The First Day

Ginny raced up the stairs, shouting, 'I get the shower first!'

'Why should you get the first go?' Ron bellowed, following her. 'I'm the one that worked my arse off all bloody day!'

Ginny stopped on the threshold of the bathroom. 'Because it's my birthday.' She slammed the door shut in Ron's face. 'When it's your birthday, you'll get the bathroom first,' Ginny called through the door.

Ron sighed and stomped down the stairs, muttering under his breath. He was sweaty and irritable, and above all, starving. He'd nearly swallowed his lunch whole before darting back onto the floor. 'We need another bathroom,' he told Molly.

'We're fine,' Molly said. 'Just wait your turn, for goodness' sake. And it is Ginny's birthday. She won't be long.'

Ron looked longingly at the bowls of carrots, peas, runner beans, and potatoes on the table. 'How soon until dinner?'

Molly glanced at Ron with smile. 'Here.' She waved her wand, and a plate with a sandwich and an apple appeared on the table in front of Ron. 'That ought to hold you over.'

'Thank you, Mum!' Ron said gratefully, falling onto the snack.

Molly glanced out the window into the back garden, where George and Katie could be seen walking slowly up the paddock to the house. 'So what's the story with those two?'

Ron chewed a bite of apple, as he watched George walk with his hands shoved into his pockets. 'Oh, Katie came by after we closed and Ginny invited her over for the party.'

'Mmm-hmmm.' Molly leaned against the counter, her eyes on Katie. She remembered the evening last month when Katie had come to see George, emerging from his room after more than two hours, with a large damp splotch spread across the front of her shirt. She had asked Molly for a wet face cloth, a headache potion, and some tea. When Molly went to bed an hour later, she could hear George's husky baritone murmuring in response to Katie's soft alto tones. She was grateful someone had finally gotten George to talk. Molly had lain awake for hours, waiting for the tell-tale creaks of the stairs that would signal Katie's departure.

As George and Katie came into the garden, they stopped at the group of chairs clustered under the apple trees and pulled two of them to the side. George slouched on the edge of the chair, his feet stretched out in front of him. 'It was... different,' he told Katie. 'Fred and I always worked together like a single unit. Not that Ron isn't working out well,' he said hastily. 'But it's just... different...'

'Is it a bad thing?'

George shook his head. 'I don't think so. I mean, he's working really hard. Like he's got something to prove. I'm just not used to having to explain what I want done.'

'It's going to take some time,' Katie assured him. 'You'll get used to it.' Katie glimpsed George shifting uneasily in his chair. 'I don't have to stay,' she mumbled, looking down at her hands. There was an ink stain on the side of her middle finger. She began to rub her thumb over the small blob of black marring the faintly tanned skin of her finger. Harry came up to the chairs, and deposited something covered with cloth on one of the chairs, before heading into the house. Katie got up and set off for the paddock.

George gaped at the back of Katie's head. He sprang up from his chair and darted around her. 'Don't go,' he said softly, standing in front of her to block the path back to the Apparition point.

'Why shouldn't I?' Katie asked. 'It's rather obvious you don't want me around.' She ran a hand through her disordered hair, sweeping it from her face. 'I can take a hint.' She dodged around George and kept walking toward the stone wall that separated the paddock from the garden.

George spun around. 'What hint?' Katie didn't say anything, but kept her determined pace, climbing over the wall. 'Katie, wait!' George sprinted after her. 'Katie... come on...'

Katie came to a stop so suddenly; George nearly tripped trying to avoid her. 'You know, George, we've been friends a long time. When I came out of it at St. Mungo's, the Healers told me you'd come to see me nearly every day. You sent me all the notes you had for seventh year Charms, just so I could catch up. I earned a bloody Outstanding for that. You took me out to celebrate getting my job. You and I have always been able to talk about almost everything, and ever since I came round last month, you've pretended I don't exist!' Katie shoved George aside. 'Fine. I know when I'm not wanted.' She stomped away, fuming.

George watched her walk away, his mouth hanging open. -George, you git, go after her. George shook his head, trying to shake the feeling that Fred what whispering in his ear. She's your friend, and you're behaving like a perfect wanker...

George found himself stumbling after Katie, his hand closing around her wrist. 'Wait...' His mouth worked a few times, unsure of what to say next. 'I was embarrassed,' he blurted.

'I'm sorry... What?'

'After I cried all over you like a baby. I was embarrassed.' George shrugged vaguely. 'Blokes aren't supposed to do that.' George chewed a ragged fingernail. 'I didn't want to...' he mumbled around his thumb.

Katie crossed her arms over her chest. 'What?'

George let his hand drop, and he pushed both of them into the pockets of his jeans. 'You've been the only person I've been able to talk to about Fred; because I know you're not putting on a brave face for me.' He swallowed heavily. 'I've wanted to call you, but it felt like it was only because I was having a bad day,' George finished lamely.

'You're an idiot,' Katie pronounced.

'I know.'

'How many times did I write you, terrified I couldn't catch up in time for exams?' Katie challenged.

'At least once a day,' George said. 'Sometimes, twice.'

'And did you ever think I was only using you because I was having a bad day?'

'No,' George admitted quietly.

'It's what friends do, George Weasley,' Katie chided, still smarting.

'I know...' George's head drooped, and he traced patterns in the grass with the toe of a trainer. 'Please, Katie... Stay... It would upset Gin if you left.

'Do you want me to stay for Ginny or for you?' Katie asked.

'I want you to.'

Katie nodded once and began to walk back toward the house.

George's shoulders slumped in relief. Katie was one of the few friends he had that didn't remind him painfully of Fred. She had been his friend more than Fred's. Lee had come by once or twice earlier, but George had been unable to talk to him. Lee made him think about Fred far too much for George's comfort. He hadn't even been able to ask about Angelina, even though he knew she was probably grieving as well.

When he made it back to the garden, tables were already set up under the trees, and Katie was helping Molly set one of the tables. He took one of the tablecloths sitting in a chair and spread it over the other table, taking a stack of plates and doling them out around it. Molly left them alone, and George stole a glance at Katie, laying out forks and knives next to the plates. He cleared his throat. 'How's Ange?' he asked. 'She and Fred were pretty tight, weren't they...?' He had a vague memory of seeing Angelina at Fred's funeral, supported by Alicia and Katie on either side of her.

Katie set a fork next to a plate. 'She's getting better. Her mum and dad sent her to visit family in June.' Katie met George in the middle of the table. 'I saw her last week. She's working at WhizzHard Books. We're meeting up next week.'

'Where?'

'Some Muggle place. It's loads quieter.'

'Can I tag along?' George found himself blurting before he could stop himself.

'Sure. Angelina will be glad to see you.' Katie sat down in a chair. 'She asked about you.'

George closed his eyes and nodded. Seeing Angelina would be one more step.

*****

Harry sighed and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. Ginny was taking an uncharacteristically long time in the bathroom. He smoothed the shirt sitting on the step next to him, picking off invisible pieces of lint. He heard the door open behind him, and twisted around on the step. Ginny stood on the landing above him, clad in her dressing gown. She dropped to the step next to him. 'Okay,' she sighed.

'Huh?'

'Okay... Let's try things and see how they go...'

'Oh...' Harry rubbed the back of his neck. 'All right, then.'

Ginny stood up and began to move down the stairs. 'Just remember... I've got ssiii... five brothers who will kick your arse all the way to Siberia and back...' With that warning, she sashayed down the stairs; leaving Harry gawked at Ginny's back until she disappeared around a bend in the staircase. He was still sitting there when Charlie emerged from the second floor onto the third floor landing several minutes later.

'All right?' Charlie asked softly. 'Look like you've seen a Skrewt.' Harry nodded in response. Charlie gestured to the open bathroom door. 'Need to use the loo?' Harry shook his head, his eyes still trained on the path Ginny had taken downstairs. 'Right... I'm just going to dash in for a tick...' Charlie started to close the door and glanced back at Harry. 'Sure you're all right?'

'Yeah...' A slow smile spread across Harry's face. 'Brilliant.' Underneath the quiet elation was a tinge of sadness. Harry hadn't missed Ginny's correction to her number of brothers. It wasn't your fault, he told himself, picking up his clean clothes and standing next to the bathroom door, waiting for Charlie to finish.

*****

Ginny cleared the dinner dishes with a wave of her wand, sending them neatly into the kitchen. She grinned at Molly. 'Legal this time...' She picked up the first package and unwrapped a new watch from her parents. It was decidedly more delicate and feminine than the ones Harry and Ron had received last year.

Bill and Fleur gave her a pair of sapphire earrings, Charlie a pair of premium quality dragon-hide gloves. Percy unbent enough to give her a pair of professional grade Chaser's gloves. Hagrid gave her a moleskin pouch, similar to the one he'd given Harry. 'Heard ye migh be playin' professional-like next year,' he told her. 'Thought ye'd keep yer valu'bles innit durin' games.'

Ginny squinted up at Hagrid. 'How'd you hear about that?'

'Ah, Slughorn was goin' at dinner the other nigh' abou' how Gwenog Jones was goin' to take ye on.' Hagrid shook his head. 'Kep' sayin' it was all his doin'.'

Ginny snorted. 'Hardly,' she said softly. She reached for the next package from Andromeda and Teddy. The box opened to reveal a handsome leather-bound diary and a set of Muggle-style fountain pens.

'Remus said once you liked to write...' Andromeda said tentatively, aware of Ginny's history.

'I do,' Ginny said, stroking the buttery soft cover.

'Here, Ginny,' Luna said vaguely, handing her a soft package. Ginny gingerly pulled the paper off and discovered a soft, fluffy hat. 'It'll protect you from Blubbering Humdingers,' Luna said with the dreamy sincerity they had come to expect from her.

Ginny bit her lip, but managed to keep a straight face. 'Thank you, Luna. I'm sure it'll be useful.' Ginny slid the long box across the table. 'What on earth is this?' She ripped the paper off, and pried off the lid, her mouth opening in surprise.

'It's a Cleansweep Eight,' George said. 'Did you slip and fall in the bath earlier?'

'We thought you could do with a good broom, now that you're captain this year,' Ron added.

'About time you got your own broom,' Bill commented. 'You can stop picking the lock on the broom shed and stealing ours.'

'It's perfect,' Ginny breathed.

'Go take it for a spin,' suggested Charlie.

Ginny ran a fingertip down the dark, polished wood of the handle, tracing around the oval nameplate engraved with "Ginevra M. Weasley". She looked at George and Ron, with a raised eyebrow. 'Just had to use my real name, didn't you?' She regretfully laid the broom in its wrappings. 'I'll take it up tomorrow.' She pulled the last gift over the table. 'Hmmm. I wonder what this could be?' she asked flippantly, pulling the cloth off the cage. Inside, a small tawny owl sat on her perch, examining Ginny with bright-eyed interest. Ginny opened the cage and the owl minced out to sit on Ginny's wrist. Ginny stroked the soft feathers. 'Oh, thank you. My own owl,' she breathed in awe.

'Now you won't have to use a school owl all the time,' Harry said shyly, Teddy sleeping in his arms.

'Ariel,' Ginny said. 'That's her name.' The owl hooted softly, as if she was acknowledging her name. She preened Ginny's hair, then took off to hunt.

Andromeda left soon afterward, promising Molly she would come to lunch on Sunday. She came to the end of the table occupied by Harry and Ginny, and scooped Teddy from Harry's arms. 'I'll bring him over Saturday afternoon,' she told Harry, before walking with Molly down to the Apparition point.

Luna left a few minutes after Andromeda, claiming she had to fish for Plimpies, so her father could make her favorite meal before she went back to school. 'Plimpies must be caught before midnight,' she said, drifting down the lane toward her house.

Arthur hailed the Knight Bus for Hagrid to return to Hogwarts, and George escorted Katie down the paddock so she could Apparate home.

In time, it was only the family members left, sitting around the tables, chatting desultorily of this and that, under the twinkling fairy lights strung in the branches of the trees overhead. The hour grew late and the level of several bottles of wine and Firewhiskey lowered significantly as everyone seemed to try a little too hard to have a good time. Rather than attempt to go home, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and Percy decided to stay the night. There was a flurry of motion as Molly tried to assign bedrooms. 'All right... Bill and Charlie can sleep in Bill's room; Fleur can sleep with Ginny... Percy, you can double up with George, and Ron and Harry are in the attic...'

'Erm, Mum?' Bill waved a hand in the air. 'I thought Fleur and I could actually share a room now...' He held up his left hand, the slim gold band around his ring finger glinting in the light from the fairy lights. 'Remember? A year on the first.' Fleur giggled softly. She was rather tipsy in spite of her protestations that being French, and practically weaned on watered wine, she could handle her drink.

Molly scowled at Bill for ruining her arrangements. 'I suppose...' she said reluctantly, rolling her eyes at the spectacle Bill was making with Fleur.

'Mum, I'll sleep in the sitting room,' volunteered Charlie. 'I have to get up early to get back to the school. Won't bother anyone.' He lurched to his feet. 'Isn't there a sleeping bag in the attic?'

'You'll do no such thing,' Molly huffed. 'I'll make up the sofa,' she insisted, stumbling a little as she tried to hurry into the house ahead of Charlie.

Charlie tried to catch her elbow, but tripped over his feet and ended up sprawled face-down in the grass. 'That's going to hurt later,' he chuckled to himself, managing to get back on his feet. He felt an arm slide around his waist, and turned his head to see Ron next to him.

'Get you to the sofa, at least...' Ron said, slurring a little.

'On your own to your room,' Charlie grunted.

'There's a handrail,' Ron said smugly.

'Five flights of stairs...'

Ron blinked blearily. 'I'll have a kip on the third landing.' They squeezed through the door into the kitchen.

Arthur followed them, surprisingly steady for the amount of liquor he'd drunk. 'Don't shtay... stay out too long...' he told the ones who remained at the table.

Ginny leaned against Harry a little. She'd only had two glasses of wine, but she wasn't used to it. She swiped a finger through the chocolate frosting swirled on the plate in front of her, and licked it off with a slight hum of pleasure. 'Not nice, Gin...' Harry breathed, as his eyes unfocused slightly.

'Huh?'

Harry picked up his glass and drained the last of the wine from it. 'Nothing...'

Percy sat with his chin propped in his upturned palms, glasses askew. 'George?'

George picked his head up from the table. 'Yeah?'

'I can't feel my toes... Shouldn't I be able to feel my toes?'

George snickered a little. 'Can you wiggle 'em?'

Percy tried to look at his feet through the table. 'Dunno. Can't see 'em,' he whispered, sounding slightly stricken.

'Now you're really in trouble,' George sighed. He pushed himself to his feet. 'C'mon, Perce...' He put a hand under Percy's shoulder and hauled him to his feet.

'How'm I suppos'd t' walk without toes?' Percy asked in bewilderment.

'Don' worry... You'll find 'em in th' morning,' George yawned, half-dragging Percy into the house.

Bill and Fleur meandered into the house a few minutes later, too wrapped up in each other to notice Harry and Ginny still occupied one end of the table. Harry twirled a lock of Ginny's hair around his finger. 'I still have one more present for you,' he murmured.

'You already gave me an owl...'

Feeling braver than usual under the influence of the alcohol, Harry tipped Ginny's chin up and began to kiss her. He could taste the chocolate and the wine she'd consumed on her lips. He broke the kiss reluctantly, and rested his forehead against hers. 'That was even better than I remembered,' he mumbled.

The next thing Harry knew, he and Ginny were sitting on a blanket she had Summoned from her bedroom under the apple tree, facing the paddock. He didn't know what time it was, nor did he care. Ginny sat with her back against his chest, her head tilted back on his shoulder.

Ginny traced the scars on the back of Harry's hand that rested against her stomach. 'Fifth year, right?' she asked.

'Yeah...'

'What does it say?' she asked, lifting his hand toward her face, squinting at the faded words in the fading light.

'I must not tell lies,' Harry said flatly.

'She ought to have used it on herself,' Ginny snorted, brushing her lips across the back of Harry's hand, ignoring the sharp intake of breath over her head.

'A-a-a-all right...' Harry stammered. 'I've shown you one of mine...'

Ginny bit her lip, thinking for several long moments, then decided to inject some levity in the evening. She pulled the hem of her skirt up past mid-thigh. A long, thin, white scar bisected the skin. 'I got that right after I got my Hogwarts letter. Stole Dad's razor to shave my legs because I was all grown up. Mum opened the bathroom door to put some clean towels away, and it startled me.' Her hand moved sideways across her thigh. 'Sliced it right open. Didn't want Mum to find out, so I just put a million plasters on it.'

'Ouch. If it hadn't been for...' Harry took in a deep breath. 'Fred...' he said finally. 'I would have done that to my face. He had to teach me to shave my fourth year. I ran into him on the stairs in the boys' dormitory, and he told me my chin looked moldy. Took me into the bathroom of the sixth years' dormitory and showed me how to shave without committing suicide.' Harry pulled up the leg of his jeans. 'Feel that?' he asked, taking Ginny's hand and running it over his shin. She could feel a faintly pebbled patch of skin under the dusting of hair.

'Yeah.'

'I skidded on a patch of pavement running away from Du... Some others at my Muggle school.'

'Ouch,' Ginny said, wincing in sympathy. She tried to pull the back of her shirt up, but couldn't get it up far enough. Instead, she unbuttoned it, pushing it off her shoulders. A scar snaked across her shoulder blade. 'Fell off Charlie's old broom when I was nine. No broken bones, but I scraped against this tree.' Harry didn't know what made him do it, but he bent his head and ran his lips over the scar. Ginny shivered.

'Cold?' he asked.

'No...' Ginny cleared her throat. 'Is that all?' she challenged.

'Nope.' Harry rolled the sleeve of his shirt back to display two indentations in his arm. 'Nagini. Christmas Eve. What about you?' he said, keeping his hands in his lap. Ginny hadn't put her shirt back on, and sat in front of him in only her bra and a skirt. She didn't seem overly concerned about it.

Ginny pushed her hair away from her face. 'See that?' she said, pointing to a small scar that ran into her hairline. 'I got it last... October, I think. Crabbe shoved me in the corridor. I hit the wall.'

Harry pressed his lips to it. 'I'm sorry,' he said softly.

'It's all right.'

'I should have been there.' He slumped against the trunk of the apple tree.

Ginny knelt between his drawn up legs. 'It's nothing. McGonagall gave him detention. Slughorn made him scour all the cauldrons in the Potions classroom without magic.'

'Why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey?'

Ginny shrugged. 'She would have asked questions.'

'Gin...'

Ginny shook her head forcefully. 'It's over, all right?' Ginny sat back on her heels. 'You next.'

Harry pulled his shirttails from his jeans and hauled it over his head. His chest glimmered in the darkness. He took Ginny's hand and laid her fingers over the roughened, oval-shaped scar over his heart. 'Riddle's locket. Hermione had to use a Severing charm to get it off.' He moved Ginny's fingers up to his throat to the faint line circling the base of it. 'Gryffindor's sword was in the bottom of this pool of water, and I dove in for it. The locket tried to drown me. Luckily, Ron was following me. He pulled me out of the water and went for the sword. Had to cut the locket off me.'

Ginny bent closer to Harry's bare chest. 'Is that a bruise?' she asked, tracing a bluish smudge around the scar.

'Yeah. It's where the Killing Curse hit me. I'm told it will heal. It'll just take a long time.' All of a sudden, Ginny's face crumpled and she began to cry. Harry was stunned. 'Oh God, Ginny, please don't cry,' he implored her.

'I thought you were dead,' she whimpered, unable to confess the feeling of desolation she'd felt. 'We all thought you were dead...'

Harry gathered her in his arms, rocking her gently. 'Shhhh,' he crooned into her hair. 'I'm sorry, Gin. I'm so sorry.' After a few minutes, Ginny calmed down, and Harry used his discarded shirt to wipe her face. 'If I could have done it any other way, Gin, I would have. I had to play dead or I would have been dead for real.'

'I know,' Ginny snuffled. 'Now, anyway. Doesn't make it any easier.'

Harry became uncomfortably aware of Ginny's skin under his hands. 'Gin? Could you put your shirt back on?' he asked hoarsely.

Ginny quickly sat up, and groped for her shirt. Her hand met nothing but grass. She turned back to Harry. He was holding the garment in his hand. He draped it over her shoulders, and waited for her to put her arms through the sleeves. The last of the fairy lights in the tree faded as the charm wore off, and Harry fumbled to button the shirt. 'Bloody hell,' he mumbled. 'It's backward.'

'What?'

'Buttons are on the wrong damn side,' he grumbled, attempting to do up the buttons.

'If I have to put mine on, so do you,' Ginny stated, nudging Harry's shirt toward him. Sighing, Harry complied.

'Ready to go in yet?' he asked in a muffled voice, as he yanked the shirt back over his head.

Ginny shook her head, the buttons slipping under her fingers. 'Bugger it,' she muttered, leaving the last few buttons undone. She couldn't see them anyway. 'Mind staying out a while longer?'

'No.' Harry leaned back against the trunk of the tree, and closed his eyes. 'Not at all.' Ginny settled against his chest once more, and he brushed the heavy mass of hair away from her neck and kissed the skin he uncovered. One hand drifted up and cupped the side of Ginny's face, as he began to kiss her, his other hand tangling in her hair as it grew more demanding. Ginny ended the kiss, but only so she could turn around, perching on Harry's lap.

She let her fingers skim over the stubble that roughened the skin along his jaw. 'Are you scared?'

'About this?' Harry turned his head to kiss her roaming fingertips. 'A little. I don't want to botch this up again...'

'I meant about your job,' Ginny snorted, dropping a soft kiss over Harry's mouth.

'Oh, that...' Harry turned his attentions to the other side of Ginny's neck. 'A lot,' he admitted, feeling a great deal of relief at finally coming clean with his fears. 'A full Auror at the tender age of eighteen...'

'Tender age of eighteen, my arse. You haven't been the tender age of anything in years...'

'Yeah, I know... Don't remind me...' Harry's hands slid down to Ginny's waist. 'I'd be a fool not to be terrified.' He gasped softly as Ginny found a sensitive spot behind his ear he didn't know he had. 'Just don't want to look like a gormless idiot.'

'You won't,' Ginny promised. 'But why are you scared about this?'

'You have a lot of older brothers who will cheerfully rip me to shreds without a scrap remorse if I cock this up again...'

Ginny kissed the corner of Harry's mouth. 'So that's something for you to work on, then, isn't it?'

'Yeah...' Harry lifted one of Ginny's hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. She twisted a little so she sat sideways in his lap, her head against his shoulder, her hand twined with his. 'Happy birthday, Gin...' he murmured. The day caught up with them, and Harry fell asleep, his cheek resting on top of Ginny's head. Ginny felt his breath stir her hair as his chest rose and fell slowly under her hand. She fought sleep as long as she could, his heartbeat vibrating against her palm. Soon, her eyes gradually closed, and Ginny's breathing slowed and deepened until she, too, slept.