Walz's Note: Hey there, everyone. All of this gutted disclaimer rubbish is obnoxious. Regardless, let's all stand up, put our hands on our hearts and recite: "I do not own Harry Potter by any stretch of the imagination. The characters, concepts, and brilliance therein are the property of J.K. Rowling. Amen." :D Read on.
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V
Breaking the News
Harry Potter yawned and rolled onto his back. He grinned as lay in bed, staring upwards. The dark ceiling was like a canvas against which his imagination could project. It seemed as if he hadn't a trouble in the world. Yet he couldn't sleep. Why? Because he was elated. He had been in absolute torment for about a week. But now all was good and right with the world, as far as he was concerned. His face displayed a goofy smile which no one could see in the darkness. "Thank Merlin no one can see me," Harry thought, "I must look like a giddy little school girl." And indeed, he'd been acting rather odd lately. One thing he noticed most was that his speech was becoming increasingly vulgar; his emotional war with Ginny had been taxing. Oh well. Over and done with. "Ginny..." his mind wandered. He thought of how beautiful she was. Her beautiful hair, her gorgeous eyes. Her smile. Her lips. Merlin, he could still taste them! He was grinning wildly, and his face remained that way until he slipped peacefully into a happy slumber around five o' clock.
Harry awoke some time later to the sound of several voices downstairs. He struggled to glance at his watch as his eyes tried to focus without his glasses. One in the afternoon? Wow, he'd sure slept in. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he rose, collected his morning things, and headed for the bathroom.
"Much better," Harry said to himself when he left the bathroom and headed to walk down the stairs about a half-hour later. When he reached the bottom floor, he wondered why there were so many voices coming from the kitchen. Then it dawned on him. It was early afternoon on Sunday. The Weasleys were probably all together, visiting.
"Well, well, good morning sleepy-head!" George patted Harry on the back as he entered the kitchen.
"Have a late night?" Fred laughed and nudged him in the side.
"Sort of," Harry responded, wondering briefly just how Fred would feel if he knew that it was Ginny whom Harry was up with all night. "Good morn--er, afternoon, everyone."
Everyone in the kitchen said their good-afternoon's as Harry looked around the room. Fred and George took a seat beside Ron, and began trying to talk him into fiddling with some odd contraption which Harry was certain would hex him in some manner. He laughed inwardly when he thought of this. At the table next to Mrs. Weasley was Mr. Arthur Weasley, whom Harry hadn't seen at all during his stay at the Burrow. It appeared Mr. Weasley saw Harry look at him, and rose.
"Shame I've been so busy at the Ministry," Mr. Weasley said as he walked toward Harry with his hand out. Harry shook it, smiling, and continued, "You've been here four days yet and I haven't seen you once!"
"Oh, I was beginning to think none of us would see you today, dear!" Mrs. Weasley had come up behind her husband. Harry just smiled softly. He then noticed that Bill and Fleur were in the corner of the room talking. Poor Bill looked horrible, his face scarred terribly. Harry was glad, however, that it appeared as though Bill weren't a werewolf. Surely he and Fleur were going on about their quickly approaching wedding. Bang! Harry looked quickly toward the sound. He shook his head as he watched as two hysterical Weasley twins were doubled over themselves, watching Ron dangle upside-down in thin air.
"Now honestly!" Mrs. Weasley said bitterly to Fred and George, "I'd expect better behaviour from my sons who are now professional businessmen."
"Alright alright," Fred muttered the countercurse and Ron was back on his feet, "You know, we just wanted to test out our new product."
"Indeed we did," George continued to his mother, "And how could we be good businessmen without knowing precisely how our lovely new item works?" He was stifling his laughter. Mrs. Weasley simply stared him down for a moment before returning to her housework.
"You two are bloody obnoxious," Ron said in his own defence, and shook his head. After the twins had vacated the area, Harry took a seat beside Ron and grabbed himself an orange.
"I don't see Ginny," Ron said with a disappointed, slightly angry, tone, "Probably still locked up in her room. I assume you've done little to help her?" Harry frowned.
"Ron, come with me into the other room," Harry said, and Ron reluctantly followed him into the living room. "The reason I'm awake so late is that Ginny and I were up 'til half four talking."
"I see..." Ron said, "and?"
"Well," Harry smiled, "after a lot of arguing and crying, Ginny and I have decided that we'd like to be back together. So she's probably just still asleep right now, is all."
Harry couldn't tell if Ron's expression was anger or amusement. "You know, Harry," he finally began, "I let it slide the first time because you're my best mate. But I swear by the beard of Merlin that if you hurt her again..."
"You'll kill me?" Harry finished for him.
"Well, let's suffice it to say that I'll be spending the rest of my days with Malfoy's bloody dad in Azkaban." Ron clarified. Harry grinned.
"So, I've got your blessing, then?"
"If that's what you want to call it." They both laughed, and Harry headed for the stairs.
"I'm going to go wake Ginny up," Harry said to Ron.
"Watch yourself, mate," Ron warned, and Harry rolled his eyes.
When Harry reached Ginny's door, he knocked. There was no answer, but when he tried the door, he found it unlocked. Harry walked in quietly and saw his beautiful Ginny lying on her back asleep, hair a mess and make-up smudged from last night's tears. He knelt down beside her and took a strand of her long hair in between his fingers. He smiled as he caressed it against his cheek. He got a bit closer and bent over her, meeting her lips with his. She stirred, and kissed him again before opening her eyes.
"Good morning, Harry," she yawned happily, laying her arms around his neck when she was finished stretching.
"Morning?" Harry smiled, "It's about two in the afternoon."
"What?" she looked distressed, "Oh Merlin! I've overslept so!" She kissed him and shooed him out of her room, "Go on, now, I need to wash up and get changed!"
Harry smiled as he left her room; he could hear her bustling about inside. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a knock at the door, and answered it. Outside stood a smiling Hermione Granger, with several trunks of luggage.
"Hello Harry!" she said happily and gave him a quick hug, "Good to see you're doing well. Listen, would you mind...?" she gestured toward her things.
"Oh, sure thing," he grabbed two heavy trunks and wondered why she hadn't just shrunken them. He dragged them into the foyer and set them down. Ron's her boyfriend, or whatever, he thought. He can deal with this later. He heard a squeal.
"Ronald!" Hermione had squeaked, and Harry saw that she was giving him a long, tight hug. It was then that the rest of the family realised she'd arrived. Once greetings were said and done, Hermione and Ron dragged her things up to Ginny's room where she'd be staying. Shortly thereafter, Ginny came downstairs and greeted her family happily. Harry and Ron smiled, as did Hermione who'd already greeted her upstairs. Bill, Fleur, Fred, and George greeted her as normal. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley grinned in delight at the marked change in their only daughter's mood. They didn't know what happened, but they were quite pleased that she was no longer acting as had been.
"Well, now that the lot of us are awake," Harry began, "Quidditch, anyone?"
With that, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George grabbed their brooms and headed into the yard. After several hours of an intense three-on-three Quidditch match (although the teams were uneven, and Ron's side was under because of the fact that Hermione was horrid at Quidditch), they were all called in for dinner.
"Smells wonderful, Mum!" Bill exclaimed as Mrs. Weasley set out plates of roast chicken to all.
"D'accord," Fleur said, having tasted hers, "Zough I am not usually very fond of chicken, I find zat it tastes quite good." Harry smiled as he watched Ginny listen to Fleur. It appeared that Ginny finally realised that there was no 'Phlegm' left.
"Well, dear," Mrs. Weasley said happily, "It's wonderful to know that you like it; you'll be eating my cooking for a while, yes?" She laughed.
As everyone ate their food, Mr. Weasley was telling about how things were going over at the Ministry.
"...Yes, the Death Eaters have run rampant 'round northern Wales lately," he had been saying, "And the Minister refuses to make any comments on Severus Snape or the young Malfoy."
"Dirty buggers," Ron muttered.
"Ronald Weasley!" his mother exclaimed in outrage.
"What?" he asked in his defence, "They are!" Mrs. Weasley calmed down and everyone laughed. During this, Ginny had looked at Harry and nodded. After he also nodded, somewhat reluctantly, she spoke up.
"Umm..." Ginny began, "Excuse me, everyone, I've got something to say..."
"Alrighty dear," Mrs. Weasley said, and everyone stopped eating to listen.
"Well...myself...and Harry...well..." she struggled.
Harry grabbed her hand, "We've decided that we'd like to get back together," he finished.
For a moment, everyone was silent. Harry and Ginny looked around at everyone, still grasping hands. Ron was grinning. Hermione seemed bewildered. Mr. Weasley's fork had come to a half three quarters the way to his mouth. Bill had leaned back, Mrs. Weasley's appeared to be full of tears. Fred and George's mouthes were gaping. Fleur was the only one who said anything.
"Oh, zat's very sweet," she said, smiling at the two. Harry and Ginny simply smiled back.
After Fleur had spoken, the room suddenly erupted. Mrs. Weasley's tears began to pour as she happily repeated "Oh, I knew it! I knew it!" Simultaneously, Mr. Weasley stood up, crossed over to Harry, patted his back, and said "You're a good man, Harry, a good man," Hermione was running her mouth at Ron with "But what about all of that mess with You-Know-Who?" but he had only told her to shush up. Fred and George had been repeating in unision things like, "Back together!" and "When were they together!" Bill gave Harry a thumbs up, and Fleur was beaming at them. Harry and Ginny shook their heads as they gazed at eachother happily. Harry's heart flipped when it dawned on him that everything was going quite well.
"Wait, wait, wait!" George shouted, and everyone became silent, "If you'd follow us into the living room, Potter."
"We'd like to have a word or two with you." Fred smiled mischeviously.
Suddenly Harry wasn't too sure if he felt great or not.
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Voila! Chapter five. Honestly, I'm not sure if that one was longer than the last. I hope so, I'd like to progressively write more into each chapter. Loads more reviews. Thanks a bunch all of you! I'll try to condense:
fritz42: Your reviews never cease to make me feel like I might be doing something right :D I really appreciate what you said. And believe me, I share your feelings about Half-Blood Prince.
misterfooch: No, no, no. Criticism is a good thing. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. If you'll noticed I tried to mask that up in the beginning of this chapter, and I'll keep it in mind for future reference. Otherwise, I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
EmeraldDream1: I'm glad you like it, and I encourage you to continue reading after this chapter, too! As for Ginny's weeping; I figure love can make even the strongest fall, no?
twiggers: I've got nothing but a big smile. Thanks a lot :D
Nytel: I'm really glad that you found nothing wrong with chapter four. Keep in mind that if there's something you don't like about this one, please, tell me. I appreciate the compliment. Thanks a lot!
gemma: Thanks, I'm happy you're enjoying it. Hahah, I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what Fred and George have to say, right?
Young Kenshin: Thank you very much, I'm glad you could visualise the story. Oh, and by the way, I know several people who speak English as a native language who speak worse than you :D
krissygurl: Hopefully I won't keep you all waiting too long :D And like I told EmeraldDream, love can tear anyone down, no?
shadowdragonblade: Hahah, thanks. I'm glad you can live with it. Thanks for reading and everything :D
deash: It's comments like these that keep me writing each night. Thank you.
chromatic.daydream: I'm glad you consider it a treasure! Hahah, well, we now know Ron's point-of-view, maybe it's the twins we should be worried about? Thanks a lot :D
metalmarc: Thanks, and I tried to write to pertain to how I thought the situation might affect everyone :D
annoying talking animal: Haha, thank you very, very much. I'm trying my best to increase the word count per chapter. I didn't realise how hard it was to write a four-thousand word chapter until I thought my first chapter was long :(
Azaba: Thanks a lot. Haha, how could I not let them get back together?
Thanks a ton for reading, once again. Don't forget to hit "review!" :D Next time on Season of Love, will the twins kill Harry? Same time, same place, tomorrow :D Take care, everyone.
-Walz