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Author: pottervader Story: Harry Potter and the Prophesied Six Rating: Mature Setting: AU Status: WIP Warning: Sexual situations in parts Reviews: 13 Words: 374,905
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, in time for Ginny’s actual birth date. It’s a bit longer than the last ones. I hope you guys like it. Please review. To say that Lily was saddened by the death of her sister would be an understatement. She was devastated. Petunia had been the last of her family and even if they had not got along since Lily started at Hogwarts, Lily still loved her. It didn’t matter that the Dursleys had refused any invitation to visit and sent back every Christmas present Lily had sent them. In spite of the insults and names Vernon and Dudley had called them whenever the Potters had attempted to visit Privet Drive in Harry’s early years, Lily still had hope that they’d change their minds one day. Now, that hope was shattered and it was all Dumbledore’s fault. In spite of Petunia’s relation to Lily, Dumbledore had not considered the Dursleys to be in any danger from Voldemort and his minions; thus, there were no wards or even a warning charm on their home. So when some of the remaining Death Eaters had gone to #4 Privet Drive, the Order and Ministry had no warning until the Dark Mark was over the ruins of their home. Harry had managed to eavesdrop on his father and Sirius as they discussed the crime scene with Lily a day later. It appeared that the Dursleys had been sitting down to dinner when the Death Eaters had Apparated right into their home. The Death Eaters had tortured them with Dark spells, including the Cruciatus, tearing their bodies apart slowly before finally hitting them with the Killing Curse. Sirius speculated that the Death Eaters may have been looking for Potter Manor and thought the Dursleys knew where it was because of Petunia. The idea that the Dursleys had been killed because of them hurt Lily very badly and it got worse for her at the funerals. Leaving Daisy and Andrew in the care of the Grangers and Weasleys in Potter Manor, Lily, James, Harry and Rose had gone to the church where the Dursleys’ funerals were taking place. Harry felt very uncomfortable in his Muggle suit and tie, but his mother insisted he wear it. His only consolation was that his dad was in the same boat. Upon entering the church, they had gone to the front where the caskets were. Unfortunately, Vernon’s spinster sister, Marge, was there as well. The woman had refused any help in the arrangements for the funerasl and burials of her brother, sister-in-law and nephew. At first, she had accepted their condolences but when she found out that they were the Potters, Marge started screaming at them. It came out that Vernon had told his sister that the Potters were jobless freeloaders who were associating with criminal elements. So, Marge believed that her brother’s family had been murdered by criminals looking for her sister-in-law’s sister and her family which was ironically true, in a way . Marge refused to let them attend and threatened to call the police to have them arrested as suspects in the murders. The Potters left rather than make a further scene. When they arrived home, Lily sealed herself in the master bedroom. It took James a full day to get in to console his wife. The mood in Potter Manor remained somber for the next three days, lifting only the day before Harry’s birthday when Lily finally emerged from the bedroom and came down to the living room where Harry, Ginny, Rose, Hermione and Ron were playing Exploding Snap. Harry was surprised but grateful that she was not hiding herself away anymore. “Mum, are you all right?” Lily sighed. “Not completely, but I’m getting there. I’m sorry, sweetheart, for the way I’ve been acting but, as hard as it is to believe, your Aunt Petunia and I used to be close. We were inseparable as children.” Curious, Harry asked, “What changed then? Why has she been horrible to you and us for as long as I can remember?” “Well, I met a boy when I was ten who told me I was a witch,” she replied. “You know him, Severus Snape.” Harry and the other teens couldn’t help gasping. “No!” Rose exclaimed, “You knew him back then? I thought you met at Hogwarts like you and Dad.” Lily nodded. “No, I knew Severus even before Hogwarts. We lived near each other in the village of Spinner’s End and became friends and I guess Tuney and I drifted apart after that since I spent most of my free time with him and she couldn’t stand him.” “Tuney?” Rose squeaked as she asked, “What kind of a nickname is that?” She wilted under her mother’s glare. “Sorry, Mum. So what happened between you and Snape? You don’t seem very friendly now.” Harry was surprised by his father’s voice. “They had a falling out that was partly my fault,” James said from his place at the door. “Please don’t ask. It’s best you don’t know and just accept that they stopped being friends.” He looked to Lily and Harry was again surprised to see a grateful look on his mother’s face. It must have been bad if Mum doesn’t want to talk about it. “So,” Lily said, clearly attempting to end the conversation, “I think I’ve done enough mourning for my sister and having regrets. We have a happy occasion to celebrate tomorrow and have to get things ready.” She smiled at Harry, who felt his face heat up. Later that night, Harry was awakened from his sleep by the presence of someone else in his room. He almost instantly knew who it was. “Gin? What are you doing in my room at this hour? What time is it?" He looked at the small clock on his bedside table which had luminous hands. It was 12:04 am. Ginny sat down on his bed and embraced him. “I wanted to be the first to greet you ‘A Happy Birthday!’” she said. “And I thought I’d give you the first and more private part of your birthday present.” She then undid the tie of her dressing gown and slipped it off, revealing that she had nothing on under it. Harry gulped and felt his blood rush to parts down south. Ginny pulled out her wand and performed several spells, including one on her abdomen. Then she pulled Harry’s bed sheets off him and proceeded to pull his pajama bottoms off. What followed was a wonderful experience for Harry, including an awesome blow job as Ginny showed him how much she loved him. It was one of the best birthday gifts he had been given. They soon fell asleep tangled together. When the morning sun woke him up, he found himself alone in his bed but could feel through their Bond that Ginny was in her room, still asleep. Harry grinned and decided to let her sleep a little longer. Just as he was about to get up, his door flew open. Rose strode in with her wand at the ready, and an evil grin on her face which turned into one of disappointment on seeing her brother awake. “Aww, I was hoping to wake you up like I do every year on your birthday,” she complained. Harry grinned as he stood up. “Sorry, sis, but not this year, I’ve had enough of being hung upside down on my birthday. Now, get out so I can change.” “Fine, spoilsport,” she said, “Oh, happy birthday, bro.” “Thanks,” Harry said as she left. Twenty minutes later, he entered the dining room all showered and dressed to find most of Potter Manor’s occupants already there, even Ginny. There was a huge banner on the wall that said: HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY, HARRY! “Happy Birthday, Harry,” cried the Weasleys, Grangers, his parents and siblings. They each came up to him and gave him either a kiss on the cheek or a hug. “Thanks, everyone,” he said as he sat down beside Ginny. “What are you doing up already?” he asked her as he kissed her on the cheek. “I would have thought you’d be tired from our activities earlier, not to mention a bit sore.” “I am a bit tired and sore,” she replied, “but if I wasn’t here to greet you with everyone else, a few people may wonder why. Even if she’s given me permission to have sex, I don’t want my mother to know that we’ve done that already today, not to mention my overprotective brothers.” “You have a point there,” Harry agreed. “Harry, you’ll get most of your presents later at this evening’s party, but your dad and I decided to give this to you now,” Lily said, handing him a nicely wrapped rectangular package. When he had unwrapped it to reveal the traditional Wizard Coming of Age gift of a watch, his dad said, “It’s not a regular watch, Harry. Press that button on the upper right side of the face.” Harry did and he was surprised to see the face change to show several hands with the names of his mum, dad, siblings and Ginny on them and places instead of numbers around the face. “It’s just like the Weasleys’ clock,” Lily explained, “I know you can feel Ginny through your Bond, but it will help to be more specific. You can add more hands later when you and Ginny have children, which, I hope, will not be for several more years.” This made the rest of the people around the table laugh as Harry and Ginny’s faces turned red. After breakfast, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Rose played for a while with the three toddlers while Ron went to the game room. Then Maggie, Ti and Neville came over. Daniel, Daisy and Andrew were taken by Blinky to take a nap. The eight teens went to Potters' Quidditch Pitch which was beyond the garden to play some four-on-four Quidditch with two Chasers, one Beater and one Keeper on each team. It was girls versus guys with the winner being the team to reach 200 points first. The chasers were Ginny and Rose and Harry and Ti. The Beaters were Maggie and Neville while Hermione played Keeper opposite Ron since that position didn’t require much flying around. Ginny and Rose outplayed Harry and Ti so much that Hermione didn’t have to guard their goals. It was only Neville’s better Beating skills that kept the score down. Even then, the girls won two games straight by more than 50 points each. This left Ron in a bad mood. Only the arrival of Blinky with a picnic lunch perked him up. The two redheads’ performances did reassure Harry that Gryffindor had a great chance to retain the Quidditch Cup in the coming year. After a fine lunch of roast beef sandwiches, crisps, chocolate cake and butterbeer, the teens played two more games before going back to the house to shower. After that, they separated into couples so they could enjoy some intimate moments with their significant other. It was amusing for Harry to see the slightly pained look on Neville’s face as he watched his sister pull Ti away from them. After an hour of intense snogging and other enjoyable activities with Ginny short of actual shagging, they were startled by a doe Patronus that spoke with Lily’s voice, telling them that it was almost time for the party and they had to get ready. Harry’s birthday dinner was an enjoyable affair done in the garden of Potter Manor. Helping Harry celebrate his coming of age were the Weasleys, Fleur, Hermione’s parents and brother, Sirius, Sam, Lizzie, Ti, Remus, Tonks, Ted and Andromeda, Neville, Frank, Alice, Maggie, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, Luna, the Creevey brothers, Seamus, Dean, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Oliver Wood, Lee Jordan and Viktor Krum. Harry was happy to see the other members of his original Gryffindor Quidditch team and his Bulgarian friend who was chatting with Fleur. All the guests had been secretly given a Portkey by James and Sirius. After a wonderful dinner prepared by Lily, Molly and the house elves which included Harry’s favorite foods, they gathered to watch Harry open his gifts. He loved everything he got which ranged from books to sweets and even a new set of dress robes from Remus and Tonks. Viktor Krum had also given him a professional-level practice Snitch. However, he was puzzled by Ginny’s public gift which was a leather jacket. “You’ll understand when you see Sirius’ gift,” she told him. He looked at Sirius, who had a Cheshire cat grin on his face. Sirius took something out of his pocket as he walked several feet away from the tables, set the object on the ground and waved his wand over it. The mysterious object increased suddenly in size. Harry’s eyes widened as it became recognizable. “A motorbike!” he exclaimed. “Not just any motorbike, Harry,” Sirius said proudly, “but a Triumph Thunderbird, a real sweet ride, the newest bike from what I consider the best Brit motorbike manufacturer ever, the ones who made my own bike back just before we finished at Hogwarts.” “That wouldn’t be the infamous monster bike I vaguely remember riding when Rose and I were little, would it?” Harry asked, grinning. Sirius laughed, his doglike laugh echoing. “Yeah, kid. I still have it back at Grimmauld Place, shrunk down, of course. I plan to give it to Lizzie when she’s of age.” “Sirius Orion Black!” Sam exclaimed, clearly having heard her husband. “You are not giving our daughter that monstrosity when she turns seventeen.” “I’ll teach you to ride it later this week, Harry,” he said quietly, “I’m sure Ginny can’t wait to ride it, either.” He wagged his eyebrows. The rest of the guests then came forward to admire the bike. Harry could see the looks of envy on the faces of Ron, Dean and Seamus. His mother looked exasperated while his dad looked proud and a little in awe as he ran his hand over the bike. After a few more minutes of admiring the bike, the other guests headed back to the tables, leaving Harry and Ginny by it. Harry got on the bike and fiddled with the handlebars. Ginny got on behind him, embracing him. “Sirius is so right, Harry,” Ginny said. “I hope we can ride it on my birthday.” “We’ll see, Gin,” Harry said, “I’ll try, but we’re going to be busy this week with Bill and Fleur’s wedding, not to mention what I have to do tonight.” James had told Harry about Dumbledore’s desire for Harry to go to the special locked room in the Department of Mysteries after his birthday. Because of their Bond, Ginny knew all about it. Ginny began kissing his back. “I’m going with you.” “Gin,” Harry began, “I don’t think…” “No, Harry,” she interrupted him, “remember, we’re stronger together than apart. We should go together. If Dumbledore’s right about what’s in the room, then we should enter it together because of our Bond.” Harry sighed. He realized that it was useless to try to dissuade Ginny in this. “You’ll have to convince Dumbledore and my parents,” he told her. “Your parents won’t be much of a problem, love,” she replied. “It’s Professor Dumbledore we have to convince.” “All right,” Harry said, “I’m supposed to wait for them to call me from my room after everyone else has left or gone to sleep. You can stay with me and we’ll tell them when they come to my room.” It was fifteen past eleven when James came into Harry’s room to get him for the trip to the Ministry. He wasn’t surprised to see Ginny waiting with him, but was surprised that she wanted to go with him. Surprisingly, it didn’t take much to convince James and Dumbledore to let Ginny go with Harry. However, they were thinking of having to talk to Molly and Arthur to get permission for Ginny to go with Harry when Ginny reminded them that she and Harry were considered married, due to the Bond, so she didn’t need her parents’ permission. Dumbledore and James reluctantly agreed with her viewpoint. Dumbledore, Harry, Ginny and James went downstairs to the living room where Lily and Sirius were waiting. Strangely enough, neither questioned Ginny’s presence, grinning instead and greeting Ginny as if they knew she was coming all along. They took the Floo from Potter Manor to James’ office, which James had temporarily connected. Once through, James disconnected the Floo connection to Potter Manor. Harry had brought his Invisibility Cloak and quickly threw it over Ginny and himself before taking hold of her hand. The other four cast Disillusionment spells over themselves. Then they slowly made their way through the empty corridors to the lifts. Once there, they took one down to Level 9 where they found a single black door right in front of them with a set of stairs to its left. Harry recognized the door from his vision from two years ago when Voldemort had entered the Ministry to take the copy of Trelawney’s Prophecy. Dumbledore opened the door to reveal a long corridor made of black marble that Harry again recognized, causing him to shudder with the memory of what had happened that night of Voldemort’s stealthy invasion. Ginny must have sensed his unease because she gave his hand a supporting squeeze. He gave her a weak smile, feeling grateful for her support. Dumbledore urged them through the single door at the end of the corridor into the circular room with several unmarked doors. Harry threw the Cloak off of himself and Ginny. The elderly wizard murmured a spell which caused one of the doors to glow for a moment. “Ah, that’s it,” Dumbledore said. He turned to Harry and Ginny. “All right, Harry, you and Ginny will enter the room together. We will remain here and stand watch. You have your Auror mirror to let us know if you need help.” Harry nodded silently, his nervousness stealing his voice. Ginny gave his hand another squeeze. Feeling his courage rise from that, he put a hand on the doorknob and turned it. He heard a click as the knob turned. He pushed the door opened and stepped in with Ginny. They entered a small room, about five feet on each side with no other doors, completely white in color and empty of any furniture or other features. It reminded Harry of a room in a sanitarium except the walls were not padded. As soon as the door closed, a light appeared at the center of the room that grew steadily in brightness. Harry and Ginny tried to shield their eyes with their hands. Then the light erupted in a single burst of intensity that left them blinded. Harry almost panicked when he found that he couldn’t see but feeling Ginny still beside him through the Bond gave him something to focus on. Before he could say anything to her, his vision returned and he found himself staring at one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had flowing white-blonde hair and skin that was so fair and smooth. She was clad in a flowing robe of pure white and she was floating above the floor, practically hovering in place. “Greetings, Chosen One and His Bondmate,” she said in a very melodious voice, like playing harps. “W-who are you?” Ginny asked. Harry couldn’t say anything, being struck dumb by her otherworldly beauty. The woman smiled and said, “I am the Spirit of Love, the embodiment of all that is pure of that emotion and I have been waiting for you for a long time, Harry Potter.” Harry finally found his voice and asked, “You’ve been waiting here in this room for me, just me?” She laughed her laughter sounding like bell chimes. “Yes, for you and your lovely mate, O Chosen One. You see, many centuries ago, at the time of the founding of Hogwarts, Cassandra Gryffindor, daughter of Godric Gryffindor and a very powerful Seer, had a vision of a very evil wizard who would cause great suffering across this land to all peoples, magical and nonmagical. It was said he would be descended from Salazar Slytherin and that he would begin his rise in the time after a terrible war that would involve almost all the nations on earth.” “Wow, that sounds like Voldemort all right,” Harry said. “Yes, Harry Potter,” the spirit said, “that is the name given by Cassandra’s vision. The vision goes on to show him being defeated temporarily once, which was what happened to him through you almost sixteen years ago. He would suffer severe setbacks but on the verge of defeat, it was shown that he would gain immense power that would allow him to defeat all his opponents, even you, O Chosen One, and dominate this country. Then his power would spread across the nation and cause nonmagical people to war against magical beings, leading to mass destruction and the collapse of all civilization.” Harry and Ginny were horrified by this revelation. The thought that Voldemort could still win even with few followers and the loss of his protection spells was frightening. They remembered Trelawney’s Prophecy only said that Harry would have the power to defeat Voldemort and not that he would beat him. “But a Prophecy was made just after I was born that I have the power to defeat him,” Harry said. “What’s the use making that Prophecy if I’ll only lose in the end?” “The Prophecy was given to ensure that Voldemort would mark the Chosen One so that you can be prepared to face him,” the spirit said. “Let me return to my tale and you’ll see why in a moment. The vision she had terrified Cassandra Gryffindor and she told her father, Godric. He also was frightened by the vision. Together, they searched for a way to stop it from coming true, searching through books of magic and science, meditating and thinking but nothing could be found. When research and meditation failed to give them an answer, they turned to prayer.” “Prayer?" Ginny asked, surprised. Most modern wizards and witches were not religious though they still believed in the concept of a Creator Being who had given them the power of magic. “Yes, O Bondmate of the Chosen One,” the spirit answered. “The wizards and witches of those days were more spiritual than you of today. They openly revered the spirits of nature and the Creator spirit. They prayed for a way to defeat the evil one. After many months, I was sent to Cassandra in a dream with the instructions to create this room which would summon me when opened. Then it was ensorcelled so that only the one chosen to defeat the one called Voldemort could open the door and enter the room. The Ministry and the Department of Mysteries were built around this room. Through me, you will learn about the power that will defeat your enemy.” “The power again,” Harry said. “Just what is this power that I have?” The spirit smiled. “You, Harry Potter, are like me in that you are an embodiment of love. You care about the people around you so much that you’d sacrifice yourself for them, even if they’re strangers to you. Voldemort, however, has rejected love. He has never experienced it and believes it to be a weakness because of what happened to his parents. But he is wrong. Love is the greatest power in the universe. It enables a man and a woman to create a new life or to create a great work of art. It allowed you to survive the Killing Curse through your mother. It formed the Bond between the two of you and will help you to defeat completely the man who calls himself Lord Voldemort. You must use the power of love against him.” “How?” Harry asked. The spirit smiled again. “I will show you.” A blinding flash of light erupted from the spirit and they knew no more. ******* James was getting worried. It had been hours since Harry and Ginny had entered the room and they had yet to emerge. The likelihood of Crowley or anyone sympathetic to Voldemort discovering what they were doing increased with every minute as morning approached. He looked at Lily, who was deep in conversation with Dumbledore, and could see his worry reflected in her eyes. “What?” she suddenly cried. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this, Albus! I work in this Department, after all.” Curious at Lily’s outburst and even more worried by it, James walked up to them with Sirius at his side. He asked Dumbledore, “What the bloody hell is wrong, Albus? Why aren’t they out yet?” Lily answered him, “We don’t know, dear,” she said, gently placing a hand on his arm. “However, Albus has finally told me why he was so insistent that Harry go inside that room.” She sent the elderly wizard a sharp glare. “It appears he knew more about that room than anyone else, even here at the Department.” Dumbledore sighed. “I am sorry to have withheld this information from you and James, Lily, but you must understand that I needed to make sure Harry would enter that room. You see, in the time of Godric Gryffindor, his daughter Cassandra, who was a powerful Seer, had a vision of an evil wizard who would be the descendant of Salazar Slytherin and began his rise to power after a great world conflict. The evil one would be opposed by a very powerful light wizard who would defeat him many times but would be overcome in the end, allowing the evil one to take over and destroy the world.” “No,” Lily said, tears forming in her eyes. “That can’t happen, not after all we’ve been through.” “Wait,” James said. “How can you know the evil wizard was Voldemort other than being a descendant of Slytherin?” “Dear, the great world conflict mentioned has to be the Second World War,” Lily said. “Voldemort finished school in the last year of that war.” “That is correct, Lily,” Dumbledore said. “That is what I myself surmised. Now, back to my explanation. Gryffindor and Cassandra searched for a way to help the evil one’s opponent to prevent her vision from coming true. It is said that they found it and shut it inside this room, which can only be opened by the evil one’s opponent. No one really knows what it is, other than it has to do with love. The Headmasters of Hogwarts had been entrusted in secret with the mission of looking out for this evil wizard and the one who would oppose him. Harry was able to open the door, which confirms that Voldemort is the evil one seen by Cassandra in her vision and Harry is his foe.” “Then why is he taking so long?” James asked. “Why did you let him take Ginny with him? How do we know he’ll be able to get the secret if she’s with him?” Dumbledore sighed. “We have to have faith, James, faith in the ultimate power of good. If they do not come out by 6:00 AM, then we’ll have to have someone stand guard here, to guide them when they do come out and make sure no one else sees them. We’ll have to use Order members, since we can’t allow anyone else to know Harry has been inside this room.” James shook his head. “All right, I guess that’s all we can do for now. Well, there is one other thing.” He grinned evilly at Dumbledore. “Someone has to tell Arthur and Molly about Ginny. I think you should be the one to do it.” He enjoyed seeing Albus’ face turn pale at the thought of telling Molly that her only daughter was trapped in a mystery room in the Department of Mysteries. ******* Harry regained consciousness slowly. Opening his eyes, he saw the plain white ceiling above. Turning his head, he saw Ginny laying on her back to his right side. He moved over to hover over her. He could feel her through the Bond, so she was alive. “Ginny,” he said, gently shaking her. “Mmm, five more minutes, Mum,” she murmured before turning on her side. Feeling amused, he shook her a little more forcefully while talking to her through the Bond. “Gin, it’s time to get up. We’re back in the room.” Ginny jerked awake and sat up, almost knocking heads with Harry. “Harry!” she cried. “What happened? The last thing I remember was the lady spirit smiling before a very bright flash of light.” “Me too, Gin,” he answered. “What do you think, about what she told us?” “I don’t know, Harry,” Ginny said, “It’s hard to believe that Cassandra Gryffindor saw a vision of you and Tom. That was a thousand years ago. I thought Trelawney’s Prophecy was the earliest thing about the two of you. It’s also hard to believe that Tom can still win.” “I know,” Harry said. “But what now? Do I really have the power to defeat him?” A ghostly whisper sounded around them. “You do, O Chosen One. Have faith and believe. You will know what to do when the time comes.” Then the room was silent. Harry and Ginny looked at each other in awe and trepidation. Harry finally broke the silence. “I think we better get out of here.” He reached for his Cloak and drew it over them. “Harry, why do we need the Cloak?”Ginny asked. “We really don’t know how long we’ve been in this room, Gin,” Harry replied, “I have a feeling we’ve been here longer than we think. We don’t know if it’s just Professor Dumbledore, my parents and Sirius out there.” Harry opened the door slightly and peeped through the opening. He didn’t see anyone in the circular room but sensed that someone was there. Probably Disillusioned, he thought. The bonded pair stepped out and Harry removed the Cloak, his wand at the ready. “Harry!” he heard a voice say off to one side of them. Sirius appeared as if coming from behind a waterfall. “I’m so glad you and Ginny are all right,” Sirius said but stopped when Harry and Ginny continued to point their wands at him. Harry needed to make sure this was the real Sirius so he asked him a question he knew only Sirius would know. “What were you going to teach me later this week?” “Wha…um, I was going to teach you to ride the motorbike I got you for your birthday,” Sirius answered. “Sorry, Padfoot,” Harry said, putting his wand away. “We needed to be careful. Something tells me we were in there longer than we planned.” “That’s putting it mildly, Harry,” Sirius said. “It’s already eleven on Monday night. You and Ginny have been in that room for almost three days.” Alarmed, Harry and Ginny looked at each other. “Oh no!” Ginny said. “My mum! What did you tell my parents?” Sirius gave her a smirk. “Oh, don’t worry, Ginny, Albus took care of that.” “You made Professor Dumbledore tell Molly and Arthur that their daughter was in a secret room in the Department of Mysteries?” Harry asked. “What happened?” Ginny asked, a grin appearing on her face. “Let’s just say that he couldn’t hear well for the last two days and needed Poppy to cure the hex burns on his body,” Sirius said, grinning widely. ******* Dumbledore, James and Lily were waiting for Harry and Ginny when Sirius brought them back to Potter Manor. Arthur and Molly, along with Ron, were back at The Burrow, which had been repaired fully for Bill and Fleur’s wedding and heavily warded. When questioned, Harry and Ginny couldn’t tell them much about what had happened in what they now called the Love Room, other than that they had been given a power that would help them destroy Voldemort. Finally deciding that nothing more could be done other than wait for Voldemort’s next move, they all went to bed. Harry and Ginny went to The Burrow first thing the next morning to see her parents, who were very relieved to find them safe. Molly wanted to send a Howler to Sirius for not telling them immediately about their safe emergence from the Love Room but Ginny managed to dissuade her mother. The bonded pair then went around The Burrow, which had not only been repaired but improved with two more bathrooms and a bigger kitchen and living room. It still looked lopsided, but was now much larger inside than it appeared from the outside. Harry could feel Ginny’s happiness to see her childhood home whole again, a sentiment Harry shared since it was like second home to him, considering how often he and Rose had been over since just after Halloween 1981. That night, Harry was sad to say good-night to Ginny early because it would be the first time in months they wouldn’t be sleeping in the same house. He could see that Ginny felt the same way, but until Ginny was of age, she had to stay with her parents. The next four days were hectic ones as they prepared for Bill and Fleur’s wedding which would be held on Sunday, the 9th of August. James had insisted on performing the ceremony since the fathers of the bride and groom were at least senior members of their respective Wizarding governments and he was the British Minister of Magic, but also because Arthur was almost like an older brother to him. Harry would be one of the groomsmen along with Fred, George, Percy and Ron and Charlie would be Best Man. Fleur’s Maid of Honor was her best friend at Beauxbatons, Matilda Duvall. The bridesmaids would be Ginny, Hermione, Rose, Fleur’s sister, Gabrielle, and one of Fleur’s cousins. Fleur’s parents and sister arrived Wednesday afternoon and were settled in the Burrow. Francois and Giselle Delacour were given Charlie’s room, while Gabrielle was staying in Ginny’s room. Fleur was already in Bill’s room. To assuage her parents’ sensibilities, Bill bunked with Charlie and Percy in Percy’s room for the meantime. Fred and George had their own flat above their shop in Diagon Alley. Fleur’s father was invited that night to Bill’s bachelor party, which was organized by Charlie. Among the other participants were James, Arthur, Percy, Fred, George, Sirius, Remus, Frank, Neville, Harry and Ron. Since it was the latter three guys’ first time to attend one, the older boys managed to get them pissed. Their respective significant others were not pleased to find their boyfriends looking like a disaster film the next day and took out their displeasure on the three offending Weasley brothers. The rehearsal dinner was held Friday night in The Burrow’s garden and went off without a hitch. Security was heavy, not least because James was in attendance. On Saturday morning, the Weasley brothers, Arthur, Sirius, Frank and Harry set up a huge white marquee in the garden. After that, the younger ones set up the chairs for the guests while Arthur, Sirius and Frank checked out the wards. Molly and Lily spent the day at Potter Manor, creating the wedding feast with the help of Blinky and his wife, Mimi. After that, all the men Apparated to Potter Manor to spend the night there, while the girls remained at The Burrow to prepare. Sunday dawned warm and sunny with clear skies. Since the wedding was at three that afternoon, the men had all morning to relax. They played some Quidditch until lunchtime then changed into their dress robes. This was going to be a traditional Wizarding ceremony. At one in the afternoon, all the men Apparated to the back garden and were soon engaged in greeting the arriving guests. Aside from the other members of the Weasley and Delacour clans, there were various friends of the family like the Hogwarts professors (except for Snape), the Longbottoms, Sirius’ family, colleagues at work and other Ministry officials. All guests were checked for Polyjuice potion or the Imperius curse. At half past two, Charlie left for a while to escort their Great-Aunt Muriel to The Burrow. The feisty elderly witch immediately entered the house, looking for the bride. Harry was amused to see through Ginny’s eyes Fleur charming her. Molly didn’t look at all pleased by this, probably because she has never been able to charm the old bat. By ten to the hour, everyone was seated in the marquee. This time, Harry’s family was seated on the groom’s side, which was overflowing due to the other Weasley relations. At the exact hour of three, the hired band began playing the wedding march. The wedding procession was led by two young Weasley cousins, a redheaded girl of about four, as the flower girl, and a redheaded boy of about three, as ring bearer. Following the two children was the maid of honor and the bridesmaids. Harry’s breath hitched as he watched Ginny glide down the aisle. Mesmerized by her beauty once again, Harry was barely aware of the ceremony until his father said, “Gentle Wizards and Witches, I present Mr. and Mrs. William Weasley.” The whole assembly broke into enthusiastic applause. The reception that followed was a great party. Charlie led the toasts and gave a great speech about Bill’s numerous misadventures in romance before he met Fleur. Then he warmly welcomed Fleur into the Weasley family, declaring that he was glad someone had finally tamed ‘Wild Bill’. Harry and Ginny danced for most of the night, usually with each other. But Ginny did dance with her father, her brothers, Neville, James, Sirius and Ti while Harry danced with his mum, Molly, Rose, Hermione, Maggie, his little sister Daisy and even with the bride. One embarrassing moment occurred when Harry and Ginny heard some strange noises coming from the pantry. They opened it up with their wands ready to hex someone only to find Charlie inside with Fleur’s friend, Matilda, snogging passionately and half naked, obviously drunk and oblivious to their intrusion. The bonded couple looked at each other for a moment before leaving them to it. Finally, near midnight, Fred and George set off a brilliant fireworks display as the guests bid goodbye to Bill and Fleur, who were spending what was left of their wedding night and the following day in a secret romantic location provided by James. The newly married couple would then spend Ginny’s birthday with the Weasleys before leaving on their honeymoon in Italy. James and Lily left after the bride and groom, their younger children fast asleep in their arms, leaving the older ones to continue to party. It was two in the morning by the time all the guests left the grounds of The Burrow with Harry and Ginny sharing a final kiss before Harry Apparated back to Potter Manor. Harry returned the next day after lunch to help the remaining Weasley brothers clean up The Burrow’s garden. He was amused to find Charlie with blue hair and a black eye. It seemed young Miss Duvall was not pleased find herself naked with him in the pantry and with a massive headache. While there, Harry managed to speak to Molly without Ginny’s awareness to get permission to take Ginny out on a date for her birthday. Molly gave her permission as long as he had her back in time for the birthday party in the evening. The following day, Harry was awakened at 6:00 AM by his alarm clock. For a moment he was puzzled why he had set his alarm so early for a summer day, then he remembered the date. Reaching out through the Bond, he found Ginny still asleep. Grinning, he got up to get dressed. He still needed to arrange a few things. An hour later, he Apparated to The Burrow and walked up to the back door. Slipping in, he found Molly cooking breakfast. After greeting her, he quietly went to Ginny’s room. Slowly opening the door, he saw that she was still asleep. He entered the room and slowly climbed into the bed beside her. Lying on his side, he watched her sleep for a few minutes. Then, he reached out through the bond to her mind, nudging her gently, “Hey love, time to wake up.” She slowly opened her eyes. Seeing him, Ginny smiled sleepily at him. “Hi, Harry. What time is it?” Harry kissed her forehead as he answered her, “It’s just past seven. By the way, happy birthday, Gin.” Her eyes opened wide as her brain registered what he had said. She abruptly sat up. “IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!” she shrieked. She grabbed hold of him and latched her lips on to his. “Thank you, Harry.” Suddenly, Ginny’s door banged open, startling the bonded couple. Turning, they were surprised to find Charlie, Ron and Percy with their wands trained on them. “What the bloody hell is going on?” Ron demanded, “Did you scream, Ginny?” “Is Wonder Boy here being too forward?” Charlie asked, eyeing Harry menacingly. Furious, Ginny leaped up, her own wand turning on her brothers. “Shut it, you gits. I just realized it was my birthday when Harry greeted me, so I did scream, but it was a good scream. No, Charlie, Harry is not being too forward. Might I remind you guys that we’re considered married because of our bond? So you have no need to defend my honor. That’s Harry’s job now, not that he has to. Now get out and leave us to celebrate my birthday the way I want it.” She flicked her wand, pushing them not too gently out of the room and closed the door wandlessly with her other hand. Then she pounced on Harry, kissing him passionately. Harry returned her kiss with equal passion but when she reached for the edge of his shirt, Harry placed a hand to stop her. “Gin, as much as I’d like nothing more than to ravish you, I have other plans for today,” he said. Ginny looked at him with a pout on her face but relented. “Okay, so what are we doing?” “All in good time, dear,” he replied. “First of all, I’ll leave you to change so you can come down and be greeted properly by your family.” He gave her a quick kiss and left the room and went into the kitchen where he found the rest of the Weasley family. “Ginny will be down in a few minutes,” he announced to them. “Why are you here so early, mate?” Ron asked. “Surely you could have wished her a happy birthday through that Bond thing you have all the way from Potter Manor.” “Ronald!” Molly chastised, “Don’t be rude. I think it’s so romantic for Harry to come here to greet your sister.” “For your information, Ron,” Harry said, “I’m here to take her out on a date for the whole day.” “Just where are you taking our baby sister out for the whole day, Potter?” Charlie asked. “You wouldn’t be sneaking her into an inn to have your way with her now, would you?” “Now, Charlie, behave,” Molly said, “Harry can take Ginny wherever he wants to since it’s her birthday and he has our permission. Anyway, they’re considered married, so they’re doing nothing wrong. Take a seat, Harry, and have some breakfast while you wait for her.” Harry sat beside Ron, making sure the other seat beside him was empty for Ginny and began to partake of the delicious breakfast Molly had made. Twenty minutes later, Ginny came down. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” everyone cried as she arrived in the kitchen. “Thanks, everyone,” she said, grinning at them. She then saw Charlie and her smile dropped. She marched up to him and placed her wand against his throat. “Now see here, Charles Weasley, what I do with my husband is my business and my business alone,” she said. “Understand?” She put her wand down when he shakily nodded. Then she embraced him. “You don’t have to be afraid for me anymore, Charlie. I’m married to the boy of my dreams and he’s in love with me. Just be happy for me.” Charlie embraced her back. “Okay, Ginny, I’ll try. I just wasn’t ready for you to grow up.” Charlie released Ginny and she took her seat beside Harry. They ate their fill of the food on the table. Once they were done, Harry and Ginny excused themselves and went out the back door. Molly reminded them to be back by 5:00 PM. “So, where are we going?” Ginny asked once they were walking down the path to the gate. “There’s a summer carnival at Olverton, down in Kent,” Harry answered, “I thought you’d like to visit that.” “Oh, Harry, that’s lovely,” Ginny said, smiling widely. “I love the carnival.” “Great,” Harry said. “I’ll Apparate us near there.” He took her hand and Apparated them both. When she saw where they were, Ginny asked, “Harry, why are we near a dirt road?” Harry grinned. It wasn’t often he could surprise her, because of the Bond. “You do remember telling me you’d like to ride a certain birthday present I received recently, on your birthday.” Ginny pulled his head down to give him a passionate kiss at the same time as she screeched through their mental link. “You brought your motorbike? Great!” Harry grinned again. “Of course, love.” He pulled it out of his pocket and returned it to its original size. There were two helmets and two leather jackets on the back. He pulled out the smaller jacket and handed it to her. “Here’s your birthday present from me, love. Sirius helped me get it. He thought we should match if we’re riding this thing together.” Ginny grabbed the jacket and admired it before putting it on. “It’s so soft and comfortable.” “There are charms on it to keep you cool in warm weather and warm in cold weather,” Harry said. He handed her one of the helmets and put the other one on. His jacket was already on him. The two had a great time riding through the back woods before arriving at Olverton near lunchtime. They ate lunch in a café in Olverton then spent the afternoon in the carnival. At fifteen minutes to five, Harry drove them to a secluded spot and shrunk the bike and their jackets before putting everything in his pocket. Then he Apparated them back to The Burrow in time for her party.
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