Disclaimer: Are you people really as crazy as to think that I could try to pass this stuff off as my own?
Charlie Weasley had just finished up his rounds and was getting ready for bed. He had already fire-called his girlfriend in Romania and wished her a happy Valentine’s Day before he heard a voice out his window; then two voices.
The first was unclear, but the second he was sure he recognized. It was the voice of his little sister exclaiming, “You’re kidding!” from the top of the East Tower, which was two stories above his bedroom. The other voice came again, and although he couldn’t tell exactly what it was saying he knew now that it was Harry.
Not quite having the nerve to go see what his little sister was doing at two o’clock in the morning with her fiancé on top of an abandoned tower, Charlie snuck ahead and hid near the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, waiting for the right moment to reveal himself.
He didn’t have to wait long because Harry and Ginny came around the corner almost instantly. He let them walk past him before slipping out of the shadows and into the moonlight pouring from the windows.
Just before Ginny had spoken the password, Charlie put on a dignified voice and said, “I believe that answers are needed to the questions I’m going to give you two.”
Charlie watched as Harry tensed up and Ginny looked at him with an apologetic look. Ginny turned to her brother and said, “Good evening, Charlie.”
He looked his sister up and down, noting her flushed cheeks, ruffled hair, and twisted clothes, before accusing, “Evening? Ginny, it’s not even night! You should be saying, ‘good morning.’ to me! Why aren’t you two in your dorms?”
Charlie stared at Harry, blatantly trying to get an answer from him. “We were.....dinner... ..lost time...we just.....”
Ginny came to his rescue filling in all of the pauses. “We were having a nice romantic dinner, we lost track of time and we just saw how late it was, so we came right back.” Ginny then looked up at her brother with an expression that said, ‘I dare you to think otherwise.’
Mentally, Charlie caved in. He could tell by the expression on Ginny’s face that there was no lie in her words. But he didn’t want Harry to know this. “Well, in that case...” he paused so that Ginny could see the glint in his eye, “I will be seeing you both in detention next Friday evening. You wouldn’t want McGonagall to think I’m slacking would you?” With that, he sent them to bed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Gin, I really thought your brother was going to kill me,” Harry admitted after entering the common room.
“He wasn’t going to. He knew nothing happened tonight. Just some innocent fun. Plus, it could have been worse. We could have been caught by McGonagall...” She smiled at him as if they got off easy.
“What do you mean it could have been worse?! Ginny! I’m in detention with your brother, for Merlin’s sake! He’s going to kill me then!”
Ginny held her apologetic expression for as long as she could before turning around and saying, “I wouldn’t put it past him,” with a smile playing at her lips.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Harry, Ginny, step into my office,” Charlie requested from his desk. He stacked a pile of letters and handed them to Ginny. “First task; take these to the owlry and send them each with separate owls.”
Ginny took the envelopes in one hand and saluted her brother with the other. Great, Harry thought, leave me alone with him. That’ll make it easier for him to polish me off.
Once Ginny left, Charlie turned to Harry and said, “Have a seat Harry. I have a couple questions for you.”
Before Charlie could even open his mouth Harry said, “Charlie, I swear what Ginny told you was exactly what happened that night. I just-”
Charlie cut him off with a raised hand. “Harry, I know that you would never do anything to compromise Ginny’s honor. I also know she wouldn’t let you. She lets people know where she stands.” He paused to let his last words sink into Harry before starting up again. “I understand how you can lose time when you’re with each other. I talked to Sonia for nearly two hours last night and I only meant to wish her a happy birthday.”
“Well if that’s not what this is about, then what are your questions?” Harry asked slowly, feeling as though each breath was his last.
“Well, firstly, are you are planning on marrying Ginny before the war is over?”
Harry shook his head, “No, I wouldn’t dream of it. I can’t even imagine what I would do if either one of us were lost in the war and we were married, or having a child.”
Charlie nodded his head, taking in every word. “Alright then, second, I want to ask you if you’ve had anymore of those dreams.”
Harry shook his head. “The only dreams I’ve had lately have just been the same one repeating.”
Charlie nodded his head again, “Okay then. On that note let’s get to your detention. Hmm.” He stood up and looked around his room. “Let’s see...there we go! You can head over to the bookshelf back there and alphabetize my books.”
Harry was shocked. “Are you serious? There’s only like....twenty of them.”
“Well, if you start now then Ginny will be back when you’re done and I can send you on your way.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nah. I just didn’t want to disappoint McGonagall. I only gave the two of you detention, because I was sure she’d have found out some way or another.”
Harry started organizing Charlie’s books and soon realized that they were all encyclopedias. He found The Encyclopedia of Dragons: A-Am and put it on the shelf first.
Once Harry had set the last of the encyclopedias, Y-Z, on the shelf, the door of the office opened and Ginny marched back in. “Well, seeing as you both finished in due time, I’d like to chat with the two of you.” Ginny sat across the desk from her brother and Harry sat next to her. “Let me see...you know Bill is back and recovered...you know about Fred and George’s newest invention...you know about Bill and Fleur changing the wedding date...Oh yes that’s what it was! Bill sent me a letter from home yesterday. He told me why they changed the date for the wedding...”
Charlie stopped himself just long enough to let Ginny say, “And?”
“Now, Mum and Dad don’t know yet...Bill said he would tell them before the wedding, and that means you can’t say anything until then, but...he and Fleur are expecting...” Harry looked up shocked and Ginny clasped her hand over her mouth to muffle the small shriek it was emitting. Once she dropped it back to her lap again Charlie added with a smirk, “...twins.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A month after Charlie had put Harry and Ginny in “detention,” Dumbledore made an announcement during breakfast.
“Good morning everyone!” Dumbledore called, a smile playing on his lips. “Over the past few weeks it has been brought to my attention multiple times, that I have not yet rescheduled the autumn’s quidditch matches. As I’m sure you are well aware, the snow is now melting, and Professor Hagrid is no longer the only one amongst us who can see above the snow banks. In which case I have decided to begin our glorious quidditch season with the following matches: On the fourth of April, Gryffindor will fly against Hufflepuff, and on the eleventh will be Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. The eighteenth will be the consolation round for third and fourth place, while April twenty-fifth will host the Quidditch Cup. If anyone is interested in commentating for the matches please see your Head of House. So, now that that is taken care of, Miss Chang, would you please stop sending those pesky school owls through my office window in the middle of the night?”
Cho blushed such a deep shade of scarlet that she almost met the trademark Weasley red.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The three weeks before Gryffindor’s first match were almost cruel. The quidditch practices were long, demanding, and everyday except Sunday.
Ginny’s daily load of practice, O.W.L.’s and overall gossip, was so high that she didn’t have time to sit and eat. Some nights she didn’t come to dinner at all. These nights however, Harry always managed to find the time to visit the kitchens and come back to the common room with an armful of food. Whether she ate it or not wasn’t a choice; Harry had threatened to hide all of her books if she didn’t eat.
Ron was once again moping about and muttering things along the lines of, “A ghost would make a better keeper than me,” and the Slytherins weren’t helping with their chants of “Weasley is Our King,” every time he walked into the Great Hall. Hermione did her best to cheer him up, but Ron wouldn’t have it. “They’re right!” he admitted one evening after dinner. “I’ll never save a goal ever again!”
Hermione was having her least stressful exams term out of all six years of Hogwarts. She and Ron had come to a compromise earlier in the year; Ron studies more and Hermione studies less. Thanks to another one of Ron’s brilliant ideas, Hermione was enjoying her free time instead of spending it in the library triple checking her pre-practice tests.
Harry, however, was studying more than he ever had and this was solely because he wanted to spend time with Ginny. Lately, all she did was eat, study, practice, study, sleep, and study more. So Harry decided to do these things when she did too. He had never known that she was nearly as obsessed as Hermione when it came to getting good marks. She refused to take a single night off of studying until after the quidditch matches. Harry figured Ginny’s study schedule benefitted him as well, since it kept his mind off of other concerns he’d been having lately.
Lupin had been missing for almost three whole months, and the Order still had no information on his whereabouts. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione had taken to going up to the staff table at least once a week to see if Dumbledore had any news. He’d shake his head and when their faces fell he’d say, “No news is good news.”
Voldemort and his supporters had made no further attacks since Lupin’s kidnaping, no dark marks had been sighted, no escapes from Azkaban had been made since at least November when Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rookwood broke out. It seemed almost as if the Death Eaters had disappeared completely.
Without Voldemort in the headlines, the Daily Prophet journalists seemed to be scrounging as much as they could. The day before the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff game there was another story about Arabella Figg’s cats on the front page. Only this time it was the “truth.” The first lines read:
Contrary to previous articles, the cats that live under the roof of Arabella Figg’s house are not illegal, animagus, death eaters. They are in fact cats that are bred part kneazle! “I don’t know what all this Death Eater rubbish is,” says Figg, 73, from her Little Whinging home. “I’m just an old widow who loves her cats.” For more on kneazle breeding see page 5.
Shortly before the Quidditch Cup match, an article appeared in the Daily Prophet that rather disturbed Harry. The article explained things to the wizarding world; things that Harry didn’t think the community should, or needed to know.
The Boy Who Lived, none other than Harry Potter, 16, has had his heart stolen away. Weeks back into winter, it was rumored that Mr. Potter was taken off the market. We now have confirmation from three reliable sources that, on Christmas Day, Potter proposed to Miss Ginevra Weasley, 15, of Ottery St. Catchpole. The newly engaged couple have been seen around Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry together and are nearly inseparable, taking away the classes that they don’t have together. Some witches and wizards in England would say that the couple is too young to be thinking about marriage; others believe that with the threat of You-Know-Who arising, nothing would be more acceptable. Continue article on page 7.
Beneath the article was a photograph of Harry and Ginny walking hand in hand down to Hogsmeade a few weekends back. Every few minutes in the picture, Harry would wrap his arm around Ginny’s waist and she would give Harry a kiss on the cheek.
The article itself didn’t really bother Harry per say. There was nothing in there that wasn’t telling the truth; However, that was what concerned him the most. If a newspaper reporter could gain so much information from just three sources, there was no telling what intelligence Voldemort or his Death Eaters could gather.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The morning of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match, (Slytherin had pommeled Ravenclaw by three hundred and eighty points and Gryffindor triumphed over Hufflepuff when Harry caught the snitch within the first ten seconds of the match) both teams were to be found in the Great Hall eating a hearty breakfast. Even Ron, who could never keep anything down before a match, ate three pieces of toast with jam.
There was a mass exodus of students and staff ten minutes after the teams left to robe-up. As Hermione walked down to the pitch with Neville, she overheard a group of fourth year girls gossiping about the prospects of the game. Apparently Gryffindor was a for-sure win. The Ravenclaws and over half of the Hufflepuffs were not supporting Slytherin at all. She also heard them talking about a new song that had been spreading around the school without a certain Ronald Weasley knowing.
Hermione had a good idea what it was about but she didn’t dwell on it too much seeing as they made it to the pitch. She and Neville joined Hagrid near the top of the stands. Just as the Slytherin team came flying onto the field, Hermione heard Colin Creevey’s voice announcing the names of the players.
“Welcome to the Quidditch Cup, Hogwarts students! Here comes Slytherin with Captain Bletchley, Pucey, Vaisey, Warrington, Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy.” Cheers erupted from the Slytherin side of the pitch. Colin continued saying, “And here comes the Gryffindor team! Captain Bell, Weasley, Finnigan, Kirke, Sloper, Weasley, and Potter!” As the cheers of the Gryffindors became nearly deafening, the captains shook hands and both teams mounted their brooms.
They were up in the air for nearly an hour before the first timeout was called. Gryffindor was in the lead forty to zero, and so far Slytherin hadn’t tried to bend the rule book at all. As the teams landed in their separate tents Colin’s voice was heard over the talk of the crowd. “Today we have a few Gryffindor students that wanted to say something to their team for good luck. We have my brother Dennis down there with them now. Dennis?”
“Hey Col! It’s crazy down here! We’ve got a bunch of fans here that want to share their support for their team, so I’ll hand it over to them now.”
Hermione looked down to where Dennis was standing and saw that Lavender Brown was placing the Sonorus charm on herself as Parvati Patil waved her wand in front of the stand. A huge blank banner formed before them as Lavender said, “We all know the tune; the words have just been tweaked for our liking so read along if you wish. This song goes out to Ron Weasley!”
Parvati turned back to them and used her wand as if she were conducting a choir. As she did so, large scarlet words formed on the banner and the Gryffindors started to sing.
He’ll block every single ring,
That's why Gryffindors all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
He’ll never let the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.
Weasley has it in his kin,
That’s why he never lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King.
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
He won't ever let the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.
Weasley can save anything,
He never leaves a single ring,
That's why Gryffindors all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Hermione laughed heartily as she sang along, knowing how red Ron’s ears must be just then.
Harry and Ron were waiting to fly out when they heard Colin Creevey’s voice announce the Slytherin team.
“Welcome to the Quidditch Cup, Hogwarts students! Here comes Slytherin with Captain Bletchley, Pucey, Vaisey, Warrington, Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy.” Cheers erupted from the Slytherin side of the pitch. Colin continued saying, “And here comes the Gryffindor team! Captain Bell, Weasley, Finnigan, Kirke, Sloper, Weasley, and Potter!”
They flew out of onto the field with the knowledge that there were far more people supporting them than their opponents. The first hour of the game seemed to last a lifetime. Harry could tell that his teammates had it cut out for themselves. After Harry’s ninth circle of the pitch nearly his whole team were slumped on their brooms with exhaustion. He signaled for Katie to call a timeout, and they all landed inside the tent.
Colin’s voice was suddenly heard. “Today we have a few Gryffindor students that wanted to say something to their team for good luck. We have my brother Dennis down there with them now. Dennis?”
Harry just laughed to himself. He had overheard Lavender and Parvati talking about this earlier in the week but he didn’t think they’d actually go through with it.
“Hey Col! It’s crazy down here! We’ve got a bunch of fans here that want to share their support for their team, so I’ll hand it over to them now.”
Harry started laughing in earnest when he saw the look on Ron’s face when he heard Lavender Brown say, “We all know the tune; the words have just been tweaked for our liking so read along if you wish. This song goes out to Ron Weasley!” The rest of the team joined in with Harry as Ron’s face and ears turned more crimson than the robes on their backs when the Gryffindors chorused together.
He’ll block every single ring,
That's why Gryffindors all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
He’ll never let the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.
Weasley has it in his kin,
That’s why he never lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King.
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King,
He won't ever let the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.
Weasley can save anything,
He never leaves a single ring,
That's why Gryffindors all sing:
Weasley is our King.
Harry was doubled over in laughter, and Ginny was using him to support herself, whereas the rest of the team was in or nearly to the point of tears because of Ron’s stock-still expression.
Dennis’ voice was heard again over the cheers of the Gryffindor supporters and the boo’s of the Slytherin’s. “You’d think that says enough in itself, but we’ll be back here for more on the next timeout. Back to you, Colin.”
The game went on for another twenty minutes before the next timeout and this time the Gryffindors were sure to mention Ron’s sharp flying skills and his debonair looks. This perked up Ron enough for him to score his own ten points at a field’s length.
After another forty minutes, Harry saw the snitch near the ground of the Gryffindor goal posts and dove straight for it. It was an easy catch, seeing as Malfoy was only halfway across the pitch when Harry grabbed it. It was also a spectacular win, because the final score was three hundred and sixty to ten.
The celebrating in the common room that night lasted until early the next morning. Professor McGonagall even stopped by once to congratulate them and thank them for letting the Quidditch Cup stay in its rightful place on her shelf. Charlie stayed for most of the party. Around two he said that they should rap it up and head to bed. Then, at about three thirty Charlie called it a night, which left the team, the rest of the sixth and seventh years and the Creevey’s in the common room. Another hour past, and it was narrowed down to just Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron. They were in their favorite places in front of the fire. All of them felt as though letting sleep take them would be a good decision, but no one wanted to admit to the other that they were ready for bed.
Ginny had been quite giggly, for the last half hour, which told them all that she was beyond tired. Hermione had her head in Ron’s lap where she would stifle the occasional yawn. Ron was staring into the flames absentmindedly stroking Hermione’s hair. Harry was gazing at nothing in particular thinking over the past school year. Harry broke the comfortable silence that was lingering between them with a small laugh.
“What’s up, Harry?” Ron asked, yawning slightly.
“Ah, nothing really. I just realized that we’ve been the most perfect students this year, haven’t we?”
“How do you mean?” Ginny asked smirking.
“Well,” Harry started. “We haven’t broken a single school rule this year have we? Well, at least, minus getting caught by Charlie. But that doesn’t really count because we didn’t really get in trouble.” Harry watched as his friends thought about the past year. “Think about it. The D.A. isn’t against the rules anymore, so we aren’t doing anything wrong there. We haven’t burst out at any teachers, we haven’t snuck out to do late night research on things we aren’t supposed to be researching, we’re allowed to use the restricted section, we haven’t beat anyone up...” Harry paused here and laughed. “Well, I should say, ‘haven’t been caught beating anyone up,’ we’ve done our homework on time all year, we haven’t tackled any trolls...and I don’t know about you Ron, but I haven’t flown any cars recently, have you?”
They all had a good laugh, and stayed up until nearly six talking about all the times they had broken the rules and had been landed in detention, (or better: wormed their way out of it).
~A/N: Y’all have absolutely NO idea how hard this chapter was for me! Put it this way; I started writing this chapter last April...I finished it in October. But hey!!! I’m done! So....HA HA HA!!! I could cry. Quote from the next chappie: The only thing that happened was Harry, Hermione, and Ginny all turning their heads in Ron’s direction, saying,“What?” at the same time.