Chapter 6
“I was worried,” Ron admitted when he and Harry stopped their run. Ron was doubled over, breathing more heavily than Harry had expected. He supposed he’d not done any exercise since they had left Hogwarts. Perhaps he and Ginny should invite Ron and Hermione more frequently on runs. Harry glanced ahead and saw Hermione and Ginny jogging and chatting.
“About what?” Harry said, trying to tamp down the defensive response his mind went to immediately. Ron shrugged.
“Just – I didn’t know when you would want me around again.” Ron grinned. “I thought you were sticking me with bloody Ginny.”
Harry faux-glared. “Oi, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about there, Weasley,” he said.
“And she’s a bloody nightmare,” Ron said, putting his hand on Harry’s shoulder as though he was sharing unknown news. Harry laughed.
“I’m saying nothing.”
“Anyway, no, I just wanted – I wanted to be helpful but I didn’t know how I could be.”
“You? Helpful?”
Ron punched Harry on the shoulder and Harry flinched, laughing almost immediately. “While you were busy, though, me and the nightmare did get started on the plans for the big 17th.”
Harry groaned. “I don’t want anything big!”
“It’s not every day the baby of the family turns 17!” Ron cried, pinching his cheek. Harry shoved him off.
“Fuck off,” he said fondly, “and what about Ginny? Surely she’s the baby!”
Ron’s eyes widened and Harry knew he was about to have the piss taken out of him. “Oh, yes, Ginny will still be 16! Hey, you’ll have to stop shagging her – it’ll be illegal!”
Harry shoved Ron harder and started to run backwards away from him. “I’d better go and get a shag while I still can then?”
He let out a peal of laughter as Ron started running faster to catch up with him, crying “you’re a perv, Potter!” Harry was out of breath from running and laughing by the time he caught up with Ginny and Hermione, who had also paused. Harry grabbed Ginny by her naked waist, appreciating the sports bra she was sporting. He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her neck.
“Your brother has just informed me that I need to start getting some extra shags in before I turn 17, Gin,” he murmured in her ear. Ginny turned incredulous eyes on Ron and Harry laughed, pulling away somewhat to press a kiss to her temple. “Because you’ll be 15, so it’ll be illegal for me to touch you.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Ronald.”
Ron put his hands up. “Under the eyes of the law, Gin, you’re a child.”
“Didn’t stop you from shagging Lavender when she was younger than you,” Ginny snarked.
“We were both 16! I’d stopped by my 17th.” Hermione was laughing at the lot of them, which pleased Harry.
“Come on,” Harry urged, pinching Ginny’s side lightly. “If you beat us to Grimmauld, Ron, we won’t immediately go for a shag.” And, with that, Harry ran off, Ginny’s laughter and Ron’s cry of disapproval echoing behind him. Harry turned around, running backwards, to wink at Hermione.
XXX
“It is a big day!” Tonks protested as Harry tried to play down his seventeenth. Ginny grinned, approaching. Her hair was still damp from the shower, ready for her to braid it and have curls for Harry’s birthday the next day.
“I keep telling him this, Tonks,” Ginny said, enjoying how Harry’s arm immediately snaked around her when she drew up next to him. Kingsley smiled at Ginny.
“Have you got big plans for him, Ginny?”
Ginny smiled. “That’s for me to know and him to find out,” she teased. Harry groaned and pressed his face into Ginny’s hair. Ginny shared a conspiratorial grin with Tonks and Kingsley.
“You two did very well today,” Kingsley commented. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing some of these cocky aurors being shown up by a fifteen-year-old girl.”
Ginny’s smile grew. “Thank you,” she said. It had taken a while, but she really did feel like she was making an impression on the aurors. Harry had immediately, of course, but she’d felt rather dismissed as his girlfriend for a while.
“Proudfoot came to see me, to ask if I knew if all your brothers were as powerful as you,” Tonks commented. Ginny grinned. “I told him they were nowhere close to our girl.”
“You’ll both make fantastic aurors one day,” Kingsley agreed, “if that’s what you choose.” Ginny nodded, smiling. It was nice to know it was an option. She’d always wanted to play quidditch and, for the moment, was still set on pursuing that. Just as soon as they got rid of Tom.
Robards walked past and nodded at them both. “Fantastic work, today, Potter, Weasley; we’re getting lots of requests for wandless training.” They both thanked the head auror, who grimaced at them both. “Although, the Prophet do want to come in and do another profile on the two of you.”
Harry groaned and Ginny cringed. Last time, they’d overemphasised all of her quotes and made her look like a fan girl who’d lucked out. She knew Harry hated the press too, so they were on the same side, even if he didn’t have to deal with being dismissed as the Chosen One’s girlfriend all the time.
“I’ll let you know when it is,” Robards promised. Harry nodded and Ginny sensed his weariness with it. It would’ve been nice for him, too, to feel wanted for the sake of his abilities, not his name.
“We’d best go,” Harry said with a tight smile. He and Ginny strolled through the Auror Office and then rushed through the Ministry atrium to floo back to Grimmauld Place.
XXX
Harry woke up to gentle kisses on his jaw. He’d taken a sedative solution the night before, so that he would be able to enjoy his birthday. And it was definitely worth it, he thought, when his eyes opened to find a crop top and shorts-clad Ginny on top of him. “Good morning,” she murmured.
“If this is all you wanted to get me, then it’s enough,” Harry said, groaning as she grinned and started to work down his neck with open-mouthed kisses. She flung her leg over him so that she was straddling him, pushing his duvet away. “How long do we have?” he asked, throwing caution to the wind about her parents being in the house. It was his birthday for goodness’ sake.
Ginny hummed, sitting up. “Probably fifteen minutes.”
“I’m up for it, if you are,” Harry said eagerly and Ginny grinned, diving back down to kiss him.
Twenty-five minutes later, Harry arrived in the kitchen to find Molly at the stove. She didn’t notice him to start with, as he took in the birthday banners and cringey pictures that had been put up around the room. Harry looked at the ground studiously for a moment, hoping that when he spoke he wouldn’t cry.
“Oof,” he cried as a cannonball came into him from behind.
“Happy Birthday!” his over-enthusiastic girlfriend called, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his neck once, as though she hadn’t been in his bed just five minutes before, giving him an early birthday present. Harry grabbed her and pulled her round to his front, taking in her freckled face and brown eyes. She grinned up at him as Molly turned to look at them.
“Happy birthday, Harry, dear,” she said fondly, coming over to kiss his cheek. Harry grinned, squeezing Ginny closer. “17 years old.”
“An adult,” Ginny teased. Harry wanted to whisper to her about adult activities but he really did not want to mar the morning with Molly’s disapproval of their sleeping together. It was the first day in ages that he felt rested.
“Ginny has been very secretive about your plans for today,” Molly said as she started to place food on the table. Harry grinned at the sight of a full English.
“I’d be happy doing nothing, as long as it’s with Gin,” Harry said honestly.
“Oh, you are too cute,” Ginny said, winking and pulling away from him to sit down. “You’d better be careful, Potter. If I think you like me too much, I might get bored.”
Harry snorted, taking a seat next to her. “We’ll see, shall we?” he teased, leaning in to kiss her again. Ginny practically sparkled, smiling at him as she started to pile up her plate.
One by one, the rest of the Weasleys started arriving, tired, into the kitchen, wishing Harry a happy birthday and placing their presents in the centre of the table. When everyone had joined them, except Hermione, who Ron warned him would not be joining them this morning, Harry was finally invited to open one of the many gifts. He’d long finished his breakfast and had been enjoying playing with Ginny’s hair while he waited.
“Go on, Chosen One, which one are you going to choose?” Charlie crowed. Harry rolled his eyes. He took the first present he could reach, whose label told him it was from Remus, who was not there.
Over the next few presents, Harry received a set of warding books from Remus and Tonks, a new Sneakoscope from Hermione, an enchanted razor from Bill and Fleur, an enormous box of merchance from Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes and a smart pair of dragon leather boots from Kingsley. Ron presented him with his next present, which Harry took with a grin, noting it was in the shape of a book.
Sure enough, it was a book. Harry frowned at Ron, who only winked at him. “Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches,” Harry read out to general laughter. Ginny scowled.
“Just in case Ginny gets too much for you,” Ron said faux-innocently, only laughing when he got a face full of scrambled eggs from his sister. Harry howled with laughter, grabbing Ginny to his side and pressing kisses down her face. Mrs Weasley cleared her throat and Harry pulled away, settling with intertwining their hands.
“Arthur told me to wish you a happy seventeenth, Harry. He had to leave early for work, but he'll be back for dinner. That's our present there... It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age..." she trailed off. Harry smiled, remembering Ron getting his watch, and opened the small box. He saw inside a rather battered looking watch.
Mrs Weasley gave him a tremulous smile. “It was my brother Fabian’s. I – We couldn’t - ”
“It’s perfect,” Harry cut her off. “I love it.” He stood up and hugged her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. He put on the watch and showed it off proudly to the table. Ginny grinned as he sat back down beside her, admiring the watch. Harry glanced at the empty table and turned to look Ginny in the eyes.
“Right, then, come on, Weasley.”
“What?” she said, looking away innocently. Harry reached over to her chair to tickle her and she laughed, pushing him away. “Oh, you want your present?” she asked.
“Yes, where is it?” he demanded, trying again in vain to tug her closer. “You’ll have to be careful, Gin, because, in 12 days, it’s your birthday and I will send your present back.” Ginny snorted, her eyes twinkling, and flicked her hand, a present immediately appearing in it. He grinned and ignored Mrs Weasley’s frown at the underage, wandless magic.
Ginny passed him the present. It was a thin rectangular shape. He carefully unwrapped it and then flipped it over. It was a photo frame with a picture of them inside. The picture was of them, by the lake at Hogwarts. He was holding her between his legs and had his face pressed into her hair. She was smiling. On the wooden frame, at the top and bottom, it said, “51.538,-0.010”. Harry frowned.
“They’re our coordinates,” Ginny said. “We’re together right now, so they’re the same, but, if we’re ever apart, mine is the top and yours is the bottom.”
“So, I’ll always know where you are,” he murmured. Ginny nodded and met his eyes. “I love it,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered. Harry’s heart beat faster and he wondered whether she would go back to Hogwarts in September. He wanted her with him and he couldn’t, wouldn’t go back to Hogwarts. At least he would always know she was safe.
XXX
He and Ginny snuck away to go flying, leaving Ron with Hermione. “This was the best present I could have asked for,” Harry said as they landed on the ground.
“Having your arse beat?” Ginny teased.
Harry snorted. “You wish, Weasley. I’m the superior flyer, 365 days a year.”
“Oh, are you?” Ginny said, stopping and pulling him close. “Then, why did I pull out of that dive faster than you?”
Harry hummed and leaned down, whispering in her ear, “Because you’re a coward who can’t pull off a Wronski Feint.” By the time Ginny had gasped in horror, Harry had sprinted away with his broomstick, waiting for her to catch him.
They reached the point that they had apparated into earlier and, before she could speak, Harry scooped Ginny up in his arms and side-alonged her back to Grimmauld Place.
“I hate when you do that!” Ginny screeched when they arrived. Harry laughed, ignoring her glare, and tugged her to the kitchen, where they were immediately greeted with, “Surprise!”
The kitchen was full of Harry’s closest friends. He grinned and squeezed Ginny to his side.
“Thank you, thank you,” he said when they had finished cheering. “Thank you for coming.”
“Come on, mate, let’s get stuck in,” Ron said, gesturing his head to the magnificent array of food on the table. Harry grinned and gestured for people to dig in. He glanced around the room, not letting go of Ginny for a second and saw, as well as the Weasleys, Remus and Tonks, Kingsley and even Hagrid. The only face he missed was Hermione and, stomach squirming, he decided to ignore that for a while.
With Ginny under his arm, Harry greeted Remus and Tonks, thanking them for his present and then went to Kingsley to do the same. When he approached Hagrid, he and Ginny were engulfed in a bear hug. “Well, Harry, you could’ve told me about all this!” he said, gesturing between Harry and Ginny.
Ginny grinned. “He likes keeping me hidden away.”
Hagrid laughed, hands on his belly. “You’ve always been partial to him, mind, Ginny. I told him so when you first started at Hogwarts. Took him a bit of time to come ‘round to it.” Harry laughed, noting his and Ginny’s flushed faces. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’ve got you a present here, Harry.”
Harry took the shabbily-wrapped gift with gratitude, grinning up at Hagrid, his first friend. “Thanks, Hagrid.” He unwrapped the present and took out a small bag. Hagrid told him to open it up and then proceeded to explain that he could put anything in there and it would always fit, so long as it was small enough to fit in the entrance point. Harry grinned and thanked Hagrid, thinking that it was a perfect place to store the Marauders’ Map and the Invisibility Cloak.
Harry kept doing the rounds, rarely losing Ginny for a moment. He had drinks pressed on him by the Weasley brothers and slowly started to give way into being a bit tipsy, no matter how much of his drinks he was slipping Ginny, whose brothers were not offering her any. “You’ve not actually told us how you got together,” Tonks said after a while.
Ginny was sitting on the kitchen counter, Harry standing between her legs. Everyone’s attention was on them. “It’s really not that exciting of a story,” Harry played down. Ginny smacked his shoulder and he flinched before looking up at her. “What?”
“You’re saying getting together with me wasn’t that exciting!” Harry rolled his eyes and gestured for her to go on. “Okay, so it all started when we won our first quidditch match.”
Ron groaned. “You were drunk?”
“Incredibly so,” Ginny confirmed, ignoring her parents’ matching frowns. “So, I was there with Dean, obviously, and Harry was absolutely smashed. Seamus was sick on his feet and then Dean took Seamus away and Harry lay down on my lap.” Harry flushed furiously, ignoring the jeers of laughter particularly from Fred and George. “He proceeded to tell me how much he adored me and wanted to spend every waking moment with me.”
Harry groaned and put his face in his hands. “I’m bloody regretting that now,” he grumbled. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and he relented, stepping back and allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist from behind to keep him there.
“So,” Ginny continued, her fingers playing with his hair, “the next morning, I went to break up with Dean and then went to find Harry, who had been watching me obsessively on the Marauders’ Map. He rushed out of the Room of Requirement and then we got together.”
“After she had told me how much she adored me and wanted to spend all her time with me,” Harry added. Ginny grinned, giving him another kiss.
“And we’ve been together ever since.”
Ginny’s dad gave a chuckle. “No wonder you were upset when we thought he went missing at Christmas, Ginny.”
Harry snorted. “More like furious,” he corrected. Ginny scowled and he cringed up at her, apologising again.
“Well,” Molly announced, clapping her hands together, “as lovely as this is, I think we’d better get to bed.”
“Mum, Harry’s an adult now! He can stay up as late as he wants!” Charlie informed him.
Molly laughed and said, “Well, I have not had so many drinks for a good while and I dearly need my bed. You lot can feel free to stay up celebrating.” Harry thanked Molly and Arthur as they left, swiftly followed by Hagrid, Remus, Tonks and Kingsley, until it was just them, the Weasley siblings, Fleur and Harry.
“What are you going to do with your adulthood, then, Harry?” Bill asked, his hand slung around Fleur’s waist. Harry shrugged, not willing to think on his plans for the next however long. “If Voldemort didn’t exist,” Bill added as a caveat.
Harry laughed, pressing his head back against Ginny’s shoulder. “I don’t know. I’d want to go travelling, I think, with Gin.”
“Where would you go?” Fleur asked.
Harry turned his head to see Ginny looking down at him. “I don’t know. Canada, America, Japan.” He laughed. “Wherever Ginny wanted to go.”
“I’d go wherever you were,” she murmured and Harry’s heart skipped a beat.
“I love you.”
XXX
Harry woke up about an hour after he’d fallen asleep and he found Hermione at his door, knocking insistently. He allowed her in but groaned at her about what time it was. “I expected I would find Ginny in here,” she said. Harry noticed that her eyes were red.
With a yawn, he said, “She doesn’t stay in here. Her parents don’t want us to share a room.”
“I didn’t think you’d listen.”
Harry laughed. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life with these people, Hermione. I’m not going to piss them off this early in our relationship. I can keep my hands off Ginny for a while.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t – I’m sorry I didn’t celebrate with you.” Harry met her eyes as they filled with tears.
“Don’t worry,” he said as he took into his arms and held her, murmuring his apologies to her. How could he have got drunk and told stories last night while Hermione was up here, mourning?
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed into his chest as they sat down on his bed. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t – don’t – never apologise,” he said back to her.
XXX
Ginny blinked awake, looked from side to side. She was sure she’d heard… And there it was again. Her legs swung off the side of her bed and jumped up, yawning. She groaned as she left her room and headed to the floor above, where the lights were flickering on and off and the doorframes were shaking. Ron had beaten her there and Harry’s door was open. He was thrashing on the bed and his muscles were seizing. Hermione was already beside him and Ginny wondered if she’d been there all night. Hermione was trying to shake him awake.
Ginny got on the bed, on top of him, and tried to still his muscles. “Harry,” she murmured, reaching up to stroke his hair away from his face. His scar was burning hot, so she put a cooling charm on it. “Harry,” she soothed, lying down so that her body was pressed against his. Ron was making little grunting noises like he wanted to say something, to say nothing of the noise that came from the door frame, from her mother. Ginny didn’t turn to look. She waited until Harry finally calmed and opened his eyes. When they were red, Ginny pressed her lips to his and hoped that he would close his eyes and no one would see them.
When Ginny pulled away, Harry was still panting but his eyes were green again. Ginny let out a relieved sigh and collapsed against him. He tightened his hold on her, pushing his hands up her nightie to her back. Ginny was all too aware that her parents and majority of her brothers were watching but she knew that Harry needed this.
“What’s happened?” she whispered.
Harry gasped, sitting up and practically shoving Ginny off him. He jumped up out of bed and didn’t pay any attention to anyone around him. “Little Whinging,” he groaned, pressing his palm against his scar. Ginny sent a cooling charm at it again, not that he noticed. “I have to- I have to go!”
“Harry,” Ginny’s mother said softly. “Get back into bed, love. You’ve had a shock-”
“No!” he snapped and Ginny cringed as the light fixtures exploded. She threw up a shield to stop them hitting them and then banished the lot. “I have to go!”
“Harry,” Ginny’s dad tried. Harry grabbed a shirt and shoved it on. “You’re probably-”
Harry’s eyes were wild, green but wild. He span around, as though looking for something, and eventually fixed on Bill. “Bill, please,” he begged. Ginny’s heart was in her throat.
Bill nodded. “Come on, mate,” he said, wand in hand. Ginny tried to turn to go but Bill shook his head firmly. Bill and Harry left, leaving the rest of them bamboozled.
“What the sweet Merlin has just happened?” Fred asked incredulously.
“Harry had a vision, you twat,” Ginny said, feeling magic rise inside of her.
“Ginevra!” Ginny pursed her lips and looked away, her throat feeling tight.
“Let’s all just go back to bed,” Charlie suggested.
“Doesn’t look like Hermione has far to go,” Ron spat. Ginny glanced at her brother and found that his ears were red. The room’s atmosphere turned cold.
“Ron,” Ginny whispered, putting her hand on his chest. “Leave it.”
“You’re fine with this?” he demanded. “Another girl is in your fucking boyfriend’s bed!”
“That other girl is Hermione!” Ginny protested in a lower voice, aware that everyone in their family was looking at her. She swallowed. “Let’s all just go back to bed,” she suggested.
Her dad agreed and, grumbling, everyone did leave the room and return to their own, leaving Ginny staring at Harry’s bed.
“You really should speak with him, Ginny, if you’re upset,” her mum’s quiet voice informed her. Ginny laughed, absurdly feeling tears come to her eyes. She turned to her mum, wiping wetness from her eyes.
“It’s not Hermione that upsets me,” Ginny told her mum truthfully. “I don’t think there’s anyone that understands how upset she is right now, other than Harry. I really – I really, truly don’t mind that she leans on him. Yes, I’d prefer if she wasn’t in his bed, but I can’t be anyway, can I?” Her mother frowned and Ginny gave her a thin smile. “I just – I wish I could’ve gone with him.” Ginny sank down onto the bed and her mum came to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her.
Her mother sighed and said, “Ginny, Bill is far better equipped to-”
Ginny shoved her mother away from her, ignoring the twinge in her stomach at her mother’s upset face. “I’m staying here,” she declared. “Harry’s not here anyway, so you shouldn’t find a reason to complain.”
“Ginny,” her mum sighed again. “Your father and I just want what’s best for you. We know you love Harry, and he loves you, but you are still just fifteen and-”
“And Voldemort could kill me any day,” Ginny finished bitterly, ignoring her mother’s stricken look. “He could be killing Harry right now.” She lay down on her side, her eyes looking anywhere but at her mother.
XXX
4 Privet Drive was empty of people. Harry blinked, looking around. His scar had cooled off, not burning with the same intensity as it had when they’d arrived in Little Whinging. The pain had drifted across his head and sinuses, throbbing softly. Bill had his wand out as they searched Harry’s relatives house.
Number 5 Privet Drive, across the street, had been entirely destroyed. A charm had told them that there were no living people inside. Whether Mr and Mrs Peters were dead in there was another matter, but, as Bill had said, the priority always has to be the living. They searched the houses where charms told them there were living people inside.
Harry had arrived just in time to see Mrs Figg die before him. Bill had stoically stood by him as he’d cried and thrown up. When Bill had suggested he go into Privet Drive first, to check on things, Harry had shook his head and stormed forward, thoughts of his aunt, uncle and cousin’s dead bodies driving him on.
As Harry opened the door to what had once been his cupboard, there was a loud crack from outside. Bill cursed and dashed to the window, as Harry blinked, taking in the small soldier figurines that still sat, dusty, in his former bedroom. “Just the aurors,” Bill said from the window. “Too bloody late, as usual.”
“How many dead do you think?” Harry asked, his voice flat, as he looked up to meet Bill’s eyes.
Bill blew out a breath. “Some might have fled,” he suggested. Harry gave him a look and Bill shrugged. “I don’t know, Harry. What I do know is that your relatives aren’t here.”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed, standing up fully. “Do you think Voldemort took them?”
Bill said nothing and Harry felt a horrid pit of dread in his stomach. He hated his aunt and uncle, but he did not want them to be murdered because of him. Not like all of their neighbours had been.
Harry felt tears burning in the back of his eyes and wished Ginny had come. It would have been a comfort to see her now, even just for a minute. He stepped into the kitchen, glancing around. It was tidy and clean, very little dust. The Dursleys couldn’t have been gone for long, maybe a day at the most. Or a few hours if Voldemort had taken them.
Hearing Bill come in behind, Harry walked out into the garden and leaned against the brick wall. How many people had died today because Voldemort wanted to hurt Harry?
“Harry,” Bill’s voice called, a tone of urgency behind it. Harry’s eyes flashed open and he turned, a stunning curse already on his lips at whatever was attacking Bill. What he found, however, was Bill waving a letter at him.
Frowning, Harry took the letter and read it through.
Dear Mr and Mrs Dursley,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been gifted a night away at the Freemont Hotel…
Harry dropped the letter. They’d gone away. He closed his eyes. They weren’t – Voldemort hadn’t got to them. He swallowed. “I suppose the guard went with them too,” Bill said and Harry let out a sound, somewhere between a gasp and a groan of relief. He felt Bill’s hand come down softly on his shoulder and closed his eyes to hide his tears.
“We should go,” Bill said softly. Harry shook his head.
“We need to check if-”
“The Aurors are here.”
Harry nodded slowly. He knew lots of the aurors now. They’d have a better clue what to do than him. “Can we – I just want to – Mrs Figg - ”
Bill agreed, giving Harry a look of pity that he hated. Harry shook it off and turned to go and find the woman Dumbledore had put near him to guard him, so that he could take her away and bury her somewhere she deserved.