The Knights Of Walpurgis

Chapter Thirty: All Good Things...

"...so Neville got really angry at the idea of the school being invaded, and he came up with the idea of putting together groups of four, one person from each house in each group. We put the younger kids in the Room of Requirement or Firenze's room to keep them safe."

"Firenze's room?"

"With the forest in it. Lots of places to hide."

"Oh, right," Harry said.

"Neville was furious when he heard what was happening, and when those first Death Eaters walked through the door... It was like all his work in the DA and HA had been leading up to that moment."

Harry smiled tiredly. He'd always had faith that Neville could do great things if he just believed in himself.

It was a week since the battle, and the school had gone into overdrive as the damage done had to be repaired, Flitwick and Sinistra's lessons had to be covered, and the small matter of exams loomed darkly for everyone.

Harry and Ginny had taken an hour off to go for a fly, but had ended up by the lake, enjoying the sunshine. It was just too hot to do anything energetic.

Harry wasn't certain what was going on between the two of them. They'd barely had a moment to talk after McGonagall had whisked Harry off to the Hospital Wing. As the adrenaline rush from his battle with Voldemort faded, Harry noticed that his chest was aching. He wasn't particularly surprised when Madam Pomfrey detected several cracked ribs which could only have been caused by the earthen hand in the battle he'd fought with Voldemort in his mind.

Sometimes Harry wondered what would happen if he ever tried explaining some of the things that happened to him to a Muggle. He suspected that he'd be placed in a mental home.

Madam Pomfrey had made him stay overnight - she had made sure that he was in a bed nowhere near Draco Malfoy - and when he left the Hospital Wing the next day everyone had been very busy.

Lucius Malfoy, to Harry's disgust, had got away. Dumbledore told Harry that no-one was going to listen to him, Ron and Hermione if they tried to let people know about him. It was better sometimes, he said, to choose the fights that you could win. Lucius' next appearance was on the cover of the Prophet, denouncing the Death Eaters for attacking Hogwarts, but also ridiculing Dumbledore for allowing the giants onto school land.

"I hoped that they were genuine," Dumbledore said, when he visited Harry in the Hospital Wing. "They gave us a herd of rare and valuable hippogriffs, after all, and that is an excellent way of convincing someone that you are genuine. And they would have been excellent allies. But Voldemort promised them riches and victims, and for many of them it was too tempting."

"Have we heard where Voldemort is?" Harry asked.

"In hiding," Dumbledore said. "He summoned Professor Snape last night. He is unable to replace his hand without a wand - it is a very complicated spell - and is unable to obtain a wand that works sufficiently well to perform it. For now, given the numbers of Death Eaters killed by the centaurs in the Forest, and those captured here in the school, Voldemort seems to be on the back foot. We shall have to keep pressing, and see that he does not gain the advantage again."

"How did they get onto the grounds, though?" Harry asked.

"I believe that I told you that the Ministry of Magic holds a master list of those who have approved access to the Hogwarts grounds," Dumbledore said. "Certain high-ranking Ministry officials can gain access to it, and if I had to guess, I would think that Lucius Malfoy is now one of those. However, the names that were added to the list prior to the attack may tell us who exactly some of the unknown Death Eaters are. Hopefully we will be able to do further damage to Tom and his followers through their own sloppy work."

Hagrid was the next person to visit Harry.

"Well, Grawp's 'appy, o' course," he said, although he didn't seem to share his brother's delight. "And one or two o' the other giants will stay and keep an eye on the Forest in the future. But the rest, well, Dumbledore's got 'em guarded, but I dunno what we're goin' to do with twenty-five angry giants, but Dumbledore'll come up with something, you can be sure of that."

But even Hagrid's faith in Dumbledore didn't allow him to sound completely convinced of this.

"Anyway, I've got stuff to do over the summer," he said, leaning in so that none of the other occupants of the hospital wing would overhear him. "Grawpy's ladyfriend, well, she's a proper lady in giant society. Seems she's sort of a princess, I guess is the closest human thing. Anyway, the three of use are goin' out to see some of the more giants, 'cos she knows where a lot of them are stayin', see?"

"Won't that be dangerous? I mean, she betrayed her family, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she did," Hagrid said, nodding solemnly. "But giants set a lot of store by love. Strange, really. But no giant ever said anything about my mum going off with a human, and the only thing stopping Suzy's family giving her permission to go off with Grawp was it being against their mission. Don't know if You-Know-Who ever understood that. Anyway, when he started trying to hex them and stuff, they sort of lost interest in working with him."

"Is that why the giants fighting the staff and the Order lost?"

"No," Hagrid said, and for a moment he looked rather surprised at Harry. "They lost because all them centaurs showed up and started firing arrows at them. I mean, wouldn't that put you off a bit?"

Hagrid left Harry to wonder what would have happened if the centaurs hadn't decided to ally themselves with the forces fighting Voldemort and the giants. He had a feeling that there would have been a great many more casualties, and rather thought that he might have been among the fallen.

It was this thought that was occupying his mind when Madam Marchbanks limped into the hospital wing, leaning heavily on her cane. One or two of the students tried to avoid catching her eye, as though they thought that she was there to give them a surprise exam, but she ignored them as she made her way to Harry's bed, sitting slowly and heavily in a chair that looked rather squashed after having been sat on by Hagrid.

"Sticking in your head, isn't it?" she said, surprisingly quietly. Harry nodded.

"You've got luck on your side, Potter," she said. "Never count on it, but be glad of it all the same. You're surrounding yourself with good people. Just because you have to finish Voldemort yourself, doesn't mean that others won't help you along the way."

"What about you?"

"Me? Potter, if you'd paid proper attention in our sessions, we'd be celebrating our freedom right now. Instead I'll be back in September to make sure you stand a fighting chance next time you face him. For now Dumbledore has some work for me over the summer, the same as any other Order member."

"And you can't tell me what it is, I suppose?"

"No," she said, gathering her robes around her as she stood. She was halfway out of the room when she turned. "Potter?"

"Yes?"

"You did... quite well."

Which, Harry reflected as he watched the old woman hobble away, was as high a piece of praise as he'd heard in many months.

Bill was Harry's last visitor in the Hospital Wing.

"I've done my year," he said. "So I'm off."

He grinned as he said it, but there was a seriousness about him that Harry had rarely seen.

"Why?"

"Quentin Blatherwood," Bill said. "That Death Eater I chased after during the battle. I was at school with him, and we hated each other. The odious little git pinched my girlfriend in sixth year, nearly got me expelled and now he's become a Death Eater. I'm going to find him and bring him in. Percy said he can help me out, so we're going to have a crack at working full-time for the Order. As soon as exams are done, we'll be on our way."

"You've forgiven Percy?"

Bill's grin faded.

"He did a lot to hurt Mum and Dad," he said. "He's been, well, a bloody hero this last year. He's toughened up a lot, and at times it's felt like I'm talking to a different person. But all that just means that last year, when he was sucking up to Fudge, he really believed in all the things he did, all the things he said. He hurt our family. It's going to take a while for everyone to get past that."

Harry thought of his own experiences.

"He saved me from Voldemort," he said. "I think he's worth forgiving."

"Yeah," Bill said, nodding. "I know. But we'll let Fred and George have some fun with him first. I don't think even Mum would object to that."

Harry grinned.

*

Exam week passed in a blur. Of all things, they'd been made to brew Polyjuice Potion in their Potions exam, while their Charms exam had been a somber affair. The funerals for those who had fallen in battle had taken place that week, and neither Harry nor any other student was able to attend. Harry was secretly glad, although he felt rather guilty for feeling that way.

Harry breezed through his Dark Arts exam. Madam Marchbanks had returned to Hogwarts in her official capacity as one of the external examiners, and as luck would have it Harry had faced her in the practical section of the exam. The resulting duel had lasted nearly fifteen minutes and earned a standing ovation from Bill, McGonagall and Dumbledore, who had been the only people allowed in the room while the duel took place.

Harry's Transfiguration exam had been rather embarrassing. Instead of turning his desk into a pig, he'd turned it into a guinea-pig. Although he'd corrected his mistake, he knew that he wouldn't score very highly.

"Still," Ron said, with a wide grin. "It's nice to know you're not perfect."

Further proof of this came in Harry's Herbology exam, when the Venomous Tentacula which Harry had to prune managed to fasten its creepers around Harry's ankles without him noticing. When Harry tried to turn around to throw away the prunings, the Tentacula picked him up and dangled him upside down by the roof of the greenhouse, much to the amusement of everyone else in the exam.

At least the Care of Magical Creatures went well, although Hagrid surprised everyone by bringing a centaur - Ronan - into the classroom as part of the test. Only Ron had been able to get full marks on that section.

"Bit of a cheat, really," he said, later. "You know how Bane was talking about that bloke who learned the centaur language?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, where do you think his brain ended up after he died?"

Harry had suspected as much.

"So, you let him take over when you want to speak to centaurs?"

Ron shook his head. "No, it's all me. I just know some extra stuff. It's a bit weird, though. The guy was Dad's boss at one point, and I keep feeling like I should be calling him 'young Weasley' and sending him off to get me some cigarettes so that my wife doesn't find out that I smoke."

Harry grinned. "Isn't that a bit weird, though?"

"Yeah, it is, a bit. But it's just memories. It's like I read it in a book or something. The guy had two daughters - still alive, I think. I know about them, but I don't know them."

"You think you've got the hang of it, then?"

"Yeah, should do. And if you ever want to break into the Ministry again, I know all the secret passages. Hey, guess what the guy's name was?"

"What?"

"George Fredericks. Dad named the twins after him. Seems like he was as big a joker as they were."

"Weird."

"Yeah. The twins are trying to get me to tell them about the passages. They want to do a Ministry Marauder's Map. I think it might be a bit dangerous, though. What do you reckon?"

"Yeah, probably."

"'Course, I won't tell Percy. He's having fits."

"He hasn't changed much, then?"

"Nah. He's still Percy."

But Harry thought that Ron sounded rather more fond of his brother than he had done in the past.

*

It was rather strange to be in school the week after the exams. All classes were finished, and everyone was enjoying the bright spring sunshine. There were several Quidditch matches played - Gryffindor won an impromptu and unofficial Quidditch Cup - and the giant squid obliged everyone who wanted to be thrown about in the lake.

But the strange thing was that the houses were mixing more freely than before. While people still spent time mostly within their own house groups, nearly every group seemed to also contain students from other houses. Hannah and Luna joined Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Neville most days, and Susan and Ernie also came along on a couple of days as well.

Hermione seemed to be the most pleased by this.

"It's exactly what the Sorting Hat was talking about," she said. "If we all work together, then we can't be beaten. Look over there."

She pointed to a group of second years having a water fight. Harry looked at them, and then turned back.

"What about them?" he asked.

"Two Slytherins, three Hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw and three Gryffindors," she said. "And I had to dock points from one of the Slytherins and one of the Gryffindors for fighting two weeks ago."

She lay back in the sun looking very pleased.

"It's really good," she said, simply.

*

What wasn't really good, in Harry's opinion, was when it came time to leave Hogwarts. After another tumultuous year, he was about ready for some rest, but the recent news had not left him hopeful.

Minister Malfoy!

Cornelius Fudge murdered by You-Know-Who following election

Malfoy in charge, Umbridge named as Deputy

Harry - and everyone else - had heard of the attack on Fudge almost as soon as it had happened. But to open the Prophet on the day of their return to the outside world and see Malfoy and Umbridge photographed in the midst of their commencement address made it all seem horribly real. Ron in particular had read and re-read the Prophet while they waited for the Thestrals to arrive with the carriages.

"Wait, this is my favourite bit," he said. "'Malfoy arrived at Fudge's home to confirm his election to the post of Minister. Minister Malfoy then found Fudge dead in his study with Voldemort standing over him. The heroic Minister fought a short duel with the Dark wizard before driving him off'. What a load of codswallop," Ron snorted. "'Heroic Minister' my arse. Seeing as you chopped off You-Know-Who's wand hand, I bet Malfoy murdered him himself."

Even Hermione didn't object to Ron swearing, so subdued were they all.

"Well, come on," Ginny said, as the carriages began to arrive. "No use moping around here. Let's get down to the station and head home."

"Yeah," Ron said, throwing the Prophet into the bin before grabbing his trunk. "I'm not letting that slimy git spoil my last proper summer before we leave here."

Harry grabbed Ginny's trunk and helped her carry it down to one of the carriages.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem. Er..."

"Yes?"

"Oi!" Ron yelled. "Come on, you two. We want to get a compartment, don't we?"

Harry sighed as he followed them into the carriage.

*

They found a compartment to share and piled in, shoving trunks and cages up into the racks above their heads and dropping down into the seats as though they'd run a marathon.

"Ahhh..." Ron sighed. "I can already feel it."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"All that knowledge, leaking away, forgotten, not missed, never to be used again."

Hermione swatted at him with her book as he laughed.

Ron and Harry soon began a game of chess. Ron was on the verge of a thrilling victory involving a knight and three pawns when Susan, Neville and Hannah dropped by, closing the compartment door on a gaggle of younger students who were gazing at Neville in rapt admiration.

Susan looked reluctant to sit down, while Hannah and Neville - who seemed to be a bit bewildered by all the attention he was receiving as the leader of the student resistance - chatted to the others, Harry suggested that they step out into the corridor. The last of Neville's fans was walking dejectedly away as they came out, and Harry had to suppress a smile as he noticed that the girl didn't even give him a second glance.

"How are you?" he asked, as they leaned against the handrail, the carriage swaying gently under their feet.

"I'm fine," she said. "The centaurs might even be better at healing than Madam Pomfrey."

"Don't let her hear you say that."

Susan smiled.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For coming into the Forest," she said, punching him lightly on the arm. "I know it's another day in the life for you, but it meant a lot to me."

Harry grinned.

"I think that it's just as well we broke up, you know," she said.

"Why?"

"I couldn't cope with your world. Too much going on. I like things to be a bit simpler."

"I wouldn't mind simple," Harry admitted. "But I don't see it happening anytime soon."

"She seems to cope with it okay," Susan said, glancing into the compartment.

"Who?"

"Ginny."

Harry turned and looked into the compartment as well. Ginny was laughing at something that Neville had just said. For a moment, Harry thought about protesting that the two of them were just friends, but there didn't seem to be much point.

"Yeah, she does."

"Good," Susan said. "Anyway, looks like we're off again."

"See you next year?" Harry asked.

Susan smiled and nodded. "Maybe you can help me practise my flying?"

"Give tips to the opposition?" Harry smiled. "Well, maybe."

Susan stood up on tip-toe and placed a chaste kiss on Harry's cheek. "Have a good summer, Harry," she said.

"And you," he replied, squeezing her hand.

Hannah and Neville came out of the compartment.

"Are you looking forward to going home, Hannah?" Harry asked.

"A little," she said. "It's weird, though."

"What is?"

"Well, ever since last summer, I've been having this really weird dream. But ever since the battle, I've not had it. I hope that it doesn't start up again once I get home."

Harry and Neville stared at each other. Dimly, Harry remembered helping Hannah up after she'd been knocked over on the same day that he'd first kissed Susan.

"I'm... sure you'll be fine," he managed, before waving them off and heading back into the compartment. He didn't say anything to the others. He decided that there wasn't much point.

All too soon, the Express was pulling into Kings Cross station. The doors opened almost as one, and everyone piled on to the platform.

Harry watched as everyone said their goodbyes. Ravenclaws bade farewell to Gryffindors. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins shook hands. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs hugged... It seemed as though everyone wanted to say goodbye to everyone else.

In the midst of it all, he caught sight of Theodore Nott greeting his parents. Harry tensed at the sight of Theodore's father, who had been one of the Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest. Harry saw Theodore hug his father, and turn to pick up his trunk. As he did so, he saw Harry. The two held each other's gaze for a moment, and then Nott nodded quickly before turning away.

Before Harry could wonder too much at what Nott's ambiguous nod had meant, he saw Remus and Tonks standing together. He made his way through the crowd to them, exchanging handshakes and well-wishes with what felt like half of the student body.

Along the way, he passed Luna with a man who he thought must have been her father. He shared Luna's dirty-blonde hair, although it was pure white in places. Another man who Harry didn't know stood with them, and to Harry's surprise Luna threw her arms around him. Luna seemed more cheerful than she had done in weeks, and Harry understood why when the man pulled a hipflask from his pocket and took a swig from it, before looking around. The man had to be Blaise Zabini under a Polyjuice disguise. Harry hoped that he was safe, wherever he was hiding.

Slightly out of breath, he finally got to Remus and Tonks.

"Another busy year, then?" Remus asked.

Harry grinned.

"Harry, Tonks and I have some news-"

"Tonks, is that an engagement ring?"

Harry realised with a start that Tonks and Remus had been holding hands. With Ginny's arrival, Tonks let go and showed off the ring on her left hand while Ginny admired it.

Harry gave Remus an astonished look. The older man cleared his throat.

"The, ah, Dursleys are going to be a little late," he said. "I thought perhaps you might want to get some dinner..."

He tailed off.

"I hoped that you might have guessed from the letters," he said.

Harry thought back to the letters he'd received from Remus, which had mentioned Tonks almost every time.

"I suppose that I should have," he said. "But I'm not great at this relationship stuff."

"Neither's he," Tonks called. "I was giving you all that advice, not him. We just thought you'd take it better from a bloke."

"What advice?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, Harry was having girl trouble, some girl who fancied him and he didn't know what to do."

"Susan?" Ginny asked. She turned and grinned at Harry before turning back. "Well, he got the hang of that eventually."

Tonks was about to say something when she saw Harry making frantic gestures over Ginny's head.

"Er... Yeah. In the end."

"Well, everyone's over there. Good to see you, Tonks. And you, Professor Lupin."

"You too, Ginny."

"Bye, Harry," she said. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Bye," Harry said, feeling very useless.

There was a long moment, and then Ginny picked up her trunk and headed off to catch up with the other Weasleys.

"That would be your problem, then?" Tonks asked. Harry nodded.

"Well, if I may offer the benefit of my vast experience," Remus smiled. "You shouldn't just wait around and hope, Harry. You have to grab what you want before someone else does."

"He's right," Tonks said. "Finally."

Harry turned to say something, but Tonks was making shooing gestures. "Just go," she said. "For heaven's sake, Harry. You're a worse ditherer than Moony here."

Nodding automatically, Harry turned back. It was just possible to make out the distinctive red Weasley hair amongst the crowds still thronging the platform. He began to push his way through, only dimly aware now of the shouted farewells and backslaps that he was getting as he tried to make his way through the crowd.

Harry was grateful for the barrier that marked the return to the Muggle world. It was a chokepoint where only a few people could pass through at a time, and so all the hundreds of families had to wait for their turn to go through.

Seemingly colliding with almost everyone, Harry muttered a stream of apologies as he bounced closer and closer to the Weasleys. He passed Susan and Ernie, and Neville and Hannah. He saw Dean with Mandy Brocklehurst, and Seamus with Parvati. He saw countless groups of friends, and couples. He had learned in the last week that there had been more inter-house relationships than he had suspected, but a lot of people had felt it necessary to keep them secret after the fuss that had been made about him and Susan. He felt guilty that such had been the case, but pleased that everyone now felt alright to be open about it.

He was able to see Hermione now, a brown haired anomaly amongst the redheaded clan. He realised that Percy was there, too, and was pleased to see him. He had been forced to go into hiding for his own safety - at least until he and Bill went out on their mission - but Harry knew that his appearance here today showed that he was making his way back into his family.

And then Harry was through, and gasping for breath as he tapped Ginny on the shoulder.

"Harry?"

All the Weasleys seemed to turn as one, and for a moment Harry's heart stopped in sheer terror at what he was about to do. But for once he was trusting in his emotions, and although he was terrified, he found it thoroughly exhilarating at the same time.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing," Harry said quickly, too quickly. "I just wanted to say goodbye, to everyone, you know. And hello too, to everyone I didn't see already, so hello," he babbled.

"Hello, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, looking rather concerned for him. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Great," Harry said, grinning even as he realised that he was now the centre of attention for almost everyone around him. It seemed to be a knack that he had. "I just realised something, and I wanted to tell Ginny."

"Oh, I see," Mrs. Weasley said in a far-too-knowing tone of voice. Harry didn't dare look at her for fear that he'd lose his nerve. "Go ahead then, dear."

"Ginny," Harry said, feeling his heart beating at something resembling a normal pace. "I just realised something, seeing everyone here together."

"What?" Ginny asked. She looked genuinely bewildered. Harry reflected that it was nice for the situations to be reversed.

With that thought, he bent down and pressed his lips to hers. As he put his arms around her, he lost track of everything else because she began to respond, kissing him in return.

With a small sigh, he let her go. He heard voices in the background, but all he could think of was the kiss.

"Did we..."

"Yep."

"And he..."

"Yeah."

"And she..."

"Yes."

"So they..."

"Looks like it."

"Just so's I know.

Harry looked at the assembled Weasleys, unable to do anything about the huge grin he knew was plastered across his face. Ginny hadn't moved. She was staring ahead of her, staring blankly at Harry's chest, with a look of shock on her face.

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. "Well, I hate to spoil the moment, but we have to be going. We're holding everyone up. Ginny?"

Ginny still hadn't moved.

"Ginny, dear. Come on. Harry, a pleasure to see you."

"Right," Ginny said, shaking her head as though to clear it. Finally, she looked up at Harry. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we... I mean, was that... Oh, damn it!"

"Ginny!"

"Mum!" Ginny spun around and looked at her mother, who relented. She then turned back and glared up at Harry. "After all this time, you think you can just sweep up to me and kiss me? In front of all my family?"

"Yes," Harry said simply. He smiled nervously at her, hoping that she wasn't going to be too cross.

"Oh," she said, suddenly deflated. "Well, I suppose that's something. You're going to write to me, aren't you?" she asked, fixing him with a ferocious glare.

"Definitely," Harry said.

"Good. I'll write to you as well."

"Good," Harry said.

"We have to be going."

"I know."

"I'll, er..." Ginny seemed to lose track of what she was saying as she raised one hand to tentatively touch her lips. Her gaze lost its focus before she raised her eyes back to Harry, her expression somewhat softer than before.

"C'mere," Ron said, throwing his arm over his sister's shoulder. "You'd best be writing to more than just this one, mate."

"Ron!"

"I will," Harry said.

"Good. Now, let's get going. See ya, Harry."

"Bye, Ron. Bye, everyone."

"Harry..." Ginny said, but she was already being dragged away from him as the Weasleys made their way into the Muggle world.

"Bye, Hermione. I'll write to you as well," Harry promised.

"Good," she said, smiling in a very understanding way. "I think that we have a lot to talk about."

"I expect so," he said.

And then they were gone. Ginny struggling under Ron's grip and fighting to the last moment to see him before they went through the barrier.

Slowly people began to make their way through the barrier again. Harry stared at it for several seconds before turning, with a smile on his face, to head back to Remus and Tonks.

"Harry!"

Harry turned just in time to see Ginny bursting through the barrier again. She slammed into him and threw her arms around him, grabbing his head and pulling it down to hers for a kiss so passionate that Harry completely forgot where he was and what he was doing there. All he knew was that he was kissing Ginny.

It was more than enough.

Slowly, painstakingly, they broke apart, kissing quickly several times before finally Ginny stepped back. She let out a deep breath and swept her fringe from her eyes.

"You will write, won't you?"

"I will," he said.

"Good. Bye, then."

And she was gone. Harry slumped backwards against an iron pillar, breathless and feeling rather dazed.

"Problem solved, Harry?" Remus asked, as he pushed a trolley with Harry's trunk on it alongside him. Tonks was perched on top of the trunk and giving Harry a very knowing look.

"Problem solved," Harry said. He watched the people filing out, all ages, all houses, and thought about kisses that could leave him completely disoriented.

"I just realised something," he said. He smiled at the barrier, already composing the first letter of what he was sure would be a very busy summer for Hedwig.

"What's that?" Tonks asked, putting out her arms to prevent herself falling off the trolley.

Harry grinned. "We're going to win."

To be concluded...