Ten Years Later ✔️

2|Understanding Changes

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Thursday, May 1, 2008

"What is Zabini doing here?"

"Zabini, Ron, is here because he's my husband and, therefore, part of this family," said Ginny coolly, though she was actually already very angry on the inside. No actual fighting had begun yet, but she and everyone else knew that there would be and she was already boiling at the idea of Ron being against her husband.

Sure enough, Ron exploded.

"You married him? He's a Slytherin! He can't be trusted! How could even you be so stupid?"

"Don't insult my wife, Weasley," growled Blaise, the first time he had spoken.

"Yeah, well, your wife happens to be my sister, and I've been insulting her our entire lives, so I don't know why I should have to stop now, just because she was an idiot and married you!"

"Call me an idiot one more time!"

"Okay, you're an idiot!"

"What say do you even have on who I married, Ronald? I've always told you that it was none of your business who I date, or who I marry, for that matter."

"None of my business? I'm your brother? I believe that I do have some say in who you marry."

"Yes, well, whatever say you had in my relationship disappeared when you left! You honestly can't expect to leave for a whole decade, come back, find things how you don't like, and actually have some claim that you should have any part in our decisions. You left for ten years, Ronald!"

"If he's staying, I'm not," Ron huffed. He grabbed his traveling cloak from the peg by the fireplace and stormed out the back door. He opened it, turned and said, "See the rest of you at the reunion," and slammed the door, walking off the back step and Disapparating.

After Ron left, everyone turned to look at Harry, wondering how he would react. After a moment, he stepped forward and held out his hand, which Ginny cautiously shook. Then he turned to Blaise and held out his hand again. Blaise, with the same carefulness as Ginny, also shook his hand.

"I'm very happy for the both of you," said Harry, smiling.

"Thank you, Harry," Ginny said, before seeming to contemplate for a second, and then stepping forward and pulling him into a hug. She pulled back and said, "It's really nice to see you again, Harry."

She turned and looked pointedly at Blaise, who sighed, and then said, "I'm glad to see that you seem to have learned more manners than your friend." Ginny rolled her eyes at him.

After that, everyone settled down to eat. Kandy, James, and Mark were all introduced to Ginny and Blaise, and Harry got to meet their daughter, Luna, who had just turned three and had been named after Ginny's good friend, 'Loony' Lovegood herself. When Harry asked how Luna was doing these days, he was pleased to hear that she had married Dean Thomas, a boy who had been in Harry's year at school and had actually been captured by Death Eaters alongside Luna.

"So, how did this happen?" asked Harry, motioning between Ginny and Blaise.

"Oh," said Ginny, glancing towards Blaise and giving a small laugh. "See, as soon as I left school, I was signed on as Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. It was actually during one of our practices, two years later, that Blaise was there, sitting in the stands. After practice, me and the girls were informed that he was buying the team."

"You bought the Holyhead Harpies?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised.

"Indeed I did. I was working for Malfoy Industries, still do, actually. The Harpies were doing good, so I thought, 'Why not?'"

"Well, that's how we first met after school," continued Ginny, "And, I don't know, we just kept running into each other at a couple practices and outside of work, and things just... happened, I guess, and we were going out, and after a few years, we got married. Then, four years ago, I found out that I was pregnant with Luna, so I retired from quidditch and started writing for the sports section of the Daily Prophet."

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and Harry turned to see Teddy on the floor with the giant cooking cauldron next to him. Molly and Andromeda rushed over, asking what happened. As Andromeda began scolding Teddy about being more careful, Molly began saying how fortunate they were that she had already emptied the cauldron of the scalding water that had been boiling inside and put out the fire under it.

In all of the excitement, Harry forgot to ask about Hermione.

Everyone stayed until almost eleven o'clock at night, until finally people began to drift home so they could get rest for the next night. Harry and Kandy headed up to George's old room, after tucking in their sons, who were staying in Ginny's old room.

"Everyone seems really nice," remarked Kandy as she pulled her hair down from the messy ponytail it had been in. "Especially Blaise, he was very charming. What had Ron so worked up about him?"

Harry sighed, laying back sliding under the covers of their bed. "Well, for one, old House prejudice. Slytherin versus Gryffindor, you know?"

"Was the rivalry really that bad?"

"I don't know about now, but when we were in school, it was pretty intense. But then, there's also the fact that he was friends with our arch-rival, Draco Malfoy."

"The cleared Death Eater?"

"The very one."

Kandy turned and looked at him. "Why exactly was Malfoy cleared?"

"Well, he didn't really want to join the Death Eaters. He had to, because if he didn't, Voldemort threatened to kill his mother, a threat that he wouldn't hesitate to act upon."

"So you think that he wasn't really guilty?"

"I think that he was a scared kid who was trying to protect his family. And he never killed anyone, he was supposed to kill Dumbledore, but I was there when it happened, there was no way that Malfoy would have done it." Harry glanced up at his wife. "Why? Do you think he was guilty?"

"No, I agree with you," she said. Then she crawled into bed next to him and laid down. "'Night, Harry."

"Good night." Harry turned off the lamp and closed his eyes, already mentally bracing himself for the next day.

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Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.