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Chapter 14: How to Become Infamous
Harry looked across the bar at her. They were with Ron and Hermione as it was the Monday night drinking ritual for them and they were celebrating, which was why Harry tagged along. Somehow, word about the news had spread like wildfire and all of their old friends from Hogwarts were popping up out of no where to congratulate Ron and Hermione. Nobody in the original part of the party (Weasley's, plus Hermione and Harry) was drunk simply because it would be in the tabloids the next morning, and Molly Weasley yelling at the lot of them would not mix well with a hang-over. Harry ordered another Fire whiskey, why was it that everytime something good happened in his life, something negative had to cancel it out? Here he was supposed to be celebrating Ron and Hermione's news, but then....
That afternoon, Harry had received a owl from Ginny, who had stepped out of the office for a bit in order to get some coffee, real coffee, not the stuff the scary records clerk in the office made. The note from the owl read:
Harry,
I really hate to leave you hanging and abandon the plan but I just met the man of my dreams, really, I hate to sound like an adolescent, but he's a riot and he's gorgeous. I'm going to take the rest of the afternoon off in order to get to know him; do you think you could cover for me? I'll still go out with you lot tonight, but I'll probably bring him.
I was just thinking, don't you think this (me getting a man, possibly, fingers crossed) would flip Ron out more? I think so because Hermione would be spending the whole afternoon calming him down and such.
I'll talk to you tonight Hun and don't play any evil pranks on my brother ,
Ginny
Harry sat back in his comfortable office chair and thought. There was just the note, sent around 1 o'clock. He covered and said she was out on assignment. He wondered why he was bothering to do so, he wouldn't do it for anyone else who was skipping work, especially for a new "love".
And who was this guy she met who was gorgeous, and wonderful and perfect in every way? She didn't even mention who he was. Really would a name kill her? Harry thought, a women like Ginny, who was so detail orientated couldn't even put herself out enough to mention a name.
The man was probably a former enemy, it was probably Draco Malfoy. She probably met up with him at the coffee shop, he probably slipped some love potion in her drink and tricked her. Yeah that sounded about right. He was gonna kill Malfoy.
No, Ginny wouldn't talk to him, and besides, he was in France right now. So who was this wonderful man, the man who had tricked his Ginny....
WAIT! "His Ginny?" Since when had he, Harry Potter, began calling Virginia Weasley his? And why did he care that she had met someone? She was always complaining of being single and how boring it was. Harry always agreed with her and assumed that they would always have each other, he had never expected her to actually find some one.
The shock was wearing off now, that she had found some one. A new emotion was surfacing, what was this feeling that Harry was now feeling in such large quantities?
Loss? Why should he feel like he had lost something? She was definitely never his. He never was with her. But Ginny in a way was his and he was hers. They had gone through things together, painful things, things that, whether they liked it or not, brought them close to one another in ways they would otherwise not be. So why did he feel like he had lost her?
Harry leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk, and rubbed his eyes, why was he thinking about her so hard so suddenly. He had enjoyed being with her these past few weeks, they had finally worked through some things that were definitely awkward for the two of them. And now this....
There was a knock on the door, it was Ron. He appeared to not be upset or angry in the slightest, good sign. In fact he looked absolutely beaming. Suddenly something clicked in Harry's head.
"So you finally asked her Ron?" Harry couldn't hide his joy for his friends, even though personally he as feeling nothing of the sort.
Ron could barely get any words out so he just nodded in a goofy way. "Yeah, she said yes, I'm so lucky," Ron looked still shocked, "So, lucky..."
"Damn straight your lucky mate. Hermione, now she's one of my oldest and dearest friends, and there are two things that I need to tell you now that she's accepted you." Harry knew he really shouldn't mess with his friend who was in such a good mood, but whatever.
"What are they?" Ron now looked nervous, like there were evil reasons behind his apparent good luck.
"One, she's one of my closest and oldest and dearest friends ever, besides you Ron, if you do anything to hurt her, besides stupid marital things, I will have to kill you, it will pain me to do so, but she's the closest thing I have to an actual sister, and I have to watch out for her."
"Oh, Harry, mate, don't worry, I know where your coming from, if anyone where to try to get with Ginny he would get the same speech except much more menacing." Ron looked relived, "In fact, I don't ever plan on ever doing anything to hurt Hermione, it would kill me too. I love her too much."
"Good, now Ron, there's the second thing." Harry was really going to jerk him around now, "You realize she is way too good for you. She's too good looking and way to smart. You are trading up in all ways possible. You had better appreciate that!"
"Come here you prat," Ron knew Harry was joking around, but Ron was self conscious enough to actually believe he didn't deserve Hermione, and plus he just wanted to try and beat his best friend's head in, all for good fun.
They were laughing rather hard and had a couple of odd curses on each other by the time Hermione busted in, beaming.
"Harry, Ron's already told you by now, I'm sure," She paused, and took in the scene before her, "If either of you two did anything permanent to the other you'll be put up in front on the Misuse of Magic Committee, and I'm not kidding," The guys were laughing a lot harder now, they knew she wouldn't let them go down and if she did report them, she would defend them as well, "And Potter, if you messed up my fiancé, I will kill you."
"Whatever Hermione," Harry's legs were rather wobbly, "Do you think you could do the counter jinx?"
"Oh, sure, for the both of you, Relaxico," Instantly, the weird movements and noises ceased. "Are you two ready to be off, the night is young, and we finally have something to celebrate tonight!" Ron popped up and grabbed her arm and escorted his future wife out of the office, leaving Harry to switch the lights and lock up. He closed his office door with a heavy heart.
So here he was now. Watching Ginny and some man he was introduced to called Mick Regaloo. He sounded like a criminal, or spaghetti sauce. Ron appeared to agree at first, until he got a glance from Hermione and shook the man's hand and acted like an adult. Harry only acted like an adult on the outside, inside he was cursing and planning very painful ways on murder for the man to endure, the only problem was that he could only kill him once. But why did he want to kill him, why did he care at all.
Suddenly, Harry was lifted up by the arms, it was Ron, "Come on Mate, we've still got two more bars to hop over to, and the press outside is going to have a field day with the drunk boy who lived. Hey, Hermione! Ginny, is there a back entrance here?" Harry registered some kind odd screams over loud music then Ron bellowed, "Well these bloody bafoones better get one."
Harry suddenly felt very much alive, "Ron, mate, I'm fine, I can make it out to the cab and to the next couple of bars, really I can."
"Now that's sounding more and more like our favorite seeker!" Ron cheered as he ushered the crowd out the door.
By the time they reached the next club, Club XYZ, everyone in the car was exceptional on their way to consuming the maximum about of alcohol a body can handle. Hermione, who was usually a very calm person literally bouncing off of the wall. Fred and George, whom they had met up with were setting random things and people on fire, not to mention flirting with any and every pretty girl they noticed.
Somehow, Hermione got it into her head that a barmaid named Madeline was in love with Ron, and Hermione, being who she is, just could not leave the girl alone until she convinced her otherwise. "Listen wench, I really dunno where you get off, but clearly he is with me, so if you'd be so kind, back off."
The barmaid couldn't have been more than twenty-one years old. She clearly had on first impression thought Ron was cute, but now, upon meeting his girlfriend, now (she had been informed!) fiancé, she only felt sorry for him having to deal with this crazy drunk woman. "Really Miss Granger, I'm not interested in him at all, could you please leave me alone?" At first Hermione wondered how the girl knew her name, then she realized the maid must have recognized her from pictures in the news.
Hermione was just not buying this, "You keep looking at him and smiling, stop, STOP!" Hermione reached across the bar and tried to attack the woman.
Luckily for the poor girl Harry, Ron and George were able to restrain Hermione in time to stop the full out muggle attack.
Needless to say, the group didn't stay at that bar too long. If Harry had been thinking clearly, he would have begun to worry about what the wizard press was going to print come morning, but for now he was content planning ways to kill Ginny's new boyfriend.
The group arrived at the Hogshead a little after two in the morning. Luckily the usually following of wannabes had deserted them, leaving just the old crowd. Bizarrely, a bunch of the old friends from Hogwarts had showed up. Even Cho who Harry hadn't seen in two years. And he really hadn't wanted too. When she came up to chat with him, he prayed silently for her to go away.
Then when she did he looked over at Ginny and Mick, God, thought Harry, that didn't even sound right together. How could she be with a man who's name didn't mesh with her own? Ginny, such a stylish woman, couldn't even figure out how bad they sounded Mick and Ginny, it hurt him just to think it. Then the thought that kept swirling around in his mind had finally come full circle, why did he care who Ginny was with, she wasn't his, never was and never would be. Ouch, Harry proceeded to order a round of shots for the bar. Harry glanced over down the bar one final time. She was happy looking, she also looked completely wasted, but then again so was he.
Harry lifted himself heavily to his feet, which was difficult. He trotted over to Ron and Hermione, then a thought struck him down like lightening. Was this Mick fellow a wizard? A proper one? He must be to get into Hogsmeade. Or did he have to be? What if he was a muggle or a deatheater? Wait was he himself, being something he always accused Moody of being, paranoid?
Suddenly the world began to spin. Harry clearly should not have tried to walk. Someone in the distance yelled "TIMBER!" and Harry passed out, in fact he cleared a whole spot in the room.
Harry vaguely came to probably much sooner than any normal person who had consumed so much alcohol. He looked around. Several tables had been pushed together to form a make-shift cot for him to sleep it off. Most people in the room that had been there pre-passing out where gone. The only people remaining were the barkeeper, Aberforth, Ron and Hermione in one corner of the bar, Fred and George, respectively, with girls in corners of the room, Cho and Dean Thomas, a group of people Harry was sure he knew from some where and then he spotted them. Cuddling and giggling in a corner booth: Ginny and Mick.
Harry, who was mad, and now had a throbbing headache and was feeling completely sick walked haphazardly over the uneven wooden floor and stopped directly in front of them.
Ginny was the first to look up, "What do you want Harry?"
"I want you..." That was a completely stupid thing for Harry to say. He would have to think quick to cover this up. He didn't want her. Then, somewhere in his water-logged brain something really clicked for the first time that evening. He was in love with Ginny, he always had been somewhere deep down, in a place where he tended to ignore. And now here she was, happy and she looked to be in love. And she was glaring up at him, as if he were a drunk moron. Well he wasn't going to take that away from her, it wasn't fair. Not to her, he could move on, she'd be happy, but not with this Mick fellow... })SMACK){... "I want you to take this retard out of my bar." Harry had punch Mick. Why? No idea as to the answer to that question. Would Harry remember? No, definitely not. Harry trumped out of the dingy doors of the Hogshead with all eyes staring at him. Harry hailed the Knightbus, and went home. He was definitely calling in to work tomorrow. Screw Moody and the scary secretary lady, he was going through something traumatic here. For one, his friend had deserted him on a killer plan, two, he realized that he was in love with her, and three, he now realized that he had completely missed his chance with her. All and all, Harry deserved at least one day to sulk and wallow in self pity.
Harry stumbled up his steps, burst open his door, tip-toed up his stairs as to not wake up Mrs. Black, and crawled into his bed. The last thought on his mind before he drifted off to sleep were not of how he was going to patch up things with Ginny, or make up a suitable excuse tomorrow for skipping work. No, Harry, after years of making plans and going on grand adventures, began to develop an elaborate plan. He had lost too much in his life, parents, friends, and Sirius. His death had been the hardest to bare. He had lost so much, and now he had lost the one thing he had always thought he had. Ginny needed to be with Harry, and somehow, the stubborn side of Harry wouldn't let him get off the fact that maybe she just wasn't interested. She wanted to be with him once, when they were younger, she would realize she loved him again. Fate had made them partners at work , they were meant to be together and she knew it, even if he had to force her to remind it. He loved her, with that final thought Harry rolled over on his side in bed and fell asleep with a huge smile on his face. He was blissfully unaware of the screaming match that awaited for him in the morning.
A/N: Hey, decided to update anyway. I can't wait to write the screaming match... it'll be fun. Please review if you like it or have any suggestions on what should happen and all that jazzy stuff! THANK YOU MUCH!
Chapter 14: How to Become Infamous
Harry looked across the bar at her. They were with Ron and Hermione as it was the Monday night drinking ritual for them and they were celebrating, which was why Harry tagged along. Somehow, word about the news had spread like wildfire and all of their old friends from Hogwarts were popping up out of no where to congratulate Ron and Hermione. Nobody in the original part of the party (Weasley's, plus Hermione and Harry) was drunk simply because it would be in the tabloids the next morning, and Molly Weasley yelling at the lot of them would not mix well with a hang-over. Harry ordered another Fire whiskey, why was it that everytime something good happened in his life, something negative had to cancel it out? Here he was supposed to be celebrating Ron and Hermione's news, but then....
That afternoon, Harry had received a owl from Ginny, who had stepped out of the office for a bit in order to get some coffee, real coffee, not the stuff the scary records clerk in the office made. The note from the owl read:
Harry,
I really hate to leave you hanging and abandon the plan but I just met the man of my dreams, really, I hate to sound like an adolescent, but he's a riot and he's gorgeous. I'm going to take the rest of the afternoon off in order to get to know him; do you think you could cover for me? I'll still go out with you lot tonight, but I'll probably bring him.
I was just thinking, don't you think this (me getting a man, possibly, fingers crossed) would flip Ron out more? I think so because Hermione would be spending the whole afternoon calming him down and such.
I'll talk to you tonight Hun and don't play any evil pranks on my brother ,
Ginny
Harry sat back in his comfortable office chair and thought. There was just the note, sent around 1 o'clock. He covered and said she was out on assignment. He wondered why he was bothering to do so, he wouldn't do it for anyone else who was skipping work, especially for a new "love".
And who was this guy she met who was gorgeous, and wonderful and perfect in every way? She didn't even mention who he was. Really would a name kill her? Harry thought, a women like Ginny, who was so detail orientated couldn't even put herself out enough to mention a name.
The man was probably a former enemy, it was probably Draco Malfoy. She probably met up with him at the coffee shop, he probably slipped some love potion in her drink and tricked her. Yeah that sounded about right. He was gonna kill Malfoy.
No, Ginny wouldn't talk to him, and besides, he was in France right now. So who was this wonderful man, the man who had tricked his Ginny....
WAIT! "His Ginny?" Since when had he, Harry Potter, began calling Virginia Weasley his? And why did he care that she had met someone? She was always complaining of being single and how boring it was. Harry always agreed with her and assumed that they would always have each other, he had never expected her to actually find some one.
The shock was wearing off now, that she had found some one. A new emotion was surfacing, what was this feeling that Harry was now feeling in such large quantities?
Loss? Why should he feel like he had lost something? She was definitely never his. He never was with her. But Ginny in a way was his and he was hers. They had gone through things together, painful things, things that, whether they liked it or not, brought them close to one another in ways they would otherwise not be. So why did he feel like he had lost her?
Harry leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk, and rubbed his eyes, why was he thinking about her so hard so suddenly. He had enjoyed being with her these past few weeks, they had finally worked through some things that were definitely awkward for the two of them. And now this....
There was a knock on the door, it was Ron. He appeared to not be upset or angry in the slightest, good sign. In fact he looked absolutely beaming. Suddenly something clicked in Harry's head.
"So you finally asked her Ron?" Harry couldn't hide his joy for his friends, even though personally he as feeling nothing of the sort.
Ron could barely get any words out so he just nodded in a goofy way. "Yeah, she said yes, I'm so lucky," Ron looked still shocked, "So, lucky..."
"Damn straight your lucky mate. Hermione, now she's one of my oldest and dearest friends, and there are two things that I need to tell you now that she's accepted you." Harry knew he really shouldn't mess with his friend who was in such a good mood, but whatever.
"What are they?" Ron now looked nervous, like there were evil reasons behind his apparent good luck.
"One, she's one of my closest and oldest and dearest friends ever, besides you Ron, if you do anything to hurt her, besides stupid marital things, I will have to kill you, it will pain me to do so, but she's the closest thing I have to an actual sister, and I have to watch out for her."
"Oh, Harry, mate, don't worry, I know where your coming from, if anyone where to try to get with Ginny he would get the same speech except much more menacing." Ron looked relived, "In fact, I don't ever plan on ever doing anything to hurt Hermione, it would kill me too. I love her too much."
"Good, now Ron, there's the second thing." Harry was really going to jerk him around now, "You realize she is way too good for you. She's too good looking and way to smart. You are trading up in all ways possible. You had better appreciate that!"
"Come here you prat," Ron knew Harry was joking around, but Ron was self conscious enough to actually believe he didn't deserve Hermione, and plus he just wanted to try and beat his best friend's head in, all for good fun.
They were laughing rather hard and had a couple of odd curses on each other by the time Hermione busted in, beaming.
"Harry, Ron's already told you by now, I'm sure," She paused, and took in the scene before her, "If either of you two did anything permanent to the other you'll be put up in front on the Misuse of Magic Committee, and I'm not kidding," The guys were laughing a lot harder now, they knew she wouldn't let them go down and if she did report them, she would defend them as well, "And Potter, if you messed up my fiancé, I will kill you."
"Whatever Hermione," Harry's legs were rather wobbly, "Do you think you could do the counter jinx?"
"Oh, sure, for the both of you, Relaxico," Instantly, the weird movements and noises ceased. "Are you two ready to be off, the night is young, and we finally have something to celebrate tonight!" Ron popped up and grabbed her arm and escorted his future wife out of the office, leaving Harry to switch the lights and lock up. He closed his office door with a heavy heart.
So here he was now. Watching Ginny and some man he was introduced to called Mick Regaloo. He sounded like a criminal, or spaghetti sauce. Ron appeared to agree at first, until he got a glance from Hermione and shook the man's hand and acted like an adult. Harry only acted like an adult on the outside, inside he was cursing and planning very painful ways on murder for the man to endure, the only problem was that he could only kill him once. But why did he want to kill him, why did he care at all.
Suddenly, Harry was lifted up by the arms, it was Ron, "Come on Mate, we've still got two more bars to hop over to, and the press outside is going to have a field day with the drunk boy who lived. Hey, Hermione! Ginny, is there a back entrance here?" Harry registered some kind odd screams over loud music then Ron bellowed, "Well these bloody bafoones better get one."
Harry suddenly felt very much alive, "Ron, mate, I'm fine, I can make it out to the cab and to the next couple of bars, really I can."
"Now that's sounding more and more like our favorite seeker!" Ron cheered as he ushered the crowd out the door.
By the time they reached the next club, Club XYZ, everyone in the car was exceptional on their way to consuming the maximum about of alcohol a body can handle. Hermione, who was usually a very calm person literally bouncing off of the wall. Fred and George, whom they had met up with were setting random things and people on fire, not to mention flirting with any and every pretty girl they noticed.
Somehow, Hermione got it into her head that a barmaid named Madeline was in love with Ron, and Hermione, being who she is, just could not leave the girl alone until she convinced her otherwise. "Listen wench, I really dunno where you get off, but clearly he is with me, so if you'd be so kind, back off."
The barmaid couldn't have been more than twenty-one years old. She clearly had on first impression thought Ron was cute, but now, upon meeting his girlfriend, now (she had been informed!) fiancé, she only felt sorry for him having to deal with this crazy drunk woman. "Really Miss Granger, I'm not interested in him at all, could you please leave me alone?" At first Hermione wondered how the girl knew her name, then she realized the maid must have recognized her from pictures in the news.
Hermione was just not buying this, "You keep looking at him and smiling, stop, STOP!" Hermione reached across the bar and tried to attack the woman.
Luckily for the poor girl Harry, Ron and George were able to restrain Hermione in time to stop the full out muggle attack.
Needless to say, the group didn't stay at that bar too long. If Harry had been thinking clearly, he would have begun to worry about what the wizard press was going to print come morning, but for now he was content planning ways to kill Ginny's new boyfriend.
The group arrived at the Hogshead a little after two in the morning. Luckily the usually following of wannabes had deserted them, leaving just the old crowd. Bizarrely, a bunch of the old friends from Hogwarts had showed up. Even Cho who Harry hadn't seen in two years. And he really hadn't wanted too. When she came up to chat with him, he prayed silently for her to go away.
Then when she did he looked over at Ginny and Mick, God, thought Harry, that didn't even sound right together. How could she be with a man who's name didn't mesh with her own? Ginny, such a stylish woman, couldn't even figure out how bad they sounded Mick and Ginny, it hurt him just to think it. Then the thought that kept swirling around in his mind had finally come full circle, why did he care who Ginny was with, she wasn't his, never was and never would be. Ouch, Harry proceeded to order a round of shots for the bar. Harry glanced over down the bar one final time. She was happy looking, she also looked completely wasted, but then again so was he.
Harry lifted himself heavily to his feet, which was difficult. He trotted over to Ron and Hermione, then a thought struck him down like lightening. Was this Mick fellow a wizard? A proper one? He must be to get into Hogsmeade. Or did he have to be? What if he was a muggle or a deatheater? Wait was he himself, being something he always accused Moody of being, paranoid?
Suddenly the world began to spin. Harry clearly should not have tried to walk. Someone in the distance yelled "TIMBER!" and Harry passed out, in fact he cleared a whole spot in the room.
Harry vaguely came to probably much sooner than any normal person who had consumed so much alcohol. He looked around. Several tables had been pushed together to form a make-shift cot for him to sleep it off. Most people in the room that had been there pre-passing out where gone. The only people remaining were the barkeeper, Aberforth, Ron and Hermione in one corner of the bar, Fred and George, respectively, with girls in corners of the room, Cho and Dean Thomas, a group of people Harry was sure he knew from some where and then he spotted them. Cuddling and giggling in a corner booth: Ginny and Mick.
Harry, who was mad, and now had a throbbing headache and was feeling completely sick walked haphazardly over the uneven wooden floor and stopped directly in front of them.
Ginny was the first to look up, "What do you want Harry?"
"I want you..." That was a completely stupid thing for Harry to say. He would have to think quick to cover this up. He didn't want her. Then, somewhere in his water-logged brain something really clicked for the first time that evening. He was in love with Ginny, he always had been somewhere deep down, in a place where he tended to ignore. And now here she was, happy and she looked to be in love. And she was glaring up at him, as if he were a drunk moron. Well he wasn't going to take that away from her, it wasn't fair. Not to her, he could move on, she'd be happy, but not with this Mick fellow... })SMACK){... "I want you to take this retard out of my bar." Harry had punch Mick. Why? No idea as to the answer to that question. Would Harry remember? No, definitely not. Harry trumped out of the dingy doors of the Hogshead with all eyes staring at him. Harry hailed the Knightbus, and went home. He was definitely calling in to work tomorrow. Screw Moody and the scary secretary lady, he was going through something traumatic here. For one, his friend had deserted him on a killer plan, two, he realized that he was in love with her, and three, he now realized that he had completely missed his chance with her. All and all, Harry deserved at least one day to sulk and wallow in self pity.
Harry stumbled up his steps, burst open his door, tip-toed up his stairs as to not wake up Mrs. Black, and crawled into his bed. The last thought on his mind before he drifted off to sleep were not of how he was going to patch up things with Ginny, or make up a suitable excuse tomorrow for skipping work. No, Harry, after years of making plans and going on grand adventures, began to develop an elaborate plan. He had lost too much in his life, parents, friends, and Sirius. His death had been the hardest to bare. He had lost so much, and now he had lost the one thing he had always thought he had. Ginny needed to be with Harry, and somehow, the stubborn side of Harry wouldn't let him get off the fact that maybe she just wasn't interested. She wanted to be with him once, when they were younger, she would realize she loved him again. Fate had made them partners at work , they were meant to be together and she knew it, even if he had to force her to remind it. He loved her, with that final thought Harry rolled over on his side in bed and fell asleep with a huge smile on his face. He was blissfully unaware of the screaming match that awaited for him in the morning.
A/N: Hey, decided to update anyway. I can't wait to write the screaming match... it'll be fun. Please review if you like it or have any suggestions on what should happen and all that jazzy stuff! THANK YOU MUCH!