Disclaimer: You've got the picture by now....
Joe the Yankee's Fan,
Red Sox RULE!! They were cursed like everything else in New England, but it will be okay. And just so you know, Ron is a Chicago Clubs fan! Theres nothing wrong with cheering for the underdog. Look at the Patriots... Had to clear a few things up for all you people out there wondering what I'm going on about.. But thank you very much for reviewing, and Harry will not be losing the Prank War...it seems like he will though at the present though...
Chapter 15: The Return to the Old Ways
Harry rolled over, his head was killing him and he felt depressed. He looked over at his clock, it read 10:30. His vision was almost blurred by the insanity of his headache. He had no idea what he did last night. Harry sat up, slowly, and looked around. Good, he was in his bedroom, it was always a good sign if he wound up in his room, if he was somewhere he didn't recognize, that was a bad omen. The curtains were tightly drain yet sunlight was still seeping though, making Harry squint. Harry noticed a stamp on the back of his hand, it read XYZ, what did that have to do with anything? Oh wait, that was the name of a club they all went to last night.
The smell of bacon was wafting up the stairs and into Harry's room. Harry sighed, he was lucky his hangover wasn't too bad. He did exactly want to eat, but he wanted to know who was in his kitchen, hopefully it was Ginny, SHIT GINNY! Wait what was it he did last night... he really had better figure it out. At least now he realized why he was feeling so depressed. What was she doing abandoning a perfect plan anyway? He was going to have to get her as well.
Harry shrugged off his covers and left his room. The hall was gloomy as ever, he really needed to work on the upstairs of the house. He walked down the stairs, murmuring could be heard in the kitchen which was all the way down the downstairs hall.
Harry strolled in and walked to the table completely unnoticed by Hermione and Ginny who were standing side by side at the fireplace talking.
Harry looked down the right side of the table, Ron as standing there completely green. He was next to the stove. Ron was an exceptional cook. Harry glanced to his left. A handsome, burly man he vaguely recognized sat next to him, he had a large black eye. The man looked extremely tired. Harry would have sworn he recognized him. "Excuse me, I'm Harry, do I know you?" It seemed a fair question to Harry, after all it was his kitchen.
The poor man sitting next to Harry didn't even get the chance to respond, Ginny swung around, positively fuming. "Harry this is Mick, the man you non-chaluntedly decked last night!!"
A stream of memories hit Harry like a bolt of lightening and Harry was immediately plunged with guilt. Why had he hit the poor man? "Look I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you why I did it. Honestly, you can hit me if you like, fair's fair."
Mick just looked shocked by Harry's sincerity. "It's fine, really it is." Harry did a double take, the man spoke with a thick mid-western American accent.
Harry thought he was off the hook. Harry was wrong.
"I don't know where you learned your sense of manners Mister, but you don't treat people like that." Ginny was raging still, she was forcibly reminding everyone in the room of Mrs. Weasley right about now. She pointed her wand to the cabinet and plates and cups all flew out of the cabinet at such a speed Harry narrowly missed being decapitated.
"Gin, you know how I grew up," Harry was cut off.
"Don't you dare try to give me the 'I grew up with the Dursley's speech.' You know what is right and what is wrong!" Ginny finished the last big rather shrilly, "And punching my fiancé is wrong!"
Harry now remembered why he hated this man; he could barely contain himself from saying, "You fiancé? YOU JUST MET HIM!"
Ron whipped around so fast he dropped his skillet of bacon, "Ginny as your brother I cannot allow this!" He grabbed his watch and began twisted it and turning it and tapping it in odd ways that if the group hadn't been so busy fighting, they would have made fun of him.
Hermione spoke next, "Ron, I've talked to her, she says they have a connection! You can't deny a connection." She said connection like it was a matter of life or death.
Clearly in Ron's opinon, a connection couldn't be made in 24 hours; at least not with him baby sister. Ron looked at her like she was retarded and telling him that the sky wasn't blue, "CONNECTION?!? CONNECTION?!? The only connection this man's having with any Weasley is my foot right up his-"
"RONALD, WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A BULL-HEADED BROTHER? CAN'T YOU BE HAPPY FOR ME FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR? WOULD IT KILL YOU!?" Ginny was shaking with rage, but Ron never knew when to back down.
"Your way to young, and you just met him!"
"Ron does have a point Ginny," Harry felt that this was a good time to help his best friend out, "No offense man, but for all we now you could be a serial killer." Mick just shrugged, he really didn't want to get involved.
"Of course, you always side with him. Hermione, you agree with me right?" Ginny was desperately trying to get some allies in the kitchen.
"Well, Gin, it is a bit soon don't you think?" Hermione was biting her lower lip. She had been a part of the 'trio' too long, if she had to pick a side over something that in her opinion was almost trivial, she would stand with them or not stand at all. It was something that the group had grown up with, it was like telling a newborn turtle not to go into the ocean.
"Of course you would agree with them, the three of you, the 'wonder' trio, your all so.. so... all for one and one for all... and you Hermione your so, overbearing, and you Ron, your so overprotective," Ginny was panting now, "and you Harry, your so... so.."
What Harry was they never knew because instantly all six Weasley brothers apparated into the now roaring kitchen, bringing the grand total of angry Weasley's to eight.
Charlie spoke first, "Ron, how could this have happened, a code orange! What is she thinking?"
Percy spoke next, "Ginny as your only reasonable brother, I feel it is my duty to let you know you are rather young and you are rushing into things very suddenly."
George roared, "Where is the Prat, we'll kill him!"
"Whoa, Gin, why didn't you mention you had seven brothers?" Mick looked terrified.
Ginny glanced over her shoulder at him, "It never came up. Besides, you could handle them in a heart beat," she raised a eyebrow, "right?"
"Oh yeah, sure no problem," The man looked downright near wetting himself. "Look Ginny, I think I gotta go to work."
"Oh no you don't mate," Fred pushed him back down into his seat, "let's stay and talk a while."
Bill came over and put a hand on his shoulder, "Oh yes, we've got plenty to talk about." He said it in a rather menacing way. It was clear that no matter how scary the others could be, Bill was definitely the leader, and would always top them in madness.
Suddenly the fireplace burst into life, Green smoke enveloped the kitchen, and Molly Weasley's voice filled the kitchen. "What are you all doing?"
Instantly all of her children, who were now adults, looked down. "I don't know what all of my sons are doing here, but you six have some explaining to do." She pointed to Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Hermione and Harry.
"Oh Mum, your not in on this as well are you?" Ginny looked frustrated and aggravated.
Mrs. Weasley only glared at her. "I am involved in nothing that those brothers of yours cooked up. I am however going to be involved in the beating and murder of you all if someone doesn't explain what is going on!"
Ginny's fiancé stayed exactly where he was. Not moving, which was probably the best decision he could make.
The people who Mrs. Weasley was acknowledging stood in place, afraid to move, at all. She was like a bear, make any sudden movements and you were dead.
She whipped out a magazine. On the cover was a very toshed Harry and Ron, holding each other up, loading into a taxi. The headline read, "The Boy Who Lived Lives It up!"
"WHAT DO YOU ALL HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES, FOR THE SHAME YOU'VE BROUGHT TO YOUR FATHER AND ME?"
"Well Mom," Fred was clearly being very brave here, "At least we weren't drinking and driving!"
"Yeah, we'd spill our drinks," added George.
"Don't you be fresh with me young men! I am so sick of this nonsense you all bring upon yourselves all the time. "I never thought I could be so ashamed."
"Mum, I had nothing to do with this!" Percy looked terrified, clearly he had gone to exceptional lengths to remain in Mrs. Weasley's good graces since the estrangement.
"Then why are you here? Why the hell are all of my children here in this kitchen?" Mrs. Weasley looked puzzled.
"Well Mom," Charlie hesitated, "We got a message from Ron.."
"What was it, the message to party? I'm surprised your all not in here, just those six..." She pointed a shaking pointer finger.
"Mum, we weren't all involved, we are here to stop another crisis!" Bill looked pleadingly at her.
"I'll deal with that next, first you six, the rest of you OUT!" The three oldest of her boys ran from the room, the rest cowered into the back of the wall.
She had them backed into the corner, "You!" She pointed at Ron, who was known to crack under pressure, "Explain!"
"Well Mum," Ron's ears were getting redder and redder by the minute. "We were kinda, sorta, celebrating."
"Celebrating what may I ask?" Molly's eyes were bulging.
"Um, well, you see, yesterday, I kind of.. well I asked Hermione to marry me."
"YOU WHAT!?!?" Everyone took three steps back and hit there heads into the wall. "That's WONDERFUL!! Come here my darling girl, this is marvelous, and not a moment too soon!" Any trace of anger had momentarily vanished. Then it came.
"So what's your excuse Virginia?" Molly had that look back in her eye.
"Oh, um.. I was celebrating an engagement as well."
"Yes! It's about time." Then to everyone's surprise, Molly hugged Harry, "This is just fantastic!"
Harry suddenly became very uncomfortable. "Mrs. Weasley, I'm not the one who is to marry your daughter."
"What, well, if your not going to, then who is?"
"He is," and Harry "You probably read about how he got his shiner in the paper."
"Oh, I never read the article." Then she turned around and stared at he man who had said nothing all morning to her. "So who are you, where are you from, and how long have you known my daughter?"
"Well," He began in his most polite American accent, "I'm Mick, I'm from America, and I've known Ginny for almost 24 hours."
"24 hours? That's all is it?" Molly looked like she was going to faint. Then a sudden change in emotion made everyone in the room even more nervous, "Out everyone out! Except you," she pointed to Harry, "You stay exactly where you are."
Everyone in the room except Harry breathed a collected sigh of relief and booked it to the door, Ron spared Harry a pitying look, and mouthed, "Good luck!"
Harry wished he hadn't gotten up that morning. He was an adult, he had defeated Voldemort and other nameless, talented wizards and witches, yet there were a few people in the world he still feared and he wasn't ashamed to say that Molly Weasley was one of them.
Molly went to the stove, waved her wand and instantly a tray of tea and snacks was made. She directed it to the table, then she proceeded to the door. Here is where she stepped on the Extendable Ears Fred and George thought they could get away with. She lifted them to her ear and yelled, "BACK OFF!" Then she cast a seal on the door. Clearly she and Harry were to have a real adult conversation.
She sat down at the table and motioned for him to sit across from her. He didn't dare not do as he was directed. He was now in the eye of the storm.
"Explain Harry, explain it all and explain it now." Molly's voice wasn't threatening, or violent, as he had expected it to be; her voice was warm and nurturing, the voice of a mother speaking to her child; the voice Harry had never heard.
"Explain what exactly?" Harry was puzzled.
"Explain to me why your so somber and hardworking at the office, explain why you act like your a stranger whenever you come around the house, like your not family," Mrs. Weasley was cut off.
"I'm not family," Harry interjected.
"Oh pish-posh, you a son to Arthur and me, and we're proud to have you. You know damn well we would have adopted you in a heart beat, but it wasn't our call, Dumbledore said no."
"Dumbledore, that man always had my best interest at heart, yet he never exactly did what was best for me looking back on it."
"You know he did the best he could for what he knew at the time. He, just like everyone else, is human."
"Don't start on me about being human."
"Why Harry, your just as human as anyone else."
"I disagree," Harry put his elbows on the table and propped his face in his hands.
"Why do you disagree Harry?"
"Because everyone else doesn't have to go through the things I've had to, and if they have they didn't survive it. They got the chance to release and die. I've been forced to stay here, suffer, and now watch the woman I love marry some other man."
"It's because your made of different stuff than the rest of us." Molly's eyes were twinkling.
"You practically said I was as human as everybody else."
"But not everybody is the same Harry. Some live, and never experience pain. And some people have to live their whole life with a shadow of pain, guilt and that's just the way it is. However, that doesn't mean that people who are destined for pain cannot be happy. It just means that they have to work a little harder than the masses."
"You don't understand. I've lost people I loved. I watch Sirius die, I never even got to meet my parents. I've.."
Mrs. Weasely shushed him, "Harry, we all lose people, but we owe it to them to continue. Don't you agree?"
"I guess," Harry sighed.
"Do you really have to guess Harry?"
"No, I know."
"Good, now explain to me why your not marrying my little girl and that American is. I'm sure he's a nice enough young man, but he is not you, and that is unexceptable."
"Pardon me, that's unexceptable? Why is that so?"
"Harry, I think you've been friends with my Ron a little too long, the need to have things spelled out for you has rubbed off in the worst of ways. I always figured, in my heart, that you and Ginny would eventually fall in love. Why is that not so?"
"Well, I definitely thought I loved her, but apparently I didn't because she's with him."
"Harry, that just means you didn't tell her. It doesn't mean she doesn't love you. Seriously, you should have told her when you got the chance, tell her sometime soon, like while your alone with her at work."
"Fine, but I don't think she'll want to talk to me."
"Why not Harry?"
"Because I may have knocked her boyfriend out last night..." Harry said sheepishly.
"Oh, is that the reason why he's all banged up? I thought he was just a criminal."
Harry's somber eyes met hers and Molly laughed, "Listen, just apologize to her if it comes up. She's reasonable."
Harry stared at her.
"Okay, so maybe my daughter isn't that reasonable, but she is forgiving, and besides, she's loved you for years."
"Really?" Harry said in a very eager voice.
"Yes, now I'm going to go, and by the way dear, if you lot show up in the tabloids again in such a manner I will have to kill you. No joke." With that Molly Weasely winked and proceeded out of the kitchen and into the hall where everyone was waiting. "And for you lot..." She began screaming. Harry was quite sure the Twins were getting blamed for it.
Harry began to sip some tea just as a certain redhead walked in, and she was smiling.
"Hey Harry, I just slipped away, Mum is just now lecturing the twins on the importance of being good role models for their younger siblings. So I decided we needed to have a little chat." Instantly her nice and sunny demeanor changed.
"Why did you attack Mick?"
Harry answered honestly, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me Potter."
"Well," Harry was thinking, here's your moment, tell her you love her, do it, do it now!, "I actually need to tell you something, something major." Why did he have to sound like a teenager now, today, he was supposed to be mature here.
"What? Is it about me, or about Mick, or is it about Ron?"
"It's about you."
"Really?" Ginny clearly had two things going for her, enthusiasm and pepperup potion, clearly she had taken quite a dosage of it.
"Ginny, I'm in..." Harry began.
Mick suddenly poked his head through the doorway, "Ginny love, are you ready to go out?"
"Yeah, just a minute Hun, what did you want to tell me Harry?"
"It's nothing" Harry had lost his chance, he would just have to wait.
"Are you sure? It seemed important." Ginny said as she rushed to the door.
"No, really, go on." Harry faked a smile. Then when the door slammed a real one came on. He had a plan. For everything. To get back at Ron and Hermoine for the first media hailstorm concerning Ginny and he being married, a final, wondrous prank to finish them all; and a way to get Ginny back. All Harry needed now was a little time. And fortunately, there were always ways of getting more time; even if the only way to do it was to break a few rules. Oh yes, Harry was going back to his old ways, it was time to break out a few of his most prized processions, and invisibility cloak for one. By the time he was done, everything was going to be back to normal, or something similar to that.
Harry stepped outside. It was hours later, and he figured it was as good a time as any to get out of the house. A huge, tawny,barn owl swooped down, bearing four individualy addressed envelopes. Harry instantly recognized where the owl was from. Now he was left wondering, what could Hogwarts possibly want from him now?
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