Chapter 6: Hogwarts and Heists
"Ginny, are you okay? You look like you're a million miles away." Neville said, concerned. Ginny, Luna, and Neville were currently sitting in a compartment aboard the Hogwarts' Express.
"Yes, Neville's quite right Ginny, did you by any chance get yourself bitten by a wild Rackspurt? They can cause you to have attention issues, you know. Daddy always says-" Luna continued to babble, but Ginny tuned her out.
Her mind was focused on other things, mainly Harry and the baby—well babies. That was going to take some getting used to. Leave it to her and Harry to not only get knocked up, but also have twins. She still found it funny that Harry had passed out. After they had revived him, the healers had given both her and Harry photographs of the babies, she had hers concealed in a sliver locket around her neck. To others, it just appeared to be a photo of her and her family, but when someone who knew their secret saw it, it revealed the ultrasound of her and Harry's two little babies.
She was very nervous about this year of school. She had neglected to tell Harry the main reason behind her worrying, Severus Snape. Harry didn't know that he was now headmaster in place of Dumbledore. Harry didn't need to know this either; he had enough to worry about.
"Ginny, you know you always have us to talk to, right?" Neville asked after Luna had finished.
"Well, actually," Ginny said biting her lip, she should tell them, shouldn't she? "There is something, but you have to swear you won't tell anybody."
"Of course, does this involve Harry?" Luna inquired.
"Well, sort of, the thing is… I'm pregnant." Ginny said as the compartment swung open.
Draco Malfoy's face was one of absolute shock, then it transformed into a smile that resembled a child's on Christmas.
"Did I hear correctly? Is golden girl Weasley really in fact pregnant? Wow, I was just going to tell you to put on your robes, but I guess today is my lucky day! How are you going to have this baby Weasel? Mummy and Daddy can barely afford the brood they've already got."
Ginny eyed the prefect's badge on his chest as Draco continued to rant and was weighing her options, when suddenly, Neville stood up, strode across the compartment, and punched Malfoy across the face.
Malfoy clutched his jaw as blood trickled down his mouth. It looked as though Neville had broken his jaw.
"You'll pay for this Longbottom! Crucio!"
Neville fell to the ground and squirmed in pain. "How does that feel, Longbottom? Bet dear old Mum and Dad enjoyed this just as much as you are." Draco said cruelly.
"Stop it! Stop it, you soulless bastard!" Ginny screamed.
Draco eventually lifted the curse. "You better bet that the teachers will hear about this Malfoy! You can't do that to somebody!" Ginny said angrily, her face turning a bright red to match her hair.
"Actually I can. The headmaster said that we could use any punishment necessary to keep troublemakers under control. You better watch yourself, Weasel, wouldn't want poor little baby Weasley to get hurt." Ginny backed off at the threat in his voice.
Malfoy gave them all one last smirk before moving on to the next compartment. Ginny immediately turned to Neville, who was still lying on the floor.
"Neville are you okay? Here, let me help you up." Neville's face was pale as a sheet.
"No, no I got it. You shouldn't be lifting anything heavy in, er… your condition." Neville said pulling himself off the floor and taking a seat next to Luna.
"So, Harry's the father, then?' Neville said in a hushed tone.
"Yes, but that's not the biggest part, I'm expecting twins as well."
Luna and Neville looked at her in astonishment. Ginny was actually quite impressed with herself; it took a lot to shock Luna.
"So…. What are you going to do?" Luna asked.
…..
"I want to do it tomorrow." Harry said.
Ron and Hermione guffawed at him.
"You're bloody off your rocker! There are so many things that can go wrong and we've only been watching the ministry for a couple days." Ron returned.
"Well, there are still a million things that can go wrong if we wait. And we need that locket now."
"Ron, I hate to say it, but Harry's right. As crazy as it is, it's our best shot at Umbridge." Hermione finally spoke up.
"So it's agreed then, we'll break into the Ministry tomorrow."
Kreacher had finally returned with Mundungus Fletcher about three days ago.
A crash came from the kitchen and the trio quickly ran down the stairs to investigate. It had been about a week since they sent Kreacher on his mission and they had anxiously been waiting his return.
The scene that awaited them was almost comical as the little house elf was standing on top of the man, who was currently sprawled out with his back on the floor. Kreacher was holding a rather large frying pan in his hand and was waving it back and forth menacingly.
The man tried to make a run for it, but Kreacher was lightning-fast and brought the frying pan down on the man's head repeatedly.
"YOU GOOD- FOR- NOTHING- SCUM! STEALING MY- MISTRESS'S THINGS!" he squeaked in between blows.
"Gerroff me you vicious little freak!" Mundungus Fletcher yelled.
"Kreacher stop. We need him conscious if we're going to interrogate him." Harry said, failing to suppress a chuckle.
"Just one more Master Harry, for luck?" Kreacher asked innocently.
"Thank you m'boy. If you don't mind I'll be on my way now." Mundungus said, moving to get up.
"Move one more muscle and I'll send the house elf after you again." Harry growled.
Mundungus stopped immediately and cast a worried glance towards Kreacher.
"You stole from me, you scum." Harry said, letting the words take effect.
"No, no, I merely cleaned up this place for ya, m'boy. Don't ya see, didn't take nothin' valuable." Mundungus rambled, fearfully.
"Save your excuses, I'm only interested in one item. A locket, where is it?"
"Why, is it valuable?" Harry sent him a murderous glare.
"So you still have it, then?" Hermione inquired hopefully.
"No, he's just wondering if he could've gotten more for it." Ron said with a scowl.
"Bleedin' gave it away, didn't I? Some Ministry hag came up to me, while I was sellin' me goods. Said I was in violation of some law. The locket caught her eye 'n she said that if I let her have it, she'd let me slide. Some toad-like lady, with a god-awful bow on her head."
Harry had heard all he needed to, he knew exactly who had the locket, and he knew that getting it back was not going to be easy.
"I'm done with you, Kreacher, he's all yours."
Kreacher squealed with glee and chased him around the room with the frying pan. After Kreacher had gotten a couple good shots in, Mundungus seemed to remember he was a wizard and disapparated.
Harry turned to the others. "We have to break into the ministry."
…..
Harry glanced at his watch. The Weasley's had given it to him for his 17th birthday. It was by far the best present he had ever received. Like most Weasley gifts, it was a hand-me-down, but that only made Harry cherish it all the more.
"Shit," he said to himself, they were running late.
They had already picked out the wizards they were to turn into, and Harry and Hermione had already downed the polyjuice potion. But, they had hit a snag with Ron. Ron's wizard, Reg Cattermole had decided not to go to work that day, or so they assumed.
This left them waiting for the next Ministry employee that happened to take this particular route to work today. Harry could see the flaws with this plan, but they didn't have another choice. Harry silently prayed to himself that this wasn't an omen for how the rest of the day was going to play out.
Suddenly, a navy clad Ministry individual passed by. All three of them acted at once, "Stupefy!" they shouted. The poor witch never had a chance, and she crumpled at their feet.
Ron didn't hesitate. He plucked a hair from her head and downed the potion. Soon enough, Meg Logration (as they found her name to be) stood before them.
"Hey Harry, look I've got boobs!" Ron said laughing hysterically.
Hermione shot him-her a menacing look that shut Ron up immediately, but Harry could have sworn she cracked a smile after she thought they had looked the other day. Harry was forced to suppress a chuckle, as he didn't want to feel Hermione's wrath.
The three of them crammed into the 'telephone booth' and upon pressing the correct buttons, descended into the Ministry of Magic.
A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! I love reading them, I'm astounded by the number of readers for this story and I'm going to try to update a lot more frequently then I have been! A special shout out to harrycat2835 for their continued support of this story!
Vic and Harrycat2835: I will definitely keep your suggestion in mind as it makes a lot of sense. I can't see Ginny sitting out of the action either.
MidnightAngel86: I can't tell you that! It would ruin all the fun!