Taken by Surprise

Warnings: While there will be no actual non-con, some scenes may be considered dubious when regarding the consent of one partner to the ministrations of the other.

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Chapter 6


Two weeks later Ginny came back. She waltzed into Grimmauld Place as though she had not vanished out of sight as effectively as if she’d used Instant Darkness Powder, leaving in her wake nothing but a crumpled piece of parchment with a few cryptic lines scribbled hastily on it. Harry was not impressed by her sudden reappearance. A fleeting thought in the back of his mind made him wonder how much a touch of one person could change his attitude towards another. He should have been pleased to see her but he wasn’t. This was something to inspect later but now he crossed his hands over his chest and stared impassively at her, even though his insides were churning with so much bitterness he could almost taste it in his mouth.

Ginny’s bright smile faltered and Harry wondered as to what sort of welcome she expected from him after she’d dumped him and to all intents and purposes fell off the face of the Earth for two bloody weeks, without informing anyone of her intentions or whereabouts. The whole family was shocked and worried by her disappearance and no one knew its cause. Harry was somewhat appeased to learn that neither Hermione nor Mrs. Weasley were in on the secret and that they didn’t blame him for it. On the contrary, they were quite indignant on his behalf, supportive and extra kind (if that was possible) and Harry did not fancy Ginny next time she visited the Burrow.

‘I’m back.’ she said at last, when Harry would neither greet nor invite her to come in.

Her trunks hit the floor. She raised her arms as if to give him a hug, but dropped them stiffly to her sides when she realised that Harry was not about to swoop her off her feet in a passionate embrace. Her brazen look that once inspired Harry now lost all of its charm so that she looked stubborn and bad-tempered more than anything else. Harry narrowed his eyes: something told him that she wasn’t going to fall to her knees and ask for forgiveness. But he shouldn’t have thought about the ‘falling to her knees’ part, because his head was suddenly filled with only too vivid images of what happened the last time someone did fall to his knees in front of him. Harry shuddered, half closed his eyes and felt himself growing hard just thinking about it. However, one glance at Ginny’s angry face had quite an opposite effect on him. Just as well.

‘I don’t want you back.’ he replied before he could stop himself. He stared. Where did that come from? He was angry and feeling betrayed but it didn’t mean that he didn’t want Ginny back, did it? At least, he had no idea that he was feeling this way. But then again, it’s not like he had much room for anything but Scorpius in his head for the last two weeks. Scorpius did know how to cause a distraction. And Harry had plenty of time to brood over what happened and even go as far as fantasize about it – something that he was not ready to admit but something that happened all the time now. At the same time, he was not at all preoccupied with thoughts of his impending divorce. He thought that it would bother him a great deal, but it didn’t. Not anymore. Harry was sure that it was a decided thing and only a matter of time before he received the divorce papers to sign and therefore nothing to be done anymore. He did not expect Ginny to come back with the most unrepentant look that transformed into a scowl the moment Harry blurted out the words.

‘Well, I’m not leaving.’ she snapped back and taking out her wand started guiding her trunks up the stairs.

‘I thought you’ve done that two weeks ago.’ said Harry, watching her incredulously. ‘Gin, you left me.’ he reminded her.

‘I didn’t leave you if I’m right where I am, though, Harry, did I?’ she asked pleasantly enough. ‘I’ve just taken time-off, it’s not a crime, is it? I thought I explained everything.’

Harry bristled.

‘It’s not a crime, but neither is it a game of Quidditch. You just don’t take time-off from your family.’

Ginny stopped on the second landing and stomped her foot. Her trunks dropped down with a crash.

‘Harry, are you throwing me out of my house?’

‘This is our house or was ours before you decided to take your time-off. But if we go back in time, you might remember that I got this house from my godfather! So, technically, it’s mine.’

‘Sirius hated this house!’

‘And I happen to like it very much!’

They were shouting now and they rarely got to the point where they had to resort to shouting and Harry was glad that Lily – the only child of theirs who still lived here – was not around to witness the scene. He was ashamed of himself, but he was too angry with Ginny to care. She didn’t even apologize and acted as if Harry was the one at fault here. His conscience squirmed a bit as the images of Scorpius fluttered past. It wasn’t considered infidelity, was it, not when they weren’t together anymore?

‘I’m not going anywhere.’ insisted Ginny, the colour of her face to rival her hair. ‘I am staying here. At least until the last of my children still lives here. So, it’s up to you, Harry. You can stay or you can leave. You certainly can afford another living, unlike a detailed article in The Daily Prophet about how mean you are to your wife.’
She swept her long red hair and was off. Stunned, Harry could only stare after her. What happened? Who was this woman? Did he even know her? Harry felt like that time at the Quidditch World Cup when beautiful Veela turned into vicious beak-like creatures the moment they didn’t get their way. Ginny acted most irrationally and quite mad too. He shook his head in disbelief but he didn’t follow her. Something changed. In fact, changed so much that they lost all common ground, it seemed.

Another week later they still lived under the same roof but they didn’t share meals or room anymore. The idea of sharing bed with Ginny when he was dreaming about Scorpius’s mouth – something he couldn’t control it appeared – seemed rather disturbing and the prospect of her wrath or what she’d do with the information rather scary. No one could know about his ‘Scorpius incident.’ He only came back to it in the dark of the night, under covers and with Silencing Spell firmly in place.

He moved a few floors up and found himself in Sirius’s old bedroom. Harry felt like an unwanted guest in his own house. Ginny was too stubborn to make the first step to reconciliation, even if she was the one in the wrong, and Harry was too angry with her to let her get away with it and have her way. It seemed that Kreacher was entirely on his side. He fell back on his old ways and started muttering nasty things about Ginny whether she was present or not; he also let her food get burnt until Harry got whiff of it and put his foot down. He did appreciate the sentiment though.

Their first family outing was a very tense affair and Lily and James served as two human barriers to keep Harry and Ginny from each other in case they got into a squabble, which would be a first, because they didn’t so much as look at each other since their heated argument. James, Al and Lily were quite in despair over their parents’ marriage crisis and still more so when all their attempts to get them to talk to each other, at the very least, were rebuffed.

They appealed to uncle Ron and aunt Hermione, to grandparents, to Teddy, to Bill and Fleur, to anyone who could have any effect on them, without producing any. It was like their parents called it quits. Their marriage was sinking as if hit by an iceberg and the worst part was that neither father nor mother did anything to keep it afloat. They avoided each other’s company and went about their usual things as if nothing was wrong while the life as they knew it was falling apart.

But they were in Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts now and it was Al’s special day. So they were polite and seemingly happy. He was performing in a play and it was his first big part. He asked his parents and siblings to be there, even though he was way too nervous at the moment to appreciate his parents’ efforts of keeping from hissing at each other like a pair of angry Kneazles (now that they couldn’t put a few floors between them) and James and Lily’s efforts of keeping them together but apart and sufficiently entertained. Excited whispers inevitably followed the Potter family as they filed into their row and took their seats: James and Lily sitting between Harry and Ginny.

Obligingly, Harry and Ginny gave a few dozen autographs and Harry felt sorry for Al and the scrutiny he would be subjected to. For years Harry and Ginny sheltered their children from the downside of fame that followed them everywhere but sometimes it was beyond their control. Thankfully, all of their children took the obsessive interest in their family and occasional snapshots and articles to accompany them surprisingly well. Harry caught sight of a reporter and sighed. There was no getting away from the spotlight, but to willingly choose it – well, Harry just hoped that Al knew what he was doing.

There was an empty sit on the other side of Harry. This surprised him as the concert hall was filling in swiftly and room was scarce. Harry supposed that it was saved for someone and fervently hoped that this someone wasn’t –

‘Scorpius!’ he hissed under his breath as he caught sight of familiar hair and wicked grin.

Scorpius bowed formally and took the seat.

‘Harry.’ he murmured way too intimately and Harry’s imagination jumped to an image of Scorpius running his tongue along his skin, drawing each letter of his name in a lazy caress.

Harry blushed furiously, but thankfully the lights were dimming.

‘Mrs. Potter. James.’ greeted Scorpius with polite indifference. ‘Hey, Lily!’ he added warmly.

‘Hey yourself.’ replied Lily. She leaned across Harry to get better access to Scorpius.

‘How’s my brother holding? Jitters? Jelly-legs? Stage fright? James bets that Al will forget his lines.’

Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

‘James doesn’t know your brother well at all. He’ll do great. You just watch. What’s the bet?’

Lily leaned back with a happy sigh.

‘He’s going to eat a Stink Pellet.’
‘Eugh!’

‘Yep!’

Harry rolled his eyes.

‘As long as he doesn’t do it in the house.’ he said dryly.

Scorpius laughed. His laughter – rich, low and deliberate – sent shivers down Harry’s spine. The lights went out completely and Harry, barely containing a yelp of surprise, almost surged out of his seat when Scorpius’s hand squeezed his thigh with obvious intent.


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