Harry Potter and the Last Goodnight

Chapter 31: Homecoming

When the train pulled up to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Harry's spirits lifted a little. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were waiting for them, along with the two identical red-heads at her side. Fred and George would surely cheer him up - and Ron too.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione said goodbye to Luna and quickly got off the Hogwarts Express. Hermione found her bags and her parents, and said that she would see everyone at the Weasley's for Christmas Eve dinner. As Harry was gathering his trunk, he saw little Nora bolt off the train and run straight towards her sister at top speed. Eva met her halfway and they embraced. Harry could see wetness in both pairs of eyes. Eva looked brilliant, as usual. He was just admiring her hair when he felt pain explode on his leg.

"Ouch," Harry cursed as Ron pushed his trunk into his shin.

Ron turned around. "Sorry," he muttered. He followed Harry's gaze to where Eva and Nora were standing on the platform. He sighed. "Women. They're all bad, Harry. The whole lot."

Even though he said it, Harry knew Ron didn't mean it. Now that he saw Eva, he was suddenly more aware that his tongue felt like sandpaper in his mouth and his knees were quite weak. But all the excitement of seeing her and exchanging letters left him with little preparation for when he actually met her face to face.

He sucked in his breath as Nora led her older sister towards where Harry and Ron were standing to collect their baggage. Harry felt certain panic, but the Weasleys came to his rescue and met them there as well.

"Oh, I've missed all of you so much," Mrs. Weasley said, embracing each of them in turn. "Not that the house has been too quiet or anything..." She glanced at the twins.

Mr. Weasley hugged them as well. "Where's Hermione?"

"She had to leave," Ron said quickly. He cleared his throat. "She had... an appointment."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley seemed to buy the explanation. By this time, Eva and Nora had already picked up Nora's things and pulled away from the crowd.

"Hullo, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley," Eva greeted as she approached the circle. "Do I dare ask who is holding down the fort at the Ministry?" she asked Mr. Weasley.

He grinned. "How many times must I tell you, Eva? It's Arthur. And I left Nelson in charge for today. Let's hope he survives." The two of them laughed as though sharing an inside office joke. Ginny eyed her father and Eva curiously. Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. "Where are my manners? Eva, this is my youngest son, Ron, and my only daughter, Ginny. This is Eva Finnigan, the newest researcher in my department."

They exchanged nods. "And you remember Fred and George, I'm sure."

"Indeed, they are unforgettable." Eva grinned. "This is my sister, Nora. She's a first-year." She introduced Nora to the twins and Mrs. Weasley. "They're the ones with the joke shop," she added.

Throughout the entire introduction, Harry felt as though he was being ignored, but when Eva now looked him in the eyes with a brilliant smile on her face, he was warmed over and quickly forgot whatever sour feelings he'd had. "Hullo, Harry," she greeted.

"Hello," Harry replied. It was so odd to be meeting her under normal conditions that it was beginning to feel quite awkward.

"How do you two know each other?" Ginny questioned, studying Harry and Eva with a narrow stare.

"Oh, we're old friends." Eva grinned. This time it was a private smile, just exchanged with Harry. He couldn't help but grin back idiotically. She had a way of smiling at him that made him feel like she did it only for him. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but yet he couldn't exactly put them into words.

"I've got a car from the Ministry," Mr. Weasley said. "Fancy a lift to... to wherever you're staying? There's plenty of room."

To Harry's disappointment, Eva shook her head. "I've rented a flat just 'round the corner. The one over-looking the river." She smiled at Nora, whose face lit up.

"You'll have to stop by for tea sometime now that you've got your holiday break," Mr. Weasley said. "Molly would be happy to have you."

"Or better yet," Mrs. Weasley interrupted. "Have you any plans for Christmas Eve?"

Eva seemed to hesitate. "No, I'm afraid we don't. Not really."

"You two should join us for our Christmas Eve celebration."

"We don't want to impose..." Eva began, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Nora tugged on her sleeve. "Please, Eva," she begged. Mentally, Harry was pleading with Eva as well. There were few days more magical - or romantic - than Christmas Eve.

"I'll not take no for an answer," Mrs. Weasley replied. "It's settled. Supper is at five o'clock. There'll be other guests as well, so don't you fret," she added. "No one, not even two sisters, ought to be alone on Christmas Eve."

"All right, you've convinced me," Eva replied, grinning. She glanced at Harry, but looked away before he could express his happiness. "Well, we'd better get going. It was nice to meet everyone. We'll see you on Christmas Eve."

Nora grabbed her kennel with the gray kitten, Alley, in it. Eva put the trunk onto a cart and pushed it towards the platform exit. As she walked past, Harry could swear he felt a jolt of electricity and warmth around his midsection. He tried not to appear alarmed and quickly stuck his hands in his coat pockets.

Inside, he felt a slip of parchment that had not been there earlier. Harry knew instantly what that jolt of excitement had been. Eva had just delivered him another letter. Harry fingered the parchment inside his pocket as they left the platform and walked between the walls that led to the Muggle world.

It was snowing lightly as Harry followed the Weasleys to the Ministry car. The sleek, black sedan looked normal from the outside, but as Mr. Weasley loaded everyone's baggage into the trunk, Harry could see that it was bewitched. There was no way any normal car could hold so many things, nor so many people. Harry slid between George and Ron into the backseat, which fit all of the children quite cozily. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat in the front.

Harry was anxious to read Eva's letter. The ride to the Burrow seemed to take unnaturally long, even though it was a Ministry car that moved at top speed through Britain - much faster than any normal car. Mrs. Weasley kept asking them questions about their lessons and Quidditch and about Ginny's O.W.L. preparation. Finally, George said, "For crying out loud, mum! Would you give them a break? They just got home from school; they don't want to relive the whole bloody term!"

"Mind your manners, George," Mr. Weasley scolded.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "He's right, dear. I'm afraid that I'm a little overexcited to see everyone this holiday. It's been so long since most of us have been together for Christmas."

"Most of us?" Ginny questioned.

"Bill's spending the holidays with Fleur and her family," Fred said. "I imagine after this he'll change his mind and come back home without her."

Mrs. Weasley's jaw dropped. "Fred!"

"Rotten thing to say, really," George said. "Surely it'll be the other way around. Bill never behaves the best during the holidays. The Delacours will send him packing before midnight. He always said the holidays were more for causing mischief than celebration."

"Indeed," Mr. Weasley chuckled. "Advice you two took to heart at a very young age."

Fred and George exchanged mischievous grins. Harry was glad to see that after so many changes this term, the twins' playful demeanors were the same.

It was snowing a lot heavier in Ottery St. Catchpole when they arrived. Mr. Weasley betwtiched the trunks to let themselves into the Burrow and find their ways into the proper rooms.

When they got inside, Harry was amazed at all of the decorations. Sparkling streamers and glittering tinsel hung from all corners of the room. There was a tall fur tree in the living room. It looked as though the ceiling had been built higher to accommodate its massive size. Instead of a stand, the tree's roots were still buried in soil, the smell of earth and pine filling the room. There were red candles on every branch, casting long shadows on the walls. At the very top of the tree was a star behaving in a way that Harry could only describe as dripping gold. The drops started at the top of the star and trickled downward to the tips, and occasionally one would slide down the branches of the tree and pool like hardening wax on the wood, then disappear into the shadows.

Harry thought he had never seen a more beautiful sight. It filled him with such joy and hope, yet he almost felt as though he could cry. Mr. Weasley came over and gave him a pat on the back. "Like the tree, eh?"

Harry nodded. "It's... magnificent."

"Thanks. Bewitched it myself."

However, when Ron walked in the door, he barely took notice of the decorations. He mumbled something about unpacking and stomped upstairs to his bedroom. "He's in a foul mood," Fred said. "Did you tell him about the Order?"

Mrs. Weasley, who had been rummaging in the cupboard, looking for something for dinner, dropped the container she held in her hands. "Oh dear." She quickly bent over to pick it up, and Ginny was quickly on her hands and knees helping her mother.

"What about the Order?" Harry questioned.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley exchanged glances. "We didn't tell them yet," Mrs. Weasley said to George. She wrung her hands nervously.

"Tell us what?"

"Now Molly, you have a seat and save your cooking for Christmas Eve," Mr. Weasley said, taking his wife by the shoulders and forcing her into one of the chairs at the table.

"You two are going to put me into an early grave!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, shaking a finger at the twins.

"Come on, mum," Fred said. "We've been through all the dramatics before. We'll tell them."

"Tell us what?" Ginny demanded. She, too, took a seat at the table.

Without looking at one another, George and Fred seemed to communicate in that secretive way twins do. "We're joining the Order," they said together.

"What?!" Ginny cried. "You can't be serious."

"We are," George continued. "Dead serious."

Mrs. Weasley gave him a smack on the head. "Don't say that."

"But how...?" Harry began.

"We're of legal age," Fred said. "It was brought up at a meeting, thanks to Charlie, and the Order discussed it, and after a unanimous vote, we're in."

"Unanimous?" Ginny glanced at her parents. "How could you vote in favor of such a ridiculous idea?" Harry was wondering how they managed to convince Snape to be in favor.

"They're going to be participants in this war whether we allow them in the Order or not," Mr. Weasley explained. "At least this way, we will know what they're up to and we might be able to have some control over their actions."

Mrs. Weasley sighed heavily. "It's the safest way for them to help. They will not sit idly by."

"Which was exactly what our winning argument was," Fred said to Harry and Ginny. "I imagine if you two use the same tactic, they may let you in as well..."

"Don't get any ideas," Mr. Weasley interrupted. Mrs. Weasley looked positively infuriated at the suggestion that her youngest child and the Boy Who Lived should join such a dangerous clan. Mr. Weasley continued. "You're not of age yet, and even then... then it could be over. For the better, of course," he added.

"This isn't proper dinnertime conversation," Mrs. Weasley said. "And I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, boys. You've not been inducted yet." There was a glimmer of mother's hope in her eyes. "So I was thinking that tomorrow, if the weather is not too terrible, we'll all take a trip to Diagon Alley for some last minute shopping."

"And to see the joke shop," George interjected, turning to Harry. "It's quite amazing, if I do say so myself. We've had some big sellers this holiday season. We could give you a real deal on the last of our Dainty Diabolical Dragon Eggs..."

Harry grinned. It felt good to be home.

* * *

When supper was almost ready, Harry quietly slipped away from the kitchen and stumbled up to Ron's room in the evening darkness. His door was only open a crack, and there was no light coming from his room. Harry hesitated. Perhaps he was sleeping. He quietly knocked on the door.

"I'm not hungry," Ron replied grumpily. "Go away."

"Ron, can I come in a minute?"

Ron sighed. "Not now, Harry. I'm busy."

"Busy sulking," he muttered. "Come on, Ron. Let me in."

"The door's open, isn't it?" Ron grumbled.

With a quiet creak, Harry opened Ron's bedroom door. Ron was sitting on his bed, a single candle lit on his nightstand. Harry had rarely seen him looking so miserable. He silently sat down at the foot of the bed. "What's wrong?"

Ron scoffed. "Do you even need to ask?"

"I supposed not." Harry chewed his lower lip nervously. He wasn't sure what to say. Nothing he'd ever learned in life had prepared him for an end to his two best friends' romance. "Can I ask you something? Something that's been bothering me this whole time, ever since you and Hermione first... first got together?"

He wasn't sure if Ron nodded in the darkness, but Harry was prepared to ask him the question even without his permission. "Why did you want to keep it a secret?" Harry asked. "Why did you want to hide the fact that you and Hermione were together?"

Ron didn't speak for a moment, which felt like an hour to Harry. "You saw what happened when word got 'round about you and Gin, didn't you?"

"Yes, I experienced it first-hand," Harry replied, confused. "But what does that have to do with you and Hermione?"

"Everything," Ron replied. "Really, I wanted to tell everyone. I wanted to shout it from the top of the Astronomy Tower that I was dating Hermione Granger." He sighed. "But you saw how everyone reacted. How Parvati and Lavender spread those rumors like wildfire. I just didn't want to be embarrassed."

"Embarrassed?" Harry questioned. "You're embarrassed of Hermione?"

Ron shook his head. "No. Quite the opposite. I didn't want people to come up to her and say, 'He's not good enough for you, Hermione.' You heard what Hannah said when we were on the Muggle Studies field trip."

"But why should it matter what other people say?" Harry asked. He knew that Ron was more self-conscious than he was, but he never thought he would let it stand in the way of something so important as his relationship with Hermione.

"They may be right." Harry was about to protest, but Ron continued. "Hermione is practically a genius. And she's beautiful, too. What would she possibly want with someone like me?"

"Someone like you?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Nothing more than a beggar coming from a poor wizarding family. You even said so yourself. A beggar's costume suits me."

Harry remembered back to that fateful night of the field trip. "Ron, I was only joking, I didn't mean it."

"But it's true. I don't have a vault full of gold in Gringotts."

"But Hermione's not shallow like that," Harry replied, feeling terribly guilty. "She can see past rags and riches. Being the wealthiest wizard in the world wouldn't win her over."

"It wouldn't hurt, either."

"Ron, you don't need money. You're the Quidditch captain. You're a Prefect."

"Quidditch captain and Prefect by default," Ron replied. "The runner up to positions that should have been held by the great Harry Potter."

"Come on, Ron. You know that's not true..."

"Look, Harry, I just need to be alone for a while, okay?" he snapped angrily. He blew out the candle on the tabletop and the room plunged into darkness. Harry frowned and quietly left the bedroom.

He understood that this had more to do with him than he realized. However, Harry wasn't going to let Ron wallow in his own self-pity forever. It was partly his fault that Ron and Hermione had split up, and he was going to do everything in his power to get them back together again, even if it took its toll on their friendship.

But what surprised Harry the most was that Ron felt like a fraud. He didn't think he deserved all of the awards and benefits that he had received. Harry knew that he deserved them. It was one thing to save the world at the end of the day, but to stand by the hero and rarely play one himself was a deed that should not go without reward.

Ron had earned everything, even his goodnight kisses with Hermione, and Harry would do anything he could to make sure that his friends were happy.

By now, Harry was desperate to read Eva's letter. With everyone downstairs and Ron sulking in his room, he decided it was safe to pull it out of his pocket. Quietly and carefully, he pulled out the piece of parchment and unwrapped it.

Dear Harry,

How are you? I hope your midterms weren't too awful. Nora was concerned about her Potions final, but I assured her she'll do fine.

No, I don't really have any plans for the holidays. I used to clean for an old couple in London, and they've allowed me to rent out their flat over-looking the river. I brought Nora there for trick-or-treating last year for Halloween, and she absolutely fell in love with the place. The owners will be off with their family in the states, so they have allowed me to house-sit for the holidays.

I really try to make the holidays special for Nora. They're hard on her. I've almost gotten everything on her Christmas list except for these things called Gobstones. I've never heard of them, nor seen them when I went shopping in Hogsmeade. I suppose I should have asked the Weasley twins about them - they would know for sure.

I really would like to do something special for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They have been so good to me as well. Perhaps if we put our heads together we can think of a way to show our gratitude. We really ought to get together during the holidays. Just name the time and place and Nora and I will be there.

Yours,

Eva

Harry was grinning like an idiot. Even if, by the sounds of it, she only wanted to get together to discuss paying back the Weasleys, he would still get to spend time with her over the holidays. Though in his fantasies, her little sister was not there.

Yours. Harry liked the sound of that. For it was only fair that if she had his heart, he had a little of hers as well.

"What's this?"

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin as Ginny popped up the stairs and snatched the letter from his fingertips.

"Hey! Give it back!" Harry demanded. He tried to take it from her grip, but she held it just far enough away from him so that she could read it but he couldn't reach it.

Harry watched nervously as her eyes scanned the parchment. "Wait a minute, this is from that girl at the platform, isn't it?"

He sighed. "Yes." There was no use denying it, though he wasn't quite sure how Ginny would feel about him receiving an almost-love letter from another girl. But instead, she turned to him with a bright grin on her face.

"I say, Harry, is this who you were trying to talk to me about a few weeks ago?" But she didn't wait for him to reply, because she already knew the answer. "I knew there was something between the two of you. You both grin like idiots when you're around each other. This is perfect."

Harry snatched the letter back and folded it up neatly. "Perfect?"

Ginny nodded. "Certainly. What better way to make your first move than under the mistletoe on Christmas Eve?"

"Oh no, I don't think so, Ginny."

"Why not?" she questioned. "It's perfectly romantic and the best way to show that you want more than friendship."

"Listen, we've only known each other for a few months," he stammered. "I've made some big mistakes. I don't think she feels that way about me."

"She wrote yours, didn't she? It's not even the standard yours truly. Just yours."

"You're reading more into it than you should be," Harry said.

"Don't you know what happens after yours?"

"No," Harry answered, confused.

"Love," Ginny said simply. "I'm a girl. I know these things. It's a natural progression."

Harry tried hard not to show how infinitely happy that made him. "You're nuts, Gin. You've lost it. What are you doing up here anyways?" He tired to steer her back towards the stairs.

"Dad told me to get you and Ron down for supper. What's he doing, anyway?"

Harry sighed. "Drowning in his misery. Afraid part of it is my fault, really."

Ginny shook her head. "Nonsense. The only thing that got Ron into his predicament was his own ego. I'm sure mum will bring him up something later." She turned and rushed ahead of him down the stairs. "And Harry, think about what I suggested. A girl like Eva is not going to wait around forever."

Harry was surprised she was taking it so well, but then he realized that was his own ego. Ginny began erasing him from that part of her heart long ago. He had to wonder if she was right, though. Did he have the nerve to try to pull anything on Christmas Eve?