Chapter 7: Let them eat cake.


"Woman who is trying to ruin my life says what?!" I practically screamed at my soon to be sister in law.

Hermione looked at me quizzically. "Wait what?"

"That's what I thought. " I shot back grabbing my bag and walking, very swiftly mind you, towards the door. She had to be out of her rabid ass mind if she even halfway believed that I would do what she was asking.

"Please Ginny! You don't even understand how swamped I am! The wedding is three months away, how the hell do you think I'm going to be able to do everything that I want, what Ron wants, and especially everything your mom wants in three months! Please do this for me! Please Please Please Please Please!"

How the hell am I supposed to argue with that?

Hermione, the strongest yet most fragile girl I've ever met is asking for me to help her. Hermione who helped me when I was at my lowest after Harry left. Who sat with me while I was balling my eyes out on my bed at the burrow, who took care of all my letters, appointments, and pushed me to try out for the Harpies in the first place. Without her I'm not sure I would have made it past the first year.

She was my best friend.

Still…

"Why do I have to do it with Harry though? Why can't I just take care of it on my own?"

She didn't even take a moment to respond.

"Ron wants Harry's opinion. I want Harry's opinion. I trust both of your judgment implicitly. I need you to do this together. "

Again, how the hell am I supposed to argue with that?

Breath rushed out of me in a giant sigh.

"Fine."

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Her body collided with mine and I fought for my balance as I finally wrapped my arms around her.

Sometimes family sucks.

She began doing a very un-Hermione like squeal as she started bouncing up and down. I couldn't help myself, I laughed along with her.

Scratch that, my family is badass.

"So before I do this, tell me about your cake." A brilliant smile blossomed across her face and she dragged me towards the spare bedroom which had been currently dubbed 'The Wedding Room'. It amazed me as it always did how Hermione could be so utterly organized. Everything had its place, from the bridesmaid dresses hanging perfectly in the closet to the bookcase filled with alphabetic file folders. She crossed the room and took one of the binders labeled with a large C, and began skimming through the pages.

As she finally found what she was looking for her eyes lit up as she turned the contents to me.

This wouldn't be so bad. I could do this.


Three o'clock.

I have been stood up and we weren't even going on a real date.

But I had stayed exactly where I was while I waited for her. Maybe something came up and she was just a little late; if that were the case I didn't want to leave and have her think that I had stood her up.

I took another long look at my watch as the minute hand finally clicked to 3:20.

Is there a time limit for being late for a cake tasting? Maybe I should pop inside and ask the lady…

"I am so sorry! Training ran long and I came as soon as I could!" I whipped around to see Ginny, her hair thrown up into a bun hastily, still clad in workout shorts with and athletic bag thrown over her shoulder.

She looked like a hot mess and in my opinion it was hot as hell.

It took me a moment to find my voice.

"It's alright, I just got here myself."

Blatant lie, but I know how much punctuality matters to Ginny and that she'd feel bad for making me wait.

I gave her a kind smile.

"Shall we?" She smiled jovially as she rifled through her bag and I waved her in towards the door.

All in all, things weren't going too bad.

That was until we got into the door.

I didn't have to be a goddamn Auror to know that the lady at the front counter wasn't to be trifled with. I think anyone who looked at her McGonagall-esk bun and sour expression could figure that out.

"Can I help you?" She clipped harshly flipping the pages of the appointment book in front of her.

And I thought things were going well…

"Yes we have an appointment for Weasley." Ginny said adjusting the strap of her bag and taking another step towards the counter. I immediately followed her lead leaning my elbow against the worn wood.

"You're late." She spat marking several things next to the Weasley name in long, hard, furious strokes.

"Yeah sorry about that." I said, my hand raking lightly through my hair.

"Is there anywhere I can put my bag? I didn't have time to run home first." Ginny said to the lady giving her a winning smile that would have melted me into a puddle at her feet. The lady, Misses my bun is too tight and my glasses are to narrow was immune.

Weddings were supposed to be happy and lighthearted events.

I'm sure this lady was not particularly good for their sales.

The woman let her gaze drift from Ginny's shorts to her messy hair with a look of contempt that I hadn't seen since we teased Malfoy about being a ferret. "Do I look like your closet? You are lucky that I'm even letting you keep your appointment anyway; there is a fifteen minute late policy. The boss has a specific note next to your name saying that you get special treatment when you arrive but I don't care who you know or who you think you are, you won't be treated any differently than anyone else." What the hell?

What is this woman's problem?

Maybe we should leave…

Before I could even announce my thoughts Ginny's bag landed right on top of the woman's book. The look of outrage on the ladies face could've come straight out of the movies, and had I not been just as shocked as the woman behind the desk I probably would have started laughing. After a few quiet moments Ginny's hands slammed harshly against the wood.

"Listen lady. I've spent all day running my ass off, getting beat the hell out of, and screamed at by my coach. I'm tired, I need a shower and I'm here even though I should be in a goddamn ice bath for my shins. And just because you're a washed up, pathetic, ugly, jealous, snobby bitch doesn't mean that you can act like the sun shines out of your fucking arse. If you worked for me I would have fired you on your first day. If this is in fact the way you treat all your customers then I can guarantee you won't be working here for much longer. It's a good thing that the owner of this company happens to be a close personal friend of mine so I can let her know exactly how 'great' of a job you're doing. Now if you excuse us, we have cake to eat." Her bag whirred off of the desk and back over her shoulder as she walked calmly towards the double doors and pushed one open. One arching eyebrow rose as she turned to look at me. "Coming?"

I shuffled forward completely gobsmacked.

The only thing that my mind could process was two words. Marry me.

Marry me right now.

The next was, this woman is a Beast.

The door clicked shut behind me and the laughter that I hadn't been able to find earlier came out in loud gasps. "That was the most badass thing I've ever seen! Merlin did you see her face!" She didn't answer simply plopped down in one of the chairs a smile twitching at her lips. I followed taking the chair next to hers, laughter still coming out in sporadic guffaws. "I thought that your temper was only reserved for your brothers!"

She smiled fully at that and my stomach flip flopped. "Well, they are usually the ones that make me furious, but I do unleash it when someone really deserves it and that woman had it coming."

I felt like I was seeing her in a new light, like everything that I thought I knew about her was all wrong and that I had to relearn everything. It was fascinating.

Silence settled between us and I searched for something light to talk about. "Was practice really as bad as you said?"

One of her dainty shoulders hoisted into a noncommittal shrug. "It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just a long day. I hate being late." She reached forward plucking a Menu off the table and skimming through it.

"I know." I replied and watched as her eyes flicked up and met mine. There was no pain there this time and I looked away before they could cloud over. "I've been starting on remodeling my parents' house."

Subject change master I am.

"Really?" Her tone was polite, interested even.

"Yeah, it's slow going right now because I'm not sure what all I'll even have to do yet but I've had some inspectors come out and gotten all the permits."

This time when her eyes met mine I saw the one thing that I had been desperate to see since I arrived back home. I saw the warm, caring, kind eyes of the Ginny Weasley I knew.

"That's great Harry, I'm happy for you."

The butterflies in my stomach erupted into an inferno as I looked away.

"Hi there, my names Mrs. Pennyapple. I'm going to be helping you today, are you the Weasley's?" I quickly scanned the room and noticed that we were the only two in here.

Ginny took the reins from there. "Best Man…" she motioned to me, "…Maid of Honor."

"Perfect, I'll bring out our sampler platter and you two can start to make your decisions from there." The grey haired Mrs. Pennyapple was much more pleasant than the lady out front, and as she handed us a piece of paper listed with the sampler selections and a pen for any notes it struck me how much she reminded me of Mrs. Weasley.

I scanned the sampler list. "There's a white chocolate Carmel mocha cake?"

Ginny giggled from my left. "I was just thinking that that one had a lot of different flavors. Which one would you be able to even taste?"

Within a few minutes, which was filled with jokes over the menu, Mrs. Pennyapple returned carrying two large trays that were covered with cake. As she sat them before us and wished us luck, I wasn't all two sure that I'd be able to eat that much cake.

My companion didn't seem to have the same concern.

"I have died and gone to heaven." An entertained smirk tilted on my lips while I grabbed my fork. Luckily each piece had a little flag stuck in it with a number on the top so we could at least know which one we like.

The next half hour consisted of the following:

"Oh my god you have to try this one!"

"Dude I lied, this one is mind-blowing."

"Why does this taste like grass? It totally tastes like grass!"

"Because it's wheatgrass cake Harry."

"Who wants to eat a grass cake?"

And promptly almost ended with a simultaneous shouting of!

"This is the one!"

The only problem with that, Ginny and I had very obviously chosen different cakes. How did I know? Her's was an obvious chocolate while mine was a mouthwatering buttercream. It was the obvious choice.

"I think that they'll like mine better." Ginny sniffed and turned up her nose slightly.

"Not likely. I know for a fact Ron likes Buttercream better than chocolate."

She did not take that well. Color rose on her cheeks at my words.

"You obviously don't know my brother as well as I do then." I opened my mouth to deliver some very witty and impressively clever remark but was cut off by cake being smashed into my mouth. I choked at first before beginning to chew.

She wanted war then, I could tell by the amused glint in her eye. As my mouth began to finally make a headway on the cake the buttercream that I already had been eating reamerged and swirled with the chocolate. I stopped mid grab.

Ginny's face fell as she took in my expression. "What is it?"

I finally swallowed before taking a chunk of my buttercream. "YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!"

Her nimble fingers plucked the cake out of my hand before popping it lightly in her mouth. It only took a moment for realization to dawn and her eyes to visibly widen. "Merlin…. It tastes like…."

The words rushed out of us simultaneously, "Hogwarts Welcoming Feast cake."

Mrs. Pennyapple appeared to check on us. Ginny managed to swallow her piece before motioning at the two. "I think we found our cake."

A goofy grin spread across my face, whether it was progress or not I didn't care. All I knew was that it had been awhile since I had had that much fun.


A/N: Dude, you don't even know how ahead of schedule I am.

I hadn't planned to have this done till tomorrow.

And it's done! Sorry, just kinda congratulating myself.

So this chapter doesn't have a lot of action or really anything in it, kind of a filler chapter really...

Next chapter Ginny will finally go and have a talk with Henry to explain things though!

Thanks again to everyone who's read, reviewed and enjoyed!