"So, Harry Potter," Artemis Ashborough said warmly, shaking Harry's hand.

"Artemis, good to finally meet you in person," Harry said, following the older man into his office. Artemis motioned for him to sit in one of the visitor's chairs while he sat behind his desk. Looking around the office, Harry thought it seemed relatively neat and organized with only a few stacks of papers on the desk. We'll see how long that lasts, he thought.

Compared to Dumbledore's office, this one seemed rather sterile with none of the fabulous magical devices that had populated the late Hogwarts headmaster's office. Along with a Wizarding photograph of the St Ambrose Academy's founder, he saw several framed certificates and diplomas along with framed pictures of sailboats.

"Welcome to St Ambrose's Academy. We are very excited to have you here." Artemis had the look of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors and he did indeed seem very happy, a wide smile creasing the corners of his eyes. Harry wondered if one of the sailboats pictured was his.

"I'm excited to be here, sir," Harry said, smiling in response.

"I tell you, when Hermione Granger slipped through our fingers, we were absolutely crushed, but then here you come, looking for your next big adventure! I do hope you don't find us lacking!"

"I hope you don't find me lacking," Harry said, only partially joking. It had been a long time since the DA and he hoped that he could pull this off.

"Oh, I very much doubt that!" Artemis paused and smiled at him again, drumming his fingers against the desk top. Harry knew what he was going to say before the words were even out of his mouth and he forced himself not to groan audibly when the headmaster practically crowed, "You are the Boy Who Lived, after all!"

"Indeed," Harry said, crossing one leg over the other to hide his discomfort. "I'm sure you've heard of the difficulties Hogwarts had in keeping a Defense professor over the years. I trust St Ambrose's doesn't have the same issue?"

Artemis shook his head emphatically. "The troubles Hogwarts had in the past with that position even reached us way out here. No, you don't have anything to worry about on that front. Your predecessor, Herbert Grigsby, finally decided to retire. Said he was getting too old to keep up with the kids."

"That's very good to hear."

Artemis nodded and looked at him, head tilted to the side. "Does Hogwarts still have the same…problem with keeping a Defense teacher?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, that seems to be done with now. They've had the same one for several years running now. Another ex-Auror."

"Ah, very good."

"My predecessor, did he leave behind any sort of lesson plans?"

"He left behind a whole classroom full of things you may or may not find useful. As to whether there are lesson plans, I don't know." Artemis chuckled and slapped his hand down on the desk. "You've got your work cut out for you, I'm afraid! Shall we go take a look?" Harry stood with the headmaster and they walked out into the office, Artemis pointing out the staff mail room as they left the building.

Outside were several low-slung buildings arranged around a grassy quad with a fountain in the middle. Behind the buildings Harry spotted the towering Quidditch goalposts silhouetted against the golden, oak-studded hills and he smiled, glad to find one familiar thing in all of this newness. Artemis continued chattering as they walked, giving him some of the high points of the school's history and Harry only listened with half an ear, turning his attention to his surroundings.

Everything's so spread out, he thought, automatically looking for defensible choke points and hidden nooks and crannies. If it really came down to it, this place would not be the easiest to defend. A brief memory of the suits of armor defending Hogwarts came to mind and he shook his head. They've clearly never had to deal with any threats, ever.

A moment later they stopped in front of a door with the number 35 on it. "And here we are," Artemis said grandly as he unlocked the door with his wand and opened it. Stepping inside, Harry turned around, taking it all in.

It was a large room, at least as big as he remembered the Defense classroom at Hogwarts. The teacher's desk, with a cavernous fireplace behind it, sat at the front of the classroom with about twenty-five student desks arrayed neatly in front of it. An enormous chalkboard took up almost one whole wall while another wall was divided evenly between windows that looked out to the Quidditch pitch and bulletin boards, currently bare.

Low bookshelves stuffed with all manner of things lined the wall underneath the windows and bulletin boards. In the back of the classroom there was a wide expanse of floor with a grayish low-nap carpet only slightly singed in places and two large cabinets. The floor area looked like it would be excellent for practical demonstrations and Harry nodded. "This looks great," he said, making Artemis beam happily again. He walked over to the desk and cautiously pulled open a few drawers, alert for any surprises.

"I think you'll do quite well in here." Artemis looked around the classroom, raising his eyebrows at all of the stuff left by the previous occupant. "I daresay you'll be busy for a few days getting set up."

Harry closed a drawer and a puff of dust from summer disuse made him sneeze. "I certainly will. I have some of my things from London arriving directly here. Who do I see about that?"

"That will be Sherman Keller. He's head of custodial and sometimes it seems like he's the only one keeping us going. I'll ask him to deliver any boxes for you directly to this room." Artemis and Harry stood awkwardly in the room, looking at each other before the headmaster finally nodded and said, "I should be letting you get on with things. Don't forget to see Lucinda for your badge. Do you have any other questions before I go?"

"Regarding lesson plans…when we had chatted before I decided to take the position, you indicated that I would be free to design any curriculum I see fit. I assume that still stands?"

Artemis spread his hands wide. "Of course! I want all of our students to benefit from your knowledge and experience as much as they possibly can."

Harry nodded. My experience indeed. "Glad to hear it. I can promise you that St Ambrose Defense students will be the envy of the whole country."

"With you teaching here, they already are!" Artemis laughed as he left the classroom. Harry heard him exclaim, "Harry Potter!" to himself and shook his head.

Turning his attention to the desk, he sat down in the desk chair, taking his digital music player out of his pocket and untangling the earbuds. A moment later, the Clash were ringing though his ears as he started a more thorough survey of the contents of the desk drawers. Soon he had several papers and objects sorted into "keep", "maybe", "rubbish" and "what the hell?" piles. One drawer was full of things obviously taken from disruptive students and Harry was glad to see that there were no Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes items.

Setting a shrunken head in the "what the hell?" pile, he unearthed a notebook of indeterminate vintage. Sitting back in the chair, he opened it and quickly leafed through it. Ah, looks like he did write down some lesson plans, Harry thought as he scanned the neat writing. It seemed to be more of a general outline of what skills were taught at which grade level and he noted some glaring omissions. No non-verbal casting and no Patronus. We'll have to remedy that. Nothing about the Unforgivables and nothing about Horcruxes, either. Well, I don't think I'm going to get into Horcruxes, but they definitely need to know about the Unforgivables.

Putting the notebook into the "keep" pile, he checked the remaining drawers, finding the desiccated remains of a Doxy and other assorted bits of rubbish including what looked like twenty years' worth of toffee wrappers. The Doxy went into the "maybe" pile.

Harry felt a tap on his shoulder and he quickly turned to see a tall black woman with a mass of dreadlocks standing next to him. "Sorry," he said as he pulled the earbuds out of his hears, music still pouring through.

"Sorry to disturb you," the woman said with a warm smile. "I'm Juanita Okefor, Worldwide History of Magic. I have the classroom next door."

Standing up, he dusted his hands off on his jeans and shook her hand. "Good to meet you. I'm Harry, the new Defense teacher."

Juanita shook his hand and smiled again. "It's okay. You can say 'Potter' to me."

Embarrassed, Harry chuckled. "Sorry, old habit."

"I totally get it. I think you'll find yourself flying a bit under the radar here."

"That's what I'm hoping for."

"It doesn't look like old Grigsby took a lot with him when he left, does it?" Juanita said, looking around the classroom.

"Well, his desk was stuffed full, that's for sure," Harry said, gesturing to the piles of papers and objects on top of it. "I still have to go through all of the bookshelves and those cabinets." He picked up the notebook he'd found and paged through it again. "This looks to be a sort of lesson plan and I notice that neither non-verbal casting nor the Patronus Charm are in here." He decided to not mention the Unforgivables for now, not completely sure what the status on those were here in the States.

Juanita took the proffered notebook and thumbed through it with a frown. "Not usually, at least not at this level of education," she said, handing it back to him.

"Why not?"

"There's not really a need to. If students choose to go on to higher magical education at one of the Universities, they learn those there," she said with a shrug.

Harry frowned and set the notebook back down on the desk. "But what if someone without that higher magical education finds themselves in a situation where they could really use those skills?"

"Harry, this is America. We haven't had to deal with the sorts of threats you've faced." Her barefaced complacency shocked him and he didn't know quite what to say, so he just nodded in agreement. "Have you had lunch yet?"

Checking his watch, he saw that it was after twelve and he shook his head. "No, I haven't. I didn't have much of a breakfast, either. I just got in late last night."

"Well, let me treat you to lunch, all right? I know a great place not too far away."

"Sounds good," Harry smiled. He was finding he liked her easy friendliness a lot and her mention of lunch suddenly had him ravenous. He shut off the music player and coiled the earbuds around it, knowing they'd be hopelessly tangled in minutes. "I can drive, if you like."

"Ah, is that your car out in the parking lot? Very nice."

"Thanks." Harry locked his classroom door and headed over to the parking lot, smiling when his new car came into view. He'd chosen a wagon this time, reasoning that as a teacher he'd likely be hauling around more stuff than usual.

"Oh, brand new," Juanita said approvingly as she slid into the black leather seat.

"I bought it when I was out here week before last," he said as he started it up, finding the thrumming purr of the engine exhilarating.

"So you knew for sure you were going to be staying?"

Harry thought of Ginny and smiled as he backed out of the parking spot. "Definitely."

After lunch, he was back in his classroom, music blasting through his ears again. He decided to attack the bookshelves which were stuffed full of dusty old volumes and other assorted bric-a-brac. He pulled a square of some sort of soft, grayish-brown fur out from between two books. It was obviously very old, the hide cracked and brittle. Turning it over, he nearly dropped it in horror. "Werewolf pelt," the label on the back said. All Harry could think about was Remus and the gentle nature at his core. Utterly disgusted, he took it outside and tossed it on the pavement, setting it on fire and burning it until it was just a pile of ash that blew away in the breeze.

What the hell else am I going to find in there? he wondered as he headed back in after scouring the black mark from the pavement. The bookshelves yielded more books which he sorted into piles. In addition to outdated text books, he found an old Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual of all things. What in the world? he thought and set it in the "keep" pile along with a few of the older text books.

A jar acting as a bookend was labeled "Pixie Dust" and Harry shook the jar, watching as the gold sparkles slowly settled down to the bottom. Hm, I wonder if I'll fly if I sprinkle some on me? he thought as he set it into a "keep" pile. Scouring the dust from the shelves, he quickly put the much-reduced amount of things to keep back on them and turned his attention to the cabinets.

They were pretty good-sized, about five feet wide and taller than he was. Harry sighed and opened the first one, half-expecting a cascade of junk to fall down on him. Nothing fell out, however, and he stepped up to it for a closer look. More books and papers of course, naturally covered in dust, making Harry sneeze again.

On a middle shelf he found several jars and pulled them out. "What in the hell?" Harry said out loud, peering at the label of a jar full of a grayish, pearly-looking dust. "Vampire dust. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" Shrugging, he set it aside to keep, figuring he'd ask the Potions teacher if he had any use for it. Another jar had what looked like several Vampire teeth. These I'll keep.

Along with odd bits of Dark detecting devices, he found a stuffed Chupacabra and a Grindylow, the Grindylow looking rather surprised at its current situation. Keeping an eye on his door, he saw a middle-aged wizard with what looked like his crates floating behind him and he shut off his music player, silencing the Stones.

"Hello? Are you the new teacher?" the wizard asked, coming into the classroom.

"Yes, hello," he said, dusting his hands off on his jeans as he approached the door. "Harry Potter," he said, shaking the other man's hand.

"Sherman Keller. I have some crates for you."

"Excellent. Those'll be my things from London." Harry stepped aside to allow the older wizard to float the half dozen crates into the classroom, directing him to set them down by the shelves. "Thank you so much for handling those."

Sherman nodded as he looked around the classroom, taking in the piles of stuff all over Harry's desk and the floor. "I'll bring a big trash can for you and set it outside. Just fill it up with whatever you don't want and I'll take care of it."

"Thanks. My predecessor was here for a long time and had built up quite the collection, it seems."

"Yeah, Grigsby was old when I started and I've been here twenty years!" He nodded at Harry again and smiled. "It's good to see someone new in the position."

"Well, I'll do my best to live up to your expectations," Harry said, making Sherman laugh.

"There's no doubt there's a lot of expectations on you. I don't envy you at all," he said, shaking his head. "I'll bring you an extra-large trash can in a bit."

"Thanks again," Harry said, watching from the doorway as he walked away. "Great expectations indeed," he murmured as he turned to his crates. Activating a spell that lit up the wards on the boxes to his sight, he checked for any disturbances, finding none. He then went through a careful trap deactivation sequence, listening for the telltale pop that told him the crate was safe to open.

Using his wand to lift the heavy lid, Harry shoved aside the packing material until he found the Pensieve. The stone basin was empty and he picked it up, checking it carefully for any cracks and setting it down on a nearby desk after verifying it was all in one piece. Back in the crate, he dug around until he found the Unbreakable jar of pearly fluid he'd drained from the Pensieve before packing it in the crate. He swirled it around, random images catching his eye as he opened the jar and carefully poured the fluid back into the shallow basin.

Picking it up in both hands, he moved very slowly toward the recently emptied cabinet and set it on a shelf, sliding it back until it was almost at the very rear of the cabinet. Main task complete, he took the rest of the things out of the open crate, including his Invisibility Cloak and Malfoy's former wand, which he'd kept all of these years.

Releasing the wards and traps on the other crates, he quickly sorted through the books in them. Some of them were his own and some had been Dumbledore's that he had made a special trip to Hogwarts to collect. McGonagall had been keeping them in the Headmaster's office for him until he decided he would bring them to California. All of Dumbledore's books and some of his own more interesting volumes went into the cabinet and the others onto the shelves.

He heard a rumbling outside on the pavement and looked outside, seeing the truly huge bin that Sherman Keller had put outside for him. Taking the opportunity to go through the piles again, he did some further sorting until he was pretty well satisfied and floated the piles of rubbish out to the bin.

Turning to the last cabinet with a sigh, he put his earbuds back in and scrolled through his music player, settling on Led Zeppelin for the last push. This cabinet didn't have any books, but seemed to be full of samples of various things. He was developing a picture of Herbert Grigsby as a man of very eccentric tastes and the first item he pulled out of the cabinet, a dead snake from the head of a Medusa, only furthered that perception.

Filled with trepidation, Harry pulled a heavy box out of the cabinet, setting it carefully on a nearby desk. No label. What could this be? Cautiously opening the box, he drew back in surprise at the eyeball staring at him through a jar of cloudy fluid. Lifting the heavy jar out of the box, he saw the label at the bottom. Basilisk eye, juvenile, he read with a shudder. Thank God they can't kill or Petrify anymore once they're dead. Peeking back into the box, he spied two fangs and a section of cured skin, the colors still vibrant. Just to be extra safe, he put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar before putting it back into the box with the other items.

A jar of sloshing green fluid proved to be Poltergeist ectoplasm and Harry smiled, thinking of Peeves and the wet splats he left everywhere that were the bane of Filch's existence. In addition to a preserved Acromantula egg and Banshee hair, he found an old Ouija board and wondered what the former teacher could have possibly used this for because it did look used. Shrugging, he set it aside and got down on his hands and knees to get at the bottom of the cabinet.

Spying what looked like a large box, he brushed aside a bundle of crow feathers and dragged it out, sighing at the sight of more sample jars. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he took them out, checking the labels as he sorted them. Cockatrice beak and feathers? Interesting. A jar containing a few bits of gaudy costume jewelry had a red label on it that read CAUTION: CURSED. Another jar declared itself to be full of Thestral manure. Looking back in the box, Harry froze, his hand in midair.

At the very bottom of the box was an object he hoped to never see again in his entire life. A Black Quill? The scar on the back of his right hand throbbed, making it feel like his skin was crawling and he rubbed it with his left. What is this doing here? Where did it come from? Very gingerly, using only his index finger and thumb, Harry picked it up, wanting to touch as little of it as possible.

The Black Quill shone in the late afternoon sunlight, the razor-sharp point reflecting a beam of light into his eyes, making him turn away. "You have no place here," he said out loud as he stood up and took it outside. Setting it on the pavement, he set it on fire as he had the Werewolf pelt, a feeling of deep satisfaction coming over him as it withered to ash. He caught the scent of burnt feathers and blood as it burned and he shook his head. Well, it looks like it was well-forgotten. Maybe Grigsby had gotten it as a curiosity years ago. I hope he never used it.

Harry stood in the sunlight for a few minutes, the warmth on his shoulders eradicating the chill brought on by finding the Black Quill. He saw Juanita come out of her classroom and lock the door and he waved. "Taking a break?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"Yeah, needed some fresh air," he said, shutting off Led Zeppelin.

"What was that?" She pointed to the pile of ash on the pavement.

"Oh. That was a Black Quill I found in an old box in one of the cabinets."

"A what?"

"A Black Quill." Harry held up his right hand and showed her the scar, watching her face change as she read the words.

"Oh," she said quietly.

"Mm." They stood looking at the pile of ash swirling away on the wind.

"Well, it looks like you've been busy," she said after a drawn-out moment. "I'm heading out. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yep. See you." Harry watched as she walked toward the administrative office. Things aren't as bright and sunny as you thought, are they?

Back in the classroom, he surveyed the mess. There were still several piles of books and other things scattered around, but most of the obvious rubbish had been put into the bin. He looked over the books once more, deciding to pack up the ones he didn't want and take them over to the school's library and see if the librarian wanted them. Sorting through the specimen jars, he set aside the ones he thought would be interesting to the Potions teacher and put them in another box.

Standing in the middle of the room, he stretched his arms high over his head and gave an enormous yawn. Hands on his hips, he decided that he was done for the day. Looking in the cabinet he'd stored the Pensieve and other things in, he took out the Invisibility Cloak and put it in the crate that had the rest of his clothes and other personal items. Closing the cabinet, he engaged an elaborate locking and warding procedure, completing it with a drop of blood to ensure that only he could open it.

Satisfied, he levitated the heavy crate out of the classroom and locked the door, walking behind the crate to his car. He had to fold the rear seats down to fit the crate in, but it did fit. Remembering Artemis's admonition regarding the identification badge, he went into the office, looking for Lucinda.

He found her on the telephone, which struck him as odd. He hadn't really seen a non-Muggle use a telephone in ages and he shook his head as he headed into the staff mail room to see if there was anything for him while he waited for Lucinda to finish her phone call. In the mailroom, he found a wall of neatly-labeled cubbies and he saw one with his name on it stuffed full of papers.

Pulling out the papers, he leafed through them. Class schedule, student list, announcements…a magazine? "Welcome to St Ambrose's Academy, The Best Choice For Your Child's Magical Education," Harry read aloud, going back out to the main office. Lucinda was still on the phone and he caught the word "Boggart." Feeling bad for eavesdropping, he listened closer.

"It just showed up last week, I don't know where it came from. Yes, I know. The attic, but it's getting bolder. Yes. Well, Riddikulus just makes it skitter off and hide and then it shows up again." She gave a long sigh. "I'll have to call someone to get rid of it, I guess. Okay, well, I've got to go. Yes, thank you. Bye." Hanging up the phone, she turned to Harry with a smile. "Sorry about that. Mothers."

"No worries. I couldn't help but overhear that you're having trouble with a Boggart?"

"Yes. It just showed up in the attic, but it's not going to stay there. I'll have to call Martin's Magical Pest Control."

"I could clear it out for you. I'd love to have one for my class."

Lucinda gave him a wide smile. "Oh, would you really? That would be great!"

"Yeah, definitely. Would tomorrow be all right?"

"That would be perfect." She jotted her address down on a piece of paper and handed it to him. He saw that she lived in Emeryville. "Now, I imagine you want to have your picture taken for your badge."

Harry hated having his picture taken, but he nodded anyway, following her over to where an elaborate camera was set up in front of a plain blue backdrop. As instructed, Harry had his picture taken straight on and in profile, the machine spitting out a slim card a few moments later. Lucinda looked at it first and he saw her quickly school her features into stillness before handing it to him.

"Oh, no," he said when he got a look at the picture that transitioned between the straight on image and the profile. He managed to look both surprised and supremely annoyed in both of them.

"Do you want to try again?" Lucinda asked solicitously.

"No, it won't be any better." Harry took the blue and gold lanyard from Lucinda and clipped it to the badge, hanging it around his neck. "Do I look official?"

"Very. It's so good to have you here, Harry. When I heard we'd lost Hermione to Hogwarts, well, we were all so disappointed."

Harry fought the urge to groan. She means well, he thought as they settled on a time tomorrow morning to sort out the Boggart in her attic. Taking his leave, he heaved a huge sigh of relief as he slid into the driver's seat of his car and started the engine. "Well, that's one day down," he said as he headed home.

Harry lounged on the sofa, occasionally sipping from his mug of tea as he perused the documents he'd picked up earlier from St Ambrose's Academy. He'd already read through his class schedule, list of students, and was now working his way through "Welcome to St Ambrose's Academy, The Best Choice For Your Child's Magical Education." It was a thick, glossy magazine packed with information for students, parents and instructors. From it, Harry learned that the school had been in operation for over seventy-five years, a fact that made him raise his eyebrows and smile.

He glanced at his watch, noting it was four-thirty and hoped Ginny would be home soon. He'd gotten in so late the night before that all he'd been able to do was undress and get into bed with her, fitting his body to hers and falling asleep almost immediately. Harry had slept so deeply that she was already gone by the time he woke up, leaving him with a vague memory of Ginny smoothing his hair back and kissing his forehead. Sighing impatiently, he looked at his watch again, willing the hands to move faster, and finished his tea.

He was rinsing the mug out in the sink when he heard the crack of Ginny Apparating into the flat. Abandoning the mug, he swept her up into a huge bear hug and kissed her soundly. "Gin! Finally, you're home!"

"Harry, you're awake!" Ginny returned the hug and kiss and gently broke away to set down her school bag and collapse on the sofa.

"You look exhausted. Tea?"

"Bless you, tea sounds lovely." Ginny smiled at him and Harry felt his heart swell. The week he had spent in London making the myriad of necessary arrangements had been intensely busy and he felt all of the tension he had been carrying slowly drain from his body and mind now that he was back home with her.

Settling down on the sofa next to her, he handed her the mug and stroked her short hair as she sipped the hot tea gratefully. "What time did you leave this morning?"

"Well, not that you noticed, but I left at eight." Ginny ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek. She glanced at the coffee table and saw the St Ambrose's welcome magazine and picked it up, thumbing through it. "How'd it go today?"

"Good. I met the headmaster in person, finally."

"Yeah? How is he?"

"He's nice. Got my ID badge." He showed her the blue and gold badge with his terrible picture.

"Oh." Ginny looked at the picture and Harry could see her trying to repress a smile. "That's ... good."

He took back the badge and dropped it face down on the coffee table. "You can laugh, it's terrible."

"You do look a little ... surprised." Ginny swept her hair back and continued looking through the magazine, reading the staff biography page. "They don't have you on here."

"No. Not enough time to reprint the whole magazine just for me." Resting his head on her shoulder, he looked at the page with her. "I met her today." He indicated one of the professors.

"Juanita Okefor." Ginny read aloud. "She looks interesting," she said, indicating the mass of dreadlocks.

"Yeah, she's really amazing. She was born in Nigeria, but came here really young. Her dad is a Healer with a speciality in Spell Damage at San Francisco Thaumaturgical," Harry said. "We had lunch today. She's the Worldwide Magical History teacher."

"Oh? You had lunch with her?" Ginny looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Back in town one day and already at it, Potter?"

Harry grinned and shook his head. "I thought about it, but she's not really my type. I seem to have a thing for red-headed overworked medical students," he murmured in her ear, pleased to see a pink flush creep up her neck.

"And I seem to have a thing for untidy, young, sexy professors." Harry drew her to him and kissed her deeply, relishing the feeling of her soft lips against his after an unbearable week apart.

"I spent far too much time this last week thinking of you," he said when they broke apart.

"Did you? What did you think about?" Ginny tossed the glossy magazine onto the coffee table and turned to look at Harry, frank interest in her gaze.

"Lots of things," he said, swallowing around the sudden lump in his throat.

"Such as?" She raised an eyebrow, one corner of her mouth turning up in what had to be the most Weasley-esque expression ever and Harry felt a warm flush course over him, positive he had to be blushing.

Determined to not let her get the better of him, he leaned in close and seized her earlobe with his teeth, nibbling lightly. She gave a squeak and squirmed, trying to get away. "I thought about that," he whispered, darting his tongue out to trace the shell of her ear.

"That can't be all," she said, her voice a warm purr.

"Definitely not." Warming to his subject now, Harry slid his hand underneath her tee shirt and jumper, drawing a finger lightly across her stomach. "I thought a lot about how soft your skin is, just there." Using the lightest touch, he traced a circle around her navel, delighting in her shivery sigh.

"What else?" Ginny asked, her voice barely audible. Her eyes had that cloudy, faraway look that let Harry know he was getting to her.

Keeping one hand under her jumper sweeping slowly across her stomach and ribs, Harry pulled the neck of her top down to uncover the hollow of her throat. "I definitely thought of your scent."

"My what?"

"The way you smell. Your perfume, your soap," Harry kissed her softly right between her collarbones, flicking his tongue out for a taste. "Your skin."

"Oh," she said faintly.

"What about you? What did you think about while I was gone?" Harry pulled the neck of her tee shirt and jumper further down, trying to get at more of her freckled skin.

"I thought about how the first thing I did when I saw you would be to throw you down and have my way with you," she said, driving her fingers through his thick hair to pull him up for a kiss.

"What makes you think I'd let you do that?"

"I know you secretly love it." Ginny kissed him again, sucking on his bottom lip and the feeling went straight to his cock, making it throb in time with his heartbeat.

"You know me much too well," he murmured against her lips. He had both hands underneath her top now, rubbing his thumbs over her hard nipples through her bra.

Ginny put her hands against his shoulders and pushed him over on the sofa, pausing a moment to remove her top before laying down on top of him. "See, I've got you on your back already," she said with that Weasley half-smile.

"Now what are you going to do with me?"

"I can't tell you, that would just ruin the surprise." Ginny placed soft kisses down his neck, occasionally nipping with her teeth and Harry let out a long breath. He loved the feeling of her stretched out on top of him and he swept his hands over her back and shoulders, unfastening her bra and pushing it out of the way to allow uninterrupted access.

"That's hardly fair," Harry said moving his head to the left so Ginny could get at the right side of his neck. "I told you what I thought about while I was away."

Ginny drew back and looked at him, her brown eyes full of mischief. "So you did." She leaned her head to the side and smiled. "Well, if I'm going to have my way with you, this needs to go." She straddled him and tugged the bottom of his polo shirt from his jeans, pushing it up and over his head, tossing it behind her and following it with her bra a moment later.

Pulling her back down to lay against him, Harry closed his eyes at the feeling of her skin against his. "What happens next?"

"I thought we'd kiss for a while," Ginny said, doing exactly that. As they kissed, Harry slid his hands down her back and over her arse, kneading the firm flesh, pressing her hips into his so she could feel his hardness. Taking his cue, she began to rock her hips on top of him, kissing him harder as she did.

The feeling of Ginny grinding against him was incredible, even through their layers of clothing, but Harry wanted more. He thought briefly of Vanishing the remainder of their clothes, but he knew he'd never hear the end of it. Sliding his hands underneath the waistband of her jeans, Harry squeezed hard, loving the feeling of her soft skin against his hands. A satisfied hum from Ginny vibrated against his lips. "You like that?"

"Mm-hm," she hummed again, pressing her lips against his throat. "We've got on a bit too many clothes, don't you think?"

"I do think. I thought about Vanishing…" Harry pressed her hips into his again, gratified to see her eyes close.

"Don't you even dare. These are my favorite jeans and I would never forgive you if you made them disappear."

"Never?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Never."

"Guess I'll have to get them off the old-fashioned way then." Harry gently pushed Ginny up into a sitting position, running his hands over her bare breasts and tweaking her nipples before trailing his fingers down her stomach and unbuttoning the top button of her jeans, drawing down the zipper to expose her knickers. "Red. Nice," he said, looking up at her with a smile.

"I thought you deserved something nice for coming home to me," Ginny said with an answering smile. "You know, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking of us on this sofa." She carefully stood up and took his hand, drawing him up from the sofa and to the bed a few steps away. Harry let her push him down to land on the bed with a bounce, watching as she shimmied out of her jeans, leaving her in those red knickers.

"Those are nice, but I think they'd look better on the floor."

"You think so?" Ginny hooked her thumbs into the waistband and slowly pushed them down, Harry groaning at the sight of her completely starkers in front of him. Hands on her hips, she looked at him critically. "We need to do something about those. Off," she said, deftly unbuckling his belt and almost before he knew it, he was starkers as well. "Much better."

Harry's breath hitched into another groan as she ran her hand up and down his hard cock. "I missed you so much."

"How much?" Ginny asked, breath hot on his skin.

"So, so much."

"Let's see how much that is." Harry watched as she trailed her tongue from his bollocks all the way to the tip of his cock, feeling like his brain was slowly coming undone. Meeting his eyes, Ginny gave him a wink, swirling her tongue around the head of his cock before moving up to straddle him again. Hands on her hips, Harry closed his eyes and sighed as he felt her guide him into her wet warmth, resting her weight on him for a moment before moving slowly.

Ginny rested her hands on his shoulders, pushing him further down into the bed as she leaned forward to kiss him, red hair falling in a curtain around her face. "I missed you," she whispered between lingering kisses.

"I'm not leaving again," Harry breathed as Ginny increased her pace, grinding her hips in a circular motion. He never tired of watching the play of expressions on her face as they made love; the way a look of fierce concentration could give way to a beatific smile in a split second never failed to thrill him.

Kissing his forehead, Ginny pushed off his shoulders and sat up, leaning back and resting her hands behind her on his thighs as she moved up and down, giving him a whole different sensation. He closed his eyes as a wave of pleasure swept through him, making his breath catch in his chest and his heart skip a beat. He opened his eyes to see her looking down at him with a smile. "Like that?"

"Oh God, yes," Harry said, sliding his hands up from her hips to her breasts, the feeling of her sweaty skin against his palms sending him to new heights. Using the extra leverage, Ginny increased her pace, the sound of their bodies crashing together filling the room. Abruptly she slowed, leaning forward again and Harry crushed her to him, kissing her as she came, swallowing her cries.

Lazily moving her hips again, she looked down at Harry, sweeping his hair back from his forehead. "Why am I doing all of the work here?"

Harry stretched his arms above his head and grinned at her. "Because I'm a lazy bastard?"

Ginny nipped his neck and climbed off him, leaving him feeling deserted until she wrapped her hand around his cock, pumping slowly. "What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?" she asked with a wicked smile. She sighed happily when Harry rolled over on top of her, rubbing the tip of his cock over her clit before slowly pushing into her.

Her fingernails digging into his back spurred him on and soon they were both panting hard and bathed in sweat. Harry groaned when he felt her fasten her mouth on his jumping pulse point and suck hard, sure he would have a bruise there. "Gin," he panted, "how is it going to look if I show up to my first day at school with a love bite?"

"I don't care, just as long as those other teachers know you're mine," she said, raking her fingernails down his back, sending a ripple of ecstasy through him. Running her hands down his firmly muscled back, she squeezed his arse, holding him still as she came again with a satisfied hum. Opening her eyes, she smiled at him. "Continue," she said sweetly.

"Thanks." Harry felt he was nearing the end of his rope and he moved into Ginny harder, grinning when he heard the breath explode out of her. Arms trembling with the effort of holding himself up, he increased his tempo and closed his eyes, concentrating on the incredible feeling of being with her once more until he felt like his heart was going to jump right out of his chest.

"Harry, let go, let go..." Ginny crooned, digging her nails into his back once more and he knew he was lost. He gave one final push and a long exhale that ended in a wheeze when he felt her legs wrap tightly around his waist and pull him deeper into her as his orgasm swept through him, leaving him feeling completely drained.

Fighting to get his breath back, Harry groaned and collapsed on top of Ginny, feeling her heartbeat echoed in his own. She wiggled out from under him after a moment and poked him until he lay on his side, gathering her close until they lay nestled like spoons. "I missed you," Harry said quietly, kissing her ear.

"I could tell." Ginny sighed and pressed her body harder against Harry's. "Let's never do that again, okay?"

"What, have incredible sex at five o'clock in the afternoon?"

"No, be apart for so long. I understand that sometimes we might have to be, but if we can help it..."

"Yeah." They lay together for a time and Harry became aware of the fact that he was very hungry. "Gin?"

"Hmm?" she said sleepily, turning her face towards his.

"Hungry?"

"Starved. I didn't have time for lunch today. I had a bag of crisps at eleven and that's been it."

"Chinese?"

"No."

"Go out?"

"No."

Harry snorted. "Well, you don't have anything here. I looked."

"I haven't had time to do the shopping with orientation and counselor meetings and I had some meetings at SF Thaumaturgical and now classes have started."

"Well, if we're going to eat, we should get going. I saw a pub that looks decent a few blocks away."

Ginny made a reluctant sound and turned around in his arms to face him. "We have to shower. It smells like a brothel in here."

"How do you know what a brothel smells like?" Harry asked as she disengaged herself from his arms.

"The more important question here is how do you know what a brothel smells like?"

"Being an Auror gets you into some interesting places," Harry said with a grin.

Ginny snorted and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. "Come on. Let's get clean after being so dirty."

After a shower that almost turned into something else, they walked through the oddly chilly summer afternoon and found the pub reasonably empty and quiet. Harry went to the bar and got a Guinness for himself and a cider for Ginny, bringing them both back to their table in the corner.

"Boy, I bet you haven't had one of those since yesterday, hm?" Ginny observed wryly, sipping her own cider.

"Actually, I was too busy yesterday." He reached out for her hand and held it on top of the table. "I didn't even ask you about your day. First day of classes. How'd it go?"

"Oh, quite well. I have a lot of work ahead of me. The school divides things up into these block things and right now I've got the Prologue block. So in the next two months, I've got to hoover up a ton of information about anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, molecular and cellular biology and I'm sure a couple of other things I'm forgetting about. Then I've got to spit it all back out on an exam." She took another drink of her cider, looking rather glum.

"Poor baby." Harry patted her arm and grinned, sitting back in his chair. "So, you figure anatomy and physiology, you've already got to know a lot of that from your Healer training and work. Pharmacology sounds a lot like Potions. You've got this sewed up." He snapped his fingers for emphasis and saw her relax. "Still, you're going to be very busy and I'm not going to see much of you." He made his best attempt at a pouty face and was rewarded with a smile.

"Hey, let's talk about something else, okay? How's Mum and Dad?"

"They're great. Worried about you, of course. I didn't tell them about ... us." He looked down and reached for her hand again, squeezing it.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I don't blame you. We'll tell them together. Safety in numbers, right?" She looked at the menu on the table and passed it to Harry. "Curry and chips, please." Harry nodded and looked quickly at the menu before heading up to the bar to put in their order, getting a steak and ale pie for himself.

Back at the table, Ginny asked, "Did you tell Ron and Hermione?"

"Well, I hadn't planned to initially."

"How'd he get it out of you?"

Harry paused for a moment, replaying his conversation with Ron in his head. "Well, he's worried about you of course, out here in California. Can't do his big brother thing and stop by unannounced. You know how he goes on, so I finally told him that you'd be safe because I was moving in with you." He took a big gulp of his Guinness, remembering Ron's gimlet eye.

"Oh dear. And then what?"

"Well, then he went on about how we're both adults and can make our own decisions–"

"Generous of him."

"Right? Anyway, he gave me the old 'I'm her brother and if I hear you've broken her heart again, I'll snap you in half like a fucking twig,' speech," Harry said in a fair approximation of Ron's deeper voice. "And then he said if I did break your heart, he'd tell your mum and then she'd really go to work on me."

Ginny laughed aloud, causing some of the patrons at the bar to glance in her direction. "That sounds exactly like what he would say." She shook her head, a fond expression on her face. "And Hermione?"

"She was happy. Said she knew it was coming. Wish she'd clued me in." Harry grinned at Ginny and she shot him a sour look.

"You're not that funny, Potter. Don't quit your day job." Just then their food came and they dug in, trading bites of each other's dishes. "Did you see your classroom today?"

"Yes, I did. Unpacked my books, cleaned out some cabinets and shelves. The professor before me left some odd stuff in there." He decided not to tell her about either the Werewolf pelt or the Black Quill. "I went through a lot of it and threw a lot out, but I've got to do another sort. The man was an absolute pack rat." He took another drink of his Guinness and grinned at Ginny. "I have a line on a Boggart."

"You do? From where?"

"The office manager was complaining to her mum about one that's taken up residence in her attic and I said I'd sort it out for her. I'm going to her house tomorrow morning."

"Very nice, Potter. Such a go-getter. What about your other stuff? You didn't bring much with you last night when you came in."

"That came this afternoon. I'll have to enlarge the closet," he mused, taking another bite of his surprisingly excellent pie and stealing a couple of Ginny's chips. Feeling content for the first time in a very long time, he remembered his lunchtime conversation with Juanita. "Hey, there's a reception going on at the school Friday night. Is my girlfriend free?"

Ginny looked like she was mulling over Harry's question. "I don't know, what sort of 'reception' is this?"

"I think it's just sort of a staff get together before the school year begins. I think alumni and board members come too. Some parents. Meet up, meet the new guy. I think the headmaster gives some sort of speech."

"Are you going to be on display?"

Harry grimaced and shook his head. "I hope not. I mean, Artemis, the headmaster, kind of gave me a bit of a speech about how they have high hopes for me. But I haven't met all of the staff yet, so we'll see how the rest of them react. I just hope that I didn't take the job away from someone already there. I hate it when I make enemies before I've even started."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Do your classes start Monday?"

"No, Tuesday. Here the Muggles have a holiday called Labor Day where they celebrate work by not working." Harry shook his head and took a deep drink of his Guinness.

"Oh, that's right! Then I'll have Monday off, too. We should do something."

"Or we could just stay in all day, shagging and eating Chinese," Harry said with a wolfish grin, making Ginny giggle and blush. They finished their dinner in companionable silence and headed back to their small flat, enjoying the cool evening air after the close atmosphere of the small pub.

Back at the flat, Harry unpacked his crate, enlarging the closet so he could hang up the dress shirts in Ginny's already full closet. Finding drawer space for his other things was a little bit more problematic, but he was eventually able to get everything situated while Ginny did some reading for class. He got out his laptop and opened it with the idea of starting on lesson plans, but he realized that he was very tired, even though it was barely dark outside. He sat on the sofa, staring at the blank screen until he heard Ginny softly call his name. "What?" he asked, shaking himself out of his daze.

"You must be completely knackered. Go to bed."

"What time is it?" he asked yawning and stretching before closing the lid on his machine and setting it on the coffee table.

"Eight-thirty," Ginny said with a smile.

"It's like four-thirty in the morning to me. No wonder why I'm exhausted." He quickly undressed down to his boxers, laying his jeans on Ginny's old school trunk at the foot of the bed. He lay down next to where she sat cross-legged, taking notes on her reading. "Good night," he murmured, turning over onto his stomach. The last thing he remembered before falling into a very deep sleep was Ginny gently stroking her hand down his back and the deep feeling of finally being home.