Chapter Ten – New Year's Holiday Adventures
"Tell me again why we're out here instead of hanging out with our girlfriends in a nice, warm house instead?" Ron asked, and Harry smiled at his friend.
"Is this a test to see how many different ways you can come up with to express how much you don't want to be out here this week? You can take your pick of answers if you want. There's the we're too young and idealistic to know what a waste of time this all is, or the junior members of the team get all of the lousy jobs. If you don't like either of those, try the one where we work the hardest, so that's why we're the best Auror-trainees ever."
"Right now, I'd settle for warm and above-average to frozen solid and best ever," Ron grumbled.
"We've only been out here an hour, mate," Harry reminded him. "You'll get used to it again soon enough. We've just gotten soft being away from it for a few days."
"Easy for you to say," Ron shot back. "If you get cold, all you have to do is put on your fur coat."
Harry laughed. "I'd rather be wearing my boots, gloves, and cloak. This cold is tough on my paws and nose." A pair of Witches came out of the building they were watching, and Harry nodded toward them. "Tough choice there – do you want to follow them because of the young, cute one, or give me this one because of the older, not-so-cute Witch?"
"I'll go," Ron answered. "At least it means moving around. If that's not-so-cute for you, though, get your glasses checked, 'cause that older one is hag-of-the-month material, maybe of the decade."
"My glasses are fine," Harry told him as he stood to leave. "I was just trying to be nice."
Ron laughed. "It's one thing to be nice, and something else to be mirror of Erised delusional. I'll see you whenever I get back."
Harry ended up being on his own for the next three hours as Ron followed the two Witches around. They were nice enough to talk about where they were going before each time they apparated somewhere, so Ron had been able to keep up with them right up until they went home around lunchtime. When Ron joined him again, he handed Harry a bag with a sandwich and pastie inside.
"Thought you might be hungry by now," he suggested, and Harry nodded.
"I am, but this probably won't be as good as the hot meal you stopped for," Harry answered, and Ron laughed.
"Probably not," he agreed. "You're doing much better than I am on those powers of observation lessons, mate. What gave me away?"
"The I'm not still completely miserable look on your face," Harry explained. "That, and the fact that you're not still frozen solid, so you've been somewhere warming up for a bit. Anything interesting with the two Witches?"
Ron shrugged. "Nothing that caught my eye specifically, but they did do a fair bit of running around, and weren't exactly shopping for food or clothes, so they might be worth taking a closer look at. I've got what's probably their home address, so we can do a little research and see what we come up with."
"It wasn't a place on our watch list?" Harry asked, and Ron shook his head.
"Nope," he confirmed. "They weren't skulking around or anything, and they talked aloud with each other about what they were doing and where they were going, so there's likely nothing there, but we should make sure about that before totally dismissing them. What's been happening here?"
"A whole lot of nothing," Harry told him. "It could just be slow because of the holidays, and there've been a few more visitors, but nobody we haven't seen before." Harry ate his food while Ron filled him in on where the two Witches he'd followed had gone, and they spent the rest of the day on Monday, and every day through until Thursday afternoon, continuing their stakeout, except for their Wednesday training session and weekly lunch with Neville.
Ginny and Hermione had spent a lot of their time together those days too, working on their holiday assignments. Luna came over to work with them on Monday and Wednesday too, and by lunchtime on Thursday, they were finished all of their work, and were ready to enjoy another three-day weekend with their boyfriends. Since Hermione and Ron had spent most of Christmas with her family, they were going to spend New Year's Eve at the Burrow, and Hermione and Harry were both going to stay overnight instead of going home late after they'd rung in the New Year together.
"I'm surprised that you and the boys didn't want to go out to a party tonight," Mrs. Weasley told the girls as they all worked in the kitchen, "though Arthur and I are happy to have the company."
"Harry didn't want to be the main source of entertainment at any parties tonight, and Hermione and I are happy to just have a quiet night here where we won't have to share the boys with a room full of people," Ginny answered. "You and Dad aren't going to the Minister's party either."
"You father and I haven't ever really been into the Ministry party scene, and while it was a bit flattering to actually get an invite this year, that part of politics is never going to be something we'll be comfortable with."
"That's okay, Mum," Ginny said with a smile. "We can let Percy take care of that for the family while Dad, Harry, and Ron concentrate on their work instead. Percy loves all of that political intrigue."
Mrs. Weasley smiled at her. "Percy may not have the adventurous streak that you and the rest of your brothers all seem to have inherited in spades, but he is very talented, and he's becoming a good man. Kingsley certainly appreciates his abilities."
"I know he is, Mum," Ginny agreed, "but I'll never understand his unquestioning faith and loyalty for his precious rules and regulations regardless of how absurd some of those rules might be."
"Maybe you should join the Ministry after you graduate and work on changing those rules," Hermione suggested.
Ginny laughed. "That would probably be a really bad idea, Hermione. I'd be setting records for how many Witches and Wizards I offended if I went to work there."
"A little blatant honesty around the Ministry might be refreshing," Mrs. Weasley suggested, laughing too. "I don't really see you in politics, though. That'd be a bit too tame for you – there wouldn't be enough excitement and adventure for your liking."
"No doubt about that," Ginny agreed. "Especially now that I'm old enough that nobody can tell me I'm too young to do the things everyone else is doing."
"Like that stopped you very often," Hermione said, and Mrs. Weasley nodded and laughed again, obviously thinking the same thing.
Their three boys all came home from work earlier than usual, and they enjoyed having dinner together. After eating, they cleaned up the kitchen together, and then retired to the sitting room to enjoy their quiet little New Year's celebration. They played cards and Wizards Chess, talked, listened to music on the WWN, and even did a little dancing. When midnight rolled around, they welcomed in the New Year by counting it in with the WWN broadcast being done live from the Minister of Magic's party, and sharing first New Year's hugs and kisses with their respective boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed shortly after midnight, while the two younger couples took care of the cleanup, then returned to the sitting room to visit until shortly before one o'clock. Ron and Hermione went up to bed then, leaving Harry and Ginny on their own in the sitting room, where they stretched out on one of the sofas, snuggling under a blanket, and having every intention of staying there together for the rest of the night. They shared some soft, tender kisses, but by then, they were both tired out, and neither would be sure later which one of them fell asleep first.
"This isn't fair" Harry thought to himself. They'd had such a wonderful time, and he'd expected to have happy dreams, but here he was, once again, entering what he knew was another of his nightmares. Once you'd experienced enough of them, you knew the signs, and nightmares were old hat for him.
Like one of his trips into Dumbledore's pensieve, he was a visitor to this nightmare, and it was also the same in that he suddenly just landed in the middle of the scene. He was standing in the lane leading to the Burrow, and he could just make out the outline of the house in the darkness. His sense was that it was late at night, and it was cold. There was snow on the ground, so it was definitely wintertime. If there was a moon shining, it was hidden behind thick, black clouds.
While he couldn't see the Burrow clearly in the dark, his mind's eye could picture the house, garden, orchard, garage, and every other detail clearly. He could even see everyone inside, all of them asleep. He smiled to himself as he saw Hermione snuggled with Ron in her room. Apparently his friend hadn't made it all the way up to his own bedroom, and Harry wondered how often that happened both at the Burrow, and at Hermione's house. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were in their room, and he and Ginny were exactly where he knew they were right now, snuggled under a warm blanket on the sofa in the sitting room.
His attention was drawn to the skies, where dark shadows were suddenly somehow discernable from the equally dark skies. The sense of winter cold turned bitter, and his stomach lurched in mute recognition of what was happening while he stood, frozen in place, unable to move as the horrors approached the Burrow. There were movements at the edge of the orchard now too, and he saw masked figures watching on as well. He couldn't make them out, but felt their anticipation of impending violence, and the deep, mad hate that drove them to this moment – an attack that would destroy their most hated enemy and all that he held dearest.
The shadows swooped in on the house, and Harry silently and impotently screamed a warning as they swarmed in seemingly endless numbers into the house. He watched, unable to do anything as first Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then Ron and Hermione had their souls sucked out of them by the overwhelming attack, their faces contorted with unimaginable horror at what was done to them before being left soulless shells, unmoving in their beds. The shadows moved into the sitting room. They swooped in to attack him and Ginny as they lay together on the sofa, but it was only Ginny's face he saw now as her eyes opened, the soft, love-filled look that had been in them so recently replaced by horror and fear as the attack began. Harry roared with fear and impotent rage as he watched, his eyes streaming tears even as he witnessed the life being crushed out of his heart.
"It's okay, Harry! You're just having a nightmare!"
Opening his eyes, Harry looked into Ginny's wide-open, and very much alive eyes. He was sitting bolt upright on the sofa, and she was kneeling on the floor next to him, tangled in the blanket, and holding on to his arms tightly. It took him a moment to make the jump from nightmare to wakefulness, and he wrapped his arms around her and held on until he had come fully awake, but then he jumped to his feet, the fear of the nightmare replaced by a towering rage.
"They're coming!" he said as he dragged Ginny up with him. "Right now!"
Ginny only needed to look in his eyes for a moment before she was yanking off the blanket and pulling out her wand. Harry was already moving, and she followed as he practically ran through the kitchen, out the door, and into the yard. They were both just wearing socks on their feet, and while they were dressed, it was far too cold to be out without heavy cloaks. Harry was scanning the dark skies, and as Ginny looked up, she saw them – shadows closing in from all sides. She felt the anti-apparition spell slam into place around them, and knew they were trapped.
"PETRIFICUS TOTALIS!" Harry roared so loudly that it shook the house, and certainly woke everyone else inside. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Ginny watched as his wand flashed with blinding speed, and the shadows were being pulled close together, though they were fighting impotently to get free. Her eyes widened with awe and wonder as she saw his patronus begin racing around the shadows, pressing them in on each other. It was a huge, magnificent stallion! As it raced in it's ever-shrinking circle, the shadows writhed in what Ginny sensed was unbearable anguish. The door to the Burrow slammed open, and Ron, Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran out into the yard, each of them sliding to a stop in the snow, their mouths hanging open in amazement.
"Ware the orchard!" Harry yelled, his attention still on the sky and his counter-attack on the Dementors.
Ron was the first to react, and he was just in time, as he sent an old boot into the air to intercept a killing curse that had been heading straight for Harry. There were more flashes of green following the first, and he was immediately joined by Ginny, Hermione, and his parents as they all put everything they had into defending themselves, and Harry as he continued to round up the Dementors.
They weren't able to clearly see their attackers in the orchard, but the three Witches and two Wizards counter-attacked blindly, and must have hit their mark at least twice, judging by the cries of pain that echoed back toward them. Time seemed to stand still, and the fight seemed endless. Harry's Patronus lit up the sky above them, which helped their attackers, and hindered their defense and counter-attack.
Harry had been completely focused on the Dementors, trusting everyone else to defend him against the other attackers. He hadn't known why he'd decided to round up the Dementors instead of driving them off, but he now had them bound within a small area where his Patronus held them as it continued racing around them in a tight circle. With that done, he turned his attention to the battle going on around him. Ginny was at his side, defending him against all attacks, and his heart roared with pride as her wand whirled and slashed, meeting every attack on both of them, while still managing to get in the occasional counter-attack. When he saw the blood stain spreading along her sleeve, the fury was back in full force.
Turning to face their unseen attackers, he bellowed – "EXPELLIARMUS!"
There were multiple explosions along the edges of the orchard as shields were blown apart, and Wizards and Witches were blasted off of their feet. A small flurry of wands shot out of the darkness, landing in the snow in front of Harry and Ginny, and there were shouts and cries of pain as their attackers were thrown back against trees or to the ground with bone-crushing force.
"Is everyone alright?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.
"Ginny's hurt her arm," Harry told her immediately.
"It's just a scratch," Ginny protested, but Mrs. Weasley came over to her, taking her arm and carefully moving the sleeve of her sweater away to show a six-inch long cut on her forearm.
"That's hardly a scratch," Mrs. Weasley said, but then she focused on what she was doing, and a moment later had the deep cut healed, the only sign of the injury now the bloody sleeve of the sweater.
"Thanks, Mum," Ginny said, rubbing her arm lightly even as she looked around. "Anyone else get winged?"
"I'm going to have a few bruises, but other than that, I'm not hurt at all," Hermione reported, and Ron nodded.
"Same here, but I'm fine too," he assured his mother.
"Go check on that lot in the orchard and bind them," Harry told Ron. "I need to concentrate on holding the Dementors. "Mr. Weasley, could you go for help? We're going to need it. Hermione, have you got any suggestions? Dementors can't be killed, but I'm not going to let them just go back to their masters again."
Hermione looked torn for a moment between staying at Ron's side, and Mrs. Weasley stepped over to her even as Mr. Weasley apparated out of the yard. "Ginny and I will go help Ron," she said, waving Ginny to follow her and Ron. "Help Harry if you can."
Hermione nodded, moved over toward Harry, and looked up at the confined Dementors speculatively. "The Petrificus Totalis spell has had some effect on them," she mused. "They're probably weakened by the Patronus."
Harry smiled grimly, beginning to feel some strain from holding his Patronus for so long. "Okay, does that help us hold them somehow?" He watched, and could practically see Hermione's mind racing as she tried to find an answer. Suddenly, she laughed, and without saying a word, turned and ran into the house.
"Well, let's hope that was a good sign," Harry said to the empty air. He now needed to really concentrate on keeping his Patronus circling the Dementors. He could hear Hermione run up the stairs inside, a number of loud thumps, and then more running, this time coming down the stairs. She was breathless when she slid to a stop next to him again, and he laughed too when he saw she was carrying her little undetectable expansion purse.
"Have you got something very big in there that'll help?" he asked, and Hermione laughed again too.
"No, but I will have once you've forced those Dementors into it," she advised him. "It's got more than enough room to hold them, and it's unbreakable. They won't get out until we decide what to do with them."
"Like you did with Rita," Harry said, and Hermione nodded, her eyes flashing with triumph. "That's brilliant, Hermione!"
"You can force them in, can't you?" she asked, and Harry nodded grimly.
"Yes, I can," he agreed. "Put it down somewhere, though. I don't want you anywhere near them when I do it. You can close the bag using your wand once they're all inside."
Hermione nodded, and took the bag with her, walked about fifteen feet away, and set it on the ground, the top open, and ready to be filled up. The sounds the Dementors made as Harry used his Patronus to force them into the purse was horrid, and he gritted his teeth as they now desperately fought to escape the prison he was pushing them toward. The amazing magical bag's opening grew to accommodate what was being put into it, and then, as the last Dementor was driven within it, it closed to it's normal size, with Harry's Patronus a blazing, impenetrable guardian until Hermione closed the top with a wave of her wand that sealed the Dementors inside.
"I'm going to let my Patronus go," Harry said. "Will you be able to use yours if it looks like this isn't going to work? I'm not sure if I have another one in me right now."
"We will," Ginny assured him, coming out of the darkness into the silvery light of his Patronus and standing next to Hermione, her wand pointed at the bag. Hermione nodded, and with that, Harry released his spell, and nearly collapsed with relief.
Bill and Fleur apparated into the yard then, their wands drawn, and looking both worried and angry. "What's happened?" Bill asked. "Dad roused us and told us you'd been attacked, to hurry up and get here to help, and then rushed off to get others."
"We decided to ring in the New Year by fighting off an attack by a flock of Dementors and a gang of Death Eaters," Ginny told him, her expression fierce with the exhilaration from their victory. She pointed to Hermione's bag. "Since you're the curse breaker in the family, we should probably let you figure out what to do with a purse full of Dementors."
Hermione and Harry both started to laugh helplessly as the terror and strain of the battle gave way to the hilarity of Ginny's comment. Bill and Fleur both looked at the three of them like they'd lost their minds.
"She's not joking," Hermione finally managed to wheeze out. "Harry rounded all of them up with his Patronus. That's my unbreakable, undetectable expansion bag, and he forced all of the Dementors into it – dozens of them. We will have to figure out what to do with them eventually, but someone will definitely need to be in charge of making sure that the bag doesn't get opened before we've worked that out." She looked at her little purse a bit wistfully. "I guess I'll have to make a new one now. That one is likely not going to ever be the same after this."
"Just as well," Ginny told her. "That style was so last year."
"We've got a total of eleven Witches and Wizards out there," Ron reported as he and Mrs. Weasley joined them. "They all have some injuries, so we'll need to get them to St. Mungo's for treatment before sorting out the mess."
"Anyone we know?" Harry asked.
"I think one old guy is Lestrange, though he's older than the picture we have at Headquarters," Ron answered. "One Witch looks like an older version of Millicent Bulstrode, but she wasn't in any condition to answer questions right now. I didn't recognize any of the others."
"Let's be really careful with all of them," Harry suggested. "We don't need any surprises like we almost had with Mulciber after they attacked the Minister."
"We will be," Mrs. Weasley assured him.
Percy and Kingsley arrived with Mr. Weasley then, and Kingsley assured them that he'd sent for a team of Aurors. They arrived a few minutes later, led by a grumpy looking Gawain Robards. Josh, Neville, and five other Aurors were with him, all of them, except for Neville and Josh, looking either sleepy or angry.
"What's going on here?" Gawain demanded. "Minister Shacklebolt, was it really necessary to rouse a whole team at this hour?" He'd looked around, and apparently couldn't even see the debris and other signs around them, which practically shouted that a major fight had just been going on right where he was standing. "The guard who woke me said it was an emergency."
"Arthur and his family were attacked by Dementors and an as-yet unidentified group of Witches and Wizards. I am just getting the details now," Kingsley told him. "For the moment, please send your team to the orchard over there, where I'm told you will find eleven captives who have been disarmed and bound. Auror-trainee Weasley has also advised me that all of them have injuries of varying severity that they sustained during their attack here."
"Let's go," Josh ordered, not waiting for Gawain as his boss stared at Kingsley. Neville followed immediately, and the other Aurors only hesitated a moment before following Josh too. Harry was starting to shake from the cold, and Ginny was there, putting her arm around him.
"We need to get out of the cold," she told the others. "Bill, you'll deal with the bag of Dementors? We don't want any accidents with handling them." Harry looked ready to protest, and she shook her head. "Let your fellow Aurors deal with them. You've got nothing left to help them with anyway. Come inside and we'll get you warmed up."
"You must be right," he conceded. "I don't even have the strength to argue with you."
Harry was content to let Ginny help him inside, and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione came with them, while Mr. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, and Percy stayed outdoors with Kinsley and Gawain.
"I want all of you to go get changed into dry, warm clothes," Mrs. Weasley ordered. "I'll make hot drinks and have them ready when you get back downstairs."
"Okay Mum," Ginny answered for them, leading Harry toward the stairs, and helping him up to his room before going to get changed too. She was back outside of his room when he emerged, and he smiled tiredly at her.
"I might have made it downstairs without falling," he suggested, and Ginny took his hand.
"Maybe, but you're not quite positive about that, are you?"
"No," he agreed. "I'm not positive."
They were back in the kitchen before Ron and Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley told them to sit down at the table, putting cups of hot chocolate in front of each of them, and then two more cups for Ron and Hermione when they joined them. Mrs. Weasley continued to work at the counter, getting more cups out and ready, brewing tea, and making up a plate of treats for anyone who was hungry. Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, Percy, and Gawain came into the kitchen next, and Harry looked up at them expectantly.
"Bill wants to know if there's any danger if he apparates with that bag to Gringotts," Mr. Weasley asked Hermione. "We've decided to lock it up in a high security vault until the Minister and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures can come up with a solution to the problem."
Hermione looked uncertain. "I don't know, Mr. Weasley. I've apparated with it lots of times, but never with anything alive inside of it – or whatever you'd call a Dementor. I don't know if they could get out because of the pressure or not," she admitted, and he nodded.
"That's alright, sweetheart," he assured her. "Bill can fly it there instead."
Harry nodded, and holding out his hand, willed his Firebolt to be there. "Give him this," he said, holding it out to Mr. Weasley. "It's going to be a very cold night for such a long flight, and he'll be able to get it over with faster with it."
"I can get mine if anyone is flying with him," Ginny offered.
"He won't be going alone," Percy told her. "Can you get it for me, Ginny?" She nodded, got up, and hurried up the stairs to her room.
"Thanks, honey," Mr. Weasley said as she came back into the room a minute later and handed her broom to her brother.
"You're welcome," she answered, hugging Percy. "Be careful, and tell Bill to do the same."
"We will be," he promised, hugging her back.
"I'll see them off," Mr. Weasley said, putting a hand on Percy's shoulder and following him outside again. Kingsley and Gawain were waved to go sit at the table, and Mrs. Weasley got drinks for them too.
"What's going on out there now?" Harry asked the two Wizards, and Gawain motioned for Kingsley to answer. He avoided meeting Harry's eyes, and looked very unsettled.
"Auror Williamson requested that we send for Healers to assess the injured before we attempt moving them," Kingsley answered. "He's concerned that some of the injuries are quite severe. Auror-trainee Longbottom has been sent for them, and we'll decide what to do with them from there. They've positively identified Lestrange, the Bulstrodes, and several others. The rest of the group will be identified as soon as possible." He looked at Harry critically. "You look somewhat the worse for wear. Are you injured?"
Harry shook his head. Ginny had returned to sitting beside him, and she squeezed his hand. "I'll be fine, sir," he assured Kingsley. "Holding so many Dementors with my Patronus, and the rest of the fight, has just worn me out."
"No wonder," Mrs. Weasley told him. "You must've held them like that for nearly an hour altogether by the time you had them rounded up and in that bag of Hermione's, and then you still managed to disarm all of our attackers."
"It didn't seem nearly so long to me," Harry said quietly, though he didn't doubt her.
"Arthur told us what happened from when he, Molly, Ron, and Hermione got outside," Kinsley told Harry. "What happened before that, and after he left? How did you and Ginny know to be outside when the attack came?"
"I was having a nightmare," Harry told him, meeting Kingsley's sharp, intense eyes. "Dementors had swooped into the Burrow, and I watched them take the souls of all of us, while a group of Witches and Wizards were watching and waiting from the orchard, ready to join in the attack if needed." He smiled and glanced at Ginny. "We'd fallen asleep on the sofa, and I think that I knocked Ginny off, since when I came awake, I was sitting up straight, and she was kneeling on the floor, holding my arms and telling me it was just a nightmare." He took a deep breath, and a sip of his hot chocolate.
"This isn't the first time that I've had – dreams," he continued. "Once I was fully awake, I knew what it meant, and Ginny and I ran outside. The Dementors were already out there, and just getting ready to attack, but I hit them first."
"Why didn't you just drive them off?" Kingsley asked.
"Honestly? Because I'd just dreamed that they'd destroyed the people I love the most, and I was fairly upset about that," Harry answered. "I probably would have killed them if I could have, but at least, if we do this right, those Dementors will never harm anyone again." His eyes were now blazing with fierce conviction as he looked from Kingsley to Gawain, who met his eyes for only a second before quickly looking away. "There's no place in the world for Dementors, and it is long past time that we put an end to them, or if that's not possible, put them somewhere they can never be a threat again." He took another breath to calm himself a bit.
"Anyway, after Mr. Weasley left, Hermione came up with the idea of using her undetectable expansion bag to hold the Dementors in, which was brilliant, and you all arrived shortly after we had that done."
"How many Dementors did you capture?" Kingsley asked.
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "Several dozen?"
"At least that many," Ginny agreed. "It may have been more than fifty."
Mr. Weasley came back inside, and Fleur was with him. "Neville's back with two Healers," he reported. "Auror Williamson is wondering if you're up to helping out, Ron."
Ron nodded, getting up immediately, and going to get his cloak before heading outside. "Bill and Percy are on the way to Gringotts now, and will return here when they've finished," Mr. Weasley added as he and Fleur were both handed drinks and told to sit down by Mrs. Weasley.
"Good," Kingsley said approvingly. "We've had another close call. I'm very glad that you are all safe."
"We're fairly happy about that too," Mr. Weasley joked. "Has there been any word of trouble elsewhere?"
"Not that I've heard," Kingsley told him. "I'm going from here to the Ministry next, and hopefully there hasn't been."
"If anything else had been planned, it would have hinged on this attack succeeding," Hermione suggested. "You might want to have the area around your own house checked, and alert the guards at Azkaban to be careful just in case, though," she told Kingsley. "Going after you again, or trying to get their buddies out of Azkaban would be two of the most likely targets."
"I agree," Gawain told the Minister, getting to his feet. "I'll get people to do both, sir, and when you're ready to go to the Ministry, we'll have an escort for you."
"Very well, Auror Robards," Kingsley agreed, though he didn't sound all that enthusiastic about having Auror security. Gawain left them, going outside, presumably to give out the additional orders. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talked with Kingsley, giving Harry a minute to just drink his hot chocolate, hold Ginny's hand, and listen.
"Your Patronus wasn't a stag," Hermione said quietly, though everyone at the table did hear, and turned to listen. "It was a stallion. Do you know why it changed?"
Harry smiled and nodded. "Yes I do," he answered. "I've got a new and much bigger happy thought."
Hermione laughed. "Ginny's Patronus is a horse too, isn't it?"
"Why yes, I believe it is," Harry agreed. "That's quite a coincidence, don't you think?"
"No, I don't think it's a coincidence at all," Hermione answered. "In fact, I really think we should be thanking Ginny for saving us tonight."
"Let's just say it was a brilliant team effort, and leave it at that," Ginny suggested.
"Do we have anything else we need Harry for that can't wait until he's had some sleep?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking around the table at each person.
"I don't have anything else," Kingsley told her. "Arthur, why don't you walk me out, we'll find out if the Aurors and Healers have everything in hand, and then I've got to get on to the Ministry. Even at this hour, news this big will be out already."
Mr. Weasley nodded, and got up when Kingsley did. "Do you want me to leave anyone here to watch the place?" Kingsley asked, looking at Harry. "Ginny was right, and you're certainly in no shape to handle anything else tonight."
"I'll stay," Fleur told them, "and so will Bill when he gets back. That will be enough, don't you think, Mum?"
Mrs. Weasley smiled and nodded. "Yes it will," she agreed. "Thank-you, Minister, but I think we've got everything under control here."
"Very well," Kingsley said. "I'll say goodnight to you then, and though it's a bit out of place, considering the circumstances, Happy New Year too."
Mr. Weasley laughed. "Compared to what the alternative might have been, I'd say it's turned out very happy for us indeed."
When the two Wizards had left, Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry, and waved her hand as if shooing him away. "Off to bed with you, dear," she ordered. "We'll see you in the morning – and not too early, mind you. We'll all want to sleep in a bit when this business is done for the night."
Ginny stood up and held her hand out to him. "Come on, Harry," she said quietly. "I'll walk you up to your room."
"Your brothers and Dad don't stand a chance when you and your Mum both decide on something do they?" he joked, and Ginny smiled.
"No, they don't," she agreed, "but don't tell them that and give away one of our best-kept secrets."
Harry went around the table to hug Hermione, Fleur, and Mrs. Weasley, and then went upstairs with Ginny. She waited in the hall for him to change again, and then came into the room with him, sitting on the bed next to him, and pulling the covers up around his shoulders. Leaning over him, her soft, lustrous hair brushing his face, she kissed him for a long minute before sitting up again.
"Am I really your best happy thought now?" she whispered, and saw the answer in his eyes as he nodded.
"I love you with all of my heart," he whispered back. "There isn't anything better or happier than that for me."
"I love you too, Harry," she assured him.
"Are you going to bed soon too?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"I'm okay for now. You're the only one who took it to the limit tonight. Why? Is there something you need?"
Harry smiled. "No, but if you get a minute with Hermione or Ron, ask them why, in that dream I had, they were asleep and snuggled together in her bedroom." His eyes sparkled in the dim light as Ginny grinned too. "I'm sure it was just symbolic. Maybe Hermione will understand what it means."
"I can do that," she promised. "We'll see which will be more entertaining – her answer, or Ron turning bright red." Leaning close again, she kissed him once more, and then stood and left the room, closing the door behind her. Harry listened to her walking downstairs, or at least he started to, but then he succumbed to exhaustion, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When Ginny got back to the kitchen, the other three Witches looked up at her from where they were sitting around the table, her Mum finally stopping to have a hot drink too.
"He's probably already out," she said, answering their unspoken questions. "Anything new while I was up there?"
"Not yet," Hermione answered. "It will take Bill and Percy quite a while to take care of locking up the Dementors, even flying to London on your Firebolts. Your Mum and I didn't take too close a look at our attackers, but two or three of them did look pretty badly off, and nobody's come in to let us know how that's going."
"Harry's going to feel awful about that tomorrow," Ginny predicted. "Since they were trying to kill my boyfriend, though, I'm probably not going to be sharing his sentiment about that any time soon."
"Or ever," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Now that he's off to sleep, how are you really doing? Any other injuries?"
"I'm fine, Mum – no other injuries," she answered. "Is anyone really expecting any more trouble tonight?"
"Bill and the others didn't think so when they were talking outside earlier," Fleur told her, "but then, we didn't expect this attack either."
"We won't take any chances, and keep a watch out for the rest of the night," Mrs. Weasley said. "Once we know what's going on, though, Let's take turns getting some sleep if we can manage to do that."
The four Witches sat at the table, talking quietly while they waited to hear about what was going on with the captives. None of them expected to hear from Bill and Percy for a couple of hours yet. Mr. Weasley came into the kitchen by himself about a half hour later, and sat down at the table next to Fleur while Mrs. Weasley got up long enough to get him another hot drink.
"Ron's gone with a group of the Aurors to St. Mungo's to help out with the three prisoners the Healers need to treat there," he informed the girls. "The other eight were treated here, and have been taken to Auror Headquarters to be processed. They suspect that some are under the Imperius Curse, but six of the eleven, including Lestrange and the Bulstrodes have the scars from the Death Marks on their arms."
"Then at least there are six fewer out there causing trouble now," Mrs. Weasley said with some satisfaction.
Mr. Weasley nodded his agreement. "Mrs. Bulstrode was among the three more seriously injured, and the other two were of the three Death Eaters they haven't identified yet."
"I guess we'll need to be even more careful when we go back to school," Ginny told Hermione. "Now we'll have Millicent as mad at us as Theodore Nott has been since his father was captured."
"What's this?" Mrs. Weasley demanded, and Ginny shrugged.
"Theodore Nott and Millicent Bulstrode returned to Hogwarts," she explained. "Hermione and I have been watching our backs all year, and the rest of our friends are there if we need them. We can hope they get the message from what's happened to their parents, but I sort of doubt they have."
"We should speak to Minerva!" Mrs. Weasley told them. "How could they just let them come back to school like that?"
"What are they to do, Molly?" Mr. Weasley asked her. "Give up on all of the kids in Slytherin? There are certain to be other families who aided Voldemort we haven't yet discovered, and they likely have children at the school too. We're not going to start condemning them all just because of what their parents have done."
Mrs. Weasley stared at him for a long moment, and finally sighed. "No we're not," she conceded. "I don't think it's unfair to write to the Headmistress with our concerns and ask that the Professors be alerted to the potential for trouble, though."
"We can definitely do that," Mr. Weasley agreed. He looked at Hermione and Ginny next. "I think the excitement's over for now, so why don't the two of you go get some sleep, and Molly, Fleur, and I will keep an eye on things at least until Bill and Percy return."
"I want to keep an eye on Harry," Ginny protested. "We can sleep later, and I don't think I could sleep anyway."
Mrs. Weasley looked about to protest, but saw something in Ginny's eyes that had her changing her mind. "Get a pillow and blanket, conjure an extra bed, and leave the door open," she told her daughter. "Take it or leave it."
Ginny smiled and got up to hug her parents and Fleur. "I'll take it. Thanks, Mum." She looked at Hermione inquiringly, but she shook her head.
"Ron's out there still, so I'll be staying up until I know he's alright," she answered. "Go take care of your boyfriend, and I'll see you in the morning."
Ginny hugged her too, and then went upstairs. She changed into a nightgown, took a pillow and comforter from her bed, and then went up to Harry's room. Quietly opening the door, she went inside, conjured the bed as instructed, though it was right next to his, and then she climbed into it, laying down on the pillow, pulling the comforter around her, and reaching her hand out to hold his. He didn't wake, but his fingers did close around hers, and she lay there, watching him, as her mind replayed everything that had happened since just before the attack had started.
She hadn't wanted to fall asleep – had tried to make herself stay awake, but the next thing she was aware of was waking to a feather-soft, incredibly sweet kiss. Opening her eyes, she smiled at the look of love and happiness she saw in Harry's face.
"This is a brilliant surprise," he said quietly, brushing a hand through her hair. "Thank-you for watching over me."
Ginny laughed. "It seems I didn't do such a great job of that, since I fell asleep too. How are you?"
"I think you did an amazing job last night, and I'm fine now," he assured her. "You can sleep for a while longer if you'd like, but I'm going to go have a shower and then see what's going on in the kitchen. If nobody's started it yet, I'll work on making breakfast for everyone. I didn't want you to wake up and worry if I wasn't here or I'd have let you sleep."
Ginny reached out and pulled him close for another kiss. "I'll get up now too, and meet you downstairs after I've gotten ready too." They both got up; Ginny took her pillow and blanket, and with a wave of her wand, got rid of the extra bed before leaving Harry's room and going down to her own. He had made it to the kitchen first, and was already starting to cook while he talked with Bill and Fleur, who were sitting at the table, both of them looking tired out when Ginny walked into the room.
"You've been up all night?" she asked, hugging each of them.
"We sent Mum and Dad up to bed a few hours ago," Bill answered. "Harry's offered to cook breakfast, so we'll stay for that, but then Fleur and I are going home, and we're thinking seriously about sleeping until tomorrow."
"Did Ron get home yet?" she asked next, and Bill nodded.
"Mum said he got here a half hour before Percy and I did, and he and Hermione had both gone up to bed by then. Percy left for the Ministry, since everything was quiet here." He grinned at her. "I also heard that you and Harry slept in the same room last night. Mum never let Fleur and I do that."
Ginny laughed. "Fleur and I probably both would have liked it better if she had, instead of being crowded into my little room. I'm sure Mum also told you that the door had to be open, and I had to conjure a bed, not sleep in the same one with Harry."
Bill nodded. "She did tell us that, and also told us that she wasn't sure whether to laugh or be upset that you conjured that bed so close to Harry's that it might as well have been one bed."
"She said you looked cute sleeping in there, holding hands across the beds," Fleur told her. She smiled at Bill. "For us, your Mum probably just knew that we couldn't be trusted to keep our hands off each other."
"I'm sure if she'd really been upset about it, she would've just nudged the beds apart – to the opposite sides of the room," Ginny suggested, laughing again. "How'd it go at Gringotts?"
"The Goblins weren't sure they wanted to be in charge of securing a purse full of Dementors, but we worked it out, and Minister Shacklebolt will deal with the matter personally from this point."
"Is there any other news?" Ginny asked next. While they'd been talking, she'd made a cup of hot chocolate, and was just sitting down at the table.
"The three Death Eaters who were admitted to St. Mungo's are still there, from what Mum and Dad said. "They're being guarded, though it doesn't sound like any of them are going to be up for trying to escape for a while. The other eight, including Lestrange and Bulstrode, are in holding cells. They're not sure if four or five of them have been imperiused, and are holding them all for now until they can find out for sure."
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Ron and Hermione might not have gotten much sleep, but as the smells from Harry's cooking wafted through the house, they all woke up, got ready, and made their way to the kitchen. The four couples had breakfast together, and then Bill and Fleur left for home and some well-deserved sleep.
Ron and Harry decided that going to Auror Headquarters and getting their reports done and out of the way then was preferable to leaving it until later in the day or on Saturday, so they left for the Ministry of Magic planning on spending a couple of hours doing that. When they were ordered to St. Mungo's to take a shift guarding the prisoners after finishing their reports, that plan hadn't seemed like such a great idea. They were stuck at St. Mungo's for ten hours before being relieved, and they both went back to the Burrow. Everyone was asleep there, so they made up a couple of sandwiches, ate them quickly, cleaned up, and went up to bed too.
"Please tell me you're not going in to work today," Ginny said as she hugged and kissed Harry good morning. He had already started making breakfast for everyone, and they were the first two in the kitchen.
"I'm not going into work again until after you leave on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow," he promised, and Ginny kissed him again.
"That's exactly the right answer," she said happily. "What would you like to do today?"
"Is snogging you from now until about a minute before we have to leave for King's Cross Station tomorrow an option?"
Ginny laughed. "Probably not, but we will definitely make some extra time for that," she assured him. "I'd like to get another Quidditch practice in, and need to go to Diagon Alley to pick up some back to school supplies. Since Ron and Hermione will be spending most of the day, and staying overnight, at her house, I thought maybe we could take Mum and Dad out to dinner tonight so we don't have to deal with a meal and cleanup."
"That all sounds good," he agreed.
"What sounds good?" Ron asked as he and Hermione joined them in the kitchen.
"Quidditch practice, supply shopping, and going out for dinner tonight," Ginny answered. She grinned at them. "Since this is the first time I've had you both around when we're alone, I was supposed to ask you about something." Harry turned back to his work so he could hide his own grin.
"Ask away," Ron said as he went to sit at the table.
"When Harry was having that nightmare that warned him of the attack, you weren't sleeping in your own bed," she told him, and watched as his face turned bright red. "We were just thinking that maybe Hermione would know what the symbolic significance was behind him dreaming that you were both asleep cuddled together in Hermione's room."
"Because his dream was accurately reflecting reality," Hermione answered, and she looked like she was having as much fun with watching Ron blush as Ginny was. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Breathe, Ron," she suggested. "What difference does it make if Harry and Ginny know – your mother does."
"Say what?" Ron exclaimed. His mouth dropped open, his eyes bugged out a bit, and Hermione and Ginny both laughed.
"It's kinda cute that the boys actually think they can pull anything over on their Mum," she told Ginny, who nodded her agreement.
"Even if Mum missed Ron not going up to his room, there's no way she missed the fact that the two of you were both out of the house just ahead of them when you joined the fight."
"Why am I not in St. Mungo's recovering then?" Ron asked them, and then jumped when he heard his mother laugh as she walked into the kitchen.
"Because while I've more than a few good reasons to be worried about you, Hermione has my complete confidence and trust," she answered, beginning a round of hugs with him before moving on to Hermione, Ginny, and Harry. "Have I missed anything else interesting so far?"
"Harry and I were discussing taking you and Dad out to dinner tonight so we can take a night off from cooking and cleaning, and I was about to talk with Ron and Hermione about a Quidditch practice and back-to-school supply shopping trip before I got sidetracked with teasing Ron."
"Going out to dinner works for me," she assured Ginny. "Your father probably wants to play with his new airplane project for a while, and I was just planning on a quiet day puttering around the house. What can I do to help, Harry?"
He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Sit down and take it easy, Mrs. Weasley. We've got breakfast covered today."
She did that, and Ginny made her a cup of tea before helping Harry with making breakfast for six. They had everything ready by the time Mr. Weasley joined them, and after eating, the three Quidditch players were sent off to have their practice, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hermione were willing volunteers to stay inside where it was warm and take care of the cleanup duties.
While Ron wasn't especially strong at the Beater position, this time, after doing a flying warm-up, he played Beater against both Harry and Ginny to keep them dodging bludgers while they chased after the snitch for nearly an hour and a half. There were quite a few times where he just flew around watching his sister and best mate in amazement as they battled each other to catch the snitch.
"What do you call that move?" he called out. Harry had kept Ginny from making a catch, and then, as they both overshot the snitch, he'd done some kind of flip that had him going the other way, back toward the snitch, which he caught before Ginny had been able to circle around to give chase.
"I call it brilliant," Ginny told them, and her eyes were blazing with excitement. "Show me how, Harry."
Ron just buzzed around for fifteen minutes or so while Harry and Ginny worked on the move until she had it down, and then they played to best of five. Harry won the day with three of five catches. When they'd packed up the Quidditch set and gone inside again, Mrs. Weasley had a snack and hot drinks for them.
"I was watching you from the window," Hermione told them. "Why didn't you try that flip thing, Ron? It looked like Harry and Ginny were having fun with it."
Ron laughed. "Because that's a move you need to be a little crazy to try at those speeds," he answered. "I'm quite fond of my new broom, and would rather not lose it by smashing into a tree or the ground."
"Then I'm glad you didn't try, since I'm rather fond of the Wizard who flies your broom, and wouldn't want to see him getting smashed up on a tree or into the ground either," Hermione told him. "When you're warmed up again, we should get going to Diagon Alley to get those supplies, and then Ron and I have to get over to my place."
They did that, and spent a couple of hours together doing that running around, including a stop at the wheezes store so the girls could say goodbye to George, since they wouldn't see him again before going back to school. After returning to the Burrow, Ron grabbed his overnight bag, and after a round of hugs, left for the Granger home and the plans they had for Hermione's last day at home with them.
With nothing really planned for the afternoon, Ginny suggested spending part of the afternoon stopping by to see Teddy, so after checking with Andromeda to see if they could do that, they apparated over to the Tonks' house and played with Teddy for nearly two hours before going back to the Burrow to get ready for their dinner date. Harry and Mr. Weasley were both in the sitting room when Ginny and her mother joined them there, and they both stood to welcome their girls with hugs and kisses.
"You look fantastic," Harry told Ginny quietly. "Maybe we should have sent your parents out on the date, and I could have kept you here all to myself."
"Or not," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling at them. "This will be fun, and Arthur and I will make sure that we're conveniently tired out and ready to go up to bed early so you'll have lots of cuddle time later."
"That works for me," Ginny told her mother. "Don't go to bed too early, though. I'm really going to miss you and Dad when I go back tomorrow too."
"We're going to really miss you too," Mrs. Weasley said, hugging Ginny for a moment, and then laughing. "I'm going to miss Hermione a lot too – she's saved us a bundle on groceries having Ron at her place so much the last two weeks."
They went outside and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, spending the better part of two hours there, taking their time as they had a really great dinner, dessert, and after-dinner drinks before going home to the Burrow again. Settling into the sitting room, Harry and Ginny talked with her parents for another nearly two hours before they decided to go up to bed, and left the two teens to stretch out on the sofa and cuddle under a warm blanket. They all knew that Harry and Ginny would still be in the sitting room in the morning, and Mrs. Weasley had been a little teary-eyed as she hugged them each goodnight before taking her own sweetheart's hand and going upstairs with him.
"This next stretch seems impossibly long right now," Ginny whispered as they held each other close. "I'd like to come home for the Easter break, but Hermione's sure that we'd never be able to keep up with our NEWT workload if we did that."
"She's probably right," Harry said with a soft smile. "I'd want to be snogging you the entire time you were here."
Ginny laughed softly. "That would be one of my favorite reasons to want to come home for the week," she pointed out.
"True," he agreed, "but you'll stay regardless because you want to ace your NEWTs, and that'll be worth all of the work. Don't make too many plans for the first few days after you get home in June, though. We're going to have a lot of catching up to do."
"I won't," she said, and then kissed him. "In fact, why don't we spend a little time right now getting a head start on that?"
They'd both laughed, and over the next several hours, there had been kisses ranging from feather-soft and sweet to quietly desperate and hungry, caresses meant to comfort, and tears shared, as they got ready to be separated again for nearly six months. There would be at least some Hogsmeade weekend visits and Quidditch matches, but this was their last real chance to be alone and together, and neither of them wanted to fall asleep and miss any of the little bit of time they had left together.
Sleep did eventually come in the early hours of the morning, and though they only managed a few hours of rest, they were still the first awake, and they shared some more soft, lingering kisses before going upstairs and getting ready for the trip to King's Cross Station. Harry and Mrs. Weasley cooked breakfast while Ginny finished the last bit of packing she had left to take care of, and then they ate quickly, cleaned up, and took Ginny's things outside when the Ministry car arrived to take them to London.
Ron, Hermione, and her parents were already on the platform when they got there, and there was a round of hugs with all of the parents before Ron went over by the Prefect car with Hermione, and Harry helped Ginny load her things into one of the cars farther down the line where they'd met up with Luna and Susan. The other two girls boarded the train to go look for a compartment, and to give Ginny another moment to say goodbye to Harry.
"I am not going to lose it again this morning," she told him, and Harry smiled.
"We've fought Dementors and Death Eaters and held it together. We can get through this too."
"Yes we will," Ginny agreed, and then hugged him fiercely. She kissed him, and then just put her head on his shoulder for a minute. "I love you," she breathed, and while there weren't any tears, her voice was definitely husky with emotion.
"I love you too, Ginny," he assured her, pouring his heart out into those words as he held her. "Have a safe trip back, and I'll talk to you tonight."
There was one more last kiss, but then Ginny boarded the train, took her trunk and cages in tow, and went in search of Luna, Susan, and whoever else they'd be sitting with for the trip back to Hogwarts. Harry rejoined Ron, his parents, and the Grangers, and they all watched as the doors were closed, and the train began pulling away precisely on time at eleven o'clock.
"I'm going to get back to work, if you'd like to come play too," Harry told Ron, who nodded that he was with him on that plan. "If you'd all like, though, why don't we go out for lunch, since we've all got to eat anyway."
Both sets of parents had agreed to do that, so after having a quick lunch with them, Harry and Ron went to Auror Headquarters, where they decided to spend the rest of the day running down some of the paper trail leads they'd picked up before New Year's through their stakeout, including identifying the two Witches who Ron had tracked. They worked until late afternoon, and then went back to the Burrow to have dinner with Ron's Mum and Dad before Harry grabbed his overnight bag and went back to his own home.
He spent some time with Snowstorm, but then sent him off toward Hogwarts with a welcome back to school gift and letter for Ginny. There was laundry, and a little house cleaning to keep him busy until it was time to get ready for bed and his first nightly chat of the New Year with Ginny. He was ready, smiling, and really glad to see her face when his mirror finally vibrated with her call to him.
"That was fast," she said brightly, and watched Harry nod.
"I miss you a lot already," he answered. "You have no idea how tempted I was today to forget about all of this Auror work, apparate to the school, and spend the next six months being your new pet."
Ginny laughed. "I really wish you could do that, but then again, the other girls might get suspicious when every time any of us went to get changed you were laying on my bed with your paws over your eyes."
"I suppose," he agreed. "How was your trip back? Anything interesting going on?"
"Not really," she answered with a shake of her head. "I mostly spent the trip catching up with everyone, though half of them only wanted to hear all about our little New Year's adventure. Millicent was definitely not looking happy with Hermione or I tonight at the feast, so she and Terrance were quite the pair of dark, glowering bookends."
"That situation there makes me nervous," Harry admitted. "I know that you and Hermione can take care of yourselves, but I can't keep from worrying about you anyway."
Ginny smiled knowingly at him. "Welcome to our every day when it comes to dealing with having Auror-trainees for boyfriends. We'll keep being careful, and hopefully we won't have any problems worse that a few glares during classes and at meals. Hermione and I can't even hope for anything that simple for you and Ron."
"We get lots of glares from our fugitives," Harry protested, and Ginny laughed.
"Yeah, but they're all post-capture by the time you see them, and the danger, at least with them, is over with," she countered. "Let's change the subject, though, and you can tell me about your day instead."
Harry did that, and they talked for the better part of an hour before they wrapped up their chat for the night, Ginny having a big day back at school, and Harry needing to get a good night's sleep to be ready to pick up the stakeout again in the morning. That first night apart, like the one on September first, was probably the hardest for both of them. The New Year was just a few days old, and if the start of it was any indication, they were all in for an adventurous, unpredictable year.