I stood in the stands next to the brothers I was currently speaking to and also Luna. Hermione had volunteered the night before to find her way next to Ron. She was hoping that after seeing that the first task was no cakewalk, he would come to his senses. If not, I had a bat-bogey hex that would be a lot less subtle if this foolishness went on any longer.
The autumn wind blew across the crowd and I pulled my robe shut to try to keep out the cold air, when suddenly I felt a gentle warmth from my left side. George smiled at me, "Flitwick not teach you the warming charm yet?"
I mentally slapped my hand against my forehead. "No, he has. I'm just an idiot."
Luna said, "I think you're just distracted, Ginny. Your beau is about to face down a dragon."
I didn't need a reminder. I did tell her, "I think that's supposed to be a secret…"
Fred chuckled, "That's about as much a secret as the fact that Malfoy's a gigantic arse. Hagrid showed the dragons to Madame Maxime... from what Harry said, sounded like his idea of a date. Karkaroff got a glimpse too." And Harry had told Cedric in front of me shortly after he learned, wanting things to be fair.
Ludo Bagman stood up and started speechifying. Honored guests, etc… this first event actually was pretty much closed to the public — the stands had staff and students from the schools, Bagman, Mr. Crouch, and a few members of the press. Mr. Crouch explained that they may invite more for the other tasks, but didn't want to make the champions nervous.
Luna was taking notes for her dad, who hadn't been invited. The ministry didn't care too much for the Quibbler. That woman Rita Skeeter was there. My mum read her article some, but to me it was just a lot of trashy gossip. She had cornered Harry the other day, and if he wasn't about to face down a dragon, I'd be worried about that instead.
Bagman continued, "And now, it is time to reveal the first task!" He flicked his wand that brought down an invisibility ward, revealing four enormous dragons. "Each dragon has a clutch of eggs, among which has been placed a golden one. The champions will, one-by-one, face one of these beasts to seal the golden egg, which contains a clue vital to their success in the next task. I warn you, if you have a fear of monstrous animals, burns or fire, you may want to look away!"
I clenched my fist until my shortly trimmed nails dug into the palm of my hand.
The order chosen was supposedly random — Cedric, then Fleur, Krum, and Harry.
The Hufflepuff was announced and he left the tent. Bagman shouted out, "Everyone, please be quiet… any sudden sounds or movement could be disastrous…"
The crowd complied and there were only muted whispers. Cedric looked around for a bit and found a large stone about the size of a breadbox. He concentrated and transfigured the rock into a medium-sized brown dog. The mutt immediately ran towards the Swedish Short-Snout and started barking. It danced side to side just at the edge of the flame's reach. The dragon's head swayed back and forth following the dog, obviously not happy about the loud animal but not worried enough to spend much effort dealing with it.
While all this was going on, Cedric had crept up towards the eggs. His hands moved like treacle in the winter until he had the egg. Then he was off sprinting as the dragon got bored with the pup. It spurted jet of orange flames at him. He got singed on his right arm but was able to dodge most of it.
Cedric held his egg up high for the crowd and most of Hogwarts cheered appreciatively. He waited for the judges' score, revealed to be thirty-eight out of a possible fifty. Then he was escorted to the medical tent where Madame Pomfrey was going to work on his burns.
Fleur got the Common Welsh Green, which I thought was odd to associate the word "common" with a dragon in any form. She weaved an intricate spell with a lot of words and wand-work. Most of it didn't sound like any of the ancient languages spells were normally cast in.
After ten minutes, the dragon softly fell asleep. The French girl then calmly walked up to the dragon, retrieved the egg, and turned around to walk back. As she did, the dragon snored or sneezed in its sleep and Fleur's lovely flowing robe had its train catch on fire. Fortunately, she knew enough to not panic but was able to put it out with the water charm before it did too much damage.
For her trouble, Fleur was awarded thirty-five points. I guessed the length of her charm had cost her — if the dragon hadn't been chained up and had wanted to cause her harm, it wasn't going to sit still that long.
Krum calmly and confidently approached the smallest of the dragons, the Chinese Fireball. With one swift motion, he sent a curse directly at the dragon's eyes. I wasn't familiar with it, but it seemed to have terribly confused the poor animal. She was in a state of panic and apparent blindness. Krum was able to quickly get his egg but the dragon smashed several of her eggs before my brother and the other handlers got her under control. Krum got docked a few points by most of the judges but his headmaster Karkaroff gave him a perfect ten, giving him a leading score of forty overall.
Finally, it was Harry's turn. He walked out and from the distance he looked so much younger and smaller than the other champions, who were really adults. I knew he could handle himself, but I was nervous. I felt a reassuring arm on my shoulder and I looked to my left, "Your bag of tricks better work…"
He squeezed me for a second and said in mock-offense, "You ever doubt us, dear sister?"
With Harry's luck, he was left with the Hungarian Horntail, by far the most dangerous one, with lethal spikes on its tail as well as one of the strongest flames of all dragons, if I remembered from my book correctly.
Harry paused and retrieved four small balls from his robe. He placed them on the ground and then lit three of them with a spark from his wand.
Fred said, "They're mainly made with dried Hippogriff droppings — Hagrid lets us have as much as we want. Horrific smell, but nothing a dragon will fear."
Harry threw the balls towards the dragon and they landed within five yards of its nose.
Next he knelt and lit the fourth ball. It produced a cloud of white smoke and when it had thinned, Harry was gone. There were several murmurs about a fourth year pulling off such a strong disillusionment charm. A few of us knew the truth.
Less than a minute went by before Harry appeared next to Bagman holding his prize. All of Hogwarts erupted in cheers except for the Slytherins.
Before I realized it, I was over the fence between the spectators and the judges. Harry fortunately saw me before I bowled him over. He opened his arms and I crushed him in mine. I did have enough control to not snog him in front of the entire student body, but only because I knew there were some photographers around and he wouldn't want that.
We didn't need to say anything to each other. He just smiled at me and I slowly released him. Harry received a perfect ten from Maxime, Crouch, and Bagman. Dumbledore gave him a nine — probably because he wouldn't ever give a ten.
Karkaroff used his wand to signal a one and he was almost booed back to Durmstrang. It was unbelievable… Harry had performed almost as quickly as Krum and nothing was damaged on him or the dragon. It probably was either my jumping out of the stands or his disappearing that made it not very entertaining to the headmaster of Durmstrang who looked bored. Most likely, he was just cheating. Still, he was tied for first place!
Harry was forced to go to the medical tent, when Pomfrey did a quick check to make sure everything was fine. I didn't let go of his hand. She told Harry, "I'm supposed to do a full check-out of all the champions, but you probably don't want to do that in front of Miss Weasley. I'm not detecting any burns or cuts, so I'm going to release you without any treatment. Probably first time this has ever happened with you."
He smiled, not minding the doting too much. As we left, she muttered under her breath, "Dragons at my school! What could possibly be next!" That wasn't anything I wanted to think about that very instant either.
"You were great, luv," I said after he was dismissed.
"Thanks, Gin. I need to thank everyone who helped me, they really should get the credit."
I patted his lower back as we walked back towards our dorms. "I wouldn't say that, but I do believe Fred and George have a party started already where you can say a few words."
"Great," he said a bit sarcastically.
I was right. The twins had somehow managed to procure a few cases of Butterbeer that were quickly being emptied. I grabbed myself one and gave one to Harry. I nudged him in the side for encouragement and he stood up on a chair. "Thanks, everyone for your support. Really. It's been a rough few weeks. I'd like to especially thank Fred and George who created the smoke and dung bombs I used."
"What's in the egg?" Seamus yelled.
I was curious too. Harry pressed a button on the side and its two halves flipped open like a butterfly. Suddenly, an ear-splitting screech was heard. He closed it as quickly as he could.
"What the devil?" said Dean.
Fred guessed, "That sounds like Percy singing in the shower…"
"Maybe you have to attack him during his morning routine?" George added.
"Or you have to sing like that to open a lock?" That was Parvati.
Seamus said, "Sounded like a Banshee… that could be it."
"I guess I'll have to figure it out. Next task is in early February, so I have a bit."
Not one for long speeches, he stepped off the chair and put his arms around me. Before we got any further, Ron approached us. "Harry… I'm sorry." He looked at me and then back at him. "Can we talk for a minute… alone?"
Harry looked at me for permission. I nodded. If Ron would apologize to Harry privately, I would be happy. He had hurt me but I felt worse from seeing what it had done to Harry more than anything.
After a while, they returned. Harry gave Ron a hard look and my brother looked at me and said, "Ginny, I should apologize to you too. You and Harry are great together. You really are… at least if you have to be with someone, he's the best I would pick."
"Thanks, Ron." He quietly excused himself and headed for his dormitory. After the Common Room had thinned out enough that we could have a private conversation and not shout, I asked Harry, "What happened with Ron?"
He shrugged. "He realized with a bit of help from Hermione, that I wouldn't put myself in in front of a dragon without a good reason. If I needed to, I would do it to help someone, but not for the stupid contest… that's what he said at least."
"Good."
"He also said he was a bit jealous of us. Not really upset much of you being his sister and all, but that it just seemed so easy for us."
Easy! The last two years of my life had been anything but easy and Harry was far from perfect. "Just because we don't like fighting in front of him…"
"I know, Gin. I told him as much and said that I would have talked with him more about us but it's obvious he's a bit uncomfortable. If you were anyone else, he'd want to hear the guy talk and what-not.
He stopped for a moment and trace a few strands of my hair from my temple down to my neck. "But, I don't want anyone else. Just you. I think he's getting that I really am in love with you."
And that was enough talking for me. I put my hands around his neck and drew him in close for a kiss that I kept in my head the rest of the night.
*Arthur*
I had asked Barty for an opinion on an appeal being made regarding magic carpets. The normal rules still clearly defined them as a charmed non-exempt muggle artifact, but now it was being framed as an international trade issue. There weren't any magic carpet makers in Britain or Ireland, so the argument was we were banning them to protect Cleansweep and the other broomstick manufacturers.
It was a huge headache I hoped he would take care of. The trouble was he had all but stopped answering memos from me.
Finally, a reply came through and it was unfortunately very noncommittal. But something lingered in the back of my head. After a cup of Earl Grey, I realized what it was.
I briskly walked down a flight of stairs to my son's office. "Arthur," he said. He had understandably taken to address me by my first name at work. I closed the door.
"Percy, how long have you been forging posts for Barty?"
He looked like he was about to deny it, but decided against it. "Just today, I swear. How did you know?"
"There is only 's' and one 'n' in occasionally." It was a word he always had trouble with. "You were using a charm to fake handwriting instead of the spelling one?"
"Yes, I did. He hasn't been in all week and I wanted to cover for him. He's an important man and I'm sure he has his reasons."
I shook my head. "That may be, but you have to report this. Especially with You-Know-Who…"
Percy interrupted. "Only on Harry's say-so. I'm not convinced he wasn't confused or making things up, wanting attention."
"Harry's not like that and you know it, Percy."
"No, I really don't. Mr. Crouch doesn't seem terribly worried."
"You told him? I asked you to keep that a secret!"
"Yes, I told him. He's my superior here at the ministry, not you or Dumbledore and I'd be remiss for not saying something. Now, if you would excuse me, I will go check on Mr. Crouch's house and report anything I need to."
I was just dismissed by my own son. Too hurt to say anything I wouldn't regret, I quietly left his office.
I was thinking about my conversation with Percy for the rest of the morning and couldn't concentrate, so I took my usual walk at lunchtime a few minutes early. As I turned the corner and headed back, I felt a sharp voice say, "Don't turn around. Turn into the alley up here and don't say a sound if you want to stay healthy."
My heart froze. I couldn't believe my stupidity and all I could do was hope that my wife and children wouldn't have to pay for it. I slowly nodded and turned left a few steps later.
"Turn around."
I obeyed. Standing before me was Narcissa Malfoy. Long, almost silvery-white hair but she looked several years older than when I had seen her last. "Lady Malfoy," I whispered. It never hurt to be polite, especially when the person had a wand stuck in your face.
"Quiet, Weasley. I need to talk to my cousin Sirius immediately. Please tell me you can be useful at something and arrange that."
Ignoring the slight, I spoke up. "I can do that, quite simply." He had in fact given me a gem with the Proteus charm; his copy would quickly warm when I rubbed mine three times. It also had a locator charm that gave Sirius enough of an indication where I was for him to apparate. He had meant it in case Harry needed him, but this seemed important.
Sirius popped in a minute later. He took one look at my companion and said, "Bloody hell, what's going on."
"May we talk somewhere a bit more private?"
He almost rolled his eyes and shook his head. He did a quick scan for tracking spells and then said, "All right. Both of you, take a hand, I'll side-along you to a safe location.
I soon felt the familiar sensation of being sucked through a pipe. My eyes involuntarily shut, and when they opened, we were standing inside a small hut.
Sirius conjured a small table and three chairs and motioned for us to sit down. "Now, dear cousin, what did you wish to discuss."
"I may need your help," she began. "We obviously believe very different things about our place in the world, but I never approved of the methods my husband and some if his associates were using. I had thought we were done with all that when the Dark Lord disappeared and we could live. Probably not happily, but at least with some safety."
She paused and looked at me. "I was not aware of what he tried doing to your little girl, Mr. Weasley. By the time I learned, I couldn't stop him… not that I'd have been able to anyway. My husband is not a patient or forgiving man, especially to his family."
"I'll try to accept your apology," I said softly. "She still struggle sometimes, but she's better."
"That unfortunately will be the least of your troubles. We have a house guest that has been staying with us since the Cup."
"Voldemort," Sirius hissed.
Narcissa trembled but nodded. "I fear he and my husband will get us all killed or ruined. I cannot do anything but play the hostess for my son's sake. But when the time is right, I will need you to help save us."
"What is he planning?" Sirius asked.
She hesitated.
"If you want help, you're going to have to help me "
"I'm not certain. He does not involve me in his confidences since I've never taken the Dark Mark. I'm also a woman and I believe the only one he really trusts is my sister Bellatrix. I have to believe he will try to break her and others out of Azkaban at some point. For now, he seems to be building his strength and waiting for the right time. He believes the wizarding world has become complacent and weak. One overwhelming show of strength and resistance will crumble."
He-who-must-not-be-named was likely not far off. Most people the Order had approached were too scared to let themselves believe that he was back. Sirius gave her one of his charmed gems. "Press this three times and help will be on its way. Dumbledore will make arrangements…"
"Please, Sirius, you cannot tell him." She looked terrified for a second. "Anything Dumbledore is told in confidence is repeated in my house by Severus within days. You tell him and I'm dead."
I glanced at Sirius, who looked back at me but didn't speak. We both had concerns about Snape and we knew he had wanted some information to give to prove his worth to the enemy. But this…
"Agreed. If you believe that, we will keep your secret."
"Now, I must be leaving before I am too badly missed. Thank you, to both of you."
Sirius waved his wand to lower whatever wards he had in place and she disappeared. "I should get going as well," I added. "See you at Christmas?"
"Probably not. The kids will all be at Hogwarts, I imagine. I'm going to be abroad for a while, doing more research and training. I'll try to be back for Harry's second and third task, especially since family's invited."
"All right, then." I shook his hand and went back to work.
*Ginny*
It was now mid-November. I was waiting for Harry in the common room for breakfast. Usually it was the other way around, with how long my hair took, especially on shampoo days. Sometimes I thought of chopping it, but we both liked his playing with it when we were doing most anything.
Hermione was still trying to be better so she had went down by herself already. Then Ron stomped by, barely looking at me. "Tell your boyfriend to keep his bloody fan club meetings at decent hours."
That was terribly confusing. Harry finally came down five minutes later, escorted by two young house elves. "Who are these?"
"Good morning, Gin," he said with a quick squeeze. "This one on my left is an old friend, Dobby."
This causes Dobby to fall in shock. "The great Harry Potter thinks Dobby is a friend? Never in Dobby's poor wretched life…"
Harry interrupted the fawning. "Dobby, this is my girlfriend Ginny Weasley."
He took one look at me and started wailing. "You are the one Dobby's old master tried to hurt. Dobby tried to keep away Master Harry from the Chamber to save him, but Donny did not mean…"
I knelt down and patted him. "I forgive you. You did the best you could and everything was made right."
This calmed him a little. Harry was finally able to introduce his other companion. "This is Winky. Crouch fired her after the tournament, said she wasn't needed anymore. She's had a hard go of it since."
That seemed odd. With how busy he was, I'd have thought he would need more help. He wasn't getting any younger. Winky curtsied but wasn't a big talker. Dobbie on the other hand…
"Master Harry tricked Lucius Malfoy to freeing Dobby. Dobby has since tried looking for work but wanted to be a free elf and be wanting paying for his work."
Winky looked horrified. "Tis not proper, Dobby! Winky wanted a proper family that would bind her and take away her disgrace."
Harry smiled. "They both kind of jumped me this morning, too early for your brother's taste." He sat down and I joined him. "I'm giving Dobby a galleon a week and a Sunday off a month."
Dobby said, "Dobby is not greedy and talked Master Harry down from paying too much."
"I also said he can drop the 'Master' bit, but he insists. Winky didn't ask for anything. She just wanted to be magically bonded and stay with Dobby."
"Wow, ok…"
He turned to them. "Now that you have introduced to Ginny, I don't have anything else right now…"
"Maybe have them help in the kitchen? Plenty of company there." It had been Tom's first experience with house elves.
"That sounds good. Dobby, Winky, please help out there. Let me know if you need something. And help Ginny with anything she needs too."
They nodded and then disappeared into the air.
My stomach grumbled. "We better get going if we want breakfast."
"Yeah, sounds good."
I was smiling at him on the way down. He had no idea what a wonderful thing he had just done.
Harry had tried the egg a few times over the next few days without any success. Hermione and Ron were both trying to be helpful, almost too much. In between bites of pudding after supper, he exclaimed, "I'll figure it out, just not in the middle of a tart!"
Dumbledore rose to make an announcement before the Great Hall started emptying. "One of the traditions of the Tri-Wizard tournament is the Yule Ball. Fourth-years and above, as well as any invited third-years, are all welcome to attend. It will take place on Christmas Eve and be a formal event. Dress robes for men and robes or dresses for women are required."
All around me, boys were groaning. The gossip mill seemed to move faster than a herd of hippogriffs. Many of the girls were chattering to their best mates about the dance.
I wasn't ecstatic, but it sounded like it could be fun with the right person. For a moment, I had a sense of dread, worrying about clothes, but then I remembered Sirius had taken care of that for all of us last Christmas. They were loose on me then but now would have just the right amount of snugness. He must have known.
"Gin?"
Harry's voice broke me away from my thoughts. "Yes…?"
"Would you go to the ball with me?"
"You better take me, Potter," I said playfully. "Of course, Harry."
He looked relieved. "I thought I should ask before someone else did."
Ron shook his head in disbelief. "Seriously? Like she'd ever go with anyone else. You're lucky. I'm going to have to think of a girl that will go with me."
Hermione looked at him and said, "Yes, how many girls do you know?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders and got up. He called after Seamus, probably to get some ideas. I whispered to Harry to go on ahead. Hermione stayed seated, speechless.
I asked her, "Should I…?"
"No… don't, Ginny. I'm not so desperate as to go begging after someone that rude."
"He didn't mean it. He's just… he's Ron. He will wake up. If you don't want me shaking some sense into him, maybe you should."
"Maybe."
"You intimidate him. You seem so much… more than he feels about himself. It's tough." I sighed. "Harry's usually fearless because he never had anything or anyone to lose. That's changing now. But Ron doesn't know how rich he has always been."
We slowly went back to Gryffindor tower. Harry was reading one of his Defense books from Lupin. I sat down next to him. "The other guys are debating the best lines to use on witches. I already have my hands full." He winked at me.
"Definitely." I moved in and softly and slowly kissed him. "Thanks for asking me. I'll always like being asked, but you don't have to worry about anyone cutting in."
Harry's hands found a few strands of my hair to play with, as was their habit. Suddenly, Professor McGonagall appeared at the front of the Common Area.
She waited maybe five seconds before the room was dead silent. "Gryffindors, I would like to encourage everyone interested in going. It will be a very enjoyable and relaxing time, a chance to have fun and let your hair down. However, this is a formal event and I won't have tolerance for any wild shenanigans." The professor stared at the twins for several heartbeats. They both nodded in surrender.
"Mr. Potter, a word, please."
We both got up and walked over. She raised an eyebrow at me. "I assume that finding a date won't be an issue?"
"No, Professor, I'm taking my girlfriend." I still loved hearing that.
"The reason I'm asking is that the champions will be seated together at the head table… this ball is technically in their honor. You and the others will be responsible for leading out the first dance."
"Oh." He shrugged. "Well, with Gin with me, she'll be getting all the attention so I'll survive."
I slapped him on the shoulder. "Cheeky," I murmured.
McGonagall smiled at us for the briefest of time. That was weird.
A week or so later, Lavender and I were in the library working on an assignment for History of Magic. Professor Binns had assigned them out of a hat. It hadn't been bad until she started going in full panic mode with not having been asked by anyone. I was considering pushing Ron towards her just so she'd focus, but that wouldn't be a nice gesture for Hermione. Or Ron. Or Lavender.
We were reading about some old-blood, now extinct families — Slytherin, Peverell, and Porter. I refused to read more about the Goblin wars since Binns covered it every lecture and Bill had shown me that the Goblins had their own version that was quite different.
I heard Hermione's voice a few tables down, being louder than normal in a library. "Here's a copy, it's usually available. I have my own copy, of course. Why are you so interested?"
"Architecture has been an interest of mine, Hermoninny," someone said with a Durmstrang accent. "I vould like to study more after Quidditch."
I had to turn around. There was my friend with… Viktor Krum? And the way he was sitting, he was obviously flirting with her. She didn't seem to notice or mind.
We did finally get the report done and Lavender did her share after Seamus asked her to the ball during Hogsmeade weekend. Harry and I were having a real dinner date in the Hogshead. Harry was still nervous when we were on actual dates and I finally had had enough of it.
"Harry, I'm the same person at dinner that I am in the Common Room. I just want to have a fun afternoon with you, so stop acting like you're being graded."
"I'm sorry, Gin."
"What is it then?"
"I don't want to disappoint you. I guess I'm just afraid sometimes still."
I put my right hand over his left. The ring he gave me reflected a few flickers from the candle at our table. "I. Love. You. That means I'm not tossing you just for acting like a prat. I will tell you when you are, but I'll still be right here."
He smiled a bit embarrassed. "I love you too." He put down enough coin to pay for the meal and led me to a side street where we were alone. And he started to cry. I held him for several minutes, not daring to say another word. By this point we had both collapsed to the ground.
He took off his glasses, wiped his eyes and then put them back on. "There's a small voice in my head that tells me that this won't last and all I deserve is my cupboard. It's quieted but still there sometimes. It may always be there."
"And sometimes I'm still the girl chasing a hero. But then I see what you gave me and I know you, we, are real. I love to laugh with you. But we can cry together too."
I had my old Harry back after that. I wanted to do something to help for next time his doubt came back and then I had an idea. I was ready by the day before the ball but decided to wait and make it his Christmas gift.
And then my thoughts were interrupted.
Neville nervously approached me and Hermione… Harry had disappeared an hour before, promising a surprise later. "Hermione, I was wondering if you would go to the ball with me?"
"I'm sorry, but I already have a date." Poor guy, it had probably taken him all that time to work up the courage to ask her.
A few minutes later, Harry had his arms around me and then Ron came by. "Hey, Hermione… I was wondering…." Oh, Merlin, I didn't want to look but I couldn't stop. "You're kind of a girl and I'm still looking for a date to the ball."
"I already have a date. I just told Neville that."
"Oh, I thought you were being nice."
"No, I was being honest. People who are kind of girls actually do that sometimes." She got up. "I'm going to bed. Don't be up too late Ginny." She got bossy when mad.
Ron just stood there. Finally, he shook his head and then left for his room. Harry whispered in my ear, "Do you know…?"
"I have a guess."
"Can you…"
"Sorry, dear. That's her secret to tell."
"Ok… well, I should go see if Ron wants to talk." He tickled my earlobe and then kissed my lips goodnight.
Hermione was insistent she didn't want to talk, especially with Lavender and Parvati in the room, both with dates (Parvati was asked by a Durmstrang boy). I closed my eyes and let myself dream about the next day and all the days after.