Two and a half years later.
“Ron, six-thirty position. Quick!”
Harry ducked as the dummy of the Death Eater approached him. He did a duck-walk for a short distance and looked up again, only to see a mass of flaming red hair visible over the opposite wall.
“Transmittere,” he said, touching his lips to the tip of his wand. A reddish glow emanated from it. Then he spoke onto his wandtip.
“Ron, I can see your hair. Duck more.”
“Yeah, just a mo’,” said Ron, and within a few seconds the red mass of hair vanished below the wall.
“Bingo!” Harry said, taking a few more steps in his duck-walk. He finally stopped when he saw a Death Eater approaching him from the opposite side. Waiting for about a second, he suddenly stood up catching the dummy unawares. “Expelliarmus!”
The dummy’s wand flew out of its wooden fingers and Harry grabbed the opportunity to send another attack. “Petrificus Totalus!”
The dummy fell forwards as though paralysed. Harry scrambled out of the way and stood up, finding himself face-to-face with a Dementor. A kind of fog erupted before his eyes and he could already hear screams… screams of his mother when she was facing her last moments… Harry tried to think of something happy and raised his wand… but it was too late… he was dissolving in the fog… a pair of clammy hands clutched his arms… he could smell the putrid breath of the Dementor…
“Hang on, mate, Riddikulus!”
The Dementor turned into a legless spider and vanished in a puff of smoke. Harry, however, fell to the ground, panting heavily and sweating like mad. He steadied himself in a second and sat up, clutching his spinning head and looking groggily at the blurred image of Ron crouching beside him.
It took some time for Harry’s focus to come back. He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his sweaty forehead and grimaced at Ron.
“You saved my life.”
Ron grinned. “Do you need chocolate?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Harry replied.
Ron summoned a mug of hot chocolate and passed it to Harry, who drank it and felt warmth filling his cold body. Every cell indulged into the comfort as he drained the cocoa. At last, he smacked his lips and Vanished the mug.
“Come on let’s go to the main office,” Ron said, helping Harry to his feet. The duo started walking towards the door that led out of the Auror Training Room.
“All dummies down, then?” Harry questioned, as Ron locked the door of the room behind them.
“Yeah, you did away with the last one.”
There was silence as the two friends walked down the long corridor outside the Training Room and stopped in front of a line of elevators with golden grilles. Ron pressed the button and an elevator arrived at once. Its grille doors opened with a clang and the two friends stepped in. Harry pressed the button of level two and the lift set off, making clanging noises. A few memos zoomed in and out at several levels; otherwise, the lift was quite empty.
“Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services.”
Harry and Ron got out of the lift and went round the corner through a heavy doorway made of oak. The room beyond was divided into cubicles and had a cheerful air. Harry’s talking and laughing colleagues waved to him merrily, and he waved back. At last, he found his cubicle. His cubicle walls were covered with maps, enlarged Quidditch magazine covers and newsprints regarding the most notorious Death Eaters. A thin blue file and a laminated photo of himself, Parvati and their year-old daughter Naina waving happily were placed on his desk. The dustbin below all this was overflowing with crumpled bits of parchment.
Harry flopped onto his chair, while Ron walked to his own cubicle that was next to Harry’s. The redhead too, slumped onto his cushiony chair. “Harry,” he said, “we’ve got to get on with a new case, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?” Harry asked.
“I mean to say; don’t you think this Death Eater catching business has grown slightly dusty?”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “That’s what we're supposed to do, aren’t we? We have been given this position to catch Death Eaters.”
“Dark wizards, Harry, not Death Eaters,” Ron corrected him. “There is a difference. Not all dark wizards are Death Eaters.”
“Maybe,” Harry said. “But who cares?”
“Quite right, Harry, but can’t we do something different? Some other case?”
“I can’t conjure cases out of thin air,” Harry replied and proceeded to open the blue file on his desk. “Blimey, did you see this, Ron?” he asked, picking up a printed piece of parchment from the Head of Auror Office, William Walanger.
“Yep,” said Ron. “When’s your appointment?”
“Right now,” Harry answered. He got up from his chair without further ado and walked towards the oak doors, only to find Ron following him.
“What are you coming for?” he asked Ron.
“Well, looks like we have got a joint appointment.”
The duo walked out of the doorway, turned round the corner and walked past the elevator, finding themselves in the middle of yet another corridor. They walked farther, until another turning came. They took it and entered a row of air-conditioned (the air conditioners had no wires) cabins with doors of frosted glass. These harboured the senior-most Aurors. The best friends then walked farther, and stopped outside the farthermost cabin.
Harry could see blurred figures through the frosted glass and guessed that there were other Aurors who had been asked to meet Walanger. It took a few minutes until the door opened and three women walked out, talking to each other in whispers. Harry, however, had eyes for only one of them.
The woman had long, flaming red hair, cut out in stylish layers. The layers were more on the right side than the left. Beginning with the right side of her forehead, a few silky tresses caressed her temples while some threatened to get into her light brown-coloured eyes, though they stayed out. The woman wore a smart set of formal olive-green robes and was in deep conservation with one of the other women with her. Quite suddenly, her friend tapped her shoulder. She looked up at Harry and smiled. “Hi, Harry.”
Harry felt as though he were coming down a roller coaster. His stomach gave a mighty jolt as he licked his lips and said, “H-Hi, Ginny.”
But she had left. Harry looked to his side and saw a bewildered-looking Ron. “I thought you two split up back in our sixth year?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Harry said. “So what?”
“So, you shouldn’t be looking at her like that, Harry. You’re a married man now.”
“I know I’m married, Ron, but what was it with my looking at her?”
“Anyone would have guessed that you still love her.”
“Look,” Harry said. “I don’t love her. Not anymore. It’s only Parvati for me, now.”
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Walanger called them in. Harry followed Ron into the cabin, his mind racing. Did he love Parvati? He respected her, but wouldn’t that be counted as love? Love with respect? But what about Ginny? Why did his stomach give that funny jolt when he saw her?
Walanger pointed to the seats before his desk and Harry sat down beside Ron. He tried to clear his mind and relax. He knew he loved Parvati. She was his life. She had helped nurse him back to health when he had been almost fatally injured after defeating Voldemort in the Second War… and he had to repay her by loving her as much as she loved him. And Naina… she was so cute! Harry smiled dazedly.
“Um… Mr. Potter?”
Harry’s conscience jumped back to reality. He stopped smiling and glanced up at Walanger in an alert manner.
Walanger smiled. “Good. Now, I have good news for both of you and I’d like to talk to you about a new case I might put you on.”
Harry and Ron looked at each other. “Um- have the Death Eaters been spotted somewhere, sir?” Harry asked. What else could be good news?
“It’s not that, Mr. Potter. The good news is that you and Mr. Weasley have been promoted. Your new cabins will be shown to you later.”
Harry and Ron looked at each other yet another time and beamed. “Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Weasley, but I think we should go on with the case.”
Harry nodded. “Is it related to Death Eaters, sir?”
“No,” said Walanger. “It’s a completely different case. Relating to murder. You see, Mr. Potter, there have been serial killings taking place in London. The murderer started their dirty work about a month ago, and there have been four murders ever since. All the victims are witches. And, the murders are related- they seem to have been committed by a fan of yours.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “My fan?”
“Yes,” Walanger replied. “This lady, in fact, seems to be crazy about you. She has been killing people- we cannot say why- but she has also left messages beside the victims, saying ‘she wants you’.”
“But sir, how can you be sure that it’s a woman?”
“That’s simple, Mr. Potter, she wants you, she cannot be satisfied by just seeing you or having your autograph. I believe a man would be happy with just an autograph or something.”
Harry nodded slowly, as he took in all the information. “So… you want us to-”
“Find who’s behind all this, yes. Are you up to it?”
Ron nodded and looked at Harry. “Yes sir,” Harry replied. “We’ll be delighted to take up the case. When do you want us to start, sir?”
“I’m really happy to see such enthusiasm, Mr. Potter, I would be glad if you started investigations from tomorrow. I’ll call your fellow investigators,” Walanger said. He opened a drawer and got out four memos. Flying them all, he sat back on his seat and they waited.
Harry sighed and leaned back to his seat as they all waited for Harry and Ron’s co-workers. There was another thing that was bothering Harry- it was his twenty-seventh birthday today and no one had found it necessary to wish him. Not even Parvati. Harry wondered whether she had forgotten. But what about the Weasleys? Why hadn’t they wished him?
“Ah, there you are.”
Harry sat up and looked at the door. His stomach gave a jerk. Standing at the doorway were Ginny and the other two women who had just left the cabin before Harry had entered. There was also a man along with them, whom Harry recognised as Anthony, his brother-in-law. Anthony had married Padma, a year after Harry and Parvati had been married. Harry knew one of the other two women as Romilda Vane, a raven-haired girl, who, like Ginny had been obsessed with Harry for a pretty long time. Harry smiled and stood up as Walanger and Ron did the same. Walanger walked towards the women and said, “Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, may I introduce you to your assistants in this case? This is Miss Ginny Weasley- of course, you would know her…”
Ginny held out her hand and Harry shook it, his stomach tingling in an uncomfortable way. Her hand was so soft… so nice to touch… Harry did not have the heart to leave it.
“Ahem.”
Harry jerked his hand free from Ginny’s and saw Walanger looking at him in an amused manner, as Ron shook Ginny’s hand. “This is Miss Romilda Vane.”
Harry smiled and shook Romilda’s hand. Ron followed suit. Next, Walanger gestured to a blonde woman with clear cerulean eyes, whom Harry remembered vaguely as a fellow student from Hogwarts, two years younger than himself. “This is Miss Irene Stance and this,” Walanger beckoned to Anthony. “This is Mr. Anthony Goldstein.”
Harry shook Irene and Anthony’s hands too. Then, he walked back to Ginny. “Hey, when did you get back?”
Ginny smiled. “Yesterday, I just got appointed in the Auror office today, along with Romilda and Irene. I’m so excited about our first case!”
“Are you?” Harry asked. “Do you know that the murderer is a fan of mine?”
“Yep,” Ginny said. “I think it will be something like tracking Death Eaters… the only thing is that there will not be a You-Know-Who.”
“Call him Voldemort.”
“You can do that, since you were the one who defeated him. I’m comfortable calling him You-Know-Who, thanks.”
“Mr. Potter? Miss Weasley?”
Harry and Ginny looked at Walanger, who smiled. “I presume you would have much to talk about now and I’ll definitely not interrupt you. But let me just take a minute before you continue.”
Harry nodded and so did Ginny.
“All right, now I just want to inform you that you’ll be staying together- wives and children allowed, of course,” Walanger gave a meaningful smile to Harry, Anthony and Ron and continued. “There is a Ministry guest house at Bath in the centre of a Muggle settlement and I want you all to stay there. Be there right at seven in the morning tomorrow and the watchman will give you the keys of the place. As for today, you can all go home right now. You can come here regularly, but will be exempted from attending duties until you catch the culprit, because it could be difficult to catch up at this place, sometimes. But let me just ask one question- would you need a Fidelius Charm?”
“Um… I don’t think it’s necessary, sir,” Harry said. The others nodded in agreement.
“Okay then, good luck to all of you! You can go home now.”
The six Aurors walked out of the office. Irene and Romilda started talking to each other, while Anthony spoke to Harry and Ron for a minute or two, before departing to the Atrium. Ginny was just walking along, saying nothing. Harry was walking beside Ron, not taking his eyes off Ginny.
“Um- nature’s call, just a minute,” Ron said suddenly and walked off towards the lavatory. Harry was left with Ginny walking at his side.
“Er-” Harry began.
Ginny looked at him. “So, Harry, you did not tell me anything about yourself… what’re you up to these days?”
“Oh, I’m an Auror all right, you know that and-” Harry did not know how to say this. “Ginny, I’m- I’m married now.”
“Oh!” Ginny smiled, but it did not look convincing. “Who’s the lucky lady?”
“Parvati… and- and I have a daughter named Naina.”
Ginny tried to smile again. “Well, congratulations, Harry! Naina’s a rather cute name… Did Parvati suggest that name, by any chance?”
“Yeah,” Harry replied. “Naina means ‘eyes’ in Hindi- you know, Parvati’s language. I mean, Hindi is not Parvati’s mother tongue, she says that it’s Marathi, but well, my daughter is named so, because Naina has my eyes and Parvati reckons they are beautiful.”
“And so they are…” Ginny looked into Harry’s eyes. For a moment she seemed dazed, but then she coughed and said, “But I guess I must get going now… see you tomorrow and Happy Birthday!”
“Thanks…” Harry watched as she walked off, her hair bouncing beautifully, when Ron came to him. Harry looked away from Ginny. “Shall we go home?”
“Yes, come on.” The duo walked to their cubicles, collected their belongings, pulled off their robes to reveal Muggle clothes and walked out of the office. They took the lift to the Atrium and stepped outside the visitors’ entrance of the Ministry. Due to all the undercover activities they had to do, there had been a new system at the Ministry to place Aurors’ houses in Muggle communities. For this reason, the Aurors could not Apparate home and had to use cars, as a result.
“Honestly,” said Ron, as Harry and he walked to their respective cars. “I can’t understand why they have to do all these nonsensical stuff. I mean, we’re just wasting our time, using cars. Why can’t we just Apparate and then modify the required number of memories?”
Harry did not say anything; he just got into his car, as Ron got into his own. “Goodbye, mate.” Harry reversed and then went on, switching his car to drive mode. Harry steered smoothly down the road, adjusting his rear-view mirrors. It was dusk and the sky looked red… just like Ginny’s hair. Harry’s thoughts kept wandering to the time he had spent with Ginny at the Ministry. Why the hell couldn’t he take his eyes off her? What was happening?
Harry tried to shake off these thoughts, but couldn’t get them out of his head. Parvati was his wife, now. He had agreed to marry her… now it would be unfair if he would think about Ginny. But how was Harry going to spend the next couple of months with Ginny in the same house as him?
Suddenly, there was a screech of tyres. Harry looked just in time to see the car in front of him come to an abrupt halt. Driving towards the left, Harry missed the car ahead narrowly and bumped onto the footpath instead. It had been a red signal and Harry had not seen it. This was what had almost caused an accident. Harry buried his face into his hands and thanked God that he had acted just in the nick of time. What was happening to him, nowadays? Harry heard a sharp tap on his window. He brought it down and a man asked him whether he was all right. Harry nodded and bringing his car back to line, got back to driving when the signal turned green.
Twenty minutes later, he parked his car in the courtyard of his house. He then walked to the door and rang the doorbell. The door was opened by Parvati, who smiled at him. She was dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail and Harry could just make out the small amount of vermilion that she had worn on the parting of her hair. “Hi! I thought you’d be late.” She stood aside and let Harry in.
“Ron, a few others and I are on a new case,” Harry said, walking to the living room. This room had two armchairs and a couch, all of which were the colour of chocolate. The walls were painted a warm yellow. The fireplace was intricately carved and a matching carved out entertainment centre stood at one end, with an LCD television on it. Both Harry and Parvati had decided to behave like Muggles in such a Muggle-packed area as theirs. Presently, Harry seated himself on a sofa. “Walanger let us off early today, but we have to start out on that case tomorrow and for that, we’ll have to stay in the guest house for a couple of months- wives and children allowed of course, so you can come.”
“Okay,” Parvati said. “That’s not a problem.”
“Hey,” Harry spoke again, sniffing the air several times, “Do I smell garlic?”
“Yep,” Parvati replied.
“So that means you’re cooking Indian food for a change. Am I right?”
“Um… no, Harry. I just brought a few to ward off vampires. I was crystal gazing and I saw one passing this street.”
“Sheesh, I wonder when you’ll stop believing in that stupid Divination… you’re a receiver of Order of Merlin Second Class, for God’s sake!”
“You received First Class, Harry, but anyway, who told you that an Order of Merlin receiver should not like Divination?”
Harry raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Parvati was totally unbelievable at times. She had received a medal for inventing a special concoction of Himalayan herbs using Ayurveda and Hermione had added it to a potion of her own invention, forming a mixture that could cure all sorts of cancer. Parvati had also studied wizard psychology and was a superb Legilimens. Apart from all this, she had taken an extra three-year course in Potions after completing basic studies, owing to the fact that she couldn’t score enough in her OWLs to pursue Potions after fifth year. She had done her seventh year at a wizarding school in India and was a really good witch now. Harry had never known that Parvati could be this intelligent. And now, after all this, she had become superstitious once again.
“Where’s my Princess?” Harry asked, seeing that Naina was not in the living room.
“Oh, she’s in the kitchen,” Parvati replied. “I’ve taught her all the English alphabets. We’ve just started with Hindi today.”
“Then you’ll be teaching her all the Marathi alphabets too?”
“No, Hindi and Marathi have the same alphabets. There’s only an extra consonant in Marathi and it’s short of a vowel from Hindi. Barely any difference, anyway.”
“Could you just get Naina here, Parvati?”
“Oh sure!”
Parvati went in and Harry began pondering once again. Parvati seemed to have no memory, whatsoever of Harry’s birthday… what was going on? Why was everything in his life taking a drastic turn just today?
“Daddy!”
Harry looked up and saw Parvati coming towards him, carrying Naina gingerly. Naina, who was about fourteen months old, was exceptionally cute. She was petite and had chubby, rosy cheeks with tiny dimples. Naina had inherited Harry’s eyes. They were green and were in the shape of almonds. They looked very beautiful. Naina’s complexion and hair were inherited from Parvati- or it could even be said that Naina’s hair colour was inherited from Harry. Her skin was golden. Her locks were straight like Parvati’s, not sticking out on all sides like Harry’s and even had a natural shine and delightfully soft texture. Most of Naina’s facial features were similar to Parvati’s; sharp and Indian-like.
“Come here, Princess,” Harry stretched out his arms and took Naina. He brought her close and hugged the girl. “Oh sweetheart, you’re so cute…”
Parvati sat next to Harry and looked at him making funny faces to entertain Naina. “You know, Harry, no one would say that you have defeated the most powerful Dark Lord in a century, if they saw you now.”
“It’s a wonder, Parvati; I lose myself when I see Naina.”
Parvati smiled and stroked Naina’s hair. “Yeah, I just can’t buy the fact that someone could be so cute. Hey Naina, could you show Daddy how to recite A-B-C-D? He’s still learning.”
“Yeah, Naina,” Harry said, playing along. “I forgot… what comes after ‘A’?”
Naina started reciting the English alphabets in a singsong manner, as Harry listened to her wrongly pronounced childish version interestedly. “Very good!” Harry said, clapping once she had finished.
“Come, Naina,” Parvati said, getting up again. Then she looked at Harry. “I’ve kept your clothes on the bed. Could you change into them? I’ll get Naina and myself ready by then.”
Bewildered, Harry walked to the bedroom. Sure enough, Parvati had kept something emerald green on the bed. Harry took the clothes, walked into the bathroom, shut the door behind him and looked at the garment more closely to find that it was a sherwani. Wondering why Parvati wanted him to wear that, Harry pulled his clothes off and started putting them on.
***
Ginny sank onto one of the sofas of The Burrow, her home. She could not believe this: Harry was married. Why hadn’t anyone ever told her that? She had been corresponding with Hermione, but the latter had never told her anything about Harry’s marriage. What would Ginny do now? No one could fall in love twice and her first love was lost… forever. But there was something she could not help noticing. Why did Harry act so weirdly when he saw her? Did he still love her?
Ginny got up from the sofa and trudged up the stairs to her room. It had been such a long time since she had been home… so many things had changed. Shutting the door behind her, Ginny threw herself on the bed and summoned one of the novels by her favourite author. She stared at the small black words printed on the pages, not taking in a single alphabet and only searching for words of comfort in them. She realised that her life had been sealed for her. She only had a career ahead, nothing else. Her dream family with Harry would remain in her fantasies.
Time had flown and people had changed. Harry had changed. He had gotten over his infatuation with Ginny and had moved on in life. He loved Parvati and had created his own family with her…
Ginny’s eyes burned and a tear slid down her cheek, wetting the page of the novel that she had opened up. She closed the novel and fell onto her pillow face-down, shuddering sobs escaping her. She did not know how long she lay like that, but soon, someone rapped at her door.
Ginny sat up and swiped at her eyes quickly. “Come in.”
The door opened and Hermione stepped in. “Hi, Ginny.”
“Hi,” greeted Ginny, managing a smile and rushing forward to hug the other woman. “Good to see you. How are you?”
“I’m fine. What about you?”
“I’m fine, thank you."
Hermione frowned. "Are you absolutely sure that you’re fine, Ginny?”
Ginny looked into her sister-in-law’s eyes. “I don’t know what you mean, Hermione.”
“Oh come on, Ginny, your eyes are red. Did you think that I have not deduced anything?”
“Oh, that. It’s just that… it has been a long time since I’ve been home… I got slightly emotional.”
“Emotional about what? Harry?”
Ginny looked at her bedspread. Hermione had a knack of interpreting everyone’s feelings perfectly. It was no use lying to her. Slowly, Ginny nodded.
Hermione put an arm around the younger girl’s shoulder. “Did you meet Harry today?”
Ginny nodded and without warning, tears started leaking out of her eyes again. She buried her face into her palms, as sobs began to rack her body. “Why d-did Harry do this, Hermione? I-I thought that he l-loved me. I w-waited for him… I waited f-for the war to e-end. He n-never waited for me…”
Hermione pulled Ginny close and hugged her. “I know that this is hard for you, Ginny, and I’m really sorry about not telling you of Harry and Parvati’s marriage. It was all so unexpected… so sudden… well, I was in a kind of shock too and it took me some time to allow it all to sink in when he proposed to her. He loved you, indeed, but he married Parvati out of gratitude for what she had done. He was almost dead after the Second War. We were all left in a situation where we were literally counting the days for him to live. It was a situation that you won’t understand unless you witness it. Ron and I sat next to his bed in the hospital, as he waited for death… you weren’t there, you wouldn’t know. You wouldn’t know what it feels like… and then, Parvati stepped in. She was studying Ayurveda or something and she cured Harry. She got him out before he reached his grave. Of course, she didn’t compel Harry to marry her, but he overheard her telling Padma that she was in love with him.” Hermione’s voice had a tinge of bitterness in it.
“And h-he just m-married her l-like that?”
“Ron and I tried to stop him, Ginny. We told him not to sacrifice his feelings towards you just because Parvati had saved his life. We tried to make him think rationally. But in debt of gratitude… it was as if Harry’s mind was just thinking along one track. He just wanted to repay Parvati for what she had done for him. And of course, you know how stubborn Harry can be.”
“B-But, how do you know that Parvati didn’t s-stage a conversation with Padma, t-taking advantage of the f-fact that Harry could listen?”
“She’s not like that, Ginny. I know she was rather vain when we were kids together, but she’s changed, she’s matured. She knew that Harry loved you. She told him that it was not necessary for him to marry her. She said that she did not want to be some sort of a wall between the two of you. Even today, when she spoke to me on the phone, she said that she still feels guilty about marrying Harry and bringing the two of you apart. Harry, however, insists that he has fallen in love with Parvati. But I know that Parvati still thinks that their marriage is nothing more than a legal understanding. She loves Harry like anything, and knows that Harry does not love her as much. But I don’t know what Harry will do now, since you’ve come back. I just hope it doesn’t affect him negatively. He won’t leave Parvati, because he knows better than to spoil her life or their daughter’s, for that matter.”
“So…” Ginny took a deep breath. “So, I’ve lost Harry forever.”
Hermione sighed and stroked Ginny’s hair. “I’m sorry… I’m really sorry. But you’ll have to move on. It isn’t late even now.”
“I wanted to participate in the war, but Mum wouldn’t allow me. If I would have been involved in the war, the situation wouldn’t have been like this,” said Ginny, getting up and dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.
“Your mother was right not to let you join, Ginny, it was dangerous. And bygones are bygones. You cannot mourn for the past.”
Ginny nodded and sniffed. “You’re right. I guess, I must just forget all this and move on in life.”
Hermione smiled. “Hey, do you want to see your Jay and Jess? You were so excited about them when you wrote to me.”
“Of course, where are they?”
“I left them down with your Mum. Come on.” Hermione and Ginny came out of the room and went down the stairs.
“Hey, isn’t Ron home?” Ginny asked suddenly.
“No,” replied Hermione. “He commutes by car and the distance between our home and the Ministry is not short. He will take another fifteen minutes. I’ll go back in about five minutes and keep his clothes ready for him.”
“Clothes?”
“Yeah, Parvati’s throwing a surprise b’ day party for Harry today. She’s invited us. I think you’re invited too. Are you coming?”
“No…” said Ginny, but then, she changed her mind. “Actually, I think I want to come.”
“You should come,” said Hermione. “Parvati’s parties are really fun. She always plans a different theme for every party. Last year, it was British tradition. We all dressed in ancient clothes, and she had cooked very well. Today, it’s an Indian theme.”
The duo reached the living room, where Mrs. Weasley was entertaining Hermione and Ron’s children: Jessica and Jake. Jake, who was two years and nine months’ old, was another redhead. He too had freckles all over him and could almost be called a photocopy of Ron. Jessica, on the other hand, was about a year old and had curly brown hair that was thankfully not bushy. On the contrary, it rather suited her looks. Jessica’s eyes were blue in colour and she resembled Hermione more than Ron.
“Hi Mum!” said Ginny, seating herself next to her mother on an armchair.
“Hello, dear,” said her mother, keeping Jessica on the cushion. Hermione lifted Jessica and gave her hand to Jake.
“I must be off, Molly,” said Hermione. “Ron will be home in some time and I have to get our clothes ready.”
“Okay then, I’ll see you at the party, dear,” said Mrs. Weasley, beaming. Hermione waved goodbye and went to the kitchen to take a Portkey home, because she couldn’t Disapparate with Jessica and Jake. “Are you coming to Harry’s birthday party, dear?” Mrs. Weasley asked, turning to Ginny.
Ginny nodded and smiled.
“Then I’d best get going if you are coming. I’ll buy a sari for you.”
Ginny’s mother smiled and walked away, leaving Ginny to stare at the fireplace and look at the roaring flames. Maybe she wasn’t destined to belong to Harry, she decided. Maybe that was her fate… maybe she would meet someone else… maybe…
Killer Instincts by Ginny Weasley Potter
Chapter Notes: I am grateful to my Beta, Pauie (LucillaJoanna) for correcting this fic. Thank you, Pauie!
Please R/R!