Thanks for the reviews and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. This will probably be my last post of 2007 but we'll see if I get any more in before then. Your ideas are always welcomed so feel free to send them in reviews.
Chapter Ten
The night before had been a late one. After the Leaky Cauldron they had gone to the Three Broomsticks to meet up with George and Lee Jordan. That day had been Lee's first day working in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He was going to become business partners with George. Lee had insisted that George get at least sixty percent of the profits. After all, it was his shop.
Harry awoke with a pounding headache. He had never drunk as much as he did the night before. Maybe he would ask Mrs. Weasley if she knew any good remedies. Harry rolled over and found Ginny staring at him. She smiled and gave him a morning kiss.
"Good morning," Harry said.
"Good morning," Ginny said. "What's on the agenda for today?"
Ginny's words sounded like a drum in Harry's head. She had only had a few butterbeers since she was not yet of age. That was what Harry should have switched to.
"That depends on what time it is," Harry said. He rolled over and looked at his clock. It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. Harry informed Ginny of this and se laid in silence for a moment.
"How about we just stay around the house today? You're obviously feeling a bit under the weather and we deserve just a relaxing day around the Burrow," Ginny said. "Maybe we could even have a picnic."
"That sounds fine to me," Harry said. He got up out of bed slowly, feeling the pain in his head increase as he became vertical. He groaned and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. There was no need to dress up when they were just gonna be bumming around the house.
"We have to go shopping tomorrow," Harry said. "I don't have any clothes that fit me." He pulled his jeans on over the boxers he had slept in and the t-shirt over his bare upper-body. He waited for Ginny to change out of a t-shirt of Harry's and then they walked downstairs to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was bustling around preparing lunch and Hermione was sitting at the table reading the Daily Prophet. She looked up yawning from the table and smiled. Harry and Ginny sat down opposite Hermione and greeted Mrs. Weasley with a 'Good Morning.'
"Where's Ron?" Harry asked as a huge plate of eggs and bacon was put down in front of him.
"Sleeping of course," Hermione said. "I swear that man would sleep his life away if it weren't for us."
"I believe that," Ginny said taking a piece of bacon from Harry's plate.
Mrs. Weasley saw this and scolded her saying, "Ginny, I am making a plate for you right here if you could just wait five seconds and get your hands away from Harry's food.
"It's okay Mrs. Weasley it's sort of a usual breakfast occurrence. She never eats her own," Harry said smiling. "I really don't mind."
"Well, it's not proper," Mrs. Weasley said. "And Harry, do stop calling me Mrs. Weasley. Molly will do fine. You as well Hermione." Harry and Hermione nodded their assent and then went back to eating their breakfasts.
"So what's on the agenda for you four today?" Molly asked. "Are you going to be out drinking all night like you did last night?"
"Actually speaking of that Mrs. W…Molly, do you know any remedies for migraines?" Harry asked.
"Don't you mean do I know any remedies for hangovers?" Molly asked.
"Either one, I've got a bit of both," Harry said.
"Yes, I know one. Here," Mrs. Weasley said shoving a bottle of some potion into his hand. "Drink that up and you'll feel better in a few minutes."
"Great," Harry said. He swallowed it down and then cleaned his plate. He stood up and grabbed his plate. He carried it over to the sink where there was a brush magically cleaning the plates.
"Anyways, I think me and Harry are gonna stick around the house today," Ginny said. "He had a long night yesterday and he needs to recuperate."
"Are you saying that you didn't drink yesterday Ginny?" Molly asked.
"I'm not of age Mum. That would have been illegal for me to drink," Ginny said.
"Well, that's not what any of your brothers would have said," Molly said. "I must have done something right with you."
"To be perfectly honest mum, I would have had a drink but Harry put his foot down," Ginny said.
"Oh, well in that case I can thank you Harry," Molly said.
"Well, I don't want her to get screwed up in the head, and to be frank, I didn't want to suffer your wrath if she had come home wasted," Harry said.
"You were right to do that," Molly said. "So anyways, Harry your birthday is in two days. Are you excited?"
"Not really. I'm more excited that I get to have it here, but I've never really gotten excited for a birthday before. I never did anything for it. In fact, at the Dursleys, I'm pretty sure I was the only one who ever knew when it was my birthday," Harry said.
"Well, that's terrible," Hermione said. Ron walked downstairs with huge bags under his eyes and yawning.
"Good morning," Ron said sitting down and helping himself to breakfast. "What are we doing today Hermione?"
"We're shopping," Hermione said.
"Oh, sounds good," Ron said. "What for?"
"I just need to pick up a few things," Hermione said very vaguely. Harry figured it was probably for his birthday. Hermione was never usually that discreet about anything.
After a few minutes, Harry stood up and walked out of the room. He walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. He sat down on his bed, and then laid down. He felt exhausted and wanted a short trip to dreamland. He was rudely interrupted when Ginny walked into the room and jumped onto him.
"You can't fall asleep now," Ginny said. "We were gonna have a fun and relaxing day."
"A nap is relaxing," Harry said. "You could join me."
"Now we're talking," Ginny said. She lay down next to Harry, resting her head on his chest. Harry wrapped his arm around her and snuggled her in close. Just like that, the couple fell asleep.
About an hour after the two had fallen asleep, Molly Weasley came upstairs to distribute clean clothes. She went into Ron and Hermione's room. She found the two sitting down and talking. Molly walked out of that room and down to Harry and Ginny's room to drop off a few shirts of Ginny's. She found the two asleep with their arms entwined around each other. She smiled at her youngest child and only daughter. She had found someone that loved her and she loved back. Molly was glad about the fact that they were not in a compromising position. The fact that they were left alone in a room with a bed and had only fallen asleep was a calming fact for her. It made her realize that she could definitely trust in the fact that they would be responsible.
She left the room, closing the door behind her. She walked back downstairs to do another load of laundry and some housecleaning.
Five minutes after Molly left their room, Ginny woke up. Harry was still sleeping soundly next to her. She slipped out from his grasp and hopped off the bed. She silently escaped from the room. She debated waking him up when she was in the hallway. She wanted to spend time with him but she wanted him to get his rest too. She decided that she would read a book while he slept. Just being near him was enough.
She sat down at the small desk in their room and read for an hour or more, until finally Harry woke up.
"Hey sleepy-head," Ginny said. "Nice of you to wake up."
"Did you stay up here waiting for me to get up?" Harry asked.
"Yep," Ginny said. "I read a book and just listened to you breathe. It's a good sound."
"Well at least you didn't suffocate me with my own pillow," Harry said.
"Not this time," Ginny said. Harry jumped off the bed and grabbed Ginny. He carried her over to the bed and started tickling her. The tickles were stopped when Ginny began kissing Harry. Harry instead used his hands to wrap around Ginny's body. Within minutes, the kiss had deepened and they were both on the bed, this time Harry was lying on top of Ginny. She was under him. Harry worked his hand up under her shirt. They carried on like this for a while until they were forced to break apart for oxygen. Harry rolled off of her to her side of the bed. He was panting. When he looked at Ginny, she was breathing in a similar manner and smiling.
She rolled over on top of him and resumed the kissing. This time, Harry got the shirt up over her head and threw it to the floor. She moved off of him long enough for him to remove his own shirt. He threw that aside and it landed next to Ginny's. Ginny noticed that there was a chain around Harry's neck.
"What's that?" Ginny asked holding it in the palm of her hand. She examined it more closely and saw that it looked like a locket. There were two letters engraved in it. The letters were L and J. There was a heart in between the two letters.
"Sirius sent it to me the summer before fourth year. My parents left it to him to give to me. Their letters are engraved in it and there's a picture of the three of us inside it. I haven't taken it off since the day I got it," Harry said.
"It's the only thing that connects you to your parents," Ginny said.
"Sirius told me that my mother used to wear it all the time. My dad had a similar one but he never took it off and it got lost after the attack at their house. He was wearing it when he died," Harry said.
Ginny let go of the locket, laying it back on his bare chest. She got up off the bed and fetched their shirts. She put hers back on and Harry put on his.
"It was too soon anyway," Harry said.
"Yeah," Ginny said. Just seconds after the two had gotten up out of the bed and finished putting their shirts back on, Ron had walked into the room.
"Don't you ever knock?" Hermione said showing up seconds after Ron.
"Why would I do that?" Ron asked.
"This is their room and you never know what they have been doing. You could have walked in and found Ginny changing," Hermione said.
This comment seemed to change Ron's view on knocking. He did not want to walk in to Ginny standing naked in the middle of the room.
"Fine, I'll knock next time," Ron said.
"What do you need anyways?" Harry asked.
"We were just wondering what you two were up to," Ron said.
"We just woke up," Harry said.
"Alright, well, dinner's gonna be ready in ten minutes so we should probably get downstairs," Ron said. "Mum also said that Professor McGonagall was gonna be coming to dinner. She said she wanted to talk to us all about our futures and something else too. She wanted to make sure that all of us would be there. George left the shop early, Charlie is coming all the way from Romania, Percy and Dad are coming home early and Bill and Fleur are coming. It'll be a full house. Mum wants us to set up a table outside so everyone can fit."
"We should probably get down there before Mum has a coronary," Ginny said.
They walked down the stairs. There was havoc in the kitchen. There were pots and pans everywhere and Molly was flying around the kitchen with her wand out and a look of ferociousness.
"Oh, good, you're here," Molly said still moving about. "Harry, I want you and Ron to go set up the table outside. Hermione, Ginny, could you put some of this into pots?"
"Sure mum," Ginny said. She and Hermione walked over and immediately got to work. Harry hit Ron on the arm and they walked outside. They conjured the table from inside that house and enlarged it so it would fit everyone. Harry whipped his wand and all the plates came zooming out and landed neatly on the table. Ron did the same thing for the silverware but was not as successful as Harry had been. When Ron tried to land it, he flipped his wand the wrong way and all the silverware scattered across the ground. Harry made a face at Ron and then flicked his wand to right Ron's mistake. They set themselves on the table next to the plates. When that was done, Harry conjured candles while Ron lit them. This was done under the watchful eye of Harry. Every time Ron was too careless, a fire would start and Harry would have to put it out.
Within five minutes, all the candles were lit and Harry had cast a charm around a fifty foot area to keep any bugs and gnomes away. Just as they had finished, there were several popping noises and all at once, six figures appeared and walked towards them. Mr. Weasley, Percy, and George walked up followed by Bill, Fleur, and Charlie. After brief hellos, they all filed inside but were quickly kicked out by Mrs. Weasley. No one was going to mess with her kitchen. Dinner was supposed to be ready in fifteen minutes. Harry walked inside and informed Molly about the sitting area. She was happy with the arrangements and then sent him back outside. The only people allowed in the kitchen from that point on was Molly, Hermione, Ginny, and Fleur. Harry walked outside and noticed that it was very quiet. The six Weasley boys were all sitting at the table dosing off and Professor McGonagall was standing facing them.
"Oh, hello Potter," McGonagall said. "How are your first few days of summer vacation?"
"Relaxing," Harry said. "Yours?"
"I've been organizing for the new school year. As soon as the rest of those guys come out I'll talk more about it," Professor McGonagall said.
As if on cue, the women filed out of the kitchen with all the food. They set it on the table, woke up the boys and then sat down to eat. The first few moments of the meal were silent, and then conversation broke out. From one end of the table, Harry could hear Mr. Weasley and Percy discussing ministry matters and Bill and Fleur listening to Charlie talk about being back at work. Molly was telling George to cut his hair because it was getting too long.
Professor McGonagall wiped her lips on her napkin, and then turned to Harry. Ginny turned towards her along with Ron and Hermione. Harry noticed that George had also directed his attention towards her.
"I have been writing down the names of the students that will be returning. I did not know whether to put yours. I was hoping you might know," McGonagall said.
"I'll be there Professor," Ginny said immediately.
"Good, you'll be in your seventh year," McGonagall said. "I think you learned enough last year to be able to move on. Besides, if you need any help I am positive Miss Granger will be more than happy to help you."
"Of course," Hermione said. "I will be returning to complete my seventh year, as will Ron."
"Excellent," the Headmistress said. All heads were turned to Harry then. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again because he saw someone walking towards them from the apparition point. Harry stood up and waited for the person to come into the light.
Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic, stepped into the light.
"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your meal but, I would like a word with young Mr. Potter very quickly," the Minister said.
"Of course," Harry said. He walked around the table to the Minister and shook his hand. "Let's go inside," Harry suggested.
Harry led the way inside and to the living room. He sat down in a chair while Kingsley sat on the couch.
"So, Harry, I noticed that Minerva was having dinner with you," Kingsley said. "I am assuming that she was curious to know whether or not you would be returning."
"Yeah she was," Harry said. "I haven't responded yet but, I'll go back."
"Well, I came here to offer you something," Kingsley said. "I was at Hogwarts the other day and I noticed how wonderful the reconstruction came along. Minerva tells me that you planned all of this."
"Yeah, I did," Harry said.
"I have discussed this with Minerva and she agrees that it would be wise to put you in control of organizing and planning things. As you know, the Ministry has been a bit of a mess. As Minister of Magic, it is my job to keep the Ministry running. That leaves no time for me to reorganize the Ministry. I would love to redesign it and maybe expand it, but there's no way I could do that while doing everything else. I came to offer you a position to organize the building of another Ministry. It would have to be bigger, more organized and would also have to be in a location where Muggles wouldn't notice it," Kingsley said. "From what I saw, you have excellent ideas and have the power to put them into motion. And, with all your travels last year, you might have a better idea about where we could put a new Ministry. Would you be willing to do it Harry? It would really help the Ministry and me out. You would be helping to make the world a better and more organized place."
"Kingsley, it sounds nice, but I really want to finish school," Harry said. "My education has to be my main priority."
"I know that you want to go back to school Harry, which is why this would be an ideal job. You would be making money while going to school. I talked about it with Minerva, and she said that if you accept, you can keep the office and room that you had over the summer," Kingsley said. "If you don't want to I'll understand but, you'd really be helping me out."
"Not to sound like a cheapskate or anything but, how much would I be making?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that's not being a cheapskate Harry, that's being interested," Kingsley said. "You'd be making ten galleons an hour."
"What? That's a lot of money," Harry said.
"That's actually not that great Harry," Kingsley said. "First time aurors make at least thirteen galleons an hour. Although it is significantly better than Arthur Weasley's salary. Arthur only makes six galleons an hour."
"Well that doesn't seem very fair," Harry said. "I can't make that much money if Mr. Weasley isn't making at least that much. That man has been working there for who knows how man years and he does more than most of the people working there."
"I agree with you there Harry, which is why I'm giving him a raise. I was gonna tell him tonight. After tonight he'll be making eleven galleons an hour," Kingsley said.
"That's more like it," Harry said. "So, you want me to pick a spot to build, plan it out, and then build it?"
"Yes that's right," Kingsley said.
"Would I have a team to help build?" Harry asked.
"Of course," Kingsley said. "You can hand pick whatever people you want from the Ministry. However I can't let you take very many aurors, because I need them."
"That's fine," Harry said. "Alright Kingsley, you've got yourself a planner."
"Excellent Harry," Kingsley said. "You have made the process much easier. I know usually you're not allowed to leave the school until Hogsmeade weekends but Professor McGonagall has agreed that any students who are coming back to make up years, can leave every weekend if they would like as long as they are back by the nest day of school. This could give you time to find a place to build."
"I don't think that will be necessary. I think I know just the spot," Harry said. "It won't be in the city and it won't be underground. I have to check the area to see how big it is but I think it's big enough. It's in the country. I was there while we were about last summer. We stayed there for a few days. It's in the southern corner of England it's a mile or so from the coast and there's nothing else around for miles."
"That sounds perfect Harry," Kingsley said. "You can work on the planning and when you're done with that, I'll put a team together for you and then you can start building."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to use some of my friends to do the building part," Harry said.
"If they're willing to do it then I'll allow it," Kingsley said. "They'd only get paid about five galleons an hour though because they wouldn't be permanent positions."
"I'm sure they'd be fine with that," Harry said. They stood up and walked over to the door. Before Harry opened it, he turned back to Kingsley and asked, "What happens after I build the new Ministry?"
"Well, a lot. You would most likely continue to build things for the Ministry. Whatever you thought was needed, you could build. You would have the resources of the Ministry at your hands."
Harry nodded his head and then led Kingsley back outside.
"Oh, I almost forgot Harry," Kingsley said. He pulled out several enveloped from his cloak. "Gringotts told me to give these to you personally. There are several wills there. They want you to open the one directly from Gringotts first. There's some information you need in there they said. Enjoy the rest of your holidays and I'll talk to you in a few weeks. I have to run so would you mind telling Arthur about his raise?"
"No, I'll tell him. I'll talk with you soon Minister," Harry said. Harry waved good-bye as Kingsley apparated away. Harry made his way over to his seat.
"George is coming back to school too," Ginny said.
"I just got a job," Harry said.
"Does that mean you're not coming to school?" Ginny asked slightly disappointed.
"No, I'm coming to school, I'll just be working too," Harry said. This news brightened Ginny up again and she went back to talking and laughing. Harry leaned back in his chair and observed the rest of the table. They were all laughing and talking just like the family that they were. Harry smiled and thought, I have a job and a family. At this moment, my life is perfect, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that.