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

Author: Grandma Kate

Story: Ginny's Fourth Year at Hogwarts

Part: 10:Changes in the Wizarding World-July 1996

Rating: Everyone

Setting: Pre-HBP

Status: Completed

Reviews: 5

Words: 3,832

Updated: June 28, 2008, 11:27pm

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10:Changes in the Wizarding World-July 1996

The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. I’m just borrowing the characters for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Bold Face Type indicates a direct quote from Chapter Five, An Excess of Phlegm, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

A/N This story is told from Molly’s Weasley’s point of view and parallels Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the summer after it.

As July started, Molly was relieved to finally have her two youngest children home safe at the Burrow. Arthur’s promotion at the Ministry, heading of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Spells and Protective Objects meant that he worked longer hours and had ten people reporting to him. When he finally did make it home, he told her all the latest rumors and information that he learned at the Ministry. While Rufus Scrimgeour had made some important changes, Arthur was sure that followers of You-Know-Who were still in positions of authority at the Ministry. Former Minister Fudge was still able to influence policy.

Ron and Ginny enjoyed being home but the weather was far too cold to go swimming in the afternoon. Molly’s tomatoes stopped setting flowers and the rest of the vegetables were growing like it was early May instead of July. The fog caused by the Dementors breeding was pervasive. Ginny started on her summer assignments. She was also exchanging letters with a school friend. Ron was reluctant to loan Pig to her, muttering, ‘You could do better.’

Molly thought that Ginny must have told Ron that she had told her about Dumbledore’s Army and the trip to the Department of Mysteries; because he began mentioning spells that Harry had taught him in their defense group. She was very impressed when he showed her his Patronus. Jack Russell Terrier had been the breed of dog he had wished for but never got when he was a little boy. She had been afraid that any dog would chase the chickens.

One evening when Molly was rubbing the ointment on the marks on Ron’s arms, he started to talk about what had happened at the Department of Mysteries. ‘I can’t remember the order that everything happened after we left Hogwarts. I remember riding the flying animals that we couldn’t see. We got to the Ministry and then went where all the prophecies were. Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters wanted the one about Harry. We all cast Reducto on the shelves and about a dozen Death Eaters started chasing us.‘

Ron stopped and Molly nodded for him to go on.

‘Harry and Hermione and Neville turned in one direction and Ginny and Luna and I went into a different room. I think I was hit in the head by some sort of spell that made me act silly. We were in this room with all these planets. Some Death Eaters were trying to get us and one of them grabbed Ginny by the foot. Luna was very brave and blew up a planet right in his face. I think it was Pluto. I kept laughing about something that I thought was funny but Luna pulled Ginny out of the room with the Planets and into a hallway and I followed them. Then Harry and Neville carried Hermione into the same hallway and we were all together again. Neville had a broken nose so he talked funny,’

‘Why did they have to carry Hermione?’ asked Molly.

‘She was hit with a Stunning Spell so she was unconscious. I’ll have to ask Hermione when it happened. Then we went into a room where there were brains in jars and I thought it would be neat to touch one so I said ‘Accio Brain’ and it got all over me. It had tentacles and I did not like it. And Luna and Ginny were both hit with Stunning Spells and went unconscious for a while. Harry and Neville left us there. They still had the prophesy that everyone wanted.’

‘So all three of the girls were unconscious and you were covered with a brain?’

Ron nodded. ‘That’s about it. Harry told us what happened next. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix were going to torture both Harry and Neville to get the prophecy. Then Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, and Moody came and started fighting the Death Eaters. That’s when Sirius got killed by his cousin.’

‘Bellatrix is an evil woman,’ said Molly. ‘She’ll get what she deserves some day.’

‘And then You-Know-Who showed up and Dumbledore fought with him. Fudge and some of his friends came and they saw You-Know-Who and Bellatrix Disapparate. Dumbledore started talking to Fudge and the people with him.’ Ron stopped talking for a minute or so. Molly thought he was finding it hard to remember everything that had happened.

‘Everybody but Harry was sent to Madame Pomfrey and she fixed us up. Dumbledore sent Harry somewhere else. Ginny and Luna and Neville got to leave to go eat breakfast after they were back to normal. Hermione and I had to stay in the Hospital wing for a couple of days. And everyone came to visit us. While we were still there, they brought Dolores Umbridge in and she was in a bed not so far from us. I don’t know what happened to her.’

‘I think your scars are fading.’ Molly hugged Ron. ‘Thanks for telling me what happened that night. Is it all right if I tell your father?’

Ron nodded. ‘I think Moody probably told him most of it.’

Molly told Arthur everything that Ron had told her that night as they were cuddling before they went to sleep. Arthur thought it was good for the children to talk about what had happened. He said that he thought it was going to be harder for Harry to talk about that night because Sirius had died. Molly was sure he was right.

*****

Bill and Fleur Apparated over during a family breakfast out in the garden on Sunday morning. Fleur announced, ‘we ‘ave news zat can not wait anozher moment!’

Bill said, ‘I proposed last night and she accepted and we will be married next summer.’ Fleur held up her left hand to reveal a sparkling diamond ring.

Arthur immediately stood up and hugged them both and went to look for a bottle of champagne. Molly looked flustered and said, ‘Next summer? So soon? Are you sure?’

Ron looked gobsmacked as he usually did when he was around Fleur but clapped Bill on the back and shook hands with Fleur. Ginny hugged Bill and tried to shake hands with Fleur but was embraced while Fleur kissed the air on either side of her face. ‘Now I ‘ave anozer seester!’ she exclaimed.

When Arthur found the bottle of champagne and filled the adults’ glasses and poured a small splash for Ron and Ginny, he raised his glass and said,’ May you be as happy as Molly and I have been!’

Fleur beamed and said, ‘Zank you Fazher Weasley. I will be as a daughter to you and Mozher Weasley.’

Bill put his arm around his fiancée and said, ‘Why doesn’t Fleur stay with you for a week or so? She only works part time so it would give you a chance to get better acquainted.’

Molly forced herself to smile and act as if she thought it was a good idea. Ginny gave her a look that was not hard to interpret. Molly and Ginny suddenly started to clear the table while Bill and Arthur arranged for Fleur to stay in Bill’s former room. She would bring what she needed the next day.

During the first few days that she stayed at the Burrow, Fleur seemed to think that Molly had nothing to do but entertain her with stories about Bill when he was younger. Ron and Ginny had heard some of the stories but listened with interest anyway. Ron would get a dreamy look on his face if he stared at Fleur for very long. Molly began to wonder how she was going to get her work done. Fortunately Fleur liked to go off by herself for long walks because ‘ze food is too much and I ‘ave to keep my figure.’

Ginny began to mutter, ‘Phlegm’ under her breath every time Fleur complained about not having anything to do.

Hermione with her school trunk and Crookshanks in his basket came on the Knight Bus in the middle of the second week of July. Ron seemed more aware of the scars on his arms and wore long sleeve shirts but Ginny made him show Hermione how much they had faded. As both girls went up to Ginny’s room, Hermione asked if she had heard from any of her special school friends. Molly and Ron looked at each other as the girls slammed her door and began shrieking with laughter.

Fred and George came for dinner the night that Hermione arrived and told her all about the difficulties of getting their joke shop ready for the Back-to-School business. ‘You won’t believe all the rules the Ministry has for doing business in Diagon Alley, ‘ said Fred.

‘And you’d think it was a crime to live above your shop,’ added George. ‘They all but do a bed check every night.’

‘What are they looking for?’ asked Molly.

‘Beats me!’ said the twins in unison. ‘Jinx!’

Fleur was very happy to see Fred and George and told them how very clever she and Bill thought they were.

Fleur liked to sit in the kitchen and be told about all the honors Bill had won when he was at Hogwarts. She did not like having the chickens in the yard or listening to any of Molly’s favorite WWN programs. Ginny and Hermione insisted that they needed to get caught up on what Lord Lyle’s secret love child was doing and what spells Healer O’Malley was teaching the families of spell damaged children. Fleur did not like to think about either illegitimate or spell damaged children so she took ‘ ze walk for ze ‘ealth’ while Days of Destiny and Bedside at St Brigid’s were on. Bill came for dinner every night and they acted as if they had not seen each other for months.

Dumbledore sent word that Harry would be arriving on Saturday morning, so on Friday Ginny and Hermione stacked up some of the boxes in the room where Fred and George used to sleep. Molly had made the beds up fresh before Hogwarts was out and hoped that the twins had not left any surprises for Harry. Everyone went to bed early excited that Harry would be coming the next morning.

Molly got a Floo call from Tonks as she was getting ready for bed on Friday night. The young Auror said that she needed a shoulder to cry on. Molly told her that she was already in her dressing gown waiting for Arthur to come home from work but to come over and they’d spend some girl time together.

Molly was shocked at how drab Tonks looked when she came through the Floo. Her hair was brown and her expression was mournful. Molly quickly made a pot of tea and filled a cup for herself and Tonks. ‘Are you thinking about your cousin’s death?’ asked Molly.

‘I guess that’s a part of it but it’s more than that.’ Tonks seemed at a loss for words. ‘I think I love someone who doesn’t love me.’

Molly patted her on the arm. ‘Have you told the person how you feel?’

Tonks nodded. ‘He says he is too old for me and too poor and too sick.’

Suddenly there were three knocks at the kitchen door.

‘Who’s there?’ said Molly in a nervous voice. ‘Declare yourself!’

‘It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry.’

Molly opened the door at once. ‘Harry, dear! Gracious, Albus, you gave me a fright, you said not to expect you before morning!’

‘We were lucky,’ said Dumbledore, ushering Harry over the threshold. ‘Slughorn proved much more persuadable than I expected. Harry’s doing, of course. Ah, hello, Nymphadora!’

‘Hello, Professor,’ she said. ‘Wotcher, Harry.’

‘Hi, Tonks,’ said Harry.

Tonks looked flustered and said she had to leave. Molly invited her for dinner on the weekend. ‘Remus and Mad-Eye are coming—’ Tonks said that she couldn’t come for dinner and left abruptly. Molly looked after her with concern.

Dumbledore visited for a while before he left. Molly looked Harry over and commented on how tall both he and Ron had grown. She asked him if he was hungry and when he admitted he was started making him onion soup and bread for a late supper, while muttering about the Dursleys not feeding him. Then Molly sat down opposite him.

‘So you persuaded Horace Slughorn to take the job?’

Harry nodded, his mouth so full of hot soup that he could not speak. Molly told him her impression of Professor Slughorn when he had taught Arthur and her.

When Arthur finally arrived home, he would not allow Molly to open the door until she told him what his greatest ambition was. He then told her what he called her in private. He reminded her that it was Ministry procedure and that he must show a good example. Molly knew that everyone in the family was in mortal peril according to the hands on her special Weasley Family clock but thought that Death Eaters would be able to figure out their secret passwords.

Arthur was surprised to see Harry had arrived already and ate a bowl of onion soup with him while he told him and Molly about the Metamorph Medals that someone was selling to gullible people who wanted to protect themselves from Death Eaters by changing their appearance.

Molly showed Harry up to the twins’ room and told him proudly that Fred and George seemed to have a bit of a flair for business. Then she went down to tell Arthur that he should come up to bed. While he was getting ready for bed, he asked how her day had gone and she told him that she thought Fleur was getting less critical and that Ginny was happy to have Hermione to talk to. Then she said that Tonks was still pining away and told him that Dumbledore had convinced Horace Slughorn to come out of retirement. Arthur wondered aloud what Severus Snape would teach this year. ‘Maybe he will finally get to be the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts,’ he mumbled as he and Molly cuddled.

Molly was up early the next morning making breakfast while Fleur commented on how rich and fattening all the breakfast food was. Molly replied that growing boys needed large quantities of food that would stick to their ribs. Fleur patted her own slender waist and asked when ‘Arry would be coming. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny arrived just as Molly told her that he had come last night and that the tray with plates full of eggs and sausages and toast was for him because his relatives hadn’t been feeding him.

The three children immediately hurried back up the stairs as Fleur began telling Molly that ‘Arry’s tray should be more festive with fruit and some flowers. Molly got an apple from the fruit bowl and thought about going out to pick some flowers when Fleur grabbed the tray and started up the stairs and into the room where Harry was staying. Molly followed her, feeling and looking rather cross.

‘There was no need to bring up the tray, I was just about to do it myself!’

‘Eet was no trouble,’ said Fleur. She put the tray on Harry’s knees and kissed him on each cheek. ‘I ‘ave been longing to see ‘im. You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She never stops talking about ‘Arry Potter. She will be delighted to see you again.’

‘Oh… is she here too?’ Harry croaked.

‘No, no, silly boy,’ said Fleur with a tinkling laugh. ‘I meant next summer, when we – but do you not know?’

Fleur looked at Molly with reproach. Molly said, ‘We hadn’t gotten around to telling him yet.’

Fleur turned back to Harry, swinging her silvery sheet of hair so that it whipped Molly across the face.

‘Bill and I are going to be married.’

Harry congratulated her. Molly, Hermione, and Ginny were all determinedly avoiding one another’s gaze.

‘Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very ‘ard, and I only work part-time at Gringotts for my English, so ‘he brought me ‘ere for a few days to get to know ‘is family properly. I was so pleased to ‘ear you would be coming—zere isn’t much to do ‘ere, unless you like cooking and chickens…’

Fleur left and Molly made a noise that sounded like’tchah!’

‘Mum hates her,’ said Ginny quietly.

‘I do not hate her!’ said Molly in a cross whisper. ‘I just think they have hurried into this engagement, that’s all!’

‘They’ve know each other a year,’ said Ron, who looked oddly groggy and was staring at the closed door.

‘Well, that’s not very long! I know why it’s happened, of course. It’s all this uncertainty with You-Know-Who coming back, people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they’re rushing all sorts of decisions that they’d normally take time over. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, and center—‘

‘Including you and Dad,’ said Ginny slyly.

‘Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting?’ said Molly. ‘Whereas Bill and Fleur… what have they got in common? He’s a hard-working, down-to-earth sort of person, whereas she’s—‘

‘A cow,’ said Ginny, nodding. ‘But Bill’s not that down-to-earth. He’s a Curse-Breaker, isn’t he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour… I expect that’s why he’s gone for Phlegm.’

‘Stop calling her that, Ginny,’ said Molly sharply as Harry and Hermione laughed. ‘Well I’d better get on… Eat your eggs while they are warm, Harry.’

Molly left to return to the kitchen. She was sure that Fleur would have several things to say about how she and Arthur should have told Harry and Professor Dumbledore all about the wedding. Indeed she did. After listening to her go on and on about how important her wedding was going to be, Molly excused herself and went back up the stairs to get Ginny to help make lunch. Her daughter did not come willingly and muttered about getting no time to visit with Harry and Hermione, but she did come downstairs to help. Fleur stopped complaining to her and focused on telling Ginny how superior her home in France was.

After a few minutes, Hermione suddenly rushed down the stairs in great distress with an obvious black eye. Molly opened her copy of The Healer’s Handbook to the section on Bruises, Cuts, and Abrasions. She began trying various spells to get rid of Hermione’s problem. ‘This has always worked before. I just can’t understand it.’

‘It’ll be Fred and George’s idea of a funny joke, making sure it can’t come off,’ said Ginny.

Hermione remained distressed about her eye but was also very nervous waiting for the O.W.L.s results that Professor Dumbledore had told Harry would be arriving today.

Molly opened the window and three tawnies carrying square envelopes flew in. She watched Harry, Hermione, and Ron open their results. She was most interested in her youngest son’s comments. ‘Only failed Divination and History of Magic, and who cares about them?’

‘Well done!’ said Molly proudly, ruffling Ron’s hair. ‘Seven O.W.L.s, that’s more than Fred and George got together!’

Hermione had ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations and Harry had one Outstanding and five Exceeds Expectation so Molly began cooking a special dinner to celebrate their achievements. She reminded Ginny that it was important to study hard and do as well as her brothers.

*****

The rest of July went by very fast. Molly was relieved that Bill came to take Fleur back to her flat in Diagon Alley since she had such a nice long visit ‘getting better acquainted’. Both Hermione and Ginny constantly referred to her as ‘Phlegm’ and Molly became terrified that she would call her that by accident.

With Fleur gone, everyone settled into the familiar holiday routine. Hermione and Ginny had already finished their summer homework so they helped Molly in the garden and in the kitchen most mornings while Ron and Harry worked on their assignments. The boys generally joined them listening to Days of Destiny and Bedside at St Brigid’s. Hermione and Ginny did very good imitations of Fleur commenting on ‘all ze twins getting into ‘orrible trouble’ and ‘ze program about ze ‘ealers who do not ‘eal’.

After lunch, the children played one-on-one Quidditch in the orchard almost every day. At dinner, Harry kept saying that Ginny was very good and Ginny kept blushing while Hermione smiled. Molly could actually see Harry gaining a little weight as he ate all of his favorite foods.

It would have been a happy, peaceful holiday had it not been for the stories of disappearances, odd accidents, even of deaths now appearing almost daily in the Prophet. Arthur and Bill told them some of the news before it was printed but none of it was good. As Molly began planning Harry’s sixteenth birthday party, she hoped that there would be no more bad news that day

However, Remus Lupin came to Harry’s birthday celebration with news of more dementor attacks and the discovery of Igor Karkaroff’s body with a Dark Mark over it. He expressed surprise that he had survived so long after deserting, saying that Regulus Black had been killed within a few days after he tried to stop being a Death Eater.

Molly tried to change the subject but Bill told them that Florean Fortescue had been dragged off from his ice cream shop. Then Arthur chimed in with the news that Mr Ollivander, the old wizard who made the best wands in Diagon Alley, had disappeared. This was too much for Molly and she sent the children off to bed, saying that their book lists might come the following day.

She then told the adults that she did not want them telling the children details of what was happening. She said that they deserved a peaceful final month of their summer holiday. Remus and Bill looked like they might want to disagree but Arthur immediately sided with her that there was no need to worry the children about everything You-Know-Who and his followers were doing.

Later that night, Molly snuggled with Arthur in their bed and told him how much she appreciated his backing about keeping some of the more lurid details of what the Death Eaters were doing from the children. Arthur just nodded and held her close.

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