(A/N: To all you H/G shippers, there should be some fluff here for you. And I love you guys, you are so good to me!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for all the reviews.)

Chapter 20

Hogsmeade

The preparations for the dance had been taken over completely by Heather and Sirius, claiming that Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione had to be surprised like everybody else. A new charm had been put on the pipe, so that people could slide down without ruining their costumes.

Costumes. A masquerade ball was what Heather had turned it into. Harry pointed out brightly that meant that Sirius could go if he was careful. He and Ginny shared a grin when Heather started making suggestions on what he could come as. Masquerades were slightly different in the magical world, as you didn't always have to wear a mask to hide your face.

The students were supposed to keep their costumes a secret from each other, and Harry was doing a very good job at it, as he didn't even know what he was going to be.

When he told Sirius his problem, his godfather gave him some fatherly advice. "Go as you dad, it would be really easy."

Then Heather, whom Harry was beginning to think of as his godmother, gave him some real advice. "You could go as Godric Gryffindor. You even have the sword."

Godric had straight black hair that laid flat on his head, and green eyes that were more gold then green. Heather promised to help him on the hair and eyes, and Sirius suggested a antique shop in Hogsmeade where he could get an antique robe.

"I'm helping Ginny with her costume too, you know," Heather said.

"No, I didn't know. What's she going as?"

"Now I can't tell you that!"

"Please?"

"No!"

The weekend of Halloween approached quickly with no small amount of anticipation. Ginny was looking foreword to her first Hogsmeade visit, and Harry couldn't wait to get out of the castle for a little while.

The disappearing children had not stopped, but they had slowed down considerably. Still, many of the students and some of the staff treated him like an eggshell about to crack, and it would do him good to have a day out with his friends who would go to any extent not to treat him like that.

When Halloween did arrive, it started early for all of them. Fred and George made it certain that nobody slept in past six. Harry sat beside Ron with Sally of his neck, eating his breakfast and pushing all thoughts besides having a good time out of his mind.

Ginny walked into the room, but instead of heading toward them, she went to the staff table. Harry watched in surprise as she approached Dumbledore and blushed.

Ginny blushed and tried to calm her breathing. Talking to adults made her nervous. 'He won't bite your head off,' she reminded herself.

Dumbledore looked up at her. "Good morning, Miss. Weasley." The rest of the staff turned to look at her, and she blushed deeper.

"Good morning, Professor."

"And how may I help you?"

Ginny took a deep breath. "Professor, Harry deserves a day off, and I was hoping that if anything happened today, you would wait to tell him about it until tomorrow," she said quickly, and then thought to herself the words she couldn't say. 'Or in other words, I'm afraid that if he doesn't have some fun, I might lose the Harry I'm in love with.'

It was as if Dumbledore had read this in her eyes when he smiled. "Have no fear, Miss. Weasley. I promise not to interrupt Mr. Potter's fun. He told me that you had not been giving him the names, and I think that was a very nice thing to do for him, but he wants to relieve you of that burden. I quote, "She already has enough of my problems, I don't want to give her that one too." So from now on, I will be bringing news to Harry again."

Ginny smiled in spite of herself at that and nodded. "Thank you Professor."

"You are very welcome Miss. Weasley. Do have a good time, and attempt to make Harry have one as well." She nodded once more, then turned and walked in the other direction, ignoring the teachers' eyes that followed her.

Ginny took her seat across from Harry and next to Hermione. "What were you talking to Dumbledore about?" Harry asked.

Ginny blushed again. "N-nothing important," she stuttered.

Sally snorted. "Nothing important my tail," she hissed. "She wasss making sssure that the old man wouldn't interrupt your fun with any reportsss of death."

Ginny was surprised to see Harry blush and look down at his plate. He spoke in Parseltongue. "Thank you."

"Um, no problem."

"So, Rose," Hermione cut in. "Looking forward to your first Hogsmeade trip?"

"I guess so," Ginny responded, startled by the sudden change of subject.

"Hermione doesn't like you talking in a language she doesn't understand," Ron explained. "It upsets her that she doesn't know something."

"That's not true!"

"Yes it is, Books, and that's okay," he said in a way that made Ginny's jaw drop.

At the use of her nickname, and Ron's tone of voice, Hermione found herself unable to make a retort. "I- it- I-," she gave up and sighed. "I guess you're right, I just don't like not being able to know what's going on." She quickly gave Ron a studying look as though she was expecting him to gloat. Instead he gave her a smile and returned to his food.

Ginny looked at Harry, and he looked back, both confused. Was Ron doing that to make sure Hermione would help him? Sally started laughing. "Oh, that isss ssso pricelessss."

"What?" Harry asked.

"I can not tell you, it isss not fair."

Despite how Ginny and Harry tried, they weren't able to get a word out of her on the subject.

They arrived in Hogsmeade a while later, and pulled their cloaks tighter at the cool chill. "Hermione, will you help me now?" Ron asked pleadingly. Ginny wasn't surprised Hermione said yes, she didn't think she would be able to say no if he looked at her that way.

"We'll meet you guys at the Shack in about three hours, okay?" Ron didn't wait for an answer, but grabbed Hermione's arm and drug her off.

"Three hours?"

"Well, I want to make sure I find the right thing."

"But three hours? I don't want to take that long."

Ron stopped walking and turned to look at her. His eyes were hurt and he frowned. "If you don't want to-"

"No, no, I want to help. Let's go."

They were in and out of four stores, and neither had seen anything that they liked. They had already used and hour of their time, when Ron suggested a jewelry store.

"That place is expensive, Ron."

"Well, I've been saving up for this, I don't mind spending money. It's not like there's really anything that I need to buy with it."

Hermione shrugged. "If you're sure."

A small bell chimed as they entered the store. The person working at the moment was busy with another couple and mouthed a 'please wait' to them as she patiently showed the woman almost every ring in the store.

Ron and Hermione began to look around when they came on a jewelry display that was animal based. "Her favorite is the owl," Ron muttered, probably not aware that he had spoken aloud.

Hermione felt another pang of jealousy. 'He has no idea that's my favorite too.'

They bent over the glass, peering in at all the rings and necklaces that held various animals and stones. Hermione's eyes landed on a pair of earrings. They were silver owls, with sapphire eyes that seemed to have a glint of intelligence in them. 'And maybe they do. Wouldn't surprise me. The sapphire is even my birth stone.'

"Perfect!" Ron exclaimed.

The lady had left the other couple and hurried over to them. "Which one?" she asked pleasantly.

"The owl earrings."

Hermione closed her eyes, clamping her mouth so she didn't say anything embarrassing. "Are you sure the lucky lady's ears are pierced?" the lady asked, with a quick glance at Hermione's unpierced ears. 'She thinks it's me, little does she know.'

"Oh," Ron stopped, he hadn't thought about that.

"Even though mine aren't, I'd get them done for those," Hermione muttered under her breath. Ron didn't seem to hear her.

"Yes, I think they are."

The lady smiled. "Just in case, I'll throw in a free piercing."

Ron nodded. "Thank you."

"I'm waiting outside," Hermione said shortly, turning and walking out. She didn't want to know how much it cost. She didn't want to know how much Ron was willing to spend on a different girl. She didn't want to know who that girl was.

Hermione fell down on a bench. She pulled her cloak tight against the chill, and closed in on herself. 'Get over it. Since when has the know-it-all had a problem with boys?'

'Well what if I'm tired of being a know-it-all? What if Hermione Granger does care about something more then school work? What if she has feelings too?'

'Okay, so I have feelings. Naturally, they are crushed. So what do I do about it? I can't make myself not like him, I love him with all that I am.'

'So are you willing to wait? This girl can't last forever. Are you willing to wait around until it's over, and hope he notices you then?'

Before Hermione could answer herself however, Ron walked out. He flashed her a grin that held all his thanks. "Thank you so much, Books," his words echoing his smile. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"It was nothing," she answered, looking to the side so he couldn't see her eyes.

"No, I'll take you to lunch for helping me."

"Ron, you don't hav-" he held up a hand to stop her.

"Yes I do, now let's find a restaurant."

A snake, smiling to herself, started off in a different direction. 'Don't worry, Books, your time will come.'

Ginny and Harry watched Ron drag Hermione away. "Three hours?" Harry asked.

"If he wasn't in love with somebody else, I'd say it was an excuse to spend time with her," she answered.

After Harry made a quick stop at the store Sirius had suggested (finding the perfect robe, red with a golden collar and edge) he turned to Ginny

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"The art gallery," she said immediately. "Mom said there was one here that was very good."

"I think it's down this way, but I haven't been there before."

After some searching, they found the gallery. Harry had never been in a magical art gallery, and realized that the paintings would move and possible so would the statues. This realization was confirmed when a clay cat with a mouse sitting on it's tail walked past them.

"The paintings usually stay in their own frames here," Ginny said. "So you don't come across an empty frame."

They found an entire floor dedicated to paintings of Hogwarts or something to do with it.

"Look, this one is of the founders. It's called, Helga's Last Act. Wow that's old," she said reading the year. "What do you think is happening?"

"She looks like she's speaking. They're in the great hall. Look at that, all her magic is going into whatever it is she's saying." Harry studied the painting a while longer, but Ginny moved on.

"Oh my goodness, Harry come see this." Harry walked over, and Ginny read the explanation aloud. "This is a picture of a painting by Mr. James Potter. It was sent asking if we would consider hanging it in our gallery. We gave him a strong yes, but he passed away before he was able to send it to us. His home and the school were searched for the painting, wishing to hang it for him, but it was never found."

Harry examined the picture closely. The painting, as far as he could tell, was very good. It held the castle on the grounds, the lake, and the edge of the forest, in front of a full moon. There were no people in site, unless they were too small for Harry to see.

"I wonder were it is," he asked.

"Probably the same place where Sirius and Heather said he 'took' your mum. A room not on the map."

Harry had forgotten that fact, and mentally cursed himself for it. He was trying to memorize everything about his parents, and then he went off forgetting things. "I need a place to write it all down," he muttered.

Ginny gave a small smile. "I think this is enough for one day, let's go for lunch or something."

She led him away from the picture, and out of the gallery. They were across the street from a restaurant that Harry had never been to. "Let's go there," he said. "My treat."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. We could always freak them out by speaking in Parseltongue," he said as they crossed the road.

"Oh yeah, where's Sal?"

Harry looked puzzled for a moment. "She came down with us, she must be with Hermione and Ron." He still looked worried as they walked into the restaurant.

It turned out that they were not dressed for the restaurant, but as they were the only people there (and face it, he's Harry Potter) the manager didn't mind. They selected a booth and sat down. Harry still wore a troubled expression.

"If she needed you, you would know."

Harry looked surprised for a moment. "I guess your right. I forgot about that."

They ordered a light lunch, remembering the feast that would be there as soon as they returned. Sally made her arrival at mid-meal, causing the waiter much distress.

"I promise you, she won't hurt anything," Harry said going to grab her off the floor before the man squashed her. To emphasize the fact that he had it under control, he started to speak to her in Parseltongue, causing the waiter to stare at him but leave Sally alone.

"So where were you?"

"Following."

"Pawn and Books?"

"Yes."

"Did they find a gift?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, and now Ron is taking her to lunch to thank her."

"That's sweet of him," she observed. "Wait, that's not Ron."

"I do believe that Ron is," he paused for effect, "growing up."

Ginny gasped, throwing her hand to her forehead. "Say it isn't so, say it isn't so! Not my brother, he needs to stay younger then me forever."

"But Ginny, he's older then you."

"Only in years." Sally said something and they both cracked up.

The manager watched from through the window in the kitchen, his wife and cook beside him. "Think it's a date?" he asked

"No, I don't. They are too relaxed. Dates at that age are nerve racking," she answered. "He is the real Harry Potter?"

"Who else could talk to a snake?"

"She can. Look at how they laugh together at nothing. She may not be able to speak to it, but she understands it."

"I believe it's name is Sally. Mr. Potter called her that anyway."

"Well," the woman observed with a smile, "what do you say we keep their visits here a secret. I have a feeling that poor boy gets more attention then he wants."

"Well he is The Boy Who Lived," her husband observed.

"And he is also a fourteen year-old boy who I pray has a life besides the headlines."

"Yes, well we'll keep it a secret. I owe it to his mother, if not for her, I would have failed the Charms test that one time."

His wife was no longer listening, however, she was leaving the kitchen to talk to the young pair.

"Hello, I'm the cook, the manager's wife, Mrs. Kimberly to you."

"Hello," Ginny responded shyly. Harry didn't reply.

"I just came out to tell you, that I understand what it must be like for you, Harry, and my husband and I are willing to keep any visits here of yours a secret. Granted, we can't keep other people out, business would be bad, but we won't make a point to tell people that you are here."

Harry eyes showed mild surprise, but he recovered quickly and smiled. "I can't begin to thank you, Mrs. Kimberly."

She brushed off his thanks with a wave of her hand. "Would you like to introduce me to the two beautiful ladies that accompany you?"

A grin spread across Harry's face. "Pull up a chair." She grabbed one from the other table and sat down at the edge of their booth. "Well, the one beautiful lady with me is Ginny Weasley, one of my best friends. This old hag is Sal, she understands English, but you don't want to talk to her, she's rather sarcastic and blunt."

Sally responded with a number of swear words. "I didn't know you even knew those words, Sally. That part about having a baboon butt was a nice touch."

Ginny was hardly able to keep from exploding. Mrs. Kimberly snorted, and that was the last step for Ginny, who lost it completely. Her laughter was very contagious, and Harry, Kimberly, and Sally joined it. Mr. Patrick, who had emerged from the kitchen started laughing too.

"What's so funny?" he managed to sputter.

"I don't know!" his wife answered.

The laughing finally stopped when Ginny couldn't breathe, and a (semi) civilized conversation was started about Hogwarts.

They left some time later, Ginny and Harry waving good bye to Patrick and Kimberly. "You do manage to make friends in the oddessst of placesss," Sally observed.

"We need to hurry. We are already late."

Ron watched as his best friend and sister came running up the hill to the Shack, both with grins on their faces. They reached them panting, and sat promptly down on the ground until they caught their breath. Hermione and Ron sat down in front of them.

Sally slid off of Harry, and raced over to Ron. Shocking him, she wrapped around his hand.

"I win!" she called triumphantly.

"No fair!" Harry gasped. "You cheated!"

"She touched him first, she wins. We are both losers. Now I'm going to be a collapsed loser." True to her word, Ginny collapsed against Harry, who was recovering more quickly.

"We were racing," Harry explained, "because we were late. The first to touch Ron won. Sally won."

Hermione and Ron grinned at them. "I take it you had fun?"

"I would have won," Ginny said, though her eyes were closed and she was pretending to sleep against Harry.

"Yeah, but only because I would have let you."

Harry never figured out how she had managed to find his cheek so accurately with her eyes closed. He wondered if a hand print was visible on it. By Hermione's giggle and Ron's cringe, he supposed it was.

"I should hurt you for that."

"But you won't. Now will you hold still? I'm trying to regain consciousness."

Sally chuckled, while Harry shook his head sadly and looked up at Ron. "So did you find anything?"

Ron nodded and handed a box to Harry. Harry opened it, and his eyes widened. "Wow, they're really nice."

"Describe it to me in vivid detail, I'm too tired to open my eyes."

"You certainly hit hard for being too tired to open your eyes. They're earrings, two little silver owls, both with dark blue eyes."

"Sapphire?"

"How would I know?"

"It is," Hermione responded. "It's my birthstone, I should know."

Ginny caught the slight waver in her voice, though she doubted anyone else did.

However, Ron had caught it too, though he pretended not to. 'Why didn't you ever tell me that you cared, Books? Why didn't you say something? I'm sorry that this hurts you so, if I had known-'

His thoughts were interrupted when Harry started telling them about the picture in the museum and the restaurant.

An hour later, they knew it was time to start back if they wanted to be ready for the ball. Ginny had actually fallen asleep, so Harry picked her up easily and started to carry her down the hill. Practices with his sword were starting to have some benefits.

Ginny kept her breathing steady, and smiled slightly. She had been asleep, the refreshing scent of Harry having lulled her away, but she had woken up when they started going down the hill. She was careful to keep her eyes closed, and cuddled against the warmth Harry offered from the October chill.

'I can't place his scent. It's like a mix of fire and sky, but neither of those have a scent. Whatever it is, it's good,' she thought as she tried to keep from falling asleep again.

Upon entering the castle, Ginny "woke up," blushing and thanking Harry. He smiled and nodded, then walked off to find Heather. Ginny however followed, Heather was helping her too.

They entered the Heather's room, to find her and the dog that was Sirius standing beside a cauldron in the back bedroom.

Sirius walked up to Harry. "Little Man, you're with me. Little Lady, Heather will help you." Ginny walked in to the inner bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Sirius put the charm on Harry's eyes and hair easily, he had been the best in his year at Charms. When he was finished, he frowned.

"What? Didn't it work right?"

"Oh, no it worked. It's just, you don't look like Prongs anymore, and those aren't Flower's eyes."

"Oh," Harry said quietly. He had never really considered how much he must remind Sirius of James, forgot how much they really did look alike.

Sirius shook his head and grinned, an expression that fit him much better. "So lemme see the robe."

Harry pulled it out and Sirius nodded. "Perfect. Now wear your cloak, put up the hood, don't look people in the eye, and hide in your dorm for the rest of the day. I'm sure you have homework that you've neglected."

"Should I wait for Rose?"

"Oh no, it's going to take her the rest of the afternoon, and I'm locked out until then. Oh well, I suppose I should get ready too."

"You are going then?"

"Wouldn't miss it. Prongs and I begged the teachers for a dance when we were in school, and now that we've left they give it to us."