Author notes: This story occurs after Book 6 and contains spoilers for Book 6, so be forewarned.
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine, etc., etc.
Chapter 1
Harry had never seen anything of its like his entire life.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped out of the fireplace with Harry's trunk and dusted off ash and floo powder, the Burrow's kitchen sparkled with a misty pink fog. Everything—the well-worn table, the homey kitchen counter, the masonry fireplace they had just stepped out of, the collection of dusty cookbooks with food swimming on the covers, even Mrs.Weasley's prized clock with all hands pointing to "mortal peril"—was enveloped in the pink haze.
Mrs.Weasley emerged from the mist smiling and grabbed each of them in smothering hugs. "Harry, how are your relatives?"
"Same as always," Harry mumbled, eager to forget the Dursleys.
"Hermione, I hope your parents are well. Ron, look at that hair! You must let me shorten it sometime soon." Mrs. Weasley tugged at her son's hair and turned his head this way and that to get a better look.
"Mum!" Ron, though now much taller than his mother, wriggled away from her grasp on his hair. "What's all this pink stuff, Mum?" Ron asked when he was free, waving his hand in a useless attempt to disperse the fog.
Mrs.Weasley's face turned sour. "Fleur insisted on having this here for her bridal shower. We didn't realize she would fill the entire first floor with it."
Ron stifled a laugh as Hermione offered, "Have you tried Glenda Gauguin's Air Clearing Spray Potion? It worked wonders for Katie Bell's aunt Flora after a spell gone wrong."
Mrs. Weasley brightened a bit. "Why thank you, dear, I will look into that this evening." As Mrs. Weasley began herding them towards the stairs, she began, "Now, Ron, you and Harry take Harry's things up to your room. The beds are made for you already up there. I have just recently cleaned that room, Ron, don't you destroy it just yet."
"Since when do I destroy my room?"
Mrs. Weasley stopped and gave her son a look before she continued. "Hermione, you'll be with Ginny, as usual"—Mrs. Weasley did not notice Harry turning a bit pink at the mention of Ginny's name—"in fact, I believe she's waiting for you up there right now. The bridal shower is tonight after dinner, and boys, I'm afraid it is a women-only event."
Ron and Harry shared grins that they would be avoiding the pink mist.
"So you'll be de-gnoming the garden with your brothers. Have I mentioned that Fred and George are arriving this evening?"
"De-gnoming?" Ron asked gloomily. "But the wedding's not for two days. Shouldn't we wait until the night before?"
"We'll be getting ready tomorrow, silly boy." Mrs. Weasley smiled pinched Ron's cheek, and Harry turned a bit red when Mrs. Weasley kissed him on the cheek. "So glad you're here, dearest. Now go settle in and wash up for dinner."
Harry dropped his trunk down at the foot of the second bed in Ron's room, and Ron fell backward onto his bed. Ron began to doze off as Harry fiddled with the lock on his trunk.
Ron was jerked awake by the clatter of Harry's trunk bursting open and books and clothes exploding out of it. "Blimey, mate, are you trying to kill me?" Harry mumbled an apology as Ron moaned, "I can't believe she's making us de-gnome the garden when we're just barely back from Privet Drive." Ron sighed heavily.
Harry's thoughts were elsewhere. "What do you think we'll find at Godric's Hollow? Is it strange that I've never been there before? I don't even know what happened to the house. What if it's been destroyed?"
"Isn't it yours?" Ron yawned and stretched out sleepily.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, didn't you inherit the house?" Ron asked.
"Inherit what house?" Hermione poked her head in the door, Ginny close behind.
Ron sat up, his hair even more disheveled than before. "You sure unpacked fast."
"Yes, it's called being efficient." Hermione smiled at her little joke.
"Looks like lazy bones here just took a nap," Ginny jibed her brother. Ron glared at her grumpily. "Hey Harry," Ginny said, more quietly.
"Hey Ginny." Harry smiled at her briefly and then turned his gaze away.
"Now stop trying to change the subject. What's this about a house?" Hermione asked.
"Well," Harry began.
"Oh, did you mean your parents' house at Godric Hollow? I already spoke with Remus about that." Hermione pulled a bit of parchment out of her pocket. Even the margins were covered with notes. "He says that you did, in fact, inherit it, but it's been in ruins for some fifteen years."
"How in the world did you have time to find this all out?" Ron asked incredulously.
"I have a house?" Harry's face brightened as he jumped up from where he was sitting. "How come no one told me about this any sooner?"
"Apparently local villagers think it's cursed. Everyone in Godric's Hollow has avoided it since… well, since Voldemort's visit." Hermione said his name as though it were something bitter she had to spit out, and Ron winced a bit when she said it. "Ron, you can't keep wincing like that." He didn't respond. "You know Dumbledore told us that not using his name is just another way he has power over us."
Ron just pressed his lips together. Then Hermione said, "Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort. Nothing will happen to you. See? I'm fine. Now you say it."
Ron looked at Harry and then Ginny and finally Hermione, and then said quietly, "Voldemort."
"Nice job, Ron." Ginny patted him on the back rather harder than was necessary, then said, "Let's all go on down to dinner."
At the bottom of the stairs, Mrs.Weasley greeted them, saying, "I did forget to tell you, this letter came while you all were gone." She handed Ron a letter that had apparently been folded and refolded many times. "I am so glad Minerva has decided to give it a go. We have had much too much tragedy here lately."
Ron opened the letter, and Harry and Hermione read it over his shoulder:
Dear Hogwarts Students and Parents,
The governors and I have decided, after much thought and discussion, that the most prudent option would be to keep Hogwarts open. We must train our children in the wizarding arts in order that they be best prepared for anything that is to come. You would be doing your children a disservice if you do not allow them to come back. However, in order to better protect Hogwarts students, Aurors will be patrolling the campus twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. So that you will feel you have looked over every option, we have also included contact information for Wizarding schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, should you wish to seek a transfer, and also for private tutoring. However, I stress to you that schooling is a much more concrete option that will give your child the skills and background necessary in order to do well in the Wizarding world.
If you have further questions or concerns, you may contact me or any staff member by owl post.
Most sincere regards,
Professor Minerva McGonagall
The next two days flew by more quickly than Harry imagined possible, and he soon found himself seated at Fleur and Bill's wedding reception on the lawn of the Burrow, which sparkled greenly and was somehow twice as large as usual. Fortunately, Mrs.Weasley had talked Fleur out of having the pink mist on the lawn, and Fleur had settled on pink tablecloths and pink chairs. Harry sat alone at his table as everyone else had gone off to mingle or dance.
Throngs of guests seemed to flow across the lawn in waves from the food buffet to the makeshift dance floor, where Bill, in black and white dress robes, and Fleur, radiant in a flowing white gown with enchanted wings that held up her train, floated in waltzing circles. Fleur's dazzling smile threw a luminous glow about her that Harry had never seen before. Among all the couples, Harry spotted Ron and Hermione dancing together. Ron looked down at his feet, and Hermione laughed as he kept tripping over himself.
Harry stared down into his glass of pumpkin cider and sighed. He turned his glass in his hand and watched the contents slowly swirl. He heard someone sit down next to him and looked up.
"Is there something I should know about that cider?" Ginny smiled at him. "You sure seem to be studying it hard."
Harry laughed lightly and noticed the sea green gown that complimented her flaming hair. "You look amazing."
Ginny smiled and blushed briefly. "So you're going to Godric's Hollow after this is over?" Ginny turned her head slightly to try and look into his eyes for hints.
"Hermione doesn't hold back, does she?" Harry smiled but didn't make eye contact.
"You're dodging the question."
"It was my home once. It must hold some sort of clues for me."
"Clues?"
"Ginny, you know I can't involve you in this now."
She paused, then asked, "Do you want to dance?" He finally lifted his eyes and looked into her brown ones and noticed that they were flecked with green.
"Ginny—"
"I know, I know, never mind. I just," she began.
"Ginny!" Fleur's joyful voice echoed across the lawn. "Come for pictures!"
Ginny got up, turned as if to say something, and then she just smiled sadly at Harry before dashing across the Burrow's yard, her pale green gown flowing behind her.
Harry got up to refresh his drink, and, still watching Ginny across the lawn, nearly tripped when he heard a sinister voice say, "Potter! I've been looking for you!"
