Pride In The Way
Title: Pride In The Way
Author: katwoman_68
Word Count: ~6,975
Rating: R
Summary: Harry's in his second year of Auror training, and Ginny, fresh out of Hogwarts, knows what she wants to do, but can she?
Author's Notes: I wrote this for the Puffy Sub Secret Santa Gift Exchange Extravaganza on puffysubmariner. My recipient requested a mix of angst and humor, so I stepped out of my comfort zone of writing fluffy and sweet most of the time. Thanks to cibjasfad for her help, patience, questions and humor.
"Look, Arthur. Doesn't he just look so natural with Teddy?" Molly nodded her head towards where Harry was sitting on the sofa with his godson. Teddy laughed as Harry tickled him.
Suddenly, Teddy's hair changed to Weasley red as Ginny sat down next to Harry. Teddy reached out to grab a fistful of Ginny's hair. "Gee-Nee," Teddy giggled as she pulled him onto her lap.
"Hey there, Teddy! I've missed you," she said as she hugged him.
"All three of them look so good together, don't they?" Molly whispered to Arthur.
"She just finished Hogwarts yesterday. Give them some time before you start planning more grandchildren, Molly," Arthur advised her.
Having spotted his parents' whispered conversation and seeing the looks in Harry and Ginny's direction, George spoke up. "What where you saying, Mum?" he asked with a glimmer of mischief in his eye.
All eyes turned towards Molly and Arthur. "I was just saying that as soon as Bill and Fleur get here with Victoire, we can eat, since supper is ready."
Just then, green flames burst into the fireplace and Bill spun into view, clutching a baby.
"Oh!" Ginny jumped up from the sofa and, still holding Teddy, raced over to Bill. She set Teddy on the floor and gently took the month-old baby from her brother. "She's beautiful."
"Of course she is. She is part Veela," Charlie called from across room, earning laughter from Percy, George and Ron, and glares from his mother and Bill.
"I am your Aunt Ginny, and I'm very happy to finally you meet you," Ginny said to the baby as Victoire opened her eyes. She apparently decided that Ginny meant her no harm, because she snuggled against her aunt.
Dinner conversation focused on what Ginny and Hermione were planning on doing now that they were finished with Hogwarts. Hermione was scheduled to start work at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in hopes of improving the welfare and working conditions for house-elves. As she explained this, she glared at Harry.
"I pay Kreacher, Hermione," Harry said. "Besides, what would happen to him if I just turned him loose?"
"He could get another job somewhere."
"Doing what? Who hires house-elves to do anything other than to be a house-elf? Gringotts wouldn’t hire them, would they, Bill?"
Both Bill and Fleur said that Gringotts would not hire a house-elf.
"See, that's what I mean. It isn't right that they have so little choice!" Hermione proclaimed, letting her fork clatter to the table.
"Then, Hermione, we wish you luck in changing their situation, but until you do, you can't really expect Harry to do anything else. This has been your pet project for the past four years, not the rest of ours," Ginny said.
"Fine, we won't discuss it anymore!" Hermione huffed, with one final glare at Harry. After grabbing a piece of treacle tart, she turned to Ginny, "So, what are you planning on doing?"
"Oh… erm… I haven't really decided yet."
Percy was the first to speak, going on about how she had had years to think about it. "There are a lot of openings in the Ministry. You could pick any department and there's sure to be something. What did you discuss with McGonagall during your fifth year?"
"Oh, I…" Ginny looked around the table and focused on one of her brothers. "George! Since Ron will be starting his Auror training now, you'll need someone to help you at the store, right?"
"Yeah, I guess I could try you out in the store," George replied with a wink.
"What about going to Healer school? You always used to want to be a Healer when you were growing up," Molly reminded her.
"That's… I don't… That's a lot of training to go through, Mum."
Molly looked down the table at her daughter like she was going to argue, but instead said, "You're young. You don't have to decide today."
Ginny smiled, "Thanks, Mum."
********
Ginny stared at the moonlight shining in her window. The Burrow was finally quiet. Mum and Dad had gone to bed, and Ron had come back from taking Hermione home. But before Ron headed up to the attic, he had stopped to talk to Harry!
She lay there for what seemed like hours; waiting to be sure Ron didn't leave his room again. He had almost caught her sneaking back into her room last summer, but she had convinced him she had only been going for a drink of water.
Finally, she was sure everyone was asleep and slipped out of her bed. She crept up the stairs, avoiding the squeaky ones, and slipped quietly into the room that had once been Percy's. Harry wasn't moving in the bed, and she really hoped he wasn't asleep.
Ginny crept silently across the room and lifted the blankets to crawl into the bed when Harry reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her under the covers with him. Ginny laughed as she shoved the covers off her head. Harry emerged and waved his wand, conjuring a dozen candles floating in the air.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Ginny cried, throwing her arms around his neck.
"I had to do something to impress you."
Ginny sniffed the air. "The candles, they smell like a blend of roses and gardenias."
"They smell like you. Or actually, your shampoo."
Ginny smiled. "Yeah, they do."
"I started conjuring them last September when you left. They've spent a lot of time floating around my bed, except for when you were here at Christmas and Easter." As Harry pulled Ginny against him, she could feel his erection on her thigh. "I was hoping you'd come see me tonight," Harry murmured, pressing his mouth to her neck.
"You were, were you?" Ginny laughed, threading her fingers through his hair.
"Yes. I get very lonely by myself." Harry pushed her nightshirt slowly up her body. "Don't have anyone to talk to." Harry pressed a kiss right above her navel. "Nothing to play with." His tongue tasted one nipple, while his fingers caressed her other breast.
"You could always go back to sharing the attic with Ron," Ginny smirked.
"There's no benefit to that. He snores, and you wouldn't sneak in there like this." Harry finally pulled her nightshirt entirely off and paused before he tossed it to the floor. "This is mine. I've been wondering what happened to it. Do you have my Tornados shirt as well?"
"You could go check my closet for anything of yours, or we could continue here," Ginny said, sliding her fingers into the waistband of his boxers.
Harry closed his eyes and swallowed. "Continue."
After she lowered his pants past his hips, Ginny pushed him onto his back. She reached down and grasped his penis with one hand, sliding her fingers along the length of him twice as she trailed her mouth from his neck to his navel, alternately kissing and nipping his skin.
"Please. Gin," Harry groaned.
"Please, what? Is this what you want?" she asked as she blew gently on the tip before placing her tongue against him. Harry moaned in answer. Ginny slowly slid her mouth up and down the length of him several times before she felt his body tighten under her.
"Stop. Want to come inside you. Won't last long now." Harry reached for her and grasped her waist, tugging her up his body.
Ginny rolled onto her back, pulling him onto her. She couldn't help but think that it had been far too long since they'd been together during the Easter hols. She arched her hips off the bed to help Harry as he removed her knickers.
Harry moved over her and his hand pressed between her legs. He slid one finger inside. When he heard her sigh, he slowly inserted a second finger and curled them to find that sensitive spot she liked.
"Yes! There!" Ginny raised her hips off the bed and rocked against his hand. "Oh, Harry!"
Harry grabbed his wand and performed a contraceptive charm before he slid inside her. He pressed his forehead against hers and stilled, bracing himself on his arms, waiting for her to set the tempo. Ginny wrapped her legs around his waist and thrust up against him. Harry moved against her, sliding in and out.
Ginny's brown eyes stared into his green ones. She could tell when he was ready to climax; his eyes always turned a darker shade of green, like they were doing right now.
"Ginny!" Harry collapsed against her.
She pulled his mouth down to kiss him and whispered that she loved him against his throat.
Later, as Ginny lay curled next to him, Harry twirled her hair around his fingers as he gauged how she would react to his question. "Gin, tonight at dinner, why didn't you tell your family what you want to do?"
She sighed. "Because everyone but Charlie and Dad would tell me it was a mistake."
"Ron and George wouldn't," he protested.
"Ron would think it was okay if I wanted to play for the Cannons," Ginny shuddered as she said this. "And Angelina has an aunt who was hurt playing Quidditch."
"She does?"
"Yeah. She played for Pride of Portree for two years. Then she was hit by two Bludgers at once, one in the head and the other on her back. She was in St. Mungo's for months." Ginny raised her head to look at him. "That's why Angelina never tried playing professionally."
She rested her chin on his chest. "And, what if I don't make the team? What if I'm not good enough?"
"I think you are. Gwenog thinks you are."
"Really?"
"She wouldn't have invited you to try out if she didn't," Harry answered. "But you may only make the reserve team the first year."
Ginny closed her eyes and remembered her last Quidditch match at Hogwarts. It was Gryffindor against Slytherin and only fifty points had separated the two houses before the final match; Ginny had never been more nervous before a game. Slytherin had been ahead by seventy points, but somehow Gryffindor's new seeker, Ashling Wood, caught the snitch and Gryffindor won the cup.
Afterword, Gwenog Jones had approached Ginny and complemented her on the win. She asked Ginny if she had considered playing professionally, and said that the Harpies were looking for a Chaser and two reserve Chasers. The invitation was implied and then confirmed later when Gwenog sent Ginny an owl with the details of the tryouts.
"I don't care if it's reserves or not. I just really want to be a Harpy. Tomorrow, will you work with me on some of my chaser plays?"
Harry thought about it for a minute. "I have to be at the Ministry for two or three hours in the morning, but I'm yours all afternoon."
Ginny smiled up at him before kissing him on the chest. "Thank you." She snuggled closer. "This past year when I couldn't sleep, I would think about the times I slipped into your room to visit you last summer."
Harry chuckled and she felt the gentle rumble in his chest. "I thought about those times, too."
Turning her head to look at the clock on his dresser, she said, "I should go back to my room, but I don't want to. Mum gets up at six o'clock, so if I set the alarm for half-five I can get back before she finds me here."
Harry grabbed his wand and pointed it at the clock to set it, and then pulled Ginny into his arms.
********
The next morning, Ginny quietly tiptoed out of Harry's room at just after half-five, and ran straight into Molly.
Molly raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "Why don't you go get dressed and come downstairs and help me with breakfast? We can talk."
NO! a voice screamed in Ginny's head. But she said, "Can I have a quick shower first?"
Molly nodded. "But don't take too long."
As Ginny stood under the water she berated herself for not going back to her room last night. I'm going to get the scarlet woman talk now! Ginny leaned against the wall and remembered the first time she had heard that term.
They had just arrived in Egypt and Molly still wasn't letting Ginny out of her sight. It had been several months since the incident in the Chamber.
Bill, his roommate Jack, and Jack's girlfriend, Grace, had taken the family to dinner that first night. After dinner, Jack said good night to everyone and said he'd see them before they returned to England.
Molly had asked him where he was staying, but Grace had answered for him. She had tucked her arm into his and smiled up at him. "He's going to be staying with me, Mrs. Weasley. And if that works out fine, he may move in permanently."
"So, you're thinking of marriage?" Molly asked, a forced smile on her face.
"No. Not yet anyway." Grace grabbed Jack's hand and they left.
That night, Ginny was curled up on the cot that had been set up in Jack's room. She would be sharing his room with her parents. She could still remember Molly speaking to Arthur in angry whispers.
"I don't like Bill being here! He may associate with witches like that Grace."
"Grace seemed like a very nice…"
Ginny turned her head to watch this discussion and saw Molly brushing her hair. "She's a scarlet woman! Nice girls do not let their boyfriends spend the night. And they certainly don't live with someone without the benefit of marriage." Each stroke of the brush seemed to yank more hairs from Molly's head and Ginny was glad it wasn't her hair.
As she fell asleep that night, she vowed that she'd never let herself become a scarlet woman.
When she joined her mother in the kitchen, Molly had a cup of tea waiting for her. Ginny sat down at the table and pulled the sugar bowl forward. She added the sugar to her tea and stirred long enough that Molly laughed. "I think the sugar dissolved about five minutes ago, Ginny."
Ginny stopped stirring and the spoon clattered to the table. She buried her face in her hands. Molly reached out and pushed the hair away from Ginny's face. "What's wrong?"
"Can you just yell at me now instead of being nice and making me tea?" Ginny looked up at her mother.
"Why do you think I'm going to yell?"
"You're going to say that I'm ruined and that I should have waited until I was married and there can be 'consequences' to me…being with Harry."
Molly sipped her tea while listening to her daughter. "Now that you know what you think I was going to say, let me correct you."
Ginny's head snapped up at this. "This isn't going to be the 'scarlet woman' speech?"
"Not exactly." Molly took a breath before continuing. "I won't lie and say I'm happy that you and Harry are having sex. I wish you had waited until you were married, but I'm not surprised you didn't."
"Really?"
"There can be 'consequences'. I know; I had seven of them." Molly smiled at her daughter as she said this. "And I don't regret a single one of my children, but I do wish that some of them had been spaced out a little more," she added, wryly.
"Harry and I have been really careful. We always use a contraceptive charm," Ginny informed her.
"That's good, but they don't always work. If they always worked Charlie would be the youngest."
Ginny's eyes widened. "The charm failed you four times!"
"It did," Molly nodded.
"After I was born…"
"After you were born, I started taking the potion every week."
"That works better than the charm?" Ginny asked.
"It must. There were no more pregnancies after you."
"But the charm is supposed to…" Ginny was now clearly worried about this.
"If you are… distracted when you perform it, or you wait too long to cast it, it doesn't always work right. But, if you take your potion every week, you won't need to worry about it, and you can stop taking it anytime you decide you want to have a baby. After you're married," Molly said, before picking up her teacup.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"I told you where babies come from and how to prevent them," Molly reminded her. "I also asked you if you had any questions or wanted more information. You said 'no'." Molly grinned at her. "At least I think it was 'no'. You said it so softly and were running out of the kitchen so fast!"
Ginny chewed her lip. "I did have a few questions later, but I asked Hermione." Ginny wrinkled her nose. "She handed me a stack of books."
Molly laughed. "Of course she did."
"Hermione said the potion tasted horrible and the contraceptive charm would be better."
Molly raised her eyebrows at that comment. "I think I need to have a talk with Hermione, especially if Ron would be casting the charm."
Ginny started to laugh as she took of sip of her tea, and ended up choking.
"Mum? The potion…is it easy to brew?" Ginny asked, interested.
"Yes, it only takes about an hour to brew and you just let it cool for a few hours. Hermione's right; it tastes awful, so it's best to stir in a teaspoonful of sugar or honey. You can also buy it premade at the Apothecary, but it is expensive there. You can buy the ingredients for four months’ worth for the same as a premade bottle."
"Would you…" Ginny hesitated, "would you show me how to brew it?"
Molly nodded. "When would you like to learn?"
"Harry has to go into the Ministry for a few hours this morning. Can we do it then?"
"Yes," Molly said standing up. "Now why don’t you help me get breakfast ready?"
********
Ginny was reading, curled in a chair near the fireplace when Harry spun out of the floo. Startled, the book on her lap fell to the ground.
Harry reached down to get the book. "It's a nice day outside, and who but Hermione would spend it sitting inside reading?"
"Git," Ginny replied, pulling his head down to kiss him. "I wanted to be here to see you when you came home. Now, I don't know why I bothered." Ginny opened her book to continue reading.
Harry pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. "I thought we could go to Diagon Alley for a quick lunch."
"Mum made soup…"
"I have something I want to get for Teddy, too," Harry said as he scratched his neck. He always did that when he was lying or nervous; Ginny was determined to find out which one it was.
At Ginny's nod, Harry turned and Apparated.
After lunch at The Leaky Cauldron, they walked into Quality Quidditch Supplies. "I thought we were buying something for Teddy?"
"We are." Harry pointed to a display of toy brooms. "Sirius bought me one when I was a baby." Ginny smiled at this; she had seen the picture of baby Harry dodging James' attempts to catch him. As Harry headed for the toys, Ginny walked over to look at the Cleansweep brooms. Her eyes were drawn to a new display: Cleansweep Twelve, The Ultimate Chaser's Broom.
Ginny was still staring at the new broom when Harry and the shop owner approached. Harry had two brooms tucked under his arm: a new Firebolt and a toy replica of the Firebolt. "This is the one you were talking about?" Harry asked the other man.
"Yes, sir," the shop owner answered. "This model just arrived four days ago. It isn't as fast as the Firebolt Blaze, but it is more stable for a Chaser since they often have one hand off the broom to carry the Quaffle. The last Cleansweep model went from naught to seventy in ten seconds. This one does it in five. It also maintains its stability while allowing the rider to spin 360 degrees, for quick directional changes. "
Ginny's eyes widened at that comment. "Really? Even the Firebolt doesn't accelerate that fast, does it? And being able to change direction like that… when I intercept the Quaffle from the other team…" Her eyes shined at the thought of heading towards her opponents goal posts after a miraculous save.
"Is that the one you want?" Harry asked Ginny, as the shop owner excused himself to help another customer.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Harry! You don't need to buy me a broom!"
"I want to." When she opened her mouth to argue some more he continued, "You can consider it your birthday present if you want."
"I don't need it for the tryouts. Gwenog said the team supplied the brooms then. I guess they want to make sure no one cheats by enchanting their broom." Ginny turned back to the broom and reached out to touch the tail twigs with reverence.
Harry set down the Firebolts he was holding and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. "It will give you a great broom to practice with until then. Plus, when you make the team, you'll already have your own broom. And, since Ron has a Cleansweep Eleven, he'll be jealous."
"It's so expensive. I can't let you buy it!"
"I want to do this for you, Ginny."
She finally tore her eyes away from the broom and shook her head. "No."
"Your family has done so much for me. You have, Gin. It would make me happy to do this." Harry turned Ginny around to face him and forced her to look at him. "Please let me?"
Ginny eyes traveled from the Cleansweep to Harry and back. "It's just an early birthday gift?" she asked.
When Harry nodded, she flung her arms around his neck. "Thank you."
********
Ginny sat on the grass down by the pond throwing rocks into the water. She couldn't believe how badly the tryouts had ended up, when they had started out so well.
"This season, we need a total of three new Chasers; one of them will probably make the main team, and two on the reserve list. We also need one new Beater." Gwenog nodded towards a very pregnant Maggie Richards who had been a Beater with her since their third year at Hogwarts.
"First up, we are going to see how the prospective Chasers look." Gwenog consulted her parchment. "We want to see how you all play with our only returning Chaser, Turner, and one of our reserve Chasers, Shaw. Adams, let's see what you can do." There were twenty-two girls here for the three Chaser slots and Ginny sat in the stands watching twenty-one of them before she heard Gwenog call, "Weasley, your turn!"
Ginny had played beautifully with the other two chasers. They moved together, passing the Quaffle amongst themselves as if they had played together before. After Ginny's turn, Gwenog had met with the coach and the owners, and then she announced, "We have narrowed the list of Chasers from twenty-two to eight: Attwood, Bennett, Gardham, Kelly, Mitchell, Port, Waller, and Weasley. After we narrow our Beater lists, we want to see how you all play with the rest of the team."
Ginny sat in the stands with the other Chaser hopefuls and tried to remember how each of them played. She was surprised to see Attwood and Kelly among the eight, but she knew the other five had played very well. From the glances amongst them, she knew she was being sized-up by the others as well.
After the first elimination to the Beaters was made, Gwenog stated that a match would be played to see how various players would interact. Ginny watched the first few scrimmages and noticed one of the Beaters. "Excuse me," she asked Mitchell, who was sitting near here in the stands, "the Beater in the red robes, do you know who she is? She looks slightly familiar?"
"I know a little. She went to Durmstrang even though her father was from England. You probably went to school with her cousin."
"Do you know her name?" Ginny asked.
"Crabbe."
Ginny took a closer look. Yeah, that's why she looks familiar; she has similar features to Vincent Crabbe.
The next match, Ginny was called to play. Crabbe, who wasn't playing, bumped into her as they passed each other on the pitch. She heard Kelly saying to Crabbe, "The only reason the little blood traitor made the first cut is because she's shagging Harry Potter."
Ginny turned to glare at the two witches and felt a pang of regret that she didn't have her wand with her; she would have loved to practice her Bat Bogey hex.
Ginny's first scrimmage went well; she managed to score several times and even rescued the Quaffle on two occasions when Attwood dropped it. During the second, Crabbe was brought in to replace Gwenog.
The first time Ginny had possession of the Quaffle and was heading towards the hoops to score, she was nearly knocked off her broom by a Bludger. As Ginny looked back over her shoulder to see who had hit the Bludger, she saw Crabbe with a wide grin. Kelly retrieved the Quaffle Ginny had dropped and scored. The second hit Ginny took surprised her; she didn't even have possession of the Quaffle. As she righted her broom, she looked down to see Gwenog standing with the coach. She was looking straight at Ginny and she didn't look happy.
The fourth time Ginny was hit, Gwenog stopped the match and replaced Ginny with Waller.
Soon after, Gwenog had called a stop to the matches. "Thank you. You all played well and we have some difficult decisions to make. We'll be notifying everyone within the week."
Ginny was startled out of her daydream by a kiss pressed to the back of her neck. "I thought I'd find you here," Harry said as he sat behind her and pulled her into his lap. "Your mum sent me out here to fetch you for dinner, but first, tell me how your tryout went."
Ginny pulled away and turned to face him. "It was horrible! Vincent Crabbe's cousin was there, trying out for Beater and that vicious witch hit a Bludger at me four times. Three of the times I didn't even have the Quaffle! And then I overhead someone saying the only reason I didn't get eliminated right away was because I was your girlfriend."
Ginny was staring at the ground, ripping up handfuls of grass. Harry reached over and raised her face to look at him. "Don't worry about the second part of that. No one could watch you play for very long and continue to think that I'm the reason you're playing. As for Crabbe's cousin, I think you should talk to Gwenog. Her attacks on you were personal and had nothing to do with the match."
"No. I can't talk to her. Doing that would be like asking for a personal favor. I can't do that, Harry."
"I'll talk to her, then. There is no reason…"
"Please don't. I don't want to make the team because the Chosen One pulled some strings."
Harry's jaw tightened when she said that, but he finally agreed. Ginny would succeed or fail on her own terms and he wouldn't interfere.
********
Five days after the unfortunate tryouts, Ginny was helping George at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. "And when you finish feeding the Pygmy Puffs, please restock the Wonder Witch products," he called to her from the back of the store. "I think all the witches in Britain must have been in here today buying them."
Ginny snorted. Lavender Brown and the Patil twins hardly counted as every witch in Britain, but they had certainly picked over the stock of the new items in the Wonder Witch line, which now included perfume (guaranteed to make any witch attractive to the wizard of her desire) and lip gloss (when you kiss your wizard while wearing this, he will be yours forever) to go along with the love potions and Guaranteed Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher that started the popular line. Ginny suspected that George had used Amortentia as a key ingredient for the new items.
As she finished restocking the cosmetic line, Ginny saw a familiar black-haired head across the way and her mood greatly improved. Until she saw who was walking with him. Harry and Gwenog Jones were walking down Diagon Alley together.
He had promised he wouldn't say anything to her!
There had to be another reason he was talking to her. Ginny’s mind raced ahead, trying to find one.
Maybe Harry didn’t want to be an Auror anymore, and was asking Gwenog if she knew of any team that was looking for a Seeker. No. No Captain in her right mind would recommend a good player to another team.
Ginny bumped into a display that Verity had set up that morning and hundreds of Skiving Snackboxes tumbled to the ground.
Maybe Gwenog was talking to him about hiring bodyguards for the Harpies. That couldn’t be it; Aurors typically didn’t serve as bodyguards.
Ginny became angrier and sadder as she thought of, and discarded, ideas to explain why Harry was speaking with Gwenog.
There was only one explanation that made sense: Harry just didn't think she was good enough to make the team without him helping! Tears blinded her as she pushed over a display of Spell-Checking Quills.
George stepped out from behind the counter, waving his wand to fix both displays. "Gin, go in the back and bring out the box of hats there."
Ginny did as he asked, but slammed the box down on the counter with enough force that all the hats scattered over the floor. "Ginny! Now I need to try on every one to find out if which are the Headless Hats and which are the Shield Hats," George exclaimed. "Just go to lunch before you drop the Peruvian Darkness Powder."
When Ginny left the store, she glanced back over her shoulder to see George waving his arms to rid himself of the bats flying out of his nose. She walked slowly to The Leaky Cauldron. All the way there she was trying to decipher why Harry had broken his promise and talked to Gwenog. She just couldn't come up with a single acceptable reason.
The first person she saw when she stepped inside was Neville. She felt a tiny surge of joy; Neville always made her feel better.
"Hey, Ginny." Neville saw her and waved her over. He stood and hugged her. "Join me for lunch?"
"Sure. I'd love to, Neville." Ginny looked around and added. "I'm surprised Hannah isn't here with you."
"Actually, she is, but she's working." He nodded towards the bar. As Ginny turned to wave at Hannah, Neville said, "Tom has mentioned that he wants to retire and sell this place; Hannah is thinking about buying it."
Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? How wonderful. It's nice that someone knows what they want to do with their life."
Neville smiled at her. "Ginny Weasley doesn't know what she wants to do? That surprises me."
After they ordered, Ginny said, "I do know. I want to play Quidditch, but I don't think that's in my future. I… Five days ago, I tried out for the Holyhead Harpies. It started out so well, but I know I didn't make the team."
"You can keep practicing and try again next year. Or, you can marry Harry and have lots of little green-eyed, red-haired babies."
"That's not going to happen anytime soon. Maybe never," Ginny glowered. Her once-clear vision of a future with Harry was now cloudy with doubt. How could she trust him if he couldn’t keep his word to her?
"What happened?"
Ginny took a deep breath and told Neville about the incident with Crabbe's cousin. "Harry said I should talk to Gwenog, but that seemed too much like asking for special consideration. When I said I wasn't going to, Harry said he would. I did get him to agree not to speak with her, and then I saw the two of them walking down Diagon Alley and talking earlier today."
"I wouldn't write him off just yet,” Neville defended. “I'm sure Harry had a reason for what he did."
"Maybe." Ginny wasn't entirely convinced.
"Gin…"
"It's all right, Neville. I'm just a little angry at him, but I don't want to talk about him or the Harpies anymore." She set down her butterbeer and turned to look towards Hannah over near the bar. "So, how are things going between to two of you?"
Neville flushed pink before answering. "Good. Things are good."
"Just good?"
"I'm…I'm going to askhertomarryme.
"Oh, Neville, I'm so happy for you."
Neville traced a pattern on the table. "I haven't asked her yet. And she might say 'no'."
Ginny looked over at where Hannah was waiting on other patrons. "She's not going to say 'no'. Thanks for lunch…and for listening, Neville. I have to get back to the store now," she said as she kissed him on the cheek.
********
Ginny lay on her bed thinking about the envelope. It was waiting for her when she returned home from the store, but she still hadn't opened it.
"Ginny! Dinner's is ready!" Molly called for the second time.
She dragged herself off of her bed and down the stairs. She was surprised to see only her parents at the table. As she slid into her seat she asked, "Where's everyone else?"
"Ron decided to take Hermione out to dinner, so he'll be home late," Arthur told her.
"What about Harry?"
Arthur set down his spoon. "There were some Death Eater sightings reported today. Most of the Aurors were called to handle it. A few of the second-year students went as well. Harry was one of them. He may be gone all night."
Ginny stared down at her plate, her prior anger at him melting away as her heart pounded. "Do you know who was spotted?"
"No." Arthur reached over and touched her arm. "He'll be fine."
Ginny pushed the food around on her plate for a few minutes. "May I be excused, please?"
"Ginny…" Molly began.
"Yes, you may," Arthur overrode Molly.
"I'll put a charm on your plate to keep it warm, Ginny."
She went back upstairs and curled into a ball on her bed. Her mother came in to check on her a few hours later. "Can I get you anything?" Molly sat down on the edge of her bed and stroked her hair.
"I'm fine." When Molly started to get up, Ginny continued, "I was so mad at Harry today. I was planning on sharpening my Bat Bogey hex on him when he came home today. Now I just want to hug him."
"Why were you so angry with him?"
Ginny sat up and grabbed the envelope from her night table. "I received this today. It's from… it's from the Holyhead Harpies." Molly's head snapped up when Ginny said, "I tried out for them last week."
"You did? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I thought that you'd tell me I shouldn't because it was too dangerous and that I should go to Healer school."
"I want you to be happy in what you choose," Molly replied.
"I've been underestimating you lately, haven't I, Mum?"
Molly brushed the hair back from Ginny's face. "When you have seven kids, you get used to it."
"Sorry."
"But that doesn't explain why you were upset with Harry."
Ginny picked up the envelope again. "The tryouts were horrible," Ginny began, and related the incident to Molly. "Harry said I should talk to Gwenog, but I disagreed. Then he said he would speak with her. I finally got him to agree not to, but I saw him walking through Diagon Alley with her today. Now, I'm afraid that what's in here is because Harry talked to Gwenog."
"What time did you see them together?"
"Just after George came back from lunch, so before one o'clock."
Molly reached over and pulled the envelope away from Ginny. "Then let me assure you, that what is in here has nothing to do with that conversation. This arrived at half-nine this morning. So why don't you open it?"
Ginny grabbed the letter and started to open it, before setting it aside. She shook her head. "No, I want to open it with Harry."
Molly stood and leaned down to kiss Ginny's forehead. "That's the best idea I've heard all night. Good night."
"Mum? Thanks."
Ginny grabbed a framed picture of Harry and Teddy off her night table. She traced her fingers over Harry's features as she talked to him. "You have to be all right. Nothing else matters." Ginny remembered that right before the final battle, Harry still didn't want anyone other than Ron or Hermione to help, even with most of Dumbledore's Army and some of the Order there. She snorted as she realized she was the same way. I wanted to make the team just because I was good, and I was afraid to talk to Gwenog or let Harry help me because I didn't want anyone to think I made the team because of special favors. We both want to do things ourselves, don't we? She hugged the picture to her chest.
Ginny was still lying awake, two hours later, when she heard someone arriving by the floo. She rushed to the door and threw it open. "Harry? Is that you?"
Within seconds, Harry appeared on the landing near her room. "You're awake," he said as she flung herself at him.
"Did you find the Death Eaters?"
He nodded. "They're in Azkaban."
Ginny dragged him into her room and closed the door.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Harry shook his head. With him away from the shadows in the hallway, Ginny was finally able to see him clearly. She saw a new tear in the sleeve and a deep scratch on his cheek, but it was the haunted look in his eyes that worried her.
"I'll tell you about it later. Tomorrow," Harry promised, as he sat on the edge of the bed and held his hand out to her. "Just sit with me now, Gin. Talk to me. Tell me about your day."
Ginny picked up the letter from the Harpies before sitting next to him. "I got an owl from the Harpies today."
"What does it say?"
"You don't know?"
"I don't," Harry denied.
"I saw you with Gwenog today." She watched his expression closely, wondering how he was going to explain himself.
"Yeah, I stopped in that new café for lunch and she had walked in right before me, so we had lunch together."
"Did you talk about my tryout?" Ginny wanted to know.
"She asked me about it. I told her about Crabbe, and that her potential Beater was his cousin. She said she had figured out it was personal from the way that Crabbe went after you, but couldn't figure out why."
Harry pulled the envelope away from her. "So, what does it say?"
"I wanted to wait and read it with you."
Harry handed her back the letter, and Ginny broke the seal and unfolded the parchment. "Gwenog didn't tell you if I made the team?"
"She really didn't say."
Ginny's eyes skipped quickly through the letter to get down to the list of Chasers. She saw the list of Beaters first: Gwenog Jones (Captain), Lisa Campbell, Sharon Gibson (reserve), Bridget Doyle (reserve). At least, Crabbe didn't make the team. Finally, there was the list of Chasers: Karen Turner, Lydia Shaw, Ginny Weasley, Leah Bryne (reserve), Maria Gardham (reserve), Susan Port (reserve). Her mouth dropped open. "I made it. I made it!"
She looked to Harry to see his face split with a wide grin. "I never doubted that you would." He hugged her.
She kissed him. "Stay here with me tonight?"
"Here? In your room?" Harry's voice actually squeaked as he asked.
"Yes." Ginny grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head. "Please."
Harry's breath caught as he looked at her. "I love you, Gin. It has nothing to do with the sex. Not that that isn't great," Harry stammered.
Ginny hugged him, pressing herself against him. "I love you, too. And I know. I've known since last summer. You remember that day when George and Ron finally reopened the shop and we stopped at Fortescue's? I knew then."
"I didn't know then! How did you?" He seemed surprised. "That was the first night you snuck into my room."
"Uh huh," Ginny kissed his neck and started to shove his robes off his shoulders.
Harry leaned down and kissed a cluster of freckles on her chest. "Eight." He moved his lips slightly to the right. "Nine." His lips trailed up. "Ten."
Ginny pulled his head back. "What are you counting?"
"Your freckles."
"How come eight of the freckles got one kiss?"
"They were clustered together?"
Ginny looked up at him with her eyes shining. "But then you should have kissed the cluster eight times."
Harry pushed her back and leaned over her, supporting his weight on his arms. "Someday I am going to count every one of your freckles. And I'll be sure they all get their own kiss. But I think that I'm going to save that challenge for another day."
Ginny unbuttoned his jeans and started to push them past his bum. "I’ll hold you to that. Someday."
Author: katwoman_68
Word Count: ~6,975
Rating: R
Summary: Harry's in his second year of Auror training, and Ginny, fresh out of Hogwarts, knows what she wants to do, but can she?
Author's Notes: I wrote this for the Puffy Sub Secret Santa Gift Exchange Extravaganza on puffysubmariner. My recipient requested a mix of angst and humor, so I stepped out of my comfort zone of writing fluffy and sweet most of the time. Thanks to cibjasfad for her help, patience, questions and humor.
"Look, Arthur. Doesn't he just look so natural with Teddy?" Molly nodded her head towards where Harry was sitting on the sofa with his godson. Teddy laughed as Harry tickled him.
Suddenly, Teddy's hair changed to Weasley red as Ginny sat down next to Harry. Teddy reached out to grab a fistful of Ginny's hair. "Gee-Nee," Teddy giggled as she pulled him onto her lap.
"Hey there, Teddy! I've missed you," she said as she hugged him.
"All three of them look so good together, don't they?" Molly whispered to Arthur.
"She just finished Hogwarts yesterday. Give them some time before you start planning more grandchildren, Molly," Arthur advised her.
Having spotted his parents' whispered conversation and seeing the looks in Harry and Ginny's direction, George spoke up. "What where you saying, Mum?" he asked with a glimmer of mischief in his eye.
All eyes turned towards Molly and Arthur. "I was just saying that as soon as Bill and Fleur get here with Victoire, we can eat, since supper is ready."
Just then, green flames burst into the fireplace and Bill spun into view, clutching a baby.
"Oh!" Ginny jumped up from the sofa and, still holding Teddy, raced over to Bill. She set Teddy on the floor and gently took the month-old baby from her brother. "She's beautiful."
"Of course she is. She is part Veela," Charlie called from across room, earning laughter from Percy, George and Ron, and glares from his mother and Bill.
"I am your Aunt Ginny, and I'm very happy to finally you meet you," Ginny said to the baby as Victoire opened her eyes. She apparently decided that Ginny meant her no harm, because she snuggled against her aunt.
Dinner conversation focused on what Ginny and Hermione were planning on doing now that they were finished with Hogwarts. Hermione was scheduled to start work at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in hopes of improving the welfare and working conditions for house-elves. As she explained this, she glared at Harry.
"I pay Kreacher, Hermione," Harry said. "Besides, what would happen to him if I just turned him loose?"
"He could get another job somewhere."
"Doing what? Who hires house-elves to do anything other than to be a house-elf? Gringotts wouldn’t hire them, would they, Bill?"
Both Bill and Fleur said that Gringotts would not hire a house-elf.
"See, that's what I mean. It isn't right that they have so little choice!" Hermione proclaimed, letting her fork clatter to the table.
"Then, Hermione, we wish you luck in changing their situation, but until you do, you can't really expect Harry to do anything else. This has been your pet project for the past four years, not the rest of ours," Ginny said.
"Fine, we won't discuss it anymore!" Hermione huffed, with one final glare at Harry. After grabbing a piece of treacle tart, she turned to Ginny, "So, what are you planning on doing?"
"Oh… erm… I haven't really decided yet."
Percy was the first to speak, going on about how she had had years to think about it. "There are a lot of openings in the Ministry. You could pick any department and there's sure to be something. What did you discuss with McGonagall during your fifth year?"
"Oh, I…" Ginny looked around the table and focused on one of her brothers. "George! Since Ron will be starting his Auror training now, you'll need someone to help you at the store, right?"
"Yeah, I guess I could try you out in the store," George replied with a wink.
"What about going to Healer school? You always used to want to be a Healer when you were growing up," Molly reminded her.
"That's… I don't… That's a lot of training to go through, Mum."
Molly looked down the table at her daughter like she was going to argue, but instead said, "You're young. You don't have to decide today."
Ginny smiled, "Thanks, Mum."
********
Ginny stared at the moonlight shining in her window. The Burrow was finally quiet. Mum and Dad had gone to bed, and Ron had come back from taking Hermione home. But before Ron headed up to the attic, he had stopped to talk to Harry!
She lay there for what seemed like hours; waiting to be sure Ron didn't leave his room again. He had almost caught her sneaking back into her room last summer, but she had convinced him she had only been going for a drink of water.
Finally, she was sure everyone was asleep and slipped out of her bed. She crept up the stairs, avoiding the squeaky ones, and slipped quietly into the room that had once been Percy's. Harry wasn't moving in the bed, and she really hoped he wasn't asleep.
Ginny crept silently across the room and lifted the blankets to crawl into the bed when Harry reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her under the covers with him. Ginny laughed as she shoved the covers off her head. Harry emerged and waved his wand, conjuring a dozen candles floating in the air.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Ginny cried, throwing her arms around his neck.
"I had to do something to impress you."
Ginny sniffed the air. "The candles, they smell like a blend of roses and gardenias."
"They smell like you. Or actually, your shampoo."
Ginny smiled. "Yeah, they do."
"I started conjuring them last September when you left. They've spent a lot of time floating around my bed, except for when you were here at Christmas and Easter." As Harry pulled Ginny against him, she could feel his erection on her thigh. "I was hoping you'd come see me tonight," Harry murmured, pressing his mouth to her neck.
"You were, were you?" Ginny laughed, threading her fingers through his hair.
"Yes. I get very lonely by myself." Harry pushed her nightshirt slowly up her body. "Don't have anyone to talk to." Harry pressed a kiss right above her navel. "Nothing to play with." His tongue tasted one nipple, while his fingers caressed her other breast.
"You could always go back to sharing the attic with Ron," Ginny smirked.
"There's no benefit to that. He snores, and you wouldn't sneak in there like this." Harry finally pulled her nightshirt entirely off and paused before he tossed it to the floor. "This is mine. I've been wondering what happened to it. Do you have my Tornados shirt as well?"
"You could go check my closet for anything of yours, or we could continue here," Ginny said, sliding her fingers into the waistband of his boxers.
Harry closed his eyes and swallowed. "Continue."
After she lowered his pants past his hips, Ginny pushed him onto his back. She reached down and grasped his penis with one hand, sliding her fingers along the length of him twice as she trailed her mouth from his neck to his navel, alternately kissing and nipping his skin.
"Please. Gin," Harry groaned.
"Please, what? Is this what you want?" she asked as she blew gently on the tip before placing her tongue against him. Harry moaned in answer. Ginny slowly slid her mouth up and down the length of him several times before she felt his body tighten under her.
"Stop. Want to come inside you. Won't last long now." Harry reached for her and grasped her waist, tugging her up his body.
Ginny rolled onto her back, pulling him onto her. She couldn't help but think that it had been far too long since they'd been together during the Easter hols. She arched her hips off the bed to help Harry as he removed her knickers.
Harry moved over her and his hand pressed between her legs. He slid one finger inside. When he heard her sigh, he slowly inserted a second finger and curled them to find that sensitive spot she liked.
"Yes! There!" Ginny raised her hips off the bed and rocked against his hand. "Oh, Harry!"
Harry grabbed his wand and performed a contraceptive charm before he slid inside her. He pressed his forehead against hers and stilled, bracing himself on his arms, waiting for her to set the tempo. Ginny wrapped her legs around his waist and thrust up against him. Harry moved against her, sliding in and out.
Ginny's brown eyes stared into his green ones. She could tell when he was ready to climax; his eyes always turned a darker shade of green, like they were doing right now.
"Ginny!" Harry collapsed against her.
She pulled his mouth down to kiss him and whispered that she loved him against his throat.
Later, as Ginny lay curled next to him, Harry twirled her hair around his fingers as he gauged how she would react to his question. "Gin, tonight at dinner, why didn't you tell your family what you want to do?"
She sighed. "Because everyone but Charlie and Dad would tell me it was a mistake."
"Ron and George wouldn't," he protested.
"Ron would think it was okay if I wanted to play for the Cannons," Ginny shuddered as she said this. "And Angelina has an aunt who was hurt playing Quidditch."
"She does?"
"Yeah. She played for Pride of Portree for two years. Then she was hit by two Bludgers at once, one in the head and the other on her back. She was in St. Mungo's for months." Ginny raised her head to look at him. "That's why Angelina never tried playing professionally."
She rested her chin on his chest. "And, what if I don't make the team? What if I'm not good enough?"
"I think you are. Gwenog thinks you are."
"Really?"
"She wouldn't have invited you to try out if she didn't," Harry answered. "But you may only make the reserve team the first year."
Ginny closed her eyes and remembered her last Quidditch match at Hogwarts. It was Gryffindor against Slytherin and only fifty points had separated the two houses before the final match; Ginny had never been more nervous before a game. Slytherin had been ahead by seventy points, but somehow Gryffindor's new seeker, Ashling Wood, caught the snitch and Gryffindor won the cup.
Afterword, Gwenog Jones had approached Ginny and complemented her on the win. She asked Ginny if she had considered playing professionally, and said that the Harpies were looking for a Chaser and two reserve Chasers. The invitation was implied and then confirmed later when Gwenog sent Ginny an owl with the details of the tryouts.
"I don't care if it's reserves or not. I just really want to be a Harpy. Tomorrow, will you work with me on some of my chaser plays?"
Harry thought about it for a minute. "I have to be at the Ministry for two or three hours in the morning, but I'm yours all afternoon."
Ginny smiled up at him before kissing him on the chest. "Thank you." She snuggled closer. "This past year when I couldn't sleep, I would think about the times I slipped into your room to visit you last summer."
Harry chuckled and she felt the gentle rumble in his chest. "I thought about those times, too."
Turning her head to look at the clock on his dresser, she said, "I should go back to my room, but I don't want to. Mum gets up at six o'clock, so if I set the alarm for half-five I can get back before she finds me here."
Harry grabbed his wand and pointed it at the clock to set it, and then pulled Ginny into his arms.
********
The next morning, Ginny quietly tiptoed out of Harry's room at just after half-five, and ran straight into Molly.
Molly raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "Why don't you go get dressed and come downstairs and help me with breakfast? We can talk."
NO! a voice screamed in Ginny's head. But she said, "Can I have a quick shower first?"
Molly nodded. "But don't take too long."
As Ginny stood under the water she berated herself for not going back to her room last night. I'm going to get the scarlet woman talk now! Ginny leaned against the wall and remembered the first time she had heard that term.
They had just arrived in Egypt and Molly still wasn't letting Ginny out of her sight. It had been several months since the incident in the Chamber.
Bill, his roommate Jack, and Jack's girlfriend, Grace, had taken the family to dinner that first night. After dinner, Jack said good night to everyone and said he'd see them before they returned to England.
Molly had asked him where he was staying, but Grace had answered for him. She had tucked her arm into his and smiled up at him. "He's going to be staying with me, Mrs. Weasley. And if that works out fine, he may move in permanently."
"So, you're thinking of marriage?" Molly asked, a forced smile on her face.
"No. Not yet anyway." Grace grabbed Jack's hand and they left.
That night, Ginny was curled up on the cot that had been set up in Jack's room. She would be sharing his room with her parents. She could still remember Molly speaking to Arthur in angry whispers.
"I don't like Bill being here! He may associate with witches like that Grace."
"Grace seemed like a very nice…"
Ginny turned her head to watch this discussion and saw Molly brushing her hair. "She's a scarlet woman! Nice girls do not let their boyfriends spend the night. And they certainly don't live with someone without the benefit of marriage." Each stroke of the brush seemed to yank more hairs from Molly's head and Ginny was glad it wasn't her hair.
As she fell asleep that night, she vowed that she'd never let herself become a scarlet woman.
When she joined her mother in the kitchen, Molly had a cup of tea waiting for her. Ginny sat down at the table and pulled the sugar bowl forward. She added the sugar to her tea and stirred long enough that Molly laughed. "I think the sugar dissolved about five minutes ago, Ginny."
Ginny stopped stirring and the spoon clattered to the table. She buried her face in her hands. Molly reached out and pushed the hair away from Ginny's face. "What's wrong?"
"Can you just yell at me now instead of being nice and making me tea?" Ginny looked up at her mother.
"Why do you think I'm going to yell?"
"You're going to say that I'm ruined and that I should have waited until I was married and there can be 'consequences' to me…being with Harry."
Molly sipped her tea while listening to her daughter. "Now that you know what you think I was going to say, let me correct you."
Ginny's head snapped up at this. "This isn't going to be the 'scarlet woman' speech?"
"Not exactly." Molly took a breath before continuing. "I won't lie and say I'm happy that you and Harry are having sex. I wish you had waited until you were married, but I'm not surprised you didn't."
"Really?"
"There can be 'consequences'. I know; I had seven of them." Molly smiled at her daughter as she said this. "And I don't regret a single one of my children, but I do wish that some of them had been spaced out a little more," she added, wryly.
"Harry and I have been really careful. We always use a contraceptive charm," Ginny informed her.
"That's good, but they don't always work. If they always worked Charlie would be the youngest."
Ginny's eyes widened. "The charm failed you four times!"
"It did," Molly nodded.
"After I was born…"
"After you were born, I started taking the potion every week."
"That works better than the charm?" Ginny asked.
"It must. There were no more pregnancies after you."
"But the charm is supposed to…" Ginny was now clearly worried about this.
"If you are… distracted when you perform it, or you wait too long to cast it, it doesn't always work right. But, if you take your potion every week, you won't need to worry about it, and you can stop taking it anytime you decide you want to have a baby. After you're married," Molly said, before picking up her teacup.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"I told you where babies come from and how to prevent them," Molly reminded her. "I also asked you if you had any questions or wanted more information. You said 'no'." Molly grinned at her. "At least I think it was 'no'. You said it so softly and were running out of the kitchen so fast!"
Ginny chewed her lip. "I did have a few questions later, but I asked Hermione." Ginny wrinkled her nose. "She handed me a stack of books."
Molly laughed. "Of course she did."
"Hermione said the potion tasted horrible and the contraceptive charm would be better."
Molly raised her eyebrows at that comment. "I think I need to have a talk with Hermione, especially if Ron would be casting the charm."
Ginny started to laugh as she took of sip of her tea, and ended up choking.
"Mum? The potion…is it easy to brew?" Ginny asked, interested.
"Yes, it only takes about an hour to brew and you just let it cool for a few hours. Hermione's right; it tastes awful, so it's best to stir in a teaspoonful of sugar or honey. You can also buy it premade at the Apothecary, but it is expensive there. You can buy the ingredients for four months’ worth for the same as a premade bottle."
"Would you…" Ginny hesitated, "would you show me how to brew it?"
Molly nodded. "When would you like to learn?"
"Harry has to go into the Ministry for a few hours this morning. Can we do it then?"
"Yes," Molly said standing up. "Now why don’t you help me get breakfast ready?"
********
Ginny was reading, curled in a chair near the fireplace when Harry spun out of the floo. Startled, the book on her lap fell to the ground.
Harry reached down to get the book. "It's a nice day outside, and who but Hermione would spend it sitting inside reading?"
"Git," Ginny replied, pulling his head down to kiss him. "I wanted to be here to see you when you came home. Now, I don't know why I bothered." Ginny opened her book to continue reading.
Harry pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. "I thought we could go to Diagon Alley for a quick lunch."
"Mum made soup…"
"I have something I want to get for Teddy, too," Harry said as he scratched his neck. He always did that when he was lying or nervous; Ginny was determined to find out which one it was.
At Ginny's nod, Harry turned and Apparated.
After lunch at The Leaky Cauldron, they walked into Quality Quidditch Supplies. "I thought we were buying something for Teddy?"
"We are." Harry pointed to a display of toy brooms. "Sirius bought me one when I was a baby." Ginny smiled at this; she had seen the picture of baby Harry dodging James' attempts to catch him. As Harry headed for the toys, Ginny walked over to look at the Cleansweep brooms. Her eyes were drawn to a new display: Cleansweep Twelve, The Ultimate Chaser's Broom.
Ginny was still staring at the new broom when Harry and the shop owner approached. Harry had two brooms tucked under his arm: a new Firebolt and a toy replica of the Firebolt. "This is the one you were talking about?" Harry asked the other man.
"Yes, sir," the shop owner answered. "This model just arrived four days ago. It isn't as fast as the Firebolt Blaze, but it is more stable for a Chaser since they often have one hand off the broom to carry the Quaffle. The last Cleansweep model went from naught to seventy in ten seconds. This one does it in five. It also maintains its stability while allowing the rider to spin 360 degrees, for quick directional changes. "
Ginny's eyes widened at that comment. "Really? Even the Firebolt doesn't accelerate that fast, does it? And being able to change direction like that… when I intercept the Quaffle from the other team…" Her eyes shined at the thought of heading towards her opponents goal posts after a miraculous save.
"Is that the one you want?" Harry asked Ginny, as the shop owner excused himself to help another customer.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Harry! You don't need to buy me a broom!"
"I want to." When she opened her mouth to argue some more he continued, "You can consider it your birthday present if you want."
"I don't need it for the tryouts. Gwenog said the team supplied the brooms then. I guess they want to make sure no one cheats by enchanting their broom." Ginny turned back to the broom and reached out to touch the tail twigs with reverence.
Harry set down the Firebolts he was holding and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. "It will give you a great broom to practice with until then. Plus, when you make the team, you'll already have your own broom. And, since Ron has a Cleansweep Eleven, he'll be jealous."
"It's so expensive. I can't let you buy it!"
"I want to do this for you, Ginny."
She finally tore her eyes away from the broom and shook her head. "No."
"Your family has done so much for me. You have, Gin. It would make me happy to do this." Harry turned Ginny around to face him and forced her to look at him. "Please let me?"
Ginny eyes traveled from the Cleansweep to Harry and back. "It's just an early birthday gift?" she asked.
When Harry nodded, she flung her arms around his neck. "Thank you."
********
Ginny sat on the grass down by the pond throwing rocks into the water. She couldn't believe how badly the tryouts had ended up, when they had started out so well.
"This season, we need a total of three new Chasers; one of them will probably make the main team, and two on the reserve list. We also need one new Beater." Gwenog nodded towards a very pregnant Maggie Richards who had been a Beater with her since their third year at Hogwarts.
"First up, we are going to see how the prospective Chasers look." Gwenog consulted her parchment. "We want to see how you all play with our only returning Chaser, Turner, and one of our reserve Chasers, Shaw. Adams, let's see what you can do." There were twenty-two girls here for the three Chaser slots and Ginny sat in the stands watching twenty-one of them before she heard Gwenog call, "Weasley, your turn!"
Ginny had played beautifully with the other two chasers. They moved together, passing the Quaffle amongst themselves as if they had played together before. After Ginny's turn, Gwenog had met with the coach and the owners, and then she announced, "We have narrowed the list of Chasers from twenty-two to eight: Attwood, Bennett, Gardham, Kelly, Mitchell, Port, Waller, and Weasley. After we narrow our Beater lists, we want to see how you all play with the rest of the team."
Ginny sat in the stands with the other Chaser hopefuls and tried to remember how each of them played. She was surprised to see Attwood and Kelly among the eight, but she knew the other five had played very well. From the glances amongst them, she knew she was being sized-up by the others as well.
After the first elimination to the Beaters was made, Gwenog stated that a match would be played to see how various players would interact. Ginny watched the first few scrimmages and noticed one of the Beaters. "Excuse me," she asked Mitchell, who was sitting near here in the stands, "the Beater in the red robes, do you know who she is? She looks slightly familiar?"
"I know a little. She went to Durmstrang even though her father was from England. You probably went to school with her cousin."
"Do you know her name?" Ginny asked.
"Crabbe."
Ginny took a closer look. Yeah, that's why she looks familiar; she has similar features to Vincent Crabbe.
The next match, Ginny was called to play. Crabbe, who wasn't playing, bumped into her as they passed each other on the pitch. She heard Kelly saying to Crabbe, "The only reason the little blood traitor made the first cut is because she's shagging Harry Potter."
Ginny turned to glare at the two witches and felt a pang of regret that she didn't have her wand with her; she would have loved to practice her Bat Bogey hex.
Ginny's first scrimmage went well; she managed to score several times and even rescued the Quaffle on two occasions when Attwood dropped it. During the second, Crabbe was brought in to replace Gwenog.
The first time Ginny had possession of the Quaffle and was heading towards the hoops to score, she was nearly knocked off her broom by a Bludger. As Ginny looked back over her shoulder to see who had hit the Bludger, she saw Crabbe with a wide grin. Kelly retrieved the Quaffle Ginny had dropped and scored. The second hit Ginny took surprised her; she didn't even have possession of the Quaffle. As she righted her broom, she looked down to see Gwenog standing with the coach. She was looking straight at Ginny and she didn't look happy.
The fourth time Ginny was hit, Gwenog stopped the match and replaced Ginny with Waller.
Soon after, Gwenog had called a stop to the matches. "Thank you. You all played well and we have some difficult decisions to make. We'll be notifying everyone within the week."
Ginny was startled out of her daydream by a kiss pressed to the back of her neck. "I thought I'd find you here," Harry said as he sat behind her and pulled her into his lap. "Your mum sent me out here to fetch you for dinner, but first, tell me how your tryout went."
Ginny pulled away and turned to face him. "It was horrible! Vincent Crabbe's cousin was there, trying out for Beater and that vicious witch hit a Bludger at me four times. Three of the times I didn't even have the Quaffle! And then I overhead someone saying the only reason I didn't get eliminated right away was because I was your girlfriend."
Ginny was staring at the ground, ripping up handfuls of grass. Harry reached over and raised her face to look at him. "Don't worry about the second part of that. No one could watch you play for very long and continue to think that I'm the reason you're playing. As for Crabbe's cousin, I think you should talk to Gwenog. Her attacks on you were personal and had nothing to do with the match."
"No. I can't talk to her. Doing that would be like asking for a personal favor. I can't do that, Harry."
"I'll talk to her, then. There is no reason…"
"Please don't. I don't want to make the team because the Chosen One pulled some strings."
Harry's jaw tightened when she said that, but he finally agreed. Ginny would succeed or fail on her own terms and he wouldn't interfere.
********
Five days after the unfortunate tryouts, Ginny was helping George at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. "And when you finish feeding the Pygmy Puffs, please restock the Wonder Witch products," he called to her from the back of the store. "I think all the witches in Britain must have been in here today buying them."
Ginny snorted. Lavender Brown and the Patil twins hardly counted as every witch in Britain, but they had certainly picked over the stock of the new items in the Wonder Witch line, which now included perfume (guaranteed to make any witch attractive to the wizard of her desire) and lip gloss (when you kiss your wizard while wearing this, he will be yours forever) to go along with the love potions and Guaranteed Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher that started the popular line. Ginny suspected that George had used Amortentia as a key ingredient for the new items.
As she finished restocking the cosmetic line, Ginny saw a familiar black-haired head across the way and her mood greatly improved. Until she saw who was walking with him. Harry and Gwenog Jones were walking down Diagon Alley together.
He had promised he wouldn't say anything to her!
There had to be another reason he was talking to her. Ginny’s mind raced ahead, trying to find one.
Maybe Harry didn’t want to be an Auror anymore, and was asking Gwenog if she knew of any team that was looking for a Seeker. No. No Captain in her right mind would recommend a good player to another team.
Ginny bumped into a display that Verity had set up that morning and hundreds of Skiving Snackboxes tumbled to the ground.
Maybe Gwenog was talking to him about hiring bodyguards for the Harpies. That couldn’t be it; Aurors typically didn’t serve as bodyguards.
Ginny became angrier and sadder as she thought of, and discarded, ideas to explain why Harry was speaking with Gwenog.
There was only one explanation that made sense: Harry just didn't think she was good enough to make the team without him helping! Tears blinded her as she pushed over a display of Spell-Checking Quills.
George stepped out from behind the counter, waving his wand to fix both displays. "Gin, go in the back and bring out the box of hats there."
Ginny did as he asked, but slammed the box down on the counter with enough force that all the hats scattered over the floor. "Ginny! Now I need to try on every one to find out if which are the Headless Hats and which are the Shield Hats," George exclaimed. "Just go to lunch before you drop the Peruvian Darkness Powder."
When Ginny left the store, she glanced back over her shoulder to see George waving his arms to rid himself of the bats flying out of his nose. She walked slowly to The Leaky Cauldron. All the way there she was trying to decipher why Harry had broken his promise and talked to Gwenog. She just couldn't come up with a single acceptable reason.
The first person she saw when she stepped inside was Neville. She felt a tiny surge of joy; Neville always made her feel better.
"Hey, Ginny." Neville saw her and waved her over. He stood and hugged her. "Join me for lunch?"
"Sure. I'd love to, Neville." Ginny looked around and added. "I'm surprised Hannah isn't here with you."
"Actually, she is, but she's working." He nodded towards the bar. As Ginny turned to wave at Hannah, Neville said, "Tom has mentioned that he wants to retire and sell this place; Hannah is thinking about buying it."
Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? How wonderful. It's nice that someone knows what they want to do with their life."
Neville smiled at her. "Ginny Weasley doesn't know what she wants to do? That surprises me."
After they ordered, Ginny said, "I do know. I want to play Quidditch, but I don't think that's in my future. I… Five days ago, I tried out for the Holyhead Harpies. It started out so well, but I know I didn't make the team."
"You can keep practicing and try again next year. Or, you can marry Harry and have lots of little green-eyed, red-haired babies."
"That's not going to happen anytime soon. Maybe never," Ginny glowered. Her once-clear vision of a future with Harry was now cloudy with doubt. How could she trust him if he couldn’t keep his word to her?
"What happened?"
Ginny took a deep breath and told Neville about the incident with Crabbe's cousin. "Harry said I should talk to Gwenog, but that seemed too much like asking for special consideration. When I said I wasn't going to, Harry said he would. I did get him to agree not to speak with her, and then I saw the two of them walking down Diagon Alley and talking earlier today."
"I wouldn't write him off just yet,” Neville defended. “I'm sure Harry had a reason for what he did."
"Maybe." Ginny wasn't entirely convinced.
"Gin…"
"It's all right, Neville. I'm just a little angry at him, but I don't want to talk about him or the Harpies anymore." She set down her butterbeer and turned to look towards Hannah over near the bar. "So, how are things going between to two of you?"
Neville flushed pink before answering. "Good. Things are good."
"Just good?"
"I'm…I'm going to askhertomarryme.
"Oh, Neville, I'm so happy for you."
Neville traced a pattern on the table. "I haven't asked her yet. And she might say 'no'."
Ginny looked over at where Hannah was waiting on other patrons. "She's not going to say 'no'. Thanks for lunch…and for listening, Neville. I have to get back to the store now," she said as she kissed him on the cheek.
********
Ginny lay on her bed thinking about the envelope. It was waiting for her when she returned home from the store, but she still hadn't opened it.
"Ginny! Dinner's is ready!" Molly called for the second time.
She dragged herself off of her bed and down the stairs. She was surprised to see only her parents at the table. As she slid into her seat she asked, "Where's everyone else?"
"Ron decided to take Hermione out to dinner, so he'll be home late," Arthur told her.
"What about Harry?"
Arthur set down his spoon. "There were some Death Eater sightings reported today. Most of the Aurors were called to handle it. A few of the second-year students went as well. Harry was one of them. He may be gone all night."
Ginny stared down at her plate, her prior anger at him melting away as her heart pounded. "Do you know who was spotted?"
"No." Arthur reached over and touched her arm. "He'll be fine."
Ginny pushed the food around on her plate for a few minutes. "May I be excused, please?"
"Ginny…" Molly began.
"Yes, you may," Arthur overrode Molly.
"I'll put a charm on your plate to keep it warm, Ginny."
She went back upstairs and curled into a ball on her bed. Her mother came in to check on her a few hours later. "Can I get you anything?" Molly sat down on the edge of her bed and stroked her hair.
"I'm fine." When Molly started to get up, Ginny continued, "I was so mad at Harry today. I was planning on sharpening my Bat Bogey hex on him when he came home today. Now I just want to hug him."
"Why were you so angry with him?"
Ginny sat up and grabbed the envelope from her night table. "I received this today. It's from… it's from the Holyhead Harpies." Molly's head snapped up when Ginny said, "I tried out for them last week."
"You did? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I thought that you'd tell me I shouldn't because it was too dangerous and that I should go to Healer school."
"I want you to be happy in what you choose," Molly replied.
"I've been underestimating you lately, haven't I, Mum?"
Molly brushed the hair back from Ginny's face. "When you have seven kids, you get used to it."
"Sorry."
"But that doesn't explain why you were upset with Harry."
Ginny picked up the envelope again. "The tryouts were horrible," Ginny began, and related the incident to Molly. "Harry said I should talk to Gwenog, but I disagreed. Then he said he would speak with her. I finally got him to agree not to, but I saw him walking through Diagon Alley with her today. Now, I'm afraid that what's in here is because Harry talked to Gwenog."
"What time did you see them together?"
"Just after George came back from lunch, so before one o'clock."
Molly reached over and pulled the envelope away from Ginny. "Then let me assure you, that what is in here has nothing to do with that conversation. This arrived at half-nine this morning. So why don't you open it?"
Ginny grabbed the letter and started to open it, before setting it aside. She shook her head. "No, I want to open it with Harry."
Molly stood and leaned down to kiss Ginny's forehead. "That's the best idea I've heard all night. Good night."
"Mum? Thanks."
Ginny grabbed a framed picture of Harry and Teddy off her night table. She traced her fingers over Harry's features as she talked to him. "You have to be all right. Nothing else matters." Ginny remembered that right before the final battle, Harry still didn't want anyone other than Ron or Hermione to help, even with most of Dumbledore's Army and some of the Order there. She snorted as she realized she was the same way. I wanted to make the team just because I was good, and I was afraid to talk to Gwenog or let Harry help me because I didn't want anyone to think I made the team because of special favors. We both want to do things ourselves, don't we? She hugged the picture to her chest.
Ginny was still lying awake, two hours later, when she heard someone arriving by the floo. She rushed to the door and threw it open. "Harry? Is that you?"
Within seconds, Harry appeared on the landing near her room. "You're awake," he said as she flung herself at him.
"Did you find the Death Eaters?"
He nodded. "They're in Azkaban."
Ginny dragged him into her room and closed the door.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Harry shook his head. With him away from the shadows in the hallway, Ginny was finally able to see him clearly. She saw a new tear in the sleeve and a deep scratch on his cheek, but it was the haunted look in his eyes that worried her.
"I'll tell you about it later. Tomorrow," Harry promised, as he sat on the edge of the bed and held his hand out to her. "Just sit with me now, Gin. Talk to me. Tell me about your day."
Ginny picked up the letter from the Harpies before sitting next to him. "I got an owl from the Harpies today."
"What does it say?"
"You don't know?"
"I don't," Harry denied.
"I saw you with Gwenog today." She watched his expression closely, wondering how he was going to explain himself.
"Yeah, I stopped in that new café for lunch and she had walked in right before me, so we had lunch together."
"Did you talk about my tryout?" Ginny wanted to know.
"She asked me about it. I told her about Crabbe, and that her potential Beater was his cousin. She said she had figured out it was personal from the way that Crabbe went after you, but couldn't figure out why."
Harry pulled the envelope away from her. "So, what does it say?"
"I wanted to wait and read it with you."
Harry handed her back the letter, and Ginny broke the seal and unfolded the parchment. "Gwenog didn't tell you if I made the team?"
"She really didn't say."
Ginny's eyes skipped quickly through the letter to get down to the list of Chasers. She saw the list of Beaters first: Gwenog Jones (Captain), Lisa Campbell, Sharon Gibson (reserve), Bridget Doyle (reserve). At least, Crabbe didn't make the team. Finally, there was the list of Chasers: Karen Turner, Lydia Shaw, Ginny Weasley, Leah Bryne (reserve), Maria Gardham (reserve), Susan Port (reserve). Her mouth dropped open. "I made it. I made it!"
She looked to Harry to see his face split with a wide grin. "I never doubted that you would." He hugged her.
She kissed him. "Stay here with me tonight?"
"Here? In your room?" Harry's voice actually squeaked as he asked.
"Yes." Ginny grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head. "Please."
Harry's breath caught as he looked at her. "I love you, Gin. It has nothing to do with the sex. Not that that isn't great," Harry stammered.
Ginny hugged him, pressing herself against him. "I love you, too. And I know. I've known since last summer. You remember that day when George and Ron finally reopened the shop and we stopped at Fortescue's? I knew then."
"I didn't know then! How did you?" He seemed surprised. "That was the first night you snuck into my room."
"Uh huh," Ginny kissed his neck and started to shove his robes off his shoulders.
Harry leaned down and kissed a cluster of freckles on her chest. "Eight." He moved his lips slightly to the right. "Nine." His lips trailed up. "Ten."
Ginny pulled his head back. "What are you counting?"
"Your freckles."
"How come eight of the freckles got one kiss?"
"They were clustered together?"
Ginny looked up at him with her eyes shining. "But then you should have kissed the cluster eight times."
Harry pushed her back and leaned over her, supporting his weight on his arms. "Someday I am going to count every one of your freckles. And I'll be sure they all get their own kiss. But I think that I'm going to save that challenge for another day."
Ginny unbuttoned his jeans and started to push them past his bum. "I’ll hold you to that. Someday."