Disclaimer: still don't own anything you recognise from the books…
A/N: this chapter contains an attack on a female character, nothing disgusting, detailed, or anywhere near enough, which I personally think would put anyone in counselling or have nightmares stuff, but I just thought I should put a warning in…
Harry waited patiently for Ron, in the Chudley Cannons Arena entrance hall. The receptionist kept glancing at him, and Harry knew why. it's not every day you see men in formal dress robes at quidditch arena's, especially when that man happens to be the boy-who-lived.
Yes. The news about Harry's return had finally broken into the papers. A photographer had snapped him with Ginny and Draco not realising who he was until after he had taken the picture. It hadn't been long before other reporters were all over them and the rumours began to fly.
And yet after his face being seen in the paper everyday, Ginny and Hermione had still managed to talk him into going to the party with Ron. So there he was, with the annoying black and silver robes Ginny had talked him into wearing, waiting for Ron in the entrance of the arena. But he had been waiting for Ron for at least half an hour now.
Well, if he doesn't come soon, I could just leave, Harry thought to himself as the receptionist looked at him again.
Once again, Ron was sitting in Coach Necre's office. And once again, Ron had no idea why. He fidgeted with the sleeve on his marron dress robes, Harry's probably waiting for me, he thought to himself as the door opened.
Ron stood as the coach entered.
"Coach," Ron said slowly.
"Sit down Weasley," Necre told him. Ron sat immediately.
"As you know, Taples is planning to retire at the end of the season," Necre began, Ron nodded in response, "Well, it seems that in his last check up, Cheryl found that he had a fracture, supposedly form a bludger. Anyway, he has decided to retire now."
"But he's the seeker," Ron protested, "it's right before the cup,"
"I know all that Weasley, that's why I've called you in here," Necre smiled at him evilly, "Your friends with Harry Potter right?"
Ron nodded again, suddenly understanding where this was going.
"I don't know if he'll want to play for us," Ron replied, "I don't think he plays quidditch at all any more,"
"Well, you'll just have to ask him then, won't you?" Necre said, ushering him out of his office, "Have a good time tonight Weasley, I expect Potter's answer by Monday,"
Slowly, Ron walked towards the arena's entrance, his training gear slung over his shoulder. He saw Harry sitting in the entrance hall and looked back in the direction of the coach's office. All he had to do was ask Harry.
Harry followed Ron to his car. Unlike most wizards, Ron preferred Muggle transport, saying it helped him to take his mid off things. But today, Ron had been unusually quiet, and Harry had noticed.
"SO, how was practice?" Harry said as they climbed into the little red car, and Ron put the key in the ignition.
"Okay," Ron replied, turning the radio up.
Harry sighed, but gave up, even after four years he knew Ron would only talk to him when he was ready. Harry watched the scenery pass them by, the streets of London, then the suburbs, then finally the country. Eventually, they came to Hogsmeade, where the Witch Weekly head quarters were, and where the party was being held.
"So has Hermione found you a job yet?" Ron asked him.
"Only Hermione type jobs," Harry replied, "Nothing I'm really interested in,"
"Oh," Ron replied, as he parked the car, "What kind of job do you want exactly?"
"Not factory work," Harry said chuckling, then he shrugged, "I don't really know,"
"Right," Ron said vaguely, before getting out of the car.
Harry followed him out of the car and up to the entrance of the Witch Weekly building, where they were stopped by a tall, and well wide, balding man.
"Where do you think your going?" He put an arm out, stopping them in their tracks, "No invite, no entry."
"Oh, right," Ron said nervously, glancing at Harry, while reaching into the pocket of his black trousers that he wore beneath his maroon robes, "Here they are, two invites,"
The large bouncer stood aside to let them enter.
"Here," the blonde woman handed Emma a glass of wine, "Were sitting at table 5,"
Emma nodded, as she followed Sarah to the table, she hadn't been invited, but because Sarah was the gossip columnist at Witch Weekly, she had come as her guest.
The table was beautifully decorated, with a large gold candle burning in the middle, surrounded by an assortment of white flowers. The silver cutlery was perfectly polished and stood brightly against the white tablecloth. A small white car with delicate gold handwriting was placed at each seat.
"Now where are our seats," Sarah said vaguely, Emma knew her too well to know that she was indeed talking to herself, "Oh over here,"
Emma sat down behind the place card that read guest of Sarah Jones, while Sarah sat at her own seat. She tapped Emma's card with her wand and the gold writing instantly transformed to Emma Zabini, before she picked up the card at the seat next to her.
"Great, I'm next to Sean Robson," Sarah said putting the card back down, "this is going to be boring, who are you next to?"
Emma glanced at the card at the seat next to her.
"It just says Guest of Ron Weasley," Emma said turning back to her blonde friend, "I've heard that name before,"
"Yeah, he plays for the Cannons," Sarah replied, "You'll probably be stuck next to his bimbo girlfriend,"
"No, not from Quidditch, I've heard it somewhere else," Emma said, but Sarah wasn't listening to her, as the other guests began to arrive at the table.
"So, do we just sit anywhere?" Harry asked Ron, as they entered the ballroom, which was located on the top floor of Witch Weekly. There were about twenty large tables, most with people already sitting on them.
"Assigned seats, sir," A passing wizard/waiter told him, "Butterbeer?"
Both men took a glass, and the waiter soon disappeared.
"Well, I guess that means we have to find our table," Ron said, looking around.
Harry followed him closely behind, aware that most people were looking him up and down, or just plainly staring straight at him.
"Ah, look over there, that's Greg Smith, he's the captain of Puddlemere, after wood retired, he'll probably be here though" Ron was talking to him, "And that old guy next to him, that's Hogwarts new headmaster,"
Harry nodded, vaguely aware of what Ron was saying to him.
Finally they came to a table that had about five or so people sitting at.
"Here we go Harry," Ron said brightly, as they sat down," San," He leant across the table and shook hands with a greying man, "How are you? Hows the family?"
Harry didn't wait for the mans response however, he was distracted by the giggling of two women nest to him. Both were extremely attractive, but the girl who was sitting next to Harry was almost hypnotising. She had straight dark brown hair that fell just past her shoulders piercing blue eyes and a smile that was actually making Harry smile.
Her blonde friend glanced at Harry, before the two of them laughed again. Then realising he had been staring, Harry finally looked away, to find their table was now fully, with the arrival of Oliver Wood and his girlfriend.
Before Harry had the chance to speak to his old captain, the lights in the room were suddenly dimmed, apart from a single spotlight on the stage.
"Good evening all," a tall man cried coming on to the stage, Harry glanced at his watch and found that it was indeed evening now.
"At Witch Weekly, we like to keep things fun," the man paused, "and what better way to do it than by bring our employers, sponsors and special guests together for a party?"
the crowd applauded softly. Harry heard someone at the table fake a yawn, followed by muffled giggling.
"And what better way to give our thanks to these people, by announcing that Witch Weekly is now going international, meaning it will now be available to by not only in England, but all over the rest of the magical world too!" and with that the man walked off the stage, as the crowd applauded once more, even softer now.
"Weasley's boyfriend keeps looking at you," Sarah said quietly to her friend, as the meal began, "do you know him?"
"NO," Emma replied immediately, "he seems a bit familiar though,"
"Well, introduce yourself then," Sarah replied nodding slightly, "find out who his is,"
Emma shook her head.
"Fine," Sarah smiled, "I'll do it,"
"Um, excuse me, could you please pass me the uh, salt," Sarah said loudly, in the direction of Harry and Ron.
Harry who had been in a world of his own, looked up from his plate, but Ron simply glared at the women for practically yelling and with a flick of his wand the salt was in front of her plate and he had turned back to his conversation about quidditch with Wood. They had desperately tried to get Harry to join the conversation, but, confirming Ron's fears, he just wasn't interested it anymore.
"God, just because he thinks he's some big quidditch player doesn't give him the right to look down on people like that," Sarah muttered to Emma, ignoring the salt.
"Yeah, sorry about him," Harry interrupted suddenly, "he's only got one sister and more than enough brothers,"
"What?" Sarah said looking at him confused, "When did I ask for your opinion?"
"Sarah," Emma exclaimed, "Sorry abut her," she turned to Harry, "I'm Emma, Emma Zabini," she put her fork down and held her hand out for him to shake it.
"Your not related to Blaise Zabini, are you?" Harry asked as he took her hand.
"Yeah, but don't ask me about politics, I know nothing about them," Emma answered, giving him a small smile.
"Oh, I wasn't going to, I went to school with his girlfriend, I mean fiancé, Hermione," Harry said correcting himself.
Emma frowned slightly and actually took in Harry's appearance for the first time. Glass. Black messy hair. Green eyes. Lightning bolt scar.
"Your Harry Potter," she said slowly, but loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.
Ron looked at her irritably.
"I think he knows that already," He said as everyone looked at them.
"Ron," Harry said.
"Ron Weasley, you went to school with her too," Emma said putting everything together. Ron's face softened a bit.
"With who?" he asked.
"Hermione," Harry responded, "this is Blaise's cousin, Emma,"
"Really, I didn't know he had family outside of England," was all Ron could reply with.
"I lived in Australia for seven years," Emma responded, putting her cutlery down, as the waiter came to clear the table, "this is my friend Sarah,"
The blonde looked at the two men, obviously still irritated by Ron.
Ron Weasley couldn't help but watch her. In fact he had been secretly watching her the entire night, her long blonde hair and blue eyes hypnotising him. at least it distracted him from talking to Harry. He glanced at his friend who was deep in conversation with Blaise's cousin. Then he looked over to the seat next to the brunette, but found that Sarah, that was her name, had left the table.
He looked around and saw Oliver wood talking to Greg Smith at the bar, mid way of heading over to them, the blonde hair and dark pink robes caught his eye once again.
Just go talk to her, he's brain told him, but Ron knew she wouldn't talk to him. he had been a rude prat to her, it wasn't his fault though he never learnt how to deal with girls, even tough he had spent much of his life with Hermione, he was just as clueless now as he was when he was sixteen.
Somehow though, Ron's feet carried him in the direction of where she was standing, talking to some handsome guy. Probably a model, Ron thought to himself irritably.
But before he had reached them, he was watching them walk toward the exit. He turned around, spotting Harry still at their table talking to the brunette. Then he spotted Oliver and Greg again, it wasn't like Harry was ready to leave yet, so he moved over to the bar and ordered a large fire whiskey.
Hours had passed, but to Harry it had barely felt like minutes, as he listened to Blaise childhood stories, and shared some of his own about Hermione, with Emma. But when she glanced at her watch and then looked around for her friend, Harry came back into reality, realising just how late it was.
"Well, Harry, I'm sure we'll meet again," Emma said standing up, she kissed him on the cheek, "until then,"
Harry stood two, but watched as she picked up her purse and drifted off in search of her friend. He glanced around and spotted Ron at the bar, looking bored with the conversation with Oliver. He looked over at Harry, who nodded his head toward the door. Ron nodded and put his glass down, said his goodbyes to the quidditch players and met Harry at the door.
"Hey, does your friend need a lift, I saw that blonde girl leave earlier," Ron said, noticing Emma standing by herself going through her bag, "Her names Emma right?' Ron asked, leaving Harry at the door.
He watched as Ron approached the woman and said something to her; she smiled softly, and followed Ron back to Harry.
"Emma's going to floo to her apartment when we get back to my apartment, your sure you still want to stay on the couch?" Ron informed Harry, "I mean I could take you back to Blaise's, if you prefer."
"No, Ron's it's fine," Harry said, figuring out what Ron was getting to.
The three of them approached Ron's, and just as the redhead put the key in the door and Emma pulled out a small mobile from her bag, which Harry instantly recognised from living as a muggle, they heard a scream.
Harry's first reaction was to pull out his wand and step in front of Emma, who was standing on the same side of the car as him.
"Get off," the women's voice came again.
"Sarah?" Emma called out, recognising her friends voice, she stepped out form behind Harry, her own wand raised. Ron joined them from his side of the car.
"I don't see anyone," he said quietly.
"That was her, it was Sarah," Emma replied, she looked at Harry, who turned away as she screamed again.
"It came from down there," Harry pointed toward a side street, next to the building.
Both men instantly stepped forward, Emma close behind them, not wanting to be left alone.
Sarah was pushed up against a brick wall, a man around the age of thirty was trying to undo her robes, trying be the word. Sarah was putting up quite the struggle. The man Ron recognised from earlier on was lying unconscious on the floor.
"Help," Sarah screamed seeing Ron. Emma took a step forward, but Harry pulled her back.
"Stay back," He told her, "you could get hurt,"
The man let go of Sarah, and turned to face Ron and Harry, who was shielding Emma.
"What the hell do you want," He said roughly, taking a step forward.
"Let her go," Ron said calmly.
"Or what, you and your friend gonna take me down? I don't think so," He laughed a bit.
"No, well get those bouncers out here to deal with you," Ron said, taking a step forward. He vaguely heard Harry say something quietly to Emma, before hearing a soft pop of someone apparating.
He glanced behind the man, to the blonde woman; she had stepped away from the wall and was leaning over the unconscious man. She glanced up at Ron and he saw the fear in her eyes.
The man didn't say anything, but he glanced at Sarah, then back at Ron. His grin grew wide and he grabbed her arm.
"I wouldn't do that," Harry said loudly.
"Do what?" He asked evilly, Sarah tried to pull away from hi, but he simply closed his eye and began to concentrate. Picturing where he was going to apparate.
But before he even had then chance, the blonde woman was pulled, no pushed out of his arms. He opened his eyes again, to find the redhead man on top of the woman on the floor.
He turned back to find he other man pointing his wand at him, suddenly before anyone had the chance to do anything. Three pops filled the air and the large bouncer from earlier on and a new one were on top of him instantly. Emma ran toward her friend.
"Sarah," she cried, hugging her tightly. Ron helped her up as the brunette let her go.
"Are you okay?" He asked her gently. Harry watched in awe. He had never seen Ron act like that before. She nodded in reply and Ron turned toward the unconscious guy still on the floor.
"Nick," Sarah said, kneeling back on the ground, "nick wake up,"
"It's alright miss," one of the bouncers told her, "we've got mediwitches coming,"
Sure enough, instantly three mediwitches in white robes came into he alleyway.
Half an hour later, Harry was still in the alley way, being interviewed about what happened by a ministry official. Soon though they were allowed to leave.
"Harry," Emma came up to him, it was the first time they'd spoken since he told her to get the bouncers, "is it alright if we still floo from your place, Sarah can't drive in the state she's in and we can't apparate into her apartment,"
Harry looked at Ron.
'Wouldn't she rather go to the hospital with her boyfriend?" Ron asked her.
"Nick's not her boyfriend, he's gay actually, they write the gossip column together, they were supposed to be meeting someone important, when they got attacked," Emma told him.
"Yeah that's fine," Harry replied before Ron could say anything else, "is she ready to go?"
Emma nodded and went and grabbed her friend, steering her toward Ron's car.
A/N: okay well most of that was a lot of crap actually….just a filler and their meeting finally…please please pleas review anyway… I would really like some feedback on what you people think of my story and if there's anything you want me to include or you think I should change…