All is well - A Hinny fanfiction

Chapter 7

Wordcount: 3380

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Ten o'clock rolled around on the Burrow, and Harry Potter lay wide awake. He had awoken over an hour ago; whether from excitement or something else, he couldn't tell. He knew they must be getting up soon, as they only had an hour until the Hogwarts Express departed. He got up and quickly dressed in casual attire. After checking his and Ginny's belongings were in order he prodded her shoulder gently, "Gin, wake up, sweetheart. We're gonna be late," he whispered.

Ginny stirred and promptly opened her eyes. She had also been awake for some time but had refrained from moving so as not to wake Harry. He had been having nightmares, and tonight had been no exception. While not the huge ordeal that they had been at the time, the mumbling had woken Ginny up a number of times in the night. He didn't even seem to have noticed as he kissed her and smiled. "Good morning," he said.

"Morning," she mumbled, starting to get dressed as well.

Ten minutes later, the couple was making their way downstairs for breakfast. While Ginny was excited to be going back and ending her school career, she would have been hard-pressed to be more so than Harry. He seemed to have gained a great amount of energy the past week, having been preparing his syllabus for his DADA classes almost non-stop. Ginny knew he was nervous about teaching young students; she had no doubt in his ability to perform excellently. It seemed his excitement was contagious, as Ginny and Hermione both relaxed after breakfast, and they all walked to the Ministry car. The car ride was short and quiet. The three of them were still rubbing sleep off their faces as the car pulled over at the parking lot in King's Cross.

Once through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, the scarlet steam engine billowed in front of them. As they slowly walked through the crowd, which was almost completely silent in the presence of their saviour, Harry noticed that a short dark-haired girl, in particular, was trying to get his attention. He furrowed his brow and acknowledged her presence, stepping away from their little group. She started to introduce herself.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter. It's an honour to finally meet you," the girl said. So far, Harry was apprehensive until she said, "let me introduce myself. My name is Alicia O'Riley, and I'm a reporter for The Quibbler." At this last statement, Harry relaxed and smiled at her.

"Hello, Alicia. The pleasure's mine." He smiled sweetly at Alicia, who stared at him wide-eyed for a full minute before shaking her head and continuing, "I would be honoured if you could answer some questions for me, please?" She was clearly nervous, Harry could tell. He thought about it for a moment before answering,

"I'm sorry Alicia, but I really should be boarding the train." He smiled at her crestfallen face. "But I would be delighted to provide you with an interview if you'd like." When she heard this, Alicia was positively shaking with excitement. "Just ask Luna Lovegood to contact me and we'll arrange something," he added with a smile before saying his farewell and following Ginny and the rest to the luggage carriage.

Ginny looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "and who might that be, Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, her? That was Alicia O'Riley. She's a reporter for The Quibbler and was asking me for some questions. I told her I'd be glad to give her an interview; but not now," he explained. "I assume she's a friend of Luna's, so she'll probably set it up."

Ginny visibly relaxed at the mention of her friend's magazine and smiled, "Yeah, I heard Luna mention her once or twice. She seems nice."

"Suppose so." Harry shrugged as they stepped into an empty compartment. Hermione excused herself, claiming she had to start her rounds as Head Girl. Grinning at their friend, Harry and Ginny lay on the bench of the compartment and sighed contentedly. They stayed like that for the remainder of the trip, Hermione eventually joining them an hour before their scheduled arrival at Hogsmeade Station. Shortly after that, Harry and Ginny were making their way to the carriages, listening to the booming voice of Hagrid yelling, "Firs' years with me, ter the boats."