It\'s So Difficult to be Mature

Chapter 1: Potters, Weasleys, and Malfoys

"Lis, have you seen my blue dress robes?"

Lisa smiled when she heard that. It was a typically Harry thing to say. He was always misplacing things and then expected her to find them. They had been married for six years and it was the same thing every day.

"Why don’t you look in the closet?" she shouted up the stairs.

"I already did," came the reply, "They’re not in there. I can’t find them."

"Harry you have to find them, we’re going to be late!"

"Don’t worry, I’m sure that Ron and Hermione will understand if we’re a little late."

Sometimes Lisa wondered if she knew her husband at all. Theirs had been a whirlwind romance. They had gone to school together, but they had never met. Harry dated Lisa’s friend Cho Chang for awhile, but it didn’t work out. Then one day, three years after Hogwarts, they bumped into each other outside of the Leaky Cauldron. It had been love at first sight and three months later they were married.

"Harry darling, if you can’t find your blue robes then wear your green ones. The babysitter will be here any minute and we have to leave."

Harry came running down the stairs, dressed and ready, except for his hair which no matter what he did, always stood up. It was only one of the many things Lisa loved about him.

"I’m already one step ahead of you, love. Who’s our sitter this evening?"

"I asked Charlie Weasley’s daughter Elizabeth to stay with the children. I’m not sure about leaving them with a sitter, though. Lily’s only three and James is a baby!"

"Lisa, dear, I’m sure that everything will be fine. Don’t worry. I’m going to go check on them why don’t you go wait for Elizabeth?"

Lisa walked into the living room while Harry went upstairs to see the children. He was pleased to see that they were sleeping peacefully. James reminded him so much of Lisa, but Lily was the female version of her father, from the bright green eyes, to the unruly black hair.

"Harry? Elizabeth’s here!" Lisa called from downstairs.

Harry walked into the livingroom and smiled at the tall red-headed girl who had just come out of the fireplace. She reminded him of her father in so many ways.

"Hello Mr. Potter. My parents also say hello. Am I babysitting for both Lily and James tonight?"

"Yes. Now come along Harry. We mustn’t keep Ron and Hermione waiting any longer," Lisa said.

Elizabeth forgot her professional composure for a moment. "Oh please say hi to my aunt and uncle for me!"

"We will. Now let’s go. You know where to find us, Elizabeth, if anything goes wrong, and Lily is allowed to have dessert tonight provided she cleans her room."

Harry offered his wife his arm and together they Apparated to Ron and Hermione’s house. They had a charming little house in the suburbs of London and Harry and Lisa were there in no time. Lisa knocked on the door and a moment later the door opened revealing Hermione standing in the entrance hall.

"Lisa! Oh, it’s so great to see you!" Hermione exclaimed as she hugged Lisa.

"What about me? Don’t I count for anything?" Harry asked good-naturedly.

"Sorry Harry. Of course you matter. Please come in. It will be so nice to have an evening without having to worry about the kids. Ron will be down shortly, please make yourselves comfortable."

She said all of this very quickly, giving Harry and Lisa the idea that something was wrong. They exchanged a quick glance before entering the house.

"Hermione is something wrong with one of the children? With work?" Lisa asked delicately.

Hermione looked confused. "The children? Work? No, no it’s nothing like that. It’s just–"

"Herm, just tell us. What is it?" Lisa asked.

"It’s Ginny."

Lisa had no idea what to say. Two years ago, Voldemort had killed thousands of people in a somewhat remote city, Muggles and wizards alike. Among the fatalities was Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley’s close friend and erratic boyfriend. She took the news badly. Her friends and family had been astounded when Ginny found solace in a rather unlikely place; the arms of Draco Malfoy. She had fallen in love and the two were wed, against the wishes of Ginny’s brother Ron. The rest of her family adjusted to the idea, however, Ron did not. Matters were not helped when the new Mrs. Malfoy had to flee the country with her husband when it seemed he was a target for Voldemort. Ron had not spoken with his sister since she left. Needless to say it was a touchy subject in the Weasley household.

"What about Ginny? Have you heard from her? Is she alright?" Harry asked.

"Only the occasional postcard, until yesterday. She wrote me a long letter, from wherever she is right now. Something’s wrong, I know it. She’s still my friend, Harry, and now she’s my sister-in-law. I’m worried about her. Ron refuses to even mention her name in this house. Sometimes the children forget that they have an aunt."

"Why do you think something is wrong?" Lisa asked.

‘She’s pregnant. That’s what she wrote me, and she’s still on the run. I don’t understand it Harry, Lisa, how can you agree to marry someone if you have to run for your life all of the time?"

"Herm, if you found out this afternoon that Ron was in terrible danger and you had to leave the country that very instant, wouldn’t you go with him?" Harry asked wisely.

"Of course, but we’re already married and we have children!"

"Well it looks like Ginny is going to have a child too. Herm, she obviously loves him, although why I don’t know, but if she loves him we owe it to her to extend our support," Harry said gently.

"I suppose Draco can’t be all bad. Especially if he’s given up the Dark Arts. From what she’s told me that’s why that’s why they are on the run. He gave up being a Death Eater for her. Harry, you have to talk to Ron for me. He won’t listen to me and we have to help Ginny."

Luckily she finished her sentence before Ron came down the stairs. He appeared to be in a jolly mood. He started speaking without noticing that his wife was close to tears.

"Harry, Lisa! It is so good to see you. We don’t get to see enough of each other, do we?"

The dinner went fairly smoothly. Ron regaled them with tales of his work in the Accidental Magic Reversal squad and new stories of his brothers and their offspring. There was not one mention of Ginny throughout the entire meal and Harry was beginning to regret agreeing to talk with Ron. They had been best friends for sixteen years now and Harry knew how Ron could act when something really bothered him.

The table was cleared and the women went into the kitchen to chat leaving Harry and Ron to talk. Harry looked at Ron nervously before speaking.

"So, Ron, how are things?" Harry knew it was a poor beginning, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

"Great. Work is going well and the children are wonderful. I can’t believe that Geoffrey is three already. It seemed like just yesterday he was a baby. Sometimes I can’t believe that I have children, Harry. Me. Life is definitely good right now."

Harry hated to ruin Ron’s good mood. "Have you heard from Ginny?"

Ron nearly choked on the sip of tea he had just taken. His expression darkened. "Did Hermione tell you to ask me that? Forget it Harry, I refuse to discuss it."

Harry would have left it at that, but he caught his wife’s meaningful glance from the kitchen. "Ron you can’t avoid the subject forever. She’s your little sister. She’s your only sister. Why can’t you support her decisions?"

"Harry, she married my enemy. On top of that, she is now god knows where because of him. And, and..."

"And what Ron?"

"And she never asked me for my advice," Ron added in a low voice.

"Is that what this is about? You’re upset with her because she made a decision on her own?"

"Not entirely. Malfoy is no good for her. She deserves better and I don’t trust him. After everything he did to us in school, how can you accept him?"

"I accept him because Ginny chose him. She is not a stupid girl, Ron. If she chose him to be her husband, then he must have some merit. You didn’t give him a chance."

"I never had a chance to give him a chance. They were married so quickly, and then they had to flee for their lives. What kind of life is that?"

"It’s the life Ginny chose. I’m sure she knew what she was getting into when she married Malfoy. Give her some credit, Ron."

"This is Malfoy we’re talking about. Sure, I’d probably resent any man who married my sister, but only for a short time. I never expected to hate him before he married her. Harry, she could be sick or hurt and I would never know. I refuse to discuss this any longer. Forget it. How’s England doing in Quidditch?"

Harry wanted to keep talking. He wanted Ron to forgive his sister, but he knew that Ron would simply stop talking if pushed any farther.

"Very well I hear. I haven’t been able to keep up as much as I’d like to, but I hear the occasional story."

Ron breathed a quiet sigh of relief, glad that Harry had changed the subject. "Haven’t they asked you to play for England, Harry?"

"Three times already. I turned them down each time."

"What? Are you crazy? You’re the best Seeker Hogwarts ever saw!"

"I’m an Auror now, Ron. I like my life the way it is."

"But playing Quidditch would be wonderful, and it would probably be a lot–"

"A lot what? Safer? Probably, but I have lived the past twenty-six years of my life with danger, I’m not about to give it up now."

Ron was still a little annoyed that Harry had brought up the subject of Ginny, so he introduced a subject that had a similar affect on Harry.

"What about that ordeal six years ago?"

Sure enough, Harry’s face clouded. Ron had no idea why he had the sudden urge to hurt Harry, but bringing up this topic was a sure way to go about it. He regretted it at once, especially when he saw the look in Harry’s eyes.

"Forget it. I didn’t mean to bring it up," Ron tried quickly to cover his mistake.

"Which ordeal would that be? Would that be the day when I had to face down Voldemort for the umpteenth time? I defeated him then, there was no trace of him found, him or his Death Eaters. The world praised me again. I didn’t want their praise, I knew he wasn’t really gone. But to them I was a hero. I was the Boy Who Lived all over again," the fury in Harry’s voice was enough to bring Hermione and Lisa out of the kitchen and the sarcastic emphasis Harry gave the expression ‘Boy Who Lived’, was enough to make Ron shudder. "Only I shouldn’t have lived and I didn’t defeat Voldemort either. Exactly one year later he came back and wreaked havoc anew. Witches and Wizards wouldn’t look me in the face for months. Is that the ordeal?"

Ron looked abashed. "I’m sorry Harry. I didn’t mean to bring it up. Let’s talk about something else."

"That’s alright Ron. I’m getting tired and we have to relieve the babysitter. I believe it’s started to rain and Lily has a problem with thunderstorms. I’ll talk to you tomorrow."

Five minutes later, after they had said their goodbyes, the Potters Apparated back to their house. Harry sent Elizabeth through the fire back to her house while Lisa checked on the kids. They were still sleeping peacefully. Lisa came down the stairs to see her husband sprawled out on the sofa. She walked over to him, not sure if he was sleeping.

"Harry," she said softly, touching him on the shoulder.

"What?"

"Good you’re awake. I want to discuss what happened tonight. Are you ever going to get over what happened? I suppose not. Just like you’re not going to get over your parents death, or Cedric’s death, or any other death you think you caused."

"You too?" Harry sat up and looked his wife straight in the eyes. "You’re going to attack me now?"

"No Harry, darling. I just want you to understand that nothing that has ever happened between you and Voldemort was your fault. Every time that you delayed him, that was buying the world some time. You are a hero."

Harry was about to reply when the doorbell rang. Lisa stood up and went to answer it, leaving Harry to sort out some old emotions. He was going to apologize to Lisa when she called to him.

"Harry, come here. Quickly!"

Harry jumped up from the sofa and ran into the foyer. He was met by a sight he never thought he’d see.

"What in the–"

Standing on his doorstep was a soaking wet and very pregnant Ginny Malfoy. She looked at Harry and spoke. The words were just barely audible.

"Draco’s missing," she announced before fainting gracefully into Harry’s arms.