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Ginny sat with her legs tucked snugly beneath Harry’s sweater, a cuppa growing cold in her hands. She cast her fourth warming charm on her coffee as she gazed out of Grimmauld Place’s murky kitchen windows. The windows, like the rest of the house, had been neglected for decades and were being held together by only a clever Molly Weasley-proof mixture of charms and Spello-tape.

Dumping her mug in the sink, she snatched the Prophet off of the table and made for the study.

“Incendio,” she whispered quietly, so as not wanting to wake Walburga Black from her painting. The fireplace lit and she tossed the Prophet’s latest article on the massive crime drop in the UK inside. Slumping into one of the worn juniper wingbacks she watched as the parchment burned, allowing her thoughts to occupy her mind.

Several moments later, she decided that while her idea was technically not appropriate, she didn’t quite care. Harry always came first for her. Summoning Floo powder, she tossed a bit in and shouted, “Granger-Weasley Flat!”

It was barely ten after six and while her git of a brother was still sleeping, she knew Hermione was not. “Hermione?”

A frantic Hermione came rushing to the Floo armed with a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. “Ginny, is everything okay? It’s not even light outside yet!”

“Yeah, Harry didn’t come home last night.”

Hermione’s face fell. “Again?”

Ginny ran a frustrated hand through her hair that tugged painfully on her scalp. “I don’t know what to do for him, Hermione. I’m at my wit’s end! I’ve tried everything. I barely see him anymore. It’s like living with a stranger sometimes. Merlin, I sound like a sissy.”

Hermione sat down in front of the Floo and nodded thoughtfully. “Ginny, I know I said he needed time but maybe he needs… you know…” Hermione wiggled her eyebrows suggestively whilst blushing to the tips of her toes.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Hermione when I said I tried everything, sex was the first thing I tried. It doesn’t seem to be making anything better or worse.”

“Not... better? I mean… I’m not a… gossip or anything, but you were kinda er… legendary at Hogwarts.”

Ginny laughed. She was confident in herself and that often translated into the bedroom. Dumb teenage boys tended to like pretty witches who were good at Quidditch, but Ginevra Molly Weasley didn’t need or want a boy around all the time, and she knew what they wanted in the sack. They were all quite boring really. One of the things that sparked her about Harry, was none of those things.

“It’s not bad sex but he just… I can’t get him to relax. I mean… I know it’s tomorrow and he’ll never forget what happened but-”

“Gin, maybe he doesn’t need to forget what happened. Maybe he needs to make new memories.” Ginny leaned forward. Twenty-four-hour sexathon! She could- “Not sex, Ginny. Treasurable memories. Emotional things.”

Ginny softened her eyes and looked at Hermione pleadingly through the Floo. It was a look that still worked on all of her brothers and parents. Hermione rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “Fine, I’ll help you but we have twenty minutes and only because you’re terrible at mushy stuff. Honestly, how are you related to Ron?”

Ginny unfastened her apron and wiped beads of sweat from her forehead. She was standing over the cooker feeling more pride than when she was signed onto the Holyhead Harpies. She had done it! Her mother was never going to believe her! Grabbing her camera, she pushed aside two clumps of flour and snapped a quick picture of the eggs and bacon. Granted the bacon was a little crispy and the eggs a tad brown but they were still cooked and she had done it!

Moving along with her camera she snapped another photo of her stack of pancakes and pumpkin juice. Realizing that there were cracked eggs all over the counter, she made to move the plate elsewhere when she realized there wasn’t a clear counter anywhere. Shrugging, she plopped the plate on the floor in the pantry and took the picture there. “Gotcha!”

Just then, a loud roar came from down the hall signaling the Floo had been activated. She scrambled for plates shouting in shock when some leftover batter dripped from the ceiling and landed on her head. She swiped it off and it landed with a clump on the floor.

“Ginny! Are you alright?” Pounding footsteps could be heard from the hallway. Red hair spun wildly before sticking to some syrup on the doorframe, as she made to grab the plates from the pantry.

“No! Wait, stay there Harry! Don’t come in- ARGH!” She screamed as her foot connected with the edge of the plate of pancakes that were still on the floor. She flailed around, her body desperately trying to find balance. Her other foot stepped down and just when she thought she was safe, she slipped on the batter she had dropped on the floor earlier and fell hard on her butt. “Fuck.”

The pancakes flipped out of the plate and exploded around her. Why was there that much liquid coming out of them? Weren’t they supposed to be solid on the inside?

Harry came bursting into the pantry his wand out and his Auror badge as shiny as his emerald eyes. “Ginny, what in the name of bloody hell… Oh. Umm. Gin, love, you have dough in your hair.”

“Yes, and egg down my shirt,” she replied matter of factly as she tried to get pancake dough off of her arm.

Harry’s eyebrows shot up into his mess of hair. “Umm... what?”

“I was cracking an egg and when I was pouring it into the bowl, the yolk slid down my shirt.”

“How- Better yet, why were you cracking eggs? Sweetie, I love you, but you have two left hands in the kitchen.” Harry chuckled lightly, helping her up from the floor.

She kissed him deeply, noting that he smelled like leather, Floo powder, jasmine, violets, and lilies. “Yes, well I was trying to be emotionally romantic and make you breakfast.”

Harry quirked an eyebrow at Ginny, before glancing at the remains of the raw pancakes on the floor. “Since when do we eat pancakes on the floor of the pantry?”

“Since there were no clear surfaces in the kitchen.”

Harry grimaced, “I noticed that. The bacon was on fire, I put it out.”

Ginny shoved passed Harry, “No! Not the- Well, fuck. You completely soaked the eggs. The bacon is well... toasty.”

Harry laughed and wrapped his arms around Ginny from behind. “Thank you, Ginny. Not that I have any idea why you were making breakfast but it’s the thought that counts.”

“Er… because I love you. Also, we have nothing else to eat. I hope you like cereal.” Harry chuckled as she pulled the cereal and milk from the cabinets. When she turned around he was poking at the floating eggs in the pan.

“Ginny, I’ve never seen eggs that color. I’m pretty sure eggs are supposed to be yellow or white.”

“Yeah, well we can’t all be Perfect Harry Potter, now can we?” she said, brandishing a spoon playfully.

“Perfect Harry Potter?”

“Yup, super perfect.”

“Like perfect enough to do it on the floor of the kitchen?” he asked, emerald eyes bright and excited.

“Like you’re so perfect, that I have no idea why you’re wearing so many clothes right now.”

Ginny was humming to herself as she toweled off her skin. No matter how much she scrubbed, she always smelled like the daisies that grew behind the Burrow. When she was younger, she hated it. As she got older she learned to appreciate her natural-born scent. Especially, when all of her friends spent their galleons on perfumes to make themselves smell like flowers.

After her horrific first year at Hogwarts, she thought she would never recover. Never be normal. Even when her roommates and students in her year shunned her or made fun of her obsession with Quidditch, Harry never had. Each year life threw something else at him and he just took it because he didn’t have a choice.

Once the war was over, he had no direction. No one was coming after him anymore and suddenly he was filled with endless boredom. When Kingsley showed up at the Burrow for dinner and offered Harry and Ron spots on the Auror team, they jumped at the offer. Harry more than Ron, who worked himself ragged.

As a couple, it wasn’t easy for them. She was constantly flying around the country for Quidditch games and Harry was sneaking about for DMLE business, but they made it work. At least when Ginny came home she was home. Harry was constantly in a tizzy about either Daily Prophet articles, some reports he filed, or an interview he wanted to follow up on.

It always got worse this time of year. To the Wizarding world, his parent’s death had been the end of a war and a cause for celebration. To Harry, it was the beginning of a war and a day filled with loss and mourning.

Ginny suspected, and Hermione agreed, that he was trying to stop crimes in their honor. To make it so no child would grow up without their parents as he did. According to Hagrid, James Potter had been pretty vocal about wanting to be an Auror when he was in school. He never went on to become an Auror, and Ginny wondered if Harry had only become an Auror because of his father. Every single team had offered him a Seeker spot after the war and while he loved Quidditch, Harry wanted to do something that would give his life meaning.

Pulling a sweatshirt over her head, she began her search for her boots. When she found them, she tucked her jeans into them and went downstairs to find Harry.

“Harry?” she called from the stairs. He was probably sleeping.

A muffled groan came from the kitchen table. “Waza?”

He had cleaned. Of course, he had cleaned.

“Love, why don’t you head to bed. We can meet for lunch in the Alley, and then do that house shopping you really wanted to do?”

Harry smiled tiredly. “I would love that. I know how much you hate shopping.”

“I hate shopping, but I love you.”

“We’re really shaping up for the approaching season! Alright, that’s all on my end!” Ginny’s coach dismissed them all and she changed back into her cozy fall clothes.

Flying always cleared her mind and made it easier for her to think. New memories. She could do new memories. Using the Floo, she hopped over to George’s for a quick hello.

“Hey, George do you have any tickets left for that Halloween extravaganza that you were making tonight?”

George was leaned over a pile of bills he was going through. “Not really, which is why I asked you two months ago if you wanted to come.”

Ginny smiled and plucked two purple tickets off of the table. “Thanks, big brother! I knew I could count on you to make Harry’s day. You know, what with him-”

George sighed. “Fine! Fine! Those were for Mum and Dad, but I’ll tell them you took them.”

Ginny waved the tickets enthusiastically before she pocketed them. George, the fun older brother rolled his eyes and marked off the tickets on his tally board.

“Go on, get out you!” Giggling, she kissed George’s cheek and walked out into the bustling Alley.

After the war, a lot of work had gone into repairing the local shops. Of course, no one had money to actually pay for repairs so volunteers lined up the streets of Diagon Alley and helped as much as they could. Able bodies were always great in construction but the Ministry needed funds to make the repairs. Something they were sorely lacking.

Astonishingly, Draco Malfoy came to the rescue. According to Harry, he walked into the Ministry during a briefing and asked to speak to Kingsley. Harry said the only reason he was even allowed in was that everyone thought he was there to confess a major war crime. Turns out, he offered to pay for supplies to reconstruct the entirety of Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and Hogwarts.

When asked if he would also contribute to the fixing of the Ministry, he laughed. “You made your own mess. Clean it up yourself.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Harry had stepped in and helped pay for a lot of the repairs, as did Hermione and several other unknown benefactors. Hermione had also been extremely hands-on with the rebuilding of the Hogwarts library. Since Madam Pince’s death, the library had been closed off with little to no access for the students. Hermione had taken two months off of work at the Ministry to dismantle the older witch’s wards and make it safe and cozy for students to roam again.

“Oy, freckle face you gonna stand there and look dopey all day?” Ron was smiling at his younger sister while holding the door of the Leaky Cauldron open for her.

“Hey,” she kissed his cheek as she passed him. “How’s work?”

Ron shrugged. “Eh, I’m alive. Killers are alive. We’re all alive.”

“Wow, are you sure you work in the same department as Harry?” Ginny sat down in her usual table in the corner of the pub. It had so many charms on it that annoying reporters and wizards couldn’t see when they were there. It was a gift from Hannah when she bought the pub from Tom.

Ron shuffled into the seat next to her. Bless Hannah, there were already butterbeers on the table and Ron was already chugging. “Yeah, Harry’s a bit… intense about the DMLE.”

Ginny leaned back and looked at Ron, really looked at Ron. “Ron? Are you happy?”

Predictably, he choked and coughed up his drink. “What?”

“Are you happy?”

“Happy? What kind of question is that?” he asked trying to avoid the subject. Had he met her? There was nothing subtle about Ginevra Molly Weasley.

“The kind of question a sister asks her brother when she doesn’t think he is happy.”

Ron slouched back in his seat, his face turning red. “Did Hermione say something?”

“No. I’m asking you because you don’t look happy.”

“I don’t want to make a big deal about it. I just need to work through some things.”

Ginny took a sip of her butterbeer letting it warm her insides. “Like the fact that you don’t like working for the DMLE and hate being an-”

Ron knocked over his chair and clamped a hand down on Ginny’s mouth. “Bloody hell! Not so loud Ginny! What’s wrong with you?”

Ginny pushed his hand off her mouth and rolled her eyes. “Do you think they’re spying on us?”

“No,” Ron retorted immediately. “They just know things, and I don’t need them knowing everything about me.”

“Ron you work in an investigative service. No shit they know things. It’s their job to know things. If they didn’t know things we’d probably all be dead.”

“I just… I’m trying to work things out, okay? Don’t say anything to Harry.”

“No can do. Anything that you say to me, can and will be repeated to Harry. Besides, do you really think Harry hasn’t noticed? He’s your best friend, and honestly your miserable any time anyone talks about work.”

“It’s just not what I envisioned for my life.”

“What do you see then?”

“Dunno. A family, laughter, kids running around and making a mess. You know stuff like that.”

“You don’t see anything else?” she asked in surprise.

Ron looked down at the napkin he had been shredding since their conversation began. He thought the question over for several moments before responding. “Not really. Should I be seeing other things?”

“I guess not if that’s what you want in life. Ron, working in the DMLE is for career-oriented people. Not everyone is career-oriented and that’s fine. Maybe you need to go on holiday with Hermione and decide what the two of you want to do with life. I mean, Hermione wants a career but nowhere does it say that you have to be sitting behind a desk with her.”

“Yeah, but husbands are supposed to work to support their families.”

Ginny scoffed. “That’s rubbish and you know it. Had they been alive Tonks would have been working to support her and Remus.”

“Yeah, because Remus couldn’t get a job anywhere.”

“No, because Remus was more maternal and of the two of them he would have wanted to stay home with Teddy.”

“It’s not… weird?”

Ginny was about to answer when Harry and Hermione walked up to the table. “What’s not weird?” he asked.

“A mole on Ron’s back,” she answered quickly.

Harry scrunched his nose in disgust. “Really, Gin? That’s disgusting.”

Hermione dropped a bag on the floor and shoved it under the chair. “He does not have a mole on his back.”

Harry smiled. “And how would you know that Hermione Granger?”

Hermione rolled her eyes as she imitated her boss, a pompous git if there ever was one. “Because I’m Hermione Granger. I know everything.”

Laughter erupted from the table. Harry kissed her cheek as Ron slung an arm around Hermione. The same goofy grin he always had around his girlfriend was back. She smiled at seeing her brother happy.

They all ordered and began chatting about work. Ron was noticeably quiet. Harry was purposely avoiding any topic that didn’t pertain to work. She and Hermione both noticed.

“So,” she said over a bowl of soup. “Coach says we may have a shot at the cup this year.”

“What, did every other team come down with Spattergroit?” Ron laughed but stopped when Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

“Nope, we got two new ‘secret’ players and a new defense coach. Cindy says that our sales have been going up steadily, what with having Harry as our personal cheerleader.”

Harry shrugged and kissed her cheek again. “I’m proud of you. I like to cheer for you.”

Hermione snorted.

“What?” Harry asked defensively.

Hermione rubbed her temples. “Harry, at the last game, you painted your face yellow and green and was shouting the entire time.”

“I was not that bad.”

Ginny giggled. “You told the Puddlemere Keeper that he should keep his eyes off of your fit girlfriend and on the Quaffle. I swear half of the stadium gets filled just to watch you, Harry.”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Oh Merlin,” Ron laughed. “Imagine when you have kids. He’s going to be chasing Slytherins across the pitch screaming FOUL FOUL!”

Hermione’s jaw dropped. “Harry James Potter if you get us banned from Hogwarts I will never speak to you again!”

Harry blushed. “I doubt Professor McGonagall would ever ban her favorite student.”

“I hardly think-”

They argued about who Professor McGonagall’s favorite student was the rest of the lunch. Hermione had pitched a fit when Harry had dared to suggest her favorite student could have been outside of her house. Hannah had even dropped by to toss Neville’s ring in the hat. They ended their lunch with three scrolls of parchment depicting no less than three graphs and two charts on Professor McGonagall’s favorite students based on academics, quidditch, and general behavior.

“I’m telling you it was me. I mean, she personally saw to it that I got dropped off at the Dursleys, Gin,” Harry said from a couch he was comfort testing.

Ginny wasn’t a fan of the paisley print, but she did like the legs and the detailing on the arms. She turned to the sales assistant, “Does it come in solid colors?”

“We can adjust the colors to whatever you would like, miss.”

“Great. Harry is this one comfortable enough for you?”

“Yeah, I love it. Reminds me of the Gryffindor Common Room.”

“Great. Can I see the color palette? Also, how much is it if I group in the love seat and two armchairs?”

They discussed pricing while Harry looked around the store for ‘accent items’. Ginny had no idea what that meant, but according to Ron, it was very important for every room. Hermione was right, those two really couldn’t be left alone for too long.

“I think the pale grey with faded heliotrope chairs. Harry wanted accent items to match the heliotrope accents, did you have anything?”

“Actually, if it’s not inappropriate, we have an abstract of Potter’s Cottage in Godric's Hollow with stunning purples and greys painted in. It would match the couch set nicely.”

“Hmm… let me ask Harry how he feels about that. He might not want a reminder like that hanging over his head every time we have tea.”

“I understand. Regardless, the painting would be on the house.”

Ginny smiled. “Thank you. I’ll speak to him and owl you next week.”

“Hey, Gin! Check out these cool table accents they have!”

“Merlin, he’s like a niffler in a bank.” The sales assistant giggled before leaving to give them privacy. Ginny spent the next half hour dragging Harry out of aisles and reminding him why they didn’t need a giant pink flamingo hat holder and that no, Neville’s grandmother would not want it either.

“Okay, I think we got everything. Want to grab some ice cream?”

Harry froze while slipping into his jacket. “Oh god, Ginny what did you do?”

Ginny pulled the rest of his jacket on for him. “Why do you assume I did something?”

“Because you only offer to go for ice cream with me when you’re about to give me extremely bad news. Shite, did Kreacher die? Was that why you were making breakfast? I thought you said he went to visit his cousin in France!”

“No, you said he was going to visit his cousin in France. I barely noticed he was missing. All he does is talk to himself and act like a general pain in my ass.”

“Oh, right. So, why are we going for ice cream?” Ginny smiled. Gone were the days when Harry would talk himself into a tizzy that she was leaving him. It was hard for Harry to accept happiness was happening for him. The fact that he hadn’t assumed she was leaving him first was a sign of massive growth. One that she was infinitely proud of.

“Nothing to worry about, love. I just wanted to spend some time with you and see how your day is going.” Harry slipped his hand into hers and the two walked down Diagon towards the Leaky.

“Oh, okay. I finally heard back about the International Floo situation.” Ginny perked up. Whenever they had to spend multiple days abroad they were never able to come back home because their Floo wasn’t set up for international travel. “They’re saying that Grimmauld Place is too old, and the actual building can’t handle the intensity of constant International Floo travel. As it is they’re saying that the structure is going to fall apart in about twenty years.”

“Crap. Well, we have at least ten years to think about it, thankfully.” Harry fidgeted nervously. They walked through the leaky ignoring the patrons who were finishing their lunch and had stopped to gawk at the boy-who-kept-on-living.

In muggle London, they held hands walked the eight short blocks to the Ben and Jerry’s store. Harry ordered an extra-large ice cream while Ginny ordered a pop.

“So, I know you say every year that you don’t want to do anything for Halloween.” Harry began to protest. “Just hear me out. Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes is throwing a Halloween bash. We don’t have to go for the whole thing, but I want to go with you. We can get dressed up in matching outfits and look all cute and get sloshed. Neither of us has to work tomorrow so it will be fun!”

Harry looked like he was debating if he should run or sit and argue the point with her. Reaching across the table, she held onto his hand. “Why don’t we start with baby steps, okay? How about we pick out a Halloween outfit. What do you have in mind?”

Harry stared at his ice cream. Ginny waited calmly. She waited so unbelievably patiently that his ice cream started to drip onto the table.

“Harry, love, your ice cream is melting on the table.”

“I know,” he muttered. His eyes trained on the melting ice cream.

“What did you dress up as growing up?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. Anger welled up inside her and she fought to keep it down.

“I didn’t,” he whispered so quietly that she almost missed it.

“The Dursely’s never gave you Dudley’s old costumes?” Harry was quiet for several moments.

“No,” he choked out. “I always had to stay at Marge’s on Halloween. She would go on and on about what a rotten drunk my dad was getting himself-” Harry’s voice broke and Ginny placed her hand on top of Harry’s.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured fighting to keep her tears at bay.

“When I was little I always wanted to dress up like the three bears from the children’s book. You know, just a family of little bears. I mentioned it to Aunt Petunia and she went to the store and ordered the costumes. I thought… it was stupid. I still went Marge’s and-”

Ginny threw her arms around Harry, tears making a steady decline down her cheeks. “I’m so very sorry, my love.”

“It’s stupid.”

“No. It’s not. They were horrible to you.” She pushed her chair abruptly causing the legs to screech on the floor. “Let’s go.”

Harry dumped his unfinished ice cream in the bin. “Where are we going?”

“To get us matching bear outfits.”

Harry shook his head. “Ginny, it’s okay. Maybe when we have kids we can-”

“Is there a limit to how many times we can wear a costume? No. I saw a costume store around the… ah, here it is!” She dragged them both into the store, and they quickly purchased two bear costumes and one school girl outfit. You know, for later.

Harry took the bags from her, and they apparated home. They walked straight into their bedroom and deposited the bags on the bed. Harry unpacked their outfits, while Ginny began yanking all of her shoes out of her closet. Bloody black pumps had to be in there somewhere. Giving up and resigning herself to flats, she pulled her dress out from the garment bag it was hanging in.

She stripped and stood in only her new black lace strapless bra, knickers, and a garter. She cast a smoothing charm so no bumps would show through her dress. She could hear Harry breathing heavily, all thoughts presumably fleeing body parts further south. With her back to him, she carefully slid the dress on charming the zip at the back closed.

The Harpies had a charity event that she had to pop into before going to George’s extravaganza. Harry didn’t usually come to the yearly Halloween party, but she figured if she wore a dress that was revealing enough he would come along. She wasn’t wrong.

“Erm… that dress is a...” While Ginny wasn’t usually a flashy person, she couldn’t deny that she looked good in deeper shades of red. The burgundy mermaid dress lay delicately over her breasts and was tight to the point of showing off her body without being slutty. The waist was cinched making her look agile instead of bulky and Quidditch-player like. Her arms and chest were bare adorned with only a choker with Harry’s name on it and hanging shoulder straps right above her elbow. Honestly, though, what was the point of straps if they were laying uselessly on your arms? Given how speechless Harry was, she assumed the sales lady had a point.

“I know. Doesn’t it look good? Hermione helped me pick it out.”

“Remind me to thank her,” he said as he began flinging things out of his closet.

Ginny fished around her jewelry box and found a pair of simple studs her mother had gotten her for her birthday in her fourth year. “What are you looking for?”

“My tux from that Christmas party last year.”

Ginny made a show of dropping her jaw. “You’re coming? The great Harry Potter, slayer of evil-”

Harry threw down the bright orange jumper he was holding and swooped down on her, kissing her softly. “Hush you. I don’t need every bloke trying to hit on my girl. I need to let everyone know that she’s spoken for.”

He swung her around and she giggled. When he put her down, she grabbed her wand from the nightstand. Using a charm that Hermione had taught her, she twisted her hair into a chignon and clipped in two hair decals that she borrowed from Fleur on each side. “Honestly, you’re so loud at the games I think it’s pretty clear at this point.”

Harry chuckled unapologetically as he slid into his waistcoat. “Help me put my collar down?”

Ginny obliged, kissing his neck as she did. She felt guilty forcing him to leave the house, but she figured if he was feeling really bad he would stay regardless of the dress she was in. “Are you sure you’re okay to go?”

Harry turned around in her arms. “I think so. You’ll be by my side the whole time?”

“I won’t even leave to pee.”

Holding hands they went down the stairs and to the coat closet by the front door. Harry draped matching dark grey robes over her shoulders. “You look lovely by the way.”

Ginny smiled lovingly at him in the entryway of Grimmauld Place. “You think I look good now? Wait until you see what this dress looks like on the floor later.”

Harry laughed and handed her the shoes she had been looking for from in their coat closet. She slipped off her flats and put her heels on. “Already let’s rock. Oh, is that an owl?”

Harry took a small parcel off of the tawny owl’s leg and tossed it onto the mail rack “We’ll check it later tonight. I believe I have a fit girlfriend to show off.”

They apparated to the ballroom’s general apparition point. Cloaks were spelled to remove themselves and be stored behind the mirrors in the hallway leading up to the main ballroom. Ginny made a mental note to ask Hermione about the charm for Grimmauld Place.

The actual party was a black and gold theme with a hint of twenties elegance. A wall of dark ebony and glittering golden roses separated the mirrored hallway from the ballroom. Most people had dressed in classic black or varying shades of green. She vaguely remembered someone on the team mentioning it was in style this season.

Harry stood by her side proudly as they worked the room. She laughed at their donor’s jokes, poked at her teammates, and did the obligatory dance with Harry. They swayed rather than formally danced as both of them were pretty terrible at dancing.

“I didn’t realize how big it was going to be.”

“It’s a charity ball, Harry. They have to go all out or the donations don’t go all out.”

“Seems like a waste of money,” he muttered, eyeing millions of little glasses hanging from the ceiling holding tiny candles and floating flowers.

“I don’t disagree but it’s part of the show. Don’t worry we have another thirty minutes and then we can head home and change for George’s party.”

Harry groaned. “Are you sure we have to go to the Wheezes party?”

“Yes, Harry. We won’t go for long.”

“I actually have a-”

“No. You are not going to work today or tomorrow. Don’t even try it, or I’ll bring mum down here.”

“I wasn’t talking about work,” he said spinning her around and pulling her back. “Ron’s dragging me to this chess tournament thing.”

“He’s part of a chess tournament?” Odd. He hadn’t mentioned it at lunch. Given how much he loved chess, she’s surprised by how they talked about anything else.

“No. We’re watching.”

Ginny recast her cushioning charm on her feet. “You’re telling me that you’re going to sit and watch two people play chess? Is this a joke?”

“We watch people play Quidditch,” he said with a shrug.

“Yeah, that’s not the same thing and you know it.” She had to shelve the conversation as her head coach, Cindy, had walked up that moment.

They chatted for what passed as a respectable amount of time and then made their excuses to leave citing Harry’s fatigue. Cindy’s face paled when she realized what today was today. She offered her condolences and left quickly.

Their cloaks were retrieved as they left. Harry’s hand intertwined in hers, they apparated home. Buying the bear outfits was simple compared to actually getting in them. “Oh my god! Ginny! I’m stuck!”

Ginny giggled and grabbed her camera snapping wildly. “Harry, your head is in the arm, love.”

Harry struggled inside the suit, which only made Ginny laugh harder. “Ginny, are you taking pictures?!”

“No,” she gasped between laughing and snapping photos.

“Ginny… argh… help… forget it-” Harry came barreling towards her throwing her over his shoulder and tossing the laughing couple on the bed. Ginny pulled his head from the sleeve and peppered him with kisses.

“There,” she said, her fingers tracing his jaw. “I saved you.”

She pulled her hand away but he caught it. Eyes locked on hers he kissed each finger and then lingered on the inside of her palm. “Harry?”

“Every day, Gin. You save me every day. I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Harry.”

“I know what you were doing today, and I appreciate it. I want to move forward and not backward.”

“I know. Just go as slowly as you need. I’ll be here to catch you.”

Harry buried his head into her lap. “You’re an angel, you know that?”

She smiled and slipped her hand through the zipper tugging it open. “An angel? No, more like the devil.”

Harry’s eyes brightened, his arm under her back gripped her tightly, and he flipped them over so he was on top. Nonverbally her costume split in half, smirking when he saw she wasn’t wearing knickers. Flicking her wand from the night table, she vanished his clothes leaving them folded neatly on her vanity. She was about to ask if he remembered to do the contraceptive charm when he slipped his fingers inside her. She moaned at the welcome intrusion.

“Already?” she gasped.

“You’re hot. Get over it.”

He smiled and withdrew his fingers. Placing them in his mouth he sucked gently. Ginny raised her hips and he met her halfway, fingers still in his mouth. They rocked together slowly, their bodies coming together and collapsing in total bliss and comfort in the way that one feels when they’re with their soulmate.

They lay together quietly, Harry playing with her hair and her fingers tracing a lazy line all the way up to his chest. A quick glance at the clock made Ginny groan.

“What is it?”

“It’s nine-fifteen. We have to go.” Harry crashed out of their bed and onto the floor. “Umm... I thought you didn’t want to go.”

“Yeah, but now I’m excited. Also, we have to leave because I need to leave for Ron’s at 10.”

“Okay,” she replied lazily. “Let me just fix my bear costume.”

“Already done! Let’s go!”

Harry literally shoved her out of the house. It was possibly the oddest thing to ever happened to her. Well, besides the whole being possessed by Voldemort. As she was passing the doorway, she noticed the letter from earlier. She recognized the handwriting as Hagrid’s and snatched the letter as Harry pulled her through the door.

Using the Floo to Diagon Alley on Halloween was practically impossible before Voldemort was killed. In the years that followed the Alley was entirely closed for parties and all forms of merriment. The two had apparated directly into George’s flat above the shop. They descended the stairs and were glad of their traveling choice.

The place was mad.

Neon lights and the smell of smoke were the first things that Ginny’s brain registered. Bodies were crushed together beating too loud of music as fireworks bounced above everyone’s heads. A smaller version of the dragon that had chased Umbridge during Fred and George’s retirement of Hogwarts was currently chasing a boy out of the shop who had tried to steal a pygmy puff. People cheered as the fireworks went off with a huge bang once the boy had made it out of the door.

Ginny leaned over to point this out to Harry when she noticed he was in Auror mode. “Don’t you dare!” she mouthed. “Enjoy yourself and have a drink!”

Harry shrugged, though his grip on his wand loosened. They made it down the stairs and to George who was happy to see them.

“Harry! There’s my second favorite brother!” Harry went red and began stuttering. “Oh, calm down I was only joking. Ickle-Ronnikans is my seventh favorite brother.”

“George, Harry’s off tonight. Where do we get sloshed? Ron’s dragging him to a chess tournament at ten.”

“Yeah, we heard.”

“We? Was I the only one who didn’t know about this dumb chess tournament?”

“Yeah, because Ron knew better than to beg you to go with him. Also, the drinks are outside. Don’t get too sloshed; Ron’s Floo is down. You two are going to have to apparate.”

They waved and headed outside for drinks. Ginny ordered them ‘Sexy Firewhiskeys’ and corn dogs. She turned to ask Harry if he wanted mustard on his when she realized he was gone. Wand drawn and drinks forgotten, she rushed into the fray looking for Harry.

It didn’t take long to locate him as she followed the groups of people pointing and whispering. She fought through the throngs and came to a sudden stop when she reached a small clearing in the crowd. Everyone was giving him a wide berth, which made sense considering he was arresting an elderly wizard. “Er, Harry?”

“Sorry, Gin. We’re going to need to make a stop at the DMLE.”

She looked over to a familiar-looking frightened boy who was sitting on the ground behind Harry. She could hear an elderly witch next to her whisper to her husband. “He tried to drag the boy down the alley. Saw it with my eyes, I did.”

Walking over to the boy, she knelt down on her knees. “Aren’t you the kid who tried to nick a pygmy puff?”

“Yea,” Harry replied standing the wizard up. He looked over at the boy. “Tommy, this is my girlfriend Ginny. She’s going to apparate you to the Ministry. We’ll firecall your parents from there, okay?”

The boy nodded and scrambled to his feet, clutching her hand tightly. They apparated to the DMLE apparating room. Harry checked the wizard in, while Ginny took Tommy to the break room and made him hot chocolate. They were just finishing the last of their marshmallows when Harry returned with a witch from Wizarding Family Services. The woman was smiling brightly at Harry but sobered up when she entered the room.

“Hi, I’m Sara Vance. Harry tells me you lost your parents.” The boy nodded nervously. “Do you want to tell me what happened after?”

The boy looked at his shoes. Harry leaned down in front of the boy. “You don’t need to be afraid. All you have to do is tell the truth and you won’t get in any trouble.”

The boy’s lip trembled and Ginny moved to clutch her necklace. She was startled when instead, she grabbed a fistful of bear fur. She hadn’t even noticed that Harry was also still in his bear outfit. Quietly, she excused herself and went to wait in Harry’s office. It was a short walk, and she was greeted with quite a few hellos from department members that Harry mentioned on a daily basis.

She sat in Harry’s chair and spun around. She heard the loud clock at reception chime that it was ten o’clock. Summoning her Patronus, she let Ron know that Harry was going to be late. She leaned back in his chair and heard something crinkle in her pocket. Oh, Hagrid’s letter.

Pulling it out, she saw it was addressed to both of them. She opened it and managed to catch the letter but not several photographs that fell to the ground.

Harry and Ginny,

When I found you that day, Dumbledore asked me to box up what was left in the house. I had forgotten about these pictures until yesterday. Sirius had picked them up from the floor in the living room before he left.

Fang misses you. Come visit.

Hagrid

With shaking hands, she knelt down on the floor and turned over the pictures.

Harry arrived ten minutes later and found Ginny on the floor sobbing in her adorable bear costume. “Ginny? Ginny, what’s wrong? What- Is that my mum?”

“Hagrid found pictures of you with your parents on Halloween the day they died. Harry look, you’re all dressed up as-”

Harry sank to his knees next to Ginny. “Three little bears,” he breathed. Harry sat in Ginny’s arms and cried all while gripping his last memory of his parents.

They sat together on the floor for so long Ginny lost feeling in her foot. Not that she cared. Neither of them spoke of his pain. There was no reason to. Nothing could bring his parents back or ease his suffering. He had stopped sniffling several moments earlier to be replaced with quiet hiccuping.

At that moment Ginny swore to herself that she would never be a source of sadness for him. He had already known too much pain in his life. She was going to make him happy, and they were going to be happy for as long as they were together and loving.

“Hey, Ginny?” Harry asked hoarsely.

“Yes, sweetie.”

“There was no championship tonight. I had a surprise I wanted to show you.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t entirely sure what to say. “Do you still want to show me?”

“If that’s okay with you?” She nodded, and Harry intertwined his free hand in hers. The Ministry was empty as they went to the apparition point. “Hold tight.”

She walked into his open embrace and closed her eyes as she felt the familiar pull in her navel. They were deposited on a small quiet lane in a village just as the sun was rising.

“This place looks so familiar. Why do I recognize it?”

“We have a painting of it.”

“Oh,” she replied as he pulled her arm leading her down the lane and to the second house. There was a small overflowing garden hidden behind a small brick wall. The cottage itself looked like it had been rebuilt recently. It was a family home with room for kids to run in the front and a pitch in the back.

“Harry, I love it, but this looks like an expensive neighborhood. We could never afford-”

“It’s mine.”

“What?” Harry stepped through the gate, his back to her. All at once it hit her. They were in Godric’s Hollow. “Oh, merlin. Harry-”

“Kreacher knew some elves that specialized in house cleaning for dark magic. We’ve been working on it for months. He hasn’t actually been to France visiting his family for the last couple of weeks. He’s been here. The furniture we picked out was for here.”

They walked into a small foyer with a large ornate white mirror. The rooms were light, and the sun was illuminating the house.

Harry guided her into a sitting room with their new couches. She took one of the pictures from his hand and conjured an empty frame from their room. She carefully placed the picture of his family on the mantle and surveyed the other pictures there. There was a picture of Harry, Sirius, and Remus, a Sunday brunch at the Burrow, and Harry on his train ride home at the end of his first year. “But what about Grimmauld Place?”

“Grimmauld Place isn’t a place to raise a family.” Ginny traced the frame around Harry and his parents. They had been so young. Younger than she and Harry. “Ginny, turn around.”

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she turned. Harry was on his knees with a ring in his hand, fluffy bear ears loping off the side of his head adorably.

“Ginny, when I wake up in the morning and see your face, I am so thankful that you love me as much as I love you. Every day I love you more than I did the day before. I want to spend every day of my life waking up next to you. I want to spend every late night and early morning with you by my side. I love you, Ginny. Will you marry me?”

Not trusting her voice to speak, she nodded her teddy bear hat flopping on her head. She fumbled with the latch as she struggled to drop the bear paws off of her hands. Harry slipped the ring on her finger and they kissed. The room felt warm and complete in a way it hadn't in over two decades, all under the smiling faces of the Potters on the mantle. Five teddy bears under the same roof united in their love.