The Beginning of the End (chapt. 9)
I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT! Here is chapter 9... Please let me know what you think about the story so far and the chapters. I've decided to do both Harry's mind and everyday things and Ginny's sometimes even Hermione... Hope you like it. Thanks
Harry woke up to the sun shining bright on his eyes. He sat up in his camp bed summoned his glasses and put them on everything coming back into focus. Ron was still sleeping in his bed snoring as always, he stood up and got dressed.
"This smells delicious Mrs. Weasley" He said once he got in the kitchen.
"Thank you Harry" she replied. He sat down and started eating.
"Hi Harry" Ron said as he sat down next to him at the table.
"Hi" Harry replied.
They ate in silence, a small tension in the kitchen, though no one knew why. After finishing his plate, Harry stood up cleaned his dishes and waited till Ron finished eating.
"So, are you coming to Grimmauld place with me?" Harry asked him
"Sure" Ron said. Harry went up to the attic were he shared Ron's room, took his bag and his possessions. He took one last look around the room he had shared with Ron since he had started spending time at The Burrow. I guess everything is changing now... He thought.
"I'll see you at dinner " Harry said.
"Bye Harry" she replied.
"So how are you feeling?" Ron asked him as they made their way to the apparition point.
"I dunno yet. I guess I'll know when I leave after dinner tonight" he said
Once they had gotten to the point, they turned around and a faint pop sounded in the still air. Harry opened the front door and stepped in the familiar corridor of Grimmauld place.
"Wow! Kreacher did a good job cleaning up this place" Ron said stunned.
"Kreacher" Harry said raising his voice slightly.
"Master Harry. To what do I owe this pleasure" he said bowing low.
"Hi Kreacher, I just wanted to tell you that I was coming to live here now, is everything ready?" he asked
"Of course Master." He said
"Thank you"
"Is Harry Potter's friend coming as well?" he asked
"Um... no not yet anyway" Ron replied. Harry made his way up the stairs knowing exactly which room he wanted to have. He opened the room to Siriu's old room, put his bag on the bed and looked around. Everything was the same as the last time they were there except that Kreacher had replaced everything that was in disorder and the room looked like new again.
"So what do you want to do today?" Harry asked Ron.
"Well actually I was supposed to go at the shop, you can come if you like" Ron said
"Sure but I might go to the ministry later and go see Kingsley about the Auror's job" he said
"So you decided to take it then" Ron stated.
"Yeah I guess. We'll see how it goes" Harry said
They made their way out of Siriu's room and started making their way towards the stairs when Ron stopped in front of a room.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked
"I dunno just memories I guess" Ron said pointing at R.A.B's room.
"Yeah I know what you mean" Harry said
"Anyway let's go to the shop" Ron said shaking his head.
"Sure" they made their way down the stairs and to the front door.
"Oh, hold on. Kreacher" Harry said
"Yes Master"
"I'll be coming back after dinner at the Weasley's so no need to make any for me." He said not wanting to make the elf work hard for nothing. The elf nodded and bowed once again. Ron and Harry both turned on the spot and apparated to WWW.
Before entering the shop, Harry pulled Ron on the side of the street.
"Listen Ron, you know the offer about staying with me at Grimmauld place will always be good right?" he said
"Yeah, I'll think about it Harry. I do want to come and live there and start new but I dunno if I can leave mum at home" he said, Harry nodded understanding and made his way in the shop.
"Harry what are you doing here?" George asked him shaking his hand.
"Just thought I'd come visit" Harry said. Later that day, George, Ron and Harry made their way to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. Once they were finished Harry said his goodbyes and made his way to the Ministry of Magic.
"Harry to what do I owe this pleasure?" Kingsley said once Harry entered his office.
"Well Kingsley I wanted to talk about that offer you did this summer, about the Auror's post." Harry said scratching the back of his head.
"Yes, have you decided to become an Auror then?" He asked
"Well, Yes" Harry said
"Great then you will read and study theses books" Kingsley said scrawling book names on a piece of paper and handing it to him.
"And you will report to my office next Monday ready for work." he said
"Great, thanks Kingsley" Harry said walking out the door and making his way outside. Once he was able to apparate, he turned with a small pop and vanished to Diagon Alley. He went to Flourish and Blott's to get the books he needed. He went over to WWW after to see if Ron and George were still working.
"Harry, how did it go at the ministry?" Ron asked as soon as he saw him enter the shop.
"Good, I'm starting next week." Harry said smiling.
"Starting what?" George asked emerging from the back.
"Work as an Auror" Harry said
"Really that's great" George said clapping him on the back. After they were done inventory and closing up the shop, they went to The Burrow. After an amazing dinner, Harry said his goodbyes and used the Floo Network to go to his flat. It felt extremely bizarre coming into the kitchen and finally realizing that he was alone. He thought about the dinner he just had and how Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were very proud of him becoming and Auror, it was like he was one of their children.
***
Ginny woke up early several days after she wrote the letter, not having slept much the previous night. Since she was the only one awake in the girl's dormitory, she got dressed and went up to the owlery to send her letter to Harry. She wasn't sure why she'd waited so long to send it maybe because she didn't want to worry him with everything going on. She attached her letter to Ron's owl Pig, which she had brought with her and watched him soar off in the beautiful sunny sky. After several minutes of staring she went down to the Great Hall and started eating her breakfast.
"Ginny, you scared me. I wondered where you were" Hermione said as soon as she sat down across from Ginny.
"Well good morning to you to Hermione. It's a lovely day isn't it?" she said sarcastically.
"Very funny" Hermione replied.
Shortly after breakfast was over, they both went off to their first class of the day.
***
Several days had passed since Harry had moved to Grimmauld place, he hadn't seen Ron much at dinner with the Weasley's sometimes they ate lunch together but it wasn't the same.
"Master Harry" Kreacher said breathless once Harry had entered the door from work one night.
"Hello Kreacher" Harry said
"Does Master need anything?" the elf asked
"No thank you. Kreacher there's something I wanted to tell you. I know you have a bed in the kitchen but if you want you can have one of the room's here." He said
"Thank you Master" Kreacher said bowing low.
"No problem Kreacher"
"While you were gone Master a letter arrived from a Miss Weasley" he said handing him the letter. As soon as it was in his hands he ripped it open.
"Listen Kreacher I'll be in my room." Harry said not paying attention and practically running to his room. After reading the letter he felt a bit alarmed. Ginny sounded almost depressed and the first week wasn't even finished. It was going to be a dreadful year. She talked about Dean, who had asked her about their relationship. He felt a twinge of jealousy at that, and frankly a bit afraid since he wasn't there although he wasn't going to admit it to Ginny she'd do a bat bogey hex on him. He pulled his bag on the bed and starting taking out parchment and quill when he heard a commotion in the entry. He pulled out his wand and descended the stairs slowly pointing his wand in front of himself.
"Who's there" he said once he saw a tall figure in front of the door. He kept walking towards him and the light finally fell on Ron's incredulous face as he appraised Harry's wand pointing straight at him.
"Are you mad at me?" Ron asked
"No why?" Harry joked
"Well you're pointing your bloody wand at me"
"Sorry about that it's just a reflex" he said and they both started laughing. They walked to the kitchen, Ron sitting in front of Harry.
"So what are you doing here?" Harry asked him, his eyebrows rose up in confusion.
"Well I guessed you didn't want to be here alone tonight, and I thought I might as well see how it goes if I slept over one night and make my decision in the morning about staying here." Ron said
"No problem, pick any room you like it's not like you don't have a lot of choices." Harry said mocking him.
"Which one did you take?" he asked
"Sirius's old room" he said
"Alright thanks... I'll just take a glass of water and be off to bed" Ron replied smiling.
"No problem, see you in the morning."
Harry made his way back to his room and took out a quill and two pieces of parchment. He started writing to Ginny about his work and everything that was going around here. Once he had finished he started writing another letter but to Hermione, saying to go to Hagrid's hut with Ginny saturday at three o'clock, and to trust him. He sent that out with Ginny's owl that waited till he was done writing.
***
Hermione got up and looked around the room; she couldn't find Ginny and her instincts from the past year even though it may be ridiculous kicked in. She took her wand from her bedside table and made her way down the stairs of the girl's dormitory. She stopped suddenly seeing Ginny sitting beside the window and looking at the blue morning sky, she made her way over to Ginny.
"Hey Ginny" She said
"Hi Hermione" she said not turning to look at her.
"Are you alright Ginny?" Hermione asked concerned
"I'm fine" she said wiping her hand across her right cheek.
"What's that?" Hermione pointed to a piece of parchment that looked like a letter in front of her, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer for her first question.
"Harry wrote me a letter" she said.
"Oh, how is he?" Hermione asked
"Fine, you can find out for yourself he wrote you a letter" she said handing it to her and leaving to get ready for the day. Hermione opened the letter and started to read.
"Why should we go to Hagrid's? Not that I don't want to but..." she said to herself confused. She shook her head and went upstairs to get ready also; he'd said to trust him. Was something wrong with the Weasley's or Ron?
***
"Hi Harry" Ron said the next morning at the kitchen table.
"Mmm" Harry replied, he was looking at the table deep in thought.
"Are you alright?" When he got no answer he started waving his hands in front of his face. Nothing. He went to the sink poured water into a jug and poured it on Harry's head.
"What the...?" Harry said standing up and looking at Ron.
"Oh sorry I was distracted" he said taking his wand and performing a drying spell.
"I'll say, what's going on?" he asked.
"It's just Ginny, she sent me a letter but something was off so I'm going to Hagrid's tomorrow. You want to come? Hermione will be there" he said smiling.
"Oh well I guess I could stop by" he replied.
"Listen Harry if your offer still stands, I'd be glad to come and live here with you. It's just not the same anymore." He said sitting down just as Kreacher brought their breakfast on the table.
"Of course it still stands but I'm not the one telling your mum" he said laughing. They ate in silence each in their thoughts. After getting ready they both made their way to work.
***
"What do you mean you're doing tryouts tomorrow?" Hermione exclaimed in the great hall that night at dinner.
"Well Hermione I'm captain and I need to do tryouts so I can have a team" she said annoyed.
"But why this Saturday I mean you could do it Sunday or next weekend." Hermione said desperately.
"Actually I can't there's the first Hogsmeade weekend next week, and I don't feel like doing them on Sunday so I'm doing them tomorrow and this is my final word about it" she said seeing that Hermione was about to start again. She stood up and walked over to Dean and sat next to him leaving Hermione open-mouthed alone at the table.
"Hey Ginny" Dean said surprised and inched closer to Ginny. She stood up sensing that he had the wrong impression.
"Just wanted to let you know that tryouts start at one thirty tomorrow" Ginny told him leaving right away. Ginny walked right past Hermione not even glancing at her. Hermione annoyed at her behaviour stood up angrily and stomped her way after her. Once she caught up with her, she took her arm and spun her around so Ginny was facing her.
"What!" Ginny roared. Hermione cringed backward at the hostility in Ginny's voice.
"Ginny what's going on with you?" Hermione asked in a small voice.
"Nothing" she hissed back.
"Ginny stop shutting me out, were supposed to be friends you've been acting all bizarre since we got back." She said hurt.
"It's just.." she started
"What?" Hermione pressed
"Nothing, just leave me alone Hermione" she said walking away.
Hermione left and went up to the dormitory and fell asleep tears gushing down her face. Meanwhile Ginny walked around the castle, going to the tree she and Harry had once shared in her fifth year, as she walked around suddenly memories of the war came rushing back in her head she saw the girl she was comforting near here, blood, Voldemort himself, Harry dead... she started sobbing uncontrollably, her whole body shaking her feet buckled and she fell on her knees. She jumped up in fright when she felt a hand on her shoulder; she turned around and saw Dean.
"Ginny are you alright?" Dean asked her worried. Without thinking, without knowing why she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed on his shoulder. I didn't feel right yet at the same time it felt good. She was finally letting her emotions out which felt awesome she just couldn't do it with Hermione. But she wanted to be in Harry's arms, just letting him hold her. Not mumbling things that aren't even true like Dean was doing. She missed Harry's arms around her his head on her head, his lips on hers. Her sobs finally stopped and she took a step back and ran back to the school. When she entered the girl's dormitory she had taken control of herself again. She noticed Hermione's face, red and swollen. A wave of guilt crushed in on her. She went to bed silently that night, remembering good things instead of bad ones.
***
"Are you coming Ron were going to be late?" Harry called up the stairs.
"Do they even know we're coming?" He asked
"Hermione knows that I'm coming and I wanted it to be a surprise for Ginny, but were going to have to go see McGonagall first and ask her if we can come on the grounds though were going to Hagrid's I don't see the problem."
"Right well we should go or were going to be late" Ron said mockingly.
***
Ginny had slept trough breakfast and when she woke up Hermione was already gone and there was no one else in the dormitory. She stood up brushed her hair got dressed and descended to the common room searching for Hermione but she wasn't there. Probably at the library she thought. She went up to the library and she wasn't there. Confused Ginny made her way to lunch, and again she couldn't find her. Worried she went down to pitch, took her firebolt in the shed and started walking on the pitch.
"Hi Ginny" someone said behind her. She turned and found Dean smiling hugely. Damn it! She thought.
"Hi Dean, you're early for tryouts" She said
"Yeah well I needed to talk to you" he said
"Listen Dean if it's about last night, don't put anything into it. I was vulnerable and well I needed a shoulder to cry on... I'm sorry" she said and soared in the air leaving him with his thoughts.
"Hermione what are y'e doin' here?" Hagrid said once she knocked on the door.
"Hi Hagrid just wanted to come and see you" she said walking inside and sitting in a chair.
"Well I'm glad y'a did" he said smiling. They started talking and drinking some tea, when there was a knock on the door.
"Wonder who tha' is" Hagrid said opening the door.
"Harry! An' ..." Hagrid boomed.
"And who Hagrid?" Hermione said standing up.
"Hi Hermione" Harry said coming inside, she walked to him and gave him a hug looking over his shoulder and seeing Ron.
"Ron!" She exclaimed, going around Harry and jumping in his awaiting arms, kissing him on the lips.
"Still in the room guys" Harry said
"Right" Ron said
"Where's Ginny?" Harry asked
"Um... She's holding tryouts for the team."
"Oh, well I'll go see Professor McGonagall and maybe I'll go see her." He said starting to walk out the door. She ran after him wanting to explain everything.
"Harry, I think you're right. She's depressed or something is really wrong with her." He turned around and looked at her confused. She explained everything that happened the night before.
"She really did that?" he asked her
"Yeah"
"I'm sorry Hermione, I'll go see her. But before I need to see McGonagall" He hurried off to the school.
"Did she really do that Hermione?" Ron said taking her hand.
"Yeah, but it's alright. She'll come around." Hermione said leaning in for a kiss again.
***
"Yes Potter, Miss Granger isn't the only one to whom she's been unkind to." Professor McGonagall said.
"Thank you Professor."
Harry walked down the front steps of the school and made his way to the familiar Quidditch pitch. He thought about what he might say to Ginny and when. Maybe he'd talk to her after the tryouts. He heard a door bang to his left and realized it was from the changing rooms, he saw a red headed girl come out of the changing room and she looked infuriated. He decided he'd talk to her after the tryouts so he made his way towards the benches.
***
Ginny dragged herself on the pitch and looked at the crowd standing in front of her.
"Anyone how isn't in Gryffindor, go back to the castle now" she nearly screamed. Several students started making their way back to the castle.
Ginny took in a big breath to steady herself; after all she didn't want get kicked off the team. Tryouts started and Ginny was starting to get infuriated for anything small thing a kid that didn't do the right turn the right way and so on. After a long morning of screaming and kids crying, she decided to reschedule the tryouts. She was making her way to the changing rooms looking at the grass ashamed of how she had acted.
"Hey Ginny!" she looked sideways.
"Oh, hi Dean" she said lamely
"Listen about last night..." he started to say
"Listen just forget about it alright, I just had a moment of weakness that's all. Don't read anything into it" Dean turned and faced Ginny, he smiled and started to lean closer but before Ginny could pull away, a hand went was on his chest and pushing him away.
"She said to forget about it Dean" Ginny turned her head to the person talking and was in complete shock.