SERENDIPITY
Disclosure: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I will be creating.
CHAPTER 2-ANSWERS AND ALTERCATIONS
Harry trudged up the stairs with a solemn frown cast about his face, not glancing to either side as he went like he usually did on his first day back at the Burrow. His mood had not improved in the least since leaving number four Privet Drive. Instead he had been especially moody ever since he had arrived at the Burrow to find the building empty and no sign of Ron or Ginny, except for that the shower was running and whoever was in there was humming happily to themselves. Solemnly he slipped into Ron's room and sighed dourly at the cot set up on the other side of the room. He dropped his trunk down on the floor beside the cot with a loud crash before he set a stack of old school books down on top of it and collapsed into the cot, throwing one arm over his face lazily and turning his head to one side. It was then that he noticed something odd in relation to the rest of the room. In relation to the rest of the dwelling it stuck out like a more than sore thumb. From his spot across the room Harry could only make out the color, a bright cherry red. It looked to be an article of clothing but Harry knew that other than the jumper marked with a gold R on the front that stood for the first letter of his best friends first name that Ron didn't own an article of clothing that was that color.
"Ron…iz zat you," An oddly familiar sweet honey dipped voiced asked with a repressed giggle before nothing less than a vision of all that was beauty, at least to Harry at that moment, appeared in the doorway to Ron's room, clutching one of Ron's bigger towels and currently trying to dry the area around her chin and neck.
"F…Fleur…what," Harry stammered out through quivering lips as his eyes grew wider than dinner plates before the young woman in question realized who exactly it was lying in the cot and she went nearly as white as Ron's sheets before she tore out of the room and Harry heard the bathroom door slam shut. Harry stared off into space for several seconds, his mind engaged in a desperate struggle to get his mouth to obey, before he could get his nerves calmed down enough to stand up. His knees shook violently as he made his way to the door, almost expecting to find Fred and George snickering at the top of the stairs, rightly pleased with themselves for having pulled such an elaborate prank. But when he got to the doorway Harry was surprised, the twins were not there but instead an out of breath Ron stood leaning up against the wall, his long hair hanging eerily in front of his face liked the curtain that Sirius had disappeared through only weeks earlier. "Ron…what the bloody…," Harry asked with a confused and still somewhat unbelieving look on his face before Ron lurched fully back up to his feet, grabbed Harry by the shoulder, and pulled him into his room and shut the door behind them.
"I thought that you weren't getting here until later…mom said that…," Ron stammered out through his attempts to fully catch his breath before Harry forcefully kept back a sly smile.
"I came a few hours early so what, I certainly never expected to find Fleur here…without her knickers on or anything…," Harry interrupted with a slightly overwhelmed pout on his face as Ron paced nervously around the room before almost tripping over his own feet at the mention of Fleur's knickers.
"You didn't…see anything, did you Harry," Ron sputtered out in the form of a question as his ears turned a bright shade of red before Harry allayed his fears.
"Sadly no…but what the hell is she doing here, you two aren't…," Harry muttered sadly to himself at first before he collected his thoughts and stared up at Ron with an almost accusing glint in his eye.
"Good, just visiting…and uh no Harry, Fleur and I aren't…," Ron answered with an overly nervous and uncomfortable smile and chuckle before he sat down at the foot of his bed and tried to keep from looking Harry in the eye.
"Oh yeah, then what's this…," Harry, unconvinced that Ron was telling the whole truth, asked as he leaned down and pulled the bright cherry red article of clothing out from under the sheets of Ron's bed, almost instantly releasing it from his grasp as he discovered that it was a piece of lingerie. In seconds Ron's the color in Ron's face matched that of the piece of lingerie.
"Fleur's uh…well it's her uh…you know what I mean Harry," Ron babbled out with a very guilty smile on his face before he was interrupted by Fleur reentering the room, still looking like an angel, hair tumbling down her back in shower slickened ringlets that shone like diamonds in the sun, clad in one of Ron's old jumpers and a pair of incredibly short shorts that seemed to have been cut from a well worn pair of Ron's jeans.
"Itz my brassiere, Ronald ripped it off in such a frenzy last night that I thought that I had lost it," Fleur announced with a relieved pout on her face as Ron's face turned even redder, if that were even possible. Fleur gave Harry a friendly smile and wink before she snatched the bra out of Harry's possession and shoved it into her pocket.
"I knew it…but…how…when…," Harry nearly squealed with delight at first before Fleur rose up onto her tiptoes, placed an enchanting and chaste kiss on Ron's lips and then scuttle back out of his room.
"Shortly after leaving Hogwarts, just showed up on my doorstep she did," Ron tried to explain quickly before words failed him.
"But what about her and Bill, Fred and George said that…," Harry questioned with a confused and unsure frown on his face as he remembered well Ron's older twin brothers telling him about the growing bond between Ron's eldest brother and the half veela young woman that had just kissed Ron.
"Not a bloody clue, she won't say a thing about it, Bill either for that matter, something happened between them, something bad, but neither she nor Bill has said anything about it, she tried to hide it but when she showed up on my doorstep that afternoon she looked well the worse for wear so whatever it was that happened between her and Bill I reckon it wasn't pretty and the last time that I asked her about it she started to cry..," Ron answered, very softly at first before the words began to tumble out, almost as if Ron was finally glad to be telling some aspect of his story to someone other than himself.
"What do your parents think, I can't see how they'd approve of the two of you shagging twenty four seven…," Harry asked with a slightly uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach as he felt as if he really shouldn't be asking any of these questions but as he did so the pain of losing Sirius abated just a smidge.
"Uh…well uh, you see…well uh Harry…they…well you see Harry…," Ron babbled out quickly as he began to nervously pace around the room and run both hands through his now shoulder length messy red hair.
"They don't know do they…," Harry quipped with a very proud smile on his face as for the moment he believed himself to be the only one that knew this very important secret.
"No, only ze werewolf and ze strange clumsy girl wit the funny hair know about us," Fleur announced with a bored yawn as she reentered the room and beamed at Ron, who smiled sheepishly back.
"Huh…," Harry grunted with a confused and unsure frown on his face as he first looked to Fleur, who had pulled out a small bottle of red nail polish and hopped back onto Ron's bed before she opened the bottle and proceeded to begin to paint her toenails a deep red that almost perfectly matched Ron's crimson jumper.
"Remus…she means Lupin and Tonks, they…well they…," Ron answered as he tried to explain before Fleur glanced up at him through her bangs and frowned.
"They happened upon us just as Ron was about to…," Fleur added softly with a distant and almost sad expression on her face before Harry decided that it was best that he didn't hear Fleur's entire answer.
"So…Fleur, how's Gabrielle," Harry asked, quickly changing the subject to Fleur's younger sister that he had rescued during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament and promptly had been lucky enough to receive kisses on his cheeks from Fleur as a reward. Ron had received kisses to, even though he had only helped Harry get Gabrielle out of the way, something that Harry remembered had brought an unexpected expression onto Hermione's face. Harry had seen her angry before, most times when in the middle of a row with Ron about one thing or another, but looking back later he had decided that he had never seen his other best friend as furious as she had been at that moment. It had taken Harry almost the entire summer to figure out exactly why Hermione had become so angry, even with her date for the Yule Ball, Viktor Krum, sitting right beside her and trying desperately to engage her in conversation. Harry had suspected that Ron's feelings towards Hermione had proceeded past simple friendship and possibly into his red haired friend fancying her ever since Ron had asked him about the differences between himself and Viktor Krum.
"She iz fine…which reminds me, she vanted me to give you something," Fleur answered with a seemingly relieved smile on her face before she stood up and kissed a nervous Harry twice on each cheek.
"W…well good, I'm glad," Harry stuttered softly with a very flustered smile on his face as he was almost sure that steam was coming out of his ears again before he caught the almost angry look in Ron's gaze.
"You to Ron…ezcept…," Fleur continued, but as she did so she blushed deeply, as she turned back to Ron and placed a fuller and longer kiss on the redhead's lips than Harry could have been expecting. When she pulled back Ron let out the breath that he had been holding in and matched Fleur blush for blush.
"Right…well I'd better go and…," Ron said as he fumbled through his words before he smiled warmly at Fleur, who returned it with earnest, and stepped out of the room and was heard clomping down the stairs before Harry turned back to Fleur.
"Fleur…this may be a bit to personal of me to ask but…are you and Ron…," Harry stumbled over his words even before they left his lips as he thought that since Ron had gone, and since Fleur seemed much more eager to divulge information than the youngest Weasley son, Harry guessed that he had been presented with a prime opportunity to get down to the truth. Fleur blushed deeply before answering.
"No…vee are not together…like you think," Fleur replied sadly before she walked over to the window and gazed out.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to…," Harry whispered softly with a guilty feeling rising up from the bottom of his stomach as he turned his head away from Fleur at the window.
"Itz okay Harry, Ron haz helped me through a rough summer, he was there for me when I needed a friend…and things got a little…," Fleur added with a polite smile on her face, as she turned away from the window briefly, before she hung her head and stared down at her freshly painted toenails.
"I get the picture," Harry quickly interjected, throwing his hands up defensively for a bit before he continued, "This is all just a bit strange though, I came here expecting to find everyone enjoying the summer and…."
"And instead you found Ronald and I 'ere like this," Fleur interrupted with a somewhat guilty frown on her face before she blushed deeply and turned her attention back to the window.
"Yeah, something like that, but Fleur, I'm not angry about it, I just thought that," Harry jumped in with quickly as he tried to alleviate some of the half veela girls anxiety.
"That she was here, Hermione…you mean, I know that he loves her," Fleur stated rather sorrowfully as she guessed Harry's train of thought and turned to gaze sadly at the doorway.
"Yeah…but only because last year she beat me to the burrow, wait…did you say that he, loves her," Harry said back as he stumbled over his words, shrinking the gap between himself and Fleur as he took a few steps towards her, before he saw Fleur nod her head and swallow before speaking.
"More than he knows, but he's scared…terrified, that she doesn't feel the same for 'im, I think that I've helped him through this summer just about as much as he's helped me…," Fleur answered with a sad but yet honest expression on her face as he turned fully to look at Harry before she was interrupted by an excited shriek from the doorway.
"Harry," Ginny exclaimed with a very happy grin on her face before she rushed into the room and flung herself onto Harry, enveloping Harry in a very tight hug.
"Ginny…nice to see, you to," Harry stuttered out as Ginny continued to seemingly squeeze him for everything that she was worth.
"When did you get here, you should have said something, you…wait, everything okay," Ginny asked quickly after she let go of Harry and took a step back, finally letting her gaze fall onto a nervous and somewhat scared looking Fleur.
"A few minutes ago, thought I'd surprise you…all, yeah everything's fine Ginny, Fleur was just…," Harry quickly said back with a guilty smile on his face as he tried to keep from blushing as he inwardly cursed himself after having noticed that his gaze was hungrily taking in everything about Ginny.
"About ready to leave, and I hate saying goodbye so that's why I waz sad," Fleur quickly interjected with a forced smile on her face before she nodded politely to Ginny and nervously walked out of the room, catching Ron just as he was about to walk back in and pulling him down the stairs after her. As Ginny half turned to watch Fleur hurry out of the room and drag her older brother behind her Harry surprisingly had to bite his bottom lip and summon up all of his willpower to tear his gaze away from the sight in front of him. When she had rushed in Harry had been too surprised to notice that Ginny had been dressed in almost the same manner as Fleur, except that her shorts were a little bit longer and she wore a shirt that looked to be straining at the seams.
"Honestly if I didn't know better I'd think that there was something going on between those two…Harry," Ginny started to mutter under her breath with an odd frown on her face before she turned back around and caught Harry staring at her out of the corner of his eyes.
"N…nothing, just…nothing," Harry stammered out as his green eyes twinkled brightly before he blushed nearly as deeply as Ron and turned away, catching Ginny snickering at him through his bangs.
"Okay Harry, I'll let you off the hook…this time, so uh…are you still banned from Quidditch or do I have to be seeker again this year," Ginny slowly asked with a slightly confused and odd smile on her face before she stepped forward and looped her arm around Harry's and led him out of the room, just as a the sound of someone leaving via floo powder was heard from downstairs.
"I…I don't know, I really hadn't given it much thought," Harry stammered out quickly as he couldn't help but blush at how close Ginny was to him. He didn't completely understand what was happening to him. When he had fallen hard for Cho it hadn't been anything like this. That thought startled and confused him as he wasn't sure if he was, or wanted to, fall for any girl, let alone his best friend's little sister who currently had a boyfriend, at the moment. He was saved from his inner turmoil by a familiar voice from downstairs.
"Ron," Hermione shouted with a happy and relieved smile on her face as she stepped out of the fireplace, set her trunk and Crookshanks down, and stood in front of him for a moment before she pulled him into a tight hug, one that she was glad to find being returned in kind.
"Hermione, I'm…glad you're here," Ron choked out with a very nervous smile on his face as he held her close a bit longer than he guessed that she would allow him to before he started to let her go.
"Me to, have you heard from Harry," Hermione said as she smiled up at Ron for a moment before she set her hips, crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow in an oddly inquisitive way, and pursed her lips.
"Yeah…actually he's…hey don't give me that look," Ron started to answer softly before he noticed how she was looking at him and demanded an answer.
"What look," Hermione asked, acting as if she hadn't the faintest idea in the world what Ron was talking about even though she knew full well the look that he was inquiring about, softly with an almost impish smile on her face before Ron rudely interrupted.
"Bet Vicky likes that look," Ron interjected with a scornful scowl on his face as he spat out the name of the slightly older man that to a great degree he alone viewed as a rival for Hermione's affections.
"Ron please, don't start this again…and for the record his name is Viktor, why do you…," Hermione stated slowly and with a forced calm to her voice as the smile faded instantly from her face.
"Because you're always writing extra…long letters to him, you're always defending him, more so than me, who knows you two probably had a lot of time snuggling by the fire in that bloody castle of his," Ron exclaimed as even from their position at halfway down the stairs Harry and Ginny could tell that Ron was building a full head of steam to enter into an argument that could go down in the history books.
"Ronald Weasley…I can't believe that you…what do you care if I write him letters, at least he doesn't yell at me day in and day out over the dumbest things imaginable, at least he's nice to me…," Hermione countered with now a steadily growing scowl of anger on her own face as she poked Ron in the chest with the index finger of her left hand.
"He's only nice to you because he wants to…," Was all that Ron got, as he brushed Hermione's hand away from his chest, out before Hermione did something that caught everyone completely by surprise. In an instantaneous explosion of anger Hermione reared back and slapped Ron as hard as she could across the face, forgetting that she was wearing one of her mothers old rings, one that was a bit to big for her and liked to slip around so that the side with the rough edges pointed in towards her palm, opening up a nasty looking cut over Ron's left eye. For a few eerie moments the world and everything in it stood still. In shock Ron let go of Hermione's left hand with his eyes growing wide until a small dribble of blood slipped down into his left eye, causing him to hiss in pain and hurriedly slam that eye shut.
"Ron…RON," Hermione stuttered out through almost numb lips before she started to apologize for her hasty action, but it was to late, with a final heartbroken and furious glare her way Ron pushed by her and stormed out of the house, right into the first light sprinkles of what would become a torrential downpour. All Hermione could do was scream his name in the hope that he would stop before the terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach doubled in size as Ron continued to force his way through the storm.
"No…Hermione wait," Harry shouted with a very worried and unsure look on his face as he rushed into the living room and took a hold of Hermione by her shoulders, keeping her in the living room.
"Let me go Harry…I have to talk to him, I have to…," Hermione said with an impatient and pleading tone to her voice as she struggled against Harry's hold, all the while keeping her gaze locked onto the slowly disappearing figure of Ron before he slipped out of sight around an old tree.
"I'll talk to him Hermione, if you tried to talk to him right now the two of you would probably end up killing each other…you stay here, don't worry I'll make sure to get him back before the storm gets to bad…Ginny," Harry explained in a very clear and commanding tone to Hermione before she seemed to settle down a bit and nod her head in sad understanding. "Just keep her here until I get back with Ron, and for the love of Merlin whatever you do don't tell her that Ron and Fleur were shagging all summer long," Harry added under his breath to Ginny after pulling her off to the side, never noticing when at the end of his orders Ginny furrowed her brows in confusion for a few seconds before her eyes grew extremely wide and she gasped in shock. Before Ginny could get a word in edgewise Harry leaned in, gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek, and took off out of the house after Ron. For what seemed like an eternity the two young women stood in silence, each staring out of the burrow's main door, trying desperately to come to terms with what had just happened. A few minutes later it was Hermione that broke the silence.
"Fleur was here…," Hermione asked very softly with a surprised and worried look on her face as her voice faltered a bit as Ginny was saddened to see a few tears begin to stream down Hermione's cheeks.
"Y…yeah, all summer…," Ginny managed to get out in reply before Hermione spun on her heel and tore up the stares, tears cascading down her cheeks.
"Hermione wait…bloody hell…," Ginny shouted sorrowfully at Hermione's retreating form before she cursed out loud and tore off in hot pursuit.
END OF CHAPTER 2
