Hey Guys- I know I suck. I haven't updated in literally forever. It was a long school year and I really needed to focus on everything else in my life, so I really didn't have time to update. Don't worry- I have much more to this story. Please review and give me advice, because it really is appreciated and it helps a lot.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. I can only wish in another life that I could be anywhere as successful as JK Rowling. Don't sue me- I have no money.
Enjoy Ch. 25!
Chapter 25: As If Time Never Passed
Harry arrived outside the wards of Potter Manor. He took a deep breath of the air. 'It's good to be home,' he thought. Crossing through the wards, Harry was still in awe of the beauty of his home. He had never once thought that while living with the Dursleys, their home was normal but it wasn't his. But, he figured that's how they liked it- "normal".
Harry sprinted to the front door, so excited to be home; he was bursting with life. He pushed open the front door and was greeted by his house-elves. "Welcome home, Mas- Harry, sir!" Herc said.
Harry patted each elf on the head and they listened intently while Harry told them about training. Teeney was smiling brightly while Harry recounted his last month. Kelsey gasped when he told the story of the mission. When he was finished, Herc straightened up and informed Harry that there was a present in his bedroom.
Quickly, Harry took to the stairs skipping every other one and he reached his bedroom. Hanging inside of his closet there was a new set of midnight blue dress robes with a note attached to them.
Harry,
Congratulations on passing training! You'll need to wear these later for the graduation. They are the official Auror robes. Kingsley talked to Arthur yesterday about how he and Gawain Robards were moving graduation up.
We'll see you this afternoon!
Love,
Mrs. Weasley
Harry blushed. He loved Mrs. Weasley like his own mother. He held out the robes and inspected them. There was a purple patch on the right sleeve with a white 'A' in the middle embossed with gold thread. Potter was embroidered on the left breast pocket. Harry was impressed with the quality of his uniform.
Harry hopped into the shower and cleaned himself up before heading to the Ministry for the actual ceremony. He felt refreshed once he got out. He even attempted to comb down his hair for the occasion. He managed to get it to stay mostly flat in the back and only the sides stood up.
Harry buttoned the white uniform shirt and pulled on the rest of the robes. He looked quite official- important. He just had that gash above his eye, but Harry thought he looked rather handsome.
Before he left, he stopped in the study to see his parent's portrait. "Oh Harry!" his mother said, "You look so handsome!" She looked so proud of Harry. James put his arm around Lily, and also commented on Harry's appearance, "Not bad looking, son." Harry grinned at his parent's compliments.
Lily tapped James' chest, "If only he didn't have that hair of yours."
James pretended to look hurt and he rolled his eyes so only Harry could see him. Harry shrugged. "I'll see you two later tonight, I've got to be going!"
"Good luck tonight, Harry!" they called from their frame as Harry rounded the desk and walked out the door.
Harry flooed to the Ministry mindful of keeping his robes clean. He really didn't know where to go when he got there, so he proceeded to the Auror office. Harry must not have been the only one who didn't know where to go, because he bumped into Diana, Trish, and Neville in the Atrium.
Together they took the lifts to the second level. They continued through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and winded up in the Auror Office where they were greeted by Gawain Robards and Sam.
"Have a good morning, you three?" Sam asked brightly.
"It was really excellent. It was good to be home," Diana said.
"Gran was quite excited to see me," Neville said. His forehead wrinkled, "I don't think I've ever seen her quite so happy to see me."
Harry let out a laugh. He had only really met Neville's grandmother one time before, but the stories that Neville had told over the years Harry knew that he was probably telling the truth, except Neville didn't see his grandmother when she arrived at Hogwarts in May.
Robards led them from the Auror office down to the pressroom where Sam gave them instructions for the processional and the rest of the afternoon. The ceremony was to take place in the pressroom; the new aurors would wait outside and then proceed in behind Sam while Robards and Kingsley led the ceremony. Harry followed Trish onto the stage. Harry looked into the audience and it seemed to be mostly Ministry officials and small groups of families. He spotted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley immediately and next to them was Andromeda Tonks with Teddy. Harry grinned when he spotted his godson; he just wished that Ginny could have been there too.
The ceremony was simple. The new Aurors shook hands with Sam, Robards, and Kingsley and then Kingsley presented them with their official Ministry-Auror badges. When Harry's name was called he could distinctly hear Mrs. Weasley's whistling. Kingsley carefully pinned the new badge onto Harry's Auror robes and paused for the photographer, "Congratulations, Harry. You're going to do excellent things," he said.
"Thanks, Kinglsey, I mean Minister Shacklebolt," Harry said shaking his hand.
When the ceremony was over Harry went to find the Weasleys, but Mrs. Weasley found him first and gave him one of her famous bone crushing hugs. "Oh, congratulations, Harry, darling."
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," he said rubbing his sides. Mr. Weasley patted Harry on the back, "Congratulations, son. This is a huge honor and I wish I could stay but I need to get back to my office. Still really behind on work, see you later for dinner?"
Harry nodded and waved as Mr. Weasley dashed out the door. Harry saw Andromeda and Teddy out of the corner of his eyes and walked over to greet them. "Thank you so much for coming," he said.
"Oh it was no problem," she said, "I'm just glad that Molly told us that the date was changed. I heard you had to go on a mission. I always worried when Dora went on missions, even when she was experienced- and you a trainee, I couldn't breathe."
Harry shook his head, "I know, it was tough. But, here I am and I'm ready to go start full time."
Andromeda took Harry's hand, "I know you're going to do well."
Teddy let out a yawn and Harry rubbed Teddy's arm, "I'm going to go full time, but I'm still going to have time to spend with my godson."
Andromeda smiled, "I'd like that. He's little, but he's still a handful."
Mrs. Weasley invited Andromeda and Harry back to the Burrow for lunch, "I'm not sure if Ron will be able to get off of work, he and George have been developing a lot of new products."
"That's great. I'm sure I'll see him soon though," Harry said trying not to sound too disappointed not seeing his best friend. But, he was planning on going to Hogwarts soon to surprise Ginny and he wanted to have Ron go with him, but those plans could wait because it was time to celebrate his completion of auror training.
Ginny woke up early the morning of Gryffindor's first Quidditch match. She had faith in her team. They had been working extremely hard in practices; she assumed she worked them harder than Oliver Wood had ever worked Gryffindor's team, but according to George that was quite difficult thing to do. And every free moment that they had together in the common room was dedicated to Ginny testing them on the playing styles of Ravenclaw's players and their own plays. Even Hermione had loosened Ginny's study schedule, so the team could play at it's absolute best.
The Great Hall was already full of chattering students when Ginny entered the Great Hall. Clanging of forks and knives on the plates and loud conversations filled the air. Ginny sat down next to a few sixth year girls and was then joined by some of her teammates. Ryan Applebaum was the new Gryffindor seeker. He was a third year. Ginny liked him; he was quiet and not overly confident. Ryan had light sandy brown hair and these dark blue eyes. "Morning, Captain," he said brightly tucking in at the table. "Morning," she said back.
She passed him a plate piled high with toast and he handed her a bowl of scrambled eggs. Esmerelda Lee, a chaser and a sixth year also joined Ginny and Ryan. Esmeralda could always be counted on for the latest gossip. Ginny was amazed that she never choked, because she never seemed to shut her mouth. Soon enough the entire team had surrounded her, including Hermione. They talked last minute strategy until Ginny decided that they better get down to the locker room.
Inside the locker room, Ginny started feeling tense. This game was all on her; she was no longer the only sister of the Weasley boys, but she was responsible for the Gryffindor team. She was the captain now, she needed to prove herself and pump up her team. She could tell that Ryan, Esmeralda, and Drake Forrest were all getting more nervous, so she decided to do something to get them excited and ready to play. She took to the middle of the floor, "Do you know what Ravenclaw doesn't have that we've got?"
Peakes looked around at his teammates, Esmeralda and Ryan looked at each other quizzically. Ginny was searching her teammates hoping that they'd come up with an answer.
"Heart," she said. "We've been flying almost every day this week. We've been training as much and as hard as we can. We've been studying every play that we've got and that they've got. But, studying doesn't matter," she said.
"What matters is that we're gonna go out there and we are going to work together and BEAT THEM! I know that all of you want this more. And that's all that this is- wanting it more. Drake and Demelza, we fly together like we've been doing this all our lives. Peakes and Haggerty- you two are the best beaters, maybe even better than my brothers," Both boys smiled a little.
"Esmeralda, I am speechless by the way you guard those hoops. You are amazing. You can block anything. Ravenclaw has absolutely nothing on you. They won't be able to score on you at all. And Ryan, you might be the youngest on the team, but you've got this skill that I can't even describe. You just always manage to come up with the snitch. It's truly remarkable. Now, let's get out there and kick some Ravenclaw tail!"
The entire Gryffindor team let out a roar of excitement. Flying out of their lockerroom, the pitch was decked out equally in crimson and gold and blue and bronze. Even though Luna was in Ravenclaw, she stood next to Hermione donning her infamous lion hat. Ginny was proud to have her as a friend.
Madam Hooch walked across midfield carrying the crate and her broom. "Weasley and Bradley, shake hands!" she ordered. Ginny flew to the center of the pitch hovering above Madam Hooch. She stuck her arm out robotically and shook Bradley's hand. He was a seventh year like her and he was handsome. He had grey eyes and dark hair. He looked rather big for his broom, but Ginny knew that it meant absolutely nothing. Ginny and Bradley both flew back to their respective positions ready for the match to begin.
"As I say every match, I want a clean match- all of you. Good luck and play hard," she said as she released the bludgers, then the snitch, and finally the quaffle.
Ginny flew as fast as she could and grabbed the quaffle on its descent. She passed it to Demelza who avoided one Ravenclaw's beater. Drake flew on the far side of the pitch and then soared underneath Demelza and she passed it to him. Ginny flew back to the right side of the Ravenclaw hoops and was wide open to shoot. Drake threw a fake shot at Kevin Simpson- the Ravenclaw Keeper- and he passed it to Ginny who scored the first goal for Gryffindor. The stadium erupted in cheers. She could hear the faint roar of a lion from the opposite end of the pitch.
Suddenly, a bludger zipped past her head and Haggerty came up on her left, "Watch it, Ginny!" he called as he smacked the bludger at one of the Ravenclaw chasers. Ginny laughed and saw that Drake had stolen the quaffle from Henrietta Billows and he was flying back towards her with it. Ginny caught the pass on the left side of the Ravenclaw goal posts and Drake came around the back of her for a short pass and he scored for Gryffindor. They were now leading 20-0.
Ginny had been so focused on herself and her chasers that she had forgotten about Ryan. He was circling high above squinting for any signs of the snitch. He saw that Darren Marshall- the Ravenclaw Seeker- was doing the same thing, circling high above the pitch. Ginny watched as Ryan descended lower and lower into the pitch. She couldn't tell if he had seen anything, but Demelza passed her the quaffle before she could double-check Ryan. She shot on the middle hoop- scoring for Gryffindor again. By now, the score was 60-10, Gryffindor winning.
Harry hadn't told anyone about his plan. Not even Hermione who was always good for preparing surprises. He and Ron met at the gates of Hogwarts where Professor McGonagall greeted him. "Morning, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. How nice it is to see you again."
Both Harry and Ron chatted with Professor McGonagall on the way to the Quidditch pitch, she asked Ron about the shop and business and she asked Harry about training and being an auror. As she left them at the gates to the pitch, "Well, it was nice to see you both. Have a good time today," she said. "Thanks," Harry and Ron said in unison.
"Does this feel strange to you?" Ron asked.
"A little. It's odd being here, but not going to classes is definitely nice," Harry said.
"Definitely," responded Ron.
Neither one of them really had a plan, because neither one of them had told Ginny or Hermione that they would be coming. "Do you know where we should watch from?" Ron asked.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Well, should we sit with the Gryffindors? Or should we sit with the professors?" Ron asked.
Still neither one of them knew what to do- it was strange being here. They sat down in the bleachers in the Hufflepuff section, because they decided to surprise Hermione once the game got started. "You know what we should've done, Ron," Harry suggested.
Ron shrugged not knowing where Harry was going with this, "We should've told Luna," he said. "She would've been able to help us out."
"Oh well, it's too late now," Ron said.
Just then Harry could see a small group of red and gold leaving the castle. "Look, it's the team," Harry said pointing to the group. Ron noticed too, "Good thing they can't see inside the pitch before they get to the locker room, or else this would be ruined."
Harry and Ron ducked until they thought the coast was clear. After about 5 minutes, Ron looked at Harry and said, "We look ridiculous."
Harry nodded in fervent agreement. They sat up to find the rest of Hogwarts filing out of the front doors. They got up and walked around, careful not to walk near the Gryffindor section of the pitch. Harry decided that they should wait until the match started before going into the Gryffindor section.
Some of the students saw Harry and Ron, but the younger ones pointed at Harry and were unable to make full sentences. "Ah- the price of fame," Ron said. "You think they recognize me?" Ron asked grinning.
Harry elbowed him, "Sure they do. Just don't let the fame go to your head," he pointed out. Ron laughed. It was like old times.
They could hear Madam Hooch's voice projecting across the pitch- the game was about to start. Harry and Ron made their way over to the Gryffindor section. Both boys raced up the stairs and at the top, they looked for Hermione. They saw the familiar lion hat of Luna's and figured that Hermione must have been with Luna. Ron led the way and Hermione wasn't paying attention as the two made their way across the line of students, "Beautiful day for a Quidditch match, don't you think?" Ron asked Hermione.
She turned and lit up, "Oh Ron! Harry! What are you two doing here?" Before either could answer she was mouth-to-mouth with Ron. Harry grinned at his best friends, because he couldn't wait to do the same thing with Ginny.
Hermione pushed Ron away gently and looked over at Harry, "Does Ginny know you're here?" she asked.
"She doesn't. I'm so excited to see her," Harry said.
He watched as Ron wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist. All three were smiling brightly as they watched Gryffindor fly through the air. Luna's lion would roar occasionally spurring cheers from the Gryffindor section. Harry was splitting time watching both Ginny and the seeker. He loved watching Ginny. She was a born flyer, but she had an aggressive quality. She was fearless. Zigging in and out of Ravenclaw players, Ginny and the other two chasers looked so natural playing together that anyone would have thought that they had played together for years. She tore through the sky scoring several goals. And Harry joined in on the voluminous cheers. At one point, he could barely hear the commentary, but he didn't care. The announcer wasn't as colorful as Lee Jordan was or even as odd as Luna's commentaries.
Out of nowhere, the Gryffindor seeker came shooting down from the clouds. Harry could make out the unmistakable golden snitch hovering just a few broom lengths from the seeker. The crowd also noticed Applebaum chasing after the snitch and out of nowhere Darren Marshall- the Ravenclaw Seeker- closed in on Applebaum. Harry held his breath, as Applebaum reached for the snitch, Ginny was right in her letters- this kid had no fear like Harry. As Gryffindor scored another goal bringing the score to 70-10, Ryan Applebaum came up triumphantly clutching the snitch. The Ravenclaw beater accidentally stopped short in defeat and Applebaum crashed into him. Applebaum hopped off the ground still clutching the snitch in his right hand relishing in the Gryffindor win.
Ginny and the rest of the Gryffindor team raced to Ryan and cheered him on. Harry was smiling ear to ear and he was cheering loudly with the Gryffindors. He left Ron and Hermione in the stands and he rushed to the locker room. The team was just going in when Harry grabbed Ginny and pulled her off to the side.
"HARRY! What are you doing here?" she asked excitedly.
"I'm here watching you play a brilliant game," he said.
"But, but how? You were still supposed to be at training, I thought," she said.
"I was, but we finished early. Didn't you see the article in the Prophet? The aurors caught more Death Eaters and we helped! So, Kinglsey and Robards had us graduate early," Harry explained.
Before Ginny could even open her mouth to respond, Harry's lips were on hers. It was like they had left it at Platform 9 ¾. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Harry said.
"I think I have an idea," she said before she kissed him again. "Let me get changed and I'll be right back," she turned and kissed him one more time before disappearing into the locker room.
Harry was in ecstasy. He really had it all now. He was leaning against the wall outside the locker room when Hermione and Ron found him. "Harry, we talked to McGonagall. She said we can take the girls to the Three Broomsticks for dinner and then they have to be back by 4 o'clock," Ron told him.
"Sounds great. Ginny's changing right now, but I'm sure she wants to go."
Ginny came out of the locker room just a few minutes later, her hair was still damp but it had the familiar flowery scent that Harry loved so much. He explained that they were going to the Three Broomsticks for dinner.
"Sounds great!" she said. She looked at the castle longingly hoping that the party would wage on until they came back. She took Harry's hand and they all left together as if time hadn't passed.