Lunar Eclipse

Chapter Twenty Four

Harry waved his wand at the fireplace, clearing the Floo network before tossing some Floo Powder into the flames tiredly.

When the flames turned colors, he quietly stepped through, careful as not to create a lot of noise and frighten Ginny and the boys.

He quietly padded down the stairs, wand still raised in case Ginny was ready to hex whoever walked through the bunker door.

"Gin," he said softly. "Gin, it's Harry."

He waved his wand at the door, taking down the blockading spell with the password they had decided upon when they first created the bunker.

Placing his hand on the door, Harry slowly and cautiously pushed the door open, cringing as it squeaked on it's hinges.

"Gin?" Harry asked, squinting so his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Lumos," he whispered, the tip of his wand lighting up. As soon as the cool white glow illuminated the room, Harry's heart dropped when he saw Ginny sitting in the corner of the bunker, all three boys behind her. She had positioned herself in front of them protectively, and she had her wand raised.

"Hey, hey," Harry murmured, cautiously approaching Ginny. "It's me. Lower your wand Gin."

"Stay back," she growled, jabbing her wand towards Harry threateningly.

"Ginny, lower your wand please," Harry pleaded softly, getting down to his knees to make himself look less threatening to his wife.

"Don't come any closer," she snarled, her wand still pointed dangerously at Harry.

"Ginny, it's me. It's Harry. Everything is safe. We're safe, I promise. Just put down the wand, and let's go home," Harry stated, his voice wavering. He could tell Ginny wasn't fully there- part of her was still reliving her sixth year at Hogwarts, waiting for the news that her brother, best friend, and the love of her life were dead. Part of her was still at the battle, watching as Hagrid carried Harry's lifeless body and Voldemort declared him dead. Part of her was still in the Great Hall, kneeling over Fred's still figure.

"Shh," Harry knelt down slowly in front of Ginny and began to reach his hand out tentatively before deciding to pull his hand back again.

Harry noticed eyes watching him from behind Ginny, and watched as Snuffles, who Teddy had been using as a pillow, raised his head, eyes shining in the dim light of Harry's wand. Harry could see his tail start wagging in recognition, but he didn't move from the position he was in underneath the boys.

"Ginny, please just listen to me. We're all safe," Harry soothed, deciding to take the risk and brush her hair behind her ear lovingly. He cringed inside when she flinched and grabbed his arm, pointing her wand at him even more.

He took a deep breath, deciding that this was almost a bigger challenge than the test he had just been given. Closing his eyes briefly, Harry reached out and gently pulled Ginny's wand from her noticeably trembling hands.

"Gin, you're safe. We're safe. It was a false alarm. We're safe," he pulled her into his arms, a tear sliding down his face as he noticed how badly she was shaking, and how labored her breathing was.

"Shh, calm down," he cradled her in his arms, rocking her lightly. She was still trying to fight his embrace, but Harry was not releasing his tight grip. He could feel her chest rise and fall rapidly as she breathed heavily.

"Gin, I need you to settle a bit," Harry murmured into the top of her head, planting a kiss atop her fiery red hair.

"Breathe," he whispered. "Shh, that's it, breathe."

After several minutes, Ginny's breathing began to slow down and she stopped fighting Harry's embrace, instead melting into it appreciatively.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked as Ginny began to mutter unintelligible words, coming out of the PTSD induced panic attack.

"I'm sorry," Ginny whispered, but Harry just hushed her softly.

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Harry continued to rock her. "The kids are okay, you're okay. That's all that matters."

"What hap-happened?" She stammered, tears swimming in her confused eyes.

And as Ginny began to calm down, Harry explained the situation. He explained how he had locked up all the Floo networks, how he had met the 'mysterious man' behind the bar, how he figured out it was Kingsley, how the Minister felt so badly about the entire incident.

"I'm going to bloody murder him," Ginny hiccupped after Harry was done.

"As Head Auror, I'm afraid that I'll have to ask you to refrain from doing that," Harry teased with a small grin.

"They just set up this elaborate scheme- having spied on us to make it realistic- and then just expected everyone to be okay?" She questioned, still having a difficult time wrapping her scrambled brain around this.

"I suppose. I'm sorry it worried you so much," Harry apologized. "And I fully plan on taking this up with the council on Monday morning. There could have been an emergency that came from this, involving our families and making the Aurors take protocol like shutting down the Floo networks-- that's not something we just do."

He couldn't help but smile when Ginny grabbed his hand and placed it on her slightly bloated stomach, leaving her hands resting atop his.

"She's okay," Ginny gave him a reassuring smile. "We both are. Promise."

"She?" Harry questioned, eyebrows raising with curiosity.

"Hey, a girl can dream, yeah?" Ginny giggled. She knew that the baby had something close to a 1 in 7 chance of being a girl, but she was still hopeful deep down. She came from a long line of mostly male ancestors. Great for keeping the family name going, but very bad for an exhausted mother who just wanted a baby girl to connect with over special things that boys just wouldn't understand.

"What do you say we go home?" Harry asked with a yawn after several moments of silence. "I'm a bit tired."

"Hmm, I wonder why," Ginny teased cheekily, punctuating the sentence with a yawn of her own.

"I'll get Teddy and James if you get Albus," Harry grinned, peering at their sleeping children.

"Deal."

"And Gin?"

"Yes Harry?" Ginny turned, imitating her husbands tone.

"I love you, and again, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. I forgive you, and I know the boys do as well. And I love you too."

"Alright, now that that's settled, let's get home. I have the day off tomorrow, so we can sleep in and cuddle for as long as we want," Harry promised.

"You sound awfully confident about that, considering the fact that we have three boys who have gotten almost a full night's sleep, spare about an hour or so."

"Shit."

"Shit indeed."

*

[A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry this update took so long! I went on vacation, and then life got super crazy with work and everything, and I also got super distracted with my other fic that I just started, called It Only Takes a Second, which is my new Avengers and Harry Potter crossover! If you're interested, go check it out! I don't know how long it will take to get the next chapter of this story out, so feel free to go read a few of my other works, whether it's Harry Potter related or not! Also, I just wanted to give a heads up that the next chapter of this story will take place after a time jump, but I'll remind you of that at the beginning of the chapter. As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! Stay safe everyone :) ]