Harry sighed as he let himself into Grimmauld Place.

"Cub, is that you?" called Sirius from the kitchen.

"Yeah, be right there," said Harry, unwinding his scarf and hanging it and his jacket up. He then shuffled down the hall and into the kitchen, sinking into a chair. "Okay, let the inquisition begin," he said, opening up his arms.

Sirius glanced at the clock. "It's pretty early. What went wrong this time?"

"She was a plant. Every fifteen minutes or so she'd say she had to go to the bathroom. After the third time, I thought she might have been ill, so I followed her. Found her talking to Rita Skeeter, of all people. So I guess you'll be reading all about my date in tomorrow's edition of the Daily Prophet," said Harry, bitterly.

Rita Skeeter was like his own personal nemesis. She followed him around and talked to anyone he came into contact with. She'd even published the way he took his coffee, after talking to the barista at the Muggle cafe he tended to frequent.

"Merlin, you didn't confront her, did you. That would have made the bitch's day!" said Sirius.

Harry grinned nastily. "No, I went back to the table and continued with the date. I just fed her a bunch of bull, that's all."

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius.

"Well, this girl, Cho, she started asking me about my hobbies, what I like to do. So I told her I like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain," said Harry, trying not to laugh.

Sirius snorted. "You didn't." At Harry's look, he sighed. "You did."

Harry nodded in glee. "This girl, Cho, looked kind of surprised, intrigued really. She asked me what else. So I told her I wasn't into health food, but I'm into champgne. Then she excused herself again. She was back in five minutes, wanting to know more."

"Please tell me you didn't go any further," groaned Sirius.

"Okay, I won't. But I'm done, Sirius. No more stupid dates. I'm destined to live out my days with you and Teddy here in Grimmauld Place," said Harry, determinedly. "Speaking of, did he get to sleep all right?"

Sirius nodded. "Of course, I had to promise to take him to Diagon Alley one day soon. Maybe you could meet us for lunch?"

Harry grimaced. "Doubtful. This is the last week I have the Curse-breaking group with me. I have to write up their evaluations by Friday."

"There's only what, five of them, isn't there?" asked Sirius.

Harry nodded. "One evaluation for every day this week. I'm going to work through my lunch hour to get them done so hopefully I won't have to stay too late at work. You know I hate missing Teddy's bedtime."

"I know, but he understands you have a busy job. You should have more of a life than just me and Teddy too, Harry," said Sirius. "Is there a party for the Curse-breaking group?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably."

"You should go. You told me you've really enjoyed teaching them," said Sirius.

Harry nodded. "I have. I wasn't sure how they'd go, adding to my usual Auror trainees, but they fitted in great. I was really surprised, to be honest."

"So are you going to recommend Gringott's keep sending you their newbies to be trained by you, then?" asked Sirius, setting a cup of tea in front of Harry.

"It makes sense, doesn't it? They want their Curse-breakers to have a decent amount of defense training before they send them out in the field. This first group was quite a success, although I get the feeling some of them have had more training than the usual school curriculum," mused Harry.

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius.

"Well, there's a couple that can produce a Patronus already. They both seem quite confident in their spellwork too. Their shield charms are strong and one of them, man, she has got a killer 'Reducto' curse in her."

"She sounds powerful. What school did they come from?" asked Sirius.

"Hogwarts," said Harry.

"Ah," said Sirius. "Then I guess what we heard may be true. Remus did start training some of the students in more than the required school lessons. Why don't you ask them, these two curse-breakers?"

Harry shrugged. They were two of the more popular students in the class. The Irish one, Seamus, was good natured and quick with a joke. If all the stories he told of himself blowing things up at Hogwarts were true, Harry figured he was lucky to make it out of Hogwarts with just his eyebrows singed.

Then there was her. Ginny Weasley. Harry didn't know what it was about her, but she bothered him. She was quickwitted, easy to talk to, eager to learn, smart and sassy., She got on equally well with the males as well as the females in his class. She was a talented witch, and a powerful one too. She amused him, teased him in a friendly manner and questioned his methods in a respectable way. She intrigued him.

"I better get to bed. I have to be up early, the Curse-breakers and the Auror trainers class is tomorrow," said Harry, getting up to rinse his cup and put it on the sink. "If Teddy wakes during the night, I'll get up to him."

"Fine, fine," said Sirius. "Night Cub."

"Good night, Sirius," said Harry.

"Cub?"

Harry stopped at the door and turned. "Yeah?"

"Don't give up on love. It'll find you when you least expect it," said Sirius.

Harry shook his head. ""I won't give up, but I'm not dating for awhile. Tracey, Daphne, Mandy, Susan and now this Cho," he said, ticking them off his fingers. "They all had an agenda. Be seen with the Chosen One! Well, no more. I'm done," said Harry, firmly.

"Susan, as in Susan Bones? Your boss, Amelia Bones' niece?" asked Sirius, surprised.

"Er, yeah," said Harry, sheepishly. "I liked the colour of her hair, so I asked her out. It reminded me of something. Never did find out what," he lied. He'd spent most of the night comparing her hair colour to Ginny Weasley's, and Susan's came up short.

"Her hair is red, isn't it?" asked Sirius.

Harry nodded. "Well, sort of. I mean, it looks really red from a distance, but up close, it's a lot more orange. Reminded me of the Chudley Cannons colours, actually," said Harry, grimacing. He then shrugged. "Well, night."

"Night," said Sirius, watching him go upstairs. He sighed. Harry was too young to give up on love, but Merlin, for all he had been through, the boy could have been in his forties. Grown men had looked to him for guidance when he was still a teenager. It had been a heavy load to bear on narrow shoulders. Sirius had tried to ease that burden as much as he could, but in the end, it was always going to come down to Harry being the one to defeat Voldemort.

"The cost was too high," whispered Sirius. Harry and Sirius had already lost James and Lily, Harry's parents. Remus, who had been a professor at Hogwarts had left the castle to join him and Harry in their fight against Voldemort at Little Hangleton. Tonks had wanted to be by her husband's side, and had left their two month old son with her mother to join their fight. Neither Tonks nor Remus had survived.

Meanwhile, Death Eaters had invaded Hogwarts, and a battle was being fought there too. Luckily, the Order of the Phoenix, the professors and several students were able to hold the castle as best they could until word came that Voldemort had been defeated. Then, the surviving Death Eaters fled, or were captured.

The losses on both sides were many. Harry carried the guilt of each and every one for a long time. No matter what Sirius said to him, he still had nightmares and locked himself in his room for days on end. Only Teddy Lupin, parentless, was enough to get him out of bed. When Andromeda died suddenly, only three months later, the five month old came to live with them.

For Teddy's sake, Harry pulled himself together. He agreed to go to Auror training, although his heart really wasn't in it. The classes were boring, as Harry usually mastered a spell or drill easily. He found himself helping his fellow trainees, and liking the feeling of success he got when his trainee buddy 'got it'.

When he'd graduated, he still didn't think he wanted to be an Auror, so when Amelia offered him the opportunity to train the new Aurors, he jumped at it, and found, to his own surprise, he was good at teaching.

He showered again, having done so before his date. He brushed his teeth, and spat out. He looked at his reflection. Auror training and time in the gym meant he'd bulked up a bit. He'd never be really tall, but he was probably average in height. His hair would never lay straight, but he'd been told it was sexy that way, all messy.

He glanced down at the scar on his chest where Voldemort's killing curse had struck. He rubbed it. What woman would find that attractive? Daphne had cringed when she'd first seen it, which had totally killed the mood. He'd put his shirt back on, dressed and left. She'd tried to cajole him back to bed, but Harry couldn't forget the look in her eyes. Fearful. Like he was tainted and it might rub off on her.

He shrugged at his reflection. He was done with women. Sure, he got lonely, but he had Sirius to talk to and Teddy was great. If he wasn't going to have any kids of his own, then Teddy would make a great substitute. He'd be a dad to Teddy, and Teddy would be a son to Harry. Perfect.

He got into bed and sighed, wriggling to get comfortable. Monday tomorrow. He began to plan his day. Up early, into the gym before his second year Auror trainees class. A small break before he got into drills. Then break for lunch and then he was with his first year Aurors and Curse breakers for the rest of the day, till five.

She'd be there tomorrow. Ginny Weasley. He never gave any indication, but she was his top student. She'd make a great Curse-breaker, and even a great Auror. With a pang he realised, after this week, he might not see her again.

As he drifted off to sleep, his mind was filled with Ginny Weasley.