CHAPTER 7: Parties

Harry and Hermione popped back into their living room and collapsed onto the couch, both smiling from ear to ear. It was energizing to see old friends again, and with such good news. Hermione rolled over and kissed Harry lightly, she seemed more comfortable with their new relationship now, and then stood up, stretching her arms above her head.

'Well, I have to tell Ginny the good news,' she announced, dialing the Weasleys' number on the telephone. 'I'm going to need her help to plan this shower. Harry, go get the DA coin. We'll change the date soon. I wonder what the other members will do if the see it changed,' she mused worriedly as the phone rang.

'Hello?' came Ginny's voice through the phone.

'Hey, Ginny! I just visited Luna and Neville and you'll never guess what they told me,' Hermione teased happily in a singsong voice.

'What? Oh, come on, tell me,' Ginny pleaded eagerly. She always had loved gossip.

'First of all, they're engaged…' she began but Ginny's eager squeal interrupted her.

'Omigod, you can't be serious!' she yelled, her voice full of glee.

'Yes, I am, but there's more. Luna is…' she paused to let the tension build. '…pregnant!' Ginny actually screamed out loud in delight. Hermione laughed at her reaction. 'Can you come over? We need to start baby shower plans…' Before Hermione even finished, the dial tone came over the phone: Ginny was already gone.

Hermione had just sat down on the couch when she heard a pop in the foyer. Ginny came rushing in, her face flushed with excitement and a dazzling smile stretching all the way across her face.

'Okay, the first thing we need is decorations,' she said, sitting down beside her and getting right into it. 'I think we should go with pastels, light yellow and green, not blue or pink because we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet. Then we need food: tasty, of course, and healthy and such. Then we need activities: games and gossip, as always, plus advice and Q&A sessions with friends, mothering lessons, and the like,' she concluded, glowing with bliss.

Hermione nodded, chuckling a bit. She knew she did the right thing in calling Ginny; she loved to plan get-togethers and she always did it well. 'Uh, guests?' she reminded. Ginny looked confused for a second, then she brightened and summoned a little black address book with a large flower on the front.

'Okay, we definitely need to call Lavender and Parvarti,' she said, flicking through the pages in search of means of contact. 'Maybe Padma, and we can ask Luna who else she wants from Ravenclaw.' Hermione nodded and handed Ginny the phone.

Ginny and Hermione called Lavender Brown and Parvarti and Padma Patil and the three girls agreed to come to Luna's baby shower, every bit as excited as they were. Hermione changed the date on the DA coin to two days later and sat down to discuss possible plans with her friend.

Harry went up to his bedroom, leaving the girls to talk, and snatched up the bedroom phone. He dialed Dean, but had to leave a message, and moved on to Seamus.

'Hello?' Seamus asked.

'Hey, Seamus, it's Harry,' Harry said, happy to hear his old friends voice again.

'Hey, mate, how've you been?' Seamus asked, just as happy.

'Pretty good. Guess what.'

'What?'

'Neville and Luna are engaged and Luna's pregnant,' Harry informed Seamus, enjoying the stunned silence.

'Wow. Who would've thought Neville would be the first of us to get laid?' he said disbelievingly.

'Hey! That's not very nice, now, is it?' Harry scolded, though he secretly agreed. 'Anyhow, how would you like to help us plan Neville's bachelor party?'

'Sure, I'd love to,' Seamus agreed.

'Good. Do you know where Dean is right now?' Harry asked, curiously.

'I think he's on a date. Why?'

'I left him a message. I want him to help, too. Meet me at my house tomorrow?' Harry suggested.

'Okay. See you tomorrow,' Seamus said happily. He hung up and Harry put the phone down.

Harry knew he shouldn't go downstairs yet, the girls would just send him back up. Boys weren't allowed at baby showers so they probably wouldn't let him know anything about it. He decided to brave it anyway. He was thirsty.

Harry headed cautiously down the stairs and into the living room. The girls were engrossed with plans of what color streamers they wanted. Harry tried to sneak quietly through the back, unnoticed, but Hermione stood up.

'Harry!' she whined. 'You can't be in here! Go back upstairs,' she ordered. Harry put his hands up in front of him defensively.

'I'm just trying to get to the kitchen,' he said, gesturing to the door on the other side of the room. 'Did you expect me to apparate halfway across the house?' Hermione pouted and sat back down, defeated. Harry hurried into the kitchen.

'Touchy, much?' he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

'I heard that!' Hermione called from the other room. Harry chuckled. Harry got himself a glass of pumpkin juice and sat down at the table, sipping it slowly and thinking over all that had happened in the last couple of days. He smiled. Things were going well. Very well.