Title: Changes
Rating: R
Pairing: H/G
Warning: Mature themes
Summary: Ginny accidentally discovers Harry while he's undergoing his Magical Maturity which leads to unexpected consequences for them, others, and the war. Deviates from the end of book six.
A/N: Yes, I'm resurrecting an old cliché/theme from back in the days when I first started writing. I haven't had any need for it until now. :) This was intended to be a "oneshot"; however, it took on a life of its own and become a little more than double its intended size. Therefore, you get two long chapters.

Chapter 1

Ginny Weasley walked up the stairs toward her room at Grimmauld Place bored out of her mind. It didn't help that the only other person in the house at the moment was Harry, her supposed ex-boyfriend as of about six weeks ago.

He supposedly had broken up with her to protect her, yet they'd been thrown into close proximity since the end of school, her fifth year … his sixth year. So they hadn't been really able to avoid each other fully. His holding back from her was made worse because she could tell he still wanted to be with her based on his glances, as she wanted to be with him. His being stupidly noble really didn't sit well with either them in this set of circumstances. If he'd gone through with his original plans so they weren't near each other, it would have been more bearable. For the time being his plans were to leave at the end of August.

They were alone at the moment and trying to avoid each other again as her mother had taken Ron shopping for new clothes. She and Harry had been allowed to stay behind because they were at Grimmauld Place and because they weren't dating any more. If they were dating, she was sure her mother would have forced her to go on the shopping trip even though she didn't need to be there.

Everyone was so on edge as the oncoming unnamed war was becoming more obvious. Dumbledore was almost killed at the end of the school year, about two months ago. To hear Harry's side, he and Dumbledore had gone somewhere for something he couldn't talk about, Dumbledore had been injured, and Harry had barely avoided Dumbledore trying to put him in a body bind (for some unknown reason no one would talk about), and Harry had stunned and captured Draco Malfoy after the Slythern git had let Death Eaters into the castle. Snape had managed to escape after helping the Death Eaters so that he was now a wanted fugitive and Dumbledore was unhappy with Harry for some reason neither of them would talk about. She sighed in annoyance at the lack of information.

Nearing her room and about to enter it, he heard a noise from down the hallway. While she suspected it was just one of the talking portraits, she decided to go look to be sure it wasn't something else. She soon arrived at the room Harry stayed in now, Sirius's old room. She remembered he hadn't felt well at lunch and had gone to his room for a kip. The door was opened just enough she could look in to see that the noise was coming from there.

A groan or maybe a grunt of pain caught her attention so she pushed the door open a little more and thrust her head in. Ginny was shocked to see a fully clothed Harry lying on the bed with what looked like a heat wave coming from him, his body jerking, and him reaching down towards his trousers but not making it because of his body not obeying him as magic rippled around him.

Ginny stood there in shock for a moment as her brain tried to process what she was seeing. All she could come up with was he was being attacked by "Tom" in his mind, or his magic was changing - a process fairly well known but not talked about in public except in whispers and usually scandalously.

As another spasm hit Harry, she realized she had two choices: run like hell and get an adult like her father if she could reach him at work, or try to give Harry a little help and then run. She was starting to believe it wasn't an attack by "Tom", but she knew that she didn't dare get caught in his change … at least if she was near her change. But she was only sixteen – a year shy of her time - and should be safe. He was obviously suffering so she needed to do something.

Screwing up her courage, she stepped into the room and slowly approached him, trying to work out the timing. She'd have to do this between waves of magic. He seemed to be having one of the "major" changes, but then he was Harry Potter whom life seems to hate at times by sending far more adventures his way than any ten normal people combined.

As another wave went over him, she lunged the last few steps to arrive as the wave subsided to give her the most time. With quick motions, she undid his belt and then jerked her hands back and also leaned back.

A couple of seconds later, another wave went over him. As it subsided, she leaned forward and unbuttoned his jeans and slid the zipper down before she leaned back again.

A minor magical change could come as a magical discharge for a short time and usually changed the person slightly. A major change did that too, but also tended to have a hormonal component that was mostly easily expressed through "sexual release". Since Harry seemed to be trying to reach down, she had to assume he needed to do that, so her goal was to make that easier before she ran to safety. She had no idea if some of the myths - or maybe old wives' tales - were true, but she was loath to find out as they were harsh and could be disastrous if they happened. She also had no idea why Harry wasn't prepared for this as he'd recently had his seventeenth birthday.

As yet another wave of magic went over him, causing yet another jerk as if he'd been hit with a Cruciatus Curse and his arm still not moving where it needed to go, she leaned forward for the third and hopefully last time. Her left hand grabbed his shirt at his waist and pulled it up towards his chest while her right hand grabbed his closest wrist and yanked it towards his trousers. His hand was at his waistband when she realized she'd taken too long and her left hand was also touching his stomach.

The next wave of his magic not only emanated from him as before, but now it arced slightly and went through her also since she was touching him and she couldn't let go. The magic was so strong she felt like she was drowning. The after-affect stirred something in her, like a Cruciatus but not painful; no, it had been rather pleasant actually.

When it let go, she slumped forward, her forehead coming to rest on his bare stomach. The soft landing brought her back to reality that she was in a bad place and had to move. Except that the waves were coming faster and a second wave hit her before she could even pull her head back much less her hands.

This magical wave coursed through her and set ever nerve ending on fire, except it wasn't a painful fire but a pleasant fire - a very overly pleasant fire that sent a heat wave through her.

"No, Merlin no!" she whispered hoarsely and desperately as she jerked her head away from him. She tried to move her hands but couldn't as a third wave hit her and she felt something like an explosion burst from her body such that arcs were coming from her now which pushed at Harry's magic.

"No! Not like this!" she tried to scream but it only came out as a whisper while she saw the clothes on Harry start to fall apart and felt something like what she thought millions of ants crawling on her would feel like.

Ginny tried to fight it, using every ounce of her considerable will, the will that had held Tom off for almost a year. She pushed her will to act only to have her wave of magic synchronize with Harry's next wave. It washed over her like a tsunami and swept her will away so all she could do was watch as if from a distance.

On their own, her hands grabbed at his shirt and pulled; it fell away as it looked like nothing was holding it together. Harry eyes snapped open and it looked like green balls of fire were looking at her while his hands grabbed her shirt and pulled it way like she had done for him; she was left in only her bra on top.

"No!" she screamed in the agony of her mind only as a fog came over her and she lost the fight to magic as she stood next to him.

— — —

Harry wasn't sure what woke him but he could feel something was wrong, several somethings in fact. First, he felt wrong; he had no idea what, but something wasn't the same with him. He felt freer or lighter, thought he couldn't say why. Second, there was a significant weight, way more than bedcovers and even a pillow, lying on him. Third, he could smell Ginny, or rather her shampoo. Fourth, he could feel bare skin under his hands and he wasn't touching himself.

Risking it, he cracked open one eye to see lots of red hair and then a second eye to see a bare shoulder and skin continuing down as far as he could see … and it wasn't blurry without his glasses either!

"What?" he croaked, his throat feeling raw as if he had been screaming. He couldn't remember screaming. In fact, he couldn't remember what he'd been doing and he was totally sure he would have remembered doing anything that would have resulted in what looked like a naked Ginny lying on top of him.

"Ginny?" he tried again, his voice not improving much. He watched her stir for a second before her face whipped around and her light brown eyes stared at him and then went wide.

"I - we -" she stopped and her voice didn't sound too much better than his. She looked down and realized she wasn't wearing anything. "It wasn't a dream," she whispered and looked like she was about to cry.

"Ginny," he whispered and then stopped, not sure what to say.

"Close your eyes," she commanded and then shifted.

It wasn't until that moment when a wave of pleasure coursed through him that Harry fully realized they weren't only lying together naked. He whimpered as he felt something wild stir in him. The "freedom" wanting out again.

"No, not again," she whispered. "I have to leave," she said desperately and moved again but couldn't seem to fully rise and go.

She drew up her will and made an all-out effort to get up and leave one more time, whether he was looking or not. Ginny made it to her elbows then pushed up, her hands on his shoulders. She thought she was going to make it until a wave of magic coursed through her and through her hands into Harry. Both of them screamed again and the magic restarted and the fog returned.

— — —

Ginny woke first this time. Seeing Harry still unconscious, she knew she had to do something before he awaken and a third time happened - if that was possible. Then again, she hadn't known a second time was even possible. Gathering her strength so that she might do this the first time, she tensed, took a deep breath, and shoved with her right arm and right leg as hard as she could - which felt very weak. But it was just enough to roll her to the left and she rolled off Harry and the bed and in the air and landed on her chest and face, a fraction of a second before her knees and toes hit.

It was all she could do not to cry out from the pain. Deep breaths hurt so she forced herself to push up to be on all fours, which showed she'd landed on one of Harry's shoes in a sensitive place. She rubbed a breast for a moment before she grabbed the bed and hauled herself up slowly.

She couldn't help but look at Harry naked on the bed; that fulfilled a fantasy of hers and made her smile. Ginny would have looked longer, but knew she needed to get a move on it since she didn't know what time it was. So far, they'd been lucky no one had walked in on them. She did have to stop and look at his forehead for a few seconds and wondered about it.

So unsteady it was like she was drunk, still she managed to walk across the room by reaching for and steadying herself on chairs, a dresser, and even the wall. Finally, she stumbled into the bathroom and to the shower - very grateful Harry's room had its own bathroom and she didn't have to walk into the hallway naked.

A hot shower revived her; she even got her hair wet, though she had no idea how she'd explain washing her hair in the middle of the day when asked. Far sooner than she wanted to, she stepped out of the shower with the water still running. Wrapping a towel around her, she walked back into the bedroom almost normally.

Ginny grinned at a naked Harry sitting on the bed and looking mystified at himself and the clothes strewn all over the room. "I left the shower running for you. I'd suggest you take one quickly and clean up before anyone comes up here." She almost giggled as he grabbed a small piece of her former blouse to try to cover himself with it. Her next words sobered even her. "We really need to talk about what happened. You should look at your curse scar in the mirror too."

His mouth moved several times though no sound ever came out. Eventually he nodded and she decided that was good enough and left for her room, checking that no one was coming down the hallway or up the stairs before dashing for it.

As fast as she could, she toweled off and then searched for clothes that matched what she had been wearing except that there was now a size problem, but that was fixable temporarily with Enlarging charms. More cut-offs shorts were easy to find after she had more under things on. A t-shirt that was close to the same color would have to be good enough, along with an excuse that she'd spilled something on the other one if asked about it.

With fear and a trembling hand as she thought about what she was about to do, she grabbed her wand again and cast a spell on herself that she thought she wouldn't need until several years from now. As a soft blue glow appeared, she swore with words that would have shocked her mother and father. She forced herself not to cry as she found one of the myths showed to be true. Ginny also was ignoring her non-wand hand that showed another myth as true.

Several deep breaths later and her wand still in hand and emotions tightly in check, she went back to Harry's room and found he was still in the shower. "Hurry!" she called through the doorway before using her wand to gather all the bits of clothes into a pile. She moved the shoes as they were fine. Concentrating, she moved her wand and cast "Reparo!" Bits of fabric moved but they were still bits when the spell finished. "Damn!" she said softly.

Harry came out wearing only a towel. "Do you mind?" he asked as he searched for new clothes.

"I'll clean the bed and stay looking that way," she said as she moved and faced the wall. Her cleaning spells on the bed were successful so she stuck her wand in a pocket and made the bed.

"What happened and why can't I remember everything? Also, why in Merlin's name do I look different and why can I see normally without my glasses? Plus my scar changed. Then there's this…" Harry held up his left hand.

"In a minute," she said as she turned and leaned against the bed, watching him pull up his jeans. "Can you repair those?" she said pointing at the pile of ruined clothes. "I couldn't."

Still shirtless, Harry grabbed his wand and cast the spell. A few bits moved together, but the clothes in general were ruined and still worthless.

Ginny cast the Vanishing spell. "Might as well get rid of the evidence," she said casually as she searched for a way to explain this.

"So?" he asked leadingly as he grabbed a t-shirt an pulled it on. "Why does it seem like we had sex but I don't remember doing that, because I'm really sure I would have remembered that."

"Because of magic," she said succinctly as if trying not to say more.

"Not a good answer," he muttered before he asked, "What about the rest?"

"I'm sure you remember the lecture on Wizarding Physiology at the end of your first year?" she asked, not quite able to look at him.

"Err, didn't have one that I can remember. Should I have?"

Her head jerked up and was surprised to see him looking at her genuinely perplexed. "Yes, everyone does," she told him before she remembered. "Well, I didn't because I was taken home before it happened for my year, but Mum explained things to me. It was maybe the most embarrassing talk of my life."

"Oh," he said quietly, "the sex talk. I don't remember a class about that." He snorted. "Sirius gave me a talk about how to make sex great. Talk about embarrassing." He blushed and looked down, which she found amusing but only because it wasn't her being talked about.

"Sex is part of it, but there's more." She paused for a moment before she added quietly, "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but you know, Magical Maturity?"

Harry just blinked at her. "No, never heard of it and it's a little embarrassing to talk about sex like this with you, but you're acting like there's more."

"Because it's not talked about in public; it's practically taboo," she said through gritted teeth. "They tell you that too. Are you trying to make fun of me or what?"

Harry just blinked at her and she started to wonder if the "or what" really applied. So she clarified, "You were in the class with all the first-year boys at the end of the year. I've heard Professor Flitwick gives it for the boys."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he told her before he paused. "I was in the hospital for a few days just before we went home at the end of first year," he said with a far-away look.

Suddenly, Ginny understood. "Damn, damn, damn … there's no way I'm telling you about that, maybe-"

"Ginny! Harry!" They both heard Ron's voice as well as his stomping coming up the stairs.

"I suggest you stay in here. Lock the door and say you're not feeling well or something," she said as she hurried for the door. "I'll think of something to get Mum and Dad up here soon so we can finish this, as much as I don't want to. They can explain it."

"But…" he left it hanging as she hurried out and closed the door after her. He walked over and turned the lock and listened for a moment. Ginny was claiming to not feeling well and wanted to lie down and she said Harry was feeling the same way and to leave him alone too.

Ron was still at his door a moment later, yelling through it. "Harry?! Sorry we took so long, but do you want to play some chess?!"

"Sorry mate," he said, only raising his voice a little and noticing that his throat didn't hurt any more, or he thought he had a memory of hit hurting recently. "I'm still not feeling great and I need to rest more. I'll try to be down for dinner."

He could hear Ron grumbling, but he also walked away. Harry shot a locking spell at the door for extra protection before he returned to the bathroom and the bigger mirror in there. The more he looked, the more he didn't understand. The conversation with Ginny didn't help explain why she'd been in his bathroom taking a shower and why he'd been naked. It also didn't explain either of their new looks. He was pleased he looked a little taller, though he was no were near as tall as Ron. And Ginny, well, she'd changed too and in some very pleasing ways he probably shouldn't think too much about.

It also didn't explain the fragments of memories he had. It was as if magic from all over the Earth had been flowing through him. Then there were the tantalizing images of a glowing and naked Ginny sitting on him. He would admit privately those had to be the most brilliant dreams ever!

— — —

Ginny had been thinking fiercely - really stewing - for the last hour and a half. She still had no idea what to do. A small part of her wished Hermione was here to talk to, for surely the nearly genius level girl would have an idea. Yet, she decided she was more thankful her friend wasn't here as this had to be the most bizarre and embarrassing thing she'd ever lived through. Considering her first year at school, that was saying something. She'd said the talk with her mother had been one of the most embarrassing things ever, but she was sure the talk she was going to have later tonight in front of Harry would go to the top of that list.

One small thing had gone her way this afternoon. When she'd met Ron in the hallway, he couldn't see her well as the hallway was fairly dark in that area. That meant he hadn't gotten a good look at her before she'd hurried into her room and closed the door.

All right, a second very small thing had also gone well, she'd had time to dry her hair to avoid questions about that.

Standing and moving to the mirror in her room, she looked at her new image again and tried to look dispassionately and objectively at herself. She couldn't help the smile. Growing an inch (or so she thought) had been nice since she thought of herself as short. However, it was her womanly curves that pleased her the most as she thought she'd looked almost boyish before with her small breasts and hips. She wasn't large now, but she definitely looked more like a woman.

She guessed she'd gained at least ten pounds with her various curves and probably a little more with the increase in height, which helped to explain why she was so hungry right now … and that took her back to the question of what to do.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. "Ginny, Mum says it's time for dinner and to hurry because there's an Order meeting starting soon, so we have to grab and go."

"I'll tell Harry and be there in a minute," she called back. Moving to her closet, she chose the only item she thought that might help. Slipping into the cloak, she raised the hood before unlocking her door and leaving her room.

She walked away from the kitchen for a moment and then knocked on the door. "Harry?" she called softly.

"Yeah?"

"Get ready. I'm about to bring my parents up here. We'll meet in your room, so make sure it's clean, unlock the door, then I suggest you wait in the bathroom until you're called."

"All right," he said, barely audible.

Not sure what else to do, she turned and left to find her parents … and dinner.

Entering the kitchen, she found her entire family that was in the area (meaning not Percy or Charlie). Thankfully none of Order of the Phoenix was here yet, especially Remus Lupin who was too smart for her liking in a situation like this. She was extremely thankful none of the Hogwarts professors were here yet either.

"Ginny, there you are," her mother said as she placed a dish on the table. "What are you wearing a cloak in August? Take that thing off."

Ginny grabbed not a plate but a serving platter and started to load it up with food.

"Feeling like Ron with all the food?" Bill teased her.

"We can't eat here," she said as she grabbed two pairs of utensils and napkins and shoved them in a pocket before grabbing two glasses and pulling a pitcher of something - she didn't care what it was - towards her.

"Mum, Dad, I need to talk to you now and upstairs; it's important," she said and hoped they'd do it. She was not that lucky.

"It will have to wait until after the meeting, dear," her mother told her, "and take that ridiculous cloak off so we can see you better."

Ginny surveyed the table to see that she had everything she needed, then she surveyed the room, accounting for where everyone was. It was going to have to be the hard way if her last gambit failed.

"Mum, Dad," she said slowly, "I really need to talk to you now and it is very important … more important than your meeting."

"Dear, whatever it is, we can take care of it in an hour or two," her mother said placatingly.

That infuriated Ginny, causing her to whip the hood of her cloak down and put her hand on her wand as everyone in the room gasped at the sight of her new look. "Yes, I just went through my Magical Maturity a year early, I've changed more than the average person, and we need to talk about it now!" she all but yelled.

"Ginny!" her mother glowered at her and raised her hand and shook a finger at her. "You will not talk to us that way."

Her only daughter responded by sending a silent Body Bind at her mother before turning and sending another at her oldest brother who had his wand half out. Everyone else was metaphorically stunned into silence, even her twin brothers.

Not knowing if she could do it or not but knowing it didn't hurt to try, she waved her wand at the serving platter, glasses, pitcher in front of her, plus her mother. All floated into the air so she pulled them in her direction. "Dad, if you'd join me, I'd appreciate it. No one else is invited," she said tartly before turning and marching out of the room with all the items and her temporarily frozen mother following her.

She had no doubt she was going to get yelled at and probably punished for what she just did, but considering all that was about to be discussed, that was the least of her problems. It's also possible, she wouldn't get punished at all … or at least she wouldn't have to do anything beyond apologizing.

At the top of the stairs, she saw Harry leaning against his doorway. "Wished I could have seen that as you sounded amazing. Come on in, I'll go hide."

She watched him disappear into his room and she followed him. Checking on everything floating behind her, she was glad her father was following, though he looked very reluctant which she couldn't blame him for. She knew she'd overstepped her bounds as a daughter, but she really did need them to be parents first and Order members later.

Inside Harry's room, she directed the food to a small table and her mother was set on the floor. She knew a Magical Maturity was supposed to make magic easier, but this seemed hilariously easy and she was having to get used to it.

When her father came in, she shot a locking spell at the door and a privacy spell. "Harry, I think you should join us before I release my mother so they'll understand a little better."

Harry walked in and smiled with a tinge of embarrassment. "Uh, thanks for coming. Oh, I better hold onto this for a bit." He reached forward and plucked the wand out of Molly Weasley's apron."

"Good idea," Ginny said before a negligent wave of her wand released her mother. "Do you find magic much easier now? I find it to be stupidly easy for the stuff I already know."

Harry shrugged. "I haven't done any since that one spell this afternoon, but I've found it to be easier the last year in general compared to my first four or five years."

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" her mother exploded verbally, no longer able to contain herself.

"I'm sorry for putting you in a Body Bind, Mum, but I needed my parents more than you needed to be at that Order meeting. The world will just have to wait for one night," she told her parents.

Her father put a hand on his wife's arm as she opened her mouth to reply, probably forcefully. "Dear, she is our daughter and I'm starting to see that she does need to talk to us, as does Harry. Look at them, dear, really look. They both look at least three years older than they did yesterday.

"I understand Harry doing this as he just had his seventeenth birthday - it's the traditional time; but Ginny is only sixteen as of a few days ago," her father pointed out. "Are you otherwise all right?" he asked his daughter.

"Yes and no."

"Ginny?" her mother called, looking much more concerned and not angry. "I'm sorry for not paying attention to you. What happened?"

"I…" She wasn't sure how to start then she saw the food. "Harry and I are really hungry. Can we eat while you explain a few things to him?"

"Sure," her father said as the teens took the two chairs at the small writing table with the food while Arthur conjured two chairs for the adults. Ginny handed over the utensils so the pair could eat off the same large plate.

"This is going to be embarrassing, but you need to start with what Magical Maturity is and what it's normally like." Ginny looked down. "Harry doesn't know because he was in the hospital when that class was given at school and no one told him later." Her mother gasped and her father shook his head. "After that I'll try to explain what happened today."

"Harry?" Ginny said with as much caring as she could while she grabbed his left hand. "The only advice I can give you is to pretend they're talking about someone else and not you." She placed that hand back in his lap and held it there for a moment as she looked at him. He nodded and she was sure he got the message to hide that hand for the moment, as she was hiding her left hand.

Arthur cleared his throat before looking at his wife for a moment. "I suppose the short version will do. Harry, Magicals and Muggles are very much alike, but there are some very important differences. An obvious one is they have some diseases that don't affect us, while we have some that don't affect them. The most obvious difference is that we have magic."

The father cleared his throat again. "A not so obvious difference is that Magicals have an extra maturity. It's like puberty and one might even say it's magical puberty. While normal puberty usually lasts for a year or sometimes a little more, magical puberty lasts for an hour or so. During this time, the witch or wizard's body will take that final leap to adulthood."

Harry continued to eat, thankful Ginny had brought the food. So far, this wasn't so bad and he wondered why she thought it so embarrassing.

"A normal reaction is a slight increase in magical power. It's said that some in history have reported a larger increase," Arthur continued dryly as he looked at his daughter. "Can I assume you have a larger change in magic based on what you did in the kitchen?"

Ginny paused her meal and said quietly, "From what little I've tried."

"Harry?" Arthur asked.

Harry pulled his wand out and cast the light spell, but had to extinguish it immediately because they were all almost blinded. "I guess so," he said sheepishly as he looked at his wand as if something was wrong.

Arthur nodded and looked at his wife who just looked at him in hint of awe. "It's also not uncommon for there to be slight physical changes. The person looking a little older or gaining some height like Ron did, although you two seem to have also taken that to the further end of the scale. Wait, Harry, why aren't you wearing your glasses?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't need them anymore and wearing them makes my vision blurry."

"I see," Arthur said slowly. "Then there's how it happens."

Harry saw Ginny grab and then down half of her glass of water before studying her food very seriously.

"Well, you see," the man faltered for a moment. "It may be a little different for each person, but generally you get a warm feeling inside your body deep down, you may even feel a little giddy for no apparent reason. That should have warned you this was coming and to seek a private place. You should have also been ready for it since you've recently turned seventeen, the traditional time for this and why that age is when we consider you an adult. Sometimes it's a little before, usually a little after, an unlucky few have it on their birthday when they're at a party."

"I felt some of that right after lunch; it's why I came to my room … to lie down," Harry stated.

Arthur conjured a glass and poured himself some water and sipping it before looking at his wife. "Go ahead dear, you're doing well," she said softly.

With a nod, he continued. "For most, the warm feeling will increase and you'll find you're having magical discharges like accidental magic for a few minutes, but it could be up to an hour or so for very powerful wizards or witches. For a very few, those feelings will turn into … well, let's call it lust and you'll need to relieve yourself in a more, err, intimate way."

Harry felt his face heating as he realized what the man was suggesting. Looking to the side with his peripheral vision, he saw Ginny being completely red and moving food around with her fork as if trying not to listen but being unable to avoid it.

"It's unknown why there are difference experiences," Arthur said quietly, pointedly ignoring the teens' reactions. "Finally, some experience both reactions. That's about all there is too it, other than it's not really talked about since it's so private and you never approach anyone who's going through it because it is that private."

"Thanks," said Harry with a nod, glad that part was over. "Yeah, uh, I've never heard that before and it makes sense now. I didn't know what was happening and that explains a few things."

"Oh, good," Arthur said looking very relieved. "So, it's all good now?" he said, looking ready to go.

"For that part," Ginny said as she set her fork down. Between the two of them, they'd eaten everything on the platter so it was now empty of food. "I'm afraid there's more."

Her mother nodded. "Yes, like why did this happen to you now?"

"I have a theory; it's in two parts," she said warily.

"Tom in the diary possessed me for nearly a year. I can't prove it, but I believe it did a few things to me physically. For example," she looked down and slightly away from Harry, "I was the first to start my period among my dorm mates and it started a full year before the next person. I also had a little easier time with my magic after that, although I can't say that I really learned anything from him. It's like," she paused, "it's like I was able to better connect with my magic."

Harry nodded. "I was better able to connect with my magic after he possessed me a year ago. It wasn't a lot, but enough I could notice."

"Yes," Ginny agreed and looked up, still pink in the face before she looked down again.

"What's the other part dear?" her mother asked.

"The other part is that Harry and I changed together, with each other." Ginny hung her head while her mother gasped.

"Ginny, you know you're not supposed to…" her father was aghast, not able to fully say it.

"I know," she said so quietly she was barely heard. "I saw Harry struggling and knew he was going to hurt himself, so I told myself I would make it a little easier for him to finish and then I'd run and maybe Floo Call you at work. I could see him trying to do the right thing, but the waves of magic would paralyze him so he couldn't fully move." She started crying. "I was only trying to move his hand; I swear that was all I was trying to do before I was going to leave."

Harry moved his chair over and put an arm around her and pulled her into his lap; she clung to him.

"I have very little memory of the entire event. The few fragments I can remember seem very dream-like," he explained. "I definitely don't remember you coming to me. There's one place in the middle that seemed very vivid though I'm not sure about even that."

"I'm not surprised," she told him. "You looked like you were in so much pain that I had to help; but when I touched you and your magic rolled over and through me, I found it wasn't pain but intense pleasure."

Her mother gasped but Ginny couldn't look up. "The same thing started to happen to me and then our magic outbursts merged. The stories that you told me are myths are really true, Mum." Ginny buried her face in Harry's neck while he stroked her back trying to comfort her.

Harry noticed that her parents were looking at each other and both were so pale their normally graying red hair now looked vibrant.

"Both?" her mother asked in a horrified voice.

Ginny nodded without coming out of hiding. She finally added with a muffled voice, "I tried with everything I had to stop it, but couldn't. Because of the myths you told me, I could guess what was going to happen. It wasn't fair; I didn't want it to happen like that even if all I can remember is the beginning where I'm standing next to him."

"What?" Harry asked, wondering what they were talking about.

"The two myths are," Molly replied slowly, "that if a man and woman go through the change together, that not only will they … be intimate, but she'll conceive."

It was absolutely quiet for a long moment. "We're having a baby? I'm getting a family?" he ended in amazement and hope.

Ginny pulled back finally and looked at him. "You're not angry or feeling trapped?"

"It's sooner than I wanted, but no, I'm not angry and I do love you, or I think it's love," he said as a grin slowly formed.

"But you broke up with her," her father queried.

"I was trying to protect her and I didn't want to do it, but felt I had to since she wasn't seventeen yet." Harry's grin grew. "I have a real family now." He looked at the redheaded girl and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry for breaking up with you. I can't tell you how much I didn't like doing that."

"I know and you're forgiven because I also know you won't try it again," Ginny said softly as she cupped her hand to his face and rubbed it lightly in affection.

Molly cleared her throat lightly to get their attention. "It takes more than a baby to have a family," she told them, a hint of her displeasure returning.

Ginny looked at her mother and her happiness with Harry didn't dwindle. "There is a third myth and it's true too."

"I don't remember a third," her mother said frowning, who looked at her husband who shook his head.

"I looked up information about the process at school when I went back for my second year," Ginny said. She looked into Harry's eyes. "It's said that if the couple is strong enough, maybe that's in magic or maybe in love or maybe both," she told him, "the myth says that not only will Magic cause them to conceive, but Magic herself will wed them."

Her mother snorted. "Definitely a myth."

"We awoke with this." Ginny held up her left hand for her parents to see a band of silver on the ring-finger of her left hand. The band looked like three strings of silver branded together.

Harry held up his left hand too, with the same style ring. "It doesn't come off either; I tried."

"But, but…" Molly stammered while her husband sat there in shock.

"My husband…"

"My wife," Harry returned before leaning forward and kissing her gently. "We really need to finish talking about this now that I understand, just us two. I have an idea or two and want to know what you think."

"All right," Ginny grinned before turning to her parents. "I think we've discussed all we need to for now. You can tell the family that's here about this, and you have to swear them to secrecy. The other two will have to wait until later."

"Absolutely, secrecy is important at least for now," Harry added.

"But there's others who need to know, like Professor Dumbledore," Molly replied.

"He's not family, so no he doesn't … at least for now. I'll tell him later, I promise; but I need to think about how to do that. The same goes for others who aren't family but probably need to know." Harry looked at his wife; just the word make him smile again. "You know Hermione is going to be insufferable unless she thinks we've told her everything."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Leave telling her to me. I know how to get through to her. Ron's the one I worry about. He's never liked me dating."

"I'll take care of, uh, calming him down and seeing reason," Harry told her with a mischievous look."

"Deal," she told him. "We need a couch or else to lay on the bed to talk. These chairs are uncomfortable."

"You will not," her mother objected loudly.

"I'm married, Mum, so I can," she told her mother.

A look showed her father to be shaking his head as if wanting to deny the situation but couldn't. "Molly, it's late, the Order meeting is almost certainly over, and I'm sure the boys are wanting to know what's going on after what happened earlier."

Molly turned stormy again. "We will be talking about what you did in the kitchen."

"Yes, Mum; we can talk about it tomorrow," Ginny agreed without complaint, shocking her mother into silence.

Molly numbly took her wand back when Harry held it out.

Arthur led his wife out after Harry took down his spells. He started to put the spells back up but Ginny stopped him.

"I need to go get a few things, I'll be right back." Ginny left with a goofy grin but was back in a few minutes. "I love how easy magic is now," she told him as she returned with her trunk floating behind her.

This time, she put up the privacy spells before seeing him as he laid on the bed in just a t-shirt and his underpants. "Good idea." She removed her cut-offs so she was just in her knickers on the bottom; her bra was pulled out from under her shirt. "I need some bigger bras," she said happily as she laid down beside him.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked as she laid her head on his shoulder, happy to be with him officially again.

— — —

The Order meeting was over and most were gone. Arthur knew he'd find all of his boys in the kitchen still; Fleur was there too. Lastly, Albus Dumbledore was also there.

"I understand there was a problem with your daughter. Perhaps I can help," Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly tone.

"It's under control now," Arthur replied. "I'm sure we'll let you know when the time is right. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave as we need to have a family meeting. I'm sure you can understand."

Dumbledore raised a bushy eyebrow in surprise for a moment before he finally said, "Of course. Is Harry doing well?"

"He is, we just checked on him," Arthur said matter-of-factly.

"In that case, I'll make my exit. Have a good evening." Albus walked over to the fireplace and used the Floo Powder there to leave.

"Perhaps I should leave," Fleur said hesitantly, having arrived after Ginny had taken her parents upstairs, though Bill had told her what had happened.

Arthur looked at the two for a moment. "As you two will be married next weekend, I see no reason for you to leave," he told her with a small smile, to which she returned a beaming smile. He turned off the Floo Network before saying, "If everyone will take a seat."

"I'll get refreshments," Molly said and hurried to do so.

"Did she have a good reason?" Bill asked a little peeved now that he could ask someone who knew what was going on.

"Thank you, dear," Arthur told his wife as she handed him a cup of tea. "Actually, she did. We didn't take her seriously and she really did need her parents more than her parents need to be at an Order meeting.

"I will share most of what we know, but I must first ask for your word that this will not go any further. We're sharing this because Ginny asked us to. If others need to be told, Ginny and Harry will do so." Arthur noted his wife didn't look happy about that but she kept quiet and supported him, as she had for so many years.

"What is this about? And why Harry too?" Ron asked.

"Your promises first." Arthur said sternly and received a promise from each person.

"Now, here's what has happened. Harry underwent his Magical Maturity this afternoon." Arthur was not surprised by the shocked looks he received about the topic that was generally not discussed. "I won't go into details, but you won't miss that he looks older now.

"The problem that was brought to our attention is that Ginny found him while that was happening and it wasn't going well because he wasn't in the lesson where it was discussed at the end of his first year." Arthur looked at Ron. "Was he?"

Ron just blinked for a moment and then looked away slightly for a moment before he returned his attention to his father. "I might not be remembering it right, but I don't think he was."

"Anyway," the father continued, "Ginny tried to give him a little help before she was going to contact me over the Floo for more help. However an accident happened and she was affected by the magical outbursts from Harry."

"So," Bill said, "she's only sixteen it shouldn't have hurt her."

"Her theory," his father emphasized, "is that the year she was possessed affected her and sort of added to her magical age." He held up his hand as Bill was starting to protest. "I don't know if that's true or not, but she was affected and went through her Magical Maturity too even though she said she fought it as hard as she could.

"That explains why she looks older too." Arthur shifted and took another sip of tea while wishing it was Firewhisky as he broached the next part.

"There are several myths or tales surrounding this process and the two of them can now verify that those are not myths but reality in the correct circumstances," Arthur paused before adding, "whatever those are.

"The most obvious one you'll see when you see them tomorrow morning is that they have wedding bands on their hands that were given to them by Magic itself." Arthur braced himself.

"What?!" exploded from Ron, with Bill being only a fraction of a second behind them.

"They are magically married," their father repeated, "you can ask your mother."

All heads swiveled to her. Molly didn't look happy, but she stated, "It's true; they both have one that they found after they awoke and they don't know where the bands came from. The wedding bands are very nice and they say the bands can't be removed."

"But…" Bill started and then stopped, not sure how to voice his complaint.

"It is very romantic," Fleur said delicately.

"That's my sister and best mate, or he was," Ron said darkly; Bill mirrored the look.

"You or me?" one twin asked.

"I'll try first," the other twin said before looking at Ron. "Ronnikins, you should know better than anyone how many times weird…" he paused before glancing at his mother, "…stuff has happen to Harry that he didn't go looking for. The adventure in your second year with our sister is a brilliant example of weird things that happen to him."

"Bill," the first twin said, "you don't have the history, but know that despite all the weird stuff that happens around Harry, he always prevails. He may get kicked when he's down and he'll struggle, but he always does the right thing and wins in the end. Never bet against him - never." The other twin nodded seriously.

Bill nodded warily, not looking like he believed his brothers, but he didn't argue either. Ron didn't argue anymore, but he didn't look happy either.

"There is one last bit of news." Arthur looked at his wife who looked at her teacup studiously. "The accident caused something else unexpected to happen and I want to emphasize that this was unknown to Harry until Ginny told him in front of us. You sister, well, your sister is pregnant."

All the boys shouted "What?!" this time and Arthur took the moment to drink his tea and seemingly ignore the outbursts; his experiences with seven children enabling that with ease. It wasn't until Ron said, "I'll kill him!" and stood that Arthur shouted "Sit!" as he set his teacup down. Ignoring the glower from his youngest son, he said in a more normal yet firm voice, "Sit."

Ron angrily dropped into his chair. Bill was upset too. Even the twins didn't look happy. The only person who looked unphased by this, other than Molly who already knew, was Bill's fiancée.

"Fleur," Arthur said, "since you're calm about this, I'll let you respond first."

She looked at him in surprise. "What is there not to be calm about? It is done and can not be undone. You also said that it was unknown, which sounds like he had no memory of it. If it was unknown, how can he be held … um, accountable I think is the word. Did Ginny know how she became pregnant?"

"Of course," Ron almost shouted, "Harry did it to her."

"Actually," Arthur said calmly, "Ginny was unaware when she became pregnant. What I mean by that is that she knows when it must have happened, but she has no memory of it happening, just as Harry doesn't."

That news seemed to physically throw Ron back in his chair and he slumped down.

"Then how did she know to check?" Bill asked suspiciously.

Fleur nodded. "The myths, I'm aware of that one."

"Thank you," Arthur said graciously. "Ginny was aware of the story of what could happen and checked after, though she has no memory of the time that it happened," he said stumbling over the words in a hurry.

"I can accept that as long as he takes care of her," Fred said.

"Agreed," George chimed in.

"I don't think that will be a problem," their mother said, looking and sounding a little sad. "I don't like that this happened, but there's no doubt that Harry was very happy to have a family. He said he didn't want a child this early in his life, but he's very pleased to have a family and he also said he loves Ginny, who returned the feelings.

"I'll be honest," Molly continued. "I'm not happy about this at all. I love Harry as if he was one of mine and want only the best for him, but I'm not happy about these circumstances. Yet, in talking with them, once I calmed down after my first reaction, it was obvious they were telling the truth. This situation was an accident. Harry was unaware of what was happening. Ginny tried to help him in his distress as little as possible as she could guess what he was going through. An accident of magic happened that has surprised everyone - including them. Therefore, we're all going to have to make the best of this." She looked each boy until he nodded, even if he didn't look happy about it.

"Excellent," Arthur said while knowing it wasn't. "I think off to bed for everyone. Bill and Fleur, I'll turn the Floo Network back on for you."

The Weasleys who knew the unusual news went to bed that night in various states of thought on the situation with Ginny and Harry.

— — —

The newly married couple came downstairs for a late breakfast. Harry was smiling and talking softly while Ginny giggled over what he said. They'd barely stepped into the kitchen when Harry's hand snapped up like he was catching a Snitch and shimmered before his hand was pushed back a little while Ron yanked his hand to him while holding it and swearing.

"Bloody hell! What did you do?!" Ron yelled as he cradled his hand.

"Ron! Watch your language, young man!" his mother admonished him.

"Cool, I didn't know I could do that," Harry said pleased.

Ginny put her hands on her hips. "Ron," she said sternly and with a fierce glare, "why were you trying to hit my husband?"

"Caused he knocked you up," Ron retorted while he tried to flex his hand and found it painful. "What did you do?"

"I think I did a small localized Shield spell," Harry replied, "like you'd bat away a spell - or at least that's what I was trying for."

Ginny looked at him in surprise. "Would you-"

"Yes, I'll teach you," Harry said with a grin. "Or I'll try as I don't know if you can do it or not. Honestly, I'm not sure I can even do it again."

"I guess it's the best we do." Ginny turned back to her nearest brother. "Ron, I'm sure Dad explained most of what happened last night, or he said he would. Didn't he also say that me being pregnant was a surprise to each of us?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No Ron, no buts," his sister told him. "We don't know means we don't know. Now, if Harry had proposed to me and then asked me into his bed, I would have told him yes and I would have remembered how I became pregnant."

"Ginny," her mother said with some exasperation, "we don't need to hear that. Sit and have breakfast, both of you."

"Thank you," Harry said politely and sat with Ginny who didn't look repentant at all.

"You're not off the hook," Ron said sourly as he continued to work his hand. "Hermione's not going to let this go when you tell her," he added as a threat.

Ginny narrowed her eyes in pique as she looked at him, causing her brother to scoot back in his chair. "Don't you worry about her, I will take care of it. I've also delegated handling you to Harry; so get over this or I'll let him take you out back and show you more new magic he can do."

"Ooh, we can go out and play…" Harry drawled the last word and gave Ron an evil look, who quickly shook his head, making the twins and the new couple laugh. "You all right guys?" he asked the two.

"Yes, though our sister adding a new member to the family took some thought and getting used to," George said.

"Wasn't too hard though," Fred added. "Just think, we'll get to be the fun uncles and we'll get new a test subject in a few years."

"If you try using my son as a test subject you'll also have a new hole in your head," Ginny said testily, "and it will be rather large."

"Right, no testing on the nephew," Fred returned, "but being the fun uncles sounds like a good thing."

"Where's Bill and what did he think of all of this?" Ginny asked as she ate.

"About like Ronnikins at first," George replied, "but I think Fleur was talking some sense into him as they left."

Harry shrugged and returned to breakfast. They had things to do today, or so they'd decided last night.

— — —

Ginny dropped several bags onto their bed then flopped down herself. "That was tiring."

"It was," Harry agreed, "but productive also."

"I was a little freaked out that Ollivander could tell we were married, but I do appreciate him not putting the tracking monitor on my new wand and I like it … thank you," she told him sweetly.

"I think it'll help you and I was pleased he promised not to tell anyone." He grinned at her. "You can thank me tonight."

"I'll be happy to," she replied with her own grin. "It's not like I can get any more pregnant."

"True," he agreed with a chuckle.

"Are you serious about transferring all of your school vault contents to a Muggle Bank?" she asked.

"Yes, or at least I want to think seriously about moving some of it. I'm glad they can do a transfer to The Royal Bank of Scotland as that makes it a lot easier. It was worth the few minutes to stop and talk to the Goblins." He sat beside her but looked at his hands. "Are you still all right with my idea?"

Ginny sat up and moved so she could look at him after she turned his head slightly to look at her. "I understand why you want to do this and know that I'll be with you every step of the way no matter what we do."

"Thank you; we can talk about it more later," he told her as he pulled her to him for a hug, which she gladly returned. "Can I ask another question about us?"

"Always," she told him.

"Do you find it strange that we're both doing so well with this? We've both acknowledged this is unusual, but neither of us are freaking out."

"Maybe a little," she replied after a moment, "but we both love each other and want us to be together. Also, after what we've both been through, we've each learned to roll with what life hands us and do the best we can. I'm going to complain about you sometimes-"

"I've heard wives do that sometimes," he snarked.

She rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, I'm going to complain about you sometimes, but it doesn't mean I love you any less. I also know it's going to go the other direction sometimes too. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it."

"Right," he told her with a nod.

"I think we need to do something else before dinner."

"What?" he asked.

"Let's go to The Burrow. You need to teach me to Apparate," she told him.

"Can you do that safely now?" he asked concerned.

"I can in the first two trimesters, I asked Mum privately about limitations this morning," she informed him.

"OK, let's go, but I agree it would be good for you to know should something unexpected happen," he told her while hoping it would never be used in an emergency.

When they returned an hour later, they found a frantic Molly Weasley. "Where have you two been all day?! We've been looking for you and couldn't find you."

"We couldn't find you this morning, but we told Ron we were going out," Ginny answered. "Didn't he tell you?"

"He did, but you know you're not supposed to go out on your own," she returned sternly. "There were no adults with you and anything could have happened including being attacked by Death Eaters."

Harry cleared his throat lightly. "Mrs Weasley, have you forgotten that I'm considered an adult now?"

"Legally, but you haven't finished Hogwarts dear and Ginny certainly hasn't," she said pointedly.

The new couple looked at each other in consternation for a moment before Harry said very politely, "Well, we're back home now and we'll be here for the rest of the evening." They turned and left the kitchen sure they were being glared at but happy Ginny's mother didn't say anything else.

When they reached their room, Ginny said, "I'm liking your idea a lot more right now."

Harry grinned at her. "I can understand. I'll talk to your Dad tonight. Want to write that letter to Hermione? I'm sure Hedwig will be happy to take it."

Later that night, Harry returned and grinned at her. "He said yes." Ginny threw herself at him and kissed him hard. Somehow, he managed to close the door and put up a privacy spell before things went too far and someone else heard them.

— — —

It was the usual crowd in the kitchen: Molly, Ron, Ginny, and Harry. It was just after lunchtime and the rest were at work. Harry saw movement out the window in the backdoor just before there was a knock.

"I wonder who that is," Molly said as she pulled her wand out and went to the door, only to give a brief "Oh!" before opening the door. "Hermione, I didn't expect to see you here. Come in."

"Thank you, Mrs Weasley." Hermione walked in and smiled at the couple. "What's so important it couldn't wait a couple of days before we saw each other at the wedding? Wait, what happened to you, each of you?" Her gaze swiveled between Harry and Ginny. "Where are your glasses?" she asked the boy.

Ginny giggled briefly before she stood. "Let's go talk about that; it's why I invited you over so you wouldn't be surprised on Saturday."

Ginny guided the girl out of the room with Harry following slowly, more for form's sake since Ginny would be taking care of the informing.

"Join you in a minute, mate," Ron called and Harry just waved an acknowledgement as he left the room.

Upstairs, Hermione started to turn into Ginny's old room, but Ginny steered her onward. "Let's use Harry's room, it's a little larger."

When they walked into the room, Harry said, "I'll wait out here until the girl stuff is done." He closed the door before conjuring a chair with a squishy seat and sat. Since the hallway was so dark, he conjured a globe and put a Bluebell-Flame in it before sticking it to the wall at about the height the normal lights were.

A few minutes later as he continued to wonder how the conversation was going, Ron joined him with a couple of bottles of Butterbeer in hand. "Sorry for the delay, but I had to wait a bit to sneak these past Mum. Any yelling yet?"

"Nope, a bit surprising if you ask me. Thanks and cheers," he said as he opened his bottle and held it up.

"I still say Hermione's going to go crazy and you're going to be in for it," Ron said with a grin.

"I don't agree, I think Ginny will take care of it and it'll be peaceful when that door opens," Harry commented.

"Hermione! Will you shut the bloody hell up and let me attempt to answer even your first question!" they heard Ginny yell through the closed door.

"Right," Ron teased, "that's real peaceful."

"I said when the door opens," Harry reminded him. "Care to put your money down on it? I'm willing." He dug into a pocket and pulled out his money pouch and hefted it up and down a few times.

"Err, I don't have that much," Ron said a little warily.

"That's fine, you set the amount, I'll match it," Harry told him. "If you really think everything is a bad as you think it is, it's an easy win for you."

Ron scowled for a moment before he dug into a pocket and pulled it back out, examining what he saw. A moment later he held up a single silver Sickle.

"Chicken," Harry teased him before he conjured a small table and put his Butterbeer on it before he dug into his money pouch and put a Sickle on the table. Ron set his coin next to his friend's.

With the money pouch put away, Harry grabbed his bottle again. "Ron, are you really all right with Ginny and me being together - honestly?"

Ron looked at and played with the bottle in his hands for a long moment. "It's getting easier. Look, if anyone was going to be dating my sister, you'd be my first choice. I wasn't bothered at all when that happened last, uh, April. But that's the problem, you're not just dating. It's from nothing to married plus a kid on the way in a single afternoon. You're also not out of school either and she's a year younger. It's a lot to take in."

"I can't argue with that," Harry said quietly. "It's a lot for us to take in too."

Ron snorted. "Doesn't look like it. You two look like it's all planned out and easy. Me, I wouldn't have the first clue on what to do if it was me in your shoes."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at that. "We've been winging it, mate. We're starting to plan a few things now, but there's a lot to figure out."

"What are you going to do about Hogwarts?" Ron asked looking over at him.

Harry considered what he wanted to share, but the door was suddenly opened and Ginny was standing there looking annoyed and with her wand in her hand. "Time for part two. I've explained all I plan to."

Harry looked at his friend and grinned. "I don't hear any shouting," he said as he grabbed the two Sickles from the table as he stood. "Come on, we have news for you too," he said as he headed into the bedroom.

Ginny looked amused. "What were the Sickles for?"

"That it'd be peaceful when you opened the door," he told her as he walked in and then started to chuckle.

Ron walked in and then stopped immediately. "Hey, that's no fair!" he called out as he pointed to Hermione who was stuck to a chair and silenced since she her mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. He turned to Harry. "You knew she was going to do that."

"No, not at all. The plan was tell Hermione, nothing more. Did I think Ginny capable of doing this?" Harry smirked. "Why yes I did." He looked at his wife who was smirking at him. "If you'd get the door and put up a privacy charm, I'll take care of our friend." He pulled his wand out and cancelled the Sticking Charm. Since Ginny had had time to put up the privacy spell, he cancelled the Silencing charm.

"Ugh!" Hermione growled. "I don't know which of you to be more upset at."

"Err, why at me?" Harry asked innocently.

"Because you let her do this to me … and you did - you know - without thinking. How can you do that to her and to yourself?" Hermione glared at him.

Harry turned to Ginny and calmly asked, "You told her all of the highlights, right?"

"Everything Dad told the family," she confirmed. "Sorry, Hermione, about the spells, but like I told you, you weren't giving me a chance to explain. You kept interrupting."

"Because your story was unbelievable and you weren't giving me enough facts," Hermione shot back accusingly.

Into the silence Ron said, "Told you, mate, it's a lot to take in and this is a crazy story even by your standards. Compared to this, fighting a troll or a basilisk is easy." He received a glare from each girl for reminding them of those memories.

Harry wisely sidestepped that argument and left Ron in his own mess. "That aside, we did want to tell you a thing or two together. Last night, I talked to Ginny's father and he gave me permission to marry Ginny legally and promised to sign any forms necessary since Ginny is only sixteen."

"But-" Hermione started and Harry held up his left hand in front of her for the ring to remind her of their present status. "Right, I guess that would make sense considering what's happened," she changed her statement. "Are you doing that also so you can live together at Hogwarts?"

"I think it would help," Harry said off-handedly. "The second bit of news is that I talked with Fleur before she left for France and she agreed to lend us a room in their house for a few minutes after her and Bill's wedding ceremony. Since there will be an official already there, we can get married then. Ron, I'd like you to be my best man."

"Hermione," Ginny said, "I'd like you to be my maid of honor."

It was silent again. "I think we broke them," Ginny said wryly.

Hermione looked like she was vibrating as she looked between the two of them before she finally launched herself at Ginny continually muttering "Congratulations". After a few seconds she let go and threw herself at Harry and did the same thing.

Harry just patted her on the back and smiled at his wife. Other than that brief remark a moment ago, telling his bushy-headed friend hadn't gone nearly as badly as he or Ron had feared.

When Hermione let go, Ginny asked casually, "Hermione, would you be willing to take me shopping for a wedding dress? It doesn't have to be a big deal or fit perfectly as Mum and I can alter it, but it'd probably be better to get it at a Muggle store to avoid questions neither Harry nor I want to answer."

Hermione launched herself at Ginny again. Harry smirked at Ron who rolled his eyes before slapping Harry on the shoulder and leaving. Harry then walked over to the dresser and pull out a fat envelope from their stop at Gringotts and handed it to Ginny, who put it in a purse.

(A/N: Part 2 will be up soon. - Kevin)