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SIYE Time:15:35 on 29th March 2024
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Magic and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
By mdauben

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Romance
Warnings: Mild Language
Story is Complete
Rating: G
Reviews: 32
Summary: During the summer after the final battle, Harry decides to rebuild his godfather's old motorcycle. Could it be that he will be able to to rebuild more than just that now that Voldemort is gone?
Hitcount: Story Total: 12708; Chapter Total: 2537





Author's Notes:
I apologize for the unreasonably long wait in posting this chapter. I could make up excuses about computer problems or real life commitments, but the truth is I just had a bit of a writer’s block. I knew what I wanted to happen in this chapter, but I just couldn’t seem to get it down in words in a manner that satisfied me. Finally, after going off and working on a couple of other writing projects, I was able to come back and finish this chapter. I’m still not sure if I’m totally satisfied with it but I hope you are not too disappointed in the final result. Luckily, the fourth and final chapter of this story was already completely written so it should be posted within the next few days once everyone has a chance to read this chapter.




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With the use of his birthday presents from Hermione and Ron, Harry had made rapid progress with the restoration of Sirius' old motorcycle. He had quickly identified the missing parts; after careful reading he had understood what each of the damaged parts was supposed to do, which had allowed him to magically repair the last couple of broken bits. He had the tank and frame repainted and now had the whole thing reassembled and ready to test!

Harry finished pouring the last of the petrol he had obtained at the small service station in Ottery St. Catchpole that morning out of the can. After wiping the tank off one more time with an old rag and screwing the cap back on he took a step back to admire all his hard work. The bike's tank was painted in the same Gryffindor scarlet and gold as Sirius had used on the original. The chrome mud guards were polished to a mirror-like shine with no trace of rust or grime. The rest of the bike was neat and clean and looked like it had just rolled out of the dealer's showroom.

"Oy!" Ginny said, bumping his arm with her shoulder, "You going to start that thing or just stare at it all day?"

With a grin on his face, Harry straddled the motorcycle and after setting the choke he unfolded the kick-starter and jumped up and down on it. Once. Twice. Three times and the motor roared to life! Making sure he was in first gear, Harry slowly let out the clutch and balanced the rumbling motorcycle as he made a careful circuit of the Burrow's back garden while Ginny cheered and clapped. Arriving back in front of the shed, the dark haired wizard switched off the ignition and set the motorcycle on its kickstand again before getting off.

Ginny walked up and gave Harry a congratulatory hug, which he thought ended much too soon, before saying, "You did it Harry! You finally got Sirius' old motorcycle back together and running."

He smiled back at the happy redhead and replied, "It took a bit of work, but it was well worth it. Now, I just need to get in some practice around here and I'll be ready to go and sit the license exam."

"That's the muggle thing you need to ride, right?" she asked as they walked over to the bench under one of the trees behind the Burrow.

"Yeah, I want to be sure I'm legal to ride it out on the public streets. I don't want to have to Obliviate some poor policeman who asks for my license just because I failed to signal for my turn!" Harry chuckled.

The two sat together on the bench, shoulders touching but no words spoken as they sat looking at the results of Harry's hard work sitting in the bright morning sunlight. "So," Harry broke the comfortable silence, "are you looking forward to your birthday next week? You'll be seventeen this year, a real, adult witch!" He thought about the birthday present he had bought her: a pair of box seat tickets he had hidden in his trunk upstairs for the Harpy's first pre-season game against the Appleby Arrows two days after Ginny's birthday.

"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed, with a cheeky grin, "I will be so glad to finally be able to do magic out of school. No more scrubbing the loo by hand or using towels to dry the dishes after dinner!"

"Thank goodness seven years of the finest magical education in the world won't be going to waste," Harry replied with a smirk.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him, but Harry could see the hint of a smile on her lips as she shot back, "Watch it, Potter! It's not just cleaning and drying charms I know. I'll be free to use my bat-bogey hex after next week, too!"

Harry raised his hands in surrender before they both broke out in laughter. Finally conquering her amusement, Ginny sighed as sat back against the bench and said, in a more serious tone, "More than that, it will be good to finally be treated like an adult."

Harry looked her in the eyes and without even thinking about it, said, "You have certainly earned it over the last couple years, Ginny. With the things you have gone through in your life, and come out of even stronger, you probably earned it some time ago."

She smiled up at him with a familiar, blazing look in her eyes when they were suddenly both distracted by the voice of Mrs. Weasley, "Ginny! Harry! I've got lunch on the table. Why don’t you both come in and get cleaned up."

Smiling, she suddenly gave him a hard shove that almost toppled him off the bench, before jumping up and running towards the kitchen door, calling back, "Come on Harry! Last one there has to do the lunch dishes the muggle way!"

Regaining his balance, Harry jumped up and ran after his companion, laughingly calling her a cheat as he tried to catch her before she reached the door.


~ * ~ * ~


Just over a week after Ginny's birthday, and after neatly avoiding the chickens scratching in the dirt, Harry rolled his motorcycle to a stop near the shed in the yard behind the Burrow. He was just returned from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the next town over from Ottery St. Catchpole, where he had passed the exam for his motorcycle driver’s license. He was proud of the fact that he had passed the whole exam honestly and without needing to resort to any magic. Well, he did have to employ a mild Confundus Charm on the examiner when he questioned how Harry and his motorcycle got to the DVLA without a license in the first place, but he felt that hardly counted. Taking off his helmet, gloves and jacket and laying them all on the seat of the motorcycle, he turned with a spring in his step towards the kitchen door of the Weasley home, eager to tell the good news to Ginny.

The dark haired wizard had not taken more than a few steps towards his goal, however, when the kitchen door banged open and the redheaded witch in question came racing across the yard towards him. Her brilliant locks flowed out behind her head like a streaming banner, bouncing with each step she took, and her eyes held that blazing look of excitement he loved so much.

"Harry! Harry! Look!" she shouted, waving one hand at him, "You were right! My Hogwarts letter came while you were gone and it was in there!"

The summer sun glinted off the polished metal of the Quidditch Captain badge she clutched in her waving hand, and Harry's face split into a broad smile.

"I knew it would be you, Ginny! I knew it! What did I tell you!" he yelled, spreading his arms out in welcome.

From several feet away, the excited young witch leapt into his open arms, and Harry swung her around as they both laughed in excitement and happiness. As he set her on her feet once more, Harry looked deep into Ginny's shining, brown eyes and was lost. Without conscious thought about whether this was the right time or place, about whether he or Ginny were ready for this, Harry dropped his lips to hers and kissed her with all the love and all the longing of the past year. Ginny's arms tightened around his neck and she returned the kiss with just as much passion and need as Harry.

Eventually, they ended the kiss when the need for air became overwhelming. After staring into each other's eyes for a long moment, the two just held each other, Ginny resting her head on Harry's chest, while Harry rested a cheek on the top of Ginny's head.

"Well, I see Ginny's told you her good news," said Mrs. Weasley from the back porch of the Burrow while she wiped her hands off on a tea towel. "Now, why don't you tell us how you did on your exam this morning, Harry?"

Harry and Ginny stared into each other's smiling faces for a moment, before turning to face the older witch. With Harry's arm around her shoulders and Ginny's around his waist, the two young people began walking towards the kitchen door.

"It went great, Mrs. Weasley!" Harry exclaimed with a smile. "I passed on the first go and so I'm legal to ride the bike out on the public roads, now."

After congratulating Harry, and admonishing him to be careful whenever he took his motorcycle out to ride, Mrs. Weasley went back into the house, saying she still had housework to get done before Ginny's Father came home.

After Ginny's Mum was gone, Harry turned to Ginny and asked her, with a smirk, "So, now that I have my license, would you like to go for a ride, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny looked excitedly towards the shining motorcycle, but then her face fell and she answered, "I'd love to, Harry, it looks brilliant, but I don't have a leather jacket or a motorcycle hat thingy like yours"

"Hold on!" the dark haired wizard said, before sprinting through the open door of the shed. Ginny stared after him with a puzzled expression until he quickly returned, carrying a large box in his hands. "Here," he said, as he pulled a helmet out of the box and handed it to her before pulling a leather jacket out, too.

Ginny turned the helmet in her hands and then looked at the jacket Harry was holding up. Unlike his helmet and jacket, which were both black, the set he was showing her was a dark green. The jacket was made of dragon hide, just like his, but in place of the dragon embroidered on the back of the one he wore; this one had a shinning gold harpy claw on it!

"Oh, Harry!" Ginny said, looking from the jacket to Harry's eyes, "You shouldn't have! I know how much George paid for your jacket and if Mum knows you bought these for me, she liable to throw a wobbly…"

"Never mind the cost, Ginny, these are as much for me as for you," he assured her. "I wanted to be able to share my motorcycle with you, and to do that you needed proper riding gear. It’s as simple as that. Besides, your Dad even helped me put some Permanent Cushioning Charms on both the helmet and jacket, so he must be all right with it."

Reaching out and running her hands over the gold talon, her face split into a devilish grin and she shoved the helmet back into Harry's hands so she could gather her hair together into a quick pony tail. "Well, in that case let's get dressed so we can go for a ride!"

Suiting actions to words, the two both put their helmets and jackets on, and Harry re-mounted and started the waiting motorcycle. After listening to him explain what she had to do, Ginny climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist as he eased off the clutch and the two of them rolled out of the yard and onto the lane that ran past the Burrow.

Harry turned the motorcycle in the opposite direction from the village and drove in a slow, leisurely manner at first, enjoying the sun, the wind and the feel of Ginny pressed against his back, her arms tight around his waist. As he felt more comfortable with the extra weight of a passenger on the bike behind him, and as the red haired witch relaxed her grip, Harry gradually picked up speed, leaning further and further over in the curves and accelerating more and more down the straights. Ginny quickly picked up the rhythm of the ride, following his lead in the curves and leaning forward eagerly on the straights. After one particularly sharp s-turn, where Harry leaned the bike so far over it seemed they could reach down and brush their fingers along the pavement as it rushed by, first one way and then the other, Ginny pumped one hand in the air and whooped with delight. This brought a laugh of joy from Harry as they continued down the winding country lane.

After riding for an hour or so, Harry spied a convenient place to pull off the road at the top of a small hill next to a low fieldstone wall. Slowing the motorcycle, he carefully pulled over and stopped the motor. Ginny jumped off from behind him as soon as he did this and pulling her helmet off spread her arms and spun around, her cheeks flushed with excitement and laughter bubbling from her throat.

“Harry! That was brilliant!” she exclaimed. “I never realized that Muggles could have come up with anything so exciting without using magic. It was like… like riding a broom just inches off the ground! It was like racing down the pitch, swerving to avoid the opposing Chasers and Beaters. No wonder Sirius loved that motorcycle so much.”

Harry smiled back as he removed his own helmet and unzipped his jacket. “Yeah, I can really understand now, too. I think that we are going to have a lot of fun times with this bike,” he replied, walking over to the stone wall and sitting down where Ginny soon joined him. “I was wondering, would you like to learn to drive, too? I’m not sure we have enough time to get you ready for the exam before school starts, but we could make a start and maybe you can give it a go next summer?”

“Really, Harry? You’d let me drive Sirius motorcycle?” she asked, staring into his green eyes.

“Sure! I mean I love riding with you on the back holding on like that, don’t get me wrong,” he told her with a cheeky grin. “But I just thought you’d enjoy being the one doing the driving, too.”

She pulled Harry’s arm around her shoulder and leaned against his side. “Thanks, Harry. I think I’d enjoy that, too.”

Harry sighed in contentment as he gently squeezed Ginny to his side. The sky was clear and the sun shone down on them, but the temperature was moderated by a gentle breeze. Looking out from where they were sitting, they could see for miles across the rolling Devon countryside, the land a patchwork of fields and small woods.

Harry looked down at the attractive young witch currently snuggling into his side.

“You know, Ginny, this summer has been good for me. I’ve had a lot of time to think and a lot of time with you, and I’ve come to really realize that in my misguided attempt to ‘protect’ you, all I was really doing was stifling some of the very things about you that first attracted me. Your bravery, loyalty, and fierce sense of independence,” Harry sighed. “I’ve spent a lot of time looking at myself, too, and I’ve come to realize that what I want in a girlfriend… what I need in a girlfriend is just that. Someone who can stand on her own when she has to, someone I can count on when things get rough, not some delicate flower or china doll. I guess what I’m trying to say, Ginny, is that you were right all along and I’d love if you gave me another chance to be a better boyfriend for you. One that will support you and accept you for who you are.”

“Oh, Harry, that all I ever wanted,” she replied, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug. “I’ve noticed the changes in you this summer. You’ve been so open and supportive for me. I think we can have a real future together now and I’d love to be your girlfriend again.”

The young couple turned towards each other on the low stone wall and looked deeply into each other’s eyes. Slowly they leaned together, their eyes finally closing as they lips gently touched. This was not the same as the urgent, passionate kiss they had shared earlier at the Burrow. This was a kiss full of love and the promise of a future together.

After what might have been minutes, or hours or several sunlit days, during which time Ginny had somehow moved from the wall to sitting on Harry’s lap, the two finally separated.

“Well,” Ginny sighed, “I reckon we should be heading back to the Burrow. Mum’s probably going to be a bit cross about me taking off with you on your motorcycle without telling her, first.”

Harry looked a bit worried at this and said, “Oh! I guess I didn’t stop to think about that. I just wanted to spend some time sharing this with you and maybe getting a chance to talk about us.”

Ginny laughed as his expression. “Don’t worry, Harry. I’ll just distract her by telling that we are back together. She’s been pestering me for weeks about how much longer I was going to make you wait. She’ll be so excited about that she’ll forget to be mad at us.”

“You are the devious one, Ginny! I’m just glad you’re on my side, again.”

“I always was Harry. You just needed to get your head out of your arse and stop acting like such a noble prat,” she grinned.

Both of them laughed at her cheeky comment as they put their riding gear back on, mounted the motorcycle, and headed back to their home and family.
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