The List
By: lbfan
An Overly-Dramatized Disclaimer: The Characters, sniffle and every other blasted thing about Harry Potter that you may even glint a hint out of this story belongs to J.K. Rowling and her cronies: Bloomsbury, AOL Time Warner, Scholastic, etc … And because of such, I don't make a dime from it. sniffle, sob
Chapter 6 – Coming of Age
Neville told them, "We call it the LB Ranch. It is actually the old stable master's cottage and barn at the Longbottom estate. The cottage has been expanded to be a six bedroom house. The barn can be used as large practice room/meeting hall. A corner of the barn has book shelves and desks. Outside is a gated yard which we are going to use for apparition. In the yard is brick grill which we are going to use for Flooing. There are many charms and wards at the place, but the most important is the two stage Fidelius charm." Neville looked up to see the confused expressions which they gave him, and continued, "The fenced in entrance yard is under a separate Fidelius charm then the house. If someone makes it past the first charm, we have time to react before we are vulnerable to attack."
Harry smiled at Neville. He trusted him, but he really went overboard. He considered Neville to be brilliant for using his own property.
Harry called Dobby and asked him to send Ron's and his things up ahead.
With everyone except Luna present, they Floo'ed to the entrance yard and went into the house. Neville had to share the pass-phrase to each of them.
Hermione picked out one of the rooms downstairs. She was going to wait till the morning, before she moved in with her things.
Harry, Neville and Ron chose to sleep together in an upstairs room with three beds.
Tonks and Remus picked out rooms for themselves and said that they would be joining them later.
They visited for a few more minutes before the Weasleys left. Harry and Ginny had a few minutes together before they said their good-byes.
Harry woke up in the morning to Ginny gently shaking him. She was already dressed in her magenta work uniform. The bright color alone made him wince and squint his eyes.
"Good morning sleepy head," Ginny said, "Hermione told me that Ron is usually late to rise, but you usually wake early to do your 'high we' exercises."
Groggily, Harry said, "Tai Chi, besides, yesterday was an unusually tiring day for me. Let me go back to bed." His hair was sticking up all over, more so than usual. In actuality, Harry was not going to be able to fall back to sleep, now that Ginny was in his room. His senses and heart rate were already aroused by her presence. To make it worse, her floral scented hair fell in his face, as she leaned over to kiss his cheek.
Ginny ordered him, "Get up. I have to go off to work, and you have to see me off with a kiss. Besides, I brought the Daily Prophet. You'll enjoy this."
Harry sat up and said, "OK, I'll get up. No customers will come into the shop if your beautiful face isn't behind the counter."
To protect his modesty, Ginny grabbed his pillow and quickly turned around. Blushing, she said, "Alright, I'll see you downstairs. Dobby cooked up some breakfast." Throwing the pillow at Ron, she said, "Wake up dunderhead! Breakfast is ready."
Ron shouted, "Get out Ginny!" As he started to wake up he asked, "Did she say breakfast?"
Ginny was already out the door.
Harry was not the only one who was getting the news that morning. Far away in a hideout of his own, Voldemort summoned Wormtail into the room. Prostrating himself at the hem of his robe, Wormtail coward at his feet. Voldemort bellowed, "Where is Severus? Why has he not answered his summons? Hasn't anyone heard back from the Burrow?"
Wormtail shook as he answered, "No sir, no one has reported back except for some of the Dementors. The Dementors who returned are killing anyone who gets near them." He shook in anticipation of the Cruciatus Curse which would follow the bad news.
This time he was not punished. A brown owl flew into the room carrying the Daily Prophet to Wormtail. Wormtail put a Knut into the pouch on the owl's leg and took the paper. This owl was very wise, because it flew quickly out of the room before the headline could be read. Wormtail opened up the paper to read the headline, but the paper was ripped from his hands.
Voldemort's rage flared as he read the front page. Noticing that this wasn't going to be good news, Wormtail slowly backed his way towards the door. "Crucio!" Voldemort screamed, sending Wormtail writhing on the floor in pain. Voldemort let it up quickly, and ordered, "Bring me Greengrass. I will torture someone who didn't bring me any news; Good or bad."
Arriving in the kitchen for breakfast, Harry not only found Ginny, but Tonks, Hermione, Remus, Neville, and Crookshanks enjoying some breakfast. Hermione's trunk was lying in the living room floor. Ginny already assembled a plate for him with all of his usual favorites.
Remus handed the newspaper to him. "Good morning, Hero."
Harry opened up the news paper to see the headline:
Massive Death Eater Attack only results in two dead, six injured.
400 Dementors, 6 giants, and 198 Death Eaters tried to crash a wedding yesterday outside Ottery St. Catchpole. Bill Weasley and former Beauxbaton Tri-Wizard Cup Champion, Fleur Delacour were married, and the reception was cut short when the attack started in the afternoon. The apparent targets were Harry Potter (the Chosen One?) and his girlfriend, Ginevra Weasley, who were present for the celebration.
Of the wedding party crashers, 183 Dementors, no giants, and 60 Death Eaters lost their lives. 48 Death Eaters were injured.
The Dementors were held off by many Patronusses and two special Patronusses were actually destroying them.
From broomstick, Ronald Weasley led successful negotiations with the attacking giants. The giants agreed to leave the battle. Ronald Weasley continued to lead a broomstick brigade of fighters against the attacking Death Eaters.
The main defense of the wedding party was lead by Harry Potter himself. He led 39 wizards who stayed behind to fight in a battle. Twenty of these wizards were Aurors from the ministry who answered the call for help. The other nineteen were wedding party guests. This group was faced by an army of 198 death eaters. The death eaters were lead by former Professor Severus Snape of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry Potter kept his fighting team focused and organized compared to the rabble of barbaric death eaters who were attacking. In less than 20 minutes time, all of the death eaters were killed, wounded or captured. Not one death eater escaped.
It was heard that Harry Potter himself killed 12 and captured another 25. (The article continued on …)
Harry was actually thinking that he took out more than that. Twenty death eaters alone in the fog, but he wasn't going to say anything to anyone but Hermione. It would expose the fact that he could have seen through the fog, and cause too many questions. He looked up at everyone. They all seemed to be expecting some sort of comment.
Harry noted, "Last night, the deaths started to eat at me, but the numbers in the article seemed about right."
Remus said, "Very well Hero, but remember you told us to go on the defensive. While we were busy casting shields, you failed to take your own advice." Remus handed Harry his owl post which had been routed to a different location for pickup.
Harry smiled, and replied, "Yes well, it is difficult to ignore the Death Eaters when they were casting unforgivable curses."
Ginny added, "Remus doesn't want you to forget that while you were playing the hero, we were busy shielding you from spells on both sides of you. I actually feel responsible for Uncle Beevus, who was on the other side of me. He was critically injured."
Harry replied, "Thanks, but I do remember protecting you a few times too. I'm sorry about your uncle. The defensive approach was still a better tactic. It could have turned out far worse if we all went on the offensive."
She shrugged, and said, "It's fine Harry. We just don't want you go around with a big head like Percy."
Harry explained, "This battle didn't really have just one hero. Everyone was heroes in this battle. If everyone didn't work as a team, things could have gone bad quickly."
Remembering Percy, Harry told them more about what happened at the ministry the night before.
Hermione asked about the Dementor fight. She learned that after she cast her otter it kept on attacking, even though she was out of it. Ron's bear Patronus protected her. Remus and Tonks cast their Patronus' just as they got outside adding the wolf and the horse to the mix. Ginny claimed the griffin Patronus. She surprised herself when she cast it, but the wedding left so many happy thoughts in her head, it was bound to happen. Hermione was especially pleased when she heard the success of Harry's stag Knight Patronus.
Ginny got up to leave, and Harry followed her out. When they entered to the yard, Harry took her hand, and pulled her to the side. Holding her close to him, he gave her a kiss, which he hoped would last her though the day. In her ear, he whispered, "I love you."
Still leaning in to him, she reminisced, "It's kind of funny. With Michael, he never said those words, nor did I. With Dean, we were dating for 10 months. He told me those words, but they just seem to register, 'I want more out of our relationship' instead. I never said them back, nor could I. With you, I can't stop thinking those words. The funny thing is: we have only dated for one month, and just got back together after another month of not dating. I feel empty and incomplete without you, Harry. I love you too. Do you think we are going too fast?"
Harry thought about this for a while and then replied, "A good friend once told me that I should follow my heart on things like this. My heart is telling me that I'm not doing enough by just making you my girlfriend. It suggests that I should sweep you off your feet and elope with you."
Ginny giggled at the thought of running away to get married. Sobering up, she said, "Yeah well, you have other things which need to be done first, before you can give me a proper 'happily ever after'."
He corrected her, "Our adventure won't end when we get married. Oh, look at the time. You are already late. Don't forget, I'm going out to dinner with Hermione tonight." He gave her a mischievous smirk. After she hit him, he gave her another kiss for the road, and waved good-bye.
When he went back inside, he noticed Ron confused and angry.
Ron snapped, "You are you going out with Hermione tonight, and my sister is fine with that?" Ron looked over at Hermione and said, "What if I'm not fine with that?"
Harry said, "It is not polite to ease drop on others. I purposely worded it to sound suggestive. I haven't yet gone to meet her parents. If you don't mind, I would like it to be just the four of us tonight. Ginny already knows about it, and I was just teasing her."
Ron relaxed considerably. He apologized, "I'm sorry Hermione. I shouldn't have."
Hermione had a mix of feelings; embarrassed that she too was ease dropping on Harry; mad at Ron for telling her what to do; irritated that Ron doesn't trust her; happy that he was jealous over her; but more so, mad that Ron had not yet formalized their relationship. Trying hard, for a change, to communicate the right emotion for the right reason, Hermione put on a straight face, and corrected, "In the current state between us, it is not appropriate for you object to me going out with anyone. If you wish to change that, then we should talk… later. Now, there are some research partners I need to meet up with." She looked over at Harry, and caressed his cheek with her finger. She said with a flirty smirk on her face, "I'll be back at 5:00 to take you home with me." Her eyes were sparkling with amusement.
Harry asked, "You're not leaving now? I was hoping we could go through the Marauder's notes we found at Godric's Hollow."
Hermione bit her lip thinking about staying, before she said, "No, I really should help out the others. I can go over what you find tomorrow." She was trying to be careful not to say the names of their research partners since Remus was in the other room. It would cause too many questions.
"4:15," Harry negotiated. "I want to stop and talk to George and Fred in Diagon Alley first."
Hermione figured him out. He probably just wanted to get in the back room for another snog session with Ginny. Who was she to get in his way? As a good semi-sister, she said, "Fine Harry, 4:00, and we will stop by the florist to get some flowers for her and Mum on the way. Make sure you disguise yourself."
Harry turned red as he was caught. He stammered, "Actually, I do want to talk to the twins, but I agree flowers would be good."
Hermione gave glance at Ron and mouthed 'Good-bye,' before she left.
After she was gone, Ron walked with Harry back to the kitchen. He said, "Did she just ask me to be her boyfriend?"
Harry could not believe how slow his friend was. He told him, "She wants you to ask her appropriately. Tell her how you feel, and pop the question on her."
"I can't do that," protested Ron.
Harry said, "Yes you can. It can be as simple as, 'I fancy you. Will you be my girlfriend?' Actually, I would suggest a little more feelings, but the question is all the same."
As they entered the kitchen, everyone cracked up laughing.
Neville asked, "Should I move into a different room to leave you two to work out your feelings for each other?"
Ron screwed up his face in disgust. Harry closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.
Now everyone was laughing.
After Dobby took Hermione's trunk to her room, he brought down the trunk from Godric's Hollow.
They set up the study area, by filling all of the bookshelves and organizing the notes. They found information on Animagus training, potion notes, advanced charm notes and other miscellaneous notes.
Back in Voldemort's chamber, the Dark Lord was done torturing servants to relieve his stress, at least for now. He beckoned in Bellatrix. Voldemort commanded her, "Bella, the paper said that his Mudblood friend was the one who created the Knight Patronus spell. Bring her to me, dead or alive. Kill her family, and destroy her home." As she left Voldemort thought to himself, 'We should have done this months ago. She is too clever for her revolting parentage.'
As evening approached, Harry got dressed in some Muggle clothes of his father's. He was ready to go when Hermione showed up. They must have made some good progress, because she seemed to be very pleased.
Hermione completed his disguise with a hat and a few glamour charms.
In Diagon Alley, Hermione picked out some flowers for her mum, and Harry conservatively picked out a dozen red roses in a vase for Ginny. As they walked down to the WWW shop, many people looked, but no one actually said anything to him.
'Good,' he thought. 'No one is seeing past my disguise.'
When he walked in through the door, he immediately noticed her presence in the place, even though he couldn't see her. He caught the floral scent of her hair, even over the flowers which they carried. Even without her hair, he could inexplicably tell she was around. As they walked deeper into the store, he found Fred helping a girl with their teen witch line. He gave Fred a wave, not sure if he could tell that it was him. If he did not know then, he knew when Ginny tapped Harry on the shoulder. It almost made him jump out of his skin. He could tell that she was near, but not right behind him.
She was beaming at him. Noticing his disguise she asked, "Hello stranger, are those flowers for me?"
Harry told her, "Well that depends, do you approach all of your customers like this? Your boyfriend may get jealous."
She explained, "I knew it was you from the time you came in through the door." She took the flowers from him and placed them on the shelf behind the counter. She caught her out of the corner of her eye, and said, "Oh, hello Hermione, did you find this stray?" gesturing to Harry.
Hermione smiled and waved, but kept on looking around at the gadgets and tricks.
Fred excused himself from his customer to say, "You really shouldn't be calling on her here, but being our chief investor you do have your privileges."
Harry told Fred, "I also wanted to talk to you and George… alone. After that, I would like to take your sales clerk into the back for a talk."
Fred gave Ginny a quick glance and then offered, "Any particular sales clerk in mind, we two today." Fred cracked a smile at Ginny's glare.
Hermione scolded them, "Hurry up you two. We are on a time schedule." She went back to looking at the portable swamps.
In the back, Harry showed Fred and George the offer which Markiss made for selling Zonko's. Harry told them that he was going to counter the offer. If he succeeds, he was hoping that they could use the business to expand with. Fred and George looked ecstatic. They needed more manufacturing space as well as new locations.
Harry also pulled out two sets of white dragon hide cloak and breast plates. He asked Fred and George whether they could add additional magical protections to them. He told them that he would like to have them back in four days. One set needs to be gift wrapped.
Before he left, Harry got his kiss from his girlfriend and told her that he would see her tomorrow.
Hermione and Harry arrived at the Granger's house a few minutes passed 5:00. The smell of dinner was in the air. Hermione stopped him before they joined the parents in the dining room. She whispered, "Harry, there is something very important I need to tell you first. Yesterday, when I woke up in the hospital, Dad referred to you as his Harry. I believe that Mum and Dad are taking this adoption thing very seriously. I don't think they would say it to me, but I believe that they see this as way for them to get the son they always wanted." Hermione tried to search his face for any sign of stress.
Harry thought about it a bit, and quietly said back, "It's fitting, isn't it. I went all my life wanting parents who would love me, and your parents adopt me. I know it is a little late, but Remus told me we are never too old to have someone older to advise us."
They went in, and said their greetings. They were well into dinner when Emma asked, "Harry have you met the Prime Minister?"
Harry was confused. He replied, "No, what brings this up?"
Dan jumped in and answered, "We received a call from his office. He wants to have a word with you in person."
Emma asked, "Why would he want to talk to you?"
"All of the natural disasters and strange deaths are a result of Voldemort. Some one must have told him that," Hermione said.
The happiness drained from Harry's face in realization. He started, "Mrs. Granger," but he was cut short.
Emma butt in and said, "You can call me Mum if you want." She really was unsure whether she should say that, after all he did have a mother that died.
Harry gave her a reassuring smile, and continued, "Mum, before I was born, a seer prophesized that I would be the one who would face the Dark Lord, and possibly defeat him. He found out and tried to kill me. My mum and dad died protecting me from him. He is still after me. It is because of that, you two are in grave danger. He will continue to kill everyone close to me until he is stopped." Harry stopped to let it sink in before he continued, "You can't go on living a normal life. You must pack up and leave. We were protected at the Dursleys by strong ancient magic. All you have here is a few wards and a leaderless group of wizards protecting you. Leave your home and your jobs, and stay with me. Neville has done a good job creating a place for us safe place to live."
Dan and Emma were in shock. The eyes were wide and mouths were open. 'What have we done? Of all of the boys for her to bring home and adopt, she chose this cursed one,' they thought. They both looked at Hermione for explanation.
Assuming that they wanted their question answered, she said, "As you can see, Harry is the hope of the wizarding world. The Prime Minister probably just wants to see what he can do to help him. Knowing our Minister, he probably also needs some straight answers."
Dan was furious when he asked her, "Why did you bring this to our family?"
Before anyone could say a word, they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Emma started to get up, but Harry whispered in a panic, "Don't answer it!" With his eyes, he noticed on the other side of the door was Bellatrix Lestrange. His continued searching discovered 6 more Death Eaters with her in the front, and 10 more in the back yard.
"Death Eaters have surrounded us. Floo powder?" Harry asked Hermione.
Hermione shook her head, and said, "I'll take Dad. You take Mum. Apparate to the Burrow."
Harry knew he did not have an apparition license, and he was still under-age. At least his guardian commanded him to do it, and it was an emergency.
Before they left, they heard Bellatrix called out, "Miss. Granger, we need to talk to you."
A Death Eater from the back saw them through the window, and blew open the back door.
They all left with a pop.
For Emma and Dan, it was the weirdest sensation they had ever felt. Hermione told them about Apparition, but never had traveled by it. They recognized where Harry and Hermione took them. It was the Weasley's house outside of Ottery St. Catchpole.
Hermione scrutinized Harry and her Mum, looking for anything missing. She was pleased that nothing was Splinched off. Harry felt affronted by this inspection. After all, this was the second emergency, tandem Apparition he had done. The previous one was when he Apparated Professor Dumbledore and himself to Hogsmeade the night they retrieved the necklace.
The four of them went up to the front door and knocked. Mrs. Weasley called out, "Password please. What does a Bogart turn into before me?"
Harry said, "It turns into each of your family members dead on the ground." He choked, before he continued, "Including me."
Mrs. Weasley sniffled, then said, "Very well Harry, and now ask me a question I would know."
Harry asked, "What is my favorite Christmas present year after year?"
If she was just sniffling before, she was all out crying now. In between her sniffles, she asked, "Your jumpers?" When he said yes, she let out a sob, opened the door, and embraced Harry in a firm hug.
Ginny's voice called out from the family room, "Mum, please let them in. Besides, it's my turn to hug him." When Molly released Harry, Ginny stepped up and gave him a hug.
Mrs. Weasley guided the family into the living room and asked if anyone wanted tea. Noticing the stress on everyone's faces, Ginny asked Hermione, "What happened?"
Dan angrily interjected, "Harry came to visit and brought danger with him. They called them Death Eaters."
Molly and Ginny gasped. Ginny moved close to Harry, and grabbed his hand.
Hermione said in a small voice, "They weren't after Harry this time. Only Ginny and Ron knew where we were tonight."
Everyone stared at her. Emma and Dan were dumbfounded. Looking at them, Hermione continued, "I told you after last year, that I was a target because of my association with Harry. I assume it was the article in this morning's newspaper, because now they are actively after me. I created a new spell which kills Dementors, one of Voldemort's creatures of death."
Dan looked back at Harry, as if this was his entire fault. He asked sarcastically, "Alright, Son, where are we going to live, and what are we going to do to make a living while we are running away from them?"
Harry was worried. He wondered, 'What did I do to make them so mad?' He told his new dad, "The circumstance wouldn't be any different if you didn't accept me as your adoptive responsibility. I am pleased that no one got hurt from this encounter with the Death Eaters. As I have already assured Hermione before hand, you will be taken care of. The two of you can retire now, but you must remain in hiding until we can bring an end to this conflict. To say I have enough money is an understatement," Harry said.
Without first thinking, Harry turned to Ginny and asked, "Is that fine by you, Dear?"
Ginny was shocked and surprised. She stammered, "Yes, that is fine, but since when do you ask me for advice of your financial decisions?"
Harry realized his blunder, and blushed. He told her, "I consider you my future wife, all that I own, and future plans of family, I share in my heart with you. It felt awkward to even make a covenant with Dobby without your blessing."
Ginny looked at him funny. She hadn't ever heard him mention a covenant with Dobby. She turned her head to look over at Hermione to see her reaction. Hermione looked pleased, so she assumed she already knew. Turning back to Harry, Ginny asked, "Dobby is your house elf now? How long ago?"
Harry said, "He will be your house elf too, and the covenant is a mutual service promise." Harry picked up his pant legs to show his mixed matched socks. He explained, "This is my symbol of promise to Dobby and his family. As of two weeks ago, we share everything we own with him."
Ginny hastily stood up and grabbing Harry's hand dragged him up to her room for a private conversation. She told her mother and guests, "We'll be right back. I need to talk to him."
Up in her room, Ginny pressed, "What is going on with you? I do remember you mentioning eloping this morning, but I didn't realize that it was a proposal. You just announced that you were going to marry me in front of both of our parents."
Harry sheepishly replied, "It is what is on my heart. I told you that it was what I was feeling even when we weren't dating. It feels like you are destined to be my wife. This is not a good time to propose, but I do want to make it clear to you. I love you and I do expect to ask for your hand in marriage some day."
Concerned, Ginny told him, "Destiny is not something written in stone. Since the divination game, I have learned that we must create our own destiny. Ignoring any prophecies or foresight, we must allow our fates to fall into place naturally. Please tell me that you're not loving me because of what that game told me seven years ago."
Looking deep into her eyes to show his earnestness he explained, "You only told me about the divination game yesterday afternoon. I have been in love with you for a whole year. Your experience with the divination game only confirms what I am experiencing in my heart."
His expression turned stoic as he asked, "It is your turn. Tell me that you're not loving me because of what a game told you seven years ago."
Her eyes went wide as he turned the tables on her. She snapped, "I don't live my life to a fit a prophecy. I'm the one who has had two boyfriends. I can't help it that I'm so attracted to you that I can't think clearly. This isn't about me. It is about you. It is clear that I…"
Taking a deep breath, she gazed into his eyes for any hint of doubt. When she saw none, she admitted, "I have no doubts about my love for you too. I would say yes if you were to ask me today. I am ready to give you my whole life."
His seriousness melted as she confessed her love. Pulling her into his arms, he gave her a deep kiss which confirmed the words they exchanged.
When they returned back into the living room, Ginny announced, "Like Harry I also have every intention on marrying him as well. We are not engaged yet, but I will accept when he proposes."
Hermione asked sarcastically, "Do you have enough cows or goats for Mr. Weasley? We could say you're betrothed"
Harry said to Ginny, "I have giants to feed, so I can't spare the cows. Do you think he would consider gold? The only problem is: I could never find enough gold to pay your true worth." He knew he was digging himself in, but her smile told him what he said was acceptable.
Molly scoffed, "As if we would ask you to pay anything. We already owe you with multiple life debts for saving our home and our lives. It would only be a greater honor to have you officially apart of our family."
Taking in consideration the way Mrs. Weasley praised Harry, Dan felt very ashamed for questioning his adoption of this young man into his family. Emma seemed to read him, and placed her hand on his to comfort him.
Dan turned to Harry and said, "I'm sorry for jumping at you. Just that you asked us to turn our backs on our home and our lives. Following that, an attack on us forced us to leave without a choice."
Harry said, "It is no problem. I need to contact Neville to get him to reveal where we are living to you."
Harry asked Ginny, "Would you call Dobby and see if he would take a message to Neville?" He was curious whether Dobby would come to her.
Hermione excused herself to the fire to make a call to the ministry.
Ginny called out, "Dobby."
Dobby arrived before her with his head bowed low. Dobby asked, "What can I do for Mistress Weasy?"
Ginny was shocked and elated. Harry nudged her and told her to curtsy before him. Ginny realized that this was not an ordinary house elf. Dobby was dressed in a nicely tailored uniform with the Potter crest proudly displayed on his chest. Harry was insisting that she treat him with the highest amount of respect.
Ginny made her curtsy, and asked, "Dobby sir, would it bother you too much to take a message to Neville Longbottom for me?"
Dobby replied, "Dobby would be pleased to serve the lady who shares Harry Potter's soul."
Ginny gave Harry a warm smile before walking over to the desk. She wrote out a note for Neville asking him to come to the burrow to add new guests.
Harry was finding this very enlightening to see Dobby, and soon Neville's reaction to Ginny's exercising his authority. Ginny, on the other hand, was holding herself in a humble and considerate manner. He thought to himself, 'She would make a fine Lady and a wife. She is perfect in every way.'
After handing Dobby the message, she gave him another low curtsy. Dobby bowed and disappeared.
Molly's mouth about dropped, as she witnessed her daughter take on characteristics she has never seen in her before. Ginny had poise, elegance and grace in her steps. She showed gentility and an air of authority about her. They had to do something about those clothes she was wearing, because they were the only things that look out of place. She needed to dress as a lady.
On the inside, Ginny's heart was spinning out of control. She felt like she got caught up in a Cinderella story, where the dirty, soot-covered servant girl was transfigured into the fairest of the royal court. Her prince, Harry, had just announced his intentions to make her his wife. No longer was she a simple peasant girl, foraging through the dirt of the garden for gnomes, but she was a Lady in training.
Downcast, Hermione came back from the fire. With tears in her eyes, she looked up at her mother and father. They got up and embraced her in a hug. Tears were streaming down their faces as well. Harry could only figure what happened. They lost everything. The home which they had lived in for years was destroyed.
Neville arrived and took them back through the Floo to the LB Ranch. Their parents were set up in a bedroom with a large bed. Hermione promised to take them shopping the next day.
Ron stayed up to comfort Hermione, leaving Harry and Neville to themselves in the room. Neville asked Harry about his evening, and Harry recounted all of the events that happened. Neville entered a melancholy mood as Harry told him how Emma insisted that he call her Mum.
"What's wrong Neville?" Harry asked.
Neville replied, "I can't even remember how they were before. Like you, I grew up not knowing what it was like to be loved by a parent. I have had dreams of them waking up from their condition and loving me. It seems so hopeless. Grandma has always been cold and heartless towards me. It was as if a part of her has always blamed me for Mum and Dad. I wish it was just that easy for me. I mean...to find a family who would love me, and support me."
Knowing what it was like, Harry said, "Yeah, it is hard. With the Grangers, I didn't even ask them, it was Hermione. Being called son, even in a hostile tone, seemed to brighten my day. It is the need of belonging, and the need of love. Don't worry Neville, and don't give up hope. I wish we could have had parents when we were lads, but even as adults; we need parents; we need belonging. There will always be room in our hearts for more family."
They spent a few more minutes talking, before Harry started to instruct Neville on Occlumency. They meditated, and then went to bed.
The next day, Harry woke up and showed Neville the basics of Tai Chi. Afterwards they got around, ate breakfast and started to study the Animagus notes.
Ginny stopped by on her way to work, and again Harry sent her off to work with a kiss.
Shortly after she left, Harry started to feel nauseated. He went up to his room to lie down. As the day went by, he never got up.
At work that day, Ginny was plagued with press reporters asking questions about her and Harry. Fred and George had enough and kicked them out of the shop. Usually they liked the press; they offered a free form of advertising. In this case, it was annoying.
Later that evening, Luna showed up at Ginny's House. As they stayed up and talked, Ginny seemed to notice that Luna was not as loony as before. She seemed sure and focused.
Since her mother died, Luna felt that she had to be the one to support her dad. Of all of the men in the world, her dad had no one who actually believed him or in him. Luna knew it was up to her to emotionally support her dad and be the one to believe. While the rest of the world called him a quack, she knew that he was the most enlightened man on the earth. But this all changed early in the summer when she caught him in a lie.
Her father said, "Isn't it about time that you grow up and stop believing in all of this Quibbler stuff? I mean, you are sixteen not six."
That was when Luna's reality started to fall apart. She asked him, "Why do you print the Quibbler if you don't believe in what it says? I thought you were enlightening the world."
He explained, "It pays the bills. People don't care if it is the truth or not. They just need entertainment. That is what all of these articles are, just fiction."
She had just spent the last eight years of schooling being heckled and made fun of because she believed in a man who had never said a truth in his life. With tears in her eyes, she said, "Not all of the articles are false, the one about Harry Potter was true."
Her father laughed, "Yeah right, but I do admit that the story did make us a lot of money."
She didn't know what to say. Luna went to her room and wrote her best friend, her last remaining anchor in life. After she received Ginny's reply, Luna told her dad that she was leaving for the summer and would find her own way back to Hogwarts.
That was what brought her to Ginny's house. Luna only knew one thing for certain, and that was the few friendships she had. Especially the friendship she had with Ginny.
They shared a few stories and a few tears.
Hermione, Emma and Dan came back at dinner time to find that Harry was sick in bed. Everyone went up to check on him, but they just felt that it was just a bug and would go away soon. However, the next morning, he was still sick. He actually seemed a bit worse. Thinking it was some sort of wizarding disease, Emma asked Hermione to get Molly.
Ginny did not stop by the LB Ranch to get her dose of daily inspiration, because she woke up too late. She went directly to the shop where she had the worse day of her life. The paper had her on the front page. They seemed to twist everything that she said, and made her look like a gold digger going after Harry for his fame and money.
As a result of being in the newspaper, the shop was attacked by Death Eaters. Their goal was to capture Ginny and use her as bait to get Harry. Fred and George had a good security system in place which stopped the attack, and sent eight Death Eaters to prison. One Death Eater died, and two others got away.
When Tonks arrived with the other Aurors to take away the attackers to jail, she asked Fred and George to give Stan Shunpike a job. She explained that the Minister released him to Harry's responsibility. They took that as a blessing and gave him Ginny's job.
They loved their sister, but they knew the Death Eaters would be back. They figured if there was another Death Eater attack, they may actually succeed. Fred and George told her to go work for Harry like her brother, Ron, was doing. At least they know she would be safe with him.
When Ginny arrived home scandalized, attacked and jobless, she found that her mother was not home. Luna told her that Harry was sick, and that her mom was at still at the LB Ranch caring for Harry. Ginny got cleaned up and changed out of her old uniform. They left a note for her dad and together Luna and Ginny Floo'ed to the LB Ranch to see Harry.
When Ginny arrived there, she forgone the pleasantries and ran directly up to Harry's room. She found him on his bed. He was awake, but sweaty and feverous. His muscles were convulsing slightly.
Molly moved out of the chair next to his bed, when she saw her. Ginny sat down and took his hand.
Harry weakly croaked out, "Are you alright, Dear?"
She answered, "No, you being sick top my day off as being the worse in my life. How are you feeling?"
Harry just shrugged, "I'm doing fine."
Ginny just about lost it. "You always say that. Now cut that out! Tell me the truth."
Harry replied, "I don't know what to tell you. I'm nauseous, tired, shaking and cold."
She pulled a small package from her robes.
Harry asked, "What is that?"
She said, "It is suppose to be your birthday present, but you are being such a pill, you get to open it early."
Harry gave her a questioning look then opened the box. Inside were two charm necklaces with a mated charm. Ginny picked them up and snapped the mated charms apart to separate them. She put one on herself, and took the other to put on him.
He asked, "What are they?"
She said, "It is a Monomens necklace. This is a new line that Fred and George have been testing. They know that many relationships break up because of communications failures, so they thought that you and I would be great test subjects for these. Especially since you don't like opening up about your feelings very much. These necklaces have three modes on them: Empathy-we can feel each others emotional feelings; Sensual Feelings-we can feel physically what the other is physically feeling; and Mental-we can see what the other is thinking. All we have to do is touch each other when we are wearing these to get it to work. George warned me to tell you first, that this will remove all privacy between us. It would be very uncomfortable for married couples and worse for others. He only agreed to let us use this because you announced your intentions to marry me. Are you fine with this?"
Harry croaked out, "Yes."
Ginny clipped the necklace around his neck, and he immediately felt Ginny's concern for him. Holding each other's hand, they spent the rest of the evening sharing thoughts and feelings. This was much more intimate than she had ever expected. They frequently found themselves becoming embarrassed at what they unintentionally shared.
As the night went on, Harry became too tired to converse, and started to dream on his own. Ginny let go of his hand, and went downstairs.
Everyone looked at her hoping for some report. Ginny said, "He's sleeping now. Mentally and emotionally he is fine. It is just physically. He has a headache, chills, fever, nausea, and tremors. There is something else. It sort of feels like his magic is ripping him apart."
Hermione was in complete shock at how much Harry opened up, and shared with Ginny.
Arthur arrived some time ago when she was upstairs. Ginny turned to her mum and asked, "Mum, could you go up there and do that spell you do, to relieve our bladder when we were sick? He went to sleep without going to the loo."
She asked her father, "Dad, can Luna and I stay here tonight?" Ginny looked to Luna, and she just smile and nodded that it would be fine.
Arthur looked to Neville and asked, "Is there enough room?"
Neville thought for a moment and said, "Yes, there is plenty of room, but Hermione, Ginny and Luna would have to share the other 3 bed bedroom. You and Mrs. Weasley can share the last large-bed bedroom".
Arthur gave his daughter permission to stay, and was greeted by warm hug. She grabbed Luna and headed back to the house to get their things. Ginny asked Dobby to transport their things to their room. When they got back, Dobby warmed up a plate of dinner for Ginny, who gave him a hug for his efforts.
Emma, Tonks and Molly were all having a heated discussion about Harry when Hermione entered the room the next morning. They each seemed to have their own idea of how to handle this illness of Harry's. Hermione yelled to get everyone's attention and barked, "Alright, we have too many mothers and not enough doctors. Sorry Mum, right now you are not acting like a doctor. It is clear that all of us have a vested interest in Harry's health. Knowing Harry, he would be touched to see how much everyone cares. To resolve this problem, I'm going to go get the only health care worker that Harry can trust, Madam Pomfrey. I have already talked to Neville about it. Do we all agree to let her to direct his care?" One, by one, everyone nodded.
A couple of hours later, Hermione returned with Madam Pomfrey and Neville. When Madam Pomfrey entered the room, she saw Ginny and Harry quietly holding hands with their eyes closed. She figured out what was going on when she saw emotions changing on their faces. Madam Pomfrey said, "If you two are done, can I see my favorite patient now?"
Ginny and Harry's eyes popped open and Ginny reluctantly let go of Harry's hand. She got up out the chair to let the school matron to look at Harry. Madam Pomfrey asked everyone to leave.
A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey came down the stairs to talk to Hermione. Hermione told her, that it was fine to tell everyone there.
Pomfrey explained, "It is a good thing you waited for me to look at him. A normal healer wouldn't have been able to properly diagnose this." Everyone looked at Madam Pomfrey in shock.
She continued, "Maturation sickness is rarely an illness which is worthy of seeing a healer for, and most don't even notice it. This only happens to wizards or witches when they come of age. Normally it only lasts 2 or 3 hours at the most, and usually occurs during the night. It would take a large number of 16 year-old wizard and witches to notice a pattern of illness like this. That is why I consider myself the Britain's expert on this illness. Actually, I would like to keep this illness a secret. If everyone knew, there would always be that spiteful youth out there making themselves look more important by comparing the length of time which there maturation sickness lasted."
Returning back to the subject of Harry, she said, "The longest I have ever seen someone go through maturation sickness is 12 hours. In these long spells of illness, we just treat the symptoms, knowing it would be over soon enough. From my calculations, Harry is facing a maturation sickness duration from somewhere of 63 to 87 hours. So long as we treat his dehydration, he should be fully back to normal when it is over."
Ginny asked, "You mean there won't be any side effect at all?"
Madam Pomfrey replied, "When he returns to normal, he will be very hungry"
"What about his magic?" Hermione asked.
Pomfrey answered, "Yes, there is that. He especially should start with small spells and work his way up. It is very possible, that Harry will take a long time to get use to the flexibility of his magic levels after this." Seeing their confusion, she added, "By just theory, after he comes of age, Harry will be the most powerful wizard since Merlin. All I know is that he will be powerful. Powerful enough that he will need to slowly work into his magic to find its limits before casting spells. A simple water spell could possibly fill a whole room."
Hermione asked, "Was that flu I had the night before my birthday my maturation sickness?"
Madam Pomfrey quietly said with a smile, "Yes, and it was unusually long at 10 hours wasn't it?"
Later that afternoon, Neville came down ill, and when to bed early.
Everyone was turning in for the night. Ginny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. Her eyes were closed, when Luna returned from the loo. That was the first time she have ever noticed Ginny meditating. Luna looked over to see Hermione on her bed, also quizzically looking at her. Luna said, "Ginny, I'm sorry for interrupting you, but why are you taking up meditating all of a sudden?"
Slowly, Ginny pulled herself out of her trance. A little irritated at the interruption, she said, "I'm trying to sort my memories and build my shields."
Hermione asked, "Occlumency? Why are you doing that?"
Luna asked, "Why do you need to do that?"
Ginny answered them, "I have learned a few secrets from Harry which others should not discover." She was trying not to give out too much information.
Hermione asked, "How did you progress this far so quickly? I haven't seen you reading the Occlumency texts in the study."
"Yes, you look like you know exactly what you are doing," Luna added.
'This is too difficult to get around,' Ginny thought. She told them, "Harry had been showing me what to do, and how to do it." She saw Hermione was about to ask the next logical question, and decided to answer it for her instead, "For his birthday, I gave Harry an experimental mind-linking necklace called a Monomens. We have been using it since last night."
Hermione's face lit up with understanding. She said, "So that is how you got Harry to open up about his condition. You simply gave him something which you can use to pick his mind."
Seeing Hermione get off on the wrong track, Ginny corrected her, "Actually, it works both ways, and includes sensations and emotions as well."
Luna said, "Are you certain you want to use that Ginny? He would be able to see what you are thinking and feeling too. There would be no privacy of thought, no more modesty, and no more secrets."
"I couldn't do that," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Ginny started, "it has been uncomfortable, to say the least. Do you know the things which boys think of when they are sleeping? It is more embarrassing, when I respond by thinking a long the same lines and he notices. But on the other hand, it has definitely brought us closer. With a few minutes of thoughts, he is able to tell me things that would take hours to explain, and some things like Occlumency, I can visualize doing it myself. He can see me trying, and correct me instantaneously."
Her face took on a dreamy look as she said, "When we share our happy moments, like flying; quidditch; our love. The feed back from the emotions we feel give us a rush of excitement and joy. That is what makes this gift for him, a gift for both of us. Please don't tell anyone. I'm already afraid that Madam Pomfrey knows."
Both Luna and Hermione agreed not to say anything.
Luna had been thinking about it for a while when she asked, "Are you two that serious about each other? At school, you had a very distant relationship which ended with him dumping you. What happened that brought you so close to do this? This is more intimately close than most married couples are."
Ginny thought about it for a while, before explaining, "It is like we always have loved each other. The time in school was busy for the both of us, and Ron prevented us from having alone time. However, everything was fine for us when we had our commitment to each other to hold on to. At the end of the year, Harry broke off our relationship thinking he was protecting me from the dangers he was facing. It took him a month, with a lot of help from others, to learn that it was a mistake. It was the time apart that made us realize how much we need and love each other. Now, there is no separating us."
Hermione added, "Harry has already announced his intentions to marry her."
Ecstatic, Luna launched at Ginny and gave her a strong congratulatory hug.
Neville didn't recover until 9:00 the next morning.
It wasn't until early afternoon that day when Harry finally came around. He woke up to Hermione sitting next to him. He looked at her, and replied, "Hermione, your aura looks beautiful."
Hermione blushed at his complement, but told him, "This may be one of those things you may want to keep to yourself. Seeing auras is a very uncommon gift for a wizard. I imagine you are quite hungry. Wash up and get dressed, Mrs. Weasley is in the kitchen making your favorites. By the way Harry, happy birthday."
Harry dressed in his dad's best robes, and went down stairs. Everyone cheered at his arrival. Pleased with his outfit, Ginny greeted Harry with a firm hug. The touch of her cheek passed him a flood of loving emotions.
They quickly sat down and started the meal. Just as Madam Pomfrey expected, Harry was very hungry. Even though it was his second meal, Neville also ate an unusually large amount of food.
After the meal, they celebrated the joint birthdays of Neville and Harry. Tonks arrived with a wide grin on her face. She told them, that the Aurors captured another 10 death eaters who tried to destroy the Dursley's house after the wards came down.
Fred and George arrived. They brought Harry his cloak and breastplate, and the wrapped gift. Harry wrote Neville's name on the gift then took his things upstairs to his trunk. Fred and George left a note explaining the charms they managed to put on the pieces: he has a repulsion charm on it to deflect object shot or thrown at him; a featherweight charm to make it as light as silk; and additional magical shielding charms to make it even more magic resistant.
When he returned to the party, Harry asked Fred and George for the charges. They refused and said that it was their birthday gift to him and Neville. Harry thanked them.
The party went on well; except for the fact the Hermione was insistent that he didn't use magic. Neville loved his body armor which Harry gave him.
Harry told him, "If I can't prevent you from covering my back, then I should do something to protect your back."
Neville just smiled and shook Harry's shoulder instead of hugging him.
While they were celebrating, a small phoenix flamed into the room, and joined them.
It wasn't until after the party that Hermione explained herself and told him to go out to the yard to water the plants which she planted. She stressed that she only wanted him to water them one at a time, and in only small amounts.
He went out side to the do the Aguamenti Charm on each of the plants. It didn't take as long as Hermione expected. In only a minute, Harry was sloshing back into the house drenched from head to toe. Expecting this, everyone roared in laughter.