Chapter 9: Over the Sea to Skye.
"Have you got everything you'll need?" Peter asked Ginny, looking around Ginny's part of the seventh year dorm, checking for anything they left out.
"I've got it all." Her friend assured her. "Beside even if I haven't I can just send Dobby back to get it."
"That's true. Let's get your stuff down to the Entrance Hall. How are you getting down?"
"Worthington's coming up. The Rolls can fit our stuff in better than Harry's Puma."
"Puma? Oh yeah, Harry's car. What time will he be at the gates?"
Ginny checked her watch. "I've got twenty minutes."
"Let's go then. Does Dobby now that he's supposed to bring your stuff down?"
"I told him this morning. He'll be back in about five minutes."
"Well then, let's go upstairs and you can say your goodbyes."
"Sure, it'll only take ten minutes to get down to the gates." Ginny clicked the padlock on her trunk shut and then stood up. Peter walked to the door and opened it, then held it for Ginny to come out. They climbed up the stairs, past the first year dormitories and stopped at the stone door to the Gryffindor Suite. "Corvus." The door slid open and they walked in. The other four members of their group were all waiting. "I'm off now guys." Ginny told them.
"Bye." chorused the four.
"I've left your Easter Eggs with Clingy, Bird's elf. You can get them from her on Sunday."
"Sure. See you in a couple of weeks, Ginny."
"Have fun, but don't forget to study."
"I won't."
Ginny turned and walked back down the stairs, Peter paused, clearly undecided and then sat down in one of the arm chairs and began to read a book that had been lying on a low table beside it.
----
By the time Ginny reached the gates, Hermione and Sirius were waiting for her with Crookshanks and Odin in tow. A few seconds later, Dobby appeared with a pop and piled Ginny's trunk and Mercury's cage. They didn't have long to wait before the gleaming golden Rolls Royce appeared over the brow of the hill and slid to a stop in front of them. Worthington got out and bowed to them, then opened the back door so that Harry and Ron could get out. He stepped back and allowed the two men to greet their friends. Harry embraced Ginny and Ron hugged Hermione tightly, they each held their girlfriends for a few moments and then broke their embrace, Ron and Hermione stepped apart but Harry and Ginny stayed beside each other, one arm around each other's waist.
"Hi Sirius, Hermione. How have you been?" asked Harry.
"I'm fine. I've been keeping busy preparing for the exams, of course." Hermione told him.
Sirius grinned, "Things have been busy enough. Not as hard as last year of course, things have been routine for the last few months."
"Sirs, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley. Your luggage has been stowed away." Worthington told them. "Would you like to get moving?"
"Certainly Worthington." said Harry, guiding Ginny towards the car. Worthington opened the door. "Dobby, meet us at Chancery House."
"Of course Harry Potter sir." said Dobby and disappeared with a pop. Harry and Ginny got into the car and Sirius, Ron and Hermione followed quickly. Once they were all inside the car, Worthington closed the door behind them and crossed to the driver's door and got in. He started the engine. "Chancery House sir?"
"Yes Worthington." replied Harry. Worthington nodded and they drove off.
----
It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at Chancery House and Mrs Weasley, Penelope, Bill and Fleur were waiting for them. "Arthur and Percy are still at work." Mrs Weasley told them once she'd finished hugging Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
Harry nodded. "Shall we get Ginny, Hermione and Sirius settled in Molly, and then you can tell us the news, I've been so busy lately I'm almost as out of touch as they are?"
"Good idea Harry. Follow me everyone. Don't worry about your trunks, Worthington and the house-elves will sort them out."
Harry nodded and led the way to the door behind Mrs Weasley. "How are you doing Bill?" he asked the eldest Weasley.
"Fine. Magical Catastrophes isn't much different to my old Gringotts job, except I can stay at home if I want to." he replied, "How about you?"
"Very busy but fine. I've been working flat out for the last six weeks and then for the three months before that. I've only had one full long weekend off since Christmas. But I wouldn't give it up for anything, or at least it would take something very important."
"I'm sure. I feel the same."
Harry continued to chat with Bill, and later Fleur, until they reached the four friends' rooms on the second floor. "Why don't you get settled in? Dinner will be at six."
Ron and Hermione immediately disappeared into their room; Harry and Ginny lingered for a moment to talk with Sirius and then went into theirs. Dobby had already been in and unpacked Ginny's things and put them in her wardrobe on the left side of the room, so Ginny quickly crossed to it and took out some clean clothes. "I'm going to have a shower Harry. I'd didn't have a chance yesterday or this morning and we had a late Quidditch practice last night." Harry nodded and settled down in the single armchair to wait.
Twenty minutes later, Ginny emerged from their small bathroom in a cloud of steam. She was dressed in a faded pair of jeans and Harry's favourite of her Christmas sweaters, the pale blue one she'd got two years before. She walked over to him and sat down on his lap. "Anything you like to tell me Harry?"
"Only that I've really missed you over the last month or so, love." Harry told her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her down so that her head rested on his shoulder. "How about you?"
"I'm fine Harry. I wouldn't mind some help with my revision though. The Invisibility Charm really has me sweating."
"I'll be happy to Ginny. Would you like to come to a game? The game against the Prides is in three days."
"Sure. It is the holidays after all, I can't work all the time."
"Sounds like a good philosophy to me." Harry agreed.
----
Harry and Ginny worked hard on her lessons for the next two days when Harry could spare the time. Ron and Hermione spent most of their time in their time in their room. Harry had a good idea that Ron wasn't helping her with setting the Transfiguration tests and the other work she needed to finish, but he said nothing.
The next day the four friends and Sirius took a Port-Key to Sky with the rest of the Cannons and Harry managed to wrangle them seats in the VIP box for the game.
"Welcome to another exciting game this afternoon, as the Prides take on the favourites for the Cup. the Chudley Cannons!" A young, dark-haired Ministry employee, Ron identified her as Tamara Duncan, announced. "Playing for the visitors are. Furnace, Parker, Gatsby, Potter, Moore, Gerard, aaaaaannnnd CONROY!!!"
"Harry isn't the only new recruit." Ron mused. "Furnace, Parker and Gatsby only joined this season too."
"Playing in purple for Prides today are. Lytle, Samson, McCormack, Hopper, Morton, Franks, aaaaaannnnd FUERTE!" Duncan told them.
The referee, Theo Hunter blew his whistle. "The Quaffle is in the air and they're off. The Prides are in possession, Fuerte with the Quaffle, drops to Morton - intercepted by Conroy. he shoots. A good save by McCormack, and the Prides are back in possession - Franks has the Quaffle, swoops round one Chaser, and a second, he gets hit hard by a Bludger from Furnace and goes down. The Cannons are in possession, Gerard with the Quaffle. passes to Moore. she shoots and scores. The Cannons open the scoring and are still in possession, Conroy with the Quaffle. He's maneuvering for another shot, Lytle sends a Bludger his way, but Parker deflects it. The Cannons score again, they now lead 20-0!"
"What are the Cannons' chances of winning this game?" Hermione asked.
"Pretty good." Ron told her. "They've opened the scoring and the Prides are one of the under-dogs of the League. I don't think they're going to break the Cannons unbroken record this season, especially if big guns like the Bats couldn't manage it."
"A good Porskoff Play by Hopper opens up a hole in the Cannons' defence. Franks takes the shot. and the Prides now trail 10-40. The Cannons are now in possession, Conroy with the Quaffle, streaking towards the Pride goal. He shoots, nice broom save by McCormack. The Cannons still in possession, Moore takes the Quaffle, passes to Conroy, who shoots again. He scores!"
Harry saw a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye. It was the Snitch. Time to cut this game short, he thought and wheeled around, diving sharply downwards. He could see Fuerte closing in too. Faster, Faster, he urged his Firebolt. He was only a few feet away. five. four. he could hear the whistling of the other Seeker's broom just behind him. Got it. He pulled his broom up out of its dive and raised his arm in triumph. "Potter wins a close race to the Snitch and preserves his unbroken record as The Cannons win 200-10."
Harry followed his team back down to the ground and jumped off his broom. What did you think of the game love? he asked Ginny telepathically, through their link.
It wasn't bad Harry. You did well.
Meet me at the main entrance in about an hour-and-a-half. Conroy'll want to give us the usual post-match debriefing and then I need to have a shower and get changed. How about having a look around the island before we head back?
Sounds like a good idea to me Lion, I'll suggest it to Fox, Owl and Padfoot. See you later then.
Love you. Bye. Harry told her as he walked into the changing rooms they had been given when they arrived a few hours earlier. "Hi guys. Good game huh?"
Conroy nodded, and motioned Harry onto one of the benches, "Sit down Harry." He waited until Harry was settled before continuing. "Now that was a fairly good game today people, but we've got to work on our take-offs, take control right from the beginning of the match. We've got a couple of difficult matches still to play and if we lose control of the Quaffle early in the game, even Harry's capture of the Snitch might not pull it back for us."
He continued on that vein for over an hour and then dismissed them. "Have a shower and get of here. The next match isn't for another week, so I'm going to give you a couple of days off. Report for next practice at eight am on Tuesday."
"Thanks Charlie." said Harry, who had already started to unfasten his Quidditch robes. The others echoed his sentiments.
"You're welcome. I know most of you were probably hoping to do something with your family or your partners this weekend, so I thought I'd let you take advantage of the breathing space."
----
About twenty minutes later Harry, feeling refreshed by a warm shower and wearing a clean shirt and jeans under a plain black robe, nodded goodbye to the members of the Quidditch team who were still changing, opened the door and walked out of the changing rooms. After about five minutes of walking through corridors, occasionally ducking to one side to avoid wizards or witches wearing in orange, he finally caught up with Ginny, Sirius, Ron and Hermione and saw they were standing talking to a young black-haired witch. Harry struggled to remember where he'd seen her before. He walked up behind Ginny and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him. "Sorry I'm late."
"Mmmm. That's okay love." Ginny assured him. "Do you know Tammy?" Harry shook his head, then paused. "You were the commentator weren't you?"
Tammy nodded and held out a hand. Harry shook it. "Tamara Duncan. Most people call me Tammy. I work with your friend Ron at the Quidditch Association Office."
"Do you enjoy it?" Harry asked.
"I do. You won't remember, but I was a Seeker myself once, for Ravenclaw. I left after your first year. It was a shame we never got to play against each other." Harry nodded. "Are you heading back to the mainland today or can you stay for a while?"
"I don't have anything pressing, Conroy just gave us a few days off." admitted Harry. "In fact, I asked Ginny the same thing just after the match." The others agreed with Harry.
Tammy seemed about to ask how he asked Ginny, but said nothing. "That's good, I can show around then if you like? I was born on Skye and my brother Thomas and I still have a house here, though we're staying with friends in London mostly these days."
"That sounds great Tammy." Harry told her, "Would it be possible to drop my stuff off somewhere?"
"Sure. My house is only about half a mile away." Tammy told them and led the way up one of the hills to the west of the stadium.
----
They reached her house about ten minutes later. Harry stowed his broomstick and bag of Quidditch robes in one of her cupboards and then the five of them transfigured their robes and cloaks into Muggle clothing. Though it was April, the day was still quite crisp, so they appreciated the warmth of the heavy overcoats. Tammy showed them out and then locked the door with her wand. "There's a small branch of Gringotts just down by the stadium, do you want to go down and get some money?" Harry nodded and she led the way back down the hill. This time when she reached the bottom, she branched off to the right instead of the left, and took them down a narrow path.
The Gringotts branch was quite small. It had only two desks, each manned by a goblin. "How can I help you?"
"Would it be possible to get some money out of my vault in London?" asked Harry.
"Certainly. Do you have your key?" Harry rummaged around in his pockets for a minute or two and then handled the goblin the small gold key. "Seems in order." He handed a Harry a piece of parchment. "Fill in this please." Harry took the form and glanced at it.
Harry filled in the form and handed it back to the goblin. "How would you like your money Mr Potter?"
"Muggle bank notes please."
The goblin scowled. "Very well." He stepped down off his stool and went to a large wall safe. With a gesture he unlocked it and took out a stack of banknotes. He came back to the counter and handed the stack to Harry. "Anything else?"
"No."
"Good day then." said the goblin and bowed them out of the bank.
----
The five of them had a good time that afternoon, looking around the island, visiting the tourist stops and shopping in Muggle souvenir shops and clothes stores. Harry was particularly attracted to some thick hand-knit jumpers in one shop and bought two; a maroon and yellow one and a black one for himself; a sky-blue one for Ginny, a dark brown one with gold threads for Ron and a purple one for Hermione. He asked Sirius if he would like one but he declined. He also picked up heavy warm overcoats for himself and Ginny. It'll save us transfiguring wizard clothing if we have to come back up here again. he told her. She nodded.
They stopped off at one of the Muggle pubs for dinner, and Ron had a chance to try Muggle alcohol. "It's not as nice as our kind." he told the others, later as they walked back through the gathering dusk to Tammy's house. "And the effects are a lot worse." he moaned, frowning and massaging his forehead.
"Oh poor ickle Ronniekins." said Ginny, not sounding at all sorry for her brother. "Can't hold his drink eh?"
"I'll get you for that later Ginny." said Ron. "But right now I don't have the energy."
Tammy unlocked the front door of her house. "Can you all Apparate, or do you want to use my fireplace?"
"Thanks." said Sirius, "We'll need to. I can't Apparate and I don't Ron's up to it in his condition."
Harry paused, he really didn't like using the Floo Network. "Sirius, can you manage Ron?"
"Sure Harry, if Hermione'll give me a hand." She nodded and crossed to Sirius' side. Harry and Ginny waited until the other three had stepped into the magical fire and then Apparated away with a pop.
----
A week later, Sirius, Hermione and Ginny left Chancery House again in the Rolls with Worthington in the driving seat, and headed back to Hogwarts. The League Final is in six weeks. Harry told Ginny as they drove off. So by mid June, I'll be free for about three months, so I might come up then. But I'll definitely be up for the Quidditch Cup Final.
I'm counting on it Lion. Ginny replied, See you then.
"Have you got everything you'll need?" Peter asked Ginny, looking around Ginny's part of the seventh year dorm, checking for anything they left out.
"I've got it all." Her friend assured her. "Beside even if I haven't I can just send Dobby back to get it."
"That's true. Let's get your stuff down to the Entrance Hall. How are you getting down?"
"Worthington's coming up. The Rolls can fit our stuff in better than Harry's Puma."
"Puma? Oh yeah, Harry's car. What time will he be at the gates?"
Ginny checked her watch. "I've got twenty minutes."
"Let's go then. Does Dobby now that he's supposed to bring your stuff down?"
"I told him this morning. He'll be back in about five minutes."
"Well then, let's go upstairs and you can say your goodbyes."
"Sure, it'll only take ten minutes to get down to the gates." Ginny clicked the padlock on her trunk shut and then stood up. Peter walked to the door and opened it, then held it for Ginny to come out. They climbed up the stairs, past the first year dormitories and stopped at the stone door to the Gryffindor Suite. "Corvus." The door slid open and they walked in. The other four members of their group were all waiting. "I'm off now guys." Ginny told them.
"Bye." chorused the four.
"I've left your Easter Eggs with Clingy, Bird's elf. You can get them from her on Sunday."
"Sure. See you in a couple of weeks, Ginny."
"Have fun, but don't forget to study."
"I won't."
Ginny turned and walked back down the stairs, Peter paused, clearly undecided and then sat down in one of the arm chairs and began to read a book that had been lying on a low table beside it.
----
By the time Ginny reached the gates, Hermione and Sirius were waiting for her with Crookshanks and Odin in tow. A few seconds later, Dobby appeared with a pop and piled Ginny's trunk and Mercury's cage. They didn't have long to wait before the gleaming golden Rolls Royce appeared over the brow of the hill and slid to a stop in front of them. Worthington got out and bowed to them, then opened the back door so that Harry and Ron could get out. He stepped back and allowed the two men to greet their friends. Harry embraced Ginny and Ron hugged Hermione tightly, they each held their girlfriends for a few moments and then broke their embrace, Ron and Hermione stepped apart but Harry and Ginny stayed beside each other, one arm around each other's waist.
"Hi Sirius, Hermione. How have you been?" asked Harry.
"I'm fine. I've been keeping busy preparing for the exams, of course." Hermione told him.
Sirius grinned, "Things have been busy enough. Not as hard as last year of course, things have been routine for the last few months."
"Sirs, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley. Your luggage has been stowed away." Worthington told them. "Would you like to get moving?"
"Certainly Worthington." said Harry, guiding Ginny towards the car. Worthington opened the door. "Dobby, meet us at Chancery House."
"Of course Harry Potter sir." said Dobby and disappeared with a pop. Harry and Ginny got into the car and Sirius, Ron and Hermione followed quickly. Once they were all inside the car, Worthington closed the door behind them and crossed to the driver's door and got in. He started the engine. "Chancery House sir?"
"Yes Worthington." replied Harry. Worthington nodded and they drove off.
----
It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at Chancery House and Mrs Weasley, Penelope, Bill and Fleur were waiting for them. "Arthur and Percy are still at work." Mrs Weasley told them once she'd finished hugging Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
Harry nodded. "Shall we get Ginny, Hermione and Sirius settled in Molly, and then you can tell us the news, I've been so busy lately I'm almost as out of touch as they are?"
"Good idea Harry. Follow me everyone. Don't worry about your trunks, Worthington and the house-elves will sort them out."
Harry nodded and led the way to the door behind Mrs Weasley. "How are you doing Bill?" he asked the eldest Weasley.
"Fine. Magical Catastrophes isn't much different to my old Gringotts job, except I can stay at home if I want to." he replied, "How about you?"
"Very busy but fine. I've been working flat out for the last six weeks and then for the three months before that. I've only had one full long weekend off since Christmas. But I wouldn't give it up for anything, or at least it would take something very important."
"I'm sure. I feel the same."
Harry continued to chat with Bill, and later Fleur, until they reached the four friends' rooms on the second floor. "Why don't you get settled in? Dinner will be at six."
Ron and Hermione immediately disappeared into their room; Harry and Ginny lingered for a moment to talk with Sirius and then went into theirs. Dobby had already been in and unpacked Ginny's things and put them in her wardrobe on the left side of the room, so Ginny quickly crossed to it and took out some clean clothes. "I'm going to have a shower Harry. I'd didn't have a chance yesterday or this morning and we had a late Quidditch practice last night." Harry nodded and settled down in the single armchair to wait.
Twenty minutes later, Ginny emerged from their small bathroom in a cloud of steam. She was dressed in a faded pair of jeans and Harry's favourite of her Christmas sweaters, the pale blue one she'd got two years before. She walked over to him and sat down on his lap. "Anything you like to tell me Harry?"
"Only that I've really missed you over the last month or so, love." Harry told her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her down so that her head rested on his shoulder. "How about you?"
"I'm fine Harry. I wouldn't mind some help with my revision though. The Invisibility Charm really has me sweating."
"I'll be happy to Ginny. Would you like to come to a game? The game against the Prides is in three days."
"Sure. It is the holidays after all, I can't work all the time."
"Sounds like a good philosophy to me." Harry agreed.
----
Harry and Ginny worked hard on her lessons for the next two days when Harry could spare the time. Ron and Hermione spent most of their time in their time in their room. Harry had a good idea that Ron wasn't helping her with setting the Transfiguration tests and the other work she needed to finish, but he said nothing.
The next day the four friends and Sirius took a Port-Key to Sky with the rest of the Cannons and Harry managed to wrangle them seats in the VIP box for the game.
"Welcome to another exciting game this afternoon, as the Prides take on the favourites for the Cup. the Chudley Cannons!" A young, dark-haired Ministry employee, Ron identified her as Tamara Duncan, announced. "Playing for the visitors are. Furnace, Parker, Gatsby, Potter, Moore, Gerard, aaaaaannnnd CONROY!!!"
"Harry isn't the only new recruit." Ron mused. "Furnace, Parker and Gatsby only joined this season too."
"Playing in purple for Prides today are. Lytle, Samson, McCormack, Hopper, Morton, Franks, aaaaaannnnd FUERTE!" Duncan told them.
The referee, Theo Hunter blew his whistle. "The Quaffle is in the air and they're off. The Prides are in possession, Fuerte with the Quaffle, drops to Morton - intercepted by Conroy. he shoots. A good save by McCormack, and the Prides are back in possession - Franks has the Quaffle, swoops round one Chaser, and a second, he gets hit hard by a Bludger from Furnace and goes down. The Cannons are in possession, Gerard with the Quaffle. passes to Moore. she shoots and scores. The Cannons open the scoring and are still in possession, Conroy with the Quaffle. He's maneuvering for another shot, Lytle sends a Bludger his way, but Parker deflects it. The Cannons score again, they now lead 20-0!"
"What are the Cannons' chances of winning this game?" Hermione asked.
"Pretty good." Ron told her. "They've opened the scoring and the Prides are one of the under-dogs of the League. I don't think they're going to break the Cannons unbroken record this season, especially if big guns like the Bats couldn't manage it."
"A good Porskoff Play by Hopper opens up a hole in the Cannons' defence. Franks takes the shot. and the Prides now trail 10-40. The Cannons are now in possession, Conroy with the Quaffle, streaking towards the Pride goal. He shoots, nice broom save by McCormack. The Cannons still in possession, Moore takes the Quaffle, passes to Conroy, who shoots again. He scores!"
Harry saw a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye. It was the Snitch. Time to cut this game short, he thought and wheeled around, diving sharply downwards. He could see Fuerte closing in too. Faster, Faster, he urged his Firebolt. He was only a few feet away. five. four. he could hear the whistling of the other Seeker's broom just behind him. Got it. He pulled his broom up out of its dive and raised his arm in triumph. "Potter wins a close race to the Snitch and preserves his unbroken record as The Cannons win 200-10."
Harry followed his team back down to the ground and jumped off his broom. What did you think of the game love? he asked Ginny telepathically, through their link.
It wasn't bad Harry. You did well.
Meet me at the main entrance in about an hour-and-a-half. Conroy'll want to give us the usual post-match debriefing and then I need to have a shower and get changed. How about having a look around the island before we head back?
Sounds like a good idea to me Lion, I'll suggest it to Fox, Owl and Padfoot. See you later then.
Love you. Bye. Harry told her as he walked into the changing rooms they had been given when they arrived a few hours earlier. "Hi guys. Good game huh?"
Conroy nodded, and motioned Harry onto one of the benches, "Sit down Harry." He waited until Harry was settled before continuing. "Now that was a fairly good game today people, but we've got to work on our take-offs, take control right from the beginning of the match. We've got a couple of difficult matches still to play and if we lose control of the Quaffle early in the game, even Harry's capture of the Snitch might not pull it back for us."
He continued on that vein for over an hour and then dismissed them. "Have a shower and get of here. The next match isn't for another week, so I'm going to give you a couple of days off. Report for next practice at eight am on Tuesday."
"Thanks Charlie." said Harry, who had already started to unfasten his Quidditch robes. The others echoed his sentiments.
"You're welcome. I know most of you were probably hoping to do something with your family or your partners this weekend, so I thought I'd let you take advantage of the breathing space."
----
About twenty minutes later Harry, feeling refreshed by a warm shower and wearing a clean shirt and jeans under a plain black robe, nodded goodbye to the members of the Quidditch team who were still changing, opened the door and walked out of the changing rooms. After about five minutes of walking through corridors, occasionally ducking to one side to avoid wizards or witches wearing in orange, he finally caught up with Ginny, Sirius, Ron and Hermione and saw they were standing talking to a young black-haired witch. Harry struggled to remember where he'd seen her before. He walked up behind Ginny and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him. "Sorry I'm late."
"Mmmm. That's okay love." Ginny assured him. "Do you know Tammy?" Harry shook his head, then paused. "You were the commentator weren't you?"
Tammy nodded and held out a hand. Harry shook it. "Tamara Duncan. Most people call me Tammy. I work with your friend Ron at the Quidditch Association Office."
"Do you enjoy it?" Harry asked.
"I do. You won't remember, but I was a Seeker myself once, for Ravenclaw. I left after your first year. It was a shame we never got to play against each other." Harry nodded. "Are you heading back to the mainland today or can you stay for a while?"
"I don't have anything pressing, Conroy just gave us a few days off." admitted Harry. "In fact, I asked Ginny the same thing just after the match." The others agreed with Harry.
Tammy seemed about to ask how he asked Ginny, but said nothing. "That's good, I can show around then if you like? I was born on Skye and my brother Thomas and I still have a house here, though we're staying with friends in London mostly these days."
"That sounds great Tammy." Harry told her, "Would it be possible to drop my stuff off somewhere?"
"Sure. My house is only about half a mile away." Tammy told them and led the way up one of the hills to the west of the stadium.
----
They reached her house about ten minutes later. Harry stowed his broomstick and bag of Quidditch robes in one of her cupboards and then the five of them transfigured their robes and cloaks into Muggle clothing. Though it was April, the day was still quite crisp, so they appreciated the warmth of the heavy overcoats. Tammy showed them out and then locked the door with her wand. "There's a small branch of Gringotts just down by the stadium, do you want to go down and get some money?" Harry nodded and she led the way back down the hill. This time when she reached the bottom, she branched off to the right instead of the left, and took them down a narrow path.
The Gringotts branch was quite small. It had only two desks, each manned by a goblin. "How can I help you?"
"Would it be possible to get some money out of my vault in London?" asked Harry.
"Certainly. Do you have your key?" Harry rummaged around in his pockets for a minute or two and then handled the goblin the small gold key. "Seems in order." He handed a Harry a piece of parchment. "Fill in this please." Harry took the form and glanced at it.
Harry filled in the form and handed it back to the goblin. "How would you like your money Mr Potter?"
"Muggle bank notes please."
The goblin scowled. "Very well." He stepped down off his stool and went to a large wall safe. With a gesture he unlocked it and took out a stack of banknotes. He came back to the counter and handed the stack to Harry. "Anything else?"
"No."
"Good day then." said the goblin and bowed them out of the bank.
----
The five of them had a good time that afternoon, looking around the island, visiting the tourist stops and shopping in Muggle souvenir shops and clothes stores. Harry was particularly attracted to some thick hand-knit jumpers in one shop and bought two; a maroon and yellow one and a black one for himself; a sky-blue one for Ginny, a dark brown one with gold threads for Ron and a purple one for Hermione. He asked Sirius if he would like one but he declined. He also picked up heavy warm overcoats for himself and Ginny. It'll save us transfiguring wizard clothing if we have to come back up here again. he told her. She nodded.
They stopped off at one of the Muggle pubs for dinner, and Ron had a chance to try Muggle alcohol. "It's not as nice as our kind." he told the others, later as they walked back through the gathering dusk to Tammy's house. "And the effects are a lot worse." he moaned, frowning and massaging his forehead.
"Oh poor ickle Ronniekins." said Ginny, not sounding at all sorry for her brother. "Can't hold his drink eh?"
"I'll get you for that later Ginny." said Ron. "But right now I don't have the energy."
Tammy unlocked the front door of her house. "Can you all Apparate, or do you want to use my fireplace?"
"Thanks." said Sirius, "We'll need to. I can't Apparate and I don't Ron's up to it in his condition."
Harry paused, he really didn't like using the Floo Network. "Sirius, can you manage Ron?"
"Sure Harry, if Hermione'll give me a hand." She nodded and crossed to Sirius' side. Harry and Ginny waited until the other three had stepped into the magical fire and then Apparated away with a pop.
----
A week later, Sirius, Hermione and Ginny left Chancery House again in the Rolls with Worthington in the driving seat, and headed back to Hogwarts. The League Final is in six weeks. Harry told Ginny as they drove off. So by mid June, I'll be free for about three months, so I might come up then. But I'll definitely be up for the Quidditch Cup Final.
I'm counting on it Lion. Ginny replied, See you then.