�Hello there! Harry!�

Harry turned the direction the voice was coming from and had to stop a scowl from appearing on his face.

�Hi... er... Dex, right?�

Dexter Eoghan smiled and stuck out his hand. �Yes! Pleased to meet you again, of course. I thought that was you I spied coming out of the cauldron shop. Picking one up for a spot of some cooking? That�s a nice one. Self- stirring even. Perfect for bachelor�s, of course. I have a few myself.�

Dexter nodded at the very nice, copper pot Harry had just purchased. Harry gave a little smile and then decided to collapse the cauldron. Dexter whistled.

�Collapsible too, eh? Must of cost a pretty galleon. Care for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron?�

�Er.. well, actually I�m going back-�

Dexter smiled again. �I have to say I was really happy to see you out and about. Took a load off my mind, actually.�

Curiosity got the better of him and Harry looked at the man, confused.

�Where did you expect me to be?�

Harry thought Dex turned a bit red, but the other man shook his head and looked away so fast, he wasn�t sure he�d seen it.

�It�s silly, really. Since my partner skived off work, yet again... I thought you might be the reason for it. She�s been in a state ever since you came back, really. Of course, no one really notices this except those close to her,� Dexter paused and looked a bit sheepish. �Reckon it did my heart good to see that if she�s not with you and not at work, then she might really just be taking a day for herself. Now how about that drink?�

Harry had told Ginny he would come back later and take her out to an early dinner, but something told him to take Dexter up on his offer. He wanted to know exactly where Dex stood as far as his feelings for Ginny went.

�Sure. I reckon I can have a small one. We can... get to know each other better.�

Dexter�s face brightened. �Splendid! After hearing so much about you, I have to admit, I feel like I know a bit already.�

After they settled into their booth, Dexter ordered a whiskey and Harry asked for a butterbeer. After a silence fell between them, Dexter cleared his throat.

�Well, now since I�ve got you here, I seem a bit... well, how did you find America, Harry? Loud? Obnoxious? Some place you�d like to return to soon?�

Harry couldn�t resist a smile. �I found America to be quite nice, actually. Different, but the same. But no, I don�t think I�ll be going back anytime soon. England is my home, really. I�d like to settle down here for good.�

Dexter nodded, although he seemed disappointed. �Aye. Understood. I felt the same actually, after I�d come back. I grew up in Scotland, but my dad was always transferring around. He settled in America when I was the right age and off to Jones Academy I went. I always thought I�d gotten a bit of a raw deal, not going to Hogwarts, but you�ve seen Jones, you know it�s a capable place.�

Harry nodded. �Yes, it�s a great school. The professor�s I met were all extremely knowledgeable about things. There were one or two that were former Hogwarts students themselves, I believe. Why did your father move around a lot?�

�Well, he and my mum, they fought a lot about... well, me mostly. About how I was to be raised, of course. My mum�s family is practically Scottish royalty and she wanted her only son to be raised the proper way. She didn�t go in for all this magic business. She is as Muggle as they come. Falling for a wizard was her greatest travesty, of course,� Dexter paused, his voice softening. �Don�t get me wrong, my Mum is a wonderful woman, but she�s got a bit of that Scottish hard-headedness about her. Reminds me a bit of Ginny, to be truthful. I�m sure you know all about that.�

Harry didn�t comment and took a swig of his butterbeer instead. He wasn�t about to tell Dexter anything about what he knew of Ginny.

�Yes, well, anyway, Dad would get angry and move about, teaching here and there. Worked for the Ministry a few years. Scotland�s pretty rural in some parts, and not every wizard sent their children to Hogwarts. But he�d always give in to my mother. When the offer came from America, he convinced her that Jones was just as good as Hogwarts and that living in another country would be a good thing for me. I think by that time my Mum was tired of bickering. She acquiesced and the rest, they say, is history.�

�And how did you end up working with Ginny? I mean, after you moved back here?�

Dexter smiled. �Bit of luck, really. I�ve always been interested in strange things... ever since I was a boy and didn�t understand yet that my father was a wizard. I was fascinated by things that went bump in the night, as they say. Scotland was my playground, as you can imagine. The land is full of rich ghost stories and the like.

I think a bit of that rubbed off on me. My Mum�s family is full of hauntings and strange occurrences. Oh, I know, most hauntings are just angry ghouls or pesky poltergeists having a bit of a go at Muggles, but when I was young, it really inspired me. When it came time to finish school, I kept on at Merlin College for awhile and studied all I could about strange occurrences in the Wizarding world. We don�t know any of the answers more than Muggles do, really.�

�So... you moved back here to work on those types of things for the Ministry and then met Ginny?�

�Sorry, didn�t answer your original question, did I? I get long-winded sometimes, when I have a willing victim,� Dexter paused and nodded at Harry�s drink. �Want another one? On me, of course.�

Harry looked down and realized he had drunk his entire butterbeer without noticing. Almost against his will, he realized he was actually enjoying talking to the man in front of him.

�Sure, but just one more. I�ve... got to be somewhere for dinner.�

�No problem. Hold on a bit,� Dexter got up and sprinted up the bar. Harry watched as some of the women in the bar noticed him as he went past and despite his natural jealous tendencies to the contrary, he could see what Ginny would find attractive about the man. He was charming and easy going. Someone Harry could see hanging around with Ron and himself, after a long day at work.

Dexter came back and flashed him another smile. I suppose he�s handsome too, thought Harry. Well, as long as Ginny didn�t think so, Harry reckoned he could live with that.

�So, as I was saying, I�ve been fascinated by strange things. Yet I have never had an ounce of luck at divining a thing. I�ve tried, too... most forms of it. Usually, I�m stuck staring at my own dull reflection instead of smoky clouds predicting the future. I tried really hard to get into the Department of Mysteries, but that�s queued up for the rest of our natural lives. And I know I didn�t have what it took to be an Auror, so I settled into Muggle Affairs, under your friend Ron. That�s how I met the fairest Weasley.�

Harry made a non-committal sound and nodded his head to make Dex continue.

�She was just back from Italy, I think...oh about 3 years ago. Of course, I�d heard the story of her gift of sight, how�d she�d been instrumental in bringing about the downfall of Voldemort. I was really impressed with the fact that Ginny knew what she was doing and had such a clear head for a seer. Usually, they�re the worst lot of... well, you know, not the stable sort. And chance would have it that I got to work with her on a couple of cases for the Ministry and they were so impressed with her that they gave a whole Department to her. I dare say I impressed her with my Muggle know-it-allness and understanding of the different techniques seer�s used. Or maybe I was just in the right place at the right time. She got me on as her partner from the get go. Personally, I think she just wanted someone to do all the paperwork.�

Dex gave him a long-suffering sigh, but Harry didn�t believe it. He took another swallow from his new drink and wondered what to say.

Dex flashed another smile at him. �Well, now since I�ve bored you to tears with my telling tale, care to answer a few things for me?�

Harry looked at Dex, guarded. �For my part, I�ll try to answer. I�ve been gone for five years though, not much I know about some... things.�

�Oh, well, this doesn�t have to do with the five years, really. Just the time before it. I take it you and Ginny were close, before... when you were at school?�

Harry frowned. �Well, no. I mean, yes. But not close, close. She was the sister of my best friend. She was always around, of course.�

�Ah. I see. Didn�t date or anything did you?�

Harry squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable. �Er... why exactly do you want to know? I don�t want to sound rude, but is it really any of your business?�

Dexter looked at him a moment longer and then shook his head. �No. You�re perfectly right. Rude of me to ask. It�s just... Ginny gets sort of... quiet about the past and I�ve always gotten the feeling, despite the occurrence of Longbottom in her life, that something happened to her that made her sort of... shut down her emotions. I work day in and day out with the woman and I still don�t know the real heart of her.�

Harry studied Dexter and then decided to just be direct. �And is that what you want, then? To know the heart of her?�

This time Harry did see Dex turn red. He watched as the other man took off his glasses, so like his own new ones, and clean them on his shirt. An old Muggle habit that Harry knew he still did himself.

�Well, Harry... since that was a direct question, I�ll try to answer in a direct way. I know Ginny cares for Neville but I know she doesn�t really love him. I�ve been biding my time on that relationship for awhile, truth be known. And I reckon I�m just a little un-nerved by the fact that only after one week of you being back in town, she seems flustered, out of sorts, has gone missing from work and basically, just not up to her usual self. So my question was mainly to determine if you�re competition or not. If you�re an old boyfriend, then I might think you have a bit of claim. But if you�re just... how did you put it... the best friend of her brother, then I�d say my field is wide open.�

Harry blinked at Dex in disbelief. Feeling a bit self-conscious of the fact that he�d forgotten to even ask himself the very same question last night, he plowed on. �What about Neville? How is your field open with him there?�

Dex smiled. �They broke up. Or so a little bird tells me. I reckon a respectable amount of time can pass and I can make my intentions known. I think Ginny deserves a bit of real happiness.�

Harry felt the coolness of the glass in his hand as he tightly gripped the butterbeer bottle. �And you think you�re just the man to give it to her, is that it?�

Dex smiled and Harry suddenly understood how truly presumptuous he must have appeared last night to Ginny, after setting the table in such a romantic fashion. No wonder she got mad at you. Just staring at the smugness on the face of the man in front of him made him want to smack it off with the bottle he now held fast in his hands.

�Well, I won�t lie about the fact that Ginny and I... well, we�ve always had one of those types of relationships that could go further, if you know what I mean. She�s a bonnie lass, to steal a phrase from my old mum, and she�s got quite the passionate nature. I know I�m more than willing to be up for the challenge. That is, if she�ll have me, of course.�

�Of course,� Harry said absentmindedly. He suddenly had an urge to be as far away from Dex as possible. He set his butterbeer down firmly on the table.

�Since you�re just an old friend, I reckon it�s okay that I�ve told you this. I mean, there�s nothing there, right?�

Harry narrowed his eyes at Dex. �Actually, the past between Ginny and me is not so cut and dried, Dex. In fact, there was a time when Ginny was in love with me and like an idiot I didn�t understand what that meant. I�m back now to set things straight.�

Dex didn�t seem as surprised at this news as Harry had expected. The man nodded and smiled at Harry, giving him a calculating look that Harry didn�t like.

�Ah, I see. You broke her heart then, and now you�ve come back to make amends?�

Harry nodded in slight surprise.

�Aye. I reckoned as much, to be truthful, Harry. You must be the mysterious boy who done her wrong,� Dex said with a small grin. �But what makes you think you can just come back and have her? You�ve broken her up with Neville, which is something I never had the guts to try, so for that, I thank you. But what makes you think she�ll be so easy to sway? She�s not a seventeen-year-old girl, with a crush. She�s a grown woman with real needs and requirements.�

�Oh, and I suppose you think you�re the one to fulfill those needs?�

Dex looked him straight in the eye then and didn�t blink. �Well, I�ve never hurt her, now have I? I�ve never run away from her. She knows she can trust me. Does she know that about you? I mean, have you ever given her a reason to trust you?�

Harry stood up. He�d heard enough.

�Look, thanks for the drinks, Dex. I�ll be sure to pass along your well wishes to Ginny tonight as I have a nice romantic dinner with her.�

Harry didn�t wait for a reaction and turned away, his anger getting the best of him. But as he stepped out into the warm summer night he couldn�t shake the sound of Dex�s voice asking him the very same questions he�d asked himself.

He would have to prove to Ginny that she could trust him. For her sake... and for his own.