"Harry, why are acting so strange?"
"I'm not acting strange." Harry gave her a sheepish grin and darted out of the room.
Ginny shrugged. He'd been at this all morning. He was running around his apartment ever since she arrive. It appeared that he had lost something. He was in quite a good mood though and seemed to be having fun so she did not wish to stop him. He obviously did not want to tell her what he was doing, so she decided to let it go for now. He would have to tell her later though. She sat down on the couch and picked up the Daily Prophet.
February 12, 2001
Love is in the air right now. Valentine's Day is a few days away. What gift are you going to get your Valentine? Are you going to head down to Gringotts and get some money? Or over to Olivander's and get a new wand holder? After all everyone wants one. Or do you want to pull a prank on your Valentine by heading over the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes? What ever you get don't forget that special Valentine and get the kids something too. There is never enough reason to celebrate your joy in our free world. Maybe you should send some Valentine to Harry Potter after all we would not be able to rejoice if it weren't for him.
Ginny put the paper down and sighed. She was tired of seeing Harry referred to in nearly every article. They always seem to find a way to fit his name in. It had been two and half years since he defeated Voldemort and people still could not stop talking about it. She wished they would just go back to living their lives and leave her and Harry to themselves. He certainly would not be as happy when he had thousands of owl pouring into his apartment on Valentine's Day. She supposed she would just have to make it up to him. They were supposed to go have a picnic dinner after spending the day at the Burrow with her family. Then, she was going to take him to her apartment where she had a big surprise waiting for him. She knew that he had been wanting to play Quidditch badly but with Auror training it was impossible most of the time. There was a brand new thing being sold in Quidditch stores now called Single Quidditch. A muggleborn in the east new of something called video games that muggles play and decided to create Quidditch to where one person can play by themselves but experience it like they were playing with a whole team. She didn't completely understand it but she was sure Harry would love it because he could at least feel like he was playing Quidditch.
After a while, Harry came back in the room and sat down next to Ginny with a grin on his face.
"Find what you were looking for?"
"Sure did, sorry I've been ignoring you all day. What would you like to do today?"
"Well seeing as you only have three days off, I was thinking today we could go to Hogsmeade and then have dinner with Mum and Dad if that sounds good to you."
"I'd love to see your parents. But I thought we were going over there the day after tomorrow."
"We are, but mum would love to see us twice in one week. They hardly see you anymore with your busy schedule."
"Sorry Gin, I promise it will get better next fall, I will be able to join on as a full time Auror then and won't have all of these training sessions."
"I know and it's alright. You know I'm busy too. We're lucky I don't have a game during these three days. Two years ago I would have never guessed that when I came out of Hogwarts I would be a starting Chaser. I want you to come to one of my games soon. It's been so long since you have had time to come, but I understand. Just come when you can make it."
"You know that if I can be there I wouldn't miss it for anything."
"Love you"
"Love you too"
"Well, we better get going. Mum and Dad will be waiting for us. I sent an owl this morning before I came over to let her know we would be there for lunch."
"Okay, but tomorrow lets spend the day with Teddy alright?"
"Sounds great to me, you know I love spending time with him."
Harry smiled and started walking downstairs so they could apparate near the Burrow.
When they got there, Mrs. Weasley had her hands full with Victiore, so Ginny offered to make lunch. She was surprised when Harry did not stay with her and help her. He went outside to the shed where her father was messing with his "muggle toys." She was puzzled but did not mind too much. Her dad could probably use some company and Harry could explain what the newest things were used for by the muggles.
"Mum would it be alright if we brought Teddy with us on Wednesday? Harry misses him badly and hasn't been able to see him in a little over a month."
"That's fine you don't ever have to ask to bring Teddy here. Anyway, I will be babysitting Victiore then so Bill and Fleur can go to France on vacation. They are leaving tomorrow. The kids can play with each other though."
Ginny smiled and then told her mother about how peculiar Harry was acting that morning. Mrs. Weasley smiled but only said, "I'm sure he has his reasons."
Ginny got the feeling that everyone knew something besides her, but she also knew asking would do no good. She would have to figure it out on her own.
Maybe Harry was dashing around because of her Valentine's Day present. After all that would be the only big thing this week she could think of. He doesn't have to go back to work until Thursday so it couldn't have anything to do with work. But why would he be dashing around his apartment because of her Valentine's Day present. She guessed he could have misplaced it and been nervous. Then again, he had a smile on his face the whole time. She was very confused.
The next day was fairly uneventful. Harry and Ginny picked Teddy up early the text morning. They went out shopping so Teddy could get some candy for Valentine's Day. Ginny always loved seeing Harry with Teddy because Harry tried so hard to be a good father figure for the little guy. Harry knew what it was like not to have his parents and wanted Teddy to grow up as happy as possible. Ginny knew Harry would make a great father some day to their children. But, that was in the future they both had their careers to think about right now. Marriage and babies would have to wait for the time. She couldn't very well get pregnant and still be a Quidditch player. She did not really know why she was thinking about it. Harry and her weren't even engaged. They were just dating and he would never do anything inappropriate before they married. She respected him for that. He was an amazing boyfriend and amazing person. She wished people who "worshiped" him could really understand him so they would know he would want to be left alone. After they finished shopping, the took Teddy home.
Andromeda greeted them. "You two take such good care of Teddy. I hope you know how much he enjoys visiting the two of you. You must try to come to see him soon."
Ginny said, "I was thinking that maybe you could come have lunch with all of us at the Burrow tomorrow. We are going over there in the morning and would enjoy you and Teddy being there. Harry and I are going to be leaving mid-afternoon though. But, it would be great if you would join us."
"Sure, it will be nice to get out of the house for a while. We will see you tomorrow."
Valentine's Day
Harry met Ginny at the Burrow for breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Ginny asked Harry if they could wait to exchange gifts until after dinner when she took him back to her apartment and he said that that would be fine. At breakfast, her parents were both overly happy and they were exchanging odd looks with Harry. She really wanted to know what the big secret was. I mean what did he buy Ginny a house that her whole family could move to? Did he buy her a car to replace the one that Dobby was responsible for destroying. What was it that he got for Valentine's Day and more than that why were her parents in on it? If it wasn't a Valentine's Day gift, the three of them definitely had a secret and they weren't good at hiding it from her. It was driving her crazy. Harry obviously wasn't giving planning on giving her present to her with her family present. She would have to think about it over the day maybe she could figured it out.
About an hour after breakfast, Teddy and Andromeda showed up. Ginny and Harry spent the rest of the morning playing with the two babies. They could never spend enough time with these two. The day went by fast and soon they were leaving the Burrow. They apparated to Hogsmeade and made there way to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall did not mind if they visited periodically. They wanted to have their picnic along the side of the lake because they had so much history at the school. Ginny had packed chicken soup and turkey sandwiches. Harry brought the butterbeer.
Harry looked out over the Quidditch pitch. "I wonder if it weren't for Quidditch how long it would have taken me to realize."
"Realize what?"
"Realize that I love you and would not want to spend a day without you."
Ginny smiled as she took a sip of butterbeer. That was an amazing day. Winning the cup and your congratulations. I would have thought a person mad if they had told me that you would kiss me that day before the match."
"I probably would have too honestly."
"So many things happened over our years here. You saved my life my first year. You saved my heart in my fifth. What have I saved for you?"
"You've saved my heart too. I have lost so many of those close to me but you have been there ever since I first came to King's Cross Station. I don't know what I'd do without you Ginny Weasley."
"Why Mr. Potter I'm flatter." Ginny said jokingly. They both had to laugh.
After they were finished eating, they slowly walked around taking in the place they loved so much. Slowly they made their way to the gates to apparate to Ginny's flat.
When they made it to Ginny's flat, Harry's face got noticeably more serious and Ginny worried that something she said had offended him.
"Harry, are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine Ginny, fine."
She did not want to force him to tell her and figured she would find out soon enough anyways. As they went inside, Ginny ran and said, "I'm giving you yours first."
Harry laughed, "Alright, whatever makes you happy."
Ginny came back with a box that could easily contain a Quaffle. Harry got a puzzled look on his face.
"The only thing I can think of that size would be a Quaffle."
Ginny giggled, "It's not a Quaffle, but you are on the right track. Go ahead and open it."
Harry face brightened when she revealed it had something to do with Quidditch and he tore into the wrapping. He looked even more confused once it was open. "A single player Quidditch game. That sounds... like a muggle video game."
"That's what the idea was based off of. They are brand new on the market. You do like it don't you. I can take it back if you..."
"Yes, I love it. You know how much I miss Quidditch. I mean it is not completely the same as playing with your brothers but this is awesome."
"Oh good, well try it out then."
Harry opened it and tried it out for a few minutes before saying, "This is great Ginny, but I'd really like to give you your present. Why don't you go sit down at the table and I'll bring it to you.
"Okay, close your eyes Ginny." Harry said as he came in the room. He wrapped his arms around her neck and sat something down on the table.
"You can open them now."
Ginny opened her eyes and saw a large book with a picture of her on the front from her first year. "Is it a picture album?"
"Yes. But, you need to look all the way through it."
The first pages were of Ginny and friends of her that Harry did not spend much time with. There were few shots of Harry in them. Ginny couldn't help but noticed that she was not quite as happy in them though she was having fun in most of them. Then there were photos of her third year and Harry started to be in some of the same ones. Ginny was generally staring at him a bit in these and this made her laugh. When she pointed it out to Harry, he laughed too. There was a picture of her at the Yule Ball dancing with Neville. Harry is visible in the background sitting down at a table. Ginny had not seen a picture of the ball in a long time, but it brought back many memories.
There were no pictures of her relationships with other boys from her forth and fifth years. But, there were more pictures then she remembered being taken of the time they were together in her fifth year. She smiled seeing her self leaning up against his knee in the common room or eating lunch next to him in the great hall or flying with him playing Quidditch. Those were special times that they could not go back to. Not that they wanted to be back there. She would always cherish that time. There were no pictures from the time that Harry was gone in the book. Instead there was this:
Ginny,
I have no included any photos of the time we were apart because to me this point was a lull in our lives together. This time was difficult for all of us. We both wanted to be with each other every moment of it. I missed you as I went around the country trying to find new ways to strike at and defeat Voldemort. I ultimately walked to my death willing to let it all go for your freedom and the freedom of the world. I would never want anything bad to happen to you. This period of my life was a sacrifice and I'm sorry but I couldn't fairly include you in it. This is something I will have to live with. Know that during it I always loved you and nothing could have ever changed that.
Harry
Ginny wiped her tears away after reading it and went on. There were many pictures from right after the war. They were sad over Fred, Lupin, and Tonks, but also happy because they could live in peace without the threat of Voldemort any longer. There were pictures of Harry and Ginny's first date after getting back together. They had a picnic in around the same spot they did earlier this night. There were pictures of Ginny's graduation. Pictures of their celebration afterward. There were several pictures of Quidditch games Ginny had competed in. The last pages mostly contained pictures of the two of them. Harry stood and went to her side when she was on the second to last page. It was a picture from their date on their two year anniversary from around six months ago. It made Ginny extremely happy to remember the fun they had that night. Harry had taken her to a muggle play by Shakespeare called Much Ado About Nothing and it was quite humorous. She flipped to the last page. It only had one picture on it of Harry and Ginny kissing passionately. She was shocked to know a picture had been taken of this and even more so that Harry had been able to find it. Then something else on the page caught her eye when it sparkled. Her jaw dropped and she slowly looked up at Harry who was down on one knee.
"Ginny, you mean the world to me. You have ever since I opened my eyes almost four years ago. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you. Please take this ring with these memories and help create future memories by becoming my wife."
"Oh Harry, of course I will. I love you."
She threw herself into his arms and he nearly stumbled backwards because he wasn't expecting it. They spent the rest of the evening discussing the past and the future and hoping they would have quite a few more happy Valentine's Days to come.