Chapter Text
James had a very good night to Harry’s relief but that also meant that he was up early in the morning. He fed James and nibbled on a sandwich before he took a very short shower.
“Alright, my handsome boy,” Harry said. “Let’s see if your grandma is awake yet to drop you off. Once we’ve brought mum up to speed, I’ll come and get you to see her. Sounds good?”
James made a garbled response.
“Thought so.”
He entered the kitchen at the Burrow minutes later, greeted by the smell of fresh pastries. “Morning!”
“Morning,” Molly greeted him. “Did he sleep alright?”
“Pretty good,” Harry confirmed.
“Have a croissant before you go,” Molly told him gently. “She won’t be awake yet.”
He hesitated for a moment but then nodded. He did have a long day at the hospital yesterday after all. He set James down and picked up a croissant, mumbling a thanks.
They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, Harry chewing on his croissant while Molly read the newspaper. He hadn’t looked at the newspaper in days. He knew there were rumours about what happened to Ginny and while they weren’t writing about her every day, he couldn’t stand to find out on any random morning if they did or not. Other news was of little interest to him at the moment.
He was about to take the last bite of his croissant when the familiar bright orb of a patronus floated in through the window and took the shape of a capybara.
“Ginny remembers. She is panicked, we need you here immediately.”
Harry tossed the corner of croissant aside and shot off his seat and looked towards James. He knew she would want to see him immediately.
“I’ll be right behind with James—go!” Molly said as if she had read his mind.
He took off running and didn’t even bother to come to a stop at the edge of the garden before he apparated. He kept running until he was on the amnesia wing.
Panic was an understatement. When he walked into the corridor, she was duelling five people at once with more people hiding behind the couches and chairs on the corridor.
“We can’t let you go!” Aisha insisted.
Ginny shook her head. “I need to see my son!” She blasted another shield apart, sending the caster backwards and someone else erected a new one.
He ran forward, past two healers ducking behind a couch. “Ginny!”
Her gaze landed on him with relief and he knew that it was true. She had regained her memory. She lowered her wand and leapt towards him.
They met in the middle and he caught her in his arms.
“I need to see James,” she told him.
“Your mum will be here with him in a minute but I need you to calm down.” As she pulled back, he cupped her cheeks. “No more duelling. They’re here to help you—if you let them.”
Her face crumpled, tears welling in her eyes. “I know—I didn’t mean to but I woke and everything…” Her voice cracked. “I remembered how long ago it was and the incident and—my mind went blank.”
Behind him, people were putting couches back into place and lowering their shields. He gently guided her back to her room.
“Sorry, she didn’t mean to,” he said in the general direction of the nurses and healers who had tried to keep her from leaving and then walked into the room, closing the door. He just needed a few minutes alone with her.
“You promised I’d see him today and I think my mind hung onto that,” she explained, wiping at her tears.
So she even remembered the day before.
He pulled her back into his arms because while he did not have to miss Ginny, he had missed his wife.
“Who gave you your wand back?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No one. I summoned it.”
“Wandlessly?”
“Obviously,” she told him with an incredulous look.
He sighed happily. “There is so much more you in your eyes today.”
The door was opened and Molly walked in with James.
“Oh, James!” Ginny said, pulling her son out of his grandmother’s arms immediately and cradling him to her chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m here now.” She looked up at her mum. “Hi mum.”
“Hi sweetheart.”
Ginny settled on her bed, cooing at James. She looked up at Harry. “Can you get my ring from the bathroom?”
He nodded with a smile and retrieved it and she slipped it on her finger. There was a knock on the door and Aisha stepped inside.
“I’m sorry,” Ginny said. “You’ve been so nice and…”
Aisha held her hand up. “It happens. You are quite the duellist.”
Ginny smiled. “Sorry.”
“I’ve informed Healer Calamar about your memories coming back,” the nurse said. “He will come by soon. We do need your wand back.”
“Right.” Ginny sheepishly took it out and Aisha took it from her.
“Thank you.” She stepped back. “It’s good to have you back, Mrs Potter.”
Ginny smiled at her and Aisha took her leave. They settled down, but there wasn’t much to say now that she remembered all of it, and they had to wait for the healer’s verdict before they could know how to move forward.
Molly left as the healer arrived, asking them to check in later today, which they promised they would.
Healer Calamar greeted her as if it was the first time, which was probably a force of habit considering he specialised in amnesia and he asked her a few questions about her past and her memories of the last three weeks. He did a few spells. “It looks good,” he concluded. “But we are not out of the woods yet. I want to make sure this curse has truly been eradicated, so we need a bit more time where we can watch you.”
“To make sure it doesn’t come back?” Ginny asked.
The healer nodded gravely. “Indeed.”
“Is that likely to happen?” Harry asked him. If that were the case, he wanted to be prepared.
“No. I don’t expect it, but every curse is different.” Calamar smiled at him in a way he probably meant to come across as reassuring. “I will ask the nurses to keep me updated on your progress. If it continues to be good, I can see you going home in a few days.”
“Why not now?” Ginny asked him.
“It’s not worth the risk,” Healer Calamar said. “What you just did in the corridor… imagine that but against your husband and son… have patience.”
She breathed out. “Alright.”
Healer Calamar took his leave and Harry handed James back over to her. Ginny pressed her nose into his black hair.
“Okay?” he asked her.
She nodded, but he could see the doubt on her face.
“I feel like I’ve lost more than three weeks,” she told him. “Especially when it comes to James.”
“He’s still really young, he’s not going to remember this,” Harry told her.
“I know,” she snapped. She breathed in slowly. “I was still breastfeeding him and now… that’s gone. He doesn’t need me anymore.”
That couldn’t be less true. “He needs you more than I can explain. We’ve managed and I put everything aside to make sure he was doing okay but he needs you so much. Nights were always harder after he saw you during the day, he was more fussy about the bottles because the smell of mum still lingered around him… and quite frankly I think he misses the pumpkin mash you make so well.” He carefully smiled.
She didn’t smile back at him, but her expression softened.
“As for the breastfeeding, they can get that started up again. They had to do a spell to stop it so you wouldn’t be in pain or confused… we can’t expect you to nurse a baby when you don’t remember the baby nor how to do it.”
She pressed her lips together and swiped a bit of dirt off James’ cheek. “I understand that but I still miss out. Do you think I should do it?”
“He’s still not used to a bottle as much as I would like. Personally it’s just easier if we don’t have to mess with prepping bottles. If you want to do it, go for it. If you decided that now is the time to transition out of it, keep focusing on the solid foods and keep going with just a bottle for another few months…” He reached out to her and squeezed her arm. “They’re not going to let you restart until you can go home so just think on it until then. “I’ll be in your corner.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you, for your everlasting patience. I know it’s tiring to do the same thing every day—but admit you’ve had a little fun with it here and there.”
It was impossible to deny. Those were the things that got him through the day if he knew he could get a secret out of her she had refused to talk about or tease her about kissing. “Maybe.” He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Can I interest you in another first kiss?”
She rolled her eyes but leaned in anyway. He kissed her softly but finally wasn’t scared to spook her, and that felt great.
“That feels familiar once again,” she told him. “Feels like home.”
Ginny absolutely refused to let James out of her sight and also wanted to keep him with her at night. The nurses would not allow it. Harry eventually suggested the compromise that he’d take another room on the corridor with James so as long as she remembered she could come check in on them and if she didn’t remember then she wouldn’t know to go looking for them.
Because they sensed that Ginny was not going to budge on the matter, they all agreed this was the best course of action. Harry returned home for some extra nappies, a change of clothes and dropped by the Burrow to update them.
Then he returned to the hospital to find Ginny bottle-feeding James and she smiled brightly when Harry entered which reassured him she still had her memory.
“I think this confuses him,” Ginny pointed out, “but he’s getting the hang of it.”
“He’s a smart boy,” Harry said.
When he walked to her, she lifted her head expectantly for a kiss and he couldn’t help but grin as he kissed her in greeting. He had been restraining himself on the simplest, most mindless gestures so now he had to remind himself that it was okay once again.
They got ready for bed and Ginny insisted putting James to bed, which Harry quietly thought was a relief it didn’t have to be him constantly for the first time in weeks. When James was asleep, Ginny sat on the side of his bed. Harry pulled an arm around her and kissed her temple.
“It feels a bit like starting over,” she whispered. “Like I need to get to know him again.”
Harry hummed softly. “He saw you nearly every day so he still knows you’re his mum, but I understand what you mean. If there is anything I can do to help…”
“No,” she said immediately. “You have done amazingly taking care of him and please keep doing that while I settle back in.”
He nodded.
“I’m so proud of you—I remember how much you doubted yourself at the start.”
“I still do,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers.
Her fingertips caressed the stubble by his jaw. “But you manage, and that’s the important part.”
He relaxed under her gentle touch and sighed softly. “He doesn’t make it easy.”
She snorted lightly. “I’m not surprised.”
“Tomorrow, when you wake up, can you tell me the word ‘electricity’ first thing?” he asked.
“Alright.” She shifted back to look into his eyes. “Did you choose ‘electricity’ because I had trouble pronouncing it before?”
“It’s just an added layer of confirmation,” he told her innocently.
“You’re ridiculous,” she mumbled with a smile.
He chuckled. “I know, but you’ll let me have this one.”
“Of course,” she agreed lightly.
Ginny went off to bed not much later and he lay in bed, wondering if she would still have her memory in the morning. James only woke up once at night but Ginny did not appear. Harry got him back to sleep and went back to bed.
In the early morning, about right before sunrise, Harry was woken when Ginny crept into his bed and got under the sheets.
“Electricity,” she mumbled, her voice still hoarse from sleep.
He pulled her against him and held her tightly. Her hand crept under his shirt and rested on his ribs comfortably.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, with all my memories and everything. Such a delight to wake up and know where you are.”
“True.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “James only woke once but he went back to sleep. I bet he’ll be back up soon.”
“Good. Need to tell him mum’s here and ready to love him to bits.”
Harry chuckled softly. “I think he’s really ready for that too—so am I.”
“I love you to bits too,” she whispered.
“I know.” He squeezed her waist. “I love you too.”
Three days later, Ginny got given a clean bill of health and was allowed to return home. Harry helped her pack up because he had left many items there—mainly photos. He could see the excitement in her eyes to finally return home after a month she could fully remember now.
“Okay so you can choose to go straight home or there is a surprise party for you at the Burrow,” Harry told her honestly, holding James to his chest.
She frowned at him. “It’s not much a surprise if you tell me, is it?”
“I was afraid you were going to hex everyone in reflex if I took you there without warning.”
“Ah.” She grimaced. “Unfortunately, I think you’re right.”
He nodded, unimpressed.
“Did you arrange the donation to the amnesia ward?” she asked. “I don’t think my apology cut it.”
“I did—it should arrive tomorrow when we are no longer here so no extra attention or trumpets or something.” He smiled at her. “I can take care of this stuff, you know.”
“You are very capable,” she said, looking at him from under her eyelashes. “It’s too bad we’re expected at a party…”
He felt his cheeks heat up. “Alright. Let’s pack up here and go.”
She laughed lightly and walked back to her suitcase and zipped it up. With the last items collected, they walked out of the hospital, bidding the nurses goodbye on their way out.
He apparated James and Ginny to the Burrow.
“I’ll act surprised,” she whispered before they reached the door.
He smiled at her. “Lovely.” He opened the door for her and braced for the chaos.
“SURPRISE!”
“Merlin, what’s all this!” Ginny let out as she walked into the living room.
“You told her?” Ron said.
Ginny scowled at him. “How did you know?”
“You didn’t reach for your wand.”
“—and that’s exactly why I told her,” Harry concluded, patting James’ back because he got startled by the noise.
Her whole family had gathered to celebrate her recovery. They had even made a banner. Ginny looked over her shoulder at him. He shrugged as if to say, you can choose how long you stay and I’ll make sure James is catered to. She smiled at him and accepted the firewhiskey from Bill.
It wasn’t completely about Ginny—a lot of them knew exactly how hard this had been for him but was now mainly sympathised with through jokes, which suited him just fine.
After a nice, chaotic dinner, it was time for them to head home. Harry waited patiently for her to get her hugs in. He took her hand and walked to the end of the garden with her.
When they stepped into their home, Ginny paused in the middle of the room and let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve missed this place.”
“I’ve missed you in it,” Harry told her.
She smiled at him and took James out of his arms. “Let’s get you ready for bed, mister.”
He didn’t offer any help, because he knew she wanted to get back into the rhythm of it and she could shout if she needed anything. In a way it was difficult to hand all that back over to her even though he knew she was perfectly capable.
She came to find him in the kitchen where he was making a grocery list.
“Do you want to sleep apart for a few more days?” he asked her sincerely, and when she frowned, he clarified, “if you were to forget again and woke up beside a man you may get scared.”
She smiled at him. “No.”
“Are you sure?” he asked her.
She turned to leave but faced him again. “I’ll just think it’s one of those dreams I used to have about you.”
“I—before we started dating even?”
She grinned playfully but didn’t reply.
He dropped the pencil he was writing with. “Dirty dreams?”
She raised an eyebrow and smiled wider. She walked out of the kitchen.
He walked after her just because he couldn’t get enough of her teasing and cocky smile. She was allowed to torture him with any image she liked.
“Where are you going?” he asked because he thought at least they’d settle on the couch for a bit.
“I’m going to shower, Harry. In my own shower for the first time in a month and I’m going to enjoy it.”
He cocked his head to the side and smirked. “Do you need help with that?”
“I could maybe,” she teased. “You can help me remember what shower head setting I liked and where all the knobs are.” She grinned at him.
She held out her hand for him and he easily took it and let her lead him into the bathroom.