"Potter."
James froze in his tracks. What had he done to get McGonagall on his case already? She was going to make him late to Potions, and then probably give him a detention for being late to Potions. He turned around slowly to face her and smiled.
"Ah, Professor McGonagall! To what do I owe this pleasure?" asked James with a fake smile.
Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows in amusement.
"Guilty conscience?" she asked.
James laughed and said, "No, believe it or not, I actually haven't caused any trouble just yet. I suppose I'm a little behind."
"Interestingly enough, that's something I wanted to talk to you about," said Professor McGonagall.
James looked at her worriedly, wondering if some of his detentions from fifth year were carrying over.
"As I'm sure you know, Quidditch Captains are chosen over the summer, and badges are sent out accordingly. Now, your Head of House had a captain picked out, but before I could approve his choice, I wanted to be sure that the selected individual could handle the responsibility before being granted such a position."
James looked at her incredulously.
"I believe that you are the best potential Captain for Gryffindor. However, your leadership and skill shown on the pitch seem to evaporate the moment the Snitch is caught. During your first five years here you have not been well-behaved, and I believe you are aware of this."
James nodded sheepishly.
"I will only trust you with this position if you are responsible enough to handle it. I'd like to see a lot less detentions from you this year, Mr. Potter, and that means a lot less pranks, smart comments, and disturbances. This is a privilege, Potter, and it can easily be taken away. There are a number of other students who I am sure would be willing to take your place. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Professor. Of course," said James, nodding vigorously.
"Very well then, you are the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team," said Professor McGonagall, handing James his badge.
James took the badge and smiled at it. He couldn't wait to tell his father. Professor McGonagall smiled as if reading his mind, and began to walk away. Then, remembering something, she stopped and turned around.
"Just so you know, if you slip up, and I feel that you no longer deserve to be Captain, the person who gets the position is your brother."
It was late. Ginny was home alone, scribbling furiously on a long roll of parchment. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and surrounding her were mountains of crumpled parchment, old magazines and newspapers, and tables displaying various types of data. She was hunched over her desk, paying no attention to anything around her, not even her cat, which was desperately trying to sit on Ginny's lap.
Crack!
Ginny jumped from her chair and grabbed her wand immediately. The loud, sudden sound had come from down the hall. She slowly walked across her office and placed her back to the wall, attempting to look out her doorway. She couldn't see anyone or anything. She couldn't hear anything over the thudding of her heart. Seeing no other alternative, Ginny gulped and slowly poked her head out the doorway.
The hallway was clear, so Ginny slowly began to walk down toward the living room, still pointing her wand ahead of her. As she neared the end of the hallway, Ginny heard footsteps. She froze and prepared herself as the footsteps came closer. The person was going to round the corner any moment. She raised her wand, ready to cast any hex she could think of on –
"Harry!"
"Merlin, Ginny, what are you doing?" said Harry, clearly taken aback by Ginny's wand, which was still pointed at him.
"I heard someone apparate! You never apparate!" shouted Ginny, still not lowering her wand.
"I ran out of floo powder – I'm sorry, I should have told you – "
"PROVE IT!" shouted Ginny, taking a step back from Harry.
For a moment Harry looked extremely offended, but then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"We've been married for 18 years, and I've loved every moment of it. We thought about eloping to avoid planning a wedding, but we knew your mother would have our heads if we did that. I first told you I loved you at Christmas after the Battle of Hogwarts. You thought I was drunk, so I stayed awake all night to prove I knew what I was saying, and that I meant it with all my heart."
Ginny smiled at Harry as she lowered her wand. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. You're right to be so cautious. I should've sent you an owl when I realized I'd run out of floo powder at the office."
Ginny hugged Harry and said quietly, "It's okay. I'm glad you're home."
"Me too," said Harry.
"Is there anything new on the breakouts?" asked Ginny.
"Nothing. Whatever they're planning, they're being very smart. They're lying low. We haven't gotten even a whiff of anything out of the ordinary."
Ginny sighed. "That just makes this scarier."
Harry looked at Ginny with concern. "I know. But I'll find them, I promise."
Ginny smiled sadly at Harry and said, "Don't put this all on your shoulders. You have help, lots of it. Use it," Ginny began to walk back down the hallway to her office and called over her shoulder, "and come home on time tomorrow."
Harry watched his wife walk back into her office. He sighed deeply and began to walk to the kitchen to make himself a very late dinner.
