Beta by Wolfs_scream
SUMMARY: Will Ron face Mr. Granger? -- Ron and
Hermione go out -- What happened at the party?
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HB Prince: Year of Love | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:All, All Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, Humor Warnings: None Rating: PG Reviews: 309 Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated in over 2 years *** This story starts at the end of Order Of The Phoenix. Although this story starts as the usual Harry/Ginny romance, I believe after several chapters, you will find that Ancient Dark Magic takes on a whole new meaning to our Harry and Ginny. Will Harry discover the key to the Half-Blood Prince?* * * *American Edition *** * * * Hitcount: Story Total: 196450; Chapter Total: 3221 Author's Notes: |
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Chapter Sixty - Justin’s party Saturday morning, Harry went to The Burrow to help Ron work on the chicken coop. When he arrived, Ron and Molly were inside the building having an argument. “I’m not going! She’s your date, not mine. You will pick her up properly,” said Molly. “Mum, I don’t want to face Mr. Granger. I can’t apologize or anything for just looking. You could pick her up, then he wouldn’t even know Hermione is going with me,” said Ron. “You are not going to hide behind my skirts. You have to face up to him. You talk about being ‘of age’; act like a man,” said Molly, hotly. “But Mum...” started Ron. “No Ron.” “Harry! Harry, will you go pick up Hermione?” said Ron, when he saw him through the door opening. “She’s not my date either,” said Harry. “Why does everything I do have to be so hard? Harry, you owe me a favor,” pleaded Ron. “Harry, don’t you dare. Good morning, Harry dear. Besides, Harry has already did his part for you and Hermione. She wouldn’t even be speaking to you, if it wasn’t for Harry.” “You should be all right. She’s not bringing Crookshanks this time, is she?” asked Harry, grinning “You’re becoming a downright git, you are,” said Ron, sourly. Harry helped Ron for a couple of hours. They quit around ten o’clock so that Ron could get ready to go pick up Hermione. The party was to start at one o’clock going on until four. Ron dressed carefully. He choose brown twill slacks, brown loafers, a blue and brown plaid shirt with a blue necktie. His hands and fingernails were a mess, so he trimmed his nails and cleaned them, but his hands were still rough. His hair, however, looked very good. Using the Portkey the girls used at the end of term, Ron arrived at Hermione’s back door. It was the first time he had seen the backyard in daylight. Tall shrubs encased the whole yard. He noticed that the lawn was mown perfectly. The flower beds were very tidy. They were lined up with the tall flowers towards the back and the shorter ones near the front, not a weed in sight. The yard was almost too perfect. He decided that Hermione must have worked in the yard. He gathered all his courage and knocked on the door. Mr. Granger answered the door. He opened the door broadly to allow Ron to enter. “I’m here to pick up Hermione. Mum was busy with the cake for the party, so she sent me.” Mrs. Granger entered the room in time to hear Ron’s statement. “Was I supposed to send something?” she asked. “Eh... no. Mum is just doing it. You know Mum, she just does things like that. Is Hermione ready?” When Hermione entered the room, Ron made a point to only look at her shoes. “Hello, Hermione. I’m supposed to tell you that Luna and Ginny are having a pajama party tonight. We couldn’t owl you about it. If you want, bring your pajamas and stay the night.” “Oh, could I?” Hermione asked her parents. “Where is this taking place?” asked Mr. Granger. “Ginny’s room at Harry’s,” answered Ron. “And who will be supervising?” asked Mr. Granger. “Supervising? Nobody. The girls will be up in Ginny’s room. I don’t think there will be anyone else in there,” said Ron, slightly confused. “He means, will there be adults present. I assume Lupin and Tonks will be home,” said Hermione. “Eh... yeah, and my Mum and Dad will be around until we go home,” said Ron. “I suppose it will be all right,” said Mr. Granger. Hermione beamed, then left the room to get her things. “What will you be doing during this pajama party?” asked Mr. Granger. “Sleeping probably. Those girls stay up half the night.” “What do they do?” asked Mr. Granger. “I don’t have a clue, giggle mostly,” said Ron. Hermione returned with a large suitcase. “Hermione, it’s for just one night. You don’t need a large suitcase for just your pajamas, do you?” asked Ron. “It’s a pajama party, right? Well, I will need all my makeup and things to do my hair and of course we will be doing our nails,” she said. “Did you remember your pajamas?” asked Ron, grinning. Hermione got a thoughtful look. “Eh... be right back.” “She forgot her pajamas,” laughed Ron. As Hermione rushed off. “Mum said to tell you that we will have her back early tomorrow,” said Ron to her parents. “Tomorrow with be fine, but you don’t have to bring her back too early,” said Mrs. Granger. “I’ll tell Mum,” said Ron. Hermione returned quickly and Ron took her bag. “We need to stop in the garden for a moment,” said Hermione. They entered the yard and Hermione picked several flowers. “Ok, I’m ready.” she said when her arms were full. “You did the yard, didn’t you?” asked Ron. “How did you know?” she asked. Ron grinned. They arrived at The Burrow and Hermione gave the large bunch of flowers to Molly. Molly beamed as she filled a vase and set it on the table. * * * * Hermione rang the bell at Justin’s house. When the door opened, Mrs. Finch-Fletchley answered it. Justin was standing behind her, pleasantly surprised to see Ron and Hermione standing there. He stretched his neck to see if anyone else was with them. “We’re Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger,” Ron told Mrs. Finch-Fletchley. “Come in,” she told them, opening the door broadly. Justin looked behind them as the walked in. “No, it’s just us,” said Ron, knowing Justin was hoping Ginny came along too. “Plans changed so we were able to come for a while, after all. Mum sent a cake,” said Ron. “Oh. I was hoping that Harry and Ginny would be able to come too,” lied Justin. “No, Ginny wasn’t feeling well. Harry wouldn’t come without her,” lied Ron. “You got a place for me to set this cake, it weighs a ton.” Justin lead them into the dining room, where Ron placed the cake on the table. The dining room was open to the drawing room and several young people with hopeful expressions were standing around in little groups. Since they were all Hogwarts students, mostly Hufflepuffs, there were no introductions. Ron took Hermione’s elbow and guided her over to a small group. They chatted a few minutes and casually made their way around the room, talking to each of the small groups. Ron left Hermione chatting with a couple of girls and made is way to the drink table, where Seamus and Dean were leaning against the table. “Hey Ron, we heard a couple of stories about you,” said Dean. “What’d you hear?” asked Ron. “I heard that you were drunk at the Three Broomsticks and accosted Padma Patil,” said Seamus. “I heard that you got Padma drunk, then you accosted her,” said Dean. “The first story was half right. I was drunk, but I didn’t accost Padma. I was accosted, more like,” said Ron. “Are you sure about that?” asked Seamus. “Since when was I attracted to Padma?” asked Ron. “Well, with too much drink and a darkened room, any girl will do,” said Seamus. “It wasn’t a darkened room. It was daytime, for Merlin’s sake. Ginny was right, it got all twisted around.” “Ginny’s usually right about everything, ‘cept Harry. So, he hasn’t screwed up yet, huh?” asked Dean. “Naw, Harry’s not gonna mess up with Ginny. He loves her,” said Ron. “He’s gonna mess up sooner or later and when he does, I’m gonna be first in line,” said Dean. “You’re not gonna date Ginny. I won’t allow it,” said Ron. “Since when does Ginny do what you say?” asked Dean. “You got a point, but I definitely wouldn’t approve and would make your life miserable,” said Ron. “Why?” asked Seamus. “Dean’s a good bloke.” “Yeah, well I know too much about Dean and women,” said Ron, grinning. “Sometimes it’s worth giving all that up,” said Dean. “Yeah, now that Hermione’s my girl, I given that all up. It’s worth it,” said Ron, looking over at Hermione, who was chatting with a couple of girls. She looked lovely today. She was wearing that dress that he told her he liked. “I’m not giving up my freedom. I’m having too much fun,” said Seamus. “I’m not either, unless Ginny becomes available,” said Dean. “So, did you have a good time at TG’s party?” asked Ron. “Oh yeah,” said Dean. “Yeah!” said Seamus. “Not like this party. So far, you and Hermione have been the life of the party. We even loaded the punch, but I guess it will take more than Firewhiskey to liven up this lot.” Ron gestured with his drinks that he was going to take Hermione her drink. Ron took her aside and gave her her drink. “Ewwww! What’s in this?” asked Hermione, sputtering. “Firewhiskey. Seamus thinks this party needs a boost,” said Ron, grinning. “It’ll take more than Firewhiskey to get this lot moving. And Ron, this tastes ghastly,” whispered Hermione, setting the drink down. Ron looked at his watch, two o’clock. It seemed much later. “Do you wanna go somewhere?” whispered Ron. “Sure, but should we?” whispered Hermione. “I got an excuse. Don’t worry,” said Ron. He found Justin and made excuses that he and Hermione had to leave. There were other plans and they only stopped in for a few minutes. He told him that they had already stayed longer than they planned. Justin was very disappointed but said he understood. He escorted them to the door. They went back to The Burrow, then Flooed to Harry’s. “I have to talk to Harry for a couple of minutes, then we’ll be off,” he told her when they reached Harry’s kitchen. The Living Room door was closed so Ron knew that Harry and Ginny were there. He gently knocked. “It’s Ron,” he said. “Shhhhh, come in quietly,” said Harry, softly. Ron entered and gently closed the door. Harry was at the end of the sofa in front of the fireplace with THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE in his hand. When Ron came up on him, he saw Ginny was laying with her head on a pillow on Harry’s lap. She was lying on her stomach with one leg bent and her arm dragging the carpet. She was sleeping soundly. “She had another bad night?” whispered Ron. Harry nodded. “Do you have any Muggle money? Justin’s party was a dud. I want to take Hermione out to eat somewhere,” whispered Ron. “How much do you need?” whispered Harry. “I haven’t a clue, but I got money. Could I buy some Muggle money from you?” “Sure. Here, take the credit card,” said Harry. “Ok. I’ll give you the cash when we know how much it’s going to be. But I think I need some Muggle cash for car fare and such,” whispered Ron. Harry summoned the cash and credit card to his pocket. He carefully reached in and got it, as to not disturb Ginny. Ron watched Ginny sleeping as he put the money into his pocket. “No luck with the ‘Affliction’?” he whispered. Harry shook his head. Ron quietly left the room and closed the door. He was disturbed that Ginny needed to take a nap. She never took naps usually, until this summer. He was, however, impressed with Harry. It took a lot of patience to sit there silently reading while Ginny slept. He wondered why she didn’t sleep upstairs in her bed, but remembered Hermione was waiting, so he rushed back to the kitchen. Ron and Hermione left the house and walked down to the next large intersection and caught a taxi. He asked the driver about where to find a restaurant that was not too expensive but nice. The driver took them to an area of London that had several to choose from. He and Hermione walked along hand in hand looking through the windows of several restaurants before they choose one. It was dimly lit with candles on the tables. They choose a cozy table near the back away from the windows. They sat across from each other. After ordering, Ron held Hermione’s hand as they talked softly. “Your hands are so rough,” said Hermione. “Haven’t you been using... you know.” “Yeah, well... sometimes you just have to get in there with your hands. Harry can’t... you know. Well, he can on the inside work, but anything outside the building he can’t. We’re almost done with everything on the outside of the building, for now. We are just about ready to begin putting in the shelves. Winky is going to do all the organizing and arranging of Dad’s workshop, garden shed and the tool shed. So I will just have to get the chicken house ready. Once that’s done, we will re-build the fence.” “Why are you going to re-build the fence?” “Not all of it. We want to bring it out up to the garden wall and of course we will be putting in a gate. It won’t be long before it’s all done.” “I will have to go out and see it when we get back,” she said. “I think I’ll like it when it’s finished. Dad seems to be really happy with how it’s turning out.” “Your hands are very soft. Why aren’t they rough from the garden work you’ve been doing?” he said, stroking them softly. “I do it all with m... you know. The hardest part is finding the right time without any Muggles around to see me doing it,” said Hermione. Ron softly stroked her ring with his thumb. Hermione blushed, then smiled at him. “So, Harry’s been helping you?” “Yeah, he comes over just about every morning, usually stays until lunch when it begins to get too hot,” said Ron. After their food came, they lingered over it for a long time. Ron wanted to make his date last. This was the first time that he had ever taken Hermione anywhere that wasn’t already set up by his family or the school. It felt a lot more special than just tea and sandwiches. He had taken her someplace that they chose together. After they had lingered over their food for as long as possible, they walked along the street hand in hand. They talked and just enjoyed their time together until a little after five o’clock, then returned to Harry’s, then Flooed to The Burrow. “Where have you been?” yelled Molly when they entered the kitchen. “We went out to eat. What’s wrong?” asked Ron, shocked at her mood. “Don’t you know? The Finch-Fletchley’s house was attacked by a group of young people. Lucius Malfoy’s boy was involved,” she said exasperated. “How do you know?” asked Ron. “We heard it on the wireless. Oh, Ron, we’ve been so scared,” said Molly, tearfully. “When did you hear this?” asked Hermione, shocked. “About ten minutes ago. A long ten minutes but ten minutes none the less,” said Ginny. “Didn’t you know that we left?” asked Ron. “No! How would we know that? Ronald, you have to be more considerate. You could have at least told us where you were,” Molly said, sternly. “I did. I told Harry that we were going out to eat,” said Ron, defensively. “When?” asked Ginny. “While you were sleeping. I talked to Harry. He didn’t mention it?” asked Ron. “No. Why weren’t you at the party?” asked Ginny. “We were, but the party was boring so we decided to go elsewhere,” said Ron. “Where’s Harry?” asked Ron. Ron looked at Hermione, she nodded. “Home,” said Ginny. Hermione stepped into the fireplace and Flooed to Harry’s. She knew that Harry would want to go with them. Ron hadn’t said it yet, but Hermione knew that they were going back to Justin’s. Harry was in the Living Room reading, when Hermione found him. “Did you hear the news?” asked Hermione. “No. What?” “Justin’s party was attacked after we left. The wireless mentioned Malfoy as being one of the attackers. We’re going over there. Do you want to come?” Harry rose off the sofa and they both Flooed back to The Burrow. “Ron, I forbid you to go,” said Molly. “Mum, we’re going. His parents are Muggles. I bet that Malfoy and his cronies thought that we were there. It’s our fault,” said Ron. “We won’t be long,” said Hermione. * * * * Hermione rang the bell at Justin’s door. The windows were all broken out so they could hear voices coming from within the house. Mr. Finch-Fletchley answered the door. “We heard the news. We came to see if there was anything that we could do,” said Hermione. “Come in,” said Mr. Finch-Fletchley. He lead them into the drawing room. It was a wreck. There was broken glass all over the floor and scorch marks on the walls and furniture. Mrs. Finch-Fletchley was sitting on the sofa crying. “Justin, what happened?” asked Hermione. “Malfoy and his lot broke into the house and attacked us. Some of them broke in through the windows,” said Justin. “Was anyone hurt?” asked Harry. “Only a few cuts and bruises. We defended ourselves very well. You would have been proud of us, Harry. We used the Tie and Bind spell and I’m pretty sure we got all of them. The Ministry Aurors just left,” said Justin. “They left this mess?” asked Ron, recognizing his mum’s cake splattered on everything in the dining room. It looked like it had been blasted. “They are busy checking the neighborhood to make sure no Muggles saw anything,” said Justin. “Our home is in ruins!” said Mrs. Finch-Fletchley. “I’ll help you clean it up,” said Hermione. She pulled out her wand and began repairing the damage. “First you were petrified, now this. We should have sent you to Eton!” Mrs. Finch-Fletchley told Justin, tearfully. The door bell rang and Mr. Finch-Fletchley answered it. They could hear Dumbledore’s voice as he walked to the drawing room. Dumbledore nodded to them, then took the Finch-Fletchelys into another room to talk to them. Harry, Ron and Justin began helping Hermione repair and clean things in the room. “Do you know who they were?” asked Harry. “Yeah, most of them. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott were the ones in charge. The Aurors told me that the ones that were ‘of age’ would probably go to prison. He didn’t say about the younger ones,” said Justin. “Why were they here?” asked Harry, not wanting to hear the answer. “I don’t know,” said Justin, turning bright pink. “How many did you tell that we were coming?” asked Ron. “Eh... I don’t know. I didn’t know it was a secret. I told several people that you weren’t coming after you owled me.” “What about me?” asked Harry. “Eh... well my owl kept coming back, so I never got to properly send you an invitation. I asked you through Ron, so it was always a maybe with you,” said Justin. “Was my name mentioned by Malfoy’s lot?” asked Harry. “Eh... no,” lied Justin, turning a deeper shade of pink. Harry used his Legilimancy to look into Justin’s mind: He saw the window break, then males crawling through. Others had entered the house and start attacking the guests. He heard Crabbe ask Justin; “Where’s Weasley and Granger? We saw them arrive. Where’s Potter? If Weasley and Granger are around Potter’s here somewhere. If we have to search every room, we will.” Justin whipped out his wand and hit Crabbe with a Stunner. There was chaos, with spells flying in all directions. The scene moved forward, then he saw Malfoy’s group all laying in the middle of the floor, tied and bound. There were several bloody noses. Dean had a deep gash over his left eye. Then he saw Seamus Apparate in with several Aurors. Harry had seen enough. He stepped back and sat on the sofa. “They were after me. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry Justin,” said Harry, heavily. “This is not your fault,” said Justin. “You’re right. This is no one’s fault but the perpetrators,” said Dumbledore, who had stepped into the room unexpectedly and made everyone startle. Mrs. Finch-Fletchley looked around the room, her jaw dropped. “You fixed everything,” she said, amazed. “Our students are very adept at cleaning up, thanks to Professor Snape’s detentions,” said Dumbledore, grinning. All four students, glared at him. “Yes, well... I think it’s time for us to be off,” said Dumbledore. * * * * Beta by Wolfs_scream THANKIE !! |
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