Chapter 7: OWL Marks, Two Apparation Exams, and a Reception
For a few days after the meeting, Harry spent much of his time thinking. He thought about Ginny, his friends, D.A. lessons, and, of course, going back to Hogwarts. As he thought about these things, he went over his book list for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Standard Book of Spells: Grade Seven
Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts
Advanced Alchemy (Potions so Tough They Will Make Your Head Spin)
Human Transfiguration
He knew that he'd have to go to Diagon Alley for these. He just hoped that Flourish and Blotts was still there.
Ginny walked into the room quietly. Seeing that Harry was deep in thought, and had his book list in front of him, again, she decided that it was time to make him relax. Walking over to the chair he was sitting in, Ginny planted a kiss on him that guarantied he'd forget whatever it was that he was worried about. Harry returned the kiss, knowing that whatever he had just been worrying about no longer mattered.
"Hey sweetie," Ginny said as they broke apart.
"Hey yourself," Harry replied, quite breathless.
"Hun, you need to take some time away from that list," Ginny said firmly.
"I know, it's just that I can't help but feel nervous about going back," Harry said, smiling weakly.
"I can understand that," Ginny said with a smirk.
With that, Ginny stepped around Harry and took a seat in his lap. Dropping one arm around his shoulders, she positioned herself so that she could look him straight in the eye. Harry gently wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
"Harry why don't you come with me to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Ron and Hermione today, we were going to go to Diagon Alley to visit Fred and George, then to the Burrow to have supper," Ginny said.
"Thanks Gin, I'd like that," Harry replied, smiling.
A sudden clicking noise on the window drew Harry's attention away from Ginny at that moment. Turning to see what was making the noise; Harry spotted two owls sitting on his window sill.
"I'll let them in," Ginny said, a little perturbed about having to get up from the comfortable position she was in.
As she opened the window, Harry recognized Pig, but the other owl he had not seen before. Pig held his leg out to Ginny so that she could remove the letter he carried. The other owl flew over to Harry. As Harry removed the letter, he noticed that the seal on the back was that of the Magical Transportation Department. He opened the envelope to find a single piece of parchment giving the date and time for his Apparation Test. Looking over to Ginny, intending to share his news, Harry noticed that she had the look of absolute horror on her face.
"You okay, Gin," Harry asked.
"It's… These are… This is my… OWL results," she stammered.
Harry jumped up on the spot and ran over to her.
"You do think you did well, don't you," Harry asked in a tone that he hoped would help her feel a little less nervous.
"I thought so then, but I'm not so sure, now," Ginny said, just as nervous as she was when she saw the writing on the envelope.
There was a moment of silence, and then Ginny said, "Best get this over with".
She opened the envelope and withdrew the parchment inside.
Ms. Weasley,
We are very sorry that your results were delivered so late. As the future of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was uncertain, we elected to withhold all OWL results until notified as to whether to send them out, or not. Again our humblest apologies for the delay.
Madam Marchbanks
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results
Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
Miss Ginerva M. Weasley has achieved the following in her Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations:
Astronomy-A
Care of Magical Creatures-O
Charms-O
Defense Against the Dark Arts-O
Herbology-E
History of Magic-A
Muggle Studies-E
Potions-E
Transfiguration-E
Ginny reread her marks four times before looking up at Harry, smiling the biggest smile she could.
"Than good, huh," Harry asked.
She remained silent, but handed Harry the letter.
Grinning nearly as much as she was, Harry said, "Wow Ginny, these are excellent marks, I'm really, really proud of you. Three O's, four E's, and two A's, and one of those O's is in Defense, that's awesome".
"Well, I wouldn't have gotten that one if I hadn't had such a good teacher," Ginny said with a smirk.
"This deserves a celebration," Harry said excitedly.
"No, I don't want mum to do anything special for me because of this, she's already buying me an owl for being made Prefect, that's enough," Ginny said firmly.
"Well, what about me," Harry said with feigned outrage.
"Oh, well, okay, if you really want to do something," Ginny said.
"When are we meeting Ron and Hermione," Harry asked, ideas taking form in his mind.
"At one o'clock," Ginny answered.
"Let's go to Diagon Alley now and meet them after," Harry suggested.
"And just how will we get there," Ginny asked suspiciously.
"Glad you asked, Madeye taught me how to cast a Disillusionment charm," Harry said.
"On brooms then," Ginny asked, getting impatient with Harry.
"Just one broom, mine," Harry answered with a wicked grin.
They flew into London on Harry's Firebolt and landed in an alley just feet from the Leaky Cauldron. Harry took Ginny's hand and led her through the pub, then out to the magic wall that separated muggle London from Diagon Alley. He drew his wand and tapped the third brick from the left, above the bins, and watched the archway appear. As they stepped through, Harry suggested they go over to Quality Quidditch Supply for a bit. Upon entering the shop, Harry saw Neville Longbottom.
"Hello," Neville called from the rack of Golden Snitches he was looking at.
"Hi Neville," Harry and Ginny said together.
"Harry, I wonder if I might have a word," Neville asked.
Harry looked over to Ginny, who nodded approval, and answered," Sure, what about".
"I'll bring him back in a minute, Ginny," Neville said.
Harry and Neville stepped over to a large rack of broomsticks and pretended to be looking at them when Neville spoke up, "Is there any chance of you coming back to school this year"?
"I'm going back, Neville, and I have a surprise for you, but I'll get to that when we are on the train," Harry answered.
"That's great, I need to tell Luna," Neville said, somewhat excitedly.
Following Neville's eyes, Harry spotted Luna across the street looking at a cart full of defense items.
"Neville, can you do me a favor," Harry asked very quietly.
"Sure, anything," Neville answered.
"Take this letter down to Fred and George's shop. Make sure it goes directly into their hands and tell them that I'll be down to explain shortly," Harry said.
"Okay, I'll give it to Luna so that it doesn't get lost," Neville said.
"One more thing, Ginny can't know about it," Harry said firmly.
"A surprise for her," Neville asked.
"Yes, and make sure Fred and George know that too," Harry said.
Neville and Harry walked back over to where Ginny was waiting, talking about brooms.
"Thanks Harry," Neville said.
"No problem and good luck," Harry replied with a wink that Ginny didn't see.
"Neville's buying a new broom," Ginny asked.
"For Luna, she seems to need a new one," Harry said, thinking quickly.
"So, where to next, Hun," Ginny asked sweetly.
"Where ever you want to go, my dear, I'm buying you whatever you want today," Harry replied, smiling.
"I have everything I want right here," Ginny said as she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck.
"And I have everything I want right here," Harry said, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her gently.
After a moment they broke the kiss and Ginny saw something she just had to have.
"HARRY, LOOK," she exclaimed.
Harry turned to see a small box, sitting on a shelf, with a gold chain linking two crystal snitches together. As he looked closer, he noticed that each snitch was a different color. One was diamond white and the other emerald green. He quickly picked up the tag and read it. The necklace was supposed to be for charms, each one containing a crystal representation of a birthstone. He read on and found that this particular necklace came with July and August's colored stones.
"Do you like it," Harry asked noticing the glow in Ginny's eyes, which was rapidly fading.
"I do, but it's too much, sweetie," she said.
"Not for you, it isn't," Harry said with a smile.
He took the box from the shelf and walked up to the counter. After the shopkeeper insisted that Ginny try the chain to make sure it fit, Harry paid twenty Galleons for it. Leaving the shop, they ran right into Ron and Hermione.
"You're early," Hermione said happily.
"Yeah, I wanted to get him out of the house," Ginny said brightly.
"Well, shall we go see Fred and George," Ron asked.
"Yeah, let's do that," Harry replied quickly.
The four of them walked down the street to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and were met right out on the street by Fred and George.
"What's up, guys," The twins said almost in unison.
"Not much, anything new," Harry asked, motioning toward Ginny.
"Yeah, we have something that we wanted you and Ron to look at," the twins answered.
"Do you mind, Hunny," Harry asked Ginny.
"Well, as long as you're quick about it," Ginny replied, finding it impossible to be upset.
Ron leaned over to Hermione and whispered something in her ear that made her blush slightly, and then said, "I'll be right back".
As the girls wandered the shelves, the four guys went to the R&D room at the back of the shop.
"So, you want to let us in on the secret, Harry," George asked.
Harry told them about Ginny's OWL marks and about her not wanting her family to fuss about it because of the whole Prefect situation. He then asked Fred and George to let Mrs. Weasley know, and to use the small bag of money, which he had just handed them, to get everything needed for a celebration dinner. He also told Ron to fill Hermione in and to keep things quiet. When they returned to the main shop, Harry spotted Neville and Luna, again, looking at the muggle magic tricks. Harry walked over to them quickly as not to be seen and invited them to Ginny's celebration dinner. When he returned to Ginny's side, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.
"What was that for," Ginny asked with a smile.
"Dunno, but I thought you like it anyhow," Harry replied with a smirk.
"We'll talk about that later," Ginny said with a look that made Harry's ears burn red. With that, she pulled Harry into a kiss. When the couple pulled apart, Harry looked up to see Ron with a look on his face that said: Any further and you'll wish you'd never taught me how to cast a Full Body Bind. Ginny saw this look too, and spoke up, "Ron, whatever it is you are thinking, STOP".
Ron let the issue drop without a word. This was partially because he knew that Harry would never hurt Ginny, intentionally, and partly because Hermione was whispering something in his ear that was making him go through every shade of red. When she had finished, Hermione suggested that they get lunch.
After a quick stop at Gringott's, they walked up to the Leaky Cauldron. Eating a quick lunch, they decided to spend the next few hours shopping for their school supplies. At five fifteen, they arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron, just in time to meet Mr. Weasley.
He told them that he had a Ministry car for the next couple of days to help with getting everything ready for Bill and Fleur's wedding.
"Harry, may I have a word," Mr. Weasley asked as everyone was piling into the car.
"Sure, what about," Harry replied.
Mr. Weasley motioned toward the pub and Harry followed his lead.
"Harry, you know that you didn't have to send this money to help us with Ginny's party," Mr. Weasley said, holding up the bag that Harry had given the twins.
"I wanted to, Sir. I thought that you and Mrs. Weasley would like the help," Harry said nervously.
"Well, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't want to spend your money. I just wouldn't feel right about it," Mr. Weasley said.
"Honestly, Sir, take it and use it, I want to help out, especially after all that you've done for me over the years," Harry said.
"Well, I'll talk to Molly about it," Mr. Weasley said.
They went back out and got into the car. About an hour later, they arrived at Harry's second favorite place in the world. Everyone jumped out of the car at once, heading for the house. Once inside, Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley had been busy putting up decorations for both the wedding and Ginny's party. Ginny noticed the decorations too and looked right over at Harry, who was doing his best to look innocent and surprised.
Summoning as dark a voice as she could, Ginny rounded on Harry, "You're in trouble now, Potter".
"What, I didn't do anything," Harry said as innocently as he could.
"We'll see about that," Ginny shot back, smiling.
"I think I'm going for a walk, before I get into any more trouble," Harry said with a smirk.
Ginny followed him out the door and over to the old tree by the pond. They sat down together in an old bench and just stared out at the ducks in silence. After a short while, Ginny spoke up.
"You know, you didn't have to do this," She said.
"I know, but I also knew that your mum would have made a party out of supper anyhow, and I wanted to give you something more for your OWL marks," Harry said.
"I have everything I could possibly want right here," Ginny said, for the second time that day as she wrapped her arms around Harry.
Supper turned out to be quite a feast. After everyone had at least three helpings of everything, Mrs. Weasley cleared the table with a wave of her wand. It was then that Mr. Weasley spoke up.
"So, Harry, Ron, you two riding in with me tomorrow," He asked.
"Yeah, that'll be great," they replied.
"What are you talking about, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley asked.
"For their Apparation Tests, dear," Mr. Weasley reminded her.
The next morning, Ron, Harry, and Mr. Wealsey left for the Ministry. Once there, Mr. Weasley gave them directions, and then set off for his own office. The tests were taking place in a room that had been set up by the Department of Magical Transportation. Harry and Ron found their way to the room and took their tests. After about two hours, they both returned to the Atrium, both having passed. Once there, they met Mr. Weasley, who had told them that he would meet them there to go to lunch. Upon hearing the news, all three apparated back to the Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley met them in the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches for lunch. Mr. Weasley told her that both boys had passed.
"Well, then, we'll just have to have a special supper for the two of you," she said excitedly.
"Mrs. Weasley, you don't have to do that," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, mum we both know that you're busy with the wedding," Ron added quickly.
"Are you sure? It won't be any trouble," Mrs. Weasley asked, slightly shocked.
"Tell you what, Molly, why don't we go to Harry's place tonight and celebrate there," Mr. Weasley suggested.
"But, who'll fix the meal, who'll…," Mrs. Weasley never finished her worried question.
"I think you'll find that we can work that out easily, don't you boys," Mr. Weasley said.
"Yeah, we'll make sure that it's taken care of," they answered.
With that, Harry called Dobby.
"Harry Potter, sir, what can Dobby do for you," the house elf asked excitedly.
"Whatever Mrs. Weasley asks you to," Harry said.
"Oh, but I really don't want Dobby to be missed from the school kitchens," Mrs. Weasley said.
"I won't be ma'am, Dobby has little work as term has not started yet," the elf stated simply.
"Well, okay then, I'll just grab my cloak, and a few other things, and we'll be off," Mrs. Weasley said.
After she had left the room, Harry asked Dobby to make sure that Mrs. Weasley did not work very hard, and got to spend some time relaxing. Dobby agreed, enthusiastically.
"Well, I'd better be off," Mr. Weasley said, looking at his watch.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Weasley reentered the kitchen and set off, with Dobby, for Grimmauld Place. Harry and Ron had just sat down for a round of Wizard's Chess when Hermione and Ginny walked through the door. Hermione walked over, with a smile, and sat down next to Ron, while Ginny sat down beside Harry.
"Well," Hermione said, looking at Ron with a brow raised.
"We passed," Harry answered for Ron.
Both girls let out an excited squeal as they hugged their boyfriends in excitement.
"So, where's mum, I know she'll want to have a feast for you lot," Ginny said.
"She and Dobby went to my place to fix that very feast," Harry said.
"Dobby," Hermione and Ginny asked together.
"Yeah, he's not very busy at the school and we thought that Mrs. Weasley could use a break from working on the wedding," Harry stated.
"Thoughtful of you," Hermione said, knowing that Harry would never ask Dobby to do anything without paying him.
"Well, it was dad's idea to go there, but Harry came up with the idea of asking Dobby to help," Ron said.
Hermione looked at Ron sideways, trying to find the words to ask Ron why he hadn't thought of anything. After a moment, she decided that there was no point in starting a row and to just be happy for Ron and Harry. Ginny, who had not taken her gaze off of Harry for several minutes, gave him a poke in the arm, getting his attention and motioning toward the door. Picking up the hint, Harry got up and followed her out into the back yard. They walked down to the tree by the pond before Ginny broke the silence.
"I'm really happy that you passed," Ginny said to him.
"I'm happy that you're happy," Harry said with a serious tone.
"Well, I also thought those two needed some time on their own," Ginny said a little too quickly.
"You did, did you now," Harry said with a grin.
"Okay, okay, so I wanted you all to myself for a while," Ginny shot back with a smile.
"You can have me to yourself any time you want me," Harry said softly.
"And you can have me anytime," Ginny said, grinning a little wider.
"Well, I guess those two did need some time alone as they've disappeared from the kitchen," Harry said with a laugh.
Ginny looked back through the window to see that the kitchen was, indeed, empty. Turning back to Harry, she saw an uneasy look settling on his face, a look that usually meant that something unpleasant had just entered his mind.
"Hun, what's wrong," Ginny asked a bit worried.
"I've just thought about something that I feel I've got to do before we go back to school," Harry said slowly.
"Godric's Hollow," Ginny asked, knowingly.
"Yeah, but I don't know if I can do it," Harry said.
"I know you can, but you won't be alone, I'm going to go with you," Ginny told him, hoping to comfort him.
"It might be dangerous," Harry started to say, but Ginny had placed a finger to his lips, silencing him.
"I don't care how dangerous it might be, you're not going to leave me behind to worry about you," Ginny said firmly.
"I don't want you to get hurt, or worse," Harry said, a look of fear growing on his face.
At that moment, Ginny pulled Harry into a tight hug. She knew that this was something that he had to do, go to Godric's Hollow and say a proper goodbye. She held him with everything she had, trying to comfort his fears. Harry looked down to see that Ginny had tears flowing down her cheeks. He just couldn't see her like this. The thought that he had made the one person that meant everything to him cry unnerved him.
"I'll take you with me, but we'll need to talk to Professor Lupin, and Ron and Hermione," Harry said softly, putting his arms around Ginny.
They had sat, holding each other, for quite a while when Ron and Hermione found them.
"What's up, Mate," Ron asked as he saw Ginny's face.
"We're going to Godric's Hollow," Harry said in a rough voice.
"When," Ron asked.
"As soon as Professor Lupin can take us," Harry answered.
Ron and Hermione knew that Harry would eventually go there, but they had never expected him to take Ginny along. They looked at each other, agreeing with their eyes that they would be going too, whether Harry liked it or not.
"We're going, Harry," Hermione said firmly.
Harry looked at his best friends. He wanted to tell them to stay behind where it's safe, but he couldn't find his voice.
A couple of hours later, Harry found it difficult to think of anything but being happy. The four had arrived at Grimmauld Place to find that Mrs. Weasley and Dobby had really outdone themselves. Supper was excellent. After supper, everyone sat around talking about the wedding, which happened to be Saturday. At about eight o'clock, Professor Lupin stopped in. Harry immediately remembered his plans to go to Godric's Hollow. He and Ginny walked over to him and asked if they could have a word in the kitchen. He agreed and followed them.
"Professor, we need you to take us to Godric's Hollow," Harry said as quickly as he could.
"Are you sure," Lupin asked.
"Absolutely," Ginny answered for both herself and Harry.
"How soon," Lupin asked.
"As soon as possible, after the wedding," Harry said, more calmly this time.
"Well, it looks like Next Monday will be the best, but only if I have nothing from the Order," Lupin said.
"I doubt that you'll have anything as the wedding is Saturday," Harry said.
"You have a point, Harry," Lupin said with a sad smile.
The next few days went almost too quickly for everyone. Saturday dawned early and Harry awoke to the sounds of Mrs. Weasley frantically bustling around the kitchen. Harry dressed quickly and went down to find that breakfast was on the table.
"Morning, Mrs. Weasley, anything I can help with," Harry said over Mrs. Weasley's frantic mutterings.
"Oh, no dear, why don't you just sit down and have some breakfast," Mrs. Weasley said appreciatively.
Harry did so, but then thought of something while he spread marmalade on his toast. He got up and went into the next room. Once there, he called both Kreacher and Dobby.
"I need the two of you to do something for me," Harry said as the house elves appeared.
"What would my filthy mudblood Master have Kreacher do," Kreacher said with a low bow.
"I need you to help Mrs.Weasley get everything ready for the wedding. Do exactly as she says and do not say one word, Kreacher," Harry commanded the elf.
After he had said this, Dobby and Kreacher started for the kitchen, but Dobby stopped half way and turned back.
"Sir, do you think that that nasty Kreacher will do as sir wishes," Dobby asked concernedly.
"He'd better, or I'll let Ron take care of him," Harry replied to his friend with a reassuring grin.
"And what about Dobby, sir," the elf asked nervously.
"I'm sure you'll do just fine, but, no punishing yourself if you make a mistake," Harry said.
Harry walked back into the kitchen to see that both elves were already hard at work, while Mrs. Weasley seemed to have calmed down slightly.
"Harry, I do appreciate this, but…," Mrs. Weasley started, but Harry cut her off.
"It's the least I could do for you, you have help and the girls can take their time getting ready for the wedding," Harry said with a smile.
Mrs. Weasley fixed Harry with an appreciative smile and went on about the final preparations for the wedding.
At two p.m., everyone had gathered in the back yard at the Burrow for the wedding. Harry and Charlie stood in their places up front, across the aisle from Ginny and Gabrielle. The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, ending with Bill giving Fleur a spectacular kiss, followed by a thumbs up at his father. Mr. Weasley grinned and returned the thumbs up causing everyone to laugh heartily.
Harry and Ginny spent the next two and a half hours wandering around the Burrow together. As Harry had enlisted the help of the two house elves, the best they could do was stay out of the way. They had finally settled on the bench by the pond when Ron and Hermione came up, both looking a little flushed.
"So, when are we going," Hermione asked.
"Looks like Monday morning," Ginny answered, before Harry could.
"That's great," Hermione said.
"Is there any point in asking you two to stay here," Harry asked.
"No," Ron and Hermione answered together.
"We told you, mate, that we're with you, wherever you go," Ron said firmly.
"Besides, you might need us," Hermione added quickly.
Harry had to admit that his best friends had thought of almost every way to avoid being left behind. He also had to be impressed with Ginny's resourcefulness at making sure that she was at his side on this trip.
When it was finally six o'clock, the four entered the reception tent and took their seats. Everyone ate, drank, laughed at Charlie's best man's speech, and said a collective "Aww" at Gabrielle's maid of honor's speech. After the cake was cut, the music started. Everyone danced to songs by many of the more popular artists in the wizarding world. Harry walked over to the DJ, who happened to be a young, muggleborn wizard, and requested a song. It wasn't until the song started that Harry asked Ginny to dance. As they stepped out onto the dance floor, Ginny asked Harry what kind of music was playing.
"It's a muggle music called Country," Harry said.
"I think I like it, what's this song called," Ginny asked as she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck.
"It's called Bless the Broken Road, and it's by a muggle group called Rascal Flatts," Harry replied as he held Ginny's waist.
As the couple danced, Harry looked around, noticing that Ron and Hermione had also gotten up to dance, as had Bill and Fleur, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He looked back down to see Ginny smile as she hummed along with the music. Harry gently lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes as he sang the chorus to her:
"That every long lost dream,
Lead me to where you are.
Other's who broke my heart,
They were like Northern Stars.
Pointing me on my way,
Into your loving arms.
This much I know is true.
That God blessed the broken road,
That led me straight to you".
As he finished the chorus, Harry tipped her chin a touch more and captured her lips in a kiss.
"I think those muggles might be onto something when it comes to love songs," Ginny said with a loving smile.
"I think you're right," Harry replied.
"I love you, Harry," Ginny said.
"I love you too, Gin," Harry answered, smiling and pulling her closer.
