A/N: I'm here again, people, with the chapter you have been awaiting so much! Thanks for all the reviews!
May I ask you to put your country into the reviews? I'd like to know where you are from. It's so interesting to see that I have reviewers not only from the USA but from Chile, India, Germany… so please, let me know where you come from, okay?
Rodi: The "true love shit" will be explained soon.
Lilith Ceridwen: you don't need to understand it – yet.
K-K: "istenhozzad" was okay, but I don't know what you wanted to say by "igenis". Anyway, thanks for trying to write me something in Hungarian! I was really touched.
italian_chick54: the letter had nothing to do with Harry, it was written to Millicent, though. No, no twins – it would be too Star Wars-ish! I haven't seen the movie yet – I'll see it on Thursday! (counting back… 71 hours, 20 minutes…)
Squalidaman: you are right, I mixed up the two words. (But then I wanted to look for acrophobia in my Longman dictionary, and couldn't find it!!!)
Nikkianna: I might write another fic, but only during the summer, after I have read book five, because book five might influence and inspire me a bit.
Julietta: no, it wasn't H and G's child in Neville's dream. Voldemort doesn't need to conjure up a body – he already has one since book 4! He wants to be immortal! About Harry missing the chance to raise his parents… well, you'll understand that one soon. Merry Christmas to you, too! (I loved you P.S!)
Ariana Black: you are a pessimist! Millicent's smile doesn't mean anything bad this time, so don't worry!
NFGrl: I'm glad that you liked that I didn't only write about sex and romance. Truth be told I feel sick of too much fluff.
Alexander Pheonix: your guess was right about the crystal :-) (May I ask what TTFN means? I'm still learning these abbreviations.)
Laurelye Tigre: I'm glad that you think I managed to grasp the true Harry Potter feeling!!!
dudette: IMHO means In My Humble Opinion.
Lucretia: there won't be much about Sirius and Lupin looking for Harry – I just wanted you to know that people WERE looking for him, because he NEEDED to be found, ASAP. Glad that you liked Neville!
elvin: I actually KNOW that the famous Indian poet was RABINDRANATH TAGORE, but the snake had THREE HEADS, so I needed to divide the first name into two parts, so that each head could get a name. It wasn't my ignorance, only a little play with the words – I hope you don't mind, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
princesswitch: yes, yes, yes, let's buy Snapey some toothpaste!!! Lol!
D2: you'll meet both Dudley and Draco again. (Glad that you realised who Wendelin was!)
Nefertiti: oh, sorry forgot to look at your website! What is the URL again?
IloveLinkinPark222: I'm not angry at all, and I won't do the same to your fic, I promise! :-)
thorn: how many chapters? Not too many - with this chapter you have read three-fourth of the story.
mandi: for the answer to your first question see thorn (right above you). For your other question: in two chapters.
WildStar and Andromeda: ((I still like your name, lol)) I don't think I'm the cleverest writer here – I'm just older than most of the fanfic writers. (I guess the majority of the writers are between 12 and 17, am I right? Well, I'm 20 with a little bit more experience…)
jennaration: a/n is "author's note".
Shaun Wilson: thanks for keeping my secret!!!
jumponit2008: the name of the fifth book is "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". (That's why you could see so many stories on ffnet with this title.)
Okay, on to the long-awaited chapter!
Chapter 27
The Hogwarts parchment book
More than six weeks had passed since the Gryffindor-Slytherin match, but people were still taken with Neville's performance. The previously ignored boy had become the centre of attention – to Professor Snape's disgust.
Parvati, Lavender and several girls from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were courting his favour.
Neville, however, remained modest – his success didn't go to his head. Of course he was pleased by the compliments he was constantly being given, but it never occurred to him to brag about his wonderful accomplishment of the Whittby Corkscrew. He was eternally grateful to Ginny for browbeating him into playing, though.
Snape, who had only despised him before, now hated him with all his heart – almost as much as he hated Harry. Lacking the opportunity to bully Potter, he gave all his power into making Neville's life miserable.
This way it was Neville of all students who suffered the most during the Potions exam, but somehow he managed to pass – even he didn't understand, how, since Snape did everything to fail him.
It was exactly during that ominous exam that a third-year was sent to notify Ron that his sister had gone into labour.
Ron and Hermione threw their potions together and headed for the hospital wing – Ron surprised that Hermione cared that little for her exam. That was not like Hermione… But after all, it was about their nephew or niece… THEIR nephew or niece… Hermione had always considered herself as the auntie of Ginny's baby, because Ginny and Harry were both like siblings to her.
After leaving the dungeon, Ron and his girlfriend hurried upstairs and burst into the infirmary, panting heavily.
"Ginny!" Ron yelled and ran to his sister, who was sitting on a bed, sweat forming in beads on her forehead.
"How are you doing?" Hermione asked with a worried voice.
"Fine… up till now." Ginny smiled weakly. "But I am only at the beginning… Madame Pomfrey promised to cast a catalysing charm on me, so it will go faster."
"We'll stay with you." Ron squeezed her hand.
"I don't think so." Poppy came in, a nervous expression on her face. "Ms. Granger may stay, but you, young man, had better leave. This is woman's business."
"But Madame Pomfrey…" Ron pleaded. "It's my nephew…"
"Niece!" Ginny yelped, as a contraction hit her. She gritted her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut and waited until it was over.
"Now you can see it with your own eyes, Mr. Weasley," Pomfrey said. "And it won't get any better, just worse. Are you sure you want to stay?"
Ron nodded. "I am. Harry would also be here, if he could. I'm convinced of that."
Ginny gave her brother a grateful smile – both for staying with her, and for mentioning that Harry would be glad to witness the birth of his child.
Her heart ached that her love couldn't be with her at these hard moments, but she tried to keep her mind off Harry, only concentrating on the little being within her.
Since she felt the first kick of her child, she had had a special relationship with the baby – talking to it, caressing it, feeling, and almost understanding its messages.
The baby was a very vivid little one, always making flips and difficult gymnastic exercises in Ginny's womb, not letting her have a minute of peace. Dean once remarked that the youngest Potter would be a great football player. Ron, on the other hand, insisted that his nephew would be a Gryffindor Quidditch captain, like his father and two of his uncles.
Hermione hoped that the child would be headboy/girl, or a prefect. Some of the Slytherins, though, expressed their opinion that the little bastard of Potter's would surely be a squib. (It was originally Draco's idea, but it lived on after his departure.)
Ginny didn't listen to any of them: neither cared for the mocking remarks, nor for the guesses about the baby's future. For her, the child meant only one thing: the greatest miracle of her life. So, after nine months of pregnancy she was more than eager to meet the small being created by her and Harry.
* * * * *
"Are you sure that the smell of the pulverised cockroach-weed will drive the bat-mosquitos away from the purple room?" headmistress McGonagall turned to Professor Sprout, as they entered a very untidy room on the ground-floor. Its walls had once been painted purple, but the plasterwork was already peeling. Several cobwebs were hanging in the corners and the air was stale. It seemed to have been cleaned about a year before, or even earlier. Everything in the room was covered with dust, with the exception of a huge, centuries-old parchment book, that stood open on a small dais, between two bottles of ink. One of the bottles contained blue ink, the other pink.
Professor Sprout sneezed. "I'm allergic to dust." she blew her nose. "Where should I put this bowl of cockroach-weed?"
"There, into the corner." Minerva replied, trampling on a bat-mosquito. "These little beasts keep screeching all night, and I can't sleep at all. You know, my room is right above this one."
Sprout nodded, placing the cockroach-weed into the corner, sneezing again. "I've got to go and check on the gillyweed plantations in the aquarium. It was a good idea from Dumbledore to grow some salt-water plants on land."
"You can't imagine how much it took from the school-budget." McGonagall answered, frowning. "I wanted to persuade Albus to spend that amount on transfiguration books, Madame Pomfrey wanted to use it for buying new medical equipment, and Madame Hooch insisted on spending it on new broomsticks. However, you won."
Sprout grinned and sneezed. At that moment the quill that had been peacefully lying on the opened parchment book, set into motion. It jumped into the bottle of pink ink, and started skating on the paper.
McGonagall and Sprout stepped to the book to see the following words written on it:
Lily Potter, born 20th June 1998, parents: Harry James Potter and Virginia Weasley
Professor McGonagall's lips tucked into a smile. "A witch is born."
Sprout nodded. "She was due any day now. But… Minerva, how could the magic quill write Lily Potter? She is born a Weasley, since those kids never got married!"
"Good question." Minerva agreed. "But the magic quill is never wrong. It has to mean that Harry is going to come back and marry Ginny. This is good news." she again glanced at the parchment book, which had the function of detecting the birth of magic children throughout Great Britain for about a millennium. Whenever a child with magical powers was born, the quill wrote his or her name down in the large book. For several decades it had been Professor McGonagall's task to check the book every year, and send owls to the kids who were turning eleven. "A new witch is born." she repeated.
"I barely can wait to see the baby! I love babies!" the Herbology teacher declared, her eyes shining.
"Be patient. I don't think that Poppy will let us in right now."
Sprout nodded, wiping her palms clean on her robes. "I'll go and wash my hands. They aren't too hygienic."
* * * * *
An hour later they were allowed to enter the infirmary, along with Professor Flitwick.
Ron and Hermione were still sitting beside the sleeping Ginny, who was extremely pale. It had been a hard labour. She was too young and delicate for such a torture. Though barely, she survived, and according to Madame Pomfrey, she'd be okay soon. Ron and Hermione were beside her all along, giving support and reassurance of their love. It was over now, and they had a wonderful little niece.
As the teachers entered the ward, Hermione stood up with a radiant, but pretty worn face.
"Professor McGonagall," she whispered, beckoning the teachers to a cradle. "Look! Isn't she perfect?"
In the cradle there was a beautiful little girl sleeping, her pale skin in contrast with her thick, red hair.
Professor Sprout let out a dreamy sigh, and even Minerva allowed herself a smile.
Flitwick was too small to be able to peer into the cradle, so he levitated himself up. "Oh, the little angel…" he clasped his hands in delight.
"MY niece!" Ron straightened himself proudly.
"If my memory serves me well, you have always been referring to her as your nephew." Hermione reminded him.
The door opened to admit Professor Snape.
Ron and Hermione exchanged terrified looks. Ron would have sworn that the Potion teacher came to curse the baby.
But Snape only stepped to the cradle, making a wry face. "She doesn't look a thing like Potter." he declared. "Are you sure that she's Potter's?"
Hermione gave Snape a withering glance, and kicked Ron in the ankle to stop him before he could break Snape's nose.
"But Severus…" Flitwick cut in, "We all know that Harry is the father."
Snape sleeked his grimy hair and turned to leave the infirmary, but directly bumped into Trelawney at the door.
"Ah, Sybill!" Sprout waved. "You are barely seen among us. Come closer and have a look at this little fairy!"
Trelawney came closer, as if she had been floating two centimetres above the floor. She peered into the cradle, and whispered: "So it has come true. I told it to Potter." her voice was empty, free of emotions, and her eyes looked distant while they were fixed on the baby.
"What did you tell him? That he'd become a father?" McGonagall crossed her arms. It was common knowledge that she had never liked the Divination professor, and considered Trelawney's subject as the most imprecise branch of magic.
Sybill didn't turn to face the headmistress. "I told him that the constellations indicated the impending birth of a child, and the inevitable darkness that ensues with it."
"Enough is enough!" Ron snapped. "In third and fourth year you kept predicting Harry's death! In fifth year you foretold that I'd impregnate Hermione in sixth year! Then you predicted that Seamus would go gay and fall for Neville, then you swore that Parvati would conspire with Hagrid's Martians and go off-planet. None of these happened! Don't you think that we'd ever believe that this innocent little child will bring darkness to Earth! That's rubbish!"
"Okay, Weasley, enough! You don't want to wake your niece, do you?" McGonagall interrupted, trying to hide how pleased she felt. At last someone told Sybill what they thought of her. "Let's go, all of you. Ginny has had a hard day. She needs to rest."
"May she rest in peace." Trelawney whispered, and hurried away, before Ron could throttle her.
"Did you hear that?" Ron fumed, as they left the ward.
"Take it easy, dear." Hermione replied. "I haven't believed a word of this crazy old wench since we had our first lesson with her."
The boy nodded, and they both headed for the owlery to send an owl to the Weasley-parents, to let them know that they had become grandparents.
* * * * *
Next day half the school visited the youngest witch – to Madame Pomfrey's greatest disapproval. She was constantly complaining about McGonagall letting all the students have a glance at the baby. On the other hand, Pomfrey knew that there was no power on Earth that could have kept the Hogwarts students from seeing the child – not even the prohibition of the headmistress.
All Gryffindors were totally enraptured by the little girl, but the Slytherins didn't miss any opportunity to assert that they didn't find any resemblance between Potter and the baby.
Hagrid was the last to come to visit, but he stayed the longest. He couldn't take his eyes off the child, and even beseeched Ginny to let him hold Lily a bit.
His black eyes filled with tears when the baby woke up and flashed him with an emerald-eyed stare. "She has Harry's eyes!" he sniffed and blew his nose. "Oh, if only Harry could see his daughter… he'd be so proud!"
At eight o'clock Madame Pomfrey needed to threaten Hagrid with the prospect of a jelly-leg-jinx, in order to make him leave.
"I'll be back tomorrow ter see sweet little Lily." he said. "By the way… I like that name, Ginny."
"Me too." the girl smiled, taking her baby from the giant.
Only Ron and Hermione stayed with the mother and child.
"You are beaming, sis." the boy remarked.
"I'm happy, Ron." Ginny answered, holding the little girl. "If only Harry could share my joy!"
"He'll come back for you." Hermione said with an encouraging smile.
"Yes… I believe that he will." the young mother nodded, then her solemn expression changed into that of a little imp. "Ronnie, I've just realised… I've won the bet."
"What?" Ron blinked in surprise.
"I've won… so you have to give me Pigwidgeon, and I can now tell Hermione about your little accident in the toilet…"
"Oh, no…" Ron groaned.
"Oh, yeees…" Ginny sneered. "You know what? I'll be merciful…"
Ron's face lit up.
"…you can keep Pigwidgeon. I'll only tell your story."
"Could it be the other way around?" Ron pleaded.
Ginny smirked. "No. Herm, please, put her back into her cradle."
Hermione took Lily, placed her into the cradle, and sat back on Ginny's bed. "I'm all ears."
"Well… it happened when Ron was six years old…" Ginny began. Ron rushed to the window to inspect something in the park. "…when George got a racoon for Christmas. He called it Joe. Joe was still a cub, and very playful. He was constantly ruining everything in the house. One day when Joe accidentally chewed Ron's Chudley Cannons jumper, Ron got so pissed off that he 'accidentally' flushed Joe down the toilet. He didn't know that the animal didn't drown, and the next time he sat on the toilet seat, the racoon jumped out of the U-bend, and bit his butt." she giggled at the memory. Ron was still turning his back on them, hiding his ruby red complexion. "You have never heard such a squealing, Herm! He ran out of the toilet, Joe hanging from his rear, howling 'geroff me!' Wow, that was a sight… he couldn't sit down for a whole week."
"So that is the origin of that scar…" Hermione mused.
"Scar?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
The other girl blushed, realising that she'd been thinking aloud.
"Scar?" Ginny repeated. "YOU have SEEN that scar?"
Now Ron turned around, his countenance mirroring that of Hermione.
Ginny saw their complexion, and understanding dawned on her, making her burst out with laughter. "Oh, my… don't… don't do this to me…" she chortled. "It still hurts to laugh…"
By then Ron and Hermione had also doubled up with laughter.
"Hermione… I would never have thought…" Ginny chuckled.
"We could tell you the same." her friend shrugged. "There's only one little difference… we were more careful than you and Harry."
Ginny heaved a deep sigh. "Yeah… we weren't cautious enough… but I don't regret it. I've wanted this child since I got to know that she was growing inside me. I love her… because she is from the boy I love."
* * * * *
Dumbledore let out a sigh. He had just been informed by Professor McGonagall about the birth of Harry and Ginny's daughter.
*The beginning of the end has started.* he thought. *Voldemort will act soon. But Harry has to be found before he… Without Harry, my plan is useless or even worse... the worst. If Harry doesn't turn up in time, there will be no chance to rid the world of Voldemort… if Harry won't turn up before Voldemort…* he shook his head. *Better not think of it.* he put down the letter, and squeezed his eyes shut. *Have I made a big mistake? I've put all my eggs into one basket… if this plan fails and Voldemort realises the deception, hell will break loose and Voldemort's avenge shall be horrendous… and I will be responsible for it… But when I chose to take chances with him, I didn't expect it to come true this soon… and never considered the possibility that Harry might get lost… Without him, everything I did was a vain attempt, that may eventually result in a catastrophe…* It was a rather dark prospect, but Dumbledore knew that it was the only chance to do away with the Dark Lord. He could only hope that it would succeed and the wizarding world would be saved, even at the expense of one - or two - innocent youngsters' life…
* * * * *
The following days the seventh-year students had the rest of their N.E.W.Ts, and surprisingly no one failed (even Crabbe and Goyle managed to pass somehow.)
Two days after the very tricky Potions exam, they had to turn each other into blast-ended skrewts in Transfiguration. In Charms the task was levitating the giant squid out of the lake, which Hermione found ridiculously easy. (Neville didn't.)
The task in the Care of Magical Creatures exam was to find a werewolf and steal one of its fangs. (For the duration of this exam Professor McGonagall allowed the seventh-years to enter the Forbidden Forest, saying that whoever wanted to get their N.E.W.T.s had to be qualified enough to be able to cope with the Forbidden Forest's dangers.)
Ron managed to stupefy a werewolf, and rid it of its whole row of teeth, giving all his friends one fang, so that they didn't need to search for other wolves. Neville was extremely relieved by this, while Hermione tutted disapprovingly. She decided not to accept Ron's help, and looked for an own werewolf. An hour later she came out of the forest - her robes in rags – holding a huge fang, her face telling Ron 'See, I could do it on my own!'
In their Herbology exam they needed to get some dates from the Pummelling Palm, that was a third-cousin of the Whomping Willow. Neville got a black eye during the heroic fight against the Palm tree, but managed to get the required dates.
The nastiest exam was the one in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Snape made the students outwit a mountain troll – without using their wands. The ones who performed this task the most brilliantly were Crabbe and Goyle – not because they were brilliant, but because they were big and strong enough to knock the troll out with a single blow of their fists. Ron almost got stomped on by the beast, but in the last moment he pulled out his quill and tickled the troll's sole, making it double up with laughter, as though it had been affected by the Cheering Charm.
Finally their last day at Hogwarts arrived.
Hermione, Ron, Neville and the others had a nightlong party in the Gryffindor common room to celebrate and remember.
Seven years had passed since they first set foot on the Hogwarts grounds, and those seven years seemed to be only a second to them. They had learnt so much, made lifelong friendships, fell in love, fell off their broomsticks and enjoyed competing with the other houses.
"Good ol' Hogwarts, I'm gonna miss ya." Seamus sighed, standing by the lake, sizing up the castle for the last time.
"Me too." Dean added. "Do you know what you'll begin with your life, Neville?"
"Nay." the plump boy shook his head. "And you? Still planning to play for West Ham?"
"Yup. Maybe. And you, Ron?"
"I don't know yet. Guess I'll be working at Honeydukes for a while, just like last summer. After that… well, time will tell."
"What about you, Hermione?" asked Lavender, who was going to be a secretary at the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione didn't answer, just smiled secretively.
In the evening the usual feast was held in the Great Hall. It was strange to hear McGonagall tell the end-of-the-year-speech instead of Dumbledore.
"Another year has passed. We can state without hesitation, that it was full of events – good and bad. The departure of Professor Dumbledore and the absence of Harry Potter have left their mark on the past year, but the arrival of a baby cheered us all up a bit.
This year Slytherin managed to get 277 points ((due to Snape taking 200 points from his house because of Millicent's acts)), Hufflepuff has 402, Ravenclaw 489 and Gryffindor 521 points."
Cheers could be heard from all tables, Slytherin excepted. This was the first year in the last 300 years that Slytherin got the fewest points.
"Gryffindor's victory," McGonagall continued, "had a lot to do with the fabulous performance of Neville Longbottom, whom I have the honour of delivering a message directly from the Whimbourne Wasps – they have heard about Mr. Longbottom's skills, and are expecting him into their ranks. Of course only as a reserve player, but later on… Mr. Longbottom, make us proud, make whole England proud!"
A deafening standing ovation followed, all students cheering the dumbfounded Neville, who was sitting there, mouth agape, letting his fellows pat him on the back and shake his hand, without really understanding what was happening.
"And now," Minerva carried on, "I am glad to inform you that from next year we are going to have a new Arithmancy teacher, in the person of Ms. Hermione Granger!"
The hall went silent for a moment, then everyone (with the exception of the Slytherins) started to applaud at once.
"Herm, why haven't you told me?" Ron asked with a hint of accusation in his voice.
"I was offered the job a month ago, but it wasn't sure back then. Everything depended on Professor Vector's health condition. She decided to retire last week."
"I ask two more minutes from you." McGonagall silenced them. "As all of you know, on the seventh of July the famous race, the Moon Run will be held in Calcutta. The Ministry of Magic offered two free tickets for the school, to be given to the headboy or girl. I hope you all know what a great honour this is. I have deliberately kept this a secret until the end of the school year, this way seeing to it, that no student would study only for the tickets – you study for yourselves, you know…
And now, to the name of the headboy or girl…" Minerva cleared her throat. "I must tell we had a great difficulty deciding who should be the one, since we have three candidates: Mr. James Onedin, Ms. Laura Ingalls and Ms. Hermione Granger. They all have the highest marks, so all we can do is draw. I'm going to put their names into this bowl and ask… Professor Snape to pick one."
Snape wrinkled his crooked nose – he didn't feel like taking part in such ridiculous things, but he certainly obeyed the headmistress.
As he put his hand into the bowl, the students – especially the three candidates – gasped with excitement.
The professor didn't hurry, let them be on tenterhooks. Finally he picked out one of the crumpled parchments, and read aloud 'Hermione Granger', making a sour face. He apparently didn't feel pleased about his draw.
Hermione, and many of her friends jumped up, cheering. Ron glanced at Snape, grinning.
"We wish you a pleasant journey, Ms. Granger!" the headmistress smiled. "And now, tuck in!"
As they started to eat, Ron turned to Hermione.
"Who are you taking with you? Your mom or dad?"
The girl smirked mischievously. "Why would I take a Muggle to a wizard race, huh?"
Ron's eyes glinted. "Do you mean…"
"Of course, you fool." she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm taking you."
A/N2: you might think that calling that baby "Lily" is cheap, but I thought that after Lily "visited" Ginny and encouraged her (never give up hope!), Ginny was bound to name her daughter after Lily.
To those who have never heard of the Hogwarts parchment book: Rowling talked about it in an interview (you can find that interview on scholastic).