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Moving On | ||||
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Category: Post-DH/AB Characters:All Genres: Comedy, Drama, General, Romance Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 18 Summary: How do the Fab Four really get back on their feet? There will be nightmares, devious bedroom behavior, annoying yet flattering admirers, family rapport, and probably a bat bogey hex involved. It’s all a part of moving on. // Sequel to ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ (You don’t have to read this first, but if you don’t, you have to assume Harry and Ginny have already made up.) // Post-DH; Pre-Epilogue; Almost 7 Months After the Final Battle at Hogwarts. Hitcount: Story Total: 6872 Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work. |
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Ginny was staring fiercely at the laughing Death Eater in front of her. He was clearly thinking she would not put up much of a fight. His eyes were dark and cold as he viciously shot dark spell after dark spell her way. She even had to dance around a Killing Curse. She could feel tears absently trickling down her cheeks as she strived to focus on staying alive and attacking her opponent with all she had. She had just watched Remus and Tonks fall to Killing Curses in the Great Hall in what seemed like minutes before. The image of them falling to the ground with faint looks of surprise etched upon their faces consumed her. Now, she had somehow made it outside on the grounds to fight, and she sent all of her pain and rage into her return volley of curses. There were sudden cries of surprise everywhere along with the high-pitched sound of cackling laughter, and then she heard triumphant words from the man she had never wanted to see again in her life, in his Hogwarts Head Boy form or the one before her now. “Your hero is dead! Here he lies! Behold your hero! The Great Harry Potter!” Ginny’s head spun around immediately, her body in a state of frozen shock at the sight before her. Tears were running down the cheeks of a sobbing Hagrid as he carried a familiar, lifeless body out of the Forbidden Forest onto the grounds. Her heart shattered. That was Harry. Her Harry. She couldn’t stop the cry of pain and torment that came from her in a voice that sounded so alien to her. She could feel her feet gravitating in slow motion toward the sight on their own accord, but someone suddenly held her back. She pushed at whoever it was in agony. How could this happen? Not Harry. “No! Not Harry! No!” Ginny flew up in her bed, breathing erratically, thrashing her head back and forth as she took in her surroundings, and grappling her fingers all over her gold-colored comforter for her wand that seemingly wasn’t there. She was back in the 7th year girls’ dorm at Hogwarts. It was just another nightmare. A nightmare that was an exaggeration of what had really happened. It had been longer than just a few minutes after Remus and Tonks had been murdered when it had really happened. The words Voldemort spoke were different when it had really happened. She had been tending to a few hurt persons and was not actually fighting anyone when it had really happened. Not to mention, Harry was still alive. She placed her hands over her racing heart as she closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. After a few moments, she leaned over to the foot of her bed and retrieved her wand. She purposefully left it there whenever she slept in the dorm. The year before, she had always slept with it under her pillow for protection, but this year, there was no longer any danger. However, her nightmares often caused her to lash out and after slightly injuring a very surprised Lavender Brown, she kept her wand far away from her when she slept here. She quietly undid the silencing charms and imperturbable charms around her four-post bed and walked as calmly as she could to the bathroom all of the 7th year girls shared. The dorm was considerably larger this year, what with having some old 7th years repeating their year and then some of the traditional 7th years who had actually managed to qualify for moving into their final year. The bathroom was also larger, which was great for all of the females living in such close proximity. She walked over to one of the sinks to splash her face with cool water so she could try and stop the faint flush to her cheeks from being so worked up. As she glanced back up into the mirror, she sighed audibly as she unconsciously flipped through the last 6 or so months of her life. She had only survived the first few days after the battle because Harry had been at her side. She had helped him considerably over those days too. She was well aware that, to this day, he still felt a hint of guilt over everything even though she and many others have told him to think otherwise. She still felt a pang in her chest as she thought of Fred, Remus, and Tonks– not to mention all the others that didn’t make it. Harry did too, of course. The rest of the month of June had been such a huge blur. She remembered attending more funerals, memorials, and speeches than she cared to remember. It had been a horrible time for Harry too. Everyone held him in such high regard and wanted a piece of him, but he had just felt immense guilt over everything and wanted to grieve privately. The public hadn’t let him do that. He had been forced to go through the motions of being the hero, giving a statement and a speech, and having his picture taken. If she hadn’t been there, she was sure he would have gone stark raving mad, cursing everyone in sight, including Kingsley. Kingsley, the then acting Minister and now the official Minister, had basically made him do that to calm the air about him in the public eye, even though it clearly pained him to make Harry do anything of the sort. Once it was over though, the public had backed off a bit so both she and Harry grudgingly admitted that he had been right and forgave him. July had been extremely quiet as everyone avoided moving on. Dinners at the Burrow, once alive with conversation, laughter, and entertainment were reduced to nothing more than silent and forced company. The only person Ginny had really talked to was Harry, and he her, although he occasionally had spoken with Ron and Hermione too. It wasn’t until August when they all started picking up the pieces of their former lives. Ron and Harry had somehow managed to persuade a lost George to return to the shop where they helped get him get back on his feet. She had never been more proud of Ron or Harry. Her mother had beamed with pride over their efforts too. Professor McGonagall had also stopped by to drop the news about Hogwarts and the re-building efforts which had been completed as well as to invite the Golden Trio (among others) to return for a proper final year at Hogwarts. It hadn’t taken much persuading, considering Hermione and Harry had already been thinking about it. Ron had simply rolled his eyes with the hint of a smile saying he would never break up the team. Ginny had been ecstatic that they would officially be returning. That meant they were all going to be in 7th year together. What had made it even more wonderful were the Hogwarts letters that came merely days later. Harry and Hermione had been made Head Boy and Girl. She would never forget the dumbstruck expressions on both of their faces when they opened up their letters. Harry had also re-received the captaincy to the Gryffindor quidditch team, and there was no one she thought that deserved it more than him, although he had argued that it should have been her, considering he was supposed to have graduated already. She had won the battle of wills though, naturally, because Harry could never really deny her anything. She also remembered being excited to just be able to play quidditch in the first place because the game had been non-existent the previous year. She had been more than excited to be able to get back on a broom once more for a final year. The school year had started off awkwardly. Others treated Harry with quiet awe and reverence which annoyed him significantly. The only people who treated him somewhat normally were those about 5th year and above. At least Gryffindor had won their first quidditch game against Ravenclaw, thanks to her mad chaser skills and having the best seeker to come through Hogwarts in a century on the team. She bit her lip to keep from smiling at her reflection as she tossed her long red hair over her shoulder and finished drying her face off. She always smiled in an incredibly girly way when she thought about her amazing boyfriend. Harry teased her about it, considering she was the epitome of a tomboy and anything girly was somewhat unusual for her, but she had seen him more than a few times with a rather goofy grin on his own face when he was clearly thinking about her. Other girls still had a problem with their relationship, particularly the still snotty 6th year, Romilda Vane, although it didn’t really matter. He loved her, and she loved him. She made her way quietly back into the dorm, adjusting her camisole and shorts a bit before sifting through her belongings in her trunk. She eventually found what she was looking for– Harry’s invisibility cloak. He had let her borrow it since the beginning of the year, saying he wouldn’t need it for the year because he, being who he was, had basically a free pass to walk around to go wherever and do whatever he pleased so she should feel free to use it to sneak off to see him whenever she wanted. He had that sexy grin on his face when he had said that last part. As a result, they had been sleeping next to one another in his room most of the time, considering he had a room of his own, being the Head Boy. The only reason she had been in her dorm last night in the first place was because Professor McGonagall had been lurking around the common room that evening, almost like she knew exactly what she and Harry were up to. She didn’t think it was fair. Ron and Hermione were way worse. Hermione had researched non-stop so she would be able to remove the ward on the door that connects Harry’s room to her own so Ron could be able to come through. Harry had given Ron a huge lecture on doing naughty things to his ‘sister’ which of course prompted Ron to rant about him doing naughty things with her. For some reason, both Hermione and Ginny had found this whole scene utterly hilarious, although Hermione had kissed Harry on the cheek for his sweet comments about her being his ‘sister.’ She gently placed the cloak over her, making her way quietly down the girls’ stairwell and up the boys’ stairwell all the way to the top. However, instead of turning left to go into the 7th year boys’ dorm, she turned right and opened the Head Boy’s door instead (the door only appeared there if a Gryffindor was made Head Boy, just as on the girls’ side for Head Girl). She knew Harry had warded the door so the only people who could make it inside were her, Hermione, and Ron. He had had a problem right away with certain people, namely that cow Romilda Vane, trying to get into his room to plant love potions or whatever. Needless to say, that had ended straight away. He even had to place a similar restriction on Hermione’s door because some girls had snuck into Hermione’s room to get into his room through their connected door. She couldn’t stop her grin from forming as she watched her boyfriend sleeping comfortably on his stomach on his huge full bed. He wasn’t wearing a t-shirt like he sometimes did, which made her feel special. Harry wasn’t fond of all of his scars that he had everywhere, but Ginny barely noticed them. He just looked at her like she was crazy whenever she told him that, but it was true. She was usually too focused on his muscular frame to really notice any of them, although she had been particularly upset to hear about some of the marks on his back being from when he used to get hit with a belt every once and a while at the Dursleys. Harry had been lucky they had been at school when he had told her that. She would’ve apparated straight over to the Dursleys to give them a piece of her mind if the two of them had been at the Burrow. Anyway, for Harry to be going to sleep without a t-shirt on meant that he no longer cared whether she saw his scars or not. She took a nice long moment to enjoy the view of his muscular back. One of the ways he had released pent up energy over the year had been to work out. Hermione had told her that whenever Harry had been frustrated by things or when he had been awake and acting as the lookout, he sometimes had just randomly started doing push-ups or sit-ups to burn off the pent-up energy. He still continued to do this every once and a while, and he normally went running around the Black Lake every weekend to clear his head. She managed to pull her eyes away from him, setting the cloak on the chair to the left of his bed and on top of his satchel that he was taking home for the holidays tomorrow afternoon. She had helped him pack that earlier in the evening. Harry was hopeless at packing charms. A couple of wizarding photos caught her eye on his nightstand as she walked past. She set down her wand and gently pushed his wand aside to see them better. They were pictures of Teddy Lupin. Ginny smiled instantly, looking at one with a blue-haired baby boy with Harry’s bright green eyes, giving the camera a look that was distinctly Remus–almost exactly like when Remus used to look at someone skeptically. Another was a picture of the same little boy smiling wide and happy, almost reminiscent of Tonks, but this time, with white blonde hair and Remus’ blue eyes. She noticed a letter in Andromeda’s handwriting beneath the photos. Harry was an amazing godfather. He was going to be an equally amazing father one day. Harry remained in constant contact with Andromeda, always wanting to know how Teddy was doing and if he could do anything to help her. She sighed softly as she made her way to the foot of his bed, crawling up behind him and sliding underneath his scarlet-colored comforter. One of the things she had always known about him was that he had always had a hard time sleeping; Ron used to tell her about his recurring nightmares after the two of them had started dating back when she was in 5th year. He seemed to be doing ok for the night, but any time she was sleeping next to him, she knew that both of them rarely had any nightmares. She snuggled up to his warm body, wrapping her arm around him from behind and leaving a kiss on his bare back. His breath hitched, and she felt his hand enclose around her own, pulling it up so he could kiss it softly. His voice was sleepy, “Gin, baby, did you have a nightmare again?” She nodded slightly against him. It was no use lying to him. He always could figure her out. “Yup.” He sighed softly, squinting at the clock on his nightstand. It was a little after 4 in the morning. “Minerva will kill you if she finds out you snuck in here.” His actions belied his words though, since he had turned in her arms when he had said this, pulling her flush against his body as he wrapped his strong arms around her. She smiled into his chest, inhaling the comforting scent that was distinctly Harry– something like the musky scent of wood from a broomstick and the clean scent of soap. “I don’t care anymore.” He chuckled quietly into her hair and kissed her forehead. “She would make our lives a living hell, and that’s not even what you’re parents would say, let alone your brothers. Well, minus Ron. It would be hypocritical for him to say or do anything.” She giggled. “I would protect you.” He lifted her up a bit so she was looking into his eyes. She could get lost in the green forever. He was smiling at her amusedly for her cheek. “I can take care of myself, but thanks for your support, beautiful.” She shivered as he ran a hand through her red hair. “I love you.” He leaned over and kissed her lips gently. “I love you too, but you’re not getting away with squirming around the topic of your nightmare.” She sighed. “It was just one of the same ones. Nothing new really.” Harry studied his girlfriend intently. He may be sleepy, but she was always more important to him than anything else. He hated that the image of him pretending to be dead was sometimes all she saw when she slept. His brow furrowed. “I wish I could take that memory away from you. I’m sorry. I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll always be right here. My heart beats only for you, love.” He hadn’t stopped staring at her as he said all that. She knew he meant all of it. The last line was something he had told her before, and whenever he said it, she would always remember that when he had gone out into the Forbidden Forest intending to die, his last thought had been of her and the main reason he came back was for her. He loved her and wasn’t going anywhere. “I know. I love you too. I don’t know why I still have the dream, but when I’m with you, it goes away. You still have dreams too, you know.” Harry nodded, still looking her over. “They’re not as often. You make mine go away too.” She buried her face in his neck, pulling him closer. “Then, let’s go to sleep. I’ll sleep here from now on. I’ll just have to ignore Ron’s teasing comments about me being an unmarried hussy even though I told him that I was going to tell Hermione he said that. You should have seen the scared look on his face when he realized he had just called his girlfriend an unmarried hussy.” Harry chuckled as he hugged her tightly. “I don’t need you to sleep in here all the time to know that I’m going to marry you one day, Gin.” Ginny pulled back a bit, giving him a radiant smile. “Is that so, Mr. Potter?” Harry loved that her chocolate brown eyes were twinkling back at him. They hadn’t exactly talked about their relationship in this context before, but he can’t say he was disappointed with having her look back at him with that happy expression on her face. It’s not like it hadn’t been something he had always known he would ask her. He thought she had known that. “Of course.” Ginny laughed quietly to herself as she got comfortable lying on his chest. “Well, then I look forward to saying yes one day, Harry.” Harry instantly smiled. He knew it was probably one of those ‘goofy grins’ she teased him about that he had whenever he thought about her, but so what. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. “Can’t wait.” ---------------------------- ------------------------------- Som eone was knocking on his door– rather loudly, in fact. Harry gently slid out from underneath the beautiful redhead lying on his chest, kissing her cheek when she tried to hold onto him sleepily. He grabbed a black t-shirt from his floor, throwing it on quickly before grabbing the invisibility cloak off of his chair and throwing it over Ginny. He heard her distinct feminine giggle so he grabbed his wand, making her wand invisible and silencing the air around his bed about 6 times before answering his door. Professor McGonagall was standing outside his door with pursed lips, looking extremely annoyed. “Potter, have you seen Miss Weasley?” He could see her trying to look into his room for his girlfriend, and the slight movement of her wand indicated that she may have gotten rid of at least one of his silencing charms. He feigned surprise and some concern. “No. She’s not in her dorm?” Professor McGonagall looked over the young man in front of her sternly. He could sure give his father a run for the money with his innocent expression. While she could not see Miss Weasley, she was sure she was either currently in his room or had been in his room. “No, she’s not. When you see her, be sure to have her come find me. Is that clear?” Harry furrowed his brow in mock concern. “Sure. She probably just went for a walk on the grounds. She likes to do that, Professor, especially if she had a nightmare of some kind last night. She’s not in trouble, is she?” McGonagall sighed. He was extremely good because that was a plausible story. Now she wasn’t sure about anything anymore. “No, she’s not in trouble. And I told you to call me Minerva outside of class.” Harry nodded with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I’ll let her know if I find her first.” She nodded and turned to head back down the stairs. Harry watched her disappear before shutting his door, placing an imperturbable charm and a few silencing charms upon it. He turned back towards his bed to see Ginny sitting up with the invisibility cloak bunched in front of her and holding her sides as she laughed even though he couldn’t hear anything. He quickly released the rest of his silencing charms to catch some of her pretty laughter. “Just what is so funny, Gin?” She calmed down slightly, wiping some tears from her eyes. “Your acting skills are remarkable.” She immediately started laughing again. He rolled his eyes playfully, pulling away his invisibility cloak before climbing back into bed. He pushed her to lie back down, and she continued to giggle quietly as he rested on top of her somewhat. “Well, I’m sure your acting skills will be just as good when you go talk with her later.” She placed a hand on the side of his face, smiling cheekily up at him. “Technically, I did go for a walk on the grounds because of a nightmare. It was just a very short walk within the grounds of Gryffindor Tower.” Harry laughed. “This is true.” She smiled at his laughter for a moment before silencing him with her lips, pulling his down onto hers so she could kiss him deeply. She felt his hands slide against the soft skin of her sides underneath her camisole. She mumbled against his lips reluctantly. “I should go though. I’ll meet you for breakfast?” Harry nodded slightly, kissing her thoroughly a second time. Her hands in his hair and her amazing body lying comfortably underneath his made him want to change his mind about letting her go though. “Sure.” Ginny grudgingly pulled herself out from under him, grabbing the invisibility cloak on the way. She looked at his nightstand curiously. “Where did you put my wand?” He waved his wand, eliminating the invisibility charm on her wand so it became visible where it was lying on his nightstand still. “Oops.” She grabbed it before leaning over and kissing him on the lips gently. “Thanks. Love you.” He smiled. “Love you too.” He helped her leave his room without alerting anyone before he moved to get ready himself. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be getting into any trouble today, although he was sure that Dumbledore would probably appreciate the gray hairs he was probably giving Minerva. He chuckled to himself as he went to get into his shower. --------------------------- ------------------------------- Har ry was successful for once in keeping a low profile as he, Ron, and Hermione made it into the Great Hall for breakfast. That was until the one person who always seemed to notice him was suddenly sitting right next to him. “Hi, Harry.” Harry fought really hard to not roll his eyes at Romilda Vane. Ron wasn’t so controlled. Hermione shot her a look of disapproval, but otherwise kept quiet. She was just coming over to him like this because Ginny was off talking with Minerva somewhere. The only reason he tolerated her was because he had reluctantly placed her on the quidditch team. She was only a decent flyer, but her persistent and fight-to-the-death attitude (particularly what he had and still experienced from her regarding him) made her an excellent beater. Harry sighed. “Hi, Romilda.” Her dark eyes were sparkling back at him flirtatiously. With her dark eyes, long dark hair, and high cheek bones, he was sure that if she wore less make-up, didn’t dress so provocatively, and didn’t follow him around with her posse all the time, she might actually be pretty. Harry watched as she flipped her hair and ran her fingers along his arm on purpose before she spoke, “I made you these blueberry muffins in Muggle Studies yesterday afternoon, Harry. I thought you would like them.” Harry gave her a look with a distinct frown. “Thanks, but I’ve never liked muffins made from a box.” Ron looked at him skeptically with the hint of a smile (Harry was sure Ron had no idea what he had just said because he was still behind on anything muggle), but Hermione snorted into her pumpkin juice and continued to giggle slightly underneath her breath at his comment. Romilda looked incensed and was immediately defensive. “They were from a box, but I had to add stuff to it!” Harry shrugged, looking at her critically. “What? Water, vegetable oil, and an egg? Trust me, those additions do not make muffins taste good. Now, when you make them from scratch, I’ll be impressed. Besides…” He flicked his wand that no one had even seen him pull out, causing her muffins to show two distinct colors intermixing with one another– red and blue. Romilda blushed furiously. Harry merely continued as if he couldn’t tell, “…these are clearly doused in love potion. That’s the red color. And because you forgot to account for the amount of potion you included by adding less water, you had to use a spell to make the muffins actually fully cook themselves by getting rid of the excess moisture so the muffins didn’t burn in the oven. That’s the blue color. I don’t think it would be wise for me to eat any of those. Too much magic for one thing, but I’m also completely in love with Ginny, as I’ve told you many times before.” Harry continued grabbing his breakfast as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Ron and Hermione were trying in vain to hide their fits of hysterical laughter, using their hands to cover their mouths. Romilda was speechless and still gaping at Harry like a fool, struggling for something intelligent to say; her face had paled some, leaving her flush of embarrassment even more noticeable. She finally just narrowed her eyes at Harry and made a frustrated noise before grabbing her things and walking away quickly. Ron eyed him, still snickering some. “I don’t know anything about muggle muffins, but that was fantastic.” Hermione broke out of her giggles for only a moment, “Oh, Harry! ‘I don’t like muffins that come from a box!’ Honestly!” Harry gave Hermione a wry smile as he watched her laugh. “I used to make muffins from scratch all the time. They do taste ten times better. Too bad for Romilda though. She doesn’t appear to be that great of a cook so she’ll probably never be able to make anything from scratch.” Ron guffawed. “Just wait until Ginny finds out you can cook too. She’s going to be even more in love with you. She hates to cook because Mum makes her do it so much.” Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. “Ginny already knows. Harry’s told her basically everything about his life at the Dursleys, haven’t you, Harry?” Harry merely nodded, eating his breakfast. Ron started talking to him absently about quidditch, but Harry’s attention was unconsciously diverted to the Great Hall entrance when Ginny walked in. He had always thought she was beautiful, but after the almost year he had spent without her, she seemed to become even more so, growing into her amazing figure. Her red hair ran down to the middle of her back, she was a little curvier, her gorgeous chocolate brown eyes always sought him out, and her smile could make his day instantly brighter. He gave her a devilish smile as she sat down next to him. “Hey you. How was the talk with McGonagall about what you were not doing?” Ginny smirked at him. “Fantastic. She even recommended a few people I could talk to about my nightmares if I wanted.” Ron frowned at his sister. “Just what behaviors were you not doing?” Ginny gave him a look when he seemed to be looking at Harry disdainfully. She already knew that he and Harry chose not to talk about their relationships in too much detail with each other, meaning Ron merely speculated as did Harry about them. However, unlike the boys, she and Hermione talked freely. “Exactly what you were not doing last night.” Ron nodded, still frowning. “Oh. Just checking.” Hermione smacked him lightly in his side. “Ronald, you are ALWAYS ‘just checking.’ Leave them alone for once. Harry doesn’t hound you.” Harry grinned wickedly. “Why? Do I need to, Hermione? I thought his Mum said he was a little slow with the ladies… Just say the word, and I’ll hex his parts off.” Ron immediately tried to reach over the table for Harry, but he missed. Hermione pulled her lanky boyfriend back into his seat, laughing and blushing slightly back at Harry. She answered him sternly even though she was smiling, “No, Harry. Thank you, but I can handle him myself.” Harry and Ginny were just laughing outright at the two of them. Ron was blushing, and he looked to the ceiling as he sighed. “Just you wait, Harry. That’s all I have to say.” Ginny shook her head at the two of them as they both looked at the other appraisingly, like they were going to start wrestling in a matter of seconds. “BOYS, please. We have to get to Transfiguration. McGonagall mentioned a surprise for this lesson today because we all leave for the holiday weekend this afternoon. I, for one, am going.” Harry shrugged, grabbing his things. “Let’s get going then. She’ll be mad if we’re late. We’re probably going to be now that I think about it.” They all made their way as quickly as possible to the Transfiguration classroom, dodging a student here and there. They eventually made it to the room only a few minutes late. However, it didn’t really matter because everyone was focused on the front of the room where McGonagall was talking happily with a woman holding an approximately 7 month old baby boy who was looking around at the many faces curiously. Harry smiled instantly, dropping Ginny’s hand and making his way quickly to the front of the room. He heard a bunch of people in the room gasp when the baby boy started reaching out towards Harry happily and making noise, which caused the baby’s hair to change from sandy-brown to black and the baby’s eyes from pale blue to Harry’s vibrant green. Andromeda laughed as she handed over the squirming child to his godfather. “We thought it would take a bit longer than THAT to get him to change for the class, Harry! He only does it randomly yet.” Harry picked up his godson, who had started talking animatedly in baby language to him about whatever was on his mind. He already could tell that the child would be like Remus, completely inquisitive about everything in the world. Harry laughed. “Nah, he likes the color of my eyes. He always changes for me.” Professor McGonagall smiled and addressed the class. Ginny, Hermione, and Ron had come up to see little Teddy as Harry held him, but the others still had no idea what was going on. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Andromeda Tonks and her grandson, Teddy Lupin. Now, I know we are going to start human transfiguration when we get back from break, but I thought it would be a treat for you to see a true metamorphamagus in action. Andie has been kind enough to bring him by, and as you can see from his reaction to his godfather, whom he sees quite often, his changes have started to progress. Now, who can give us a breakdown about metamorphamagi?” Hermione raised her hand, even though she was standing in front of the classroom. McGonagall gave hair a knowing smile, “Yes, Hermione?” Hermione pursed her lips. “Well, typically, you have to be born a metamorphamagi. However, the wizarding population has not seen much of the ability for a long time, and it is considered very rare. The last known line to still carry the ability somewhat regularly is the Blacks, which could end here with Teddy Lupin.” McGonagall nodded with a smile. “Yes, 5 points to Gryffindor. Now, oh, yes Padma?” Padma Patil looked confused, as did some of the rest of the class. “Pardon, Professor, but I thought the Black line ended with Sirius Black? Wasn’t that Harry’s godfather?” Harry sighed, and Ginny sneakily took Teddy away from him in his distraction. She and Hermione were now playing with the baby, trying not to get downhearted about where the discussion may go– to Tonks and Remus. Harry gave his godson a small smile and watched amusedly as Teddy looked back at him slightly panicked, probably wondering why Harry had given him away to the girls, before he turned back to the class. “Yes, he was my godfather, and he was the last official Black, but there were Black woman who married out, including Andromeda and her two sisters.” Andromeda placed a comforting hand on Harry’s shoulder. “My sisters have not been known for their kindness. One has been killed in the war–most know of whom I speak so I shall say no more about her. The other is Narcissa Malfoy. Her son, Draco Malfoy, who chose to finish his schooling up at Durmstrang, does not have the ability, but he may pass it on because he does possess Black blood. I, of course, had a daughter who…” McGonagall finished for her as Andie paused looking slightly stricken, “…who had the ability and who has now passed it on to her son, Teddy Lupin.” Everyone turned to watch the little baby boy who was giggling happily with Hermione and Ginny. Hermione helped him sit up so he could look back at the class. He gazed at everyone quizzically for a moment before his hair changed to bright blue, and he smiled sweetly as everyone laughed. -------------------------- ------------------------------------ Ginny flopped unceremoniously onto Harry’s bed in Ron’s room after the four of them made their way upstairs at the Burrow to drop off their satchels for the holiday break. “Merlin, it’s good to be home.” Hermione similarly fell onto Ron’s bed. “I can’t believe it’s Christmas Break already. It seems like it came so fast.” Both boys sat with their respective girlfriends. Harry sighed as he threw his satchel in the corner. “I don’t feel that way. This is the first time I’ve just been worried about school. Time almost drags.” Ginny looked at him disapprovingly. “I, for one, am glad you no longer have anyone coming to kill you, Harry.” Harry chuckled and leaned over to kiss her lips softly. “I’m quite happy about that myself, Gin.” Ron rolled his eyes. “Do you two ever stop snogging?” Ginny gave him a severe look, and her wand arm twitched. “You call THAT a snog? Harry and I can show you a real snog if you want.” Harry took Ginny’s hands into his own before she could really go for her wand. He had seen her jinx all of her brothers for less than Ron’s comment before. “Gin, he just likes to give you a hard time.” Hermione gave Ron a look. “He gives you both a hard time, Harry. Lay off, Ron.” Then, she smiled wickedly at him. “You could just snog me instead, you know. Who cares about them anyway? I wouldn’t mind.” Ron immediately turned toward his girlfriend with a devilish smile. “Really? Hmmm, I might just do that.” As Ron began thoroughly snogging Hermione, both Harry and Ginny blanched. Ginny looked like she was going to either hex Ron or be sick. Harry did the only thing he could to get the disgusting display behind him from his mind and pulled Ginny’s lips against his. Ginny was easily distracted by this, and she giggled when she noticed Harry wave his wand at his side, suddenly causing an orange curtain to appear and separate them from seeing Ron’s bed and whatever action that may be taking place at all. Ginny wasn’t thinking about anything else as Harry’s lips started dancing down her neck slowly, but the mood was ruined when she randomly heard Ron’s horrified and confused voice, “Oi! Where in the bloody hell did that come from?” Ginny started giggling, especially when they heard a distinct smack from the other side of the curtain, and Harry whispered in her ear, “What a mood killer. For us, and Hermione too.” Ginny started laughing outright so Harry began to tickle her sides. He loved watching her laugh. When Harry finally let her have a moment to breathe, he realized that the curtain was gone, and both Ron and Hermione were looking at the both of them with their eyebrows raised. Harry gave them his best innocent expression. “What?” Ron and Hermione just started laughing. Ginny sobered up enough and wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck from behind as she and Harry watched the two of them laugh together on Ron’s bed. It didn’t really matter what exactly they found to be funny. It was just nice to see the both of them so happy. She whispered in Harry’s ear, “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Harry turned his head to see Ginny’s gorgeous chocolate brown eyes sparkling at him. He grinned at her. “What’s amazing, beautiful?” She cocked her head sweetly, giving him a pretty smile. “Being happy again. Watching them finally together. Being here with you.” Harry turned in her arms and wrapped his own around her back. He nuzzled her nose gently. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Ginny closed the distance and enjoyed feeling his lips on hers. It was moments like these that made her realize that everything was finally ok. In fact, things were just perfect. She wasn’t even aware of how the laughter in the background had stopped. “Ugh. You four are absolutely revolting. No wonder Mum told me to come and get you all for dinner. My eyes are burned forever.” Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately started laughing at the interruption, which left Harry too distracted to stop Ginny from pulling out her wand and flinging a particular hex at the door. The results just made the three of them laugh harder. The sight of George howling in pain, jumping up and down, cursing loudly, and covered in bat bogies made Ginny smile contently. Did she mention Harry’s arms were still around her, and he was in love with her? Yes. Things were going to be just fine. |
| Reviews 18 |
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