A/N: Hey everyone! I'm really sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out – I can't believe I haven't updated for over two months! I'll try and get the updates going a bit quicker this time. Enjoy!

Chapter Six - Adjusting

Twenty minutes later, and they were sitting around a large table in one of the castle's dining rooms, making small talk with several other guests whilst they awaited the arrival of Lord and Lady Carnarvon.

Harry was glad to find that they had been seated together; he had Ginny, Hermione and then Ron to his right, and another young couple to his left. He didn't join in with the hum of conversation for several moments, taking the time to observe his surroundings and the people.

The dining room was large, and the table of a highly polished oak. The room was dominated by a painting of a man seated upon a white horse, and Harry overheard one of the other guests saying that it was a portrait of Charles the First.

He glanced at Ginny, and noticed that she looked slightly pale.

"Are you all right?" He whispered, careful not to attract attention from the other fifty or so guests.

"I'm fine," she replied, faintly, "just feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. I'm scared I'm going to do or say something that will give us away."

"You won't," Harry said, smiling reassuringly, "I have faith in you. It's Ron I'm more concerned about."

"Yeah," Ginny smiled weakly, "he seems to be taking the role of shipping merchant a little too far."

Harry peered down the table at his redheaded friend, who was leaning over to talk to the moustached man seated next to her. Ron was gesticulating wildly, and the man laughed heartily.

"Well, I hope ships are all he's talking about," Harry said frowning, and was about to say something more, when he heard a high pitched tapping sound, and he looked up to see it was the butler, ringing a small crystal bell.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding to welcome Lord and Lady Carnarvon."

There was a rustle of crinolines and the slight scrape of chairs, and everyone stood up, the room falling silent.

Harry looked towards the doorway, as did all of the other guests, and awaited the entrance of the Lord and Lady of the castle. Seconds later, they arrived, a petite brunette on the arm of a tall thin man with a thick moustache.

There was nothing immediately remarkable about either of them, Lord Carnarvon had a slightly standoffish air about him, but the Lady Carnarvon was smiling softly at the guests. They took their seats at the head of the table, and it was only when they were comfortably seated did the rest of the table sit once more.

The silence remained for several seconds, before the Lady Carnarvon leaned over and spoke to a blonde-haired lady by her side, and then the hum of conversation resumed.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered, leaning across to speak to him, "Did you see?"

"See what?" He replied, frowning and wondering what had got Hermione so flustered.

"Look at her neck!"

Both he and Ginny, who had been listening as well, looked over at Lady Carnarvon and saw the reason for Hermione's excitement. There, hanging around the Lady's neck, was a golden locket, nestled in the space between her collarbones.

"Oh my God!" Ginny whispered, "Is that…?"

"I think so, yes," Harry replied, sounding slightly awed, "I didn't think it would be so easy to find."

"Knowing where it is, that's one thing," Hermione said, "getting it is another. She's the Lady of the Castle, and we're lowly guests – we're not going to be able to get anywhere near it."

Ron, who had continued his conversation with the man at his side, was now paying attention to what Hermione was saying, and through a mouthful of vegetables, spoke.

"We could still do what we said before – wait until they go out hunting or whatever it is these posh people do – and just go and have a snoop around their rooms."

"Keep your voice down," Hermione whispered, "but that's easier said than done, isn't it? They're not going to leave their doors unlocked with a house full of guests."

"Let's talk about this later," Harry warned suddenly, noticing that a man across the table, who very much resembled a sea lion, was watching them with a beady eye.

The others nodded, and carried on eating their meal, joining in with the conversation about the table.

&&&

The rest of the evening had passed slowly. After the meal, the men and women split up, the men moving to the parlour, where talk of politics ensued within clouds of tobacco smoke, and the women moved to one of the morning rooms to make polite conversation.

It was there that Hermione and Ginny managed to get a closer look at the locket around Lady Carnarvon's neck, and saw that it was definitely the one that they'd seen the summer before at Grimmauld Place.

Ginny was finding playing the role of Virginia Evans increasingly fun, really getting into it when talking to one of the other guests. Charlotte Clifton, who was the daughter of a very well-to-do shipping merchant, seemed very surprised when she learned that Ginny was also the daughter of a shipping merchant, and that they'd never come across each other before.

But whilst Ginny and Charlotte chatted like old friends, Hermione seated herself a little away from the rest of the group, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Are you all right?" Came a soft voice, "You're looking a little pale."

Hermione looked up to see Lady Carnarvon peering down at her concernedly.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just feeling a little overwhelmed, I've not…" Hermione trailed off for fear of saying too much, but the Lady just smiled.

"Ah, as I thought. Your first gathering of this kind as an 'adult', am I right?"

Hermione nodded, glad for the excuse, "Yes. How could you guess?"

"You look a little uncomfortable, if you'll forgive me for saying so, as though you're not sure what is expected of you," she then leaned forward conspiratorially, "now this is just between you and me, but whatever anyone might think, I'm not as scary as I may seem. There's no need to feel uncomfortable."

"Thank you," Hermione replied gratefully, and then decided to take the chance to ask her about the locket. "That's a lovely locket, my Lady, may I ask who designed it?"

"Oh, I don't know to be honest," Lady Carnarvon replied, her hand leaping to her throat to touch the pendant, "it was a gift from my husband for my birthday last month."

"It looks awfully heavy," Hermione remarked, "does it not hurt?"

"I can put up with the ache for something of such beauty," she said, "besides, I wear it very rarely. Tonight is only the second time I've worn it."

Lady Carnarvon smiled, and then moved to talk to one of the other guests, leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts.

&&&

Both the men and the women retired to their rooms not long after, something for which Harry was very grateful. He'd found the talk of politics boring, and more than a little confusing. He'd been expected to know what they meant when they talked of the current affairs, and he was more than a little annoyed that Arnos had not prepared them more fully.

And so it was with more than a little relief when he twisted the doorknob to his room, and stumbled in tiredly. What he hadn't expected was to find Ginny changing into her nightgown.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, clutching her nightgown to her, face flaming.

Harry felt his cheeks beginning to burn too, and turned around. Desperately trying to ignore the hurried rustling of cloth, he began to wonder what they were going to do about sleeping arrangements.

When it fell silent, he chanced a glance around and saw that Ginny was now wearing the long white nightgown, and was in the process of hanging her elaborate dress in the wardrobe.

"Sorry," he mumbled, quietly, "I should have knocked."

"It's all right," Ginny replied, awkwardly, "I should have changed in the bathroom."

There was an uncomfortable silence, punctuated only by the loud ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece.

"So, erm…" Harry began, glancing across at the bed. Whilst remarkably grand and elaborate, it seemed as though the people in this time preferred their beds smaller. It was barely wider than a single bed, and Harry imagined that the people who shared it would have to sleep quite close together.

Feeling slightly panicked, he glanced around the room, not noticing the amused smile on Ginny's face as she brushed her hair, and his gaze landed on the small, hard sofa in the corner of the room.

That would have to do. He'd probably not be able to get to sleep for ages, and would more than likely wake up with a bad back and cricked neck, but what else could he do? He glanced across at Ginny, still stroking the brush through her hair and closed his eyes. No, he would just have to make do with the sofa.

"All right Harry?" Ginny asked, as she pulled back the covers on the bed.

"Erm, yes," Harry said, now staring at the sofa, as if willing it to become more comfortable, "I'll sleep on this sofa then."

"What are you on about?" Ginny replied, amusement in her voice, "This bed's plenty big enough for the both of us."

"But…" Harry said, confused.

"Harry," Ginny said gently, "we may have a history, but that doesn't stop me being your friend. And as your friend, I'm not going to let you sleep on that sofa. You'll end up with a sore neck."

Harry nodded, and then smiled at her.

"All right, if you insist," he replied, "I'll just go and get changed then."

"You do that," Ginny smiled back, and climbed beneath the duvet.

Five minutes later, when Harry returned wearing his nightclothes, Ginny was fast asleep, her red hair splayed on the pillow.

&&&

A/N: Thanks for reading, and if you liked it, please review! Also, because I feel so bad about not updating for so long, look out for something in the next couple of days ;)