Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
If You Can Help Her – Chapter 15 – The Aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup
Harry, along with Hermione and the Weasleys, was exhausted. They had gone to see the Quidditch World Cup, and thoroughly enjoyed it, until the evening celebrations were interrupted by Death Eaters. Apparently, their idea of fun was ruining everyone else's.
The scariest part for Harry was moments after the Dark Mark was conjured when a bunch of supposedly light side wizards shot stunners at himself, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He now understood that it was Voldemort's sign, but he still felt that simply conjuring any sign shouldn't be treated as a crime. He thought that those people should have been trying harder to capture the Death Eaters who had been terrorizing muggles instead of going after the people who conjured the Dark Mark, anyway. But, then again, the ministry of morons had already proven time and time again that they were a bunch of idiots.
First, in Harry's second year, they arrested Hagrid for opening the Chamber of Secrets, based solely on the fact that he'd been blamed for doing it fifty years before. Couldn't they have just had a few aurors keep an eye on him instead of sending him to the dementors? Then, they sent a bunch of dementors to terrorize (guard) a school full of children. Even when they'd nearly killed one of the students, namely himself, in the middle of a Quidditch game, Fudge refused to remove the dementors. Then when the truth came out about Black's innocence, Fudge refused to listen to him and his friends, based solely on the fact that they were young. It was four children's word against Snape's.
The most ridiculous thing about the Ministry of Magic, in Harry's opinion, was that the minister himself, Cornelius Fudge, was a personal friend of Lucius Malfoy, the man who'd slipped Riddle's diary to Ginny, and whose son all but admitted was one of the Death Eaters terrorizing muggles. Then, there was the fact that hundreds of ministry officials were incapable of capturing even one of those crazies at the World Cup.
Then, there was Ludo Bagman, who seemed to be determined to make sure that any efforts made by wizards to keep the statute of secrecy were wasted. Not to mention Barty Crouch, who sacked his house elf just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn't feel as strongly about it as Hermione did, but he knew it was unfair, and was surprised to see the adult wizards going along with it.
He knew that there were a few good low-level people like Arthur Weasley working for them, but the leadership, especially the minister himself, was a bad joke. He'd never admit it, but he felt that the ministry did deserve the criticism that the Daily Prophet was giving them.
Harry was glad to be back at the Burrow and away from that fiasco. He wanted to talk to Ginny about his dream, especially now that the Death Eaters were active and the Dark Mark had been seen for the first time in thirteen years. They hadn't gotten a chance to be alone since he'd arrived, so he figured it wouldn't arouse suspicion if he went for a stroll with his girlfriend, who was relaxing next to him on the couch. "Ginny, want to go for a walk?"
"What, Oh, sure, Harry," she replied as she realized he was speaking to her.
"Don't be out too long," instructed Mrs. Weasley, who heard them from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in an hour, and I expect you both back here by then."
"Sure, mum."
"Of course, Mrs. Weasley."
They both got up and walked out the door toward a secluded spot Ginny had shown him on her birthday. They sat down on the ground and Harry began the conversation. "I've been thinking about my dream. I wonder if it has anything to do with the attack at the world cup and the dark mark being seen again after all these years."
Ginny's brow was furrowed in concentration. "I really don't know, Harry. You said your scar only used to hurt you when He was nearby. If his followers are active again, it might mean he's getting more powerful. Maybe that's why you can feel him now." Both Harry and Ginny paled at that thought. "Of course, that's just a guess. Maybe we should ask Hermione's opinion."
"She'll just tell us to ask Dumbledore and consult a book while we wait for his answer." He put his head in his hands and muttered, "I don't think any book will have answers because I don't think anyone else has ever had a curse scar like mine. Even Dumbledore can only guess about my scar!"
"I still think you should tell her about it, Harry," insisted Ginny firmly. "She's your best friend and deserves to know!"
"Fine," conceded Harry. "I suppose we should tell Ron, too."
"Then we'll tell them after dinner," Ginny declared happily. "In the meantime, I think we should head back before mum calls us." She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and helped him up. Together, they made their way back to the burrow.
-IYCHH-
Dinner went by swiftly, aside from a small argument that the twins started by harassing Harry, causing Ginny to threaten to hex them, and soon the quartet found themselves huddled in Ginny's room, discussing the Voldemort-related events. Hermione listened intently to Harry's dream and Ginny's opinion with her brow furrowed while Ron paled at the thought of you-know-who being stronger. "I think we should tell Professor Dumbledore about it," she suggested predictably. "In the meantime, I'll…"
"Consult some book that couldn't possibly have the answer in it," Harry supplied, earning a glare from Hermione and a slight chuckle from Ron. "I'm sorry, Hermione. You're one of my best friends, and I don't want to hurt your feelings. I just don't think anybody has ever had a scar like mine, so therefore, I don't think anybody really understands it. Which means that all that anybody, even Dumbledore, can say about it is a guess." Hermione seemed to relax a bit as her glare disappeared. "I told you about it because I want to hear your opinion, not a promise to research."
"Well, Harry," Hermione replied nervously, "I'm not sure. I think I agree with Ginny that you-know-who might be getting stronger, with Wormtail now loose to help him."
"Yeah," agreed Ron. "Didn't Trelawney say that he'd help the Dark Lord rise again or something?" Hermione scoffed at that, but Harry and Ginny seemed amazed that he'd remembered."
"That's a good point, Ron. Hermione, I know you think she's a fraud, and usually she is. But you weren't there when she made that prediction, and the first part about Wormtail escaping did come true! Even Dumbledore, the man you wanted me to consult, thinks it was a real prediction."
Ginny asked, "Wasn't that rat in your dream, helping his master?" Harry nodded. "I'll bet it was real, that Pettigrew did find Tom and is helping him." Then, she looked at Harry terrified, "That means he really is planning to kill you."
"Don't worry, Ginny. I once told you that there's always someone trying to do me in. Maybe one day they'll succeed, I don't know. But I do know that I'm not going to let them ruin my life!" Ginny then got up and hugged him, while Ron looked away with an impatient expression.
At that moment, they heard a loud explosion outside, getting their attention and causing Harry and Ginny to break apart. They heard the twins shout in unison, "Ginny!"
Harry looked at his girlfriend with a smirk on his face. "What did you do to them?"
"Nothing," replied Ginny, causing Harry to raise his eyebrows. "Honestly, Harry. I was thinking of doing something to them but I haven't done it, yet."
They all left the room to find Fred and George looking furious with their red hair sticking up above their heads in the shape of a heart. They all started laughing at this immediately, until they were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley shouting, "Fred, George, what happened to you?"
"I guess Ginny came through on her threat…" answered George, calmly.
"…to hex us," finished Fred equally calmly.
"I did not!" screamed Ginny, whose face was turning red with anger. "They probably did it to themselves…"
"To themselves, Ginny?" yelled Mrs. Weasley. "You expect me to believe that? Off to bed with you, now! And tomorrow, you're degnoming the garden by yourself!" Mrs. Weasley then stormed down the stairs, muttering to herself, "It looks like we've been too easy on her! The twins have been a bad influence…"
As soon as she was out of eye and earshot, the twins each put a small piece of candy in their mouth, and within seconds their hair was back to normal.
Ginny looked ready to kill while the others watched in shock. "You did do it to yourselves to frame me!" she declared, while pulling out her wand. "I'll, I'll…"
"You'll do what, little sister?" asked Fred.
"Mum's already mad at you for pranking us," George pointed out.
"You framed us for turning Dudley into a canary," explained Fred.
"So now we've framed you," announced George.
"We're even now!" they finished together, then they both started laughing at her.
"This isn't over!" promised Ginny as she stormed back into her room, slamming the door.
-IYCHH-
Chapter end