|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: pottervader Story: Harry Potter and the Prophesied Six Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: WIP Reviews: 15 Words: 374,905
Disclaimer: This story was made without any intention of profiting from it. Only the original characters and the plot are mine. The rest of it belongs to JKR. A/N: Here’s the next one. It’s sort of a transition chapter. I hope you guys won’t be too disappointed with it. The next one may take a while since I won’t be able to write for a few days while I attend a convention. Please review. Rose lay down on her bed with a dreamy smile. The waning day (June 21st) had turned out so wonderful. She and Neville had finally talked and discovered that they liked each other as more than friends. Then they had kissed. She still got goose bumps and butterflies in her stomach thinking of that first kiss. His lips had been so warm and soft and he had been gentle as he held her. The kisses that followed were even better. She decided she liked kissing Neville better than kissing Ti, which pointed out to her that Ti had never been more than a friend to her. She felt relieved when Ti had not shown any bitterness as he congratulated them on their new relationship. She just didn’t like it when Romilda Vane gave her own congratulations with a smug look on her face. She hoped Ti knew what he was getting into by getting close to that witch. Rose steered her thoughts from Romilda’s progressing relationship with her friend back to Neville, her new boyfriend. She giggled into her pillow. A small part of her still couldn’t believe it. They had talked all afternoon as they sat by the lake, sharing little things about each other they had not known before and exchanging kisses many times. His arms felt so strong embracing her. She felt so safe in those arms. Her only worry was her parents’ reaction to her dating again after what had happened with Ti. Her father had gone home right after the awarding of the tournament’s winners to spend some time with her twin siblings and mother before coming back Sunday morning to accompany the students on the train ride home. So he was still unaware of the latest development in her life. Still, they always seemed to like Neville whenever he came over for their training sessions and Neville’s parents were their friends. So hopefully, they wouldn’t mind their dating. In the back of her mind, Rose hoped they would eventually progress beyond boyfriend and girlfriend. Overall, it had been the best day of her life so far. She soon fell asleep feeling that nothing could go wrong now that her dream had come true. For a while, she was floating in a peaceful sleep. Suddenly, she found herself in a large room filled with the bodies of many wizards and witches bearing various ugly wounds amongst overturned rickety wooden chairs. Some of the bodies were dressed in lime-green robes with an emblem of a crossed wand and bone on the chest. Blood was splattered on the floor and walls. She felt herself move forward past the body of a plump witch beside a desk marked INQUIRIES and through a set of double doors. The narrow corridor beyond was lit by crystal bubbles filled with candles floating up near the ceiling and lined with doors that were mostly ajar. From what Rose could see as she moved past the doors, unable to stop, the rooms had bodies in them as well. She traveled up a flight of stairs at the end of the corridor. She saw a sign on the landing that said ‘Creature-Induced Injuries’. Something then clicked in her head. She was in St. Mungo’s! A clock on the wall showed the time to be two in the morning and the date to be June 22. She saw more bodies in the next floor. Blood was everywhere, on the floor, on the walls, even on the ceiling. Then she saw several hooded individuals several feet in front of her, casting hexes through doors. One of them turned around and Rose saw the familiar mask of a Death Eater. The Death Eater pointed his wand in Rose’s direction and yelled out, “Crucio!” The memory of the time Bellatrix Lestrange used that curse on her came forth in Rose’s mind and she woke up screaming. She sat up, feeling the sweat soaking her pajamas and her heart beating wildly in her chest. Feeling the urge to throw up, she hurriedly climbed off her bed to head for the loo. As she stood by her bed, her legs shook so badly that she collapsed onto the floor. Unable to resist her heaving stomach, she threw up on the floor. “Rose?” she heard Ginny call, “What’s wrong?” Her best friend came up to her and knelt down beside her. “Are you sick?” Rose feebly shook her head, her breath coming in gasps. “N-No…..vision….St. Mungo’s…..attack….two this morning.” She threw up again. Rose could feel Ginny rubbing her back in a soothing manner as she asked, “What’s that? You had another vision? About St. Mungo’s?” Rose nodded her head but couldn’t say anything else. Rose leaned her head against her friend. Ginny embraced her as she vanished the pile of sick on the floor then conjured a glass of water, “Here, drink this. It may make you feel better.” Rose drank the water gratefully. “Thanks.” She took a deep breath. “Ginny, I saw the Death Eaters attacking St. Mungo’s. From the clock I saw there, it’s about to happen in a few minutes. We’ve got to warn someone.” Ginny nodded. “Just a minute, I’ll tell Harry then we’ll go to Professor Dumbledore.” Her eyes became unfocused just like the times she would be talking to Harry through their Bond. After a few seconds, her eyes looked back at Rose. “All right, Harry will meet us in the common room. He knows the password to the Headmaster’s office. Can you get up?” Rose nodded. “Yeah, I think so. The water helped. Let me get the Marauder’s Map. We don’t want to run into Filch on our way there.” She got to her feet with Ginny’s help and rummaged in her trunk for the worn piece of parchment. They put on night robes over their pajamas and headed out of their room. Luckily, Melissa, their other room mate, had not been disturbed from her sleep by their movements. In the common room, they found Harry already waiting for them; also wearing a night robe over his pajamas. He came over and embraced Rose. “Are you all right, sis?” Harry asked his voice full of concern. He pulled away and looked down at her. “You look a bit pale.” “I’ll be fine, Harry,” Rose said, gently moving out of his arms. “Let’s get going. We need to make sure the professor can get the Order or some Aurors to St. Mungo’s to stop the attack.” She led the way out of the portrait hole. As they walked to reach the area of the Headmaster’s office, Rose gave Harry and Ginny a condensed version of her vision, omitting the part about the Death Eater casting the Cruciatus curse while pointing his wand her way. Using the Map, they managed to avoid Filch, though it cost them some time. As soon as they were standing in front of the gargoyle guarding the moving stairs that lead to the Headmasters office, Harry said, “Mars bar.” The gargoyle moved aside, allowing them to mount the stairs. Rose’s eyebrow rose upon hearing the password. “He really likes any sort of sweet, doesn’t he?” she asked. “Professor Dumbledore?” Harry asked grinning, “Yeah, he does. He told me once that there are some Muggle sweets he likes as much as Wizarding ones.” When they stood in front of the door, they heard Dumbledore tell them, “Come in, Harry, Rose, Ginny.” The urgency of their mission kept them from wondering again how he knew they were there. They entered the office. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, reading some papers. Rose saw Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix familiar on his perch in the corner. Dumbledore asked them, “What brings the three of you into my office at this late hour?” Rose said, “Professor, I’ve had another vision. I saw Death Eaters attacking the patients and healers in St. Mungo’s. A clock I saw in the vision had the date today and the time as two in the morning.” “Oh dear,” Dumbledore said, “Please sit down, all of you. Rose, tell me more of what you saw in the vision.” Dumbledore looked grave after Rose finished her narration. He looked at a clock on a nearby wall. It said forty-nine minutes past one. “Based on the time, I have just a few minutes to get some members of the Order together,” he said. “Hopefully, we can minimize the damage.” He walked up to the fireplace which was in a corner of the office. He pointed his wand and said, “Incendio”. He then threw a pinch of Floo powder from a pot beside the fireplace onto the flames. When the fire turned green, he called out “Potter Manor!” then thrust his face into the flames. After a while, Harry, Ginny and Rose heard him talking to someone, probably James. After that, Dumbledore used the Floo several times more, calling out addresses that were unfamiliar to the three Gryffindor students except for one: 12 Grimmauld Place. Rose remembered then that Sam was still on maternity leave and would be for another month. At least she wouldn’t be one of the victims. Once Dumbledore was done, he turned around and spoke to them, “I’ve summoned several people to help, including James and Sirius. They will Apparate close to St. Mungo’s and meet me there. Sirius will notify the Aurors before joining us. There is nothing more the three of you can do. You can all remain here or go back to Gryffindor Tower. If you return to the tower, I will let you know when I get back.” Harry stood up. “Professor,” he said, “take us with you. We can help.” “Yes, Professor,” Ginny said, standing up as well. “Please, let us go with you.” Rose’s eyes widened but the other two teens didn’t notice. She felt a rising panic as she remembered all the blood she had seen in the vision. She didn’t want to see it for real. “I’m sorry, Harry, Ginny,” Dumbledore said, “I know you can help but not tonight.” “Please, Professor,” Harry said, “we can handle them, like in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.” “Not tonight, my boy,” Dumbledore said, “It was unavoidable in those instances since you were already at the scene of the attack. It’s different this time, especially since you’ll be inside a building where you’re not sure who you might meet around the next corner. You might accidentally curse someone else. You still need training in such situations. So for now, it is best that you and Ginny stay here. You can wait here for me here if you want.” After several seconds, Harry relented and he and Ginny sat back down. Rose breathed a sigh of relief which drew curious glances from Harry and Ginny. Dumbledore nodded, “Good. Do not worry. I’m sure we will need your help soon. Now, I need to travel fast. Fawkes!” The phoenix flew from his perch to fly above the Headmaster. “Professor,” Rose said, “good luck!” Dumbledore nodded again. He grabbed hold of Fawkes’ tail and, in a flash of flame and light, he was gone. Silence descended on the office after the Headmaster left. Rose looked at her brother and best friend who were seated side by side in a fluffy chair. Harry looked angry, probably over being kept out of the fight. Ginny took his hand and was rubbing her fingers over his knuckles, trying to soothe him. She’s probably feeling his anger through their bond, Rose thought. No one spoke during the entire time they waited. After what seemed like hours but was really only three-quarters of one, they heard the door to Dumbledore’s study open. The three teens stood up and turned toward the door. James came through the door, looking as dirty and tired as the night he had gone to Lisa Turpin’s house. He walked quickly up to them and embraced Rose, causing a feeling of foreboding to rise up in her. Harry and Ginny moved over to them. “Dad,” Rose asked as she returned his embrace, “what happened?” James sighed and pulled back. “Well, we got there just in time, thanks to your warning. It was bad but could have been worse. The hospital was heavily damaged but it’s still standing. If we hadn’t arrived to help, I doubt it would have been.” “Dad,” Harry said, “what about the patients and Healers?” James shook his head as he replied, “The Death Eaters had already been there for more than ten minutes when we arrived so there were already many bodies around. I don’t know how many. We started dueling Death Eaters as soon as we saw them but when they realized someone was fighting back, they Disapparated. Albus sent me back to tell you what happened but he stayed to help fix some of the damage and see to the dead and injured.” The three teens’ faces paled on hearing that. They could imagine the scene based on what Rose had told them about her vision. “There’s going to be an outcry against the Ministry once news of the attack leaks out and the Prophet reports it,” James said. “There was no one watching the place. Not one Auror was assigned there. I doubt Fudge will survive this one.” “Good,” Harry said. “Then maybe we can finally have a Minister who can really fight this war.” “I hope so, son,” James said. “We really need one now with these worsening attacks.” He looked at the three of them. “Well, you three better get back to your dorms and get some sleep. You still have one day here before you get to go home. I’ll be heading home since your Mum will probably be worried.” He embraced all three teens. They bid him goodnight and returned to the Tower in silence. Once they arrived, Harry and Ginny didn’t go up to their respective dorms. Instead, they sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace and wrapped their arms around each other. Rose looked at them in envy. She looked up the stairs to the boys’ dorms, wishing Neville was there to comfort her like her brother and best friend were doing for each other. She sighed and sat down on another couch. She was a bit surprised to find Harry and Ginny had already fallen asleep. Sighing again, she lay down on the couch and fell into an uneasy sleep. ****************** Harry woke up the following morning feeling a bit stiff. Looking down, he wasn’t surprised to see Ginny nestled up against him. He breathed in her familiar scent and tightened his arms around her. She in turn snuggled up closer to him. Harry looked at the clock set on the fireplace mantle. It was half past eight. Looking around, he saw Rose asleep on another couch. Otherwise, the common room was empty. It appeared the students of his House were either having a lie in this morning or were already having breakfast. Then, Harry heard a whimper and looked around again. Rose was tossing and turning as she slept, soft whimpers and words coming from her. “No...Stop…No more…” she whimpered. Harry carefully maneuvered himself from under Ginny and laid her slowly on the couch, trying not to wake her. Once he had extricated himself, he walked over to Rose and knelt down beside her. “Rose,” he called softly as he gently shook her, “Rose, wake up, sis,” Rose blearily opened her eyes after a few seconds. “W-what...Harry?” she said. “Sorry, you were having a nightmare,” Harry said. Rose slowly sat up. “I was? Oh yeah, I guess so. I was seeing the vision again.” Tears started to form in her eyes. “I’ve never seen so much blood, Harry. All those people I saw get hexed, a few of them seemed familiar from that time Mum gave birth to the twins. Then…then, one of them turned my way and cast the Cruciatus. I remembered what it felt like being under that curse and woke up screaming.” “It’s all right, Rose,” Harry said, “I doubt they could see you in your visions. Why did you seem relieved when Dumbledore refused to let us go with him?” Rose hung her head as tears started to run down her cheeks. “I didn’t want to see all that for real. Don’t hate me for being such a coward, Harry”. Harry sat down beside her and took her in his arms, holding her close. “Shh, don’t say that, Rose,” he said, rocking her. “It doesn’t make you a coward. It just shows that you’re a good person. Only the vilest, evil people would like seeing blood splashed all over.” As he continued to hold his crying sister, Harry felt Ginny awaken. She looked over at them. “What’s wrong, Harry?” Ginny asked. “Why is Rose crying?” “Rose had a nightmare about the attack on St. Mungo’s,” he replied. “One of the Death Eaters cast the Cruciatus while pointing his wand in her direction and she remembered being cursed with that one during the attack on Diagon Alley. She didn’t want to go there last night and see everything she saw in the vision up close.” “Oh no, how awful,” Ginny said. She came over to sit on Rose’s other side and started to rub her back. “I can understand that. I guess it was good that Dumbledore refused to take us.” “I guess so,” Harry said, “Still, if she had told us she didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t have forced her.” “I doubt she would have refused to go, Harry,” Ginny said. “She wouldn’t want to be seen as a coward.” “That’s what she said,” Harry said, “I tried to tell her that not wanting to see that marks her as a good person, not a coward.” “That was very good, love,” Ginny said, smiling at him. “You are a very good brother.” They then heard footsteps coming from the stairs to the boys’ dormitories. A few seconds later, Neville came into view. He saw them and hurried over, a frown on his face. “What happened?” Neville asked. “Why’s Rose crying?” Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance before Harry replied quietly, “She had a vision last night about St. Mungo’s being attacked. She saw a lot of awful things and remembered being under the Cruciatus last Christmas.” Neville’s eyes widened before a grim expression settled on his face. Ginny moved aside and Neville sat down beside Rose and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He almost fell off the couch when Rose suddenly pulled away from Harry and threw her arms around him, still sobbing. Neville closed his arms around her and held her close to him, gently stroking her hair. Harry and Ginny exchanged another glance and decided it was safe to leave Rose with Neville. Harry caught Neville’s eye and motioned with his head toward the stairs, indicating that they were going to up to their respective dorms to change. Neville nodded his head before kissing Rose on the forehead. When Harry came back down several minutes later, Rose was still in Neville’s arms but seemed to be asleep. Ginny was still in the shower. “She fell asleep after you two left,” Neville whispered. “So far, she seems peaceful enough.” “Good,” Harry said softly, “We’ll let her rest a little more before waking her up so she can change.” When Ginny came back down ten minutes later, they woke Rose up. She was calmer and felt better. “Thank you,” she said, looking up at Neville. She wrapped her arms around him again, this time more slowly, and kissed him firmly. Harry turned his back. He could feel Ginny smirk. “Oh shut it, you,” he told her over the bond. “What?” she asked innocently. “I didn’t say anything.” “No, but you thought it,” Harry said, a bit annoyed. “I’m not going to stop them doing something we would do.” Ginny patted his arm before drawing his head down for a firm kiss of their own that left him breathless. When they pulled back, they saw Neville and Rose watching them with identical grins on their faces. “Come on, Rose,” Ginny said, pulling the other redhead away from the boys, “You should get changed.” After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Harry said, “I guess that dream of yours came true after all.” He referred to the conversation they had where Neville revealed how he wanted to run his fingers through Rose’s dark red hair. Neville blushed as he looked down, “Yeah, I guess it did.” Harry felt his cheeks heat up, uncomfortable with embarrassing his friend. “Look, Neville, I don’t want to be a prat like Ron is whenever he sees me and Ginny snogging. Just take care of Rose and I won’t say anything whenever the two of you get intimate. Just, um, just don’t get carried away or let it go too far yet. I don’t want to be an uncle yet.” Neville’s eyes widened, “Err, no…no way, Harry. Don’t worry about that. I definitely don’t want to be a father yet.” They settled again into an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before Neville asked, “Harry, just what did Rose see in her vision? I didn’t get a chance to ask her.” Harry sighed. “Maybe we can wait for the others. I feel sick just thinking about it. I want to do it just once.” Neville nodded and they started a game of Wizarding Chess while they were waiting for the others to come down. Harry called Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, and Ti over to their special area as each came down to the common room. Ginny and Rose both came down with Maggie. Once they were all there, Harry cast a spell his Dad had taught him before to prevent anyone from overhearing them. He then told them what had happened and they were quite shocked, especially Ti. He’s probably was thinking about what would have happened if Sam had already been back at the hospital working, Harry thought. They all comforted Rose. Hermione told her that it was terrible she had to see that. “Thanks everyone,” Rose said quietly as she leaned against Neville, “One good thing is that I was able to warn Dumbledore so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.” “That’s the only consolation,” Neville said. “Do you think you’ve trained enough with Mrs. Thunderheart so you could get visions on your own?” Hermione asked. Rose thought about it for a few seconds before replying, “Maybe, Hermione. The Order sure hasn’t had any luck intercepting attacks before. Maybe I can try something this summer.” “If you want to try that, Rose,” Harry said, “we should ask Dad and Mum first.” “All right,” Rose said. “We can talk with them about it tomorrow night after we get home.” Just then a growl sounded off from her stomach. “Are you sure she’s your sister, Harry?” Maggie asked. “From that growl, it sounds more like she’s a Weasley.” Everyone laughed at that, even the four Weasleys as they got up and headed for the portrait hole. “Hey,” Ron said grinning, “she’s always been an honorary one since we were babies, considering how close she and Ginny have been. Of course, in a few years, Harry will be an official one.” Harry looked at Ron in surprise. Maybe he was maturing after all. When they reached the Great Hall, they noticed it was noisier than usual with students paying little attention to the food. Dean showed them why when he shoved a copy of the Daily Prophet in Harry’s hands. The others crowded around him to read the paper. The headline read: St. Mungo’s attacked by Death Eaters! Wizengamot calls for Minister to resign! By Francis Upton At a quarter to two this morning, the calm of St. Mungo’s was broken when more than two dozen Death Eaters Apparated into the hospital and began attacking anyone they saw. No patient or healer was spared as the masked wizards and witches ran rampant through the ancient edifice. It was the fortunate and unexpected arrival of Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore and several unidentified wizards and witches that put an end to this reign of terror. Professor Dumbledore and his companions managed to drive the followers of You-Know-Who out of the hospital. The unknown companions of the Headmaster left when Aurors led by Senior Auror Sirius Black started arriving. Professor Dumbledore remained behind to assist the late arriving authorities but refused to make any comments. To the outrage of this reporter, it came to light that there were not one Auror had been on duty at one of the most prominent buildings in Wizarding Britain. How could the Ministry fail to see that it would be a target for You-Know-Who’s followers who have no respect for life and revel in causing death and destruction? “This was a monstrous example of negligence,” said Alphonse Douglas, one of the patients who survived the attack. “You-Know-Who’s followers just waltzed in like they were regular patients before they started hexing everyone around. It’s disgraceful.” “The Ministry should be held accountable,” said Healer Matthias Yale as he was treated for several spell burns by one of his colleagues. After interviewing some of the survivors, this reporter went to the Ministry to try to find someone to explain the lack of security measures. I ran into Elphias Doge, Graciela Marchbanks and Maria Robertson, prominent senior members of the Wizengamot as they entered the Ministry and asked them for their thoughts on this latest attack. “It’s a disgrace,” Mr. Doge said, “I can’t believe Cornelius wasn’t aware what a target St. Mungo’s would be.” “After the debacle at Diagon Alley and the horrendous attack on the Hogwarts students in Hogsmeade, this has to be the last straw,” Madam Robertson said. “The Minister is clearly not the man to run a war against You-Know-Who,” Madam Marchbanks said, “We will be calling for a vote of no confidence in the Minister.” “That’s right,” Mr. Doge said, “Hopefully, we can elect someone who will be more active and successful.” The rest of the article was list of the casualties in the attack and a note of condolence to the relatives of the dead from the paper’s editor. Harry pulled back from the paper. “Well, look’s like it’s over for Fudge.” He sounded and felt quite elated by that. “Good riddance,” Rose said, “After what he and that Umbridge person did to Dad, I hope they send him to Azkaban.” “I doubt that, Rose,” Hermione said, “Incompetent leadership isn’t a crime, especially one that carries a sentence in Azkaban.” “Well it should,” Rose said, “Because of his useless policies, the Death Eaters were able to attack three high profile areas of our world, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people.” “Not to mention all the other nighttime attacks that they haven’t been able to stop,” Maggie said. “Mum and Dad complained when we were home during Easter that they were just guarding the Ministry and Diagon Alley. Only a few Aurors were being sent to investigate the attacks on villages.” “Well, hopefully Fudge’s replacement will do better than that,” Neville said. “One could only hope,” Ron said. “Come on, let’s eat already.” After breakfast, they separated. Fred and George remained in the Great Hall to talk with Lee Jordan. Maggie and Ti went off to spend time with their roommates. Hermione dragged Ron with her back to Gryffindor Tower to pack their trunks. Neville and Rose went off to visit the greenhouses and probably find a quiet place to snog. Harry and Ginny decided to take a walk around the castle and ended up snogging in various alcoves. The following morning, the school was in chaos as the students rushed to finish packing. After breakfast, the students went around saying farewell to many of their friends before heading for Hogsmeade station. Harry, Ginny, Rose, Neville, Ron and Hermione occupied one compartment, each couple seated close together. They spent the trip playing Exploding Snap and napping. As they neared London, Neville asked, “So Harry, what are the New Marauders going to do this summer?” “Well, we continue our dueling practice for one,” Harry said. “Gin and I have our second forms down. We can do a little more practice there. I think Dad and Professor Dumbledore have a few new things to show us. I think we should start meeting again after two weeks.” “Good,” Hermione said, “I can spend some time with my parents.” “Just be careful, Hermione,” Ron said, taking hold of her hands. “No place is truly safe, especially Muggle areas.” “I’ll have my wand with me at all times, Ron,” Hermione said. “Don’t worry.” “I’ll ask Dad and Bill about placing wards around your home, Hermione,” Harry said. “Thanks, Harry,” Hermione said. “That will be reassuring when I leave my parents.” When they arrived at King’s Cross Station, they saw many Aurors around the platform. “Looks like the Ministry is finally getting their heads out of their arses,” Ron said. “Well, better late than never,” Harry said. “I don’t think it’ll save Fudge’s arse though.” “We’d better get off and find our parents,” Hermione said. The six Gryffindors dragged their trunks out of their compartment and exited from the train. Hermione immediately found her parents and dragged Ron with her to talk with them. He returned to the others a few minutes later after kissing Hermione goodbye. It took them only a couple of minutes later to spot the Weasley and Potter adults and Bill standing side by side. They greeted the children with hugs and handshakes. “Oh thank goodness,” Molly said, “It’s a madhouse here with the tight security the Aurors have instituted.” “Well, at least they finally decided to do something,” Arthur said. “Yes, better late than never,” James said, unknowingly echoing his son’s early comment. “Sirius is in charge of this operation. He should have all the bases covered.” Bill grinned and said, “On a lighter note, I hear congratulations are in order to Gin-gin and Harry for winning their year levels in the dueling tournament.” “Oh my, yes,” Molly said, “I almost forgot with all the excitement around here.” She pulled Harry and Ginny into an enormous hug, preventing Ginny from doing more than glare at Bill for using one of her hated childhood pet names. “Congratulations, you two.” The two teens muttered their thanks as they accepted Molly’s hug. They were released after a few seconds so that Bill, Arthur and Lily could give their own congratulations. Fred and George came up to the group then and were also hugged by their mother. “Oh my boys,” she said, “Another two out of school. I’m so proud of you.” “Thanks, Mum,” the twins said together. “Now we’ll just wait for your N.E.W.T.s results then you can apply at the Ministry,” Molly said. “But we’re not…” Fred started. “…applying there, Mum,” George said. “What!” Molly said, “You most certainly are. I’ll not have any of that nonsense about a joke shop.” “Molly,” Arthur said, “why don’t we discuss this at home?” Sirius came up to them then dressed in his Auror robes, putting an end to that discussion. He greeted the adults and teens. “I’m glad you kids are all right. Congratulations, Harry and Ginny. I knew you’d win that tournament.” “Thanks, Sirius,” Harry said. “Yeah, thanks,” Ginny said. “Where’s Sam?” “I told Sam to stay home with Lizzy,” Sirius said, “After the attack on St. Mungo’s, I wouldn’t put it past You-Know-Who to try something here. Do any of you six know where Ti is?” “He spent the train ride back with his dorm mates in another compartment,” Ginny said. “He should be looking for us now. Oh, here he comes and Maggie’s with him.” Ti and Maggie came up running up to them. Ti gave Sirius a one-arm hug and asked, “Sirius, where’s Sam?” “I thought it best for her to remain at home today,” Sirius said, “I don’t want to risk her being here if something happened. She was quite frantic about her fellow healers when she heard about the attack. I had to give her a calming potion.” “I can understand,” Lily said. “Would you like me to pop over later and make sure she and the baby are okay, Sirius?” “I would appreciate it, Lils,” Sirius said. “Now, I think congratulations are also in order for you, Ti. It’s great that you won the third year level in the tournament.” “Thanks, Sirius,” Ti said, grinning at him. “It was great to do it, though I wish I didn’t have to beat my friend.” “Well, it was all in the name of fair play. You deserved to win,” Sirius said. He turned to the Potters. “Lils, can you and James to take Ti home? I have to get back to the Ministry once the station is cleared of students and parents to file a report.” “Of course we will, Sirius,” James said, “We’d be happy to. We haven’t seen Sam and Lizzy since Easter anyway.” “Neville,” Sirius said to the other boy, “You and your sister will go to Grimmauld Place with Ti. Your parents are both on duty in Diagon Alley at the moment. One of them may pick you up later tonight. Oh, I think we should congratulate Maggie as well. I understand you won in the second year level, young lady.” Maggie looked down as she blushed, “Thanks, Mr. Black. I was just lucky, I guess.” “Luck, nothing,” Sirius said. “Your parents are talented Aurors so I expect their children to be as talented. It’s a pity Neville had to go against Harry. Otherwise, you may have won as well, eh Neville?” Just then he noticed Neville and Rose holding hands. “Now wait a minute. Aren’t you two standing just too close to each other, Rosie? And holding hands at that?” The other four adults looked at the two teens. “Rose?” James asked, “Care to explain?” “Oh all right, Dad,” Rose said, “We were going to tell you later anyway. Neville and I just started dating.” “Isn’t it a little too soon, sweetie?” Lily asked, “Just two months after breaking up with Ti?” She didn’t mention Lisa for which everyone was grateful. “It may seem that way, Mum,” Rose said, “But we found out that we’ve liked each other as more than friends for quite some time now, even before I dated Ti and he, um, started dating Lisa. We just didn’t think the other had similar feelings.” “So how did you get together?” James asked. “You two didn’t seem this close during the tournament. I certainly didn’t notice anything different with you this morning when I saw you in Dumbledore’s office.” “Well Dad,” Rose said, “We’ve been spending time together after the Hogsmeade attack, usually studying together. The Saturday before the tournament, we had a bit of a misunderstanding.” “What kind of misunderstanding was it?" Lily interrupted her. “Nothing big, Mum,” Rose said. “Suffice it to say that we weren’t talking much to each other. Yesterday, we finally talked it over while we were at the Quidditch Pitch and fixed it. Then Neville asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted.” “I see,” James said as he fixed his gaze on Neville, causing the boy to shift uneasily. “I assume Frank has given you ‘The Talk’, young man?” Neville’s eyes widened, “Err, yes sir. He told me the facts of life after I started dating Lisa.” “Good,” James said. “Because I don’t want to be a grandfather by my girl for a few more years.” “Don’t worry, Dad,” Harry said, grinning mischievously, “I’ve already had a little talk with Nev and he’s assured me that he doesn’t want to be a father yet.” Everybody laughed except for Neville and Rose who both blushed. “While we’re on the subject,” Lily said, “I don’t want to be a grandmother by you and Ginny either, Harry, even with you-know-what.” Harry gulped. “Of course not, Mum. Ginny and I aren’t ready to be parents yet. We haven’t gone much farther than kissing.” “Good,” James said, “Now let’s get out of here.”
|