December 15th
Ministry of Magic, Harry Potter's Office, 6:04 p.m.
It was very rare for a young employee of the ministry to be offered their own office space. Though, this was not the case for Harry Potter; durring his first year as an auror, he was given his own corner office with all of the furnishings. Ron Weasley, however, had not been so lucky (All he managed to get was a small cubicle). After returning from a short employement change, Ron managed to--with some minor help from Harry--get a small office just down the hall from his best mate's..
" 'ey Harry.." called Ron from Harry's leather couch, which sat directly under the large victorian window that took up almost an entire wall. "..What rhymes with 'Chicken'?"
Harry glanced at Ron before looking back at his stack of papers. "I thought you gave up the music business, Ron..?"
"Well, yeah, but..I was thinking.." began Ron. Harry scoffed at this.
"Maybe I could work as an auror part of the time, and then work on some records the other part? You see artists doing that sort of thing all of the time!" finished Ron, sitting up in his seat. "Well..what do you think?"
Harry slowly looked up, staring Ron directly in the eye. "..I think you're mad, mate."
Ron threw his hands up in exasperation. Harry laughed, pushing his chair back away from his desk. "Honestly? I don't know. I mean, even when you were just rapping, you spent enough time away from home as it was. ..Do you really want to do that to Hermione again..?"
Ron sat in silence, staring down at his hands, when a knock sounded on Harry's door.
"Alright..!" called Harry; the door swung open and a timid young lady poked her head inside, blinking rapidly.
"C-Call on l-line one for M-Mr. Ronald W-W-W-W-.." the girl stuttered.
"Weasley.." sighed Ron, rising to his feet. "Thank you, Amelia, I'll be right there."
The girl left the room and Ron moved towards the door, turning to face Harry when he reached it. "You're right. I don't want her to have to go through that again.." said Ron before adding, with a smile, "Thanks Harry", and exiting the office, closing the door behind himself.
Harry smiled to himself while he resumed working when the door opened again and Ronald Weasley re-entered.
"Okay, so here's another idea. What about if I only rapped durring the Summer, and then-"
"RON!"
"Okay, Harry, you're right! Sorry.. I'm going now." Ron mumbled, quickly leaving the room.
Ministry of Magic, Auror's Offices Main Floor: Floo Network, 6:21 p.m.
'I thought I told Amelia no calls while I'm on my break..' thought Ron as he strolled past the rows of fireplaces, eventually stopping at the last one in the far end of the room labeled '1'. He knelt down to one knee and peered into the flames, greeted by Hermione-Granger's floating head. Ron put on his most what-he-thought-was-charming smile he could come up with.
"Hermione!" exclaimed Ron, "How good to see you, love!"
Hermione glared back at him. "You are not going to believe this, Ronald!" she said, completely ignoring his comments, "Your daughter is starting to get fresh with me!"
"MY Daughter!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes narrowing to resemble Hermione's, "How come every time she does something wrong, she's MY daughter?"
"Nevermind that. I need you to come down to Hogwarts and speak some sense into her! She won't listen to a word I say!"
"Well, I don't want this to come as a shock Herms, but.. none of our children listen to a word you say." said Ron with a hint of enjoyment. Hermione's expression frosted over.
"Just. Get. Here. As. Soon. As. Possible." said Hermione, spitting venom with each word.
"Okay, but what in merlin's name do you expect me to say to her?" Ron hissed, lowering his voice slightly when someone else entered the room and sat infront of the fireplace right next to him.
"I don't know! You're good with words, you'll think of something!"
Ron sighed, nodding his head. "Fine. ...So, how's Will?"
Hermione's expression softened. "Oh, he's just..perfect. He's always been good.." said Hermione with a wide smile; Ron twitched at the sudden mood change.
"Yeah, he got that from me.." Said Ron.
"..Right. So, I'll see you soon. I love you, Ron.." said Hermione, still smiling.
Ron cleared his throat; he was very well aware that he wasn't the only person in the room. "..Yeah. Right back at you."
"..WELL, AREN'T YOU GOING TO SAY IT BACK!" blurted Hermione, the anger in her voice quite aparent.
"WHY DO I HAVE TO SAY IT FOR, IF YOU ALREADY KNOW I LOVE YOU!" retorted Ron before he could catch himself.
Hermione smirked and said soothingly, "There, that wasn't so hard. G'night, Ron.." , before vanishing within the flames.
Ron grunted, slowly standing up. 'Dammit, she did it again..' He thought, turning away from the fireplace; the person next to him didn't bother to hide the fact that they were staring.
"..My wife.." said Ron with a chuckle before leaving the room, with the person giving him a sympathetic look as he left.
December 16th
Hogwarts, Entrence Hall , 12:00 p.m.
'Dammit! The Yule Ball is less than a week away, and I still don't have someone to take me..' thought Germione Weasley with a twinge of annoyance. 'If I can't go, then how am I supposed to make sure little Ms. Longbottom doesn't keep her grubby little hands off of..'
"Earth to Germione! Earth to Germione, come in Germione..!" said Harry jr., waving a hand infront of Germy's face. "What is with you? You've been so distant these past couple of days.."
Will snorted from Germione's left, glaring at Harry. "Yeah. I wonder why."
"Oh, c'mon, I didn't even.." Harry began, but Will broke away from the group and walked off in the oposite direction they were heading. "..mean to ask her." finished Harry weakly, watching Will's retreating back. "I mean, he likes her and I'd never-"
"WHAT!" Germione blurted, inturrupting Harry. "HE LIKES HER AND YOU ASKED HER OUT ANYWAY?"
Harry sighed. "I told you-.."
"AND YOU KNEW IT, AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN ATTEMPT TO SET THEM UP OR ANYTHING?"
"Well, I thought it'd be kinda rude. Saying I'd go with her, and then like.. backing out at the last minute so she could go with Will? I mean, what if she likes ME?" said Harry with a smirk, running a hand through his unruly hair with much difficulty.
"HARRY POTTER, YOU ARE SO CONCEITED!" students in the hall began turning towards Germione and Harry, curious as to what was going on. Harry stepped back away from Germy, frowning.
"I was just kidding. Germione, seriously, what's gotten into you?" said Harry, looking quite concerned for his friend. Germione pulled her wand on him, pointing it directly at his face.
"SILENCIO!" she shrieked, sending Harry flying a good 15 feet across the hall. Harry sat up slowly after landing hard on the floor, wincing from the throbbing pain in his head. He opened his mouth, but was surprised when no sound came out. Germione stomped past him without as much as a glance towards him, flipping her poofy hair as she rounded a corner, leaving Harry to groan and moan in silence.
'I can't believe him! So full of himself that he can't even see what's infront of him..' throught Germione, wiping away tears that managed to escape her eyes. As she aproached the grand staircase, something down the hall made her stop in her tracks. Fredric Diggory was strolling up the hall towards her, in all his handsomeness; but he wasn't alone. A forth year Slytherin girl(whom Germione recognized to be Alissandra Zabini) strode next to Fredric, both aparently engaged in conversation with one another.
Then Germione realized she was standing in the middle of the hallway, right in their path. 'Bloody hell, they're gunna see me!' She thought, looking around for a place to hide. She quickly slipped behind a tapestry of two witches fighting over a dead wizard, just as Fredric and Ali aproached where she once stood.
"..and it was very sweet of you, I must say.." said Ali in a soft voice, softer than Germione pictured a slytherin's voice to be anyway.
"Wasn't a problem at all." said Fredric. Germione swooned from behind the tapistry. 'Ugh, his voice is so..beautiful..'
"Did that..did that wall rug just move?" Ali asked. Germione froze.
"Uh, no, I think you're just being paranoid.." said Fredric with a laugh. "So, you said you wanted to ask me something..?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah. But.. not here. Somewhere in private, perhaps?" said Ali. Germione realized they were moving away from her now, as their voices were fading. 'No! I have to hear what she's going to ask him!' She thought, twitching with excitement. If her instincts were correct, Germione knew Alissandra was going to make an attempt to coax Fredric into going to the ball with her and she just couldn't let that happen.
Germione slowly poked her head out from behind the tapistry and saw Fredric and Ali standing a little ways ahead of her. She hesitated before quickly lunging out from behinid the wall rug and preforming a mission-impossible like dodgeroll maneuver, landing behind a statue of a stout little witch with a big rear end.
"..ever goes into the prefects bathroom, so we'll have all the privacy you need." Fredric said, steering Alissandra up the grand staircase. Germione smirked to herself. '..Perfect.'
Prefects Bathroom, 12:23 p.m.
"I think I want to be a prefect, just so I could use this bathroom.." Ali murmured, stopping to look at herself in the mirror.
"Yeah, it's certainly something.." said Fredric, standing near the olympic pool-sized bathtub. "So, what's going on..?"
Ali whirled to face him, her long hair flipping behind her head. "Well, I was wondering..or rather..expecting you to-.."
"OH! Oh my gosh, sorry for inturrupting.."
Ali and Fredric turned towards the door to see Germione enter, looking utterly lost.
"This is not the potions classroom. My mistake.." Germy said airly, glancing around the vast bathroom. 'Wow, this is..nice..'
"3 years and you still don't know where Potions is, Weasley?" said Ali, clearly annoyed with the inturruption. "It's in the-.."
"Dungeons. I know. I must've taken a wrong turn!" said Germione with a laugh that echoed against the white-tiled walls of the bathroom. "So, what are YOU doing here? You're not a prefect.."
"Nice of you to have noticed." Ali spat. "Now if you don't mind, I'm in the middle of a conversation.."
"Oh, I don't mind. Please, go ahead!" Germione replied with a smirk. The girls glared bullets at one another.
Fredric cleared his throat loudly. "I have..Quidditch Practice in an hour, so I should.."
"NO, DON'T GO!" Germione blurted, lunging for Fredric. Ali lunged for him at the same time and Fredric quickly sidestepped out of their way, leaving the giant tub in their path; they both fell into the empty bathtub with a 'thump'.
Fredric dropped to his knees next to the tub and peered down at them. "You girls alright? That sounded like a nasty fall.."
Germione stood up slowly, grabbing the edge of the tub. "Yeah..I'm fine.." she grunted. 'I can't feel my legs!'
Ali reached up and pulled Germione back down before hoisting herself up and out of the tub. She limped towards the closest mirror and shrieked at the sight before her. "LOOK!" she whirled to face Fredric, pointing to the dark bruise forming on her forehead. "LOOK AT MY FACE! I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SHOW MY FACE AGAIN!"
"It's really not that bad, Ali. It'll fade away within a couple of weeks.." Fredric offered, looking slightly concerned.
"A couple of-..A COUPLE OF WEEKS! BUT THE BALL IS IN 5 DAYS!"
"Here, maybe I can help.." Fredric reached into his robes for his wand, but Ali shook her head franticly. "No, you've done enough.." she spat, before whirling around and stomping out of the bathroom.
Germione snickered to herself from the bottom of the bathtub. She didn't think it would be so easy..
Library, 3:51 p.m.
Will Weasley dropped a stack of books ontop of the librarian's(OC: Can't remember her name, if she had one.. xD) desk with a huff.
She looked down at the stack, before looking up at Will with an annoyed look on her face. "Weren't you here yesterday? You're checking out more books again?"
"No, these are returns.." replied Will a bit distractedly, moving away from the desk. 'I don't see why it bugs me so much. My best friend is taking the girl I like to the ball. So what? Not a big deal..' he thought, moving towards the small study tables; it took a short moment for him to realize that all the tables were packed except for one, which was only occupied by one student. He walked over to the table and cleared his throat to get the persons attention.
"Is this seat taken?" asked Will politely, peering down at the student who was currently engrossed in a book entitled "How to get rid of bruises and other nasty marks" . The student lowered the book and glared at Will with frosty indigo eyes. 'Damn. This day just seems to be getting better and better..' thought Will sarcasticly.
"Are you here to finish what your sister started?" Ali spat, glaring up at Will.
"Uh, no. I..honestly don't know what you're talking about. ..What happened to your face?" asked Will before he could stop himself.
Ali glared at him for a good moment before dropping her face into her hands. "It's ugly, isn't it?"
"Er, yea-..I mean, No! No, not at all.." Will corrected. He felt slightly uncomfortable standing so close to a Slytherin, let alone talking to one.
"You're lying.." said Ali, slowly raising her head. "I've been trying to get rid of it, but I can't find anything that works. I think I've just made it worse.."
Will stared at the bruise, which was currently glowing like flurecent lights on a billboard. "Well, have you tried the vanishing charm?"
Ali stared at him blankly.
'..Aparently not..' Will thought as he pulled his wand from his robes. Ali rose from her seat.
"Don't you DARE use that on me you filthy little.."
"EVANESCO!"
Ali blinked, before reaching into her robes and pulling out a handheld mirror. She patted her forehead, examined her hair and checked her teeth before realizing the bruise had completely vanished. "Merlin, it's gone!" She lunged at Will, pulling him into a tight hug, then let go before Will knew what was going on. Ali cast a quick glance around the area; everyone else was so lost in their studying, they never noticed Ali and Will's little embrace.
"Not-t a problem.." Will sputtered, but was then greeted with another surprise; Ali jabbed his throat with her wand, her eyes narrowed into slits.
"You tell anyone about this and I'll kill you. Understand?" she murmured loud enough for only Will to hear.
Will's eyes widened. "Y-Yeah.."
"..And you tell anyone about my little threat of killing you, and I'll kill you anyway. Get it?"
"Got it.." Will replied, twitching. Ali lowered her wand.
"Wonderful. ..So, I guess I owe you something then." said Ali, stowing her wand away inside of her robes.
"Owe me..?" Will said, stepping away from Ali a couple of inches.
"Yes. I have this..moral obligation to aid anyone who aids me, even if they're filthy bloodtraitors.." said Ali, "Like yourself." She added, with a smile.
Will nodded. "Right.." he murmured. 'So, she owes me. What's the sort of thing you ask of someone you don't really care for? ...Unless..'
"Can it be anything?" asked Will.
"..I suppose. There are some limits, so don't be getting ideas." Ali retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, of course.." coughed Will, turning away from her. 'This is perfect. The only way I'll be able to go to the ball is if someone in their fourth year or above acompanies me. If I go with her, then I can keep an eye on Harry and Caitlin.' he thought, smirking to himself. 'This is just..perfect. I'm so smart..'
"Uh, today would be nice, Weasley.." Ali said, snapping Will from his thoughts.
"I want you to take me to the Yule Ball." Will said simply.
"WHAT!"
Everyone in the room looked up from their work; the librarian 'shushed' from her seat.
Ali lowered her voice to a low, hissing whisper. "You must be out of your damn mind.."
"I know, but you said anything.."
Ali cursed under her breath.
"And before you jump to conclusions.." Will continued, "This isn't about you. I just need you to walk into the Great Hall with me, and then we can just go our seperate ways. What do you say?"
Ali stood in silence, contemplating the idea. Will crossed his fingers behind his back.
"..Fine." said Ali after a moments silence; Will beamed.
"But, in order for me to do THAT, you'll have to do something for me first.."
"WHAT!" Will blurted.
Everyone, again, looked up from their work; The librarian rose from her seat and 'shushed' louder.
"You heard me. Just a small favor, really." Ali said airily.
"But you said-.."
"I know what I said, Weasley, and now I'm saying something else!" snapped Ali, her eyes turning into slits once more. "All you have to do is make sure your sister stays away from Fredric Diggory."
Will quirked an eyebrow. "Diggory? ..My sister? What do they have to do with anything?"
"Your sister is the reason I got the damn bruise in the first place. I know she's trying to get Fredric to take her to the Yule ball, which is why she walked in on me and Fredric in the prefects bathroom and inturrupted us!"
Will made a face; he really didn't need to know about THAT..
"So, what do you say Weasley? Is it a deal? You and I..go to the ball together.." Ali muttered, "If you manage to keep Germione and Fredric apart. And if you tell her about this..I'll know.."
'Go against my sister?' thought Will, 'I could never do that. But..If I don't, then I won't be able to go to the Yule Ball. ...This is crazy, I can't believe I have to think about this! Just, do the right thing..'
Will sighed. "Deal." 'The right thing would be to get my woman back!' "So, how do you suppose I carry through with this plan..?"
"I don't care how you do it, or where you do it. Just DO IT. And don't worry about coming to me and giving me the great news when you do.. I'll find out myself.." replied Ali as she gathered her things from the table.
Will nodded.
"I'll be seeing you, Weasley." murmured Ali before striding out of the library.
Gryffindor Common Room, 7:06 p.m.
"And then she hexed me with a silencing charm. It was strange.." Harry murmured from the couch, peering into the flames in the fireplace.
"Maybe you just caught her on a bad day.." Caitlin said from the nearest chair, giving him a sympathetic look. "Give her some time. Next time you see her, she'll be rejuvinated and alot more calmer. She'll apologize and then everything will go back to normal.."
It was at this time that Germione Weasley came down the stairs leading to the dorms and stalked across the common room without so much a word to Harry or Caitlin.
"..Not counting that." Caitlin quickly added, watching Germione head to the portrait hole. The portrait swung open before Germy could reach it and Will entered, looking alot more relaxed.
"Oy, Harry! How you doin', mate?" called Will from across the room. Harry stared.
"Now this is strange. ..You don't think they switched bodies or something, do you?" asked Harry to Caitlin, looking quite preturbed about the whole idea.
"What are YOU so happy about?" Germy inquired, eying Will suspiciously.
"Well, although it's none of your business.. I now have a date to the Yule Ball."
Germione's jaw dropped; She was looking surprised, annoyed and jealous all at the same time. 'HOW COULD HE HAVE GOTTEN A DATE BEFORE ME! HE'S SUCH A NERD!' She thought angrily. Harry, on the other hand, looked interested (and relieved). "Really? Well, uh, who's the lucky lady?" He asked, before adding after a short pause, "..It..is a girl, right?"
Caitlin laughed, rising to her feet. "Just let him tell us, Harry!"
"Alissandra Zabini!" exclaimed Will.
Harry and Germione stared blankly at him.
"Uh, what..?" asked Germione, slowly moving towards Will. "Ali Zabini?"
"Yep!" Will said cheerily. He glanced at Harry, who looked like he was going to pull his hair out at any given moment.
"YOU'RE GOING WITH A SLYTHERIN!" Harry yelled, standing on the couch to make himself seem taller. "YOU CAN'T! SHE'S THE ENEMY!"
"YEAH! SHE TRIED TAKING FREDRIC FROM ME!" Germione shrieked over Harry.
"Oh, come off of it! Fredric doesn't even LIKE you!" Will snapped, glaring at Germione.
Germione's face fell. "H-He said that..?"
"OH, WHO CARES!" yelled Harry, climbing over the couch and walking over to them. "You're a Gryffindor, Will! You can't go with a Slytherin, you TRAITOR!"
"Oh, You're one to talk about traitors, Potter!" Will snapped.
"YEAH!" Germione shrieked.
"Oh, SHUT UP!" Will rounded on Germione, glaring down at her.
"DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP!"
"DON'T TELL ME NOT TO TELL YOU TO SHUT UP!"
"BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!" yelled Harry over the Weasley's arguing.
"Ugh, I've had it. With BOTH of you. I'm leaving!" Germione whirled around and moved towards the portrait hole; Will moved towards the portrait hole at the same time.
"Uh, where do you think you're going?" He said, glaring down at his sister.
"I'm going where I WANT to go! Out of the way!" Germione snapped, hurling herself out of the common room; she slammed the portrait closed behind herself.
"FINE! Then I'm going to my ROOM!" Will yelled at the door before whirling around and running up the stairs leading to the dorms.
"FINE!" Harry yelled at no one in particular, "I'M GOING TO..I'm going..to...I'M STAYING HERE!" He shrieked, before plopping down onto the couch and crossing his arms. 'I don't even know why I was friends with those stupid Weasley's to begin with..'
TO BE CONTINUED..