Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm back! We had to go up to Tennessee for a few days because of my dad's business and I didn't have computer access! Anyway, here's the next chapter. (By the way, all of my reviews rock! Love yall!)
Mr. Weasley came in to wake Harry and Ron the next day. "You two get up! It's nearly noon already!" Grudgingly, Harry sat up. He looked over to Ron who was still sound asleep. Mr. Weasley groaned. "In the eighteen years that Ron has been around, I still haven't found a way to get him up!"
Harry smiled. "Mr. Weasley, I think I know a way." Mr. Weasley threw his hands up in surrender. "Fine, if you think you can get him up, be my guest. I give up," then he turned and walked out of the room. Harry walked out of Ron's room and went over to Ginny's. Ginny, Hermione, and to Harry's surprise, Mrs. Weasley were all sitting on the bedroom floor with loads of papers, obviously working on something.
"Oh, hello Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said brightly when she noticed him. Ginny and Hermione looked up from whatever it was they were doing. Ginny smiled brightly at him and got up to give him a quick kiss.
"It's about time you got up!" she said teasingly. "What are you doing in here anyway?"
"Well, being that your brother won't even attempt to get up, I was wondering if I could borrow Hermione for a minute?" he asked mischievously. Hermione seemed reluctant to get up from what she was doing, but finally agreed to come with Harry. They walked over to Ron's room and Ron had not even moved since Harry had left.
Hermione looked confused and a little annoyed. "Well, if he's asleep, what'd you want me to come in here for?" she asked in a testy tone.
"I was thinking that you should get him up," Harry said with a wide grin. Hermione was about to ask what he meant, when a look of comprehension came across her face. "Harry! Ginny's right, you are such a git!"
Harry mocked hurt. "Me? A git? Never!" Hermione laughed at him then she walked over to Ron's bed. She turned his face towards hers and planted a huge kiss on his lips. Harry's theory was right; this certainly did seem a good way to wake Ron up. His eyelids flew open in shock and then when he realized what was happening, he smiled and kissed her back.
"Ugh, if you two are going to continue, then I'm going to go over to Ginny's room," Harry said. Ron and Hermione showed no signs of separating so Harry walked out smiling slightly. They deserve each other, he thought to himself. He walked to Ginny's room for the second time and found Mrs. Weasley and Ginny still on the floor working on whatever it was they were working on.
"What is it exactly that you all have been working on?" he asked.
Mrs. Weasley and Ginny jumped when he spoke. They had been so caught up in their papers that they hadn't noticed him. Harry sat down beside Ginny and pulled her on to his lap. Mrs. Weasley beamed at them and Harry blushed slightly. To get Mrs. Weasley's mind on something else, he quickly asked what they were working on for the second time.
"We're planning the weddings, obviously! We're mainly focusing on Hermione's right now because hers is sooner. We decided on a date for it. It'll be two weeks from Saturday," Ginny said brightly. "We've narrowed it down to two dresses; it's going to be in the backyard, Mum's going to be doing the cooking, and we're sending out invitations this evening before the ball."
That's when Harry remembered that the ball was later on that evening. Harry had only been to one other ball in his life and that was when he was fourteen. It had been alright, but not something he would look forward to doing again. He also remembered the fight that Ron and Hermione had that night. It was the first time that Harry realized that they were both crazy for each other.
"Do we really have to go tonight? Couldn't we just stay here and play Quidditch or something?" he asked pleadingly.
Mrs. Weasley gave him a sharp look that told him he would most certainly be going. Harry helped Ginny sort out a few papers and then decided to get out of the room before Mrs. Weasley started on him about his and Ginny's wedding. He went back to Ron's room to get dressed and saw that Ron and Hermione were no longer in there. He put on jeans and a t-shirt and went down into the kitchen. Harry grabbed a quick snack and went to look for Ron and Hermione. He didn't see them anywhere inside, so he decided to look around outside.
Sure enough he found them outside sitting together underneath the shade of a rather large tree. Hermione was leaning against Ron with her nose stuffed in a very large book and Ron was flipping through The Daily Prophet. They didn't notice Harry coming up until he sat down right beside them.
"So, now I know how to get you up," Harry said while halfway laughing. Ron and Hermione both blushed considerably. They all talked for a while until Ginny came out looking quite flustered. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley found a flaw in the wedding plans and was absolutely frantic. Hermione gave a huge sigh and slowly got up and walked back towards the house.
Harry watched Ron's eyes follow her all the way to the house. Ron was wearing a lopsided grin the whole time he watched her.
"You really love her don't you?" Harry asked. Without taking his eyes off the door Ron smiled even wider and said, "Yeah, I really do."
Harry smirked. "It took you long enough to figure it out though." Ron gave him a glare, but couldn't help smiling. They decided to ride their brooms for a while and the next thing they knew, Mrs. Weasley was yelling at them saying that they needed to go get ready for the ball, even though it wasn't for another three hours.
"Mum, the ball starts at eight! It's only five o' clock right now!" Ron yelled down to her.
"You both need showers and then I want you two to get there at least an hour early so you can help your father set up! So get down here now!" she yelled back. She was obviously still on edge because she was planning two weddings, so Harry and Ron decided it was best not to argue.
They were ready in about an hour and a half and Mrs. Weasley told them to go ahead and apparate to the ball. She said that she and the girls would come along later. Then she looked Harry in the eye.
"Harry, dear, there are going to be a lot of people there and a lot of reporters waiting on you. You finally won this battle and there are probably crowds of people wanting to see you and thank you for what you've done. After all, this is your first appearance since it all ended. I just wanted to warn you before you got the full blast of it all," she said with a slightly worried tone in her voice.
"I'll be fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry assured her. Harry soon found out that she hadn't been exaggerating. When he and Ron apparated to the outside of the building, no one noticed them at first, but that all changed when a small boy that looked to be about five years old saw them and screamed, "Mummy! Mummy! LOOK! It's Harry Potter!"
The little boy ran up and asked Harry and Ron to sign his teddy bear and then gave them both a hug and ran back to his mother. Then all of the chaos began. There were blinding flashes of light from cameras, reporters screaming questions at him, people asking for his autograph, and people who simply wanted to thank him. Now Harry and Ron understood why Mrs. Weasley wanted them to get there early. It had taken them nearly an hour just to get to the door.
When they got inside, Harry and Ron breathed a sigh of relief. Then they heard a cold drawling voice from behind them…a voice that neither wanted of them wanted to hear.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?"
Author's Note: Reviews are more than welcome and flames will be used to make brownies. I'll try to update really soon!