Harry Potter and the Heir of Gryffindor
A/N: Welcome to Harry Potter and the Heir of Gryffindor. I'm Maddie! This is my very first fanfic, so be nice and review, or I won't write it anymore. This is set the day after the funeral, which is the day they leave Hoggy's.
Hey, one more thing! Say hello to my beta... gpotter! Her stories are amazing, go read them!
From Roses to Roars
A cold breeze blew down the deserted streets winding through the village of Hogsmeade. Loose Honeydukes wrappers and the last of the autumn leaves tumbled down cobblestone alleyways. Closed signs were hung up on every shop door. One simply walking through the town would suspect it was deserted. But this was not the case.
At the edge of this seemingly forsaken town stood a set of magnificent double gates, guarded by two massive boars' heads. If one were to look far enough beyond these gates, a castle would be visible. But this was not just any castle. It was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The gates to this school were shut. An old woman with a black pointed hat and a deep green cloak stood before them, carefully looking around. She pulled out her wand and flicked her wrist, sending a ghostly silver owl out into the night sky. The owl glided towards the doors of the school, where it stopped at a tall, rather hairy man with a moleskin coat. The man, Rubeus Hagrid, nodded his head, almost in greeting, when he spotted the owl. Hagrid knocked on the ornate oak front door three times, and a small man stepped out.
"Come on," the little man called impatiently, and a dismal procession of some two hundred students left the vast Entrance Hall. All were quiet, a few holding back tears, each and every one holding a single black rose. Although it was the start of summer, a foggy mist hung around the ground. But that is not what made the students shiver.
Horseless carriages bumped along the dirt road. Inside them, hundreds of children sat, waiting to get home and begin their summer vacation. Very few hushed conversations were taking place amongst the students. One carriage in particular held six unusually quiet teenagers. The eldest of this group was Hermione Granger. She sat in between a redheaded girl and a very distant blonde.
The blonde to Hermione's left, Luna Lovegood, had her nose in a magazine called The Quibbler. This was very characteristic of Luna. She was always reading a copy of that magazine, or if she wasn't, talking about some crazy creature or another that had been reported in it.
The redheaded girl to the right was Ginny Weasley. She looked across the carriage at her brother Ron, and gave him a small smile. He gave her a tired one in return. Ginny then turned towards the boy sitting next to Ron. Neville Longbottom had always been very quiet, but in the last year, he had changed from the clumsy eleven-year-old who couldn't transfigure a quill, into a new man.
Sitting in the corner of the carriage was Harry Potter, a raven-haired boy with emerald eyes. He was staring out of the small window, deep in thought. Ginny's eyes saddened as she looked onto the pale face. He had not been eating at all since Dumbledore's death, and from what Ron had told her, he hadn't been sleeping either. The little sleep he did get was plagued with nightmares. Visions only he could see. The truth about Dumbledore's murder.
Ginny was shaken out of her musings as the carriage came to a halt. All of the occupants stood up and gathered their things, stepping out into the town of Hogsmeade.
A fantastic scarlet train awaited them at Hogsmeade Station. Knowing the routine by heart, all of the students began to board. Harry heaved his trunk onto the closest carriage and quickly set off to find an empty compartment. For the last time, Harry thought. The death of the greatest wizard of all time, Albus Dumbledore, had shaken the wizarding world to its very core. Harry was very close to his now ex-headmaster, and had decided not to return to the school that he was used to calling home. He had more important things to do.
He found an empty compartment by himself (Ron and Hermione had gone to the prefect's carriage) and hauled his trunk up on to the luggage rack. He grabbed a chocolate frog from his bag and ripped the wrapper off moodily.
As he viciously chewed his mouthful of chocolate, the door to his compartment opened and in stepped Ginny Weasley.
Time seemed to stand still as the beautiful redhead walked over to the seat next to Harry and sat down. Neither said a word. Harry opened his mouth to try and say something, but found he had lost all control of his vocal chords. Ginny's face was impassive.
"You know what?" she asked, leaning closer to him. The smell of flowers wafted toward his nose. Roses? Lilies? Whatever the flower, he missed that scent.
"W - What?" he stuttered, somewhat shaken by her close proximity. Her face was only centimetres from his now, and he could almost taste the chocolate on her breath. Kiss her, you know you want to . . . the monster in his chest told him, rearing its head, almost leaving him devoid of sensible thought. NO! his brain screamed back, fighting away the monster. You can't take it back! If Voldemort found out about her . . .
Ginny could practically hear his heart beating now, and smirked inwardly. She leaned in close, her breath tickling his ear. "I miss you," she whispered, brushing her lips over his cheek as she pulled away, sending pleasant chills down his spine.
Harry let out the breath he was unconsciously holding as she stood and left the compartment. As the door clicked shut, and her footsteps died away, he sighed and stared unseeingly out the window.
"I miss you, too."
The train rattled on. Harry still sat alone in his compartment, wishing he had the company of a certain redhead. The door opened, and he looked up from a rather boring picture of the sleeping Archibald Alderton, to see the smiling faces of Ron and Hermione.
"Hey, Harry," Hermione said, taking a seat opposite him. "Sorry we took so long." She pulled a well-read book out of her bag as she sat on one of the worn scarlet seats. Ron sat down beside her and grabbed one of his best friend's chocolate frogs, ripping it open with his teeth. Throwing his wrapper onto the floor, he proceeded to mutilate it in his mouth.
"Say, Ronald . . . which is the card you don't have?" Hermione asked as she lazily picked the discarded wrapper up from the ground, carefully examining it. Harry could see the shadow of a Malfoy-like smirk forming on her lips.
"Ar-ru-ru," Ron replied through a mouthful of frog. Hermione sent him a look of disgust before he swallowed his mouthful and continued. "Agrippa. She's the rarest," he said, selecting another frog from the pile next to Harry.
"Oh," Hermione stated thoughtfully. Looking almost bored, she plucked her wand from her jacket pocket and ignited the card in her hand. The smell of burning plastic reached their nostrils and Harry tried not to gag.
"What card was that, Hermione?" Harry asked, waving the smoke away from his face. But he already had an idea as to the answer.
"Agrippa," Hermione smiled innocently.
"HERMIONE!" Ron lunged toward the still smouldering card, failing miserably to douse the flames.
After the fuss had calmed down, and Ron's face had faded from the alarming shade of red it had been, Ron and Harry decided to play Exploding Snap. But that quickly bored them, so they brought out the chessboard. During their break in game play, Hermione looked up from her book, and asked casually, "Do either of you know where Neville and Luna got to?"
Their reactions were exactly as she had thought they would be. Harry sat up straight, eyes wide, and Ron looked up with a shrug. Hermione simply rolled her eyes at Ron's idiocy.
"Do you think that they — " started Harry, but he was cut off by the door opening.
A very red Neville walked in with a uncharacteristic, cocky grin plastered on his face. Luna followed, looking as if she had entered the room by accident. But there was no mistaking the giddy smile on her face.
They were holding hands. Harry and Hermione shared a triumphant glance, while Ron still looked dumbstruck.
"You- and him – and her - what!" he exclaimed. Hermione started giggling, and Harry fell into full-blown hysterics.
Neville coughed and silenced the pair immediately. "Umm, we just thought you would like to know that . . . Thaweargoinout," he gushed, creating a whole new shade of red.
"What was that, Neville?" a fully recovered Hermione asked, moving over so Neville and Luna could have a seat.
"What he means to say," interrupted Luna, "is that it is the Hobsodk's mating season and we - " Neville clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Well . . . you see — me and Luna . . . " he started.
"Luna and I," Hermione corrected.
"Yes, well . . . Luna and I are going out."
Hermione let out a quite uncharacteristic squeal, and hugged both Luna and Neville. Ron and Harry clapped Neville on the back.
"Way to go, Nev," Harry congratulated.
Ron simply mumbled, "I knew you had it in ya!"
The train was starting to slow down by the time they had finished their congratulations. Neville and Luna bid the others goodbye and wished them a nice summer holiday. The trio got their trunks and prepared to leave.
As they were about to walk through the barriers separating the magical world from the Muggle one, Harry couldn't help but look back at the train one last time. He remembered being just a first year, looking up at the sixth and seventh years that towered over him. Now, all he wanted was to be that small again. No prophesy, no death, with Cedric, Siruis and Dumbledore still alive. So many lives were going to be lost, added to the countless names of people Voldy and his Death Munchers had murdered.
Many great memories were going to be left at Hogwarts, and many bad ones, too. Harry wiped swiftly at his rapidly moistening eyes. He looked back at his two best friends and smiled. They had been there for him from the start. Forever 'til the end, Harry thought.
As if sensing his thoughts, Hermione started to sob as they pushed their way through the barrier. On instinct, Ron slung his arm around her and let her rest her head against his shoulder. Harry joined the two, wrapping his arms around Hermione. They stood that way for a moment, together in the middle of Kings Cross Station, completely silent.
"Oh, I'm just being silly," Hermione broke the hush, swiping at her eyes and hugging the boys back. The moment over, they broke apart and got their trolleys, trying to spot their guardians.
Hermione spotted her parents first. She waved to them, then squeezed the life out of her best friends before giving them both a peck on the cheek. Harry smirked as Ron's face reddened while listening to Hermione nag them about writing every week.
Once she was gone, they didn't have to look very hard to see the Weasley clan, bright red hair shining in the late afternoon sun. Molly and Arthur were standing with Ginny on the platform, throwing disapproving looks at the Dursleys not three meters away from them. The Dursleys were sending the same looks right back at them.
"You coming with us, mate?" Ron asked Harry.
"No," Harry answered. "I made a promise to Dumbledore, and I'm going to keep it. I'll be at your house as soon as possible, though, believe me."
Ron nodded and bid him goodbye. As Harry watched him walk over to his parents, he swore he saw the redhead shake his head in dismay. Molly simply frowned.
"BOY!" Uncle Vernon roared, startling Harry out of watching the Weasley family. He walked towards his Aunt and Uncle with a fake smile plastered on his face. Uncle Vernon looked worried for a second, but regained his composure. "Come on, in the car, in the car! NOW! We haven't got all day!"
Harry sighed. This last stay at the Dursleys was going to be absolute Hell.
A/N: There you go, first chapter down! I will need at least 3 reviews to
do the next chappie! I worked hard on getting Ron in character for
this chapter. Do you have any comments as to how it went? Say Thankyou to gpotter for fixing up all my gramatical and... everything else errors!
(P.S. - I know in the first version, Ginny was a bit, violent, but SlayerKitty00 made me see the light. Although I would be mighty peeved if the Chosen One went all mighty on my hiney. Anyway, I hope this version is better!)
R&R
Luv, Maddie xxx