Not Your Saviour Anymore

Junior Auror in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Best mate to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Boyfriend of Ginny Weasley. Former Gryffindor and previously the Saviour of the Wizarding World.

[simply-harrypotter]

Hunter & Hunted | Soirée | Romain + Harry

He'd told Ginny that he was too busy with work to attend Daphne Greengrass' party thing as her date. Not to mention he was never given an invitation. It had been the truth and still is. With the Blood Moon upon them, it's imperative that the risk of uncontrolled werewolves such as the elusive pack of French wolves be apprehended before too many innocent lives fall prey to their vicious pursuits. Harry has been doggedly tracking word of Les Loups de Justes for several days now and despite his claim of not being anywhere near the Greengrass soirée, the former Gryffindor now finds himself on the outskirts of the very family's estate, greatly underdressed and unprepared to mingle with strangers.

But his tracking has lead him here and Harry isn't going to sacrifice the progress he's made simply because a host of his former classmates are in the area. If anything, he is more determined to put a halt to this terrorist pack's plans, whatever they may be, before people he cares for end up harmed in the crossfire.

Harry stands on the lawn, staring at the opulent manor and tugging at the hem of his ill-fitting yet comfortable shirt. He'd already shed his auror robes before entering the property. There's no reason to disturb the rest of the guests by storming in wearing his robes. Besides, there's every chance that his trail to this soirée will all be for naught; the wolves may be nowhere on the premises.

A heavy sigh escapes Harry's lips before he strides around back to find a secondary entrance to Daphne Greengrass' manor. Chances are the front will be attended by servants waiting for him to hand over an invitation he doesn't have. Thankfully the door to the kitchens is accessible and easily freed with a swift spell. The help in the kitchens stare at him as he enters but Harry just casts a small apologetic smile and rushes through until he's out. He's unable to miss how they all begin to whisper his name to one another. He only hopes word doesn't travel too quickly.

Harry stops just before entering the main attraction. He'll stick out like a sore thumb in his current sagging jeans and shirt. Though his proficiency at Transfiguration is lacking, Harry points his wand at his chest and hopes he doesn't accidentally magic himself a second skin instead of a dress shirt.

The resulting attire doesn't quite fit him. tight in too many places. The dress shirt is missing a few buttons and the sleeves are of decidedly different lengths. However, it works well enough so long as no one has time to look at him too closely. The trousers aren't much better but again, he wants to blend in long enough to confirm whether Romain or one of his pack members are in attendance.

With uncertainty wriggling uncomfortably in his bones, Harry steps into the ballroom and makes his way around the edges of the party, avoiding eye contact but feigning a smile for any curious onlookers. Harry hopes that the leader, if he's present, is easily noticeable among the guests. However, he knows that in order to get a good sense of potential werewolves, he'll have to make his presence known eventually. But for right now, Harry sticks to evasion while he gets a sense of the people, noting the potential entrances and exits, the servants slipping between knots of guests deep in conversation or dancing together. Sizing up all the possible ways this could play itself out, if it comes to fruition at all, quickly zip through Harry's Auror brain with every foot fall.

[simply-harrypotter]

Dining In ; Ginny + Harry

[ms-ginnyweasley-blog1]

"You poor thing" Ginny replies, unable to hide her smile. "But don’t you worry, I’m here now and the mean boy is gone" she continues, her smile widening.

Her eyes close for a second when Harry returns her embrace, the incident from this morning not forgotten. Maybe she won’t have to bring up the fact that he’s been shrinking away from her touch if he doesn’t do it anymore. 

"Oh, I figured I’d pick up something easy so I could at least attempt to help you out, so I just got some lasagna" Ginny says with a chuckle. "I also picked us up some wine, unless you think you might get called in tonight…?"

[simply-harrypotter]

"How could I ever repay you for your rescue?" Harry playfully questions. The smile he wears actually reaches his eyes for once and he's thankful that Ginny exists to keep him from slipping too far away into his own troubled thoughts.

The word lasagna triggers a rumble in Harry's belly, reminding him that he's had nothing but a few digestives and far too much tea today. He has to consider the potential for wine. There's always the chance that he'll get a call. He's never guaranteed a true day off until the next day he wakes to find he wasn't disturbed all day and night. However, he owes it to Ginny to be fully present for once and allow himself to indulge just a bit, if only for her sake.

"One glass won't hurt," he answers with a grin. "I can handle that much."

[simply-harrypotter]

The Olive Branch ; Draco + Harry

There's nothing else to it. He simply needs to suck it up and do it. Harry stares at the wand in the tiny mirror cupboard of the ground floor toilet. No one ever uses this toilet, considering there are perfectly good ones for he and his roommates to use upstairs. Even still, Harry had cast a concealment spell on Draco Malfoy's Hawthorne wand in the event someone gets curious as they make an emergency bathroom break. Staring at the simple piece of wood, Harry has to wonder why he's taken over a year to return it to its rightful owner. Thanks to breaking the Elder Wand, Draco's wand is useless as a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. Given he'd become master of it after wrestling it from the Slytherin's grasp, it may not even work for the other man as it once did. Yet Harry must admit to himself that a large part of him simply didn't want to grand Draco a reprieve. The git doesn't deserve his wand back after all the wrongs he'd done against he and his friends. Surely he can get on just fine without it. So far the blond haired prat hasn't made any attempt to reclaim his possession. He may not even want the thing. Harry knows it's useless to hold on to a petty childish grudge. It was thanks to Draco and his mother, Mrs Malfoy, that Harry was successful at defeating Voldemort. He owes them life debts for it, no matter how he tries to spin it to himself. Even Draco's father assisted in the initial arrests of Death Eaters and active supporters, though Harry doubts Lucius did so with any honest repentance for his crimes. Even if he did do it to save is own arse and try redeeming his family if only marginally, it was something. Harry can't just ignore something. The former Gryffindor snatches the wand from its resting place, gripping it with the determination only one from his house could possess. It's now or never. It's better to be a year too late than never doing right by the Malfoys at all. The trip to Wiltshire is without incident. In the back of Harry's mind he knows he could be doing other things with his time. Like tracking potential leads on the whereabouts of Romain and his pack. Trouble is, he's come up empty so far and considering this is technically a day off for him, Harry needs to do something to make himself feel useful. This plan of his has to suffice. Harry strides through the gates of Malfoy Manor, not without difficulty. The last time he was here, he had to listen to the screams of his best friend as she was tortured by Draco's aunt. No doubt Hermione would be greatly perturbed if she knew of his visit to this particular home but he'd chosen not to inform anyone of his intentions. It wasn't like he'd thought very long about it before leaving. The white peacocks seem to be missing from the lawn. The manor itself feels empty, despondent. Harry finds himself at the front entrance and knocks, half hoping he doesn't get an answer.

[simply-harrypotter]

Dining In ; Ginny + Harry

[ms-ginnyweasley-blog1]

After a particularly good training that day, Ginny decides to pop into a Muggle supermarket for the groceries for dinner that night. People sometimes recognize her as Harry’s girlfriend, and she’s in no mood for stares today. All she wants to do is just get to Grimmauld place as quickly as possible, so she changes into the jeans and t-shirt she has lying around in her locker and heads out. 

30 Minutes later, she is stepping through the front door of number 12, Grimmauld Place. “Harry?” Ginny calls out, kicking off her shoes in the hallway before carrying the bag of groceries into the kitchen. “Hey…” she greets him when she spots him at the sink, washing the dishes. Harry often preferred to do things the Muggle way, when he just as easily could have cast a spell to have the dishes wash themselves. Dropping the bag onto the table, Ginny walks over to Harry, wrapping an arm around him from behind and raising on her tiptoes to drop a kiss on his cheek. “Did you have fun with Teddy today?”

[simply-harrypotter]

With peaceful silence blanketing his home, it’s easy to hear when Ginny returns. Harry looks up with a welcome smile when his girlfriend enters the kitchen and reminds himself to relax as she approaches. The success of his conscious effort shows in how he melts into Ginny’s embrace and pulls his hands from the soapy dish water, quickly drying his hands on a flannel before settling his hands over hers at his waist.

"I did," Harry answers. "He was content to play make-believe and crash all my toys."

Harry offers a mock pout at Ginny, feigning disappointment over his godson’s disregard for his playmate. Turning around from his task to face Ginny in the circle of her arms, the young man wraps his own arms around the redhead's own waist. After a brief glance at the bag on the table, he offers Ginny a smile as he asks, "So what did you pick up for me to make for us?"

[simply-harrypotter]

Dining In ; Ginny + Harry

It's a rare day off for Harry and he does his best to appreciate that. Ginny's at training and that's a safe place for her to be. There's no need to worry himself over it. Yet despite his attempts at fully relaxing, there's an edge of tension lining his muscles. Teddy is cheerful, despite his godfather's tension and as long as Harry doesn't have too long to slip into his thoughts, it's not terrible. The Blood Moon, the werewolves still not accounted for, namely Romain and his French pack remaining too elusive; it all lingers at the back of his thoughts as he engages Teddy in a game of make-believe with his toys.

Harry had nearly forgotten about his agreed upon plans with Ginny for the evening. It's when Molly stops by to pick Teddy up that he's freshly reminded of the alone time he's about to have with his girlfriend.

"Thanks for taking him," Harry says with a gentle smile as he passes Teddy into Molly Weasley's waiting arms.

"It's no trouble at all, Harry. You know that," she admonishes with a wide smile. "You just enjoy your time with Ginny, dear. Thank you for always keeping her safe for us."

Harry nods and smiles. It's what he does. Keeping people safe. Even now with the war behind them, he's committed to it, whether he always enjoys doing so or not. Ginny is another person in his life he needs to protect and he would be letting down more than just himself if he failed to do just that.

With the flat finally vacant of anyone but himself, Harry decides to do some of the dishes that have collected thanks to he and his friends. It's much easier to keep himself busy until Ginny arrives rather than sit and contemplate too much.

[ms-ginnyweasley-blog1]

A Dinner Tango

[ms-ginnyweasley-blog1]

Ginny can’t help but look at Harry’s face as he looks down at their hands, and she feels her stomach twist uncomfortably. It’s not the first time she's seen him like this, as if he’s uncomfortable with her touching him. But when he looks up at her, she has a smile on her face. There’s not much time before she has to leave for training, and she doesn’t want to get into a whole thing. She’ll see if she can get him to talk tonight. ”Careful there Potter. It’s never safe to give me a free pass when it comes to food. Unless you just want some burnt bacon and toast” she says, the smile on her face slightly forced now, though she hopes he doesn’t notice it.

[simply-harrypotter]

The oblivious sod that he is, Harry sees nothing wrong in the smile Ginny flashes his way and he only responds by giving a short burst of laughter at her words. "Breakfast for dinner doesn't sound half bad." Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, he adds, "Don't worry. If you bring home the items i'll cook it up for us. I'd rather not set Grimmauld Place on fire or anything of the sort."

[ms-ginnyweasley-blog1]

"Good, you deserve a night off" Ginny says softly, running a hand over his arm. "You’re always working, I barely see you anymore" she continues, slipping her hand into his. "And I know you don’t have a choice, but that doesn’t make it suck any less" she smiles softly. Ginny shrugs when Harry asks her what sort of dinner she had in mind. “I didn’t really get any further than you, me and food”

[simply-harrypotter]

The gentle touch of Ginny's hand against his skin is not unwelcome, just mildly off-putting. Despite having over a year to come to terms with being a normal wizard, capable of having normal relationships that aren't fraught with danger, death, and little time for affectionate contact, Harry still finds it nearly alien to have his girlfriend so present and casually touching him as if it's utterly normal. He's spent most of his life trying not to die--he isn't used to people touching because they want to.

Harry allows his fingers to wrap around Ginny's as he stares at the contact between them. "We all deserve a lot of things, Gin. But work is good and it's what I have to do. I am sorry that I'm not 'round as much as you'd like though. We're both just dedicated to what we're doing, I suppose." The young man draws his gaze from their clasped hands to look at Ginny with a lopsided smile. "Food sounds good. Whatever you get from the shops, I'll be happy with."

[ms-ginnyweasley-blog1]

"Yeah, I meant here. I’ll get groceries after training this afternoon" Ginny replies, walking over to the couch, sitting down next to him. "So that means you’re available then?"

[simply-harrypotter]

Harry feels a sense of relief wash over him when Ginny offers to pick up groceries. The last time he thought it was safe and sensible to stop in the shops for food he'd been bombarded with smiles, handshakes, and one request for an autograph. Nodding slowly, Harry answers, "For the most part, yeah. I never know these days if something is going to come up but so far, I'm free. What sort of dinner did you have in mind?"

[ms-ginnyweasley-blog1]

Hey Harry, do you still have tonight off? I was thinking that maybe my mum could take Teddy for the night, and we could have dinner? Hermione is working late, and I’ll just tell Ron to bugger off somewhere. I think I’ve seen less of you while staying here these past few weeks than I normallly do. I miss you.

[simply-harrypotter]

"Dinner at Grimmauld Place, yeah? I don't think going out someplace is the safest idea right now but I have no idea what we have in the kitchen," Harry answers as he looks up from his spot on the couch.