FIC: Things We Found in the House, by flyingcarpet
Title: Things We Found in the House
Author: flyingcarpet
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: Teen
Length: ~2500 words
Summary: The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black left a lot of things behind. Harry makes sure they don't go to waste.
Notes: Written for hp-reunion and the takingitinturns Lost & Found fest. My first HP fic in about three and a half years -- I've missed these two. :)
Thanks: If this fic is readable at all, credit belongs to silveronthetree, a better beta than I deserve. <333.
"Oh." Ginny's voice was half sigh, and Harry glanced up at her. She was seated on the other side of the attic, surrounded by tall crates and stacks of broken furniture, and he could only see the very crown of her red hair peeking over a battered trunk.
He stood up, his muscles stiff and sore after hours of sorting through boxes. The floor squeaked under his socked feet as he padded over to where Ginny was sitting. As he got nearer, he could see that she was sitting in front of an old leather suitcase. It was propped open against the wall, full of scrolls, envelopes, a few books, and for some reason several Toblerone bars.
Ginny held a stack of photos in her hands, and was slowly leafing through them. "They look so happy," she said, a strange catch in her voice.
Harry rested his chin on her shoulder and looked down at the pictures.
Remus and Tonks laughing behind beer mugs bigger than their heads. Remus and Tonks with Sirius in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Remus and Tonks posing with Bill and Fleur, four broad smiles for the camera, with a giant pair of rabbit ears growing out of Tonks's head. Remus looking up at the camera from a book, smiling in a sort of dopey way. Tonks reclining in bed, wearing only a sheet.
Ginny's face softened into a smile at that one, and then she quickly wiped her cheeks, as if Harry might not notice that she'd been tearing up. He decided not to say anything.
"D'you think little Teddy would like to have these?" she asked, resting her head against Harry's temple.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Yeah," he said. "Well, maybe not that one." In the picture, Tonks winked an eye at the camera and made a come-hither gesture.
"The clothed ones, at least," Ginny said.
"I'll take them over next week," Harry agreed.
So he sent Tonks's mum an owl, and asked if he could come by for tea. She owled back a day and time, and Harry wrapped up the pictures in a big envelope and Apparated over to the imposing brownstone house on the outskirts of London.
"Harry, come in," Mrs. Tonks said, opening the door widely. She was wearing a long black skirt and an old Puddlemere United t-shirt, and Teddy was peeking out from behind her knee. His hair was bright purple.
"Hullo there," Harry said. "Want to play blocks?"
Teddy squealed and clapped his hands, and Harry laughed. "I guess that's a yes," he said. "Uh, hi Mrs. Tonks."
She smiled, and for a moment she looked very much like Tonks. "Call me Andromeda, please. And I know who you're here to see."
Harry sat down on the living room floor and pulled out the blocks, stacking them as high as he could while Teddy laughed and knocked them over. As they played, Teddy's laugh rang out across the house, sounding very much like Tonks's laugh. His smile was just like the smile on Remus's face in those pictures, and his eyes were the same shade of brown that Harry remembered.
When he stacked the blocks, though, Teddy's face had a look of concentration that was all his own. His eyebrows furrowed and his focus narrowed, and his little hands were steady as they placed the blocks one atop the next. He picked up the last block and studied it briefly with wide lavender eyes, then offered it to Harry.
Harry smiled and took the block from Teddy's little hand, then placed it carefully on top of the stack.
Teddy giggled and threw himself into Harry's lap for a hug, even though his arms didn't wrap even halfway around Harry's chest. Startled, Harry wrapped his arms around Teddy's tiny body and squeezed tightly, closing his eyes for a long moment.
A minute later, Teddy pulled out of the embrace and threw himself into the stack of blocks, screaming with glee as they tumbled to the ground around him. For a moment, Harry was dismayed, but then he shrugged. They were just blocks, right? "Let's build it again," he said.
"'Gain," Teddy agreed solemnly. In that moment, Harry felt like he would be happy to spend all day building towers and then knocking them down in an endless cycle.
"Come back soon," Andromeda said later, cradling a sleepy Teddy against her shoulder.
"I will," Harry said, and set down the packet of photos on the table near the door. "These are for Teddy," he told her, and slipped out the door before she could ask what they were.
-----
"There is so much furniture in this house," Harry said, kicking a slippery kelpie hide settee with one foot. "It could probably fill up four flats." The settee kicked him back, rather sharply. "Ouch."
"Meanwhile, Ron has nothing but old Wheezes crates in his place," Ginny said. "He transfigures them into furniture when someone comes over."
"Ron is pants at transfiguration," Harry said. He hadn't even been able to turn a turtle into a teapot in third year.
"I know. Why did you think that chair collapsed when Seamus sat on it?"
"Maybe he'll take some of this stuff," Harry said, looking around the room. "Merlin knows I don't want it."
The settee kicked him again, aiming higher this time.
Harry took a big step away. "Getting rid of that one, first," he said, glaring at the ornate little footstool. It sniffed and turned away.
Harry sent Ron an owl that afternoon and offered him some of the furniture. The response came back the next day -- Sure, if you're helping me move it.
Harry wrote back: What are friends for?
"How's Ginny?" Ron asked, as they lowered the table into place in his empty living room.
"Didn't you just see her at your mum's house?" Harry asked, levitating a chair across the room.
"Well, yeah," Ron admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean-- how's it going with her? All right then?"
Harry set down the chair and stared openmouthed at his best friend. "You want the details, mate? Because you told me you never--"
"Nonononono. NO. No details, ever," Ron insisted. "Just-- things are good, right?"
Harry nodded. They'd seen a lot of friends break up, or make bad relationship decisions, right after the war. Sometimes it was hard to tell from the outside what was real and what was just 'hooray, we're alive.' But when Ginny held his hand, or wrapped her arms around him, he never doubted it was real.
"Yeah, it's good," he said, and then grinned. "The details are good too."
Ron threw a quaffle at his head.
-----
"Hmmm...?" Ginny scratched her head in an exaggerated way, as if thinking too hard was making her brain itch. "Who do we know that would take this Restricted Section stuff off our hands?"
Harry didn't even bother bringing the books over to Hermione, just sent her an owl the next morning.
Free books at my house. All you can carry in your freakishly large handbag.
The doorbell rang seventeen minutes later, and Harry grinned.
"Is Ginny here?" she asked.
"Nah," he said. "She went down to Quality Quidditch to look at the brooms."
"Harry..." Hermione said, and then hesitated. "Does she... I mean to say, that is... are you two living together?"
"No," Harry said immediately. Except that wasn't really true, was it? Ginny had two drawers in his dresser and a toothbrush on the side of the sink, a novel on the nightstand. For that matter, the entire nightstand was her territory. "Not really," he said. "I mean, erm, maybe a little."
It was true, wasn't it? Ginny had a flat of her own, but she slept at Harry's nearly five nights a week. If she wasn't there in the morning, he found himself reaching for her anyway.
"I just worry that you're rushing into things," Hermione said. "I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Nobody's rushing into anything, Hermione," Harry said, somewhat surprised to find that it was true. They were young, yeah, but it was Ginny, and he couldn't imagine his life any other way.
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now did you want those books or not?"
-----
A shriek rang out, echoing through the empty kitchen and across the house. It was closely followed by a loud crash and then silence.
"Harry?" Ginny called. When he didn't answer, he heard her footsteps pounding on the stairs, and a moment later she burst through the large double doors into the kitchen. "Harry? Are you all right?"
He looked up sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little-- uh." He waved one hand in what was supposed to be a dismissive way. "Nothing to worry about."
"Are you bleeding?" she asked, pulling out her wand and assuming an attack position. "Is someone here?"
"Gin."
"Did someone break in here? I knew we needed stronger defensive wards on this place, there are all kinds of dangerous--"
"Ginny, it was only--"
"--people about, you know the Aurors haven't rounded up all the sympathizers out there and they'd all love to get a piece of--"
Harry stood and grabbed a tea towel, wrapping it around his hand while she was talking. Then he picked up one of the offending objects and carried it across the kitchen, holding it in front of Ginny's face.
"...a biting teacup?" she asked, her voice quickly losing its panicked edge.
"A whole biting tea service," Harry admitted. "They swarmed me, I'm afraid."
"And that's why you screamed like a little girl?" At least she was smiling now, even if it was at Harry's expense. He'd take what he could get.
"That was a manly expression of surprise, I'll have you know."
"Sure it was." She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth, hard, digging her fingers into his hair and tugging gently, until he moaned into her kiss.
"You were worried," Harry said, feeling smug.
"All right, Potter, let's get this straight." Ginny's voice was stern, but her brown eyes were dancing with laughter. "I was not worried, and your expression of surprise was entirely masculine."
"Deal," Harry said, and leaned back in for another kiss.
They were an hour late to Sunday dinner, but no one seemed to mind.
Afterward, Harry carried the rattling crate out to Mr. Weasley's shed. "I found this in the dining room at Grimmauld Place," he said. "Thought you might like it."
"Oh, lovely," Mr. Weasley said. He didn't jump up and down like Teddy had, but it was a close thing.
"Watch out," Harry said. "They bite."
"Fascinating." Mr. Weasley cast a containment charm on the crate.
"Harry," Mr. Weasley said, pausing with his wand in midair, as if he'd just thought of something. "You know you can ask me anything, right? Molly and I will always be happy to help if you have a problem." He waved his wand smoothly and the top of the crate floated across the room and settled on top of a rocking chair.
"I know," Harry said, "Thanks." There was a question on the tip of his tongue, and it was a big one.
"Erm, there is one thing," Harry said. He opened his mouth to ask, but he couldn't find just the right words. Could I have your permission to-- or maybe just Would you give us your blessing if--
Then he thought of Ginny's hair blowing in the wind, of how her face flushed when she was angry, and of how she loved her family but wanted to stand apart from them. It might be best not to ask, after all. Harry shut his mouth.
"Yes, my boy?" Mr. Weasley prompted.
"How do you drink the tea without getting bitten?" he asked instead.
-----
In the corner of the attic, Harry pried open an old trunk and found a locked jewelry chest inside, under a pile of old scarves. The contents were broken and blackened, tarnished and worn. But at the bottom, he caught a glimpse of something gold.
He lifted out a handful of tangled strands, beads and chains and glass jewels all twisted together in a giant knot, and in the middle was a small ring, a delicate setting with two tiny diamonds nestled on either side of a round red stone, just the same color as Ginny's Quidditch jumper.
Twisting it this way and that, he looked at the ring in the center of the knot. It was small and delicate, but the red stone shone brightly even in the low light. Harry bit his lip.
He tugged on the ring gently, but it was stuck fast. Lifting the knot of jewelry in one hand, he tapped it with the end of his wand and whispered, "Accio ring." The ring flew into his hand, but did not separate from the knot. He tried again. "Bombarda." A few of the necklaces unclasped and fell to the floor, but the ring was still trapped.
"Alohomora," he said, and the knot undid itself and collapsed, spilling broken costume jewelry all over his knees and feet, and leaving one small, golden ring clasped in Harry's fingers.
Later, after he'd cast every curse-breaking spell he could think of, and a few cleaning charms, he sat in the kitchen with the tiny ring in front of him on the scarred surface of the huge table.
He thought about Mr. Weasley, saying ask me anything, and Teddy playing on his grandmother's floor. He thought about Ron, asking things are good, right? and telling Hermione that they weren't rushing into anything. He thought about waking up and reaching for Ginny before his eyes were even open, about the way she'd run into the kitchen to protect him from the biting tea service.
We are ready, he thought fiercely, and he knew in his heart it was true. He felt his expression ease and his muscles relax at the thought. He wanted Ginny in his life, in his home, in his bed. Now, and forever. And the sooner that they could get started on forever, the better.
When Ginny apparated into the front hall an hour later, Harry was still sitting at the table, with a cold cup of tea and a half-eaten sandwich in front of him. She walked through the swinging door to the kitchen and walked to the cabinet, picking up a box of biscuits and rummaging around inside.
"Find anything good today?" she asked.
"Yeah, actually," Harry said. "Come and see."
Author: flyingcarpet
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Rating: Teen
Length: ~2500 words
Summary: The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black left a lot of things behind. Harry makes sure they don't go to waste.
Notes: Written for hp-reunion and the takingitinturns Lost & Found fest. My first HP fic in about three and a half years -- I've missed these two. :)
Thanks: If this fic is readable at all, credit belongs to silveronthetree, a better beta than I deserve. <333.
"Oh." Ginny's voice was half sigh, and Harry glanced up at her. She was seated on the other side of the attic, surrounded by tall crates and stacks of broken furniture, and he could only see the very crown of her red hair peeking over a battered trunk.
He stood up, his muscles stiff and sore after hours of sorting through boxes. The floor squeaked under his socked feet as he padded over to where Ginny was sitting. As he got nearer, he could see that she was sitting in front of an old leather suitcase. It was propped open against the wall, full of scrolls, envelopes, a few books, and for some reason several Toblerone bars.
Ginny held a stack of photos in her hands, and was slowly leafing through them. "They look so happy," she said, a strange catch in her voice.
Harry rested his chin on her shoulder and looked down at the pictures.
Remus and Tonks laughing behind beer mugs bigger than their heads. Remus and Tonks with Sirius in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Remus and Tonks posing with Bill and Fleur, four broad smiles for the camera, with a giant pair of rabbit ears growing out of Tonks's head. Remus looking up at the camera from a book, smiling in a sort of dopey way. Tonks reclining in bed, wearing only a sheet.
Ginny's face softened into a smile at that one, and then she quickly wiped her cheeks, as if Harry might not notice that she'd been tearing up. He decided not to say anything.
"D'you think little Teddy would like to have these?" she asked, resting her head against Harry's temple.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Yeah," he said. "Well, maybe not that one." In the picture, Tonks winked an eye at the camera and made a come-hither gesture.
"The clothed ones, at least," Ginny said.
"I'll take them over next week," Harry agreed.
So he sent Tonks's mum an owl, and asked if he could come by for tea. She owled back a day and time, and Harry wrapped up the pictures in a big envelope and Apparated over to the imposing brownstone house on the outskirts of London.
"Harry, come in," Mrs. Tonks said, opening the door widely. She was wearing a long black skirt and an old Puddlemere United t-shirt, and Teddy was peeking out from behind her knee. His hair was bright purple.
"Hullo there," Harry said. "Want to play blocks?"
Teddy squealed and clapped his hands, and Harry laughed. "I guess that's a yes," he said. "Uh, hi Mrs. Tonks."
She smiled, and for a moment she looked very much like Tonks. "Call me Andromeda, please. And I know who you're here to see."
Harry sat down on the living room floor and pulled out the blocks, stacking them as high as he could while Teddy laughed and knocked them over. As they played, Teddy's laugh rang out across the house, sounding very much like Tonks's laugh. His smile was just like the smile on Remus's face in those pictures, and his eyes were the same shade of brown that Harry remembered.
When he stacked the blocks, though, Teddy's face had a look of concentration that was all his own. His eyebrows furrowed and his focus narrowed, and his little hands were steady as they placed the blocks one atop the next. He picked up the last block and studied it briefly with wide lavender eyes, then offered it to Harry.
Harry smiled and took the block from Teddy's little hand, then placed it carefully on top of the stack.
Teddy giggled and threw himself into Harry's lap for a hug, even though his arms didn't wrap even halfway around Harry's chest. Startled, Harry wrapped his arms around Teddy's tiny body and squeezed tightly, closing his eyes for a long moment.
A minute later, Teddy pulled out of the embrace and threw himself into the stack of blocks, screaming with glee as they tumbled to the ground around him. For a moment, Harry was dismayed, but then he shrugged. They were just blocks, right? "Let's build it again," he said.
"'Gain," Teddy agreed solemnly. In that moment, Harry felt like he would be happy to spend all day building towers and then knocking them down in an endless cycle.
"Come back soon," Andromeda said later, cradling a sleepy Teddy against her shoulder.
"I will," Harry said, and set down the packet of photos on the table near the door. "These are for Teddy," he told her, and slipped out the door before she could ask what they were.
-----
"There is so much furniture in this house," Harry said, kicking a slippery kelpie hide settee with one foot. "It could probably fill up four flats." The settee kicked him back, rather sharply. "Ouch."
"Meanwhile, Ron has nothing but old Wheezes crates in his place," Ginny said. "He transfigures them into furniture when someone comes over."
"Ron is pants at transfiguration," Harry said. He hadn't even been able to turn a turtle into a teapot in third year.
"I know. Why did you think that chair collapsed when Seamus sat on it?"
"Maybe he'll take some of this stuff," Harry said, looking around the room. "Merlin knows I don't want it."
The settee kicked him again, aiming higher this time.
Harry took a big step away. "Getting rid of that one, first," he said, glaring at the ornate little footstool. It sniffed and turned away.
Harry sent Ron an owl that afternoon and offered him some of the furniture. The response came back the next day -- Sure, if you're helping me move it.
Harry wrote back: What are friends for?
"How's Ginny?" Ron asked, as they lowered the table into place in his empty living room.
"Didn't you just see her at your mum's house?" Harry asked, levitating a chair across the room.
"Well, yeah," Ron admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean-- how's it going with her? All right then?"
Harry set down the chair and stared openmouthed at his best friend. "You want the details, mate? Because you told me you never--"
"Nonononono. NO. No details, ever," Ron insisted. "Just-- things are good, right?"
Harry nodded. They'd seen a lot of friends break up, or make bad relationship decisions, right after the war. Sometimes it was hard to tell from the outside what was real and what was just 'hooray, we're alive.' But when Ginny held his hand, or wrapped her arms around him, he never doubted it was real.
"Yeah, it's good," he said, and then grinned. "The details are good too."
Ron threw a quaffle at his head.
-----
"Hmmm...?" Ginny scratched her head in an exaggerated way, as if thinking too hard was making her brain itch. "Who do we know that would take this Restricted Section stuff off our hands?"
Harry didn't even bother bringing the books over to Hermione, just sent her an owl the next morning.
Free books at my house. All you can carry in your freakishly large handbag.
The doorbell rang seventeen minutes later, and Harry grinned.
"Is Ginny here?" she asked.
"Nah," he said. "She went down to Quality Quidditch to look at the brooms."
"Harry..." Hermione said, and then hesitated. "Does she... I mean to say, that is... are you two living together?"
"No," Harry said immediately. Except that wasn't really true, was it? Ginny had two drawers in his dresser and a toothbrush on the side of the sink, a novel on the nightstand. For that matter, the entire nightstand was her territory. "Not really," he said. "I mean, erm, maybe a little."
It was true, wasn't it? Ginny had a flat of her own, but she slept at Harry's nearly five nights a week. If she wasn't there in the morning, he found himself reaching for her anyway.
"I just worry that you're rushing into things," Hermione said. "I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Nobody's rushing into anything, Hermione," Harry said, somewhat surprised to find that it was true. They were young, yeah, but it was Ginny, and he couldn't imagine his life any other way.
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now did you want those books or not?"
-----
A shriek rang out, echoing through the empty kitchen and across the house. It was closely followed by a loud crash and then silence.
"Harry?" Ginny called. When he didn't answer, he heard her footsteps pounding on the stairs, and a moment later she burst through the large double doors into the kitchen. "Harry? Are you all right?"
He looked up sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little-- uh." He waved one hand in what was supposed to be a dismissive way. "Nothing to worry about."
"Are you bleeding?" she asked, pulling out her wand and assuming an attack position. "Is someone here?"
"Gin."
"Did someone break in here? I knew we needed stronger defensive wards on this place, there are all kinds of dangerous--"
"Ginny, it was only--"
"--people about, you know the Aurors haven't rounded up all the sympathizers out there and they'd all love to get a piece of--"
Harry stood and grabbed a tea towel, wrapping it around his hand while she was talking. Then he picked up one of the offending objects and carried it across the kitchen, holding it in front of Ginny's face.
"...a biting teacup?" she asked, her voice quickly losing its panicked edge.
"A whole biting tea service," Harry admitted. "They swarmed me, I'm afraid."
"And that's why you screamed like a little girl?" At least she was smiling now, even if it was at Harry's expense. He'd take what he could get.
"That was a manly expression of surprise, I'll have you know."
"Sure it was." She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth, hard, digging her fingers into his hair and tugging gently, until he moaned into her kiss.
"You were worried," Harry said, feeling smug.
"All right, Potter, let's get this straight." Ginny's voice was stern, but her brown eyes were dancing with laughter. "I was not worried, and your expression of surprise was entirely masculine."
"Deal," Harry said, and leaned back in for another kiss.
They were an hour late to Sunday dinner, but no one seemed to mind.
Afterward, Harry carried the rattling crate out to Mr. Weasley's shed. "I found this in the dining room at Grimmauld Place," he said. "Thought you might like it."
"Oh, lovely," Mr. Weasley said. He didn't jump up and down like Teddy had, but it was a close thing.
"Watch out," Harry said. "They bite."
"Fascinating." Mr. Weasley cast a containment charm on the crate.
"Harry," Mr. Weasley said, pausing with his wand in midair, as if he'd just thought of something. "You know you can ask me anything, right? Molly and I will always be happy to help if you have a problem." He waved his wand smoothly and the top of the crate floated across the room and settled on top of a rocking chair.
"I know," Harry said, "Thanks." There was a question on the tip of his tongue, and it was a big one.
"Erm, there is one thing," Harry said. He opened his mouth to ask, but he couldn't find just the right words. Could I have your permission to-- or maybe just Would you give us your blessing if--
Then he thought of Ginny's hair blowing in the wind, of how her face flushed when she was angry, and of how she loved her family but wanted to stand apart from them. It might be best not to ask, after all. Harry shut his mouth.
"Yes, my boy?" Mr. Weasley prompted.
"How do you drink the tea without getting bitten?" he asked instead.
-----
In the corner of the attic, Harry pried open an old trunk and found a locked jewelry chest inside, under a pile of old scarves. The contents were broken and blackened, tarnished and worn. But at the bottom, he caught a glimpse of something gold.
He lifted out a handful of tangled strands, beads and chains and glass jewels all twisted together in a giant knot, and in the middle was a small ring, a delicate setting with two tiny diamonds nestled on either side of a round red stone, just the same color as Ginny's Quidditch jumper.
Twisting it this way and that, he looked at the ring in the center of the knot. It was small and delicate, but the red stone shone brightly even in the low light. Harry bit his lip.
He tugged on the ring gently, but it was stuck fast. Lifting the knot of jewelry in one hand, he tapped it with the end of his wand and whispered, "Accio ring." The ring flew into his hand, but did not separate from the knot. He tried again. "Bombarda." A few of the necklaces unclasped and fell to the floor, but the ring was still trapped.
"Alohomora," he said, and the knot undid itself and collapsed, spilling broken costume jewelry all over his knees and feet, and leaving one small, golden ring clasped in Harry's fingers.
Later, after he'd cast every curse-breaking spell he could think of, and a few cleaning charms, he sat in the kitchen with the tiny ring in front of him on the scarred surface of the huge table.
He thought about Mr. Weasley, saying ask me anything, and Teddy playing on his grandmother's floor. He thought about Ron, asking things are good, right? and telling Hermione that they weren't rushing into anything. He thought about waking up and reaching for Ginny before his eyes were even open, about the way she'd run into the kitchen to protect him from the biting tea service.
We are ready, he thought fiercely, and he knew in his heart it was true. He felt his expression ease and his muscles relax at the thought. He wanted Ginny in his life, in his home, in his bed. Now, and forever. And the sooner that they could get started on forever, the better.
When Ginny apparated into the front hall an hour later, Harry was still sitting at the table, with a cold cup of tea and a half-eaten sandwich in front of him. She walked through the swinging door to the kitchen and walked to the cabinet, picking up a box of biscuits and rummaging around inside.
"Find anything good today?" she asked.
"Yeah, actually," Harry said. "Come and see."