Chapter Three: Believe it or Not

A/N: I'm not getting like any reviews! 10, that's all. And really, I won't update the next chapter unless I get more reviews on this. So, please, review! Even if it's just like "good" or one word haha. Thanks so much to the people that review my story & add me to their favorite or alert list. Hope you like this chapter, I think it's a great one.

"What the…" Harry quietly mumbled to himself, "What happened?"

Harry had never expected something so odd to happen. Actually, he didn't even believe that he was in California. He pinched himself several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He had expected to walk out of the fireplace and into Diagon Alley – seeing wizards, and witches; broomsticks and cauldrons. Not swimsuits and surfboards in the windows of beach stores. Not in a Californian Mall.

"What am I doing here?" He asked himself again. He shook his head and checked his watch.

Instead of seeing pale skin and not too much hair on his arms, he saw veins sticking out, longer fingernails, and long fingers. He had a lot more hair on his arms now, and his skin had definitely gotten a little paler.

"Something is definitely up," Harry finally said, "and I'm going to find out what it is. Right now."

He reached up and felt his hair. Once again, he expected to feel ruffled, moist hair from the hair spray he used everyday, but now he felt straight hair that was nicely combed into a pattern. He touched his small face, ran his fingers around his sharp nose, rosy lips, and then trailed up towards his eyes and felt he had no glasses.

"Where did my glasses go? Huh, that's funny, because I think that I have perfect vision," Harry examined. He looked at a board that was at least a couple yards away and recited it perfectly without squinting.

He ran across the mall, still not understanding what was going on. He might have messed up, of course, but not so bad that he ended up in another country!

He screeched to a hault in front of the bathroom. There were whiny babies and tall fathers standing in a line to use the restroom outside.

"I'm sorry, this is an emergency. Please?" He pleaded. The father agreed, and made a hand gesture as to go in front of him. Harry did as he showed.

"Thank you," He exclaimed nervously, before pushing open the heavy doors and looking from left to right, in search of a mirror.

He stopped dead in his tracks in front of the gold mirrors next to each of the sinks. There were flower designs engraved on the sides, and silver specks in each of the petals. It was beautiful. However, something not so beautiful was the picture inside the mirror.

Harry found himself looking back at an adult; rough, jet-black hair, electrifying green eyes with contacts, the same rosy cheeks he had during 7th year, and much paler skin. He was very tall; at least 5'7. He was wearing a collared dark green shirt that brought out the color of his eyes, and his pants were neatly folded at the bottom and were a dark shade of midnight.

Despite not even knowing why he was in California, or why he looked like a 30-year old, Harry couldn't help admitting how different he looked. How.. smart, and different he looked.

"Wow,"

He rubbed his eyes, and pinched his arm and looked at the mirror again. Still, the same image showed up.

"Is there something wrong?" A confused man asked behind him. Harry whirled around and found that there were at least ten people in the bathroom. They all probably were wondering how weird he was acting.

"Yeah. Actually, everything's great," Harry told them. He ran over everything that had happened today, but still couldn't put them together. There was something he didn't know; something that linked all of the other puzzle pieces together. After a few moments of useless pondering, he rushed outside to see if there were any more clues.

"Could I be in the future?" Harry asked himself. He shook his head. That couldn't be true; landing in the future using floo powder was un-imaginable. That wasn't possible; not even the most brilliant wizard or witch could do that.

Just then, a familiar voice rang from behind him, "Oh, Harry. I know you said you needed to go to the bathroom, but come on. We haven't found even one ring that looks good enough, and you know how important this is to me."

Harry spun around to find him in front of… Ginny Weasley. Her hair was loosely pulled up into a bun and she had sideways bangs that fell into her eyes every so minutes. Her eyes shimmered and Harry had noticed that she had two pierces on each ear. Her pink top had glitter as petals on the roses, and her skirt was brown and matched her top well. She looked more stunning then she had looked in their 7th year.

"Umm… sorry." Harry said, casually. He didn't know how he was supposed to act. What in the world was Ginny doing in California? Had she just said she was shopping for a ring? Harry needed at least five hours to himself to think about this. He laughed to himself quietly.

"What's so funny? Harry, are you okay?" Ginny asked. She leaned in closer and gave Harry and long, passionate kiss with a smile. After they broke apart, Ginny pulled him by the arm.

"Come on. I think I found a ring I like. I want to make sure that you like it too, before I make any decisions." Ginny lead him into a fancy diamond store.

This is what Harry had pictured heaven to look like. There were sparkles glistening from all of the rings and necklaces on either side of him.

"Here," Ginny said, picking up a small velvet box and opening it. It was small and silver, with a diamond heart and a pink glistening stone in the middle. Harry loved it.

"It's… b-beautiful," Harry said, smiling at Ginny. He brushed back her bang that fell into her eyes.

"You like it?" Ginny asked, blushing, "Because I like it. And that's really odd, because we usually never like the same things."

Harry laughed and nodded. They were getting married. He was going to be a husband, and his wife was going to be Ginny. Most importantly, he was in the future. He'd always dreamed of his future, wondering what it would be like, ten years later. Now, he was living in it.

"I love it. Let's get it," Harry said, anxiously. He didn't know how he was supposed to pay for the wedding ring, but he was going to have to figure it out. Maybe if he asked Hermione or Ron for some help? Fill him in on the details of his future life?

"Aww, Harry. I love you," Ginny told him. She gave him a huge hug, and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll just call Mum and tell her. Be right back."

Ginny reached in her pocket and took out her cell and gave a silent squeal. She turned her back to Harry, and walked off, talking to Mrs. Weasley.

Harry smiled to himself, and walked out of the store. He couldn't help loving his future.

"I thought my life was going to be horrible, but I'm engaged to Ginny, I look great, what else could possibly be better?" He said to himself.

He turned around, and sat down on a dented bench in front of the diamond shop. He saw Ginny jumping up and down, probably excited that Mrs. Weasley had said it was okay for her to buy the ring.

Harry looked in front of him, and saw tons of shoppers carrying bags, and smiles on their faces.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar laugh behind him, "Haha, yeah. I know! He's great. I can't wait until Sunday."

Harry turned around, and saw two girls, maybe about his age, giggling. He walked a little closer, and now he could see one of the girl's faces completely.

She had long locks of curly brown hair and light brown highlights. Her matching brown eyes were dazzling. Her cute nose and lips fit nicely on her face, and her million-dollar smile showed her straight, white teeth. Harry couldn't help but note that she looked strangely like Hermione Granger.

"Hermione?" Harry wondered out loud. He walked faster now, finally approaching her. He was positive that she was Hermione.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled. He ran up to her and gave her a hug and smiled, "What are you doing here?"

She gave a confused look to her friend and pursed her lips, "Harry?"

"Guess what? Ginny just found the perfect ring for our wedding. She's talking to Mrs. Weasley now." Harry told her, excitedly.

Hermione paused and quickly answered, sarcastically, "Why, are you guys getting married? That's nice, and congratulations. Let's go, Shahla, I still want to go to the bookstore."

Harry noticed her sarcasm and frowned, "What's wrong?"

"You." Hermione answered plainly. She turned back to Shahla, and laughed.

"Come on, Hermione. We're best friends… you've never talked to me like that before." He pointed out blankly. He turned around and looked through the diamond store, and saw that Ginny was still on the phone. He turned back to Hermione.

"Ha, It's funny how you call us best friends. That was what we were… ten years ago. Now, you're nothing to me," Hermione explained. She crossed her hands over her chest.

"Okay, now you're really confusing me," Harry sighed. He looked into Hermione's eyes and saw hatred and disgust.

"We haven't been talking for 10 years, Harry," Hermione shrugged, "so I don't see any reason why I should start talking to you now."

She walked off and brushed back her hair. Harry stood there, utterly confused. He knew there had to be something he could ask her. Maybe she could tell him how old they were?

"Hermione! Wait," Harry called after her. He ran a couple of steps and stopped right in front of her, "How old are we?"

Hermione threw her head back and laughed, "Is this a trick question? Because honestly, I'm in no mood for this."

Harry sighed, "It's not."

"Twenty-seven," She said, "Later."

Harry gave a deep breath and smiled. Other than the fact that he hadn't been talking to Hermione for ten years, he was 27 years old, and he was getting married. He couldn't wait to see what else his future had in store for him.

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"Harry! Harry. Guess what? Mum said we could buy the ring! She just wants to come see it, so we have to wait another week before we can actually buy it, okay?" Ginny cried, running up to him. She snapped her cell phone shut and put it in her purse.

"That sounds… great," Harry told her gently. He grinned and threw an arm around her shoulder, "So what's new?"

"Nothing much. Ron's really excited about the ring that he and Hermione found, and Fred and George have another couple of interviews next week; they're even coming on T.V, but nothing else besides that."

Harry shook his head, confused, "What do you mean Ron found a ring?"

"He and Hermione… for their wedding. Harry are you feeling okay?" Ginny asked. She stopped in front of him and touched his arm, "We can leave if you want. I know how much you hate shopping."

Hermione and Ron were getting married? Wow, this was a big surprise for him. Harry never had expected such opposites hitting it off, especially getting married.

"Umm yeah. C-can we leave?" Harry stuttered.

Ginny's face fell, but didn't want to disappoint Harry.

"Sure."

Harry nodded and walked beside Ginny. He ran everything that had happened today again in his mind, and finally a horrible thought occurred to him. Where were they going? Did they live together? Did he have a house? If so, he didn't know where it was, and he surely didn't know how to drive.

"I'm feeling a little lightheaded, so could you possibly drive?" Harry asked Ginny thoughtfully. She nodded, and they walked to the parking lot.

"So I was thinking… grilled cheese for dinner? Or we could have pasta," Ginny inquired. She opened the door to a black Mercedes Benz. Harry's jaw dropped.

"Whoa,"

"What?"

"N-Nothing," Harry quickly said, covering up his amusement. He opened his door and flopped down on the leather seat, "and pasta sounds great, if it's not too much work."

"Sure. Anything, Harry. Oh, I'm so excited for our wedding!" Ginny squealed.

"Me too, Ginny. Me too."

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"Ugh, remind us never to come to this mall again. The drive is sooo far," Ginny exclaimed. She adjusted her bun when she stopped at the light.

Harry chuckled and nodded, "Okay."

"So… Harry, I was meaning to talk to you, about this whole Ron and Hermione thing. I know that you've lost touch, but you really have to come with me. He's my brother after all." Ginny explained, softly.

Harry gulped, "Yeah, I wasn't sure about that either. I'll have to go though right? I mean, a brother of yours is like a brother of mine," He added with a smile.

"Yeah," Ginny grinned. She turned back to the traffic light in front of her, "Just a couple more minutes to go."

"Whoopee." Harry said sarcastically. They both laughed.

Harry felt the happiest he's ever been felt in more than five months. It felt great to be with Ginny after what happened, back where he really was living. Spending time with her made him realize how much he loved her company.

"Ginny. I love you," Harry said softly. He bit his bottom lip and stared into her deep eyes. It felt good to finally say that.

Ginny turned to him, smiling, "I love you too,"

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"Here we are, 4522 Gritler Avenue!" Ginny sang, jumping out of the car. Harry made note of the address for future reference. She had parked in front of a beautiful house. It was huge, with an off-white coating of paint on the outside, a sparkling green lawn with rainbow flowerbeds on the edges, and stones leading trespassers to the porch. There was another car parked outside of the garage, a silver Element. Harry couldn't help but grin. It was… his dream house, wife, and car.

"Come on, Harry. You only have half an hour before your job, and I don't want to make you late. I'll just steam the water for the pasta…" Ginny quietly said, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Job?"

"Yeah. Jonathan Bart said he wanted to interview you tomorrow. You know, ask you questions and stuff? He said he'll talk to you today at the Auror meeting." She flung her purse over her shoulder and opened the front door to their house.

Harry smiled. He was an Auror. He knew he could do it, even with his only okay grades. He was so proud of himself. He had accomplished almost everything he wanted in life. He was excited to go to his job and finally experience what it felt like to be an Auror. Harry just wasn't sure how he was supposed to act, or what he was supposed to know.

"Interview? For what?" Harry gave a confused look.

Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled at him, "Ugh, I know how you try to be modest, Harry, but really. The interview is for last year, you know, when you defeated Voldemort."

A/N: Yay! I loved the ending. I could just picture Ginny saying that to the oldlooking Harry Potter lol. I hope you liked it, and if you did, please review! It lets me know how many people are actually reading this and liking it.

Thanks. It only takes a couple of seconds. I will post the next chapter only after I get some reviews. So PLEASE review.

+ Savannah