Disclaimer: I dont own it.
Chapter Twenty-One: As Time Goes on
Cedric stayed the whole two weeks, enjoying free time with Cho, teaching Defense and learning new things from Harry and Ginny. As the months moved on with nothing happening, it only made them worry more.
Ron and Hannah had recovered well from their brush with Voldemort and were now seen together quite frequently. Training continued on for Harry and Ginny. They began to train the twins, who were getting better with each session. Once a month Harry would go to another training session. The twenty-two others who were helping with the spell were on orders to be more careful and precautions were taken to keep them all safe. Each was provided with a portkey that would take them to Grimmauld place, which had finally been refurnished and made livable.
As the summer melted into fall and fall into winter their worry began to ease away. While they were still cautious they planned to enjoy the down time because they knew that it would not last much longer.
Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Luna, Ron, Hannah, Fred, and George all took the train to King's Cross. They would be spending the Christmas holiday at the Weasley's. Jamie left with her mother to go to see Dudley and the four of them would be there on Christmas Eve.
Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur were waiting for them when they arrived. They all traded hugs and laughs before heading to the Burrow. The house was alive with life for the next few weeks.
Ginny and Harry had finally managed the free time they had wanted. Lily and Karen were adamant about spending time with them. The two teens had happily dedicated time to playing with the girls. When they were done they would slip away to enjoy each other's company.
The night of Christmas Eve found the house alive with excitement. The living room and kitchen had been expanded to support the amount of people coming. The entire Weasley family and their significant others were there. Sirius, Anna, Jamie, and Dudley were there as well. Remus and Tonks were more than happy to join in the fun. Madam Bones and Susan had come as well. Lily and Karen were more than happy to be with so many people. Draco and Pansy had come as well. It hadn't taken much convincing to get Andromeda, Ted, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Snape to come join in the festivities. The house was practically bursting at the seams with so many people in the house.
Dinner was noisy but the mood was relaxed and calm. Gifts were exchanged soon after dinner and then the rest of the night went on.
Hermione was reading in the library, a stack of twenty books on her left, right, and in front of her. Three books lay open in front of her. Five quills were on the table, one inkbottle, and a bunch of pieces of parchment. On the weekend she usually spent her time with her boyfriend but when Ginny had approached her with her concerns she had changed that to help the younger girl out.
Ginny came into the library spotting the stack of books and dropped into a seat next to Hermione. "If I knew you would be doing all of this I wouldn't have bothered you," she told the older girl sincerely.
"Ginny, I want to help you out. I know how worried you are and I am as well, he is my best friend after all."
"I know Hermione but do you think he will get mad?"
Hermione stopped her writing and furrowed her brow as she thought about it. "No, I don't think he will. Well, let's just hope that he doesn't mind."
"Who won't mind?" Harry asked as he came into the library. "What are you researching now Hermione? Looks like you've got yourself up to your ears here."
"George," Ginny told him as she moved to sit beside him.
"What won't he mind?"
"My new outfit," Hermione said quickly. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"I doubt he will mind, whatever it is."
"Can I get your opinion? I mean you are a boy and all," Hermione said slowly.
Ginny, catching on to what her friend was saying, nodded her head. "Yes Harry, would you mind helping?"
"Uh, I don't really know, I mean I'm not a good judge here. Besides you're more like a sister to me and I don't want any mental images."
"You can always replace them with a few others," Ginny practically purred into his ear, making him jump.
"Please, Harry? I really want a guys opinion on this," Hermione begged acting like she hadn't heard him or Ginny speak.
Harry looked between the two, seeing a glint in both of their eyes that he didn't quite like. He was hoping he could talk his way out of it. "Why don't you just go show him?"
"Well, if I did and he hates it then I will look stupid, but if you like it then George probably will."
"Yeah, that's not going to work for me," Harry said quickly, shooting Ginny a glare. Ginny smiled innocently and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oh come on Harry. It's just to help Hermione."
Harry groaned. "I have a feeling I am going to regret this, and if I do you will be paying for it later," he said as he poked Ginny in the side, making her jump.
She laughed. "Well, get on with it Hermione," Ginny said with a smug smile on her face.
Hermione had to fight to keep from laughing. She got to her feet and with the wave of her wand her outfit changed. Her hair was pulled back and curled slightly at the ends. Her shirt was tight and it was unbuttoned to reveal her cleavage. She wore a pair of tight blue jeans with holes at the knees and thighs. The sleeves were cut off and revealed her shoulders.
Harry closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the image of his sister in such clothing. He groaned. "I'm going to kill you Ginny!" He said before he shot off after her. Ginny ran out of the library, barely missing George as he strode into the library. He turned his head to watch Harry chase after Ginny.
"What's gotten into those two?" He asked, not having turned around.
"Not sure," Hermione said nonchalantly.
"Kids these days," he said as he shook his head. The moment his eyes landed on Hermione his eyes went wide and he stopped walking. His eyes swept over her body, his mouth going dry. Hermione couldn't help the smug smile that spread across her face as she looked at George.
"Yes?" She said after a moment. George didn't say anything as he pulled her into his arms.
"I think your studying time is over," he practically growled into her ear. Hermione grinned.
"Oh?"
George pulled on her arm and out of the library.
The world seemed to speed up, as if it was anxious for the battles to continue and the deaths to happen. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Before anyone realized, the school year was beginning to wind down. It was a pretty uneventful last few months but they all appreciated the calm before the storm.
Ginny was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. Her birthday was only days away and she was anxious for it to arrive. Throughout the week Harry had been shooting her looks that made her body heat up. More than once she had caught his thoughts and it drove her to a state of madness having to wait for her birthday to come.
Because she was still at school her family always waited till she was home to have a huge birthday. This year the students had gotten together to throw her a huge party.
As the day approached she was just about at her end. That morning when she woke up Harry was long gone. She groaned at this, she was hoping to get a snog session in before they had to do classes. With another groan, she rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. Once that was done she fixed her hair and headed off for breakfast.
The Great Hall was as loud as ever. Ginny spotted Harry talking to Professor Flitwick. He smiled when he saw her enter the hall. Ginny made her way to her usual seat. She began to place the food on her plate; she was starving.
Harry finished his conversation with Professor Flitwick and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "Morning love, sleep well?"
"I did, where were you when I woke up?"
"I had a few things to take care of this morning. Glad you slept well," he said with a smirk.
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, I suppose. How many classes do we have today?"
"I think it's only four today."
"Hello Harry, hello Ginny," Hermione said as she approached the two. "Harry, I still need your help, would you mind helping after classes?"
"Not at all. Meet you in the library?"
"That would be great," Hermione turned to leave and stopped. "Oh and Happy Birthday Ginny," she called back as she headed off.
"It's your birthday?" Harry asked confused.
Ginny promptly smacked him on the back of the head making the two laugh. "You prat," she said in a mock hurt voice.
"Like I could ever forget," Harry said as he leaned over to kiss her neck. Ginny shivered at the contact.
So what do you have planned for tonight? She asked slowly.
Not sure. I have to help Hermione after classes and then I think I'll take a shower. A few students asked me to help them with a few things. Why?
No particular reason.
"Well, we better head to class," Harry said with a grin as he held his hand out to her. Shaking her head she followed him out of the Great Hall.
The classes seemed to take forever. What made it worse was that Harry's eyes hardly ever left her. It was slightly unnerving but thrilling at the same time.
When classes ended, Harry headed off to see Hermione and Ginny retired to her room. She hadn't been sitting down for more than five minutes when the door was thrown open. Pansy, Lavender, Parvati, Hannah, and Luna all stood in the doorway.
"Oh no," Ginny cried as she jumped to her feet.
"Oh yes," Lavender said with a huge grin on her face.
The five girls slowly moved out to take down the small red head. Ginny set her feet, ready to run at the first chance she got. They lunged, she ran. Lavender was the one who caught her arm pulling her into a chair that Parvati had conjured up. Luna made ropes appear that bound her feet, hands, and chest to the chair. Her hands were completely useless now.
"Let me go!" She cried out, hoping they would let her go.
"No," Pansy said simply.
"What in the world is going on?" She demanded.
"It's your birthday and we plan on making you look beautiful," Lavender said simply.
"Yes, you have a party to attend to and we plan to make you the most spectacular looking woman there," Parvati told her.
"So hold still and this will all be over with," Hannah said with a smirk on her face.
"I'm going to kill you all when I am free, you know that right?"
"Well when you see how good you look, you'll forget all about it. Besides just think about what Mr. Potter will think when he sees you," Pansy said, a huge smug smile on her face.
Ginny raised her eyebrow. She was curious to know what Harry thought about her outfit. With a sigh she nodded her head in submission.
"Yes!" Luna said happily, and the rest of the girls cheered before they got to work.
It was a good hour and a half later when the five girls stepped away from the newly transformed Ginny. The ropes fell off of her and she finally got to her feet.
She wore a dark green button down shirt. The buttons ended midway up, revealing part of her chest. The locket she had hung from her neck, the gold glistening in the firelight. She wore a pair of tight black pants that fit her like a dream, showing off her new curves. Over the summer she had managed to start growing more and she was quite happy with the results thus far. She was in a pair of black heels that had only four small straps to keep them in place. Her red hair was down, falling around her face. The curls framed her face. They had applied only a small amount of make-up on her. They added a twinge of red to her lips and a bit of mascara. She wore her rings on her fingers, two bracelets on her left arm, and five more on her right.
"Well?" She said cautiously.
"He'll die," Pansy said a bit of envy in her voice.
"I agree," Parvati said. "I think all the boys will die."
"Not mine," Luna said confidently.
"More like die of shock," Hannah added with a chuckle.
"So will yours," Luna shot back, sticking her tongue out at the older girl, making them all laugh.
"Mirror?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, right, of course!" Lavender said as she conjured a full sized mirror. Ginny gasped as she looked at her reflection. She slowly turned to see how she looked at other angles.
"Wow, you guys are good," she said with a hint of pride in her voice.
"Why thank you," Parvati said in mock flattery.
The girls laughed again. "Let's move out ladies," Luna said with a happy grin on her face. "To celebrate the birthday girl, where is Hermione any way?"
"Luna!" Ginny called as she reached for the girl. Luna moved with ease to hide behind Hannah.
"Oh, no you don't," Hannah cried as she moved behind Pansy, leaving Luna to stand on her own.
The girls laughed again. They headed for the door. The halls were practically deserted as they all headed down to the Great Hall. As they opened the door they were greeted by all of the students. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY," they cried as they entered.
Harry stopped when he saw Ginny walk in. His eyes went wide as he looked at her. Ginny's eyes met his and she moved to walk up to him, her eyes never leaving his. She could feel all the other boy's eyes on her but she ignored them, focused only on the ones that held hers. His eyes scanned over her body, taking his time to memorize exactly how she looked. When his eyes met hers, she could see the desire burning within their depths.
She moved to stand in front of him, her hands held behind her back, head tilted to the side, in a pose of innocence. Harry's eyes took in the fact that many of the boys were practically drooling as they looked at Ginny. A pulse of magic made them all snap to attention. Ginny gave him a smug smile as she saw the possessive look in his eyes.
His arms encircled her waist, drawing her to him. Her hands came up to wrap around his neck. You look amazing, he told her huskily.
Thank you, she said with a grin. She leaned up further, purposefully pressing herself to him, as she planted a kiss on his lips. It was meant to be a quick kiss, but Harry held her tighter, deepening the kiss. The emotions washed over Ginny, making her melt against him.
The sound of whistling made the two pull apart, both were grinning happily. "Well it's time to get this party started," McGonagall called. Music began to play loudly, filling the hall. Ginny smiled and dragged Harry down onto the dance floor.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as the night wore on. In the end, Ginny couldn't take it any longer and led Harry from the Hall. She smiled at him and the two disappeared with a pop.
"Everything is ready My Lord," Lucius whispered.
"It better be," Voldemort snapped. "We strike in three weeks. I want more people Lucius. It was very displeasing to hear that I had lost over sixty Death Eaters. I will not accept another mistake of that kind."
"Yes My Lord. It appeared that they were more powerful then we had anticipated."
"I don't care," he practically screamed. "If anything like this happens again it will be your head this time. Do not disappoint me Lucius."
"I will do all I can My Lord."
"You better. What other news do you have for me?"
"It appears we can not find the Thomas boy. He has completely disappeared. The Ministry still holds the Death Eaters and Pettigrew. Rodolphus cast the spell on Sirius and Bellatrix but it combined with their shield spells. He was the cause of the incident."
"Then he is lucky he is stuck at the Ministry. When I see him, he will be killed. I do not want Muggles in my control. Whom were they sent to?"
"Madam Bones. It appears that Potter has connections with the Ministry officials as well."
"I want his spy network sought out and I want them now."
"I will My Lord," Lucius said as he bowed out of the room.
Voldemort gazed at the door, glaring at it. "You will die Potter, you and your precious girlfriend. I will not be defeated this time. I'll get you Potter!" He cried to the air.
A/N: The next chapter! ONE more chapter! Can you believe that? Just one left and then its done with this story. Then I will make you all suffer and wait a while before the last chapter then of course for the fourth story to come out. I know aren't you all excited? Well I'm about to be swamped down with work so I will be doing the best I can to get my updates and everything ready. My beta has been busy and I am waiting for three chaps to get back but i'm not in a hurry. So hope you all enjoy and hope you all leave a review or just enjoyed this chap. Alrighty, thanks again for reading and reviewing and sticking with me through the whole thing. One more to go!
Seritha
