Those 19 Years

Chapter 9 – Grimmauld Discoveries and Blissful Birthdays (Part 2)

Harry coughed as he stepped out of the fireplace into the drawing room of Grimmauld Place. He drew his wand from his back pocket of his jeans, and, holding it aloft, opened the door into the hall. He carefully inspected the dust-covered furniture, and spied Mrs Black's portrait on the wall, or at least what he assumed was the horrible portrait; it was covered by a thick layer of dust. Trying to be as silent as possible, he edged towards the portrait. All was going well before the fireplace spit out Ginny followed by a loudly squabbling Ron and Hermione. Foreseeing what was about to happen, he tried to scramble away from the portrait desperately, but tripped, rather stupidly, on the Troll's leg umbrella stand. Sending dust flying and landing with a thump on the floor, he braced himself for the inevitable explosion of noise. He heard Ron and Hermione stop fighting, presumably waiting for explosion as well, but it never came. Harry picked himself up, brushing off the dust on his shirt; he met Ginny, Ron and Hermione at the doorway from the drawing room.

He slowly walked towards it, suspicious, and swept his wand over the portrait's area muttering a cleaning spell. As the dust siphoned away, it revealed a large rip through the picture.

"Do you think she's gone?" Harry asked, running his hand over the rip.

"I'm not sure. I don't think the picture should be damaged, I mean, the Fat Lady's portrait got a giant rip through it in our third year, but she was still there and the charm still worked. And I doubt the charm has worn off – some portraits are over a thousand years old," Hermione answered, pondering almost to herself.

"What about if it was destroyed with dark magic?" Ginny asked, looking over at Hermione.

"It's a possibility," Harry answered, "Once we left here, I have no doubt that a least one death eater checked this place over for us,"

"I have no doubt that a death eater would use dark magic on the old hag," Ron smirked.

"I think I remember a spell that traces dark magic – let me try it," Hermione said, pulling out her wand and aiming it at the portrait. She muttered some words under her breath whilst tracing the outline of the portrait. When she finished, the portrait glowed green briefly.

"Yep, dark magic - Looks like she's not coming back," Hermione stated turning to the others.

"'Mione, can you teach us that? It'll make the cleaning process much quicker," Harry asked.

"Sure – the incantation is 'deprehensio tenebris'. It means 'detection of the dark'. Go on try it," she explained.

Harry muttered the incantation at the Troll's leg, before it emitted deep red glow.

"That means it doesn't have any trace of dark magic," she answered his un-said question.

"Wicked," Ron said.

"Okay, let's split up. Ron and Hermione, you start at the top floors and work your way down; me and Gin will start from down here," Harry said, wanting to see the damage his godfather's house had undergone.

"Break for lunch?" Ron asked, hopefully.

Harry laughed, "Of course, I would never consciously separate a Weasley from food," before grabbing Ginny's hand and dragged her down to the kitchen.

Around about 2 hours late, Ginny and Harry had cleaned and scoured the kitchen as well as the lounge, drawing room, bathroom and another floor which was just bathrooms. They met Hermione and Ron on the stairwell. They had cleaned the attic as well as the remaining two floors.

They were now sitting around the table, eating some sandwiches, provided by Kreacher, and a few bottles of Butterbeer that Harry had apparated to get.

"So what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Ron asked, taking a rare yet short break between bites of food.

"Well," Harry said, gulping down some Butterbeer, "I think we should add some colour to this place. We got it clean so let's brighten it up a bit. The furniture is all good condition, so that's just a case of re-colouring the wood and re-upholstering the sofas and chairs. Maybe buy a few bits to make it more home-y next week,"

"Sounds like a plan," Ginny replied, kissing him softly.

"What kind of colour scheme do you have in mind?" Hermione questioned.

"No idea," he replied smiling, "You girls have free reign," he laughed as the girls faces lit up.

"Do you like you'll live here after school?" Ron asked, swigging his drink.

"Yeah, I thought so. If I become an Auror, it's close to the Ministry and being in London is very convenient," he thought for a minute before continuing, "I was gonna ask you guys if you wanted to move in as well; you could each decorate your own room and I think it would be weird if I was in this big house all by myself," Harry looked at Ron carefully.

"Harry, I would love to live here with you. I'm sure Hermione would as well, and I don't even think you would have to ask Ginny; she would love to, no doubt. It would be really cool, mate," he replied, grinning at Harry.

"What would be really cool?" Hermione asked, catching onto the end of the conversation.

Harry explained his idea and Hermione agreed right away, planning her room. Ginny remained silent though.

"Gin?" Harry questioned, reaching for his hand. Her smile soothed his fears.

"Of course I would love to live here," she reached up to kiss him, "One problem. Mum,"

Harry froze as did Ron.

"Oh, Merlin! Do you think she'll kill us?" Ron fretted.

"Ron, you're being extreme. We'll all be adults, so even if she doesn't give her consent, though I'm sure she will, she can't really stop us," Hermione attempted to soothe him.

"Guys, look, it'll be fine. If not, we beg on our hands and knees. Not stop time-wasting - we got a house to decorate," Ginny said, standing from the table and sending their dishes to the sink with a flick of her wand. Her tone held no room for discussion, and the three other teens followed her.

A few hours later, Harry and Ron were finishing up the last bedroom, while the girls were downstairs.

"So, when do you reckon we'll move in?" Ron asked on the way to the dining room.

"Dunno mate. Have you decided whether you're going back to Hogwarts yet?" Harry answered, shoving his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Ron ran a hand through his over-grown ginger locks, "I'm not sure. A part of me wants to move on, you know? Go see what's next in life, but the other half... It wants me to hold onto my childhood. To go back and enjoy, possibly the only peaceful year we could ever have at Hogwarts, with you and Hermione. Especially Hermione. I don't know if I could last a whole year without her,"

"Well, I think you just answered my question," He smirked and clapped his friend on the shoulder.

"One more year. I can handle that," He looked a bit weary.

Harry laughed, "It'll be a breeze, mate, and you'll have 'Mione with you the whole time,"

Ron laughed, and continued grinning as they went off in search of their respective girlfriends.

By the end of the day, the four friends had collapsed on the recently cleaned furniture in the drawing room, sipping cold butterbeers from the bottles. Harry was sprawled, still sitting, on one couch; he had one foot resting on the coffee table and the other dangling off the edge of the sofa. Ginny was tucked in next to him, leaning into his side. Hermione was spread on a leather armchair, with her legs resting over Ron's shoulder, who was sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the base of the chair.

"So, I guess the house is ready?" Hermione asked, after swigging back a sip of Butterbeer.

"I guess," Harry replied, leaning his head atop Ginny's.

They had finished decorating the whole house, which was now rid of all dark possessions and, apart from lack of windows and natural light was rid of its depressing and gloomy natural state.

The hall was not painted an apple green with white trimmed borders. The furniture had been stained to a lighter shade brown, drawing away from the almost black previous colour. They had rid the hallway of the hideous and troublesome troll's leg umbrella stand; they had moved it to the loft, in memory of Tonks, and her constant tripping. The drawing room had the dark blue pinstriped walls, with mahogany furniture including a side table, a chest of drawers, a desk as wells as a centring coffee table, which was surrounded by various leather chairs or sofas. The living room was a lighter blue with fabric sofas and looked quite similar to the drawing room regarding furniture. Underfoot was a soft brown carpet, in both the drawing room and living room. The next room was the dining room, which had been painted with deep Gryffindor red walls and dark brown furniture. The table had been polished and was gleaming under the shinning lights. The kitchen was no longer grey and dull, but an inviting green, much like the hall way, accompanied with a wooden table and four chairs, and matching cabinets and black stone surfaces. There were a few things missing, Hermione insisting they purchase a refrigerator and a muggle cooker; they were lucky to be able to have gotten the counter tops today, as Harry and Ron had to make a quick trip to Gringotts in exchange for the marble-like material. Thankfully, the goblins had forgiven them for the slight damage they had caused earlier in the year, but not until after Harry offered to pay them back – Goblins are all about business.

Upstairs, they had decorated the three spare bedrooms the same; they had light crème walls with double beds with adorning wardrobes, desks and chests of drawers. There was one bathroom on the floor which was simply stripped of the snake-like feature, replaced with more modern fixtures, but remained with white tiles. Ron's bedroom was opposite, which was decorated with Chudley orange walls. The bedspread matched and he had placed a Chudley flag and poster mural above his new desk. He had some more furniture and a fuzzy brown rug spread over the wooden floors. Harry's room was to the left of Ron's and was at the end of the hall. After giving Ginny choice, she had decided on emerald green walls and dark wooden furniture; he had a soft carpet underfoot unlike Ron and a Puddlemere United banner above his desk.

On the next floor, they had left Sirius' room as it was as a memory to him. They had decorated the remaining bedrooms the same as the floor below, however the girl's had two bedrooms on the left of the corridor. Hermione's was decorated a light purple and featured mainly bookcases. Both girls had white furniture accompanying their rooms, as well as crème carpets. Ginny had chosen on a light pistachio green for her room and light fabric curtains covering her window. She, obviously had a Harpies banner on the back of her door.

The house was complete.

"When should we move in?" Ginny asked.

"Well," Hermione began, "if we're all going back to school," she began, shooting a glance at Ron, who smiled and nodded at her. She paused giving him a kiss, "We could move our stuff in just before the year starts and then move in afterwards, or we could just move in after the years over,"

There was a moments silence as they all pondered the options.

"I vote sooner, rather than after the year," Ginny said, holding up her Butterbeer.

"Seconded," Harry replied, squeezing her shoulder slightly.

"Alright then - We'll move stuff in a few days before Hogwarts and then we'll move in after the year," Ron concluded. He drew a last gulp of his Butterbeer, before standing, stretching and holding out a hand to Hermione, "I suppose we'd better make a move. It's almost 11,"

"Right you are, big brother," Ginny added before standing and stretching too, "Anyway, I've got to be refreshed for the big birthday," She smiled and turned to Harry.

"Hate to break it too you, love, but it's almost another whole week till your big day," he smirked and pulled himself up, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Do you have to spoil all my fun?" she pouted jokingly, before reaching up and kissing him.

"You may be right, Harry," Hermione pointed out, "But you're party is in a few days,"

"You speak wise words, milady," Harry teased in a regal accent as they walked towards the floo, "we must make hast with preparations for our festivities,"

"Good point, brave sir. We must immediately begin in the morrow," Ginny returned laughing.

The next few days were a flourish of activity, planning for the party and Ron and Hermione's upcoming Australia trip. With the help of Harry and the Ministry, they had booked a hotel in the area Hermione's parents were based, and had found some leads; it should be a relatively short trip if all went as planned.

On the day of the party, Harry awoke to an empty bed. Placing his glasses on his face, he felt the indentation where Ginny had been sleeping finding it cool. He would've been panicked, but with the reassurance of the noise coming from all areas of the house, his worries were eased. Pulling on a discarded pyjama shirt, he shuffled down the stairs and into the kitchen. He saw Mrs Weasley bustling around the kitchen, and Ginny and Hermione, still pyjama clad, looking over some lists whilst munching on toast.

"Morning Harry," Mrs Weasley called, and placing a plate of breakfast in front of one of the seats.

"Morning all," he returned, kissing Ginny's cheek, but in her distracted state, she kissed the air after he moved to sit.

"Everything ready?" he asked.

"Yup, just checking," Ginny said after getting up and leaning against the counter sipping tea, "Remember to wear something nice," she reminded him, whilst heading up the stairs with Hermione on her arm.

Harry soon headed up to Ron's room, where his outfit had been put by the day on the girl's orders. Ron stepped over to his dresser and began pulling on some clothes that Hermione had picked out.

"Guess we better get used to this, eh mate?" Ron said whilst pulling on his collared white shirt.

"Used to what?" Harry asked, slipping into some dark blue, almost black, jeans.

"The girls choosing what we wear. The next thing we know, they'll be buying our clothes! It would be like Mum choosing me those gross maroon jumpers and things," he smirked whilst looking toward Harry. Finding an opportunity to make Ron flustered, which he hadn't in a while, Harry gave him a disgusted look before saying,

"You're comparing Hermione to your Mum? Ew, now that's gross mate," he said before sitting down and pulling on some ankle socks, and trying to stifle his laughter.

When he got back up and turned round he saw Ron standing still, his ears red and spluttering idiotically. Harry laughed and then came over and patted Ron sarcastically on the shoulder. This seemed to break Ron out of his reverie, and Ron threw a pair of socks at his laughing best friend.

After making the customary trips to 'freshen up', the boys headed down-stairs to help out. They began placing tables and chairs around the yard of the Burrow. They also helped set up the food buffet, whilst sneaking a few tastes – well, more than a few on Ron's part – and strung some coloured lanterns through the trees, whilst flying on their brooms through the slight summer's breeze.

At around 4 in the afternoon, the guests were due to arrive any minute. Bill and Fleur had already showed up, as well as Percy and Audrey, Charlie, and Adie and Teddy. Harry had been entertaining Teddy whilst sitting in the Living Room with the toddler in his lap, but when he heard a creak in the stairs, he passed him quickly with a kiss to the head to an awaiting Mrs Weasley. He and Ron were waiting eagerly at the bottom of the stairs as Hermione and Ginny descended. Hermione came down first; he hair was straightened and hanging loosely around her shoulders and she wore a red, above-the-knee dress, with capped shoulder. She walked up to Ron and lifted his jaw, smiling.

"Don't catch flies, Ronald. I imagine kissing you like that would be the most unpleasant experience," she jibbed gently, before leaning up and touching his lips to hers him.

Harry barely noticed their interaction as his sole focus was on the brilliant red-head coming towards him. Ginny was wearing a dark blue dress that hugged her figure, that was the same length as Hermione's. She had her hair piled upon her head in an elegant, yet casual knot. She walked over to him, giving him an appreciative eye.

"You are looking very handsome, Mr Potter," she said whilst running her hands up his emerald dress shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and he was wearing a leather bracelet that Ginny had made him over the summer.

"I could say the same about you, Miss Weasley," he smiled his devilishly handsome smile towards her, and she couldn't resist not reaching up and pull him into a searing kiss.

They were quite lost in their own world, but some coughing brought back their attention. They looked to see a rather disgruntled Ron and a smirking Hermione.

"Kids! There are guest arriving!" Mrs Weasley called.

The four made it outside, and Ginny and Harry walked to stand near the apparition point so as to greet their guests. Within half an hour, all their guests had arrived, including the whole of Dumbledore's Army, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, and about half of Gryffindor house, including Oliver Wood and Alicia Bell. About 15 minutes after the party really kicked off, George, and to the surprise of almost everyone else, Angelina Johnson. They were both looking rather flustered, but immediately were pulled into a conversation with Lee Jordan and Alicia; few, it seemed, had noticed their joined hands.

Harry and Ginny mingled with their guest and danced to the muggle music that Hermione had provided, using a spell she'd learnt from Professor Flitwick, the music systems that were blearing around the Burrow's garden. They played and danced with Teddy, who eventually fell asleep on Ginny's shoulder, calling an end to his partying time. As the time wore on, the sunlight fading and Harry and Ron activated the lanterns, lighting up the garden and winding through the trees.

After a few hours, the party had died down considerably, leaving only Harry, Hermione, the Weasley's, Neville and Luna sitting in a circle in the garden, each sipping either a firewhisky or a Butterbeer.

"Well, Happy Birthday, you guys," Neville called, lifting his glass.

"Here, here," the others repeated.

"Thanks guys," Harry said, smiling from his spot leaning against a tree with Ginny between his legs. Harry was soaking in the moment; he had his love in his arms, had a great evening filled with fun and laughter and still had time to relax with his friends – he was insanely happy, and for once in his life, felt content.

"Yeah, thanks for being here. You made it the best birthday yet," Ginny added, leaning against Harry's chest.

"Technically, it's not your birthday yet, Gin-Gin," George commented, whilst downing the last of his firewhisky.

"Yeah, well, close enough," she muttered, closing her eyes and tucking her head under Harry's chin. Moments later, she was asleep.

"Well, I guess the almost-birthday girl has called an end to this party," Charlie stated, before standing and stretching.

"Yes, yes. Off to bed all of you. We'll see you two soon," Mrs Weasley said, wandering over to Bill and Fleur.

Harry stood and lifted a sleeping Ginny into his arms.

"Night all," he announced softly.

"Night," they chorused variously.

Harry carried Ginny up the stairs carefully before placing her gently on her bed. He removed her shoes, before gently rousing her so she could change. After she groggily pulled on one of his old shirts, she pulled him to her, he clad only in boxers.

"Night Harry - Love you," she murmured, snuggling closer to him.

"Love you too," Harry breathed in the scent of her hair and drifted off to sleep.

Almost immediately afterwards, or so it seemed, August 11th had rolled around again, and it was Ginny's birthday. Harry woke as the sunlight poured through the window in Ginny's room and through the open curtains. He was curled around Ginny, whose head was lying on his outstretched arm and holding his other arm around her and against her chest. Once savouring the moment, Harry nuzzled his nose through her thick hair and kissed her neck. She sighed happily in her sleep, and subconsciously turned her head towards him. He kissed a trail down her neck and along her jaw. She moaned lightly and rolled onto her back, Harry pressing kisses over her face until she grabbed his head in her hands and brought him down for a searing kiss. She pulled back smiling and opened her eyes slowly, looking deep into his.

"Good morning, my love," Harry said, grinning.

"Good morning indeed," she said, pulling him in for another kiss.

"Happy Birthday," Harry said breathlessly, pulling back from her again.

It took her a moment to react and shot up. Thanks to his seeker agility, Harry moved out of the way quickly, avoiding a head injury. She grabbed her wand off of the bedside table and started firing spells. In a moment, her window opened, some flowers flew in from the garden and placed them in a transfigured vase on her desk, and all their clothes from the night before were suddenly folded and sitting on the back of the desk chair.

"Woo!" she celebrated, standing on the bed and jumping, "I'm an adult! I can do magic! Watch out wizarding world, here I come!"

Harry laughed hysterically, watching the newly adult witch acting like she was 5.

"Come on, chuckles," she said, beaming and grabbing his hand, "I have a birthday breakfast to attend,"

The day flew by, after having opened her presents, she and Harry walked around the Burrow, laughing and kissing, and a bit of flying included. She had received some great gifts; Hermione and Ron had gotten her a book (by no doubt Hermione's influence) about the history of the Holyhead Harpies, her Mum and Dad had gotten her a beautiful watch, Bill and Fleur had given her some new, top-of-the-line chaser gloves. Charlie had gotten her a new personalised Harpies jersey, Percy and George had given her some new Weasley Wizard Wheezes products (Percy had begun helping George after the end of the war). Harry had given her some chocolates from Honeydukes' finest collection, and a beautiful locket, containing a picture of the two of them at the party and engraved with 'Love you forever, Gin. – Harry'.

It was one of the best birthdays ever, in Ginny's opinion, and despite summer being almost over, she was also looking forward to a whole year at school, peaceful, and with Harry to herself.