AN: this is a sequel to "The English Opening", a previous work available on my author page. Knowledge of the previous work is recommended.
The Daily Prophet
Sunday, July 16th, 1995
Anonymous 1000 Galleon donation given to children's broomstick charity stirs controversy around Final Task!
Brooms for Everyone, a charity with the aim of providing sporting brooms for young children whose families might struggle with the financial burden of buying new brooms, announced their receipt of the donation earlier this week.
"We are extremely grateful for this generous donation," the manager of Brooms for Everyone said in a press statement. "Providing safe, modern brooms to families with young children has been our mission for the last twenty years. While anonymous, our benefactor has requested that their donation be given in memory of Cedric Diggory, avid Quidditch fan and Seeker for his house team."
That message, alongside the donation amount, has led some to believe that the anonymous donor is none other than Harry Potter, using his recent Triwizard Tournament winnings. Potter has attracted criticism recently for his claims that He Who Must Not Be Named, widely believed to have been destroyed by Potter thirteen years ago, has recently returned to life and was responsible for Diggory's death and the others who died on the night of the final task. While the Daily Prophet takes a neutral position regarding the claims made by Potter and Albus Dumbledore, in the interest of fair reporting, it repeats the official Ministry position that He Who Must Not Be Named has not returned and the events on the night of the final task were the result of the actions of the unknown terrorist impersonating Alastor Moody.
In related news, the Ministry has again refused an offer from the French Ministry for French Aurors to support the DMLE during "the current situation". A Ministry spokesman assured the public that "everything is fine","there is no reason to believe that any Dark Lords have returned from the dead" and "everyone knows that Dumbledore has more than a few loose marbles rattling around up there".
Ron Weasley put the newspaper down before he unwittingly crushed it into a small ball and consciously relaxed his hands from the right fists they had formed while he was reading.
"Bad news?"
Ron turned to look at Fleur Delacour, who was sitting next to him. It had been more than two weeks since the events of the third task that had affected them both so directly. Fleur had entered the maze with a shot at victory, but instead had been tortured by an Imperiused Victor Krum. Ron himself had almost been killed by the Death Eater, Barty Crouch Junior, who had been impersonating Professor Moody.
"No news," replied Ron. "Harry's donation finally hit the front page, but the Prophet is just repeating the same lines about 'editorial impartiality', rather than actually giving any of the evidence of You Know Who's return."
Fleur brushed a strand of beautiful silvery-blonde hair away from her perfect face. "From the reputation zat your national paper 'as, I'm surprised zat they defied the Ministry as much as zat."
"Apparently, knowing that their top reporter has been illicitly spying on the subjects of her reporting in her illegal animagus form gave Dumbledore a lot of influence over the editor."
"Zat your 'eadmaster 'as taught almost everyone in Britain under the age of ninety makes 'im difficult to disregard, I'm sure."
Ron shrugged. Dumbledore had certainly been using his considerable reputation freely in the last two weeks, giving dramatic speeches to the Wizengamot and to the International Confederation of Wizards, even though it had lost him his positions in both bodies and had earned him the ire of the British Ministry.
At least Dumbledore had chosen to put himself under the public eye.
Harry, with Ron's dad's help, had communicated with Cedric's parents and given away his winnings to a charity that they had approved of, but other than that had quietly gone back to the Muggles, still wrapped up in the grief and guilt of Cedric's death. Ron once again made a mental note to write to Harry as soon as they were done travelling, knowing all too well how easily Harry would spend the whole summer stewing in negative feelings without an intervention from his friends.
"I think we're next," Fleur said, folding up the French newspaper she was reading.
Ron looked up. The elderly couple ahead of them at the Paris International Portkey Terminal had disappeared and the attendant was rummaging through the papers on his desk.
A young voice behind Ron made an impatient noise and Ron saw Fleur roll her eyes in exasperation. Gabrielle, Fleur's younger sister, was now pulling at her father's sleeve, urging him and her mother to stand up more quickly. Gabrielle was the main reason for their current situation. Not that the Delacours were holidaying during the summer, that was what they would ordinarily do. Nor that Ron was with them, that was due to Fleur's insistence that he join them. No, it was due to Gabrielle that the five of them were waiting for a Portkey to Japan, of all places.
Ron didn't know much about Japan, Muggle or magical, he only really knew about their Quidditch players and teams, but Gabrielle had been obsessed with Japan for the last year and had demanded to visit. Fleur might have refused to travel with her family, not only did she have a job lined up with the goblins in London, but Britain looked like it was on the brink of open war, which Fleur was determined to involve herself in. However, because of the approaching conflict, this was probably the last chance that their family would have to be together for a while. That it might be their last chance to be together as a whole family was a consideration that none of them mentioned, but they all probably had on their minds.
Ron saw Monsieur Delacour, Matis, he had insisted, take his wife, Appoline's, hand to help her to her feet and Ron self-consciously copied his example with Fleur.
"Merci," she said, smiling at him. Ron felt himself blushing and fought to keep the stupid grin that was threatening to appear on his face. He had hoped that more than six months exposure to Fleur's beauty and her allure would have helped stop him from making a fool of himself, but being reunited with her after being apart for just a few days had made all those old feelings from when they had started dating come back just as strong as ever.
"Delacour," the attendant called. The Delacours and Ron stepped forward. Appoline spoke with the attendant in soft French and Matis turned to Ron.
"Have you taken an international Portkey before?" he asked.
"Uh, between London and Cairo," Ron said. "Oh, and from Scotland to Paris and back."
"Ah, then this isn't your first time," Matis said, nodding. "Although, travelling East-West is much more disorientating than North-South."
Ron nodded, only a little nervous. He had looked it up in the old atlas in The Burrow and Paris to Tokyo was about six thousand miles, which was further than he had ever travelled before, but after the events at the conclusion of the Triwizard Tournament, an international Portkey didn't seem that intimidating.
Appoline finished her conversation with the attendant and approached the others with a long length of red ribbon.
"Trente secondes," she said. At least Ron had studied enough French that he didn't need that translated.
They all held on to the ribbon tightly. Matis carefully tied it around Gabrielle's hand so that she couldn't let go mid-journey. Ron wound the ribbon around his hand a few times, just in case. Fleur's free hand slipped into his with just a few seconds to go. He gave her a genuine, happy smile just as the Portkey activated and they all felt a pull at their navels.
Ron took another deep breath, his hands on his knees, while Fleur rubbed his back sympathetically. Why he had let mum put thirds of breakfast on his plate was beyond him, but then again, it hadn't been easy to even get her to let him go to Japan and with the current state of affairs in Britain, he could understand her concern.
Ron let his breath out slowly and straightened up. Fleur gave him a quizzical look to which he nodded reassuringly. Whether due to the extra distance or the change in longitude as opposed to latitude, the Portkey to Japan had been much worse than the ones Ron had taken before.
Ron looked around the room they were in. Despite being on the other side of the planet, the room they were in was remarkably similar to the one they had just left. The universalism of bureaucracy, Ron assumed.
The Japanese official who had received them was giving their luggage a cursory inspection. Ron glanced at the posters on the walls, displaying what was prohibited from being brought into the country, but unless one of the garden gnomes had sneaked into his trunk, he should be fine.
"Passports, please," the Japanese man said. Ron had been a little concerned, but the man's accent was perfectly easy to understand.
He studied the five passports presented to him briefly, before stamping them all. He handed Matis and Appoline theirs back with a nod and gave Ron, Fleur and Gabrielle theirs back with a curt "no magic from children."
"But, I'm seventeen," Fleur said with a frown.
"Twenty and over," the man replied, his expression flat.
"But-" Fleur began.
"Thank you," her father interrupted, gripping Fleur's shoulder and leading them all through the door to the rest of the Japanese Ministry.
"It's outrageous!" Fleur complained as they entered the busy lobby area. "I've been an adult for almost an 'ole year."
"Yes," her father said, "but part of visiting other places in the world is getting to enjoy all the differences in culture between us all."
For some reason, this didn't make Fleur any happier.
Matis led the group towards a row of lit fireplaces. "Hotel Yamada," he called out as he stepped through. Appoline led Gabrielle through and Ron and Fleur followed behind.
The Hotel Yamada was in a traditional Japanese style, but everything was of the highest quality. The Delacours had booked a suite of rooms, but apparently in the traditional Japanese style of hotel, that meant that they were sleeping on futons on the floor and had to use the communal baths.
In an attempt to make their adjustment to the time difference easier, they had left France in the very early morning, which made it just after noon in Japan. Their plan was to rest for a few hours and then meet up for dinner in the hotel restaurant before going out to explore Tokyo tomorrow. Ron didn't have any real experience in exploring a foreign city. When in Egypt, their excursions had been led by Bill and Fleur had directed their adventure in Paris the previous year.
Ron had been given the smallest room for his own use and, to his own surprise, he managed to fall asleep quickly. He had been so nervous about visiting a new country with his girlfriend and her family that all the stress must have tired him out, he supposed.
He presented himself for dinner in his nice robes, his hair combed and his face scrubbed. He had begun to notice the beginnings of the spots that had plagued Charlie and Percy in their school years on his face, which was worrying.
Dinner had been an entertaining affair, with a chef preparing everything before them on a hotplate, teppanyaki, according to Gabrielle. Ron had been a little worried about the foreign cuisine, but in the end, he had been able to recognise everything that had been served, mostly meat and vegetables, although the portion sizes left much to be desired.
After dinner, they went to the bar for coffee. Fleur had been disappointed again to find out that she couldn't have wine with her parents as she was under twenty.
"Are they so restrictive with alcohol in Britain?" Fleur asked Ron.
"No," Ron said, grimacing as he sipped at his bitter coffee. "They don't serve it at Hogwarts for obvious reasons, but I'm sure that there are plenty of pretentious purebloods who serve overpriced wine every evening."
"And your family aren't pretentious purebloods, I take it?"
"Are you joking? With the twins there? There hasn't been anything stronger than vinegar in The Burrow since their accidental magic became strong enough to break through my parents' Locking Charms."
Fleur smiled in amusement. "Are they really zat bad?"
"Mum caught them stockpiling potatoes from the garden when they were nine. They had been trying to distil it into moonshine using dad's old potions set."
Fleur laughed, the sound ringing in Ron's ears and reverberating around the room. There was a crash and Ron looked up to see a middle-aged Japanese wizard apologising to the people whose table he had walked into. Another younger wizard was walking towards Ron and Fleur's table in a daze.
"Fleur!" Appoline hissed from the next table over. Ron hadn't even noticed that Fleur's allure had been growing stronger, seeping into his mind and entrancing him. By the look of surprise on her face, Fleur hadn't noticed it either. She quickly sat up and made an effort of smoothing down her robes and co trolling her features. The sounds of the rest of the lounge returned to Ron's ears and the young wizard coming closer to their table stopped and walked away, shaking his head.
"Sorry," Fleur said. "I was distracted. It's been a long day."
"Actually," said Ron, "with the time difference, today's been much shorter."
Fleur glared at him in response, but there was no fire in her expression. "Goodnight, Ron," she said, standing up. "I'm going to bed."
Ron had stood up when Fleur had. "Goodnight," he said, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. As she left, he saw a few jealous and angry looks directed his way from the wizards in the room. Then he saw the much angrier expression on Gabrielle's face and had to stop himself from wilting under her stare.
Appoline said goodnight and took Gabrielle to follow Fleur. Matis came to sit by Ron.
"If you don't like coffee, why did you order it?" he asked.
Ron grimaced again as he took another sip of the bitter drink. "Because Fleur likes it," Ron replied. "And because now that Fleur is coming to stay in England, I thought it'd be nice to let her experience as much non-English culture as she can before she's stuck with the tea drinking, rain enjoying, overcooked meat eating British."
Matis smiled at Ron's description of the British, but his expression grew more sombre as he sipped his own coffee.
"You won't remember," he said. "But even from France, we knew how dire the situation became in Britain during You Know Who's last campaign of terror."
Ron gulped, putting down his own cup. "I don't remember, but my older brothers used to tell stories… yeah, it was bad."
"And now my daughter is throwing herself into the middle of a new conflict." Ron opened his mouth, unsure of what he could say, but Matis held up his hand. "Don't misunderstand me. I know that Fleur is an adult, despite what the Japanese think, and that she is a very skilled witch. If she wants to fight, then nothing I can do will stop her, but when I look at her, I still see my little girl who would sit on my lap and listen to me tell stories."
"Everything that happened in the final task affected her pretty strongly," Ron said tentatively.
"There's no need to humour me," Matis said with a sad smile. "I know that my daughter is staying for you. And I know that you care about her as much as I do, but even if she survives the coming war, she will not be unchanged. I saw how the war against Grindelwald affected my father and his brothers. Even decades after the war ended, their experiences weighed heavily on them."
Ron swallowed thickly. As much as he wanted Fleur to be close, he wasn't sure if he wanted her to actually be in any more danger after the tournament. But then again, he wasn't even sixteen yet and he knew that he wasn't going to avoid any fighting. He wasn't going to let Harry fight by himself, neither was Hermione, and Fleur wasn't going to abandon him, he knew it.
"Oh, listen to this old man rambling on and on," Matis said, slapping both hands onto his knees and levering himself to a standing position. "Right. Busy day tomorrow." He finished the last of his drink. "Goodnight."
Ron returned his goodnight and watched the father leave the lounge. For some reason, the hotel seemed a little darker and colder after that conversation.
Sleep evaded Ron that night, partly because of the time difference, but his conversation with Matis was also weighing heavily on his mind. In his heart, concern for Fleur clashed against his respect for her and his concern for Harry. Not to mention concern for Hermione and his family and for magical Britain generally and his general opposition to You Know Who and blood supremacists… he was finding it difficult to let sleep claim him. The thin mattress directly on the floor instead of a real bed wasn't helping either.
There was a creak from the tatami mat just outside his room. Ron sat up, glancing at the clock which said it was just past two.
"Ron?" Fleur said softly, sliding the door open an inch.
Immediately, a loud wailing noise cut through their suite of rooms. Ron jumped out of his futon, clapping his hands over his ears. He slammed the door closed, but when that didn't cut the noise, opened it the whole way and stepped out.
"I can't believe it!" Fleur shouted over the wailing.
Appoline and Matis ran into the communal area between their separate rooms. Matis waved his wand and the noise stopped.
"You jinxed his door!?" Fleur spat.
"I told you that it was her we had to worry about," Matis said to Appoline.
"I just wanted to talk to 'im," Fleur protested. To Ron's surprise, she actually seemed embarrassed, although whether that was because she was sneaking into her boyfriend's room or because she had been caught, Ron wasn't sure.
"And what kind of conversation do two young people 'ave at two in ze morning?" Appoline asked. Fleur just glared at her in response.
At that moment, Gabrielle came out of her room, looking absolutely adorable in her pyjamas, rubbing her eyes. She asked some question in French, probably asking what was happening, and everyone else suddenly realised that it was still the middle of the night.
With a sigh, Appoline took Gabrielle by the hand and led her back to her room. Matis made a big show of casting another charm on Ron's door.
Fleur rolled her eyes at her father's antics. "I'll talk to you in the morning," she said to Ron.
"Sure," he replied.
Fleur glanced at her father for a moment before leaning in and giving Ron a very enthusiastic kiss. Ron froze. It was difficult enough to keep his head when he was so close to Fleur, but the added pressure of Fleur being so openly passionate with him in front of her father as some kind of rebellion made keeping his cool difficult.
"Ah," Fleur sighed when she broke apart from him. She pressed her body up against his. "Sweet dreams," she whispered into his ear in a sultry voice, just loud enough for her father to hear. She floated back to her room gracefully, leaving Ron standing there, half-stunned, her allure still pulsating through his body.
Ron swallowed, aware that Matis was looking at him, a single eyebrow raised. Not trusting himself to speak, Ron just closed his mouth and stepped past his girlfriend's father and into his room. Matis very helpfully slammed the door closed behind him.
Breakfast was an interesting affair. For one thing, they were sat on the floor around a low table, another was the food on offer.
"Okay, I recognise that this is salmon," Ron said, gesturing to the fish on a tiny plate in front of him. "And that this is rice, but what's this soup?"
"C'est de la soupe miso," Gabrielle told him.
"Uh huh," Ron said. He had read about miso soup in a book about Japan that Percy had lent him, but even when it was in front of him, he had no idea what a 'miso' was. "And what's this?" he asked, prodding one of the small white cubes with the end of his chopstick.
"C'est du tofu," Gabrielle said.
"Uh huh," Ron repeated himself. It was strange to have rice, fish and soup for breakfast, but everything was actually delicious, except for whatever natto was.
By silent agreement, none of the group mentioned the incident during the nighttime, which suited Ron perfectly well.
It was after they had eaten, when Ron was making himself a decent cup of tea at the drinks station, when somebody grabbed Ron from behind. Ron almost went for his wand before he realised that it was just Fleur and that she was dragging him towards the entrance.
"Quiet," she whispered in his ear. "I asked the 'otel staff to arrange a taxi outside the Muggle entrance."
"What about the others?" Ron asked, still letting Fleur pull him by the arm.
"What? After how they acted last night?" Fleur stopped mid-stride and whirled around to face him. "Would you rather spend the day with my whole family or with just me?" She bit her lip lightly and her voice dropped into a very soft, breathy tone as she finished her sentence.
"Uh," Ron said, his mind fuzzy, "good idea." Fleur resumed their escape. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about last night?" Ron asked.
"Who said I wanted to talk about anything?" Fleur asked with a sly look.
Ron and Fleur left the hotel, where they found a taxi waiting for them, but somebody had a different idea for how they should spend their day.
"よろしくお願いします," Gabrielle said in Japanese, sitting in the back of the taxi and fiddling with the seatbelt.
"Gabrielle," Fleur said dangerously, before adding something in French. Gabrielle simply weathered Fleur's verbal assault with a flat expression, not moving from her seat.
Fleur narrowed her eyes and Ron became aware of a dangerous energy flowing out of her, but then Fleur slumped, the anger and frustration leaving her.
"Do you mind if my irritating sister joins us?" Fleur asked Ron, throwing an angry look at Gabrielle while doing so.
Ron blinked. Half-formed daydreams about sneaking back into the hotel with Fleur were dashed from his mind. "Uh, no. I don't mind," he said, once his thoughts had rearranged themselves.
Sighing again, Fleur ducked into the taxi. Smoothing down his Muggle clothes and taking a deep breath, Ron followed her.
Gabrielle had a very self-satisfied smirk on her face while Ron and Fleur struggled with their seatbelts.
"明治神宮," she called out to the driver. Ron and Fleur shared a nervous look. It seemed as if they were both at Gabrielle's mercy today.
明治神宮 or Meiji Jingū, turned out to be the large Shinto shrine in the centre of Tokyo. It was busy, but still very beautiful and would have been romantic if not for two things. For one, Gabrielle refused to let go of Fleur's hand and nattered away in French the entire time. The second thing was that Japan in the summer was unbearably hot.
Fleur and Gabrielle, whether due to their French or Veela heritage, hardly seemed to notice it. Ron, on the other hand, could hardly function. If he were at school, he'd cool himself down with a Cooling Charm, but he wasn't at school, he was surrounded by Muggles and the one seventeen-year-old in their group wasn't an adult by Japanese standards.
"And the humidity!" Ron complained to Fleur, who gave him a sympathetic look and passed him her handkerchief so that he could wipe the sweat from his brow.
Ron had a brief struggle with an automatic Muggle drink dispensing machine. He deliberately passed over whatever Pocari Sweat was and instead chose water, which he finished in approximately nought-point-two seconds.
After the shrine, Gabrielle led them to the tall, red tower jutting out over the city. It too was busy, everything seemed to be, actually, but they did get a nice view of the city. Gabrielle was a little intimidated by being so high above the city, which reminded Ron that he needed to practise if he wanted to get on the Quidditch team in the upcoming school year.
For lunch, Gabrielle dragged them to a sushi restaurant. Ron, who had been growing used to being surprised at how delicious all the novel food was, at least tried some of the more unusual things on offer, but he mostly stuck to salmon and tuna.
In the afternoon, they explored Muggle shopping centres and games arcades. It was incredibly noisy and chaotic, but at least the Muggles kept their buildings cool.
Gabrielle was almost dead on her feet by the time they returned to the hotel and Ron and Fleur weren't doing much better. Appoline and Matis were not amused by the antics of the three of them, but neither were they surprised by Fleur and Gabrielle's behaviour. Luckily for Ron, most of their disappointment and displeasure was directed at their own children.
The next day, the parents kept a very close eye on the children, so that they couldn't escape. They visited numerous museums, shrines and temples all together. It was less fun, perhaps, but at least there were two more people to distract Gabrielle.
They weren't staying in Tokyo long, though. Matis had planned a whirlwind tour of much of the country and with as developed a Floo system as the Japanese had, it was easy to visit as much of the country as they wanted to. Ron was just happy to be able to try as much of the cuisine as was on offer.
They had okonomiyaki in Osaka and sashimi in Sapporo, nabe in Nagoya and takoyaki in Tottori, sukiyaki in Shimane and gyudon in Gifu.
Eventually, their travels took them to Hiroshima, where on the first day they visited one of the islands. There was a truly magnificent view of a huge, red torii gate standing in the sea, though Ron was distracted by wild deer trying to steal his lunch.
On the second day, they went to the Peace Park.
Matis had had to give a history lesson about the Muggle part of Grindelwald's war, though as Fleur had been equally ignorant about it as Ron was, he decided to not be embarrassed about the gap in his knowledge.
"A single Muggle weapon," Fleur said, while she sipped drinks with Ron in a cafe looking out over a statue of a girl holding a paper crane, "and it killed as many people as every witch, wizard and magical creature in western Europe."
Ron frowned. "You'd never get that many of us all in one place," he said.
"The Quidditch final," Fleur retorted.
Ron hummed an agreement, but his mind had jumped from images of the giant Quidditch stands made especially for the World Cup to the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, filled with fire and screaming after Barty Crouch Junior had attacked, just a few weeks ago. Miraculously, only a couple of people had died in that attack, not counting Crouch himself, and none of them had been as young as the girl whose statue was outside. Even so, Ron had seen a lot of people screaming in pain over burns, choking on thick, black smoke and crying out in terror as they struggled, trapped under debris. Some of them had hardly been older than Gabrielle.
"You're thinking about something unpleasant," Fleur said, watching Ron's face in concern. "What is it?"
Ron struggled to wipe the troubled look of his face. "It's just… seeing how this war ended… I was just thinking about how our war is going to end."
Fleur didn't say anything for a moment. She didn't immediately promise that they would all emerge happy and healthy and victorious, which Ron actually appreciated. It helped to know that fear for the upcoming conflict was something they shared.
Fleur looked down at the statue. "You know, they say zat if you fold ten thousand paper cranes, anything you wish for will come true."
Ron quirked an eyebrow. "Did it work for her?" He nodded towards the statue.
"No, I guess not," Fleur said sadly. "But even so, what would you wish for?"
Ron leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "That You Know Who will lose… that Harry will survive… that my family will survive… You too, naturally."
Fleur adopted an unimpressed expression. "You get a magical wish and you want is for your girlfriend to survive? You wouldn't want anything else from the most beautiful person in your life?"
Ron let out a half-chuckle. It wasn't the funniest joke, nor the most tantalising tease, but he recognised that she was trying to cheer him up and even if it wasn't really allaying his fears, he appreciated that she was trying.
He glanced at Fleur's family on the next table over, making sure that they weren't listening in.
"Well, maybe I could think of a couple of things," he replied to her, trying to sound suave.
Glancing at her family herself, Fleur leaned forward and whispered in Ron's ear. His eyes widened as she whispered, then he jolted in his chair and started coughing. Fleur sat back with a very self-satisfied smirk.
"Yeah…" Ron said, trying to maintain a calm facade. "That sounds, uh… good."
Fleur smiled. "Come on, I think the others are ready to go."
The two weeks in their schedule flew by. Ron had had one of the most unusual, but enjoyable experiences of his life. He had discovered lots about Japan, and even more about Japanese food, and had got to know Fleur's family well, even if their presence had stopped him from having much time alone with Fleur.
But dreams had to end and soon they would have to leave the Far East and return to reality in Britain and France. Fleur had to start her new job at Gringotts and Ron would be joining his family, wherever it was they were helping Dumbledore. It was still a month until school started again and Ron was sure that his mother or Harry or maybe even Dumbledore himself would need his help with something and he was preparing himself to be busy after his two week escape. He reminded himself that he still had homework to write.
Ron spent the final evening reading a book about shogi, the Japanese chess-equivalent, so that Fleur could have some private time with her family.
Shogi was strange. Whenever you captured a piece, you kept it in reserve so that you could place it back into the game on your side. It was a strange idea. Ron couldn't stop his mind from imagining Cedric wearing Death Eater robes and snorted to himself at how ridiculous the image was.
The final day in Japan dawned and they made ready to leave. Gabrielle was upset to be returning home, but the others were all content. The Japanese Ministry official handling their Portkey, a different man from when they arrived, gave them the length of ribbon at the very minute that the clock struck the hour. They held on tight, Ron took a steadying breath, and the Japanese Portkey office disappeared into a swirl of colours.