Disclaimer: This world belongs to J.K. Rowling. I just play in it.

A/N: I know, it's kind of boring right now. Be patient, it will pick up. And I'm not sure what happened with this chapter, I just kind of wrote and this is what I ended up with.

CHAPTER FOUR - CATCHING UP

Anticipation rose even more within Harry as they turned onto the grimy street that housed several grungy offices and a stone wall covered with graffiti. A bright red telephone booth stood out amongst the grayness of the road. Approaching it, he opened the door and let Ginny step inside; he followed behind her. Hermione and Ron were obviously going to wait to make the ride more comfortable for all. He was pressed close to Ginny, her body made him nervous. Harry picked up the phone, not bothering to put it to his ear, and dialed 6-2-4-4-2.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business," a woman's voice sounded.

"Um…Harry Potter and Ginevra Weasley, here for the Hogwarts meeting," he said confidently, gripping Ginny's hand which she had placed on his chest.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," said the invisible woman, "Please be sure to take your badges. All students attending the Hogwarts arbitration are required to register at the front of the Atrium. Good luck and good day."

As she finished talking, Harry and Ginny took their pins from the change chute. Glancing once more at Ron and Hermione, who thankfully weren't snogging, Harry noticed that several other wizards and witches had appeared. A small line had formed outside the phone booth.

Suddenly, Ginny burst out laughing as the red box quickly started to descend deep into the earth. At first, Harry thought that she was laughing at the sudden rush the moving booth gave her, but then she showed him her badge.

He grinned profusely as he read Ginevra Potter, Hogwarts Arbitration. An idea struck him, and he quickly looked at his own badge, just to make sure they hadn't just mixed the surnames up. However, it was his own name, and not Harry Weasley that was engraved on the square, silver pin.

"Kinda catchy," he said boldly. Ginny's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.

"Don't get any ideas, Potter," she said.

"I was talking about Hogwarts Arbitration. I wonder who came up with that," he smiled.

A faint look of pretend shock took her pretty face as she playfully punched his arm. "I'm going to keep this," she said smiling brightly. "As a keepsake."

"You do that," said Harry. How it was possible to feel so much for one person, he didn't know. The last few months with her had been paradise, and even at such a young age he had thoughts of marrying her. Frankly, why search for something else when you've already got what you want. Besides, his own parents had been around his age when they decided to wed. However, the meeting today would determine a lot about their futures.

A moment later they found themselves in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. The usual staff and visitors walked briskly around, but Harry noticed the place was deluged with students also. They waited until Ron and Hermione appeared after them. Again, Harry walked with Ron, this time leading the girls. He heard Hermione and Ginny giggle in a girlish way and although Ron looked kind of puzzled, Harry knew Ginny had shown Hermione the badge. He thought about telling Ron, but liked the perplexed look on his face and decided to keep him waiting for an explanation of the girls' sudden burst of girlishness.

The quad had to wait for several minutes in a line full of their classmates. Seamus Finnegan was ahead of them and he kept them company until it was his turn to sign in. Luna Lovegood was there too; however she was much farther back in line. Neville stood beside her. When it was his turn, Harry picked up the quill and wrote his name on the parchment before handing the quill to Ginny. After all four of them had successfully registered, they followed Seamus to the lifts.

The clattering lift took them to the first floor. Harry had never been there before and looked on in amazement as the doors opened up into a magnificently decorated hallway.

"I'm not sure where we're going," said Seamus.

"Me either," sighed Ron. A few other students came from the lifts behind them.

"I think the witch at the front desk said to continue straight until we pass the painting of a court jester," Hermione offered, "then turn right and there will be a set of golden doors." Apparently, she had been the only one paying attention. What else was new?

Sure enough, at the far end of the hallway a court jester was attempting to juggle milk bottles within his frame. A side hall to the right took them straight to a set of golden doors. They weren't just gold in color, but they seemed to be actually made of real gold. It took both Ron and Harry to open the thick, heavy doors.

"You guys do realize you have your wands, right?" asked Ginny sarcastically.

Inside, they found a large auditorium. Actually, it was more like a small arena, easily fitting five thousand people. Hogwarts wasn't quite that populous, but it was the only area large enough and ambient enough to fit everybody. Alive with students, many of whom Harry recognized, it felt like they were walking into the Great Hall. However, the four long tables had been replaced by rows of chairs, and the ceiling was just a simple, yet appealing, white marble.

If Harry had to guess, he'd say that at least half the school's pupils were already in the room. The rest were behind him, filing their way into the meeting area. At the sight of Harry, Hermione and Ron, people stepped aside, making it easier for them to gain access to the front of the audience. Particularly pleased by this, Ron even stopped to sign a few autographs for a couple of second-years. People that they had never even talked to pointed them out, and Ginny took a tighter grip on Harry's hand every time a girl giggle or threw suggestive offers his way. He ignored it because the only thoughts going through his head were of Ginny's hand in his.

Dean Thomas and the Patil twins had saved and entire row of seats right up front and when Neville and Luna joined them, there were only three seats left at the end. A small platform had been put in the center so that everybody had a vantage point. Most of the Gryffindor house sat near them, and Harry noticed that Ravenclaws sat with Ravenclaws, Slytherins with Slytherins, and Hufflepuffs with Hufflepuffs.

The Slytherins sat on the far right side of the room. They segregated themselves and didn't talk to anybody but each other. Maybe they were still supercilious, or maybe they were still purely embarrassed; Harry didn't know. Gregory Goyle sat beside Blaise Zabini, the same stupor as always on his face. It was kind of bizarre seeing Goyle without Crabbe at his side. Even more so to see him so calm and still. Harry knew that Goyle's dad was in Azkaban, serving his time for committing to Voldemort; while Gregory had been a supporter of Dark Arts and his loyalty was still questionable, he wasn't a sociopath. Harry knew all too well what it was like to grow up without a father.

Luckily for Goyle Sr., Azkaban was no longer the same dreadful place it had been for the twelve years Sirius was kept there. One of the first things Kingsley Shacklebolt did as minister was to abolish dementors. Nobody knew where the vile creatures had been sent to, and nobody wanted to find out. On the other hand, Azkaban was still no place any man wanted to go to, and Shacklebolt had made sure that criminals like Gregory's father got the punishment they deserved.

Azkaban wasn't the only place that had seen some renovation. At the request of Hermione, Kingsley had started the ball rolling on cleaning up the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was slowly but surely being upgraded. Kingsley had set out to make a positive difference and he was doing a damn good job of it.

And everybody seemed happy. Months had dragged by, not caring for anyone. All of the people in the room had lost someone, and while it still hurt deep down, it was time to move on. That's why they were here.

The Weasley household had prevailed again after many weeks. Always a strong family, they refused to start over, rather, they picked up the pieces and started running again. Fred's death had nearly killed them all, not to mention the loss of so many dear friends. From time to time, you could still catch Mrs. Weasley softly mourning in the kitchen, Arthur broken down in his shed, and the rest of the family torn apart emotionally, but that had to be likewise with everybody else and their families. For a long few weeks, everybody was mourning. Then slowly, life started capturing them again.

Hermione had a hell of a time finding her parents. Ron had gone with her to Australia where they searched all around Sydney and Melbourne with no luck. She became withdrawn and refused to talk to anybody but Ginny, which had caused a few problems for Ron. Several weeks later however, she received a letter from the Dept. of Magical Law Enforcement of Australia stating that they had tracked down suitable suspects for her parents. Not even bothering to pack her bags, she had stormed out of the Burrow, only pausing so that Ron and Harry could catch up.

Africa and the Indian Ocean stood between Hermione and her parents. Even the most advanced wizards wouldn't dare try and apparate. Leave it to Hermione to do it. Without thinking of splinching, or winding up in the middle of the Marianna's Trench, Harry had grasped her arm, and moments later he had found himself standing on the most beautiful stretch of sand and salt water imaginable.

Hermione's parents were home safe now, both back at their dentist practices.

Neville and his grandmother had settled back down, both with newfound respect for each other. Harry and Ginny had sat down for dinner with them one night, and Harry couldn't remember laughing so hard in such a long time. And Neville was always with Luna. They were the odd couple who weren't officially a couple.

It had taken a while for Luna to fully forgive her father, but when she did, so did Harry, Ron and Hermione. Let bygones be bygones. The Quibbler was back to its normal business, and Xenophilius was currently in Bulgaria looking for the Speared Spackerdoodle that roamed apparently roamed there.

Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were around more than usual. Normally, Harry hadn't seen them apart from the typical run in outside of Hogwarts. Death and loss had scared everybody into appreciating what they had, and the two boys had been to the Burrow countless times since.

A long time went by before anybody heard anything from the Malfoys. Lucius had redeemed himself by choosing his family over the Dark Lord, and Narcissa had deeply betrayed Voldemort. Harry didn't dare imagine what would have happened if she hadn't lied. Even young Draco had abiding qualities hidden in him. But the family remained silent, either out of fear of the remaining Death Eaters or of shame. Most likely, it was a fusion of both.

When the Malfoy family did come out, it was Lucius. He had given the ministry the name of every Death Eater that he could think of. Harry had been there; he remembered Lucius's skin being paler than usual, and his voice had cracked so much he was barely audible.

Everybody else seemed to follow in those patterns. They regained touch with love ones, mourned lost ones, became closer with those they weren't so friendly with before, or they were hiding out for things to calm down.

And Harry - Harry had been busy living. He spent precious hours with Ginny, and never missed a chance to de-gnome the garden with Ron. Every Sunday, if not more during the week, he visited Andromeda Tonks and his godson Teddy. He had long chats with Hermione about everything from muggle movies they had seen when they were younger to Speared Spackerdoodles, and he ate Molly Weasley's food until he was ready to burst. He enjoyed teaching Arthur whatever he remembered about the muggle world, and dropped in to see friends whenever he had free time. At night, he curled up in his warm bed, bid Ron goodnight, and was thankful to be alive and hoped the next day wouldn't be so bad. Nightmares avoided him; only sweet dreams filled his head. Sweet dreams about a lovely red head with big brown eyes and a smile that made him melt.