Chapter nineteen

Over the next few weeks Harry received a lot of mail, mainly from the order of the phoenix, all apologising for believing Albus Dumbledore's lies. One thing he was surprised about, many of the order had given out information about the mistakes Albus made and how he basically set Harry up to die. It was mentioned about the prophecy, yet Albus didn't believe Harry needed training. He wasn't even up to scratch in his normal lessons due to bad teaching. It was written that Harry basically taught himself, but he also had help from his godfather, Sirius Black.

Harry was sitting at the table drinking his morning tea, reading the Quibbler and the Daily Prophet. He might not like the prophet, but sometimes they did print the truth. This morning there was a story about how the wizengamot had stripped Albus Dumbledore of his order of merlin, he was also removed from the chocolate frog cards. There would be new books released that would go into more details about his years as headmaster, and how he would now be known as the worst headmaster Hogwarts ever had.

'You look happy.'

Harry grinned as he looked up at his girlfriend, 'I was reading about the old man and how he lost his chocolate frog card and order of merlin.'

'Dad told me,' Ginny kissed Harry then sat opposite. Dobby instantly put a cup of tea in front of her, 'Ron came crawling home. Hermione was with him. Dad made her leave straight away before he spoke to Ron.'

'So he's back at the Burrow?'

'No, see, Ron began to go off about how you kicked them out of Grimmauld place when you had no right. Then he went off about making his girlfriend leave. Dad gave him one choice, tell him the truth about everything to do with you and what the old man told them to do or he would not be staying at the Burrow.'

'Did he explain why he spied on me and stopped me learning?'

'No, he said it was all lies. Dad had enough, told him to get out and never come back. If he wanted to stay with family then only Muriel would put up with him. We all know if he turns up at Muriel's she will make him work hard. He left, mum did use the floo to see if Ron went to Muriel's, he didn't. Dad had some of the order try to find out where he went and if Hermione went home to her parent's.'

'So where did Ron go?'

'First, Hermione's parent's said she could only stay if she didn't return to Hogwarts, and stayed away from Ron as they wanted nothing to do with him. The order said she hadn't left the house since. Now the order did find out that her parent's had set her up with her own bank account so she could pay for her Hogwarts things, but because of how she kept staying at the Burrow, they stopped adding money. If she tries to return to Hogwarts she won't be able to afford anything. We won't know what she will do until the first of September.'

'It's her own fault. She hardly spent time with her parent's over the last few years. Sooner or later they were going to say something. I mean, I get why her parent's wouldn't pay for that if she didn't want to spend time with them. It was like she was using them just for the money to pay for everything. So where did Ron end up?'

'The order found him in the shrieking shack. He is now working in maintenance at the ministry. He's back at the Burrow, but he has to pay for his room, and his food. If he wants mum to clean his clothes he has to pay for that as well. So far, he's only been able to pay to eat dinner as he wants at least two helpings. Mum and dad are really showing him just how much it costs to feed him. Since Ron is hopeless at those spells to help expand food, he has to pay mum to do it. Oh, he is not in the house either. Dad cleaned out a part of the shed. It's got a section smaller than his old room. Dad's hoping eventually he will tell him about why he spied once he realises what he's lost.'

'He brought it on themselves, they both did. Do you think she will find some way to get to Hogwarts?'

'Not without being able to buy her own books. I mean she could use the books from the library, yet sometimes they are signed out so she might not end up with them in time to do her work. I don't know, but I know she won't be happy that she lost the badge and won't get head girl. We all heard her say she would eventually be head girl.'

'Ron is finding out what the real world is like and how much it costs just to feed him. Hermione might have always had money but I get why her parent's stopped giving her any. No parent would pay for a child if that child deliberately stay away from them. It's like she doesn't want anything to do with them because they can't understand magic. Her parent's accepted her as a witch yet it was like she was telling them they weren't good enough for her. Anyway, let's forget about them. We have two weeks left before we begin our studies and since we're going to have better teachers, they will work us hard. I'm actually looking forward to learning potions. I enjoy it with Slughorn and using the book.'

'I want to learn the basics, and I can now that I don't have to put up with Snape. This place looks better though.'

'Even though I will still buy another house, there is no use right now when we will be spending most of our time here and at the Burrow. I figured this house could always be used for something, I just wanted to get rid of the portraits and all the dark stuff, along with those elf heads.'

'What happened to Kreacher?'

'After he told me about regulus and the locket, he just died. I think he was only keeping himself alive so he could protect the locket. I also think he wanted to do what Regulus wanted, so he kept waiting and hoping. I ended up burying him down the back garden, where the rest of the elf heads are.'

'You're probably right, he waited until he fulfilled his last order from his master, then allowed himself to die. He was old, and he wasn't happy.'

'Yeah, he was old.'

Over the next two weeks, Harry and Ginny went out a lot. Harry wanted to show Ginny some of the good things in the muggle world, so they went to the movies a lot, and even went to a few clubs to dance and have a drink. They worked on some magic to create fake identification's so they had no problem getting into clubs.

Even though Arthur and Molly were showing Harry how wrong they had been, one thing they did surprised Harry. They allowed Ginny to spend the odd night at Grimmauld place. When Harry asked why, both Arthur and Molly said that they knew Ginny and Harry would eventually marry. First they wanted to finish their education. They also said they proved they could be responsible. Harry and Ginny both said they planned to marry after taking their NEWTS and before they begin their careers. They wanted to have time for a honeymoon.

It was right then that Harry surprised Molly by handing her a bag of money. He said it was for the wedding, and to get planning as he would like the wedding to be at the Burrow. He only had a couple of stipulations. No reporters, and Ron and Hermione would not be invited. Luna will be writing a piece and taking the pictures, she will then release just a couple and a small story. But they knew Luna would not go too far or take advantage. Right then the four of them sitting down with some cake and tea and began to make wedding plans. They might have a year to go and hadn't even decided on the actual date, but they could make a start, which is what they did. Since they were learning from tutors, they would be able to drop in a lot to discuss the wedding and any type of idea's they might have had.

It was right after that first talk that Harry took Ginny to buy an engagement ring. He wanted something she would like and figured she should have some say. It would also help since the engagement ring would need to match the wedding rings, which they planned to look at while they were out. Even though they still wanted to wait for the year to be over, they were excited about their wedding, and being married.

They decided to buy the rings in the muggle world, then have charms placed on them, like the one to detect poisons in food or drink. Connie was able to do those for them. Ginny also thought of buying a wedding dress in the muggle world, since there were plenty to choose from. If she got one from the wizarding world, it would have to be handmade, which would cost a lot more than one from the muggle world. Once she picked one then all she had to do was have a few fittings to make sure it fit perfectly.

Luna was going to be Ginny's maid of honour. Neville was going to be Harry's best man. The guest list would be the immediate Weasley family, some friends, and some like Remus and Tonks. So even though Harry was still disappointed in his father's old friend, Remus did apologise for believing in Albus Dumbledore and not speaking to Harry himself about his life with the muggles and at Hogwarts. They might never be close, but Harry decided he wanted all that put to rest, and he knew it's what his parent's would want as well. He wasn't sure how he knew, he just did. So Remus would be at the wedding, to represent Harry's family. Maybe one day Harry might be able to forgive everyone, but he figured even if that took a while, this was a start. Being tutored and planning the wedding was the beginning of his new life, so Harry could finally put his old life to rest and concentrate on the future.