Chapter 8- The Hogwarts Express
"Harry, dear, wake up. Ginny, it's time to get up."
I slowly opened my eyes. Mum shook Ron awake and left the room.
"We're going back to Hogwarts!" Harry sang. He got up and jumped on the bed. "My last year of Hogwarts! Woohoo!" He grabbed my arms and pulled me out of bed. He started to swing me around the room.
"Harry! What in the world are you doing?" I cried.
"This is our last year!"
"We're outta there!" Yelled Ron, who had just gotten out of bed. There was a knock on the door, (which was open), and Hermione came in. She looked really excited.
"It's our last year!" she yelled. She ran to Ron, who picked her up and started to swing her around too.
"You guys are acting like Fred and George did when they got out of school. Except they had Angelina and Katie over."
"Hey, Gin, give us a break. We're in our last year. This is so exciting! After this, we get to go out and do our jobs!" Harry said, giving me a quick kiss.
"So what are you going to do anyway?"
"Well, I'm either going to play Quidditch, or get training to be an auror. I think that before I'm getting training though, I'm going to teach next year. I am thinking DADA, because Dumbledore promised me a job, so Gin, I'm gonna be your teacher next year!"
"Teachers aren't allowed to date students, Harry."
"But we were dating before I became a teacher, so it's okay."
"Are you sure? I mean, you haven't even talked to Dumbledore about it.
"How do you know?" Harry asked mischievously. He tweaked the end of my nose and walked away, with me gaping at him. I snapped out of it and ran to catch up to him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked flustered.
"Do you always answer a question with a question?"
"I don't know, do I?" I joked.
"Am I going to be forced to shut you up?" He grinned.
"I don't know, are you?" I stood with my hand on my hips. I looked into his eyes as he grabbed my waist and gave me a, well let's just say, a very long kiss.
* This story, if you haven't noticed, is pure fluff with a point…and a lot of kissing. Told ya Kit ;) *
"Aww, Harry, can't you kiss her some where else?" George said with a revolted look. "If you don't mind, I'm going to throw up now."
"George, when you and Katie come over, all you do is kiss. Don't get on my case." I smiled.
"Well, that's different. Katie isn't here, and besides, Fred always kisses Angelina when she's over."
"Too true," Fred agreed. He had walked up right behind George without anyone noticing. "It's fun. She's a good kisser." He grinned. "I'm hungry."
"Are guys in this house always hungry?" I exclaimed.
"Hungry? Where's the food?" Lee questioned. He'd come behind Fred. "I'm starving."
"My point exactly."
We headed downstairs where mum was making French Toast.
"I was wondering when you boys were coming down. It took you longer than usual." I took two plates and set them on the table. When I had gotten all of the plates, I sat down to eat with the boys.
"Ron, pass me the sugar." He handed the sugar bowl to me. I poured it over my buttered French Toast, and the rolled it up and bit it. Lee and Harry were staring at me.
"What?" I was able to manage with a mouth full of Toast.
"You eat it like that? No syrup or anything?"
I swallowed. "Nope. Just some butter and sugar, roll it up, and eat it." I smiled, and took another bite.
"Hurry guys! We're gonna be late!" I yelled. It was time to leave. If we were going to make it to Kings Cross Station on time, we had to leave now. Since I was sixteen, I was allowed to drive in the muggle world.
"Fred! Are you coming or what? Get down here! I don't want to be late!" I called. Fred was going to drive the car back from the station. Since I was driving it there, and all of us were getting out, we needed someone to drive the car back. Fred had to because he was the last one to run from the room.
I put my trunk into the back of my car. As soon as we all were in, I pulled out and headed for the high way. Ron, Hermione, and Fred were all sitting in the back, while Harry and I sat in the front. Fifteen minutes later we were getting out our trunks and getting trolleys.
"See you at Christmas?" I asked Fred. "Yeah, but I'll be at Hogwarts. I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. See you later!" He hugged me.
"Congratulations. How come you didn't tell us before?"
"Secret." He winked.
"But what is George going to do?"
"He's going to be in America for a convention. Bye!" He hugged me again.
"Bye Fred."
I walked toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Five seconds later, I was on Platform 9 ¾. Everyone was on the other side of the barrier already. Harry was waiting for me.
He gave me a kiss and said, "So, what are you going to tell Diana, Tamara, Lizzy, and Miranda? That you're going out with a stud?"
"I am? Cool! Where is he?" I looked around the station.
"Very funny, little girl." He smiled and I kissed him.
"You are very handsome Harry, although I would like to meet this stud I'm supposedly going out with." I laughed and gave him yet another kiss. (It's so wonderful to kiss Harry).
He put his arm around my waist and we headed for the train.
"Ginny!" I heard someone call. I turned to see Tamara running up to me.
"Tammy!" I ran to her and we hugged. "It's great to see you again! I mean, I know it's only been two weeks, but oh my gosh!" I gave her another hug.
"It's like you two haven't seen each other in years." Harry chuckled. I hit his shoulder.
"Oh shut it, you."
"Okay." He kissed me and said, "I'm going to take our stuff into an empty compartment. Come find me in a minute. The train should be leaving soon."
"Are you sure you can take all that stuff? It's pretty heavy."
"I can get it." Harry picked up the trunks and went to find a compartment. I turned back to Tammy.
She was gaping at me in awe. Her jaw dropped and she was in disbelief.
"What?" I asked.
"You…and H-Harry?" I smiled.
"Oh my gosh!" she hugged me and we jumped up and down.
"I know!"
"I'm so happy for you!" She was smiling as much as I was.
The train was getting ready to move. We ran as fast as we could to get on. Now it was starting to go. We headed in to find Harry. On the way, we saw Diana.
"Hey Dee! Are you going to come with us to the compartment?"
She blushed and said, "No, I'm with Seamus." She giggled nervously.
"Good job!" I said, and we hugged her. "We've been waiting for this day! See you at the school then."
We kept walking and looking in compartments when I heard, "Ginny! Over here." I turned to see Hermione. "Okay." I answered and Tam and I went with her.
We went into the back of the train, where there was a large compartment.
"This one?" I asked.
"Yeah. Harry found this one before anybody else." She answered. We walked into a large compartment. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Lizzy were already in there.
"Hey Liz," I said, and I gave her a hug.
"Hey, Gin," she replied. "Have you seen Dee?"
Tam and I looked at each other. "Uh, yeah, but, get this," Tam looked around dramatically and then said, "She's with Seamus!"
Lizzy gasped. "No way," she breathed. We nodded.
"Gin-ny!" Harry whined. "I want to talk to you!" He made a sad puppy face.
"Aww, now how am I supposed to refuse that?" So I went and sat down next to him. He put an arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him.
"Okay," said Ron with a disgusted face, "Just because your going out doesn't mean you have to show it."
"You're going out?" Lizzy said excitedly. I nodded. "Oh, that's great Gin!"
"Hey Ron, how come every one says 'that's great' to Ginny but not to me?"
"That's great!" Hermione said enthusiastically.
Harry beamed and smiled like a five-year-old that just got a compliment. "Aww, shucks, Herm, you shouldn't have." He looked away, mock embarrassed. I laughed, and Harry smiled wider.
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When the sun was finally setting, we reached Hogwarts.
"Oh, Harry, its beautiful!" The stars were just starting to come out, and there was a blue-ish tint to the sky.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it."
The train was slowing down, and everyone put on their robes. Hermione's robes had a gold badge pinned onto them. It was easy to believe that she had been Head Girl. I was just a Prefect, the sliver badge.
The train slowed to a stop, and we got out of the compartment, leaving our bags behind.
We got out of the train, and a warm breeze ruffled my already messy hair. I tried to flatten it, but to no avail. The stars were more visible now, the sky had gone a dark blue color, and there were barely any clouds.
I looked behind me to see the carriages coming up the hill.
"Come on, Harry. Let's go." He helped me into a particularly small one, and then got in himself. There was no more room left for anyone else.
"Sorry, guys," I said to the gang. "I don't think anyone else will fit into this one."
The door shut and we were off. Three minutes later, Hogwarts Castle loomed ahead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: This was also going to be the end of this chapter, but then I added a little bit of the next chapter to this one.
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Harry opened the door to the carriage door and helped me out. (This was very difficult because the doorframe had shrunken).
As we looked over at the lake, the Whomping Willow, and the Forbidden Forest, the giant wooden doors opened.
"Come in," said Professor McGonagall's stern voice. We had just walked into the Entrance Hall when Professor Dumbledore called out, "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, could I have a moment?"
Harry and I hurried to the professor's side and followed him out of the hall.
We went into a narrow corridor, where a small stone raven stood. "Munchkin," Professor Dumbledore said, and the stone raven flew up to a rope in the ceiling and pulled it. A large doorway appeared, and Professor Dumbledore went through with me and Harry following.
This lead to a small muggle elevator inside the wall.
"Professor, why do you have a muggle elevator?" I asked.
"Ms. Weasley, there is nothing more mysterious and interesting as muggles. It was a shame that nothing muggle could be inside of this castle, so I had this put in."
"Excuse me, sir, but don't elevators need electricity to run on?" Dumbledore's eyes sparkled.
"How correct you are, Ms. Weasley, but for this large muggle contraption, we had to put a Hovering Spell on it. I felt just awful about that, but where there are wizards, there is most likely no electricity. This is a large magical school, Ginny, and so it is muggle-repelled. Oh, our stop." With that, he got off of the elevator and walked into his office.
It was a large circular room, with old portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses. In one corner there was a large filing cabinet. (Why Dumbledore needed a filing cabinet was a mystery to me). In another corner was a large golden birdcage. Inside of it was a phoenix.
"Hello, Fawkes," Harry said, walking over to the bird. It was very large, with red feathers on its main body, with gold tips on his wings.
"Fawkes?" I whispered. The phoenix flew over to my shoulder, and I stroked his feathers.
"Don't you remember?" Harry asked. "In your first year? He was the one in the Chamber of Secrets, the one who pulled us all out of the pipe." I nodded in awe. I never really had gotten the chance to see him up close.
"Harry, Ginny, if you would please take a seat."
We walked over to Dumbledore's desk, and sat in the two chairs in front of it. Fawkes left my shoulder to sit on Harry's knee.
"Now, Harry, you understand that you will be a student-teacher this year?" Harry nodded. "Good. It seems common knowledge that you and Ms. Weasley are, well, somewhat of an item." I blushed.
"Now, it will be acceptable for you to still be together in the course of this and next year. Since you were already together before this term started, there will be no excuse for you not to teach. You will be helping Professor Weasley in Defense Against the Dark Arts. This will be good training so that you have an idea of what to teach next year."
"Professor Weasley?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Harry, Professor Weasley. Mr. Fred Weasley has offered to, erm, teach the class this year. Although I think it will be nothing more than dungbombs and fireworks." He chuckled. "However, this will not exclude you from not doing homework. I will expect you to keep up, or I will be forced to take away your teaching privileges. When you start teaching next year, you must not give Ms. Weasley all good marks. You are expected to treat her like any other student. If I am informed otherwise, I must take away your job. I trust you enough to know that you will treat Ginny like any other student. I think we should get back to the feast now. I have a few announcements to make, and I'm sure, Harry, that you are very hungry." They laughed and got up. We opened the door in the front of his office and went down the spiral staircase.
A/N: No More CHEESE! I can't promise anything, but it might get less fluffy in the next few chapters. Can't you just wait to read A Romance at Hogwarts: Harry's Story? J/K (not Rowling)
"Harry, dear, wake up. Ginny, it's time to get up."
I slowly opened my eyes. Mum shook Ron awake and left the room.
"We're going back to Hogwarts!" Harry sang. He got up and jumped on the bed. "My last year of Hogwarts! Woohoo!" He grabbed my arms and pulled me out of bed. He started to swing me around the room.
"Harry! What in the world are you doing?" I cried.
"This is our last year!"
"We're outta there!" Yelled Ron, who had just gotten out of bed. There was a knock on the door, (which was open), and Hermione came in. She looked really excited.
"It's our last year!" she yelled. She ran to Ron, who picked her up and started to swing her around too.
"You guys are acting like Fred and George did when they got out of school. Except they had Angelina and Katie over."
"Hey, Gin, give us a break. We're in our last year. This is so exciting! After this, we get to go out and do our jobs!" Harry said, giving me a quick kiss.
"So what are you going to do anyway?"
"Well, I'm either going to play Quidditch, or get training to be an auror. I think that before I'm getting training though, I'm going to teach next year. I am thinking DADA, because Dumbledore promised me a job, so Gin, I'm gonna be your teacher next year!"
"Teachers aren't allowed to date students, Harry."
"But we were dating before I became a teacher, so it's okay."
"Are you sure? I mean, you haven't even talked to Dumbledore about it.
"How do you know?" Harry asked mischievously. He tweaked the end of my nose and walked away, with me gaping at him. I snapped out of it and ran to catch up to him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked flustered.
"Do you always answer a question with a question?"
"I don't know, do I?" I joked.
"Am I going to be forced to shut you up?" He grinned.
"I don't know, are you?" I stood with my hand on my hips. I looked into his eyes as he grabbed my waist and gave me a, well let's just say, a very long kiss.
* This story, if you haven't noticed, is pure fluff with a point…and a lot of kissing. Told ya Kit ;) *
"Aww, Harry, can't you kiss her some where else?" George said with a revolted look. "If you don't mind, I'm going to throw up now."
"George, when you and Katie come over, all you do is kiss. Don't get on my case." I smiled.
"Well, that's different. Katie isn't here, and besides, Fred always kisses Angelina when she's over."
"Too true," Fred agreed. He had walked up right behind George without anyone noticing. "It's fun. She's a good kisser." He grinned. "I'm hungry."
"Are guys in this house always hungry?" I exclaimed.
"Hungry? Where's the food?" Lee questioned. He'd come behind Fred. "I'm starving."
"My point exactly."
We headed downstairs where mum was making French Toast.
"I was wondering when you boys were coming down. It took you longer than usual." I took two plates and set them on the table. When I had gotten all of the plates, I sat down to eat with the boys.
"Ron, pass me the sugar." He handed the sugar bowl to me. I poured it over my buttered French Toast, and the rolled it up and bit it. Lee and Harry were staring at me.
"What?" I was able to manage with a mouth full of Toast.
"You eat it like that? No syrup or anything?"
I swallowed. "Nope. Just some butter and sugar, roll it up, and eat it." I smiled, and took another bite.
"Hurry guys! We're gonna be late!" I yelled. It was time to leave. If we were going to make it to Kings Cross Station on time, we had to leave now. Since I was sixteen, I was allowed to drive in the muggle world.
"Fred! Are you coming or what? Get down here! I don't want to be late!" I called. Fred was going to drive the car back from the station. Since I was driving it there, and all of us were getting out, we needed someone to drive the car back. Fred had to because he was the last one to run from the room.
I put my trunk into the back of my car. As soon as we all were in, I pulled out and headed for the high way. Ron, Hermione, and Fred were all sitting in the back, while Harry and I sat in the front. Fifteen minutes later we were getting out our trunks and getting trolleys.
"See you at Christmas?" I asked Fred. "Yeah, but I'll be at Hogwarts. I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. See you later!" He hugged me.
"Congratulations. How come you didn't tell us before?"
"Secret." He winked.
"But what is George going to do?"
"He's going to be in America for a convention. Bye!" He hugged me again.
"Bye Fred."
I walked toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Five seconds later, I was on Platform 9 ¾. Everyone was on the other side of the barrier already. Harry was waiting for me.
He gave me a kiss and said, "So, what are you going to tell Diana, Tamara, Lizzy, and Miranda? That you're going out with a stud?"
"I am? Cool! Where is he?" I looked around the station.
"Very funny, little girl." He smiled and I kissed him.
"You are very handsome Harry, although I would like to meet this stud I'm supposedly going out with." I laughed and gave him yet another kiss. (It's so wonderful to kiss Harry).
He put his arm around my waist and we headed for the train.
"Ginny!" I heard someone call. I turned to see Tamara running up to me.
"Tammy!" I ran to her and we hugged. "It's great to see you again! I mean, I know it's only been two weeks, but oh my gosh!" I gave her another hug.
"It's like you two haven't seen each other in years." Harry chuckled. I hit his shoulder.
"Oh shut it, you."
"Okay." He kissed me and said, "I'm going to take our stuff into an empty compartment. Come find me in a minute. The train should be leaving soon."
"Are you sure you can take all that stuff? It's pretty heavy."
"I can get it." Harry picked up the trunks and went to find a compartment. I turned back to Tammy.
She was gaping at me in awe. Her jaw dropped and she was in disbelief.
"What?" I asked.
"You…and H-Harry?" I smiled.
"Oh my gosh!" she hugged me and we jumped up and down.
"I know!"
"I'm so happy for you!" She was smiling as much as I was.
The train was getting ready to move. We ran as fast as we could to get on. Now it was starting to go. We headed in to find Harry. On the way, we saw Diana.
"Hey Dee! Are you going to come with us to the compartment?"
She blushed and said, "No, I'm with Seamus." She giggled nervously.
"Good job!" I said, and we hugged her. "We've been waiting for this day! See you at the school then."
We kept walking and looking in compartments when I heard, "Ginny! Over here." I turned to see Hermione. "Okay." I answered and Tam and I went with her.
We went into the back of the train, where there was a large compartment.
"This one?" I asked.
"Yeah. Harry found this one before anybody else." She answered. We walked into a large compartment. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Lizzy were already in there.
"Hey Liz," I said, and I gave her a hug.
"Hey, Gin," she replied. "Have you seen Dee?"
Tam and I looked at each other. "Uh, yeah, but, get this," Tam looked around dramatically and then said, "She's with Seamus!"
Lizzy gasped. "No way," she breathed. We nodded.
"Gin-ny!" Harry whined. "I want to talk to you!" He made a sad puppy face.
"Aww, now how am I supposed to refuse that?" So I went and sat down next to him. He put an arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him.
"Okay," said Ron with a disgusted face, "Just because your going out doesn't mean you have to show it."
"You're going out?" Lizzy said excitedly. I nodded. "Oh, that's great Gin!"
"Hey Ron, how come every one says 'that's great' to Ginny but not to me?"
"That's great!" Hermione said enthusiastically.
Harry beamed and smiled like a five-year-old that just got a compliment. "Aww, shucks, Herm, you shouldn't have." He looked away, mock embarrassed. I laughed, and Harry smiled wider.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When the sun was finally setting, we reached Hogwarts.
"Oh, Harry, its beautiful!" The stars were just starting to come out, and there was a blue-ish tint to the sky.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it."
The train was slowing down, and everyone put on their robes. Hermione's robes had a gold badge pinned onto them. It was easy to believe that she had been Head Girl. I was just a Prefect, the sliver badge.
The train slowed to a stop, and we got out of the compartment, leaving our bags behind.
We got out of the train, and a warm breeze ruffled my already messy hair. I tried to flatten it, but to no avail. The stars were more visible now, the sky had gone a dark blue color, and there were barely any clouds.
I looked behind me to see the carriages coming up the hill.
"Come on, Harry. Let's go." He helped me into a particularly small one, and then got in himself. There was no more room left for anyone else.
"Sorry, guys," I said to the gang. "I don't think anyone else will fit into this one."
The door shut and we were off. Three minutes later, Hogwarts Castle loomed ahead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: This was also going to be the end of this chapter, but then I added a little bit of the next chapter to this one.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harry opened the door to the carriage door and helped me out. (This was very difficult because the doorframe had shrunken).
As we looked over at the lake, the Whomping Willow, and the Forbidden Forest, the giant wooden doors opened.
"Come in," said Professor McGonagall's stern voice. We had just walked into the Entrance Hall when Professor Dumbledore called out, "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, could I have a moment?"
Harry and I hurried to the professor's side and followed him out of the hall.
We went into a narrow corridor, where a small stone raven stood. "Munchkin," Professor Dumbledore said, and the stone raven flew up to a rope in the ceiling and pulled it. A large doorway appeared, and Professor Dumbledore went through with me and Harry following.
This lead to a small muggle elevator inside the wall.
"Professor, why do you have a muggle elevator?" I asked.
"Ms. Weasley, there is nothing more mysterious and interesting as muggles. It was a shame that nothing muggle could be inside of this castle, so I had this put in."
"Excuse me, sir, but don't elevators need electricity to run on?" Dumbledore's eyes sparkled.
"How correct you are, Ms. Weasley, but for this large muggle contraption, we had to put a Hovering Spell on it. I felt just awful about that, but where there are wizards, there is most likely no electricity. This is a large magical school, Ginny, and so it is muggle-repelled. Oh, our stop." With that, he got off of the elevator and walked into his office.
It was a large circular room, with old portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses. In one corner there was a large filing cabinet. (Why Dumbledore needed a filing cabinet was a mystery to me). In another corner was a large golden birdcage. Inside of it was a phoenix.
"Hello, Fawkes," Harry said, walking over to the bird. It was very large, with red feathers on its main body, with gold tips on his wings.
"Fawkes?" I whispered. The phoenix flew over to my shoulder, and I stroked his feathers.
"Don't you remember?" Harry asked. "In your first year? He was the one in the Chamber of Secrets, the one who pulled us all out of the pipe." I nodded in awe. I never really had gotten the chance to see him up close.
"Harry, Ginny, if you would please take a seat."
We walked over to Dumbledore's desk, and sat in the two chairs in front of it. Fawkes left my shoulder to sit on Harry's knee.
"Now, Harry, you understand that you will be a student-teacher this year?" Harry nodded. "Good. It seems common knowledge that you and Ms. Weasley are, well, somewhat of an item." I blushed.
"Now, it will be acceptable for you to still be together in the course of this and next year. Since you were already together before this term started, there will be no excuse for you not to teach. You will be helping Professor Weasley in Defense Against the Dark Arts. This will be good training so that you have an idea of what to teach next year."
"Professor Weasley?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Harry, Professor Weasley. Mr. Fred Weasley has offered to, erm, teach the class this year. Although I think it will be nothing more than dungbombs and fireworks." He chuckled. "However, this will not exclude you from not doing homework. I will expect you to keep up, or I will be forced to take away your teaching privileges. When you start teaching next year, you must not give Ms. Weasley all good marks. You are expected to treat her like any other student. If I am informed otherwise, I must take away your job. I trust you enough to know that you will treat Ginny like any other student. I think we should get back to the feast now. I have a few announcements to make, and I'm sure, Harry, that you are very hungry." They laughed and got up. We opened the door in the front of his office and went down the spiral staircase.
A/N: No More CHEESE! I can't promise anything, but it might get less fluffy in the next few chapters. Can't you just wait to read A Romance at Hogwarts: Harry's Story? J/K (not Rowling)