Chapter 61: Sharing the memory
Ginny's POV:
After enjoying the rest of our honeymoon in Peloponnese, celebrating my birthday by going to a fancy restaurant and receiving a beautiful bracelet that goes with my necklace Harry gave me three years ago and laying on the beach countless times, it's finally time for us to go home.
"It's a shame to be leaving already!" I say on our way to the airport.
"It is but we both need to go back to work. And besides, I don't think this is our last time in Greece," Harry says, taking the bigger suitcase and dragging it along to the entrance of the airport.
"I don't think so either," I smile, holding his available hand.
*
After our flight (I did stay awake but that was because it's still daytime) Harry and I decide that our holiday has been very like Muggles' so we Apparate home.
The manor looks nice and clean and when we put down our suitcases, Winky and Kreacher come to us.
"Welcome home Master and Mistress! Kreacher and Winky hopes that you had a nice holiday," Kreacher says, taking the suitcases.
"We did, thank you. How was is here?" Harry replies, taking off his shoes.
"We dids our bests to cleans the house Master," Winky says, taking our shoes to the cupboard.
"Would Master and Mistress like a drink?" Kreacher asks.
"Do we have lemonade?" I ask after having tasted that in Peloponnese and really enjoyed it.
"Of course Mistress, and you Master?" Kreacher replies, looking at Harry.
"A lemonade too please," Harry replies, smiling at the elves.
"Of course Master," Kreacher says, walking to the kitchen downstairs.
Harry and I sit down in the two comfy chairs in the sitting room, looking through the window.
"Master, when you was away, a few owls came and dropped off a few letters. I keeps them safe for Master to return," Winky says, handing Harry a pile of letters.
"Thank you Winky," Harry smiles, taking the letters from her.
"There was a few letters for Mistress as well, I has them here," Winky turns to me, taking a bunch letters from her apron.
"Thank you Winky," I thank, taking the letters and looking through them.
A lot of them are 'Happy Birthday' and 'Congratulations on the Wedding' cards. I still read and appreciate all of them.
Kreacher returns with the drinks and asks if we want something to eat.
"No thank you, we'll be having dinner at Ron and Hermione," Harry replies, smiling and standing up and putting the letters on the low cupboard with shoes in it in the hall.
Kreacher gives us our lemonade and we sit down and enjoy the amazing taste.
After finishing, Harry sends a Patronus to Ron and Hermione to tell them that we'll be coming in ten minutes.
"I'm going to change into something warmer as the weather is definitely a little colder than in Greece," Harry says, making his way upstairs.
"I'll come too," I jump up and follow him to the master bedroom.
I walk into the walk-in closet, bump into Harry and pick a cardigan to go with my shirt and jeans.
Apparently, the weather forecast for the rest of the week is really good so I'll have to see if I can get my clothes I wore in Greece washed for the rest of the week.
"So, are you ready to go?" Harry asks me, smiling.
"Of course," I say, closing the door of the closet.
We walk down the stairs, get the bag with the small souvenirs we brought back for Hermione and Ron (and of course Teddy) to thank them for having Teddy for three whole weeks and say goodbye to Kreacher and Winky.
Harry takes my hand, we walk outside until we've passed the Anti-Apparation boundaries and we Disapparate with a loud crack.
We walk up the last few staircases to their apartment. We stop at number 21 and ring the doorbell.
I hear fast footsteps, getting louder and someone (Teddy) calling that 'they're here'.
The door opens and Teddy jumps at me, wrapping his little arms around my neck.
I pick him up and give him a kiss on his cheek.
"Harry! Ginny! You came!" Teddy exclaims, nuzzling his face into mine.
"Of course we came Tedster, we'd never leave you, we love you too much!" I reply, ruffling his hair and putting him down so he can give Harry a hug too.
Ron and Hermione appear in the doorway too. I step forward to give my brother and friend a hug too.
"It's good to see you again!" Hermione says, her bushy hair in my face.
"You too! Thanks for the tip about going to Athens, it was amazing!" I thank her.
"It was no problem! I'm glad I could share the beauty of Athens with you!" Hermione beams, letting me go and hug Ron.
"Thank you for having Teddy," I say while embracing my brother.
"It was a pleasure! We wouldn't mind having him another time," Ron smiles, welcoming us inside.
"Well, it's great to know he'll have another place to go to in a moment of need," Harry laughs, following Teddy as he pulls his godfather to the living room.
"Dinner's already ready so we can start whenever you want to," Hermione says as I take off my shoes.
"Can we start now? I'm hungry!" Ron laughs.
"Ronald!" Hermione scolds, swatting him with her tea towel.
"I'm hungry too, we haven't had anything to eat since the plane ride," I agree with Ron.
"Well, in that case," Hermione smiles and goes to the kitchen.
Teddy takes his seat at the table and asks Harry to sit next to him. I smile at my two boys.
"I actually wanted to invite Erin too, but when I asked her she said no because of the moon," Hermione says, putting the lasagna on the table.
"That's a shame," Harry says, putting a napkin around Teddy's neck.
"I sometimes feel sorry for her that she's alone," I look down.
"Haven't you heard?" Ron asks taking me by surprise.
"About what?" Harry asks, also looking confused.
"Ron, perhaps you've already forgotten that your sister and brother-in-law have been away for three whole weeks," Hermione scolds and and swats him with her towel again.
"Oh yeah, well, I'm hungry so I tend to forget things," Ron excuses, taking a piece of lasagna.
"And hunger makes you forget your manners too, I suppose," Hermione looks at him through narrowed eyes.
"What?"
"You know very well that it's polite to give the guests first before taking yourself," Hermione says, swapping my plate with Ron's, to his horror.
I try not to laugh and I can see that Harry is trying the same.
"What did we miss?" Harry asks them, trying to change the subject.
"I'll tell you when Ron has been so kind to give everyone a piece of lasagna," Hermione says, pouring water into our glasses.
"So, what happened when we were away," I ask after we've all received our food.
"Aunt Erin came and looked very happy!" Teddy says, a little sauce on his chin.
"Yes, Erin came to tell us that it's finally official between her and Scott, he's this guy at her department. She said that she had told him the moment he asked her out about her problem. She told us that he said he didn't mind and that he would keep her secret safe. She said that she's happy he's not scared of her," Hermione smiles, taking her glass and refilling it.
"Ah! That's so sweet! I'm really happy for her!" I say, glad that my friend has finally found someone too.
"Erin also took Teddy out for the day. We hoped you wouldn't mind. She took him to the zoo," Ron says.
"It was really fun! I loved the wolves," Teddy adds, looking happy.
"Of course not! I'm glad Teddy enjoyed it," Harry smiles, wiping the sauce off Teddy's chin.
"Any other things we missed?" I ask.
"Well, during the first weekly dinner on Sunday, George and Angelina finally announced their engagement! They said that the wedding will be in December," Ron tells us after swallowing a bite of his food.
"I've been waiting for that to happen ever since I saw she made him happy," I say, smiling.
"And, Fleur's pregnant again! She knew before the wedding but she wanted you to have all the attention!" Hermione squeals, looking excited.
"At least Victoire will have a little brother or sister to play with," I say before Teddy cuts me off.
"I saw Vic too when you were away!" Teddy exclaims.
"That's nice! Did you have fun?" Harry asks.
"Yep! I went to Grandma for a day too!" Teddy nods.
"Which one?" I ask, knowing that Teddy calls my mum grandma too.
"Both actually," Teddy laughs, taking a bite of his lasagna.
We continue having dinner, talking about the things that happened here and the things we saw in Greece.
"This was really good Hermione!" Harry compliments after finishing his plate.
"Thank you," Hermione beams, cleaning up.
I stand up to help her. I stack the plates and bring them to the kitchen.
"Thanks Ginny," Hermione thanks after having the whole cleaned, with a little bit of magic.
"Thank you for having us all," I say, giving her a hug.
As I walk to the living room, I see Harry, Ron and Teddy playing Exploding Snap.
When a card explodes, Teddy exclaims," Bloody hell!"
I stop and just replay what just happened. I see Harry looking at Teddy with wide eyes and Ron looking a little red.
"What did you just say Edward?" I ask him calmly.
"I said 'Bloody hell', Uncle Ron taught me," Teddy grins, looking proud.
"Please don't let me hear you say that again until you're older Edward," I sigh, glaring at my brother.
"But you and Harry say it too!" Teddy says, looking surprised.
"We're older Ted," Harry smiles, ruffling his hair.
"What can I say then?" Teddy asks, looking at his godfather.
"You can say Merlin's beard or-" Harry says, looking for help.
"Merlin's saggy-" Ron starts before Hermione swats him with her hand.
"Does anyone want something to drink?" Hermione asks, changing the subject.
"What do you have?" I ask.
"Butterbeer, Firewhiskey, oak-matured mead, just water," Hermione offers.
"Oak-matured mead please," Harry says, standing up to go to the hallway.
"For me too please," Ron and I say in unison.
"Me too!" Teddy says, making us all laugh.
"I'm afraid you're still a little bit too young," Hermione smiles apologetically.
As Hermione gets us all a drink, Harry returns with the bag.
"Well, we um, we brought a few things for you to thank you for having Teddy," Harry says, awkwardly handing them the bag.
Teddy looks hopeful so I say, "Don't worry Ted, your gifts are at home."
Teddy smiles and says, "Thank you."
After a lot of hugs, 'awhh' s and helping Teddy pack the last of his stuff, we finally Floo home.
"Did you have a nice time at Ron and Hermione's?" I ask him after we've all arrived.
"Yeah but I'm glad you're home too. I really missed you," Teddy says, giving me a hug around my waist.
I try to hug him back but it ends up in us both laughing.
Harry and I hand him one of our gifts together. It's a cartoon book about the Greek gods and goddesses.
"What does that say?" Teddy asks, pointing at the title.
"About that, Teddy, we want to talk to you," Harry says, taking a seat and Teddy trying to sit on his lap.
"I'm listening," Teddy says, looking at Harry.
"Well, as you've turned four, we would like to start schooling you a bit. Not too much but we don't think, unless you disagree, it's a very good idea to send you to a Muggle school. We know that you can't exactly keep the colour of your hair under control yet and we don't want any accidental magic outbursts either. Do you understand?" Harry says calmly.
"Yes, I understand," Teddy says, sounding very mature for a four year old.
"Well, you can think about it but I also think it's time for bed for you!" Harry says, tickling Teddy which makes him giggle.
"I'm not tired," Teddy says, trying to hide a yawn.
"Then I'm not Harry Potter," Harry says, smiling.
"But you are Harry Potter!" Teddy says, looking at Harry as if he's mad.
"And you are tired!" Harry retorts, picking the boy up and making his way to the stairs.
"I'll be back in a little bit," Harry says, carrying the blue-haired boy upstairs.
*
"Are you ready?" Harry asks as we're standing in his office in the Ministry, the Pensive in front of us.
It's a Thursday so it's my day off. Harry had asked for permission to show me this during working hours. After a few weeks, he finally received permission.
"I am if you are," I reply, holding his hand and placing a kiss on his cheek.
"There we go then," Harry says, taking a deep breath and pouring in the contents of a little flask.
We both put our heads in the mirror- like bowl.
We fall into the memory.
*Snape's memory*
"Come on, let's go," Harry says softly, tears in his eyes, pulling me up towards the office again.
We rise and then land on the office floor.
"He was with us all this time?" I ask after a while, tears streaming over both our faces.
"Always," Harry says simply, not even attempting to wipe away his tears.
"He really is the b-"
"Bravest man I've ever known," Harry finishes, a small smile at his lips.
"Yeah, now I understand," I say, wrapping my arms around his shoulders tightly.
We stay silent for a while, appreciating each other's presence.
After a while, Harry decides that he won't be able to finish his paperwork today so he'll have to do it Monday (as Friday is his usual day off work). He tidies a few things away in silence and we go home.
As Teddy is with Andromeda, Harry and I have time for ourselves.
We sit on the couch, Harry's arm wrapped around my shoulders.
"Sn-Severus loved your mother?" I ask, carefully trying to introduce the subject.
"Yes," Harry says, his voice unstable.
"He tried to keep you safe?" I say again.
"He tried."
"I can't believe he never meant to hurt George, he was trying to save Remus," I comment, immensely touched by the memory.
"Neither can I. I just can't believe that I couldn't have thanked while he was still here. I've talked to his portrait several times but it's never the same," Harry sniffs, wiping a tear away.
"We'll find another way to thank him some day, Harry, don't worry."