Note: Heya! I'm new to writing so please do tell me if I mess something up! And just wanted to clarify that there will be a time jump, from here to the end of sixth year and then I will be writing from there to here again. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, this chapter is really short as I just wanted to set a few things up and leave you wondering.
It had been a long day for Ron, Hermione and, well, everybody in the Order. Reporters had come to the ministry from far and wide to cover the story of the defeat of the Dark Lord. It was only a few days after the battle, so the conference had to be helda t the ministry. After all, the castle was in no state to do anything in. Professor McGonagall had outlined what had happened at the battle, her eyes filled with tears as she listed the dead. After everyone else had been thoroughly grilled by the reporters, Hermione stepped forwards boldly, addressing the press with much more confidence than expected.
'I suppose you want to ask us how we did it. Defeating the Dark Lord and all of that. The truth is; none of us knows. Yes, we know that Harry technically cast the curse that killed him, but to be honest, up until that point, we had no idea what we were doing.' The reporters gasped loudly; everyone so far had made the efforts of the Light Side seem organised and carefully planned. Their Quick Quotes Quills began darting about on their notepads.
'Yes.' Ron confirmed, also stepping forwards slightly. 'All we had was each other- we had no way of knowing how the war would truly turn out, although we tried to stay optimistic. We won't tell you exactly what happened in the battle, as I don't think anybody really wants to know what went down. We cannot tell you many of the things that lead to the demise of… Voldemort, but we are going to tell you this. He is gone, for good this time, and he cannot return.' Cheers erupted and a happy chatter burst out amongst the crowd. Ron turned to Hermione, grinning.
'Where is Harry Potter, nobody has seen him since the battle! Is he dead?' shouted a short, bearded wizard. He was dressed in a strange mixture of a skirt and a Hawaiian shirt, and for a moment Hermione just stared at him. This was the question they had been expecting hours ago, and it surprised her that this was the first mention of Harry. Suddenly she came to her senses and spoke, slowly.
'Harry Potter is... alive.' she said tentatively. 'He cannot come out to this interview, as of now, due to things outside of our control.' she finished.
'Why?' came another shout, from further back.
'I'm afraid we cannot say right now. We will let you know, though.' Ron answered easily, as though he had done this before. Another chatter rippled through the crowd before silence reigned once again. More questions were shouted, with the two politely answering, yet giving as little information as possible for each one.
'This interview is over, for now.' shouted McGonagall, sternly, once the allotted time had elapsed. The reporters slowly left, trickling away from the makeshift stage. As soon as the last one had left, Ron and Hermione bolted to the ministry fireplaces, much to the surprise of their parents, both shouting 'HOGWARTS HOSPITAL WING' before disappearing into a puff of green flames.