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A Day to Remember | ||||
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Category: Hogsmeade Challenge (2005-1) Characters:None Genres: Fluff Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: G Reviews: 9 Summary: (re-post, betaed version) Hogsmeade cancelled, but arrangements were made. See why this day will be a day to remember. Hitcount: Story Total: 4607 |
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A Day to Remember Harry stood in the front of a rather large audience, waiting for Ginny to make her appearance. Today was the day he has been waiting for ever since last year on Valentine’s Day. Harry stood there and got lost in thought as his memories took him back. ------------------------------ W ith the wizarding world unsure of Voldemort’s defeat, Death Eaters continued to attack wherever they chose. For only they knew that Voldemort had been destroyed for good. The final battle took everyone by surprise because Harry just showed up and vanquished the Dark Lord. How he actually accomplished this remains a mystery to this day. Only Harry knew what he did and he was not going to tell anyone about it. With Death Eater attacks becoming more frequent, no one would believe him anyway, and it would be Harry’s fifth year all over again. Harry’s only hope was that the Aurors’ would capture the remaining Death Eater’s and finally put a stop to the needless death. The first feast following Christmas break had everyone talking for weeks. It was Harry’s final year at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore had decided to cancel all Hogsmeade trips for the remainder of the school year. He did not want any of his students to be placed into harm’s way. That night, Professor McGonagall went to Dumbledore’s office to have a private conversation. “Albus, I know that your motives are justified in canceling Hogsmeade weekends, but is there something else that we can do for the students? At least for Valentines Day, let’s come up with something so that even if the students do not leave the castle, they can have something to do.” McGonagall looked at Dumbledore and hoped that she would be able to talk some sense into him. She knew that he was right in protecting the students, but surely something could be done differently this year. Dumbledore’s eyes sparkled behind his half-moon shaped glasses before he spoke. “You know Minerva, now that you mention it; there is something I can do. I know of a particular room in the castle that will allow us to accommodate for the students. Do you know where the Room of Requirement is?” Minerva allowed a smile to cross her face. Although she did not know exactly what Dumbledore had in mind, she knew enough to know that she had succeeded in her task. “Why yes I do. What exactly do you have in mind?” “Get in touch with the other head of houses and have them draw up a list of places that the students may want to visit on their trip. Once you have that list, return it to me and I will speak to the various venders and have them come here for that weekend. I may stop the students from going to Hogsmeade, but I will not stop Hogsmeade from coming to the students.” Dumbledore’s eyes were sparkling the brightest that Minerva had ever seen. “I shall take care of this at once. Thank you Albus.” Albus lowered his head in recognition of Minerva as she left his office. Minerva immediately went to the staff room where she met with the other teachers and revealed all that she and Dumbledore had discussed. At the conclusion of the meeting, the various teachers wrote memos and posted them within the various common rooms. All the students were now in bed and would not know about the plan until they awaken the following morning. ------------------------------ Harry pulled to blankets from around him and sat up in bed. Ron was already awake and getting dressed. Both Harry and Ron did not say very much after the feast the previous night. Both had made big plans with Hermione and Ginny, and now those plans were ruined. “I just don’t see why Dumbledore would cancel Hogsmeade. He knows how protected the village is; he was one of the main wizards placing wards around it.” Harry looked at Ron and silently agreed with his friend. Harry had not so much as hinted at what went on during Christmas break. All Ron knew was that Harry had disappeared for a few days and then returned back to The Burrow. Although Harry was pressed with questions, he always managed to lie his way out of it. Although Ginny knew that Harry was not being honest, she also knew not to harass him about it either. “You never know Ron. You know that when things never seem to work out, they always do in the end.” Ron cast Harry a suspicious eyebrow at what Harry had just said. “Hey, do you know something that you aren’t telling me?” “Now why would you think that? Think about it for a second. In all those times that we have been in trouble, the situation always worked itself out in the end, right?” Ron started to nod as he thought about what Harry was telling him. Finally, Ron just let out a long sigh. “Yeah, I guess you have a point.” Harry pulled himself out of bed and slowly got dressed. It was not until the two of them got to the door of their room when they heard the noise from downstairs. Harry and Ron walked down the stairs to the common room when Hermione ran up to them with a huge smile on her face. “Have you heard?” Hermione was almost bouncing up and down with excitement, but the two boys were clueless as to what she could be excited about. “Have we heard what?” Ron looked over to Harry to see if he knew anything, and then back to Hermione who was finally starting to calm down. Hermione then took Ron by the arm and dragged him over to the bulletin board where Harry and Ron finally saw what was causing all the excitement. “Attention all students: In light of Valentine’s Day, Dumbledore is arranging for various venders to set up their stores in a special room within these walls. By then end of the day, the prefects should bring to me a list of stores that you would want to have in this room. I only ask that you limit the stores to four, as we do not know for sure just how much the room will allow. If you have any questions, please consult either myself of the headmaster. -Professor McGonagall” Ron’s eyes continued to expand as he re-read the letter that was pinned to the board. He could hardly believe what he is reading. Harry’s expression became lighter and lighter as he realized that he did not have to do what Dumbledore was going to do. Harry was determined to use the Room of Requirement for himself and Ginny had something not happened. But as it turned out, Dumbledore has already taken care of that. “Harry, how did you know that something like this was going to happen and not tell me?” Ron turned to Harry with an almost hurt look on his face. Hermione looked from Ron to Harry, trying to figure out just what Ron was talking about. “How can you think that I would have known about this? This is the first time that I have ever seen this letter, just like you.” “But what about what you said upstairs about everything working out? Surely you could have known that something was going to happen.” “Well, to be honest with you, I was going to use the Room of Requirement myself had Dumbledore not already done it. Besides, maybe I was just trying to look on the bright side of things. There is nothing wrong with that is there?” Harry just looked at Ron with raised eyebrows, waiting for his response. “Well, I guess you have a point. It’s just weird that you said that and then this happens. So what stores do we want this year?” The three of them sat in a couch by the fire and started to plan out what they wanted. Ginny finally made her way over to the group and sat next to Harry. For the next hour or so, the four of them sat discussing the upcoming holiday. Just before dinner, Hermione took the list of stores to Professor McGonagall’s office and then went to the Great Hall. --------------------------------- - “Harry! Harry get up! You’re going to miss the big day!” Harry pulled the covers from around his head to see Ron sitting on a big white box on his bed. Harry thought about this for a second before coming to a conclusion that perhaps that wasn’t such a good idea. “Ron, are you sitting on what I think you are sitting on?” Ron looked down and gave a small shrug while wearing the biggest smile Harry had seen. “Yeah, but don’t worry. I had this box covered with a charm to protect it from collapsing or becoming damaged. I couldn’t run the risk of something happening to all of these roses now could I?” Harry just laughed at Ron. Harry got out of bed and dressed in warm clothes for the day ahead. Despite the fact that they were still going to be within the castle walls, the room was charmed to be exactly like Hogsmeade would, and that includes the outside weather. Once both Harry and Ron were dressed, they went downstairs to find both Hermione and Ginny waiting for them. Ron left Harry’s side and walked over to Hermione and gave her the very box that he had been sitting on just moments ago. “Happy Valentine’s Day Hermione” was written on it. Hermione opened the box and lost her breath as she looked at the variety of roses that Ron had put together. Hermione handed the box to Ginny and leapt into Ron’s arms, sinking into his embrace. Once they broke apart, she took the flowers upstairs to her room and put them into a vase of water. Harry glanced at Ginny and saw that she had a slightly hurt expression on her face. Harry knew that would soon change before the day was over with. When Hermione emerged from the girls’ dormitory, the four of them walked up to the Room of Requirement, each of the couples arm-in-arm. As the two couples reached the door, they saw that the entire Gryffindor house was standing in a line waiting to go in. On normal weekends, only third year and above were allowed to go to Hogsmeade. But since the shops were brought to the castle, Dumbledore saw no reason why the younger two years should not be allowed to go as well. When the door to the room was finally opened, everyone’s jaw dropped at what they saw. If the students were not thinking right, then it would be easy for them to think that this door was leading them right into the village. The inside of the room was exactly like what the kids would see if they went to the village itself. As they walked into the room, they stepped onto the road and walked through the village. Ron was the first one to speak up. “Wow, Dumbledore really pulled out all the stops on this one didn’t he? Every little detail of the village is covered. Even this cold breeze that is blowing through here. I’m glad you reminded me to bring my cloak, Harry.” Harry looked over to Ron and saw that his cheeks were already starting to turn pink due to the cold air. “So where do we want to go first? There is Honeydukes over here and Fred and George’s shop by the Three Broomsticks.” The four looked at each other and decided to go to the twin’s store first. One look at Honeydukes and anyone could see that it was already overflowing with kids. “Hey! Harry, what are you guys up to?” Harry looked up to see Fred walking towards them from the back of the store. “Not a lot. We just got here actually. I cannot believe that Dumbledore actually did all this. This is nothing short of amazing. How did you manage to get all of your stuff in here with no one else seeing you?” This is when Fred developed a huge smile across his face. “Well here is the cool part. We didn’t bring any of this over. In fact, none of the stores did. Dumbledore just approached us and told us that he had a special room in the castle that would provide us with everything that we needed for our shop. All we had to do was think about what we needed. So you can guess my surprise when I arrived here early to find that my shop all but moved for its present location to here. I just wish that I had known about this room while I was still in school.” It was now Harry’s turn to grow a smile onto his face. “Yeah, Lord only knows what you would have done if you had access to something like this.” Harry and Fred stared at each other with broad smiles, silently communicating with each other. After a few minutes, George appeared from the back holding what looked to be a strange bird in his hands. “George, what in the world is that?” George looked at Hermione before a smile played across his face. “This is mine and Fred’s newest item, just in time for valentines day. This bird will sing any song that you want it to. All you have to do is tell the bird what you want to hear and enjoy.” Fred leaned over and whispered something into the bird’s ear before stepping back. Fred looked over to Harry before winking as the bird started to sing ‘It’s in his Kiss’. Hermione immediately covered her ears at the sound of the song and yelled at George. “Will you please stop that thing from singing? That bird is killing a great song and I just can’t take it.” Fred leaned back over to the bird and whispered something else into its ear and the bird quieted down. “What’s wrong with our bird?” George almost sounded hurt, but was a horrible actor. “That voice it has is horrible. I hope you don’t think that you are actually going to sell that thing.” Fred opened his mouth to say something, but nothing could come to mind. Harry spoke up in hopes of changing the subject. “So Fred, please tell me that you have something else that is new that needs to have a trial run this year at school.” Fred’s eyes lit up like saucers as he ran to the back of the shop and returned with a rather large box. For the next fifteen minutes, Fred and George described various pranks and fireworks that would be perfect for any occasion at school. Finally, the four decided that it was time to go explore the rest of the village. Ron and Hermione decided to go to the Three Broomsticks for a quiet lunch, leaving Harry and Ginny to discuss what they wanted to do. “So Harry, where should we eat? We have the Three Broomsticks, where most everyone is going, and we have Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop.” Harry silently thought back to the last time he went to the Tea Shop. It had been on Valentines Day during his fifth year when he and Cho Chang were talking. However, Harry knew that this time was not going to be like the last. This time, he was going with someone who honestly loved him. “I think that the best place to go would be Madam Puddifoot’s. There will hardly be anyone in there. I think that almost everyone should be at the Three Broomsticks. With any luck, we should be able to find some privacy today.” Harry grabbed Ginny’s hand as he led her into the Tea Shop. Just as he expected, there were only four couples in there. The two of them went to a back corner table as Madam Puddifoot walked over to take their order. Once she left, Harry looked to Ginny and locked eyes with her. “Now I know that you are disappointed in the fact that I haven’t given you anything for Valentine’s Day.” Before Harry could continue, Ginny interrupted him. “I’m not disappointed! Not in the least. I am just happy to be here with you. With that, I couldn’t care less about anything else. Your company was all I really wanted today. Anything else would have just been icing on the cake.” Harry just smiled and continued talking as if Ginny hadn’t said anything at all. “Nevertheless, if you know me, then you know that I always have something hidden up my sleeve. This time is no different.” Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise at what Harry was doing. Although she didn’t know, her heart rate increased as anticipation kicked in. “Harry, what in the world are you talking about?” Harry looked at her and smiled as he reached up his sleeve and produced a small black box. Harry opened the box to reveal an emerald set into a ring made of white gold. Ginny lost all her breath at what Harry was presenting to her. “Ginny, it would take me a lifetime to tell you how much I love you. I ask you now if you will give me that chance. Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?” While talking, Harry moved from his chair to kneel beside Ginny’s chair. Ginny slowly nodded her head as tears rolled from her eyes. In her wildest dreams, she would have never thought that this would actually happen. After placing the ring on Ginny’s finger, Harry rose and took his new fiancé into his arms and held her for a few minutes. The various couples that were in the shop rose and started to cheer for Harry and Ginny. Ginny still had tears in her eyes as her and Harry sat back down to two warm cups of apple cider that had been placed in front of them. “Harry Potter, you never cease to amaze me. I would have never expect you to pull off something like this. But you do realize that I still have another year of school to go don’t you?” Harry placed his hands on Ginny’s and looked into her brown eyes. “Of course I do. Plus, it never hurts to have a long engagement. I just can’t wait to see your brother’s reaction when we tell him.” As soon as Harry finished talking, the door opened up and Ron and Hermione walked in. The two saw Harry and Ginny sitting in the corner and walked over to join them. “So here you two are. We’ve been looking everywhere for the past hour or so wondering where you two have disappeared to.” As Ron was talking, Hermione glanced down and saw the ring that was sitting on Ginny’s finger. She suddenly exploded into fits of laughter and launched herself onto Ginny. “Hermione, what in the world has gotten into you?” “Oh, Ron, you can be so thick sometimes.” Ron looked to Harry for some help, but Harry merely shrugged and smiled at Ron. Finally, Harry rose and grabbed Ron by the shoulder. “Ron, how would you like to be the best man at my wedding?” Ron just stared at Harry for a second with a blank expression as the words slowly seeped in. Finally, Ron’s eyes doubled in size as he realized what Harry was saying. “Do you mean…you…Ginny…married?!” Ginny rose to stand beside Harry and held her hand out for Ron to see. “When did you propose?” “Some point while we were in here. I kind of lost track of time afterwards.” Ron turned back to Harry and just stared at him for a second before a huge smile crept across his face. Finally, Ron reached around and grabbed Harry into a massive hug. “I guess that it is time to officially welcome you into the family huh? I know this is new, but have you two set a date yet?” “No, but it will at least be a year or so. Ginny still has one more to go, so I am going to wait until then. But once she graduates, then as soon as possible. What time is it anyway? It must be about time to head back to the common room.” With that being said, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all walked back towards the Gryffindor common room, never to forget that day. ------------------------- Harry was brought back to reality as the minister started to speak to him. Harry wasn’t sure how much time had passed or if it was obvious that he was lost in thought, but he knew that it was time for him to say the most important words of his life. “Do you, Harry James Potter, take this woman to be your lawfully wed wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do you part?” This was it. This is what Harry has been waiting on for the past year and a half. “I do.” “And do you, Ginevra Molly Weasley, take this man to be your lawfully wed husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do you part?” “I do.” Harry lost all thought once again at hearing Ginny’s voice. Harry never heard the minister say that he could kiss the bride. Harry was lost in Ginny’s dark brown eyes, and it was not until she spoke that brought him back once again. “Now you can kiss me Harry.” Harry did not need to hear anything else. As he leaned in to kiss his new wife, he realized that he was taking the first step into the rest of his life. Who better to take it with him than his very own Ginny Potter. ------------------------------ A/N: Whew, that was fun to write. Anyway, none of the characters or settings are mine. I’m just borrowing them so that I can bring some happiness into my rather average day. I would also like to send a special shout out to Faded Rainbow who helped me out on this story by betaing (sp?...you know what I mean ;) ) it for me. Thank you very much. RR! |
| Reviews 9 |
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