Time of Their Lives Ch 7

Chapter 7: Trials and Balls

Harry met Hermione outside of her Ancient Runes class at quarter to four in the afternoon on Monday. They walked towards McGonagall's office together and Harry could tell that Hermione was just as nervous as he was. They walked past the gargoyle and up to the office. McGonagall barely looked up when they walked in, she was busily sorting through a pile of papers on her desk. Harry and Hermione stepped into the fireplace and said, 'the ministry of magic'. A moment later they landed in one of the many large ornate fireplaces in the Ministry of Magic's Atrium. It was fairly empty because it was the middle of the day. They made their way to the lifts that were just inside the golden gates. They pressed the button for the fourth floor, and rode in relative silence. A cool voice came over the intercom announcing they had arrived at fourth floor, the department of Magical News and Information. They stepped off the lift into a chaotic office with people rushing around and memos flying in all directions. They made their way through the main room which was full of people working on stories for various newspapers, and towards large doors in the back that read, Wizarding Wireless Headquarters. As they entered here the noise was cut off almost instantly. They were in a long hallway with doors leading off it in both directions. Each door had the name of a different radio program on it, and they heard many different noises coming out of them. They made their way down the hall and to the fourth door on the right which read, the Daily News with Lee Jordan. They opened the door quietly and stepped inside.

They stepped into a large circular room. There were desks lining the wall with four or five people sitting at them, and a semi-circle shaped table in the middle of the room which Lee and Ron sat behind. They were just finishing a segment.

"So we'll be waiting to see if the Cannons new Keeper can live up to the impressive expectations that fans have for him." Ron was saying.

Harry was truly impressed with how at ease he seemed in this job. Ron was confident and poised, and he seemed to be completely in his element.

"Indeed we will Ron." Said Lee, "If you tune in tomorrow ladies and gentleman, Ron will be interviewing the Captain of the Irish national team about their upcoming game against Russia. Up next we will have the weather with Charity Jones."

With that Ron and Lee pointed their wands at their throats, and then they began speaking normally. Ron walked over to a pretty brown haired girl and began to talk to her.

"Charity do you have the reports ready? You're on in five minutes." He asked.

"Yup, got them done almost a half hour ago Ron. You did a great job today by the way." She said with a big smile.

"Thanks…" said Ron distractedly, he had just noticed Harry and Hermione. He walked quickly across the room to give his fiancé a kiss. He turned to face the room.

"Everyone!" he said loudly, "I would like you to meet my best friend Harry and my beautiful fiancé Hermione." Everyone smiled and said hello, but Harry thought he saw Charity give a bit of a pouty look.

Ron told Lee that he was headed to court, and then the three of them walked out and back towards the lifts.

"You were really great in their Ron, you're a natural at that." said Harry as they rode the lift down to the courtrooms.

"I agree..." said Hermione, as she gave Ron a hug, he gave them a satisfied grin as the gates of the lift opened.

The feeling of apprehension grew in Harry as they walked toward the courtroom. He had never walked into this room in circumstances that were not tense and sometimes even life threatening. As they walked into the courtroom Kingsley smiled at them kindly from his seat in the front of the bench. He motioned for them to come and sit next to him. The only time that Harry had seen the courtroom from this perspective was in Dumbledore's pensive, as he sat down with his two best friends, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of experience that were about to have.

"I wanted to thank you again for this," said Kingsley, "please don't be apprehensive, we do not expect you to have information on every case, we will be grateful for any information that you can provide."

The first two people who were brought into the court were people that none of them had ever seen, the court heard their evidence and ended up dismissing both of them as innocent. The third person brought into the courtroom was Stan Shunpike, who Harry happened to know had been under the Imperius curse.

"Stanley Shunpike, you have been accused of actions against the ministry of magic, and for passing information to Death Eaters. How do you plead?" said Kingsley.

"N-n-not guilty. I swear I was under the Imperius curse. I would never help those people." Stan said, his voice trembling.

They went through the evidence in his case, and then just as he had with each of the other cases Kingsley turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry looked at the other two and then stood slowly.

"I happen to know…" said Harry slowly, "that this man was indeed under the Imperius Curse. I saw him along with many others, being used by the Death Eaters as puppets last year. He is telling the truth."

Harry sat down looking slightly uncomfortable, but Stan was looking at him as if he was the most wonderful person in the whole world.

"Very well," said Kingsley, "on the testimony of our key witnesses, the accused will be cleared of all charges. Mr. Shunpike you are free to go."

Stan stood up shakily and walked towards the door, all the while breathing a steady stream of thank you's in Harry's direction. As he left the next prisoner was brought in, Harry felt a jerk of vindictive pleasure as he recognized the squat little woman who sat before them. He glanced sideways at Ron and Hermione, who both had very satisfied expressions on their faces.

"Delores Umbridge," said Kingsley, "you have been accused of using corporal punishment on students as a teacher at Hogwarts School, helping the Death Eaters in the regime against Muggle Borns, and threatening the use of Unforgivable curses on underage witches and wizards, how do you plead?

"Not guilty!" she said, "I have never willingly done anything to harm a fellow witch or wizard."

This time it was Hermione who stood, her eyes were hard and blazing as she spoke and every face in the room was focused intently on her.

"Minister…" she began, "I happened to have been sitting in this very room last year, disguised as a Ministry official, while this women sentenced dozens of Muggle born witches and wizards to Azkaban for the absurd reason that they could not prove their lineage! I was also in the room the night that she attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry to get him to tell her the whereabouts of Dumbledore, in our fifth year. At that time I believe her words were, 'what Fudge doesn't know won't hurt him'."

There were several gasps of outrage at this last statement and many people turned to glare at Umbridge who seemed to shrink into her seat with each word Hermione said. As Hermione stood their trembling with rage Ron got to his feet and stood beside her.

"And she did use corporal punishment at Hogwarts." He said, "Harry has the scar to prove it."

There were more cries of outrage as all eyes turned to Harry, who gave a triumphant look towards Umbridge before holding out his hand so that the room could see the thin white scars that spelled out the words. I must not tell lies.

"Umbridge gave me these," he said indicating to his hand, "for speaking out about Lord Voldemort's return in my fifth year."

An angry murmur had begun to grow in the room and Umbridge looked around into the faces of her accusers, a look of panic was growing on her face.

"Now see here!" she said loudly, "these children are not even part of this committee, I have been a dedicated servant of the Ministry for years! How can you take their word over mine?"

Kingsley gave her a look so stern that she froze in her seat and stared at him in terror.

"These young people, have shown more bravery and self sacrifice, than a bottom feeder like yourself will ever know. Don't you ever speak of them with that kind of disrespect again." He turned his attention back to the Wizandgamot. "Ladies and gentleman you have heard the charges, all in favor of a five year sentence to Azkaban, and permanent dismissal from the Ministry of Magic please raise their hands."

Almost every hand in the room rose instantly and Harry thought that he heard some people muttering that they didn't think the punishment was strong enough. He couldn't help but feel slightly pleased as Delores Umbridge was lead out of the room still railing about how she was innocent.

The next few days passed without incident. Harry and Hermione got used to their routine of going to the Ministry each afternoon and Ginny accompanied them on Wednesday to go shopping with Hermione and her mother. The Ball was set for the next Saturday, and they wanted to make sure that they had their dresses. Mr. Weasley had written back to Harry the previous Wednesday evening and told him that Mrs. Weasley usually joined him for a late lunch at the Ministry on Thursday's and that Harry was welcome to join them, so on Thursday around two o'clock Harry arrived in the Ministry cafeteria. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sitting in a booth along the far wall with a plate of sandwiches and he walked across the room to join them.

"Hello Harry dear." Said Mrs. Weasley, as she gave him a warm hug and handed him a sandwich. Harry's insides were squirming so much that he wasn't sure he was going to be able to keep it down but he took a few bites anyway to be polite.

"How are the trials going Harry?" said Mr. Weasley conversationally as he munched on a sandwich.

"Really well," said Harry, "thanks to Hermione's research we've been able to help at least five people be cleared of charges, and we helped them sentence Delores Umbridge."

"Good for you." Said Mr. Weasley, "I always hated that woman."

"Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley reproachfully.

"Oh Molly, she was a mean little hag and you know it!" said Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley didn't answer but she pursed her lips together as if she were trying to contain a smile, and then turned her attention back to Harry.

"Now Harry what is it you wished to speak to us about? Nothing's wrong is it?" she asked.

"No, everything's fine." He assured them. "I just wanted to ask you both something."

"Of course Harry, ask away." said Mr. Weasley.

Harry took a deep breathe. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might break his ribs, until this moment he had not even considered the possibility that they might say no. Now he was scared to death, but he knew he had to get it over with either way.

"I wanted to ask you for your permission, to propose to your daughter." He said rapidly, and then he anxiously looked into both their faces trying to gage their reactions.

Unlike Hermione's parents, Harry could tell that the Weasley's had not been expecting this at all. They both looked at him dumbfounded for a few seconds. It was finally Mrs. Weasley who spoke first.

"Harry you know we love you..." she said, her expression was kind, but also worried, "it's just that you two are so very young…"

"I know that…" said Harry, "I really do… but this is what I want, and I know it's what Ginny wants too. We know that there is no one else in the world either of us wants to be with, so I'd really like to just make it official. I promise we will wait until we are both out of school and have gotten jobs before we actually get married. Ron, Hermione, and I were thinking that we might like to have a double wedding."

Mr. Weasley looked at his wife and took her hand. Harry saw something pass between them silently, and then Mr. Weasley gave her a slight nod before turning back to Harry.

"Harry my boy; you know that we already think of you as our son. Our hesitation has nothing to do with you; it is only because we worry about your young age. That being said, you have seen more in your young life than many older men, and we have full confidence that you will always take care of our daughter to the best of your abilities. So as long as you are willing to wait until you are both out of school and have obtained jobs, then you have our full blessing to ask Ginny to marry you."

Harry felt his insides jump for joy and he let a huge sigh of relief as he jumped up to hug his future mother-in-law, and say an ecstatic thank you to them both.

"So," he said to Mrs. Weasley with a huge grin, "Would you like to see the ring?"

"oh yes!" she said, and she squealed with delight as he brought it out for her to see. After a few more minutes of animated conversation, Harry checked the time and realized he needed to get to the courtroom. He said his goodbye's and promised they'd know as soon as he'd asked her.

Later that evening Harry, Ron and Hermione were headed back towards the Atrium to return to Hogwarts when Harry stopped them for a minute.

"Hey guys… I just wanted to let you know, that I talked with your parents today Ron, and they gave me the go ahead to ask Ginny. So it's going to be soon." He said excitedly.

"Oh Harry! This is so wonderful!" said Hermione. "Do you know when?"

"I think I have an idea... but I want it to be a surprise." He said, and then jumped into the fireplace so that they couldn't ask him anymore questions.

"Bloody hell Harry! Watch it or you're going to spear me in the neck!" said Ron.

It had been a little over a week since they had finished the trials. It was now Saturday night, November 20th and the Ball was set to begin at 8 o'clock sharp. Harry was getting ready in his room with Neville and Ron. They had been stealing glances out the window all day. Guests had started arriving around 6 o'clock, many of them were people they had never seen before but there were a couple of familiar faces. A huge powder blue carriage had arrived around 7 o'clock, and Madam Maxine, the enormous headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy, had flown out of it into Hagrid's waiting arms. Harry recognized a few ministry people, and some of his old friends. He saw Lee Jordan come in with the pretty girl Charity on his arm, and he saw the Patil twins who were in their grade until last year make their way in around 7 30.

At the moment Harry was attempting to help Ron pin on his new bowtie, but his hands were shaking so badly that he had almost poked him three times.

"What's gotten into you Harry?" said Ron, as Neville came over to help him instead. "You've been acting jumpy all night, is it because of the speech?"

Harry's stomach rolled over uncomfortably.

"No Ron, I had actually forgotten the speech until you mentioned it. Thanks a lot..." he said.

Ron shrugged.

"Then what is it?" he asked.

"Tonight's the night Ron..." said Harry giving him meaningful look.

"You mean you're gonna….Holy hell…" Ron looked at him in wonder and then gave a low whistle.

"You're gonna what Harry?" said Neville looking confused.

"You'll see soon enough Neville, come on let's go pick up the girls." said Harry.

They all had one last quick look in the mirror before they headed down the hall towards Hermione's room, where Hermione, Luna, and Ginny were getting ready. All three boys were wearing classic black dress robes that they had bought in Diagon Alley the week before. As they reached the staircase to Hermione's room they looked up and saw Luna coming down first. She looked quite adorable in a dress made of red satin; it had a square neck line and a puffy skirt that came to her knees. She wore her hair down with small strands pinned up on the sides, the effect made her look simple but beautiful. She pranced over to Neville and gave him a light kiss and then turned to Harry and Ron.

"The other two are on their way." she said smiling. "I can't wait to see the looks on your faces."

Just then they heard the door to Hermione's room open, and Hermione came down the steps. Harry had thought she looked beautiful at the Yule Ball three years ago, but it was nothing compared to how she looked now. She was wearing a deep blue strapless dress, the bodice was heart shaped and had a thin line of silver that ran around the top and also around her waist. The dress was tight to her body all the way down to her knees where it flared out, making her look like a graceful mermaid. Her hair was pinned so it cascaded down one side of her head in waves, reminding Harry of an old fashioned movie star. She was wearing silver gloves that came to above her elbows, and she smiled shyly as she descended the steps. Harry looked over at Ron and began to chuckle at the look of awe on Ron's face.

"Don't forget to breathe…" he whispered.

Ron barely registered Harry's words as Hermione came and stood in front of him.

"You look…" he couldn't get the words out… he simply stared at her almost hungrily, and she smiled back at him.

Harry was watching them with amusement when his attention was suddenly drawn away. Ginny was coming down the stairs now. Harry truly felt in that his heart had stopped beating. She was so beautiful he couldn't breathe, he could barely think. She was wearing a flowy silk dress that was emerald green, her hair was up in an elegant French twist that was held in place by the hair clip Hermione had given her for her birthday. Her hair accentuated her long graceful neck and the plunging neckline on her dress. She was wearing a delicate necklace with a tear drop emerald and she was smiling widely at him as she descended the stairs.

"It's not polite to stare." She said when she reached him, as she gave him a kiss.

"You're making it pretty much impossible not to." He whispered as he held her close.

"Shall we go down then" said Luna brightly.

"Wait just one minute." Said Harry, he had realized as Ginny was walking down the stairs, that the moment had finally arrived, and now his hands were shaking as he turned to look at his friends.

"I've been waiting for the perfect moment to do something… and right here… surrounded by all of my closest friends. I know this is it." He turned back to Ginny.

"Ginny Weasley, when I left you two years ago. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I swore to myself that if I made it through what was coming I'd spend the rest of my life with you, and that's what I want to do." Harry bent down on one knee, and both Ginny and Luna gasped. Harry finally pulled the little black box out of his pocket.

"Ginerva Weasley will you marry me?" he asked.

"yes!" said Ginny breathlessly, and Harry put the ring on her finger and kissed her vigorously, to the applause of his closest friends.

"Oh there's a second thing I wanted to ask you." Said Harry a moment later.

"Oh really?" said Ginny with a quizzical look.

"How do you feel about a double wedding with Ron and Hermione?"

"Are you serious? Could we?" she said. "I'd love that!"

'It's settled then, you and Hermione can start planning to your hearts desire!" said Harry.

The two girls hugged each other and started talking animatedly. Harry looked at them and then also looked at Neville and Luna who were standing to the side with huge smiles on their faces and suddenly Harry had and idea.

"hey Ron! Come hear!" he said and he pulled Ron aside to whisper the idea in his ear.

"that's brilliant mate!" said Ron, "But we'll need to ask the girls too. Hey you two come here for a minute!" The girls walked over to them, and they shared the idea with them, and they loved it. All four of them turned to Luna and Neville who were looking at them curiously.

"Hey Neville would you like to be me and Ron's best man?" said Harry.

"and we'd like you to be our maid of honor Luna." added Hermione.

"Oh that would be lovely!" said Luna happily, "I've never been in a wedding before."

"Wow... thanks you guys!" said Neville appreciatively.

"No problem!" said Ron, "Now we'd better get downstairs… we're missing the Ball!"

They all descended the stairs into the Entrance Hall and they were greeted by thunderous applause. There were hundreds of people clapping and cheering for them. Harry gave his brand new fiancé's hand a squeeze as they entered the Great Hall. It was decorated to the hilt; there were candles everywhere and sparkling decorations on all the walls. Harry noticed that Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were not the only witches who had chosen ball gowns over robes. There were many elegant gowns as he looked around the room.

"Harry!" called a voice from across the room, it was Fleur, she was making her way across the floor with Bill, even with the small bump that was beginning to show on her stomach Fleur looked absolutely stunning in robes of deep purple. She kissed his cheek and gave Ginny a hug.

"Have you seen Madam Maxine yet?" she asked, "she is so excited to see you again!"

"No not yet... we just arrived but I'm sure we'll bump into each other." said Harry, thinking that it would probably be impossible not to bump into the eight foot tall woman.

Just then Harry heard someone else call his name from behind him, he turned around to see none other than Viktor Krum.

"Hello Harry!" said Viktor, "It's so wonderful to see you again. It has been too long!"

"It has." Said Harry, in truth he had just seen Viktor the summer before but he was in disguise so Viktor had not known it was him.

"Have you seen Hermione?" asked Viktor, "I have missed her very much."

"I think she went with her fiancé to get some punch." said Ginny pointedly.

"Oh… she is engaged now?" said Viktor sounding disappointed. "To Weasley…" he added, sounding resigned.

"That's right." Said Harry, "but I'm sure she'd still like to say hello to you…" he added trying to be polite.

Viktor shrugged noncommittally.

"Well it was good to see you again Harry." he said, and then he shuffled off.

A few minutes later McGonagall found them and told them they needed to make their way towards the head table. They did so and met up with Ron and Hermione about half way there. When people saw that they had reached the head table, everyone took their seats and looked up at them expectantly. Harry knew the moment that he had been dreading had arrived. He took a deep breath and stood to begin his speech.

"Ladies and gentleman," he began, "Thank you so much for coming here tonight. It means so much to us that you would take the time to travel here from far and wide, just to honor us. I think I speak for both my friends when I say that we often feel that we don't deserve your adoration. I myself know that while everyone hails me as the savior of our world, that I am nothing special. I was able to do what I did because I had people helping me, protecting me, and sacrificing for me along the way. I could never have done it alone. So firstly I would like to honor all those who helped me along the way whether it was a place to stay or simply an encouraging word, without you. I would not be here, so here's to all of you. Those who are here with us today, and those who look down on us from a better place."

Harry raised his glass, and everyone else mimicked, and they drank in silence. Then Harry continued.

"Secondly I would like to honor the two people who sit to my left. I know in my heart, that I would never have been able accomplish what I did without them beside me. Hermione Granger, is the smartest witch that I have ever known, when we were frustrated and felt defeated she always pushed us to look at things from a different angle, to realize that there was never a problem that didn't have a solution, you just had to know where to look. She saved my life more than once, she endured terrible pain and suffering for the cause but she never backed down. She is truly one of the bravest people I have ever had the privilege to know." Harry raised his glass, "to Hermione Granger." He said.

The audience murmured her name as they all raised their glasses to toast her.

"and Ron Weasley." Continued Harry, "Ron Weasley has been my rock for many years. He always shows me how to look on the bright side in any situation, he has a knack for making me laugh when I want to scream. I know without him, I would have lost my sanity a long time ago, but Ron never tired of showing me that there is good in the world, even when it isn't visible, and it's always worth fighting for. So here's to Ron Weasley, my dearest friend." They raised their glasses again.

"and that bring us to the man who changed my life forever." Said Harry, "Men like Albus Dumbledore come around once in a lifetime. He was the father figure I never had. He was my mentor, my teacher, my conscience, and my most trusted friend. He believed in me so completely that he gave his life, to insure that I succeeded. I know that wherever he is right now, that he is celebrating with us, and his legacy will live on forever as long as we remember him. So here's to Dumbledore. Wherever you are… I hope that you have finally found peace."

"Finally…" said Harry, "I want to leave you with this final thought. We have lived in fear for so long, fear of a man who caused pain and terror throughout our world. Yet he was just a man. I did not kill him because I had some great power that no one else could comprehend; I killed him because he simply could not understand the great power of love. People have asked me numerous times since that day how they can ever repay for what I did, well there is only one thing that I would like from you. Stop living in fear. Don't be afraid to say Tom Riddle's name. He was a man, who was born and lived and died just like any other man. So please don't let him have power of us any longer. Let us live in happiness, and in peace."

With that, Harry sat down and the audience responded with vigorous applause and loud cheering. Suddenly Harry had a crazy impulse and he stood back up.

"I actually have one more thing to say." He gave a guilty smile, and the crowd chuckled, "Albus Dumbledore told me once not to feel sorry for the dead, but to feel sorry for those who live without love. Well thanks to this amazing woman sitting next to me, I will never have to be one of those people. Ginny Weasley is strongest most beautiful, most passionate person I've ever had the privilege to know, and I just wanted to let everyone know, about ten minutes ago, she agreed to become my wife."

The crowd erupted into cheers and many people jumped to their feet. He saw Mrs. Weasley crying and clapping with Mr. Weasley giving her a one armed hug. As Harry took his seat Ginny grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close to her.

"I can't believe you just said that in front of all these people!" she said.

"Why not?" he said, "I love you, and I want the whole world to know."

The rest of the evening was very enjoyable. Harry and Ginny danced until their feet felt like they were going to fall off. They also felt like their arms were about to be ripped out of their sockets from all the handshakes they had gotten, on their engagement. They had watched with enjoyment as Viktor Krum went to say hello to Hermione, and Ron looked positively smug as she gave Viktor a small hug without leaving Ron's side. It was almost three in the morning by the time they all made their way back up towards their room. They left Ron and Hermione in the hallway outside Harry's room, Ron raised his eyebrows when Ginny turned to enter the room with Harry.

"Oh come off it Ron, I've been living here for months, and now we're engaged so why don't you wipe that look off your face and take the future Mrs. Weasley off to bed." She said.

Ron gave them a slightly grumpy look but put his arm around Hermione and headed off down the hall. As Harry and Ginny entered their room, Ginny yawned and flopped down on the bed.

"Well that was quite the eventful evening." She said with a smile, and she absentmindedly held her hand up to admire her ring. "You know…" she continued, "I've been waiting so long for this that sometimes I wondered if it would ever really happen…"

Harry went over and sat down next to her. He leaned over and softly kissed her shoulder.

"Well it did happen…" he said into her ear, "and now… in a few months you get to be Mrs. Ginny Potter."

"Ginny Potter…." She said as if she were trying to on for size, "I like the sound of that…"

She turned to face him, and gave him a grin.

"and then we get to start filling our house with lot's of little Potter's" she said.

Harry laughed and kissed her, the idea that he was sitting here discussing his future children with his future wife, was so perfect that he was waiting for someone to pinch him, and bring him back to reality. As he thought to himself about what his children might look like, a thought popped into his head.

"Hey Ginny…" he said, looking down into her radiant face.

"Yes?" she said.

"Umm… you know speaking of the whole, filling our house with little Potter's thing… you've been sleeping here for over two months, and as far as I know, we haven't made any little Potter's yet. How come? Not that I'm complaining." He asked her.

To his surprise Ginny blushed slightly and looked up at him with a guilty smile.

"Well… last year, since we weren't really doing any homework that was worth while. I kind of studied and perfected this charm that keeps that from happening. I read about it in a witch magazine, and I looked up the theory and taught myself how to do it." She explained, "See… I kinda always had it in my mind, that if you lived through that fight with Voldemort, I mean Riddle, that I was going to sleep with you. WE had been apart for so long, and I wanted to do it… so yeah..."

She was still looking at Harry with a slightly guilty expression on her face but he simply laughed and kissed her on the nose.

"You always keep me guessing Ginny Weasley." He said appreciatively. "By the way… when you say 'fill our house with kids' how many are we talking about?" said Harry, he was picturing the Weasley's family of seven and he didn't think was up for quite that many kids.

"Oh, not too many, two or three is enough for me. If we could get one of each gender that would be perfect," Said Ginny, "A James and a Lily, I think that would make our family quite complete."

Harry stopped and looked at her. It took a moment for him to register what she had just said. But now he was overcome with emotion. He felt his throat burning and tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He cupped her face in his hands, and he gazed at her, he was too overcome to speak.

"What's wrong?" said Ginny and her brows furrowed in concern, "You don't want to name them after your parents? Cuz it was just an idea…"

Harry cut her sentence short by kissing her hard.

"No…" he whispered as he pulled away, "I love it… it's perfect."

There was so much more that he wanted to say, but he couldn't find a way to put it into words. He loved the red haired girl sitting before him so completely that he could not imagine that life would even exist if she didn't. He knew that his life was meant to be spent with her; there was nothing more perfect in the entire world. He kissed her again, and she responded but then pulled away because she was once again yawning.

"If we don't go to sleep soon, it's going to be morning!" She said, and Harry reluctantly agreed.

That night Harry Potter fell asleep with a kind of happiness that his heart had not felt in a very long time, and knowing that he held his soul mate in his arms.