Standard disclaimers apply!

I do not own Harry Potter. I have nothing to do with Scholastic, Warner Bros or Bloomsbury. I'm not JKR and I am certainly not making any profit out of this.

24th December, 1998

Getting Ready

"Do I look OK?" Hannah peered into the mirror and tugged at the sleeve of her new robes nervously.

"You look great," Audrey assured her, biting back a smile. "Now stop messing around with it or you'll ruin it!"

Sitting down with a thud, Hannah clasped her hands together and frowned at her older sister. "I wish you'd change your mind and come with us."

"Don't be silly," Audrey shook her head, "I'd just get in the way."

"No you wouldn't!" Hannah jumped up to pace nervously around the room. "Come on Aud, come with us! Hermione specifically said that you're invited too."

"But I don't know anyone," Audrey protested, blushing faintly. "You know I'm not that good with crowds of strangers, I'm just not a party person."

"Rubbish," Hannah said baldly. "You know me and Neville and Mrs Longbottom, and it'll do you good to get out of the house and meet people."

"Merlin you're bossy," Audrey snorted, "I get out of the house every day at work, and I know plenty of people already."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Not the same thing. Come on, come with us. I don't like the idea of you staying her on your own all night."

Glancing up at the clock on the mantle, Audrey chewed her lip. "What time is Neville coming?"

oOo

Not paying much attention to what he was doing, and still rubbing his hair dry with a towel, Ron pushed his way into his bedroom ... and then stopped dead when he was presented with a vision of floaty sunset colours and a cascade of chocolate brown curls. "Why hello there."

"Hello to you too," Hermione muttered, glancing at him briefly as she wiggled into her dress. "Could you give me a hand with the buttons?"

"'Course!" Dropping the damp towel on the end of his bed he crossed the room and stood behind her. "Not that I'm complaining," he grinned at her reflection in the mirror and started to work on the fiddly buttons at the back of her dress, "but what are you doing in here?"

She smiled slightly. "Um. Harry's uh ... helping Ginny get ready."

"Right." Ron shuddered elaborately. "Say no more."

"Exactly," Hermione laughed at his expression, and then shivered slightly when he ran his fingers over the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck. "Got them all?"

"Yeah." They gazed at each other's reflections speculatively. "Do we have time?"

"Not really," she murmured regretfully as she turned to face him and began doing up the buttons on his open shirt, deliberately dragging her fingers lightly over his bare chest.

"Damn." Stilling her hands, he bought one of them up and kissed her palm. "It's going to be a long night."

"Uha," she looked up at him through her lashes and bit her lower lip, "think of it as ... oh, I don't know ... foreplay."

"That's one way to put it," Ron chuckled and ran his hands gently over her forearms. "Which reminds me! I've got something for you." He took a step to the side and opened the draw of his desk. "An early Christmas present," he grinned, placing a narrow purple box in her hands. "I hope you like it."

She opened the box and laughed happily when it sprung open to reveal a necklace of delicate sparkling flowers. "Oh Ron!" Standing on her toes, she kissed him full on the mouth. "It's beautiful!"

Ron laughed too. "I'm glad you think so."

"Help me with it?" At his nod she passed the box back to him, turned around to face the mirror again and pulled her hair out of the way. "I've never had a set of anything before."

"You're not counting school books are you?" Ron teased, securing the clasp firmly.

"Obviously not," she grinned at him. "When did you get this?"

Ron allowed himself to look a little smug. "Same time I bought the bracelet."

"And you never said a word!"

oOo

"I ... I don't know what to say." Kingsley took refuge in pouring their drinks. "It's ... well ... I don't know what to say." Passing a glass of mead to Dean, he studied him intently. "I mean ... now that you say it ... yes, I can see it. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder how I missed it ... but ..."

"I know exactly what you mean, Minister Shacklebolt," Dean half laughed and then threw down half his drink. "I had the same reaction."

"You can drop the Minister bit, you know," Kingsley said suddenly, "that's really not necessary."

"Sorry," said Dean, "habit. So ... a bit of a surprise, huh?"

Kingsley glanced over at Stella and Stan, both of whom looked simultaneously relieved but still a little worried. Stella offered a half-hearted shrug. "I don't know why I didn't make the connection sooner," she admitted. "It just never occurred to me."

"OK." Kingsley looked back at Dean curiously. "Well, I know it's a lot to process ... but if you ever want to ... well, to talk about Win, or something. Or maybe not ... well, anyway, if you do ... just let me know."

oOo

"We're going to be late if we don't get a move on," he warned.

"Hmmm." She stretched luxuriously and sighed happily. "What if I don't care? They can manage without us."

"Really?" He raised one eyebrow at her sceptically. "Say it isn't so!"

"Watch yourself boy," she warned, narrowing her eyes at him playfully and reaching down to squeeze his behind, "you're pushing your luck!"

"That was my intention," he shot her a cheeky smile before dropping an open mouthed kiss on her shoulder. "I suppose the kids will cope if we make them wait for a change."