All That You Leave Behind

Thank you to our reviewers, especially Akatryele. And yes, we had trouble conveying Severus\' distrust without hammering the point home, and yes, we agree that he is more trusting of her becuase of Harry\'s good opinion of her.



For our multitude of Ginny haters - enjoy!



Chapter Twenty-Two



Ginny\'s visits to the flat proceeded amicably. Although she and Harry spent much of their time in the bedroom, she still ensured she had afternoon tea with Severus. She seemed to appreciate having someone to talk to who was somewhat removed from her life. Not that Severus was now removed from her life; he had become a crucial part of it.



It was Severus who learnt that the Harpies were offering her a tryout for a place on the team, not Harry. She was keeping the news from Harry, not for malicious reasons, but purely because she didn\'t want to deal with his disappointment as well as her own if nothing came of it.



However, she had wanted to tell someone, and her first thought had been Severus. He understood that she wanted so much from life, and was encouraging her to seek it.



He had been the one who, once she had explained why she wasn\'t telling her fiancé, had said, "Yes, aim for more, don\'t accept anything less than what you truly want."



Severus had also taken the time to send her a "good luck" message on the day of her trial, and one requesting news upon her return.



Harry had been a little surprised at the flurry of activity from Severus - he didn\'t have anyone to send owls to; and had frowned a little when he had recognised Ginny\'s handwriting on a message.



Harry told himself that he respected Ginny\'s privacy, but the thought of that note rankled a little. What had she possibly got to say to Severus that she couldn’t say to him? So, when he accidentally came across the parchment, and his eyes ran across the words, he felt angry and betrayed: "Really good news! Can\'t wait to tell Harry! See you on Saturday."



Saturday came, and with it, Ginny. Smiling, she pushed open the door to their flat, seeing Severus over Harry’s shoulder. Then she stilled, seeing the poorly concealed anger on Harry\'s face.



"Harry?" she asked anxiously, "What\'s wrong?"



He glowered at her and said, "Is there something you need to tell me?" He shook a little, "Something you\'ve already told Severus?"



She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "We\'re engaged, Ginny, we\'re going to spend our lives together! And you have something that you tell Severus but not me?!"



"Only because it was supposed to be a surprise for you!" She shot back, angry herself now



He gave a humourless snort. "Funny, I thought I had a surprise for you! An important one. But maybe yours is better?" the sarcasm in his tone was unmistakable.



"Well then why don\'t you tell me, and we\'ll see, won\'t we?" she said, trying to quell his anger.



Harry was so frustrated. This wasn\'t how he\'d envisaged telling Ginny this. "We can get married as soon as you leave school. I managed to get a slot that was available. Isn\'t that great? We can marry almost at once!"



Ginny\'s face registered conflict. "Harry...that\'s ... great. But, what about my career?"



Harry shrugged. "You don\'t need to work, I\'m wealthy enough."



Ginny\'s eyes flashed. "So you want to \'keep\' me?!" Her voice rose dangerously, and she looked over to Severus, who retreated to the kitchen, where he was out of sight, but not out of earshot.



Harry glared, noticing her silent appeal to Severus. "It\'s not keeping you! I love you! I want to look after you! You can\'t want to work!"



Ginny snapped, "You have no idea what I want to do! You don\'t even care! And I suppose you\'d have me stay home all day, barefoot and pregnant all the time!"



"Oh, so now you don\'t want kids either?!" Harry shouted, outraged.



"That\'s NOT what I said!" she yelled, "But I want to have my life, Harry! I\'ve been offered a place on the Holyhead Harpies team! It\'s a brilliant chance. I don\'t want to just be a wife and a mother; I want to see what I can do. What I can be!"



"I\'m not enough for you? Having my children isn\'t good enough?!"



"Of course I want kids!" Ginny shouted back, "But it isn\'t the be all and end all of my life you know! I love you too, Harry, but it\'s pretty big-headed of you, not to mention unfair, that you expect me to just be the bearer of the great Harry Potter\'s children!"



"Aren\'t YOU the one being unfair?" he shot back, "You want to go off and prat about on a broomstick, rather than do something sensible! God, Gin, I got over my dreams of being a Quidditch player when I GREW UP!"



"Oh don\'t flatter yourself!" Ginny yelled, "If you were grown up, you\'d take my feelings into consideration too!"



"And if you were, you\'d be pleased that we could get married so quickly!" Harry retorted.



"Pleased?!" she shrieked. "Pleased that I will end up stuck with someone who doesn\'t give a damn about my feelings?! So I should just forget all my hopes and dreams just to please you?"



"Doesn\'t matter, does it?" Harry snapped, "won\'t be much of a marriage of you\'re off playing Quidditch all the time!"



"So, for you, a marriage is the woman doing whatever the man wants? Giving up her own life to please him? And just what will you give up, Harry? Marriage is about compromise!"



Harry opened his mouth, but could find nothing to say. Ginny pounced on him. "See? Now do you see how selfish you\'re being by expecting me to give up my career?"



"Career?!" Harry scoffed, "Chasing a ball around is hardly a career! It\'s a game, Ginny! It\'s not something you do forever, not like being my wife!"



"And what about you, Harry?" Ginny snarled, eyes flaming angrily at his slur to her chosen job, "I don\'t want you to be an Auror, putting yourself in danger constantly, but I\'m not stopping you, am I? I want you to be happy, but obviously, I don\'t deserve the same consideration! But then, I\'m not a person, I\'m just your girlfriend, why should I have any feelings?!"



"You are my girlfriend!" Harry said, sounding exasperated, "And you\'ll be my wife when we marry, so yes, I think I have the right to say that I want you to focus on our family not playing a game!"



"Yeah? Then maybe we should rethink our ideas of marriage. Maybe we should rethink MARRIAGE. Maybe..."



"Don’t say it, Ginny," Harry said warningly, a bit of fear creeping in.



"Say what? Say that I thought I knew you when I don\'t know you at all? Say that maybe I think we should think about what\'s really important before we think about anything else at all? Say that maybe we should just forget it altogether?!" she screeched, turned, and slammed the door as she left.