Chapter 7:

Six Months Later

Ginny shot up in bed. She had had another nightmare. Next to her, her fiancée, Harry Potter sat up.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and said, "Are you alright, Ginny?" Ginny nodded. Harry kissed her cheek. "I love you, you know that right?" She nodded.

"You tell me that all the time," she replied. "But I never get tired of hearing it." Harry smiled, and he felt Ginny's warm lips on his own. This was the life. He had the love of his life back, and they were getting married in a few months. Thirty minutes later, Harry and Ginny got up to get ready for work. Both worked at the Ministry in the very small department made up of Order of the Phoenix members. Not many people know about the department, and it was supposed to stay that way for as long as possible.

When Harry got home from work that day, he found Ginny sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. He snuck up behind her, and covered her eyes. Ginny smiled.

"Guess who," Harry whispered in her ear.

"Hmm….I have no clue who that is. It must be a burglar breaking into my house," she said. Harry kissed her neck.

"Think again," he said.

"Hello, Harry. I thought that you wouldn't be home at least another hour." Harry uncovered her eyes, and sat down. Then, he reached over, and pulled Ginny onto his lap.

"I got off early. I thought that we could spend some time together relaxing." Ginny closed her eyes, and cuddled close to his chest.

"That sounds good. I hope you're comfortable though, because I don't plane on getting up from this position for a while." Harry laughed. Without warning, he stood up, taking Ginny with him. Ginny squealed, and wrapped her arms tightly around Harry's neck. "Harry Potter! You put me down this instant!"

"Do you really want me to do that?" Ginny stopped to think. Harry was going to drop her on the ground if he put her down that instant.

"Never mind. You're in trouble though." Harry chuckled.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble? You said that you weren't going to get up, and I wanted to sit on the couch, so I took you with me." He sat down on the couch. "Now, what will the punishment be?" Harry had a mischievous spread across his face. Ginny knew what he wanted.

"You have to sleep on the couch tonight," she said simply.

"The couch?" Harry acted hurt. "I was thinking more along the lines of this." He took her face in his hands, and kissed her tenderly. Ginny gasped, and deepened the kiss.

Half an hour later, Ginny got up from where she was lying on the couch to make her and Harry something to eat. While she was cooking, she felt two strong arms wrapped around her waist. She smiled slightly. She then felt lips against her neck.

"Harry, I'm trying to make us something to eat. So, unless you want to go hungry, I'd recommend that you stop," she said, not looking up from what she was doing. Immediately, Harry stopped, and sat down at the table. He picked up the book Ginny had been reading, and read the title.

"Another book about Hogwarts? You're starting to turn into Hermione," he said. Ginny spun around.

"That's something really nice to say about one of your best friends. I was flipping through it, nothing big. I was really bored. You got home from work late again today." Harry stood up, and gave Ginny a hug.

"I'm sorry, Gin. I really am. They're re-trying Malfoy in a few weeks. They want to bring up what he did to you." Harry didn't want to tell Ginny this so soon, but knew that he would have to eventually. Ginny's face drained of all color, and she dropped the plate she was carrying. "Ginny, honey, are you alright?"

"I need to sit down," Ginny said quietly. Harry helped her into the nearest chair. "Why do they want to bring this up? I had just started to get over it! I thought you said that Malfoy's already in Azkaban for life, so bringing this up would be pointless." Ginny began to cry. Harry pulled her close to him.

"They want it on the record. That's the only reason they want to do this. Ron and I tried to talk them out of it, but they have a point. This needs to be on record. You don't even have to show up. With things like this, they can use the Veritaserum Potion on him. You can stay home the whole time."

Slowly, Ginny stopped crying. She felt so safe with Harry's arms around her. She began to wonder why she had left everything behind for so long. Harry would have protected her. She had lost 5 years of her life with him. Five years that she would have to hurry up and make up.

THE END!