"Harry Potter?" the ministry official called. "Yes sir." Harry replied as he stood up.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Mr. And Mrs. Weasley were at the Ministry of Magic that morning for Harry and Ron's apparition tests.
Ginny flashed Harry a reassuring smile as he turned to look at her before leaving the room.
"Okay, Mr. Potter, my name is Mr. Shappen and I will be administering your test today. I simply want you to apparate to the other end of this room and then disapparate back to this side. Any questions?" the instructor asked in a dry tone.
"No sir." Harry replied. Harry took a deep breath and concentrated. He was fairly confident that he could do this. He had apparated four times by himself before. Twice in training in Hogwarts and once with Dumbledore coming back from the cave. With a loud pop that startled even him, he found himself on the other side of the room.
"Well done, Mr. Potter. Now back to the other side." the instructor commented.
Harry disapparated to the other side in the next second.
"Superb, Mr. Potter, superb. Passed with flying colors." Mr. Shappen said with a smile. "Y'know, I had to pull some strings to be able to be the one to give Harry Potter his apparition test." Mr. Shappen boasted. "Just wanted to let you know that I never believed any of that rubbish The Daily Prophet wrote about you. Defended you a hundred percent."
Harry forced himself to smile. "Well, thank you, sir. It's nice to know I had some support here in the Ministry. Um…should I send Ron in?" he asked hastily for a change of subject.
"Please, Mr. Potter. And once again, it's been a pleasure." the instructor called as Harry escaped out the door.
Everyone looked at him expectantly as he came out of the office. "I passed!" he said with a grin. Suddenly, he was engulfed in hugs from everyone and a kiss from Ginny.
"What took you so long?" Ron asked nervously. "I mean, what all do they make you do?"
"Oh, nothing more than to apparate and disparate. The instructor was just telling me how he believed in me when the paper was printing all that stuff before." he muttered turning red. "Oh, he said for you to go on in, Ron."
Ron looked as if he'd rather feed a Blast Ended Skrewt lunch than go in and take the test as he opened the door to the testing room.
"Good luck, mate." Harry called. A silent tension filled the room. He was sure that what was running through his mind was going through everyone elses too. Ron had failed the first test, which would put more pressure on him to pass this one. Usually, when Ron got nervous, he performed miserably.
Harry took Ginny's hand in his and squeezed lightly. He knew that she was nervous for Ron. Finally, after what had seemed an eternity, Ron flew out of the room with a goofy grin.
"I passed! I passed!" he yelled.
Harry and the others swarmed around Ron clapping him on the back and pulling him in for hugs. Mr. Weasley cleared his throat after congratulating Ron. "I'm treating everyone to butterbeer in Diagon Alley." he exclaimed.
Harry's spirits were lifted as he was surrounded by his closest family and friends. For the first time in months, he felt like celebrating.