YULE SHENANIGANS 1
Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters, as if I did then Ron/Hermione would have started far earlier and they would have had more kids.
Hogwarts-The Yule Ball
The dance had not been as bad as Harry had feared. He wasn't used to wearing such fancy clothes and he felt more than strange at all of the looks and hushed discussions that his dress robes caused. He was never more glad to have Ron as a friend so that much of the attention could be deflected onto his best friend given his horribly ugly dress robes. He knew that Ron was miserable because of his robes but Harry thought that his melancholy had to be caused by more than just that. Harry couldn't quite figure it all out though he had caught Ron staring intently out onto the dance floor on more than one occasion and felt that perhaps he wished to dance. Though if that were the case then Harry found it odd that he would still be sitting on the sidelines like he was. Harry thought about it for a few seconds before deciding that he had to at least breach the subject with Ron, even if only to give them both something to do.
"You stare any harder and you'll burst a vessel," Harry remarked with an amused smirk tickling the corners of his lips as he held his glass of pumpkin juice up to his lips so that only Ron could hear him.
"Very funny," Ron grumbled unhappily as he glanced up at Harry briefly, not noticing that Padma was glaring at him with her arms crossed looking very much like she would like to dance but was realizing that he was clearly not in the mood.
"If you want to dance with her you could always just ask her ya know," Harry offered up with an optimistic and hopeful yet reserved tone to his words before he sat down next to Ron, giving Padma a sympathetic smile along the way.
"Like this…I mean, don't know what you're talking about…I'm not watching Hermione, I just…," Ron grouched angrily as he gestured to his horrendous dress robes and his scowl deepened before he turned a bit more towards Harry so that he couldn't see his date out of the corner of his eye.
"Who said anything about Hermione," Harry muttered softly under his breath with his mouth curled up into a smirk before he covered his words with a large sip of his pumpkin juice, almost daring Ron to respond and refute his claim.
"Er…just…why aren't you dancing then," Ron replied with a look of shock and embarrassment as he struggled to come up with something to say in response after getting caught in the act before he shuffled his feet and loudly cleared this throat.
"I think I've had my fill of it honestly, I just hope that they don't call us champions out for some special dance or anything," Harry admitted with a tired yawn as he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, hoping that if he kept them closed long enough that the ball would be over and he could go back to the Gryffindor common room and relax.
"Yeah, not sure I could take…yeah…," Ron tried to declare in what Harry thought was a vain attempt to sound as if his true feelings hadn't been discovered before he pretty much admitted defeat and said the last word of his response directly at the floor between his feet.
They sat together in silence, side by side, both looking very uneasy and as if they weren't sure exactly what to do next. Ron tried to hide it but Harry could tell that he was still watching Hermione's every spin and smile, with the redhead appearing to be on the verge of grinding his teeth down to nothing to keep from making it to obvious. For his part Harry had no one in particular to watch and so was free to let his gaze bounce from couple to couple across the dance floor. He thought about leaving to take a walk but guessed that if he did it would probably reflect badly upon Hogwarts not only himself. He slowly stood up and was just about to ask Ron if he wanted some pumpkin juice when the beginning of another slow dance was interrupted by a bright flash of white light that seemed to fill the large room entirely.
"What the…Hermione," Ron shouted out louder than he knew as he screwed up his face against the light and used his hands to shield his eyes as Padma ducked behind him, using him for a human shield. At his side Harry dropped the glass that he had been holding and turned away from the light with his hands over his own eyes. The ballroom instantly descended into chaos as people ran for cover, with many taking a tumble over each other and the teachers shouting orders even though they could not do much more than cover their own eyes and wait for the light to go away. At first Harry thought that the light would never end up before long it had dissipated enough so that he and the many others in the ballroom could open their eyes and try to blink away the stars.
"Ron…what," Harry finally struggled to say as he furiously rubbed his eyes in the hope of clearing the myriad of stars that clouded his vision.
"How the hell should I…," Ron started to blurt out back as he tried his best to find Harry again even though they were only a few steps apart as the stars in his own field of vision were making it difficult at first.
"Please…everyone…please remain calm," Dumbledore's magically enhanced voice called out through the stars in everyone's eyes as he surged into the midst of the dancers before anyone could get a good look at what had caused the bright light in the first place.
Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of the sight in front of him as he struggled through the terrified and confused crowd of onlookers. Ron hurried along at his side, though he was being far less gentlemanly about getting through the hoard than Harry was. The two got to the front of the queue just in time to get a good look at what had caused the overly bright flash of light. Lying on the floor were three young people that to Harry appeared to be about their age, with them all looking very groggy. It looked to Harry as if they had just been knocked out and were slowly waking up all at once. The first one to snap back to reality seemed oddly familiar for some reason and he was about to say something to that end when one of the three spoke up.
"Nice Rose, I just know that Professor Flitwick will blame me for this," One of the hooded young men said with an impatient groan as he sat up and looked around, obviously surprised to be in the center of a large circle of richly dressed students.
"Oh come now Scorpius, he loves you…you're his bloody favorite, he'd never blame you for anything," The girl that Harry guessed to be named Rose replied with a bored out of her mind tone to her words as she kept her eyes closed, as if she were trying to fall asleep and didn't want to be bothered.
"She's right Scorpius, we did everything right, something else must have gone wrong," The other young man added with a dreamy expression as he pushed himself up off of the floor enough to try to get a look before having to rub his eyes to clear his vision.
"Okay yeah, but…we may be in trouble," The girl commented back as to Harry she seemed to be trying to sound as if she had everything under control but he thought that he could hear a bit of nervousness and uncertainty in her voice, sounding oddly a lot like Hermione would at times.
"Excuse me young lady but…may I ask…who are you," Dumbledore politely asked, sounding to Harry as if he were asking for the specials of the day in some restaurant, as he knelt down beside the trio and smiled sweetly at the end.
"But Albus, how do you know that they're not dangerous," McGonagall gasped out loud, looking very worried, as she rushed forward and laid a hand on Dumbledore's shoulder, before he half turned back to her and gave her a warm smile.
"They don't look dangerous to me Minerva, we should be careful however I do not believe that their intent is violent," Dumbledore calmly replied with a well hidden little smile as he carefully scrutinized the trio with his gaze, causing them to shrink back a bit.
"We know their names," Draco declared with an annoyed scowl as he pushed his way through the crowd with Crabbe and Goyle nipping at his heels, the trio finally coming to a halt just a few feet away from the new trio.
"We do," Ron wondered aloud with a curious frown as he and Harry slipped their way to the front of the crowd on the side opposite to Draco, though Ron continued to glare as because of the sudden interruption Hermione was alone on the other side with Crabbe giving her the evil eye.
"Of course Weasley, don't you listen, or have you…," Draco started to snap with a rather cocky grin as he crossed his arms across his chest and let it be known that he thought that what he'd said was really cool before he was interrupted, but not by Ron.
"Enough, leave him alone already," One of the hooded young men snarled as he flew up to his feet and looked like he was quite ready to throw a punch at Draco and only the presence of Crabbe and Goyle kept him from doing so.
"Who are you to tell me to…," Draco shot back as he uncrossed his arms and took a step forward as he looked fully ready for a fight with both Crabbe and Goyle looking unsure as to whether to follow his lead or not.
"Not this again," The young girl let out with an impatient sigh and exaggerated rolling of her eyes, as if this was something that she had seen many times before and still didn't like it, as she started to get up but stopped and just then closed her eyes.
"But it's not my fault this time Rose, he's just being thick and," The blond boy unhappily muttered, sounding very much to Harry as if this was the norm for the trio as well, before he could stand it no longer.
"This is getting us nowhere," Harry stated with a confused and slightly uncomfortable frown as he stepped to the side as Viktor knelt down beside him and then laid a hand on the girl's hip in what Harry guessed was an attempt to help her up, but she didn't seem to view it that way.
"OI…watch the hands," Rose growled angrily as she reared back and slapped Viktor as hard as she could across the face that earned her a happy and proud grin from Ron and a gasp of shock from Professor McGonagall, with Hermione letting out a shriek of surprise and looking like she wanted to help him but the press of people around the new trio kept that from happening.
"Heh…smart girl," Ron joked with what Harry thought was a prideful tone to his words as Rose started off looking his way with a small grin before she turned to Hermione and simply beamed, causing Hermione to stare back at her in confusion.
"I learned from the best," Rose replied proudly as she scooted a bit away from Viktor and turned her full attention to Hermione before she began to closely study the fact that she was wearing a fancy dress and had her hair done differently.
"Really…wait…you seem very familiar for some reason," Hermione started to back up away from Rose for a couple of seconds before she leaned her head to one side and had a feeling that she couldn't quite place about the girl kneeling in front of her.
"Heh, if you only knew," The smaller of the two young men countered with a highly amused grin as he crossed his arms across his chest and snapped his head back enough so that his hood fell back to reveal a full head or rather messy black hair.
"So then it would be ever so kind of the three of you to tell us before we mistake you for those that would wish us all harm," Dumbledore politely pointed out as he laid a hand on Albus' shoulder and smiled down at the much younger boy before the latter could realize just who he was standing next to, as he hadn't seen Harry just yet.
"Yes sir…my name is Albus…j…just like…, but…but you…you're…," Albus sputtered sharply as he tried to answer Dumbledore but was startled to find himself so close to his namesake and he looked to Scorpius and Rose for help.
"So then…," Scorpius started to add on as his eyes were growing wider and wider as he looked back and forth between Rose and Albus and Draco and Hermione, very clearly dreading what this new truth would actually mean for them.
"Oh…I think we went back…in time Scorpius," Rose pondered aloud, her forehead beginning to crease a little in deep thought which only caused to further Hermione's own appearance of intense concentration as she was trying to figure out what was going on as she finally managed to get through the crowd to stand beside Ron and Harry, Viktor momentarily forgotten about.
"So then she's really your…and he's really my…and Albus…that means that your…must be around here somewhere," Scorpius came up with softly as he pointed first to Hermione and then turned back to Draco again and found his voice start to grow weaker as he was having a hard time wrapping his head around what was actually going on.
"What are you talking about," Ginny demanded with a hint of anger in her voice as she elbowed her way out to the front of the crowd standing around the trio, finally coming to stand next to Harry.
"Mum," Albus choked out in a pained whisper as beheld Ginny standing in front of him in her dress, gazing at him as if he had just grown a second and third head, before he stumbled backwards a few steps and was only saved from tumbling over when Scorpius grabbed his shoulders and kept him from going any further.
"M…what, what are you talking about," Harry shot back as it didn't appear or sound as if he was believing anything that he was hearing and wasn't convinced that the trio weren't bad news just yet.
"Uncle Harry…but this can't…we can't, I don't understand, this can't…can't…Dad…what the bloody…those robes," Rose stopped and started speaking several times as her mind only then began to fully come to grips with what had happened and who she was now almost face to face with as she struggled to not lose herself in that moment before she spotted Ron in his horrendous dress robes and couldn't help but double over laughing hysterically.
"Stop laughing," Ron snapped angrily with his ears now beginning to glow a bright red, a sign that meant no good for anyone Harry knew, before Viktor cut in just as Harry was struggling to think of a way to try and calm Ron down that didn't involve stunning him outright, especially not in front of Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Vot is going on here," Viktor demanded angrily, fists tightly clenched and shaking, as he glared daggers right through Rose's body with a stance that left no doubt that he was ready for a fight.
"I think we're in trouble," Scorpius admitted with an unsure scowl as he jerked his hood down and ignored the loud whispers of those that he knew were already seeing the likeness between himself and Draco.
"Now, that all depends on how you answer my next question…doesn't it," Dumbledore asked calmly as he stepped casually in between Viktor and Rose without appearing to have noticed anything at all though Harry knew better.
"Um…yes…sir," Rose nervously answered with a nice and respective smile as she took a couple of steps back from him until she was shoulder to shoulder again with Albus, as Scorpius stood just behind her and seemed to be keeping a watchful eye on Draco and his two hulking sidekicks.
"Who are you," Dumbledore again asked, this time with a bit more force in his words while Professor McGonagall kept her hand on her wand as she waited for the answer, as he folded his hands over each other on his stomach in the hopes that his actions would not cause any more apprehension in the students.
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," Scorpius admitted with what he hoped and aimed for was a tone of pride and dignity though his voice faltered noticeably before he had even finished speaking as both Rose and Albus cringed a bit at his admission.
"Albus…Albus Severus Potter," Albus replied as it appeared to pain him to answer as his gaze snapped back and forth between Harry and Ginny as he spoke before he found it impossible to look at either and instead pushed himself to look at Professor McGonagall instead, though he almost instantly regretted that idea at the very grim look that she was giving him.
"And you," Hermione asked softly with a warm but visibly nervous tone to her words as she began to fidget with her hands and began to dig her fingernails into the palms of her hands to try and keep herself from getting scared.
"Rose…Rose Granger-Weasley," Rose answered with a great amount of pride as she beamed a very warm and appreciative smile at both Ron and Hermione, having to finally bite her bottom lip to keep from tearing up at the thought of it all.
"Malfoy…Potter…Granger-Weasley," Various voices from the crowd called out against Professor McGonagall's rather stern scowl that soon scuttled all of those that wished to discuss the topic further before the silence was interrupted.
"But Draco is an only child," Pansy exclaimed with an incredulous expression as to Harry he felt like was viewing anyone that believed otherwise like they were a small child who didn't understand anything.
"I'm the only Potter left," Harry reluctantly agreed with an uneasy smile as he lightly pointed to himself before he could bring himself to hazard a glance over at Ginny, whom he found to be trying to hide a blush on her cheeks by quickly looking away when she thought that he'd noticed.
"And I…we…," Hermione tried to add as calmly as possible but yet the blush growing more and more evident on her cheeks as she glanced over at Ron, who looked to still be trying to figure out the meaning of Rose's last name, before she caught Viktor's eye and quickly turned away.
"Vot," Viktor interrupted with a less than pleased scowl as he started to take a step forward in the hopes of putting himself in between Ron and Hermione before Rose saw this and cut in.
"Surprise…Mum…Dad…," Rose continued with a grin that started out looking very eager before she couldn't help but lose some of her resolve and dial the response back a bit, especially when Viktor whirled around and glared a hole right through her, almost daring her to continue.
"She's a Weasley if I've ever seen one," Fred remarked intentionally a little louder than he actually needed to, with one wary eye on Viktor, as he slid through the crowd until he was standing next to Dumbledore with finally then a big thumbs up and daring grin that he flashed Rose's way.
"Thanks Uncle George I…wait…U…Uncle Fred…but…," Rose started to answer with an amused grin before her eyes grew wide and she gasped audibly as she fully realized exactly who she was talking to and she suddenly found it hard to stay on her feet from the shock of it all.
"Uncle Fred, but he…Aunt Angelina…Aunt Fleur, Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron…Uncle George…Dad…Mum…please help...," Albus shot along hurriedly as he very nearly fell down as he felt his knees go weak before he started turning back and forth, noticing all of the members of his family that were currently staring oddly at him. Just when his spirits were at their worst he turned back to Harry and Ginny and pleaded with them for help, hoping that they'd be able to fix things.
"Aunt Hermione," Ron spat out in total disbelief and confusion as he turned and looked over at Hermione as she shared the look before she cut in.
"Uncle Ron," Hermione added as she snapped her gaze back and forth between Ron and Rose, closely scrutinizing any similarity or difference between the two before turning the inspection to herself.
"I think this will help answer a few questions," Dumbledore quipped with a sly grin and a wink as he casually whipped out his hand, muttered a few words under his breath with his wand pointed at Rose's hood, before it was magically yanked back, revealing a mountain of bushy hair, violently red bushy hair. Harry couldn't help but stop and stare and wrack his brain in a vain attempt at trying to sort anything out about the situation that he found himself in. Though as hard as he tried he found himself coming up totally empty.
"Or only raise several more," Snape stated with a less than impressed or pleased scowl as he reluctantly strode to the front of the crowd and made Rose and Albus and Scorpius cringe.
END OF CHAPTER 1
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing this chapter. As always reviews, comments, and questions are greatly appreciated. This story has been on my mind for some time so I tried to get it down and worked out, I think that I'll continue the story for a bit past the trio's initial showing up at the Yule Ball. To me fourth year at the ball was a time and place that would shape all that was to come and given that pretty much all of Rose and Albus' family was there short of a few they'd get to interact with a lot of people, that and given that they'd know why Harry would give Albus the middle name that he did I'd wonder how Sirius and Lupin would take the truth about Snape. I'm not sure how long the story will be as the trio can't stay in their past to long without changing an awful lot and being noticeably older when they'd go back to their own time and then have to explain it.
I still only read Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny, as the former is a big reason that I even read the books in the first place. I watched the first two movies and liked the idea of Ron/Hermione as that the main character didn't automatically have every girl of note want to date him as is the norm, I liked that Hermione seemed more interested in Ron, otherwise it'd reduce Ron and Hermione to George and Elaine from Seinfeld and then later on it wouldn't have affected the trio for Ron to date Lavender or Ron wouldn't have cared if Harry and Hermione were together while on the horcrux hunt. Ron would have been reduced to little more than a sidekick in that case, not that the movies didn't try very hard to do that anyway, cutting most of the Weasley storylines out to focus on Harry and Hermione. So then when in the movies the canon pairings happened there were some that didn't see either coming, because much of the buildup had been taken out of the movies.
I still think that Rowling could easily have had Ron and Hermione date from sometime in the fifth book on, as the pair were away from Harry at several points in the story like during detentions, their prefect rounds and such, and Harry spending time with this or that teacher away from the pair. It wouldn't have had to be anything overly romantic but a holding of hands here and there, maybe falling asleep innocently together on the couch while waiting up for Harry. All that and we had Ron and Hermione missing each other's signals for years, and Harry seemingly not having any clue at all about it until it came back to bite him and then he seems surprised about it all in the seventh book. Thank You.
