Remembrance Day 1999
Ginny and Harry stepped from the floo, not into the Gryffindor common room as they had expected, but into the facility lounge of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hearing the whoosh created by their arrival, Professor Horace Slughorn looked up from the book he'd been reading, "Ah, Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley, welcome back." Professor Slughorn glanced at his watch, "Only two minutes late, but late none the less. As trivial as it may be, and as dreadful or unfair as you may perceive it, I'm afraid I cannot overlook this indiscretion. Therefore you will be required to attend a little gathering I'm putting together one week from Friday next. Now straight off to Gryffindor tower, the both of you."
Harry and Ginny looked at each other and smirked, good food and good wine wasn't too bad for a detention, even if the host could be somewhat longwinded. Looking back to Professor Slughorn they answered, "Yes sir," and started crossing the lounge. Reaching the door Harry turned back to the potions master, who was already standing to depart the room himself. "Sir why did we end up here instead of our common room and as it appears you're preparing to leave were you waiting on us, or did you just happen to be here?"
Professor Slughorn's ample belly undulated with each step as he began walking towards the truant couple, "I trust by now you are both fully aware I would not be out of my apartments after dinner if not required to be so. No, this evening the Headmistress assigned me this particular duty. As for the first part of your question the answer can be found on the chit that granted you permission to leave, it clearly states you are due back by ten. What it doesn't tell you is that it is magically linked to the floo in your common room and will cause you to be rerouted to this particular room should you be late."
By this time the professor had reached the door and Ginny asked, "If you're leaving that must mean everyone else is back, how can you be certain of that?"
"Because of this," Professor Slughorn replied handing the pair a sheet of parchment. Harry and Ginny looked at the empty page, turned it over only to find the other side also void of any writing, and looked back at the professor with blank expressions. "When Professor McGonagall gave that to me at dinner there were five names on it. As the evening wore on the other three vanished and now that you've returned your names have also vanished. Shall we be on our ways?" Professor Slughorn opened the door and followed Harry and Ginny from the room, "Now straight to your common room and no fannying about along the way."
Ginny and Harry entered the Gryffindor common room expecting to find a smug Hermione and Ron waiting to take the mickey out of them for being late. Instead they were met by almost complete indifference from the light scattering of their house mates populating the space. There was no sign of Ron, however in a far corner they spotted Hermione sitting alone, flipping through the pages of a book. The pace of her examination clearly suggested aggravation rather then reading and Harry shared a questioning glance with Ginny before they walked towards her. Sensing their approach, Hermione looked up. There was no evidence to suggest she had been crying, however the strained nature of her attempt to maintain a calm demeanor gave clear warning of the surging emotions just below the surface. "Your brother is a right royal git."
Ginny stepped forward, sat on the arm of the chair and offered both her hands to Hermione, "He has been known to display that tendency." She smiled at her friend before adding, "What has the king of the clods done this time? We are talking about Ron, right?"
Making a facial gesture that could best be described as a silent laugh Hermione closed her book and accepted Ginny's hands, "Yes we're talking about Ron. It's nothing really, just that well; he can be such a git sometimes."
As they continued to talk, Hermione and Ginny were only marginally aware that Harry had left for the boys dormitories. Throwing open the door to the eighth year boys' room he spied Ron laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and proclaimed, "You're a real pillock. You know that?" Suddenly aware that Ron wasn't alone in the room he added, "Good evening Dean." Before turning his attention back to his best mate, "Hermione is down in the common room fighting to maintain her composure. What did you do, bring up Georgie?"
"Who's Georgie?" Dean asked.
Harry turned, "What? Oh, my lawyer. I'll fill you in later." Turning back to Ron, he continued, "Well was that it?"
Ron rose from the bed, clearly agitated, and threw his pillow at Harry who caught it and thought better off throwing it back, "No that wasn't it! Give me some credit! Anyway, what bloody business is it of yours! It's between Hermione and me, not Hermione, me and you!"
Much to his own surprise Harry found himself stunned by Ron's response and had to take a moment to collect his thoughts before he could answer, "Friendship, that's what business it is of mine." Walking to his trunk he opened it, knelt down, picked up the Marauder's Map and stood. Removing the folded invisibility cloak from his pocket, Harry offered both items to a slightly startled Ron, "Here mate, take these, go down to the common room, get Hermione, and go make things right with her."
"And just how am I meant to do that?" Ron asked, accepting Harry's items.
"I don't know," Harry began, "Tell her you're sorry, that you love her, that she's the most beautiful person in the world, take a walk by the lake and pick her flowers while you recite love poems. Just pucker up and kiss her arse if that's what it takes. You know you want this behind you, and we both know it never truly will be until you deal with it." Harry looked at Ron, who just stared back at him. Rolling his eyes Harry pointed towards the door, "Go!"
The word hit Ron like a slap in the face, "Right, you're right, completely right. It's got to be done, knew it all along actually. No use putting it off. Well I'm off then, wish me luck."
Harry and Dean both serenaded Ron with, "Good luck" as they watched him leave the room. Once the door closed Dean again asked, "Who's Georgie?"
As Harry caught Dean up on the events of the past two days they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Dean went to the door and allowed Ginny into the room. She walked to Harry and gave him a hug, "It was sweet of you to give Ron your things, I only hope he uses them wisely."
"He will," Harry replied returning her hug. "He's might not always stop to consider the consequences of his actions, but he has a good heart and will work hard to put things right." Harry couldn't help himself; he winked at Ginny, "Remind you of anyone else." Before she could reply he added, "Did Hermione tell you what brought on all of this nonsense?"
Ginny sighed and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a wry grin, "Like these things usually are, even with us, its pretty silly actually. Hermione's parents were out this evening, so she and Ron had meant to have a couple hours alone before returning. The problem was he couldn't stop pestering her about your pet name. She finally got so flustered that she apparated to The Leaky Caldron, floo'd back to the school, and went straight to her room. By the time she came back down Ron must have already returned because she didn't see him come in."
Harry frowned, turned, walked to the windowsill, leaned on it with both arms extended and stared into the blackness of the night, "I think I might have had a part to play in all this. He's been pretty worked up about it since I called him Ronnybuns in front of your dad."
Harry was certain he could feel Ginny's eyes boring into his back. However, if he'd turned around he would have seen that she was fighting to keep a straight face and maintain the firmness in her voice. "You didn't?"
Turning to face her, Harry nodded yes and answered, "I did. Maybe we should just tell him and have it over with."
Dean, who had been making a concerted effort to stay out of the conversation, even managing not to laugh when he heard Ronnybuns, finally lost his battle and inserted, "You don't want to do that, at least not tonight. We've had enough drama for one evening and you know Ron will have a fit of some sort when he finds out."
Ginny spun to look at Dean, turned back to Harry and finally back to Dean, "You know?"
Harry took the lead in answering, "Just like all your girlfriends, he knows. We guys share things like that too; it's not just a girl thing. In fact lately I've been rather shocked to learn just what types of things girls share. All shy and sweet my backside, more like all sassy and nasty, not that I'm complaining mind you, sassy and nasty has been pretty good to me of late."
Ginny's face displayed no emotion as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Keep talking like that and it might not be." However her heart wasn't really into teasing at the moment and she quickly shifted back to the topic at hand, "Of course I know boys talk about things like that. Everybody knows boys can't wait to talk about things like that. It's just that, well you two, I just assumed, well you know that you wouldn't want to, given the way things where, or are, or whatever. You know?"
Sensing Ginny's true concern, Harry quickly responded, "Don't worry Gin, it's not like we exchanged notes or anything, but we are mates, not just dorm mates and, well you said it yourself, sometime things are talked about. Not that it wasn't slightly awkward at times."
Ginny once again looked from to Harry to Dean and back to Harry, as she contemplated what he'd said. Many times she had been thankful that Romilda Vane was in the year behind her and she didn't have to put up with being her roommate. But Romilda and Harry had never dated and to Ginny she seemed to be on earth for no reason other then to annoy her and tempt Harry. A temptation Harry had proven very adapt at avoiding. Ginny gave him an adoring look which both warmed his soul and confused his psyche. So certain was his belief that she would be upset by the revelation that he and Dean talked about their relationship, that he now was completely lost concerning what she might be thinking. Continuing her contemplation Ginny decided to compare Dean to Cho, yes the attention Harry had shown Cho made her jealous, but to be honest she did like her. If they were roommates, would she be able to talk with her about Harry and their relationship. Concluding that it was in the realm of possibility Ginny decided the whole issue was mute and she wouldn't bother wasting time thinking about it any longer. Slipping her arm around Harry's, Ginny reached up and kissed him on the cheek, "Well it's getting late, I think I'll go to bed." She gave Harry another kiss, "Love you, see you for breakfast, nighty night."
Harry walked Ginny to the door and kissed her goodnight, "Love you, see you in the morning."
After watching her walk down the spiral staircase he closed the door and turned to face a puzzled Dean. "What was that then? I thought for certain she'd be upset with us."
"Don't know," Harry replied. "I'm just pleased not to be apologizing for something and hoping I have it right."
Dean chuckled his concurrence, "I hear you mate, there are times when I think I should greet Megan by saying sorry for whatever I did yesterday, I'll try to figure out what it was and not do it today." As Harry laughed, Dean continued, "Thanks for telling me about Mrs. Tonks' offer; I'll definitely send her an owl requesting a meeting." He and Harry continued to chat until, just prior to midnight; they both gave up on waiting for Ron and turned in.
In the earlier hours of the morning Harry lay sleeping, lost in the world of dreams, dreaming a silly little dream. He and Dean traveled to Ireland where Seamus escorted them from his father's shop to the land of the leprechauns. At the head of a spring fed river, they squeezed down an old hare hole into a large, if somewhat low ceilinged, cavern to meet with the leprechaun council. After smoking many pipes, consuming many drinks and sharing many tales, the leader of the council rapped his shillelagh on the table and declared, that in exchange for Seamus allowing them to establish a shoe repair business in his father's shop, the three of them would be allowed free access to all leprechaun lands to explore both the magical and lucky properties of pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, blue diamonds, and green clovers. Business complete, food was called for, musicians summoned, and a raucous party that would last late into the night began.
The dream complete, Harry's mind lingered in the foggy gray mist separating dreams from quiet sleep. Not really awake, not really sleeping, he heard, but failed to notice, the sounds of his room. The ticking of three alarm clocks, the creaking the windows in the wind, Dean's resonating snores; they all remained a nebulous cloud of hazy, far off, muffled noise. However, one noise was out of place at this time of morning, the gentle scraping of curtain rings against curtain rods, as somebody tried to quietly enter or perhaps exit a bed. Harry's conscious mind locked onto the sound, using it to pull him from his slumber into the reality of the present. Eyes wide open; he lay on his bed, ears straining to detect any additional evidence of movement in the room. His vigilance was rewarded when the light scuffing of a shoe on stone was heard. Carefully rolling onto his side Harry pried open a small peephole in his bed curtains and cautiously maneuvered to peer into the room. The moon and stars of a stunningly clear night sky provided the room with enough illumination that, even without his glasses, Harry had no problem recognizing the familiar silhouette creeping towards the door. Sticking his head through his bed curtains he whispered, "So everything's sorted then?"
Hermione jumped, throwing her hands over her mouth to keep from shouting out. Turning she walked to Harry. Stopping just short of his bed she whispered, "You're dressed, right?"
"Of course I am," Harry whispered back, with an incredulous look on his face.
"Sorry for asking," Hermione replied, moving to stand next to Harry, "It's just that Ginny said you usually…"
"She's not here at the moment," Harry interrupted.
"What, oh of course," Hermione stammered before regaining her composure and continuing, "I can see were that would make a difference. Yes, everything is fine now. Thanks for giving us a push, we both would probably have spent a week stewing over it otherwise. The whole thing was really rather silly, wasn't it."
"Really rather," Harry agreed. "Still no worse then some of the things Ginny and I have rowed over. So, did you tell him?"
"No, it never came up," Hermione answered. "Probably just as well. Don't you think?"
"Just as well." A silly smirk, quickly replaced by a look of mock concern, spread across Harry's face, "I'm sorry Hermione, you know, that 'it' never came up."
Rolling her eyes Hermione placed her hand on top of Harry's head and pushed him back through the curtains onto his bed, "Fifty points from Gryffindor for cheek Mr. Potter." Turning towards the door she looked back over her shoulder, "Good night Harry."
Harry flopped over onto his back and silently laughed at the canopy draped above his head, "Good night Hermione."
Five hours later Harry stood in front of the common room's windows watching Ginny's reflection as she quietly made her way towards him. Deciding letting her surprise him would be more fun then surprising her, he continued to present the façade of looking over the grounds as she inched ever closer. Reaching Harry, Ginny threw her arms around his chest and brought her lips to his neck, "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
Harry turned inside Ginny's arms, wrapped his around her shoulders and kissed her forehead, "Like a baby, both before and after Hermione joined me." Ginny steeped back and studied Harry's face. Nothing in his demeanor betrayed the true meaning of this statement and, even though she was certain he was only teasing, she wasn't sure how to react. Knowing full well the dangerous game he was playing, Harry didn't wait long to offer an explanation, "Come on, I'll explain on the way down. I'm starving and for some reason have an overwhelming desire for a sweet cereal, preferable one with tiny marshmallows."
The following Monday the rest of the students returned from their holiday and normal classes resumed. One by one, seemingly with increasing speed, the days of April became memories as May raced head long towards the present. Despite knowing for months that he would be giving a speech on Remembrance Day, Harry had managed to ignore Hermione's repeated prodding, and put off the task of preparing it. Finally admitting he would have to face the unpleasant memories and listen to his own admonition, to not forget why the fight was necessary lest it be fought again, he put quill to parchment and tried to find the right words. The first of May found the task incomplete and Harry sitting alone in his room scribbling frantically. Time and again he became flustered by the results, crumpled the parchment, and threw it onto an ever increasing mound in the corner. Frustrated by the lack of progress Harry leaned back, closed his eyes, drew a long slow breath, and rubbed his temples. Deciding a break was in order, and that asking for help might not hurt, he left his room to join the others.
As he had expected, on a pleasant Saturday afternoon, the common room was sparsely populated. What he did find intriguing was that the majority of the people in the room where crowded around the sofa in front of the fire place. Drawing nearer Harry observed that Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna seemed to be at the center of the commotion and as he reached the edge of the mob one of the few boys in the group commented, "That's pretty cool, look at the little guy go."
The girl next to him responded with, "It's just too cute. Harry's going to be a great dad."
Still unnoticed, Harry glanced at Ginny just in time to see her both beaming with pride and blushing with embarrassment. Clearing his throat he asked, "What's all this about then?"
Several girls looked at him with adoration and two of the boys gave him a thumbs up. Ron rose from the chair and offered his seat to Harry, "You need to have a look mate. Hermione received her snaps from our trip to London just this morning. Some of them are pretty neat."
Harry sat down between Ginny and Hermione and started thumbing through the pictures. Most weren't actually from the two days in London, but from the school year leading up to then. There were pictures of Ron, Ginny and himself making their way through Madam Gleichman's training course, several photos of quidditch, including one of what appeared to be nothing but sky. Looking more closely Harry realized there was a small black dot in the center of the frame, "What's this, a bird?"
Hermione glanced at the photo, "No that's the Potter Loop."
Harry gave the snap a serious second look and eventually was able to decipher the few moments movement wizard photography offered. It was indeed the very peak of the Potter Loop, followed by just a hint of the decent. Harry looked up at the others, "Blimey, I never realized I was that far above the pitch." Continuing on he flipped through several more pictures finding some, he guessed Ron must have taken, of Hermione in the library. Reaching the pictures from their two days holiday, Harry found a few of the wedding planning war room, a couple of the first nights dinner, and one of Ron wearing only his boxers while brushing his teeth in front of the sink in the Granger's guest bath. Harry almost dropped the stack of photos laughing, not so much at the picture of Ron, but at the reaction he knew it must have caused the moment after it was taken. Finally reaching the snaps that had caused all the commotion Harry was less then thrilled with the first which he realized must have been taken during Teddy's nap. It was a perfectly fine photo of Ginny, she lie peacefully sleeping with her head on his chest. It was his own appearance that Harry found unappealing, his head was turned, glasses askew, and mouth a gape, with a very clear stream of saliva tracking down his cheek. Moving on he found photos of himself changing Teddy's nappy, one of he and Ron trying to stop Teddy from knocking over a finely crafted house of building blocks, and one were he was holding a laughing Teddy under the arms and blowing a raspberry onto his stomach. The last five were all of him chasing Teddy on his toy broom, including one of he and Ron running into one another as Teddy flew between them. Harry smiled as he picked out his favorite and held it up for Hermione to see, "Mind if I keep this one?"
"Of course you can," Hermione smiled as she accepted the others back. "Do you want any more?"
"Just the one is fine," Harry replied. "However, I do have a favor to ask. Would you be willing to help me with tomorrow's speech?" After enduring the lectures he knew would be coming from Hermione and Ginny, the three of them, along with Luna and Ron, who insisted he'd be total rubbish but actually proved quite helpful, set to work. By dinner they had succeeded in developing an acceptable draft. After taking a break to eat, they returned to the work and finished the speech early enough for Harry to rehearse it a few times before turning in early.
At four-twenty-eight a.m. on Sunday, the second of May, in the year of our lord nineteen-hundred and ninety-nine, Harry Potter stood alone in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As the first rays of sunlight crept over the window ledges and illuminated the space he realized that the plaque marking the spot he had been standing one year earlier wasn't in the right spot. Taking two steps to his left he once again stared straight ahead to the spot were Voldemort had fallen and wished, for the first time in a year, that he hadn't lost the resurrection stone. He desperately wished he could talk, just once, with those that had died fighting by his side. Knowing it wouldn't change anything, that they would remain just as dead, didn't matter to him at the moment. As much as he had tried to convince himself during the past year that their deaths weren't his fault, he still longed to hear it from their own mouths. Walking across the hall, Harry paused at the plaque bearing their names, placed his hand on each inscription one at a time, and whispered, "Thank you, I will never forget." His personal remembrance complete, he departed the great hall for Gryffindor tower to await the rest of the day and the formal ceremonies that he feared would miss the day's real point.
Ginny entered the common room to find Harry asleep in an overstuffed chair he had turned to face the windows. Guessing at why he had risen early she decided not wake him, instead she sat on his lap, rested her head on his shoulder, and treasured the calming feeling as his chest rose and fell with each breath. When he woke she stood without saying a word, offered him her hand, and helped him stand. Together they left for the great hall and were descending the moving staircases when they were met by a nearly hyperventilating Ron. Unable to control his breathing, he thrust a parchment into Ginny's hand and sat down. Ginny held the letter so Harry could read it with her.
Ron and Ginny,
Fleur is in labor. Your mother and I are with her and Bill at St. Mungo's, will send word when there is word to send.
Dad
P.S. Wish Harry luck with his speech today
Harry and Ginny looked at one other, read the letter again, looked at one another again, and hugged. Harry almost laughed at the look of excitement on Ginny's face, "I guess congratulations are in order Aunt Ginny." Reaching down he patted Ron on the shoulder, "You to Uncle Ron." By this time Hermione had caught up with Ron, and Harry greeted her with, "Ah, it's Madam Hermione, all seeing foreteller of future events." In response to the slightly annoyed, slightly confused look on her face he explained himself, "Did you not predict Bill and Fleur's baby would be born on Remembrance Day."
Hermione rolled her eyes and waved her hands as if saying pasha, "That was just basic biology and simple math, and I said it would arrive near Remembrance Day."
Ron couldn't resist adding, "Always the modest one, our Hermione. Well the message has been delivered, I think I'll go finish my breakfast and start my lunch." Standing he looked at the other three, "You do know that, owing the ceremony, they're serving until eleven this morning but not doing lunch."
"We know," the others answered in unison as they started down the stairs.
After breakfast Harry and Ginny took a short walk by the lake, stopping to look over the stage and bleachers that had been constructed for the day's activities, before returning to the dorms and dressing for the ceremony. Entering his room Harry found Dean and Ron already changing into their school robes. As he was giving a speech Harry had been instructed to wear dress robes and with the only set he owned being formal, had planned on wearing his suit. That was until he had tried it on two weeks ago. Madam Gleichman's workout routine seemed to have had more of an effect on his physique then he'd realized, not that he should have been surprised really, having had to replace most of his wardrobe during the course of the past year. The waist of the trousers would have been alright, had it not been for the fact that the seat and thighs were simple much too tight, and there was absolutely no way the jacket was going to fit his shoulders without bursting a seem. Fortunately Gladrags had his current measurements on file and a quickly dispatched owl resulted in the delivery, three days later, of the grey, black pin striped, robes that now hung before him. Picking up his shoes Harry frowned, thinking to himself, "One hundred and eighty pounds, one would think they could be scuff resistant." Flicking his wand at the shoeshine kit sitting on the wardrobe floor he watched as polish, brush and buffer sprang to life. Leaving them to their task Harry slipped out of the t-shirt, jeans, trainers and sweat socks he'd worn to breakfast, sniffed his arm pits and decided a little more deodorant wouldn't hurt. When he was fully dressed Harry looked at his reflection and smiled, "Perfect, not quite perfect so Ginny can make the final adjustments.
Ginny was waiting for Harry as he descended the stairs to the common room. Smiling she walked to him and, as he had predicted, reached up to adjust his tie and collar before giving him a kiss. What he hadn't anticipated was the whispered, "Why is it the better you dress the more I want to undress you." His collar suddenly felt tighter as she shifted her attention to his cuffs links, turning them until they were just right before lightly tugging the shirt sleeves so the cuffs rested at precisely the right spot over his wrists. Taking his hand she smiled, "You ready, do you have your speech?" Harry snorted a brief profanity, dashed up the stairs to his room, grabbed the speech from his nightstand, stuffed it into the inner pocket of his cloak and rejoined Ginny. Together the made their way to the entrance hall and Ginny gave him one last kiss, "Good luck, I'll see you after."
"Thanks see you after," Harry answered. He watched Ginny walk from the castle before turning to enter the great hall and join the others who would be speaking at the ceremony.
At precisely twelve-thirty Professor McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Harry Potter, and assorted other dignitaries made their way from the great hall, across the entrance hall, and onto the grounds of Hogwarts. As he made his way across the grounds, Harry took in the sight before him. Despite having looked over the area earlier he was still surprised by the mass of humanity that had gathered. He knew that dignitaries from many other countries were in attendance and they all were now seated directly in front of the stage. To the left of the V.I.P.'s sat the entire student body of Hogwarts, while on their right sat the surviving family members of those who had been lost. Behind these three ranks a large bleacher had been erected and was straining under the weight of the mass of bodies shoehorned into it. Harry, along with Kingsley, broke ranks from the procession to stop, shake hands, and exchange a brief word with many of families. Much as when he had visited them the previous spring Harry found the experience somber, but also uplifting. Finally making his way to the stage he took his seat, settled in, and did his best to listen as one speaker after another delivered their address. When all the others had finished Professor McGonagall introduced Harry to the crowd and he stood to make his way across the stage to the rostrum. Slipping his hand into his cloak he pulled out his speech and stepped up to the podium. Glancing down Harry found he wasn't holding just his speech, but also the snap of him chasing Teddy on the toy broom. Smiling to himself he slipped the photo back into his pocket and started to unfold the speech. Pausing he removed the picture once more, studied it briefly and slipped both it and the speech back into his cloak. Looking out at the expectant faces of the assemblage Harry took a breath to give himself a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking, "Good afternoon, would you all please indulge me for just a moment."
As a mummer spread across the crowd Harry jumped from the stage and walked to Andromeda Tonks and Teddy Lupin. Seeing him approach Teddy held out his hands and waved his fingers, "He'we f'y, He'we f'y." Harry smiled and after a brief conversation with Andromeda, took Teddy into his arms. His next stop was the student section, were he asked Haydon Piper, Vaughn Dwnn and Gwen Wigmore to join him on the stage.
"What do you suppose he's up too," Hermione whispered to Ron and Ginny.
Ginny had a pretty good idea exactly what Harry was up too and replied, "He's doing what he does best. He's winging it."
"Makes sense," Ron offered. "The universe always seems to shine on him when he adlibs. No seriously," he continued in response to the looks he received from Hermione and Ginny. "Can you think of one time he's decided to shoot from the hip and things didn't work out? Maybe not always as planned, but somehow he always ends up smelling like roses. It's really pretty amazing when you think about it. It's like he's some kind of good luck magnet or something. Don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I'm jealous or anything, I mean plenty has rubbed off on me." Ron suddenly noticed the looks the girls were giving him, "Right, I'll just shut it now."
With his fellow Godric's Hollowers assembled and twitching nervously on his right, and Teddy in his arms, Harry once more stepped up to the podium, "Good afternoon again, thank you for your patience. I do have a prepared speech but it doesn't really say anything that hasn't already been said today. So I thought I'd take the time that has so generously been allotted to me to introduce you to some friends of mine. This little fellow," Harry lifted his arms to indicate Teddy, "Is my godson Teddy Lupin. Both his parents, Remus and Nymphadora, who would be upset with me right now because she preferred to be called Tonks, died during the final battle. These three youngsters," Harry shifted Teddy to his left arm and extended his right to indicate Haydon, Vaughn and Gwen, "Are all from my home town of Godric's Hollow. Each had a parent who responded to the call for help that night." Vaughn meekly raised his right hand. Harry smiled at him, "Yes Vaughn."
In a broken, shaky, but clearly audible voice Vaughn answered, "I had two parents and both granddads, my sister and me stayed with my grandmas."
As a soft laugh made its way threw the crowd Harry stepped down from the rostrum and tussled Vaughn's hair. "Thanks for the clarification Vaughn." Stepping back to the podium Harry pulled Teddy's hand from his lower lip and continued where he'd left off. "Now the question that has crossed my mind today is why? Why did they rush to join the battle, why not just stay safe at home? Whatever the outcome had been they could have continued on with their life. Sure it may not have been the same, maybe they would have had to work on keeping a low profile. Maybe like Remus and Tonks they would have had to remain in hiding. But they didn't play it safe, they chose to fight. Why? Just this afternoon I think I found the answer. It wasn't for me, it wasn't to defeat the greatest evil our world has ever known, it wasn't even for themselves. No, the reason they chose to fight is the same reason my parents chose to fight the first war, it's the reason I'd choose to fight if the war was to begin anew. The reason they chose to fight is right here in my arms and standing to my right. The reason they chose to fight is sitting here with us today in the student section. The reason they chose to fight is at home with the other parent, or a grandparent, or maybe with a babysitter or at a daycare. The reason they chose to fight was the future, or more specifically their children and their children's future. They didn't care about the dangers they faced, they only cared that the danger be removed from their children's lives. It may not be true in every case, but I think it's true in most. I suspect that if we asked these good people sitting on the left in front of me they would agree." A sea of nodding heads sent a wave of yeses flowing through the family section. Harry fought to reign in tears as he tried to make eye contact with each of them. Looking directly at the family section he said, "Thank you, on behalf of myself and our entire world, thank you." Harry took a moment to look over the entire audience before continuing, "Today we have all been admonished, and rightly so, to remember that evil still lurks in our very midst. To remain vigilant, lest complacency dooms us to repeat the dark times of the past, this is true and I have no desire to downplay the importance of this warning. However I'd like to make another observation. I'm going to ask you all to do me a favor, I want you to look at these young people on the stage with me today, to go home and look at your own children, to listen to the laughter ringing out from a play park, to let a twelve month old talk to you in a sweet little voice with his words broken but sincere. I challenge you to take the time to look and listen, and you will know, as I now do, that the sacrifice was not in vain, that the future is good and bright and filled with hope. Thank you."
Harry stepped back from the podium as applause built to a thunderous level. He waved to the crowd before whispering something to his three young friends who all waved before making their way back to their seats. Looking over the crowd Harry noticed a lone figure making his way towards them. Raising his hand, Harry called for silence as the lone figure came clearly into view. "Friends, I believe I have good news to share with you. I'm sure you all know that I'm engaged to be married to Ginny Weasley next month. I'm sure you're also aware that the Weasley family lost a loved one, one year ago today. What many of you may not know is that on this very day the Weasley family is welcoming a new life into the world." Harry looked towards the lone figure and shouted, "Mr. Weasley, any news?"
Arthur Weasley stopped and called back, "Very good news! A girl! Both mother and daughter are resting comfortably and the father is under grandma's care and expected to make a complete recovery."
Harry joined many others in a small laugh as he glanced towards Ginny who was sharing a hug with Ron and Hermione as several of their friends offered congratulations. He looked back to Arthur, "And her name?"
"VICTOIRE!"
Several in the audience misunderstood what Arthur had said and a cry of "Victory!" rose into the afternoon sky.
"Victoire," Harry whispered.
"Vic'to'e," Teddy said with a smile.
