324I'm taking over for a very dear friend, who wanted to finish this, but she had to move and I'm going to miss her cause now she's like, five states away. Love you Sheep!
Picture Perfect Family
by: pretty-yellow-daisy (and being Reposted by QueenofDarkness 13)
Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just borrow them and make them conform to my every whim. Whee!
"And, I'm out," the 21 year old auror said as he tossed his file into the basket. They had just finished a major bust and he had finished all his paperwork.
"Are you serious?" the redhead across from him moaned, "I still have six folders."
The dark haired one sat back down and took a folder from the redhead's desk, "I'll do this one because my best friend would be very upset if you didn't get home in time."
"Thanks Harry."
Harry shook his head. Ron had been so far behind on his paperwork after he and his wife of two years, Hermione Granger, found out they were expecting their first child in June. Harry was, of course, going to be the godfather, and he couldn't have been more happy for his two best friends.
"When you have kids, I'll help you with your paperwork too," Ron offered.
"Don't you mean you'll do all my paperwork?" Harry teased. He narrowly avoided a quill being thrown at his head. "C'mon mate, we'll finish tomorrow. Mione's likely to blow a fuse as it is," Harry advised.
Ron nodded, "I've still got a notch on my head from where she hit me with a frying pan last time I was late." He gingerly touched the back of his head and winced.
Harry laughed and began to head to the door.
"Potter!"
He sighed and turned around, "Go ahead mate, I'll meet you at your flat." Ron nodded and Apparated out, leaving Harry alone with his boss. "What?"
"Get in my office." Jack Kings was a tough boss to please. If you caught one Death Eater, you should have caught two. If you finished three piles of paperwork, you should've finished more, in less time. His strong voice carried through the whole building, and his tall frame was very intimidating. You didn't want on his bad side. "Shut the door!" he barked as Harry stepped into his office.
Harry did and turned to his boss. "Another assignment?" he guessed.
Kings nodded, "You're going to be working with an auror from Ireland. She's supposed to be top shit, so you two shouldn't have any problems with incompetency," he paused. "Now, the assignment is in the States. It's about a year long thing, so pack your bags."
"I don't get to choose?" Harry asked. He had a fiancee, he couldn't just leave her, could he?
"The assignment is a prophecy baby. Her parents were killed and now they're trying to kill her. No, it is fair to say you do not get a choice. She didn't have one, so you don't either. Go home and rest up. You've got a long day tomorrow."
Harry nodded and walked out. A year long assignment with some strange woman and a baby? Get serious! But, it was true. The baby didn't choose this. He knew what it was like to be an abandoned prophecy baby. She needed a family. He just wondered who the auror he'd be working with was.
Ginny Weasley let her head fall back and groaned. She still had three files to finish. You'd think being Ireland's top auror would excuse her from this, but it didn't. It just made it worse. More was expected of her.
"Weasley!"
Ginny groaned and turned towards her boss, Luc James. He was a pain in her ass, especially because he used to hit on her. She had to tell him she was gay so he'd leave her alone, but even then he still wanted her to go out with him. Finally, he'd began having multiple one-night stands, so he left her alone. "What?"
"Pack your shit, you're going to the States," he told her in his thick accent.
"Why?" she asked again.
"An assignment with some English auror. A baby, you two get to play house. Here's your portkey ticket, it leaves at 10 am and directions-"
"I know where the Ministry is," she said harshly. "I grew up in England."
Luc sneered, "Well, I guess you weren't good enough to be an auror there. Anyway, here," he handed her everything, "And get out of here. Newman will handle the rest."
Ginny stood and grabbed her coat. She couldn't wait to get out of there. After Apparating to her flat in Dublin, she packed and sat on her couch with a bottle of wine. It was going to be a long night.
Harry Apparated to Ron and Hermione's flat, where he was ambushed by a six-months-pregnant Hermione. "What happened? Ron told me the boss pulled you aside, but you didn't come back and I was so worried!" she gushed, squeezing him.
"Hermione! I got an assignment," Harry told her, once he could breathe again.
"Really? Where?" she asked.
Ron came into the room. "What happened?"
"Harry got an assignment!" Hermione squealed, bounding over to her husband. "Isn't that great Ron?"
Ron looked over at Harry. "Is it the prophecy kid case?"
"Yea, how did you know?"
"You mean you have to go to the States? How does Cho feel about that?"
"Wait, you're leaving?" Hermione asked, tears rimming her eyes. "You won't be here for the baby?"
Harry was nervous. If he said no, she'd kill him, but if he said yes, she bombard him with questions about how he'd get back. "I'm going to try to be here when she's born."
"It's going to be a boy," Hermione stated confidently. She patted her stomach, "You're going have to beat Uncle Harry up. He called you a girl."
Ron leaned over and whispered, "She's been like this all day, try not to laugh."
"Ronald Weasley, I heard that!"
"Well, I have to get home to Cho," Harry said, not wanting to be in the middle of one of their rows. He Apparated out, unnoticed by Ron and Hermione.
He went to his flat, which he shared with his fiancee of two months, Cho Chang. The Weasleys never approved of her, but after Ginny had ran out on him, he had hooked up with her. Although she had never filled the void Ginny left, she had helped him heal.
"Cho?" he called into the dark. He was a little nervous of how she would react to the news.
"Yes?" Cho walked out of their bedroom in a blue cotton robe. "Why are you so late?"
Harry crossed the kitchen and took her arm, "We need to talk."
He led her to the couch in their living room and sat down. "I have to go to the States for a year."
Cho's lower lip trembled, "Why?"
Harry sighed and rubbed his temples, "I have an assignment, with an auror from Ireland. We have to watch over a baby."
Cho's eyes narrowed, "This Irish auror, a woman?"
Harry sighed again. Cho was always extremely jealous of any woman Harry came into contact with. He hated it, because she really had nothing to be jealous of, "I think so."
"What do you mean you think?"
"I don't know her/his name. Look, I really don't want to fight on my last night with you, please, you don't have anything to worry about."
Cho leaned in, "I know."
Ginny walked through the Ministry. The good thing about the Irish Ministry was that they actually had women aurors, but the English ministry barely had any. She was getting tired of men ogling her and calling out some really rude things. But her outfit probably didn't help much. She was wearing a pair of low rise, black pants and a thin, white button-up shirt. She was also wearing a black leather trench coat. Her red hair was pulled into a low ponytail, and she wore a serious expression.
She stormed through the doors to the auror division.
"Ginny?"
She whirled around and found herself standing face to face with her brother. "Ron!" She threw her arms around his neck, "God I missed you."
He hugged her back, and then pulled away, "Where have you been?"
"Ireland."
His mouth dropped. "You're the Irish auror?"
She nodded, "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Where's Kings's office?"
Ron was still gaping at her. "You know you're going to be working with Harry, right?"
Ginny's eyes widened. "What?" she snarled.
Ron took Ginny's arm and led her to his office. He opened the door and pushed her in.
"Where is she?" Kings roared.
Harry winced, he still wasn't used to Kings way of speaking. This was quiet for him.
The office door opened and Ron pushed a redheaded witch in. He turned around and left quickly. "It's about time," Kings growled.
The witch didn't seem the least bit intimidated. With a second look, Harry realized he knew her. Her red hair, lithe form, even the way she held herself. It was Ginny.
"Well, here's your things," Kings said grumpily as he handed each auror a plane ticket, a wallet and a peice of paper. "You two are Peter and Jeana Johnson. You have a four month old daughter, Arabella. 'Jeana', you are a stay at home, 20 something year old mother and 'Peter', you work at a muggle newspaper as the chief editor. The reason you are in the states is because 'Peter' is transferring jobs. Now, the baby is in the Unspeakable department, so you need to go pick her up and leave." He paused, "We aren't going to tell you who is after her, because that could jeopardize her safety. If anyone, and I mean anyone, shows a special interest in the baby, get out. Come back here and we can set you up somewhere else, but you must keep her safe at all costs. Do you understand?"
Both Harry and Ginny nodded. Jack motioned for them to leave and they stood up and exited the office, heading straight to the Unspeakable Department. Before leaving, Ron pulled Harry aside, "When will you be back?"
"I dunno," Harry answered lamely. He was still amazed that Ginny, of all people, was the woman he was supposed to be married to.
"Take care of her, mate," Ron whispered, clapping him on the back, "We lost her once, don't lose her again."
Harry nodded numbly and followed an impatient Ginny to the Unspeakable Department. "Gin, wait."
Ginny froze. He was still the only person who called her 'Gin.' "What?" she asked, trying to keep the budding anger out of her voice.
"You passed it," he said nervously. He knew she was trying not to explode, and when she got mad, she scared him.
She huffed passed him, into the department. "Where's the baby?" she asked the receptionist.
The receptionist disappeared into the door behind the desk before reappearing with a bundle of blankets. "Here's Arabella."
Ginny carefully took the sleeping baby from her. She gently shifted her weight before turning to Harry. "C'mon," she urged quietly.
Harry watched as she walked out. She looked so perfectly at ease with the baby and it made his heart ache that she'd never be able to do that to their baby. When they had been dating, they had talked about having kids, but after she had left, he had given up on the hope. Cho was in no way motherly, and wouldn't even entertain the idea of kids.
They walked out onto the street. "Flag a cab," Ginny ordered. He did, and watched as she gently moved so the baby wouldn't wake up. He sat next to her and his leg brushed hers. He noticed she blushed violently.
"So," he started, hating the awkward silence, "You're the top auror in Ireland?"
Ginny nodded.
"Why did you go to Ireland?"
She turned towards him, "Why did you start dating Cho right after I left?"
That made the silence even more uncomfortable. At the airport, they had to run to their terminal, waking a very unhappy baby. After finally boarding, Ginny managed to quiet Arabella who was currently in Harry's arms. She giggled as he made funny faces, her blue eyes sparkling. She had a clump of black hair sticking up on her head and a toothless smile that lit up the whole room.
Harry's elbow accidently brushed hers and she flushed again. Only he could make her do that. She cursed whatever god made them partners, because there was no way she could get out of it, she loved the baby. Almost as much as she still loved Harry.