Harry Potter and the Magnificent Seven

Chapter 28

Harry awoke early the next morning, memories of the previous night flooding into his mind, causing him to smile. He looked over at the vision of beauty sleeping next to him and felt absolutely content.

Why the hell did I wait so long? He thought to himself. All of his arguments against taking this step, and against asking Ginny to marry him first before the defeat of Voldemort and then before her birthday no longer seemed important. In fact, he felt ashamed that he had acted that way. The more he thought about it, Ginny had signaled several times lately that she wanted to move their relationship further, and he had just ignored her.

Ginny moved beside him, drawing him out of his thoughts. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled.

"Morning." she said, reaching up to kiss him. A moment later she pulled back.

"Morning." He replied, returning the kiss. Ginny snuggled close to him.

"Last night was wonderful." She said.

"Do I take that to mean your not opposed to a repeat performance this morning?" Harry asked with a smirk on his face.

An hour later, Harry and Ginny walked hand-in-hand into the Mess Hall. Harry glanced around and spotted the rest of the Marauders, as well as Sirius, John, Ding, and Erika sitting at a table. Sirius waved them over.

"About time you two got up." Sirius said, smirking. "From the look on Harry's face, I'd say you had a good birthday." Harry and Ginny grinned, than sat down. Ginny reached with her left hand to grab a pitcher of orange juice. As she did so, the light caught the ring on her finger. Hermione and Erika gasped.

"Ginny! Is that an engagement ring?" Hermione asked. Ginny glanced at Harry, who nodded. She then held her hand out for the rest to see.

"Harry asked me last night." She said, smiling.

"Congratulations." John said, followed by the others.

"Do mom and dad know yet?" Ron asked. Harry shook his head.

"They knew I was planning on asking, seeing as how somebody spilled the beans." Harry said, glaring at Ron. "They pulled me out of the party last night to let me know they were okay with it. But they don't know I asked yet."

"You better tell mom right away." Fred said.

"Yeah, she'll be right mad if you don't tell her soon." George said.

"We'll visit her and dad later and let them know." Ginny said.

"When's the wedding?" Neville asked. Harry glanced at Ginny, and then answered.

"We didn't really discuss it." He said honestly, "We..er…we're too busy celebrating." The group exchanged knowing looks, causing Harry and Ginny to blush slightly. "Besides, even with her parents okay we legally can't get married until after her birthday."

Hundreds of miles away, a lone figure moved cautiously through the cold, stone corridors of Durmstrang Magical Academy. It had been a long several days, filled with much reflection.

Viktor Krum silently sighed to himself. The beginning of last term had brought much change to the Academy. For one, Headmaster Karkaroff had been replaced, as had most of the teaching staff. The new staff, while competent, was much…darker than the previous staff. This fact became apparent very fast. Durmstrang had always had a reputation for being deeper in the Dark Arts than most other wizarding schools but it had never reached this level.

Another change was his own standing in the school. He has always been one of the favorites among the teachers and students. But that had changed. Since the start of term, he had be subjected to a steadily increasing amount of hatred from the professors and students, particularly for his brief romantic interlude with the muggle born Hermione Granger at Hogwarts last year.

But that was only part of it. Far worse was his seemingly friendly attitude towards Harry Potter during the Tournament. It was odd, he reflected, he had always been brought up to believe the very things that his classmates did about muggle borns. But all of that had crumbled in his time at Hogwarts.

Then several days ago, Viktor had stumbled upon information that he wished wasn't true. The entire staff was Deatheaters. Worse, they had been recruiting many of the students over the last several months. But even that was not the last of it.

There had always been rumors of a vast network of underground chambers on the grounds, but until a mere hour ago, no one had ever been able to find them. Then Viktor had spotted several figures who had not been at the school even the day before go through a secret entrance near the Potions room. He had followed them, and discovered a horrifying fact.

Durmstrang was now the headquarters of Lord Voldemort.

Viktor had immediately retreated back into the school. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for him; he had no illusions that he could have invaded the Dark Lord's space and not have been noticed. Chances were he would be dead shortly.

But that doesn't matter. He thought. What matters is that I let Harry know what's going on before that happens.

"Harry, Ginny!" Molly Weasley exclaimed, rushing over to Harry and Ginny and engulfed them in a bone-crushing hug. They had used a portkey to travel to Hogwarts, where Molly and Arthur were currently residing. "I wasn't expecting a visit from you today. Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, mum." Ginny said smiling. "Where's dad?"

"Ginny! Harry!" the voice of Arthur Weasley sounded from behind them. They turned and greeted him.

"So what do we owe this visit to?" Arthur asked.

"Well, we have some news." Ginny said, holding up her left hand for both of her parents to see. Molly gasped.

"Is that- Are you-" she asked.

"Yes, Molly." Harry replied. "I hope you're okay with it. I know you gave me your permission, but at the time you thought I was going to wait until her birthday. I just couldn't wait any longer."

Molly and Arthur exchanged looks and smiled.

"Harry," Arthur said, coming over to him and extending his hand. "We meant what we said last night. Welcome to the family." He moved away and Molly came over and hugged Harry.

"Thank you Arthur, Molly." Harry replied.

"So have you to decided when?" Arthur asked.

"No." Ginny replied honestly. "I mean, I can't until my birthday, even with you approval."

"Well, as soon as you decide let us know." Molly said. Just then Dumbledore entered the room, his normally dancing eyes subdued.

"Hello, Harry, Ginny." He said. "Congratulations on your engagement." Harry looked puzzled. They hadn't told him yet. Dumbledore smiled slightly. "There is very little that goes on in Hogwarts without me knowing about it. In fact, the last time was when seven former pupils of mine…ah, alas I fear that I must put an end to this reunion."

"What is it Albus?" Harry asked.

"I've just received an owl Harry, with a letter addressed to you." He replied, handing it to him. The envelope was stained with blood.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"The owl that brought it was very badly injured. Whomever sent it and whatever information it contains, it looks like someone didn't want it to get through." Dumbledore replied. Harry immediately opened the envelope, took out the parchment and began to read.

Dear Harry,

I hope that this note reaches you though I am afraid it may not. I have recently discovered information that is critical to the war.

Durmstrang has become a stronghold of Voldemort. There are vast underground complexes here that I have recently discovered are being used by the staff and the rest of Voldemort's followers. More importantly, I believe the Dark Lord himself is here.

I have no illusions that I will live to speak with you first hand; I'm afraid they already know that I saw what I wasn't supposed to.

This letter is a portkey that will take you to the forest near the school, tap it with your wand and say "snitch." I'm sure you'll find a way to get the rest of your people here.

Good luck Harry and make the bastards pay for everything they've done.

Viktor

Harry's face took on a stone appearance.

"What does it say?" Ginny asked. He handed her the letter. Her eyes widened as she read it. Finally she passed it on to Dumbledore.

"We need to get back to base." Harry said after everyone was finished reading.

"What are you planning to do?" Arthur asked.

"I suggest you gather as many Aurors and Unspeakables as you can spare." Harry said to Arthur and Dumbledore. "Once we get back to base, we're going to start planning an assault on Durmstrang. Its time we finish this once and for all."

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Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in updating. Although I originally intended this story to run through 6th and 7th year, I find myself rapidly running out of options for plot points. So it appears that the story will go another four or five chapters at most, ending towards the second or third month of what would have been Harry's 6th year. I may or may not do a sequel; first I want to work on my two other fics.