The Adventure Continued
Chapter 7: Just Leave Me alone!
A/N: Wow, I'm really surprised! I got my first three reviews! Thanks, IamSiriusgrl, IAMSOAP, and GiGiFanFic. You guys made my day brighter :) Also, thanks for everyone else for reading! I am now on 7 favorite's lists and 6 Story alerts! Well, my record is broken now, but yay! Oh, and if you haven't noticed, the Chapters are slowly getting longer...
Harry jumped off his chair and ran to the door, only to find a huffed Professor McGonagall staring angrily at him. "Your paperwork was due two hours ago! Owls need to go out, Mr. Potter!"
Harry scratched his head for a few minutes before remembering what was going on. "Err…yeah. My paperwork is done," he stifled a yawn and motioned for McGonagall to come inside. "I just…err…don't have books yet. I'm actually working on that."
He picked up the messy pile of papers and plopped them into McGonagall's arms. "I will be informing your superiors of your tardiness. I will tell you now, Potter, that your performance at Hogwarts will directly affect your job at the ministry. This is your assignment now and should be treated as one instead of as class. Do you understand me, Potter?"
Harry looked a little horrified, but nodded, showing that his ears and brain were still working. "I still don't have books, Professor…"A loud crack interrupted Harry, saving his neck, as Dobby dropped a stack of books that Harry recognized. "Never mind."
McGonagall's stern look never left Harry as the latter wrote down several book titles and the authors. "There is a staff meeting tomorrow at noon. I expect you to be there, Potter- and on time!"
Harry blinked, wondering why he was never told about this staff meeting before (probably somewhere in the paperwork that he never read), and in that second, McGonagall had vanished.
"Thanks, Dobby," Harry muttered, turning to the house-elf that still stood meekly in the living room. "You saved my life! Well…at least my job."
"Dobby does what he can, Harry Potter, sir!" And with a last bow, the house-elf disapparated.
"We have a new system to help our students be up-to-date with their learning. Since the school has not been opened for four years, we have four years to sort, four years to catch up on," Professor McGonagall announced at the meeting the next day.
Harry had showed up early as opposed to his paperwork, but his eyes often drooped and constant poking was the only way he was able to stay awake. As he looked around the table, he found, to his horror, that Romilda Vane was given the job as the new potions teacher.
"I have my own line of potions! Ever since I used those love potions on you, I've been experimenting, but I could never get it right…but I have become quite an expert, if I say so myself," said Romilda excitedly.
Harry feared what exactly Romilda could never get right and thanked his lucky stars that she couldn't. It could be anything…the strongest love potion, a way to cheat death…anything that could shorten Harry's life span.
"…and so, first through fourth years will start off learning basic magic, however at different paces. Over the next two years, we would like our students to be up-to-date with their learning. There will be no O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s!" McGonagall emphasized, waking even Harry up. No O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s? What were fifth and seventh years supposed to do?
"The ministry has granted," McGonagall continued, "that any student receiving an acceptable or higher grade from their teacher will be equal to an N.E.W.T. until the testing system continues next year."
"Well, that cleared everything up," Harry got up at the end of the meeting two hours later. It seemed like the most pointless meeting he had ever attended and if it wasn't for the pokes and McGonagall's stern looks in his direction, he might have taken a nice nap. "So, what are you up to, Gin?"
The latter was gathering up some parchment that McGonagall had handed out and didn't seem to be listening to Harry at all.
"Ginny, is there something wrong?"
"Oh no, of course not," replied Ginny, clearly in a sarcastic tone. "The great Harry Potter never does anything wrong. What can we say? He's perfect!"
Harry's face turned a nice shade of pink. They were now on their way to Hogsmeade in order to apparate back to their homes. "Cut it out. You know that's not true!"
"Oh really?" answered Ginny. "That's not what everyone else is saying! Why, if they had their way, you'd be teaching every subject-"
"And get a headache doing it," Harry interrupted. "Since when do you listen to what everyone else says?"
"Since when do you just happen to get a job where I work?" Ginny fired back. "Do you know why I decided to get this job? To get away from you. I wanted to be somewhere where I didn't have to see you all the time, where the press was not constantly at your heels, waiting for your next move. And I want you to leave me alone!"
Harry stood, glued to the ground, and shocked by Ginny's outburst. If he could guess any reason for Ginny's anger, by the look on his face, this definitely would have been his last. "You know that I didn't want this job. This wasn't my ambition." His voice was cold.
"Prove it," countered Ginny immediately.
Harry took a deep breath. How exactly do you prove something like this? "I can't. It was my assignment. It is supposed to remain secret."
Ginny glared, not buying any of his excuses. "From now on, Potter, you are to stay away from me. I don't want anything more to do with you. I don't care if you're Ron's friend, but if you care so much about me as you say you do, you will leave me alone!" In a flick of a second, Ginny was gone.
It was at this point that Harry realized that they were standing in the middle of Hogsmeade and a crowd of curious eyes poked out at every door, listening to their argument. Having the feeling that the next Witch Weekly headlines were going to be "The Chosen One Loses Girlfriend", Harry disapparated.
As he sat by the fire at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry wondered how much of what Ginny said she really meant. It was known that the two had dated while they were in the protective halls of Hogwarts his sixth year, but everything changed in the years after while Harry went on the hunt for horcuxes. With Voldemort gone, it could only be assumed that the two would get back together again…but they didn't. Between Harry's obsessions with become an Auror and finishing something that had been waiting for him, there was little time in his life for love…or Ginny.
Harry never did get sleep that night. His brained turned over what was said until finally, his brain shut down and he woke up the next morning with an unusually huge headache. "If she wants me to stay away from her, then her wish shall be granted," Harry finally concluded. It was only at this moment, when he realized that what he was doing, that he felt a void in his heart.