Dudley grinned tauntingly at Harry as he began to cross the street. "I'm going to a
sweet party with the pretty new neighbor."
"Great. I'm going to a party too," Harry replied, sitting on the partition brick wall.
"No way, you're not going to this party," Dudley objected. "This one's only for cool
people. She wouldn't let you in."
"You'll see," Harry replied smugly. Dudley just shrugged and crossed the street, where
Karen stood at the doorway, letting people in. Dudley joined the ranks of guys hanging around
with her, hopefully trying to get her interested. When she saw Harry, she came across.
"So are you coming?" she asked.
"I have, er, plans," he replied.
"What, sitting on the wall all night?" she joked, slightly annoyed.
"Um, no. I'm meeting up with my friends," he replied.
"Ya right. Look, if you seriously don't want to come to my party, just say so, because
lying's not going to get you anywhere," she retorted, putting her hand on her hips. Just then,
Neville came walking down from Mrs. Figg's, to go stand with Harry. "They're coming."
"Who's coming?" Karen asked, getting irritated. Then, they heard honking. Coming down the
street were two sleek convertibles, one silver, one black, both filled with a bunch of laughing
people.
"What'd you say?" Neville asked, as they came to stop in front of the three.
"Harry! You're in this one!" Dean cried from the silver one in the front, as the others
greeted the pair. "Neville, your in the second, so they know how to get to your house and won't
have to trail me anymore."
"Jeez Dean, do you think I'm following you just because I don't know the way? It's fun!"
Lavender objected from the black one. Laughing, Harry climbed into the car, to sit beside
Hermione, who was beside Ron, noticing that everyone across the street was watching in apparent
awe and shock. Harry knew what was going through most of their minds; 'Harry Potter has cool
friends?'
And cool they were. The scene could've of been in a television show about popular people,
including the 'no-ugly' factor.
"See you later, Karen," Harry called as they zoomed away.
"So who was that, Harry?" Ron asked as they turned the corner.
"Oh, some girl who moved in across the street," Harry replied passively. "Nice car, Dean."
"Thanks, it's my dad's. I got to borrow it tonight, because he's very enviromentally
friendly, so when he heard that I was carpooling, he totaly agreed."
"Hermione, I can go to your house. I sent you a letter anyways, because I had no idea I
was going to Neville's."
"Oh, great!" she exclaimed, smiling.
"Hey, what's with your hair? It's less, bushy," he commented. Her mass of brown hair was
more wavy than curly.
"Oh, I got it straightened a bit. Mom and Dad wouldn't let me get it totally done, but I
think it looks better this way."
They finally got to Neville's house, a mansion-like building with 3 stories.
"Wow Neville, I didn't know your house was this huge," Lavender called from behind them as
they parked in his driveway.
"Ok, we haveta do alot before everyone else comes," he said, as he opened the doors.
They entered a two-story room, with two staircases curling around a beautiful painting of
Neville's mother and father, smiling happily, atop a fireplace, with a fire smoking merrily.
"Whoa," Parvati commented. "We should come to your house more often, Neville."
Laughing, they got to work. After putting away all of the fragile and expensive items, they
put together the snacks. When the doorbell rang, they were just putting the music on in the main
hall. To make it easier, they had locked up the second and third floors.
It was a group of Hufflepuff sixth years, and they entered happily, giving congratulations
to Neville and sat down on the foot of the stairs.
After a while, Harry went off to get a butterbeer, and stayed to talk to Hannah Abbot.
People kept coming in, until the place was pretty full.
Going back to the door, he saw Tonks come out of a car and up the path.
"Hey Tonks, what're you doing here?" Harry asked as she came up to the door.
"Mrs. Longbottom sent me along to make sure nothing bad happens. Bad choice though, will
most likely cause more problems than help. Oh, Charlie and Bill are coming too, and I think
they're bringing people along."
"Okay," Neville said cheerfully, "the more the better."
Soon, they had gotten pretty full, and Neville thought they should close the doors. Doing
so, they almost squished a group of Slytherins.
"What the...!" Neville cried, and people stopped to look. Malfoy, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle
were trying to get through the doors unsuccesfully.
"Hey, what's going on?" Bill said, pushing through to the front. He then saw the group and
his face hardened.
The Gryffindor group fought their way to the front, then stood in a barrier ahead of the
Slytherins.
"What are you doing here?" Neville snarled, so unlike himself.
"Just wanted to tell everyone that there's a party at my mansion, and we have the Weird
Sisters playing," Malfoy announced to the quiet crowd. "If anyone wants to come, you know
where it is."
They left and they slammed the doors shut.
"What a stupid git," Charlie muttered from somewhere in the crowd. Everyone started laughing
and the conversations continued. Harry hung around, talking to people from the DA everywhere.
Finally, Fred and George gave Neville their present. Once he opened it, a dozen fireworks shot
out, blasting into creatures; a yellow lion with a red mane, a brown hawk with a blue beak and
claws, a black badger with a golden aura, along with a unicorn, dragon, 3-headed dog, Basilisk,
Acromantula, and oddly, a flying pig.
"For sale at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, 15 galleons each!" Fred cried in advertisement.
At about three in the morning, most of them had gone home. Except for one person Harry had
been avoiding the whole night. Cho Chang.
"Hey Harry," she greeted calmly. She looked great, in a tight blue cotton shirt and jeans.
"Hi Cho," he commented, picking up a bunch of empty butterbeer bottles.
"Uh, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked politely.
"I haveta help clean up. I promised Neville," Harry declined, going into the kitchen.
"Please, Harry. I want to talk to you right now," she said, following him.
"Ok, what is it?"
"It's about last year. I think I sort of overreacted about your relationship with Hermione.
But everyone thinks you two are together. I mean, you hang out together all the time, and you
remember the articles about you two in Witch Weekly during the Triwizard Tournament...."
"Relax, it's alright," he replied, wiping off the counter.
"You want to get together sometime? Like next week?" she asked.
"I thought you were with Michael Corner?" Harry asked suspiciously, throwing the upstairs
keys to Neville.
"Oh, you knew about us?" she asked, sounding suprised. "No, we broke up. He's a little too
unstable for me, too moody."
"No, I only knew because he used to date Ginny. And I can't, I'm going off to Hermione's
in two days," Harry said innocently, knowing Cho would get jealous.
"Oh, ok then. I'll see you around then," she said hurriedly.
"Harry, come on! We're going!" Dean called from the door.
"Coming!" Harry yelled. "Bye Neville!"
"Bye everyone! Thanks for helping me out," he said.
"Anytime," Ginny said, along with nods from everyone else.
Going out the doors, they got back into the convertibles, but this time, he got to sit in
Lavender's car, with Seamus and Parvati. But they still followed each other, because they had
plenty of time to waste. They got to Privet Drive first, and Harry opened the door. The party
across the street was dead, with only a few people mulling about the yard. It had been pretty
slow, to the looks of it. All of the furniture was still upright and there weren't any creatures
flying about the ceiling. Karen sat on the doorstep, surrounded by the hopefuls. Harry was amused
to see that Dudley was still among them.
"Thanks, Lavender," Harry said as he got out.
"See you at school, then," she replied, smiling. They waved as they drove away, and Harry
did the same,then walked to the front door and to his warm, welcoming, bed.
sweet party with the pretty new neighbor."
"Great. I'm going to a party too," Harry replied, sitting on the partition brick wall.
"No way, you're not going to this party," Dudley objected. "This one's only for cool
people. She wouldn't let you in."
"You'll see," Harry replied smugly. Dudley just shrugged and crossed the street, where
Karen stood at the doorway, letting people in. Dudley joined the ranks of guys hanging around
with her, hopefully trying to get her interested. When she saw Harry, she came across.
"So are you coming?" she asked.
"I have, er, plans," he replied.
"What, sitting on the wall all night?" she joked, slightly annoyed.
"Um, no. I'm meeting up with my friends," he replied.
"Ya right. Look, if you seriously don't want to come to my party, just say so, because
lying's not going to get you anywhere," she retorted, putting her hand on her hips. Just then,
Neville came walking down from Mrs. Figg's, to go stand with Harry. "They're coming."
"Who's coming?" Karen asked, getting irritated. Then, they heard honking. Coming down the
street were two sleek convertibles, one silver, one black, both filled with a bunch of laughing
people.
"What'd you say?" Neville asked, as they came to stop in front of the three.
"Harry! You're in this one!" Dean cried from the silver one in the front, as the others
greeted the pair. "Neville, your in the second, so they know how to get to your house and won't
have to trail me anymore."
"Jeez Dean, do you think I'm following you just because I don't know the way? It's fun!"
Lavender objected from the black one. Laughing, Harry climbed into the car, to sit beside
Hermione, who was beside Ron, noticing that everyone across the street was watching in apparent
awe and shock. Harry knew what was going through most of their minds; 'Harry Potter has cool
friends?'
And cool they were. The scene could've of been in a television show about popular people,
including the 'no-ugly' factor.
"See you later, Karen," Harry called as they zoomed away.
"So who was that, Harry?" Ron asked as they turned the corner.
"Oh, some girl who moved in across the street," Harry replied passively. "Nice car, Dean."
"Thanks, it's my dad's. I got to borrow it tonight, because he's very enviromentally
friendly, so when he heard that I was carpooling, he totaly agreed."
"Hermione, I can go to your house. I sent you a letter anyways, because I had no idea I
was going to Neville's."
"Oh, great!" she exclaimed, smiling.
"Hey, what's with your hair? It's less, bushy," he commented. Her mass of brown hair was
more wavy than curly.
"Oh, I got it straightened a bit. Mom and Dad wouldn't let me get it totally done, but I
think it looks better this way."
They finally got to Neville's house, a mansion-like building with 3 stories.
"Wow Neville, I didn't know your house was this huge," Lavender called from behind them as
they parked in his driveway.
"Ok, we haveta do alot before everyone else comes," he said, as he opened the doors.
They entered a two-story room, with two staircases curling around a beautiful painting of
Neville's mother and father, smiling happily, atop a fireplace, with a fire smoking merrily.
"Whoa," Parvati commented. "We should come to your house more often, Neville."
Laughing, they got to work. After putting away all of the fragile and expensive items, they
put together the snacks. When the doorbell rang, they were just putting the music on in the main
hall. To make it easier, they had locked up the second and third floors.
It was a group of Hufflepuff sixth years, and they entered happily, giving congratulations
to Neville and sat down on the foot of the stairs.
After a while, Harry went off to get a butterbeer, and stayed to talk to Hannah Abbot.
People kept coming in, until the place was pretty full.
Going back to the door, he saw Tonks come out of a car and up the path.
"Hey Tonks, what're you doing here?" Harry asked as she came up to the door.
"Mrs. Longbottom sent me along to make sure nothing bad happens. Bad choice though, will
most likely cause more problems than help. Oh, Charlie and Bill are coming too, and I think
they're bringing people along."
"Okay," Neville said cheerfully, "the more the better."
Soon, they had gotten pretty full, and Neville thought they should close the doors. Doing
so, they almost squished a group of Slytherins.
"What the...!" Neville cried, and people stopped to look. Malfoy, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle
were trying to get through the doors unsuccesfully.
"Hey, what's going on?" Bill said, pushing through to the front. He then saw the group and
his face hardened.
The Gryffindor group fought their way to the front, then stood in a barrier ahead of the
Slytherins.
"What are you doing here?" Neville snarled, so unlike himself.
"Just wanted to tell everyone that there's a party at my mansion, and we have the Weird
Sisters playing," Malfoy announced to the quiet crowd. "If anyone wants to come, you know
where it is."
They left and they slammed the doors shut.
"What a stupid git," Charlie muttered from somewhere in the crowd. Everyone started laughing
and the conversations continued. Harry hung around, talking to people from the DA everywhere.
Finally, Fred and George gave Neville their present. Once he opened it, a dozen fireworks shot
out, blasting into creatures; a yellow lion with a red mane, a brown hawk with a blue beak and
claws, a black badger with a golden aura, along with a unicorn, dragon, 3-headed dog, Basilisk,
Acromantula, and oddly, a flying pig.
"For sale at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, 15 galleons each!" Fred cried in advertisement.
At about three in the morning, most of them had gone home. Except for one person Harry had
been avoiding the whole night. Cho Chang.
"Hey Harry," she greeted calmly. She looked great, in a tight blue cotton shirt and jeans.
"Hi Cho," he commented, picking up a bunch of empty butterbeer bottles.
"Uh, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked politely.
"I haveta help clean up. I promised Neville," Harry declined, going into the kitchen.
"Please, Harry. I want to talk to you right now," she said, following him.
"Ok, what is it?"
"It's about last year. I think I sort of overreacted about your relationship with Hermione.
But everyone thinks you two are together. I mean, you hang out together all the time, and you
remember the articles about you two in Witch Weekly during the Triwizard Tournament...."
"Relax, it's alright," he replied, wiping off the counter.
"You want to get together sometime? Like next week?" she asked.
"I thought you were with Michael Corner?" Harry asked suspiciously, throwing the upstairs
keys to Neville.
"Oh, you knew about us?" she asked, sounding suprised. "No, we broke up. He's a little too
unstable for me, too moody."
"No, I only knew because he used to date Ginny. And I can't, I'm going off to Hermione's
in two days," Harry said innocently, knowing Cho would get jealous.
"Oh, ok then. I'll see you around then," she said hurriedly.
"Harry, come on! We're going!" Dean called from the door.
"Coming!" Harry yelled. "Bye Neville!"
"Bye everyone! Thanks for helping me out," he said.
"Anytime," Ginny said, along with nods from everyone else.
Going out the doors, they got back into the convertibles, but this time, he got to sit in
Lavender's car, with Seamus and Parvati. But they still followed each other, because they had
plenty of time to waste. They got to Privet Drive first, and Harry opened the door. The party
across the street was dead, with only a few people mulling about the yard. It had been pretty
slow, to the looks of it. All of the furniture was still upright and there weren't any creatures
flying about the ceiling. Karen sat on the doorstep, surrounded by the hopefuls. Harry was amused
to see that Dudley was still among them.
"Thanks, Lavender," Harry said as he got out.
"See you at school, then," she replied, smiling. They waved as they drove away, and Harry
did the same,then walked to the front door and to his warm, welcoming, bed.