Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any form other than my copies of the books and movies so any characters you recognize are the work of J.K. Rowling and not myself. I do own this story though and I do not give permission for anyone to repost it on this site or anywhere else under this name or any others.
"Mum! Do you know where I left my good shoes?" The voice of one of his brothers rang down to the couch where Harry was reclined, waiting for everyone to finish getting ready for the train.
"Did you check under your bed?"
"Thanks Mum!"
Harry could hardly believe it was already time to go to Hogwarts, he had been waiting for this day for as long as he could remember. When Mum had first told them all bedtime stories of the wondrous castle with the moving staircases and the magical portraits that could talk and Peeves playing pranks everywhere, he had been almost too excited to sleep. Even now, after years of hearing those same stories of Mum and Dad and Hogwarts and their friends visiting with their own stories, he could still scarcely believe it was all true.
And this year he would get to make his own stories to tell. His very own tales of adventure and villains, heroic deeds, and evil professors assigning heaps of homework to defeat the students. Probably not totally evil, but essays were heinous to write. Mum had them write essays for their homeschooling classes so she knew they would know how to do it right at Hogwarts.
She had told them she didn't want letters flying home about horrendous penmanship or poor sentence structure or unsupported arguments. So they had at least one essay to write every week! And she would go over their improvements with them each every few months to give them new improvements to make. Mum was seriously dedicated to their education and it really showed in all his brothers. Each one was terrific in whichever branch of magic they dedicated themselves to and they all knew what they wanted to do in life.
Bill had advanced wicked fast through his curse-breaking apprenticeship after Hogwarts and now he was in Egypt discovering tombs of the great pharaohs and learning new magic all the time according to his letters. Charlie had just graduated this May and he had been accepted to start his magical creature apprenticeship with a focus on dragons starting immediately. The Regele Focului Dragon Preserve in Romania had snapped him up niffler quick after they saw how high his NEWT scores were for Care of Magical Creatures. Percy was sure to rise through the Ministry quickly with how hard-working he was and his role as prefect this year would help him a lot learning about being a leader and caring about people, 'cause sometimes he'd forget about the people with all his focus on rules and regulations.
Harry was certain that Fred and George were actual geniuses; they could figure out anything for their pranks and with Fred's skill with charms and George's practiced hand with potions, they could create everything they could think up for their joke shop. Ron was outstanding at chess and he'd be able to use his self-training in battle strategy to make auror training a breeze when he entered the Academy. Ginny was a fiend on a broom and could outfly any of her brothers when they gave her a chance on one of the family brooms and she studied quidditch drills and techniques whenever she wasn't playing with Luna down the road.
Harry was probably the most like Mum though, after seeing how hard she worked to keep all of them safe and healthy Harry wanted to go into training to become a healer. Mum had taught them all a bit about potions and how difficult they could be to get right but George and him seemed to have the lightest hand and the sharpest eyes when they brewed. George of course was more likely to brew an explosive potion for a firework or a color-changing potion for someone's clothing. Harry though, worked hard on his Pepper-Up and burn healing salve to help Mum keep the potions cupboard stocked.
Mum and Dad weren't his first parents but after Ma and Pop were killed by You-Know-Who they had taken him in and adopted him. He still knew them though, through stories from their friends. He had learned all about his mother and father during school and after he was born, as well as his godfather, who had died a hero at the end of the war avenging his parents' death. The last of his father's closest friends, Remus Lupin, and his mother's best friend from the time of their sorting, Alyssa Johnson, had visited often but he had a real family too. Harry loved having so many brothers to look up to and play with and he would always protect Ginny just like all of her brothers. Once she had a wand he was sure she would get them all back for being over-protective though.
Ginny would be staying at home this year while he and Ron went to Hogwarts so maybe they could get good enough in a year so when she got her wand they could defend themselves. That would be a solid plan, she was smart and really fast so they would really need that year to get ahead. And she would get a year to herself with all the brooms the Burrow had so she could actually train this year instead of only getting a few rides in when they were busy with essays for Mum so she was sure to like that.
…
This school year would be wonderful, as more and more of the children left for Hogwarts it was supposed to become quieter, easier. But with Bill at Hogwarts she still had seven children at home including four-year-old twins getting into anything they could reach and Ron and Harry toddling around and getting bumped and bruised more times than she could count. Even with Bill, Charlie, and Percy gone to school she had the twins pranking their siblings constantly, Ron trying to skive off on his essays, and Ginny wanting a new outfit for dress-up every week. Harry was the calm one, thankfully. It gave her a small reprieve to know he was usually out tending the garden or reading in the orchard and not out getting hurt like the others were apt to do.
This year she would just have the one, then next year they'd all be gone and she could knit as much as she wanted. She might even finish their Yule jumpers in October instead of the week she needed to send them all off. And she would have Arthur all to herself once he was home from work. But that was next year. This year she'd still have Ginny to teach, and to patch up when she fell off the old brooms they had. Those would need to be replaced before she had grandchildren, they were a hazard now but the children loved them too much for her to throw them out and they knew how to fly. But a toddler in a few years wouldn't know how to control the mess of twigs and unvarnished handles.
But unless her sons got a move on in the next couple of years her best hope for grandchildren that soon was Ginny, and Harry of course. The betrothal contract her and Albus had arranged dictated a wedding within a year after Ginny's 17th birthday and the children would need to comply since it was unbreakable. Albus had insisted on an unbreakable contract instead of the usual one that had contingencies and allowances built into it.
Of course, betrothal contracts set between children were quite common among the purebloods and half-bloods in their world. The continuous contact as the children grew and learned about themselves fostered strong friendships and love was sure to grow. Some people did not put in the necessary effort for the marriage however, and they were glad for the allowances for affairs and blood adopted children from those affairs to keep the bloodline going. But the one for Harry and Ginny had none of those. Albus was resolute on the point that the children would come to love each other very deeply and have a happy life together and she was sure he was right. He was Albus Dumbledore after all.
They had grown close in their avoidance of the twins all these years, and he was very supportive of Ginny's dream to play quidditch. Ginny loved him as much as a young girl can and that was only going to grow as they both matured. Molly was positive she would not regret her choice that cold November when she signed the contract and persuaded her husband to take in another child, though the small stipend from the Potter accounts for Harry's care did offset the extra mouth to feed and back to clothe.
…
Harry was eating his breakfast quietly, he did not want any attention on him until the game this weekend. Wood was adamant about staying out of the public eye until they could reveal him at the game as a secret weapon. Slytherin wouldn't know what hit them when he flew out onto the pitch on his new Nimbus 2000! He wasn't sure why Professor McGonagall had bought him a top of the line broom but he would not look a gift hippogriff in the mouth. She did seem to be really into the Quidditch team and winning the Cup so maybe this was just her way of trying to get the win.
"Uh-oh, Harry, we've got incoming. Did you do something? I didn't do anything and Mum stopped sending Howlers to the twins in their first year when they just laughed," Ron was rambling, he always did when he got nervous. A Howler was coming towards them slowly, the old family owl Errol couldn't really do quickly, and it was like an acromantula was circling him in it's nest to save him for dinner.
"Erm, no? I don't think so at least. I've only been doing class, homework, and Quidditch since I got on the team after that flying lesson. The flying lesson, the one where I disobeyed Madam Hooch, almost died, thought I was going to be expelled, and got onto the team instead. I'm so dead," Harry groaned, smacking his head onto the table. Errol was about to land now, unsteadily dropping and recovering his balance as he came ever closer until,
PLOP!
The porridge flew, splashing across the width of Gryffindor table, dousing Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, and hitting the backs of some students unfortunate enough to be nearby at the other tables. The poor owl had dropped the letter before his crash landing though and the smoking scarlet letter was not at all disturbed by it's new porridge coating.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER! YOU DISGRACE! HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING ABOUT RESPECT FOR YOUR TEACHERS! YOU DELIBERATELY IGNORED ORDERS FROM A PROFESSOR AND USED YOUR DISOBEDIENCE TO WRANGLE A SPOT ON THE QUIDDITCH TEAM!? HOW COULD YOU BE SO DISRESPECTFUL! I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THAT!" The screaming letter then flew to the Head Table to deliver another message before it disappeared into a plume of scarlet smoke.
"Minerva dear, thank you for providing a broom for Harry, we never could have afforded that model. We are quite proud of his accomplishment, youngest seeker in a century! We'll see you at the game this weekend!"
…
His whole body felt heavy, like it did that weekend they had Quidditch drills and conditioning both days with the only breaks being for meal-times. They hadn't had another Drill Weekend had they? The chasers were going to kill Wood if they had to do it again this close to the Cup. No, it was the Philosopher's Stone traps! Quirrel! He was possessed by You-Know-Who this whole time? Quirrel had attacked him but had burned to ash, so why was Harry so tired?
"Ron!" He shot upright in the Hospital Wing bed, his brother was hurt by the chess pieces, where was he, was he alright? Harry couldn't see without his bloody glasses though, just white shapes where the beds should be in the moonlight coming in through the large windows along the whole Wing. He searched around the edge of the bed, there was usually a table there that would have his glasses. Once he could see, he could find his brother.
"Finally," he muttered, grasping the frames for his glasses. He looked around the Wing curiously, most of the beds were empty but at the other end were two filled with the sleeping forms of his brother and their best friend. They looked fine, no bandages or bleeding that he could see from his bed and he relaxed. The fear for his friends receded leaving him exhausted, and he fell back to sleep without even realizing.
"Now I can't tell you what to do young lady but I will be writing a letter to your parents," Mum's voice rang out through the Wing, waking Harry from his slumber. "My boys get some hare-brained idea and you all run off on a grand adventure, getting yourselves into serious danger and risking your lives, getting hurt when you should be safely in your beds! I can't punish you, but your parents should know what you are getting up to with these two. I have enough trouble with the rest of my children and have grown accustomed to 'ingenious ideas' that lead to sometimes grievous injuries but I am sure you're parents have not had that from the letters I have received about you. Now you listen to Madam Pomfrey, she'll set you to rights. I've got boys to scold."
She moved away from chagrined Hermione, and headed straight for Harry. He couldn't escape, he was too tired and his muscles were still sore, and he could never pretend to sleep well enough to fool Mum.
"Harry James Potter, what do you have to say for yourself?" Oh no, her voice was soft. This was very, very bad. Mum was a yeller, a soft voice meant you were going to wish you were dead by the time she was through. He needed to be quick, if she had to wait she'd get even more mad.
"Erm, well, we thought it was the only thing we could do Mum. We tried, see, to get Professor McGonagall to listen. To do something! But she brushed us off and we knew You-Know-Who was going to get the stone if we didn't stop him. We thought Snape was going to steal it and then take it to him but it wasn't him. Quirrel was possessed by You-Know-Who and he was in the school all year! So after we talked to McGonagall we went and made a plan, so we'd be safe. It didn't quite work though. And then Ron was hurt and Hermione couldn't go forward with me to stop Quirrell and went back to Ron instead. And then You-Know-Who tried to get me to join him and I said no but that just made him angry and he tried to choke me but he burned himself on me so I grabbed his face and he turned to ashes.
"I, I killed someone Mum. I'm a horrible person! I killed him! I knew he burned but I couldn't think of any other way to stop him from killing me. He was the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher but he didn't teach us much of anything so I didn't know what else to do. I promise Mum, I didn't mean to kill him," Harry had started sobbing as he told her the story and curled his legs up to his chest. But Mum just sat right next to him on his bed and pulled him into her arms like she did whenever he had a nightmare when he was little. She rocked him and sang to him until the wracking sobs had subsided.
"I know you didn't mean to darling. He was a bad man trying to kill you and you fought back the only way you knew how. It wasn't your fault and you aren't in trouble for that, don't worry. However, you and Ron will be grounded for the entirety of the summer holidays. You are never to risk your life like that again young man. You are my sons and I will not lose you! Now eat some of the food on your table, and then it is back to sleep for you. You are in here for the next week with magical exhaustion and you are not to get out of that bed."
…
"Madam Pomfrey, could I talk to you for a moment?" Nervous could not begin to describe Harry in this instance. Something was seriously wrong, but after what happened last year when he tried to bring his concerns to Professor McGonagall he wasn't sure if Madam Pomfrey would even listen to him.
"Of course, Mr. Potter. What is it you need? Are you ill?"
"No, no, it's not me. It's my sister. See, at home she's loud and quick-witted and she can be as scary as Mum, but here she's quiet and subdued. I wasn't sure what was wrong, I thought her roommates might be teasing her or that she missed home but when I talked to her she was really worried as well.
"She got this diary when we went school shopping and she started writing in it here since she didn't want any of us getting into it at home, but she said when she wrote, it wrote back. And she kept writing, thinking it was some new kind of diary like the mirrors that talk back. But she said she keeps getting these weird spells where she wakes up in bed but the last thing she remembers was hours before and she was in class or something.
"She's really scared that it's something to do with the diary, though we have no idea how, and she feels really silly that it might be caused by something that she did. I didn't know who else to go to but I thought if something is wrong, you might know how to fix it," he trailed off, now that it was all out he felt better but he knew he wouldn't actually feel good until Ginny was alright.
"Well, that doesn't sound like the effects of anything I know of but if you will bring your sister and the diary here, I can have some people here to investigate it while I check her over. How does that sound?"
"Good, really good. I wasn't sure if you would listen to me at all but I was so worried and I had to try. I'll go get Gin now if that's alright? I told her I'd see if I could get help so she's waiting for me in the common room." He turned and ran out of the Hospital Wing, all the way to Gryffindor Tower, grabbed Ginny, and hurried back. The Headmaster and Professors Snape and McGonagall were there waiting with Madam Pomfrey so he pushed Ginny forward to the matron and held out the diary for someone else to take.
"I'll just wait down here, alright Gin? I won't leave you."
The professors moved to the side and set up a silencing ward so he couldn't overhear anything from them but he could see they looked confused, then nervous, and then frightened. He had no idea what that diary was but he knew it was bad if they were scared. When they took down the ward the Headmaster and Snape came toward him, while McGonagall went to Madam Pomfrey.
"Mr. Potter, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We believe this is a very dark artifact that was attempting to possess your sister and could have succeeded given enough time. We will be notifying your parents but given the limited exposure I have the utmost confidence that Madam Pomfrey will set young Ginevra to rights with no issues. She may be in here a night or two so why don't you go to the common room and pick up a book for her and your brothers. That should give Madam Pomfrey the time she needs to finish her diagnosis."
"Yeah, I mean yes, Headmaster. I'll go do that, I'm sure they'll all want to visit her for a bit before bed. Thank you Professors, for your help."
…
Harry was dying. No question. He was baking in his own skin in this oven called Egypt. Why had no one told him how hot it was? Why would Bill not use cooling charms on him? He had sunburn protection potion slathered onto every inch of his skin whether it was exposed or not even when he was indoors but that didn't help him when the sun was trying to kill him.
It was wicked to see Bill again after the past few years though, he hadn't been able to come home since he started working in Luxor so the prize money they won was Merlin sent. Everyone was excited to visit and explore but Bill told them the first few days they needed to just acclimate. He told them to make sure they used the protection potion and only go outside for short times until they got used to the heat. But how do they get used to it?
"Mum, can you put a cooling charm on me? Please?"
"No Harry, get something cool to drink instead. Water, preferably. Cooling charms are dangerous down here just like warming charms can be at home. If we used a spell to cool you off you would not feel the heat and you might forget to stay hydrated or you might overheat by staying out too long in the sun. Just like that time you got your brother to cast a heating charm so you could fly in the winter and came home with blue fingers, toes, ears, and lips because you couldn't feel how cold your body actually was. Now go get some water from the cold cupboard, one for me too please."
Harry was excited for the waiting period to be done with, once they could be trusted in the sun Ron and him would get to go to work with Bill. They would just be errand boys grabbing water or notes for the cursebreakers and staying out of the way otherwise but it would be so wicked to see him in action. And if the runes were interesting enough Harry would choose it as a class for next year. He was already signing up for Arithmancy since that helped so much with spell creation and he wanted to create new spells for healing people.
…
"Are all dates so awkward?" Harry asked himself as he was alone in the dorm laying on his four-poster bed with the curtains drawn. He needed some time to think with no interruptions from his roommates, especially not Ron.
Harry still wasn't quite sure what to make of Morgan Leandres, or the date they shared, or of the chaste parting kiss before they had entered the Great Hall for dinner. Or if he wanted to go on another one with the older boy or just be friends, how can you tell if you just like someone as a friend or enough to date them? Is it different if you date a boy instead of a girl? Did he want to date a boy instead of a girl?
But today had been his first date! Sure the conversation floundered quite a bit and they had both tried to pay for their lunch at the small cafe before they both backed off thinking the other was going to pay, like that odd dance when you come upon someone going in the opposite direction in a small hallway. And Ron was no help! When they ran into Ron in Honeyduke's, he started making kissy faces and pretend lovesick sighs. Luckily Morgan didn't see any of that or the date would have been even more doomed.
Morgan was wonderful though, he had so much passion for architecture and wanted to truly revolutionize modern wizarding architecture with a combination of muggle building techniques and rune arrays built into the walls and foundations. Harry didn't understand half of what Morgan said about runes, but then he had only had a couple months in the class and Morgan was a fourth year who had studied ahead and could probably pass his Runes OWL now.
They had finally found a good topic that they could both contribute to with traveling stories. Harry had seen as much of Egypt as he could this past summer and Morgan had gone all the way to India over the summer. His father was a businessman who took extended trips over the holidays so he could sight-see with Morgan and still continue his work. Morgan had gone to different countries every summer hols for as long as he could remember and had mesmerised Harry with tales of his various exploits.
Though the accent probably had something to do with the mesmerising, Morgan was French like his father so when he wasn't traveling, his home was the family manor in Nice with his mother. Morgan had made Harry blush thoroughly when he said it was lucky for him that his mother wanted him to attend Hogwarts like she did, or he wouldn't have met Harry.
…
This was the worst night of his life. He was going to die and that was probably what someone wanted when they entered him into this blasted death trap tournament. He was only 14 for Merlin's sake! He didn't know nearly enough to survive this thing, let alone win it. And the 'information' about the first task is 'We're not going to tell you anything, surprise!' What kind of half-arsed clue is that? Harry needed to get up to the common room. Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sure to have ideas, especially for the letter he needed to write for Mum and Dad before they saw the Prophet.
"HARRY!" Ron shouted as he entered the definition of chaos in the Gryffindor Common Room, when did they have time to plan a party and get supplies? But his name being called out over the din only caused a roar to erupt from everyone present. Harry pushed his way through the crowd, elbowing multiple people as he made a path to the boy's stairwell. Hopefully Ron could see him heading this way and would follow his lead because Harry was afraid to go off track and get pulled into the crowd.
"Are you alright then Harry? They got you out right? This is way too dangerous for someone our age," Hermione asked nervously, pacing between the beds in the dorm room. The rest of the group, plus Neville, had followed her up the stairs.
"No, my magic was apparently tied to the Goblet because my name came out which means I compete or I lose my magic. Though competing could mean I lose my life. So that's great. George, could you help me with a letter? Our parents need to know before the morning paper."
"Oh no! Mum! She's gonna have a heart attack," exclaimed Ron, collapsing down onto his bed with a huff, "We're never going to hear the end of this. Do you think they'll come visit the castle tomorrow? Or wait until the First Task? What was the information they gave you Harry? We'll need to get a strategy together too."
"Probably tomorrow, and the information was no information. The First Task is a test of our daring and courage in the face of the unknown so they won't tell us anything about it ahead of time. Let's get the letter sent though before we start planning, that could last all night and Mum waits for no one." *
…
Molly was practically twitching in the stands as the Champions all descended into the Black Lake to search out their hostages in the dark watery depths. At least she could be somewhat relieved that the plan with the contract was going well, though that meant her daughter was being held as a hostage. The Goblet had determined who would be most missed by each of the contestants and had chosen Ginny as Harry's hostage, not that Megan girl he'd taken as a date to the Yule Ball. And to Hogsmeade for the two visits the children had in autumn. Really! Dating a Hufflepuff! But no more Jones girl meant both Harry and Ginny were down in the lake and she couldn't do a thing to help them.
This farce had better be over quick, she could not believe she had agreed to this! Her baby was asleep, trapped at the bottom of the Black Lake and waiting for Harry to come save her. But would he? Was he prepared to swim down to the mer-colony and rescue Ginny? Albus swore to her that the hostages were all perfectly safe in a suspended sleep, they wouldn't even remember their time under the water. But it was her baby, the youngest of her babies, and she couldn't help but fret as she sat in the stands with Arthur.
Why was this task even organized? There was nothing to see! They were all staring at the surface of the lake waiting, and waiting, but the champions all had an hour to rescue their hostages so they would just keep waiting. She couldn't see Harry or Ginny at all, just Madam Pomfrey and the other healers waiting for someone to emerge from the cold depths of the lake. This thing was hazardous! Whose idea was it to force children to swim to the freezing bottom of a lake, in the Scottish Highlands, in February, and to stay down there for an hour?
Albus would be getting a strong talking to from her after this was done with. Even if the children were perfectly fine this was just poor planning and he needed to do better than this.
"Oh! Someone's coming up," cried Arthur causing Molly's eyes to dart back to the lake surface. She hoped it was her babies! She wanted them out and warm and safe.
"Drat! It's that French strumpet in her little flimsy dress. No concern for the children wearing that," she grumbled and complained. Arthur had heard it all before the task started too when Molly had seen the spindly girl come out of the Champion's Tent in the meager swimming costume.
"But where is her hostage? She came back alone."
"I don't care about her, I want to see Harry and Ginny come out of that lake, not any of the others right now."
"Calm down Mollywobbles dear. I'm sure they will be right up, Harry has always been a good swimmer down at the pond and he'll do whatever he can to get Ginny out of the lake. See there, someone else is coming out of the water now."
This time it was Ginny wading out of the lake while Harry was bobbing in the deeper water a couple meters out instead of coming to shore. Molly and Arthur rushed down to the medical station where Ginny was being treated, steam already blowing out of her ears from a Pepper-Up.
"Are you alright Gin?" Arthur questioned, "Do you know why Harry stayed out in the water? He must be just as cold as you are."
"I'm good, the potion and the blanket are getting me warm and I wasn't hurt at all. Harry took Gillyweed, he's still got gills and flippers, and the plant helps keep the cold out too so he's fine. He said once it wears off he'd come back on shore and come here to have the matron check him over, don't worry Mum."
…
That absolutely horrid bint! Harry had never been fond of her in his years of visiting Dad at the Ministry but honestly he never quite thought she was this horrible. Umbridge had been pushing for more restrictive laws on werewolves his entire childhood; companies who hire werewolves have to pay an extra fee to the Ministry; allowances for workplaces and landlords to fire or evict werewolves with no penalty for breach of contract; more and more regulations on the production of Wolfsbane and the sale so that fewer batches were made and even less sold; more leniency for witches and wizards who kill 'potential werewolves' in fear of their lives.
Remus had warned him to be careful around her when the news of her 'teaching' had made the rounds. She was profoundly against werewolves and other magical creatures but she was supposed to be just as prejudiced against muggleborns, half-bloods, and even some purebloods who just weren't up to her standards. Plus she was so far up Fudge's arse she could probably speak right out of his mouth, and he was so deep in Malfoy's pockets he must have a Permanent Undetectable Extension Charm placed on every pair of trousers.
But still, despite all of his concerns about her morals and ethics, he thought she actually intended to teach. Which was not on the agenda. The agenda was that everyone should sit in a pile of shit and wait for the Ministry to come wipe your arse for you. Who needs to do anything for themselves when there is a great Ministry to solve all of the problems that exist. Except for those problems the Ministry ignores, those won't cause any issues. Just wait quietly if you are attacked by Death Eaters - not that there are any that can attack you, all safely in Azkaban, promise - and the Ministry will save you, if you are a pureblood in good standing. What a load of tosh!
Harry continued his mental rant as he completed his prefect rounds for the evening. Only one week in and he could not wait for the year to be done with so Umbridge would be far away from the castle. His walk through the upper levels was almost done for the night, he had started on the fourth floor and moved his way up, leaving the lower floors for tonight's Hufflepuff prefect. He had a corridor left on this floor before he headed up the seventh floor and only three corridors to go through there. Suddenly he saw a flash of color running up the stairs to the seventh floor.
"Hey! You there! Stop!" Harry chased after the person, even if they didn't need any help, they were in the corridors after curfew. He saw the blur dash into a corridor he knew only had one classroom and no other exit, "I just want to talk, to help. Are you alright?" He entered the classroom to find a sobbing boy sitting on the floor, his right hand rubbing his face trying to mask the tears while his left was curled up to his chest.
"Hello, my name is Harry. Are you hurt? I can take you to Madam Pomfrey if you are, she can fix anything, I promise."
"My hand, it hurts so bad!"
"Why don't you let me see? What's your name? I can tell you're a Hufflepuff based on that tie but I only really know the younger years names in my own house."
"It's Owen, I'm a second year. Are you going to touch it if I show you?"
"No, I'd wrap it to keep it from bleeding too much if it is bleeding then take you to the matron like I said. Even if you don't want to say how you got hurt, she will set you all to rights."
"I had detention," he began as he held out his hand toward Harry, "with Professor Umbridge. She said I need to be taught a lesson in obedience so she gave me detention and had me write lines with this quill she had. It didn't have any ink and when I tried to grab some from my bag she said it would provide it's own. When I started writing the lines she set, it started scratching me, then carving in as I kept going. She wouldn't let me stop until she said it had sunk in and kept poking it to see if it had yet."
The small hand outstretched in front of Harry was bloody and raw, and the words 'I must trust the Ministry' were carved into the back.
"I've never seen anything like this Owen. Just hold on and it will all get fixed," Harry pulled out his wand, "Ferula. That should keep it from bleeding everywhere but let's get down to the Hospital Wing quickly. Do you know if anyone else has had detentions with her so far? They might need help too and once you're being taken care of I can retrieve them for Pomfrey to heal."
"I think she's had a few others, all half-bloods or muggleborns though."
"Yes, attacking the children of purebloods, especially anyone at the Ministry would be a bad move for the Undersecretary of the Minister of Magic. That explains the stink eye I've been getting in class with her, I'm a half-blood but my adoptive parents are purebloods and Dad works in the Ministry. Don't worry, once I leave you with Pomfrey, I'll go get Sprout first, I've heard she is very protective of her badgers and I know she'll fight to get rid of Umbridge."
…
"Let me be quite clear, this class is not for laughs or messing about, it is a serious course. A precursor for many of you who hope to go to the Healer's Academy after your graduations next year. We will be covering the history of healing magic to begin with, then moving on to diagnosis spells, injury healing, and potions review. I know that some of you are not as strong in potions knowledge but that is why we review it again in this course.
"Now, I would like to begin by asking who knows how the wizarding world responded to the Black Plague as it ravaged Europe? This was one of the largest tests of the limitations of healing magics ever seen and our response to it shaped how we reacted in later epidemics."
The group of sixth years took diligent notes during the lecture. With You-Know-Who returned, their world needed more healers quick and they all wanted to do their part to help.
Harry sat in the middle of the group. After Dumbledore had told him the truth about the prophecy he had become even more dedicated to his dream of being a healer. You-Know-Who, who destroyed and ruined lives and homes all over Britain could never understand the act of healing. He knew in his heart that it was healing, not love, that was the power he knows not. He wasn't sure yet how healing would help in a battle since he apparently had to kill You-Know-Who but this was the start of his plan to free their world from the murderous tyrant.
…
Mum was acting wicked odd this summer, like she got hit by whatever hit the Lovegood's and made them so loony. Sure the Lovegood girl was pretty enough, but every other word she said was made up and no one understood her. Mum kept trying to split up Hermione, Harry, and him so that Harry was off doing chores with Ginny instead of planning with them. And they needed to plan! They had a mission from Dumbledore and needed to be ready to leave as soon as the wedding was done with. Ron had petitioned hard for that delay; Mum would kill them if they had missed it and Fleur would probably help.
Dumbledore had found most of the horcruxes after their second year when he got to study the diary but they still had to finish off the rest. Ron was very glad Dumbledore had found a way to get Hufflepuff's Cup and Ravenclaw's Diadem though since breaking into Gringotts was a death sentence and Hogwarts was enemy territory now. The Headmaster had worked together with Harry to find the Chamber of Secrets and then brought down a goblin battalion to kill the basilisk living there. With the diary and Harry's scar being taken care of by basilisk venom in second year that only left the ring, which they had and needed to destroy; the locket, which they knew where to find; and the snake, which would have to wait until they destroyed the others. Dumbledore had found the ring and worn it, causing his deterioration over the last year but he couldn't destroy it for some reason so they would need to.
"C'mon Harry, let's go toss some gnomes. I wanna talk to you about some stuff away from 'Mione and Gin, guys only," he whispered the last part loud enough that 'Mione would get the message to keep Gin busy. Harry nodded to him and they slipped outside to the garden.
"Do you know what's up with Mum? I don't think she's ever tried this hard to split the two of us up, she knows we're like the twins with how close we are."
"No clue, mate! I keep trying to brush her off so we can get some work done for our trip but she blocks me at every turn. At this rate we'll leave after the wedding and wander around aimlessly until we find those damned things! I just wish I knew why she was doing this. Maybe she thinks you and 'Mione need some alone time," he leered at Ron, whose face was glowing red to the tips of his ears.
"You know that won't happen mate, 'Mione is so pretty and smart and why would she even look at a guy like me?"
"She would look at a guy like you 'cause you're great Ron! You're the best brother I could ask for, and don't you dare tell the rest, and you're just as smart, though 'Mione is quite a bit prettier than you," Harry grinned at his brother's flustered face.
"You don't think I'm pretty? But I tried so hard to get my hair just right today!"
"Yes, that hard to achieve 'just rolled out of bed' look. And it's not even as good as my 'just shagged' look which is messier but looks better than yours with less effort!"
"Laugh it up all you want Harry, but mine can at least be changed, no matter what you do your's looks like a mop!"
...
"Oh! Finally awake then dear? It's been about 18 hours since we came home, everyone else was up hours ago so we were getting worried about you. Did you sleep well? Are you hungry? I saved some lunch for you, just sit down, let me get it for you," Molly rambled on. She was immensely relieved to see Harry up and about; the final proof that they all truly made it through this war relatively unscathed.
A few scars and small parts missing, of course, but George could still hear fine on the side without an ear and Fleur still loved Bill just as deeply with the scars across his face as she had before. It was the close calls that had scared her the most though. Percy happening upon the twins in the middle of the battle and pulling Fred to safety in the nick of time. Ginny dodging at just the right time to avoid Lestrange's curse, though Molly still got back at her for trying. Hagrid carrying Harry out of the forest and truly believing he had died in there.
Everyone was home safe though. Charlie was staying at Shell Cottage but those three had spent most of the day at The Burrow instead, and everyone else was staying at home until further notice. All of her babies were close at hand and she could hug them whenever she had a chance. Soon though, soon Charlie was going back to Romania, Fred and George were reopening the shop and moving back into their flatt, and Percy was going back to his townhouse in London.
"Now you just eat Harry, you still look a bit peaky but Ron said you three hadn't slept or ate in a few days so that should go away with some good food and rest. No magic until I say so! You drained yourself very close to magical exhaustion and that's probably why you slept so long, so just keep resting."
"Yes Mum, I still feel like I'm about to drop so I'll probably head back to bed once I finish my plate off."
"Good, that will help. You'll be right as rain in no time! Will you need help climbing back up the stairs? I could get Ron to help you."
"I'll be fine getting up to the room, no need to bother Ron. He's probably groveling to Hermione and we shouldn't interrupt that," he chuckled.
"Yes, he told us that he had left you poor dears for some time while you were hunting those dreadful things. Whatever did he run off for?"
"He thought something was going on between me and 'Mione! Like that would ever happen," Harry said with a snort. "She's been in love with Ron for years, even when he was an arse and ignored her for Lav-Lav for months."
"What a ludicrous idea! However did he come with that? Of course you wouldn't be dating Hermione! And especially not now, so close to when Ginny turns 17," Molly crowed, "That boy gets the strangest ideas sometimes. I swear to Merlin he gets it from your father, flying cars indeed!"
"What do you mean about Ginny turning 17 soon? Of course her birthday is just after mine but that has nothing to do with me dating anyone."
"Well of course it does! The contract is going to be implemented soon so why would you start dating anyone now? That should have been done ages ago if you were going to date around a bit. It's time to focus on the long-term and starting to date anyone now would just be a silly fling!"
By now Molly's voice was quite loud from her laughter and the vehemence in her final statements and it had drawn the attention of the rest of the family. They all crowded into the kitchen, filling up the free seats at the table, and standing in the doorway to fit everyone into see what the commotion was about.
"Mollywobbles what are you shouting about in here?"
"Nothing, I let my emotions run away from me a mite. Everything is just fine Arthur, I promise!" But her grin was forced and she could tell no one really believed it.
"No, Mum. What does Ginny turning 17 have to do with me dating? And what contract is being implemented that would make dating someone just a silly fling?"
"Contract?" Arthur repeated, "Molly, tell me you didn't? You know how horribly those turn out! You can't have done that to them, to our children!"
"The marriages only turn out horribly when there's no love and they don't even try but that's not the case here, Arthur! They do love each other, you've seen it!"
"Marriage!" The word rang out in multiple voices but silence was the only answer for long minutes afterward as everyone stared at Molly in shock.
"Harry and Ginny will be a fine couple, they love each other and support each other. I admit, I was concerned when Albus brought up the idea but I came to see that he was absolutely correct. The wedding is to be within a year of Ginny's 17th, Harry dear. So beginning to date someone now would be preposterous, a brainless endeavour this close to the wedding."
"What about starting to date someone years back then? Is that preposterous Mum? I've been with Dean for almost two years now! We even sent messages over the old DA coins the whole time he was on the run to stay in contact. You knew this! I told you how scared I was for him, that he'd be caught by Snatchers any day or even get sick and not be able to get medicine. You comforted me, told me it would all work out! Was that all a lie?"
"No dearie, no, I didn't lie. I just meant even if your fears did come true, I knew Harry would help you through it. He'd help you grieve and you'd become even closer. And if Dean made it through, I was so pleased to hear he had, Harry would still be the one you end up with for good. Albus was adamant that the contract be foolproof so there are no allowances for affairs or blood adoptions written into it. It'll just be the two of you, in love and happy for the rest of your lives."
"You seem to have missed something in your explanations, Mum," Harry cut in.
"What's that?"
Harry stood from his seat at the kitchen table and roared, "Why the bloody fuck would I want to sleep with my sister?!"
The End
*From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling.