Chapter Two- The
Second Part (duh)
Disclaimer: However much I pretend, I do not own these characters. I
have invented a few (with little prior thought) along the way, but I am still
humble before J.K Rowling. So please tell no one of this, to prevent my financial
downfall. Thankyou.
Harry
was suddenly jolted awake, as the bus made a sharp right turn. He was now alone
in the bus, and Ernie had decided to take this oppurtunity to show off what
" 'is bus" could do. Its speed was quickly accelerating, and causing
the surrounding area to take cover. Harry had become very suspicious that Ernie
was trying to hit everything in
sight, a theory supported by the wild giggling that erupted every time Ernie
forced a piece of natural landscape to get up and run. Ernie had by this time
stuck his head out of the window into the wind, and was yelling back to the
driver "...an she suggested that I should stick to the cream, even if it
were itchy, as herbal remedies would not shift it...".
Harry
sighed, the journey was taking ages, and hearing continuously about Ernie's
desperate attempts to rid himself of a rather painful boil was not exactly
making the time fly by. He heaved a sigh of relief when the bus finally arrived
in front of the Burrow (3 bus stops, 4 lamposts and 1 startled cow further on),
screeching to a stop, causing several knomes to leap into the hedge. Ernie had
given Harry an in-depth analysis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and the ways in
which magic could not be used to fight the "feckin' thing", so Harry
now felt ready to "deal wiv it when the time comes". Harry waved the
bus goodbye and stared at the front door balefully. He was suddenly struck by
the thought that perhaps he had been just a teeny weeny bit confident of his
welcome. Perhaps they would not want him, or they had gone on holiday, or Ron
had someone else round.... A sudden image of Ron and Draco bonding manfully
popped into Harry's head causing him to giggle guiltily. He gave himself a
mental shake and knocked at the door quietly, hoping Ron would still be up.
He
heard someone stumbling about on the steps, followed by a loud bang, someone
shouting "Oh feck.." and the sound of
crashing. A sleepy Ron, rubbing his wounded elbow, wrenched the door open. His
face lit up when he recognised Harry standing dejectedly at the door and he
yanked him inside. "I hoped you would come Harry, I was going to owl you
but.. (here his face fell)... Pig hurt himself coming back from the station. We
let him out of the cage in the car, but he flew out and hit some girl on a
bicycle. She tried to swerve but ...he hit her helmet. He will be fine as long
as he gets rest. I was going to use Errol, but as you know he is hardly up to
long journeys. He collapsed on the way downstairs yesterday.... but I was
DEFINATELY going to steal Hermes as soon as I could" Ron finished
hurriedly, looking worried. Harry
smiled, Ron had not abandoned him, even if his owl was a muppet. "Well, I have had a very interesting holiday.
Dudley learnt how to do his own shoelaces and everything, perhaps the first
step on a new learning curve. The next thing I hope will be a toothbrush and a
girdle" said Harry. He followed Ron up to his room, remembering to jump
the missing step, while Ron gave it an evil glance, unconsiously rubbing his
elbow again.
Ron
looked the same as always, Harry thought reflectively. He seemed to have also
grown a lot, leaving his nose in direct competition from the rest of him.
However it had manfully accepted the challenge, got even longer, and was still
entering a room 2 minutes ahead of the rest of Ron. His hair, (always
delicately verging on the orange rather than red), was still illuminating whole
rooms, but seemed to be less excited than before, under some control. Ron now
blended in perfectly with his room wallpaper of Chudley Cannons, still waving
merrily form the walls.
As
Ron entered he went over to the wardrobe, and opened it with a flourish.
"Fred and George lent me the money to buy some new dress robes-" said
Ron blissfully, "-and when I saw these in the Chudley Cannons Catalogue, I
knew these were for me, aren't they really cool." Harry glanced with a
sinking feeling at the proffered robes. They were bright orange with black
ribbing and cuffs, with a large "Quidditch" motif on the back.
"Lovely.." Harry said, grinning weakly.
He got out the sleeping bag from the depths under Ron's bed and curled up,
falling asleep quickly.
* * *
(Early next morning- bloody
rooster)
Harry woke with a start, as the rooster crowed loudly. Ron
sat bolt upright, said angrily
"If I wanted to wear a hat I would" and promptly layback down and
started snoring. Harry crawled out of bed, and pulled on his clothes. He stole
a pair of socks from Ron, who could set up an outlet store from his closet, and
set off towards the bathroom.
Harry
gazed blearily at himself in the mirror, and started automatically splashing
some water about, before he was brought to life fully by a quiet knocking on
the door. "Ron, get out of the bathroom, I need to use it" said a
feminine voice that could only belong to Ginny. Harry looked down at his
somewhat dishevelled state (he had been a little too enthusiastic with the
water), and suddenly felt tongue-tied. "COME ON Ron, I've really got to
go! Don't be such an idiot." Harry realised he had two choices: 1 He could open the door, and
announce he had arrived without Ron to look suitably pleased about this, 2.
Stay silent. No one need know, she would surely go away. "RON!!! You are
being a real wank-" Ginny stopped short as he opened the door, turned red
and stammered "-Ohmygod... Harry,youhavecometostaywithme- usImean,
notthatIdidn'tthinkyouwouldn't, butwhatImeanttosayisthatyouarewelcome,
notthatImissedyou...er ..hi" finished Ginny lamely. Harry smiled, muttered
something vague with few vowel sounds, and scurried back to Ron's bedroom.
Ron was coming awake, he had ventured
courageously out of the covers, but hadn't yet managed the buttons on his
clothes ("Tricky buggers!"). Harry poked him "Ron, I think your
family know I am here. I just bumped into Ginny in the bathroom, I didn't know
anyone was up!" said Harry looking appalled. Ron sat straight up "You
weren't naked were you?" he said worried. "No Ron" said Harry
"I was NOT naked.. but..oh never mind".
Harry
started pulling on his shoes. Why Ron would imagine that Harry would prance
around his house naked was pushed to the back of his mind, becoming one of
those questions for which there would never be an answer, along with: The
chicken or the egg/ Where Heinz salad cream went/ why was Dudley allowed to
exist? Ron finally managed his buttons, and Harry followed him downstairs,
neatly jumping the missing step. The household were gathered around breakfast.
Mrs Weasley greeted him warmly, and started shouting at Ron for not announcing
his arrival last night so "he could have had some supper the poor
thing". Fred and George moved over so Harry could sit between them, and Mr
Weasley went in search of the latest addition to his plug collection "It
is extremely valuable and rare I understand, Dedalus Diggle managed to get it
for me at great financial cost however, but never mind that." Harry smiled
a little at this but said nothing.
While
Harry ate breakfast he was attacked by the twins plans for the team that year.
Harry nodded where it seemed appropriate, but let his thoughts wander. Ginny
was laughing at whatever Mrs Weasley was saying, but kept shooting Harry little
glances. She was dressed simply in jeans and a T-shirt, but still
looked...rather..lovely.
Her hair had obviously just been washed as it was
still damp, still curling ever so slightly. It was a deeper red than Ron, and
was in his opinion her best feature, being extremely thick and shiny.. She was
built much more delicately than the rest of her family, with huge expressive
dark eyes, which were at present looking his way.
Harry
smiled back, but was suddenly brought back into his conversation, when he was
aware the twins were looking at him expectantly. "Um... yeah, I
agree" said Harry trying to sound knowledgeable, with no idea what he was
agreeing too. The twins grinned, "So therefore, we must decide which one
should be captain, Alicia or Angelina" said George, launching back into
conversation, which Harry belatedly realised might have been quite important.
* * *
(Much later...
around lunch perhaps)
Harry relaxed his back muscles as he lay down on
the ground. A brief scuffle with Fred and George after announcing the new
captain of the team should by rights go to Neville Longbotttom had wiped him
out. Fred and George and gone back to the house to collect their broomsticks
for the "Tournament Of The Bestest" a Weasley tradition with its own
dress code- the Weasley House Colours (An orange background with a picture of
Pigwidgeon looking startled plastered on.)
Harry
idly wondered when Hermione would arrive, she could take part, Fred had already
offered to enchant a mop. Ron sauntered up and down the lane waiting for her to
arrive, wearing sunglasses and long trousers. "She probably won't arrive for
ages yet" said Harry patiently. Ron jumped nervously, "Who…?" he said causally,
"I am not waiting for anyone, just stretching my.. leg muscles.. and stuff".
Harry smiled secretly, Ron had been sweet on Hermione for ages, but with little
response. He denied it of course, but never had "Zonko's Aftershave for Manly
Men" ever been bought so much in a short period of time. A loud explosion came
from inside the house, followed by Mrs Weasley's frantic squeaking, as she
discovered what Fred and George had been hiding in their room. This was
followed swiftly by brief sounds of pain and frantic yelps. Harry sighed, the
Tournament may have to be put off till later. Ron poked his head round the
fence eyeing the front door. "No one has arrived by chance have they Harry?" he
said innocently. "No Ron Hermione has not yet come". Ron sniffed haughtily "I
don't know what you are talking about".
(The Tournament of the Bestest
is taking place….)
She peeked round the fence, hoping not to see Ron
peeping pack at her. He had been turning up everywhere recently and surprising
her. The bathroom… under the table at school once or twice… Hogsmeade, again
under the table. She thought she would shock him today, somehow. Poke him,
perhaps. She smiled guiltly. She walked however into what can only be described
as wrestling meets Quidditch. Everyone was up in the air, attempting to score
in baskets, whilst pushing each other off brooms, and then stealing them. A
giant trampoline had been conjured beneath them so no one got hurt, but Ron was
bouncing on it joyfully with no broom, though a mop was trying to sneak out of
the pitch. She quickly located Harry with George in a headlock in the air. They
were both perched dangerously on the Firebolt which was bucking nervously.
Harry turned around and spotted her, "HERMOINE!!!" Ron lept around so quick he
must have whiplash and started waving madly, but was felled by the mop coming
back. The game stopped play briefly, as everyone rushed to see if he was all
right. "Hermione you came" said Ron dazedly "I was watching for you over the
fence for ages, you tricksy bugger". She groaned inwardly, and patted his
shoulder "That's really nice Ron thankyou". She left the pitch to dump her
bags, when Harry came sprinting over. "Hey, I think you and Ron need to talk..
perhaps…maybe" said Harry delicately "he has been really eager to see you". "I
know," said Hermione fretfully. It wasn't that she didn't like Ron, she did,
but not in the kind of way that meant you looked over the fence for three
hours. She HAD of course, looked forward to seeing them again, Harry
especially. She had been thinking of HIM all summer. Not that she liked him, oh
no. She was just…concerned…. yes concerned. Not interested in him. Bugger. She
pushed past him, and went upstairs, ignoring his look of concern. He looked very
cute when he was worried about her. Not that she cared. NO WAY.
(Back to good ol' Harry, and his
exciting fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kinda life)
"What am I gonna do Harry, I just can't ask her
out. She will get embarrassed, or say nothing, or shout a great deal, or worst"
Ron paled "Laugh…". Harry sighed "Er…. have another bean.." Ron smiled weakly,
accepting the candy, "What should I do?".
Mr Weasley, who had been pretending not to hear the
conversation on the other side of the hedge, poked his head around, "Um son…
perhaps you should accept some advice from someone who has been through the
hell I call Single Life." Harry and Ron looked at each other, shrugged, and
allowed the man to continue (however much Harry wanted to shout For the love of
all things holy NO!!! and run far far away). Well, to paraphrase this rather
creepy conversation, the pearls of wisdom imparted were (In Harry appalled
opinion) 1. Never forget, stay in charge, women love that. 2. Be aloof and
mysterious in manner of James Dean and James Bond. 3. Always dress with a touch
of flair, something different (Ron brightened perceptibly) 4. Wash behind your
ears. 5. Tell slightly dirty jokes to show your racy devil-may-care attitude.
"They never admit but they love it really". At the end Ron looked cheered, "thanks Dad, is that how you got mum?".
Mr Weasley looked troubled muttered something involving "Weasley charm", ruffled Ron and Harry's hair and left. Harry
thought he had never heard such a lot of bull in his life. He was now afraid of
Ron acting on these ideas to utter shame at dinner.
(At the dreaded dinner, prepare
to be shamed)
Harry glanced around the table. Ron was sitting opposite Harry, looking gormless, obvioulsy attempting "aloof". Hermoine sat next to Ron, but was sending Harry curious little glances every now and then, even when Ron hadn't said anything silly. Ron looked rather well scrubbed, and not spoken to anyone all evening, except to tell a disgusting joke involving a hag and a vampire. He also kept flashing Mr Weasley blissful grins and not-so-subtle winks everynow and then. Harry stopped looking after he caught Mr Weasley giving Ron a thumbs up. Harry instead looked at Ginny, who was (like Fred and George) silently wetting herself with suppressed laughter. "Hermoine" stated Ron regally "The other day I heard a really funny joke, do you want to hear it?" Fred mouthed no, and George kicked Harry under the table,as everyone bent further into their dinner. "One day this randy ole goat-" started Ron with a saucy wink but was stopped by Mrs Weasley who had been giving Mr Weasley some rather interesting looks. "Ron! What on earth is going on? Why are you acting like an imbecile? What has gotten into you, has Fred and George put you up to this?". Ron flushed dark red, and said nothing. Ginny kicked Harry under the table and shot him a sudden smile. He smiled back warmly, earning him a look of hatred form Ron. Hermoine looked miserable. The dinner finished in silence, with Ron muttering curses under his breath at Fred and George, who were "flirting" with eachother coyly, Fred whispering more dirty jokes low enough not to be heard by their mother, George smiling ecstatically and winking at everyone in the vicinty.
Harry groaned. Tomorrow would be the trip to Diagon
Alley, then school. the thought of unleashing Ron on the unsuspecting public
was scary enough, but the thought of Dumbledore getting winked at or told a
dirty joke as well (as part of Ron's new character) was horrifying.
When writing this may I just say :Thanks for help
and feeble support must go to: Joanna Whitefield (Author:Jona) Jo Kennedy
(Writes and reads nothing) Claire Smythe (Total stranger really) Please Read
and Review, to prove you are really decent people, and tell me the plot line,
because I sure don't know it. Bollocks. I really love getting reviews, apart
from flames, you utter gits.
Quick Sneaky Peek at next part: Ron makes his
move..sorta.. School starts with a new teacher, who becomes a prefect, and
other stuff. Please come back when I have written it.