A/N: Hey guys, this is the first chapter of my fanfic, Harry Potter and the Happily Ever After. I hope you enjoy, please review!
Each chapter I'm going to recommend something for all us Harry Potter addicts.
Recommendation: .com
Disclaimer
I do not own Harry Potter. That privilege is reserved for J. and Warner Bros. (Lucky buggers)
Ginny looked around the Great Hall in despair. She was surrounded by death and agony. People were tending to the injured or mourning the dead. But Ginny just stood there. Looking. For him. She started to walk across the Great Hall when she spotted Ron and Hermione huddling in the corner, both of their eyes red, from crying. 'Of course!' Ginny thought to herself. 'Ron and Hermione will know where he is.'
They both looked up as she walked towards them. "Where is he?" She demanded. Hermione looked at her in shock, before she realized the look of fear on Ginny's face. "I don't know." "I'm sorry" she added after seeing the look of disappointment on her face. Ron was seemed to have come back to reality and chipped in, "I saw him leave the castle." Ginny looked at the door in panic and sprinted from the hall, leaving Ron and Hermione looking after her in shock.
Ginny ran out of the castle and straight down the path. She stopped for a second to catch her breath, when she saw something orange fly up in the air in the distance. Her eyes lit up as she realised where he was. As she ran towards Hagrid's hut she realised that it was bits of pumpkin in the air. She closed in and started screaming. "HARRY POTTER!" Harry turned in surprise.
Ginny flung herself at Harry and they both fell to the ground like potatoes in a sack. Harry's head went straight into a pumpkin. "Ow!" He groaned, as he sat up with the pumpkin stuck on his head. Ginny giggled and pulled the pumpkin off, but her face returned to fury and she hit him across the face, which resulted in a satisfying smack. "Don't you ever leave me again!" she scolded. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Harry hung his head. "Sorry..." he replied. He raised his head and Ginny looked into his emerald green eyes and her heart melted. She knew she couldn't stay mad at him. They stared into each others eyes for what seemed like hours, until the tension on the small vegetable patch became too much and Ginny threw her lips onto Harry's. They melted together and only stopped when they couldn't breath. Ginny rolled off Harry. "Woah." They said in unison. Ginny grinned. "We should probably head back to the others." she said with a sigh. Harry nodded, "Woah" he muttered.
After Harry had finished daydreaming, the walked back up to the castle, hand in hand. Even though Harry would smile every time Ginny looked at him, she still saw that look of concern in his eyes." Harry." He turned to look at her. "What happened was not your fault." She smiled at him. "But-" he began to say but was interrupted, "No buts. The people who fought today did it willingly, knowing they might die. Lupin, Tanks, Colin-" Her voice caught but she continued. "Fr-Fred or anyone else who lost their life would not blame you. Hell, Fred's probably sat up there wondering why we're so sad and wishing to set off a Filibusters firework in our pants." Harry let out a laugh at this and seemed to cheer up.
As they walked into the Great Hall, hand in hand, they noticed two things. First, the sudden emptiness of the hall, most of the bodies had been removed and the few injured that had not been transfered to St. Mungos were sat in one corner. Secondly, they noticed everybody was staring at them. Not knowing what to do, they stood there, staring back. Suddenly, Mrs Weasley rushed forward and pulled them into a bone crushing hug. "You're okay!" She exclaimed, while they caught their breath. "We've been so worried!" Ginny was blushing the dark scarlet the Weasley's often sported. "Mum! She hissed. "Not in front of everyone!" Mrs Weasley turned and glared at the eavesdroppers. They quickly turned away and occupied them self. "Sorry darling" Mrs Weasley replied. "Come over here and have a rest."
As they walked over to the rest of Weasley clan, they saw George leaning over, Bill and Ron consoling him. "Where's Charlie and Dad?" Ginny asked her mother. Molly Weasley seemed to age 20 years in a second, as she remembered the loss of her 4th son. "Th- they took F-fred back h-home ready f-for the f-funeral." She burst into tears and Percy rushed forward, tissues in hand. Ginny went and sat next to George, Harry, unsure what to do, sat down next to Hermione.
"Hey," he said as he sat down. "Hi," she replied. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, feeling like a spare part around all of the Weasleys, a feeling familiar to both of them. Harry broke the silence. "Are you and Ron..?" He asked. "Yeah, we are." She replied, "Are you and Ginny?" "Yeah... So what do you think will happen now?" He asked. "I don't know Harry, but" she was interrupted by a call across the hall.
"Potter! Granger! Come over here!" Professor McGonagall called. "Bring Weasley with you." Harry and Hermione looked at each other in confusion. "I wonder what she wants." Harry pondered out loud. Hermione grabbed Ron and the three of them walked over. "Potter, Granger, Weasley, I believe you have met Head Auror Shacklebolt, correct?" She questioned, cutting straight to the point. Hermione spoke for the three of them, "Yes, Professor, that's correct." She replied. "Well, you may be pleased to know that in light of recent events, he has been promoted to the Minister Of Magic. At this point, Kingsley walked up to the four of them, Harry, Ron and Hermione began congratulating him.
"Thank you," he said in his deep baritone voice. "But I'm not here to talk about me, I'm here to talk about you." "Us?" The three said in confused unison. "Yes, you." He replied. "I'm here to offer you jobs." The three looked at him in shock but he ignored them and continued. "Potter, Weasley, I assume it is still your ambitions to become Aurors?" Still recovering, they both managed to spit out "Yes, sir." "Good, you will report to the ministry on Monday." Harry and Ron looked at each other in panic. "Um..." Ron began "That's all great and stuff but... um... Fred's funeral is on Monday." Kingsley looked confused and then laughed. "Not this Monday! God no! Monday the 11th." Harry and Ron looked at each other and nodded. "We'll be there" Harry confirmed.
Next Kingsley turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, from what I have heard from Professor McGonagall here, you are an incredibly bright and talented witch, please, just tell me what sort of job you want and I will see what's available." Hermione lowered her head and looked at the floor. "Kingsley, I'm honoured, I really am, but I'd like to continue my education." She glanced at McGonagall. "If that's possible." McGonagall smiled. "Of course you may, due to your absence last year." Kingsley watched the two women with interest. "I respect your decision, Miss Granger, when you finish here at Hogwarts, contact me, and we'll get you a job" Hermione looked incredibly happy, and Ron was looking at her with pride. Kingsley walked away and Professor McGonagall turned to the three of them. "Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, I wish you the best of luck with your new careers, and Miss Granger, I will see you on September 1st at the welcome feast." She bade them farewell and the three walked back to the Weasley clan.
As they walked over, Mrs Weasley lifted her head. "So?" She asked. "What did Minevra want?" Harry and Ron looked at each other and then turned back, grinning. "We both got jobs as Aurors!" Ron cried. Molly made a very child-like squeal and pulled them both into a hug. "Congratulations!" She celebrated. Soon everybody was congratulating the two of them, the only person who hadn't yet; hugged them, patted them on the back, shook their hand, was the one person Harry wanted to congratulate him. Ginny. She was sat in the corner with her arms crossed, looking betrayed.
Harry waded through the crowd of people between him and Ginny. "Thanks Neville. Excuse me Dean, I know Parvarti" he muttered as he attempted to escape the crowd of people. It was Hagrid who noticed Harry's struggle and came to the rescue. "Alrigh' you lot!" He boomed. "Clear of'! Harry wants some space!" As the crowd cleared, Harry thanked Hagrid and rushed over to Ginny. "Hey," he started, a look of worry on his face. "What's the matter?" Ginny glared at him. "What do you think?!" She snapped angrily. "I thought we could spend the summer together. I thought that now You-kn- Voldemort is dead, it would be over. Now you're going to be spending the summer fighting the same people we spent a year doing." Harry was staring at her, mouth agape. "Ginny, I want to spend time with you, I really do. But if we're going to be together, you need to accept that I won't stop fighting Death Eaters until the world is safe enough for us to live together in peace." Ginny had tears in her eyes. "O-okay" she managed. He held out his arms and they embraced. For a long time.
After their ten minute hug, they walked back to Ginny's family where they saw them standing around a lump of rock, from the destruction during the battle. They looked puzzled until George muttered, "Portkey." "Ah, okay" Ginny replied, and they all reached forward and touched the rock. There was a moment of silence. Then, Poof. They were gone