So this is the next chapter and as of yet have had no reviews :( Plenty of you have read but please let me know what you think of this story, is it good, bad or damn well unreadable? Please enjoy the next chapter as the proverbial ball is about to start rolling.
I do not own J.K Rowlings world, I just like to play in it. My bank account is unfortunately much emptier than hers would be !
Chapter 2 – The Point of No Return
Molly Weasley was in the kitchen when she heard a small pop heralding the arrival of her husband. He came in through the back door and proceeded to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"How's your day been Mollywobbles?" Molly blushed at the pet name her husband called her by.
"Relatively quiet. Ron and Ginny have been playing quidditch whilst Hermione read under the tree. She's been a bit nervous the last few days as her parents are due back soon. She's not sure how they're going to react to her." Arthur nodded, it was a difficult situation for Hermione to be in, she had done what was best for her parents so that they didn't get hurt, it didn't mean that they would agree with it though.
"There're coming back on a muggle flying machine, I believe they call it an aeroplane. I wonder if the Grangers will be able to tell me how it stays up without magic. Muggles really do come up with the most amazing things." Molly nodded her head, smiling as her husband talked about muggle artefacts again.
"Did you get a chance to talk to the boys?" she enquired. Arthur smiled.
"Yes dear, they said they would definitely be over tonight, they have something they want to tell us. Oh I almost forgot, I bumped into Harry at the ministry, he was going to see Kingsley." Molly looked up, her curiosity peaked.
"I thought he'd already talked to Kingsley?" Arthur nodded.
"He did, this was about something else. I'm sure that if he's allowed he can tell us tonight. I invited him to tea." Molly laughed.
"You mean Ginny asked you to invite him." Arthur laughed and nodded. "Ginny really misses him at the moment, they spent all that time apart last year and now that the wars over they still don't spend much time together, everyone always expects so much from him. I assume that since you invited Harry then Sirius, Remus and Tonks will be coming to?" Arthur shook his head.
"Only Sirius will be here, Remus and Tonks have taken Teddy on a late honeymoon. I met Sirius in Diagon alley and his exact words were 'how could I every say no to Molly's exquisite cooking'." He smiled as he saw his wife blush.
"That man," Molly scolded, although with a small smile on her face.
Sirius Black stood at the bottom of the stairs of Number 12 Grimmauld Place shouting up to his Godson for the umpteenth time.
"I don't think she'll care what you look like Harry, you could be wearing Dobby's tea cosy and she wouldn't even notice, come to think of it I think she'd be very interested in how you look wearing that!" He smirked to himself as he heard Harry's response of some rather choice words. Sirius had already been waiting fifteen minutes and was starting to get slightly frustrated with his Godson. A small pop behind him made him turn around.
"Does Harry Potter's Godfather require anything sir?" Sirius laughed. Dobby had appeared next to him dressed smartly in his house elf uniform with the Potter crest embroidered on the breast pocket. Dobby was staying at Potter Sanctuary at the moment, a moderate sized house with a quidditch pitch and swimming pool on the grounds. Harry had expressed a desire to move into his own place and so Dobby was making sure the house was fit to live in. The house had once belonged to his grandparents.
"Sorry Dobby, I wasn't calling you. I was just referencing your name as an incentive to get my Godson to hurry up and get ready." Dobby laughed.
"Master Harry wishes to look good for Mistress Po-Wheezy" Sirius looked strangely at Dobby, noticing the almost slipped tongue.
"Ready to go Sirius?" Harry said from the couch, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Apparating down the stairs are we now?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow, making him look like a certain potions professor. Harry laughed.
"Well you were complaining about me taking so long. I thought I'd save a few seconds."
"Can't fault you there is suppose." He did a quick once over of his Godson's appearance taking in the mess of black that was Harry's hair, untameable by even sleakeasy. He smirked as he noticed the robes that Harry wore.
"Subtle. Going to see if anyone notices?" Harry nodded. "Well come along then, there's a pretty who will have my head if I don't get you there soon!" Harry laughed and grabbed a handful of floo powder from on top the fireplace.
"The Burrow," he said and vanished. He found himself shooting out of the fireplace and tried to balance before pulling the person in front of him down on top of him landing in a heap.
"This is an unexpected way to say hello," Ginny said kissing Harry on the lips.
"If this is what happens then I'll have to do it more often," he chuckled bringing Ginny's lips to his again. He heard laughing at Sirius came out of the floo behind him and groaned.
"Oh Harry, I knew you were desperate to see her but can't you at least get a room first!"
"Yeah laugh it up Sirius," he grumbled before letting Ginny get up off him. Harry stood up and brushed himself off scowling at his Godfather.
"Watch that face Harry, the wind might change and you'll be stuck looking like Snape for the rest of your life." Harry turned away from his Godfather, ignoring him. He smiled at Ginny, glad to be able to see her again.
"Well look at what spilled out of the fireplace, it's only Mr eligible bachelor himself." Harry grimaced and turned around to see the twins. He felt Ginny place her arms around him.
"What's up, Gred and Forge?"
"We wondered if we could drag you away from our lovely sister for 5 minutes. We have some matters to discuss Pyro." Harry's eyebrows raised at the sound of his marauder name and nodded his head. He watched the boys leave the room and leaned into Ginny to give her a kiss.
"I'll continue that later," he whispered. Ginny smiled.
"I'll hold you to that."
"After you left us this morning, we went to Hogsmead, leaving Verity in charge. We looked over the premises and made loads of plans. We've been thinking about possibly expanding but actually gave us the opportunity. The only problem is that we need to find someone we can trust to run the store." Harry nodded trying to think of a solution. A mischievous grin spread across Harry's face.
"I have the perfect suggestion and you know them both very well." Both twins looked at him in confusion until realisation dawned.
"Of course…"
"…they are the …"
"…perfect choice." The twins laughed. Harry smiled. This was one way of getting Sirius out from under his feet. He winked at the boys and left spend some time with Ginny.
"Now where were we?" Harry said pulling Ginny in for a deep kiss. She giggled.
"This is pretty close." The two of them were under their favourite tree in the back garden. Ginny sat between Harry's legs, her head rested on his chest. Harry's arm was wrapped around Ginny's middle protectively whilst his other played with her hair. Ginny sighed, enjoying the moment that they could sit there together. "Harry?" He looked down to see Ginny tracing the scar on his chest. "When are we going to tell everybody? Before it was because we needed to keep it secret, but now… the war is over, everything is settling down. We're the only ones that know but soon mum's going to notice." Harry sighed. She was right, they'd be discovered soon enough and then the whole truth would come out. He ruffled his hair. He wanted to shout it out loudly for everyone to hear but he first had to face the Weasley's and that was a scary thought in itself. He kissed Ginny gently.
"Soon. Maybe next week." Ginny looked up at Harry her eyes sparkling with love.
"We could use the pensieve, it would make it easier for you." Harry nodded and kissed her again.
"What would I do without you Mrs Potter?" He kissed her neck gently. Ginny giggled.
"Crash and burn." She brought his lips down to hers, snogging heatedly for several minutes, only stopping when Molly called for tea. Harry stood up and offered his hand to Ginny pulling her into his arms gently kissing her forehead. The couple then made their way back to the house, gently holding each other's hand.
Dinner at the Burrow was always a loud and boisterous event, and today was no different Molly loved cooking for her family and with plenty to feed she was in her element. For the first part of the meal the only talking had been to 'pass the gravy' but soon talk turned to what the family members had been doing. Just before dessert the twins cleared their throats making everyone look at them.
"We have an announcement to make. A silent partner in our company has provided us with the means to expand."
"So," continued Fred. "A new Weasley Wizard Wheezes will be opening in Hogsmead in September." Molly and Arthur both congratulated their children for being successful along with back slaps and questions from the others. "But first, Sirius we have a question for you. Would you consider being one of the managers?" There was silence at the table and Sirius sat there staring at the twins before breaking out in a massive grin.
"You bet I would. Working in a joke shop would be heaven!" Everyone at the table laughed. "So when can I start?" The twins shared a grin.
"When you recruit Moony," Harry smiled watching the twins work. He was very grateful that the twins would consider Padfoot and Moony. He watched the twins banter with Sirius making everyone at the table laugh. Noticing that everyone's plate was empty he waved his hand causing all the plates to stack and levitate to the sink where they then started to wash themselves. Inwardly Harry chuckled to himself, a year ago he would never have been able to do that. He caught Molly looking at him gratefully and inclined his head, after everything she had done for him this was a mere token of the gratitude he had towards her and her family. He saw her smile and watched as her smile froze and then widen into a grin. Harry chuckled, of course Molly would be the one to recognise his robes for what they were.
"Hey mum, why are you grinning at Harry like the cat that's got the cream?" asked the twins. Molly laughed.
"I believe that Harry has his own news to tell us all, don't you Harry." Harry blushed as everyone at the table looked at him. Ginny squeezed his leg, of course she already knew, he'd told her before anyone else. Sirius sniggered as Harry blushed.
"As some of you might know I went to a meeting to talk to Kingsley today. I didn't know why he wanted me to come but when I got there he offered me an explanation. You see I wasn't the only one invited to the office, Professor McGonagall was too. As you all probably know, I wanted to become an Auror after I left school, but after defeating Voldemort I no longer wanted to fight. I wanted to do something else. Kingsley and McGonagall had discussed that she needed a new DADA professor in September and offered the Auror training instructor, Anderson on a temporary basis until the new DADA Professor passes his teaching exams." He saw Hermione look at him.
"It's you isn't it. You're going to be training to be the DADA Professor." Harry nodded.
"I'm going to be taking Anderson's place as the Auror instructor for 2 years, this will act as my teacher training and then I have to take some exams in between but afterwards I'll be allowed to teach and McGonagall has confirmed that after I pass my training the position at Hogwarts is mine." There was a stunned silence before Fred and George both whistled.
"We learnt more in the DA…"
"…than we ever learnt…"
"…with any of the other…"
"…professors." The twins finished. He could see Hermione nodding too.
"There're right Harry, when you were teaching the DA you were a force to be reckoned with, you planned lessons, you were good with the younger years and never treated anyone differently. I always saw this look on your face after a lesson, it's a bit like the look you get when you're flying, and it's something you love to do. I think you'll be a great Professor Harry," Hermione finished. Around the table there were nods of confirmation all except from his best mate who was purposefully looking away from Harry. He felt a pang of sadness in the fact that Ron couldn't be happy for him. He made himself look away from Ron as Molly gave him a big hug whilst the twins slapped him on the back. He looked at Sirius who winked at him. He knew that Sirius was proud of him even if he was breaking marauder law by becoming a part of the enemy. He smiled a bit at that. After all the congratulations Molly asked Harry when he would start.
"Not until September. I wanted to spend some time with the family and friends to relax. Kingsley actually order me to not go getting into trouble for the next 3 months. Talking about September I happen to have two Hogwarts letters here for the two returning students, I also have the NEWTs schedule for you Ginny." At the sound of Hogwarts letters Hermione squealed and rushed round to Harry to get hers making everyone laugh. Harry levitated Ron's letter in front of him where it was left unopened. Molly and Arthur were looking at the NEWTs schedule with Ginny.
"I'm head girl!"Shouted Hermione, holding out a red badge with HG on it. Harry and Ginny laughed.
"Who else was it going to be Hermione, and this year you won't have to worry about getting killed or worse expelled." Hermione laughed as she remember the time that she had said that in their first year. She looked over to Ron who looked anything but happy, his unopened Hogwarts letter in front of him. Molly saw the look on her son's face and frowned at him.
"Ron, why haven't you opened your letter yet?" Ron mumbled something deliberately looking away from his mum. "We've already had this conversation ten times already Ronald, you don't have any plans, no money. You have to go back to Hogwarts, were not having this argument again." Ron looked angrily up at his mum.
"But that's not fair, you never made the twins finish, and what about Harry, he doesn't have his NEWTs either." At the mention of his name Harry felt slightly guilty, there were some things that Ron just didn't know. He watched as the argument between mother and son continued.
"This has nothing to do with them. The twins already had plans laid out when they left the school, I may not have been happy about it at the time but they are successful and they love what they do."
"What about Harry?" Ron demanded. Molly sighed.
"I am not Harry's guardian so I cannot tell him what he can and can't do. He already has job lined up for him doing something that he loves and he is willing to work hard for it. I cannot fault him there. You Ron have no place to go so you must go back to Hogwarts. Didn't you say you wanted to be an Auror or a quidditch player, if you don't go back you won't be able to be either. I'm sorry Ron but that's my final word on the subject." Ron looked angrier than Harry had ever seen him. He was looking between his mum and Harry before stomping out of the kitchen and upstairs. Molly had a furious look on her face and made to go after Ron but Harry stopped her.
"Let me talk to him," she nodded and sat back down. Harry looked at both Hermione and Ginny, nodding his head before holding four fingers on his leg. Hermione looked at him sadly whilst Ginny stood up and gave him a kiss letting him know that they understood. He gave a brief smile before heading in the direction of Ron's room. He opened the door to see Ron lying on his Chudley Cannon's bed, scowling at the ceiling. "What's going on Ron? What's with all the attitude towards your mum?"
"She doesn't get it and neither do you. You get whatever you want, my brothers they get away with everything, but not me, not Ron Weasley. He's just the sidekick. Well I'm sick of being the sidekick. I've done just as much as you have but does anyone acknowledge that? No. You're the one offered a job, I get a stinking medal and then forgotten. I bet you didn't even ask Kingsley about me being an Auror, did you?"
"It's not like that Ron, I did ask but he said you would need your NEWTs to qualify. He said to apply then." Ron glared at him.
"So for me to become an Auror I have to sit my NEWTs but for you to teach where you need more NEWTs than any other job around you can get in for free. Just because you killed You-Know-Who doesn't mean you should get everything handed on a silver platter. Apparently murder is the equivalent of Outstanding NEWTs now?" Harry took a step back from Ron, feeling slightly sickened by Ron's accusations.
"Ron you're being totally stupid."
"Yeah that's me, Harry Potter's stupid best friend. I swear nothing is straight forward with you yet everything falls straight into your lap."
"You know that's not true Ron. When has my life ever been normal, or fun or safe? I have lived my life in danger since the day I was born, never wanting any of this stupid fame!"
"That's a lie right there. All that bollocks about not wanting fame but then you use it to get anything you want right? You don't deserve to be treated better than everyone else who was a part of the war, just because of a stupid prophecy. I know everything about you Harry so you can't lie to me, your life is just perfect whilst mine sucks."
"You call having no parents, and having to live with my psychotic relatives whilst also trying to survive the most evil wizard to walk this earth a perfect life? There has got to be something wrong with you. Who would want my life?"
"Me." Shouted Ron. Harry stared at him as Ron continued to rant on. How could anyone want his life? Sure it was great now, he was in love, the world was at peace but his life had never been easy, not the way that Ron thought it was. He had worked so hard throughout his entire life, be it on his grades or in his quest to destroy Voldemort. If he'd worked any less he hated to think what could have happened. Ron was still going on about how much better he would have been as Harry Potter and he had to laugh, in all honesty Ron probably wouldn't last past second year. He sighed as he flicked his wrist causing his wand to come out of its holster and into his hand. He really didn't want to do this but Ron was really asking for it. He thought back to how the spell worked. It would connect the two of them, playing out his entire life for Ron to see, nothing would remain secret. He could only block certain memories and he had to choose them before he started the spell. He closed his eyes thinking about the previous march, it would not do for Ron to see that. Once concealed he opened his eyes again and concentrated. He knew that reliving his entire life would be painful, but it was something he was willing to do if it could bring his friend back to him. He pointed his wand at Ron and spoke the incantation.
"Veritas Vitae Particeps." Ron looked up quickly but it was too late. A white light surrounded the two friends and then darkness.