Drifting

Chapter 18: Cars and Letters

"There's a piece of you that's here with me,

It's everywhere I go,

It's everything I see,

When I sleep,

I dream and it gets me by-"

Yellowcard, Ocean Avenue

~*~

"Come on, Harry!" Draco said, tugging impatiently on his friend's arm.

Harry shook his head, his eyes not leaving the object he was looking at. Draco tried to get Harry to move a few more times. When he realized the other boy wasn't responding he snapped his fingers in front of Harry's eyes.

Harry jumped and shook his head. Draco tapped his foot, growing more impatient than before. He tugged Harry's arm once more.

"You can come back and stare at that car later. I want to go pick mine up!"

It had been almost three weeks since Harry and Draco had taken the driving test. They had both passed it with flying colors. Dudley, on the other hand, had barely passed. Still, all three boys had gotten their licenses.

Harry and Draco had taken money out of their Gringotts accounts and had it converted to Muggle money so they could buy their cars. They had both taken out a little more than they needed because Draco had forced Harry into agreeing that once they found cars they wanted that Harry would have to get a new wardrobe. Of course, Draco wouldn't let Harry shop alone, because he proclaimed that Harry had absolutely no fashion sense. Also Draco wanted new clothes as well.

Harry had accidentally let it slip when he was with Ginny the past weekend and she had immediately said she was coming too. Then she Flooed Blaise and got the older girl to come too.

The only good thing Harry could see that would come out of this was spending time with Ginny.

Harry had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that Draco had pulled him away.

"Wait!" he said.

Draco turned around. "What?"

"I want that car!"

Draco stared at him. "You mean you want that huge thing with the sun-roof?"

Harry shook his head. "No, not the Sequoia. The one next to it."

"Oh... Er - which one was that?"

Harry groaned. "The one that's smaller, dark blue, and has a sun-roof."

Draco's face lit up. "That one! Yes, just go buy it and I'll meet you after I get mine."

With that the blond boy took off. Harry smiled, laughing to himself. Draco had been overly eager to get his car. He had been furious when the dealer had said they would have to have it trucked over from their other store and that it would take an extra day.

One of the sales ladies walked by and Harry flagged her down.

"Excuse me, ma'am, may I please take that car," he said, pointing to the car he wanted, "out for a drive to test it?"

The woman looked at him curiously.

"Aren't you a little young to be buying a car? You don't look nearly tall enough to be old enough to have a license. Are your parents here with you?"

Harry groaned inwardly. I'm barely considered short!

"Yes, ma'am," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm over the proper age, I have a license, and I'd like to buy that car. My parents died when I was a baby and I'd rather not talk about it. I've been living with my aunt and uncle. Do you have enough information about my life now or would you like to pry even further?"

Harry bit his tongue as soon as the words left his mouth. He hadn't meant to be so harsh with the sales woman. He just hated when people interrogated him like this.

The woman looked at him disapprovingly. She led him over to the car anyway since she had been taught to respect the customer's interests. She handed Harry the key with one warning.

"Do not do anything stupid with this car. It's brand new and unless you are nearly positive you want to buy it I shouldn't even be letting you try it without supervision."

"100 percent positive I'm going to buy it, ma'am. I just want to see how it rides."

Without another word the woman left Harry. Inwardly she prayed this boy knew what he was doing. She hadn't lied when she said this GMC Envoy was brand new. They had only gotten it in yesterday. She walked into the shade of a tree by the front of the building where her desk was. Her eyes never left Harry the whole time he drove.

As she watched Harry she had to admit that he was good with a car. He drove as if it was something he had been doing for his whole life. It was as if he was born with the natural ability to steer.

Really, the reason Harry thought he was good at steering was from all the years of training on his broom. But he couldn't exactly tell people that. He just told anyone who asked that it was from playing a lot of car racing video games as a kid.

The sales woman had been lost in her thoughts of teens and driving that she didn't even notice Harry come back. She was brought out of her musings when Harry coughed loudly.

"Back so soon? Did you like the ride?"

Harry nodded. "I'll take it. Perhaps that exact car, if possible?"

The woman blinked a couple of times. She wasn't quite sure what she was hearing. This boy hadn't seen this car until half an hour ago and he was already positive he was going to buy it. Most of the woman's customers took weeks to decided if they wanted the car.

"Yes, you can have that exact car. Come inside and we'll fill out the paperwork and you can pay for the car."

Harry nodded and followed the sales woman silently.

~*~

Ginny stepped out of Harry's fireplace three days later. She brushed a little of the soot off of her shirt. She swung her purse onto her shoulder and set off for the front yard of Harry's house.

Blaise and Draco were already there, talking to Harry. Draco spotted Ginny first and was about to call out to her. Ginny put a finger to her lips and began to sneak silently up to Harry. Since his back was turned to her she was sure Harry wouldn't see her.

Ginny came up right behind Harry. She was close enough that their bodies were almost touching. She stood on tiptoe and put her lips near Harry's ear.

"You know, Harry, you have a very nice car. Shame the window's broken," she whispered.

"What the bloody hell!" Harry yelled in response, turning abruptly.

Ginny threw her arms around him, laughing against his lips.

"It's a joke, dear. Your car is fine."

Draco and Blaise couldn't hold it in anymore. They burst out laughing. Only Harry stayed silent.

"I have half a mind to dump you right now," he said, completely serious.

He pulled himself away from her and took out his key from his pocket. He clicked the button that unlocked the car and began to walk towards it. Draco and Blaise followed, their laughter subsiding.

Ginny couldn't move. She refused to believe her ears. As she thought about Harry's remark once more he walked up to her. She barely noticed.

She blinked when Harry kissed her.

"If you think for one second that I'll ever leave you, you're a complete fool, Ginny."

Ginny tilted her head sideways and stared at her boyfriend. She saw the light in his eyes and then it hit her.

"You tricked me!"

Harry began to laugh as he took her hand and led her to the passenger's seat of his car.

"You trick me, I trick you back. The look on your face was so sad though that I had to make sure you didn't think it was real."

Ginny buckled herself in as Harry got in and shut his door.

"You should have seen your face, Harry. The look you had was priceless!"

Harry blushed slightly. He knew this was something Ginny would be teasing him about for a while.

He looked back to check no one was coming and backed out of the driveway.

This is going to be a very long day...

~*~

Harry was completely right when he said it was going to be a very long day indeed. By the time Harry pulled back into the Dursley's driveway it was 10:15 at night. They had spent almost the whole day in Muggle London shopping.

Ginny was sleeping in the seat next to him. Draco and Blaise were already gone. Harry had dropped them off at Draco's house a few minutes earlier.

Not wanting to wake Ginny, Harry slipped out of the car and opened her door as quietly as he could. He reached around to her side and unbuckled her. Gently, he picked her up off the seat and carried her out of the car, nudging the door shut with his foot. He brought her into the house and walked up the stairs. When he reached his bedroom he set Ginny down on the bed. Then he left to bring in all the shopping bags that were still in the car. Between Ginny and himself they had managed to buy quite a lot of clothing.

Ginny hadn't woken up when he returned. Harry wasn't surprised. He knew Ginny would sleep through almost anything just like the rest of her brothers would.

Harry plopped down in his desk chair. He laid his head down on the wood and was just about to shut his eyes when an owl flew through his open window. It landed in front of him on the desk. Harry looked up. It was one of the Hogwarts owls. Harry noticed there were two letters.

As he untied them he saw that one was addressed to Ginny as well as to him.

Must be booklists. Great, another trip up to London.

Harry set Ginny's down beside him and opened his. A second letter fell out of the first one. It said To Harry in what Harry recognized as Dumbledore's handwriting. Harry decided to read that one second. He took the first letter in his hands and began to read.

Dear Mr. Potter,

I am happy to say that your ban from the Gryffindor house Quidditch team has been lifted. You may have your position as Seeker back if Miss Weasley agrees to give it up.

As for the matter of who will be captain this year, I have yet to decide. Both Miss Bell and yourself have been playing on the house team the same number of years. Miss Bell has expressed concerns over her NEWTS this past spring. Since I am not sure if Miss Bell will accept captaincy I am leaving it up to the two of you to decide once you return to school. Whoever is chosen will become captain of the Gryffindor house team and will be given the captain's badge.

We all look forward to seeing you back at Hogwarts. The new term starts on September 1st. The Hogwarts Express will be leaving at 11 o' clock sharp from platform 9 3/4 on September 1st.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Harry stared at the letter open-mouthed. He couldn't believe what he was reading. Ginny's reassurance that he would be back on the team was believable but Harry had never expected to officially be back on the team.

"Yes!" Harry nearly shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

Ginny opened her eyes at this. She had been awake for a while but was enjoying the silence. It had been a very loud, very busy day and now she had a headache.

"What is it, Harry?" she asked, sitting up.

Harry turned around. His expression changed from one of happiness to one of shock.

"Sorry, Gin. I didn't mean to wake you."

Ginny shrugged. "I was up anyway."

"Oh."

Harry got up from his chair and sat on the bed next to Ginny. He took her hand and put his letter in it.

"Read," he instructed.

Ginny complied. Harry watched as her serious face turned into an expression of delight. When she was done she reached forward and laid the letter back on his desk.

"That's great, Harry! I knew you would be back on the team."

She hugged Harry tightly. He kissed her softly before she released him.

"Did mine come?" Ginny asked.

Harry nodded. He picked her letter up from his desk and handed it to her.

Ginny opened it and gasped in surprise as a red badge fell out of it. She looked up at Harry, shock etched clearly on her face. Then she looked back down at the badge. She traced it with her index finger.

"I can't believe it," she whispered.

Her eyes went to her letter. When she was done reading it she handed it wordlessly to Harry. He read it through and his eyes lit up.

"Great, Ginny! This is just great!" he said happily.

Ginny looked up at him again. Harry could see a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Gin, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to become prefect."

Ginny scooted closer to him and buried her face in his shoulder. Harry was beginning to get worried. He had no clue what was going on inside his girlfriend's head. He wished he knew how to perform the Legilimens spell so he could see what was wrong.

Instead, Harry put a comforting arm around her and pulled her closer so it was more comfortable. He wrapped his other arm around her and waited for her to speak.

"I'll never get to see you anymore," Ginny said finally. "Between studying for my O.W.L.s and patrol duty and Quidditch I'll never have any time to spend with you. It's not like we're in any of the same classes."

Now Harry understood what this was all about. He knew that if Ginny accepted being a prefect that there wouldn't be as much time as normal to spend with her. Still, Harry knew it didn't take too much time out of the day since Ron and Hermione had been around most of the time in the past year. Then he remembered something else.

"We'll still have training classes together," Harry said.

"So?" Ginny said. "It's training. There's no time for me to spend with just you."

"Hmmm."

Harry really didn't know what to say. Ginny had a point there. They would be training with Draco and Blaise. Harry was starting to admit defeat at this point. Then he remembered one final thing.

"Dumbledore sent me a letter along with my school stuff. Maybe he said something about our schedules."

Harry's arms loosened around Ginny as he went to retrieve the letter from his desk. When he opened it he found a small note inside of it. It was addressed to Ginny. Harry handed it to her as he began to read his letter.

Dear Harry,

I am pretty confident in my assumption you have read your school letter by now. It was I, personally, who lifted the ban. I've seen you fly, Harry, and I know how much you love it. If felt only right to lift the ban and allow you back on the team.

I will take this time to add in a bit of congratulations. I saw your O.W.L. scores and I must say that I am very proud of them. I daresay your parents would have been overjoyed by the results had they been alive to see them.

Speaking of you scores, I noticed that you scored highest in your year on the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. I also observed how the students who were under your tuition in your defense club all placed in the top spots on that exam.

You know as well as I that a major war is about to occur. Gruesome battles will come, Harry, and students need to be trained to defend the castle and even Hogsmead if need be. I would like to ask if you would consider restarted your defense club, though have it open to all students fifth year and above. I am sure the students will learn well with your instruction. I will, however, leave the decision up to you.

Now that we are on the path of talking about the war, I have a few other things to say. As you know you will begin special training with Mr. Malfoy, Miss Weasley, and Miss Zabini once the new term starts. I have not yet been able to work out a schedule of when these trainings will be but it will be marked down as part of your timetables that you will receive on your first day of classes as normal.

I would like you to read up on the Mark of the Phoenix. Since it is very rare that a wizard has it, not even a handful every fifty years, I would like you to know the full extent of the powers you have now that they have been unlocked. Remus told me that you had a book on the Mark of the Phoenix. I highly encourage you to read it before the new term starts.

On a final note I would like to address the issue of what happened last June in my office. I am a foolish old man, Harry, and I want to ask you for forgiveness. You had the right to know the prophecy when you first came to Hogwarts. Everyone makes mistakes, Harry. Please forgive me and let us start anew. If you have any problems just know that I am here for you.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

P.S. Use the pensive Remus gave you for your birthday well. I daresay it will come in handy not to long from now.

Harry put the letter down. With a sigh he kissed Ginny on the cheek and moved to his desk. He had a long response to write.

"Save it for tomorrow, Harry. You need some time to think things over," Ginny said.

Harry sighed again.

"Yeah, okay. It's been a long day. Let's get some rest.

~*~

Adam and Orli sat down to dinner with all of Hogwarts professors.

Earlier on, Adam had taken Orli outside and shown her how to ride a broom. For a beginner she was pretty good. She didn't wobble at all when she first got on her broom.

Kind of like Potter in his first year, Adam had thought.

On that note he had told Orli all about the school Quidditch teams. Of course, Harry had come up numerous times. Orli seemed fascinated by him. When Adam had let it slip that Harry had been banned from the team the past year Orli had become unhappy. She had really wanted to see Harry play.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Orli said as food appeared on the table.

"Yes, Miss Levine?" Dumbledore said politely, turning to the young girl.

"Is Harry Potter still on a ban from Quidditch?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"I assume, Mr. Levine, that you have told your sister about Quidditch?"

Adam nodded. "Yes, sir."

Dumbledore turned back to Orli. "Well I am happy to let you know that I lifted Mr. Potter's ban on Quidditch. He will be returning to his house team this year if the current Seeker allows him to have his old spot back. I am nearly 100 percent sure that she will gladly give the position back to him."

Orli grinned broadly. "Will I be able to watch him play in his games?"

"You are able to attend any game."

Orli's smile widened.

I can't wait for the Quidditch season to start!

~~**~~