7

Summers End

The Prime minister could not believe what he was seeing. The video showed the battle between the death eaters and Harry Potter. The prime minister always thought of the Wizarding world as a joke, and not that much of a danger. The video he was looking at chilled him to the bone. It was obvious the people on the video were fighting to the death.

The thing that frightened him was it seemed like the people that were fighting appeared to have a small arsenal of heavy weapons. The only weapons they had were wands! He did not need this. He had already had to deal with an unpopular war, skyrocketing oil prices and now this!

"Has any one else seen this" he asked his aide.

"No sir. We were able to get this before it was given to the press. We have also had the security camera tapes pulled. The gas explosion story seems to be holding up"

He stared at the screen. He had seen the video twice before and he was always surprised at the sudden appearance of the young blond witch. He still wondered where she came from. Shortly after she arrived several other people appeared to just appear and join in the fight. The battle ended as quickly as it began. He remembered the casualties. Six people were seriously injured and at least one killed. He did not know the fate of the Red Haired girl that fell at the start of the battle, however from the amount of blood that had been found at the scene he did not think she had lived.

He needed to talk to Shacklebolt. He could not have this happening on the streets of London! He would not be able to keep a lid on another event like this. He looked at the painting that had spoke to him each time the Minister of Magic needed to speak with him. He wished that he too could just summon the Minister of Magic. If he could he would have a few choice words for him.

***

The following morning Yaxley slowly walked into Deloris Umbridge's office. He was sure they had Potter and his friends last night. He did not understand how Potter was able to send for help. He was not looking forward to his meeting with Deloris Umbridge.

"Beaten by children" Umbridge greeted him with disdain as he walked into the room. "You were beaten by mere children!"

Yaxley's cheeks flushed in anger. He had several confrontations with Potter, Granger and Weasley. They had always been brilliant opponents. He may not have liked them but he did admire their courage. Anytime he knew he was going to have to face them he knew they would give him a tough fight. He had faced them three times now and each time they had gotten away.

"These children," he fought back his anger as he spoke, "Are responsible for killing Lord Voldemort and the round up of many of his followers"

Umbridge glared at him "I find it hard to believe a Half Breed, Blood traitor and a filthy mudblood could take on six of you and get away. You had the element of surprise Yaxley and they still got away!"

It was getting difficult for Yaxley to keep his anger in check. "May I remind you that Hermione Granger is considered by most to be one of the brightest witches of our time, and Potter and Weasley are no light weights. We did the best we could and had that Lovegood oddity not shown up with help we would have beaten them."

Delores just looked at him and motioned for him to sit down. "Some good did come out of this Yaxley so I will let this matter go for now."

Yaxley could not hide his surprise as he sat down.

"I have heard from a very reliable source that the Muggle Prime Minister is outraged over this. He has demanded a face to face meeting with Shacklebolt" she spat angrily, "Can you believe the gall, the Muggles demanding we meet them!"

She smiled at Yaxley as finished taking his seat. He found no comfort in her smile. As a matter of fact her smile sent chills up and down his spine.

"I think it is time we shifted our focus away from Harry Potter." She paused. "I think we have taken our eye off of the prize in wanting to take revenge against Potter."

Yaxley was surprised she did not want to immediately find another way to Kill Potter. This had been all she had talked about since they had escaped the Aurors. He wondered what would have been more important than Potter had been.

"The Prize has never been Harry Potter" Deloris explained. "That was just a way to get others to join us. The prize has always been to take control of the ministry of magic."

Yaxley gasped. She was talking nonsense. With a majority of Voldemort's followers either in Azkaban Prison or in hiding they just did not have the strength to take on the Ministry.

"We do not have the strength to take on the ministry of Magic" he reminded Umbridge.

"Yaxley my dear" Umbridge smiled coldly "We are not going to take on the ministry. You see the Muggle Prime minister wants to meet with Shacklebolt to try and put limits and regulations on us witches and wizards. I suspect for now Shacklebolt will convince him not to. But with the right amount of pushing the muggles will have to do something. Once the Muggles have made demands on the Wizarding world the ministry will have to do something as well. I know that the current administration will try to negotiate with the muggles."

Umbridge pounded her desk as she spoke "We must see that does not happen."

Yaxley asked "How do plan to do that?"

"By getting the Muggles to go to war with the ministry." she laughed at Yaxley's; surprised look "If we push the muggles they will see us as a threat and feel they have no choice but to attack us. Once that happens the Ministry will fall. We can then come in and show the rest of the Wizarding community we know how to handle the situation. We will not only be able to gain the ministry but if my plan succeeds we will also take over the Muggle government as well…"

***

Over the next couple of days Harry did not leave Ginny's bedside. He was glad to see her color had returned, however he did not understand why she had not waken up. The healers explained to him that her body still needed heal. The curse she had been hit with did a lot of internal damage. He asked when they thought she would wake up they just said he needed to be patient.

Mrs. Weasley also spent most of her time at the hospital with Harry. During those visits she and Harry talked about Ginny and his relationship. Mrs. Weasley reminded Harry that Ginny had a crush on Harry from the minute she met him. She went on to tell Harry how she watched Ginny's school girl crush develop into a deep love. She also told Harry she knew that he was deeply in love with her daughter and hoped the two of them would eventually marry.

In addition to discussing He and Ginny Mrs. Weasley also talked with Harry about Ron and Hermione. She told Harry she did not think they would have to wait too long for Ron and Hermione to get married. Mrs. Weasley knew as almost everyone else that had known the two of them were deeply in love with each other for years. She told Harry there were many times that she wanted to hit Ron over the head with a frying pan to wake him up. She had been surprised that Hermione had not given up on Ron.

Ginny finally opened her eyes the day before her birthday. She looked around the room with a confused looked. She finally saw Harry sitting by her bed. "Harry."

Harry was startled by her voice. He was not looking at her so he did not see she was awake. He immediately took her hand "What happened." She asked

"Ginny you've been hurt," he answered. He did not wan to tell her they had been ambushed just yet. "You are at St. Mungo's"

Ginny looked at Harry. He could see she wanted to ask how she had gotten and how long she had been here. He put his finger over her mouth and shook his head. "I will answer all your questions. For now I just want to talk with you about something else."

Over the last ten days he thought of nothing but Ginny and how much he had come to care for her. After almost losing her he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He knew that Ginny did not want to make any long term plans and he had every intention of doing what she wished…until they were ambushed. Everything changed that night. Harry knew that Ginny would probably want to wait to get engaged but Harry had to know if she even open to the possibility of getting married.

"Ginny" he said a little nervously "I know you really did not want to talk about any future plans until you finished school" Ginny looked at Harry. He could she was not sure where he was going. "After almost losing you I have thought of nothing else over the last ten days."

"Harry Please", Ginny tried to stop him.

"Ginny please let me finish. I do not want to know if you want to marry me right now. I just want to know if have thought about the possibility of a future for us."

Ginny said nothing for a few seconds. She seemed to be trying to find the best way to answer Harry "Harry. I have loved you from the minute we met. I never thought you would ever see me as anything more than Ron's little sister. When you kissed me I was the happiest I have ever been in my life. I was the saddest when you had to break up with me. Even then I still hoped that we would be to get back together and we did. Harry I have thought of nothing but a life with you."

Harry was overjoyed to hear this. He had feared that Ginny might not want more than just to date Harry for now and worry about the future later. To hear she had been thinking of a future with him was the best thing he had heard in his life.

"Harry that does not mean we are engaged yet." Ginny looked concerned. "I cannot do that to Hermione." Cannot do that to Hermione! What does Hermione have to do with anything! No matter how hard to he tried to understand what Ginny meant he just could not.

"Harry. Hermione is dying for Ron to ask her to marry him." Ginny explained, "If I were to get engaged it would crush Hermione, she does not think that Ron will ask her to be his wife."

Harry knew that was not the case. That may have been true had Harry not offered to help with the engagement Ring. Ron wanted a proper engagement for Hermione and they were going to get her ring this week. Ron had tried over the last few weeks to get Hermione's ring size without letting on to what he was up too. Harry did not envy Ron Hermione being the smartest person he or Ron knew she never really missed much.

He finally told Ron not to worry about the ring size. Hermione probably knew a spell that would fix that. With that settled they finally decided they would get her Ring after Harry's birthday. With Ginny being at St. Mungos and not waking up that had been put on hold. Harry would take Ron to get Hermione's ring as soon as he finished visiting his sister.

Ginny must have seen something in Harry's face.

"Harry what do you know?" She asked softly.

He had promised Ron that he would not tell Ginny about his plans for Hermione's birthday. He remembered Ron's reasoning "Ginny and Hermione are best friends. Ginny would not be able to not tell Hermione." Harry agreed with Ron so he had not told Ginny anything. He knew he had to tell Ginny something.

"Ron has been in love with Hermione almost since the day they met. I am sure that he is going to ask her to marry him."

Ginny nodded her head in agreement. "I do not think Ron wanting to Marry Hermione is the issue Harry. As many times as Ron has mucked things up with Hermione he will want his proposal to be perfect. I hate to say this but that would mean he would want to be able to give her a ring. We both know that Ron has no way to get a ring for her. So he will not propose to Hermione."

Harry nodded in agreement. He looked up to see Ron and Hermione approaching the room. He also saw Mrs. Weasley talking with the Healer at the healer's station at the beginning of the hallway. Both Ron and Hermione almost crushed Harry as they rushed to Ginny to give her a hug when they saw she was awake. He heard Ron's elated voice "Mom Ginny's awake!!!"

***

Harry and Ron had asked Luna what the best Jewelry shop in Diagon alley was. Being young men they had never had a need for a jewelry store so they had no idea how to find one. They could not ask Mr. or Mrs. Weasley. They would have to answer too many questions.

Ron wanted to surprise everyone with his and Hermione's engagement. He also said something about Hermione saying no to his proposal. Harry had told him he was a real Git if he thought Hermione would say no. He agreed but he also did not want to say anything to his parents until Hermione had said yes. So they asked Luna and she gave them the name of a shop she knew.

As Harry and Ron approached the store they were surprised to see Luna waiting in front of the shop. They were about to turn around and come back another time when Luna waved to them. "Hello Harry, Ron." She looked at them as if she had expected them, "So are you buying anything special today?" Ron answered "I am looking for a nice present for Hermione's birthday."

"You ready Luna" Neville Longbottom had just come out the Herbalogy shop next door to the jewelry store. Harry noticed he took Luna's hand as he stood next to her. "Oh Hi Harry, Ron" He had not noticed the two of them as he approached them. "Good luck with the ring Ron." Luna said as she and Neville walked off hand in hand. Harry and Ron looked at each other "You don't think," Ron started to ask. "Neville and Luna" Harry shook his head." No way," They did not see that Luna place he head on Neville's shoulders.

It took Ron almost two hours to find the "Perfect" Ring. Harry had also thought he found a ring for Ginny but did not say anything to Ron. He would come back and pick it up another time.

The Jeweler said to Ron enthusiastically "Ms. Granger will love this Ring Mr. Weasley. Can we expect a wedding announcement soon?"

Ron asked the jeweler to keep his secret so he could surprise Ms. Granger. The last challenge they had came to paying for the ring. The jeweler tried to refuse payment. He said just people knowing Hermione Granger's engagement and wedding ring had been purchased at his shop would be a boom for his business. After a bit of arguing back in forth, the jeweler finally accepted a quarter of what the ring was to be sold for as payment.

Ginny was released from the hospital several days later. The last ten days of the summer flew by. It seemed like Ginny had just been released from the hospital when she got her letter from Hogwarts. Harry spent as much time as he could with Ginny. They had talked several more times about the future and of getting married.

Ginny also told him that Ron was beginning to anger Hermione. Since they had been attacked at the park he had become very protective of her. She was worried that if Ron did not ease up that they would have one of their famous fights. Ron and Hermione had been bickering for years. Harry knew they bickered to try and hide how they felt about each other. He hoped that they did not have the row Ginny was worried about.

Unfortunately Harry did not get his wish. They were on the train to Hogwarts. The four of them refused to sit in the car that had been reserved for them. They soon realized this had been a mistake as students would not leave them alone.

The problem started when a seventh year boy from Hufflepuff named Benedict cornered Hermione in the passageway as she was heading back from visiting Neville and Luna. No matter how she had tried to get around him he found a way to block her way and continue to bother her. He asked Hermione to go with him to Hogsmeade the following weekend. When Hermione politely declined he did not take no for an answer. Seeing this Ron stood up, he did not do anything as everyone knew Hermione could take care of herself.

"Look I know a famous Witch such as yourself probably scares most boys too much for them the ask you out. I, however, am not afraid and I am sure it would be good for you to get out." Either Benedict did not care or he had not read the many accounts of Ron and Hermione dating in the Prophet.

Hermione smiled at Benedict sweetly "I am flattered. I already have plans for that weekend."

"I see." Benedict's tone changed "I should have known you would be a stuck up Bitch…"

That was the last straw. Ron, even before Hermione and Ron started dating was very protective of her. Before anyone could stop him Ron tackled Benedict. Had Harry and Ginny not been there things could have been far worse. They pulled Ron off of Benedict before things got out of hand. They could not however, protect Ron from Hermione's angry stare.

Benedict looked at Ron and said angrily to Hermione "You deserve each other" and stormed off. Once back in there cabin Hermione rounded on Ron her eyes blazing as she spoke. "Ron I can take care of myself!!!"

Before thinking Ron spat back angrily "I saw how well you took care of yourself!!"

"You always do this Ron. You never trust me to handle things on my own! You did not think I could handle Viktor Krum and you did not trust me to handle Benedict just now. I am a big girl and can fight my own battles!"

Hermione turned and stormed out of the cabin before Ron could say anything more. She refused to talk to him when he tried to speak with her later.