Harry and Ginny Between the Battle and the Epilogue

In looking at these missing nineteen years, it is important to remember that Mrs. Rowling wanted her books to age some with the readers, and said that it was important to show them falling in love,[^211101-1] she really focused very little on developing most of her characters.1 Thus we really know very little about Ginny - what kind of person she is, her hopes, dreams, and, most importantly, how she relates to Harry.

Not counting the various authors that write stories that start out Harry/Ginny just long enough to break them up and focus on some other relationship that the author is more interested in, we see essentially two views of Harry and Ginny's relationship develop in most fanfiction.

There is the approach that is probably more canonical, but leaves me less satisfied. This is the modern woman Ginny. This Ginny is super focused on her Quidditch career, probably to the detriment of her relationship with Harry. She may have had a fair amount of growing up to do even after graduating, due to being sheltered by Molly and not actually prepared to face adult decisions. Ultimately this life leaves her unsatisfied, and she eventually gets back together with Harry. They eventually have three children, whom the first two of which Harry seems to name without her input. Honestly, as you read this, it is no wonder that so many fans are quite unhappy with the Harry/Ginny pairing.

Alternately, you have the version of Ginny that we see glimpses of in the books prior to the epilogue and the various interview tidbits, twitter comments, and website additions that have fleshed out the glimpse of "what came after" that is the epilogue. This is the Ginny that was totally in sync with him at Dumbledore's funeral.2 Who would, a month or so later, give her "ex-boyfriend" a passionate kiss as a birthday present.3 Who may have been eager to join the battle, but did not argue with him when he asked her to hide in the Room of Requirement.4 There are a few other scenes I could pick from as well. This Ginny is passionately devoted to Harry, her family, her friends. Sure she loves Quidditch as much as Harry does. I can totally see her wanting a professional career in the sport.

This is the Ginny we see in Bodmin's Healing Harry, in many of sbmcneil's works, either on her ao3 page, or her ffn page (the two only mostly overlap). Stories like Unintended Consequences, Without A Trace have her pick other careers that balance the needs of the family. If I recall correctly, Remember does not definitively state either way, but implies that Ginny fits Quidditch around her family's needs. In The Lost Year Ginny re-evaluates her priorities, and realises Quidditch comes second to being with Harry. That story has a fairly extreme deviation from canon, but honestly, isn't the actual experiences she went through in book seven enough to make someone think about life and the future that way? Bone(s) to Pick summarises this Ginny: Quidditch is just one of her dreams, and sometimes dreams are mutually exclusive.5

  [Accio-Quote](http://www.accio-quote.org) 2005-07-16.