Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of J.K. Rowling's characters, places, or items.

Comments: Ah! Did I actually go a whole day without updating?! Lol, sorry, I was away. I plan on showering you with chapters today (so far it looks as if I'll have the time). And it's good conditioning for you guys, anyhow, because I am going to be gone from June 11th until the 17th. But I'll remind you of that later...

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Chapter 26 – My Girl

The next morning Harry woke up to find that Ron was already downstairs. At about two o' clock that morning he had finally managed to fall into a peaceful sleep, but apparently Ron hadn't had any trouble sleeping. Harry got out of bed and dressed, not feeling quite as gloomy as he had before. As he walked down the hallway to the stairs, he discovered that Fred, George, Ginny, Silver, and, to his relief, Charisma, were all also already awake and downstairs. He entered the kitchen and was greeted by a loud squeal from Charisma, who bounded up to him and began tugging at his pants.

He bent down and picked up the tiny hippogriff. It squirmed in his grasp, but froze when it looked him in the eye.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

It decided to snap at his nose for a reply. He set it down, and it bounded back to Silver, who reached down and patted it on the head.

"Morning, Harry," she greeted.

"Morning," he replied, noting with disappointment that the only chair open was two seats away from her.

He slid into it, running a hand through his hair, and was served a plate brimming full of hot food by Mrs. Weasley. He dug in gratefully, and with every bite felt energy flowing through his system. He hadn't even had dinner the previous night, he realized. He didn't talk to anyone as he ate, and the others seemed just as intent on eating their own breakfasts. When he was finally done, he sat back contentedly, finding that he was able to focus much easier. He noted that Dumbledore was still there, probably to make sure that the sealing off of the passageway had worked.

He looked over at Silver. She had finished breakfast and was talking with Fred and George. They said something to make her laugh, and he felt a smile creeping onto his face as he watched her eyes light up. Sometimes he felt as if her eyes could laugh all on their own. She was so beautiful, so perfect, so...he gave a yelp and jumped up, nearly knocking his chair over in the process. Charisma stood by his throbbing ankle, staring up at him sweetly. He glared at her.

"Charisma!" Silver exclaimed in a scolding voice, "Don't bite Harry!"

"Well, it was the only way to get his attention," Tonks replied, "The poor little thing was sitting at his feet squealing her head off for about five minutes, but he was just sitting there staring at you and smiling like he just won the lottery."

Harry gave her an evil glare and blushed furiously as most of the table dissolved into laughter. Silver seemed to be trying to keep a straight face.

"Well," she said, her voice quieting everyone down, "That's still no reason to bite."

She fixed her hippogriff with a stern look, and Charisma immediately pranced over to Harry and rubbed up against his bitten ankle. Harry chanced a glance at Silver, who winked at him and motioned with her head to the living room. He grinned and immediately left the room. Soon enough, she came in, Charisma at her heels.

"So, were you really staring at me?" she asked playfully.

"Maybe," he replied evasively.

She giggled. "Bet you were..." she teased.

"How do you know?" he challenged, "Maybe I was staring at...Ginny!"

"Oh, really now?" she asked amusedly.

"Really now," he answered.

"So you're cheating on me!" she exclaimed, stepping forward and giving him an accusing shove.

"Well...uh..." he wasn't quite sure if she was serious or not.

"Fine then, this relationship is over!" she said, tossing her head defiantly.

"I was just kidding!" he exclaimed, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back to him, "I was staring at you, promise."

She smiled. "And I was kidding too," she informed him.

"Oh," he said, although he couldn't help but feel relieved.

She giggled.

"All right, lovebirds, break it up," George said as he, Fred, Ron, and Ginny came in.

Silver frowned at him, and he grinned back at her.

"Remember," he said, motioning to Ginny, "We have young eyes watching, and we wouldn't want to give her any bad impressions, now would we?"

"Definitely not," Silver agreed solemnly.

"Good, now that we've agreed on...hey!"

Silver had slid her arms around Harry's neck and initiated a playful kiss. Harry put up no resistance as he pulled her closer. She drew away and looked into his eyes, teasing him silently. Harry could almost hear her challenge. Bet you can't kiss me again! He leaned forward, but she slid out of his grasp.

"Okay, you two," George was saying, as Harry chased her around the room.

"Break it up, now," Fred added, sounding worried.

"Stop it!" Ron added.

Harry ignored them and finally caught her. She squirmed in his arms, laughing. He turned her around, fully prepared to kiss her, when Ron whacked him smartly in the side of the head with a rolled up newspaper.

"Ah! What the bloody-"he began, before Silver quieted him with a finger over his lips.

He sufficed for an evil glare at Ron, who smirked back at him. Silver noticed, however, and gave Ron a haughty look. Charisma mirrored her owner's look in Ron's direction. Harry thought she looked irresistible, and began to snake his arms around her, but she gave him a warning look and he stopped with an innocent smile.

"Now, if you two can manage to step out of each other's arms for one second..." George began amusedly.

"A whole second?" Silver interrupted, "One entire second?"

She gave a dramatic sigh and pretended to faint onto the couch beside George. George rolled his eyes, and Harry grinned. Wonder why she's in such a good mood today, he thought to himself. Whatever the reason, he was sure he liked it. He sat down on the floor, resting his head against the couch where she lay above him. In only a few moments time he felt her fingers in his hair.

"Oh quit the mush!" George exclaimed.

"It's hard to concentrate when you're sitting there running your fingers through his hair!" Fred added.

Ginny and Ron sniggered at the offended look on Silver's face.

"I can run my fingers through my boyfriend's hair whenever I want, thank you very much," she replied.

"Yeah, you could run your fingers through any guys' hair whenever you wanted and not get any complaints, but that doesn't make it a good thing to do," George retorted.

Silver blushed furiously. "Hmph," she replied, although she took her fingers out of his hair.

Fred and George exchanged grins.

"So what's so important?" Silver asked.

"Oh, nothing, just the fact that Fred and I need your help but you're too busy being with your boyfriend," George replied.

"Well, if you'd tell me what you needed help with maybe I'd be less busy," Silver replied sensibly.

"Whatever," Fred replied, "Now listen up, all of you."

Immediately everyone turned towards Fred and George.

"Well, George and I were out looking at the competition one day – you know, Lurdic Addle's Joke Shop," Fred began.

"And we found something called Nosebleed Nuggets...well, you know how ours are called Nosebleed Nougats?" George continued.

Everyone nodded.

"Well, apparently the change in name is the only thing that's changed," Fred said sourly.

"He's stealing our stuff!" George exclaimed.

"Well, you should tell someone," Ginny replied sensibly.

"Oh no," Fred replied, grinning.

"We don't work that way," George furthered.

"Besides, getting revenge is much more fun," Fred added, exchanging an evil grin with George.

"And that's where you come in, gorgeous," George said as he and Fred turned their gazes to Silver.

Harry wasn't sure if he liked them calling her gorgeous, but he didn't comment.

"Wait, since when did I say I was going to help you two get revenge?" she asked.

They gave her identical puppy dog faces.

"Please?" they begged in unison.

"Okay, okay, just stop it," she relented.

They grinned evilly.

"Alright now, here's the plan. While you distract him, Fred and I are going to go into his back room where they put all the ingredients, and replace them with a special little something of our own," George said, openly relishing in the mere thought of revenge.

"How exactly am I supposed to distract him?" Silver asked.

"Well, that's the thing," Fred said, "Lurdic is a very hard guy to distract. So you're going to have to be very...well, attention grabbing."

"Which won't be very hard, for you," George added, eyeing her in a way Harry was not comfortable with.

"What we're saying, basically," Fred continued, "Is that we need you to turn on some of that feminine charm. You know, just be a bit...seductive."

"No," Silver said firmly, "I won't...I can't!"

"Oh, but you can," George replied, "You think we don't see you with Harry?"

"Harry is my boyfriend!" she replied, sounding shocked.

"Uh-huh, and have you noticed he's never exactly turned down a kiss?" Fred answered.

Silver blushed. "How would you know?" she challenged.

"Because you're you," George told her, grinning and winking at Harry.

"So?" she replied.

"Trust me," Fred said, "No guy would ever turn down a kiss from you."

"I won't kiss him," she declared, her face still flushed.

"We didn't ask you to," George replied, "We just want you to help us."

"So will you?" Fred asked.

"Please?" they pleaded together, giving her begging looks.

She sighed. "Oh, alright," she agreed.

They gave each other high fives.

"So, you ready?" George asked.

"Ready?" Silver echoed, "Right now?"

"Did you think we were going to sit around waiting forever?" Fred replied.

"Shouldn't we wait for Hermione?" Ron interrupted.

Fred and George raised their eyebrows at him. "And why is this, little brother?" George asked.

"B...because, we should," Ron replied, blushing under their gazes.

"How long will we have to wait?" Fred asked, "Because if it's longer than an hour, I'm out."

"Don't worry, it isn't," said a cheerful voice from the doorway.

They all looked up to see Hermione standing there, looking extremely pleased with herself.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, stumbling to his feet.

Hermione was beaming at Silver, however, who jumped up and enfolded her in a hug.

"You said you were coming tonight!" Silver exclaimed.

"Well, I escaped a bit earlier," Hermione replied, still smiling.

Charisma began squealing at Hermione, stomping her feet and demanding attention.

"This sounds like the one you described to me in your letter – whose is it?" Hermione asked, looking down at the tiny creature.

"Mine," Silver said proudly, "Her name is Charisma."

"Where did you get her?" Hermione asked, bending over in an attempt to pet the tiny creature. Charisma, however, took it as an opportunity to try and bite her fingers. Hermione quickly withdrew her hand and straightened up.

"Snape gave her to me for Christmas," Silver answered.

Hermione looked surprised. "Well...that was thoughtful..." she said.

She looked at Silver for a moment, as if they were reading each other's minds, and then they both looked at Harry, who squirmed self-consciously. Then they looked back at each other, again seeming to communicate without words.

Ron looked a bit jealous.

"You never told me you were coming," he pointed out to Hermione, walking up.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Hermione replied, kissing him on the cheek.

He blushed, and Fred and George sniggered.

"How long have you been standing there?" Ginny demanded.

"Long enough to hear what's going on," Hermione replied, "So are we going to Diagon Alley or what?"

"Actually, Silver has to change first," Fred informed them.

"Change?" Silver echoed.

"Yes, we bought you a...little something...to help your act along," George said.

"And just what might that be?" Silver asked.

Exchanging grins, Fred and George stood up, took her by the arms, and led her upstairs. The others paused to exchange glances, and then followed. Before they had even reached the room, however, they heard Silver's voice.

"I am not wearing that!"

"Yes, you are," Fred replied.

"No way to escape it," George added.

They arrived in the doorway in time to see George holding up a very short white dress.

"No way," Silver answered.

"It's much longer than it looks," Fred insisted, "Just try it on, and if you still don't like it, you don't have to wear it."

Frowning at them, Silver grabbed the dress and shooed them out of the room. Fred and George were grinning.

"By much longer than it looks, did you mean shorter?" Silver asked suddenly.

Without knocking, Fred and George burst the door open. She scowled at them.

"What if I was changing?" she demanded.

They didn't answer, however. The dress, although short, looked stunning on Silver. It's thin straps flowed over her shoulders to crisscross in the back, making the dress in itself look rather fragile.

"Get out, I have to change back," she said, ignoring the fact that they were gaping at her.

"You're not changing outta that dress, sweetheart," George replied, snapping out of his trance.

"Oh I'm not?" she shot back, her eyes flashing dangerously. Charisma let out a low growl.

Fred and George realized their mistake in ordering her around.

"Erm, what I meant to say," George said quickly, "Is that we really, really need you to wear that dress so that our plan works perfectly."

"So will you please wear it?" Fred added, he and George giving her their puppy dog looks.

Silver looked down at the dress for a moment.

"I don't have any shoes to match it," she finally said.

Fred and George let out whoops of joy and high-fived each other.

"Not to worry," Fred said, pulling a pair of high heels out of a bag near his bed, "We've got it covered."

"How did you know what shoe size I wear?" she asked as she slipped her feet into the heels.

"Lucky guess," George said slyly.

"Yeah, right," she replied, knowing full well that even Fred and George couldn't guess a person's shoe size that accurately. However, they refused to say anything else.

Silver managed to pile her hair delicately on top of her head in less than fifteen minutes whilst Fred and George informed the adults that they were going to Diagon Alley for a 'look around the joke shop' and would be back by dinner. They all met up in the living room, Fred and George still wearing evil grins.

"Notice that we never said which joke shop," Fred said, winking at them.

After they had all flooed themselves to Fred and George's shop, they set off in the direction of Lurdic Addle's Joke Shop. Ron and Hermione stayed behind the others, and Harry had a feeling that he wouldn't want to hear what they were saying anyway. Charisma bounded along by Silver's feet, squealing at anything she found particularly amusing. When they finally arrived outside the building, Silver picked up Charisma and handed her to Harry.

"You need to stay here while mommy goes inside," she explained to the confused hippogriff.

"Yeah, just stay here with daddy," Fred added teasingly.

Harry blushed and glared at him as Silver hit him on the arm.

Finally, they all peered in the window of the shop. At the counter was a rather good-looking young man with blonde hair and blue eyes, surrounded by a group of goggling girls.

"There's your target," George announced.

"What? Him?" Silver asked, sounding shocked.

"Him," Fred confirmed.

"How am I supposed to distract him?" she demanded, "He looks distracted enough already, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, come on," George said, "They're no competition for you."

"But...but...yes they are," Silver protested.

Harry could see the hesitance in her eyes. He wondered how she could possibly think that she wouldn't blow all those other girls away. They were pretty, but she was gorgeous. Especially in that dress...

Fred and George exchanged glances.

"You're right, you probably couldn't get his attention over all of them," Fred said suddenly.

Harry looked from Fred to George, shocked that they were backing out on their plan.

"Yeah, I mean, you have the looks for sure, but you don't have near enough confidence," George chipped in.

"You wouldn't be able to hold your head up high enough...," Fred continued.

"...show him that you're not afraid of rejection..." George furthered.

Harry watched as Silver's eyes began to grow a determined glint, and he realized what Fred and George were doing.

"I mean, you'd have to be pretty bold to just go in there and..." Fred began.

"Excuse me?" Silver interrupted, "I am not scared of him!"

"Well, you seemed pretty..." George began.

"Well, I'm not," Silver replied defiantly, and without further ado, she pushed into the shop.

Fred and George high-fived each other and they all crowded by the window.

"I wouldn't have minded giving it a go," Ginny said wistfully.

"Ginny!" George exclaimed, sounding horrified.

"Not a mental picture we wanted to see...our baby sister trying to seduce somebody?" Fred echoed in an equally horrified tone.

Ginny rolled her eyes and gave them a "Tut!" along with Hermione.

In the shop, it had only taken a second after Silver had walked through the door for Lurdic to become wholly obsessed with her. She strolled casually to a shelf towards the back and began fingering through the items. Harry strained to hear what was happening inside.

"Um, sorry ladies, but I have to go get something in the back," he said in what Harry supposed he considered a charming tone, "If you wait here, I'll be right back."

"Get something in the back," Harry muttered angrily, "I'll bet he had to get someth..."

"Shh!" Ron said, elbowing him, "We need to be able to hear!"

Harry watched as Lurdic made his way over to her. She looked up with feigned surprise.

"Well, hello there," Lurdic said, "Did you need help with anything?"

Fred and George began to sneak their way towards the door labeled, "Authorized Personnel Only".

"Yes, actually," Silver said, smiling at him, "I was just looking for something to trick my little brother with. He's such a pest...he's the reason my boyfriend and I broke up."

"What?" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry," Hermione said calmly, "She doesn't even have a little brother. She's not talking about you."

"I knew that," Harry mumbled, blushing as he continued to watch.

He hadn't heard what Lurdic had said in response, but he was now gallantly pushing item upon item in front of her face. Suddenly, he stopped. Harry saw his blue eyes spark with an idea.

"You know, you really are lucky," he told Silver, "Because you've come in time for the arrival of my new product – Nosebleed Nuggets!"

"Have I?" Silver replied smoothly.

"Indeed you have. And here they are," he announced, presenting her with a bag which Silver pretended to read intently.

She looked up at him with something akin to anger in her eyes, but it disappeared in a second.

"And what, exactly, do these Nosebleed Nuggets do?" she asked sweetly.

"Well, if you were to break them in half, you would convince him to eat the half that had creates an instant nosebleed," Lurdic said proudly, "And once he was begging you for mercy, you could present him with the other half, that stops it."

"How absolutely brilliant!" Silver exclaimed, "Did you think of that idea all by yourself?"

"I did," Lurdic replied, straightening up and puffing his chest out.

Suddenly Fred and George snuck back out and caught Silver's eye, giving her the thumbs-up sign.

"Oh, you did, did you?" she asked, whapping him smartly on the head with the bag.

He winced and clapped a hand to his head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he exclaimed.

"Being a stinking, rotten, idea-stealing cockroach," she replied angrily, eyes flashing, "Do the words Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes mean anything to you?"

"No," Lurdic said through gritted teeth.

Silver whapped him again. "Then why are you blushing?" she demanded.

"Listen," Lurdic said, "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but..."

Harry pushed Charisma into George's arms and barged into the store as Lurdic advanced on her, causing her to trip backwards, only barely catching herself.

"As for who she is, she wouldn't want to tell the likes of you," he informed Lurdic angrily, "And as for where she came from, I would have a discussion with your parents about that, if you don't know."

He reached Silver's side and she gratefully clung to his arm.

"Are you Harry Potter?" Lurdic asked, completely sidetracked as his eyes landed on Harry's scar, "In my shop?"

"Yes, and isn't it funny how it's both my first and my last time?" Harry replied, putting an arm around Silver as he guided her towards the door, leaving a very confused-looking Lurdic inside.

Silver, Hermione, and Ginny burst into helpless giggles once they were outside the shop. Fred, George, Harry, and Ron exchanged confused glances. Charisma jumped out of George's arms and stood loyally at Silver's feet.

"May we ask what you lovely ladies are laughing about?" Fred asked.

Having recovered enough to speak, Hermione replied, "Oh, nothing."

The boys exchanged glances. Ginny and Silver soon recovered themselves as well.

"He is so cute," Ginny sighed.

"And so dense," Silver answered, to Harry's relief.

"Well, he can afford to be a bit dense," Hermione said, causing her and Ginny to break into giggles again, and Ron to look very jealous.

Silver rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come off it, Silver," Ginny urged, "I mean, he has that wavy blonde hair, perfect blue eyes..."

She trailed off with a misty look in her eyes.

"They're not perfect," Silver declared.

Hermione and Ginny looked at her as if she was crazy.

"So," Fred said, interrupting, "Good job, Silver. You were very seductive."

"I was, wasn't I?" Silver replied to nobody in particular.

"Yes, but don't let it go to your head," George warned, "We don't want you to go wrapping guys around your little finger just for fun."

Silver giggled. "I really have no intention of doing that," she replied.

"Good," Harry stated, but she didn't appear to have heard him.

"Of course, there is one guy," she continued dreamily.

Fred and George exchanged worried glances in Harry's direction. Harry felt his heart stop beating.

"He's tall and handsome – just my type," she continued, as Ginny and Hermione hung on her every word.

"He has jet black hair, and gorgeous emerald eyes," she sighed dramatically, "And his name is..."

Hermione and Ginny began to giggle helplessly, as Fred, George, Ron, and Harry tried to think of somebody with jet black hair and 'gorgeous' green eyes.

"Harry Potter," she finished in a theatrical tone as Hermione and Ginny doubled over upon seeing the looks on the boys' faces.

Harry felt a wave of relief wash over him. She turned to him with a mischievous smile.

"You didn't think I was talking about anyone else, now did you?" she teased as she dropped back to walk beside him. As if on cue, all the others sped up, leaving them to themselves.

"Of course not," he lied.

She giggled.

"I thought not," she said, her voice still teasing.

Harry noted that Ron and Hermione had dropped behind again. What was with them? What did they have to say that couldn't be said anywhere else?

"Don't start worrying about Ron and Hermione," Silver warned, as if she had read his thoughts, "They're just being romantic, that's all."

"Do you want me to be more romantic?" he asked worriedly.

She smiled. "Well, we're walking alone, aren't we?"

He grinned. "Suppose so," he answered.

"Hey, lovebirds!" George called, "Come here!"

Harry, Silver, Ron, and Hermione ran to catch up.

"Say, we were wondering if you guys could get back to the house on your own – George and I have stuff to do," Fred said.

"Why can't we stay here?" Ron asked.

"Well, it wouldn't be..." George took a while searching for a suitable word, "safe."

"Because of me?" Silver asked, eyes flashing with that dangerous determined look.

"Well..." Fred began, "Not totally because of you..."

"Oh really?" Silver replied unbelievingly.

"Listen, princess," George said, putting an arm around her shoulder, "I know you're going to think this is way too much of an adult-responsibility type thing for me to say, but I don't want anything to happen to you."

"We don't want anything to happen to you," Fred corrected.

George nodded, both of the twins looking more serious than Harry had ever seen them.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me," Silver declared, "I can take care of..."

"Yourself," George finished dryly, "Yes, we know. But do you really want to risk it? It's not just yourself, it's everybody around you, too."

"Oh, so you don't care about..." Silver began hotly.

"Darling, listen," Fred said, "You're like a sister to us. We'd kill for you any day. We care about you, and everybody else here. Stop jumping to conclusions. I hate to sound like Snape, but it's so Gryffindor-like."

A hint of a smile played on Silver's face. "You think?" she asked.

"We know," George answered.

"All right, then," she relented.

"'Atta girl," Fred said.

She smiled at them, and then up at Harry, for some reason unknown to him. Hermione, Fred, and George sported knowing smiles, but Ron and Ginny looked as confused as Harry.

"Your girl, right Harry?" George prompted.

Harry grinned. "Yep," he confirmed, "My girl."