One Step at a Time

Those-Who-Love the Boy-Who-Lived

When Harry and Blaise went back to the den following their lesson where all their friends were waiting, both were beaming.

Hermione had been worried, especially given recent happenings, so matched Harry's smile. "I take it training went well?" she asked.

"I figured out how to block Legilimency," Harry said. "Almost every time too."

Ginny got up to give him a tight hug. "That's wonderful news, Harry. Great job."

"And I did all right for my first time," Blaise said. He didn't want to draw any more attention to his newly discovered talents then he had to.

"Please," Harry said, already curled up with Ginny on their couch. "He was bloody brilliant. Even Snape said so."

Blaise blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, I think this calls for a little celebration," Hermione said. "How about we all go out to Hogsmeade to celebrate at the Three Broomsticks?"

"Is that safe?" Blaise asked. He wasn't afraid for his own safety, as it sounded like he wasn't a target so long as he didn't get in the way, but Draco might still be a loose end the Death Eaters wanted cleaned up. And who knew who would be floating about the bar.

"So long as we take the right precautions we should be fine," Ginny said, warming to the idea. They'd barely left the house since their Christmas shopping at Diagon Alley and it would be good to get out for a bit before they returned to school.

"I think it sounds great," Harry said. "And my treat, no arguing."

"Harry," Hermione said, already protesting, but Harry held up a hand.

"No, I insist. Without all of you and your love and support I would have never even gotten this far to figuring out how to perform Occlumency. Quite literally, I might add," he said. "So, my treat."

Ron was practically drooling at the thought. The Weasley children had never gone without anything, but they had never had spare money to spend on anything out of the necessities. Things had gotten better with Fred and George giving some of their earnings to their parents – who had protested at first, but the boys had insisted it was only fair for all of the gray they'd put in their hair. The idea of a literal all-out party at the Three Broomsticks and the subsequent amounts of butterbeer sounded like heaven.

"Just let me go tell Mum," Ginny said, giving her boyfriend a quick kiss. "We should be able to just floo out from here, although because of the wards we'll have to all floo downtown and then walk back here since we never got it altered for Blaise."

"While you're doing that, I'll get Eustace ready," Hermione grinned.

Draco groaned. "Again?"

"You make an incredibly sexy ginger," Hermione told him with an impish smile.

"Okay," Draco agreed immediately.

"You are already wrapped around her finger," Blaise told him, shaking his head in mock pity.

"I am all too happy to be there," Draco said, as Hermione tugged him up from the couch so she could perform her charms. "If you had a gorgeous girlfriend like Hermione you'd understand."

"Aw," Hermione said, giving him a kiss, which turned into a longer one.

"Okay, less kissing and more disguising please," Ron said, averting his eyes.

Blaise came over and clapped Ron on the shoulder. "Look like it's the bachelor life for us, mate."

"Thank Merlin for you," Ron said. "I was starting to feel like a fifth wheel around here."

One redhead later and permission from a slightly reluctant Mrs. Weasley, they were off and flooing into a very crowded Three Broomsticks.

"You know," Harry said, as Ron acted as a human battering ram to propel them through the bar towards an empty table in the back, "I've never been here this late. Only during Hogsmeade trips."

"Ditto to that," Hermione said, throwing Draco a grateful look as he pulled out her chair for her. "I can't believe how busy it is!"

"It's at least a respectable crowd," Blaise said, sliding into the boot next to Ron. "Madam Rosmerta doesn't stand for rowdy drunks or any sort of despicable behavior."

"I wonder if we'll see any of our professors here," Ginny said. "It is one of their last nights before school resumes."

"There'll all probably frantically grading our midterms," Ron said with a smirk.

Over at Hogwarts, a number of people all sneezed at once before returning to their frantic grading.

"I don't see anyone," Harry said, although given the wall of people that surrounded them it was rather difficult to see much. The only thing that stood out was a large group wearing blinding lime green tee shirts as they practically glowed radioactively. "I'm glad we got this table in the back though." Just like at The Leaky Cauldron Harry preferred to keep a low profile when possible.

A server came up to their table a few minutes later and Harry put in for an order of butterbeers for everyone and an assortment of cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties and several meat pasties as well.

Although they were out celebrating Harry's success at Occulumency, considering the sensitive nature of the topic and the fact they were in public no one inquired about it. Instead, they turned their attentions to discussing whatever random topic popped up.

All was going well and the butterbeer was freely flowing when Draco suddenly stiffened next to Hermione. His arm wrapped around her as it was, she noticed immediately and looked up at him with concern. She didn't see any immediate threat approaching their table, but that doesn't mean Draco didn't.

"What is it?" she whispered.

He jerked his head to the right and she followed his sight line.

All that appeared were what appeared to be bar patrons and the vivid neon green ocean of tee shirts for the group that had populated a good chunk of tables.

"I don't see anything," she said.

"Read the groups' shirts," he murmured, breath delightfully tickling her ear as he bent his head down to hide the movement.

Hermione squinted to make out the lettering, which had been written in a very unique font that seemed to employ lightning bolts. Once she'd made out the text her eyes widened and she had to muffle the slightly hysterical giggle that rose up.

"Oh Merlin," she laughed. "I'm surprised they haven't spotted us yet."

For the shirts read in their stylized font:

HARRY POTTER CLUB TOURS
THOSE-WHO-LOVE THE BOY-WHO-LIVED

Complete with a pair of Harry's signature round glasses and scar filling up the bottom half of the shirt. The back of the shirt listed what appeared to be a tour company's logo and information so one could schedule their own "Harry Potter Tour."

"How did we miss them earlier?" Draco asked, voice shaking with laughter. "Oh Merlin, if they catch wind of Harry over here…"

"I knew Harry had fan clubs," Hermione said, "but I had no idea there were actual tours. Where do you think they go?"

"Only one way to find out," Draco said, grinning devilishly.

"Draco, no," Hermione warned. "We do not want to attract their attention. And chances are if they're as apparently obsessed with Harry as they seem they're bound to be able to recognize myself and Ron."

"Ah, but they don't know Eustace," Draco said. "I'll be just a moment."

"Where is Dra – er, Eustace going?" Ginny asked as the blond pulled back his chair and disappeared into the crowd.

Hermione just pointed with a resigned sigh.

As Draco approached the Harry Potter fan club, his eyes roamed around the tables looking for the ideal person to glean information from.

There was a wide range of ages in the group, spanning from what looked like a young child all the way to an elderly woman who was wearing a pair of spectacles that looked nearly identical to Harry's. Draco headed towards what looked like a married couple with a young teenage son, as they were of the age group where he would likely be able to give him the answers he wanted.

But before he made it to their table he was intercepted by three teenagers who were looking at him like he was a piece of fresh meat.

"Red hair," said a brunette girl with a peacock quill tucked behind her ear.

"Freckles," said a somewhat chubby black boy.

"No hand me down robes though," muttered the third, a tiny pixie of a girl with blonde hair.

"Er," Draco said, taking a careful step back as they crowded around him.

"You must be a Weasley!" they all exclaimed as one.

"Which one do you think he is?" gushed the first girl. "Ron?"

"No, he doesn't wear glasses," said the boy.

"Then you must be Percy!" said the blonde.

Draco could only stare. Somehow these teenagers seemed to know everything about the Weasley family and if he were to say that yes, he was one, then they would no doubt try to find more and that would ultimately lead them to Harry.

"Er, no, actually," Draco managed to get out. "I'm not. A Weasley that is. I get that a lot though."

The group seemed to deflate as one.

But then the boy perked back up. "Do you go to Hogwarts?" he asked. "That's where Harry Potter goes!"

"I'm just here visiting family," Draco said. "Not magical myself, but my mum's a witch."

Before he got derailed again Draco jumped in to ask his original mission question. "I was actually wondering what you lot were up to. I didn't know there was a fan tour for Harry Potter."

"Are you a fan of his too?" the blonde asked.

"Well, I've heard of him and all that," Draco said. "He sounds like a pretty cool bloke."

"He's Harry freaking Potter!" the brunette burbled. "Of course he's awesome! He defeated You-Know-Who when he was only a baby, you know, and almost every year since he's been at Hogwarts!"

"The basilisk was definitely the coolest," said the boy, stars practically dancing in his eyes.

"Nuh uh, first year definitely," the brunette said. "When he and Hermione and Ron had to thwart a bunch of different obstacles and tests to even have a chance to beat him!"

"The Triwizard tournament is easily the best of them all," the blonde said. "I mean, he dueled You-Know-Who in a graveyard with a bunch of Death Eaters!"

"Didn't someone die during that?" Draco asked, his tone slightly frosty. He had never been friendly with Cedric, and at the time hadn't felt anything except amusement towards his death, but reflecting back on it now he couldn't believe he could have ever been so callous. And to hear a bunch of strangers talking about it so flippantly as if it were some exciting novel…

"Yeah," the blonde frowned.

As one the entire trio intoned, "Rest in peace, Cedric Diggory."

"It was still very brave though," she said.

Draco just blinked, beyond weirded out at his point. "How do you know all of this?" he managed to ask.

As one they all whipped out a copy of a rather large book, with the words "The Ultimate Guide to Harry Potter," emblazoned on it in the same font as their shirts. There were apparently a number of authors on it, and, squinting, Draco could make out the name "Rita Skeeter" towards the bottom. Ugh, he hated that woman.

"It's full of information that historians have gathered since Harry Potter first defeated You-Know-Who," the boy said. "It has interviews too, and news clips and… well, everything!"

"Ever member who joins the Harry Potter Fans Tour Group gets a copy," the brunette girl said. "It sort of functions as a very in depth sight-seeing guide."

"And is that what you are?" Draco said, gesturing at the large group.

"Yup," the tiny girl piped up. "We signed up to go on the tour during our winter break. It takes you all over England from the town Harry grew up in to various sites that he's been to."

"Unfortunately we can't actually get into Hogwarts," the boy said. "The tour group has tried several times, but Headmaster Dumbledore is apparently very adamant that only Hogwarts students and staff are allowed on the grounds."

"It makes sense though," the brunette said. "After all, we would hate to disrupt someone's learning and Harry seems like a rather private person. I don't think he'd like it if we all wanted to sit in on his classes with him."

Darn right, Draco thought. He did think it would be amusing to see his godfather's face though if a bunch of Harry fans broke down the doors.

"So you lot are all magical?" Draco asked, noticing that the boy had a wand sticking out of his back pocket.

"Yup, we attend Pigfarts in Switzerland," the boy said.

"We've been saving up for this trip for months," the brunette said. "Harry's our hero. We would have loved to have a chance to meet him, but he normally stays at Hogwarts for the holidays. The tour group is in Hogsmeade today and tomorrow and we're hoping we might catch a glimpse of him if he's allowed to leave the castle."

All of them practically swooned at the idea and started chattering at one another what they would do if they actually met Harry.

"Well, enjoy the rest of your tour," Draco said, edging away from the trio. "It was er, nice to meet you."

"You too!" they all chorused as one, before going right back into their discussion. Draco gave them a parting nod and slipped back into the crowd, making sure to do a lap around the place and through tables so they didn't track him and see where he went to.

"Well?" Hermione asked as he appeared back at their table.

"They're crazy," Draco said. "Absolutely looney. And they know everything!"

"Everything?" Hermione asked.

"They have these books that apparently have Harry's life story in them. Not sure how detailed they are, but they knew about quite a number of Harry's exploits at Hogwarts and all of the Weasley children."

"We're famous?" Ron asked, eyes lighting up.

Ginny elbowed her brother.

"I wonder where I can get a copy," Hermione mused, tapping a finger to her chin. "It would be interesting to see what information they do have available."

"Everything?" Harry whispered, frozen from the original revelation. He was going through every single embarrassing thing he might have done to very personal thing he didn't want anyone else to know.

Ginny patted his hand sympathetically. "I doubt it's much more than generalities," she said. "Anything they could glean from rumors or Tri-wizard tournament happenings, and official statements Hogwarts had to make after all of the incidents."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "She's right. Most of what's in there is probably second hand sources having heard of something, through possibly their children at Howarts, and repeated back to the authors. I'll look into getting a copy though. Goodness knows you've already got quite a spot on my bookshelf already, what's one more?"

Harry looked surprised. "What?"

Blaise laughed. "You are the most famous person in recent wizarding history," he pointed out. "There were tons of books published on you."

Harry had of course known that. But for some reason he'd always just pictured a snippet or two here or there about him and his relation to Voldemort. Not whole books. Not anything that might have detailed his life with the Dursleys. His eyes widened at that and Hermione seemed to sense it.

"There isn't much to early books except for what happened to Voldemort," she said. "Nothing really new was published until you started Hogwarts. You should see all the speculation books though about where people think you grew up."

"Where did you grow up?" Blaise asked, realizing he didn't know the answer.

"My aunt and uncle," Harry said stiffly. Blaise nodded and dropped it, sensing the tension.

Talk moved back to casual things and plenty of butterbeer for the remainder of the evening. Around eleven, despite the fact the bar was still fully packed and partying, Hermione made the decision it was time for them to head home.

They began the process of gathering up coats and hats from the seats and Draco was halfway to putting his coat on when he picked out the brunette with the peacock feather quill heading his way.

"Oh Merlin," he whispered. "Everyone, duck down!"

He stepped out of the booth to intercept her about a table away, hoping his friends had enough common sense to not glance up in his direction.

"Hi there," she greeted. "Again."

"Hi?" Draco said. He felt his glasses slipping down his face and pushed them back up, hoping she kept all of her attention on him and not the table full of very identifiable people behind him.

"I know you said you were here visiting family," she said, "but if you wanted to step out you're welcome to hang out with us tomorrow. We'll just be here around Hogsmeade checking out the sites."

"Oh, that's very kind of you," Draco said, shifting so he was somewhat more in front of the table.

"Your… cousins," she hedged, nodding at the table she'd seen him come from, "are welcome to join us too. Maybe they could even give us a bit of history on the place from a local's perspective."

"I'll have to ask my aunt," Draco said, feeling his palms begin to sweat as she glanced past him and at his table again, a slight look of confusion on her features. "I'd best be going now though."

But she wasn't about to be pushed away that easily. She took a step to the right and Draco matched her. They had an awkward looking dance for a moment before she deliberately hopped on his foot and then past him.

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of what her Harry Potter Senses were telling her were real Weasleys. And next to them was a figure wearing a red and gold cap pulled snugly down but doing little to hide the familiar glasses covering bright green eyes.

"Harry Potter," she breathed.

Draco caught Hermione's widening eyes and he pulled his wand from his coat pocket. It wasn't illegal to cast a silencio charm before she blew their cover, right?

The moment of indecision, which he never would have had just a few months ago thank you very much, cost all of them. She'd regained her breath by then and with a surprising force for such a small girl bellowed, "HARRY POTTER!"

It was like a summoning charm as every single green-clad shirt wearer turned in their seats to the cry and somehow managed to pick out the boy-who-lived trapped behind the table. Eyes widened and the cry started to spread in a way that Draco could only describe as what he imagined zombies would do upon sensing fresh meat.

"Hermione," Harry whimpered, clutching her sleeve as the horde began to move towards them. She was the smartest witch. She had a plan, he was sure of it.

"Everyone," Hermione said, voice quiet but somehow still managing to carry around the table.

They looked to her with hope.

She looked at them with panic. "RUN!"

They didn't need to be told twice.

Ginny leapt on top of the table, pulling Harry awkwardly along with her and the two of them dove out the back door of the bar before the zealous fans could even reach the table. Hermione cast a few random jelly leg jinxes into the crowd and managed to slip out behind them, while Ron flipped the table up and used the cover it provided to zip past the crowd on the outside before they cut off the exit and into the kitchen.

Blaise, not being recognized due to the fact he was too new for the fan club to have gotten wind of, was all but ignored and he used the opportunity to duck into the crowd and get lost amongst them. Draco used the fact that the fan club was focused on Harry and company to step away from the crazy brunette before she could corner him. She clearly knew he was lying now.

Draco had never been particularly good at charms so he didn't dare try to dye his hair a different color, but he did remove his glasses and pulled his hat (an unnoticeable black rather than the red and gold Gryffindors were so darn intent on wearing) low over his face.

He was pressed against the wall as the fan club members made their way for every available exit to give chase, when he felt a hand clamp around his arm.

"It's not safe for you to be out here by yourself," Blaise said, voice low. "Come on, let's go back to the Burrow."

"But what about everyone else?"

"They're being hunted by fans," Blaise pointed out. "You, my friend, could have something much worse on your tail. They'll be fine."

"You're right," Draco agreed, allowing Blaise to lead him to the fireplaces. "They're all Gryffindors. They'll be fine."

Too bad that trouble seemed to be attracted to Gryffindors.

xxx

"Don't panic, don't panic," Hermione repeated to herself as she raced through the quiet but growing louder streets of Hogsmeade. She wasn't feeling that immense dread of foreboding from any of their dangerous escapades, but being chased by a crazed fan group still wasn't ideal. Especially with everyone separated.

She was sure Draco and Blaise had enough sense to remove themselves and hopefully get back to the Burrow. She just had to relocate the rest of her friends and get them to a floo network.

She cast a concealment charm on herself as she slowed down, hoping the poor lighting would camouflage her until she could figure out a plan.

A familiar sounding shriek sounded further to her left. Looks like they had found Ron. Otherwise he'd found a giant spider, which is when she normally heard that pitch from him.

She didn't have time to go find her friend though, as he came racing past her, a bunch of fans in hot pursuit. Hermione thanked her lucky stars that her concealment seemed to be working as they all ignored her.

She was a bit surprised though that Ron was fleeing. He normally would love the chance to be in the spotlight.

It was then she caught what the crowd was yelling after him.

"We just want a lock of your hair!"

"Please sign my Ron Weasley plush!"

"Bear my children!" That one she noticed came from a woman old enough to be Ron's mother.

She muffled a snicker. No wonder he was running.

She apparently hadn't muffled her giggle as much as she thought, as a few groupies turned toward her direction. She stiffened as they seemed to sniff the air like bloodhounds tracking a scent.

Something must have given her away as seconds later one of them shouted, "It's Hermione!" and they lunged forward as one.

Hermione gave a quiet "eep!" and backpedaled down the alley. She hoped Harry and Ginny were faring better than her and Ron!

xxx

"I think we lost them," Harry said, the words coming in gasps as he struggled to catch his breath from the full out sprint Ginny had forced him into.

They were hunkered down in the doorway of Honeyduke's, which had a large stone entranceway that hid them from view of the street.

Ginny didn't appear to be out of breath at all and grinned at him, her eyes twinkling. "I have to say, I don't get you all to myself very often anymore. We should make the most of this, don't you think?"

"Gin, they could be anywhere," Harry said, although he didn't protest as Ginny slid down the wall to make herself comfortable in his lap.

"Please, like they could find us here," she retorted. "They're tourists, Harry. We're locals. This is our backyard."

"I don't actually know this area very well."

"Harry?" Ginny said, a warning in her voice as she pushed off his cap to thread her hands through his hair.

"And they could literally pop up anywhere. And we're sitting ducks in the doorway," Harry continued, oblivious.

"Harry…"

Finally sensing the tone in her voice Harry hedged out a, "Yes?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

Ignoring one set of survival instances and listening to the other, Harry happily obliged.

xxx

Hermione managed to ditch her pursuers fairly quickly once she left the alleys and returned to the main street where she was able to blend with the rest of the night crowd.

She ditched her concealment charm, as it did no good to get jostled by every person that couldn't quite see her, and instead charmed her hair to golden blonde curls and her hat into a fuzzy pair of white earmuffs. It seemed to be working too, as a small group of the fans wandered past her without a second glance. Now, she could either head back to the Burrow herself and remove one more potential subject from the playing field. Or she could try and seek out Ron and give him an assist.

Thinking back to what she'd witnessed, Hermione gave a soft chuckle and pushed off from where she'd been leaning against the Three Broomsticks doorway and back into the night. If she were Ron, where would she run to? He'd probably try to ditch them as well, but given how many there had been and the fact Ron was not very good with concealment charms she doubted he could really get far.

There was one place that might scare some of the tourists off though. With a decisive nod, Hermione set off for the Shrieking Shack.

xxx

Harry was just coming up for air when he heard the unmistakable sound of a flashbulb. He and Ginny both whipped their heads around to find a small gaggle of green-shirted people staring at them. A number of the females were glaring at Ginny with unmistakable hatred, while others were beaming.

"I didn't know you two got together!" squealed one of the happier looking girls, clapping her hands. "You're so cute! I've been rooting for Hinny since the Yule Ball!"

"Hinny?" Harry said, confused.

Hinny?" Ginny repeated, daggers in her eyes.

"Hinny," the girl said happily. "You know, a cross between Harry and Ginny."

"You should be with Hermione!" cried one very put out looking black haired boy.

"No, he should be with me!" said one of the mean looking girls, who at first glance almost resembled Lavender Brown. "I love him the most."

"Hermione!" the boy argued. "They're perfect together."

"You lot have five seconds before I unleash a bat bogey hex," Ginny snarled. Who the hell did these fans think they were arguing over who Harry dated? Why in Merlin's beard was it any of their business?

The 'Hinny' fan held up her hands placatingly. "We don't mean any harm. We're just such big fans of yours." Saying so she procured the book they assumed Draco had mentioned seemingly out of thin air. "Speaking of, would you mind signing this?"

At the mention of autographs the hostility seemed to be replaced with a rather scary enthusiasm from the crowd as they all started digging out items.

"Er," Harry said, debating what to do. There was no way the two of them would be able to run from them all, and they had quieted down from the raging mob inside the restaurant. He supposed they could sign a few autographs…

"Line up there," Ginny ordered, pointing at the flagstone of Honeyduke's. "One at a time. One autograph per person. Once you get your autograph you stand over there," she said, pointing at the street, "and wait for everyone else. Then you leave." So then she could get back to snogging Harry in peace.

"Absolutely," the bubbly girl said, nodding her head. "Right, everyone?"

Murmurs of assent made their way through the group, numbering about fifteen. A girl with a peacock quill in her hair, who sent a glare at Ginny, gave Harry the quill so he could sign and told him he could keep it to remember her by. Harry had offered a quiet thanks, which nearly had the girl fainting when he made eye contact with her.

To Ginny's surprise, a large number of the group wanted her autograph as well. She was especially surprised to find herself signing her own picture, which was a shot of her, Luna and the Patil twins sitting by the Great Lake. It would attest to Hermione's theory that Hogwarts student were possibly inadvertently giving up information to parents or relatives that was being used in the book. At least it was a good photo of her. The book captioned it as several of Harry Potter's friends.

Harry was a pretty good sport about the entire thing, even taking a few photos with some of the nicer fans (the 'Hinny' girl among them, who wanted a shot of herself with Harry and Ginny, who did her best not to scowl) and even writing little notes.

Once they had finally dissipated with threats (Ginny) and polite requests (Harry) to not reveal their location to the other group members, Ginny huffed out a relieved sigh.

"It wasn't so bad," Harry said, joining her as she slid to the ground in the entryway.

"I don't know how you do it, Harry," she said, shaking her head. "If people were constantly hounding me I don't think I could be half as nice."

Harry shrugged. "After my first year at Hogwarts it really died down a lot at school. I still get first years every year who get overly excited, but it's just something I've come to accept. I'm not always a fan, but it won't do me any favors to be mean to them. What with all the blacklisting by the ministry last year I figure it can't hurt to have the public I meet still like me."

"That's actually very practical," Ginny said, tucking her head underneath his chin. "It still doesn't mean I have to like it. We hardly ever get any time alone, Harry. If it's not my family it's our friends, and if not them then its other things. I just wish we could spend some more time together. Alone."

Harry wrapped an arm snugly about her shoulders. "You're right," he said softly. "We do barely spend any time together, just the two of us."

"And with school starting back up it'll only get busy again," she sighed. "Plus all that prophecy mumbo jumbo that could happen at any time."

"We're just going to have to make time," Harry said. "What if we had a date night once a week? I'm sure the kitchen staff wouldn't mind and we can do something each night. Even if it's just homework, it'll be just us."

"That sounds lovely," Ginny said, a soft smile lighting up her face. "Thank you, Harry."

"But before that…"

Ginny raised an eyebrow and the rather mischievous smile on Harry's face.

"As you pointed out, we are alone right now. And it'd be a shame not to take advantage of it."

"Mm, that's what I like to hear," Ginny said. And saying so, she pulled him down into another kiss.

xxx

Hermione was right (like always!). She found a gaggle of fans clustered around the Shrieking Shack, staring at the dilapidated building with a mixture of awe and fear. Despite the fact that it hadn't really 'shrieked' since Lupin had been a Hogwarts student, somehow they myth continued to carry on and people swore they still heard screams to this day.

And that gave Hermione a rather fantastic idea.

Despite the fact that the building was boarded up, there was a loose board on the back lower window. They'd found it after Hermione dragged them all back out following the events of third year to get a closer look at the structure (for research purposes, of course). The board hadn't always been loose, but after Ron tripped stumbling away from a spider and crashed into the window, it ended up becoming so as he practically pulled it down.

She'd bet her wizarding encyclopedia set that Ron had scrambled in that way and was hiding out. He could always take the tunnel back to Hogwarts, but that seemed unlikely as he had no way to bypass the Whomping Willow, nor would he likely be able to gain access to the school this late. So he was probably crouched down in there and praying the resident spiders stayed away.

Smirking in a rather Slytherin like fashion, Hermione cast a Banshee Shriek charm upon herself and recast her concealment charm. She also enchanted several sticks to sound like the creaking and cracking of bones and a few rocks to whistle like moans. Armed with her arsenal, Hermione tossed the first stick from the cover of the trees to land behind the Shrieking Shack where the groupies could not see.

Immediately a sharp cracking noise echoed about the clearing and a good number of the people jumped.

"What was that?" shout-whispered the woman who had tried to solicit Ron.

"Just a stick, probably," said a redheaded boy, who didn't seem all that convinced as he glanced warily around.

Hermione tossed another stick, followed by a rock. The resulting sound of cracking and then moaning was absolutely delightful as some in the group let out little yells of surprise.

"It really is haunted!" one girl cried, clutching what appeared to be a plush in the shape of Harry.

"It's just the sounds of the forest," said a middle aged woman.

Another moan sounded.

"That is not the forest," one girl declared. "I'm out of here!"

"But what about Ron?" another one asked. "We can't just leave him!"

Hermione let loose a few more moans and bone cracks, rattling the group. Even the most stalwart were starting to look a little hesitant in their quest to catch Ron.

All she needed now was the cherry on top. Grin nearly splitting her face, Hermione crawled behind the Shrieking Shack where the sound would seem like it was resonating from the cabin. And then she opened her mouth and screamed.

Instantly the hellish sounding shriek of a banshee filled the clearing, seeming to echo to the now absolutely terrified fans. With shrieks almost matching Hermione's, they tore off back the way they came. Hermione let out another one for good measure and cast a reflective charm too so it bounced off a nearby tree and followed the group as they fled.

She was just about to pat herself on the back when Ron stumbled out of the Shrieking Shack, ghostly white and screaming himself as he made to take off back towards town. Hermione chuckled at the sight (it wasn't too often she scared Ron!), but due to her charm it came out as another shriek.

Ron only screamed again back pedaling away from the sound that seemed to come from just feet away. Hermione reached out to grab his sleeve before he could take off and alert the fans, but apparently the feeling of an invisible hand encircling your arm is yet another reason to scream bloody murder.

Somehow she managed to remove the Banshee charm while still continuing to cling to Ron's arm with her other hand. "Ron, it's me!" she cried as he continued to try to run away but was pulling the concealed Hermione along with him. "It's Hermione! Stop yelling!"

"H-Hermione?" he stuttered, coming to a grinding halt as her words registered.

With a few taps of her wand she removed the concealment spell and grinned at him. He only looked at her in horror.

"We need to run! The Shrieking Shack is actually haunted!"

Hermione laughed, unable to contain it anymore.

"This isn't funny!" Ron practically shrieked. "We have to go!"

"It was all me, Ron," she said, catching her breath. "The shrieks and moans and everything. I did it to scare the groupies off."

"You did?" Ron asked, still looking shaken, but color was returning to his face.

"Yes! And it worked pretty well too."

"It was brilliant," Ron said, a grin slowly forming on his face. "Bloody good job, Hermione!"

"Oh, it was nothing," she said. "Couldn't have one of my best friends getting mobbed by that group."

"Ugh," Ron shuddered. "They were terrifying. I thought they'd be all friendly like and I could sign a few autographs but they all wanted to like touch me and get locks of my hair. And after all that voodoo crap I pulled during Parenting Class I want no part of that!"

"Let's get out of here," Hermione said. "We can sneak back to town and floo to Ottery St. Catchpole. I'm sure everyone else is already back."

Ron nodded. "Sounds good. I can't wait to hear what trouble everyone else got into." He turned to go and Hermione let out a soft gasp. "What? What is it?"

"There's a spider on your back," she said.

"Ha ha, very funny. I think you've already scared me enough tonight, Mione."

"I'm serious."

Ron was beginning to look slightly nervous again. "You'd better be joking."

She reached out and plucked a decidedly large but rather harmless looking spider from the back of Ron's shoulder. "See?"

Ron's subsequent scream echoed for miles.

xxx

About an hour later after the whole debacle began, all six friends found themselves reunited at the Burrow.

Draco and Blaise had arrived well ahead of everyone and had walked back from town to the house. Draco had been able to bypass the barrier and had fetched Mrs. Weasley to retrieve Blaise.

Hermione and Ron got back about a half hour later, after Hermione had managed to calm Ron down enough from the spider incident to sneak them back into Hogsmeade. She'd enchanted Ron's hair to match her own blonde locks and they'd made it through without any trouble.

They were all beginning to become a little worried about Harry and Ginny as they had yet to show and given that Harry was the main target it was possible they'd been caught up. But when they arrived just shy of an hour, both looking thoroughly snogged Ron had just gagged and Hermione giggled.

Everyone retired soon after that, full of butterbeer and pub food and memories they could now look fondly back on. Hermione even suggested signing up for a tour and going incognito, to which Harry had blanched at to the result of loud laughter.

And with that happy sound following them up the stairs, peaceful slumber settled upon the Weasley household that would promptly last until eight the next morning when Fred and George made a surprise visit and woke them all up with snowballs and devilish laughter.

But that was a story for tomorrow.

Author's Notes:

Winter break is (finally) wrapping up! Only took 19 chapters! (which is nearly half this story, dear Merlin). Lots of stuff happening though, eh?

I based a few of the fan club characters on people I know, and if anyone knows what character I stole the older woman hitting on Ron's line from, kudos! I hope you enjoyed the groupies as much as I enjoyed writing them. Scene came to me randomly while I was at work and I just ran with it.

This week's Review that Made My Day belongs to unfittingpuzzlepieces, who has been reading up a storm based on the amount of chapters reviewed. I absolutely loved reading all of your comments and absolutely agree that Ginny is the BOSS :D Also, I never thought of the wizards learning science. It would certainly open up some new ideas though (and the idea of a cell phone would be pretty useful compared to owls xD). Maybe a new branch of wizardry? Hmmm...

Thank you to all who left reviews! I super appreciate it! I hope you all had a few laughs this chapter. I'd love to know what your favorite part/scene was. Let me know in the comments!

Also, I will not be updating next weekend due to the fact I will be out of town at No Brand Con. If you're there, do stop by and say hello! I'll be at table 18 in the artist alley. See everyone else in two weeks!

Updated: April 16, 2017 (Happy Easter!)