It was Thursday night when the plan was to be carried out. Harry cast an unrecognizable charm on Cho, Ron and himself. All three of the accomplices wore matching cloaks with a distinguishing mark so they could tell each other apart. Cho took a jar with the potion to the pub and paid off the waitress she had befriended so that Cho could take the waitress's place for a while. The waitress didn't even ask why Cho didn't look like herself. Harry and Ron were waiting at an outdoor café a few businesses down.
The trio didn't have to wait long until Crabbe and Goyle waddled into the pub and emerged a few minutes later with two large sacks. Harry checked his watch and noticed they were right on schedule. A few minutes later, Cho came over and joined Harry and Ron to wait for the rest to happen. The three sat around laughing and having a drink waiting for time to pass. Harry had forgotten how much he enjoyed sitting outside with friends and not being bothered by people wanting his autograph or congratulating him on the defeat of Voldemort.
After almost an hour, the three left and walked to a dingy alley. They pulled up their hoods and made their way into Knockturn Alley. Even though they were unrecognizable, they blended in better with their cloaks up. The building where Malfoy had his card game wasn't very far into this area. The three noticed more people milling around than they expected and hoped it was people who knew something was going to happen. They stood across the street in a darkened alcove and waited.
Exactly one hour after Crabbe and Goyle returned, loud noises came from the building and what looked like the flash of some spells could be seen through the window. The extra people on the street all turned to see what was happening. From the street, Harry could hear the words "RAID" being yelled from inside and he smiled, knowing another part had fallen into place. Suddenly, front door of the building burst open and ten men stumbled out with Malfoy in the lead, closely followed by Crabbe and Goyle. Flashes from cameras and someone announcing they were from the Daily Prophet shocked the men who stood there stunned.
Malfoy just looked annoyed for a second, then got a very strange look on his face and gripped his stomach. There were more flashes from cameras. Harry heard some mumbling and then enormous laughter, and even more camera flashes. When Harry's eyes adjusted, he understood why. All ten men were now standing up straight, but they were now dressed as members of the old "Village People" band. Malfoy was the biker in leather chaps and an unbuttoned leather vest. Crabbe was the Indian, and Goyle was the sailor. Other players from the card game filled out the band and there were some duplicates.
This by itself was funny enough, but suddenly they all stood in formation and started singing: Y.M.C.A. Malfoy had a panicked look on his face but couldn't stop singing. The crowd had grown with people from Diagon Alley when they heard all the commotion and everyone was roaring with laughter. The photographer from the Daily Prophet could barely stop laughing long enough to get pictures. Harry, Ron and Cho had to keep holding each other up since their sides hurt from so much laughter.
After the song ended, Malfoy looked furious and started to run off, but as soon as he got over two meters away from anyone in his "band", he lurched over and became violently ill. The same thing happened to any of the other members who tried to flee. The twins had enchanted the potion so that all unique members had to stay within a certain distance of each other for an entire week. Once the 'Village People' realized this limitation, they broke into groups and quickly moved off into the depths of Knockturn Alley, being chased by the photographers. Harry heard some of the bystanders wondering what happened to the officers that originally started the raid, but Harry knew that the officials had no intention of following through on a real raid and their sole purpose was to scare the card players out into the street.
After all they could handle of laughing, the trio quietly moved back into Diagon Alley and after finding a private area, Harry cancelled the unrecognizable spells, they removed the cloaks and went to the Leaky Cauldron to celebrate a successfully completed plan. The small group spent another hour congratulating each other and having a few drinks before they all went to their homes.
Harry couldn't wait until the Daily Prophet came the next day and when it finally arrived, he wasn't disappointed. There was a large picture of the group of singers showing them moving together pointing at the ground and then in the air. The article went on to name each of the men and describe what they were wearing. There were many comments from bystanders about the ten men looking like they really enjoyed each other's company and didn't seem to want to move away from each other. There were also quite a few comments from people surprised that Draco Malfoy wore leather chaps and an open leather vest. They didn't realize that Draco was into that lifestyle.
It seemed all of Harry's co-workers at the Department of Mysteries immediately thought he had something to do with the prank, but Harry wouldn't admit anything. When Harry went out for lunch, he overheard many people talking about the article. That night, Sirius came over and couldn't stop saying how proud he and Remus were of Harry and Ron. It took over a week for comments about Draco Malfoy stop appearing in the Daily Prophet.
When Ron's first match as starting keeper came around, Harry took off work to watch. Hermione couldn't use her ticket so Harry gave it to Parvati's sister Padma. Before the match, Ron was extremely nervous. Harry thought he seemed more nervous about this than before he proposed to Parvati, and the twins weren't making it easy on him. Even though they were making him feel more nervous, Harry could tell how proud they were of him. Harry was sitting between Mrs. Weasley and Parvati during the match and could tell they were both extremely worried since the twins kept brining up how bad the last keeper got hurt.
The match started quickly and Harry was disappointed that Ron let through a couple quick shots that he should have easily blocked. But, right after that, he saw the look on Ron's face change and saw him start to feel more comfortable out there. After those first couple, Ron was playing great, stopping almost all the other shots. Puddlemere got out to a 90-40 lead before the Puddlemere seeker got the snitch to win the match for them.
The family all went to congratulate Ron after the match. Ron got invited to the celebration and
Parvati quickly told him to go ahead.
The twins and Harry got invited to go as well.
The party lasted well into the night. It was great to see Ron getting some congratulations for playing so well in his first real match. Ron kept getting embarrassed but was having the time of his life. Finally, Harry drug Ron out of the party and made sure he got home all right. Parvati who was asleep on the couch when the two friends came in, quickly woke up with all the noise. Ron went straight to her and gave her a big hug and kiss, not to mention some inappropriate gropes. She pushed back and was about to give him grief about wondering what he had been doing but Harry spoke up and gave his word that Ron was just having fun with the guys and that no girls were involved. Ron went back to groping Parvati so Harry quickly apparated home.
When Harry got home, he saw Hermione on the couch with a book and some tissues. It was unusual for Hermione to fall asleep on the couch and she looked like she had been crying. Harry summoned a blanket and was putting it over her when he stumbled a bit from too much drinking and made a noise, which woke her up.
"Harry?" She said sleepily.
"Sorry Hermione, I was just trying to cover you up. I bumped the table," He said kind of slurring his speech. Looking at her he asked, "Is something wrong?" He sat down next to her since he was wobbly anyway.
"Oh Harry. I'm such a fool," she said and pulled him into a hug. Hermione was crying again.
Instinctively, Harry hugged her back and asked what was wrong.
Once she started talking, she didn't stop until it was all out. She explained that she had gotten to the school earlier than she expected to meet Mark and found him talking to Draco Malfoy. Hermione had listened in without them knowing and heard Draco say, "Have you gotten anywhere with the mudblood yet?"
Mark replied, "Don't call her that. Not yet, all she wants to do is study. Every time I ask about the spell, she changes the subject."
"You get that spell, or I'll cutoff you the extra funding you get," Malfoy spat back."
"I'm telling you she doesn't know the spell and I don't see her asking for it. There's nothing I can do. I don't want to ask her anymore," Mark replied
Malfoy cursed a few times. "Have you shagged her yet?"
"No. I don't like doing this to her, she's actually really nice," Mark said not sounding happy.
"I don't care what you like. Fine, I didn't expect to give up the spell anyway, I've got another idea. I don't know if the Weasel had her or not, but if not I want to make sure Potter isn't her first."
"I can't do that to her," Mark said trying to sound confident.
"You can't honestly tell me that you're falling for her," Malfoy said sounding amazed.
"I don't know. She's really smart and nothing like what you said she'd be."
"You need to make your choice soon, my patience won't last long," Malfoy said firmly before he disappeared.
Hermione stayed hidden for a bit, trying to compose herself and approached Mark and made an excuse about not feeling well, and then had immediately came back home.
Harry jumped up when she finished, "I'm going to find him right now and rip his throat out with my bare hands. Trashing Ron's store was bad enough, but this is over the edge, even for him," Now he was mad that he hadn't listened to Ron and allowed bodily harm on Malfoy.
Hermione was actually scared Harry might actually do it. It took Hermione a few minutes to get Harry calmed down and see that he would just get into trouble for doing anything like that. Finally, Harry sat back down and was hugging her again. She felt so warm and safe in his arms. "I just can't believe I was such a fool to think he really liked me," she said crying again.
"He obviously cared about you since he tried to stand up to Malfoy. Either way, he's the fool Hermione," Harry said stroking the side of her face. "You could have anyone you want and were just setup by Malfoy. If Malfoy hadn't been in the picture Mark would have probably fallen for you anyway." Harry hugged her tight. "You're the best Hermione. It's going to be ok."
"I just feel so used," she said. "What if I had really…you know… with him? I had actually been thinking about it."
"That still wouldn't have made you any worse of a person. You cared for him. This is all Malfoy's fault, just using people to try to get at me. You didn't do anything wrong," Harry said holding his best friend tightly.
"But my first time was almost with someone like that! That would have haunted me forever."
"But it didn't happen. Don't think about it. Come on; let me put you in bed. I'm not thinking too straight tonight, but tomorrow we can talk more. And, I can start helping you study. I can quiz you from some of your notes," Harry said pulling her up. They walked upstairs in silence and Harry left her at her door. "Change and get into bed and then yell, I'll sit with you for a while."
"You don't have to do that, I'll be fine," Hermione said between sniffles.
"That wasn't a request; I'm only giving you a break to get changed," Harry said with a smile. He shut the door and waited until she called. He sat on the bed next to her and stroked her hair. "It's going to be ok. Remember, I've been though this a couple...few times. I'd say Cho was the closest to this. You were always around for me, and I promise I'll always be here for you. Don't every worry about that."
"Thanks Harry, you're the best," she said.
"That explains my great luck with women," Harry said. "Go to sleep now, I'll see you in the morning."
She grabbed his arm and said, "Please stay. I don't want to be alone."
He saw the pleading look in her eyes and really wanted to stay. Even in his half-intoxicated state, alarm bells were going off. This was his best friend and he couldn't lose her for any stupid mistake on his part. He smiled and kissed her forehead and slid down even with her. He left her under the covers and summoned another blanket to put over him since he was staying on top of the covers. "Harry. Will you kiss me?" She saw the worried look on his face. "We've kissed before you remember. We'll be fine. I just want to be kissed."
Harry stroked the side of her face and leaned over and concentrated on giving her the best kiss he ever could. This wasn't hard since he had such deep feelings for Hermione. It ended up being a very passionate kiss and when they parted, she smiled and said, "Thanks. That's what I thought it would be like," before rolling onto her side. Harry quickly snuggled up next to her and made sure to wrap his arms around her so that she knew he would be there.
Harry was awake and watching Hermione sleep the next morning. He was thinking about the kiss and how it had been one of the best he had ever had. He didn't know if he should mention it to her or anything. The last thing he wanted was for things to get weird between them. When she did wake up, she got such a peaceful smile on her face and said, "Thanks for staying with me. I'm sorry I was such a baby."
"Anytime. If I remember correctly, you slept with me once after Cho hurt me." Harry looked seriously at her. "You know I can't give his father back his magic don't you? I just can't."
"Of course you can't! I wouldn't let you if you wanted to," Hermione said forcefully.
"I don't suppose you can skip school today and let me take you somewhere?" Harry asked.
Hermione quickly became serious, "You know I can't. I've got exams coming up. Did you really mean that you'd help me study or was that just the alcohol talking?" She asked.
"If I said it, I meant it, alcohol or not. It's not like I have anything to do in the evenings anymore," Harry answered. "I've got a match this weekend, but other than that, I'll be around to help."
"Thanks Harry, this means a lot," she said and gave him a strange look. When she saw he was confused she said, "You have to leave now, I need to get up and get ready for school."
Harry smiled. "Oh sure. Ask me to sleep with you and then kick me out of bed. You really know how to make me feel good don't you?" he said and gave her a wink on his way out.
Hermione went to have a shower thinking about everything. With all the bad emotions, the thing that stuck in her mind was the kiss. She had never expected it to be that good or that passionate. She wondered what it meant. Was he just doing it because she had asked him to? Was it because he had been drinking? He hadn't acted weird about it this morning. She thought that was because he had kissed so many times with other women, then she remembered it had only three other women. And, he did care for them all. Harry didn't go around kissing people he didn't care about. She was confused but tried to put it out of her mind since she had exams coming up.
"How are you going to handle things with Mark? If Draco is pulling his strings, he's not going to be very happy," Harry asked the next morning.
Hermione got an evil look in her eye. "Now that I know the truth, I can handle him. Remember I helped you learn all those hexes and you taught me a few things during the summers."
"Wouldn't you rather me just talk to him? Then you wouldn't have to deal with him at all," Harry asked with a rather evil gleam in his eyes.
"I can handle things myself," Hermione said still sounding angry but then softened and added. "But, I do appreciate the offer. At least you asked instead of just doing something stupid. You are starting to learn a few things." She gave a small smile.
Harry took her hand and looked directly into her eyes. "You do know that I'd do anything for you? If he hurts you I can make him disappear and no one would ever know."
Hermione was actually taken aback at this. She could see in his eyes and hear in the tone of his voice that he was dead serious. Trying to hide her apprehension she patted his hand and said, "Yes, I do know you'd do anything for me and that you could make him disappear, but neither of us would want you to be that kind of person." The two locked eyes for a few seconds before Harry nodded.
That night, Hermione was once again fully immersed in her studying and Harry went back to staying out of her way. The subject of Mark wasn't mentioned again even though Harry wondered how it was handled. Occasionally Harry would see her look off and get tears in her eyes before wiping them and focusing again on her books. Harry wanted to go hold her but knew she would yell at him for interrupting her study.
Harry missed Ron's match on Saturday since France was playing in their final match of the season. Puddlemere had lost but Ron had played well. France won the match and ended the season in second place behind Bulgaria. They would be playing England in the first round. Harry wouldn't answer any new questions about Kristi when the reporter brought the subject up. All he ever said was that he had been glad to know her and understood that she wanted other things right now. He assured them that they still respected each other and would always put playing Quidditch above anything personal.
Harry spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday quizzing Hermione on things he had absolutely no clue about. He couldn't even pronounce some of the words from her notes and felt he wasn't being much help but she assured him he was. She came home Wednesday after her final exam that morning looking very relieved.
"Well, how do you think you did?" Harry asked sounding more nervous than his friend looked.
"I think pretty well. They were much harder than Hogwarts but I feel good."
Harry finally asked something he had wondered about, "So how did things go with Mark?"
Hermione sighed, "Really not that bad. I think he honestly felt terrible about it." Hermione looked worried and said, "There's something I never told you." She hesitated and then went on, "Mark was in the study group that was researching how to restore magic." Harry tensed up when she said this but didn't say anything. "I never told you because I knew I would never help them. Mark would ask my opinion occasionally, but I always said I didn't know, and you know I never asked you about it." Hermione really looked worried.
Harry breathed deeply and said, "That's true, don't worry about that. So what happened?"
"Well, it seems Draco was helping to fund their research and had originally suggested strongly that Mark get to be my friend. Mark said that he really did get to like me and wasn't seeing me just to get information. And, in the last couple months he hadn't been asking much so I believed him. I told him we won't be going out anymore, but I didn't hex him," she said and then quickly added, "or turn him into some strange musician or anything."
This actually caused Harry to smile and thought Hermione handled it better than he would have. Hermione then spoke up, "Do we still have time to go see Ron play?" Hermione asked and this surprised Harry.
"If we leave soon, we can make it," Harry said and waited for Hermione to change before they went to the match. They sat with the Weasley's who were all excited to see Hermione since they hadn't since Christmas.
Hermione caught Harry looking at her a few times during the match. "What? You usually can't take you eyes off the match."
"I just wish I knew how you handled everything so well. Cho really tore me up," Harry said softly so no one else would hear.
"You loved Cho and I didn't love Mark at all. I thought he was nice, smart and cute, but there were never any thoughts of forever with him. You handled Kristi pretty good since I didn't even know."
"True, I didn't love Kristi, but I think I handled it better because she was honest and told me exactly what she needed. I could respect that." Harry paused and then continued, "I'm really glad you're my roommate."
Hermione hooked her arm with his and said, "Me too."
The match lasted over an hour with both teams playing well. Ron had made some great saves and only let a couple through that Harry thought he should have gotten. Puddlemere won when their seeker made an amazing grab just before the other seeker closed his hands.
After all of the congratulations, the twins, Harry, Hermione and Parvati were going to the celebration with the team. It was at least as good as the last celebration and Parvati felt good seeing that Ron was spending time with her even though the whole team was there. Ron had to be drug away from any reporter but when he got to his two best friends he said, "You could have brought Mark you know. I'd like to meet the bloke."
Harry started to say something but Hermione cut him off. "Oh, he wouldn't have
liked this, he's too much of a bookworm.
I really don't think I'll be seeing him much anymore."
"Too much of a bookworm for Hermione! No way. That seems to be just your type," Ron was saying.
Harry spoke up, "I think I've been a bad influence. Living with me for a year has totally messed up her opinions of guys."
Hermione looked at him and answered, "You know Ron, I think Harry's right."
The party went late again, but Harry left when Hermione did. When they got home, they sat down to watch some television (Hermione made him get one). Harry was nervous but asked her, "So are you really ok with everything?"
"I'm fine Harry. I don't think Mark will be speaking to me and I learned a valuable lesson about men," she answered.
"Ouch. Don't hold that against all of us," Harry joked.
Hermione laughed. "Not all of you, just most. If I ever see you start to change into the kind of man who treats women poorly, you'll live to regret it though."
Harry spoke up, "I say that it's the women who treat men poorly. Present company excluded of course. I've had it with getting serious about
anyone for a while. There's only so
much I can take you know." Harry tried
to smile but Hermione knew he was basically serious.
"What's wrong with us?" Hermione asked. "We deserve better than what we've gotten."
"Well, according to you, Ginny and Ron, I'm a stupid clueless git. That may be my problem. But, I can't find a single thing wrong with you," Harry said and Hermione knew he meant it.
"Well, you can be clueless but not stupid or a git. As for me, I spend too much time worrying about school and plastering my face in a book."
"Your schoolwork is important. It won't be around forever. Don't worry about what anyone thinks about you studying so much. I'm amazed you can do it. Maybe one day when you get some big research job you'll be able to spend more time relaxing. Probably not, but maybe," Harry joked.
After that night, the focus shifted to helping Ron and Parvati get ready for their wedding. Hermione spent a lot of time at the Weasley's helping Molly with things and Harry spent time with Ron trying to keep him sane, which basically meant playing Quidditch or going to the pub.
Hogwarts term ended so Ginny was hanging around everyone more and was a great help with the wedding preparations. Harry managed to talk to Ginny at the Weasley's one afternoon before the wedding. "So what are you going to do now that you're out of school?" Harry asked.
"Probably work at the store. I don't know what else I could do right now," the redhead replied.
"I say you can do anything. What about your fashion design company? I remember your drawings from a couple years ago, they were good."
Ginny smiled thoughtfully. "That would be nice, but it takes a long time to get into that business and I need to make some money first."
"Is design something you really want to do though? And, do you think you can really make a business of it?" Harry asked.
Ginny looked at him for a moment, seeming to try and figure out if Harry really wanted to hear the truth or not. "It's my dream to do it, and I think there's a chance to make a business. I don't see anyone else doing it the way I want," Ginny replied.
"How about I make you a deal?" Harry said confidently. "You take a month or so to work up a real plan for your design business. We'll ask Cho to look over the business part since she's so smart with that stuff. If it looks reasonable, I'll invest in your company and give you two years to make a go of it," Harry said looking directly at his friend.
Ginny's eyes got huge. "You're kidding right?" Harry shook his head. "You'd really do that? You'd help me with this?"
"I'd really help you. So far, everything I've done with the Weasley family has worked out great. So don't work for the twins for a couple months. I'll pay you to make the business plan on this. If Cho and I think it's reasonable, I'll invest. You may want to think about asking Cho to help with the real business as well, she's really smart."
Ginny nearly choked Harry by hugging him so hard. "Oh Harry. I can't believe this." She pulled back and looked serious. "But if this is an investment, what do you get out of it?"
"Maybe more hugs like that," Harry said with a smile but then added, "The twins have made a lot of money for me with their shop and once you think about how much you could make, you can tell me how much of your company I own and then hopefully when you do well, I'll make even more money."
"But what if it doesn't work out? How will I pay you back?" Ginny asked sadly.
"Knowing you, it will work out, but even if it doesn't, then you don't pay me back, it's my risk. I haven't touched my money from last year's Quidditch contract and I should be getting another one before long. I'll be ok."
She hugged him again and said, "I'll never be able to thank you enough."
The twins did most of the planning for Ron's bachelor party. Many people attended the party with the sole purpose of embarrassing Ron as much as possible. It went on until early in the morning and Harry almost had to fight the twins to drag Ron away. Harry had promised Parvati that he would get Ron home in reasonably good shape. Ron was staying at Harry's the night before so Parvati could have their apartment to herself.
The day of the wedding turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. The wedding was to be held outside by the lake near Hogsmeade. It turned into a very big affair with friends of the Minister of Magic showing up in addition to Ron's Quidditch teammates. After everyone was seated, the wedding party came out. Ron wore dark blue robes while Harry and the twins wore robes of a lighter shade of blue. Padma Patil, Lavender Brown, and Katie Bell all wore light blue long dresses but Parvati looked stunning in all white with a Muggle style veil over her face. Ron looked like he couldn't believe this was actually happening to him and Harry thought his friend didn't seem nervous at all. This was a more elaborate wedding that Sirius' had been. There were more enchantments and saying of vows and it ended up as a very beautiful ceremony. Photos were taken immediately after the ceremony and then everyone joined in a grand celebration.
There was a lot of crying from Mrs. Weasley and even Ginny. The Weasley boys were all amazed that Ron was the first one to get married since he was the youngest. Harry enjoyed the entire celebration and spent much of the time dancing.
Cho had come over and asked Harry to dance. "I was sorry to hear about you and Kristi. I guess I wasn't the only one who wasn't very nice to you," Cho offered.
"Actually, it wasn't like the paper made it out to be. Kristi wasn't comfortable with my job and we actually broke up months earlier. She told me she was going to be seen out with that guy since she didn't think I would be seen in public with a witch until she had gone out first."
Cho looked sad. "Oh. So I am the only one to hurt you."
Harry pulled her a little closer. "It's ok Cho." After a minute of silence, Harry said, "Do you think we would have been ready for all of this?" Harry motioned to all the people and decorations.
"I don't know. I sure thought I was."
"Me too," Harry replied. "You would have made a beautiful bride."
Cho smiled and leaned into Harry. They danced a few songs that night.
Before the party was over, the newlyweds slipped off in a magical carriage to begin their one week honeymoon in Italy.
Something about the twins giving Ron a surprise??
Harry and Hermione helped gather up the presents and took them to Ron's apartment. After they got home, the two were sitting on the couch having a glass of wine when Hermione asked what Harry was thinking about. "I'm just jealous of Ron. He and Parvati really seem happy. It's like all of his dreams are coming true. I remember it from the Mirror of Erised, he was captain of the Gryffindor team, he plays professional Quidditch, he married a pretty girl that he obviously loves and who really seems to love him back. He's got it all."
Hermione laughed and said, "All these years, Ron has always been jealous of
you. You're a bigger Quidditch star
than he'll be, you like your jobs. You
have nothing to be jealous of."
"But, I don't have what's important. I'd give the rest up in an instant," Harry sighed deeply. "Goodnight Hermione, I'm going to bed." Hermione sat there for a long time that night thinking hard about what she wanted as well.
Harry spent nearly every waking hour practicing seeker moves for the playoffs. When the day of the first playoff match finally came, his friends came over before heading to the match as a group. Harry had given his passes to Sirius, Kelly, Hermione, and to everyone's surprise Cho. Harry got the impression that Cho felt worse about their breakup than he still did so he wanted to make an effort to be a friend to her.