Harry retired to the room where he and Ron slept; pausing first to carefully knock to make sure that he wasn't going to walk in on anything that would embarrass him or his two best friends. Hermione opened the door, and gave him a swift smile and a blush before wishing him goodnight on her way out to her room down the hall. Upon entering the room he was greeted by a much happier, much redder in the face Ron Weasley whose smile was stretching from ear to ear.
"Well mate," Harry asked, "how'd it go?"
Ron sighed, and his smile, if possible, seemed to stretch even wider. "Harry, mate, thanks."
"For what?"
"For finally talking some sense into my thick skull. I don't know what took me so long to finally just make my move… but when I did, man, it was a lot easier than I thought. 'Mione is… well she's…"
"The girl you always wanted but were too thick to realize it?" Harry provided.
Ron smiled. "Yeah. She sure is. And you know what's even better, mate?"
Harry laughed, both at his friend's happy disposition, and that Ron had missed Harry's well chosen words on his certain ability to be able to ignore what was right in front of his face.
"No, Ron. What's possibly better than realizing that you've been a complete imbecile these past 5 years?"
"Harry- what is possibly better than my 'Mione being the girl I always wanted? Just that- she's MY 'Mione now! After all these years, I can finally say it!"
Harry had
to smile at the new emotions Ron seemed to have discovered in the
past hour or so.
"That's great, Ron. I'm really happy for
you- 'Mione, too."
"Thanks, Har. Thanks a million, and I mean it."
"No problem, Ron. You'd do the same for me." Harry replied, although thoroughly believing that he didn't deserve any credit for Ron's happiness.
"Well, goodnight mate. Sweet drea- hey WAIT! What happened with Ginny? If you hurt her again, seriously Harry, I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself from punching you this time!"
Once again, the
laughter of Harry James Potter rang throughout the room.
"No,
Ron, I didn't hurt her. In fact, I think things with Ginny are
going to be just fine. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I
think she's the happiest she's been in a long time. Me too,
really. That's one amazing sister you've got there, Ron, I hope
you know that."
Ron smiled once again, and said "'Course she's amazing, mate. She's MY sister, after all."
Harry snickered. "Really though, Ron, I've never been more calm than when Ginny is in my arms. Earlier this holiday I was seriously considering buying a Pensieve so I could start siphoning off my thoughts and dreams about Voldemort- oh come ON Ron, get OVER it-"
Ron had still given a slight involuntary shudder when Harry had spoken the name of the Dark Lord out loud, and although his winces and squeaks had gradually grown less, they were still evident, and sometimes got on Harry's nerves.
"Anyway," Harry continued, "I thought about getting a Pensieve, but now that I have Ginny to talk to and pour any excess emotion into, it just seems like I won't need one now. Ron, you have no idea, when I'm with her- it's like I'm under the Imperious Curse or something."
Ron gasped- "Harry- you don't think that-"
Harry stopped him
with a wave of his hand "Let me finish, Ron. I mean, I feel like
I'm under the curse because she makes all the pain, problems and
worries fade away.
"I feel incredibly light, like I have
nothing to worry about. My mind goes... well, blissfully blank, and
all that's left is happiness and sheer joy."
Harry smirked, and as an afterthought, added "That, and I mean, she's a really good kisser, so I mean, it's hard to think about anything when she's- HEY! OW!"
Harry yelled out, as Ron had hit him full force in the side of the head with a pillow.
"Look
mate," Ron began, attempting to look serious, but Harry could see
that oh-so-familiar Weasley grin starting to turn up at the corners
of his mouth,
"She may be your girlfriend now, but she IS still
my little sister- so you best not be doing anything above a G-Rating
with her because… oh all right-"
Ron was no longer able
to keep up the charade of being livid with Harry, so he continued
with
"Harry, whatever happens- IF anything happens between you
two, I don't want to hear about it, and I DEFINITELY don't want
to see it, all right?"
Harry chuckled, "All right, Ron.
It's a deal if you promise the same about 'Mione. I know Ginny
may be your sister by blood, but 'Mione is the closest thing to a
sister I've got, and so I really don't want to think about things
like that with her.
"That, and besides, if you two are going
to be snogging all the time then I'm REALLY gonna feel like a loner
and a third wheel. And if you hurt her, I reserve the right to punch
you, too."
Harry smiled at his best friend, who grinned right back.
"You got it, mate," said Ron. "Now, time for bed?"
Harry smiled, "Yeah. G'night, Ron."
They both settled under the freshly laundered and ironed sheets and coverlets, and Harry switched off the light while smiling to himself. Harry didn't think he'd have a problem with nightmares tonight- not when he had Ginny to occupy his thoughts.
Harry had just gotten comfortable under his blankets, when out of nowhere another pillow sailed across the room and smacked him right in the head.
"HEY!" he cried. "What was THAT one for?"
Ron chortled. "THAT particular pillow was for your sneaky little statement about me being 'too thick' and 'an imbecile' for not realizing that Hermione liked me back."
Harry had to laugh. "Well mate, looks like I'm going to have to be a little MORE sneaky in the future if I'm going to slip those insults past you."
"Damn right," said Ron. "Well, night Harry."
"Night, Ron."
Before the two friends could fall asleep, they heard masses of giggling coming from down the hall in the girls' room. Harry grinned, rolled over and caught Ron's eye in the moonlight streaming through the window.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked his friend.
Ron nodded in confirmation.
"SNEAK ATTACK!" they declared together.
They grabbed all the pillows the room had to offer- even the ones off of the two sitting chairs by the window, and snuck down the hallway to the room where Hermione and Ginny sat unknowing that they were about to be pelted with about a hundred kilos of goose down.
Harry and Ron stalked silently down the hall single file, and stopped on either side of the door. Ron raised his eyebrows, and Harry nodded- silent confirmation that they would enter on Ron's signal, and pummel the girls senseless with pillows. Ron gave a wink, and in one fluid movement, they had crashed into the room and began throwing pillows in every direction.
"AHHH!" screamed Hermione, as she
tried to grab her own pillow to fight back, meanwhile Ginny was lost
into a fit of giggles when Harry began to tickle her.
Crookshanks
ran from the room, and was found the next morning to have sought
refuge under the kitchen stove.
Pillows sailed back and forth
over the next half hour, Harry and Ron's extra ammunition being
turned against them when the girls started using them as shields.
All four teenagers were laughing to the brink of exhaustion when
the door came crashing open to reveal a highly distressed Mrs.
Weasley.
"Of all the- WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?" she yelled, and the pillows stopped being thrown instantaneously.
Unfortunately, one had just been thrown as
the door had come crashing open and hit Mrs. Weasley full in the
face. Startled, she caught it as it fell, and looked down to see what
had attacked her.
The silence in the room was deafening, as the
kids waited to be told off for not going to bed when they were
supposed to.
Mrs. Weasley stared at each teenager in turn, her
eyes flashing dangerously.
"Who threw that?" she asked, her voice almost silent, and Harry's stomach clenched in fear.
They were really in for it now.
Hermione squeaked
out, after what seemed like an eternity,
"Oh, Mrs. Weasley! I'm
sorry, that was me!"
Molly Weasley's eyes fixed upon Hermione, whose hair had once again returned to its normal bushy state having been repeatedly hit with pillows.
"Ah. Well, at least now I know who to throw this back at."
And Mrs. Weasley lobbed the pillow directly at Hermione, who was too startled to even react, and it hit her directly upside the head. Harry began to laugh, and was soon followed by Ron, Ginny, and lastly, Hermione herself.
Mrs. Weasley smiled, "I'm glad to see that you
four are finally acting like kids again. I was starting to worry that
this was all becoming too much.
"But, even still, it is 1:30
in the morning, and we really need to be up early tomorrow to get to
Diagon Alley and fetch all your school things. So, after our late
night exercise, will you all please go to bed this time?"
Everyone laughed again, and Harry was relieved that he was feeling so happy to be back at Grimmauld Place.
"Sure, Mrs. Weasley. Goodnight!" said Harry, as the woman he had come to love as a mother left the room to retire for the evening.
Harry said goodnight to Hermione, but barely got a reply in return, as she was very occupied with saying an extra special goodnight to Ron. Harry walked over to Ginny, and pulled her into a swift hug, lifting her off the floor.
"G'night, Gin," he whispered, and brought her back down to kiss her cheek.
He and Ron then made the walk back down the hall to their room, where they both collapsed with laughter on their beds at the memory of Mrs. Weasley acting like they were all in for some big trouble.
"Man," laughed Ron, "the look on Hermione's face when mum wanted to know who threw that pillow. I thought she was going to wet herself!"
Harry laughed, "Yeah- you looked pretty scared yourself, mate. I'm sure we ALL did. Your mom really needs to teach us how to hold our expressions like that. Now I know where Gin gets her ability to lie without batting an eye."
"For real! Well, I'm beat. G'Night Harry. Sweet dreams."
"You too, Ron. Sleep well".
And with that, Harry removed his glasses, rolled over, and fell fast asleep.