Tell Your Friend a Lie
To:sunshine1112
Title: Tell Your Friend a Lie
Author/Artist: katieay
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: G
Word Count: 2,733
Summary: Tell your friend a lie. If he keeps it secret, then tell him the truth. ~ Proverb
Author/Artist's Notes: I'm sorry this is so late, Sunshine1112! You asked for romance/humour with side characters involved being Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna. I did my best, though poor Hermione kind of got shunted :o) I hope you like it!
Thank you to author_by_night and govcampbell for the beta jobs!
He wanders through the castle, awash with memories. It is not the first time he has been back, he was there for the reopening, and he had worked like a man possessed to make sure it was open again in time for the new school year.
But it is no longer his. He is there on a mission, sent by a woman he loves as fiercely as he would his mother.
“Harry, dear,” she had said patiently. “Do see that Ginny gets her egg this year, won’t you?”
He doesn’t think she meant to see to it personally, but you can never tell with Mrs. Weasley. His decision to come had been impulsive and his heart leapt when he is able to corner Luna and find out where Ginny was in the castle.
“Hi, Luna.”
“Oh, hello, Harry. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
Technically, she can’t see him and it makes him smile. She had thankfully given quick instructions - just three words - as to where he could find her. “In the Library,” she had said.
He enters the room, moving carefully so as not to bump into anyone. His breath catches as he sees her, alone at a table with her chin in her hands. There is a sadness in her eyes that he doesn’t like. A sadness he wishes he could wipe away. With a twinge in his heart, he knows that he is partly to blame for it being there in the first place.
“Your Mum sent you chocolate,” he says close to her ear. He chuckles as she jumps from her seat, twirling as if in mid-air and pointing her wand at the exact spot where he is standing. He wonders if he’ll ever stop being impressed by Ginny Weasley.
He lays the Easter Egg down on the table. “She says you should cheer up.” He can’t help the note of worry in his voice.
“You scared the life out of me!” He looks around, making sure there’s no one there, before peeking out from under the cloak. He doesn’t take it off completely. He is facing the wall and Ginny is between him and it. His back is covered by the cloak.
“Sorry,” he says, though he isn’t really. “Ginny, can we talk?”
A look of scepticism crosses her face. She nods, apparently not wanting to appear to be speaking with thin air. “Tonight?” he asks and again she nods. “Near the Whomping Willow, after tea.”
He is gone without another word, though he wants to stay.
It is cold outside and the grass crunches under her feet. She hopes with all her heart that Hagrid is sleeping off a night at the pub, that all the professors are still asleep. If anyone found her sneaking back into the castle at midnight, a Howler from her mother would be the least of her worries.
Her smile is sad as she feels eyes boring into the back of her head. She knows without looking that he will stand there until the big door to the castle closes behind her. She knows without looking that his eyes are full of flame. Of life. Of wonder. She hopes one day, it will be her that puts those things in his gaze. For now, she’s settling for a burrowed frown on his face and is happy he doesn’t know what to make of her. She is, however, still angry with him. She knows he thinks he was protecting her, but she hasn’t forgiven him yet for not trusting her to look after herself.
She’s done being predictable when it comes to Harry Potter. He has to work to find out her secrets now.
~*~*~
Ginny Potter thumped the pots around the kitchen grumpily, cursing under her breath as she tried to reach a high shelf for the flour, only to be hindered by her swollen, swollen belly. She had left her wand over on the kitchen table, she didn't know why she did these things to herself. Harry didn’t really need a surprise party, and keeping it a secret from him had nearly ended in disaster. She still wasn’t properly talking to Ron after he had confessed to telling Harry he’d see him on “Friday”. He’d covered it up to make it look like Ginny and Hermione had put their heads together and organised a nice, intimate dinner for four. Ginny was just tired of putting up with Ron. The sad fact was that she’d married her brother’s best mate, which meant she saw more of him than any of her other brothers. The second fact was that her and Ron were too similar to be able to communicate without snarling at each other eventually.
He was going to be over for Harry's birthday dinner. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Hannah, Luna and some bloke she was seeing named Rolf. Trust Luna. Ginny had about two hours to get everything done. She could have used magic, and she often did for household chores, but she wanted to make everything perfect for Harry's birthday, and she wanted to do it the Muggle way. She'd promised herself years ago that if she ever did get to share her life with the Boy Who Lived, she'd make sure every birthday was perfect to make up for the neglectful childhood he had been forced to endure.
So far, over the last five years, she had been able to keep that promise. However, this was the first birthday of his where she was pregnant. It made everything so much harder. She gave up trying to reach for the flour -- her mother's command to "STOP STRETCHING!" still rung in her head -- and instead went for her wand.
She gave a reluctant sigh. Ever since she had had to quit Quidditch because of her pregnancy and changed to weekend Quidditch reports for the WWN, she had started to respect her mother more and more. The Weasley household was chaotic, but only because there were so many people to organise. There was only her and Harry in the house in Godric's Hollow and still she struggled to keep it clean, make sure there was food in the pantry and clothes in the wardrobe. Harry helped where he could, but the majority of it was on her head because she was home during the day.
She started mixing the ingredients of Harry's birthday cake in the bowl and as she did, she thought back on her and Harry's beginnings, as she often indulged on his birthday.
~*~*~
"I'm sorry, Harry," she smiles politely. "I have plans."
"Oh." The look of devastation that briefly crossed his face is almost too much to bear. "No worries, then. Maybe I can ask Ron if he wants to go." It's all she can do to keep from blurting out how much she would love to go to Quidditch with him. How much she really wants to sit next to him, bundled up in their winter robes and maybe share a blanket with him up in the grandstand. She clenches a fist so hard that the nails left half moon marks in her palms and she reminds herself that she's doing the right thing.
Neville is there, watching them both nervously and Ginny knows he’s wondering if Harry thinks her plans are with him and hoping Harry doesn’t think that at all. She feels sorry for her friends, being caught up in hers and Harry’s tug-of-war.
After the last two years, she is not ready to be Harry's girlfriend just yet. She has just finished school, she has to think of her own career. Most importantly, she has to find out if he is willing to fight for her. She knows, deep down, that that is what he is doing and she hates playing the game. Her longing, however, will have to be a secret for while yet.
He broke up with her and regardless of his reasons, it is his turn to do the pining. Her resolve is hardened and her secret is safe for now.
~*~*~*~
A buzzer sounded in the kitchen, announcing it is time to wrap the presents. One surprising thing about pregnancy that Ginny has learned for herself is that she is a control freak. Everything has to run just so, right on time, or it will put her in a mood for the rest of the day.
Her mother told her that Aunt Muriel was just exactly the same as that. Ginny didn't speak to her mother for two weeks after that. Before she could put the cake in the oven and move over to the table for the present wrapping, the fireplace flamed green and two very unexpected people stepped into the kitchen.
“Luna! Neville” Ginny couldn’t help a frantic look at the clock. “What are you doing here?”
“Hermione sent us,” Luna said in her airy voice that Ginny had always found comforting. “She said you might need help and that we’re to do whatever you tell us.”
Neville, Ginny noted with amusement, was just standing in her kitchen looking utterly bewildered. He was steamrolled so often by his female friends it made Ginny want to laugh that he could still look so shocked by it.
Ginny didn’t know whether to cry or hug them. She had wanted to do everything on her own, but now here they were staring at her expectantly. She realised just how much she still had to do. “I would love it if you would wrap the presents” She moved in to hug them. “Thanks for coming.”
“No bother, Ginny. Why don’t you go and relax?” Neville suggested, clearly able to find his voice.
A hysterical laugh almost made its way out of her mouth. Relaxation just wasn’t part of her schedule today. Instead she moved into the lounge room, determined to get that room tidy. As she worked, the memories of her and Harry kept her calm.
~*~*~*~
Ginny is nervous. She thinks this is a strange new feeling. She wasn't nervous about Harry when she launched herself on him in the common room. She wasn't nervous about seeing him again when the war was finally over. She wasn't nervous about being friends with him.
Tonight, she is nervous because she knows that whatever happens tonight, if he brings her favourite flowers and wears her favourite aftershave, she knows that she will be lost to him for good. It sounds dramatic, love is dramatic. That is why she is so nervous.
She's the woman in love with Harry Potter.
She's the woman Harry Potter loves.
That is their truth now that she has laid bear her secrets to him. She had told him during one of their many, many conversations leading up to this point that he needed to work to get to know her. She knew everything about him because of her still-embarrassing obsession with him as a child. Maybe things had changed since the war, maybe they hadn't.
As she rushes to leave her house on time -- for reasons she doesn't care to analyse, Ginny wants to keep her date with Harry a secret from her family -- Ginny hopes he has some secrets of his own.
*~*~*~*
"Ginny, is there anything else you'd like me to do?"
Ginny straightened up sharply, almost stumbling backward in her haste. Neville stepped forward, a hand outstretched and a nervous look on his face.
"No, thanks, Neville. I'll be fine. Why don’t you just get yourself a drink and relax till the party starts?"
"Are you sure?"
Ginny's jaw slammed shut. "I'm positive."
"I'm not so sure you should--"
"Neville, please. I'm fine. I just got up too quickly. Thank you for coming over and wrapping the presents."
"I cleaned the kitchen, too, and checked on the cake. It should be done in five minutes."
Ginny nearly wept. “Thank you, Neville. Really. Thanks.”
“Hey, no problem! That’s what friends are for, right?”
“Right. I’m going to go and get dressed. Please make sure Luna doesn’t pull my cupboards apart looking for strange and mythical creatures while I’m gone.”
Her step was lighter as she dragged herself up the stairs to hers and Harry’s bedroom. His scent washed over her while she was getting dressed, reminding her of the first, blissful six months of their relationship.
~*~*~*~
The grass crunches under her feet, reminding her of those late night meetings years ago at Hogwarts. This time, as she sneaks her way through a door, her lips are swollen from being thoroughly kissed, her skin burns in all the places where his hands touched it and a different kind of secret smile graces her face.
"Where have you been?"
She jumps a mile in the air as Ron's voice hisses in the kitchen. She is immediately angry at his intrusion.
"Mind your own business." She knows it is childish but she can't help it.
"You are my business. So's he."
"Why'd you ask where I've been if you already know?"
"Why are you keeping secrets?"
"Ron, really. I don't want to talk about this with you. It's none of your business, regardless of how you feel about either of us." Their voices are rising and Ginny is terrified that her parents will wake. "It's too complicated right now."
"Sneaking home at all hours of the morning means something pretty simple in most cases, Ginny. Something Hermione would call 'primarily basic'".
The dig shoots home. Her brother, as always, thought she was some loose woman who snuck home from a different guy's house every night. Her temper's rising and before it gets the better of her, she turns and goes up to her bedroom, missing all the creaky stairs and silently thanking Fred for showing her the way.
She knows that Ron is being unfair, that he’s just protective of them both. It does not, however, take the sting out of his barb. Ginny wonders, as she drifts off to sleep, whether or not her and her brother will ever see eye-to-eye when it comes to Harry.
~*~*~*~*~
Ginny can smile now at the memory. It was hard to work Ron out for most of her life and even now they still had their squabbles. She supposed they always would. They were too alike in temperament and judgement not to get fiery at each other. They each knew the other could do better. But he kept her secret for her. He never told their mother about how her little girl snuck home at dawn 3 or 4 times a week for six months. He explained his own tiredness away with Auror training and helping George at the shop. Ginny would always be grateful for that. She knew now in hindsight that he had waited for her in the kitchen because he had been afraid she wouldn’t make it back okay. He couldn’t have known that Harry walked with her to the edge of the garden. Ginny didn’t have the heart to tell him, even though it would have eased his worries. That was a secret she was going to keep. Ron liked to worry, and she liked to feel protected in a way that didn’t sting with disapproval.
With a jolt, Ginny looked at the time, realising that her guests will be arriving in just 15 minutes. Her house was clean, the presents and cake were set out on the table. The baby was kicking well inside her uterus and she couldn’t help but touch her belly as she tried to rush up the stairs. She got dressed in record time.
She calmed the little kitten in her lap, hoping Harry will like his birthday present. He hadn’t had a pet of his own since he lost Hedwig, and Ginny thought it would be a nice gift. She couldn’t bring herself to buy him an owl. She thought of him as he entered the room, shocked to find their friends pouncing on him. He pulled her in for a hug, Ginny was thankful more than ever for waiting for Harry. She’d known, even then, that they had always been on unequal footing, that they had never been on the same page. They had both had to work to get there, but what mattered now was that their beginnings - all three of them - shaped their life together. Their foundation was built on keeping secrets for and from each other and mutual trust that whatever the other was hiding, it would come out all right in the end.
Ginny wouldn’t change a thing.
Title: Tell Your Friend a Lie
Author/Artist: katieay
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: G
Word Count: 2,733
Summary: Tell your friend a lie. If he keeps it secret, then tell him the truth. ~ Proverb
Author/Artist's Notes: I'm sorry this is so late, Sunshine1112! You asked for romance/humour with side characters involved being Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna. I did my best, though poor Hermione kind of got shunted :o) I hope you like it!
Thank you to author_by_night and govcampbell for the beta jobs!
He wanders through the castle, awash with memories. It is not the first time he has been back, he was there for the reopening, and he had worked like a man possessed to make sure it was open again in time for the new school year.
But it is no longer his. He is there on a mission, sent by a woman he loves as fiercely as he would his mother.
“Harry, dear,” she had said patiently. “Do see that Ginny gets her egg this year, won’t you?”
He doesn’t think she meant to see to it personally, but you can never tell with Mrs. Weasley. His decision to come had been impulsive and his heart leapt when he is able to corner Luna and find out where Ginny was in the castle.
“Hi, Luna.”
“Oh, hello, Harry. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
Technically, she can’t see him and it makes him smile. She had thankfully given quick instructions - just three words - as to where he could find her. “In the Library,” she had said.
He enters the room, moving carefully so as not to bump into anyone. His breath catches as he sees her, alone at a table with her chin in her hands. There is a sadness in her eyes that he doesn’t like. A sadness he wishes he could wipe away. With a twinge in his heart, he knows that he is partly to blame for it being there in the first place.
“Your Mum sent you chocolate,” he says close to her ear. He chuckles as she jumps from her seat, twirling as if in mid-air and pointing her wand at the exact spot where he is standing. He wonders if he’ll ever stop being impressed by Ginny Weasley.
He lays the Easter Egg down on the table. “She says you should cheer up.” He can’t help the note of worry in his voice.
“You scared the life out of me!” He looks around, making sure there’s no one there, before peeking out from under the cloak. He doesn’t take it off completely. He is facing the wall and Ginny is between him and it. His back is covered by the cloak.
“Sorry,” he says, though he isn’t really. “Ginny, can we talk?”
A look of scepticism crosses her face. She nods, apparently not wanting to appear to be speaking with thin air. “Tonight?” he asks and again she nods. “Near the Whomping Willow, after tea.”
He is gone without another word, though he wants to stay.
It is cold outside and the grass crunches under her feet. She hopes with all her heart that Hagrid is sleeping off a night at the pub, that all the professors are still asleep. If anyone found her sneaking back into the castle at midnight, a Howler from her mother would be the least of her worries.
Her smile is sad as she feels eyes boring into the back of her head. She knows without looking that he will stand there until the big door to the castle closes behind her. She knows without looking that his eyes are full of flame. Of life. Of wonder. She hopes one day, it will be her that puts those things in his gaze. For now, she’s settling for a burrowed frown on his face and is happy he doesn’t know what to make of her. She is, however, still angry with him. She knows he thinks he was protecting her, but she hasn’t forgiven him yet for not trusting her to look after herself.
She’s done being predictable when it comes to Harry Potter. He has to work to find out her secrets now.
~*~*~
Ginny Potter thumped the pots around the kitchen grumpily, cursing under her breath as she tried to reach a high shelf for the flour, only to be hindered by her swollen, swollen belly. She had left her wand over on the kitchen table, she didn't know why she did these things to herself. Harry didn’t really need a surprise party, and keeping it a secret from him had nearly ended in disaster. She still wasn’t properly talking to Ron after he had confessed to telling Harry he’d see him on “Friday”. He’d covered it up to make it look like Ginny and Hermione had put their heads together and organised a nice, intimate dinner for four. Ginny was just tired of putting up with Ron. The sad fact was that she’d married her brother’s best mate, which meant she saw more of him than any of her other brothers. The second fact was that her and Ron were too similar to be able to communicate without snarling at each other eventually.
He was going to be over for Harry's birthday dinner. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Hannah, Luna and some bloke she was seeing named Rolf. Trust Luna. Ginny had about two hours to get everything done. She could have used magic, and she often did for household chores, but she wanted to make everything perfect for Harry's birthday, and she wanted to do it the Muggle way. She'd promised herself years ago that if she ever did get to share her life with the Boy Who Lived, she'd make sure every birthday was perfect to make up for the neglectful childhood he had been forced to endure.
So far, over the last five years, she had been able to keep that promise. However, this was the first birthday of his where she was pregnant. It made everything so much harder. She gave up trying to reach for the flour -- her mother's command to "STOP STRETCHING!" still rung in her head -- and instead went for her wand.
She gave a reluctant sigh. Ever since she had had to quit Quidditch because of her pregnancy and changed to weekend Quidditch reports for the WWN, she had started to respect her mother more and more. The Weasley household was chaotic, but only because there were so many people to organise. There was only her and Harry in the house in Godric's Hollow and still she struggled to keep it clean, make sure there was food in the pantry and clothes in the wardrobe. Harry helped where he could, but the majority of it was on her head because she was home during the day.
She started mixing the ingredients of Harry's birthday cake in the bowl and as she did, she thought back on her and Harry's beginnings, as she often indulged on his birthday.
~*~*~
"I'm sorry, Harry," she smiles politely. "I have plans."
"Oh." The look of devastation that briefly crossed his face is almost too much to bear. "No worries, then. Maybe I can ask Ron if he wants to go." It's all she can do to keep from blurting out how much she would love to go to Quidditch with him. How much she really wants to sit next to him, bundled up in their winter robes and maybe share a blanket with him up in the grandstand. She clenches a fist so hard that the nails left half moon marks in her palms and she reminds herself that she's doing the right thing.
Neville is there, watching them both nervously and Ginny knows he’s wondering if Harry thinks her plans are with him and hoping Harry doesn’t think that at all. She feels sorry for her friends, being caught up in hers and Harry’s tug-of-war.
After the last two years, she is not ready to be Harry's girlfriend just yet. She has just finished school, she has to think of her own career. Most importantly, she has to find out if he is willing to fight for her. She knows, deep down, that that is what he is doing and she hates playing the game. Her longing, however, will have to be a secret for while yet.
He broke up with her and regardless of his reasons, it is his turn to do the pining. Her resolve is hardened and her secret is safe for now.
~*~*~*~
A buzzer sounded in the kitchen, announcing it is time to wrap the presents. One surprising thing about pregnancy that Ginny has learned for herself is that she is a control freak. Everything has to run just so, right on time, or it will put her in a mood for the rest of the day.
Her mother told her that Aunt Muriel was just exactly the same as that. Ginny didn't speak to her mother for two weeks after that. Before she could put the cake in the oven and move over to the table for the present wrapping, the fireplace flamed green and two very unexpected people stepped into the kitchen.
“Luna! Neville” Ginny couldn’t help a frantic look at the clock. “What are you doing here?”
“Hermione sent us,” Luna said in her airy voice that Ginny had always found comforting. “She said you might need help and that we’re to do whatever you tell us.”
Neville, Ginny noted with amusement, was just standing in her kitchen looking utterly bewildered. He was steamrolled so often by his female friends it made Ginny want to laugh that he could still look so shocked by it.
Ginny didn’t know whether to cry or hug them. She had wanted to do everything on her own, but now here they were staring at her expectantly. She realised just how much she still had to do. “I would love it if you would wrap the presents” She moved in to hug them. “Thanks for coming.”
“No bother, Ginny. Why don’t you go and relax?” Neville suggested, clearly able to find his voice.
A hysterical laugh almost made its way out of her mouth. Relaxation just wasn’t part of her schedule today. Instead she moved into the lounge room, determined to get that room tidy. As she worked, the memories of her and Harry kept her calm.
~*~*~*~
Ginny is nervous. She thinks this is a strange new feeling. She wasn't nervous about Harry when she launched herself on him in the common room. She wasn't nervous about seeing him again when the war was finally over. She wasn't nervous about being friends with him.
Tonight, she is nervous because she knows that whatever happens tonight, if he brings her favourite flowers and wears her favourite aftershave, she knows that she will be lost to him for good. It sounds dramatic, love is dramatic. That is why she is so nervous.
She's the woman in love with Harry Potter.
She's the woman Harry Potter loves.
That is their truth now that she has laid bear her secrets to him. She had told him during one of their many, many conversations leading up to this point that he needed to work to get to know her. She knew everything about him because of her still-embarrassing obsession with him as a child. Maybe things had changed since the war, maybe they hadn't.
As she rushes to leave her house on time -- for reasons she doesn't care to analyse, Ginny wants to keep her date with Harry a secret from her family -- Ginny hopes he has some secrets of his own.
*~*~*~*
"Ginny, is there anything else you'd like me to do?"
Ginny straightened up sharply, almost stumbling backward in her haste. Neville stepped forward, a hand outstretched and a nervous look on his face.
"No, thanks, Neville. I'll be fine. Why don’t you just get yourself a drink and relax till the party starts?"
"Are you sure?"
Ginny's jaw slammed shut. "I'm positive."
"I'm not so sure you should--"
"Neville, please. I'm fine. I just got up too quickly. Thank you for coming over and wrapping the presents."
"I cleaned the kitchen, too, and checked on the cake. It should be done in five minutes."
Ginny nearly wept. “Thank you, Neville. Really. Thanks.”
“Hey, no problem! That’s what friends are for, right?”
“Right. I’m going to go and get dressed. Please make sure Luna doesn’t pull my cupboards apart looking for strange and mythical creatures while I’m gone.”
Her step was lighter as she dragged herself up the stairs to hers and Harry’s bedroom. His scent washed over her while she was getting dressed, reminding her of the first, blissful six months of their relationship.
~*~*~*~
The grass crunches under her feet, reminding her of those late night meetings years ago at Hogwarts. This time, as she sneaks her way through a door, her lips are swollen from being thoroughly kissed, her skin burns in all the places where his hands touched it and a different kind of secret smile graces her face.
"Where have you been?"
She jumps a mile in the air as Ron's voice hisses in the kitchen. She is immediately angry at his intrusion.
"Mind your own business." She knows it is childish but she can't help it.
"You are my business. So's he."
"Why'd you ask where I've been if you already know?"
"Why are you keeping secrets?"
"Ron, really. I don't want to talk about this with you. It's none of your business, regardless of how you feel about either of us." Their voices are rising and Ginny is terrified that her parents will wake. "It's too complicated right now."
"Sneaking home at all hours of the morning means something pretty simple in most cases, Ginny. Something Hermione would call 'primarily basic'".
The dig shoots home. Her brother, as always, thought she was some loose woman who snuck home from a different guy's house every night. Her temper's rising and before it gets the better of her, she turns and goes up to her bedroom, missing all the creaky stairs and silently thanking Fred for showing her the way.
She knows that Ron is being unfair, that he’s just protective of them both. It does not, however, take the sting out of his barb. Ginny wonders, as she drifts off to sleep, whether or not her and her brother will ever see eye-to-eye when it comes to Harry.
~*~*~*~*~
Ginny can smile now at the memory. It was hard to work Ron out for most of her life and even now they still had their squabbles. She supposed they always would. They were too alike in temperament and judgement not to get fiery at each other. They each knew the other could do better. But he kept her secret for her. He never told their mother about how her little girl snuck home at dawn 3 or 4 times a week for six months. He explained his own tiredness away with Auror training and helping George at the shop. Ginny would always be grateful for that. She knew now in hindsight that he had waited for her in the kitchen because he had been afraid she wouldn’t make it back okay. He couldn’t have known that Harry walked with her to the edge of the garden. Ginny didn’t have the heart to tell him, even though it would have eased his worries. That was a secret she was going to keep. Ron liked to worry, and she liked to feel protected in a way that didn’t sting with disapproval.
With a jolt, Ginny looked at the time, realising that her guests will be arriving in just 15 minutes. Her house was clean, the presents and cake were set out on the table. The baby was kicking well inside her uterus and she couldn’t help but touch her belly as she tried to rush up the stairs. She got dressed in record time.
She calmed the little kitten in her lap, hoping Harry will like his birthday present. He hadn’t had a pet of his own since he lost Hedwig, and Ginny thought it would be a nice gift. She couldn’t bring herself to buy him an owl. She thought of him as he entered the room, shocked to find their friends pouncing on him. He pulled her in for a hug, Ginny was thankful more than ever for waiting for Harry. She’d known, even then, that they had always been on unequal footing, that they had never been on the same page. They had both had to work to get there, but what mattered now was that their beginnings - all three of them - shaped their life together. Their foundation was built on keeping secrets for and from each other and mutual trust that whatever the other was hiding, it would come out all right in the end.
Ginny wouldn’t change a thing.