Square One

"Married?" Harry echoed, stunned. Ginny couldn't be married. She just couldn't. She loved him. She always had.

"You have to understand, Harry...."

"No," Harry said. "I don't have to understand anything. I don't want to understand." Through tear-blurred eyes, he watched George move to sit on the edge of his bed.

"We didn't think you were coming back to us, Harry," George said gently. "She waited. For a long time. But...well. She had Brian to think of."

"Is that his name?" Harry angrily swiped the tears from his eyes.

"No. Brian is their son."

Harry looked up at George, his mouth dropping open in surprise. "Son?" he whispered.

"Yeah. He's five. Beautiful, and so smart it's kind of scary."

"Five? Then...."

"He was born about 8 months after you took down Voldemort," George explained. "Story is she was so distraught over what happened to you that she turned to this other bloke and immediately regretted it. If it weren't for Brian, she probably wouldn't have had anything more to do with him."

"But they're married now."

"Yes. And they seem happy enough. Still, I don't think she would have done it if he hadn't keep asking her and Mum hadn't kept at her about Brian deserving a real family." George looked Harry square in the eye. "But don't you dare even think about being angry at Mum about this; she's only trying to look out for her grandson."

Harry smiled weakly. "I know."

"Anyway...I just thought you ought to know. Reckoned it would be better for you to hear it now than find out by seeing the wedding pictures Mum's got everywhere."

"Thank you for that," Harry said. He was silent for a moment, trying to keep his emotions in check and get his thoughts into some semblance of order. He played George's words over in his head, and he struck upon a couple of realisations that shook him. "You said he's one of the Order Members that Charlie recruited in Romania. It's Nicolae, isn't it? Ginny married Nicolae."

"Harry, I know you two never got on well, but he's a good man. He's a good father, and he treats Ginny well."

"I'm certain that he does. After all, she's the reason he and I never got on. We were both in love with her, you know. He knew she'd never give him a chance unless I broke it off for good, and I knew that it was likely that he'd get his chance after I faced Voldemort. I had a feeling he'd have her in the end, in a way I never could."

"You're not surprised by any of this."

"No, not really. Except...for me, it was only two days ago that I was preparing to confront Voldemort and saying my goodbyes."

"And for us it's been six years," George acknowledged. "I can't even imagine what that must be like for you."

"You wouldn't want to if you could."

~ ~ ~

George spent the rest of the afternoon at Harry's bedside, but not another word was spoken about Ginny or Nicolae. George did, however, talk about Brian. He told Harry stories about both Brian and Lauren, keeping them both laughing with tales of the silly things that children do and say.

During a pause in George's storytelling, Harry suddenly said, "I told Ginny once that if I ever had a son, I wanted to name him Brian. After Dumbledore, you know?"

For an instant, George looked completely gobsmacked. "I guess that was her way of honouring you both," he said. But there was something in his voice that made Harry wonder. Before he could ask about it, though, they were interrupted by Healer Duncan coming around with Harry's supper. By the time he was finished eating, visitors were beginning to descend again, and Harry forgot all about George's funny turn.

~ ~ ~

The following day, Harry was released from St. Mungo's. Weak but determined, Harry walked down to the reception area under his own power, then allowed Remus to Apparate the both of them to the Burrow. George and Molly met the two of them on the stoop, Molly with hugs and George with a jovial warning about the massive welcoming party waiting in the front parlor.

Even with the warning, Harry was quite unprepared for the number of people who had crowded into the Burrow to welcome him home. Arthur, Charlie, Molly, and George were to be expected; the Burrow was home to them after all. Tonks, Hermione, and Ron were a given as well. But Harry was pleasantly surprised to see Luna, Neville and Hannah, Professor McGonagall, and Kingsley Shacklebolt as well.

And here, at last, was Ginny, tears filling her eyes as she stepped forward to wrap herself in Harry's arms.

"Oh, Harry," she whispered. "I've missed you."

There were answering tears in Harry's eyes now, but he was unaware of them. A sudden darkening of the room and the sound of his own pulse roaring in his ears was all the warning he had before his knees buckled; if he hadn't been ringed all round by well-wishers, he'd have fallen, but someone caught him. He was vaguely aware of being lifted as if he were a sleeping child, and like a child he shifted closer to the comfort of whoever held him.

"I imagine it's all too much for him, poor dear. He'll be all right. He just needs some air and a bit of rest," he heard Molly say.

After that he let himself drift, only marginally aware of being carried, being tucked into bed, and having a soft kiss brushed across his brow as he fell asleep.

~ ~ ~

Harry awoke to darkness and quiet. The quiet didn't last long, though; the sound of laughter, muted slightly by distance, came to him from somewhere downstairs. He dragged himself out of bed and across the hall to the loo. By the time he was done there, he was already beginning to feel tired again, but he steeled himself and inched down first the stairs and then the hallway, following the hum of voices into the front parlor.

"Harry!" Hermione's concerned cry drew Ron and George's attention from whatever they had been doing, their faces popping into view over the back of the sofa like a pair of jack-in-the-boxes. A moment later, George vaulted over the sofa, hurrying to where Harry leaned heavily against the doorjamb.

"Honestly, George," Molly said, "At your age, I shouldn't have to be telling you to keep your feet off the furniture. And I certainly shouldn't have to tell you not to go jumping over the sofa."

"Sorry, Mum," George said as he led Harry to sit in the very spot he had just used as a springboard.

Harry's eyes followed George as he sprawled out on the floor and was immediately attacked by a small boy. Nearby, Ron sat playing with an even smaller girl. He scooped her up, stepped over George and the little boy, and moved to sit beside Harry on the sofa.

"Lauren, this is your uncle Harry. Can you say 'hi'?"

Lauren immediately hid her face against her father's chest.

"She tends to be a bit shy, at first," Arthur chimed in.

"Hi, Lauren," Harry said in the gentlest voice he could. He reached out to stroke her baby soft curls. "She's beautiful, Ron."

"She is, isn't she?" he replied, grinning.

"Luckily, she takes after her mum," George said. "And Brian here takes after his Dad," he added, affectionately ruffling the boy's dark hair. "But maybe Ron and Hermione'll give us a redhead next time."

Ron made a face. "We can hope not."

Brian squirmed away from George and stood staring at Harry. He might have his father's dark hair, but he had Ginny's eyes. As George had said, Brian was a beautiful child.

"Hello, Brian," Harry said. Brian gave Harry a little wave, and then he once again attacked his uncle George.

By this time, baby Lauren was bleary-eyed and half-asleep on her Dad's lap.

"It's getting late," Hermione noted. "We should really be heading home."

"Our princess likes her beauty sleep," Ron said, cradling his daughter to his chest.

Ron and Hermione said their goodbyes and were just headed out the door when Charlie arrived home rumpled and smiling. They stayed for a bit, teasing Charlie about his whereabouts while he ignored them in favour of adoring his niece. Finally, everyone said their goodbyes again, and Ron and Hermione headed for home.

"It's time for you to get to bed, too," George said, scooping Brian up from where he sat building a tower out of anything he could reach.

"I'm not done yet," Brian protested.

"You can finish it in the morning," Molly assured him. "Right now, it's time for bed."

Brian looked as if he wanted to protest but knew better than to argue with Gran. Instead, he said, "I want Uncle Harry to tell me my story."

"Story?" Harry asked.

"My bedtime story."

"I don't think I know any bedtime stories," Harry said.

"I thought you liked my stories best, Brian," Charlie chimed in. He gave Harry a conspiratorial grin.

But Brian crawled up into Harry's lap, and said, "I want Uncle Harry to do it." He looked up at Harry with an expression he'd often seen on Ginny's face and never was able to resist, and once again Harry felt as if the world had decided to play some sort of grand cosmic joke on him. It was supremely unfair that Ginny's son had managed to attach himself to Harry on their first meeting. And it didn't help that Harry knew not a damned thing about children or childhood or bedtime stories. He'd never been around children, and the Dursleys certainly hadn't bothered with telling Harry bedtime stories.

Harry could hear the others giving Brian numerous reasons why he shouldn't be asking Harry for a story: Harry was still sick and needed to rest, George had a brand new story he'd been waiting to tell, and so forth. All the while, Brian sat there in Harry's lap, looking up at him expectantly. He hated to let the little boy down, but....

"Once," Harry said suddenly, remembering a story from his grammar school days. He paused. Brian didn't seem like the type of child who'd appreciate the whole 'once upon a time' spiel. "Once, there was a little girl named....Ermintrude," he said. He ignored George's muffled laugh, and the skeptical look that Charlie shot him. "She was a very pretty little girl, with very pretty blonde curls. Everyone agreed that the name Ermintrude didn't fit her very well, so they all called her Goldilocks."

And from there he was off and running, telling the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in a way that no one present had ever heard before. Only someone who'd spent as much time as Harry had bluffing his way through Professor Trelawney's assignments and skating around trouble in school could have breathed new life into such an old story without any forethought. Brian didn't know enough to be impressed by Harry's skill, but his uncles did.

By the time Harry had finished with his version of Goldilocks, Brian was fighting to stay awake. He snuggled closer to Harry's chest, and Harry stroked his hand over the child's soft hair. He'd never known - never even imagined - how amazing it could feel to have a child snuggle up on your lap like this. Ever since waking in the hospital and realising how much he had sacrificed in ridding the wizarding world of Voldemort, Harry had felt bitter and angry. Now...now he knew it had all been worth it. For this child - for this family - if for no other reason.