Disclaimer: I own none of Harry's world, I just want to write in it!
For those of you who said you would be happy to read more, here is the first chapter of my new story, this will definately be the last in this series as I really can't take it any furthur, there's a lot more going on in this one so I hope you enjoy it, I will try to update as often as possible but that will probably be easier after Christmas! So please read and review and let me know what you think!
Thanks x x
Chapter 1
Harry looked down into the deep, chocolate brown eyes of the beautiful redhead in his arms and smiled before a wistful look crossed his face. A frown crossed Ginny's when she saw the change on his and she whispered, "What's the matter?"
"I just wish our day had been like this," he gestured to the people enjoying themselves at the wedding of his two best friends.
"We did," she replied smiling wryly knowing that Harry was still beating himself up over their wedding, "It was perfect." He looked down into her eyes again and smiled, "You keep saying that, but-" she cut him off putting her hand on his chest lightly, "Harry, stop it, it was perfect because you married me, nothing else mattered, how many times do I have to tell you that? We got married, we had a party and that was that please stop beating yourself up over it." She smiled at him again and he melted as a broad grin spread across his face. He knew he'd never stop beating himself up for what he did, but he also knew she'd never stop telling him that it didn't matter, that was Ginny and it was one of the many things that he loved about her. "Have I told you how beautiful you look today?" he asked putting his forehead against hers and continuing to sway her around on the dance floor.
"Only a few hundred times," she replied, "But you can keep on telling me if you like!"
"You look really beautiful today, Mrs Potter," he grinned and she giggled again as he called her by her married name, she loved being Mrs Potter and loved the fact that Harry reminded her of it day after day after day.
"You look rather handsome yourself, Mr Potter," she said and laughed as he continued to swing her around.
"Stop being so sickly you two," said a voice from their left, they both looked up into the eyes of Harry's best friend and Ginny's brother, Ron. "You're giving men a bad name Harry, all the women expect us to keep up with you!"
"Hey look," Harry retorted, "Nobody needs to keep up with me, I don't think anyone in the world has made as many mistakes with a woman as I have, I'm just making up for it," he looked at Ginny with a twinkle in his eye and she sighed but smiled at him.
"Oh it's getting as old as 'The boy who lived' that one," Ron scoffed chuckling at his best friend, "Will you ever get over it? We'll be calling you 'The boy who almost didn't marry my sister but did in the end' before long!"
"No, I won't get over it," Harry replied with a chuckle and then looked into the eyes of the woman he loved once more, "No matter what she says to me."
"Oh brother," Ron said, "I'm off to find my wife!"
Harry and Ginny laughed as they continued to twirl around on the dance floor, it had been a wonderful day for Ron and Hermione, they hadn't waited long after Ginny and Harry's wedding to get themselves married, managing to organise everything in just three months and now here they were, all four of them, married and happy. Harry knew as he looked at his wife once more that he had made the right decision in marrying her, he couldn't visualise his life without her anymore and still couldn't imagine where he had found the strength to tell her he wouldn't marry her three months ago. His life was perfect, he carried the deluminator everywhere he went so he could find Ginny whenever he needed to and he had only used it once or twice to appear in the shower with her (well it had to be tested!)
The band finished playing and people began to return to their seats, Mr Weasley was clinking a spoon against his glass and calling for speeches which meant that Harry had to go up and give a best man's speech again. Ginny took a seat with Hermione and Ron while Harry went up to the small stage where the band had been playing.
"Good evening everyone," he began and then coughed. "Well I need to start with the usual thank yous on behalf of Ron and Hermione for joining them on this special day, a day which admittedly most of us thought would never come around as it took Ron so bloody long to ask her!" laughter flowed around the room as Ron's face turned beetroot red and George shouted from the back, "Here, here!" Hermione placed her hand over Ron's and smiled at him. "But anyway," Harry continued, "I was chuffed to bits when Ron asked me to be his best man, these two," he gestured to Ron and Hermione, "Have been my best friends practically since our first day at Hogwarts, and though it wasn't that obvious to them I think the rest of us knew they were destined to end up together since around our fourth year, it just took another three years for them both to realise it!" Everyone laughed again and the happy couple looked sheepishly at each other. "Anyway, they finally did, albeit in the middle of the final battle, but hey, they pick their moments I mean when does he propose? When the rest of the family are wallowing in sadness and they can't tell anyone, but then that's Ron isn't it?" Harry had shot a guilty look at his wife when he'd mentioned the wallowing in sadness and she had sighed at him once more, "Anyway I'm sure everyone will agree that they make a wonderful couple and that today on her wedding day Hermione looks absolutely stunning," a round of applause erupted and he paused before continuing, "And Ron, well he just looks stunned!" raucous laughter followed this comment and Harry had to chuckle to himself. "It is also my official duty to mention the bridesmaids, Luna and Ginny who look absolutely beautiful and I have to thank them on behalf of the happy couple too," he was interrupted by a shout from the back of the room, "I bet you'll thank one of them very well later Mr Potter!" another round of laughter accompanied Harry's face as it turned bright red, "Yes…Er…Thankyou." He was well aware that all of Ginny's family were in the room and although they were now married he still became a little uncomfortable with these kinds of comments. "So…" he went on desperate to change the subject, "Let's raise our glasses and make a toast to the wonderful couple, Ron and Hermione!"
"Ron and Hermione," came a resounding echo around the room accompanied by much clinking of glasses. Harry stepped down from the small stage and made his way back to his wife and two best friends, who were being congratulated once more by dozens of different people, he took hold of Ginny's hand and gently tugged her away from the crowds and off to a quiet corner. "So how long before I can thank you personally for being such a beautiful bridesmaid to my two best friends?" he asked with a familiar twinkle in his eye, "I know a nice little spot over by the trees, I've tried it out before and it's very secluded!"
"Harry," she chuckled pretending to push him away with her hand, "Do you ever have anything else on your mind?"
"It's not my fault you have such a perfect body that I feel the need to look at it and touch it all the time, God you drive me insane sometimes just standing in front of me," he leaned forwards and slipped his hand around her back pulling her close to him so he could smell her flowery scent in her hair, "I just can't concentrate sometimes!" Ginny giggled at him and replied, "Later, Harry!" walking past him and swinging her hips seductively knowing full well that he was watching her walk away, she turned around and smiled at him and he groaned inwardly before following her back to their table where Ron and Hermione were now seated waiting for their wedding breakfast.
The rest of the evening passed in a whirlwind of eating, dancing and drinking and Harry barely let Ginny out of his reach, he always felt the need to hold onto her whenever they were together as if she might disappear again if he didn't. The protective side of Harry was always a little on edge whenever he let her go somewhere without him, he knew he couldn't tie her to him all day or make her live a life where she was constantly watched but he always had a slight sense of unease in his belly and still occasionally thought back on whether he had made the right decision in marrying her, but one look at the beautiful girl who loved him so much would make him realise that he had. Dumbledore, and everyone else for that matter, had been right about it and he had never been happier in his whole life than he was right now. His life was not destined to be easy and they both knew that but they would face any challenges together and they both had a supportive network of family and friends to support them if the worst ever happened to either of them. He was immensely grateful to this network as between them they did make sure that Ginny was barely alone outside of their home; and although Ginny could find this irritating at times she knew Harry was looking out for her and it was the only way he could make peace with having married her and possibly placed her in danger, so she put up with it knowing that they all did it because they cared about her so much.
At around midnight Ginny hugged her best friend and brother before heading back to the table where Harry was sat watching her intently with a soft smile on his face and a lustful look in his eyes, "I'm not going to disappear you know," she said softly dropping onto his knees and putting her arms around his neck. He slid one hand around her waist and rested the other on her knee, "But I do like it when you watch me," she finished kissing him on the forehead gently.
"I can't help it, sometimes I can't get over how beautiful you are, and sometimes I can't believe you took me back, twice!" she smiled at him and kissed him once more.
"You look tired," he said in a concerned tone, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, it's just been a long day," she replied, "It's been a long week actually, especially with a 'pre-wedding' Hermione to look after and placate, in fact the last three months have been pretty tiring, well ever since our honeymoon anyway!" she raised her eye suggestively as she thought back on their three weeks alone in Romania. The Ministry and St Mungos had both given Harry and Ginny an extra week off after the kidnapping and they had decided to stay an extra week by themselves at the log cabin. The skiing had been fun though they spent more time on their bottoms than on the skis, Harry had managed to perfect some kind of technique though Ginny was sure some form of magic had been involved. They had spent most of their time alone in the cabin, or out in expensive restaurants, eating lavish meals and drinking expensive wine and never taking their eyes off each other. The cabin had been extremely romantic with an open fire like the one they had at home, squashy cushions had covered a large and comfortable couch and a large fake fur rug stretched out luxuriously in front of the fire. They had spent many naked nights on the rug in front of the fire making love to each other, Harry had apologised over and over again, saying he couldn't believe what he had done and where he had found the strength from to do it, and Ginny had spent all her time telling him over and over that all that mattered was that they were now married. They had both thoroughly enjoyed being completely on their own for the first time without any interruptions, Ron had been warned on pain of death that no one was to disturb them unless it was a dire emergency and Hermione had made sure that anyone needing to contact them for any reason was to come to her first and she would assess whether or not it was important. Fortunately no one had needed to contact them and everyone was keen that they spent time alone together and undisturbed, Harry had sent his patronus every few days to let them know everything was okay but apart from that they had been completely by themselves and isolated from the rest of the world and they had loved every minute. Of course eventually they had had to return to the real world and go back to their jobs, Ginny had promised she would stay away from dark and lonely alleys and went to work via the floo network for every shift, Harry had practically glued the deluminator to his side and continued to work on capturing the remaining death eaters still hiding out somewhere in the world. Then the plans and preparations for Ron and Hermione's wedding had begun in earnest and they had found that they had had little time for each other once again as work and plans got in the way, in fact today had been the first time since their honeymoon that they had been in such close proximity to each other for a such an amount of time without one of them being asleep.
"Can we go home?" Ginny asked leaning her head against Harry's shoulder.
"I thought you'd never ask!" he replied, "Shall we apparate?"
"Ahmmm," she responded dreamily closing her eyes, "But can you take both of us? I'm so exhausted."
"Of course, Mrs Potter, come on," he pushed her onto her feet and they went to say goodnight to the happy couple and Ginny's parents before Harry apparated them both back to Grimmauld place. They had decided to move into the house that Sirius had left him when they had returned from their honeymoon, as it was unplottable and no longer being used as headquarters since the demise of Lord Voldemort, Ginny and Harry had both decided it would be a safer place to live. They had given it a complete overhaul, getting rid of the drab and dreary interior and replacing it with a more appealing one of their own choosing. Kreacher had even told them how to remove the permanent sticking charm that had been placed upon the portrait of Sirius' mother and that along with the heads of all the house elves had been removed from the house. It had taken on a more homely feel and appearance over the last three months and Harry was beginning to regard it as a home where he could hopefully bring up a family with the woman he loved. They had even removed the Black family tree which had had the same permanent sticking charm as the portrait and they had begun a tree of their own, the Potter/Weasley tree had all of their immediate family on it including Harry's parents, they had also managed to put Remus, Tonks and Teddy on the tree along with Sirius. Remus and Sirius appeared as James' brothers when you looked at the tree and Harry thought that the three of the marauders would be happy with that if they had been alive to see it. The tree was magically imbibed so a new family member would be added automatically if a wedding or a birth took place, before they went to bed they looked in on the drawing room where the tree was to see that Hermione's name had appeared at the end of a golden line joining her to Ronald Weasley.
"Come along, Mrs Potter," she smiled again at the name, "You look fit to drop, I think my," he coughed, "Urges, will have to wait until morning!"
Ginny looked at him with amusement and he picked her up to carry her to their bedroom, rather than the master bedroom at the top of the house, they had decided to take Sirius' old bedroom as it already had a lived in homely feel to it before they had decorated it themselves. Ginny was asleep in his arms before they reached the bedroom so Harry laid her down gently on the bed and removed her dress and underwear. He pulled the covers back and placed her in the bed pulling them up around her and tucking them in tight, she sighed and Harry looked at her again, he was so happy he felt he could burst and he just hoped that nothing was going to come along and spoil it for them. He quickly undressed and jumped into bed beside his sleeping wife moving close to her he slipped an arm over her from behind and snuggled down resting his chin against her shoulder Harry was out for the count before he knew it.