1 Ch. 2
"Ron! Harry! Time to get up!" Mrs. Weasley called from the doorway. "We're leaving for Diagon Alley in twenty minutes, so you'd best get dressed and eat breakfast in a hurry."
Harry groaned. At least he was getting more sleep here than he had been at the Dursleys – he'd had to get up at the crack of dawn each morning to cook breakfast for all of them. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and glanced over at Ron. He was shocked to see that Ron was fully dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a grey tee shirt, his hair neatly combed, his face scrubbed. He looked a nervous wreck, though.
"Ron, are you alright?" Harry asked, standing up and stretching, then looking at him with concern.
Ron shook his head. "No. I'm nervous. Can't you tell?" He started pacing around the room while Harry quickly changed into black jeans and a maroon tee shirt. "Honestly, wouldn't you be nervous if you were seeing…hmm…Cho Chang for the first time since the end of the term, and you had someone really famous as your competition?"
Harry shook his head. "Not Cho. I'm over her."
Ron stared at him in disbelief. "Since when?" The left the room and started down the long staircase.
"I have been for awhile. And anyway, she's still mourning Cedric – not that I blame her for that, after all, she was in love with him – so even if I did still like her, I'd never approach her about it. It'd be too upsetting for her." Cedric Diggory had been killed by Lord Voldemort at the end of the Triwizard Tournament in June.
Ron sighed. "Well, if Ginny can get over you, I suppose anything's possible…"
"HEY, I HEARD THAT!" Ginny's voice yelled from the kitchen, where she was eating a bowl of oatmeal. She was wearing a pair of very tight black jeans with a blue camouflage halter top cut high above her navel, her hair pulled up into a high ponytail with a few curly strands framing her face. She wore a bit of makeup as well. She looked at least sixteen years old.
Ron gave her a once-over and went pale. He gave a strangled cry. "MUM!"
Mrs. Weasley hurried into the kitchen. "Let's go, we're leaving in 5 minutes!" She glanced at Ron. "Yes, dear?"
Still white as a sheet and hardly able to speak, he pointed to his sister. "Mum…LOOK at her! She looks…she looks—"
"Like a girl," Mrs. Weasley finished, waving her hand dismissively. "Ginny, dear, you look lovely. The boys' eyes are going to pop out of their heads." Ginny blushed beet-red. "Ready to go?"
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George gathered at the fireplace behind Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley. "Now, then," Mrs. Weasley went on, "first stop is Gringotts. After that, we'll separate. Your father and I will pick up your new robes – yours, too, Harry – while you go off with your friends. We'll all meet in Flourish and Blotts at 3:00 to buy your schoolbooks." Mrs. Weasley tossed a small handful of Floo powder into the fire, and one by one they landed in a Diagon Alley grate. After a quick head count, they trooped off to Gringotts.
A goblin led them to a large cart into which they all climbed in and sped down to the Weasley family vault. The goblin, Griphook, opened it up -- it was a good deal fuller than it had been the last time Harry had seen it. Mrs. Weasley scooped about a quarter of the Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts into her purse, the vault was closed, and they sped off toward Harry's vault. It was quite full, as he had inherited a small fortune from his parents when they died. He surveyed its contents for a few seconds before taking about a tenth of it – even that amount was almost as much as what Mrs. Weasley had taken out of her vault. Harry would be more than happy to share his entire inheritance with the Weasleys, but if he ever offered, they would be thoroughly insulted, especially Ron.
After Gringotts, the group split up. Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley went off to the robes shop, Fred and George hurried to Gambol and Japes to find their friend Lee Jordan, and Harry, Ron, and Ginny went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to meet Hermione and Viktor Krum.
"Where is she?" Ron asked nervously.
Harry looked around. There were a great deal of Hogwarts students in the room – Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were looking at Quidditch robes, Draco Malfoy (flanked by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, as usual) was running his fingers over a Firebolt Quidditch broom (like Harry's), and Hermione and Krum were walking towards them. Hermione had gotten her hair straightened again – this time for good, it appeared. She had on a pair of blue capris pants and a scarlet tee shirt that read "Gryffindor Lions". Krum was wearing blue jeans, a black tee shirt, and his usual scowl.
"Coming this way, I believe," Harry replied.
Ron gulped. "Must…remain…CALM…" he muttered. "Must act…NATURAL…"
Hermione grinned rather cheerfully. "Hello, Harry, Ron, Ginny! Oh, Ginny, you're looking brilliant! Hasn't this been a magnificent summer? I think it's been wonderful, don't you? I can't wait until classes start. I'm really anxious to see my Arithmancy professor, I need to ask him for some extra work…" She went on and on – no one else could get a word in edgewise.
"Well, well, all the gang's together again," a familiar voice drawled from behind them. The small group turned around to see the sneering face of Draco Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. "And with a new addition, too," he smirked at Krum. "How much is the little Mudblood paying you to be her boy toy, anyway?"
"Don't…you…EVER call her that!" Ron jumped on Malfoy, knocking him to the ground. They rolled around, hitting and kicking each other, raising up a cloud of dust around them so that it was incredibly hard to see how badly they were hurting each other.
Krum looked at Hermione. "Why does he think you are paying me?"
She went quite red. "He's the type of person who thinks that Muggle-borns aren't worthy of professional Quidditch players."
"Malfoy's an egotistical bigot," Harry explained.
"But, Hermy-own, you're a very good witch, and very smart, and very pretty," Krum told her, giving her one of his rare half-smiles. She blushed. "This Malfoy obviously is jealous of how good you are."
Harry looked down at Ron and Malfoy, still brawling, then back at Hermione and Krum. "Er…Viktor? Do you think you could help me with these two?"
Krum, who had been staring into Hermione's eyes as if in a trance, suddenly snapped out of it and glanced down at the two boys. "Oh…yes, of course." He seized the back of Malfoy's green tee shirt and yanked him up off the ground as Harry pulled Ron off of him. Krum set Malfoy on the ground next to Crabbe and Goyle, who were too shocked to say or do anything but stand there with their mouths half-open.
Ron dusted himself while being lectured by Hermione. "Really, Ron," she said in a reproachful tone, "you're always looking for a reason to fight with him…and in public, too! What do you think your mother would say?"
Ron stared at her. "He called you a…a…a Mudblood, Hermione! What was I supposed to do, let him laugh about it?"
Hermione sighed. "Well, I was always rather partial to 'Eat dung, Malfoy' myself…"
Ron gave her an exasperated look. She just shrugged.
Malfoy stood up. "You should really learn to control that temper of yours, Weasley," he smirked. "It'll get you into a good spot of trouble someday. At least Potter here knows better than to pick a fight with me."
Harry glared at him. "Actually, Malfoy, I just don't feel like wasting my time beating the snot out of you." Harry wasn't usually this rude to anyone –- even Malfoy – and it looked as though he might "beat the snot out of" Malfoy after all.
Ginny grabbed his arm. "Harry, don't do anything stupid," she said as he reached for his wand. "Malfoy's not worth expulsion from school."
Harry suddenly realized what he was doing and snapped back to reality. He'd come close to being expelled too many times to risk it again.
Meanwhile, Malfoy was staring at Ginny as though seeing her for the first time. "Weasley," he said, addressing Ron but still looking at Ginny, "what on earth happened to your sister?"
Ron looked even angrier than before, but Ginny tugged at his shirtsleeve. "Ron, we're supposed to meet Mum and Dad at Flourish and Blotts now."
"Oh, you haven't gotten your books yet?" Hermione asked. "Well, neither have Viktor and I! We'll come with you." They set off, leaving Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle behind.
Harry and Ron walked behind Hermione, Krum, and Ginny, who were all talking about how interesting the summer had been. Ron looked angry. "I beat Malfoy to a pulp for her, and what do I get?" he whispered to Harry. "Nothing! Not even a single word of praise! And what about the way Malfoy was looking at Ginny? He looked interested!"
"Well…she is rather pretty, Ron," Harry pointed out. "Lots of people are going to look 'interested' when they see her."
"But why him?" Ron whispered fiercely. "Why Malfoy? I don't like this at all…"
"Will you relax?" Harry looked at him, concerned. "You're going to drive yourself bonkers over this. Ginny doesn't like him one bit, so you haven't got a thing to be worried about. Besides, she's still your sister. Malfoy wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot-pole."
By this time they had reached Flourish and Blotts, where Fred and George were standing with their new books. Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley stood next to them at the register, ready to pay. The five of them hurried to get their books (Ron, Harry, and Hermione – Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5; Ginny – Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4; Krum – Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7) and then took them up to the register. After everything had been paid for, Hermione and Krum set off for The Leaky Cauldron, where they were meeting Hermione's parents, and Harry and the Weasleys went back to the grate that would get them home. One by one, they landed in the Weasleys' kitchen fire, and Ron and Harry hurried upstairs to Ron's room to see what kind of robes Mrs. Weasley had gotten them.
"Well, what do you know!" Ron exclaimed, holding out his new dress robes – they were navy blue and free of any lace, nothing like last year's. "Mum actually got me some decent robes!" Harry inspected his own dress robes – they were exactly like his from last year, only maroon instead of green.
"Just think," Ron said, packing his robes into his school trunk, "this time next week, we'll be at Hogwarts. As 5th years. Won't that be great?"
"I expect it will be," Harry replied. "I'm going to be the Gryffindor Quidditch captain this year. I can't wait to get back to practicing…it's been way too long since I've ridden my Firebolt."
Suddenly, a large tawny owl swooped into the room through Ron's open window and landed on Ron's bed. "That's Hermione's new owl, Calliope. Look! A letter, already?" He untied the slip of parchment from Calliope's leg, and the owl flew out of the room. Ron began to read:
Dear Harry and Ron,
I completely forgot to tell you about Bethany Hodges today. She's Viktor's cousin from London. She's going to be a 5th year with us, isn't that brilliant? She went to Durmstrang for her first four years, but now she'll be at Hogwarts with us and all of the ex-Durmstrangers. I do hope that she and Viktor will be Gryffindors!
Love,
Hermione
Ron inhaled deeply and sighed. "It smells like her."
Harry stared at him. "Ron – stop that. It's disturbing. Besides, maybe this Bethany is what you need! She can help you forget about Hermione."
Ron turned on him, eyes flashing with anger. "I don't want to forget about Hermione! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I'M IN LOVE WITH HER?"
Harry took a few steps backward, and Ron's face fell. "I'm sorry, Harry – I didn't mean to do that. It's not your fault. It was a good suggestion, too. It's just not the right one."
"Ron! Harry! Time to get up!" Mrs. Weasley called from the doorway. "We're leaving for Diagon Alley in twenty minutes, so you'd best get dressed and eat breakfast in a hurry."
Harry groaned. At least he was getting more sleep here than he had been at the Dursleys – he'd had to get up at the crack of dawn each morning to cook breakfast for all of them. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and glanced over at Ron. He was shocked to see that Ron was fully dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a grey tee shirt, his hair neatly combed, his face scrubbed. He looked a nervous wreck, though.
"Ron, are you alright?" Harry asked, standing up and stretching, then looking at him with concern.
Ron shook his head. "No. I'm nervous. Can't you tell?" He started pacing around the room while Harry quickly changed into black jeans and a maroon tee shirt. "Honestly, wouldn't you be nervous if you were seeing…hmm…Cho Chang for the first time since the end of the term, and you had someone really famous as your competition?"
Harry shook his head. "Not Cho. I'm over her."
Ron stared at him in disbelief. "Since when?" The left the room and started down the long staircase.
"I have been for awhile. And anyway, she's still mourning Cedric – not that I blame her for that, after all, she was in love with him – so even if I did still like her, I'd never approach her about it. It'd be too upsetting for her." Cedric Diggory had been killed by Lord Voldemort at the end of the Triwizard Tournament in June.
Ron sighed. "Well, if Ginny can get over you, I suppose anything's possible…"
"HEY, I HEARD THAT!" Ginny's voice yelled from the kitchen, where she was eating a bowl of oatmeal. She was wearing a pair of very tight black jeans with a blue camouflage halter top cut high above her navel, her hair pulled up into a high ponytail with a few curly strands framing her face. She wore a bit of makeup as well. She looked at least sixteen years old.
Ron gave her a once-over and went pale. He gave a strangled cry. "MUM!"
Mrs. Weasley hurried into the kitchen. "Let's go, we're leaving in 5 minutes!" She glanced at Ron. "Yes, dear?"
Still white as a sheet and hardly able to speak, he pointed to his sister. "Mum…LOOK at her! She looks…she looks—"
"Like a girl," Mrs. Weasley finished, waving her hand dismissively. "Ginny, dear, you look lovely. The boys' eyes are going to pop out of their heads." Ginny blushed beet-red. "Ready to go?"
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George gathered at the fireplace behind Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley. "Now, then," Mrs. Weasley went on, "first stop is Gringotts. After that, we'll separate. Your father and I will pick up your new robes – yours, too, Harry – while you go off with your friends. We'll all meet in Flourish and Blotts at 3:00 to buy your schoolbooks." Mrs. Weasley tossed a small handful of Floo powder into the fire, and one by one they landed in a Diagon Alley grate. After a quick head count, they trooped off to Gringotts.
A goblin led them to a large cart into which they all climbed in and sped down to the Weasley family vault. The goblin, Griphook, opened it up -- it was a good deal fuller than it had been the last time Harry had seen it. Mrs. Weasley scooped about a quarter of the Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts into her purse, the vault was closed, and they sped off toward Harry's vault. It was quite full, as he had inherited a small fortune from his parents when they died. He surveyed its contents for a few seconds before taking about a tenth of it – even that amount was almost as much as what Mrs. Weasley had taken out of her vault. Harry would be more than happy to share his entire inheritance with the Weasleys, but if he ever offered, they would be thoroughly insulted, especially Ron.
After Gringotts, the group split up. Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley went off to the robes shop, Fred and George hurried to Gambol and Japes to find their friend Lee Jordan, and Harry, Ron, and Ginny went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to meet Hermione and Viktor Krum.
"Where is she?" Ron asked nervously.
Harry looked around. There were a great deal of Hogwarts students in the room – Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were looking at Quidditch robes, Draco Malfoy (flanked by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, as usual) was running his fingers over a Firebolt Quidditch broom (like Harry's), and Hermione and Krum were walking towards them. Hermione had gotten her hair straightened again – this time for good, it appeared. She had on a pair of blue capris pants and a scarlet tee shirt that read "Gryffindor Lions". Krum was wearing blue jeans, a black tee shirt, and his usual scowl.
"Coming this way, I believe," Harry replied.
Ron gulped. "Must…remain…CALM…" he muttered. "Must act…NATURAL…"
Hermione grinned rather cheerfully. "Hello, Harry, Ron, Ginny! Oh, Ginny, you're looking brilliant! Hasn't this been a magnificent summer? I think it's been wonderful, don't you? I can't wait until classes start. I'm really anxious to see my Arithmancy professor, I need to ask him for some extra work…" She went on and on – no one else could get a word in edgewise.
"Well, well, all the gang's together again," a familiar voice drawled from behind them. The small group turned around to see the sneering face of Draco Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. "And with a new addition, too," he smirked at Krum. "How much is the little Mudblood paying you to be her boy toy, anyway?"
"Don't…you…EVER call her that!" Ron jumped on Malfoy, knocking him to the ground. They rolled around, hitting and kicking each other, raising up a cloud of dust around them so that it was incredibly hard to see how badly they were hurting each other.
Krum looked at Hermione. "Why does he think you are paying me?"
She went quite red. "He's the type of person who thinks that Muggle-borns aren't worthy of professional Quidditch players."
"Malfoy's an egotistical bigot," Harry explained.
"But, Hermy-own, you're a very good witch, and very smart, and very pretty," Krum told her, giving her one of his rare half-smiles. She blushed. "This Malfoy obviously is jealous of how good you are."
Harry looked down at Ron and Malfoy, still brawling, then back at Hermione and Krum. "Er…Viktor? Do you think you could help me with these two?"
Krum, who had been staring into Hermione's eyes as if in a trance, suddenly snapped out of it and glanced down at the two boys. "Oh…yes, of course." He seized the back of Malfoy's green tee shirt and yanked him up off the ground as Harry pulled Ron off of him. Krum set Malfoy on the ground next to Crabbe and Goyle, who were too shocked to say or do anything but stand there with their mouths half-open.
Ron dusted himself while being lectured by Hermione. "Really, Ron," she said in a reproachful tone, "you're always looking for a reason to fight with him…and in public, too! What do you think your mother would say?"
Ron stared at her. "He called you a…a…a Mudblood, Hermione! What was I supposed to do, let him laugh about it?"
Hermione sighed. "Well, I was always rather partial to 'Eat dung, Malfoy' myself…"
Ron gave her an exasperated look. She just shrugged.
Malfoy stood up. "You should really learn to control that temper of yours, Weasley," he smirked. "It'll get you into a good spot of trouble someday. At least Potter here knows better than to pick a fight with me."
Harry glared at him. "Actually, Malfoy, I just don't feel like wasting my time beating the snot out of you." Harry wasn't usually this rude to anyone –- even Malfoy – and it looked as though he might "beat the snot out of" Malfoy after all.
Ginny grabbed his arm. "Harry, don't do anything stupid," she said as he reached for his wand. "Malfoy's not worth expulsion from school."
Harry suddenly realized what he was doing and snapped back to reality. He'd come close to being expelled too many times to risk it again.
Meanwhile, Malfoy was staring at Ginny as though seeing her for the first time. "Weasley," he said, addressing Ron but still looking at Ginny, "what on earth happened to your sister?"
Ron looked even angrier than before, but Ginny tugged at his shirtsleeve. "Ron, we're supposed to meet Mum and Dad at Flourish and Blotts now."
"Oh, you haven't gotten your books yet?" Hermione asked. "Well, neither have Viktor and I! We'll come with you." They set off, leaving Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle behind.
Harry and Ron walked behind Hermione, Krum, and Ginny, who were all talking about how interesting the summer had been. Ron looked angry. "I beat Malfoy to a pulp for her, and what do I get?" he whispered to Harry. "Nothing! Not even a single word of praise! And what about the way Malfoy was looking at Ginny? He looked interested!"
"Well…she is rather pretty, Ron," Harry pointed out. "Lots of people are going to look 'interested' when they see her."
"But why him?" Ron whispered fiercely. "Why Malfoy? I don't like this at all…"
"Will you relax?" Harry looked at him, concerned. "You're going to drive yourself bonkers over this. Ginny doesn't like him one bit, so you haven't got a thing to be worried about. Besides, she's still your sister. Malfoy wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot-pole."
By this time they had reached Flourish and Blotts, where Fred and George were standing with their new books. Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley stood next to them at the register, ready to pay. The five of them hurried to get their books (Ron, Harry, and Hermione – Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5; Ginny – Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4; Krum – Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7) and then took them up to the register. After everything had been paid for, Hermione and Krum set off for The Leaky Cauldron, where they were meeting Hermione's parents, and Harry and the Weasleys went back to the grate that would get them home. One by one, they landed in the Weasleys' kitchen fire, and Ron and Harry hurried upstairs to Ron's room to see what kind of robes Mrs. Weasley had gotten them.
"Well, what do you know!" Ron exclaimed, holding out his new dress robes – they were navy blue and free of any lace, nothing like last year's. "Mum actually got me some decent robes!" Harry inspected his own dress robes – they were exactly like his from last year, only maroon instead of green.
"Just think," Ron said, packing his robes into his school trunk, "this time next week, we'll be at Hogwarts. As 5th years. Won't that be great?"
"I expect it will be," Harry replied. "I'm going to be the Gryffindor Quidditch captain this year. I can't wait to get back to practicing…it's been way too long since I've ridden my Firebolt."
Suddenly, a large tawny owl swooped into the room through Ron's open window and landed on Ron's bed. "That's Hermione's new owl, Calliope. Look! A letter, already?" He untied the slip of parchment from Calliope's leg, and the owl flew out of the room. Ron began to read:
Dear Harry and Ron,
I completely forgot to tell you about Bethany Hodges today. She's Viktor's cousin from London. She's going to be a 5th year with us, isn't that brilliant? She went to Durmstrang for her first four years, but now she'll be at Hogwarts with us and all of the ex-Durmstrangers. I do hope that she and Viktor will be Gryffindors!
Love,
Hermione
Ron inhaled deeply and sighed. "It smells like her."
Harry stared at him. "Ron – stop that. It's disturbing. Besides, maybe this Bethany is what you need! She can help you forget about Hermione."
Ron turned on him, eyes flashing with anger. "I don't want to forget about Hermione! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I'M IN LOVE WITH HER?"
Harry took a few steps backward, and Ron's face fell. "I'm sorry, Harry – I didn't mean to do that. It's not your fault. It was a good suggestion, too. It's just not the right one."
