((A/N: Wow. I don't think I've gotten that many reviews on a chapter yet! Well done! In case I didn't say it (I don't think I did), I'm not British, though I would love to be! Honestly. My parents and I even have an agreement that if they win the Powerball they'll send me and a friend to England for college. Anyways… How long is too long or long enough for a chapter? I'm trying to go by what I like, but it looks so different on Microsoft Word. Um… what else? This chapter goes kind of slow, but ehh. Today is October 19, 2005. I've been swamped with homework lately, so you'll probably get an update once a week. Mostly on Friday or Saturday night. Ta!))
Hermione and Ginny had spent the day getting manicures, pedicures, and their hair done. ((A/N: I know it's really bad to get your hair done the day before you go somewhere, but they're witches and can change it if they want.)) The only thing left was the dresses.
"So, have one in mind?" Hermione asked her sister-in-law.
"Er… yeah…" Ginny responded, sifting through the clothing rack unenthusiastically. "What color did you want again?"
"Oh, I don't know… light blue maybe… or pale green. Something nice. You?"
"Uh… see… I kind of… alreadyhaveadress."
"You have a dress! WHY didn't you tell me! I wouldn't've dragged you along," Hermione said, more than a bit miffed. "Where, more importantly, when did you get it?"
"Er… well… remember that time I went with Harry to that restaurant?"
"No."
"The day of that Quidditch practice where Harry almost fell off of his broom?"
Hermione gave her a blank look.
"The day the baby was conceived!" Ginny hissed at her friend.
"Ohhh. Heh-heh, yeah."
"Well, when we went to the restaurant, Harry used this old fashioned magic and the next thing I knew I was in this beautiful black dress and my nails were done and, oh… it was perfect."
"So that's why you picked red for your nails! Makes sense now. Still, why didn't you tell me?"
"I dunno, it musta slipped my mind."
"Slipped your mind, yeah," Hermione snorted.
The two searched through the clothing racks a while longer, before finding one Hermione liked. It was a baby blue spaghetti-strap dress with a small light blue sash around the waist and a ruffle of the same color at the top of the dress. The dress was floor length, and the bushy-haired girl purchased a pair of the same light blue colored, open-toed, high-heeled shoes to go with it. She had her nails painted a pale pink, and bought a large bottle of Madame Miriam's All Purpose Hair Gel.
"All right. Let's head back to the hotel. I'm bushed," Ginny said.
The girls woke up around ten the next morning. They spent the whole day getting ready, and, with forty-five minutes until they had to leave, Hermione and Ginny were finally ready.
Ginny was in the black dress that Harry had "gotten" for her. ((A/N: In case you don't remember what it looks like, I'll post it again here)) She was wearing a black satin dress that hugged her curves and flowed to the floor. The dress was also a spaghetti-strap, like Hermione's, but Ginny wore a small black jacket with her's. She wore black open-toed shoes and her perfectly manicured nails were a deep scarlet.
"Ok. I think we're ready," Ginny said.
Just as they were about to leave, Hermione burst out laughing.
"What?"
"I'm sorry," Hermione giggled. "I was just thinking about Harry and Ron. They probably had no dinner, and scrambled for breakfast this morning. And then," she laughed harder, and louder, though Ginny hadn't though that it was possible. "And then, we spent all day getting ready, and it probably only took them twenty minutes, tops." Hermione clutched her side and had to sit on the bed.
"And… you find this amusing?"
All Ginny received as an answer was Hermione's tears of laughter pouring down her face.
Ginny looked at her friend as if she had sprouted an extra head. "I don't get it."
"Oh, look. Now you've ruined your make-up!"
Hermione disregarded what her sister-in-law said, and continued on. "Imagine if we were there. We'd be getting ready since this morning, and they'd just be starting."
Ginny smiled. Not a normal smile, but one you would give a little kid if they gave you a dirt clod full of worms for your birthday.
"Ok, 'Mione. How much did we have to drink today?" Ginny lifted her friend by the elbow and waved her wand, instantly repairing her make-up.
The brunette gave a half-crazed grin and then took several deep breaths, trying to calm down.
"Alright. I'm ready. Let's go."
Hermione went first, disappearing with a small pop. Ginny rolled her eyes again and sincerely hoped that if she got pregnant she wouldn't be near as crazy.
Harry and Ron arrived at the reunion long before the girls did, and quickly sought out old friends.
"Dean!" Ron yelled across the room, trying to catch his friend's attention. The African-American boy turned, searching for the person who called his name.
"Ron, Harry! Great to see you again! How's everything?"
"Great, Dean. Quidditch is going well –"
"Haven't lost yet, I've heard."
"Yup. Un-de-feat-ed," Ron said, continuing the conversation. Harry tuned out, looking around the room at all of his classmates.
There was Neville, wrapped around Luna. And Lavender, fawning over Seamus, her newly found boyfriend. He saw Padma and Parvati Patil talking animatedly about something to a weary-looking Professor McGonnagal. Fred and George were talking to their old friend Lee Jordan, "Probably about the Joke Shop," Harry thought.
Everyone looked so happy. Harry also saw the people that weren't there. Dumbledore was missing, and it was blatantly obvious. Ernie MacMillan never made it out of the battle, and neither did the Creevy's, and it just wasn't the same without them. The gamekeeper was nowhere in sight. Harry searched the crowd, then spotted him as he walked through the doors, waving to Hagrid as he walked by. So many were missing, some never to return. Harry sighed. He was snapped out of his reverie by Dean's next question:
"So, how's Ginny been?"
Ron glanced at Harry before answering. "Er… she's just fine."
"Romania's been good, then?"
"Yeah. She really likes it there."
Harry watched silently, wondering why he was asking.
"Good to know," Dean said. He looked over Ron and Harry's shoulders, and his eyes immediately brightened. "Hey, gorgeous."
The two boys immediately spun around to see who he was talking to.
Parvati Patil, dressed in a beautiful pink dress, sidled up to Dean and kissed him on the cheek. Harry inwardly gave a sigh of relief, and Ron was noticeably less worried.
"Parvati, you remember Ron and Harry, right?"
The dark-haired girl glared at Dean. "No. I was in the same house as them for seven years and went to the Yule Ball with Harry, but don't remember anything about either of them," she said sarcastically.
Dean grinned. "Hmm. We'll just have to get reacquainted, won't we?"
Parvati brought a hand up to Dean's face, a ring glinting in the candlelight.
"You two are engaged?" Ron asked in amazement.
"Uh-huh. Wedding's in a month-and-a-half. We can't wait."
The couple stared at each other happily before Dean said, " Well, we better let you two go. More people to see!"
"Have fun!" Parvati called as the pair walked away.
"Who woulda think it?" Ron asked quietly. Harry just shook his head in response.
"So you see them?"
"No," Hermione replied, standing on tiptoe. "You're taller than me, you should be doing this."
Ginny stuck her tongue out at her friend's back.
"You can't miss them. Ron looks like a carrot."
Hermione smirked at Ginny. "You realize your hair is the exact same color, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. People with stone houses shouldn't throw glass… wait…that's not it…"
Hermione rolled her eyes and walked over to Luna Lovegood. "Luna! How are you?"
"Quite fine, thank you," the blonde replied in her dream-like voice. "And you?"
"Good. So… you and Neville, eh?"
Luna smiled embarrassedly. "Yeah. We met up again at your wedding, actually, and rekindled our friendship. Then, about a year ago, we officially started dating. Been steady since."
Hermione hugged her friend. Ginny rushed over to them.
"Found 'em!" she exclaimed.
Hermione shot Luna one last grin. "Talk to you later!"
Ginny dragged the pregnant girl through the crowd toward Ron and Harry. Just before they got there, Hermione wriggled out of Ginny's grasp, and snuck behind her husband.
"Guess who?" she asked, covering his eyes with her hands.
Ron turned around and kissed her on the lips.
Ginny mimed throwing up.
"Sorry."
"You better be."
She linked her arm through Harry's and led him around the room, talking to old friends and professors.
"It's too bad Lupin couldn't come," Ginny said while they were getting some punch.
"Yeah, where is he?"
Ginny giggled. "Oh… Tonks said something about finally having Grimmauld Place to themselves and handcuffing Remus to the bed until she –"
"LALALA!" Harry cried covering his ears. "He's one of my best friends and you… ugh. Oh… ew! I can't get it out of my head!" He twitched involuntarily. "Thanks, Gin. Really. I needed that."
"You're welcome."
After talking to what seemed like hundreds of people, Harry began to feel drowsy and sat on one of the purple chairs around the room. He fought to keep his eyes open, and saw others doing the same.
"Gin, what t-t-t-time is it?" he asked yawning.
"Uh… quarter to eleven. Are you okay? You look kind of… I dunno how to describe it…" she replied. She saw that everyone else was almost as tired as he. Everyone, that is, except for Fred and George. She closed her eyes as realization struck her.
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"How much punch did you drink?"
Harry's eyes snapped open. "Crap." He made to get up, thought better of it, and just repositioned himself on the chair. "Well, it was good timing, at least. Party's over in fifteen minutes."
"True." Ginny shook her head. "Shit, Hermione! The baby!" Ginny ran to Hermione, who then turned to the twins.
"It won't hurt the baby, it's purely non-alcoholic."
"And there's no drugs in it," George defended.
"You had better hope so. Not just for my sake, but everyone else's too," Hermione threatened.
"New product," Fred smiled.
Hermione silently counted to ten under her breath.
"What's she doing?"
Ginny looked at the twins, a look of pure glee on her face. "Oh-ho-ho. You better run. And run fast."
Fred smirked at his twin.
Ginny conjured up some popcorn and summoned one of the chairs. Fred and George almost immediately disapparated back to their flat.
Dumbledore stood up, surveying the room. Luckily, he had not had any of the spiked punch, and could easily take charge of the situation. The crowd instantly quieted.
"It seems that nearly everyone is too incapacitated to walk down to Hogsmeade, much less disapparate home on their own. You may use our Floo facilities if needed. I will personally be taking a group down to Hogsmeade to use the Floo there."
He droned on, but Ginny started to feel the effects if the concoction, too. Hermione was fine, and Ron had had enough sense to stop drinking the punch when he heard what happened, but virtually everyone else was under the "spell".
The next thing Ginny remembered was the floor coming up to meet her.
((Like I said, slow chapter. It leads up to something, the next "problem". Someone mentioned that they sounded a bit immature, well, I'm not their age yet, so I'm going by what I know. Ok. R an R! Lots. Review lots… lol))