Soooo… how did you like it??? Were you surprised? Did you figure it out? Did it make sense? Well, if it didn't, I'm sorry. I tried to explain it as well as I could. So here is one of my last chapters. There will probably be one or two more. So let's get on with this long chapter.
Disclaimer- Yeah, well, you know the drill. Do I really have to explain it?
Chapter 9 Home Coming
Ginny's POV
Oh my God!!! My head hurts like hell. This is worse than the first time. I wish there weren't so many side effects from this stupid game. This is really starting to bug me!! Well anyway, I wasn't quite sure were I was. Maybe I'm in another game like that really long game, uhh Manpely, or oh yeah Monopoly. That would be awful. I started to open my eyes, but my eyelids said no. So I just sat there for a minute before I soon heard the groans of some other people.
"Are you guys ok? I think I might be sick." I said finally opening my eyes. No one replied for a few minutes, but Scarlet finally spoke up.
"Peacock. Is that you? Remind me never to play Clue again. If I ever see a another board game, it'll be all too soon." She said. On the floor was the board game. She looked over at the game. Her face fell immediately. "Oh God! Someone get me a large glass of wine."
"I'm sorry Miss Granger, but you're a little young to be drinking." Said a cold voice.
"Ack!!!!" I screamed. It was Wadsworth! "It's Wadsworth back to haunt me. I'm going to die!!!!!" I yelled after I fell off the couch landing on Mustard. This can't be good. Then I looked around. It hit me that we were back in the head person's dorm. Thank God! We were home!
"Peacock relax. It's only Snape. Wait, Snape? Oh this has to be the first and only time I'll ever be glad to see you, Professor. Now get off me Peacock!" Said Mustard who was rubbing his stomach.
"Like wise, Potter. Now we can all stop searching the world for you six! We've been searching nonstop for 2 days now! Where have you been???" Snape bellowed looking very mad. He must not have slept well.
"Ahhh, Professor. We knew you loved us." Said Green who had also just awoke.
"I didn't know we would be missed that much. I'm flattered." Said White who was rubbing her eyes.
"I knew. My stupid little fan club has probably been bawling their eyes out. This is some thing I didn't miss at all." Said Plum looking grimmer than usual.
"What's wrong Plum? Can't take a little publicity?" asked Mustard with a smile on his face. He knew exactly how it felt to have everyone gawk at him.
"Oh shut up Mustard. Where's the news crew anyway? I'm sure they missed dear Col. Mustard." He sneered.
"Be quite you two!! You're giving me worse headaches than I already have. Honestly, you guys are going to kill me. I've done enough killing to last me a life time." Said Scarlet. We shut up at once because we now knew what she was capable of.
"May I please ask why you keep calling each other by colors, fruits, and birds? This is all very confusing. And why does Miss Granger here say she's done enough killing. Why is Miss Weasley afraid of me?" asked Snape who looked totally out there. What can you expect? I would feel the same too.
"Ohh we're really back!!!!" exclaimed Green who got up and started to cha cha around the room. White soon got up and joined him. They looked like idiots, but we all were up in no time making complete idiots of ourselves. Thanks to Green's bad dancing, we ended up in a pile of people. Plum was back on Scarlet. I think it was an accident because they looked away from each other. Snape just stood there looking dumbfounded. Just as we were about to start to tango, the portrait hole swung open. Dumbledore, Prof. McGonagall, Hagrid, my whole family with the exception of Percy, and Cornelius Fudge walked through the hole.
"They back! How did they do it? We thought the Dark Lord had gotten them for sure. It was a hopeless cause!" wailed Pro. McGonagall. She was going crazy.
"What the hell were you guys thinking? Even we never pulled a stunt like that. However I am impressed on how you got away! Did you go on a small vacation or something? You should've called us." Said George who looked enviously at us.
"Uh oh… we've been caught. But we do have a very good explanation." Started Green. He stopped for a second. "But I'll let Scarlet take over since it was her game. I'm never playing Clue for as long as I live!"
"Wait, who's Scarlet? No one here is red. You guys got way too much sun. It went to whatever was left of your brain, Ron." Said Fred.
"We weren't on vacation! We were in America!" said Plum quickly.
"Stop that right now, Mr. Malfoy. I would expect for the head boy to tell the truth! You should be stripped of your title for this." Said McGonagall hotly. She didn't look too pleased either. These people must not have been sleeping for a while.
"He's not lying, Professor. We were all sent to the past. We solved the mystery. We were part of it." Started Scarlet. She was about to start rambling when Green cut her off.
"Hey! Who's this "we." I think I deserve the credit for solving the mystery." Said Green annoyingly.
"Yeah it was! Thanks to Green here, we made it back safe and sound. Good thing too. We probably would've killed each other since there was no one else to kill." I said. Soon realizing the miss use of my words.
"Nice. Now they think we're crazy! Some more than others." Said Plum looking over at Mustard. I had to laugh at this. It was kind of funny.
"Well then let's start explaining, but I do suggest that everyone sit down cause this will take a long time. So where to begin…" said White.
So for nearly an hour we talked about everything. Nothing was left out. However, the part about Scarlet and Plum, I mean, Mione and Malfoy making out was left out. Since they don't seem to like each other on the outside, we just left it out. We didn't leave out our little cooking disaster. That made everyone roll over with laughter. Green's ears went their usual pink. When we finally finished our story, there was a small spot of silence. Fudge was the first to speak.
"Well, your story seems to be probable, but we have no proof of this. There isn't any evidence that you were not simply off some where that wasn't school." He said. Our story was true. How could he not let us off?? We just took place in an 83-year old mystery, and had lived to tell the tale! What could we do to prove it? The answer was right next to us.
"Here Minister! The game board and The Daily Profit. There was an article about the enchanted game board. That was it! Green, I mean Ron, had just rolled the die when there was a crash of thunder and lightning, and well to make a long story short." I said.
"Too late." everyone answered back. They were probably getting bored with all of this. I was too.
"Minister, we can always test the board for any evidence that there is some thing enchanted about it." Said Dumbledore. I have never been so glad to hear that man speak. Things were definitely looking up.
"Yes, quite right. Go ahead Dumbledore. Arthur, you had better help too seeing that ypu work with this type of thing." Said Fudge. The two approached the game bored and began to tap it with their wands. We held our breath as they turned around and smiled.
Ladies and gentlemen, you may go free." Said Dumbledore with that twinkle in his eyes. We jumped up and down and started the cha cha again. The others laughed and beamed up at us.
"Hey! Wait a second. You never told us why Miss Granger said that she wanted a glass of wine. You weren't drinking now, were you?" said Snape. He just HAD to ruin our happy little dance with his sour thoughts.
"Ummm… well we were of age and it would have been rude not to except such a generous gift…" I said. This wasn't going to be easy to get out of.
"Ron!!! Ginny!!! How dare you!! You're not of age yet in the real world!!!!!!!!! I don't care if it was rude or not!!!! Have we taught you nothing????" bellowed Mum. Great! We're screwed.
"Wow you guys. We didn't pull that one! I'm so pr-" said George. He however stopped when he saw my mum's face. He may be moved out, but she still yells at them a lot. He's still afraid of it too.
"Calm down Molly. There will be no punishment for that. In fact, I think a reward is in order. How does a party sound to you six?" asked Dumbledore. We smiled at him. Yes, even Malfoy. I think he was too glad to be home to act all bad boyish. "Very well. Tomorrow, we will have a grand party celebrating the return of you six, the solving of the mystery, and the happiness of you being alive."
"Hang on now. There's just one thing that's missing." Said Dad. "Who's this pretty young woman that my son can't keep his eyes off." Ron was in for a hell of a good time tonight.
Ron's POV
My family finally left a few hours before the ball the next day. Thank God!! I thought I would die of embarrassment! Everyone wouldn't leave us (meaning me and Ali) alone. We were finally glad when we got back to the head person's dorm after saying good-bye. The reporters hadn't stopped hounding us with letters. Since there was a party, we had to go to Hogsmede to get our outfits. The girls wouldn't let us go with them so Harry, even Malfoy, and me went shopping together. There were several small fights between us, but it was kind of fun. We asked if Malfoy was going to try to be good. He said he might, but then he tripped someone who was running up the street.
The party was to start at 7 and last until everyone left. The six of us were to make a grand entrance down the grand staircase. We had all decided to bring models of our original weapons. Of course, we had to dress in our color to my dislike. Green wasn't really my color. I was so excited and nervous. At 6:30, we went to separate classrooms to wait until we were called. I was going to be called first since I solved the mystery. At exactly 7, I heard a loud voice booming up and down the corridors.
"Attention please everyone! It's time to introduce our infamous six. We're starting with the man who solved the mystery in the end, and the only one not to murder anyone. Thanks to thanks gambler, they might still be there. So let's give it up for Ronald Weasley as Mr. Green!!"
I came out of my room, candlestick in hand. A roar of applause met my ears. The whole of Hogwarts was lined up and down the grand staircase. I began to walk down the stairs when I went to the left side of the staircase and pretended to hit Dean Thomas on the head with my candlestick. As I neared the end, I realized something. I could've had any women in the entire school. Now though, the only one I wanted was going to come down next. I walked to the side to wait for the others. The announcer began to introduce Ali.
"Okay everyone. Our next one of the six was a singer and a nightclub called 'And All That Jazz.' Although she may look pretty, don't be fooled. She killed 5 men and the maid of the mansion. Please give it up for this deadly singer, Ali Milano as Mrs. White!
I looked up to see the outline of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Her dress was long and white. It had sequences all over the front and had a different trim around the bottom. Her hair was curly just as it had been the first night. She seemed to float down the stairs like she was on a cloud. She only stopped once to pretend to kill Ernie Macmillan. I think he was drooling over her. She came down at last and smiled at me. My heart skipped a beat.
"You look amazing." Was all I could say?
"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself." She said smiling. We might have kissed there if everyone hadn't been watching us. The announcer had interrupted us anyway.
"Next up we have the colonel of the group. He stole radio parts and sold them to make his money. He murdered our lead blackmailer, Mr. Body. We can't thank him enough! Give Harry Potter a round of applause for his role as Col. Mustard!"
Once again, the crowd went crazy. They cheered loudly. For once, Harry didn't seem to mind the attention. He gripped his wrench tightly as he almost killed Crabbe. I wish he would've really gone through with it. I would have helped him. He came down and greeted us then went and stood to wait for Ginny. Her entrance came moments later.
Here is our next murderess. Being the lady in blue suited her mood as she suffered a broken heart from a man who said he could get her a better job. In the end, she ended up killing him and getting her revenge. Here she is, Ginny Weasley as Mrs. Peacock!"
I had to admit. Ginny looked really nice. Her dress was down to her knees and in blue of course. It had some cool designs on it. Her hair was down and looked very shiny. I looked over and saw that Harry's mouth was down to the floor. After attacking a Ravenclaw sixth year, she noticed Harry's mouth, and smiled. I guess I would be pleased if I got those kinds of results from looking like that. For once, I wasn't worried about her. I know I can trust Harry, and wouldn't have it any other way.
"Alright, here comes our last guy. He was a doctor who lost his license for an unknown reason." We all hid a smile. I don't think everyone would be too pleased if they found out about why he lost his license. "However, he killed the man who told on him and got his revenge on the first night of their stay. So here is the one and only Draco Malfoy as Prof. Plum!!"
Malfoy came out and began to walk down. The girls went crazy all over again as they saw their Slytherin Sex-God walk down the staircase. About half way down, he threw his knife at a Hufflepuff third year. She shrieked, but the knife went right though her. Malfoy called it back and came to stand by us. He looked like he had on our first night. The same slick hair and purple tuxedo.
"And now last, but certainly not least, is the owner of 'And All That Jazz' nite club. Not only did she bribe several people at her club, but also she paid the maid, who was later killed by Mrs. White, to kill the cook. She later killed a cop who she had bribed. Let's see the notorious Miss Scarlet played by none other than Hermione Granger!!!"
Oh my God! Was that really Hermione? She looked the same except for her hair and make-up. She had her hair curled, and she was wearing dark red lipstick with mascara and the other beauty products. Her dress was long and plain. It was a beautiful shade of blood red. It looked awesome on her. The guys in the crowd whistled and yelled. Malfoy looked at them jealously. Mione finally picked out a guy and pulled out her gun. The shot made a loud bang, but it didn't hurt them. She then leaned over and kissed their cheek leaving her trademark on it. The crowd went wild all over again. She continued to walk down very seductively. I knew Malfoy was ready to burst!
Draco's POV
I was ready to burst! She looked so gorgeous! I knew that I really wanted her badly. I needed to tell her that. Maybe I could change her outlook on me…
"That's everyone. Now let's go in and start the party!" said the announcer. The doors to the Great Hall opened. The hall looked like a nightclub from the 1920's. How cool is that?? There were tables facing a stage where a live band was playing. The tables were set so that six people could sit there at a time. It was really cool. There was an open spot in the middle. I was guessing that there would be dancing later.
Since we were the infamous six, we had to sit together. The feast passed by uneventful. Several people came over to say hi. The only thing I wish didn't happen was Pansy coming over to sit on my lap. To my disgust, she was chewing gum loudly. I quickly pushed her off, and after a lot of yelling and whining, she left. Potter and Weasley began to laugh. I had told them what I woke up to. They must've heard her annoying chewing too.
After dinner was over, the lead singer spoke out from his spot on the stage.
"Attention please. I think it only fair that our honored guests have the first dance so lets get them out here now!" This was brilliant!!! Potter was dating Mini Weasley and Weasley was dating Milano. That meant that I had to dance with Granger! My luck is finally turning. I turned to her and said, "May I have this dance?" I think she was too surprised to turn it down. She nodded and got up. We walked out to the dance floor. The music began to play. She placed her hands around my neck, and mine went around her waist. The song came on at last.
There's a calm surrenderTo the rush of day
When the heart of the rolling world
Can be turned away
An enchanted moment
And it sees me through
It's enough for this restless warrior
Just to be with you
And can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we got this far
And can you feel the love tonight?
How it's laid to rest?
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best
There's a time for everyone
If they only learn
That the twisting kaleidoscope
Moves us all in turn
There's a rhyme and reason
To the wild outdoors
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager
Beats in time with yours
And can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we got this far
And can you feel the love tonight?
How it's laid to rest?
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best
I wish the song could have lasted forever. I felt so complete for about 3 minutes. We pulled away, and she looked my square in the eye. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. She looked happy and confused all at the same time. We walked back to our seats. She still looked puzzled.
"I'll be back, guys. I think I need some fresh air." She said as she got up. I decided not to follow right away. The pain though became unbearable. I had to tell her. I got up and followed her. I didn't see the grins on the other four's faces as I walked out.
"Do you think we need to spy on them?" asked Harry.
"No I think they can do this without our help." Said Ali.
Hermione's POV
I can't believe it. I danced to what may be the most romantic song in history, and with my enemy no less. I guess he's not much of an enemy any more. He does act like his old self at times, but I can't help it! I want him. Those few minutes were perfect. I wish that they never ended. What am I going to do? I stared out on the open sky. I had decided to come outside to clear my head. Would my life ever be the same?
At that moment, I heard footsteps behind me. I didn't dare turn around, but I knew who it was anyway.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I heard the voice of Draco Malfoy behind me. I felt his warm breath on my neck. It felt so comforting yet so wrong.
"Yeah it is. Well I better get back inside." I said as I turned to go, but he grabbed my arm.
"No please don't go." He said in a soft voice. I stood there for a second before coming back. He put his arms around my waist, and we stood there for a minute before I tried to leave again. I knew if I didn't, I would get hurt again.
"I should go before I do something I regret." I said.
"Why are you afraid Hermione?" Oh my God! He said my name. It sounds so natural, flowing off his tongue.
"Afraid of what?" I asked turning around.
"Afraid of being to close to me. Ever since that one night…" he started, but I finished.
"We could still be there if it hadn't been for that argument. Why were we fighting anyway?" I asked. It seemed so stupid to even remember.
"I think it started when I got scared about my feelings for you." He said stepping closer. "Hermione, I think I'm falling for you. I know it's crazy and may never work, but I can't deny or ignore my feelings for you. Ever since I saw you at the beginning of this year."
"Really?" He nodded. " Actually, while you were getting a crush on me, I was getting a crush on you." I admitted
"Really?"
"Really. Really."
He smiled down at me as we leaned in closer. His soft lips brushed up against mine. I didn't want to waist time. I opened my mouth, which took him by surprise. The kiss would've gone on forever, but they just HAD to interrupt AGAIN!!!!
"So are you two finally a couple now?" asked Ginny who was holding a glass of sparkling grape juice for herself and me. Harry had an extra for Draco.
"I guess you could say that." I said. "Harry, Ron, you guys aren't mad, are you?"
"Are you kidding?!?!? First Malfoy is the enemy. Then he's more then that. Then you make-out with him. Then you fight some more. Now you're a couple, and you ask us if we're mad. Well, no we aren't." said Ron finally finished.
"We have just been wondering why you hadn't done this last Friday since you were flirting so much." Said Harry with a small smirk on his face. "Here these are for you." He said handing us our drinks.
"I suggest that we make a pack." Said Ali.
"Yes. Let's all promise never, ever to murder anyone for as long as we live." I said.
"Yeah and never to let Weasley in the kitchen." Added Draco. We all laughed at this.
"Okay, but what about me? I have to kill someone or be killed. Can't there be an exception?" asked Harry.
"Only for you, Harry." Said Ginny.
"To us!" said Ron. "That we may never have to kill again with the exception of Harry."
"To us!!!" we answered.
A/N: Sniff, Sniff… that was so much fun to write! I absolutely love this chapter. I hope you do too. There's going to be one more chapter and a thank-you page for all of my reviewers! I did not make the song, but the people at Disney so thank them. Please tell me how you liked the ending. I really want to know!!
Lots of Love,
RonFan