Disclaimer:
I own nothing and JKR owns anything HP related! I am not making any money of this! It's just for fun! Any characters I might add to the story are mine though. All the mistakes as well.
Please R&R
Chapter 4: Returning to Hogwarts
August passed by in a hurry especially for Ron who was havening constant meeting with George and Lee in order to acquire Zonko's in Hogsmead.
On Ginny's 17th birthday everyone acted indifferent about it and they all seemed to be occupied by something.
"Hey Hermione how are you?" Ginny greeted an already awake Hermione
"Oh Ginny you are up. I am good how about you?"
"I am rather fine thank you. Let's head down for Breakfast."
"Sounds fine to me."
Upon entering the Kitchen Molly came up to them.
"Good morning dears. Arthur, Percy and Bill already left for work as well as George and Ron. Harry is gone to Teddy's this morning. Anyway would you two do me a favor and clean up the upper parts of the house?"
"Yea sure mom." Ginny answered.
Throughout the day Ginny became more and more depressed as no one would congratulate her on her birthday. She knew that everyone probably had a lot on their minds and forgot about it and she wasn't one to press herself on the stage but still she felt saddened that those who supposedly loved her wouldn't remember such an important day of her.
Meanwhile at Andromeda's Harry played with Teddy for awhile while explaining to Andromeda that he needed a gift to give Ginny for her 17th birthday. Andromeda and Teddy went with Harry into the next muggle town to buy some jewelry. Andromeda thought a promise ring might be nice. Suddenly Harry was hit by wave of despair and sadness, that his mind was spinning and he had to try hard t stay conscious. As they were in a side street Harry pulled out his wand and searched for the Dementor that he thought, was attacking.
"Andromeda, grab Teddy and get out of here. I think there is a Dementor close by!"
"But Harry I don't feel anything. Are you sure? Are you okay? You look like you are in pain and you are sweating a lot. Should I call the Order?" Andromeda was standing next to Harry, In one hand she had Teddy pressed close to her body and in her other hand she was holding her wand as well.
"No I am fine. Are you sure there is no Dementor here because I feel the despair and the sadness."
"Yes Harry. No Dementor is here."
Harry and Andromeda put their wands away and after a few deep breaths the feeling left him and he could think straight again. Andromeda was deeply worried but Harry shrugged it off although it bugged him a lot that he was so easily incapacitated. He told Andromeda that it might only have been his sub consciousness because he couldn't find a present for Ginny. He would have to ask Hermione and the others about it. Maybe they had an idea but right now he had a more important matter at hand.
After they entered the Jewelry store Harry found the perfect the perfect ring for asking her if she wanted to marry him and the perfect wedding ring. Although he knew he would still need to ask Mr and Mrs Weasley for Ginny's hand and his soon to be in-law siblings for their blessings.
Harry bought the two rings and they left the jewelry store again, with Harry's wallet being considerably lighter. They went back to Andromeda's where he played with Teddy for awhile before he had to head out again to meet with Ron and George to prepare Ginny's surprise party.
As soon as he apparated to George's Flat, Ron and George grabbed him so that he could help with the preparations.
"Where the hell have you been Harry? You said you wanted to do some quick shopping for Ginny's Birthday and say hello to Teddy. That was 5 hours ago!" Ron argued
"Look mate I am sorry I lost track of time. But I can see that you two didn't get distracted so we should be fine. It's only 2 pm and we need to be at the Burrow for 7pm so that's 5 more hours and it doesn't look like we need to do much more."
"Yes you lucky git. Ron and I were able to get Lee to help us and fill in for your part so we were actually 3 wizards which is why now we can relax a bit."
"I am really sorry mates, but now that I am here we can start and when we are finished we can transport it to the Burrow and then get ready. The next time we go out I will treat you guys to make for my being late. Deal" Harry asked holding out his hand to Ron and George who both put their hand on top of his and said deal as well. They continued preparing for Ginny's party. The party would be outside the Burrow and every friend of Ginny was going to attend. They prepared and banner they could hang in midair with pictures of Ginny flashing by and at the end of each show, a set of Fred's and George's fireworks would go off. Furthermore they took the Marquee used at Bill's and Fleur's wedding and charmed so that it would show a beautiful night sky similar to the one in the Great Hall. By 4 pm they were ready to banish everything to the Burrow. Before they did, Harry held them back too inform them that he wanted to ask Ginny's hand in marriage.
"Mates wait up. Before we check in to see if Hermione successfully got Ginny away from the Burrow I wanted to ask for your blessings because I want to ask Ginny to marry me. I will ask your parent tonight before I ask her but want to know what you think of it?"
"You know Harry, Ginny is our little sister and if you ever mistreat her you will have to answer us!" George told him sternly. "You know if you ever hurt her we will hurt you! But else, I doubt there would be someone better for Ginny than you are Harry!"
"Harry, what George says applies for me as well. As long as you keep your snogging to a minimum I see no reason to decline your relationships. Still I will hurt you if you don't value her. However, you are my mate and have been my friend ever since our first meeting, you always stood by my side even when I deserted you. I think you are the best man for Ginny and I will be happy for you to become my brother-in-law."
"Thanks mates it means a lot to me that you so willingly give your blessings and I promise you that I will never do anything to intentionally hurt Ginny!"
After the talk they left for the Burrow and got ready.
While at the burrow Harry took Bill, Charlie and Percy away from the family to inform them of his plans. They all gave him the same speech as Ron and George had and also agreed that he was the best match for Ginny.
The only talk Harry still needed to have, was with his, hopefully, future parents-in-law. The Weasley matriarch and patriarch were of course overjoyed to finally welcome Harry to the family and remembered how Ginny always went on about how she would marry Harry Potter when she was older. Now it was really going to happen if she said yes.
Meanwhile, Hermione took Ginny out, after they finished cleaning the upper parts of the Burrow for Molly. Ginny was sad the whole time but Hermione pretended not to notice and so she kept Ginny occupied with random stuff until it was time to return to the burrow for the surprise party.
They apparated to the burrow and entered the house. The second the opened the door everybody inside yelled surprise. Ginny was crying when she recognized her friends and family had not forgotten her birthday and surprised her with this party. She went to hug everyone which took quite awhile. She saved Harry for last and when she approached him she cuddled up to him and he kissed her before wishing her a happy birthday.
"Happy birthday my Ginny."
"Thanks Harry. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your surprise party.
"Well then let's go outside and get this party started." Ron bellowed and everyone went outside to see the beautiful marquee.
Everybody was enjoying themselves. There was talking, laughter and dancing to music as well as a buffet provided by Kreacher and Molly. After a while the guests wanted to see what Ginny got as birthday present and so she opened the presents. She opened all presents and didn't even notice that Harry's was missing. By the time Ginny was finished it was close to midnight and suddenly Harry stood up where he was seated and asked for moment of silence so he could hold his speech.
"Ginny, you know I have always loved I was just too blind to see it. I know that I have hurt you last year when I left to fight Voldemort and I am so terribly sorry for that. I know that I will never be able to make it up to you but I will try for the rest of my live. The last year I spent apart from you I noticed how much I crave you, your kindness and your laughter. I wished I was with you to protect from the Death Eaters but I couldn't and it pained me. Now that evil is gone I need to be with you again. I love you with all my heart and I will never stop loving you. Would you like to become my other half, be my partner in good times and bad times, be my confident and companion on our journey together? Will you marry me Ginny?"
Everyone was silent and holding their breath while waiting for Ginny's answer.
"I ….. I ….. I ….. am …. speec…..speechless! Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes Harry! I love you too. I will marry you!"
Everyone applauded as they kissed and again they were illuminated by a white light that shone brighter than the sun. Everyone but Ron and Hermione had to look away. Again, Harry and Ginny were oblivious to what happened around them.
After they ended their kiss, the light faded as quickly as it came and the guests starred at them before they started to applaud. All the while they were wary of what just happened but they didn't want to worry Harry and Ginny and thus no one told them anything.
The party went on for another hour before everyone returned home and left the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione to go to sleep as well.
Before going to bed however, the quartet took another walk under the night sky, illuminated by true stars.
"Harry, Ginny, it happened again. This time I didn't need to look away but everyone else had to. When you kissed you were illuminated by a glowing white light and it was even stronger and brighter than the last time." Hermione said breaking the silence.
"We really need to talk to Dumbledore about this but for now I think we can enjoy our last days of the holidays before going back to Hogwarts. However no one should know about what happened today. Already too many people saw what happened and I am not to sure I could manipulate all their memories and confound all of them so that they wont go blabbing about what they saw today."
"Why would you confound them Hermione? These are our friends, our families." Ron said.
"I know Ron but what do you think they would understand about it when even we don't know what it was. This should be a secret we should keep between us and reveal only when we know what it is. Dumbledore is different because he cannot be made to give what we are to reveal to him."
"Well if you think so Hermione, I am in on it. If it helps to keep all of us save it should be done. When we know what happened we can still tell those we trust explicitly." Harry argued.
"Anyway for now we should get some rest and enjoy our last holidays."
With this they bade each other a goodnight and went to bed. They spent as much time together as they could, even though Ron was still working with George. They usually went to Grimmauld Place after they added their own security to it, to stop people from entering against their will.
Harry and Hermione went to teach Ginny what they knew about defensive spells and how they used them while on the run from Voldemort. Ginny was able to perform all spells on her first try and was happy to spend so much time with Harry and Hermione. At night they would all sit together in Ron's room and read over some of Dumbledore's notes they went to retrieve earlier.
On August 31st Molly prepared a superb meal for family and invited some friends to join. Kreacher helped her prepare the meal and after that tended to the House of Black again.
For the dinner Kingsley, McGonagall, Hagrid and Andromeda and Teddy showed up. Lee and the Grangers were of course attending as well. The Weasleys and the Grangers had formed a friendship, partly due to their children dating but also because the Weasleys helped them to settle back into their old lives.
Everyone was having fun even McGonagall and Kingsley could relax for a bit and could enjoy the dinner.
After dinner Kingsley and McGonagall took the quartet away and went to have a talk with them.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny. Are you all set for your start of term tomorrow." Kingsley asked in his reassuring voice.
"Yes Minister." They all replied.
"Please call me Kingsley. Headmistress McGonagall and I wanted to talk to you about your stay at Hogwarts. Hogwarts was rebuild and with it the protection was renewed. However we are not Albus. While we are rather strong and magically powerful, Albus could perform spells that even Voldemort had his problems with."
"What Kingsley is trying to say is, that we don't know if it will withstand a siege again. For that reason we want you to not wander the grounds alone as you used too. It is for your protection and safety. On some weekend I will have Gawain or another trustworthy Auror over to begin your examinations and …"
"Sir, if I may be so bold. We also promised the portrait of Professor Dumbledore to have a few lessons with him." Hermione interjected
"Ah yes Albus told me something like that. Very well I am sure we can work something out. Besides, the whole point really is about your safety as you have knack for getting into serious trouble. If I recall correctly it was every years since your first year that at least you Mr Potter have been trouble."
"The ministry is still in a phase of reviewing and reorganizing and getting the public to recognize and follow us again. We do not believe many Death Eaters to be still at large but we also do not believe that we got them all."
"We understand and we will try to stay out of trouble but trouble usually finds us…."
"In which case, we have the DA to cover for Harry." Hermione finished Harry's sentence.
He didn't look pleased but he knew that there was no point arguing.
After that McGonagall, Kingsley and Hagrid took their leave and Lee left shortly after that.
Only the Grangers remained behind. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione would apparate them back to London where they lived in their house again. Then they would walk in Muggle London to reach Grimmauld Place where they would be picked up by the whole Weasley clan plus Hagrid in the morning. Everybody would be acting as security again but they all hoped that it would not be necessary to act.
"So tonight is the last night before we return to Hogwarts for the last time." Harry said while they were all sitting in the living room drinking a beer.
"Yes the last time before we become Aurors or whatever the future holds in stock for us." Ron concluded
"To friendship, love and our last year together at Hogwarts." Hermione praised.
Everybody raised their butterbeers to repeat the cheer Hermione just proposed. After that they all went to bed because they had to be up early to get to Kings Cross.
At 9:15 am the next morning the Weasleys and Hagrid came to Grimauld place and Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Ron were just finishing up before they started their way to Kings Cross. It didn't take them long and by 9:35 they arrived at Kings Cross and made there way to Kings Cross.
During the trip the quartet all started to feel uneasy yet they couldn't put their fingers on what felt wrong. They just passed through the barrier when Harry spoke up.
"I don't like it. Something feels way off and after passing the barrier it wa…."
"There is Potter! Get him! KILL HIM!"
"Avada Kedavra, Stupefy, Crucio, Imperio, Sectumsempra."
Spells were flying in all directions but the quartet jumped out of the way and fought off the attackers before the guard even had a chance to intercept the spells.
"Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Impediamente, Petrificus Totalus" the quartet yelled jumping out of the way.
Hermione signaled the others to grab hold of her hand after they back away through the alley again and disapparated all of them to safety.
Meanwhile chaos ensured on platform 9 ¾ . The Weasley assembly and Hagrid were able to force the Death Eaters to retreat and luckily no one was hurt. One Death Eater who caught a spell fired by one of the quartet was captured and held to be imprisoned by the ministry. However as soon as the situation was clear Molly became aware that Harry Ron, Ginny and Hermione were nowhere to be found.
"Bill where did you send Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione?"
"I didn't send them anywhere I wanted to but they were already gone and so I thought someone else must have gone with them."
"But everyone is here. Where could they be. Whe…"
Suddenly a silver Otter appeared and stood on his legs and began speaking in Hermione's voice.
"I hope everyone is safe. Harry, Ginny, Ron and I are at a safe location. In case of being overheard we will not reveal where we are. After the attack we disapparated because we knew they were after us and without us there we hoped they would loose interest and disappear out of fear of being caught. DO NOT contact us in case of being followed. Once we are safe we will inform you."
With this the silver Otter disappeared and Molly broke down.
"Thank god they are safe. But where are they how do we know they do not need our help?"
"Molly, Harry, Ron and Hermione were hiding and on the run from even Voldemort himself. They know how to not be found better than we do. When they are safe they will contact us."
At the same time in the Highlands of Scotland.
"Hermione why did apparate us here? Where are we even? We need to go back help the others!" Ginny was shouting.
"Gin. Calm down please. Hermione did what she had to do to ensure our safety. Those Death Eaters were after us. Once they realize we are no longer there they will loose interest because they are up against to many opponents. Before we went back through the Barrier I saw Neville and some other of the DA approach them from behind when at the same time our family attacked from the front. They were outnumbered and lost the moment of surprise." Harry tried to reason with Ginny.
"Yea lil' sis don't worry. It will be nothing. You and Harry taught the DA enough to handle some slimy Death Eaters and right now it was the best to get out of there before anyone felt the need to play the hero part and jump in front of a curse aimed for one of us." Ron said.
"Okay. Well anyway where are we now Hermione?"
"We are in the beautiful Highlands of Scotland about 20 miles away from Hogwarts. We will travel by foot from now on. We will place the Muffiliato and Disillusionment charm upon us to not be found while we walk. I packed some food for us so we will not starve during our trip." Hermione said winking at Ron. "However, first of all we should inform you mother about what happened because she will be worried."
After they informed the Weasleys that for now they were safe, they began to make their way to Hogwarts. As they didn't have any luggage, it was left with the Weasleys and would be sent directly to Hogwarts, their journey was quite easy and uneventful. They didn't run into any trouble and reached Hogwarts even before the train did. When they entered the castle they could see the Hogwarts Express approaching in the distance.
Upon entering the castle Sir Nickolas saw them and went to greet them.
"Welcome back you four. You lead quite an impressive lifestyle. The headmistress was very worried when she learned that you and the other students were attacked at Kings Cross. She ordered us to inform her if we should see. So I suggest you follow me to the Great Hall."
"Hello to you too, Sir Nick. It is good to be back. Yes we were ambushed by some death eaters, but they never were the smartest so we had no problems escaping them. Have you heard if anyone was injured?"
"Not some of the students but as I heard two death eaters were caught in cross fire and got jinxed pretty badly."
They continued talking while they walked to the Great Hall.
When they entered the Great Hall, the Professors of Hogwarts rushed to their sides.
"Oh my Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione. Are you alright? Have you been harmed?"
McGonagall asked them after they entered.
"Professors we are fine. Thank you for your concern but we are fine. We apparated away from Kings Cross and walked the rest of the way to here. It was quite pleasant and as Nick already informed us no one but death eaters have been harmed during the ambush."
"Yes but still you shouldn't have given us such a fright."
"Yea you for. I was worried 'bout you. I was part of your guard and 'en suddenly them ruddy Death Eaters attack and you go off and disappear." Hagrid declared.
"We are sorry but we knew they were after us so we thought it would be best if we disapprate so they don't need to linger anymore and attack other to get to us." Harry answered.
"Well you are here now so that is all that matters. The others will arrive shortly so I suggest you go get changed and return here to participate in the opening feast" McGonagall told the quartet and they did what they were told.
After returning to the Great Hall the first students started to fill in and immediately everyone gawked at the quartet. Those who knew them personally approached them and talked to them while those who didn't know them were just awed by their presence. Some first years even forgot to continue walking so that others ran into them.
After sitting down with their friends at the Gryffindor table they began talking about what happened at Kings Cross and Neville filled them in off what happened after the disappeared. The Death Eaters scattered and didn't regroup after the quartet disappeared. They were too nervous with all the security at Kings Cross.
Later that night when everyone retreated to their rooms, the quartet made their way to their own separated room and went to bed. Hermione had informed the Weasleys that they returned to Hogwarts safely and McGonagall too informed the Ministry and the Weasleys as soon as she was informed upon their arrival.
Before drifting off to sleep, Harry said to all of them.
"You know guys. It's great being back here."
Everyone mumbled their condolence and drifted off to sleep knowing that it was sure to be an interesting last year at Hogwarts.