An Affair to Remember

Arriving at number twelve Grimmauld Plac, Ginny Weasley made her final decision that had been mulling over in her mind all day. The relationship had to end. It hurt to finally decide that but enough was enough. After going over the past month and especially the past week, Ginny realized that Harry just was not in the relationship any more.

The shared home was still dark. Perfect, that would give her more time to review what she would say. Changing out of her work robes, Ginny reviewed her points once more.

A little over a month before, Harry had begun arriving home late nearly every night for a week. When questioned about where he was after work, Ginny was given a vague ‘With Ron and ‘Moine’, which would have been acceptable with the exception that Ginny was never brought along. She may be haven Ron’s annoying little sister, but she and Hermione were friends. It wasn’t right that she was never asked over. When Ginny had finally asked Harry if she could tag along, he had told her that the three of them were catching up. A load of crock. Everyone went to Molly and Arthur’s house for dinner each Sunday night, there was no need for the three of them to have so much time alone.

Besides his lack of a straight answer with that, when he started coming home at the normal time, he seemed to be so distracted. He had also stopped discussing their future. Whenever Ginny would bring up marriage or names for their future children, Harry would quickly change the topic. That only solidified her assumption that something was going on. The problem was, the only explanation Ginny could think of was the worst. Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived, was having an affair. Every time she thought of it, pain stabbed at her heart.

The thought of an affair was awful and it had only been a pesky idea in the back of her mind unil that morning, their fifth anniversary. Usually Harry would wake her up with breakfast in bed, they would exchange cards and gifts, it was perfect. That morning, there was nothing. Ginny had sat in bed an extra ten minutes to see if her boyfriend was just running late, but no. Harry didn’t come up to the bedroom and when she went down to the kitchen, he was only looking over paperwork.

“Morning,” she said coolly, hopeful he would pick up on her mood.

He smiled up at her and Ginny’s heart thawed. In that moment she couldn’t believe her doubts. But then, Harry spoke. “Hey, Ginny. Sorry, I didn’t have time to make anything for breakfast. Today’s the big day!”

“The big day?” Ginny questioned as she pointed her want at the stove to boil tea water.

“At the office, we have a lot of stuff to deal with, the big security presentation is today. Love you, see you for dinner.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and apparated out of the house.

That was the last straw and the beginning of her mental debate over whether to stay or leave Harry. In the stay category, she knew that she loved him. The initial school girl crush she had at the age of nine had grown into a full-fledged true love. He cared about her, or at least he had for years before he began changing. Harry was able to make her laugh, he was there for her when something seriously upset her, he was her crutch during crucial times. They had been through so much together, Ginny didn’t want their relationship to end.

On the other hand, Ginerva Weasley was not a weak woman. If Harry truly was having an affair, Ginny was not going to let it continue. She would not allow herself to be cheated on. She had gone through so much emotional turmoil with her feelings for Harry in the beginning, enough was enough. A girl could only fret over one boy so many times before it was time to give up.

A loud crack resounded through the house followed by a pair of feet pounding up the stairs. Moments later, Harry burst into the bedroom, his black hair in even more disarray than usual.

“Ginny!” he exclaimed upon seeing his vibrant haired girlfriend at her vanity. “When did you get home? I thought you were staying late tonight?”

Her tone of voice could have killed. “I got off early. That isn’t a problem, is it?”

“No, of course not,” he replied, sounding strained. He changed out of his work robes into a simple pair of jeans and shirt. “How about you change and I’ll start dinner?”

“Why should I change?”

“We’re having company over, I invited your family for dinner.”

Ginny stared at him. “My whole family?” This proved that Harry had forgotten about their anniversary, he had to have something more drastic on his mind. She had to break off the relationship right then, before her family arrived. “Harry, we have to talk.”

He interrupted her. “We can talk later. I really have to get dinner started. Man, I miss having Kreacher around; I could sure use his help right now.”

Harry left the room before Ginny could say anything more. She changed out of her pajama and into jeans and a blouse. She thought over how best to go about the breakup while she ran a brush through her red hair. It wasn’t going to be easy but it had to be done. Ginny had figured out a good enough way to be begin the conversation when loud cracks came from below her. Excited voices followed causing Ginny to groan. Her family had arrived.

A knock at the bedroom door was followed by Hermione entering the room. “Ginny, come on downstairs. Everyone but Bill, Fleur, and Charlie are here.” In her pause, Hermione focused on her friend’s face. “Ginny, is everything okay? Did something happen at work?”

Breathe, Ginny, she told herself. “I just had to make a really big decision today. I’m just worried about what the aftermath of it will be.”

Hermione nodded in understanding. “Well, I’m here for you if you need me. Just don’t worry about it for now.”

If you only knew what’s about to happen, Hermione, Ginny thought.

The two went down to the kitchen and Ginny was bombarded with hugs. Her family acted as though they hadn’t seen her in ages, it had only been four days. Molly had taken over cooking, filling the room with the delicious scent of stew. Thankfully, years of cooking had perfected her timing and in only a short half hour, food was placed on the table. The half hour had been too long for Ginny, though, it meant thirty minutes of enduring the awkwardness that was pretending everything was fine with Harry. He barely seemed to notice anything different about her demeanor. At the table, he was continuously speaking to her but she was unresponsive to everything he said. The Weasley’s knew the sign of the Ginny Weasley temper on the rise but no one said anything to Harry. He had chosen Ginny, he had to learn when it was time to leave her alone. Harry, unfortunately, did not learn quickly. When Ginny pulled her hand out from beneath his, he finally grew frustrated.

“What is wrong with you today?” he hissed, anger seeping into his voice. Even though his voice was low, everyone but Victoire was silent.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Ginny replied, keeping her voice light.

“Yes there is, you’ve been so cold and distant today. What’s your problem?”

Complete silence. Ginny stood up, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. She ran up the stairs and Harry was close behind, he was able to hear George say ‘Bad choice of words there, mate’, though. Ginny hadn’t made it far and they were still in the foyer when they stopped.

“Ginny, what is wrong?” Harry questioned.

The words made Ginny let out a bark of laughter. “What’s wrong, Harry? Everything! Every bloody thing about this relationship for the past month has been wrong!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t even try to pretend anymore, Harry,” Ginny spat, “it’s honestly too pathetic.
You’ve been staying late after work, lying about hwere you’ve been, you don’t care about our future anymore, and you forgot our anniversary! You’re obviously having an affair!”

Multiple cries of ‘What?!’ came from the kitchen below. Ginny spun around to see an Extendable Ear lying at the kitchen door.

“Stop listening!” she shouted to her family.

“Ginny, how could you think that?” Harry asked, his voice softer as he stepped closer to her. “I would never, in my life, cheat on you. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“I gave my reasons,” Ginny spoke stiffly, silently cursing the tears that pricked at her eyes.

Harry shook his head and then, to the amazement of Ginny, he began to chuckle. The chuckle grew into fits of laughter until he had trouble standing up.

“What, pray tell, is so amusing at a time like this?”

“You, Ginny,” Harry choked out. “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, one of the brightest, as well. You’re so wrong on this, though. I expected you to get annoyed but I never thought an affair would become a thought.”

“Harry, what the hell are you going on about?”

He sobered up but a smile was still stuck o his face. “Ginny, I love you so much, there was never nor will there ever be an affair.”

“Then what’s been happening? Just give me a straight answer.”

“Well, for the past few weeks, I’ve been getting help to do this.” He paused and turned to the door. “Would all of you like to come up here?”

There was a scramble as the assembled Weasley’s and Hermione came up from the kitchen. Everyone was beaming, Ginny was incredibly confused.

She turned back to Harry who had gone down on one knee. In his hand was a small burgundy box. “Oh my…”

“Ginny,” Harry said, taking her hand in his, “I love you so much. At times, I am a complete idiot, almost as bad as Ron, and I do stupid things. I never want to hurt you and I never want to lose you. I want to grow old with you, Ginny, and I want us to have a family together. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

The box opened to reveal a beautiful diamond ring, it was small and delicate but when Harry slid it onto her finger, it held a certain strength. It was like Ginny that way, delicate on the outside but with strength hidden inside.

“Yes,” she whispered almost inaudibly, looking from the ring into Harry’s deep green eyes.

“What?” he asked, actually sounding surprised.

“Yes, I will marry you,” Ginny repeated, tears falling down her face. “I’m so sorry for doubting you.”

Harry stood and wrapped his crying fiancé in his arms. “I’m sorry for being so stupid.”

“What were you doing during those late nights?”

“You have a lot of older brothers to track down and get permission from. Ron alone took a week to give the okay.”

“Ron!” Ginny exclaimed, turning to her brother.

He shrugged. “I had to make sure he was going to make you happy. Plus, it was hilarious to watch him sweat.”

“Boys,” Ginny and Hermione sighed at the same time.

Ginny smiled and looked down at the ring on her hand. All of her doubts melted away and she was glad the chance to speak with Harry alone had been ruined earlier that night.