I've written about seven chapters of this so far, and I wasn't planning on posting it until I finished it, but here it is. I figured I would see if anyone was even interested before I finished it. So, this is an AU Harry/Ginny story. Here is a rough timeline:

-A week after the Final Battle, Harry and Ginny reunite

-He leaves the next morning

-This story begins three years later.

Please review and let me know what you think! But please, only constructive criticism if you really dislike it.

As nineteen year old Ginny Weasley arrived at work on Monday morning, she couldn't help but ponder on what used to be her dream. Her dream of playing professional Quidditch. Or perhaps becoming an Auror. Instead, here she was, at the day care center for young witches and wizards she had opened with her mother. The Little Cauldron was her pride and joy, despite being a fall back when her entire life had been turned upside down.

She had never imagined that one night of passion after the war had ended would lead her here. In fact, Ginny Weasley had been frivolous enough to believe that that night of passion was the beginning of forever with the emerald eyed hero of the wizarding world. She was deeply mistaken. She had rolled over to find him gone with a note on the pillow.

Ginny-

I seem to always be doing you wrong. Last night was another instance of that. I do love you, Ginny, you must know that and believe that. But I cannot stay here. After everything, after the hell of this battle, I need to leave. I need to leave the guilt and the past behind, every bit of it, and as much as it kills me, you are a part of that past. I will always love you.

-Harry

She almost snorted derisively just thinking of it. She had sobbed for weeks. That is, until she realized how many weeks it had been, and how she had missed a monthly occurence quite a while ago. Shaking and clutching Hermione desperately, she brewed the potion that would seal her fate. When the cauldron glowed gold, she knew; her life had changed forever that night. It had been the beginning of forever. It had been the beginning of loving another person for the rest of her life. It just hadn't been the person she had expected.

As Ginny pondered this, she looked down at the little black haired boy beside her. He blinked up at her with the same emerald eyes that belonged to his father and his grandmother. She grinned at him as he clutched her skirt, looking quite terrified.

"It's all right, baby," she said, lifting him up. "Mama will be here all day. This is where Mama works, and now you'll be with me all day long!"

He blinked his beautiful eyes at her, shaped, at the very least, like her own. The dimples when he grinned at her also belonged to her. "Ma?"

"Yes, my boy, Ma."

"There you are, Ginny dear," Molly Weasley said, bustling from the office. "And there is my beautiful sweet boy, oh come right here to grandmum!"

Immediately, the small boy giggled with happiness, reaching his pudgy arms for his grandmother. "I see how it is, you traitor," Ginny teased as she handed him over. "I see none of the other kids are here quite yet."

"No," Molly said, "not for another half hour. I wanted to go over the snack with you."

And with that, the day began. It was not until nearly ten hours later that Ginny arrived back home at her small flat. It was a tiny two bedroom thing, but Ginny had insisted on moving out when James turned one. She and her mother had established The Little Cauldron while she was pregnant, and business had been quite successful. She had saved up enough for this place, and she was proud to be standing on her own two feet with her two year old little boy.

When she arrived home, she was unsurprised to see Hermione in her kitchen, heating up some pasta. Tea was floating over the table.

"There you are, Ginny. Hello James! Aren't you just getting bigger every time I see you!"

"Tell me about it," Ginny groaned, sitting him down on the floor, where he instantly crawled to his toys on the floor. "You know, you don't need to cook for me all the time."

"I'm aware," Hermione said. "But I like to help out, Ginny, you know that. Ron should be here soon."

Ginny collapsed in a chair at the table. "Thank God, he'll keep Jay entertained for a while."

Hermione laughed. "He does adore his uncle, doesn't he?"

"Merlin knows why," Ginny teased. "Can't believe he's almost two already."

"Are you going to send photos again?" Hermione asked tentatively. Ginny had sent out an owl to Harry with a photo of James when he was born and another when he turned one, but she never received a response of any kind. She was never certain if he even received them; however, Hermione's owl Artemis always returned with no photos tied on its leg.

"Yes," Ginny sighed. "I at least like to know that I've put in the effort, you know? If he doesn't want to come home for him, then that's just fine. But when James grows up, I want him to know that I put in the best effort I could to give him both parents."

"You are an amazing mother, Ginny," Hermione said, her tone rather fierce. "Don't you ever forget that."

"Thank you, Hermione," Ginny said with a small, tired smile. Ginny had changed with motherhood. Her hair was even longer than before, as she hardly had the time to cut the red waves that nearly reached her bellybutton. She had taken to wearing long skirts, almost like her mother's, although she would never admit that. She couldn't imagine the last time she had tried to look appealing, although Hermione constantly reassured her that she was just as beautiful as she was at sixteen.

Ron apparated into the flat with a growl, dropping immediately to the floor to play with James, who shrieked with delight as he tottered to his uncle. "There is my favorite nephew! Rawr!" Ron growled, always playing the loyal part of the angry dragon.

"You're the first dragon I've ever heard say 'rawr', you know," Hermione teased her fiance, who righted himself, hoisting James onto his hip.

"Hello to you too, love," he said, kissing her on the cheek. He ruffled Ginny's hair. "Hey Gin."

"'Lo Ron," she replied. "We were just discussing sending pictures after his second birthday."

"Not that he deserves it, but I don't see an issue with it. As long as you don't expect him to come home."

"You know that I don't, Ron," Ginny said seriously. He nodded.

"What would you do, Ginny? If he did come home," Hermione said suddenly. Ginny's brown eyes widened for a moment.

"You know, I'm not sure. I would never want to deprive him of the possibility to know his father, but I couldn't trust that he wouldn't run again and break his heart. For now, James doesn't know what he's missing, you know?"

"It'd be hard," Hermione agreed. "I've just always wondered, because in this lifetime there is always a chance of him returning, isn't there?"

"I suppose so," Ginny sighed.

"He'd be in for the duel of his life, I'll tell you that," Ron said, bouncing his nephew, who giggled. "You-Know-Who will seem like a puppy compared to us Weasleys."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, Ronald, you are quite terrifying as you snuggle that baby."

Ron spluttered indignantly. "Just because I love my nephew does not make me any less manly!"

"I know, dear," Hermione said, kissing his cheek and then the top of James's head.

Ginny looked on with a contented grin as Hermione proceeded to put dinner on the table and Ron placed her son in the highchair next to the small wooden table. Sure, she was living a life she had hardly imagined for herself. And bloody hell, was it hard. But despite the fact that she might not have a boyfriend, and her son might not have a father in his life, they were not without family. Ron and Hermione loved their godson James more than life itself, and all of Ginny's brothers consistently offered her help and support. Ginny found herself not wanting for anything as she ate a good meal with her family that night, content with her situation.

After dinner, Ginny put James down in his crib and said goodbye to Ron and Hermione, who were only going up a couple of floors to their own flat in the building. Ginny closed the door and began to clean up James's toys. After the flat was relatively clean, or as clean as it could be with a two year old inhabiting it, Ginny finally went into her small bathroom to shower. She let the hot water roll over her skin and sighed contentedly. Her showers were the one time she had nothing to worry about; James was asleep, work was not for another ten hours, and there was no one else to worry about. Just as Ginny reveled in this fact, her son let out a screech from his bedroom. Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes slightly as she turned off the faucet and dried herself off before throwing on her yellow satin robe and entering her son's room.

"It's all right my love," Ginny soothed, rocking him in her arms. "What's wrong my boy?"

"Ma," he whimpered. "Ma, scared!"

"Oh baby love, what are you frightened of?" Ginny cooed softly. "Would you like me to sing you a song?"

He whimpered with a small nod, and so Ginny began to sing to him in her breathy voice. "Stars shining bright above you, night breezes seem to whisper I love you, but in your dreams whatever they be, dream a little dream of me..."

She continued her song until his green eyes fluttered shut and she sighed, laying him gently back down in his crib before turning out the light and walking across the hall to her own room. She never closed either of their doors. Even in the present peace time, the paranoia of danger had not left her system.

A rap on her door just as she was about to change into her pajamas caused her to huff in annoyance. She went to the living room and called softly through the door.

"Who's there?"

There was silence. Ginny began to feel nervous. "Hello?"

"Ginny," a deep, evidently nervous voice called through the door. "It's me."

Ginny felt weak in the knees. Her limbs were numb. It could not be.

"You'll need to clarify that," she half-whispered. She was surprised he heard her.

"It's me, Harry."