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CHAPTER 1: HARRY IN LOVE
Harry James Potter was in love. And what’s more, he had been in love for a long time—but his nobility had forced him to give her up in an attempt to spare her the fate of his parents and beloved godfather, Sirius Black. On the other hand, no amount of fighting his feelings was doing him an ounce of good now. He was deeply and irrevocably in love and nothing he could do, nothing he told himself, changed that fact one bit. The problem was, did she still feel the same for him or had she gone on to someone else? The mere thought of that possibility sent a sharp pain through his heart, as if a dragon’s claws had slashed it in two … but he couldn’t blame her if she had. He hoped she knew that he hadn’t wanted to do it, that it was the hardest thing he had ever done in his now 21 years of life, four years post-Hogwarts.
In that time he had made a name for himself as an Auror, second only to the renowned “Mad-Eye” Moody. But not only his bachelor flat was terribly empty and lonely without his beloved beside him … his life was, period! He recalled what his friend Hermione had said shortly after he and Ginny had parted: “Harry, I can understand why you felt you had to break up with Ginny, but you mustn’t be afraid to love. Your parents were not afraid, remember, despite the danger from You-Know-Who. You mustn’t be, either. They were not afraid to love, not afraid to marry and have you. Can’t you see that no matter what you do now, You-Know-Who or no You-Know-Who, that Ginny is your destiny, just as your mother was to your father? I remember Sirius mentioning once that risk is what made a given course of action exciting for him. True love is worth any risk, Harry. Don’t deny yourself that happiness. If anyone deserves it, you do.”
Harry could not argue with anything she said, and the pain inside him, the emptiness in his life, heart and home without Ginny argued even more strongly for her side … but he could not simply arrogantly assume that Ginny had refused all offers and remained loyal to him. Naturally his heart hoped that very thing, but his head told him it was unrealistic, even foolish, to take it for granted. He had tried his best to keep in touch with his friends, but his Auror duties had consumed the majority of his waking hours for the better part of the past four years since he had left school. When he did think of them, it was usually very late at night when he was feeling especially lonely—and his pain had increased tenfold at the mention of Sirius.
They had had a tragically short but very happy relationship and Sirius had become a mixture of surrogate father and big brother to Harry, helping and advising him whenever he could, even while he had to remain in hiding after his escape from Azkaban. Only after his death had he finally been exonerated of all charges against him. Harry wished more than anything that he could have talked to Sirius about his feelings for Ginny, yet at the same time, knew he would have hesitated to do so because his godfather had died a childless bachelor … and whatever the danger from Lord Voldemort, Harry knew that was the one thing he didn’t want. Eventually he wanted to be the father of at least one child—and when he was, he knew he wanted Ginny to be the mother of that child.
They would teach their child to be a member of the wizarding world as they were, even send him or her to Hogwarts eventually—although Harry would never forget his Muggle heritage. But first he had to track her down and find out what her life situation was like. Second, it was necessary for him to find out if she still loved him. He could only hope that her and Ron’s parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley, still lived in the Burrow and could help him, even a little. He had not taken a real vacation (at least not more than a weekend here and there, anyway) since he had become an Auror, so it was long past time for him to do so … and while he was at it, update himself on what had been happening with both his closest friends and the girl he still loved.
* * * * *
The next morning, shortly after he had awakened, bathed, and dressed, Harry had reluctantly decided to Apparate to the Burrow. It was sufficiently late in the year that it was far too cold to fly on his broomstick, a considerably more advanced version of the Firebolt Sirius had given him while he was in school after his old broomstick had been destroyed. In fact, the Firebolt Five Thousand could go faster, fly higher and do more complicated manoeuvres than he had ever dreamed of … but he was too impatient to pack on cold-weather gear. Apparition wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel, but it was quick … and Harry had no idea where the nearest Portkey to his present home was, since he had moved several times in the four years following his leaving Hogwarts, finally signing the home Sirius had left him at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London, over to the Order of the Phoenix for their permanent headquarters.
His Auror duties had usually necessitated his being able to travel great distances rapidly and at a moment’s notice—so often that Harry had eventually decided to simply maintain his Apparition Licence on a regular basis. He reserved the use of his Firebolt Five Thousand for warmer weather, like late spring or summer. Maybe even into early fall. But right now his main concern was finding out what had happened to his friends—and Ginny. If anyone would know, it was Molly Weasley.
* * * * *
Once he had recovered from the decidedly unpleasant sensation of having the breath literally squeezed out of him, if only momentarily, Harry found himself standing in the driveway of the Burrow. It looked just the same; it was as if time had passed it by. But surely the people inside could not have stayed the same. As the old saying went, time waited for no man—not even a wizard. Oh well, he had best get himself in gear. He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and straightened his clothing, then marched smartly up to the door and knocked. The kitchen curtain was pulled back slightly, and Harry had a brief glimpse of startled brown eyes and untidy red hair with streaks of grey in it before Molly Weasley opened the door and enfolded her surrogate son in a hug that once again took Harry’s breath away, if momentarily. Just the same, this latter sensation was infinitely more pleasant than the former.
“Harry, dear, so wonderful to see you! It’s been so long! Come on in and have some breakfast!”
“Good to see you too,” the young Auror managed once he had caught his breath again. “How are things with you?”
“Same as always,” Molly dismissed, automatically pointing her wand to the necessary dishes and utensils (including pots and pans filled with his favourite breakfast foods: biscuits, porridge, toasted brown bread with jam, bacon, eggs … and milk, automatically setting them at what had always been his regular place at the table). Harry would have preferred pumpkin juice or even butterbeer, but when Molly was in her lovingly dictatorial mood, nothing he said would budge her from her conviction that milk was the healthiest possible breakfast drink … so he didn’t try.
He simply took his place at the table and sat down, picked up his knife and fork and began to eat. He found that he was now hungry enough for three helpings, having had little appetite for food up to this point. Once he was full, Harry found time to look around and ask where everyone else was. It had been at least two hours since he had arrived, yet only he and Molly—Mrs. Weasley—were in the room. He suspected that Mr. Weasley was probably at work, but what about Ron? And most importantly, what about Ginny? He was well aware that the other Weasley siblings were long since grown and gone, possibly even with businesses, if not families, of their own. If Harry remembered correctly, Ron’s older brother Bill had married Fleur Delacour, one of his fellow champions in the Triwizard Tournament seven years ago … but that was all he knew for sure. What had happened in the meantime?
“Mrs. Weasley …” he began.
“Molly,” she corrected. “You’re a man now, Harry; you can call me by my Christian name.”
“All right … Molly. I have a few questions for you.”
“What would you like to know, dear?”
Molly had bewitched her cup of tea so that it would automatically refill and add cream and sugar to the tea in the amounts she liked best when she said the word. In fact, she didn’t even have to hold it, just keep it suspended in midair close to her. All she needed to do when she wanted a swallow was to move the cup so she could drink, then return it to the original position.
“I’m afraid I’m frightfully behind on what’s happened with Ron, Hermione and your family. Could you please update me?”
“Of course, dear. Fred and George have expanded their business and have now twice as much space as they originally did and are making Galleons hand over fist. I think they’re too busy with their business to date much, though. Charlie still lives in Romania and has found a lovely wife there, both a very talented witch and Animagus—I think she can turn into a white Persian cat or something—although they don’t have any children yet.
“But if I know this lot, it’s only a matter of time, since Bill and Fleur now have a son two years old and another baby on the way, so I’m a Grandma now.” Molly smiled at the thought but didn’t elaborate. “As for Percy, we’re finally reconciled; it’s taken this long for him to finally accept that you were right about You-Know-Who. He never liked to admit he was wrong about anything.”
Harry smiled and nodded, noting the glow of happiness in Mrs. Weasley’s eyes that her third son was back in the family fold. He was now due to be promoted to Assistant Minister of Magic, in fact, under Rufus Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge’s successor.
“Just the same, I’m sure you’re most concerned about what happened to Ron and Hermione.”
“It has crossed my mind, yes,” Harry returned dryly, taking a sip of his large glass of milk flavoured with his favourite Honeydukes chocolate. Molly sighed and began after taking another swallow of her tea.
“Ron now works as his father’s assistant at the Ministry of Magic and Hermione has decided to become a teacher.”
“A teacher! Well, she’s certainly brainy enough—but just what has she decided to teach?”
“I don’t think she really knows yet. All I know is that she’s working toward her teaching degree … and if I know Hermione, she’ll not only earn it, but get Merlin knows how many honours on top of that!”
“Is there anything you could tell me as to their … personal relationship? I never let on to Ron that I knew, but suspected that he was slowly but surely falling in love with Hermione. Jealousy such as he displayed at the Yule Ball in our fourth year upon seeing her with the Durmstrang champion, Krum, convinced me of that. He kept telling himself no one had asked her to the Ball and kept denying it right up until the time we went there … but I’ve never known her to lie, particularly about something like that.
“Just the same, I can’t say that I didn’t find her most attractive myself in her evening dress and fancy hair. You know at the time that I fancied Cho Chang, but even as beautiful as she was, Hermione gave her stiff competition. I wouldn’t have been normal if I hadn’t been attracted to her. However …” His voice trailed off, wanting more than anything to ask about Ginny but afraid to because if the news wasn’t good, he would be devastated. Just the same, he had to know, whatever the risk.
“However?” Molly prompted, leaning over to take a bite of cheese Danish, one of which was hovering next to her teacup, then leaning back in her chair.
“It’s Ginny that I’m most curious about.” Harry’s tone was almost too quiet for Mrs. Weasley to hear, but even at that, she heard the hope mixed with fear in his young voice. “What’s happened to her in the last few years?”
“Well, for one thing, she graduated from Hogwarts the year after you, Ron and Hermione. She now lives in London, in a small flat not too far from St. Mungo’s. She decided to become a Healer.”
“I’m … glad she’s doing well financially. What about … emotionally?” he forced out.
“You mean, does she still … care for you?” Molly spoke for him. “Of course, Harry. She always has; I believe she always will. Just the same, she knows it’s best to go on with life as best she can. Even at that, your leaving caused her almost unbearable heartache. I lost count of how many nights she cried herself to sleep in my arms. It was over a year before she could bring herself to begin her Healer studies.”
“I’m very sorry to have hurt her … Molly,” he apologised, pain again slashing through his heart at what his extraordinarily difficult and painful (but nonetheless necessary) actions had done to his beloved. “I didn’t want to do it. But you must know and understand why I had to.”
“I do, my dear,” Molly crooned, reaching a hand to touch Harry’s. He looked up into her kind brown eyes and knew she must read the love and pain in his own green ones. “But that didn’t make it any easier for her to endure being without you. None of her other male friends have meant half as much to her as you do. I now firmly believe that you were—are—the love of her life. You always have been, from the moment the two of you first met … and always will be.”
Just as she is mine, Harry thought to himself, but unable to voice that sentiment at the moment. He didn’t dare until and unless he could be certain of Ginny’s continued love for him. “Do you have her address? I’d like to go see her.”
Molly Weasley seemed to hesitate for a moment but that hesitation was erased when she looked again into Harry’s sea-green eyes, reciting it to him. He prepared himself to once again Apparate to Ginny’s home … or would it be better if he went to her workplace instead?
“Oh, yes, could you tell me what hours she works?” Molly gave them to him; because of this, Harry rearranged his plans slightly. It was just about time for her to get off work, so he would go there and ask her to dinner, since she would surely be too tired to cook a meal. “I’d better go soon … Molly. Give my best to everyone and let Ron know I’ll try to keep in closer touch with him and Hermione after this. By the way, you never did say how things were between them.”
“As I said, you know how stubborn this lot are; up until about a year or so ago Ron was still denying his feelings for Hermione. It wasn’t until she confronted him once and for all about it that he finally admitted it and they began seriously dating. In fact, I believe they’re even … sharing a flat now.” With that, Molly gave Harry the address, which was fortunately not too far from Ginny’s own flat, so he would be able to walk there instead of having to Apparate again.
“Have you any idea whether or not they’ve thought about—getting married?” Harry made himself say as he got to his feet after finishing his milk and wiping his lips with a napkin.
“Not that I know of. You know how hard it is for Ron to deal with women on a romantic basis. I know he loves her, but I’ll have to ask Hermione what she intends to do about it if he doesn’t get up the nerve to propose to her soon.”
“Maybe I’ll give him some Felix Felicis or something,” Harry suggested. “All he needs is a little confidence.”
“That’s an idea,” Molly agreed just before once again enveloping Harry in a tight hug. “Come to think of it, you could probably use some yourself, dear.” She put a motherly hand on his cheek; Harry smiled even as his eyes misted with tears and patted her hand before she withdrew it. “Best of luck with Ginny. Let me know how things turn out. I’ve always thought of you as part of the family and I would dearly love for you to truly be my son, if only by marriage.”
“That’s up to Ginny, I’m afraid,” Harry returned quietly. “I’d better go now, before I lose what little nerve I’ve still got.”
They hugged tightly again and he left, once again Apparating before Molly’s eyes. She was used to the noise one made while Apparating, but still found it most unpleasant. Just the same, her heart went out to the young man who had just visited her. He was obviously deeply in love with her daughter, but at the same time very unsure of himself as to whether or not she still loved him and forgave him for what he had had to do four years ago. She wished she could have been certain of what would transpire, but all she could do was hope and pray things worked out for them … because if anyone deserved happiness, it was Harry—particularly after all he had been through in his life.
More than most grown wizards experienced in a lifetime! Harry needed someone to love him and take care of him … and Ginny was the ideal person to do that. But it would only happen if she was willing—and Molly prayed for both their sakes that she was even as she turned back to her teacup and Danish to finish them off, then cleaned up the kitchen with a few verbal orders and waves of her wand before going upstairs to dress.