Authors Ramblings.

Here is the fourth chapter in the further adventures of the Golden trio and one Weasley...

As I stated earlier this story has been completed so you will not be waiting forever for updates

I know I said I would post two chapters a day but I am going to post the first five chapters tonight.

4

Best Laid Plans

"Tell me again why I or any of us should follow you!" Travers spat angrily at Deloris Umbridge "You never even joined us" He drove this point home by pointing to the dark mark on his forearm.

"You are right" Deloris answered trying to be patient. It had taken some time to get in touch with the death eaters that had escaped from the Aurors and she had not expected any of them to resist her leadership. She knew that the other four death eaters agreed with Travers even though they did not say anything out load. It was oblivious they were waiting to see what she did. "I did not join your little club" Deloris said with contempt.

"Working as the Undersecretary to the Minister of magic it was not possible for me to join. I did however do my part"

Before she could finish Travers interrupted her. "Yes we know you had no problem joining our cause once we took control of the ministry" he almost whispered the rest "but before that you supported Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour. It seems to me you always supported those in power."

"I had to show support for the ministry If I was going to of any use to the dark lord" She began to respond. Even though she never supported Voldemort she did not want those in the room reminded of this. She had to do her best to try and convince them she did not join the death eaters because she was working for Lord Voldemort in secret. She knew that this was not the case but that did not matter to her. She had no choice now but to join the death eaters and she was determined that she would take control of them as well. Right now Travers appeared to be the largest threat to her plans. She had to get him under control fast or she could see she would not succeed in taking over the leadership of Voldemort's death eaters.

Travers was still speaking as she went through all of this in her mind. "If you were secretly working for the Dark lord then why is it none of us have heard of you before you took over the Muggle Born Registration commission?" He continued to press his point "Before we took over the ministry tell us one thing you did to help with the Dark Lord's plans" Travers looked quite pleased with himself as he pointed this out to the others. Deloris noticed several of the other death eaters nodding agreement with Travers. She knew she had to do something.

"Do I need to remind you that I was able to get Dumbledore dismissed as headmaster of Hogwarts" she looked at Travers with contempt as she continued "I also would have succeeded in getting Harry Potter the mud blood Granger and the blood traitor Weasley expelled as well" She was sure that Travers would not be able to argue these points.

"Yes you did get Dumbledore dismissed" Travers agreed testily "however that was more to further your ambition than to serve the dark lord. It is also well known you had and do have your own agenda when it comes to Harry Potter and his friends." Travers jabbed his finger in her direction "But what have you done to support our cause and not to serve your own ambition"

Deloris was getting tired of this. Travers was making it clear he was going to throw a wrench in her plans to not only take over the leadership of the remaining death eaters but also her plans to exact her revenge on Harry potter and his friends. She knew how to deal with people like Travers.

"Enough" shrieked drawing her wand quickly. "Avada Kedavra" Travers was hit by the green bolt from her wand. Before any of the other death eaters in the room could react he crumpled to the ground dead.

Deloris looked at the remaining Death eaters in the room and asked quietly "Does anyone else have any other questions before we talk about our plans for Harry Potter and his friends" she let out the girlish giggle she was well known for as she finished.

***

"As far as we can tell the four of them rarely leave the protection of the Weasley's" Yaxley had been working over the last few weeks trying to get as much information he could on Potter and his friends. The most he had been able to find out was that Potter and his friends very rarely left the safety of the Weasley's. The problem is the Weasley house was protected by a Fidelis charm to keep presumably to keep the press away.

Deloris Umbridge looked at Yaxley as she pulled out a couple of copies of the daily Prophet. "Perhaps you might try another source of information" she opened the paper and handed it to him "Sometimes," she said sharply "It is better to let others do the work for you"

Yaxley was surprised so see a small story with the Headline "Potter and Weasley avoiding the Wizarding community" The article went into great detail on how Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were not frequenting areas of London that Witches and Wizards normally do to avoid the feeling of being exhibits in a zoo. The paper went on to give details on several places that Harry and Ron had been seen with Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger in muggle London. To Yaxley's surprise and amusement it appeared that Harry was dating Ginny Weasley and Ron Hermione Granger. This meant that if they planned things correctly at best case all four of there targets would be in the same place at the same time.

As he continued to read the article he found that the four of them often went out together. This would make there plans much easier. To his surprise he also learned that the four of them had seemed to find a favorite spot that they visited quite often. This was a park in London along the Thames River. The article said the two couples enjoyed to take long walks in the moonlight. There was also a picture of the four of them the two young men with there arms around thier ladies. Yaxley felt rather foolish that a reporter for the profit had been able to find out more about Potter and Wesley's movements than he was able to over the last couple of weeks.

Deloris Umbridge smiled at Yaxley wickedly, "I think it might be best if we have someone at that park watching for Mr. Potter and his friends." She saw that Yaxley was also a little embarrassed that the daily prophet had done a better job at spying on Potter than he had. "Never underestimate the press appetite for gossip Mr. Yaxley" she said "They will do whatever it takes to get the story." Yaxley looked at the paper again and smiled to himself. Yes the press it seemed could be quite useful. He and Umbridge began planning there plans for revenge on Potter and his friends.

***

"Mom you know Harry's Birthday is next week." Ginny spoke softly to her mother. She did not want Harry to know she was planning something for his birthday. Actually she was not the only one planning. Hermione sat with her at the dining room table. Ron had also wanted to take part in the planning but they needed him to keep Harry busy while the made plans.

"I know dear. I cannot believe that Harry will be eighteen already." Mrs. Weasley shook her head as she said this. "It seems like it was just yesterday we were seeing Ron and Harry off on the train to Hogwarts for the first time." She looked at Ginny and Hermione "Now look at all of you. I suspect the next thing we will be doing is planning your weddings." Ginny saw Hermione blush slightly. For Ginny's part she loved Harry but she was not ready to think about marriage. She knew that deep down Hermione was hoping that Ron would ask her to be his wife.

Ginny smiled to herself because she knew that Ron did in fact plan on asking Hermione to marry him. He had confided to Ginny his plans for the future late one night after finding her in the living room. They had talked until early in the morning that night, both talking about the past and there plans for the future. Well Ron spoke more about his plans than Ginny had. Ginny was not surprised to hear that Ron had already planned on asking Hermione to marry him. Ron had been deeply in love with Hermione Granger since there second year at Hogwarts, even if he had not realized it himself.

Ginny smiled to herself as she reminded herself Ron was not the only one that had a crush on someone for years. She never gave up on Harry even when she had started dating other boys at Hogwarts. Unlike Ron and Hermione it had taken Harry until her fifth year at Hogwarts to notice her. But once he did the only thing that could separate them was Lord Voldemort. Ginny remembered how broken hearted she had been when Harry ended there relationship so that he could hunt down the Horcruxes and take on Lord Voldemort. She also knew deep in heart that Harry would come back to her once he did what he had to do and come back to her he did. Ginny smiled as she remembered how Harry kissed her after Fred's funeral.

Mrs. Weasley sat down across from Ginny and Hermione. "I suppose you two want to do something for Harry's birthday" Ginny and Hermione nodded. They spent the next hour planning Harry's eighteenth birthday party with Mrs. Weasley.

***

Ron and Harry were laughing as Ron finished telling him about the previous night. "I thought my mom was going to kill us" Ron paused "I think mom was more embarrassed than Hermione and I were."

Ron sighed "If she could have only waited fifteen more minutes" he blushed slightly as he said this. He felt a little guilty about sharing this with Harry. He and Hermione had been snogging in his room. He was not sure how it had happened but the next thing he knew Hermione's shirt was open and he was gently caressing her breast. To his surprise Hermione did not resist him as a matter of fact she kissed him more passionately.

Ron was sure that the two of them would have made love that night had his mother not walked into the room. Ron laughed again as he remembered Hermione throwing the covers over herself and Mrs. Wesley's shocked look as she looked at the two of them on Ron's bed. Ron thought the two of them were going to get an earful from his mother. Too their surprise she excused herself and left the room. Ron remembered Hermione kissing him good night and whispering in his ear "We will continue this later"

Harry expressed shock that Ron and Hermione had not heard more about the incident. Ron agreed with Harry but still did not know what to do. He wanted to as Hermione had said "Continue things" but he also did not think it would be a good idea to do that at the burrow.

Harry agreed with Ron however he also expressed the belief that Ron's mother did not seem to mind that Ron and Hermione were getting more intimate. Harry expressed a little bit of envy that Ron had been able to have an intimate moment with Hermione.

Ron could not believe that Harry and Ginny had not had similar moments as she and Harry slipped away to be alone with each other whenever they could. Ron preferred not to hear the details as Ginny was his sister. After that evening with Hermione he also knew how things could get out of hand as well. He reminded Harry how he and Ginny were always slipping away and hinted that he would not be surprised if Harry did not have a similar experience with Ginny.

Harry looked at Ron. He and Ginny had not been totally innocent but in thier defense there clothes had never come off. He also let Ron know that he did not think he would get off as easy as Ron had when Mrs. Weasley had caught him and Hermione.

"Harry, If my mother would not do more than walk out after catching me and Hermione I do not think you have anything to be concerned about." Ron knew he was talking about his sister and to his surprise he was not the least bit bothered by the thought of Harry and his sister being intimate.

Harry gave Ron a look that one gave someone that was totally clueless. "Ron" Harry laughed as he spoke," Now I know why it took you so long to realize that Hermione is a girl. You can at times be one of the most clueless people I know."

Ron gave Harry and angry glance. But Harry explained himself before he could say anything. "It is one thing to find your son about to shag his girlfriend. It is something entirely something else to find your daughters boyfriend undressing your daughter. If you mother had caught me doing the same thing with Ginny she would have cursed me to the next week and then throw me out of the house."

Ron and Harry both laughed as they pictured Mrs. Weasley chasing him around the Burrow curses flying. "Harry I think you are wrong but I can understand why you would not want to risk my being wrong about this."

"Harry" Ron seemed to be getting serious again. Ron wanted to ask Harry in a nice way what his plans for Ginny were. He just did not seem to know how to ask his friend what his intentions toward his sister without sounding like an overprotective brother. "You know I plan on marrying Hermione." He paused wanting to form his words carefully. He also did not want to offend his best friend. "what do you think will happen with you and Ginny?"

Harry expected this to come up at some time. As long as he had known Ron he had always been overprotective of Ginny. It was the fact that Ron was so overprotective that had stopped him from asking Ginny out earlier in there sixth year. Harry had also tried to talk about the future with Ginny however she refused to talk about it she wanted worry about what was going on right now. Ginny had told him they would have plenty of time to decide there future once they finished school and they should enjoy what they had right now.

"Right now I cannot say Ron" Harry answered. Ron gave him a look that only an overprotective brother could

"Hey, It's not me Ron. Every time I try and talk to Ginny about the future she just tells me to enjoy what we have ."

Harry did want to make some future plans with Ginny but he also knew it would not be a good idea to push her either. He figured when she was ready they would begin to plan the future. "I think she wants to wait until she finishes school before dealing with the rest of her life."

Ron was happy to hear that at least Harry had some long term plans for Ginny. He was also a little bothered to hear that Ginny for the time being was not interested in worrying about more than the moment. Ron did not want to think about what would happen if Ginny decided to break up with Harry. He also knew that if Harry and Ginny did break up it would be Ginny that would end things and not Harry. He doubted that Harry and Ginny would break up. Even though Harry had never said anything to him Ron felt that Harry and Ginny would also get married. He did not share this with Harry.

Harry looked at Ron and changed the subject from him and Ginny to Him and Hermione "So have you asked Hermione yet"

Ron looked at Harry confused again. "Asked her what?'

Harry grinned at his best friend. "You have told both me and Ginny that you are going to marry Hermione. So have you asked her yet?'

Ron looked down at the ground. "No I have not"

Harry was surprised to hear this. "Have you talked with her about the two of you being married at sometime?"

Ron shook his head negatively. He and Hermione talked about him joining the Auror's and her joining the department of Magical Law enforcement. They talked about what it would be like to be out on there own. Where they would live and what they saw themselves doing in the future. It was implied they would do all of this together as a couple, however they never discussed getting married. Ron wondered if they did not talk about getting married because it seemed to be a natural conclusion to there relationship or for some other reason.

"No we have not talked about being married. We talk about the future and our plans and all the things we are going to do with each other. But no we do not actually talk about being married."

Harry smiled as Ron told him this. He knew why Hermione never actually came out and talked about being married. She had confided in Harry that she too already knew who she was going to marry and that was Ron Weasley. She told Harry that she was not going to push Ron and would not bring up getting married to Ron until he asked her to marry him. She also told Harry she had no doubt that was going to happen.

"Ron." Harry felt he should give Ron a little shove in the right direction here. Since both Ron and Hermione both planned on being married, why put off the inevitable?

"You know Hermione's Birthday is in a few weeks."

Ron Nodded. He knew her birthday was coming up but had not thought about what he was going to do for her birthday. He, Ginny and Hermione were planning Harry's eighteenth birthday which was a week away. He planned on focusing on Hermione's birthday once they had finished celebrating Harry's.

Harry continued "Have you thought of what you want to do for her birthday at all?"

"Not really Harry. I know I want to do something special for her as it is her first birthday as my girlfriend. I just do not know what to do for her yet."

Ron could see by the way Harry was smiling that he had an Idea for Hermione's birthday.

"You seem to have an idea" he said to Harry.

"You are right Ron. I do have an idea that will make this a birthday Hermione will never forget"

Ron was glad to see Harry had a suggestion because he had been trying to think of the perfect birthday for Hermione but just had no idea what to do. "What do you have in mind?"

Harry could not wait anymore. "I think you need to ask her to marry you Ron"

Harry laughed as Ron's eyes widened in surprise. "Harry I would love to but In order to propose to her I would need to have an engagement ring. You know that is something I would not be able to give her right now."

Harry knew that Ron would bring this up. He had already thought about this and hoped that Ron would not resist him too much.

"Ron I will take care of the engagement ring for you."

Ron started to resist but Harry had already thought of a way he could get Ron to agree.

"Ron, you and Hermione never thought twice about helping me hunt down the Voldemort's Horcruxes. You gave up your last year of school and made sacrifices over the last year no friend should expect. If it had not been for you and Hermione I would not have made it through last year, I would not have been able to take on Voldemort."

Harry looked at Ron as he finished

"You will let me take care of Hermione's engagement ring because I owe you. I also know how happy this will make the both of you"

Harry could see that Ron was trying to find an argument. Ron also knew Harry was right.

Ron did not argue with Harry and the matter was settled. Ron hoped that whatever the girls were planning for Harry's birthday it was good. Because nothing could beat the birthday was now planned for Hermione. Well Ron could think of one thing that would be better. He did not share this with Harry.

***

Ginny and Hermione were sitting in the room they were sharing at the burrow. They had just spent the last hour with Mrs. Weasley planning Harry's birthday party for the following week. Even though Ginny wanted to keep it a small affair Mrs. Weasley insisted on inviting a few "Family" friends to the party.

This meant that in addition to the four of them and Neville and Luna that Kingsley would be invited along with Hagrid and Mrs. Weasley also wanted to invite Professor McGonagall though Ginny did not think that professor McGonagall would accept the invitation. Over all Ginny was quite pleased with the plans for Harry's party.

Ginny could not help to notice that several times during the planning that whenever Mrs. Weasley would look at Hermione she would avoid eye contact. Ginny also could swear that Hermione also blushed at least once when Mrs. Weasley looked at her. Ginny was determined to find out what that was all about.

"What was going on with you and my mother Hermione?"

Ginny noticed that Hermione once again began to blush after she asked the question. She also was quite amused when Hermione tried to avoid answering her question by changing the subject. Ginny did not let her get away with this; she pushed Hermione for an answer

Hermione finally told Ginny about Mrs. Weasley walking in on her and Ron the other night. Hermione also told Ginny how surprised she was that neither she nor Ron had gotten into any kind of trouble. She told Ginny that she first thought maybe Mrs. Weasley had not noticed the Hermione's blouse had been open. Ginny did agree with Hermione that this was something that Mrs. Weasley would not have missed.

To Ginny's surprise Hermione was more upset about not having been able to continue with Ron than Mrs. Weasley walking in on them.

"I will be nineteen in a month and a half"

Hermione looked a little anguished

"And until the other night with Ron all I have ever done is Snog." She sighed. "And I only snogged with Viktor once."

Hermione admitted sheepishly. "Is there something wrong with me, except for Viktor I do not remember ever really having an interest in boys?"

Ginny took Hermione's hand

"Hermione, The only reason you did no show interest in boys in school was because you had already found who you wanted. The only boy you were ever interested in was Ron."

Ginny was not sure why Hermione was so worried about not having had many boyfriends. She had never been worried about it before.

"Ginny I know that. But what if I am not" Hermione hesitated "Well experienced enough for Ron."

She looked at Ginny

"I know you are his sister. But for the first time in my life I want to do more than just Snog."

It was Ginny's turn to blush a little as she heard Hermione wanted to do more than snog with her brother

"Hermione you have nothing to worry about. Ron has not dated anyone but you"

"What about Lavender Brown?" Hermione asked

"All they did was Snog Hermione. Ron wished it was you he was snogging the whole time."

Hermione seemed to be relieved to hear this. She still seemed a little uneasy. Ginny wished she could give Hermione some advice on what to do. However even though she had dated several boys before Harry all she had ever done with them, including Harry was Snog. Though after talking to Hermione today she thought maybe she too might try a little more as well.

"I also do not think any of that will matter to Ron Hermione."

Hermione smiled and seemed a bit more cheery. "Great. Now all I have to worry about is your mother."

Both Ginny and Hermione were still laughing when Harry and Ron came into the living room.

Even more ramblings

I had a hard time with Mrs. Weasley being angry about finding Ron and Hermione doing more than just kissing. I believe that even though Ron and Hermione never saw it themselves anyone around them would have known how happy they made each other. I think that Molly believe Ron and Hermione getting together was inevitable. She also would realize how happy they are together and would be more encouraging of the relationship.

Please R/R