Chapter 5 – Homecoming for Everyone
Hogwarts had never seen such a day. The train made the first of two special runs, coming from London with many additional cars, and a special field had been reserved for apparition, down the road leading to Hogsmeade. The word had gone out, publicized everywhere possible. All Hogwarts alumni were to return to the school this weekend for the graduation of this class! Everyone, and they had stressed EVERYONE, was welcome and they had even sent individual invitations to people who they thought might not understand they were wanted. They sincerely hoped everyone would come.
The residents of Hogsmeade had joined the effort, creating a large tent city outside of town, where many people came early, setting up camp. Surely the school would never hold them all!
Harry awakened first, and looked over at his sleeping wife. She was lying on her back, snoring gently, with a smile on her face. He smiled too, thinking how different it was lying here now as opposed to their first time. Life was good, he thought, and maybe this weekend would make it even better. Hermione opened her eyes and looked over at him, smiling even more.
"What time is it?" she asked. He glanced at the clock.
"It's time to get up for breakfast, assuming that we care."
"Do we care?"
"Nope. Not in the least. I always wanted to skive off the schedule here…now I think we should."
"Sounds good to me. Let's just lie here and think about all the things we should be doing if we were still in school."
"Well, let's see," he said, sounding very analytical "Since I'm just a typical horny Hogwarts wizard, I should be thinking about some hot Hogwarts witch, and what I can do to get her into bed with me."
Hermione reached out and slapped him on the arse. Harry grinned.
"You've already done THAT, nitwit! You need to plan further ahead. That's always been your problem."
"Well then, if I have accomplished my primary goal, then I should be thinking about what to do now that I got her there. Let's see…"
"How about doing this," she said, pulling him over and kissing him hard.
"Works for me."
Ginny, on the other hand, had no options. She had things to supervise and needed to get up as soon as she awakened. She looked over at Neville, lying next to her with a very silly grin on his face.
"Are you worn out enough?"
"Yes," he breathed. "You were too much for me, woman."
"Just remember, we have an appointment to practice some more tonight," she grinned. "I like practicing."
Neville just grinned…he liked practicing too. She stood up and turned to look at him, wearing nothing but her smile. "Take a good look," she said. Neville enjoyed the view, moving his eyes from her smiling face, down to the firm breasts and erect nipples and then on to her thighs and lips, still glistening and wet from last night's practice. "You have to wait until tonight to see more." For Neville, tonight was a long, long time to wait.
Outside, the grounds were already prepared as people began to arrive. There were several food stands set up where breakfast was being served. In the entry hall, large blackboards were arranged, listing the last 100 years at Hogwarts. Under each year, names magically appeared, showing who had arrived and allowing classmates to search for each other. After a quick check of everything, Ginny found that she simply needed to stand aside and let things go…everything was perfect. Their plans were working flawlessly.
Instead, she grabbed Neville and went looking for her parents. Shortly, she saw them coming up the path, with Ron and Mandy, Fred and George along side. She and Neville walked towards them
"Mum, Dad, I have something to tell you," she said quietly, her demeanor belying her feelings. Ron was grinning from ear to ear, since he and Neville had talked just before Neville left London on Friday night.
Molly glanced at Arthur and was looking back at Ginny when she saw Ron's expression. "Ronald, what is going on here?" she said, sounding like the mother of small children once again. Ron just grinned even wider, and by now Mandy had figured it out too.
"Mum, Neville…and…and…I…er…ah…", she stopped. Molly stared and Ginny raised her hand, showing her ring, and finally got it out. "We're going to get married." Molly screamed, and grabbed her. Neville just smiled, looking from Ron to Arthur and back to Molly.
"Congratulations, Neville," Arthur said, his complexion turning as red as his hair. "We are very happy for both of you."
In the meantime, Molly lost all composure, and couldn't figure out what to do next…hug Ginny…hug Neville…hug Mandy…hug Ron…continue screaming…hug Arthur…continue crying? Finally Fred conjured a chair and she sat down, right in the middle of the field. Slowly, she caught her breath and realized what was happening to her family. She continued to cry tears of happiness, looking at Arthur, who just smiled and held her hand. All of the bad times seemed to disappear as her two youngest children brought her joy she could not have imagined.
Harry and Hermione finally made an appearance, coming outside well after they would have been late.
"Did we miss the start of class?" Hermione asked with a grin.
"Yep, and I'll bet Binns will be livid." Harry grinned too, and took her hand as they walked outside into the bright sunlight. Gradually, they worked their way down the path to the entrance, stopping to talk with old friends and fellow students. At one point, they stopped with the Weasleys, and Hermione spent a few moments with Ginny: some quality girl-girl time.
Just as Friday night had included several "firsts," Saturday and Sunday would also. Harry and Hermione arrived at the Hogsmeade station just as the train pulled in. Hermione saw her parents getting off, the first muggles to ever ride the Hogwarts Express. She ran, such as she could, to greet them. Both her mother and father stopped walking when they saw tears brimming in her eyes, but Hermione continued, grabbing her father and hugging him as if he had returned from the dead. Her mother looked on, puzzled by Hermione's demeanor, as Harry walked up.
"How was your trip?" he asked.
"Good," her mother responded. "We shared a compartment with Susan Bones and her family. She told us all about Harry and Hermione." She was grinning, and Harry suddenly discovered the origin of Hermione's Cheshire Cat grin.
"Then I'm sure you heard some very good stories. Are you ready to enter the magical world?"
She started to answer, but glanced at her husband. Hermione still held him in a death grip, while sobbing against his chest. She looked back to Harry, seeking some clarification. Harry slowly pried Hermione loose, whispering something in her ear and kissing her gently. Finally she let go, and hugged Harry, still sobbing. Harry spoke up.
"Look, your mother is here too." Hermione tried to smile through all her tears, and then hugged her mother tightly. Harry took the opportunity to whisper to her father. "Last night, we were talking with Dumbledore, and he told us about what he told you while we were in school, and the decisions you had to make about Hermione continuing." Her father nodded, immediately understanding her behavior. He turned to his wife and mouthed "It's okay." She nodded, and simply ran her fingers through Hermione's bushy hair, stroking her head and holding her.
They all stood for a few moments letting time wait. Finally, Harry sensed the worst was over, and started moving on. "Hermione…honey…we…we're kinda blocking the path. We should get headed back up to the school."
She let go, finally smiling through her tears. Now that her entire family was together, she started feeling better, and her mood continued to improve as they entered the castle grounds. They went directly into the castle, pausing only to point out a couple of significant landmarks. Once inside, they went to Dumbledore's office, where both he and Professor McGonagall were waiting for them. After talking about many things, Dumbledore took her parents on a tour of the castle. Hermione and Harry went out to the castle entrance, where they pulled up a couple of chairs on the stone patio and just listened.
"…you couldn't get up the stairs without them moving."
"…remember the night we couldn't get back because the charm wouldn't…"
"…then when Dippet found the Troll stuck in the outhouse…"
"…would have caught the snitch long before, if my broom hadn't…"
"…the swamp filled the entire corridor, and Filch had to…"
"…but in our fifth year, we won the cup, and you didn't even come close…"
"…carved those when I was only 14, and they're still here."
"…used to sneak out after curfew and meet…"
"…Ogg couldn't figure it out until the niffler came out and…"
"…but Dumbledore knew, and he wouldn't let us…"
"…right in front of the whole school! Took some guts. You wouldn't believe she could…"
"…'Accio' and their brooms came right through here. Ripped up her door too…"
"…so it didn't work, and the ferret ran out of the room…"
"…changed the password, and they're standing out there with no clothes…"
"…Sprout said you can't plant them together, but he HAD to try…
"…she was still waiting the next morning. Never figured it out…."
"…believed her, he did. Ran around for weeks expecting to die…"
"…if only he hadn't tried to feed it…"
"…so they ran out of the woods, yelling about…"
"…well, we always wondered what would happen if you added more oil, and then she did and…"
"…I don't think anyone expected THAT!"
"…but what else could we do? I mean, it wasn't like any of us knew how to…"
"…and they kept saying 'higher, higher', so he flew higher and then…"
"…dared him to get it from the Restricted Section. So one night…"
"…while we're eating dinner one night, the doors opened and a set of encyclopedias comes marching in…"
"…I told him you couldn't cross-breed a niffler with one, but of course…"
"…Pringle whipped him until he was blue, but he still never told him where he got them…"
The snippets of conversation were amazing, as witches and wizards relived their days at school. Harry and Hermione just took it all in, enjoying the stories and thinking about the stories they could tell. Finally, lunch was served and they joined the line. Everyone was smiling and laughing, enjoying the opportunity to return to the school and their school days. Luna's idea and Ginny's plans were working.
