A/N: hope you all enjoy this chapter, I'd love to see a few more reviews simply so I know if this is interesting to people. I loved seeing so many people adding it to alerts and favourites, but theres nothing like a review lol. Alrighty enjoy people! xx
Harry walked into the library in search of Hermione, knowing that his sister in law would be the best for news. She was always one of the first at the ministry and kept her ear on everything, he was always surprised by what she knew, sometimes it seemed completely impossible what she could glean but then it was just Hermione she always had the best gossip and facts.
He found her buried in the back stacks levitating books back onto their shelves. He smiled as he spotted her and her slightly rounded stomach, his latest nephew was on his way in just over a month and he was excited about the new addition to their growing family.
"Morning Mione," he called happily and she turned beaming at him as she spotted him.
"Hi Harry, didn't expect you this early," she lowered her wand and stepped towards him so he could wrap her in a hug and press a kiss to her cheek.
He rubbed his hand over her stomach as he had done so many times before, "how's the footballer today?" he asked causing her to laugh.
"He's sleeping I think, all night he's awake and the second I start to move bang he's out," she tried to pull a face at that but soon she was smiling.
"Well tell him he has to let his mum sleep or he'll have his uncle Harry to deal with," she laughed at that shaking her head slightly.
Harry didn't want to spoil the moment and the calm that surrounded them in the stacks but he really needed to talk to her about what he and Ginny had felt that moment so swallowing the laughter he leant back against one of the shelves as he watched her levitate another book.
"When you got to work this morning Mione, did anyone say anything to you. You know strange reports of anything bad happening?" he asked, his voice turning slightly off as he thought about what he had felt that morning.
She frowned at him turning so she could look at him completely and take in his worried face. She hadn't seen him worried like this in some time and it was a little worrying to herself. If Harry was worried then there was definitely something to it.
"No Harry, things have been quiet around here for some time. Even the pockets of death eaters we were having trouble with in the last few years have been quiet lately."
Harry frowned at that, he hated the pockets of death eaters, had offered to help with tracking them, but even with his occasional help they were still out there. He guessed that in any race there were those that were prejudice and it seemed even wizarding kind wasn't immune to that.
He nodded smiling at her to try and keep her calm even though he could tell that he had worried her.
"Could you let me know if your hear anything, anything at all even if it seems innocuous" he said as he stood from where he was leaning, his mind turning to Ginny for a moment as he let her feelings wash over and calm him.
"Of course Harry, is there something I shouldn't looking out for?" he could hear the whisper of fear in her voice and he didn't like that he had worried her.
With a smile he pulled her to him wrapping her in a hug, and she buried her face against his collar bone breathing deeply and relaxing visibly.
"It's nothing really, just a feeling. Don't worry yourself, you don't need any more stress right now," he pressed a kiss to her forehead and turned to head out of the stacks.
Turning at the last minute he realised he'd nearly forgotten Ginny's message.
"Gin wants to know when this week you want to go for the girlie tea thing you always do," he pulled a familiar face and she laughed openly totally at ease now.
"Ask her if Wednesday is alright will you? I've got an appointment tomorrow so that'd be the best day," he nodded blew her a kiss and headed out to see if anyone else had heard of anything.
Ginny watched as Lily ran to meet her friends, happily giggling with a few of the other girls who were sat around a pile of building blocks. One of the teachers smiled catching Ginny's eye and walked over to her.
"Todays the day then?" she asked and Ginny laughed.
It was well known with everyone that worked there that Ginny never went far from her daughter.
"Yeah I think so, I have a few things I really need to do," the echo of the feeling from the morning shivered along her spine but she did her best to ignore it, "plus mums promised to be around the village if you need anything," she said and the woman laughed reaching out to squeeze Ginny's shoulder.
"Don't worry; you know Lily is safe with us. We completely understand why you and your husband might be worried with leaving your child, but we just had the latest ministry check just three days ago and we asked that certain wards be strengthened with her and a few other high profile children in mind. She's safe with us," the woman gave Ginny another shoulder squeeze and hurried off to split around two three year old boys that were gearing up for a fight.
Ginny watched the room for a moment, pleased to hear of the extra safety precautions, before she slipped out of the room closing the door softly behind her as she did so Lily wouldn't notice she had left. When she left the building she took a moment to feel those wards, and realised that they were indeed extremely strong and it stilled a worry in her heart.
Taking a breath she disaparted landing squarely in Bill's front yard. Her brother must have been expecting her because he came straight out of the cottage to great her.
"Come here baby sister I need a hug," he said laughing as she folded herself into his arms.
It hadn't been long since they'd seen each other, just a few weeks, but they had become close having children so close together.
"How's Fleur today?" she asked as he slung his arm around her shoulder and headed towards the cottage.
"She's good, she been swearing in French under her breath recently so I know she's a little sleep deprived but she's old school and won't let me help too much," he shook his head at that and Ginny knew that it was an argument that would go round and round in a circle.
Fleur had decided that since she didn't work she would do everything with the children; it had been alright when it was just Victoire, but with Louie as well it wasn't as easy anymore.
"Where is she today?" she asked as they entered the kitchen to find it quiet.
"I finally convinced her to go see her mum for a while, she took the kids of course but I know she'll let her mum and sisters help more than she lets me."
He shrugged and Ginny wanted to laugh at his forlorn look, her poor brother Fleur truly did stump him sometimes but she knew he loved her with everything he had in him.
Ginny settled into one of the chairs around the kitchen table while Bill put on a pot of water to boil for tea. He settled down next to while it boiled smiling at her brightly.
"So what questions do you have for me today?" he asked and she could hear the laughter in his voice.
Ever since Ginny and Harry had done their 'trip' through time and the full extent of their connection came forward Ginny had been fascinated by the idea of their past lives. She wanted desperately to know who and what they were when that had been together before. With the use of a few memory charms and spells to help enhance the connection to the past she had managed to scrounge together a few details. Dates, last names even dates of death, but not enough to research completely by herself. That was where her brother came in.
Gringotts was the oldest wizarding bank ever, and thus their records went back centuries and since the war Bill had climbed in the ranks there, higher than another human had before. Ginny secretly suspected it was the goblins way of keeping Harry on their side. They had never come to him over the breaking simply stating in a public statement that they understood that it was all in the course of defeating the dark lord. Ginny didn't buy that for one moment, but rumours circulated of the power Harry and she held, power that even the goblins with all of their accumulated power would be scared of.
And so Bill was able to access these records, especially when he let slip who he was doing it for. So far they hadn't found anything that had jogged Ginny's memory any further. But now she had something she really wanted him to check.
"Ok Bill I have something a little more substantial for you. A name and a rough timeframe for you."
Closing her eyes she tried her hardest to bring forth the images that had played through her mind. It had been strange normally she would have been trying to recall something before she could get anything at all.
This time though it had been a normal Sunday afternoon at home. Harry was in the garden with Lily playing some game that Ginny just failed to follow; her husband and her daughter seemed to have a language she just didn't seem to understand. She didn't mind, she had things that she alone shared with Lily, and things she alone well and truly only shared with Harry. But this Sunday had been different.
She was sat on the bench in the garden with them so she could watch and join in when she was requested, a book in her lap almost totally forgotten as she watched her daughter. It was as she watched Harry swing her up and her daughter laughing, that high pitch squeal that only kids could reach, that a flash of memory hit her. It was so strong that it doubled her over as the images flashed in her mind, so like when they had returned from the past and had to slot in the new time line.
Images of another little girl laughing as a man twirled her around, but this man was slightly shorter than Harry was now, and his hair was a shocking shade of blonde, so bright it was almost white. But what was the strangest was that Harry's features were in there, something around the eyes and his nose, not his eye colour since they were a vivid blue that was almost purple, but just the shape of them. Ginny instantly knew she was seeing him in his past life.
When she opened her eyes Bill was watching her patiently. He smiled as her vision cleared of the past and she focused on him.
"Alistair McKenzie, I feel like this was maybe a hundred and fifty years ago, could be a little further back than that but definitely no sooner. I do have a physical description if that would help," she paused and Bill nodded climbing to his feet to root through a kitchen draw for some parchment.
When he returned he brought the little tea pot filled with water and teabags already steeping with him along with a cup each for them. Ginny smiled as her brother pottered around, it was nice seeing how calm he was now. He was still rebellious in some ways, with his long hair still tied back and his rock t-shirts but he had found a centre and a calmness she had never seen in him as she was growing up.
"Alright hit me," he said quill poised over the paper ready to capture what she said.
She laughed but dove straight in, "alright I'd say he was about six foot, maybe a little under that. He had long blonde hair, so blonde that it was almost white. But his most distinguishing feature was definitely his eyes, they were a blue so bright honestly Bill I would have said they were more purple then blue," he frowned at that but didn't say anything as she rolled on, "we were definitely married, and we had at least one child. A little girl, I remember her laughter," she smiled at that and couldn't help the ache that settled into her heart at not knowing what had happened to her child, even if it was a child she didn't completely remember having.
"Alright Gin this is enough for me to start, and better then the last ones. At least I have a full name instead of the partial ones; hopefully I can get you something a little more concrete that you can take to the archives in the ministry," she smiled at him leaning over the table to press a kiss against his cheek.
"Thank you Bill," she grabbed the tea pot, pouring tea into his cup and for herself, adding a wedge of lemon to hers as he added milk, "so how's married life treating you these days?" she asked settling back into her chair to listen to her brother ignoring all the other worries she had skittering around her mind for just a little while.