosion that sounded like a clap of thunder, as the Wards around Ron and Hermione’s house collapsed and the fireplace exploded into the den leaving shrapnel and broken furniture everywhere.

Harry’s first thought was, Oh Merlin, please let there have been no one in here when it exploded. He quickly scanned the room, but saw no signs that anyone had been in the room when the fireplace blew apart. He sighed a quick breath of relief.

“Harry?” He turned to find a clearly shocked Hermione holding her wand on him. “What the hell did you do?”

“Er, sorry.”

“Sorry? Sorry? My children could have been in here! They would have been killed! What the hell were you doing?”

“Ginny took the Floo to the Burrow and saw me sitting with Cho, and then she turned around and disappeared back through. I followed her, but your Wards were keeping me out.”

“So you thought you would just demolish the house? How dare you! This is our home, Harry. You can’t just come barging in here blowing it up. Did you ever think of just making a Floo call first? I would have opened the Wards!”

“I didn’t think about the Wards till I couldn’t get through,” Harry said apologetically. “I was panicked; I just need to talk to Ginny.”

“That’s an excuse? By all means, Harry, destroy my home to rescue your love life. Who cares if we have no place to live?”

“I don’t know what else to say, Hermione. I’ll fix it. I’ll pay for it.”

“You destroyed the Wards, Harry. You can’t put them back up; you’re not allowed outside!”

Harry shook his head. “Hermione, I’m sorry. Really, I was desperate. If I’d had any idea, obviously I wouldn’t have done it. The last thing I want is to hurt your family.”

“Fine.” Hermione waved him away in irritation. “Just go and talk to Ginny then, I hope it’s worth it.”

“Where is she?” Harry asked.

Hermione made a noise of pure frustration. “How would I know? I thought she was at the Burrow with you until you decided to blow the place up! She’s probably in her room.”

Harry looked at her quizzically.

“Up the stairs, on the right!” She waved her arms in exasperation, like anyone who visited their house should obviously know where Ginny slept.

Harry took his leave of Hermione as quickly as possible. He really was sorry, but he felt an overpowering need to talk to Ginny. Downstairs he heard an agitated Hermione yelling something at the boys. He would have to make it up to them sometime. Maybe he could teach them the proper form for feinting?

He looked in the first door he came to and saw that it was full of toys and small beds. The second door he came to was a bathroom. The third door he came to was closed, but when he went to knock on it he found it Imperturbed. Not being able to knock on the door, Harry moved down a few feet and pounded on the wall. “Ginny, I need to talk to you.”

He waited but there was no response. Harry groaned. Who knew how long she would keep herself locked in there. He really needed to talk to her, but he felt he may be over extended on his credit, as far as knocking down walls in Hermione’s home went. He leaned against the wall across from the door and slid down to sit in the hallway and wait.

***

Harry wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there, but he didn’t think it had been an hour yet, when the red hair of his best friend appeared on the stairs. The flashy purple robes he knew belonged to Cho Chang were right behind him.

“Harry!” Cho cried. “Oh, thank goodness you’re safe. You can’t just go running off like that, what if it had been a trap?”

“I was following Ginny. It wasn’t a trap.”

“But you didn’t know it was Ginny! It could have been someone Polyjuiced to look like Ginny.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t.”

“But still it could have been. I was frantic. You dashed through the fire, and then it wouldn’t let me though. I had never been here before so I couldn’t Apparate. Then I went to the Auror office to get a map since I had the address. Did you know this place was unplottable?” She looked at Ron with a clear accusation in her gaze.

Ron rubbed the back of this head for a moment. “Well, you see when Hermione and I got our first place we had a lot of problems with Harry’s fans. Our flat ended up in a celebrity homes self tour book. We didn’t want our new house to end up on any maps.”

If Cho heard him she wasn’t paying any attention. “So I looked around the Ministry until I finally found someone who knew where Ron was and got him to bring me over,” she finished, a bit more breathless than Harry thought was strictly necessary.

“Er, sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry.” Harry shrugged.

“You have to be more careful!”

Harry sighed. “I wasn’t in any danger. I knew where I was going, and nobody here was going to attack me.”

“Harry, I am your bodyguard. I need to be with the body to guard it!”

Harry once again rolled his eyes. Ron finally decided to step in. “Cho, I need to speak with Harry for a minute. Why don’t you wait downstairs?”

“Anything you want to say to Harry can be said in front of me. I am bound to hold his confidence.”

Harry glared at Cho. “Just go, don’t make me make you go.”

“Harry...”

Harry’s eyes narrowed further as they bored into Cho. “Oh, all right, I’ll be downstairs.” She huffed, and flounced down the stairs.

“Er, Harry?” Ron said tentatively.

“Yeah?”

“You know Ginny’s going to kill you right?”

“I’d hoped we had moved past the point of insane jealousy,” Harry responded dryly.

“She’s a Weasley. There are no more stops on the train past insane jealousy; it’s its own destination really.”

Harry shook his head. “There is nothing going on with Cho; I didn’t pick her. I don’t really want her around all the time either. I don’t even want a bodyguard. How did Tonks manage to pick the one person in the world that would set Ginny off more than any other?”

“Tonks picked her?”

Harry nodded. “And Minister Bell. Apparently she’s the best available, but I have been training her. She’s good, but I don’t think she’s that fabulous.”

“It’s interesting though.” Ron shrugged.

“What?”

“Well, I bump into her ever so often. At first I thought it was inconsequential. I’d see her at the bakery, or at Quality Quidditch Supplies, or I would stop off at the Leaky Cauldron, and she’d be there. It didn’t happen that often, but every time, the third or fourth question she would ask would be about you. Had we seen you yet? Did we have any leads on where you were? We would chat for a few minutes, and then she would be gone. After we stopped looking for you it got less frequent, but still I would say it’s never been more than six or eight months without bumping into her. I suppose it could have been coincidence, the magical world isn’t really that big. It’s not like I don’t bump into people I know all the time. It was just kind of weird, that’s all.”

Harry nodded but said nothing. “So you think this is a setup?”

“I’m not saying that, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she ended being your bodyguard.”

“Well, I already know she volunteered for the job. Tonks said as much. They were looking for someone who was loyal to me, and that I would feel comfortable with.”

Ron snickered.

“Stuff it,” Harry laughed. “She’s been fine. No inappropriate overtures, nothing but professional, mostly. She’s a little more conversational than you expect in a bodyguard, but she hasn’t done anything to make Ginny jealous.”

“Except be your first crush and girlfriend,” Ron sniggered.

“That was ten years ago. We’ve all grown up, at least I hope we have,” Harry said, nodding towards Ginny’s door. “And she wasn’t my girlfriend.”

“Well I think you better have something better planned to say to Ginny than, ‘Grow up and accept it’, because she’s quick with a wand and short with the temper.” Ron smiled. “So, I hear you were redecorating downstairs?”

Harry gave Ron and embarrassed smile. “Yeah, sorry about that, I’ll fix it you know. I just didn’t think about what would happen if I forced my way through the Ward while I was still fully formed. I’m usually just bits of magic when I do it.”

“Don’t worry too much about it. Hermione has put most of the furniture and decorations back together already. However, I am not sure there is enough of the fireplace to actually fix it. You particulated or vaporized a bunch of it.”

“I’ll think of something even if I have to make installment payments,” Harry assured him.

“Right, like anybody would hire you.”

“I might be able to find work on a demolition crew.”

“Naw, everyone would get tired of fending off your bodyguard. You’d better stick with extermination.”

It was a joke. Harry knew it was a joke, but it still cut him the wrong way. Ron must have seen it in his face, because he instantly looked contrite. “Sorry, mate, I didn’t mean it like that.” Harry gave a solitary nod and resumed staring at the door. “Dinner will be ready soon I think, do you want to come down and eat while you wait?” Harry shook his head. “Do you want me to keep you company?” Again Harry just shook his head. “Right. Well, let me know if you need anything.”

Harry turned and rested his back against the Imperturbed door and prepared for a long wait.

***

It turned out to be a very long wait. At about eight thirty, Harry guessed it was, Hermione had brought the boys up to bed. She had paused a moment to glare caustically at Harry as she went in to tuck them in. Hermione hadn’t even spared him a glance on her way back downstairs. Harry guessed he had some more apologizing to do. Time had started to lose its meaning to him as he sat in the dim hallway waiting for Ginny, whom might very well be asleep, to remove the barricade on her door. He wasn’t sure if Hermione and Ron would go to bed with him sitting in the hallway or not.

He felt the cancellation of the Imperturbable charm a second before the door opened, and he fell backwards hitting his head painfully on the floor. He inhaled quickly and muttered something indecipherable as the pain stung through the back of his head.

“Harry?” Ginny asked quizzically.

Harry nodded. “The one and only.”

“You’ve been waiting out here this whole time?” she asked rather harshly.

“I needed to talk to you,” Harry said lamely, still lying on the floor looking up at her towering form.

“I see. Is this about your new girlfriend?” she replied with just a touch of acid to her words.

“Cho is not my girlfriend. She’s my bodyguard.”

Ginny made a noise that only women can make and only when they are dismissing a perfectly rational argument from the opposite sex. It was somewhere between a chirp and a huff.

“Really, I’m serious, there is nothing between us. The Minister decided I need a bodyguard, and she’s who Tonks chose,” Harry explained pleadingly.

“Tonks?” Ginny asked in exasperation. “Why would she do this?”

“Ginny, it’s not a big deal, she’s just an Auror guard. I don’t have any feelings for her.” Harry stood up and tried to close the distance between them.

The anger in Ginny’s expression intensified, and her pupils narrowed until they seemed no larger than the head of a pencil. Harry was smart enough to know better than to try and touch her. “I know what I saw Potter, and I had to watch you spend two years mooning over that,” she paused for a moment to come up with an appropriate insult, “That slag.”

“Ginny, don’t call her names. I’m not going to defend myself or her to you; there is nothing to be defensive about. She has a job to do, but she’s taking it seriously. She has flirted with me a couple of times, but nothing that wasn’t harmless.”

“Because everyone knows you are such a good judge of women’s intentions. You have such a marvelous history of knowing what the women around you feel. Don’t you, Harry?”

Harry could feel the accusation just as well as he could hear it, and frankly he had no clue how to respond. He was terrible at reading women, everyone knew that. But still, Cho hadn’t done anything to warrant this level of spite from Ginny. “I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry that you don’t trust me, but I’m not looking for someone else, Ginny. I…I thought you knew that.”

“Then why were the two of you holding hands when I stepped through the fire?”

Harry shook his head. “We weren’t! Ginny, I’d just had a very unpleasant meeting with the Minister’s assistant, and Cho was trying to encourage me that things weren’t as awful as they seemed. We weren’t holding hands!”

“I saw you, Harry, and if you’re going to lie to me, just go,” Ginny snapped testily.

Harry held his hands up placating manner. “Ginny, please. I don’t know what you saw, okay? Maybe her hand was on mine. I can assure you I wasn’t holding her hand. I was fairly upset at the time, and she might have been trying to encourage me.” Harry sighed, he grabbed her hand and she didn’t pull away. “Ginny I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this stuff all week. I hate all of this bodyguard bollocks. I don’t want to go to a ball. I don’t want to be paraded around like a prize.”

“If you wanted to talk to me about it so badly why didn’t you include me in your meeting with the Minister?”

Harry was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“You took Ron and Hermione, even Fred and Katie, in the sitting room for your pow-wow with the Minister, but you didn’t include me. I thought… after the letter… I mean…” Ginny stuttered as her eyes lowered slowly as she said this until they were watching the floor. “I guess I thought things had changed between us after the letter and Christmas Eve and the compass.”

Harry took his unoccupied hand and cupped her chin pulling her eyes to his. “Ginny, you never need an invitation to my life. I didn’t invite any of those people to talk to the Minister, they just came. I wanted you there, but I wasn’t going to force you to sit through it if you didn’t want to be there.” Her eyes were sparkling before he finished. She pressed closer to him and moved her arms around him, burying her head in his chest.

“You really wanted me there?” she mumbled into his jumper.

“Yes, I was disappointed when you didn’t come. Then I came to talk to you about it that night and you wouldn’t talk to me. You have to stop doing that, Ginny. It scares the hell of me when you won’t talk to me.”

“The great Harry Potter was scared of little me?” she teased, looking up at him with mischief emblazoned on her face.

“Yes, well, we’ll have less of the great part if it’s all the same to you. But, yeah, the last month has made me realize some things. Things like, I don’t like it when you’re mad at me. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, really.”

“Me too, I’ll try to be…calmer. I won’t promise, but I’ll try.” Ginny pressed a kiss to Harry’s chest through his jumper. Harry was sure that it seemed more intimate than she intended. She let out a sigh and snuggled back against him. Well, maybe he was sure.

***

“Are you ready?” Cho asked.

“I guess.” In truth Harry wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready at all. He had absolutely no desire to go shopping for dress robes for a ball that he didn’t even want to go to. He especially didn’t want to go with Cho. It wasn’t that he disliked Cho; she was all right. But, spending time with Cho meant an aggravated Ginny. She had huffed and spit and steamed when she found out that Cho was taking him robe shopping today. She had wanted them to go on Saturday so that Ginny could come too, but Cho had insisted that they go during the week, so it would be a smaller disruption to the store. Cho had arranged for the designer robe shop to close for a short time today, so that Harry wouldn’t be exposed to other shoppers. He had explained to Cho twice that he didn’t have access to his vault in Gringotts, but she had assured him that money would not be a problem. How money wouldn’t be a problem at a shop that sold designer Wizarding robes, Harry was unclear. Mrs. Weasley had offered to get him something off the rack at Gladrags, but that idea had been scrapped after Wanda had nearly had a seizure at the prospect of Harry at a formal ball with off-the-rack robes. Cho had stepped in and volunteered to make sure that Harry was properly outfitted for the ball. ‘We have to match after all,’ she’d said. Harry was quite surprised that Cho hadn’t had to spend serious time in St. Mungo’s after the look Ginny gave her.

“All right, Harry, into the fire. You’re going to Mirror of Erised Designer Wizard Wear,” Cho commanded.

Harry repeated the destination as he threw the Floo powder into the fire. He stepped out into a shop that looked more like sitting room in a mansion than a shop except for one wall which had had a painting on it stating Mirror of Erised Designer Wizard Wear: You always wished you looked this good.

“Harry!” He was more than a little surprised when he was engulfed in a storm of black hair and purple silk. The woman who had attacked him had a firm grip on his midsection. Cho appeared behind him from the Floo with a highly amused look on her face. There was something else in her expression, too, that Harry couldn’t place.

He was quite uncomfortable at the strange woman’s embrace and he finally cleared his throat and said. “Erm?” The woman pulled back and he found himself looking into the tear stained eyes of a beaming Parvati Patil. “Parvati?”

She nodded slowly and then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “It’s really you?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, it’s good to see you. Do you work here?”

Parvati giggled. “I have to go get Padma, she will kill me if I don’t let her know who our very important mystery customer is.”

“Then what’s the mystery?” Harry asked.

“Oh, it’s no big deal, Harry. Many of our most important customers prefer to shop in private.” Parvati batted her eyelashes at Harry, and then tore into the back room squealing, “Padma, get out here! You will never believe who’s here!”

Parvati came parading out of the back room a moment later followed by her twin who gasped when she saw who was standing in the private fitting area. “Harry?” Padma screamed and ran over and mimicked Parvati’s greeting almost exactly. Harry hugged her back gently, while feeling slightly awkward at the physical contact. He and Padma had become friends through the DA, but they’d never been overly close.

“Where’ve you been, Harry?” Parvati asked. “We’ve all been so worried.”

“Hello, Patils. I’m afraid Harry can’t answer that at the moment, but the Ministry will be making an announcement in next few days,” Cho answered for him.

“You both work here? Harry asked.

“This is our store,” Parvati explained. “We are the majority partners, we own it along with our investors. The two of us run it. I handle the purchasing, designing, customer relations, and sales. Padma handles the books and the staff. Do you like it?” she asked.

“It’s nice. It doesn’t really look like a store though.”

Parvati rolled her eyes. “It’s not supposed to, silly. This is a high end designer shop. Most of our customers prefer to be waited on in relative privacy rather than shop from a bunch of racks. A lot of our business is by appointment such as yourself. Speaking of which, what kind of event can we help you look fabulous for today? Oh, and we must do something about your everyday wear as well. A wizard such as yourself shouldn’t be seen wearing such pedestrian clothing.”

Harry looked down at his clothing. He was wearing Muggle trousers and polo shirt. He didn’t think he looked that bad. The expression on his face was quickly noticed by Padma. “It isn’t an insult, Harry. You are wizard of distinction and a very powerful man, and your clothes should reflect who you are.”

Parvati quickly stood Harry on a raised stool and started taking his measurements. He took note that she used a regular Muggle measuring tape, and not the type preferred by Madam Malkin, and she rather took her time with the process. When she asked which color of robes he needed for the ball, it was Cho that provided the answer. “Dark blue would be the best.” When both Harry and Parvati raised their eyebrows at her, she smiled and said, “You will need to match my dress.”

“Oh, you’re attending with Cho?” Parvati asked. He wasn’t sure if it was a question or an accusation.

“Well, apparently,” Harry said somewhat noncommittally. Parvati flashed him a huge smile after the comment. Harry grimaced at the memory of telling Ginny that the Ministry was throwing a formal state dinner for his return and that he was going with Cho at the Ministry’s insistence. He’d thought she’d given him her worst, but he’d been wrong. She’d been nearly apoplectic when Harry had to tell her she wasn’t invited. It was an experience Harry was thankful he would only have to live through once. He hoped anyway. Things had been icy between them ever since, but at least this time she hadn’t stopped speaking to him. However, things hadn’t really ever returned to normal again after Harry’s destruction of Ron and Hermione’s fireplace. She spent most of her time throwing thinly veiled threats at Cho. Cho for her part had taken the high road. At least he thought it was the high road. She kept acting like Ginny didn’t exist, which Harry assumed was her way of dealing with Ginny’s hostility. For some reason it just made Ginny angrier.

Harry became more and more aggrieved at the situation as Cho sorted through the different blue fabrics as Parvati brought each one for her inspection. She finally picked a color and fabric, and Harry spent the next half hour trying on different styles. Cho liked the look of one of the tighter cuts better, but it was not high on Harry’s list, and he shot her a look as he picked out a different style.

Once they had picked those out, Harry tried on another set of more casual robes that Parvati had insisted they look at. They finished the alteration marks, and Harry stepped out of the fitting area.

“When do you need these by, Harry?”

“Next Saturday.”

“That’s no problem. Would you like us to courier them to you?” she asked.

“I will, uh, have someone pick them up,” Harry answered. He squirmed for a moment. “Look, Parvati, I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to pay for this. We haven’t sorted out things with my vault yet, and I’m afraid I don’t have any money at the moment.”

“Charge them to my account,” Cho interjected.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Parvati answered.

“Why not?” Cho asked angrily. “I’ve been a customer here since you opened!”

“The robes are for Harry, and Harry’s money is no good here. As much as I would love to take your money, Cho, if the robes are for Harry, then they are compliments of the store.”

“What? Why?” Harry demanded. “I appreciate it, but I will pay for them as soon as the situation with my vault is sorted out.”

“I’m sorry, Harry, but we can’t take your money. As a partner in Weasleys’ Wizard Investments LLP you have the full benefits of one of our business partners. Part of our investment partnership agreement with WWI is that full partners of WWI cannot be charged for goods and services not in excess of a thousand galleons a year. So, as your robes only add up to a few hundred galleons, I am afraid your money is no good here,” Parvati explained patiently.

“But I’m not a partner of Weasleys’ Wizard Investments. They made me a minority partner in Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes,” Harry explained in a confused voice.

“Your name is on the partnership agreement the last time I saw. If you have questions I suggest you take it up with your partners,” Parvati advised. “Until then, it was really wonderful to see you, Harry. I am so glad you’re back, please come and see us, anytime you need any clothing.”

“Right,” Harry answered noncommittally.

“You ready, Harry?” Cho asked.

“Yes, just let me say a quick goodbye.”

***

Later that night, Harry was tending to Hedwig when there was a knock on his door.

“Come in,” Harry called.

He felt rather than saw Ginny enter the room. “Hi,” Harry said without turning around.

“Hi, Harry,” Ginny replied. “What’s wrong with Hedwig?”

“She’s sick.” Harry’s voice cracked as he answered.

Ginny brushed against his side ever so gently as she came to look at the beautiful white bird. Hedwig’s eyes were dull, and she had gotten extremely thin in the last few weeks. Harry didn’t think she had left his room for the last four days. Ginny soothed the owl’s feathers and cooed encouragingly at her. Hedwig managed a light hoot in response and then settled and closed her eyes. “How long has she been like this?” Ginny asked.

“She has been getting sicker the last few weeks. The last letter I sent you was the last post she’s managed,” Harry muttered. He got Hedwig to open her mouth and poured two drops of the restorative potion in her beak.

“Do you know what’s wrong?”

Harry nodded. He leaned down and kissed Hedwig gently just above the eyes. “Have a rest, girl. You will feel better in the morning.” Harry walked over and flung himself down on his bed, his eyes closed and his fists clenched.

Ginny waited until Hedwig was breathing evenly with her eyes closed. She went and perched herself precariously between Harry and the edge of his bed. She rubbed her hand across his chest. “I’m sorry, Harry, is there nothing we can do?” she asked.

“She’s seventeen,” he groaned. “I think the only reason she lasted this long was because she wanted to find me and peck me to death before she died. I’m glad I got to spend some time with her; she’s my oldest friend. She was with me all those summers at the Dursleys’. Through everything she was there with me, and she was such a great communicator. I never have to question what she’s thinking, her emotions are always so clear.”

“She’s an amazing owl. I’ve always loved her. I always felt better when you were at the Dursleys’ knowing she was with you. It was horrible knowing you were stuck there in that awful place, but at least you could send us letters, and there was someone there to let us know when things weren’t right.”

Harry reached up and pulled Ginny down to him. He grabbed her tightly and just held her. It wasn’t a familiar sensation, but she didn’t pull away from him, and he was eternally grateful as he clung to her. It helped having her pressed against him. It was strange that just the contact could help him feel better. He kissed her forehead gently and her arms immediately came to life, roaming over his body, but he gripped her more tightly to still her.

Harry felt her start to slacken in his arms before he managed to get the foot hold he needed. “I’m sorry about the gala.”

It was a moment before she answered. “What are you sorry about?”

“Everything. That I’m even going at all, and I can’t take you. I’m sorry that they won’t let you go on your own. I’m sorry that I have to go with Cho. I’m sorry she took me shopping for robes and that I couldn’t go with you. Ginny, I really hope you understand; I don’t want this.” He felt her tighten under his grasp, and then she started to pull away.

She sat up on the edge of the bed facing away from him. “It’s okay, Harry, I know this isn’t how you want it. But it still feels like I’m eleven and being told to go away.” Harry reached up to comfort her. He tried to rub her back gently, but she flinched away from him and stood up. “It will be okay, Harry, just come back to me after the gala, and then make sure you include me, okay?”

“Of course, but can you do something for me, please?”

“Well, that depends what it is.” Ginny gave him a small grin.

“I know you like your job, but I was hoping you could start coming for some of my sessions with Hermione.”

“They’re confidential, Harry. You need to be free to talk in front of Hermione,” Ginny replied cautiously.

“I don’t want any more secrets from you. I like that you like to be with me, but if you want to be with me, then you need to know who I am. I don’t want you to see some of this stuff, it’s awful. But I need to know you can live with who I really am, not the image in the press.”

“I know who you are, Harry.”

“You know who I used to be, before. It’s not the same now. I’ve done so many things I hate. I don’t deserve you, but if you still want to be with me, then you have to know me, you have to know what I’m capable of.”

Ginny knelt at the side of Harry’s bed. “I will come if you want me to come. But, if this is some perverted attempt of yours to push me away, I will hex you so badly your bits will ache for months.”

“More of the same torture then?” Harry grinned.

Ginny slapped him on the chest and made an outraged face. “I’m not the tease in this relationship. If you have issues with your bits, then that’s your fault.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure it’s your fault. In fact, I’m really sure it’s your fault.” Harry laughed.

“Well, you know the solution then don’t you?” Ginny demanded while staring down at him with a very stern expression on her face.

“Oh, yeah.” Harry nodded.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“What is your solution?”

“Pain potion.”

“You’re impossible!” Ginny shrieked. She grabbed the pillow out from underneath him and slammed it into his midsection several times. She then hauled back and threw it at him as hard as she could. “Enjoy your evening with your pillow then!” She stomped through the door and it swung closed violently behind her.

“Night, Gin, always a pleasure!” Harry called after her a wide grin on his face.

Harry heard some sort of response from the hallway but he couldn’t make it out. He chuckled into the pillow she had left him. He was continually amazed at how her presence could make him happy when everything else seemed lost. He looked across at his beloved pet. He just wished there was more he could do.

The door opened again, and he smirked to himself. She really was a glutton for punishment. “Back for more?”

“Having trouble with your lady, Harry?”

Harry spun at the sound of Cho’s voice, and the smile was instantly gone.

“Er, not really, we were just,” Harry groped for the appropriate word, “playing.”

Cho stalked over to him and leaned against the bed as he sat up. “If she’s only playing maybe you need someone a bit more grown up?” she asked huskily.

Harry’s eyebrows knitted together as he pondered the point of her question. “That’s really not the problem.”

“What is the problem?” She ran her eyes over his body predatorily, pausing periodically.

“So did you need to me about something?” Harry frowned and sat up.

“Just making sure you have everything you need.” She gave him a brilliant smile and winked at him.

“I’m fine. I was going to go to bed.” Harry gave her a brief smile back. “Have a good night, Cho.”

“Night, Harry. Sleep well.”

***

Hermione huffed. Harry was increasingly making her wait to start her sessions so he could play professor to his bodyguards. She liked that he had found a hobby, but she didn’t see how Harry working his bodyguards to death was helping to protect him.

She was worried that he was working too hard. Two hours of training in the morning, followed by sessions with her until dinner, and then apparently any time that Ginny wasn’t around, Cho was working with Harry on his dancing. He’d been spending pretty much all his spare time with Cho, and it bothered her. She didn’t think Harry would do anything with her, but she couldn’t be sure. Ginny was increasingly agitated at home, and her nervous habit of playing with her ring had reach proportions Hermione was concerned about. It didn’t bode well for her mental stability that she was constantly adjusting it. She had tried to talk to Harry about Cho but he had brushed her off.

Finally, Harry came in from training his troop of bodyguards. He looked invigorated, but they looked knackered as they marched in behind him. Molly had prepared a large breakfast for them all. Lisa and the one Hermione thought was called Dugan sat down and dug into the breakfast. Harry bypassed the breakfast table and headed up the stairs.

“I’ll be with you in ten, Hermione, I want to grab a shower.”

Ten minutes later Harry sat down in front of the Pensieve and next to a large plate of bacon, eggs and toast.

“You brought me breakfast?”

“That’s from Cho, apparently she’s teaming up with Molly these days. Go ahead and eat, we need to talk.”

“Is something wrong?”

“You remember Kyla?” Harry had just taken a large bite of toast, but he froze when he heard Kyla’s name. “Chew, Harry,” she ordered.

He started chewing again. When he swallowed he asked, “What about her?”

“Well, don’t be upset, but I did a little checking into her and her family. I wanted to know if you had any contact with them after the memories we saw. I didn’t want to rifle through your memories without you so I did some checking. I ended up going to visit them.” The expression on Harry’s face gave Hermione some pause, but it was best just to finish it and get it out, so she continued on. “You did some very nice things for them, Harry, especially for Kyla.”

“Like what exactly?”

“Well, you’ve been paying Kyla’s tuition and board at a university. Not directly, you used some pseudonyms to hide it from her, but she’s not dumb, Harry. She knows it was you in some capacity or another.”

“So why are you bringing this up now?”

“Her tuition is due, and I think you would have made the payment, but with your memories in the state they are you don’t remember needing to. These jars, based on what the Brysons told me, I think are the most likely to contain the details of your interactions with the Brysons. I don’t know if it’s all of them, but if you don’t pay Kyla’s tuition she’s going to have to leave school soon.”

Harry nodded. “How much does she need?”

“No idea. I couldn’t go nosing around too much without totally giving away your cover. Hopefully the information we need is in these memories.”

“I don’t have any money, Hermione. How can I possibly do this?”

“No, that’s not true. Do you remember the Muggle account we set up with Claymore Securities during the war? Well, nobody could do anything with it after you disappeared, but I think you used it periodically when you were missing. It’s a very secure bank, that’s why we chose it. You wouldn’t have needed proper ID, just your handprint and your account number. They would give you anything you needed.”

“Is there enough money in there to pay for a university education?”

“Well, you set up a direct draw on your Gringott’s account of about two hundred Galleons a month. We used a lot of it when we were hunting for the Horcruxes, but if it’s still drawing on your account, since you have been missing for seven years, you could have 80.000 pounds in there. Her entire education, room and board, including the graduate degree she’s pursuing, probably won’t cost nearly that much. The real question is how you set up the private scholarship she’s receiving, and how did you convince them to accept her. She’s a bright girl, but I don’t think she could have gotten in on her own. I think you must have spoken to someone on her behalf. Since the Muggles don’t know you, you must have called in a favor, a thumping big one I’m guessing. I could make her next tuition payment myself, but I don’t really want to give away where the money is coming from, and I don’t know exactly how you funneled it to her. I also want you to remember this, Harry. It was an incredibly nice thing for you to do. I don’t think you have any concept of just how happy you made her.”

“It’s only money,” Harry sighed.

“No, it’s time, it’s effort, it’s caring. Kyla is your friend, and she is really worried about you. Even if you don’t have feelings for her, you’re probably still one of her best friends, you should embrace that. She doesn’t love you for killing Voldemort, or because you’re famous. She loves you because you’re Harry, and Harry is a pretty terrific person.” Hermione gave him a encouraging smile. “Let’s get through some of these memories, and we will see how you do.”

***

Harry watched himself walking down a sidewalk in Muggle London. He looked different than Harry had ever seen him. He had transfigured his clothes into a stylish Muggle suit. The Glamour he had applied to his features made him look cleaner and healthier than he really was. Hermione and Harry followed him into a large office building. He stopped for a moment to check the register and then headed for the lift. The two interlopers quickly followed behind him into the lift.

There was a young woman wearing a headset sitting behind a large marble counter. Harry walked up to the counter with the air of a busy man who was used to getting what he wanted. “Hi, there.” The woman behind the counter held up one finger to indicate that Harry should wait. She spoke into the phone something about appointments and that she understood but that Mr. Jenkins was a very busy man. Harry tapped his nails on the counter agitatedly. The receptionist shot him a rather nasty look before pressing a button on the phone.

“Can I help you?” she asked in a slightly condescending tone.

“James Black, I have an appointment to see Mr. Jenkins,” Harry said.

“Yes, Mr. Black. Please have a seat, I will let him know you’re here,” she replied.

After Harry sat down, he heard the young woman punch a button on her phone and say, “Yes, sir, a Mr. Black to see you.”

After a rather long wait, a fairly tall man with a head of thinning silver hair came striding out of the back. “Mr. Black?” Harry nodded and shook the man’s extended hand.

They walked into the back of the office space and into a large office. There were several spectacular pieces of art around the office, and Mr. Jenkins sat down across a very impressive desk from Harry. “So, Mr. Black, I have to say I was intrigued by your note. I don’t take on too many new clients these days however. What is it that you think I can do for you?”

“I need to set up a couple of paper trails for a scholarship I intend to award, and I need someone to represent my interests in a transaction with a University.”

“I see, well I can give you the names of several excellent solicitors that would be willing to help you set up those types of transactions. I really specialize these days in supporting just a few clients. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but as I get older, I just can’t work as many hours as I used to.”

“It’s perfectly all right, if you would like me to take my business elsewhere, I can certainly arrange for that. However, as you’re already receiving a lot of compensation for representing certain other interests of mine, I thought this might not be too terribly much trouble for you.”

Mr. Jenkins gave him a curious look. “I’m sorry, Mr. Black, but I did check out my entire client roster. I’ve never done work for a James Black.”

“Yes, well James Black is just a name. I can assure you I make several large payments a year to your firm. I’ve seen the bills.”

“I see, and is there some reason you’re not telling me your real name?”

“There is an excellent reason.”

“Well, Mr. Who-ever-you-are, as your solicitor I can assure you anything you tell me is confidential, but it will be very difficult for me to conduct any transaction for you without knowing your identity.”

Harry nodded. “Where did you go to school, Mr. Jenkins?”

“Cambridge,” Mr. Jenkins responded, nodding to the diploma on his wall.

“And before that?”

“A boarding school in Scotland.”

“And what house were you in?”

Mr. Jenkins smiled wisely. “Ravenclaw.”

Harry nodded. “Well, Mr. Jenkins, the information I’m about to give you does not leave this office. Are we understood?”

“Yes, of course.”

“My real name is Harry Potter.”

“Please, what are you playing at? Everyone knows Harry Potter and you’re not him. How did you even find out that I do work for the Potter estate?”

“Simple, the billing records are in my vault along with some notes of transactions you did with my father. He apparently trusted you, and that’s why I’m here. Tell me why do you have Muggle offices if you went to Hogwarts and practice Wizarding law?”

“All of my clients are wizards, but as they all do business with Muggles on occasion, it makes sense to have my office somewhere where they can actually meet face to face. If you’re Harry, why the ruse?”

Harry spun quickly and when he finished turning around he had his normal face once again. “Well, as I’m sure you can imagine this face attracts rather a lot of attention, and I don’t need your receptionist out there telling every person she sees that she saw Harry Potter today.”

“God, Harry, you look just like…”

“My dad. Yeah, I know.”

“Except…”

“For my eyes. I have my mother’s eyes. Yes, I know,” Harry interrupted again.

“Sorry, I suspect you get that a lot.”

“Not as much as I used to,” Harry admitted.

“It’s really good to see you.” Mr. Jenkins sat back in his chair with a stunned expression.

“Er, yeah. Thanks, I guess. Are you going to help or not?”

“Yes, of course, Mr. Potter. Sorry about all that, I’ve been wanting to meet you for such a long time. I hope you’re happy with the work we’ve done on your behalf.”

“To be frank, Mr. Jenkins, I couldn’t care less about most of my assets. It really makes no difference to me. The Goblins are monitoring your financial dealings to make sure you’re square with me, other than that I just don’t care. However, I have need of helping someone, and I can’t do it with my own name for obvious reasons.”

“I see. What do you need?”

“I need to provide a scholarship to a very special girl. There may be some issues getting her accepted to the right kind of university, and if so, I need you to handle making them understand how serious I am about her going to school there.”

A wide smile crossed Mr. Jenkins face. “I see. I take it this girl is the future Mrs. Potter?”

“No, she’s just a friend who needs some help, and I am in the position to give it to her,” Harry growled as he scowled across the desk.

“Of course, Mr. Potter. Well we can set up a small charitable foundation, and you can provide a donation to it, and then I can make sure it gets to the right people. Your donation would of course be anonymous, and I see no reason to bring up your being the creator of this organization. Do you have a name in mind?”

Harry thought for a few moments. “That should work. How about the Phoenix Foundation?”

“Very good sir, and how will you be making this donation?”

Harry pulled a small bag from his pocket and removing his wand from his pocket tapped it lightly. The bag grew several times its original size. Harry handed it to Mr. Jenkins. “There’s ten thousand pounds in there, that should be enough for her first year.

They discussed the rest of the details of the transaction and Harry made his preparations to leave. Before he walked out the door Mr. Jenkins stopped him. “Mr. Potter, your father was a friend of mine, as well as a business partner. I took his death very hard. I’ve felt a certain pride about your accomplishments over the years. You should know, your father would be very proud of you.” Harry nodded, and Mr. Jenkins continued. “If you ever need anything please don’t hesitate to call, or owl me. I’m not sure exactly why you’re hiding from the Wizarding world, but I assure you, you can always count on my confidentiality.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you for next year’s payment then.” Harry’s expression remained unreadable.

Harry and Hermione followed Harry from the memory out of the office.

Harry once again removed his wand from his pocket and made an elaborate motion with it moments before he walked by the receptionist desk. He did not otherwise acknowledge her presence, and she either didn’t see him, or didn’t care enough to react to him. He walked to the bathroom, located on the same floor as Mr. Jenkins’s office and Disapparated.

***

“Merlin, I hate it when you do that before I figure out you’re going to,” Hermione whined, rubbing her head and picking herself up off the floor.

“Sorry, I just didn’t want you following me into the bathroom. I didn’t know I was going to Apparate.”

“Well, that answers that question at least. Where are we? This looks familiar,” Hermione asked.

“The Shrieking Shack,” Harry sighed. “I can’t believe I would come back here after everything that’s gone on in here.

“Does it bother you?”

“Some. There are good memories here. I first met Sirius in that room over there. But I also let Pettigrew live here, and I should have let Remus and Sirius kill him.”

“Harry, Sirius would then have been guilty of the crime he was accused.”

Harry shot her a look. “I know, but I just ended up killing him later. Better to have killed him before he resurrected Voldemort, don’t you think?”

“How could you have known?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know, but the slimy rat was responsible for the deaths of all the Marauders. I hope he’s burning in hell.”

Hermione wanted to admonish him, to tell him not to think that way, but it was hard as she felt exactly the same way.

“Let’s get out of here. I’ve had enough of this place for today.” Harry sighed.

Hermione twisted her wand to the left, and in a moment they were swirling back to the Burrow.

***

Hermione entered her home and took a deep breath. She loved it here. She liked the Burrow well enough, it was homey and she had a lot of great memories of it. She liked her parents’ old house, but they had moved out of her childhood home shortly after she had married Ron. Her parents’ new house she found to be a bit ostentatious. But this was her home, she loved it here. It was the perfect mix between her Muggle upbringing and her Wizarding life.

She found Ginny and the boys upstairs. Ginny was helping Harry with spelling and math, because he didn’t like to pay attention in school. James was watching them, picking it up on his own because he loved to learn. Her sons were so different. Ron liked to say that Harry was his son, and James was her son, but it wasn’t true, and she couldn’t love either of them any more if she tried. She was sure Ron couldn’t either, and she suspected he just said that to get her riled up.

“Ginny, can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

“Give us a minute. We’re almost through,” Ginny replied cheerfully.

“Sure, I’ll be in the den.”

Harry had finished repairing the mantle in the den before he left. The stonework was perfect; the problem was that it was too perfect. It had never looked quite so untouched before Harry had destroyed it. How do you tell someone that you don’t like his repair work because it’s too good?

The best part of that whole catastrophe was the look on Bill’s face when Ron told him Harry had ripped down his wards. He had immediately demanded to know how long it had taken Harry to do it. He was very irritated when Hermione told him it was less than ten seconds. It was one thing for Harry to push through a Ward Bill had built, it was quite another for Harry to just knock them over. Not to mention that it was bad for business.

Hermione chewed her fingernail while she waited for Ginny. It was a habit she’d picked up during the war once she’d gotten far from the eyes of her parents. She pulled her hand away from her mouth and admonished herself gently for the bad habit. She often did it when things were bothering her and lately things seemed to be building up. Old feelings had been surfacing, feelings she’d thought she’d left behind. Hermione had contemplated Harry’s decision to fight the final battle without them so many times over the years. For whatever reason, she was still mad that Harry had gone without her, but she couldn’t work out why. She most likely would have been killed in the final battle, judging from the carnage Mr. Weasley had described as he returned from the battle site. Ron had gone to see it, but he’d refused to elaborate anymore than his father had when he’d returned. The only thing he’d shared was that he was sure Harry’s body was not there. She and Ron still struggled daily with the guilt of having not been there. They were going to have to deal with the memory soon, and she wasn’t sure she could handle it. She knew Harry had won, but it was undoubtedly terrible. She was his Healer and she needed to be strong, but could anyone really be strong enough to witness that and still be the same person afterwards? Even in a memory?

“Hey, Hermione, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about Harry.”

Ginny looked reluctant, but Hermione ushered her over to a chair anyway. “Hopefully, we won’t have to get too personal, I just want to know how things are going between you.”

Ginny sat silently across from her for several minutes before she gave a calculated answer. “It’s hard. I know he cares about me, and I love him, Hermione. I’ve been waiting for so long, but it’s harder than I thought it would be.”

Hermione smiled. “Relationships are never easy. But really I guess the question is do you want him?”

“Yes,” Ginny said flatly. She chewed her lip for a moment before continuing. “It’s odd. Harry is like a piece of me. I don’t know if I’d honestly ever be able to let him go. Sometimes though, he’s like a piece of me I don’t like very much, almost like a weakness I can’t fight.”

“Are you saying you’re not sure if you want him?” Hermione asked skeptically.

“It’s not that.” Ginny ran her fingers through her hair. “I’ve liked Harry since before I even knew him, when he was just a story. Then I met him and I expected him to be larger than life, you know? But he wasn’t and that was even better really. Then he didn’t feel the same way about me for forever and I started waiting and waiting and waiting. Every time Harry gets close something happens and the waiting game starts again and I’m scared.”

“That he’ll leave again?” Hermione asked gently. Ginny didn’t speak but she nodded. “Ginny I have to tell you something. He needs you. Every day, he needs you. He’s made great progress, but I don’t think he’s going to get through this without you. Now this thing with Hedwig, I’m afraid if she dies it’ll break him.”

“Is she worse?”

“Your Mum took her to see a magical animal specialist in Diagon Alley. She has some stomach problems, but she’s probably too old to survive much longer anyway.”

Ginny sighed. “I wish thing were easier. I feel so off balance and this thing with Cho has me totally rattled. I really don’t think I can compete with her.”

“You need to understand some things,” Hermione stated emphatically. Ginny looked at her. “Harry is charismatic in his own way, and he’s famous and wealthy. He is going to have offers. Either you can trust him and know that you’re the one he wants and deal with it, or you can’t. If you can’t deal with that, you can’t be with Harry. He can’t control what other women think and feel. Harry doesn’t want them, he wants you, but if you can’t believe that, you shouldn’t try to be with him. All he can offer is his integrity. If Harry’s integrity isn’t enough for you, then nothing will ever convince you that he’s always going to be faithful to you. There is no stronger guarantee in the universe than Harry’s word.

“Second, you need to understand that Harry’s always going to have trouble coping with what he did in the war. If you don’t want to help him cope with that, if you can’t be there to provide him comfort, and I mean all the time, then you shouldn’t be with him. It’s not healthy for him to worry about what you think of him.

“Ginny, it’s an every day job. He needs to be reminded how you feel about him every day. Maybe it’s not fair to you to have to deal with this after everything else you’ve gone through, but it’s a package deal, Ginny. If you want Harry then you have to help heal him, and petty jealousy isn’t helping. You need to go talk to him. He’s better than he was, but he misses you and it’s making the therapy harder. Please just try and work past this, he needs you.”

***

Unfortunately for Ginny, when she found Harry in the sitting room of the Burrow he had his arms wrapped around a Veela. Is there a Veela hotline where they give status updates on when Harry’s available? She sighed watching him sitting with Chantelle snuggled into his lap, while he read to her from a book of fairy tales. Once again, she found herself feeling jealous of a three year old. Harry looked up momentarily from the book and smiled widely at her before he continued reading. Chantelle looked at home there nestled in arms.

Ginny had dinner with her parents, Harry and, of course, Chantelle whom Molly fussed over mercilessly. After they cleaned up, Harry helped Chantelle put together a puzzle and then pulled her back into his lap to read some more. She settled against him with her forehead against his neck and her arm wrapped around his shoulder. Harry read the first story to her and then she asked for another. Ever obedient, Harry began the second story, but before he got too far Chantelle’s eyes began to blink heavily, and she was soon nestled up against Harry, asleep.

Harry stopped reading, and Ginny took the opportunity to whisper, “So why are you on child watch tonight?”

“Fleur just asked me if she could come over and spend the afternoon and evening with me. She said to bring her back if she gets tired.”

“So are you going to take her home?”

Harry nodded. “You want to come with us?”

“Sure.”

The three of them got up, with Chantelle still nestled asleep in Harry’s arms. “We’ll have to go by Floo powder. I don’t know where we’re going.”

“Well and we can’t get through Bill’s Wards,” Ginny reminded him.

Harry gave her a cheeky grin and waggled his eyebrows, causing her to laugh. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and threw some Floo powder into the fire. “Seven forty two Evergreen Terrace,” she called as quietly as she could. She waited until she could see the dining room of Bill and Fleur’s house and called out, “Bill?”

She couldn’t get a response talking quietly so she finally pulled her head out of the fire. “I’ll Apparate over and ring the doorbell, then they can let you through.” Harry gave her a quick nod, and she went outside to Apparate.

A few minutes later, Harry had put Chantelle into her bed and had joined Ginny, Bill, and Fleur at their dining room table.

“Is she sleeping?” Fleur asked.

Harry nodded.

“Zank you, ‘Arry. We ‘ave ‘ad a terrible time getting ‘er to sleep.”

“What? Why?”

“She’s afraid. She has nightmares. We had the same problem with Juliet when she was younger. It’s not as frequent now, but Tella is still having nightmares a few nights each week,” Bill answered.

“Why?”

Bill shrugged. “We don’t know and neither do the Healers. We think it started just before she turned two, but she’s only just started speaking about six months ago, so it was hard to tell. She’s really had issues sleeping the last two months.”

“Well, I know how that can feel. Nobody has experience with nightmares quite like I do.” This caused all of the three other people at the table to wince and give troubled expressions in one form or another.

“Would you be willing to spend zome time with ‘er, ‘Arry? She really responds to you.” Fleur looked rather pleadingly at Harry. “She ‘as never been as ‘appy as she ‘as been since Christmas. She can’t stop talking about you.”

Harry looked slightly confused. “Sure, I guess.”

“Zank you, ‘Arry. Eet would mean the world to us if she continued to come out of ‘er shell.”

Bill looked decidedly unhappy about the situation but said nothing.

“How often?”

“A couple times a week for an afternoon or an evening?” Fleur replied questioningly.

Ginny was feeling considerably put out. That was going to cut in seriously to the ‘Harry time’ Hermione had just suggested that she spend with Harry. She knew she had no monopoly on Harry’s time, but she didn’t want to plan around the schedule of a three year old, at least not yet.

***

Harry cast a series of Stunning spells at his trainees. They were all able evade them and fired back considerably more powerful hexes at Harry that he waved away with his wand, as he’d seen Dumbledore do on several occasions. They had separated out in a staggered attack formation and had him partially surrounded. He quickly Apparated to a point at the end of their formation to force them out of their tactical advantage. They scattered once again, so that they were all facing him, without a chance of friendly fire hitting any of them in the back. He sent a Concussion spell towards their center to force them to scatter again. Four of the Aurors maintained a steady stream of hexes at him after repositioning themselves, while Floyd charged him recklessly. When Floyd was too close to him for the other to keep up suppressing spell fire, they Apparated to points all around him, but nobody was close by. He quickly subdued Floyd with a well placed Incarceration hex, however just as he was spinning around he felt his legs go out from under him and saw a flash.

His next recollection was of looking up at Cho’s face while he was tightly bound. “That was brilliant!” he shouted excitedly. “That was an excellent strategy, good placement, good use of disillusionment and silencing. The Apparition movement to keep me from noticing you coming up from behind me was an especially nice touch. I am impressed!” Harry raved from the ground.

“What do you think, guys, should we let him up?” Cho asked the group at large.

“Are we sure that’s Harry? He doesn’t sound like Harry, and we did manage to apprehend him,” Lisa asked.

“Oh, well by all means allow me,” Harry grinned. He concentrated for a second, then there was a loud bang as he disappeared from in front of them, and then an almost innaudable crack as he Apparated in front of them on his feet completely free of bindings.

“But,” Garry started.

“Shut it, Garry,” Cho ordered. “Since when do the rules of magic apply to Harry?”

Harry grinned widely. “Okay, you lot, that’s enough fun for today. No training the next two days, I know you have to work extra hours for the Ball, and I don’t want you to wear yourselves out. Plus you have all made amazing progress, really, I am very proud of you.”

All of the Aurors blushed except for Cho who looked as if she had been awarded the Victoria Cross. He was surprised that the simple compliment meant so much to her. Perhaps he was being too hard on all of them, they had been coming together nicely.

Harry went inside and slumped down in his chair to eat his breakfast next to a beaming Cho. He gave her a smile and dug into the plate of eggs that Mrs. Weasley had left on the table. He had taken several bites before he noticed that Cho hadn’t eaten anything.

“Something wrong, Cho?” he asked.

“No.” Her brilliant smile turned up several watts. Harry shook his head and laughed.

“Then what’s up? How come you’re not eating?”

“I’m too excited!”

“Okay, why?”

“You’re proud of me!” she answered giddily. Anton and Garry at the other end of the table snickered into their eggs.

Harry instantly felt bad. Had he not been encouraging enough in their training? He barked a little bit when they were doing their training sessions, but he always tried to be an encouraging instructor. “Well, yeah, Cho, you were great out there today. It’s not like I’ve never been proud of you before.”

Cho’s smile dimmed slightly and she looked somewhat wistful. “Well, you haven’t said you were proud of me since back when I was training with the DA, and we were, um, you know.” She blushed prettily, and Garry and Anton snickered again.

“Good job today all of you,” Harry repeated. “That was some excellent work.” He quickly finished his eggs and headed upstairs to get a shower.

He met Hermione in his room. She had memories already swirling in the Pensieve when he got there. “So are you excited about the ball?” she asked.

“No, are you?” As the wife of a department head, Hermione was on the invite list.

She gave him a mischievous grin. “Well, parts of it certainly. It should be highly entertaining.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “It’s going to be a bloody uncomfortable bore-a-thon is what it’s going to be.”

“Oh, Harry, don’t say that. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley will be there, and Fred and Katie are coming. I’m sure you will have an excellent time. There should be several former members of our house there I would guess.”

“I just know it’s driving Ginny insane that she can’t come, and that I’m going with Cho. It’s not worth it. I should have just made a press release or something.”

“Harry, people would never be satisfied with that. They want to see you in public.”

“Whatever.”

***

Ginny was irritated. She was rereading the letter Harry had given her on Christmas Eve. She’d lost count of exactly how many times she’d read it now. The ball was tomorrow night, and she had been desperately trying to get Harry alone so she could talk to him. She wanted to explain that she was over the thing with Cho and finished feeling sorry for herself about being excluded at Christmas. Unlike Ron and Hermione, she didn’t feel that fighting was foreplay, and she had wanted to clear the slate with Harry before the ball.

However he’d been busy every night this week. She kept going over anyway, and he was always happy to see her, but it wasn’t right. He would always give her a nice hug at the end of the evening before he went up to bed and sent her home. The friendly hugs and gentle kisses were maddingly platonic. Ginny was desperate for more, desperate that he know how she felt before he went off and greeted the Wizarding world, but her chances had come and gone.

She had made her last attempt tonight only to find Harry in the clutches of some perky blonde witch with ridiculously curly hair. Harry to his credit didn’t seem the least bit happy to be sitting with the buxom witch. He seemed rather disturbed by her attempts to get him to notice her cleavage. She was sure the obnoxious witch was attempting to get Harry to flirt with her, or ask her out or give her some response to her flirtations and platitudes, but he just smiled uncomfortably at her. When she left, she waited expectantly at the door, as if Harry was expected to give her a hug or a kiss, but Harry just said “goodnight” and closed the door. Unfortunately, Ginny had also only received one of his frustrating hugs in reward for sitting around and listening to Wanda fawn over him all evening.

Ginny smiled to herself. What Harry didn’t know was that she had a secret. It was a wonderful secret. She had wanted to tell him so badly, but the lack of time alone had meant her resolve had never really been tested. She couldn’t wait for the look on his face when he found out. That was going to be fantastic! She smiled happily and put away the letter that never failed to make her quiver internally and turned off her light. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

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