A/N: All right…here's chapter 3! Merry Christmas :-P…Oh, before I forget…MINISCULE HBP spoilers in here…no use mentioning it because if you haven't read the book you probably won't even notice…just warning you…And one more thing…As this is an AU fanfiction, I've decided I can do whatever I want…so…Natalie Weasley (Morgan) will henceforth be known as Ginny Weasley, who will now be about nine years old, instead of fifteen…I apologize for the inconvience.
Chapter 3Madame Rosmerta heaved a long-suffering sigh as she briefly scanned her bar. As she bent her head back down towards the countertop, she absentmindedly ran her fingers over the crudely carved initials R.A.B. She had wondered for months what on earth they had been doing there…seemingly appearing overnight. Usually, Rosmerta knew everything that went on in her bar, and these initials being such a mystery to her…well, she didn't like that one bit.
As it were, there was another event occurring in her bar that point that she wasn't in favor of. She looked up, and her eyes immediately spotted a vivid mop of trademark red hair. Instantly, she knew it was a Weasley, or rather, a Weasley twin. Which one it was, would remain a mystery, however. Never could tell them apart, she thought to herself grudgingly. She was extremely put out now they had left school. Rosmerta always looked forward to Fred and George's frequent secret Hogsmeade visits (though she had always wondered how they managed to sneak out undetected). The two would come in wearing evil grins, weaving their way through tables towards the swivel chairs at the bar, their arms heavily laden by several bags of Zonko's Joke Shop merchandise. Once they reached the front of the bar they would relieve themselves of the bags and show her their purchases, always making her laugh at the stupidest things. Their visits became more and more infrequent as they left Hogwarts, and as they got their own premises for their own joke shop inside Hogsmeade. She missed the way they used to fill her bar with laughter with their rambunctious antics. At the moment however, as she stared at the back of Fred or George's head, she realized it wasn't him that was the life of the party (or in this case, date), but the small blonde girl sitting across from him, strumming on her guitar and singing along with it, her protuberant blue eyes never leaving his extremely withdrawn face.
"I got interested in music when I saw my first musical show," she told him, singing the words happily. Fred reached out and grabbed her hands to stop her from attempting to play anymore.
"Luna, Luna, talk. Use your words. Its okay to just talk," he said, exasperated. Luna obliged. He let go of her hands and slouched back in his seat on the other side of the table, resuming his sulk, which had yet to be noticed by Luna.
"Oh, okay. Well, I saw Annie, and when that little girl sang "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow," I felt like she was talking to me!" She told Fred, her voice dripping with sticky sweetness.
"Well, did she maybe mention that you should try to write something with a little more edge?" he asked her, genuinely interested in her answer. She put on a face.
"You sound just like my uncle at the record company!" Fred's jaw dropped. Who on earth would give this girl a record deal? And who the hell was Annie?
"You have a record deal!" He asked her. If this girl can get a record deal, Percy could, he thought.
"Not yet. Uncle Leroy says I don't have enough edge. He seems to think I don't have enough life experience yet," she answered, apparently growing slowly offended by her uncle's opinions about her music. Fred thought he had her here.
"That must've really out you in a bad mood. Brought you down. Put you in a dark place," he told her, now very hopeful in the way the conversation was going. That is, until Luna started laughing at him. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" He asked her.
"No. I just do what I always do. I put my feelings into a song," she told him cheerfully. At that moment, inspiration seemed to hit again, because she immediately groped for he guitar and began another song. "Thank you Uncle David, for listening to my song, and only taking two calls, and I'll try to be more edgy. But I can't right now, because I'm looking at a, dandelion, dandelion." The disastrous date continues…
Meanwhile at Trevor Malloy's house…Hermione is listening attentively to Trevor's mother, who is giving instructions for how the night should go. Trevor's parents are heading toward the door as they are giving the explanations, and Hermione is seeing them out.
"Now Hermione, Trevor's bedtime is…" Mrs. Malloy began to quiz Hermione.
"Nine o'clock sharp," Hermione answered promptly, not breaking a sweat. This was going to be a piece of cake! Mrs. Malloy was relentless, however.
"And the emergency brooms are…" She asked, as though she was hoping to stump Hermione, which was going to be difficult, as Hermione hadn't been stumped since the classroom geography bee in 2nd grade. Just thinking of the memory made her squirm with disappointment.
"…Standing next to the back door," she said, relieved. Mrs. Malloy kept going.
"And…" Mrs. Malloy trailed off expectantly.
"No boys," Hermione answered solemnly.
"And…"
"No boys at all," she added. Hermione began to reach for the doorknob. She turned it and pulled it toward her to reveal Ron. Ron, quickly realizing why everyone was staring at him, picked up the nearest butterbeer jug.
"Butterbeer delivery guy," he said lamely, knowing perfectly well they don't exist. Mrs. Malloy's reaction was the complete opposite of what he had been expecting, however. Hermione, who had been holding her breath since the moment Ron appeared on the doorstep immediately jumped in front of Ron to block him from view.
"Don't worry. He's not staying. I know your rules. No boys," she told the Malloy's. She spun around to look at Ron. "What are you doing here?" She whispered to him.
"Oh, Hermione. When I said 'no boys' I didn't mean this kind of boy," she told Hermione. She turned to her husband, who had been acting as a wall decoration up until that moment. "This is Molly and Arthur's little boy," she informed him.
"Uh-huh," came his response. Apparently he didn't find this conversation quite as exciting as his wife did. Ron, however, was very interested, and was puzzled by this comment. No one thought he was dangerous?
"Molly and Arthur's 'dangerous' little boy," he amended, also offended by this comment. Mr. Malloy replied, still maintaining his monotonous tone.
"We're all dangerous in the beginning." Ron cocked his head to one side as though trying to more closely examine him. 'All dangerous in the beginning?' What was that supposed to mean? Ron snapped back to attention when Mrs. Malloy began talking again. She was, after all, his new hero. For letting him stay. Nothing to do with the sexy red dress she was currently fashioning.
"We'll be out late. If you two get tired, just take a little nap on the couch." She smiled at Ron, who was watching her with his mouth hanging slightly open. Then she abruptly turned to her husband, as the waiting for him to comment on the situation.
"Very comfortable couch. Lie down on it, you'll think you're dead. It's wonderful." Ron and Hermione tried not to look too disturbed by this as the showed the two parents out. When the door was closed, Hermione leaned against it, as though she had just been through an exhausting ordeal. Then her eyes lit up on Ron.
"I'm glad you came over, 'dangerous boy.' Why don't you get all dangerous on the couch and I'll get us something to eat?" She told Ron, who immediately obliged and watched her as she pranced into the kitchen. He turned his attention to the couch when she disappeared. Wow, the nutter was right. Lie down in it, you think you're dead. It's wonderful!
"All right, all right. Cozy couch, empty house. Everything is working out according to plan. What could possibly go wrong?" Ron said to himself as he leaned back on the couch, putting his arm behind his head as he spoke. The next thing he felt was a small finger being stuck in his ear…
A/N: Can't really call this a cliffhanger if you've already seen the show. If you haven't, and don't understand anything I've been talking about, I strongly recommend you tune into ABC family on weekdays at 3:00 pm, or, if you're an insomniac, Disney channel at like, 1:30 am.