A/N: Howdy ho my wonderful readers! Please enjoy the next installment of *trumpets blaring* 'Live, Laugh, Love'! Thank you... thank you... hold the applause...
Disclaimer: Nope- nope- nopety- no. I don't own Harry Potter. At all. In any way, shape, or form. Period. Sorry to disappoint...
~rAndOM sQuIRrel~
When we last left our beloved characters: '[Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron] all looked at each other and burst out laughing.'
~rAndOM sQuIRrel~
The four teens soon entered a small restaurant in Diagon Alley.
"You know, George and I went here just the other day," Ron said as they sat down at a table by the window.
"It's a cozy little place," Ginny commented.
"Much more charming than the Bubotuber Bistro, in my opinion," Harry said, pulling a chair out for Ginny.
"And much more sanitary than The Leaky Cauldron," Hermione said.
The four friends relaxed and appreciated a peaceful afternoon together, laughing and enjoying each others' presence. They began wandering quaint little off-streets of Diagon Alley when they received a patronus from Mr. Weasley telling them they could come home now. They apparated to the outskirts of the property line and walked up the hill to the welcoming home.
Harry, after being pushed forward by Ron, entered first and was greeted by a loud, "Happy Birthday!" from the assorted guests. A sign was hung from the roof with a color-changing, 'Happy 18th, Harry!'.
The whole Weasley clan was in attendance, including Charlie, who had flooed in from Romania. Hagrid gave Harry a heavy pat on the back, before getting into a conversation about Norberta and dragons with Charlie. Harry was wished many a 'Happy Birthday' and received numerous handshakes and hugs from old schoolmates.
Mrs. Weasley called everyone outside for dinner and the family and guests gathered around a large table with an over-sized roasted bird, that appeared to be a turkey. Mrs. Weasley made Harry, who didn't completely enjoy all of the attention, sit down at the head of the table. Everyone sat down and had a bright and cheerful conversation and delicious dinner, courtesy of Mrs. Weasley's hard work.
After the enormous bird was completely clean, and the dishes cleared, Bill and Charlie brought of the presents soaring above everyone's heads. They circled and landed in front of Harry.
"You guys didn't have to get me anything," Harry said, which was met with multiple responses.
"Really?" said George. "Well, in that case," he said, walking over and scooping a package off of the table.
"George Fabian Weasley," His mother growled.
"Right, I was just taking the mickey," He said placing it before Harry, who was grinning.
Harry began opening gifts and received a large pack of Bertie Bott's and assorted sweets from Dean and Seamus, Bill and Fluer gave him a Tiger Ebony and Brazil wood Chess Board, and from Ron was a matching set of Wizards' Chess Pieces.
"Oh! That's my gift, Harry," said Hermione, as he opened it to find a black wand holster that almost instantly lightened to the shade of his own skin.
"Wicked," He breathed.
"I knew you'd like it," she said. "I found in Cater-corner Corridor. It's made of Absconda
Hyacinth, which is an invasive plant in New Zealand. It changes to a color similar to your skin when made into a leather, if constructed properly. It can be attached to the forearm, hip, thigh, or calf. It never slips and has a minor expansion charm, so any wand fits."
"This is brilliant, Hermione!"
"No more having the chance of slicing off a buttock," George chuckled. "Mad-eye would be proud."
Next was Charlie's package, which contained a smooth light brown leather jacket. "Thank you, Charlie," Harry said looking at it closely.
"Quite welcome. It's Dragon Leather, made from the wing membrane. It's not as tough as other dragon leathers, but will last over a century. I prefer it, cause it's warmer, and more comfortable." There were many shouts for Harry to try it on, and he obliged.
"You look good," Ron said.
"Back off, Ron. He's mine," said Ginny. "You should have gotten him black leather though, Charlie. It makes guys look ten times more charming."
"Oh, yeah. Well I don't exactly get to choose which dragons decide to kick the bucket, thank you. The Horntail that this once belonged to was a fighter and was hanging on for a long time. He didn't exactly want to go and was even more terrible because of it. Nearly lost my arm once..."
"Well I like a lot anyway, Charlie," Harry said. "I get enough attention already, and I definitely don't want anymore." Harry leaned over and kissed Ginny lightly on the lips.
"Oi, stop snoggin' my sister and open your last gift," Ron said.
"Alright, alright," Harry said, taking another from the shrinking pile. "Whoa, this is heavy. What did you get me, George?"
"You'll see," he said with a cryptic smile. Harry unwrapped to reveal a small wooden chest with a sock on it. Harry picked up the sock and looked at George in confusion.
"Oh. That's where it went," he said taking the sock from Harry and tucking it in his pocket. Harry looked at George in amusement. "What? I was doing laundry, when I wrapped your present. Just open the chest." Harry opened it and found a set of alphabetized files. "Go on, pull something out of one of the files," George insisted.
Harry flipped through them and chose one, pulling a small dark shiny object out. Seconds later everything when dark, and then a moment later the darkness cleared, but Harry was gone. Everyone looked around in bewilderment and found Harry at the other end of the table, laughing.
"Thank you, George. This is sure to come in handy."
"It's the complete set of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Defensive Line. Ah, but that's not all! The chest can shrink and then be re-sized. It's as simple as molding a piece of clay into a ball- all you need is a little pressure and warm hands."
"That's really neat," Hermione commented. "Where'd you get it? I might get one for school use."
"I made it. Fred and I designed it ages ago, and I only just got to it. Difficult to make, though. The first prototypes were absolute disasters."
The cake was brought out, and Harry was amazed at the detail that Mrs. Weasley had gone into. Sitting in front of him was an exact replica of the Howgarts Quidditch Pitch. Floating above the field were little players zooming around. Harry identified one that looked like him, Ron, and Ginny. In the Gryffindor Stands were Hermione and the rest of the Weasley family holding a banner that said 'Happy Birthday Harry'.
"Whoa! This is amazing, Mrs. Weasley!"
"Thank you, Harry, dear." The Pitch was demolished shortly after as everyone had a slice of the marble chocolate cake.
When everyone had finished, Harry stood. "I really don't know what to say, but thank you for all of this. You guys have been to Hell and back for me, I really don't know why," he said with a light chuckle, "But thank you for all of it. It means a lot to me."
Mrs. Weasley gave him a strangling hug. "Oh, Harry."
"Okay, don't kill him, Mum," Ron said. "He's still got more presents."
"What?" Harry exclaimed.
"Here comes Dad with Hagrid's gift," Ron said, ignoring Harry's surprise.
"Merlin," Harry breathed when he saw Sirius' bike rolling up the hill. "Thank you, Hagrid."
"Yer welcome 'Arry. Yer of age now and the war is ov'r so I though you'd want it."
"A leather jacket and a motorbike in one day. Harry, you've become a bad boy in a mere few hours," George remarked.
Harry mounted the bike turned the key in the ignition. The bike roared to life and shot forward a few meters, causing Ginny gasp.
"Wanna go for a ride?" Harry said, motioning to Ginny.
She looked hesitant for a moment, but a determined expression washed over her face. "All right."
"Ginevra Weasley, you most certainly will not," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Why not?" Ginny argued.
"Because I said no. You could get hurt."
"What about Harry?" Ginny questioned.
"I am not Harry's mother, and Harry is of age. You, young lady, are not."
"Mum, it's just a little ride. We'll be right back- safe and sound."
"Nothing is going to happen, Mrs. Weasley. I promise," Harry said. She looked hesitantly between them.
"C'mon Mum. It's just a short ride on a motorbike. I took on Death Eaters last year, what is a motorbike gonna do to me, that they didn't already do?"
"Oh, alright! Just be careful and be back soon."
"Always, Mrs. Weasley," Harry reassured as Ginny climbed on behind Harry, wrapping her arms tightly around his middle.
The bike roared to life and the two sped off, slowly at first as Harry gathered his bearings. Then the young couple disappeared from sight as they made their way to the end of the dirt road leading to the Burrow, rounded the corner of a road to Ottery St. Catchpole.
After fifteen minutes George commented, "Well they're not coming back," and went inside. Charlie followed and everyone else slowly dispersed and conversed with the other guests.
Ron and Hermione separated from the rest as half an hour had passed, after Dean and Seamus left, to go for a walk by the pond.
They walked in silence, hand-in-hand, listening to the crickets chirp and the frogs croak. Ron finally gained the courage to interrupt the silence between the two.
"So, you've decided?"
"On what?" Hermione asked.
"Going back to school."
"Of course. Haven't you?"
"Yeah, did awhile back."
Hermione grinned, "Good."
Ron stopped, "'Mione. I'm not going back."
"Why not? So many opportunities will open up if you do. I mean-."
"Hermione. I just can't do it. I can't walk through those halls after all that we've been through and all we've seen, like it never happened."
"No one ever said you had to, Ron," Hermione said quietly.
"'Mione, if I have problems just thinking about it from hundreds of miles away, imagine when I step into the corridor where Fred-" Ron paused as his eyes began to sting and his throat tightened, "where I lost my brother. Or how 'bout when I enter the grounds and find the same spot I stood on when we thought we had lost Harry too. I don't know what will happen."
Both parties were silent for what seemed like hours, but was simply a matter of minutes. Ron spoke again. "Hermione, I won't be doing myself or anyone else any favors by returning. It will never be the same as when we walked the corridors as first years. I'm not the same, and neither are you. We've changed so much and so much has happened since we were students there, and I can't pretend to be someone I'm not anymore."
Hermione didn't argue, but simply said, "I wouldn't expect anything less from you," before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her level, kissing him lightly on the lips. He smiled down at her as they separated. A raindrop landed on her cheek as she smiled back up at him.
Within seconds it was pouring down on the couple, who began running towards the woods in hope of shelter from the soaking rain. They were drenched by the time they made it to the cover of a nearby oak. Ron looked at Hermione and they began to laugh.
"Come on! Let's head for the house to get warmed up!" Ron shouted over the din of the rain pounding down hard. Ron led the charge. pulling Hermione behind him by the hand as they ran across the wet grass to the warm interior of the Burrow.
When they were only twenty meters from the Burrow, Hermione slipped on the grass and fell. Ron offered a hand in getting up, which she gladly accepted. They paused for a while looking at each other in that moment. Ron kissed Hermione briefly before grabbing her by the waist and twirling her around in the rain. The laughed and spun in the rain for several minutes, until Ron noticed Hermione begin to shiver, and he led her inside to get warmed up by the fire that Mrs. Weasley had put on when it had begun to rain.
Bill and Fluer were conversing with Charlie, while Mr. Weasley discussed work with Percy. George was nowhere to be seen, and Harry and Ginny were sitting together playing with Harry's new Chess set. And when the wet couple entered the living room both smiled.
"Did you have fun out there?" Ginny grinned.
"Of course," Hermione laughed. "How was your ride?"
"Fun, until the rain starting coming down, luckily Harry remembered a spell that kept us from getting wet even further, and we returned home."
"Your move Gin. Oh, and check."
"You tricky little jarvey," she mumbled turning back to the game.
Harry laughed, "What did you just call me?"
"A Jarvey," she replied, but was too focused on the game of chess to add an explanation. Harry turned to Ron or Hermione for an answer.
"They're large ferrets than can talk," Hermione said.
"But getting a word in edgewise is impossible, and they aren't the most polite creatures on the planet," Ron grumbled. "Fred and George found one when they were younger and somehow managed to capture it to reduce the gnome population in the garden. He did just that, but Mum didn't like his language and constant cursing so she had Dad find a place for him to go. Do you know how hard it is to get rid of a jarvey? Nobody in their right mind would want one."
"How'd you get rid of it then?" Harry asked.
"Dad gave it to the Lovegoodes," Ron laughed. "Xeno was more than happy to take him."
"Why haven't we heard about him before? Do they still have him?" Hermione questioned.
"No. He... uh... grew quite attached to Luna's mum, and passed shortly after she did," Ron answered quietly.
Mrs. Weasley came into the living room, wiping her hands on her apron. "Would anyone like tea? I just put on a pot, and it'll be ready soon."
"I would love some," Fleur answered in her thick French accent. The family echoed her response. Mrs. Weasley turned to Ron and Hermione. "You two had better go put on some dry clothes before you catch a cold." Ron began to protest that he was perfectly fine, but a a warning glare soon shut him up.
"You can borrow some of my clothes, Hermione, " Ginny said as Harry took his turn, trying to find a way to capture her King in the least amount of moves with the least amount of damage.
"Alright, we'll be right back," Hermione said as she and Ron left to change. They soon returned and sat down on the couch together with hot mugs full of steaming tea. After and hour or so, Hermione stated that she had to go home before her mother had a fit. The family began to retire shortly after.
"Oh, Harry, before we all go to bed, you have one last gift," Mr. Weasley said.
"What?" Harry asked in astonishment.
"Go check out your room," Mr. Weasley said with a smile. Harry frowned but went up to the second floor where his room was. He opened the door to find his bedroom completely redone.
The walls were covered in a dark chocolate color and Scarlet and Gold were everywhere.
"Whoa," Harry breathed as he entered. "I don't know what to say, other than thank you."
"It was nothing," Mrs. Weasley said. "Go try out the bed." Harry flopped down and sighed.
"Close your eyes," said Mr. Weasley, "and imagine your favorite place in the world."
"Why?" Harry asked, "I'm already here."
"Okay, your second favorite place," Mr. Weasley said with a smile. Harry did as he was told, and a smile slowly crept across his face.
He slowly opened his eyes, "That is simply amazing," he grinned.
"What?" asked Ron, "I don't get it."
"I felt like I was actually there. The sounds were exactly as I remember them, and now that I think about it the smells were there too," Harry answered.
"It's a new product that George was working on," Arthur explained. "The bed takes memories and projects them as you recall them, a bit like a pensieve. Anything you can imagine and the bed will seem to transport you to that very spot. You can almost feel and taste it."
"Thank you," Harry said again. The family smiled at him before turning to retire to their own rooms.
"Happy Birthday, mate," Ron said before leaving.
Ginny stood in the doorway and Harry walked over kissing her on the lips and ran a thumb across her cheek. "Night," he said softly after they parted.
"Goodnight," she responded. She patted his cheek twice, more than loveingly.
"Ow," Harry said reaching for his stinging cheek and rubbing it. "What was that for?"
"Hopefully you'll think twice next time before you beat me in a game of chess," she replied with a devilish grin. She turned to go down stairs to her bedroom, but paused a moment. "What did you think of?"
"On the bed? Manly Beach in Australia."
Ginny smiled. "Goodnight , Harry."
"Night, Ginny."
A/N: Yay! We are slowly getting closer and closer to the part we've all been waiting for! Well... I guess I've been waiting for, seeing as you have no idea as to what I am referring...
(O.o You're so ominous! Aside from that frightening display of I-Know-Something-You-Don't-Know, there's something I want to know. ;D ~OMDWG)