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Having Harry's Destiny-The Lunch Bunch
It was Friday and Ron was still a permanent shade of red. Of course the twins never gave him a moment's rest on the subject of "Ronald-wear." When they asked Helena/Harry how he felt about the whole things he simply replied: "One of the most embarrassing moments in my life." To which Ron promptly replied:
"YOUR LIFE??? YOUR LIFE?? WHAT ABOUT MY LIFE??"
"I wouldn't mind having my life ruined that way." George snickered.
"Oh leave him alone you two," Ginny scolded. "I don't want him in a bad mood when we go out to lunch today."
"Oh poo sis! You had to go and ruin all our fun." Fred whined.
"Speaking of lunch…" Ron whispered to his sister so that no one could over hear. "Have all the preparations been made?"
"Everything's set." Ginny replied with a sly smile. "And she has no idea."
"What are you two whispering about?" Fred asked suspiciously.
"Nothing of your concern, brother dear." Ginny said sweetly.
"Is everyone ready?" Hermione asked as she walked into the room followed by Mrs. Weasley who was carrying an armload of jackets. After everyone had bundled up to Mrs. Weasley's approval, they all floo-ed to the Leaky Caldron. From there, Fred and George headed off to their shop with a promise form the others that they would stop by later.
"So, where are we eating?" An inquisitive Helena prodded.
"Just a little place someone recommended." Hermione said in an allusive tone.
"Um…okay," Helena gave her a weird look. They walked down the streets, peering in all the windows at the Christmas and New Year's displays.
"I'm sure the twins have a big fireworks display planned for New Years." Ron said as they walked past a fireworks display.
"Plus a few other surprises, probably." Ginny added.
"Here we are!" Hermione proclaimed, indicating a small restaurant snuggled amongst the festive shops. The front was covered in large windows that allowed the patrons to view the street while they ate. The awning was still decorated with bright red and green lights that reflected off the white snow. As they walked in, a magical chime sounded. A middle-aged woman in a smart gray uniform came and took their coats.
"Choose any table you like and I'll be with you in a moment." She said with a smile before disappearing into the back with their jackets. There were only a few people scattered around the cozy restaurant so they could sit pretty much anywhere.
"How about over there?" Helena asked pointing to a table in the back.
"No, I want to set by the window." Hermione said leading her in the opposite direction.
"But all those tables are taken." Helena pointed out.
"Well I'm sure somebody wouldn't mind moving for us." Hermione said.
"Hermione!" Helena hissed. "That's rude! I can't believe-" She was cut off when the person at the nearest table turned to look at her. She stopped surprised as her eyes locked with familiar gray ones.
"Draco?" Helena looked around confused.
"SURPRISE!" They all said making her jump.
"WHAT?!? You guys planned this???" Helena asked wide-eyed.
"Yes!" Ginny giggled. "We thought you might want to have Christmas with Draco too!"
"Of course I want to!" Helena said pulling Draco, who had stood up to greet them, into a hug.
"Merry late Christmas!" Draco said returning the hug.
"A Merry, Merry Christmas!" Helena smiled as she pulled back.
"And this…" Draco said as he pulled a small green box out his pocket. "is for you." Helena's eyes grew wide at the sight of the box.
"Go ahead and open it." Draco said handing it over. Helena looked at him before gingerly lifting the lid and gazing into the box. A soft gasp escaped her lips. She reached into the box and pulled out a delicate silver charm bracelet.
"A snow flake," She fingered the small charm with a smile remembering their snowball fight. She then turned the bracelet over to find a charm that caused a very different reaction.
"A BROOM!?!?" She screeched. "A broom! Are you trying to give me nightmares??" Draco burst into laughter at her reaction.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." He apologized through his laughter. Helena huffed indigently but the offending charm didn't stop her from clasping the bracelet around her wrist.
"What's with the broom?" Ron asked as they all moved to sit down.
"Well, once I surprised Helena by taking her on a spur of the moment broom ride, and let's just say she didn't take to it to well." Draco explained trying very hard not to laugh.
"I hate heights," Helena whined. "Or least heights without rails or floors or glass or SOMETHING besides a stick between me and the ground!"
"You don't strike me as the kind of person that would be afraid of heights." Ron mused.
"Well I am." Helena said. "Now let's talk about food because I'm starving!"
"You're always starving" Hermione pointed out.
"I'm a growing girl." Helena protested. "I need my nutrition!"
"Whatever just order something." Draco instructed. Nobody seemed to mind his commanding tone. They just turned their attention to the menus that had been placed before them.
Some time later, after they had all finished their food and were talking happily, Helena happened to glance out the window to see a somewhat familiar man walking down the opposite street about a block away. When he reached the corner, he stopped and looked up. Helena proceeded to spew the drink she had just taken a sip of all over the place. Lucius Malfoy was standing there in danger of looking over at them at any second.
"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked indicating the spewed drink.
"Draco, get out of here quick!" Helena squeaked.
"What? Why?" Draco asked confused.
"Your dad is across the street." Helena hissed. "Hurry up before he sees you and all hell breaks loose!"
"Crap!" Draco said looking up and seeing his dad, who was now conversing with another man. "If he sees me with you guys, I'm dead." With that he jumped up threw down some money to pay for his meal and practically ran towards the door.
"See you back at school." Helena called out to him.
"Yeah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!" He called as he disappeared out the door. Everyone let out the breath they didn't realize they had been holding.
"That was close," Hermione said.
"I wonder what his dad would have done if he had seen him?" Ginny mused.
"I don't know, I just know it wouldn't have been pretty," Ron said. "That man is scary."
"Well now that we've all been sufficiently scared to death, why don't we go visit the twins?" Helena proposed as she began to gather her things. After they had paid for their meal and collected their jackets, they headed towards the twins' joke shop. When they entered they found the twins in deep conversation about something. At the sound of the door opening, they looked up and smiled brightly when they saw who it was.
"Helena!!" Fred jumped over the counter and wrapped her up in a bear hug. "Our favorite partner in crime! Oh… and you people who like to follow her around."
"Hello boys!" Helena beamed back at him.
"Yeah, good to see you to," Ginny rolled her eyes at her brothers' antics.
"What can we do for you?" George asked.
"Well I've got a whole semester ahead of me and I'm afraid I'm out of supplies." Helena said with a sad sigh.
"WHAT??" George asked in feigned shock. "We can't have that now can we?"
"No we can't!" Fred agreed. "Step right this way milady and we will supply you with everything you could possibly need."
"Why thank you kind sirs." Helena curtsied before following them farther into the store.
"Oh dear," Ron said. "We'll never make it through the year in one piece."
"More like the Slytherins and anyone else who gets in Helena's way won't make it through the year.
"Are you two forgetting what she did to me?" Ron asked.
"We did help with that you know?" Ginny pointed out.
"Yes but you two haven't been the victim yet." Ron grinned devilishly. "Your time is yet to come."
"Oh crud, I forgot about that," Ginny said. "Now I'm never going to get any sleep." Ron seemed to find this very funny and couldn't stop laughing. Ginny glared at him while Hermione just sighed as she watched the two fight. Something things never change.
It's not as long as I had originally planned but I really wanted to get it posted for all my wonderful readers so I cut it a bit short.
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