Fic for: pepperam - A Day in the Life of Ginny
Title: A Day in the Life of Ginny
Gift for: pepperam
Author: katwoman_68
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~2400
Summary: For the past month, Ginny has been moving through her days without much of a purpose. One day, she examines her life to find out what's missing. Will a conversation with Harry help her sort it all out?
Author's Notes: Pepperam, I hope you enjoy this, and I am sorry it took so long. After several listens of the songs in your request, Her Morning Elegance finally spoke to me. And I really need to thank the best beta ever. She knows who she is.
Ginny’s hand slid along the cool sheets as she rolled over in bed. She sighed, knowing that she had missed Harry again.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she smiled as she saw the tray on the dresser. He had left her breakfast - the last of the scones that her mum had sent home with them from Sunday and a cup of tea. She carried the tray back to the bed and settled against Harry's pillow. Breaking off a piece of the pastry, she read the note Harry had left.
Dear Gin,
Kingsley sent an owl asking me to be in early today. He has a meeting scheduled with the Muggle Prime Minister and has asked me to attend with him and Percy.
If I don’t end up falling asleep on his desk due to sheer boredom, I should be able to make it home early tonight.
Enjoy your breakfast!
Love you, Harry
She carefully folded the note and slipped it into the wooden box where she kept all of Harry's letters: the notes he wrote asking her to meet him behind the stacks in the library during her fifth year, his longer letters during their year apart while she was at Hogwarts and he was in Auror Training, and the little "I love you" reminders he'd left for her since they had been married.
She looked at the clock and realized she needed to get moving if she didn't want to be late for work. Not that George would say anything if she was.
She turned on the shower and stepped into the stall. The sound of the water reminded her of the rain that beat against the window of the secluded cottage where she and Harry had spent the two weeks of their honeymoon last summer: two glorious, peaceful weeks without interruptions from their friends, her family, or the Minister of Magic.
There had been long, lazy days of cuddling in bed, memorizing the plains and valleys of each other’s bodies, learning what made Harry laugh, and what made her blush. They had gone out a few times, of course, and ended up getting completely turned around in the odd little village that was horribly quaint and wonderful. It was those memories of simply spending time with Harry-laughing playfully, talking about everything and nothing, or just laying together in silence as the day melted away-that Ginny missed the most now that they were back in the world with all of its distractions.
“You’re going to be late, dearie!”
Ginny startled when her watch-which she had charmed to help her stay on time to everything-spoke from the bathroom counter. She hurriedly finished rinsing her hair and turned the water off. Getting lost in the past wouldn’t get her anything but trouble today.
Within minutes, Ginny was wrapped in her coat, rushing down the four flights of stairs, and hurrying through the London crowds to the tube station. She pushed open the front door of The Leaky and waved to Tom before heading out the back door into Diagon Alley just as her watch cried out ‘Maybe he won’t notice you’re late again’.
George was flipping the sign from 'Bugger Off, We’re Closed' to 'Now Accepting Your Galleons' when she arrived.
"Good morning, squirt," George greeted her with her hated nickname. She gave him a half-hearted smile as she preceded him into the store. It wasn't worth her effort to pull out her wand for a Bat-Bogey hex.
Once she reached the back room and hung up her coat, she selected a case of WonderWitch products to restock. Despite all the twins’ brilliant inventions, the silly WonderWitch items were the best selling items in the entire store. Ginny thought it was rather pathetic, but she kept her opinions to herself while ringing them up and restocking. At half eleven, Ginny sighed.
George closed the cash register, bid a customer goodbye and stared at her contemplatively.
“What’s up with you? Married life not all it’s cracked up to be?”
Ginny ignored his remark and stared at her watch. "It just seems like it should be later. I feel like I've been here for ten hours, not just three."
George laughed. "Some days are like that. Verity will be here soon and it’s pretty quiet. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
"No! I didn't mean…"
"Go. This is a one-time offer that expires soon. You said you hadn't started your Christmas shopping yet."
Ginny finished stocking the trick wands and agreed. "Thanks, George. You're my favorite brother." She glanced over her shoulder and smirked. "Today, at any rate."
Before he could change his mind, or the store could be swamped with pre-teen girls demanding more Self-Thickening Eyelash Enhancer, Ginny scurried to the back room. She snatched her scarf-which was too long and very misshapen-around her neck. It was one she had knitted herself when she had decided to try making them for everyone. She considered it one of her failures and decided to leave the knitting up to her mother.
She paused at the register to hug George. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah." George's comment stopped her as she was pushing the front door open. "Gin? Why do you work here?"
Her brow furrowed. "You don't want me here?"
"That isn't what I meant; I'm thrilled to have you here. You just always had so many ideas of what you wanted to do once you left Hogwarts, and working for me wasn't on your list. So I'm curious as to why you're here."
She chewed her corner of her lip and thought for a second. "I don't know," she said and turned and walked out the door.
Her afternoon wandering the streets of Diagon Alley passed slowly. As she shopped and watched others shop, she thought about George's question. She stared into the cold, flushed faces of everyone she passed and wondered about their stories. She was amazed at how much happier everyone was now than last Christmas.
She remembered holiday shopping last year. It had been over seven months since Voldemort's demise, but everyone still seemed on edge, as if he might not really be gone. This year, she saw no uncertainty or fear from the shoppers. Her heart swelled with pride, knowing that her Harry was responsible for that.
Harry. He was the one thing she knew was right in her life. She had no doubts about that. But there was still a feeling of unease in her life and she just didn't know why.
~~~~
Harry unlocked the door of the flat. A quick look of the sitting room disclosed that Ginny wasn't home from work yet. He smiled as he set the bag of groceries on the counter. Hopefully, he would have dinner ready by the time she arrived. She had seemed sad and out of sorts for a while and he just didn't know what to do to help her.
He took a step back and crushed accidentally Griselda's tail under his boot. The black cat howled and hissed at him before scurrying away to glare from under the shadow of the table. Sieglinde, their owl, hooted from her perch in the corner of the kitchen. She approved of anything that caused the cat discomfort.
Harry still missed Hedwig, but had grown fond of Sieglinde since Ginny had tricked him into getting a new owl. He had insisted that he did not need an owl; he could borrow Pig, use a Ministry owl, or go to an Owlery if he needed to send something. Ginny had insisted that since he refused to go back to Hogwarts for his final year, they really needed to get an owl for all of the letters they would exchange. She also informed him that she wanted at least a letter a week. He agreed to the owl as long as she took it to Hogwarts and it stayed there at the school.
Two weeks later Ginny sent him a letter saying she had purchased a kitten in Hogsmeade and since school rules forbade any student from having more than one pet, Harry was going to have to keep Sieglinde at his flat.
Neither Harry nor Sieglinde was very fond of the cat Ginny chose. Griselda and Ginny adored each other and the cat's favorite place to be was curled up in Ginny's lap, where he could gloat to Harry and purr loudly. Harry really couldn't fault the cat for liking that place-Harry might just purr himself if he were cuddled there. But he just didn't trust the way Griselda would watch him as he did everything. It reminded him of Skeeter stalking him. More than once he'd asked Ginny if she thought it was possible that the cat was an Animagus, it was so attentive.
Harry tossed both the cat and the owl a few owl treats. The cat batted them with her paw before eating them, almost as if she was checking that he wasn't trying to poison her.
“Sorry, all out of your favorite catnip treats. Guess you’ll have to settle for these.” Harry smirked when the cat daintily ate the treats while Sieglinde crunched happily away on hers.
Once the animals were settled, Harry opened the bag of groceries and withdrew the ingredients for bangers and mash, one of Ginny's favorite dishes. He worked quickly using the recipe that Molly had given him the first time he had cooked dinner for his wife, and the one thing he knew he could make without mucking it up.
He finished preparing the meal and placed it in the oven to keep warm before washing up the dishes and setting the table. When he heard the floo activate, he was there to kiss Ginny as she finally stepped through.
"Hi," she said, slightly breathless, staring up at him. Her nose twitched and her grin widened. "You made dinner?"
"I did," he answered. "It's ready whenever you want to eat."
Ginny laughed. "I skipped lunch, so now would be good."
He helped her slip her coat off her shoulders and took her hand as they headed to the kitchen. She sat at the table while he opened the oven. A quick flick of his wand, and the pot was gently wafted through the air to the table. When he turned around, the cat was standing on her hind legs, her front paws resting on Ginny's thigh. Griselda was meowing and turning her head from where Sieglinde rested on her perch to where Harry was standing by the hob-no doubt tattling on both of them.
"Whatever she's telling you is a lie," Harry said. The owl hooted in agreement before soaring out through the open window into the night.
"Oh, so you didn't step on her tail?" Ginny asked, her brow cocked.
Harry stared at both his wife and the cat, trying to figure out how the communication had taken place. Ginny reached over and brushed dirt from the cat's tail. "If you wipe your boots off properly, you wouldn't leave muddy evidence around."
They both chuckled and sat down to eat; Griselda curled up on Ginny’s lap and purred out a soundtrack for their meal.
After dinner, Ginny sent the plates and silverware to the sink and pulled Harry into the living room.
“My turn,” Harry gloated to the sulking cat as Ginny crawled into his lap. He had a feeling there was a serious talk on their horizon; Ginny had been quiet all through the meal.
"Today, George asked me a question, and I spent the afternoon trying to think up an answer."
"That must have been some question," said Harry, diplomatically. Usually, it was best to let Ginny have time to work out what she wanted to say without trying to pull it out of her. Oftentimes, it bothered Harry, but she was always patient with his quirks, so he forgave her eccentricities.
"He asked me why I work for him at the shop."
Harry nodded. "I've wondered the same thing. So, did you come up with an answer?"
"Because I can't think of anything else to do." She shifted in his embrace and stared off into the darkening flat. "I'm not ready to have a baby yet, even though Fleur is trying to convince me I should." She looked up at Harry. "I know we talked about babies, and I want them, just not now. I've always been around lots of people, and I like just the two of us. I want a few years first."
Harry nodded. "I agree. We have Teddy and Vic we can look after. And as much fun as they are, it's nice being able to wind them up and send them home to someone else."
"Mum and Hermione spent most of last year trying to convince me to go to Healer School."
"You'd be good at that. I remember Ron telling me years ago that that's what you wanted to do."
Ginny snuggled closer to him. "I did want to do that. But the training to be a Healer is four years, plus I have work for a year at St. Mungo's, so that's really five years that I'd have to commit to."
"If that's what you want to do…"
"I think I want to start a family in two or three years, rather than waiting for five or more."
"Ah." The idea excited Harry and he thought a couple of years sounded about right. He’d be well established at the Ministry, but have enough distance from the defeat of Voldemort that maybe everyone would realize he was just Harry, and not still The Chosen One.
"Percy said I should get a job at the Ministry,” Ginny said, “but I don't want to be an Auror, or work directly with Kingsley, and I'm still not sure that all the Death Eater supporters have been weeded out from the other departments, so the Ministry is out. Besides, can you honestly see me shuffling paper like some people have to do all day?" She made a sound of disgust and Harry chuckled. No, the Ministry wasn’t the place for her, that much he agreed with.
Ginny grew quiet then and rested her head on Harry's chest. He wasn’t sure how well received his suggestion would be, but he had an idea that he had been thinking about for awhile now. "Gwenog sent you an owl last year with details for the Harpies trials and she sent you one again just last month. Is that something you’d be interested in?"
Ginny didn't answer him.
"Gin? Why don't you want to play Quidditch?"
He could feel her fingers moving against his chest as she traced a pattern on his jumper. "I do want to. But there are so many nights I'd have to be away from home if I made the team. And the first six weeks after trials are over I'd have to live at Harpy House during the week. And…" She said one more thing, but her voice was muffled against his jumper.
"What was that?"
She raised her head and looked at him. "I don't want to be on the team if I was only offered a slot at trials because I'm your wife."
"Who said that’s why you were?" Harry scowled at the idea. Ginny’s skill at Quidditch had never been overshadowed by his own fame, and anyone who believed that was an absolute berk.
Ginny’s jaw locked and she looked as if she might try to change the subject, or at least dodge the question.
“Gin.”
She sighed loudly. "Last year when Gwenog's offer was delivered during breakfast in the Great Hall…Romilda said it. I don't think it's true, but a lot of people might."
Harry ground his teeth and then blew out a frustrated breath. Of all the arrogant… "Then you try out and make the team,” he said defiantly. “If ignorant prats out there think that's why you made the team, all it will take is watching you play in one game to know you're amazing and earned your spot."
Ginny relaxed against him. "If I make the team…"
"When you make the team," he corrected.
"…I'd still be on the road a lot."
"And I'd miss you, but we will be fine, Ginny."
"Two years,” Ginny said. “Gwenog said I'd have to sign a two year contract."
He felt her facial muscles twitch and he knew she smiled when he said, "So that fits right into the timeline when you think you might want to start thinking about having babies."
"Yeah. Green-eyed, red-haired babies,” she said with a sly smile.
Harry continued the joke, "At least ten."
Ginny laughed then. Her first real laugh in the month since Gwenog had sent her letter advising of the trials coming up in the spring. "I think we better stick to a smaller family…more like three or four. Especially if they take after you." Harry grumbled, but he couldn’t fight too hard, not when Ginny was finally coming around with the idea of Quidditch.
She straddled his lap and pushed herself up to look at him. "You'd really be all right with me playing?"
"Very much so.” He grinned. “I'd know someone who could get me tickets whenever I wanted to watch a game." He laughed at this, as being Harry Potter, he could get tickets whenever he wanted even without being married to a Quidditch player.
She chewed her lip thoughtfully, and then that blazing look that he loved made an apperance. "I think I will attend the trials. But you're going to have to fly with me and help me get back in practice."
"I think I can handle that."
Ginny stood up and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him down the hallway towards the bedroom. "And, just so we'll be ready in a few years, we can practice something else, too."
Harry closed the door just as Griselda tried to dart into the bedroom with them. "I can definitely handle that!"
Gift for: pepperam
Author: katwoman_68
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~2400
Summary: For the past month, Ginny has been moving through her days without much of a purpose. One day, she examines her life to find out what's missing. Will a conversation with Harry help her sort it all out?
Author's Notes: Pepperam, I hope you enjoy this, and I am sorry it took so long. After several listens of the songs in your request, Her Morning Elegance finally spoke to me. And I really need to thank the best beta ever. She knows who she is.
Ginny’s hand slid along the cool sheets as she rolled over in bed. She sighed, knowing that she had missed Harry again.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she smiled as she saw the tray on the dresser. He had left her breakfast - the last of the scones that her mum had sent home with them from Sunday and a cup of tea. She carried the tray back to the bed and settled against Harry's pillow. Breaking off a piece of the pastry, she read the note Harry had left.
Dear Gin,
Kingsley sent an owl asking me to be in early today. He has a meeting scheduled with the Muggle Prime Minister and has asked me to attend with him and Percy.
If I don’t end up falling asleep on his desk due to sheer boredom, I should be able to make it home early tonight.
Enjoy your breakfast!
Love you, Harry
She carefully folded the note and slipped it into the wooden box where she kept all of Harry's letters: the notes he wrote asking her to meet him behind the stacks in the library during her fifth year, his longer letters during their year apart while she was at Hogwarts and he was in Auror Training, and the little "I love you" reminders he'd left for her since they had been married.
She looked at the clock and realized she needed to get moving if she didn't want to be late for work. Not that George would say anything if she was.
She turned on the shower and stepped into the stall. The sound of the water reminded her of the rain that beat against the window of the secluded cottage where she and Harry had spent the two weeks of their honeymoon last summer: two glorious, peaceful weeks without interruptions from their friends, her family, or the Minister of Magic.
There had been long, lazy days of cuddling in bed, memorizing the plains and valleys of each other’s bodies, learning what made Harry laugh, and what made her blush. They had gone out a few times, of course, and ended up getting completely turned around in the odd little village that was horribly quaint and wonderful. It was those memories of simply spending time with Harry-laughing playfully, talking about everything and nothing, or just laying together in silence as the day melted away-that Ginny missed the most now that they were back in the world with all of its distractions.
“You’re going to be late, dearie!”
Ginny startled when her watch-which she had charmed to help her stay on time to everything-spoke from the bathroom counter. She hurriedly finished rinsing her hair and turned the water off. Getting lost in the past wouldn’t get her anything but trouble today.
Within minutes, Ginny was wrapped in her coat, rushing down the four flights of stairs, and hurrying through the London crowds to the tube station. She pushed open the front door of The Leaky and waved to Tom before heading out the back door into Diagon Alley just as her watch cried out ‘Maybe he won’t notice you’re late again’.
George was flipping the sign from 'Bugger Off, We’re Closed' to 'Now Accepting Your Galleons' when she arrived.
"Good morning, squirt," George greeted her with her hated nickname. She gave him a half-hearted smile as she preceded him into the store. It wasn't worth her effort to pull out her wand for a Bat-Bogey hex.
Once she reached the back room and hung up her coat, she selected a case of WonderWitch products to restock. Despite all the twins’ brilliant inventions, the silly WonderWitch items were the best selling items in the entire store. Ginny thought it was rather pathetic, but she kept her opinions to herself while ringing them up and restocking. At half eleven, Ginny sighed.
George closed the cash register, bid a customer goodbye and stared at her contemplatively.
“What’s up with you? Married life not all it’s cracked up to be?”
Ginny ignored his remark and stared at her watch. "It just seems like it should be later. I feel like I've been here for ten hours, not just three."
George laughed. "Some days are like that. Verity will be here soon and it’s pretty quiet. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
"No! I didn't mean…"
"Go. This is a one-time offer that expires soon. You said you hadn't started your Christmas shopping yet."
Ginny finished stocking the trick wands and agreed. "Thanks, George. You're my favorite brother." She glanced over her shoulder and smirked. "Today, at any rate."
Before he could change his mind, or the store could be swamped with pre-teen girls demanding more Self-Thickening Eyelash Enhancer, Ginny scurried to the back room. She snatched her scarf-which was too long and very misshapen-around her neck. It was one she had knitted herself when she had decided to try making them for everyone. She considered it one of her failures and decided to leave the knitting up to her mother.
She paused at the register to hug George. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah." George's comment stopped her as she was pushing the front door open. "Gin? Why do you work here?"
Her brow furrowed. "You don't want me here?"
"That isn't what I meant; I'm thrilled to have you here. You just always had so many ideas of what you wanted to do once you left Hogwarts, and working for me wasn't on your list. So I'm curious as to why you're here."
She chewed her corner of her lip and thought for a second. "I don't know," she said and turned and walked out the door.
Her afternoon wandering the streets of Diagon Alley passed slowly. As she shopped and watched others shop, she thought about George's question. She stared into the cold, flushed faces of everyone she passed and wondered about their stories. She was amazed at how much happier everyone was now than last Christmas.
She remembered holiday shopping last year. It had been over seven months since Voldemort's demise, but everyone still seemed on edge, as if he might not really be gone. This year, she saw no uncertainty or fear from the shoppers. Her heart swelled with pride, knowing that her Harry was responsible for that.
Harry. He was the one thing she knew was right in her life. She had no doubts about that. But there was still a feeling of unease in her life and she just didn't know why.
~~~~
Harry unlocked the door of the flat. A quick look of the sitting room disclosed that Ginny wasn't home from work yet. He smiled as he set the bag of groceries on the counter. Hopefully, he would have dinner ready by the time she arrived. She had seemed sad and out of sorts for a while and he just didn't know what to do to help her.
He took a step back and crushed accidentally Griselda's tail under his boot. The black cat howled and hissed at him before scurrying away to glare from under the shadow of the table. Sieglinde, their owl, hooted from her perch in the corner of the kitchen. She approved of anything that caused the cat discomfort.
Harry still missed Hedwig, but had grown fond of Sieglinde since Ginny had tricked him into getting a new owl. He had insisted that he did not need an owl; he could borrow Pig, use a Ministry owl, or go to an Owlery if he needed to send something. Ginny had insisted that since he refused to go back to Hogwarts for his final year, they really needed to get an owl for all of the letters they would exchange. She also informed him that she wanted at least a letter a week. He agreed to the owl as long as she took it to Hogwarts and it stayed there at the school.
Two weeks later Ginny sent him a letter saying she had purchased a kitten in Hogsmeade and since school rules forbade any student from having more than one pet, Harry was going to have to keep Sieglinde at his flat.
Neither Harry nor Sieglinde was very fond of the cat Ginny chose. Griselda and Ginny adored each other and the cat's favorite place to be was curled up in Ginny's lap, where he could gloat to Harry and purr loudly. Harry really couldn't fault the cat for liking that place-Harry might just purr himself if he were cuddled there. But he just didn't trust the way Griselda would watch him as he did everything. It reminded him of Skeeter stalking him. More than once he'd asked Ginny if she thought it was possible that the cat was an Animagus, it was so attentive.
Harry tossed both the cat and the owl a few owl treats. The cat batted them with her paw before eating them, almost as if she was checking that he wasn't trying to poison her.
“Sorry, all out of your favorite catnip treats. Guess you’ll have to settle for these.” Harry smirked when the cat daintily ate the treats while Sieglinde crunched happily away on hers.
Once the animals were settled, Harry opened the bag of groceries and withdrew the ingredients for bangers and mash, one of Ginny's favorite dishes. He worked quickly using the recipe that Molly had given him the first time he had cooked dinner for his wife, and the one thing he knew he could make without mucking it up.
He finished preparing the meal and placed it in the oven to keep warm before washing up the dishes and setting the table. When he heard the floo activate, he was there to kiss Ginny as she finally stepped through.
"Hi," she said, slightly breathless, staring up at him. Her nose twitched and her grin widened. "You made dinner?"
"I did," he answered. "It's ready whenever you want to eat."
Ginny laughed. "I skipped lunch, so now would be good."
He helped her slip her coat off her shoulders and took her hand as they headed to the kitchen. She sat at the table while he opened the oven. A quick flick of his wand, and the pot was gently wafted through the air to the table. When he turned around, the cat was standing on her hind legs, her front paws resting on Ginny's thigh. Griselda was meowing and turning her head from where Sieglinde rested on her perch to where Harry was standing by the hob-no doubt tattling on both of them.
"Whatever she's telling you is a lie," Harry said. The owl hooted in agreement before soaring out through the open window into the night.
"Oh, so you didn't step on her tail?" Ginny asked, her brow cocked.
Harry stared at both his wife and the cat, trying to figure out how the communication had taken place. Ginny reached over and brushed dirt from the cat's tail. "If you wipe your boots off properly, you wouldn't leave muddy evidence around."
They both chuckled and sat down to eat; Griselda curled up on Ginny’s lap and purred out a soundtrack for their meal.
After dinner, Ginny sent the plates and silverware to the sink and pulled Harry into the living room.
“My turn,” Harry gloated to the sulking cat as Ginny crawled into his lap. He had a feeling there was a serious talk on their horizon; Ginny had been quiet all through the meal.
"Today, George asked me a question, and I spent the afternoon trying to think up an answer."
"That must have been some question," said Harry, diplomatically. Usually, it was best to let Ginny have time to work out what she wanted to say without trying to pull it out of her. Oftentimes, it bothered Harry, but she was always patient with his quirks, so he forgave her eccentricities.
"He asked me why I work for him at the shop."
Harry nodded. "I've wondered the same thing. So, did you come up with an answer?"
"Because I can't think of anything else to do." She shifted in his embrace and stared off into the darkening flat. "I'm not ready to have a baby yet, even though Fleur is trying to convince me I should." She looked up at Harry. "I know we talked about babies, and I want them, just not now. I've always been around lots of people, and I like just the two of us. I want a few years first."
Harry nodded. "I agree. We have Teddy and Vic we can look after. And as much fun as they are, it's nice being able to wind them up and send them home to someone else."
"Mum and Hermione spent most of last year trying to convince me to go to Healer School."
"You'd be good at that. I remember Ron telling me years ago that that's what you wanted to do."
Ginny snuggled closer to him. "I did want to do that. But the training to be a Healer is four years, plus I have work for a year at St. Mungo's, so that's really five years that I'd have to commit to."
"If that's what you want to do…"
"I think I want to start a family in two or three years, rather than waiting for five or more."
"Ah." The idea excited Harry and he thought a couple of years sounded about right. He’d be well established at the Ministry, but have enough distance from the defeat of Voldemort that maybe everyone would realize he was just Harry, and not still The Chosen One.
"Percy said I should get a job at the Ministry,” Ginny said, “but I don't want to be an Auror, or work directly with Kingsley, and I'm still not sure that all the Death Eater supporters have been weeded out from the other departments, so the Ministry is out. Besides, can you honestly see me shuffling paper like some people have to do all day?" She made a sound of disgust and Harry chuckled. No, the Ministry wasn’t the place for her, that much he agreed with.
Ginny grew quiet then and rested her head on Harry's chest. He wasn’t sure how well received his suggestion would be, but he had an idea that he had been thinking about for awhile now. "Gwenog sent you an owl last year with details for the Harpies trials and she sent you one again just last month. Is that something you’d be interested in?"
Ginny didn't answer him.
"Gin? Why don't you want to play Quidditch?"
He could feel her fingers moving against his chest as she traced a pattern on his jumper. "I do want to. But there are so many nights I'd have to be away from home if I made the team. And the first six weeks after trials are over I'd have to live at Harpy House during the week. And…" She said one more thing, but her voice was muffled against his jumper.
"What was that?"
She raised her head and looked at him. "I don't want to be on the team if I was only offered a slot at trials because I'm your wife."
"Who said that’s why you were?" Harry scowled at the idea. Ginny’s skill at Quidditch had never been overshadowed by his own fame, and anyone who believed that was an absolute berk.
Ginny’s jaw locked and she looked as if she might try to change the subject, or at least dodge the question.
“Gin.”
She sighed loudly. "Last year when Gwenog's offer was delivered during breakfast in the Great Hall…Romilda said it. I don't think it's true, but a lot of people might."
Harry ground his teeth and then blew out a frustrated breath. Of all the arrogant… "Then you try out and make the team,” he said defiantly. “If ignorant prats out there think that's why you made the team, all it will take is watching you play in one game to know you're amazing and earned your spot."
Ginny relaxed against him. "If I make the team…"
"When you make the team," he corrected.
"…I'd still be on the road a lot."
"And I'd miss you, but we will be fine, Ginny."
"Two years,” Ginny said. “Gwenog said I'd have to sign a two year contract."
He felt her facial muscles twitch and he knew she smiled when he said, "So that fits right into the timeline when you think you might want to start thinking about having babies."
"Yeah. Green-eyed, red-haired babies,” she said with a sly smile.
Harry continued the joke, "At least ten."
Ginny laughed then. Her first real laugh in the month since Gwenog had sent her letter advising of the trials coming up in the spring. "I think we better stick to a smaller family…more like three or four. Especially if they take after you." Harry grumbled, but he couldn’t fight too hard, not when Ginny was finally coming around with the idea of Quidditch.
She straddled his lap and pushed herself up to look at him. "You'd really be all right with me playing?"
"Very much so.” He grinned. “I'd know someone who could get me tickets whenever I wanted to watch a game." He laughed at this, as being Harry Potter, he could get tickets whenever he wanted even without being married to a Quidditch player.
She chewed her lip thoughtfully, and then that blazing look that he loved made an apperance. "I think I will attend the trials. But you're going to have to fly with me and help me get back in practice."
"I think I can handle that."
Ginny stood up and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him down the hallway towards the bedroom. "And, just so we'll be ready in a few years, we can practice something else, too."
Harry closed the door just as Griselda tried to dart into the bedroom with them. "I can definitely handle that!"