A/N: Hey, I'm putting up a poll on what's going to happen to Dumbledore...now. So vote! Cause in two weeks I'll be taking it down. And then..yeah. So about the whole Harry taking over thing, yes he will take over when he's fourteen although officially Remus is in control but he will no longer monitor Harry's investments and businesses as he used to. That will be all up to Harry.
Sorry, this chapter's a little random but next chapter we will be dealing with Umbridge!
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Chapter 39: Announcements
The next morning they all slept in until Jade woke Harry with the news that Bill Weasley was in the formal parlor awaiting his presence. Groaning Harry rolled over and looked at the new clock hanging on his wall. Noon. Turning Harry spotted Jade, who waited nearby for her instructions.
"Thank you Jade! Please inform Mr. Weasley that I shall be with him momentarily. In the meantime could you offer him some tea?"
"Of course, Master Harry! It has already been taken care of."
Jade bowed and popped out of the room as Harry proceeded to get changed. It wouldn't do for him to receive visitors in his night clothes. Ten minutes later Harry entered the parlor to find Bill and Remus already talking.
"Bill! How lovely to see you. Is there any particular reason you are visiting us today?" Harry yawned as he dropped into his seat.
"Harry." Bill nodded. "So sorry to be disturbing you but mother insisted. She's worried about Ginny." He rolled his eyes and took another sip of his tea.
Harry chuckled good-naturedly and nodded, "Of course, I believe she is still asleep. Jade." Harry paused as Jade popped into the room. "Is Ginny awake yet?"
"No, Master Harry. None of your guests have stirred yet although Master David is already on his way down."
"Thank you, could you wake Ginny up for me please? And could we get lunch in the dining room…say in…half-an-hour." Harry turned to Bill. "Would you like to join us?"
"Sure, I guess." Bill shrugged.
"Great! Jade, inform the others to set up a place for Bill as well." Harry smiled at his house elf and friend.
"It shall be done. Would you like the elves to wake your other guests in time for lunch?"
"That would be great! In fact, why not wake them now so they have enough time to clean up before we eat." Harry suggested.
Jade bowed again and popped out. Harry sighed and reached for his cup of tea that Jade had poured for him. Unfortunately it was a bit beyond his reach and so he was forced to levitate it towards him. "So how goes things? You're not still living at the Borrow are you? I thought you had planned to move out with Charlie a while back." Harry asked as he sipped his tea.
"Yes, that was the plan but we are having a hard time finding a suitable place to live."
Harry contemplated his friend's problem as David walked in and poured a cup of tea for himself. "Oh! I know! My Hogsmeade house! It'll be more than big enough for the two of you! And if you split the lease…" Harry trailed off as he thought about it. Not only would it be convenient to have Bill close by it would also help if they ever needed to use the house as an emergency getaway.
"Harry, what about the Scamander kid?" Remus asked as he finished his tea.
"He'll understand, we hadn't signed the release yet. It's still at the negotiating stage. We'll just say we got a better offer. You know it's not legal until the contact's been signed and all."
Remus nodded, "Alright, I'll contact Jefferson and have him prepare the necessary documents."
Harry held up a hand, "Wait up! Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves here? I mean, we have to ask Bill here for his opinion and then we need to approach Charlie with the idea." Harry turned to ask Bill what he thought just as Ginny entered the room.
"Approach Charlie about what?" Ginny yawned as she dropped onto the couch David was already sitting on.
"They were talking about your brothers moving out." David explained as he handed Ginny a fresh cup of tea.
"Thanks, yeah, I remember Charlie talking about it." Ginny paused to take a sip of her tea. "So why did you all wake me for? Luna and I had a late night."
"Your brother here needed to check on you." Harry smirked, purposely forgetting to mention that it was on her mother's orders that Bill was there. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his tea as he waited for Ginny's temper to flare. Ginny's temper was second only to his own but was more enjoyable to watch as she did not have his control.
"BILL!!" Ginny screeched loudly.
The two Lupins both tried, unsuccessfully, to hide their smirks whilst Bill turned pale white and sank deeper into his chair. "I…mum…asked…" Bill stuttered.
"Oh fine. I don't blame you. But mum…" Ginny relaxed enough to stop yelling but her eyes were still narrowed in anger as she thought of getting back at her mother. It was at this point that the others came running in.
"What happened? We heard…" Draco collapsed into one of the few remaining armchairs breaking off when he caught sight of Ginny's face. "Never mind…" Things were silent with everyone fighting to wake up fully.
Blaise was the first to speak, "So when do we eat?"
That did it and everyone started laughing. It was an ongoing joke within their group; they all constantly teased Blaise about the amount of food he ate.
"Lunch shall be in…fifteen minutes." Harry consulted the clock in the corner of the room. "Is that soon enough for you, Mr. Zabini?" Harry asked sarcastically.
Blaise looked like he wanted to say something but refrained at the last minute. Theo and Neville both looked up at that point and turned to Blaise with surprise showing in their eyes. Harry too sensed the warring emotions coming from Blaise but refrained from commenting silently asking Neville and Theo to keep quiet as well. Whatever it was Blaise would tell them when he was ready.
Conversation from then on was light as most of the group had yet to awaken fully and everyone was too hungry to think of anything but food. Jade called them to lunch and not long after they sat down did things pick up as dishes were passed around. The rest of the adults joined them part-way through the meal and they had an enjoyable time discussing the most random topics possible.
As soon as lunch was done the Weasleys packed up and left. Fortunately Ginny was in a better mood and gave them all one last smile before stepping into the fire. Slowly the others left as well one by one, or two, as was the case with the Costa twins and Draco and Arianna. Finally Harry was left alone with his family and he dropped into his armchair with a sigh.
"Well that was fun!" Harry grinned tired but happy.
"Yes, that was fun." Remus smiled proudly. "You did well, a natural host you are. You take after your grandmother."
Harry smiled and was about to reply when Sirius spoke up from his own armchair. "Hey Harry, I've got me a question about your bet. Why five Galleons? I mean, most of your friends only bet one or two."
Harry smirked, "if there is one thing I've learned in the last year it is that you should never bet against Theo."
"He tipped the Ireland did he?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah, Ireland to win but Bulgaria to catch the snitch." Harry recalled Theo's prediction that day when they had been studying together in the library.
"Interesting…" Sirius trailed off.
Harry just grinned and leaned back in his chair relaxing. The Longbottom party was in two days and they were to return the day after which meant Harry had a lot of work to do in between. Just as Harry drifted off a voice woke him up.
Harry!
Sitting bolt upright Harry looked around the room to find everyone had left and the house elves had cleared away the tea tray. Standing he stretched, yawned and then headed for his study. Who is it?
Fred!
And George!
We need your help; mum and Ginny are at it again.
Only this time it is much louder and angrier…ouch!
Man can Ginny yell, anyway,
Mum's trying to keep Ginny from going to the party
But dad's insisting that we go
And we're not sure the house can stand that long
Also, Bill and Charlie wanted to talk to you
Yeah, something about some house
Harry smirked as he sat down at his desk. Right, tell them I'll talk to Charlie as soon as we get back to Hogwarts.
Sure will do. The twins said in unison.
There was silence as Harry retrieved his Charms homework and started reading it over.
Wow, it's quiet. I think dad won.
Yeah, it looks like it.
Guess we will see you there Harry.
Harry frowned over his essay as he edited out any mistakes he found. Oh right, see you guys.
The rest of the day was spent finishing his homework and that night was spent with David in the games room having fun. The next two days were spent in the dueling chamber as Harry continued his own training as well as David's.
On the day of the party the Lupin family went shopping along with Harry to purchase new dress robes for that evening. Leila's robes were outdated as it had been years since she had attended such a party, Harry had grown out of his from last year and Remus and David had never had dress robes of their own.
Therefore, they spent the majority of the morning at Madam Malkin's after which the family split up and went their separate ways. Remus went to Gringotts to see to some business whilst Leila went about visiting some old friends and the boys visited the apothecary to stock up on their potions ingredients.
The four of them met up for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before returning to Evans Estate to prepare for the party. They had a quick dinner at home before they were ready to go. Upon arriving at Longbottom Estate Harry led his family over to greet the Longbottoms just as the Greengrasses had finished.
Harry was about to introduce Remus and Leila to Mrs. Longbottom only to find they had already met. Neville's parents were also happy to see Remus and Leila once again and they immediately dragged the reluctant couple off to meet others from their school days.
Shaking his head with a smile Harry dragged David away along with Daphne who had just bid her older brother farewell and was waiting for them. They met up with the others in Neville's parlor and chatted for a while amongst themselves before they headed out to join the main party.
Instead of keeping to themselves as they usually did the order went about meeting new people. Daphne introduced her older brother, Alexander, and they also met his girlfriend who was coincidently Theo's sister, Alison. The two of them joined the group for a while as did some of their friends in the outer circle.
Harry also had to spend some time being introduced to the other members of the Wizengamont whom he had yet to meet. He smiled tightly as he nodded and tried to file their names and faces away for future reference. Finally Harry was allowed to return to his friends and they chatted for a couple of minutes before deciding to try their hand at dancing once again.
However, they were interrupted by an announcement as they found their chosen partners. Mrs. Longbottom was standing on a raised platform, "I hope you are all enjoying yourselves this evening. Before we start the dancing again I have some things to say. First, I would like to congratulate Lord Sirius Black and Lady Sara Nott on their engagement." She paused politely as the room applauded, some more cheerfully then others. "Secondly, congratulations to Regent Remus Lupin and Lady Leila Wilkes on their engagement. And last but not least, another engagement between Lord Garrett Wilkes and Lady Angelique Zabini. Thank you that is all."
Harry and his friends paused with shock, clapping mechanically as they turned to Blaise. Harry, Neville and Theo were the least surprised because they already knew he was hiding something but they were still annoyed that he hadn't told them.
"Surprise." Blaise grinned, seeing the shock on his friend's faces he knew it was worth his silence.
What he didn't see coming though was the point when his friends recover. Theo, Harry and Neville watched with amusement as Blaise was bombarded with questions. It was a while before the girls had settled down enough for a dance.
Harry led Arianna out onto the dance floor glad that he had taken the time out of his busy schedule to get some practice. The others partnered each other save for David, who was proclaiming the whole thing stupid, and Cedric who had asked a Ravenclaw, Su Li. They swapped partners every dance or two and by night's end everyone had dance with one another.
They were having so much fun that they didn't even realize how late it was until their parents came to get them. They said goodbye reluctantly even knowing that they would see each other on the train the next day. Harry and David followed Remus and Leila home and collapsed straight into bed after making sure the house elves knew to wake them in the morning.
The next morning there was a mad scramble as the three of them returning to Hogwarts rushed to pack their trunks. And before they knew it they were back at Hogwarts getting ready for the first day of term. Things picked up quickly and Harry and his friends were soon back at quidditch training, classes, studying and their extra classes with Professor Snape and Remus.
Unfortunately they also had to deal with the rest of the school and their reactions to the three engagements. It had taken a flat out order from Harry before the other students would back up and leave Blaise and David alone from all the questions. After that things settled down quickly. Harry soon realized that he had forgotten to start Hannah, Susan and Cedric on their animagus training and saw to it that they had lessons with Professor Snape, Draco or himself.
It would have been his first preference to have the twins help with the training but they were too busy preparing for their O.W.L.s and they were also starting to work on their plans for their joke shop. Harry smirked when the twins told him of their plans, they still did not know how they were going to get enough money to start the business but figured once Mia and Cara were of age they could use their inheritance and pay them back later.
Harry was almost a walking zombie within the first week back and decided he needed to cut back on something. He had already come close to mastering the Patronus Charm and figured he could continue on his own. So he dropped his lessons with Remus as he also had to spend some time arranging the lease for his Hogsmeade home.
//Flashback//
Blaise and Harry were arguing about their latest Transfiguration essay as they made their way outside to their first Care of Magical Creatures class of the term. Crabbe and Goyle were chatting with Justin and Ernie about their summer and Susan and Hannah were reading as they walked. They have upped their studies to a new level and Susan, Hannah, Terry, Anthony and Ginny were now the ones responsible for the prank war against Dumbledore.
They reached the clearing and sat down to wait for Charlie to arrive. Unlike their first lesson last term they were sitting together as a group chatting as they were still several minutes early. Finally Charlie arrived and began their lesson on Salamanders. As the others went about collecting wood and studying the creatures Charlie drew Harry aside to talk about the Hogsmeade house.
"Now Harry, both Bill and I have discussed your offer and we would love to lease your Hogsmeade home. Of course we do have to discuss the details like dates, amount and so on."
"Great!" Harry grinned as he retrieved his parchment and quill to take some notes. They agreed on a date with little fuss as well as the splitting of duties but when it came down to the rent they argued for the remainder of the lesson. Charlie was against taking charity as he called it and Harry didn't feel it was necessary for his friends to pay so much.
In the end they had to ask Blaise for his opinion and he settled it with a compromise of an in between price. Nodding, Harry noted it down and Charlie wrapped up the lesson, "Alright all of you. I want a foot long essay on the Salamanders to be handed in next lesson."
As the others left Harry and Blaise remained behind for a moment, "I'll have Remus contact our solicitor to set up the lease contract. When that's done we'll get Bill up here to finish it off." Harry nodded and they shook hands once more before Harry and Blaise left for lunch.
//End Flashback//
Harry smirked as he remembered Blaise's annoyance at missing out on 'valuable eating time'. He sighed and put away his essay before joining his friends on their way to meet Professor Snape for their fortnightly Occulmency lesson. They had all been progressing slowly but steadily, Harry and Draco were the furthest along followed by the four twins.
