Once and for All

Chapter 29

"George, for the last time keep those prank wands out of the kitchen!" Mrs. Weasley roared, and George ducked to avoid the flying wand, which ended up slamming into the back of Harry's head. Rubbing his aching head, he bent down and handed the wand over to George, who quickly pocketed it. After the forced week of bedrest from Mrs. Weasley, he was finally allowed to come see Ginny, who had a murderous look on her face and a fist tightening against the couch pillow. Harry eyed the movement warily and slowly moved out of the way before that fist unexpectedly flew out. Mrs. Weasley's request of keeping Ginny within the house was somewhat reasonable, but also prevented Ginny from playing Quidditch, which she did not approve.
Suddenly pots and pans banged together, and a loud voice called, "HARRY, GINNY," from the front of the house. Ginny and Harry glanced at each other in shock. "Was that...?"
"Hagrid!" Harry called in surprise as this old friend stuck his bushy head out of the door. He wore his usual abnormally large brown coat and boots, and a new addition of a strange dragon pin on his chest. Harry was soon encased in a bone-crushing embrace, with the usual musty smell of tea and brandy, along with the outdoors.
Hagrid noticed his curious glance, and pointed at his chest proudly. "Bought one from Charlie, to support 'is organization of pr'tecting dragons like Norbert. But never mind that-how're you, Ginny? That dementae didn't hurt you too bad now, did it?"
Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Ginny had a similar look on her face. She gave him a quick hug as well before asking, "You knew about those?"
"Oh yeah-nasty beasts, many legends about them. It's too bad there was another one left-the Ministry thought for sure that they'd wiped 'em all out-" he stopped suddenly, looking at them warily. "I shouldn't a said that."
"No, really?" Ron said somewhat sarcastically as he came into the living room, his arm around Hermione.
Hagrid chuckled somewhat shamefully. "Well, anyways I'm jus' glad you're safe, Ginny, and that the bloke's gone for good. Which reminds me- how'd th' Ministry clean up go, Harry?"
Harry groaned. "It was a mess. Whiffler was a well trusted auror, so they were really suspicious about the whole thing. Then we had to get the Unspeakables to admit that they lost a dangerous creature, which took forever cause they were so tight-lipped."
"And then we all had to testify," Ginny added. "Which took ages, and then the reasons I was in St. Mungos had to be covered up too."
"Not to mention keeping the press out of the burned office." Harry finished wearily. "Especially Skeeter-no idea how's she still has a job-"
"An' Malfoy testified?" Hagrid asked incredulously, sitting down on the other couch, which creaked violently under his weight.
"Yeah. I think it was more to get the Malfoy family on the Ministry's good side than anything else, but we were all pretty surprised. I think his and Seamus's testimonies helped more than anyone else's."
"In other words, the slimy git got off the hook again," Ron clarified, crossing his arms.
"Well, at least they didn't throw us in Azkaban for killing an auror," Harry said, and Ron rolled his eyes. "Whatever, he's still a git."
"You still have your job, then?" Hermione asked Harry.
"Even better," Ron said happily. "They upgraded him to a professional auror."
"Blimey, Harry, that was fast!" Hagrid exclaimed proudly. "Yer dad would be so proud..."
Harry grinned bashfully, uncomfortable if all the attention. "Yeah, well I put in a good word for you too, Ron, so they have an apprentice position reserved for you whenever you're ready."
"He's going to stay at George's shop for another year," Hermione explained, giving him a stern look. "And only a year, right?"
"Yup," he replied happily. "Oh, blimey you guys didn't hear! Hermione's a week away from becoming a-what was it called?"
"A professional protector for the promotion of the rights of all magical creatures," she recited.
Hagrid dabbed his eyes as he looked at Hermione fondly. "Protectin' magical creatures-couldn't be prouder, Hermione. I'll be sure to stop by yer office sometime."
Hermione smiled her thanks warmly in reply. A second later Mrs. Weasley poked her head in the living room, her arms full of cleaning supplies, and glanced at Hagrid in surprise. "Oh-hello there, didn't see you come in. Brandy?"
"If ye've got some," Hagrid replied, rising up eagerly. "Good ter see you, Molly. Here, let me help you with that-"
"Oh, no," she interrupted hastily, taking in Hagrid's size and grabbing his arm. "I'll bring it to you, no problem-please, sit down..."
Hagrid then crashed back down on the couch, and with a big crack it broke in two. Right after it broke, Molly quickly waved a wand at the mess, but instead of fixing the couch it turned into a rubber parrot. Immediately, she swelled up like a balloon and turned to the kitchen, where George was no doubt hiding. "GEORGE WEASLEY-!"
During the commotion, Ginny dashed to the door in hopes to make it out unnoticed, but failed.
"GINEVRA WEASLEY," Mrs. Weasley screamed. "STAY INSIDE, IT'S TOO EARLY-"
Ignoring her mother, she grabbed Harry and pulled him outside as well. "Thank God," she muttered, heading straight for the shed, where the brooms were. "If I had to spend another second in that room-"
"At least she cares," Harry offered, studying her. She had gotten much better since the hospital. Her cheeks had their rosy color restored, and her freckles could finally be seen.
"Well, still, I need to get back on that field. Do you have any idea how out of practice I am?"
He didn't reply, and instead stared at her eyes, which were focused and alert. Out of all the signs she had shown of fading, those unresponsive eyes had scared him the most. "You'll be fine," he finally said, not really paying attention, before blurting out. "Did...the hospital ever figure out why you reacted that way?"
"They had a theory," Ginny admitted, tying her hair up in a hasty ponytail. "They said since I was so used to the monster using me as a host that when it was separated from me, my body kinda stopped functioning because I had somehow grown to rely on it. Plus holding all that dark energy back had some effects..."
Her voice trailed off, and Harry nodded understandingly. "What'd you tell the team?"
"That I got attacked, which is pretty much true." She laughed slightly, the movement brightening her face. "Now they all think I'm some crazy activist, which isn't that far off now that I think about it."
Harry laughed with her. "They're probably relieved they have you on their side."
      She nodded, her smile growing into a frown. "Yeah, well...never mind."
      "What?"
      "Nothing, just a philosophical question that no one knows the answer to. Let's just play."
     She tossed him a broom, and soon they were up in the air, snatching the Quaffle back and forth. Harry was a bit clumsy with it, but Ginny moved with ease.
     After a few frustrating trials and errors by Harry, Hagrid appeared below them. "Yer mum's looking for you two," he called, and the two swooped down, grinning bashfully. Hagrid looked more amused than angry. "She says you've been a bit tense lately, Ginny."
    "I wonder why," she muttered sarcastically, earning another chuckle from Hagrid. She seemed to hesitate, something Harry rarely saw her do. "What?" He asked, and she purses her lips.
     "Nothing. It's a stupid question, but...does the trouble ever stop? I thought it was done after Voldemort, but it just keeps on coming."
    Hagrid nodded wisely. "I thought the same thing too for many years-especially with yer school years, Harry. There wasn't a year when someone wasn't trying to kill you. I think it was around your fifth year when I realized that there'll always be trouble, and it'll always be when you least expect it. But then I realized something else."
    "What?" She asked curiously.
    "That as bad as it is, trouble is jus' a part of life, like the other side of a coin. It makes us notice th' good parts of life better, and helps shape who we are. Kinda like night and day, or dragons that can hurt but also love jus' as easily."
    He paused, seeming to be lost in a trance, then shook his head. "Mus' be the brandy talking. Anyway, I jus' wanted to see you all before I left to see yer brother, Ginny. He's going ter show me Norbert-I mean Norberta."
    "That's great, Hagrid," Harry told him sincerely. Hagrid's eyes got misty, and he quickly brushed them away and cleared his throat before adding gruffly, "I should get going, Charlie's expecting me in half 'n hour. Keep safe, you two. Tell Molly Goodbye for me." He gave them two bone breaking hugs, then with another wave trudged off into the night.
    Harry and Ginny watched him fade into the distance before turning to each other. "I'm not sure I like his theory," Ginny admitted.
"I think it's beautiful," Harry said, using the rare word with ease. "Those good moments...that's what kept me going. Why I kept on fighting." He noticed how soft Ginny's eyes were at moments like these, and remembered the many times he thought of those eyes while searching for Horcruxes. "I think the best way to go about it is one problem at a time, you know? We're never going to defeat all evil for good, but we can defeat this evil-"
"Once and for all," she said in perfect sync with him. He stared at her, and she smiled.
"You heard me that day. After we killed Whiffler."
"You were pretty worried about me," she admitted, stepping a bit closer.
"Well, yeah. You looked pretty bad."
"Thanks."
"Shut up, you know what I mean. Anyways, what I meant was that if you just focus on defeating one evil one step at a time, you'll make it, you know? It's like a hope to hold onto."
"That's pretty deep," she noticed, and Harry shrugged, somewhat embarrassed. "Yeah, well you brought it up with Hagrid."
"It makes sense," she commented, and Harry smiled. She stepped closer and put her arms around Harry, his arms automatically going above hers as he held her close, the smell of Burrow flowers wafting over him.
"Hope's kind of like a promise, don't you think?" She mused, her mouth right against his ear. "You hold onto it because you know it's coming."
Harry thought this was slightly random, and wondered where she was going with this. "Yeah, I suppose so," he agreed.
"Is there another hope
you hold onto, them?" She asked. "About us?"
There it was. He pulled away slightly to look at her before finally admitting, "Yeah," He said finally, hesitating before saying, "that we'll be together, once and for all."
To his surprise, she only laughed a little, "You're not good at this."
Before he could reply, she pressed her lips against his, sending sparks throughout Harry's whole body, like fireworks. "But I'll still hold you to that," she muttered.
Harry could only nod, and the two stayed in that embrace before Ginny suddenly broke away and jumped off onto her broom. "Scared to beat me?" She challenged, grinning as she rose higher and higher above the house.
"You wish," he retorted, swinging his leg over the broom. And with that the two flew off into the night.

Just quoting Looney Toons lol hope someone gets that😂Anyways, that concludes this story, hopefully you guys liked it even if that last chapter was kinda cheesy. This was the hardest chapter to write for whatever reason.
Again, thank you all SO MUCH for the reads, likes, and comments!! Hope you liked it ;) I'll also be posting a Teddy Lupin fanfic if anyone's interested, so be on the lookout for that😉 and have an AWESOME day everyone!