Title: Chances for Happiness
Author: Kleine Snowdrop
Pairing: Ginny/Lee primary. Other parings are mentioned in this chapter. Be warned some are rather unique, there is currently no plan for any slash parings, but you never know.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world belong to JK Rowlings.
Summery: Tired of Ginny and Lee's obliviousness to the other's feelings the twins take it upon themselves to set them up. Takes place about seven years after the defeat of Voldemort. Which happened in Ginny's seventh year at Hogwarts. And it should be stated that I am all for odd pairings.
Chances for Happiness
Chapter 1
After the war with Voldemort ended the wizarding world continued on with life. The students of Hogwarts grew up. And in the midst of cleaning up the remains of the war their world prospered. The veterans of the war were rewarded for their bravery. Wizards and witches like Snape who had walked a thin line were honored and heralded as heroes. Snape received his Order of Merlin for duties done in both wars. Unfortunately, not everyone survived the war. But this is not their story; this one is about the survivors. The Weasley family in particularly, surprising, as it may seem all the Weasleys survived and they all grew up.
Bill had stayed in England after becoming involved with the Hogwarts' astronomy professor. Aurora Sinistra and Bill have been married for almost eight years and have four children. Aurora had been a Ravenclaw a few years ahead of the eldest Weasley. Bill, it seems always, had a thing for older women. Which is why the short-lived relationship that he had with Fleur Delacour did not last. But it was another Weasley that stole her heart.
It was Percy and his passion about his work that won the heart of the French veela. She had met Percy through the ministry and slowly fell in love with him. Percy wasn't what she had been expecting after hearing Bill talk about him. But she enjoyed surprises. Percy was back in his family's good graces. It had taken some time, even after his true role in the ministry and role in the Order of the Phoenix had reveled. There were hurt feelings on all sides and Fleur stood by his side through it all. They will be celebrating their third anniversary and the birth of their first child in August. As for his former girlfriend Penelope Clearwater, she and Percy are still good friends. However it is another Weasley that owns her heart.
Charlie Weasley is still in Romania with his dragons and the love of his life, Penelope Clearwater. It was Percy who had originally introduced her to his older brother. They hit it off instantly, but it wasn't until Penny became the replacement mediwitch at the Romanian Dragon Preserve that the dashing dragon trainer swept her off her feet. They have been married for over five years and Penelope is carrying their second child.
Fred and George still own their joke shop. Both are not married, but involved in long-term stable relationships. It didn't come as much of a surprise when George brought Parvati Patel home for dinner one night. Two years later when Parvati became pregnant with their first, and hopefully not last, child some eyebrows were raised, but that didn't force the couple to marry. They were currently engaged and planning a double wedding.
Fred was engaged as well, but his choice of a bride had not gone over as smoothly as his brother's had. Fred Weasley, you understand, had fallen in love with Pansy Parkinson. It was Molly that refused to accept Pansy in to the family; even after all that the young witch had endured during the years of the war. She had betrayed her entire family to support Dumbledore, nearly single-handedly sent her father to Azkaban, and was cast off the Parkinson family tree. Much to Molly's dismay the couple were the proud parents of four-month-old twin boys, who would inherit Pansy's family's money.
Ron was engaged to Luna Lovegood. And to Molly's delight, the two were not having children out of wedlock. Actually, they were far too busy to contemplate adding children to their lives. Ron was always working late at the Ministry as a strategic advisor to the minister of magic, and Luna was working hard to edit and keep The Quibbler from going bankrupt. Molly had done the lion's share of arranging the wedding, which was five months off.
It was not only the Weasleys that were doing great in this era of post-war bliss. Severus Snape had married Nymphadora Tonks and they had a couple of children. The current count was four and one on the way, in their tenth year of marriage. Severus likes children much more than he'd ever let on as a teacher. Neville Longbottom had married Angelina Johnson four years earlier and they were just starting a family. Seamus was an incurable bachelor, but this suited him just fine. Oliver Wood had married Alicia Spinet and they had two children. Katie Bell had been playing professional quidditch, and in a star studded wedding six months ago married Viktor Krum. Pravati's sister Padma was married to Colin Creevy, the star photographer for The Daily Prophet, the couple had eloped three years ago and had one son.
Not every was doing as well as the others, Lavender Brown, or should I say Malfoy, was a young widow. Draco had died as a spy at the very end of the war and he left her to raise their only child. A little boy who had his father's eyes and mother's smile. Dean Thomas had married a young witch named Calliope that he had met while working in Egypt with Bill Weasley as a curse breaker, but she had died in childbirth, leaving him alone with their twin daughters. But the fates were pushing these two together as their friendship grew deeper and stronger.
It was Ginny, Lee, Harry and Hermione that were unlucky in love. The four of them never seemed to have lasting relationships. This might be because they refused to admit what their heart already knew. In their hearts they knew it was because they were already in love. Ginny loved Lee, and he was just as clueless about her feelings for him as she was about his. Harry and Hermione were probably worse off. As best friends neither wanted to risk their friendship for what would be the most intimate relationship that either had ever or would ever have. But they were just as clueless as Ginny and Lee.
It was this that annoyed Fred and George to no end. So they took it upon themselves to hook their sister up with their best friend. They put their brilliant minds together to come up with a worthwhile plan, but do to unforeseen and unintentional interference they had to call in the troops. But it was Parvati that told them to do something about Harry and Hermione as well. This was mainly for Luna's sanity. Luna had been gracious enough to let Harry move in with her and Ron while he found a new place to live, that had been almost a year ago and it was grating on her nerves.
Fred was the one to call the meeting with his brothers and their scheming wives. He and Pansy would be hosting it. After telling Molly their plan and hopes that she would leave it to them. She and Arthur agreed to watch the children. Since Parvati wanted to discuss the problem that was Harry and Hermione, they were the only friends that hadn't been invited.
"Hey Fred," Bill said as he and Aurora arrived first.
"Bill," Fred said, then he kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek, "Aurora."
"Hello, Fred," she said, "where is Pansy?"
"In the kitchen," a female voice called from another room.
"Well, if you boys will excuse me," said Aurora as she headed into the kitchen. Fred handed Bill a beer and they sat down on the couch and caught up as they waited for the rest of their brothers and friends to arrive.
Percy arrived next fussing over his very pregnant wife. She merely swatted at him and headed off to the kitchen muttering something in French. Charlie and Penelope arrived at the same time as Neville and Angelina. Followed shortly by Ron and Luna. Alicia arrived with apologies from Oliver and Katie, who were both traveling with their respective quidditch teams. Colin and Padma arrived with Lavender and Dean. Seamus arrived not long after. George and Parvati arrived late as usual. Once everyone had arrived the large crowd settled around Fred and Pansy's living room.
"So where are they?" asked Charlie.
"Ginny is at the shop brewing a horribly expensive potion, that someone is paying us to make," explained Pansy. She and Ginny both were potions brewers, and together they owned a shop. Ginny's had trained under a potions master in Diagon Alley named Casper Sinclair, and Pansy under Professor Snape at Hogwarts.
"Great. Lee and his team are on duty this weekend," added Parvati. She and Lee both headed accidental magic reversal squads.
"Why aren't Harry and Hermione here?" asked Colin.
"Because they are almost as bad as Ginny and Lee," Parvati explained with a long-suffering sigh.
"Because Harry Potter is driving me bonkers," Luna joined in, "Not that I don't adore him, Ronald, but in a different house."
"What we need is a cunning, foolproof plan to get them all together," George said getting down to business.
"Why are you all looking at me?" Pansy asked with a grin, "I may be a Slytherin, but if you haven't noticed I am still having difficulties getting Molly to stop setting my fiancé up with other women and accept me."
"Molly doesn't like any of us," Parvati told her, "we took her boys from her."
"True," Penelope said, "what if we just lock Ginny and Lee in a closet or something as blunt."
"Won't work on them," Bill said, "might on Harry and Hermione though."
"What we have to do is to get them, Lee and Ginny that is, to always run into each other," Fleur explained.
"And," added Lavender, "make it seem like a coincidence."
"And when in large groups get them next to each other," Dean told them, "and take them out with friends and run into the others."
"That might work," Fred mused, "but what if they don't admit it?"
"Try making them jealous," Percy remarked. Fleur had used this tactic on him.
"What if we told them that the other was in love with them?" Pansy asked.
"They'd be mortified," Aurora said, "trust me, and then they would do nothing. That happened to me, which might explain why I am Mrs. Bill Weasley instead of Mrs. Severus Snape."
"Just an idea," Pansy said, then shuddered, "Severus and Tonks are bad enough.
"And here I thought you married me because you loved me."
"That and Severus snored," said Aurora after giving her husband a kiss.
"We need to tell Harry and Hermione, and get them involved with our plans for Gin and Lee," Angelina said.
"And tell Ginny and Lee about Harry and Hermione," Alicia finished for her best friend.
With those plans made the witches and wizards went on their own separate ways, all still buzzing with ideas. They would be subtler with Ginny and Lee, but needed the direct approach with Harry and Hermione. It was determined that one of Molly Weasley's closets was the best option. After hinting to them separately about the possibilities that deepening their relationship would bring.
The following day Fred and George met Lee for lunch. They explained in detail their plan for Harry and Hermione. Lee was, as expected, very excited and more than willing to help. Pansy casually mentioned the plan to Ginny at work. Ginny agreed that something needed to be done about those two.
When Ron and Luna returned home after the gathering of the minds, they told Harry about the need to get Ginny and Lee together. Harry was more than willing to contribute to the cause. Lavender and Parvati joined Hermione for quick breakfast before work and asked for her help. She was the only one who had reservations about it, but after some convincing by her former dorm mates she was willing to help.
To be continued…