Life and Love After Voldemort

Graduation day at Hogwarts arrived in the midst of Chudley's longest winning streak in 176 years. Harry was invited to participate in the ceremony, and it did his heart a world of good to catch up with his former professors and Dumbledore's Army compatriots. Ron enjoyed the reunion as well, but Harry sensed disappointment and regret from his friend at various times during the festivities, especially when Ron had to leave the graduates as they prepared to receive their honors. It felt strange for Harry not to be sharing this accomplishment with Ron after all that they had celebrated together.

He made his choice, Harry concluded, but felt grateful to share this moment with Hermione and Ginny. Both of them were sad to leave Hogwarts but were ecstatic to be on the verge of starting their chosen professions. The girls had signed a year lease on a nondescript two-bedroom apartment in London near the Ministry. "One expensive hotel suite is quite enough, Ronald," Hermione had replied firmly when Ron badgered her and Ginny to rent the suite beneath his and Harry's.

Ron needn't have worried about getting chances to see Hermione, as she had essentially taken up residence on Ron's couch most evenings and weekends with whatever mountain of books and papers she was devouring at the time. Two weeks before graduation, Kingsley released into her custody the latest public financial figures of the Quidditch league and associated interests controlled by the various team owners, which Harry had insisted upon at Hermione's request for the sake of completeness. (Harry's reminder to Shacklebolt that "the reputation of the Ministry is at stake" helped convince the Minister of the need to extend its monitoring to the level requested.)

"If someone's trying to hide Quidditch profits in their own business to lower what they'll give to the charitable causes, we should be able to spot corresponding anomalies," reasoned Hermione as she and Harry discussed the facts and figures before them one evening.

"You two enjoy that," muttered Ron without opening his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that week, Harry led his fiancée into the Cannons practice facility to introduce her to her new teammates. Ginny was practically leaping out of her skin with anticipation. "I don't know how I'll ever be able to speak to a legend like Ivanova - is she easy to play alongside even though she's such a huge star?"

"Well --"

"Of course, she'd have to be with all the scoring marks she's set; you don't do that unless the Chasers function as a unit. And I'm going to be working with the duo that the Connolly Con's named after!" The Connolly Con consists of a Beater staring at an opposing player as if the Beater intended to aim the Bludger his or her way, then smacking the Bludger elsewhere without turning to look at the actual target. The Con sounds straightforward but is very difficult to perform under high-speed game conditions, with anyone but the best Beaters usually doing much more harm to their own team than good. "We're going to have to practice that immediately, because you'll get clocked if you're not in sync, right?"

"Of course, but --"

"And then there's the issue of the fantabulous Seeker, as I'm going to have to resist the urge every time he flies by me to grab him and cover him with kisses, like this..."

"Mmmmph..." Harry replied, confident that they were back on the same page.

When breath returned to his body, Harry found himself reminiscing. "I had to learn the hard way how to resist my own urges on the pitch when I was captaining Gryffindor, remember? I kept getting blindsided with Bludgers 'cuz I was sneaking peaks at you and racking my brain to find a way to get across that I'd flipped for you."

"And I loved every minute of your agony!" teased Ginny. "It's only fair that you had to do some hoping and pining for a bit after what I put myself through over you for so long."

"True, darling; you'd been a 'right chaser' for years when it came to me, hadn't you?"

Ginny produced a drawn-out retch in response. "When did you become the Boy-Who-Punned? Seriously, Ron told me this one you came up with about a chess mess or something..."

"Hey, I amused myself, and that's what's important," Harry said with a shrug and a smile.

"ANYWAY, Harry... I knew I must have been doing something right when I finally turned your head at the point that you were by far the most desirable and sought-after guy on campus."

"And you're still doing everything right as far as I'm concerned," Harry said as he moved in for another confab with the Right Chaser. Gradually, they became aware of voices in the distance.

"Now would you say they're engaged in a Woollongong Shimmy or working towards a Sloth Grip Roll, Connie?"

"Quig, it's obvious that our Seeker's pulling off my Con, no doubt about it..."

Ginny and Harry quickly broke apart and composed themselves as best they could. "Don't you dare stop on our account," enthused Clara Ivanova. "You look so cute togezzer, und I've alvays said der's not enough love on de Qvidditch pitch!" The crimson-coated couple exchanged introductions with Clara and did likewise with Connolly and Quigley.

Chucky Farkas shook Ginny's hand vigorously. "Lookin' forward to workin' with you, Gin, though not as closely as our Potter, am I right?" he winked and hooted.

"Steady on, Chuck," Ron cautioned. "Let's all keep things professional, hmm?" he said as he glared at Chucky and then switched to Harry.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" replied Harry with an exaggerated salute, and the tension that had crept into the locker room dissipated.

Harry led the team's strategy session, expecting to be relieved at any minute by the manager. After an hour, Ron piped up. "Where is Ludo, anyway?" No one had a clue, so they made their way to the practice pitch. Harry had been worried about how quickly Ginny would adapt to the lineup, but it was immediately clear that Ginny fit in seamlessly with the other two Chasers. The entire team was impressed by her skill level and intensity, and Harry was bursting with happiness as he watched Ginny having the time of her life.

I should have watched her from the sidelines, Harry later determined as he took his third full-force hit from a Bludger and flew slowly towards the trainer's room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, I'm fine, Ginny, honestly!" Harry protested as Ginny tried to force him to hold raw dragon's meat to his bruised forearm. "I'd just like to know where the training staff and coaches were on your first day, especially our vaunted manager."

"Never mind that, luv; you hold the meat to your arm and I'll hold the playbook so we can go over my basic formations" said Ginny.

"'Zat you, Mum?" Ron cracked from across the lounge where he and Hermione were unwinding. Harry was glad that Ron had caught how much Ginny was sounding like Mrs. Weasley usually had when nursing one of her frecklings back to health, not the part about 'going over my basic formations.' Harry goosed Ginny with the hand on his good arm to let her know he was paying attention.

Later in the evening, the tranquil setting in the suite was disturbed in an ominous way by Kingsley's lynx Patronus, which informed Harry he was needed at the Ministry immediately. Curiously, Harry was directed to come to Kingsley's office by traditional methods and not via the secured Floo Network entrance. Once Harry had survived a half-dozen security checkpoints and been ushered into the Minster's office, Kingsley dispensed with pleasantries and handed Harry an advance copy of the Daily Prophet as well as an official-looking parchment which had Ministry of Magic letterhead and was stamped with the word 'CLASSIFIED' in red ink. The headline of the Prophet screamed: "DEVELOPING GAMBLING SCANDAL ROCKS QUIDDITCH LEAGUE."

"Potter, you are going to be present at a press conference tomorrow along with the commissioner of the British and Irish Quidditch League and Ludo Bagman, who will be speaking on behalf of the casino involved. You will recite the prepared statement you have just been given on behalf of the Ministry, though I will give you latitude to revise it subject to my approval before you leave this office. Now, please read the lead story in tomorrow's paper and we will then discuss any questions you have." Harry did his best to ignore the Minister's icy demeanor and absorb the content of the story.

The article, penned by Rita Skeeter (Who else...), concerned circumstantial evidence that a conspiracy had been uncovered centering around improper wagering on league matches. What was worse was the contention from the article's sources that all evidence suggested the conspiracy was being perpetrated by current players.

"Reached for comment, Chudley Cannons co-owner Ludovic Bagman says the league will conduct a full-scale investigation. Bagman also spoke on behalf of his wife's Chudleighton Casinos Limited, where the rumored improprieties were initially discovered. 'We will conduct an extensive internal audit in hopes of uncovering the identities of the people responsible and bringing them to justice as soon as possible.'"

When Harry indicated that he'd finished reading the story, Kingsley described the events of the day. "We were contacted by league and casino officials this morning when word leaked that this story was in the works and was due to be published within 24 hours. We feel it's premature for this to become a DOMLEE matter, especially as both the league and casino pledged full cooperation with us as their investigations and inquiries unfold.. What you're going to do, since you keep reminding me that the Ministry's reputation is at stake when it comes to the image of the professional Quidditch league, is convey to the public that the Ministry stands behind full and open disclosure of any impropriety. Your image will serve to lend credibility to the Ministry's statement and hopefully mitigate any damage that the Ministry might suffer due to its shared association with the league through you. Now read the prepared statement, submit any changes to me, and we will sign our joint approval of the statement for the record."

The statement was a short indication of support from the Ministry for the speedy resolution of the matter, as well as an expression of belief that any impropriety would be isolated and not reflect on the integrity of the league or the Ministry of Magic as a whole. Harry wasn't about to change a thing, and quickly gave his written approval. "That's all, Potter. We'll talk again after tomorrow's press conference," said Kingsley, who gestured towards the fireplace without looking up from his desk.