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The Fun Fair
By Calixa

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Category: Summer-Fun Challenge (2004-3)
Characters:None
Genres: Fluff, Humor
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: G
Reviews: 25
Summary: There's always lots to do at the Funfair.
Hitcount: Story Total: 4903







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The Fun Fair


A/N: Thanks to Enna, Jules and Emma for their help with this fic - and it’s fluff! I mean it, not a trace of angst anywhere. This is truly an achievement for me ;)



Why do we have to go to this thing, again?” asked Ron dourly for what seemed like the millionth time, as he stared up at the brilliantly glazed sign above their heads. Harry gazed at it as well, feeling a mixture of pleasure and wonder in his stomach.


WELCOME TO THE FUNFAIR!
Fun for the whole family!
(Rides, Refreshments and Merchandise also available.)



The message was written in large red block letters. A smaller, but equally flashy sign stood to its left. “To the Circus!!” it proclaimed, a black arrow beside the words pointing to the center of the grounds before them.

Harry peered over the many heads milling about beyond the gate, and caught a glimpse of a giant blue tent looming in the distance. He’d never been to a circus or a carnival before, but he’d heard many things about them from Dudley (who’d always thought them boring, admittedly). Harry looked forward to it, however. He was glad that Hermione’s parents had agreed to let them stay over for the weekend, although he did find it a bit strange that their entire house smelled like extra-minty toothpaste.

“Because we’ve never been to one,” replied Ginny cheerfully, answering Ron’s question and beaming at the sign. “Even Harry hasn’t.”

“What’s so great about Muggles in face paint and big red shoes?” demanded Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “There are other things at the Funfair, not just clowns. Stop sulking, will you?”

Arthur Weasley, who had been paying their fare at the entrance booth, bustled back then, beaming widely. “Come, come, let’s go in!”

“I could be playing Quidditch,” grumbled Ron, tugging his Chudley canons hat down low over his hair, as though he were afraid of being seen. The sun shone down on them with tremendous force. Harry could practically feel himself getting tanned, even through his white t-shirt. They entered the Fair grounds, and the sheer energy level within the place knocked him off his feet.

Mr. Weasley was in heaven. The Funfair had everything he loved all rolled into one: Muggles, children, eklektricity… Harry couldn’t help but grin at the childish anticipation that was plastered all over Mr. Weasley’s face.

Twice he spotted a plug and twice Harry had to stop him from yanking it out (‘I only wanted to look!’). For the first hour or so they just wandered about. Mr. Weasley got very excited when upon coming across the bumper cars. He was sorely disappointed, however, to find out that he wasn’t actually allowed to have a go on one. He spent a good half hour staring longingly at the little children zooming about ramming each other until the others forcibly dragged him away.

At one point they lost Mr. Weasley, and had to split up to search the fair grounds for a sign of the middle-aged Wizard. It was easy to spot him, however — his Weasley hair (though sprinkled with grey) was a standout in the crowd. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny congregated by the popcorn stand, in the shade of some trees, once Ron shouted had shouted over a group of seven-year-olds to Harry that he’d found his father.

“Dad’s having a go on the rides,” said Ron in disgust. “ALL of them. Including the ones for the really little kids, if he can fit in them.”

Ginny snorted.

“Oh, there goes Mr. Weasley now,” said Hermione, pointing at the Boat ride just around the nearest tent. “He looks like he’s having fun.”

Harry looked and had to turn away, lest he start laughing out loud. Mr. Weasley cut a rather comical figure, crunched over in a seat half his size, accompanied by a gaggle of giggling four-year-olds, waving cheerfully at their parents and shrieking with glee whenever one of the plastic fish-shaped light bulbs attached to either side of the ‘boat’ flashed red or green.

Ron groaned. “I don’t believe this…”

“Oh, shut up, Ron, I think it’s sweet,” said Hermione. “He’s blocking the view for all the children, though…”

He was, Harry saw, a grin creeping onto his face. The parents gathered around the fence were frowning at him. They seemed to be rather upset that Mr. Weasley was blocking their view — and they couldn’t take pictures of their children without him getting in the way. It didn’t seem to bother him in the least, however.

A few minutes later Mr. Weasley emerged, looking like a child set loose in a candy shop. He came up running to them, carrying a huge bunch of assorted rainbow coloured balloons. Ron demanded to know why he was all wet. Mr. Weasley looked slightly sheepish and mumbled something under his breath that Harry couldn’t quite make out. However, Ron’s reactions told him the gist of it.

“You did WHAT?!

“I fished him out,” said Mr. Weasley mildly. “I bought him candy floss to make up for it…”

“YOU DON’T STAND UP IN THE MIDDLE OF A RIDE, DAD!”

“I know, I know…”

“We are NEVER taking you back here again!”

“But-”

No, Dad, you crossed the line…”

“I can explain, Ron, if you’d just —”

“You can bet I’m telling mum about this,” said Ron furiously. Mr. Weasley had to bribe him (and everyone in their group) with large ice cream cones to calm him down. Harry and Ginny exchanged amused grins over their double chocolate scoops.

They passed by a fortune teller’s booth next.

“Can you see McGonagall in that outfit?” whispered Ron, smirking at the lady sitting behind the table, waving her hands over a crystal ball.

“No,” replied Harry under his breath, “But I think Trelawny already has something like it.”

Ron snorted into his ice cream. Then he seemed to realise something, and looked around in confusion. “Where’s Dad? Have we lost him again?”

Mr. Weasley had a talent for disappearing into large crowds, it seemed. Ron was determined to find him, but the others felt that it was a hopeless cause. Hermione wanted to take a look at the circus, Ginny wanted to go on the rides, and Harry — well, Harry wanted to do everything.

“Forget it, Ron — we’re not going to find him.”

“I can’t believe he wandered off again without us!”

“What’s the big deal? Your Dad can take care of himself —”

“It’s not him I’m worried about! What if he accidentally drowns someone’s kid?”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “He won’t. Honestly, you’re worse than Mum!”

That shut Ron up.

Hermione changed tactics. She turned to him, and said brightly, “Ron, let’s go look at the elephants!”

“Why would I want to go gawk at a giant smelly-”

“Just come,” interrupted Hermione, grabbing his arm and dragging him off. She winked at Harry over her shoulder, much to his bewilderment (and embarrassment, as Ginny saw her do it too). “There are monkeys, too, and giraffes… you’ve never seen a giraffe, have you, Ron?”

Ron’s voice faded as they walked away, but Harry could hear him replying sarcastically, “No… they don’t exactly live in the fields behind the Burrow, you know…”

Now that he was alone with Ginny, Harry had no idea what to do. She quirked an eyebrow at him, obviously understanding what he was thinking. Harry felt the awkwardness gnaw at him. It wasn’t that he hadn’t spent time alone with her before — he’d done lots of that this past year, whether it was in the common room or at mealtimes in the Great Hall — it was the fact that this was an entirely new setting that had him off guard. Harry wasn’t sure how to act around her now that they weren’t surrounded by people they knew. Ginny was suddenly his only companion in a sea of strangers, and he wasn’t quite certain how she felt about it.

The thought leapt into his head, unbidden. This is like a date.

It’s not a date!

It could be.


He forced himself to meet her warm brown gaze, and ignored the voices. Suddenly it was all the harder to speak, what with Ginny looking at him like that.

Like what?

Like she likes what she sees, stupid.

Shut up!


“So - erm - are you hungry?”

“Not really,” said Ginny, looking pointedly down at her melting ice cream cone.

Pause.

“Are you?” she asked.

Harry shook his head politely.

“Thirsty?”

“No,” he said, thinking he sounded like an idiot, “But thanks for asking.”

Ginny started laughing, and the sound of it made Harry relax a little. He was used to the laugh. He’d made her do it loads of times before, during the many late night homework sessions when neither one of them really felt like working at all.

“Well, what do you want to do, then?” she asked, grinning.

“Er- I dunno,” he replied truthfully. “I haven’t been to many fairs before. I’m not sure where to start.”

“Same here,” she said wryly, tossing the remains of her ice cream cone into a nearby rubbish bin. “It didn’t seem this big from the outside.”

Harry privately agreed. He did feel a little overwhelmed by the prospect of having this whole great expanse of fairground to explore.

Like you even care. You get to explore with *her* -

SHUT UP.


“Want to go on a ride, then?” he asked, pointing at the log flume not far from where they stood.

“Why not?” she murmured, “It might actually cool us off.”

The sign at the gate read ‘Tidal Wave’, which Harry found quite promising. Ginny giggled at the couple waiting in line behind them, who were bickering about the man tucking in his shirt. (‘It looks so silly, Tim!’ ‘Well, I don’t want water seeping in!’)

The boy at the gate made a big show of making sure Ginny was taller than the ‘You must be at least this tall to go on this ride’ sign, all the while smiling flirtatiously at her. Ginny seemed amused by it, but Harry tapped his foot impatiently, scowling at him.

Eventually they settled into the ride, although Harry found the seats somewhat cramped. The logs were rather narrow, so instead of sitting side by side, Ginny had to kind of squeeze in front of him, between his legs (Harry wasn’t sure if he should widen them further apart, or pull them together — but he felt vulnerable both ways). It was also hard to know where to put his hands — there were no bars to hold onto (he had a sneaking suspicion this was illegal) and the rim of the log was full of splinters waiting to dig themselves into his hands. In the end he placed them on his knees, while Ginny clung to the bar in front of her.

“You’ll have to hold onto her,” advised the gate-boy, looking a bit put off. “You’ll fall if you don’t.”

Harry felt his dislike for the boy grow sharply. He hesitated, before gingerly putting his hands on either side of Ginny’s waist. The bickering couple behind them gave loud ‘awww’s, much to Harry’s horror.

“Isn’t that sweet, Tim?”

“It reminds me of us, dear.”

Ginny snorted, and the ride took off. At first they rode along quite leisurely, and Harry loosened his grip, thinking it was ridiculously slow — why would anyone fall? He scowled and muttered under his breath, “Nothing exciting about this.”

“We’ll see,” said Ginny, sounding amused.

The ride sped up not long after that, but Harry was still not very much impressed. They rounded a corner smoothly, the foliage of the bushes lining the rail brushing his face. Harry could hear the couple behind him exclaiming delightedly at something — but he was considerably distracted by the sudden appearance of a waterfall.

“What’s a flume, anyway?” he asked, shouting over the sound of the beating water.

Ginny grinned. “I think —”

Her words were cut off by a scream as they passed under the curtain of cold water. Harry jumped about a foot. He hadn’t realised they would actually pass through it. He’d thought it was decoration!

“-That was it,” she finished, laughing. Her hair was plastered wetly against her back, and Harry thought he’d never seen her smiling quite so widely. A grin nagged at his mouth, too, and he let it come.

A nozzle somewhere to their left suddenly erupted into a fountain of ice cold water, and Harry jumped again, nearly falling off the boat. Ginny pulled his arms around her waist more tightly.

“Harry, hold on,” she said, grinning. “You’re going to fall, honestly.”

The log-boats began climbing up a sloping incline, and this time it was tree branches that scratched Harry’s face. He spat out leaves as they passed under yet another waterfall. They both shrieked, and Harry found himself instinctively hugging Ginny to himself, shielding her from the water.

She was still laughing, and reached around to pull a leaf out of his hair. That proved to be a mistake, because the incline chose that moment to plummet, and they went with it, tearing down a steep hill, creating a monstrous wave (hence the name of the ride) that splashed over the crowd gathered on the bridge at the end of the rail. The boat careened to an abrupt stop after passing under it. Harry tried not to scream too loudly. (Or too girly, for that matter.)

They came out, drenched and having enjoyed themselves immensely.

“Want to do that again?” asked Ginny cheekily, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.

“I’m wet enough, thanks.”

It was true, they were both soaked from head to toe. Ginny laughed at him when he started wringing his t-shirt out, so he sprayed her with it. That started a bit of a war, which ended with Ginny stealing the ice cubes out of an unguarded drink nearby and slipping them down Harry’s collar (he was forced to cry for mercy).

After that, they walked around for a bit, chatting idly. Harry found it odd that a lot of the Muggle girls his age (or older) at the fair were staring at him, but nothing unnerved him more than the way Ginny was looking at him. Like she was really, really hungry. He thought they'd better stop and get something to eat before she resorted to cannibalism. As they entered a small café set up under a large orange and blue striped umbrella, he thought he heard some girls walking by giggle and mutter ‘wet shirt’ at him - whatever that meant.

He bought Ginny some muggle drinks — Coca Cola, ginger beer and a fizzy orange drink she rather liked. It was one of Harry’s favourites, as well.

“Orange Crush?” she asked, reading the label on the bottle. “What does that mean?”

Harry admitted that he didn’t know.

“It’s good, anyway,” she said, stealing his bottle while he wasn’t looking.

‘Hey!”

They ran into Ron and Hermione in front of a games stall. Ron was holding a giant stuffed cat which Hermione told them was called ‘Garfield’. Harry thought it looked a bit familiar but he couldn’t be certain. Apparently Ron had won it at the stall, and was looking rather smug about it. He made a big show of not caring for it, and gave it to Hermione, who Harry thought seemed quite pleased with the gift, even if she said Ron just didn’t want to lug it around.

Harry (in a moment of forgetfulness) inquired the whereabouts of Mr. Weasley, who he hadn’t seen all day, at which point Ron began sulking again. Hermione shot Harry an exasperated look and steered Ron towards the rides, in an attempt to distract him once more. Ginny giggled, and she and Harry made their way to the Circus tent. Unfortunately it appeared that they’d missed the noon show, and the afternoon one had been cancelled due to an accident involving very strong fireworks (‘No one knows how they got inside! The elephants almost had a stampede in there!’ the ticket man told them). The next show was far too late for them to catch.

“Rotten luck,” said Harry, knowing Ginny had rather wanted to see the lions.

“Fred and George are here somewhere, I'm sure of it,” muttered Ginny, disappointed. “Sounds like the sort of thing they’d do.”

“Nevermind,” said Harry, trying to make her feel better. “C’mon, I’ll treat you to more ice cream.”

***

Harry learned his lesson well that day: Never tease a Weasley. They always get you back in the end. Somehow, without even realizing it, he ended up with ice cream smeared all over his face, and a sticky stain in the middle of his shirt. Ginny emerged unscathed.

Two victories in a day. Pathetic, Potter.

I thought I told you to shut up
, he thought, as they ran into Ron again. Harry began wondering if Ron was not perhaps secretly following him and Ginny around.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” said Ron. “We went on six rides.”

Harry grinned. “Where’s Hermione?”

“In the loo,” replied Ron, looking peaky. “You know how girls are. Always peeing incessantly.”

As if to prove his point, Ginny declared that she had to use the loo, as well, so they lined up outside the public toilets and waited for her as she went. A row of various stalls lined the path, so they browsed as they waited. Harry peered at one stand in mild pity. The vendor, who didn’t seem to be making many sales, kept trying to convince them that his special ‘amethyst’ love charms would bring them whatever their hearts desired. Ron stared at the heart shaped rocks in disgust.

“Who’d buy those?” he asked, much to the annoyance of the vendor. “I’d rather play that bouncing squid game again. It was kind of fun, actually,” He said, winking at Harry. “I reckon I’m quite good at it. I won the big prize.”

“You’re not using magic to win, are you?” asked Harry uncertainly.

“No,” said Ron, looking offended at the very idea. “That would be the Slytherin thing to do. I have more honour than that!”

Harry’s mouth twitched. “So you won that thing for Hermione with your own money?”

“And skill,” said Ron proudly. “I think she’s rather fond of it - if you squint and look at it from the side it kind of resembles Crook-” He cut off his sentence halfway, distracted by something over Harry’s shoulder.

“What?”

Harry turned to look and saw that Ron was staring at a little boy walking past holding his mother’s hand. More specifically, he was staring at the giant giraffe the boy was clutching. It was even bigger than the monstrous toy he’d won for Hermione.

“Harry, mate, loan me some money.”

“Er — sure, what for?” He fished around in his pockets and put a ten pound note in Ron’s open palm. “Is that enough?”

“I think so.” Ron stared at it dubiously, and then realised Harry was still waiting for him to answer his question. “Oh — er, nothing. I’ll pay you back later. Thanks!”

He dashed off, leaving Harry behind, feeling a bit clueless.

Ginny was still inside the ladies’ loo, so Harry wandered down the path of stalls, idly browsing. He stopped at one that sold key-rings and considered buying a couple as souvenirs. Mr. Weasley might like them, he thought, reaching into his pocket. As he did, however, something silver and shiny caught his eye. He blinked, and pushed aside the jumble of “FUNFAIR” emblazed metal tags to reveal a tray of rather pretty charm bracelets.

There was one that had little boats dangling off it, and for some reason Harry was reminded of Ginny. More specifically, he was reminded of her soaking wet and laughing. The image brought a small smile to his face.

“Only a fiver,” said the vendor, grinning. “Go on, young man, buy it for your girlfriend.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” muttered Harry, handing the man a five pound note. He carefully slid it into his pocket.

Ginny came out shortly after, but he didn’t notice her until she’d crept up behind him and poked him on either side of his abdomen. Harry jumped in surprise and cursed, chasing her down the path (and accidentally colliding with a middle-aged couple running in the opposite direction after their children). She spent the next five minutes teasing him about being more ticklish than Ron.

Speaking of whom, they found him and Hermione by the giant Ferris wheel. Hermione now had the giant orange Garfield and a giant purple Giraffe clutched in both arms. Her face was flushed but she looked very cheerful.

“You won’t get sick on this one, I promise,” she said to Ron in a soothing voice.

Ron’s face was a bit purple, but he nodded bravely, holding a half-eaten stick of candy floss. He thrust it at Ginny, looking nauseated. “Here, you can have the rest.”

Ginny took the stick, amused. She offered it to Harry and he took a bite, curiously. He’d never had candy floss before — it was a favourite of Dudley’s, but the Dursleys had never exactly made it a habit to buy Harry any. The candy floss melted almost instantly in his mouth, in the most wondrous way. He made a mental note to buy a few more sticks before he left the park.

The gate-keeper at the front of the line stopped Hermione. She couldn’t bring her stuffed prizes onto the ride (Harry rather thought she couldn’t fit with them, anyway). Ron looked hopeful for a moment, but Ginny took them from her and offered to wait out her turn. Harry felt it was only right that he stay with her, so they both got out of line and watched as Ron (now looking positively maroon) boarded the mini-capsule after Hermione, along with the two boys behind them in the line.

Harry waved at Ron as the wheel took off.

Things went smoothly at first, and Ron even seemed to be enjoying himself, as he waved down at Harry and Ginny about halfway up the circle. However, it seemed that the two boys sharing their seat found this slow descent boring. Harry watched as they both stood up and began twisting a bar that somehow made the entire capsule spin.

“Oh no…” said Ginny, clutching the animals. “He’s not going to like that.”

She was right. Ron didn’t. There seemed to be some sort of struggle up in the capsule as the wheel turned further. At the very top, when it stopped briefly — Harry swore he saw the thing suddenly sharply turn and spin in the opposite direction. He also thought he heard someone shriek — someone who sounded a lot like an angry Hermione.

When the ride ended, Harry and Ginny waited anxiously at the gate. The two boys who had boarded with Ron and Hermione appeared, looking rather like Fred and George after they’d pulled a prank. They took off on a run, laughing.

Ron came out a moment later, followed by Hermione, who was holding onto his arm and steadying him.

“Those stupid boys,” said Hermione angrily. “They shook the seats! I told them we were in there for a peaceful ride to settle our stomachs, and they kept doing it! Ron, are you alright?”

Ron, looking morose, did not reply her directly. Instead, he continued walking, until he hit a fence, and bent over it to vomit. Harry and Ginny exchanged grimaces.

“Never again,” said Ron resolutely as he straightened up. He looked a little better now, his face more human coloured. “Absolutely never again. Not for a thousand galleons!”

Hermione patted him on the back, and murmured soothing things into his ear. She glanced down at her wristwatch and exclaimed, “My goodness! It’s late!”

“We should go and wait by the entrance for Dad,” groaned Ron, wiping his mouth. “Ugh. I don’t feel any better.”

“Shh,” said Hermione, leading him gently by the arm towards the front gates. Harry made to follow them, but Ginny held him back.

“Harry, wait, you dropped something,” she said, tugging on his sleeve.

He turned. “I did? What?”

Ginny held out the charm bracelet in her hand. She looked down at it, mildly curious.

“Oh.” Harry felt his face burn. He should have checked to make sure it was securely inside his pocket.

Damn it.

“Er - you can have it,” he said awkwardly, shoving his hands into his pockets for lack of anything better to do with them.

Ginny lifted her head sharply, peering at him with intent eyes. “I can?”

“I mean, if you want it,” he replied, embarrassed. “I — I just thought you might like it.”

“I do. Very much,” she added, smiling at him. She slipped the bracelet onto her skinny wrist. It was a bit loose, but Harry thought it looked nice, against her tanned skin. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”

Well, needless to say, that was unexpected. Harry fought the urge to touch his cheek to make sure it was real. Why was his face tingling like that? Moreover, why was his entire body tingling like that? This was just not normal.

“You’re welcome,” he croaked, once he’d found a voice to speak with. Ginny’s mouth curved into a small, pleased grin, and the tingling worsened, much to Harry’s alarm.

“Harry! Ginny!”

It was Ron, beckoning them over.

“We found Dad,” he said darkly. “About time. Let’s go.”

“I hope you all had fun,” Mr. Weasley said once they’d arrived at the gate. He beamed at Harry, who had to fight the urge to laugh at his attire. “I wanted another go on the Ferret Wheel,” he said conspiratorially, “But Hermione’s parents want us back for supper.”

“Ferris Wheel,” corrected Hermione mildly, but no one heard her.

Mr. Weasley led the way towards the train station by which they’d arrived, which was on the other side of town, jauntily whistling the entire time. He was wearing a pirates’ hat (Harry had no idea how he had acquired it) and still had the bunch of many-coloured balloons in one hand, and what looked like a laundry basket filled with junk in his other. Ron and Hermione were walking behind him, while Harry and Ginny trailed slowly after them.

“Sleep with that next to your pillow,” Ron was saying to Hermione as they left the park, the sun sinking into the hills. He handed her what looked suspiciously like a purple rock. “Trust me; it’ll bring you good luck.”

Harry laughed to himself. Ginny glanced at him, raising her eyebrow.

“Nothing,” he said, grinning. “Just remembering something funny that happened earlier.”

“Begging for my mercy?” she asked innocently.

“Yeah, well… that’s a highlight, too.”

“Did you have a good day, then?” she asked, laughing. Harry noticed with a brief flush of pleasure that she was playing with the bracelet.

“It was great,” he said, truly meaning it. “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

Ginny nodded, and squeezed his arm. He didn’t say anything when she slipped her hand down and lightly entwined her fingers in his.

It — it just felt right, he thought, tightening his grip.

“It’ll be even more fun,” Ginny continued lightly, gazing ahead at the glorious sunset, “If I make you scream for mercy in Hogsmeade.”

Harry tried not to breathe too deeply, and his heart began beating far too quickly for his liking.

Ginny gave him a sidelong, almost shy smile. “Don’t you think?”

“It’s a date,” said Harry.

***


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