After Hogwarts

Chapter Two:

Ron Weasley's Ghost:

Ron was a ghost. That was all anyone in the Weasley house could think about. Within a twenty-four hour period Ron had gone from being alive, to being dead, to finally being a ghost. Emotions were tense and no one knew if they were supposed to be happy or sad. Most felt a combination of both and were also a bit hesitant. It wasn't everyday that someone they loved became a ghost. Besides, what could Ron being a ghost mean? They all knew actual ghosts, but they didn't really know a lot about them or how much of the live person remained intact.

Everyone retired early that evening. Harry slept in Ron's old room on the very top floor. Fred and George were also sleeping there because Charlie, Bill, and Percy were sleeping in the twin's room. Harry found it very difficult to sleep in Ron's old bed. Under the best of circumstances, it had always been hard to endure Fred and George's incredibly loud snoring, but tonight the snoring was Harry's secondary problem. Every time Harry tried to shut his eyes, a million memories of Ron rushed through his mind. It seemed like only yesterday that he and Ron were hanging out in Ron's room plotting and planning their next adventure.

When Fred's snorts got unbearably loud, he realized that he wasn't sleeping anytime soon, so Harry grabbed his black glasses from Ron's nightstand and put them on his face. He then pulled out his wand.

"Lumos!" he commanded and suddenly his wand illuminated the room. He then got up and walked over to Ron's desk and quietly opened the drawers until he found some parchment and a pen. He decided that it would be best to write Dumbledore and let him know that he was bringing Hermione and the Weasleys to see him tomorrow. He didn't want to say too much because he felt that such a delicate matter would be better discussed in person.

He wrinkled his forehead as he wondered if Dumbledore even knew he left Hogwarts. Did Dumbledore think that he quit? Typically Defense Against the Dark Arts professors never made it past one year, however, Harry hadn't even taught his first class! Harry planned on being a good professor; it's just that this had to be dealt with first. Luckily he still had a few days before fall classes were scheduled to begin.

When Harry finally finished his letter, he walked over to Hedwig's cage. He opened it and tied the letter to her leg. Harry then stroked her head and fed her a treat. He put his arm out for Hedwig to step up on. She did. He walked her to the window and opened it, trying to keep it from creaking too much. When it was wide enough he told Hedwig, "Go to Dumbledore. I will meet you back at Hogwarts. Wait for me there." And Hedwig flew off like a white flash.

Harry then walked back to Ron's bed and sat on top of it. He took his glasses back off and put them on the nightstand and his wand as well. Harry then rubbed his eyes. He then pulled down the blankets, climbed inside and covered his head with some pillows. All was very quiet in the Weasley house. All except for the incessant snoring of Fred and George.

Fred and George were both soundly sleeping; they were completely unaware that Harry had been lying awake for hours. The news about Ron being a ghost actually made them feel better. In their minds, that meant that Ron could have all sorts of fun without consequence. They imagined Ron causing lots of innocent trouble, like a troublemaking ghost named Peeves that they knew from when they attended Hogwarts.

Fred and George valued laughter above just about everything else. To them it was the solution to almost everything. Their dream of their own joke shop was the culmination of their beliefs and their desire to be happy. Originally they had been planning on calling their shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but lately they had been rethinking the name. George was convinced that Wheezes sounded too much like sneezes.

Down a flight of stairs, Hermione slept in Ginny's room that night. Ginny had a very tiny room that was filled with memorabilia from her seven years at Hogwarts. She had several pictures that she had enlarged that a friend of hers, Colin Creevey, took when they attended Hogwarts. Unlike photographs that muggles had, wizard's photos moved around.

She had two favorite photos. One was of a beautiful Unicorn who pranced around all the time. The other was of a fierce dragon named Horntail that Harry had to get past during the tri wizard competition six years earlier. Harry wasn't actually in the photo, but every time she looked at it she could remember Harry on his broomstick out maneuvering the dangerous beast. The picture itself was rather boring because Horntail spent a lot of time sleeping.

Ginny stretched out on her bed staring at the picture of Horntail. Heavens, He looks even better than the last time I saw him, Ginny thought. I can't believe I turned so red when Fred winked at me. Harry must think me a complete fool. She then snuggled deeply into the covers. Who am I fooling? He doesn't even know I am alive. I am nothing more than Ron's little sister. As she thought of Ron she looked over the bed next to her and felt a terrible rush of guilt. She was lamenting over what she never had when her closest friend lost the love of her life. Ginny scolded herself for being so selfish.

Hermione's back was facing her, so she wasn't sure if Hermione was awake or not. Hermione was awake, but she didn't want to speak. She lay on her side with her arms holding herself and her knees to her chest. The blanket was pulled up so high that only a bit of brown bushy hair stuck out of the top. Hermione was lost in thoughts of Ron. He was dead. This should mean that he was gone. Now he may be a ghost, so was he really dead? It was too complex to understand. Hermione shivered, all she wanted to do was get through the night because tomorrow she would go to Hogwarts with Harry and she would see with her own eyes if Ron, her Ron, were indeed a ghost.

"Hermione," Ginny finally whispered, "Are you awake?" Hermione didn't answer. She just held herself even tighter. Ginny continued anyway, "Well, I just wanted you know that I never said anything about you and my brother's plans. With getting married and all." Ginny waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she turned over and went to sleep.

The morning finally arrived at the Weasley house, even if it did feel to most that it took forever. Mrs. Weasley was once again up before dawn to start preparing breakfast, which consisted of hot tea, fresh orange juice, and dry toast. She didn't feel like going to too much trouble today, even though it was the first time she felt a glimmer of hope since she was told Ron was dead. She was too far preoccupied to cook because today she was going to Hogwarts with Harry, to see Ron, her son. If what Harry said was true, she at least had a ghost, which was better than nothing at all.

Mr. Weasley was the next one to wake. He joined his wife in the kitchen for a bite to eat and a cup of tea. They both sat down at the table for a little peace before the rest of the house would wake with hustle and bustle.

"Arthur," Mrs. Weasley questioned, "Do you think Harry could be right? Is it possible?"

"I've never heard of it being a choice before," he logically started. "But Molly anything is possible. We both know that."

"I suppose so," she replied as she poured a bit more milk into her tea. She stirred it in and took a sip. "It's just so unbelievable."

"We'll be finding out soon enough, love," Mr. Weasley put one of his hands lovingly over his wife's hand and squeezed it.

"Yes, I suppose we will," she smiled at her husband.

Most everyone was dressed and ready by noon. Everyone was a bit anxious because they knew it was going to be a busy day. The foyer was clean and tidy when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley woke up hours ago, but had since been filled with bags, cloaks, chests, books and more. Charlie was back off to Romania and Bill received an owl post that morning stating that his services were once again needed in Africa.

Harry arrived first in the family room and didn't have to wait long for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hermione to join him. As they entered the room, it reiterated to him that these people and Ron he considered family. It pained him to see them hurting. He knew that today was going to be very difficult for them and he wasn't sure how Ron was going to react either. Ron had no idea they were coming. He told Ron that he needed to leave Hogwarts for a day or two before he left for the Weasley's, but didn't say where he was going or what he was doing. He instructed Ron to sit tight and he'd be back as soon as possible. He prayed that Ron had the good sense to listen.

Everyone was very quiet in anticipation of seeing Ron today. Mr. Weasley kept playing with the thinning red hair on his head, while Mrs. Weasley kept fluffing pillows, moving knick-knacks and rearranging things she just rearranged. Hermione was unusually still and quiet. Harry wondered if she was embarrassed that Ron's family found out about their plans the way the did. He wasn't trying to embarrass her, but he had to prove the truth to them. Ron was indeed a ghost.

Harry eventually broke the silence by telling everyone that he posted Dumbledore that they would be coming to Hogwarts today.

"Doesn't he know what is going on?" Hermione asked, finally finding her voice.

"No."

"Harry," Hermione sounded skeptical, she was still leery to give into any hope that Ron still existed on any level for fear that it would hurt too much if Harry was indeed wrong. "Dumbledore tends to know everything that goes on at that school. If Ron is a ghost, surely Dumbledore would know."

"Hermione," Harry answered, " I honestly don't know. I told Ron to sit tight and that I'd be back." Hermione looked down and started to pull her bushy brown hair back into a bun.

"Yeah, and Ron listens about as good as you do!" Fred piped in as he was bouncing down the stairs looking very well dressed. Everyone laughed because it was true, everyone except Hermione that was. Hermione was still looking at Harry, particularly his scar, which was the cause of so much fallout. She still was having trouble getting around what she was feeling. She wasn't exactly mad at Harry, after all, he was one of the closest people to her other than Ron, but she couldn't ignore the fact that it hadn't been for Harry, Ron would be alive. Ron was always getting in trouble with Harry. Yet Harry survived and Ron died. And if that wasn't hard enough to get her mind around, now Harry was saying Ron was alive...well not quite alive exactly, a ghost. She sighed heavily and decided it would be best to keep quiet until they got to Hogwarts. Then she could decide what was real for herself.

George followed his twin down the stairs also very well dressed. They were in both in formal dress robes, the only difference being that Fred's robe was sapphire blue and George's was hunter green. They both had neatly combed their hair and their faces were cleanly shaven; the men even smelled nice too. The difference from their usual appearance was a drastic enough change to distract Mrs. Weasley and make her take notice.

"Fred, George!" She firmly said, "I know you two aren't this well dressed to accompany us to Hogwarts." She looked each of her sons eyeing them up and down suspiciously. Faces full of determination, the twins looked right back at their mother.

"No mum," George confirmed. "We aren't going with you to Hogwarts."

"Oh really?" She questioned. Both twins gulped because, facing their mother's wrath when she became overprotective was harder than any exam they ever had at Hogwarts.

"Really." Fred affirmed, pushing his shoulders back looking very determined, while George folded his arms, standing right next to his brother with the same serious look on his face.

"Then if you own mother might ask, where exactly are you going?"

"Look mum," George started to explain. "We would have told you sooner, but so much is going on..."

"It's not like we are children anymore, we are grown men..." Fred added.

"You know we've been planning this for awhile..."

"We've got a meeting with Tom the bartender today. You may remember him, he runs The Leaky Cauldron..."

"Well, he also leases a small shop near The Leaky Cauldron in an area called The Commons. The shop even has an apartment above it..."

"It's the perfect size for a shop..."

"And location is great..."

"Our business plan is good, really good..."

"And we've got the opportunity and resources to make it happen..."

"To make what happen?" Mrs. Weasley's voice rose as she asked.

"Weasley Wizards' Whirlwind!" They responded together.

"Weasleys' what?" Mrs. Weasley now was yelling.

"Weasley Wizards' Whirlwind, it's..." Fred began but was sharply cut off.

"It's what?" She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, almost like a growl, which caused both Fred and George to slowly start walking backwards until there backs hit the wall.

"Our shop we're going to open," George replied, trying to keep his confidence. He had to remind himself that this was only his mother and that both he and Fred were grown men more than capable of starting a sound business together.

"This is not a joke," Fred pressed, matching his brother's determination

"Of all the nonsense...absolutely ridiculous...seven years of education..." Her voice got louder with each statement, "HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MINDS?"

"No." Fred calmly answered, stepping forward from the wall.

"We have not." George firmly finished, walking to his brother's side. The twins were going to hold their ground, after all, this was their dream and they were determined to make it happen. Mrs. Weasley's face became redder and redder and her cheeks puffed up; she kept opening her mouth to say something, but no words came out at first.

"And where are you going to get the money for that?" She bellowed when she finally found her voice again. Harry quickly looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with either Fred or George. Mrs. Weasley may not blame Harry for Ron's death, but she surely would blame him for this. He felt flushed and very uncomfortable being too well aware of the fact that he was the one that gave them the money quite a while ago to finance their business. Not only did he gave them the money, but he further advised them to open an account at Gringotts, six years ago, and they had gained much interest.

"Dear," Mr. Weasley interrupted, gently put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Our boys have strong minds and a lot of creativity. It can't hurt if they at least try." He briefly looked over to the twins and winked. Mr. Weasley knew about their plans to open their shop in The Commons. He had actually seen their financial profile and visited the possible location with them right before he left for Hogwarts a few days ago. He didn't know where they got the money from, but he did know their plan was legitimate and sound. The three of them were all planning taking Mrs. Weasley out for a drink at The Leaky Cauldron and then telling her so the could show her the tentative shop, but so much happened so fast.

Mr. Weasley walked over to his wife and lightly kissed her plump check, "We've raised good men and we have got to trust in them."

"But Arthur..." she argued.

"Molly, they will be okay, our twins are always okay, in fact they are usually better that the rest of us!" but when Mr. Weasley looked at Hermione and Harry it reminded him of the task at hand. "But right now we have to tend to our youngest son." This brought reality back into focus for Mrs. Weasley and she knew she would deal with Fred and George later.

They walked over to the fireplace in the family room and each took a pinch of Floo powder. One by one they took turns throwing their powder and then jumping into the bright fire shouting, "Hogwarts!"

The fire crackled green and orange sparks as everyone went through, everyone except Harry. When it was his turn, the room filled with a heavy, dark smoke.

Shortly after they had left, Ginny smelled the thick smoke and came downstairs. She knew the smell must have come from the fireplace when Harry used his Floo powder. It was funny, for as powerful a wizard Harry was; he never mastered such an easy thing like Floo powder.

Ginny opened a few windows in the family room to let in some fresh autumn air. Charlie and Bill had left earlier that morning and when Fred and George were nowhere to be found, Ginny felt a sense of relief that the house was once again empty. She had wanted to say goodbye to her parents and wish them luck, but she knew that they had bigger things to worry about. She also wasn't sure if Hermione was angry with her and didn't see the point in coming downstairs if it was going to make today harder for her friend. It was just easier to stay upstairs until everyone had left. Ginny hated to admit it, but she had also stayed away because she didn't want to have to say goodbye to Harry Potter again and she felt a bit sad not knowing the next time she'd see him again.

Ginny grabbed her broomstick from the foyer closet and went into the garden. She knew that going for a short fly around the garden would clear her head of her troubles and of Harry Potter. What was wrong with me? She wondered. With all the chaos around me and all the choices of what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, it's Harry Potter that fills my head! It's always Harry!

She mounted her broom, pressed her feet hard against the ground to help lift off and then soared up into the sky. She flew fast and furiously higher and higher in the sky, her hair billowing in the air. The wind was slapping her in the face until her eyes were burning so badly, she was blinded by her own tears, and still all she could see was Harry Potter - images of his black hair, his green eyes, and his scar filled her head. She kicked her heels against her broomstick, urging it to go faster. She knew that if she could fly fast enough that her mind would eventually clear. She found it so infuriating that every time his memory would finally begin to fade, she then would see him again for some reason or another and it would start all over again. I'm hopeless, she cursed herself as she took a corner to tightly, she almost fell off her broomstick

Once she regained her balance Ginny looked down and realized that she no longer recognized the scenery below her. She wondered how long she had been flying for. The sun was much lower in the sky from when she had left and she knew that she should probably be getting back home, so she turned around. Eventually she began to recognize the landmarks below her and it didn't take long to get back to her house. As she got closer, she saw a tiny, little head in the backyard. She knew that it must be Percy because he was the only other person who would have been home.

As soon as she landed, she walked over to Percy and sat next to him. Percy was the most boring person Ginny knew and if anyone could distract her, it would be Percy. She noticed that he was reading a piece of parchment and that one of Hogwarts owls was beside him hooting and dancing while eating a bit of crust from a cream pie that she and her mother had baked yesterday.

"A letter from Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, wondering what it was about.

"I got a letter from Albus Dumbledore," he smarmily replied.

"Is it about Ron?"

"No, it is about the Ministry," he proudly informed her.

"So what's going on?" Ginny asked, hoping for a good distraction.

"Albus wanted me to know that he recognizes all the hard work I have done for the Ministry in the past and that he has a position for me with the Ministry," Percy had his chest puffed out like a rooster, looking so proud and yet so cocky.

Albus? Ginny thought, since when did Percy become on a first name basis with Dumbledore? She decided to resist the temptation of deflating his oversized ego and just asked, "What will you be doing?"

"Well I'm not sure," Percy began, obviously very pleased and eager to share his news. "Albus said that he still had to get a few things organized, but there will be a meeting at the Ministry building in London on October 1st at 9:47 AM, Main Floor, Conference Room B."

"Oh really?" Ginny feigned excitement. She knew that she was supposed to be impressed, but a big meeting sounded rather boring to her.

"I'm sure he's contacting and confirming the right people for the right jobs and things will get back to normal soon," Percy theorized.

"I suppose there are a lot of positions to fill," Ginny said.

"Not just positions Ginny, Ministry positions." Percy added, emphasizing that there was a huge difference between working for the Ministry and anywhere else.

"I wonder if Dad will still be dealing with muggle artifacts," Ginny wondered out loud. Mr. Weasley had been with the Ministry for as long as Ginny could remember.

"I suppose so, but there are many more important positions than that!" Percy had always thought their father's prior position was not very pivotal, besides, he much preferred to talk about himself. "Anyway, I hope to be doing something really important and besides that, I look forward to moving back to London."

"You're going to move back to London?" Ginny tried to contain her excitement, but the thought of Percy out of the house pleased her. He was her brother and she loved him, but his enormous ego was a bit difficult to take and he always treated her like she was still a baby and a rather thick baby at that. It seemed like that nothing she ever did was good enough to impress her brother Percy.

"Ginny..." he looked at her, shaking his head condescendingly. "It's not only having the right job, my dear little sister. It's being in the right place and knowing the right people." Ginny knew that Percy was finished talking with her when he started re reading his letter.

She picked up her broomstick and started walking to the house. Her brother Percy thought he was so smart. Percy was going to London and Percy was going to have a big, important job and Percy...blah, blah, blah... then suddenly it then hit Ginny. She didn't have to stay at home. She could move anywhere and do anything she wanted to do; after all, she had a Hogwarts education, not only that, but she had graduated in the top of her class. She could get a job with the Ministry or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe she should move to London and not let life continue to control her, but rather take control of her own life! If nothing else, maybe all the new people and challenges would be the distraction she needed to get a certain Harry Potter out of her mind!

The Weasleys and Hermione stepped through the stone fireplace in the Hogwart's library with no problem. It took a few minutes longer for Harry to make it through than it had for anyone else. When he finally did make it through, he fell to the ground, once again covered in soot. He quickly pulled himself up and brushed himself off. Luckily there weren't many students in the library to see what had happened because classes were not in session yet and most of the students that were already at Hogwarts were at pre season game of Quidditch between two of the school houses, Hufflepuff and Slytherin that afternoon. Harry felt a bit badly for Hufflepuff, who were the most loyal and true of any of the houses, but were no match for Slytherin, who would do what ever it took to get what they wanted. Harry was certain that the few students that were in the library that stopped what they were doing to look at him causing such a commotion, had to be Ravenclaw, who were known for being studious and hardworking, because they were the only house that would choose studying over a Quidditch match.

"I've never been very good at using Floo powder," Harry meekly confessed, his face turning slightly pink. Harry looked over to the students, relieved that they had already gone back to what they were originally doing before Harry made such a disturbance.

Harry, Hermione and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley left the library and proceeded towards Dumbledore's office. They had passed several of Hogwarts house elves as they walked down the hallway. Hogwarts had many house elves that cooked and cleaned and tended to many of the chores that such a large school had. House elves never wanted money for their services and often served only one master, very faithfully, and it was a well-known fact that they were only truly happy when they had lots of work to do. Hogwarts always had plenty of work to do and was a pleasant place to live, so many of the house elves found it a wonderful place to live.

When they were almost at the end of the hall, a very brightly dressed house elf ran past them. Shortly after the elf had passed them, he turned stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and ran back right back to them.

"Harry Potter sir, Harry Potter," the house elf exclaimed. Harry recognized this house elf; his name was Dobby. Dobby was a house elf that had worked at Hogwarts since Harry was a student in his fourth year. Dobby was the only house elf that was actually employed by Hogwarts, in that he got paid, he had days off and he no longer served a master. The other house elves were horrified that Dobby actually received money for his services rendered, but Dobby didn't mind. He considered himself a pioneer of sorts.

The Weasleys couldn't help but to stare at Dobby's unusual choice of clothing as he prattled on. The house elf was wearing an oversized magenta shirt with a purple and yellow bow tie, green knickers, one yellow and one turquoise sock accented with a long red cape. Dobby was practically jumping up and down, trying to get Harry's attention, "Please Harry Potter, Harry Potter sir! You need to come with me. There is no time to explain!" Dobby then pulled on Harry's sleeve, leading the way.

Harry shrugged, but signaled the others to follow as Dobby pulled him away. Dobby led them down many turning and twisting passages. They had all been in Hogwarts many, many times, yet there were always new passages popping up and it always had the feel of being inside an incredible, intricate maze. Dobby's pace kept getting faster and faster and after awhile, they had to almost run to keep up with Dobby.

"Hurry, sirs, hurry! It's awful, just awful!" Dobby kept repeating himself as hurried down the halls.

Dobby finally stopped at the painting that hid the secret entrance to the kitchen.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on now?" Harry tried to catch his breath as he asked Dobby.

"Just go in sir," Dobby begged. "Please." Harry could tell by the expression on Dobby's face that no matter what was really going on, Dobby thought it to be serious.

"Okay then," Harry said as he turned the picture around, revealing the secret passage. He looked to the Weasleys and Hermione and said, "Wait here for just a moment and let me go in first." Harry then went in the kitchen.

As Harry entered the kitchen he saw several house elves frantically running across the room and a few more crouched down, shaking and holding on to each other under a large wooden table in the middle of the room. One of the house elves called out to Harry from under the table while the others covered their eyes, "INCOMING!"

No sooner did Harry hear the house elf's voice, he turned to look and SPLAT! Harry felt something soft and creamy hit the side of his head. As he put his hand to his head to see what had hit him, SPLAT! SPLAT! Harry then felt something else, it was warm and slimy and it was running down from the top of his head. As the unknown liquid trickled down his face, Harry recognized the smell. It was split pea and ham soup.

Harry knew instantly that this reeked of a troublesome poltergeist named Peeves whom resided at Hogwarts and loved to cause trouble, never serious trouble, just lots and lots of mischievous trouble.

"PEEVES!" Harry yelled. "You can run but you can't hide."

"Oh but I can!" Peeves teased and then Harry heard laughter, but it sounded like there were two voices laughing.

SPLAT! Harry was hit again before he could respond, this time with what tasted like a banana cream pie.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! Harry heard something behind him and turned around to look, but his glasses were covered with so much food that he couldn't see. He then took off his glasses, wiping the pie and soup from his eyes and although his vision was blurred, it appeared to be Mr. and Mrs. Weasley behind him wearing what smelled to be freshly made trifle. Next to them stood Hermione who looked like she was sporting chocolate mousse.

Harry frantically looked to the direction the pie was thrown from and pulled out his wand. Harry heard Peeves gasp and he knew that he was aiming in the right direction. Following Harry's lead, the Weasleys and Hermione pulled out their wands, taking aim as well.

"Peeves," a very familiar voice warned from the other side of the kitchen. "Make a run for it!"

They all whipped their heads around see who was warning Peeves. All four of them dropped their wands and froze in the spot they stood looking up and seeing that suspended five feet in the air was a translucent Ron smiling with an impish grin on his face. In one hand he held a fresh bowl of trifle and in the other, a chocolate mousse.

"Anyone hungry?" Ron beamed.

For the second time in two days, both Mrs. Weasley and Hermione fainted.

A few hours later both Mrs. Weasley and Hermione woke up in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse, fed them plenty of chocolate, which cured almost everything. Once she was certain that they were okay, Madame Pomfrey left to fetch Professor Dumbledore.

An anxious Mr. Weasley entered their room and sat on the edge of his wife's bed. He kept wringing his hands, disconcerted by what had just happened. Mrs. Weasley noticed that Harry wasn't with them in the hospital wing and when she asked her husband about it, Mr. Weasley informed her that Dumbledore had already requested an audience with Harry while they were, um, sleeping.

Hermione looked at Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley looked at Hermione both sheepishly smiling while Mr. Weasley continued to wring his hands and had begun to pace. The whole thing seemed outrageous, all three of them would have much preferred to believe that they had dreamed the whole thing; however, reminisce of trifle and chocolate on their clothing proved otherwise.

When Dumbledore finally arrived, the three of them were anxious for answers and bombarded him with questions at the same time.

"What happened?" Hermione asked

"Was that Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked

"What does this mean?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Dumbledore gently put up his thin bony hand, which gestured them to be quiet. Quite unusual circumstances, he thought, a man who gets to choose to become a ghost. Alas, what is done is done.

"I know what brings you here today," Dumbledore began. "I hope to clear some of this unusual matter for you." He went on to explain that when a wizard becomes a ghost, there is a huge transition involved. The person they were before they died still remains within them, but the memories and feelings become distant and fade. They embark on a new path, a new adventure that is hard to explain or understand to the living world. Ron was still Ron, but he wasn't at the same time.

"Would he not know us?" Mrs. Weasley questioned.

"He knows all of you and remembers everything, but he has moved forward. He's evolving into something more. He takes the best and the worst, always the extremes, and carries that into his new life. Or rather I should say death." All three of them looked severely disappointed.

"You have to forget and move past what you thought Ron's life was going to be or your life with him was going to be," Dumbledore continued. Hermione put her hands to her face and began softly crying. Dumbledore walked over to Hermione and as he sat on the corner of her bed, his long silver hair brushed across the covers.

"Dear girl," Dumbledore soothingly said. "Of course this is most difficult, for all of you." He then looked to the Weasleys. "But, Ron needs you to accept this and let him move on. Be happy for him. Your grief would only hold him back." This stopped Hermione from crying. Mr. Weasley took his wife's hand and held it tightly. Dumbledore reminded them that they still have a part of Ron that they could at least see.

"Does this mean we can visit him?" Mrs. Weasley was hopeful.

"Not for a while," Dumbledore was truly sad to inform them. "You need time to grieve and accept what has happened. You need to concentrate on your lives and getting them back in order. And to be honest, Ron needs time to adjust to his new death." He looked at the three sad faces before him and decided to add, "But I think eventually you will be able to visit him." At that all three of them smiled. "I would also like to let you know that Ron is going to be a wonderful addition to Hogwarts..."

Suddenly Madame Pomfrey burst though the door with her face all red and flushed. "Professor Dumbledore," she panted as if she had been running a long marathon. "You must come Professor!" Their heads all turned to look at Madame Pomfrey.

"Surely this can wait..." Dumbledore began.

"No," she was gasping loudly, sounding like she couldn't breathe. "There is trouble in the Great Hall..." she huffed and puffed. "The students just sat down for tea and the plates of never ending food started to be served..." She paused to look at the Weasleys and Hermione. "Well Peeves and...um...a friend have started another food fight."

"Well, I supposed I better be going. Never ending plates of food in a food fight is never a good thing," Dumbledore said as he got up from Hermione's bedside. "Please feel free to use any of the fireplaces for your travels home."

"Thank you Albus," Mr. Weasley said extending his hand to Dumbledore. "I suppose I'll see you in a few weeks in London for the meeting about the Ministry."

"Your welcome and yes, I will see you then at 9:47 AM prompt," Dumbledore smiled, shaking Mr. Weasley's hand. Madame urgently tugged at Dumbledore's robe.

"Sorry sir," she pleaded. "We better go. When I left, things were very messy. The Slytherins were pummeling the professor's table. Both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were teaming up against Hufflepuff! Somebody has got to save Hufflepuff!"