Hey! How are you all?
Thanks to: rowellylovesgryffindor, Sam, MarianneP, Bellaroe, Misery, Phantom and the Anon for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but Mia and her parents…
Chapter 17: The Last Train Ride
It was a few days after the incident at the Department of Mysteries. Hermione was reading through the Daily Prophet, scoffing every now and then. Ron- who was propped up by many pillows- was resting with his eyes closed. Ginny was curled up at the bottom of Hermione's bed. Neville was reading through a Chocolate Frog card. Harry was sitting in a chair next to Ron's bed- looking paler then usual. Luna was telling Mia about Nargles. She wasn't really sure whether she believed her or not, but they were interesting to hear about, nonetheless.
"-And you have to be extra careful around Christmas time," Luna was saying, "Because they like to hide in Mistletoe!"
"Interesting," Mia said. She'd been spending most of her free time in the Hospital Wing with them since they'd gotten back
"Yes, and then they-"
"HA!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed.
"What?" Ron asked, as his eyes flew open.
"Listen to thins," Hermione said. Luna shrugged and opened the copy of the Quibbler that she'd been holding. Hermione began to read.
"HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED RETURNS" Mia rolled her eyes. So the story had gotten out at last, had it? After a whole year?
"In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to this country and is active once more."
"Took them long enough," Mia muttered. Hermione shot her glance and continued reading.
"'It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord- well, you know who I mean- is alive and among us again,' said Fudge, looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters. 'It is with almost equal regret that we report the mass revolt of the Dementors of Azkaban, who have shown themselves averse to continuing in the Ministry's employ. We believe the Dementors are currently taking direction from Lord- Thingy." Mia's eyebrows dipped. Lord Thingy? He could at least use the name everyone else used.
"'We urge the magical population to remain vigilant. The Ministry is currently publishing guides to elementary home and personal Defence which will be delivered free to all wizarding homes within the coming month."
"The Minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the wizarding community, which as recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry assurances that there was 'no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumours that You-Know-Who is operating amongst us once more."
"Details of the events that led to the Ministry turnaround are still hazy, though it is believed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and a select band of followers (known as Death Eaters) gained entry to the Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening."
"Well of course they gained entry!" Mia scoffed, "how else would they of been in there?" Hermione ignored her.
"Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reinstated member of the International Confederation of Wizards and reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, has so far been unavailable for comment. He has insisted over the past year that You-Know-Who is not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but is recruiting followers once more for afresh attempt to seize power. Meanwhile, the 'Boy Who Lived'-"
"There you are, Harry, I knew they'd drag you into it somehow," Hermione looked at him.
"He's the 'boy who lived' again now, though, isn't he?" said Ron darkly. "Not such a deluded show-off any more, eh?" Ron said, throwing a Chocolate Frog to everyone.
"Yes, they're very complimentary about you now, Harry," Hermione searched through the page, "'A lone voice of truth… perceived as unbalanced, yet never wavered in his story… forced to bear ridicule and slander…' Hmmm, I notice they don't mention the fact that it was them doing all the ridiculing and slandering in the Prophet…"
"Of course they won't," Mia laughed, "in fact, I bet they're going to try and get you on their side, Harry," she looked at him, "get you to say it was someone else or something." He grimaced. Hermione sighed and discarded the Chocolate Frog Ron had given her without even opening it.
"You-Know-Who's Last Attempt to Take Over, pages two to four, What the Ministry Should Have Told Us, page five, Why Nobody Listened to Albus Dumbledore, pages six to eight, Exclusive Interview with Harry Potter, page nine…" she continued, " Well it's certainly given them lots to write about. And that interview with Harry isn't exclusive; it's the one that was in The Quibbler months ago…"
"Daddy sold it to them," said Luna vaguely, looking up, "He got a very good price for it, too, so we're going to go on an expedition to Sweden this summer to see if we can catch a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"That sounds lovely," Hermione said, after a small pause. Mia bit off the head of her Frog to stop herself from laughing,
"So, anyway, what's going on in school?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Flitwick's got rid of Fred and George's swamp," said Ginny, "he did it in about three seconds. But he left a tiny patch under the window and he's roped it off"
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, he just says it was a really good bit of magic," said Ginny, shrugging.
"I think he left it as a monument to Fred and George," said Ron. "They sent me all these, you know," he pointed to all the frogs. "Must be doing all right out of that joke shop, eh?"
"So has all the trouble stopped now Dumbledore's back?"
"Yes," said Neville, "everything's settled right back to normal."
"I s'pose Filch is happy, is he?" Ron asked.
"Not at all," said Ginny "He's really, really miserable, actually…" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "He keeps saying Umbridge was the best thing that ever happened to Hogwarts…"
They all looked over to the bed where Umbridge was lying. Mia, Luna and Harry had been the only ones awake when Dumbledore had come into the Hospital Wing with her in his arms. She hadn't uttered a single sound as Madam Pomfrey looked her over, and hadn't moved at all since, except one small twitch when Mia tutted the other day at something in the Daily Prophet.
"Madam Pomfrey says she's just in shock," whispered Hermione.
"Sulking, more like," said Ginny
"Yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this," said Ron, and then clicked his tongue. Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking around wildly.
"Anything wrong, Professor?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
"No… no…" said Umbridge. "No, I must have been dreaming…" the fake sweetness had left her voice.
"Serves her right," Mia muttered as Hermione and Ginny covered their faces with the bed sheets.
"Speaking of centaurs," said Hermione, "whose Divination teacher now? Is Firenze staying?"
"He's got to," said Harry, "the other centaurs won't take him back, will they?"
"It looks like he and Trelawney are both going to teach," Ginny continued.
"Bet Dumbledore wishes he could've got rid of Trelawney for good… mind you, the whole subject's useless if you ask me, Firenze isn't a lot better…" Ron mused.
"How can you say that?" Hermione exclaimed. "After we've just found out that there are real prophecies?" they were all silent for a minute, until Hermione said, "It is a pity it broke."
"Yeah, it is," said Ron. "Still, at least You-Know-Who never found out what was in it either," Harry stood up. "where are you going?" Ron asked.
"Er - Hagrid's," said Harry. "You know, he just got back and I promised I'd go down and see him and tell him how you two are."
"Oh, all right then," said Ron, with a disappointed tone, "Wish we could come."
"Say hello to him for us!" called Hermione. "And ask him what's happening about… about his little friend!" Harry waved as he left.
"… Little friend?" Mia asked. Hermione looked at her.
"Don't worry." she said.
"Right…" Mia then turned to Luna, "So what's a Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"
During dinner before the last day of term, Mia sat in between Angelina and Alicia with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny sitting opposite them. Hermione and Ron- who had been let out of the Hospital Wing a couple days previously- weren't eating much, and were just picking at their food. Suddenly, there was a loud shriek from the Entrance Hall. Through the open doors, the students could glimpse Umbridge cowering, with Peeves whacking her over the head with a walking stick.
The students flooded out of the Great Hall and Umbridge screamed again, running out into the grounds, with her arms flailing. Peeves and the students followed her.
"TAKE THAT, BITCH!" Mia hollered, punching the air as Umbridge ran out of sight. Peeves continued to swoop around the gate in circles, cackling and tossing the walking stick up in the air and catching it again. Mia shrieked with laughter, grabbing onto Angelina to stop herself from toppling over.
A few days later, Mia was standing on the Hogwarts Express, in a compartment, with Angelina and Alicia. They all felt slightly solemn. "This is the last time we're ever going to be on this train," Mia said, looking around the compartment.
"Huh… kinda weird… isn't it?" Angelina asked.
"Yeah," Alicia replied.
They were all silent for a minute, then Alicia said, "So, Mia, you think George'll be at the station?" Mia gave a short laugh.
"He'd better be…" she said, pretending to be threatening, but then she smiled, "yeah… I recon he will be… I mean, he and Fred'll want to show off to everyone, won't they?"
"Good point," Alicia said.
The food trolley came along and Mia brought a couple of cauldron cakes- she'd become slightly sick of Chocolate Frogs after she'd helped Ron eat all of his when he was in the Hospital Wing.
As the sky got slightly darker, Mia fell silent. Seven years ago, she'd finished her first year at Hogwarts, and she'd been wondering if she'd wake up the next morning and find it was all a dream. Now she'd finished her entire education, and all she needed to do was wait for a slip of parchment that would tell her where she could go in the future. It was all kind of… surreal.
"Mia… Mia… MIA!" Angelina yelled.
"Huh? What?" Mia jumped.
"We've stopped." Mia looked out of the window, sure enough, they train had stopping at Platform 9¾. The train slowly emptied.
Well… bye," Mia said.
"'S been a great seven years," Angelina said.
"My only regret is that Mia never joined the Quidditch Team," Alicia joked. Mia rolled her eyes.
"I never had a chance! And even if I did… I suck at flying, so I wouldn't even of made it onto the team!" she said.
"Anyways, we're keeping Mia away from her lover boy," Angelina winked and Mia rolled her eyes. They all said goodbye one last time, before running through the barrier onto King's Cross.
Mia looked around, but she couldn't see anyone she knew. "Over there," Angelina whispered, before heading off to greet her family. Mia looked to where Angelina had pointed and grinned. Fred and George were standing with their arms crossed, both of them beaming at her. She went over to them and stopped, smiling up at them.
"Hey, Mia," Fred said.
"Hi," she replied.
"I'll, er, let you two catch up," Fred left, walking over to where Ron was talking to Harry and Hermione.
Mia smiled up at George for a second, then he leaned down and pressed his lips to her. She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms up around his neck as he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. When they broke apart, Mia looked up at him. "I missed you," she said.
"I could tell," he smirked. Mia rolled her eyes as Fred came back over.
"Finished?" he asked.
"Mmm… no," she kissed George again and heard Fred pretend to retch.
"Funny. So, so funny," he said as they pulled apart again. Mia rolled her eyes again, then tugged on the end of the vivid green jacket George was wearing.
"What the hell are these?" she asked. Fred turned up his collar.
"Jackets made from the finest dragon skin," he answered, "Why? do you like 'em?" Mia bit her lip to stop from giggling.
"Honestly? They're horrible." Fred put on a fake look of being offended.
"Well, obviously you just don't have good taste!" Mia giggled. "but seriously," Fred continued, "I think your parents are over there." He was right, Mia's parents had just emerged from a large crowd of people. She waved over at them.
"I'll see you too in a minute," she ran off towards her mum and dad. She passed Mr and Mrs Weasley, Mad-Eye Moody, Lupin, and a woman with pink hair who looked ever-so-slightly familiar. As she went, her wand fell out of her pocket and she picked it up, before stopping in front of her parents.
"Hi!" she said, dropping her trunk by her dad's feet.
"Hello, Mia, how was school?" her mother said.
"It was alright," Mia shrugged, "NEWTs were a little stressful, but I'm fine now!"
"Newts? Why did you stress over a newt?" her dad asked, and Mia laughed a bit.
"Um… no, a NEWT is an exam… it stands for Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests… they're really important," she explained.
"Ah, I see," her dad said. Mia giggled again. out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the group of people who had come to see Harry, Ron and Hermione group around three people. "I'll… be back in a sec," she told her parents, and went over, standing next to George.
They were standing in front of three people. A rather large man with an equally large moustache, a very thin woman with a bony face, and a fat boy around Harry, Ron and Hermione's age. Mia guessed they were Harry's uncle, aunt and cousin. The boy cowered behind his parents when they all approached.
"Good afternoon," Mr. Weasley said politely, "You might remember me, my name's Arthur Weasley," he paused for a second, then carried on, "We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry."
"Yeah," Moody said, "About how he's treated when he's at your place." Harry's uncle seemed to stand up a little straighter.
"I am not aware that it is any of your business what goes on in my house-"
"I expect what you're not aware of would fill several books, Dursley," Moody cut him off.
"Anyway, that's not the point," said the women with pink hair. Mai suddenly recognised her. She was the woman who had broken, then fixed Mia's ankle at the World Cup. "The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry," she finished.
"And make no mistake, we'll hear about it," Lupin said.
"Yes," said Mr. Weasley, "even if you won't let Harry use the fellytone-" Mia suppressed a giggle.
"Yeah," Moody snarled, "if we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way, you'll have us to answer to." Harry's uncle's face flooded.
"Are you threatening me, sir?" he said, taking a step forward.
"Yes, I am," Moody said, and Harry's uncle stepped back again.
"And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?"
"Well…" Moody lifted up the hat he was wearing, showing his bright blue eye to Harry's uncle, who leapt back. "Yes, I'd have to say you do, Dursley."
Harry's uncle looked over every person in the small crowd. He obviously wanted to get away from them. They all had something… un-Muggle like about them. Moody with his hat tipped low over his eye. Lupin with the scars across his face. Tonks with her bright pink hair and 'weird-sisters' t-shirt. Mr and Mrs Weasley dressed in miss-matching Muggle clothes. Fred and George in their dragon skin jackets. Mia was still holding her wand from when she'd dropped it. Hermione was holding her trunk, as was Ron. And Harry… well, his uncle could probably spot all sorts of weird things about Harry.
"So, Potter… give us a shout if you need us. If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send someone along…" Moody said, "Bye, then, Potter."
"Take care, Harry," said Lupin, "Keep in touch."
Mrs Weasley hugged him, whispering something to him, then Ron said, "We'll see you soon, mate."
"Really soon, Harry, we promise." Hermione told him.
"Bye, Harry!" Mia called to him. then he waved, and turned to leave the station. His family quickly followed. After they left, Mia looked over at her parents, holding up a finger to tell them she'd just be a minute.
"You gunna come and see the shop?" Fred asked.
"Of course!" she replied.
"When?" said George. Mia thought about it for a moment.
"Well… I'm going to Jess' for a week… and that's in a couple days… so it'll have to be after that… what about in a couple weeks?" she suggested. The twins nodded.
"Definitely," George said.
"Great," said Fred.
"I'll see you then," she smiled. Her mum called her name. "Bye." She hugged Fred and pecked George's lips quickly. "Love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too," he replied.
"Oh, please!" Fred cut in. Mia rolled her eyes and slapped his arm.
"See you in a couple weeks!" and she ran off towards her parents.
So, that was the last chapter… but I am definitely going ahead with the sequel… it probably won't be up until after Christmas though… I need to find a place to put a couple ideas and actually think of a name for it…
So remember, please review, a maybe a couple words on the story overall?