Enjoy the chapter, I really like this one
Chapter 38: The Letters
That night was the first Quidditch practice since the holidays and Mr. Weasley’s death, it was nothing like any of their previous practices; Harry, Katie, Ginny, and Ron didn’t have their hearts in it at all. About a half-hour into practice, Hermione came to tell them that Harry, Ginny, and Ron, as well as herself, were wanted in Professor McGonagall’s office.
“Katie, do you think you could stay with the others and oversee practice for another half-hour?” Ron asked.
“Alright...” she replied.
“What’s this about?” asked Ginny nervously, as the four of them headed for the castle.
“I’m not sure,” replied Hermione, biting her lip. “She seemed a little upset, but said that there’s nothing to worry about.”
They were pretty quiet as they made their way in through the Entrance Hall and up the stairs to the Transfiguration department, all silently wondering what they could be wanted for. When they arrived at McGonagall’s office, Ron knocked lightly on the door.
“Come in,” they heard her say from inside.
The four of them walked in slowly. McGonagall gestured to four chairs that were placed in front of her desk.
“Take a seat, all of you,” she said she took a stack of envelopes from the shelf to the back of her desk. They sat down, their curiosity growing by each passing moment. McGonagall took a seat in her chair and eyed them all sorrowfully.
“Last summer, after the death of Sirius,” she began gently, “everyone in the Order became much more aware of how suddenly any of us could die. We all decided that we would write letters to our family and friends that were to be passed on in the case of our deaths.”
She stopped, giving them all a moment to take this in, before continuing, her voice quivering slightly.
“Arthur left letters to each of you. They arrived from the Burrow this evening.”
She untied a piece of string from around the stack of envelopes she had taken from the shelf behind her and handed them each an envelope. Each had their full name written on it in Mr. Weasley’s untidy scrawl. Harry felt his hands trembling slightly as he held his letter.
“That’s all I needed to say,” said McGonagall. “Hopefully they will provide you with some kind of comfort...”
They left for the common room, each of them waiting to open their letters. When they passed through the portrait hole, they found it bustling with chattering students.
“We should go upstairs,” Harry said quietly.
All four of them went to the boys dormitory, Ginny sat on Dean’s bed across from Ron and Hermione. Harry sat across from them on his own bed. They sat still for a moment before all opening the envelopes together. Harry unfolded his and slowly read it to himself.
Dear Harry,
If you’re reading this, then it must mean that my life has been taken “ hopefully I died for defending our cause, and nobody else was harmed in the process.
Harry felt a pain in his chest at these words.
I am proud to say that you have been like a son to me over the past five years. You have been an amazing friend to Ron, you have saved my daughter on more than one occasion, and you have shown amazing generosity to all of us and outstanding loyalty. I have watched you grow braver and stronger every day, and I have seen you face dangers that I could not bear to imagine myself. It is a privilege to have had you in my life. Please watch out for Ginny and Ron, as well as the rest of my family, as they will need you now more than ever. Though you may not have been born into our family, you are no less a Weasley than any of us “ with our without the red hair. I believe that you will live to see an end to these dark days, and I hope you will remember me when that time comes.
Sincerely,
Arthur Weasley
Harry could feel the tears forming behind his eyes as he folded his letter back up. He looked across the room to the other three; Hermione and Ginny had tears streaming silently down their faces, all three were still reading. He crossed the room and sat next to Ginny. Hermione finished hers first, then Ron, then Ginny. Nobody could really speak. After five minutes, Hermione cleared her throat to speak.
“He said that he’s always had a feeling Ron and I would be together one day, and he’s glad that he lived to see the day that we finally realized it ourselves,” she said.
“Yeah “ he wrote the same thing in my letter,” Ron added, smiling feebly. “Except he told me he was glad that I stopped being an idiot and got on with it.”
He stopped, wiping a tear from Hermione’s cheek.
“He also told me that I should treat you with all the respect in the world, because you deserve nothing less.”
Ginny began to sob, as though she had been holding it back the entire time.
“He said to me... that he had waited...all his life “ for a daughter,” she said, choking on her tears. “And that, the day I was born “ was one of the proudest days of his life.”
Harry put his arm around her while she continued to cry. He thought about what Mr. Weasley had written to him. It meant more to him than almost anything in the world that Mr. Weasley considered him to be a Weasley. There was nothing Harry could wish for more.
The following weeks proved that receiving the letters, after the initial sadness, had actually provided each of them with much comfort. It provided them with closure, and it also helped them to know that Mr. Weasley had been fully prepared to sacrifice himself for the Order. Harry only wished that he could have had this kind of solace after Sirius’s death.
It had been over two weeks since Snape’s return, but Alchemina was still teaching Potions “ and Harry had not seen or heard any sign of Snape himself. He woke up on the morning of their Quidditch match against Hufflepuff with a pounding headache; he had the same dream all night:
He was writing a letter to Mr. Weasley when Crookshanks jumped onto his desk and ran off with it into the fireplace, where Peter Pettigrew’s head appeared telling him that Sirius wanted his knife back. Harry had tried to explain that the blade had melted, and he hadn’t been able to find Sirius to give it to him anyway “ but Snape had interrupted by telling Harry he should be paying more attention in potions. Then Snape was dragged away by Death Eaters while Professor Alchemina danced through the common room with a werewolf “ he had woken up at this point, only to fall asleep again and dream the whole thing over again. Needless to say, he didn’t sleep much.
He put on his Quidditch robes and went downstairs to the Great Hall where the rest of the team was already seated, eating breakfast.
“You don’t look so good,” said Katie.
“I was having this weird dream “ it was terrible really. But I’m alright.”
“Good. Are you ready for the game?”
“Yeah “ it’s not like it matters much though “ the Quidditch Cup is ours unless Hufflepuff beat us by 580 points... and there hasn’t been a victory at Hogwarts by that much in decades. I don’t think we have much to worry about.”
“Might I remind you that Hufflepuff is the only team we’ve ever lost to while you’ve been playing seeker...?”
“Yeah “ but that was with dementors on the field and Cedric...” Harry said.
“Still...” Katie added.
“Alright, team,” Ron said standing up. “It’s time to head down to the pitch.”
They got up and followed Ron out of the Great Hall “ just as they were leaving the school, they were cut-off by Draco Malfoy.
“Well, well “ if it isn’t the fantastic seven,” he said icily. “I have to wonder why nobody’s managed to score against you this year Weasley...I mean last year you were the laughing stock of Quidditch.”
“Shut it, Malfoy,” Euan piped up.
Malfoy laughed.
“What “ are you all leaving the second-year to fight your battles...”
Harry just glared at Malfoy.
“I suppose you four are used to letting other people fight your battles...” he said looking at Ron, Ginny, Harry and Katie “After all that’s how you got that pathetic excuse for a wizard killed, isn’t it? It’s really thanks to you lot that Weasley’s dead “ because you were all too useless to defend yourselves...”
He was just trying to get under their skin.
“Malfoy, just be quiet...” Harry replied coldly.
“Why? Don’t like what I have to say? Because you know it’s true, Potter. The idiot died to save you. Waste if you ask me “ which is saying a lot because Arthur Weasley always was a waste of space anyway...” he growled.
Ginny started to cry. Harry felt his stomach give a sickening lurch. He told himself not to listen “ but he knew that Malfoy was saying everything that he believed himself, somewhere underneath it all. He was saying everything that everybody else had been so desperate to stop Harry from thinking.
Katie pulled her wand from her robes and pointed it directly at Malfoy.
“Shut your mouth now Malfoy. You don’t want to see what I’m willing at able to do to you, right now.”
He pulled his own wand out.
“You’re on, Bell.”
“Katie “ don’t waste your time on Malfoy...” Harry said, his voice tremoring, watching them nervously. The last thing they needed was for one of their players to get into a duel before the match.
“Looks like Potter’s afraid. Did I say something to upset you, Scarhead?”
“Shut up, Malfoy” Katie said.
“Going to let your girlfriend protect you, Potter?”
He turned to Katie.
“Just how much are you willing to sacrifice for your boyfriend, Bell?” he asked in a threatening voice.
Katie stared back at him, unblinkingly.
She opened her mouth to jinx him “ but Malfoy beat her to it.
“Crucio!”