Their conversation was interrupted by a scream.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Sometimes Harry found himself watching Ginny. Well, that wasn't anything out of the ordinary– it felt like he was always watching her. But there were moments when it seemed like time stood still, and he could just watch her forever and be perfectly happy. It seemed to happen a lot more ever since their trip to Weymouth at the end of the summer. Obviously, their relationship had changed dramatically in a physical sense, but there had also been an emotional shift. He'd confessed his deepest fears– things he hadn't even been fully aware that he had been afraid of. He'd loved her for a long time before that, but that week sealed the deal for him even more. She was the only person he'd ever look at with unabashed love.
Which is exactly how he imagined he was looking at her now, although he also could've looked like a gaping trout and wouldn't have been surprised. The truth was that Harry didn't really have much conscious thought in his head as he mindlessly ate a piece of toast. Next to him, Ginny seemed to be effortlessly carrying on conversations with several people at their table at once, not to mention people from other houses who stopped by just to talk to her.
For years, Harry had been used to being the centre of attention, and he absolutely loathed it. But he marvelled at how easily it came to Ginny. And she definitely belonged there, much more than he ever did. He'd forget from time to time just how popular she really was. He hadn't been very aware of the social circles of Hogwarts until he started paying much more attention to her in his sixth year. It was incredible that the seemingly shy little girl that he'd met at the Burrow so long ago was the confident and vibrant woman next to him who everyone was drawn to.
What was most impressive about Ginny's popularity and conversational ability was how she made everyone feel like they were important to her. It wasn't easy for Harry to consistently remember basic details about previous casual conversations, particularly with people he wasn't close to, but Ginny always had something personal to say to anyone who talked to her, as if to remind them that they were valued by her. It was one of the many things he loved about her.
Almost as if she could sense his thoughts, she glanced over at him and smiled so brightly that Harry was positive that he now resembled a trout, shocked by the glow of her. She snaked her hand under the table and found his, holding it tightly as she turned and continued a conversation with Dennis and Natalie about something. Harry honestly wasn't hearing much of anything right now, very lost in her exuberant expressions and gestures.
Unfortunately, that meant that he didn't hear or see Eirwen when she landed in front of him. And while Eirwen was typically very affectionate, she didn't appreciate being ignored, and Harry was very startled when he was broken out of his trance by her wing whacking him on the side of the head.
"Ow!" Harry exclaimed, more out of surprise than anything, drawing the attention of Ginny and several other people around him. Eirwen looked up at him innocently with big, yellow, unblinking eyes. She hooted as if to say she wasn't responsible, and he chuckled and shook his head.
"Sorry, girl. I'll be sure to pay more attention next time," he promised as he took a letter from her and offered her the rest of his toast. She hooted once more and nipped his finger apologetically before taking the toast and flying away.
"She's got some personality," Mia commented, grinning like she'd seen the entire exchange.
"She's amazing," Ginny added proudly, and Harry nodded his agreement as he turned the letter over to see a familiar logo stamped into the wax seal of the envelope. Ginny saw it too, practically in his lap with how closely she was watching him open the letter. Even though she was paying attention to the letter and not necessarily him, it still made Harry's chest swell slightly, knowing that out of everyone who would love to talk to her, he was the one that she chose.
He opened the folded letter to find a clipping from the Daily Prophet. He held it up so both he and Ginny could read it together, although he wasn't sure he'd want to when he saw the large picture of him and Ginny standing together, wearing magenta robes.
WEASLEYS' WIZARD WHEEZES REOPENING IN DECEMBER!
SHOP POTTER'S FAVOURITE JOKE PRODUCTS!
After almost a year behind closed doors, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is reopening next month! The shop, a new mainstay in Diagon Alley, opened in 1996 and was immensely popular before they closed their doors at the beginning of this year. But now, George Weasley is ready to open the doors again and bring the jokes back to Diagon Alley.
Things have changed since the last time WWW was open. The store was originally the brainchild of George and his twin brother, Fred. They started their business selling products at Hogwarts. As George said in our recent interview: 'What better place to sell products than a school with loads of free testers?'
George and Fred spent much of the past year working undercover for the Order of the Phoenix. George told this reporter that they always planned on reopening the store once the war was over, but those plans changed at the Battle of Hogwarts.
Fred Weasley was killed in combat, cutting a vibrant, joyous young life far too short. About his twin, George had several things to say: 'Fred [was] everything to the business. And a lot more. He [was] the better talker, so he'd probably hate to see me being interviewed by the Prophet.' George laughed infectiously at that, smiling like he was sharing a joke with his twin.
'It took a long time for me to decide to reopen the store. I spent most of the summer in a really dark place, but I finally realised that Fred would be [very upset] at me if I didn't do it. It's been our dream forever. It still feels weird, doing it without him. Some days I wonder why I'm doing it at all. But I've got a lot of help now. My brother Percy and best friend Lee have been great, but I'd appreciate you not printing that about Percy.'
When asked about changes to the store, George was very reticent about revealing his plans. 'Things will be different, for sure. But if anyone wants to find out what new things we've got, they're gonna have to come to the store and find out for themselves.'
Part of the marketing campaign for the reopening was an advertisement picture of Harry Potter, The Saviour of the Wizarding World, and his girlfriend, George's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, dressed in WWW's signature magenta robes, which readers can find accompanying this article.
'Harry's […] been a longtime supporter of mine and Fred's, both personally and in our business. He gets free products for life, and he's a good enough bloke that he doesn't even take advantage of that. Ginny being in the advertisement was the only way Harry would do it, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to have at least one pretty face in the advertisement.'
When asked about Mr. Potter's relationship with his younger sister, George took more than a minute before answering. 'I want to give him [trouble] since this is gonna be in the Prophet. I really do. But Ginny would probably kill me. Look, the thing you have to understand about Harry is that, as great as the papers make him seem for all his heroic stuff, he's an even better person than that. He really is part of our family. And no brother really loves seeing his baby sister dating someone, but I don't know… I can't help but be happy for them. They've both been through a lot of [stuff]. They deserve to be happy together, and if the past six months are any indication, they're gonna be happy together for a long time.'
This reporter concluded the interview by asking if there was anything else George would like to share with the Prophet and its readers. He said: 'I want people to feel like it's okay to have fun again. That's really why we opened the shop in the first place. We want to help people have fun. Everyone who's made it through the past few years deserves that. So come on down and stick it to the noseless creep that tried to ruin our lives by laughing and having a great time because he'd really hate that.'
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes will reopen on 12 December.
Harry was somewhere between grinning and rolling his eyes with exasperation when he finished reading the article. Ginny had finished before him, and her expression was one of pure delight.
"I'm so happy he's really doing it."
"Me too. And he gave a great interview about it. I really think that'll bring a lot of people in."
"That and the gorgeous people in the advertisement," Ginny joked.
Harry laughed. "Nah, you're the only pretty one there. Even George said that in the interview."
"Well, I disagree," she informed him with a kiss on the cheek, making his chest swell a little more proudly.
Still smiling, Harry turned his attention back to the letter, which was short and written in George's barely legible scrawl.
Wanted to invite you two. Figure since you can get away with the new seventh year rule, it wouldn't hurt to have my two star models welcoming people in. I'm sure we'll see each other before then, but wanted to send this anyways. Don't let what I said go to your head, Harry. The reporter did a bad job writing my quotes accurately.
See you soon.
G
P.S. Nice job beating Ravenclaw.
"You know he's kidding, right?" Ginny asked.
Harry nodded, thinking that was the best thing to come out of the fact that his picture in ugly robes was all over Diagon Alley and the Daily Prophet now. "Yeah, I know. I think pretty much everyone in your family has told me they're happy I'm with you."
He was positive her eyes were sparkling when she grinned at him. "They may all be happy, but I'm definitely the happiest."
"Is it a contest?" Harry teased.
She shook her head. "No contest. It's not even close. I win easily."
He chuckled and put his arm around her. "I dunno. I think I'm the winner in this scenario."
"Maybe we're both winners. But I'm pretty sure I'm the ultimate winner."
Now he was laughing loudly at her. "You're ridiculous sometimes."
"And you love that about me," she declared proudly.
"Without question," he agreed, kissing her a bit longer than was probably appropriate for the middle of the Great Hall, but he didn't particularly care. Let everyone look at her choosing to be with him. Or not. He didn't really care about anything in the Hall but her.
While Ginny was at Arithmancy later in the day, Harry went to meet Professor McGonagall in her office for their private lesson. She called him in as soon as he knocked on the door, and he entered, smiling to himself about how he'd made it a habit to have private lessons in this office over the years.
"Take a seat, Potter," she instructed. "We're going to begin by discussing some of the important theoretical considerations for what you're wanting to learn. I'm sure that you realise the reason it is so uncommon to see transfiguration used in combat is due to the high level of skill that is required to quickly transfigure objects in a high pressure situation like a duel. Transfiguration requires focus and precision, as you know from my class.
"I'll be honest with you, Potter. You've never been an outstanding student in transfiguration–" Harry fought to not laugh, agreeing with her assessment "– however, knowing you, it is entirely possible that you will have an easier time with transfiguration in combat than in a classroom setting. You've always been prolific at Defence, and this would essentially be an extension of that.
"The other advantage that you have is that, in a duel, you will likely not ever be required to make complex transfigurations involving living creatures. You will be better served learning how to quickly perform inanimate transfiguration, such as transfiguring a knife into a feather. So let's get started."
Harry was surprised when his professor immediately stood, apparently satisfied with their discussion of theory. Granted, he supposed the theory was the same as conventional transfiguration, and the more important part was putting it into practice.
McGonagall waved her wand and the furniture inside her office moved to the walls, leaving them a large space to practise in. Then she conjured a Quaffle, levitating it next to her.
"We'll begin with something simple. I will throw the Quaffle at you, and you will transfigure it into a ball of yarn before it reaches you."
Harry nodded his understanding and visualised the transformation that needed to occur. Without warning, McGonagall launched the Quaffle at him, and he barely raised his hand in time to protect his face.
He felt himself blushing. "Sorry, Professor. I wasn't ready."
"I noticed," she responded dryly, summoning the Quaffle to her and levitating it again.
Harry was more prepared for the next assault, and he was fairly certain that the Quaffle was at least softer than it would've normally been when it hit his face.
"You have to remember that the transfiguration occurring is not static in space. You must move the transformation that you are performing with the object." McGonagall summoned the Quaffle again and felt it. "It's softer than it was before because you started the process of transfiguring it, but as soon as it continued its movement, it left your magic behind. Transfiguration is a near-instantaneous process, but it does still take enough time that you have to ensure that your transfiguration moves with the object."
Apparently there was more to the theory than she'd said, which made him wonder if she just wanted to toss some Quaffles at his face for fun. Harry didn't think the theory made much sense, but he wasn't about to question her. If she was right, and she probably was, then that must have been the reason he didn't perform the transfiguration successfully. Now he knew what he had to do. The problem was that he didn't really know how to do it. He was about to ask how he could make his magic follow the Quaffle when McGonagall shot it towards him again.
Without thinking about it, Harry raised his wand and mentally reached out, almost feeling the Quaffle moving through the air as he began magically changing its physical properties. Leather was replaced by cotton and the ball shrunk so that by the time Harry caught it, it was a red ball of yarn instead of a leather ball.
For a split second, Harry thought he saw McGonagall's eyebrows raise slightly, but when she spoke, she gave no indication of surprise. "Now I'll throw several Quaffles at you randomly. Keep your focus."
Harry dropped the ball of yarn as she conjured ten Quaffles above her head, spread out in a line. True to her word, McGonagall gave no indication which Quaffle she would be sending towards him next, but Harry surprised himself when he managed to transfigure all of them as they were flying at him, leaving ten balls of yarn at his feet.
For the next half hour, McGonagall continued testing him with Quaffles, and he passed every test with ease. He had no idea why this was easier than regular transfiguration. If he'd been this good in her classes, he probably wouldn't have needed anywhere near as much help from Hermione throughout the years.
Finally, they stopped. "I have to admit, Potter, that I'm impressed with how quickly you learned. If I'd have known this was what it took for you to excel in transfiguration, we would have done this a long time ago."
Harry grinned. "I wish I'd known too, Professor. It definitely would've made your classes easier."
McGonagall turned to her desk. "You were right, Albus."
Harry looked at the portrait above her chair and saw Professor Dumbledore smiling at him. "You knew I'd be good at this?"
"I guessed. But I tend to make good guesses," Dumbledore responded. "Truthfully, it's no surprise that you're excelling at magic, Harry."
"It isn't?" Harry asked before he could stop himself, and Dumbledore chuckled.
"No, Harry, it isn't. Even if you hadn't had to go through everything in the past seven years brought, you still would've had the capacity to become a great wizard. That you were tested far beyond anyone of your age and overcame it all is only further proof that you are a great wizard. It's also… unknown if the piece of Tom Riddle's soul that was in you being removed has opened new pathways inside of you to continue growing magically. And of course, you're continuing to grow and mature into a wonderful man who seems a great deal happier than I can remember seeing you before. If I had to guess, I'd say you still have even higher heights that you could reach."
Harry was definitely red now at the praise of his mentor. "Thank you, Professor. I'll do my best to continue improving."
"I know you will, Harry. That's something I've always admired about you. You're never satisfied when you know there's more that you can do. It's one of the many things that makes you a great man."
Harry cleared his throat and nodded, doing his best to not seem too pleased. Really, he was struck by how similar this conversation was to one he'd had with Dumbledore a few months earlier. He almost wanted to ask Dumbledore about that, even though he knew there was no chance this portrait of Dumbledore would have any idea what he was talking about. He couldn't really wrap his mind around how to phrase anything at the moment though, and he was spared from thinking on it further when McGonagall basically kicked him out of her office, saying that she had another appointment.
Harry thanked her and Dumbledore before leaving and passing Professor Flitwick on the stairs, who greeted Harry cheerfully. Harry continued walking, finding himself wondering if he could bring up his grade in Transfiguration by imagining that everything he transfigured was moving. All in all, the first lesson had gone really well– much better than he was expecting, and to be honest, Harry was looking forward to continuing to learn more and improve with Professor McGonagall.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
It had been a great weekend at home. Since Ginny and Harry were going to be staying at Hogwarts for the Hogsmeade weekend in a week, the family decided to celebrate Bill's birthday early.
It had taken a while for them to decide on a gift to give Bill, but Harry eventually came up with the perfect idea. Bill loved the personalised bottle of firewhisky from The Three Broomsticks. He loved it even more when he saw the disapproving look their mother was giving him, winking at them when she wasn't looking.
The weekend hadn't just been about Bill's birthday though. George had gone over his plan for the reopening of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which, coincidentally, would take place on Charlie's birthday.
"It's fine. Honestly, that's about the best birthday present I could've asked for," Charlie had assured them, rather selflessly, when they'd realised that.
George obviously wanted the whole family there, and somehow, he'd convinced Ginny and Harry to wear their magenta robes one more time for the grand reopening.
"As long as we look ridiculous together," was all Harry had requested, and between that and George's rather pathetic pleas, Ginny was forced to agree.
Maybe the biggest thing to happen this weekend though was that Teddy started crawling for the first time. It had completely surprised them all. Ginny and Harry had been alone, sitting on the floor while Teddy sat up against Harry. Suddenly, he flopped onto his hands and knees and determinedly made his way to her, giggling as his hair turned red in the process.
It was a bit of a surreal moment, watching this milestone play out for just them to see. While Ginny proudly hugged Teddy to her chest, she locked eyes with Harry, seeing his green eyes shining with a love that she could almost feel washing over her. How lucky was she that she had both of these amazing boys in her life?
Of course, the weekend had to come to an end, and Ginny and Harry were back at Hogwarts in time for the Sunday night feast. They joined Mia, Demelza, Dean, and the rest of the Gryffindor seventh years, and they must've been obvious about their happiness from the weekend because Mia quickly pointed it out.
"Good weekend?"
"Great weekend," Ginny answered.
"Oh, yeah?" Demelza asked, smirking suggestively.
Ginny wasn't sure if Harry just didn't notice or didn't care, but he enthusiastically responded, "Yeah, Teddy started crawling last night!"
Demelza's smirk was wiped off her face. "Oh… that's cool," she offered halfheartedly, making Mia laugh.
"Well that was enthusiastic. Teddy's your godson, right?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah. His parents are– they were really good friends of ours."
Harry hooked his foot on hers under the table, and she gave him a small smile.
"It's awesome that you guys are helping to take care of him," Mia said sincerely.
"Is it hard taking care of a baby?" Demelza asked, apparently growing more interested in the conversation.
Ginny smiled and shook her head. "Not really. Or at least, not with Teddy. He's such a great baby."
"And you're good with him too?" Demelza asked Harry, who mocked taking offence to the question.
"Do I seem like I wouldn't be good with babies?" Harry responded.
Demelza shrugged. "I dunno. It's not really something most people our age know how to do."
"Well, I think Ginny's probably better with him than me. I mean, she's unbelievable with him. But I think I'm pretty good with him too."
"You are," Ginny assured him, thinking he was far better with Teddy than he gave himself credit for.
"You two are adorable," Mia informed them, but neither of them could respond before they were interrupted by Professor McGonagall, who was calling for everyone's attention at the front of the Great Hall.
"Good evening. Tonight, I have a special announcement. At the start of the term, I discussed how Hogwarts was making it our goal to make the houses feel more united. We still enjoy the competitions for the House Cup and Quidditch Cup, but we've continued making efforts to improve school unity. One of the ways we've done that was entirely unplanned, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that Mister Potter's Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons have led to great things in school unity and defensive education."
Ginny looked back to Harry, who was shyly looking down at the table, but she didn't miss the smile playing on his lips. As she turned towards McGonagall again, she reached her hand towards him, and he found it, squeezing it immediately.
"We have also continued promoting inter-house organisations such as the Gobstones and Alchemy Clubs. However, there is one more event that will be happening before the term is over in the interest of promoting school unity. For those of you who were here in the year of the Triwizard Tournament, you may recall that the school rallied behind our champions, and house competition took a lesser importance in contrast to being there for each other."
Ginny thought that was a slightly whitewashed memory. She definitely remembered the houses being divided in their support of Cedric and Harry, and most of the time, it didn't feel like friendly competition.
"One of the highlights of that year was the Yule Ball, a Christmas dance honouring the Triwizard champions. After extensive consideration and planning, Professor Flitwick and I have decided that it would be beneficial for the entire school to hold our own version of the Yule Ball."
Whispers broke out as McGonagall continued, "We will hold it the week before Christmas so you all can still return home to your families for the holiday. This ball will celebrate our perseverance, our strength, and our commitment to be better together. Further details will be delivered through your prefects."
As Ginny turned to see Harry's reaction, her mind was flooded with the memories of the last Yule Ball.
Typically, Ginny wouldn't have been the sort of person to get overly excited by a school dance, but she couldn't help being excited about the Yule Ball. It had been the talk of the castle and all three schools for weeks now, and she was just grateful that she was getting to go since she was only a third year. And it wouldn't be the worst thing to go with Neville– he was always sweet, and she knew he wasn't asking her out of any romantic interest; he had asked Hermione first, after all.
Hermione had come to her dormitory so they could get ready together. All of Ginny's roommates had gone home for the break since they didn't have dates, and Hermione was much closer to Ginny than Lavender or Parvati. Ginny enjoyed alone time with Hermione, who was one of her best friends. And it wasn't often that they were together and doing something like dressing up and preparing for a ball, which made it feel even more special.
Hermione spent over an hour working on her hair. Even with magic and Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, it took great effort to tame her naturally bushy hair, although the end result was breathtaking. Ginny preferred to leave her hair down, but Hermione insisted on helping her make her naturally straight hair wavy. Hermione made surprisingly quick work of Ginny's hair, and she had to admit that she liked the way it looked for tonight, even though it made her look a little too delicate for daily use, in her opinion.
Ginny didn't really like her dress for the Yule Ball. It was a gaudy combination of pink and pale green, but she knew that her mum had bought these secondhand and wasn't about to complain about it. At least she had less lace on her dress than Ron had on his dress robes. On the other hand, Hermione's dress looked like it must have cost loads of Galleons. It was a gorgeous blue colour, and it almost made her look like she was floating when she twirled around to show Ginny.
"You look beautiful. Krum's gonna be stunned," Ginny told Hermione with a grin. Hermione blushed scarlet but smiled to herself.
"You look great too. I imagine there will be more boys than just Neville looking at you tonight."
Ginny snorted, thinking that unlikely. She was going to be one of the youngest people there, and she knew her dress was horrid. But Hermione was being kind and Ginny didn't want to disagree with her right before the ball.
"I guess we'll find out," Ginny settled for saying, and, after checking herself once more in her mirror, she left with Hermione. They had to split up when they got closer to the Great Hall since Hermione was the date of one of the champions. Ginny watched her hurry over to Viktor Krum, whose eyes widened considerably more than usual. Shaking her head and smiling, Ginny walked into the Great Hall, where she found Neville standing awkwardly near the door.
He looked a little less awkward when he smiled at her. "Hi, Ginny. You look great!"
"Thanks, Neville. So do you," Ginny responded. Neville reddened slightly at that. "Do we just sit wherever?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Looks like Ron's over at that table if we want to sit with him?"
Ginny quickly weighed her options. She didn't really want to sit with her brother, but Hermione was going to be sitting at the head table with Krum. Besides, Neville and Ron were friends, so this was probably for the best.
"Sure, we can sit with him and Padma," she agreed. Neville nodded and stuck his arm out. It took her a moment to realise that she should take his arm. She finally did, and they walked together to the table.
Almost immediately, Ginny noticed that her brother was in a foul mood, and she thought she knew why. That he couldn't take his eyes off Hermione was all the proof she needed. She desperately wanted to tease her older brother, but he seemed so miserable that it would've been cruel to do it to him tonight. She decided that she could wait until tomorrow morning to do it.
After dinner, the champions were the first ones on the dance floor, and Ginny found that, as much as she wanted to watch her best friend and be happy for her, her eyes kept drifting to Harry, who was dancing with Parvati. He looked so uncomfortable, probably because he hated people looking at him, or because he hated dancing, or because he hadn't wanted to come to the ball with Parvati at all.
Ginny was all too familiar with Harry's crush on Cho, and he wasn't doing a good job hiding his glances to her and Cedric in between his pained looks of embarrassment. She wasn't angry like Ron seemed to be though; it just made her sad, even though she wasn't surprised. She'd had the opportunity to go with Harry, but she had already promised Neville she'd go with him, and she at least respected herself enough to not be satisfied being a last resort for Harry. That didn't mean that she had to like watching him dancing with one girl while staring at another though.
So when Nevile quietly asked if she wanted to dance, she immediately accepted, grateful for the distraction. The distraction became more painful than she'd been anticipating as she quickly learned that Neville was not a good dancer at all. He did apologise every time that he stepped on one of her feet, but the apologies didn't do anything to alleviate the agony her toes were in.
Finally, she decided that she was sufficiently distracted and could afford to take a break from dancing, so she told Neville she was going to get some punch. After waiting in line for a cup, she began walking back to their table when she saw that Harry was already sitting there with Ron and Hermione. It wouldn't have been a surprising scene at all, except that she could tell even from afar that Ron was being an absolute arse about something, judging by his moody look and Hermione's increasingly hurt and angered expression.
When Hermione stormed off, Ginny decided it best to not join them. Especially considering Harry was back to staring at Cho. Honestly, what did he see in her?
She shook her head and looked around for Neville, but she didn't see him anywhere. She was about to start walking around to find him when someone tapped her shoulder. She turned, more than a little surprised to see a cute boy with dark hair, wearing neat black dress robes, smiling at her.
"I don't think we've met before. I'm Michael Corner," he said politely, holding his hand out.
Ginny looked down at it for a split second before shaking it. "Ginny Weasley. What house are you in?"
"Ravenclaw. You're in Gryffindor, right?"
She nodded, a little surprised that he knew that.
"I thought so. There's hardly any gingers in school outside Gryffindor. You're not a fourth year, are you?"
"Third year."
"Oh, so you came with an older date?" Michael asked, looking a little disappointed.
For some reason, Ginny wanted to clarify her situation. "Yes… but he's just a friend. I'm not seeing anyone."
Michael's mouth broke into an attractive smile. "Good to know. Would you want to dance with me then?"
Ginny was a little hesitant, not wanting to leave Neville by himself, even if she didn't know where he was at the moment. As luck would have it though, she suddenly saw him behind Michael, talking to Hannah Abbott. That was good enough for her. For an instant, she thought of Harry, but then she remembered the way Harry had been goggling at Cho. It didn't have to mean anything, but she wasn't going to let the night pass without enjoying herself a little bit at least.
"Yes, I'd love to dance with you."
Ginny blinked and saw Harry looking more enthusiastic about this Yule Ball than he'd been about the last one. He was smiling, which was definitely a good sign. And he was still holding her hand.
"That could be fun," she commented.
He nodded and smiled a little wider. "Yeah, I think so. We'll have a good time."
"Oh, so you're taking me?" Ginny asked, making Harry quirk his eyebrow.
"Er– yeah?" Harry responded cautiously.
"You might want to ask me instead of just assuming. There's probably a lot of people who would be interested in asking me, you know."
Harry laughed, thinking he understood her joke now. "You're right. Ginny, will you–"
"I know you're not about to casually ask me like that," she interrupted sternly.
His mouth opened slightly. "Oh… I guess not. I– I dunno what I'm doing, Gin."
She smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "You should figure that out then," she told him, barely taking enough mercy on him to kiss his cheek. He had a puzzled expression on his face, and a crease was formed between his eyebrows that Ginny thought was rather cute. She shot a look at Mia, who was laughing silently, covering her mouth with her hands to prevent making a noise.
"Anyways, I think I'm gonna go up to bed. Goodnight everyone," Ginny added, kissing Harry on top of his head before walking out of the Great Hall, laughing to herself and expecting Harry to join her shortly.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
"How am I supposed to ask her to the Yule Ball?" Harry asked Mia in a slightly higher voice than usual once Ginny left, still totally confused by what had just happened.
Mia was grinning and wiping her eyes. "Harry, she's totally taking the piss out of you."
"She is?"
Mia rolled her eyes. "It's a really good thing for all our sakes that saving the world didn't require you to understand women. Aren't you two like practically married?"
Harry felt his cheeks warming. "No," he instinctively responded.
Mia raised her eyebrows like she didn't believe him, and he wondered what that said about their relationship. "Right. Well, you two are very clearly in love, and there's no way that Ginny would go with anyone else. She's just messing with you."
"Maybe he should still do something special," Demelza butted in, surprising Harry greatly. For as long as he'd known her, Demelza had seemed totally against romance. Then again, she did seem to have a soft spot for Ginny and him, but it was still a little odd hearing her suggest he make a romantic gesture.
Mia seemed similarly surprised, looking very curiously at Demelza. "I mean… he could. It's not like it would hurt anything to do something big. Although, you know Ginny's not the kind of person who really cares about that sort of stuff."
Harry nodded and drummed his fingers on the table, trying to think of something that he could do to ask Ginny to the Yule Ball. Now that Mia had explained what Ginny was doing, it was incredibly obvious that she wouldn't actually care about a grand gesture, especially for something like this. But Demelza did have a point. Harry could still do something special. If anybody deserved it, it was Ginny.
Suddenly, the idea came to him. "I've got it," he said proudly.
"What?" Mia and Demelza asked in unison.
"I know how I'll ask Ginny to the Yule Ball. It'll be great, trust me."
Demelza looked a little doubtful, but Mia nodded. "Let us know if you need any help."
"I might take you up on that. I'll talk to you about it later– I've gotta get up to the dorm now."
"It's like she's got you on a leash," Demelza quipped teasingly.
Harry shrugged. "There are worse places to be," he responded, grinning as he got up from the table without seeing what he assumed was a sickened reaction from Demelza.
Ginny was lying on their bed, flicking through Hogwarts: A History, when he entered through the wall and into their private bedroom. She glanced up at him. "About time. I was wondering if I was gonna have to go back down and get you."
He chuckled. "You know, Demelza was just saying it's like you've got me on a leash, and now I'm wondering if she was right."
Ginny raised an eyebrow and closed the book. "What did you say?"
"I told her there were worse places to be."
She snorted. "That's some compliment, Potter."
"It's true. I can definitely think of some worse places I've been."
"Mhmm… glad to hear you're with me because it's not the worst place to be."
He laughed and sat on the bed next to her, wrapping an arm around her and kissing the top of her head. "It's quite literally the best place in the world."
She smiled up at him. "That's more like it. Oh, by the way, was there something you were wanting to ask me?"
Harry frowned, considering her question. Finally, he shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
For the briefest second, he thought she started to react before she caught herself. "Okay, just wanted to be sure."
"Nope, I'm all good. Oh, actually, I was wondering if you'd want to read over my Charms essay."
"Sure. I've got some homework you can check for me too," Ginny replied, standing up from the bed and going to her bag.
While she wasn't looking, Harry cracked a grin. Two could play this game, and now she'd be the one surprised when he asked her.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
After all the waiting Harry had put her through in her life, both before they got together and after he left to hunt Horcruxes, Ginny thought she was well prepared to be patient while she waited for him to give up on whatever game he was playing and ask her to the Yule Ball. It was her game to make him worry about impressing her in the first place, but now he was acting oblivious to the whole thing. Whatever… Ginny thought two could play at that game.
The only problem was that she was not doing a good job being patient now. It hadn't even been a week, and Ginny was already getting annoyed hearing about how other people had already gotten dates for the ball. It was stupid, she knew. She'd started the whole thing, and obviously they were going to go together, but she couldn't decide if Harry was truly apathetic about the whole thing or if he was planning something. Knowing him, he was probably planning something that would impress her greatly, which only made her impatience and anticipation grow.
Harry had just finished teaching another Defence class, but he'd been held up by a couple of third years who thought they were ready to practise the Reductor Curse. Ginny hadn't been surprised at all when he'd agreed to stick around and work with them. However, she had some extra Arithmancy homework that she wanted to get done before the Hogsmeade weekend, so she left to go to the library.
Astoria apparently had a similar idea because she was right behind Ginny, so she slowed down to walk with her.
"Good lesson," Astoria commented.
"You should tell him that," Ginny suggested, thinking that Harry likely believed there was still room for improvement even though he was doing a fantastic job.
"I usually do. You know, he's sort of shy about accepting compliments."
Ginny chuckled. "I promise you, I know that better than anyone."
"I guess you do," Astoria acknowledged. "So are you looking forward to the ball?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I am. I just wish Harry would go on and ask me."
Astoria couldn't hold in her laughter. "Ask you? As if either of you would go with anyone else."
Ginny sighed. "Well, he started to ask me right when it was announced, but I decided to mess with him and told him he needed to ask me better than in the middle of a feast in the Great Hall. But it's been almost a week, and he still hasn't asked."
Astoria's smile was contagious even though Ginny was a little peeved. "Sounds like you're going to get what you wanted then."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I guess. What about you? Do you already have a date?"
She was a little surprised to see Astoria blush slightly. "Oh… actually, Owen asked me just before today's lesson."
Ginny was even more surprised at that. "And you said yes?"
Astoria's blush grew as she nodded, looking both embarrassed and pleased.
"That's great! I guess all that time as Head Boy and Head Girl brought you together?"
Astoria was still smiling when she answered. "I guess so. And we see each other in Harry's lessons. And we have almost every class together. I'm kind of excited though."
"You should be. It'll be an awesome time. I'm really happy for you."
"Thanks, Gin–"
Their conversation was interrupted by a scream. Alarmed, they looked around, wordlessly agreeing that the sound had come from the corridor to their left.
"Please… stop…"
Ginny felt a chill running down her spine as she and Astoria sprinted down the corridor in search of the person who was crying. She heard lower voices too… and most disturbing of all, laughter.
Her wand was in her hand as they rounded a corner into a part of the castle that Ginny rarely found herself in. She didn't bother taking in her surroundings though, completely focused on the horrific sight in front of her. Four boys were standing over a girl lying on the ground, laughing at her while she cried.
Ginny didn't stop to think. "Stupefy!"
The closest boy to her flew into the wall, collapsing to the floor in a heap. The other three turned around and raised their wands.
"Protego!" Astoria cast as a jet of orange light fanned out around her shield.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Ginny shouted, taking out a second boy, who toppled to the ground, motionless.
"Confringo!"
Ginny dropped to the floor as a rope of fire shot over her.
"Expelliarmus!" Astoria cast, but her spell was blocked by their shield.
"Stupefy!" Ginny tried from her prone position, and a third boy dropped to the ground as Astoria created another shield to protect them from whatever curse the final boy had cast.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Astoria shouted, catching the boy off guard.
Ginny took a deep breath and stood, safe from the danger now that all four boys had been incapacitated. She moved to check on the girl with Astoria right next to her. What she saw almost made her faint.
Emily was lying on the ground in the foetal position, but she thankfully had no visible injuries. It wasn't exactly the same as when Ginny found her during the battle, but she couldn't help but notice the similarities.
"Are you okay?" Astoria asked.
Emily let out a half whimper and nodded. Ginny looked up at Astoria. "Go get McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. I'm going to stay with her."
Astoria immediately did what Ginny requested, standing and running away to bring help as soon as possible. Ginny knelt next to Emily and tried to stroke her head as calmly as she could.
"It's okay, Em. I'm here. Nothing's going to happen to you now," she promised.
Emily sniffled but didn't respond otherwise. They stayed like that for a couple minutes, Ginny doing whatever she could to calm Emily down, even though she wasn't calm at all, while keeping an eye on the four who had done whatever this was to her. Finally, they heard people hurrying down the corridor towards them.
Suddenly, Emily tilted her head up and looked at Ginny, who felt her heart breaking, seeing her young friend's tear-streaked face. "Don't tell Harry."
"What?" Ginny asked, not understanding.
"I– I was supposed to be brave like him. Don't… please don't tell him I wasn't," Emily choked out quietly before lowering her head again.
Ginny started to tell Emily that Harry would never judge her for any of this, but at that moment, Astoria returned with McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor Slughorn.
"What happened?" McGonagall demanded while Madam Pomfrey knelt next to Ginny to examine Emily.
"We heard her crying and screaming, so we ran towards it. We found them standing over her and laughing. Ginny stunned one of them, and they started fighting us. As soon as we incapacitated all of them, we checked on her, and I came to find you," Astoria answered.
"Is she okay?" McGonagall asked.
Madam Pomfrey looked up. "I don't see any injuries. She's not talking though. Do either of you have any idea what they did to her?"
Ginny shook her head. "Let's ask one of them," she suggested in a hard tone.
McGonagall raised an eyebrow but lifted the Body Bind Curse from the boy nearest to her.
"Shaw, what did you do?" McGonagall asked the boy as he stood up.
He looked down at the ground instead of at McGonagall, apparently feigning regret even though his voice didn't sound sorry at all. "Just playing around, Professor."
"Look at me, Shaw," McGonagall instructed, and the boy hesitantly looked up, wearing a disgusting smirk on his face. "Did you hurt her?"
"She's already plenty hurt without us doing anything. We were just seeing if she could move without her special chair," he said like that was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Ginny was actually shaking, feeling overwhelmed with a desire to break his nose. She honestly might have if Astoria hadn't caught her eye and shook her head slightly.
"I see. Then you and your friends have each lost fifty points for Slytherin, you will serve detention twice a week with me until Easter, and all of your parents will be informed of your behaviour. And your head of house is welcome to enforce any additional punishments."
Ginny had never seen Slughorn look so severe. "I think another night of detention with me until the end of the school year is warranted, Minerva."
"I have very rarely seen behaviour so despicable. I will be meeting with all of you shortly. Please take them away, Horace," McGonagall asked. Slughorn nodded and levitated the three other boys away while keeping Shaw in front of him.
"Poppy, should we take her to the Hospital Wing?"
Madam Pomfrey nodded. "I don't think her current condition is something that I can fix with magic, but we should try to make her comfortable and see if she calms down after some relief from those horrible boys."
"Let's take her then," McGonagall instructed. Ginny tried to help them get Emily into her chair, which had been pushed carelessly into a corner, but her hands were shaking so badly that she just let them handle it.
"I'll speak more with you two later. Thank you for protecting her," McGonagall said before she walked away with Madam Pomfrey and Emily, who was staring blankly at the floor in front of her.
Astoria wiped a tear from her eye. "That was awful. She's a friend of yours?"
Ginny nodded. "A great friend. I– I can't believe people would treat her like that."
"I recognised them right away. That group of fourth and fifth years is… well, they're the kind of Slytherins who make people believe all Slytherins are terrible. But this– this was barbaric."
"Thank you for helping me," Ginny said quietly, still staring at the spot where they'd found Emily, wishing her heart would quit pounding so fast.
"Of course. We're friends, and even if we weren't, I wouldn't have ever let something like that slide." Astoria paused briefly. "Do you think maybe they should bring her parents in? I mean… after something like that, she might need the comfort of her family to calm down."
Ginny let out a shuddering breath, remembering all too well when Emily begged for her to get her mum. "I– I've gotta go," Ginny gasped, still feeling herself shaking as she ran away from Astoria.
The next thing she knew, she was in her old bed. In her old dormitory. She had no idea how she'd gotten here. Everything was a little out of focus, and there was almost a ringing in her ears as she tried to concentrate and keep her hands from trembling.
"Ginny?"
She looked around for the source of the echoing voice, finding two potential options near the foot of her bed. She couldn't tell for sure who they were yet. They were sort of blurry, almost concealed by a fog threatening to overtake her vision.
"We should get Harry," another echoing voice suggested.
"Don't tell Harry," she heard herself saying. She remembered Emily saying that. "Don't tell Harry."
The two figures exchanged a look and came closer to her. Now she could make them out. Mia and Demelza were watching her with apparent concern. She was concerned too. What was happening to her?
"Are you okay?" Demelza asked.
She shook her head, putting her hands under her legs to try and stop the shaking.
"I don't know what's going on," she whispered, feeling her voice breaking.
Mia sat next to her and put an arm around her. "What happened, Ginny?" she asked softly.
The ringing in her ears continued as she tried to explain. "I was with Astoria, and then Emily was crying. She was being bullied, and we fought them. I don't know. What's happening to me?"
Mia kept rubbing her shoulder, even though all of her body felt numb. "I don't know. You seem to be panicking."
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
It took the better part of an hour before Harry finally convinced the third years he was working with that they'd have plenty of time next week to keep practising the Reductor Curse. He knew Ginny had planned to go to the library after Defence, so he decided to check and see if she was still there. He didn't find her though, which meant she must've already finished with her homework. That was pretty impressive considering she'd acted like there was a mountain of it for her to do.
He decided that she was probably in the common room, so he made his way up to Gryffindor Tower. "Podex Draconis," he told the Fat Lady, who winked at him before swinging open.
A quick look around the common room told him that Ginny wasn't there. He was debating sitting down and waiting for her, but then he noticed a couple of her roommates looking at him oddly.
"Is everything okay?" Harry asked tentatively. When Sophie shook her head, Harry furrowed his brow in confusion and concern. "What's going on?"
"Ginny's in our dorm. Did something happen between you two?" Nina asked without reservation.
"What? No, nothing happened. Is she okay?"
"She seemed a little out of it. Mia told us not to come up," Sophie answered.
Harry was growing more worried by the second. He ran a hand through his hair. "Can you go and see if Mia will come down and tell me what's going on?"
Sophie looked hesitant.
"Please," Harry added, not caring if he sounded desperate. Thankfully, Sophie relented and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. The minute that passed felt excruciatingly long, and Harry was surprised to see Demelza coming down with Sophie.
"Demelza, what's going on?"
She shook her head. "I don't really know. She… told us not to tell you. But she seems really scared and said something about fighting people who were bullying Emily."
"What?" Harry asked, feeling his head swimming with rapidly firing thoughts as he tried to process what she'd said. "Why doesn't she want me to know?"
"I don't know, Harry. I told Mia we should get you, and Ginny said, 'Don't tell Harry.'"
"What the hell," Harry muttered, messing with his hair again out of worry. "So what's actually happening with her right now? Please, Demelza… you've gotta tell me."
Demelza looked conflicted for a moment, glancing down at the floor. Harry was about to beg more when she looked up. "She keeps shaking, and I don't think she's hearing everything we're saying fully. She's not speaking much either."
"Is she better than she was when she first went up there?" Harry pressed, racking his brain, trying to understand what would've happened to make Ginny like that.
"I– I don't really know. Look, I'll go tell Mia you're here and see what she says. One of us will be back down in a second, okay?"
She didn't wait for Harry's answer, and once again, he was stuck waiting for some sort of explanation, pacing back and forth while he was positive a lot of people in the common room were watching him. He didn't care though. He was only thinking of Ginny. What on earth could've made her react like this? And why didn't she want him to know about it?
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
She felt calmer, being held by Mia. Demelza had left a minute ago for some reason. The ringing in her ears seemed to be getting better slowly. Mia was humming quietly to her, and that was really soothing. Her tremors were happening further apart. And she didn't feel like her chest was being crushed in a vice anymore.
Demelza opened the door gently and immediately cast a worried look at her. She tried to smile at her friend, even though she still didn't really feel like smiling yet. Demelza must've understood the message though because she forced a smile back before walking to the bed and bending down to whisper in Mia's ear.
She kept her head on Mia's shoulder, not looking up to see Mia's reaction to whatever Demelza was saying. It felt safe here.
"Ginny, how are you feeling?" Mia asked softly.
She took a moment. "I think I'm feeling better. I don't… I'm not shaking so badly. And your voices aren't echoing anymore."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She squinted, trying to block the image of Emily on the ground out of her mind. "I just… I don't know what happened. I fought those boys, and then I saw her on the ground… and I just freaked out."
"Is Emily okay?"
She clenched her fists to suppress the anger building in her. "I don't know. She wasn't moving or talking. I don't think they hurt her, but she seemed so scared."
Mia rubbed her shoulder again. "Do you… want to see Harry? He's downstairs and apparently pretty worried, but you told us not to tell him about what was going on, so…"
She frowned. That didn't sound like her. "I don't remember saying that. I don't… really remember much between what happened with Emily and the last couple minutes. Did I say why I didn't want you to tell him?"
"You just said 'Don't tell Harry' when we mentioned his name earlier," Demelza answered.
"I don't know why I said that," she said bluntly, thinking it made no sense.
"So you are okay seeing Harry, then?"
"Yeah, he's… yeah, I want him."
Demelza stood to go back downstairs when the door opened. All three of them were surprised to see Harry poking his head into the dormitory. His eyes widened, seeing that his attempt to be stealthy had failed.
"Are you okay? I know you don't want to see me, but I– I just needed to know you were okay."
"How did you get up here?" Demelza asked. "The stairs turn into a slide when boys step on them."
Harry stepped fully into the room, and she saw that he was holding a broom.
"You flew a broom up here?" Mia asked with a note of respect in her voice.
He nodded.
"You flew a broom up here to check on me?" she emphasised.
He nodded again. "I just– are you okay?" Harry responded, and she saw how worried he looked now that he was closer to her.
She didn't say anything. Instead, she held her arms out, and Harry took his cue, sitting on the other side of her and wrapping her in a tight hug. As helpful as Mia and Demelza had been, they just weren't Harry. And she did love her friends, but it wasn't possible for her to love them anywhere near as much as she loved Harry. Ginny sighed into his neck as she felt the last traces of fear and anxiety slipping out of her.
"I love you," she whispered.
He kissed her ear. "I love you, too."
They were like that for a long time. It felt like she could breathe normally now, holding onto Harry. She had no idea what had come over her, but it was terrifying. Eventually, she felt steady enough that she could pull away. The first thing she noticed was just how warm and loving Harry's beautiful eyes were. The second thing she noticed was Mia and Demelza sitting awkwardly on Mia's bed, apparently waiting for the two of them to stop hugging.
"Sorry," Ginny offered, but Mia shook her head.
"No need to apologise."
"Good because I wasn't actually sorry," Ginny joked, making everyone laugh and releasing a lot of the pent-up tension in the room.
"What happened, Gin?" Harry asked, brushing her hair absently as he watched her closely.
She frowned, hating that she had to remember it. "I was walking to the library with Astoria when we heard a girl screaming and crying. We ran down a corridor until we found her. She was lying on the floor with four boys standing over her. I stunned the first one, and then Astoria and I fought the others until they were all knocked out or paralysed. The girl… they were bullying Emily. Astoria got McGonagall, Pomfrey, and Slughorn, and one of the boys told McGonagall…"
Ginny's expression grew hard as she remembered what he'd said. "He told McGonagall that they wanted to see if Emily could move without her chair."
Harry's expression mirrored hers, to a point where she felt the tiniest twinge of fear, seeing the severity and anger in his expression. "Who was it?" he asked in a low voice.
She shook her head. "Some fourth and fifth year Slytherins. They've got detention for the rest of the year, and McGonagall's telling their parents. Astoria said she knows them, and they're really not good people."
"Is Emily okay?" Harry asked, a little softer in his tone even though he still looked furious.
"I– I don't know. She wouldn't talk or move, really. They took her to the Hospital Wing, though."
Harry nodded and glanced at the door, and for a second, Ginny thought he was going to bolt to the Hospital Wing. But then he looked back down at her. "Are you okay?"
She shrugged. "I– I don't know what that was. I was shaking, everything was blurry, and I heard a lot of ringing. It was like I…"
"Panicked," Mia offered.
"Yeah, I… wait. Holy shit. Yeah. I– I think I just had a panic attack, Harry."
"Because of Emily?" Harry asked, apparently unfazed by this revelation.
"I– because of everything, maybe? I hadn't been in a fight like that since… well, since the battle. And when I saw her on the ground, it was like…"
She trailed off, and Harry pressed a kiss on top of her head. "I know," he said, not needing her to finish the thought. "The important thing is you're okay now. And Emily's in the Hospital Wing, so she'll be okay too. We'll go visit her as soon as you're ready."
Ginny nodded and turned to look at her friends. "I– I don't really know how to thank you two. You had no idea what was going on, but you helped me through that."
Demelza shrugged nonchalantly. "That's what friends do."
Mia nodded. "There isn't much we wouldn't do for you. Either of you," she said, looking pointedly at Harry.
"I just… you know I love you all right?" Ginny asked quietly.
Mia and Demelza both nodded, and Demelza didn't even make a sarcastic comment. Harry kissed her cheek. "I'll never forget it," he promised.
Ginny smiled slightly at her friends and Harry. It had been a terrifying day. She was still scared for Emily. She was still outraged at what had happened. But everything was a little easier with these amazing people that she loved with all her heart.
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A/N: I did promise you all that we'd be getting into some Hogwarts drama after last chapter, in my defence. Honestly though, writing Emily in that position was so tough for me to do… she's a character I absolutely adore and have had so much fun creating, and she doesn't deserve anything like that, but, as I'm sure many of you all know, bullies really don't care. And as terrible as it is, I could very easily see people bullying Emily like that because of her injuries. But she isn't alone, and her friends weren't going to let her go down without a fight. Giving Ginny a moment to shine as a hero was admittedly another factor in the way that played out, and she and Astoria did brilliantly!
Something else I wanted to show with everything that happened at the end of the chapter was just how panic attacks can take different forms. I'm no expert on mental health, but I've done my absolute best to represent it authentically in both SoR and ToG, and that includes what Ginny goes through at the end of the chapter, so I hope you all feel like I did that well and respectfully.
Moving back up towards the beginning of the chapter, I was very excited to give Harry one on one time with McGonagall in their lessons. I've said before that coming up with magical theory is not easy, and the same was true with combat transfiguration. It was clear to me that there had to be a difference between it and regular transfiguration, but it took me a while to finally land on this idea that since transfiguration isn't instantaneous, it needs to move as the object moves. I hope the explanation in the chapter made sense! And for what it's worth, Harry being really good at something like transfiguration when it's put in the context of Defence makes perfect sense to me. I mean, he did get an E in his Transfiguration OWLs, so he's no slouch, but still.
I don't know how often seventh year fics have a Yule Ball-type thing in them, so I hope it isn't too boring an idea haha, but the idea stuck out to me when I was mapping out how the year would go as a very fun send off from the first term at Hogwarts. A school like Hogwarts having a traditional dance, almost like a prom, also made a lot of sense to me. So when it's framed in the context of house unity, which has been a point of emphasis for McGonagall all year, it felt very fitting, and I'm very excited for you all to read about it in a couple chapters!
I've got four tiny asides before I wrap this up. The first is that the password Harry uses– Podex Draconis– is a tribute to the password for Gryffindor Tower at the start of Harry's first year– Caput Draconis, which means Dragon's Head. Podex Draconis basically means Dragon's Butt because sometimes I have the humour of a ten year old. Second, I choose to believe that the alarm to alert people when boys try to go up to the girl's dormitory is triggered by them stepping on the stairs since the stairs turn into a slide, which would make flying a broom a loophole. It may not be right, but I couldn't shake the idea of Harry doing that for Ginny in a moment of need, so it's canon now! Third, pay attention to the brackets in George's article... I had a bit of fun imagining the differences between what George would've said and what would've actually been reported. And finally, I just want to pat myself on the back a bit and call out a line that I think is one of the funniest I've ever written, which really sums up a lot of Harry's character: Mia rolled her eyes. "It's a really good thing for all our sakes that saving the world didn't require you to understand women."
And since my A/N every week is basically the closest thing I keep to a journal, I'll just add that I'm very proud to say that I survived my first week of graduate school! It was actually a very easy week, which means I've got a lot more difficulties ahead, but I'm enjoying thinking it's all gonna be easy for now haha!
So that'll do it for Transfiguring Trauma! I really wish I could say the drama at Hogwarts was coming to an end– actually, who am I kidding? The drama's fun! And, as the preview for the next chapter shows, the drama is just getting started…
Coming Friday: Asking Questions- Ginny stepped forward, blazing with anger. "Why?"
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Luna's Lion: Thank you so much for your kind words! We're definitely going to continue getting more moments between Bill and Harry, but it'll be a few chapters before there's anything super significant. I do promise though that some of the moments coming up later in this book are my absolute favourite moments between the two of them, and I'm very excited to eventually share those with you! On Luna, I will admit that it's a struggle to work in everyone to give them all big moments when the cast is so large, but she is definitely still a very big part of Ginny's life, and it's safe to assume Ginny is still spending a lot of time with her off page. Just right now, it's been important to get us up to speed on characters like Mia, Demelza, Astoria, and Owen, who we haven't gotten to know nearly as well as Luna, but they all have their time to shine!
I don't know if Harry would ever become an Animagus. To be honest, it isn't something I've ever given a lot of thought to. I could see him thinking it's cool, but there really isn't a practical application for it like there was for the Marauders, so I don't know if he'd want to go through all the effort just to be able to say he can do it, but I'll think more about it. And I agree, it's very in character for Harry to not know what he wants to do yet, but Harry's definitely made it clear that he won't be an Auror. At least, he doesn't want to do that right now, and I can't fault him for it at all. He'll have plenty of options available to him, and if things keep going well with his Defence classes, I can absolutely see McGonagall offering the job to him permanently!
Nightwing2013: I love the song analogy haha. Tiny things like coming up with magical love song names are part of why writing is so fun for me, and I'm glad you appreciated that. And I very much enjoyed writing Quidditch from Ginny's perspective instead of Harry's. The Seeker is the one that typically decides the game, but, for most of the game, all the action is going to be with the Chasers, so it definitely makes it more exciting to read! I will say, I think I improve on writing Quidditch action that's entertaining regardless of perspective, so hopefully the next match proves that right!
qUg060: Ooh I like both of those guesses! I will say that I absolutely try my best to have as many hints to things in the future early on as possible, and, on rereads, knowing how everything happens, it's much more clear to me. I kind of view myself as a bit of a madman with a corkboard and red strings connecting all these crazy plot points in my head. Between SoR and ToG, there's tiny plot things that set up events in every phase of Harry and Ginny's lives for the next twenty years, which is so exciting to know already and even more excited to continue planning and writing!
Lilly: I really appreciate you saying the match was easy to visualise! At first, it was much harder than I expected to write Quidditch action that seemed real when the sport itself isn't, and it means a lot to know I'm doing that in a way that actually makes sense and feels real to readers!
Guest: Haha absolutely no problem, I totally understand. It definitely did start out fun, but the end was much more painful, but that's how I try to write scenes like that. It's much easier for me to process sadder things when they're wrapped with happier moments. The goal is to make everyone smile way more than they feel like crying!
duvakim: Thank you so much! I promise I'm going to be going for a very long time! Currently, I'm writing things in Book 3 that won't be released for around 9 months, so there's still *plenty* to come from my world and I hope you continue enjoying it!