Chapter 10 - Good Memories

Harry didn't reply to Ginny's assurances, he just shut his eyes and squeezed her equally tightly, loathe to let go. Deep inside, he knew she was right. She had to be. If she was wrong, he doubted he could go on living, and he wanted to live, for her sake as much as his own.

"I know," he murmured, and felt her hands relax slightly in relief.

"Nobody blames you, Harry," she whispered gently, "we all choseto fight because we believed in you, and we hated him. Fred went out fighting. We'll mourn him, but we're proud of him for it." Something in her words stirred memories of the previous day – he could hear the same tone of quiet pride in her voice that Ron had used when talking about the Prewett twins.

"Fabian and Gideon," he muttered, almost inaudibly.

"What?"

"Ron told me about Dolohov, and your mum's brothers," he said, sadly.

"Dolohov," she muttered, almost spitting his name, to Harry's surprise, "Thinking you were dead killed me, and then that bastard almost made you die for real... I..."

Ginny's voice cracked as she tried to continue – she squeezed Harry a bit tighter, and fell silent. Harry got the distinct impression she was struggling with her determination not to cry. He was silent too – he didn't tell her – or perhaps couldn't tell her – how much his insides burned at the thought of Dolohov. Bad enough that he had murdered Ginny's uncles and gotten away with it, bad enough that he had nearly killed both Hermione and Harry himself, but now the hateful flames had been fuelled still further in Harry's head, by a realisation in the night:

"Have you seen Remus?" he heard Tonks cry in his mind's eye.

"He was duelling Dolohov, haven't seen him since!" came Aberforth's shout in return.

Ginny was upset enough already, without Harry telling her what (or rather, who) had killed Remus Lupin. Inwardly, however, he longed to face Dolohov, longed to avenge his father's friend, for Dolohov had done something far more appalling to Harry than merely kill a good man – he had left a child orphaned, just like Harry himself. Bellatrix had played her part too, in her murder of Tonks, but while she had died for it, Antonin Dolohov had fled and slipped away, just like he did after killing Fabian and Gideon Prewett.

Harry pushed such thoughts from his head as far as possible – he thought of Ginny's encouragement, and of Ginny herself – the sight of her, the scent of her, the knowledge that she, by her own confession, loved him too. Two hours later, she was still in his arms by the lakeside. They were lying on their sides, with his arms wrapped around her waist, looking out at the rippling, shimmering water, and the blue, cloud-strewn sky, in rapture.

As other students began to file out onto the grounds after breakfast, they decided to head inside and find some company. Harry knew Ginny was looking for something to take his mind off his guilt, but he didn't complain, as he happened to be looking for such a thing too. When they finally got back to the Gryffindor common room, Ron and Hermione were waiting, in armchairs by the fire. Neville and Luna were sat across from them, and the four were chatting in earnest, with Luna having apparently been let in as an "honorary Gryffindor" by Neville. Hermione was the first to spot them entering, and cast a critical glance at Harry – once again, she seemed to know what he was thinking – but he put his worries to the back of his mind, and followed Ginny over to the corner, pulling up an armchair between Ron and Luna.

"Morning," Ron mumbled, as Ginny found another chair, and he continued, "Where'd you-OUCH!"

"Sorry," Ginny said, not sounding sorry at all, having dropped her chair on his foot with surprising force. She shot him a warning glare, and he fell silent.

"Anyway, like I was just saying," Hermione began, acting as if nothing had happened, "we have four months to ourselves before we come back to Hogwarts, or go off to become Aurors, or whatever we decide to do. We should work out what we're going to do with it so we don't waste it."

"How," Ron said, smirking, "can you make a holiday sound so boring? It's a holiday! We're supposed to relax, not plan it all out!"

"I'm just saying, there are some things we need to do, and we should get them out of the way so we don't forget."

"Like?"

"Like getting new wands? Ollivander's is selling wands again, now."

"Alright, fair point," Ron grumbled, "What else?"

"I need to visit Teddy," Harry said, almost involuntarily. His godson had been filling his thoughts after his night of nightmares, and he was determined to make sure he did his duty to the kid, as Sirius had tried to do for him. Hermione nodded sagely.

"I imagine Andromeda could do with visitors, poor woman. First her husband, then her daughter..." she trailed off, and everyone looked quite sober at the thought.

"We need to check on Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, too, if we're in Diagon Alley," Ron said, evidently trying to pick the mood up.

"Why?" Ginny said, curious.

"George hasn't been near the place since Easter, we don't even know if it's still standing!"

"So..." Hermione said, as if she was ticking off a list in her head, "A day in Diagon Alley to get new wands, check on George's store, maybe get some books..."

"Or not," Ron muttered, and she shot him a disparaging look.

"A visit to the Tonks' house... anything else?"

"I need to visit Gringotts," Neville piped up, "but I guess I can go when the rest of you go to Diagon Alley and meet up with you afterwards."

"Why do you need to go to Gringotts?" Ron said, without a shred of subtlety or tact, and this time it was Hermione who shut him up, elbowing him in the ribs.

"No reason," Neville murmured, smiling slightly as Ron shot a frustrated look at Hermione.

"So that's two days... out of four months," Hermione said, ignoring Ron, and looking quite frustrated herself.

"If it helps, Mum'll want us to spend at least a week at home, you know what she's like," Ron muttered, and Ginny nodded in assent.

"Right, so-" Hermione continued, but was almost immediately interrupted by a rattling noise besides their heads. Perched on the stone sill of the nearest window was a little owl, dark grey, and with piercing yellow eyes. Hermione, who was sat closest, got up and pulled the window open, as the small owl hopped onto her forearm.

"It's Hermes!" Ron exclaimed, and the little screech owl fixed its yellow eyes on him, hooting softly in response.

"Percy's owl?" Hermione asked, as she reached down and took a very long, slender package, tied with string, from Hermes' leg, and handed it to Ron, as she sat down, and the owl flew up onto the back of her chair. As he watched it, Harry felt a sad little pang and thought of Hedwig, but was distracted when Ron began to read aloud from a little note, attached to the thin package.

Dear Ron,

Father and I were searching Malfoy Manor for evidence, and we found these – I think you and Hermione may be interested in them. I only hope Hermes was up to the flight, it's a big package for him, but I didn't trust Errol not to break them en route.

Hoping you are well,

Percy

Everyone watched in curiosity as Ron opened untied the string, and unwrapped the package. He let out a cheerful whoop, and Hermione gasped, as two wands rolled out into his lap.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, as he picked up Hermione's elegantly-carved vinewood wand and passed it to her, then picked up his own, swishing the willow wand around and only stopping when a jet of red sparks came inches from Neville's nose.

"How did he manage that?" Ginny asked, incredulously.

"The Snatchers took them when we were taken to Malfoy Manor," Hermione murmured, "Bellatrix must have taken them when she searched the Snatchers and never got rid of them..."

"Well, good old Percy!" Ron said, far more cheerful than he had been before, as they both tucked their wands into their pockets, and sat down. Hermes hooted happily, took an affectionate nip at Hermione's hair, then took off from the back of the armchair and swooped out of the window. They watched the owl dip behind the Astronomy Tower and out of sight, then turned back to the conversation, having completely forgotten the matter at hand.

"Erm...where were we?" Harry said, having been caught up in Ron and Hermione's cheerful reunion with their wands.

"Planning the holidays," Hermione replied, "But I guess we don't need to visit Ollivander's anymore. Still, it couldn't hurt to visit Diagon Alley, could it?" The others shook their heads, and agreed that no, it couldn't. Then, thoroughly out of ideas for how to occupy four months of time, they began to search around for a new topic of conversation.

The rest of the day passed, it occurred to Harry, in a haze of good cheer, which did his anxious, rather guilty state some good, and allowed him to forget the last night's dreams. For the rest of the morning, they chatted away – the boys discussed Kingsley's offer and agreed that they would most likely take him up on it; the girls, in turn, discussed which NEWTs they would be taking next year; talk turned to the Ministry, with Hermione and Luna getting into a friendly argument about Rufus Scrimgeour's nocturnal habits, after the latter expressed her relief at no longer having a vampire for a Minister – in the end, they both agreed that Thicknesse was worse than Scrimgeour either way, and left it at that.

At midday, they descended to the Great Hall, and once again, Luna joined the Gryffindors for the time being, as they ate their fill, and headed out onto the grounds, still chatting about anything and everything, mostly, to Harry's surprise, reminiscing about their earlier years at Hogwarts – Ron spent at least fifteen minutes thoroughly embellishing the tale of Harry catching Neville's Remembrall, until the story saw Harry knocking Malfoy – screaming like a little girl – off his broom, then making a two-hundred foot dive, and catching the Remembrall an inch from the class's heads. Just as Harry was expecting a dragon to appear somewhere in the story, Hermione set the others right, much to Ron's chagrin.

By the evening, they were all lounging by the side of the lake, just as Harry and Ginny had done that morning – except Harry felt far happier about it than he had then. The fluffy white clouds were now tinged silver, and the sky itself was burning a bright, peach-like colour as the sun began to set.

"I'm telling you, I punched Lockhart! Knocked him clean out!" Ron protested, as the latest of his tales was unravelled. Harry and Ginny were curled up in the shade of the old willow, and Neville was lying side by side with Luna, her hand in his, as the third couple engaged in another mock argument.

"Funny, at the time you said your wand backfired..." Hermione teased, grinning at Ron.

"Charlie's wand," Ron muttered, "And anyway, that was after he woke up!"

"Of course it was, Ron."

"I'm telling you, I did, I- c'mon Harry, tell her!"

"Hey, I'm staying out of this!" Harry called, laughing at his two best friends, as he ran a hand through Ginny's hair, the sweet scent filling his head, and calming the morning's nerves.

"I'm sure you did, Ron, whatever you say – Ron? Ron!"

Hermione screamed as Ron picked her up unceremoniously, carried her for a few metres, and then dropped her into the very edge of the lake. She emerged, spluttering and laughing, as Ron began to laugh too, and turned to the other two boys.

"Oh, come on, can't you spot a cue?" he chuckled, as Neville and Harry both looked up, grinning.

"Yeah, but I don't have a death wish," Neville laughed, and as if to prove his point, Hermione swept up out of the water, grabbing Ron around the neck and shoulders, and dragging him in backwards. As they both emerged, soaking wet, Harry looked down at Ginny, still grinning.

"Don't even think about it," Ginny whispered, and his grin widened, as he swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the very edge of the lake.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered.

"NO!" she screamed in response, and he leapt forward, plunging both of them into the cool water. Ginny screamed for a few moments, then went under. By the time she re-appeared, with her flaming red hair drenched, and plastered to her head and neck, she was laughing, and flung her arms around him, trying in vain to drag him down again, but failing.

"Come on!" Ron roared to the bank once more, as he surfaced, with Hermione still clinging onto him, "Scared of water, Neville?"

"No," Neville smirked, "but I guess you didn't know the plumbing empties into the lake..."

Luna began to choke with laughter, as Neville's smirk widened to a full grin, and the four in the water looked at each other. After a few moments, Harry, Ginny and Hermione had reached a general consensus, and dived on Ron, dunking him under the water once more. As he resurfaced, spluttering madly and red in the face, they were already climbing out of the water, while Neville and Luna rolled around, laughing at the utterly dishevelled Ron.

With the sun half-covered by the horizon, they wound their way back up to the castle. Harry had swept Ginny up in his arms again, and she was resting her head against his shoulder, looking utterly content. Ron, in mock anger at his dunking, had picked Hermione up in a slightly less romantic fireman's lift, flinging her over his shoulder as she made a futile attempt to protest between fits of laughter. Luckily for all concerned, the common room was empty, so they managed to avoid any awkward questions. Harry put Ginny back on her feet, and she departed for her dorm, as Harry headed for his. Ron made his excuses ("Well, Harry'll be using the bathroom in our dormitory") and headed off after Hermione. Seamus and Dean were both still out and about, and Neville had gone to take Luna to Ravenclaw Tower, so Harry was quite alone as he grabbed a fresh set of clothes from his bag, headed for the bathroom, and began to peel off his sodden shirt, feeling thoroughly happy.

Whatever his dreams threw at him tonight, these were good memories, for him to cherish.