Forever Family

Chapter 10

Publish Date: 10/13/18

Ginny's knocking on Ron and Hermione's door was loud and quick, almost impatient, before it swung open to reveal a startled Hermione. Taking note of Ginny's tear stained face and messy appearance, Hermione quickly let her in.

"Ginny! What's happened?" Hermione asked, concern laced in her voice. Ginny just shook her head.

"I can't believe he didn't tell me..." she muttered. She was furious before, but now that some of the anger had gone down, she was mostly hurt.

"Gin, what's wrong? Tell you what?" Hermione asked. Ginny collected herself, and started to tell Hermione all about the whole situation.

"I had no idea he was doing something so dangerous. I mean, he told me about the special case, but I didn't know what he was actually doing!"

"Wait—Harry didn't tell you about the case?" Hermione stopped Ginny. Ginny shook her head no. Hermione looked appalled.

"I thought for sure he'd tell you...oh, Gin," Hermione wrapped her arms around her friend in a comforting hug. After a moment, they pulled away.

"Hey, where's Ron?" Ginny wondered.

"Ron's in the shower. He'll be out in a few minutes."

"'Mione, did Ron tell you about the case?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded.

"He told me a few weeks ago. I'm so sorry, I thought you knew. Why didn't Harry tell you?"

"He said he'd lose his job," Ginny said glumly. "What I don't understand is why the public doesn't know. If there's Death Eaters on the loose, shouldn't everyone know?"

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose so. Ron told me that nothing serious has really happened yet, so the Aurors don't want to alarm people for no reason."

"I guess that makes sense. I didn't really get a whole lot of information between the yelling," Ginny sighed. "But why wouldn't he tell me? I'm going to be his wife!"

"I'm not sure, Gin. Would you like to stay here for a while, to cool off?" Hermione offered. Ginny nodded gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks. I promise I won't be here too long."

"Stay as long as you need. Tea?" Hermione slid a mug of warm tea over to Ginny, who accepted it.

The two chatted for a while, enjoying each others' company. A few minutes later, Ron came downstairs.

"Hey, Ginny, Hermione. What's going on?" Ron greeted the girls. "Where's Harry?"

"We had a fight," Ginny said softly. "I just found out what you two are doing for your special case at work."

"Auror Roberts said that if word gets out to the public, whoever told would lose their job. Harry's wanted to be an Auror for ages, but I thought he would've told you," Ron replied.

"Yeah, well, he didn't," Ginny said dryly. "I can't believe he didn't think I'd want to know that he was going to be doing something so dangerous!"

"Look, Gin, you can stay here as long as you'd like," Hermione said. Turning to Ron, she said, "I'm sure Ron agrees?"

"Yeah, 'course I do," Ron nodded in agreement.

"Oh, Merlin! It's gotten late! Gin, why don't you take the guest room for the night?" Hermione asked.

"Sure. Thanks, guys." Ron and Hermione just smiled. After saying their goodnights and getting ready for bed, they all went to sleep.

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That next morning, Harry and Ron were in the busy Auror Office at work. The group of Aurors who were working on the Death Eater case currently had their own office, to work privately.

"Was Ginny at your place last night?" Harry asked his friend. Ginny had not come home last night, and things between the two of them were tense. Ron nodded.

"Yeah. She said you two had a fight. I think she's still mad. You can't keep something like that from her, mate. She'd find out anyway—she's just like Mum." Harry sighed.

"Gather around, everyone! I have some news!" Auror Roberts called, getting the attention of the small group. Their group was only five people, with Auror Roberts as the leader. "There's been an attack on a Muggle town, near London. We think it's the former Death Eaters."

The group fell silent. This had been their first news of an attack—nothing serious had happened so far.

"With that being said, I don't think we should spread the news yet," Auror Roberts was frowning now, as well as the rest of the small group.

"Why shouldn't we alert the public? If something dangerous is going on, shouldn't people know?" a female Auror named Sidney asked, frowning.

"Not yet. We don't want to cause any unnecessary alarm. In fact, if word gets out, there will be consequences," Auror Roberts said sternly. "We will, of course, be keeping an eye on the attackers and their whereabouts."

Harry sighed. He already felt horrible for keeping the case from Ginny, but he knew that the public deserved to know if anything harmful was going on. Once Auror Roberts was done talking, Ron came up to Harry.

"Hey, mate. What do you think about keeping this from everyone?" Ron sounded uncertain. Harry sighed warily.

"I don't like the idea. Don't you think these people had been kept in the dark for to long in the war? When we joined the Aurors, we said we wouldn't repeat the Ministry's mistakes. That's exactly what we're doing now, right? Keeping the public in the dark for our own benefit?"

"I agree. But what can we do? I don't want either of us to lose our jobs," Ron responded. Harry nodded, lost in thought.

"I'm not sure, Ron. But we'll figure something out. Until then, let's just work on finding the people who did the attack." Harry said.

Ron and Harry worked for a while, collaborating with the others in the group to find the former Death Eaters.

After work, Ron stopped Harry on the way out.

"Hey, mate. Up for drinks at the Leaky Cauldron?" he asked. Harry nodded. It wasn't that late, and they had time to spare.

"Sure, I'll come. I could use a break."

The two Apparated there, but the sharp pops of Apparition made no noise in the bustling atmosphere of the Leaky Cauldron. It was crowded, especially for a weeknight, with people coming in and out the doors.

"Wow, there's a lot of people here. Let's go find Tom," Harry said, already pushing through the crowd. Once people realized that Harry Potter was there, though, they made way for the two to walk through.

"Mr. Potter, so great to see you again! Come, take a seat!" Tom, the bartender, greeted them. He pulled up two chairs at the bar for Harry and Ron to sit down. "What can I get for you two?"

"Two Firewhiskeys, please," Ron grinned.

"Coming right up!" Tom quickly gathered two Firewhiskys, slamming them triumphantly on the table.

"Thanks, Tom." Ron and Harry enjoyed their drinks, and the noisy environment of the Leaky Cauldron. It was a welcome distraction from the busy Auror Office, and the stressful case.

In fact, Harry almost forgot about his stressful work situation altogether.

Almost.

A/N: Hey guys! How was your day? Thanks for reading! Also, be sure to read my other story, Random Things That Happen To Me. It's not an actual story, but it could be worth a read. Thanks for reading! 💛
Words: 1,150