Making Mistakes

Ginny folded the last of her clothing at the Burrow and stuffed it into the bag on the bed in her old room. 'So when do you think you'll be home, then?' Molly asked.

'A bit after three, I think. McAllister said she'd let us go at three or so.' Ginny zipped the bag closed. 'Could you come to the hospital and help me get Albus home?'

'Of course I can. Your father's going to bring James and your things over around four, then.'

'Perfect,' Ginny said, her gaze sweeping the room one last time. 'All right, I think that's everything. You'll tell everyone on Sunday? About not visiting for now?'

'Yes. But I'll come over during the day to lend a hand with James until Harry gets back.'

'Thanks, Mum.' Ginny pushed her hair from her face. 'Are you okay with me taking the boys home?'

'I think it's the best decision. The three of you need some time to yourselves to get used to each other. And James will handle it better if he's in a familiar place, when you introduce Albus into the mix.'

'You hope,' Ginny added sardonically.

'I hope.'

'Right, if that's all, I'm going to hit the shop and let George know he won't need to come to the hospital tomorrow night.'

'Don't forget Andromeda will be there tonight,' Molly reminded Ginny.

'Oh, right.' Ginny checked her watch. 'Is she going to be okay staying up all night like that?'

Molly's mouth fell open. 'She's not dead, you know! She's younger than I am!' Molly said indignantly.

'She is? Hmm. I've never asked how old she is. I just always assumed she was older than you...'

'Get on with you,' Molly groaned, pushing Ginny toward the door. 'Fifty-five is not ancient.'

'Of course it's not,' Ginny said soothingly, preceding Molly down the stairs. When the reached the kitchen, Ginny turned to Molly and embraced her tightly. 'Thank you, Mum. You and Dad have saved my life the past two weeks.'

'Not a problem, dear,' Molly replied.

Ginny pulled back slightly, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. 'Liar,' she chuckled. 'It's been nerve-wracking.'

'Yes, it has been, but we didn't mind.' Molly pulled a handkerchief from her apron pocket and briskly blew her nose with it. 'You'd better go before James wakes up and we have to pry him off you.'

'I'll see you tomorrow, Mum.' Ginny have Molly one more hug, before she walked out of the kitchen, and Apparated in front of the shop. It was crowded with students, home from school, money burning a hole in their pockets. She burst into the door, shouting, 'George!'

'Back here!' he called back, waving an arm over a crowd of heads at the Skiving Snackboxes.

Ginny worked her way to the back of the room, and grasped George's hand. 'We're going home tomorrow, so you don't have to come to St. Mungo's tomorrow night.'

George's face split into a wide smile. 'Oh, Ginny, that's great! Ron said you might get to take him home soon.'

'Where is Ron?' Ginny asked, twisting her head.

'At the counter. I swear, those seventh-year blokes are getting taller and taller.'

'Or you just won't admit you're abnormally short,' Ginny chided.

'I'm not short!' George objected. 'Ron's just a freak of nature.'

'Yeah, along with Dad, Bill, and Percy.'

'Well, we always knew Perce was a freak of nature,' George laughed.

'He's not so bad,' Ginny said. 'Listen, I have to go feed Albus, but I just wanted to let you know not to come tomorrow night.'

'All right. See you at lunch Sunday?'

'Can't. Have to keep Albus away from people for now.'

'Oh...' George's face fell slightly.

'Don't worry, as soon as he's able to handle people, I'll let you lot take him off my hands for an afternoon.' Ginny reached up to kiss George on the cheek, and ran out the door, Disapparating as her feet touched the cobblestoned street.

*****

Bill sat in the sitting room after the girls and Fleur had gone to bed, the morning paper in his hands. 'Bill?' Bill's head jerked up, and he saw Arthur's head in the fireplace. 'Mind if I come by for a bit?'

'Uh, not at all.' Bill concentrated on folding the paper on precise lines while Arthur came out of the fireplace.

'Gin and Albus are going home tomorrow,' Arthur told Bill. 'I was wondering if you might be able to help me get James and their things back to their house in the afternoon.'

'Do I have to?' Bill mumbled.

Arthur sat down on the sofa next to Bill. 'You don't have to, but I could use your help. George and Ron will be at the shop tomorrow. Charlie has the afternoon shift at the reservation, Percy's got some do with Kingsley and the French Minister, and Ginny, obviously, will have her hands full getting Albus settled.'

Bill hunched his shoulders slightly. He hated it when Arthur used that mild tone of voice, rebuking far more severely than anything Molly could do. 'What time?' he sighed.

'Three tomorrow afternoon.' Arthur looked at Bill, who was putting ever-sharper creases in the paper. 'Knut for your thoughts, son?'

'Why did you make her leave?' Bill asked softly, the question flying from his lips before he could stop it.

'Who?' Arthur felt a chill spread through his veins.

'Mum. When I was five.'

Arthur leaned back against the sofa. 'It's complicated.'

'Try me. I'm not five anymore.'

'First of all, I didn't make your mother leave. She did that because she was angry, and rightfully so.'

'What do you mean?' Bill's fingers continued their task pressing the crease into the newspaper.

'I shouldn't have flatly told your mother "no" the way I did, with no explanation. If I had told her why I didn't want her joining the Order, maybe she wouldn't have left. But that was my failing, and no one else's. I assumed she would know why I said no and understand my reasoning.' Arthur took the paper from Bill and laid it aside. 'This thing with Ginny, it's not the same.'

'Why does everyone keep telling me that?' Bill ground out in frustration.

'Who's told you that?' Arthur asked.

Bill held up a finger as he reeled off the names. 'Mum, Fleur, Charlie, and now you.'

'And we're right,' Arthur stated calmly. 'Did you even bother to talk to Ginny, or did you just assume she'd been dumped on our doorstep with James, without a thought to their care or safety?'

'I... Uh...' Bill stammered.

'Oh, good grief,' Arthur muttered. 'No wonder Ginny was angry at you.' He heaved a sigh.

'Why didn't you come to Grannie Prewett's after us?' Bill asked, hating the child-like tone of his voice.

'I did. Every bloody day for a week.' Arthur's voice cracked. 'You three were my life, son, and the day I came home and found you gone was the worst day of my life up to that point. Molly was so upset that she didn't want to see me. And she needed some time. Your mum wasn't going to come back, unless it was on her own terms, Bill. You ought to know that.

'It wasn't that I didn't think Molly could handle being part of the Order. She wiped the paddock with my arse on a regular basis when we practiced dueling. But things were starting to get out of hand. People were starting to disappear. And I didn't want you to be orphaned, or left with Aunt Muriel.'

'Yeah, thanks for that,' Bill muttered, shuddering slightly at the idea of being raised by Muriel. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. 'Charlie's right... You and Mum are our idols when it comes to marriage. I mean, look what you've dealt with, and you're still married. Loads of people wouldn't be.' He ran a hand over his face. 'Seeing Ginny all alone like that for the last month, made me think of it. But the thing is, I didn't really remember much. Just this image of Mum alone and crying. And I didn't want Ginny to be like that. It just got to a point where I couldn't hold it in anymore.'

'It's not like Harry walked out on her,' Arthur remarked. 'He's coming back.'

'Yeah, but when?' Bill laced his hands together. 'I keep looking for the cracks, you know? Like if you and Mum could get to the point where it was a real possibility she wasn't ever going to go back, then what would be the breaking point for Harry and Gin? Or the rest of us?'

Arthur clapped a hand on Bill's back. 'What is it the Muggles say? The Yanks at least... It's a crapsheet? No, crapshoot, maybe? Either way,' Arthur said, waving off the exact word. 'You can't control everything. And in spite of being the eldest, it's not your job to protect them all.' Arthur rose to his feet. 'I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, then.' He stopped on the hearth rug, a handful of Floo powder in his hand. 'If you want to blame someone, Bill, blame me. Not your mum, not Ginny, and especially not Harry. He did everything he could before he left to make sure Ginny, James, and the baby would be taken care of.' With that, he threw the handful of powder into the flames, and went home.

*****

Ginny turned a page of her book, and glanced at the woman in the armchair. 'Are you sure you're all right here?' she asked. 'I'm going to have to get used to handling it on my own soon enough.'

Andromeda looked up and smiled. 'I'm fine.'

'You didn't have to come do this.'

'I wanted to do this.' Andromeda closed her book, and peered at Ginny. 'You and Harry do so much for Teddy. When I lost Ted, Dora, and Remus, I was afraid I'd have to raise him alone.'

'Harry would have never let that happen,' Ginny said.

'Harry wasn't even eighteen at the time,' Andromeda said lightly. 'I wasn't sure he was going to be up for the job. He's more than proved me wrong many times over.' She traced the faded title stamped into worn cover of the book in her lap. 'Having the two of you around with Teddy kept me from wallowing in grief, I suppose. And you two made me part of your family. I don't know what we would have done without your entire family.' Andromeda cleared her throat, while her eyes remained fixed on the rounded fingernail tracing the exaggerated swoop of a "J'. Ginny realized that in all the years she'd known Andromeda, she'd never seen her break down emotionally. 'I'm not doing this because I have to. I'm doing this because I want to. It's what families do.'

Andromeda drew in a deep breath and looked up at Ginny, clearly needing to change the subject. 'I took Teddy's old cradle to your mother's this afternoon. I believe your father will take it to your house tomorrow. I figured with you taking Albus home, it might be easier for you to have him in a cradle in your bedroom for a while.'

'I hadn't even thought that far ahead,' Ginny murmured. 'Thank you.'

'I know you've heard this a million times, but do you know when Harry's coming home?' Andromeda smiled deprecatingly.

'Not yet,' Ginny sighed. 'Teddy's really missed him, hasn't he?'

'I'm afraid I'm a rather poor substitute when it comes to flying lessons, or stories about Remus and the other...' Andromeda looked at Ginny with a quizzical expression. 'What did they call themselves? Marauders?'

'Yes. You would have thought Remus would have had a calming influence on James Potter or Sirius, but no... He was right there in it with them most of the time.' Ginny made a face. 'I'm not looking forward to sending my James to school. Not with George's two in the year ahead of him. Those three will take anything apart with their bare hands if you leave them alone long enough. The noise... I love the noise. It's when they get quiet that makes me nervous.'

'I hope Teddy doesn't get any ideas.' Andromeda tucked a yellowed paper swan in between the pages of her book. 'He's developed a taste for all of Ted's old rock albums, and is dying to play Beater like he did.'

'I'm sorry I never got to meet Mr. Tonks.'

'Ted was... He was special,' Andromeda sighed. 'I was supposed to marry Lucius Malfoy, you know,' she said. 'When I found out, I wrote to Ted. He saved my life. He used to sit next to me in Potions sixth and seventh years. Sang Muggle rock songs while he worked. Left me notes on my desk in Charms. He would fold the paper into all sorts of shapes. Like this...' Andromeda held out the tiny swan on the palm of her hand. 'This was the first one.'

'May I?' Ginny asked, her hand hovering under Andromeda's. Andromeda carefully transferred the swan to Ginny's palm. Ginny brought her palm up to her hand, closely examining the tiny bird. 'It's exquisite,' she breathed. 'I can't believe you still have it.' She handed it back to Andromeda.

'He risked a lot, being with me. Just as well my family disowned me.' Andromeda traced the outstretched wing of the swan with a fingertip. Tears sparkled in her eyes. She bent her head, and her graying light brown hair fell over her cheeks, hiding her face. 'I miss him so much still. That first birthday without him. Or our first anniversary after he was gone. When Teddy was born. She took in a shaky breath. 'He would have adored you, Ginny.'

'Thank you,' Ginny replied quietly. She slid off the bed, and wrapped her arms around Andromeda. 'For sharing Ted with me.'

Andromeda sniffed and wiped her cheeks with the palm of one hand. 'Look at the pair of us. Sniffling like couple of moody teenage girls.' Andromeda's wrist began to vibrate softly. 'Go on and get some sleep. You're going to need it,' she said, getting to her feet and leaving the room.

Ginny watched her walk out the door. She found herself hoping for the first time she would be as good a mother as Andromeda was. And that if the time came to live her life without Harry, she could do with as much grace as Andromeda had shown in living without Ted.

*****

Harry and Kathleen Apparated under Disillusionment spells to their usual position on Skye, and walked the next hundred yards to where the other two had spent the night on watch. He whistled in a ragged imitation of a wren for Andre and Benjamin. He heard a ghost of an exasperated chuckle in Andre's voice and the answering chirp from him. As they passed each other, Andre whispered, 'Quiet as a church last night.'

Harry had to strain to hear Kathleen's even quieter response. He rather liked the early morning part of the shift. At least when it wasn't raining. The clouds had parted just enough to allow the rising sun to slant over the island. The soft breeze that came off the sea was refreshing, but chilly. Harry folded himself into a sitting position on a moss-covered boulder, his eyes fixed on the lane underneath him. He pulled the sleeves of his jumper over his hands to warm them, his wand protruding from the opening of the right sleeve.

Sometimes, Harry found himself lulled into a sense of complacency this early in the morning. It was eerily quiet, with just the sounds of the birds and the rush of sea. It was all rather peaceful. But not today. Harry had a feeling that today something would happen. She had a fairly regular schedule. Hermione and Percy usually got something on Saturdays or Sundays, with an odd weekday thrown in for variety. But if what Flanagan had told them was true, she was out of parchment and would have to come here, if she wanted to keep her plan going the way she planned. Harry knew she would. She wasn't the most imaginative woman in the world. He knew Kevin was right. The only thing they could do was sit. And wait.

*****

Ginny laid Albus on her bed and tucked the end of the blanket around him. 'We're going home today,' she told him. Ewan had spent a good deal of the morning training Ginny to use the bag, in case rubbing Albus' back didn't help him breathe if he stopped, and explaining how to read the notations that appeared in the file she was going to take home, attaching a note detailing what fell into the normal range, and when she should bring him back. Ewan had then attached a piece of parchment that had everything he had just said, knowing parents might not be able to process all the information they had thrown at them.

Albus cooed softly, his eyes drifting shut. She traced the downy curve of his eyebrow, noting how similar it was to Harry's in shape. The eyes looked as if they might be the same almond-shaped eyes Harry and his mother had, but the color was still that cloudy indeterminate newborn blue. James had been nearly six months old before his eyes had settled into the dark blue he had inherited from Arthur. At this point, it was anybody's guess as to what color Albus' would be. And aside from the color of his hair, it was uncertain as to who Albus would resemble later. The structure of his face was still malleable, but after two weeks of imprinting it on her brain, Ginny was sure he was going to look like his father. She bent over him, brushing her lips across his forehead and down his snub nose. 'You get to meet your big brother, James,' she said, straightening the knit cap that covered his head. 'And it won't smell like antiseptic or Mrs. Scower's, and hopefully, soon, Daddy will be home, too. And he will be ever so pleased that you're home, and in your own cot. Just like he asked.'

'Is this a private party, or can we crash it?' Shanti leaned against the door, Ewan, Sarah, and Maggie clustered around her.

'Crash all you want.' Ginny looked up and sat on the bed, next to Albus.

'We just wanted to say good-bye to the little one,' Sarah said. The trainees edged into the room, and Ewan scooped Albus from the bed, cradling him gently in his large hands. They took turns whispering and cooing to the baby, who slept through it all.

Shanti perched on the bed next to Ginny. 'Doing all right?'

Ginny was unable to halt the startled giggle. 'Why?'

'You have that wide-eyed-first-time-mother look. Like an animal caught in a car's headlights.'

Ginny twisted her wedding ring around her finger a bit nervously. 'A little bit,' she confessed. 'What if something goes wrong at home?'

'You're both going to be fine.'

Ginny glanced at the group clustered around Albus. 'He's still so small.'

'He's gaining weight nicely.' Shanti gave Ginny's hand a reassuring squeeze. 'Believe me; if Anne and I didn't think he was able to go home, you wouldn't be going home today.' Ginny nodded. 'Now, as for you, I want to see you again in about four weeks, all right? Get your mother to come watch the boys, so you won't be distracted during the exam. If you don't feel quite right before that, you should come see me. Even if it's not something you can put your finger on.' She gave Ginny a hug. 'And as soon as Molly gets here, you're free to go,' Shanti added with a smile.

As if on cue, Molly peeked around the open door. 'Are you ready to go?'

Ginny inhaled and slowly released it. 'Not really, but I can't hang around here all day, can I?' She picked up the sling and slipped it over her head, walking over to the knot of trainees. 'Sorry to break up the party, but it's time for us to go home.' Maggie took Albus from Ewan and carefully put him in the sling, while Sarah made a few adjustments until Albus was snugly cradled next to Ginny. Ginny gazed at the three trainees. 'I don't know how to thank you,' she said.

'Train him up to be a Beater,' Ewan said, grinning.

'Don't encourage her,' Molly sighed.

'That's a few years off, Mum,' Ginny said. 'Could you grab those bags for me?' she asked, pointing to two bags on the foot of the bed. She hesitated in the doorway, took a deep breath, then walked down the corridor toward an Apparition point.

*****

Harry rubbed his eyes in frustration. They knew everything about her. They knew what her Animagus form was. They had been looking for it, but damn the woman, she could blend into shadows almost too well. The loud crack of someone Apparating made him sit up and his eyes darted around the clearing. Damn it! he growled to himself. He silently slid off the boulder and noiselessly stalked up to the garden gate in front of the house. He saw her move amongst the tall grass, scuttling under the gate. He looked up and saw a faint shimmer nearby that told him Kathleen had seen her, too. She transformed and took a step to the front door when Harry whispered, 'Now.'

He and Kathleen dropped the Disillusionment charms and wordlessly shot Stunning charms at her back. Harry didn't lower his wand, as he vaulted over the garden gate and ran up to her. Using the toe of his boot, he nudged her over onto her back. Kathleen came up behind him. 'Is it her?' she asked.

'It's her.' Harry breathed. 'Bloody, effing hell, it's her.' He started shaking so badly he couldn't cast the spell to bind her properly.

Kathleen noticed, and tactfully said nothing, but flicked her own wand at the figure lying at their feet and murmured a few words. Ropes shot out of the end of her wand, weaving themselves around her wrists and ankles. She knelt and searched the woman for her wand, stowing it in her back pocket, resisting the urge to break it. But they would need it for the trial.

'Thanks,' Harry murmured, swiping the sleeve of his jumper over his sweat-glazed face. He reached down and grasped the unconscious woman, hauling her to her feet. He looked at Kathleen. 'Inverness.' She nodded and Disapparated to the back garden of their house. Harry shifted his grip on the woman's wrists, in order to gain a firmer hold, and turned on the spot, taking them both to Inverness.