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hp_rarefestTitle: An Unconventional Family
Author/Artist:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
iamisaac
Prompt: # 212 andmuseinabsentia
Pairing(s): Harry/Ginny, Ginny/Luna, Harry/Ginny/Luna
Word Count/Art Medium: ~5200 words
Rating: R
Warning(s)/Content: poly relationship, ace character, f/f sex, epilogue compliant
Disclaimer:Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Dearmuseinabsentia, I hope that it is made clear enough that the relationship functions between all three of them, even though it’s sort of glossed over.
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Summary: Harry loves his wife, adores her, but he is slowly coming to realize that he has absolutely zero interest in sex. Fearing that Ginny's needs aren't being met they sit down and discuss this. After chatting, they decide that considering a third partner isn't a terrible idea. Now, who do they love, who might be quirky enough, and yet smart enough, to understand such an unconventional relationship?
An Unconventional Family
Harry
“Harry, we have to talk.”
The kids were in bed. Al had made a bit of a fuss - “I’m ten now – why can’t I go to bed at ten to match?” - but he’d been settled quickly enough with a reminder that following that logic would mean allowing James to stay up until midnight when he was home from Hogwarts. Albus hadn’t liked that idea, and had accepted that having half an hour longer than Lily before bed was a fair compromise.
Harry looked across at his wife. God, he loved her. She was beautiful, with her bright red hair tied back in that no-nonsense ponytail and her pale, freckled skin glowing in the lamplight. She was in her thirties, and growing into her looks more and more, in his opinion.
“That sounds serious.”
Ginny bit her lip as she sat down beside him, cuddling into his side as she so often did. “Harry, when was the last time we had sex?”
Harry flushed. He hated talking about this. They hadn’t had sex for ages, he knew – and he’d liked it that way. It had been… nice, just cuddling and holding each other as they fell asleep. All of that business with penises and getting an erection and then the pressure to come, in case Ginny thought that he wasn’t into it because he hadn’t – it was just so much hassle. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Ginny, but sex just didn’t do anything for him. In truth, it hadn’t for ages. He’d tried to have sex, to please her, but he got so little from it. And, if he were honest, he’d have to admit that he wondered how much he really gave to Ginny, too. Now, they tended only to have sex after they’d had a conversation like this, with Ginny pointing out that it had been a while.
“I’ll try and do better,” he said quickly.
Ginny leaned her head even harder against him, pressing against his chest. His arm tightened around her.
“I don’t want you to ‘try’, Harry,” she said sadly. “I want you to want it, and you don’t.”
“I...”
“It’s okay… Well, it’s not okay,” she admitted. “But I’m not – angry with you. We just need to talk about it.”
Harry wanted nothing less than to talk about it.
“I just,” Ginny continued, as he didn’t say anything, “I just feel like I’m nagging every time the subject comes up.”
“Then don’t nag – just hug me,” Harry said, pulling her half onto his lap and kissing the top of her head.
He felt, rather than heard, her sigh. “Harry, I’m thirty-four. I don’t want to have the rest of my life not having sex. And yet I don’t want to force you into sex either. But I love you and there’s no way I could possibly have a life without you. So – I don’t know what to do.”
“Gin, I love you,” Harry said.
“I love you too.” She raised her head and pressed a kiss to his lips. “More than I can possibly say. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to go to sleep next to you, wake up next to you, hold you and hug you and —”
“And have sex,” Harry finished, trying not to sound as depressed as he felt at the idea.
“I want you to be happy,” Ginny said, kissing him again, this time on the cheek.
“I am.” Harry stroked her hair, looking at this wonderful wife of his. “But you’re not, are you?”
“I want to be. And I mostly am,” Ginny said quickly. “It’s just...”
Harry swallowed. He’d been coming to a conclusion for a long time, but he’d never said the words out loud.
“I’m asexual, Gin.” He took a shaky breath, barely able to believe he’d finally said the words out loud. “I know it sounds crazy, when we have three kids, but – it’s been okay, nice – very nice, even… but I don’t want it. Not any more. I don’t want sex. I’m just… I don’t want it. I’m sorry.”
Ginny sighed. Harry thought at first it was sadness, but she reached up and hugged him hard. “Oh, love, I’m so glad you’ve said it,” she said. “I know.” She gave a sad laugh. “I could hardly help but know. But I didn’t know whether you were ever going to be able to acknowledge it, or whether we were going to have to go on with you trying to pretend you liked it, or had any interest in – well, let’s be vulgar – sticking your cock into me. When you don’t, and it’s blatantly obvious to all concerned. I mean, I did wonder if you were gay, but —”
“I’m not,” Harry said firmly. He seriously had no interest in men at all. He at least liked looking at women, and cuddling and touching Ginny. Just not… like that.
“I know.” Ginny smiled at him.
“I just don’t – it’s not you, Gin, I swear. I love you more than I can say.” He squeezed her tight, feeling the prickly sensation at the back of his eyes which threatened tears. “It’s just… my body – my mind… I don’t have any interest in sex. With anyone. At all.”
“It’s okay. Talk to me. Please, Harry, just talk.” Ginny sounded pleading.
Harry took a deep breath. “It’s not always – I mean, when we made the kids, it was fine. It’s never been… I mean, I really enjoyed it. Never think I didn’t. But...”
“It’s never been the most important thing in your life. I know. It’s not for me, either. Except —”
“More than me,” Harry said.
Ginny had tears in her brown eyes as she nodded.
“Gin,” Harry whispered. “I know it’s selfish, but… I’d hate it if you had sex with another man. That’s awful of me, isn’t it?”
Ginny had both of her lips bitten between her teeth. She looked as if she didn’t know how to answer. Harry waited, his heart beating uncomfortably hard in his chest.
“I always thought,” she said at last, “when we got married, that that would be – it. You and me. But...” She gave a wobbly smile. “I kind of thought you’d want to have sex with me. Not all the time, but – well, sometimes.”
“I know.” Harry felt awful. Logically, he knew it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t want sex. But emotionally? It felt shit. Like he was cheating her. “Do you...” He felt a huge lump in his throat, but forced the words past it, “want to have sex with other people?”
“I want to have sex with you,” she said in a small voice. “But not if you don’t want to.”
“You’re not happy.”
“I am!” Ginny said. Then she sagged. “I’m not, not entirely.”
“So… maybe we could find someone else,” Harry said, with a heavy heart. “For you to...” Some man, with his Ginny. It was difficult to stomach, no matter how much he wanted her to be happy.
“But you said you didn’t want me to sleep with another man,” Ginny pointed out. She hesitated. “Harry, you do know I’m bi, don’t you?”
“Huh?” Harry looked at her in bewilderment.
Ginny made a huffing noise that Harry knew well after fourteen years of marriage. “Remember all those times we’ve watched the telly and discussed which women we fancy? Remember that?”
“Yeah. You had that crush on Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings saga,” he said. “Long blonde hair did it for you. There were no gingers, which I found very disappointing.”
She laughed, as he’d hoped for. “But the thing is,” she said; and Harry could feel that she was shaking a little bit, “if I slept with another woman… would that be better?”
“You would...” Harry tried to get his head around the idea of his wife with a woman.
“Have sex with a woman?” Ginny gave a weak smile. “To be honest, Harry, at this point I’d pretty much have sex with anyone who wanted me.” Harry winced. “Sorry,” she added. “I don’t mean to be awful.”
“No,” Harry said bravely. “You’re not. I mean, I get it.”
He thought to himself that he’d almost do anything to make sure he wouldn’t have to have sex ever again. And then thought about it again. Wasn’t that – maybe – what could happen? If Ginny found another woman? And… if it were another woman, somehow that would be better than her sleeping with another man. He wasn’t sure why or how that worked, but… There was no denying that Harry had serious jealousy issues when he considered the idea of Ginny fucking a man, which weren’t there when he thought about a woman.
“I love you so much, Harry,” Ginny whispered. “That will never change.”
“I love you. I want you to have everything you want. Gin – if you want to sleep with another woman, you have my blessing.”
Ginny was crying. “I don’t know why having permission makes me feel so awful,” she whispered, dampening Harry’s top as she cried into it.
Harry had tears in his eyes too. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said, repeating it over and over as he held his wife tightly against his body. “It’s okay.”
Ginny
Ginny wasn’t sure when it was that Luna came to mind. She’d always found Luna attractive – well, she thought wryly, remembering Eowyn, she probably had an attraction to women with long blonde hair! But it wasn’t just that she fancied Luna. She liked, perhaps loved in a way, the other woman. Lily’s godmother; the woman Ginny was closest to. Harry was closest to Hermione, of course – always would be, in all likelihood. It had taken Ginny quite a while not to be jealous of that particular friendship, even though she knew that Hermione was (for reasons quite bewildering to Ginny) in love with Ron. Hermione was James’s godmother, of course. But Luna was Lily’s – and the one living person whom Ginny and Harry had chosen to name their child after. Perhaps it was inevitable that she should be bound up in their lives. And, of course, she was unconventional enough that Ginny felt confident that she wouldn’t be shocked or outraged if Ginny and Harry approached her. She might refuse (perhaps, Ginny thought with a smile, the Nargles would tell her that it was a bad idea) but she wouldn’t allow it to negatively affect the relationship she already had with the couple.
When she mentioned her idea to Harry, his face brightened.
“Luna? You’d want —”
“Merlin, yes! Harry, have you seriously never noticed how gorgeous she is?”
Harry hugged her, kissing her head. “I’ve been too busy noticing how gorgeous you are. But I’m very fond of Luna. You know that.”
Ginny felt a warmth run through her. Harry did love her, even if he didn’t want to have sex with her. She knew that. And she loved him, and that would never change.
“So you wouldn’t mind if I – or maybe if we - asked her?” she checked.
“I think you should do it,” Harry said quietly. “Tell her I don’t mind, and that she can check with me – invite her over, if you want?”
“I want her to be part of the family, if…” Ginny hesitated. “If we become – lovers. I mean, I don’t want it to be me-and-Luna and me-and-you. I want it to be us.”
“And the kids?” Harry asked.
“Slowly,” Ginny said. “I mean, I haven’t even asked her yet. I might think she’s gorgeous – and I know she’s interested in women: do you remember that peculiar woman who ran a magical knitting shop? - but she’s never particularly shown any interest in me.”
“If she likes women, she’ll like you,” Harry said. “Go and ask her, love. You have my blessing.”
Ginny turned and pressed a kiss to Harry’s lips. “Love you, Harry.”
He smiled at her. “I know. That’s why it’s okay.”
*
“...I mean, I know you might not be interested,” Ginny hurried on, cradling her glass of white wine between two hands to try and stop them shaking, “but – well...”
Luna, smiling, reached forwards towards Ginny. For a moment, Ginny thought the other woman might kiss her, but instead she gently unfastened Ginny’s hands from the glass and placed it on the little table in front of them.
“Don’t give the Wrackspurts a chance to breed,” Luna advised, the twinkle in her eyes making it difficult to know whether even she believed in the creatures she was talking about. Luna was like that: as willing to tease about her unusual interests as take them seriously.
“L-luna?” Without her barrier of the wine glass, Ginny felt small and nervous. Like a First Year faced with the Sorting Hat.
“Yes,” Luna said softly. Her slightly larger hand, with its long, tapered fingers, covered Ginny’s small one. “Harry agrees, you said?”
“‘You have my blessing’ were his words,” Ginny said. “He said you could ask him, too, if you wanted.”
Luna looked at her seriously. “If I had to ask him, in order to trust your word, the answer would be no.” Her fingers tightened around Ginny’s. “But I don’t. And it isn’t.”
“You know that a relationship with me is a relationship with Harry too,” Ginny said. “We come as a package deal.” She laughed. “Two for the price of one,” she mocked. “But seriously, Harry’s asexual, but he’s still my husband. And you – I don’t want you to be ‘a bit on the side’. You’re Lily’s godmother because you’re important to us. To us. To our family.”
“What you mean is that you’re asking me to be part of your family,” Luna said calmly.
It sounded so simple, put in Luna’s terms. That was the magic of Luna: she could make the most complicated concepts sound simple – and the simplest sound as confusing as Advanced Arithmancy.
“Well, yes.” Ginny paused. “I mean, sort of. There are the children.”
“I don’t have human children,” Luna said, her voice pensive. “Except that I do. I haven’t birthed a child – but then, neither has Harry. Lily is not mine, I know. And yet she is, because with her name you entwined her magic with mine. I can feel her magic, you know.”
Ginny wasn’t sure what Luna meant by that last part of her sentence, but Luna was not a Ravenclaw for nothing. She might seem mad on the outside, but she felt and understood things which other people didn’t. And Ginny had always known that Luna’s bond with her daughter was stronger than the bond between the other children and their godparents. The love was no less, but there was something special. Perhaps because of the name. Names held strength: anyone who had lived through the War with Voldemort knew that.
“You already are family, in a way,” Luna continued, apparently unaware of the turmoil in Ginny’s mind. Then she looked straight into Ginny’s eyes. “In a good way,” she added, serious and heart-breakingly honest. “And Ginny, you are beautiful inside as well as out. May I kiss you?”
The last sentence caught Ginny by surprise. Having Luna closer in her life, she thought with rueful happiness, would probably do that often. But she looked back at Luna, sitting patiently beside her – waiting for her answer, despite the fact that it was Ginny who had propositioned Luna in the first place – and nodded.
“Please,” she said.
Luna kissed her, and Ginny lost the last of her doubts at that moment. Luna’s lips were soft and plump and not chapped, as Harry’s so often were. Her kiss was so different as she gently opened her mouth; yet it sent a firestorm through Ginny that startled her. She had known that she was attracted to Luna; but the attraction was stronger than she’d realised. Ginny had always cared so deeply for Harry that she had passed over her feelings for the other woman, but now she allowed them all to come to the front. Her feelings for Harry were no less strong, but she accepted her – well, her love for Luna in that moment.
The kiss finished and Ginny was breathing a little unsteadily. She was frightened to meet Luna’s eye, worried that the other woman would not have felt what she felt.
Luna smiled. “Well, I think we can safely say we’re sexually compatible,” she said conversationally, though there was a look in her eyes which betrayed her.
“I don’t know,” Ginny said, suddenly mischievous. “Don’t you think we’d better test it a little further?” She caught Luna’s gaze. “Harry and the children are staying the night with Ron and Hermione. It’s okay – it’s been planned for a while. I know he likes to spend time with the other two, just the three of them, sometimes. They went through so much together. And Albus and Rose are the same age; and Lily and Hugo are inseparable, so it’s impossible to go there without them. James used to get jealous,” she admitted.
Luna patted her arm. “I don’t think you need to worry about James. He will find his own way.” Her eyes went distant for a second, and Ginny wondered, not for the first time, whether her new girlfriend – at least, she hoped that was what Luna was – was a Seer. Then she seemed to shake herself. “But for now… yes, Ginny. I think very much that we should test it further.”
She leaned in, and this time took Ginny firmly in her arms. Luna was by no means a large woman; Ginny was taller than she, but she had curves in a way athletic Ginny never had. Ginny had never had a chance to explore her attraction to women, though she’d been thoroughly aware of it, both through the bolts of desire which hit her when she came across particular women, and through some more than explicit dreams. Now, it was as if one of those dreams were coming to life.
Their kisses got steadily more passionate. Ginny’s nipples were tightening and hardening, even without Luna’s touch; the place between her legs throbbed and dampened. Luna made little noises of pleasure, sliding her body closer to Ginny’s until they were touching all over. Ginny stripped Luna of her shirt, barely realising what she was doing, and reached her hands up to cup Luna’s breasts, revelling in the way they spilled out of her palms. Luna was not Harry; was not anything like Harry – and yet she turned Ginny on as no one but Harry had ever done.
“Ginny, darling” - and Ginny realised that Luna was actually calling her ‘darling’, almost a declaration of love from her strangely reserved friend - “shall we take this to a bed?”
“Oh yes,” Ginny breathed.
She took Luna to the bed that she and Harry shared. It was a statement as much as anything – that Luna was not, and would never be, the dirty secret, hidden away somewhere else. She was Ginny’s lover with Harry’s blessing; and if she had not loved Harry as well as Ginny, she would not have been where she was. They wanted family, and Luna was that. Or, at least, that was where they hoped she would end up. At the moment, she was a close – soon to be closer – friend.
Ginny knew that Harry was in the minds of both of them. Not as a disturbing presence, nor was he at the forefront of anything at all. How could he be, when Ginny and Luna were so bound up in each other? But his existence was never forgotten, never in doubt. He was not in the bed, but he was part of the relationship, in his own way.
Luna naked was beautiful. She still had the protruding eyes which dominated her face, but when they were glowing with love they had their own attractiveness. She wasn’t a large woman; yet Ginny’s muscular physique stood in stark comparison to Luna’s softer curves. Luna’s blonde hair spread across the pillows as she lay back on the large bed, her legs curling around Ginny’s and her hands reaching out to pull the other woman towards her. But Ginny resisted, wanting just to stare at the beauty before her – at Luna’s plump, full breasts and the golden curls which protected her sex. She could see the inner lips within Luna’s vulva peeking out, knew that Luna’s clit must be hiding just between those protective layers.
“Luna,” she said softly.
“I want you, Ginny.” It was a simple statement, and Luna didn’t try to complicate it further.
“Yes.” Ginny hesitated. “I don’t know what I’m doing, not from experience.” She had only had one partner – Harry – in her life. Kisses aplenty before him, but she’d always stopped things from going further.
Luna grasped her hand and squeezed it. “That’s all right. I do.”
And she did. Ginny moaned as Luna slid a hand between her legs, touching her as she kissed her. She felt fingers sliding through her wetness, using that dampness to cover her clit before teasing it back and forth with a simple, sinuous pressure which made her break her mouth away from Luna’s to cry out loudly.
“Luna - Luna!”
“Yes, my dearest. Like that,” Luna encouraged.
It had been so long since Ginny came at the touch of anyone but herself; she screwed her eyes shut, hardly able to comprehend the pleasure of Luna’s fingers bringing her to orgasm. She panted hard, falling down against Luna’s shoulder and pressing damp-mouthed kisses to it as she struggled to control her breathing.
When she had, she saw Luna’s bright-eyed gaze and she laughed aloud in happiness. She had hoped – of course she had hoped – that it would come to this; but that it had come so easily, so well! It was more than everything. She tried to express some of this to Luna, but realised halfway through her stammered comments that she didn’t need to. Not with Luna. Luna understood.
And now it was Ginny’s turn to touch Luna. Luna was flushed a delicate pink (much prettier than the bright flushed red that Ginny was sure her own face currently was), showing her arousal. Her nipples were peaked and a soft coral colour, full and round. Ginny had fed three children from her own breasts, but they were still nothing to the beautiful curves of Luna’s. Giving in to temptation, she lowered her mouth to suck at Luna’s right nipple, flicking it with her tongue and listening to the way Luna’s breath hitched at the motion.
“Yes, Ginny dearest, just like that.”
Ginny sucked hard before letting go, and looked up at Luna with a mischievous smile. “You like that?”
“Yes.” Luna’s lips curved in her own smile.
Ginny thought about how few people would be content with that one word. Luna was special, different. It was such a contrast to when she had made love with Harry. She had loved every moment of those times – at least in the early days, before she had felt that Harry was doing it as a duty to her; before he’d struggled even to get properly hard, let alone orgasm, when he was with her. But being with Luna was such a separate experience that it was wonderful. She had been worried that, when it came to it, she would still have felt a little as if she were cheating on her husband. But it was nothing like that. This was Luna, her girlfriend – her lover, she hoped for the rest of their lives. And Harry was her husband, and he would be Luna’s boyfriend, in time, in his own way. And it was perfect, and right.
It was so, so right.
Ginny turned her attention to Luna’s left breast, letting her fingers play with the dampened nipple of the right one, before cupping the whole thing firmly in her hand. Luna made little noises of encouragement, and Ginny pressed her body against the lower half of Luna, rocking up against her in a way which made both of them sigh with need. Ginny’s left hand lowered, and she slipped in two fingers inside Luna, marvelling at the way the other woman took her in. Luna bucked her hips up, pushing Ginny deeper inside her; and Ginny curved her fingers to press against the inner walls of her vagina.
“Oh, oh yes, there,” Luna murmured, her voice breathy.
Ginny pushed herself up against Luna’s thigh, rubbing hard against it as she gently pressed her fingers against that spot inside her girlfriend, the heel of her hand putting gentle pressure on Luna’s clit at the same time. It felt so natural; and even as Ginny suckled hard on Luna’s left breast, taking the whole areola into her mouth to do so, she felt Luna spasm beneath her.
Ginny had to move her mouth, because the feeling of Luna coming was so intense that she couldn’t help pressing herself further, harder, against Luna’s leg. Luna was still pulsing, little contractions flowing through her like magic; and Ginny found herself orgasming for a second time, squeezing her eyes shut and resting her head between Luna’s beautiful breasts.
“Wow,” Ginny said, lifting her head and smiling at Luna, a few minutes later.
“Wow indeed,” Luna agreed teasingly. She hummed with pleasure, stretching herself out and pulling Ginny more comfortably into her arms. “Thank you, Ginny.”
“I think I should be thanking you,” Ginny said. “Does this mean – will you be…?”
“Will I be part of your family?” Luna asked, kissing the top of Ginny’s head almost dreamily. “I’d like that.”
“You already were, really,” Ginny mused. She flung an arm across Luna’s stomach, curving it round. “But now, more so.”
“We’ll need to talk more about it, of course,” Luna said, unexpectedly practical. “With Harry as well. But I don’t really think I could do that right now. I seem to be a little bit distracted.”
Ginny giggled at this, feeling younger than she had done for years. Things were going to be better. She would no longer be looking at Harry with that faint sense of resentment that she wasn’t getting what she wanted – and then that much greater sense of guilt that she should want to ask any more of an otherwise wonderful husband. Her best friend would now be an even closer part of her life than before; and she knew that Harry loved Luna already, and would only grow to love her more. Already she felt right making love with Luna; and it seemed that Luna felt the same way.
“Distracted, eh?” She tickled Luna, who squealed and wriggled, blonde hair flicking around her.
In response, Luna pulled her closer, trapping Ginny’s arms to prevent any further assaults on her person. “Very,” Luna agreed seriously, “and it wasn’t a complaint.” She stroked Ginny’s back. “I think,” she added, her serious tone continuing, “that we might just be very happy.”
Ginny pressed a kiss to the top of Luna’s breast as she snuggled against her. “I think you may be right.”
Harry
Harry wasn’t sure when Luna stopped being ‘Ginny’s girlfriend’ and started being a real, proper, part of the family. They’d always intended it, but Harry hadn’t realised how all-encompassing it really would become. How much Luna would mean to him, not just to Ginny. She had been Ginny’s ‘choice’, if you will; and yet, if you asked Harry now, he would say that she was equally his choice. Luna was as much his, in her own way, as Ginny was. Though of course they were both their own person above all else. That was one of the things Harry loved best about both his girls: that they were not, would never be, ‘Harry Potter’s wife and girlfriend’. They would always be Ginny and Luna, first and last. He was lucky to have what he had of them, and he knew it.
It was a slow process, and for the longest time the kids just knew that Lily’s godmother was spending more and more time at the house. Luna had always been tactile, so seeing her hugging and kissing Ginny – and Harry, because she was always ready to embrace him in a non-sexual fashion, taking care that she did not overstep any boundaries he might have – did not surprise, let alone shock, Albus or Lily (or James, when he was home from school). When she finally moved in, she had her own bedroom – Harry and Ginny slept (in a literal fashion) together, with Harry cuddling Ginny to sleep almost every night; and Luna slept in a room down the hall. On occasional nights when the kids were away, Ginny and Luna shared Luna’s bed, but she was an extra almost-aunt for quite a while. Except, she was more than that. Luna would cuddle Harry as much as Ginny, he realised – and, what was more, he was taking it for granted. She would look after (and discipline, in her own, Luna-ish, way) the children, and they accepted it as much as any pre-teen did.
After a while, it was Harry who suggested that they transfigure the bed – his and Ginny’s bed – to make it big enough for three. The actual transfiguration was left to Luna, who was better at it than either of the ex-Gryffindors; and when it was ready, the bed was a beautiful haven of comfort in a house which could become quite manic outside the bedroom. Sometimes, Harry would wake in the night to hear Ginny and Luna making love, and it did not bother him. Indeed, he found the idea that his two partners were pleasing each other in a way he could not do for them strangely comforting.
‘Coming out’ to the children, when they eventually did so, was a bit of a damp squib. Lily asked whether it meant that she had two mothers; Albus – on the point of going to Hogwarts, and with the attitude to match – rolled his eyes and said, “Like we didn’t already know;” and James simply said, “Whatever. I just don’t want to know the details,” and wandered off to owl his new ‘girlfriend’.
The papers, of course, had a field day – but as Ginny said, “If we worried about the papers, we wouldn’t have done anything.” Ron and Hermione had known from the start and been supportive; and that was frankly all Harry needed.
They were an unconventional family, Harry thought, looking at the newest photograph on the wall. Luna stood in front of Ginny, who had one arm around her waist and the other around Harry’s, who was standing beside her. Lily was snuggled into Harry’s other side, whilst Al and James were poking each other as they sat on the floor in front of the rest. They looked happy, all of them. Harry looked back at a picture from a couple of years earlier. The lines between Ginny’s eyes had been clear, now he considered it: she had been smiling, but she had not been truly content. The difference was obvious. And if Harry had a few more grey hairs in the most recent picture, he didn’t care. They might be an unconventional family – but they worked.
Author/Artist:
iamisaacPrompt: # 212 and
museinabsentiaPairing(s): Harry/Ginny, Ginny/Luna, Harry/Ginny/Luna
Word Count/Art Medium: ~5200 words
Rating: R
Warning(s)/Content: poly relationship, ace character, f/f sex, epilogue compliant
Disclaimer:Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Dear
museinabsentia, I hope that it is made clear enough that the relationship functions between all three of them, even though it’s sort of glossed over.Livejournal Link
Summary: Harry loves his wife, adores her, but he is slowly coming to realize that he has absolutely zero interest in sex. Fearing that Ginny's needs aren't being met they sit down and discuss this. After chatting, they decide that considering a third partner isn't a terrible idea. Now, who do they love, who might be quirky enough, and yet smart enough, to understand such an unconventional relationship?
“Harry, we have to talk.”
The kids were in bed. Al had made a bit of a fuss - “I’m ten now – why can’t I go to bed at ten to match?” - but he’d been settled quickly enough with a reminder that following that logic would mean allowing James to stay up until midnight when he was home from Hogwarts. Albus hadn’t liked that idea, and had accepted that having half an hour longer than Lily before bed was a fair compromise.
Harry looked across at his wife. God, he loved her. She was beautiful, with her bright red hair tied back in that no-nonsense ponytail and her pale, freckled skin glowing in the lamplight. She was in her thirties, and growing into her looks more and more, in his opinion.
“That sounds serious.”
Ginny bit her lip as she sat down beside him, cuddling into his side as she so often did. “Harry, when was the last time we had sex?”
Harry flushed. He hated talking about this. They hadn’t had sex for ages, he knew – and he’d liked it that way. It had been… nice, just cuddling and holding each other as they fell asleep. All of that business with penises and getting an erection and then the pressure to come, in case Ginny thought that he wasn’t into it because he hadn’t – it was just so much hassle. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Ginny, but sex just didn’t do anything for him. In truth, it hadn’t for ages. He’d tried to have sex, to please her, but he got so little from it. And, if he were honest, he’d have to admit that he wondered how much he really gave to Ginny, too. Now, they tended only to have sex after they’d had a conversation like this, with Ginny pointing out that it had been a while.
“I’ll try and do better,” he said quickly.
Ginny leaned her head even harder against him, pressing against his chest. His arm tightened around her.
“I don’t want you to ‘try’, Harry,” she said sadly. “I want you to want it, and you don’t.”
“I...”
“It’s okay… Well, it’s not okay,” she admitted. “But I’m not – angry with you. We just need to talk about it.”
Harry wanted nothing less than to talk about it.
“I just,” Ginny continued, as he didn’t say anything, “I just feel like I’m nagging every time the subject comes up.”
“Then don’t nag – just hug me,” Harry said, pulling her half onto his lap and kissing the top of her head.
He felt, rather than heard, her sigh. “Harry, I’m thirty-four. I don’t want to have the rest of my life not having sex. And yet I don’t want to force you into sex either. But I love you and there’s no way I could possibly have a life without you. So – I don’t know what to do.”
“Gin, I love you,” Harry said.
“I love you too.” She raised her head and pressed a kiss to his lips. “More than I can possibly say. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to go to sleep next to you, wake up next to you, hold you and hug you and —”
“And have sex,” Harry finished, trying not to sound as depressed as he felt at the idea.
“I want you to be happy,” Ginny said, kissing him again, this time on the cheek.
“I am.” Harry stroked her hair, looking at this wonderful wife of his. “But you’re not, are you?”
“I want to be. And I mostly am,” Ginny said quickly. “It’s just...”
Harry swallowed. He’d been coming to a conclusion for a long time, but he’d never said the words out loud.
“I’m asexual, Gin.” He took a shaky breath, barely able to believe he’d finally said the words out loud. “I know it sounds crazy, when we have three kids, but – it’s been okay, nice – very nice, even… but I don’t want it. Not any more. I don’t want sex. I’m just… I don’t want it. I’m sorry.”
Ginny sighed. Harry thought at first it was sadness, but she reached up and hugged him hard. “Oh, love, I’m so glad you’ve said it,” she said. “I know.” She gave a sad laugh. “I could hardly help but know. But I didn’t know whether you were ever going to be able to acknowledge it, or whether we were going to have to go on with you trying to pretend you liked it, or had any interest in – well, let’s be vulgar – sticking your cock into me. When you don’t, and it’s blatantly obvious to all concerned. I mean, I did wonder if you were gay, but —”
“I’m not,” Harry said firmly. He seriously had no interest in men at all. He at least liked looking at women, and cuddling and touching Ginny. Just not… like that.
“I know.” Ginny smiled at him.
“I just don’t – it’s not you, Gin, I swear. I love you more than I can say.” He squeezed her tight, feeling the prickly sensation at the back of his eyes which threatened tears. “It’s just… my body – my mind… I don’t have any interest in sex. With anyone. At all.”
“It’s okay. Talk to me. Please, Harry, just talk.” Ginny sounded pleading.
Harry took a deep breath. “It’s not always – I mean, when we made the kids, it was fine. It’s never been… I mean, I really enjoyed it. Never think I didn’t. But...”
“It’s never been the most important thing in your life. I know. It’s not for me, either. Except —”
“More than me,” Harry said.
Ginny had tears in her brown eyes as she nodded.
“Gin,” Harry whispered. “I know it’s selfish, but… I’d hate it if you had sex with another man. That’s awful of me, isn’t it?”
Ginny had both of her lips bitten between her teeth. She looked as if she didn’t know how to answer. Harry waited, his heart beating uncomfortably hard in his chest.
“I always thought,” she said at last, “when we got married, that that would be – it. You and me. But...” She gave a wobbly smile. “I kind of thought you’d want to have sex with me. Not all the time, but – well, sometimes.”
“I know.” Harry felt awful. Logically, he knew it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t want sex. But emotionally? It felt shit. Like he was cheating her. “Do you...” He felt a huge lump in his throat, but forced the words past it, “want to have sex with other people?”
“I want to have sex with you,” she said in a small voice. “But not if you don’t want to.”
“You’re not happy.”
“I am!” Ginny said. Then she sagged. “I’m not, not entirely.”
“So… maybe we could find someone else,” Harry said, with a heavy heart. “For you to...” Some man, with his Ginny. It was difficult to stomach, no matter how much he wanted her to be happy.
“But you said you didn’t want me to sleep with another man,” Ginny pointed out. She hesitated. “Harry, you do know I’m bi, don’t you?”
“Huh?” Harry looked at her in bewilderment.
Ginny made a huffing noise that Harry knew well after fourteen years of marriage. “Remember all those times we’ve watched the telly and discussed which women we fancy? Remember that?”
“Yeah. You had that crush on Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings saga,” he said. “Long blonde hair did it for you. There were no gingers, which I found very disappointing.”
She laughed, as he’d hoped for. “But the thing is,” she said; and Harry could feel that she was shaking a little bit, “if I slept with another woman… would that be better?”
“You would...” Harry tried to get his head around the idea of his wife with a woman.
“Have sex with a woman?” Ginny gave a weak smile. “To be honest, Harry, at this point I’d pretty much have sex with anyone who wanted me.” Harry winced. “Sorry,” she added. “I don’t mean to be awful.”
“No,” Harry said bravely. “You’re not. I mean, I get it.”
He thought to himself that he’d almost do anything to make sure he wouldn’t have to have sex ever again. And then thought about it again. Wasn’t that – maybe – what could happen? If Ginny found another woman? And… if it were another woman, somehow that would be better than her sleeping with another man. He wasn’t sure why or how that worked, but… There was no denying that Harry had serious jealousy issues when he considered the idea of Ginny fucking a man, which weren’t there when he thought about a woman.
“I love you so much, Harry,” Ginny whispered. “That will never change.”
“I love you. I want you to have everything you want. Gin – if you want to sleep with another woman, you have my blessing.”
Ginny was crying. “I don’t know why having permission makes me feel so awful,” she whispered, dampening Harry’s top as she cried into it.
Harry had tears in his eyes too. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said, repeating it over and over as he held his wife tightly against his body. “It’s okay.”
Ginny wasn’t sure when it was that Luna came to mind. She’d always found Luna attractive – well, she thought wryly, remembering Eowyn, she probably had an attraction to women with long blonde hair! But it wasn’t just that she fancied Luna. She liked, perhaps loved in a way, the other woman. Lily’s godmother; the woman Ginny was closest to. Harry was closest to Hermione, of course – always would be, in all likelihood. It had taken Ginny quite a while not to be jealous of that particular friendship, even though she knew that Hermione was (for reasons quite bewildering to Ginny) in love with Ron. Hermione was James’s godmother, of course. But Luna was Lily’s – and the one living person whom Ginny and Harry had chosen to name their child after. Perhaps it was inevitable that she should be bound up in their lives. And, of course, she was unconventional enough that Ginny felt confident that she wouldn’t be shocked or outraged if Ginny and Harry approached her. She might refuse (perhaps, Ginny thought with a smile, the Nargles would tell her that it was a bad idea) but she wouldn’t allow it to negatively affect the relationship she already had with the couple.
When she mentioned her idea to Harry, his face brightened.
“Luna? You’d want —”
“Merlin, yes! Harry, have you seriously never noticed how gorgeous she is?”
Harry hugged her, kissing her head. “I’ve been too busy noticing how gorgeous you are. But I’m very fond of Luna. You know that.”
Ginny felt a warmth run through her. Harry did love her, even if he didn’t want to have sex with her. She knew that. And she loved him, and that would never change.
“So you wouldn’t mind if I – or maybe if we - asked her?” she checked.
“I think you should do it,” Harry said quietly. “Tell her I don’t mind, and that she can check with me – invite her over, if you want?”
“I want her to be part of the family, if…” Ginny hesitated. “If we become – lovers. I mean, I don’t want it to be me-and-Luna and me-and-you. I want it to be us.”
“And the kids?” Harry asked.
“Slowly,” Ginny said. “I mean, I haven’t even asked her yet. I might think she’s gorgeous – and I know she’s interested in women: do you remember that peculiar woman who ran a magical knitting shop? - but she’s never particularly shown any interest in me.”
“If she likes women, she’ll like you,” Harry said. “Go and ask her, love. You have my blessing.”
Ginny turned and pressed a kiss to Harry’s lips. “Love you, Harry.”
He smiled at her. “I know. That’s why it’s okay.”
*
“...I mean, I know you might not be interested,” Ginny hurried on, cradling her glass of white wine between two hands to try and stop them shaking, “but – well...”
Luna, smiling, reached forwards towards Ginny. For a moment, Ginny thought the other woman might kiss her, but instead she gently unfastened Ginny’s hands from the glass and placed it on the little table in front of them.
“Don’t give the Wrackspurts a chance to breed,” Luna advised, the twinkle in her eyes making it difficult to know whether even she believed in the creatures she was talking about. Luna was like that: as willing to tease about her unusual interests as take them seriously.
“L-luna?” Without her barrier of the wine glass, Ginny felt small and nervous. Like a First Year faced with the Sorting Hat.
“Yes,” Luna said softly. Her slightly larger hand, with its long, tapered fingers, covered Ginny’s small one. “Harry agrees, you said?”
“‘You have my blessing’ were his words,” Ginny said. “He said you could ask him, too, if you wanted.”
Luna looked at her seriously. “If I had to ask him, in order to trust your word, the answer would be no.” Her fingers tightened around Ginny’s. “But I don’t. And it isn’t.”
“You know that a relationship with me is a relationship with Harry too,” Ginny said. “We come as a package deal.” She laughed. “Two for the price of one,” she mocked. “But seriously, Harry’s asexual, but he’s still my husband. And you – I don’t want you to be ‘a bit on the side’. You’re Lily’s godmother because you’re important to us. To us. To our family.”
“What you mean is that you’re asking me to be part of your family,” Luna said calmly.
It sounded so simple, put in Luna’s terms. That was the magic of Luna: she could make the most complicated concepts sound simple – and the simplest sound as confusing as Advanced Arithmancy.
“Well, yes.” Ginny paused. “I mean, sort of. There are the children.”
“I don’t have human children,” Luna said, her voice pensive. “Except that I do. I haven’t birthed a child – but then, neither has Harry. Lily is not mine, I know. And yet she is, because with her name you entwined her magic with mine. I can feel her magic, you know.”
Ginny wasn’t sure what Luna meant by that last part of her sentence, but Luna was not a Ravenclaw for nothing. She might seem mad on the outside, but she felt and understood things which other people didn’t. And Ginny had always known that Luna’s bond with her daughter was stronger than the bond between the other children and their godparents. The love was no less, but there was something special. Perhaps because of the name. Names held strength: anyone who had lived through the War with Voldemort knew that.
“You already are family, in a way,” Luna continued, apparently unaware of the turmoil in Ginny’s mind. Then she looked straight into Ginny’s eyes. “In a good way,” she added, serious and heart-breakingly honest. “And Ginny, you are beautiful inside as well as out. May I kiss you?”
The last sentence caught Ginny by surprise. Having Luna closer in her life, she thought with rueful happiness, would probably do that often. But she looked back at Luna, sitting patiently beside her – waiting for her answer, despite the fact that it was Ginny who had propositioned Luna in the first place – and nodded.
“Please,” she said.
Luna kissed her, and Ginny lost the last of her doubts at that moment. Luna’s lips were soft and plump and not chapped, as Harry’s so often were. Her kiss was so different as she gently opened her mouth; yet it sent a firestorm through Ginny that startled her. She had known that she was attracted to Luna; but the attraction was stronger than she’d realised. Ginny had always cared so deeply for Harry that she had passed over her feelings for the other woman, but now she allowed them all to come to the front. Her feelings for Harry were no less strong, but she accepted her – well, her love for Luna in that moment.
The kiss finished and Ginny was breathing a little unsteadily. She was frightened to meet Luna’s eye, worried that the other woman would not have felt what she felt.
Luna smiled. “Well, I think we can safely say we’re sexually compatible,” she said conversationally, though there was a look in her eyes which betrayed her.
“I don’t know,” Ginny said, suddenly mischievous. “Don’t you think we’d better test it a little further?” She caught Luna’s gaze. “Harry and the children are staying the night with Ron and Hermione. It’s okay – it’s been planned for a while. I know he likes to spend time with the other two, just the three of them, sometimes. They went through so much together. And Albus and Rose are the same age; and Lily and Hugo are inseparable, so it’s impossible to go there without them. James used to get jealous,” she admitted.
Luna patted her arm. “I don’t think you need to worry about James. He will find his own way.” Her eyes went distant for a second, and Ginny wondered, not for the first time, whether her new girlfriend – at least, she hoped that was what Luna was – was a Seer. Then she seemed to shake herself. “But for now… yes, Ginny. I think very much that we should test it further.”
She leaned in, and this time took Ginny firmly in her arms. Luna was by no means a large woman; Ginny was taller than she, but she had curves in a way athletic Ginny never had. Ginny had never had a chance to explore her attraction to women, though she’d been thoroughly aware of it, both through the bolts of desire which hit her when she came across particular women, and through some more than explicit dreams. Now, it was as if one of those dreams were coming to life.
Their kisses got steadily more passionate. Ginny’s nipples were tightening and hardening, even without Luna’s touch; the place between her legs throbbed and dampened. Luna made little noises of pleasure, sliding her body closer to Ginny’s until they were touching all over. Ginny stripped Luna of her shirt, barely realising what she was doing, and reached her hands up to cup Luna’s breasts, revelling in the way they spilled out of her palms. Luna was not Harry; was not anything like Harry – and yet she turned Ginny on as no one but Harry had ever done.
“Ginny, darling” - and Ginny realised that Luna was actually calling her ‘darling’, almost a declaration of love from her strangely reserved friend - “shall we take this to a bed?”
“Oh yes,” Ginny breathed.
She took Luna to the bed that she and Harry shared. It was a statement as much as anything – that Luna was not, and would never be, the dirty secret, hidden away somewhere else. She was Ginny’s lover with Harry’s blessing; and if she had not loved Harry as well as Ginny, she would not have been where she was. They wanted family, and Luna was that. Or, at least, that was where they hoped she would end up. At the moment, she was a close – soon to be closer – friend.
Ginny knew that Harry was in the minds of both of them. Not as a disturbing presence, nor was he at the forefront of anything at all. How could he be, when Ginny and Luna were so bound up in each other? But his existence was never forgotten, never in doubt. He was not in the bed, but he was part of the relationship, in his own way.
Luna naked was beautiful. She still had the protruding eyes which dominated her face, but when they were glowing with love they had their own attractiveness. She wasn’t a large woman; yet Ginny’s muscular physique stood in stark comparison to Luna’s softer curves. Luna’s blonde hair spread across the pillows as she lay back on the large bed, her legs curling around Ginny’s and her hands reaching out to pull the other woman towards her. But Ginny resisted, wanting just to stare at the beauty before her – at Luna’s plump, full breasts and the golden curls which protected her sex. She could see the inner lips within Luna’s vulva peeking out, knew that Luna’s clit must be hiding just between those protective layers.
“Luna,” she said softly.
“I want you, Ginny.” It was a simple statement, and Luna didn’t try to complicate it further.
“Yes.” Ginny hesitated. “I don’t know what I’m doing, not from experience.” She had only had one partner – Harry – in her life. Kisses aplenty before him, but she’d always stopped things from going further.
Luna grasped her hand and squeezed it. “That’s all right. I do.”
And she did. Ginny moaned as Luna slid a hand between her legs, touching her as she kissed her. She felt fingers sliding through her wetness, using that dampness to cover her clit before teasing it back and forth with a simple, sinuous pressure which made her break her mouth away from Luna’s to cry out loudly.
“Luna - Luna!”
“Yes, my dearest. Like that,” Luna encouraged.
It had been so long since Ginny came at the touch of anyone but herself; she screwed her eyes shut, hardly able to comprehend the pleasure of Luna’s fingers bringing her to orgasm. She panted hard, falling down against Luna’s shoulder and pressing damp-mouthed kisses to it as she struggled to control her breathing.
When she had, she saw Luna’s bright-eyed gaze and she laughed aloud in happiness. She had hoped – of course she had hoped – that it would come to this; but that it had come so easily, so well! It was more than everything. She tried to express some of this to Luna, but realised halfway through her stammered comments that she didn’t need to. Not with Luna. Luna understood.
And now it was Ginny’s turn to touch Luna. Luna was flushed a delicate pink (much prettier than the bright flushed red that Ginny was sure her own face currently was), showing her arousal. Her nipples were peaked and a soft coral colour, full and round. Ginny had fed three children from her own breasts, but they were still nothing to the beautiful curves of Luna’s. Giving in to temptation, she lowered her mouth to suck at Luna’s right nipple, flicking it with her tongue and listening to the way Luna’s breath hitched at the motion.
“Yes, Ginny dearest, just like that.”
Ginny sucked hard before letting go, and looked up at Luna with a mischievous smile. “You like that?”
“Yes.” Luna’s lips curved in her own smile.
Ginny thought about how few people would be content with that one word. Luna was special, different. It was such a contrast to when she had made love with Harry. She had loved every moment of those times – at least in the early days, before she had felt that Harry was doing it as a duty to her; before he’d struggled even to get properly hard, let alone orgasm, when he was with her. But being with Luna was such a separate experience that it was wonderful. She had been worried that, when it came to it, she would still have felt a little as if she were cheating on her husband. But it was nothing like that. This was Luna, her girlfriend – her lover, she hoped for the rest of their lives. And Harry was her husband, and he would be Luna’s boyfriend, in time, in his own way. And it was perfect, and right.
It was so, so right.
Ginny turned her attention to Luna’s left breast, letting her fingers play with the dampened nipple of the right one, before cupping the whole thing firmly in her hand. Luna made little noises of encouragement, and Ginny pressed her body against the lower half of Luna, rocking up against her in a way which made both of them sigh with need. Ginny’s left hand lowered, and she slipped in two fingers inside Luna, marvelling at the way the other woman took her in. Luna bucked her hips up, pushing Ginny deeper inside her; and Ginny curved her fingers to press against the inner walls of her vagina.
“Oh, oh yes, there,” Luna murmured, her voice breathy.
Ginny pushed herself up against Luna’s thigh, rubbing hard against it as she gently pressed her fingers against that spot inside her girlfriend, the heel of her hand putting gentle pressure on Luna’s clit at the same time. It felt so natural; and even as Ginny suckled hard on Luna’s left breast, taking the whole areola into her mouth to do so, she felt Luna spasm beneath her.
Ginny had to move her mouth, because the feeling of Luna coming was so intense that she couldn’t help pressing herself further, harder, against Luna’s leg. Luna was still pulsing, little contractions flowing through her like magic; and Ginny found herself orgasming for a second time, squeezing her eyes shut and resting her head between Luna’s beautiful breasts.
“Wow,” Ginny said, lifting her head and smiling at Luna, a few minutes later.
“Wow indeed,” Luna agreed teasingly. She hummed with pleasure, stretching herself out and pulling Ginny more comfortably into her arms. “Thank you, Ginny.”
“I think I should be thanking you,” Ginny said. “Does this mean – will you be…?”
“Will I be part of your family?” Luna asked, kissing the top of Ginny’s head almost dreamily. “I’d like that.”
“You already were, really,” Ginny mused. She flung an arm across Luna’s stomach, curving it round. “But now, more so.”
“We’ll need to talk more about it, of course,” Luna said, unexpectedly practical. “With Harry as well. But I don’t really think I could do that right now. I seem to be a little bit distracted.”
Ginny giggled at this, feeling younger than she had done for years. Things were going to be better. She would no longer be looking at Harry with that faint sense of resentment that she wasn’t getting what she wanted – and then that much greater sense of guilt that she should want to ask any more of an otherwise wonderful husband. Her best friend would now be an even closer part of her life than before; and she knew that Harry loved Luna already, and would only grow to love her more. Already she felt right making love with Luna; and it seemed that Luna felt the same way.
“Distracted, eh?” She tickled Luna, who squealed and wriggled, blonde hair flicking around her.
In response, Luna pulled her closer, trapping Ginny’s arms to prevent any further assaults on her person. “Very,” Luna agreed seriously, “and it wasn’t a complaint.” She stroked Ginny’s back. “I think,” she added, her serious tone continuing, “that we might just be very happy.”
Ginny pressed a kiss to the top of Luna’s breast as she snuggled against her. “I think you may be right.”
Harry wasn’t sure when Luna stopped being ‘Ginny’s girlfriend’ and started being a real, proper, part of the family. They’d always intended it, but Harry hadn’t realised how all-encompassing it really would become. How much Luna would mean to him, not just to Ginny. She had been Ginny’s ‘choice’, if you will; and yet, if you asked Harry now, he would say that she was equally his choice. Luna was as much his, in her own way, as Ginny was. Though of course they were both their own person above all else. That was one of the things Harry loved best about both his girls: that they were not, would never be, ‘Harry Potter’s wife and girlfriend’. They would always be Ginny and Luna, first and last. He was lucky to have what he had of them, and he knew it.
It was a slow process, and for the longest time the kids just knew that Lily’s godmother was spending more and more time at the house. Luna had always been tactile, so seeing her hugging and kissing Ginny – and Harry, because she was always ready to embrace him in a non-sexual fashion, taking care that she did not overstep any boundaries he might have – did not surprise, let alone shock, Albus or Lily (or James, when he was home from school). When she finally moved in, she had her own bedroom – Harry and Ginny slept (in a literal fashion) together, with Harry cuddling Ginny to sleep almost every night; and Luna slept in a room down the hall. On occasional nights when the kids were away, Ginny and Luna shared Luna’s bed, but she was an extra almost-aunt for quite a while. Except, she was more than that. Luna would cuddle Harry as much as Ginny, he realised – and, what was more, he was taking it for granted. She would look after (and discipline, in her own, Luna-ish, way) the children, and they accepted it as much as any pre-teen did.
After a while, it was Harry who suggested that they transfigure the bed – his and Ginny’s bed – to make it big enough for three. The actual transfiguration was left to Luna, who was better at it than either of the ex-Gryffindors; and when it was ready, the bed was a beautiful haven of comfort in a house which could become quite manic outside the bedroom. Sometimes, Harry would wake in the night to hear Ginny and Luna making love, and it did not bother him. Indeed, he found the idea that his two partners were pleasing each other in a way he could not do for them strangely comforting.
‘Coming out’ to the children, when they eventually did so, was a bit of a damp squib. Lily asked whether it meant that she had two mothers; Albus – on the point of going to Hogwarts, and with the attitude to match – rolled his eyes and said, “Like we didn’t already know;” and James simply said, “Whatever. I just don’t want to know the details,” and wandered off to owl his new ‘girlfriend’.
The papers, of course, had a field day – but as Ginny said, “If we worried about the papers, we wouldn’t have done anything.” Ron and Hermione had known from the start and been supportive; and that was frankly all Harry needed.
They were an unconventional family, Harry thought, looking at the newest photograph on the wall. Luna stood in front of Ginny, who had one arm around her waist and the other around Harry’s, who was standing beside her. Lily was snuggled into Harry’s other side, whilst Al and James were poking each other as they sat on the floor in front of the rest. They looked happy, all of them. Harry looked back at a picture from a couple of years earlier. The lines between Ginny’s eyes had been clear, now he considered it: she had been smiling, but she had not been truly content. The difference was obvious. And if Harry had a few more grey hairs in the most recent picture, he didn’t care. They might be an unconventional family – but they worked.
