Harry Potter and the Dynasty of the Wand by Lady Snuffles
Chapter Notes: Great Uncle Walter died!!!! On Ginny’s birthday too. With Ron and Ginny off to the funeral, Harry and Hermione find themselves free to talk with one another for the first time in weeks.
Disclaimer: I DON’T OWN HARRY POTTER; I just really, really like it!!!!
“Ginny? Wake up. Ginny? Ginny! Come on; get out of bed!” Ginny could see the outline of a tall, messy haired boy standing over her.
“Harry, what’s going on?” she yawned. Ginny looked over at the clock then out the window. “Harry, it’s four-thirty....the sun’s not even up yet.”
“Well that’s the point isn’t it? You mentioned that you wanted to see the sunrise this morning, so you’re going to see this sunrise whether you like it or not. Up! Out of bed. Let’s go.”
Ginny was tired, but still pleasantly surprised. “Harry? Why can’t you make the sun rise later?” she asked sarcastically pulling the covers over her face.
“Because then I would never get you out of bed....Get up!” Harry pulled the covers off of Ginny and completely and dragged her out of bed.
“Alright, alright, I’m up. Harry, I’m up!” she hissed at him groggily. “Let me put some clothes on and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“If you aren’t downstairs in three minutes I’m coming back up here. Even if you aren’t dressed, I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and march to the top of that hill. I don’t care if you’re kicking and screaming the whole way there. You’re not going to miss this, and you’re definitely not going back to bed!” Harry warned with a devilish smile and a playfully, scolding finger. And with those words, he left. Ginny had to work double time to get downstairs quickly. Less than two minutes later she came down from her room fully dressed in her Muggle clothes.
“I left a note for anyone who wakes up early and finds us missing.”
“Sounds good to me,” Ginny told him.
Another two minutes and Ginny and Harry were wrapped in his invisibility cloak, flying on Harry’s broom to the top of Stoatshead Hill.
Once there, Harry laid out the blanket where they would sit and wait for the sun to come up. All the colors blurred together as if it was raining on the sky. It was, in Ginny’s opinion, the best gift she could have been given.
“Thank you, Harry,” Ginny said.
“For what? This was your idea.”
“But you made it happen. You took me out here. You’re here with me and we are watching the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“Well, if this is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, then you must not have looked into the mirror recently. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on,” Harry complimented. This scattered all of Ginny’s thoughts; she could not come up with any words to say in return.
“I...uh...um...”
“I love you, Ginny.”
Gaining control of her mind again she said, “I love you too, Harry, more than anything in the world.”
“Happy Birthday, Gin.” They waited and watched until the sun rose to it’s full, morning potential before heading back to the Burrow.
“Alright, alright, I’m up. Harry; I’m up!” Hermione woke to the sound of Ginny and Harry’s voices in hushed conversation. “Let me put some clothes on and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“If you aren’t downstairs in three minutes I’m coming back up here. Even if you aren’t dressed, I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and march to the top of that hill. I don’t care if you’re kicking and screaming the whole way there. You’re not going to miss this, and you’re definitely not going back to bed!” Hermione saw Harry leave through the door with a wide grin and watched Ginny go to her closet. She changed quickly and barely brushed through her hair.
After Ginny left, Hermione took her time getting out of bed. She wasn’t quite sure if she was still tired enough to go back to sleep. All of her brain energy began to work at the same time, and all she could do was think. What are they up to at four thirty in the morning?
With her mind fully awake but her body not quite as far along, she walked down the stairs unsteadily. Still tired, she managed to make herself a bowl of cereal and pour a glass of orange juice.
As she ate her cereal, Hermione noticed that there was a note in the middle of the table. It read:
Hermione and Weasley’s,
Ginny and I went to Stoatshed Hill this morning to see the sunrise for her birthday. We’ll be back no later than quarter to six, for breakfast. See you soon.
Harry
“I hope Ron does something like that for my birthday,” Hermione thought aloud before taking another spoonful.
“What do you hope I do?” Hermione heard Ron’s tired voice from behind her. He walked over and kissed her on the cheek. Since Hermione’s mouth was now full of cereal she pointed to the note on the table.
Ron read it then said, “Harry is becoming almost too sentimental. Ginny is really growing on him.” Ron thought about the remark he just made and then stated, “Strike that. Ginny grew on him before Harry knew he liked her.”
At this Ron and Hermione laughed. She has the most beautiful laugh. And her smile is so perfect, it makes me want to....
Ron’s thoughts were interrupted by a tapping noise at the window. He walked over to the window and opened it. A large, tawny owl swooped into the kitchen and dropped a letter on the middle of the table over Harry’s note, and flew back out the window again. Only one word was written on it. Urgent.
Without a second thought, Ron opened the envelope. Inside of it there was a letter folded in half with the name Molly etched across it in long loopy letters.
Making sure it stayed perfectly folded, Ron ran up the stairs to find his mother half way down them. “Mum! This letter said “urgent” so I opened it. It’s for you...”
“Thank you, Ron,” she told him. Mrs. Weasley opened the letter and began reading. Her face became as colorless and blank as the piece of white parchment in her hand. Her eyes, cold as stone.
“Mum what’s wrong?” Ron asked.
“Uncle Walter,” she squeaked. Then she began to sob. “Your G-Great Uncle W-Walter died last night.”
“How?” Ron asked full of concern.
“He d-d-died in his sleep. All signs lead t-to old age,” she whispered. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Weasley swung around and climbed back up the stairs to her bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mrs. Weasley was distraught. “Happy B-b-birthday, G-Ginny,” she sobbed to her only daughter, when Ginny and Harry entered through the back door. She tried to hide her anguish with a smile at which Harry thought she failed dreadfully.
“Mum! What’s happened? What’s wrong?” Ginny asked. “Is it Percy again?”
“N-No, dear. It’s n-not P-P-Percy,” she seemed to sob harder.
“What happened then, Mum?”
“M-my Uncle W-W-Walter d-died in his sleep last n-night. They f-found his body this m-morning,” Mrs. Weasley wailed. “I haven’t sp-spoken to him in almost a year.”
“It’s okay, Mum. When is his funeral?”
“T-Tomorr-row and T-T-Tuesd-day,” she said between sobs. With all her efforts, she asked Ginny to go and pack her things so that the Weasley’s could go and pay their respects to Great Uncle Walter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Thanks for staying Remus,” Mr. Weasley said to Lupin a few hours later.
“It’s not a problem at all. It’ll be good to be with Harry for a while. I needed a chance to talk with him anyways,” Lupin said.
“Well, we will be back late Tuesday evening,” said Mr. Weasley in a very businesslike tone.
“Sounds good to me. Harry, Hermione and I will keep the place spotless. That way Molly won’t need to do anything but relax when she comes home,” said Lupin responsibly.
Harry gave Ginny a goodbye kiss. “Some birthday, huh?” he asked her.
“Harry, this morning you made it better than I ever imagined it could be,” she answered.
“I know you’ve had better birthdays than this so stop sucking up to me,” Harry retorted. One last, swift kiss and Ginny, along with the rest of the Weasley’s disappeared through the fireplace.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Harry?” Harry turned to see Hermione standing at his door.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Um...Can we talk?” she questioned.
“Well I suppose...as long as we’re still allowed to do that,” they laughed. Harry thought it was funny that he and Hermione hadn’t spoken to one another since the night of his birthday. Before they were dating each other’s best friends they could chat all they wanted with the other. But naturally, they didn’t have time to speak at all now. Harry thought the only reason that he and Ron spoke at all any more was because they shared a room.
“Good! Because we have a lot to talk about.”
“We do?” Harry was confused.
“Yes we do. I have a theory about what “it” is.”
“What’s “it”?” asked a voice from the doorway. Harry looked up to see Lupin standing in the room, looking just as confused as he was. “I came up here to talk with Harry and I heard something about an “it.” Elaborate for me, please. An “It” is never good,” Lupin joked.
“We were talking about Harry’s dream, the one he......Harry you haven’t told him yet have you?” Hermione clued in halfway through her statement. “Harry! Sometimes I wonder about where your brain goes.....”
“I was going to tell him, but I haven’t had the chance to yet,” Harry replied truthfully. “I’m not writing that in a letter so don’t try going there with me.”
“Harry? What dream?” Lupin sounded almost too interested. He was eager to stop the argument between Harry and Hermione quickly.
Since Harry had been over it so many times in his head for the past week and a half, he could now keep his voice controlled and steady when he retold his nightmare. After he finished his account, Harry recounted the conversation he had with Ron, and then the one with Ginny, and made sure to express how she refused to leave him.
“Harry, this is serious...do the Weasley’s or anyone else know about this?” Lupin asked after he was sure Harry was finished.
“No. It’s just between the five of us now,” Hermione said.
“What do you think “it” is?” Lupin asked Hermione, remembering the whole reason she was there in the first place.
“Oh! Well...this is just a theory remember...I think it has to do with Dumbledore. Yeah, I know, a pretty vague accusation, but I think it has to do with something Dumbledore is going to tell you.” At this she looked directly at Harry. “Something that maybe can help you with the final battle. Not necessarily a weapon, but more along the lines of, for lack of a better word, a key, or even a missing piece of something. Like, to open something of great importance to the other side. Or maybe to complete something.” Even though it was an extremely vague theory, Hermione was very proud of it.
“But what piece is missing? And from what?” Harry asked when she was finished.
“Or what key to which lock?” Lupin noted.
“That is where Dumbledore comes in,” Hermione answered. “I don’t have a clue from this point forward.”
“Neither do I,” said Harry.
“And I suppose we won’t see him until we are back at Hogwarts?” she inquired to Lupin. He shook his head widely.
“He’s too busy to even drop by headquarters these days.”
“I’m going to go start dinner; I’ll let you two talk,” Hermione said, out of the blue.
“Alright,” said Lupin. After she left, he said, “I need to talk to you about Sirius’s will.”
Harry thought this would be coming soon, so he was prepared for this conversation. Before Lupin could say another word, Harry said, “Lupin, I love staying with the Weasley’s, but I’m not at home here. I don’t think I ever will be. And everyone knows the Dursley’s will never be my home either. I need to go...no, I want to go with you. I need somewhere I can call home, apart from Hogwarts. Grimmauld Place, with you, might be just what I need. I have to find out, for the both of us. I want to give it a shot.”
Lupin nodded, letting out a slow breath; clasping his hands together he said, “Good. Since we’ve now covered just about everything I was going to say...” he paused shortly, then continued, “I think that you should stay here until school starts. Then, over Christmas Break come to Number Twelve?”
“I think that’s one of the best ideas I’ve heard in a long time.”
“I’m glad.”
“Me too.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tuesday morning Harry woke to find an envelope on his stomach. He looked at Ron’s bed to find it occupied by Hermione. She was sitting up, on top of his covers, fully dressed, staring at an envelope in her hands, similar to the one on top of Harry. Her’s was also unopened.
“Hermione?” Harry asked groggily. “What are these?”
As if she had been waiting for that exact question, Hermione immediately answered, “It’s our O.W.L.s! ....Harry I can’t open it.” She motioned to her envelope. “Open your’s first.” Harry tore the end of his open and spilled the contents out onto his bed. He picked up the first letter. It explained the O.W.L.s and the whole grading system. The second sheet had his grades and the third was the supplies list for sixth year students at Hogwarts. Harry read through his grades once and read them aloud a second time for Hermione to hear.
Outstanding = Defense Against the Dark Arts; Care of Magical Creatures
Exceeds Expectations = Transfiguration; Potions; Herbology; Charms; Astronomy
Acceptable = Divination
Poor = N/A
Dreadful = History of Magic
Troll = N/A
When Harry finished Hermione looked reassured. She opened her letter slowly looked at the parchment and smiled widely. “Eleven Outstanding’s! Harry, ALL ELEVEN!” Hermione ran to Harry and hugged him. Then, she skipped to her room yelling “eleven” at the top of her lungs, leaving a very sleepy but very happy Harry alone on his bed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Later that night the Weasley family returned to the Burrow. Lupin left after only a few short words with Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley looked like she had been riding the Knight Bus for an entire week. Her hair was pulled out at odd angles and she was as white as a ghost. She walked around aimlessly, not really paying attention to where she was going.
Harry, and Hermione had prepared dinner for when everyone came home, so they could all sit and enjoy a good meal together. Bill and Charlie had come home for the funeral and were staying until Thursday afternoon. Percy went to the funeral too, but stayed aloof, not talking to any of the Weasley’s and most of the Prewett’s. Fred and George were home for dinner but would be going back to their shop for the night.
After dinner, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron snook onto the roof to talk about “it.” They all had many theories, but each seemed less likely than the one before. When they had exhausted every possible theory, they decided to turn in for the night, and think of sweeter things while they slept.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next day, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley brought Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione to Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies for the new year. Their first stop was Gringotts. Everyone except Harry withdrew a part of Sirius’s fund. Harry took out his own money deciding that he didn’t want to know exactly how much Sirius had left him. He could just feel the guilt building in his chest. He couldn’t spend Sirius’s money quite yet.
Moving from store to store, they spent the day in one large group. The trip was basically average and nearly uneventful. “Nearly,” meaning one thing in particular was interesting.
While coming out of the Apothecary, Ron tripped over the doorframe knocking into Ginny, who dropped her Potions’ ingredients, which tumbled down Diagon Alley, making almost everyone in front of the shop trip and fall.
Everyone except Mr. And Mrs. Weasley were laughing. At least Mr. Weasley was trying not to laugh as he helped the surrounding witches and wizards onto their feet. Ron apologized many times to everyone that had fallen. The group from the Burrow called Ron “Graceful” (and “Grace” for short) for the rest of the day, adding little comments like, “...there’s a door there.” and “Look out for that wall over there.” whenever they could. Quite often, someone would point to a street lamp two blocks away, reminding Ron not to walk into it.
When they arrived back at the Burrow a few hours later, supper was served and everyone went to their rooms. At least, Ron and Ginny went to their rooms. Harry and Hermione switched rooms for awhile because of, well, obvious reasons.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ginny sat on her bed; Harry sat on the sofa. They looked into the other’s eyes deciding who should move to the other first. “I’d come over there but then you might tempt me to do something you might not like,” said Harry with a slight sarcasm ringing in his voice.
“Who says I wouldn’t like it?” Ginny said slightly more sarcastically, getting up and walking over to Harry. Sitting on his lap she said much more seriously, “I don’t expect you to go that far with me for a long, long time. At least five more years.”
“I can wait that long if that’s what you want...but only if that’s what you want, mind you. You’re worth it but five years is a mighty long time.”
“That’s just too bad for you then isn’t it?” Ginny smiled at him and kissed him gently on the lips.
Harry pulled away and answered, “I can live with it I guess.” Then he kissed her back. Time flew by in that kiss....It always did when they were together like that. The next thing they knew, it was after one o’clock and Hermione was knocking on the door.
“Hey, you two? I need to get to sleep, I’m exhausted. Can you put whatever your doing on hold?” she asked through the door.
Ginny’s answer was muffled through the kiss Harry was still giving her. “Shur, alrigh...” Ginny and Harry stood up and walked to the door still kissing as Hermione sauntered in. Almost painfully, Harry pulled away.
“Goodnight,” he whispered.
“‘Night,” Ginny responded in a very girlish tone, giggling slightly. “I love you.”
“I Love you too. ‘Night, Hermione.”
“Good night, Harry.”
A peck on the cheek to Ginny and a small wave at Hermione, and Harry was up the steps in a flash, praying not to get caught by Mr. or worse Mrs. Weasley in their daughter’s bedroom.
Ginny shut the door and looked at Hermione sitting on her bed.
“What was that?” Hermione blurted out. “‘Night,’” said Hermione mocking Ginny’s goodbye to Harry while slightly overdoing Ginny’s giggles and even twisting her hair around her finger to prove her point. “That was pathetic!” Hermione scoffed. “What did he do to make you so infatuated? Wait! Do I want to know?”
Ginny flopped down on her bed. “He told me that I’m worth it, Hermione.” Ginny lifted her head to look over at her best friend across the room. Hermione looks really funny when she’s confused. Ginny explained more in-depth about her earlier conversation with Harry and tried to block out Hermione’s confusion.
“Do you really think that you’ll be with him that long?” Hermione asked after Ginny was done.
“Hermione, I know so. I know Harry is going to be mine forever. And I’ll be his. We’re in this for life.” And with that, Ginny rolled over hugging her pillow, and Hermione turned out the light.
~AN: Aww, how sweet? Sorry ‘bout all the fluff. Since we are on our way to Hogwarts the fluff will start going down. Angst will gradually go up too. Review PLEASE!!!! Quote from the next chapter: “OH MY GOD! I’m scarred for life!” -Ginny