Three months between matches was way too long for this feeling to come around again.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
After their admittedly brilliant break from everything on Valentine's Day, Harry and Ginny enjoyed a week on an almost euphoric high, swept up in the romance that the day they'd been waiting two years to celebrate together had brought. Unfortunately, they were brought back to annoying realities when the post came a few days later. Eirwen hadn't brought anything for them, so they didn't pay any mind to the rest of the owls flying in while they ate breakfast across from Emily before class.
One of Emily's friends was teasing her about a Hufflepuff boy that she'd apparently talked to in the Great Hall on Valentine's when all the older students were away. Emily was blushing furiously, but she wasn't denying that she thought he was cute or that she liked him. Harry smiled when Ginny told her that it wasn't a bad thing to have a crush on a boy.
"It worked out for me," she added, smiling at Harry and making all of Emily's friends giggle.
Emily was about to say something when they were interrupted by Liam Turner, who was holding one of the only copies of the Daily Prophet at the Gryffindor table. His parents kept a subscription for him for some reason even though he rarely read anything in it.
Liam held the paper out to Harry with a grim expression. "You're gonna want to see this."
Harry groaned when he saw a picture of himself on the front page. He was talking in front of a group of people, and there was a large question mark superimposed on the image. He had no idea when or where the picture had been taken. More disturbing than that was the headline.
TOO FAMILIAR FOR HIS OWN GOOD?
HARRY POTTER TEACHES UNFORGIVABLE CURSES TO HOGWARTS STUDENTS!
"What the–" Harry muttered as he began reading.
Our readers may recall an article published in this paper several months ago that discussed a conflict between Harry Potter and his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, esteemed ex-Auror Adrian Grimhall. Very few details were available at the time, but the Prophet has since learned that Adrian Grimhall was removed from his position following the altercation.
In his stead, none other than Potter himself has filled the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Our source tells us that Potter leads weekly meetings with a collection of other seventh-year students, calling into question the ability of Headmistress Minerva McGonagall to provide adequate staffing for the school.
Perhaps more concerning for our readers, especially those with children at Hogwarts, is that Potter was recently reported to have been teaching students about Unforgivable Curses in his class. Potter is no stranger to Unforgivables, having famously survived the Killing Curse, a feat nobody else has ever accomplished.
Additionally, in Potter's explosive hearing before the Wizengamot last July, it was revealed that he had cast the Imperius Curse to break into Gringotts, allegedly because a secret that led to the defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was hidden there. It is concerning, to say the least, that Potter is now teaching children about Unforgivable Curses when he is an admitted practitioner of at least one.
The Prophet wishes to be clear that this paper is only interested in reporting facts. As we learn more information, we will share it with our faithful readers. Until then, we leave our readers with the question of whether Harry Potter, The Saviour of the Wizarding World, is too familiar with these curses for his own good, and is it possible that he poses a threat to our children?
For a recap of Potter's hearing in July, see page 4.
For more information on Hogwarts' history with poor Defence hirings, see page 6…
"Bloody hell," Harry muttered under his breath, remembering that they were surrounded by twelve and thirteen year olds.
Ginny didn't seem to notice or care. "What the fuck?" she almost exploded, making several of the girls reel back in surprise as the Great Hall momentarily quietened.
"Hey, it's–" Harry tried, putting his arm around her, but she shrugged him off, looking irate.
"Don't you dare say this is fine," she responded, a little quieter but no less fiery.
"Umm… is everything okay?" Mia asked, walking over to them with Demelza, leaving the other older Gryffindors, who looked very concerned as well.
Ginny shoved the paper in her hands, and Harry watched as Mia's eyes grew wider and wider as she read more. Next to her, Demelza was turning a colour of red that was only a few shades lighter than Ginny.
"This is absolute shite," Mia spat contemptuously, throwing the paper down on the table.
"They shouldn't be allowed to do this. They're literally lying to make you look bad," Demelza agreed, clenching her fists.
"They're not really lying," Harry tried to reason, but that was no use.
"They're making up a story to make you look dangerous and make Hogwarts look bad," Ginny bit back.
Suddenly, Astoria and Owen appeared, holding their own copy of the Prophet, and Harry found himself and Ginny in the middle of a circle of their friends, with the younger girls watching on curiously. Astoria seemed to be filled with righteous indignation, while Owen just looked to be shocked by the slander Harry was enduring.
"We all know this isn't true," Owen said adamantly. "You're a great teacher, and everyone knows that."
"My family has connections at the Prophet. I'll send them an owl right now and get a retraction by the evening edition," Astoria promised him. "And my sister is–"
"Thanks, Astoria. Really. But I don't think it would help. I'm used to it at this point. The Prophet is gonna keep writing whatever they want about me. No point in getting anyone involved in trying to defend me."
Ginny nudged him, probably harder than she intended. "You can't possibly intend on doing nothing," she said sternly, more a command than a question.
He shrugged halfheartedly. "Nothing's gonna change."
Ginny huffed, and for a second, Harry thought she was mad at him. Maybe she was. But then she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him off the bench, taking the paper with her.
"Send that," she told Astoria. "We'll see you all later."
Harry should've had the presence of mind to be embarrassed as he was practically frog marched out of the Great Hall by his girlfriend, but the looks he was getting from people holding copies of the paper felt worse than the ones from everyone else, who just thought the scene looked funny.
Once they started going up the Grand Staircase, Harry stopped, and Ginny ran into his back. "Where are we going?"
"To show this to Professor McGonagall," Ginny answered like it was obvious.
"Ginny, she's got bigger things to worry about than this. Come on, it'll all blow over if we ignore it."
He heard footsteps behind him and saw Ginny smirk. "You sure about that?"
Harry turned and looked up at Professor McGonagall, who was looking at them with a severe expression. "Come with me," she instructed before turning around and walking back up the stairs.
Ginny let go of his arm and stood next to him. "Told you," she almost gloated, holding her hand out for him to take. Harry sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle, and took her hand before following McGonagall.
"I take it you've seen the paper?" McGonagall asked once they'd sat across from her in her office.
"Yeah, we did," Harry answered reluctantly.
"Professor, you have to do something about it. People can't possibly start thinking that Harry's not good at teaching Defence. He's the best teacher any of us have had in ages. He's–"
"Going to be fine," McGonagall interrupted. "You are not the only one here who has Potter's best interests at heart, Weasley. I've already written a letter to the editor of the Prophet to remind the paper that their job is to report facts rather than try and create problems where there are none. I've also informed our governors that your lessons have met and exceeded my expectations, and there is no cause for concern in your instruction of the class."
Harry sat back in his chair, releasing a bit of tension he hadn't realised he'd been carrying. He imagined the letter the Prophet received was a bit more scathing than a simple reminder about their duties as a newspaper. He almost smiled at the image in his mind of McGonagall sending a Howler into the Prophet's office.
"Thank you, Professor," Ginny replied before Harry could say anything. "It's just… there should be a way to prevent them from doing this. It's not right that they say whatever they want about Harry, and someone important has to tell them to knock it off for them to take it back."
"Unfortunately, Potter's face sells far better than any ordinary edition of the Prophet. And seeing as I've rejected all of their requests to send reporters here, they resort to running feature stories any time they get a whiff of a rumour."
"They've been trying to send reporters?" Harry asked.
McGonagall nodded like this was old news. "Of course. And they've tried to sneak reporters into Hogwarts. I didn't think it necessary for you to know."
"I– yeah. I wish I still didn't know that," Harry admitted with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
"Never mind that. You're my student, Potter. I protect my students. The same applies to you, Weasley."
"Thanks, Professor," Harry responded quietly, a little impressed or surprised by McGonagall's suddenly defensive tone.
Then her tone returned to normal just as quickly. "No need to thank me. I do believe you two have more important matters to be focusing on anyways."
"More important… the match?" Ginny asked.
"That would be it. It seems that there are several people interested in watching you play in two days."
"You mean scouts? There are going to be scouts there? For real?" Ginny sounded stunned, even though both Gwenog Jones and Barnaby Trumble had assured them that their respective teams would send a representative to scout the match.
"Very real," McGonagall confirmed. "I've been requested to allow multiple people affiliated with the Quidditch League to attend Saturday's match, in addition to your brother and Granger."
"Wait, Ron and Hermione are coming?" Harry asked, grinning at Ginny.
"It was a difficult decision, but I did grant them permission," McGonagall replied with a shadow of a smile passing over her face.
"That's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, more excited to see his friends than to have scouts there.
"Quite. Which is why I recommend you both focus on the match at hand, for the good of Gryffindor as much as your own. There won't be any more issues with the Daily Prophet. I can promise you that."
"You're gonna be cheering for us, right?" Ginny asked cheekily.
McGonagall's smile was a little more noticeable now. "As Headmistress, I'm not permitted to show favouritism to any of the houses. I would, however, not be opposed to seeing Gryffindor continue their streak of winning the Quidditch Cup."
Harry grinned and stood up. "We'll do our best, Professor."
"Thanks again," Ginny added as she followed him out the door of McGonagall's office.
Harry may have been imagining it, but he almost thought that he heard McGonagall say, "You'd better do your best."
"You good?" Harry asked Ginny while they walked to Charms.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be good? We're gonna be scouted on Saturday!" Ginny practically leaped with joy as she said it.
He laughed. "I just wanted to be sure. You seemed a bit… upset about the paper."
Immediately, Ginny's face reddened by a couple shades and her eyes narrowed a touch, as if she'd forgotten what had brought them to McGonagall's office in the first place. "I'm still bloody pissed off. And honestly, I'm a little pissed off that you didn't seem to be bothered by it, for that matter."
They were late for Charms with Slytherin, so Harry didn't have time to respond to that before they hurried into the classroom and took their seats near the front. Astoria turned around from her seat on the front row.
'Sent it,' she mouthed. 'All good?'
Ginny and Harry both nodded, although Harry wasn't really sure how good Ginny was at the moment. Instead of talking to her, he listened to Flitwick lecturing about the Anti-Alohomora Charm for an hour. Next to him, Ginny seemed fidgety and distracted, which was odd, considering Charms was her favourite class, other than his.
He didn't want to wait for the class to be over to communicate with her though. So instead of taking notes, he wrote on his parchment: Why are you mad at me?
As discreetly as he could, he slid the parchment a few centimetres over until it caught her attention. She exhaled slowly, like she was trying to not get more upset in class. Then she took the parchment and began writing something on it, a little furiously. Harry hoped Flitwick wasn't saying anything too important because he really wasn't paying attention at all.
Then the parchment was back in front of him, and he read: I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the bloody paper. I just hate when you let people say whatever they want about you. The Prophet's been coming after you for years, and the only time you ever said anything was when it said you might have been dating someone other than me. You deserve to be treated better, and it kills me when you're not. And I just wish– something was scratched out here– you'd see that like I do.
Harry could tell Ginny was watching him out of the corner of her eye. He tapped his quill on the desk a few times before writing again.
I'm sorry. I just stopped caring about the opinions of anyone but the people I care about a while ago. But if it means that much to you, I'll barge into the Prophet's office every time they lie about me and tell them my girlfriend will break up with me if they don't take it back. I don't know if it'll work, but they could probably make a good story out of it.
Ginny hid her giggle with a cough, but Flitwick didn't look like he was fooled. Blushing now, she tilted her head down and wrote something quickly on the parchment before sliding it over to Harry yet again.
You're gonna get us detention if you make me laugh like that again. We'll talk more about it after class. I'm not mad at you though. And I love you.
Harry smiled at the little heart she drew before folding the parchment up and tucking into his robes. Class passed by quicker after that, and, after assuring Astoria that everything was fine with them and thanking her once again, they began walking to the dungeons for Potions with Hufflepuff.
"You don't have to barge into the Prophet's office, by the way," Ginny informed him with a pretty smile.
"I will if that's what it takes to keep you with me," Harry responded stoutly, and she rolled her eyes with affection.
"Believe me, you've done more than enough drastic things to get my attention. I don't need you to do that. I just wish you weren't so accepting of people being horrible to you. But I'm not trying to change you, and I'm sorry if it came off like that. I fell in love with who you are, even though you do make me want to pull my hair out sometimes."
Harry brushed a hand through her hair quickly. "Please don't," he replied, which made her laugh.
"Okay, but only for you. And hopefully we don't have to deal with any of this shite after Astoria and McGonagall's letters."
Harry chuckled as they took their seats at the table with Owen and Mia, whom they'd started sitting with after they'd all become close as leaders of the Defence class.
"Everything okay?" Mia asked, with a grating undertone in her voice, like she'd gladly hurt someone if everything wasn't okay yet.
"Yeah. Everything's fine now," Harry promised them, smiling at the look of relief on both of their faces. Ginny patted his leg before turning to pay attention to Slughorn, who'd just started his lesson on a delayed release version of the Draught of Living Death. Harry settled in, thinking that he was pretty lucky to have friends who cared even more than he did about what the papers said about him.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Ginny woke on the day of the match earlier than Harry, just like she had before the last one. Thankfully, she wasn't too nervous yet, which was a very welcome change from the days leading up to their first match of the season. She remained in bed, feeling calmed by the even sound of Harry's breathing. His mouth was parted slightly, and his fingers kept twitching, almost like they were trying to grab a Snitch. He was so cute that she couldn't stand it sometimes.
From the nightstand beside the bed, she grabbed the Evening Edition of the Prophet from two days ago and reread the headline that she'd practically committed to memory.
'POTTER IS AN EXCELLENT TEACHER'
HOGWARTS HEADMISTRESS ANSWERS THE PEOPLE'S BURNING QUESTION!
A few hours after publishing this morning's edition of the Prophet, the Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall, reached out to us with clarification on the subject of our featured story, regarding Harry Potter's status as a teacher at Hogwarts.
'Potter is an excellent teacher. He easily relates to his students and cares about seeing them succeed. And he gets results. It's been several years since we've had a Defence professor improving our students as much as he has. He may only be eighteen, but he's more proficient in Defence than anyone I could've hired.'
Headmistress McGonagall went on to explain that she'd asked Potter to teach older students about the theory of Unforgivable Curses as they do appear on the Defence Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T.
We at the Prophet would like to extend our deepest apologies to Harry Potter and all of our readers for the misguided report in this morning's paper.
It wasn't the most satisfying conclusion in Ginny's eyes. She imagined that there was a lot more that McGonagall had written that hadn't been published, and she had no idea what Astoria's family and their connections had done, if they'd been able to help at all. But she was realistic enough to know that this was about the best they were going to get. Harry had seen the matter as completely resolved after reading this paper, and she supposed that had to be good enough for her too.
She wished it hadn't bothered her so much that he didn't care about the Prophet. Honestly, his confidence in himself was very attractive, but she still hurt for him when she read articles like that, more than she would've if the article had been about her.
Harry must've heard the rustling of pages because he groaned as he rolled over and blinked his eyes open. A smile instinctively appeared on her face when she saw his gorgeous green eyes.
"Morning, Gin," he said in a groggy voice, yawning before putting his arm around her waist. "What're you reading?"
"Just rereading the Prophet admitting they were wrong."
He exhaled sharply and kissed her shoulder. "You know I love you?"
She lovingly ran a hand through his hair. "I do. And I love you too, babe."
Harry smiled at that and tilted his head up. She leaned down to close the gap between them and kissed him softly.
"Big match today," he said, still curled around her.
She nodded and shifted so she could hold him too. "One of the biggest."
"You're gonna kill it today," Harry said with a fierce pride in his voice.
"Then we're bound to win because I know you're gonna catch the Snitch," she informed him before kissing him again.
They were some of the first people at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, but, unsurprisingly, they were joined by the remainder of the team soon afterwards. Spirits seemed to be high among everyone, which boosted her confidence even more. Astoria, Luna, and several of their other friends came by to wish them luck too. There was no way they were going to lose today.
Emily came up to them while they were eating with wide eyes. "Did you guys know Gwenog Jones is here?"
The entire team dropped whatever they were holding, unable to believe what they'd heard. Ginny knew Demelza had worshipped Gwenog like she had growing up, and her expression was one of pure excitement.
"Gwenog Jones… is gonna watch us play. She's like the coolest person ever! Best Beater of all time! She's–"
"Scouting Ginny," Harry interrupted, grinning at her. Ginny's mouth was suddenly impossibly dry. She hadn't realised that her all time favourite player would be the person Holyhead sent to scout her.
"Sorry, who's this Jones woman?" Mia asked, seeming a little disturbed by how excited they'd all gotten.
Demelza answered since Ginny was a little too stunned to speak still. "She's like the greatest woman to ever play Quidditch! She's a Beater for Holyhead, she's been in the league's Best Seven six times, and apparently, she's gonna be Ginny's teammate next year!"
If Ginny wasn't already feeling the pressure, she certainly was now. Mia might've been a little annoyed at Demelza's loudly enthusiastic explanation, but she smiled at Ginny. "That's a good thing, right?"
Ginny nodded. "Y–yeah, it is. It's just… I've looked up to her for a really long time, and it's kinda crazy to imagine playing in front of her."
Harry put a hand on hers and squeezed it comfortingly. "I think we should go to the pitch early."
Ginny nodded again, grateful for him giving them a chance to breathe before the match, especially with the news of who exactly would be in attendance. "Yeah, we'll see you all down there. Everyone on the team needs to be there in thirty minutes."
"Good luck!" Mia and Emily called at the same time, which made Ginny smile a bit.
They stood together and began walking out of the Great Hall to a few cheers from some of the younger Gryffindor students. Astoria flashed them a thumbs up from the Slytherin table, which was better than most of her house was doing. Ginny did her best to ignore glares from a handful of Slytherins sitting far away from Astoria, including, she was pretty sure, some of the boys who'd bullied Emily last term. If Gryffindor lost today, Slytherin would be in a very commanding position in the Quidditch Cup race, so they'd certainly be cheering for Hufflepuff. Still though, she thought the glares were a bit much and tried to put it out of her mind as they kept walking.
They'd just left the Great Hall when they ran into Owen, who was clad in bright yellow attire, from his head to his toes. He even had a yellow badger painted on his cheek. As usual though, he was still nice to them, even if they were his house's opposition. The Slytherin boys could've learned something from him.
"Good luck out there. Although, I hope you won't judge me for hoping you lose," he said with a grin.
"Not at all. Sorry we're gonna have to beat Hufflepuff today," Harry joked.
"I hope not. Astoria and I have two galleons on the match."
"Astoria bet on us?" Ginny asked, a little surprised as she forgot about her stress for a moment.
Owen nodded and chuckled. "I mean… I can't say I blame her. I'd be betting on you too if you weren't up against us today. I promise this is the only time I'll be cheering against you."
"It better be," Harry laughed, clapping Owen on the back before he walked past them and into the Great Hall.
Their walk towards the pitch was quiet after that. Ginny breathed in the crisp February air, relieved that the weather was clear. Harry knocked his broom against hers a few times, which made her smile a little, even if seeing the pitch was making her stomach do a few somersaults.
He opened the door to the changing room and let her enter first. She walked in and started to head to her locker before Harry grabbed her hand and spun her around. She looked up at him and saw an almost fierce look in his eyes.
"You are Ginny fucking Weasley. You're a badass, a hero, the most amazing person I know, my best friend, and the best bloody Chaser I've ever seen. That doesn't change, no matter who's watching the match today. You're gonna be the best player on the pitch, and every single person watching, whether they're a famous Quidditch player or not, is gonna see that. Right?"
Ginny's resolve returned entirely. Apparently, all she needed was to be reminded that it was just another match, and she was, as he said, Ginny fucking Weasley. "Right," she agreed.
Then they grinned simultaneously at each other. "I'm your best friend?" Ginny asked.
Harry's grin wavered slightly, like he hadn't been expecting that question. "Um… yeah? I thought that was pretty obvious."
"What about Ron?" Ginny asked, mostly joking.
He chuckled. "Maybe don't tell him I said that. He's my best mate and a brother to me, but… you're definitely my best friend."
She grinned and kissed his cheek. "Same," she agreed before going over to her locker to change into her robes, feeling much more confident than she had moments earlier.
Something was sitting at the bottom of the locker that she hadn't put there. She reached down and picked it up. It was a thin, black book that almost looked like…
Ginny never could've dreamed that her first day at Hogwarts would be even better than she'd ever imagined. She'd gotten to make a feather levitate in Charms, which was already her favourite class, and then she'd impressed Madam Hooch in the first flying lesson of the term. Of course, she'd been flying for years, but Madam Hooch had still given her five points for being the best flyer in the group.
Even her roommates were great. They'd spent more than an hour talking and giggling about all sorts of things, like how exciting it was to be at Hogwarts and what it was like where they were from. Mia, the girl whose bed was next to hers, had told them all about her older brother, who'd just become an Auror. Ginny thought that sounded a bit like what her older brother, Bill, was doing, and then they'd spent some time talking about all the possible curses he could encounter in Egypt. Ginny was pretty sure he wouldn't come back with a pyramid for a nose though.
However, the day had been rather long, and they finally started growing too tired to stay up talking. Ginny told all of her new friends goodnight and closed the hangings of her bed. Before she fell asleep though, she wanted to be sure to write something about how great today had been in the diary her parents had gotten her. They must've gotten it secondhand, because it seemed old, but nobody had written in it, so she was free to write all about her first day at school.
Dear Diary, I just had the best first day ever! I love Charms, and I impressed Madam Hooch with my flying! I've made a lot of new friends, and I've already gotten points for Gryffindor. I can't wait to see how awesome the rest of the year is! -Ginny
She was about to close her diary, too tired to write a more detailed entry, when she saw a glow coming from the page. It was like she blinked and the words disappeared. That didn't make any sense. She had other diaries at home, and none of them had ever acted like this before. She dropped the book when words in handwriting other than hers started appearing on the page.
With slightly shaking hands, she picked the book back up and read the new entry: Hello, Ginny. I'm Tom. I'm glad you had a good day. Can you tell me more about it?
It took a second for Ginny to register that the thud she'd heard was the book dropping from her hands to the floor. Harry looked at her curiously, having just pulled his robes on. "What's that?"
Ginny exhaled slowly. She wasn't afraid of a book. Tom Riddle was gone for good. He couldn't get to her anymore. That didn't stop her hands from shaking slightly when she picked it up off the ground and held it up for Harry to see.
His eyes widened and he quickly crossed the room to look at it. "How did that–"
"No idea."
She opened it up and leafed through it, seeing that it was definitely a new book, and there were clear differences between this one and the one she'd had in her first year. This book was hardcover, while the old one had been soft. This one was larger, and less black than the other one. But the resemblance was definitely there.
"But who would've put it there?"
Ginny frowned, trying to think of an explanation. "I don't know that anyone would've known about it from… my first year. Maybe someone saw my boggart. I don't think the doors were closed. From that far away, it may have looked like I was just scared of a book."
"Maybe… but still, why do it now?"
"Maybe some Hufflepuffs are starting to be less friendly and trying to throw me off my game," Ginny tried to joke.
"Or a Slytherin wants to make us lose before we play them," Harry countered. Ginny nodded. That made way more sense, and she fought to ignore a pit in her stomach that was forming, thinking about the Slytherins who'd been staring at her in the Great Hall.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked, looking worried about her.
Ginny was proud of herself for not hesitating, even though she still felt a little on edge. With a Chaser's unerring aim, she tossed the book into the waste bin in the corner of the changing room. "Perfectly fine. I'm a badass, remember?"
Harry grinned. "I don't ever have to be reminded of that."
She thought he was about to start snogging her in the changing room when the door burst open and the rest of the team filed in, loudly talking about the match ahead. Ginny just smiled at Harry before turning back to her locker to finish getting ready. They had a match to win.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Whoever had put that book in Ginny's locker had made a massive mistake. She was always motivated when they were playing Quidditch, but Harry hadn't ever seen her this fired up before. It was incredible to watch as she rallied their teammates until they were all as ready as she was. The Gryffindor changing room felt electric. Harry was certain that they would've beaten anyone, and there was no way he wouldn't catch the Snitch today, especially not after Ginny gave him a hard kiss for luck.
Warmups passed in no time at all. He was pumped up and ready to get the match started. Three months between matches was way too long for this feeling to come around again. Then it was time for the match to begin. He remembered, as they gathered at the centre of the pitch, that there were scouts out there watching them, as well as Ron and Hermione. He wasn't nervous at all though. This was Quidditch. It was fun. And Ginny looked so focused and resolved that he knew she wasn't bothered by whoever might be in the stands today.
Sure enough, Ginny scored the opening goal ten seconds into the match, having beaten everyone to the Quaffle. She even beat the Hufflepuff Keeper to the goals, and she scored with ease before pumping her fist at the crowd, riling up the Gryffindor faithful into a thunderous frenzy.
That buoyant atmosphere propelled their team forward. Harry knew, based on watching Hufflepuff playing against Slytherin in November, that they were the worst team this season. Gryffindor showed them no mercy. Their Chasers didn't stand a chance against Natalie, Demelza, and Ginny, especially when she was playing like her life depended on it.
Harry followed his usual pattern of Seeking– roaming the pitch with both his broom and his eyes, faking that he saw the Snitch every couple minutes to make the Hufflepuff Seeker, a fifth year girl named Beth Reading, stop following his every movement so closely. He'd always believed that it was better to be the one setting the tone rather than reacting to it, and Beth wasn't even challenging him for dictating the game within the game between the two of them. As preoccupied as he was, when he wasn't darting around the pitch in feints or searching for the Snitch, he watched Ginny.
She was playing at an otherworldly level. Harry truly felt like he was watching a professional playing against a bunch of amateurs. Ginny scored twelve goals and assisted on another seven in less than an hour, and Gryffindor was leading by close to 200 points. The match was firmly in hand when he caught sight of the Snitch for the first time. It was darting across the width of the pitch, towards the commentary box, where Luna was currently describing, in great detail, every action that one of Hufflepuff's Beaters was taking.
For the briefest second, Harry considered letting it go to give Ginny more time to make an impression. But then he remembered that he was also being scouted, and Ginny wouldn't forgive him if he hurt his chances when she didn't need any additional help impressing whoever was scouting them. So he twisted his broom around and shot off after the tiny golden ball, with at least a two or three second advantage on Beth.
"Matthew seems to be flying right over here. Maybe he's decided to try talking about Quidditch instead of playing it," Harry dimly heard Luna muse. An instant later, he realised what she meant, as Matthew Combs cut in front of Harry and fired a Bludger viciously at him. Luckily, his Firebolt responded instantly to his touch, and he dipped right below Matthew before returning to his course.
A foot in front of the first row of the box, the Snitch seemed to have slowed down. Harry pressed himself flat onto the broom, knowing this was his best chance to look good in front of the scouts. He was already grinning, feeling the wind in his hair and under his broom, positive that he'd catch it.
In the end, the Snitch had darted even closer to the box, forcing Harry to catch it while skidding a little jerkily to a stop, mere inches above the head of Professor Slughorn, who tripped backwards over his seat, causing a number of professors to stumble around him. Triumphantly, he raised his fist, feeling the Snitch fluttering helplessly against his grip, and laughed when Luna said, "Oh, Harry looks like he's happy about something. Oh, wait. Matthew is flying to the ground now. Harry must've caught the Snitch, and that means the match is over. Gryffindor wins!"
Still holding his fist above his head and grinning widely, Harry spiralled to the ground, where he was met by his teammates, who'd already begun celebrating. Ginny kissed him, and his teammates roared.
"One more match! One more match!" The team continued to chant about the only thing that stood between them and a Quidditch Cup. All they had to do was beat Slytherin.
Harry took a second to soak in everything around him. His team was elated, dancing around like this was the best day of their lives. Gryffindor had won, 380-10. Nothing felt quite like winning in Quidditch. Harry craved it. Maybe not as much as Ginny, but it killed him when he lost, and he felt exhilarated for weeks after a win. And as he looked around the stadium, filled with the fans who were still cheering for the Gryffindor victory, and as he felt the Snitch beating against his hand, and as he hugged Ginny and celebrated the win, Harry came to a sudden realisation. He wasn't ready for the one more match they had to play to be his last Quiddtich match ever.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Nothing beat the feeling of victory. Except maybe the feeling of kissing Harry after a victory. Even by Ginny's admittedly high standards, the match had been a blowout of epic proportions. She almost could've felt bad for Hufflepuff if she wasn't so thrilled by her team's victory. Whatever scouts had turned out to watch her and Harry play couldn't possibly have been disappointed by what they saw, between Harry's daring capture of the Snitch and her own brilliant performance.
Their teammates were screaming about only having one match standing between them and the Cup, and Ginny almost wished it was here already. She couldn't wait to knock Slytherin down a couple pegs, especially after the trick that had been played on her in the changing room. But until then, she was more than happy to celebrate this victory.
"That was amazing!" Ginny shouted over the cheers of her team to Harry, who was grinning from ear to ear as he looked around the stadium, almost like he was trying to take it all in before… Ginny pushed the thought from her mind. She didn't want to try to influence Harry's decision about his future at all. If he was trying to enjoy everything before he stopped playing Quidditch forever, that was his decision, and she'd support him regardless, even if she definitely had a preference on what he did after graduating.
Harry's eyes snapped to her, and, if it was possible, his expression grew even brighter. "You were brilliant!"
It was easy to smile with him as their teammates corralled them towards the changing room. They didn't make it very far though. Standing off to the side, near the entrance to the changing rooms, was Gwenog Jones. Most of the team was in awe, seeing a Quidditch star in front of them. Somewhere in the back of Ginny's mind, she thought that it was a little funny how they had just been celebrating with the most famous person in their world, and now they were petrified by Gwenog. However, the rest of Ginny's mind was similarly petrified by Gwenog's presence.
That faded almost immediately when Harry immediately greeted Gwenog with a handshake. "Hey Gwenog, thanks for coming to the match!"
Gwenog returned his smile. "I was happy to. Coach said she couldn't afford to send a scout before the last match of the season, but since we don't play until tomorrow, I figured I'd drop by and give her a preliminary scouting report."
"She was something else today, wasn't she?" Harry said proudly, and Ginny's heart fluttered a little at his praise.
"She looked like a professional out there. Honestly, your entire team did."
"This is the best team I've ever been on," Ginny informed Gwenog before shaking her hand. "Seriously though, thanks for coming. It really means a lot."
"I'm glad I did. Coach isn't gonna believe me when I tell her I may have found all three of our Chasers for the future today," Gwenog replied, winking at Natalie and Demelza, who seemed to be in shock.
"Ah– er– I'm a Chaser!" Demelza said in a stunned sort of voice, not really in control of what she was saying. Ginny did her best to not laugh, knowing she hadn't been much different the first time she'd met Gwenog.
"And I'm a Beater," Jimmy ribbed Demelza, who came around enough to punch his arm while he was snickering.
"I Chase too!" Natalie added, at the same time that Zoe exclaimed, "I'm a Keeper!" Ginny wasn't able to avoid laughing anymore. At least she wasn't the only one laughing.
Gwenog grinned at them, probably used to fans becoming starstruck. "Like I said, the whole team played exceptionally well. I have a feeling you've got several future pros on your team. I just wish we were the only team scouting you, but the secret's gonna be out now."
"Wait, there were other teams here?" Harry asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah. I saw people from Ballycastle, Wigtown, and Montrose for sure."
"Wow," Ginny responded, a little surprised that so many teams had turned out.
"And chances are, there'll be even more scouts for the last match. I have a feeling you're both gonna be in high demand in a couple months."
"Holy shit," Demelza muttered under her breath.
"I hope we've still got a chance," Gwenog said to Ginny with a confident smile.
"Uh… yeah. I'd say you do," Ginny immediately replied. It wasn't like Gwenog didn't know the Harpies were her favourite team.
"Great! I'm technically not allowed to discuss anything more official without it being considered tampering while you're still a Hogwarts player, but I think it's safe to say that our coach is gonna be real impressed with you."
Ginny grinned widely. "Can't wait."
"Neither can I. Listen, I've gotta get going. Coach will lose her shit if I'm not at the team hotel on time. But we'll be at your next match for sure, and we'll talk more then. Great game everyone, seriously. I was really impressed," Gwenog praised them before quickly exiting the stadium.
Ginny turned around to see her entire team grinning at her. "Proud of you, Captain," Demelza said, clapping her hard on the back while the rest of the team echoed the sentiment.
"Thanks, everyone. That was a brilliant match. You all played better than I've ever seen. We'll talk more about the match at training on Tuesday, but I think there's a party waiting for us in the common room!"
The team roared again and began sprinting out of the stadium towards the castle without sparing a second glance back to see that Harry and Ginny hadn't left the pitch.
"So… how does it feel to know Gwenog wants you on her team?" Harry asked, smiling proudly at her.
"Surreal. It's like everything I've spent my life working towards is finally happening. I mean, it's not official yet, but–"
"It will be. You're gonna be a Harpy," Harry sounded like he was practically bursting with pride, and Ginny felt her heart flutter again.
They were interrupted by a very familiar voice. "Unless Chudley has something to say about it!"
Ginny turned to see Ron and Hermione climbing down the stairs from the stands onto the pitch. She rushed over and greeted Hermione with a hug before slapping Ron on the back. "I can't believe you two came!"
"I had to come scout you two. Hermione just tagged along because she can't stand to be away from me," Ron said with a self-assured smirk.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please. I wanted to see our two best friends playing Quidditch. I just didn't realise it would be such an easy win."
"We looked pretty good, didn't we?"
"I'm not a professional, but I'd say winning by almost four hundred points qualifies as pretty good," Hermione replied, smiling at them both.
"Wait. Ron, you were scouting us?" Harry inquired.
"Yep. Our regular scout has dragon pox, so Mister Trumble asked me to come and scout the two of you. Didn't realise I was crashing a bunch of pro scouts and Gwenog Jones of all people. Sure made for an interesting time watching the match though."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
Hermione interrupted before Ron could answer. "How about we talk about it over dinner? We're spending the night in Hogsmeade, and we figured we could do something together for Ron's birthday since it's on Monday."
"Yeah, that sounds great! Where should we meet you?" Harry replied.
"The Three Broomsticks at six," Hermione answered like it was already an agreed upon plan.
"Awesome! In that case, we've got a party to get to, and we'll catch you later," Ginny told them before dragging Harry back up to the castle, very excited to join the festivities upstairs.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
As was to be expected, the Gryffindor celebration was raucous and wild. If Harry didn't know better, he'd almost think that Gryffindor had already won the Cup. Someone had smuggled butterbeer into the common room, and their friends were very excited to discuss the match and the encounter with Gwenog Jones afterwards.
Harry reclined lazily on the loveseat with an arm behind Ginny, who was leaning forward, animatedly recapping various plays with Natalie and Demelza. After scoring a couple hundred points, all three of them had several goals that they were proud to talk about as if everyone listening hadn't already watched the same event an hour earlier.
"And then when Ginny made that no-look pass, it was easy for me to score before the Keeper knew what happened," Natalie finished describing the goal that had put Gryffindor ahead by one hundred.
"Like Gwenog said, you all played like pros today," Harry reminded them. Ginny smiled widely at him over her shoulder and winked at him. Harry almost started to pull her back on top of him before remembering their friends were around them and probably didn't want to witness what would happen if he didn't control himself.
He settled for bumping her knee with his, and she responded by scooting closer to him and resting a hand on his leg. He was almost too distracted to hear Mia ask what Gwenog had said, which led to Demelza launching into an almost word for word recap of the conversation.
"So then Ginny's basically already got a spot," Mia said, succinctly summing it up.
"I wouldn't say that. There's still a lot that could happen. They've got decisions to make. I guess I've got decisions to make too," Ginny replied modestly, even though she was grinning as she traced patterns on Harry's leg, which wasn't doing anything to help with his struggle to remain focused on the conversation.
"Decisions you have to make? It's the Harpies! If they make you an offer, there's no decision to make," Demelza informed her without a hint of sarcasm.
Mia rolled her eyes. "Not everyone is focused only on Quidditch. Some people have… other considerations."
Harry frowned a little, even though Mia was smiling at him now. There was no way he'd ever let anything, including himself, stand in the way of Ginny achieving her dreams.
"Whatever! Who needs other considerations when you have Quidditch?" Demelza responded quickly.
"Obviously not you," Mia muttered, rolling her eyes like Demelza had completely missed the point.
"Ginny seems to like having other considerations," Natalie added to the mix with a suggestive grin.
"Ginny can speak for herself. And yes, she does like having other considerations," Ginny agreed, finally leaning back against Harry and kissing his cheek. "It has its advantages."
"I'm not complaining," Harry quipped happily, which earned him another kiss and a look of disgust from Demelza.
A couple of hours later, Harry and Ginny signed out and met Ron and Hermione in The Three Broomsticks. It wasn't too busy, which was a bit unusual for a Saturday evening, but it allowed them to have a quiet corner table.
"So what were you gonna tell us about the other scouts?" Ginny asked as soon as they sat down.
Ron chuckled to himself. "I doubt it'd surprise you too much to know they thought you played great. I mean, scoring twelve goals isn't something you see every day, even at Hogwarts. And everyone knows Harry's one of the best Seekers Hogwarts has ever seen. You know, you never told us you were like really interested in turning pro, Harry. We didn't think you were serious when it came up over Christmas."
The probing look Hermione was giving him suggested that she'd been the one to point this out to Ron. "Er– yeah. I'm definitely thinking about it. Still got some time to make up my mind though."
"McGonagall offered him the Defence job permanently," Ginny said, although she didn't exactly sound enthusiastic about it.
"Really? Harry, that's amazing!" Hermione immediately forgot any disappointment at not being told about Harry's career plans, and it figured that she'd be excited about this.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. I mean, I dunno if that's really what I wanna do, but it's nice to have another option there for me."
"You know there's a lot more job security in education," Hermione informed him, sounding like a career counsellor or something like that.
"There's more fun in Quidditch," Ron pointed out, starting to remind Harry of their debate over Father Christmas and Merlin.
"Job security isn't exactly a big concern of mine, to be honest. I think I'm pretty set with money without needing to know my job is safe," Harry replied. He decided that Hermione wouldn't take it very well if he told her that she didn't need to worry about job security either. There was no chance he'd ever let her, Ron, or any of the Weasleys struggle with money if he could help it.
"I suppose. My parents just raised me to value the importance of a stable career," Hermione answered, a little resignedly.
"Speaking of, things have gotten better with your parents since Christmas, right?" Ginny asked suddenly.
For once, Hermione looked pleased at the mention of her parents. "Actually, yes they have. They've finally become reestablished in town after they convinced the man who bought their original practice to partner with them. So they're happier now that work is good. They're talking about taking a holiday to France soon, maybe in the summer if work calms down at all."
"What's going on with work?" Harry asked, already bracing himself for a potentially sleep-inducing lecture on diplomacy with goblins.
He sat up a little straighter when Hermione said, "Dementors."
"What?"
"Honestly, do the two of you not read any news?" Hermione practically scolded them.
"Not unless it's about me," Harry replied before catching himself. "Wait, not like that."
Ron grinned. "Sounds like you're turning into Lockhart, mate."
Harry groaned into his hands while Ginny laughed and patted his shoulder.
Hermione didn't seem to find any amusement in that. "Anyways, the dementors are being relocated from Azkaban–"
"Oh yeah, I remember Kingsley telling us about this at Christmas!" Harry interjected before silencing himself once again after catching a glimpse of Hermione's withering glare at being interrupted.
"Like I was saying, the dementors are being relocated from Azkaban. The problem is there isn't a great place to put them. Technically, that decision lies with my division within MLE."
"This might be a stupid question, but can't you just kill them, somehow?" Ginny asked.
"How?" Hermione answered the question with another question.
Harry watched as Ginny reasoned her way into an answer. "Well, if they feed off human souls and happiness, why can't they just be trapped somewhere without either of those until they die?"
Hermione seemed to have heard that argument before though. "There's a couple reasons why we can't do that. First, we don't have the forces to be able to herd the dementors to a place that isolated to trap them. And it's also not fair treatment."
"Fair treatment? Hermione, these aren't house elves– they're dementors!" Harry almost raised his voice, unable to believe how far Hermione was taking her crusade of justice for magical beings.
"And they don't choose to be the way that they are. It's not their fault that they have to feed on happiness," Hermione responded with emotion that suited her much better when she used it to advocate for house elves. Next to her, Ron was maintaining a carefully neutral expression, like he'd heard her talk about this before and wasn't at all interested in giving his opinion.
"But if they're being taken away from Azkaban, they're just gonna attack innocent people," Ginny pointed out.
"Which is the primary reason they're still at Azkaban while we try to find another solution. We're trying to find something they can feed on other than humans, but they don't seem too interested in anything else so far."
Harry still thought it was a ridiculous and dangerous idea. Dementors were pretty close to the embodiment of depression, and it was just asking for problems to try and help them. "I guess I still don't understand how this makes any sense. Even if the dementors didn't choose to be like that, they are like that, and they're dangerous."
Hermione's nostrils might've flared before Ginny cut in. "It doesn't seem like there's a good solution. The Ministry doesn't want to keep them at Azkaban, but it isn't safe to just let them go. Nobody knows if it's possible to kill them or to find another food source for them, and on top of that, the Ministry is still understaffed."
Hermione nodded. "Now you see why I've been so busy at work."
"No kidding. They've had you working extra hours every day this month," Ron agreed. "But if anyone can do it, it's you," he added quickly, perhaps seeing that Hermione had a retort ready for his comment about how much she worked.
"I'm glad it's you and not me," Ginny agreed. "I think I would've pulled my hair out a long time ago if I was part of making that decision."
Harry still thought they'd be better served figuring out a way to kill them, but it apparently wasn't as easy as he hoped. "No kidding. I think I would've just walked out by now."
Hermione smiled, satisfied that they understood why her job was much more difficult than it sounded. "Unfortunately, if I did that, we'd only have two people left. Besides, I love my job. It's even more exciting than Hogwarts was!"
"We're happy for you, Hermione. And since we're talking about jobs, I saw that the Cannons only lost by two hundred yesterday, Ron."
Ron nodded, seeming a little down despite being used to disappointing losses by now. "Yeah. The match wasn't even half an hour long though, so it's not as good as it sounds."
"At least it's better than the Boxing Day match we went to," Harry offered.
"I guess. I just wish Mister Jones would give me a real shot. It feels like he's trying to coach like he's still at Tutshill, but it's been ages since he was sacked by them, and our players just aren't as talented as the ones he had there. I try to tell him that we need to be more strategic with what we're doing, but he just wants us to play as physically as we can and hold out for the Snitch. Except our Chasers and Keeper can't prevent the other team from scoring. And our Seeker isn't any good, even though he's one of my favourite players."
"Sounds like you need a new, young, ridiculously handsome Seeker to join the team," Ginny suggested, unabashedly winking at Harry.
"D'you know anyone like that?" Harry asked with a grin.
"I dunno about the ridiculously handsome part, but most teams could use a Seeker like Harry. I know we could," Ron added hopefully.
"But if Harry decides to do something other than Quidditch, we're happy for him all the same," Hermione emphasised.
"Right, yeah of course. But since Ginny already knows she wants to play, you'd be brilliant on Chudley," Ron switched tactics, and Ginny grimaced slightly.
"She'd be brilliant on any team," Harry corrected Ron.
Ginny's grimace turned into a pretty smile. "We've still got one match to go. Then I'll start thinking about what comes next."
Harry nodded and linked his foot with hers. He wasn't entirely sure what came next either, but he was starting to think he had a better idea.
"Hey, Neville!" Ron called to their friend who had just entered the pub.
Neville looked around, a bit surprised to hear his name, but when he found them, he grinned and walked over. "Hey, it's great to see the two of you here. Feels like I've barely seen you since…"
"We were just talking about how busy we've been with work," Hermione said. "But we've heard that you've been busy here with your job too. How are you liking working with Professor Sprout?"
Neville's grin grew wider. "Oh, it's fantastic. I'm learning so much from her, and she's started letting me teach entire classes by myself for the younger students. We're already talking about taking a research trip to Denmark this summer. I think Gran's just happy that I have a job. I'm not sure she thought I'd ever get one on my own."
"And you're brilliant at it. Herbology's way more fun with you helping to teach," Ginny said.
"Seriously, you're great at it. I just wish you could take my N.E.W.T. for me," Harry joked.
Neville chuckled. "Pretty sure that would hurt my chances of continuing to teach in the future, so I'm gonna have to pass, Harry. I really appreciate it though. I was a little nervous when I started, but it's just been great getting to do something like this."
A new voice joined their discussion. "I was wondering what was keeping you."
Harry looked past Neville to see Hannah Abbott, their friend and a manager of The Three Broomsticks, approaching their table. His eyes widened of their own accord when she put an arm around Neville and kissed him on the cheek.
"How are you all doing?" Hannah asked them like what had just happened wasn't a big deal at all.
"Wait. Are you two together?" Ron asked, a little obtusely, even in Harry's opinion.
Hannah laughed. "Well, I don't kiss just any of my customers."
"That's amazing!" Ginny exclaimed happily.
"Yeah, I think we're pretty happy about it," Neville agreed, smiling as proudly as Harry had ever seen.
"Would you two like to join us?" Hermione asked.
Hannah immediately nodded. "Yeah, I can take a few minutes to have a drink before getting back to work."
They pulled up two chairs at the end of the table. Harry guessed that they weren't expecting to be grilled by Hermione and Ginny on their relationship. They learned how they got together– Neville said he accidentally asked while she was pouring him a butterbeer because he couldn't wait any longer– and how they spent Valentine's Day– Neville basically camped out at the bar since Hannah was busy with work all day. Harry didn't really ask any questions. He just enjoyed seeing how happy his friends were. Neville hadn't had an easy life, and he definitely deserved all the good things that were happening to him, between his work and Hannah.
Hannah had to make some rounds a short while later, and Neville remained with them a bit longer, reminiscing about the old days at Hogwarts.
"Don't think I've forgotten what you did to me in the common room in our first year," he told Hermione, who blushed considerably and muttered something about not having a choice. Nobody heard her over their laughter though.
Eventually, Neville went to the bar while Hannah tended it, and the four of them were left alone again. It was growing rather late though, and both Harry and Ginny were becoming tired as the exertion of the match caught up to them. After Harry yawned for the fifth or sixth time, Hermione instructed them to return to the castle and go to sleep.
"Yes, Mum," Ginny told Hermione as they stood up, but Hermione didn't seem bothered by that. "We'll see you two in a couple weeks. Happy Birthday, Ron."
"Oh, yeah. Happy Birthday. By the way, the two of you take an extra night here on us," Harry said with a grin. "Sorry we didn't wrap the present."
Ron laughed as he clapped Harry on the back. Hermione gave Harry a hug and he left the pub with Ginny. The late February air was much colder after dark, and that woke them up considerably as they practically ran back to the warmth of the castle, holding hands the whole way.
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A/N: I know I promised more action in this chapter, but I honestly surprised myself a little bit in rereading it. I knew the Quidditch match happened, but the whole first half of the chapter surprised me, which… probably says a lot about just how much I've written haha. Honestly, it's hard enough sometimes to keep things straight when I bounce back and forth between writing author's notes/replying to comments from this part of the story and writing Book 3 a full year in the future, so I'm gonna give myself a pass for not remembering every detail, but it did make for an even more action packed chapter!
One thing I liked a lot about the stuff I'd forgotten was Harry finally getting challenged some on his 'I don't matter' attitude when it comes to the Prophet. He is who he is, and Ginny doesn't really want him to change big parts of his personality, but there is an element of self-respect that Harry is still developing, considering he grew up in an environment where that was practically beat out of him. And I figured I couldn't go the entire time they were at Hogwarts in this book and not have one scene where they passed notes as an homage to a very universal school experience. I know it was very relatable for me!
I'm sort of guessing, based on all the facets of my personality that have been on display through the 500k words and 54 author's notes that we've been through so far together, that it won't be much of a surprise that I'm a very big Swiftie. There were a lot of times when I was writing ToG specifically where I'd listen to romance songs I connected with from a number of artists, including TS, to sort of hype me up for writing, and those songs permeated my writing in certain ways. A lot of them are more thematic things, although there is a song title (non-TS) that I will be using as a very pivotal chapter title way out in Book 4 (yes, I do plan too much), but there are also a few instances where it's more specific than a theme. Harry telling Ginny that she's his best friend is very inspired by TS' You Are in Love, which was one of my favourite songs to play before writing romantic scenes between them. Really, the whole second verse sums it up, but specifically, the line that inspired me was: 'One night he wakes/Strange look on his face/Pauses, then says/You're my best friend/And you knew what it was/He is in love." It's not the exact same, but I thought there was something beautiful about the idea of friendship carrying such an importance in their relationship because, really, Harry and Ginny are best friends. It's a sentiment that I hope anyone who's reading this and in a relationship can relate to. It's just different with her than with Ron or Hermione for Harry, and I loved getting to write that tiny scene. Interestingly, ToG is the only book I really listened to music for. No idea what that says about me or my writing, but I just haven't listened to music while writing Book 3 for some reason. Maybe I should start!
The only other note I really have is on the dementor conversation at the end of the chapter. I think it might be a bit of a common thing to have dementors relocated from Azkaban as a plot thing for Harry as an Auror. To be clear, the last time I read a post-war fic I read other than my own was like a year and a half ago, and I can't really distinguish between them in my mind, so I'm not at all calling out any book or anything like that, but that's obviously not what's happening in this book. A big reason is that Harry's made it very clear that he doesn't plan on being an Auror after graduation (and he's also made some strides in his plans in this chapter). But it does still feel important to do, and I felt like Hermione was a very obvious candidate for the person taking charge of this. All I'll say though is that this conversation and Hermione's work could have massive ramifications in the future, even if it's the distant future, if things don't go the way she hopes they will, assuming she finds a plan that works. But that's mostly me teasing out something that may or may not ever happen because I can!
And with that, we're at the end of Chapter 20, and, in the interest of hyping things up, I can't help myself. In my writing, I use a new Google Doc for every 5 chapters (which usually ends up being close to 50k words and 170ish pages). So now, I'm closing the 2.16-2.20 doc forever and opening up one of the two I've been waiting close to a year to begin posting from. Some very big things are coming, and I'm unbelievably excited. Sorry to do that to you all, but I wrote these chapters back in January! It's been a long wait haha!
Coming Friday: Searching- She was looking at him like he was a baby unicorn with a broken leg who needed her help.
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Lillyflower: Don't worry, I definitely haven't forgotten about Victoire! Even though I don't follow the Pottermore story, I do like the idea of her being born on the anniversary of the battle, especially considering her name meaning victory. However, since she's still a student at Hogwarts when the Epilogue happens, the oldest that she can be is a seventeen year old starting her seventh year. Since that's nineteen years after the Battle, the earliest she can be born is two years after the Battle. So I promise she's going to be a part of the story, but it's going to be a little bit of a longer wait!