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SIYE Time:13:14 on 29th March 2024
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all your fumble words
By lazyweekendmornings

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Romance
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 90
Summary: The war is over, and grief hangs heavy over victory.



Slowly, Ginny and Harry must learn to pick themselves up and live again.
Hitcount: Story Total: 30534; Chapter Total: 2998
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
Harry has a conversation with Kingsley, and (finally) begins to tell Ginny some of what happened last year.

This was a difficult chapter to write, if I'm being real. I've been writing and rewriting it for a couple days, and I'm still not completely happy, but I figured I may as well post it so I can move on with the story!
As always, please let me know what you think! Reviews may not seem like much, but they genuinely do motivate me to write faster.




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The Ministry was in complete shambles. Areas of the Atrium were roped off, clearly under construction or recovering from magical spell damage, and everyone in the building was rushing around, looking vaguely stressed out.

Harry thought about the last time he was in this building, and his grip tightened on his wand in the pocket of his robes. There was no ‘Magic is Might’ statue anymore, thank Merlin, but the area which formerly housed the statue was blocked off completely, making it harder to navigate the building.

“Blimey. They’re clearly taking their time with the rebuilding, aren’t they?” said Ron from next to him.

“Well, they need to restore everything, and modify the enchantments and protective spells, and undo all the spells the Death Eaters put up. It takes time, I suppose,” said Hermione.

“Yeah, but you’d think they could hurry up,” Ron grumbled.

Harry nodded in agreement with Ron, but all he said was, “Kingsley said to meet him on Level Two. Let’s go.”

They set off towards the lifts, and Harry couldn’t stop himself from looking around every couple of seconds, just to make sure they weren’t being followed. Luckily, everyone seemed too busy to even notice them, and by the time they reached the lift and got in, Harry’s shoulders had relaxed slightly.

“Where’s Ginny today? I thought she was coming with us,” Ron said, once the lift doors had shut.

“She left while you were getting changed,” Hermione told Ron. “She was meeting McGonagall, remember?”

“Oh, right,” Ron said. Ginny had received a letter yesterday from McGonagall, requesting her presence in her office. She had Flooed this morning, and Harry, who had gotten used to her presence over the last few weeks, was already feeling her absence acutely.

They got out on Level Two, and Ron looked around. If the atrium had been crowded, it was nothing compared to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Wizards and witches rushed around, and there were so many inter-departmental memos whizzing around above their heads that the air was filled with a constant buzzing sound.

Harry had wondered why Kingsley had wanted to meet them on this level instead of in his own office on Level One but looking around answered his question; it was clearly too busy in here for him to be spared.

He was saved from having to ask anyone to show them to where Kingsley was by the man himself appearing in front of them.

“Hello, you three. It’s good to see you again.” Kingsley’s voice was as slow and steady as ever, despite the chaos swirling around them.

“Thanks for meeting us on such short notice, Minister,” Harry said.

Kingsley waved a hand, seemingly disregarding Harry’s words. “Let’s go into the Head Auror’s office. We can talk there.”

“Won’t the Head Auror be there?” Hermione asked tentatively.

Kingsley shook his head simply. He led them through the floor, and into a small office. “Robards is away at the moment. It’s why I’m here, to make sure everything’s running smoothly. Sit down,” he said, and sat himself behind the desk. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down opposite him.

“So,” Kingsley said, once they had settled down, “what was the matter you wanted to discuss?”

Harry could feel Ron and Hermione’s gazes on him. He hadn’t told them this morning about the details, only that he’d asked to meet Kingsley and the both of them were welcome to come along if they wanted.

“Well, it’s about… the future, I suppose,” said Harry, after taking a moment to think about how best to phrase it.

Kingsley nodded, looking serious. “I see. Well, if it’s about Hogwarts, then I have from Minerva McGonagall her word that all students who missed out on their final years are more than welcome at Hogwarts to repeat them and complete their education, due to… shall we say the extenuating circumstances?” For the first time today, he smiled. “She is already in the process of arranging accommodation and working out the logistics of it.”

Harry could see, from the corner of his eye, Hermione sitting up straighter. Ron turned to look at Harry, giving him an incredulous look. Harry knew that he was thinking the same thing as he was, which was why he decided to speak up.

“How about if we don’t want to return to Hogwarts?” he asked. “What are our options then?” Much to his reluctant amusement, Hermione gasped quietly next to him.

“What do you mean?” Kingsley asked.

“Well, it’s just that it’s hard to go back to school and act like everything’s alright when there are still Death Eaters on the loose and we’ve spent the last year fighting,” said Ron. Harry was grateful Ron said that so he wouldn’t have to.

“I know you need NEWTs for it,” Harry said slowly. Despite what Ginny said, he didn’t know if the NEWT requirement could be waived. “But I’ve always wanted to be an Auror.” He didn’t say anything else when he saw the understanding look on Kingsley’s face.

“After the year you’ve had,” Kingsley said, and he seemed to be choosing his words with great caution, “and the feats you three, and many others your age have accomplished, I would say you have more than proved yourself. After all, if it weren’t for you, we would still be at war.” Harry shifted uncomfortably, but Kingsley spoke on. “I am in the process of designing an accelerated Auror training program with Gawain Robards. We both believe that it is imperative to strike now, to avoid any future threats of those Voldemort sympathisers who remain. If you join the program, you would begin training almost immediately, and take your NEWTs at the end of the year, along with the other Auror tests, and be qualified to be in the field by then as a practising Auror.”

This seemed almost too good to be true. Harry looked at Ron; the both of them exchanged a grin.

“I’m going to send out a letter to everyone in your year next week, with a sign-up form,” Kingsley continued, “I am hopeful that you three will consider signing up to the program. Hopefully, Neville will, as well; he’s more than proven himself. But it’s going to be open to anyone your age.” Kingsley got out a quill, and wrote something down on some parchment. “Now, if there’s nothing else, I’d like you to go over names of the people going on trial this week, so you’ll be prepared…”

*

“You’re sure you want to go back?” said Ron.

“Yes, Ron,” Hermione said. She sounded exasperated, and Harry couldn’t blame her; this was the third time in the last five minutes she was repeating herself.

“But then you’d be away from us for a year!”

“It’s only Hogwarts, Ron, we can write and there’s always Hogsmeade weekends…”

“Yes, but it’s not the same and–”

“We’re at the Floo,” Harry announced. He grabbed a handful of powder and threw it into the fire and after one The Burrow shout, was stepping out into the kitchen of the Burrow. Ron and Hermione were behind him, still deep in conversation.

“I know, it’s just that I’ll miss you,” Ron was saying as he walked out of the fireplace, brushing the soot off his robes.

“I know. I’ll miss you, too,” Hermione said. Harry turned to look at her; her eyes were suspiciously bright. Ron was at her side instantly, wrapping his arm around her. “I’ll miss you both. I can’t believe neither of you want to go back.”

It wasn’t really an option for Harry at all. If he hadn’t promised Hermione that he would think about it for at least the next week, he would have signed up for the program then and there. The idea of going back to Hogwarts, spending a year studying instead of doing anything he could to round up and catch Death Eaters, wasn’t one he could consider at all. Ron seemed to feel the same way as him, but neither of them had said it as bluntly as all that to Hermione yet.

“But it’s only a year. We’ll be fine,” Ron said. “Won’t we, Harry?”

“Well… yeah, ’course we will,” said Harry, but it was hard to imagine getting through a year without Hermione by their side.

Hermione sniffled, but looked a little comforted. She had been close to tears for the last few weeks, ever since they got back to the Burrow. It didn’t take much to set her off these days. Harry patted her shoulder tentatively.

“And we’ve still got the rest of the summer,” Ron pointed out.

“That’s true,” Harry said, and glanced out of the window. It was a surprisingly sunny day today. “Do you want to play some Quidditch?” he asked Ron.

“Yeah, alright. Hermione, you coming?” Ron asked. At her doubtful look, he said, “C’mon, you rode a dragons, a broomstick should be child’s play by now.”

Laughing, she nodded, and the three of them set off for the orchard.

It only ended up being half an hour or so before Ginny joined them. Harry was too caught up in the makeshift game of Quidditch he was playing with Ron — Hermione, who had dismounted her broom after ten minutes, was curled up under a tree, reading her book — to see her on the ground. He was only aware of her presence when she flew up to him and caught the apple Ron was tossing to him just before he could get it.

“Your reflexes are getting slow,” she teased.

Harry was too happy to see her to think of a retort, and nudged his broom forward so he could lean in and kiss her.

“How was McGonagall?” Ron asked, when Ginny had pulled away.

“It’s a long story,” was all Ginny said, and threw the apple at Ron, who managed to catch it just in time. “Hermione, get up here,” she called out, flying her broom to Ron’s side. “Weasleys against non-Weasleys,” she added, sharing a high-five with Ron. “Get ready to be trumped, you two.”

*

“The Carrows are going on trial tomorrow,” Ginny said, once they had landed in the orchard after an hour-long game of two-a-side Quidditch that had ended in a surprising tie. Hermione had Summoned some Butterbeer and biscuits from the kitchen, and they were sprawled out on the grass, eating and sipping.

Harry shifted on the grass so he could be closer to Ginny without really thinking about it.

“Is that what McGonagall wanted to talk to you about?” Hermione asked. She looked sympathetic, and Harry wondered how much of the last year’s events Ginny had told her about.

Ginny shrugged. She nudged Harry’s shoulder until he wrapped his arm around her, and then she moved in closer to his side. Harry moved his hand to Ginny’s shoulder, where the scar she’d shown him yesterday was hidden under her robes. “Yes,” Ginny finally said.

“I can’t believe they’re starting the trials with the Carrows,” Ron said around a mouthful of biscuits.

“It’s alphabetical,” Hermione pointed out.

“Ugh. That means we finish with Yaxley,” Ron said, shuddering. “I can’t wait to take him down. Remember what happened at the Ministry?”

Harry nodded. At Ginny’s curious look, he said, “We broke into the Ministry to get the locket off Umbridge. Yaxley suspected us and followed us to Grimmauld Place. We escaped just in time.”

“What locket?” Ginny said.

Harry rubbed his thumb over Ginny’s shoulder absentmindedly. “A locket that used to belong to Salazar Slytherin. It was one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes.” Before Ginny could ask, he said, “A Horcrux is an object that has a bit of someone’s soul in it. Voldemort made six. Well, he set out to make six.” He had long decided that he would tell Ginny everything, and after everything she had confessed to him yesterday, he decided he owed her the truth. It would take too long to tell her everything all at once, but he had to start somewhere.

“They’re seriously evil,” Hermione told Ginny. “Just creating one is awful. And destroying one is almost impossible. There are only a few ways to do it beyond repair.”

“Yeah, it’s fucked up,” said Ron.

Harry chuckled at that. “It is quite fucked up, isn’t it?”

“Wait,” Ginny said slowly. She sat up, and turned to look at Harry, dislodging his arm from around her shoulders. “It’s an object with someone’s soul in it… and Riddle made more than one…”

Harry thought he knew what she was getting at, but waited for her to complete her thought just in case he was wrong.

“In first year… the diary…”

Harry nodded. “Dumbledore thought the diary was the first one he made.”

Ginny’s hand came up to cover her mouth. She looked more surprised than Harry had ever seen her.

“Harry destroyed that one with Basilisk venom,” Hermione told Ginny, not unkindly. “He had stabbed the Basilisk with Gryffindor’s sword, so the sword was imbued with the venom. So when he stabbed the diary with it, it was destroyed.”

“And that was why Dumbledore–” said Ron.

“That’s why he left it to you in the will,” Ginny completed, looking at Harry. Her eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them, and she suddenly looked younger than she was. “Did you finally get it?”

Harry nodded. “Broke into Gringotts to do it.”

Ginny looked as though several things were starting to make sense. “That was what you’ve been doing all year? Looking for these… Horcruxes?” she said the word carefully.

“Well… mostly, yeah,” Harry nodded.

“Lunch,” Molly called out from inside the house.

“We’ll tell you the rest of the story later,” Harry promised Ginny. Ron got to his feet and took Hermione’s hand, and they both walked in together, Hermione waving her wand to get rid of the debris on the grass.

Ginny stayed where she was, making no moves to get up. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” she told Harry quietly.

Harry thought about how he hadn’t told Ginny yet about the fact that he was the accidental seventh Horcrux. He was afraid, after Ginny’s experiences with the diary, that it would be too much for her. He didn’t want to protect her, not exactly, but he was scared that it would make her view him differently, somehow. “Yes,” he finally said, acknowledging the truth in her words.

Ginny levelled Harry with a look and stood up. “We’ve got time,” she finally said, and waited for Harry to stand up before she began walking back to the Burrow for lunch. “You did promise me the rest of the story.” She squeezed his hand briefly.

“I know,” Harry said quietly. He was already dreading it.

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