Life is quite a scary thing. Far too many people take it for granted and that really shouldn't happen, it can very easily be ripped from underneath your feet when it is least expected. For one person, he knew just how much life should be celebrated. Harry himself had essentially cheated death twice but he had witnessed so much death. Whether that be from visiting St Mungo's or just from everything else going on.
From being subjected to so much chaos in his life, it really didn't surprise him at all anymore. Perhaps this was another reason that made him want to get in touch with the other side of his family. He knew he would have been eaten up by guilt had he not. A few more days had gone by since himself and Ginny had introduced Dudley and Felicity into their world officially and Harry couldn't lie to himself by saying he wasn't shocked at how calm his cousin was. He wasn't worried about Felicity since her mum is a squib and her aunt's Hestia Jonas of all people. That one did shock Harry and he had proceeded to ask the older witch about her the next time he had work.
Since almost every death eater was currently locked up in Azkaban with life sentences, there wasn't much happening. To some of the Auror's, this was good because it meant they could go home a lot earlier or just not bother coming in at all. Harry was different; he liked to keep his mind busy.
He didn't have much time to react until a tiny gold glint shone in front of his eyes and from the corner of his eye he saw Ginny spot it as well. This was something the now married couple enjoyed doing together which benefited them both. Since Ginny played professionally with the Holyhead Harpies as chaser and occasionally seeker, it was extra practise for her. It helped keep Harry's mind busy because it reminded him of his very hectic school years. He wouldn't say it out loud to Ginny, but he loved challenging her with things like this- it wasn't really that surprising because both are very competitive people.
Both were staring at each other from across the field that was close to their house in which they kept the Quidditch pitch. Hermione had performed protective charms around so people who weren't magic could enter without permission. After all it would be practically impossible to explain to muggle's why they were literally flying on broomsticks. Harry pointed to behind Ginny and he silently snickered to himself at successfully distracting her, so he could speed after the snitch. It only took her a second to realise what Harry had done because she was soon speeding after her husband laughing loudly as she went.
She had her hair tied tightly into a bun to keep it from her face because that constantly annoyed her. It also wasn't ideal for playing a fast-paced sport high up in the air. Harry reached his arm out once the tiny winged ball was a few metres ahead of him, but Ginny had other plans. She sped up until she was millimetres from Harry's side and she laughed again before leaning over to kiss Harry's cheek. Now with Harry momentarily distracted, Ginny had a few seconds to spare to catch the snitch. She could still feel Harry behind her now that he had finally figured out why Ginny did that and he was soon gaining on her once more.
He was a bit too late though because Ginny finally got close enough to clasp her hand around the tiny ball. She felt it struggle a little in her palm before it stopped moving signalling the brief game was over. Harry gave her a look, but Ginny could see the humour behind what was his angry glare at being distracted so easily. Both lazily drifted through the air until they were back on solid ground, stumbling slightly at getting used to not moving so quickly. Ginny walked over to the box and put the snitch back inside. Usually they never practise with all four balls because it was always too much of a hassle to clean up- especially when it came to the bludgers without gaining a black eye in the process.
On top of that neither were experienced beaters so the bludgers weren't taken out unless they had more friends over to play with them.
Harry grabbed one of the leather straps whilst Ginny took hold of the other, so they could both heave the large box back to their house a few minutes away. It was the quaffle which weighed the most since it was the largest and densest seen as it wasn't an enchanted ball like the rest. Bludgers and snitches were made in such a way so that they could easily zip through the air at breakneck speeds whereas the quaffle gets thrown between the chasers. This practise had to be short though because Dudley and Felicity were coming over later.
Harry was very surprised at Dudley's genuine interest when they were all in Diagon Alley. He had half expected the month older man to turn around and say something horrible, but he didn't. He was asking questions because he was genuinely interested, and Harry couldn't deny that he had willingly purchased books. Although he did chuckle at remembering Felicity's pleading face when she spotted the Pygmy Puffs. Ginny had one in her fifth year- his sixth- which she got from her brother's shop. He can't even remember what happened to it seen as the tiny creatures have a minimum four-year life span.
He shook his head because it was a stupid question to ask her, so he wasn't even going to bother. It was a good thing that their game lasted a little longer than usual seen as the whole time they were more occupied in distracting one another simply to stall time and to annoy each other. Since Dudley and Felicity did not know where they lived exactly, Harry and Ginny had agreed that they would apparate the pair. One of them would go on their own but neither wanted to risk an accidental splinching because it was known that dittany did not work for people who weren't magic. It wouldn't be very nice to explain to Dudley that it was possible to leave anything from an eyebrow to an arm behind.
It was a good thing that Ginny inherited a lot of Molly's cooking skills because she knew that Harry couldn't do that to save his life. He could do a lot of things but anything involving a kitchen never ended up well unless it was basic things. Ginny smiled lightly to herself at remembering when him and her remaining five brothers decided to attempt to bake her a cake for her eighteenth birthday. Let's just say it ended up in six boys (one of which was married) covered in flour on the floor and having a huge food fight. However, not one to back down Ginny got involved with their fight too because it was nice to be goofy with her siblings. Molly may have wanted Ginny to be a full-on girly-girl, but that just wasn't going to happen growing up around so much boys and their behaviours all rubbing off on her as she got older.
In a way, Ginny is glad for this. She doesn't rely on other people to do what she should. Another thing that the fiery redhead would do is willingly put herself in danger to help those she cared deeply about- which again scared her mum out of her wits. Molly may be quite a fierce woman, but when it came to her kids she was only kind but strict when she absolutely had to be. Mostly it was her twin brothers who were always at the end of Molly's acidic tongue.
She doesn't think much of Fred to be honest, despite it being almost four years since the war ended. It had probably hit her the most apart from George- perhaps even Percy. Despite the latter being a bit of an idiot in the years leading up to the war- he was still her older brother and she couldn't not love him. It was Percy who had been with Fred when he died. It was Ginny that he trusted with telling the whole story to because he knew it would be way too hard on George. Even now, the estranged twin who only had one ear since his other had been cursed off still occasionally forgot that his twin was dead.
Fred had twisted his ankle very painfully at some point during the fight, to the point that it was physical agony for him to even stand but he kept pushing on. He ran like that for a while- not knowing that Percy was right behind him. Fred was still extremely annoyed at Percy and to be fair, the older brother could understand his logic. If the roles were switched, he probably wouldn't want to even acknowledge Fred either. He still followed though, feeling as though he had to protect his younger brother because he was rather reckless and tended to act on impulse instead of act on strategy.
It happened so quickly from then on- it lasted a few minutes, but it felt like a split second. Fenrir Greyback had cast a spell which hit Fred right on his injured leg, causing him to trip over in crippling agony. Rage filled Percy immediately and sent a body-bind curse on the werewolf which caused him to go rigid and fall down the stairs again- away from Fred. Percy didn't even need to ask him, he could see how much pain his little brother was in and no matter how much he wanted to help the cause- he physically couldn't. So, Percy did something that would try to take his mind off the pain which was shooting through Fred in giant waves.
He told him a stupid joke.
It worked though because a smile broke out on Fred's face as well as a short laugh. That was when he knew that Fred didn't hate him. Not truly. Fred hated what he did, but he couldn't hate him because he had grown up with him- spent nineteen years around him. Knowing that someone had to go down and help with the fight seen as the pair were in an abandoned corridor, Fred urged his older brother to go help. If only Percy had waited another minute. Percy squeezed Fred's shoulder as silent thanks he walked away- but he only got a few metres when he first heard it.
A large crack echoed through the room, breaking the quiet, which was falling around since the fight was drowned out. Nervously, Percy turned around although he wished he hadn't. It started small and he could see the fear on Fred's face once he realised what was happening. He broke off into a run towards his brother, but it was already too late- the wall had collapsed, trapping Fred underneath the rubble seen as he himself couldn't run away. Percy ducked before doing the one thing he never thought he would do- shoot out a killing curse at seeing a death eater he couldn't name standing where the wall had stood cackling loudly. It hit him straight on and silence enveloped them again.
Percy worked away at clearing the rubble littering the corridor, holding onto a tiny piece of hope that Fred had survived the impact. Tears pooled in his eyes once he spotted a tuft of bright orange hair and seconds later he was pulling his little brothers body from the rubble. He stayed there for about an hour until he heard footsteps echoing with people yelling to others to search for survivors. It was Madam Pomfrey who found the two boys, she didn't even try to save Fred- he was already dead.
A small tear fell from Ginny's eye at the memory. She hadn't been there to witness it all happen, but Percy's description was so vivid she could paint an accurate visual representation of her older brothers last minutes alive. At least he died doing what he loved most, laughing. It was only now that she realised Harry was standing next to her giving her a small look through his glasses. Ginny was a hard book to read but somehow Harry managed to see through it a lot of the time. Like right now, her husband could see she was thinking of her deceased brother once again. He didn't even say anything to her; he just held his arms open for her to curl into whilst breathing in shakily trying to hide a sob.
Ginny doesn't think she will really get over Fred's death, but it could have been a lot worse. Some people had lost multiple family members in the war and not just through death. Some people were tortured so much that they were now permanent patients in St Mungo's. Unfortunately, they knew someone who had lost his parents in such a way in the first war- Neville Longbottom. It was Bellatrix along with three others who got them, she knew that Alice and Frank had information and she wanted it to give to her master. They never gave up that information and it left them with no memory at all regarding their son. It could be a whole lot worse, Ginny mused. It must be a lot harder having someone alive who is dead anyway than someone being dead.
With this thought in mind, she pulled away from Harry and gave him a small smile to tell him she was alright, but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at something on the wall. Ginny turned her head and she felt a lump in her throat at seeing Harry standing beside three people who were all at least three years older. The Triwizard Tournament. When Harry suggesting having the picture on the wall, Ginny was unsure because she knew that it had been a huge emotional roller coaster for Harry- and pretty much everyone at Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze to bring him out of his thoughts before pointing to the clock. It was almost identical to the one she had at home. It looked like a normal clock from afar, but it didn't even tell the time- immediately defeating its purpose. The hands were all the same length and at the ends were pictures of the family. Instead of numbers, was places such as at home, the burrow, Diagon Alley etcetera.
Instead of telling time it showed where everyone was at each specific moment, it was very useful because then everyone knew where someone was without needing to do an extensive search for them.
Ten minutes later the pair were standing outside Dudley's and Felicity's London home, the older couple letting them in because they knew it would be a bit dangerous for them to apparate in public. After all, it was a law to keep magic hidden from muggle's unless they were related to a witch or wizard. Since Dudley was Harry's cousin and Felicity was a niece of a well-respected Auror, it was perfectly legal for them to be around magic.
The younger two reached their hands out and grabbed the other two people after a few minutes of speaking. They had only apparated once before, but they didn't really know what it was, now it had been explained in detail- Dudley tried to hide his grimace at hearing what splinching was. It was rare, but it was still a very possible outcome. Suddenly, Dudley felt like someone had inserted a fishing hook inside his bowels and tugged hard. It wasn't painful as to say, but it was extremely uncomfortable. It only lasted a few seconds and soon they were all standing in front of the large house Harry and Ginny owned.
For around half an hour, the younger couple showed their guests around although it turned more into the two women comparing magic and non-magic bands. Which was the men's cue to walk away and leave them be because they knew it would get crazy if they stayed and would be asked for second opinions. It was a good thing that the blonde and redhead got on very well with each other because if they didn't it would be incredibly awkward. Harry and Dudley walked down the main corridor, the younger not paying attention to much around him but Dudley stopped to look at some of the pictures.
The first one was a very large family and it only took him a second to figure out that this was Ginny's family. How could it not be? He already knew from Harry's oblivious ramblings that Ginny had a lot of brothers, he counted them as he went- six. He was already told though that one of them hadn't made it out the other end of the war and he wanted to know which one. Dudley knew though that asking Ginny would be a bit disrespectful because she probably hates speaking or remembering it. So instead he asked Harry the question, first by asking their names and what they do.
"This is Molly, Ginny's mum. Most of the time she just stays in her house with Arthur- Ginny's dad. She's a lot like Ginny although maybe not quite as short tempered. This is Ron- you've met him before briefly- he was the first person I met on the train to Hogwarts and luckily we were dorm mates, so we were extremely good friends and we still are."
Harry was pointing to them all individually whilst telling Dudley these things, his index finger tip grazing the glass. The picture was moving obviously but not much.
"This is Bill and he works with Gringotts. He'd already finished school when I started so I didn't know him that well. Then this is Charlie. He lives in Romania and he works with and studies dragons. He's gotten quite a fair few nasty burns in his life, but he loves doing what he does. Finally, this is Percy and he works in the Ministry. Before you ask I don't see him often because he works in a different part of the building than I do."
Now, Dudley felt bile rise in his throat. Harry was speaking in the present tense which meant only one thing and he really didn't know how he felt about it. It was one of the terror twins as he so nicely called them who had not survived. He may not have liked the two of them, but they did almost choke him with a toffee once, so it could at least be justified- but they were still young.
"The night I left Privet Drive, we had to escape with a plan. There is a potion in our world that when drank will turn a person into somebody else for exactly an hour unless drunk again. So, six people became, well, me. This was done to confuse Tom and the death eaters. We split up in different directions even though we were headed to the same location. George ended up having his left ear cursed off."
Dudley's nose wrinkled in disgust at this. No matter how amusing it sounded having numerous people be Harry, it was a grisly image thinking about someone without an ear.
"Then the final battle came. Everything was going alright and I don't know the full story of what happened- Ginny always gets too emotional whenever I ask her about it, so I don't. Fred ended up injuring his leg quite badly from both twisting it and getting hit with a curse. Knowing he wouldn't be able to fight he retreated upstairs into the castle along with Percy. Percy decided to take his mind off the pain and told him a joke of some sort and just as he was walking away to return to the fight the wall caved in on him. He died instantly, and he died laughing at a joke."
There were so many words floating around in his mind but for some reason not even one would slip out of his mouth. Even though he didn't like the two brothers at all, he wouldn't ever wish injuries or death on either of them. That was what happened. One has a permanent disfigurement and the other one was dead. For the first time since he had met Ginny, he felt a huge rush of sadness for the young woman. He didn't even need to ask Harry the next question for he already knew the answer. Ginny also fought in the war- she would have only been sixteen. Far too young to fight a war in Dudley's eyes but he knew not to get on the fiery woman's bad side as he's heard from Harry that she has a vicious temper.
Dudley's eyes trailed to another picture to try and get rid of the suffocating atmosphere which now surrounded the two men in the hallway. Dudley wondered where his fiancé and Harry's wife was, but he didn't need to think much because he could hear them bickering over something a couple of rooms away. He smiled lightly in amusement and he turned to Harry, he didn't expect to see a genuine look of sadness enter his cousin's eyes- he hadn't seen that before.
"I won't tell the whole story because I'd rather tell you all of that at the same time. This, is Viktor Krum- a professional seeker for Bulgaria in Quidditch. Ginny's played him a couple of times. This is Fleur Delacour- well Fleur Weasley now since she married Bill in our last year of school. And this, is Cedric Diggory."
Dudley's face paled now so much that he would probably blend into snow. That name. He had heard Harry have nightmares about him when they were in bedrooms adjacent each other and Dudley had teased him over it. He could see Harry shaking lightly beside him and he wasn't sure if he was remembering his cousin's actions or whatever happened to him.
"There's a tournament in which three champions are chosen, one from each school since there are three schools involved. For some reason though, an extra name was there this year- my name. There was an age limit on who entered their name to be chosen to compete, so I obviously didn't enter the tournament- someone slipped my name in without me knowing. That age limit was seventeen and well, I was fourteen. The other three had a lot more experience than I did so obviously I was scared.
"There are three tasks and in the final one there is a cup. Whoever gets to the cup first wins the tournament. The last task was a very large maze and things didn't go well. Fleur got trapped in plants which dragged her underground and someone cursed Viktor, so he would try and kill Cedric and Fleur. Eventually, Cedric stopped Viktor and we both decided to go for the cup, we were at the same school and we had helped each other with the other tasks, so why not win it together?
"We didn't expect for the cup to be a portkey and neither did anyone else. Someone had a bigger plot unravelling. So, we were walking around, trying to figure out what was going on when Wormtail- I'll explain who that is another time- made his appearance known carrying what looked to be some creature in his arms. I just heard a snake like voice and not even a second later, Cedric was dead. Killing curse aimed immediately at him before anything else could happen."
Now, he really did feel sick. He asked where the toilet was, and he was soon dry heaving into the pan until his throat was red raw and his stomach felt as though it was on fire. Dudley had made fun of Harry over Cedric, but now he felt truly disgusted in himself for assuming things too quickly. Harry saw a close friend die and he couldn't do anything about it. He had also said it was only some of the story, what else happened?
It was like he was reliving that horrible day with the dementors all over again, really seeing himself for the second time.
It took around ten minutes until he was no longer trying to force up undigested food which wasn't there and joined the others. Harry did give him a few choice words, but it didn't do anything to help the oldest person in the room. How did he manage to live with himself all those years ago? He might not have known anything, but he should have realised that if someone was having nightmares about someone, it wasn't good. However, he did manage to put a brave face on and was genuinely impressed and a little jealous at all the magic things in the house.