Disclaimer: See previous chapters
Sorry this took me so long! My car got hit, my brother got married, and I've been sick! Now that I'm on some new medicines and am FINALLY sleeping again, I decided I should update this story. My sincerest apologies to those who have been waiting. I hope this chapter is worth it!
(P.S. – This chapter is being written on MY VERY OWN COMPUTER!! Have I mentioned that I love Christmas?)
When Harry awoke, he glanced out the window to see stars painting the sky. Ginny had disappeared again, though the bed still felt warm, so he knew she hadn't been gone long. Finding his glasses on the bedside table, Harry decided to take a short walk. What he didn't realize was just how short it would turn out to be. His muscles ached from lying in bed for days, so he only managed two steps before collapsing to the ground. Biting back a few choice words, he struggled to get to his feet – but his fall had alerted Madam Pomfrey, who came rushing out of her office. She was followed quickly by Kingsley, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Hermione, and most of the Weasley family. Harry felt his face flush with momentary embarrassment, but the concern on everyone's faces left little doubt that he had nothing to be ashamed of as he was helped back into bed. The nurse bustled about, gathering various potions while the Headmistress conjured chairs for everyone to sit in. Ginny sat instead on the edge of Harry's bed, and grasped his hand tightly.
"Well," Kingsley said, his great voice booming through the Hospital Wing, "Now that Harry's awake, I suspect we'll have to start over, won't we?" He winked at Harry. "Luckily we weren't far into the meeting." Harry began to trace circles on the back of Ginny's hand with his thumb – after coming so close to losing the woman he loved, he was beginning to think that he never wanted to let her go again. "We were each giving our reports on what happened Monday evening." Harry nodded. "Hermione?" called the Minister. Harry turned to his best friends – who were sitting just as close as he and Ginny, and watched Hermione straighten a bit in her seat, as she always did during class.
"Apparating into Godric's Hollow was easy enough," she began, "But once Harry passed into the rubble of his parents' home, Ron and I couldn't follow. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that Runcorn may have cast some kind of shielding spell to prevent anyone else from entering…"
Kingsley nodded. "One of the Aurors disabled the shield when we arrived."
"There's really not much to tell after that. We couldn't hear what Umbridge was saying to Harry, though we could see them both. She was shouting, and getting angrier by the second." Hermione stopped for a moment and began twisting her hands together. "When she raised her wand I guessed she was going to curse Harry, and I stunned her." Harry was surprised to see tears form in her eyes as she spoke. Ron put an arm around her shoulders and looked over at Harry.
"Sorry, mate. We didn't get her fast enough." Hermione sniffled, and Ron held her closer as she buried her face in his shoulder. Harry understood in an instant.
"Hermione, you have nothing to feel guilty about. If you hadn't stunned Umbridge, I might have died." She shook her head from the folds of Ron's sweater. "Hermione…" he called again, softly. She turned to look at him. "Thank you for saving my life." Taking a deep breath, she nodded and wiped her eyes with the tissue Madam Pomfrey offered. Ron looked as if he wanted to run his hands through her hair, but seemed to think better of it – perhaps preferring not to get tangled in the bushy mane.
"We've already heard from Ginny," Kingsley said, looking at Harry. He nodded, confirming that the story didn't need to be retold, and squeezed Ginny's good hand. "So, I think that just leaves you, Harry." All eyes turned to him, and Harry took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly.
"I'm afraid there isn't much for me to say, either. Hermione was right - Apparating seemed to go off just fine. I didn't know about the barrier, though. As soon as I got close enough, Umbridge disarmed me -"
"Wait!" Hermione cried, "She disarmed you?! We didn't see that!"
"Yes," Kingsley confirmed, looking to Harry. "I found your wand when I arrived." Harry, who had already noticed it sitting on the bedside table, thanked him and looked back at Hermione, who was biting her lip.
"What is it?" Harry prompted.
"She disarmed you, Harry…" Hermione said, her eyes wide. "That means… the Elder Wand…"
The whole room went silent.
"The… what?" Madam Pomfrey chimed in. Ginny gave her a hasty explanation while Harry thought furiously. He turned to the Minister.
"Umbridge is in custody, right?"
"She arrived in the high security wing of Azkaban this morning," he confirmed. "Why?"
"Who took Umbridge's wand?" Harry asked suddenly. "Hermione stunned her, but who got her wand?"
At the nervous sound of a throat clearing, all eyes immediately turned to Professor McGonagall. In all the years Harry had known her, he had never seen the woman look so unsteady. "I… I arrived closest to the two of you. When I saw that that toad" she spoke the word with contempt, "had been stunned, I kicked the wand from her hand. I only went back for it after Madam Pomfrey arrived to assess your injuries, Potter." She stopped, one hand reaching up to her chest. "Does this mean that…?"
"You're the new master of the Elder Wand," Harry supplied. McGonagall paled.
"Oh, dear." Everyone was silent again, and though tension swept through the room, Harry could feel only a sense of relief.
"It's alright, Professor," Harry said. McGonagall looked at him - incredulous.
"No one else needs to know about this," Ginny supplied. "As long as you leave the wand where it is –"
"Do you really think I would break into Albus Dumbledore's tomb to get that thing?!" McGonagall's color began to return as she looked at Kingsley. "Minister, I have no desire to so much as see the Elder Wand again! Let it lie where it is." Her voice quieted. "It belongs with him." Kingsley nodded. Harry continued filling everyone in on his confrontation with Umbridge – which prompted a few gasps from Mrs. Weasley. Ginny's grip tightened on his hand, and Harry caught Ginny's eye before looking down pointedly at their entwined fingers. He was relieved when she got the message and relaxed her hold.
"I guess all that's left," the Minister said when Harry had finished, "is for me to update everyone on the actions of the Ministry. As I have already mentioned, Dolores Umbridge is now back in Azkaban, in a high security wing. This is as much for her protection as anyone else's," he added, prompting a few raised eyebrows. "The Dementors attacked the Auror convoy enroute to the prison and attempted to take her soul. It seems they weren't happy that their deal had not been honored."
"What deal?" Hermione asked.
Kingsley shifted nervously, which puzzled Harry. The more he thought about it, the more Harry knew he didn't want to hear what he guessed the Minister would say next. "It seems she had promised them Harry's soul." Ginny blanched. "When it became clear that she had every intention of killing Harry herself, they apparently decided to extract revenge."
"Dementors…" Ron mumbled. "Bloody horrible."
"I couldn't agree with you more Mr. Weasley. But it appears we're stuck with them for the moment. They have plenty of fears to feed off of, and their numbers will not slack until happiness resurges in the wizarding world."
"And… um… on that note…" Ron said, his voice shaking a bit, "Hermione and I wanted to let everyone know that we have decided to get married two months after graduation."
Mrs. Weasley's jaw dropped. Her husband patted her lovingly on the arm as he whispered in her ear, "It's okay, dear. I'll handle it." Looking at the happy couple – and despite the dried tears on her cheeks, Hermione did look quite jovial now – he said, "Are you sure you want to rush things? What about your careers?"
Ron held his fiancée tighter as he answered, "With everything that's been happening, you expect us to wait? Voldemort may be gone, but Umbridge proved there's still evil out there. Besides," he added as an after-thought, "I've already decided I'd like to take Kingsley up on his offer to become an Auror." The Minister nodded, but George looked as though he might object. "I'll still help you out at the joke shop," Ron said to his brother, who visibly relaxed.
Mr. Weasley nodded. "Well, that all sounds very sensible to me." He turned to Harry and Ginny. "Do the two of you have any news you wanted to share as well?" Harry could have sworn he heard Mr. Weasley laugh quietly as his wife choked and sputtered in shock. But he couldn't let the poor woman suffer for too long.
"To be honest Mr. Weasley, we haven't discussed anything."
"Yet," came Ginny's demur voice. Harry looked into her earnest eyes and nodded.
"Yet," he echoed. He looked back at his future father-in-law. "But I promise to let you know when we do." The red-haired man nodded, though Harry noticed with surprise how much grey had crept in to the light auburn. He kept the observation to himself, however – knowing that none of them were getting any younger. It's a good thing age isn't calculated by experience, he thought, or we'd all be ancient.
Sometime during Harry's musings, Kingsley had evidently called a conclusion to the meeting, and the room began to empty. Hagrid landed his massive hand on Harry's shoulder, causing him to stifle a cry of pain. Madam Pomfrey helped Ginny into her bed while Harry – still in pain – couldn't protest. Ron, Hermione, and George waved to Harry and Ginny on their way out. Mr. Weasley steered his still speechless wife from the hospital wing – pausing long enough for her to kiss Ginny's cheek. Upon reaching the exit, however, he looked back at Harry and nodded – as if to thank him for saving his daughter once more. Harry nodded back, trying to suppress his guilt. In reality, he had done very little to rescue her – having fallen into Umbridge's trap like the dimmest sitting duck.
When the massive oak doors fell closed behind the Minister and the Headmistress, Harry slumped against his pillows. Madame Pomfrey noticed this, and disappeared momentarily into her office. She was back again in a moment, clutching another two bottles of sleeping draught. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Harry accepted the proffered bottle. Ginny groaned as she took her own potion from the nurse. But rather than drinking the soothing liquid, they each held tightly to the glass, unwilling to pull their stoppers just yet. The couple looked at each other, than to the nurse – who clucked her tongue.
"All right – ten minutes. After that, I'd better come out and find the two of you sound asleep." She turned on her heel and marched to her office to give them some privacy.
Harry looked down at the swirling potion – unsure where to begin.
"Harry – "
"Ginny – "
They laughed, and Harry waved for her to go ahead. Taking a deep breath she said, "I had no idea that Ron and Hermione had set a date…" She shook her head, incredulous. "Or that it was so soon. I really haven't given any serious thought to when we should get married, you know. Just knowing we would be was enough. But after this…"
"I know," Harry replied. "I don't want to let you out of my sight." Ginny smiled.
"That's it exactly. Yet at the same time, I don't want to rush things. I'm not sure yet what I'd like to do with my life – apart from marrying you," she amended. Harry grinned.
"Well, there's no rule that states we have to decide tonight."
"True," Ginny said. "Though I don't think that would be possible anyway. We've likely only got five minutes left.
"Two…" came the response from the nurse's office. They both laughed.
Harry looked earnestly in Ginny's eyes as he said. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. All right?"
"Deal," Ginny said, relieved that Harry wanted to discuss the matter as urgently as she did. They unstopped their potions with a quiet pop, and in moments both of them had drifted off to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
Longer than I thought, but I didn't think anyone would mind that I added more in. Again, I apologize for taking so long to update! I can promise that the next chapter won't be three months away!
Thanks to all that are still reading!