PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: pottervader

Story: Harry Potter and the Prophesized Six

Part: 30: Start of an interesting summer

Rating: Teens

Setting: AU

Status: WIP

Reviews: 20

Words: 6,421

Updated: June 9, 2008, 11:24am

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30: Start of an interesting summer

Disclaimer: This story was made without any intention of profiting from it. Only the original characters and the plot are mine. The rest of it belongs to JKR.

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I'm so sorry for taking so long but I had little time to write in the first two weeks of May. I hope you like it. Thanks to my beta, Chris, for doing a superb job. Please review.

The day after they got back from Hogwarts turned out to be interesting for Harry and Rose. When they came down to breakfast, they found only their mother and the twins in the kitchen.

"Where's Dad, Mum?" Harry asked as he sat down at the table. Even when he was an Auror, James had always tried to eat breakfast with his family.

"Your father got an owl from the Ministry early this morning and left almost as soon as he got it," Lily replied.

"Why?" Rose asked. "He doesn't work there anymore."

"I can't tell you yet," Lily said, "Don't worry. You'll find out all about it when he gets back, though I don't know when that will be."

Harry and Rose looked at each other, both curious and annoyed at this. They knew they wouldn't get anything out of their mother but reasoned that if it were anything bad, she would have told them. Instead of trying to pry further, they turned their attention to the delicious breakfast Blinky and their mother had made.

After breakfast, Lily told them that she was going to the Potions lab on the third floor to do some research and asked them to take care of their twin siblings. So, Harry and Rose spent the rest of the morning with Andrew and Daisy, who were in the phase of childhood that Muggle pediatricians called 'the terrible twos'. Having learned to run, the twins were everywhere and their older siblings had to scramble around to keep them out of mischief. It didn't help that there were many breakable items in their mansion. By mid-afternoon, they were exhausted and glad the twins had taken a nap.

"We weren't that way when we were young, were we, Harry?" Rose asked as she flopped down on the couch in the living room.

"I don't think so, Rose," Harry said as he collapsed beside her. In the back of his mind, he could feel amusement coming from Ginny. His soulmate had watched him and Rose follow the twins around all morning. "Don't you dare make any comments about how similar to Fred and George Andrew and Daisy seem to be, Gin."

"Why, Harry," Ginny replied, "feeling a bit ragged and annoyed, are we? At least you had more fun than I did degnoming the garden with Ron."

Harry sent her thoughts of sympathy. With his mind occupied by his younger brother and sister, he hadn't paid much to what Ginny had been doing. He knew how boring that chore was from having done it before during visits to the Burrow plus it was almost useless since the little buggers would just sneak back at night.

"I'm sorry for being snippy, Gin," he apologized to her, "I just can't believe how much mischief they can get into now. I wish they'd remained babies. I hope we don't have more than one at a time when we have kids."

Harry blushed as he realized what he had said. He and Ginny had not talked much about the future since there was still the problem of Voldemort wanting to kill Harry. He had always wanted to have a family of his own one day, just like his parents. With Ginny as his bond mate now, he knew that family would be with her. He'd just never talked about it with Ginny. Even with Rose's prophecy, they still didn't know if he would survive a final confrontation with Voldemort.

He felt a jumble of thoughts and emotions coming from Ginny after his sentence about having children one day. It made him uncomfortable and her lack of any response worried him.

"Gin, are you all right?" he asked her.

It took a while for her to reply; even then her tone was hesitant. "Y-yes, Harry. I-I'm fine."

She fell back into silence after that, her mind and emotions still in turmoil. Finally, Harry felt her take a deep breath before saying, "Look on it as gaining experience, Harry. If we do have twins, between dealing with Fred and George and Daisy and Andrew, I'm sure we can deal with it."

Harry felt relieved that she had not said anything about his chances of surviving Voldemort and seemingly accept that they'd have a family of their own some day. He quickly replied, "Yeah, I guess so. So, are you busy tomorrow? Can you come over for a while?"

"I'll ask Mum about it later, Harry," Ginny said, "It might be better to go over there than watch Ron mope around the house over not seeing Hermione for two weeks."

"Yeah, he has it bad, doesn't he?" Harry said, "Well, they can still write. Still, it would be good if we could communicate with her and the others over longer distances without having to use owls or the Floo. I'll talk to Dad about it later."

"Why did your Dad go to the Ministry this morning anyway?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I wondered about that myself. I guess we'll find out only when he gets home since Mum won't say a thing."

"I wonder where she is," Ginny said. "If you hadn't noticed, she didn't go back to the Potions lab after you had your lunch together."

"I did notice but was too distracted trying to stop Andrew playing with his food," Harry replied. "Maybe Rose knows where she went." He turned to Rose who had a smirk on her face. "What?" he asked.

"You and Ginny were talking in your minds again, weren't you?" Rose asked in turn. "I thought so since you had that blank look again." She sighed. "I wish I could speak with Neville like that. It's only been a day but I miss him."

Harry squeezed her shoulder gently. "I know, sis. Don't worry. Give it a day or two then ask Mum and Dad if he can come over."

"You think they'll let him?" Rose asked.

"Of course they would," Harry replied. "He's a good bloke. He won't take advantage of you."

"Yeah, he probably wouldn't," Rose said. "I'll ask them tomorrow night. So, what did Ginny say?"

"Well," Harry said, "she found it amusing how tired we'd got from dealing with our twins."

"Oh yeah," Rose said, "I guess she would find that amusing. She's had to deal with Fred and George since forever. Of course, she never had to take care of them as toddlers. You know, we should ask Bill or Charlie for advice on how to deal with twin troublemakers."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, you're right. They're the ones Molly and Arthur would have asked to care of Fred and George whenever they were too busy."

"I agree with Rose," Ginny said to him in his mind, "You better ask Bill though and not Charlie. He might tell you something dodgy to get you into trouble but Bill will set you straight."

Harry felt Rose nudge him. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You and Ginny were talking again, weren't you?" Rose asked. "What did she say?"

"She said we'd better ask Bill and not Charlie if we want sound advice," Harry said.

"She's probably right," Rose said. She yawned as she got up. "I think I'll go to my room and take a nap. The twins really have me knackered."

"Okay," Harry said. "Oh Rose, do you know where Mum is? We haven't seen her since lunch."

"Oh yeah," Rose replied. "I don't know where she is. Maybe you should ask Blinky. I'm going up to have that nap."

Harry nodded and watched as Rose walked up the stairs to the second floor and her room. He called out, "Blinky!" A second later, a loud CRACK announced the appearance of the Potter head house-elf.

"Master Harry called Blinky?" the diminutive creature asked.

"Blinky, how many times have I asked you to drop the master?" Harry asked.

"Dozens, Master Harry," the house-elf replied. "It doesn't matter how many times Master Harry asks. Blinky will never do that. It's not proper."

Harry sighed, knowing he wouldn't win this one for now. "All right, have it your way." He silently added 'for now' to that statement. "I called you to ask where Mum is."

"Oh," Blinky said, "Mistress Lily left by Floo after lunch. I know not where she went."

"Now that is strange," Harry said. "First, Dad goes to the Ministry early this morning even if he doesn't work there anymore then Mum leaves without telling us." He turned back to the house-elf. "Thank you, Blinky. You can go."

"It's strange your parents left without telling you where they were going, Harry," Ginny said.

"I know," Harry said, "I wish we had a clock like yours. Then I could know where they were." Harry had always been fascinated by the magical clock in the Weasleys' parlor which showed the location of each family member wherever they were.

"I guess it would be useful now," Ginny said. "So what do we do now?"

"Why don't we do some of our summer homework?" Harry asked, "Then maybe your mum won't object to you visiting your boyfriend so early in the summer."

"Oh, all right, slave driver," Ginny said. "You better have something good planned for when we see each other next to make up for this."

Harry laughed. "I'll think of something, just no peeking."

Ginny pouted. "Spoilsport."

Harry laughed again and headed up the stairs for his own room. Much later, he was engrossed in writing an essay for Charms when Mimi, Blinky's wife, popped into his room.

"Master Harry, it's time for dinner," the female house-elf said.

Harry looked out his window in surprise to see the sky outside darkening. He thanked Mimi and put away his work. When he got down to the kitchen, he saw that only Rose and the twins were there. Orni and Lamni, Mimi and Blinky's children, were helping Daisy and Andrew keep their dinners in their mouths and not on the table while Blinky set several dishes on the table containing a green salad, roast beef, sautéed vegetables, mashed potatoes, and smoked salmon.

"Mum and Dad not back yet, Rose?" Harry asked his sister.

"No," Rose said, "I'm worried, Harry. They've never been out this late without telling us or Blinky or Mimi where they were."

"Now I wish we had a way to communicate with other Order members," Harry said as he sat down, "especially Remus or Sirius."

Just then, he heard the fireplace in the living room flare up as someone Flooed in. In a flash, he was through the kitchen's swinging door with his wand drawn. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his mother using her wand to clean herself of soot.

"Well, hello to you too, son," Lily said as she eyed Harry's wand, which was still pointed at her.

Grinning sheepishly, he sheathed his wand in its arm holster and enveloped his mother in a quick hug.

"Where were you, Mum? Where's Dad? Why didn't you tell us you were leaving?" he asked so quickly the words seemed to blend together.

"Whoa, slow down," Lily said, "I'm sorry we didn't tell you anything but it couldn't be helped."

"What's going on, Mum?" Harry asked.

Before Lily could reply, the fireplace flared green again and James stepped out of the green flames. Harry quickly turned his attention to his father.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Harry asked, getting exasperated and annoyed.

"Let's go into the kitchen," his mother said. "We'll tell you and Rose while we have dinner."

They went into the kitchen where Lily and James spent several minutes giving Daisy and Andrew some attention. They then sat down at the table.

"Well," James said as he reached for the roast beef, "I guess you know I Flooed over to the Ministry early this morning and spent the whole day there."

"Yeah, Dad," Rose said, "Mum told us you had left when we came down for breakfast."

James nodded. "All right, I went to the Ministry to attend a full session of the Wizengamot."

"What does that mean, a full session of the Wizengamot?" Rose asked,

"Aside from the elected members of the Wizengamot, a full session also requires the attendance of the heads of the ten oldest Wizarding families," James said, "Since our family is the second-oldest family, I needed to be there."

"Does it have to do with Fudge, Dad?" Harry asked.

James smiled and nodded. "Indeed it does. Several senior members of the Wizengamot had called on a full session to decide on whether Fudge could continue on as Minister of Magic after the debacle at St. Mungo's." He grinned then before continuing. "After a very short debate, the Wizengamot voted to remove Fudge from office by an overwhelming majority."

Harry and Rose cheered. Harry could feel Ginny's elation over that announcement.

"So who's going to be the new Minister?" Harry asked.

James and Lily looked at each other for a moment, making Harry and Rose curious.

"Well," James began, "that's what kept me there for most of the morning. There was a bit of a debate over who should succeed Fudge. Several candidates were put forward. Then it was put to a vote. It requires a majority of fifty percent plus one of the members for someone to win. The first three times there was no clear winner. It was finally decided the fourth time to have the top two candidates as the main choices. Then another round of voting was done."

"So who won?" Harry asked, getting impatient.

"Yeah," Rose said, "tell us already."

James grinned then said, "I did."

*******

Ginny found herself sitting on the floor of the Burrow's kitchen. She had been sitting down to dinner with her family as she half-listened to Harry's conversation with his parents through their bond. James' announcement caused her to miss her chair and end up on the floor.

"Something wrong, Gin?" Fred asked as he looked down at her.

"Or did you suddenly …" George started to say.

"…decide that you'd rather..." Fred continued.

"…eat on the floor?" George ended. Both twins burst out laughing, ignoring their mother's scolding.

Ginny scowled at the twins as she got to her feet. In her mind, she felt Harry's stunned feeling over his father's announcement and heard Rose's stuttered question on how it had happened.

"Are you all right, dear?" Molly asked.

Ignoring her mother's question, Ginny turned to her father. "Dad, did you know that James Potter was elected Minister of Magic today?"

Her father's smile told her that he knew as the rest of the Weasleys (except for Percy, who was still estranged from the family) exclaimed their surprise over the news.

"Brilliant!" Bill said.

"Bloody hell!" Charlie cried.

"Fantastic!" George and Fred exclaimed together.

"Blimey, that's awesome," Ron shouted.

"Why didn't you tell me, Arthur?" Molly said, not having noticed Charlie's language in the excitement of the moment. "You've been home for half an hour now and not a word about that."

"Now, Molly," Arthur said, "it's supposed to be a secret. James told me the news when he dropped by my office just before I left the Ministry earlier. All the members of the Wizengamot had to swear a magical oath not to say anything about it until the official announcement tomorrow morning. James didn't have to take the oath and he thought it would be good for me to know." He turned to Ginny. "So I guess James told his children and you heard it through your soul bond with Harry."

Ginny blushed. "Yeah, I did; was Harry stunned by the news!"

"That's great, Dad," Charlie said. "Now maybe the Ministry will get its head out of its arse and do what needs to be done to deal with You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters."

"I do hope so, son," Arthur said. "But I think James may have his hands full dealing with Fudge's cronies. He can't get rid of all of them as easily as the Wizengamot got rid of our esteemed former Minister."

"What will happen to Percy?" Molly asked suddenly. "He was just appointed assistant to Fudge after the Christmas holidays."

The other Weasley children looked at their mother in surprise. They hadn't been told about their brother's promotion. Of course, they didn't really care about Percy's well being since he had walked out of the Burrow the previous summer.

"I hope James gives him the boot," Ron said then. "That wanker deserves it."

"Ronald Weasley!" Molly said, "You will not call your brother that. He's just confused."

Ginny tuned out her mother's defense of her third oldest brother to listen to James narration to Harry and Rose what had occurred in the Wizengamot that morning.

There had initially been three candidates put forward for Minister: Dolores Umbridge, the foul Undersecretary of Fudge and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Rupert MacDonald, who was Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

None of them looked capable of leading a successful war against Voldemort. So Professor Dumbledore had invoked an old law that allowed him as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot to name a candidate of his choice from among the ten oldest Wizarding families for Minister of Magic in times of crisis. No one would disagree that the recent attacks by Voldemort and his followers would constitute a crisis. As the head of the second oldest Wizarding family in Britain, James Potter was qualified to be a candidate for the post even if he was no longer working in the Ministry. James had been reluctant at first but was finally persuaded by Dumbledore to run.

None of four candidates could get at least half the votes over three rounds of voting. When it was decided to reduce the candidates to two, the two candidates with the most votes had been Umbridge and James. In the fourth round of voting, James got 60 percent of the vote, giving him the win. Ginny and Harry were glad since they believed that it wouldn't have been good for the Wizarding world if Umbridge had won.

Lily then explained that she had gone to the Ministry after lunch to witness James secretly taking to oath of office from Professor Dumbledore. This was done so he could immediately set to work. A more public and official ceremony would take place later in the week. Lily had then stayed to offer advice on several matters, including the Unspeakables. She wasn't willing to go back to work fulltime in the Department of Mysteries yet while Andrew and Daisy were still young but could do it part time while Harry and Rose were home to take care of the twins.

Ginny asked Harry to convey her and her family's congratulations to his father for his new post. James was amused to learn that Ginny had already discovered about his appointment. Of course, Harry didn't tell him about Ginny falling out of her chair upon hearing the news through her bond with him, for which Ginny was grateful.

Later, as they both lay down on their beds in their respective homes, Ginny and Harry talked through their bond about the things James had to do to improve the Ministry and fight the war against Voldemort. It seemed to them that James would need to overhaul most of the Ministry. He had already met the heads of the various departments that afternoon, some of whom were apparently displeased with his election, being Fudge's appointees. Unfortunately, these men were still in the middle of their term of office and could not be legally removed with evidence of any wrongdoing. Hopefully, they won't interfere too much with James' plans.

The following day, James left for the Ministry after a quick breakfast since there was to be a press conference to announce his election. Harry and Rose wondered if they would see him that evening since he was going to be having a lot of meetings.

They again took care of their younger siblings. The twins initially decided to play on the living room floor with their set of plastic blocks. After an hour, Andrew and Daisy got bored and begged to go outside into the garden where the four Potter children had a fun time playing hide-n-seek and tag.

After lunch, while Daisy and Andrew were having their afternoon nap, Ginny came over via the Floo network, much to Harry's joy.

Rose watched her brother and best friend wrap their arms around each other and kiss passionately. She couldn't help but feel a bit of envy. She wished it was Neville who had come out of the fireplace and was kissing her. Their snogging sessions the day before leaving Hogwarts had been wonderful, especially the ones done in a couple of hidden alcoves around the castle after dinner.

She hoped that her parents would allow Neville to visit soon. Finally tired of watching Harry and Ginny snogging, she cleared her throat.

When they turned in her direction, she said, "I'm going to do some more homework. You guys have fun." She got up without waiting for them to reply and left for her room. She hoped thinking about Potions would take her mind off how much she missed Neville.

*******

Ginny watched her best friend go up the stairs as she settled in Harry's lap on the couch. "She seems a bit down," she said to Harry.

"Yeah," Harry said. "She really misses Neville. It's strange. They've been an official couple only a few days but they seem so close."

"Well, they did spend a lot of time together since we got back to Hogwarts after Easter," Ginny said. "It's too bad they can't talk to each other like we can."

"Yeah," Harry said. "I'll ask Mum if Neville can come tomorrow. I told Rose to wait a day or two before asking her but I think she should see him sooner than that. Maybe she should even send him an owl tonight as well."

"That's great, Harry," Ginny said. "She'll appreciate that." She leaned forward to kiss him. "Now, what was that you said yesterday about having something good for us to do when I came over?"

"Isn't this enough?" Harry asked as he ran his tongue over her lips, seeking entrance.

Ginny's answer was lost as she let Harry's tongue caress her own and the bonded couple enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together.

*******

While Harry and Ginny were wrapped up in each other's arms in Potter Manor's living room, Neville was in the small greenhouse attached to Longbottom Manor trying to prune a pot of Never-Wilting roses, trying because his mind wasn't on the beautiful roses.

"It's no use," Neville cried, throwing down the clippers he was using. He just couldn't concentrate. The red color of the flowers reminded him too much of a certain redhead. He missed her and wanted to hold her in his arms again. He leaned back against the wall and dreamed of running his hands through her silky hair as he had that Saturday after her vision.

"Daydreaming instead of working, dear brother?" Maggie's voice asked to his right.

He turned in that direction and saw his sister grinning at him with a sparkle in her blue eyes. He scowled. "What if I am?"

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it," Maggie said as she sat down in a stool. "It's just that I've never seen you too distracted to work on your plants." She grinned again. "You're probably thinking of someone who has the same name as these flowers."

Neville sighed, "Yeah, you're right. I just can't get my mind off of her. Since we talked last Friday, I can barely stop thinking about her."

"That's because you did more than talk," Maggie said, smirking now. "I saw you two kissing by the lake that afternoon. I also saw you in that alcove on the fourth floor the night before we left Hogwarts."

Neville's eyes widened. "You saw us that night? And you never said a thing?"

Maggie shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't want to embarrass the two of you. You're my brother and she's almost a sister to me. I'm glad you two are together now."

"Thanks," Neville said with a grin, glad she had accepted Rose. He regarded his soon-to-be-thirteen year old sister. For only the second time that year, he saw how much she had grown up, the first time being after she had won the second year level in the tournament. She was a bit taller, almost to his shoulder now. Her body was already showing the signs of the woman she would become, similar in shape to that of their mother.

Alice Longbottom had the lithe, athletic figure fitting for an active and successful Auror. Though she wasn't as fond of Quidditch as Neville or their other friends, Maggie played for fun as often as they did. In regarding how much his sister had changed, at least physically, Neville remembered something that had puzzled him the other day.

"Um, Maggie, can I ask you something?" he asked. When his sister nodded her head with a wary look, he continued, "You don't have to answer me, but you acted so strangely when we were in Grimmauld Place. After we had visited Mrs. Black and her baby, you were tense and quiet until Mum came for us. Then it seemed like you couldn't wait to leave. I don't buy that excuse you made that you were tired and wanted to go to bed already."

Maggie scowled and shrugged her shoulders before answering, "I just felt kind of restless and uncomfortable when we were there."

Neville pondered that statement. "Why?" he asked. "I know we've heard from Ti how gloomy it used to be but it didn't seem that way. It seemed quite cozy if you ask me."

Ti had told his friends how dark and creepy Grimmauld Place had been from the pictures he had seen before he moved in with Sirius: house elf heads mounted on a wall, a troll leg umbrella case, serpent shaped door knobs and lamp fixtures, dark panels on the walls. Sirius had changed all that to make it a welcome place for Ti and now, for Samantha and their baby, Lizzie.

The rooms in Grimmauld Place now had lion-shaped door knobs, red and gold wallpaper lining the walls, freshly waxed floors and no mounted house elves. Sirius had even managed to remove a moving portrait of his vile mother from a wall in the entrance hall which had been there for several years.

Maggie just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know why I felt uncomfortable there. I just felt restless there."

"Was it because of Dobby?" Neville asked.

One of the things he noticed when they were in Grimmauld Place was the way the house-elf, Dobby, treated Ti. It was a mixture of awe and devotion he'd seldom seen in a house-elf, even more than they saw from the Longbottom Manor house-elves, Hobbin and Tilly, who were quite devoted to the two Longbottom children. It was quite interesting to see Ti's cheeks redden in embarrassment as Dobby fawned over him.

Thinking about Ti and Dobby led to another thought. "Or was it because of Ti?" he asked Maggie.

He now remembered that Maggie had seemed more restless when Ti had been with them in the sitting room. She had only relaxed when he had gone to his room a few minutes before their mother had arrived.

Maggie shrugged again but Neville noticed her cheeks reddening. Neville's eyes widened with a realization. "Y-you l-like Ti, don't you?" he asked his sister, "And not just as a friend."

Maggie looked down to the ground and nodded her head, her cheeks still red. "But how can I like him when he's a git?" she asked.

Neville smiled and shook his head. "I doubt that changes things if you do like him," he said. "It's true he acted horribly toward Rose months ago and I was mad at him for that but deep inside I think he's still the shy, insecure, good-natured boy who was sorted into Gryffindor almost three years ago. I remember that day and how Harry, Ginny and Rose moved to befriend him. I guess he developed a crush on Rose because of that."

"But why did he treat her so badly in the end?" Maggie asked. "I don't understand how he could break up with her like that."

"Well," Neville said thinking deeply, "think of it this way, what if I had always pranked you or pushed you around when you were little so that you were scared of me. Then what if I suddenly started to treat you like a good brother and stopped doing mean things to you. Wouldn't you want it to stay that way?"

Maggie thought about it for a few seconds before replying, "I guess so. But you've always protected me and never hurt me, Nev. I can't imagine it any other way."

"I know," Neville said, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, "but Ti never had that. Now, after years of abuse from his brother, it seemed that he was being treated right. He doesn't want to let that go so he broke up with Rose rather than consider that she might have a point."

"Do you think Malfoy is playing around with Ti?" Maggie asked.

Neville frowned and thought about it for a while before answering, "I'm not sure. I guess it would be great if he isn't and truly wants to be a better brother to Ti. But I've known him since we started Hogwarts together and he's been arrogant, snarky and a bully all this time. I can't see him really changing his ways. We saw that in the last Quidditch game. I hope it gave Ti something to think about."

"Well, even if Malfoy is up to something, it doesn't change the fact that I don't have a chance with his brother," Maggie said.

"How can you say that, Maggie?" Neville said. "You're pretty, smart and powerful. You're a tournament champion for crying out loud."

Maggie shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter. He only has eyes now for that Robbins girl." She scowled. "She's such a flirt. I don't stand a chance against her with the way she acts around him.

"Hey, give the guy some credit," Neville said. "I doubt he'll stay with her for long. I think she's only after him because he's so handsome and will probably be rich when he comes of age since Sirius Black adopted him. They say the Black family fortune is one of the biggest in the Wizarding World. Maybe you should go out with other boys. You might find someone you'll like better."

Maggie frowned but finally nodded her head. "I guess I can give it a try."

"That's good," Neville said. "If it's meant to be, you'll get together just like Harry and Ginny."

"Or you and Rose?" Maggie asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

Neville felt his cheeks heat up. "Um, well, we just started dating so I don't know if we're destined to be together. I do hope so. I don't know if I can stand it if we're not." He sighed then shook his head to clear it. "Go on now and let me get back to this. Maybe I can concentrate better now that I've said my worst fear."

Maggie grinned and patted him on the back. "All right, Nev. I'll go and try starting on some of that summer homework." She gave a mock shudder. "Professor Snape is a real slave driver."

"That I can agree on," Neville said, laughing. Just as Maggie turned away, he said, "Oh Mags, if you do find another boy, just don't let me see you kissing." He gave a mock shudder of his own. Maggie gave him a real punch on the arm for that before leaving the greenhouse. Neville laughed to himself even if that punch did hurt a bit. He sighed as he got back to pruning the roses, hoping he'd see the girl with that name soon.

Later that evening, the Longbottoms were having dinner in the dining room. Neville's grandmother, Augusta, was telling them all about the election of James Potter as Minister of Magic. She was the representative to the Wizengamot of the Longbottom family, which was the seventh oldest Wizarding family. Since James' election had been announced that morning, it was now all right for the members of the Wizengamot to talk about what had happened there.

"I tell you it was a real pleasure to see the shock on Madam Umbridge's face when she lost the election," Augusta said. "She would have just continued Fudge's policies."

"Yes, Mother," Frank said. "It's a good thing Professor Dumbledore used that old law."

"I wish I could have seen the faces of those people who espouse all that pureblood bigotry when he did that," Alice said. "I'm sure that law was actually placed for their benefit."

"Yes," Augusta said, "I agree with that. Thank goodness for Albus. I do hope Potter will do a good job as Minister."

"I assure you he will, Mother," Frank said. "He's already stepped up recruitment for the Aurors and had extra classes for the present batch of trainees."

"That's great, Dad," Neville said. "I hope the number of Aurors will match up to those of the Death Eaters."

"I hope so too, son," Frank said.

Just then, they heard a tapping at the window. Turning in that direction, they saw a beautiful snow white owl at the window, a letter clutched in its claws.

"What a beautiful bird," Alice said. "I wonder whose it is."

"That's Harry's owl, Hedwig," Maggie said, a grin appearing on her face.

"Harry, as in Harry Potter?" Augusta asked. "Now why would he be sending us an owl?"

"I thought your group was resting for two weeks this summer before resuming your training, Neville?" Frank said.

"I thought so, too, Dad," Neville said.

"I'll get it," Maggie said. She got up and opened the window to let Hedwig in. The owl flew in and landed on the table, thrusting its leg out so Maggie could take the letter. "Thanks, girl," she said to the owl. Hedwig gave a hoot and flew off.

Maggie looked at the name on the letter then grinned as she looked up and handed the letter to her brother. "It's for you, Neville," she said in a singsong tone. "I think it's from your girlfriend."

Neville's eyes widened as he took hold of the letter. "Err, why do think it's from Rose?"

"Oh, I recognize the handwriting," she said, "And I think I can smell a whiff of perfume on it."

"What's this?" Augusta said. "A girl is writing you a letter? Who is this Rose?"

"Rose Potter, Gran," Maggie said while still grinning. "She's Harry Potter's younger sister."

"You remember her, Mother," Alice said. "She came over two years ago for Neville's party. She's James' and Lily's eldest daughter."

Augusta's eyes eyed her grandson critically. "Are you courting her, Neville?"

Neville felt his cheeks heat up. "Um, well, Gran, we just started dating. I do like her, a lot." He turned to his mother and father saying, "May I please be excused?" He tried to ignore the grins on his parents' faces as they nodded.

He hurried out of the dining room to the living room and up the stairs to the second floor. Soon he was lying on his stomach on his bed, his heart pounding furiously and his mind wondering why Rose had written him.

We just saw each other two days ago. Oh no, is she breaking it off already? No, she can't be. Oh just open it, Longbottom.

He took a deep breath and opened the letter.

Dear Neville,

How are you doing? I know it's only been two days since we last saw each other but I miss you so much. After seeing you almost everyday for the past five months then kissing you for the last two days, I can't stop thinking about you. It's driving me mad.

I tried playing with the twins to get my mind off you and it worked but only for a while.

As soon as they had their afternoon nap, I was thinking of you again and the lovely time we had in the alcove on the fourth floor the other night. I even tried doing my summer homework to stop thinking about it but that doesn't help much, especially Potions.

Ginny was here earlier. The minute she stepped out of the fireplace, she and Harry were snogging like mad as they sat down on the couch. I was so jealous. I wished you were the one who came out of the fireplace and we were the ones kissing on the couch.

Do you miss me too? I sure hope so. I'm going to ask Mum and Dad if you can come over tomorrow. I'll let you know. I do hope they say yes.

Missing you terribly,

Rose

Neville sighed as he closed the letter. He did miss her just as much as she missed him. He hoped she could get her parents to let him go there earlier than the planned training sessions of their group. He didn't think he could last two whole weeks before seeing her again, much less kiss her again.

He grinned as he remembered the incident she had mentioned. It was the same one Maggie had told him earlier she had seen. They had spent an enjoyable hour in that alcove after dinner before heading back to Gryffindor tower. Hopefully, there was a spot in the grounds of Potter Manor they could have enough privacy to do that again. With that thought, he got up to get ready for bed.

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