Title: All Roads Lead Back
Keywords: Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Draco and the rest of the gang. H/Hr, with a whole lot of other ships thrown in. Post-HBP
Summary: Harry Potter always figured that once he had fulfilled his destiny he could finally have a happy, normal life. Unfortunately for him he fell in love with his best friend...and everything went straight to hell. Set 7 years after the final battle.
Spoilers: All six books.
A/N: I am a Harmony shipper thru and thru. HBP almost sent me into a fit until I realized that I was throwing a tizzy over a book and told myself to get over it. Hee. I then decided to throw my hat in the fanfiction ring and see if I could come up with a realistic (at least to me) story of my favorite couple getting together that adheres to canon. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic. I have the whole story already plotted out, but would appreciate it if you would tell me if writing the rest is worth it or not.
Disclaimer: If it looks like it's JKR's, well, that's because it is. She's provided me with the canvas and I'm truly enjoying painting on it.
Ginny Potter liked to fool herself. Those extra five pounds she put on from this past winter? Merely baby fat. The brand new pastel pink dress robes that Lavender talked her into buying just two weeks ago? They went well with her dark blue eyes. The suspicion that her husband didn't love her anymore? Nonsense! They would soon be coming up on their 6 year anniversary next spring.
Never mind the fact that she was a 23 year old woman so any trace of baby fat was simply a figment of her imagination. Never mind the fact that she was a redhead whose skin tended to turn a thankless shade of gray whenever she deigned to wear anything resembling pink. And never mind the fact that for the last few months she and her husband had been sleeping in different beds, Ginny Potter liked to fool herself. How else could she explain the fact that her marriage, that appeared so strong and fruitful in it's inception, was now dry and barren only a few years later.
Her husband was unhappy and Ginny simply felt at a loss of what to do to remedy the situation. She mulled over these dark thoughts as she sipped her cup of tea, her breakfast remaining untouched on the table before her. What do you do when your husband is unhappy and you're the cause, she thought murkily.
It was times like these that Ginny desperately wanted someone she could talk to. Confide in. Her mother was simply not an option. Ginny got cold chills down her back at the thought of having to tell her beloved mother that the Dazzling Duo, or so Witch Weekly had dubbed the Potters, were on rocky ground.
No one could have been happier for Ginny and Harry when they got married then Molly Weasley. Her daughter had landed the prime catch of the wizarding world and she was now finally able to claim the little boy she had loved before she had even laid eyes on him as one of her own bulging brood. No, Ginny could not go to her mother with her problems. Besides her mother would probably not understand the question.
"Um mum, my husband doesn't seem to want to touch me anymore. What can I do?"
Molly would probably look at her daughter as if she were mad.
"Unhappy husband? What's that dear? Is it something like jumbo shrimp?"
Ginny had a strong suspicion that any woman who had born her husband seven children would not be able to understand the concept.
It was a wash thinking she could talk to any of the male members of her family. Her dad, though sweet as could be, would probably go running screaming into the night if she brought up the matter of her sex life to him.
Her two oldest brothers wouldn't react much differently. She was nearly a decade younger then both of them. To Bill and Charlie Ginny was as much their own child as she was their sister. Even though she considered herself a grown sophisticated woman of means to them she would always be the too skinny baby of the family.
Then there was Percy. Percy was no where near the list of possible outlets. The last time Ginny had seen him was when their mother had thrown a party at the Burrow to celebrate the birth of his triplets. By the end of the night Molly was in tears, Ron's ears were a frightening shade of magenta, and the twins had threatened to forcefully remove Perce's upturned nose from his face and stick it up his arse. At that threat Penelope Weasley quickly gathered up her three young babies as well as their older sibling, grabbed her husband by the collar, and nervously made her goodbyes as she headed towards the door. Luckily they had come by portkey, a darling paisley parasol, so their exit was speedy. Penelope had after all been a student at Hogwarts when the Weasley twins were there. She knew not to take any threat from them lightly.
Ginny smiled as her thoughts turned to her twin brothers. In school they had both played the position of beater on their house Quidditch team. She always found that so appropriate since she saw the two of them as synchronized bludgers crashing their way thru life. A pair of redheaded, freckle faced, mischief making bludgers. If she could compare herself to any of her siblings she was most like Fred and George. So it would be simple to talk to one of them right?
Unfortunately for Ginny George was too busy living the free and single life of a bachelor these days. He shared a flat in Diagon Alley with her other brother Ron and Ginny barely got to see him much. George came by the Burrow sparingly and asking him to visit her in the Potter's palatial home in Wiltshire was like pulling teeth. From a doxy. A doxy hopped up on crystal meth. And no matter how important her own troubles seemed to her she knew she couldn't be so insensitive to bother Fred with them. Fred. Her heart seemed to sigh heavily at the mere thought of Fred. Her knavishly brilliant brother Fred. Her grinning, five jokes a minute brother Fred. Her barrel of laughs Fred. She wouldn't trouble him. The way she saw it a rapidly crumbling marriage in no ways compared to having a sick child.
So that then left Ron. Her overly protective big brother. Ha! Ginny snorted into her cup. Even though Ron was one whole year, 5 months, 10 days, 16 hours, and 3 minutes older then herself (he irritatingly enough did the math), Ginny always felt like the older sibling in their relationship. Ron never seemed to quite 'get it'. Sometimes Ginny felt like she had to explain things slowly for Ron. Not that he was dumb. Ron by no means was stupid. His learning curb was just a tad...slanted. How else to explain the fact that Lavender Brown had already agreed to be his wife, booked the honeymoon, and sent the wedding announcement to the Evening Prophet by time the poor boy realized he had even proposed.
Ginny had to admit, she admired the woman's moxie if not her actual follow thru.
Ron would not make a good shoulder to cry on. He was too tangled up in The Wedding to even concentrate on her little heartbreaks. She was sure that Lavender probably had every moment of Ron's day planned for the next few weeks till the ceremony in June. Hell, the engagement party was only in 4 days! Ginny would stand a better chance of getting in to the Department of Mysteries again then getting near her own sibling if she knew Lavender well. Besides knowing Ron he would probably defend Harry. That was Ron. Whenever she and Harry had a falling out Ron without fail took Harry's side.
And therein lay another problem for Ginerva Potter. To her parents and brothers Harry couldn't be anymore a member of the family if he dyed his hair the famous Weasley red. Sometimes it sucked having her family love her husband as much (maybe even more) then they loved her. She half suspected that if it came down to it Harry would get the Weasleys, the Burrow, and the whole kit and caboodle in the divorce.
Divorce. Ginny shuddered at the word. In her mind that wasn't an option. Divorces simply were not done. At least not in her family. Once again Ginny wished she had someone she could talk to about her hurts, her suspicions, her fears.
Her closest female friend was a possibility. Luna always seemed to see every situation in an...unusual light. However Ginny hated Luna's "lover" (Luna's wording, not hers) so that cut out any idea of visiting the Lovegood home in Ottery St. Catchpole as the git lived with her.
That only left her brothers various wives and girlfriends. Penelope was sweet, yet useless. Glinda, Fred's wife, seemed to have a good head screwed on her shoulder. However she was a muggle and as such just didn't understand the importance that came along with being the wife of one of the most powerful wizards in the world. Fleur was simply out of the question! Although Ginny long ago decided to get along with the beautiful French woman for the sake of the family, she never warmed to her fully. Even in her expensively tailored robes with her good looking rich husband by her side Ginny always felt like second hand goods when standing next to Mrs. William Weasley. It also didn't help that she and Bill seemed intent on breaking her parents record for most Weasleys under a single roof. After only seven years of marriage they were already on kid number 4 with number 5 on the way. Bill walked around with a serious case of perma-grin all year long. Yeah, Fleur was really going to empathize with her plight.
With Charlie and George being confirmed bachelors that only left Ron's fiancée Lavender Brown. Although in school she and Lav had never been close, despite being in the same House, she had developed a sort of quasi-friendship with the pretty blonde girl ever since she and Ron began to date seriously a few years ago. Ginny had to admit that Lav wasn't half bad once you got to know her. She almost regretted not hanging out with her back when they were teenagers. Of course back then Hermione had been the closest thing she had to a best friend but....
Stop it Ginny, she scolded herself. No use going down that road now is there? You have Lavender. Delightfully air headed Lavender. Sex crazed, potty mouthed Lavender. Who felt that all relationship problems could easily be solved by placing an order in the American lingerie catalog Morgana's Mysteries. Ginny needed to get some new friends! Harrumph! As if sex could solve all problems.
"Arg!" Ginny grumbled to herself in frustration. She pitched herself from her chair at the table and threw her tea cup into the sink. It landed with a loud thunk. One more good piece of china down the drain.
Ginny smiled as she thought of the last tea cup she had broken. She had thrown it at Harry's head as he innocently strode into the kitchen calling her name one evening. They were supposed to meet some old school mates for dinner in Hogsmeade that night. She had even bought herself a new dress in a muggle boutique in London for the occasion. Harry liked it when she wore muggle clothing. She had laid out a pair of khaki pants and a gorgeous navy blue jumper (she loved the color on him, it made his hair look even thicker and damn near blue black) on the bed for him. She had been fit to burst all day over their little date. Ginny relished every single chance she got to show off her handsome, dashing husband. So of course Harry showed up home over half an hour past the time they were supposed to meet the Lee Jordans at The Three Broomsticks. Ginny didn't even bother to hear Harry's explanation as to why he was late. She was sure the names Kingsley, Hanes, and Moody would come up. She didn't want to hear it, she just chucked the cup in his general direction.
"Hey! That was a gift from Minerva," he shouted as he came up from his crouched position near the floor.
"No it wasn't Harry. That came from my great-aunt Matildhe," Ginny replied just as normally as if they were having a conversation about the weather. "Minerva gifted us with the crystal wine flutes that always keep your drink chilled."
"Whatever," he exclaimed incredulously. "You nearly took my bleeding head off."
"That my dear husband was the point."
After that she and Harry began screaming and hurling insults at each other at a frightening pace. The passion that had been ever present at the beginning of their relationship seemed to ignite all around them all of a sudden and Ginny shortly found herself 'making-up' with her husband all over the kitchen table. Ginny blushed at the memory. She replaced the table the very next day and sent a very apologetic note to Angelina by lunch time.
Ginny felt a tug at her waist.
"Missus Harry Potter miss, is you needing Dobby to re-heat the breakfast?"
Ginny looked down into the overly large green eyes that were staring up at her. Ever since Harry and Ginny moved to the new house two years ago Dobby had lived with them. Ginny had wanted more house-elves, but both Harry and Molly felt that Dobby was enough.
"You don't want to get spoiled now dear, do you," her mother clucked at her.
It took all of Ginny's strength of will not to roll her eyes into the back of her head. Ginny eventually came to agree with Molly. Dobby expertly took care of Harry's every needs and by extension her own.
"No Dobby, thanks. Harry needs to learn to appear at breakfast at a decent hour."
The poor house-elf looked forlornly at the cooling plate of eggs and rashers. Ginny knew that if she even turned her back for a second Dobby would send a heating charm at the plate so fast it might actually scorch the table. Dobby would rather take a months vacation then give his precious Harry Potter sub-par service.
"Dobby," Ginny asked, making the house elf turn his attention back unto her. "Is Harry finished up there yet?"
"Missus Harry Potter miss, Master Harry Potter was just finishing his wash when Dobby went to turn down the bed."
"Just finishing," she asked, barely hiding the shock in her voice.
"Yes miss."
Ginny rolled her eyes towards the ceiling as if she could magically see thru it. If she could she would then be able to see what exactly was Harry's fascination with long showers these days. It was a pity that the kitchen wasn't located under the Master bedroom suite. Ginny knew exactly what charm to cast.
"Very well then Dobby. You may go."
Dobby once again turned to look at Harry's plate.
"You may go Dobby," Ginny snapped.
The house-elf did not miss the note of steel in her voice. In the blink of an eye he disappeared. Ginny exhaled softly as she turned her back and leaned her body into the corner of the kitchen counter next to the sink. She hadn't meant to be so cool towards poor Dobby, but lately it seemed like she couldn't help herself. Her temper seemed to flare up without the slightest provocation these days. The giddy tingling feeling she had been feeling only a few minutes ago as she remembered the night Harry had her for dinner on the breakfast table? Gone. It was replaced by the the pitiful knowledge that that wonderful moment of time happened almost 4 months ago. Four months! That was the last time Harry had shown any remote interest in her. The last time they had been intimate.
Of course she and her husband still shared long and lingering kisses. Kisses so sweet that she almost felt herself the 15 year old girl again, sitting by a lake, snogging her boyfriend into a goofy stupor. And every now and then he would still hold her hand. If he saw her brown creased in anxiety or sadness he would even give her little fingers a small squeeze and smile down at her reassuringly. It was those moments that she remembered why she had fell in love with this boy...this man when she was still a child.
But if she was being honest with herself she knew that there was something missing from Harry's affection. Even the few scant times they had made love within the last year she could tell that something was just...off. It was almost like Harry was just going through the motions. Doing the things that were expected of him as a dotting husband.
Maybe she could talk to Neville again. Get a male's perspective on the whole situation. As quickly as the idea came into her head she dismissed it. That wouldn't really be fair now would it Ginerva, she ruefully thought.
"Ahem."
Ginny looked up to see Harry standing in the archway of the kitchen door. He was dressed in his Auror robes, his regulation black dragon hide boots peeking from underneath them. Ginny's breath caught in her chest. Sometimes it almost made her head woozy too look at her husband. That shockingly ebony hair that hung slightly past his collar, those serious clear green eyes. That perfect complexion of his no longer marred by that blasted scar of his youth. Those pouty pink lips that were almost too sexy to be believed. Harry had always been an attractive kid, just slightly on the skinny side. But with maturity Harry truly grew into his looks. At 15 he was a rather cute boy. Now, just a few weeks shy of being 25, he was a ridiculously handsome young man. Ginny trembled to think of the stunning creature he would be at 35. All that Auror training didn't hurt either. He had a slim yet muscular build that went well with his 5 foot 11 inch frame. In a word Harry was simply delicious.
And he's all mine, Ginny sighed contentedly.
"Um...Gin?"
"Don't call me Gin," she snapped, the dreamy look that had been in her eyes mere seconds ago quickly fading.
Harry looked from his wife to the food on the table then to the fireplace. Ginny could practically read the thought process that was going thru his head. Argument, bacon, escape route. It was almost comical and Ginny would have laughed if she wasn't so sure that she was what Harry wanted to escape from. She sure as hell wasn't the bacon.
"I'm sorry Harry."
Harry quickly turned his eyes away from the floo access and looked at his wife, surprise working it's self on his face. His eyes look as huge as Dobby's, she amusedly thought. This she did chuckle at. Harry looked at his wife as though she were growing a spare head out the side of her neck. The picture that created in her head sent Ginny into another gale of giggles.
Harry was definitely perturbed by how frighteningly fast her mood seemed to change. "Ginny...you ok?"
"Yes, yes Harry," she said as she brushed a tear from her eye. "I was only apologizing for being so hateful to you earlier."
Once again Harry gave her that 'Gee Honey, you have two heads', look.
Ginny just shook her head and drew her wand out. She cast a heating charm on Harry's plate and then dropped the wand back into her pocket.
"Eat your food Harry before it gets cold again," she said.
Harry ambled over towards the table and set himself before his plate. As Harry began to eat Ginny turned back to the sink and fixed her forgotten tea cup with a "reparo". It was lovely being a witch. Of course the value of the china did go down with each consecutive repair spell that was placed on it, but that didn't matter to Ginny. It was a wedding gift. It was tangible proof that she was Mrs. Harry Potter. That made it special to her.
"I just wanted to make sure you got to work on time."
Harry looked up from his plate, his mouth stuffed to the brim with toast.
"Whaaa?"
Ginny snickered at this. "I said that I just wanted to make sure you got to work on time. That's why I was so impatient with you this morning."
Ginny walked back over to her chair across from Harry and sat down. "I know you said that Hanes has been on your case as of late. I just didn't want to give him more ammunition against you."
Harry paused from trying to down his whole breakfast in one gulp. He looked her in her eyes and she noted that he was touched by the gesture.
"Thanks sweetheart," he softly whispered before returning to the meal at hand.
Ginny felt a soft warmth spread thru out her body. He called her sweetheart! He hadn't done that in ages. At that moment she felt closest to Harry then she had in months. The only sounds that could be heard were the clink of Harry's fork hitting the china as he ate ravenously, Hedwig's merry hoots from his perch in the hall, and Dobby's humming as he started his daily cleaning duties. To Ginny's ears these were the sounds of a content life. So of course she had to go and ruin it.
"What were you dreaming about?"
Clink. Ginny looked down at the fork Harry had just dropped on his plate. She then turned her eyes to his face. Harry looked at her as if she were Dolores Umbridge raised from the dead, playing the piccolo. Starkers.
"W-w-what?"
"This morning, what were you dreaming about? I heard you moaning and groaning halfway down the hall."
Harry picked his fork up and returned to his meal.
"Nothing. I forget," he said. But he didn't look at her when he said it.
"Oh."
She hated it when he lied. Her body felt like an iceberg had just crashed into it.
"Aren't you going to eat Ginny," he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Not hungry." And as if to prove her point she pushed her plate a few inches away from her.
"You know in a matter of weeks I won't have to worry about Hanes ever again," Harry began as he gulped down his black coffee in one swallow. "Minerva said that Professor Lermontant definitely would be heading back home to New Orleans after term ended and with..."
"Guess who stopped by the Burrow the other day?"
Harry paused in mid action as he was placing his coffee mug back on the table. He looked at Ginny's face searchingly. She returned his stare with a haughty lift of her chin.. He sighed resignedly.
"Who stopped by the Burrow?"
"Tonks and the baby!"
Harry glanced up from his plate as a genuine smile alighted his face.
"You saw little Wolfie Lupin?"
"Harry," Ginny chided him, "his name is Wolfgang Romulus Lupin."
"Heh. Never let it be said that Remus and Dora don't have a sense of humor."
"You better not let Tonks hear you call her that name."
"Remus does."
"Yes. And Remus also rubs her feet and picks up her monthly potion from the apothecary."
"Ginny!"
Ginny smirked at Harry's reaction. Men could be such babies most times. Sure a bloke could go off and fight evil and fulfill prophesies, but mention a woman's monthly and they fall all to pieces.
"Hey sweetheart, is there any more bacon?"
"Harry don't you think you've had enough? What about your girlish figure," she scolded him in good humor.
"Awww Ginny, I'm a growing boy!"
She smiled at him good naturedly. "You're going to be late."
"What will a few minutes hurt?"
Ginny shook her head and gestured towards the oven.
"Let me," Harry stated as he withdrew his wand from it's holster on the side of his hip. He pointed it at the oven door and made it pop open.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The plate of bacon began to float across the room and softly landed it's self in front of Harry.
"An oldie, but a goodie," he affectionately remarked as he tore into a strip of the meat. Ginny had no idea what he found so amusing, but she smiled at him indulgently anyways.
No matter how many ways she dissected it the results always remained the same. She was still madly in love with Harry Potter. But somehow she feared that he wouldn't say the same about her. At the very start of her marriage she had been blissfully sure of his devotion. From the moment Harry proposed to the second she said "I do" there was no question in her mind that they both were happily and deliriously in love. Sure all of that had taken place in the span of one month, but as the newly wedded Potters enjoyed their cruise to Australia and then New Zealand, Harry proved his love every night in their large stateroom. Every morning too. Sometimes in the afternoon as well if they really didn't have anything else planned for the day. When did things change?
Of course when they got back to the Burrow they had had to deal with the whole 'Hermione Drama'. But after the dust had settled from that everything seemed to be alright.
Like in any marriage there had been a few minor squabbles. She wanted a huge house on a hill, Harry wanted to settle down at his parent's old cottage in Godric's Hollow. Thankfully she won that battle. When Harry wanted to leave behind his promising career as Seeker for Puddlemere United and go into Auror training she hadn't thrown that big a fit. Of course she still missed sitting in the stands with all the other player's wives and having her every move tracked by all the tabloids, she soon recognized that being the wife of a highly decorated Auror came with it's own perks and prestige.
The only big issue that stood between them now was when they would start having kids. The first few years after they got married Ginny loved the care free life she and Harry shared. If they wanted to apparate over to Nice for a few days there was never anything standing in their way. Thanks to Dobby's assistance their house was always spotless. Her figure wasn't that much different from when she was a girl. When people would joke and ask when she and Harry would start having some sprogs he would always say that the two of them loved their life as is too much to change it at the moment. Besides, they were much too young. She would always give an agreeing white toothed smile to concur his statement.
But as the years went on and Fleur and Penelope began popping out baby Weasleys left and right Ginny had to wonder, was this still true? Did she really not want change? The answer came after Fleur had little Rosemary. As she held her small niece for the first time Ginny suddenly realized the answer to her question. She did want change. She wanted a baby. She wanted Harry's baby. Ginny thought that it was really that simple. She and Harry had been married over two years at this point. Now was the time to get with the baby making. Harry however didn't seem to agree.
"C'mon Gin, don't you love the our life the way it is? Why change it? We have years to have kids."
This time she couldn't muster up that same smile.
Of course they had accidents. The time after the kitchen table encounter had almost ended up as one. Ginny had been off her contraceptive potion for months and neither of them had their wands handy at the time. Luckily for Harry it turned up as a false alarm. Other then that one time Harry had previously never failed to cast a charm on himself. He really seemed adamant about not being a father at the moment. And of course since then Ginny hadn't really gotten herself in the position to get pregnant. So to speak. During her darker moments Ginny often wondered if Harry just didn't want to be a father to any child she would have.
"Gin, I think I should leave."
Ginny looked up into Harry's face startled. Was he using Legilemency against her?
"What?"
"I said I think I should leave. You know, go to work."
Ginny released a sigh of relief. There she was being silly yet again. As Harry stood up from the table she did as well. She noticed that the table was clean of the breakfast dishes. She looked at him questioningly.
"While you were off in lala land I sent them to the sink," he smirked. "Don't worry about them, Dobby will attend to it. Why don't you go and have a day at the salon or something?"
He walked around the table and gave her a goodbye kiss on the cheek. As he made to walk away towards the grate Ginny caught his hand and pulled him back to her.
"I have an even better idea," she grinned naughtily. "Why don't I go out and buy us a new kitchen table."
Ginny snaked both her arms around Harry's neck and pulled him down more to her level so she could whisper in his ear. "That is after we ruin this one first."
Harry pulled back from her and before he could drop his usual perfect husband mask over his face Ginny caught a quick glimpse of what was in his green eyes. They were full of disinterest.
"You know I'd love to Gin, but I'm late."
"What will a few minutes hurt," she asked working hard not to make the question sound like a plea.
If he heard the near begging tone in her voice he ignored it. He simply kissed her demurely on the mouth and unhooked her arms from around her neck. He looked her straight in the eyes.
"Seriously Gin, Hanes will kill me."
With that he walked towards the fire place while removing a little brown pouch from inside his Auror robes. He reached inside it and gathered up a handful of floo powder. He then shouted his destination and disappeared in a hale of green smoke. His wife watched all this as if detached from her surroundings.
She slowly sank back into her seat, her hands clutched together in a death like grip in her lap. After a few moments she seemed to come back to herself. She realized she was still in her kitchen and that the annoying droning tone she was hearing was just Dobby, perched on a step ladder, humming a little tune as he cleaned up the dishes in the sink.
"Harry is right. I should go to the salon. I wonder if Lav has any plans for the day?"
Although Ginny was speaking to no one in particular Dobby turned from the sink, his cute little KISS the ELF apron streaked with dish water, and smiled at her.
"Why yes Missus Harry Potter miss! A day at the salon sounds like a smashing good idea."
"Yes it does Dobby," she concurred as a single tear made it's way down her cheek. "Yes it does."
Ginny Potter liked to fool herself.
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