As Happily Ever After As They're Gonna Get by cjbaggins
Harry hurried down the corridor outside of Transfiguration, and reached the door of the classroom, just as McGonagall was about to step through it.
“Professor!” he called.
She stopped and turned to him. “Potter. I’m late for my lesson. As are you, I believe?”
“Yeah, sorry,” he admitted. “It’s just ... I wanted to ask you ... would it be all right if, for some of my lessons this first month, I had some of the students help me?”
“I think that should be acceptable, Harry,” McGonagall agreed. “See to it that I get a list of the students who will be assisting you, and for which days in January, and I’ll make sure that the other professors know not to expect them at those times.”
“Brilliant,” Harry said. “Thanks, Professor.”
“Don’t mention it.” When Harry continued to stand there she added, “And, Harry?”
“Yes, Professor?”
“Get to class.”
“Right.” He looked sheepish. “On my way.”
As the fifth year Gryffindors filed into the classroom a few days later, Harry couldn’t help but smile. He mused to himself that each house’s students had a sort of group personality. The Slytherins were reticent and inclined to be resentful of the fact that a Gryffindor may know more than they about the Dark Arts. Harry remembered having to refrain from remarking, when one particularly disdainful student had argued with him about the value of learning the Disarming Spell, “Well, it worked against you lot!”
The students from Ravenclaw always caught on quickly to the lessons, which Harry found gratifying, but their in-depth analyses about strategy and endless questions about alternate scenarios got a little much after a while.
Harry did enjoy teaching the Hufflepuffs who were, as a group, diligent and eager to please, but it was the no-nonsense, action-oriented Gryffindors he appreciated the most. He looked forward to their lessons more than any others.
Today was no different, Harry thought, as the students settled into their desks. And since he was to be assisted by some of his friends for this particular lesson, he couldn’t wait to begin.
“All right, Class,” Harry remarked once everyone was in their places, “we’ve lots to cover today.”
The students were watching him with eager anticipation. The Gryffindors enjoyed the lessons as much as Harry did.
“You’ve mastered simple hexes and the Disarming Spell, today we are working on Shield Charms.” He beamed at Ginny. “Miss Weasley, would you join me, please? I will need you to cast your Bat Bogey Hex.”
She made her way to the front of the room, her face clearly expressing her doubt. “No offense, Professor (the others smirked), but I don’t believe your Shield Charm is fast enough for me.”
The class muttered to themselves, wondering if they should laugh, or if their teacher would be offended by such a comment. Harry simply grinned widely, however, as he assured her, “I’ll be fine. I actually won’t be casting it.” He glanced toward the rear of the room. “Mr. Longbottom, if you please?”
Occupied with unwrapping a large, honey-coloured toffee, Harry didn’t notice the flames until they’d nearly singed his eyebrows. Dropping the toffee on the snow-dusted pavement, he turned indignantly to Ginny who was still exhaling smoke.
“Watch it!” he shouted. “You nearly got me that time!”
“Sorry,” Ginny said quickly, dropping the wrapping from her Pepper Imps into a bin as she passed it.
But seeing the mischievous glint in her eye, Harry realized that the near miss was actually deliberate.
“So that’s how it is, is it?” he said. Nonchalantly taking out another toffee from the packet in his hands, he secretly removed his wand from his pocket at the same time and casually flicked his wrist. Immediately, tiny icicles formed on Ginny’s face, hanging from her eyebrows, nose, and lips, a look much more suited to temperatures well below zero than the pleasantly-mild winter’s day it was.
At the murderous look in her ice-framed eyes, Harry quickly assured her, “There was still some fire left. Didn’t want you to get burnt or anything.”
Before she, too, could reach for her wand, he grabbed her wrist in his hand and drew her to him. “But maybe I can help you melt those ... ” he suggested before leaning closer to kiss her.
It was February 14 and the two of them had just left Honeydukes, their pockets bulging with their favourite treats. Danger to his facial hair notwithstanding, Harry was finding this Valentine’s Day so much more enjoyable than the one he’d spent in Hogsmeade with Cho.
It wasn’t long before the thawing was complete. “Truce?” Ginny asked.
Harry nodded quickly, knowing full well that if he pushed his luck, he’d end up with exploding bonbons shoved up his nose. “Fancy a drink at the Three Broomsticks?”
“Sure,” Ginny replied and they set off across the street. “But you’re buying,” she told him, rubbing her nose. “My face is still cold!”
Having headed back to the castle early, Harry and Ginny climbed through the portrait hole to find the Common Room empty. A few moments after they arrived, however, they saw Hermione and Ron descending the staircase leading from the girls’ dormitories.
“Well, well, well,” Ginny remarked, grinning.
Harry didn’t say anything, but raised a silent eyebrow at Ron.
Before Ron could respond, Hermione, her cheeks pink, quickly told them, “I was just showing him something in our room.”
“I’ll bet!” Ginny smirked.
Ron shot her a withering look. “For my Muggle Studies lesson on Monday.”
Harry glanced at the normal-looking staircase behind them. “You must have figured out the spell for deactivating the steps,” he said to Hermione.
She shrugged nonchalantly. “Simple Transfiguration really.”
“You’re going to share the spell with me, aren’t you?” Ginny wanted to know.
“Well,” Hermione began, “all you “”
“No bloody way!” Ron cried, cutting her off. “She doesn’t need to know.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Ginny snapped at him. “You get to visit Hermione any time you please, but Harry can’t visit me?”
Without a word, Harry and Hermione drifted away as Ron shouted back at her and a full-blown row began.
“Good time at Hogsmeade?” Hermione asked Harry once they were far enough away to hear each other.
Harry nodded. “Rosmerta says hello.”
Hermione peered at his face. “Is there something wrong with your left eyebrow?”
Harry touched the spot with his fingers. “Probably,” he replied, bemused.
Hermione smiled knowingly. “Pepper Imps?”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed.
They were interrupted when they heard a noise at the portrait hole and they looked over to see a young female Gryffindor entering the Common Room. She approached them a bit shyly.
“Ginny Weasley?”
Still rowing with Ron, Ginny nevertheless turned at the sound of her name.
“Yes?”
“There’s a meeting,” said the girl, “for all the champions. It’s about the next task.”
Ginny filled them in at dinner. In between bites of chicken and peas, she repeated what she’d learnt at the meeting.
“It’s on February 24,” she told her friends, “and while the first task was all about magical creatures, survival, and endurance, this one will test our knowledge of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, and seeking assistance.” She looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure what that last one is about yet,” she admitted.
Hermione was beaming. “Ancient Runes?” she repeated. “You’ll do well, then. I’ve spoken about my lessons so often, you know all about them. I can lend you my books as well.” As she reached for a chicken leg, Ginny pulled a face at Ron and Harry. Harry realized that Ginny must have tuned out Hermione’s constant chatter as much as he and Ron always had.
On the morning of the second task, a howling wind outside the dormitory window woke Harry and he was worried in case Ginny would have to wander about the grounds on such a day. When he’d dressed and he and Ron had joined the girls in the Entrance Hall “ with what looked like the entire school “ Penelope Lainye put his mind at ease as she described the task.
“Champions, judges, professors, spectators,” she announced heartily in her amplified booming voice, “it is with pleasure that I give you the details of this second task of the Cedric Diggory Memorial Inter-School Tournament.” She paused when a spattering of applause swept through the Hall. “This task,” she went on a few moments later, “will be a sort of scavenger hunt throughout Hogwarts. Each champion will be given a list of items, written in Ancient Runes, and the participant who returns with the most complete set by the deadline time of six o’clock this evening will be declared the winner.”
She paused again and looked down at the desk she was standing behind. She leafed through some pieces of parchment on the desk before addressing the crowd again. “As Miss Weasley is naturally better acquainted with this school than the visiting champions, she will be given a time handicap to help ensure a fair task for all. Mr. Averyanov and Miss Banquise will be permitted to begin their search at promptly nine o’clock,” Lainye glanced at the clock in opposite the front doors, “ “ in ten minutes time “ while the Hogwarts champion will be delayed for two hours until eleven. In addition to the items on the list, all champions will also be required to gather an object from each of the Hogwarts house common rooms. As these rooms are protected by passwords, the contestants will need to seek assistance from others in order to complete their task. Miss Weasley should take note that the Gryffindor password was changed immediately after her departure this morning. Only a handful of Gryffindors are privy to this new information. All of the champions will have to discover which Gryffindors they are.” She glanced down at her notes again.
“As the champions will be seeking assistance, I would like to remind all Hogwarts students and staff that if anyone comes to you for help, that you are honour-bound to do so.” Her face grew uncharacteristically grim. “I believe we all learnt that lesson while fighting against He Who Must Not Be Named.” She cleared her throat. “If the champions have any questions about the task, they may ask myself or the judges“ ” she indicated the professors and other men and women seated at the desk, ““ after receiving their list of objects. Good day everyone, and good luck, champions!”
She lowered her wand from her throat and sat down at the desk, and the assembled students began murmuring at once about the task.
Luna made her way over to Ginny and commented, “It’s a shame you didn’t pay more attention to Hermione all those times when she talked about Ancient Runes. Of course, she does tend to go on a bit ...”
Ginny chuckled at the remark, but there was an edge to her laughter that Harry guessed came of truly regretting not having paid more attention when she had the chance.
Fortunately, Hermione was at the judges table conferring with Bathsheba Babbling (Hogwarts’ Ancient Runes professor) and so had missed Luna’s comment. She soon hurried over, a sheet of parchment in her hands which she passed to Ginny.
“There’s your list,” she said. “There are powerful anti-cheating spells all over it, so no one can help you to translate anything, but you should be fine.”
Ginny glanced down at the list, and Harry noticed the creases in her forehead as she tried to read through the items. He looked over her shoulder to look at the list himself. He couldn’t make any sense of most of it. Before he could comment about it, though, he heard his name. He turned to see Fleur’s sister, Gabrielle, heading towards him with the Beauxbatons champion in tow.
“Morning, ‘arry.” Gabrielle flashed him a wide smile. “Zees is Giselle. Giselle, this is ‘arry Potter.”
The champion put out her hand. “ Pleased to meet you, ‘arry.” Harry nodded at her and clasped her hand, wondering vaguely if she expected him to kiss it.
“Giselle was ‘oping that you could ‘elp ‘er with zee Gryffindor common room,” Gabrielle told him.
Harry was taken aback. He looked over at Ginny still poring over her list. He had wanted to stay with her until she began the task. Remembering Lainye’s words, though, he tried to smile at the visitors. “Right. I suppose I can help you with that.” He leaned over to Ginny and kissed her on the cheek. “Good luck,” he murmured before leading the others away. “This way,” he called over his shoulder. He figured if he got rid of them quickly, he would still have time to get back to Ginny. As they headed across the Hall, and up the long staircases on the way to Gryffindor Tower, though, he realized that he had no idea what the new password was; he wasn’t one of the few who had that privileged information. He sighed to himself. This was going to take longer than he thought.
He was right. By the time he had found a young prefect who had been told the new password, and shown his charges where to find the common room, Harry felt as if he and the Beauxbatons girls had been all over the castle three times. It was almost eleven o’clock when he raced back down to the Entrance Hall, hoping to be able to see Ginny before she began her task. He knew he was out of luck, though, when he saw Ivan with a couple of his Durmstrang school mates heading toward him in the second floor corridor.
The champion himself was peering at the list in his hand as he walked, and didn’t notice Harry, but one of Ivan’s companions caught sight of Harry and nudged his friend. He spoke in urgent whispers, in what sounded to Harry like Russian, before Ivan met Harry’s gaze. “Harry Potter,” he said in his oddly formal manner. He gave Harry one of his little abbreviated bows. “How nice to finally meet vith you.”
Harry shook hands for the second time that morning. “Need help finding the Gryffindor common room?” he asked, resignedly.
But Ivan shook his head. “No. Not vith that. Miss Veasley and Miss Granger vere most helpful.” He held up a magical photograph of some young Gryffindors seated in chairs beside a fireplace inside the common room. Harry wondered how Ginny and Hermione had learnt of the new password. “I am needing assistance vith another matter.” He showed Harry his list, which didn’t make any more sense than it had when he had looked at Ginny’s. “I need to get a book from the Restricted Section,” Ivan went on. “You are a professor, I believe?”
Harry nodded. “An assistant really,” he clarified, “but I can sign for permission, if you like.”
Ivan smiled; Harry thought it looked odd on the serious young man’s face. “That vould be excellent.”
After not only signing a piece of parchment for Ivan to use as permission, but going all the way to the fourth floor to show the champion and his friends the location of the library, it was well past eleven, and Harry knew that Ginny would be already seeing to her own list of objects. As he set off again down the various staircases, though, he saw her coming towards him with Luna.
““ for all your help,” she was saying to her friend.
“Don’t mention it,” Luna replied. “I enjoy helping.” She caught sight of Harry. “Oh, hello, Harry,” she said vaguely.
“How are you doing?” he asked Ginny.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Awful. I know to get something from each common room, but that’s only because that announcer woman told us that!” She waved the list at him. “I understand only one thing on here and “ Oh! I forgot. Do you have a torch? Hermione and Dean don’t.”
“Yeah, it’s upstairs in my trunk.”
The three of them turned to head back in the direction of Gryffindor common room. Ginny grumbled on the way. “I wish I’d translated ‘torch’ sooner,” she complained. “Would have saved a trip.”
Harry grinned. “Yeah, I heard. Spending time with Ivan, were you?”
Ginny shot him a withering glance. “Waste of time,” she muttered. “Although, I suppose I did want to get Hermione’s books, and we had to find out the password anyway for me to get in.”
“How did you find it out? Eager new prefect?”
Ginny shook her head. “Dennis, actually.” She glanced down at her list again. “I just wish I knew what it all SAID.” She grimaced. “I’ll have to hole up in the library and see what I can decipher, and pray the others don’t do it faster. I don’t know when I’ll have time to go to the other two common rooms, though.”
“At least, when you are in the library you can get the“ get the“ the“ ” He stopped. He had started to say ‘book from the restricted section of the library’, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Too late, he realized that he was prevented from doing so by the powerful anti-cheating jinxes on the parchment Ginny held in her hands.
She was looking at him strangely. “Never mind,” he said. “Guess I can’t say. Must be an object you need to translate.”
Ginny was looking thoughtful as they headed up the last flight of stairs to the west tower. “But it’s something in the library ...” she muttered to herself. “I might have some luck with that ...”
Harry hoped so. He didn’t know how the Beauxbatons champion had been doing since he’d left her and her friend outside the Gryffindor common room, but Ivan had looked like he was carrying a number of objects with him; apparently he had a good working knowledge of Ancient Runes.
Ivan had been doing well. So well, in fact, that he was the first one finished the task. The afternoon had barely started when the announcement came that the Durmstrang champion had returned with a complete set of items from the list. Disappointed for Ginny’s sake, Harry made his way down to the Entrance Hall to watch the proceedings. Once again, it appeared that the entire school had shown up.
The champions were clustered around the judges’ table, having their items counted and verified. Harry managed to squeeze his way closer in order to hear what Professor Babbling was saying to Ginny.
““ ten points apiece that only brings you to forty, my dear.”
Harry could see the crestfallen look on Ginny’s face and wished he could change the situation. Hermione was pointing at the list in the judge’s hand.
“But, Professor,” she argued. “Ginny has this one too ...”
Professor Babbling glanced up at her assistant. “A symbol? I didn’t see it anywhere.” She glanced at the small assortment of items in front of her. “A Muggle credit card and torch, and photos of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms.” She looked at Ginny. “Where is your symbol, then, dear?”
Harry noticed how intently Hermione was looking at her friend, and realized that Ginny had not understood the Ancient Runes for that object and Hermione was attempting to help her increase her mark, however slightly.
Her forehead creasing briefly, it soon cleared, and Ginny raised her left hand to the judge. “My ring,” she said. “My engagement ring is a symbol.”
The professor smiled at her as she picked up her quill. “Of what?”
Her cheeks slightly pink, Ginny replied, “Of love. And Gryffindor house.”
Nodding, Professor Babbling wrote down the added points. “A total of fifty for you.”
Ginny mouthed the words, “Thank you,” to Hermione as she turned away from the table.
Hermione beamed at her, pleased with her cunning.
Ginny spotted Harry and he put his arm around her as the judges began conferring with the representative of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Before Harry could say anything, though, the short conference was concluded and Penelope Lainye’s amplified voice rang out through the Entrance Hall.
“I am pleased to announce the results of this second task,” she told them. “In first place, having brought in all 12 items including four objects from the common rooms, a book from the Restricted Section in the library, a saucepan from the kitchens, five Muggle items, and a symbol, a full 120 points goes to the Durmstrang champion, Ivan Averyanov!”
The visitors from Durmstrang erupted into cheers and applause, smacking their champion on the back and chanting his name over and over amid polite clapping from the others present. It went on for quite some time before Ms Lainye could be heard again.
“In second place, with 80 points, Miss Banquise from Beauxbatons!”
Harry barely noticed the cheering this time; Ginny had stiffened beside him and he saw the look on her face as they waited for the announcement of her score.
“And in third, Miss Weasley, with 50 points.” Ms Lainye paused for the acknowledgement of Ginny’s score, but she soon continued when it was obvious there was only a smattering of applause for her. “That brings our grand totals for the two tasks so far to 250 for the Hogwarts champion, 260 for Beauxbatons, and a whopping 270 points for Durmstrang! Congratulations, champions!”
The reception of this news was tremendous. The closeness of the score gave all three schools reason to cheer their champion enthusiastically. Amid the noise and the chanting of her name by her fellow Hogwarts students, however, Ginny slipped out of Harry’s embrace, and struggled through the crowd to escape the Hall and its mass of celebrating students.
Harry watched her go, confused.
Chapter Endnotes: Author’s Note - after a huge life break, I am back and determined to finish this fic! I have 5 chapters left to post, 3 of which are completed already. Unfortunately, those 3 are at the end, so I still have 2 to write that take place next. Bear with me, I will get through this! Thank you for your patience!