Harry Potter and the Founders
LuvFantasy
Chapter Ten: The After Party
The guests were divided among four tables. Three of them for the Members of the Order and other assorted guests, the last for the "young adults" (and – to quote Mrs. Weasley – "Yes, Fred and George, that does include both of you. The way you've been acting lately!")
The nine of them were seated all at their small circular table some yards from the dance floor; Fred, George, Gabrielle, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and Neville. Or at least, six of them were, Fred and George sprang up from the table even before they sat down,
"Must excuse but, the duty of DJ-ing calls!" They announced, running back over towards the Muggle radio and flipping through stations. To a chorus of punk rock and Mrs. Weasley's shrieks, Harry turned to Gabrielle (who was sitting on his right) and asked,
"So…how has Baubaxton's been going?"
Gabrielle smiled and flipped her long mane of silvery gold hair over her shoulder (to the delight of a drooling Ron and Neville) and laughed girlishly, "Oh, 'arry! You are so funny!"
Harry blinked and then laughed. It didn't make any sense what she was saying, but who cared? Gabrielle continued happily,
"I 'ave never forgotten you know, 'ow you zaved me when even my own sizter could not!"
Harry blushed and nodded his head vigorously, eager to agree with anything she said. Across the table, Ginny snorted angrily and glared at Gabrielle,
"I personally make it a point never to act the role of the damsel-in-distress. It never works out in real life, just in the fairy tales."
"That's not true," Luna cut in, as Gabrielle turned to Ginny in irritation, "there have been rumors of a sighting of Rapunzel and Prince Charming herding goats in the Himalayan Mountains."
Gabrielle ignored her and stared at Ginny, her nostrils dilating slightly, "Zen per'aps you wouldn't mind relating what 'appened in ze Chamber of Secrets?"
Ginny paled with either fury or embarrassment and glared daggers at Gabrielle, "Well at least I wasn't six years old when I developed a crush on the great Harry Potter!"
"Oh yes you were, Ginny!" Ron cut in, eager to defend Gabrielle, "Younger in fact. Ever since you first heard about him-!"
"Shut up, Ronald!" Ginny shrieked, angry tears forming in her eyes as she looked over at Harry. Harry, out of habit by now, looked away, seeking it avoid a confrontation with his doubly ex-girlfriend and instead looked over at Hermione for some reasoning as to what to do. To his shock, he saw that she too was glaring icily at Gabrielle, the small jewels in her elaborate hairstyle flashing dangerously in the mid-afternoon sunlight.
Slowly, she removed her gaze from Fleur and looked over at Ron and Neville. "Oh snap out of it you too. She's just a veela, it's not like you haven't seen them before!"
Neville shook his head slowly, looked astonished to find himself goggling at Gabrielle and stared resolutely at the ham in his plate. Ron acted similarly and Harry chose to follow their examples. The majority of the meal was spoken in silence as the boys were too scared to look at the veela again and the girls were frigidly indifferent to one another.
Meanwhile, Fred and George were still flipping through stations and had finally settled upon one. A song entitled "Breathe" by Michelle Branch was floating through the air towards the guests,
"I've been driving for an hour
Just talking to the wind.
You say I've been driving crazy
Escaping your way
So just give me one good reason.
Tell me why I should stay.
Cause I don't want to waste
Another moment
Saying things
We never meant to say
I hold my breath and count to ten
I've been waiting for a chance to let you in!
If I just…
Breathe!
And fill the space between
I'll know
Everything is alright.
Breathe!
Every other face
Except me you'll see,
Everything is alright,
If I just breathe…"
Fleur and Bill were making for the dance floor and the twins quickly changed the station to one playing "100 Years" by Five for Fighting. As the slow piano began to ring out through the audience, Bill and Fleur proceeded to slow dance closer and closer together, occasionally shedding a tear or a laugh. The chattering continued and plates were slowly cleaned as the song changed to "Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley made for the floor, followed by Lupin and Tonks and other members of the Order Harry didn't recognize. By now, he had – and everyone else at the "young adults" table was done eating – and staring awkwardly at each other.
Ginny abruptly turned to Neville,
"Would you care to dance?"
Neville gulped, dropped his fork, disappeared under the table to pick it up again, resurfaced and nodded quickly. With a glare in Harry and Gabrielle's direction, Ginny grabbed Neville by the wrist and led him out to the dance floor, purposely knocking over Gabrielle's cranberry juice and forcing the poor veela from the table in search of the lady's room. Hermione and Luna watched her go coolly before both turning back to their plates.
"You could have just 'scourgified' it for her!" Ron snapped irritably at Hermione, still overcoming the effects of Gabrielle.
Hermione gave him an icy look, "She should have kept her head and done it herself."
Ron opened his mouth, seemed shocked at what he was about to do, closed it, and looked back down at his now empty plate of food. Luna took a sip of butterbeer and announced dreamily,
"I bought a new pair of dancing shoes from a leprechaun last week. Mail order of course, they're very anti-social now…ever since the days when the Ministry – led by Cornelius Fudge of course – hunted them down with heliopaths for their gold."
Ron snorted on his own drink and Luna smiled, watching Harry give him several hearty claps on the back. Hermione looked over at both her boys as the song changed to "I Lay My Love on You" by Westlife.
"So, which one of you is going to ask me to dance?" She asked matter-of-factly.
Ron choked yet again, his ears turning an even brighter shade of red then Harry had yet seen on him, and Harry himself caught his cheeks heating up. He made a point to avoid Hermione's gaze and instead stared down at the straggly mess of vegetables left on his plate.
Hermione continued, oblivious of – or just choosing to ignore – their discomfort, "I mean, we are at a wedding, everyone else is dancing, and we're all friends, it's not like I'm going to say 'no' to either of you." She looked over at Ron, who was looking more and more uncomfortable as the seconds wore on, absolutely refusing to look up from the seemingly fascinating crumbs of food at all.
Hermione let out a sharp sigh, "Oh come on, Ron…Harry!" She exclaimed, looking from one to the other in exasperation, "Just ask me! It's a dance not a date!"
At the word 'date', Ron jumped in his seat and chanced a look at Hermione; which was in itself a mistake, because she caught his gaze and held it. The silence dragged on for some time before Ron finally managed to croak out,
"W-would…you…d-dance with me…Herm…Hermione?" He muttered, immediately dropping his gaze as he whispered the last word. Hermione stared for a moment in shock at Ron, as if she couldn't believe he had finally asked her.
Harry lifted his gaze from his plate and looked at Hermione, wanting to see her reaction to Ron's query. He was surprised to see that it was one of mingled astonishment, happiness, and rejection. She seemed to feel his gaze on her and move her large brown eyes from Ron to Harry, as if she wanted to ask him something. Harry dropped his gaze quickly and Hermione looked back over at Ron, her own voice trembling,
"Of course I'll dance with you, Ron."
Ron looked up, an ecstatic grin lighting up his face instantly, "Really?"
Hermione nodded, smiling at his obvious happiness and stood up from her chair. Ron fairly jumped up from his, eagerly grabbing her thin wrist in his hand and dragging her off onto the dance floor.
Harry turned in his chair to watch them go, feeling as if he had just lost something he had never really had any right to in the first place.
A small movement across from him caught his eye, and he looked back over at Luna who was also staring after Ron and Hermione, all the dreaminess gone. There was a silver sparkle in her eye that Harry was sure wasn't from the butterbeer sitting in front of her. She blinked, and it vanished and she bowed her head to reach for something in her garishly orange purse.
Slowly, she dropped what looked like a strange brooch of twisted rope, grass, and butterbeer caps onto the table. Harry looked up at her quizzically. She sighed, her voice odd and detached, sounding even stranger than it usually did.
"It's an Okerknogin, it brings good luck to the wearer. I made it for Ron." She looked down at her hands and some of her dreaminess seemed to come back.
"You can have it if you want, Harry."
Harry, slightly surprised, reached out for the Okerknogin and pinned it onto his robes, a sudden compassion sweeping over him as he thought of Luna. She was always the one rejected and laughed at, and he doubted even someone as vague and strange as Luna Lovegood could manage to avoid all these thorns and jabs without being hurt by some of them. He looked back over at her with resolution,
"Luna, will you dance with me?"
She smiled vaguely at him and nodded her head, "Sure."
They both got up from the table and made for the dance floor while the song changed yet again to "Just the Girl" by the Click Five.
"She's cold and she's cruel
But she knows what she's doing.
She pushed me in the pool
At our last school reunion.
She laughs at my dreams
But I dream about her laughter.
Strange as it seems
She's the one I'm after.
Cause she's bittersweet
She knocks me off of my feet.
And I can't understand
Why I don't want anyone else.
She's a mystery
She's too much for me.
But I keep coming back for more.
She's just the girl I'm looking for…"
Since it wasn't a slow dance, Harry was free to move and look around as much as he wanted, and without meaning to, he found his eyes often straying not to Ginny and Neville, but to Ron and Hermione. They were dancing together, laughing, and as the chorus rang out again, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand eagerly and pointed at her with his other hand, mouthing the words: "That's you!"
Hermione blushed and shook her head, but Harry could tell by the way she moved that she was pleased, and he found a horrible coldness sweep through him. Ron then pulled her closer and whispered something in her ear, his own ears reddening as he spoke. She nodded, and they walked off the dance floor, heading for the house.
Harry quickly turned back to Luna and danced the next two songs with her until they were both worn out from all the exercise. Heading back to the table as "What's Left of Me" by Nick Lachey turned on, Harry sat down eagerly and reached for his pumpkin juice. Luna though, did not sit down, and instead picked up her butterbeer and left, heading for the twins. Harry was about to turn around and watch the interlude when his attention was caught by Gabrielle hurrying back towards the table, her bright blue eyes smiling at him.
" 'arry! I finally got zat 'orrible drink off! Would you care to dance?"
Harry was about to shake his head and tell her he was already tired when she laid her hand on his shoulder and smiled endearingly down at him. He had never felt so alive in his life. Hastily jumping from the table, he grabbed her hand and dragged her onto the dance floor, thankful that it seemed to be a slow song on the radio.
"So 'arry," Gabrielle began as he put his hands around her waist, "when will you be joining ze Order?"
Harry frowned, he hadn't really thought about it much since that first night in 5th year when he found out of its existence. "I suppose when I've finished horcr-!" he paused. He couldn't tell her about horcruxes. Of course he could, she was to be trusted. She was Fleur's sister. She was too beautiful not to tell. No, he couldn't. He couldn't even tell McGonagall. "-finished the school year," He amended, even though he wasn't planning on returning at all.
"Oh." Gabrielle smiled at him and then continued, "Do you think eet will be very dangerous? More so than battling mercreatures and ze like?"
Harry shook his head, eager to impress this beautiful girl, "No, this will be a piece of cake. I mean, all those things compared to fighting Voldem-!" She winced slightly and Harry was brought back to the present. What was he doing?
The song ended, and Harry hastily pulled away from Gabrielle.
"Well, I-I think I'd better be going," he stammered. "Need to catch up with Ron and Hermione-!" He turned and headed straight for the refreshment table, helping himself to a glass of fruit punch. He was leaning up against the counter, watching Bill and Fleur dance when he was cornered by McGonagall.
"Potter, I'd like to have a word."
Harry shrugged, putting down the glass of punch. "Sure. What?"
McGonagall's nostrils flared a bit and she dropped her voice as she whispered,
"Potter, before you go hunting for horcruxes I-!"
"What?" Harry stared at her in disbelief, "How do you know-how did you find out-?"
McGonagall raised her hand for silence and continued quietly, but urgently, "Potter, it is enough that I know. In time you will find out how. But first, I must give you some advice and three things which are imperative for you to reserve.
"Now listen to me carefully, Potter. You do not plan to return to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry this year do you?"
Harry shook his head, his mind swirling with questions.
"Think of what this will mean to the Dark Lord," she continued, her eyes flashing, "it is painfully obvious to those much wiser than you how this would effect the wizarding – and muggle – communities around you. If you and your friends do not return to Hogwarts this year, the Dark Lord will begin to wonder why. It won't be long before he puts two and two together. He will realize that you are instead hunting down his horcruxes and hunt you down instead – or worse."
McGonagall let this sink in before she continued, "I will not try to tell you what you can and cannot do, Potter, you have shown me over the last six years that authority means little to you. Instead, I will tell you what you must do, if not for yourself for the safety of your friends.
"Potter, there is a leak in the Order. We don't know from who or how information is being given and received, but we do know that someone at this very wedding is giving away our secrets to the Dark Lord and his servants. We don't know how much the Dark Lord knows, or how much he has already anticipated. But Potter," McGonagall's voice took on a note of urgency, "you must not return to Godric's Hollow. We have reason to believe that your recent stay there has been revealed to the Dark Lord and that the area is being watched closely for your return. Instead," she withdrew a slip of parchment from her robes,
"You must make for this address. Memorize it." She commanded. Harry peered at the paper, staring at the loopy handwriting. It seemed vaguely familiar;
Number 17 Reed's Forest
"Number 17, Reed's Forest…" Harry muttered under his breath, "Got it."
"Good. Inflammare!" The paper burst into flame and the ashes blew off into the evening breeze. The sun was beginning to set, and the temperature dropping.
Harry watched them fly away and looked back over at McGonagall expectantly.
"You, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger are to apparate directly to that address and not to Godric's Hollow. Am I understood?" She added fiercely, raising a rigid eyebrow.
Harry nodded and opened his mouth to ask a question, but McGonagall overrode him.
"Now, Potter, when you reach…that address, you are to realize it is imperative you speak of it to no one save your friends. You will be amazed at what you find and enraged at what you are asked to do. Understand that no outbursts are permitted. This is for the good of the world. That being said," She reached into her pocket again and pulled out two golden badges, one with the initials HB and the other with HG engraved in them.
"Congratulations to you and Miss Granger. You have made Head Boy and Head Girl at Hogwarts."
Harry stared at the badges in disbelief.
"Well take them!" McGonagall snapped, though her voice gave away her pleasure at seeing him so astonished.
"B-But…Ron…he made prefect-!"
"He was the second choice, Harry," McGonagall answered, "We all would have had you but he…" she paused awkwardly and then continued as if nothing had happened, "…we knew it was too much at the time."
She dropped the badges into Harry's hand and then turned briskly away, marching back towards the particular group of the Order Member she had been speaking to; Moody, Lupin, and Tonks.
Harry stared down at the cool metal badges in his hand in shock. McGonagall knew about horcruxes, he couldn't go back to Godric's Hollow, he had made Head Boy, Hermione and Ron…and something was waiting for them at Number 17 Reed's Forest.
As his head was swirling with all this new information, the door from the Burrow swung open and Ron and Hermione emerged, Ron's arm around Hermione's waist, she blushing profusely. Harry quickly dropped into a fetal position behind the counter, hiding from them, not even knowing why.
He heard their voices drawing near and pulled himself up tighter,
"Come on, I made it painfully obvious-!"
"Well, Ronald, to be honest, I reckoned you fancied me back in 4th year – Harry!" Hermione and Ron had caught sight of him.
"What are you doing down there?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Hiding." Harry replied simply, half of him wanting them to ask why, the other half wishing they'd just leave him alone.
Ron looked over at Ginny who was still dancing with Neville flirtatiously, searching for Harry every now and then, and then looked back over at Harry, his eyebrows raised in sympathy, "I understand perfectly, mate."
Harry looked up at him curiously and then realized Ron had no idea why. Slowly, he pulled himself up from the ground, and felt something hard in his hand. He looked down and remembered the badges,
"Oh…uh, Hermione…" He handed the Head Girl badge to her wordlessly. She stared at it in shock, her eyes widening, for a whole second before picking it up reverently and giving a girlish squeal.
"I-I don't believe it!" She shrieked.
"Oh come on, Herms, you knew you had it coming ever since you got that 130 on your Charms Final," said Ron, grinning at the sight of Hermione hopping up and down happily.
All of the sudden, Hermione froze, and her expression began to fade. She handed the badge back towards Harry, "But…we're not going back to Hogwarts this year," she murmured quietly.
Harry shook his head, pushing it back towards her, "No…we are going back, Hermione, see-!"
"Oy!" Ron exclaimed, "What's that in your other hand?"
Again, Harry was reminded of his own badge. "Oh, yeah…" he muttered, "I made Head Boy…"
Hermione stared at him as though she couldn't believe it before exclaiming, "That's wonderful, Harry! That's really, really great!"
She seemed at loss for more words and could only stand there, grinning as she looked from her badge to Harry's badge. Ron was laughing too. He didn't seem to mind the fact that Harry got the badge he had dreamed of getting in 1st year if he instead got Hermione.
"Well done, mate! I always knew you'd get it! Whether you skipped a prefect's badge or not!"
"Yeah," Harry agreed tonelessly, "it's fantastic. I couldn't be happier." He sighed and raised his eyebrows expectantly, "So I take it you two are…"
"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed, "We totally forgot, Herms! We need to tell Harry the good news!"
Hermione smiled at Ron and then looked over at Harry, "Ron and I…well, we're a couple now." She beamed at him, and Harry tried to smile back. He had after all been the one to egg Ron on about asking her, he'd nearly pushed them together during their stay at the Burrow, and fixed their argument this morning. It was what he had wanted from the start. Yet for some reason, just like in 6th year, he didn't think he was exactly comfortable with them dating.
"As of fifteen minutes," Ron was saying proudly, pulling Hermione closer and kissing her on the cheek. Hermione blushed and gave him a peck as well. Harry averted his gaze.
"Listen I…" he trailed off as Ron road over him easily.
"Hermione and I-!" Ron was interrupted by Hermione who looked over at Harry worriedly.
"Ron…Ron and I wanted to talk to you about this whole dating-thing though, obviously, Harry."
"Correction, Hermione, wanted to talk to you about the dating thing. I personally don't think it will affect your life too greatly. After all, as I was telling Hermione, you were the one that encouraged me to ask her out!"
"The thing is," Hermione said quickly, "I think we should talk this over, the three of us. Let's go inside." She added, looking over at Ginny who was glaring daggers at the three of them.
They entered the Burrow and made for the family den, sitting down on the familiar patched up couch, Hermione in the center. She began nervously enough, her voice up an octave,
"Alright then. Well, Harry…um," She stood up and began to pace the room, wringing her hands. "I know that the next few months are going to be tough. We'll be looking for horcruxes, fighting Death Eaters, and…" she took a breath, "…and I know that some of us could, get…killed." Her lip trembled as she said this and she averted her eyes at the thought of it. Sighing, she began to pace again,
"The thing is, I think we should make these last few months count. We'll be doing things we've never done before, battling creatures we've never heard of before, seeing things we never would have wanted to see in our wildest nightmares. But the thing is, we'll be doing it as three great friends, and I know now that well…" she bit her lip and looked nervously at Harry.
"Things are going to be different with me and Ron dating, Harry, and I don't care if Ron says it won't impact our friendship. It will. And I don't want you to feel like a third wheel, Harry. We're doing this together. Dating is just another journey on the path of life. Despite my relationship with Ron, we'll all continue to grow as friends, and we'll each-!"
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, "You're not saying Harry'll be coming on dates with us!"
Hermione looked slightly flustered and then snapped, "Of course he won't, Ron, don't be ridiculous."
"Sorry," Ron leaned back against the couch and watched her, "you were just making it sound like we were all…" he trailed off, shaking his head.
Hermione continued hurriedly, "What I'm trying to say, Harry, is that…that I need to know if you have any problems with me and Ron dating?" She looked over at Harry almost hopefully, her eyes bright with anticipation.
Harry found that the words were caught in his throat. He merely shook his head. Some of the light left Hermione's eyes and she sighed audibly, "Well then. I guess that takes care of that."
Almost nervously, she sat down between Harry and Ron. Ron put his arm around her and she slowly leaned her head on his shoulder. Harry, without realizing it, instinctively jumped up from the couch. Ron looked at him in surprise,
"What is it?"
"I-I just remembered," Harry stammered, "I forgot to tell you. McGonagall-" He ignored the glare from Hermione, "-just told me that we can't go back to Godric's Hollow."
"Why not?" Hermione asked, instantly alert, sitting up straight and pulling away from Ron who looked slightly indignant.
"Because apparently, there's a spy in the Order," Harry whispered, dropping his voice to a whisper, "They don't know who-!"
"They? Who's the 'they'?" Ron asked.
Harry paused. He hadn't even thought about it. Who was the they? He shrugged, "I don't know. Your mum and dad probably. Anyways. There's a spy leaking information to Voldemort and apparently there are Death Eaters at Godric's Hollow waiting for us. Instead, we're supposed to apparate to 'Number 17 Reed's Forest'."
"But didn't she say why there?" Hermione asked, "Is that the new Headquarters?"
Harry shook his head, "I doubt it. The unofficial one more likely. If they can't trust the majority of the Order Members, they can't tell them all where the new Headquarters are going to be."
"Who are we allowed to trust?" Ron asked quickly, "Do we know anyone who's definitely not a Death Eater in disguise?"
Harry sighed, "Look, I don't know! But I'm guessing we can't tell anyone about it, 'least McGonagall said not to. She just said it would all make sense later on. She also knows about the horcruxes."
"How?" Hermione exclaimed.
The door burst open and someone charged into the room, sobbing. The trio looked up expectantly and were surprised to see Ginny standing there. She looked from Ron to Hermione to Harry and quickly blushed scarlet up to her hairline. Then she promptly whirled about on her heel and headed for the stairs.
"Ginny!" Harry called. She ignored him and continued upstairs. Harry stared after her, his patience already tried so many times throughout the past week, finally breaking.
"Fine!" He shouted after her, "Just bloody well ignore me then, why don't you! Never mind that I'm trying to patch things up!"
He turned and was surprised to see Ron and Hermione looking at him in surprise.
"What?" He demanded
"Nothing," Hermione looked away and Ron stared pointedly at what seemed to suddenly be an incredibly fascinating ceiling.
Harry looked down at the floor, his temper which had flared so easily vanished. All of the sudden he was so tired, and his scar was prickling ominously, "I think I'll just be going to bed then. Wish Bill and Fleur the best for me." He headed for the stairs and Hermione called after him,
"Good night, Harry. When should we leave tomorrow?"
"Ten o' clock," Harry replied without even thinking about it. He hurried up the stairs, trying his best to block out the voices of his two best friends below.
A/N:
I thank you all (my two reviewers) for reading this story and being thoughtful enough to review. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, despite the events that ocurred. As I have said before, this is how I imagine - and hope - the 7th book will turn out. Not necessarily how one wants in the beginning, but leaving enough hope to survive through the book. That being said:
Sky Spirit: Yes, the rings took me quite a while; especially Fleur's because I would have to pick something describing her sacrifice in marrying a deformed Bill or simply one of Bill's characteristics (which is hard, 'cause we don't know much about him). Anyways, thanks for reviewing you're one of my few constant reviewers and I'm very greatful.
Souunga: Thank you, and I will try not to be put down by lack of reviews. It is rather discouraging though when people read my story and can't be bothered to give input (I know people do 'cause I checked the number of hits this chapter had about 55 and only 2 reviews); but at least I know they're reading it. I look forward to hearing from you again! (I also reach your c4 review, if you're having trouble finding stories you could try it has a large variety of stories - good and bad - but they all follow the "portkey ships")
And for those of you who couldn't be bothered to review, please do. I don't like having to guilt people into it, but I might just pull up some tears and start begging...