Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table and grinned over at Fred and George, two of his best friends, after Hermione and she was his best friend of all. Ron took a seat by Neville and Percy sat further down the table looking relaxed and happier this year. He was still, as his brothers lovingly told him a prat and he warned them as he was planning on being a healer he needed to test his skills on someone. They had fled as he took out his wand with a fierce look in his eyes. The students watched as the first years came walking in and stood before the staff table, Harry could see Ginny and Luna together, both girls were trying to look brave but were not quite pulling it off. The hat opened up its brim and sang a much tamer song this year:
Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!
"Rather tame this year." Fred said.
"Yes but at least we will have Ginny with us shortly." George replied.
Fate of course would have a hand in this sorting and the twins waited and watched as the first years were sorted. They saw Luna go to Ravenclaw and were not surprised and they grinned as their sister's name came closer and closer. Finally they got to Ginny's name and she went under the hat, her brothers watched and waited for the hat to make its choice and finally, after a minute or two it did. The hat shouted out "Ravenclaw!" and Ginny took off the hat, handed it back and went to the Ravenclaw table taking a seat by Luna. She waved at her brothers and then set to talking to Luna clearly not broke up by not being Gryffindor as her brothers were. Fred and George were the most stunned, their sister! Not a Gryffindor oh the horror!
"No, Ravenclaw?" Fred asked dishing up mashed potatoes and roast beef onto his plate.
"Well yea, I mean Luna is perfect Ravenclaw material, Ginny is her best friend." Harry said, "besides, she is really smart."
"That she is." Hermione replied.
"But she, we were to protect her!" George said.
"Mate Ginny does not need protection," Harry said, "besides you might not want to upset her, bad things will happen, she is a girl."
"She is our sister!" Fred said.
"Yea we have to protect her!" George added.
Harry shared a look with Hermione who just shrugged, let Fred and George learn their lesson the hard way, as they would. Harry was just glad Ginny was in the same house as Luna, Luna was such a gentle soul she needed someone there to protect and watch over her. Some of her views many others just did not understand and she would need a good friend to be there for her. Harry was glad to be back at school, well for nearly everything, he still did not like writing essays but the practical exams more than made up for that. He was looking forward to his classes and he really was looking forward to his classes. He went to bed in the second year boy's dorm in Gryffindor tower and fell asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.
The next week went by fast and Harry wanted to warn Fred and George to stop pestering their sister but he knew they would not listen. It seemed she was ignoring them and was not going to give into their pestering but on Friday they found out they really had gone too far. The teachers were at the staff table and the students at the student tables, some sitting with their friends rather than by house and they were eating breakfast. Harry's owl flew over head and Harry saw the red of a howler and paled, what had he done? He was surprised when she dropped the howlers in front of Fred and George and then gave him a letter from Sirius. The twins paled and as predicted by their mother opened both howlers at once, which got the staff to wince as Molly screamed out in stereo at the boys.
"FRED GEORGE YOU LEAVE YOUR SISTER ALONE! SHE IS NOT THERE FOR YOU TO PESTER! YOUR FATHER AND I ARE PROUD TO HAVE HER IN RAVENCLAW AND IF YOU DO NOT START TREATING HER BETTER I WILL COME UP THERE WITH MY SPOON!"
"I love that woman." Severus said smirking as he sipped at his coffee.
"YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, YOU BETTER BEHAVE OR SO HELP ME YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SIT FOR A MONTH!" With that both howlers burst into flame and were gone.
"Ah brother plans have changed." Fred said.
"Yes brother dearest new plans, leave Ginny alone!" George said.
"Way to go Ginny!" Ron said getting Ginny to get up and bow to the hall a please look on her face.
She sat back down and Fred and George learned not to mess with their sister as she was one letter away from their parents. Harry grinned, Ginny sure was not one to mess with and he was glad for her she was in Ravenclaw with Luna. Who knew what could have happened if she ended up in Gryffindor with her brothers? They loved her and meant well but sometimes they could be a bit over protective. Harry went back to his breakfast and wondered if he had a younger sister if he would have been like Fred and George. That was one thing, thanks to Voldemort he would never get to find out as he had killed his parents before that could happen.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The years, it seemed went by fast after Ginny was sorted, as peaceful years tend to do. The children grew from small second and first years to teens and young adults all the while growing in knowledge and magical strength. Harry was very bright but he still hated essays and Ron led their year, surprisingly in defense with Harry a close second. They had gone through their share of defense professors, second year it was the fraud Gilroy Lockhart who was more concerned with his hair and robes than actually teaching. How he could have ever been Ravenclaw was beyond Harry, when he tried to Obliviate Ron when he found out about the man Ron's shield charm sent it back on the man taking his memories. The next year was better with the defense instructor as Emmeline Vance came to teach and proved to be an excellent teacher. She taught them more than just what was in the text and that was saying a lot as Schatten had written very through texts on defense. In fact defense was mostly a physical class now with some essays and lectures on dark creatures and arts. The next year had been the year of the Triwizard tournament and Hufflepuff's own Cedric Diggory had not only been Hogwarts champion but he had won the cup. Moody had come to teach that year as well and he was just as scary as he looked, he would not let them slack off and he would not as he put it "coddle" them. He showed them the Unforgivables and shook up several classes with that.
Now Harry was exiting his fifth year OWL exams, he was sure he did well in all of them though he was worried about his ancient runes class. That was his hardest class so far, he walked over to where the fourth years were and saw Collin was in the middle of a tale of how Ginny Weasley had once more dimmed the hopes of Gryffindor when she snatched the snitch form the brave and noble Harry Potter. Harry grinned and shook his head, Collin was a riot and good friend, once he got over his rather excitable act around him. Once he had calmed down he proved to be a smart, funny and very loyal friend, indeed and he even liked to prank. In fact for a whole month he had followed Draco around much as he had Harry and would not let Draco alone no matter what Draco threatened, Draco still had to pay Harry back for that as Harry always could see his pranks from a mile away.
"So still talking about the game are you?" Harry asked Collin.
"Yes, it was brilliant, you almost had it, I mean mer inches, it should have been yours you know." Collin said.
"Well Ginny is really good." Luna said coming to sit by Collin letting him put an arm around her, they were the sweetheart couple of Hogwarts, the pureblood princess and the muggleborn son of a dairyman. Only a few bigoted pureblood said anything about it and they were quickly silenced. "So is Harry but she is just a bit better."
"I will beat her, next year." Harry said, "I really will."
"Keep dreaming Potter." Ginny said walking up to take a seat, "I am going pro, you fly well but really I am better and you know it."
"Oh really Weasley?' Harry said, "want to bet?"
"No, because I am right." Ginny said.
"Well I will have to defend Harry." Hermione said walking up, "he is after all my knight in shining armor."
"Well I don't have the armor." Harry said.
"Conjure some up love." Hermione said.
Harry grinned at her and it was clear the years had changed them in a good way. Harry was taller, though he would never reach six foot tall he was not short, he was in fact at his adult height of five feet nine and a quarter inches, the same height his father was. His face was more defined and though he was lean he was starting to fill out as a man. Hermione was average height for a witch around five and a half feet tall and she was thin, she was shapely but not as much as Ginny and though she was not as filled out in the chest area as Ginny she still attracted the boys. She liked to wear her hair up as it was still frizzy most days though Harry did not mind, he still loved her, Merlin he loved her! She was his girl and there was nothing that would change that. He sat down by the tree and let her cuddle by him and for now, he knew there was peace in this bit of the world even if the signs of Voldemort rising once more were there. They would all cross that bridge when they got there, but for now they would enjoy this fine afternoon after their exams were done.